Basic Program - Buddhism From A-Z (30 January 2009)

0:00 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 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:12 Okay, so recall we're on the section on the suffering of the lower realms. Report an error in the passage at 0:12 Highlight the passage at 0:12

0:22 And recall why, right? Why do we need to think about suffering, right? Because most of us tend to have an aversion, right, to thinking about suffering. Report an error in the passage at 0:22 Highlight the passage at 0:22

0:33 So why bother? Like some people think that, you know, the Dharma is... All about suffering, right? But actually the Dharma is all about removing suffering, right? Understanding suffering in order to be able to remove it, right? So some of the benefits of thinking about suffering are so that we understand that suffering is possible and what the causes of suffering are so that we can avoid the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 0:33 Highlight the passage at 0:33

1:07 And to create the causes of happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:07 Highlight the passage at 1:07

1:12 Also it dispels pride and arrogance and it helps us develop compassion for others. So you remember all that? Okay. So we talked about the suffering of the hot hells last time. So how many hot hells were there? Eight. Yeah, exactly. Penis. Report an error in the passage at 1:12 Highlight the passage at 1:12

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:41 Does anybody remember the lifespan of a being in the... It was, yeah, yeah. So of the shortest lifespan, great hell. The hell of continual revival in that one was something like 1.7 quadrillion years. Okay. All right. So we don't want to be born there. Okay. So the next type of... So there were the great hells, the hot hells, right? There's also something called the neighboring hells. You're frowning. Report an error in the passage at 1:41 Highlight the passage at 1:41

2:29 There's something called the cold hells and the occasional hells. There's also many pure lands and good places too, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:29 Highlight the passage at 2:29

2:47 Unfortunately, it's a little easier to land in the hells. So the four, the great hot hells, neighboring hells, cold hells, and occasional hells. So we're done with the hot hells. So we'll go into the neighboring hells. So the neighboring hells. Okay, so the, let me give you the page number we're on first. Report an error in the passage at 2:47 Highlight the passage at 2:47

3:13 Yeah, the bottom of page 60. Report an error in the passage at 3:13 Highlight the passage at 3:13

3:19 So the neighboring hells. So the texts give physical locations for these hells. So according to the text, there are eight different hot hells, great hot hells. And then each of those eight have four walls and four gates or entryways, it said. And then outside of that, miles away, it's surrounded by an iron fence. Report an error in the passage at 3:19 Highlight the passage at 3:19

3:55 And then that fence also has four gates. And then by the four gates, there are these four neighboring hells. So Gishi, I think it's Gishi Sopa, says that there are different ways to be reborn in these neighboring hells. And some people just generate the karma and are directly reborn in a neighboring hell. I shouldn't say people, some beings. And then some beings... Report an error in the passage at 3:55 Highlight the passage at 3:55

4:25 Once their karma, or once they die out of the hot hills, then they go to the neighboring hills. So it's like they finally escape the hot hills and here they have to go through the neighboring hills. Because it's said that some still have the serious negative karma that after they die out of the hot hills, they still have enough serious negative karma to be reborn in the neighboring hills. Report an error in the passage at 4:25 Highlight the passage at 4:25

4:57 Because they neighbor the hot hills, so they're close to the hot hills. It's like if you escape out of the hot hills, you escape out of one of the doors and then you escape out of the iron fence and then you're in the neighboring hill. So that's the way the texts describe it. Report an error in the passage at 4:57 Highlight the passage at 4:57

5:26 All right. So, you know, so it might be hard to really understand or believe, you know, all the physicality of it. But the important point is to understand, right, that tremendous amounts of suffering are possible because of karma. Report an error in the passage at 5:26 Highlight the passage at 5:26

5:46 All right. So Lama Tsongkhapa says each one of the eight hells has four sidewalls and four gates. On the outside, they're surrounded by an iron fence, and that fence also has four gates. By each gate, there are the four remaining hells of sentient beings. The pit of burning embers, the bog of putrid corpses, or the bog of excrement, the reeking of corpses, the razor road, etc., and the river without a ford. Report an error in the passage at 5:46 Highlight the passage at 5:46

6:20 In the first of these, so the pit of burning embers, There are hot embers up to the knees, and when sentient beings go to look for a place to stand, as they set their foot down, their skin and flesh and blood are destroyed, and as they lift them up, they regenerate. Report an error in the passage at 6:20 Highlight the passage at 6:20

6:40 So that's what's said. So as you walk through the pit of burning embers, your leg basically gets... up and eaten right and then as you lift it up it restores itself and then So the second one, nearby there's the second one, the bog of excrements reeking of corpses. As they cross it in search for an abode, sentient beings fall and sink in up to the head. Report an error in the passage at 6:40 Highlight the passage at 6:40

7:17 In this bog, there are worms called sharp beaks that pierce the skin, flesh, sinews and bones and dig through them all the way to the marrow. So the bog of excrements reeking of corpses. Okay, so it's like, you know, one of those really marshy places, you know, you step in there and then suddenly, suddenly you're in over your head and there are these, like these little beings, you know, in the mud, you know, kind of eating at you. Report an error in the passage at 7:17 Highlight the passage at 7:17

7:49 That's what the way this one's described. And I remember once I was hiking in England, you know, thinking there was no problem. And before I knew it, like my leg, my foot didn't land on the ground. It sunk in to my knees and I couldn't get out. So it was, it was. And so that reminds me of, you know, this hell, except of course this hell is much worse. Report an error in the passage at 7:49 Highlight the passage at 7:49

8:20 Okay, so the next neighboring hell is called Razor Road, and this has a few different types. First of all, it says near the bog there is a third one, a path fitted with razor blade teeth. As soon as sentient beings walk along it in search of an abode, As they put down their feet, their skin, flesh and their blood are cut and grow back again as they lift them. It's like there's these razor blades all on the ground and every time you put your foot down, your feet are all cut up. Report an error in the passage at 8:20 Highlight the passage at 8:20

9:29 Then nearby that is the forest of sword leaves. As sentient beings walk around in search of an abode using its shade. And settling down, swords emerge from the trees and chop up their limbs and other body parts. When they faint there, reddish brown dogs come, grab them from the back and eat them. Report an error in the passage at 9:29 Highlight the passage at 9:29

9:53 Okay, so there are these trees, right, with leaves like swords and then they fall down on you and cut off your arms and cut off, you know, your various, chop up your limbs, etc. And then when you faint from the pain, then there are these dogs that come and eat you. Report an error in the passage at 9:53 Highlight the passage at 9:53

10:17 Then there's another one within Razor Road, which is the forest of iron-spiked trees. Sentient beings walking around there in search of an abode set about climbing up the trees. So as they climb up, the tips of the thorns point downwards, so they cut us. And then as they climb down the tree, the thorns point upward, chopping up the limbs and other body parts. Since there are birds with iron beaks in that place, they come and alight on the shoulders or heads, peck at their eyeballs and eat them. Report an error in the passage at 10:17 Highlight the passage at 10:17

10:55 Okay, all these places are similar in that they cause weapon injuries and should be considered as one. Okay, so that's the third neighboring hell. Report an error in the passage at 10:55 Highlight the passage at 10:55

11:08 And then the fourth. Near the forest of iron-spiked trees, there's the so-called river without a ford, filled with fast-moving, boiling water. Sentient beings in search of an abode fall in and get cooked as they bob up and down, like, for instance, peas throw in a cauldron filled with water over a great fire. Report an error in the passage at 11:08 Highlight the passage at 11:08

11:32 On either bank of the river, there are guardians holding sticks, hooks and nets in their hands. When you finally escape the boiling river, then there are these guardians on the side who basically chase you back into the river. But here it says, having pulled them out with the hooks or nets, the guardians place them face upward on a blazing great foundation and ask them what they want. Report an error in the passage at 11:32 Highlight the passage at 11:32

12:15 When they say, I don't know anything, I cannot see, however I am hungry and thirsty. Fiercely blazing lumps of iron are inserted into their mouths and boiling copper is poured in. Report an error in the passage at 12:15 Highlight the passage at 12:15

12:33 So the, Report an error in the passage at 12:33 Highlight the passage at 12:33

12:37 you know, it's painful to just even think, just to hear about it, just to think that this might be possible, but then just if we imagine actually being born in one of those. Report an error in the passage at 12:37 Highlight the passage at 12:37

12:51 It's pretty horrifying. So Gishisopa says, we can easily imagine what the causes for such a rebirth would be. Cooking other beings while they're still alive. Report an error in the passage at 12:51 Highlight the passage at 12:51

13:09 So like that, you know, the custom of throwing live lobsters or crabs in boiling water. Report an error in the passage at 13:09 Highlight the passage at 13:09

13:21 That's basically, you know, we're creating the causes to be reborn in one of these. Which kind of makes sense, right? Because we're causing other... Beings to die by throwing them in boiling water. So then naturally the karma that ripens would be for us to experience that if we've ever done that. Report an error in the passage at 13:21 Highlight the passage at 13:21

13:49 So it's good for us to not do it and it's also good for us to try to help others not do that. Report an error in the passage at 13:49 Highlight the passage at 13:49

14:04 I was in Houston with my mom over the holidays. And we were at a Chinese restaurant. And it was one of those Chinese restaurants where they have a tank full of live fish. And Mom said, let's get a fish. And I was kind of horrified. I said, maybe that's not such a good idea. Let's not get a fish. And unfortunately, she, for my sake. Report an error in the passage at 14:04 Highlight the passage at 14:04

14:37 She didn't order a fish. But it's so hard to say something in a way that they won't just make fun of you or just be rebellious and do it anyway and all of that. So you can't say, oh, well, you know you're going to be born in hell if you do that. That doesn't really work so well. Report an error in the passage at 14:37 Highlight the passage at 14:37

15:17 Apropos of what you just said, how does Buddhism deal with the fact that All these countries like China, Southeast Asia that are devoutly Buddhist or China was devoutly Buddhist eat live food all the time. I mean that's a very common practice in a lot of Asian cultures and in Japan where they'll actually like serve a fish that's alive flapping around and sliced up and they're Buddhist as well. Report an error in the passage at 15:17 Highlight the passage at 15:17

15:42 How do they do that? How do they make that leap? Well, you know, I mean I can't imagine that if you're a real sincere Buddhist. Report an error in the passage at 15:42 Highlight the passage at 15:42

15:57 That you know the teachings, that you would still do that. Report an error in the passage at 15:57 Highlight the passage at 15:57

16:06 I mean, it's common here too, right? And Christianity, it's not really okay in Christianity either, right? Or Judeo-Christian culture. Report an error in the passage at 16:06 Highlight the passage at 16:06

16:30 So it's okay? Report an error in the passage at 16:30 Highlight the passage at 16:30

16:54 Yeah. So I think it's just the difference between the ideal of a particular religion and the... The actuality of where people are with the mental afflictions, particularly the attachment. Because this Report an error in the passage at 16:54 Highlight the passage at 16:54

17:20 comes from Indian sources. It's in the sutras, yeah. Exactly, the Buddha talked about these. It wasn't made up by the Tibetans. But what people actually do in practice is another thing. It's like we can justify anything in our own minds if we have enough attachment. Report an error in the passage at 17:20 Highlight the passage at 17:20

17:41 Oh, well, you know, who would eat frozen fish when you can eat, you know, fresh fish or, you know, I mean, that's what somebody told me. So, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 17:41 Highlight the passage at 17:41

17:56 Pass the mic, please. Report an error in the passage at 17:56 Highlight the passage at 17:56

18:02 So those of us who do eat meat periodically and fish, for me, I always feel guilty. So, I mean, what are we supposed to do? I mean, when someone says, oh, I thought you were a Buddhist. Buddhists don't eat meat. face they would say it's like well then I feel guilty and I'm not sure what to do you know Report an error in the passage at 18:02 Highlight the passage at 18:02

18:28 yeah, yeah. That's a Report an error in the passage at 18:28 Highlight the passage at 18:28

18:36 hard issue, right? I mean, His Holiness the Dalai Lama does say, it is best if we cannot eat meat. You know, it is best if we can be vegetarians. Report an error in the passage at 18:36 Highlight the passage at 18:36

18:55 Some people do need to eat meat for health reasons. Like for him in particular, he was told by his doctors he needs to eat meat. So at various times he's eaten meat because of health reasons. But if we can be vegetarians, I think it's better for the mind. It's better for our compassion. Because when we do eat meat, there's some hardening of the heart toward the animal that you're eating. Report an error in the passage at 18:55 Highlight the passage at 18:55

19:33 Because you can't eat an animal unless you've kind of closed your heart off to that being. Like if you thought that animal was somebody who really wanted to live and wanted to be happy, it's hard to eat them. Report an error in the passage at 19:33 Highlight the passage at 19:33

19:51 But, you know, we just need to be where we are and, you know, maybe at least to start eating meat less and less. And I think it's a very good idea to take a vow, like, to not eat meat for a month and just try it and just see how it goes. And then, you know, gradually, slowly, slowly, if we don't need it for our health, it feels better. Report an error in the passage at 19:51 Highlight the passage at 19:51

20:19 For the mind. At least in my experience. In my experience. Because I was eating meat once in a while. And then I just decided to take a vow and not eat it at all. And I just feel so much better. You know, my mind feels better not eating it. So, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 20:19 Highlight the passage at 20:19

20:48 But also, I mean, I also have to say, if you're a very active person, you know, where you need a lot of energy. Sometimes it's hard to get enough energy on just a vegetarian diet. So we see. Report an error in the passage at 20:48 Highlight the passage at 20:48

21:08 I think the basic measure of whether or not we should do something is what is more beneficial. Is it more beneficial if I... you know, we see, I mean, Report an error in the passage at 21:08 Highlight the passage at 21:08

21:23 I I'm a vegetarian, but I don't have enough energy, for example, to do the things that I do. Or is it more beneficial to eat meat? We have to decide honestly, right? Just be honest with ourselves and see what's more beneficial. Report an error in the passage at 21:23 Highlight the passage at 21:23

21:45 So His Holiness says, if you need to eat meat for health or something, then it's acceptable, but it's best not to do it with attachment. Report an error in the passage at 21:45 Highlight the passage at 21:45

22:03 I was thinking about the hell world because I've always thought when I'm reading them that they're bad, but really I think I've seen as many hell worlds here on earth and what people do to each other than the Buddha talked about. We seem to have gotten better at making hell worlds with Hiroshima and the wars we've had and then all the abuse that happens between people. Report an error in the passage at 22:03 Highlight the passage at 22:03

22:31 Maybe I've just seen more of it. Because of my work, but I don't think what Buddha's talking about is really so bad compared to what we are able to do to each other. So I guess we create our home. And then being in India, with the little children living next to garbage dumps and being blinded, and you see them with their arms cut off, begging. Report an error in the passage at 22:31 Highlight the passage at 22:31

22:51 I wonder. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, were you here last week? Okay. Yeah. So, yeah, the hell is it? I mean, there's a lot of right hellish existences here on the earth. And actually when we get to the occasional hells, it's kind of like that. But unfortunately, according to the teachings, whatever, like the worst things that people are experiencing here, it's still nothing compared to what's in the hell realms. Report an error in the passage at 22:51 Highlight the passage at 22:51

23:22 Like the worst hell, the hell without respite. Or the Avicii Hell. There's not a moment of relief from torture, etc. But I think for our meditation, I think we can just meditate on the worst kind of suffering that we can think of. And that's enough to inspire us to not create the causes. That's enough to inspire us to purify. Report an error in the passage at 23:22 Highlight the passage at 23:22

24:00 and, know, shape up our karmic act. You know what I mean? I mean, I just read this stuff and I just think, oh, my gosh. You know, I really, I really want to be careful about what kind of karma I create and not just. So, alright. Report an error in the passage at 24:00 Highlight the passage at 24:00

24:22 insects and things like that, you know, just be really careful we treat other beings. Report an error in the passage at 24:22 Highlight the passage at 24:22

24:39 So those are the neighboring hells. And then there are eight cold hells. Did we finish them? Oh, no, actually I didn't finish the last. So in the actuality of the stages explains that the lifespan in the neighboring and occasional hells is not certain. However, the sufferings will be experienced as long as the potency of the karma for experiencing those sufferings has not been exhausted. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 24:39 Highlight the passage at 24:39

25:07 So in the hot hells, right, we learned that... The lifespan was millions and millions and quadrillion years. But in the neighboring hells, it's uncertain. It just depends on our karma. Then the cold hells. So the third one is the cold hells are directly opposite the eight great hot hells of sentient beings, each at a distance of 10,000 yajanas. Report an error in the passage at 25:07 Highlight the passage at 25:07

25:36 I'm trying to remember. I think a yajana was something like... Yeah. Actually, I was going to say... Just over a kilometer, less than a mile, maybe, distance-wise. But anyway, 32,000 Yojanas below. From here, there is a hell of blisters, and from there, separated by 2,000 Yojanas each, another seven hells. Report an error in the passage at 25:36 Highlight the passage at 25:36

26:09 Okay, among those eight, in the one of blisters, you are hit by strong icy wind and your body shrivels. While everywhere blisters appear. In the hell of bursting blisters, you shrivel as the blisters burst open. Chattering teeth, lamentation and the burr are named after the sounds being uttered. Report an error in the passage at 26:09 Highlight the passage at 26:09

26:33 In the splitting apart like an Utpala flower, as you are hit by strong icy wind, you turn blue in color and split apart into five or six pieces. In the splitting apart like a lotus, you pass beyond blue and turn red, splitting apart into ten or more pieces. In great splitting apart like lotus, your skin turns deep red and you split apart into a hundred or even more pieces. Report an error in the passage at 26:33 Highlight the passage at 26:33

27:01 Okay, so there are these eight cold hells that correspond or that are opposite to the eight hot hells. So the least suffering of these cold hells is the blistering hell or the blisters. Report an error in the passage at 27:01 Highlight the passage at 27:01

27:14 So the wind that you experience is far, far colder than anything we've ever experienced. And Yang Zi Rinpoche says, it's so cold in this blistering hell that the bodies of the beings who reside there break open into blisters. Report an error in the passage at 27:14 Highlight the passage at 27:14

27:41 So in the second one, in the bursting blisters, Then the blisters crack open and ooze, and the suffering is a hundred times worse than in the first blistering hell. Report an error in the passage at 27:41 Highlight the passage at 27:41

27:58 Then in the third, the chattering teeth hell, our teeth bang together incessantly as a result of the extreme cold. In Lamentation the fourth, the beings write lament about how cold they are. Report an error in the passage at 27:58 Highlight the passage at 27:58

28:19 similarly in the Fifth cold hell, the Burr, where beings complain continually of the cold. Then there's the sixth, the splitting apart like an Utpala flower, where as you're hit by the icy wind, then your body turns blue and then splits apart into five or six pieces. Report an error in the passage at 28:19 Highlight the passage at 28:19

28:43 And then the next one, the seventh, splitting apart like a lotus, you pass beyond blue and turn red. Splitting apart into ten or more pieces. And then the great splitting apart like a lotus. The skin turns deep red and you split apart into a hundred or even more pieces. Report an error in the passage at 28:43 Highlight the passage at 28:43

29:08 So what are the causes of being reborn in a cold hell? Report an error in the passage at 29:08 Highlight the passage at 29:08

29:19 Is causing sentient beings to freeze? Like throwing beings out into the cold? so... I was saying, I think last week, taking insects out of our house into the cold and causing them to freeze. That is a cause to be reborn in the cold hell. So that's not difficult to do, right? That's really easy to do. Report an error in the passage at 29:19 Highlight the passage at 29:19

29:49 I've been thinking about it ever since I read this. I was taking the ants out of the house today, and I was glad it was a warm day. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done it. you know Report an error in the passage at 29:49 Highlight the passage at 29:49

30:00 Also another example is to throw animals such as cats or dogs in very cold water, even as a joke. So I guess even throwing a human being into extremely cold water is a joke. Report an error in the passage at 30:00 Highlight the passage at 30:00

30:23 Stealing warm clothing, another cause to be reborn in cold hell. Report an error in the passage at 30:23 Highlight the passage at 30:23

30:36 Where I was... I was just reading about an old man in Michigan, 93 years old, who was living by himself. And the power company had put this kind of controller on his heat, or on his energy, where if he used more than a certain amount of energy, it would trip it up. So it turned off, and they found him frozen to death in his house. Report an error in the passage at 30:36 Highlight the passage at 30:36

31:10 And they had put this on his power because he had not paid his bills for a few months. Report an error in the passage at 31:10 Highlight the passage at 31:10

31:23 And then they went to investigate and he had plenty of money, but they think that his mind had gone off. So something like that, right? That seems to me to be a cause of the cold hells, right? Turning off someone's power, causing them to freeze. Report an error in the passage at 31:23 Highlight the passage at 31:23

31:48 Because in there you were dealing with like a business entity, not necessarily an individual maybe. No, but still, I mean, your action, right, based on your mental affliction, right, which is attachment to getting paid, right, you know, you put this device on and it caused someone to freeze. So it's... Report an error in the passage at 31:48 Highlight the passage at 31:48

32:15 It doesn't seem, so I think that that is, I mean, because they were doing it right to a person, you know, whether or not we recognize that we're harming another living being, we're still creating the cause for them to die, right? And that's sufficient. But what about the intent? Report an error in the passage at 32:15 Highlight the passage at 32:15

32:43 Yeah, I mean, I think that we're still creating, like if we take... The ants outside and they die, right? Our intention isn't to kill them, but our intention is to get them out of our house, right? But the result is that they die because of our action. So I'm thinking that, you know, like not thinking about the consequences of our actions is not an excuse, right? Report an error in the passage at 32:43 Highlight the passage at 32:43

33:16 It's like ignorance of the law is not an excuse. So if we thoughtlessly do an action out of a mental affliction and it causes great harm to others, we're creating tremendously negative karma. Report an error in the passage at 33:16 Highlight the passage at 33:16

33:37 So whether or not it's an action of killing, like a complete action of killing, I'm not sure. But I would operate on the assumption that it is, just to be safe. know Report an error in the passage at 33:37 Highlight the passage at 33:37

33:53 Because I think that's one of our human problems is that oftentimes we don't really think about the consequences of our actions. About putting the insects outside and causing them to be homeless and cold and starving. Right? Or. . . Driving too fast down the highway and killing a lot more ants, a lot more insects. It's important to be mindful of our actions and the consequences, right? Report an error in the passage at 33:53 Highlight the passage at 33:53

34:35 Or, you know, going to war, like our country went to war, right, to free the Iraqis, right? Supposedly. But the consequence of that is a lot of beings were killed. So whether or not you went over there to intending to kill a lot of beings or not, that was the consequence of going to war. If you don't think about that, I don't think that that gets you out of the karma. Report an error in the passage at 34:35 Highlight the passage at 34:35

35:05 Does that make sense? Report an error in the passage at 35:05 Highlight the passage at 35:05

35:10 But the karma is worse, I would say, if you're intentionally wanting to kill. What Report an error in the passage at 35:10 Highlight the passage at 35:10

35:34 about the karma on the being that was killed, like in terms of this old gentleman? You know, he ends up frozen to death. He met up with the causes and conditions that he would be then killed by freezing. That was his karma. But if the power company hadn't created the condition, then he wouldn't have died at that point. Report an error in the passage at 35:34 Highlight the passage at 35:34

36:05 So he died because... Because he had created the cause, but he wouldn't have died if the conditions weren't present. So he would have lived longer. Report an error in the passage at 36:05 Highlight the passage at 36:05

36:20 So other sentient beings can create the condition for somebody to die. But they have to have created the cause. Does that make sense? Report an error in the passage at 36:20 Highlight the passage at 36:20

36:43 Also it's said that... Report an error in the passage at 36:43 Highlight the passage at 36:43

36:49 Prior to being reborn in a cold hell, it's said that, you know, as we're dying at the time of death, oftentimes that being feels very hot and craves cold. Report an error in the passage at 36:49 Highlight the passage at 36:49

37:06 And so based on that, that kind of propels them into the cold hell, right? I mean, if you've created the cause, right, to be reborn in the cold hell. And the same is true with the hot hells. If you're very cold at the time of death and you're craving heat, that might propel you into the hot hells if you've created the causes. Report an error in the passage at 37:06 Highlight the passage at 37:06

37:40 Okay, and then the lifespan of the beings in the cold hells. As for the lifespan, it is stated that if you were to fill a storage container up to the brim with 80 caries of sesame from Mag... Magada and take out one grain of sesame every hundred years. The lifespan in the hell of blisters would last far longer than for the sesame to be completely used up. Report an error in the passage at 37:40 Highlight the passage at 37:40

38:12 So, okay, so, you know, so in India they use different units of measure than we did. So, so there's this huge storage container where Geshe Sopa says, Basically equivalent to about 2,000 pounds of sesame seeds. Right. And so if you take out one grain every 100 years, the amount of time that it takes you to take out all the grains is less than the lifespan for blisters, the shortest lifespan of the cold hells. Report an error in the passage at 38:12 Highlight the passage at 38:12

38:53 And then for the next... For each of the subsequent cold hell, the lifespan increases 20 times. So the bursting blisters, the lifespan would be 20 times that of the blisters. Report an error in the passage at 38:53 Highlight the passage at 38:53

39:07 So that's one. That's according to Vasubandhu. And then according to Asanga, he says that the time beings must spend in the cold hells is one and a half times as long as those beings born in the corresponding level of the hot hells. Report an error in the passage at 39:07 Highlight the passage at 39:07

39:26 If the shortest hot hell was 1.7 quadrillion years, then one and a half times would be the lifespan of a being in a blistering hell, according to a saṅgha. So, a long time. Report an error in the passage at 39:26 Highlight the passage at 39:26

39:49 Okay, are we having fun yet? Okay, then the last of the hells is the occasional hell. So the fourth ones exist in the vicinity of the hot and cold hells. In actuality of the stages, it says that they also exist in human places. And in basis of Vinaya scriptures, it is said that they exist near the shores of great lakes, as it appears from expression of the realizations of Saṅgha Rakshita. Report an error in the passage at 39:49 Highlight the passage at 39:49

40:24 Okay, so there are a lot of different occasional hells. They can be located anywhere. Actually, Gishisopa says they have no definite location. So different sources say different things, like the occasional hells. Some of them say that they're located near the hot and cold hells. Others exist in the human realm. Report an error in the passage at 40:24 Highlight the passage at 40:24

40:49 So the beings who are experiencing hell-like existences here might actually have an occasional hell karma. Report an error in the passage at 40:49 Highlight the passage at 40:49

41:03 And another text says that the occasional hells can be found on the shores of the ocean in the human realm. And Report an error in the passage at 41:03 Highlight the passage at 41:03

41:15 in the Treasury of Knowledge, the auto-commentary by Vasubandhu, he says, The sixteen hells for living beings are created by the force of the karma of all living beings. So the sixteen hells. So I assume those are the eight cold hells and the eight hot hells. So those are created by this collective karma of all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 41:15 Highlight the passage at 41:15

41:38 Whereas the occasional hells are created by the individual karma of one, two or many living beings and therefore are of many different types. They have no fixed location since they exist in rivers, mountains, wastelands, below the earth and in other places as well. Report an error in the passage at 41:38 Highlight the passage at 41:38

42:04 Okay, so those are the four different types of hell. Any questions on that? Peter. Report an error in the passage at 42:04 Highlight the passage at 42:04

42:19 Can you describe the conditions in the occasional hells? Because it seems to me like Darfur would certainly sound like it could be one or Palestine or, you know. Do you have any insight into that? It seems like yes. Actually, there isn't much information in the commentaries that I found. But actually, and I hesitated to read this because it sounds pretty. Report an error in the passage at 42:19 Highlight the passage at 42:19

42:49 Out there. Report an error in the passage at 42:49 Highlight the passage at 42:49

43:04 So there's this Arya Bodhisattva named Sangharakshita. And he says there were many different strange things that he saw as he traveled from place to place. For example, he encountered a lovely monastery containing 500 monks. Ordinarily they lived peacefully and comfortably, but every day at noon they fought with each other. Report an error in the passage at 43:04 Highlight the passage at 43:04

43:31 Then later each day everything returned to normal and they went back to their happy lives. Report an error in the passage at 43:31 Highlight the passage at 43:31

43:40 So yeah, so we can kind of relate to that, right? Where, you know, there are moments of peaceful existence and then we go visit our families or something. Report an error in the passage at 43:40 Highlight the passage at 43:40

43:53 I shouldn't say that. So for some people, right? I mean, like going home, like at work may be peaceful, but going home is like a hell kind of realm. Something like that. So maybe, maybe something like that is an occasional hell. But it's kind of hard for me to say based on the information that I have. Report an error in the passage at 43:53 Highlight the passage at 43:53

44:16 It's like my great-grandmother used to say, we have our hell right here on earth, dear. Yeah, yeah. And some of the things actually that Geshe Sopa says here seems like things that happen in movies where someone becomes possessed in the middle of the night. The rest of the time, they're normal. Report an error in the passage at 44:16 Highlight the passage at 44:16

44:39 Maybe mental illness would be like that. Report an error in the passage at 44:39 Highlight the passage at 44:39

44:47 I'd just be speculating. Report an error in the passage at 44:47 Highlight the passage at 44:47

44:53 Any Report an error in the passage at 44:53 Highlight the passage at 44:53

45:01 other questions or comments? Report an error in the passage at 45:01 Highlight the passage at 45:01

45:12 What are you guys thinking about these howls? I'm thinking I'd like to hear the antidotes quickly. What is this? and, you know, so who. Report an error in the passage at 45:12 Highlight the passage at 45:12

· · · silence, 1 minute

45:08 So... Report an error in the passage at 45:08 Highlight the passage at 45:08

45:23 Will we be tested on this material? I want you to describe every detail of every L. Right? Report an error in the passage at 45:23 Highlight the passage at 45:23

45:37 I Report an error in the passage at 45:37 Highlight the passage at 45:37

45:41 mean, it's good to, you know, have some basic information about these, right? Okay. All right. Report an error in the passage at 45:41 Highlight the passage at 45:41

46:00 Like people with HIV, full-blown AIDS, actually. That is a total hell realm. I mean, people with car postes to coma. Yeah, it really is. And then people that are in these institutions that are living these mental health. I mean, I've seen some. Yeah. Yeah. Or addicts. Report an error in the passage at 46:00 Highlight the passage at 46:00

46:26 I mean, people hallucinate. You don't know what's going on, you know. And when you get to that point, what I've seen, what they do to their bodies, what they do on the outside, you know, because of what's triggering them. Report an error in the passage at 46:26 Highlight the passage at 46:26

46:43 So there's many forms. Oh, yeah. And the more we think about it, the more, I mean, the more we look, the more we can find, you know, beings who are, people who are experiencing amazing hell. People in prisons, people in war zones, people, you know, I remember the... The Hutus and the Tutsis when they were fighting, you know, they were friends and then suddenly they were killing each other and, you know, it just, I mean, that's just horrific. Report an error in the passage at 46:43 Highlight the passage at 46:43

47:22 And what's happening in Darfur, what's happening in Iraq, what's happening in so many places, what's happening in U.S. torture chambers, you know, Abu Ghra, you know, it just, it's horrific, the things that people are... Are experiencing things that people are doing to each other. So therefore we look at ourselves every day for me. I mean, I look at myself. It's like, yeah, I have back issues. Report an error in the passage at 47:22 Highlight the passage at 47:22

47:48 I'm in constant pain, but it's like there is always somebody in worse pain than you. You know, so I'm a very fortunate individual to have what I do have. I mean, you know, they don't have the capabilities of care like I do. So I'm pretty grateful there. Report an error in the passage at 47:48 Highlight the passage at 47:48

48:08 Yeah, that's good. Yeah. And these, you know, studying these realms, it certainly gives us a perspective, right? You said something curious, though, which was that these realms, these occasional hills could be along the shores of the ocean, which you think of that as a really peaceful, beautiful environment. Report an error in the passage at 48:08 Highlight the passage at 48:08

48:29 That seemed kind of odd to me. Yeah, well, for some people it would be peaceful and other beings who have, you know, different karma. Report an error in the passage at 48:29 Highlight the passage at 48:29

48:40 It's like any place. If you're living in this, I don't know, I'd just be speculating. Even Report an error in the passage at 48:40 Highlight the passage at 48:40

48:53 if we think about San Francisco, right? San Francisco is a pure realm for some people and definitely a hell realm for many others. Report an error in the passage at 48:53 Highlight the passage at 48:53

49:10 You asked about bleeding and stuff. Just the other day I was doing this group and I had a guy, I had a number of guys, but I had one guy who started to say he was going to go into another world. He was definitely sober. It was not loaded. And he started describing the world and it was a world of snakes with human heads and big teeth. And then he just totally went in and I had to sound the alarm and took eight officers and a can of pepper spray to get them down. Report an error in the passage at 49:10 Highlight the passage at 49:10

49:39 It was just really wild. But he describes going into these worlds and so I got to thinking maybe these other dimensions do exist. Report an error in the passage at 49:39 Highlight the passage at 49:39

49:49 Yeah. It's possible. Yeah. Because this man was not drunk. I mean, he was not drugs. It was just... Yeah. I think a lot of people do things like that. Yeah. Definitely. We never know what's going on in another person's world and another person's head. I mean, if we even think about our dreams, our nightmares, you know, then we know it's possible, right? Report an error in the passage at 49:49 Highlight the passage at 49:49

50:13 You know, everybody's experiencing it. What he was describing did sound kind of like nagas. It was interesting. Oh, it could be. You know, so maybe those nagas do exist. Other people see them too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I never believed in that stuff, but, you know, but I think they do exist. I did have a couple experiences where I'm like, ooh, these spirits really do exist. Report an error in the passage at 50:13 Highlight the passage at 50:13

50:48 No, in a waking state. Well. One time I was, I remember, see, there was this guy who was a classmate of mine who was definitely a really suffering human being. He was always anxious and, you know, just, he had difficulty. And my Lama had said that he had spirit problems. Report an error in the passage at 50:48 Highlight the passage at 50:48

51:16 And once we went to His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teachings in Paris and stayed with... In a friend of mine's house, and they had like a few different apartments. And one of them, like this one guy who had a problem with spirits, was staying in, and he like couldn't sleep at all. Like at night, you know, he just, he said all of these spirits came. And you know, who am I to say, you know, you're, you know, you're crazy or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 51:16 Highlight the passage at 51:16

51:46 And then one night, and I was staying like in another one of the apartments. And in the middle of the night, and I didn't believe in this stuff, in the middle of the night it felt like a being stood on my chest and I couldn't breathe. It wasn't anything I could explain. It was just suddenly there was this huge weight on my chest and I took refuge and it was gone, fortunately. Report an error in the passage at 51:46 Highlight the passage at 51:46

52:18 But I was sharing a room with another person who experienced that. So I'm thinking maybe there was a spirit there. This place has a reputation for having spirits. Other people have experienced it as well. So yeah, there are beings that have these horrendous experiences. They're human beings, right? And that doesn't mean that they're crazy. That's just their karma. Report an error in the passage at 52:18 Highlight the passage at 52:18

52:56 But, I mean, how horrific, because you can't even escape it, right? Because it's just, you know, there are appearances to your mind, right? You know, unless you have refuge or something like that, right? If you take refuge, that's a protection, right, for yourself. But if you don't have something like that, then you're just on your own, really, with it. So it's pretty scary. Report an error in the passage at 52:56 Highlight the passage at 52:56

53:34 I used to sit there and look at her, just stare at her, just try and wonder what was she thinking. And then my dad would just say, oh no, honey, she's, there's no thoughts there, she's gone. It's like, I didn't want to think that. You know, being in the medical field, I've heard many times that you can't assume that. You know, so I didn't believe that. Report an error in the passage at 53:34 Highlight the passage at 53:34

53:57 And so I think my grandmother did have certain thoughts, and I'm just hoping that. They were good for her. Report an error in the passage at 53:57 Highlight the passage at 53:57

54:09 In general, I think it's good to just assume that they can hear you and they're still lucid and that we say prayers for them and say nice things to them and make them feel comfortable. It certainly doesn't hurt, right? Report an error in the passage at 54:09 Highlight the passage at 54:09

54:32 I think scientific studies say if you're in a coma or something like that, you can still hear. you know so Report an error in the passage at 54:32 Highlight the passage at 54:32

· · · silence, 1 minute

54:38 And when my dad was in a coma before he died, I would say prayers for him and talk to him. And I would swear he responded. There was a difference. Report an error in the passage at 54:38 Highlight the passage at 54:38

54:53 Why don't we take a break? Report an error in the passage at 54:53 Highlight the passage at 54:53

55:00 There's some quiche, wonderful quiche and cookies and things. Yeah, Karen made quiche. Report an error in the passage at 55:00 Highlight the passage at 55:00

55:24 Somebody tell a joke. maybe. Report an error in the passage at 55:24 Highlight the passage at 55:24

· · · silence, 25 minutes

1:20:01 Did we pause the recording? Do we need to start it again? Report an error in the passage at 1:20:01 Highlight the passage at 1:20:01

1:20:14 So all of our private conversations. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:14 Highlight the passage at 1:20:14

1:20:21 So Lama Tsongkhapa says, Since it is very easy, as will be explained below, for the causes of birth there to come about, each day you accumulate even many of them. And since also those that you accumulated before are immeasurable, it is inappropriate to sit around happily. Or maybe we can say complacently. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:21 Highlight the passage at 1:20:21

1:20:46 Because we've all created the causes to be reborn in hell, if we really think about it. And each day we may even accumulate many causes to be reborn there. So it's inappropriate to sit around complacently and not do purification practice and things like that. Therefore, you should think about them and be afraid, for nothing other than this unsteady respiration separates you from them. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:46 Highlight the passage at 1:20:46

1:21:26 So this is basically saying, right, so recognizing that we've created the causes for them, you know, use that to inspire us to really practice well, right, to clean up our karmic act, as I was saying before, and to purify, right. And not just sit around, you know, kind of in denial or with our head in the sand thinking, okay, well, I probably won't be born there, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:26 Highlight the passage at 1:21:26

1:21:58 We need to make sure we create the causes, right, to not be reborn there, right? So it's like, you know, when we're kids at school, you know, kind of just sitting around and hoping that we'll get good grades without, you know. Studying or writing our papers and things and just kind of hoping that everything will turn out okay. So similarly, we need to create the causes to have a good rebirth, which is avoiding non-virtue, practicing virtue and purifying. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:58 Highlight the passage at 1:21:58

1:22:38 And here Lama Tsongkhapa is saying basically The hell realms can be just a breath away because we could die any moment and the next breath can be the hell realms. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:38 Highlight the passage at 1:22:38

1:22:56 So from engaging in bodhisattva behavior, Shantideva says, how can you sit there happily having created the karma for hell? And in the friendly letter too, it says, evil doers separated only by the time it takes for breathing to stop. Hearing about the boundless torments of hell and not scared in thousand respects are like Vajras. If seeing, hearing, remembering and reading descriptions of hell as well as their depictions generates fear, no question about experience of the unbearable fully ripened effects. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:56 Highlight the passage at 1:22:56

1:23:33 So here he's saying the hells could be just a breath away. And then even... I mean, even just seeing, hearing, remembering and reading descriptions of hell brings about fear. What would it be like if we actually experienced it? Report an error in the passage at 1:23:33 Highlight the passage at 1:23:33

1:24:00 So the intense suffering is also stated in the friendly letter. Just as the bliss of extinguishment of craving is supreme among all kinds of bliss, likewise among all kinds of sufferings, those of Avicii hell are the most unbearable. So all the sufferings of all the hells, it's the Avicii or the hell without respite is the worst. Here, if in one day 300 spears were to hit you brutally, the suffering would be small compared to the sufferings of hell, would not even be a fraction of them. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:00 Highlight the passage at 1:24:00

1:24:37 So here they're saying, you know, if we were stabbed 300 times, our pain would be excruciating, but nothing compared to the suffering in hell. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:37 Highlight the passage at 1:24:37

1:24:52 You should come to understand that the cause, so this sentence is extremely important, right? You should come to understand that the cause giving rise to such suffering is your own faulty behavior and strive with all your might not to be tainted even by minor negative actions. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:52 Highlight the passage at 1:24:52

1:25:13 So the cause giving rise to such suffering is our own actions, basically, right? It's our own actions of body, speech and mind. So it's completely within our control whether or not we create the causes for this. So we can decide. We can't blame anybody else. From the same text, the seeds of these non-virtuous effects is faulty behavior of body, speech and mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:13 Highlight the passage at 1:25:13

1:25:45 Strive with such resourcefulness that nothing, not even a speck of them, exists in you. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:45 Highlight the passage at 1:25:45

1:26:00 To take care of even the really, really small things. Like in the teachings on karma, even the tiniest little action can bring about a great effect. So oftentimes we think, okay, well, you know, I'm not, you know, I'm a nice person. I'm not killing anybody. You know, I'm kind to others. So, you know, we think that we're okay. But we may be really sloppy about... Report an error in the passage at 1:26:00 Highlight the passage at 1:26:00

1:26:29 Little things. I mean, good and bad, right? I mean, even a tiny good action like throwing Report an error in the passage at 1:26:29 Highlight the passage at 1:26:29

1:26:42 bird seed in our yard. You know, you're feeding a lot of birds, right? It can create hugely wonderful future karma for us, right? So just a small little action can reap amazingly great benefits. Like there's a teaching of... Like the Buddha in a previous life, right, he offered, what was it, a handful of sand or something to the Buddha, you know, and wished that it was, right, gold and all of the, you know, jewels of the universe, right. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:42 Highlight the passage at 1:26:42

1:27:18 And that was a cause for his enlightenment, just one little act like that. You know, and similarly, just one, you know, insensitive act that causes someone to suffer can create. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:18 Highlight the passage at 1:27:18

1:27:36 Millions of years of hell for us. So it's really important to really watch our actions and to not just be lazy Report an error in the passage at 1:27:36 Highlight the passage at 1:27:36

1:27:50 about it, I guess. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:50 Highlight the passage at 1:27:50

1:27:55 I noticed when I was cranky, like I had a cranky period today, and I noticed the mind just didn't... Like there was this mind that kind of shut off, like didn't really care if I was, you know, stomping around, you know, didn't really care the effect of my actions on others. Right. Because I was I was cranky, you know, and and I really thought about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:55 Highlight the passage at 1:27:55

1:28:30 You know, Emily, you need to be careful. You know, we need to especially be careful when we're in those kind of moods where, you know, normally, you know, We're considerate in all of that of others, but when I'm cranky, I don't really care if I'm making a little bit too much noise for my housemates or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:30 Highlight the passage at 1:28:30

1:28:50 If I stay in the bathroom a little bit too long or whatever. If you're annoyed at the ants when you're taking them out, you might be careless and kill one. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:50 Highlight the passage at 1:28:50

1:29:02 Just to be careful about those little things. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:02 Highlight the passage at 1:29:02

1:29:10 right, so... I thought we could do an actual meditation on the hell realms. Something to look forward to. So I have these meditation sheets on the suffering of the three lower realms. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:10 Highlight the passage at 1:29:10

1:29:32 Oh, and Report an error in the passage at 1:29:32 Highlight the passage at 1:29:32

1:29:40 I have a pile of homework too. Do you want to? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:40 Highlight the passage at 1:29:40

1:29:47 One sheet for each person. A pile for the class. if people want. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:47 Highlight the passage at 1:29:47

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:30:15 So the names of the hells here are slightly different from the translations in our text, but it gives us the same general idea. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:15 Highlight the passage at 1:30:15

1:30:26 So this is a good reference for doing our own meditation on the hell rooms at home, which is actually very beneficial to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:26 Highlight the passage at 1:30:26

1:30:39 I have a lot of aversion to meditating on suffering in the past. Well, in the present, too. But when I do, I find it very, very helpful. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:39 Highlight the passage at 1:30:39

1:31:07 Let's get in meditation posture. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:07 Highlight the passage at 1:31:07

1:31:13 So once again, it's really important for us to try to imagine ourselves being in one of these hells and what it would be like to experience it, not just to keep it on an intellectual distance, which is what we generally want to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:13 Highlight the passage at 1:31:13

1:31:34 But if we actually... Report an error in the passage at 1:31:34 Highlight the passage at 1:31:34

1:31:39 Try to imagine what it feels like, then that will really increase our own renunciation and increase our compassion for others. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:39 Highlight the passage at 1:31:39

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:32:40 Try to imagine how it would be to experience constant excruciating physical pain. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:40 Highlight the passage at 1:32:40

1:32:59 Imagine the worst physical pain we've ever experienced and imagine that it lasts for tens of years. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:59 Highlight the passage at 1:32:59

1:33:23 Pain killers, no choice but to experience it. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:23 Highlight the passage at 1:33:23

· · · silence, 2 minutes

1:35:00 Where we can imagine experiencing one of the great hot hells, which Report an error in the passage at 1:35:00 Highlight the passage at 1:35:00

1:35:13 is the reviving hell where many beings are coming at us with weapons and stabbing us and hitting us Report an error in the passage at 1:35:13 Highlight the passage at 1:35:13

1:35:28 unconscious and die. The Report an error in the passage at 1:35:28 Highlight the passage at 1:35:28

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:36:30 mind may not go there or may not want to go there, but it's important to try to not let the mind wander. What Report an error in the passage at 1:36:30 Highlight the passage at 1:36:30

1:36:49 it would be to experience this type of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:49 Highlight the passage at 1:36:49

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:38:16 Where the hell guardians are. Drawing black lines on our bodies and Report an error in the passage at 1:38:16 Highlight the passage at 1:38:16

· · · silence, 2 minutes

1:40:29 being trapped in a burning house. The fire raging all around us. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:29 Highlight the passage at 1:40:29

1:40:40 Our bodies actually catching fire. How Report an error in the passage at 1:40:40 Highlight the passage at 1:40:40

1:40:48 excruciating that would be. For Report an error in the passage at 1:40:48 Highlight the passage at 1:40:48

1:41:00 a very, very, very long time with no end in sight. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:00 Highlight the passage at 1:41:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:42:05 We can imagine the suffering in the first neighboring hell of burning ash. Just imagining how, or just remembering how unbearable it is to walk on. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:05 Highlight the passage at 1:42:05

1:42:21 Barefoot on an extremely hot sidewalk or extremely hot sand, much, Report an error in the passage at 1:42:21 Highlight the passage at 1:42:21

1:42:35 much worse, Report an error in the passage at 1:42:35 Highlight the passage at 1:42:35

1:42:42 burns the flesh. Or Report an error in the passage at 1:42:42 Highlight the passage at 1:42:42

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:43:49 to think about the coldest we've ever been, Report an error in the passage at 1:43:49 Highlight the passage at 1:43:49

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:44:30 that's nothing compared to the cold and the cold hells that Report an error in the passage at 1:44:30 Highlight the passage at 1:44:30

1:44:38 lasts Report an error in the passage at 1:44:38 Highlight the passage at 1:44:38

1:44:46 quadrillions of years. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:46 Highlight the passage at 1:44:46

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:45:56 Any comments on that one? Report an error in the passage at 1:45:56 Highlight the passage at 1:45:56

1:46:03 Do you feel any resistance to meditating on that? Effie, pass the mic. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:03 Highlight the passage at 1:46:03

1:46:14 Well, it might be just resistance on my part, but, you know, we spent time studying emptiness and now we're studying this very literal description. So it's just interesting. I just had that thought. Yeah. And actually, you know, it's completely consistent with emptiness, actually, because emptiness, Report an error in the passage at 1:46:14 Highlight the passage at 1:46:14

1:46:39 right? So it says nothing exists from its own side. It doesn't exist objectively, right? But we experience suffering because of our karma, right? We experience happiness and suffering because of our karma. So we experience these kinds of hells because we've created that kind of karma. But it doesn't exist from its own side. So if we clean up our karma, you know, we'll have a very different experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:39 Highlight the passage at 1:46:39

1:47:08 And we can be in the same physical location. Like there may be beings right here. Right now experiencing a very different kind of a world than we are. We have this wonderful collective karma to be at Sechenling, whereas other beings have a totally different karma. So it doesn't exist as being wonderful from its own side, and the hells don't exist as being terrible from their own side. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:08 Highlight the passage at 1:47:08

1:47:45 What you just said reminds me of something Lama Yashi said once that I don't remember exactly. It's in a pretty famous lecture that he did. It's on a DVD. He was filling in for His Holiness in Europe, and he talks about there's no devil waiting in hell saying, ha, ha, ha, here I am, something like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:45 Highlight the passage at 1:47:45

1:48:08 It's like we're creating it, so it's basically just what you said. Yeah, yeah, exactly. This may be too broad to talk about with the short amount of time we have, but can you talk a little bit about Siddhi Garba and how he goes to the hells and helps beings that are in the hells? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:08 Highlight the passage at 1:48:08

1:48:27 No. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:27 Highlight the passage at 1:48:27

1:48:32 No, I don't know enough of it, actually, to say. Because it's just that there are, you know, Buddhas that try to help the hell beings, and I just was wondering. If you get caught there, is it possible if your practice was strong enough that you could be released from it? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:32 Highlight the passage at 1:48:32

1:48:51 Yeah, well, I mean, there's the story of Shakyamuni Buddha, right, in a previous life where he was in hell and he was, you know, he and another guy were supposed to be pulling this cart, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:51 Highlight the passage at 1:48:51

1:49:04 And the other guy was very weak and suffering and all of that. And Chucky Mooney Buddha, right, in a previous life, he had compassion for this guy, so he pulled the cart for this other guy, right, so he developed great compassion. And then he was, you know, bonked by the Hell Guardian and killed and he was reborn in the upper realms through the force of his compassion, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:49:04 Highlight the passage at 1:49:04

1:49:32 So, you know, there are instances where, you know, if you are able to develop compassion, In a hell realm. Then you've purified, right? You've purified your karma, so your experience changes. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:32 Highlight the passage at 1:49:32

1:49:48 And sometimes it says, you know, there are bodhisattvas who, you know, they've broken their vows or something and they're born in hell for like only a brief moment and then they bounce back up to the upper realms because they have so much good karma. So there are stories like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:48 Highlight the passage at 1:49:48

1:50:10 I mean, there's definitely hope, right? I mean, all you have to do is practice well, right? Do our purification and watch our actions, right? Body, speech and mind. I mean, we're in the best possible situation, right? Well, I shouldn't say best possible, but one of the best possible situations now because we've gotten the teachings, we know what to do, we have the ability to do it, so we can do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:10 Highlight the passage at 1:50:10

1:50:35 And the important thing is just, you know, to not be lazy and think, oh, I'm... You know, I won't be reborn there. But, yeah, just watch our karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:35 Highlight the passage at 1:50:35

1:50:50 I think what's challenging is that all the little subtle actions that we do, that's what's more nervous making. Yeah. I don't think anyone in this room does big actions, but we all do lots of little things that we don't even think about. None of us have killed any human beings lately. Yeah, right. I mean, it's true. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:50 Highlight the passage at 1:50:50

1:51:12 I mean, that's... Lately? Lately. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:12 Highlight the passage at 1:51:12

1:51:12 That's the thing is we have to watch our little actions, right? Because most of us are, you know, basically, you know, kind people. Yeah. So, so important to do purification every day, you know, not to, not to be lazy. Or, you know, we can do purification in the car. We can do purification as we're walking. We can do purification in the bathroom, you know, just, you know, we can do it anytime, anywhere. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:12 Highlight the passage at 1:51:12

1:51:45 So I think that's really useful to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:45 Highlight the passage at 1:51:45

1:51:57 Okay, that's the hell realms. So next week, yeah. So there's a meditation, yeah, here on the second page or the backside of the first page, I guess, on the hells. There's other, yeah. So we'll go into the animals and the hungry ghosts next time and maybe start refuge. Next time too. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:57 Highlight the passage at 1:51:57

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1:52:57 So page 235. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:57 Highlight the passage at 1:52:57

1:53:08 We'll do the first five dedication prayers. So 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 but increase more and more. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:08 Highlight the passage at 1:53:08

1:53:36 Just as the brave Manjushri and Samanta Bhadra too realize things as they are, I too dedicate all these merits in the best way that I may follow their perfect example. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:36 Highlight the passage at 1:53:36

1:53:50 I dedicate all these roots of virtue with a dedication praised as the best by the victorious ones thus gone of the three times so that I might perform good works. I dedicate whatever virtues I have ever collected for the benefit of the teachings and of all sentient beings, and in particular for the essential teachings of perfect, pure Lozong Drakpa to shine forever. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:50 Highlight the passage at 1:53:50

1:54:18 So let's also pray for that. Long lives of all our spiritual masters, Report an error in the passage at 1:54:18 Highlight the passage at 1:54:18

1:54:27 His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Chodhan Rinpoche, Geshe Dagpa, Venable Rabina, whoever else is our master. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:27 Highlight the passage at 1:54:27

1:54:45 May they live long and continue to benefit others. Thank Report an error in the passage at 1:54:45 Highlight the passage at 1:54:45

1:55:14 you. So we'll have class next week and we won't have class in two weeks. I'm going to be down at Vajrapani in two weeks. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:14 Highlight the passage at 1:55:14

1:55:25 I Report an error in the passage at 1:55:25 Highlight the passage at 1:55:25

1:55:32 don't know. They tend to not turn anybody away. So, yeah. You really want to go. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:32 Highlight the passage at 1:55:32

1:55:45 And they also work with people financially. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:45 Highlight the passage at 1:55:45

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1:56:31 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:31 Highlight the passage at 1:56:31

1:56:39 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:39 Highlight the passage at 1:56:39

1:56:44 Okay. Thank you. It's a hell retreat. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:44 Highlight the passage at 1:56:44

1:56:37 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:37 Highlight the passage at 1:56:37