Dzogchen Retreat 2015 - Realising our true nature (part 7)

0:16 So we'll have one more session this afternoon, but I'd like to offer a couple of key points before we jump in. I'll be fairly concise. And that is in any practice of shamatha, any school, and frankly it would have to be true for Christians and Taoists and anybody else who practices, if one is going to practice it effectively, then you really need to exercise to refine two faculties, mindfulness and introspection. Report an error in the passage at 0:16 Highlight the passage at 0:16

0:44 And let's define them really quickly, right to the point. In the Buddhist context, mindfulness is not what is generally meant in the whole mindfulness revolution, mindfulness movement and so forth, which is all very good, it's fine, no criticism at all, but that's not the Buddhist definition of mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 0:44 Highlight the passage at 0:44

0:59 There really is one. And in Buddhism, the faculty of mindfulness is that by which we are able to bear in mind, to hold in mind, to retain, to recollect, to remember whatever we're attending to, with which we're familiar, without distraction and without forgetfulness. It's a faculty to bear in mind without distraction or without forgetfulness. It's just that. And that's what the term means in all of the Asian Buddhist languages. Report an error in the passage at 0:59 Highlight the passage at 0:59

1:27 I don't know all of them, but I've done a pretty good survey. Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pāli. The term is a direct one-on-one translation to each of these languages. And they all have the primary connotation to recall, to bear in mind. And so in a practice that is utterly transparent, like... Report an error in the passage at 1:27 Highlight the passage at 1:27

1:46 Visualizing a Buddha image and having this as your object of shamatha, then it's perfectly obvious what the object of mindfulness is, and that is the Buddha image. So what are you mindful in that practice? The image of the Buddha. Very, very clear. And that's likewise clear if you're attending to the sensations of the breath at the nostrils. Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

2:05 Very clear. That's the object of mindfulness. But now the practice we're doing here is a bit subtle. It's not complicated, but it is a bit subtle. And so what here is the... What are we attending to? What's the object of mindfulness? And the words are important. If you can't articulate that for yourself, if you ask yourself that question and you say, eh, not quite sure, this means your practice is going to be nebulous. Report an error in the passage at 2:05 Highlight the passage at 2:05

2:29 If the instructions are nebulous, the practice will be nebulous. And so the words, really like using like a razor, like a nice benevolent razor, really sharp, right to the point. So there is a definition of mindfulness. I think it is. The ability to bear. Something in mind with which you're familiar, without distraction, without forgetfulness. Nailed it. Okay, good. That's true for all schools of Buddhism. And then, in this particular practice, obviously it's one of multiple interpretations of mindfulness of breathing. Report an error in the passage at 2:29 Highlight the passage at 2:29

2:59 I think, frankly, they're all good. I don't think that one can say one is better, but this one is right in the jet stream of Dzogchen. If you want to go into Dzogchen practice, this is a really direct route, as I think will become more evident as the days go by. So what are you mindful? Well clearly it's a bit, a little bit subtle. But let's go for the core first. Report an error in the passage at 2:59 Highlight the passage at 2:59

3:23 What are you bearing in mind? What are you seeking not to be distracted from? What are you seeking not to forget? And that is you're seeking to retain, to bear in mind, to not forget the maintenance of your awareness in stillness. Report an error in the passage at 3:23 Highlight the passage at 3:23

3:42 Remember that. This is the core of the practice. Remember to let your awareness remain in stillness. Without being distracted outwards to any appearance whatsoever, then you're carried away. You're no longer remaining in stillness. And without grasping onto anything inwardly, to any mental state, to any mental process, anything, do not grasp onto, identify, cling to anything inwardly. Report an error in the passage at 3:42 Highlight the passage at 3:42

4:12 Don't be distracted outwards. Don't be diffused. That would be both distraction and forgetfulness. but also don't Glom onto, identify with, entrench yourself with anything inwardly. Remember that. That's what you bear in mind. If you're doing either of those two things, then you're not doing the practice. Now, secondarily, it's a bit subtle, but not very complicated. And that is you have, just like a glass of water, if you just fill this to overflow, and I just kept on filling, filling, it would spill, right? Report an error in the passage at 4:12 Highlight the passage at 4:12

4:48 It's over the top. And so we have some spillage, some spillage. If you have very deep samādhi, you don't. Then all your awareness goes into one groove, right? I mean, when you achieve shamatha, it's like you're a great civil engineer and all the flow of your attention is in one channel. And that's mental awareness, right? It's all one. It's really very well engineered. But when we're beginners, or even relatively beginners, we have some spill. Report an error in the passage at 4:48 Highlight the passage at 4:48

5:13 And that is, this is really the core of the practice, just that stillness, that luminosity, that cognizance. Without going out to appearances, without glomming onto or reifying or grasping onto or identifying with anything within. But we have a spill. So what do you do with a spill? Well, why not put that to good use? Rather than just saying, oh, I'm spilling, I'm spilling, I'm drooling. Report an error in the passage at 5:13 Highlight the passage at 5:13

5:41 Let your drool be useful. Okay, the spill, let it be useful. And let that spill illuminate, accept that it's, you know, accept it. Not accept, but accept that it's spilling over and let it, of course, illuminate the hug of the sensations of the breath. It's coming to meet you. You don't have to look for it. It's just like a friendly hug, very gentle, undulating, comes to you. So say, okay, I'm aware of that. Report an error in the passage at 5:41 Highlight the passage at 5:41

6:10 I'm going to be happy I'm aware of that. This is not 100 % shamatha without a sign, but it's a nice footstool to that practice. And I've got something a little bit to hold on to. Right? Something I got a little bit of a sign. Breathing in, breathing out. So that's it. And you don't forget that. And that's it. Report an error in the passage at 6:10 Highlight the passage at 6:10

6:29 You're bearing that. And so you are bearing in mind peripherally, secondarily. You are bearing in mind the fluctuations of the breath. It's long, it's short. You're bearing that in mind. Report an error in the passage at 6:29 Highlight the passage at 6:29

6:45 And again, I just find it so interesting that all of that can take place within the space of the mind without having to split off. And go to another field, like a tactile field. You can do that, that's attending to the sensation of the nostrils, that's a tactile field. But this is so subtle, so core, there's something about it. Report an error in the passage at 6:45 Highlight the passage at 6:45

7:04 The fact that there's that, you know, that coincidence of the breathing within the dream, where you have no experience of your body lying in bed at all, and yet the breathing is the same, that's quite fascinating. And then even in dreamless sleep, you can, if you wish, you're not compelled to, but if you wish, because I asked two of my students to check this out. Report an error in the passage at 7:04 Highlight the passage at 7:04

7:22 And they both did and they reported back, like third person, reported back, yeah, no experience of the body at all, whatever, no tactile sensation, deep asleep, lucid, and yeah, I know the rhythm. When I attended to it, when I asked the question, am I aware of breathing taking place or the sensation, the rhythm, the rhythm, the rhythm's there. That's so interesting. Report an error in the passage at 7:22 Highlight the passage at 7:22

7:47 So that's mindfulness. I'm going to wrap up quickly because we want to get to the session. So that's it. But that's very important. First of all, the definition of mindfulness, crystal clear. And then how are you applying mindfulness? Well, I just said it, but now let's just rephrase it in fewer words. Report an error in the passage at 7:47 Highlight the passage at 7:47

8:04 Your mindfulness is sustaining that flow of awareness in the present moment without distraction, without grasping. That's pretty simple. And you're remembering that. You're remembering that. You're not getting distracted away from that. You're not forgetting that. You are sustaining the flow. Of present-centered, mindful presence, without distraction, without grasping. That's it. So you're doing very little and not doing an awful lot, but you're doing that. Report an error in the passage at 8:04 Highlight the passage at 8:04

8:34 And then the second faculty is what Volkswagen, which they had an operation and now they're suffering as a result, quality control. Of course, there was actually deception there if you're following the news, but it's a quality control. There was actually deception. If you're running a company and you're producing a product, it's all very well to produce a product, but somebody should be checking up to see whether the product is up to standard. It just makes sense, right? Report an error in the passage at 8:34 Highlight the passage at 8:34

8:58 If you're giving education, you want to make sure that the goods are being delivered, that the children actually are getting an education and you're not just talking. And so quality control, that's what introspection is for. It's monitoring, it's checking in, not all the time, but as needed. Report an error in the passage at 8:58 Highlight the passage at 8:58

9:15 Like vitamins or whatever. As needed, take this. As needed, check in. If all is well, it would be like a parent checking in if you have a playroom in your house and the kids are playing there. And they're young kids. They could get into mischief. But you know your kids. And so you probably know how frequently you have to need to check in. And you just poke your head in. And if they're just having a great time and all is well, then you poke your head right out. Report an error in the passage at 9:15 Highlight the passage at 9:15

9:37 So they hardly even know you noticed. But do check in. And sometimes you might actually have to do something. And so it's like that. You check in and you see whether you're, you just check in once in a while, you check in the body until you don't need to anymore. Is your body still right where it should be? Report an error in the passage at 9:37 Highlight the passage at 9:37

9:55 Is the breathing still flowing just unimpededly, effortlessly, naturally? You need to check in because that's a new habit to cultivate. And then checking in. Are you off into a daydream and not even noticing? Check in. You'll notice it retrospectively because by the time you notice it, you're no longer wandering. Report an error in the passage at 9:55 Highlight the passage at 9:55

10:18 But now that you've recognized it, again, let your first response with infinite patience be to not get frustrated, disappointed, judging yourself and thinking you're the worst meditator in the room because you just have too many candidates, too much competition for that role. And so just give it a rest and just release with a smile. You don't have to do anything contrived, but just relax as soon as you see this happened. Report an error in the passage at 10:18 Highlight the passage at 10:18

10:44 Well, the good news is you're no longer wandering because you just recognize it. So be happy with the good news. And the good news is you just came out of your coma. You came out of your mind wandering. So now relax. And if there's still a little bit of pull, like maybe you want to go back and check it out. What was that thought? Report an error in the passage at 10:44 Highlight the passage at 10:44

11:01 What was that thought? Well, then release. Release the little tug. And then just free fall. It's not like getting up on the throne, launching up there. It's just free fall. It's just... Report an error in the passage at 11:01 Highlight the passage at 11:01

11:18 And there you are. You free fall, right to awareness resting in its own place. But then even while you're resting without being drawn out, you can rest and start to space out or just lose that clarity, lose the cognizance. And you need to be checking in, checking in, as frequently as necessary to see whether that's occurred. When you've recognized it, it's already finished. Report an error in the passage at 11:18 Highlight the passage at 11:18

11:45 Because by the time that you've recognized, you've gotten dull. The awareness of that isn't dull. You've already come out of it, so you may as well be happy. But you might want to kind of hit the throttle a little bit, jazz it up. That is reinvigorate your interest, your commitment, your intention. You just might want to kickstart it again. So you refresh, you restore your attention, you bring it back. Report an error in the passage at 11:45 Highlight the passage at 11:45

12:10 And then with the intention, and I'm not just dropping in for a couple of seconds until I space out again, but with the intention. That now I've restored and I'm going to stay here. And that's it. So mindfulness, introspection, they have a central role in any practice of shamatha. And my own feeling is that some basic attention training of this sort with mindfulness, introspection, should be taught in every school on the planet from preschool onwards. Report an error in the passage at 12:10 Highlight the passage at 12:10

12:44 And then I think we find that ADHD rates would just plummet. Just like polio went way, way down when people had the right inoculation, right? It just plummeted. It was gone because they found the right antidote to prevent, not curing polio, never getting it. Much, much better, right? Infinitely better. And so better than getting ADHD and then having the complex question, how much talk therapy, how much Ritalin, how much behavioral, how much environmental, what kind of technique? Report an error in the passage at 12:44 Highlight the passage at 12:44

13:16 Oh, you've got so many questions to answer. But if you prevent it in the first place, Because you're giving your children, bolstering their immune system, then, you know, I'm sure it would be vanishingly small. Okay, that was a little pitch for shamatha. But it's not a pitch for any religion, any belief system. It's just like, let's help our kids out because we've given them an ADHD world. Report an error in the passage at 13:16 Highlight the passage at 13:16

13:42 We need to give them some immune shots. So please find a comfortable position. We will have one session and then return to the text. Report an error in the passage at 13:42 Highlight the passage at 13:42

· · · silence, 26 minutes

39:34 So just an image, I think, to share with you before we go to the text. It came up in the meditation. It may be useful. The practice is very simple, but simplicity does not imply trivial. In fact, it may have great profundity. And it just occurred to me that, I mean, something obvious, but maybe we're saying, that the more things we're identifying with, this is mine, this is mine, my beautiful house, my beautiful car, my beautiful children, my reputation, my, my, my. Report an error in the passage at 39:34 Highlight the passage at 39:34

40:07 That the more things that we're identifying with and taking very seriously, reifying with, this is really mine, you know, of course my body and my mind, the more things we identify, the bigger we're going to die. Report an error in the passage at 40:07 Highlight the passage at 40:07

40:20 I think there are little deaths and big deaths, and that's a big death. And you can die almost like torture. You can have one thing, like in the 2008 crash, there were brokers who jumped out of windows, right? Because a big part of them, apparently the most important part, They just died. They lost their fortunes. And the remaining part apparently was not worth keeping, so they just jump out a window and die. It happens sometimes with the death of a spouse. Report an error in the passage at 40:20 Highlight the passage at 40:20

40:50 I saw this happen once. A very loving marriage. And then the husband just suddenly died. He had an anomaly in his heart. And the wife just wanted to die. Such a large part of her that was so absolutely integral to a very sense of identity. Was now just this gaping hole, this massive vacuity in her bed, in her life. Where she needed to be, there was no one. And she just wanted to die. Report an error in the passage at 40:50 Highlight the passage at 40:50

41:15 Because so much was gone, the residue was not worth keeping. She managed not to, only for the sake of her grandchildren. Didn't want to set a precedent or give them sadness. Some people die because they lose reputations. They lose their power. They lose their health. Report an error in the passage at 41:15 Highlight the passage at 41:15

41:37 Robin Williams had power, a lot of influence. I think probably the most brilliant comedian we've seen for a long time. I've seen him in action. He's amazing. He's still that. His mind was perfectly intact. And his wealth, he must have been very wealthy and so famous, my goodness. But he was diagnosed with Parkinson's and he had some depression and that tipped it. And then what was left over was not worth keeping, right? And so the more things we identify with, the greater the death. Report an error in the passage at 41:37 Highlight the passage at 41:37

42:07 And we can die in pieces as one thing is shaved off like a big machete coming up and just shaving off. There's your wealth. That's not yours any longer. There's your reputation. There's your health. Oh, there's your mind. You're coming down with Alzheimer's. That's a big deal. There's your family. Just got wiped out in an automobile accident. That's enormous. There's your homeland. There's your homeland. Some Tibetans committed suicide when they lost their homeland. Report an error in the passage at 42:07 Highlight the passage at 42:07

42:36 That's finished. finished. And so, But when we get to kind of the nucleus, even if we give up attachment to everything else, that one becomes a monastic, for example. So then you're a homeless person, right? You don't really have a family. Insofar as you're really homeless, you're really a monastic, the family are, well, the whole world is your family, but no special ties. Report an error in the passage at 42:36 Highlight the passage at 42:36

42:57 That's kind of the idea. You go into a witness protection program in a monastery and you get a new haircut and new clothing and you get a new name, a new identity. Right? And so really now you're supposed to be homeless. The whole idea is cut all of the attachments to your family, friend, homeland, possessions, and you get to be born again. Report an error in the passage at 42:57 Highlight the passage at 42:57

43:18 And all you get to keep with you, that you still get to identify with, although it's frowned upon, is your body and your mind. That you get to keep. Right? But what really, the image came to my mind was like, I don't know, I don't think I've ever quite seen this, but I kind of have. Some of those action flicks. Report an error in the passage at 43:18 Highlight the passage at 43:18

43:38 Where a person is driving down kind of a narrow alley and then it gets narrower and narrower and somebody's chasing him. Haven't you seen that? It gets narrower and narrower until it gets so narrow that the car crashes because the car was wider than the ever increasing narrowing of that groove of that alley. Report an error in the passage at 43:38 Highlight the passage at 43:38

44:01 That's what happens at death when you're actually dying. You're really dying. You're not committing suicide. You're actually dying. And it's really like riding a tricycle. As you're going down, now the portals of death, the last leg of the journey, and you're in the dying process. You're riding a tricycle. Two wheels on the side and then one wheel in the middle. And you're going to get shaved. Report an error in the passage at 44:01 Highlight the passage at 44:01

44:26 You're going to get a butch. You're going to get real shaved here. Because it's getting narrower and narrower. Your brain's shutting down, right? That happens. And so you're going to lose the body. One of those wheels is going to come off. It's going to be there, but it's going to be dead meat. And you're not going to have it anymore. It's not a body anymore. It's just dead meat. And it's not yours. You've just lost a body. You've lost awareness of the body even before it starts to decompose. Report an error in the passage at 44:26 Highlight the passage at 44:26

44:51 But then as the brain continues to go flat, you're losing your mind and you lose it in pieces. If you have a nice slow death, you lose it in pieces. Your sensory shuts down, memory shuts down, emotion shuts down, critical faculties shut down, shut down, shut down. You're going brain dead. And the other wheel's coming off. You've lost the wheel of your body. That's no longer yours. It used to be. Well, it isn't anymore. Nobody owns that body. Report an error in the passage at 44:51 Highlight the passage at 44:51

45:16 Maybe you're heirs if you want to use it for something. And your mind, well, nobody gets that because that's just, it's gone. And so you have only one wheel left. Report an error in the passage at 45:16 Highlight the passage at 45:16

45:26 Actually three wheels. Body, mind and the third wheel. And that's awareness. And awareness is not equivalent to the mind. It's certainly not equivalent to the body. And it's simply a massive widespread superstition that awareness actually is generated by the chemicals and electricity in your brain. There is not even a scientific theory to that effect. Report an error in the passage at 45:26 Highlight the passage at 45:26

45:46 It's just a widespread belief, like believing in leprechauns. But everybody believes, not everybody, but a lot of people do. I'm just surprised that physicists and the chemists have said, say what? Because they're talking about what they know about. but it just Report an error in the passage at 45:46 Highlight the passage at 45:46

46:02 Physicists know about atoms, waves, particles, fields, and chemists know a lot about chemistry. And suddenly, you know, these neuroscientists are coming along and say, well, with sufficiently complex organization and complexity, sufficient complexity than the chemical electricity in the brain, give rise to consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 46:02 Highlight the passage at 46:02

46:19 And I'm just surprised it never happened, that you don't have a thousand chemists saying, what? We know about those chemicals. They don't have the ability of consciousness. Where are you coming up with this? And the physicist is saying, hey, you're talking about molecules here. They don't have the ability to generate consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 46:19 Highlight the passage at 46:19

46:36 Why are you coming up with this? This is crazy. And they're not. So it's like somebody slipped datura into the drinks of the entire community. And they're all hallucinating together that somehow the brain produces consciousness. It's such a crazy idea and no evidence for it at all. That the mind arises in dependence upon the brain? Definite. Report an error in the passage at 46:36 Highlight the passage at 46:36

46:57 For sure, no question about it. Damage the brain sufficiently, you don't have a mind anymore. But consciousness, it's an absolute mystery and we're not making any progress within the materialist paradigm. So moving on, here's why this is relevant to the practice we just did. It's a matter of balance, isn't it? Didn't you feel that way? That it's like balance, like standing on top of a ball. Report an error in the passage at 46:57 Highlight the passage at 46:57

47:18 And just trying to be real still so you don't roll off. Or one of those, you know, what they do in logging companies. You've had a lot of logging here in Australia. Log rolls, where people go out and they try to stay upright on a log that goes this way and that way. And they're trying to be still. Be still. It's like a log rolling contest. You're either rolling off into laxity or rolling off into hyperactivity. Report an error in the passage at 47:18 Highlight the passage at 47:18

47:44 And you're trying to be really still and really subtle. And if you're really still, then of course you can stay in that log as long as you like. It's balance. Shantideva is all about balance, says the balance wallah, B. Alan Wallace. Report an error in the passage at 47:44 Highlight the passage at 47:44

47:57 It's all about balance. And if you can just stay right there in the center and not slip off into excitation, attention, hyperactivity, and not slip off into laxity and dullness and getting spaced out, if you can just stay right there in the middle. Still, but not sleepy, not doping out, not falling asleep, not going unconscious. No, be super conscious. Right there in the middle. Report an error in the passage at 47:57 Highlight the passage at 47:57

48:27 And now imagine, think ahead. Because your day will come, my day will come. Don't know when, but it's definitely coming. We're going to be going through that ever-narrowing alley. We're going to be stripped of our wealth, our family, our homeland, everything. And we're going to be stripped of the body and stripped of the mind. That's guaranteed. Report an error in the passage at 48:27 Highlight the passage at 48:27

48:47 And are you going to pass out when that happens? Or will you have such balance through the release of all identification with everything outside you and even the identification with the body and identification with the mind that when they lose them, you don't feel you've just died a little death. You just lost some money, lost that, lost that. Oh, okay. But I wasn't identifying with it anyway, so what's the big deal? And you're not identifying with the body, so you're lucidly passing through the dying process. Report an error in the passage at 48:47 Highlight the passage at 48:47

49:20 From your perspective, you're disembodied. Oh, that's okay. It was old anyway. Or it was broken. What do I need that for? Who wants an old, broken body? Fine. And then the mind, probably not as clear as it was when you were younger. So, okay. Thank you for, it was useful, why you lasted. Kiss it goodbye. Report an error in the passage at 49:20 Highlight the passage at 49:20

49:39 And you still maintain that balance. You've just lost your body. Everything outside you've lost. You've lost your body. You've lost your mind. And you're on your unicycle, going right through that narrowing. It's just wide enough to get the unicycle through. And you come to the end of the line, which is death, and you're lucid. Report an error in the passage at 49:39 Highlight the passage at 49:39

50:00 And you can stay there, it says Jujum Lingba, the same author, for up to three days, not clear light of death. You can just be resting in the substrate consciousness, that dark entertainment. You can last as long as three days there. And if you're lucid, you really could. Why you'd want to hang out, not quite sure, but maybe you'd want to say, what's it like to rest in peace? Report an error in the passage at 50:00 Highlight the passage at 50:00

50:19 You know, at least get three days of it, you know, three days. Oh, this is quiet. This is really, really quiet. You're just resting in the substrate consciousness and you're lucidly dead. But you got through and you stayed awake the whole time and you're right next door to the bottom falling out from that substrate consciousness and going into the vast infinite space of the clear light of death. Report an error in the passage at 50:19 Highlight the passage at 50:19

50:43 You are so close to being lucid in that state. And then being able to dwell there in that tuk tam, that clear light of death, where the people outside are getting very impressed. Because they're seeing you there. Your body not decomposing, no breath, no heartbeat, no brain activity. And son of a gun, you're still there. Report an error in the passage at 50:43 Highlight the passage at 50:43

51:07 You're still there. At the deepest level. Luminous, lucid, self-knowing, pristine awareness. And you finally are showing your hand. We're all playing poker, right? We're all playing poker. Yang Danimachi says, oh, I don't have any of those qualities. And he's looking at his hand. I got a really bad hand. I got nothing. Report an error in the passage at 51:07 Highlight the passage at 51:07

51:29 I got nothing. He's great at poker. Report an error in the passage at 51:29 Highlight the passage at 51:29

51:35 Shudanimachi, when he passed away, how elegant. How elegant. If anybody saw the photo of him with his Holiness just before he passes away, oh my goodness. How incredibly sweet. I hardly remember anything I've seen that was sweeter than that. His Holiness wishing him well. On his way out. What a nice party on your next journey. I mean, it was incredible. And then the elegance, the grace with which he just set everything aside. Report an error in the passage at 51:35 Highlight the passage at 51:35

52:09 And then I'm about to die. And he did. It was like dropping a pebble into the Pacific Ocean. That's elegant. Death is inevitable. And the way we die is absolutely not. So get used to riding a unicycle. Get used to this. Make it a habit. Make it comfortable, make it home, make it sustainable. That's really good preparation. For falling asleep lucidly, that could be interesting. Report an error in the passage at 52:09 Highlight the passage at 52:09

52:42 For dying lucidly, that could be immense. I mean, incredibly significant. So this is a simple practice, but it's one you can actually practice all the way through the dying process. And there are very few things you can say of that. You can't practice sleep degeneration through the dying process. You can't visualize, you can't do all the mantras and so forth. When your brain's shutting down, I think it'd be very hard. Report an error in the passage at 52:42 Highlight the passage at 52:42

53:04 You can't do analytical meditation. You need a brain for that, you know, while we're embodied. But this one you could do. This one you could do. Practice all the way through the dying process. Report an error in the passage at 53:04 Highlight the passage at 53:04

53:15 So now let's jump on back onto the text. Report an error in the passage at 53:15 Highlight the passage at 53:15

53:23 So we're on the bottom of page 10. He's just, he's this old, old beggar. I just shook out my satchel. And what came out were these three common preliminaries. And anybody who would like to follow a Buddhist path really is inspired by the path to liberation, the path to awakening within the Buddhist context. Then he says, here are the three points that if you really embrace and absorb and totally integrate these into your way of viewing reality, your own life and existence at large, this will sustain you, keeps you, provides you with continuity. Report an error in the passage at 53:23 Highlight the passage at 53:23

53:57 These are critical. The three points are the field of sublime Dharma. That's for common. That's with any Buddhist path. Those are crucial, those three points. And then he moves on, now he's going on to the uncommon, or the uncommon preliminaries, the preliminaries specifically for Vajrayana in general, and of course this is a text about Dzogchen. Report an error in the passage at 53:57 Highlight the passage at 53:57

54:17 So now he's going, okay, what kind of specific preparations, what further revolutions, I mean really fundamental shifts of perspective on reality do you need to bring to bear so that your Dzogchen practice will bear full fruit and it will carry through all the way to its culmination. So he says here on the bottom of page 10, having established those teachings as your foundation, then with constant devotion offer prayers of supplication to your guru. Report an error in the passage at 54:17 Highlight the passage at 54:17

54:43 So this is going to be a very, very concise, extremely concise account of guru yoga and its placement, its nature within the context of Dzogchen. Report an error in the passage at 54:43 Highlight the passage at 54:43

54:54 Having just finished translating the short text by Yang Tanimucha, he said, until your own pristine awareness manifests as the guru, In other words, really until you're a Vidyadhara and you've gained direct realization of pristine awareness and your pristine awareness is taking on the form, is your guru now, manifestly, explicitly taking on the guise of your guru. Report an error in the passage at 54:54 Highlight the passage at 54:54

55:16 Until then, guru yoga should be your primary practice. That's what he said. That's your main practice. Enormously emphasized. It could not be more emphasized and it's generally true in Vajrayana. But this is definitely not an entry-level, entry-level teaching. If you're just checking out Buddhism and seeing whether this is the path for you, this is not the way to start. This is starting way up at a much higher level where there needs to be a foundation of a great deal of understanding, of faith, of trust and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 55:16 Highlight the passage at 55:16

55:48 And you can't force that. So to give a tiny bit of preface for this, if you're just setting out and you find that you deeply resonate with, your intuition says, thumbs up, this is the path. And it's the path of the Buddha Dharma, the path followed by the Buddhas. And you seek out a guru, a spiritual mentor. That's the best translation I can come up with. Report an error in the passage at 55:48 Highlight the passage at 55:48

56:08 Spiritual mentor. And you find one that you feel is qualified, the teachings are clear, they're sound, the person is truly living. To the best of his or her ability, in accordance with the teaching, the person has integrity, a person motivated by compassion, there's good chemistry between yourself and the teacher, you find the teaching is very helpful, they're informative, instructive, and moreover there's blessing there, you really find benefit in engaging with the teacher, then good, you found a guru. Report an error in the passage at 56:08 Highlight the passage at 56:08

56:36 It's not necessarily the guru, but you found a guru, a spiritual mentor. You may have one, you may have a hundred, but you found someone who is now like a wish-fulfilling gem. For your own spiritual evolution. And if you're in this foundational level, feet on the ground, clear intelligence, really checking and proceeding in a very sensible fashion, and you'd like to derive as much benefit from this guru-disciple relationship as you can, then what I'd strongly encourage is take it from the foundation up. Report an error in the passage at 56:36 Highlight the passage at 56:36

57:08 And the foundation up is you regard your guru as an emissary of the Buddha, of the historical Buddha. He passed away a long time ago. But through this unbroken lineage, this flow of blessing, of instruction, going down through 25, 2600 years, then the Guru is bringing this transmission, this knowledge, this experience, the insight, the blessings of the Saṅgha, the blessings of the Dharma, the blessings of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 57:08 Highlight the passage at 57:08

57:33 And this is, for the time being, as close as you get to the Buddha, this person. Who you connect with and has these qualities. Not just anybody, but all those that I said. And I said it quite quickly. But if they're all there, then bring this devotion, this reverence to the Guru as an emissary, an ambassador, a representative of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 57:33 Highlight the passage at 57:33

57:56 Because for the time being, this is as close as you're going to get to the Buddha. So show that kind of reverence. Just like governments show great respect for the ambassador of a country. Especially if it's a powerful country. They show a great deference, respect and so forth for the ambassador as if for the king, the president or prime minister. Because this person is representing that government and you want to have maybe a very good, very fruitful relationship with that country. Report an error in the passage at 57:56 Highlight the passage at 57:56

58:21 So in a similar fashion, moving on quickly, if you venture into the Mahāyāna and it resonates with you, the teachings of emptiness, the teaching of perfection of wisdom, the bodhisattva way of life, the six perfections, the teachings on the nature of Dharmakaya. That the Buddha didn't just get blown out like a light when he passed into Paranirvana, but that Dharmakaya, Buddha mind is everywhere present, manifesting, manifesting, unimpededly as Sambhogakayas, Numanakayas. Report an error in the passage at 58:21 Highlight the passage at 58:21

58:49 And it just resonates with you. It's not just that you've learned a creed and now you're a true believer, but this resonates. It speaks to your intuition and your intuition gives you a big thumbs up. Yes, this is the path I really feel at home with. And you find a guru now, a Mahāyāna guru. Who's now embodying, teaching, transmitting clearly, bringing the blessing, conveying the blessings of the Mahāyāna, the Bodhisattva way of life. Report an error in the passage at 58:49 Highlight the passage at 58:49

59:14 Then, as I received this from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, then view this Guru as if he or she were a Buddha, but really as a conduit. A conduit. Like a magnifying glass, the conduit of the blessings, the wisdom, the compassion of the Buddha. You look upon this person as being like a focal point in which you're receiving the blessings of Dharmakaya, the teachings of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 59:14 Highlight the passage at 59:14

59:38 And you look upon that person as if he or she were a Buddha. And of course they must be qualified, otherwise you can suffer a lot. Because if that person exploits you, is dishonest, is corrupt, selfish, greedy and so forth, you've got a big problem. Really sad, incredibly sad. So you want to be very careful that you choose someone, that you really have deep confidence, this person really is doing his or her best, absolutely embody the teachings, convey them with selfless compassion, with wisdom, with reverence, with faith, with humility, then it's all good. Report an error in the passage at 59:38 Highlight the passage at 59:38

1:00:10 It can be tremendously good. But if the person is not qualified, you can really suffer. It's very sad when that happens. So that would be... Sravakayana, that's Mahāyāna. But we have to move right on through. We're in Vajrayana now and time is a passing. So we're in the context of Dzogchen. And in Dzogchen, two things for this practice of this devotion to the Guru to be truly meaningful with no downside and be a tremendous blessing, a tremendously powerful force for inspiring, energizing your practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:10 Highlight the passage at 1:00:10

1:00:40 Two things are utterly indispensable. And that is you must have some understanding of emptiness. If you don't, I just would say don't go here. Because you're really not ready. If you still think of the Guru as someone really out there, independent, self-existent, really over there and you're really over here, that's okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:40 Highlight the passage at 1:00:40

1:00:57 That's okay. It's quite understandable. But don't try to practice this. Because if you do, it's just going to go straight beeline to idolatry. And that is not Buddhist. Idolatry is not Buddhist. So there must be some understanding. It has to really get to you. It has to be real. Of the emptiness of your own identity as a sentient being. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:57 Highlight the passage at 1:00:57

1:01:19 If you're reifying yourself as a sentient being, this is again idolatry. Oh, my guru is so great. My guru is a Buddha, but I'm a schmuck. Then you're not doing this practice. It's delusional. It's just hero worship. You might as well worship Michael Jackson or some other celebrity. Oh, like the Beatle mania. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:19 Highlight the passage at 1:01:19

1:01:39 You're a guru mania or Dalai Lama mania. Oh, he's so fantastic. I'm a schmuck, but he's great. That's all very sweet. It's cute, but it's not this practice. It's not Dzogchen, it's not Vajrayana, it's not really not anything. It's not Shravakayana, it's not Mahāyāna, it's not Vajrayana, not Dzogchen. It's just hero worship with enormous amount of attachment almost certainly. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:39 Highlight the passage at 1:01:39

1:02:01 And that's just not Buddhist at all. So this has really prerequisite. He didn't say it, but this is not a beginner's text. You must have some real insight into the purely constructed imputational nature of yourself as a sentient being. That you're not at your core intrinsically, inherently a sentient being. And that means your guru, even if the guru shows no indications of being a Buddha, just a very qualified teacher. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:01 Highlight the passage at 1:02:01

1:02:28 There are a lot of people like that. You're looking, where's the sign? Where's the sign? Are you omniscient? Are you infinitely compassionate? Do you have incredible cities? And you're looking, I don't see any. You're just really, really nice and competent and clear and capable and virtuous and compassionate and wise and caring. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:28 Highlight the passage at 1:02:28

1:02:45 But I didn't see any of those Buddha qualities. So you reify the Guru as a person, it's just a human being, a sentient being, then there's no point in pretending the Guru is a Buddha, then you're deluding yourself. So you have to know the Guru, however the Guru may manifest, is not, this is guaranteed, whether the Guru acts with crazy wisdom or simply a very decent person or as an amazing Mahasiddha, whichever way, the Guru is not inherently a sentient being. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:45 Highlight the passage at 1:02:45

1:03:15 Maybe conventionally, but it's a matter of perspective. And you're not intrinsically a sentient being either. And in this practice you dissolve. You're shifting your platform, right? You're dissolving even nominally. That's the point. Are we? I'm going to speak for everybody here. Maybe I'm right. Maybe are we nominally, conventionally, relatively? Are we sentient beings? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:15 Highlight the passage at 1:03:15

1:03:37 I can say, yeah, there we go. My hand's way up. Is that the only perspective on us? And then I'd have to say no. It's a valid perspective, but it's not the only valid perspective. It's kind of light particle and wave theory of light. Yes, it's a particle, but it's also a wave, but from a different perspective. Because one thing can't be a particle and a wave and one person cannot be a sentient being and a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:37 Highlight the passage at 1:03:37

1:04:02 You can't be. If you're a sentient being, you're not enlightened. If you're enlightened, you're not a sentient being. So you cannot be both from the same perspective. You're one or the other. Light cannot be a wave and a particle from the same perspective. But it can be from multiple perspectives and then the complementary, different perspective. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:02 Highlight the passage at 1:04:02

1:04:22 And so if you see that, that you have a choice, this is the thing. It's all a matter of seeing that you have a choice. You don't have to regard yourself as a centered being. And to not do so is not being delusional, although that's an option too. And when it comes to viewing your guru, you can view as just the next door neighbor, or as a teacher, or a nice guy, or pleasant person, or etc. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:22 Highlight the passage at 1:04:22

1:04:48 There's all kinds of valid ways. But one of the valid ways is to totally deconstruct from your perspective the apprehension of your guru as a sentient being and say, this is my perspective. I'm not asking anybody else to do this, but from my perspective, because I want to get the maximum benefit out of this relationship, I am choosing to deconstruct my own identity as a sentient being and simultaneously to deconstruct my apprehension of the guru as a sentient being. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:48 Highlight the passage at 1:04:48

1:05:17 Good for the goose, good for the gander. I'm going to deconstruct them both. Where I am, there is Buddha nature. Where my guru is, is Buddha nature. And I'm going to use that as my platform. And now I'm going to view from this perspective of my best approximation of pristine awareness. I'm going to view the guru from that perspective. And I'm going to see my guru as a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:17 Highlight the passage at 1:05:17

1:05:37 Not as if, not a conduit, not an emissary, as a Buddha. Because where the guru is, there is the Buddha. Where I am, there is a Buddha, and that's what I'm choosing to do. And now with very strong devotion, admiration, faith, trust, you offer constant supplication to the Guru, which is really nothing other than offering constant supplication to your own Buddha nature, your own pristine awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:37 Highlight the passage at 1:05:37

1:06:02 Bless me, bless me, bless me, because the Guru's Buddha mind and your Buddha mind are not separate. The Guru is a manifestation of your own pristine awareness. So he starts by supplication. What's his business? Offer prayers, prayers basically? Constantly offer prayers. Why? So you're absolutely prioritizing, throwing all other desires into the shadow. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:02 Highlight the passage at 1:06:02

1:06:25 With all your heart, all your might, all your soul, with every fiber of your being, you're focused like a laser on awakening as soon as possible. And that's where all your desires are flowing and you're articulating your desires with prayers of supplication to the Guru, who is your Buddha nature after all. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:25 Highlight the passage at 1:06:25

1:06:42 That's what you're doing. Outwardly, imagine your guru on the crown of your head. Purely of light, so don't get a headache. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:42 Highlight the passage at 1:06:42

1:06:53 Light being. Symbolic, iconic, archetypal. And it can be your guru appearing as Padmasambhava or Buddha Shakyamuni or Manjushri or Samadha Bhadra. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:53 Highlight the passage at 1:06:53

1:07:05 Inwardly, visualize your own body as the guru. I would suggest that you don't visualize your own body, for example, as 80-year-old Dalai Lama. I don't think that's terribly significant. But if you could see the Dalai Lama as Kandala sees the Dalai Lama, then you'd see him as a thousand-armed Cenrezi, which she has repeatedly said, and she actually said so. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:05 Highlight the passage at 1:07:05

1:07:24 It's wonderful to see such candor. On multiple occasions, she's looked at him, and she actually sees, not visualizing, she actually sees him as a thousand-armed Cenrezi, with light just flowing out from all directions. Well, that would be fine to visualize that. Or visualize your own form in that form. That would be fine. Better than visualizing an 80-year-old man. Oh, lasso. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:24 Highlight the passage at 1:07:24

1:07:45 So that's there. That's inwardly. And then secretly again and again transfer your own vital energies, your prāṇa, your mind, your consciousness. Just imagine this transference, this merging, this non-dualizing. Non-dually merge them, the prāṇa, the mind, the consciousness of the guru with your own prāṇa, your own mind, your own consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:45 Highlight the passage at 1:07:45

1:08:09 There's another tricycle, by the way. Three-wheeler. Vital energy representing body, subtle body, your mind and your consciousness. And imagine all of these merging. So there's just complete, just that. Non-dually merge them with the non-conceptual primordial consciousness of your guru's mind. Of course, that is pristine awareness. And this is the first point. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:09 Highlight the passage at 1:08:09

1:08:33 To do that, he said it in so few words. This is breathtakingly concise. But if you understand the meaning, you see, you see this. This is incredible, skillful means and it's authentic all the way through. And there's no downside. There's no hero worship. There's no idolatry. There's no pretending. It's just a very powerful way. And in this regard, one comment before we take our break. If we have a good fortune to meet these truly great beings, such as the Dalai Lama, many of them have passed away, Dhingo Kiense Rinpoche, Ling Rinpoche, Shokitijan Rinpoche, so many utterly, profoundly great beings have passed away now. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:33 Highlight the passage at 1:08:33

1:09:14 And some are still alive. Yantanabuja is one of those, one of the old ones, who is manifesting these qualities. To meet such a person, to be able to receive teaching, to sit in the presence of such a person can be life transforming. If one's heart is open to it, the faith is there. Because you really are in the presence of something incredibly profound. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:14 Highlight the passage at 1:09:14

1:09:41 But in so far as we see these beings And we have a sense of the inexpressible profundity of their wisdom, their compassion and the powers of their minds. They really can quite understandably appear to be very other. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:41 Highlight the passage at 1:09:41

1:09:57 I mean, he's regarded as an emanation of Vimalamitra. Vimalamitra achieved Great Transference Rainbow Body about 1200 years ago. And so I didn't. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:57 Highlight the passage at 1:09:57

1:10:08 It makes me rather different. And so here we are. I mean, I'm ordinary, born ordinary. Am ordinary and on the path, you know, sincere. That's all I say. I'm sincere. But I'm really not like that at all, you know, and probably a lot of us aren't. And so while deep reverence may arise, quite rightly, together with that same breath, a sense, whoa, are you not like me? But that's a bit unfortunate because that's not the nature of this practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:08 Highlight the passage at 1:10:08

1:10:39 I'm just kind of this lowly being, but you are just unbelievable. You know, that's reverence. But it's not this practice. Because we're still holding onto, grasping onto, I am sentient being and you are something exceptional. You are radically so unlike me that once again we're entering right into dualistic grasping. It's hard. It's kind of a catch-22. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:39 Highlight the passage at 1:10:39

1:11:02 What should we then not meet such great beings? And then when we meet them we're just totally blown away with awe. There's a downside to that. On the other hand, if you find a guru... Who is qualified. That's the first thing. And a lot can be said about that. But is qualified. Let's make it really simple. Is at least a step further on the path than you. Greater understanding, greater experience, motivation of compassion, skillful, authentic, has integrity, compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:02 Highlight the passage at 1:11:02

1:11:30 But just a step ahead. You know, not way up there. Just a step ahead. But there's Buddhahood. And here's your guru. Just a step ahead of you. But you're both walking. The guru continues to practice. You continue to practice. And you're both walking. Step by step. Then that guru is always a bit closer to the Buddha than you. A bit further along the path. Knows a path between where you are and where the guru is. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:30 Highlight the passage at 1:11:30

1:11:59 Right? And the guru seems so similar. I mean, it's almost like me, just a little bit further. So not so inspiring. Not so mind-boggling. Not showing any big cities. Not showing clairvoyance. Not showing amazing feats. But a bit closer. The downside of that is prison seems pretty ordinary. Because it's just a step ahead of you, right? But the upside is it doesn't appear to be so different from you. And if you can develop pure vision there, if you can view that person as a guru, as a Buddha, then that makes it so much easier to view yourself as a Buddha, which the dichotomy is not so great. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:59 Highlight the passage at 1:11:59

1:12:41 So it's good to have then a variety of gurus. That's the long and short of it. It's good to have gurus who really seem to be a lot like ourselves, maybe even the same ethnic group, same skin color, similar to. So you don't have to be a Tibetan to be, you know, to be ready to really progress along the path. You can be an Australian, be Brazilian and so on. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:41 Highlight the passage at 1:12:41

1:13:03 That helps. If you can do it, then I can do it. So it's helpful to have such teachers that seem so close, so close, friendly, understandable, kin. But it's also helpful to just have your mind blown. Really, that's helpful. And then bring it all together. And the way this is done, I'll tell you and then we'll stop. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:03 Highlight the passage at 1:13:03

1:13:27 This is the classic teachings, but I find it really helpful. And that is, as in my case, my root cause of this Holiness the Dalai Lama, has been for a very long time, 43 years now. And it was the first time I met him, I knew that was it. This is my Lama, my root Lama, ever since then been so. And I've prayed to him, to his faith, may it always be so until I'm enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:27 Highlight the passage at 1:13:27

1:13:49 I've asked him to always catch me with the hook of his compassion. So that was clear. And he is truly a majestic being, if you see with clear eyes. Let alone the pure vision of Khandrolau, but truly a majestic being. It's no accident that he's on the world stage. No accident. And it's not because he's powerful or wealthy or incredibly handsome and so forth and so on, or a great actor and so forth. He just rose there by his own being. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:49 Highlight the passage at 1:13:49

1:14:18 It's quite amazing what happened that he's a world figure. So many great lamas are not, but this one, happily to everybody's benefit, is a world figure. So to have such a person, tremendous source of inspiration. But then you have other Lamas who do not manifest that degree of realization and so forth and so on. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:18 Highlight the passage at 1:14:18

1:14:38 But they're still your gurus. And the classic teachings are, for all the other gurus, imagine them all to be emanations. Emanations of your root guru. Which means they're not really other and they're not inferior. They're just manifesting in a different way. But they are emanations of the same being. And that same being is Avalokiteshvara, is Samantabhadra. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:38 Highlight the passage at 1:14:38

1:14:59 And even the one who looks so similar to you, hardly any different, just a little bit further on the path. Well, that's just very friendly. That Samantabhadra is manifesting as someone almost like you. And if you can get that close, you see the logic. If Samantabhadra can manifest as someone almost like you, just a little bit better, then why not Samantabhadra manifesting as you? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:59 Highlight the passage at 1:14:59

1:15:25 And you can start viewing your own identity from the perspective of pristine awareness. And that was the whole point. That was the whole point. The whole point from start to finish of developing these kind of guru yoga, guru devotion, the whole point was that. That alone that you realize yourself as Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:25 Highlight the passage at 1:15:25

1:15:46 It's all skillful means. Very simple. Oh yeah. Let's come back. We're going to practice prospective memory. Retrospective memory is remembering your address without forgetfulness, without distraction. Present-centered, we did that. And prospective memory is we're ending at 7 past 5, so we'll come back at 7.07. Prospective memory. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:46 Highlight the passage at 1:15:46

1:16:12 See you then. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:12 Highlight the passage at 1:16:12