Dzogchen Retreat 2015 - Realising our true nature (part 3)

0:25 So we'll return to the same meditation with just a comment very brief before we begin and that is this theme of stillness and motion, stillness simultaneous with motion. The ability to sustain the stillness of awareness even in the midst of activity in the surrounding environment, the body and as we get more and more intimate activities within the mind and not be caught up, caught up and carried away. Report an error in the passage at 0:25 Highlight the passage at 0:25

0:55 It's a very powerful theme, as we know. You can be in a situation where everybody around you is freaking out. It happens, yeah. People are getting very upset, emotionally distraught, being frantic, maybe even hysterical. And in the midst of that kind of situation, a social situation, can we retain our equanimity, our stillness, our clarity? Big deal, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 0:55 Highlight the passage at 0:55

1:18 When the body is in commotion, the body is not always under our control. Pretty much is not. When the body is all topsy-turvy, the body is in a state of imbalance, can the awareness remain balanced, still, clear? And then, of course, as we get more intimate, the mind itself. Can your mind be freaking out and you not be freaking out? Can you retain that stillness, that clarity, an ongoing flow of sanity? Report an error in the passage at 1:18 Highlight the passage at 1:18

1:46 It's really, I think, worth any amount of time to cultivate this ability, and it just goes deeper and deeper and deeper. So we're starting out here in the shallow end of the pool. Pretty simple movement, the ebb and flow of the breath, the fluctuations in the field of the body as the breath flows in and out. And to maintain that stillness of awareness, but maintaining a peripheral awareness of the ebb and flow of the breath is a skill to be cultivated. Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

2:13 So please find a comfortable position and we'll go right in. We'll have just one session tonight. We'll just play it by ear from night to night. But some of you I've known for some years, some of you have very familiar faces, people I've seen here coming to retreats for years. So even though it's our first day, we've had not much teaching, of course we began in the afternoon, I'd like to give us pretty close to an hour for discussion. Report an error in the passage at 2:13 Highlight the passage at 2:13

2:36 If you run out of things to discuss, we can head out, no problem. So comfortable position, we'll have a 24 minute session with just a little bit of instruction. Again, we're going to stick with the same technique for some couple of days. I Report an error in the passage at 2:36 Highlight the passage at 2:36

3:13 invite a number of you to check your postures. If the center of gravity of your head is in front of your chest, your head's tilted forward too much. So bring your head back so the head is above the neck and not leaning over your chest, in front of your chest. I want balance here, sitting at attention. Report an error in the passage at 3:13 Highlight the passage at 3:13

3:42 So settle your posture and it's... In this balance of relaxation, stillness and vigilance. And Report an error in the passage at 3:42 Highlight the passage at 3:42

· · · silence, 1 minute

4:28 when it comes to the breath, you may very well find this is quite a subtle challenge. It sounds easy. Relinquish all control over the breath. Let it flow effortlessly without constraint. But when we attend closely to something that we can control, we do tend to influence it. Report an error in the passage at 4:28 Highlight the passage at 4:28

4:49 So see if you can breathe egolessly. Breathe as effortlessly as if you were deep asleep. Report an error in the passage at 4:49 Highlight the passage at 4:49

· · · silence, 1 minute

6:01 And then an even subtler challenge is to deeply release the mind itself, releasing thoughts and concerns about the future and the past, not by clamping down, but by relaxing, releasing from your core. And Report an error in the passage at 6:01 Highlight the passage at 6:01

6:21 in the absence of hopes and fears, desires and aversions, Report an error in the passage at 6:21 Highlight the passage at 6:21

6:27 and the freedom from grasping, awareness does come to rest, at ease, loose, still and clear, a Report an error in the passage at 6:27 Highlight the passage at 6:27

· · · silence, 2 minutes

8:12 very clear sense of what it's like. When your awareness is simply at rest, Report an error in the passage at 8:12 Highlight the passage at 8:12

8:22 neither directed outside nor inside, Report an error in the passage at 8:22 Highlight the passage at 8:22

8:35 having no support, no object, just at rest, clear and vivid, clear like an unflickering candle flame. So Report an error in the passage at 8:35 Highlight the passage at 8:35

· · · silence, 1 minute

9:16 your awareness is centered in itself, but the awareness spills over, so to speak. And in that spillover, in that peripheral awareness, you note the fluctuations within the field of the body corresponding to the respiration. Report an error in the passage at 9:16 Highlight the passage at 9:16

9:39 So simply take note of that with each in and out breath, noting whether it is long or short. Whatever thoughts come up, just let them release themselves without doing anything about them. Report an error in the passage at 9:39 Highlight the passage at 9:39

· · · silence, 3 minutes

12:42 You retrospectively note that your awareness has gone on the move. It's been carried away, probably by some distracting thought. As soon as you note that introspectively, let your first response be to loosen up, to relax. And Report an error in the passage at 12:42 Highlight the passage at 12:42

13:05 with that relaxation, let your awareness return. To its own ground, its own place, and Report an error in the passage at 13:05 Highlight the passage at 13:05

13:16 rest there again, like a king sitting upon its throne, awareness resting in its own place. Report an error in the passage at 13:16 Highlight the passage at 13:16

· · · silence, 15 minutes

28:05 So, this is free time. Any questions or comments, observations, experiences you'd like to share? Yes, please. And just please say your first name when you begin. I'll try to learn as many names as I can. Chris. Chris, I remember you. Good to see you again. Good Alan, to tell you that I wake up with person I do is play one of the meditations. Report an error in the passage at 28:05 Highlight the passage at 28:05

28:26 I'm very glad of this helpful. Great. So I just wanted to go back to your comments that opened the day. Do you understand my accent okay? Oh yes, so far. So far so good. So I guess I go over this thought about whether the human race will make it or not. Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, so it's around the why important. And I guess, so when you're born and you have an ego, and the ego is really important to keep your body alive. Report an error in the passage at 28:26 Highlight the passage at 28:26

28:55 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 28:55 Highlight the passage at 28:55

28:58 And then as you grow up, you have enough resources to grow spiritually. This is kind of like a prisoner's dilemma though, because the stronger the ego is, the more resources it has, the more children it has, and so the more you spread those genes or that way of living. And if you look at our society... Report an error in the passage at 28:58 Highlight the passage at 28:58

29:20 What we reward is materialism. There's no other reward. And so you need a good strong ego to live as an individual, to live as a society, a kind of one weak ego. Report an error in the passage at 29:20 Highlight the passage at 29:20

29:34 So the thing that's good for the individual is not good for the society. And then you can say, well, let's have a high structure. A high structure. High structure, yes. Report an error in the passage at 29:34 Highlight the passage at 29:34

29:50 The Borg, if you're ever a Star Trek fan. So I kind of think that what we've got is an experiment by the universe to see if this form of consciousness will succeed or not. Report an error in the passage at 29:50 Highlight the passage at 29:50

30:05 I don't see how it's going to work, but it's kind of like maybe what we've got is you want the most powerful ego for the individual that he gives away to what's good for the society and maybe what we've got is like... perfect balance it was kind of like pretty crap so I'm you can give a stretch of light on that or give hype around how you can balance out how those two forces Yeah, that's a very interesting question. It's a very big question, an enormous issue. Report an error in the passage at 30:05 Highlight the passage at 30:05

30:41 If we look at what Buddhists call the three poisons, the three poisons, the first of them, if it boils down to it, it's basically reification, this kind of hard grasping onto. One's self is, I'm really here. Let's put it this way, I really am somebody. And you can read that in all of the ways and they all entail reification. Who do you think you are? Report an error in the passage at 30:41 Highlight the passage at 30:41

31:00 Who do you think you're talking to? Hey, don't you know who I am? I'm really somebody. Okay, that's reification. And as soon as I've reified myself, then of course I'll reify others. And in fact, I'll probably reify everything. That in Buddhism is considered to be a root delusion. Really fundamentally we got it wrong. Report an error in the passage at 31:00 Highlight the passage at 31:00

31:16 And then out of that, of course, I want good stuff for me. So here comes craving, greed and attachment. And then anything gets in my way or gets me stuff I don't want, then we have aggression, anger, hatred and so forth. And all of that, so this basic, how do you say, revocation of self, the very strong sense of I am, call it big ego if you like, as well as these very, perhaps correspondingly strong, grasping, craving, clinging, desire, attachment. Report an error in the passage at 31:16 Highlight the passage at 31:16

31:47 And then protect your tribe, protect your genes, your gene pool. We can see that each of these three poisons actually can and has served us in terms of evolution. I mean, it's true. Those kind of people tend to be the alpha male or the alpha female. They have lots of mates, a lot of territory, a lot of progeny and so forth. So we know that. Report an error in the passage at 31:47 Highlight the passage at 31:47

32:12 And it's true in the general animal kingdom. And we find, again, I think what half the European population are descendants of Genghis Khan. Something like that. It's something outrageous. So they managed to spread their seed. Report an error in the passage at 32:12 Highlight the passage at 32:12

32:31 But when we speak about a strong ego, it's a very familiar term, it's well said, it's a terminology we use. Is it necessary to have a delusional sense of self, to have a strong sense of self, to make a good leader, for example? Must one have this basically delusional sense of the reified I am, independent I am from my own side in order to be a very creative, constructive, Perhaps even inspiring and highly influential leader. Is that necessary? And my strong conviction is it's not. Is that normally how we do it? Report an error in the passage at 32:31 Highlight the passage at 32:31

33:09 Sure, absolutely. But there's an adjacent term to ego and it's confidence. Confidence, right? Confidence is not a mental affliction. Pride is. Pride is a mental affliction. Pride is a sense of I'm better than you. Not that I speak Tibetan better than you. I probably do. Or that I... I don't know what else I might do better than you. I have no idea, frankly. I probably, yeah, I read Tibetan better than you. I'm trying to think what else I might do better than you. But those are just true. Report an error in the passage at 33:09 Highlight the passage at 33:09

33:42 But the grasping onto myself is I'm just, I'm better. I'm better. And so I have, you know, the downward slope looking down my nose on other people. That's a mental affliction. But confidence is not a mental affliction. And how it can avoid delusion is one sees what are one's strengths and you just observe. Report an error in the passage at 33:42 Highlight the passage at 33:42

34:01 Some people are taller, some shorter, some faster, some slower, and so forth. And in the midst of that medley of the qualities that we have, there are bound to be some strengths, pretty much for everybody. What are those strengths? And can they be put to good use? And then where do those strengths come from and how are they nurtured? So I just gave an example. Report an error in the passage at 34:01 Highlight the passage at 34:01

34:21 I probably speak better Tibetan to you. But why? Because I was born that way? No, I'm reasonably gifted, not particularly, but reasonably gifted for language. Okay, pretty good. But then I had these marvelous opportunities when I was in my 20s to learn Tibetan very quickly and very efficiently. So I could develop an ego out of that, you know, something I'm superior, I'm superior, until I just check and say, well, but actually I'm not superior. Report an error in the passage at 34:21 Highlight the passage at 34:21

34:47 I was very fortunate. And I have a pretty good understanding of Dharma, relatively speaking. Relatively speaking. But then where did that come from? Just because I'm special? No. So every time one looks at some excellence, some quality, some strength, if one really is interested, then we say, yeah, you're probably born with some gift, but then look at all those conditions that came together. Report an error in the passage at 34:47 Highlight the passage at 34:47

35:09 And then any sense of superiority vanishes, but the strength of confidence, of vision, potential leadership qualities and so forth can still be there. So I don't think that delusion is necessary. Report an error in the passage at 35:09 Highlight the passage at 35:09

35:22 Nor attachment by definition is prioritizing one's own well-being, grasping onto one's own well-being in contrast to other people. So you've asked a complex question and the simple point, the first point is that I don't believe to have a strong sense of purpose, of vision, of determination, leadership qualities and other types of excellences, I don't think that requires delusion. Report an error in the passage at 35:22 Highlight the passage at 35:22

35:49 It often does, but doesn't need to. And when I think of people like the Dalai Lama, and where he was in 1959, he had almost no money. He had very little, I mean, he was weird. He was this god-king from this magical kingdom. He was borderline like fantasy realm, like something out of Marvel Comics. He didn't start out with much in terms of the world stage. Report an error in the passage at 35:49 Highlight the passage at 35:49

36:15 He was just this kind of interesting young man who was very strange. And now we know he's a world figure and admired by so many people, people that you and I would respect. I've known him since 71. I just don't sense any ego there at all. But does he have leadership ability? Fantastic. So that's an interesting area to explore, I think. Report an error in the passage at 36:15 Highlight the passage at 36:15

36:40 Can one be very successful in the world without having a great big delusional sense of ego, without craving, without hostility? But other powerful drives that are actually in accord with reality and are very virtuous. So, but in terms of the larger picture, we could spend the whole evening just on that one, of course, but I'll try to wrap up a bit. Report an error in the passage at 36:40 Highlight the passage at 36:40

37:05 Generally speaking, it's quite true. People quite naturally and understandably first try to take care of their hedonic needs. And I give five and none of them are trivial. You've probably heard me say it before. Food, clothing, shelter, medical care when you need it. And nowadays, unlike the 19th century, education. 19th century and earlier, you could just follow your dad or follow your mom and you'd probably be okay. Report an error in the passage at 37:05 Highlight the passage at 37:05

37:33 20th century, we know that's no longer okay. 21st century, forget about it. No education. You're going to have a tough time in this world. And so those five. So generally speaking, we human beings have a very understandable tendency to want to take care of that first, right? And if that's all under control, and the key word here is, do you have enough so that you don't have any reality-based anxiety? Report an error in the passage at 37:33 Highlight the passage at 37:33

38:00 To my mind, that's the fork in the road, right there. If you have a family, are you able to take care of your children? Are they clothed? Everything they need. There's always catastrophes, but overall, is it okay? And when you can see that you really have enough, you really do have enough. That, to my mind, is the fork in the road for humanity. Because people who are totally committed to this materialistic, hedonistic, consumer-driven way of life, basically suffer from a very profound imagination deficit disorder. Report an error in the passage at 38:00 Highlight the passage at 38:00

38:35 And that is, they see, well, it was good to have enough. And now I want twice as much. And I want five times as much. In fact, I want just as much as I can possibly get. And that's for me, my tribe, my nation. We just want to get as much as we possibly can. And it's fundamentally competitive. And that's the recipe for self-destruction. Report an error in the passage at 38:35 Highlight the passage at 38:35

39:00 When we're all, every nation, every individual is wanting to acquire and consume more and more. And that's the vision of the good life. That is definitely catastrophe. And it's already a catastrophe. It's not like sometime in the future this will turn out badly. It's already turning out badly, right? And so at that juncture, That fork in the road, where, as Jijin Lingme was saying, you really want to follow a path? And I think in many ways we do. I mean, what country would say we don't want a sustainable economy? Report an error in the passage at 39:00 Highlight the passage at 39:00

39:32 What country would say that? China, America, Brazil? Nobody in his right mind would say, no, we want unsustainable economy because we want to destroy the planet as quickly as possible. We may be doing that, but not many people think that's what they actually want. People want sustainable economy, right? Report an error in the passage at 39:32 Highlight the passage at 39:32

39:47 They want a planet that will be good for their children, grandchildren and so on. That's just decent people. That's not the special saint. And so we want that. I'm relating it right to what he said. That people, individuals, governments, nations, economies around the world want a sustainable economy. Report an error in the passage at 39:47 Highlight the passage at 39:47

40:06 We want to preserve the environment. We want to pass on to our children and our progeny over generations good opportunities. Right? But we're at a fork in the road. We want that. But, shall I read it again? There doesn't seem to be much vision, does it? There doesn't seem to be much vision. How exactly do we do that? A path, not to a perfect enlightenment, just a path to ten generations ahead. We'll have a sustainable amount of population for the whole planet, and we'll be in balance with the environment, and we'll be tapping into resources, but drawing very strongly from renewable resources. Report an error in the passage at 40:06 Highlight the passage at 40:06

40:46 And we'll be taking care of education and health and so forth. And we really can have a very good life on this planet if we just use our sense. And where's the plan? Where's the path? You know? And it's there. It's there. It's not inconceivable. It's not so difficult to imagine. But we're not doing it yet. So, what to do? The question is so enormous. But I don't think... Report an error in the passage at 40:46 Highlight the passage at 40:46

41:13 I'll answer this, then I'll stop. I don't think we're so biologically hardwired with big egos and big greed and big hostility that our fate is certain to be doomed. I don't think so. I know a number of very fine geneticists. One is world class at MIT. And he said, never, ever think that genetics is predetermination. Report an error in the passage at 41:13 Highlight the passage at 41:13

41:37 Never think that. It's not true. And he is world class. And so we have these genetic proclivities. But we also have the flexibility of intelligence, of imagination. Report an error in the passage at 41:37 Highlight the passage at 41:37

41:49 And to my mind, one of the, I'll just end on this note, I really do passionately think, have a very strong conviction, that a vision of the good life, a vision, let's be visionaries, it's all visionaries together, but a vision of the good life in which we are satisfying this human urge, which I find very interesting about us as a species. Report an error in the passage at 41:49 Highlight the passage at 41:49

42:13 I've mentioned this many times in the past, that all species wish to be happy. And the human species wishes to be happier. Report an error in the passage at 42:13 Highlight the passage at 42:13

42:25 And that's what I've noted. I mean, it's kind of obvious. But there aren't many people that I know anyway that they get to a certain stage in their life and they just say, well, not only do they not want any more money, many people are pretty satisfied there, not striving always for more and more money. Report an error in the passage at 42:25 Highlight the passage at 42:25

42:41 Many people are not going for that. We wish to be happier. And the Dalai Lama calls this the very meaning of life, this fact that we have this impulse to find something better, something greater, something finer, something more satisfying. And the wealth, power and prestige will never satisfy that. That will always be drinking salt water. I mean, that's just absolutely certain that that will never, ever satisfy. Report an error in the passage at 42:41 Highlight the passage at 42:41

43:08 And if we were teaching our children that from age of five, But however wealthy you become, however powerful you become, however prestigious, what a celebrity you might become. All you need to look is look at the extremely wealthy, extremely famous, extremely powerful and see are they really happy. You know, wildly more happy than the not so powerful and so forth. Just look, we're not putting a religious trip on you, we're saying just look and you see they are not. Report an error in the passage at 43:08 Highlight the passage at 43:08

43:37 And yet we do want to be happier. And so from age five, preschool would be just fine. Age five saying there's nothing wrong with wealth, power, prestige. These are not bad. There's nothing wrong with them. But if you're banking on that to provide you with the satisfaction, the happiness, the sense of fulfillment that is your deepest desire, don't be delusional. Report an error in the passage at 43:37 Highlight the passage at 43:37

43:58 And tell them when they're five years old, don't go down that road. Get enough. Take care of yourself. There's nothing wrong with that. Take care of your family. If you have a family, nothing wrong with that. But when you're thinking about the greater happiness, the fulfillment, greater meaning, joy, satisfaction for yourself and all those you care about, then start thinking outside the hedonic box to what really brings satisfaction. Report an error in the passage at 43:58 Highlight the passage at 43:58

44:23 And the Greeks use the term that I use most commonly, eudaimonia. And there the sky's the limit. I mean, literally there is no upper limit to the degree of eudaimonic well-being that you can experience. There's no upper limit. And this is an old truth. It's been known East and West for a very long time. But it does entail this inward cultivation. And it cannot be supplanted with technology and shortcuts here and gizmos here and apps there and so forth and so on. Report an error in the passage at 44:23 Highlight the passage at 44:23

44:55 And so people have that vision that nobody's downplaying hedonic well-being. It's very important that we all have enough. And then when you have enough, now what? And now look up. Don't look down. Look up into the wide open sky of the cultivation of eudaemonic well-being. And then there really is hope. Report an error in the passage at 44:55 Highlight the passage at 44:55

45:18 But as long as people have this myopic, limited vision that the good life is directly correlated to stuff like wealth, acquisition, consumption and so forth, then we're doomed. Then we're really doomed. That's my sense of it. But then there's hope. Because I do travel a lot. I meet so many fine people all over the world and organizations too. Just today somebody sent me Sally Horn from the 8th week we just finished. Report an error in the passage at 45:18 Highlight the passage at 45:18

45:45 A researcher, very bright young lady, very sincere in her Dharma practice. She's an up-and-coming young scientist. She was doing research there. She just sent me, I'm happy to share with everybody, what's it called? Happinessandwellbeing.org. They just gave a $5 million grant for research in happiness and well-being. Report an error in the passage at 45:45 Highlight the passage at 45:45

46:06 I think the money is coming from the Templeton Foundation and another foundation. So that kind of thing, you know, there are really a lot of bright spots. You look for them. And that's where hope really lies. But I think we should be educating children, all of them, everywhere. Whatever their religion or lack of religion, that's their business. Report an error in the passage at 46:06 Highlight the passage at 46:06

46:26 But eudaimonia is not a religion. And you find it in science, you find it in philosophy, and you find it in all the religious traditions of the world. That there is another type of well-being. That's not directly linked to your economic situation and so on. So, food for thought. Sure. Hi. I Report an error in the passage at 46:26 Highlight the passage at 46:26

46:49 don't think we've ever met before. Hi, what's your name? My name's Andrew. Andrew. Nice to meet you. Report an error in the passage at 46:49 Highlight the passage at 46:49

46:59 I'd love to hear you a bit more clearly when the microphone's on. Yeah. You read some books? Yes, I read some of your books. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah. I had a question. Report an error in the passage at 46:59 Highlight the passage at 46:59

47:13 Yes. How does secularization negatively impact? Report an error in the passage at 47:13 Highlight the passage at 47:13

47:21 A very good question, yeah. And I think everything hinges on what is meant by secularization. So I'll give a short answer and then like root text and commentary. The root text is there are very healthy, very, very healthy ways of secularizing Buddhism, for which I think there's no downside at all, and other ways of secularizing Buddhism that are basically expressions of closed-minded ethnocentric bigotry. Report an error in the passage at 47:21 Highlight the passage at 47:21

47:50 How's that to be blunt? And, of course, there's a lot of shades of grey. I'm not a black and white thinker. But to take one example, because I really like to focus on the positive, but we have to talk sometimes about negative because it's there. It's like a doctor never wanting to talk about illness. Oh, don't bring me down. But something positive. So it was the year 2000. It was the Mind and Life meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Report an error in the passage at 47:50 Highlight the passage at 47:50

48:12 The topic was destructive emotions. Dan Goleman and I organized this meeting. It was an outstanding group of scientists, one philosopher. Report an error in the passage at 48:12 Highlight the passage at 48:12

48:21 And we're talking about a nature of destructive emotions, how to identify them, how to deal with them from purely scientific approach, psychology and so forth, and then from Buddhist approach. It was a very, very meaningful five days of conversation. It really went well. The people, I think, were well chosen. The level of dialogue was mutually respectful and very, very meaningful. Report an error in the passage at 48:21 Highlight the passage at 48:21

48:43 And if you know the story, you know about roughly on day four or so of this five-day meeting. His Holiness then turned to the participants, really the scientists, there were five of them, and said, you know, he basically congratulated everybody on the nature of the richness of the conversation. We knew that Dan Goleman would come out with a book on this, which he did. He did a marvelous job called Destructive Emotions, outstanding job. And since I love talking about virtue, he offered all the proceeds and it was a good, that book sold well. Report an error in the passage at 48:43 Highlight the passage at 48:43

49:13 And he offered all the royalties to the Mind and Life Institute simply to continue their work. I have deep admiration for that, because he's a very, very skilled guy, a very talented writer. So in any case, the Dalai Lama turned to the scientist and said, this is all very well, but can we, can you, in collaboration with us Buddhists, can we do something that will really reach out to the public in a secular fashion, that is, whatever people's beliefs are, to help them find greater emotional happiness and well-being. Report an error in the passage at 49:13 Highlight the passage at 49:13

49:42 Maturity, emotional intelligence, can you do something? And Paul Ekman told me, because we've become fast friends ever since then, that when he was saying that, I'll pretend to be the Dalai Lama and you pretend to be Paul Ekman, would any of you be willing to do this? Report an error in the passage at 49:42 Highlight the passage at 49:42

50:01 Paul put these laser eyes going into his head, I think I'm going to volunteer. laughter Report an error in the passage at 50:01 Highlight the passage at 50:01

50:06 He was, I believe, about 65 at that time, just at the end of a very, very rich, full, satisfying, extremely productive professional career and was looking to some nice retirement years of photography, music and something else. If you want to, as the Christians say, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. And that was Paul's plan and it never manifested at all. Report an error in the passage at 50:06 Highlight the passage at 50:06

50:32 So yes, he agreed, he recruited me, and so we came up with this cultivating emotional balance. And for those of you who have taken the CEB TT, you know that's not very secular, because I'm there, right? But I have taught CEB, the 42-hour training, three times, and I know how to teach secular. I've taught in many, many universities, lectured all over the place. Report an error in the passage at 50:32 Highlight the passage at 50:32

50:54 I generally don't wear these robes, and I know how to talk secular. And I'm very happy to do so. And so the CEB itself is secular. There never needs to be one mention of Buddhism, let alone reincarnation, karma and so forth, any of the trappings. It just takes some core practices, the training of attention, shamatha, training of mindfulness, the four applications of mindfulness, cultivation of the heart, four measurables, but you don't need to use that terminology. Report an error in the passage at 50:54 Highlight the passage at 50:54

51:20 Those anybody can practice and they can be enormously helpful and thoroughly integrated with the science. At no point has Paul or Eve, his daughter, with whom I've taught a lot, or I, at no point ever do we ever deprecate any religion, nor do we ever promote Buddhism. Not in CB. I'm not really promoting Buddhism in the CEB teacher training either. I'm just being transparent that people know where the teachings are coming from. But it's not an attempt, explicit or implicit, to try to convert people. Report an error in the passage at 51:20 Highlight the passage at 51:20

51:51 It's just not my interest. And so I think that's one example. There are a number of others. I'll give more. There's a good friend of mine, a very esteemed friend, and his name is Rasmus Husgard. And he's Danish, and he runs something called the Human Potential Project. And he draws strongly from, he's attended a number of my retreats, so he draws a lot from the shamatha teachings that I've given. Report an error in the passage at 51:51 Highlight the passage at 51:51

52:14 But he's an FBMT student, student of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Very fine man. And I know him rather well. Straight, benevolent, good heart, very smart, got a strong business background. And he's bringing these core practices, compassion, empathy, attention training, mindfulness training, into the business world. Report an error in the passage at 52:14 Highlight the passage at 52:14

52:35 He's doing a very good job. And it's secular. Very good. It's really, really good. And then I could give more names as well. I just don't see any downside to this at all. It's completely secular in the sense that there's no reference to Buddhism or any other religion, neither trying to elevate them nor put them down. It's just saying, here are practices. Report an error in the passage at 52:35 Highlight the passage at 52:35

52:53 And whatever your worldview is, you'll be able to assimilate that. And it may change your way of life. It may raise questions. Your worldview will start to shift. That would be fine. So there's a lot of that going on. Susan Kaiser Greenland, another one. She's an old friend of mine. She teaches mindfulness and compassion to young children. Report an error in the passage at 52:53 Highlight the passage at 52:53

53:14 She's a Buddhist. She's a Tibetan Buddhist. Her training is completely secular. And she does a very good job. I have only appreciation and admiration. Mark Greenberg, one more. He and his wife are Hindu. Very devoted. Very devoted. Serious meditators. Go to India regularly to their guru there. And they have a whole social emotional learning program that they develop for children. Report an error in the passage at 53:14 Highlight the passage at 53:14

53:35 I've met him. I've heard him speak. Good heart. Very intelligent. Very benevolent motivation. Doing excellent work. I just have nothing to say critically. They're just doing great work. And so that was a pretty good spread. And I'm sure there's more, but there's a nice little sprinkling. And I just think it's wonderful. And the fact that this Holiness said, please do, he's my root guru, said, please do something secular that's beneficial to anybody who's interested. Report an error in the passage at 53:35 Highlight the passage at 53:35

54:01 And I said, we did. And so I think all of that is good. Now where I feel qualms is where people will take elements from Buddhism. Take it out of context. I have no problem so far. But then statements like this, and I'm quoting people I've heard, this is the essence of all of Buddhist meditation. And they're talking about basic mindfulness with a definition that isn't even Buddhist. The definition is very common in psychology. Report an error in the passage at 54:01 Highlight the passage at 54:01

54:31 Moment to moment, non-judgmental awareness or whatever comes up. That's useful. It's never been a Buddhist definition. It's not a Buddhist definition. It's not a Buddhist practice, and it certainly is not the essence of all of Buddhist meditation. That's complete hogwash. But it's said very commonly. Report an error in the passage at 54:31 Highlight the passage at 54:31

54:48 Well, that's just misleading. They're basically taking a brand name, Buddhism, which is a big brand name, and they're using that to pitch their product. But that's not even honest. But then I've heard, this is Buddhist meditation without the Buddhism. As if Buddhism is some kind of a rash or a hive or some kind of a... Report an error in the passage at 54:48 Highlight the passage at 54:48

55:08 Some parasitic outgrowth. Well, that's just false. This is the essence of all meditation. That's completely false. Wildly false. And then it goes on from there that we have to get to the core of Buddhism and that's throw out all the mumbo-jumbo. This is also Buddhism without the mumbo-jumbo. And the mumbo-jumbo are things like the Buddhist teachings on reincarnation, baptism karma, nature of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 55:08 Highlight the passage at 55:08

55:36 Basically the whole Buddhist worldview, anything that is not compatible with materialism, that's mumbo-jumbo. Well, we get to this point, I say, but this is just ethnocentric closed-mindedness. It's bigotry, it's stupid, it's uninformed and incredibly unhelpful. And so here's, you know, this mode is now rising above Buddhism as something inferior, delusional, religious after all, and we know religion is, you know. Report an error in the passage at 55:36 Highlight the passage at 55:36

56:06 Bogus. And so this is where they really go overboard. And it's just like monkeys in a china shop. They're just breaking things and don't even recognize what they're breaking because they're just too ignorant and close-minded and uninformed. And I think that's very unfortunate. That's not a service. That's just spreading delusion. Report an error in the passage at 56:06 Highlight the passage at 56:06

56:34 And the worst that I've seen is one in particular coming in and saying, well, you know, the Buddha never even taught all that stuff that the author doesn't agree with. He never even taught all that stuff. And he basically just reshapes the Buddha in his own image. I don't want to mention the name there because I'm not against people. But that tendency, that's just mind-boggling pomposity rooted in ignorance and bolstered with... Report an error in the passage at 56:34 Highlight the passage at 56:34

57:03 Arrogance, ethnocentricity, and closed-mindedness. And that also comes under the rubric of secular Buddhism. And so you can see, I mean, so much over here I just rejoice in. And a lot of it I'm not any good at. I don't know how to teach children, but I'm so glad other people do. And I have no business background, so I'm not really very skilled there either, but I'm so glad other people do. Report an error in the passage at 57:03 Highlight the passage at 57:03

57:27 But we see there's a lot of shades there. As soon as it starts going overboard, the false advertising, just for starters, Report an error in the passage at 57:27 Highlight the passage at 57:27

57:37 This is the essence of all of Buddhist meditation. Well, that's just not true. So if people can just be aware of, if they do innovative things, you know, appreciate that and don't overblow it. And overblowing happens a lot. And when it gets to this is Buddhism without the mumbo-jumbo, which I've heard repeatedly, without the clap-trap, then I feel this is simply, what shall I say, disagreeable. Report an error in the passage at 57:37 Highlight the passage at 57:37

58:10 I'm trying to show some restraint myself. Okay, thank you. Wonderful question. And Report an error in the passage at 58:10 Highlight the passage at 58:10

58:25 I'm sure we've met before. You've been to a retreat before, haven't you, with me? No, I haven't. Oh, in your face. Okay, then. Tom, hi, Tom. Report an error in the passage at 58:25 Highlight the passage at 58:25

58:36 So, Report an error in the passage at 58:36 Highlight the passage at 58:36

58:40 first, I think, we're Report an error in the passage at 58:40 Highlight the passage at 58:40

58:47 supposed to imagine the fulfillment of our needs. Yes, yeah. So, this is probably a matter. Report an error in the passage at 58:47 Highlight the passage at 58:47

59:01 missed that. That could be a good thing. I find my imagination just goes blank when I imagine the fulfillment of my needs. Report an error in the passage at 59:01 Highlight the passage at 59:01

59:15 What I imagine when I do that exercise among kindness towards myself is sort of dwelling within me or being strong enough. Strongly need, but not necessarily do the way with me. Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. Understood. Yeah. And listen, you should be intrigued to that. Sure. In phrasing the question, that was the second question, what would you love to receive? What are your needs that you'd love to see fulfilled from outside that you can't just do all by yourself? Report an error in the passage at 59:15 Highlight the passage at 59:15

59:54 There was no implication that we should stop needing anything, even the Buddha, after his enlightenment. Went out on a daily alms round with his begging bowl. He didn't stop doing that. To the day he died, I think probably every day, went out on a daily alms round. He didn't need much, but he needed robes that needed to be replaced every once in a while. He needed to breathe. He needed water. Report an error in the passage at 59:54 Highlight the passage at 59:54

1:00:25 So it's not a matter of doing away with needs. But that question, I find a very interesting one, and of course the whole idea with all four of those questions is that they're living questions. It's not like a quiz, did you get the right answer or not? And if you got the right answer, then you stop asking the question. It's not even remotely that. Each of those four questions invites coming back to again and again. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:25 Highlight the passage at 1:00:25

1:00:47 You can imagine, it would be fun to do actually, I've never done it, but to imagine posing those four questions, what would make you really happy to a five-year-old? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:47 Highlight the passage at 1:00:47

1:00:58 And in order for you to find the happiness you really want, what kind of help would you like to have? And is there anything else you could bring to it, that you could bring to it, you know, internally? And then what would you like to do for everybody else? It'd be very interesting, wouldn't it be fun? Just to see what five-year-olds would say to that? I'm sure they'd have something to say, these are not, you know, brain crunchers, they're not difficult questions. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:58 Highlight the passage at 1:00:58

1:01:20 And then see what kind of questions come up when they're 10, and when they're in adolescence, and when they're 20. And then see if there's any point. I mean, this would be a long-term research. Kind of be fun. To see whether the responses to those four questions flatten out, plateau out after some time. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:20 Highlight the passage at 1:01:20

1:01:37 And if they do, that would be interesting to know where. Where. That'll have everything to do with one's worldview. Because a worldview defines what you consider to be possible. And so I have led that meditation many times. And I try to choose my words carefully. So that second question starts with, the second question is, what would you love to receive from the world so that you can find the happiness you seek? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:37 Highlight the passage at 1:01:37

1:02:09 And that's just simply put. Because it's hard to do it all by yourself. What would you love to receive? So first the vision comes up and it's in the spirit of loving kindness. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:09 Highlight the passage at 1:02:09

1:02:21 But then when we launch into the now arouse the aspiration. It was the second phase. Come up with what is it and now aspire for it, wish for it, yearn for it. Then I shifted the wording. I began with what would you love to receive and now imagine that you're receiving or aspire that you receive all that you truly need. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:21 Highlight the passage at 1:02:21

1:02:44 So start with what would you love to receive and then proceed with the aspiration that you may receive all that you need. Now, love and need are two different things. One can love to have all kinds of things happen that you don't need at all, right? I mean, if somebody just gave you a Lamborghini, wouldn't you love that? Yeah. Yeah, why not? I just saw one the other day in Singapore. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:44 Highlight the passage at 1:02:44

1:03:13 It looked like it shouldn't be on one of our roads. It should be someplace else where you can drive it 200 miles an hour. But if somebody just gave it to you, wouldn't you love that? But you really need a Lamborghini. Eh, probably not so much. And so the second one, aspire that you receive all you need, is not so that your needs go away, but that your needs are met, that your needs are met. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:13 Highlight the passage at 1:03:13

1:03:40 And we have the hedonic ones, and I think I never trivialize that. Anybody who's hungry, and I spent about 20 years of my life being borderline pretty poor, because I had no employment from the age of 20 until 47. Ha, ha, ha, I was unemployed for 27 years. So, you know, you don't live high on the hog when you're like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:40 Highlight the passage at 1:03:40

1:04:07 So, wouldn't it be wonderful if from now on, I'm just suggesting this, wouldn't it be wonderful if from now on you just had no worries for the rest of your life, but food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and if you wish any more education, it just comes. It's taken care of. It's a done deal. You've got this great rich uncle and he said, Tom? Tom? Yeah, Tom? Tom, I'm going to take care of you. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:07 Highlight the passage at 1:04:07

1:04:33 Don't worry about a thing. Food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, got you covered. Just write me, call me, I'll send you a check. Wouldn't that be kind of cool? I would like that, yeah. Actually, I'm there. I actually have no worries about that at all. So it's a nice feeling that, okay, that's taken care of. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:33 Highlight the passage at 1:04:33

1:04:54 And now this wonderful quality of human nature, with that alone, I'm going to ask you, if we be really candid here, if that's all you get for the rest of your life, you're still quite a young man, if that's all you get, and that's it, that's it, Tom, from now on, you're covered, but nothing more. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:54 Highlight the passage at 1:04:54

1:05:14 Are you satisfied with that? No. Nor am I. I'm glad you're not either. Because we want something more. Something more than, yeah, I'm making it through every day. I'm getting by every single day. Never am I cold, hungry, injured or ill and have no treatment and so forth. Every day is covered. That's good. There's nothing trivial about that. And then the question, and then what? And then what either goes left or right? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:14 Highlight the passage at 1:05:14

1:05:43 And the left is, give me more. I want more. I want a bigger house. I want more power, more influence. I want more people to admire me and love me. I want more of the same. Make it a big helping. And after you've got a big helping, you're going to say the same thing. I want a bigger helping. Because I want to be happier. Right? So that's one track. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:43 Highlight the passage at 1:05:43

1:06:03 That's what the track of our seven billion people are doing right now. We want more. More of the same, please. And the other one is, it is such a relief that that's been taken care of. And now I can think about what really brings me satisfaction. Now I can think about meaning, satisfaction, fulfillment. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:03 Highlight the passage at 1:06:03

1:06:22 Now I can think about, you know, why am I here? What's this all about? And I have the leisure to do that. And now what would I love to receive? Well, I know, because I was asking this when I was 20. When I wrote in my journal when I was 20 years old, I need to meet a wise old man, because I was at a juncture. I knew what I wanted to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:22 Highlight the passage at 1:06:22

1:06:40 I wanted to find some path. I didn't have a clue. I'd read one book I could hardly even understand on Tibetan Buddhism, and I needed somebody. I needed a person to talk to. That would tell me something, that would give me some direction. And that day this wise old man showed up, a Buddhist monk out on the boonies of Norway. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:40 Highlight the passage at 1:06:40

1:07:02 And so it happened. It happened to me. It was really quite a turning point because I was so, so stunned that I could write in the morning in my journal, I need to meet a wise old man to give me guidance. And that afternoon he picked me up hitchhiking. A wise old man who happened to be a Buddhist monk who lived in Nepal. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:02 Highlight the passage at 1:07:02

1:07:21 That was outlandish. And then to see, you know, what happened over the years after that. And so that's where the questions start getting interesting. To aspire to have enough food, shelter and clothes, that's not, it's not trivial, but not terribly interesting either, right? Yes, we're clothed, we're not cold, we're not hungry and so forth. Nothing trivial, but not so interesting. But as soon as we start thinking beyond that dimension into the other one, what kind of friends would you love to have? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:21 Highlight the passage at 1:07:21

1:07:52 If you would like to find further guidance, instruction, teaching, advice, what kind and from whom? And then, for example, for meditation, here's one thing you must be interested to hear. If you'd like to spend some time in your life, whether it's a week, whether it's a month or whether it's ten years, to really go to depth, to really try to explore the innermost resources of your own consciousness, of your own mind, to really go deep, what kind of environment would you like for that? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:52 Highlight the passage at 1:07:52

1:08:23 Would you like to have ongoing guidance, spiritual friends? Where would you like to be? Wouldn't it be nice to be in a place of great natural beauty? Monks, recluses, yogis have been looking at that for centuries. Look at all the best spots in Europe. They were taken by the monasteries. The hilltops and so forth, the monasteries, the churches. It's amazing. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:23 Highlight the passage at 1:08:23

1:08:43 They really had a taste for beauty, these Christians in Europe. Amazing, let alone what they did with their structures. They're pretty much all beautiful. right? And so... That's when the imagination really starts to dance. When you think now, to really come to your fulfillment, what now? What now would you like to? What kind of people would like to have as your friends, your guides, your companions? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:43 Highlight the passage at 1:08:43

1:09:11 When it gets really interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:11 Highlight the passage at 1:09:11

1:09:15 Yeah, I'm glad. Good. Wonderful questions. All of these questions are very rich. Yeah. So we have another ten minutes. Anything else coming up? Yes, we'll go right here, please. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:15 Highlight the passage at 1:09:15

1:09:33 We have met or not? We haven't. Have not. And your name is Cathy? Karen. Karen. Thank you, Karen. Good, great. Okay, great. He says he's got this great realization, then he's a total country bumpkin. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:33 Highlight the passage at 1:09:33

1:09:56 Yeah. Good. Great. Okay. Great. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:56 Highlight the passage at 1:09:56

1:09:58 What instant? What happened? In that instant. Yeah, he certainly did. It's kind of like, what instant? Where was the preceding paragraph? Where were you? What were you doing? And this text, of course, was written when, who knows, he says it's an old man. He died at the age of 69 in 1904. And so let's assume he's probably talking in 1890, something like that. Well, in the first text that I was taught, among his truly classic treatises on Dzogchen, This is the Vajra Essence, the big one, a great big one, taught about 20 years ago by Gyatrho Rinpoche. And he begins that one, and that 400 pages, that's not his, according to him, that's not his work, that's not his writing. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:58 Highlight the passage at 1:09:58

1:10:45 He had one of the longest visions of anybody in history, I think, because they had this vision of Samadha Bhadra, of this primordial Buddha, archetypal, you know, surrounded by this circle of bodhisattvas. And they had a 400-page conversation. Question and answer. Sometimes it was really Socratic, of almost really kind of debating with Samadha Bhattra, you know, and going back and forth and asking questions. Then Samadha Bhattra coming back and asking questions. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:45 Highlight the passage at 1:10:45

1:11:10 They go back with more questions. And it went on for 400 pages and covered the entire path to enlightenment. It's a spectacular masterpiece, right? But how he, the preface to that, and you can read this in the book Stilling the Mind. Maybe you've read it. Have you seen it? Okay. It's one of my books, one of those. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:10 Highlight the passage at 1:11:10

1:11:28 And what it is, it's a commentary to the opening section of this text, the Vajra Essence, really focusing on shamatha. And that's the first big practice he goes into in some detail. But there it is. And so I've translated the whole book, that's separate, but just there, just the first 30 pages of the book, then commentary, still in the mind. And there he says, when he was something like 27, he tells the year, he tells how old he was, and he was a young man. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:28 Highlight the passage at 1:11:28

1:11:56 Not into his 30s yet, 27, 28, something like that. He said, I can't quote him, but I can paraphrase him closely. He said, at this point, by this time, I'd done some stage of generation practice, so Vajrayana practice. And of course he'd had, from childhood, had a whole lot of tutelage, you know, from Padmasambhava and all these incredible enlightened beings, all in this visionary context. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:56 Highlight the passage at 1:11:56

1:12:22 So he had a lot of help already. And then he said, That's when he became at the age of 27, let's say, that he had his big breakthrough experience, where he, having been well primed, had a direct realization of rikpa, pristine awareness. Became a vidyadatta, the first stage of a vidyadatta, called fully matured vidyadatta. He said, that's when it happened, and I just had this total recognition of my own Buddha nature, primordial consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:22 Highlight the passage at 1:12:22

1:12:56 And then coming out of that, you've tapped into the very depths, the ultimate depths of primordial purity. Primordial purity means it never got tainted in the first place. It never gets tainted. All it gets is obscured, but the purity is eternal. And he tapped into that. He immersed himself in that in a self-knowing fashion. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:56 Highlight the passage at 1:12:56

1:13:16 He came to know who he is. And then out of that, as he emerged from it as a display, an effulgence. A flowering. Out of that came this vision. And it was a vision of a pure realm, as he described. You need to give some detail. In the center of the pure realm is this archetypal figure of Samadha Bhattra manifesting as Padmasambhava, the lake-born Bhattra, surrounded by this group of Bodhisattva disciples. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:16 Highlight the passage at 1:13:16

1:13:45 And then he just watched and he listened as this whole play played itself out. And it was all by question and answer. The Bodhisattva disciples posed questions, starting with very basic ones and going higher and higher, all the way up to achieving rainbow body and the different levels of achieving rainbow body. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:45 Highlight the passage at 1:13:45

1:14:05 And he listened to all of this and he must have had an eidetic memory, like perfect memory, because when it was all finished he wrote it all down. But then he had a strong sense, kind of a premonition perhaps, that although the time was right for him to receive this, otherwise he wouldn't have received it, That it wasn't quite time to make this teaching public yet. So he basically took his transcription of this very long conversation and just put it into storage for something like 13 years. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:05 Highlight the passage at 1:14:05

1:14:39 And then he just, you know, click, click, click, click, click, ding, ready to come out. And then he began sharing it. So I think it's probably that instance that he's referring to, who knows, maybe. 40 years later or something like that, you know. But that's where that's coming from. Because the wording is very similar. Okay? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:39 Highlight the passage at 1:14:39

1:15:02 Yeah, we now place it in context. I really can't tell you what a treat it was for me over the last 20 years to be immersing my mind again and again and again. First in one text and then a second one and then a third one and a fourth one and a fifth one and then the commentaries. And then working with a very dear friend of mine who has many qualities I lack, which are really important to this. He's patient, he's meticulous, he's precise and incredibly patient. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:02 Highlight the passage at 1:15:02

1:15:32 Did I say that twice? I'm not. But he's got that scholar's patience and he worked with me as my editor, Diane Blundell, a really true Dharma friend. But the enormous treat of just getting to immerse my mind. Not only in one text individually, but then see how they all meld with each other and why there are five. He didn't just say the same thing. He came through five different doors. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:32 Highlight the passage at 1:15:32

1:15:57 This is the most concise. Really there it is in a nutshell. And boy, it really made a very deep impression on me. Yeah. So, good. That's context. Was there another point? No, no. I was just interested to note that there's into the two voices and the very diamond bright one that I channeled. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:57 Highlight the passage at 1:15:57

1:16:24 We have a couple of minutes. I'll end with a note from His Holiness the first time that I heard him teach Dzogchen in a public context. I think it probably was the first time. It was a long time ago, about 1990 in San Jose, California. And I was there. I had just come to Stanford for my graduate studies, so I was living right nearby. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:24 Highlight the passage at 1:16:24

1:16:42 It was easy, just a short drive. But he made a comment that's really stuck with me. Because the Dalai Lama, if you know anything of his background, his education, he is a superbly trained galupa geshe. I mean, he's really first class and very strong training in that one tradition. He's received instruction from teachers of all the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, but we know where his education was. He's really 100 % galupa. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:42 Highlight the passage at 1:16:42

1:17:07 But then, much later in life, I don't know, maybe when he was 40, 45, something like that, then he started receiving teachings from Dino Kenjira Moche and other Dzogchen masters. He's had the best of the best. And so here he was teaching Dzogchen. But he really clarified something that I think is quite a big question mark, perhaps a point of confusion, or at least just bewilderment, for many very thoughtful scholars. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:07 Highlight the passage at 1:17:07

1:17:31 And that is, if you study Tsongkhapa, Which the Dalai Lama has done consummately, and I've done in a non-trivial fashion, the first 20 years of my training was pretty much Tsongkhapa. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:31 Highlight the passage at 1:17:31

1:17:47 I'll just say what the Dalai Lama said. Tsongkhapa is writing as if from the perspective of a sentient being. And this means you view reality from this, you take seriously, I'm a sentient being, I'm not a Buddha, I have the potential for Buddhahood, but I'm not a Buddha, there's no part of me that's a Buddha, only the potential. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:47 Highlight the passage at 1:17:47

1:18:09 And I have all of the qualities of a sentient being and none of the qualities of a Buddha. But I do have the capacity, and with a lot of hard work, I have the ability to follow the path, come to its culmination, and then I'll be a Buddha. But right now I'm not at all, and no particle of me is. And so it's viewing the whole path from that perspective. And that's really a very useful perspective. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:09 Highlight the passage at 1:18:09

1:18:35 And then he says, on the other hand, there's Dzogchen. And I think this is in his book, it's simply called Dzogchen, it's still available on Amazon. It's simply called Dzogchen, it's the first of his two books. The second one is outstanding and that's right out there in the lobby. But this was his earlier teaching, about 10 years earlier. And then he said there's Dzogchen, and for example Longchenba, or Longchenrapchenba, great, great, monumental Dzogchen teacher. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:35 Highlight the passage at 1:18:35

1:19:07 He said, Lama Tsongkhapa is writing from the perspective of Buddha. And what he's not saying, there's no doubt about this, he's not saying that Tsongkhapa was, well, he was just kind of lower down on the totem pole and Lama Tsongkhapa was much higher. He's not saying that at all. He was saying the manner in which they were writing, Tsongkhapa was writing as if from the perspective of a sentient being and Lama Tsongkhapa was writing as if from the perspective of what does reality look like if you're already a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:07 Highlight the passage at 1:19:07

1:19:38 And Tsongkhapa's writing, what does reality look like if you're looking at it from the perspective of a sentient being? Now those are two valid perspectives. And one does not negate the other, even though they're very different. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:38 Highlight the passage at 1:19:38

1:19:51 Because, speaking for myself, that's where I have the greatest confidence. Am I a sentient being? Of course I am. There's just no question about it. That's it. Yeah. End of discussion. Is that the only perspective on my existence? And that's the real question. Is it true? Yeah, 100 % true. Am I a 100 % sentient being? Yes. Is that the only valid perspective on my existence and my nature? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:51 Highlight the passage at 1:19:51

1:20:18 The answer is no. There's also the perspective of someone who's perfectly awake. And from that perspective, your vision is pure vision. And you see all beings as Buddhas. But you know that they are not aware of that. So the Dzogchen... There are many pithy statements in Dzogchen, and one of the pithiest ones that my root Dzogchen teacher, Yatradamche, shared with me, I've cited it many times. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:18 Highlight the passage at 1:20:18

1:20:51 There's one fundamental difference between sentient beings and Buddhas. Buddhas know who they are. Sentient beings don't. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:51 Highlight the passage at 1:20:51

1:21:01 So the notion that there is another perspective from which it is valid to say, I am a Buddha. It's not just that I'm imagining that or pretending or wishing or aspiring. There is a perspective from which it is true to say, since I've been very totally candid, I fessed up, I'm a sentient being, actually quite an ordinary one, and I'm not retracting that at all, but from another perspective it is true that I'm a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:01 Highlight the passage at 1:21:01

1:21:29 And of course that's true for everybody here. There is a perspective from which it is true that you're a Buddha, I'm a Buddha. What is that perspective? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:29 Highlight the passage at 1:21:29

1:21:40 From what vantage point are you looking? And the vantage point is pristine awareness. And our vantage point, if you're at all like me, our vantage point, the perspective, is the mind, sentient beings mind. And so from my perspective as a sentient being, viewing from my sentient beings mind, my Buddha nature is potential. It's a potential only. And I have to bring in many causes and conditions for that potential to ripen, to come to full awakening. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:40 Highlight the passage at 1:21:40

1:22:09 And that's valid. It's valid, full stop, end of statement. And it's valid to say there's another perspective looking upon Alan, this person here, as an apparition, as a dream, as one who simply thinks he's a sentient being, but in fact is not. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:09 Highlight the passage at 1:22:09

1:22:34 And so they're both valid. That's what Dalai Lama is saying. And neither one negates the other, even though they're saying very different things. So I'll end on this point, which I really like. If you start out with the perspective, I'm a sentient being, I've got a lot of mental illness and suffering, but I have the potential to become a bodhisattva, are you a bodhisattva, Buddha and so forth? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:34 Highlight the passage at 1:22:34

1:22:58 And that naturally gives rise to a question. And what's the question? What can I do to become a Buddha? And then, whoa, Tsongkhapa wrote 18 volumes. Here's what you can do. Okay, that's a lot. The Buddha, I mean, 35, 45 years he taught. Here's what you can do, right? And so that's a very elaborate. Answer to a very good question. I'm a sentient being. What can I do to transcend this state and become a Buddha? And there's a lot to be done. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:58 Highlight the passage at 1:22:58

1:23:28 But from the perspective where I'm already a Buddha, then the question is, what can I stop doing so that I no longer veil, obscure, make invisible to myself who I actually am? What can I stop doing so that I don't perpetuate my own delusion? And all the mental illusions coming out of that. What can I stop doing so I can realize who I already am? Report an error in the passage at 1:23:28 Highlight the passage at 1:23:28

1:24:01 And so one is a developmental model, the first one. The other one's a discovery model. And then there's this marvelous, it's exactly yin and yang. It's exactly yin and yang. The yang is what can I do and the yin is what can I stop doing to realize what is already true and hidden in plain sight. What can I stop doing so that that which is hidden in plain sight Is no longer hidden and manifest. And so that defines the ambience, the use of language, the type of practices for these two complementary approaches. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:01 Highlight the passage at 1:24:01

1:24:40 And that's exactly what they are. Because the Dalai Lama is not simply a scholar of Dzogchen, he's a practitioner of Dzogchen. He's not just a scholar of Tsongkhapa, he's a practitioner of Tsongkhapa. And in one person he combines, integrates and sees these as complementary. And I'm just very happy and profoundly privileged to be able to regard him as my Lama and do my best to follow in those footsteps. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:40 Highlight the passage at 1:24:40

1:25:06 So that's that. Yeah, that's good. Well, we went just a little bit after 8.30. So I'd like to suggest this practice. I think it has tremendous potential to it. In fact, I would say I'm confident it does. That ongoing sense of stillness. An ongoing sense of stillness. There's a lot more to say. That's why we have another five, five and a half days. But to maintain that and, you know, when you finish the day, whether it's in a half an hour, an hour, two hours, whatever it is, your bedtime, you decide. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:06 Highlight the passage at 1:25:06

1:25:42 But when you finish the day and you've done everything you want to do, brush your teeth and so forth, you get in under the covers. I'd really encourage you starting tonight because let's, you know, squeeze this piece of fruit and get all the juice out of it over the next five and a half days. When you get under the covers and your light's out, I would suggest go into the supine position, formally, meditative posture, okay? Hands out to the side, palms up, chest open, everything open, nice straight line, nice pillow under your head. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:42 Highlight the passage at 1:25:42

1:26:11 And then for some time, and sometimes means three minutes, 20 minutes, half an hour, whatever, as long as that clarity is quite clearly there. If you're already really, really sleepy, then let it be two minutes and then just fall asleep. But rest there. In this nice, quiet, safe, serene, supportive environment. And just let your awareness be still. Just still. And to show you how easy it is, it's this easy. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:11 Highlight the passage at 1:26:11

1:26:44 And you see how effortless that is. I love doing that because it makes it immediately apparent this is not something hard. This is not something you have to strive. When I snap my fingers for five seconds, just let your awareness be still. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:44 Highlight the passage at 1:26:44

1:27:07 So easy. Not doing an awful lot. Isn't it? Not doing. It's so easy, so relaxed. Let your awareness come to rest like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:07 Highlight the passage at 1:27:07

1:27:24 And then as you're just resting there, you're quiet, you're still, you're still clear, just be aware of the undulations, the fluctuations within this field that we impute as our body. And just be aware of the ebb and flow of the breath, relaxing with every out-breath especially. And just maintain that stillness of your awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:24 Highlight the passage at 1:27:24

1:27:47 And that more peripheral awareness of the ebb and flow of the breath. The ambience, the images came to mind, nothing special, but we've all done it because you have so many beaches here in Australia, beautiful ones. This is a rhetorical question. Who's not sat on a beach on a really pleasant, warm, sunny day and with no responsibilities, it's a day off and you're just gazing out at the ocean and washing the waves wash up. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:47 Highlight the passage at 1:27:47

1:28:15 On the shore and flow back and wash up. Who's not? We all have, right? We've all done that. And we know that there's nothing to achieve. You're not saying, how many minutes do I need to do this? Are we there yet? What have I gotten? What have I achieved? Do I need to count? It's kind of like just, this is nice. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:15 Highlight the passage at 1:28:15

1:28:39 That ambience of just washing the waves, wash up on shore and flow back to the sea. So just do that and do it for as long as you feel like it. Just that. It's totally subjective. As long as you feel like it. If it's three minutes, it's three minutes. I do this regularly and I do it until I get to the point that I see there's kind of a wobbling. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:39 Highlight the passage at 1:28:39

1:29:04 Either it's getting dim or it's kind of getting wobbly. Not chucking a wobbly, just wobbly. And then when I see, huh, the body mind is tired. It's sleepy. It's about time for sleep. Then I roll out of that posture and I'm asleep probably in five minutes. And a really nice segue to getting a really good night's sleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:04 Highlight the passage at 1:29:04

1:29:24 Really nice. And no downside at all. It's really sweet. So, meditatively, we're going to take a slower pace than I often do. Often when leading week-long retreats, you know, like it's fire hydrant time, teaching 12 different meditations in a week. Probably 12, 15 in Singapore in seven days. But I could really slow down here. And also for the eight week we had hardly any time for discussion. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:24 Highlight the passage at 1:29:24

1:29:50 It wound up. In Singapore, hardly any time. We're going to have more time for discussion here. Okay? Evenings. So it'll be fairly intense. The text is very compact, very powerful. And the fact that it's written down by a person. Who's speaking totally from his own experience. That really makes it powerful. And what I am happy to share is a living lineage transmission. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:50 Highlight the passage at 1:29:50

1:30:19 There's a flow of blessing here. And I'm a conduit for that. Nothing special about me at all. But I do take very seriously, try to let that flow through unimpededly, without distortion, without contamination. There's a real blessing to this text. I know that. And if I can be a conduit for that, then that's very good. Yes. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:19 Highlight the passage at 1:30:19

1:30:42 could you give me some more information about it? Sure. Sure. I don't have a clue. Yeah. Somebody else take care of this because I have my own morning meditation. So I'm busy for the first four or five hours. But at nine o 'clock, so I'm not here early. So I come at nine. But you've just answered. Are you well answered? You'll talk to her. Okay. Maybe you can tell everybody. Can you tell everybody would like to know? I presume, yeah? I come at nine. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:42 Highlight the passage at 1:30:42

1:31:14 So I'm here 9 to 12, 2 to 5 and then 7 to 8.30. But it is good because I have time for my own practice and so I start early and I need to be well prepared. When I come at 9 o 'clock I like to offer my very best which means I'm coming out of a good deal of practice already. So everybody have a good night's sleep and see you tomorrow at 9 o 'clock. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:14 Highlight the passage at 1:31:14

1:31:34 And if you'd like to explain a bit more you're welcome to do so. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:34 Highlight the passage at 1:31:34

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:32:41 The brand will be leading meditation from 7.15 to 8 in the morning. We try to minimise the amount of guidance in the meditation unless people particularly want more guidance. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:41 Highlight the passage at 1:32:41