← Emily Hsu

Buddhism from A-Z, 3rd Semester - Bodhisattva Conduct (8 June 2010)

Emily Hsu · 8 June 2010 · 2 h 12 min · Tse Chen Ling via Internet Archive

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  • 15:17

    Stuff, right, to your things, your body, your possessions or your resources and your roots of virtue. So generosity is actually the easiest of the six perfections. But of course it's not easy at all. And then once we've let go of our attachment or at least reduced our attachment to our things, then we move on to ethical discipline.

  • 18:17

    So this is when we have the perception that someone is harming us. And then we get agitated or angry as a result. So what kinds of things can make us angry when people harm us? Slander. Slander. When people say, slander us.

  • 44:50

    It's similar to the example Shantideva gives and Lama Tsongkhapa gives in the Lama Rinpoche is if a person hits you with a stick. Do you get angry at the stick? No, we get angry at the person. So Lama Tsongkhapa says, okay, well, if you get angry at the person, right, the person is controlling the stick, right?

  • 1:21:23

    Moreover, Lama Tsongkhapa says, the experience of suffering produced by the harmer is the experience of the result of a negative action accumulated by oneself in the past. And in dependence on that, the action will be exhausted. If you cultivate patience with respect to it, you will not newly accumulate causes for experiencing suffering later on. Whereas if you get angry, you will have to experience suffering that is even greater than that. So any experience of pain that we have is a result of our negative karma that we've created in the past.

  • 1:45:04

    Okay. So think of a situation where you've become angry at someone for harming you or harming someone else that's close to us. Let's see if we can think of one situation where we've been angry at someone for harming us. And maybe don't pick the hugest anger that you have. That one will be hard.

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0:47 5, and it's already time for class, you see. Report an error

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3:13 a cold, the summer cold. Report an error

3:30 Let's start and let the others kind of slowly wander in if they come at all. So Report an error

3:46 let's see if we can just focus on the present moment, Report an error

3:55 noticing the inhalation and the exhalation of our breath. Report an error

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5:05 Also noticing our body posture. Report an error

5:14 Let's see Report an error

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7:31 if Report an error

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8:20 we can develop a bodhicitta motivation. Report an error

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9:49 Let's start with the praise to Shakyamuni Buddha, page 73. Report an error

10:14 To the founder, the endowed transcendent destroyer, the one gone beyond, the faux destroyer, the completely perfected, fully awakened being. our motivation for the evening. Report an error

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10:23 Perfect in knowledge and in good conduct, Tsugata, knower of the world, supreme guide of human beings to be tamed, teacher of gods and human beings, to you, the completely and fully awakened one, the endowed transcendent destroyer, the glorious conqueror, the subduer from the Shakyat clan, I prostrate, make offerings and go for refuge. Report an error

10:45 To the founder, the endowed transcendent destroyer, the one gone beyond, the faux destroyer, the completely perfected, fully awakened being, perfect in knowledge and in good conduct, Sugata, knower of the world, supreme guide of human beings to be tamed, teacher of gods and human beings, to you, the completely and fully awakened one, the endowed transcendent destroyer, the glorious conqueror, the subduer from the Shaki clan. Report an error

11:12 I prostrate, make offerings and go for refuge to the founder, the endowed transcendent destroyer, the one gone beyond, the foe destroyer, the completely perfected, fully awakened being, perfect in knowledge and in good conduct. Sugata, knower of the world, supreme guide of human beings to be tamed, teacher of gods and human beings, to you, the completely and fully awakened one, the endowed transcendent destroyer, the glorious conqueror, the subduer from the Shaky clan, I prostrate, make offerings, and go for refuge. Report an error

11:46 When, O supreme amongst humans, you were born on this earth, you paced out seven strides, then said, I am supreme in this world. To you who were wise then, I prostrate. With pure bodies formed supremely pure, wisdom ocean like a golden mountain, fame that blazes in the three worlds, winner of the best, Lord, to you I prostrate. Report an error

12:10 With the supreme signs, face like spotless moon, color like gold, to you I prostrate. Dust free like you, the three worlds are not, incomparably wise one, to you I prostrate. The Savior having great compassion, the founder having all understanding, the field of merit with qualities like a vast ocean, to you the one gone to thusness I prostrate. Report an error

12:34 The purity that frees one from attachment, the virtue that frees one from the lower realms, the one path, the sublime pure reality, to the Dharma that pacifies I prostrate. Those who are liberated and who also show the path to liberation, the holy field qualified with realizations, who are devoted to the moral precepts, to you, the sublime community intending virtue I prostrate. Report an error

13:00 Homage to the Supreme Buddha. Homage to the Dharma Refuge. Homage to the great Saṅgha. To all three, ever devout homage. To all worthy of respect, bowing with bodies as many as all realms, atoms and all aspects, with supreme faith I pay homage. Do not commit any non-virtuous actions. Perform only perfect virtuous actions. Subdue your mind thoroughly. This is the teaching of a Buddha. Report an error

13:27 A star, a visual aberration, a flame of a lamp, an illusion, a drop of dew or a bubble, a dream, a flash of lightning, a cloud. See, condition things as such. Through these merits may sentient beings attain the rank of all seen, subdue the foe of faults, and be delivered from saṃsāra's ocean, perturbed by the waves of aging, sickness and death. Report an error

13:52 And then page 98, Refuge and Bodhicitta. Report an error

14:05 I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error

14:30 I go for refuge until I'm enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error

14:57 So we're covering the six perfections. Can you hear me? Yeah. I'll try to keep my voice loud enough. Report an error

15:09 Okay. So we've covered the perfection of generosity. So the essence of generosity is giving up your attachment to your... Stuff, right, to your things, your body, your possessions or your resources and your roots of virtue. Report an error

15:27 So generosity is actually the easiest of the six perfections. But of course it's not easy at all. And then once we've let go of our attachment or at least reduced our attachment to our things, then we move on to ethical discipline. Where we're not harming others, and we're not even thinking about harming others. That's the practice, is not even having the thought of, oh, I want to get back at that guy. Report an error

16:01 So that involves further reducing your mental afflictions. And then we move to patience, which is yet more difficult. So with ethical discipline, we don't. We try not to harm anyone, even when they tick us off. And with patience, we go even further in trying to not even be disturbed, like mentally disturbed or distressed in the face of suffering or in the face of harm. Report an error

16:36 So this is a pretty tall order. So patience. Once again, is the mind abiding at ease? Without being overwhelmed by harm and the occurrence of suffering and a very abiding dedication to the Dharma. So the mind abiding at ease or undisturbed or undistressed or unrattled, not being unhappy in the face of harm. Report an error

17:09 So there are the three divisions, which first of all, disregarding harm done to you. Secondly is voluntarily accepting the suffering that arises in your mind stream. And then third, being certain about the Dharma teachings and firmly maintaining belief in them. Report an error

17:30 So then we went through, I'm going to skip through these. Then how do we generate patience? We first meditate on the benefits of having patience and the drawbacks of not being patient. So we talked about that quite extensively last week. So I'm going to skip over all of that stuff and then move on to the actual way of cultivating patience. Report an error

17:58 So how to cultivate the patience that is unconcerned with respect to harm. That's the one we'll do this time, which is the first of the three types of patience, being undisturbed or unconcerned with respect to harm. Report an error

18:17 So this is when we have the perception that someone is harming us. And then we get agitated or angry as a result. So what kinds of things can make us angry when people harm us? Report an error

18:38 Slander. Slander. When people say, slander us. Report an error

18:46 When they steal from us. Insulting us. When they insult us. Anything else? When we don't get what we want. Sometimes when we do get what we want. Report an error

19:03 I have this great little story. I was going to this workshop at the smartphone store where I bought my smartphone to teach me how to use it. There were a bunch of other people there and we were supposed to show up at 11. And the guy who was going to teach the course had called in minutes before and said he's going to be half an hour late. Oh my goodness. Report an error

19:22 They attacked the man that was saying this. How can you? We're customers. We spend a lot of money. And I said. Yes, but it gives us the opportunity to practice patience. They said, oh, aren't you the enlightened one? And I said, but I'm smiling. And you were so bitter. And I had a great time while we were waiting. But being delayed is one way to perceive harm, I guess. Report an error

19:48 Being delayed, not having your expectations met. Okay. Report an error

19:57 Being passed up for a promotion. What kind of smart phone It's a droid. Right. Report an error

20:03 So in all of these cases, we're perceiving that we've been harmed. It's not necessarily that we have been harmed, but we're perceiving that we've been harmed. If a guy is being delayed by half an hour, it's not like he's harming us, but we're having the perception that we're being harmed if we become upset. Report an error

20:27 So what are some methods to counteract or to cultivate patience, unconcerned with respect to harm? Report an error

20:39 Lama Tsongkhapa in his lamrim chenmo goes into really quite a lot of different methods. His great lamrim, but in his middle length lamrim, not as many. He kind of gets to the essence. And I'm going to go through what he goes through in the middle length lamrim and then a little bit of what he gets into in the great lamrim. Report an error

21:00 And the first one is the inappropriateness of anger given that the offender has a lack of control. Self-control. So, okay, so this Report an error

21:17 first one. So are we angry because the other person inflicted harm while they had the self-control to harm us? Or are we angry because they were utterly without self-control and hurt you helplessly while helplessly being impelled by something else? Report an error

21:40 Lama Tsongkhapa says, if you investigate whether or not someone who harmed you had the self-control not to harm you, You will find that he did not harm you while having self-control, for he generated the wish to harm you out of causes and conditions such as the seeds of mental afflictions from previous familiarity and improper mental attention, and due to them he engaged in activities that inflicted harm and thereby produced suffering in others. Report an error

22:09 Okay, so Lama Tsongkhapa is saying the other person... Like didn't have the freedom or didn't have the free will to not harm you. They were under the control of their mental afflictions. Report an error

22:26 So let's talk about these three causes and conditions. So Lama Tsongkhapa is saying when the causes and conditions come together for a mental affliction, then the mental affliction automatically arises. Report an error

22:42 And so what are those causes and conditions? First of all, proximity to the object, right? So the guy that insulted you, for example, right? So being close in proximity to the guy who insulted you. Having the seeds of the mental affliction. So whenever we've gotten, for example, angry in the past, it's planted a karmic seed in our mental continuum. Report an error

23:12 And we have that seed, and as long as we have that seed, Then when the conditions come together, then it will ripen into anger. And so we all have these seeds until we've purified all the seeds and directly realized emptiness and removed them on the eighth bodhisattva ground. So we all have these, you know, number two all the time, right, until we hit the eighth bodhisattva ground. Report an error

23:44 And then thirdly and probably most importantly or most relevantly for us to work on is the improper mental attention or sometimes translated as erroneous conceptions. So this is all the stories that we come up with. So if a guy is half an hour late, what a jerk. How inconsiderate. I took off of work for this. My time is valuable. All of that mental stuff that we come up with is this improper mental attention. Report an error

24:23 So if we didn't have that improper mental attention, if we just thought, oh, he's half an hour late, oh, good, I have time to do my mantras, then no anger. But if all three of these arise... Being close to the object, having the seeds, and developing the storyline around supporting getting angry, then we're going to get angry. Report an error

24:54 And that's the same with any mental affliction. And I would even say you don't even have to be close to the object. If you have the improper mental attention, you can be thousands of miles away from that person and still get angry. You could be in mental meditation and the memory of the harm done to you can arise and then it can feed your anger. Report an error

25:26 So going back to what Lama Tsongkhapa is saying. So due to having these three conditions, the other person engaged in activities that inflicted harm and thereby produced suffering in others. Thus, under the power of other, the mental afflictions. He had become as if their slave. So we become slaves of our mental afflictions and that's why we harm others. Report an error

25:58 So in one of these examples of being harmed, let's say somebody insults us. Are they under the control of a mental affliction? Report an error

26:15 Are we convinced of that? Did they have the freedom to not have that mental affliction? Report an error

26:38 I feel we are always going to have blood flicks. I think unless you're yelling at a little kid not to run into traffic, it's an affliction that you're yelling at somebody. If you're not doing it in a wrathful way, it's an affliction. I mean, a positive wrathful way. Report an error

26:59 Yeah, well, for sure, we can't know for sure what another person's motivation is, right? But generally, right, if somebody yells at you, they're... They're under the control of a mental affliction. It's not that they're just having a good day and having a good time and then just decide to yell at you. Report an error

27:21 They become possessed by a mental affliction. Do you believe that? Report an error

27:33 Yeah, I think it's so insightful. This is really... I totally believe it. I think it's incredible they could discover this all that time ago. I mean, it's like... This is the kind of thing psychology has been like Freud was talking about. It's all right there. They can't help it. Report an error

27:59 And when we really believe that, then we can develop some compassion. Report an error

28:12 I had the perfect experience today. I was supposed to go to class tonight, but the person that was going to go with me ran late. And so, no class, but here is better. Report an error

28:28 And because we couldn't make it, and because that person was late, I wasn't going to get upset, especially because I know tonight's topic, but I couldn't get upset with him either, besides the fact that I wasn't going to, but just to watch him go through the whole process, that it was an affliction of his, that being late in past had caused him a lot of trouble. Report an error

28:50 So I could just see inside of him the turmoil and the upsetness, and he was genuinely... Sorry, but just to watch that, it was a pattern that he had repeated over and over again. And of course he was surprised I wasn't angry. Report an error

29:07 Yeah, because you could really feel compassion for him because you could feel his suffering. And that's really the key for feeling compassion, right, is feeling another person's suffering. Just thinking, oh, they're under the control of a mental affliction. Report an error

29:24 Yeah, it's kind of dry and doesn't really bring up the compassion so much. But if we can feel, oh my gosh, they're really out of control, having a difficult time, then our compassion can arise, right? Report an error

29:40 Well, we all want to be happy and we all want to avoid suffering. That's one of the givens. So if you're angry, you're not doing what you really want to do. And if you're enjoying being angry, you're mentally deranged, so you're still. Report an error

29:56 Under the influence. Yeah. So it's still kind of dry to think of it that way. But that's why anybody yelling at you is they're not under control. But then I'm not enlightened enough to not react. And I know I'm not in control when that happens. So I think another key to this is when we're angry, we're... Report an error

30:27 We're focused on me, what this other person did to me, right? And feeling the pain and not being able to bear the pain of it, right? So the mental training is to focus on the other person, right? What are they going through? Oh, they're really suffering. Report an error

30:50 They're under the control of anger or attachment or jealousy or whatever it is. And they can't control themselves. suffering there, there. Report an error

31:01 So they had to yell at me or whatever it is. So it also requires letting go of our self-cherishing as well, right? Because if we're suffering too much, then we don't really care what the other person is going through. So we need to learn to just take it as, oh, okay, well, that's just my karma ripening or that's just a sensation or something like that. Report an error

31:30 But we'll talk about this more. Report an error

31:38 So even if someone driven by something else without control has harmed you, anger is inappropriate. For instance, if someone having been possessed by an evil spirit. Okay, so we'll have to translate this into something that's more relevant to us. Evil spirits were widely believed in in Tibet. Were to come under its power and wish to harm you. Report an error

32:06 Who would benefit him by freeing him from it and strike you. You would not get even the slightest bit angry at him, but instead think he is acting like this now because the evil spirit has deprived him of his freedom. You would put effort into doing whatever you could to free him from the evil spirit. Alright, so instead of a spirit, if we think, oh, you know, it's... Report an error

32:29 It's our mother who's afflicted by Alzheimer's. If she came and attacked you or yelled at you, instead of getting angry, we would try to help her. Well, hopefully. We would be concerned about her. What set her off? What's wrong? Or a small child who's throwing a temper tantrum. Report an error

32:55 Generally, we would think, okay, well, what's going on? For this person, right? And how can I help this person, right? Instead of thinking, you know, getting angry. Or if it's somebody who's going through a really hard time, like a sickness or, you know, a death in the family or something, we give them, you know, some slack, right? Report an error

33:19 We think, okay, well, they're going through a hard time and so we don't take it so personally, right? We give them a break and we can have compassion for them, right? If they... If they say something mean to us or if they're inconsiderate. So similarly, everybody is like that when they're under the control of a mental affliction. Report an error

33:38 We can look at them in the same way. Oh, they're under the control of something else. They're under the control of a sickness. Because actually the mental afflictions are a form of sickness. Report an error

33:58 So a bodhisattva should also act like that. Report an error

34:05 I was just thinking of the evil spirit being translated as, for example, a drunk brother. A drunk brother? Yeah. Okay. And then I realized that I can actually not be angry by what he would do to me if he yelled at me, but because I would still be angry because he's doing that to himself. You know, he's, I don't know, it's a bit confusing in my head. But it's just like the getting drunk part is just like, oh, it's like a mix of compassion and like, don't do this to yourself kind of thing. Report an error

34:51 So that's where there would still be anger. I don't know. Right. Well, in that example, Report an error

35:02 don't you still feel like he had the free will to not drink, but he drank anyway? And that's why you would be angry? Yeah, because I think that's what would make you angry. If, for example, it was someone, let's say, who was taking prescription medication, right, that they have to take, and then they did the same thing, right, we wouldn't be angry at them, right? Report an error

35:29 We'd just think, okay, well that's just the side effect of this medication that they have to take. So there is this element of anger that arises because we think that they had the free will to decide not to do it, and they did it anyway. Report an error

35:45 So this basically is taking away that excuse we have for getting angry, that they had the free will to not do it, but they did it anyway. Lama Tsongkhapa is saying, no, they didn't have the free will. They were under the control of a disease. Report an error

36:06 A mental affliction of something that was beyond their control. Report an error

36:14 And I think this is very profound. Because if we think about most of the time when we're angry, if we think they did it deliberately, we get angry. If we think, oh, well, you know, they didn't mean to. Our anger goes, they didn't mean to, they just couldn't help it. Report an error

36:37 I wanted to just add something. I think it's a little hard to understand now, but I'm 50, so about 30 years ago I was in a relationship with someone who had a drug and alcohol addiction problem, and I really didn't understand what that was. I thought that it was a free choice and that they were choosing. Report an error

36:59 So it's exactly like this. Once I became educated and realized that they had that problem and that they really didn't have that choice, I was able to not be angry. I didn't have Buddhism then, but it's just on a practical level. Once you get it, it makes sense. Report an error

37:25 And so it's similar with the mental afflictions. Familiar we become with our own mental afflictions and how they drive us to do things that we don't normally do, how they kind of possess us, then we can have compassion with others who are similarly being driven by their mental afflictions. Report an error

37:50 So it's like, for example, let's say I try to not get angry at someone. But I can't help it. I really work on my mind and I really work on the antidotes and I get angry anyway. Having that experience and having compassion for myself enables me to have compassion for somebody else who gets angry. Because we see, well, you know, it's not fully under anybody's control. I know that I can't control my anger if it's... Report an error

38:30 If the situation is too difficult for my capability. And so similarly, others can't control their anger when they're not trained to that extent. Report an error

38:44 And it's similar with attachment. I mean, I might have told you this story before, but I remember when I was doing a long retreat and I decided to do some gardening because I needed to ground myself. So I was trying to dig up these weeds near the stupa down there, and I noticed, you know, and I was really in touch with what was going on in my mind at that time. Report an error

39:10 So I noticed how my attachment, kind of my achievement-oriented mind was driving me to, it was like I was obsessed with getting all of the weeds out of the cracks of the, you know, between the concrete blocks. You know, I had this image of myself as just, you know, really hanging out and just doing it really peacefully and calmly, right, without any attachment, but just kind of doing it nicely. Report an error

39:44 But the reality of my mind was, I'm out, you know, it was just this, it was like possessing my mind and I was like, breathe, breathe, it's not even important, breathe, you know, just. Just relax and just do it gradually and slowly. And then this other part of my mind was like, no, you don't know, you have to get it done, kind of thing. Report an error

40:12 And that's the reality of our attachment too, right? Attachment, we don't notice our attachment as much, but our attachment is controlling our minds. I mean, attachment to food being a big one, right, for... Report an error

40:29 Many of us, right? We know we shouldn't eat that piece of chocolate, but there it is and we're helplessly propelled toward that chocolate and we shove it in our mouths and we think, oh, I shouldn't have done that. It's not like we have this free will to, oh, well, yeah, maybe I'll eat chocolate or maybe I won't and just be completely peaceful and calm about it, right? Report an error

40:53 There's this magnet toward our object of attachment. So it's the same thing, you know, with people with any addictions or people, you know, people just needing to have things a particular way, you know, anything that we're attached to, right? It's not like we're deciding so much to be attached to it. It's through the force of habit and causes and conditions that we're, we can't help it. Report an error

41:21 But Report an error

41:26 of course that's not an excuse, right, to not try to apply the antidote. Still we need to train. But we have the good fortune of having the teachings and over time we can train and overcome the mental afflictions. But we can't really expect that of others. Report an error

41:50 So Lama Tsongkhapa says, without being even the slightest bit angry with those persons, then these bodhisattvas must generate bodhicitta thinking. I will strive at the bodhisattva deeds in order to free them from these afflictions. So we can do this with anyone that we feel. Report an error

42:09 We have difficulty with the politicians who don't do what we think is right. Oh, well, they're being controlled by their mental afflictions, right? And it's pretty obvious that the politicians are controlled by their mental afflictions, right? Report an error

42:30 Yeah, and so then we can have some patience with them. Report an error

42:47 Chandrakirti also says, this is no fault of sentient beings. It's a fault of the mental afflictions. The wise who have analyzed this in detail are not upset by sentient beings. Report an error

43:01 So if we're going to get angry, we should get angry at the mental affliction, not at the person, because the person is being controlled by the mental affliction. It's the fault of the mental affliction that others harm you. It's not the fault of the person. It's the fault of the mental affliction. Report an error

43:27 How can we distinguish the mental affliction from the person, from the sentient beings? For me, I see them as one. Report an error

43:40 See them as one. Okay. I tend to see the person as a fountain. I mean, that's part of our problem, I think, is we identify that person with their anger. That's an angry person. Instead of when we really look at our minds, anger comes and goes. Anger arises as a result of causes and conditions coming together. Report an error

44:12 The person isn't angry all the time. They're just angry when the causes and conditions come together. So we don't need to identify that person as being an angry person. It's a person who has different mental states arise. That person has happy mental states and hopefully calm mental states and angry mental states and desirous mental states, right? Report an error

44:40 All the mental states, the same mental states that we have. So the person is being controlled by the mental afflictions. It's similar to the example Shantideva gives and Lama Tsongkhapa gives in the Lama Rinpoche is if a person hits you with a stick. Report an error

45:00 Do you get angry at the stick? No, we get angry at the person. So Lama Tsongkhapa says, okay, well, if you get angry at the person, right, the person is controlling the stick, right? If we get angry at the person, that means similarly we should get angry at the mental affliction and not the person because it's the mental affliction that's propelling the person. Report an error

45:28 It's the mental affliction that's controlling the person, just like the person. It's controlling the stick. Report an error

45:39 Or alternatively, if you're going to get angry at the person instead of the mental affliction, then we should get angry at the stick if somebody hits you with a stick. Not the person who propels the stick, but you should get angry at the stick because that's the direct cause of your being hit. Does that make sense? Report an error

46:05 not entity you know i can't be i can't have i can't have make Make an image or something of anger. There is nothing. So that there is no way to be angry at all. Report an error

46:26 Right. Yeah, but see the difference. Okay, go ahead. Report an error

46:33 I was just going to say I think that's our justification, you know, that someone should be in control of their mind, even if you yourself aren't. Report an error

46:44 We're always judging and sizing everybody up. Right. But that's our unrealistic expectation. Others should be in control of their minds. Whether we are or not. We're sentient beings. See, the nature of being a sentient being is having mental afflictions. Just being a sentient being means that we have mental afflictions. Report an error

47:13 Mental afflictions aren't something that we voluntarily have. We don't choose, oh, I really want to get angry. I'm happy right now, but wouldn't it be fun to get angry? Whatever. We don't decide. Report an error

47:35 Let me say one other thing with regard to this stick. Yeah. Report an error

47:55 So Gishisopa says, in the stick person example, we should not be angry at the person for the same reason we should not be angry at the stick. Neither has autonomy. The person is flung around by anger just as the stick is waved by the person. You may think, oh no, these are not the same. People can think and sticks can't, as we were saying. He says, this is not relevant. Report an error

48:26 He says, when we examine every aspect of the two, we see the person and the stick are exactly the same. Neither one has any independence. They both harm us under the power of something else. The stick has no thoughts, whereas the person has a mind, and it's a person's thoughts that compel him or her to act. Report an error

48:53 These thoughts are under the sway of ignorance. So it is as if the person is a stick in the hands of ignorance. Such people have no freedom of choice. They do not want to be angry, but it arises anyway because of various causes and conditions. In that sense, the person is almost exactly like the stick. If it were right to get angry at the stick, then it would make sense to be angry at the person. Report an error

49:25 If it's not right to be angry at the stick, then we should be angry. Angry at the hatred or anger, not the person who uses the stick. So the stick doesn't harm you without being propelled by somebody. So why get angry at the stick? Also, the person won't harm anyone without being propelled by a mental affliction. Report an error

49:59 The person won't harm anyone. Without being propelled by a mental affliction. So why get angry at the person? If you're going to get angry, then get angry at the mental affliction. Report an error

50:18 And that's one thing, you know, so that's something I think we have to think about, like mentally separate the person from the mental affliction. The mental affliction isn't an integral part of that person. It isn't the person. It's just a temporary emotion. that arises to causes and conditions because we have those mental afflictions because we have these emotions arise that's why we do the silly things that we do that's why do things that we regret that's why we say Report an error

50:56 So this is something that the more we understand, The greater renunciation we'll have, but the more patience we'll have. We really get that people only harm others because they're under the control of the mental affliction. When we're happy and relaxed and peaceful, there's no thought of harming someone. It's only when we want something that we don't have or we're getting something that we don't want. Report an error

51:42 Right? That the mental afflictions arise. But in a happy, peaceful state, nobody harms others. Report an error

51:53 So when we think about that one, Joe? I think I understand what, on a regular, everyday level, the problem that I think I understood Rose was saying about that analogy is, it seems like in the stick and the person. Both of those things have an independent existence. But when we think of a person under the influence of afflictions, it's not clear how the affliction has an independent existence of the person. Report an error

52:24 But when you were talking, I was thinking about the next example that I think you have coming up in your slides that might be useful. Let's wait on that one. About the sky? Yeah, let's wait on that one. Because that one might help be more useful than the other. Right, so we'll explore each of these, and I want to explore each of these in some detail and really get at where are our obstacles, what is getting us stuck from being able to apply this kind of logic. Report an error

53:01 Because this one, this one, Lama Tsongkhapa says, is the really powerful one. And this is one, for me, is very, very... Powerful as well. If I actually apply it, if I really want to apply it, it's very helpful. I really love it. And so I'm going to go on about it a little bit more, which is that just think about the implications in terms of the criminal justice system and that you really, you wouldn't want to ever be punishing people. Report an error

53:33 You'd want to be rehabilitating them and helping them to become happy, peaceful. Relaxed, non-harming people, you know, so anyway. Yeah, I mean it's similar to like, yeah, this no fault of sentient beings, it is a fault the wise who have analyzed this in detail are not upset by sentient beings. So not being upset with beings, right? Well, it's similar to, I mean, we think of juveniles. Report an error

54:07 right? Report an error

54:15 It's different from adults, right? Juveniles, we think, are still rehabilitatable. We know that they're just not old enough. They don't know any better, right? But then at a certain point, when you reach your 18th birthday, then suddenly you should know better and you should have control. But it's actually very similar, right? The 18-year-old or the 25-year-old. Report an error

54:42 They're similarly under the control of their mental affliction. They just couldn't help it. And if you look at the background of these people, too, you know, oftentimes, you know, you see a lot of abuse when they're, you know, lack of love in the family and things like that, which if we experienced, we would be very different. Report an error

55:09 So not being angry at the person because they're being controlled, they're under the control of the mental affliction. So we can get angry at the mental affliction, right, which will help our renunciation as well as our compassion. And this is really the key, actually, to renunciation, is understanding the power of the mental afflictions and how it's the mental afflictions that cause us suffering now and is the cause of all of our future suffering and the cause of others' future suffering and current suffering. Report an error

55:47 It's all the fault of the mental afflictions. Report an error

55:53 I had a question. I feel like it would be really powerful to put this into practice, and it sounds really lovely and great in theory, but I know it's much harder to do in actual everyday practice. But also I feel like you might develop an expectation in return as well. Do you think that that would be like your ego, that you would kind of expect other people? Report an error

56:20 If you got angry or you had a mental affliction, I don't know if I'm making sense. Expecting others to have patience with you? Yeah. Yeah. Well, that would be the training is to not expect that, right? Because the practice is just about working with our own minds and not developing more expectations of others, right? Report an error

56:45 So I think naturally, oftentimes we do expect... More from others when we practice, but then we just need to let that go and just focus on our own mind. Report an error

57:02 Okay, so we all understand this one, right? Being able to apply it might be a little more challenging. Do we have any other reservations about this one? Or actually, let me ask Rose, did your issue get addressed? Report an error

57:38 And it's not yet. Okay. Report an error

57:47 What you were saying earlier, fleshing this out, was reminding me of this article I read in the New York Times science section today about this medical student program that paired medical students up with patients that were in hospice. And this one medical student went to be with his first hospice patient to meet her for the first time. And he walked in the room and explained who he was, and she just started yelling at him. Report an error

58:14 She was so angry. She yelled and yelled and yelled. And he almost like walked out and then he thought, you know, one of his teachers had said, just let the patient steer the conversation. You know, let the patient control where this goes. And he said, well, you know, I can just sit here with you for a while quietly. And so he sat down and it was, you know, like five minutes before, you know, she started crying and sobbing and saying, I'm going through this all alone. Report an error

58:39 I don't have anybody. I'm so scared. You know, like so her anger, even though it was real anger. And rage wasn't coming from a place of free will. It was just like you said, it was coming from a place of profound suffering. So I thought that was a good illustration when you were talking. Report an error

58:58 Yeah, and when we do the anger workshop, I want to talk more about some of those things that are underneath anger. You know, the emotions that are underneath anger, the hurt and the fear and things like that. Report an error

59:23 I think that where this becomes difficult is if one has had a parent or a close relative who's extremely psychologically disturbed and a lifetime of emotional and psychological abuse and the person really is in a state like that on an almost continual basis. They're almost never in a placid state. It becomes extremely challenging to apply this. I mean, it becomes an incredible learning tool. Report an error

59:49 But isn't necessarily something that comes very easily. What would you say in terms of dealing with somebody who is psychologically disturbed and with which you've had a very difficult relationship for quite a long period of time? Report an error

1:00:04 Well, Report an error

1:00:08 I think we need to be realistic about how much time we can spend with them. Proximity to the object, right? So if we have... If we have limited interaction with them, then we can really do this work when we're not around them. When they're in our face, very difficult if we haven't already done a lot of work separate from them. Report an error

1:00:41 And then I would say just meditate a lot on what the other person is going through. The hell that that person is going through for having that kind of... It's like they're in a hell realm. They are. They are. And just imagine what that would be like. Imagine what that would feel like. Not just intellectually. Intellectually doesn't do very much. But imagine what it would really feel like. Report an error

1:01:17 For me, I grew up with a family member who was very verbally abusive and physically as well. You know, beat me up for reading the magazine before him or something, you know. And there was a lot of fear in me growing up. But I remember at one point in my childhood seeing the hurt on his face that really stuck with me that turned my anger toward him into compassion. Report an error

1:01:56 It was like the look of a... Utter despair on his face. And then I could just see that everything he was doing was out of pain. Right? So somehow we need to get in touch with that in the other person. This can be difficult when you don't see anything else other than all that anger in there. Yeah. Distance is good. Distance. Right? Yeah. Report an error

1:02:22 Yeah, yeah, Report an error

1:02:31 Yeah, with distance then we can work on the improper mental attention, right? It's hard and it's really hard work and we just have to work at it day by day, slowly, slowly. Report an error

1:02:50 And I think another thing is having compassion with ourselves. If we're hard on ourselves, like if we're hard on ourselves for getting angry, then we're going to be hard on others for being angry because we have no, yeah? Okay, so that person is under the control of anger. So what? I don't care if we're not even kind to ourselves about being angry. Report an error

1:03:19 We're going to be the same with others. So it's very helpful if we work on our own forgiveness and compassion. Report an error

1:03:30 So it's a soul process. Report an error

1:03:42 So Lama Tsongkhapa says that this particular reasoning is very powerful. He says that although many reasons are set forth, Reasonings are set forth in Shantideva's engaging in the bodhisattva deeds. It is easy to be certain of this one, and it is a very powerful remedy for anger. So out of all of the remedies that Shantideva presents in his bodhicitta, Lama Tsongkhapa picked out this one as being a really powerful one. Report an error

1:04:14 He Report an error

1:04:19 continues, if these beings had self-control, they would not have any suffering. Because they would not want suffering and because they'd be able to control it. Further, you should stop your anger by also thinking when these beings are moved by strong afflictions, they commit suicide, leap from cliffs, harm themselves with thorns, weapons, etc., and stop eating and so forth. Report an error

1:04:44 If they do this to even their greatly cherished and dear selves, of course they will hurt others. So this is talking about... You know, when certain beings are under the control of mental afflictions, they even harm themselves, right? Anorexia, bulimia, cutting themselves, being self-destructive, right? Report an error

1:05:05 So we can see that they don't have control, right? If they even harm the one person they cherish the most, right? So of course sentient beings are going to hurt others because... They're under the control of mental afflictions because they can't control themselves. They even harm themselves. Report an error

1:05:34 So that's the first remedy for anger that Lama Tsongkhapa presents. Report an error

1:05:45 We're all okay with that one now? At least intellectually. Secondly, on analysis for being either adventitious or in their nature, anger is unjustified. So this one goes as follows. So the fault of doing harm to others either is or is not in the nature of sentient beings. Report an error

1:06:11 If it's in their nature, it's wrong to get angry just as it is wrong to get angry at fire for being hot and burning. So if we think, oh, you know, that person, it's their nature to be angry, then why get, you know, why get... Ticked off at them because it's their nature. It's like getting ticked off at fire for being hot. It's their nature. And we kind of know this, you know, like if you don't know someone very well, you've just met someone and they say something rude to you, you know, you might get a little, you know, taken aback and then somebody says, oh, don't worry about it, he's just like that. Report an error

1:06:57 And then, you know, and then we can kind of cut him some slack, right? Oh, he's just like that, right? And we don't get so angry. So if we think... It's in their nature to be like that, to harm others, then why get angry? It's like getting angry at a fire for being hot. Report an error

1:07:15 But then, similarly, if it's adventitious or not in their nature, temporarily coming and going, it is also wrong to be angry. Just as when smoke and the like appear in the sky, it is wrong to be angry at the sky on account of these flaws of smoke and so forth. Report an error

1:07:35 So if it's just temporary... Like smoke in the sky or clouds in the sky. We don't get angry at the sky, right? For clouds being in the sky or for smoke being in the sky. Similarly, why get angry at the person when the anger comes and goes in that person? Why get angry at the person when the anger just is temporary, temporarily arises due to causes and conditions? Report an error

1:08:11 find this one another powerful one. I also find this one quite powerful. Does Report an error

1:08:26 this make sense to people? Report an error

1:08:36 Maybe before we go to the third one we'll take a break. and then we'll Report an error

1:09:01 Tuesday, right? I don't want to read the paper. The other day, you know, it was this day. Report an error

· · ·

1:09:37 that's right. Report an error

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1:10:58 Well, it doesn't go away like that. Report an error

1:11:05 Yeah, I see where I get stuck. I'm like, I choose to work on myself and they're not doing it. Yeah. That's where I'm getting caught up. Yeah, they should do it just like I am. Report an error

1:11:22 So how can we expect others to do what we decide to do? Report an error

1:11:30 Yeah, it's not that I'm thinking it's justifiable. Excuse to be angry, but that's where I keep on getting stuck. Right. But what I'm saying is I think it helps. For me, I noticed that a lot of my habitual anger was thinking others should behave in the way that I think they should, according to my standards. Report an error

1:12:01 But everybody has their own standards. How can I expect others to behave in the way I think is right? Because they do what they think is right. Report an error

1:12:16 So letting go of that attachment to others doing as we think they should. Report an error

1:12:28 Anyway, something to think about. Report an error

1:12:36 But yeah, I think we need to learn a lot of different methods and apply all the different techniques and methods. Report an error

1:12:56 it's Nippon. What? You're doing well. Report an error

1:13:18 calories. Report an error

1:13:21 Thank Report an error

1:13:25 you. Report an error

1:13:54 Oh, it's so cool. Report an error

1:14:00 I forget what the six protectors are. Is this smart? It's a drone. You know, I don't know why I'm going to ask. I want to get an e-reader, like a reader-reader for PDFs, but not the iPad. Report an error

1:14:26 What about a Kindle? Like a Kindle. Kindle's got real cheap. 4, 5, 6, 7, Well, the Kindle's got proprietary stuff so you can't keep the books you buy. I want something that I can look at the PDF for our text while I'm traveling. Report an error

1:14:46 Yeah, well, Joe has one. Yeah, Joe has one. It's cute. It's adorable. I want to see it. yes. Report an error

1:15:05 I'm on my phone a lot, because if I want to look a couple of slides back in the presentation, I pop your face. No, I do that on my phone, too. And then I go back and throw it. No, I have one of those phones that's just a phone. Yeah, no, I do that on those slides in the class and go back and forth a lot. Report an error

1:15:23 This one's really fun. I'm glad to see that they're coming up. Mine actually is the It's the phone. phone Thank in you. the chat. Thank you. Thank you. Report an error

1:15:49 really can't. You can. Yeah. You can make it bigger. Right. It's just like an iPhone. It's fast. It's a little faster. Yeah. It's incredible. It is. It drives incredible. It is. Report an error

1:16:13 Thank you. Report an error

1:16:25 What is the weather? Thank you. I have a store. Report an error

1:16:46 better than it is. It's ancient. Report an error

1:16:53 It's a first generation. It's really oil. It's absolutely oil. Report an error

1:17:03 places where you can train in and all the boys in there? You know, to the horizon, I just go against night and night. I had to take a workshop Yeah, that's what, uh, Report an error

1:17:39 but there's some things on here that are, they're not, they're really, they, there are ones you see them. Oh, you wouldn't figure it out. No. If you play with it a long time, like a little kid would, you wouldn't figure it out, but some of the stuff, like, scrolling through your contact list, you can go like, you can go like that, and it'll roll up. Report an error

1:18:00 But if you just want to go to the, you know, the wise. You know, if it starts at A, you know, so how would you zoom in? So once you start scrolling, there's a little... Report an error

1:18:24 You have to learn how to move your fingers on the Report an error

1:18:41 the guy was like, he made this and that dude, I think he was generating the Oh, but he thought he was in the real world and he Report an error

1:18:49 Yeah, the Matrix. The Matrix. The Matrix. Like in the later Matrix movies where they have these people like interacting with their computer and they're just like moving things. Report an error

1:18:59 We're going to be there. I'll do it. Report an error

1:19:07 I'll do it. Yes, yes, yes. Have you heard something about his baby? Is his Report an error

1:19:16 I mean, I kind of know that we don't just thought maybe it would be nice if you could also have a meeting or something. Report an error

1:19:29 What were you thinking? Report an error

1:19:35 I love how logical this all is. I love the logic. It's not logical to become angry. Report an error

1:19:52 Like these arguments, it's like, why get angry? Report an error

1:19:59 It's this primitive part of our brain. I didn't say anything because I didn't want it to be negative. When you try to look for it, you're not going to find it anywhere. Report an error

1:20:14 Yeah, the moms are wondering. That's right, exactly. Report an error

1:20:25 We'll put it up here. Thank you. just bought the new one. This is all of it. This is the first part. This is the first part if somebody needs one. You could. Did you need one? No. This is the first part that we've already been through. If somebody wanted one. Okay, well thanks. Report an error

1:20:48 Sure, I can also ask Gilagiazzo because there's a lot of students who don't have a copy down there. Okay, thank you. Yeah, and there's more in the bookstore if people want to buy the whole thing or just the second part. Okay, so we've gone through two different antidotes to anger. could donate them to the center or something. Report an error

1:21:14 And the third one is how anger is inappropriate if you think of your own karma. Report an error

1:21:23 Moreover, Lama Tsongkhapa says, the experience of suffering produced by the harmer is the experience of the result of a negative action accumulated by oneself in the past. And in dependence on that, the action will be exhausted. If you cultivate patience with respect to it, you will not newly accumulate causes for experiencing suffering later on. Report an error

1:21:49 Whereas if you get angry, you will have to experience suffering that is even greater than that. So any experience of pain that we have is a result of our negative karma that we've created in the past. So we know this intellectually. Now really getting this, right? When we really get this, we can't blame anyone for anything. Report an error

1:22:18 We can never blame others because everything that happens in our experience is a result of an action that we've done in the past. Report an error

1:22:31 So to really get this, this is a really emotionally mature place to get to where you never blame anyone else. We take full responsibility for everything that happens to us. Report an error

1:22:51 So we get angry because we think, Report an error

1:22:57 Because we think others are doing something to us. We're blaming somebody else. But if we take full responsibility, it's hard to get angry. If we take full responsibility for whatever happens to us, it's hard to be angry. Or if we say it another way, it's difficult to be patient if we still blame others. Report an error

1:23:48 I remember somebody once said something to me in a way that really hit me. No one else can be the cause of our problems and suffering. Report an error

1:24:07 They can only be conditions. Only we can be the cause of our problems and suffering through our mental afflictions and our karma, through the way that we think and the karma that we create. Report an error

1:24:31 So when we get that, then we can't blame anyone anymore. Report an error

1:24:47 And then also when we really get karma, then we don't want to accumulate more causes for suffering in the future. If we get angry, then we're creating more causes to be harmed in the future. Report an error

1:25:06 So even if we're experiencing great suffering, great difficulty, If we're in a situation where it seems on the outside that we're victims, if we really understand, okay, well, if I respond angrily, it's not going to help at all. It's only going to hurt me in the future. Then that will help us let go of our anger. Report an error

1:25:46 When I can work myself up into a little tizzy about... But that person was wrong, and what they're doing is really harmful to others, and I can really work myself up. And then what I find helps is, okay, is it going to help to get angry? Report an error

1:26:10 So then we can act without the anger, right? We can act with more calmness. Because it never helps to get angry, right? Report an error

1:26:24 I really wish the world could get this. Better. Because, you know, as you're speaking, I'm thinking about 9-11, you know where how many people died, 3,000 people died, those two buildings came down. It could have just stopped there. You know, but like you think about all of this has happened over the last eight years. I mean, that's why we practice, right? So first we can get it, and then we can try to help others. Report an error

1:26:48 That's really where bodhicitta comes in, right? Because we see others aren't getting this, and there's so much suffering because others aren't getting it. You know, so may I get enlightened, may I get it myself, right, so that I can help others get it too. That's the way we're going to be able to stop all of this senseless suffering happening. Report an error

1:27:14 I was having a discussion this weekend with a friend. We were really upset about the oil spill, and it just keeps going and going. And we were talking about... Not getting angry. And so I was saying, well, instead of getting angry, I can take action. I cannot use as many petroleum products. Because she was really angry about the birds. She's a real animal lover. Report an error

1:27:44 And you could volunteer at a bird center or donate. There's an Adopt a Bird, by the way, online. You can adopt birds and they'll do stuff. Report an error

1:27:55 I was just thinking right now, that's easier for me because it's removed from me in a way. I don't see it. I'm not in Louisiana. I'm not in Florida. But like I was thinking, well, what if I was right or what if my daughter was right to say, to practice when it's really about me and it's a real harm and it's a lot. Report an error

1:28:17 I was just talking before I got here to my older brother who was the big brother. My idol. And he's having a really hard time economically. And he called to borrow money from me. And that just killed me. And so I get angry at the economic situation. At the economic situation. And the whole world. But I can't. So what can I do? I can lend you money. You know, and I was sitting here thinking, Report an error

1:28:51 I can be grateful that I can save money to lend him money when he needs it. But it's hard not to get angry at stuff like that. Yeah. Report an error

1:29:13 And this is a very difficult practice. So we'll be presented with certain methods and some will work in certain situations and not in others. And some will work when we've applied it, you know, every day for three years. Report an error

1:29:38 Yeah. Report an error

1:29:42 Yeah, I mean, it's really Report an error

1:29:47 difficult. You know, for example, the economic situation, if we think, okay, well, this was caused by the greed of, you know, a minority of the people, right? That's where we can really use this. Well, the greed, they were controlled by their tremendous attachment, their tremendous greed. Report an error

1:30:15 And then we really have to do a lot of meditation on what would it be like to have that kind of greed, to not care at all about the consequences of your actions to others and the suffering that you're experiencing now. And then the karma, what's really helpful is understanding the karma that they're creating because all of the suffering... Report an error

1:30:41 That they're causing for others, they will experience themselves, you know, thousandfold, right? So then when we understand that, when we get that, then we can develop some compassion for them, right? Because they're, you know, they caused a lot of suffering for others, but they're going to experience it in such a greater amount than they caused others, because of the magnifying effect of karma. Report an error

1:31:13 Then we can start to develop compassion for them. And then as you're saying anger doesn't help, all we can do is try to do something constructive. Report an error

1:31:26 And it might be something external or it might also be working on our anger because our anger contributes to the problems in the world. So if we can develop compassion and more peace within ourselves, then... Then we can bring that to the world. But it's a very slowly, slowly process. Report an error

1:31:56 You know, it seems like it doesn't take a lot of thought to realize how our own karma contributes to these huge problems that seem so far away. Report an error

1:32:07 Even like the mortgage crisis and stuff. It seems like it may have been a few people at the top, but the truth of the matter is that they were unable to do that by everyone's desire to own a home. You know, our desire to take out a mortgage and to have a home. You know, why should I need a home when there are so many people who have no homes in the world? Report an error

1:32:26 There are 6.8 billion people. You know what I mean? But it's my desire to have. I feel like I deserve a house. Or I need to drive a car. That's why BPU is drilling, because we have this petroleum economy, like you said. You know, all of us share in that karma. Yeah, and every, you know, even if we can't see the connection. Report an error

1:32:41 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Report an error

1:32:47 Yeah, everything that we experience is a result of a cause that we've created in the past. Yeah, yeah. But then as you're saying too, I mean we can, you know, when we're really honest with ourselves, we can see how we contribute. I just wanted to throw into that, it's not just a home, because I think having a home, everyone should have a home, but it's having like a really inappropriate 3,000 square foot home, you know. Report an error

1:33:17 And it's not, What? You mean having any home is wrong? I think having a home is okay. Having transportation is okay. It's having inappropriate gas-guzzling transportation. That's all. I'm kind of building on what you're saying. Maybe I can build on it too because actually if you think about it, we can trace it back to a mental affliction. Report an error

1:33:48 It's wanting a home that you can't afford, having the desire for the attachment to a home that you can't afford that was a major contributor to this. So I think with all of these things we can go back and trace it back to a mental affliction again. Oh, well that was greed, that was attachment, that was selfishness, etc. Report an error

1:34:20 Anyway, just my thoughts. Lewis? No, I'm sorry. Report an error

1:34:30 No, I just did a lot of work with people who could afford the homes at the time. And they were humble homes. They weren't big mega mansions. And they got caught in the downdraft as well. And so a lot of people who were walking in declaring bankruptcy had homes, had jobs, and didn't do crazy refinancing. Report an error

1:34:53 And still lost their homes when the economy collapsed. So it's not, nothing is simple. Nothing is, oh, you lost your home because you wanted something too big or wanted something you couldn't afford. It's just not that simple. And everyone deserves compassion. Report an error

1:35:27 No, no, but I mean, I'll just respond that I'm not saying Just that the inappropriate size of the home is a contributing factor, like using gas is a factor for the BP disaster. It's the overuse, the consumption. It's a separate issue, that's all. Not that they shouldn't. Report an error

1:35:51 So getting back to this thing, we can talk about all of these contributing factors, which are only contributing factors. They're only... Conditions, right? The greed, the greed of others, the oil spill, BP's responsibility, da-da-da. All of those are only conditions. It would never have happened if we didn't have the karma, if we hadn't created it. Report an error

1:36:27 So our actions are still the main cause of everything that happens to us. And that's really hard to get in our pores, I think, right? Because we have this automatic reaction. Oh, well, it's because BP did this or, you know, they didn't, they weren't responsible or it's because of whatever, right? These corporate greed, you know, these greedy corporate people or these people who wanted inappropriate houses or whatever. Those are all only conditions. Report an error

1:37:09 Our karma is the cause. That's the main cause. If we had never created the cause, it wouldn't have happened. Report an error

1:37:28 Yeah. Exactly. Report an error

1:37:35 Exactly. It's very, very easy to point our fingers. There's all of the things that are wrong in the world, but none of it would have happened if we hadn't created the cause. Report an error

1:37:52 So Dharma practice is working with our minds. With our actions of body, speech and mind. And we're encouraged again and again not to look at what others are doing, the wrong things that others are doing, but back to us. What are we doing? It's Report an error

1:38:19 much easier to see what others are doing wrong than what we're Report an error

1:38:27 doing. Shababo. Shababo. What a great name. Yeah. He said, when you say, I'm not at fault. It indicates that you, in fact, have not internalized even a bit of the teaching. So this is kind of a wake up. Report an error

1:38:48 That's why I wanted to put it up there. Just to remind us, maybe kind of a strong statement, but internalizing the teaching is the thing. Report an error

1:39:11 It is therefore quite appropriate to be patient with minor suffering in order to avert greater suffering, such as being patient with bloodletting, burning and so forth as a method for curing a grave illness. Report an error

1:39:26 So when we're sick, we voluntarily take on the suffering of surgery or the suffering of chemotherapy or medicines, etc. So similarly, we can... Report an error

1:39:43 Yeah, well. In the olden days. So what the meaning of this is? Report an error

1:39:54 So when we're sick, we're willing to take on relatively minor amounts of suffering in order to prevent more suffering later. So certain medical treatments are quite uncomfortable, like undergoing medical tests. So, so here. Report an error

1:40:12 Surgery, Effie went through knee surgery, which was quite an ordeal, but hopefully it was in order to prevent a lot more suffering later. So similarly, we can bear the harm that's done to us now in order to prevent ourselves from becoming really angry and experiencing much more suffering later. We can be patient with the current suffering and not retaliate and not get angry in order to prevent far greater suffering in the future is the analogy here. Report an error

1:40:54 Does that make sense? Just a thought. When someone stabs me and I get angry at them, what would I be perpetuating? The karma of being stabbed or the anger? Report an error

1:41:11 Well, I'll be perpetuating harm. I don't know if you'd be perpetuating... If you stab them back, for sure, you'd be perpetuating being stabbed. But if you're getting angry, then you're perpetuating, you're creating more causes for harm in the future. Report an error

1:41:30 But is this the harm or someone harming me or someone getting angry at me because I just completed the stabbing karma? Okay. So if we stab them back, then you're perpetuating the stabbing. If you don't stab them back, let's say you yell at them, then you're perpetuating being yelled at in the future. If you get angry and you don't say anything, so you're perpetuating the anger in your own mind, that habit of getting angry, and then probably others getting angry at you again in the future. Report an error

1:42:17 But probably not the stabbing. But getting angry, as we saw last week, it creates the karma for tremendous suffering in the future, as well as destroying your positive karma from ripening. So it's pretty bad. Report an error

1:42:53 Gishisuppa says, wisdom comes from examination. If we do not make an effort... We look at things under the power of ignorance. In contrast, when we analyze situations, we see them completely differently. On that basis, our feelings and attitudes can change. Instead of anger, patience, love and compassion will arise. This is the result of meditation. So we really need to make effort to look at things in a different way, to reframe things. Report an error

1:43:32 Natural thing for most of us to do is to get angry or annoyed in the face of injustice, in the face of harm. That's the normal, kind of karmically driven thing to do. Habitual thing to do. Report an error

1:43:51 But in order to counteract that, we need to practice reframing situations again and again. All right. Report an error

1:43:59 Practice seeing how the others are under the control of their mental afflictions. Practice being compassionate instead of angry. Practice seeing things as a result of our own karma and not caused by others. Others can be conditions, but we are the cause of all of our happiness and suffering. Report an error

1:44:28 Chodron Rinpoche says, when anger is absent, love, compassion and bodhicitta can develop. With anger. These are impossible. Report an error

1:44:49 So we'll do an exercise. Report an error

1:45:04 Okay. So think of a situation where you've become angry at someone for harming you or harming someone else that's close to us. Report an error

1:45:20 Let's see if we can think of one situation where we've been angry at someone for harming us. Report an error

1:45:43 And maybe don't pick the hugest anger that you have. That one will be hard. Maybe a medium one. You can try the hugest one, but I would recommend a medium one. Report an error

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1:46:29 Maybe pick a situation where we still have a little bit of residual stuff, like we haven't totally let go. We still have some agitation when we think about it or a Report an error

1:46:49 painful feeling in the pit of our stomach. Report an error

1:47:20 So then imagine, so is the other person... Report an error

1:47:26 Is the other person controlled by a mental affliction? If Report an error

1:47:36 so, what affliction might that have been? Report an error

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1:48:28 Really get into this and imagine what the situation might have been like for the other person. Report an error

1:48:41 Maybe they were really stressed out, Report an error

1:48:46 undergoing a lot of pressure, Report an error

1:48:59 feeling angry or frustrated. Report an error

1:49:09 Imagine the situation for the other person, their feelings. Report an error

1:49:19 And Report an error

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1:51:21 also think about what that other person might have been needing. What Report an error

1:51:31 did he or she need? And Report an error

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1:55:04 we can ask ourselves if we've ever experienced that same mental affliction Report an error

1:55:15 and done something that we later regretted. And Report an error

1:55:32 try to remember that situation in as much detail as we can. The Report an error

1:55:43 thoughts and feelings, needs associated with it. Report an error

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1:57:01 Did we feel like we were in control? Report an error

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1:57:42 And if we notice that we're being hard on ourselves for having done that, just be very gentle, very compassionate with ourselves, very kind. Any Report an error

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2:00:06 comments? Report an error

2:00:14 Well, it was just amusing to me that twice I caught myself switching over and justifying myself in my angry point of view. So, I mean, it was amusing, but it just tells you how far I have to go. Report an error

2:00:31 mean, that's, it's It's great that you notice that because that's what our mind wants to do, right? We don't want to look at the other person's perspective. We want to justify our anger. Report an error

2:00:43 Good observation. Report an error

2:00:49 I was thinking about a time when I've never been so angry at another person in my life. I'm just not a person that gets angry, but it's just this really horribly uncomfortable feeling. And this is such a gift, this being able to sit in meditation and have... The distance of time and space and the practice of meditation to find that place where you can look at something with some detachment and do these exercises and really generate some real compassion for that person. Report an error

2:01:17 Because now I can, after years of working on it, I can look at it and I can genuinely be free from that feeling of anger that tortured me for a long time. It really was a terribly uncomfortable feeling. And I'm free. And it's just, it's so cool. This practice is so powerful. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. But, like, as you said, it took time. Right? It took time. But, yeah. I mean, I was, I originally wanted to do this exercise with something where someone has been, you know, you've been angry at this person in the past, but we've let him, we'll let it go and see how much compassion we can generate. Report an error

2:02:03 And then. A situation where we haven't let go of the anger and just see how different that is. But we didn't have time to do both, but it's something you can do on your own. Report an error

2:02:17 Because just applying it, you know, when you're still angry, you know, the first time, you know, you might get a little bit of movement, but then we have to do, you know, we have to keep doing it before we can really let it go, depending on how big the harm was in our mind, how much hurt there was. Report an error

2:02:48 I didn't meditate on anger, really angry. It was more irritation. And I got aware that there is many times a day that I have this irritation, but usually I don't get aware about it. Report an error

2:03:07 And it's just, you know, at the border of getting angry. But then there is no compassion. What I felt also is no compassion for the person, for example. Today I got three times I had this invitation where I somehow blame someone. But then I have this pattern that I just let go. But it's not that I have compassion with this other person or something like that. It's just something that I somehow push away. Report an error

2:03:42 And I think I have to work with that. No way, yeah, with someone. Report an error

2:03:46 And it doesn't get in my consciousness, you know, that the whole game that's going up. Yeah, no, that's great. Yeah, because when we become more and more aware, we notice that we do get irritated all the time, you know. Every day we get irritated. And the practice is to notice that and work with that. Report an error

2:04:13 Before it turns into anger. Because if we get irritated at the same person or the same thing again and again, then generally we hang on to something and then something else is going to happen that will cause you to blow up with something really small. Report an error

2:04:29 So we have to actually work with, and not just push it aside, but actually work with it to let it go completely so that if it happens again, you don't blow up with something small. Report an error

2:04:47 So we'll talk about that more in the anger workshop. When we have more time. Report an error

2:05:02 Sober group. Report an error

2:05:06 Yeah, it's difficult to work through this. Did anybody notice that they were getting really distracted? I don't want to do this. I don't want to meditate on what the other person was going through. Or I don't want to meditate on when I've hurt somebody in the past. We see the resistance to doing that. Report an error

2:05:32 Just keep trying. It's really worthwhile. It can fundamentally shift the way you look at something. Report an error

2:05:41 For me, there's a situation that I've been working with for a long time with my partner. The partner ones are really deep. Report an error

2:05:51 There's a lot of history. Each time I do this meditation, there's something new that comes up that's helpful. Oh, lonely. Or he was just needing reassurance. Oh, you know, and that just, that helps. You know, the anger, the irritation doesn't go away like that, but just having more and more insights about what the other person was experiencing is very helpful. Report an error

2:06:30 All right, so we'll go through the answers to homework for next week, since we're out of time. Report an error

2:06:42 So next week we'll finish with the perfection of patience. Report an error

2:06:51 Page 246, Shantideva. Report an error

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2:07:28 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. Report an error

2:07:53 be restored on finding repose. May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find hope, constant happiness and prosperity. May there be timely rains and bountiful harvests. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Whatever diseases there are in the world, may they never occur again. Report an error

2:08:29 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

2:09:08 So the homework is to do these meditations on anger and using whatever method that you find helpful. I Report an error

2:09:23 just wanted to make a really quick announcement. This weekend there's a workshop with Tenzin Choki and it's becoming a bodhisattva. It's exchanging yourself with others. So if you guys want to register for that, let me know. Report an error

2:09:48 drive me home towards the gate. My aunt's out of town. I can't see me, unfortunately. No problem. drove out. I Report an error

2:10:00 can do it Effie. Report an error

2:10:09 Why not? not? Report an error

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Talk by Emily Hsu, recorded 8 June 2010. Original at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/EH_Lamrim_20100427. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.

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

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