Discovering Buddhism - Mind and Its Potential (26 February 2015)

· · · silence, 1 minute

0:56 We'll begin with Report an error in the passage at 0:56 Highlight the passage at 0:56

1:01 to just bring ourselves in the room and set our motivation. And so sit comfortably in the chair or on a cushion. And even in the chair, if you can, try to... Oops. Are you in the room? Did that scare you completely to the next block? I still wasn't really hearing you. Report an error in the passage at 1:01 Highlight the passage at 1:01

1:34 I can't hear either. I can't hear anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:34 Highlight the passage at 1:34

1:42 Okay, well now we know everybody's at least we're all awake. Yeah. Anyway, so sitting with like the bottom of your pelvis kind of tilted back, you know, so that you're really on the sit bones. If you've done yoga, you know what sit bones are. Otherwise, they're just little bony parts on the end of your butt. Report an error in the passage at 1:42 Highlight the passage at 1:42

2:13 But if you... Kind of tilt your pelvis in a way so that you sit on those. Actually, you can feel how it helps your body to stay more erect and in line. Your spine kind of lines up things. So it's good even in a chair. And then if you're in a chair, make sure that your feet are kind of flat on the floor. Report an error in the passage at 2:13 Highlight the passage at 2:13

2:38 Kind of sit if you know what Maitreya looks like. Maitreya sits on like a throne. But his legs are down flat. So his legs come out and they go down flat and his feet are flat on the floor. So you sit like Maitreya if you're sitting in the chair. Report an error in the passage at 2:38 Highlight the passage at 2:38

2:58 And so just get yourself in a comfortable position and just kind of feel your body sitting there on the cushion or on the chair. Report an error in the passage at 2:58 Highlight the passage at 2:58

3:15 Scan it. Check the feet, calves and knees all the way up your body. If you notice any tensions, if you need to either physically adjust a little bit or just use your breath and with a deep breath, Report an error in the passage at 3:15 Highlight the passage at 3:15

3:46 a big exhale and just release whatever tension is there and just take a minute or two to scan your body and have it alert and awake but not tense. Check your shoulders. Make sure they're not up around you. And headed towards your ears. Report an error in the passage at 3:46 Highlight the passage at 3:46

4:12 your is relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 4:12 Highlight the passage at 4:12

4:19 too open and also not closed. lightly. Report an error in the passage at 4:19 Highlight the passage at 4:19

4:37 head's bent slightly forward with your eyes. They say look down your nose. That's impossible unless you have a really big nose. The other thing is also to kind of Report an error in the passage at 4:37 Highlight the passage at 4:37

4:56 As though you were looking at a spot on the floor about five to six feet, maybe five feet in front of your body length. Report an error in the passage at 4:56 Highlight the passage at 4:56

5:18 Now just turn your attention to your breath, Report an error in the passage at 5:18 Highlight the passage at 5:18

5:26 the feeling of the air moving in and out of your nostrils. And Report an error in the passage at 5:26 Highlight the passage at 5:26

5:40 this time we can go back to an earlier meditation and just take a minute or two to count. So one complete breath is an inhale and an exhale. And at the bottom of the exhale, just before you inhale again, you count one. Report an error in the passage at 5:40 Highlight the passage at 5:40

6:02 Same thing for the next breath, it will be two. So see if you can do that. And then in between, while you're breathing, you actually don't think of the numbers. You don't repeat the numbers. You just drop it. So it's really a good mental exercise. Report an error in the passage at 6:02 Highlight the passage at 6:02

6:24 So we'll just do that for a couple of minutes. Report an error in the passage at 6:24 Highlight the passage at 6:24

· · · silence, 2 minutes

8:44 Breathe normally. Report an error in the passage at 8:44 Highlight the passage at 8:44

8:49 Do a little bit of an analytical meditation. Report an error in the passage at 8:49 Highlight the passage at 8:49

8:59 Lines of the homework we had for last week. Report an error in the passage at 8:59 Highlight the passage at 8:59

9:09 Take a few minutes to think about your life. How amazing it is, first of all, that you're sitting here at a Dharma center, that you've found these teachings that were given by the... The historical Buddha who came to this earth and told us he reached enlightenment himself and then gave instructions very clearly and specifically what to do in order to reach enlightenment ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 9:09 Highlight the passage at 9:09

9:50 It's so amazing that we're here even at a time when Buddha's teachings are flourishing and maybe dying out but they're still here, that we have an interest. Report an error in the passage at 9:50 Highlight the passage at 9:50

10:05 We have faculties, mind and body and resources that makes it possible for us to engage Report an error in the passage at 10:05 Highlight the passage at 10:05

10:23 in Dhamma study, classes, practice and the interest in changing our minds in order to become more kind, more compassionate, happier human beings and to learn how to relieve our suffering. Report an error in the passage at 10:23 Highlight the passage at 10:23

10:48 It's amazing. All the work we did in the past to bring about all those conditions. So Report an error in the passage at 10:48 Highlight the passage at 10:48

11:03 we have this life. So we can look and look all around the world in all the different places where you could have been born as easily as anyone else born in those places. It could have been you. How you would have felt or thought and how far your mind would be. be from any inclination. Report an error in the passage at 11:03 Highlight the passage at 11:03

11:30 towards freedom happiness. Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

11:39 where there's war, countries where there's war. Report an error in the passage at 11:39 Highlight the passage at 11:39

11:48 So put yourself in different places and take a look at all the possibilities and realize if you were born just like that person, whichever person you pick, one in the war country that you see on the news, you would be exactly like that. Report an error in the passage at 11:48 Highlight the passage at 11:48

12:07 You wouldn't have the mind that you have now, you would have that mind, and you would be going through the same kinds of things. Report an error in the passage at 12:07 Highlight the passage at 12:07

12:17 But kind of look at the possibilities. The Report an error in the passage at 12:17 Highlight the passage at 12:17

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13:43 possibilities for human rebirth are so, the fact that we even got the precious human rebirth and plant of the diamonds, amazing. Just considering humans, which are just a small number of the beings. Report an error in the passage at 13:43 Highlight the passage at 13:43

14:04 If you look at all the animals and then all those other beings that you can't see in all the different grounds, Report an error in the passage at 14:04 Highlight the passage at 14:04

14:17 it's like, Report an error in the passage at 14:17 Highlight the passage at 14:17

14:22 I can't even think of a word to describe it. It's just so incredible that we have these conditions that come together. Report an error in the passage at 14:22 Highlight the passage at 14:22

14:36 And so it's Report an error in the passage at 14:36 Highlight the passage at 14:36

14:42 not easy. And you can tell because there's many beings and very few who are inclined toward the Dharma. So it's not easy. To get this kind of a life. And so we have it now. And at least the minimum that we can do is try to create the causes and conditions to get another one. At least that. So that we can continue to practice. And just to do that much takes effort. Report an error in the passage at 14:42 Highlight the passage at 14:42

15:22 So we want to be willing at least to put in that much effort. Report an error in the passage at 15:22 Highlight the passage at 15:22

15:29 And then there's grandeur. Report an error in the passage at 15:29 Highlight the passage at 15:29

15:38 To develop all kindness and compassion to the point of generating bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 15:38 Highlight the passage at 15:38

15:51 Not only work to free ourselves, but to work to free ourselves mainly so that we can help others. So Report an error in the passage at 15:51 Highlight the passage at 15:51

16:15 we're fortunate that we have this opportunity now to engage in the practices that will lead us to that. To that end, to that goal. And make our lives more pleasurable right now. Report an error in the passage at 16:15 Highlight the passage at 16:15

16:36 So fortunate. Report an error in the passage at 16:36 Highlight the passage at 16:36

16:52 With that in mind, Report an error in the passage at 16:52 Highlight the passage at 16:52

16:58 we want to motivate for this class that we create all the causes and conditions for us to eliminate all of the negative states of mind. That we have all the obscurations, all the delusions, all the fantasies, vanishing. We want to create that condition, causes and conditions, engage in the classes in order to learn techniques to do that. Report an error in the passage at 16:58 Highlight the passage at 16:58

17:36 And so we can also develop wholesome, virtuous qualities. Report an error in the passage at 17:36 Highlight the passage at 17:36

17:46 Because it will extend beyond us to our family, our friends, our strangers, that we meet, everybody. Thinking about more peace for ourselves and more peace in the world. Report an error in the passage at 17:46 Highlight the passage at 17:46

18:05 Because if each person decided that they themselves just wanted to be peaceful, if everybody did it, we'd have peace. Somebody has to start. So why not let it be me or us? Report an error in the passage at 18:05 Highlight the passage at 18:05

18:34 To expand that further, planting the seeds for our own full awakening so that we can... Be free of this circle of suffering. And then so that we can come back and know exactly how to be able to help others to become free. Report an error in the passage at 18:34 Highlight the passage at 18:34

19:02 Serving in any way that we can. All this is a motivation for us being here tonight. Report an error in the passage at 19:02 Highlight the passage at 19:02

19:29 So we can read the three prayers that we've been doing. On page 34 and 35, we'll read The Taking Refuge, The Four Immeasurables. And then when we read The Seven Limb Prayer, if you read one line, there's a really nice explanation. And so if you read the line and just kind of think about it. Report an error in the passage at 19:29 Highlight the passage at 19:29

20:03 I have the old book. Oh, it must be this other page. My book has different page numbers at home, the one I have at home. Report an error in the passage at 20:03 Highlight the passage at 20:03

20:14 Yeah, okay. Report an error in the passage at 20:14 Highlight the passage at 20:14

20:19 Okay, so then just read the first limb of the seven limbs and then I'll just read the explanations of what it, the benefits of it. Report an error in the passage at 20:19 Highlight the passage at 20:19

20:41 So let's do, we can do two times in English and then we can chant it once in Tibetan, the refuge in bodhicitta. Oops, sorry. Report an error in the passage at 20:41 Highlight the passage at 20:41

20:55 A habit. Report an error in the passage at 20:55 Highlight the passage at 20:55

21:01 Okay. I go for refuge until I'm enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I'm enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 21:01 Highlight the passage at 21:01

21:24 Sangye Chodan Sokhi Chodnam La Janchu Bardu Dagni Kepsuchi Daggi Jinso Ghi Per Sonam Ki Drolapen Ches Sangye Drupasho May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings be inseparable from the happiness that's free from suffering. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment for friends and hatred for enemies. Report an error in the passage at 21:24 Highlight the passage at 21:24

22:05 Okay, so we can read the line all together and then I'll just read a very short explanation. Reverently I prostrate with my body, speech and mind. So the benefit. One ceases all obscurations of body, speech and mind and achieves the infinite qualities of the holy body, speech and mind of all the Buddhas. Report an error in the passage at 22:05 Highlight the passage at 22:05

22:32 This limb is a specific remedy to pride. I present clouds of every type of offering, actual and imagined. Benefit is one is able to have enjoyments as limitless as the sky. And it's a specific remedy to miserliness. I confess all my negative actions accumulated since beginningless time. To the benefits of that, one ceases the two obscurations. And I mentioned that last week. We can go and mention it again later. Report an error in the passage at 22:32 Highlight the passage at 22:32

23:14 This is a specific remedy to negative karma and disturbing thoughts, including the three poisonous minds. And rejoice in the virtues of all holy and ordinary beings. So the benefit of this is one achieves the holy body of the Buddha, which possesses all the beauty and has nothing to dislike. And it's a specific remedy for jealousy. Please remain until saṃsāra... Report an error in the passage at 23:14 Highlight the passage at 23:14

23:47 This is a little different version here. At this... Oh, at this point you visualize a golden throne supported by eight mighty lions. Actually, you visualize the Guru sitting on a golden throne in front of you. So the benefit, when achieves the Vajra holy body of a Buddha, this limb purifies, having disturbed the Guru Buddha's holy mind and the karmic obscurations that prevent us from meeting the Guru Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 23:47 Highlight the passage at 23:47

24:22 So after you've offered the throne, it absorbs into the Buddha. And turn the wheel of Dharma for sand-themed beings. So now you visualize the Dharma Chakra. And that's just, you know what that is? That's just like, it looks like a wagon wheel. Oh yeah, Dharma Chakra right there. The one that looks like a wheel. It's an eight-spoken wheel. So you visualize that. Report an error in the passage at 24:22 Highlight the passage at 24:22

24:53 And one achieves the holy speech, the tune of the Dharma, which has infinite qualities and one is guided in all lifetimes. And this limb is especially inconceivable because of meeting the holy Dharma again in the future. And it's a specific remedy to ignorance and avoiding the Dharma. So when we request to turn the wheel of Dharma, it does all that. Report an error in the passage at 24:53 Highlight the passage at 24:53

25:25 Amazing. I dedicate all the virtues of others to the great enlightenment. So the benefit of this, it plants the seed in the mind to achieve all the qualities of the Buddha and it's a specific remedy to heresy. Report an error in the passage at 25:25 Highlight the passage at 25:25

25:44 So it's really nice when you do a little practice to include some of these prayers and if you can kind of understand a little bit about... You know what they mean or the power of them. You can actually think about them. That's really useful. Report an error in the passage at 25:44 Highlight the passage at 25:44

26:11 Check in. We did precious human rebirth. How did the homework go? I didn't notice when I did the homework. I put reading and then I was going to fill it in later. I left it blank. Report an error in the passage at 26:11 Highlight the passage at 26:11

26:33 Well, so there was lots of readings. I hope somebody read something. It said reading. But if you have any question, because Lama Zopa's article or teaching in the required reading is rather extensive. And to be perfectly honest, I didn't even get a chance to read it all myself. I've read it before, but I didn't do it again. And I like to do it again when I do the class. Report an error in the passage at 26:33 Highlight the passage at 26:33

27:02 But I didn't get a chance to read all that, but I finished Lama Yesh's book. So any comments about the meditation? How you know it? Did it seem to work? Did it bring things up? Or questions about anything that you had in the reading? Report an error in the passage at 27:02 Highlight the passage at 27:02

27:41 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 27:41 Highlight the passage at 27:41

27:51 You're just licking your lips? I almost looked like you were going to say something. Report an error in the passage at 27:51 Highlight the passage at 27:51

28:11 Yeah. Well, what do you think? I think so. I think it could work. I used to do similar things, especially like when we get to, which is kind of way down the line from where we're at now, but when we get to the bodhicitta one, there's different meditations that you do. And I used to do a lot of the meditation, kind of like meditations when I was driving to work. Report an error in the passage at 28:11 Highlight the passage at 28:11

28:40 Looking at people. So I think it's a two-fold practice. One is when we're sitting on the cushion and we're actually engaged in the meditations and we're doing the kind of more scripted analysis so we get the right points in the right places and things like that. Then there's when you get up. It may not be exactly what you call a meditation, but... Report an error in the passage at 28:40 Highlight the passage at 28:40

29:11 It's definitely something that's extremely useful in order to, you know, recollect it during the day, you know, appreciate the life that you have or whatever it is you're meditating on. In some way, incorporate it so that you don't just lose it completely. So it's not like 15, 20 minutes, half an hour and then it's finished. Report an error in the passage at 29:11 Highlight the passage at 29:11

29:35 I'm done. I can be the same old, you know, that I usually am. Report an error in the passage at 29:35 Highlight the passage at 29:35

29:45 So, I don't know if, I think most everybody's here, I don't know if we need the recording, but just in case, if there's questions or something like that, maybe we'll pass the mic, you can say it in the mic. Report an error in the passage at 29:45 Highlight the passage at 29:45

30:01 Because I noticed when I was like kind of listening and maybe people that have listened to the recordings, you can hear kind of a, you know, and then I answer something. And you go, well, I wonder what they asked. I've listened to other recordings, similar, you know, even like when Geshe Tashi was like teaching in London, they had a question and answers until they figured out that they had to get people up to a mic. Report an error in the passage at 30:01 Highlight the passage at 30:01

30:31 It was like you'd hear, you know, and I'd stick my head, stick the speaker in my ear and it was still hard to hear. You couldn't hear and then he'd answer a question. I'd go, okay. I've done. Report an error in the passage at 30:31 Highlight the passage at 30:31

· · · silence, 1 minute

30:47 Any other comments about the homeworks, the readings? Report an error in the passage at 30:47 Highlight the passage at 30:47

30:59 That's the point. Well, actually, we don't get to that point yet. It's leading to that point. Report an error in the passage at 30:59 Highlight the passage at 30:59

31:11 It comes up even stronger when we get to death and impermanence, which is another few classes away. See, everything that we talk about here is like kind of laying the foundation, you know. It's like little sprouts and then it's going to grow into something bigger. We'll have like six weeks on this. The next one is going to be meditation. Report an error in the passage at 31:11 Highlight the passage at 31:11

31:37 So we'll have like six weeks on meditation. I know you've taken meditation course on Monday, but I hope you still come for meditation DB. Report an error in the passage at 31:37 Highlight the passage at 31:37

31:50 But anyway, we'll talk about that at the end. At least I'll give you the dates. So the main focus of last week was precious human rebirth. So now that we've spent a week, is everybody convinced that getting this precious human rebirth is better than winning the lottery? Report an error in the passage at 31:50 Highlight the passage at 31:50

32:22 Yeah. It takes a while to get it like, wow, yeah. Because, you know, like if you think about it, I mean, it really is. Better than winning the lottery. But you do have to think about it. Report an error in the passage at 32:22 Highlight the passage at 32:22

32:44 Well, no, no. I mean, I think it's reasonable to say no, not completely. Because, you know, I think I probably would still be totally thrilled winning the lottery. Report an error in the passage at 32:44 Highlight the passage at 32:44

33:00 You know? And probably more thrilled than I had felt getting a precious human rebirth so far. Maybe. I don't know. I have to see. I have to contemplate it. It takes a while to really get the realizations. Intellectually, of course it is. Because this will go with me for the rest of my future lives and I can't bring the money with me anyway and I'll probably end up just using it. Report an error in the passage at 33:00 Highlight the passage at 33:00

33:31 You know, and maybe even creating more harm and maybe I'll just get so busy traveling and having a good time I won't even have time to do my meditation. Report an error in the passage at 33:31 Highlight the passage at 33:31

33:43 So it is really an amazing thing that we've accomplished here. Report an error in the passage at 33:43 Highlight the passage at 33:43

33:53 last night, not last night, last week, my plant, Sandy, had asked about Nirvāṇa and Enlightenment. And I had mentioned that's coming up this week. So I did kind of a little bit of an extensive answer, but I want to kind of go over it again. And basically Nirvāṇa, often known by us as liberation. a head. Report an error in the passage at 33:53 Highlight the passage at 33:53

34:32 By the practitioners who practice it, that is enlightenment. But nirvāṇa means beyond suffering or sorrow. That's a translation. So that means to transcend the suffering state and the causes of suffering. All the unsatisfactoriness and the troubles. And when you attain... Report an error in the passage at 34:32 Highlight the passage at 34:32

35:02 Nirvāṇa, when you attain this state, you become what they call an arhat. So you've probably heard that in maybe some of the prayers. We have practices to the 16 arhats and things like that. So other names for it are foe destroyer or enemy destroyer. Report an error in the passage at 35:02 Highlight the passage at 35:02

35:26 And so this foe or this enemy that's destroyed is the dualistic ego grasping. Self. So that's what we destroy. And the way that that is destroyed is through the realizations of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 35:26 Highlight the passage at 35:26

35:50 And that's getting in touch with the true nature, our true nature, which is a whole other series of classes without going into too much detail. Report an error in the passage at 35:50 Highlight the passage at 35:50

36:07 So we go beyond uncontrolled, repeated cycle of birth, old age and death. Now for the people that practice this particular and their goal is Nirvāṇa or liberation are mainly Hinayana practitioners and Theravāda practitioners. Now some Theravāda practitioners say that they're Mahāyāna. Report an error in the passage at 36:07 Highlight the passage at 36:07

36:38 Geshe-la had said in one of his classes, in fact a few times in classes, has said that it doesn't matter. You could be a Hinayana practitioner and still be Mahāyāna. It depends on your mind. And he said, you can sit in a Mahāyāna center like ours. And be a Hinayana practitioner, one that wants to achieve liberation for themselves, primarily alone. You know, he said, you can't tell by where people are sitting, what type of practice and what the goal is. Report an error in the passage at 36:38 Highlight the passage at 36:38

37:22 But so these practitioners, though, you know, it's an enormous and... A awe-inspiring goal just to be free from cyclic existence is huge. It's really amazing. And so it's achieved when all of our delusions have been abandoned. So that means we completely rid our mind of all the afflictions and we cut the root of all of this endless suffering once and for all. Report an error in the passage at 37:22 Highlight the passage at 37:22

37:56 So that's a really huge thing. it it really takes a lot of A lot of discipline, a lot of effort and a lot of courage because we have to pretty much annihilate the self we think we are now. Report an error in the passage at 37:56 Highlight the passage at 37:56

38:16 And we've been carrying that self with us since beginning this time. So we were really familiar with it and we don't know what the other side looks like. And so the idea of giving up something that's so familiar would be like somebody telling you, okay. Tomorrow you got to move to blah, blah, blah, whatever, someplace all around the world and you haven't seen it. You don't know what's there. You don't know anything and you got to get on a plane and go. Report an error in the passage at 38:16 Highlight the passage at 38:16

38:45 You know, it's like you're not going to feel really comfortable about that. You don't even know what kind of clothes to bring. You know, is it warm or cold? You know, it's the same thing, kind of the same kind of thing. You know, and people will as they go through sometimes these meditations on. Report an error in the passage at 38:45 Highlight the passage at 38:45

39:05 Emptiness, you know, experience as that ego starts to break apart, we'll experience some fear. You know, that's a normal part. But right now we're still working on our anger and attachment, so we'll do that. So it's not impossible, but it just takes a lot of discipline and effort in order to accomplish it. Report an error in the passage at 39:05 Highlight the passage at 39:05

39:33 And so then that's liberation. So all of our delusions are abandoned. So that's the dualistic ego grasping and clinging. And then enlightenment, this is what they call the ultimate goal for the Mahāyāna Buddhist. And so enlightenment has two main characteristics. One is called infinite wisdom. That's omniscience. So that means that we know reality, all phenomena, and we see perfectly the minds of each and every single sentient being. Report an error in the passage at 39:33 Highlight the passage at 39:33

40:16 That in itself is quite amazing. And then we have infinite compassion or bodhicitta. And so we spontaneously and continuously wish to free all sentient beings from suffering and lead them to enlightenment and... We have the capacity to do whatever needs to be done to accomplish that. And the key word there is spontaneously and continuously. Report an error in the passage at 40:16 Highlight the passage at 40:16

40:54 And that means without effort. Report an error in the passage at 40:54 Highlight the passage at 40:54

41:00 Right now, for us, any little bits of good that we do all takes some effort. And it may be joyous effort, but it still takes effort. Report an error in the passage at 41:00 Highlight the passage at 41:00

41:16 The enlightened mind is actually the same mind that we have now, but it's one that's fully developed. That means that all the negative traits are diffused and removed. Report an error in the passage at 41:16 Highlight the passage at 41:16

41:34 So that's the same as what happens when you reach nirvāṇa. And because of the bodhicitta, we take it a step further and all of the stains. Report an error in the passage at 41:34 Highlight the passage at 41:34

41:47 So the first part we do, we get rid of the delusions. That's Nirvāṇa. When we go for enlightenment, we get rid of the delusions. Instead of going into this peace, they say Nirvāṇa is peace. You spend a lot of time in peace. So we avoid the extreme of peace and we come back and we remove the stains of the delusions completely. Report an error in the passage at 41:47 Highlight the passage at 41:47

42:17 And Then all the positive qualities are perfected in the process of doing that until we become a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 42:17 Highlight the passage at 42:17

42:30 And so according to the Buddha, every single sentient being can do that for a few reasons. One, because we all have a mind. So if we have a mind, we can perfect that mind. And anybody, any bee, when I say anybody, anybody, and if I say human, that means poor people. If I say person or somebody, that means any being. So that means ants and flies and cats and dogs, cows, everybody. Report an error in the passage at 42:30 Highlight the passage at 42:30

43:11 Anybody that has a mind can do it. Of course you can't do it as a cat. You have to create the causes to get a rebirth like we have now. Report an error in the passage at 43:11 Highlight the passage at 43:11

43:25 But the base qualities of our mind is its continuity, its clarity, its ability to know and its boundlessness. And so those are qualities that all minds have. Now some of them are covered to the point where you would never know it, but they're all there. And because we have a natural purity. That's present in all mines. It means that we can clean up the mess that's in there. It's like taking a dirty cloth and throwing it in the washer. Report an error in the passage at 43:25 Highlight the passage at 43:25

44:10 Eventually the dirt could come out. And sometimes we have to clean over and over and over again. Like Geshe-la uses sometimes the example of having oil on your cloth. Report an error in the passage at 44:10 Highlight the passage at 44:10

44:24 Maybe you wash it a couple of times and the oil doesn't come out. You have to keep washing and washing and washing. Eventually, you get the oil out. Report an error in the passage at 44:24 Highlight the passage at 44:24

44:33 So because we have the natural purity, we can clean it. We can clean up our mind. We can clean up the mess. Report an error in the passage at 44:33 Highlight the passage at 44:33

44:44 So that leads us basically to all of those qualities and the potential that we have in order to become enlightened is what they call Buddha nature. Report an error in the passage at 44:44 Highlight the passage at 44:44

45:01 And so every mind has that seed of its own full awakening. It's not really like a seed, but let's just call it that for now. But we have the potential. Report an error in the passage at 45:01 Highlight the passage at 45:01

45:19 And this is a natural part of our mind. And this is what we call Buddha nature. So our potential, the potential that we have right now in our minds to be fully awakened. Report an error in the passage at 45:19 Highlight the passage at 45:19

45:35 Perfected beings, kind of like what they say in prayer, perfect and knowledge of good conduct. That's like the Buddha. So we have that ability and Report an error in the passage at 45:35 Highlight the passage at 45:35

45:52 that's called Buddha nature. So anybody that has a pet or a child, they all have Buddha nature. Every little bug that walks in your house, all the little ones on the street, they all have Buddha nature. Everything. All the fish. Report an error in the passage at 45:52 Highlight the passage at 45:52

46:16 Did you have a question? Report an error in the passage at 46:16 Highlight the passage at 46:16

46:29 Right. So in order for ants to be able to work on approving their mind, they have to get to higher levels and to become human. And so we don't know. We can go. don't know. You know, there's... Report an error in the passage at 46:29 Highlight the passage at 46:29

46:51 There's a lot of people used to think and like in especially old days, you know, it was like everybody thought, well, you kind of go up, you're here and then you do something, you go up, up and you get better and better, better as you go along. Well, that's not necessarily the way they explain it in Buddhism. So you can go up and down. And so, you know, we've all been ants and flies and sometimes, you know, there's a story about a fly that. Report an error in the passage at 46:51 Highlight the passage at 46:51

47:19 That followed a smelly dog, an old dirty dog around a stupa. And so because it was following this animal around the stupa or maybe something like that, it had the cause to be reborn as a human in one of their lives. Report an error in the passage at 47:19 Highlight the passage at 47:19

47:39 I probably was this dirty old dog running around the stupa. When I went to Nepal at the Boda Stupa, You know, it's a huge stupa and people, lots of people circumambulate and there's lots of little dogs, you know, lots of dogs on the street and all that. There was this little puppy and without any direction or anything, he would just, he'd walk near the wall and he just kept circumambulating the stupa. Report an error in the passage at 47:39 Highlight the passage at 47:39

48:08 And I'm sure he had imprints from being there before doing the same thing. How would this little puppy, I mean... You know, it wasn't like the mother was leading him. No person was leading him. It was like, oh, the other dogs just kind of lay down in the sun and, you know, rest. And occasionally they'll walk a little bit, hoping to find some food at the next stop or something. But this one was, and it was amazing because he just kept going and he just walked by himself and he just walked right around. Report an error in the passage at 48:08 Highlight the passage at 48:08

48:35 He just keeps sort of ambulating the stupa. I thought, wow, I wonder, he must have had some... must have had some karma with that stupa before. They could have been a human that was circling it. Maybe they were mean to dogs. When I was in India, I heard one story about these temple keepers. A lot of people throw rocks at dogs. That's the way they get rid of them. They just pick up rocks and throw them. Report an error in the passage at 48:35 Highlight the passage at 48:35

49:08 They used to, like if a dog came towards the temple, it was a husband and wife, they would take these rocks and they would throw them and, you know, kind of stone the dogs and chase them out of the temple. And the Indian people said that when they died, they were reborn as dogs. And every time that temple bells rang, they'd run to the temple for the service. Report an error in the passage at 49:08 Highlight the passage at 49:08

49:34 And they said this was the temple keeper and his wife because they used to stone the dogs. They were born as dogs. But they had the imprints to go hear the bells and go back to the temple. Report an error in the passage at 49:34 Highlight the passage at 49:34

49:47 So, you know, nice story. I think it's possible, but I have no way to prove it. But anyway, it is like, you know, maybe it's not that simple. Report an error in the passage at 49:47 Highlight the passage at 49:47

50:06 Anyway, so back to Buddha nature. So we all have Buddha nature. And so these little ants can be people. They'll be reborn. They'll go through their little ant life. They'll get reborn. And one of their rebirths will be a human rebirth. It'll be a precious human rebirth, hopefully. And that's why if you see an ant, we would... Report an error in the passage at 50:06 Highlight the passage at 50:06

50:33 We would carry out ants on a little piece of paper from the house and we'd blow namgyalma mantras on them because that helps to guarantee that they get a good rebirth. And we'd blow a mantra on an ant and then let them walk off in their yard. And we did it to hundreds and hundreds of ants for days and days. Report an error in the passage at 50:33 Highlight the passage at 50:33

50:53 The neighbor must have thought we were nuts walking up and down the stairs with a little piece of paper. but so so So you can help beings like that by doing things like that. But anyway, that has nothing really too much to do with Buddha nature except that it will help to create the causes for you to come back as a human and continue to study this Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 50:53 Highlight the passage at 50:53

51:23 And it will help them to have the imprints and the blessings to be able to get a... Good rebirth. Because everybody has lots of karmic seeds. We can easily be an ant as we could be a human. Report an error in the passage at 51:23 Highlight the passage at 51:23

51:42 Like I said, we won the lottery. We got a human one. Anyway, so Buddha nature, because we all have this seed of enlightenment and everything, it doesn't mean that we're already Buddhas or that we have some little Buddha inside that's waiting to grow. Report an error in the passage at 51:42 Highlight the passage at 51:42

52:04 What it means is that our mind and all other beings' minds have the potential for full awakening. So no matter how obscured we are, no matter what we've done in the past, no matter what our circumstances are, we never lose that potential. So for some reason, we die, we're born as an ant, we still... Don't lose the potential. We don't lose the virtuous karma that we create in this life. And with the practices that we do, let's hope that we're able to get another human rebirth and a precious human rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 52:04 Highlight the passage at 52:04

52:49 That's the minimum aspiration that we should try to aim at. Report an error in the passage at 52:49 Highlight the passage at 52:49

52:59 but so we don't we don't We never lose the potential. That Buddha nature is always there because it's just the nature of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 52:59 Highlight the passage at 52:59

53:11 And right now it's just obscured. It's like we've got the dirt in it. It's like having a glass. It's so covered with dirt that you can't even see your reflection in it at all. Report an error in the passage at 53:11 Highlight the passage at 53:11

53:25 So we can clean it. Report an error in the passage at 53:25 Highlight the passage at 53:25

53:31 And so that's true for every being that has a mind. Report an error in the passage at 53:31 Highlight the passage at 53:31

53:37 Buddha nature right now is just totally covered by our obscurations and not by our mental afflictions. And so our minds now are so shrouded that we can't even really see the suffering nature of our own existence now. I think half the time we think we're having fun and this is a good life. Report an error in the passage at 53:37 Highlight the passage at 53:37

54:06 And so basically what we see is the exact opposite of reality. We don't really see reality. And so we cling to and grasp the temporary happiness and pleasure, you know, the pleasures of this life and we think like that that's all there is. Lamiyeshe said that when you think that the pleasures of this life is just this one life and that that's all there is, he said, that's a little mind, dear. Report an error in the passage at 54:06 Highlight the passage at 54:06

54:40 What is possible for each of us is a... Big mind. Let me put big in a couple of words. Big mind. Report an error in the passage at 54:40 Highlight the passage at 54:40

54:51 So we go beyond. And it doesn't mean we can't have happiness and pleasures in this life. In fact, the more spacious, the closer you get, the more delusions that you begin to shake up and move away, the happier you're going to be anyway. So you're going to end up creating more happiness. Report an error in the passage at 54:51 Highlight the passage at 54:51

55:15 But it's not going to be coming from outside of you. And that's where we've made our mistake before. We've had it coming from outside. Now it's going to be coming from inside. So pretty soon, it won't matter what's on the outside. It's going to be here. That's really amazing. Really good. So I got a quote from the Yangtze Rinpoche practicing the path, which was really nice. Report an error in the passage at 55:15 Highlight the passage at 55:15

55:48 He says, remember that there's no path to enlightenment that lies outside your own mind. Whatever good qualities there are to be cultivated must be cultivated within your own mind. Whatever negativities there are to be eliminated must also be eliminated within your mind. In fact, the main objective of Dharma practice is to limitlessly develop. Report an error in the passage at 55:48 Highlight the passage at 55:48

56:17 The positive potential of your own mind. Your mind can be limitlessly developed because its mental continuum is beginningless and without end and because you have Buddha nature. Because the delusions which are the cause of suffering do not exist in the nature of your mind, suffering can be extinguished by eliminating the ignorance that is at its root. Report an error in the passage at 56:17 Highlight the passage at 56:17

56:49 So that just kind of summarizes everything that I said very nicely. Report an error in the passage at 56:49 Highlight the passage at 56:49

57:02 So in Buddhism, there's different methods are taught in order to transform. So methods and transformation, we have lots of different methods and all of the methods and techniques in Buddhism are all transformative. Report an error in the passage at 57:02 Highlight the passage at 57:02

57:24 aim is to be transformative and if we put them to work they will be transformative if we just listen to them it doesn't do too much but Report an error in the passage at 57:24 Highlight the passage at 57:24

57:38 they're transformative and they can eventually bring any practitioner to a fully connected and awakened state so the main two methods are there's sūtra and tantra so sūtra What we do in sutras is that we gradually work with the various mental states and this is what we're doing right now. We're doing a sūtra method where we're working with various negative states of mind, applying antidotes through meditation. Report an error in the passage at 57:38 Highlight the passage at 57:38

58:12 We're trying to remove them like we did with the anger meditation or just with antidotes to the afflictions. So that we remove the delusions and break down those negative states of mind. And we also simultaneously work, I mean simultaneously, sorry not spontaneously, I wish it was spontaneous, simultaneously work to develop good qualities such as patience and compassion and wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 58:12 Highlight the passage at 58:12

58:51 So in the sūtra method there's three main trainings. That would be ethics, and this I've mentioned before, but it never hurts to keep going over it anyway. Ethics, concentration and wisdom are the three main trainings. Report an error in the passage at 58:51 Highlight the passage at 58:51

59:12 And each one helps the next one. So first, ethics. When we have good ethics, our concentration improves and we can develop a better concentration. And with a better concentration, We could get the insights and the realizations that we need to develop all of the different wisdoms. So there's lots of different wisdoms. The main wisdom is the wisdom realizing emptiness. So in the sūtra you have these three main teachings. Report an error in the passage at 59:12 Highlight the passage at 59:12

59:56 And so basically we follow the stages of the path to enlightenment. It's called Lamrim. Step-by-step instructions that lead to all of the key realizations. And these key realizations are renunciation, which is complete disenchantment with being Report an error in the passage at 59:56 Highlight the passage at 59:56

1:00:24 born actually in any of the realms of cyclic existence. We realize at that point that... All of the realms, no matter how good they look, are suffering. Some of it is really subtle suffering. We have another part of the DB where we go into the details about that. But for now, renunciation is just wanting to get out of saṃsāra to end our suffering forever. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:24 Highlight the passage at 1:00:24

1:00:58 Then there's bodhicitta, which is developing the altruistic mind. That wants to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of others, the benefit of all others. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:58 Highlight the passage at 1:00:58

1:01:15 And then emptiness. And so for the Hinayana people that want practice just to be free from saṃsāra, you have renunciation and emptiness. You put those two together, with that realization you're out of the circle of cyclic existence. So for us, we throw in bodhicitta and this way we have the motivation because when you get to this peace of nirvāṇa, unless you have some really strong motivation to come back and help, it's so nice. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:15 Highlight the passage at 1:01:15

1:01:55 I don't think you'd want to lose. So bodhicitta comes in before you get to that emptiness and you get into that peaceful. So I think that's why they put it in that order. When you get to that, I'm like, wow, okay. I'm not coming back. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:55 Highlight the passage at 1:01:55

1:02:17 You spend a lot of time in total bliss and then you have to come back and finish anyway. But at least you're not suffering at all. And you're out of the birth-death cycle. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:17 Highlight the passage at 1:02:17

1:02:28 But anyway, so that's basically the sūtra method. And that's like super basic. See you in the car. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:28 Highlight the passage at 1:02:28

1:02:37 And then, um, The Tantra, that method, is like what we do, we skip to the end. So we see ourselves as already enlightened. We see ourselves as the deity with all the positive qualities that we associate with an enlightened being. And so Lamyashi says, these supremely skillful practitioners. So I guess you have to be supremely skillful. That's key. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:37 Highlight the passage at 1:02:37

1:03:11 Practitioners learn to think, speak, and act now as if he or she were already a fully enlightened Buddha. So what we do, we do practices, you transform yourself into a Buddha, and then you think and act the way a Buddha would act. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:11 Highlight the passage at 1:03:11

1:03:37 And then, so Lamyashe also said, according to Tantra. Perfection is not something that is waiting for us somewhere in the future. Everything that we need in order to be complete is within us right now at this very moment. It's simply a matter of being able to recognize it. This is the tantric approach. So it sounds really good. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:37 Highlight the passage at 1:03:37

1:04:06 The reason it works is because we do have Buddha nature and the mind is clear in knowing. And that it can eliminate all the delusions and wrong conceptions. And as long as we keep a positive mind, there's no place for a negative mind to reside. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:06 Highlight the passage at 1:04:06

1:04:27 And that's true whether we're practicing Tantra or not. When your mind's positive, there's no space for the negative. But in Tantra, that's particularly the aim. And so this is why they say Tantra is so... Quick and immediate. So there's basically four different classes of Tantra and the reason they have four classes of Tantra is because everybody has different inclinations and tendencies and there's different places where people will start. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:27 Highlight the passage at 1:04:27

1:05:07 I don't want to go into the details about it right now, but there's different levels, different types of Tantras. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:07 Highlight the passage at 1:05:07

1:05:19 So we go, wow, great, okay, immediate, really fast, that's what I want. Okay, well, not quite so easy because the sūtra and the realizations we get from studying the sūtra method are the basis for tantra. So if you look at the lamrim, they don't even mention tantra, but when you get to the end, then they kind of throw in, oh yeah, by the way, now you need to do a little tantra. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:19 Highlight the passage at 1:05:19

1:05:49 So what we need in order to really be successful in a tantric practice is renunciation, bodhicitta and the correct view of emptiness. Now, it doesn't have to be actual realizations. We just need to have a really good, solid understanding of what that is. Because if we all waited until we had the solid realization, we'd never get the tantra. So we have to at least have really good... Report an error in the passage at 1:05:49 Highlight the passage at 1:05:49

1:06:20 Understanding and so it's really important that we all study the lamrim and usually what will happen is that you'll do Tantra, you'll study the lamrim, you'll get an empowerment to practice a particular deity and that's the entry point for Tantra is you need to get an empowerment and then you do both, you still do both. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:20 Highlight the passage at 1:06:20

1:06:47 You don't just abandon one because you're in the other one. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:47 Highlight the passage at 1:06:47

1:06:56 So, let's see. So basically, that's the Tantra method. And the prerequisites are what we're studying now. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:56 Highlight the passage at 1:06:56

1:07:12 So enlightenment or perfecting the mind, that seems like it's really far away. You know, it's like, okay, so how do I get there? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:12 Highlight the passage at 1:07:12

1:07:24 So basically it starts with meditation because we're not going to transform our mind unless we become familiar with our mind and we learn how to work with our mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:24 Highlight the passage at 1:07:24

1:07:40 It's just like you're not going to build muscles in your body unless you get up off the chair and actually move it. So the mind is like that too. We have to exercise the mind and the way to exercise the mind is with meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:40 Highlight the passage at 1:07:40

1:07:57 And so for both Sūtra and Tantra, they both require meditation. In fact, probably in Tantra even more so because you have these elaborate, sometimes elaborate visualizations. You have to learn different. You have to be mind focused. Anyway, a lot of work. And very difficult to do properly. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:57 Highlight the passage at 1:07:57

1:08:28 Anyway, so in order to actually unlock the key to our potential, we have to learn. Like I said, to work with our mind. And meditation really is the only way that we can begin to understand our mind and to begin to transform it. And so it's really essential that we all develop a daily practice. So if you don't have a daily practice, try to start now. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:28 Highlight the passage at 1:08:28

1:09:03 And even if it's like 10... 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night. Most people can squeeze that much. To do a few prayers or maybe a meditation, homework or something. But the best way to do it is to start, like, set a time. And then just keep that schedule. Try to figure out, like, well, let's see, I've got to go to work. Because when I was working, I... Report an error in the passage at 1:09:03 Highlight the passage at 1:09:03

1:09:35 Figure out, okay, I got to go to work at this time. So I get up, then I could do like a half an hour or 45 minutes here. And then I do that and then I do whatever I needed for work to get ready for work or something like that. So you just kind of figure out in the schedule something and then be willing to stick with it. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:35 Highlight the passage at 1:09:35

1:09:59 And if you stay with the same time, the same schedule all the way through. Then that becomes a habit. And then if for some reason something comes up and you miss it, you know, you'll really miss it. And you'll figure out how to squeeze it in somewhere else. You know, maybe you had some early flight and you couldn't get it. You know, you couldn't do your regular time here because you were already going to the airport. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:59 Highlight the passage at 1:09:59

1:10:25 You'll figure out how to fit that in because you'll miss it. It will become such a habit. So maybe you meditate in the... In the super shuttle on the way or something, or while you're sitting waiting for them to call the roles, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:25 Highlight the passage at 1:10:25

1:10:45 Being a little bit silly, but you know, you work out, you work out a way. Sometimes you could do it on the airplane, though. It's a good place to do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:45 Highlight the passage at 1:10:45

1:10:55 But anyway, so the thing is, if you want to be good at something, you have to practice it. So like if you want to become a concert pianist, like the neighbors. You have to, but every time we're here, they're practicing and they keep practicing and probably, you know, if you practice every day, eventually you become good. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:55 Highlight the passage at 1:10:55

1:11:21 So if you want to be good at something, you know, it's like Michael Jordan didn't go and just practice sporadically or when it was convenient for him. You know, I'm sure he was out there practicing every day. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:21 Highlight the passage at 1:11:21

1:11:38 So it's the same thing with, you know. Meditation and becoming enlightened. We want to become enlightened. We have to practice every day. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:38 Highlight the passage at 1:11:38

1:11:54 Any questions? I kind of went over lots of little things. Maybe we can pass the mic. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:54 Highlight the passage at 1:11:54

1:12:08 Pass the mic back. No? Never mind. It's not working. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:08 Highlight the passage at 1:12:08

1:12:22 Right. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:22 Highlight the passage at 1:12:22

1:12:34 the main goal of meditation them up. Well, there's different approaches. And one of the main things that we want to do, there's two different types of meditation. This one's beginning to get feedback on it. Anyway, two main types of meditation. There's concentration, where you're learning to focus and concentrate your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:34 Highlight the passage at 1:12:34

1:13:07 Which eventually becomes calm abiding. That means that you can put your mind on an object and keep it there without distraction for as long as you like. And they say like four hours. You can hope, like you have an image of a Buddha. You can just be in total bliss, sit there for four hours without your mind ever wavering. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:07 Highlight the passage at 1:13:07

1:13:38 I can't even imagine. But anyway, so concentration and then there's analysis. So my teacher, Riva Rinpoche, my guru, Riva Rinpoche, said that it's good to practice a little bit of both. And so what we do like at the beginning and if you were doing a practice, you can practice concentration for like. minutes or five minutes whatever you know some amount of time if you take longer it's better you know because it's like you don't learn how to play the piano by playing five minutes at a time but you know You can do concentration first, where you're learning to kind of concentrate. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:38 Highlight the passage at 1:13:38

1:14:39 You want to control your mind. It's kind of like learning to drive. You want to keep your mind like this. When you start to swerve out of the lane, you want to bring yourself back. What we do now, we go along a little way and pretty soon we're swerving out of the lane and we bring ourselves back. And then there's a really interesting looking thing over here and we swerve way out of the lane and hit the wall. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:39 Highlight the passage at 1:14:39

1:15:11 I would crash because we're totally distracted. We've totally lost the point. So then you have to bring yourself back. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:11 Highlight the passage at 1:15:11

1:15:24 So concentration. So we do some concentration and then you can turn that concentrated mind to the analysis so that you can focus on the analysis. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:24 Highlight the passage at 1:15:24

1:15:41 And eventually what happens... go, oops, bring yourself back and back in the, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:41 Highlight the passage at 1:15:41

1:15:43 It's when you get that, like some kind of a feeling, a realization, and occasionally, not always, maybe in a meditation, you're doing Christian Shimon Rebirth, all of a sudden it's like, wow, and you get like, it sinks in here and it's like in your heart, it's like, whoa, wow, it's just amazing. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:43 Highlight the passage at 1:15:43

1:16:05 Then you can use your concentration to hold that feeling. The longer you hold a feeling, the more that realization begins to take hold. Because we can have little flashes of insight, but they just like flash going, just like lightning in the sky. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:05 Highlight the passage at 1:16:05

1:16:25 So we want to get the sun out. So we use the concentration to make it. And so that's why they say, what they say is when you actually... achieve calm abiding and you have this incredibly focused mind that realizations just come falling on you know it's just so easy what we're doing is we're just beginning right at the very beginning with little bitty steps and little bitty bits of practice order to make a habit so that Report an error in the passage at 1:16:25 Highlight the passage at 1:16:25

1:17:04 So that means you can do both. And so what you pick. To be your analytical meditation could be based on the homeworks or if we don't have homeworks it could be another topic that maybe you have a book that has meditations in it. You can take a meditation. And it's nice to stay with one thing for at least a week or for a specific amount of time. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:04 Highlight the passage at 1:17:04

1:17:41 So that you can actually get into it. And like what I was doing was sometimes if you have something to read that relates to it, you read a little bit that relates to what you're doing and then you read through the meditations and then you sit there and just kind of think. You just do it, you breathe, you know, think about it. You do the analysis. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:41 Highlight the passage at 1:17:41

1:18:09 But anyway, so I don't know if that answered your question. So, you know, you can do the ones that you like. The ones that you need, too. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:09 Highlight the passage at 1:18:09

1:18:27 The ones that will help you to cut the delusions, to loosen up our really strong grasping that we have, grasping at ourselves, at our own pleasures, whatever kind of thing like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:27 Highlight the passage at 1:18:27

1:18:44 Any other questions? So the next class is going to be meditation. And we'll be talking a lot. There's actually probably a lot of talking and not a lot of meditating. I'm hoping it'll be a lot more meditating. It'll be a lot more meditating. But, you know, there are like the levels of calm abiding and then there's the different problems that come up and the solutions for the problems. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:44 Highlight the passage at 1:18:44

1:19:15 All that kind of thing. So we can really begin to practice it together. Any other questions about Buddha nature, about saṃsāra, nirvāṇa, meditation? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:15 Highlight the passage at 1:19:15

1:19:39 Let's take a break. And then when we get back, it's really easy. I just plagiarized a bunch of quotes. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:39 Highlight the passage at 1:19:39

1:19:54 Like I said, I just totally plagiarized these quotes. There are Tenzin Palmo, and I mentioned Tenzin Palmo I think last week or one of the weeks. She spent 12 years meditating in a cave. She never laid down. She slept in her meditation box. I mean, she did it just like the Ramas and just like all of the great practitioners of the past. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:54 Highlight the passage at 1:19:54

1:20:26 At 13,000 feet in the mountains, in the cave, went through all kinds of hardships. She talks about one time when her little cave, the cave entrance, was totally buried under snow. And she thought she was just going to freeze and die in there. And she had like dug herself out with a cup or a spoon or some kind of, I forget what it was. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:26 Highlight the passage at 1:20:26

1:20:55 And then melted because she didn't have the water. She just took some of the water of the ice that she was digging out and melted it so she would have water. And finally got out with her cave. But in the process, besides having all of these obstacles and difficulties, she spent all of her time doing meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:55 Highlight the passage at 1:20:55

1:21:20 And she's quite amazing. So these are some of her... Quotes about meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:20 Highlight the passage at 1:21:20

1:21:31 And it kind of provides a key to our mind. So I'll just read some of them. Ordinary mind is like a waterfall. We can't stop the thoughts or separate them one from another because they're all jumbled together coming down. The challenge is to take the object with great patience and perseverance. Repeatedly placing the mind onto the object again and again. So it's like we have all this stuff. This is what we're talking about. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:31 Highlight the passage at 1:21:31

1:22:10 Developing that concentration and just the patience to keep going back and keep going back. If our minds are not centered, our speech and actions reflect that. If our minds are filled with negatives, ego clinging, attachment, aversion and so on. Of course, everything else is caught up in that vortex. Our planet is run by people who do not control their minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:10 Highlight the passage at 1:22:10

1:22:40 So we owe it to the planet itself to control our minds. It's not some quirky little new age thing. You think, I mean, that's really true. It's like I've never thought about it before, but this whole planet is being run by people that don't have control of their minds. No wonder we're in a big mess. Anyway, meditation is the way to learn to uproot negative qualities and develop good ones. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:40 Highlight the passage at 1:22:40

1:23:14 If we really want to do something well, we must give it time and attention so we have to believe it's important, otherwise we'll give up. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:14 Highlight the passage at 1:23:14

1:23:26 So if you like these quotes, I can print them onto a page and send it to everybody. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:26 Highlight the passage at 1:23:26

1:23:44 Even one person with a mind that's clear and peaceful and sees things will ripple out and affect so many other things. I think I typed that one. I have a typo. But anyway, so basically it says every mind that's clear and peaceful and sees things well ripples out and affects many others. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:44 Highlight the passage at 1:23:44

1:24:14 my reading, excuse me. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:14 Highlight the passage at 1:24:14

1:24:19 We must really want to meditate. We must really see the need. Whether or not we feel like it, without ever asking, do I feel like it? It's the same with yoga. You just do it. You make a routine for yourself. It's no good sitting when you feel like it. It's leaving it up to your ego. And that makes it sporadic. Meditation is to cut the mechanics of the ego. So we must recognize it and continue to bring the mind back. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:19 Highlight the passage at 1:24:19

1:25:00 Don't just think, oh, I'm a distracted person. I can't meditate. Your distracted minds show you how much you need to meditate. So that's a lot of times what happens is like. We go, well, you know, yeah, my mind is like here and there. It's all over the place. But, you know, it's not too bad. And then you sit down and you start to do the practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:00 Highlight the passage at 1:25:00

1:25:25 And it's like you start to do meditation. And pretty soon it's like your mind seems like it's just going getting worse. You go, wow, before I did this meditation, my mind was so much calmer. It's getting worse. It's supposed to be getting better. What's happening is you're just beginning to notice. And it does. I mean, I've had that experience myself. Holy cow. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:25 Highlight the passage at 1:25:25

1:25:55 Was it this bad? And I'm still surprised. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:55 Highlight the passage at 1:25:55

1:26:03 It's like, wow. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:03 Highlight the passage at 1:26:03

1:26:09 So with meditation, the mind should be spacious and peaceful, but also clear, bright and aware. Our awareness should be vivid. Unwavering, shining and sharp. There's a sense that the light has gone on in the mind, very bright and clear. When we get up from meditation, we should have a vivid, clear and bright. We should be vivid, clear and bright, not spaced out. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:09 Highlight the passage at 1:26:09

1:26:41 We are not becoming a bliss cloud. We're trying to become more present, more crisp and more aware. Is this happening for us? If we just get blissed out, hazy and cloudy, it's not working. So some people think that like a good meditation and they just get all blissed out and say, ooh, and they're in the la-la land and feeling great. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:41 Highlight the passage at 1:26:41

1:27:10 Oh, that was a good meditation. Not really. In fact, some of the good meditations are the really hard ones. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:10 Highlight the passage at 1:27:10

1:27:23 The ones that you... You know, that you really work to focus your mind and to bring it back. You can say, you know, the fact that you sat and you tried doing it, that makes it a good meditation. You don't have to be all blissed out or you don't even have to succeed because it takes a lot of practice before we can succeed. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:23 Highlight the passage at 1:27:23

1:27:47 You know, and usually we never really meet our expectations anyway because we always have higher expectations for ourselves than we could possibly achieve at that point. You know, it's like making a goal. You make goals, but it's not going to happen right then, so we're going to work towards it. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:47 Highlight the passage at 1:27:47

1:28:06 Our thoughts are serious business. Everything we say and do comes from our thoughts. People kill for their thoughts, so it's very important to step back. And see that thoughts are just thoughts and that feelings are just feelings. So this is something that meditation is really good for. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:06 Highlight the passage at 1:28:06

1:28:32 You must see an urgency in this. You must want to do it. You have to see how your mind being out of control is one of the causes of our problems. And in fact it's the cause of our problems. We're so used to blaming others. To see things outside as our problem. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:32 Highlight the passage at 1:28:32

1:28:56 The world is just the world. There are six and a half billion people and probably more now because you wrote this one time ago. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:56 Highlight the passage at 1:28:56

1:29:07 Six and a half billion people on this planet and no way is everyone going to do what we want. Remember Shantideva. The world is full of thorns and sharp stones. Do we cover the world with leather or do we cover our feet? The problem is in our mind, not out there. And this is good news because we can't change the whole world, but we are capable of getting our own minds into a good shape. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:07 Highlight the passage at 1:29:07

1:29:40 It is possible. So I mentioned about that before and it's really true. So in the process of becoming aware and... Clearing up our own minds and eliminating the delusions, we'll still encounter all of these things that come at us from outside. That's not going to necessarily stop it, but we'll have the tools to be able to deal with it. And the main thing is, instead of like now where we just, emotions just fly out of us before we even know it. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:40 Highlight the passage at 1:29:40

1:30:19 We'll be able to deal with whatever is coming up, whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, with a clear mind, with a peaceful mind. And so we'll actually be stronger and more effective in dealing with whatever it is, particularly with the negative things. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:19 Highlight the passage at 1:30:19

1:30:53 know, it's like, it's sometimes you think, like, people, people, like, sometimes when they're, um... They might be drowning or something. People will struggle and struggle so much, or maybe they're tangled in something, struggle so much that it almost causes more harm than if they were able to relax, they would float. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:53 Highlight the passage at 1:30:53

1:31:21 And so it's that struggling, that fighting, the turmoil that really can cause a lot of problems. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:21 Highlight the passage at 1:31:21

1:31:34 So millions have done this. It's possible, but it takes effort, like with the body. And if we do it, like the body, it becomes more enjoyable and the mind becomes more energized and flexible. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:34 Highlight the passage at 1:31:34

1:31:56 As the results begin to come, we gain confidence in our own abilities and we can view problems with dispassion and even compassion. As a result, Report an error in the passage at 1:31:56 Highlight the passage at 1:31:56

1:32:08 So it means we just won't be sucked into the problems. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:08 Highlight the passage at 1:32:08

1:32:14 Self-confidence is essential. We must trust or we won't even try. It's like a baby learning to walk, repeatedly trying again even though it falls. This is like us. We must believe we can do it. The baby never thinks, oh good for them, they can walk, I can't do this. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:14 Highlight the passage at 1:32:14

1:32:41 It never doubts itself but keeps trying. This is like us. If others can do it, it means it's possible. We put so much effort into so much else. Why not this? Report an error in the passage at 1:32:41 Highlight the passage at 1:32:41

1:33:00 So I thought those are really good quotes, kind of motivating quotes. I don't know if you want to have them or not have them. People want to have it just to kind of read through every... Once in a while or pile up in a pile of Dharma papers. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:00 Highlight the passage at 1:33:00

1:33:21 Well, I'm going to send them out. I didn't copy it. I'm going to send it by email because I've moved my room. I don't know. Let's see. Maybe when I got back. From India? I can't remember. No, before India. Before I went to India. But I have three boxes that are mostly like the small little prayer things and special things that you get when you go to different teachings and then a whole big box. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:21 Highlight the passage at 1:33:21

1:33:57 I have a big box of papers, not to mention the ones I've already sorted. So I know about the Dharma paper stacks. And there's really good stuff in there. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:57 Highlight the passage at 1:33:57

1:34:12 I know that too. One of my goals during the break between this class and when we start the next one is to at least try to get through. I want to categorize my boxes because I can't remember anymore. I've got so many notes. So I'm going to put it all on a list. I'm going to make a spreadsheet so I know what I have where. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:12 Highlight the passage at 1:34:12

1:34:39 So, so I don't. I spend so much time looking. When I did these classes, I'd go, oh yeah, there was something really good. I'd spend more time searching for it, and then I'd go, okay, just forget it. You're not going to get done if you just keep wasting all your time reading. Okay, let me read this. Oh, I knew it was somewhere in here. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:39 Highlight the passage at 1:34:39

1:35:03 Besides, I got this categorized. But I'll send that. you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:03 Highlight the passage at 1:35:03

1:35:13 I'll send it out by email and that way you can have it. So the meditation that I decided to do for this week, actually we haven't even talked about, but it's on equilibrium. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:13 Highlight the passage at 1:35:13

1:35:33 It's equalizing. So that means beginning to see all. All beings as equal. And the way we do that is we start with three people. You imagine a friend in front of you. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:33 Highlight the passage at 1:35:33

1:35:54 And then you imagine an enemy in front of you. And you imagine a stranger. And then there's an analysis that we do. So we can do a little bit. There's enough time that we can just do maybe a short bit before. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:54 Highlight the passage at 1:35:54

1:36:18 Before the end and then I can pass out, we have copies for everybody. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:18 Highlight the passage at 1:36:18

1:36:27 But so I think it will have to be the short version. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:27 Highlight the passage at 1:36:27

1:36:41 So get yourself in a comfortable position. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:41 Highlight the passage at 1:36:41

1:36:55 So get yourself in a comfortable position and take a few breaths, check the body, make sure it's in the right spot. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:55 Highlight the passage at 1:36:55

1:37:13 Imagine in front of you a friend. Get a good picture of that friend. Someone that you like. Somebody that causes you to have good feelings. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:13 Highlight the passage at 1:37:13

1:37:35 And kind of let yourself feel it. And then you want to have someone and see somebody in front of you who you don't like. Who may be your enemy. Someone that causes bad feelings to come up. And Report an error in the passage at 1:37:35 Highlight the passage at 1:37:35

1:38:07 the third person is a stranger, somebody that you're indifferent to, somebody that you neither like or dislike. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:07 Highlight the passage at 1:38:07

1:38:21 And this is the largest group. It's the vast majority of all the living beings come in the stranger group class. So if you can, try to think of someone that you might know at least a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:21 Highlight the passage at 1:38:21

1:38:38 But one that you don't really know or have any feelings for one way or another. It could be maybe a bus driver that you occasionally see or a store clerk or the mailman as he walk on the street. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38:38

1:38:57 Get the three people, Ben, enemy and the stranger. Now focus on the friend and really let the good feeling for them come up so that you can feel it. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:57 Highlight the passage at 1:38:57

1:39:20 Notice how the idea of friend kind of seems to actually come from that person. You see that person and it's like, yeah, thanks. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:20 Highlight the passage at 1:39:20

1:39:35 Reflect on how you see them as good and how they are the cause for you to feel good. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:35 Highlight the passage at 1:39:35

1:39:56 That person who is a friend is always good to you and satisfies your needs. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:56 Highlight the passage at 1:39:56

1:40:08 You can feel how you really want this person to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:08 Highlight the passage at 1:40:08

1:40:14 So kind of immerse yourself in those good feelings. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:14 Highlight the passage at 1:40:14

1:40:26 Then ask yourself, how much of these feelings for them comes from my attachment? To have the things they do for me or the way they treat me. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:26 Highlight the passage at 1:40:26

1:40:53 Shift your attention to the enemy. This is a person that may have hurt you, that you don't like, that doesn't satisfy your needs. They annoy you. They might make you angry. This person doesn't seem to benefit you in any way. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:53 Highlight the passage at 1:40:53

1:41:21 In fact, they may have even harmed you. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:21 Highlight the passage at 1:41:21

1:41:27 So look carefully at that person and see how you feel. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:27 Highlight the passage at 1:41:27

1:41:54 Now, turn your attention to the stranger. This is a person that you know very little about, that you don't really like or dislike. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:54 Highlight the passage at 1:41:54

1:42:12 Notice the feeling of indifference. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:12 Highlight the passage at 1:42:12

1:42:24 Annabelle Rubino says, it's embarrassing but there's no perceived benefit to us. We find these strangers so boring we can barely remember what they look like. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:24 Highlight the passage at 1:42:24

1:42:51 Now as we look at all three, Report an error in the passage at 1:42:51 Highlight the passage at 1:42:51

1:42:57 recognize that the basis for our relationship with these people is solely on what they do for us or what they don't do for us. At any point in time. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:57 Highlight the passage at 1:42:57

1:43:16 And look and see if that's a sound basis or not. Do you think it's valid or sound as a basis to determine? Report an error in the passage at 1:43:16 Highlight the passage at 1:43:16

1:43:33 Consider how since you've had beginningless lives, it's reasonable to think that each one of them has been your friend, an enemy and a stranger to you. Not just once but many times. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:33 Highlight the passage at 1:43:33

1:43:52 Your friend now could have been an enemy in another world or Report an error in the passage at 1:43:52 Highlight the passage at 1:43:52

1:44:02 even a stranger. I Report an error in the passage at 1:44:02 Highlight the passage at 1:44:02

1:44:10 think of all the variations of relationships you could have had with each one of them, sometimes a friend, sometimes an enemy and many times as a stranger. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:10 Highlight the passage at 1:44:10

1:44:41 So we want to look at again now when we look at the friend. So do you think they'll always be your friend? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:41 Highlight the passage at 1:44:41

1:44:56 Kind of check again and see how much of a good feeling comes from attachment. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:56 Highlight the passage at 1:44:56

1:45:06 What if they leave you? Report an error in the passage at 1:45:06 Highlight the passage at 1:45:06

1:45:13 Imagine now your friend turning against you. Imagine that they do something to really hurt you and feel the resentment and hurt that might come. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:13 Highlight the passage at 1:45:13

1:45:32 You no longer have that warm feeling that you had before and you may no longer wish them well. So where's your friend now? You Report an error in the passage at 1:45:32 Highlight the passage at 1:45:32

1:45:54 can think, this person before they were your friend, before you were acquainted as Report an error in the passage at 1:45:54 Highlight the passage at 1:45:54

1:46:05 a stranger, and they could easily stop being your friend and become an enemy. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:05 Highlight the passage at 1:46:05

1:46:21 So take a look, there's no real sound reason for feeling affection toward the friend at this moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:21 Highlight the passage at 1:46:21

1:46:33 Relationships change throughout your life, and they'll continue to change. Today's friend could become tomorrow's enemy and even later or at another point become a stranger. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:33 Highlight the passage at 1:46:33

1:46:50 Maybe you've experienced this already. You had somebody that you were dear to, a friend, something happened and he became your enemy. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:50 Highlight the passage at 1:46:50

1:47:13 So if you look at the enemy, you Report an error in the passage at 1:47:13 Highlight the passage at 1:47:13

1:47:18 think, well, what if something happens that brings you closer together? Something that you might have a common interest. Maybe the person says something nice to you or gives you something that you want. Maybe power, reputation, material things. All of a sudden we label them as friends. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:18 Highlight the passage at 1:47:18

1:47:53 So look carefully at the person and at your feelings and imagine that there's no necessarily any solid enemy there. I can do something very nice for you. That will change your mind. And Report an error in the passage at 1:47:53 Highlight the passage at 1:47:53

1:48:18 see if your feelings begin to soften towards that. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:18 Highlight the passage at 1:48:18

1:48:30 You can learn to feel warmly towards your enemy. When you feel warmly towards your enemy, where is your enemy? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:30 Highlight the passage at 1:48:30

1:48:44 Your enemies have become friends. And Report an error in the passage at 1:48:44 Highlight the passage at 1:48:44

1:48:51 in the past we probably have had people that we considered enemies and they did become our friends. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:51 Highlight the passage at 1:48:51

1:49:03 Sometimes all it takes is really getting to know someone. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:03 Highlight the passage at 1:49:03

1:49:12 So there's no solid enemy, nothing to really hold on to strongly. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:12 Highlight the passage at 1:49:12

1:49:22 And so then we can look at the stranger. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:22 Highlight the passage at 1:49:22

1:49:27 So with a stranger, any simple act of kindness or anger from that person, and it would immediately turn them into a friend or an enemy. So imagine that they found a wallet and they returned it to you with all the money and credit cards still in it. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:27 Highlight the passage at 1:49:27

1:49:48 Does your feelings for the person change or Report an error in the passage at 1:49:48 Highlight the passage at 1:49:48

1:49:56 any other little thing that they might be able to do with them? And Report an error in the passage at 1:49:56 Highlight the passage at 1:49:56

1:50:03 then think of how all of your current friends and enemies were all strangers beforehand. There's no inherent stranger and there's no sound reason for feeling indifferent. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:03 Highlight the passage at 1:50:03

1:50:19 So we look at all these three people and consider how fragile the relationships are. And how most of our interactions are based on misconceptions. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:19 Highlight the passage at 1:50:19

1:50:37 So why do we hold so strongly to these beliefs in people who feel alive? Our relationships are unstable and impermanent. So there's no part of them that we should hold on to that strongly. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:37 Highlight the passage at 1:50:37

1:51:01 So the last part of this meditation is seeing how... Your friend, your enemy and your stranger are just like you, but they all basically want happiness as much as you do. And just like you, they don't want to suffer. All living beings just want to be happy and they don't want pain. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:01 Highlight the passage at 1:51:01

1:51:32 And everything that we and others do comes from the basic drive to have happiness and avoid suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:32 Highlight the passage at 1:51:32

1:51:44 So you're all a friend, enemy, stranger, yourself. There's really no difference. Everybody wants happiness has managed like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:44 Highlight the passage at 1:51:44

1:51:57 Besides that, we all have the same nature of our minds. Our minds are clear and aware and we all have Buddha nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:57 Highlight the passage at 1:51:57

1:52:14 So when we have attachments, aversions and indifference towards others, we just don't see others or ourselves correctly. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:14 Highlight the passage at 1:52:14

1:52:28 And we just see others in terms of how they help us or harm us. And it's all filtered through our self-cherishing mind. So Report an error in the passage at 1:52:28 Highlight the passage at 1:52:28

1:52:43 we want to level our minds, even in a mundane sense. We want to keep this limited mind in check. And we want to try to see how everyone is like us. And it helps us to diminish our attachment towards the family. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:43 Highlight the passage at 1:52:43

1:53:17 reduce our anger and hostility, impatience for whatever it is, for the enemy. It allows us to see others as equal, that have feelings, and that we begin to open our hearts to all the strangers. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:17 Highlight the passage at 1:53:17

1:53:41 We can have compassion and warm feelings toward them. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:41 Highlight the passage at 1:53:41

1:54:10 I did the wrong way. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:10 Highlight the passage at 1:54:10

1:54:15 I kept looking at the clock, I was like, one more time, one more time, one more time, one more time, one more time, one more time. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:15 Highlight the passage at 1:54:15

1:54:21 So basically I picked that one because the more that we're able to develop equanimity, like I said at the end, and I don't think I put it in actually into the meditation here, but we diminish the attachment to the friend. That doesn't mean we don't have friends. And it doesn't mean we don't have enemies, but the reaction to them isn't like the strong, it's not going to be controlled by the delusions. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:21 Highlight the passage at 1:54:21

1:55:04 So what we're doing here is we're breaking down the delusions. We're breaking down the misconceptions, the solid friend, which is generally grasped out of attachment. And the solid enemy that comes up as a result of all of this hostility and anger that we have. And the stranger. This is kind of what we don't really care about. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:04 Highlight the passage at 1:55:04

1:55:41 So we're helping to develop the compassion to break down the hostilities and the attachments. And so it gives a more spacious mind. And not only that, but as we start to go through the classes and we get to beginning to look at the possibility of helping others and benefiting others, this is the foundation. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:41 Highlight the passage at 1:55:41

1:56:12 This is the foundation. This is the first meditation that you do in order to kind of level the playing field and being able to. See that everyone deserves the same kind of caring and love and compassion no matter what they're doing. Now we don't have to be right in their face. Like if I have an enemy, I'm not going to be right in their face, but I can have a good, you know, I can understand their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:12 Highlight the passage at 1:56:12

1:56:45 I can have compassion for them from a distance. You know, we got... We've got to use some wisdom here too. But anyway, so that's the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:45 Highlight the passage at 1:56:45

1:57:05 We'll do a quick couple of little prayers from page 6. Or maybe, what we'll do, let's pass those out. We'll just do the prayers. Sit down for a second or something. And then we'll just pass them all out. Yeah, yeah. We'll just do that. Now people can get up and start putting their papers away and all that. We'll just do the first two verses on the English side of page 6. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:05 Highlight the passage at 1:57:05

1:57:35 Through the merits of these virtuous actions, may I quickly attain the state of a Guru Buddha and lead all living beings without exception into that enlightened state. May the supreme jeweled bodhicitta that has not arisen arise and grow. And may that which has arisen not diminish but increase more and more. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:35 Highlight the passage at 1:57:35

1:58:00 So now practice day is on Saturday. We can start at 10.30 because it is a potluck. look, this is, this doing shorts. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:00 Highlight the passage at 1:58:00