Mahayana Mind Transformation (24 August 2007)

0:00 His intelligence shines forth as the sun, unclouded by delusions or traces of ignorance, who teaches in sixty ways with the loving compassion of a father for his only son, all creatures caught in the prison of saṃsāra, confused in the darkness of their ignorance, overwhelmed by their suffering. You, whose dragon-thunder-like proclamation of Dharma arouses us from the stupor of our delusions and frees us from the iron chains of our karma, who wields the sword of wisdom hewing down suffering wherever its sprouts appear. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:29 Clearing away the darkness of ignorance, you whose princely body is adorned with 112 marks of a Buddha, who has completed the stages achieving the highest perfection of a bodhisattva, who has been pure from the beginning, I bow down to you, O Manjushri. Obey a sense to my guru and protector, Manjushri, who holds to his heart a scriptural text symbolic of his saying all things as they are, whose intelligence shines forth as a sun, unclouded by delusions or traces of ignorance, who teaches in sixty ways with the loving compassion of a father for his only son. Report an error in the passage at 0:29 Highlight the passage at 0:29

1:02 All creatures caught in the prison of saṃsāra, confused in the darkness of their ignorance, overwhelmed by their suffering. You whose dragon thunder-like proclamation of Dharma arouses us from the stupor of our delusions and frees us from the iron chains of our karma, who wields the sword of wisdom hewing down suffering wherever its sprouts appear, clearing away the darkness of ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 1:02 Highlight the passage at 1:02

1:25 You, whose princely body is adorned with 112 marks of a Buddha, who has completed the stages achieving the highest perfection of a bodhisattva, who has been pure from the beginning, I bow down to you, O Manjushri. Obey a sense to my guru and protector, Manjushri, who holds to his heart a scriptural text symbolic of his seeing all things as they are, whose intelligence shines forth as the sun, unclouded by delusions or traces of ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 1:25 Highlight the passage at 1:25

1:50 Who teaches in sixty ways with the loving compassion of a father for his only son. All creatures caught in the prison of saṃsāra, confused in the darkness of their ignorance, overwhelmed by their suffering. You whose dragon thunder-like proclamation of Dharma arouses us from the stupor of our delusions and frees us from the iron chains of our karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:50 Highlight the passage at 1:50

2:11 Who wields the sword of wisdom hewing down suffering wherever its sprouts appear. Clearing away the darkness of ignorance, you whose princely body is adorned with 112 marks of a Buddha, who has completed the stages achieving the highest perfection of a Bodhisattva, who has been pure of the beginning, I bow down to you, O Mantra Shri. Report an error in the passage at 2:11 Highlight the passage at 2:11

2:46 With the brilliance of your wisdom, O compassionate one, illuminate the darkness in closing my mind. Enlighten my intelligence and wisdom so that I may gain insight into Buddha's words and the text bay. Report an error in the passage at 2:46 Highlight the passage at 2:46

3:08 So everyone got my message that next week Geshe-la is going to do the oral transmission of this text for us. So he says it's not going to take long. Report an error in the passage at 3:08 Highlight the passage at 3:08

3:19 So then we'll do the normal class after. But I think it'll be a great blessing to receive the oral transmission. It said that we'll be able to understand things much more quickly if we have it. Report an error in the passage at 3:19 Highlight the passage at 3:19

3:39 Well, it's actually not a long text. It takes me forever to explain it, but the text itself is only like 117 verses. So, Report an error in the passage at 3:39 Highlight the passage at 3:39

3:57 yeah, I think it's a prerequisite for Lama. You have to be able to read fast to be a Lama. Report an error in the passage at 3:57 Highlight the passage at 3:57

4:06 That's one of the ten qualities. Just kidding. Report an error in the passage at 4:06 Highlight the passage at 4:06

4:14 Exactly. The one they always forget to say. Okay. I wanted to start with talking about a couple of questions that we had in the past because I just met with Geshehla this afternoon. Report an error in the passage at 4:14 Highlight the passage at 4:14

4:31 So before we get into the text, there was a question about verse 94 last time, which says, Report an error in the passage at 4:31 Highlight the passage at 4:31

4:46 although through reasoning I have identified without a doubt all the roots of evil, If you judge that I am still abetting them, I pray you to destroy the holder himself. So we had identified that all of the roots of evil was due to the self-cherishing mind and the self-grasping ignorance. But if we're still hanging on to self-cherishing and really believing that that's a cause of happiness, even though we keep hearing again and again that that's a cause of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 4:46 Highlight the passage at 4:46

5:20 Even though maybe intellectually we understand that that's a cause of suffering, but we still keep holding on to the self-cherishing mind. We're supposed to destroy the holder himself. So what is this holder? And in the commentaries, I mean I told you last time that the commentaries said it was the five contaminated appropriated aggregates, which didn't really make sense to me. Report an error in the passage at 5:20 Highlight the passage at 5:20

5:44 And Geshe-la said that that didn't make sense as well, so that was a comfort. So he was saying, maybe I'll just read my notes, then you won't have my own interpretation. Report an error in the passage at 5:44 Highlight the passage at 5:44

5:59 So he says, okay, earlier stanzas talked about the self-cherishing and the self-grasping minds, which are the root of all suffering and problems and all of the unwanted things. But still, one holds on to them instead of getting rid of them. Report an error in the passage at 5:59 Highlight the passage at 5:59

6:21 Then that person who holds that, may that person be destroyed. So here we know that self-cherishing is not good, but we are supporting it all the time. So here the holder can be either the mind or the person. So either the mind or the person. The grasping mind or the grasping person. Report an error in the passage at 6:21 Highlight the passage at 6:21

6:45 So the mind that's still grasping at the self-cherishing, still holding on to that as being the cause of happiness. If one understands that these two minds, the self-cherishing and the self-grasping, are the roots of all problems and faults, yet still cherishes these two minds, then that person is on the side of the two attitudes or the two minds instead of applying the antidotes. Report an error in the passage at 6:45 Highlight the passage at 6:45

7:15 So the holder can be a person or a mind. So we want to destroy that. And Report an error in the passage at 7:15 Highlight the passage at 7:15

7:27 this is where... Gisela said the contaminated appropriated aggregates are not the holder. It must be the grasping mind. So the mind and the person grasping onto that. Report an error in the passage at 7:27 Highlight the passage at 7:27

7:43 So we want to get rid of that grasping mind and then the person. So I asked him, well, I'm still not quite sure what it means to get rid of that, destroy that person. And Gisela said, it doesn't mean to kill that person, because that would be killing ourselves, right? Report an error in the passage at 7:43 Highlight the passage at 7:43

8:03 Rather, in this context, it means to tame the person. So we're getting rid of that mind that's grasping at the self-cherishing. And by getting rid of that mind, by changing that person's mind, then we tame the person. And Report an error in the passage at 8:03 Highlight the passage at 8:03

8:30 he said something about the practitioner, the Dharma practitioner, should hate the self-cherishing thought. And then the person who supports that, we should hate that person as well. And Report an error in the passage at 8:30 Highlight the passage at 8:30

8:45 he said the aggregates aren't good to mention in this context. So it's the person and the mind. Okay, that makes sense? Report an error in the passage at 8:45 Highlight the passage at 8:45

8:58 And then there was a question about dedicating merit from a few months ago, from a class a few months ago, about what does it really mean to dedicate the merit? Report an error in the passage at 8:58 Highlight the passage at 8:58

9:12 Does it really protect our roots of virtue from being destroyed? If we dedicate the merit, for example, to enlightenment, does that mean that that merit that we've... Dedicated cannot be destroyed by the roots of virtue, or does dedicating the merit just strengthen the power of the intention and create stronger imprints? Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:38 So Geshe-la started by talking about what dedicating means in Tibetan, and it means to send out or to give away, so to give away things that we have. Report an error in the passage at 9:38 Highlight the passage at 9:38

9:55 So when we dedicate virtue, We do that for a particular purpose. So we can have many different aims or purposes. So there are three different levels or maybe four different levels. We can dedicate or give away our merit for the purpose of this life or we can dedicate the merit for the purpose of the happiness of the next life or to attain liberation or complete enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 9:55 Highlight the passage at 9:55

10:33 The first one, if we're dedicating the merit for this life's happiness, then this is wrong. Report an error in the passage at 10:33 Highlight the passage at 10:33

10:49 So here we would be giving away the merit or the virtue in order to accomplish prosperity or some level of happiness for this life. So then when we accomplish that thing that we've dedicated our merit for, when we accomplish that prosperity, then... is, um, Report an error in the passage at 10:49 Highlight the passage at 10:49

11:10 The virtue is gone. So the virtue that we've dedicated for the prosperity, when we've achieved that prosperity, then that virtue is used up. Report an error in the passage at 11:10 Highlight the passage at 11:10

11:24 Then secondly, if we dedicate the merit for a good rebirth in the future, then when we attain the good rebirth, then that virtue is then gone, exhausted, finished. Report an error in the passage at 11:24 Highlight the passage at 11:24

11:45 But then if we dedicate the virtue for complete enlightenment in order to benefit all sentient beings, then those roots of virtue will stay there until we accomplish Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 11:45 Highlight the passage at 11:45

12:06 And then even when we've attained Buddhahood, the roots of virtue will never become completely exhausted when we become a Buddha because our virtue keeps growing, growing and growing. So in effect, when we've... Dedicated our virtue for enlightenment, then it's never exhausted. Report an error in the passage at 12:06 Highlight the passage at 12:06

12:33 So then I asked if roots of virtue that we've dedicated, can that be destroyed by a moment of anger or wrong view? And Geshe-Lis said that there are two different explanations. One explanation that says that the roots of virtue that are dedicated to enlightenment cannot be destroyed by anger. Report an error in the passage at 12:33 Highlight the passage at 12:33

13:00 And he wasn't sure if the source of that was the liberation in the palm of your hand or a text on Giorgio by some Lama, I didn't catch his name, but some Lama from Sarah J. Report an error in the passage at 13:00 Highlight the passage at 13:00

13:19 So according to one of them, the roots of virtue can't be destroyed once it's been dedicated to enlightenment. And then there's another school of thought that says that they can be destroyed. By anger. You Report an error in the passage at 13:19 Highlight the passage at 13:19

13:38 know, it's going to go all around the page. Do you want me to read all of it? Then you'll benefit from Geshe-la's wisdom. He knows so much. So he says, it's also mentioned in Sūtra that just as a drop of water in the ocean will not dry until the entire ocean is dry, similarly the roots of virtue won't be exhausted. Report an error in the passage at 13:38 Highlight the passage at 13:38

14:07 Until we attain enlightenment. It will continue giving fruits or results. Report an error in the passage at 14:07 Highlight the passage at 14:07

14:19 Gisela said also this means that these roots of virtue will not be destroyed by anger. Report an error in the passage at 14:19 Highlight the passage at 14:19

14:27 And then he said, but even if you said that they can be destroyed by anger, he says for sure it would be very difficult to destroy them by anger once we've dedicated. Report an error in the passage at 14:27 Highlight the passage at 14:27

14:43 them to complete enlightenment for the welfare of And Report an error in the passage at 14:43 Highlight the passage at 14:43

14:50 then he was talking about motivation and dedication. So the significance of generating bodhicitta motivation and then dedicating to complete enlightenment, they have the same significance. Report an error in the passage at 14:50 Highlight the passage at 14:50

15:08 So the purpose of generating bodhicitta from the beginning or as a motivation is to attain enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 15:08 Highlight the passage at 15:08

15:20 If you engage in virtuous practice with a proper motivation, oh, okay. Then I asked at this point, well, what if you, because he was saying here the significance of the motivation and the dedication are the same, you know, and the similar meaning. So I asked, well, what happens if you just dedicate but you forget to motivate? Or if you develop a motivation but you forget to dedicate at the end? Report an error in the passage at 15:20 Highlight the passage at 15:20

15:54 And he says, so if you engage in virtuous practice with a proper motivation, but then you forget to dedicate the virtue, then that virtue is unstable. Report an error in the passage at 15:54 Highlight the passage at 15:54

16:08 We don't know what cause that will become. Report an error in the passage at 16:08 Highlight the passage at 16:08

16:19 If we lack the motivation, the Mahāyāna motivation, then one's practice will not become a Mahāyāna practice. Report an error in the passage at 16:19 Highlight the passage at 16:19

16:32 Even if we dedicate the virtue, For enlightenment, if we haven't developed the Mahāyāna motivation, then the virtue will be very small. Report an error in the passage at 16:32 Highlight the passage at 16:32

16:45 So in summary here, if we motivate, we have the bodhicitta motivation but we don't dedicate, then the virtue is unstable. Report an error in the passage at 16:45 Highlight the passage at 16:45

16:55 If we dedicate but we don't motivate with the bodhicitta, then the virtue will be very small. So then it's really important to do both. Report an error in the passage at 16:55 Highlight the passage at 16:55

17:12 Because if we do both, then the virtue will be great. With the motivation, the virtue will be great. And if we dedicate, then that virtue will be stable and strong. Report an error in the passage at 17:12 Highlight the passage at 17:12

17:28 Let me just finish. And then he Report an error in the passage at 17:28 Highlight the passage at 17:28

17:35 talked about seemingly virtuous activities. Activities of body and speech. Maybe we do some things that would be generally considered virtuous. know, what, you know. Report an error in the passage at 17:35 Highlight the passage at 17:35

17:50 But they would be seemingly virtuous activities if they're not really virtuous if we don't generate a positive motivation. So it's very important to generate a positive motivation. And whether or not an action of body and speech is positive very much depends on the motivation. Report an error in the passage at 17:50 Highlight the passage at 17:50

18:17 And then with regard to dedication, so with regard to dedication, He used an example that the virtue or the merit is like a horse and the dedication is like the reins of the horse. So the way that you direct the horse is with the reins. Similarly with virtue, what cause they bring in the future very much depends on the dedication. Report an error in the passage at 18:17 Highlight the passage at 18:17

18:54 So in summary, it's very important to have both. The bodhicitta motivation and the dedication for enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 18:54 Highlight the passage at 18:54

19:07 So I'm impressed I was able to read my handwriting. Okay, you have a question? I'm just wondering if he said anything about like a contrived motivation, which I guess is all it feels like I'm capable of most of the time. And so I wonder about that. I wonder about that. I guess if nothing else, it doesn't seem like there's the sort of motivation at the beginning of the practice. Report an error in the passage at 19:07 Highlight the passage at 19:07

19:31 But I don't know that the motivation rides throughout the practice, and it seems to me that that's also. Very intellectual, you know, it's very, so I'm wondering if that falls in, well, what are your thoughts on that? I have nothing else. Yeah, well, I didn't ask Eshala about that and I haven't, so he didn't say anything about that. Report an error in the passage at 19:31 Highlight the passage at 19:31

19:52 But, I mean, as far as a contrived motivation, I mean, that's all, that's all we can do, you know, until we get it, really get it, you know, the whole fake it till you make it kind of thing. Report an error in the passage at 19:52 Highlight the passage at 19:52

20:05 So, Report an error in the passage at 20:05 Highlight the passage at 20:05

20:09 So the motivation determines, from what Geshe-la was saying, the motivation determines the amount of virtue or merit that we're creating. So the stronger the motivation, the more merit. So a contrived motivation, we'd still get some merit, but it wouldn't be as great as the real thing. And then probably how much mindfulness you have through it, how much you're able to maintain that motivation as well will determine how much. Report an error in the passage at 20:09 Highlight the passage at 20:09

20:41 Virtue that we're creating, I would think. Report an error in the passage at 20:41 Highlight the passage at 20:41

20:48 So I thought that was really, really beneficial to get that presentation. You know, we're told to set a good motivation at the beginning and dedicate at the end and oftentimes we just kind of go through the motions but we don't really spend the time and we don't really understand the significance of those two. Report an error in the passage at 20:48 Highlight the passage at 20:48

21:10 So really anything I think that we do throughout the day is really important. That makes sense. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 21:10 Highlight the passage at 21:10

21:14 To motivate and dedicate. When we go to class, you know, we take the time to do it. But through the day, when we're doing virtuous activities, to try to remember to do both will be worth it. Report an error in the passage at 21:14 Highlight the passage at 21:14

21:32 Did that answer your question, Hillary? Hopefully. Not really. Report an error in the passage at 21:32 Highlight the passage at 21:32

21:44 It helped. Report an error in the passage at 21:44 Highlight the passage at 21:44

21:49 Yeah, I guess I have to think about it a little. Maybe it's still a little puzzlement as to how that... How it happens. How that dedication happens. It's so odd to think about it. It's like I suddenly am thinking back to mind and mental factors and thinking, no, I couldn't get a precise definition of dedication at this point or how exactly it differs. Report an error in the passage at 21:49 Highlight the passage at 21:49

22:27 How it differs from... but Report an error in the passage at 22:27 Highlight the passage at 22:27

22:32 I probably don't even know enough to ask a question at this point. I guess sometimes when I've heard about it, it almost sounds as if they were saying, but this is probably my projection, that somehow there was this outside force almost that was sealing this dedication, and I just didn't get that. I couldn't grasp that. Report an error in the passage at 22:32 Highlight the passage at 22:32

23:01 He's not saying that here, and yet it still seems to be. Involved with your intent, what you're moving toward, and that kind of thing. Anyway, it helped. I have to think about it. I'm still a little bit fuzzy on it, but what else is new? Report an error in the passage at 23:01 Highlight the passage at 23:01

23:34 It's so interesting just watching Geshe-la answer these questions. yeah um i mean it's yeah i mean Report an error in the passage at 23:34 Highlight the passage at 23:34

23:38 you know because it's so when he's Answering it, it's just so simple and it's so straightforward. It's like, what's the problem? This is what it is. I mean, not that he makes you feel like you're asking a stupid question, but Report an error in the passage at 23:38 Highlight the passage at 23:38

23:57 it's silly hair business. Yeah, so actually the first thing that Geshele said when I asked him about dedication, I mean, first he asked me, well, what dedication? It means in English in general, not in this context. And then he talked about the Tibetan word, the ngowa. And he had three things. He said, ngowa is like giving this here and giving this here and giving this here. Report an error in the passage at 23:57 Highlight the passage at 23:57

24:29 It's like directing the merit to enlightenment or to happiness now. Our future rebirth, you know, good rebirth. I need to not spill that. So that just seems so simple, you know, just taking the virtue and directing it in a particular direction, putting it in a particular place. And it made so much sense to me to think that, okay, we're directing our virtue for the prosperity of this life, you know, to get. Report an error in the passage at 24:29 Highlight the passage at 24:29

25:17 Let's say to get that house that we want, right? I want to do this practice and create the causes to get what I want, the house that I want. Then when we get the house, then the virtue is gone, right? It's been used up, right? So if we dedicate it for enlightenment, then it stays until we actually get it, get to enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 25:17 Highlight the passage at 25:17

25:47 So I thought, oh, that's... That's a good deal. You do the same thing and then you dedicate it so you could have it forever or you could dedicate it until you get the house. Report an error in the passage at 25:47 Highlight the passage at 25:47

26:06 Right. Exactly. Not withdrawing it. Yeah. So, okay. I think that was it for the questions from this class. Report an error in the passage at 26:06 Highlight the passage at 26:06

26:23 Oh, another question? Yes, I had just a small comment because She was asking about the energy that makes this happen. But it is cause and effect. I mean, that's what we're talking about, right? By dedicating, we're creating a cause for. By the motivation and the dedication, we've created a cause for. Enlightenment, for example. Yeah, or a future, whatever it was that we were. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think the combination of the, well, Report an error in the passage at 26:23 Highlight the passage at 26:23

27:06 the cause for. So we've created a certain amount of virtue through having a positive motivation and through doing some virtuous practice. And then we're just directing that to be used as a cause for enlightenment. Yeah, I think you could say that. Well, because they often talk about if you do this, you're going to be born in the next life with a beautiful body. If you do this... Report an error in the passage at 27:06 Highlight the passage at 27:06

27:38 Practice generosity, you will be born with perhaps wealth. So all those actions are causes for? For wealth or a beautiful body, yeah. And isn't it similar also to prayers? When you prayer or you do pujas or special, I guess, rituals, if you want to call them that, aren't those also creating causes for? Report an error in the passage at 27:38 Highlight the passage at 27:38

28:08 Yeah, yeah. Um... Each particular action has a particular kind of result. Practicing generosity will bring wealth in the future. And then if we also dedicate that virtue for enlightenment, then it won't go away until we attain enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 28:08 Highlight the passage at 28:08

28:38 But if we do something that's not virtuous and we dedicate it... For enlightenment, right? We're not creating the causes to be enlightened, right? So it's a combination of the motivation, the action itself, and the dedication, I think, that will create the causes for enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 28:38 Highlight the passage at 28:38

28:58 Create the causes for enlightenment, Report an error in the passage at 28:58 Highlight the passage at 28:58

29:07 maybe. Yeah, I mean, he didn't talk about it in terms of creating the causes for enlightenment. He was saying that they're not. They're directed toward that particular objective. Report an error in the passage at 29:07 Highlight the passage at 29:07

29:21 And they don't get exhausted until you've achieved that objective. So I don't know that it would be correct to say that you're creating the causes for enlightenment. Maybe, maybe not. Because sometimes it's in the teachings that says that you're not, well, I'm not remembering it correctly. Report an error in the passage at 29:21 Highlight the passage at 29:21

29:43 So I would just stay on the fence on that one, whether or not you're creating the causes for enlightenment by dedicating. Report an error in the passage at 29:43 Highlight the passage at 29:43

29:54 Has anybody else heard something about that? Report an error in the passage at 29:54 Highlight the passage at 29:54

30:00 No, I just... I was remembered something that kind of relates to this. Sometimes when I dedicated for things, it almost had felt as if, well, if I dedicate this for like this person's, you know, happiness or something, that it was stronger than if I dedicated it just like. I... Report an error in the passage at 30:00 Highlight the passage at 30:00

30:28 Everyone or something. But then I read some stuff and it's like exactly the opposite because of that, you know, that same thing. Like if you're going for enlightenment, it doesn't get exhausted until you attain enlightenment. And if you're wishing for everyone to be happy, then that's, you know, that much bigger goal, I guess you could say, than for this one person to be happy or something. Report an error in the passage at 30:28 Highlight the passage at 30:28

30:56 So anyway. Kind of relates to this, I think. Yeah, I think so. And I was thinking about that analogy of the drop of water that doesn't dry, I'm not sure about that translation, but doesn't dry until the whole ocean is dry. Similarly, the roots of virtue don't get exhausted until we actually attain enlightenment. So, in that context, he said that, so it will continue to give... Report an error in the passage at 30:56 Highlight the passage at 30:56

31:34 The result, it will continue to give fruits. So I Report an error in the passage at 31:34 Highlight the passage at 31:34

31:46 wonder if that means that, you know, let's say we create, we practice generosity and the fruit of that is, right, wealth in the future. So I wonder if that means that we will get wealth again and again and again and again until we're enlightened rather Report an error in the passage at 31:46 Highlight the passage at 31:46

32:10 than necessarily creating cause for enlightenment. You know, there's a big difference, right? Sometimes it's said that when we create contaminated virtue, so virtue that's mixed with ignorance, then we're creating causes for happiness within saṃsāra. When we create uncontaminated virtue, which is the virtue with a direct realization of emptiness, Then we're creating causes for enlightenment. So that's my doubt there, whether or not we can create causes for enlightenment until we directly realize emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 32:10 Highlight the passage at 32:10

33:24 We answer one question and we come up with three more. Report an error in the passage at 33:24 Highlight the passage at 33:24

33:34 It's always illuminating to ask Isla questions. Okay, we'll start with the text now. So we've seen this line before. So just a reminder. All of our problems, all of our suffering is a result of the two inner enemies. Report an error in the passage at 33:34 Highlight the passage at 33:34

34:00 So any problem that we can think of, if we can really see that it's caused by our self-cherishing and our self-grasping, if we really believe that, I think then we're really motivated to get rid of our self-cherishing and our self-grasping. Report an error in the passage at 34:00 Highlight the passage at 34:00

34:20 Otherwise we're like that person that Geshe was talking about that's still, you know, that we... That holder that we need to destroy, that still believes in the self-cherishing, that's still not applying the antidotes. Report an error in the passage at 34:20 Highlight the passage at 34:20

34:42 So last time we went through verses 99 and 100, Report an error in the passage at 34:42 Highlight the passage at 34:42

34:52 and we'll just quickly review 99. When I enter the three wretched states of existence for the sake of even one living being, may I save him or her from the suffering of that wretched destiny without compromising a great being's way of life. So here is where we're making, as bodhisattvas or aspiring bodhisattvas, we're aspiring to have a lower rebirth, to be reborn in hell, hungry, ghost or animal realms in order to benefit others. Report an error in the passage at 34:52 Highlight the passage at 34:52

35:25 We're really making the prayer that we can be reborn in the lower realms so that we can benefit beings down there and save them from that suffering. Report an error in the passage at 35:25 Highlight the passage at 35:25

35:42 Without declining our own bodhicitta. So this is a prayer to enter those three lower realms. Whether or not the bodhisattva actually will enter those three lower realms is another question. So this is the mind though of the bodhisattva wanting to do that. Report an error in the passage at 35:42 Highlight the passage at 35:42

36:05 And then verse 100, at that very instant the guards of hell will realize that I'm a guru and their weapons will turn into a rain of flowers, may peace flourish unharmed. So here we're praying for the guardians of hell to see us as their guru and transform their weapons into rain of flowers, etc. Report an error in the passage at 36:05 Highlight the passage at 36:05

36:39 So then we get into verse 101. So even those in those lower realms in wretched states of existence shall obtain super knowledge and mantras. Assume the bodies of gods and men and generate bodhicitta. In return for my kindness may they repay me with Dharma practice. Taking me as their guru may they properly attend me. Report an error in the passage at 36:39 Highlight the passage at 36:39

37:05 The other translation may also lower migrators obtain higher perception. May they arise in human and divine bodies and develop bodhicitta. May they repay my kindness by being nourished by Dharma. And may they rely on me through holding me as a guru. Okay, so we're still talking about the beings in the three lower realms. Report an error in the passage at 37:05 Highlight the passage at 37:05

37:31 So we're praying that those beings shall obtain super knowledge or clairvoyance. So they're different. Kinds of clairvoyance, reading others' minds, seeing past and future lives, etc. Mantras or Dharanis. Report an error in the passage at 37:31 Highlight the passage at 37:31

37:51 Dharanis are a special kind of mindfulness and wisdom that helps us to retain knowledge so that we don't forget. So we get teachings and we forget them or we read things and we forget them. So here we're praying for the lower realm beings to attain clairvoyance and this Durrani of not forgetting. Report an error in the passage at 37:51 Highlight the passage at 37:51

38:24 May they assume the bodies of gods and men and generate bodhicitta. So actually, the translation below I like better. May they arise in human and divine bodies and develop bodhicitta. So here... We're praying for those beings of lower realms to be reborn in the higher realms, right? And so in the human realm, the god realm and the demigod realms. Report an error in the passage at 38:24 Highlight the passage at 38:24

38:51 And for them to generate bodhicitta. So for these beings to not strive for solitary peace and to not strive for just their own liberation, but to generate bodhicitta. in order to benefit others. Report an error in the passage at 38:51 Highlight the passage at 38:51

39:15 In return for my kindness, may they repay me with Dharma practice. So due to my kindness, they're going to be reborn, hopefully, in the higher realms and practice the Dharma. So may they repay me by practicing the Dharma properly. And specifically in this context to practice. The six perfections, which are the bodhisattva practice, and the four means of gathering disciples, another bodhisattva practice. And then taking me as a guru, may they properly attend me, or may they properly develop the guru-disciple relationship. Report an error in the passage at 39:15 Highlight the passage at 39:15

40:09 And then as a result, attain progress along the path and achieve all of the accomplishments on. The five paths. Report an error in the passage at 40:09 Highlight the passage at 40:09

40:32 Then verse 102, then may all the beings in the higher realms also deeply meditate on selflessness just as I do. Cultivating the non-conceptual meditative absorption on the identity of existence and peace, may they recognize this identity. Report an error in the passage at 40:32 Highlight the passage at 40:32

40:52 Also at that time, may all the migrating beings of the high states fully meditate on selflessness just like us. And then free from conceptualization, recognize existence and peace as being equal. Okay, so now we've just finished talking about the beings of the three lower realms. And so here, even the beings in the higher realms, the humans, gods and demigods, also deeply meditate on selflessness, just as I do. Report an error in the passage at 40:52 Highlight the passage at 40:52

41:21 So meditating on emptiness, just as I do. So here we're starting to talk about ultimate bodhicitta. So up until this point we've talked a lot about the self-cherishing mind and conventional bodhicitta. Now we're starting to talk about ultimate bodhicitta or the wisdom realizing emptiness. So here we're praying for the beings in the higher realms to also meditate on emptiness or selflessness, cultivating the non-conceptual meditative absorption on the identity of existence and peace. Report an error in the passage at 41:21 Highlight the passage at 41:21

42:03 So existence and peace are kind of the two extremes that the bodhisattvas are striving to go beyond. So existence is cyclic existence. So we're trying to go beyond cyclic existence. And we're also trying to go beyond solitary peace or solitary liberation. Report an error in the passage at 42:03 Highlight the passage at 42:03

42:29 So bodhisattvas are trying to not fall into both of those. And then free from conceptualization, recognize existence in peace as being equal. So although cyclic existence and solitary peace are different conventionally, in the ultimate sense, you know, for the wisdom realizing emptiness, they're the same. Report an error in the passage at 42:29 Highlight the passage at 42:29

42:56 They're the same in terms of both being empty of inherent existence. That's Report an error in the passage at 42:56 Highlight the passage at 42:56

43:10 what that verse is talking about. Report an error in the passage at 43:10 Highlight the passage at 43:10

43:15 Is that clear? Report an error in the passage at 43:15 Highlight the passage at 43:15

43:20 Then verse 103. Having done so, I will crush the enemy. Having done so, I will crush conceptual construction. After cultivating selflessness through non-conceptual wisdom, how can I not obtain the causes and effects of the form body? Report an error in the passage at 43:20 Highlight the passage at 43:20

43:40 So having done so, which was meditating on selflessness and encouraging the higher realm beings to do so. I will crush the enemy. So through meditating on selflessness, we will crush the self-cherishing mind as well as the self-grasping ignorance, which are the enemies. Report an error in the passage at 43:40 Highlight the passage at 43:40

44:03 And then having done so, I will crush the conceptual construction. So not only are we getting rid of the self-cherishing mind and the self-grasping mind, we're getting rid of the negative thoughts that arise from those. So all of our negative thoughts arise from the ignorance and the self-cherishing mind. Report an error in the passage at 44:03 Highlight the passage at 44:03

44:28 So we want to crush those as well. Report an error in the passage at 44:28 Highlight the passage at 44:28

44:34 And then after cultivating selflessness through non-conceptual wisdom. This part, it's interesting. In the commentaries, they suddenly start talking about the tantric path, cultivating selflessness through non-conceptual wisdom. And on the sūtra path, when we talk about cultivating selflessness non-conceptually, we're talking about meditating on emptiness and in particular directly realizing emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 44:34 Highlight the passage at 44:34

45:06 It's only when we direct really realize emptiness that it's a non-conceptual mind. So when we try to think about emptiness and analyze emptiness and when we realize emptiness through logic, then Report an error in the passage at 45:06 Highlight the passage at 45:06

45:24 Then it's still conceptual, right? And then over time, when we meditate more and more and more with calm abiding and special insight, then it becomes direct or non-conceptual. Report an error in the passage at 45:24 Highlight the passage at 45:24

45:37 So that's according to Sūtra. In Tantra, there's... In Hayas Yoga Tantra, they talk about the wisdom of great bliss realizing emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 45:37 Highlight the passage at 45:37

45:53 And I can't really talk about that, but... But that is a union of method and wisdom, right? It's talked about again and again on the path that we need both, the bird needs both wings, the method and the wisdom. And in sūtra, the method is the bodhicitta side, and the wisdom is the emptiness, the wisdom realizing emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 45:53 Highlight the passage at 45:53

46:17 And it's similar in tantra, but also the method is this developing this mind of great bliss. And then with that mind of great bliss, then you realize emptiness. And so in that practice, you're uniting method in wisdom. And that's a key in this verse, is that we're practicing both method and wisdom. And when we practice both method and wisdom together, then we can attain enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 46:17 Highlight the passage at 46:17

46:48 We need both to attain enlightenment. So here it's saying that the Report an error in the passage at 46:48 Highlight the passage at 46:48

47:00 sage, Dharmakirti. One of the great logicians, Indian logicians, said that if all the causes of something are present, then the result will be produced whether you desire it or not. So if we create the causes, we're definitely going to attain enlightenment whether or not we want to. Report an error in the passage at 47:00 Highlight the passage at 47:00

47:25 So that's what it's saying in this last verse. How can I not obtain the causes and effects of the form body if we're creating the causes, right? Through realizing emptiness, in particular through realizing emptiness through the mind of great bliss. Report an error in the passage at 47:25 Highlight the passage at 47:25

47:48 And then the form body, right? We started talking last time a bit about the different bodies of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 47:48 Highlight the passage at 47:48

47:57 Here, I'll go to that slide and then I'll go back. So in general, right, there's the truth body and the form body of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 47:57 Highlight the passage at 47:57

48:07 And the collection of wisdom leads to the attainment of the truth body. And it's the collection of merit that leads to the attainment of the form body. Report an error in the passage at 48:07 Highlight the passage at 48:07

48:29 So in sūtra in general, then it's said that the wisdom realizing emptiness becomes the cause for the truth body. Whereas the bodhicitta, the conventional bodhicitta becomes the cause for the form body. Report an error in the passage at 48:29 Highlight the passage at 48:29

48:49 So if you remember, so there were the two types of truth bodies, the wisdom body and the nature body, which the wisdom body was the enlightened mind of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 48:49 Highlight the passage at 48:49

49:01 And the nature body, to put it really simply, is the emptiness of that omniscient mind, the emptiness of inherent existence of the omniscient mind. Report an error in the passage at 49:01 Highlight the passage at 49:01

49:11 So with the truth body itself, just by itself can't benefit others. We need the form body to benefit others. To manifest in different forms for the benefit of others. So the form body is created through the collection of merit and that's for the benefit of others. Report an error in the passage at 49:11 Highlight the passage at 49:11

49:33 So for some reason in this verse it's talking about how can I not obtain the causes and effects of the form body. And Report an error in the passage at 49:33 Highlight the passage at 49:33

49:51 then I have this slide just in general. So the two inner enemies, the self grasping ignorance is overcome by the ultimate bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 49:51 Highlight the passage at 49:51

50:02 Which is the wisdom directly realizing emptiness. And the self-cherishing mind is overcome by the conventional bodhicitta. Which is the desire to attain complete enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 50:02 Highlight the passage at 50:02

50:20 So we've covered that before, but this is an important point. One of the important points in this text. Report an error in the passage at 50:20 Highlight the passage at 50:20

50:41 Then we get to verse 104. So now we're starting to talk about emptiness in verse 104. Report an error in the passage at 50:41 Highlight the passage at 50:41

50:53 Which one? This one? This one? This one? Report an error in the passage at 50:53 Highlight the passage at 50:53

51:00 So the two inner enemies, the self-grasping is overcome by the ultimate bodhicitta, which makes sense. The ignorance is overcome by wisdom and the self-cherishing is overcome by conventional bodhicitta. Well, it's overcome by the cherishing others, which is part of the conventional bodhicitta practice. Report an error in the passage at 51:00 Highlight the passage at 51:00

51:32 So does this make sense? Report an error in the passage at 51:32 Highlight the passage at 51:32

51:40 I didn't say much about it, but it's kind of straightforward. Report an error in the passage at 51:40 Highlight the passage at 51:40

51:59 So the method side in general is the bodhicitta side. It's the compassion, the loving kindness, compassion, bodhicitta is the method side. Report an error in the passage at 51:59 Highlight the passage at 51:59

52:18 So conventional bodhicitta is what we generally, generally when we just say bodhicitta, We're talking about conventional bodhicitta, the mind wanting to attain enlightenment for the welfare of others or the welfare of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 52:18 Highlight the passage at 52:18

52:42 And then ultimate bodhicitta is synonymous with the wisdom directly realizing emptiness. But usually when we say bodhicitta, we're not referring to ultimate bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 52:42 Highlight the passage at 52:42

53:01 So that can be a little confusing. Report an error in the passage at 53:01 Highlight the passage at 53:01

53:10 Okay, why don't we take a break and then we'll come back and talk about emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 53:10 Highlight the passage at 53:10

53:29 Verse 104. Report an error in the passage at 53:29 Highlight the passage at 53:29

53:35 So, now hear this. Everything is dependently co-arisen. Being dependently co-arisen, they are not independent. Changing this way and that, they are false appearances and illusions. They are like images that appear like a whirling firebrand. 104. Report an error in the passage at 53:35 Highlight the passage at 53:35

53:57 And then there's this other translation that I'll talk about in a minute. So everything is dependently co-arisen. So here, this is the reasoning of dependent arising that is used to prove emptiness, the emptiness of inherent existence. So when we talk about emptiness and realizing emptiness, there are many different reasonings that we can use to prove emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 53:57 Highlight the passage at 53:57

54:28 The reasoning of one and many, the reasoning of the diamond sliver reasoning, etc. But what is called the king of reasonings is the reasoning of dependent arising. And so this was the topic of His Holiness' teachings earlier this year. Okay. But first, you know, oftentimes in the teachings it kind of jumps into Report an error in the passage at 54:28 Highlight the passage at 54:28

54:59 Proving emptiness. But I wanted to talk first about what it really means to believe that things are inherently existent. Because I think that that's really the first step to really understanding any of this stuff. Report an error in the passage at 54:59 Highlight the passage at 54:59

55:21 And that's a step that I think is often missing. So, I mean, in general, there's... For all ordinary beings, there's first a mistaken appearance, and then secondly, we believe in the appearance. Report an error in the passage at 55:21 Highlight the passage at 55:21

55:43 So first, the mistaken appearance, everything that appears to an ordinary being, everything that appears to us, appears mistakenly. The way that things appear is not the way that they actually exist. Report an error in the passage at 55:43 Highlight the passage at 55:43

56:01 But... So every single one of our perceptions is mistaken. And this is something really, really hard to get. But this makes it really, really difficult to realize emptiness because everything that we see is mistaken. Report an error in the passage at 56:01 Highlight the passage at 56:01

56:21 And then there's the next step. Then we believe in the way that things appear. Then we grasp onto things. We have attachment, ignorance, etc. Report an error in the passage at 56:21 Highlight the passage at 56:21

56:33 But things start with a mistaken appearance. Okay. So I just wanted to use an example. So this is, what is this? A pillow, right? A pillow. So if we look at it, it looks like it's one thing, right? It's one thing existing out here in my hand, projecting its image to your eyes, right? It's one thing. It's solid, right? It's one thing and it's solid. It's in my hand. It's out here. It's not in your mind. It's out here projecting its image to your mind. Report an error in the passage at 56:33 Highlight the passage at 56:33

57:22 And it exists separately from this hand that's holding it. Report an error in the passage at 57:22 Highlight the passage at 57:22

57:36 And it doesn't appear to be dependent on anything, right? It looks like it's just here. It's self-existent, right? It's not dependent on anything. Report an error in the passage at 57:36 Highlight the passage at 57:36

57:56 So really notice how it appears that there's a pillow out here projecting its image. It's like it's out here. Pillow. Report an error in the passage at 57:56 Highlight the passage at 57:56

58:26 Then refocus your attention. So your attention is on this whole thing, and it looks like there's a pillow. Then if you refocus your attention to the patterns, Like, just focus on Report an error in the passage at 58:26 Highlight the passage at 58:26

58:43 If you'll notice, pillow seems to disappear. You Report an error in the passage at 58:43 Highlight the passage at 58:43

58:54 may go back and forth, see the pillow and then focus in. Report an error in the passage at 58:54 Highlight the passage at 58:54

59:13 So what we're focusing on determines what seems to be appearing. So Report an error in the passage at 59:13 Highlight the passage at 59:13

59:29 are people seeing that? That pillow is disappearing. Report an error in the passage at 59:29 Highlight the passage at 59:29

59:44 So that's one thing that shows us that pillow depends on the mind. That's labeling it. It's conceiving it. Report an error in the passage at 59:44 Highlight the passage at 59:44

1:00:19 Also, I mean, it's not just pillow, right? It's not that there's no pillow from its own side, but there's something from its own side, right? Oftentimes we think that, okay, well, the label doesn't exist from its own side, but there's something that exists from its own side. The basis exists from its own side, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:19 Highlight the passage at 1:00:19

1:00:39 And oftentimes people have that mistake. Oh, yeah, yeah, I mean, I can see. There's no pillow from its own side. There's no table from its own side, but there's something from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:39 Highlight the passage at 1:00:39

1:00:49 But let's say there's an object here from its own side, like one object, right? Does it seem like there's one object here? It's all existent from its own side. So is it one object from its own side? I mean, we know that it's made of a lot, a lot, a lot of different atoms, right? So is it one thing existing out here? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:49 Highlight the passage at 1:00:49

1:01:19 Or is it many things existing out here? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:19 Highlight the passage at 1:01:19

1:01:39 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I wanted something with a lot of patterns because the cup is more difficult. I was going to do a cup, but that's something like that. But the pillow, I thought, no, no, pillow will be cool. The pillow is interesting. So cool. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:39 Highlight the passage at 1:01:39

1:02:04 So, you know, so we see some shapes and we see some colors and it looks solid. But we actually, we know intellectually it's not solid, right? It's actually a bunch of atoms. cool. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:04 Highlight the passage at 1:02:04

1:02:17 And really a lot of space in between those atoms. And a lot of atoms that are constantly moving around. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:17 Highlight the passage at 1:02:17

1:02:32 So from one perspective it's one thing. From another perspective it's many things. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:32 Highlight the passage at 1:02:32

1:02:43 So then how can it be one thing from its own side if it depends on how you look at it? If it existed from its own side, As one thing, then it would always be one thing, Report an error in the passage at 1:02:43 Highlight the passage at 1:02:43

1:03:01 no matter how you look at it. No matter who looks at it, it will always be one thing. If it existed as many things from its own side, then it would always be many. It would appear as many to everyone. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:01 Highlight the passage at 1:03:01

1:03:21 So just when we think about this being made up of a lot of atoms, then we know that it appears mistakenly, right? We know that the way it looks isn't the way it actually exists. Because as soon as we examine it, it doesn't exist the way it appears. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:21 Highlight the passage at 1:03:21

1:03:52 So conventionally we'd say this is a pillow. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:52 Highlight the passage at 1:03:52

1:04:02 But as soon as we examine it, it all falls apart. As soon as we start analyzing. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:02 Highlight the passage at 1:04:02

1:04:13 Like for example, if I analyze, Report an error in the passage at 1:04:13 Highlight the passage at 1:04:13

1:04:19 okay we think that there's a pillow here and a hand. Here, some fingers here that are separate from the pillow. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:19 Highlight the passage at 1:04:19

1:04:30 But if we check up on the atomic level, where is the boundary between my hand and the pillow? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:30 Highlight the passage at 1:04:30

1:04:59 Microphone. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:59 Highlight the passage at 1:04:59

1:05:05 I would say it was probably the surface of your skin, the surface of the fabric. Okay, so on the atomic level, so when we analyze even more closely, because is there... Report an error in the passage at 1:05:05 Highlight the passage at 1:05:05

1:05:21 I think on the atomic level there's some exchange of electrons. Right. You know, there's exchange of energy that's going back. So you can't really differentiate between the two. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, they're constantly, right, so the atoms, you know, they're constantly, they're constantly moving and going back and forth, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:21 Highlight the passage at 1:05:21

1:05:43 So there isn't actually a clean boundary. It seems like there'd be, there's a very clear boundary, the edge of my skin. You know, is touching the edge of the pillow, right? But that's just a false appearance that they're separate. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:43 Highlight the passage at 1:05:43

1:06:05 I mean, similarly, like if I say, if you say, if you look at this thing, I'd say there's a hand here and there's a forearm here. There's a wrist here, right? From its own side, right? There's a hand, there's a wrist and there's a forearm. And then we think, okay, well, where is the boundary between Report an error in the passage at 1:06:05 Highlight the passage at 1:06:05

1:06:30 The hand and the wrist. Like is it that spot? Is it that spot? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:30 Highlight the passage at 1:06:30

1:06:45 So we see when we really analyze things aren't so clear-cut, right? They're not so separate. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:45 Highlight the passage at 1:06:45

1:06:59 They're just different labels, right? We just label, name, this part of the hand, this hand, this is the wrist and this is the forearm. There's just a label. And so that label is determined, the correct label is determined by some... Convention that we have. Conventionally we'd say this is a hand, this is a wrist, this is a forearm. Similar to the debate of when does life begin? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:59 Highlight the passage at 1:06:59

1:07:29 Does life begin at conception? Does it begin at birth? Just when is the time that we label something life? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:29 Highlight the passage at 1:07:29

1:07:47 And obviously we don't have a common agreement, right? So it's like this perpetual argument, right? Because life doesn't exist from its own side, right? It's just a convention that's not agreed upon. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:47 Highlight the passage at 1:07:47

1:08:14 We can talk about this a lot. And so similarly with the person, Report an error in the passage at 1:08:14 Highlight the passage at 1:08:14

1:08:25 it seems like, you know, if we think about ourselves, this is one thing, right? I am one person, one thing. I want people to like me. I want people to respect me, this one thing. I want people to treat me well, this one thing, this solidly existing thing that Report an error in the passage at 1:08:25 Highlight the passage at 1:08:25

1:09:03 doesn't seem to be dependent on anything. Because if we think about it, if I ask you to bring up an image of yourself in your mind, it's like the static image, right? We think, okay. If I think about me, okay, I'm female, I'm tall, you know, I have long dark hair, Report an error in the passage at 1:09:03 Highlight the passage at 1:09:03

1:09:28 I'm a nice person, you know, da-da-da-da-da-da, right? But then I think about it, well, okay, I'm female now, but that will end, right? That will end. There was a beginning and there will be an end. I'm a nice person. Well, that's not really true, right? What about those times I was angry? What about those times when I said something that very nice to somebody? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:28 Highlight the passage at 1:09:28

1:10:09 Was I a nice person in that moment? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:09 Highlight the passage at 1:10:09

1:10:15 So we have this static image of ourselves, but in Report an error in the passage at 1:10:15 Highlight the passage at 1:10:15

1:10:24 reality we're constantly changing, right? Our bodies are constantly changing. Our minds are constantly changing. So what is static there? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:24 Highlight the passage at 1:10:24

1:10:41 Like what is this person? What do we think that person is? Is the person the mind? Is the person the body? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:41 Highlight the passage at 1:10:41

1:10:53 Is the person the mind and the body together? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:53 Highlight the passage at 1:10:53

1:11:01 Is the person something separate from the mind and the body? What Report an error in the passage at 1:11:01 Highlight the passage at 1:11:01

1:11:12 do you think? I Report an error in the passage at 1:11:12 Highlight the passage at 1:11:12

1:11:18 don't have any particular insights right now except for that I've heard this stuff a lot of times and you're really freaking me out right now. Honestly, that's all I had to say. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:18 Highlight the passage at 1:11:18

1:11:32 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:32 Highlight the passage at 1:11:32

1:11:44 So what do you think? What is the person? don't Report an error in the passage at 1:11:44 Highlight the passage at 1:11:44

1:11:34 I'm like, Report an error in the passage at 1:11:34 Highlight the passage at 1:11:34

1:11:49 Is it the mind? Is it the body? Both? Neither? Report an error in the passage at 1:11:49 Highlight the passage at 1:11:49

1:12:06 As you were saying, the body has a beginning, it has an end. So that certainly isn't permanent. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:06 Highlight the passage at 1:12:06

1:12:16 I guess the persona that we have also beginning and end, that's not permanent. So what's left over? Yeah. So instinctively... Report an error in the passage at 1:12:16 Highlight the passage at 1:12:16

1:12:33 And instinctively we think that there's a person there, right? A person that we Report an error in the passage at 1:12:33 Highlight the passage at 1:12:33

1:12:43 protect. A person that we want respected. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:43 Highlight the passage at 1:12:43

1:12:54 But what is that? Okay, so if I think, let's say somebody hurts me. That person hurt me. What is that me? Did that person hurt my body? Did that person hurt my earlobes? Are my earlobes me? Did that person hurt my hand? My eyelashes? What is this me that was hurt? Or did that person hurt my mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:54 Highlight the passage at 1:12:54

1:13:31 Well, according to Dharma, the mind is formless. How could the mind be hurt? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:31 Highlight the passage at 1:13:31

1:13:41 So what's being hurt? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:41 Highlight the passage at 1:13:41

1:13:49 Isn't that the sense of I? Right, but what is that I? Well, I would say it's what we identify. With or what we identify as. So is it the image of ourselves in our minds that's hurt? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:49 Highlight the passage at 1:13:49

1:14:23 I think the eye does have an image. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:23 Highlight the passage at 1:14:23

1:14:31 So then we would, I think, consider that, yeah, our image has been hurt, our sense of self. Our sense of self, right, right. It's our idea of a self, right? It's just an idea. But then if we look for that self, where is it? Because we have an idea of ourselves, but Report an error in the passage at 1:14:31 Highlight the passage at 1:14:31

1:15:00 where does it map to in reality? Report an error in the passage at 1:15:00 Highlight the passage at 1:15:00

1:15:10 I have been thinking about this in a sort of opposite way. I mean, without not being hurt, but about perhaps some of the things that I like, you know, like maybe a certain kind of food or music or whatever, something like that. And then looking at this kind of fixed version of myself, you know, like Jay likes blank, whatever it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:10 Highlight the passage at 1:15:10

1:15:33 And thinking of that under those sort of circumstances that I was maybe that J of the 8th grade or whatever, wherever I was when I kind of started to like some kind of thing. Especially in the light of the fact there are things that I've liked in this life and then not like anymore and that kind of business. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:33 Highlight the passage at 1:15:33

1:15:46 And it's that same thing. And then it's the exact same thing. Because I can't seem to find that person who liked those things in the 8th grade or whatever they were. And then to look for now the person who likes the things that I like now, which are always completely dependent upon circumstances, the things that I seem to like. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:46 Highlight the passage at 1:15:46

1:16:02 It's this absolute circumstance. And it gets, which is why I'm saying the freak out thing, because I mean it gets really, it's really disturbing. Because you can't find that. Yeah. That guy. In the limited capacity in which I'm currently able to look for it. But I, yeah. But I mean, so I don't know why I'm taking that, the liking thing instead of the being her thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:02 Highlight the passage at 1:16:02

1:16:23 But that's, I don't know, it's a very powerful thing to set it up the way you are. Yeah. Who is that person? Yeah. And it's such a good sign, right, when we start to get a little freaked out or, you know, a little uneasy because it's like, yeah, I can't find that person, that person that I've always thought existed, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:16:23 Highlight the passage at 1:16:23

1:16:48 Oh, my gosh, you know, it's completely, I mean, it's completely a fantasy, actually, this idea that we have. Yeah, yeah, I mean, they say some people are greatly relieved and some people... really freaked out, you know, when they start getting emptiness. As you said, it's a little Yeah. I feel like I'm suddenly not in Report an error in the passage at 1:16:48 Highlight the passage at 1:16:48

1:17:10 I'm like, yeah, why do I like all that stuff? And then that's what's happening. Yeah. It never feels any less to me like something's looking though. And that sense that something's looking is my sense of myself and that never diminishes. You know, I don't know that I'll ever get to the emptiness of that. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:10 Highlight the passage at 1:17:10

1:17:32 Any time soon. This is the most non-Dharmic way of saying this, but in that search, in the few limited times where I've had this thing where I got kind of freaked out, it seems to me that there's almost this effect that's like those magic eye paintings that you look like, you know what I mean, where you stare and you stare and all of a sudden it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:32 Highlight the passage at 1:17:32

1:17:51 Like you're seeing it and you don't have to focus or anything to make it happen. And I think that's sometimes that search for that eye is like that. So they're very aware of that observer, but sometimes... You can't find it, you can't find it, and then all of a sudden it's just kind of, like I say, limited capacity, not there. So I think there is a place where that observer doesn't assert itself so much. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:51 Highlight the passage at 1:17:51

1:18:12 And there is an observer, right? So there's an observer that's looking, right? I must exist. I fell on the floor. No, I never get away from it. It's not like I can't find it. I can't get away from it. Right. Because there is, I mean, conventionally there is an observer, right? There's an awareness there that's looking. Then the question is to now search for the observer, right, to turn around. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:12 Highlight the passage at 1:18:12

1:18:43 So try to find the observer and where is it? I did feel once like I reached the end of the universe and I opened a door and there was a mirror there. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:43 Highlight the passage at 1:18:43

1:18:53 That's as close as I got to emptiness. It felt like there was a painted ceiling or something, you know, like I couldn't get out of the box. But I never felt like I wasn't there. Maybe everything else wasn't there. Right. Well, I mean, our understanding will change over time, right? So that's the hardest thing, I think, you know, the subject side, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:18:53 Highlight the passage at 1:18:53

1:19:18 The objects, we can search and we can search, you know, and not find it. And we can start understanding that they don't exist really the way that they appear. And then we turn to the subject side. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:18 Highlight the passage at 1:19:18

1:19:32 And then we try to search for the I in the consciousness or the awareness. And see if you can find it. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:32 Highlight the passage at 1:19:32

1:19:45 I mean, there's a lot of different practices. And I think that's starting, I mean, in my own idea, that's starting to get to the Chita Matra view. Like the chitamatra view is where, okay, well, nothing exists. Well, they say, you know, only the mind. Yeah, the mind only school. You know, only the mind exists, and the mind inherently exists, but the objects, you know, don't exist. So that's kind of a natural progression, David, you know, to start negating the objects, but it's more profound to negate the subject. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:45 Highlight the passage at 1:19:45

1:20:26 Because then if we look at the mind, the mind is constantly changing. So the mind in this moment, and there's a mind in that moment. So which is the I? The mind now? Or is it the mind now? Or is it the mind now? Report an error in the passage at 1:20:26 Highlight the passage at 1:20:26

1:20:55 Yeah. Yeah. Because the mind seems to always be there and kind of something we can depend on. But the mind now. Is different from the mind now. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:55 Highlight the passage at 1:20:55

1:21:19 No, someday that won't happen. I do believe there's an end. But I don't know if that's the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:19 Highlight the passage at 1:21:19

1:21:31 Oh, I mean that's one type of mind maybe. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:31 Highlight the passage at 1:21:31

1:21:39 So the body is constantly changing. If I think about it, sometimes I identify the I with my body. I think I am sitting here. The I is the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:39 Highlight the passage at 1:21:39

1:21:53 If I think I am tired. Or if my mind, you know, maybe I am sleepy, then that I is the mind, right? The mind is sleepy. No, bodies don't get sleepy, right? Or I am happy. I am angry. That I is the mind, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:53 Highlight the passage at 1:21:53

1:22:26 Well, like they say, thoughts are clouds passing through the sky. I feel like I'm the sky, and all those things are clouds passing through. But I never feel like there's not a sky. But I guess I can look at everything as depending on everything else, but I'm still believing in everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:26 Highlight the passage at 1:22:26

1:22:46 Yeah. And that's where we have to start looking at the sky, that mind. And that mind is also changing from moment to moment. It's not the same. If I think about the mind now, then the mind... When I was five years old, maybe there's a big difference, you know? So how can I say that was me? My body was totally different. My mind was different. So how can I say that five-year-old was me and me now is me, the same person? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:46 Highlight the passage at 1:22:46

1:23:29 The mind is totally different. The body is totally different. How can it be the same person? Is there something separate from the mind and body that kind of continued? Report an error in the passage at 1:23:29 Highlight the passage at 1:23:29

1:23:43 And what is that thing then that's separate from the mind and the body? Report an error in the passage at 1:23:43 Highlight the passage at 1:23:43

1:23:51 And where does that exist? Report an error in the passage at 1:23:51 Highlight the passage at 1:23:51

1:24:06 Like the mental factors would be one thing, such as memory. That connects you from, because you remember when you were a child and everything that's happened up to the moment in time. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:06 Highlight the passage at 1:24:06

1:24:21 Right, so that connects us. So if I lose my memory, Report an error in the passage at 1:24:21 Highlight the passage at 1:24:21

1:24:34 Like if I can't remember when I was five years old, does that mean that I wasn't five years old anymore, that wasn't the same person? Report an error in the passage at 1:24:34 Highlight the passage at 1:24:34

1:24:43 If I can't remember it, then does that mean I wasn't the same person anymore? No, I don't think so. I mean, there are people who lose their memories, right? Yeah. Me, I can't remember when I was five years old. Yeah, exactly. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:43 Highlight the passage at 1:24:43

1:24:59 You were asking how would you identify as having been the five-year-old. I mean, you're going to think, well, yeah, I'm your memory. Exactly. Um... Report an error in the passage at 1:24:59 Highlight the passage at 1:24:59

1:25:07 Because we live conventionally, right? We do exist conventionally. We do exist conventionally. And conventionally we would say that that was the same person. There's a continuum. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:07 Highlight the passage at 1:25:07

1:25:21 So we are merely labeled on this continuum. Just a label. Like Lama Zopa Rinpoche says that it's almost as if we don't exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:21 Highlight the passage at 1:25:21

1:25:36 It's almost as if we don't exist. We're just merely labeled. It's just like this light, this label. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:36 Highlight the passage at 1:25:36

1:25:49 But then if we search, right? But we still believe, right? We really believe that there's something. We're more than just a label, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:25:49 Highlight the passage at 1:25:49

1:26:05 So, oh, it's almost time. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:05 Highlight the passage at 1:26:05

1:26:20 Okay, so I was saying, you know, sometimes we identify ourselves with the mind and sometimes with the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:20 Highlight the passage at 1:26:20

1:26:31 And sometimes we think, we say things like, I have a body and I have a mind, or Report an error in the passage at 1:26:31 Highlight the passage at 1:26:31

1:26:44 my mind and my body. So in those instances, it seems like there's a me first that kind of owns the body and the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:44 Highlight the passage at 1:26:44

1:27:02 So this is kind of schizophrenic, right? Sometimes it's a mind, sometimes it's a body, sometimes it's something separate from the mind and body. What is that all about, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:02 Highlight the passage at 1:27:02

1:27:18 So is it like I can be over here and the mind and body over here? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:18 Highlight the passage at 1:27:18

1:27:29 Well, that doesn't really make sense, right? I'm sitting here, I'm not over here, right? I'm sitting, I say I'm sitting here because the body is here, right? I'm saying I am happy because the mind is happy, right? It's not as if this I is something separate from the mind and the body, right? It's dependent on the mind and the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:29 Highlight the passage at 1:27:29

1:27:54 And according to the highest school, Prasangika, it's merely labeled independence on the mind and the body. It is not the mind and the body. The lower schools would say the I is the mind or the I is the body or the combination. But the highest school would say it's merely labeled independence on the mind and the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:54 Highlight the passage at 1:27:54

1:28:25 So the body appears and we label it I. Some mind state appears and we label it I. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:25 Highlight the passage at 1:28:25

1:28:35 Merely labeled on the mind and the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:35 Highlight the passage at 1:28:35

1:28:48 So this... No, go ahead. Where does the ego come into all of this? Because it almost seems like it's the ego that's creating the I in relationship to the body and the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:48 Highlight the passage at 1:28:48

1:29:08 I mean, I don't know. Yeah, the ego. Ego is kind of a nebulous term in the sense that... In Freudian psychology, the ego means one thing. Usually when we talk about the ego in the context of the Dharma, we're talking about the I that does not exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:08 Highlight the passage at 1:29:08

1:29:28 So we have an idea about the I, this static idea about this solidly existing I. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:28 Highlight the passage at 1:29:28

1:29:45 And that I does not exist at all. That's the object of negation, the idea of the I. That nice Emily is just my object of negation. Because really, I mean, this is constantly changing. How can there be a nice Emily? How can there be a tall Emily? How can there be a healthy Emily? You know, that's definitely going to change. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:45 Highlight the passage at 1:29:45

1:30:26 So it said that the object of that conception, the object of our... Mind or the conception of the inherently existent I doesn't exist at all. That's the object of negation. And actually there are different levels of the object of negation, different levels of subtlety that maybe we won't talk about in this class. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:26 Highlight the passage at 1:30:26

1:31:04 We'll definitely get into it when we study tenets, the different levels of subtlety. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:04 Highlight the passage at 1:31:04

1:31:16 But yeah. Yeah, it gets pretty complicated if we get into that. But that ego, that I that does not exist, is just the object of negation. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:16 Highlight the passage at 1:31:16

1:31:30 It's a fantasy. It's a hallucination. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:30 Highlight the passage at 1:31:30

1:31:37 And then we grasp onto that, right? We have that I, and then from that I, we start, we have this concept of ownership. Then we have this idea of mine, right? And then we protect. And I protect those things that are mine, right? My family, my friends, my house, my things. That's my dinner. You know, don't touch my dinner. And therein all of the afflictions arise. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:37 Highlight the passage at 1:31:37

1:32:22 Okay, it's 8.30 and we didn't even get started on this verse. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:22 Highlight the passage at 1:32:22