Dzogchen Retreat 2015 - Realising our true nature (part 28)

0:20 So clearly our last evening together. So what I'd like to invite now is your most urgent questions pertaining to practice with the aspiration that when we all leave tomorrow, you'll leave with as much confidence and clarity as you can, especially in terms of how to put all of these teachings to the test of experience. Report an error in the passage at 0:20 Highlight the passage at 0:20

0:42 And so anything coming up? Yes, we'll start with you. Report an error in the passage at 0:42 Highlight the passage at 0:42

0:50 How are you? I remember you well, Brendan, I am well. How are you? Yes, thanks. if I could comment, first of all, what can the comments refer you? Report an error in the passage at 0:50 Highlight the passage at 0:50

1:00 enjoyed this a lot. I've been doing this, setting the mind's natural space for at four months now, the start of the CV, V.I., probably one of the observations is the content is always, all the time, very, I disturbing and weird sometimes. Yes. Something in weird? The content of observing the space of the mind is weird, very strange. Report an error in the passage at 1:00 Highlight the passage at 1:00

1:31 Weird and strange, yeah. Yeah, sometimes violent. Report an error in the passage at 1:31 Highlight the passage at 1:31

1:36 And I'm trying not to identify or get caught in the reference. I am observing it, so it's not disturbing my mind. So in time, does that settle down in time? What does it become? Yeah, sometimes violent. Report an error in the passage at 1:36 Highlight the passage at 1:36

1:51 lot of normal or contentious. I suppose my question is, if Shani David was having a break before Jana, Say again? Report an error in the passage at 1:51 Highlight the passage at 1:51

2:05 Oh yes, right, right. It's Shanty Day, but I'm just going to go pray from the place that the Buddhists have prayed, so you've got to go. Yeah, but he'd seen like decent pearls and stuff, I don't remember. He'd seen what? He'd seen what? He'd seen flowers and diamonds and trees. I think we don't need to worry about that. I think, frankly, it's inconceivable, so we can give that a rest. You know, for the likes of us, because I'm exactly in the same boat, Australia, America, so much in common, frankly, in terms of entertainment and so many other things, how many murders do you think you've seen on television or in movies? Report an error in the passage at 2:05 Highlight the passage at 2:05

2:40 Yeah, a lot of you watch a lot of horror movies. Oh really? Report an error in the passage at 2:40 Highlight the passage at 2:40

2:48 Fancy that. How strange. You should have horrific images coming up after you've watched them for hundreds of hours. Yeah, so there it is. You know, what's down there comes up. You're dredging the depths of your psyche. And even though you weren't eviscerating people, beheading them, drinking their blood and so forth, You've gotten a lot of entertainment by watching other people do that. And now you get your own horror movies for free. You don't even have to pay. Report an error in the passage at 2:48 Highlight the passage at 2:48

3:17 And so does this settle down? Well, I can't speak of normal because normal is always relative. But do you just get reruns forever? Yeah, I get the same tapes all the time. It's like Universal Studios in my mind. Yeah. Right. Report an error in the passage at 3:17 Highlight the passage at 3:17

3:44 Insofar as there's grasping, this is one of those sliding answers, not yes or no, but sliding, a gradient. Insofar as there's grasping towards these appearances, these images and so forth, violence and all of that, either in terms of finding them entertaining, like watching a good gory horror flick, or finding them quite disgusting. Report an error in the passage at 3:44 Highlight the passage at 3:44

4:06 And wishing they would stop, those are both grasping. The grasping of enjoyment and the grasping of, when will this ever stop? They're both grasping. And as long as there's grasping, that will perpetuate them. And indefinitely, actually. And so, to do the practice correctly means to observe them with an utter impartiality, whether it's Buddha fields or whether it's very... Report an error in the passage at 4:06 Highlight the passage at 4:06

4:34 Vivid and graphic eviscerations, seeing somebody's entrails spilling all over the screen. The idea here, the ideal of the practice is you actually view them with complete equalness, equality. Report an error in the passage at 4:34 Highlight the passage at 4:34

4:47 And therefore you don't spur either of them on. And in this way, then they dissolve themselves. Then they release themselves. And you'll start seeing some other movies. You might start having some very old memories cropping up. And they don't need to be all horrific. It can be just childhood memories. Report an error in the passage at 4:47 Highlight the passage at 4:47

5:04 Quirky memories of experiences you've had that were odd. Also fantasies, you'll get more of a variety coming up. But to see, to be able to have the dredging go deeper and deeper and not stay at one plateau, then whatever's coming there has to be that simply attending without hope or fear, desire or aversion, without any of that. Report an error in the passage at 5:04 Highlight the passage at 5:04

5:25 Because if there's any of the contrary, that perpetuates whatever the cycle is. So that's key. Now having said that, This is, I have to say, this is an advanced retreat. If I were going to say, okay, a bunch of people never heard anything about Buddhism before, I would not start with this text. Report an error in the passage at 5:25 Highlight the passage at 5:25

5:45 There's some very, very, how do you say, user-friendly entry modes, and I just did it in Singapore. We had a seven-day retreat. I covered basic shamatha practices. There were 300 people there, so I wasn't really, and they were all variety, I think I mentioned before, and a number of them were not Buddhist. They were Muslim, Christian, Hindu. Report an error in the passage at 5:45 Highlight the passage at 5:45

6:03 And so I wasn't assuming anything about their background knowledge of Buddhism. And if you start out with just simple shamatha and then we laced it a bit with loving-kindness practice, then you really got a foundation. Well, this is assuming a lot. We went into those three common preliminaries and then the uncommon preliminaries. That's definitely not beginner's practice. So the point of all of this is to say that the teachings here are definitely nested, if they're to be practiced authentically, They're nested in a broader context of Buddhadhamma. And the richer that context, then the richer the preparation for venturing into these practices. Report an error in the passage at 6:03 Highlight the passage at 6:03

6:44 So in that regard to balance this, because I'm still responding to your experience. Your experience is simply valid. I mean, that's what's happening. But then it would be good. I think we both agree not just to be stuck there forever, because at the very least it would get tedious. Just watching the same reruns over and over and over again is exactly how does this become meaningful? At what point is this beneficial? And so in that regard, I don't know of any one practice that you can say, just do this one and that will get you all the way there. Report an error in the passage at 6:44 Highlight the passage at 6:44

7:17 Maybe for some rare individuals, it's not for me to say. But in Buddhadharma generally, no one practice. And it doesn't matter how fantastic it is. Non-meditation, yeah, try that with no context. Report an error in the passage at 7:17 Highlight the passage at 7:17

7:28 Vipassanā with no... Shantideva, Shantideva, Shantideva, Shantideva, Shantideva, Shantideva, Shantideva, Shantideva, Shantideva, Shantideva, Report an error in the passage at 7:28 Highlight the passage at 7:28

7:40 Shantideva. that's a very, very common metaphor in dharma, that practicing dharma is really Report an error in the passage at 7:40 Highlight the passage at 7:40

7:50 say, well, just eat this all the time. That'll do you. And Dharma is that way. So now, to be a bit more explicit... To continue in this practice and do your best to simply be totally present without any kind of grasping is the ideal. That's when this practice bears fruit. That's when it's done correctly. Report an error in the passage at 7:50 Highlight the passage at 7:50

8:07 And then these things will resolve themselves. But of course, it's difficult. There's no question that's difficult. But now to maybe not watch any more horror movies might be a good idea because it's just adding more fuel to the fire. Or, you know, movies with a lot of violence. Report an error in the passage at 8:07 Highlight the passage at 8:07

8:27 Watching documentaries, watching things that are not simply for entertainment but for edification, where there's violence in the world, there's evil, there's hatred and greed in the world, that can be very much integrated into practice. If one's watching it not for entertainment value, but to basically television, movies, internet, they are our technological clairvoyance at this point and can be extremely useful, that we can learn so much more about the world. Report an error in the passage at 8:27 Highlight the passage at 8:27

8:55 Outside the relatively narrow confines of our individual lives. And so this is one of the strengths. It's so easy, and I've often commented on the limitations, the downsides, the deficits of living in modernity with all the materialism, the blasting of our senses and so forth and so on. It's easy to elaborate on that. But at the same time I feel it's really important to recognize, okay, do we have any strengths at all? Or are we just kind of just screwed because of the pace of life and all of that? Report an error in the passage at 8:55 Highlight the passage at 8:55

9:23 And one of our strengths is, number one, transportation. That's fantastic. I mean, really not to be underestimated. You know how far you can walk in one day. So that really limits things a lot. But then communication. Communication, the access to what's happening in the world. And we can get so wise, frankly, we can learn so much by looking at history, looking at what's happening in a wide variety of contexts all over the world. Report an error in the passage at 9:23 Highlight the passage at 9:23

9:50 And, you know, you don't even have to buy a computer. I mean, they're there. You can tap into the Internet. You can find someplace that's free and so much information there. So watching things that, you know, documentaries, things that really coverage can give rise to so much compassion, so much love and kindness and also empathetic joy. Report an error in the passage at 9:50 Highlight the passage at 9:50

10:07 There's so much good happening if you know where to look for it. So these four, we do whatever we can, whether it's looking at the media, whether it's going back to the meditative cultivation of the four measurables. Incredibly rich and sweet and inviting and entails no doctrine at all, nothing really to doubt. That is, if one really isn't quite sure about reincarnation, karma or what have you, that's fine, no problem. Report an error in the passage at 10:07 Highlight the passage at 10:07

10:30 Nobody's asking you to believe. Oh, please believe. There's no pushing. But for the four immeasurables, it's universal Dharma. That really is universal Dharma. You can be a hardcore atheist or a fundamentalist of any sort, religious fundamentalist. The four immeasurables are golden all the way through. Report an error in the passage at 10:30 Highlight the passage at 10:30

10:47 And so they're very powerful in that way. They're really inviting. I teach them all over the world and I'm always happy to do so. So the cultivation of loving kindness, where you're really directing the attention there, and it's a very rich meditation. It's more than a few slogans. Often that too, like everything else, is dumbed down in our society. It's unfortunate. It's a very rich practice. The cultivation of compassion can be richly imbued with wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 10:47 Highlight the passage at 10:47

11:10 The cultivation of empathetic joy can be just a celebration and extremely meaningful. And not just looking through rose-tinted glasses or looking on the bright side. Anything can be trivialized. But that is not a trivial practice. And then finally, the culmination of the four immeasurables, just cultivating this open and even-heartedness. Report an error in the passage at 11:10 Highlight the passage at 11:10

11:28 Because it's not just equanimity. It's your heart is extending equally in a sense of caring, of concern, of benevolence, in all directions equally. I mean, they are truly sublime virtues. And so, all of us, and I'm no different from you. I've seen the movies too. I don't tend to go to horror movies, but I've seen them. You know, we've all seen everything. I mean, who really? Who hasn't? And so those imprints have been made, right? Report an error in the passage at 11:28 Highlight the passage at 11:28

11:57 But we can add to that. We can bring in this act of cultivation, a really sublime state of mind. The Four Measureables is a great place to start. And bring those in, and then you'll find as you're... Integrating, cultivating, and your way of viewing others, as he said, view all beings as your family, with a sense of gratitude, a sense of affection, warmth and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 11:57 Highlight the passage at 11:57

12:25 As one starts to do that, not only for 20 minutes on the meditation cushion, but when you're just out and about and you're just engaging and introducing that way of viewing others, that really starts to seep in. And when it does, that's what's coming in. That's the new imprint. These are the new momentum coming in. Report an error in the passage at 12:25 Highlight the passage at 12:25

12:43 And that's going to sweeten, moisten, nurture, bring warmth to all of the practice that otherwise can be a bit austere. And the four measurables are really sublime for that. And just no downside, nothing to doubt. It's kind of nice to have some things that are, there's just nothing to doubt. And, you know, the achievement of shamatha, okay, I understand if people are skeptical or they're skeptical that anybody can achieve it these days, I understand that, no problem. Report an error in the passage at 12:43 Highlight the passage at 12:43

13:11 Often when I'm teaching just entry level, I'll look at two prongs, I'll look at two prongs. And that is, I've taught shamatha for, you know, almost 40 years now. And you just highlight the core themes that are to be cultivated there. And nobody in his right mind refutes it. Nobody in his right mind says, no, we don't need to be relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 13:11 Highlight the passage at 13:11

13:30 No, who needs stability? No, I don't think so. Nobody refutes it. And everybody recognizes it's important, and everybody recognizes we really don't have it. Modernity is speeding off in the opposite direction of uptight, scrambled and dull. So that's really clear. Really, really clear. There's nothing to doubt. And we don't need to worry about achieving Shama. Just be concerned about moving in the right direction. Report an error in the passage at 13:30 Highlight the passage at 13:30

13:52 And so that's a really, I'm not really selling anything, but if I were, that would be an easy sell. And it's sensible, it's sane, it makes you more calm, clear-headed. Heart is more open, less congested, and then if you complement that with the four measurables, that's a fantastic foundation. There's just nothing to doubt. Report an error in the passage at 13:52 Highlight the passage at 13:52

14:11 And I mentioned before, in terms of practice, it's nice to start out. Nice is a weak word, but I think it's very valuable to have some platform where you can say, okay, here I stand. Here I stand. There's a lot of things I don't know, but here I stand. Cultivating greater balance of mind, including very much the attentional balance. Cultivating more authentic desires and motivations that are not cuckoo. Cultivating the heart. Report an error in the passage at 14:11 Highlight the passage at 14:11

14:37 And then cultivating mindfulness. They just went through the four types of balance. Cultivating greater mindfulness, greater discernment, greater presence with whatever's taking place. Report an error in the passage at 14:37 Highlight the passage at 14:37

14:48 There's, to my mind, really an adamantine foundation. And if you have that conviction, which you can tell I do, Then whether you spend one day practicing, you spend a hundred years practicing, it's in the right direction. And whatever happens, it's bound to be good. So I like having that foundation. I too practice things where I don't have all the answers. I don't have total conviction about everything I've ever heard in Buddhadharma. Not everything's even to be taken literally. Report an error in the passage at 14:48 Highlight the passage at 14:48

15:13 But I do have a foundation where I feel immense trust, immense conviction. And it's not the whole of the doctrine of Buddhadharma. It's the foundation. And there I stand. There I stand. I find that very helpful. So then when you see stuff coming up, you say, okay, that's what's coming up. I'll deal with it because I'm on a path that I simply cannot doubt that it's good. Report an error in the passage at 15:13 Highlight the passage at 15:13

15:36 Then you take whatever's coming. Do I have any retreats coming in America soon? Yeah, one even more advanced than this. But actually this is a very good preparation for it. This would be really a smooth segue. It's in January and it's in Santa Barbara. So you want to come to an American Deva realm? Santa Barbara is about as good as we get. It's a very beautiful place, especially in the winter. It's just lovely there. And it's also a very nice retreat center. And so we'll have, I think it's five or six days of taking really one of the choicest morsels from the larger text, the Vajra Essence. Report an error in the passage at 15:36 Highlight the passage at 15:36

16:18 It's really quite spectacular, really Chord Zokchen. And I'm just taking that out of the text. I'll just be teaching that all by itself. So that's in December. And beside that, Italy, Spain, some other places, can't remember all of them right now. Not a whole lot in America. Yeah, I love America. You love America? Yeah, I mean, I love California. Report an error in the passage at 16:18 Highlight the passage at 16:18

16:49 It's an incredible state. So much beauty there. And a lot of very cool things. In the Bay Area, even in the Los Angeles area. Santa Barbara is simply gorgeous. but could you have seen that? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 16:49 Highlight the passage at 16:49

17:00 So, no, there's a lot to love there. There's a lot to love. A lot of good to be found. And so I keep on trying to focus on that, because it's easy to be critical of one's own homeland. But there's a lot to rejoice in there as well. But I find it distasteful, what we often get from politicians is trumpeting, trumpeting, trumpeting, America is the greatest country in the earth. Report an error in the passage at 17:00 Highlight the passage at 17:00

17:21 I get sick and tired of that. It's a wonderful country in many, many ways, and it's a very troubled country in other ways. So when I'm abroad, I don't go off abroad and say, America's the greatest country on the earth. I find it really quite repugnant. But at the same time, do I love the place and the people there? Report an error in the passage at 17:21 Highlight the passage at 17:21

17:36 Sure, I do. And there's still hope for the government. It doesn't look like it sometimes, but I'm sure there's hope. There's some very good people. There's some really good people in government. You have to find them, though. Okay? Thanks. You're welcome. Yes, Andrew, you're up. Hi. First of all, I'd like to pleasantly thank you for your guidance and kindness during this retreat. Report an error in the passage at 17:36 Highlight the passage at 17:36

17:58 It's really been something very special. I'm very glad. The question pertains to the practice of physical asana or yoga. Asanas, yes. This compliment is the practice of Shantideva, Pashna, Zogchen. I'm aware of a tradition called Yantra Yoga, Shantideva Namkai Nobu. Say again? I just missed the lessons. Yes, I know. Report an error in the passage at 17:58 Highlight the passage at 17:58

18:27 I wanted to know your thoughts on that system of physical SR practice and others. Yeah. I've never met him. I've known of him for a long time, a number of my students, also his students. But I don't know his Yanta Yoga, so I have no judgment at all about that which I don't know. I just keep silent. But I can speak about the earlier question, the more foundational question. Report an error in the passage at 18:27 Highlight the passage at 18:27

18:48 And that is, for Tibetan Buddhism, how do you say physical exercise is really not one of the strong points of this tradition? To put it mildly, and it's not for Theravāda Buddhists either. Try putting on Theravāda robes and now start exercising. It's hopeless. I've lived in Sri Lanka as a monk wearing their robes. You can't even jog. But the most you can do is walk quickly like that. Report an error in the passage at 18:48 Highlight the passage at 18:48

19:15 And try doing a handstand. You don't want to think about it. It's like a banana that gets unpeeled. So the robes are really not very practical for any kind of exercise at all, except for kind of walking slowly. And so by the time I was in my early 30s, I went back to India for the second time, then just to practice. Report an error in the passage at 19:15 Highlight the passage at 19:15

19:37 And I was finding, and I'd been practicing then for 10 years, and I was seeing that, I mean, I just, I'd utterly adore and revere what I received. I mean, it's just sublime, priceless. And, not but, and there was almost nothing for the body. Almost nothing. Report an error in the passage at 19:37 Highlight the passage at 19:37

19:54 And so I got interested in yoga. I think, you know, I am a westerner here, let's take care of this, the only one I've got for the time being. And so I went to one of my primary teachers, Geshe Rabtham, and he's a very traditional galupa geshe, kind of embodies the tradition, extremely traditional, an outstanding teacher, a contemplative, outstanding scholar. Report an error in the passage at 19:54 Highlight the passage at 19:54

20:14 He was really something, an extraordinary clear in his teachings. Insofar, I have clarity in my teaching that's largely attributed to him, because I was his interpreter. And if you're interpreting for somebody who is spectacularly clear and deep at the same time, and you're conveying what he says, your teacher doesn't wind up being deep and clear, and it's all thanks to somebody else. Report an error in the passage at 20:14 Highlight the passage at 20:14

20:33 So that's where some of this comes from. So I asked him, I said, you know, what would you think about my doing yoga? I think it would be a really good idea for the health sake, to balance the body, to open up the channels of energy and so forth. And what would you think about my complementing, my Buddhist practice, with some yoga that comes from outside, from the yoga tradition of India? Report an error in the passage at 20:33 Highlight the passage at 20:33

20:58 You know, Patanjali yoga, the asanas, you know, starting with Yama, Niyama, asanas, and so forth, right on through to samādhi. So I asked him, what would you think about that? And he said, Alan, if you practice yoga, it's going to be Buddhist yoga. That's what he said. In other words, no problem. No problem. There's absolutely nothing incompatible about it. Report an error in the passage at 20:58 Highlight the passage at 20:58

21:18 And then one takes a purely pragmatic stance. It's not, shall I be 90 % Buddhist and 10 % Hindu. For myself, I just simply consider myself Buddhist. But I've practiced a lot of yoga in my time. I've trained with a couple of masters, Iyengar, very intensively. And one Swami, Swami Naryananda, who's quite an accomplished Swami. I learned pranayama from him. Report an error in the passage at 21:18 Highlight the passage at 21:18

21:41 And so I'm not 90 % Buddhist and 10%. I'm not, I'm just, it doesn't compute. I'm just following the Buddhist path. And I found this very helpful. And so in terms of augmenting this contemplative path with ethics, samādhi and wisdom, because it pretty much boils down to that, then I think the principle to follow is 100 % pure pragmatism. Report an error in the passage at 21:41 Highlight the passage at 21:41

22:02 And is it helpful? The same thing with medicine. My primary health care provider is a traditional Tibetan doctor. She's the one I trust most. Now, of course, she knows and I know if I break my leg, I'm not going to go to her. If I get an infection, I'm not going to go to her. If I need surgery, not to her, but I will consult her before to see whether I should get surgery, whether there's any alternative and so forth. But I really trust her and she's kept me in good health for years now. Report an error in the passage at 22:02 Highlight the passage at 22:02

22:27 She's really outstanding. But that's not because she's Tibetan or she's the wife of one of my oldest friends. That kind of doesn't factor in. I don't really care one by another. She's just really good and she's really helped me maintain my health in a pretty demanding lifestyle. Report an error in the passage at 22:27 Highlight the passage at 22:27

22:43 So as with yoga, as with diet, as with where you're going through for your medical care, and I would say 100 % pragmatism. And if the motivation is, I'm taking this medicine, practicing this yoga, maybe even doing some pranayama, and so forth, following this diet, and this is in order to help me devote myself to practice and be as effective, let the practice be as transformative as possible, then it's all of the peace, it's all fine. Report an error in the passage at 22:43 Highlight the passage at 22:43

23:13 As for yantara yoga, I just don't know it. I have been trained in some fairly advanced practices related to tummo. And if you've ever seen the movie Yogis of Tibet, it's a very good movie. It's worth seeing. I was trained in that and never got even remotely to the level of expertise that a really buff yogi demonstrates where he's jumping up and coming down a full lotus. Report an error in the passage at 23:13 Highlight the passage at 23:13

23:36 But I was trained in it. And so there is yoga in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. But the place in the practice where it's introduced tends to be at a very high level. It's really quite advanced level. There are 108 asanas, 108 asanas. They're called adhisaras in Sanskrit. In the Kala Chakra system, 108. There's only one tradition called the Jonang, the Jonang tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 23:36 Highlight the passage at 23:36

24:03 They're the only ones that have that. The Kalupas, Kaigyubas, they don't have it. Others don't have it. So it's found there as well, but again it's a rather esoteric level of practice. Whereas in the Hindu tradition, I mean children can be taught some basic yoga, and it doesn't require any sophisticated visualization or advanced theory or deep meditative practices. Report an error in the passage at 24:03 Highlight the passage at 24:03

24:23 And so I'll end on this note. I did train briefly, about two and a half months, but very intensively with Iyengar. I went to his center in Pune in 1981. was in 1881, 1881. And I was spending five hours a day in his yoga, in his ashram, in his yoga center. And he was very, he was quite traditional. He's also modern, but at core he's very traditional. And the ethical foundation was not overlooked. It just wasn't emphasized that much. But then the asanas, and then there was genius. Report an error in the passage at 24:23 Highlight the passage at 24:23

24:54 I mean, he really is truly a genius. And he was very sequential in this. He said, you know, you really must master the asanas. You need to get your body in shape. You need to straighten it out. You need to really be very mindful. And mindfulness was always a part. You can't do his yoga and have your mind wandering all over the place. Report an error in the passage at 24:54 Highlight the passage at 24:54

25:11 You'd never be able to do it. So it's by nature mindful. I think yoga generally, when you're doing asanas, you don't go ruminating while you're doing that. It'd be half-assed. So you'd be totally present as you're going from one asana to another asana. And he said, you must master this, and then on the basis of this, then you do more the fine-tuning of your prāṇa system with pranayama. And on the basis of that, then you move on to meditation, step by step. Report an error in the passage at 25:11 Highlight the passage at 25:11

25:36 But something I really appreciated from him, I appreciated a lot of things from him, was one point that he made that I've really, really held in my heart ever since. And that is when we went through these very intense, very demanding, very austere, kind of really tough, Regimens of training with him for one asana after another, where he brings extreme precision to every single asana. Then when you're finished, where you think you're finished, then it's Shavasana. Report an error in the passage at 25:36 Highlight the passage at 25:36

26:04 Well, lo and behold, when he teaches Shavasana, he brings the same precision to that that he says to every other asana. Some of them, you know, unbelievably difficult. But it's not just nap time. It's not like bringing out the cookies and milk children and you can lie down now. It's then, okay, this is exactly how you do pranayama. Report an error in the passage at 26:04 Highlight the passage at 26:04

26:20 You do it in this way, this way, this way. All the precision is there. And you said you must be totally present here. It's not just a physical posture. Now you're totally present in Shavasana. And until you master Shavasana, then you're not really ready to sit up and meditate. Learn how to be a corpse before you sit up and pretend to be alive. Report an error in the passage at 26:20 Highlight the passage at 26:20

26:42 So I took that to heart. And ever since then, I've been really totally incorporating or including Shavasana. As a formal meditative posture and I found it enormously useful. Okay? Report an error in the passage at 26:42 Highlight the passage at 26:42

26:56 Anything else coming up? Yes, please. In the back first and then in the front. Report an error in the passage at 26:56 Highlight the passage at 26:56

27:04 Yes, you. Right there. Please. Go. Yes, please. Behind this lady here and she'll be next. Yes. And your name once again, you told me once. Karen. Karen. Thank you, Karen. My question actually follows a little bit onto this. Right. I've been thinking, where's the body? Where's the body? Yeah. Where's the body? Report an error in the passage at 27:04 Highlight the passage at 27:04

27:25 Yeah. yeah. Report an error in the passage at 27:25 Highlight the passage at 27:25

27:26 I missed that. We had a common prime and comfortable cushion. Oh yes, right, right. It was a good volume to those people with a tendency to a little new balance. Yes, indeed. And that's it. And we have, you know, the cycle grows wings, all the channels. And I'm thinking, you know, as, you know, was said here in yoga and also things like in my own breathing, we need to include our body body to run behind a bit. Report an error in the passage at 27:26 Highlight the passage at 27:26

27:50 Just the last sentence, something? We need to include it a little bit more. Yes. I have to emphasize this, this was not an entry-level retreat. This is by and large assuming that there is a moral background here. And so for a number of years I was leading five retreats before I'd even get to Dzogchen or get any really substantial presentation. The first would be about shamatha and so really establishing that. Report an error in the passage at 27:50 Highlight the passage at 27:50

28:18 And then going on to the four applications of mindfulness, that very much includes the body. It actually starts with the close application of mindfulness to the body. Very, very body oriented. And not, yeah, just that. And then feelings in the mind. And then the third one would be the four measurables. The fourth one would be dream yoga. Report an error in the passage at 28:18 Highlight the passage at 28:18

28:37 The fifth one would be a brief introduction to Dzogchen. And then we can go into the hardcore. Well, this is the hardcore. Report an error in the passage at 28:37 Highlight the passage at 28:37

28:43 So, in one text that I've taught many times, probably 20 times, 30 times by now, over many years, it's by a 19th century, another Dzogchen master named Lerab Lingba, and I've taught his presentation, a one-page presentation of settling in mind in its natural state. I've taught it so many times, because it's just so concise and rich and complete. And he makes a point, the whole text is very concise, so every single sentence has a real punch to it. Report an error in the passage at 28:43 Highlight the passage at 28:43

29:11 And one of these, he said, determine in terms of your own experience the proper degree of tension. That is, you don't just go totally slack, but you don't push too hard. You have to determine, like stringing the guitar, not too taut, not too slack. And then he said, and also in terms of your own experience, determine the most suitable behavior and diet. Report an error in the passage at 29:11 Highlight the passage at 29:11

29:34 And so behavior on the one hand is, well, make sure that your behavior is ethical. That's a good idea. But also that includes exercise. Report an error in the passage at 29:34 Highlight the passage at 29:34

29:43 It includes exercise. What kind? It can be walking. Walking is a very good exercise, actually. Jogging, good, but wear really good shoes because the knees can wear out. Yoga was exactly designed for samādhi. Among all the types, qigong, tai chi, Canadian Air Force exercises and so on, the one system that is most directly aligned to preparing you to achieve samādhi, it's a yoga tradition. Report an error in the passage at 29:43 Highlight the passage at 29:43

30:08 It's been around for many, many hundreds of years. But find that which is most suitable. And then find the diet, whether it's working with an Ayurvedic physician who knows a lot about food. A really good Tibetan physician also knows a good deal about how to identify your own unique or your own particular psychophysiological constitution in terms of the five elements, the prehumors. Report an error in the passage at 30:08 Highlight the passage at 30:08

30:32 And say, okay, given you, and then where are you living? How hot is it? What's your lifestyle? Taking all of those into account, okay, this is a type of diet. There's a lot of old wisdom there. And I know it from the Ayurvedic tradition and from the Tibetan tradition, and I know that it's there in traditional Chinese medicine. Report an error in the passage at 30:32 Highlight the passage at 30:32

30:50 I just haven't studied it myself. There's a lot of wisdom there, let alone from modern nutrition. You know, nutrition. They have a lot of knowledge as well. So this, I mentioned communication, transformation, access to the media, the internet, as one of the great strengths of living in this very troubled century. Report an error in the passage at 30:50 Highlight the passage at 30:50

31:07 And another of the strengths is we know an awful lot about the body and we have access to all these different traditions, Tibetan, Indian, Chinese, modern, homeopathic, and so forth, so many different types of exercise. And we are a materialistic society, so let's take advantage of that and take good care of the body, you know, and while taking good care of the mind and get the best of both worlds. Report an error in the passage at 31:07 Highlight the passage at 31:07

31:29 And that's unusual. That's unusual, but we have that opportunity. Yeah. Yes, please. Report an error in the passage at 31:29 Highlight the passage at 31:29

31:39 Simone? Hi, Simone. Report an error in the passage at 31:39 Highlight the passage at 31:39

31:47 You wanted to have Report an error in the passage at 31:47 Highlight the passage at 31:47

31:51 a question during meditation and I did that yesterday and today I've had some incredible synchronistic experiences surrounding that. Surreal. And without getting into the mind only school, you feel like those experiences were happening for me to learn this, so to speak. So to stop the re-implication of sort of being taught to have more baby children. Report an error in the passage at 31:51 Highlight the passage at 31:51

32:23 there was all these things that happened surrounding that today and it just seemed so simplistic. So synchronistic, yeah? It's called blessing. We have a label for it. I didn't really add anything to what you just said, because what you said was a content. But you'll hear this term blessing, blessing, blessing. And it can come by way of the Guru, if one has tremendous realization, like a young Tanabhache. Report an error in the passage at 32:23 Highlight the passage at 32:23

32:48 And I wouldn't say it so much comes by way of the Guru. It comes from the Guru. Here's a person who is like an ocean right there, or from a very pure being like Kandula. She wouldn't say, but I would say that it's flowing from her incredibly pure heart and there's blessing from her, from His Holiness. Report an error in the passage at 32:48 Highlight the passage at 32:48

33:06 And of course they're not all Buddhist, but they're the ones I know most. And so from such beings you really have a sense of being in the sacred and blessings flow. But even if one doesn't have such high realization, I know what I'm about to say, that it's true. Because I know I'm not in that league. I know that. Report an error in the passage at 33:06 Highlight the passage at 33:06

33:24 I never pretend to. So at least I'm being honest. But I know that even quite an ordinary person like myself can be a conduit. The blessings happen by way of. That's true. I've just seen it happen so many times. And then it's just a privilege and something to rejoice in. And I'm not so stupid to think, oh, that makes me somebody really special. Report an error in the passage at 33:24 Highlight the passage at 33:24

33:46 No, I'm a link here, passing on a transmission, and it's my joy, it's my privilege, and blessings flow through the vehicle if I don't get in the way. And that happens a lot. It happens a lot. And at least I am smart enough not to take credit for it. It's a wonderful thing, though. And blessings flow. Blessings can flow from or by way of a teacher, a Lama. They can flow from a text. They can flow from a Saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 33:46 Highlight the passage at 33:46

34:17 They can flow from a place. There are sacred places that you just feel the blessing when you're there, synchronicity. So it's a wonderful thing. That's what brings the sweetness to the practice and really starts to inspire from within. And that's got some real durability to it. So I'm very glad for you. It is magical, yeah. It is magical. Report an error in the passage at 34:17 Highlight the passage at 34:17

34:40 And the deeper we go, then you'll find that these, what other people might call coincidences, Just start happening so often that you start, that's not a coincidence. And the first one I mentioned, I'm not going to give a life story here, but really this tipping point, that's what it was, it was a tipping point. Report an error in the passage at 34:40 Highlight the passage at 34:40

35:00 When I knew I was sincere, I wasn't just wanting to find Dharma for something hedonic, something mundane, that was not the case. The mundane I had at home, I was on a success track. It was pretty much guaranteed, you know, just continue, you'll be fine, you know, because I became privileged background. But my turning away from that to Dharma was sincere. Report an error in the passage at 35:00 Highlight the passage at 35:00

35:24 And the tipping point was when I wrote in my journal and then the same day this wise old man showed up and he gave me just the quintessential advice I needed. It wasn't much, it was just enough for the next stage. And then I got Dautant Göttingen and then another piece came in. And then shortly after that, just to get a taste, I went down to the monastery even before the academic year started in Göttingen. I went down to Switzerland just to get my teacher there. Report an error in the passage at 35:24 Highlight the passage at 35:24

35:49 It was a Tibetan mom, I told you. He said, you know, before you start here, why don't you just pop down there for a weekend and live with Tibetans in a monastery with monks and just see what it feels like. I did. I said, wow, this is home. I'm ready to go back to the university and start studying Tibetan because, yeah, whatever they've got, I want more of that. Report an error in the passage at 35:49 Highlight the passage at 35:49

36:12 And then I've just watched what's flowed ever since then. And so blessings start to flow, and the more pure the motivation, the sincerity, the dedication, the continuity of practice, they just keep on flowing. And that's a really wonderful thing. It's a gift. Report an error in the passage at 36:12 Highlight the passage at 36:12

36:31 Sure, go back to Eric. What's up, Eric? Report an error in the passage at 36:31 Highlight the passage at 36:31

36:48 Yes, right. Report an error in the passage at 36:48 Highlight the passage at 36:48

36:53 Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 36:53 Highlight the passage at 36:53

36:58 you want, for all of these practices, Do you recommend your money at school? Only at school. noticed that they actually wanted to move my back to the end. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 36:58 Highlight the passage at 36:58

37:00 Whether it's mindfulness of breathing, where I was very heavy, don't get your eyes involved, don't want you to have headaches, or settling the mind or the oscillation, you'd really like as much as you possibly can, keep the eyes disengaged. It's not a visual practice. The eyes are open to give a sense of spaciousness, of light, of clarity, of groundedness in the present moment, but not groundedness in any particular object, for all of those reasons. Report an error in the passage at 37:00 Highlight the passage at 37:00

37:25 But you don't want your eyes... Being like a fluid lens, which is what they are, what they have, is going out and going in and expanding and contracting. You don't want that. It's purely mental. So the eyes open. But as I mentioned before, you can have the eyes open. You can have them totally masked. You can't see anything. That does tend to do the trick. Or you can be in a very softly lit or even in a dark room and do that. Report an error in the passage at 37:25 Highlight the passage at 37:25

37:50 Because it's not that you have to see something, but the awareness does come out. And so that's helpful. Yeah. Okay. Good. Chris. Report an error in the passage at 37:50 Highlight the passage at 37:50

38:04 this back in a second of daily life? Yeah, good, good. So I can do about 12 sessions a week, a little 12. About half of those will be loving kais. Oh, nice. And the other half will be Report an error in the passage at 38:04 Highlight the passage at 38:04

38:18 This trajectory here is a very smooth trajectory. It's kind of a slippery slope. Start with shamatha, slip right on into non-meditation. Good, good combo. Yeah, and so the question really is, and I've heard you talk about doing 12 hours three years and things like that, and I feel a bit disheartened when I hear that. Report an error in the passage at 38:18 Highlight the passage at 38:18

38:36 I think the most I can hope for is that sometimes I want to come and give you three months. Yeah, good. Report an error in the passage at 38:36 Highlight the passage at 38:36

38:50 Yeah, whatever. Sure, sure. Report an error in the passage at 38:50 Highlight the passage at 38:50

39:03 The reference to meditating 12 hours a day. So speaking of time to practice, what can we expect? Report an error in the passage at 39:03 Highlight the passage at 39:03

39:07 Was just to point out, this is what naturally happens when you have the time and you give it sufficient momentum over years. That was my last retreat, six months. I was doing 12 hours a day regularly. But there was just nothing else to do that I really wanted to do. And so it's what's left over. And it wasn't like I was bored. I mean, every morning I got up and was just raring to practice. And it wasn't like, whoa, now I'm something really special. Report an error in the passage at 39:07 Highlight the passage at 39:07

39:34 It was just the moment was there and that was just the natural thing to do. Like that woman in the one-year retreat 27 years ago, meditating for 11-hour sessions. 11-hour sessions, right? Well, she said, I was in bliss the whole time. Why would I want to stop? So this comes by building momentum. But life changes, you know, unexpected, unexpected, in multiple unexpected fashions. Report an error in the passage at 39:34 Highlight the passage at 39:34

40:01 And so the issue of continuity, of motivation, that's the most important thing. Ethical foundation, that's actually the most important. Because what everyone's motivation is, as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Well, it's got to be good intentions, they have to be ethical intentions. Report an error in the passage at 40:01 Highlight the passage at 40:01

40:19 Nonviolent, benevolent, it's pretty simple. So there's the foundation. On that foundation, then motivation, motivation, motivation. Continuity. Report an error in the passage at 40:19 Highlight the passage at 40:19

40:30 With that alone, then it depends on many, many factors. The environment, the quality of your practice. Your dedication to practice, what you're doing in between practice is enormously important. What are you doing when you're not on the cushion? How are you engaging with the people around you? What's the quality of your mindfulness, your clarity, your stability? What's the quality of your heart? How open is the heart as you're engaging with people in the workplace, with family, neighbors, with difficult people in difficult situations? Report an error in the passage at 40:30 Highlight the passage at 40:30

41:00 So there's a practice. Another practice that can be a very good introductory practice, and I've taught it sometimes as an introduction. It's not really entry level, but a lot of people resonate with it immediately. And maybe I'll teach it here someday. We'll see if there's any interest. But it's something called the seven point mind training. Report an error in the passage at 41:00 Highlight the passage at 41:00

41:17 The seven point mind training. It's a mind training, lojong, mind training. What it's all about. It's just an absolutely marvelous matrix of practices. Not just one or two techniques. Seven point mind training. But the central theme of it is... How can we now start viewing reality and having an array of practices such that no matter what comes up, we're going into a 10-year solitary retreat or we've just got quintriplets, you and your spouse. Report an error in the passage at 41:17 Highlight the passage at 41:17

41:48 Oh, surprise! You now have a big family. Whatever it may be, how can you transform whatever is coming up, adversity, felicity, difficult times, easy times, pleasant people, unpleasant people, how can you transform that all into Dharma? So no matter what comes up, you have this kind of like fantastic digestive process that whatever comes up, you can assimilate it, digest it, and it's just more fuel for your practice. Report an error in the passage at 41:48 Highlight the passage at 41:48

42:13 And that includes meeting very difficult people, dishonest people, hateful people. Deating with them is part of the practice. And likewise getting ill, likewise having a financial crisis, like the death of a loved one, whatever's coming up. That is not like you're using anybody. It is you are taking everything life dishes up and transforming it all into Dharma. It is great. I've written two commentaries on that. Report an error in the passage at 42:13 Highlight the passage at 42:13

42:39 One a long time ago, 1987, and then more recently, maybe 15 years later, I just came back to it and thought, I think I can do that all over again. And we did another one. The second one's called Buddhism with an Attitude. But there are a number of very good commentaries. And all schools. Great one by Dingo Kenzirabhoche is a great Nyingmapa, Motobukalupa one, Sakhi, everybody loves it. All schools of Tibetan Buddhism, they all rally around this one, they all love Atisha. Report an error in the passage at 42:39 Highlight the passage at 42:39

43:05 Totally a non-politician, no mundane stuff at all, no power things, which happens in Tibetan Buddhism on occasion. And so it is fantastic. And it gives you a rich array of practices that you bring right back to active way of life. And it turns you into a spiritual alchemist. That instead of saying, I had a good day, I had a bad day, that was a lot of felicity, but then I had adversity, you say, I just practiced Dharma all the way through and it was Dharma, Dharma, Dharma, Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 43:05 Highlight the passage at 43:05

43:31 I turned everything into Dharma. So it's really fantastic. And there are people here in Sydney, there are people around Australia who can teach it. It's rather well known and it's not difficult to find teachings. I'm sure that Shukila can teach it and I'm sure there are other teachers as well, but it really is marvelous because it's so utterly practical and it's deep. Report an error in the passage at 43:31 Highlight the passage at 43:31

43:52 It's deep. You can, in principle, bring all of this that I just taught right here. You can bring that right into the teachings on ultimate bodhicitta, which are right at the beginning. You can see how. You take those aphorisms and say, oh yeah, put that in here and that in here and that in here. You can bring Dzogchen right into it. And it's a smooth fit. You're not breaking any arms there. Straightforward. Report an error in the passage at 43:52 Highlight the passage at 43:52

44:11 So there's the core theme. So I start out in a more quasi-secular way that doesn't assume... Already one has faith in, you know, central themes of the Buddhist worldview, reincarnation, karma and so forth, don't assume that. Because I'm not trying to, you know, I'm not here to proselytize or get people to affirm a dogma, somebody trying to be of service. Report an error in the passage at 44:11 Highlight the passage at 44:11

44:31 And so I start with, I often start with shamatha, the four measurables, because it's balanced and it does give you a lot to transform everything. But as one starts going into tradition, if one starts to feel more and more at home, not thrown off. By an occasional reference to, I don't know, spirits or reincarnation or hell realms. It doesn't freak you out just hearing about them. Say, okay, maybe you believe it. Report an error in the passage at 44:31 Highlight the passage at 44:31

44:52 Maybe I'll consider that. It's open to it. But I know I don't have to believe that before I can go on. That's there. I'll consider that. Maybe faith rises. Maybe it doesn't. But either way, you can carry on. When there's more of a feeling at home, like I think this is maybe my path, that's a really good time for that seven-point mind training. Report an error in the passage at 44:52 Highlight the passage at 44:52

45:09 It's fantastic. So to answer your question now succinctly, What can you expect? It's pretty much correlated to how much you put into it, and that you can identify for yourself. And then one of those mystical, not mystical, but unknown variables, some people are more gifted than others. I mean, that's just true for anything, and it is true for Dharma. Some people are bringing more momentum to it. I've seen children who just, you know, have such intuitive wisdom, it's amazing. Report an error in the passage at 45:09 Highlight the passage at 45:09

45:39 And so that's a factor. But then as life unfolds, You know, situations change. And if there's an aspiration, let's say in the back of the mind, you may have children, you may have family, you may have a job that you find satisfying, meaningful, nothing that you want to jettison there, and so you're going to bring your practice into that context and try to transform everything there so you have a feeling that you're not just practicing for 12 sessions a week, you're practicing 16 hours a day in meaningful ways. Report an error in the passage at 45:39 Highlight the passage at 45:39

46:14 And not just lip service. Oh, my life is my Dharma. Anybody can say that. But to actually mean something. That from situation to situation you can find, here's a good opportunity for loving kindness. Here's mindfulness. Here's a little moment for shamatha. Here I can bring in dream yoga. Here I can bring in. And you have yourself a repertoire. Then you can see there's always some music to play in your repertoire of Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 46:14 Highlight the passage at 46:14

46:38 And in the back of the mind, if there's aspiration that... You've now been exposed to teachings that can bring one, people like you, to enlightenment in one lifetime. That's what this is about. You actually can do that. Rainbow body in this lifetime. You've encountered those teachings. And they're challenging, but that was not incomprehensible, I don't think. Report an error in the passage at 46:38 Highlight the passage at 46:38

47:00 And no step was, say, give me a break. Nobody can do that. Not that difficult. Challenging, but reasonably challenging. And so if there's in the back of the mind that you, if, and I'm not true, I'm not trying to push you into anything, but in the back of the mind is, in the course of this lifetime, I would really love it if the mandala of my life, the external circumstances, eventually sorts itself out. Report an error in the passage at 47:00 Highlight the passage at 47:00

47:25 There's an opening to do three months. And then if this turns out to be really nourishing, transformative, meaningful, then perhaps it could be six months. And maybe there could be a time when everything outside is fine and everything inside is fine and the conducive environment is there. Maybe I could go off and achieve shamatha. And that would be marvelous. The thing about shamatha is once you've achieved it, you can leave the meditation center because you're bringing the meditation center with you wherever you are. Report an error in the passage at 47:25 Highlight the passage at 47:25

47:55 If you find the siren annoying, it's gone. You just went into a sensory deprivation tank. And it doesn't matter what's happening. Noisy neighbors, nasty neighbors, bad neighborhood and whatever. You're in a quiet zone. You've just found your own place. You're resting in the substrate consciousness. It doesn't matter whether you're in a busy neighborhood. It doesn't matter. You have your own retreat place and you bring that with you wherever you go. Now that's very freeing. Report an error in the passage at 47:55 Highlight the passage at 47:55

48:25 Very, very freeing. And so that would be something of a tipping point, a turning point to not wait for, but cultivate the life. And then again go in the shallow end of the pool. A week retreat here, maybe eventually a three month retreat there. See how it goes. If it's beneficial, great. If it's not, then reconsider. Report an error in the passage at 48:25 Highlight the passage at 48:25

48:46 But if there comes a time when you really can go off and practice and achieve shamatha, you now have moved into a whole new league. Everything's now different. Your platform for practice is very different. And things really, the pace picks up rapidly. Report an error in the passage at 48:46 Highlight the passage at 48:46

49:05 As they say, one... One day, worth a hundred lifetimes, shamatha. Picks up the pace dramatically. So that's why I have been intent for some years now. It's not easy, otherwise I would have succeeded a long time ago. But doing all I can, frankly, to create one or more, create, catalyze, help to come into being one or more environments that really is set up. Report an error in the passage at 49:05 Highlight the passage at 49:05

49:32 To be inviting, conducive, supportive for people who are in that position of life. Some may be 20, some may be not ready until they're 60. Kids are grown up, they're off, taken care of, money's taken care of, no demands, ready to go into retirement. Maybe that's then, and still good health. But creating an environment like that, I have found now, leading people in long-term retreats for seven years, I've been watching what happens, is that the environment turns out to be unexpectedly, enormously important. Report an error in the passage at 49:32 Highlight the passage at 49:32

50:01 And it's hard to find them. In fact, I hardly know anybody who's found one. They don't drop off a tree. You have to create them. Just like you don't find a neuroscience lab that just happened to be hanging out there someplace. You have to create one. These contemplative observatories, it turns out you really have to create it. And create that. And as they say in that old movie, if you create it, they will come. Report an error in the passage at 50:01 Highlight the passage at 50:01

50:26 I think it will. So that's something to consider as a possibility. When the time is ripe. Without taking away from children or family or spouse, you want to give me your best. That's what I feel. With my own spouse, I'm away a lot, but we have a very unusual relationship, and it really works. Report an error in the passage at 50:26 Highlight the passage at 50:26

50:46 But when I'm, a bit personal, but when I'm with her, I really try to give her my very best. And I know she gives me her best. So there it is. Wherever you are, if you have a family, give me your best. And make them happy that you're practicing Dharma. That you're not pulling back, you're not depriving them, you're not... Report an error in the passage at 50:46 Highlight the passage at 50:46

51:03 No, in fact, they say, hey dad, keep up with the Dharma. We like it. Then you know it's a good Dharma. Then it's a really good Dharma. Okay? You're welcome. Let's give somebody else a chance who's maybe not had a hand up. I'm not forgetting your child. Yes, please. Report an error in the passage at 51:03 Highlight the passage at 51:03

51:29 What kind of attention? Analytical meditation. Analytical meditation. Yes, indeed. Yes. I understood you to say, first of all, at the thoughts, where are they coming from? Where are they? Where are they going? Indeed, yes. As you further into that, is the idea to actually look at a specific thought and try and, I guess, discover some of your foibles to then know what to work on in conscious time? Report an error in the passage at 51:29 Highlight the passage at 51:29

52:11 That theme of directing your awareness to the space of the mind and the events arising in it, very much including thoughts, is a theme that comes up from the most foundational teachings all the way up to Dzogchen. It's a recurrent theme. In the Buddha's Sattipatthana Sutta, his great discourse on the four applications of mindfulness, there's a close application of mindfulness to the body, feelings and then the mind after that phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 52:11 Highlight the passage at 52:11

52:35 And then that third one, closely applying mindfulness to the mind, it's a central feature of that practice, in his own words, is now one contemplates the factors of origination, one contemplates the factors of dissolution, dissolving away, of the events of the mind. So it's right there, polycanon, foundational Buddhism. And it is inquiry, it is vipassanā, it is, the term analytical is literally a correct translation, it's jet gom, jet means analytical and gom means meditation, so nobody can fault the translation. Report an error in the passage at 52:35 Highlight the passage at 52:35

53:12 But sometimes it's a bit misleading, even though it's literally correct. When you are cultivating, when you're tending to another person, and you're cultivating loving kindness for that person. Really attending to and cultivating loving-kindness. Would you call that analytical meditation? Report an error in the passage at 53:12 Highlight the passage at 53:12

53:31 Yeah, I can see your lip. The answer is yes, but that's a bad translation. Because it is. It is jet gom. But it's not like you're analyzing the person. Report an error in the passage at 53:31 Highlight the passage at 53:31

53:42 So my translation is not literal, but I think it's a bit more accurate. It's discursive. You're using your intelligence. You're using thought. You're using memory. You're using imagination. That is definitely true for all four of the four measurable practices. It's true for bodhicitta practice. It's true for tonglen. There's not much analysis there. But it is using memory, imagination, intelligence, thought. Report an error in the passage at 53:42 Highlight the passage at 53:42

54:05 And that's what this so-called analytical meditation is about. And on occasion, it is definitely analytical meditation. Do phenomena arise from the self, from other, from both, from neither? That's analytical for sure. So in this practice, as the Buddha taught it in the Pāli Canon, It's jet gom, it's discursive, that is you're using intelligence, discernment, you're reflecting upon, bringing full intelligence to it, and you're examining closely how is it that thoughts, emotions, desires, this whole array of mental processes, events, how is it that they're coming into being? Report an error in the passage at 54:05 Highlight the passage at 54:05

54:39 And you look at it. It's very, very useful. Then once they're there, then you continue to inspect very carefully. It's highly empirical with discernment. But not very analytical in the sense of getting caught up in syllogisms and so forth and inference and so forth. And that is, as you're attending to them, now they've come into being, into presence, right? Report an error in the passage at 54:39 Highlight the passage at 54:39

55:01 Then this discursive meditation would be examining them very closely. Are they static? Do they just come in and stay? Or once they've come in, do they continue to be like strobe light? Just arising, passing, arising, passing. Even while they're there, do they have a kind of a momentary... Fluctuating nature. What is it, static or like that? One can investigate that. As these thoughts and images and so forth come up, one can ask, here I am, I'm a sentient being, I want to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 55:01 Highlight the passage at 55:01

55:34 I always do. In my dreams I want to be happy, in my waking state I want to sleep well too. I always want to be happy. So these thoughts, images, these appearances coming to mind, these processes coming to mind, are they veritable sources of happiness? Are they wellsprings of happiness? It's a really cool question. Report an error in the passage at 55:34 Highlight the passage at 55:34

55:50 I like the analogy of an artesian well. You know, just water coming right out of, let's say, the stone. And so if you go to the artesian well, every time you go, water's coming out. The longer you stay, the more water you get. Because it's one of those that just flows 365 days a year. Artesian well. So we say that's the source of water. Report an error in the passage at 55:50 Highlight the passage at 55:50

56:14 Because every time you go, you get water. And the longer you stay, the more water you get. So, that's a nice analogy. So then we ask, you know, I really like to be, have a sense of well-being all the time. So what is a true source of sukha, of genuine happiness? What's a true source? What will really make me happy? What can I count on? What is an actual source of happiness? It's a good question. So I don't get sidetracked by things that may or may not, may or may not, you know, a movie. Report an error in the passage at 56:14 Highlight the passage at 56:14

56:43 You pay good money for a movie, generally, because you want to be entertained. Well, entertain you or not, no guarantee. I've been to movies, they just walk out of. You know, I say, ah, piss away that money, I don't care, I'm not staying here. Not very common, I try to choose, well, if I see a movie. But here we are, attending to the cinema of the mind, and you see whatever's coming up, and you can ask, are any of these events coming up, are any of these actual wellsprings of happiness, sources of happiness, or are they not? Report an error in the passage at 56:43 Highlight the passage at 56:43

57:13 And so you're asking whether they're sukha or dukkha. Sukha means they're actually a source of happiness, dukkha means they're not. They're not actual sources of happiness. And if you think you are, if you think they are, then you'll be disappointed and they will manifest as dukkha, as unsatisfying. Not because they intrinsically suck, but they couldn't live up to your expectations. So a marriage partner, a job, a place, having kids, not having kids, your own body and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 57:13 Highlight the passage at 57:13

57:42 We can look to many, many things as thinking, this will make me happy. Think it's an actual wellspring. Well, that's where we often err. And so as we're closely applying mindfulness to the mind, we can ask, is there anything here that is an actual wellspring? Because the underlying hypothesis is there are actual wellsprings. Report an error in the passage at 57:42 Highlight the passage at 57:42

58:02 There is such. It's not a search in vain. But are you seeing anything here? And then finally, this foundational Vipassanā, attending to the mind, maybe it's more than you were asking for, then finally, as all these thoughts, images, emotions, memories and so forth are coming up, We are now closely applying mindfulness to them with real discernment, with careful investigation, and with a question. Nominally, of course, he's a mind. Report an error in the passage at 58:02 Highlight the passage at 58:02

58:32 They're not anybody else's thoughts. Nobody's throwing them at me. Nobody else is responsible. So conventionally speaking, of course, I'm attending to my mind, so yes, these are my thoughts. But frankly, only because I'm able to witness them. They're kind of private, generally. And so is there anything more about these thoughts that makes the mind... Report an error in the passage at 58:32 Highlight the passage at 58:32

58:52 Apart from the mere fact that I have privileged access to them. Report an error in the passage at 58:52 Highlight the passage at 58:52

59:00 And so I have privileged access to the pairs of eyeglasses. I have privileged access. I can take it. I can break it. I can give it away. Nobody else really has the right to do that. Somebody can steal it. That's a different situation. But until that happens, I have privileged access to the pair of glasses. It's my choice. But now is there anything in the pair of glasses that actually suggests they are mine? Report an error in the passage at 59:00 Highlight the passage at 59:00

59:20 The answer is no. It's just convention. I don't even have to touch them. I can just say, what's your name again? Your name? Anne? I can just say, Anne, would you like those glasses? They're pretty generic reading glasses for people of our age group. Would you like them? And you can say, yes. I can say, then they're yours. And now they are. And now I no longer have privileged access. I just gave them away. Report an error in the passage at 59:20 Highlight the passage at 59:20

59:44 Now you have privileged access. You can come over and hit them with a hammer if you like to, because they're yours. But you see, it's pure convention. So when you're attending to your thoughts, memories, emotions, this whole array, Is there anything more than that? Just privileged access. In other words, are they yours? Or are they mine? So those are simple questions, but each one of those is revolutionary. Report an error in the passage at 59:44 Highlight the passage at 59:44

1:00:06 And then in terms of where they're rising from, on a relative level, we have an answer. You can watch it. You can see it happen. They're rising from the space of the mind. There's a space of the mind, and they come right from there. They're not coming from neurons. Nobody's ever seen that. That's superstition. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:06 Highlight the passage at 1:00:06

1:00:23 Not coming from the brain, no one's ever seen that, that's just blind faith. But there it is, you're attending the space of the mind, a thought comes up right there, and then the thought goes away, goes back into the space of the mind. So relatively speaking, they come from the space of the mind, they go back, and in the interim, they're in the space of the mind. So, okay, mission accomplished, we just answered that question. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:23 Highlight the passage at 1:00:23

1:00:43 But when we go here to this Vipassanā practice, this look at the origins, the location, the destination, The question here is an ontological question, not a phenomenological one. Phenomenology just means how does it appear when you look closely? What do you see? What do you see? Ontological means in terms of their actual being. Are they really there? These thoughts, for example, are they really there? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:43 Highlight the passage at 1:00:43

1:01:08 Are they really there? Because they seem to have so much power. Thoughts drive people crazy. Thoughts start wars. Thoughts drive people to suicide. Thoughts are pretty potent. They build... High buildings and nuclear weapons and bridges and invent new types of medicine and so forth. Thoughts are incredibly powerful. And they're so powerful, we might very well think, well then, you know, if we're no longer a materialist, grows out of that one and starts tending to the mind, I say, well, these, boy, they seem to be about as real as anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:08 Highlight the passage at 1:01:08

1:01:38 These are powerful. And one might have a sense, one might start reifying thoughts. In fact, we do. And reification of thought means they're really there. Okay, let's hold that thought. Let's use that as a working hypothesis that the thoughts, the desires, the emotions, and so on, they're really there, exist by their own inherent nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:38 Highlight the passage at 1:01:38

1:01:59 They're not simply conceptually designated. Okay, let's assume that. This is a very good strategy in science to assume something. You don't know whether it's true or not, but assume it and see what happens when you assume it. Do the research and see what comes out of that. So let's assume they're really there. Good, where do they come from? Where do they really come from? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:59 Highlight the passage at 1:01:59

1:02:18 Not just appearances, but where do they really come from? Can you identify? The actual source from which they arise, they emerge, and they came from something else or from nothing. How is it that they actually come into being? It's a deeper probe than just looking at appearances. And that's where, when you're doing this kind of ontological probe, you see, they don't really come from anywhere. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:18 Highlight the passage at 1:02:18

1:02:44 Nominally, we can say, well, they're located in the space of the mind, until you ask that a second time. Where's the space of the mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:44 Highlight the passage at 1:02:44

1:02:53 And so nominally, we can say, where's Anne? Where's Ann? She's right there. That's it. She's right there. Yeah. That's good. That's phenomenological. That's correct. As they say in the Madhyamaka, Mata, Mache. She's right there. Now don't investigate. Don't analyze. If you want to still have this conversation, Ann's over here. I'm over here. We can continue the conversation. All is well. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:53 Highlight the passage at 1:02:53

1:03:15 No problem. And no delusion. But then we say, but now let's go further. That's good. You're over here. I'm over here. You're over there. But now let's actually ask the second question. What I see over there is your body. That's what I see. Is your body you? Is your body a human being? And if so, all of it? Or could you lose a leg and still be you? Could you lose both legs? Could you lose both arms? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:15 Highlight the passage at 1:03:15

1:03:43 Could you lose an ear? I'm not trying to mutilate you here, but how much of you could you lose and still you'd be there? Or in fact, do you have a body? Because that's what we all say. But if you have a body, I would be interested, well, okay, I'd like to know then who's the real end, because all I'm seeing is this outer shell that you have. I have a car. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:43 Highlight the passage at 1:03:43

1:04:05 You have a body. Not my car, and you're not my body, and you're not your body. And so then we say, you have a mind. Well, I can't see it, but you can, so I'm going to assume you probably have one more or less like mine. So are you your mind? Well, no, you have a mind. But you're not identical. The mind doesn't have a mind. You have a mind. You have one. I have one. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:05 Highlight the passage at 1:04:05

1:04:26 And so you're not your mind. The mind is always changing, and it's not a person. It's a whole array of mental events, none of them which are you. So, okay, you have a body, you have a mind. That's all true. But now where is this you who has a body and a mind? I'd like to meet that one, the real Anne, who has a body and mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:26 Highlight the passage at 1:04:26

1:04:46 You could actually have a different body. You could conceivably have a different mind. You will eventually. It'll rise in dependence upon some other brain or some other phenomenon. So who is that Anne that has a body and mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:46 Highlight the passage at 1:04:46

1:04:59 And this is now the ontological probe. I'm not finding you. In which case, I'm not finding you over there at all. And then if I ask, where did you come from? I can't find you here. Where did you come from? When did Anne first come into real existence? If Anne is really there, when did you first come into existence? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:59 Highlight the passage at 1:04:59

1:05:20 When was that? And when you die, where will you go then? Where will the real Anne go? And so this is the nature of this type of investigation. It's an ontological probe. It's not saying the mind doesn't exist, the mind doesn't come from anywhere, it's not located in here, it doesn't go anywhere. Phenomenologically, sure, it comes from the substrate, it's right there in the space of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:20 Highlight the passage at 1:05:20

1:05:40 But as soon as we start asking the further question, where did it really come from and where is that space of the mind? Then we say, oh, then we say it's empty of origin, empty of location, and it doesn't go anywhere at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:40 Highlight the passage at 1:05:40

1:05:54 And that if, and this is great Galupa, I mean, I don't know if he's great, but he's a very, very competent Galupa scholar who made this comment, so I'm taking him seriously. I'm taking it seriously because it resonates with experience. And I'm making no claims about experience. I've done some practice, that's all. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:54 Highlight the passage at 1:05:54

1:06:11 It's a strong intuition here that if one is resting in the nakedness of the substrate consciousness, where you've brought your mind down to bare bones, brass tacks, its nucleus, with no ornamentation, no configuration, no male, female, human and so forth, just raw, simple, nuclear mind, substrate consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:11 Highlight the passage at 1:06:11

1:06:31 Stem consciousness before it's mutated into a human mind or a frog's mind and so on. When you get there and you do this type of investigation from that platform, turning your awareness in upon mind, which is not just substrate consciousness, and you ask, where did it come from, where located, where does it go? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:31 Highlight the passage at 1:06:31

1:06:50 When you see the empty, empty, empty answer to that, that really liberates. That's powerful. Really deep stuff. So we can make some progress here from a coarser level. But for it to really detonate, almost like a depth charge that goes in and just blows the smithereens out of what's ever down there, for that you'd be able to drop the depth charge, not just in layers of the coarse mind, layers, layers, layers, but if you can drop that depth charge right down to the ground where the substrate consciousness is and explode the revocation, the grasping onto that, that's quite a breakthrough. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:50 Highlight the passage at 1:06:50

1:07:31 That would be transformative. Okay? So that was a whole spectrum of an answer. It's incredible. It really is an incredibly smart approach. None of this has to be taken on faith. This is all about really checking for yourself. And as questions come up, optimally, of course, you have a teacher to bounce it off of. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:31 Highlight the passage at 1:07:31

1:07:53 Optimally, frankly, the best of all circumstances is you do sufficient preparation of hearing and thinking. You study, you read, you listen to podcasts, go to teachings and so forth. So you really kind of get the lay of the land. And you get the motivation, you get preparation. And then you go to a contemplative observatory with a qualified teacher, and there are quite a number of them, qualified teacher. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:53 Highlight the passage at 1:07:53

1:08:14 You hunker down, you do the practice, and then you just check in. You're just doing the practice now. That's all you've got to do. You're a professional. You're still doing this 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 hours a day. That's what you're there for. That's what you do. And you're doing it because you'd love to do it. There's no other reason to go. And when you're there, then you just check in regularly. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:14 Highlight the passage at 1:08:14

1:08:33 When you're doing the shamatha, you check in as often as needed. But when you're doing the vipassanā, you're checking in. That's when you go back and forth, back and forth. And if you want to see a really brilliant presentation of that, of what that would be like, read the insight chapter of A Spacious Path to Freedom. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:33 Highlight the passage at 1:08:33

1:08:50 A Spacious Path to Freedom. I have as my witness Claudio and Rhonda. Was there anybody else here? I don't think so. Oh yes. It's quite a spectacular chapter, I would say. Quite a spectacular chapter. And you get something of the taste of what it's like to get this pointing out instruction, this pith instruction of what it's like to have a dynamic relationship with a qualified teacher. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:50 Highlight the passage at 1:08:50

1:09:13 Go in and see that it's not so much you asking questions of the teacher, but the teacher giving questions to you. And then you say, now check it out. Because you're now a graduate student doing research. Okay, check this out. And come back when you have an answer. And tell me what came up. You know, I love that aspect of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:13 Highlight the passage at 1:09:13

1:09:33 It's not threatening, it's not punishing, it just says, come and report and be able to articulate what you found. Karma Chakme. Karma Chakme. But if you just Amazon it, it's a spacious path to freedom. And of all the chapters, there's a number of chapters that are quite extraordinary, but that one just leaps out at me. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:33 Highlight the passage at 1:09:33

1:09:56 I've never quite seen a chapter like that one, the insight chapter. And it deals very much with this issue, this origin, location and destination. He just takes the greatest hits. Some of the most spectacular teachings that have been given over the last six, seven hundred years of the greatest teachers just giving their pith instructions on this practice itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:56 Highlight the passage at 1:09:56

1:10:22 It's quite breathtaking. It's quite amazing. So I read something like that and I think, I've had some kind of opportunity like that with my teacher, but I would just love to create an environment where I could offer whatever I can. But then invite other teachers, have them as like guest lecturers coming in for three months, for a month, for six months and be available and let that kind of dynamic take place. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:22 Highlight the passage at 1:10:22

1:10:44 I think we see fireworks. I think we see some really dramatic things happening. And that kind of place is almost not to be found these days. Places to do three year retreats, no problem. Three month Vajrasattva retreat, Vipassanā retreat, no problem, no problem. But a place like this? A place like this? A place like this? Have you found? Have you found? No, have I. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:44 Highlight the passage at 1:10:44

1:11:13 Why are we missing that? I'm not criticizing anybody. But this is Samadha Vipassanā, for heaven's sakes. This is the core of all of Buddha's meditation. And so why don't we have environments that are exactly designed to help people go to the core, stay there and gain realization. I do find it odd that it seems like everything else except for the core. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:13 Highlight the passage at 1:11:13

1:11:33 And this is the core. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:33 Highlight the passage at 1:11:33

1:11:44 Charles, you're going to give us the last one? Okay, Charles, you're on. He's going to give us the grand finale. It's going to be a fantastic question. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:44 Highlight the passage at 1:11:44

1:12:01 I've heard you. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:01 Highlight the passage at 1:12:01

1:12:15 the efficacy of practicing or teaching the passionate type of meditation is the four applications, even within CV or out of it. Given, as I listen to you, I realize more and more need as practitioner, and therefore the I'm teaching you need, that can't... Report an error in the passage at 1:12:15 Highlight the passage at 1:12:15

1:12:39 sure. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:39 Highlight the passage at 1:12:39

1:12:44 is the efficacy of the teachings that we haven't established at least progressed somewhere on the planet? Sure. You're asking that question. It might occur to you that I've asked the question myself. I'm teaching people for three weeks, certifying them. You're now a certified teacher of CEB. Go forth and flourish. And they just had three weeks and they're teaching meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:44 Highlight the passage at 1:12:44

1:13:09 They're teaching Vipassanā. They're teaching the four obligations of mindfulness. That's heavy-duty stuff. The four measurables is sublime. Intellectually not too challenging. This one is challenging in every way. Samad is pretty challenging. At the same time, you know, it was entirely my choice. I mean, 100 % my choice. When Paul asked me to, recruited me to work with him, what would be the contemplative element? I had nobody giving him any advice. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:09 Highlight the passage at 1:13:09

1:13:37 I simply decided, this is my call. I decided, shamatha, how can you miss that? Four applications of mindfulness. I know what it is. It's the summit of all the teachings in the Pāli Canon. That's what it is. That's why everybody wants a Vipassanā, Vipassanā, Vipassanā. Everybody wants a Rolls Royce. Nobody wants a VW. If the costs are the same, everybody take a Rolls Royce over a VW. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:37 Highlight the passage at 1:13:37

1:14:00 Everybody wants a practical Vipassanā. It's the pinnacle of that whole body of teaching. But I included in it because it's just so good. It's so meaningful. And to skip it. It would be kind of like, why did you skip that? This is being mindful of your own body, mindful of your feelings and doing so in a discerning way. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:00 Highlight the passage at 1:14:00

1:14:22 And you don't have to get a PhD in it or to be a Nobel laureate in it, even to make baby steps to be more aware of your own body. And then the bodies of others, remember, it's inner, outer, inner and outer. How can we skip that? To be aware of one's own body as one is attending to another person, being aware of the other person's physical presence. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:22 Highlight the passage at 1:14:22

1:14:42 And being aware of the dynamic back and forth as we engage with each other. How can we skip that? And then the same goes for feelings. And then this metacognitive awareness of our own minds is so immensely important. So important for modern psychology. Paul Ekman nails it. In Buddhism, nothing needs to be said. And then looking at this interrelationship of patterns, of causality that comes with the close application of mindfulness to phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:42 Highlight the passage at 1:14:42

1:15:10 That's ecology. That's the richest science there is in a way, because it's looking at all the interrelationships on our home. It doesn't tell you much about supernovas and black holes, but they don't have really any impact on our lives. But this planet, this is where we live, and if we don't understand the interrelationships of what's going on in this ecosphere, well then we're foolish, ignorant and foolish. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:10 Highlight the passage at 1:15:10

1:15:34 We've got to understand this and learn how to live in harmony with this very delicate ecosphere. Robust, strong, but delicate. And so that's why my whole Dharma was going to be ecology before I encountered Buddhadharma. So how can you skip it? How can you skip it? And the four immeasurables forget about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:34 Highlight the passage at 1:15:34

1:15:51 No way I can skip that. And so the simple answer and the answer for the end of the night is, a lot of people disagree, but I cannot disagree with this statement. In many very meaningful ways we are living in degenerate times. Anybody is welcome to disagree, but I simply can't avoid that. And I'm not thinking back to some golden age in the 19th century or the 15th century. They all had problems. But this is a degenerate era in some unprecedented ways. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:51 Highlight the passage at 1:15:51

1:16:21 And to my mind, that just is not arguable. And with the whole genocide in Tibet, that was the biggest catastrophe in the whole history of Tibet. So for that particular school of Buddhism, that was catastrophic. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:21 Highlight the passage at 1:16:21

1:16:35 And so in such times, it is said, it's difficult to find fully qualified teachers that have all the requisites. Really fully qualified, like a Richard Feynman for physics. He actually was fully qualified for physics. There was probably no branch of physics that he did not know well. He also had a Nobel Prize, but for good reason. He knew it all in the Feynman lecture series. There was no part that he wasn't extremely good at. So he was fully qualified to teach physics. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:35 Highlight the passage at 1:16:35

1:17:04 And our people, there have been people, some of my teachers are that, who are fully qualified to teach, really, Buddhism. They're just consummate all the way through. They are masters. And there are people like that. Yang Tanabucca is that. For Dzogchen, he's that. He's completely qualified. But it's rare to find such people. Yang Tanabucca is 86 years old. I don't know any youngsters who are in his class. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:04 Highlight the passage at 1:17:04

1:17:34 Doesn't mean there aren't any, I just don't know any. And so to find fully qualified teachers of Mahāyāna, that person should have bodhicitta, have shamatha, have realization of emptiness. That's not so common. Let a Vajrayana look at the qualifications of a fully qualified Vajrayana Acharya. Oh, give me a break. You say, well, forget about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:34 Highlight the passage at 1:17:34

1:17:55 Are there any? And yeah, there are, but they're extreme. That means you can join with 10,000 people when they give teachings. And the chance of having a personal audience kind of like maybe star in the daytime, forget about it. And so that's the way it is. That's the way it is in this century right now. We don't have a monastery for every thousand people. They did in Tibet. We don't. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:55 Highlight the passage at 1:17:55

1:18:16 No place does now. So in a situation like this, and this would be the final message for tonight, is then they say, okay, well, let's bring it down not one notch, let's bring it down a hundred notches. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:16 Highlight the passage at 1:18:16

1:18:29 We're looking for someone who can guide us on the path authentically. And so now let's ask, what are the bare minimum requirements? Not full qualification, because you might look and not find anybody that's accessible. What are the bare minimum qualifications? That you can look upon another person and that can be an authentic relationship and this person can authentically take you the next step on the path. And then there's an answer to that. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:29 Highlight the passage at 1:18:29

1:18:57 Does the person in question, does that person have greater understanding and or experience, preferably both, but or is okay, greater understanding, knowledge and or experience than you? If not, then don't go there, it'd be silly. That's the first point. Second point. So if the answer is yes, okay, then keep going. Then he asks the second question. Is this person's motivation compassion? It's real simple. But why is the person teaching? Report an error in the passage at 1:18:57 Highlight the passage at 1:18:57

1:19:26 Is it money? Is it prestige? Is it ego? Is it needed a job? Why are you teaching? And if there's an answer that is not compassion, keep on looking. Because you don't need to provide somebody with a job. That's not our job, to give other people a job. If it's compassion, okay, then ask the third question. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:26 Highlight the passage at 1:19:26

1:19:48 But so far, so good. And these are pretty little questions. Third question is, when you're with this person, do you get benefit? Is there a good connection? Do you actually get benefit? Is this person's way of teaching? And as they say, every Lama has his own Dharma. His or her own Dharma. Is this person's way of teaching? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:48 Highlight the passage at 1:19:48

1:20:08 Does it go in? Do you find it helpful? Does it go in? Is it really beneficial? If the answer is yes, okay, that person can be your guru. It's your choice. But that's enough. And then you can ask, well, can this person take me all the way to enlightenment? Never mind that. The question is, can this person take you the next step on the path? And then tomorrow, can this person take you the next step on the path? Report an error in the passage at 1:20:08 Highlight the passage at 1:20:08

1:20:32 And the day after that, the year after that, the decade after that, can this person take you the next step on the path? If that teacher is just a step ahead of you, but that teacher is also practicing, then the teacher may just be a step ahead of you all the way to enlightenment. And then that's good enough. So then I have to end, since I've been doing such a nice job here, I now have to blow it. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:32 Highlight the passage at 1:20:32

1:20:53 And I have to put my foot in my mouth, and I'm going to do it with a really silly joke. That is a really awful joke, but it's still funny, since it's not true. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:53 Highlight the passage at 1:20:53

1:21:05 But two people out in the forest, they come across a big bear, right? They disturb the bear. And the bear turns around and charges them. And the two guys are running away. And the guy who's in front, he doesn't seem to be running as fast as he can. So the guy right behind him says, hey, how come you're not running faster? And the guy in front says, I don't have to run faster. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:05 Highlight the passage at 1:21:05

1:21:26 I just have to run faster than you. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:26 Highlight the passage at 1:21:26

1:21:32 ha, ha. So if your teacher is running faster than you, that's enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:32 Highlight the passage at 1:21:32

1:21:44 Bad joke, yeah? But it's still funny. It's still funny. You're welcome. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:44 Highlight the passage at 1:21:44

1:21:55 But I have been very blessed by my teachers, that's for sure. That's for sure. So very good. I've enjoyed the time with you and I'll see you tomorrow morning. Have a good night's sleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:55 Highlight the passage at 1:21:55