Buddhism from A-Z, 3rd Semester - Bodhisattva Conduct (27 April 2010)

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2:45 So this class we're going to talk about bodhisattva conduct, how to live our lives as a bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 2:45 Highlight the passage at 2:45

2:55 Before we get started, we'll just take a few minutes and meditate on our breath and settle our minds. We Report an error in the passage at 2:55 Highlight the passage at 2:55

3:23 can focus on the rising and falling of the abdomen or Report an error in the passage at 3:23 Highlight the passage at 3:23

3:34 the sensation of the breath coming in and out of the nostrils. Report an error in the passage at 3:34 Highlight the passage at 3:34

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7:41 Visualize countless beings around us. Report an error in the passage at 7:41 Highlight the passage at 7:41

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8:21 Every day provide us with our... Report an error in the passage at 8:21 Highlight the passage at 8:21

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10:24 attain complete enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 10:24 Highlight the passage at 10:24

10:28 all of our potential. Report an error in the passage at 10:28 Highlight the passage at 10:28

10:41 Maybe Report an error in the passage at 10:41 Highlight the passage at 10:41

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11:42 a little bit about why you're here. I'll start. Report an error in the passage at 11:42 Highlight the passage at 11:42

12:13 It's a great pleasure for me to be here and share the Dharma with you all, and particularly talking about bodhisattva conduct and the six perfections. It's just such a wonderful topic. Report an error in the passage at 12:13 Highlight the passage at 12:13

12:37 very fortunate. I'm happy. Because I'm here. Report an error in the passage at 12:37 Highlight the passage at 12:37

12:52 here because it's close by. Report an error in the passage at 12:52 Highlight the passage at 12:52

13:18 Ask a silly question. been here about Report an error in the passage at 13:18 Highlight the passage at 13:18

13:30 I've been in Emily's class. Report an error in the passage at 13:30 Highlight the passage at 13:30

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14:10 that tonight. love your classes, so. Report an error in the passage at 14:10 Highlight the passage at 14:10

14:27 me very much in my everyday life. Report an error in the passage at 14:27 Highlight the passage at 14:27

14:48 Kirby Wong, and I'm here for one simple reason, want to become enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 14:48 Highlight the passage at 14:48

14:58 You get the prize. Thanks, Kurti. Hey, Chad. I was here for last class with Emily as well. First one of the series. And six perfections have been sort of a mystery to me. Report an error in the passage at 14:58 Highlight the passage at 14:58

15:34 And Emily said, oh, it's going to be six perfections. And I just kept them in the back of my mind. And all of a sudden, I hear from two different teachers, you know, six perfections being a very important basis. Report an error in the passage at 15:34 Highlight the passage at 15:34

15:51 It's amazing how everything is getting set up and people are telling me, yes, you should take this class. It's time. Yeah, exactly. I really appreciate the timing of it. Report an error in the passage at 15:51 Highlight the passage at 15:51

16:07 I'm Louis and I started this class and I'm really interested in going through Report an error in the passage at 16:07 Highlight the passage at 16:07

16:24 this. Okay, great. Report an error in the passage at 16:24 Highlight the passage at 16:24

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17:36 I get scared when I hear things like that, that really high expectations. Report an error in the passage at 17:36 Highlight the passage at 17:36

18:03 Welcome. Report an error in the passage at 18:03 Highlight the passage at 18:03

18:07 So we'll start with refuge and bodhicitta. We won't do all the prayers today. So we'll go on page 88 at the bottom. Report an error in the passage at 18:07 Highlight the passage at 18:07

18:33 I go for refuge until I'm enlightened. To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma. May I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I'm enlightened. To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I'm enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. Report an error in the passage at 18:33 Highlight the passage at 18:33

19:07 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 19:07 Highlight the passage at 19:07

19:23 That's a little reminder of the last class with a quote by Shantideva. Report an error in the passage at 19:23 Highlight the passage at 19:23

19:34 So he says, whatever joy there is in this world, all comes from desiring others to be happy. And whatever suffering there is in this world, all comes from desiring myself to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 19:34 Highlight the passage at 19:34

19:48 But what need is there to say much more? The childish work for their own benefit. The Buddha's work for the benefit of others. Just look at the difference between them. So this is the basis of the bodhisattva path. Report an error in the passage at 19:48 Highlight the passage at 19:48

20:07 is understanding more and more that happiness comes from cherishing others, from giving up this self-centered mind, this mind that I consider to be like an open wound, that as long as we have self-cherishing, it's like when people rub against us, you know, this open wound, then we suffer, right? If we don't get what we want, Then we're unhappy. If people mistreat us, we're unhappy. If we have sickness, we're unhappy. All of these things. Report an error in the passage at 20:07 Highlight the passage at 20:07

20:47 But if we give up our self-cherishing, slowly, slowly, and learn more and more to really love and cherish and have genuine concern for others, then whatever happens to us becomes less and less important. Report an error in the passage at 20:47 Highlight the passage at 20:47

21:06 So the bodhisattva. It develops bodhicitta, which is the aspiration for complete enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. So out of this tremendous sense of love and compassion for others, we see that we want to help them. And we see that all beings are stuck in this cycle of suffering called saṃsāra. That because we have mental afflictions, because we're still controlled by contaminated karma, Then undesirable circumstances will always come to us as long as we're still in saṃsāra. So as long as we're in saṃsāra, even though we may go through really good periods, we have a lot of happiness and success and a lot of friends and we have enough money, it just can't last. Report an error in the passage at 21:06 Highlight the passage at 21:06

22:06 And so understanding that for ourselves, we develop renunciation. We stop. Believing that saṃsāra will bring us lasting happiness. And then out of our compassion for others, then we understand that all other beings are in the same situation. And then we want to strive and help them, right? Help them get out of saṃsāra. Like if our best friend or our brothers, sisters, our parents are drowning in a river, right? Report an error in the passage at 22:06 Highlight the passage at 22:06

22:37 We want to help save them. And we're all drowning in the river of saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 22:37 Highlight the passage at 22:37

22:45 Bodhicitta is based on compassion and the wisdom understanding the nature of saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 22:45 Highlight the passage at 22:45

22:55 Bodhicitta is the wish to attain enlightenment so that we can help all other beings get out of saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 22:55 Highlight the passage at 22:55

23:10 Merely the wish to become enlightened isn't going to be enough. Then we need to actually strive in the trainings of a bodhisattva to become enlightened and to be able to really help others. And the trainings of the bodhisattva or the conduct of the bodhisattva is the topic of this class, the six perfections. So we had talked about there's two types of bodhicitta, aspiring bodhicitta and engaged bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 23:10 Highlight the passage at 23:10

23:37 Aspiring bodhicitta being the wish to attain enlightenment and engaged bodhicitta, meaning we're actually buying the ticket and going there. We bought the ticket to go to Tibet and we're on the plane to go there. How do we get to enlightenment? Not just having the wish, but actually engaging in the six perfections, because it's by practicing the six perfections that we'll get enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 23:37 Highlight the passage at 23:37

24:04 We can't get enlightened without practicing the six perfections. And the six perfections are really, it encompasses all of the practices of a bodhisattva, all of the deeds of the bodhisattva. It's a complete path. Report an error in the passage at 24:04 Highlight the passage at 24:04

24:22 So what are the six perfections? So just briefly, and we'll go into each of these in much more detail, but just briefly, generosity. The mind of giving. The mind wanting to give material things, money to the beggar, give our understanding, give the Dharma, give protection from danger in general. So helping others through giving whatever they need. Report an error in the passage at 24:22 Highlight the passage at 24:22

24:57 Perfection of generosity. Then the perfection of ethical discipline, or sometimes translated as morality, is the mind of not harming others, staying away from the ten non-virtues, and primarily just not harming others is Report an error in the passage at 24:57 Highlight the passage at 24:57

25:24 the basis of ethical discipline. Thirdly, patience. Patience. I'm not sure if this is the best English word. Sometimes it's translated as tolerance. It's basically an undisturbed mind in the face of harm. So if someone cheats us, if someone hits us, if somebody lies to us or whatever hurts us in some way, our mind remains undisturbed and we have no desire to retaliate. Report an error in the passage at 25:24 Highlight the passage at 25:24

26:01 That's patience. Then the fourth. Perfection is joyous effort or sometimes translated as joyous perseverance. This is practicing virtue joy or delight in practicing virtue. So delight in practicing generosity, delight in practicing ethical discipline, delight in practicing patience, delight in sitting down to meditate. Report an error in the passage at 26:01 Highlight the passage at 26:01

26:35 Oftentimes we feel quite delighted in indulging in our samsaric pleasures. So that's not joyous effort. Delight in eating chocolate. Report an error in the passage at 26:35 Highlight the passage at 26:35

26:47 Joyous effort is delight in practicing. Report an error in the passage at 26:47 Highlight the passage at 26:47

26:52 And that will get us through to continue to progress on the path. The fifth is concentration. So that's the mind that's able to stay on its object. For as long as it wants without being disturbed, without being distracted, without falling into dullness. Report an error in the passage at 26:52 Highlight the passage at 26:52

27:19 Which is necessary in order to practice the sixth, which is wisdom. And wisdom is primarily here in this context, in the context of the six perfections, it's the wisdom realizing emptiness, which is our ticket out of saṃsāra. All of these other perfections will help us. Get to enlightenment, but only if it's combined with wisdom, wisdom understanding the nature. Report an error in the passage at 27:19 Highlight the passage at 27:19

27:50 So we can't actually develop a wisdom that's powerful until we have an undistracted mind, right? Because if we have a mind that's flipping all over the place, we can't really penetrate anything very deeply. It's like if you're trying to fix something in the dark and somebody's holding a flashlight and they're holding it. Report an error in the passage at 27:50 Highlight the passage at 27:50

28:13 Really unsteadily, you know, you just can't see what you're doing, right? So you need the steady mind, the steady flashlight, the fifth perfection. Report an error in the passage at 28:13 Highlight the passage at 28:13

28:26 Okay. So the text we're going to use for this class is the Middle Length Lamrim by Lama Tsongkhapa. So Lama Tsongkhapa was one of the greatest saints in Tibetan history. And he wrote three Lamrim texts, the great treatise. Report an error in the passage at 28:26 Highlight the passage at 28:26

28:44 The middle length treatise and then a short one. And so for this class, we're going through the middle length long rim. And this is not a published text, but I have an electronic version of a draft translation. So for people who don't have it, I can send it to you by email. Also, we can get some hard copies, some more hard copies made if people want them. Report an error in the passage at 28:44 Highlight the passage at 28:44

29:14 Yeah. Yeah, it's the same one. So for people who are in the bodhicitta class, it's the same text. For the people who were here from the beginning and who had the small version of the text, it's the last section. Report an error in the passage at 29:14 Highlight the passage at 29:14

29:31 And then the commentary that I recommend, the highest, is this commentary by Geshe Sopa. And it's so clear and it's so profound. It's just incredibly beautiful. It's called Steps on the Path to Enlightenment. And we're in volume three, now the way of the bodhisattva. And this is his commentary on the great treatise, so the longest lamrim by Lama Tsongkhapa. Report an error in the passage at 29:31 Highlight the passage at 29:31

30:02 So it has a lot of detail, but it's an easy read actually. It's very beautiful. So if you get a chance to buy this one, I highly recommend it. It's in three volumes so far. It'll eventually be in five volumes. So the third volume will be for this class. Report an error in the passage at 30:02 Highlight the passage at 30:02

30:38 Lama Tsongkhapa? Yeah, Lama Tsongkhapa. Geshe Sopa. Oh, Geshe Sopa. Yeah, so he's still alive. He's great. Geshe Sopa is the writer who wrote this commentary. Yeah, and so he... Report an error in the passage at 30:38 Highlight the passage at 30:38

30:57 Came to the West maybe in the 1960s from, I don't know if it was directly from Tibet or from India. I don't remember now. And then he became a professor at the University of Wisconsin and he taught for many, many years and just retired. In the last few years, he's a great, great scholar and a great teacher. Report an error in the passage at 30:57 Highlight the passage at 30:57

31:20 He's in his 80s now and he taught this text for over 20 years. And then this is the published version of the transcripts. But yeah, he's a very, very sweet Lama. And I think he's one of, do you know Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who's the spiritual director of Lama Zopa up there? He's one of Lama Zopa's teachers. So Report an error in the passage at 31:20 Highlight the passage at 31:20

31:55 then we get into the text. First of all, the reason why it's necessary to train in the trainings, having generated the mind of enlightenment or bodhicitta. Then demonstration that Buddhahood is not achieved by training in method or wisdom alone. And then explanation of the actual stages of training in the trainings. Report an error in the passage at 31:55 Highlight the passage at 31:55

32:17 So here training in the trainings refers to the six perfections mainly and also to the four means of gathering disciples. Report an error in the passage at 32:17 Highlight the passage at 32:17

32:27 So the first one, the reason why it's necessary to train in the trainings. Report an error in the passage at 32:27 Highlight the passage at 32:27

32:34 So Lama Tsongkhapa always gets into, okay, well, why are we even studying this? Why would we have to practice this, right, instead of just, you know, throwing out the six perfections and, you know, just assuming we understand why? He explains. He says, although having thus generated bodhicitta, you do not train in the trainings of generosity and so forth, it will still be of great benefit. Report an error in the passage at 32:34 Highlight the passage at 32:34

32:59 However, if you do not make the bodhisattva trainings your essential practice, it will be impossible to become a Buddha. So it's wonderful, it's a great benefit if we develop bodhicitta, but we don't practice the six perfections. But we're never going to get enlightened unless we practice the six perfections. Report an error in the passage at 32:59 Highlight the passage at 32:59

33:21 Kamala Shila says in his first stages of meditation, a bodhisattva who has generated bodhicitta understands that he cannot tame others without taming himself. And thoroughly applies himself to the practice of generosity and so forth. Without them, enlightenment is not achieved. So we practice the six perfections in order to tame our own minds, in order to develop, in order to become a Buddha, and also in order to help others. Report an error in the passage at 33:21 Highlight the passage at 33:21

33:56 What is to be accomplished once the bodhisattva vow has been taken is to train in those very trainings associated with it. Report an error in the passage at 33:56 Highlight the passage at 33:56

34:04 If we've taken the bodhisattva vows, then we've basically taken the vow to practice the six perfections. If we haven't taken the bodhisattva vows, it's still good to study the six perfections and try to practice them. Report an error in the passage at 34:04 Highlight the passage at 34:04

34:21 Then Lama Tsongkhapa goes into quite a long section on presenting why we have to practice both method and wisdom in order to achieve Buddhahood. All right, so there's the side. The path to Buddhahood has these two different sides, the method side and the wisdom side. The wisdom side being the wisdom, mainly the wisdom realizing emptiness, but also the wisdom of the Four Noble Truths, etc. Report an error in the passage at 34:21 Highlight the passage at 34:21

34:50 And there's certain traditions that say all you have to do is develop wisdom. All you have to do is realize emptiness and then you can achieve Buddhahood. And so Lama Tsongkhapa... It's presenting a lot of reasons why you have to practice the method side as well. I'm not going to go into all the details because we could take many classes just going into that, but I want to highlight some of the main points of law. Report an error in the passage at 34:50 Highlight the passage at 34:50

35:21 We need both method and wisdom. Oftentimes it's like a bird with two wings. The bird needs two wings to fly, method and wisdom. If a bird has only one wing, then you know. Difficult to fly. Report an error in the passage at 35:21 Highlight the passage at 35:21

35:40 So Kamala Shila says, one who engages in the method for accomplishing Buddhahood needs an unmistaken method. For however hard you try, a mistaken path will not lead you to the desired result. Just as pulling a cow by its horn if you want milk. Right? So first of all, if we want to achieve our result, then we need to find an unmistaken path. Report an error in the passage at 35:40 Highlight the passage at 35:40

36:11 A mistaken path isn't going to lead you to your desired result. It'll take you somewhere else, but it's not going to get you to where you want. So his analogy is pulling a cow by its horn if you want milk. Report an error in the passage at 36:11 Highlight the passage at 36:11

36:27 And I find this really relevant, especially in this culture in this day and age that's so focused on me first, you know, thinking, okay, the way to happiness, the way to lasting happiness is to take care of me as number one and make sure all my needs are met first and, you know, everybody else comes second. Report an error in the passage at 36:27 Highlight the passage at 36:27

36:48 Well, you know, that's a path, right, but it's not going to get us to Buddhahood. So we need to understand what a, you know, an unmistaken path if we want to get to Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 36:48 Highlight the passage at 36:48

37:00 And then he says, not only do we need an unmistaken path, he says, if, although faultless, it is incomplete, the result will not come about despite your effort, just as a sprout will not grow if either the seed, water, earth and the like are incomplete. So even though it's a valid path, if it's incomplete, then we won't achieve the result. Report an error in the passage at 37:00 Highlight the passage at 37:00

37:27 So it's like if we plant something and we don't give it water, it will never grow. For something to grow, it needs the sun, it needs soil, it needs water, it needs the seed, it needs all of these conditions together. So if we practice just a partial path, we won't achieve the result. Report an error in the passage at 37:27 Highlight the passage at 37:27

37:56 We need a path that's both unmistaken and complete. So then Lama Tsongkhapa says, well then, what are the complete and unmistaken causes and conditions? He Report an error in the passage at 37:56 Highlight the passage at 37:56

38:09 says, oh Lord, well he quotes Virachana, oh Lord of the secret, the exalted wisdom of omniscience arises from the root that is compassion. It arises from the cause that is the mind of enlightenment and it's consummated by method. So we need these three. The root being compassion. So compassion, what's compassion? Report an error in the passage at 38:09 Highlight the passage at 38:09

38:42 Compassion is the wish that others not suffer. And ultimate compassion is the desire to relieve their suffering yourself. Ultimate or great compassion. Great compassion, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So compassion itself is the wish that others be free from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 38:42 Highlight the passage at 38:42

39:03 But not only do we need that compassion, but we need the great compassion and the extraordinary resolve of taking responsibility. Okay, well, I will help relieve other suffering. Not just leaving it for others to do, but okay, I'm going to help relieve people, other beings from suffering. So compassion is the root of the entire Mahāyāna path. Without compassion, why practice the Mahāyāna? Report an error in the passage at 39:03 Highlight the passage at 39:03

39:32 The Mahāyāna is really about achieving Buddhahood in order to help others. If we're only focused on our own happiness, then we don't need the Mahāyāna path. Report an error in the passage at 39:32 Highlight the passage at 39:32

39:48 So compassion is the root of the Mahāyāna. And then the cause of enlightenment, the main cause of enlightenment is the mind of enlightenment or bodhicitta. And it's the two types of bodhicitta. So there are two types. In the last class, we talked about the conventional bodhicitta, which is the wish to attain enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 39:48 Highlight the passage at 39:48

40:11 It's based on compassion. But then also in order to attain Buddhahood, we need the ultimate bodhicitta, which is the direct realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 40:11 Highlight the passage at 40:11

40:22 So that's the wisdom side. The conventional bodhicitta is the... The method side or the compassion side and the ultimate bodhicitta is the wisdom side. So here this is showing how the entire path is really, can be subsumed into these two, the conventional bodhicitta, the method side, the compassion side and the ultimate bodhicitta, the wisdom side, the wisdom realizing emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 40:22 Highlight the passage at 40:22

41:00 So conventional bodhicitta and emptiness really are the two main causes for enlightenment. The entire path can be subsumed into those two main practices. So that's really useful when I finally figured that out after many years of studying the Dharma. That was really helpful to me because you can get teachings. Report an error in the passage at 41:00 Highlight the passage at 41:00

41:26 Teachings about karma and teachings about suffering and teachings about this and teachings about that. It's hard to really see how it all fits together. But the essence of the entire path is conventional bodhicitta and emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 41:26 Highlight the passage at 41:26

41:44 Compassion and our wisdom. And then how do we complete the path? How do we attain Buddhahood? We have compassion. We have conventional bodhicitta. We have the understanding of the realization of emptiness. And then... We complete the path by practicing method or the six perfections, generosity and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 41:44 Highlight the passage at 41:44

42:13 Compassion, the two bodhicittas and the six perfections. I remember when I first came to the Dharma, I thought, okay, well, you realize emptiness and then you're done. That's all you need to do. But actually, once you realize emptiness directly, you still have quite a ways to go on the path to practice the six perfections. Report an error in the passage at 42:13 Highlight the passage at 42:13

42:39 right Lama Tsongkhapa came on the scene in the late 1300s, early 1400s. There was this popular spiritual path, popular mistaken belief, Lama Tsongkhapa thought mistaken belief that the Report an error in the passage at 42:39 Highlight the passage at 42:39

43:06 followers of this monk named Hashan followed. And basically he was saying that all conceptions, all thinking, Bind us to cyclic existence. Bind us to saṃsāra. So if we practice anything conceptual, anything conventional, then it's not going to bring us to Buddhahood. All thought basically takes you away from Buddhahood. He thought. He believed. So he said, in order to attain Buddhahood, we need to abandon all thinking. Report an error in the passage at 43:06 Highlight the passage at 43:06

43:40 So you sit there and you try to stop your thinking. This was very popular, right? It's a simple path and you can achieve quite a bit of peace if you stop thinking. It's our agitated thoughts that really bring a lot of unhappiness to us. Report an error in the passage at 43:40 Highlight the passage at 43:40

44:01 They said, in order to become a Buddha, we need to abandon all thinking. So you don't need to practice the six perfections. They were only taught for dull-witted beings who cannot meditate on emptiness. He said, okay, well, if you're not ready to meditate on emptiness, then you practice the six perfections. But if you can meditate on emptiness, then you don't need to practice six perfections. Report an error in the passage at 44:01 Highlight the passage at 44:01

44:25 So this was a popular belief at the time of Tsongkhapa. And Tsongkhapa sets out to refute Hashan. So at this time, the scholar Kamala Shila, a great scholar from India, was invited to Tibet to help dispel. This mistaken belief in HaShang. So he was invited to come and debate with HaShang. And then they agreed that whoever lost the debate would convert to the other system, the other person's system. Report an error in the passage at 44:25 Highlight the passage at 44:25

45:01 So as the story goes, Kamala Shila defeated HaShang and HaShang ran off and left his shoe. So that might sound like a familiar story. I wonder if he thought about it. Yeah, so anyway. It's interesting that when Guy Newland was here, he said now it's, who's a scholar, he says now the scholars are questioning whether or not this debate actually happened. Report an error in the passage at 45:01 Highlight the passage at 45:01

45:36 But according to the history, the written history. Supposedly this happened. Report an error in the passage at 45:36 Highlight the passage at 45:36

45:49 So just a little bit more about what HaShang thinks. He says, just as one can be bound with fetters of gold or ropes, and just as both white and black clouds obscure the sky, and just as pain is produced regardless of whether one is bitten by a white or a black dog. He's saying it doesn't matter if they're good thoughts or bad thoughts. They still bind us to cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 45:49 Highlight the passage at 45:49

46:21 Just as, for example, white and black clouds. It doesn't matter if they're white clouds or black clouds. They still obscure the sky. Report an error in the passage at 46:21 Highlight the passage at 46:21

46:32 But still, if you think about this particular example, white clouds and black clouds have different functions, right? I mean, black, you're not going to get rain from white clouds, right? We only get rain from black clouds. Similarly, right, from virtuous karma we get good results, and from non-virtuous karma we'll get unpleasant results. Report an error in the passage at 46:32 Highlight the passage at 46:32

46:54 Okay, so this is a position by HaShong. Report an error in the passage at 46:54 Highlight the passage at 46:54

47:00 So Kamala Shila supposedly defeated HaShang in a debate. And so Lama Tsongkhapa refutes HaShang in a number of different ways. First of all, he says HaShang's position that the practices of the method side are not paths to enlightenment is a grave deprecation. And then he'll talk about that. And then HaShang also banishes the system of the ultimate to the far distance by rejecting the use of the wisdom of analysis to realize selflessness. Report an error in the passage at 47:00 Highlight the passage at 47:00

47:34 Okay, let me talk about this first one, or the second one first. So HaShang is basically saying, empty your mind of thoughts, and that's how you're going to become enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 47:34 Highlight the passage at 47:34

47:46 But the system of Tsongkhapa is that actually we need to understand the nature of reality in order to realize emptiness. Emptiness isn't just about emptying our minds. We need to see how we're mistakenly perceiving ourselves and other phenomena and then we need to understand that that way of existing doesn't actually exist or that way we think things exist doesn't actually exist. Report an error in the passage at 47:46 Highlight the passage at 47:46

48:27 In order to realize emptiness, we need to see what our mistaken way of thinking is and then we need to see And then we need to refute that through reasoning and through analytical meditation. It's like if you, useful Report an error in the passage at 48:27 Highlight the passage at 48:27

48:55 example, but if you thought that there was a mouse in the gompa, if you think about, if you just empty your mind, it doesn't refute your belief that there's a mouse in the gompa. If you just stop thinking about the mouse, it doesn't. It doesn't change your mind about there being a mouse in the gompa. But if you search everywhere in the gompa and you see that there's no way that there could be a mouse in the gompa because I've checked everywhere, then that refutes your belief that there's a mouse in the gompa. Report an error in the passage at 48:55 Highlight the passage at 48:55

49:34 When we understand without doubt that there isn't a mouse in the gompa, that's how we refute the belief that there is a mouse in the gompa. I don't know if I said that well, but does that make sense? Report an error in the passage at 49:34 Highlight the passage at 49:34

49:48 So similarly, the way, I mean, I don't really want to get into emptiness so much right now, but the way that we perceive things is existing solidly and concretely from the side of the object is Report an error in the passage at 49:48 Highlight the passage at 49:48

50:06 the basis of all of our mental afflictions. It's the basis of our attachment, it's the basis of our anger, it's the basis of our jealousy and our pride, etc. Report an error in the passage at 50:06 Highlight the passage at 50:06

50:16 So if we're mad at somebody, We're sure in our minds that they're wrong from their own side. It's not just our own mental labeling that they're wrong. We're sure that they're wrong from their own side if we're angry at someone. When we realize emptiness, we realize that actually there's nothing from the side of the object that's wrong. Report an error in the passage at 50:16 Highlight the passage at 50:16

50:48 Our mind's making it wrong. Report an error in the passage at 50:48 Highlight the passage at 50:48

50:54 So we're going to spend a lot of time on emptiness in a future module. But here, just in order to refute HaShang, he's saying you can't just empty your mind of thoughts. That's not going to get you to wisdom. We need to actually use wisdom of analysis in order to realize emptiness. Does that make sense? All right. Report an error in the passage at 50:54 Highlight the passage at 50:54

51:30 So there are these different quotes by Lama Tsongkhapa. And Report an error in the passage at 51:30 Highlight the passage at 51:30

51:40 then he says, some people belittle the deeds that are part of the path, rejecting them and so forth when they cultivate the path. So some people think, okay, we don't need to practice generosity, patience, ethical discipline, etc. Others do not accept HaShang's mistaken denial of the fact or method. But assert that his way of understanding the philosophical view is excellent. So some people reject the six perfections or the five perfections other than wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 51:40 Highlight the passage at 51:40

52:18 Others don't accept the denial of the five perfections, but assert that his way of understanding the philosophical view is excellent. So emptying, but think that emptying your mind of thoughts is the right way to go. And still others cast aside discerning wisdom and claim that HaShang's meditation of not thinking is the best. So others reject this analytical wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 52:18 Highlight the passage at 52:18

52:45 So then Lama Tsongkhapa says, well, HaShang doesn't even understand the correct way to meditate on emptiness, as I just explained, believing that one merely needs to stop thought rather than analyzing the correct meaning of reality. Report an error in the passage at 52:45 Highlight the passage at 52:45

53:00 And then he says, well, even if you're to agree that it is meditating on emptiness, His claim that one should meditate on emptiness alone and not cultivate the method side is contradictory to all the scriptures. So the sutras, the Buddha taught again and again how we need to practice generosity, ethics, etc. Report an error in the passage at 53:00 Highlight the passage at 53:00

53:23 So Lama Tsongkhapa goes into quite a bit of detail in both his great treatise and in the middle length treatise, quoting different sutras to support. This position. Report an error in the passage at 53:23 Highlight the passage at 53:23

53:39 Should I wait? Let me just finish this last point and then we'll go. And then he says it's illogical to say that all you have to do is empty your mind of thoughts in order to achieve Buddhahood. So if you think about what a Buddha is, a Buddha isn't someone who just hangs out and doesn't think about things. Report an error in the passage at 53:39 Highlight the passage at 53:39

54:03 I mean, we can all do that, right? And that's not... It's so helpful for anyone, right? But a Buddha has an omniscient mind, knows all the karma and the minds of all other beings, knows the past, the present and the future. The Buddha can emanate countless bodies in order to help others. The Buddha has the power to help others. The Buddha has infinite compassion. Report an error in the passage at 54:03 Highlight the passage at 54:03

54:32 The Buddha's, as we talked about in the refuge part, the... The Buddha's speech, the Buddha knows exactly what to say to a particular being in order to help them. The Buddha knows all different languages, can express himself or herself in any language of the practitioner. So does it make sense that emptying your mind of thought is going to bring you to a state where you have all of these qualities? Probably not, right? Report an error in the passage at 54:32 Highlight the passage at 54:32

55:09 It's on the path that we're developing all these qualities, by practicing generosity, by practicing ethics, by practicing patience and concentration. The six perfections that we develop our mind's capacity more and more so that Buddhahood is the next step in the progression. It's not like a similar cause to the result if you just empty your mind of thought. Report an error in the passage at 55:09 Highlight the passage at 55:09

55:41 Okay, Peter, you want to ask your question? Sure, it's a short question. I just was wondering if Hashan's viewpoint was one of the philosophical origins of Chan and Zen, because I know that they practice the six perfections, but mind emptying is definitely very big in both of those traditions. I don't know that that's really true, that it's mind emptying, that those traditions are focused on. Report an error in the passage at 55:41 Highlight the passage at 55:41

56:10 I think they're actually focused on realizing emptiness, but just from a slightly different method. But HaShang was a Chinese monk, and so he had a lot of influence from China, and I think there was some relationship to Chan. Report an error in the passage at 56:10 Highlight the passage at 56:10

56:31 So maybe, maybe there was some link. But I think we need to not deprecate Zen or Chan. No, no, but I was wondering if Lama Tsongkhapa was offering an alternative to some of the ways that they teach in the Chan school, which do differ from the Tibetan tradition. Report an error in the passage at 56:31 Highlight the passage at 56:31

56:57 Well, he was particularly arguing against the people who believed that all you had to do was not think. And Geshe Sopa is very clear in his commentary. He says, you know, he's not... We don't know if the followers of HaShang were really understanding HaShang's teachings correctly. But he was refuting the way that they were practicing, which is why just emptying their mind. Report an error in the passage at 56:57 Highlight the passage at 56:57

57:28 I don't know if that answers your question. So maybe it's kind of a, what would be the word, a perverse version of Zen or something. It could be, you know, a misunderstanding. I Report an error in the passage at 57:28 Highlight the passage at 57:28

57:45 think there's a lot of, I mean, it's very easy to misunderstand, tendency Report an error in the passage at 57:45 Highlight the passage at 57:45

57:54 to twist what we hear to suit our own preferences and laziness and all of that. So Lama Tsongkhapa is not refuting Zen or Chan. He's just refusing this mistaken way. Yeah, and I think that there's some spiritual traditions in this day and age, or some, I shouldn't say spiritual traditions, but there's some misunderstanding even now. Report an error in the passage at 57:54 Highlight the passage at 57:54

58:20 amongst people that all you have to do is empty your mind. Yes, I'm a Zen practitioner. Yes, I'm a Zen practitioner. Yes, I heard about that, you know, empty the mind and not thinking and things like that. But I think one can get caught up on both sides. You know, there is this side of just not thinking. Report an error in the passage at 58:20 Highlight the passage at 58:20

58:50 And the other extreme would be just analyzing, you know, to get caught in analyzing, analyzing and, yeah. So I think there must be a middle way. Yeah, yeah. And we'll get into the middle way when we talk about the latter perfections. Yeah, you're right, because it's not just by thinking that we're... And Report an error in the passage at 58:50 Highlight the passage at 58:50

59:26 then using that... minds and especially let go of our thinking but Report an error in the passage at 59:26 Highlight the passage at 59:26

59:50 Focused mind, according to this tradition, then you analyze the meaning of emptiness. You analyze. And then when you come to a conclusion, the understanding of emptiness, then you single-pointedly focus on that at this point. So Jeffrey Hopkins sometimes talks in, I think, his emptiness yoga about how some of us who are really... Report an error in the passage at 59:50 Highlight the passage at 59:50

1:00:19 We're analytical by nature. Make the mistake in our meditation on emptiness that when we come to a conclusion, then we still keep analyzing. He says, no, when we come to a conclusion, then you focus single-pointedly on that conclusion, and you stay on that as long as you can, as long as it's clear and alert. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:19 Highlight the passage at 1:00:19

1:00:39 And then when that fades, then you start analyzing again. So you're going back and forth between this single-pointed, focused mind. And the analytical, right, so going back and forth. Yeah, so maybe that addresses your kind of your middle way thing. And we in the West, I think we are too much focused in the intellect, you know, only the intellect and not, and often they speak of heart and intellect, that this goes together as mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:39 Highlight the passage at 1:00:39

1:01:17 But we usually understand only this is the intellectual thinking. And I think for me it was somehow helpful to in the Zen practice to think about just let go of this intellect, intellectual mind and you just be more in this hard mind, you know, feel, you know, it's somehow different. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah, you know, and... Report an error in the passage at 1:01:17 Highlight the passage at 1:01:17

1:01:44 Let me just say something that's not what Lama Tsongkhapa said, but just what I've been thinking about lately in my own practice. Because there are certain traditions, even within Tibetan Buddhism, where you're trying to not think. But it's not this dull mind of not thinking about anything. Mostly you're trying to let go of your discursive thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:44 Highlight the passage at 1:01:44

1:02:12 The uncontrolled thoughts, those... Those repeated thoughts that keep coming up again and again. When we really notice, we have these recordings that keep playing over and over and over in our minds. So it's very useful to just let go of those. But then it's useful, though, to continue to... We need to cultivate certain kinds of thoughts. We need to cultivate compassionate thoughts. Cultivate wisdom thoughts. We still need to solve problems. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:12 Highlight the passage at 1:02:12

1:02:44 But we need to get rid of those discursive thoughts that have no purpose, no useful purpose. So I think there's different kinds of thoughts too. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:44 Highlight the passage at 1:02:44

1:02:55 Do not take them so important also. Yeah, they're just thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:55 Highlight the passage at 1:02:55

1:03:09 Okay, so there's a lot of... A lot of quotes. I've put them in the slides and I'll send you the slides, but I'm not going to go through all of the quotes. I think you're all going to fall asleep if I do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:09 Highlight the passage at 1:03:09

1:03:28 So this is what Lama... Oh, Report an error in the passage at 1:03:28 Highlight the passage at 1:03:28

1:03:34 okay. So the last thing, maybe not the last thing, but the next thing Lama Tsongkhapa says is, the object to be achieved by Mahayanists is non-abiding nirvāṇa. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:34 Highlight the passage at 1:03:34

1:03:46 So non-abiding nirvāṇa is another term for enlightenment or Buddhahood. Non-abiding nirvāṇa is the nirvāṇa that's gone beyond the two extremes, the extreme of abiding in cyclic existence and the extreme of abiding in solitary peace. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:46 Highlight the passage at 1:03:46

1:04:05 So the extreme of abiding in cyclic existence, so the nirvāṇa that's free from cyclic existence, but then also free from solitary peace, so free from just abiding in your own individual liberation where you can't help anyone. So Buddhahood is going beyond cyclic existence and also going beyond this nirvāṇa that you can't help anyone. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:05 Highlight the passage at 1:04:05

1:04:42 In Tibetan Buddhism, when they just say nirvāṇa, I think they are always referring to non-abinding nirvāṇa, right? It's not always. Throughout the teaching? Yeah, see, I notice that sometimes nirvāṇa refers to solitary peace. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:42 Highlight the passage at 1:04:42

1:05:03 In the philosophical teachings, there's four types of nirvāṇa, like sometimes called nirvāṇa with remainder, nirvāṇa without remainder, non-abiding nirvāṇa. Non-abiding nirvāṇa is always Buddhahood. If you just hear the term nirvāṇa, I think usually I've heard it in the context of it being solitary peace. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:03 Highlight the passage at 1:05:03

1:05:24 Within Tibetan Buddhist teaching. Individual liberation, yeah. Yeah, but because... It really gets me confused because I just heard lately the word nirvāṇa in the teaching and I know nirvāṇa relates to the solitary peace and it was as if we're trying to achieve that. Yeah, so in that context it would be non-abiding nirvāṇa that we're trying to achieve. But in other contexts, yeah, I mean different teachers say different things. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:24 Highlight the passage at 1:05:24

1:05:56 Right. But even Lama Tsongkhapa here, this will be a great example. non-abiding in nirvāṇa. So here he's saying non-abiding in nirvāṇa is an extreme. So in this case, he's saying we don't want to abide in nirvāṇa. We don't want to abide in solitary peace. So this nirvāṇa is referring to solitary peace. So yeah, it's confusing. So we have to understand the context in which they're using it. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:56 Highlight the passage at 1:05:56

1:06:28 I tend to not like to use the word nirvāṇa for that reason because it can be confusing. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:28 Highlight the passage at 1:06:28

1:06:42 So avoiding the first extreme, not abiding in cyclic existence, how do we do that? We achieve it through the wisdom side of the path. And Lama Tsongkhapa gets into all of these different ways. That it's talked about in the philosophical teachings, the wisdom realizing suchness or emptiness, the stages of the path relying on the ultimate, the path of the profound, the collection of exalted wisdom, the factor of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:42 Highlight the passage at 1:06:42

1:07:13 So basically the wisdom side or the side of the ultimate or the side of the profound is what gets us out of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:13 Highlight the passage at 1:07:13

1:07:26 How do we avoid the extreme of solitary peace or individual liberation? It's through the method side, the wisdom of varieties, the stages of the path relying on the conventional truth, the path of the vast, the collection of the method, the factor of merit. So if you hear these terms, I remember for a long time I was confused, like why are they using all these different terms? So there's these different kind of dichotomies sometimes. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:26 Highlight the passage at 1:07:26

1:08:00 I don't expect you to know all of this, but just in the future if you come across these terms. Sometimes it's called the varieties and modes, the varieties being the method side and the modes being the wisdom side. Sometimes we talk about conventional truth versus ultimate truth, the conventional truth being the method side, the ultimate truth being the wisdom side. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:00 Highlight the passage at 1:08:00

1:08:26 The vast versus the profound, the vast being the method side, the profound being the wisdom side. Method versus wisdom. Merit versus wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:26 Highlight the passage at 1:08:26

1:08:42 Probably more than you wanted to know. Okay, so at this point, won't Report an error in the passage at 1:08:42 Highlight the passage at 1:08:42

1:08:52 we take a short break? And Jeannie brought some cookies right out here. And they're delicious and they have oatmeal and raisins and coconut and chocolate chips. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:52 Highlight the passage at 1:08:52

1:09:07 they're not abiding Report an error in the passage at 1:09:07 Highlight the passage at 1:09:07

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:09:38 use a very different day, but I'm getting better and better now. Black tea is cold. Yeah, my tea is cold now. Thank you. I think about another week of the crutch. Getting close to the day. Then I go to a team, so it's not over. It's not over until it's over. Yeah, but it'd be more stylish. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:38 Highlight the passage at 1:09:38

· · · silence, 5 minutes

1:15:07 is true. Oh, there's a lot of that aren't there anymore. to, but how off on top of it? And now I just really want to smudge it. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:07 Highlight the passage at 1:15:07

1:15:22 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:22 Highlight the passage at 1:15:22

1:15:31 if you look along the way, it's like, so you can download it on the iPhone, then. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:31 Highlight the passage at 1:15:31

1:15:39 It's more raw, you know. Yeah. takes a Thank you. maybe I'm going to do it. This is great. This you hold it up to the sky. Oh, great. You see progress. Yeah. Yeah. And more you're doing on the spot, you know, Report an error in the passage at 1:15:39 Highlight the passage at 1:15:39

1:16:06 Are you going to go into your old pattern or are you going to use your new toolkit? I love this thing. I love this thing, right? You have a number, you want to know. A little better. Yeah. I have a lot of good things. I know better. Yeah. But we can't do that. Yep. That's where we have to. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:06 Highlight the passage at 1:16:06

1:16:48 now in our area, we're learning to decide. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're to. at the end. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:48 Highlight the passage at 1:16:48

1:17:01 But it's so small, I can bring Chef's got an iPad. I'm a sales person no matter where I go. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:01 Highlight the passage at 1:17:01

1:17:10 kidding me, sir? Are you sad you're a salesperson? Yeah. I didn't know you worked for alcohol. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:10 Highlight the passage at 1:17:10

1:17:22 You're just the first guy on the block who has a cool new tool. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:22 Highlight the passage at 1:17:22

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:18:05 up here in San Francisco or in San Jose? Do you live here in San Francisco? Report an error in the passage at 1:18:05 Highlight the passage at 1:18:05

1:18:15 For some reason I thought you were down in the South Bay. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:15 Highlight the passage at 1:18:15

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:19:08 X number of slides are... Quotes supporting Lama Tsongkhapa's position about how we need both method and wisdom. And so I'll just kind of flip through them really fast. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:08 Highlight the passage at 1:19:08

1:19:20 So he quotes here the Sūtra of Inconceivable Perfect Secret. So the collection of exalted wisdom or wisdom is the side that abandons all of our mental afflictions. So our ignorance, our attachment, our anger, our... Pride, our jealousy, our miserliness, all of those things are abandoned through realizing emptiness. Well, realizing emptiness and then directly realizing emptiness and then familiarizing ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:20 Highlight the passage at 1:19:20

1:19:51 So the mental afflictions are abandoned by wisdom. It's the collection of merit that fully nurtures all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:51 Highlight the passage at 1:19:51

1:20:02 So at Buddhahood, a Buddha has... We could say two main kinds of what they call bodies, the truth body and the form body. The truth body, to put it really simply, is the omniscient mind of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:02 Highlight the passage at 1:20:02

1:20:27 And then the form body is the external form, the manifestations of the Buddha. So the omniscient mind of the Buddha... It comes about through the collection of wisdom that we're collecting along the path, the understanding of emptiness mainly. But the form body comes from the collection of merit. Because the form body, what's the purpose of the Buddha having bodies, physical forms? Report an error in the passage at 1:20:27 Highlight the passage at 1:20:27

1:21:05 Does a Buddha need a physical form? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:05 Highlight the passage at 1:21:05

1:21:12 something. I don't want to hear voices in my head. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:12 Highlight the passage at 1:21:12

1:21:22 The only reason a Buddha has a physical form is to help others. The omniscient mind, if the Buddha didn't have compassion, would just abide in the omniscient mind and bliss for the rest of time and wouldn't need a physical manifestation. All right. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:22 Highlight the passage at 1:21:22

1:21:44 For him or herself, right? But to help others, to teach them, to guide others on the path, you need a body. It's like if we want to help the earthquake victims in Tibet. I mean, you can't give money without a body, a physical form. You can't go and help give them medical treatment or food or water or anything without a body. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:44 Highlight the passage at 1:21:44

1:22:16 So the Buddha only has a body in order to help others. So it's the collection of merit that brings about the body of the Buddha and the collection of wisdom that brings about the omniscient mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:16 Highlight the passage at 1:22:16

1:22:28 So we need both. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:28 Highlight the passage at 1:22:28

1:22:38 Wisdom not imbued with method is bondage. Wisdom imbued with method is liberation. Method not imbued with wisdom is bondage. Method imbued with wisdom is liberation. So here we need both. Method and wisdom. And liberation here is talking about, just to be confusing, enlightenment, complete enlightenment. So if we have only method or wisdom, we're bound. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:38 Highlight the passage at 1:22:38

1:23:05 Wisdom without method, we're bound. We're Report an error in the passage at 1:23:05 Highlight the passage at 1:23:05

1:23:13 not bound to cyclic existence, but we're bound to solitary peace. Method without wisdom, we're bound to cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:13 Highlight the passage at 1:23:13

1:23:26 All of these sutures talk about how we need method and wisdom. So I'm not going to go through all of these. So you can read through these on your own if you'd like in the text. Then Report an error in the passage at 1:23:26 Highlight the passage at 1:23:26

1:23:45 we get into the actual explanation on the stages of training in the trainings. The explanation basically on the six perfections. But before we get into that, Report an error in the passage at 1:23:45 Highlight the passage at 1:23:45

1:24:02 Lama Tsongkhapa says, okay, how to train in the Mahāyāna in general. So developing the wish to train in the trainings of bodhisattvas. He says, With respect to the Vinaya and Tantra, it is inappropriate to listen to the trainings without taking the respective vows, but this is different from them. So there are three types of vows in general. There's the vows of individual liberation or the Prati Moksha vows, which is like the monks and nuns vows. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:02 Highlight the passage at 1:24:02

1:24:33 It's the five lay vows that we take, you know, no killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct and intoxicants. There's actually seven different types of individual liberation vows. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:33 Highlight the passage at 1:24:33

1:24:51 Then there's bodhisattva vows and there's tantra vows. So individual liberation vows, I mean usually specifically monks and nuns vows, and the tantric vows, you're not allowed to study those vows before you take them. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:51 Highlight the passage at 1:24:51

1:25:12 But the bodhisattva vows were encouraged. To study them before we take them. Actually, we're strongly encouraged to study them before we take them. But the Vinaya, the monks and nuns vows and the tantric vows were not supposed to. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:12 Highlight the passage at 1:25:12

1:25:29 And I've kind of often wondered why. And if I can find it. I guess she explains a little bit why we're not supposed to study. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:29 Highlight the passage at 1:25:29

1:25:42 Yeah, so let me... Kishisopa just said briefly that you don't study the Vinayan tantric vows before taking them because it prevents misunderstanding and or dislike of the overall system. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:42 Highlight the passage at 1:25:42

1:26:00 So the way I interpret that is that it's very easy to misunderstand like monks and nuns vows or tantric vows unless you're at a specific level, right? If we're someone who's looking to be critical, And we study monks and nuns vows. It can develop a negative mind. Tantric vows, really you have to be at a certain level to really understand what those are about, otherwise you think those are pretty out there. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:00 Highlight the passage at 1:26:00

1:26:33 So I think that's why. You don't want to study something that you're not ready to and then develop a negative mind about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:33 Highlight the passage at 1:26:33

1:26:49 Lama Tsongkhapa says, first you come to understand the trainings, the six perfections, so that the continuum is purified. Then if you feel enthusiasm for holding them, the vows are imparted on you. So first you study the six perfections, and then if you have enthusiasm for holding them, then you take the vows. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:49 Highlight the passage at 1:26:49

1:27:11 If you take the vows after having understood the trainings, taken them to mind as an object, and developed a heartfelt wish to train in them, they will be very stable. That is why this is a good method. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:11 Highlight the passage at 1:27:11

1:27:26 So we study them and think, oh yeah, I want to do this. Maybe I can do this. And then we take the vow. Then they'll be stable. If we take the vow and then we think, what did I get myself into? They're not as likely to be stable. It's Report an error in the passage at 1:27:26 Highlight the passage at 1:27:26

1:27:50 true. But you've taken the vows, so we do our best to keep them. But the bodhisattva vows, there's not so much danger to think this is really out there. Kind of get a negative mind with the bodhisattva vows. I think. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:50 Highlight the passage at 1:27:50

1:28:18 Right. So then Lama Tsongkhapa here just says that he's written a commentary on the bodhisattva vows, so he's not going to go into them here. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:18 Highlight the passage at 1:28:18

1:28:29 But the vows definitely need to be looked into before they're taken, so you should come to understand them from his other text. But we started talking about some of the bodhisattva vows, and we'll get into the rest of them during this class. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:29 Highlight the passage at 1:28:29

1:28:49 So how do you train after you've taken the bodhisattva vows? Or even if you haven't taken the bodhisattva vows, how do you train as a bodhisattva? What the foundation of the trainings is, although there are infinite clear divisions when grouped together by type, all the trainings of bodhisattvas are contained in the six perfections. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:49 Highlight the passage at 1:28:49

1:29:11 All the trainings of bodhisattvas are contained in the six perfections. Therefore, the six perfections constitute the great synopsis that condenses all the essential points of the bodhisattva path. All right, sometimes when we see lists of things, oh, there's six of this and eight of that and 12 of this and 16 of that, you know, we don't really pay attention to the number. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:11 Highlight the passage at 1:29:11

1:29:33 Okay, well, okay, this is a good list, you know, there's six and we don't really think about the significance of there being six. And I remember when I was studying... The philosophical teachings, you know, there were often, often these presentations of why there are eight of this, why seven is not enough and why nine is too many. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:33 Highlight the passage at 1:29:33

1:29:58 And I thought, well, you know, what's the point? But then when I went deeper, I thought, oh, no, this really, this is really profound. It's really profound, actually, why there are six perfections. And so Lama Tsongkhapa gets into this. Why are there six perfections? And we may think, oh, well, who cares, right? But actually, if we think about it, there are a lot of good reasons. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:58 Highlight the passage at 1:29:58

1:30:27 Because five is not enough, and seven is too many. The Report an error in the passage at 1:30:27 Highlight the passage at 1:30:27

1:30:41 way in which their number is definite at six, there definitely should be six of them, and no more and no less. When you find certainty which captivates the mind with respect to this, then hold the instructions regarding the practice of the six perfections as supreme. So Lama Tsongkhapa gets into why there are definitely six from the point of view of many different things. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:41 Highlight the passage at 1:30:41

1:31:05 The high status, the accomplishment of the two welfares, the complete accomplishment of the welfare of others in all aspects. The six comprise the entire Mahāyāna. How the perfections influence all aspects of the path or method in the three trainings. So I'm not going to get into all of these, but we'll get a flavor. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:05 Highlight the passage at 1:31:05

1:31:26 So high status meaning a good rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:26 Highlight the passage at 1:31:26

1:31:33 In order to bring the vast conduct of a bodhisattva to completion, you need many consecutive lives. And in order to progress along the path in each of these lives, you need a support that is complete in all its features. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:33 Highlight the passage at 1:31:33

1:31:48 right, so, you know, so for... For most beings, we need multiple lives in order to achieve Buddhahood. It's possible to achieve Buddhahood in one lifetime, but for most of us, it takes many lives. So if it takes more than one life, we need to make sure that our lives are supportive, all of our future lives are supportive of the spiritual path. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:48 Highlight the passage at 1:31:48

1:32:12 If in my next life I'm born in the middle of a war zone with no Dharma teachers and everybody around me is treating each other badly, it's not going to be supportive of my Dharma practice. And I could easily fall off the path. So without it, even though you practice with something that merely has all the parts, like our current support, there will be no progress whatsoever. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:12 Highlight the passage at 1:32:12

1:32:41 Thus a support that is excellent in all its parts as necessary. So here we need a support that's endowed with the four excellences, he says. Resources at your disposal. So we need to have enough money that we can live without having to focus all of our time and energy on making money and worrying about where our next meal is coming from. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:41 Highlight the passage at 1:32:41

1:33:09 Enough money so that we can do Dharma practice and not just focus on mere survival. So how do we get resources? Wealth, we don't have to be wealthy, but resources, wealth, by practicing generosity, the first perfection. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:09 Highlight the passage at 1:33:09

1:33:31 A body with which to practice. So we need a human body in order to practice. I was born as a dog. You know, you can't really meditate on emptiness as a dog. Yeah, well, some dogs do prostrations. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:31 Highlight the passage at 1:33:31

1:33:51 So, yeah, you can sit in teachings, but you don't understand anything. There's not, you know, you can't really practice as an animal. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:51 Highlight the passage at 1:33:51

1:34:03 Really, a human body is said to be the best kind of life to have. it. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:03 Highlight the passage at 1:34:03

1:34:09 In order to practice the Dharma. And so a human body is obtained by practicing ethical discipline, the second perfection, the perfection of ethics, not harming others. So we get a good rebirth, basically, by practicing ethics. That's the main cause. Avoiding non-virtue and practicing virtue. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:09 Highlight the passage at 1:34:09

1:34:38 Then we need companions with whom to practice. You know, we're in the middle of nowhere. If I was in the middle of, you know, Iraq or something, you know, there wouldn't be other Dharma practitioners that I could, you know, we can learn from each other. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:38 Highlight the passage at 1:34:38

1:35:00 So it's important, right, to have supportive companions, to have places like Sechenling where you can get teachings and there's other people practicing as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:00 Highlight the passage at 1:35:00

1:35:10 So we have... Helpful and supportive companions by practicing patience, the third perfection of patience. Because if you don't get angry, you don't retaliate when others harm you, then others like your company. If you're an angry person, if you have a bad temper, then others don't really want to. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:10 Highlight the passage at 1:35:10

1:35:40 Our helpful companions come from the third perfection of patience. I meant to change this, but the completion of actions that are to be undertaken. We can undertake a lot of different projects and things, but we're not going to get anywhere unless we're willing to complete our projects. We can start on the path to enlightenment, but if we get bored after a while and switch to something else, or if it's too hard and we switch to something else, then we're not actually going to get to Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:40 Highlight the passage at 1:35:40

1:36:16 We need the ability to complete our actions, complete the path. And how do we get that? By practicing joyous effort or joyous perseverance, right? So we don't just abandon the path when it gets uncomfortable or encounter obstacles. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:16 Highlight the passage at 1:36:16

1:36:47 Then Lama Tsongkhapa says, however, do merely to these excellences. Many may become conditions for the mental afflictions. If I have a lot of money, I have a nice body, I have a lot of friends, those can be conditions for a lot of attachment, a lot of jealousy and pride. So not only do we need these four excellences, we also need to not come under the power of the mental afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:47 Highlight the passage at 1:36:47

1:37:18 We need to not be... Ruled by mental afflictions. Can we do that? Perfection of concentration. So if you're able to single pointedly focus on an object for an indefinite period of time, then you've developed control over your mind. So the mind of calm abiding doesn't have any mental afflictions arising. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:18 Highlight the passage at 1:37:18

1:37:49 So we need control over our minds. And then lastly. amazing. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:49 Highlight the passage at 1:37:49

1:37:55 But that, too, is not enough. You need to distinguish well the observed objects that are to be unmistakably engaged in and turned away from with respect to the essential point of what is to be adopted and what is to be discarded. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:55 Highlight the passage at 1:37:55

1:38:10 So to put it more simply here is we need to know what to practice and what to abandon. To know, oh, I need to abandon harming others. I need to abandon anger. I need my grasping mind. I need to practice generosity. I need to practice compassion. I need to practice wisdom. So knowing what to practice and what to abandon is included in the factor of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:10 Highlight the passage at 1:38:10

1:38:43 So we need the perfection of wisdom. So in order to have a good rebirth that's conducive to practice, we need to practice all six perfections. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:43 Highlight the passage at 1:38:43

1:38:56 How Report an error in the passage at 1:38:56 Highlight the passage at 1:38:56

1:39:01 are we doing so far? Report an error in the passage at 1:39:01 Highlight the passage at 1:39:01

1:39:05 Any questions? Report an error in the passage at 1:39:05 Highlight the passage at 1:39:05

1:39:14 Also, if you have wisdom, you will understand that the excellences are the results of previous good actions, and striving in the causes, once again, they will increase. If you do not have wisdom by using the results you previously accumulated, they will be exhausted. Since you do not newly increase them, they will become the beginning of suffering in future lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:14 Highlight the passage at 1:39:14

1:39:39 Okay. So if we have wisdom, we understand that the conditions we have now... Result from actions that we've done in the past. If we don't have wisdom, we think, oh, things are good now. Things are always going to be good and I can do whatever I want. I don't need to continue to create the causes so that I have these conditions in the future. With wisdom, we understand that we need to practice the six perfections and we need to create the causes so that we continue to have good conditions in future lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:39 Highlight the passage at 1:39:39

1:40:14 Otherwise this life could just be a ripening of good karma and then we use up our good karma and the next life is not going to be so conducive. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:14 Highlight the passage at 1:40:14

1:40:26 So we need the wisdom, understanding that we need to continue to practice virtue and develop the conditions for future lives. Hence Report an error in the passage at 1:40:26 Highlight the passage at 1:40:26

1:40:46 the arisal of the six perfections in other lives does not come about. Without a cause, nor from a cause that does not correspond with them. Also, the corresponding causes are sequential. Thus, the perfections are definite as six. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:46 Highlight the passage at 1:40:46

1:41:09 We'll get into that, but basically, there's a definite sequence to these six perfections. Lama Tsongkhapa gets into, not only is six the right number, but they're in this particular order for a reason. For actually a number of reasons. The Report an error in the passage at 1:41:09 Highlight the passage at 1:41:09

1:41:41 number as definite is six from the point of view of the two welfares, the welfare of oneself and the welfare of others. Okay, I don't know if you can read this. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:41 Highlight the passage at 1:41:41

1:41:52 So the first three perfections brings about the welfare of others. So generosity, ethical discipline and patience bring about the welfare of others. Right, generosity, giving. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:52 Highlight the passage at 1:41:52

1:42:09 others what they need, right, giving to the homeless person, giving to the, the earthquake victims, giving things, giving love, et cetera. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:09 Highlight the passage at 1:42:09

1:42:21 Ethical discipline helps Report an error in the passage at 1:42:21 Highlight the passage at 1:42:21

1:42:31 others because we don't harm them. If we harm others, that's definitely not beneficial to others. But if we refrain from harming them, then that brings benefit to others. And then patience. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:31 Highlight the passage at 1:42:31

1:42:48 Here Lama Tsongkhapa says, however, given that pure ethics cannot come about if you retaliate once or twice due to being unable to bear being harmed, the patience that in the face of harm thinks it does not matter is necessary to constitute ethics. So we can't complete ethics if somebody treats us badly or harms us in some way, we retaliate. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:48 Highlight the passage at 1:42:48

1:43:19 So we need the patience of not retaliating, letting go, right, in the face of harm. So patience, actually patience is, I'm discovering, really, you know, really very difficult, right? The mind that doesn't, that's not disturbed and doesn't want to get back at somebody who hurts us or harms us. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:19 Highlight the passage at 1:43:19

1:43:50 And then since you do not retaliate out of patience, then others are prevented from accumulating a lot of negativities. So when we retaliate to others, how do others respond? Then they get negative. So if we don't retaliate, then others are prevented from getting even angrier. And then inspired by that, others apply themselves to virtue, whereby it is a great benefit to others. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:50 Highlight the passage at 1:43:50

1:44:18 So generosity. Ethics and patience are for the welfare of others. It helps through the first three perfections. In Report an error in the passage at 1:44:18 Highlight the passage at 1:44:18

1:44:32 order to bring about your own welfare is wisdom. Because you abandon all of the mental afflictions through wisdom, you abandon your own mental suffering through wisdom, as well as your obscurations to omniscience through wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:32 Highlight the passage at 1:44:32

1:44:52 And in order to develop... you're... Report an error in the passage at 1:44:52 Highlight the passage at 1:44:52

1:44:56 Wisdom, as we said before, we need concentration. We need to be able to place our minds on the object of emptiness in particular without distraction. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:56 Highlight the passage at 1:44:56

1:45:19 Perfection, joyous effort is said to be the foundation of both welfares, the welfare of oneself and the welfare of others. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:19 Highlight the passage at 1:45:19

1:45:30 So what is the big enemy of joyous effort? So Report an error in the passage at 1:45:30 Highlight the passage at 1:45:30

1:45:40 if we're lazy, right. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:40 Highlight the passage at 1:45:40

1:45:46 We're not going to get very far. Since concentration, wisdom, etc. do not arise in the lazy, you need to undertake it with a joyous effort that does not relent day and night. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:46 Highlight the passage at 1:45:46

1:46:01 Therefore, this is their foundation. We need the six perfections to get a good life in the next time, support of our spiritual practice. We need six perfections in order to... Help both ourselves and others. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:01 Highlight the passage at 1:46:01

1:46:36 Lama Tsongkhapa says, okay, well, there's six perfections definitely in order to complete, to the complete accomplishment of the welfare of others in all aspects. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:36 Highlight the passage at 1:46:36

1:46:47 So once again, generosity, we eliminate the poverty of others through giving material things. We don't harm anyone through ethical discipline. We don't retaliate and we're patient when others harm us. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:47 Highlight the passage at 1:46:47

1:47:07 Joyful effort, we can help others through concentration. So concentration, like developing a concentration, is the basis for developing clairvoyances. So developing clairvoyances and being able to emanate bodies and see past and future lives. So a bodhisattva is said to develop these clairvoyances in order to help others. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:07 Highlight the passage at 1:47:07

1:47:38 So what limits us from being able to help someone who's agitated or depressed is because we don't understand what would really help them. So through developing clairvoyances, we can better understand how to help them. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:38 Highlight the passage at 1:47:38

1:48:02 Through wisdom, we can give them explanations. We can hopefully help to tame somebody's mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:02 Highlight the passage at 1:48:02

1:48:22 And then the last thing I want to go through for tonight. night. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:22 Highlight the passage at 1:48:22

1:48:29 The six perfections comprise the entire Mahāyāna. Generosity overcomes miserliness and attachment to my things, my money, my friends, whatever we can think of. Through generosity, we're at least loosening our attachment to... Our money and resources that we have acquired and that we will not view resources that we have not acquired with interest by thinking, oh, wow, wouldn't it be great to get that iPad? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:29 Highlight the passage at 1:48:29

1:49:17 Sorry, Chad. Or a new home or, you know, whatever it is that we covet, right? Wouldn't it be great to, you know, accumulate more? iPad. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:17 Highlight the passage at 1:49:17

1:49:34 You know, when I get that, then I'll be really happy. Then I'll feel really fulfilled. So generosity helps loosen the attachment to what we already have as well as the desire for more. Because, you know, we just let go and we give. And generosity, you know, I think everybody has some level of generosity to give. So how do we determine... Report an error in the passage at 1:49:34 Highlight the passage at 1:49:34

1:49:57 Oh, that's kind of loud. Oh, I can't remember what I said. How do we determine... How do we determine... If we are really generous or not. I mean, some people think, oh, you know, what I gave was not enough. What is enough? Yeah. Well, there are many, there are different levels of generosity, right? If you give, you know, that's some level of generosity, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:49:57 Highlight the passage at 1:49:57

1:50:23 But there's... Usually a level in which it becomes too painful for us to give, right? So the perfection of generosity, and we'll talk about this later, is we've perfected generosity when we have no more miserliness. So we have no more hesitation to give because I need it for me. So we have no more miserliness and we have the mind of just wanting to give whatever is needed. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:23 Highlight the passage at 1:50:23

1:50:55 We've let go of that mind of... This is mine, and so I can't give it. I don't know if that helps. I mean, that's the perfection of generosity, which happens on the first bodhisattva ground. So we shouldn't expect ourselves to be there, but that's the direction in which we're going, is to become less and less attached to our stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:55 Highlight the passage at 1:50:55

1:51:27 To the point where we're not attached to our stuff at all. Like, oh, you want my purse? You can have my purse. You want my computer? Okay, you can have my computer. You know, unless we need it, right, to help others, right, if the greater benefit is to keep it, right, then we keep it. But we don't have the attachment that I have to keep it because I want it, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:51:27 Highlight the passage at 1:51:27

1:51:49 We've let go of that attachment and we're willing to give whatever people need. oh you you know even in Lamrim Chenmo there's There's this big, long section about when you should and shouldn't give away your body. So you're even willing to give away your body, which is kind of a whole other level of generosity, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:51:49 Highlight the passage at 1:51:49

1:52:11 It's like, well, don't give away your arm until you're ready, until you have enough compassion to give away. And it's not a joke, right? It's all very... Very serious. Chodron Rinpoche was going through this quite recently. Don't just give your eyeball now. You wait until your compassion is strong enough to give away your eyeball. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:11 Highlight the passage at 1:52:11

1:52:38 So we're talking about a very high level of generosity at that level. But then we just start at whatever level we're at. I mean, we're all generous to whatever level we are. But we give. And oftentimes, you know, I've heard, we give until it hurts a little, right? We don't give, you know, to the extent where we're going to regret it later, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:52:38 Highlight the passage at 1:52:38

1:53:03 But also, it's good to give as much as we can, right? And that will expand our capacity to give, yeah? If I always just give the beggar a quarter, right? It's not going to expand my capacity to give, right? I can give more than that. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:03 Highlight the passage at 1:53:03

1:53:23 Yeah. Peter. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:23 Highlight the passage at 1:53:23

1:53:30 You don't do it for this reason, but I find that the more you give, the more you get also. As long as we're worried and miserly and thinking, oh, I can't do that because I won't get this, I won't get that, that creates that internal poverty. And if you really are comfortable giving things away, things just flow to you. You don't even have to worry about it. You don't do it for that reason, but I think that's a side effect of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:30 Highlight the passage at 1:53:30

1:53:54 it's true. I mean, generosity is the of... Resources, right? The cause of wealth in the future. But yeah, I mean, the painful part of giving is the thought of giving, right? When we're attached. I've got Report an error in the passage at 1:53:54 Highlight the passage at 1:53:54

1:54:13 my last 20 in my wallet, right? But when we're able to give and let go, right? Let go of that level of attachment, that's a huge sense of freedom, right? A sense of relief. You know, letting go of that grasping mind that I Report an error in the passage at 1:54:13 Highlight the passage at 1:54:13

1:54:36 am. So generosity is how we let go of that grasping, that attachment. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:36 Highlight the passage at 1:54:36

1:54:54 We'll get into that starting next time. We'll start on generosity. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:54 Highlight the passage at 1:54:54

1:55:03 So then ethical discipline. When we have ethical discipline, you'll be able to guard the trainings, guard our vows, so that we'll be able to take up ethical discipline and respect it. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:03 Highlight the passage at 1:55:03

1:55:17 And with patience. Due to patience towards sufferings that arises independence on sentient beings and non-sentient phenomena, you will not be discouraged. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:17 Highlight the passage at 1:55:17

1:55:29 So our sufferings that we experience independence on others, right? Others do things we don't like or others harm us. And also we need to practice patience in relation to, you know, events, right? Our car breaks down or our computer crashes. Things don't go our way. So having an undisturbed mind when sufferings occur, when we get sick, when we can't do what we want. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:29 Highlight the passage at 1:55:29

1:56:07 So not becoming discouraged. We need to have this practice of patience. Especially with bodhicitta. We've talked about bodhicitta. We're working for the welfare of all sentient beings out of our compassion toward others. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:07 Highlight the passage at 1:56:07

1:56:23 If we can continue our growth of bodhicitta, then we're happy to help others. But then we get really angry at somebody. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:23 Highlight the passage at 1:56:23

1:56:38 It's so funny to me because here I am trying to practice bodhicitta. And then I can get irritated by the smallest little thing. Oh, this person didn't answer my email. That's a really small thing, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:56:38 Highlight the passage at 1:56:38

1:56:54 But if we allow ourselves to get angry by these things, you know, that goes against the face of the bodhisattva path, that goes against our progress toward enlightenment, that goes against our wanting to help others. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:54 Highlight the passage at 1:56:54

1:57:09 So we need to learn to be able to bear the harm of others, to bear suffering without wanting to lash out, without wanting to suffer. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:09 Highlight the passage at 1:57:09

1:57:24 Bear the suffering with a peaceful mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:24 Highlight the passage at 1:57:24

1:57:30 Practicing patience. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:30 Highlight the passage at 1:57:30

1:57:37 Joyous effort. Due to applying yourself to and delighting in any kind of virtuous activities, you will not be discouraged by them. So this is another tricky one, right? Being joyful along the path, no matter what hardships arise. Continuing to persevere and being happy about practicing the path. I was just talking to somebody yesterday about... Report an error in the passage at 1:57:37 Highlight the passage at 1:57:37

1:58:07 Our Vajrasattva retreat, she did a Vajrasattva retreat and I did a Vajrasattva retreat at different times in Dharamsala in the monsoon. And we were talking about how both of us were in the bed bug room, right? We both slept in rooms. And, you know, I had, you know, hundreds of bites all over my body for three months. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:07 Highlight the passage at 1:58:07

1:58:29 And she did, huh? Report an error in the passage at 1:58:29 Highlight the passage at 1:58:29

1:58:34 Nothing worked. Nothing worked. You know, and so, you know, just wake up. What new bites do I have today? And you know, you're itching. And she was saying how she had calamine lotion all over her body for three months. You know, so you need joyous effort, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:58:34 Highlight the passage at 1:58:34

1:58:50 You know, so you don't just give up. Because I just remember being miserable. Like, I don't know. Yeah. So, you know, so sometimes that happens on the path, right? Or you're doing some purification and sometimes, you know. Undesirable circumstances arise. So joyous effort helps us continue on the path even though it's not always comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:50 Highlight the passage at 1:58:50

1:59:21 Concentration and wisdom, the last two perfections. That's how we practice the union of calm abiding and special insight. Calm abiding, the mind that can stay on the object as long as you want, and then special insight, using that in order to penetrate. The wisdom of emptiness to complete the path. So these six comprise the entire Mahāyāna path. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:21 Highlight the passage at 1:59:21

1:59:52 So Report an error in the passage at 1:59:52 Highlight the passage at 1:59:52

2:00:00 it's not just a list. Like sometimes we sit down and think, okay, what do I need to get from the grocery store? Well, let's, I mean, five things, you know. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:00 Highlight the passage at 2:00:00

2:00:10 Okay, that sounds pretty good, right? We don't put a lot of thought into it. And then we get home and we discover we need two other things, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:00:10 Highlight the passage at 2:00:10

2:00:20 Six perfections aren't like that, right? They comprise the entire path. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:20 Highlight the passage at 2:00:20

2:00:30 So next Tuesday we'll talk a little bit about the order of the six perfections, why they're in this order, and then we'll dive into generosity. I find to be a very inspiring topic. Chodron Rinpoche recently said something that stuck with me about the reason why we don't strive for enlightenment. It's because we're attached. We're attached. We're attached to our comforts. We're attached to our things. We practice generosity to overcome that attachment. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:30 Highlight the passage at 2:00:30

2:01:18 Let's dedicate on page 246. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:18 Highlight the passage at 2:01:18

2:01:50 May all beings everywhere, plagued by sufferings of body and mind, obtain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creature suffer, commit evil or ever fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled with a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forms and the deaf hear sounds. May those whose bodies are worn with toil be restored on finding repose. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:50 Highlight the passage at 2:01:50

2:02:19 May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find water and delicious drinks. May the poor find wealth. those weak with sorrow find joy may the forlorn find hope constant happiness and prosperity there be timely rains and bountiful harvest May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:19 Highlight the passage at 2:02:19

2:02:48 Whatever diseases there are in the world, may they never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid and those bound be freed. May the powerless find power and may people think of benefiting each other. For as long as space remains, for as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:48 Highlight the passage at 2:02:48

2:03:31 Okay, thank you very much. Have a good week. It's really nice for me to be back. Just like a couple announcements, there's a couple things coming. Charles asked me to make this announcement. There's a couple things coming up here in the next couple weeks. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:31 Highlight the passage at 2:03:31

2:03:50 This Sunday, May the 9th, Venerable Rita Rinneker is coming from 10 till 4 with a lunch. She's going to be talking about practical Buddhism, an introduction to linking theory and practice. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:50 Highlight the passage at 2:03:50

2:04:07 She's wonderful. And then she's also talking on Thursday, May the 13th from 7 to 9 on what's called Answering the Call or Taking the Leap, Finding Your Place in the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:07 Highlight the passage at 2:04:07

2:04:26 And then after that, Venerable Antonio Sata is giving a public talk here on the 21st of May from 7 to 9 on the Pasana meditation. And he's going to be leading a mini retreat on 22nd and 23rd up in San Anselmo, like I said, Jack. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:26 Highlight the passage at 2:04:26

2:04:52 And Shodin Rinpoche's Long Life Pucha is this Sunday. Right. So Atlanta Medicine Buddha? Atlanta Medicine Buddha. Yeah. Yeah. So do come if you can. Yeah. So it's, I think it's 10 o 'clock or something on Sunday. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:52 Highlight the passage at 2:04:52

2:05:12 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:12 Highlight the passage at 2:05:12

2:05:32 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:32 Highlight the passage at 2:05:32

2:05:54 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:54 Highlight the passage at 2:05:54

2:06:05 Yeah, did you? Report an error in the passage at 2:06:05 Highlight the passage at 2:06:05

2:06:10 Yeah, and if... And people who want to get my emails and I don't have your email address, if you could give those to me, that would be wonderful. And then I can send you slides and handouts and things. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:10 Highlight the passage at 2:06:10

2:06:35 I'm sure he talked about that. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:35 Highlight the passage at 2:06:35

2:06:43 Yes, please. I think I have it, but why don't you leave it to me just in case? Yes, I'll email the text and the slides. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:43 Highlight the passage at 2:06:43