← Emily Hsu

Basic Program - Buddhism From A-Z (5 December 2008)

Emily Hsu · 5 December 2008 · 1 h 34 min · Tse Chen Ling via Internet Archive

Download audio

Automated transcript, estimated accuracy about 90% for this source; report an error.

Words the recogniser was unsure of are underlined with dots. Use “Report an error” beside any passage to tell us what the teacher actually says.

Key passages

The teacher's own words, quoted from the transcript below and chosen automatically as representative.

  • 3:29

    For example, we don't meditate on renunciation. How do we get renunciation? The hell realms is one meditationist on the hell realms. Meditating on the hell realms or the lower realms. And then Sarah said impermanence. Impermanence and death. Exactly. Remembering that we're going to lose everything that we work for anyway in this life. I mean materially.

  • 6:24

    To become a great scope being. Bodhicitta, exactly. Okay, excellent. Okay, so those are the three scopes. So we are on page 46 of the text now.

  • 22:37

    I mean, how does that tie us to cyclic existence? Well, if you don't know you're in prison, then you don't have any need to break out in any way, shape or form. You just think, well, this is where it's at and this is fine. Okay. Which is to say if you don't know the true nature of your reality. Okay. Okay.

  • 30:14

    The only way to create uncontaminated karma is through a correct understanding of emptiness. That's the only way to create uncontaminated karma. But then if we create virtue with an understanding of emptiness, So oftentimes there's this advice that as you perform an action of generosity, we need to remember the emptiness of the three spheres.

  • 53:27

    And we say, oh gosh, no matter where we go in saṃsāra, it's still because we have mental afflictions, because we have ignorance, because we have mental afflictions, because we're under the control of karma, these three things, ignorance, mental afflictions, karma, because we're under the control of those three, we're bound to cyclic existence and we're going to experience suffering again and again and again and again and again and again and again. Inevitably. Until we realize emptiness and get out.

0:00 I go for refuge until I am 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 am 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 am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. Report an error

0:31 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

0:48 Okay, so we've been talking about the Lamrim and the three scopes, right, the three types of beings. Report an error

1:03 The beings of the small capacity, the beings of the intermediate capacity and the beings of the great capacity. And so this is kind of like elementary school, junior high school and high school. Right. So they're not three completely separate paths. One leads into the other. Right. So the the beings of the small capacity, who are they and what what are they? Report an error

1:33 What's the primary aim of the beings of a small capacity? They're aiming Report an error

1:42 primarily for a good rebirth. Right, right. Okay. Does anybody remember what kinds of things they meditate on to become a being of small capacity? Report an error

2:06 Anybody? Report an error

2:11 I won't remember the exact Dharma words, I'm afraid, or the ones that we were taught in any case, but it seems to me that it was things of the sort of, like... Report an error

2:23 You know, being generous so that you would, things like that, good karma things, and I can't remember any of them actually since I started talking, but it was that kind of thing. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Somebody want to jump in there? Does that help? I was just going to say moral conduct primarily, generosity, moral conduct, giving to the saṅgha, Report an error

2:47 trying to think of what else, charity. Report an error

2:56 Okay. What are we missing? I mean, yes, that's true that we need to practice those things, but those aren't the primary subjects that you meditate on in the lamrim to become a small-scope being. How do you let go of attachment to this life? What are the subjects you meditate on to help you let go of our focus on just this life? Report an error

3:29 For example, we don't meditate on renunciation. How do we get renunciation? The hell realms is one meditationist on the hell realms. Meditating on the hell realms or the lower realms. And then Sarah said impermanence. Impermanence and death. Exactly. Remembering that we're going to lose everything that we work for anyway in this life. I mean materially. Report an error

3:57 So why put so much effort into gaining money and houses and possessions when we're just going to lose them anyway? Okay, so death, impermanence, lower realms. Anything else? Report an error

4:18 Yeah, that's pretty good. Karma, right? Karma, because that will help us create positive karma and avoid negative karma. Right? I mean, also refuge is included in that. Okay. And then the intermediate scope beings, they're focused on what aim? Report an error

4:43 Liberation. Liberation. Right. Liberation from saṃsāra. Right. So liberation for oneself. Right? Just my own freedom from saṃsāra. Right? Not focused on helping all others. Right? And so they meditate on subjects such as... Report an error

5:10 Wouldn't you meditate on renunciation? How do you meditate on renunciation? Report an error

5:18 Lewis was saying something? The disadvantages of saṃsāra and the advantages of liberation or something like that. Yeah, kind of, yes. So the sufferings of saṃsāra, how suffering is inevitable in saṃsāra. How we're tied to saṃsāra. Report an error

5:41 Yeah, and actually we'll talk about that a little bit more in this class. Did she also meditate on death and impermanence and precious human rebirth? Report an error

5:53 Yeah, I mean as small scope beings as well as intermediate scope. Yeah, those are common to both. Yeah, yeah. And then the other main one for intermediate state beings is the 12 links. Right, right. Because we see how we're constantly tying ourselves to saṃsāra again and again and suffering again and again. Report an error

6:15 And then the great scope beings are focused on complete enlightenment, right? And then they meditate on what? To become a great scope being. Bodhicitta, exactly. Okay, excellent. Okay, so those are the three scopes. So we are on page 46 of the text now. Report an error

6:49 Actually, yeah, the bottom of page 45, that last outline, how the lesser and intermediate branches of the path are necessary for laying the basis of those benefits. Report an error

7:04 Because we've just talked about, right, the entry gate to the Mahāyāna is bodhicitta, right? So to become a Mahayanist, we need to develop bodhicitta. And then Lama Tsongkhapa talked about how we need to meditate on the benefits of generating bodhicitta. So now we're on this outline about how we need to practice the paths of the small beings and the intermediate beings to even generate bodhicitta. Report an error

7:39 So he says on the top of page 46, in order to develop the wish to attain those benefits, those two benefits, high status and certain goodness, it is necessary to develop the thoughts common to lesser and intermediate beings. Report an error

7:55 So, Report an error

8:03 right. So, Report an error

8:06 you know, I mean, in order to even want to, how do I say this? Report an error

8:17 Right. In order to even want to develop bodhicitta. We have to be convinced that beings are suffering, right? If we think everybody's having a good time in saṃsāra, everybody's happy, there's no reason to, for our, like, compassion wouldn't even arise, right? Compassion arises when we see someone who's suffering, right? And then bodhicitta is such this amazing mind, right, that's basically putting your own Eternal bliss and happiness on hold in order to stay in saṃsāra and work for the benefit of others, to help others get out of saṃsāra. Report an error

9:02 Because we recognize that others are suffering constantly and because we have such great love and compassion for others, then we're determined to come back again and again and again to help others. all right so really it's putting Others benefit ahead of our own, right? Because we could absorb very easily, you know, I mean a high-level bodhisattva could absorb very easily into nirvāṇa and everlasting bliss and happiness, right? Report an error

9:34 No more suffering if you attain liberation, right? So why would you not, why would you not do that, right? Only if you have, right, unbearable compassion for others, right? That's the only reason. like, why, Report an error

9:54 Otherwise, if we have selfishness, if a bodhicitta had selfishness, then it's just so tempting to just absorb into your own bliss. Why not? It's so tempting to just go off on vacation to Hawaii and not think about the suffering of everybody else. I mean, most of us, right? So much self-cherishing that it's not so difficult to just focus on my own little happiness and to forget that there are beings who are suffering incredibly constantly. Report an error

10:36 We actually, most of us don't even want to think about the suffering that's going on, the suffering that's going on in Tibet and the suffering that's going on in... In so many parts of Africa and the suffering that's going on in China, the suffering that's going on in the Middle East, etc. Report an error

10:56 So the bodhisattva has developed this incredible courage and this incredible compassion for others. So the bodhisattva is not just going to settle for his or her own bliss and is taking the much longer path. To Buddhahood in order to benefit others. Because once you absorb in nirvāṇa, you can't help anybody anymore. Once you've become liberated and then after you pass away, you don't have a body anymore, you can't help anybody. Report an error

11:34 So it's only with Buddhahood that, first of all, you attain the omniscient mind, so you know exactly how to help others. And then the ability to manifest bodies. Countless bodies so that you can help others constantly. Report an error

11:52 So bodhicitta isn't this kind of wishy-washy, being kind to others thing, which oftentimes people call somebody who's nice to others. Oh, that's a bodhisattva. And so that's a very nice thing to say. But technically a bodhisattva is... Report an error

12:14 It's someone who's just an amazingly compassionate and brave being who's willing to put their own happiness as less important than the happiness of all others. Report an error

12:32 Yeah, David. Is there still a Hinayana path in a Mahāyāna world? Would someone still get so far as to enter nirvāṇa and say, well... Yeah, there's a Mahāyāna path, but I'm on a Hinayana path, and how could you do that? In the presence of all the teachings that are out there on a Mahāyāna basis, it makes it seem like it's a selfish decision to do anything else. Report an error

13:08 I always feel sometimes like I was on a Hinayana path, and now exposed to... The Mahāyāna, it seems like how could you just make that decision? You know, everyone, you know, they'll get there on their own, you know, it'll be, you know, they have at least as good a chance as I do, right? I don't know. I mean, does that make sense, that question? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I know from my own practice, I think it's very easy. Report an error

13:43 Actually, if we're making some progress on our path, we start meditating, we start experiencing some bliss. It's like, ooh, I like this, and we kind of want to stay there. And it's not an indifference, I think, to others, but it's more... In the teachings it says that... Report an error

14:12 You know, people oftentimes they get overwhelmed by all of the incredible suffering of so many countless beings. And sometimes, you know, there's stories of bodhisattvas who lost their bodhicitta because, you know, they worked for sentient beings for lifetimes and lifetimes and lifetimes. And then, you know, and then with their clairvoyance, they see, you know, the suffering of others and they see that they've. Report an error

14:42 Barely made a dent. And so you can get discouraged and say, it's just too much. So that's why there are all of these practices in the lamrim of meditating on the benefits of bodhicitta again and again so that your bodhicitta doesn't degenerate. Meditating on compassion for others so your bodhicitta doesn't degenerate. Report an error

15:11 And then there's this story of a famous bodhisattva who, He had so much bodhicitta and he was helping others. You've probably heard this story, right? And so some guy asked him for his hand, for his right hand. So he cut off his right hand and gave it to the guy with his left hand. And so the other guy says, I can't take it now. Report an error

15:38 You gave it to me with your left hand. right and in In India, it's very impolite to hand things right over with your left hand because your left hand is dirty. It's the one that, you know, you know, that you kind of, yeah, that you clean, you know. Anyway, after the toilet, you know, so, and so this bodhisattva was like, oh my gosh, you know, and, you know. Report an error

16:08 If there are people out there like this, I give up. So I think it's very easy to lose bodhicitta, which is why we're constantly, like with the bodhisattva vows that you take, then you need to generate bodhicitta six times a day. That's one of the vows of generating. Of taking the bodhisattva vows, right? You need to generate bodhicitta six times a day so that it doesn't degenerate. Does that make sense? Report an error

16:48 And has anybody read this biography of Acharya Moon? It's very interesting. So it was this story of this Theravadan monk who attained liberation in his lifetime. And he worked really, really hard. And at one point, you know, he developed this clairvoyance and these visions of his former partner, Dakini partner, who in a previous life, they had generated, taken the bodhisattva vows together and vowed to work for the benefit of others. Report an error

17:25 And then she came to him in his last life and she said, You took the bodhisattva vows and now you've gone to the Hinayana path and you've forsaken me. And it was just very interesting because it was a real story of a real person who actually gave up his bodhicitta. Yeah, that is I saw that Yeah. Yeah. So anyway. Report an error

17:56 of a long answer. Report an error

17:59 So in order to generate bodhicitta, we need to be convinced of the suffering of others. And not just the gross suffering of the people who are in war-torn countries or are being abused, but how all of us are constantly in the state of suffering. We're bound to cyclic existence by our mental afflictions and we keep creating negative karma, etc. Report an error

18:29 And so if we don't really understand how we're bound to cyclic existence and how we're in this existence where suffering is inevitable, if we don't understand that, then how can we develop compassion for others who are in that situation? Report an error

18:49 So we have to understand that for ourselves first by meditating on the subjects of the small scope and the intermediate scope. And then we develop renunciation where we no longer believe that saṃsāra is a realm of happiness. And then we can turn our minds to others and say, okay, well, it's not a realm of happiness for me and it's not a realm of happiness for anybody. Report an error

19:14 Everybody's in the same boat. And then we develop bodhicitta, kind of turning our renunciation toward all other beings. Make sense? Report an error

19:28 So we can't just jump into the lamrim and just practice bodhicitta, you know, and think, okay, well, and expect to get bodhicitta, and expect to get bodhicitta, like a strong bodhicitta. We can get love and compassion, but real bodhicitta, we need to have meditated on all of the subjects up until the Great Scope. Okay? Report an error

19:53 Does that make sense? Report an error

19:59 So the next outline says how the lesser and intermediate branches are necessary when training in the actual mind. So this is following on the same point. So having thus developed the wish to achieve the two benefits, the temporary and ultimate benefits of bodhicitta, when you cultivate the beneficial mind, it is necessary to develop the root of that mind, love and compassion. Report an error

20:27 Right, so bodhicitta, the root of bodhicitta is developing love and compassion, right? So we need to first develop love, having a genuine sense of affection for all beings. Report an error

20:41 And then compassion, right? The genuine sense of compassion, wishing that all beings are free from suffering, right? So on that basis, we can develop bodhicitta. In this regard, if your body hair does not shiver and quiver, As you think about the way you yourself wander in cyclic existence, deprived of happiness and oppressed by suffering, there is no way the inability to bear how other sentient beings are deprived of happiness and oppressed by suffering can come about. Report an error

21:13 Alright, so this is what we've just been talking about. In engaging in the bodhisattva behavior, it says, in beings to whom previously such a thought, even for their own sake, did not even appear in their dreams, how could it arise for others? Report an error

21:34 Okay, so maybe we can spend a little time talking about how we're bound in cyclic existence, how cyclic existence is, I mean, how suffering is just inevitable in cyclic existence. Report an error

21:48 So what is binding us to cyclic existence? What is tying us to saṃsāra? Karma. Karma are attachments. Mental afflictions. Report an error

22:03 Ignorance. Okay. So what is the one thing, more than anything, that is binding us to saṃsāra? Ignorance. So ignorance, misconceiving the nature of reality, right? Ignorance. Report an error

22:25 Perceiving inherent existence, right? Things as existing from its own side. So how does that work? Why is ignorance so bad? Report an error

22:37 I mean, how does that tie us to cyclic existence? Report an error

22:49 Well, if you don't know you're in prison, then you don't have any need to break out in any way, shape or form. You just think, well, this is where it's at and this is fine. Okay. Which is to say if you don't know the true nature of your reality. Okay. Okay. Report an error

23:08 I was just going to add to that. We keep believing in a permanent self that keeps us bound here again and again and believing that others are also permanently however they are from their own side. And it keeps us bound to this cycle of ignorance, delusion and aversion. Report an error

23:27 So, okay. So, ignorance is the root of cyclic existence. Why? Because based on ignorance, grasping at things as being inherently existent, we create what's called contaminated karma. Report an error

23:48 And contaminated karma, so there's two types of karma in general. Contaminated karma and uncontaminated karma. Contaminated karma are actions of body, speech and mind that... Create the causes for cyclic existence again and again and again and again. Report an error

24:16 Uncontaminated karma. Report an error

24:22 Uncontaminated karma creates the causes to get out of cyclic existence. Report an error

24:29 Contaminated karma causes more cyclic existence. So anything that we do based on a conception of a permanent self, Or a self-sufficient self or an inherently existent self or inherently existent anything is creating more karma for cyclic existence. Report an error

24:55 Okay. I think, yeah, since there's a party, there's going to be more and more people coming in. No, people will be coming in, but we just need to... Report an error

25:10 Okay, yeah, we'll have it partly open. Report an error

25:18 Okay, so... Report an error

25:30 So every action that I do with ignorance is creating more saṃsāra for me. So every moment we don't remember emptiness, we're creating more saṃsāra. Report an error

25:44 Well, I shouldn't say every moment, but most moments throughout the day are motivated by ignorance. And then if it's an action that is a complete action with the four binding factors, then it's creating... The karma to be reborn again in saṃsāra. So the four actions like... And so this is virtuous karma as well as non-virtuous karma. Report an error

26:17 So if we're really good people and we practice generosity and we practice patience and we're kind to others, if we don't do it with... Remembrance of emptiness, then we're creating virtuous karma, but it's contaminated and still creating causes to be reborn in saṃsāra. Report an error

26:43 So we're creating virtue, contaminated virtue, which is creating causes for happiness in saṃsāra. It's creating causes for happiness but still in saṃsāra because it's contaminated. right? Report an error

27:02 Because we haven't understood emptiness yet or we haven't applied our understanding of emptiness. So it's not good enough, right, just to be a good person and help others if we want to get out of saṃsāra. If we want to end our suffering, then we need to realize emptiness. Report an error

27:28 What's a quick, handy-dandy way to dedicate virtuous actions so that we're dedicating it in emptiness when we do something? That's positive. Yeah, let's do that at the end of class. There's a great one that Lama Zopa Rinpoche has written where it's like, due to these merits which are empty from their own side, you know, da-da-da-da-da-da. Report an error

27:48 So, okay. So if we perform an action of generosity, let's say I give money to Sechenling. So that's a virtuous action. And if I forget about emptiness, and if I think I exist from my own side, such a thing exists from its own side, the money exists from its own side, I'm creating virtue, and I'm creating the causes to get some money back for wealth in the future. Report an error

28:27 If I create that virtue with the four binding factors, which is... The object, correctly identifying Sechenling, the motivation and intention, generosity, then actually giving, committing the action itself, and then completing that action, not regretting having given that. Then I've created a complete action which generates a throwing karma. Report an error

28:59 And so a throwing karma is a karma that will create the cause for a good rebirth. Well, in this case it would be a good rebirth, right, because it's virtuous. But it's a rebirth in saṃsāra. Report an error

29:15 And then similarly if I create a negative action, let's say I get angry at somebody. If it's a complete action, I... If I correctly recognize the person I'm angry at, the motivation is anger, I actually get angry and I don't regret the anger, then I'm creating a complete action for a lower rebirth, a throwing karma to be born in the lower realms. Report an error

29:57 So based on ignorance we're creating contaminated karma all the time. Some of it is throwing karma and some of it's not, depending on if it's complete, a complete action or not. So we're creating this contaminated karma. The only way to create uncontaminated karma is through a correct understanding of emptiness. That's the only way to create uncontaminated karma. Report an error

30:28 But then if we create virtue with an understanding of emptiness, So oftentimes there's this advice that as you perform an action of generosity, we need to remember the emptiness of the three spheres. Does that sound familiar? So remembering that I myself is empty of inherent existence. We could say the person that I'm giving to as well as the money itself, as well as the action. Report an error

30:59 of giving itself they're all empty of inherent existence right so if we remember the three spheres then it becomes a cause to get out of saṃsāra if we don't remember emptiness then it's creating the cause for more saṃsāra If you really Report an error

31:34 don't have a good idea of what emptiness is and if you just say it, does that count a little bit? So that's planting a seed. And that's where most of us are. We haven't realized emptiness yet. But just any time we try to think about emptiness, it's creating a cause to be able to realize emptiness later. Report an error

32:01 So the practical thing that we can do now is to try to think about emptiness, Report an error

32:11 Get teachings on emptiness, read about emptiness, meditate on emptiness, etc. You know, just basically to be where we are with it, but at least to move in that direction, right, where we can actually do actions with a correct understanding of emptiness eventually, right? Okay. So that's the first part of how we're tying ourselves to psychic existence. Report an error

32:42 Do you have something on that? If this is too off, just tell me. I'm wondering about the translation of emptiness from Tibetan. Recently I read a translation where the word small vehicle was translated as compact vehicle instead of small, and I thought that was really... Well, I like that so much better, compact vehicle instead of small vehicle. It didn't have the same feeling to it. And sometimes I wonder, like, if emptiness... Report an error

33:12 Could it have been translated as something like interconnectedness or something? I don't know. I just wonder, do you know anything about the way that word came to be used? Well, yeah, I mean, the term emptiness kind of is unfortunate because it's implying that there's nothing, right? And that's not what emptiness means, that there's nothing. Report an error

33:34 But it's negating a certain... Mode of existence, right? It's negating a certain way that things exist. So it needs to be a negative kind of a term, like interconnectedness is talking more about conventional truth, but ultimate truth is negating something. Sometimes it's translated as suchness or voidness, but none of them really quite capture the meaning. Okay, so let me move on. Report an error

34:03 Okay, so due to ignorance, we're constantly creating. Contaminated karma. And then the karma ripens. If we've created virtuous karma, it ripens as a pleasant feeling. If we've created non-virtuous karma, it ripens as an unpleasant feeling. And if we created neutral karma, it ripens as a neutral feeling. Report an error

34:27 So that's the definition. Virtuous, non-virtuous and neutral karma is based on what the result is, if it's a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral result. Report an error

34:41 So we've created these karmas and then when, let's say a pleasant feeling arises, what happens? Most of the time we generate attachment, grasping. right so so So we create grasping because we don't remember emptiness. And then we're creating more contaminated karma. And not even just contaminated karma, non-virtuous contaminated karma. All attachment in the desire realm is non-virtuous. Report an error

35:18 All mental afflictions basically besides ignorance in the desire realm are non-virtuous. Karma ripens, pleasant feeling, attachment arises, contaminated non-virtue is created. That ripens as suffering feeling, aversion, anger, irritation arise, which create more contaminated non-virtuous karma, which then ripens as a suffering feeling, which then more mental afflictions arise, more... Report an error

35:58 Karma, more suffering, ripens from that. So from that process we see how we're constantly being tied to cyclic existence. Just through creating contaminated karma, it gives rise to a feeling, which gives rise to a mental affliction, unless we can cut it. right, unless we can cut it. The mental affliction through some antidote and particularly emptiness. So it's this kind of depressing, right? Report an error

36:37 Never ending cycle until we realize emptiness, right? Realizing emptiness really is the only ticket out. Report an error

36:54 So it's depressing and it's supposed to be depressing, right? Because that's what... It makes us determined to work to get out of saṃsāra. If we think that saṃsāra is wonderful, then we won't make the effort to get out of saṃsāra. Report an error

37:17 Oftentimes we think being a nice person and helping others, that's enough. And it's good, right? It's good, but it's not going to help us get out of saṃsāra until we realize emptiness. Report an error

37:42 So, I mean, I personally think it's really, really hard to realize that our attachments are creating suffering because they feel good, right? I mean, a pleasurable feeling arises, like we eat a great meal at a great restaurant and we feel pleasure and we don't necessarily recognize. That, oh, that's something to abandon, right? Not that we have to abandon the pleasure, but the attachment then to that good food. Report an error

38:24 Then we, you know, then we enjoy that. We develop attachment. Then we want another good meal. And we enjoy that and we have more attachment. And then we want another one. So anytime we kind of let our attachment or any mental affliction, we just allow it, then we're further binding ourselves in cyclic existence. Report an error

38:50 So we need to try to generate the antidotes. And attachment is the most kind of insidious mental affliction because it feels good and we keep creating more and more cyclic existence with our attachments. Report an error

39:10 I've had this big attachment the last couple of days, you're going to laugh, about having a comfortable reading chair in my room. Report an error

39:22 I'm really kind of getting involved in this and looking on Craigslist and just thinking this is the solution for my loan. Report an error

39:35 Exactly. Exactly, because, you know, because... You know, I get too tense working at my desk all the time, and it's much better if I can sit in a comfortable chair and, you know, and do some work from that comfortable chair. And then my mind kind of goes, you know, oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be working. And then I kind of want to peek on Craigslist to see if there's another comfortable chair. Report an error

39:58 And my mind keeps doing this, and I'm like, empty, emptiness, you know. But there's this part of my mind that kind of like really gets a rush out of it. It's really pleasant. But for sure it's attachment because I don't have a lot of mental space around it. Report an error

40:19 My mind is kind of going, zoom that chair. No, let go, let go. Zoom. The mind thinks about it again and again. So it's kind of imprisoning me. Right. It's not like I'm just free thinking, oh, it'd be nice to have that chair and it would be fine if I don't have that chair. Right. That would be the healthy way of going about it. Right. It's like, yeah, that would be good, but it would be fine if I don't have it. But there, you know, but I want it. Report an error

40:56 Yeah. And I think it'll bring me happiness. Right. Right. Report an error

41:03 And so I don't really have a lot of incentive to let that attachment go because it feels good. And this is what we're kind of doing all the time. And I think that oftentimes we just don't see how that attachment is creating suffering for ourselves until we don't get what we want. Report an error

41:25 If we keep getting what we want, how is that suffering? How is that a problem? You know? And then, you know, we're thwarted, right? Let's say we can't afford it or somebody else buys that chair before me or, you know, or whatever, you know. Then it starts feeling like suffering, right? But if we keep getting what we want, it feels like happiness. But underneath it, right, there's this tension. Report an error

42:02 If we really notice, if we really get in touch with our minds, we see that there is this agenda that we have, this constant, I want this. Not this, not the wisdom, spiritually evolved, whatever happens is fine kind of thing. If I get this, then it's fine, and if I don't get this, it's not fine. Report an error

42:30 I'll get irritated. And if I get this, you know, that's such a sign of attachment. If this happens, good. If that happens, that's terrible. You know, ding, ding, ding, attachment, right? So, and it's wonderful, right, to be around somebody who doesn't have. Attachment, right? There's not many people like that, right? But then you kind of see, you know, then there's a living example of someone who's so free, you know, so joyful, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Report an error

43:08 You know, he's just so childlike because he just, everything is delightful to him, right? And you see that he doesn't have a grasping mind at all. You tell him anything and he's not going to freak out. Report an error

43:26 So then we get a glimpse of what is possible. Or if we meditate a lot, I think, then we get a glimpse of those moments when the mind is just really free and just happy and not needing anything. Report an error

43:47 We get a glimpse and then the attachment arises and then we can feel, oh, you know, that's not free. That's not happiness. Report an error

43:57 It's a certain form of satisfaction or it feels like, right? But it's not freedom. It's not happiness. And attachment is like, yeah, it enslaves us. Report an error

44:13 Like because of my attachment, you know, to a comfortable life, you know, I'm... I don't want to go to India because I might get bitten by the bedbugs and all the mosquitoes and the bed might be uncomfortable and it's dirty and it's noisy. Okay, well I won't go to those teachings in India because I'm attached to comfort, etc. So our attachments are constantly binding us, enslaving us. Report an error

44:51 I remember a friend of mine used to use her attachment to cigarettes as being a really good example of that. How her whole day, in the back of her mind, she was constantly planning when she could take a break to smoke and where she can smoke. Go to a new place, suss out the place and see where the smokers go. And that's the way I think our attachment is. Report an error

45:21 It's always in the back of the mind, sussing out, how can I make myself comfortable? How can I get what I want? I'm attached to coffee. How am I going to get my cup of coffee? Okay, I'm going to Atlanta Medicine Buddha. Do they have coffee there? Or is there a Starbucks anywhere? Report an error

45:40 And then what happens in the bardo? We get in the bardo. We're looking for our cup of Starbucks. And guess what? That brings us back to the desire realm. Report an error

45:53 Where's my Starbucks? Report an error

46:00 And it might manifest a Starbucks, but it's really the Hungry Ghost realm. It's like, oh, I'm going to go through that door and oops! Report an error

46:16 Exactly. So even these seemingly innocuous attachments we have, they're... Starbucks. Yeah. Right? Report an error

46:23 They're binding us to psychic existence and then creating suffering. Even though that cup of Starbucks, that cappuccino, doesn't feel like suffering at the moment. It gives me pleasure. That's not a suffering. But the attachment is bringing suffering. It brings that tension and brings that need to have another one and another one and another one and another one. Report an error

46:54 Because it doesn't, it's like these samsar pleasures, they don't really provide satisfaction, right? Because if it was really satisfying, then all you'd have to do is have that one Starbucks and you'd never need another one, right? Because it satisfied you, right? Report an error

47:15 But the trick is it's so temporary, right? So it satisfies you for that short time and then you need another one. And then you need another one. And none of them will satisfy us, right? Because they're furthering the attachment because then we'll need another one and then another one. Report an error

47:37 It made me feel a little better, though, that His Holiness said that he has a problem with nice watches. He likes Rolexes. He's always working on his watch attachment. Report an error

47:50 I don't know. I tend to not believe that he has a problem with watches. All right. Yeah, yeah, right. So if we think about it, like let's say I'm attached to a good meal. How many good meals have I had in this lifetime? Report an error

48:15 Too many to count, right? And then how many have we had in all of our lives? Countless. We've had countless good meals, right? And so if that was really the way to happiness, Report an error

48:32 Then we should have everlasting happiness now, right? Because we've had countless good meals, right? And if it satisfied us, then we wouldn't need any more. Report an error

48:47 And that's a very effective meditation for me, you know? How many countless comfortable chairs have I had? You know, and I'm still here in saṃsāra. Still with a dissatisfied mind. So obviously those comfortable chairs did not bring me the lasting happiness. Report an error

49:12 You know, not to say that we can't have good meals or comfortable chairs, but to really work on our attachment to those and to be okay if we have it or not. Report an error

49:26 And then to, you know, obviously to realize the emptiness of it. So we see these things as attractive. Why? Report an error

49:43 We see things as attractive because of karma. We think that they're attractive because they're attractive from their own side. But we only see them as attractive because our good karma is ripening. Report an error

50:01 Like that cup of cappuccino. If it was pleasurable from its own side, everyone would see it as pleasurable. Report an error

50:13 But some people really hate cappuccino, right? And some people love it, and some people are indifferent. Why? Because that's their karma. Report an error

50:27 The ones who see it as wonderful are having good karma ripen, virtuous karma at that moment. The ones that see it as unpleasurable have non-virtuous karma ripening and indifferent, neutral karma. Report an error

50:46 That's true with every single pleasant experience we have and every single unpleasant experience we have and every single neutral experience we have. Report an error

50:56 We experience it that way because of the karma we've created in the past. Report an error

51:03 But we don't get that, right? We don't get that. We believe that things are pleasurable and unpleasurable from their own side. And that's binding us to cyclic existence. And that's creating mental afflictions. Report an error

51:20 And sometimes, you know, sometimes that cappuccino, like if I love cappuccino, sometimes I see it as really pleasurable. And sometimes really the thought of it is kind of nauseating. Like if you have the flu or something, the thought of that cappuccino is really awful. So a cappuccino isn't pleasant from its own side because we don't see it as pleasant all the time. Report an error

51:54 So all of the mental afflictions are based on an incorrect way of looking at things. All of our attachments, all of our jealousies, all of our anger and irritations. Are based on believing that something exists from its own side. Like the annoying person. We believe that they're annoying from their own side. Report an error

52:20 We don't believe it has anything to do with our minds, right? We believe that they're annoying from their own side. But we only perceive them as annoying because of our negative karma. Report an error

52:33 That's why. And if His Holiness the Dalai Lama looked at that same person, for sure he wouldn't see them as annoying. So they're not annoying from their own side. They're only annoying because our negative karma is ripening. Report an error

53:04 So is that making sense? Are you starting to develop some aversion to saṃsāra? Report an error

53:15 So Report an error

53:19 these are the kinds of things that we reflect on and meditate on, right, to develop renunciation. I'm so sorry. I'm so I'm Report an error

53:27 And we say, oh gosh, no matter where we go in saṃsāra, it's still because we have mental afflictions, because we have ignorance, because we have mental afflictions, because we're under the control of karma, these three things, ignorance, mental afflictions, karma, because we're under the control of those three, we're Report an error

53:49 bound to cyclic existence and we're going to experience suffering again and again and again and again and again and again and again. Inevitably. Until we realize emptiness and get out. Report an error

54:05 And so when we really understand that, not just intellectually I think, but with our whole entire beings, then we get renunciation. Report an error

54:17 And then we think about all of the other sentient beings who have been our mothers, who have been kind. We think, oh, they're all in the same boat. And so this unbearable compassion, This compassion that can't bear the suffering of others arises. And then the bodhisattva takes on responsibility for freeing other beings. Report an error

54:45 Like I myself alone, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche says all the time, I myself alone will free all beings from suffering, from saṃsāra. And then you develop bodhicitta. Oh, the best way to help others is to attain complete enlightenment. Right. Because then I'll have the ability to help others. The best ability to help others. Because I'll have the omniscient mind. Report an error

55:12 I'll have the ability to manifest for the benefit of others. Report an error

55:19 Okay. Let Report an error

55:30 me just finish reading this section. Report an error

55:41 And for that reason, having thought about how, in the context of lesser beings, the harm of the sufferings of bad migrations falls upon you, and how, in the context of intermediate beings, Even in the rebirth of high status there is suffering and no peace nor happiness. Meditating in accord with your own experience on sentient beings who have become dear to you becomes the cause for love and compassion to arise. Report an error

56:09 As a mind of enlightenment is born from them, training in the thoughts shared with lesser and intermediate beings is the means of generating the uncontrived mind of enlightenment. Report an error

56:22 so Lama Tsongkhapa is saying here also, then meditating on. On the suffering in the context of the small scope of how we've created the causes to be reborn in the lower realms and just to imagine what that would be like, just the incredible suffering that we could possibly experience in our next life. Report an error

56:55 And then in the context of the intermediate scope, meditating as... We were just talking about how suffering is inevitable no matter where we are in saṃsāra. And then even in the higher realms. Report an error

57:13 And then generating love and compassion and bodhicitta. Report an error

57:31 Alright, you want to take a break? Report an error

· · ·

58:06 So, you know, so I kind of said, oh yeah, this is supposed to be depressing. But, I mean, I was just really joking, right? I mean, it's supposed to help. Us become disenchanted with saṃsāra, right? But it's not depressing because there's hope, right? Hello? Hello, there's a class going on. Somebody's talking. Report an error

58:46 We get depressed when there's no hope, right? I'm not a user. Report an error

58:52 When things are bad and we don't feel like there's any way out. But I think this teaching is actually very inspiring. For, oh yeah, we can get out. All we have to do is realize emptiness. Report an error

59:15 Bodhicitta and emptiness. And we're incredibly fortunate because we have access to teachings on emptiness. We have access to amazing teachers now, which who knows if we'll have in next life. We have an amazing confluence of causes and conditions together like almost nobody else. So I remember I went to a teaching by an Indian master. Report an error

59:48 Some years ago. And he was saying how, you know, when he was young, he heard about this teaching on emptiness. And he had great faith. And he looked all over and tried to find somebody who could teach him emptiness. And nobody could teach him emptiness. And then he found Jeffrey Hopkins' book, Meditation on Emptiness. And he opened it and he couldn't understand a word. Report an error

1:00:15 So then he put it on the shelf. He made lots of prayers to be able to understand it one day. He put it on the shelf and he made lots of frustrations to this book. Report an error

1:00:25 So he had a lot of imprints to even have respect for this word emptiness, but he had no idea what it was and he couldn't find a teacher who could explain it to him. Report an error

1:00:42 So, you know, so we're just amazingly fortunate because we can get teachings on emptiness. Gishidagpa, you know, who's a better scholar than Gishidagpa, right? So, anyway, so in every moment, right, we can choose saṃsāra or nirvāṇa. We can choose saṃsāra or nirvāṇa. We choose nirvāṇa by remembering emptiness. We choose saṃsāra by... Report an error

1:01:14 Following the mental afflictions. So every single moment we have the opportunity to change things. And, you know, even generating a doubt with regard to emptiness, I mean a positive doubt, like, oh, well, maybe things don't really exist as they appear, shakes the foundation of saṃsāra. Report an error

1:01:44 All right. Report an error

1:01:51 So, okay, so next in the text. It says how the lesser and intermediate branches of the path are also necessary for the ritual accumulation and purification of this mental attitude. Efforts to purify and accumulate by many means, through the thoughts of going for refuge, actions and the results and so forth in the context of the two paths, also constitute methods for training the mental continuum. Report an error

1:02:20 Preliminary practices for the generation of the mind of enlightenment. As they become part of the seven-limbed practice along with going for refuge, these thoughts common to lesser and intermediate beings should also be understood as methods for the arising of the mind of enlightenment. Report an error

1:02:37 Okay, so the point of this paragraph is, you know, once we've meditated on the benefits of developing bodhicitta, Then we need to, you know, and then we need to develop love and compassion, etc., right, for sentient beings. Then we need to purify and accumulate merit, right? So we've heard this many times before, right? Purification, accumulate. Through the thoughts of going for refuge, meditating on actions and the results are karma and so forth in the context of the two paths. Report an error

1:03:10 So the two paths being the paths of the small. Scope in the medium and the intermediate scope. So by meditating on those various paths, right, death and impermanence, perfect human rebirth, suffering of the lower realms, karma, etc., we're purifying and we're accumulating merit. Report an error

1:03:44 Both, really. I mean, more through meditation. if we just if we think about The sufferings of the lower realms and develop the thought, oh my gosh, I need to purify my negative karma. I need to stop creating non-virtue. That, in effect, is purifying the mind in a way because the mind is changing. The mind is deciding I don't want to create non-virtue anymore. And so there's a level of purification there. Report an error

1:04:21 Makes sense? And sometimes they talk about purification and accumulation as being like two sides of the same coin. When we're purifying, we're accumulating. When we're accumulating, we're purifying. Report an error

1:04:40 So by meditating on these and thinking about the subjects of the small and intermediate scope paths, then we're... Those constitute methods for training the mental continuum for the generation of the mind of enlightenment or the bodhicitta. Report an error

1:05:07 And then I don't understand this next sentence where it says, as they become part of the seven-limbed practice along with going for refuge. I don't understand how that fits in with the seven-limbed practice. I looked for some references. And I couldn't find it anywhere. So Lama Tsongkhapa in Lam Rimchenmo says that those practices correspond to either the seven limbs of practice or refuge. Report an error

1:05:41 But I don't get it. Yeah, exactly. Or it might be a translation thing. So anyway, but basically the main point of this section is that the... The paths of the small scope and intermediate scope are methods to help you generate bodhicitta, right? Okay, Report an error

1:06:13 then the next section, advice to cherish the way that the teaching cycles of lesser and intermediate beings become branches of that of great beings. Report an error

1:06:25 Here the spiritual master indicates how the teaching cycles of lesser and intermediate beings become branches for the arising of the mind of enlightenment. And the disciple also gains certainty in this regard. So here it's saying that the spiritual master, the teacher, shows us how the small and intermediate scope are causes for the bodhicitta and the great scope. Report an error

1:06:55 And the importance of the student to gain certainty of this, of the importance of practicing these two lower scopes. Through recalling these points with each practice, you should thoroughly cherish this training. If this is not done, the actual path of great beings and the individual paths become unconnected. Report an error

1:07:21 so if we don't really, if we're not. Don't really understand that the paths of the small and medium scope or intermediate scope are causes for the great scope or bodhicitta, then we can think that they're disconnected and we think, oh, I just want to practice the great scope, right? Because the great scope is fun, right? Developing bodhicitta, meditating on the suffering of the lower realms and death and, you know, this... Report an error

1:07:51 We can develop a version for doing things like that, right? But we really need to do those meditations in order to develop bodhicitta. Report an error

1:08:02 As you do not gain certainty with regard to the mind of enlightenment until you reach the actual path of great beings, this would be an obstacle to the arisal of that mind or, meanwhile, the degeneration of that great objective. Therefore, you should exert yourself at it. Report an error

1:08:24 So if we think, oh, you know, the small and medium scopes, they're just, they're disconnected, you know, they're separate paths, they're not connected to developing bodhicitta. I don't really want to practice that. I just want to meditate on bodhicitta, right? That becomes an obstacle to being able to develop bodhicitta, right? Report an error

1:08:44 We may, you know, develop love for others, right? Some compassion for others. But it's not strong, right, if we don't really... Really understand the suffering of cyclic existence. Report an error

1:09:01 And then if we do develop, well actually, or in this other translation it says, or it can cause you to deviate from your great purpose of developing that bodhicitta. So, Report an error

1:09:21 you know, what can I say? for instance. Report an error

1:09:26 When we first hear teachings on bodhicitta, we can feel really inspired and think, yeah, I really want to develop bodhicitta. But when it comes right down to actually training in it and really understanding what it is and what it entails, then Report an error

1:09:47 we start to see how much of a huge task it is to develop bodhicitta. I mean, it's really kind of, it's mind-blowing if you think about it. It's like, I'm not just going to help my mom and my friends achieve enlightenment. I'm working for enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, even the most annoying ones, even the most selfish ones, even the ones that harm me. Report an error

1:10:25 The ones that are really mean to me, you know, the guy on the highway who flips me off. That's the sentient being that we're working for, right? Report an error

1:10:40 And it's a huge task, right, because we're not talking about working for sentient beings for the next 20 years, right, or the next 50 years. Basically, we're working for sentient beings. Until they all become enlightened, which is eons and eons and eons and eons. Report an error

1:11:07 So in order to maintain the bodhicitta, in order to not feel overwhelmed by it, we really need to meditate on the paths of the small and intermediate scopes and really, really understand how much beings are suffering and how we can't just... Get lazy and relax and just hang out in the Hinayana path. Report an error

1:11:41 In the Hinayana path itself, Report an error

1:11:47 according to the teachings, they believe that complete enlightenment is possible, but only for very few beings. It's just a huge amount of work. So it's not that they don't have any love and compassion for others, it's just that they see that it's so incredibly difficult to attain Buddhahood, so they settle for their own solitary liberation. Report an error

1:12:20 So we need to train again and again and again in bodhicitta and in the... Small and medium scopes so that that bodhicitta can really become firm. Otherwise, it's just so easy to give up. Report an error

1:12:43 If somebody we really help a lot, if we put a lot of effort into helping somebody, and let's say they turn against us, let's say they don't have any gratitude, and they turn against us and blame us. right? As soon as you know, like, I mean, Report an error

1:13:01 So the mind of bodhicitta will continue to work for the benefit of that sentient being. What is the natural reaction? Forget them, right? You know, I mean, that's kind of the good reaction is to not get angry, but just distance yourself, you know, forget, forget it, you know, I'm not going to help you. Report an error

1:13:28 Right, but that actually, if we have that thought, okay, I'm not going to help. right. Report an error

1:13:32 Like if we've taken the bodhisattva vows and we have the thought, okay, well, I'll help sentient beings, but not this person. Right? Report an error

1:13:42 And I'm so good to go. Right. Yeah. We've lost our bodhisattva vows, you know, if we do that, right? So, you know, we can retake them. But that's a dangerous mind to get into. But so easy, right? It's so easy to give up on sentient being. So it's like His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, I have great respect for bodhicitta. Report an error

1:14:13 Well, he says, I don't have bodhicitta, Rich, I don't believe. But he says, but I have great respect for bodhicitta. And the more I understand what bodhicitta really is, the incredible amount of respect I have for anyone who has it. It's just... It's just mind-boggling. You know that mind. Okay. Report an error

1:14:47 You want to go on? Or you want to take a break before the party starts? Report an error

1:14:54 Okay, we'll keep going. You're not overwhelmed. All right. Okay, so next is... Oh, well, and the last point is, remember how we've talked about in this class the importance of, or how it's going to review the entire Lamrim every day? Like, read a Lamrim prayer. Read Foundation of All Good Qualities. So that is basically doing what we're talking about, right? So remembering the practices of the small and intermediate scopes, right? Report an error

1:15:32 And not just thinking I'm going to benefit all sentient beings, right? Without really understanding what that means. Report an error

1:15:41 All right, next, the order on the path. The order of the two minds, etc. and how to train in them. Having trained in this matter, in the small and intermediate scopes, you should make the uncontrived mind of enlightenment arise in your mental continuum as much as possible. Report an error

1:16:02 So we've trained in the small and intermediate scopes, and then we should try to develop the uncontrived bodhicitta as much as we can. Well, first we try to develop the contrived, right? So through the effort, right? Through meditating on the kindness of others, through meditating on, what's it, or through wanting to repay their kindness, etc., right? Report an error

1:16:30 We develop contrived bodhicitta. And then, you know, we continue to train in that again and again and again and again until it becomes uncontrived, right? Or spontaneous, right, effortless, where it's just always there, kind of underlying everything that we do. So as much as possible to develop this uncontrived bodhicitta. Report an error

1:16:55 And then in order to stabilize that, then go for uncommon refuge and perform the ritual of the aspiring mind of enlightenment. So then we take the aspirational bodhicitta. We undergo that ceremony. So people are familiar with that. Chodron Rinpoche went through that. So aspirational bodhicitta, so there are the two types of bodhicitta, aspirational and engaging bodhicitta. Report an error

1:17:27 So aspirational bodhicitta is wishing to attain enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. And then engaging bodhicitta is then actually practicing the trainings, practicing the six perfections, etc. So the difference often is described as the difference between wanting to go somewhere and then actually going. Report an error

1:17:55 So wanting to go to Tibet versus actually getting on the plane to go. So first we have to want, right? We want bodhicitta and that's the aspirational mind of enlightenment or bodhicitta. And then with the aspirational bodhicitta, right, we take that ritual and then we're supposed to practice the four light, white actions and avoid the four black, right? Report an error

1:18:25 So does that sound familiar? But you better remind us. Report an error

1:18:48 So we practice these so that our bodhicitta doesn't degenerate. Because oftentimes you go to a teaching by His Holiness the Dalai Lama or Chodron Rinpoche and you're like, yeah, I want to practice bodhicitta. And then the holy beings go away and real life happens and it's easy for that. inspiration to go away right so Lama Tsongkhapa talks about how it's important to avoid the dark practices and to practice the light practices in order for that bodhicitta to not degenerate. Report an error

1:19:24 And also to practice the precepts causing you to not weaken your bodhicitta in this life. So there's four. Four practices to help you not weaken your bodhicitta in this life. Which is first of all to recall the benefits of bodhicitta again and again. So that keeps up our inspiration. Recall the benefits of bodhicitta and then to generate bodhicitta six times every day. Report an error

1:19:58 Right, so that's the, you know, we can do that with the refuge in bodhicitta prayer. I go for refuge until enlightenment to the Buddha Dharma and Saṅgha through the practice of the six perfections, etc. You know, maintain enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. Right, hopefully we do that from our hearts, right? We don't just read that. But sort of generate that six times a day. Report an error

1:20:19 And then third, not to mentally abandon any sentient being. Right, so that's what we were just talking about, you know, that one person who's turned against us that we decide, okay, well, I'm not going to help you anymore, right? That's mentally abandoning a sentient being if we decide we're not going to help this person anymore. So to train not to mentally abandon them. Report an error

1:20:47 I mean, we can do things like, okay, well, I'm ticked off at you right now and I just can't, I can't help you right now. Right. But someday when my mind is strong enough, I want to help you in the future. Right. That's perfectly acceptable. And that's realistic. Right. Because if we're ticked off at somebody and we and we try to help them while we're angry. I'm going to help you. Report an error

1:21:15 Not really going to work. Right. Yeah, sure. Is there a pop-up comedy cheetah? Report an error

1:21:23 But that's still based on love and compassion, right? Yeah, exactly. But if we're really angry, you know, we can't have anger and bodhicitta at the same moment, right? So, yeah. Report an error

1:21:41 So maybe we work on our minds for a while first, try to let go of that anger, and then, you know, slowly, slowly to, you know, help that person. Report an error

1:21:55 um... So anyway, to make that decision, I'm never going to help this person. Maybe I can't help you right now, but not to make the decision, I'm never going to help you. Report an error

1:22:12 And then the fourth is to accumulate the collections of merit and wisdom. So to practice generosity, to study emptiness, etc. Report an error

1:22:28 then, hmm. Report an error

1:22:32 Yeah, the second one was to generate bodhicitta six times a day. Okay, then the four black actions that we're to avoid. Report an error

1:22:48 Where Report an error

1:22:55 is this coming from? Report an error

1:23:00 You've had too long of a break. What are you thinking about? Report an error

1:23:11 It was Thanksgiving, that was it. Report an error

1:23:16 eating. Report an error

1:23:19 Speaking of attachment to food. All right. So the four black practices. First one is deceiving abbots, masters, gurus and those worthy of offering. Report an error

1:23:36 To avoid that deceiving, lying, misleading. Right. Our spiritual masters. Right. Not a good thing to do. Report an error

1:23:56 And so the corresponding light action that we should practice is to forsake consciously lying to any living being whatsoever, even in jest, or as Lama Tsongkhapa says, even for the sake of your life. Report an error

1:24:16 So not lying to any living being, even jokingly. Report an error

1:24:26 And then the second black practice to avoid is to make others feel regret. some virtue that they've done. not to make anyone feel regret about some virtue that they've done. Report an error

1:24:46 then the corresponding light practice is... Okay, Report an error

1:25:13 so not making anyone feel regret about some virtue that they've done. not sure that this corresponds, but... Report an error

1:25:01 these don't correspond so well I'll just go through the four dark practices and then the four light practices because they don't really relate so well together the first one did so Report an error

1:25:17 that they've done they're doing a retreat not to not to make them feel guilty Report an error

1:25:32 ham business. Report an error

1:25:37 It's not exactly ham, but even better. Report an error

1:25:50 All right. Okay, then the third is speaking disparagingly to people who have correctly entered the Mahāyāna. So speaking disparagingly basically to any bodhisattva. Report an error

1:26:05 So the scary thing about this is that anybody could be a bodhisattva. We don't know who's a bodhisattva, so basically not speaking disparagingly to anyone. Report an error

1:26:20 And we can see how that... That degenerates your bodhicitta, right, if you speak badly about somebody or to somebody. And then lastly, in an absence of sincerity, using deceit and misrepresentation to get the service of others, right? So, you know, to try to get somebody to help us without being sincere and honest, right? Report an error

1:26:48 Kind of being deceitful or, yeah. Report an error

1:26:55 So those are the four dark practices. The four light practices, we already mentioned the forsaking lying. The second one is not deceiving but remaining sincere and honest to all living beings. Report an error

1:27:21 I apologize for my confusion, but what was reciting, recalling the benefits and the six bodhisattva prayers and all that? That wasn't white actions? No. So there's three categories here. I'm sorry, I wasn't very clear. So the first category that I mentioned, recalling the benefits of bodhicitta, generating bodhicitta six times a day and all those, are training the precepts that cause you to not weaken your bodhicitta in this life. Report an error

1:27:53 And then the four black and the four dark, or the four black, the four black and the four white. Are to help us not degenerate our bodhicitta in future lives as well. Okay, I didn't mention that, sorry. Report an error

1:28:11 So these four dark and four light to help us not degenerate our bodhicitta in future lives as well. So we avoid the four dark and we practice the four light, which are forsaking, consciously lying. Report an error

1:28:30 Second one, not deceiving but remaining sincere and honest to all living beings. Report an error

1:28:42 The third, I'll just go through these quickly, developing the idea that all bodhisattvas are the teacher. And then since we don't know who's a bodhisattva, right? Looking at all beings as our teacher. Report an error

1:29:02 That's an easy one, isn't it? Report an error

1:29:08 And then the fourth, causing the living beings that we are helping. Also, that we're helping to mature to not want the Hinayana path, but to encourage them to practice the bodhisattva path or complete enlightenment. Have Report an error

1:29:30 you accepted the mantra? No. No. No. Right. We're not supposed to proselytize. But let's say we're helping somebody, like somebody's wanting to know about Buddhism, you know, family member, friend, something like that. Right. Report an error

1:29:51 To kind of help them, you know, into the Mahāyāna, like talk up the Mahāyāna, right? And not say, oh, well, you know, just practice the Hinayana, half it's easier, right? Report an error

1:30:05 Right, so as much as possible, right? I mean, I shouldn't say as much as possible, but, right, but not to encourage them to practice the Hinayana, right? But no, we're not supposed to be a pest, right, and proselytize or anything. But if somebody asks us, right, we can talk about the Dharma. But we're not supposed to, you know, we're not supposed to. Yeah, we're not volunteering information, right? We're not pushing it on anyone. Report an error

1:30:35 Right. Report an error

1:30:42 Okay. All right, so that's it. Yeah. Of the white? Of the white, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So one was forsaking consciously lying to any living being whatsoever, even in jest or at the cost of our life. And Report an error

1:31:07 then two was not deceiving, but remaining sincere and honest to all living beings. Report an error

1:31:19 Let's dedicate some merit. Report an error

1:31:38 So let's do the dedications on page 240. Report an error

1:31:55 So we'll do the first three on page 240. And the first one helps us with what we were talking about, remembering the emptiness of the three spheres. Report an error

1:32:07 Due to the merits accumulated over the three times by myself and all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas which are empty from their own side, may I, who is empty from its own side, achieve the state of enlightenment which is empty from its own side and lead all sentient beings who are empty from their own side to that state as quickly as possible by myself alone. Report an error

1:32:31 Because of these merits, may my actions never cause even the slightest harm to any sentient being. Instead, may they bring only the greatest of benefit. Whatever suffering or happy life I experience, may it be only of the greatest benefit to others, causing them to achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. Report an error

1:32:54 All right, and then let's just silently dedicate to the long lives of all of our gurus. Geshadakpa. Lama Zopa Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Chodin Rinpoche. And Report an error

1:33:12 pray that we'll meet them again and again in all future lives. Report an error

· · ·

1:33:49 Everybody enjoy the party. Report an error

1:33:56 To take them out? Okay, all of them. Ah, okay. Alright. Report an error

Report an error

Passage at . Please listen to the audio before you suggest a fix.

Suggest a fix

Passage at . Please listen to the audio before you suggest a fix.

Related talks

  1. Basic Program - Buddhism From A-Z (12 December 2008)

    Emily Hsu · 12 December 2008 · 1 h 41 min

  2. Basic Program - Buddhism From A-Z (7 November 2008)

    Emily Hsu · 7 November 2008 · 1 h 57 min

  3. Basic Program - Buddhism From A-Z (14 November 2008)

    Emily Hsu · 14 November 2008 · 1 h 43 min

  4. Basic Program - Buddhism From A-Z (3 October 2008)

    Emily Hsu · 3 October 2008 · 1 h 26 min

  5. Basic Program - Buddhism From A-Z (25 April 2008)

    Emily Hsu · 25 April 2008 · 1 h 35 min

  6. Basic Program - Buddhism From A-Z (25 July 2008)

    Emily Hsu · 25 July 2008 · 1 h 36 min

Talk by Emily Hsu, recorded 5 December 2008. Original at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/EH_Lamrim_200803. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.

Recorded at Tse Chen Ling Center, San Francisco, and archived by the center on Internet Archive. More from Tse Chen Ling

Listen on Internet Archive · CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US