Dzogchen Retreat 2015 - Realising our true nature (part 10)

0:15 Let's go directly into meditation. Please find a comfortable position. Report an error in the passage at 0:15 Highlight the passage at 0:15

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1:04 Some people find it helpful at the very beginning of the session to take three slow, deep, gentle breaths, breathing down into the belly, feeling the belly expand, continuing to gently, slowly inhale, Report an error in the passage at 1:04 Highlight the passage at 1:04

1:23 feel the diaphragm expand and finally breathe into the chest, almost to full capacity, then simply release the breath. Like a balloon in which you just open the valve and all the air flows out. Three times deep and slow in, three times releasing completely to settle the body, to calm the body-mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:23 Highlight the passage at 1:23

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2:37 Then continue step by step, settling body, speech and mind and the natural state. Report an error in the passage at 2:37 Highlight the passage at 2:37

2:50 And for a little while, practice mindfulness of breathing using the method you find most helpful. When Report an error in the passage at 2:50 Highlight the passage at 2:50

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7:08 we practice shamatha following any method, the central theme of the practice is to maintain the flow of cognizance. It's the flow of knowing. Report an error in the passage at 7:08 Highlight the passage at 7:08

7:20 And this is one of the two salient characteristics of consciousness. Only conscious beings know anything. But there's another quality of consciousness and that is called luminosity, clarity, the capacity of awareness to manifest appearances. And it's also the source of our creativity and imagination. So let's draw on this other facet of consciousness now, using our imagination, drawing from memory. Report an error in the passage at 7:20 Highlight the passage at 7:20

7:56 And let's bring to mind now, now that we've received these words of wisdom from Jirjum Lingpa, about radically shifting our attitude, our way of viewing the world of sentient beings around us. Report an error in the passage at 7:56 Highlight the passage at 7:56

8:14 Open the heart and mind and bring to mind now those Report an error in the passage at 8:14 Highlight the passage at 8:14

8:23 beings who, from your perspective, you see to be really suffering. They could be humans, they could be people you know, they could be whole regions of the globe where there's great difficulty, great strife. Report an error in the passage at 8:23 Highlight the passage at 8:23

8:41 They may be human or non-human, but bring to mind those who here, right now, wherever they are, they're suffering, they're struggling, facing great challenges. Bring such individuals and communities to mind and attend closely. Report an error in the passage at 8:41 Highlight the passage at 8:41

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9:31 Attend closely to the reality that every individual you bring to mind wishes for happiness just as you do, however different their worldview, their priorities, their way of life may be at heart. We're all of the same family, the same fundamental desire. Report an error in the passage at 9:31 Highlight the passage at 9:31

10:08 And just as you wish to be free of suffering, arouse this same aspiration extended outwards. And with each in-breath arouse the aspiration. Report an error in the passage at 10:08 Highlight the passage at 10:08

10:23 May you, like myself, be free of suffering and the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 10:23 Highlight the passage at 10:23

10:31 With every inhalation arouse this aspiration. And now let your imagination play. Imagine the suffering, the misery, the fear, the sadness. Report an error in the passage at 10:31 Highlight the passage at 10:31

10:46 Imagine this symbolically as a dark cloud that envelops the essential beings. And with each in-breath, as you arouse the wish, may you be free, imagine drawing this darkness away from them Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

11:06 and dissolving it into your heart where there is an incandescent radiant orb of light, symbolizing your own pristine awareness, your own Buddha nature. With each in-breath, draw in this darkness. And extinguish it without trace in this orb of light at your heart. Breath by breath, imagine alleviating the suffering of those who you're attending to. Report an error in the passage at 11:06 Highlight the passage at 11:06

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12:24 And imagine them actually finding relief. Report an error in the passage at 12:24 Highlight the passage at 12:24

12:30 Imagine their suffering and their causes of suffering evaporating away. And Report an error in the passage at 12:30 Highlight the passage at 12:30

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14:19 as you imagine them finding relief, finally finding some calm, some fearlessness, then continue. And with every out-breath, arouse the aspiration of loving-kindness. May you find happiness in the causes of happiness. With every out-breath, breathe out light from your heart, radiant, pure light, pure, joyful, loving. Report an error in the passage at 14:19 Highlight the passage at 14:19

14:49 And imagine this light embracing all those you're attending to, Report an error in the passage at 14:49 Highlight the passage at 14:49

14:57 suffusing their whole being with light. Report an error in the passage at 14:57 Highlight the passage at 14:57

15:09 Breath by breath, imagine them finding the joy, the happiness, the fulfillment that each one, like yourself, Seeks. Report an error in the passage at 15:09 Highlight the passage at 15:09

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16:13 Let the appearance of these individuals, these communities, fade back into the space of your mind and Report an error in the passage at 16:13 Highlight the passage at 16:13

16:22 now call to mind individuals or communities that Report an error in the passage at 16:22 Highlight the passage at 16:22

16:33 are bringing misery to the world out of their own delusion, their hatred, their greed, Report an error in the passage at 16:33 Highlight the passage at 16:33

16:42 their close-mindedness, short-sightedness, aspiring for happiness and bringing so much misery. Bring such individuals to mind and attend closely to them. Report an error in the passage at 16:42 Highlight the passage at 16:42

17:05 They may be individuals whom you know personally. They may be individuals or communities on the world stage that you know about only by way of the media, whoever comes to mind. Report an error in the passage at 17:05 Highlight the passage at 17:05

17:32 Each one, like ourselves, wishes to be free of suffering and to find happiness. But out of delusion, we destroy the causes of happiness and sow the seeds of misery. So Report an error in the passage at 17:32 Highlight the passage at 17:32

17:48 in the same way as before, with each in-breath, arouse the aspiration. May you be free of the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 17:48 Highlight the passage at 17:48

18:00 That which impels you to engage in such behavior that brings so much sadness, so much pain. May you be free. May you, like myself, be free and imagine the darkness of their mental afflictions, the darkness of this type of behavior, drawn Report an error in the passage at 18:00 Highlight the passage at 18:00

18:22 away from them and dissolve without trace in the light of your own heart. Report an error in the passage at 18:22 Highlight the passage at 18:22

18:56 Breath by breath, imagine the anger and hatred subsiding, the greed, the avarice fading away. Report an error in the passage at 18:56 Highlight the passage at 18:56

19:10 And ignorance and delusion giving way to understanding and wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 19:10 Highlight the passage at 19:10

19:17 Imagine they're finding relief. And Report an error in the passage at 19:17 Highlight the passage at 19:17

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20:09 when you see in your mind's eye they found freedom, then continue on the same trajectory. With each out-breath arouse the aspiration of love and kindness. Report an error in the passage at 20:09 Highlight the passage at 20:09

20:25 The aspiration, may you find the true causes of happiness, of liberation, of awakening. May you be truly well and happy. Report an error in the passage at 20:25 Highlight the passage at 20:25

20:37 With every out-breath allow this flood of light from your heart. To cascade forth, embrace, suffuse, purify. Report an error in the passage at 20:37 Highlight the passage at 20:37

20:59 And imagine each one finding the joy that is their innermost desire before that desire is clouded by the veils of delusion and other afflictions. All Report an error in the passage at 20:59 Highlight the passage at 20:59

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22:59 the world free, free of suffering and the causes of suffering. Imagine all the world coming to awakening, perfect awakening. Then Report an error in the passage at 22:59 Highlight the passage at 22:59

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23:59 release all appearances, aspirations, all objects of the mind. And for just a moment, let your awareness rest effortlessly, knowing its own nature. Do Report an error in the passage at 23:59 Highlight the passage at 23:59

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25:44 you have all the medication you need? Vitamins and everything. Yeah? Okay. Well, Lasso, let's continue with the text. Report an error in the passage at 25:44 Highlight the passage at 25:44

25:55 So, middle of page 11. Hurrah! If excellent people who wish to enter the authentic path really want to practice the sublime Dharma, they should make offerings for the sake of their practice. Report an error in the passage at 25:55 Highlight the passage at 25:55

26:12 They should make prayers of supplication to their guru. It's the essential nature of all the Buddhas combined and they should receive empowerment and siddhis. That would be good. Report an error in the passage at 26:12 Highlight the passage at 26:12

26:26 There's a strategy. So there's your Guru Yoga. And it continues, all food, drink, clothing, ornaments, enjoyments, movement and rest are to be brought onto the path as Gana Chakra offerings, prostrations and circumambulations. So it's a lovely statement and it's really, you can actually make it quite tangible, quite real. And that is, you really make sacred your whole life. Report an error in the passage at 26:26 Highlight the passage at 26:26

26:51 That's the whole idea. You just transform all of your life into an expression of devotion, an expression of reverence, an expression of faith, an expression of your aspiration of bodhicitta. And it just blankets everything. So you eat, and as you're eating, nourishing your body, sustaining your body, that's an offering. That's an offering to the Buddha within, an offering to the Guru, an offering to all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 26:51 Highlight the passage at 26:51

27:14 You drink, you're sustaining the body for the sake of all sentient beings. You put on your clothing. That's an offering. Your ornaments an offering, enjoyments, just offer it. And then you're at movement, you're at rest, you just bring all of this into an expression of your bodhicitta, the prime directive, your motivation of motivations. Report an error in the passage at 27:14 Highlight the passage at 27:14

27:35 And Gana Chakra, of course, the Sanskrit for Tsok. So don't do Tsok just every two weeks, do it every moment of every day. That your whole life is an offering. Your whole life is prostration, an expression of respect, of homage, of reverence. And that everywhere you're walking, whether in a straight line or around in circles, one visualization is imagining the Buddha on your right shoulder. So you're always walking around and walking around. Report an error in the passage at 27:35 Highlight the passage at 27:35

28:01 So all ideas just turn everything into an expression of devotion, of reverence. And so there's for the Guru, the object of refuge. And then for the Dharma family, always regard your Dharma friends and siblings on the path who have the same samayas as you. Report an error in the passage at 28:01 Highlight the passage at 28:01

28:19 As manifestations of Viras and Dakinis. In other words, really try to deconstruct your old stereotypes, your preconceptions, your judgments. They may have their own validity, but just bear in mind that even if your take on your Dharma brothers and sisters is pretty sound, you've been observing carefully, you're not delusional, yes, you see their defects and so forth and so on. Report an error in the passage at 28:19 Highlight the passage at 28:19

28:41 It's not to say you're totally wrong, it's just saying that's not the only perspective. And that's probably not the most beneficial perspective. So dissolve it. It has its reality, but that's not the one that's going to serve you or them well. So dissolve that construct as you've already dissolved the construct of yourself as a sentient being, inherently existent. Report an error in the passage at 28:41 Highlight the passage at 28:41

29:01 Dissolve the construct of your ordinary perception and conceptions about the Guru. Dissolve that and replace it with pure vision. Do the same thing as you do for yourself, for your Guru. Do that for your Dharma siblings. Arouse pure vision. Attend to that intrinsic, innate, primordial purity in each one. It is important that you honour them with heartfelt affection and with equanimity. Report an error in the passage at 29:01 Highlight the passage at 29:01

29:29 Dharma brothers and sisters, they're not always going to behave in the same way, sometimes more appealing, sometimes less, sometimes having a good day, sometimes a bad day. That's the breaks. But just like a doctor who goes through a ward and doesn't like the healthy ones more than the sick ones. But it has equanimity. This one's recovering this very well and this one's about to die. But the equanimity, the affection, the compassion is even whether they have a disgusting disease or one that shows no symptoms, whether they're healing quickly or they're fading equal without feeling close to those who are good or distant from those who are bad. Report an error in the passage at 29:29 Highlight the passage at 29:29

30:10 So there it is. That'll revolutionize everything. Embrace that one. That'll shift everything. And then we turn to the whole field of sentry beings. All beings without exception have been your kind parents and they are objects of compassion, floundering in the swamp of saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 30:10 Highlight the passage at 30:10

30:28 And I think it's just an apt metaphor. I don't think there's any exaggeration here at all. And that is for those who have no authentic Dharma to practice. And many people have never even, they don't know what the word means, that's okay, but they don't know what the concept means. All they know is about getting by, making a living, getting stuff. Report an error in the passage at 30:28 Highlight the passage at 30:28

30:47 Having more success. That's all they ever hear about. There have been, and there still are, whole governments that will try to shield their population from knowing anything other than their hedonic well-being. As if everything else, as Marx said, religion is poison. Okay, that's a nice generalization. And then they just starve the population to death for Dharma, floundering in the swamp of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 30:47 Highlight the passage at 30:47

31:16 And these are the afflicted and the afflictors. Equally, they're all equally objects of compassion, without mentally ever abandoning them, a powerful statement, without ever giving up, without ever thinking they are so evil, so deluded, so bad, they're hopeless. Report an error in the passage at 31:16 Highlight the passage at 31:16

31:38 What you've just said is that there's an element of you that is hopeless, because every evil we see in the world outside ourselves, every image, every picture we paint. Of evil people is all drawn from the palette of our own minds. So if we ever point to any individual, any community and say, you're hopeless, we've just now said, part of me is hopeless because I know nothing of your evil unless there's something that resonates with that in my own mind stream. Report an error in the passage at 31:38 Highlight the passage at 31:38

32:10 So no one's hopeless and we're all objects of compassion. So never give up on yourself, never give up on anybody else because we're all intertwined. We're in the same family. And generate a heroic, it's a beautiful term, and it really is literal and it's imperative. This needs enormous courage to sustain that type of motivation, that type of vision, and to apply effort to it with perseverance. Report an error in the passage at 32:10 Highlight the passage at 32:10

32:37 It takes a heroic attitude, there's no question about it. Never giving up, regardless of the odds, and knowing however long it takes during this lifetime or beyond, never give up. Generate a heroic attitude of great courage in your solemn pledge to bring them to a state of bliss. Report an error in the passage at 32:37 Highlight the passage at 32:37

33:00 So when I commented that I found it helpful to bring individuals to mind who've harmed me, I'm not under the delusion that I can stay as I am right now and I can bring them to liberation. That's crazy talk, because I can't. So I make that pledge, as I bring them to mind, I will liberate you. The very next thought is, I have to get my own act together now, because there's no possible way I can do that, as limited as I am right now. Hopeless. I could be here for a million lifetimes and still won't be able to do it. Report an error in the passage at 33:00 Highlight the passage at 33:00

33:31 And so, yes, the pledge is there. I'm sticking to that. But now I've just got to turn inwards. I mean, take care of yourself. I don't think I can do anything for you right now, perhaps. I'll practice don't lend sometimes. But I'm just going to have to get my own act together. Otherwise, that's an empty promise. It means nothing. I need to become enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 33:31 Highlight the passage at 33:31

33:50 I need to step along the path. And the further along I am on the path, the more realistic that pledge becomes. So I think it's like that. Report an error in the passage at 33:50 Highlight the passage at 33:50

34:00 Make the psalm on pledge to bring them to a state of bliss, but then get right back to your own practice. Otherwise, it's just empty flowery talk. So Dujum Lingma concludes this verse with these verses. The verses, again, summarizing the preceding prose. He said, this is my innermost aspiration. But although I would like to be... Report an error in the passage at 34:00 Highlight the passage at 34:00

34:22 Of benefit to fools like myself, I have no special erudition, writing skills or attractive qualities. I guess he's one of us, eh? Maybe. So, those are the preliminaries. And the preliminaries, you know, just the phrase itself like, okay, are we finished with that now? Can we get on to the good stuff? Can we get on the main practice? You know, we've been patient. Are you going to get to the real part now? And, of course, he said, well, actually, that was the real part. Report an error in the passage at 34:22 Highlight the passage at 34:22

34:54 And if you kind of gloss over that one, thinking, yeah, that's just preliminary. I got it. I understand. No problem. Yeah, sure, I understand intellectually. There's no part of that that's hard to understand. But to totally suffuse your mind stream with each of those six elements, that's incredibly profound. So the Tibetans love to say there are many profound practices and not many profound practitioners. Report an error in the passage at 34:54 Highlight the passage at 34:54

35:18 That's because we skip over the preliminaries. So know that never being separated from these three points, These three uncommon preliminaries know that this is like fertile ground for practice and like the foundation stones of a fortress. So the higher you'd like your practice to ascend, the deeper the foundation, the stronger the foundation has to be. Report an error in the passage at 35:18 Highlight the passage at 35:18

35:40 That's just the way it is. It's just simply flat out true. It's easy to ignore, but it's still true. So now we go into his narrative. And you'll see this whole text, all 11 pages or whatever it is. It's really quite autobiographical in a way. It's absolutely first person. And so you can judge for yourself whether this speaks to your heart. Report an error in the passage at 35:40 Highlight the passage at 35:40

36:06 So, when I thought of going to a big marketplace dressed up in impressive striking clothes, and bear in mind this is like, who knows, maybe 1890s in Tibet. Report an error in the passage at 36:06 Highlight the passage at 36:06

36:19 Boy, I think the Tibetans and the British, among people I know, I think the Chinese also. But the ones that I've had real contact with, because I've spent a good deal of time in Great Britain and lived with Pattons a lot, pomp and pageantry, oh man, the British are so good at it. Aren't they? I mean, spectacular. Among Europe, I mean, who compares? The Americans, like a bunch of hillbillies, and you all see us too, a bunch of hillbillies. Report an error in the passage at 36:19 Highlight the passage at 36:19

36:43 Go to London, go to British aristocracy, watch them put on a show. Oh man, incredible. But I just saw recently, I mentioned this during the eight-week retreat, that YouTube, That YouTube, it's there. I can't remember the name of it exactly, but it's a whole YouTube, very well done, about all the pomp and pageantry around the Dalai Lama going for his final examinations to become a Geshe. Report an error in the passage at 36:43 Highlight the passage at 36:43

37:08 It's like the British, Tibetans, British, Tibetans, I mean, they really know how to do it. So some of these great Lamas, like the Gyo, in Tibet, you know, before their refugees, before the genocide, before all of that, oh, the great Lamas, the big Lamas, the Gyo, Kamma, and so forth. Man, when their disciples would invite them to give an empowerment to maybe 10,000 people, pomp and pageantry, they really know how to do it. Report an error in the passage at 37:08 Highlight the passage at 37:08

37:33 The brocade, the silk, the gold, the ornaments, the trumpets, they really know how to put on a show. So Dujim Ling was thinking, I think I need to do that. I need to be like those big lamas, like the big ones. And so he thought, I'll go and dress in impressive, striking clothes. Oh, whoops. But he's just a nomad living out in the boondocks. But I found no such attire. Report an error in the passage at 37:33 Highlight the passage at 37:33

38:01 I didn't have any really cool clothes to put on. No silk, no brocade, no nothing. So, what shall I do? In the end, I smeared my body with mud and stuck various twigs, grass, flowers and feathers on it. Report an error in the passage at 38:01 Highlight the passage at 38:01

38:15 He had to put on something impressive and that will really catch the attention of people, you know. So you got your whole body smeared with mud and then just imagine it, really you should linger now, let your visualization come up. Your whole body smeared with nice dark gooey mud and then you stick twigs and then grass and flowers in your hair better and feathers anywhere you like. Report an error in the passage at 38:15 Highlight the passage at 38:15

38:35 And then you come to the marketplace, I've come to teach Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 38:35 Highlight the passage at 38:35

38:43 This is the foolish Dharma of an idiot clothed in mud and feathers. Now he's just told you why he called it this. So I tried that. So now I will explain the foolish meditations of one who wears mud and feathers for clothing, regarding them as if they were the finest garments and ornaments. So listen, observe, and laugh at this. Get a good laugh. I've never seen any text like this. I mean, really, this one is in class all by itself. Report an error in the passage at 38:43 Highlight the passage at 38:43

39:10 Okay, so get ready to chuckle. See what this silly old fool has to say, who walked around making a buffoon of himself. So, here he goes. Here's his pitch. Now some contemplatives these days say you should cherish good thoughts and stop bad ones. But I think this is like closing the doors and windows after a thieving dog has escaped outside and then groping around inside the dark house. Report an error in the passage at 39:10 Highlight the passage at 39:10

39:42 In other words, too little too late. Report an error in the passage at 39:42 Highlight the passage at 39:42

39:46 There's something quite deficient about that. Because by the time the good thought has arisen, that's fine, but what you're just seeing is the echo. What was it that gave rise to the good thought? And by the time a bad thought crops up, Okay, that's kind of like a smelly fart, but where did it come from? So you're just going to stop the, it's basically managing symptoms, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 39:46 Highlight the passage at 39:46

40:10 Trying to cultivate nice symptoms and block out negative symptoms, but you may, but all of that is kind of after the fact, right? There was something underneath arousing the benevolent thoughts and so forth, and something underneath arousing the hatred and resentment and so forth. And if what you're really attending to is just the bubbles on the surface of the mind, oh there's a good thought, there's a bad thought, I like you, I don't like you. Then a little bit late, because you're not actually getting to the source of the problem. Report an error in the passage at 40:10 Highlight the passage at 40:10

40:42 So some say that you should follow after previous thoughts. So you're sitting meditating, a thought comes up and then you follow after it as if you were sending a hunting dog after a fox. And then apply antidotes. So you try to trace it back to its root and then you zap the root with a... With an antidote. Why did I say that? Why did I think that? And then you do some kind of either Freudian or Buddhist psychoanalysis and try to trace it. Report an error in the passage at 40:42 Highlight the passage at 40:42

41:10 What were the motivations? What made you say that? And you trace it back. Okay, I think I found the underlying problem. Then you zap it. You medicate it or you meditate it. Try to do something about that. That's a good practice for novices. Report an error in the passage at 41:10 Highlight the passage at 41:10

41:27 But I think people who spend their whole life at this and regard it as the best of practices may be fooling themselves by compounding one delusion with another. Report an error in the passage at 41:27 Highlight the passage at 41:27

41:41 It has so much to do with motivation. So you want to better yourself. We have that phrase, don't we? You want to better yourself. And so for the hedonists, for the materialists and so forth, people looking outside. I want to better myself, which means I want a better job, I want more money, better clothes, I want an extreme makeover, I want to lose 20 pounds, and so that I'll feel better about myself. Report an error in the passage at 41:41 Highlight the passage at 41:41

42:05 I've heard that. I want to lose 20 pounds so I can feel better about myself, as if some bad part of myself went away, and now this is better. Report an error in the passage at 42:05 Highlight the passage at 42:05

42:17 Very interesting. Delusional, but quite interesting. So that's one way to better yourself, by, you know, more power, wealth, prestige. Okay, better. Or you can get spiritual. That's nice. That's a step in the right direction. Good practice for novices. But what's the motivation? Could this possibly just be basically preening the ego? Report an error in the passage at 42:17 Highlight the passage at 42:17

42:41 That I want to think better about myself, so I'm going to cultivate this and put down this and let everybody know. But I'm really maturing here. I'm really growing in my practice. I'm really getting somewhere. Boy, I said I an awful lot in those few phrases. I, I, I, my mind. I, I, I, my, my, my. Maybe it's just compounding one delusional notion of self with another delusional notion of self. I've seen this a lot because I encounter people. Report an error in the passage at 42:41 Highlight the passage at 42:41

43:07 I teach a lot and so I encounter a lot of people, lots and lots of people with low self-esteem. And I do have sympathy. It's really crippling. It's really suffering. And it really, it kind of flows out and tarnishes every aspect of a life if that's an ongoing burden to bear of just low self-esteem. I'm a loser. Report an error in the passage at 43:07 Highlight the passage at 43:07

43:25 I don't like myself safely with other people. If they knew me, they wouldn't like me and all of that. It's very tragic, very sad. But then the notion that the antidote should be develop a high sense of self-esteem. Report an error in the passage at 43:25 Highlight the passage at 43:25

43:45 That's nice. It feels better. But then if I have a high sense of self-esteem, if I previously had a sense of low self-esteem, then I'm the worst person in the room. I'm a real schmuck. But then somebody helps me out of that. Report an error in the passage at 43:45 Highlight the passage at 43:45

44:00 It helps me develop a real sense of self-esteem. Phew, I thought I was worse than you, but actually I'm much better. So you can just compound, you can just, you know, I've really been cultivating virtue a lot and I'm more intelligent, I'm more educated, I've been cultivating virtue. Thank goodness I'm not like you anymore, I'm much better. So now exactly where am I? You go from low self-esteem to high self-esteem, you go from one kind of painful delusion to a more friendly delusion. Report an error in the passage at 44:00 Highlight the passage at 44:00

44:27 But it's all delusional, 100 % homogeneously emotional. Now maybe that's what he's getting at here. If this is all about preening your ego and just developing a better sense of self-esteem, what's the point? Report an error in the passage at 44:27 Highlight the passage at 44:27

44:44 So observe their thoughts. Some observe. So he's kind of just checking out what's happening. What's happening there in Tibet in the late 19th century? What are people doing? This is a Buddhist country largely. What are people doing? And so some observe their thoughts over there like an old herdsman. So bear in mind, this is his... Report an error in the passage at 44:44 Highlight the passage at 44:44

45:03 This is a country, this is nomad country. Like an old herdsman's on a wide open plain, watching his calves and sheep from afar. Report an error in the passage at 45:03 Highlight the passage at 45:03

45:15 So he'll say actually, he teaches this method, Dujjum Lingpa, Padmasambhava, by way of Dujjum Lingpa. He teaches this repeatedly. And that is watching your thoughts, the thoughts, images, memories, the movements of the mind, as if they're over there, as if from afar. He teaches it. It's called... Taking the impure mind as the path. It's called settling the mind as natural state. It's called taking appearances and awareness as the path. Report an error in the passage at 45:15 Highlight the passage at 45:15

45:46 It's called shamatha focus on the mind. I've taught it innumerable times now for about 40 years, almost 40 years. And that's exactly what he referred to here. It really has that sense of observing the thoughts and not getting enmeshed in them, not getting without that cognitive fusion, but simply resting in stillness and observing as if over there. Report an error in the passage at 45:46 Highlight the passage at 45:46

46:08 There's a thought, there's an image, there's a memory, there's a desire percolating up and so forth. But really having a sense of resting in your own stillness, in your own space, and observing the mind like watching a 3D cinema, like the IMAX there on Darling Harbour. It's still out there, it's three-dimensional, it's kind of a big space. I've seen a couple movies there over the last 10 years. And it's a big space, and it's three-dimensional, but it's still over there. Report an error in the passage at 46:08 Highlight the passage at 46:08

46:37 It's still over there. So he refers to this. Some people do that. I say that too is a practice for novices. So there's nothing wrong with it. And he teaches it repeatedly. It is the primary shamatha practice that he teaches. And he teaches it repeatedly. So he's certainly not scoffing at it. But he said, you know, that is a practice for novices. Report an error in the passage at 46:37 Highlight the passage at 46:37

46:59 But if you take it, if you take this practice, and take it alone as the path, You'll build confidence in the mere meditative experiences of bliss, luminosity and non-conceptuality. So clearly, again, he's speaking, let's say 1890, something like that, time of William James, time of the Victorian era, Queen Victoria and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 46:59 Highlight the passage at 46:59

47:22 So that's what's happening on the other side of the globe. But he's speaking in a country, 1890, let's say, I have no idea exactly when he taught it. But when again, there's one monastery for every thousand people. One out of five or six men are monks. One out of six or seven women are nuns. There are lay yogis. I mean, it's a pretty Buddhist country. Report an error in the passage at 47:22 Highlight the passage at 47:22

47:44 I mean, actually, there's no country on the planet like it. With that percentage, it's in its class by itself, actually. No place with such a density of monastics, of contemplatives, of monasteries, hermitages and so forth. And so he's living in that. He's living right in the heartland of that type of society. Report an error in the passage at 47:44 Highlight the passage at 47:44

48:04 And he says, if you take that alone as the path, well, clearly he wouldn't even say that if there weren't quite a number of people who were taking that alone as the path. And they're calling it Mahamudra, they're calling it Dzogchen, they're calling it Vipassanā, they might even call it Samatha, but they, you know, they'll call it open presence, they'll say it's Mahamudra, I'm resting in the one taste, and I'm just resting and watching the thoughts coming up and going, and I'm a Mahamudra practitioner, I'm a Dzogchen practitioner, I'm practicing Vipassanā. Report an error in the passage at 48:04 Highlight the passage at 48:04

48:31 That was then, right? So he's suggesting, hey, you know, there's more to it than that. But nowadays, hey, let's speak from Australia 2015. What's the most dominant type of meditation known on the planet right now? Report an error in the passage at 48:31 Highlight the passage at 48:31

48:45 Mindfulness meditation. The mindful revolution. It's everywhere. It's everywhere. And certainly it's a step in the right direction. I mean, it's definitely, as Johnny Cabot's in, a very good man and a good friend of mine, he said, you know, if you're not being mindful, then you're being mindless. So take your choice. Take your pick. Report an error in the passage at 48:45 Highlight the passage at 48:45

49:04 Well said. Well said. So it's a mindfulness movement, a mindfulness revolution, because so many people are finding it helpful. And how can we be other than delighted at that? They're doing something. It's a simple practice. Maybe it has no context. Maybe there's no ethics underlying it. It may not have worldview around it. It certainly isn't Buddhism. But they're getting benefit. And as the Dalai Lama asks, I'll tell you a little story. Oh, when was it? Report an error in the passage at 49:04 Highlight the passage at 49:04

49:30 1992. No, no. Report an error in the passage at 49:30 Highlight the passage at 49:30

49:36 1990. 1990. Yeah, one of the earliest of the Mind and Life conferences. And it was organized by Dan Goleman, and it was on healing emotions, 10 years before destructive emotions. And I invited, I was a graduate student at Stanford at the time, and so we always invited a philosopher, not just scientist, but wanted somebody with a bigger picture, you know, kind of more global picture. Report an error in the passage at 49:36 Highlight the passage at 49:36

49:59 Because scientists are often very, very specialized. They're good at that. But often they don't get the big training to take in the big picture. They're not trained for that. So I invited one of my mentors, actually my dissertation advisor from Stanford, very good scholar, very good comparativist in the religious studies, but very astute philosophically. Report an error in the passage at 49:59 Highlight the passage at 49:59

50:19 And so he was there. He was at this conference, and that was the first time Jon Kabat-Zinn ever showed up. He was invited to that conference. And Sharon Salzberg was there. Very interesting, very good group of people. And I was simply there in the role of interpreter with Thupen Chimpa. And so Jon Kabat-Zinn gave his presentation on mindfulness. Mindfulness and these scientific studies showing its benefits. He spoke for two and a half hours. Each speaker got a nice big block of time to really deliver the goods. Report an error in the passage at 50:19 Highlight the passage at 50:19

50:44 And mindfulness, but with no Buddhist infrastructure, no Buddhist motivation, no Buddhist ethics, no foreign measurables, just straight mindfulness. Moment to moment, non-judgmental awareness of whatever's coming up. That was the core of his MBSR program. Report an error in the passage at 50:44 Highlight the passage at 50:44

51:04 So enthusiastic, I mean, so just full of joy and enthusiasm about what he'd been able to bring to the world and the benefit he brought to it. I'm speaking just absolutely straight here. There's no hidden agenda. Just such joy. I mean, it's lovely to see, truly. And my dissertation advisor, not Buddhist, not religious actually, but very smart, very astute, excellent scholar, he listened to all of this and then he turned to the Dalai Lama and he said, well, your Holiness. Report an error in the passage at 51:04 Highlight the passage at 51:04

51:35 What do you think about what he's done? Because what he's done is he's taken methods from Buddhism. Mindfulness, the ship changed it a bit. But definitely we know the source is Buddhism. His training is in Zen Buddhism and Theravāda Buddhism. He got all this stuff from Buddhism. Body scanning, mindfulness breathing. And so my professor said to him, he's taken this stuff from Buddhism, completely taken it out of context with Buddhism, gives no credit to Buddhism, and then he's marketing it. Report an error in the passage at 51:35 Highlight the passage at 51:35

52:04 And he's calling it MBSR, his own trademark, his own branding. What do you think about that, His Holiness? Isn't this kind of plagiarism? What do you think about that? Report an error in the passage at 52:04 Highlight the passage at 52:04

52:16 And His Holiness said, well, I'm paraphrasing, of course, but I think it's there in the book. There was some editing that went on in that book. They took out some things that I thought should have been left in. But in any case, what I heard, because I was there and I was translating, so this is what happened. His Holiness responded, well, the whole point of Buddha Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 52:16 Highlight the passage at 52:16

52:39 It's to alleviate suffering. There's no other point. If Buddhism is not alleviating suffering, you may as well stop. And if someone's doing something to alleviate suffering, then that's good. Thumbs up. And John is alleviating suffering. So what he's doing is good. It's good. And then he added, don't mistake that for Buddhadharma. Report an error in the passage at 52:39 Highlight the passage at 52:39

53:06 Don't think that's Buddhadharma. That's fair enough, isn't it? It's not Buddhadharma. It doesn't have the foundation of ethics, it doesn't have shamatha, it doesn't have vipassanā, it doesn't have bodhicitta, it doesn't have four immeasurables, it doesn't have the Buddhist worldview, I mean it doesn't have almost anything. Report an error in the passage at 53:06 Highlight the passage at 53:06

53:23 But it has a practice that's been drawn from Buddhism, adapted, secularized, to help people have less suffering, to have less stress and stress-related problems. So it's very good. Just don't mistake it for Buddhism. I thought, well that pretty much nails, you know, hits the nail on the head. It's really good. Report an error in the passage at 53:23 Highlight the passage at 53:23

53:44 But please just don't exaggerate that. And of course, that's what people have been doing for the last 30 years. This is the essence of Buddhist meditation. This is Buddhist meditation without the Buddhism. This is Buddhism without the mumbo-jumbo. This is the real Buddhism. Or as one of them said, if the Buddha were alive today, this is what he would teach. Report an error in the passage at 53:44 Highlight the passage at 53:44

54:01 One of them actually said that. Report an error in the passage at 54:01 Highlight the passage at 54:01

54:07 So if they would just teach it and keep it just that, just let it be what it is. And not just MBSR. Many people are practicing mindfulness. Very good. Report an error in the passage at 54:07 Highlight the passage at 54:07

54:18 But if one thinks that alone is the path, this alone is the path, then all you're going to get out of that is maybe some really nice feelings and some clarity and non-conceptuality. You will relieve stress. That's fine. If that's all you wanted, then you should be a happy camper. But for heaven's sake, don't conflict that with Buddhism, which is not just about alleviating stress and being a happy camper. Report an error in the passage at 54:18 Highlight the passage at 54:18

54:41 So that mindfulness, this whole mindfulness movement, actually has a lot in common with this simple practice. It's not the same, but definite commonality. Attending mindfully, non-reactively, non-judgmentally, very attentively. Now this is real shamatha practice, the mindfulness movement is not, because it's not very selective. Report an error in the passage at 54:41 Highlight the passage at 54:41

54:59 But in any case, it's interesting to see the resonance, 125 years later, between what he's talking about in Tibet, traditional Tibet, and what's going on now. And what's especially unfortunate is, it happens all the time in media. Report an error in the passage at 54:59 Highlight the passage at 54:59

55:14 I've seen this so many times now, I can't count the number, that meditation as a whole, the category meditation, is equated to mindfulness. And which mindfulness? This one, secularized one, that's not even Buddhist. Now that's really profoundly misleading. I'm sorry, but that is just delusional. And then we have the backlash coming in, which is coming in a lot every month or so. Report an error in the passage at 55:14 Highlight the passage at 55:14

55:37 Of the limitations of mindfulness, the downside of mindfulness and so forth. And what do they do? Do they say among the thousands of types of meditation, we found certain limitations in this particular technique that's become very popular and we find that to be a serious concern? No, no, you don't do that. They say meditation is really harmful and limited and screws you up and they've completely equated meditation with that particular form of mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 55:37 Highlight the passage at 55:37

56:05 Now that's really delusional. I want to be kind. Let's just say it's delusional and it's all over the place. That's really, boy, it just makes me feel we are really living in primitive times. Really primitive. This is the dark age. When it comes to meditation, that primitive is really astonishing. It's like saying the scientific method is rolling balls down a ramp. Report an error in the passage at 56:05 Highlight the passage at 56:05

56:31 That's all there is to it. I mean, are you practicing science? Oh, how many balls do you have? I mean, it's similar. Scientific method, I mean, it's a good term. It means something. But any of you have background in science, you know it means a wide, wide, wide range of methods that have something in common. But from astronomy to ornithology, quite different to stem cell research. Report an error in the passage at 56:31 Highlight the passage at 56:31

56:57 We are very unsophisticated as a culture when it comes to meditation. Hopefully we're rectifying that slowly. So there it is. There's his short take on this. Let's read a little bit more. But he just referred to the principal shamatha method for all of Dzogchen. Having climbed to the top of the towering mighty fortress of self-importance, people who take this alone, this is the Dharma, this is the supreme Dharma, this is the essence of all of Buddhism, and it's watching thoughts from afar. Report an error in the passage at 56:57 Highlight the passage at 56:57

57:27 This is Mahamudra, this is Dzogchen, and I'm a Dzogchen practitioner. Having climbed to the top of the towering mighty fortress of self-importance, such people look down upon others with a haughty gaze while posing majestically in the saddle of their fine steed. Boy, he really is evocative in terms of images, especially out there in Kaube country in eastern Tibet. If I examine those whose lives pass in this way, I see that in the past they've created the causes for spinning around and around in saṃsāra under the influence of dualistic grasping. Report an error in the passage at 57:27 Highlight the passage at 57:27

58:01 My thoughts are over there, I am over here. It seems to me that if they persist in overdoing such meditation, what need is there to say that this will act as a great anchor? Further grounding them in saṃsāra. There's no path there. As Dujjama Lingba Padmasambhava say repeatedly, if this is all you've done and you succeed magnificently and you achieve shamatha, ta-da! Report an error in the passage at 58:01 Highlight the passage at 58:01

58:31 You succeed, you fully achieve shamatha and you're resting in the substrate consciousness, you can go there anytime you like, you can rest there effortlessly and every time you go you're feeling blissful, luminous, non-conceptual, serene, spacious. Report an error in the passage at 58:31 Highlight the passage at 58:31

58:45 Stay as long as you like, come out, get a cup of tea and go right back in. You can go in every time, every single time it's good, every time blissful. If that's all you've achieved, then, to quote, you have not made one hair's breadth of progress on the path. You've not even entered the path. You are nowhere. You're in a little Tahiti. I don't mean to put down on Tahiti. Report an error in the passage at 58:45 Highlight the passage at 58:45

59:07 I mean, it sounds like really nice. But that's all it is. It's a vacation. And it's going to wear off. And when your expensive count is finished, you've depleted, you're nowhere. You just had a really nice dream. You dreamed that you had achieved shamatha, and now the dream's over. Welcome to the ocean of saṃsāra, because you've gone nowhere. You've just dropped your anchor deep in saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 59:07 Highlight the passage at 59:07

59:35 So it looks like you took out a long-term lease. It's noon, time for lunch. So this afternoon, we're going to segue right over to that. We're going to start. As he said, it's a good practice for novices. So if you're beyond the novice stage, then it might be a bit boring. But if you're still novice, we'll be continuing that theme, and now it'll be very explicit and really comes home, stillness and motion. Report an error in the passage at 59:35 Highlight the passage at 59:35

1:00:02 Stillness and motion of the breath, pretty easy. In, out, in, out, not very turbulent, not very disturbing. Okay, how about stillness of awareness and all the chaos of your mind? How about that one? That could be useful. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:02 Highlight the passage at 1:00:02

1:00:19 See you later. Two o'clock. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:19 Highlight the passage at 1:00:19