The Dalai Lama's Teachings on the Spiritual Path (3 March 2012, afternoon)

0:00 Let's immediately proceed. In chapter 7 of the forthcoming book, From Here to Enlightenment, the Dalai Lama's teachings on the spiritual path from Snow Lion sometime later this year, the Dalai Lama will be saying that the foregoing discussion Which was about the process of reflection, study and reflection and meditation as ways of gradually deepening wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:40 That shows that analysis is crucial to the process of mental transformation. This is a point that, as I mentioned, His Holiness makes some few times in the book. Report an error in the passage at 0:40 Highlight the passage at 0:40

0:59 And that he uses the emphasis on the heritage of the Nalanda tradition as a way to place in the foreground and as part of the heritage of. I would say comparing the way His Holiness teaches the book to how J. Rinpoche wrote it, that I would say it's even a bigger theme in the original Lamrim Chemo that Tsongkhapa was very, very, very concerned that... Report an error in the passage at 0:59 Highlight the passage at 0:59

1:31 People, whereas many people may indeed be theoretically the heir to a tradition that emphasized analysis, that in practice many people were teaching modes of meditation, Buddhist meditation, that didn't adequately emphasize the need for study and reflection and analysis. But more, we're in the spirit of all of these things are dualistic. Buddhas are non-dualistic. So let us dispense with such ways of doing things as quickly as possible. Report an error in the passage at 1:31 Highlight the passage at 1:31

2:11 And of course, the Gilupa way is to say, well, it's true that Buddhas respond spontaneously to the world with compassion and without any dualistic thought whatsoever, transcended any kind of dualistic conceptuality. But they didn't get that way by just spacing out. They got that way first by systematically analyzing what was wrong with their conceptualizations and understanding something that was the opposite of those wrong conceptualizations. Report an error in the passage at 2:11 Highlight the passage at 2:11

2:42 And then having understood that well, repeatedly focusing their mind on it and then coming out of that meditation and analyzing again to refresh. The vividness of that understanding and then focusing their mind on it again until ultimately they can get into a non-dual understanding of this. But it's a non-dual understanding of specific reality, not just of escaping from any connection to anything. Report an error in the passage at 2:42 Highlight the passage at 2:42

3:09 And so you have to know what it is you're focusing your mind on first. And I would say that that's like an overriding theme of Lamrim Chemo as a whole. Report an error in the passage at 3:09 Highlight the passage at 3:09

3:24 But in this case, what he's doing is saying meditation is crucial for the process of mental transformation and a meditation that involves analysis is crucial for the process of mental transformation, for progressing toward enlightenment and that humans are best equipped, we have the best sort of intelligence. Report an error in the passage at 3:24 Highlight the passage at 3:24

3:46 So for a Dharma practitioner to have a human existence is... extremely important we have a very precious opportunity especially of course I don't know if you guys use the word leisure is the Jeffrey is very much still championing the idea that are we don't just we have a human rebirth but a human rebirth with the leisure and opportunity to actually practice the So this is like considered to be super rare, you know, all of the... Report an error in the passage at 3:46 Highlight the passage at 3:46

4:19 Shastras give these various examples of how extraordinary, unusual and precious it is to have the kind of opportunity that we have now. So His Holiness simply says we simply can't take it for granted or assume that we'll readily find some other human rebirth in the future. The burning question is how can we make this precious human existence meaningful? And then it's at this point that he lays out The actual three capacities of beings, the beings of the three capacities, which is, as we said from the beginning, come from Atisha's Lamp for the Path and then becomes the basis for arguing that you can integrate all of the practices. Report an error in the passage at 4:19 Highlight the passage at 4:19

5:08 In the teachings into something for one person to do, seeing it as a sequence of that person progressing through these three capacities. Atisha says, being of small capacity, the lowest of the persons are those who diligently strive to attain solely the joys of cyclic existence by any means for their welfare alone. Report an error in the passage at 5:08 Highlight the passage at 5:08

5:34 And so their aim of the... beings of small capacity is worldly happy. The beings of medium capacity are persons who seek to stop harmful or afflicted actions, turn their backs on the joys of cyclic existence, and diligently strive for their own peace. peace and then Report an error in the passage at 5:34 Highlight the passage at 5:34

6:03 These people practice, of course, ethics and meditation and wisdom for the sake of their personal liberation. And then those persons are called superior, beings of great capacity, who sincerely want to extinguish all the sufferings of others by understanding their own suffering, is an interesting definition from Atisha. Report an error in the passage at 6:03 Highlight the passage at 6:03

6:26 So these people, of course, in addition to practicing the other things as they progress, He also then practiced the ultimate and conventional forms of bodhicitta as well as the six perfections on that basis so as to accumulate the collections of merit and wisdom and actualize the bodies of a Buddha so as best to be able to serve the welfare of others. Report an error in the passage at 6:26 Highlight the passage at 6:26

6:53 others it His Holiness goes on to say that there's like the different kinds of practices that the Buddha taught are especially or particularly pertinent for one or the other or more of the three persons. And so if you're saying, if you're a being of small capacity who's engaging religious practice, which not all beings of small capacity are, as we may know. Report an error in the passage at 6:53 Highlight the passage at 6:53

7:24 If you're a religious practitioner of small capacity, then your religious aim is to attain a fortunate rebirth, and then you engage in practices of abandoning non-virtue in order to avoid falling into a bad rebirth. And then people who are seeking liberation for themselves alone have to stop grasping at the self, Report an error in the passage at 7:24 Highlight the passage at 7:24

7:54 Clinging to an exaggerated idea of how their personal self exists in order to seek liberation. And then he puts it in an interesting way, saying the beings of great capacity in order to actualize the state of a Buddha have to overcome not just these afflictions of delusion, hatred and ignorance, but they also have to overcome the latent predispositions of these afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 7:54 Highlight the passage at 7:54

8:24 And in other words, it's not just enough to get out of cyclic existence. You have to become omniscient. You have to be able to see emptiness and all conventional phenomena simultaneously. And even you can get out of cyclic existence as a bodhisattva even or an arhat either way and still not be able to do that trick. Report an error in the passage at 8:24 Highlight the passage at 8:24

8:48 And that's the idea is that you... You can completely eliminate the afflictions and be out of cyclic existence but still not be able to see emptiness and conventional phenomena at the same time because as sort of a hangover effect of having been in cyclic existence for so long, you have these latencies of having had these afflictions that have caused your mind to be such that things appear to you as though they were apart. Report an error in the passage at 8:48 Highlight the passage at 8:48

9:24 And therefore, when you're looking at conventional things, you can't at that very time also be realizing emptiness. You have to still alternate. So you have all arhats and advanced bodhisattvas on the 8th, 9th and 10th ground who they either are looking at seeing a table or they're seeing the emptiness of the table. Report an error in the passage at 9:24 Highlight the passage at 9:24

9:45 But they're not actually able to directly perceive both of those things simultaneously. Because when they're looking at the table, the table looks to them, and I'm just talking at the perceptual level, it appears as though it's set up from its own side. Unlike us, where when we see the table and it looks like it's set up from its own side and we just take it for granted that it's set up from its own side. But for them, it's exactly the opposite at that point. Report an error in the passage at 9:45 Highlight the passage at 9:45

10:11 They've completely, permanently eradicated any idea that the table exists from its own side. It still just happens to look that way because they used to believe it. So the example that Chandrakirti gives of that is like looking at a reflection and we adult humans, when we go in the bathroom and see the mirror, don't think. Report an error in the passage at 10:11 Highlight the passage at 10:11

10:50 the mirror is very clean, and it looks exactly like there's a person there, we don't think that there is at all. it really looks like there is. Report an error in the passage at 10:50 Highlight the passage at 10:50

11:05 we've gotten used to the idea that there just isn't, even though it's vividly appearing. Report an error in the passage at 11:05 Highlight the passage at 11:05

11:12 he said, that state of mind in which you have to understand that a sort of vivid appearance of this. As an objectively real face is not to be credited. That's like the state of these advanced bodhisattvas or these arhats. They still have at the perceptual level, you're either seeing the conventional or you're seeing ultimate. Report an error in the passage at 11:12 Highlight the passage at 11:12

11:41 You can't have these things appear simultaneously because when the conventional is appearing, it seems to be objectively, it appears to be objectively real. Instead of just reflexively believing in it, they reflexively disbelieve in it. Report an error in the passage at 11:41 Highlight the passage at 11:41

11:56 sort of like going to the opposite of where we And that's what makes the omniscience of Buddhahood. The reason I got onto that is because His Holiness is doing another one of his Report an error in the passage at 11:56 Highlight the passage at 11:56

12:43 Comparisons here, he's talking about these three capacities of beings and the different practices that each one has to do. That the low beings who are religious practitioners, the small capacity beings, they're trying to change their behavior, abandon non-virtuous behavior so they won't go into a bad realm when they die. Report an error in the passage at 12:43 Highlight the passage at 12:43

13:03 The middling beings are trying to overcome the afflictions so that they won't be trapped in sickly existence. And then what he says here at this particular point, what he says for the great beings is that they have to abandon all distorted perceptions or views so that they can be rid of even the subtle latent predispositions. Report an error in the passage at 13:03 Highlight the passage at 13:03

13:26 And the reason he said it that way is because he's showing that you can make a connection between Atisha's three capacities of beings and this famous verse from Aryadeva's 400, where Aryadeva... gives his little... He's trying to show that this concept of the stages of the path is latent even in very early Madhyamaka work by Aryadeva. Report an error in the passage at 13:26 Highlight the passage at 13:26

13:54 This wasn't explicitly understood as the stages of the path, but he has this verse where he says, in the beginning you abandon non-virtue, in the middle you abandon grasping itself, and then in the end you abandon all distorted views. And he says, takes that, this is really just one verse, but he takes that as representing the three capacities of beings in the stages of the path, right? Report an error in the passage at 13:54 Highlight the passage at 13:54

14:20 So anyway, that's another one of... His Holiness's sort of demonstrations that he's been thinking about this for a while because I haven't seen anybody else make that kind of connection. Then, obviously, the idea is that you can't just jump around to the practices associated with the medium capacity or great capacity without doing the practices of being of small capacity. Report an error in the passage at 14:20 Highlight the passage at 14:20

14:42 You have to lay a foundation in the more basic practices. And His Holiness doesn't say this here, but Jaron Pache in the treatise says that the important thing is that Report an error in the passage at 14:42 Highlight the passage at 14:42

15:19 practices. So there's a really strong concern about having people think that they're too good to be doing, say, meditation on death or taking refuge or something like that. Especially, I guess, practicing the restraint from non-virtue is a problem when people think they're too highly realized to worry about that. Report an error in the passage at 15:19 Highlight the passage at 15:19

15:44 That, I'm sure, would never happen. Report an error in the passage at 15:44 Highlight the passage at 15:44

15:58 Then obviously you reflect deeply on the nature of suffering and cyclic existence so that after you can turn away from attachment to preoccupation with future lives and aspire to, as you move from being a small capacity to being a great capacity, give up preoccupation with both this life and future lives and really have a sense of disenchantment with cyclic existence and then eventually expand that understanding to include all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 15:58 Highlight the passage at 15:58

16:25 beings. Report an error in the passage at 16:25 Highlight the passage at 16:25

16:29 His Holiness gives another little sort of riff where he tries to show really that you can think about the structure of the Four Noble Truths operating within each of these three capacities of the beings. So, for example, if you're a person of small capacity, then the suffering that you want to avoid is a suffering of a bad rebirth. And the origins of that suffering is... Report an error in the passage at 16:29 Highlight the passage at 16:29

17:06 whether the underlying afflictions are just avoiding the behavior and then the fruition would be being Being born in a good rebirth and he's saying so there you can talk about that the cessation would be the stopping of being reborn in a bad rebirth. So you can talk about the Four Noble Truths in terms of apply that structure or that logic to what beings are trying to do at each of the three capacities. Report an error in the passage at 17:06 Highlight the passage at 17:06

17:31 So then in terms of going through how that you actually progress through the stages of the path, I mean obviously I have to say that at this beginning, maybe somewhere around in here, His Holiness begins to go through the material a little bit faster than he did earlier. Report an error in the passage at 17:31 Highlight the passage at 17:31

17:50 And there's a lot of things where he just more or less tells you what's in the book without going into any long discussions and sometimes takes things that are extremely important and treats them fairly briefly. So for example, in the beginning, since the best use of a human life of leisure and opportunity, we should begin by training our minds in the stages of the path that all three persons share with the person of small capacity. Report an error in the passage at 17:50 Highlight the passage at 17:50

18:18 And the first of these is to develop an aspiration and dedication to improve our future lives. And to that end, we must start by meditating on impermanence and death. And then instead of talking about like meditation on... the fact that we're all going to die and how it's inevitable and how we should change our approach to things in light of the fact that death is both certain and yet the time of death is uncertain and so forth as is usually done in life. Report an error in the passage at 18:18 Highlight the passage at 18:18

18:46 He quickly goes on to say, well, You know, in general, when Buddhists talk about impermanence, we're really mostly interested in the subtle impermanence, the momentary disintegration of things, instant by instant. And that this is really what's, when you talk about the impermanence in the four seals, that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent, then you're talking about this momentary, instant by instant disintegration. Report an error in the passage at 18:46 Highlight the passage at 18:46

19:19 And when also in terms of the Four Noble Truths, there's different so-called aspects of each of the Four Noble Truths. And when in terms of the First Noble Truth, one of the aspects is impermanence. And again, that refers to a subtle impermanence where things are changing instant by instant. And he goes on to say, but in this case, for the being of small capacity, of course, what you're mostly concerned about and meditating on is the gross impermanence of one particular... Report an error in the passage at 19:19 Highlight the passage at 19:19

19:48 and that is yourself in this lifetime, right? Not that you're changing instant by instant, but that, you know, you're going to definitely going to die. Report an error in the passage at 19:48 Highlight the passage at 19:48

19:59 almost like we'd rather think about something else rather than that. And what, Meditate first on death and impermanence and then reflect on the sufferings of the lower realms in particular. particular, course, and then Report an error in the passage at 19:59 Highlight the passage at 19:59

20:18 Of course, in Tsongkhapa, that's gone into in some detail and His Holiness doesn't go into it. He says, what could we do, though, to avoid being born in one of these unfortunate realms? Of course, we could take refuge in the three jewels and on that way learn to live in a way that takes into account karmic cause and effect. And so then he talks about, you know. Report an error in the passage at 20:18 Highlight the passage at 20:18

20:41 Jairam Pache Tsongkhapa about how to take refuge in the three jewels. And the Dalai Lama simply points out that Tsongkhapa seems to assume that the person that he's writing this book for is a Buddhist and is all ready to take refuge in the three jewels. And he said this is just an example about books that are written in Tibet, you know, always assume that the audience is Buddhist and that when discussions about taking refuge occur in Indian Buddhist texts. Report an error in the passage at 20:41 Highlight the passage at 20:41

21:09 They don't assume that everybody who might happen to be interested in that book would obviously be inclined to. He gives an example of Dharmakirti who gives arguments in the context of why it might be possible to actually attain liberation in the context of explaining refuge. And then he raises the question of whether the teaching of emptiness in Madhyamaka Buddhism should be thought as undermining refuge in the three jewels and points out that even though he's been saying the opposite over and over again through this book that you can't really, you're not taking refuge in a distinctly Buddhist sense unless you have some understanding of emptiness, that many Buddhists thought exactly the opposite and that in the 24th chapter of Nagarjuna's treatise on the middle way turns around exactly this point that A Buddhist realist says, well, we're not going to have any dependent arising if none of the factors have any nature which allows them to produce the next one. Report an error in the passage at 21:09 Highlight the passage at 21:09

22:22 And you're saying none of these things have any nature. So there won't be any dependent arising. There won't be any dharma. There won't be any Buddha. And there won't be any saṅgha. And you're just destroying the three jewels by saying that everything is empty. Report an error in the passage at 22:22 Highlight the passage at 22:22

22:35 Nagarjuna puts that in the 24th chapter and then tries to turn the table. Of course, a very famous passage and a great favorite that the Dalai Lama quotes all the time where Nagarjuna turns the tables on this critic and says that if things had inherent existence... If they were non-empty, then this is in fact what would make causal relations untenable. Causal relations work only because things are empty. Report an error in the passage at 22:35 Highlight the passage at 22:35

23:03 And why? Because without emptiness, if things were non-empty, they would be self-existent, they would be self-instituting, so there wouldn't be any possibility or need for interdependent relationships. Report an error in the passage at 23:03 Highlight the passage at 23:03

23:17 So he concludes by saying, For those who seek to take refuge, and now he's talking about the being of small capacity, I think it may be very helpful to understand at least some aspects of this. So he's taking into account that not everybody will be actually realizing emptiness, but that he wants people to have their understanding of refuge being informed by this kind of perspective. Report an error in the passage at 23:17 Highlight the passage at 23:17

23:43 Then he raises a question that I always hear. A Buddhism teacher at the university. If there isn't any inherently existent self, what transmigrates? And His Holiness says that the problem comes from an incomplete understanding of what Buddhists are saying about selflessness. Because the Buddha doesn't reject the existence of a personal self. Report an error in the passage at 23:43 Highlight the passage at 23:43

24:10 There is a person who acts and a person who amasses karma and a person who experiences the consequences of these actions. And you can refer to that person with the word self if you want to, or you can say his self, myself, herself and so forth. The problem is that we have this distorted or exaggerated sense of this self. Report an error in the passage at 24:10 Highlight the passage at 24:10

24:33 So the Buddha is asking us to analyze the nature of the self and understand that the self exists only in dependence upon or as something that's ascribed to or imputed to the physical and mental aggregates and is not something that what we tend to think of as just sort of like a master that rules over the mind and body. Report an error in the passage at 24:33 Highlight the passage at 24:33

24:55 Like my mind, my body, who's the me that owns my mind and so forth. Or else that it's an essence that's somehow housed within them deeper down, like a pith in a tree or some sort of essential core. And so we tend to just speak and act and think and perceive as though there was some sort of essentially real self. Report an error in the passage at 24:55 Highlight the passage at 24:55

25:24 And this is the kind of self that the Buddhists are, of course, negating, not the mere existence of a self that can transmigrate from one life to another. So he goes on to say, look, in Buddhism, we use the argument of dependent arising to prove that things are empty. We say that these things lack inherent existence because they're dependently arisen. And the fact that we're... Report an error in the passage at 25:24 Highlight the passage at 25:24

25:54 Positing that as a reason proves that we're not saying that they don't exist, because otherwise why would we say that they're dependently arisen? Report an error in the passage at 25:54 Highlight the passage at 25:54

26:06 Again, Report an error in the passage at 26:06 Highlight the passage at 26:06

26:10 ideally, he uses the word ideally, some understanding of emptiness is important when we try to take refuge in the Three Jewels. You say, I go for refuge to the Buddha, the Sanskrit word Buddha, So, Report an error in the passage at 26:10 Highlight the passage at 26:10

26:25 And also the Tibetan word sangye have these like two different meanings or dimensions to them. One, a sense of clearing away faults, clearing away pollutants, and then also the sense of blooming or blossoming or unfolding and so forth. So in Tibetan, the sang is sort of the to be awakened part, and the to be cleansed part is the sang. Report an error in the passage at 26:25 Highlight the passage at 26:25

26:53 and sangye. And the ge is to flourish or to increase, to blossom. So there's these two sort of dimensions, the cleaning up And then he points out, I hadn't thought of it before, is that the Tibetan word for enlightenment or bodhi in Sanskrit is the same way. That you have chang chup is the Tibetan word and the chang means to purify and the chup means to... Report an error in the passage at 26:53 Highlight the passage at 26:53

27:21 And so he says these two things are together. The cleansing away of overlay of the afflictions coincides ultimately at the time of Buddhahood with the blossoming of our full innate potential. So it's the two things are going together, getting rid of the... Report an error in the passage at 27:21 Highlight the passage at 27:21

27:53 the blooming of the natural, the shininess of the stainless steel counter that's underneath. And those two things are sort of, it's two ways of describing the same thing. They packed it into one word, those two aspects. But he's saying that we should still think that even though these two things coincide at the moment of enlightenment, that the process of the practice of the path on... Report an error in the passage at 27:53 Highlight the passage at 27:53

28:20 On the process of cleansing or removing the obstacles, because we're not trying to create the natural purity of the mind, we're trying to cleanse away adventitious contaminants from it so that it can bloom or shine out. It's sort of naturally inclined to bloom but being prevented from doing so. So we don't have to give it, you know... Report an error in the passage at 28:20 Highlight the passage at 28:20

28:48 Lots of fertilizer, we have to give it something that removes the obstructions to its natural inclination. And in the case of this, he's talking about the mind's clear and knowing nature, the fundamental clarity and, what do you say, knowing power, the clear and knowing nature of the mind conventionally is sort of fully unleashed when it's... Report an error in the passage at 28:48 Highlight the passage at 28:48

29:16 cleansed of delusion and the other afflictions that disturb it. That's the idea. Report an error in the passage at 29:16 Highlight the passage at 29:16

29:31 So then we come to the Report an error in the passage at 29:31 Highlight the passage at 29:31

29:40 being of great capacity. And he, without any ado, starts right in on talking about this bodhicitta, which in this text as in The big translation we're translating as the spirit of enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 29:40 Highlight the passage at 29:40

30:01 So he starts out by saying all religious traditions stress altruism in one way or another. So that per se is not unique to Buddhism. But what's unique to Buddhism is how this emphasis on altruism involves the concepts of interdependency or dependent arising. Not surprised that everything has to do with dependent arising by now. Report an error in the passage at 30:01 Highlight the passage at 30:01

30:24 So he makes a couple general introductory remarks along the lines that our well-being, our physical well-being even, has to do with our having a disposition to help others, that that's the basis of our well-being. Report an error in the passage at 30:24 Highlight the passage at 30:24

30:46 We develop concern for others in turn on the basis of a sense of self-confidence and not out of fear. Report an error in the passage at 30:46 Highlight the passage at 30:46

30:56 I can't tell you very much about this. I'll just tell you that's what he said. Report an error in the passage at 30:56 Highlight the passage at 30:56

31:03 This idea that a disposition to help others is the basis of our well-being seems Report an error in the passage at 31:03 Highlight the passage at 31:03

31:14 to be suggesting that basically that we find happiness in cherishing others and in serving others and find fulfillment. Like George Eliot said, what do we live for? fulfillment. Report an error in the passage at 31:14 Highlight the passage at 31:14

31:33 If not to make life less difficult for one another. That's 19th century, right? So it's like not even a Buddhist. That's like the same point he's trying to make. This is the basis of our having any sense of purpose or meaning in life. So that's what I take him to be saying there. And then we can develop concern for others only on the basis of self-confidence, not out of fear. Report an error in the passage at 31:33 Highlight the passage at 31:33

31:59 I think it's like if people are just focused on seeing others as potential threats or dangers to themselves, then they won't open their hearts to make themselves vulnerable. And that fear, of course, is others like we're feeling that it's something that's going to be helpful in protecting us. against harm have these appropriate fears but it can easily turn into anger and hatred and be associated with that and so there has to be I think he's saying a sense that What do you say? Has a certain determination or confidence or... Report an error in the passage at 31:59 Highlight the passage at 31:59

32:46 commitments that they've made within themselves so that they can overcome fear. Like if you think of Gandhi and all his salt marches or the civil rights marches, these people have to build up a certain strength to do something very brave and not be overwhelmed by fear in doing something heroic to serve others. Report an error in the passage at 32:46 Highlight the passage at 32:46

33:10 I think maybe that this is what he means. He doesn't explain it as much as would have been helpful. But it sometimes occurred to me also to relate this to the point in mettā meditation, where you start by wishing well for yourself. Report an error in the passage at 33:10 Highlight the passage at 33:10

33:36 And then after wishing well for yourself, Then extend that to others. And he doesn't exactly say that here, but it's another possible meaning of what he's saying, that self-confidence could have this sense of genuinely caring for oneself or thinking of oneself as one being among many who deserves happiness. Report an error in the passage at 33:36 Highlight the passage at 33:36

33:59 And then extending that feeling, right? And that's the Theravāda technique, extending that feeling of care to others. Sometimes, you know, of course there can be a problem, especially in the cultivation of bodhicitta for people who have certain kinds of predispositions to, well, I don't know what you would call like a martyr complex or codependency or something like that, saying, well, that they're not, that their manifest of caring activities for others is part of a... Report an error in the passage at 33:59 Highlight the passage at 33:59

34:36 a kind of ego project that is at center has to do with their own lack of self-confidence or self-esteem or love for themselves as one being among many who wants happiness and doesn't want suffering. What is the spirit of enlightenment or bodhicitta? Tsongkhapa regards it as a mental state in which motivated by an aspiration to bring about the welfare of others, one aspires to attain Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 34:36 Highlight the passage at 34:36

35:20 And this is what we really need to develop. Then there's two kinds of bodhicitta, well there's different, many kinds of bodhicitta actually, but he's concerned about here conventional bodhicitta, not the mind realizing emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 35:20 Highlight the passage at 35:20

35:34 This conventional spirit of enlightenment. can be described in terms of an aspirational form and an engaged form. The aspirational form is when you have an uncontrived, that not, you know, which normally when we practice we're contriving to feel a wish to save others. And when that becomes deep and sincere and spontaneous and genuine, uncontrived, single-pointed aspiration to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all beings. Report an error in the passage at 35:34 Highlight the passage at 35:34

36:05 And you can say this individual has attained the aspirational spirit. And then when a person goes beyond that to cultivate a commitment to put this into practice, to engage in bodhisattva practices, take the bodhisattva vows, then at that point you can say that person has an engaged spirit of enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 36:05 Highlight the passage at 36:05

36:23 They're carrying out bodhisattva practices on the basis of an aspirational spirit of enlightenment. In a very broad sense, His Holiness says, Report an error in the passage at 36:23 Highlight the passage at 36:23

36:49 that rather you have to develop this on the basis of a true real conviction that it's actual possible to help He quotes Maitreya's ornament for the Mahāyāna Sūtra saying that compassion is the main root for the spirit of enlightenment. And that compassion involves, on the one hand, a sense of affection, the Report an error in the passage at 36:49 Highlight the passage at 36:49

37:31 feeling quality, the affect dimension, as a feeling of affection that holds other living beings as dear. And at the same time, a sense of concern for the suffering of those beings. So you move from, say, a person of medium capacity into being a person of great capacity. When you have some personal experience of a genuine wish to become free from suffering, and then you're able to extend that sense to other suffering beings, having a real sense of compassion for them. Report an error in the passage at 37:31 Highlight the passage at 37:31

38:11 And that way of putting it relates to what his definition, Atisha's definition in the previous chapter of a being of great capacity, which was... Report an error in the passage at 38:11 Highlight the passage at 38:11

38:27 Those persons are superior who sincerely want to extinguish all the suffering of others by understanding their own suffering. So it's something one progresses to on the basis of experiencing one's own vulnerability. Report an error in the passage at 38:27 Highlight the passage at 38:27

38:52 It's almost like you could say, if you think about it, and this isn't how it's usually put. vulnerability, that I'm, right. Report an error in the passage at 38:52 Highlight the passage at 38:52

38:57 but that the person if you think of that being a great capacity is something you progress to after already being a being a medium capacity It's like you've had compassion for yourself first. I really want to rescue this one from cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 38:57 Highlight the passage at 38:57

39:17 And then, oh yeah, those people are stuck in it too. And then, you see what I'm saying? It kind of is like the structure. It's like the... Existence. Report an error in the passage at 39:17 Highlight the passage at 39:17

39:25 the mettā meditation, where you extend that feeling, right? Report an error in the passage at 39:25 Highlight the passage at 39:25

39:32 Okay, then. Not in Tsongkhapa at all, but what gets a good deal of attention from the Dalai Lama is a kind of comparative analysis. What Tsongkhapa is interested in doing is describing, here are the actual techniques. For doing the seven cause and effect precepts for cultivating bodhicitta, here are the actual techniques and instructions for doing the exchanging of self and other. Report an error in the passage at 39:32 Highlight the passage at 39:32

40:01 Of course, then he quotes all Shantideva and all of the sources and explains how to do the meditation and then gives all the sources. This is covered in a very abbreviated fashion in here. He does mention each of the steps, but he doesn't go through it in any detail. It's almost like he kind of at this point sort of like, well, what I have to say, I have something that I want to say about this and rather spending my time explaining the basic lamrim practice, I'm going to tell you what I think about it. Report an error in the passage at 40:01 Highlight the passage at 40:01

40:32 And what he has to say about this is that he thinks that there's some important comparison to be made. There's a distinction to be made between these two techniques, the seven cause and effect approach and the exchanging of self and other approach. Of course, the exchanging of self and other approach, he said, derives from Nagarjuna and the other way around. Report an error in the passage at 40:32 Highlight the passage at 40:32

40:57 The exchanging of self and other derives from Nagarjuna and the seven point cause and effect method from the lineage of Maitreya. What he wants to emphasize is that In the seven cause and effect method, the key element is to cultivate a sense of other living beings as close to you, as related to you, as particular intimates to you, and then on that basis say, yeah, I should care about him because we have this intimate relationship, right? Report an error in the passage at 40:57 Highlight the passage at 40:57

41:26 Whereas in the other method, The equalizing, exchanging self and others, it doesn't require you to consider others as somehow related. Instead, you recognize that fundamentally there's an equality of yourself and others, both in terms of happiness and in wish for happiness and in other ways, without thinking that this, without structuring it so as that you have to see this person as especially close to you before you care about them. Report an error in the passage at 41:26 Highlight the passage at 41:26

41:57 He tries to argue that Shantideva's engaging the bodhisattva deeds because it refers to the exchanging of self and other as a secret instruction, that this is intended to imply that the exchanging of self and other technique is something that requires greater intelligence or is maybe either for more advanced practitioners or for sharper practitioners from the outset. Report an error in the passage at 41:57 Highlight the passage at 41:57

42:23 outset Report an error in the passage at 42:23 Highlight the passage at 42:23

42:26 And so he goes on about this actually, that other beings' appearance as related or unrelated to you, their behavior, their apparent motivations in the way they're behaving, this shouldn't really be relevant to whether we wish to help them be free from suffering or not. We ought to be able to connect with them on a fundamental level by recognizing that just as I wish to be happy and free from suffering, so do they. Of course, this is what he says all the time on every tarmac in the world, probably he said that. And that should make clear, when he says that, he's making reference to the exchanging of self and other approach in shorthand. Report an error in the passage at 42:26 Highlight the passage at 42:26

43:13 He's not saying, I'm here to tell you that everybody in the world is your mother. And so, I don't know, I don't want to... I don't want to overstate this because obviously he sees great value in both approaches and sees them as suitable, just like, say, belief in God. Lots of different things could be suitable for different people at different predispositions. But it's very clear that he sees the exchange of himself and other as the deeper or more truly reality-based approach. Report an error in the passage at 43:13 Highlight the passage at 43:13

43:49 And so his last comment about it is that, I often speak about the difference between ordinary compassion and a more developed or genuine compassion. Ordinary compassion is driven by our perception of how others treat us and how they seem to feel towards us. So we can extend ordinary compassion only to friends and family members who seem to care about us. On the other hand genuine compassion connects at the more fundamental level. Report an error in the passage at 43:49 Highlight the passage at 43:49

44:20 So by saying that exactly after he just finished comparing the two methods in those same terms, he's implying that in effect the seven cause and effect method is taking something like what he would call ordinary compassion and universalizing it. It's not ordinary in the sense it's been universalized, but it's ordinary in the sense that it's checking out who deserves my care and then expanding the circle bigger and bigger. Report an error in the passage at 44:20 Highlight the passage at 44:20

44:51 Whereas he's saying genuine compassion doesn't rate people on how much they deserve my care, but recognizes that fundamentally they all deserve care because they are exactly like my situation, regardless of how they're behaving. Report an error in the passage at 44:51 Highlight the passage at 44:51

45:09 So that's what he says that's interesting or different in this chapter. Then he goes through the seven cause and effect precepts approach. Report an error in the passage at 45:09 Highlight the passage at 45:09

45:21 Describing really in just one paragraph the six causes, recognizing living beings as dear to you by thinking of them as having been your mother or someone else close to you in past lives, cultivating recognition of their kindness, the wish to repay their kindness. Then an affection that holds other beings as dear, leading to compassion, culminating in a wholehearted resolve or a sublime commitment to free all beings from suffering and provide them all with happiness. Report an error in the passage at 45:21 Highlight the passage at 45:21

45:55 That's obviously a very condensed version of the beginning of the first six of the cause and effect precepts. And then he says, Report an error in the passage at 45:55 Highlight the passage at 45:55

46:10 Now you have to figure how, if I really am committed to trying to help all these mothers, how can I make this real? What would be possible? And then he gives, you realize our current situation, we're very little, we can do not nothing. But he says, there's a Tibetan saying, when you're lying on the ground, you can't help others stand up. Report an error in the passage at 46:10 Highlight the passage at 46:10

46:36 So if your ultimate aim is to help others' welfare, you yourself will have to stand up and manifest your innate potential for enlightenment so that you'll be in a situation to help others. But then there's the question, as you know, besides whether it's necessary to become a Buddha, whether it would really be possible, right? Report an error in the passage at 46:36 Highlight the passage at 46:36

47:00 And then in order to meditate on that, of course, you have to... arrive at a conviction that the afflictions that beset our mind now really can be ended by meditating on emptiness. Because they're not rooted in the very nature of the mind itself, but instead are disturbances in the mind, and that the mind's fundamental nature is empty and pure. Report an error in the passage at 47:00 Highlight the passage at 47:00

47:26 So that's how you come to understand that you really can attain Buddhahood. And he goes on to give a personal comment, I guess, that It's a lot easier to realize that it's possible, in his opinion, that it's a lot easier to think about how it's possible to attain Buddhahood if you bring this into a highest yoga tantra perspective. Report an error in the passage at 47:26 Highlight the passage at 47:26

47:49 And you see the consciousness is having many different levels, subtle forms of consciousness, and that we have a fundamental innate mind of clear light. That exists conventionally and has an ultimate nature of emptiness and that you can see these as the sort of basis of our transformation or purification of our mind into Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 47:49 Highlight the passage at 47:49

48:14 And that if you don't have this perspective, he says that understanding how, like in other words, if you just took the Madhyamaka texts without the tantric texts, that the description of... How we achieve the four embodiments of a Buddha is, quote, rather vague, a little bit difficult to figure out exactly how it would work. Report an error in the passage at 48:14 Highlight the passage at 48:14

48:40 And then very briefly, he describes the exchanging self and other method. You cultivate first the strong sense of the equality of self and others, contemplate the disadvantages of self-cherishing. Advantages of cherishing others and working for their welfare and in that basis engage in the actual exchanging of self and others and then practice tonglen, taking and giving, extending, taking others' suffering onto ourselves and extending our virtue and happiness to them. Report an error in the passage at 48:40 Highlight the passage at 48:40

49:15 And he says with this kind of mental training, with this kind of mental training can lead to some genuine... genuine personal experience. when it does, then in order to stabilize that realization, you should take part in a ceremony or a ritual to confirm this generation of the spirit of enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 49:15 Highlight the passage at 49:15

49:38 Lama Rinpoche spends quite a bit of time on this. First, there's a lot of description about how to generate the mind of enlightenment, and then there's a long description of a ritual for, what do you say, Causing it to lock into the mind, you know, by formally adopting, making a commitment, in other words, that these aren't just passing mental states, but a ritual sort of creates an impression in the mind that this is something deep and profound that you want to remain committed to. Report an error in the passage at 49:38 Highlight the passage at 49:38

50:09 So then he describes this ritual, and actually, if you were there, you remember, he actually led us in this ritual. And it was quite moving, actually. I think everybody was, I don't know if everybody, but all the people around where I was were deeply moved by the ceremony, which I think we won't go through, but I'll just describe to you what we did was very usual, starting with the visualization of the... Report an error in the passage at 50:09 Highlight the passage at 50:09

50:48 The field, the Buddha Shakyamuni and various major bodhisattvas. And then it's very important to visualize as part of the field all of the great Nalanda masters. Report an error in the passage at 50:48 Highlight the passage at 50:48

51:00 And then in particular, imagine Nagarjuna along with his texts that we can still contemplate as well as the Saṅgha. This will really bring it to life. And then he goes on and mentions... Other Nalanda masters and great Tibetan masters. And then he throws in that because there's so many people there, he said, well, our Chinese brothers and sisters who are here with us will visualize their own lineages now, as will the Japanese and the Vietnamese. Report an error in the passage at 51:00 Highlight the passage at 51:00

51:28 And the Theravāda practitioners will visualize a lineage from Buddha through Kashyapa, Subhuti and Ananda. And then you do the seven branches of worship. Bringing to mind the enlightened qualities of body, speech and mind of the assembly that you're visualizing, and particularly the enlightened qualities of the Buddha Shakyamuni, reflecting on these qualities, in particular their quality of having the spirit of enlightenment, and then make prostrations to the assembly. Report an error in the passage at 51:28 Highlight the passage at 51:28

51:59 Of course, we didn't actually make prostrations because it was packed in. but Then visualize making offerings, offering everything that you own as well as everything else in the world that is not someone else's property, offering your entire being to the service of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 51:59 Highlight the passage at 51:59

52:20 Resolve and say to yourself, I offer myself so that I may contribute to the fulfillment of the altruistic aspirations of these Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Imagine offering also to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas any virtuous activities that you may have done and especially any virtue that you may have developed on the basis of even the slightest understanding of the concept of the spirit of enlightenment or emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 52:20 Highlight the passage at 52:20

52:46 This is the very most important offering, to offer your own practice and your own realization. Then you, of course, declare and purify the actions that you've done that harmed other living beings. Especially those motivated by self-centeredness bring to mind the enlightened qualities of body, speech and mind of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with a sense of rejoicing and admiration. Report an error in the passage at 52:46 Highlight the passage at 52:46

53:11 And then recall the virtuous actions that you yourself have done and rejoice in those. Ask the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and particularly the Buddhas, to turn the wheel of the Dharma in accordance with the needs of beings, appealing to the Buddhas not to enter into final nirvāṇa, but to remain. And then finally dedicate all your merits and virtuous karma to the attainment of the Buddha for all living beings. Then, after doing that, bring to mind and contemplate what Shantideva says. Report an error in the passage at 53:11 Highlight the passage at 53:11

53:48 Whatever happiness there is in the world comes from wishing for others' happiness. Whatever problems there are in the world come from self-centered desire. What else is there to say? Just look at the difference between ordinary beings who cherish their own welfare and the sage who acts for the welfare of others. Report an error in the passage at 53:48 Highlight the passage at 53:48

54:06 If you do not genuinely exchange your own happiness for others' suffering you will not achieve Buddhahood and even in this world you will find no joy. Report an error in the passage at 54:06 Highlight the passage at 54:06

54:19 His Holiness then said to us, it is something that only those with human intelligence can really develop. And right now we have a human life. So resolve to make your human life purposeful and meaningful and realize that there is no more effective way to do this than to cultivate the spirit of enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 54:19 Highlight the passage at 54:19

54:37 So now form a clear determination that from now on you're going to practice this attitude of helping others. Be determined to do this, not only in this life, But in life after life, eon after eon, thinking I am determined to keep practicing in this way. And then he told us, I myself do this as much as I possibly can because I find that it brings me immense delight and happiness and gives me a profound sense of inner strength. Report an error in the passage at 54:37 Highlight the passage at 54:37

55:10 Then he concluded with everybody reading together, with a wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Saṅgha. until I reach full enlightenment enthused by wisdom and compassion today in the Buddha's presence I generate the spirit of enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings as long as space remains and as long as living beings And then immediately after generating the spirit of enlightenment in this way, Shantideva says, today my life has meaning having reached human existence I have now been born into the family of the Buddha's And I have become a child of the Buddhas. Okay, so then we come to the Report an error in the passage at 55:10 Highlight the passage at 55:10

56:05 six perfections, compassion and action. Next thing you have to do after you generate the spirit of enlightenment is actually take up Bodhisattva's practices that are based on that, with the idea of accumulating the collections of merit and wisdom, which will... The six perfections are a way of summing these up. Report an error in the passage at 56:05 Highlight the passage at 56:05

56:45 Within the six perfections, some of them, he says, such as generosity and ethical discipline, Mainly have to do with practical development and deepening our aspiration or our wish, our effectiveness in helping others. Report an error in the passage at 56:45 Highlight the passage at 56:45

57:04 He says, for example, in the case of the first perfection, generosity, giving, it's not so much the actual act of giving that is important, but the strengthening of one's motivation, intention and inclination to give. This point is also made in Lamrim Chemo. Report an error in the passage at 57:04 Highlight the passage at 57:04

57:25 It's not that they're discouraging people from actually giving. In fact, he says you should never think, well, I'm not going to give because I'll give later when I get more. Report an error in the passage at 57:25 Highlight the passage at 57:25

57:38 So the idea, though, is not to focus on the behavior but the transformation of the mind that underlies behavior both now and the future. That's what they're focusing on. So, I mean, it's clear that the difference, if you think about it in terms of non-virtue, right, it's like you can just change your behavior but you still have the inner afflictions or you can work on changing the afflictions so a different kind of behavior comes naturally. Report an error in the passage at 57:38 Highlight the passage at 57:38

58:05 And obviously the latter would be, you know, longer lasting, deeper, more profound kind of change. And in this case, that's what he's saying, is that it's not a matter of just like... know, dragging it out of yourself to be more generous, know, externally, but transforming your attitude, you terms of generosity coming naturally to you. Report an error in the passage at 58:05 Highlight the passage at 58:05

58:30 He talks a little bit more about method and wisdom in relationship to the accumulation of merit and wisdom in attaining to Buddhahood. Then specifically on the six perfections. He says, there's so many lists in Buddhism and lots of people at the beginning of their lists like to claim that their list is definite and then give a big explanation of why they're just four of these or why they're exactly six of those, why it's important that there are only two of this. Report an error in the passage at 58:30 Highlight the passage at 58:30

59:04 And it seems that His Holiness has developed with his critical faculties a little skepticism and his own little way of thinking about these lists. And he says, Report an error in the passage at 59:04 Highlight the passage at 59:04

59:15 Tsongkhapa, in fact, in Lama Chema has a very extensive discussion about why there are exactly six perfections. But we know and His Holiness knows that there are also lists of ten perfections and that there are many other qualities which overlap with or it's not like this is exactly the comprehensive list of all the virtues that could possibly exist in the world. Report an error in the passage at 59:15 Highlight the passage at 59:15

59:41 So he says, when a text describes a certain division as being fixed or determinate, this could be true in more than one sense. For example, when we speak of the two truths as conventional and ultimate, this really is an exhaustive division of all objects of knowledge. But in something like the four noble truths, it means that this list of four is very useful in the specific purpose of giving a specific teaching. Report an error in the passage at 59:41 Highlight the passage at 59:41

1:00:07 In my sense, this is like this with the six perfections. It's not an exhaustive list like the two truths. It's a number that's fixed just in relationship to a specific purpose of specific teachers at a specific time. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:07 Highlight the passage at 1:00:07

1:00:22 So then in the case of the six perfections, the first one is generosity. And he has a little bit to say about that. Tsongkhapa gives a straightforward explanation of the very important topic of generosity. We need to put this into practice. Most important... The point is to be sure that your giving will actually benefit others. There's three main forms of giving. Giving material things, giving protection from fear, and giving the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:22 Highlight the passage at 1:00:22

1:00:51 And he gives us examples of giving protection from fear, working to protect the environment, service as a doctor or a nurse or in other caring professions. These can be considered giving protection from fear. Then there's actually quite a number of Buddhism professors mixed in along with the other people in the audience and he was very aware of these people and so every once in a while there's a little subtle dig. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:51 Highlight the passage at 1:00:51

1:01:25 So he says, when professors and teachers give lectures on Buddhism, it could be that this is a form of generosity, giving spiritual things. But if their motivation is to get their pay, then this is not actual generosity. It is a business transaction. It turns out that this is a very big theme with His Holiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:25 Highlight the passage at 1:01:25

1:01:44 I guess if you've attended any teachings, you may have seen how he handles this. Even if the Dalai Lama were to give a lecture for the purpose of getting some money, he, the Dalai Lama, is saying about himself, then it's just a business deal and not any kind of generosity. It doesn't count as giving the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:44 Highlight the passage at 1:01:44

1:02:02 And then he makes reference to a story about Enigma Master that he's very fond of. And he told a more detailed version of this story in this book, The Middle Way, Faith Grounded in Reason, translated by Thubten Jimba. So this is a big issue for Soinus, the commodification of the Dharma. So I thought I'd just read the longer version from this other book. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:02 Highlight the passage at 1:02:02

1:02:28 Say one sets up a Buddhist center and the center becomes a way just to make a living. This is truly dangerous. Similarly, if the center becomes solely a vehicle for raising money, that's not too good. This reminds me of the autobiography of the Nyingma Lama, Tsele Natsok Rangdrol. He was a monk and a great practitioner. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:28 Highlight the passage at 1:02:28

1:02:49 And he mentions that in Tibet, the main way of getting from one place to another was riding by a horse. At a very young age, however, he decided to give up walking on, riding on mounting horses and riding on animals out of compassion for the animals. And he would just walk from one place to the other. Later on, he gave up eating meat as well, which is like quite extraordinary in Tibet in those days, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:49 Highlight the passage at 1:02:49

1:03:16 Because he was a lama with a title. Whenever he went anywhere there were many devotees who were making offerings to him and he felt that in some sense he was becoming a merchant of spiritual teaching as he went from place to place. So he made a point of not accepting any offerings for the teachings that he gave and he set a truly remarkable example. Several years ago I, the Dalai Lama, began refusing any offerings for the teachings that I gave. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:16 Highlight the passage at 1:03:16

1:03:43 In the past it has been customary to make offerings to me at the conclusion of a teaching. But I really don't need any of this money myself. I have nothing to spend it on. Previously, so, and that being the case, I used to get all this money and then I would divide it up among various deserving projects and causes. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:43 Highlight the passage at 1:03:43

1:04:02 But when I did that, I would sometimes forget certain projects and people would feel left out and disappointed thinking, oh, the Dalai Lama didn't give any to us, he gave it to them. And this became a chore and an unnecessary responsibility, worrying about who should get the money. So I made it clear that I don't want to receive any offerings and thereby end up with this problem. Instead, the organizers should endeavor always to keep the price of tickets down so that more people can afford to benefit from these teachings and if people want to donate to different causes. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:02 Highlight the passage at 1:04:02

1:04:36 That otherwise I would have been donating to if you'd given the money to me, then they don't have to do it through me. They can just give directly to those causes. So then, of course, you know, now what he's been doing for some years is when people put on an event, the last thing is an accounting, you know, which is always incomplete, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:36 Highlight the passage at 1:04:36

1:04:54 Because who can possibly know at a large event what all the costs and all of the intake is? But people have to report what the apparent balance is in public and then what they're going to do. In case they have any extra money left over with it so that there's a lot of transparency. But this is, of course, a challenging issue to figure out. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:54 Highlight the passage at 1:04:54

1:05:21 There's like, you know, His Holiness is a special case, right? Because he doesn't have, he's not only a monk, but he's situated in such a way that he doesn't really have to worry about any necessities. I think some people are, you know, it's a challenging thing, right, to figure out how to do this, handle this matter properly. And His Holiness has been very emphatic that this is a serious danger, that the Dharma not be seen as something that's for sale. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:21 Highlight the passage at 1:05:21

1:05:57 I thought maybe I'd just say something small about my personal experience with this issue. When I first went to India... I had a teacher there. It was clear that I should make an offering to him, but I didn't really know, because I was studying with him for some time, but I didn't have any really understanding of how to do that or what I should give. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:57 Highlight the passage at 1:05:57

1:06:24 I was very self-conscious about what would be appropriate. And so I asked Gareth, I gather Gareth's going to be coming here. Gareth was a monk in India who was helping me some at that time. And he said, well, there isn't any certain thing that you should give except that you should give as much as you can without regretting it. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:24 Highlight the passage at 1:06:24

1:06:48 And I thought, oh, this is very good Buddhist advice because if you do a virtuous action, then the last thing you want to do is wish that you hadn't done it. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:48 Highlight the passage at 1:06:48

1:07:12 I thought, you know, I could be, I could, but then think it's okay to say this much instead of that much because of how this will affect other things and how I might, I might possibly regret if I were to give too much. And I actually was able to use that to figure out a way to. To know what to do. I found it practically valuable personal advice. So some years later, I was teaching in a Buddhist center, but sort of in an interfaith session where there was a rabbi and a Christian minister there. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:12 Highlight the passage at 1:07:12

1:07:48 And I just gave that little story. And then the rabbi came up afterwards and he said, well, this is certainly very bad advice that you followed. Because if I were to go around telling people in the synagogue, they would give very little because they would feel almost anything they gave they would already be regretting. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:48 Highlight the passage at 1:07:48

1:08:11 And I said, God, I don't know what to... And so he really said, you have to tell people to give till it hurts or you're not training them to be as generous as is minimally necessary to run any kind of... Report an error in the passage at 1:08:11 Highlight the passage at 1:08:11

1:08:42 the place. And then you don't have the bills met because somebody's worried about they might regret something. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:42 Highlight the passage at 1:08:42

1:08:53 And so then I thought about it a little more and I thought, well, you know, it's really the bigger picture is that the Bodhisattva tradition is full of these, you know, many, you know, extreme and incredible examples of people's generosity. You know, like Nagarjuna, according to the traditional story of Nagarjuna's life, he gave away his head at the end of his life because someone asked him for it. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:53 Highlight the passage at 1:08:53

1:09:20 That was how he died. After, you know, 600 years. So, I mean, there's many, many, you know, stories of, you know, extreme cases of generosity, giving of flesh, right? And then the idea is, though, that even though, so the idea is that, yeah, the bodhisattva is ready to give anything, but that doesn't mean that you should necessarily start cutting off pieces of your flesh and giving it away now, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:20 Highlight the passage at 1:09:20

1:09:48 That you start out by offering some vegetables, offering an orange and doing some pooja and then you sort of build up your generosity so that you can get to a point where the transformation of your mind is such that there's not some extreme violence or inner affliction that's done. By something that from the outward, outside would appear extreme. But from the inside, your mind has been changed so it just feels perfectly natural to do something like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:48 Highlight the passage at 1:09:48

1:10:26 You see what I'm saying? And I think that's the idea that I've gotten so far about this, is that Buddhism is not telling people to be stinting out of fear of regretting their generosity. It's putting out heroic models and then telling people to work toward them incrementally. as you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:26 Highlight the passage at 1:10:26

1:10:48 Anyway, that's my understanding of that. Ethical discipline. Ethical discipline are the three main types. Ethics, morality, second perfection. Three main types are restraining oneself from harmful actions, gathering virtue and working for others' welfare. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:48 Highlight the passage at 1:10:48

1:11:13 His Holiness says there's a clear natural sequence to the three types of ethics that you start with restraining from harmful actions, then you begin with cultivating virtue, and then on that basis work for the welfare of others. It clearly fits with the three capacities of beings, actually the three beings and the three capacities. He says that if a bodhisattva has Vows, either of individual liberation or layer of monastic vows, then the observance of these vows constitutes ethics of restraint. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:13 Highlight the passage at 1:11:13

1:11:50 Otherwise, if there are no vows, ethics of restraint means abstaining from the ten non-virtuous actions, which are killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, offensive speech, senseless speech, covetousness, malice and wrong views. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:50 Highlight the passage at 1:11:50

1:12:11 So then the ethics of gathering virtue, the second type of ethical discipline, includes all many different types of aspects of the path, including cultivating compassion. Now it comes to the third one, ethics of working for the welfare of others. Tsongkhapa mentions 11 forms of service, but he doesn't lay them out. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:11 Highlight the passage at 1:12:11

1:12:33 His Holiness the Dalai Lama was interested in this and so he went and gets a list out of Asanga's bodhisattva levels. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:33 Highlight the passage at 1:12:33

1:12:46 There Asanga teaches that we should respond when someone needs help. For example, if someone has trouble walking, then just help that person. Help others when they are confused or ignorant about a particular task that they are trying to do. Always go out of your way to reach out to others, welcoming them and so forth. Stand by those who are in difficulty and afraid. Give them companionship. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:46 Highlight the passage at 1:12:46

1:13:12 Support and comfort those who are suffering in grief and sorrow. Respond with help to those who have immediate material needs. Be a refuge, a shelter for those in need of emotional support. Take care that in trying to help others, whatever you do is done in a manner that is attuned to their states of mind and thus can actually bring them benefit. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:12 Highlight the passage at 1:13:12

1:13:39 If someone seems to be headed down the wrong path, counsel that person so as to gently steer him or her toward virtue. And when necessary, take a firm stand, especially when there is harm being committed by someone else. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:39 Highlight the passage at 1:13:39

1:13:56 Someday far in the future, you should develop extraordinary powers through meditation and always use those powers to help others. It's a beautiful passage, I think. And then he very briefly lists three types of patience. Patience that disregards harm that's being done to you. Patience enduring hardship. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:56 Highlight the passage at 1:13:56

1:14:17 And patience that is a way of talking about a certain kind of certitude or knowledge about... Certain aspects of the Dharma doesn't explain these. In terms of the fourth perfection, joyous perseverance, we have the translation of perfection of effort. There are three types, armor-like effort, effort in gathering virtue and effort at working for the benefit of other living beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:17 Highlight the passage at 1:14:17

1:14:43 The latter two are clear because we just talk about gathering virtue and working for the benefit of other beings. What is armor-like effort? Armor-like effort, His Holiness explains, is being effort or joyous perseverance that involves cultivating an attitude that takes into account an extremely long time frame. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:43 Highlight the passage at 1:14:43

1:15:03 So, for example, if a person says, even for the benefit of a single being, I shall dedicate myself for eons or as long as space remains. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:03 Highlight the passage at 1:15:03

1:15:13 This represents an attitude of armor-like effort. So that's the first four perfections. In terms of the fifth perfection, or translated here, meditative stabilization samādhi, Tsongkhapa says that in the most general sense, this represents serenity and insight are practices that are common. To both the Buddhist and non-Buddhist traditions of India. But the serenity and insight that are common between Buddhists, the insight that's common between Buddhists and non-Buddhists is not insight into emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:13 Highlight the passage at 1:15:13

1:15:57 In other words, he's saying that this basic idea of stabilizing and concentrating your mind very deeply and then using it to see or discern some profound facts, that that is something that's common to Hinduism, is basically what he's saying, and Buddhism. But what those facts are that you're discerning in these non-Buddhist traditions had to do with the coarseness or inferiority of some lower level of attainment whereby you can see the benefits of going to a higher realm from the Buddhist point of view, all of these realms still being within cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:57 Highlight the passage at 1:15:57

1:16:31 existence, right, in his His Holiness then quotes from Tsongkhapa's Songs of Spiritual Experience, where he says that serenity, which is this certain type of meditative stabilization or the fifth perfection, your mind is very clear, focused, one-pointed, sharp, stable, that it constitutes mastery or dominion over one's mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:31 Highlight the passage at 1:16:31

1:17:08 It has a king-like quality in the sense that when you direct the mind to a chosen object, it stays right there with the solidity of a mountain, locked in absolutely on the object that you've focused it on. But it doesn't mean that your mind can't move at all. An important point. It means that it does as you would have it do. And if you would have it stay on a single point, it will stay locked like a mountain on a single point. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:08 Highlight the passage at 1:17:08

1:17:37 But if you would have it, you can also learn to use serenity in the process of analyzing something so that it does, you know, it can move from object to object sequentially. The idea is that we're talking about an extension of our natural faculties of concentration. You guys are very good at paying attention, like even though I taught for a long time, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:17:37 Highlight the passage at 1:17:37

1:18:00 But if you were only five years old, you probably wouldn't have been able to do that. So you're right, you've extended vastly your powers of remaining relatively one-pointedly focused. Not completely, right, but relatively. And so we all have the capacity to increase our powers of concentration. The basic idea that's common between, that he's describing as common to the Buddhist and non-Buddhist systems is the idea that concentration... Report an error in the passage at 1:18:00 Highlight the passage at 1:18:00

1:18:45 doesn't make it wise, but it makes it powerful, and you can use that power to do lots of different things. That's why I just finished saying, if someday you develop amazing powers through meditation, be sure to be nice with them and not make hail fall on somebody's crops or various kinds kinds of things that one could do. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:45 Highlight the passage at 1:18:45

1:19:06 Houses fall down and kill. Now the perfection of meditative stabilization on the other hand, the bodhisattva perfection, it is connected to both of those things. Because what makes each of these things a perfection and not just another thing in a list is that they are combined with or motivated or propelled by the altruistic motivation. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:06 Highlight the passage at 1:19:06

1:19:48 Remember we're doing this on the basis of having cultivated bodhicitta. So you're practicing these six perfections and not just some concentration on the basis of having cultivated this altruistic motivation. And at the same time... You're doing this in the context of remembering and at least intermittently meditating on emptiness, remembering that I, the meditator and the object I'm meditating on and the process of meditating, all of these things are empty of inherent existence and don't exist in and of themselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:48 Highlight the passage at 1:19:48

1:20:22 And within the context of emptiness, I'm doing this practice for the benefit of, so as to attain Buddhahood for the welfare of all beings. So when you set your practice of concentration or your practice of generosity, your practice of, you know, patience in the context of wisdom and compassion and wisdom and the bodhicitta, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:20:22 Highlight the passage at 1:20:22

1:20:45 And this is what constitutes these things as perfections and not just other kinds of generosity that, you know, we might ordinarily have. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:45 Highlight the passage at 1:20:45

1:21:00 Tsongkhapa goes on to say that meditative stabilization produces bliss as your mind becomes more supple or pliant, and this refers to the attainment of a sort of gradual thinning out of physical inertia as our minds become very deeply focused. And he tells a little story about a meditator that he knew who had been a great scholar, studied many texts, but then decided to go and live in Bhutan and cultivate serenity and eventually reached this kind of point where his whole experience was permeated by a sense of bliss and His Holiness suggests that possibly this person was experiencing this bliss that comes from the mental and physical pliancy. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:00 Highlight the passage at 1:21:00

1:21:48 They say serviceability, you know, that your stiffness and achiness but your mind and body are not resistant to going and doing what it is that you want them to do and do it with bliss rather than aches or other things like that. And then the perfection of wisdom is the sixth perfection. In general, wisdom, of course, can pertain to either conventional facts or ultimate reality, but when we talk about perfection of wisdom, we're always talking about wisdom that knows the ultimate reality, the ultimate nature of things, knows the nature of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:48 Highlight the passage at 1:21:48

1:22:26 And he concludes by pointing out that all the teachings of the Buddha, either directly or indirectly, converge on the teaching of emptiness. They point to emptiness. Or they actually begin to move us toward emptiness or lead us toward emptiness directly or indirectly. And to that point, he quotes J.R.M. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:26 Highlight the passage at 1:22:26

1:22:47 Pache's praise to the Buddha for teaching dependent origination, which is addressed to Buddha saying, everything that you teach proceeds from dependent arising for the sake of nirvāṇa. So you have nothing that does not lead to peace. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:47 Highlight the passage at 1:22:47

1:23:06 And then he gives a very brief point at the end saying that in terms of leading others or attracting, gathering followers, that if you're a bodhisattva and you're practicing these perfections and you actually are doing this stuff, then how will you become a skillful teacher that the four main things to think about are attracting people to become your followers by giving them things that they need. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:06 Highlight the passage at 1:23:06

1:23:34 By speaking in a beautiful way, which means especially what you're talking about, by leading others to practice virtue and work toward liberation, and also by living your own life in accordance with the Dharma. And that's the point that His Holiness naturally picks out to emphasize. People should be not setting themselves up as teachers unless they're actually leading their own lives in accordance with the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:34 Highlight the passage at 1:23:34

1:24:04 So let me proceed then with the last chapter, chapter 10, before we get to the sections on emptiness. And this chapter is on serenity. It represents his teachings on the first 40 % or first 35 % of volume 3 of the English version of the Great Treatise on the stages of the path to enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:04 Highlight the passage at 1:24:04

1:24:38 As Buddhists, we go for refuge of the three jewels. When we speak of the Buddha and the Dharma and Saṅgha as objects of refuge, we say that our purpose in taking refuge to the Buddha or praying to the Buddha is a cause. We intend by this to bring about a certain result, and that is that we ourselves should become Buddhas. Our final destination is Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:38 Highlight the passage at 1:24:38

1:25:08 And right now, already, we have the seed of Buddhahood within us, a subtle mind that is at the same time empty of any independent existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:08 Highlight the passage at 1:25:08

1:25:19 So we have to engage in some practices of transforming our mind, eliminating wrong views, so that we can actualize what it is that we're expressing when we go for refuge in the three jewels, and that is their refuge to our intention to actually attain to that. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:19 Highlight the passage at 1:25:19

1:25:40 So in order to do that or progress to higher states, we have to cultivate a union of serenity and insight. And serenity is a particular type of meditative stabilization or advanced type of concentrated mind, very still, quiet, focused mind. Insight is a type of wisdom into emptiness. So he's going to describe how... Report an error in the passage at 1:25:40 Highlight the passage at 1:25:40

1:26:07 These things relate to each other and how they come together in the practice of the path, starting by giving some descriptions about how to cultivate serenity. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:07 Highlight the passage at 1:26:07

1:26:19 He makes a point that when you do three trainings, ethics, meditation and wisdom, that the practice of cultivating serenity goes in the middle training, while the practice of cultivating insight goes over in the third training, training and wisdom. But then when you talk about things instead of the three trainings, you talk about things in terms of bodhisattva's practice, in terms of the six perfections, then instead of seeing them in terms of the three trainings, you have serenity and insight as going together as the last two perfections and converging in this kind of mental insight that's very stable, that sees into the nature of reality and becomes the... Report an error in the passage at 1:26:19 Highlight the passage at 1:26:19

1:27:07 precursor or preparatory to attaining nirvāṇa. So Report an error in the passage at 1:27:07 Highlight the passage at 1:27:07

1:27:16 what is it? He says when we closely observe our mental states, we note that sometimes there's a certain quality of mind that allows us to stay focused on a certain object that we've directed our attention to. That's our basic capacity for concentration. What we want to do is to perfect that quality, to enhance it to the maximum degree. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:16 Highlight the passage at 1:27:16

1:27:38 We have this natural capacity and as humans we have the capacity to train and perfect this capacity. To do that we have to apply effort. It's not something that we're already habituated to. We have to persevere with enthusiasm in working at strengthening that particular quality of our mind, the quality that allows us to focus our attention and then maintain. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:38 Highlight the passage at 1:27:38

1:28:07 In a clear, sharp, stable way, that focused intention. It's not just, one point in this is the most important thing to understand, that is when you direct your mind to a certain object, it stays in that object. But it's not just like vaguely or groggily. You can talk about, Alan Wallace talks about, it's like, well, but when you're going to sleep, your mind gets too lazy to think about something else. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:07 Highlight the passage at 1:28:07

1:28:38 So it just rests on one object. It's like, well, that isn't it. It has to have a sharpness, a clarity, sort of like an intensity or vividness at the same time, being absolutely locked in, focused one-pointedly. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:38 Highlight the passage at 1:28:38

1:29:08 So the way we cultivate these, we have to cultivate the causes and conditions for bringing about this state of mind. And to do this, we use mindfulness and this other term, I guess I'm going to say introspective vigilance. That's what I'm going to go with. Thubten Jimba sometimes says meta-awareness, like M-E-T-A, meta-awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:08 Highlight the passage at 1:29:08

1:29:37 Allen Ginsberg used to say, Buddhist meditation is noticing what you notice. And so it's like this idea is that mindfulness means... Report an error in the passage at 1:29:37 Highlight the passage at 1:29:37

1:29:51 directing your mind to an object, you know, and noticing that it, that you're, being, being on the object, attending, it means attending to the object, that you've Report an error in the passage at 1:29:51 Highlight the passage at 1:29:51

1:30:04 there's this other sort of factor of the mind, which is this monitoring quality of watching to see, like, with a corner of your mind or an aspect of your mind, have I become distracted? Have I stayed on the object? project, and if so, is Is the object getting, am I getting a little overexcited or a little subtly groggy in the quality of my mind as it stays focused? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:04 Highlight the passage at 1:30:04

1:30:29 So if you meditate on your breath and you're going to count to 10 and then go back to zero and you find yourself getting to 17, then introspective vigilance will alert you that perhaps a little late. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:29 Highlight the passage at 1:30:29

1:30:49 Your mindfulness has failed and needs to be reinitiated, rebooted there. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:49 Highlight the passage at 1:30:49

1:30:59 That's a course example, but that's the general process, to attend to the object and then monitor the quality of that attention with another corner of your mind. The actual practice to cultivate serenity... right? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:59 Highlight the passage at 1:30:59

1:31:18 You look to create certain preconditions that are ideal for doing this practice. And there's many long lists that are given. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:18 Highlight the passage at 1:31:18

1:31:29 And His Holiness chooses not to go through these in any detail. But then this next topic is the posture that you adopt. And he does give quite a lot of attention to this. And many of the points are not in any way unusual. So I don't know if I'm going to go through it all because I think you guys can read anywhere description of how to sit in meditation. I'll just point to a couple of things that he says that are slightly more unusual. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:29 Highlight the passage at 1:31:29

1:32:04 Meditate with your eyes slightly open and resting naturally. It's fine if once in a while they naturally ease to closed. You're cultivating in this meditative state is your mental consciousness, Report an error in the passage at 1:32:04 Highlight the passage at 1:32:04

1:32:19 You're not focusing at the level of visual experience on some object that you see externally in front of you. So as you become familiar with the practice of meditation, you'll be completely oblivious to external stimuli, including whatever is appearing in your field of vision. And it won't really matter whether your eyes are open or closed. Tsongkhapa here explains eye position in the context of serenity. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:19 Highlight the passage at 1:32:19

1:32:46 But in other contexts, it varies. For example, in Kala Chakra tantric practice, we keep the eyes open and looking upwards. And in Dzogchen, you look straight in front. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:46 Highlight the passage at 1:32:46

1:33:01 Then he briefly summarizes the five faults that you work against in cultivating serenity, which are laziness, forgetting the object, excitement and laxity, failing to apply the antidotes when excitement and laxity arise, and excessive exertion. And then the eight antidotes to those faults. And then he goes through and describes very, very briefly how each of those antidotes is used in relationship to the faults. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:01 Highlight the passage at 1:33:01

1:33:35 For example, he says in terms of laziness, the first antidote that's mentioned is faith. And so if people are feeling lazy about... Report an error in the passage at 1:33:35 Highlight the passage at 1:33:35

1:34:07 fluidly responsive to your will, and this could be a benefit for any Buddhist or non-Buddhist Report an error in the passage at 1:34:07 Highlight the passage at 1:34:07

1:34:17 Ultimately, you think about how this will be a benefit in helping you penetrate deeply into understanding the nature of reality and thereby attaining liberation for yourselves and being a benefit to other living beings, your mothers who are suffering and so forth. And so this kind of thing, obviously, is intended to remediate or address a fault of laziness. And he much more briefly describes some of the uses of direct... Report an error in the passage at 1:34:17 Highlight the passage at 1:34:17

1:34:47 practices in regard to the other faults. This is described in great detail, I should mention, in Tsongkhapa. Then in terms of objects of meditation, His Holiness spends a surprisingly long time, I think maybe much more actually than is in the Great Treatise. He talks about, in quite a long extent, different types of objects of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:47 Highlight the passage at 1:34:47

1:35:15 And the purpose of using different types of object of meditation. And he goes into detail about some particular ones. And one that isn't mentioned, as far as I recall, at all in Tsongkhapa's great treatise, and I'm pretty sure it's not even discussed as an object of meditation, is meditating on the mind itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:15 Highlight the passage at 1:35:15

1:35:41 And this seems to be one of the main objects of meditation that His Holiness is interested in talking about. He says, in Mahamudra and Dzogchen, we cultivate single-pointed focus with the mind itself as our object of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:41 Highlight the passage at 1:35:41

1:36:03 Knowing our minds in order to make them objects of meditation is a challenge because in everyday experience our minds are dominated either by external stimuli stimuli or by internal sensations. And either way, it seems that the actual nature of the mind is obscured from us. mind's own flavor is its character as clear and knowing. hard So he's saying that consciousness itself, and this is not unique to any particular general Buddhist understanding, The consciousness itself has this quality or character, conventionally. They're not talking about emptiness. Conventional quality or nature of consciousness is to be clear and knowing. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:03 Highlight the passage at 1:36:03

1:36:44 And that's right here, that right now we're having a consciousness. Even any consciousness that we have has this quality. But he says it's very hard to notice this. It's hard. It's a subtle, challenging object in meditation. But that's actually very important in Mahamudra. and Dzogchen to learn how to do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:44 Highlight the passage at 1:36:44

1:37:05 said, we're so habituated to looking backward and forward. I found this very interesting. I mean, what he's talking about here is obviously on the basis of his practice. practice of Dzogchen and Mahamudra, actually like learning, doing these practices and trying to catch the mind and see what its conventional nature is as it goes along moment by moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:05 Highlight the passage at 1:37:05

1:37:46 If you look There's a very difficult essay at the end of Kindness, Clarity and Insight. I don't know if you guys have ever cracked it. This is part of what that's about. He tries to argue that in the non-Galupa traditions, there's a kind of profound attention to this investigation of the nature of the mind as a phenomenon that's available to us right now to investigate and focus on. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:46 Highlight the passage at 1:37:46

1:38:24 In fact, there is in Gelugpa a Mahamudra tradition as well as in Kagyupa, but he's saying this isn't something where his own tradition has been as strong as some others. He obviously has a great interest in this. He says when you try to find your mind or look for your mind in the moment, you may have this experience of a sense of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:24 Highlight the passage at 1:38:24

1:38:51 Not emptiness in a philosophical sense, but emptiness. An absence. At first this sense of absence might be just a very fleeting experience that goes by. But as you familiarize yourself with this practice, you'll gradually be able to extend the period of time during which you experience this absence. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:51 Highlight the passage at 1:38:51

1:39:12 Identifying your mind so that you can then take it as an object of meditation is not an intellectual process. It's a matter that requires actual experience. But if you do this, you will eventually be able to experience the mind in the form of this absence. And then from within this absence, the very nature of the mind, still on the conventional level, will become apparent to you, even obvious, that the mind is clear and knowing. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:12 Highlight the passage at 1:39:12

1:39:41 And this will be something that you directly experience in your own mind. Not some just words that we say like we usually do. And he said then, at that point, you can then take your mind as you've come to understand it as an object of meditation and cultivate serenity on that basis. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:41 Highlight the passage at 1:39:41

1:40:04 Then he says another thing you can meditate on is an image of a Buddha. And he suggests maybe that people from other religions might... You know, can also cultivate serenity and maybe a Christian might want to meditate on an image of Jesus or a cross and so forth. And then he says if you choose to meditate on the image of Buddha, it's helpful to choose a slightly small image because this can help you make your mind alert. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:04 Highlight the passage at 1:40:04

1:40:33 Then imagine that the image is very bright like a light, which will help prevent your mind from sinking into some forms of laxity. And then imagine that the image is very heavy and this will prevent you from mental scattering and excitation. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:33 Highlight the passage at 1:40:33

1:40:56 He talks more about mindfulness and vigilance, but I think we've gotten the main points about that. He talks about then breath meditation, which is also not one of the objects that's discussed much in Lamrim Chemo. For many of us who are beginners, it could be beneficial to meditate on the breathing process. As an object of meditation, the breath is not as subtle as the mind, yet it's more subtle than meditating on, say, an image of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:56 Highlight the passage at 1:40:56

1:41:32 Directing your attention to the breath can be an effective way to develop serenity, just placing your attention on each inhalation and each exhalation. My acquaintances who are meditators tell Report an error in the passage at 1:41:32 Highlight the passage at 1:41:32

1:41:50 me That when they take the breath as the object of their meditation, their minds become really settled when they maintain focus for a period somewhere between 100 and 1,000 breaths. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:50 Highlight the passage at 1:41:50

1:42:04 In everyday life also, breathing meditation can be extremely helpful when we find ourselves in a disturbed or agitated state and we can bring down the level of disturbance by drawing our attention to our breath and focusing, which has an immediate effect. But on the other hand, It only gives temporary relief. It doesn't solve the underlying problem that gives rise to these afflictions. So it's important to remember if you use this technique that we also need to get longer lasting benefit. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:04 Highlight the passage at 1:42:04

1:42:35 We need to meditate on dependent origination or impermanence or the wisdom knowing emptiness or the benefits of bodhicitta and depending on the situation these might have longer term benefit than... Meditating on the breath to distract yourself in effect from your agitation. How much should you meditate? Report an error in the passage at 1:42:35 Highlight the passage at 1:42:35

1:42:59 No fixed number of sessions, but beginners should keep sessions short and frequent. Gradually, that way maintaining high quality in each of the sessions and gradually increasing the length of each session. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:59 Highlight the passage at 1:42:59

1:43:14 And then there's a very long section in Lamrim Chema that describes the nine stages. Through which the mind progresses from where ours now to up to serenity and gradually becoming more locked in and clearly focused and sharply focused on the object. And he doesn't mention or describe them in any detail, but instead just says that on this basis you can cultivate serenity and you can attain a very calm state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:14 Highlight the passage at 1:43:14

1:43:49 But as far as doing anything to get out of sickly existence, this is completely inadequate. I was like, oh, that was so hard and now it's inadequate. Yeah, yes, yes. And then he's going to spend the next few chapters telling you why. And obviously the section on insight. Do Report an error in the passage at 1:43:49 Highlight the passage at 1:43:49

1:44:17 you have any questions, comments from today? Yes, questions. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:17 Highlight the passage at 1:44:17

1:44:34 So talking about concentration, meditation and shamatha, I've always wondered, all the texts and teachers always tell us it is absolutely essential to develop shamatha in order to reach nirvāṇa and enlightenment. But it seems like not very many people practice shamatha all the way through. So I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on that. I've observed something similar. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:34 Highlight the passage at 1:44:34

1:45:04 I don't know what else to say. I think, yeah, Alan Wallace has written and talked about this. He's working on the problem right now, I guess. Alan Wallace is a person. You know him? Yeah. No, it's true. I don't, I think you... Report an error in the passage at 1:45:04 Highlight the passage at 1:45:04

1:45:34 You know the practical problem as well as better than I do. So I would say as far as the theoretical aspect of what the instructions are is as follows. Why do you need shamatha if it doesn't make you a better person per se in terms of virtue? Report an error in the passage at 1:45:34 Highlight the passage at 1:45:34

1:46:01 And it doesn't make you a wiser person, per se, than why is it so indispensable? Because you can't get from... We've talked about this idea that you have to have an analytical understanding of things. You have to understand what you're meditating on. But these conceptual understandings that arise from analysis... Report an error in the passage at 1:46:01 Highlight the passage at 1:46:01

1:46:32 They can be very subtle and profound and powerful. They're not to be minimized or trivialized. But in order to get from that to a direct non-conceptual understanding of emptiness that constitutes nirvāṇa, you have to have something that allows you to thin out this sort of dualistic... Report an error in the passage at 1:46:32 Highlight the passage at 1:46:32

1:47:09 and that's the idea it's like how can you how can you directly perceive an object of you know mind that you've initially realized conceptually Report an error in the passage at 1:47:09 Highlight the passage at 1:47:09

1:47:23 it's a superpower, you know, in a sense. It's a feat to pull off and to require it to do that. To eliminate the dualistic conceptual nature of the understanding of emptiness, you have to have extraordinary mental power and clarity, which could be misused for some other purpose. But in this case, it's really indispensable for going from having a profound conceptual understanding of emptiness to being a person who actually directly experiences emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:23 Highlight the passage at 1:47:23

1:47:58 That's the bridge. bridge. So you don't have to have shamatha to be a beginning bodhisattva. I've never seen anybody say that. You do have to have, you do have to, actually technically you can be the very, very, very lowest kind of bodhisattva. If you have strong faith, you could be the very, very lowest kind of bodhisattva without even having. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:58 Highlight the passage at 1:47:58

1:48:38 have the bodhicitta and people that means that they'll have to realize emptiness if you have strong faith that you can just take it that the Buddha said that, then you could yourself to becoming a Buddha actually realizing emptiness. For the most part, you have to realize emptiness to be a bodhisattva. You have to have profound altruistic compassion. You have to want to get out of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:38 Highlight the passage at 1:48:38

1:49:06 Maybe many people will have also practiced shamatha, but it's not a requirement per se. So when does that become a requirement? Well, on the bodhisattva path of accumulation, you're... Report an error in the passage at 1:49:06 Highlight the passage at 1:49:06

1:49:23 your mind by meditating on emptiness analytically and then trying to use concentration samādhi to focus on that emptiness you've realized so you first have to have the ability to you have to have emptiness and have the ability to concentrate your your mind mind on on something. something Report an error in the passage at 1:49:23 Highlight the passage at 1:49:23

1:49:51 Theoretically, it's possible. possible to end. His Holiness, I think, mentions this. Maybe I skipped over it. It's theoretically possible to just realize emptiness, not have any concentration meditation, and then say, okay, now I've realized emptiness, I want to develop concentration meditation. Let's just forget all this breath meditation. I'll just meditate on emptiness and make that the object of my concentration. But this is rather unusual. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:51 Highlight the passage at 1:49:51

1:50:24 What people more normally do is that they would separately cultivate concentration, meditation or samādhi, shamatha on the basis of an easier object and separately realize emptiness. And then they would, through a gradual process on the bodhisattva path of accumulation, train their minds so that they can take the emptiness that they've understood inferentially as the object. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:24 Highlight the passage at 1:50:24

1:50:53 object on which to focus their mind. Do you know all this? I don't want to repeat it if you already know it. But the difficulty is that it's very difficult to, it's an unstable object. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:53 Highlight the passage at 1:50:53

1:51:07 Why? Because the emptiness that you're knowing is an unstable object. Because it appears clearly to your mind as an object on which to set your mind only at the end of your analysis. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:07 Highlight the passage at 1:51:07

1:51:44 shamatha and can go in and out of it and also you know then you can Go in and practice with it. The more practice you have with the reasonings about emptiness and the more facility you have with shamatha, the easier it's going to be to bring the two together to the point where you're able to actually practice shamatha that's focused on emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:44 Highlight the passage at 1:51:44

1:52:08 That's basically where lamrim chemo goes up to. It doesn't really, in theory, it mentions entering the vajrayana and so forth, but this isn't... Great Treatise is not really a book that takes you up to Buddhahood through all the stages of the path. What he's really getting to is sort of to the right past where the point you're pointing at. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:08 Highlight the passage at 1:52:08

1:52:33 That is saying, you know, you do all these basic practices including cultivating shamatha and then you're figuring out how am I going to put this wisdom knowing emptiness together with this profound mental concentration because... There's such different kinds of minds. The analytical one is, they say, discursive. You can say it's moving, it's analyzing, it's moving from thing to thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:33 Highlight the passage at 1:52:33

1:53:00 It has a certain kind of fluttery quality to it, whereas shamatha is exactly the opposite. And so it's a difficult thing. What you want to do is get to the... The path of preparation, through the path of accumulation, where you get to this point where you can stay locked in on a powerful analytical meditation that's fully powered by shamatha as it moves through, as it analyzes emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:00 Highlight the passage at 1:53:00

1:53:34 That's very difficult to do. That's what you're trying to get to. That's why you have to have it. I can answer that part. I know that... It's very difficult and that people have actually, you know, have and are really trying and finding that it's not, it's quite difficult to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:34 Highlight the passage at 1:53:34

1:54:03 Yeah, I don't know the problem of how you reconcile that is really what you're getting at. Too many Report an error in the passage at 1:54:03 Highlight the passage at 1:54:03

1:54:14 obstructions of some sort. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:14 Highlight the passage at 1:54:14

1:54:19 Other questions? Report an error in the passage at 1:54:19 Highlight the passage at 1:54:19

1:54:23 That's Report an error in the passage at 1:54:23 Highlight the passage at 1:54:23

1:54:29 about two hours. I think, when do we reconvene? Report an error in the passage at 1:54:29 Highlight the passage at 1:54:29

1:54:37 10 o 'clock. 10 o 'clock tomorrow. 10 a.m. Okay. Well, I don't really think want to push on into the emptiness stuff now. I feel like that was enough, don't you? Okay. Well, we'll do, you know, we'll just knock off emptiness tomorrow morning. No sweat. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:37 Highlight the passage at 1:54:37

1:54:55 Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Happy to do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:55 Highlight the passage at 1:54:55

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:55:31 just nice and bright. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:31 Highlight the passage at 1:55:31

1:55:40 now Report an error in the passage at 1:55:40 Highlight the passage at 1:55:40

1:55:45 so we're going to make this faster? Yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:45 Highlight the passage at 1:55:45

1:56:01 are a lot of types. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:01 Highlight the passage at 1:56:01

1:56:06 said that if she again, you know, we'll be ready to go. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:06 Highlight the passage at 1:56:06

1:56:25 Thank you. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:25 Highlight the passage at 1:56:25