Introduction to Basic Buddhist Thought (3 October 2009, 1)

0:00 We also begin any Buddhist teaching with sitting and setting our motivation. So let's just sit quietly for a couple of minutes, watching our breath just to settle and focus our minds, get ourselves here in this room and we'll set our motivation. So just sit for a minute and focus on your breath. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

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1:07 And then let's take just a minute to focus on our motivation. Think about the reason. That you have for coming to this class. It may be that you're brand new. You don't know that much about the Buddhist teachings, but you're curious to find out more. And you heard that this was a class that would just explain the fundamentals of Buddhist thought. Report an error in the passage at 1:07 Highlight the passage at 1:07

1:36 Maybe that you've been studying for a while and you're looking for a way to just review, maybe get more information. Report an error in the passage at 1:36 Highlight the passage at 1:36

1:47 Maybe that you already have an understanding of The reality of our unenlightened existence and be looking for more techniques in order to get free of that. Report an error in the passage at 1:47 Highlight the passage at 1:47

2:01 So just take a minute and reflect. There's no right or wrong answer. Just reflect on whatever it is that brought you here today as a way of setting your motivation for the class. Report an error in the passage at 2:01 Highlight the passage at 2:01

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2:52 So my name is Tenzin Chogky and there's a couple of old friends in the room and some new friends. This class that we're doing this weekend is called, what do they call it, Introduction to Buddhist Thought. And so it's a class that I've done in varying formats, anywhere from two days, which I've done before, including in prisons. Report an error in the passage at 2:52 Highlight the passage at 2:52

3:13 I've been asked to teach in prisons as an intensive kind of introductory course. And then I've stretched it out to ten days in India. In Nepal we have these centers where lots of western travelers come for introductory courses and so all of this can be gone into in great detail in a ten day course. So we're going to try and just smash ten days into two days. We're going to have to leave some stuff out. That's just the nature of things. Report an error in the passage at 3:13 Highlight the passage at 3:13

3:42 But hopefully I'm going to try and just give you a broad overview of the Four Noble Truths which is the basic Buddhist teaching. Report an error in the passage at 3:42 Highlight the passage at 3:42

3:51 I know some of you for a while and some of you are new. What I usually like to do at the very beginning is go around and have everybody just say your name and what kind of background you have, if any, how long you've been studying and so forth. Because for those of you that know, my teaching style tends to be very interactive. So I learn your names and I call on you to give me the answer, which is kind of scary. Report an error in the passage at 3:51 Highlight the passage at 3:51

4:14 But this is my way. I teach in prisons and I heard that... And before I come, the day before I come, they told me that in the exercise yard of the prison, they all get together and ask the smartest person who remembers all the details. And they're like, we know she's going to ask us, what's the four components of a complete karmic action? Like they're all nervous. So no pressure, no pressure. Report an error in the passage at 4:14 Highlight the passage at 4:14

4:40 It's just a nice, you know, engagement. But it's nice to go around and also for me to hear what your background is, because like I said, we're squeezing ten days into... So it's nice for me to know what you already know. I mean, spend more time on the new stuff and, you know, maybe more time on the event stuff with everybody's events. Report an error in the passage at 4:40 Highlight the passage at 4:40

4:58 So let's start over here. Report an error in the passage at 4:58 Highlight the passage at 4:58

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6:51 she should be up here instead of me. Janet! Report an error in the passage at 6:51 Highlight the passage at 6:51

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7:54 Oh, Report an error in the passage at 7:54 Highlight the passage at 7:54

8:04 do we have to pass the microphone around? I forgot. So it's okay. Okay, okay. For those of you that are new, generally for the questions, they pass around a mic so it all gets on and I always forget. Report an error in the passage at 8:04 Highlight the passage at 8:04

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9:12 I have that problem. Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:24 So Report an error in the passage at 9:24 Highlight the passage at 9:24

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10:40 he can be the one to remind us about the microphone, okay, Chan? When we need it. Report an error in the passage at 10:40 Highlight the passage at 10:40

10:49 We'll all remind. We'll all remember. Report an error in the passage at 10:49 Highlight the passage at 10:49

10:56 You can just channel chat, okay? Report an error in the passage at 10:56 Highlight the passage at 10:56

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12:03 Did we get that on tape? Report an error in the passage at 12:03 Highlight the passage at 12:03

12:09 She Report an error in the passage at 12:09 Highlight the passage at 12:09

12:30 jumped right in with thought transformation, very bravely. That's her first class. She did great. Report an error in the passage at 12:30 Highlight the passage at 12:30

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13:16 Should we skip the order and the husband can speak? Report an error in the passage at 13:16 Highlight the passage at 13:16

13:45 That's interesting. Report an error in the passage at 13:45 Highlight the passage at 13:45

13:49 And you heard about this cool nun that she's been... Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 13:49 Highlight the passage at 13:49

14:04 That's great. That's cute. Great. Welcome. Report an error in the passage at 14:04 Highlight the passage at 14:04

14:37 Join the club, Katherine. Report an error in the passage at 14:37 Highlight the passage at 14:37

14:50 purple in the corner? Report an error in the passage at 14:50 Highlight the passage at 14:50

14:58 Who are you? Who are you? Who are you and why are you here? Report an error in the passage at 14:58 Highlight the passage at 14:58

15:13 Who are you? Report an error in the passage at 15:13 Highlight the passage at 15:13

15:33 I wonder what they were saying about being behind my back before I came in the room, right? Now they say I'm great. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 15:33 Highlight the passage at 15:33

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16:24 Is that right? No kidding. I looked really different than Lama. Oh, I didn't know it had been that long since I've seen him. Oh my goodness. How do I look? What do you think? Report an error in the passage at 16:24 Highlight the passage at 16:24

16:48 Well, I had no idea it had been that long. I'm kidding! Report an error in the passage at 16:48 Highlight the passage at 16:48

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17:18 I remember you. Report an error in the passage at 17:18 Highlight the passage at 17:18

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17:57 And Report an error in the passage at 17:57 Highlight the passage at 17:57

18:22 we didn't start out as booze nuts together, believe me. Report an error in the passage at 18:22 Highlight the passage at 18:22

18:32 Funny how karma works out. Report an error in the passage at 18:32 Highlight the passage at 18:32

18:39 Yeah, it is cool. don't know. Report an error in the passage at 18:39 Highlight the passage at 18:39

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18:42 We met in 1982 in Washington, D.C. Halloween party. Report an error in the passage at 18:42 Highlight the passage at 18:42

19:08 My pleasure. Report an error in the passage at 19:08 Highlight the passage at 19:08

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20:25 And Report an error in the passage at 20:25 Highlight the passage at 20:25

20:33 then Anna came out of space. Great outfit, by the way. thank you. My pleasure. Report an error in the passage at 20:33 Highlight the passage at 20:33

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21:24 So first I should get practical for just a minute and talk a little bit about the schedule. And so what we'll have today is two three-hour sessions with a break in the middle. So 9.30 to 12.30 with a tea break of about 15 minutes or so in between. And then we'll have the same schedule this afternoon from 2 to 5 with a break. And then an hour and a half lunch break and they cook you delicious food and you're served in the lovely dining room opposite here. Report an error in the passage at 21:24 Highlight the passage at 21:24

21:52 And then tomorrow we'll have a very similar schedule. The morning will be the same, 9.30 to 12.30 with a break in between. And then I think we finish at 4, right? So it's a slightly earlier finishing time just because Sunday night people need to kind of get ready for work Monday night and so forth. So that's the basic schedule. And then unfortunately we won't have a lot of time for meditation during this weekend just because there's so much material to cover. Report an error in the passage at 21:52 Highlight the passage at 21:52

22:18 When I teach this as a longer 10-day course, it's really nice to meditate on all of the aspects of... What we've been talking about throughout, but just because there's so much material, we'll do a couple of shorter meditations that it won't be heavy on meditation, unfortunately, for this weekend. I wish it could be different if there's so much to talk about. Report an error in the passage at 22:18 Highlight the passage at 22:18

22:39 And by all means, especially, well, for those of you that are new and also not so new, if I use any words that you don't understand, if I presuppose some kind of language or understanding, please just raise your hand. Don't sit there wondering what I'm talking about and wondering what word that I've used. Please just stop me. You'll see that it's very interactive kind of style. Report an error in the passage at 22:39 Highlight the passage at 22:39

23:02 So hopefully you won't be shy to ask questions. There's also a glossary. So you've got a handout, Introduction to Basic Buddhist Thought. And this is the notes that I pass out, the booklet I pass out when I do the longer 10-day courses in Asia. So this has a lot of detail, most of which hopefully we'll cover, some of which, you know, we won't have time, but this will give you supplementary information. Report an error in the passage at 23:02 Highlight the passage at 23:02

23:26 There's also at the very end, which Chikki is pointing out, page 28 is a glossary of terms. And then on page 31, there's a suggested reading list. And these are books on the Four Noble Truths, really good beginning books, a couple of books on meditation for those of you that would like to learn more about meditation. Report an error in the passage at 23:26 Highlight the passage at 23:26

23:46 So this, and you can be referring to this as we go through, you can take notes, you know, on this or kind of take notes on stuff that we haven't. covered so feel free this is yours to keep so feel free to you know take notes on it or in another notebook this is information for you So the Four Noble Truths. Report an error in the passage at 23:46 Highlight the passage at 23:46

24:23 This is the format that His Holiness the Dalai Lama often, I could say, mostly uses for his teachings. And this is the format that Shakyamuni Buddha taught for the first teachings when he was presenting the path. And so if Shakyamuni Buddha and His Holiness the Dalai Lama do it, I'm going to do it. Report an error in the passage at 24:23 Highlight the passage at 24:23

24:44 I actually developed this class in the very beginning for an introductory course we did in Santa Cruz about two and a half years ago, which is why the flip chart, which has survived since then, shows a little bit of wear and tear. I'm really into recycling, so even though the flip chart's a little worn, and I've been using it since then. And I've found with brand new people, the format of the Four Noble Truths as a way of presenting the Buddhist teachings works really well. Report an error in the passage at 24:44 Highlight the passage at 24:44

25:10 You know, often in the FPMT, we have the format of the lamrim or the stages of the path, which is also great. Most of the topics in the Four Noble Truths, probably all of them in the lamrim coincide. It's a slightly different order of presentation, however, in the Four Noble Truths, and I found that it works a lot better for brand new students with no background at all to kind of rearrange the lamrim into the structure of the Four Noble Truths. Report an error in the passage at 25:10 Highlight the passage at 25:10

25:35 So when I teach introductory courses, I use the Four Noble Truths as the It's the sort of structure of that and I find that it works really well. So first a little bit of background and for some of you this will probably be a review you might be familiar but I think it's worth talking a little bit about the story of Shakyamuni Buddha and why he taught the Four Noble Truths in the way that he did and what his realization was. Report an error in the passage at 25:35 Highlight the passage at 25:35

26:01 So as most of you probably know Shakyamuni Buddha was born in The bordering area between India and Nepal about 2600 years ago. And he was actually the son of this tribal chieftain. They often say he was a prince, but actually there were certain tribes and a chieftain of this tribe of the Sakyats, which is the people that was his lineage, his tribe. Report an error in the passage at 26:01 Highlight the passage at 26:01

26:28 And so as the son of this tribal chieftain, when... Shakyamuni Buddha, who was known as Siddhartha at that point, was born. They often, when nobility or a high-level family, the son was born, they would bring in an astrologer to figure out what was the destiny of this child. They would look at the astrology and figure it out. So they brought in this great sage who looked at the signs, looked at the astrology and said, well... Report an error in the passage at 26:28 Highlight the passage at 26:28

26:57 You know, there's one of two outcomes. He's either going to be what's called a wheel-turning king, you know, or a world emperor, an emperor over vast lands and territories, or he's going to be a great sage who's going to show the way to freedom from suffering. Well, Shakyamuni Buddha's father, King Shododhana, you know, He was a little bit biased. And you can imagine if George Bush Sr., when George Bush Jr. was born, said he's either going to be the President of the United States or St. Report an error in the passage at 26:57 Highlight the passage at 26:57

27:29 Francis of Assisi, what would he have wanted? And so King Shurodana had the same reaction. He realized that he wanted him to become this great emperor. He hears he has a possible destiny to be a wheel-turning king. Yeah, that's what I want. Well, he was no fool. You know, Siddhartha's father. And he realized that in order for him to become a sage, he had to come in contact somehow with the dissatisfying nature of life. Report an error in the passage at 27:29 Highlight the passage at 27:29

27:57 So he, you know, he had this plan, this plot to surround him with sense pleasures so that he'd never have a moment of dissatisfaction. You know, so he built these palaces for him, one for the hot season, one for the rainy season, one for the cool season. Three different palaces filled with banquets and dancing girls and the whole works and the bouquet and the silk and everything to try and keep him so distracted by sense pleasure that he would not ever start questioning something like what's the meaning of life. Report an error in the passage at 27:57 Highlight the passage at 27:57

28:33 So it worked for a while. Siddhartha was a virtual prisoner in these palaces. No ugly people allowed, no old people allowed, no sick people allowed. And so whenever he would go on some kind of parade through the streets, his father would send out people to sort of clean up ahead of time. Like, get all the lepers off the street. You know, anybody who's traveled in India, you know there's people kind of lying by the side of the road with leprosy. Get all of them out, anybody old and ugly, right? Report an error in the passage at 28:33 Highlight the passage at 28:33

29:04 So he had this kind of very distorted view of what reality was like. On purpose, his father engineered this. And like most of us, at a certain point he started to rebel. He was a little bit of a late bloomer. He was in his late 20s. Most of us were, what, 16 or 15 when we started sneaking out, you know, tying the sheets to the bedroom window and going out at night. Report an error in the passage at 29:04 Highlight the passage at 29:04

29:25 And so Siddhartha did it a little bit later on. And he had this friend who is his charioteer named Chana. And he said, hey, Chana, can you sneak me out of the palace? He's like, let's go, let's party, you know. So they go out, and then the first time they go out, they see this man walking by the side of the road, bent over, you know, walking with a cane, with white hair, wrinkled all over his face. Report an error in the passage at 29:25 Highlight the passage at 29:25

29:51 And Siddhartha's just shocked. He's never seen anything like this before. And he says to John, what's wrong with that guy? John says, he's old. You know, if we're lucky, we'll all get old. You know, if you don't die first, you'll, you know, you get old. This is old age. Buddha's shock. Siddhartha, completely shocked, goes back to the palace, and he starts thinking, what? That's the destiny of everyone? To look like that? So he starts thinking, and then he goes out with Chana another time, and they see one of these lepers by the side of the road. Report an error in the passage at 29:51 Highlight the passage at 29:51

30:23 And for people who've been to India, it's really shocking when you first go. You know, these people sometimes are missing their fingers, their toes, part of their faces. Really intense. You know, their hair's all matted. Really hard to wash your hair when you don't have fingers, you know, sitting in the dust. So he sees one of these sick, you know, one of these people and he says, what's wrong with that man? Report an error in the passage at 30:23 Highlight the passage at 30:23

30:45 You know, what's wrong with me? It looks terrible. And China says, oh, he's sick. You know, we all get sick. We can't always be strong and healthy when we get sick. So he goes back again. He starts thinking, you know, his father notices something's going on. Spending more time alone, he doesn't look so happy anymore. So his father kind of ramps up the entertainment, you know, even more banquets and even more distraction and, you know, the dancing girls and all of this stuff. Report an error in the passage at 30:45 Highlight the passage at 30:45

31:13 Well, the Buddha wants to go out again, you know, so he goes out with China again. And then they see, and you see this if you travel in India, funeral procession, and the body's just being carried along. Maybe covered with a sheet, maybe there's a hand or a foot sticking out. It's not this sanitized silk coffin with the lipstick the way it is here. Report an error in the passage at 31:13 Highlight the passage at 31:13

31:33 It's like the body's just being carried along in this procession. And so Siddhartha says, why is that guy lying so still? Like, why is he gray? I don't get it. Oh, he's dead. That also is the fate of everything. Can you imagine? Siddhartha's 29 years old at this point. He's never even heard about death. Report an error in the passage at 31:33 Highlight the passage at 31:33

31:55 So this is a total shock. He's heard about death. Again, goes back to the palace. Now he's really thinking. He's really disturbed. So he goes out again, and then they see this man walking along in robes with a shaved head, probably looking a little bit like me, probably shorter, you know, but walking along, holding a begging bowl, looking really serene. Report an error in the passage at 31:55 Highlight the passage at 31:55

32:19 And he goes, who's that guy? What's up with him? And then Shana says, oh, he's a renunciate. You know, he's a monk. He's actually left the homeland to seek for the truth, to seek for the answer to suffering. You know, we're a little suspicious about Chana by now. Like, what's going on with him? He's the one feeding him all the answers, you know? So he says this, and then the Buddha's just like, you know, he starts thinking, I want to be like that when I grow up. Report an error in the passage at 32:19 Highlight the passage at 32:19

32:46 You know, you can actually look for the answer to suffering. He realizes that there's a life that you can actually enter and look for an answer to suffering. So he goes back to the palace and now he sort of has this vision. And it's interesting because we call the fourth appearance, sometimes it's said that these four appearances of the old person, the sick person, the dead person and then the renunciate, we call them the heavenly messengers. Report an error in the passage at 32:46 Highlight the passage at 32:46

33:11 We say that they're just emanations, you know, that came to... Just trigger the Buddhist karma at that point, you know, the ripening of this mind of renunciation. So sometimes we call this fourth one the fourth heavenly messenger. And for those of us that are monastics, I mean, I think about this a lot, because I'm in international airports a lot. And I know, like, walking through the airport, often for people, and I know it because a lot of times they come up to me, especially if I'm alone and you're sitting at this Starbucks in the airport. Report an error in the passage at 33:11 Highlight the passage at 33:11

33:44 Before the plane. And they come up and they want to talk to you and they're just like, what is going on? You know, what's up with you? And people just pour out. I had one guy, I was in Kalinga near this prison where I teach and I walked into this like a.m. p.m. you know, quick stop thing to get something. And the guy behind the counter is just like, the whole time I've been there. And then I walk up to the counter and he just goes, what are you? Report an error in the passage at 33:44 Highlight the passage at 33:44

34:08 He's coming. But often it's like this, or they know it's something spiritual and they don't know quite what. And it's amazing, you know, you're the recipient of this incredible spiritual yearning in this crazy, materialistic, capitalist, ridiculous culture. People don't ever see the alternative, you know. So I think for those of us that are ordained, often I think it's really amazing to be able to be that fourth heavenly messenger for people. Report an error in the passage at 34:08 Highlight the passage at 34:08

34:38 And walk through looking different, even if they don't come up and talk to you and say, what are you? You know, something happens. They just see somebody who obviously is living a really different life. So this happened to Siddhartha. So he goes back to the palace and he decides, okay, you know, I've got to find the answer to this sickness, old age, death, this suffering that beings are going through. Report an error in the passage at 34:38 Highlight the passage at 34:38

35:00 He just had a baby. He'd gotten married and just had this young baby. And it's quite poignant to think that, and a friend of mine has written a song about it because of his love for his family. You know, sometimes he's criticized for like ditching the woman and the baby like guys always do, you know. Report an error in the passage at 35:00 Highlight the passage at 35:00

35:19 But I think it was actually from his perspective because of his love and really trying to help them ultimately. And sometimes we go through this in our spiritual practice too. You know, maybe we don't spend as much time with our family as they would like, but from our perspective, we're trying to help them in some deeper, more ultimate way. Report an error in the passage at 35:19 Highlight the passage at 35:19

35:38 And I think that's what Siddhartha was doing. So he went out of the palace in the middle of the night. He kind of couldn't bear to wake up his wife to say goodbye. And he left. He got Chana to saddle his horse and he left, went on pilgrimage a few years ago. We went to the ruins of the palace, and it was so moving to stand at the eastern gate where he rode off. And they said, actually, the local people said they found a stupa with the remains of a horse in it nearby, like within the side of the palace, because he rode out through that eastern gate, rode off, sent the horse back with Chana, his charioteer. Report an error in the passage at 35:38 Highlight the passage at 35:38

36:18 They said the horse died of heartbreak on the way back. And then that stupa with the horses. Skeleton they'd actually found near that place. So he cuts off his princely, you know, princes in those days, long hair. He has these elongated earlobes because of the earrings and the jewelry. Cuts off his hair, trades his clothes with some passing hunter or something who's wearing rags. Report an error in the passage at 36:18 Highlight the passage at 36:18

36:43 The hunter's thrilled. Brocade? Sure, you know, here. So trades his clothes and then goes off into the forest to... You know, seek the homeless life to try and find teachers. There was something very interesting going on at that time in India. There was this big upheaval in society. Previously, the Brahmins, you know, there was this caste system, very, very rigid caste system. And the Brahmins are the priestly caste. Report an error in the passage at 36:43 Highlight the passage at 36:43

37:11 We're the ones in charge of the rituals. Like if you wanted, you know, if somebody in your family died and you wanted some kind of purification ritual for them, or if you wanted to guarantee that your negativities were purified, you had to pay the Brahmin to do some ritual. And it was becoming big business for the Brahmins. And it's like there was no way that you could actually have a relationship with the Divine without the intercession of the Brahmins, who are the priestly caste. Report an error in the passage at 37:11 Highlight the passage at 37:11

37:39 Now it's interesting, in India at that time there was a rising merchant class. The merchants were very low down on the kind of totem pole in terms of caste, but then suddenly, because of increasing trade in that region, they're becoming really wealthy. Their houses are bigger than the Brahmins, you know, even though they're low down. So there started to be this real questioning of the status quo. Report an error in the passage at 37:39 Highlight the passage at 37:39

38:05 You know, these merchants that were quite wealthy and the whole kind of class of society is starting to be disrupted by these societal changes. And I think of it a lot, it probably was a lot like Haight-Ashbury in like 1968, you know, and we're all kind of questioning, do you really need the Catholic priest to like, you know, can't I just meditate, right? Report an error in the passage at 38:05 Highlight the passage at 38:05

38:28 Like we were all getting interested in these. Eastern religions and thinking, do I really need the church in between me and God or can I somehow contact the divine personally? So this was what was happening in India at that time. So there were a lot of teachers springing up, a lot of meditation masters teaching ways to directly contact the divine personally without the intermediary of a Brahmin. Report an error in the passage at 38:28 Highlight the passage at 38:28

38:53 So it was quite a time of flourishing of these different teachings. So the Buddha went off and he taught with two masters, and they actually taught him techniques of developing these very kind of rarefied states of single-pointed concentration. And while you're in that state of concentration, all of your manifest suffering is completely ceases, right? You're in this absorption, in this meditation. Report an error in the passage at 38:53 Highlight the passage at 38:53

39:19 But the Buddha said, no, it's not liberation from suffering, because like any other high, you always come down. He goes, when I'm in that state of meditation, yeah, I'm not feeling any suffering, you know, nothing at all, but it's not real liberation. It's not permanent freedom from suffering. And so he left those two meditation masters. Both of them actually offered him to be like the Dharma heir, we would say, to take over the group. Report an error in the passage at 39:19 Highlight the passage at 39:19

39:47 They say, son, you're doing really well. You know, you've reached the same state I have. I'm getting on in years. Why don't you take over the community? And he would say, thank you so much, you know, I'm so grateful to what I've learned from you, but I don't feel like it's quite, you know, permanent liberation and freedom from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 39:47 Highlight the passage at 39:47

40:06 So he went off with five friends who actually kind of felt the same way that he did. And they admired him because he was such a great meditator. And so the six of them went off. To live in forests and caves around Bodh Gaya. And I think some of you have gone to this cave nearby Bodh Gaya, they call it the Mahakala cave, where the Buddha actually practiced austerities. Report an error in the passage at 40:06 Highlight the passage at 40:06

40:30 So for six years he practiced these austerities. Like they said at one point he was eating like one lentil and one grain of rice a day. And there are all these statues, in fact there's a statue in that cave. He looked just like a skeleton and they say if he pressed in his stomach he could feel his backbone. Because it was taught by those techniques that by completely overcoming the needs of your body, that was the way to liberation. Report an error in the passage at 40:30 Highlight the passage at 40:30

40:57 And so you see this if you travel in India now, there's people who practice these austerities, staring at the sun, sleeping on beds of nails. You see this kind of stuff because some techniques teach by completely overcoming your body, that's the way to get free. So the Buddha tried it for six years, these extreme austerities. And then one day he realized he couldn't even meditate. Report an error in the passage at 40:57 Highlight the passage at 40:57

41:21 And you know how it is when you've skipped a couple of meals, right? And you get that low blood sugar thing. I mean, can you imagine? You know, you've been eating one grain of rice for like six years. So at one point he's just trying to meditate and he's just completely, and he's starting to question these practices that he's doing. Report an error in the passage at 41:21 Highlight the passage at 41:21

41:40 At about that time, this young woman comes along. She's been praying to this forest deity to have a child. And she just gave birth to a healthy son. So she's bringing this bowl of this kind of milk and rice porridge as a thanksgiving offering to the forest deity that she's been praying to. She sees the Buddha sitting under a tree. He's not the Buddha yet. Siddhartha is still. Sitting under this tree. Report an error in the passage at 41:40 Highlight the passage at 41:40

42:04 You know, he looks like a skeleton. His hair is all matted. He doesn't even look like a human being. So she thinks he's the god. So she gives him the bowl of, you know, she thinks he's the forest deity that she's been praying to. So she offers him this bowl of, you know, milk, rice, porridge, and he eats it. Right? So he eats it, and the minute he eats it, he starts to regain his strength. Report an error in the passage at 42:04 Highlight the passage at 42:04

42:30 Meanwhile, his five friends are looking on. And they feel like he's thrown in the towel. He's given up. You know, he can't handle it. And they leave in disgust. They actually walk off at that moment, total disgust at the Buddha. He gave up. He couldn't pack the austerity. So he eats this bowl of rice porridge. Report an error in the passage at 42:30 Highlight the passage at 42:30

42:53 He goes in the nearby river and bathes. And then he sits down under this tree, very famous tree. And decides he's going to sit there and meditate until he actually breaks through. You know, he feels revived by the food that he's taken. And this is the point where he realizes, we often hear, the middle way between extremes. Report an error in the passage at 42:53 Highlight the passage at 42:53

43:14 You know, either the extreme of self-indulgence, total self-indulgence, and also not to go to the extreme of these extreme austerities. So the Buddha realized, no, you know, self-indulgence is completely distracting and a wasted time. But also these extreme austerities like starving yourself for the waste of time. So the middle way. So he sits down under the Bodhi tree and meditates all night and goes through all the stages of the path in one night. Report an error in the passage at 43:14 Highlight the passage at 43:14

43:43 And then at dawn when the sun is rising, he's alive. He's fully alive. You know, it worked. All his practices that he's done and then he attains enlightenment. And then it's very interesting. He doesn't teach for 49 days. He just stays in the vicinity of the Bodhi tree. And when you go there now, you see these little plaques. It's like the stations of the cross. The one I like the best is this one. Report an error in the passage at 43:43 Highlight the passage at 43:43

44:09 Because for seven days, he was kind of meditating under the Bodhi tree. And there's this one that's my favorite, off to the side. And they said, for seven days, he gazed at the Bodhi tree with an unblinking gaze. Like his mind was so blown at what he'd experienced. So I would stand there and imagine him just kind of crying. Like seven days, he's just... Report an error in the passage at 44:09 Highlight the passage at 44:09

44:30 Staring at the tree. And he feels like nobody's going to be able to understand. It's so profound, this truth that I've seen. Nobody will be able to understand it. I'll just go off into the forest, you know, live out the rest of my life and then just die peacefully. And then in the story they say that these two gods, Brahma, Indra, come down and supplicate the Buddha, ask him to teach. Report an error in the passage at 44:30 Highlight the passage at 44:30

44:53 And they say, it's really beautiful, they say, no, they're beings with just a little dust in their eyes. Somebody will be able to understand. There's beings with just a little dust in their eyes. So Buddha said, oh, okay. He's the Buddha by now. Yeah, okay. Which, by the way, just means the awakened one. The Buddha is a title. It just means the one that woke up. So he says, okay, I'll teach you. Report an error in the passage at 44:53 Highlight the passage at 44:53

45:16 And then he starts to think. And he thinks, who is going to be able to understand this thing that I saw? And he thinks of his two previous teachers. He says, wow, they were close. If there were anybody with just a little dust in their eyes, it's them. And then he starts to inquire and he hears that they both just passed away. Report an error in the passage at 45:16 Highlight the passage at 45:16

45:35 And then he thinks about his five friends. And he goes, now they could probably get it too. They were close to it. So he hears that they're in Sarnath, in the deer park near Varanasi. And so he sets out walking to find them. When I did this in pilgrimage, we're in this little tour bus. It's far. Like I kept, when we're going to these pilgrimage places, I kept going, God, the Buddha just walked. Report an error in the passage at 45:35 Highlight the passage at 45:35

46:00 Like it's amazing, you know, they're really far. So we went from Bodhgaya to this deer park. It was actually called Rishipatna, the park of the sages or the place of the sages because it was this park that a lot of these meditators were practicing in. So he's walking. Up to this park and he's walking and he sees his friends in the distance and he starts walking towards them. And there's actually a stupa built on the place where they actually caught sight of each other. Report an error in the passage at 46:00 Highlight the passage at 46:00

46:27 And there's a stupa commemorating where they saw each other. But the five of them, they decide to diss him, right? He's given up. Oh, here he comes, that slacker, that Siddhartha Gautama. Let's diss him. We won't even pay attention to him or ignore him. But he starts walking towards them. And he looks really different, right? He's got this glow, he looks amazing. And then without even deciding, they prepare a seat for him and they, you know, wash his feet and sit him down and give him something to drink. Report an error in the passage at 46:27 Highlight the passage at 46:27

46:57 And then, what happened to you? And then he tells them what happened. And that's the very first teaching he ever gave on the Four Noble Truths. So that was the very first teaching. It was the way that the Buddha decided to tell his five best friends what happened. And how he discovered the path. And that was the very first teaching. And that's one of the four main days that we celebrate as a holiday. Report an error in the passage at 46:57 Highlight the passage at 46:57

47:25 The day that the Buddha first turned the wheel of Dharma is the way we describe it. And turning the wheel of Dharma means kind of setting in motion again the path that leads to liberation and the path that leads to enlightenment. So we taught the Four Noble Truths. And the Four Noble, can everybody more or less see? Report an error in the passage at 47:25 Highlight the passage at 47:25

47:43 Is that okay? I know it's kind of tilting a little low if you aren't here. So the truth of suffering, and we'll talk about this word suffering. I put it up there. I don't like this word, but I put it up there because it's the one that you're familiar with, and we'll talk about what that means. So the truth of suffering comes first, not because it's the order that it's experienced, but this is the order that we have to realize what's going on. Report an error in the passage at 47:43 Highlight the passage at 47:43

48:10 And this is why I like to use this order when I'm teaching new students. You have to realize there's something wrong before you're going to want to do something about it. And the analogy that I was given in the scripture is, unless you are experiencing the symptoms of some disease, you're not going to go to the doctor to try and get a remedy to fix it. Report an error in the passage at 48:10 Highlight the passage at 48:10

48:29 So you have to really understand clearly what the Buddha said about our situation, what we're experiencing. And then after understanding that... We look at how it's caused, the truth of the cause of suffering. We're going to spend a lot of time on this because by understanding this really well, we understand the last two noble truths, the truth of the cessation and then the truth of the path leading to that cessation. Report an error in the passage at 48:29 Highlight the passage at 48:29

48:59 So by understanding the truth of the cause, all of this kind of falls into place. You see how suffering can be stopped. You see how... The path that relates to stopping the causes of suffering. Sometimes Buddhists get a bad rap for being so pessimistic. You guys talk about suffering all the time. Well, that's just in order to understand our situation. And then the good news is the last two noble truths. Report an error in the passage at 48:59 Highlight the passage at 48:59

49:26 If it was just the first two, it would be way too depressing. There would be no Buddhist centers anywhere, because who wants to just hear about suffering and the cause? We would have gotten fired a long time ago. Buddhism wouldn't have lasted 2600 years if we didn't have the good news. And I'm going to apologize in advance. Report an error in the passage at 49:26 Highlight the passage at 49:26

49:44 Today is going to be mostly the bad news. It might be a little discouraging, but please come back tomorrow and we're going to talk about, you know, don't leave. It's just the order that we have to talk about things, so don't get too bummed out. Come back tomorrow for the good news. The truth of the cessation and then the truth of how that happens. So any questions about this stuff so far? Report an error in the passage at 49:44 Highlight the passage at 49:44

50:16 Hi, I'm John. Just one quick question. The two gods that you mentioned that came down, were they... Other enlightened beings? Yeah, yeah, and that's a great question. According to Buddhism, the Hindu gods aren't enlightened beings. They're just beings in the highest realms of saṃsāra. So they're still in cyclic existence. They're not free yet of cyclic existence. They're just beings in the very, very highest realms. Report an error in the passage at 50:16 Highlight the passage at 50:16

50:48 According to Buddhism, it's interesting. It's a misunderstanding that these are... Any kind of beings that you would supplicate or could help you or would be like what we think of as gods. We talk in Buddhism about six different realms, including what we call a god realm or a deva realm. Pleasure beings is how it's translated sometimes. Beings that have a very, very long lifespan, enjoy these incredible sense pleasures in their lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 50:48 Highlight the passage at 50:48

51:17 And so these would be two beings from that realm. Yeah, which are considered in Hinduism as like in what we do, but in Buddhism they're not considered in what we do. But some of them are very pro-Buddhist, you know, some of these beings in the higher realms, actually a lot of the sutras, the Buddha would have conversations with these beings, you know, and often these beings can be taught Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 51:17 Highlight the passage at 51:17

51:43 There's this beautiful book by a recent Thai forest master. It's his biography written by one of his disciples, and it's totally mind-blowing and amazing, the experiences he has. And he talks about how he teaches the monks until midnight, and then all the devas come, and he teaches them for another couple of hours, and they all have appointments on different nights, like the devas of different neighborhoods, like the ones from this neighborhood come Monday night. Report an error in the passage at 51:43 Highlight the passage at 51:43

52:09 So these beings do have intelligence and they can be taught Dharma and they're quite interested, so they show up a lot in sutras, you know, these beings from these worlds. Good question. Yeah, Sandra. Report an error in the passage at 52:09 Highlight the passage at 52:09

52:28 This might be a stretch, but is there any correlation between the 49 days before the Buddha taught and the Bardo? Oh, that's a really, you know, I thought about that. I've never heard anyone say that, but... You know, why would there be these seven cycles of seven days in both things? And I don't know what the correlation is. It might be some esoteric correlation. Report an error in the passage at 52:28 Highlight the passage at 52:28

52:51 I've never heard anybody actually say that, but that's an interesting question. I'll try and find out. I'll try and ask around for that because it would be nice to know. Report an error in the passage at 52:51 Highlight the passage at 52:51

53:01 Anything else? You okay? Report an error in the passage at 53:01 Highlight the passage at 53:01

53:08 All right. So, let's start with the first truth. We'll talk about this word. It's often translated as suffering. And the Sanskrit word is dukkha. And then the Tibetan word is dunya. So dukkha, the truth of dukkha. So what is this dukkha that the Buddha saw characterizes our experience? Now dukkha, the Sanskrit word has two components, du and akka. Report an error in the passage at 53:08 Highlight the passage at 53:08

53:40 And we're going to talk about this word du. Dukkha means something like constricted, out of kilter, and Akka refers to space. It's a word for space. One of the connotations of this word is very interesting for getting an understanding of what this Dukkha means. Dukkha can refer to the Akka part. The space can refer to the space in the middle of a wheel that the axle goes through. Report an error in the passage at 53:40 Highlight the passage at 53:40

54:12 Akka can refer to space as sort of a general concept or specific types of space. One of them is the space in a wheel that the axle goes through. So one of the meanings, one of the connotations of this word dukkha is out of kilter wheel. And I think any of you who, you know, ever had one of those grocery carts where one of the wheels is stuck? Report an error in the passage at 54:12 Highlight the passage at 54:12

54:37 And you're trying to push it down the aisle and it keeps slamming into the frozen food aisle. Interesting. This is what the Buddha was saying about our reality. Out of kilter wheel, just like that. You're trying to steer it in a certain direction and you just can't quite get it to go. Okay, so this is a very interesting meaning of this word dukkha. Report an error in the passage at 54:37 Highlight the passage at 54:37

55:01 It's not necessarily what we would often think of as suffering and we'll get to that. But it's just this thing that you can't quite ever manage to get what you want, right? You're steering your life in a certain direction, you have your goal, and somehow it just keeps taking these wrong turns, like these 90 degree angles and slamming up against some other kind of reality you're not interested in all. Report an error in the passage at 55:01 Highlight the passage at 55:01

55:24 I mean, you're heading for the produce and you keep slamming against the frozen peas. You just want the organic vegetables. Like, what's up with that? And this is our life, right? I mean, I think it's very, you know, everybody kind of nods their head when they hear that definition of the word sakrit, because it just means things don't always turn out right. Report an error in the passage at 55:24 Highlight the passage at 55:24

55:43 And so some people prefer to translate this word as dissatisfaction, and that's a little bit more what it feels like. Just that thing of, you know, you have your hopes for the future and you have these... Ideas and these goals about how things are going to work out and it just never quite works out the way you want it to. I think actually I have this personal theory that relates to this. Report an error in the passage at 55:43 Highlight the passage at 55:43

56:09 This is just my own idea. I've never heard a Tibetan Lama say this. I think we're actually fooled into thinking that we're happy and it's actually the anticipation of what we think of as going to be happiness is what fools us into thinking that we're happy and then we actually get it. It's never that satisfying. Report an error in the passage at 56:09 Highlight the passage at 56:09

56:26 But we're fooled into thinking that these things make us happy, because you're thinking about getting it, and you're all excited about the anticipation, and it's right around the corner, and then you're going to get it, and how many times then you get it, and then you're just like, wah, wah, you know, that's it? Report an error in the passage at 56:26 Highlight the passage at 56:26

56:42 I have this friend, this is like such a perfect example, I have this friend, and he was actually a professional football player, and he said his whole life growing up. The thing to be, to like get out of his neighborhood, was to be a pro ball player. And he said he played both baseball and football. In college he was on both teams, which was like amazing. Report an error in the passage at 56:42 Highlight the passage at 56:42

57:04 And then, because he was recruited for both sports, both baseball and football, and then he said he chose football because he liked the sport better. I don't get that at all. I mean, to me it's just a bunch of guys like on top of each other on some field hurting each other badly. I don't understand how you could enjoy it, but it's one of those things. So he was recruited for this football team and apparently the way it works is like a bunch of people are recruited and then they have this training camp and then people get kind of cut out of the training camp before the final team. Report an error in the passage at 57:04 Highlight the passage at 57:04

57:37 So it was the New Orleans Saints was his team. So they all go to this training camp and then every day there's a couple of guys missing from the locker room. And then the final day, the coach comes in and announces and says, congratulations men, this is the 1991 New Orleans Saints football team. And they're like, you know, party, celebrate. And he goes, the very next day. And then he goes, no, no. He goes, it was that day, that afternoon, after the party's over. Report an error in the passage at 57:37 Highlight the passage at 57:37

58:05 He said he was like, is that it? Like, I don't really feel, I'm not happy. I don't feel any different. It didn't give me happiness, this lifelong goal. And it was very interesting, he said, so he did it, you know, he had a contract, he played football and like dated Hollywood starlets and all of this business. Report an error in the passage at 58:05 Highlight the passage at 58:05

58:24 And then he said the minute his contract was finished, he goes to the Bodhi Tree bookstore in L.A. and buys all these Buddhist books and like, you know, takes the Greyhound bus to New York to study with his teacher, you know. And it's just the perfect example of how you get what you want. And, you know, it still isn't enough. And I think that's where a lot of us are coming from. We've had that sort of American dream. Report an error in the passage at 58:24 Highlight the passage at 58:24

58:50 It's been fulfilled in some way. And then we just realized, that's it. Like what, I'm just going to entertain myself until I die. I mean, that was my life. Like I'm just going to go out to dinner every night and go out dancing with my friends. And like if I had a night that I wasn't doing all that stuff, it would just feel so meaningless, you know. Report an error in the passage at 58:50 Highlight the passage at 58:50

59:10 So I think for a lot of us, that feeling of dissatisfaction of getting what we set out to get and still feeling like, oh, that's all? It's still not the happiness that we are seeking. So I think sometimes we're always grasping and we think that that thing will give us happiness, but all we have to do is pay attention to all the times we've felt the same way that my friend, the football player, felt. Report an error in the passage at 59:10 Highlight the passage at 59:10

59:36 That's it. You know, you get into the relationship, you fall in love, you're after the person, you get them to go out with you, it's all great, and then you get together and you're like, okay. Report an error in the passage at 59:36 Highlight the passage at 59:36

59:46 You know, and maybe it's okay, but it's just not that anticipation of that intense kind of lasting happiness that we don't get. And that's dukkha. And I think we can all relate to that. It's that out-of-kilter wheelness to our reality. And that's what the Buddha was saying. And then even if you get it, even if it fulfills your dreams, it doesn't last because we're still subject to death. So even you have the perfect life with the perfect partner and the roof doesn't leak and the 401k plan is stable and the grandchildren are well behaved, somebody dies. Report an error in the passage at 59:46 Highlight the passage at 59:46

1:00:23 And that's what the Buddha said. And he said there's a reason for that. There's a reason for that and there's an answer to that too. Okay, but that's what this word means. So suffering is a little bit intense, you know, and I haven't, let's declare a contest to find the right word. Dissatisfaction is pretty good. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:23 Highlight the passage at 1:00:23

1:00:43 That's pretty good. That comes close. But let's try and think about, you know, because it's got these connotations and it's hard sometimes. It's kind of like Yiddish, right? There's these great Yiddish words. You need a whole paragraph to explain what it is. And Sanskrit and Tibetan are the same. You know, it's got this concept that has all of these connotations to it. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:43 Highlight the passage at 1:00:43

1:01:03 So that's what the Buddha was saying about our reality. And then he talked about suffering in a couple of different ways. And so I wanted to go over two lists where he's trying to explain this concept of dukkha and this will give us a better idea. So maybe we'll go through just the first list and then we'll have a break and continue with the second one after the break. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:03 Highlight the passage at 1:01:03

1:01:25 So he talked about a list of three types of suffering. And the first one is called the suffering of suffering, dukkha dukkha. The suffering of suffering. And this is what we usually think of when we think of suffering. It's the broken legs and the broken hearts and the bitter divorces and the heart attacks. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:25 Highlight the passage at 1:01:25

1:01:50 That level of gross, obvious, extreme suffering that everybody can accept. Yeah, that's suffering. So that's one level that the Buddha talked about. Even animals. animals get this kind you know we experience it animals experience it everybody acknowledges yeah that's separate unless you're some kind of masochist or something and you think it's pleasure but that's another story you know but for most people they acknowledge yeah that's definitely separate And this is the level that we mostly call pleasure. This is interesting to think about too. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:50 Highlight the passage at 1:01:50

1:02:25 It's called the suffering of change. So what does this mean? And this means that what we usually call pleasure is actually just relief from some deeper suffering. So, you know, I'm going through menopause right now. I'm sorry, you have to hear these things. So at night, I go to bed and I'm cold. And so I put on the blanket. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:25 Highlight the passage at 1:02:25

1:02:50 And then I wake up an hour and a half later and I'm sweating. And I throw the blanket off. And then I wake up an hour and a half later. No, Chad, you'll never have to go through it. It's really a blessing. Then you have to put the blanket back on and you throw it off and it happens a hundred times. And that's a perfect example of the suffering of change. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:50 Highlight the passage at 1:02:50

1:03:09 I put the blanket on first because I'm cold. And putting the blanket on seems like happiness because it makes me warm. And then it's too warm. And then throwing the blanket off is happiness. So the very same thing can either be happiness or suffering. And it's the same with eating, you know. You're hungry. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:09 Highlight the passage at 1:03:09

1:03:29 You're really hungry, so you eat. And then after eating, you have that piece of chocolate cake and it tastes really good and now you feel like you're happy. What happens if you continue eating and you have the second piece of chocolate cake and then the third piece? And the very same thing that seemed like happiness, if you indulge in it too much, actually turns into suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:29 Highlight the passage at 1:03:29

1:03:50 And then not eating seems like happiness. And then what happens seven hours later? You need to eat something again. So the Buddha is just saying it's like this, it's like this seesaw thing that we experience. And mostly what we do, what we call happiness, is just the relief of suffering. And it's not happiness in itself. It's not lasting ultimate happiness. Because if it were, the twelfth piece of chocolate cake would taste just as good as the first one did. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:50 Highlight the passage at 1:03:50

1:04:17 I mean, if happiness were in that chocolate cake, but it just relieves your suffering. It just relieves your suffering. A subtler level. So it's very interesting to look at what we label happiness. How much is it just relieving a grosser level of suffering and then indulged in too much, it will itself turn into suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:17 Highlight the passage at 1:04:17

1:04:41 So that's the suffering of chance. Is everybody clear about that? The new people especially? Because it's a little subtle the way it works. The thing about me and menopause and the chocolate cake might help. It's so true. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:41 Highlight the passage at 1:04:41

1:04:56 Maybe it's not even menopause. Maybe it would happen to normal people. I wouldn't know. So it's like that. So the suffering of change. And then this is even more subtle yet. And this is the subtlest called the pervasive suffering of condition existence. And what this means is just because we're born in cyclic existence, and I should explain this terminology a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:56 Highlight the passage at 1:04:56

1:05:21 Buddhism says we have many, many, many lifetimes. Infinite, in fact. We keep being reborn in what's called cyclic existence. And the Sanskrit word for this is saṃsāra, cyclic existence. We're born out of control, driven by karma and delusions. We'll get into that a lot when we talk about the cause of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:21 Highlight the passage at 1:05:21

1:05:44 And the Buddha said just that very fact that we're still here, that we're still stuck in that cycle, that we're not free of that cycle. We're still subject to that uncontrolled rebirth driven by karma and delusion is this one. So even those devas that we were talking about, even those beings that are, you know, have this incredible long lifespan, blissful pleasures, they're still experiencing this suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:44 Highlight the passage at 1:05:44

1:06:11 They're not experiencing these ones, but they're still in saṃsāra. They're still not liberated. So any being who's still unliberated is experiencing this. So no matter how good it gets in any given samsaric rebirth, this is still going on until you're free. That's a very subtlest level. And I think to develop this real wish to get free, which is called renunciation, another word I hate, we'll talk about that too. It's this wish to get completely out of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:11 Highlight the passage at 1:06:11

1:06:44 We need to have a really good understanding of this one, because otherwise we're just going to be trying to fix this in saṃsāra. We're just going to be trying to fix these two and we're not really going to realize we got to get out of here. You know, we just got to get free completely of the whole mistake. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:44 Highlight the passage at 1:06:44

1:07:02 We're just going to be trying to fix these first two sufferings. And a lot of times I think we first come to Buddhism because of this. You know, a lot of times people come because they just have a broken heart or something's happened or they've lost their job. And that's fine. And I think... Over time we develop an understanding of this one. But it is really subtle and it takes a lot of study and a lot of meditation to get to the point where you get this one. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:02 Highlight the passage at 1:07:02

1:07:28 But to develop that real wish to get free, which is one of the goals of Buddhism, we need to understand this one. Okay, so this is one of the lists that the Buddha explained how our suffering works. So any questions about... Yeah, Carla, quite quickly. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:28 Highlight the passage at 1:07:28

1:07:47 It's very clear how you experience. The first and second, how do you actually experience the third one? Yeah, and it's mostly just, you know, you can think of it at the time of death, those forces are still pushing you into another river, right? Even if you have one of those deva, and they say in those deva realms, those realms of incredible happiness, they say as it's ending, as the karma for that lifetime is ending, then they totally freak out, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:47 Highlight the passage at 1:07:47

1:08:17 Because they... They say they start to smell bad, like they start to age suddenly in the last week or something of that lifetime, and then they realize, oh, I'm not free, I'm going to take rebirth. So it's like being subject to that, I think, is how we experience it. And it may not be something that we know consciously that's happening, but just the very fact of being subject to that rebirth due to karma and delusion is the way that we experience that. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:17 Highlight the passage at 1:08:17

1:08:46 Yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:46 Highlight the passage at 1:08:46

1:08:50 So fear of death? Well, it's not so much a subjective experience of suffering that goes along with this one. It's just the very fact that we're still in that realm. But it may not be like this one isn't really a subjective experience of suffering because we still feel like that's pleasure. And in this one, unless you meditate well and study well, you're not even aware of that at all. So it doesn't necessarily manifest. This is the main one that manifests as a subjective experience of what we would call suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:50 Highlight the passage at 1:08:50

1:09:22 This one we think of as happiness. This one we're pretty oblivious about, you know, but it's just the forces that cause us to be reborn in some, sorry, next reboot. But it's not so much a subjective experience of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:22 Highlight the passage at 1:09:22

1:09:39 How do you, the third one, how do you not take it too far? So it's hard to, first of all, obviously get it, not like I understand it at all, but how do you not take it too far? And in that sense, how do you, when you say that you understand it, how do you understand it appropriately without it being this like, a nihilistic kind of attitude about everything sucks, you know? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:39 Highlight the passage at 1:09:39

1:10:04 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:04 Highlight the passage at 1:10:04

1:10:10 Yeah, yeah. And it's really important, I think, to keep a perspective. It doesn't mean, all of this doesn't mean that we don't have moments of happiness. Sure, we're happy. We have friends, we have love, we have happiness. It's that perspective, though. We have to change our perspective to realize... Report an error in the passage at 1:10:10 Highlight the passage at 1:10:10

1:10:30 You know, don't count on those things. Don't see that your happiness lies in those things. We'll talk about that more. We'll talk about the 12 Links of Dependent Origination that really explains how we misperceive that happiness is in that object. If we're experiencing happiness, this is skipping ahead quite a lot, if we're experiencing happiness, which we do, it's because of our virtue that we've created in the past. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:30 Highlight the passage at 1:10:30

1:10:56 And rejoice, and it's great, you know. And it's fine. Like, you don't have to just feel bummed out all the time. Like, everything that you experience is really suffering. And even if you feel happy for a moment, you sort of squelch it because you feel like, no, it's not real happiness and I'm still in saṃsāra and like, oh, everything sucks. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:56 Highlight the passage at 1:10:56

1:11:16 It's great to feel happy, but totally let go of grasping onto, you know, the objects that we misunderstand give us happiness. And that's the point. And I think that's why, like... His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Yeshi are such great examples. Like His Holiness enjoys everything. You see him, he's just like, you know, he's just walking around like totally. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:16 Highlight the passage at 1:11:16

1:11:40 But it's not like, you know, he goes to teach and he's put up in the Four Seasons Hotel in New York. And it's not like, you know, and he's there for four days and I'm sure he enjoys the nice food and the sweet and it's probably got a jacuzzi and God knows what. But it's not like when he's being driven away from it, he's like, oh, that was really nice. When's that going to happen again? I mean, that's, you know, whatever we get, enjoy it, but just then let go and don't misunderstand that as the cause of our happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:40 Highlight the passage at 1:11:40

1:12:12 And then I think that's how we can get the balance and not go to that extreme, because then that's just this Protestant Calvinist, like you're only virtuous if you're suffering thing. And that's like one of my total pet peeves. And I think we can take our Dharma practice and pervert it with our Protestant thing of like you're only virtuous if you're really like struggling and suffering and then you're somehow virtuous. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:12 Highlight the passage at 1:12:12

1:12:36 Forget about it. I mean Buddhism, the point of Buddhism is to be happy. Just not misunderstanding where that happiness comes from. She's got another thing because she needs a microphone again. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:36 Highlight the passage at 1:12:36

1:12:50 I've even heard some practitioners say, you know, even, what did she call it? She was just like, you don't want to have, like, you don't want to waste your virtue by having too much fun. Like, it drains your little clock, you know? Oh, please. You know, there's this, there's this student. You flip it over, you don't, hey, don't let it get too low. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:50 Highlight the passage at 1:12:50

1:13:13 You know, personally, I think that's an incredible misunderstanding. I had this friend who lived in Manhattan on the Lower East Side and he had a car, which is really stupid. And so he had this thing, right, because he was a Buddhist student. If he was driving home and if there was a parking place right in front of his apartment building, he wouldn't park there. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:13 Highlight the passage at 1:13:13

1:13:34 He'd drive like ten blocks. So he wouldn't waste his karma on a good parking place. That's what I'm talking about. That's ridiculous. The point is, understand where that good parking place came from and roll it over. It's like fusion. Take that good experience that you have and create the cause for even more good experiences by relating to it properly. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:34 Highlight the passage at 1:13:34

1:13:58 We say, motivate before any activity, keep a view of emptiness during the activity and then dedicate at the end. So I think if we got a view of where those experiences come from, You know, and we keep the view of emptiness about any experience that we have, which we'll talk about later, then we can actually use whatever good things happen to benefit beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:58 Highlight the passage at 1:13:58

1:14:20 And we're supposed to do that. Like one of the Bodhisattva vows is whatever you, you know, food, clothing, shelter, anything that you experience, think about how you can use it to benefit beings. And then if we have that attitude, great. You know, His Holiness the Dalai Lama does that. He gets driven around, stays in these nice places. All he's thinking about is how can I benefit beings by whatever it is that I'm experiencing. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:20 Highlight the passage at 1:14:20

1:14:46 So instead of just getting into that self-indulgent thing, just think about whatever incredible fortune your karma does serve up to you and just think about, okay, how can I roll it over and use my... Report an error in the passage at 1:14:46 Highlight the passage at 1:14:46

1:15:01 That whole thing of like, no, you're not supposed to be happy, you're supposed to suffer, that's a holdover from that Calvinist Protestant thing. And I think we completely taint, this is one of my big, I can go into a real rave about this, you know, I think this is one of the things I think we can taint a beautiful holy Dharma practice by those attitudes that we have, you know, that are holdovers of that other thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:01 Highlight the passage at 1:15:01

1:15:26 So, you know, One of the words, it's interesting because the word for Buddhist in Tibetan, they didn't really have a word Buddhist, but the word that they used to apply to somebody who was following the Buddhist teachings was Nangpa. And it literally means inner being, right? And it's a being who's looking inside for the sources of emptiness, not outside. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:26 Highlight the passage at 1:15:26

1:15:49 And I think when we feel happiness, and we'll get much more into this when we talk about the Twelve Links, realizing where it's coming from, understanding properly where that happiness is coming from, and realizing it's not because of grasping at external things. And then we'll be fine. Islami Eshi was like that too. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:49 Highlight the passage at 1:15:49

1:16:09 He enjoyed everything. I mean, he would go around, like this is Lama Zopa's teacher, and I had a friend who was his attendant, and he said he used to take him into department stores, and Lama Yeshi would head for the women's department. And my friend would be like, Lama, the men's clothes are over there, and he'd go, oh, they're so boring and ugly, and he'd buy these, like, kimonos and muumus and stuff, and go around in these sun hats, and he loved gardening, and he just loved everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:09 Highlight the passage at 1:16:09

1:16:34 And that's our role models. It's not, you know, kind of like... Bread and water, kind of like horrible, I've got to suffer. All we need to do is look at these lamas. But it's with the right perspective. It's with the right perspective enjoying what comes. And not doing that overindulgence, thinking that that thing is the cause of happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:34 Highlight the passage at 1:16:34

1:16:59 Good question. Maybe two more questions and then we'll have a break. That is just a segue to Michelle's question. is so I mean Life being too enjoyable. I know petitioners have a fear to get distracted from the practice and maybe sometimes it falls into that not wanting to enjoy it too much with fear of getting away from it. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:59 Highlight the passage at 1:16:59

1:17:29 Yeah, and that's true too. I mean, I think it can go to the extreme of... I shouldn't be happy, but of course often in the beginning, yes, we do have to be cautious about sense objects that we always will somehow get a misunderstanding about. So I think sometimes like living simply, and then one of the things we do is identify those sense objects that are so compelling that it's completely easy for us to lose track. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:29 Highlight the passage at 1:17:29

1:17:57 Completely of our aim. And that's just wisdom and I think that's fine. But that extreme like I shouldn't be happy because I'm somehow wearing out all my good karma thing. But yeah, definitely living in a way, and we'll talk about that more later too, identifying those objects that are so compelling that our wisdom gets completely overridden. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:57 Highlight the passage at 1:17:57

1:18:18 And we can't... Behave properly in relation to those objects and then at the beginning of the path, yeah, to avoid those if they're just a cause of problems for us. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:18 Highlight the passage at 1:18:18

1:18:31 So I thought you said the third one wasn't subjective? Is that what you said? Well, I don't think it manifests so much in our subjective experience of suffering the way the first one was. It's just the fact of our unenlightened existence and the fact that we're still subject to that uncontrolled evil. Does that third one relate? Report an error in the passage at 1:18:31 Highlight the passage at 1:18:31

1:18:55 ripening and collective karma? Sometimes that's more this way, like we can even still be experiencing the suffering of suffering collectively, like a group of people that are subject to war or some natural disaster or something, that could be a collective karma, manifesting a subjective experience of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:55 Highlight the passage at 1:18:55

1:19:16 I was just saying, because Carla was asking, how do we experience this one? And I was saying it's quite subtle and it may not manifest so much as subjective experience or even that much awareness of it. It's just the mere fact of our unenlightened existence and the mere fact that we're still in saṃsāra subject to that uncontrollable ego. Okay, let's have, is 15 minutes enough? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:16 Highlight the passage at 1:19:16

1:19:42 Is that alright? Okay, then come back at 25 after and we'll carry on. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:42 Highlight the passage at 1:19:42

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:20:48 Tamara, you have a sister who used to come with you too, right? That's right. I remember you guys. I haven't seen you in a long time. I think the last time I saw you was, I don't know, maybe ten years ago or something. I remember you and your sister. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:48 Highlight the passage at 1:20:48

1:21:07 Okay, any more questions while we're waiting for the last couple of people to come in? Yeah, Marcella. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:07 Highlight the passage at 1:21:07

1:21:16 ha, ha! Ha! Yes, I know you're going to talk about emptiness later. Maybe I'm going to wait, you know, because a definition about emptiness, I'm sure. Yeah, and we'll talk about it more. I was kind of mentioning it because some people have studied it and we'll get into it more when we talk about the path. Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:16 Highlight the passage at 1:21:16

1:21:38 It's so hard actually to teach linearly, you know, because you kind of have to... Sometimes talk about things that you don't really have time to talk about fully later, but yeah, we'll definitely talk about that more. If not today, probably tomorrow we'll get into it quite a bit more. Good, thanks myself. Okay, so one of the things that's... I was just thinking about the life story of the Buddha, and one of the things that's useful in terms of thinking about the story of the Buddha that we talked about this morning is... Report an error in the passage at 1:21:38 Highlight the passage at 1:21:38

1:22:13 To think of it as like a metaphor for our own life. Like we can think about it as this historical story about some prince that lived in North India, and that's all true too. In fact, for a long time, until really recently, Western archaeologists and anthropologists didn't even think that the Buddha was a real person and had really lived. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:13 Highlight the passage at 1:22:13

1:22:34 It's very interesting to read kind of the story of when mostly the British in North India. In the 1800s started to really realize that, you know, through discovering some of these ancient sites that the Buddha was a real living person, that there really was a place where he was enlightened, there was a place he was born, finding these old monuments. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:34 Highlight the passage at 1:22:34

1:22:56 And we can think of it like that as the story of this historical person. I think, however, it's more useful for us to think of the Buddha's life as like a metaphor for our own spiritual journey. Like, you know, most of us in this room... We have grown up with a certain amount of privilege materially. We didn't want for much, a little bit like the Buddha. Maybe our father didn't build us three pleasure palaces, but still. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:56 Highlight the passage at 1:22:56

1:23:22 Mostly we had enough to eat. We didn't grow up on the street like that. And then always at a certain point, that sort of blissful oblivion gets shattered by something. Often for people, you sort of scratch the surface of any given Buddhist. And often the people in the class have experienced some kind of suffering. Somebody close to them has died. Maybe they have a problem with substance abuse, you know, something. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:22 Highlight the passage at 1:23:22

1:23:49 Or just that feeling of nagging dissatisfaction. Like my friend the football player. You know, you've done everything right and it still hasn't worked what's going on kind of thing. But often there'll be some kind of turning point that just sort of shatters your illusion that if you behave and play by the rules. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:49 Highlight the passage at 1:23:49

1:24:07 Everything's going to be okay and you're going to have happiness. So just like the Buddha when he went out and saw those sights that he saw with his charioteer, you know, shattered his complacency, kind of the wake-up call, you know, and I think we've all had one of those. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't be sitting here on a really nice Saturday. You'd be out boating on the bay or something, you know, if you hadn't had something happen that made you want to look for the answers to something. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:07 Highlight the passage at 1:24:07

1:24:34 And then just like the Buddha, we start searching. Sometimes we search, and like the Buddha, we come to a couple of dead ends. A lot of people, before they find a path that really works, you check out yoga, you check out this, you check out this spiritual teacher, maybe you try Christianity again, you're just kind of looking, just like the Buddha was, what kind of path provides the answer, and then hopefully eventually you find one, and then like the Buddha can embark on that path wholeheartedly. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:34 Highlight the passage at 1:24:34

1:25:01 and have those results. So I think it's kind of interesting to look at our lives and see what corollaries there are for these kind of major stages of the Buddha's life. Any questions left over from this morning before we carry on with more stuff? Yeah, Sean's got a question. My question is about the suffering of change. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:01 Highlight the passage at 1:25:01

1:25:28 The suffering of suffering seems like intuitively obvious. And is the suffering of change, I have something written down here, is it because, does it arise due to our attachment to things that do change? So take the analogy of the chocolate cake, that first piece of chocolate cake that we eat. It has all these great pleasures associated. Oh, this is great chocolate cake, yummy. And we become attached to that pleasure that we get from that first piece of chocolate cake. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:28 Highlight the passage at 1:25:28

1:26:02 But when we're not eating the chocolate cake, we're like, oh, we're not eating chocolate cake. I want to be eating chocolate cake. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:02 Highlight the passage at 1:26:02

1:26:13 So does it come from that attachment to the happiness that you get from eating the chocolate cake? Is that kind of like... I mean, it's definitely the cause for grasping after those external things is that ignorance, thinking that that external thing is going to be the cause of your happiness, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:13 Highlight the passage at 1:26:13

1:26:29 And then you start to indulge in whatever that is, let's say chocolate cake, but then the suffering of change is more saying that happiness that you feel even in that moment. Isn't any kind of lasting pure happiness. Otherwise the more you did it, the happier you get. It's just relief from some other kind of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:29 Highlight the passage at 1:26:29

1:26:51 So what you're talking about is sort of a step even further back, like a more fundamental kind of idea that we're going to talk about more. What is that misperception of the chocolate cake being the cause of your happiness that causes that attachment for it? Then you eat it, you know, but even the pleasure you get from eating it is just relief from a more extreme suffering of hunger. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:51 Highlight the passage at 1:26:51

1:27:15 So yeah, you're kind of talking about like the motivational or the misperception that kind of causes that whole grasping to happen and that's what we'll talk about quite a lot when we get into the cause of suffering. So just like a quick little corollary to that. So take the example of the chocolate cake again. We eat that piece of chocolate cake. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:15 Highlight the passage at 1:27:15

1:27:35 Which is great. And in order to get that happiness that you get from eating the first piece of chocolate cake, you eat more cake and more cake. And then eventually you eat so much cake that you get sick of eating cake. And then what's happened? It turned into the suffering of suffering, right? Like at that point it's no longer the suffering of change. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:35 Highlight the passage at 1:27:35

1:27:54 The suffering of change is talking about the happiness that we get that's really just relief from a more extreme suffering. By the time you've eaten the fifth piece... We're all the way up here. This more subtle thing has moved into the actual suffering of suffering because you have a horrible stomach ache and like that. So it's kind of like the suffering of change being the suffering that occurs from eating the chocolate cake and becoming happy as a... Report an error in the passage at 1:27:54 Highlight the passage at 1:27:54

1:28:23 Removal of the suffering of not eating a chocolate cake. But if you eat too much chocolate cake, then it becomes a suffering of suffering. So the suffering of change, again, is what we mostly call happiness. And it's just pointing out the fact, if that thing was the real ultimate lasting cause of happiness, it would always work. The 12th piece would taste as good as the first piece. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:23 Highlight the passage at 1:28:23

1:28:45 You know, no matter how many blankets I put on my bed, I'd just get happier and happier. And it doesn't work like that. So that's just pointing to that. Like again, the Lord Buddha keeps trying to get us to see where does happiness come from? Is it from those objects? Can't be. Because if it really were in the object, it would always work to give us happiness and it doesn't. So again, he's trying to get us to be one of those inner beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:45 Highlight the passage at 1:28:45

1:29:11 Look at where happiness comes from. Any moment of happiness I have comes from virtue. Some virtuous thought, something I did to help someone in the past. Maybe the blanket and the chocolate cake and all those things are a condition, but they're not the cause. So that's what the Buddha is trying to get us to look at, just to break down, like you say, that attachment, grasping onto those objects being the source of happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:11 Highlight the passage at 1:29:11

1:29:41 So is Shakyamun Buddha the first being that's thought to ever have been enlightened, or was there no enlightenment before? Yeah, we talk about, that's a great question, we talk about what we say, we call the thousand wheel-turning Buddhas of this age, meaning that according to Buddhism, in our world system, you know, in this age of our world system, there's going to be a thousand of these enlightened beings who start the wheel-going thing, you know, who teach the path to enlightenment, and then during the age that they've been teaching, many beings attain enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:41 Highlight the passage at 1:29:41

1:30:18 The Buddha is said to be the fourth of these thousand wheel-turning Buddhas. So there are previous Buddhas who also taught the methods that the Buddha taught. About how to get enlightened. And then their followers also practiced and gained enlightenment. Maitreya Buddha is supposed to be the fifth one. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:18 Highlight the passage at 1:30:18

1:30:37 Some of you may know Lama Zopa has a plan to build this big statue of Maitreya Buddha, the next of these wheel-turning Buddhas. So yeah, the Shakyamuni Buddha wasn't at all the first, not even the first of these Buddhas that gets things going again. They say that a wheel-turning Buddha appears, teaches the path. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:37 Highlight the passage at 1:30:37

1:30:55 And then it goes through this kind of series of, you know, spreading and then decline and then it fades out altogether. So one of the things that we think about when we do meditation on our incredibly fortunate condition that we have, we call it the precious human rebirth. Is thinking especially about the fact that we're born in an age where the Buddha has appeared, that the Buddha has taught and that the Buddhist teachings still exist and are still flourishing. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:55 Highlight the passage at 1:30:55

1:31:23 Because according to Buddhist cosmology there's plenty of eras that are like these dark eras that those teachings don't exist at all. So we're in sort of still in the fourth... Of these cycles for our world system, the teachings of the fourth Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, still exist, are still working to produce a enlightened being. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:23 Highlight the passage at 1:31:23

1:31:44 That's kind of where it comes. So we're really lucky, because then there's these gaps in between that, you know, really difficult to know how to practice. By world system, you mean even outside of this? universe, or you mean like? Yeah, it's a little bit like creation and destruction. So we've got these cycles of Big Bangs. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:44 Highlight the passage at 1:31:44

1:32:09 Like in Buddhism we say there's not just one Big Bang. Like there's the Big Bang and the Big Crunch and the Big Bang and the Big Crunch. So it keeps going like that. And then there's many universes. Like Buddhist cosmology is very interesting. It's not limited to this solar system or even this universe. There are different universes going through their own. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:09 Highlight the passage at 1:32:09

1:32:28 So I think when they talk about for this world system, it probably would mean for this cycle of kind of Big Bang and Big Crunch of this universe. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:28 Highlight the passage at 1:32:28

1:32:40 Michael had one. So I didn't think this was going to come up at all. I'm grateful for this. So is that how they explain? Because humans as you and I exist. Obviously didn't always exist. How does Buddhism explain the split into the way we think and work today as opposed to when there weren't humans on this earth? Report an error in the passage at 1:32:40 Highlight the passage at 1:32:40

1:33:12 And then Buddhism would say on different worlds, because even within our universe, Buddhism says there's plenty of... You know, solar systems with life on it. And so sometimes people ask this thing like because of the population explosion, they go, how do you explain that according to Buddhism? And according to Buddhism, there's this transmigration not only from different kinds of rebirth within our world, but also between different worlds. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:12 Highlight the passage at 1:33:12

1:33:39 And then when the karma changes, something happens like human beings. You know, evolving with our increased intelligence due to the karma of the beings that are going to be reborn as humans in this world. That kind of life form evolves. So it's all due to karma. You know, it's very interesting. And then there's something else going on, very similar in some other, you know, world with beings on it. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:39 Highlight the passage at 1:33:39

1:34:08 Same kind of realms. You know, so there's this shifting from realm to realm. From realm to realm within our world and then also from world system to world system. So the Tibetan Lama say, you know, I asked one Lama, I was kind of freaked out. I go, what happens if I don't get enlightened before the Buddha's teachings disappear from this world system altogether? I'm like, God, I gotta hurry up. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:08 Highlight the passage at 1:34:08

1:34:34 You know, because I was studying this sort of cycle of cosmology and he goes, Don't worry about it. You'll just be reborn. If you're at that level, high enough, you'll be reborn in some world system where they're still existing. So he's like, don't sweat it. You know, it's going to be all right. So for them, you know, for them with this view, it's just incredible. You know, this broad, expansive view of like infinite world systems going through these stages. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:34 Highlight the passage at 1:34:34

1:35:02 In fact, Sometimes new students, I mean we're digressing a little bit, but sometimes students ask the question, what happened to Shakyamuni Buddha? Is there like a reincarnation of Shakyamuni Buddha somewhere? And the answer is, Shakyamuni Buddha is enacting all the deeds that he did in the story that I just told you on many world systems simultaneously. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:02 Highlight the passage at 1:35:02

1:35:25 It's always happening somewhere. You know, the same kind of deeds leading to the enlightenment. not like that, yeah. I don't want to get you off topic because you might be covering this or you may not, but I wanted to take a moment and ask about, I'm focusing on attachment right now. That seems to be an area that I have a problem with. And we speak a lot about objects. How does that shift if it does in relation to emotions and relationships? Report an error in the passage at 1:35:25 Highlight the passage at 1:35:25

1:35:53 Like maybe the attachment is a relationship you have with another human being, not a thing. Right. And we're going to talk about that a lot. When you talk about the cause of suffering because there's a whole kind of chain reaction starting with ignorance leading to these kind of disturbing emotions. Attachment is one leading to karmic action. So we'll look at that in a lot of detail where we can just kind of hang on. I think we'll get to that in a lot of detail this afternoon. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:53 Highlight the passage at 1:35:53

1:36:22 So see if I've answered that question. You know, attachment is a big hot topic. Sometimes I teach this course called Dealing with Emotions. It's always packed. You know, you put on a course, you put out a flyer dealing with emotions, 60 people show up. Everybody wants to know how to deal with emotions. So we'll have like a little mini hour and a half this afternoon of the Dealing with Emotions class kind of crunched into just the essence. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:22 Highlight the passage at 1:36:22

1:36:56 Okay. So the next list I want to go through, like I said, the list, the Buddha had many of these lists where he explained different kinds of suffering. And so we have the list of three that we just did. And then there's another list that I really like because I think, again, just like that kind of outer kilter grocery cart wheel thing, this is something that we can really relate to when we think about these kinds of things that we don't usually call suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:56 Highlight the passage at 1:36:56

1:37:27 But this is what the Buddha said in another list. And so he gave this list of six. The first is the suffering of uncertainty. And what this means is things don't last. There's no guarantees in our life. Like I said, even you get those things that are supposed to give you happiness and they are giving you happiness, it could change. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:27 Highlight the passage at 1:37:27

1:37:50 It could always change. You know, I think, you know, a lot of us in this last year since the... Economic problems have experienced a lot of the suffering of uncertainty. I had a man in a class right after the stock market kind of crashed last fall and he said he was just getting ready to retire. You know, he had his 401k and his retirement fund and then he just kind of completely lost all his retirement money, like just this plan he'd had for his whole life, just expecting some kind of certainty, just expecting that things were going to work out like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:50 Highlight the passage at 1:37:50

1:38:26 And I think we all do this. And one of the things that causes us so much suffering, according to Buddhism, is the reality of impermanence. We expect things are going to last forever, especially the good stuff. I think we kind of think it's like this. You know, we sort of all draw it in the air because the flip chart is already in use. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:26 Highlight the passage at 1:38:26

1:38:49 We sort of have this idea that things come into being, right? There's this sort of... A curve that goes up sharply as things come into being. And then we think they kind of level out. And then they just are static for a certain period of time. And then if they go out of existence, there's this sharp kind of downward curve and then we think it's a disaster. And if we're an American, we think it's all our fault, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:38:49 Highlight the passage at 1:38:49

1:39:19 That things went out of existence. And the fact is... That things are changing moment by moment. There isn't such a kind of static thing. Let's take a simple example like a flower. We have this flower on my table and we think, okay, so the flower, you know, the plant grows and then there's a bud and the flower blooms and then there's a bloom and then it just lasts and at a certain point it turns brown. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:19 Highlight the passage at 1:39:19

1:39:48 And that's the kind of ending of that flower. And the fact is the flower is changing moment by moment by moment. There isn't some moment of decay. What we see as decay is just all of those moments of change add up to something that we can perceive. Oh, the petals are brown. Better throw the flower out. Don't offer it to a Buddha if it looks funky and it's starting to go bad. But the fact is, from moment to moment, That flower was decaying. And we don't get this. We don't get that impermanence, which just basically means that momentary change. And so we're always shocked when things change. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:48 Highlight the passage at 1:39:48

1:40:30 Of course they are. They have to. Nothing lasts forever. Everything changes moment by moment. So this causes a lot of suffering for us. If it's the good stuff that we're losing. We're not so upset when the bad stuff changes. But the suffering of uncertainty and not ever really being able to count on anything being stable. So this is one of the sufferings that we experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:30 Highlight the passage at 1:40:30

1:40:56 Definitely the suffering of uncertainty. There's nothing that you can really count on lasting forever. And then the next one is the suffering of dissatisfaction. No matter what we get, it's never enough. Right? They say in the scripture it's like drinking salt water. No matter what samsaric pleasures you get, you know, it's never quite enough. I had experienced, actually it was last year, I was being driven to a teaching in this man's Prius. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:56 Highlight the passage at 1:40:56

1:41:28 And so he's showing me, there's this huge display on the dashboard. So distracting, I couldn't believe it. You know, all these GPS systems, I could never drive if I had one. So we're going up a hill and he's proudly showing me, you know, this diagram showing now it's using... And then we're going down the hill and all the little colors change and the arrows are pointing in the other direction. And now it's on electricity and then we're going on the flat and it's sort of 50-50 and I'm kind of like, wow, like watch the traffic. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:28 Highlight the passage at 1:41:28

1:41:59 Don't be showing me this thing, you know. And he's all excited and he got this car six months ago. It's the greatest thing. And then we stop for gas, which we of course have to do eventually. And then as we're at the gas station, like he fills it up with gas, he gets back in the car and then he just goes, and you know, for a mere $2,000, there's this extra thing I could add to the engine that would mean that it would be completely electric and all I have to do is plug it into my house at night. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:59 Highlight the passage at 1:41:59

1:42:28 And I'm just thinking, wow, you know, six months ago. The hybrid was the greatest thing. He's so happy. It's perfect. And now already he's thinking, oh, if only I could add this extra thing so it would be all electric, then I'd really be happy. And it's always like that, isn't it? You know, you get the new thing and you're happy and that lasts for however long it lasts. I mean, five minutes to six months, I think is the maximum ever. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:28 Highlight the passage at 1:42:28

1:42:59 I think I might be wrong. For you it might be more. It's never more than that for me. And then you're always looking. Where is the next thing? And that's the fault of that mind that thinks that happiness is going to come from the outside. Because it's never enough. It's never enough. You can never get enough. As long as you have that mind misunderstanding where happiness comes from. There's never enough stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:59 Highlight the passage at 1:42:59

1:43:24 Next week. I know this is Betty's big issue. Next week. We're having a monastic conference and the topic of conference is monasticism and the environment. And so we're going to be talking a lot about things like global warming. One of the things, you know, I sent out an email to a bunch of my friends saying, what do you think the role of Buddhists, what do you think the role of monastics in particular? Report an error in the passage at 1:43:24 Highlight the passage at 1:43:24

1:43:47 And a lot of what came back was practicing contentment, which we can do if we don't misunderstand where happiness comes from. If you think it comes from the stuff. There's never going to be enough. If you understand that relationship, much easier to have a mind of contentment, much easier to have a mind of satisfaction. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:47 Highlight the passage at 1:43:47

1:44:07 You know, you don't need to be filling your house full of all this stuff. People are so confused. I remember when I came back from my first trip to India, you know, in there, like I said, you see lepers, you see people with this really abject suffering. I remember coming back and going to this shopping mall, Capitola Mall down in Santa Cruz, and looking at all of the people on Saturday afternoon thinking that if they bought that stuff that they were at the mall to get, then they'd find happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:07 Highlight the passage at 1:44:07

1:44:39 And somehow I found that sadder than the people that think that the reason they're suffering is because they have leprosy. The people who are so confused about why they're still suffering. Because they have enough money to buy all this stuff and it's still not enough. So this is a big suffering for us. Especially if we don't understand the relationship. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:39 Highlight the passage at 1:44:39

1:44:59 Why am I still never happy? I'm never content. I'm never satisfied. Nothing is enough. It's that drinking salt water. You drink it because you're thirsty, it just makes you more thirsty. This is the nature of that type of suffering. And then the next one. And this again is... You know, due to, or explained by the Buddhist concept of rebirth, shedding your body over and over. According to Buddhism, we take rebirth countless times. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:59 Highlight the passage at 1:44:59

1:45:32 And leaving our body is a very painful experience. There's a hospice down at Land of Medicine Buddha and I worked in the hospice for... Many years, I was the person that when somebody was dying, I was there to do all of the practices and then I've also been called into hospitals and nursing homes and things to be with people dying. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:32 Highlight the passage at 1:45:32

1:45:53 People have such a strong identification with their identity, which very much is involved with their body. We very much identify with our bodies. And then when that separation is happening, the consciousness is actually being... Pulled away from the body, it causes an extreme amount of suffering. You know, because the people feel like they're ceasing to exist because they held on so much to this identity that they're their body. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:53 Highlight the passage at 1:45:53

1:46:21 So shedding the body over and over and over again is a suffering. We usually don't think about this. You know, we don't think about death much at all. We don't think about, wow, having to go through that over and over and over again, countless lifetimes. That panic that you'll often see dying people go through as they're dying because they realize that they have to leave their body behind. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:21 Highlight the passage at 1:46:21

1:46:45 So shedding the body over and over and repeating the pattern over and over. And this refers both to rebirth, having to take rebirth over and over and over again. And I think we can also think of it in terms of any pattern that we repeat over and over and over again. The tedium. I remember there's one Lama who came to Vajrapani a number of years ago and he was talking about this one and he goes, he spoke English really well and he lived in the States since the early 60s or something so he knew all this slang and all these idioms. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:45 Highlight the passage at 1:46:45

1:47:21 It was really funny. And I remember he said, it's like this, you get up in the morning and you brush your teeth and you get dressed and you have breakfast and you go to work and you come home and you eat dinner and you watch TV and you go to bed. You wake up in the morning and you brush your teeth and you get dressed and you go to work and you come home and you eat dinner and watch TV and you go to bed. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:21 Highlight the passage at 1:47:21

1:47:42 And you wake up in the morning and you brush your teeth. And he went through this about six or seven times until we're just like, ah! And he's like, that's this one. And not only for this life, but life after life after life. And you just get this feeling of like, oh my God, you know. We've just been trying to find happiness life after life after life and just repeating this incredible, tedious pattern over and over. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:42 Highlight the passage at 1:47:42

1:48:11 I was teaching this in prison once and one of the inmates says, you think it's boring out there? In here? You're in the cell the size of a bathroom with a guy who hits you and then you go to the exercise yard and you get in a fight and the guards are yelling at you and then you go back in your cell for another 23 hours. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:11 Highlight the passage at 1:48:11

1:48:27 With the guy who hates you and then you go out in the exercise yard for an hour and he's just like, how do I deal with this tedium? And so it's like that, just repeating that pattern and we just get this feeling of like, oh, all the ways that we've tried in countless lifetimes to find happiness. We've just been off base, you know? And that's one of the things that I think of when I feel uninspired and I think, now I know better. Like, now I really know. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:27 Highlight the passage at 1:48:27

1:48:56 Where happiness comes from. Because for so many lifetimes I've just been lost trying to repeat this pattern to try and find happiness and it's just never worked. So this suffering, friends. Then the next one, moving from high to low status over and over. And again, it can refer both to states of rebirth because we talk about different realms of existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:56 Highlight the passage at 1:48:56

1:49:21 Moving from a higher rebirth, like one of those Deva realms full of all of the sense pleasures, down to a realm of suffering. And then also, of course, within this life too. Same thing with the economic crisis. And we're always reading the paper about these CEOs of major companies that are found to have been cheating or, you know, siphoning off all the funds and get thrown into jail. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:21 Highlight the passage at 1:49:21

1:49:45 Of course, it's one of those white-collar crime jails that they play golf or something. I don't know. But still, for them, it's a big shift in status. So again, like whatever we get, we have a very good chance of losing and it causes a suffering for us. The uncertainty, like it's mixed with this uncertainty, but specifically the uncertainty of moving from a high to a low status. And then the last one mentioned in this list, we go through life alone. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:45 Highlight the passage at 1:49:45

1:50:16 No matter what we're doing. No matter how much we love people, how close we are to people, the fact is nobody can be in our head with us going through our experience with us. We have to go through it alone. And this is a source of suffering for us. Often when I'm teaching this class over a couple of weeks, I give people the homework to think about which one of these causes the most amount of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:16 Highlight the passage at 1:50:16

1:50:46 For you, like look at this list of six and so I urge you to do that. Look at that list of six. What can you relate to the most? And people give different things. For me, often it's this one. I remember I did this long meditation retreat and sometimes I'd have these amazing experiences and afterwards often I'd think, nobody will ever know what I'm going through. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:46 Highlight the passage at 1:50:46

1:51:10 Or in the hard bits too, I just kind of go, wow. I'm just going through this completely alone. Like my internal experience, nobody's ever going to really get it because nobody can be inside your head with you. And how many times have you tried to share something deep with your partner or your best friend and you think you're really communicating and they're really getting it and then a couple of days later they reflect back to you what they heard you say and you're like, you don't understand me. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:10 Highlight the passage at 1:51:10

1:51:40 at all, you know. Often it's really hard for others to really understand what we go through. And then, of course, life after life. We have to go through death and rebirth completely alone, too. No matter how much we love people, we can't take them with us into the next life in the same form that we know them. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:40 Highlight the passage at 1:51:40

1:52:03 So I think this list, if we think about it, this whole First Noble Truth makes a lot more sense. Sometimes when you hear the truth of suffering, you're like, hey, my life isn't that bad, I'm doing pretty good. But when you think of some of these subtler levels of it, then you're like, well, yeah, sure, I go through this. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:03 Highlight the passage at 1:52:03

1:52:22 If that's what the Buddha was talking about, then I can relate to it. So, questions about this? Yes, Sandra and Mintheon. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:22 Highlight the passage at 1:52:22

1:52:34 Periodically where something will come up where it's dissatisfaction, and I will think... I should know better because I've used the Dharma before in terms of impermanence or emptiness. But then it's like, okay, I should know better. I'm still feeling dissatisfied. And I kind of go, yeah, yeah, I know about the impermanence. But I'm still dissatisfied. So, you know, it's just like, sometimes I don't know where to go and I'm just kind of sitting there with, well, I should know better. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:34 Highlight the passage at 1:52:34

1:53:09 And I do believe this. And I get the part about karma, it's like, okay, this is manifesting. Yeah. But then what? And I think a big part of our practice where we are, that awareness alone, and just kind of sitting with that awareness and seeing how it just, yeah, here it comes again. Yeah, I know better intellectually, but I still don't really have the realization. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:09 Highlight the passage at 1:53:09

1:53:35 And that's the difference between knowing all the facts and the ideas and going to Dharma class for years and actually having developed the realization really in your heart, which is very, very hard to really even develop renunciation, which is just giving up that hope that those external things will give you happiness so that you're not so bothered when they change and you're not so disappointed. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:35 Highlight the passage at 1:53:35

1:54:01 That's a huge, huge, huge... So I think where most of us are is this split between kind of our head and our heart. And we can just kind of go, oh, I should. And the should thing, don't should yourself. You know, that's kind of along with the low self-esteem and everything else, really bad idea. But you just think, oh, this is proving again what the Buddha said. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:01 Highlight the passage at 1:54:01

1:54:25 And I think that's the most beneficial way to use those disappointing experiences instead of going like, I should react differently. Wow, think of the sadness I feel right now. Think of the suffering I feel. It's exactly what the Buddha said and then it inspires you to actually develop the realization that goes along with that understanding so that then the next, you know, when it happens after you have that realization you won't be surprised, you won't be disappointed. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:25 Highlight the passage at 1:54:25

1:54:52 We talk about three different ways of kind of approaching the Buddha's teachings. We talk about learning, listening. Hearing to the teachings, so getting the information in. And then we talk about contemplation, which is applying the ideas to your own life to see if it really applies to you. And then we talk about meditation. And then to really gain the realization depends on meditating on what we've learned. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:52 Highlight the passage at 1:54:52

1:55:19 And I think often in the West, we're so cerebral that we mistake an intellectual understanding with a realization. Meditation is the only way that it becomes an actual heartfelt kind of life-changing perspective. And I think we need to focus a lot more on doing that. And then it'll reduce that gap between what we know and what we feel. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:19 Highlight the passage at 1:55:19

1:55:50 And all these things that we go through that just really helps you develop your renunciation. yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:50 Highlight the passage at 1:55:50

1:55:55 or you're just, you know. Kind of reinforces, oh yeah, what the Buddha said is true and I got to get out of here because we're all subject to this until we're free. You know, that's the best way to lose it. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:55 Highlight the passage at 1:55:55

1:56:09 A deeper understanding of my mom died of impermanence and everybody's suffering around that. But, and it did sink down, but it seems like sometimes I lose that. Yeah, yeah, and that happens and we have... We have the difference between kind of a realization that they call sometimes contrived realization that might come after a good meditation or after an intense experience like that and then you lose it. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:09 Highlight the passage at 1:56:09

1:56:36 In Tibetan they talk about goosebump renunciation, meaning it just like a goosebump, it kind of comes up for a while and then it goes back down again. And then they say to actually get a stable, uncontrived realization of any of these things, whether it's impermanence, emptiness, anything, That takes tons and tons and tons and tons of meditation. So I think we can use the experiences like you've had, the renunciation or the understanding of impermanence that happens after an event, and then just try and keep using that feeling that was generated then and make it stable. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:36 Highlight the passage at 1:56:36

1:57:11 So it's a real stable, constant, not depending on circumstance kind of realization. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:11 Highlight the passage at 1:57:11

1:57:27 So how does Buddhism explain the contrast between thoughts on dying alone? You know, like in Christianity, they say, you know, heaven and families waiting. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:27 Highlight the passage at 1:57:27

1:57:45 And everybody looks a lot better than they looked in real life. And you don't fight like you used to at Thanksgiving. Everyone's in their 20s. Yeah, right. And gorgeous. Long hair and nice. And you all get along really well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even though you didn't in life, right? Yeah, right. So, is... Yeah, I know that story. Does bodhicitta say that it's just... Report an error in the passage at 1:57:45 Highlight the passage at 1:57:45

1:58:06 A product of attachment and wishful thinking is that just they think that or say that because they want it to happen and why is there such a contrast because after all we are all just people who want what we want. How is it that Buddhism came to say that it's so wildly different? Well, it's not so much, actually. It's interesting, because I remember talking, I was in India in the early 90s, and there was this one Tibetan Lama who was going to Europe to teach for the first time, who was going to be a resident teacher in Germany. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:06 Highlight the passage at 1:58:06

1:58:42 And so he wanted me to talk to him a little bit about, like, Western culture. And he was like, I've heard that there's this religion in the West that's really popular, Christianity. Do you know that much about it? I was like, I don't know so much. I wasn't really raised Christian. But I'm trying to tell him what I know. So I start explaining this thing about heaven and hell. And then he goes, wait, wait, you're talking about Buddhist heaven and hell. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:42 Highlight the passage at 1:58:42

1:59:04 And I go, no, no, Christians have this idea too. Then he goes, wait a minute, I thought they didn't believe in rebirth. And I said, oh, they believe in just one and it's forever. And he goes, well, that doesn't make sense. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:04 Highlight the passage at 1:59:04

1:59:17 So it's interesting, like a lot of the descriptions of these Deva realms like we were talking about before, these incredible heavenly pleasure realms, and then these realms in Buddhism that we actually call hell realms. Characterized by burning fire, sounds familiar, you know, intense suffering. So it's not that different, actually. It's just the perspective of does it last forever? Report an error in the passage at 1:59:17 Highlight the passage at 1:59:17

1:59:41 Like what, you get 85 years to make it or break it for the rest of all eternity? Which I don't know, you know, for me that really doesn't make sense. Or do you get more chances? Like, yeah, okay, you go there. And then you get another chance after that. So the thing about meeting the family and you're all beautiful, I don't know about that part, but you know, there is a heaven or this God realm in Buddhism that is characterized by this incredible sense pleasure and everybody's beautiful. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:41 Highlight the passage at 1:59:41

2:00:07 So it's quite similar in that way. I think maybe, I don't know, maybe it's consoling to think, yeah, you're going to meet everybody who's done before. So what does Buddhism say about the sightings of people? They see their loved ones after they die. They feel their presence. Is there any kind of parallel thought on that? Report an error in the passage at 2:00:07 Highlight the passage at 2:00:07

2:00:28 Yeah, and there's a realm in these and it's called the intermediate state. It's not really a different realm. It's just the state in between rebirth states. They can last up to 49 days. We had that comment by Sandra before. And often they say, like especially after someone's died, if you feel their presence, you actually might see them. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:28 Highlight the passage at 2:00:28

2:00:49 They say that those beings who have died are very close to their relatives in their previous life and are actually physically around them. That's why in Buddhism we do a lot of prayers for that period right after someone has died. Because it could be that that person is nearby and can actually be benefited by the prayers and practices that we're doing for them. So it could very well be that people are actually making some kind of contact with these intermediate state beings, especially if it's in that period after death. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:49 Highlight the passage at 2:00:49

2:01:20 Sometimes like ghosts, what we call ghosts and haunted houses and things. The Buddhist explanation is sometimes it's some sort of a spirit realm rebirth that because of their attachment to a place or people manifests with the appearance of the person from that life. And that's what we would say something like a haunted house would be, like some kind of spirit rebirth looking just like the person because of their attachment to... Report an error in the passage at 2:01:20 Highlight the passage at 2:01:20

2:01:48 A place or a person. So there are these explanations, but it's slightly different in Buddhism, but it can all be explained in terms of the different realms of rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:48 Highlight the passage at 2:01:48

2:01:58 Yeah, sure. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:58 Highlight the passage at 2:01:58

2:02:02 So this is a question that kind of goes along with that. So the rebirth that happened, like the analogy with the haunted house, would that rebirth into a spirit realm be, is it your... The consciousness? Yeah, yeah. We say there's a very, very subtle mental consciousness and that's what goes from birth to birth to birth. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:02 Highlight the passage at 2:02:02

2:02:33 Very, very subtle. Really different from the Christian idea of a soul, which is more, it's just this very, very subtle consciousness carrying these kind of imprints is actually what goes from love to love. And so if you go and have a rebirth, say, Whatever you've done in this life, the karma that you've generated, goes and propels you into a lower realm. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:33 Highlight the passage at 2:02:33

2:03:02 You get rebirth as an animal. Now, if you're a tiger out in Africa, you're going to have to go and kill gazelles and other critters in order to live. And from what I understand, killing is not good. So wouldn't that just... Those actions propel you even further down. Once you start going down on a downward path, how could you possibly get up again? Report an error in the passage at 2:03:02 Highlight the passage at 2:03:02

2:03:35 Yeah, and it said, and the Buddha was asked this question once, and he reached down and got a little bit of dust under his fingernail, and he said, the amount of beings born in the lower realms are equal to the amount of dust on the whole, the grains of dust on the whole planet, the beings in the upper realm are equal to the amount of dust under my fingernail. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:35 Highlight the passage at 2:03:35

2:03:54 Mostly because, yeah, it's so rare and so hard to get out. And that's one of the reasons that we meditate a lot in the path on the precious human rebirth. I mean, to be you guys in this room, you can't imagine what you did to get here and how rare it is and how easily lost and how long it's going to take before you get another rebirth like this one. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:54 Highlight the passage at 2:03:54

2:04:18 Lama Zopa is fond of saying that the lower realms are a permanent address. Mostly because it's so hard, like you say, in those rebirths to generate any virtue at all. And then hopefully you had some virtue from some life that at some point flowers into an upper realm rebirth. But it's unbelievably rare to have the opportunity that those of us sitting in this room have. I mean, it's completely mind-blowing. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:18 Highlight the passage at 2:04:18

2:04:47 There's an analogy in scripture that just... It's so good because it really gives you the feeling of what it is. It says, okay, imagine that there's this sea turtle living under the ocean. There's one in all seven seas or whatever. Oh, by the way, she's blind too. And then there's this golden ring floating on the surface of the ocean. Again, you know, any ocean in the world. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:47 Highlight the passage at 2:04:47

2:05:11 So this turtle only rises up for air once every hundred years. What's the chance of this blind turtle? Sticking her nose through the golden ring. And they say, that's John's life. You know, that's how rare it is to be John in this life. And when you really get that, you're just like, whoa. And that's one of the meditations that we do. In fact, when I was in this long meditation retreat, I did a short meditation on the precious human rebirth for this whole thing every morning because it made me realize I have this amazing opportunity in this life. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:11 Highlight the passage at 2:05:11

2:05:51 I've got to get out of here. And who knows when I'm going to have this chance again. At least create the causes for another life like the one I have now. Which I'm running out of time because there's nothing I did earlier in this life to create the cause for a Buddhist nun rebirth with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Tsongkhapa calling me on the phone. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:51 Highlight the passage at 2:05:51

2:06:10 Some holy being way back when created the cause for that and I'm just trying to make up for lost time to create another chance like I have now in my next life. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:10 Highlight the passage at 2:06:10

2:06:23 So with all these past lower... So in order for all these other beings who are in the state that they're in, in order to go and become reborn as the precious human rebirth, do they have to have had Sometimes way in the past, some really high spike in virtue that has just taken all this amount of time in order to be realized now as a precious human rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:23 Highlight the passage at 2:06:23

2:07:15 Yeah, it can be a lightened seed that then takes a long time. They say the causes actually for a precious human rebirth, there's three causes. Keeping pure morality. Practicing generosity in the other perfections and making pure prayers to be reborn to have a precious human being. So you can imagine, to accrue all of those causes together, really difficult. That's what we had to have done at some point to be sitting in this room right now. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:15 Highlight the passage at 2:07:15

2:07:43 And that's what we have to do in this life to create the cause for it to happen again. So, say, like 20,000 years ago. you know, I could have been, you know, a human doing something, practicing a great virtue, and then, you know, for the past 20,000 years, I've been an ant. Yeah. And then, oh, now, hey, I'm a human. Right. Could be like that. Could be like that. Because we say that karma can ripen, not necessarily just in the next life from when you created it, there could be a huge gap like that. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:43 Highlight the passage at 2:07:43

2:08:18 What Report an error in the passage at 2:08:18 Highlight the passage at 2:08:18

2:08:26 about the satisfaction of yourself? And blaming yourself. Because let's say that you're like unsatisfied with, I don't know, you don't have enough time for what you want. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:26 Highlight the passage at 2:08:26

2:08:41 That's easier to get over that you're blaming yourself or someone treating you bad. Yeah, yeah, and that's definitely a huge cause of suffering for us, isn't it? You know, especially I think we often do have this sort of epidemic of low self-esteem and just being down on ourselves and constantly criticizing and blaming ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:41 Highlight the passage at 2:08:41

2:09:05 So I think that can, the dissatisfaction, like you say, doesn't necessarily need to be dissatisfaction with something external. And the dissatisfaction internally is a lot more painful and a lot more hard to... Hard to work with, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 2:09:05 Highlight the passage at 2:09:05

2:09:25 Sometimes it takes a while to kind of forgive yourself, but can you kind of move on more? Yeah, yeah. You know, I had this experience, I was in this long meditation retreat and I remember having this experience about six months into it. Because you sit there in solitary confinement with your mind and it's no picnic. You know, a bunch of people before I went into this long retreat, they were like, oh, you're going to be blissed out for three years. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:25 Highlight the passage at 2:09:25

2:09:53 And I was like, what, have you ever meditated? You know, you just sit down and it's like... There it all is and it can be really painful. And I remember at one point I went into this huge thing of just realizing, you know, I'd always thought I was a pretty nice person until I went into this long retreat. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:53 Highlight the passage at 2:09:53

2:10:10 And then I went into this thing of realizing how incredibly selfish I'd been. And somehow, you know, they say when you're falling off the cliff, your whole life flashes before your eyes. Well, my whole life in about three days. It flashed before my eyes and it was all of these times that I treated people really meanly and been selfish and everything from my lifelong difficult relationship with my father to blowing somebody off because they wanted to go to the movies and I wanted to go out with somebody else. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:10 Highlight the passage at 2:10:10

2:10:39 And then I was just filled with this incredible remorse. It was just this incredible feeling of sorrow and suffering for all the harm that I'd caused. And then I remember doing this thing of... I read in this book, I think by Jack Kornfield, this forgiveness meditation and you visualize the person in front of you and you do this thing and you forgive them and they forgive you and you do this whole thing. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:39 Highlight the passage at 2:10:39

2:11:02 And I'd written out a list, I'm so compulsive, of like 150 people, you know, that I'd hurt. And I'm thinking, even with Google, I can't get in touch with all of them. So I'll just do this meditation with everybody. So of course I start with my parents and I'm sobbing and it's taking hours. And then I'm just going, and then I just kind of realized, wait a minute, the only person I really need to forgive is myself. You know, and I just realized, look, just like everyone else, you know, I'm driven by karma, I'm driven by my delusions, I've done stupid things in the pursuit of happiness, and realizing I never meant to hurt anyone, like really and truly, when I looked at my motivation. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:02 Highlight the passage at 2:11:02

2:11:45 I never meant to hurt anyone. I was just kind of blindly going ahead, pursuing happiness by all these like dysfunctional means and everyone else just got in the way, you know, and I had to really realize and realize where I was on the path because I think I had this really unrealistic perfectionism, like I should be perfect and never hurt anyone. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:45 Highlight the passage at 2:11:45

2:12:06 It was very humbling, but I think self-forgiveness is really the key to that and realize, you know, yeah, we've messed up. We're not liberated, we're still subject to karma and delusions. In a way it's kind of like, what do we expect? But we're trying, you know, and I had to kind of give myself credit for actually... Report an error in the passage at 2:12:06 Highlight the passage at 2:12:06

2:12:25 Really trying hard. I mean, I was in a yurt in the desert in Arizona. It's like 120 degrees. I had to give myself credit for that. I wasn't in there because it was fun. I was in there because I really wanted to transform from that horrible, selfish person into somebody with a little more loving kindness. So I think it's like accepting where we are, giving ourselves credit for trying to improve and just kind of being realistic. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:25 Highlight the passage at 2:12:25

2:12:51 You know, sometimes now if I notice I'm getting really down on myself for not being more enlightened than I am, which of course everybody, if you're a Buddhist nun, they expect you're just a hair's breadth from full realization, right? Believe me, it's not true. You know, so sometimes I really beat up on myself and then I find it really useful to just talk to myself and just go, what? Report an error in the passage at 2:12:51 Highlight the passage at 2:12:51

2:13:14 It helps if you do it in a Brooklyn accent. I'm not quite sure why that is. It's like, so what? You thought you were in Arhat already. Like, come on, get over, you know, and just to realize, of course, I'm still subject to these delusions, but I'm really trying to practice awareness. I'm trying to transform and then to be okay with that. So I think that's, all of that is really helpful. I think being realistic and practicing self-forgiveness really helps with that. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:14 Highlight the passage at 2:13:14

2:13:40 Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. Okay, anybody else before we carry on? Okay, so, interesting. To think about this list, you know, and we don't have time, like I said, to do a lot of meditation. When I do the longer course, we do a meditation on these and I have people really check which one of these comes up for you. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:40 Highlight the passage at 2:13:40

2:14:01 But I think we can all relate to probably all of them, you know, maybe two or three come up quite strongly. All right. So we've got about 15 minutes before lunch and we'll just begin on the next. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:01 Highlight the passage at 2:14:01

2:14:18 next part of the Four Noble Trees. Boy, this flip chart is really falling apart. This may be the end. Unless I get a lot of tape and a volunteer can tape all the pictures. Okay. Okay, so what's the relationship between the truth of suffering and the truth of the cause of suffering? So we're going to be looking at this a lot, spending most of the afternoon, probably talking about the truth of the causes. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:18 Highlight the passage at 2:14:18

2:14:43 The truth of the origin of suffering. So this flow chart explains that relationship. Some of you have seen this before because it's very, very fundamental. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:43 Highlight the passage at 2:14:43

2:14:55 So we're going to talk about each of these pieces. We have ignorance leading to afflictive emotions, leading to karmic actions, resulting in suffering. So the first three steps are the truth of the cause of suffering or the origin of suffering. And then the last is the truth of suffering, the result of those causes. So we're going to talk about each one of these components. So ignorance, it all starts with ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:55 Highlight the passage at 2:14:55

2:15:23 And what kind of ignorance do you imagine this is? I was teaching in South America last month and I felt like... I was very ignorant that I don't speak Spanish at all. I mean, it's ridiculous. I'm from California and I don't speak Spanish and I just thought, wow, it would have been so nice. By the end of the two weeks there, I felt like the communication was a little bit like a Chinese immigrant family. Like they would speak to me in Spanish and I'd mostly understand what they were saying and I'd speak to them in English and they would mostly understand what I was saying. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:23 Highlight the passage at 2:15:23

2:15:53 Is it that kind of ignorance or is it something else? What do you think? Report an error in the passage at 2:15:53 Highlight the passage at 2:15:53

2:16:03 Okay, Mike, yeah, let's pass it around. Would it be the ignorance of the teachings? Okay, any particular aspects of the teachings? Ignorance of the fact that everything Report an error in the passage at 2:16:03 Highlight the passage at 2:16:03

2:16:24 is transitory? Okay, that's part of it, yeah. Anything else? else? Yeah. Is it the reality of how things really exist? Yeah, that's one. In fact, that's the major kind of ignorance. Ignorance about the nature of reality, how things really exist. The transitoriness is a kind of subset of that. But mostly ignorance about the way things exist, which relates to emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:24 Highlight the passage at 2:16:24

2:16:57 You know, we're kind of jumping back and forth, so we aren't going to explain exactly in detail what that is. In a very, you know, in a nutshell, basically things appear to us as if they existed from their own side. You know, they're just kind of coming at us from their own side. And we don't understand how we co-create our reality. We say, at the subtlest level, our perception and our actual concepts create the reality that we experience. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:57 Highlight the passage at 2:16:57

2:17:25 So misunderstanding that, and we'll go into a lot more detail about that tomorrow, so misunderstanding that, the nature of reality, thinking that things exist in exactly the way that they appear. And Buddhism questions that very basic appearance of objects and says, no, you know, we're creating those appearances through our concepts, and we'll get into what that is. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:25 Highlight the passage at 2:17:25

2:17:50 So that's the major ignorance that we have. Mostly about ourselves. We think we exist in exactly the way that we appear to ourselves. You know, we think that there's some solid, concrete self, some identity in there. And Buddhism says there's no such self in the way we misperceive. Yes, we do exist. We are sitting here in this room. It's not just some big hallucination, but the way that we see ourselves existing. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:50 Highlight the passage at 2:17:50

2:18:19 Is a big troublemaker for us. And then there's another kind of ignorance that relates to that, that's also the cause of a lot of trouble for us. Can anybody think of that for us? Yeah, Tia. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:19 Highlight the passage at 2:18:19

2:18:37 The ignorance of what actually causes suffering. Yeah. That cycle of going after that happiness. You're actually going after the wrong thing. It has nothing to do with what creates what we're doing. Yeah, and even more broadly, ignorance of cause and effect in general, right? Like definitely that ignorance of how happiness and suffering are caused. But even more broadly, any kind of ignorance of just the law of cause and effect, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:18:37 Highlight the passage at 2:18:37

2:19:09 Having that kind of idea of, oh, I can do anything, it's all random, nothing matters, you know, or... Karma only operates like 50 % of the time, and if nobody's looking, if I do it really quickly, I can get away with it, kind of thing. So that kind of ignorance, which also is a big troublemaker for us, because if we really, I mean forget about a direct realization of it, I mean don't forget about it, but forget about that high level of realization. Report an error in the passage at 2:19:09 Highlight the passage at 2:19:09

2:19:39 I think if we had a direct realization of the law of cause and effect, wow, would our life be different. And I think beings like Lama Zopa Rinpoche do. And that's why he publishes these lists of things that we should do. And so we don't waste even a second of our life because we have so many opportunities for planting the seeds of virtue, which is the only thing that's going to get us happiness and liberation. Report an error in the passage at 2:19:39 Highlight the passage at 2:19:39

2:20:05 So he has these lists of things like when you're walking up the stairs, think about leaving the lower realms. And when you walk down the stairs, think about going back to the lower realms to benefit all beings. And you close a door. And think about doing that and then you poop and think about this and you switch on the lights and you think about that. And for people like me, it's totally overwhelming. I was just like, oh my God, you know, you just kind of be going through life like having to think of all these things. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:05 Highlight the passage at 2:20:05

2:20:31 But you can see the mind that it comes from, the mind that says, wow, we have so much opportunity. You know, according to the lowest Buddhist school, 65 moments per finger set. According to the higher school, 364 or something like that. That's the opportunities that we have to plant new karmic seeds. So if we really understood cause and effect, we would joyfully not waste the opportunity. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:31 Highlight the passage at 2:20:31

2:20:59 And that's why people like Lama Zopa have these long lists. They can do it. You know, their mind is at that capacity. If we could even just do one of those things and keep that kind of mindfulness at all, it would be amazing. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:59 Highlight the passage at 2:20:59

2:21:13 Ignorance about the ultimate nature of reality, which we'll get into a lot more tomorrow. Ignorance about the law of cause and effect, which we'll get into a lot today and then tomorrow morning. Okay, and then those lead to what we call afflictive emotions. Sometimes it's translated, the Sanskrit word is klesha, the Tibetan is nyomo. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:13 Highlight the passage at 2:21:13

2:21:37 Sometimes it's translated as disturbing emotion. Sometimes it's translated as mental affliction. Yeah, Michael. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:37 Highlight the passage at 2:21:37

2:21:48 Forgive me because I don't have the Buddhist vocabulary. So I'm trying to put this question somewhere where I may vaguely relate at some point during the day. I want to know if there's a relation in Buddhism to something that I started noticing in my adult years, a pattern that's just kind of stuck in my head over the years and I'd really like to understand it. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:48 Highlight the passage at 2:21:48

2:22:09 It's an experience of your life saying, you must do this, you must go this way, this is what you need. And you go, no, no, no, no, no. And finally you get so beat down, you go, okay, fine. And everything just falls into place. And then the added irritation of once you've learned that lesson, you've learned it. Report an error in the passage at 2:22:09 Highlight the passage at 2:22:09

2:22:27 But you have it. And then the whole thing starts again. So is there some aspect of Buddhism that addresses that experience? Yeah. And I think we would say that, you know, your karma is ripening. To point you in a certain direction. And then sometimes we ignore it. Like I find, we talk about the inner guru and often I think for me it's my intuition and my instincts and then often I let that pesky, rational, logical mind override it. Report an error in the passage at 2:22:27 Highlight the passage at 2:22:27

2:22:59 We're so conditioned, especially in Western culture, that, you know, this whole Cartesian thing of the rational mind and logic and the sort of mechanistic thing. And then our heart or our inner guru or intuition is telling us something. And often we override it. And I'm just like you. Every time I do it and I realize what a mistake it is, then I go, I'm never going to do that again. Report an error in the passage at 2:22:59 Highlight the passage at 2:22:59

2:23:21 Of course I do it again. You know, but slowly, slowly we... Start to trust that inner guidance more because I think that's really what it is. It's like we would say you're getting more in tune with your own inner wisdom and your own inner guidance. It's starting to speak to you, but you've got to learn not to override it with logic. Even if it doesn't make sense, you need to learn to trust it. Report an error in the passage at 2:23:21 Highlight the passage at 2:23:21

2:23:45 And that's part of the path. That's part of waking up. You know, that's part of awakening and then really getting it. That that's leading you in the right direction. So it's your own inner wisdom that's sometimes quite subconscious. Often it's not at the level of your conceptual mind, so it'll just be some kind of instinct or some pull or some... Report an error in the passage at 2:23:45 Highlight the passage at 2:23:45

2:24:04 I think the more we follow it, then it really will guide us in the right direction. Because when you do, amazing things happen. And often we derail ourselves with logic and rational thought if it seems like it doesn't make sense. you know, on But I think that's part of what's going on, which relates to the path. We'll get there when we talk about the relationship between the outer teacher, you know, as just a catalyst for that inner teacher awakening. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:04 Highlight the passage at 2:24:04

2:24:35 Okay, so afflictive emotion, emotional affliction, all these different words. So it's interesting. And Dion may be able to tell me this because we just went over it two weeks ago. What's the definition of one of these afflictive emotions? The mic's right next to you. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:35 Highlight the passage at 2:24:35

2:24:59 I Report an error in the passage at 2:24:59 Highlight the passage at 2:24:59

2:25:06 think I'm on vapor lock because I've had so much coming in and it's hard to process it. Like anger. Report an error in the passage at 2:25:06 Highlight the passage at 2:25:06

2:25:18 I can't remember what we talked about exactly. Does anybody else remember or can guess? What's the definition? That's fine. Anybody else? Yeah. Kappa. Report an error in the passage at 2:25:18 Highlight the passage at 2:25:18

2:25:38 Say it into the mouth. Did you hear me? Negative emotions that cause unhappiness. And we define this as any thought that disturbs your peace of mind. It's because it's interesting, in Sanskrit and Tibetan there isn't a word that corresponds exactly with what we would call emotion. We have this whole idea of emotion in the West as like it's something that just sort of takes you over and you're just at the mercy of your emotions. Report an error in the passage at 2:25:38 Highlight the passage at 2:25:38

2:26:07 And in Buddhist thinking it's just a thought, just another thought, which is really liberating in itself, isn't it? It's nothing that's kind of overpowering us. It's just another thought. And as we know, our thoughts come and go. Anybody who sat and tried to watch their breath for ten minutes knows what happens with our thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 2:26:07 Highlight the passage at 2:26:07

2:26:30 They arise, they go, they arise, they go, they arise, they go. So we say these are thoughts. And there's this whole... Buddhist psychology, there's this list of 51 of these mental factors that accompany every moment. Some of them accompany every moment of consciousness. Some of them are just there from time to time. There's a list of 26 of these guys that are the disturbing ones. And it's not all inclusive. Report an error in the passage at 2:26:30 Highlight the passage at 2:26:30

2:26:58 It doesn't include low self-esteem, interestingly enough. That seems to be a new one. But it does include things like attachment and aversion, which are the main ones, jealousy, pride, hypocrisy, hiding your faults. All of these very subtle emotions are in this list. So any thought that disturbs your peace of mind are caused by ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 2:26:58 Highlight the passage at 2:26:58

2:27:25 And so this afternoon we'll talk more about this, get more into the definition of this and ways to deal with it. And then we'll start talking about karmic actions and also spend a lot of time talking about how karma works so that we understand these karmic actions. So now it's time for lunch. So what we'll do before we break, we'll just sit for a minute and dedicate the merit of the morning session. Report an error in the passage at 2:27:25 Highlight the passage at 2:27:25

2:27:55 This is something we do for every Buddhist activity. We try and motivate at the beginning and then dedicate the merit at the end. Report an error in the passage at 2:27:55 Highlight the passage at 2:27:55

2:28:04 Let's just sit for a minute and go back to the motivation that you set this morning. Think about your purpose for being here, your intention, Report an error in the passage at 2:28:04 Highlight the passage at 2:28:04

2:28:17 and then think about all of the positive energy that we've generated during our discussion this morning and dedicate all that positive energy towards your spiritual goals, whatever they may be, like putting it in the karmic bank account for that. Purpose, aiming it in that direction. So just take a minute to dedicate. Report an error in the passage at 2:28:17 Highlight the passage at 2:28:17

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:29:18 Thank you. Bon appetit. So see you at two o 'clock. Report an error in the passage at 2:29:18 Highlight the passage at 2:29:18