Dzogchen Retreat 2015 - Realising our true nature (part 2)

0:16 Just a few days ago I finished leading a seven day retreat in Singapore in Shamatha. And in seven days I think we must have covered a dozen different methods of variations on mindfulness of breathing and so on. So it gave them really a rich variety of practices to draw on that hopefully they can benefit from over the coming months. I'd like to do something quite the opposite for our six days here. Report an error in the passage at 0:16 Highlight the passage at 0:16

0:38 Actually teach only a few methods and spend a lot of time with them. So I have been commonly teaching at least four different methods of mindfulness of breathing. I like to focus just on one. It's really, really helpful. I found it being helpful. And it's a particular approach to mindfulness of breathing that is specifically coming from the Dzogchen tradition. So it's going to be a very, very smooth transition to go from this mode of mindfulness of breathing right into, on the same current, into practices, the ones that explicitly Jujum Lingpa teaches. Report an error in the passage at 0:38 Highlight the passage at 0:38

1:12 And going right into Dzogchen practice itself. So I'll just say this now once for everyone, you can bear it in mind. For the type of practices we're going to be doing, the sitting and the supine positions are generally the best. But during the breaks, to a certain extent, you can certainly practice these while walking or standing. We have this lovely large property around us, very open, lots of birds, very pleasant and quiet. Report an error in the passage at 1:12 Highlight the passage at 1:12

1:39 But while we're here in this room, At any time, if you'd like to be sitting in the chair or the cross-legged, of course, but at any time, and that includes all the sessions, if you'd like to be in the supine position, if you find that you're able to meditate more effectively that way with less wear and tear on the body, less discomfort, you're always welcome to do so. Report an error in the passage at 1:39 Highlight the passage at 1:39

1:59 So I think a lot of you know that. I see the meditation mats or the yoga mats already out. So, without further ado, please do find a comfortable posture and we'll go right into the practice and we're going to be lingering in this one method for the next couple of days, I imagine. We shall see. Report an error in the passage at 1:59 Highlight the passage at 1:59

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:56 Just a comment on the posture for those sitting upright. It is important, of course, that the spine is straight, but also that your head is well balanced above your neck, that it's not tilting over, it's not drooping down, but really quite sitting at attention with a very gentle curve in your neck. Your head well positioned, balanced right on top of your neck, not tilting backwards or forwards, let alone to the sides. Your chest drawn slightly upwards, your Report an error in the passage at 2:56 Highlight the passage at 2:56

3:32 diaphragm or the solar plexus just drawn up a bit so that as you're sitting upright and you breathe in with your abdominal muscles loose and relaxed, your belly can easily expand so in no way can strain by your posture. Report an error in the passage at 3:32 Highlight the passage at 3:32

3:52 So spine straight. Your head can be just slightly tilted downwards, but the center of gravity should be right over your neck, well supported by your spine, Report an error in the passage at 3:52 Highlight the passage at 3:52

4:08 sitting at a tension where your body is both simultaneously relaxed and still, but also adopting a posture of vigilance. In the supine position, of course, you're in total relaxation. Every muscle of the body should be relaxed and loose. Your body should be in a straight line. Report an error in the passage at 4:08 Highlight the passage at 4:08

4:33 A comfortable pillow under your head, and the vigilance does not manifest in your posture, but it does manifest in your mind, that you retain that clarity, that engagement, that full commitment to practice, even though outwardly it looks like you could be taking a nap. Report an error in the passage at 4:33 Highlight the passage at 4:33

4:53 So with that preface, let's settle the body in its natural state, relaxed, still and vigilant, mindfully present throughout the body. Your Report an error in the passage at 4:53 Highlight the passage at 4:53

5:14 eyes may be gently open, partially open. Or closed as you wish for this practice. Report an error in the passage at 5:14 Highlight the passage at 5:14

5:37 By settling the body in this posture that is simultaneously relaxed, still and vigilant, we settle the body in its natural state, which is one of dynamic equilibrium, and Report an error in the passage at 5:37 Highlight the passage at 5:37

5:54 then we settle the speech in its natural state of effortless silence, which is easy to do in terms of our outer voice, and not so easy to do in terms of the inner voice, the chit-chat of the mind, to facilitate that. Report an error in the passage at 5:54 Highlight the passage at 5:54

6:13 To bring about this inner quiet, we settle the respiration in its natural rhythm, Report an error in the passage at 6:13 Highlight the passage at 6:13

6:24 allowing the breath to come in, to flow out without constraint and without effort. Report an error in the passage at 6:24 Highlight the passage at 6:24

· · · silence, 1 minute

7:07 The key here is the out-breath. Take advantage of every exhalation as a time to relax more and more deeply in the body, surrendering your muscles to gravity. Report an error in the passage at 7:07 Highlight the passage at 7:07

7:25 With every out-breath, release the breath all the way through to the end without forcefully expelling it. But holding nothing in reserve and Report an error in the passage at 7:25 Highlight the passage at 7:25

7:48 with every out-breath, as you note thoughts or images arising in the mind, simply release them as if your out-breath were a gentle gust of breeze blowing away dry leaves. Report an error in the passage at 7:48 Highlight the passage at 7:48

8:09 Release the thoughts so they dissolve back into the space of the mind with every out-breath. Return to silence. Report an error in the passage at 8:09 Highlight the passage at 8:09

· · · silence, 1 minute

9:28 And then we settle the mind in its natural state and this begins with a deliberate act of will. And allowing of ourselves the freedom, the leisure to release all concerns about the future and the past for the short duration of this session. Set it all aside and Report an error in the passage at 9:28 Highlight the passage at 9:28

9:54 allow yourself the freedom to let your awareness come to rest carefree in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 9:54 Highlight the passage at 9:54

10:25 Let your mind be loose and relaxed, your awareness still and Report an error in the passage at 10:25 Highlight the passage at 10:25

10:34 naturally bright and clear. Report an error in the passage at 10:34 Highlight the passage at 10:34

· · · silence, 1 minute

11:11 Now the central feature of this method. It's to let your awareness rest right where it already is without being directed outwards to any of the sense fields, including the tactile field, without being directed inwards to thoughts or feelings, emotions, but simply resting without direction, Report an error in the passage at 11:11 Highlight the passage at 11:11

11:36 without focusing on any object, but without spacing out. Sustain the flow of cognizance, the flow of knowing, which is the very nature of awareness. Report an error in the passage at 11:36 Highlight the passage at 11:36

11:53 But without directing that flow of knowing to any object, simply be present. Report an error in the passage at 11:53 Highlight the passage at 11:53

12:18 Whatever thoughts come up, let them arise and let them fade away of their own accord without doing anything about them, without particularly attending to them. Just be at rest without Report an error in the passage at 12:18 Highlight the passage at 12:18

12:34 attending to this or that. Report an error in the passage at 12:34 Highlight the passage at 12:34

· · · silence, 1 minute

13:35 The practice is very simple. It entails simply resting in the present moment, sustaining the flow of mindful awareness. Without distraction, without being drawn out to any appearance, to any within the five sense fields or appearances to the mind, without being distracted by any appearance, without grasping onto and identifying with any subjective impulse of thinking, of feeling, of wanting and so on. Report an error in the passage at 13:35 Highlight the passage at 13:35

14:09 Sustain the flow of mindfulness without distraction, without grasping. Now Report an error in the passage at 14:09 Highlight the passage at 14:09

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15:04 a central point here is to let your awareness be still. Report an error in the passage at 15:04 Highlight the passage at 15:04

15:10 And to know it is still. Report an error in the passage at 15:10 Highlight the passage at 15:10

15:15 It is often said in this tradition of Dzogchen that the mind is baseless and rootless. It's not grounded in any reality that is substantial and real. So let your awareness float with no root, no basis, no ground. Let it float, Report an error in the passage at 15:15 Highlight the passage at 15:15

15:42 hovering without Report an error in the passage at 15:42 Highlight the passage at 15:42

15:47 any basis, without any support, without anything on which to latch on. Report an error in the passage at 15:47 Highlight the passage at 15:47

· · · silence, 1 minute

16:47 Now as you're resting in the stillness of your awareness, you're bound to become more and more explicitly aware of the experience of being aware, the awareness of awareness. Rest in that flow of cognizance and Report an error in the passage at 16:47 Highlight the passage at 16:47

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17:56 without deliberately giving any attention to it, as you're simply resting there in stillness, you're bound to be aware of the fluctuations in the field of your tactile experience corresponding to the in and out breath. Report an error in the passage at 17:56 Highlight the passage at 17:56

18:13 It's not that you're looking for it. But these sensations around the field of the body rise up to meet you like waves washing up on the shore of your awareness. So Report an error in the passage at 18:13 Highlight the passage at 18:13

18:54 with the main force of your mindfulness, simply rest in the stillness of your awareness, self-knowing awareness. But peripherally, Report an error in the passage at 18:54 Highlight the passage at 18:54

19:09 do be aware of these fluctuations in the field of the body corresponding to the in-breath, the out-breath. Report an error in the passage at 19:09 Highlight the passage at 19:09

19:30 So stay in touch. Stay in tune with the flow of your respiration, noting with each in and out breath, whether it is long or short. Report an error in the passage at 19:30 Highlight the passage at 19:30

· · · silence, 1 minute

20:45 Do not seek to modify, regulate, control the breath in any way. Report an error in the passage at 20:45 Highlight the passage at 20:45

20:53 Let the body breathe without intervention. However the breath may flow, whether it's deep or shallow, regular or irregular, simply witness the flow of the breath without intervening. Report an error in the passage at 20:53 Highlight the passage at 20:53

· · · silence, 2 minutes

22:49 Clearly detect. The stillness of your awareness and the movements within the field of the body corresponding to the respiration. Stillness and movement. Now Report an error in the passage at 22:49 Highlight the passage at 22:49

· · · silence, 1 minute

24:30 I'd again check up on the face to see that there's no tension there. The eyes are soft. All the muscles around the eyes are soft. The jaw is soft. Report an error in the passage at 24:30 Highlight the passage at 24:30

24:42 Very important not to let tension mount in the face and especially around the eyes. So Report an error in the passage at 24:42 Highlight the passage at 24:42

· · · silence, 3 minutes

27:39 over the next couple of days I will make some further comments about this particular approach. To mindfulness of breathing, it does come specifically out of the Dzogchen tradition. Some points though that I've not heard from the Dzogchen tradition, but actually from others who are, how do you say, have good experience. Report an error in the passage at 27:39 Highlight the passage at 27:39

28:01 Interesting points. First of all, why this strong emphasis, it's something like 80 % or so, give or take, of the focus of attention is not focusing the attention here or there. But just floating, just that awareness, resting in its own place, holding its own ground. Well, this is very classic Dzogchen. Report an error in the passage at 28:01 Highlight the passage at 28:01

28:23 The point of Dzogchen practice above all is really to fathom the very nature of your awareness. How do you fathom something? By looking at it very carefully for a long time. Whether that's the moon, the stars, the earth, photosynthesis, whatever it is, if you really like to understand it, look at it with great precision for a long time and things make it become clearer and clearer and the mind is no exception. Report an error in the passage at 28:23 Highlight the passage at 28:23

28:46 But what I found very interesting, and it now seems to be quite clearly true, part of this I learned years ago from my colleague Stephen LaBerge, who's one of the world experts on lucid dreaming. Interesting point, I'll just mention it. Not terribly significant, but maybe not irrelevant. It turns out, scientifically established, that when you're dreaming, whether you're lucid or not, when you're dreaming, you may very well, in the midst of the dream, have a sense of breathing. Report an error in the passage at 28:46 Highlight the passage at 28:46

29:14 And it's quite unusual, because in a dream, You can, for example, breathe underwater. That's interesting because there's no more oxygen above the water than there is under the water because there's no oxygen in a dream, right? You don't have any lungs in the dream. And if you're wondering whether you're dreaming, one of the state checks I've learned about recently, state checks means something that can really give you a clear indicator whether you're dreaming or not dreaming, try this. Report an error in the passage at 29:14 Highlight the passage at 29:14

29:42 Cover your mouth and cover your nose and see if you can still breathe. In the dream you can. Again, there's no air, so what should a little pinch nose be? Why would that be a problem? But coming back to the dream, it turns out that while in the midst of a dream, the dreaming you're experiencing within the dream, where you have no explicit awareness of your body lying in bed at all, which is very bizarre. Report an error in the passage at 29:42 Highlight the passage at 29:42

30:11 You're aware of your body moving around in the dream, but that's completely a mental body. It's not a physical body at all, right? So you're aware of that body. You can shake hands with somebody in the dream and you can feel the handshake. But the body lying in bed, you don't know whether it's curled over or tucked in a, you know, you have no idea on its back, on the front and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 30:11 Highlight the passage at 30:11

30:29 You have no experience of your body at all. You do have the experience of being incorporated, embodied within the dream, but it's purely a mental body. Here's the interesting point, that the rhythm, the cycle of your breathing in the dream corresponds to the breathing rhythm of your body lying in bed. Report an error in the passage at 30:29 Highlight the passage at 30:29

30:47 That's interesting. So if you hold your breath in the dream, which of course you can do as easily as you can during the waking state, if you hold your breath during the dream, the body lying in bed holds its breath. So it's one of the ways you can make signals from the dream state to somebody who's watching your body. You can send Morse code with your breath if you like. It's quite interesting. Report an error in the passage at 30:47 Highlight the passage at 30:47

31:11 Why that should be so, I don't know, but it is an empirical fact. That the breathing of the body, the organic biological body lying in bed corresponds to the breathing of that mental body in the dream. Here's something I learned only recently that I find even more interesting. If you're in deep dreamless sleep and you're lucid, that's a skill that can be cultivated. Report an error in the passage at 31:11 Highlight the passage at 31:11

31:40 So just like lucid dreaming, you're dreaming and you know you're dreaming, you can also be in deep dreamless sleep and know you're in deep dreamless sleep In that state, it turns out, while you have no explicit awareness of your body whatsoever, there's just no indicator of it all, you could be in deep space, you're awake, that is you're aware, you're lucid, and you're lucid of kind of nothing, I mean it's just a sheer vacuity, there's no appearances there, and yet, without having any tactile experience of your body lying in bed, you're aware of the rhythm of the respiration. Report an error in the passage at 31:40 Highlight the passage at 31:40

32:20 You have no bodily sensation and you're still aware of the rhythm of the respiration. I find that quite interesting. In other words, you could be practicing mindfulness of breathing even in deep dreamless sleep because you are aware of the rhythm even though you have no experience of the body or tactile sensations in the body. Report an error in the passage at 32:20 Highlight the passage at 32:20

32:41 That's interesting. So we'll be doing this for a couple of days. Get used to it. And moreover, you can do it when you're walking about. When you're just resting, you're lying on your back, doing whatever you want to do, as just generally speaking, this is a shamatha practice designed to enhance attention skills and mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 32:41 Highlight the passage at 32:41

33:08 And the key to that shamatha practice is practice as continuously as you can. That's really what makes the progress. Don't just pick it up and then let your mind, don't go back into the rut. And for most of us, especially living in modernity, the default mode is rumination. So scientific studies have investigated this as well, and it's been found that if you just go to downtown Sydney, and if you just monitor people there, have them do questionnaires and so forth, or you measure it, it's very simple to do it, it turns out that 80 % of the time people are caught up in rumination thinking about something that is not the reality at hand. Report an error in the passage at 33:08 Highlight the passage at 33:08

33:48 80 % of the time. In other words, that's the default mode. Mind wandering is the norm. And once in a while we touch base with reality. So this retreat should be a time of turnaround to change the default mode. Because it's not a healthy default mode. It's not particularly constructive. It's not very creative. It's exhausting. It tends overall to be unpleasant. Rumination by and large tends to be unpleasant. Report an error in the passage at 33:48 Highlight the passage at 33:48

34:15 And so there's really no upside to just having your mind wander and ruminate and ruminate and ruminate in kind of a semi-conscious fashion. There's really no upside to that at all. It's just a draining of energy without anything really to show for it at the end of the day. And so a much healthier, much more sane default mode when you're not needed to respond to your email or eat your food or clean your dishes or make your bed and so forth, when there's nothing you really need to be doing, rather than just slipping into rumination, slip into an awareness that is still, that's clear and is maintaining a peripheral awareness of the breath. Report an error in the passage at 34:15 Highlight the passage at 34:15

34:53 And you can do that at every stoplight you come to in traffic when you're driving about. There are just many occasions throughout the course of the day when you can come back to that and just keep on coming back, coming back to a point of stillness and of clarity. It's healthy. It's good. So, with that note, let's now turn to the text. So he's given us this paragraph about what kind of like an idiot he is. Report an error in the passage at 34:53 Highlight the passage at 34:53

35:27 Not any teachers, just made up his own practices. He's really arrogant about it, really proud. Thinks it's really a realization. But he has no excellent qualities at all. And he's like a marmot that's just hibernating. And I think if we try to understand, why is he saying this at all? My sense of it, so here's a diagnosis. Report an error in the passage at 35:27 Highlight the passage at 35:27

35:47 I could be completely wrong, but trying to make sense of it. Number one, I think it's a sense of humor. As I've experienced this directly from my own teacher, Yatra Damrachi especially. But also I think there's this, and that is he's taking the attention really away from him and saying now, heads up, we're about to go right into the practice. Report an error in the passage at 35:47 Highlight the passage at 35:47

36:08 In the very next line, in my opinion, he's about to go into really core practice. And my sense is he wants us to focus on the practice. Don't worry about him. Just focus on the practice. And then see for yourself this marvelous phrase from the Pāli canon, Ehi Pasi. Come and see. Here are the teachings, these you can investigate, and see for yourself whether they're authentic. So some people may read this opening paragraph and say, wow, he sounds like a very flaky kind of guy. Report an error in the passage at 36:08 Highlight the passage at 36:08

36:39 And then you get to the end of it, and if you've understood what he's written here, you may want to reassess whether he's actually the flaky guy that he presents himself as being. Report an error in the passage at 36:39 Highlight the passage at 36:39

36:54 But it's really all about the teachings. As they say among the three refuges, taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha, which one is the most explicit, the direct, the real refuge? Which one's primary among Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha? Which one? Volunteer. The Dharma, yeah. The Dharma, the Dharma, the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 36:54 Highlight the passage at 36:54

37:12 The Buddha is one that reveals the Dharma. The Saṅgha are those who help you practice Dharma. That which liberates is the Dharma. And this is why I'm very content. I just feel utterly at ease. About just making no reference at all. I mean, I might mention an experience once in a while, if it seems relevant. But people ask me this or that, and they say, but just nothing to say. Report an error in the passage at 37:12 Highlight the passage at 37:12

37:32 Nothing to say. Do I ever realize this? Do I know that? Do I know that? Just nothing to say. It's just, I would really encourage it not to be a focus of interest. This should be the focus of interest. And all that really matters, frankly, is at the end of the six days, was this beneficial or not? If it's not beneficial, even if I'm a Vidya, even if I were a Vidya Dada, you know, incredibly realized, speaking all from my direct experience, at the end of the six days, if you didn't get any benefit, then who cares? Report an error in the passage at 37:32 Highlight the passage at 37:32

38:03 And even if I'm a total flake, I just watch television all day when nobody's watching and I eat bonbons, you know, and I just make sure that nobody looks, nobody sees what a total goof-off I am, you know, total phony. Report an error in the passage at 38:03 Highlight the passage at 38:03

38:21 Just, what's that phrase? Just chucking wobblies all the time, you know. If at the end of the six days you find the teachings really helpful, then I can be the biggest wobbly chucker in Australia, and it's still helpful. So at the end of the day, that's all that really matters. And if it's not helpful, there's just no reason to come back to this teacher. And maybe, you might want to receive teachings on this from somebody else, because there are many more qualified people than I, but it's really all about our own practice. Report an error in the passage at 38:21 Highlight the passage at 38:21

38:51 And do we derive benefit or not? So with that, he starts, well, in my opinion, if you don't submit your own snout to the hook and rope of self-centeredness, but rather aspire for the hereafter, for what happens following this life, but rather aspire for the hereafter by thinking of definitely reaping a harvest for all future lives, free of deception, Report an error in the passage at 38:51 Highlight the passage at 38:51

39:16 if that's where you are, if that's your motivation, then if you don't do something meaningful in this present, precious human rebirth, With its leisure and opportunity, if you don't make this life meaningful, it will be difficult to obtain such an opportunity repeatedly in the future. Report an error in the passage at 39:16 Highlight the passage at 39:16

39:34 I'm the translator here, I'm responsible. I couldn't make that into a short sentence or short sentences. It's very, very dense. He packed an awful lot into that sentence. So let's linger there. So submitting your snout, sounds like a pig, your snout to the hook. So this is, you know, or a bull, you know, you know what it's like. The hook goes through the nose and then the hook, so what did he say here, the hook and the rope. Report an error in the passage at 39:34 Highlight the passage at 39:34

39:59 So you put the hook through the beast's nose and then you tie a rope around his neck, whatever, and then you just let, you drag it here and there. It's a beast of burden, right? You're putting the pig or the donkey or the cow to work and that's how you do it. Report an error in the passage at 39:59 Highlight the passage at 39:59

40:12 Well, so many people think I'm a free spirit, I'm an independent thinker and so forth. I have free will. And yet, They're actually slaves, entirely slaves, slaves of self-centeredness, slaves to the delusional notion that one's own well-being is more important than anybody else's. So if you don't do that, if you don't fall under the domination of, under the slavery of self-centeredness, which is antithetical to the whole bodhicitta ideal, if you don't do that, but rather... Report an error in the passage at 40:12 Highlight the passage at 40:12

40:46 Taking into account, I mean this is not a beginner's text, you've already come to at least the working hypothesis, maybe a very strong conviction that there is a subtle dimension of your own mind stream that is not dependent upon the brain, that does not perish when your body perishes and that you're in here, you're in reality, you're a full participant and there is no escape. Report an error in the passage at 40:46 Highlight the passage at 40:46

41:12 There is no escape from reality. Many people... Believe there is, I'm sure they find great relief in that. The notion that lights out total obliteration at death, I'm sure they find that very comforting. Unfortunately for them, it's not true. I mean, it's one of the most well-established facts about human existence by so many sources. They gave a talk on that last night. Well, listen to last night's talk. I'm not going to give it again. Report an error in the passage at 41:12 Highlight the passage at 41:12

41:38 But the evidence actually is overwhelming from so many sources that a continuum of individual consciousness carries on, and it's going to be your continuum. Not somebody else's, in which case right now, each of us, we are sowing the seeds for our own harvest later on. And so by aspiring for the hereafter, taking the long view, taking the long view, by thinking of definitely reaping a harvest for future lifetimes, sowing seeds now by our practice, by our motivation, by dedication of merit, so that the fruits of our labors will be sweet. Report an error in the passage at 41:38 Highlight the passage at 41:38

42:13 And they will be long lasting and they will carry us through with continuity for all future lives. And you see the enormous density of his writing here. Reaping a harvest for all future lives, free of deception. For people who have such an aspiration, if you have that aspiration, in other words, you've gotten this clear. Report an error in the passage at 42:13 Highlight the passage at 42:13

42:35 I mean, this is monumental. It's so against the grain of the reductionism, materialism, the nihilism, frankly, that is so rampant in the modern era. And seeing through all of that, somehow miraculously escaping the mire of this utter reductionism of human beings to brains, human beings to animals, to robots, to matter. Report an error in the passage at 42:35 Highlight the passage at 42:35

42:55 Seeing through that deception and seeing here we are, we are carving our way, we are crafting our own future. And having the aspiration to so profoundly and continuously dedicate ourselves to Dharma that we really set out on a path. And that path carries on through a lifetime. So you see a clear, sequential, gradual evolution from decade to decade. Report an error in the passage at 42:55 Highlight the passage at 42:55

43:25 And that evolution continues unbroken in all future lifetimes. In other words, from now until enlightenment, an unbroken continuity of spiritual maturation, of growth, of more and more fully realizing our ultimate potential. That is a strong aspiration. An awake aspiration, that is bodhicitta. And that's path. So I know a lot of people practice Dharma. Christian Dharma, Buddhist Dharma, Hindu Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 43:25 Highlight the passage at 43:25

43:56 A lot of people practicing Dharma with no religious connotation. And it's all good. It's all good to devote ourselves to virtue. It's all good. But finding a path is something more. A lot of people receive empowerments and teachings here and teachings there and teachings there. And they've got this nice array of practices they do. Report an error in the passage at 43:56 Highlight the passage at 43:56

44:19 But where's the path? Where do you see that you're really on a path and not just practicing Dharma? And that's what this text is about, finding a path and knowing you're on the path and progressing on that path that carries you through all of this lifetime, whether it ends tomorrow or 50 years from now, that you're sowing seeds that will reap a harvest for all future lifetimes free of deception. Report an error in the passage at 44:19 Highlight the passage at 44:19

44:43 If you have that aspiration and you've extricated yourself from the domination of self-centeredness, Then if you don't do something meaningful in this present precious human rebirth with leisure, unlike much of the human population right now, I mean billions of people literally, who have virtually no leisure, either because they're so poor or they're so rich or they're just so busy. Report an error in the passage at 44:43 Highlight the passage at 44:43

45:12 And that includes most people, I think. I think I just covered most of humanity. They're so poor. And how can we say this with anything other than compassion? They're so poor. That just pretty much every waking moment, they're just trying to find enough food, clothing, shelter for their families. And how can that be reprehensible? Report an error in the passage at 45:12 Highlight the passage at 45:12

45:31 I mean, that's just, what can we say is, I wish you well. It has to be a top priority if your children don't have enough to eat. You're not ready to go off to a one-week retreat. You do not have that leisure. And then I know quite a few wealthy people, some of them fabulously wealthy. They may as well be impoverished. Report an error in the passage at 45:31 Highlight the passage at 45:31

45:51 They may as well be right down with the lowest of the low because they have no leisure. They're so wealthy. Their tentacles are so embedded in so many, many areas. They can hardly even breathe because it's just one demand on their time after another, after another. They've got all this wealth. And sure, they give themselves a glamorous vacation here and there and they've got a really nice house and a really fast car and all of that jazz. But man, they're totally slaves. Report an error in the passage at 45:51 Highlight the passage at 45:51

46:19 I've seen this so often. They're some of the people with the least leisure that I've encountered anywhere. They're very wealthy. And then we have everybody in between, where probably most of us are. And many people just make themselves so busy with one thing after another. There is no time. Can you meditate every day? Oh, I have no time. Report an error in the passage at 46:19 Highlight the passage at 46:19

46:37 I'm sorry, but I'm just too busy. Which means you have no leisure, which means you're just getting old and you're going to die. So we do have the leisure, all of us who are here, all of us who have the time to watch the video of this, that means you have leisure, that you don't have to take this time because this is not going to make you any money. Report an error in the passage at 46:37 Highlight the passage at 46:37

46:56 Listening to this tape, this will not make you any money. I'm not going to help you out there. I have nothing to offer. So if you think you're going to get a raise or a promotion or something by listening to me, oh, turn it off right now. Report an error in the passage at 46:56 Highlight the passage at 46:56

47:08 A lot out there can help you. I can't help you. And so we have leisure and we have not only leisure, spare time that we're not filling with meaningless activity. Because I think our civilization, this modern civilization, I think we're over the top, we're maxing out, we're achieving unbelievable heights of ways of pissing away our time. Report an error in the passage at 47:08 Highlight the passage at 47:08

47:35 The incredible variety, ingenuity of ways of completely pissing away the time. The video games, the... I read Time Magazine on a regular basis, online, and they say, watch this cute little thing here, watch this cute little, I'm thinking, my God, I'm going here for news, and you're saying, watch this cute little poodle bark, watch this guy, watch what this celebrity says about that celebrity. Report an error in the passage at 47:35 Highlight the passage at 47:35

48:03 I think, my God, this used to be about news, and now it's about crap. It's just like anything to get your mind off of being who you are, and just as if you've got time to kill. Endless time to kill. The ways that we squander our leisure or stagger the imagination. And then the opportunity, of course, is not just the opportunity to make money, to get power and to get prestige and status and reputation. Report an error in the passage at 48:03 Highlight the passage at 48:03

48:30 The opportunity to actually do something so meaningful that you turn your whole life around with such dedication, such continuity, that you see you're actually evolving in the most meaningful way possible. Because after all biological evolution isn't going anywhere at all. It's a true statement in evolution biology. Species don't evolve to become better. Report an error in the passage at 48:30 Highlight the passage at 48:30

48:57 None of them are. Not humans or anybody else. They're not evolving to become better. Ask any evolutionist. Species are not evolving to become better. They're simply evolving in a changing environment so they can continue to survive and procreate. That's it. That's a success story. Not getting smarter or faster or stronger or more ingenious or more creative. It's just adapting so you survive and procreate. That's it. Report an error in the passage at 48:57 Highlight the passage at 48:57

49:21 That's all we get biologically. Mazel tov. You survived, you procreated. That's it. This is spiritual evolution. This is path. This is voluntary. It doesn't happen by genetic mutation. And we have that opportunity. Leisure and opportunity. That's why it's called a precious... Human rebirth if we don't do something meaningful with this extremely rare opportunity. And Buddhists have been saying this for centuries, that having a precious human rebirth with the full leisure and the full opportunity of spiritual friends, authentic teachings, authentic teachers, having the faith, the intention, the motivation, everything, all of those circumstances coming together. Report an error in the passage at 49:21 Highlight the passage at 49:21

50:02 It's extremely rare. And they've been saying this in Tibet for hundreds and hundreds of years. And who would really believe it? Because, you know, there's one monastery for every thousand people. One monastery for every thousand people in Tibet before the genocide. So who would really think, you know, but everybody's got this, you know. Report an error in the passage at 50:02 Highlight the passage at 50:02

50:22 Hardly anybody was really busy in Tibet. I mean, if you're a herder, you're a nomad, I mean, how busy is that? And if you're a farmer, well, you've got long winters. There's not much to do in the winter, you know. They were pretty laid back. They called Nyingma Rinpo, the days are long, you know. Tibet was not a very busy place. Report an error in the passage at 50:22 Highlight the passage at 50:22

50:42 And so they would be meditating on this, and I'm sure they did something with it. But now that we have the media, we have the internet, we have all of our media, we know what's going on in the world. We get a pretty good sampling. How are things going in the Near East? How are they going in Africa? How are they going in Brazil? And so forth and so on. And what's happening with the human population. Report an error in the passage at 50:42 Highlight the passage at 50:42

51:02 And now when it speaks of leisure and opportunity and how rare that is, it strikes home, doesn't it? This is not made up. Not make-believe. This is real. For us to be able to sit in this room right now and have leisure and encounter teaching like this, as they say, it's more rare than a star during the daytime, a supernova. Report an error in the passage at 51:02 Highlight the passage at 51:02

51:23 And so if we don't take advantage of this opportunity, this one right now, with its leisure and an opportunity, if we piss it away by just enjoying, you know, enjoying relatively affluent Australia, it's a cool country. I've been here now many times. It's really a cool country. It's loose, it's liberal, it's a lot of freedom. Report an error in the passage at 51:23 Highlight the passage at 51:23

51:44 A lot of beauty, a lot of good food, beautiful, you know, you know your own country. Why not just enjoy it, you know, get old and die? Report an error in the passage at 51:44 Highlight the passage at 51:44

51:55 But don't count on Australia next time. It could be someplace else. Probably not as nice. So if you don't do something meaningful with this lifetime, it will be difficult to obtain such an opportunity repeatedly in the future. Report an error in the passage at 51:55 Highlight the passage at 51:55

52:11 I think more broadly speaking, We human beings have some things that are utterly anomalies in terms of evolutionary biology, for which I have enormous respect in understanding our animal nature. And we are, after all, primates. I don't doubt that for a second. And so to understand us as primates, you know, together with the baboons and the whales and so forth and so on, enormous explanatory power, really brilliant theory. Report an error in the passage at 52:11 Highlight the passage at 52:11

52:34 That's why I'm proud of old Wallace, you know, Alfred Russell. Good job. Good on you, mate. You know, Darwin did, you know, did well as well. Good guy. Of course, there's no explanatory power at all to explain why we're so intelligent. I've spoken to world experts. We have so much more horsepower up here in the frontal cortex than we possibly need. Report an error in the passage at 52:34 Highlight the passage at 52:34

52:56 I mean, by maybe a thousandfold. We are so much more intelligent than we possibly need for procreation and, you know, for survival and procreation. It's ridiculous. It's like, get out of here. And I've asked world class, why did we evolve with this much intelligence, which is maybe a thousand times more than we need. After all, alligators are better at this than we are. Report an error in the passage at 52:56 Highlight the passage at 52:56

53:16 They've been around for a couple hundred million years. Cockroaches are better. Rats are better. We may wipe out the human species, but the cockroaches will make it. And the alligators will make it. And I'm sure those rats, they're probably going to hang in there. Let alone smaller organisms that mutate so quickly, like fruit flies. They'll be doing okay. Report an error in the passage at 53:16 Highlight the passage at 53:16

53:36 So what on earth do we have this intelligence for, this creativity, this awareness of our own mortality, this striving for virtue, this striving for fulfillment, our incredible capacity for art, for philosophy, for music, for spirituality, for virtue. Why do we have such massive overkill? And there is no biological explanation. So a simple point here now, right back to Buddhism, is that's what we have right now. Report an error in the passage at 53:36 Highlight the passage at 53:36

54:02 Way, way, way beyond any amount of intelligence we need. For survival and procreation, or for getting enough to eat, and so forth. What are we doing with that? This massive inheritance, like we're all billionaires when it comes to our intelligence, in terms of our actual material needs. We are so much more richly endowed than we possibly need. Well, we can take all that intelligence and use it just to get more wealth, more technology, more and more and more of the mundane, which is just total overkill, and oh yeah, we're destroying the planet. Report an error in the passage at 54:02 Highlight the passage at 54:02

54:33 Or we can take that massive intelligence, creativity, foresight and wisdom and apply it to a spiritual path. To realize what it is fully to be human. To take our humanness and push it to the limit. And the Buddhist view, straight karma, if you don't take advantage of a human, if you live in a human body and are acting as an animal, basically eating, acquiring, consuming, beating up your neighbors, taking care of your family, well, if you act like an animal... Report an error in the passage at 54:33 Highlight the passage at 54:33

55:02 Look forward to an animal rebirth. Why on earth would you give a second opportunity to be a human being when you have not been living like a human being and living to that potential? It kind of makes sense. Live like a preta, like a greedy bastard. See what I like to be a preta. And live like some of these people we read about in the news that are just bringing hell onto earth. Report an error in the passage at 55:02 Highlight the passage at 55:02

55:22 Whether locally by killing the policeman here in Australia. Let the blood flow, I saw in the headline this morning. This young man just brought hell to planet earth, right? And then other organisms, you don't need me to read the news to you. People are bringing hell to earth. Back where you came from. It's kind of like, that's kind of natural. Report an error in the passage at 55:22 Highlight the passage at 55:22

55:42 And so, and so take advantage. Here is something extremely rare. Look around you. This is not a Buddhist belief. This is just the way things are. If you don't take advantage of this opportunity, that is not only human, which we have seven billion of us. But a far, far, far smaller number of people who have this type of leisure and this type of opportunity, if you piss it away, don't take advantage of it, take it for granted, then it will be difficult to obtain such an opportunity repeatedly in the future. Report an error in the passage at 55:42 Highlight the passage at 55:42

56:15 So didn't they just imagine that you're just, just throw a dart and you're just somebody else among the seven billion. What do you think your odds are of that turning out well? Report an error in the passage at 56:15 Highlight the passage at 56:15

56:25 And that's seven billion human beings. But now how many animal species are there? Throw a dart. You ready to turn the roulette wheel and just see where the odds are? And so don't take advantage of it. And that's your call. But now you're responsible and you will bear the fruit of your own conduct. And nobody else is doing it to you. Buddha's not punishing you. Report an error in the passage at 56:25 Highlight the passage at 56:25

56:47 God's not punishing you. You are just creating your own future. This occasion of circumstances aligning and finding freedom, where we have freedom, liberation, In the palm of the hand. This is no more than a dream. It's so transient, so fleeting, so insubstantial. Report an error in the passage at 56:47 Highlight the passage at 56:47

57:13 It's no more than a dream. So if you pointlessly squander it, when you lose such freedom, you're on death row, which means you're in the hospital and you're about to die. You just had an injury. You're about to die. And you're looking back and you say, I had some really good opportunities, but I was busy. Report an error in the passage at 57:13 Highlight the passage at 57:13

57:34 Well, now you're not busy. Now you're not busy at all, you're about to die. And now what are you going to do? Carefully reflect on this and know your own situation for yourself. And this is the first point. So he's going to give six points and there's the first one. And each one of the points, really it's called Lodo in Tibetan. Just a reversal, a turning about of the mind, like 180 degrees. Report an error in the passage at 57:34 Highlight the passage at 57:34

57:59 It's a revolution. So last night I spoke of the Galilean revolution. From the notion that the earth is in the center to the sun is in the center. The Darwinian revolution that species are static and so forth and so on. A fundamental shifting of axis on our view of life on the planet and the nature of evolution. Quantum mechanics, relativity, a revolution. Report an error in the passage at 57:59 Highlight the passage at 57:59

58:21 And he's speaking of six revolutions in the first two pages. Six revolutions of fundamentally reorienting, shifting your perspective. Not about the Sun and the Earth, which, either way, doesn't really impact our lives all that much. You know, if the Earth really isn't the center, I mean, does that mean you can have a different lunch than otherwise? Report an error in the passage at 58:21 Highlight the passage at 58:21

58:43 Or, you know, I mean, I think it's very cool. I love astronomy. But it's actually had very little impact on my life. Whereas he's talking about here core themes, elements of our own existence. Report an error in the passage at 58:43 Highlight the passage at 58:43

58:56 And suggesting here, challenging a fundamental shifting of the axis. A movement, a revolutionary movement, so that you view your own existence in a fundamentally different way. I was on a London subway some years back, and the tube, and there were some youngsters, some teenagers, a cluster, and one of them just merrily shouted out, you have only one life to live, so let's have fun. Report an error in the passage at 58:56 Highlight the passage at 58:56

59:27 And I understand that, no sarcasm, no condescension. They didn't know anything about... This life and they're young and they're healthy. They're English. That means they're privileged. So let's have fun. Eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow, who knows? Report an error in the passage at 59:27 Highlight the passage at 59:27

59:46 And so that whole notion of taking human existence for granted, our own existence. Well, my mom and dad had sex some years ago. That's what happened. What else would I be? I'm a human being. That's it. I'm a human being. After a while, I won't be anymore. But then, you know, lights out. No problem. Report an error in the passage at 59:46 Highlight the passage at 59:46

1:00:04 I really find the materialistic worldview in some ways incredibly appealing. It gives you basically no sense of responsibility at all, especially if you think you're a robot, especially if you think that all of your activities are predetermined by genetics and brain chemistry and so forth. As a number of psychologists and neuroscientists tell you, you're not making any decisions at all. You're just pre-programmed by genetics and neurochemistry and then behavioral influences. And so that's a relief. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:04 Highlight the passage at 1:00:04

1:00:31 I thought I was a bad person, but no, I'm not a person at all. I'm just a robot. And then I'm not responsible. And then when I'm dead, it lights out. So whatever I've done, it doesn't make any difference anymore. I mean, other people, that's your tough luck. And I'm gone. So then, you know, enjoy as much as I can until I can't. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:31 Highlight the passage at 1:00:31

1:00:46 And then California just made, you know, lethal injection legal. So you now can kill people. If they say, I'm tired of living and they're sick, that's okay now. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:46 Highlight the passage at 1:00:46

1:00:58 Because after all, what was it really all about anyway? No big deal. There's one view of reality. It's very, very common nowadays. And he's suggesting, well, Turn that about, how about just turn that around 180 degrees, that this life is inexpressibly precious, inexpressibly rare, something that can bring about absolutely mind-boggling, inconceivable transformation and meaning and joy and fulfillment. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:58 Highlight the passage at 1:00:58

1:01:25 And it's in the palm of the hand right now, and you have the opportunity to take full advantage of it. And if you don't... Then don't count on getting it again. If you waste it once, why would it come again? So that's the first point. And you make it very up close, very personal, very here and now. Am I taking advantage? Am I taking full advantage of the opportunities I have at my hand? And this does not mean that if you're married, you get a divorce and you send your kids off to an orphanage, that you quit your job, you give away all your money. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:25 Highlight the passage at 1:01:25

1:01:58 That's just simplistic thinking. It does mean that wherever you are in your life, You change that. For some individuals, the appropriate thing is to take robes, to shave your head, take ordination. It's a fantastic choice, a great option. But of course, it's not an option for everybody. If you have small children, I think your children might say, please don't, please don't. The big challenge is not whether to take a monastic ordination or not, whether it's to go into long-term retreat or not. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:58 Highlight the passage at 1:01:58

1:02:27 Those are important issues, but they're secondary issues. And the most important issue, the important issue, it's kind of like the only important issue. Is from moment to moment, day to day, are you practicing Dharma? If you're not, it doesn't matter whether you're wearing maroon or green, whether you have long hair, short hair, who cares? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:27 Highlight the passage at 1:02:27

1:02:44 I know a lot of monastics don't spend much time practicing Dharma. They're just being monastics, kind of. And there are people who are in full-time retreat, pissing away their time in retreat. So what? So you're living like a bear, off by yourself. Big deal. All that really matters is moment to moment are we ongoing farmers, ongoing cultivating, cultivating, cultivating the field of our minds and really applying ourselves to a path so that we have continuity throughout the whole course of a life and continuity from here until enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:44 Highlight the passage at 1:02:44

1:03:23 I would just say that's all that matters. I'm going to be really simple. That's all that matters. Everything else is off the table. If we don't have that, then it doesn't matter what you decide because you'll be dead and something else will happen. The continuity is everything. And it's not a matter of achieving shamatha or not achieving shamatha in this lifetime. It's everything about motivation and continuity of practice. To my mind, that's all that matters, really. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:23 Highlight the passage at 1:03:23

1:03:50 But then how to practice? Maybe as a husband, as a wife, maybe fully employed, maybe having children. Great. That's the field of your practice. Maybe it's a monk or a nun living in a monastery and being of great service to the monastery and the community. Maybe it's teaching meditation to people in prisons. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:50 Highlight the passage at 1:03:50

1:04:06 That's a great service. Maybe it's living as a yogi and meditating 12 hours a day. That's a great service too. But the continuity is absolutely crucial. So he said, that's the first point. And it's now 10 after 5, so I've already gone over. So what I like to do, and I do this all the time. Or frequently. And that is, to my mind, the breaks are as significant as the time we're together. Because the breaks as kind of the time we're together is like breathing in and the times of breaks are like breathing out. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:06 Highlight the passage at 1:04:06

1:04:34 So we want to have plenty of time for both. The times out are just for assimilation, for integration, for just taking in the practices and maintaining continuity of practice on your own. And then we're together again. We meditate together this evening. There will be no more talk. We've covered one point. That's enough for today. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:34 Highlight the passage at 1:04:34

1:04:51 That's one revolution. That's a big one right there. If that's all you get from this retreat but you really get it, I'm a happy camper. That's big. That's enormous. Really? Right? And I would say this too because I have so many Dharma friends who are Christian and so forth. I just led this retreat in Sikkim. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:51 Highlight the passage at 1:04:51

1:05:09 No, Sikkim in Singapore. There were Muslims there. There were Christians there. There were Hindus and there were Buddhists of all schools. There were 300 people there. And there were Malaysians. There are Indians, Caucasians and Chinese. I loved it. Loved it. Somebody came up and said, I've never seen one gathering. We had all these kind of people together for a spiritual event before. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:09 Highlight the passage at 1:05:09

1:05:31 And it was shamatha. Anybody can practice. So can one have this same utter commitment to practice, continuity of practice and be a Christian or a Muslim or for that matter not be religious but be absolutely dedicated to practicing Dharma? The answer is yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:31 Highlight the passage at 1:05:31

1:05:51 So the big deal is not getting people to convert to Buddhism or Mayana Buddhism or Vajrayana or Dzogchen. It's all about recognizing what is Dharma and how to create that continuity of a path. To my mind, that's it. Oh yeah. So now, let's say it's still 10 after. So let's return then at 10 past 7, full two hours. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:51 Highlight the passage at 1:05:51

1:06:13 Enjoy your break. Continuity of practice. I don't need to say it again, right? Enjoy it too. We really should enjoy Dharma, otherwise we'll stop. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:13 Highlight the passage at 1:06:13