Basic Program - Buddhism From A-Z (11 April 2008)

0:06 We'll do the Manjushri prayer. Report an error in the passage at 0:06 Highlight the passage at 0:06

0:16 Obeisance to my guru and protector Manjushri, who holds to his heart a scriptural text symbolic of his seeing all things as they are, whose intelligence shines forth as the sun, unclouded by delusions or traces of ignorance, who teaches in sixty ways with the loving compassion of a father for his only son, all creatures caught in the prison of saṃsāra, confused in the darkness of their ignorance, overwhelmed by their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 0:16 Highlight the passage at 0:16

0:43 You, whose dragon-thunder-like proclamation of Dharma arouses us from the stupor of our delusions and frees us from the iron chains of our karma, who wields the sword of wisdom hewing down suffering wherever its sprouts appear, clearing away the darkness of ignorance. You, whose princely body is adorned with 112 marks of a Buddha, who has completed the stages achieving the highest perfection of a bodhisattva, who has been pure from the beginning, I bow down to you, O Manjushri. Report an error in the passage at 0:43 Highlight the passage at 0:43

1:12 Obey a sense to my guru and protector Manjushri, who holds to his heart a scriptural text symbolic of his seeing all things as they are, whose intelligence shines forth as the sun, unclouded by delusions or traces of ignorance, who teaches in sixty ways with the loving compassion of a father for his only son, all creatures caught in the prison of saṃsāra, confused in the darkness of their ignorance, overwhelmed by their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:12 Highlight the passage at 1:12

1:38 You, whose dragon thunder-like proclamation of Dharma arouses us from the stupor of our delusions and frees us from the iron chains of our karma, who wields a sword of wisdom hewing down suffering wherever its sprouts appear, clearing away the darkness of ignorance. You, whose princely body is adorned with 112 marks of a Buddha, who has completed the stages achieving the highest perfection of a bodhisattva, who has been pure from the beginning, I bow down to you, O Manjushri. Report an error in the passage at 1:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38

2:08 Obey a sense to my guru and protector Manjushri, who holds to his heart a scriptural text symbolic of his seeing all things as they are, whose intelligence shines forth as a sun, unclouded by delusions or traces of ignorance, who teaches in sixty ways with the loving compassion of a father for his only son, all creatures caught in the prison of saṃsāra, confused in the darkness of their ignorance, overwhelmed by their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 2:08 Highlight the passage at 2:08

2:34 You, whose dragon-thunder-like proclamation of Dharma arouses us from the stupor of our delusions and frees us from the iron chains of our karma, who wields the sword of wisdom hewing down suffering wherever its sprouts appear, clearing away the darkness of ignorance. You, whose princely body is adorned with the 112 marks of a Buddha, who has completed the stages achieving the highest perfection of Bodhisattva, who has been pure from the beginning, I bow down to you. Report an error in the passage at 2:34 Highlight the passage at 2:34

3:16 With the brilliance of your wisdom, O compassionate one, illuminate the darkness in closing my mind. Enlighten my intelligence and wisdom so that I may gain insight into Buddha's words and the texts that explain them. Report an error in the passage at 3:16 Highlight the passage at 3:16

3:30 And then refuge in bodhicitta on the bottom of page 7. Report an error in the passage at 3:30 Highlight the passage at 3:30

3:40 I go for refuge until I'm enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I'm enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 3:40 Highlight the passage at 3:40

4:05 I go for refuge until I'm enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 4:05 Highlight the passage at 4:05

4:34 Is this on? Report an error in the passage at 4:34 Highlight the passage at 4:34

4:47 Last time we finished talking about the life of a teacher, the greatness of the teacher. So we covered the greatness of the teacher to show why this teaching is valid and to be respected. Report an error in the passage at 4:47 Highlight the passage at 4:47

5:04 So now we'll get into the greatness of the teachings, showing the greatness of the teachings for the sake of generating respect for the instructions. Report an error in the passage at 5:04 Highlight the passage at 5:04

5:23 Okay, so when we talk about showing the greatness of the teachings, Report an error in the passage at 5:23 Highlight the passage at 5:23

5:29 The text says, as for the teachings, the source text of the present instructions is lamp on the path to enlightenment. So teachings in this context is talking about the lamp on the path to enlightenment, Atisha's text being great. Report an error in the passage at 5:29 Highlight the passage at 5:29

5:49 And then presentation of this text is the three, complete, easily applicable and a particularly noble system. So this text has these three attributes. Although Joao composed numerous texts, the lamp on the path to enlightenment is their perfect completion, like a root. As it indicates all the points of both sūtra and tantra in a summary fashion, it is complete in terms of content. Report an error in the passage at 5:49 Highlight the passage at 5:49

6:16 As it makes the gradual taming of the mind its main topic, it is easy to put into practice. And as it is ornamented by the instructions of the two masters who are skilled in the systems of the two trailblazers, It is a particularly noble system compared to others. So this text has those three attributes. It's complete. Report an error in the passage at 6:16 Highlight the passage at 6:16

6:39 So as we've said before, the lamp on the path to enlightenment contains all of the essential points of the Buddha's teachings, sūtra as well as tantra. So therefore the lamp on the path to enlightenment is complete. It shows the entire path to enlightenment that the Buddha taught. Report an error in the passage at 6:39 Highlight the passage at 6:39

7:03 Then secondly, it's easy to put into practice. So we've talked about this before. So the Lamp to the Path to Enlightenment and the Lamrim in general show exactly the steps that we need to follow in order to achieve enlightenment. So it's easy to practice. It's not as if we just get a little teaching here and a little teaching there and we don't understand how they go together. But in the Lamrim we understand the order in which we need to practice. Report an error in the passage at 7:03 Highlight the passage at 7:03

7:32 Attain realizations. Okay, and the third quality is it is ornamented by the instructions of the two masters who are skilled in the two systems of the two trailblazers. Report an error in the passage at 7:32 Highlight the passage at 7:32

7:48 So Atisha had many masters as we talked about and one of them was Serlingpa and one of them was Vidya Kalika. So from Serlingpa, Atisha... Received the lineage and the instructions from Asanga's system. So Asanga was one of the two trailblazers. He was the trailblazer of the method side of the teachings. Report an error in the passage at 7:48 Highlight the passage at 7:48

8:15 And Nagarjuna was the trailblazer of the wisdom side of the teachings. So Atisha received the wisdom side of Nagarjuna's teachings from this Vidyakalika. So from Serlingpa, the method side of Asanga, from Vidyakalika. The wisdom side from Nagarjuna. Therefore it is a noble system. Report an error in the passage at 8:15 Highlight the passage at 8:15

8:47 So then, next we get into the four greatnesses. So the presentation of this text as possessing the four greatnesses. Report an error in the passage at 8:47 Highlight the passage at 8:47

9:03 Okay, so we're on page 8 of the text now. Report an error in the passage at 9:03 Highlight the passage at 9:03

9:09 The greatness of recognizing all teachings as non-contradictory. The greatness... Of all the Buddha's teachings dawning on you as useful instructions, the greatness of allowing you easily to find the meaning intended by the Buddha, and the greatness of a grave misdeed stopping by itself. Report an error in the passage at 9:09 Highlight the passage at 9:09

9:33 So the first greatness, recognizing all teachings as non-contradictory. Report an error in the passage at 9:33 Highlight the passage at 9:33

9:43 So identifying the teachings. The text says, everything the Jina has said. So who is the Jina? The Buddha, yeah. I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 9:43 Highlight the passage at 9:43

10:01 Yeah, I mean, it's very interesting because I hadn't heard it before. And in the previous version of this translation, it said Buddha. And then for whatever reason, the translator changed it to Gina. So I'm a little puzzled by that. Report an error in the passage at 10:01 Highlight the passage at 10:01

10:20 It's J-I-N-A? Yeah, but I saw it written with it. Oh, yeah? Yeah, and I realized, oh, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 10:20 Highlight the passage at 10:20

10:32 uh, yeah. So Anna was just asking about the spelling. She had seen it. Gina spelled with a G before. So I'll have to do some research on that. I don't know. I got this version of the translation like two days before we started this class, so I didn't have time to research some of these little things. Report an error in the passage at 10:32 Highlight the passage at 10:32

11:04 Okay, so in this context... Where we're talking about the greatness of recognizing all teachings as non-contradictory. The teachings in this context is talking about all of the teachings of the Buddha. So we're not just talking about the lamp on the path to enlightenment. But all of the teachings of the Buddha are non-contradictory. How all these teachings are recognized as non-contradictory? Report an error in the passage at 11:04 Highlight the passage at 11:04

11:30 They all come to be understood as one person's path to Buddhahood. That is to say, some are primary... points of the path and others are appropriate secondary points. Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

11:44 The Buddha taught many different things over the 50 years that he taught. Sometimes he taught that phenomena are truly existent. Sometimes he taught that phenomena are non-truly existent. Sometimes he taught that the person lacked a self. Sometimes he taught that all phenomena lacked a self. So if you just look at these teachings on the surface, you might think that some of the teachings are contradictory. Report an error in the passage at 11:44 Highlight the passage at 11:44

12:25 But in fact, they're not. They're all non-contradictory. Because all of these teachings were for particular disciples at particular points along the path. right but they were all They all had the same purpose of leading that disciple to Buddhahood. It's just that different disciples need different messages at different points along the path. Report an error in the passage at 12:25 Highlight the passage at 12:25

12:53 And the analogy they give sometimes is like a sick person. Like if we have a fever, we're advised to not eat. Whereas if we have a lot of weakness, then we're supposed to eat. Report an error in the passage at 12:53 Highlight the passage at 12:53

13:13 So it's not that the instructions are contradictory, it's just that you have different instructions depending on where you are, what your disposition is along the path. Report an error in the passage at 13:13 Highlight the passage at 13:13

13:30 So if we think about it, there are so many different types of beings. Also some beings who are really attracted to the teachings on compassion. Some people who are really attracted to... attaining Attaining just a peaceful mind, or some people who are attracted to the emptiness teachings, some people who are attracted to just practicing ethical conduct, things like that, being kind to others. Report an error in the passage at 13:30 Highlight the passage at 13:30

14:07 So the Buddha just had to teach a lot of different things for different beings. And all of these teachings are essential parts of the path. Some of them are primary along the path, directly leading to Buddhahood and others are secondary, like branches. Report an error in the passage at 14:07 Highlight the passage at 14:07

14:40 Also it said that the Buddha taught 84,000 different teachings for 84,000 different types of disciples. Sometimes they say 84,000, sometimes it's infinite, infinite different teachings, infinite different disciples. Report an error in the passage at 14:40 Highlight the passage at 14:40

15:03 Next, how it is demonstrated through scripture and logic that it would be contradictory not to accept this. And Lama Tsongkhapa says, In this regard, it is the bodhisattva's wish to work for the welfare of the world. For that purpose, it is also necessary to care for all three types of disciples and therefore train in their respective paths. This is because it is explained by the Venerable Maitreya that knowing paths of the three, Vehicles constitutes the means of realizing the bodhisattvas' goals. So in this context, when we talk about the three types of disciples, we're talking about hearers, solitary realizers and bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 15:03 Highlight the passage at 15:03

15:49 So Maitreya in his Ornament for Clear Realization sets out these paths for hearers, solitary realizers and bodhisattvas. All right, so hearers and solitary realizers are Hinayana. Report an error in the passage at 15:49 Highlight the passage at 15:49

16:07 And bodhisattvas are bodhisattvas, right? Mahāyāna practitioners. So sometimes people might think, okay, well, I'm a Mahāyāna practitioner, so all I have to do is practice the Mahāyāna, the Hinayana. You know, forget it. That's for, you know, those lower beings, right? All right, this is what we actually think, right? Report an error in the passage at 16:07 Highlight the passage at 16:07

16:32 Oh, those are Hinayana practices. We don't need to do that. But Maitreya makes it very clear in his text how bodhisattvas need to train in the here path, the solitary realizer path and the bodhisattva path. So bodhisattvas, the purpose in life for a bodhisattva is to benefit all sentient beings. So Maitreya says, how can a bodhisattva help? Report an error in the passage at 16:32 Highlight the passage at 16:32

17:05 someone if he he doesn't if he hasn't trained in their path right how do you teach someone the Hinayana path let's say you you know you encounter a disciple that that is only ready for the Hinayana path So this is such an important teaching, right? We can't just skip over what we see as the lowly. The lowly Hinayana teachings. We need to train in all of the different paths. The Hinayana and the Mahāyāna. Report an error in the passage at 17:05 Highlight the passage at 17:05

17:44 And plus the Hinayana is the basis for the Mahāyāna as well, right? So if we look at the Lamrim, there's the three scopes. The lower scope, the middling scope and the great scope. And the lower scope and the middling scope, like the teachings on death and impermanence, karma, refuge. Report an error in the passage at 17:44 Highlight the passage at 17:44

18:05 The Four Noble Truths, those are teachings that are common to the Hinayana. And so the Bodhisattva needs to train in those, as well as bodhicitta and the Six Perfections. Report an error in the passage at 18:05 Highlight the passage at 18:05

18:32 So just briefly, in the Ornament for Clear Realizations, that's what Geshe-Dakpa is teaching on Monday nights. And sometimes it may seem to be... A lot of just really difficult technical information. Actually, we're going to talk about that a little bit later. So he goes into the paths for hearers and solitary realizers. Report an error in the passage at 18:32 Highlight the passage at 18:32

19:00 And in that text, hearers, it's said that hearers are focused on realizing the selflessness of persons. So this lack of a self-sufficient, substantially existent self. Which is this lack of this kind of, this eye that we believe controls the body and the mind. This eye that we think exists first and then the body and mind is possessed by this eye that controls this eye. Report an error in the passage at 19:00 Highlight the passage at 19:00

19:33 That's not the subtlest view of selflessness. But that's the view of selflessness that's focused on by... So that self doesn't exist. Then solitary realizers are focused on a subtler view of selflessness, which is the non-duality between subject and object. Report an error in the passage at 19:33 Highlight the passage at 19:33

20:01 This is kind of like the Chita Matra view, which is how phenomena don't... aren't separate, basically aren't separate from your mind. They're just appearances based on our karma, but there are no external objects separate from our minds. Report an error in the passage at 20:01 Highlight the passage at 20:01

20:20 Solitary Realizers are focused on that view of selflessness. And that, once again, isn't the subtlest view of selflessness. And then the Bodhisattvas are focused on the lack of inherent existence of phenomena. Not existing. From their own side, independent of causes and conditions, parts and imputation. Report an error in the passage at 20:20 Highlight the passage at 20:20

20:49 Okay, so we got into that a lot in the Heart Sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 20:49 Highlight the passage at 20:49

20:59 Alright, Report an error in the passage at 20:59 Highlight the passage at 20:59

21:03 so Geshe Sopa in his book he says, remember the objective of a bodhisattva is to help all those in the world achieve liberation. Report an error in the passage at 21:03 Highlight the passage at 21:03

21:15 Since bodhisattvas take responsibility for helping all three types of disciples accomplish their goal, they must train themselves in all three paths. Report an error in the passage at 21:15 Highlight the passage at 21:15

21:26 So he says, without knowing every aspect of those paths themselves, how can they help others progress along them? It is difficult to explain to others the results of causes that are obscured to oneself. Report an error in the passage at 21:26 Highlight the passage at 21:26

21:45 In other words, when you want to explain something to someone else, First, you have to understand the subject yourself. Your explanation arises from what you can actually understand. Report an error in the passage at 21:45 Highlight the passage at 21:45

22:00 So if your own understanding is unclear, how can you explain that topic to someone else? Report an error in the passage at 22:00 Highlight the passage at 22:00

22:11 Then once you understand things yourself, when you definitely realize the steps on the path, then your aim is to help others generate the same understanding that you have achieved. Report an error in the passage at 22:11 Highlight the passage at 22:11

22:27 So the main point of this section is that we need to practice. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 22:27 Highlight the passage at 22:27

· · · silence, 1 minute

23:19 so here it's talking about... establishing D, establishing that the teachings... non-contradictory. Report an error in the passage at 23:19 Highlight the passage at 23:19

22:59 the Mahāyāna path, there is the common and the uncommon. former is that which originates from the Hinayana collection of scriptures, except for some peculiarities that are not common, to do with the thought of aspiring to individual liberation and the like. Report an error in the passage at 22:59 Highlight the passage at 22:59

23:21 The common and the uncommon aspects of the Mahāyāna path. The common being that which is shared with the Hinayana. So that which is shared from the Hinayana with the Hinayana. The bodhisattvas is supposed to practice except, with the one exception of the motivation just to aspire for liberation for oneself alone. Report an error in the passage at 23:21 Highlight the passage at 23:21

23:47 So the Mahāyāna motivation is to benefit all beings. And attain full enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 23:47 Highlight the passage at 23:47

23:57 Apart from that, it is not that faults are partially ceased and qualities are partially completed in perfectly complete Buddhahood, but rather all kinds of faults have been eliminated and all types of good qualities are complete. Report an error in the passage at 23:57 Highlight the passage at 23:57

24:15 So a Buddha doesn't only eliminate some faults and only attain some qualities. All right, so if you're, if If you're only practicing the Mahāyāna, you're only eliminating some faults and attaining some qualities if you're bypassing all of the Hinayana teachings. But the Buddha doesn't only attain some qualities and eliminate some faults. The Buddha attains all qualities, complete omniscience, and eliminates all faults, all mental afflictions, as well as The knowledge obstructions, the obstructions to omniscience. Then consequently, as the Mahāyāna achieving this also brings about the cessation of all faults and the development of all good qualities, the path of the Mahāyāna comprises all the various aspects of qualities of abandonment and realization of all the other vehicles. Report an error in the passage at 24:15 Highlight the passage at 24:15

25:19 So that's basically what we've been saying. That is why the sections of the Mahāyāna path Which brings about Buddhahood comprise all the Buddha's teachings. For there is no utterance of the Muni that does not cause the cessation of some faults and the development of some good qualities. And because it is not the case that all of this is not brought about by the Mahāyāna. Report an error in the passage at 25:19 Highlight the passage at 25:19

25:50 So the Mahāyāna path comprises all of the Buddha's teachings, not just the Mahāyāna portion. And then there is no utterance of the Muni, so there is nothing that the Buddha taught that does not cause the cessation of some faults and the development of some good qualities. Report an error in the passage at 25:50 Highlight the passage at 25:50

26:14 Okay, is that clear? Report an error in the passage at 26:14 Highlight the passage at 26:14

26:29 Okay, just about this term Muni, right, so the Muni represents, it refers to the Buddha. So Muni is a Sanskrit word. That means one who is able to destroy the non-virtues of body, speech and mind. So such a person is also able to destroy the afflictions, which is our main enemy. So due to this, a Buddha is called a Muni. Report an error in the passage at 26:29 Highlight the passage at 26:29

27:01 So if we know the mantra of Shakyamuni Buddha, Tai Ta Om Muni Muni Maha Muni Soha. So it's that Muni. Report an error in the passage at 27:01 Highlight the passage at 27:01

27:21 So there's three Munis in that Muni, Muni, Maha, Muni. The first muni sets out the small path. The second muni sets out the middle path. And the maha muni sets out the great path. Report an error in the passage at 27:21 Highlight the passage at 27:21

27:55 In summary, so a bodhisattva needs to train in all three of the vehicles, right, in order to benefit all sentient beings. The here vehicle, the solitary vehicle, solitary realizer vehicle and the bodhisattva vehicle. Okay. All right. Report an error in the passage at 27:55 Highlight the passage at 27:55

28:15 If you think that may be true for the Paramitayana, but not for those entering the Vajrayana, although the way you train in the Paramitayana, in countless clear distinctions that clarify giving, etc., is different from mantra, the behavioral basis, the generation of the mind, and the coarse form of the path of training in the six perfections, the behavior, is nevertheless the same, and therefore something shared by them. Report an error in the passage at 28:15 Highlight the passage at 28:15

28:47 Okay, so this doubt is for a person who thinks, okay, well, I can agree that a bodhisattva needs to train in the Hinayana vehicle, right? But if you're a Vajrayana practitioner, if you're a Tantric practitioner, you don't need to practice the Mahāyāna vehicle. You don't need to practice bodhicitta. You don't need to practice the six perfections, etc. Report an error in the passage at 28:47 Highlight the passage at 28:47

29:17 So sometimes people think this, right? Just jump into the highest teachings, just jump into Tantra and skip over all of that Sūtra stuff, right? Because that's for the lower practitioners, right? Because Tantra is the highest, it's the best, right? So let's just practice Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 29:17 Highlight the passage at 29:17

29:38 So here, Lama Tsongkhapa is saying, no, that's not true. You know, you can't just skip over generating bodhicitta and Practicing the six perfections. We may think that the Vajrayana and the Sutrayana are contradictory because, right, so in the Sūtra, we're trying to, like, we're really focused on abandoning all of the mental afflictions, right? Report an error in the passage at 29:38 Highlight the passage at 29:38

30:09 Abandoning attachment, abandoning anger, abandoning all of these mental afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 30:09 Highlight the passage at 30:09

30:18 In Tantra, these mental afflictions are actually used to transform the mind and help along the path. So you might think, no, these are contradictory. Report an error in the passage at 30:18 Highlight the passage at 30:18

30:33 And Lama Tsongkhapa is saying, no, they're not contradictory. And if you think about it, the mind of enlightenment bodhicitta is a prerequisite for... Practicing Vajrayana. Practicing the six perfections is a prerequisite for practicing Vajrayana as well. Report an error in the passage at 30:33 Highlight the passage at 30:33

31:01 And then he quotes the Vajra Peak. So the Vajra Peak is a tantra. And it says, not even to sustain one's life, the bodhi mind should be abandoned. So this is basically saying that even at the cost of your life, you're not supposed to give up. The Mind of Enlightenment. You're not supposed to give up bodhicitta. So this is a Tantra text talking about the importance of not giving up bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 31:01 Highlight the passage at 31:01

31:31 And then it also says, the practice of the six perfections must not be abandoned ever. So this is emphasizing how you can't abandon the practice of the six perfections. So then if you think about it, so to practice Tantra, the reason to practice Tantra is to attain Buddhahood as quickly as possible. Report an error in the passage at 31:31 Highlight the passage at 31:31

31:55 Without bodhicitta, there's no reason to practice Tantra. There's no reason to attain Buddhahood. We want to attain Buddhahood so that we can benefit sentient beings in the best way possible. If you're not interested in benefiting sentient beings, then... Why practice Tantra? Why even strive for Buddhahood? You can just focus on your own individual liberation. Report an error in the passage at 31:55 Highlight the passage at 31:55

32:25 But becoming a Buddha is really about being able to attain all of these qualities, these qualities of omniscience, knowing others' minds, being able to manifest in many different forms so that you can help other beings. It's the only reason to become a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 32:25 Highlight the passage at 32:25

32:51 And this is also taught in numerous other mantra texts. In many authentic sources for the mandala ritual of Highest Yoga Tantra, it says that a set of two vows must have been taken, a common and an uncommon one, and indeed the former refers to bodhisattva vows. Report an error in the passage at 32:51 Highlight the passage at 32:51

33:11 So here in Highest Yoga Tantra, when we get an initiation in Highest Yoga Tantra, Taking the bodhisattva vows as well as the tantric vows. It's not that you just take the tantric vows, you take the bodhisattva vows as well. So that's another kind of support for saying you need bodhicitta to practice tantra. Report an error in the passage at 33:11 Highlight the passage at 33:11

33:41 The precious teacher also said, My guru who knew how to accommodate all the teachings by means of the path as if in a square. These words form the basis of a major investigation. Report an error in the passage at 33:41 Highlight the passage at 33:41

34:01 Okay, I don't know what this means. I'm not sure what this square business is. I didn't find anything in the commentaries. Report an error in the passage at 34:01 Highlight the passage at 34:01

34:14 But my guru who knew how to accommodate all the teachings by means of the path is referring to the Report an error in the passage at 34:14 Highlight the passage at 34:14

34:29 teacher who understood that all of these teachings were non-contradictory in how we need to train in all of them. I'm not sure what this as if in a square means. I'll have to investigate that. Report an error in the passage at 34:29 Highlight the passage at 34:29

35:00 So here, Report an error in the passage at 35:00 Highlight the passage at 35:00

35:07 Gashisopa says, in general, the problem brought up here is that within the Buddha's vast teachings, there are things that are permitted or even encouraged in certain contexts, while at other times those same things may be forbidden. Report an error in the passage at 35:07 Highlight the passage at 35:07

35:22 You should not make the mistake of seeing the sūtra and tantra paths as contradictory just because certain points are approached differently at different levels of the path. Report an error in the passage at 35:22 Highlight the passage at 35:22

35:33 So then he talks about the Report an error in the passage at 35:33 Highlight the passage at 35:33

35:41 downfalls or the grave consequences of thinking that some of the teachings can just be discarded. He says, if you fail to fully understand how all the teachings are interrelated, You will gain only a superficial grasp of certain individual teachings and you will abandon the others. You will be making a great mistake if you practice only what you think is the highest Dharma, the tantric practices, and throw away the inferior, quote unquote, inferior Dharma of the common path. Report an error in the passage at 35:41 Highlight the passage at 35:41

36:22 This kind of serious error is a present danger when you're deeply engaged in religious practice, so you have to be careful. You can easily fall into this trap because there is always the tendency to downgrade the previous path. Report an error in the passage at 36:22 Highlight the passage at 36:22

36:43 When this happens, you are committing the extremely heavy karma of abandoning the Dharma. The karmic results of this abandonment will be huge. It will cause you to meet tremendous obstacles and hindrances on your spiritual journey. It is so easy for us to make this mistake that Lama Tsongkhapa gives us a serious warning here. Report an error in the passage at 36:43 Highlight the passage at 36:43

37:15 So this is a very easy thing, right, to fall into. Thinking, oh yeah, well, I'm practicing Tantra now, I don't need to practice those other things. I'm practicing the Mahāyāna, I don't need to practice those other things. So we need to be careful. Report an error in the passage at 37:15 Highlight the passage at 37:15

37:37 Okay. Then he says, with the understanding that all of the Dharma teachings are equally worthy of respect, you should begin right now to practice those things that you are able to practice. Report an error in the passage at 37:37 Highlight the passage at 37:37

37:49 Of course, there will be practices that you are not yet prepared to undertake, but just because you are not ready to follow those instructions right now, you should not give up on those teachings altogether. Report an error in the passage at 37:49 Highlight the passage at 37:49

38:04 So we've talked about that before. We can't practice everything right now. We can only practice what? We're ready to practice right now. So then we just put the other ones on the shelf and we don't reject them. If we reject them or become negative towards certain practices, then we create big obstacles on our Dharma path. Report an error in the passage at 38:04 Highlight the passage at 38:04

38:29 And so sometimes we have that tendency to become negative about the practices that we don't agree with right now or we don't understand right now or that we're not. Able to practice right now and we think, oh, you know, those aren't necessary or those I don't need to practice, right? So it's really important to be careful of that and just be humble about where we are, right? Report an error in the passage at 38:29 Highlight the passage at 38:29

39:02 This is just where I am and just because I don't agree with this right now doesn't mean it's bad, right? It doesn't mean it's wrong. It doesn't mean that I don't need to practice it. It just means that this is just where I am right now. Report an error in the passage at 39:02 Highlight the passage at 39:02

39:19 How are we doing? Okay. We're still awake? Okay. All right. Okay. So that was the first greatness. The greatness of recognizing that all teachings are non-contradictory. Report an error in the passage at 39:19 Highlight the passage at 39:19

39:44 So the second greatness is the greatness of all the Buddha's teachings dawning on you as useful instructions. Report an error in the passage at 39:44 Highlight the passage at 39:44

39:56 So the distinction of pure and impure manners of comprehending. Anyone construing the great scriptures to be explanatory teachings that do not contain the points of practice, who thinks that guidance indicating the meaning of the essential points of practice exists separately from them. And holds that even in the holy Dharma, the explanatory and accomplishing teachings are found in different places, will create an obstacle for the origination of deep respect toward the immaculate sutras and tantras, as well as the treatises clarifying their intent. Report an error in the passage at 39:56 Highlight the passage at 39:56

40:37 Okay. So this is, if we think that some of those great texts, so the great texts in this tradition are, there's, for example, Five great texts in this tradition that are studied by the monks in the monasteries. One of them is this ornament for clear realizations, this Abhisamaya Lamkara that Geshe Dagpa is teaching on Monday nights. Report an error in the passage at 40:37 Highlight the passage at 40:37

41:08 One of them is Madhyamaka Avatara, the Madhyamika text. Report an error in the passage at 41:08 Highlight the passage at 41:08

41:19 One of them is Abhidharmakosha, Abhidharmakosha or the treasury of knowledge. It has a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of details about a lot of different things, about karma, about the Buddhist cosmology, about mental afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 41:19 Highlight the passage at 41:19

41:42 That's a text that has an incredible amount of detail that is said, if you have a lot of pride, then study the Abhidharmakosha because that will subdue your pride. Report an error in the passage at 41:42 Highlight the passage at 41:42

41:54 And then there's the Vinaya for monks. Report an error in the passage at 41:54 Highlight the passage at 41:54

42:02 And then there's the... What's it called? The logic text. Report an error in the passage at 42:02 Highlight the passage at 42:02

42:11 The valley cognition text. Pramanavartika. So those are the five great texts studied in the monasteries. Report an error in the passage at 42:11 Highlight the passage at 42:11

42:24 So when you study those texts, there's a danger of thinking that this is just a lot of dry intellectual knowledge. That you study those and then you need to... Report an error in the passage at 42:24 Highlight the passage at 42:24

42:42 Go to a different teacher to figure out how to practice. Thinking that those great texts aren't to help us understand how to practice, but thinking that those are just for intellectual knowledge and we need to find meditation instructions somewhere else. And so this is a common view out there, right? Report an error in the passage at 42:42 Highlight the passage at 42:42

43:08 Oh yeah, those galugpas, they just study, they don't know how to practice, they're just studiers. And so this is a fault, right? Because all of the Buddha's teachings, it's that every word of the great text is an instruction of how to practice. Report an error in the passage at 43:08 Highlight the passage at 43:08

43:44 So if we think that those texts are only for intellectual knowledge and not to practice, that will create an obstacle for developing deep respect toward the sutras and the tantras, as well as the treatises clarifying their intent, as well as the commentaries. One should be aware that the karmic obscuration of abandoning the Dharma is accumulated by despising them. Report an error in the passage at 43:44 Highlight the passage at 43:44

44:15 Saying that they only outline external knowledge without presenting the inner meaning. So once again, if we think that the great texts are just for intellectual knowledge, not to practice, then we're once again accumulating the karmic obscuration of abandoning the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 44:15 Highlight the passage at 44:15

44:43 Hence, for those who want liberation, the infallible supreme instructions are indeed the great scriptures. Report an error in the passage at 44:43 Highlight the passage at 44:43

44:53 Nevertheless, it is possible that due to poor intelligence, etc., one cannot reach certainty through relying on these scriptures only as supreme instructions. On these scriptures only as supreme instructions. So if we want liberation, then the instructions are in the great scriptures, the great texts. Report an error in the passage at 44:53 Highlight the passage at 44:53

45:14 But it may be that through just relying on the great texts alone, we won't... We wouldn't be able to see them as supreme instructions. Therefore, one must seek certainty with respect to them by relying on excellent direct instructions. Report an error in the passage at 45:14 Highlight the passage at 45:14

45:38 So therefore, you know, we need the lamrim. So for those of us who can't just rely on the great texts, we need the lamrim, which condenses all of the main points in this gradual path order. Report an error in the passage at 45:38 Highlight the passage at 45:38

46:00 But one should not think that the great scriptures do not contain the heart of the matter because they only outline external knowledge while the direct instructions are supreme because they present the inner meaning. Report an error in the passage at 46:00 Highlight the passage at 46:00

46:12 So one should not think that the great scriptures don't contain the essence of the teachings or the essence of how to practice, thinking that they only have outlined external knowledge. Report an error in the passage at 46:12 Highlight the passage at 46:12

46:31 So this is pretty common where people study for a long time in the monasteries. And then they leave and then they don't know how to meditate. It was just about intellectual knowledge. And then they go and look for a meditation teacher to learn how to meditate. But actually, Lama Tsongkhapa is saying that all of the instructions are within the great texts. Report an error in the passage at 46:31 Highlight the passage at 46:31

47:01 And so later on, Lama Tsongkhapa will talk about how we need to listen to all the teachings as being instructions, right? They're not intellectual knowledge. It's instructions for practice. And so this is really useful to know, too, because Geshu Dagpa, right, is such a great scholar. He teaches a lot of things that we may not understand in the beginning. Report an error in the passage at 47:01 Highlight the passage at 47:01

47:24 But every bit of his teachings is to help us practice. It's not just for scholars. Report an error in the passage at 47:24 Highlight the passage at 47:24

47:54 So then here's this analogy of food. So it's as if you're cooking some food and you have all these ingredients and you only use a few of them. You don't use all of the ingredients to make your chocolate cake. You skip the flour, you know, and you just use all the other ingredients, right? You're not going to get the result, right? So you need all of the ingredients together. Report an error in the passage at 47:54 Highlight the passage at 47:54

48:25 So you need the instructions of the great texts. Report an error in the passage at 48:25 Highlight the passage at 48:25

48:33 And Geshe Giampa Garzo says, the lamrim, on the other hand, is like pizza from Naples or spaghetti from Bologna, in that it is easy to digest since it is already prepared. Report an error in the passage at 48:33 Highlight the passage at 48:33

48:49 He was teaching in Italy. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 48:49 Highlight the passage at 48:49

48:57 Why don't we take a break now and then we'll come back and continue on. Report an error in the passage at 48:57 Highlight the passage at 48:57

49:09 In the section on Atisha's life, it kept quoting this text, the 80 verses. That's a text called the 80 verses of praise written by Noxo, the translator that brought Atisha back. it was his, he had. His biography that he had written of Atisha. So he had written a complete biography of Atisha's life. And so that was the text that was quoted. Report an error in the passage at 49:09 Highlight the passage at 49:09

49:43 80 verses. Okay, and then let me cover one other thing that Hillary helped me find about this square business. Report an error in the passage at 49:43 Highlight the passage at 49:43

49:57 Let me see if I can find it here. Report an error in the passage at 49:57 Highlight the passage at 49:57

50:16 Page 9. Report an error in the passage at 50:16 Highlight the passage at 50:16

50:21 Okay, good. Thank you. um, Report an error in the passage at 50:21 Highlight the passage at 50:21

50:23 So the precious teacher also said, my guru who knew how to accommodate all the teachings by means of the path as if in a square. Report an error in the passage at 50:23 Highlight the passage at 50:23

50:36 So Lam Rimchenmo says, the precious teacher here, refers to Dram Dunba, said, my guru Atisha is the one who knows how to bring all of the teachings within a four-sided path. Report an error in the passage at 50:36 Highlight the passage at 50:36

50:57 So the footnote here, The end note here says about this four-sided path. Report an error in the passage at 50:57 Highlight the passage at 50:57

51:07 So there are a variety of explanations for this passage on the four, such as the three trainings plus the tantric paths, but then seems to settle on the idea that it expresses an analogy with something four-sided, like dice, which are complete just as they are, no matter what angle they are viewed from. Report an error in the passage at 51:07 Highlight the passage at 51:07

51:35 Just so, no matter what facet of the stages of the path to enlightenment you are practicing, it contains within it the complete teachings. Report an error in the passage at 51:35 Highlight the passage at 51:35

51:45 Okay, that makes sense, right? I'm not sure about this dice, though. Isn't a dice six-sided? Report an error in the passage at 51:45 Highlight the passage at 51:45

52:00 But four-sided is complete, right? Squirt. Report an error in the passage at 52:00 Highlight the passage at 52:00

51:54 excited, but eight, two, six, all right. Report an error in the passage at 51:54 Highlight the passage at 51:54

52:05 Any teaching that we get is complete. Report an error in the passage at 52:05 Highlight the passage at 52:05

52:10 So thank you, Hillary. Report an error in the passage at 52:10 Highlight the passage at 52:10

52:16 This is serving to be a great, great resource. So this has basically the same teaching but in a lot more detail. So Jay, you have a question? Report an error in the passage at 52:16 Highlight the passage at 52:16

52:28 I was just wondering about the reference today to the difference between the Hinayana and the Mahāyāna and using the terms common and uncommon again. Report an error in the passage at 52:28 Highlight the passage at 52:28

52:43 Is he just setting up a new use for those terms when he says common would be... It's just juxtaposing Hinayana and Mahāyāna instead of Buddhist and non-Buddhist, which was what the previous use of those terms was. So it is a whole different use of those terms? Yeah. So in this context, common was common between Hinayana and Mahāyāna. And uncommon is just Mahāyāna. Report an error in the passage at 52:43 Highlight the passage at 52:43

53:09 Right. Yeah. Yeah, in the... The great texts, they use these terms common and uncommon again and again and again and again. And sometimes they refer to both Hinayana and Mahāyāna, sometimes Buddhist and non-Buddhist, it just depends on the context. Report an error in the passage at 53:09 Highlight the passage at 53:09

53:30 Unshared? Yep, that's another translation of the same terms, shared and unshared, common and uncommon. Okay, alright. Any other questions before we go on? Report an error in the passage at 53:30 Highlight the passage at 53:30

53:50 How all the Buddhist teachings dawn on you as useful instructions. So the great yogi Zhang Chu Rinchen said, someone who has reached certainty concerning a handy little volume cannot be said to know all the topics of direct instructions. This is said about someone who understands all of the Buddha's teachings as instructions. So if we know only a small portion of the Buddha's teachings well, we can't be said to know all of the topics of direct instructions. Report an error in the passage at 53:50 Highlight the passage at 53:50

54:28 So this can only be said about someone who understands all of the Buddha's teachings and all of the Buddha's teachings as instructions. Report an error in the passage at 54:28 Highlight the passage at 54:28

54:45 Gishisopa says, if you invest all your energy into practice of only one portion of the path, the body of the path will be incomplete and you will not see all the great scriptures as special instructions. Report an error in the passage at 54:45 Highlight the passage at 54:45

55:04 And then insight into the true inner meaning of the Buddha's teachings is to understand that all of the scriptures are important special instructions which should be mastered. Report an error in the passage at 55:04 Highlight the passage at 55:04

55:19 The next, we need the kind of understanding Great Joao, who is Atisha, Great Joao's disciple Gumpa Rinchen Lama expressed, saying he had ground his body, speech and mind to dust in a single meditation session. On Atisha's instructions and that thereby the understanding had now arisen in him that all scriptures are instructions. Report an error in the passage at 55:19 Highlight the passage at 55:19

55:49 So Lam Rimchenmo talks about this. Report an error in the passage at 55:49 Highlight the passage at 55:49

56:02 So here this Gumpa Rinchen Lama said that he understood all of the texts as instructions for practicing by grinding to dust all wrong actions of body, speech and mind during one session of meditation. On Atisha's instructions, you too must come to such an understanding. So all wrong actions of body, speech and mind were ground to dust during one meditation session on Atisha's instructions. Report an error in the passage at 56:02 Highlight the passage at 56:02

56:41 Sounds like a good meditation session. Report an error in the passage at 56:41 Highlight the passage at 56:41

56:53 So when Gumpa Rinchen Lama started studying with Atisha, the teachings completely crushed all of the misunderstandings in his mind, in his misdeeds of his body and speech. Report an error in the passage at 56:53 Highlight the passage at 56:53

57:05 And then through that he came to understand that all of the Buddha's teachings were special instructions for practice. Report an error in the passage at 57:05 Highlight the passage at 57:05

57:22 So an instruction is that which subdues the mind. So that means it makes... A mind that is very hard, soft and smooth, as well as joyful. So when we can't change our mind, it's quite hard, but through practice, our mind should become softer and smoother and more joyful. Report an error in the passage at 57:22 Highlight the passage at 57:22

58:01 Not kind of like this, I have to do this and I have to do that, but more joyful. Report an error in the passage at 58:01 Highlight the passage at 58:01

58:13 In the words of the precious Dronthompa, Dronthompa, remember, is Atisha's foremost disciple. Dronthompa says, if after studying the Dharma a lot, you feel the need to search elsewhere for a way of applying the Dharma, you are mistaken. Report an error in the passage at 58:13 Highlight the passage at 58:13

58:35 So that's what we've been talking about. If you've studied, but think that you need to find practice instructions somewhere else, then you're mistaken. Likewise, those who study the Dharma a lot over a long period and completely ignorant as to how to set about it, develop the wish to practice Dharma, do not understand and therefore err in the manner described above. Report an error in the passage at 58:35 Highlight the passage at 58:35

59:03 As it says in the Treasury, so this is the Treasury of Knowledge, the Abhidharmakosha by Vasubandhu, the Buddhist teachings have two aspects. Their nature is scripture and realization. In accordance with this dictum, the teaching is nothing apart from the scriptural teaching and the realizational teaching. So this is the two types of Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 59:03 Highlight the passage at 59:03

59:31 The Dharma of Scripture, the instructions for how to practice, and then the realizational teaching, which is that which is realized within your own mind. Report an error in the passage at 59:31 Highlight the passage at 59:31

59:45 So the scriptural teaching is how the Dharma should be practiced. And establishes the manner of accomplishment, while the realizational teaching is what is thus established. Since one practices in accordance with what is to be established, these two act as cause and effect. So here, first we study the scriptural teachings, and then we practice and realize those in our own minds. Report an error in the passage at 59:45 Highlight the passage at 59:45

1:00:18 So they're cause and effect, the scriptural teaching. Is the cause for the realizations. So this further supports how the scriptures are the instructions to practice. The scriptures and the realizational teachings, those are the only two types of teachings. And we learn the scriptures in order to understand how to practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:18 Highlight the passage at 1:00:18

1:00:41 And then we practice them and we generate the realizations. So cause and effect. To give an analogy, when you have a horse race, The horse is first shown on the course and afterwards, likewise, it runs there. It would be ridiculous to show it a course and then have the race elsewhere. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:41 Highlight the passage at 1:00:41

1:01:06 Right? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:06 Highlight the passage at 1:01:06

1:01:10 So you show the horse the racetrack to get it familiar with it before the race. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:10 Highlight the passage at 1:01:10

1:01:28 Right. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:28 Highlight the passage at 1:01:28

1:01:31 So it doesn't make sense to show the horse a different track first and then have it run somewhere else. So similarly, when it comes to attainments, how could it be appropriate to accomplish something after having determined something else through listening and reflecting? So how does it make sense to listen to the Dharma and then practice something different? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:31 Highlight the passage at 1:01:31

1:02:01 That is also expressed in the last volume of Stages of Meditation. So Stages of Meditation is Kamala Sheila's great text on the lamrim. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:01 Highlight the passage at 1:02:01

1:02:12 Whatever has been realized by the wisdom arisen from listening and reflecting is precisely what should be cultivated by means of the wisdom arisen from meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:12 Highlight the passage at 1:02:12

1:02:22 Just like a horse runs along the course, it has been shown. So we've talked about the three wisdoms before, right? So first... We develop the wisdom from listening to the teachings. We listen to the teachings first. We develop the wisdom from listening to the teachings. Then we reflect on the teachings. We check with our own experience. We reflect on the teachings. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:22 Highlight the passage at 1:02:22

1:02:48 We do the analysis. And we develop the wisdom arisen from reflecting or thinking about the teachings. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:48 Highlight the passage at 1:02:48

1:02:58 then lastly, we... Develop the wisdom arisen from meditation, right? So from hearing the teachings, reflecting on them, then we meditate on the teachings, particularly with calm abiding, and then we develop realizations that way, right? Calm abiding and special insight. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:58 Highlight the passage at 1:02:58

1:03:22 So that's the process. First we listen to the teachings, reflect on them, and then meditate on the same teachings, right? Not on something different. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:22 Highlight the passage at 1:03:22

1:03:33 Just like the horse. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:33 Highlight the passage at 1:03:33

1:03:42 Then, indication of analytical meditation as a means of making all teachings appear as instructions. Thus, through summarizing all the topics of paths set out in the excellent teachings and commentaries, starting from how to rely on a spiritual teacher up to calm abiding and special insight, they are all condensed into stages of practical application in terms of performing stabilizing meditation where stabilizing meditation is required. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:42 Highlight the passage at 1:03:42

1:04:12 And analyzing with the wisdom of individual investigation where analytical meditation is required. So here this is talking about the lamrim teachings starting from how to rely on a spiritual teacher, going to perfect human rebirth and impermanence and death, etc. All the way up to the six perfections, calm abiding and special insight. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:12 Highlight the passage at 1:04:12

1:04:42 So the lamrim, that's the stages of the path. And within that, sometimes we focus on stabilizing meditation, the calm abiding. And in certain contexts, we need to do analytical meditation. And so actually throughout the lamrim, there's a lot of analytical meditation we need to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:42 Highlight the passage at 1:04:42

1:05:11 The nine points of death, that's an analytical meditation. Meditating on emptiness, analytical meditation. Meditating on perfect human rebirth, analytical meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:11 Highlight the passage at 1:05:11

1:05:26 So here, the focus is how sometimes we need to practice this stabilizing meditation or single-pointed concentration. Sometimes we need to practice analytical meditation and we kind of alternate between those two. In order to get realizations. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:26 Highlight the passage at 1:05:26

1:05:50 So both stabilizing and analytical meditations are necessary on the path. Each one is to be practiced at the appropriate time. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:50 Highlight the passage at 1:05:50

1:06:05 So Geshe Sopa says the danger is that you will put your emphasis on just the stabilizing meditation, samatha, believing that it is sufficient to bring the mind into single-pointed focus. So if we think all we need to do is destabilizing meditation, that's a danger. But it is plainly evident that most of the subjects explained in the great scriptures require the discriminating wisdom of analysis to be practiced. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:05 Highlight the passage at 1:06:05

1:06:35 So the special method for making all the scriptures appear as special instructions is analytical meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:35 Highlight the passage at 1:06:35

1:06:48 So His Holiness the Dalai Lama talks about... This is often times about how there are the two types of meditation, the stabilizing and the analytical. Whereas a lot of people think that meditation only means the stabilizing meditation. Like analytical meditation, that's not really meditation. And so here the emphasis is how we need really both. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:48 Highlight the passage at 1:06:48

1:07:11 And stabilizing meditation, with stabilizing meditation alone we can calm our minds, we can focus our minds. We can reduce our mental afflictions, but we can't, as we've talked about many times, we can't eliminate the mental afflictions. We can't eliminate them from the root. We can't eliminate the seeds of the mental afflictions unless we actually realize emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:11 Highlight the passage at 1:07:11

1:07:39 And realizing emptiness we need to do through analytical meditation. On the basis of having calm abiding, on the basis of having that stable mind, then analyzing. And then through that we can start to eliminate the afflictions. Okay. Lewis. I mean, yeah, Lewis. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:39 Highlight the passage at 1:07:39

1:08:02 Is there a Sanskrit term for analytical meditation? Because you have shamatha for stable. Well, shamatha and vipassanā are calm abiding and special insight. So shamatha is really more calm abiding. It's not really stabilizing meditation. Yeah, I don't know what the Sanskrit term would be for... Report an error in the passage at 1:08:02 Highlight the passage at 1:08:02

1:08:28 Stabilizing meditation and analytical meditation. But for common binding and special insight it's shamatha and vipassanā. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:28 Highlight the passage at 1:08:28

1:08:39 So is there any other term for analytical? Is that special insight? Special insight is one form of analytical meditation. It's kind of analytical meditation taken to its culmination because you've developed this bliss of mental and physical pliancy based on having... Calm abiding. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:39 Highlight the passage at 1:08:39

1:09:17 So thereby, these instructions guide you so that all the excellent teachings dawn on you as instructions. Then the certainty develops that they should be understood as supreme instructions and the misconception that they should be understood as mere background knowledge for the Dharma rather than actual instructions as completely reversed. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:17 Highlight the passage at 1:09:17

1:09:46 So when we really understand this, and particularly when we really understand the importance of analytical meditation, then we'll understand that the teachings really are instructions, instructions for practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:46 Highlight the passage at 1:09:46

1:10:04 And then that automatically eliminates that misconception that the great texts are only... For intellectual knowledge, right? When we understand that they're all instructions for practice. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 1:10:04 Highlight the passage at 1:10:04

1:10:35 the third greatness. The greatness of allowing you easily to discover the jina's or the Buddha's intention. So for beginners, the jina's intention is not easy to find without a guru's oral instructions. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:35 Highlight the passage at 1:10:35

1:10:56 Although the great texts, teachings along with their commentaries form the... Supreme instructions. Completely uneducated beginners cannot find the intention, even though delving into it, without relying on excellent direct instructions. And even if they find it, they spend a lot of time and enormous effort. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:56 Highlight the passage at 1:10:56

1:11:22 So even though the instructions for practice are in the great texts, beginners can't... Can't understand that without relying on a spiritual teacher. We need a teacher to help us understand how things fit together, the significance of them, etc. So we Westerners, oftentimes we just want to learn things from books. We read and we think that we can understand everything that way. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:22 Highlight the passage at 1:11:22

1:11:58 it says that... Even if you are able to understand everything from just studying on your own without a teacher, Report an error in the passage at 1:11:58 Highlight the passage at 1:11:58

1:12:14 it Report an error in the passage at 1:12:14 Highlight the passage at 1:12:14

1:12:21 would take a long time, a huge amount of effort, and we would face many difficult challenges. So if you tried to study it on your own and if you were sharp enough to be able to understand them all on your own, it would just take a lot more time. A lot of effort and you encounter a lot of difficulties because you wouldn't have a teacher to guide you in the most efficient way to go about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:21 Highlight the passage at 1:12:21

1:12:55 But then if they rely on a guru's direct instructions and the like, it becomes easy to understand. So on the other hand, by means of the guru's oral instructions or advice, one can come to understand the Buddha's intention quickly and easily. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:55 Highlight the passage at 1:12:55

1:13:22 For example, the Lama identifies something as an instruction and then we think about it and we meditate on it. And then if we do that, we will quickly and easily gain realizations. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:22 Highlight the passage at 1:13:22

1:13:40 So I noticed this in my experience with Gishajampa Gyatso. In those years I was studying with him. Once in a while I'd go and ask him for practice instructions. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:40 Highlight the passage at 1:13:40

1:13:55 And a number of times he gave me practices that I never would have chosen myself. And I couldn't understand at the time why he would give them to me. But then I had enough faith in him that I would do the practice anyway. And every single time I could understand later why he gave that to me. It was useful to me. It was really exactly what I needed at the time. But when he told me... Report an error in the passage at 1:13:55 Highlight the passage at 1:13:55

1:14:27 I didn't necessarily agree or understand. And before I went into retreat, I got some advice from Geshe Jumpa Gyatso and Lama Zopa Rinpoche and also Kirti Sancho Rinpoche, another Lama of mine. And they were all different pieces of advice. And during my retreat, I developed... So much respect for them because I could see exactly how I was getting stuck at a certain point and how that one particular piece of advice was exactly what I needed to get me unstuck. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:27 Highlight the passage at 1:14:27

1:15:13 So it's so useful. It's so useful to have a Lama that we can really trust, that really knows our minds. And then we encounter fewer obstacles. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:13 Highlight the passage at 1:15:13

1:15:31 Okay, Report an error in the passage at 1:15:31 Highlight the passage at 1:15:31

1:15:45 I'm running out of steam. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:45 Highlight the passage at 1:15:45

1:15:53 So Geshe Jampa Gyatso says that when we practice the Dharma, at times we experience difficulties. So why is this? It is because there arise many interferences and obstacles. For example, we have many afflictions. Sometimes we are lazy. Sometimes we are tired. Sometimes the mind becomes dark and confused. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:53 Highlight the passage at 1:15:53

1:16:26 When we practice the Dharma, distractions tend to arise. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:26 Highlight the passage at 1:16:26

1:16:32 For example, if while an older monk is doing retreat, he has the responsibility to delegate work to the younger monks in order to care for the monastery. But then when he does sessions, instead of meditating on the deity, he may be thinking of the work that needs to be done. Right? So does that sound familiar? Report an error in the passage at 1:16:32 Highlight the passage at 1:16:32

1:16:59 When one tries to meditate or do recitations, there often come thoughts of what one needs to do next. In addition, one remembers one's dear friends and wishes to be with them and to enjoy their company. So these thoughts disturb one's mind. Many distractions arise, making it difficult to meditate. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:59 Highlight the passage at 1:16:59

1:17:26 In spite of this, we need to try every day to put effort into meditation, even just for a short time, as a long time may be difficult. In this way, slowly our concentration will improve. So that's the advice of Gishajampyatso. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:26 Highlight the passage at 1:17:26

1:17:54 Then the fourth, greatness. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:54 Highlight the passage at 1:17:54

1:18:00 The greatness of a grave misdeed stopping by itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:00 Highlight the passage at 1:18:00

1:18:06 Showing that abandoning the Dharma, that abandoning the Dharma has the biggest misdeed. Okay, so we talked about this a little bit. As explained in the White Lotus Sūtra and the chapter of the Truthful One, it amounts to abandoning the Dharma if you hold that some utterances of the Buddha are means of attaining Buddhahood, while others are obstacles to Buddhahood, dividing them into good and bad, appropriate and inappropriate, or Mahāyāna and Hinayana. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:06 Highlight the passage at 1:18:06

1:18:40 And thereby holding that a bodhisattva needs to train in some and not in others, because you fail to understand that all the words of the Buddha directly or indirectly teach the means for attaining Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:40 Highlight the passage at 1:18:40

1:18:55 Okay, so we attain this, we accumulate the misdeed of abandoning the Dharma if we think that some of the teachings of the Buddha are... Ways that we attain Buddhahood and others are obstacles to attaining Buddhahood. Or if we discriminate some of the teachings as being good teachings and some of the teachings as being bad, some as being appropriate and some as being inappropriate, Report an error in the passage at 1:18:55 Highlight the passage at 1:18:55

1:19:35 some as being Mahāyāna and some as being Hinayana. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:35 Highlight the passage at 1:19:35

1:19:42 So if we think that a bodhisattva needs to practice some and not others, that means we don't understand. How the words of a Buddha all teach the means for attaining Buddhahood. So then we attain this, accumulate this obscuration. So in the sūtra gathering all the threads, it says that the karmic obscuration due to abandoning the Dharma is so subtle that it is hard to recognize. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:42 Highlight the passage at 1:19:42

1:20:18 So he Report an error in the passage at 1:20:18 Highlight the passage at 1:20:18

1:20:23 says, Report an error in the passage at 1:20:23 Highlight the passage at 1:20:23

1:20:43 Kishisopa says, is it abandoning the Dharma to say that certain teachings were taught for the benefit of bodhisattvas, but some were taught for the hearers and some were taught for the solitary realizers? Report an error in the passage at 1:20:43 Highlight the passage at 1:20:43

1:20:58 Isn't that correct? He says, what do you think? This is a little difficult, isn't it? Maybe that is why the Buddha said in this sūtra that the karma of repudiating the Dharma is subtle. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:58 Highlight the passage at 1:20:58

1:21:13 If you look at these statements in one way, they seem ordinary and don't appear to be repudiating the Dharma. It is true that there are differences between the teachings. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:13 Highlight the passage at 1:21:13

1:21:28 Different teachings are directed to trainees at different levels. And so in this sense, some of the teachings are higher and some of them are lower. Some methods are quicker and some are slower. But from another perspective, this is misguided partiality. It is misguided because all the different teachings equally deserve our respect since they were taught for the purpose of guiding some individual to the state of Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:28 Highlight the passage at 1:21:28

1:21:59 The problem comes when you misunderstand the way in which the teachings are different. If you believe their differences make one better than another, your partiality may lead you to repudiate the teaching that you view as inferior. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:59 Highlight the passage at 1:21:59

1:22:18 You can see that this is a subtle distinction. The trap is difficult to recognize and easy to fall into. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:18 Highlight the passage at 1:22:18

1:22:33 So it's easy for those who are just starting a Dharma practice to begin thinking, this teaching is superior and that one is inferior. That one is better and this one is worse. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:33 Highlight the passage at 1:22:33

1:22:44 This is the Mahāyāna and I should be practicing the Mahāyāna. I should not be practicing the Hinayana. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:44 Highlight the passage at 1:22:44

1:22:59 So we get in danger when we think some teachings are inferior. Some are superior and some are inferior and then we reject the inferior teachings. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:59 Highlight the passage at 1:22:59

1:23:12 So then Lama Tsongkhapa talks about the disadvantages of abandoning the Dharma. So concerning the grave disadvantages that ensue if you abandon the Dharma, if you do this. It says in the King of Concentration Sūtra, someone here in Jambudiva, Tears down all the stupas found. Someone abandons a class of sutras. The latter's misdeed is far more grave. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:12 Highlight the passage at 1:23:12

1:23:43 Someone even murders Arhats, as many as sand grains in the Ganges. Someone abandons a class of sutras. The latter's misdeed is far more grave. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:43 Highlight the passage at 1:23:43

1:23:58 So here he's saying, right, so if you destroy all of the stupas, In this world, I mean Jambudiva is considered the southern continent, so this world is included on this southern continent in the cosmology. So if you destroy all of the stupas, the negative karma that's created is not as bad as that of abandoning the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:58 Highlight the passage at 1:23:58

1:24:34 Also, if you kill as many foe destroyers or ahats as... Many as sand grains in the Ganges River. That's still, that misty does not as bad as abandoning the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:34 Highlight the passage at 1:24:34

1:25:02 So that's pretty scary. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:02 Highlight the passage at 1:25:02

1:25:09 Yeah, right. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:09 Highlight the passage at 1:25:09

1:25:16 Like that sectarianism and all that. We have to be really careful of that. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:16 Highlight the passage at 1:25:16

1:25:24 So Gisha Jumpy Gyatso talks about how, so in the Guya Samadra Tantra, it says that if you commit any of the five actions of immediate retribution, killing your father, mother, drawing blood from a foe destroyer, creating a schism in the Saṅgha, Report an error in the passage at 1:25:24 Highlight the passage at 1:25:24

1:25:50 or killing a foe destroyer and drawing blood from a Buddha. So those are the five really bad misdeeds. But those can be purified through practicing Guya Samaja Tantra. But the negative action of abandoning the Dharma cannot be purified by practicing Guya Samaja Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:50 Highlight the passage at 1:25:50

1:26:20 So I was reading that and I was thinking, ooh, I think I've done that one. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:20 Highlight the passage at 1:26:20

1:26:29 The microphone? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:29 Highlight the passage at 1:26:29

1:26:37 Sorry, but we're also supposed to take it and examine it and test it. For ourselves, and so that's a little confusing to me. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:37 Highlight the passage at 1:26:37

1:26:49 Completely confusing, because I see the idea of not abandoning different aspects because you don't understand them, or because it's not, you know, you're Mahāyāna, so you don't abandon something Hinayana, you know, you need to practice all, that I understand. But I thought the teaching was that you're supposed to examine it like it's gold. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:49 Highlight the passage at 1:26:49

1:27:16 And seek its truth. Yeah. And then, right, and then set it aside if it doesn't. So I guess the assumption is, it is all true, and if you study it, you'll find it's true. I mean, that's basically what this is saying. Well, I think it's saying not to reject any of the teachings, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:16 Highlight the passage at 1:27:16

1:27:40 If we set it aside as, okay, well, that's not where I am right now, then that's not rejecting the Dharma. But if we examine it and think, okay, well that doesn't apply to me, so therefore it must not be true or it must not be a valid path, then that would be rejecting the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:40 Highlight the passage at 1:27:40

1:28:05 Yeah, that's tricky. That's very tricky. That's very subtle, that difference. Because there are some teachings that are appropriate for different disciples at different times. So it's not saying that... All teachings are appropriate for all of us right now, right? But I think it's a matter of, I mean this is just my thinking, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:05 Highlight the passage at 1:28:05

1:28:32 But rejecting teachings because you think that they're inferior or, you know, what do other people think? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:32 Highlight the passage at 1:28:32

1:28:51 I mean this, I don't know if I'll be contradicting the commentary here or anything, but it seems to me that in... In rejecting something that doesn't necessarily appeal to your particular mindset or mind stream is really a really solid way of saying, if it doesn't pertain to me, like, well, I mean, you've already said this, but then it's wrong. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:51 Highlight the passage at 1:28:51

1:29:11 It's just not right. It's not real Dharma, which is an absolute, I mean, it just seems the exact opposite of accepting that things don't exist from their own side, you know, to say that, because it really is only about its relation to you and no other sentient being and that kind of thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:11 Highlight the passage at 1:29:11

1:29:29 And so you're sort of saying you exist from your own side, but nobody else does. I mean, that's a really simplified way to say it, but I could see the immense damage that it does to your mind stream. To say the Dharma that applies to me is important, but that which applies to others is not. It seems like a really massive, like if you really think about it, that's a really bad investment. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:29 Highlight the passage at 1:29:29

1:29:52 Into the state of reality. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:52 Highlight the passage at 1:29:52

1:30:07 Yeah. And this point, I think, is even more subtle than that. Because that, right, that completely makes sense, I think, to most of us, not to reject the teachings that don't apply to me, right? But here this is saying we shouldn't even reject, Report an error in the passage at 1:30:07 Highlight the passage at 1:30:07

1:30:27 well, we shouldn't even think that a bodhisattva doesn't need to train in some of these other practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:27 Highlight the passage at 1:30:27

1:30:47 My gosh, how much of... Report an error in the passage at 1:30:47 Highlight the passage at 1:30:47

1:30:53 Okay, I'm getting fuzzy in my mind. I was going to add just one thing, too, in that in thinking of my own experience, On whatever level of just the classes I've gone through, I know there's been times where I've looked back at the things that struck me as rather profound when I was first learning a lot of the things in the classes. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:53 Highlight the passage at 1:30:53

1:31:13 And I know I've gone through periods where I thought, wow, I can't believe they had to be spelled out to me like that or something, which makes that Dharma sound like a lesser kind of Dharma, which I think is really bad. And I'm sure that there are some things I probably don't focus on that I should just because I think, oh, I've had that class, you know, or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:13 Highlight the passage at 1:31:13

1:31:37 Janet, go ahead. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:37 Highlight the passage at 1:31:37

1:31:46 Well, I know, like, you read a part about, well, this is a Hinayana teaching or you have the, you know, lower schools and the middle and all that. And when, like, when Geshe Dagpa talks about different teachings, a lot of times he and other teachers... You hear them say, it's primarily this or primarily that. They don't exclude it from the other, but they say it's primarily a Hinayana teaching versus it's primarily Mahāyāna. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:46 Highlight the passage at 1:31:46

1:32:19 So it kind of directs it to the primary level, but doesn't exclude the other ones. It's the way they express it. And then like on that, you mentioned the Monday night class a couple of times. One of the few points that I think I'm beginning to get is that the mind, the Hinayana consciousness or mind is present in bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:19 Highlight the passage at 1:32:19

1:32:50 So it's like all of those minds, all of the realizations and the teachings are all encompassed in the different levels as you progress on the path too. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:50 Highlight the passage at 1:32:50

1:33:06 Yeah, right. The bodhisattva has attained all of those realizations, right? Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:33:06 Highlight the passage at 1:33:06

1:33:15 yeah. Well, I was just going to say that if you say something, if you reject any of the teachings as inappropriate for you or reject them, then you create duality. And if you create duality, you'll never be able to have a perception of emptiness, which is non-dual. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:15 Highlight the passage at 1:33:15

1:33:42 So any separation out of any of the Buddhist teachings is sort of invalid for a person will stop your progress on the path. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:42 Highlight the passage at 1:33:42

1:33:57 Well, you know, it's interesting. I mean, on the path there's a lot of instructions for what to practice and what to discard, right? So there is a duality there. So there's a... So it's a subtle distinction, right? We need to develop this kind of a discriminating awareness of what to practice, what not to practice, but we shouldn't reject any of the Buddhist teachings. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:57 Highlight the passage at 1:33:57

1:34:21 No, but it's like if you have leftovers at dinner, you don't say the food was bad. Yeah. It's all good. Right. Yeah. If you say all of that's bad, I'm not going to eat it, you may starve to death. Yeah. Right. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:21 Highlight the passage at 1:34:21

1:34:37 Yeah, and if you think about it, I mean, the rejecting... Rejecting portions of the teachings often has to do with our pride, right? It's like, oh, well, that's not appropriate for me. I want the highest teachings. Or that's the Hinayana, that's the lower vehicle, right? So that's not for me. or Report an error in the passage at 1:34:37 Highlight the passage at 1:34:37

1:35:03 Prasanghika. Prasanghika is the highest view. So I'm a Prasanghika. I couldn't be a Vaibhashika because that's the lowest view. So our pride, we have that tendency to go for the highest. Highest yoga tantra. Let's practice highest yoga tantra. Not action tantra or performance tantra. Highest yoga tantra because that's the highest. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:03 Highlight the passage at 1:35:03

1:35:31 That's our mental afflictions. That's our pride again and again. Janet. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:31 Highlight the passage at 1:35:31

1:35:39 The other thing I noticed just about myself is that I haven't even mastered the lowest school. And if I can't even stop the behaviors that are going to create a possibly lower rebirth or some suffering, In the human realms, how could I expect to go any further or to even begin to try to help anybody else? Let alone absolute pure uncontrived pronunciation. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:39 Highlight the passage at 1:35:39

1:36:21 I've barely gotten started. There are improvements, but it's still a long way to go. If I don't really get those things, then actually being association know it's like and so know it's like Report an error in the passage at 1:36:21 Highlight the passage at 1:36:21

1:36:36 The idea of becoming a bodhisattva, that's definitely an aspiration, but it's just not going to happen because I'll never be able to understand the true suffering of sentient beings if I don't understand it completely for myself and get that renunciation. Yeah, exactly. That's why we need to start with the small scope, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:36 Highlight the passage at 1:36:36

1:37:06 Jump to the great scope right away. Yeah, yeah. I say renunciation, we need renunciation first before we can have bodhicitta. If we can't renounce saṃsāra for ourselves, how can we renounce it for all other sentient beings? Report an error in the passage at 1:37:06 Highlight the passage at 1:37:06

1:37:25 So let me just finish up with this last sentence. Although there generally appear to be many ways in which the Dharma might be abandoned, the one described previously seems to be the greatest. Which is why we should try hard to give it up. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:25 Highlight the passage at 1:37:25

1:37:44 So there are many different ways you can abandon the Dharma and they're described in this sūtra gathering all the threads. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:44 Highlight the passage at 1:37:44

1:38:11 But we'll continue next time from there. And I was going to go over the homework due today. So if you can stay for that, that would be great. And if you need to leave, that's fine too. So the first question, what is the title of the text that we are studying and who is the author? Report an error in the passage at 1:38:11 Highlight the passage at 1:38:11

1:38:50 Middle-length lamrim by Lama Tsongkhapa. Good. Alright, see that was an easy question. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 1:38:50 Highlight the passage at 1:38:50

1:39:01 so the beginning part of the text explains the greatness of Atisha. question Report an error in the passage at 1:39:01 Highlight the passage at 1:39:01

1:39:06 Explain who Atisha is and why his greatness is described here. So this text is written by Lama Tsongkhapa, so why are we talking about Atisha? Who is he? Oh, I emailed it. Well, I could give you this, but then I won't have one. Somebody else can read the questions, I'll add. Thank you. Well, I have a microphone, so I'm going to answer this one too, and then somebody else can take it. And this is what I wrote. Atisha was a great Buddhist master from India. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:06 Highlight the passage at 1:39:06

1:39:36 After teaching... After the teachings from Padmasambhava, I won't even say it anymore, degraded Atisha, reestablished the Dharma in Tibet. And his greatness is discussed here to show that the teachings are venerable. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:36 Highlight the passage at 1:39:36

1:39:55 Oh, seriously, which part didn't you catch? All of it? Rats. Atisha was a great Buddhist master from India. After the teachings from Padmasambhava degraded in Tibet, Atisha reestablished the Dharma in Tibet. His greatness is discussed here to show that the teachings are venerable, to show that to the reader. What teachings are venerable? Report an error in the passage at 1:39:55 Highlight the passage at 1:39:55

1:40:23 The teachings, Atisha's teachings? Or the Buddha's teachings? You're asking me. Why did I grab the microphone? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:23 Highlight the passage at 1:40:23

1:40:32 Is it the light on the path? Is that what he's referring to? The lamp on the path, yeah. Why is he talking about the lamp on the path to enlightenment? Why is he talking about Atisha? As opposed to Nagarjuna or Asanga. Because the lamrim is a commentary on that text. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:32 Highlight the passage at 1:40:32

1:40:54 Okay, okay. Not exactly a commentary, but yeah. So the lamp on the path to enlightenment is the, it's the kind of the root text of lamrim, right? It was the first lamrim text. And so Lama Tsongkhapa is expounding on that. Good. What's the third question? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:54 Highlight the passage at 1:40:54

1:41:15 Actually, Jay, will you just read the question since you have the microphone? What are the three higher trainings and in what order are they achieved? Okay. What are the three higher trainings? Somebody else. Janet. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:15 Highlight the passage at 1:41:15

1:41:35 The three higher trainings are ethics, concentration and wisdom. And basically they're attained in that order. First, ethics. In order to... Get the concentration that you need. And based on the basis of having concentration, one can achieve wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:35 Highlight the passage at 1:41:35

1:42:01 Excellent. Okay. Janet, will you read the next question? Yes. List the three types of vows. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:01 Highlight the passage at 1:42:01

1:42:14 Individual liberation vows and bodhisattva vows and tantric vows. Excellent. Individual liberation vows. There's two lay vows and five for ordained people, I think. Isn't that the individual location? There's eight different kinds altogether. I think two lay and... Plus the one day. Right. Right. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:14 Highlight the passage at 1:42:14

1:42:43 Okay. The fifth question is, there are three excellent qualities that should be possessed in order to compose a treatise clarifying the intention of the Buddha. List these three and explain how Atisha possessed. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:43 Highlight the passage at 1:42:43

1:43:04 Sarah. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:04 Highlight the passage at 1:43:04

1:43:13 The first excellent quality is being learned in the five areas of knowledge. And Atisha was an expert in all five, which are grammar, logic, medicine, arts and crafts and Buddhist philosophy. The second is having received instruction from an unbroken lineage all the way to the Buddha. And Atisha held numerous lineages of masters in both the shared vehicle and the great vehicle. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:13 Highlight the passage at 1:43:13

1:43:37 And then the third is received permission to teach through the vision of a protector deity. And Atisha had ongoing contact with six deities receiving teachings and permission to write about them actually from the deities. Excellent. All right. Perfect. Great. Okay, let's... I didn't have it together and I don't have the homework ready for next week, so I'll email it to you. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:37 Highlight the passage at 1:43:37

1:44:03 Sorry, David. No, it works out well. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:03 Highlight the passage at 1:44:03

1:44:14 So we'll do the dedication prayers on page six. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:14 Highlight the passage at 1:44:14