Basic Program - Buddhism From A-Z (23 January 2009)

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0:44 Let's start with a few minutes of silent meditation and see if we can prevent our minds from just wandering all over the place. See if we can have some semblance of stillness. Report an error in the passage at 0:44 Highlight the passage at 0:44

1:04 So we do that by cultivating this mindfulness, remembering the object, which is kind of like a muscle that we cultivate, kind of tethers us to the object, like our minds. Being tethered to the object and not letting the object go completely. Check Report an error in the passage at 1:04 Highlight the passage at 1:04

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4:40 our motivation for coming here tonight and Report an error in the passage at 4:40 Highlight the passage at 4:40

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5:16 see how much we can expand out that motivation. So Report an error in the passage at 5:16 Highlight the passage at 5:16

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6:13 I thought we could start by doing a little meditation on death. So Report an error in the passage at 6:13 Highlight the passage at 6:13

6:26 the first point being that death is certain. Report an error in the passage at 6:26 Highlight the passage at 6:26

6:36 Everyone's going to die. Report an error in the passage at 6:36 Highlight the passage at 6:36

6:41 Everyone in the past. Even the most powerful, Report an error in the passage at 6:41 Highlight the passage at 6:41

6:49 strongest. We're Report an error in the passage at 6:49 Highlight the passage at 6:49

7:01 no different. A Report an error in the passage at 7:01 Highlight the passage at 7:01

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7:56 hundred years from now. Report an error in the passage at 7:56 Highlight the passage at 7:56

8:02 We will definitely all have died, and Report an error in the passage at 8:02 Highlight the passage at 8:02

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8:46 in each moment we are getting closer to death, with every passing second, with every breath that we take, Report an error in the passage at 8:46 Highlight the passage at 8:46

9:02 inching closer and closer to death. The Report an error in the passage at 9:02 Highlight the passage at 9:02

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11:19 time of death is uncertain. We could die 40 years from now, 50 years from now. Report an error in the passage at 11:19 Highlight the passage at 11:19

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12:31 We could die from external conditions such as car accidents, Report an error in the passage at 12:31 Highlight the passage at 12:31

12:42 slipping and falling, Report an error in the passage at 12:42 Highlight the passage at 12:42

12:51 earthquakes, Report an error in the passage at 12:51 Highlight the passage at 12:51

13:01 even a gunshot. Report an error in the passage at 13:01 Highlight the passage at 13:01

13:26 We could even die from choking on food. So Report an error in the passage at 13:26 Highlight the passage at 13:26

13:34 many things that can kill us. Report an error in the passage at 13:34 Highlight the passage at 13:34

13:57 Also many diseases. We Report an error in the passage at 13:57 Highlight the passage at 13:57

14:05 could have a heart attack or a stroke or Report an error in the passage at 14:05 Highlight the passage at 14:05

14:14 contract some sort of infection or cancer. Report an error in the passage at 14:14 Highlight the passage at 14:14

14:30 Why couldn't it happen? Why couldn't it happen this week? Report an error in the passage at 14:30 Highlight the passage at 14:30

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15:29 And at the time of death, we will lose all our loved ones Report an error in the passage at 15:29 Highlight the passage at 15:29

15:39 behind all our possessions, Report an error in the passage at 15:39 Highlight the passage at 15:39

15:47 even our body, Report an error in the passage at 15:47 Highlight the passage at 15:47

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16:28 all of those things we are attached to. All the people we're attached to, we need to leave behind to Report an error in the passage at 16:28 Highlight the passage at 16:28

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18:16 the next life alone, being Report an error in the passage at 18:16 Highlight the passage at 18:16

18:22 only our karmic imprints that we've created. The Report an error in the passage at 18:22 Highlight the passage at 18:22

18:36 next life will depend on the karma that we've created, whether it's a good life or a suffering life. Report an error in the passage at 18:36 Highlight the passage at 18:36

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19:46 So it's really our Dharma practice that will help us at the time of death. When Report an error in the passage at 19:46 Highlight the passage at 19:46

19:59 we're alive, we don't really have that much time to practice. We Report an error in the passage at 19:59 Highlight the passage at 19:59

20:06 spend a lot of time sleeping and working, Report an error in the passage at 20:06 Highlight the passage at 20:06

20:13 eating and shopping. Report an error in the passage at 20:13 Highlight the passage at 20:13

20:28 watching TV. Report an error in the passage at 20:28 Highlight the passage at 20:28

20:50 We Report an error in the passage at 20:50 Highlight the passage at 20:50

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21:38 will Report an error in the passage at 21:38 Highlight the passage at 21:38

21:46 praise Report an error in the passage at 21:46 Highlight the passage at 21:46

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24:21 to Manjushri on page 84. Generate the resolution to practice the Dharma as much as we can. Report an error in the passage at 24:21 Highlight the passage at 24:21

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22:15 bring suffering in the future. Report an error in the passage at 22:15 Highlight the passage at 22:15

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24:39 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 understanding shines forth as the sun, unclouded by defilements or traces of ignorance, who teaches in sixty ways with a patient love of a father for his only son, all creatures caught in the prison of saṃsāra, confused in their darkness, overwhelmed by their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 24:39 Highlight the passage at 24:39

25:07 You, whose dragon thunder proclamation of the Dharma arouses us from the stupor of our delusions and frees us from the iron chains of our karma, whose powerful sword of wisdom hues down suffering wherever its sprouts appear, clearing away the darkness of all ignorance, whose princely body is adorned with 112 marks of a Buddha, who has completed the ten stages achieving the highest perfection of a bodhisattva, who has been pure from the beginning. Report an error in the passage at 25:07 Highlight the passage at 25:07

25:35 O Manjushri, all loving one, with the brilliance of your wisdom, 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 25:35 Highlight the passage at 25:35

25:52 And then refuge on bodhicitta on bottom page 88. Go Report an error in the passage at 25:52 Highlight the passage at 25:52

26:05 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 in the passage at 26:05 Highlight the passage at 26:05

26:37 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 26:37 Highlight the passage at 26:37

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27:34 Page 58. Report an error in the passage at 27:34 Highlight the passage at 27:34

27:39 So we've finished the subject on death. Report an error in the passage at 27:39 Highlight the passage at 27:39

27:45 Any comments or questions on the meditation? Report an error in the passage at 27:45 Highlight the passage at 27:45

27:56 That was a modified version of the nine-point death meditation. I'm sorry. Report an error in the passage at 27:56 Highlight the passage at 27:56

28:07 Okay. I knew kind of toward the end I should have spoken out more. Report an error in the passage at 28:07 Highlight the passage at 28:07

28:18 All right. So the bottom page, or the top of page 58. Okay. So then we'll go into what will become of us in future worlds or future lives, right, since we're definitely going to die. Report an error in the passage at 28:18 Highlight the passage at 28:18

28:38 What are the possibilities? So the outline says the happiness and suffering of the two types of migrating beings, thinking about what will become of you in future existences. Report an error in the passage at 28:38 Highlight the passage at 28:38

28:52 The first one of those is thinking about what will become of you in future worlds. That being so, since it is certain that you will die soon, you have no time to spend in this life, and after death it is not that you become non-existent. You must take rebirth. Since apart from the two there is no other place of birth, you will be born in either the happy migrations or the bad migrations. Report an error in the passage at 28:52 Highlight the passage at 28:52

29:21 Okay, so we'll definitely die. And it can happen any day. And so what are the possibilities for the next life? Either we'll be born in the lower migrations or the higher migrations, right? So the lower migrations being the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animal realms. Or the upper realms, which are the humans, the demigods, or the god realms. Report an error in the passage at 29:21 Highlight the passage at 29:21

29:57 In addition, since you are not under your own control but under the control of other, karma, you will be reborn according to the wholesome and unwholesome karma that impels you. Report an error in the passage at 29:57 Highlight the passage at 29:57

30:09 So, you know, so most of us don't have control, right, at the time of death. We can't control where we're going to be reborn, right? So what will control where we're going to be reborn? Our karma, right? Our karma. Report an error in the passage at 30:09 Highlight the passage at 30:09

30:29 So we're completely under the control of our karma. So if we've created mostly virtuous karma in this life, then probably we'll have a good rebirth. But if we've created a lot of negative karma and we haven't purified it, then it's quite likely that we'll have a suffering rebirth in one of the lower realms. Report an error in the passage at 30:29 Highlight the passage at 30:29

30:55 So that's kind of a scary thing, right, that we don't have any control. You know, it would be nice to get to the point where we have control at the time of death. But that's kind of, you know, realistically many of us may not, right? Report an error in the passage at 30:55 Highlight the passage at 30:55

31:12 So thinking about, okay, well, what kind of karma have we created? You know, can any of us be sure of having another human rebirth? Report an error in the passage at 31:12 Highlight the passage at 31:12

31:27 So if we think honestly about the kinds of karma we've created, we can rejoice in the virtuous karma we've created. And keep doing it. And then the non-virtuous karma we've created to really regret it. To regret it and to purify it. And to stop creating it as much as we can. Because sometimes we can get kind of lazy, right? Oh, well, you know, that person at work, you know, they're just really irritating and everybody else is irritated at them. Report an error in the passage at 31:27 Highlight the passage at 31:27

32:01 And so, you know, there's nothing wrong with me being irritated. Right. Or. Or, I remember the other day, or a couple of weeks ago, there was a spider in my bathroom. And so, I looked at it and I thought, okay, well, I could take it outside. But it was cold out outside. Report an error in the passage at 32:01 Highlight the passage at 32:01

32:31 And it was really interesting. Then I just read in the Lamrim Chen Mo that... One cause of the cold hells is to bring an insect outside in the cold and it dies immediately. Report an error in the passage at 32:31 Highlight the passage at 32:31

32:50 You know, it would have been so easy, right, to just take the, well, I mean, smushing it. I mean, that wasn't really an option in my mind. Report an error in the passage at 32:50 Highlight the passage at 32:50

33:02 crosses Report an error in the passage at 33:02 Highlight the passage at 33:02

33:13 No, but you know, I mean, oftentimes as Buddhists we think, oh, the right thing to do is to take them outside, right? You know, you save their lives. But outside, if it's cold and awful outside, you know, that's not good for them, right? Report an error in the passage at 33:13 Highlight the passage at 33:13

33:29 But it's so easy, right, to just kind of not think about the consequences, right? You just put them outside and it's freezing cold and they have nothing to eat and we just do it and kind of don't think about it, right? Report an error in the passage at 33:29 Highlight the passage at 33:29

33:42 But then if we think about karma, we think, oh, there's consequences to all of that stuff, right? If we're insensitive to the feelings of somebody else, we're creating a negative karma, right? If we're creating some suffering for somebody else, even if it's a spider, you know, we're creating karma for us to suffer in the future. Report an error in the passage at 33:42 Highlight the passage at 33:42

34:04 So not to, like, we can get lazy about it, right, and not think about it. But when we start thinking about the next life, And our karma propelling the next life. Then we're not so lackadaisical about these things, right? Like, oh, I really don't want to do that. So I ended up leaving the spider in the bathroom and kind of hoping that it found its way somewhere else. Report an error in the passage at 34:04 Highlight the passage at 34:04

34:34 And actually, I didn't see it again after that. And that's an interesting thing about karma, too, is when you do the right thing sometimes, then... The problem just disappears on its own. It's like the karma of having this irritation. You've cleaned it out, right? Because you didn't do the wrong thing, right? You didn't create a non-virtuous action, and so it was just gone. Report an error in the passage at 34:34 Highlight the passage at 34:34

35:03 It could have been a bodhisattva. You never know. I didn't smush it. Report an error in the passage at 35:03 Highlight the passage at 35:03

35:15 Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't freeze to death, right? but the thought. But just the thought of not wanting to think about, okay, well, it's cold and miserable outside, and I just want to get rid of the spider. I don't want it in my bathroom, so I just want to put it wherever. Or sometimes we might take an insect out and kind of throw it in the garden. Report an error in the passage at 35:15 Highlight the passage at 35:15

35:42 How does that feel? You know, you're on a piece of paper and then you get thrown onto the ground, which is like a hundred feet to them. You know, it might be two feet to us, but to, you know, a little insect, it's like, Report an error in the passage at 35:42 Highlight the passage at 35:42

36:00 right? So, you know, so there are like lots of degrees, right? Report an error in the passage at 36:00 Highlight the passage at 36:00

36:13 Wait, I did. So, yeah. So, you know, so kind of putting them outside gently, you know, with a little bit of food and a warm, dry place or something like that, you know. You never know. I mean, I had ants, you know, a couple of months ago and, you know, and we gave them, you know, gave them honey, you know, put them outside, gave them honey, you know, and all of that. Report an error in the passage at 36:13 Highlight the passage at 36:13

36:46 And, you know, and it took a few days for them to leave, but, you know, they ended eventually. Left, you know, just try to try to trust, right? We try to trust in the law of karma. The problem is oftentimes we don't, right? We just want to get rid of them and we don't really trust that if we do the right thing, then that'll purify something, right? We just think they're going to come back. Report an error in the passage at 36:46 Highlight the passage at 36:46

37:16 Let's use the microphone. Report an error in the passage at 37:16 Highlight the passage at 37:16

37:22 I think that ants, this is a big topic and my mother's sunk as well as mine, ants. I have a garden apartment and I get swarms of ants after it rains and I don't want to kill them. But it becomes extremely difficult to kind of dust them off. I mean, you hear all sorts of different things to do to sort of get them gently out of your house. Report an error in the passage at 37:22 Highlight the passage at 37:22

37:42 Do you have any suggestions about the ant issue? Yeah, I mean, we do. We sweep them out. You know, we sweep them out. You know, we sweep them up and we bring them. We bring them outside. Another thing that I've done before is burn incense. Because, I mean, I've had ant karma for a long time. Report an error in the passage at 37:42 Highlight the passage at 37:42

38:04 And I used to get tons and tons and tons of ants. But over time, I noticed my ant karma has really lessened. And yeah, sweep them up. I mean, you find right where they're coming in and you seal it, right? You seal the crack or whatever it is. You know, we need to be practical about those things. And then you sweep them up and you take them outside. You give them some food and... Report an error in the passage at 38:04 Highlight the passage at 38:04

38:31 And it might take a long time, but it's better than the karma that we're creating if we actually kill them. It's a bit of a hassle, but it's nothing compared to going to the hells for an eon. Report an error in the passage at 38:31 Highlight the passage at 38:31

38:57 Seriously, we don't want to think about the consequences. But they're there, right, if we believe in karma, you know, they're there. So, yeah, Denise, you had a suggestion about ants. Report an error in the passage at 38:57 Highlight the passage at 38:57

39:13 Well, I had a bad experience with spiders. They were attacking my left ankle, and I have scars for the rest of my life from it. Because of my karma, I used to kill them. So I learned the hard way. But then I worked on that karma, and I... Let them go gently outside or just let them be. But for the ant thing, I had tons of them in my bathroom not too long ago. Report an error in the passage at 39:13 Highlight the passage at 39:13

39:44 So I got lemon zest and I left like little trails around the perimeter of my bathroom and they just take them and they go off to the merry way and they're not there anymore and it smells really good in there and they're gone, completely gone. So, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 39:44 Highlight the passage at 39:44

40:05 And they don't like strong smells either. It does not kill them. That's the thing. Because I know that for a fact because they'd come back. They would come back in armies because of the karma I used to have, if that was the case. But they're cool. I mean, really. I think Lemon really did it. Yeah. I'm really working the karma. Report an error in the passage at 40:05 Highlight the passage at 40:05

40:27 It really works. I mean, definitely, if we don't harm them, our ant karma is... It's gradually getting purified, for sure. I mean, I used to get thousands of ants in my kitchen, I remember. And then they went in, like, all of the food in my house. And, you know, and just over the years, it's definitely lessened. And when I had, I mean, I might have told you this story before about Vajrasapha retreat. Report an error in the passage at 40:27 Highlight the passage at 40:27

40:52 When I did my Vajrasapha retreat, I had hundreds of insect bites all over my body. And there were, like, 11 or 12 of us in a retreat. Nobody else got bites. I had bed bug bites. I had all sorts of bites. And I really believe that because I was purifying some insect karma. And ever since then, I've had ants here and there, but never in droves, a bit here and there. And then you take them outside. Report an error in the passage at 40:52 Highlight the passage at 40:52

41:25 And I had some ants just earlier this week, and I ended up doing nothing. I kind of just asked them to find another home and then they were gone. So I'm a big believer in trying to handle any of these irritations in as virtuous of a way as we can and trying to have patience with it. Report an error in the passage at 41:25 Highlight the passage at 41:25

41:55 Karen has something to say. I've got the microphone. Report an error in the passage at 41:55 Highlight the passage at 41:55

42:06 Thank you. I read an article about Thailand and how every morning they feed the ancestors and they do that with like a bowl of sugar and they just put it on the perimeters, the four corners of the house and actually, you know, the ancestor ants eat the... I mean, it's just a different way of looking at them, like mother sentient beings. And so you put the sugar out and they come and get it. Report an error in the passage at 42:06 Highlight the passage at 42:06

42:42 And so they have the trust that you're going to feed them and then they don't come into the home. Yeah, it was nice. I've had an issue with flies. Actually, I'm pretty good with bugs. I try to save them. And I've accidentally killed some bugs. Report an error in the passage at 42:42 Highlight the passage at 42:42

43:03 So now I try not to capture them because that's how I was accidentally killing them. They had to save a bunch of Vajrasattvas and it's really bad. So just yesterday there was a fly and I was talking to it and I apologized for not trying to save it, not trying to capture it. But we have these screens that you can't take off and if you open the door then just more will come in. Report an error in the passage at 43:03 Highlight the passage at 43:03

43:31 You know, and sometimes I try to talk to them and they follow me and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But we were at dinner and the fly fell right into my husband's drink. Report an error in the passage at 43:31 Highlight the passage at 43:31

43:42 And it was so great because I was able then to take a little napkin, it climbed onto the napkin and we could set it free. But if it hadn't done that... Remember me? I'm like, oh, I'm so glad to see you. And that's what I do, I just talk to them. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, everybody knows the glass, like taking a glass over the fly or the mosquito and then you... Report an error in the passage at 43:42 Highlight the passage at 43:42

44:09 Well, you have to be careful, but I don't think I've ever killed a fly that way. Mosquitoes you can kill easier. Report an error in the passage at 44:09 Highlight the passage at 44:09

44:26 Right. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 44:26 Highlight the passage at 44:26

44:42 Okay. Peter, do you still want to say something? Report an error in the passage at 44:42 Highlight the passage at 44:42

44:53 Part of the difficulty for me is because, of course, I'm legally blind, so I'll be white and there'll be little black ants on it. Oh, well, but you don't have the intention, right? Karma is primarily about intention, right? I mean, we walk on the ground and who knows what we're squishing, right? But we don't intentionally kill them, right? Report an error in the passage at 44:53 Highlight the passage at 44:53

45:12 We just try to be mindful. Yeah, and then we, you know, we just do some bodhisattvas just in case at the end of the day, right? Yeah. Yeah, or we drive down the highway, you know how many bugs die because when, yeah. Yeah, you get the mantras. Report an error in the passage at 45:12 Highlight the passage at 45:12

46:01 And you can just stick it, you know, you can stick it on your windshield or something too. Report an error in the passage at 46:01 Highlight the passage at 46:01

46:15 Okay, Report an error in the passage at 46:15 Highlight the passage at 46:15

46:20 right. So, you know, so the point is, right, not to take these negativities lightly, right? To take really care in everything that we do. when you get that on Report an error in the passage at 46:20 Highlight the passage at 46:20

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46:31 When we flub up, which we inevitably do, we just purify. We regret it and we purify. And then we notice the mind starts to clean up. The mind feels better. I used to be a big mosquito swatter. Oh my gosh. Two weeks before I went to the Copan course, I was in my Nepal hotel room in the middle of the night with a rolled up newspaper going, whack, whack, whack. Report an error in the passage at 46:31 Highlight the passage at 46:31

47:03 And then two weeks later I'm at Copan learning the consequences of my actions. But now the thought of swatting a mosquito is horrifying to me. And our minds just change that way, right? Because we've done some purification. Report an error in the passage at 47:03 Highlight the passage at 47:03

47:32 Okay, the next outline is from Among the Happiness and Suffering of the Two Migrations, Considerations About the Suffering. you know Report an error in the passage at 47:32 Highlight the passage at 47:32

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47:41 And the first outline underneath that is the need to think about suffering. You should think about the suffering of the bad migrations considering what will become of me if I'm reborn in the bad migrations. So generally we don't want to think about suffering. We don't like to think about unpleasant things. We don't even like to think about the fact that we might get old someday and, you know, we might... Report an error in the passage at 47:41 Highlight the passage at 47:41

48:09 We don't like to think about those things. We don't like to think about someday we might not be able to walk. We don't like to think about dying. So much less thinking about the suffering of the lower realms. But the lamrim really presents the lower realms and the suffering of the lower realms for a reason. Report an error in the passage at 48:09 Highlight the passage at 48:09

48:33 So Nagarjuna said, Every day remember the hells. That are fiercely hot and cold. Also remember the hungry ghosts emaciated by hunger and thirst. Look at animals and remember how they're beset with the sufferings of dullness. Give up their causes. Use causes for happiness. Once you have gained what is hard to gain, a human body in Jambu Vipa, endeavor to cut the cause of bad realms. Report an error in the passage at 48:33 Highlight the passage at 48:33

49:07 So we have this great rebirth now, and we have the potential to purify all the causes for lower realms in the future. Which is amazing. It's really amazing, right? Because once we're born in a lower realm, the concept of purification isn't even there. Report an error in the passage at 49:07 Highlight the passage at 49:07

49:27 Animals, they can't purify. They have no idea how to do anything like that. So we have the chance now. And it's really not that difficult, right? It's not that difficult to do some purification, right? Depending on, you know, if it's a new name or something. But it's nothing compared to the suffering of the lower realms. And we're going to actually get into the suffering of the lower realms in this class, which is always, you know, a favorite topic of people. Report an error in the passage at 49:27 Highlight the passage at 49:27

50:00 But it's important, right? It's very important. And it inspires me, actually, to step up my practice. Report an error in the passage at 50:00 Highlight the passage at 50:00

50:14 So it doesn't do any good to put our head in the sand and just not think about it, because then we don't prepare for future lives. Report an error in the passage at 50:14 Highlight the passage at 50:14

50:28 So before we get into the suffering of the lower realms, when we actually think about the lower realms, we need to think about... Report an error in the passage at 50:28 Highlight the passage at 50:28

50:39 Not ourselves experiencing those sufferings. What it would be like if I was born there. Not, oh, those poor other beings who are there. I mean, we need to do that too. But we need to not distance ourselves from it. I mean, often with suffering, we generally try to kind of, you know, you see a homeless person on the street. Report an error in the passage at 50:39 Highlight the passage at 50:39

51:06 You know, we don't automatically, well, I mean, if. Some of us might, you know, automatically. Report an error in the passage at 51:06 Highlight the passage at 51:06

51:17 But, you know, the normal person kind of, you know, especially if they smell or if they're, you know, a little bit, right, we have an automatic kind of aversion thing, right, that happens. So similarly, you know, when we think about the suffering of the lower realms, we have this kind of, you know, I don't even want to think about it. But it's very powerful to meditate on what it might be like if I was born there. Report an error in the passage at 51:17 Highlight the passage at 51:17

51:47 So that's the aim in the lamrim. We're trying to understand what it would be like if I was born there. Report an error in the passage at 51:47 Highlight the passage at 51:47

52:01 And the reason, right, is so that we generate kind of this really a sense of reality that this is possible, right, such that we don't want to create the causes to be reborn there, such that it motivates us to purify and stop creating non-virtue, right, not just to depress us. Report an error in the passage at 52:01 Highlight the passage at 52:01

52:24 So in general, it said, okay, you know, of the three lower realms, when we create very heavy negative actions, then we create the cause to be born in the hell realm. Report an error in the passage at 52:24 Highlight the passage at 52:24

52:38 If we create kind of intermediate or middling negative actions, then we create the cause to be reborn in hungry ghost realm. And then the light negative actions to be reborn in animal realm, right? So sometimes it says that. And in other sources it says the heaviest would be in the hell realms, the second, the middling, would be in the animal realms, and the lightest would be in hungry ghosts. Report an error in the passage at 52:38 Highlight the passage at 52:38

53:04 So just giving you two different presentations. So to create a cause to be born anywhere, we need a complete karma. A complete karma with the motivation, the action, and the completion. of the karma. So if we perform an action and we regret it, we're not creating a complete karma. So we're creating a karma to, if it's a negative action, then we're creating the karma to experience some suffering, but it won't be the karma to be reborn in a suffering realm. Report an error in the passage at 53:04 Highlight the passage at 53:04

53:47 So if I kill the... Report an error in the passage at 53:47 Highlight the passage at 53:47

53:52 If I killed the spider, for example, but then I immediately regretted it, then I'm not creating the cause to be reborn in the lower realms, but I will experience a lot of suffering once I'm born somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 53:52 Highlight the passage at 53:52

54:08 So that's kind of the projecting karma versus what's called the completing karma. The projecting karma will throw you into a particular rebirth. The completing karma will dictate kind of. Report an error in the passage at 54:08 Highlight the passage at 54:08

54:23 Let's say how healthy you are, kind of the circumstances of the life once you're born. So if we have a lot of sickness in this life, it's a result of harming others' bodies in previous lives. Report an error in the passage at 54:23 Highlight the passage at 54:23

54:45 But it might not have been a projecting karma. It would have been a completing karma that we've created. Report an error in the passage at 54:45 Highlight the passage at 54:45

54:55 Right, projecting karma and completing karma. So projecting karma will throw you into a rebirth and completing karma will just dictate the circumstances in which your life, Report an error in the passage at 54:55 Highlight the passage at 54:55

55:12 yeah, throwing karma, projecting karma, yeah, exactly. Report an error in the passage at 55:12 Highlight the passage at 55:12

55:20 So, okay, so to be reborn in one of the lower realms we need a complete karma, right? And the very heavy ones, the heaviest ones will be... Will cause a rebirth in the hell realm. So for example, if we have a strong mental affliction, say we have strong anger, and out of that anger then we kill the insect, and then we don't regret it, we've created a cause to be reborn in hell. Report an error in the passage at 55:20 Highlight the passage at 55:20

55:49 Or if it's out of strong attachment, like oftentimes we think about it as being just anger, but actually I think it's much more common. Strong attachment, I don't want the bugs in my bathroom. Report an error in the passage at 55:49 Highlight the passage at 55:49

56:04 Attachment to having things just a particular way and then we create. Then we kill the bug. Or we take the bug outside and it freezes. Then we've created. We throw it and it dies. Report an error in the passage at 56:04 Highlight the passage at 56:04

56:24 Then we've created a rebirth. The causes for rebirth. A throwing karma. A throwing karma, exactly. Report an error in the passage at 56:24 Highlight the passage at 56:24

56:45 Oh, Report an error in the passage at 56:45 Highlight the passage at 56:45

56:51 anyway. So strong mental afflictions. So if we create a karma out of a strong mental affliction, Report an error in the passage at 56:51 Highlight the passage at 56:51

57:03 or like that Santa Claus murderer the day before Christmas, the guy on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day or something. Yeah, and it was, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 57:03 Highlight the passage at 57:03

57:18 Yeah, well, it was in California somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 57:18 Highlight the passage at 57:18

57:24 But, you know, so he was under the control of a strong mental affliction, right? It was maybe anger, maybe jealousy. But, you know, it was probably something he never would have done if he wasn't under the control of that mental affliction. But then, you know, if we have those strong mental afflictions, who knows what we'll do. Report an error in the passage at 57:24 Highlight the passage at 57:24

57:51 You know, we don't, we, Report an error in the passage at 57:51 Highlight the passage at 57:51

58:08 yeah. But even, even, I mean, I think we can just even look at ourselves when we're under the control of a strong mental affliction. The things that we're capable of doing are really kind of alarming, you know. I'm a nice person, but, you know, we're capable of, like, I was capable of killing thousands of ants in my kitchen with Windex without thinking, I did that before I became a Buddhist. Report an error in the passage at 58:08 Highlight the passage at 58:08

58:35 You know, I did, you know. know, right? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 58:35 Highlight the passage at 58:35

58:48 Or your little kids, you know, pulling the legs off of grasshoppers and things, you know, I mean, just the things that we do, right? Report an error in the passage at 58:48 Highlight the passage at 58:48

59:02 Or the things that we say, like if we're really angry. You know, the things that we say to somebody, you know, the mean things or, you know, the catty things or, you know, things that we wouldn't normally say because we're under the control of the mental afflictions. So, you know, we're all capable of it because we have mental afflictions, right? So that's why we have to get rid of those afflictions. Jay, you have something to say? Report an error in the passage at 59:02 Highlight the passage at 59:02

59:34 Well, no, just along those lines. At work recently, I deal with a lot of really angry people at work. And people who may be a little crazy and things like that. And I even sort of, I think, take pride in the fact that not many of them get to me. And sometimes that's for Dharma reasons. And sometimes it's just because I'm probably a little jaded about the crazy people now. Report an error in the passage at 59:34 Highlight the passage at 59:34

59:53 But I had a guy the other day who was just awful. This guy was just insane. And he was out of his mind. And he was just mean and cruel and everything. And I just was in no way myself. I didn't shout at him or anything. But so much anger rose up in me. Report an error in the passage at 59:53 Highlight the passage at 59:53

1:00:10 So I'd like to believe that I'm personally not capable of killing somebody, and that's certainly not what I was thinking of doing in this case. I just mean all you have to do is look at that, any reaction you have like that. I mean if you're driving down the road and you go jackass or something like that, it's not that big of a step past that to I'm going to put a knife through my ex-wife's family. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:10 Highlight the passage at 1:00:10

1:00:31 Well, no, no, no. I just mean that it's the same mental process, I believe. You know what I mean? It's true. The same affliction arises and the same reaction, which is a lack of control. Because I didn't want to – my hands were shaking when I was talking to this guy, and I didn't want to do that. It wasn't a plan I'd made. I wasn't going to – I had no control over my – accepting that. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:31 Highlight the passage at 1:00:31

1:00:49 And to be honest with you, the fact that I didn't tell him to go blank himself was probably based on the fact that I didn't want to lose my job. So it was self-protection anyway, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:49 Highlight the passage at 1:00:49

1:00:59 Public Library, believe it or not. But it's the Berkeley Public Library. Yeah. So I just mean that. I think somewhere along the line I realized, even though I'm a really nonviolent person, that those are just people, just like the homeless person is not so separate from me. Those people who pull that gun out are not so – I don't know. Have somebody abduct one of your nephews and sexually abuse them and then kill them and then think about. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:59 Highlight the passage at 1:00:59

1:01:27 What it is you say you're not capable of. But I think it's an important thing to know about afflictions and how capable we all are. Yeah, no, that's a very good point. It's good to be reminded. I was so happy after it. I was like, well, I cruise through half of these days thinking like, oh, you can't touch me. And this guy reminded me, absolutely not. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:27 Highlight the passage at 1:01:27

1:01:47 Yeah, we never know when the causes and conditions come together to trigger that. Because we all have those mental afflictions, right? And then... You know, when the external circumstances come together, it can rage out of control. And we might not want to think that, like you said. But we're all capable of it. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:47 Highlight the passage at 1:01:47

1:02:16 Yeah, I mean, because we all go through those periods, you know, when everything is quite fine and people are nice to us. We get this kind of complacence, the feeling of complacency. Oh, yeah, I'm a pretty good person. And, you know, when we hear about... You know, somebody killing somebody or something we think, you know, we kind of distance ourselves. So, you know, that that person, that person's crazy. But, you know, that person isn't so different from we are, you know, unfortunately. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:16 Highlight the passage at 1:02:16

1:02:42 Right. As long as we have the seeds of those mental afflictions, we can do things like that. Right. So I know that, you know, when I see my mind sometimes, you know, not for a long time, but, you know. I had one relationship where that person just pushed all of my buttons and I got mad like I've never gotten before. It's very humbling. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:42 Highlight the passage at 1:02:42

1:03:07 It's good. It's humbling. It's like, okay, well, I'm capable of that. And who knows when the next person will come along to do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:07 Highlight the passage at 1:03:07

1:03:19 Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, Denise. Pass the mic back, please, to Denise. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:19 Highlight the passage at 1:03:19

1:03:42 I had an intense anger problem until I started practicing Dharma. And I still had that anger issue a little bit, but then it took one family incident to change me completely. And now I'm the first person who will run from any kind of confrontation when it comes to fights or anything like that. So it scared me. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:42 Highlight the passage at 1:03:42

1:04:08 But coming here helps a lot, just changing me. But I really did have a bad problem with anger. So I understand where you're coming from. Yeah. Yeah, and the first thing is, right, to recognize it, right, and then try not to react to it. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:08 Highlight the passage at 1:04:08

1:04:44 You know, and those mental afflictions, right, they just flare up really quickly too, right? It's not something that we think about. It's like all of a sudden, especially anger. Well, I can't even say just especially anger. Attachment is the same way. Jealousy is the same way. You know, just suddenly there's this huge energy, right, that controls us, right, and our kind of rational, you know, peaceful mind is, you know, nowhere to be found. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:44 Highlight the passage at 1:04:44

1:05:11 And it's just this energy. And so all, you know, the best thing we can do is just try to. Not react, right? You know, sometimes we just have to separate ourselves from the object of the affliction. Or if we can't, right, because if that person's in our face, then just to, right, to shut up at least, right, not say anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:11 Highlight the passage at 1:05:11

1:05:31 Because if we say anything when we're in that state, it's not going to be constructive, right? It's going to be mostly, most likely negative karma, right? So to just try to hold our own until the power of that affliction kind of... goes, right? So I think the first thing is to separate ourselves physically if we can, and then if we can't, just to not say anything and not to do anything physically, at least toward them. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:31 Highlight the passage at 1:05:31

1:06:12 Practices in our moment-to-moment thing, moment-to-moment in our lives. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:06:12 Highlight the passage at 1:06:12

1:06:21 exactly. where the rubber hits. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:21 Highlight the passage at 1:06:21

1:06:26 I mean, we have to sit and contemplate all of these, but where the rubber hits the road is when you're confronted with the annoying neighbor, the co-worker, your rage comes up again. And those are those moments where we see where our progress is or lack thereof with our practice. They're actually really helpful, in a sense, when we have those moments. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:26 Highlight the passage at 1:06:26

1:06:49 They're very helpful. They're very helpful for our practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:49 Highlight the passage at 1:06:49

1:06:54 They're not very fun at the time, but they're really helpful. And the Lama say, as we progress, you're grateful for those situations. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:54 Highlight the passage at 1:06:54

1:07:07 I remember somebody told me a story of her having a conversation with Venerable Roger, Lama Zopa Rinpoche's attendant. And they were just chatting, and she said, yeah, I have the karma where most people like me. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:07 Highlight the passage at 1:07:07

1:07:24 Most people tend to like me. And he said to her, oh, I'm sorry. She was really taken aback. He's like, I'm so sorry. And she's like, why? He says, then you don't have an opportunity to practice patience. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:24 Highlight the passage at 1:07:24

1:07:44 So we can't expand our capabilities, our patience, unless we're confronted with a situation where we have to practice. When everybody's nice to us, it's really pleasant, but it's not going to help our spiritual progress. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:44 Highlight the passage at 1:07:44

1:08:05 Not that we go out looking for trouble. Actually, some people do. The story of Atisha bringing the difficult servant to Tibet, just so everybody got to practice patience. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:05 Highlight the passage at 1:08:05

1:08:27 okay. I Report an error in the passage at 1:08:27 Highlight the passage at 1:08:27

1:08:34 just heard a quote the other day, Dilgo Kenze Rinpoche, the great Lama. He says, the measure of our practice is when difficult circumstances arise. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:34 Highlight the passage at 1:08:34

1:08:47 When things are going well, you can't really tell how good a person's mind is. It's when the difficulties arise that really kind of separate the men from the boys, so to speak. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:47 Highlight the passage at 1:08:47

1:09:01 I know, I shouldn't have said that. All right. Separate the ladies from the chicks. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:01 Highlight the passage at 1:09:01

1:09:15 But yeah, but that's really right. That really is the test of how good our practice is. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:15 Highlight the passage at 1:09:15

1:09:26 And sometimes we do and we don't, you know, we don't need to get down about it. Then we just know we take it as a learning experience and and try to do better. Right. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:26 Highlight the passage at 1:09:26

1:09:36 The good thing is, you know, when we remember to just stay in the present moment. We purify and regret if we've gotten angry and stay in the present and in every moment we have an opportunity to improve and not dwell on the mistakes we made. But this is a new moment. I can create a new reality. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:36 Highlight the passage at 1:09:36

1:10:00 That's very helpful, I find. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:00 Highlight the passage at 1:10:00

1:10:07 Actually, I want to finish the next section and then we can take a break. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:07 Highlight the passage at 1:10:07

1:10:28 Okay, so how thinking about suffering is a vital point. So meditation about the sufferings of cyclic existence in general, and in the three bad migrations in particular, is a very vital point, very important. For if you thus consider how you yourself fall into the ocean of suffering, despair will repel pride and arrogance. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:28 Highlight the passage at 1:10:28

1:10:53 So in the Lamrim, it's very emphasized. Meditating on the suffering of the lower realms, meditating on the suffering of saṃsāra in general. And why it's important to do that is that there's a number of benefits to meditating on suffering. And the first one is to reduce our pride and our arrogance. And this is basically what we've been talking about. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:53 Highlight the passage at 1:10:53

1:11:18 right is because we can you know win When things are going well, you know, we can think, oh, you know, I'm doing pretty well, you know, and pride can arise. But then if we think about suffering and the potential of suffering for ourselves, you know, our pride and our arrogance is gone, right? Or, you know, the guy who makes us angry, you know, our pride and arrogance just isn't there, right, when we're confronted with a really difficult situation that we can't handle. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:18 Highlight the passage at 1:11:18

1:11:50 Very well. Okay. So, or you know, it's like, you know how young people, you know, teenagers sometimes, you know, there's a lot of arrogance, you know, in young people until they've gone through some hard times in life. And then, right, it's humbling, right? When we go through difficulties, we realize we're not, you know, we're not so invincible. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:50 Highlight the passage at 1:11:50

1:12:17 Right? So similarly, when we... Meditate on the suffering of the lower realms. It's humbling, right? We're not so invincible. We're not always going to necessarily have such good circumstances. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:17 Highlight the passage at 1:12:17

1:12:33 So meditating on suffering helps reduce our pride and arrogance. Also, having seen that suffering is a result of non-virtue, you will be very careful to avoid negativities and downfalls. And as you do not want suffering but happiness, Once you realize that it is the result of virtue, you will also enjoy accomplishing virtue. So as we were talking about, meditating on the suffering of the lower realms helps us avoid non-virtue and helps us want to practice more virtue, because that's the cause of happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:33 Highlight the passage at 1:12:33

1:13:13 And then in proportion to your own experience, compassion for others arises, and out of aversion to cyclic existence, you strive for liberation. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:13 Highlight the passage at 1:13:13

1:13:24 So if we meditate on the suffering of the lower realms and really develop this kind of experience of what it might be like, then naturally we'll develop compassion for beings who are experiencing that suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:24 Highlight the passage at 1:13:24

1:13:49 If we can't imagine what the suffering is like, it's difficult to develop compassion for them, or strong compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:49 Highlight the passage at 1:13:49

1:14:05 It's like prisoners. I think a lot of people have a hard time developing compassion for prisoners. We can't really imagine what it's like to live in a prison and be locked up and have no freedom for years and years and years and years and to be treated like a dog. Well, worse than a dog. And to just eat whatever food is given to you and just be treated with disrespect all the time. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:05 Highlight the passage at 1:14:05

1:14:33 A victim of violence, always being afraid for your life if you're in a maximum security prison. But if we really imagine what that's like, then we can develop some compassion for them. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:33 Highlight the passage at 1:14:33

1:14:55 If we actually meditate on that, it's hard. It's very hard. But that's why we have to meditate on it. Like we just sit here and think, oh, okay, well, no, no, I can't develop compassion. But if we meditate on it a lot, for sure, I think we can. Or if we actually went to jail for a day, then it'd be a lot easier, right, to develop compassion for them, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:55 Highlight the passage at 1:14:55

1:15:25 So that's like, you know, going to jail for a day is kind of like... Meditating on what it would be like to be in jail. Because we're trying to vividly imagine what it would be like to experience that. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:25 Highlight the passage at 1:15:25

1:15:44 And then compassion arises more naturally. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:44 Highlight the passage at 1:15:44

1:15:58 Like after you've done a nyungne or something like that. Or if we've fasted. Then we have a lot more compassion for somebody who's really hungry. If we've never been hungry. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:58 Highlight the passage at 1:15:58

1:16:12 Then we can't really appreciate what it would be like to be hungry. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:12 Highlight the passage at 1:16:12

1:16:21 So when we've meditated on the suffering, then compassion more naturally arises. And then we develop aversion to cyclic existence. When we think, okay, well that suffering can really happen to me. Maybe next life, maybe the life after that, maybe the life after that. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:21 Highlight the passage at 1:16:21

1:16:41 Then for fear of suffering, you take refuge forcefully. So when we're suffering or if we fear suffering, we're much more likely to truly take refuge. If we think we can handle everything on my own, we have no reason to take refuge. But if we're in a position where we can't really handle it, then we're going to take refuge. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:41 Highlight the passage at 1:16:41

1:17:11 These positive qualities of suffering comprising many points of practice are stated in engaging in the bodhisattva behavior in terms of suffering already arisen in one's own continuum. However, they are equally applicable to suffering one is yet to experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:11 Highlight the passage at 1:17:11

1:17:31 So I personally find it very, very helpful to meditate on suffering. I have a great aversion to doing it. I don't do it as often as I should. But when I've done it... It's very, very helpful. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:31 Highlight the passage at 1:17:31

1:17:50 The positive qualities of suffering comprising many important points of practice are stated in engaging in bodhisattva behavior in terms of suffering already arisen in one's own continuum. However, they are equally applicable to suffering one is yet to experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:50 Highlight the passage at 1:17:50

1:18:23 Okay, let's take a break. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:23 Highlight the passage at 1:18:23

1:18:32 Yeah, Denise knows. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:32 Highlight the passage at 1:18:32

1:18:42 Oh, okay. It was the same. Huh, imagine that. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:42 Highlight the passage at 1:18:42

1:18:53 Okay. All right, so the next outline is how to think about suffering, which has an outline, the actual considerations concerning the suffering and bad migrations. Nobody seems to want to listen. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:53 Highlight the passage at 1:18:53

1:19:16 Well. It probably is. And then thinking about sufferings of hell beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:16 Highlight the passage at 1:19:16

1:19:27 So anyway, we'll just get started. And then Peter will gradually come in. So the first one. So we're going to go into the sufferings of the hell. No, Karen just did. Hell beings, right? So a lot of people have reactions to this, right? Hell realms. No, you know, we grew up. so the Report an error in the passage at 1:19:27 Highlight the passage at 1:19:27

1:19:54 Getting teachings on the hell realms and we're trying to get away from them and all of that. But here we come to Buddhism and here the hells come back. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:54 Highlight the passage at 1:19:54

1:20:05 So we may have difficulty with thinking about there actually being hell realms. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:05 Highlight the passage at 1:20:05

1:20:16 But one thing that I think if we think about karma, if we really believe in karma, And if we think about the horrible things that we're capable of doing or that people actually do, then it makes sense that they would experience a lot of suffering as a result if we believe in karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:16 Highlight the passage at 1:20:16

1:20:47 And similarly, if we think enlightenment is possible and we think that we can develop our minds positively to an infinite capacity. Develop more and more love and compassion and creating more and more virtuous karma so that we can actually become enlightened. Similarly, with the negative side, we create negative karma. It's possible that an incredible amount of suffering is possible. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:47 Highlight the passage at 1:20:47

1:21:23 If we think about the torture in Guantan. It's just horrible, some of the suffering that goes on. All the rape in Darfur and the murders and all of that. So if we believe in karma, then it kind of follows that incredible suffering realms could exist. Or at least incredible suffering can exist. So even if we have a lot of resistance to thinking that hells are possible... Report an error in the passage at 1:21:23 Highlight the passage at 1:21:23

1:21:56 We can just keep an open mind and just and I'll present to you what it says, right? What it says in the Buddha Dharma, what Lama Tsongkhapa specifically is saying here. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:56 Highlight the passage at 1:21:56

1:22:07 And then we can try to, you know, at least not reject it outright. Well, maybe it's possible. We certainly know that a lot of suffering in this realm is possible. And according to the teachings, there are actually hell realms. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:07 Highlight the passage at 1:22:07

1:22:27 Okay, so there are four kinds of hell realms according to the Dharma. The great hells are the hot hells, the neighboring hells, the cold hells and the occasional hells. So I'm going to try to go through this fairly quickly so we don't get mired in hells for too many classes. Hopefully it'll be like two classes or maybe three classes where we'll talk about the hells. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:27 Highlight the passage at 1:22:27

1:22:54 So the great hells are the hot hells. So there are eight great hells or hot hells. Lama Tsongkhapa says, 32 yojanas below from here. There's the hell of continual revival and below it, seven more hells separated by 4,000 yojanas each. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:54 Highlight the passage at 1:22:54

1:23:16 So I don't remember how long a yojana is, but so according to the teachings, there's actually a physical place. For the hells kind of below here, like in the middle of the earth. In the first of those eight, the hell of continual revival, beings come together and stab each other with various weapons emerging from the power of their karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:16 Highlight the passage at 1:23:16

1:23:46 Whenever they faint and collapse on the ground, a voice rings out from the sky, you shall come back to life. Upon that, they stand up again and start stabbing again as before, due to which they experience immeasurable suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:46 Highlight the passage at 1:23:46

1:24:02 Okay, so there are these eight hells, eight hot hells that are listed, and this first one, continual revival, is the least suffering of those eight. Okay, and so in this continual revival hell, basically it's said that there are weapons everywhere. And out of great anger we're being stabbed and attacked by weapons until we finally faint and collapse on the ground. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:02 Highlight the passage at 1:24:02

1:24:35 But then there's suddenly a loud noise and then we revive again and then it starts again. We get attacked by these weapons. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:35 Highlight the passage at 1:24:35

1:24:47 Okay, so... So it's not so easy to die in the hell realms, right? If we're human beings and we're constantly attacked, we would die at a certain point. But in the hell realms it's very difficult to die, actually. And we don't die until that negative karma is exhausted. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:47 Highlight the passage at 1:24:47

1:25:10 So the second hot hell is the black line hell. In black line, the guardians put black lines on the bodies of sentient beings born there in the shape of many squares and the like, and then the latter experienced the pain of being cut into pieces with weapons along those lines. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:10 Highlight the passage at 1:25:10

1:25:32 So the guardians of this hell mark our bodies with these black lines and then like saw and hack our bodies along those lines. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:32 Highlight the passage at 1:25:32

1:25:47 So, you know, just imagining is awful. The cause of being born in the black line hell is cutting up animals, for example, or like fish that are not yet dead. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:47 Highlight the passage at 1:25:47

1:26:11 So if we think about it, you know, there are people who are doing this, right? You know, cutting up live fish or cutting off the head of a live chicken or something like that, right? So that's creating the cause to be born in. The black line hell. Then there's the crushing hell. In crushing hell, the guardians pack the beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:11 Highlight the passage at 1:26:11

1:26:38 Once they have packed together many beings, right? And once they have been rounded up in between two goat-faced or similar iron mountains, then they are immediately crushed by the two, whereupon rivers of blood spurred out from all of their orifices. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:38 Highlight the passage at 1:26:38

1:26:57 Yeah. So there's two great iron mountains. And then the beings are herded up and killed in groups. And then the Iron Mountains kind of come together and crush the beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:57 Highlight the passage at 1:26:57

1:27:14 And then you die. Oh, well, actually, you don't die. And then the process, and in all these hells, the process is repeated again and again and again. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:14 Highlight the passage at 1:27:14

1:27:28 And the cause of rebirth in crushing hell is said to be crushing. um... Let's say, for example, crushing an insect between our fingers. And Report an error in the passage at 1:27:28 Highlight the passage at 1:27:28

1:27:45 I suspect, like using a fly swatter, kill a mosquito or kill a fly, because you're crushing it between two things, and they die that way. So when we do that, we're creating a cause to be born in the crushing hell. In the hell of howling, the fourth hot hell. The sentient beings in search of an abode enter iron houses. As soon as they enter, fires blaze all around them and they burn. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:45 Highlight the passage at 1:27:45

1:28:19 So we're in an iron house and then it's surrounded by fire and it burns. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:19 Highlight the passage at 1:28:19

1:28:31 According to Geshe Jumpa Gyatso, rebirth in the howling hell is caused by beating and torturing others. It's Report an error in the passage at 1:28:31 Highlight the passage at 1:28:31

1:28:45 called the howling hell, right, because... Of the great suffering that the beings are experiencing and they howl as they're being burned. Then there's the hell of great howling, which is like the previous one, the hell of howling. The difference being that the iron houses have two layers. So there's a double wall in the iron building, which increases the heat of the fire is even greater. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:45 Highlight the passage at 1:28:45

1:29:16 Yang Zi Rinpoche says like an incinerator. So surrounded by fire and the beings in there. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:16 Highlight the passage at 1:29:16

1:29:27 Howl even louder. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:27 Highlight the passage at 1:29:27

1:29:32 And then there's the hot hell, the sixth. Okay, so here the hell guardians put the beings in, oops, the hell guardians put the sentient beings into very hot and blazing iron cauldrons of several yajanas and fry them like fish. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:32 Highlight the passage at 1:29:32

1:29:55 They're impaled through their buttocks on blazing iron stakes that emerge at the crown of their heads and fire blazes out of their mouths, their two eye sockets, nostrils, ears, as well as all their pores. They are laid out on their back or face down on the blazing iron foundation and pounded and tormented with blazing iron hammers. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:55 Highlight the passage at 1:29:55

1:30:22 Okay, so that's pretty self-explanatory. The beings are placed into a huge iron cauldron and boiled and fried, impaled through their buttocks. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:22 Highlight the passage at 1:30:22

1:30:42 Fire Report an error in the passage at 1:30:42 Highlight the passage at 1:30:42

1:30:50 comes out of the eyes, etc. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:50 Highlight the passage at 1:30:50

1:30:59 So here in the hot hell we're boiled alive repeatedly by the fire of the heat. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:59 Highlight the passage at 1:30:59

1:31:08 And then there's the very hot hell. In the very hot hell, an iron trident is stuck into the buttocks so that the right and left prongs emerge from the shoulders and the middle one from the crown of the head. Owing to that, tongues of fire blaze from orifices such as the mel. Their bodies are wrapped in blazing hot iron sheets and placed headlong into an iron cauldron full of boiling liquid. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:08 Highlight the passage at 1:31:08

1:31:42 Whereupon they are tossed up and down and about as they are boiling. Then once their skin, flesh and blood have been destroyed and nothing but the skeleton is left, they are pulled out again and spread out on the iron foundation. After that, when the skin, flesh and blood have developed again, they are put in again. Apart from that, it is like the hot hell. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:42 Highlight the passage at 1:31:42

1:32:14 in the, the... The worst hell is called the hell without respite, sometimes called the Avicii hell. And so this is the worst hell, the greatest suffering in the hell without respite. The foundation is completely ablaze for hundreds of Yojanas from the east. As it spreads, the force of the fire increases, gradually destroying the skin, flesh. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:14 Highlight the passage at 1:32:14

1:32:44 Sinews and bones of the sentient beings to the marrow. Like the wick of a butter lamp, their whole bodies are pervaded by blazing tongues of fire. In the other three directions it is similar. As the fire coming from the four directions mixes there, beings experience incessant sufferings, and only by their pathetic howling are they understood to be sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:44 Highlight the passage at 1:32:44

1:33:14 So here their bodies are so engulfed in the fire that you can't even distinguish the bodies from the fire. In iron baskets they are made to jump about on blazing iron embers. They are made to fall down on the iron foundation and to climb up huge iron mountains. Their tongues are pulled out from their mouths, spread out flat with a hundred pegs, and then made to be without a wrinkle or crease as though preparing cowhides. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:14 Highlight the passage at 1:33:14

1:33:46 Then again, they are placed on the iron foundation on their backs. Their mouths are opened with iron tongs and blazing lumps of iron are inserted into their mouths. Boiling copper is poured into their mouths and burns the mouth, the throat and the entrails before issuing from the lower body. A part like that, it is like the very hot hell. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:46 Highlight the passage at 1:33:46

1:34:20 So in the hell without respite, the worst hell, there's not even a moment where there's no suffering. So in the other hells, you're attacked by weapons, for example, and then you faint, and then you have kind of a little respite from suffering, and then it all starts again. But in the hell without respite, there's no... Report an error in the passage at 1:34:20 Highlight the passage at 1:34:20

1:34:51 There's no break from the suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:51 Highlight the passage at 1:34:51

1:34:57 Continuous, unrelenting suffering. And their bodies are very sensitive, like a baby's body. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:57 Highlight the passage at 1:34:57

1:35:11 So these hells, we can't even imagine what it would be like to experience something like that. The important thing is to not create those causes and to purify the negative actions we have created. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:11 Highlight the passage at 1:35:11

1:35:35 Yang Zi Rinpoche says, the purpose of thinking about the hell realms in this detail is to heighten our awareness of the fact that all our negative actions have consequences. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:35 Highlight the passage at 1:35:35

1:35:46 Following this logic, it is only reasonable to assume that extremely powerful negative actions can bring tremendous suffering as a result. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:46 Highlight the passage at 1:35:46

1:35:56 Thinking about all of this should bring forth the wish to purify them. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:56 Highlight the passage at 1:35:56

1:36:03 Okay, and then just... Just quickly, how long those sufferings are experienced is stated in the friendly letter. Even if for billions of years you experience completely unbearable sufferings in that way, as long as the non-virtue has not been exhausted, equally long you will not get rid of your life. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:03 Highlight the passage at 1:36:03

1:36:23 Moreover, in the treasury and actuality of the stages, it is stated that 50 human years are one day in the God realm of the four great kings. 30 of those one month, 12 of those one year, and 500 such years as the lifespan of the beings in the realm of the four great kings. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:23 Highlight the passage at 1:36:23

1:36:44 All of that is one single day in the hell of continual revival. 30 of those a month, 12 of those a year, and 500 of those in a lifespan. Likewise, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1,600 human years respectively form a day in the other. Five desire realm gods ranging from the 33 up to the controlling others emanations. And the lifespans can be 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 8,000 and 16,000 god years. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:44 Highlight the passage at 1:36:44

1:37:15 These respectively form a day in the black line through the hot hell and they can reach from 1,000 to 16,000 of their own years. In the hell of great heat one can reach half an intermediate eon and without respite one intermediate eon. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:15 Highlight the passage at 1:37:15

1:37:33 So the lifespan in the hells are compared to the lifespan of the beings in the god realms. So the lifespan of the beings in the least suffering of the great hells is the lifespan of the beings in the continual revival hell. So 500 years of the... Desire realm gods called Four Great Kings is equal to one day of the beings in the continual revival hell. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:33 Highlight the passage at 1:37:33

1:38:17 And so I did the math based on these numbers. And so one day of a being in the continual revival hell is equivalent to 9 million human years. And their lifespan is... Report an error in the passage at 1:38:17 Highlight the passage at 1:38:17

1:38:39 years. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:39 Highlight the passage at 1:38:39

1:38:47 30 days or a month. So I'm not sure if I did this math exactly right, but. So just to give us an idea that, you know, the... The suffering in the hell realms lasts for an inconceivable long time. So it's not something to take lightly. It's pretty mind-boggling. So we're Report an error in the passage at 1:38:47 Highlight the passage at 1:38:47

1:39:42 done with the hot hells. I wanted to go through that as quickly as possible. So just as we were saying, right. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:42 Highlight the passage at 1:39:42

1:39:54 The important thing from this is to purify, to create more and more positive karma, less and less negative karma. Not to take negative actions lightly. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:54 Highlight the passage at 1:39:54

1:40:11 Because unfortunately we've all created the causes to be reborn in these hot hells, according to these teachings. Because probably all of us have killed an insect, right? On purpose, maybe? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:11 Highlight the passage at 1:40:11

1:40:37 So next time we'll go through, well I think next time we can finish the rest of the hells and go on to something else. I was really looking forward to this. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:37 Highlight the passage at 1:40:37

1:40:53 Sobering. Any comments on that? Yeah, Jeannie. I Report an error in the passage at 1:40:53 Highlight the passage at 1:40:53

1:41:10 would say when we talked about the nicer hell realm is having a brief pause it reminded me of child labor. Okay. A brief pause and then. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:10 Highlight the passage at 1:41:10

1:41:21 And a question. Question, are there tankas that have the hell realms in them, the images? Yeah, sometimes the wheel of life. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:21 Highlight the passage at 1:41:21

1:41:36 It's all very familiar visually. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:36 Highlight the passage at 1:41:36

1:41:41 Any other comments or questions? Report an error in the passage at 1:41:41 Highlight the passage at 1:41:41

1:41:52 I don't think we know the hell guardians. They're kind of the bosses in the hell realms. Yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:52 Highlight the passage at 1:41:52

1:41:40 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:40 Highlight the passage at 1:41:40

1:42:01 I don't, yeah. No, Mahakala is... No. Yeah, just a wrathful deity isn't encouraging the boiling alive of any being. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:01 Highlight the passage at 1:42:01

1:42:26 I heard something interesting in Robert Thurman's new book when he was talking about the hells and how you can see somebody who's living in a hell realm in this life, which is somebody who isolates themselves from others due to their anger or their strong sensitivity. Creates a barrier between them and sentient beings. And within that barrier, they have these very angry, paranoid, upset minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:26 Highlight the passage at 1:42:26

1:42:53 And they have to create more and more and more barriers against others in order to feel okay. And you can see that as somebody who is already in a hell realm now. That made a lot of sense to me. This is very abstract for me when we start getting into the hells. As far as how much I believe they literally exist. But you can certainly see people that live in a hell realm now, in a sense. And I thought that made a lot of sense. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:53 Highlight the passage at 1:42:53

1:43:22 Yeah, and we can see a lot of people who are living in hell realms right now. Anyone living in a war zone, anyone living in an abusive situation, anyone living who's a victim of a crime, a violent crime. Or people in relationships with someone who's oppressing them. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:43:22 Highlight the passage at 1:43:22

1:43:52 oftentimes they are. Yeah, or psychotic people might be. Yeah, there's a lot of incredible people in prisons. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:52 Highlight the passage at 1:43:52

1:44:14 There's a reason why they are in prison. I mean, there's just a lot of... Report an error in the passage at 1:44:14 Highlight the passage at 1:44:14

1:44:05 you know, so Report an error in the passage at 1:44:05 Highlight the passage at 1:44:05

1:44:19 Something happened to them as a kid or whatever. So they are suffering in the hell realms. But for what they did to another human being is what I have a problem with. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:19 Highlight the passage at 1:44:19

1:44:31 Right. And that's a big practice, right? Huge. I mean, it's a huge practice learning to develop compassion for them instead of judgment. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:31 Highlight the passage at 1:44:31

1:44:45 Because I think the more we practice and the more we realize, Mm-hmm. -hmm. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:45 Highlight the passage at 1:44:45

1:44:41 You know, and, um... Report an error in the passage at 1:44:41 Highlight the passage at 1:44:41

1:44:49 In our own minds, how under control we are of the mental afflictions and how we do things that we wouldn't normally do when we're under the control of an affliction. Then we can kind of feel a kinship with these people. They're just under the control of their mental afflictions and how awful that is. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:49 Highlight the passage at 1:44:49

1:45:09 And also how we would be if we were brought up in an abusive situation or in a horrible situation that a lot of... People are, you know, we wouldn't be the way that we are now if we had totally different parents and a totally different childhood, right? I didn't have the greatest childhood, but I made a choice. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:09 Highlight the passage at 1:45:09

1:45:31 Do I want to go down a certain path or go the other way? And obviously I'm here and I'm quite happy. And I'm a lot stronger from it. But I guess I can say I have forgiven. You know, the situation, you know, that being whatever. But it took a long time. Yeah, it does. You know, but you have to work with yourself first, obviously. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:31 Highlight the passage at 1:45:31

1:45:57 Yeah. So, but I guess that's what the prisoners do. They have all that time to think about it, you know. So, I mean, don't get me wrong. I do have compassion for those individuals. But it's just really unfortunate why they got there to begin with, you know. The suffering that they caused others. Yeah, and that's just, yeah, that's just a really difficult one. Especially when somebody's harmed somebody else. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:57 Highlight the passage at 1:45:57

1:46:33 I went to a teaching the other day by Gellick Rinpoche. Yeah, yeah, he was down, you were there? Yeah, in Milpitas. Okay, anyway. So, yeah, yeah. Anyway. So he was asked about punishing. Shouldn't we punish basically people from the previous administration? Or should we, what do you call it, pardon them, like in history? And Gellic Rinpoche was kind of like, I don't think in that way at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:33 Highlight the passage at 1:46:33

1:47:03 Finishing, you know, should we, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:03 Highlight the passage at 1:47:03

1:47:24 It's not about punishment. It's about really, you know, developing compassion for these beings and, you know, trying to rehabilitate them, right, instead of punishing them. You know, in this country we're so much about punishment, you know, throw them in jail, but they're suffering, right? They wouldn't commit, we don't commit a crime, we don't hurt others unless we're suffering, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:47:24 Highlight the passage at 1:47:24

1:47:52 So if we can get in touch with their suffering, then that's... When the compassion arises more easily. And then we, you know, if we could as a society, right, try to help them, right, instead of just throwing them into a situation where they're just going to get worse most of the time. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:52 Highlight the passage at 1:47:52

1:48:12 But that's a difficult one. You know, if my, you know, a family member was, you know, was raped and beaten, you know, would I say, oh, well. Would I have compassion for that person? I don't know. That would be really hard. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:12 Highlight the passage at 1:48:12

1:48:37 Just recently, a little old lady, 80 years old, was hit by a car. I think it was in the South Bay. And I think it was a Vietnamese woman. She used to go to church every single day at 8 o 'clock in the morning forever. But the thing is, and I found this to be mind-blowing, her son came on the news. hard, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:37 Highlight the passage at 1:48:37

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:49:00 And said he forgave that driver because the driver got out of the car, picked her body up and pulled her to the side of the road so she wouldn't get hit repeatedly. So he said on the news, I forgive that driver. Yes, I'm angry that my mother was killed, but so I forgive the driver for pulling my mother's body to the side of the road so that she wouldn't suffer anymore. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:00 Highlight the passage at 1:49:00

1:49:25 So he said, I have compassion for that person. And I'm like, whoa. I need to put myself in check right now because of that. See? Yeah, it's amazing when people are... That's amazing. I read this amazing... I'm sorry, we're over. I read this amazing story about this woman whose son was killed, murdered by another young guy. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:25 Highlight the passage at 1:49:25

1:49:55 And at court when he was sentenced, she said... She said something like, I want you to die, kind of thing, right? And then after a time, she started visiting this criminal in jail and bringing him things and teaching him things. Then when he was released, she brought him into her home and helped him get a job and eventually adopted him. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:55 Highlight the passage at 1:49:55

1:50:35 mean, it's just, I guess, I'm... Amazing story. And then one day she asked him, she said, do you remember that day when I told you in the courtroom that I wanted you to die? And he said, definitely I remember that. And she said, I wanted that criminal to die and that's why I took you under my wing and tried to help you. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:35 Highlight the passage at 1:50:35

1:50:58 Yeah, I mean, that's just mind-boggling, right? That's just amazing. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:58 Highlight the passage at 1:50:58

1:51:09 We'll dedicate the merit. amazing. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:09 Highlight the passage at 1:51:09

1:51:12 2.35. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:12 Highlight the passage at 1:51:12

1:51:17 Oh, was there one more question? Anna? You sure? Report an error in the passage at 1:51:17 Highlight the passage at 1:51:17

1:51:29 You can do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:29 Highlight the passage at 1:51:29

1:51:38 Go for it. Go for it. No, what I was going to say is that I've attended teachings by Venerable Rubina, and one of the things that she's talked about is habituation and how sometimes we bring to this lifetime negative habits that we've had in the past. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:38 Highlight the passage at 1:51:38

1:52:00 I remember that at National Public Radio, they were interviewing an ex-gang member, Richie, someone or other, and he had been in jail now for quite a long time. He had been a big mafioso in the Mexican gang. And, I mean, I was really shocked because he talked about, he says, no, he says, I had a very nice life. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:00 Highlight the passage at 1:52:00

1:52:21 He said, my parents were middle class people. They treated me well. So he didn't have that. As you were saying, he had suffered greatly in this lifetime. But it seems like he really had, I mean, there was a lot of pleasure in all the negative things that he did do. And then I remembered, oh, that sounds like habituation, something that, you know, Venerable Rubina had talked about in how we come to this lifetime sometimes with those past habits. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:21 Highlight the passage at 1:52:21

1:52:57 So that was interesting. So Report an error in the passage at 1:52:57 Highlight the passage at 1:52:57

1:53:06 we'll do the 235. We'll Report an error in the passage at 1:53:06 Highlight the passage at 1:53:06

1:53:18 do these first three. Due to the merits of these virtuous actions, may I quickly attain the state of a guru Buddha and lead all living beings without exception into that enlightened state. May the supreme jewel bodhicitta that has not arisen arise and grow, and may that which has arisen not diminish. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:18 Highlight the passage at 1:53:18

1:53:10 235. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:10 Highlight the passage at 1:53:10

1:53:40 but increase more and more. Just as the brave Manjushri and Samanta Bhadra too things as they are, I too dedicate all these merits in the best way that I may follow their perfect So then let's dedicate for the long lives of all of our spiritual masters. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Chodan Rinpoche, Geshe Dagpa. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:40 Highlight the passage at 1:53:40

1:54:14 Penelope Ravina, Report an error in the passage at 1:54:14 Highlight the passage at 1:54:14

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:55:29 suffering of the hell realm. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:29 Highlight the passage at 1:55:29

1:55:37 there. We haven't? No. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:37 Highlight the passage at 1:55:37

1:55:50 we'll double up with three on each side. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:50 Highlight the passage at 1:55:50

1:56:12 a little too okay Report an error in the passage at 1:56:12 Highlight the passage at 1:56:12

1:56:18 patient with the most difficult Report an error in the passage at 1:56:18 Highlight the passage at 1:56:18

1:56:26 somebody's going to do it. Oh, really? Tomorrow? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:26 Highlight the passage at 1:56:26