Discovering Buddhism: How to Develop Bodhicitta - The Heart of the Buddhist Path (23 September 2010)

0:08 Oh, Report an error in the passage at 0:08 Highlight the passage at 0:08

0:12 wow. yeah, like, let's go at home. I have a whole... Report an error in the passage at 0:12 Highlight the passage at 0:12

0:22 I got it from, it got used from Craigslist and had for almost three Report an error in the passage at 0:22 Highlight the passage at 0:22

0:30 we run that much through it for them. I'm trying to figure out a way to Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

0:41 out Report an error in the passage at 0:41 Highlight the passage at 0:41

0:49 side, I get the legal side, but then like me out how to do stuff. Report an error in the passage at 0:49 Highlight the passage at 0:49

1:03 least that's an idea I have. Report an error in the passage at 1:03 Highlight the passage at 1:03

1:16 on here? There's not any by the seat here. Report an error in the passage at 1:16 Highlight the passage at 1:16

· · · silence, 5 minutes

6:04 eyes just say whatever they want to say. My old eyes need to see the print on the paper. Report an error in the passage at 6:04 Highlight the passage at 6:04

6:27 shawl or something, yeah. No, we What do you need? I just need something under my knees. All right. This looks a lot like what I use for the Nunia. I do a whole little math. Report an error in the passage at 6:27 Highlight the passage at 6:27

6:53 Put your hands together and that counts. Report an error in the passage at 6:53 Highlight the passage at 6:53

7:00 Prostration, like we talked, basically what we would sort of automate. Report an error in the passage at 7:00 Highlight the passage at 7:00

7:15 So we would just fall. Report an error in the passage at 7:15 Highlight the passage at 7:15

7:28 But basically there's also Report an error in the passage at 7:28 Highlight the passage at 7:28

7:37 this quality. Report an error in the passage at 7:37 Highlight the passage at 7:37

7:53 When we touch the three places, doing the full prostration, but three if you're not. They're representing the body speech. Report an error in the passage at 7:53 Highlight the passage at 7:53

8:03 Think about that if you want. The full prostration, the partial, we touch for the body. The speech is the throat, the chest is what we think of as, Report an error in the passage at 8:03 Highlight the passage at 8:03

8:21 and I'll do the mantra if you know what you can share. Report an error in the passage at 8:21 Highlight the passage at 8:21

8:28 Namo Manjushriye, Namo Sushriye, Namo Uttama Shriye. Report an error in the passage at 8:28 Highlight the passage at 8:28

8:40 Namo Manjushri Namaste Report an error in the passage at 8:40 Highlight the passage at 8:40

8:47 time I shouldn't have so Report an error in the passage at 8:47 Highlight the passage at 8:47

· · · silence, 1 minute

9:29 close to you. Report an error in the passage at 9:29 Highlight the passage at 9:29

9:33 It's moved a little, yeah, it's too far forward actually. No, no, no. Well, there's not that many people, so that's okay. Why don't we just, it's just awkward. It's just right there. But then, but see, if anyone else comes in, then they have to sit and they'll just move into the other room. Report an error in the passage at 9:33 Highlight the passage at 9:33

9:59 Just be brave. Be brave. Actually, we're going to do something slightly different. A little later, so you won't have to sit there for that long. Report an error in the passage at 9:59 Highlight the passage at 9:59

10:17 It's like they're all coming to sit on my lap. Report an error in the passage at 10:17 Highlight the passage at 10:17

10:24 We're having a sleepover. Report an error in the passage at 10:24 Highlight the passage at 10:24

10:30 Well, all right. Report an error in the passage at 10:30 Highlight the passage at 10:30

10:37 I assume if we close our eyes, we might materialize a few other people. It's okay. Report an error in the passage at 10:37 Highlight the passage at 10:37

10:46 Kara's not coming tonight, she said. Her ankle was really hurting. Love to dedicate class to her. All right, so just kind of take some nice deep belly breaths and let go of your day. Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

11:03 See, we're already materializing some. I know. Report an error in the passage at 11:03 Highlight the passage at 11:03

11:14 Just take some nice deep belly breaths and start breathing out the old stuff, the stuff you don't need, the distraction, the sluggishness, the sleepiness. Report an error in the passage at 11:14 Highlight the passage at 11:14

11:29 Imagine it just puffing away like old smoke from a chimney. And then just take a nice lungful of fresh, crisp air and let that be your concentration, your awareness, your presence, your motivation. Report an error in the passage at 11:29 Highlight the passage at 11:29

11:49 Bring you more and more into this room. Do that a few times. And Report an error in the passage at 11:49 Highlight the passage at 11:49

12:22 then just take a moment going through your body, looking for places that you might be tight or tense. Breathing some air into those places, letting them relax a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 12:22 Highlight the passage at 12:22

12:40 If you need to stretch your neck or your shoulders, please do so. Report an error in the passage at 12:40 Highlight the passage at 12:40

13:01 And then just focus for a few counts of ten on your breath. Just trying to stay with it as it moves in and then out of your body. If you need to count, you can, but you don't have to. The main thing is just trying to stay with it. Trying to resist temptation to follow the other thoughts that arise or the distractions by sounds of people coming in. Just stay with that breath. Report an error in the passage at 13:01 Highlight the passage at 13:01

13:27 Keep returning to the breath. And Report an error in the passage at 13:27 Highlight the passage at 13:27

· · · silence, 2 minutes

15:04 then try to imagine what it would be like to have the equanimity that we talked about and that you've been meditating on this week. To have that kind of equal caring for everyone that you meet. Like everyone you meet is your best friend. Like you're equally concerned the way you would be if your best friend. Report an error in the passage at 15:04 Highlight the passage at 15:04

15:28 Came to you with a problem or if you saw your best friend in a crowd. Imagine feeling that for every single person that you see. Report an error in the passage at 15:28 Highlight the passage at 15:28

15:56 We've all had days that we've sort of felt that way or at least moments that we felt like that. Imagine feeling it day in and day out. Report an error in the passage at 15:56 Highlight the passage at 15:56

16:33 A thing called bodhicitta that we've been talking about. That mind of not only equally caring for everyone but... Really determining with a courageous mind to work for their benefit, to delight in their happiness, to work for them not to suffer, no matter how long it takes or whatever obstacles we might encounter. Report an error in the passage at 16:33 Highlight the passage at 16:33

17:09 Imagine how that might feel in your body, in your mind, to have that all the time, to wake up with it, to go to sleep with it, to do your work with it, your study. Report an error in the passage at 17:09 Highlight the passage at 17:09

17:40 May whatever seed is planted in this class become that mind in each one of you. May it become the seed or the imprint that grows into that mind. Report an error in the passage at 17:40 Highlight the passage at 17:40

17:56 Gradually, slowly, slowly, as they say in Nepal, Report an error in the passage at 17:56 Highlight the passage at 17:56

18:02 may it come to fruition as bodhicitta. That takes you all the way to the great state of enlightenment, to becoming a Buddha, a fully awakened being. Report an error in the passage at 18:02 Highlight the passage at 18:02

18:34 Meditation, and we'll start with the opening prayer, which I didn't get. David, can you? All right, thank you. Report an error in the passage at 18:34 Highlight the passage at 18:34

19:01 Page eight. Sorry, I forgot to mention it again. Hey, your prayer was answered. Anna just came in. So I knew if we all meditated long enough, she'd materialize. And I was right, too. We got a few other faces that came in the room. If we all close our eyes at the beginning, it's like, you know, Christmas Eve. Report an error in the passage at 19:01 Highlight the passage at 19:01

19:23 geez. Report an error in the passage at 19:23 Highlight the passage at 19:23

19:27 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain. Report an error in the passage at 19:27 Highlight the passage at 19:27

19:53 Until then, may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Okay, so a couple of announcements before we get started. Report an error in the passage at 19:53 Highlight the passage at 19:53

20:11 Well, one of them is for you, Jessica. Report an error in the passage at 20:11 Highlight the passage at 20:11

20:17 No, no, no, it's okay. I would like very much to encourage people, I know it's a lot to ask to try to come to two classes per week, but Geshe-la is teaching, and I've mentioned it a couple times, I'll keep advertising it, is teaching Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, which is of course very appropriate to those of us who want to be baby bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 20:17 Highlight the passage at 20:17

20:38 And he's on the chapter of Joyful Effort, Joyous Effort. And I think it's wonderful. We have a new translator, and she's great, and the class moves much more purposefully and quickly than it used to move with our various, very sweet translators who would try to step in, but it's, you know, Ziggy's got the Dharma knowledge as well as the joyful effort, her own enthusiasm. Report an error in the passage at 20:38 Highlight the passage at 20:38

21:09 As well as, of course, translation skills, and her Tibetan is amazing, too. So I just would like to very much encourage you guys to come, even if you just come and sit in on one time when you have some time. There's enough in each class. He does about ten verses a class, and there's so much in each verse. That text, I mean... Report an error in the passage at 21:09 Highlight the passage at 21:09

21:30 That's the text that if I were ever left on a deserted island, that's the one I would take because I think you could just work with that all the way to enlightenment. It's the most amazing text, not that I'm biased or anything, but it's really, it's quite profound, but then it's also, there's enough practicality in it that at our level we can still get a lot out of it, you know, so who doesn't need some? Report an error in the passage at 21:30 Highlight the passage at 21:30

21:55 Joyful effort when it comes to our practice or anything really. But of course this is more related to Dharma. The other thing is I had a conversation with somebody this week and so I went to Geshe-la last night and I requested that at the end of the, when he finishes teaching that text, which is going to take him another couple of years, or probably not quite so much, probably about 18 months. Report an error in the passage at 21:55 Highlight the passage at 21:55

22:21 He's on Chapter 7 now, Joyful Effort. He'll do Chapter 8 this year, Concentration. Then he's going to take a break in the winter, I believe January and part of February. Then he's going to do Chapter 9, which is Wisdom. The emptiness chapter, which is kind of the most dense chapter. Then he'll dedicate. That really beautiful dedication that we do comes directly from chapter 10. Report an error in the passage at 22:21 Highlight the passage at 22:21

22:45 And that's when it ends. And I've asked him, I requested him very respectfully if he would offer the bodhisattva vows at the end, which he's only offered ever once in the 11 years that he's been here. Report an error in the passage at 22:45 Highlight the passage at 22:45

22:58 Although we've had other Lamas who visited and offered them. And traditionally, he offers bodhisattva vows at the end of a lamrim teaching, and so this seems to be an appropriate teaching, and he agreed. So we don't have a date, but we know it'll be sometime at the end of next year, I think. You know. Report an error in the passage at 22:58 Highlight the passage at 22:58

23:15 Of course, if he continues at the rate he's going, it might be sometime in the year after. But just to know that that's out there and that he's agreed. And what I have suggested to Charles is that we do some sort of a bodhisattva vow training course before. So it'll happen that we will, because this is the one set of vows, usually for the lay vows and for refuge vows. Report an error in the passage at 23:15 Highlight the passage at 23:15

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

23:45 It's always possible to do that too. So if anyone has a strong interest, and we can talk more about that in later classes, to take refuge and to take one of the five or all five of the five lay bells. I'm happy to meet with you and give you a little bit of instruction of that. That's usually enough. With the bodhisattvas, some of them are quite in-depth, and there's quite a few of them. Report an error in the passage at 23:45 Highlight the passage at 23:45

24:05 There's 64 of them. And so it's really good to receive teachings on that. So whether or not we have Geshe-la do that, or whether or not we have Emily, or we have many people that are qualified to teach that, or whether we have a visiting teacher like Tenzin Choki or something teach it. Report an error in the passage at 24:05 Highlight the passage at 24:05

24:24 We will arrange that. And that's the way I took them. When I took the Bodhisattva vows, I did a training first so that I knew what I was doing. And then you feel really happy when you take them. It's not just like, what the, you know. I know, you do what? For all who? Report an error in the passage at 24:24 Highlight the passage at 24:24

24:43 No, they are very, very exciting vows. And we can talk about them more. But I just, since that... I had just asked him last night. I just wanted to go ahead and pass that on to you. So they can be planting that seed in your mind. So check in with people. How did you guys do with the equanimity meditation? Did anybody have any insights or questions or problems with it? Report an error in the passage at 24:43 Highlight the passage at 24:43

25:22 I think you're it. Test. I found... As I was sitting and working on that, if you really pick an effective person that makes you mad and you just sort of really kind of look at that, I got really mad. Report an error in the passage at 25:22 Highlight the passage at 25:22

25:47 It was almost overwhelming. Plus, since I'm looking at that to really say, why do I feel so indignant and who is the eye that's doing that? Report an error in the passage at 25:47 Highlight the passage at 25:47

26:02 It takes you a lot of places very quickly, so it was very intense. Were you able to get past that and continue with the meditation or did it block you? I kept working on it. I get a little farther each time because I'm aware of what's going on. I'm not there to chew on it. Report an error in the passage at 26:02 Highlight the passage at 26:02

26:21 But it's very profound because as the Dalai Lama, His Holiness has said many times, our enemies are our greatest teachers. These are the people that... Report an error in the passage at 26:21 Highlight the passage at 26:21

26:32 Yeah, what I find too is it's not from, like if anybody else came into the room, they wouldn't be able to tell your enemy, your stranger and your best friend apart. Like from us, it seems like their inherently existent friend and inherently existent enemy and it'd just be obvious, right? And somebody could be like, no, isn't that your best friend? Report an error in the passage at 26:32 Highlight the passage at 26:32

26:54 And you'd be like, no, not him. From their side, they're simply struggling sentient beings, deluded by karma and ignorance, just like us, and trying to be happy, just like us. And actually, when you come to that, then it actually kind of softens your heart a little bit, even if they're so annoying. Report an error in the passage at 26:54 Highlight the passage at 26:54

27:19 But I remember one teacher said, if nothing else, they might become your favorite enemy. And then, you know, like kind of move up that way, you know, before they kind of move over into at least a sort of new, probably not your best friend, but a neutral being, you know. Report an error in the passage at 27:19 Highlight the passage at 27:19

27:36 Nobody said it would be easy. No, absolutely. Absolutely. Anybody else? Anybody else have a, yeah, you want to pass it, Jessica, back to her? Tell me your name again, sorry. My name is Henry. Henry, thanks. And right now I've worked with this guy in a previous computer job. He was a real, what would you say? Challenge. Yeah, he really got me. Report an error in the passage at 27:36 Highlight the passage at 27:36

28:05 He almost nearly set me off, this guy. And then after we had this job, he said, oh, this is all for show. And I said, are you sure? it. I Report an error in the passage at 28:05 Highlight the passage at 28:05

28:15 And that's it. So from that point on, I said, I believe it or not, I mean, this guy that I really never liked, I was able to tolerate him, which is really incredible because when I, you know, just shortly when I got into Buddhism, I told him that, you know, he had owed me a sum of money. I said, it's all forgiven. And he just was shocked when I said that. Report an error in the passage at 28:15 Highlight the passage at 28:15

28:42 Yeah. No, it's like what David was saying. We can actually, if we didn't have people that annoyed us, we actually, it would be much harder to work on our minds. And we're actually, we'll talk about that a little bit later tonight. But if everyone just agreed with us and was like sweet as pie to us and just loved us all the time, it actually wouldn't really help our practice. Report an error in the passage at 28:42 Highlight the passage at 28:42

29:06 Because we wouldn't have to become more patient. We wouldn't have to try harder. We wouldn't have to. Like you did forgive this guy's debt, you know, and we wouldn't be able to sort of practice some of these things that we're learning. It's actually fun to try to go the distance. I mean, yeah, you can do it with a stranger. You can bring somebody a cup of coffee, although in this city they might be scared. And it's always easy to bring your friend a cup of coffee. Report an error in the passage at 29:06 Highlight the passage at 29:06

29:31 But if you go the distance to somebody who kind of is irritating and try to be kind to them. Then it's actually practice. Otherwise, it doesn't really count as practice. It's just being friends with somebody, and we can all do that. Even animals can do that, you know. Jessica, did you have something? Report an error in the passage at 29:31 Highlight the passage at 29:31

29:47 Yeah, I was just going to say that just two small things. One is that with the stranger thing, there's this one person that I just for some reason just picked in my head that I kind of walked by, kind of coffee, you know, I don't know him, I don't know his name kind of thing. But I have to say that in doing the meditation, then this week when I actually did pass him, and I don't see him all the time, but this week. Right. Report an error in the passage at 29:47 Highlight the passage at 29:47

30:07 Now you're engaged. No, it's not that. I actually always see him and smile when I do see him. It's not that. It's that I don't always run into him physically. But what was funny is I was more engaged, to your point, because what happened was I walked by and I actually gave him a different smile because it hit me. Report an error in the passage at 30:07 Highlight the passage at 30:07

30:30 I realized, whoa. I had this like sort of sweet thought in my head because I had been meditating about this guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he didn't know that I did. Exactly. But I think he sort of did know because he like also gave me this different reaction. I hope he's not everybody else's stranger too. All these people are like smiling at us especially. My point being that it even shifted like just a tiny bit. Report an error in the passage at 30:30 Highlight the passage at 30:30

30:57 Not that we... really had much more of it but it shifted a little bit of the energy even just it was like a little sweeter like with this person that I you know and it was just like a hi how are you kind of you know thing but we had this sort of like it was a very nice talk. I've had that too I totally do I was teasing you just because I knew you could take Did anybody else have that experience with their stranger? Because I think you kind of notice it more with your stranger. Report an error in the passage at 30:57 Highlight the passage at 30:57

31:24 It might also happen with your enemy. Actually, yeah, that you have a little bit more warmth toward this person. And they, of course, don't know. And in fact, it can be just a really nice thing to do. If you are struggling with somebody, you should not necessarily do the whole meditation, but just sit down and imagine this person face to face. And remember that they are a struggling person. Report an error in the passage at 31:24 Highlight the passage at 31:24

31:44 They may have stuff you don't have a clue about going on. We don't know what people are going on and what kind of life they've had and stuff like that. That might lead them to be who they are. And they're just trying to cope. And actually, that alone, even you're not getting into the I and all the emptiness teachings and the bodhicitta teachings, that alone can kind of soften your heart towards somebody. Report an error in the passage at 31:44 Highlight the passage at 31:44

32:05 Yeah, it was kind of like, oh, hi. There's my stranger. The other thing I was going to say is that I used it with a friend aspect, which I didn't really think that I, but, you know, I have this really good friend who I love dearly, but who is sometimes a real... a major, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 32:05 Highlight the passage at 32:05

32:23 He pushes my buttons a little bit and this week he was really pushing my buttons and I used that kind of like what you're saying, it helped me kind of catch, I could feel myself getting more irritated and I kind of was able to in that moment, even like not meditating but kind of thinking about the meditation, be like, you know what, I see that this is like that shift happening from friend to like person who's really irritating, even though he's still my friend, I would never have... Report an error in the passage at 32:23 Highlight the passage at 32:23

32:49 Not felt that he was my friend, but I could feel that shift happening and I feel like recognizing it helped me kind of reel it back in and be like, of course he's my friend, I just need to get over this and just let it go. And so it helped me kind of, even with my irritation towards my friend. Yeah, no, that's great. Yeah, I've actually heard some, and this is sort of similar to that, if we say we're on the freeway and somebody cuts us off, if we think for a minute, Oh, there goes my mom. Then we're going to be like, oh, go ahead. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, go ahead and take any wave or something like that. Like immediately you feel softer towards this person rather than, hey, you know, you get all irritated. Report an error in the passage at 32:49 Highlight the passage at 32:49

33:30 You know, so it's almost like you just do these little games in our head and you realize the other things are just games in our head too. And we just believe in those 100 percent. This guy's annoying to me and I will get him. And, you know, that's all just a fantasy, too. Again, you don't know if he's got his wife in labor in the backseat, you know, or he just found out his mom's got cancer and is on the way to the hospital or, you know, we just don't know what makes people. Report an error in the passage at 33:30 Highlight the passage at 33:30

33:53 Like he just lost his job or something. There's all sorts of reasons to have compassion for people. Or maybe he's just a jerk and that's a good enough reason to have compassion because he's probably creating havoc wherever he goes. Report an error in the passage at 33:53 Highlight the passage at 33:53

34:03 That's enough reason to love somebody. Stop to live in that mind. Yeah, stop to live in that mind. I've lived there for a day or two. Anybody else? Any other? Yeah, pass back. Or she's going to run on down the aisle. Report an error in the passage at 34:03 Highlight the passage at 34:03

34:22 The one thing I was going to mention is for me, it was really a dichotomy of the person I love and the person I don't have loving feelings for. And it's been a good meditation because it's really brought me closer to possibly renewing a relationship with someone that I've literally cut off. And it's tough because, you know, I've got to meditate a little bit more. Report an error in the passage at 34:22 Highlight the passage at 34:22

34:48 but, but it, but it. It really brought me to understanding not just equanimity, but just the feelings that we can have that are negative, whether they're hate or anger or depression or whatever toward these people, or this person in particular. I don't have a whole list or anything. I was struck immediately with the huge totem pole difference. Report an error in the passage at 34:48 Highlight the passage at 34:48

35:14 It was very moving. For me personally, I suddenly had that, I was washed with guilt, which, you know, I realized that I don't want to feel that way either. That's just another negative mind. Yeah, that's just like, you know what, Leslie, you can get over that by doing these things. And so it was really amazing for me to deal with my own suffering. Report an error in the passage at 35:14 Highlight the passage at 35:14

35:36 By having these feelings for each person as well. Right, yeah, yeah, excellent. Yeah, I mean it's also good to know that you can have these meditation experiences and it doesn't have to go off your cushion. You don't have to necessarily go back and become best friends with some enemy. It can just happen in your mind and that's okay too. Report an error in the passage at 35:36 Highlight the passage at 35:36

35:58 So, I mean, it's up to you whether you want to make the next step and, you know. Contact this person or whatever you want to do. The main thing in terms of Buddhism is what's going on in your mind. And so that can just be what the work is. It doesn't have to be a 12-step thing where we go and then make amends to the people and talk to them and put a list together and all that stuff, which I think is a great, absolutely great program. Report an error in the passage at 35:58 Highlight the passage at 35:58

36:24 But in this one, we're just shifting our mind towards people, which is also really, really powerful. Then if you bump into that person, it's not like, you know, it's just more like, oh, hi, how are you? And you feel genuinely happy to see them, but it doesn't necessarily have to be anything more than that. Report an error in the passage at 36:24 Highlight the passage at 36:24

36:43 You know, and that's actually a lot. Because there are loads of people who just spend their whole lives avoiding people or, you know, continuing to hate and to push away and even members of family and like that. And it's like, it's, yeah, or... Report an error in the passage at 36:43 Highlight the passage at 36:43

37:01 I actually just got a contact or email from a student, a former student here who had just contacted an ex and had a really great conversation with that person that she never thought would ever happen. I mean, just a lot of really bad water under the bridge. And that's practice. She's been really working at it, you know. Report an error in the passage at 37:01 Highlight the passage at 37:01

37:23 So stuff like that happens, you know, and there's a little miracle, and it's worth rejoicing in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's come back to you, so it must have known. Report an error in the passage at 37:23 Highlight the passage at 37:23

37:38 Most people I know, you know, when you have like a friend and you sort of drift apart or something and then it's like, oh, I have to make so much, I need to make more effort to bring this person back into my life or something like that. But sometimes I feel like, you know, when you understand that people kind of come and go and that's just, and you're just like okay with that. Report an error in the passage at 37:38 Highlight the passage at 37:38

37:59 And if they're not there at the moment, then that's just... You know, when they come into your circle when that, you know, the winds and bring them there and you drift off when that happens. And so it's very, and I'm totally fine with it, but it's a very, I can't even explain it, you know, when I'm talking, folks, you know, someone's saying like, oh, you know, I haven't been good and I haven't talked to this person for so long. Report an error in the passage at 37:59 Highlight the passage at 37:59

38:22 And I look at that and I think, oh. Sometimes we just change directions. Yeah, it's like sort of natural attrition or something. But I think also there are times where we literally sort of break up with people or like leave people forcefully or it's like a negative situation and that might be more of what we're... Report an error in the passage at 38:22 Highlight the passage at 38:22

38:40 talking about just now where it's like at least in your mind shifting that You know, you don't even have to ever go to that person because the main thing is that then you're able to open up your heart wider and wider and wider. But yeah, I totally agree. That's why the whole idea of Facebook just like once I had like somebody from like second grade contact me and I thought, you know, there are reasons that, you know, those friendships kind of ended. Report an error in the passage at 38:40 Highlight the passage at 38:40

38:45 no longer anything that weighs on your mind. Report an error in the passage at 38:45 Highlight the passage at 38:45

39:10 So it's nothing against that person, but it just kind of, you know, they don't really see the deed, actually, you know. So, yeah, kind of there are friends that you kind of, what's happening? Oh, it's the pipe. Yeah, somebody needs to go. Can you mind going upstairs? We've got like this 100-year-old house and says, oh, somebody got it. If somebody turns on the washing machine in the basement. Report an error in the passage at 39:10 Highlight the passage at 39:10

39:37 It causes havoc in the bathroom next to my room, which is a lot of fun when you're doing a retreat in that room, actually. And Bodhi's ears are like, what the heck? Report an error in the passage at 39:37 Highlight the passage at 39:37

39:51 Anyway, it's something we've got to figure out. Okay, so that's great. Thanks, you guys. I'm glad. It sounds like you're really working with it. And you've just got to keep doing it. You've got to keep doing it. But it is a really... you know Report an error in the passage at 39:51 Highlight the passage at 39:51

40:05 Great and powerful meditation. I have had one person I remember said that they were able to use the same person for all three, which I think is an interesting thing. Report an error in the passage at 40:05 Highlight the passage at 40:05

40:17 Not necessarily in the best situation because a divorce soon happened, but you can kind of imagine that over time that you could, maybe not in the exact same moment, you could use the same person in three. And it is fun to jazz it up. Use people, like a lot of times we keep choosing the same person as a friend or something. Choose somebody different, you know. Every time you do it, choose somebody different and see if you can change your feelings toward that person. Report an error in the passage at 40:17 Highlight the passage at 40:17

40:46 So tonight we're going to continue on. So that was the first of the 11 points that are going to get us all the way to developing this mind of bodhicitta. And so we're going to continue with steps two and three tonight. Report an error in the passage at 40:46 Highlight the passage at 40:46

41:01 So I'm going to go over number two and then we'll have some time for questions and then number three and then we'll have some time for questions and then we're going to actually break up and have a little tiny discussion just in twos, not anything big. Report an error in the passage at 41:01 Highlight the passage at 41:01

41:14 So that's kind of the way it's going to work tonight. So number two is recognizing that all beings have been our mother or as I saw recently or could have been and I really liked that. You know, it's not like... It's more like, just open up the mind a little bit. Maybe they could have been. So in this case, it's not an imaginary thing. Report an error in the passage at 41:14 Highlight the passage at 41:14

41:38 It has to do with Tibetan Buddhist idea of the mind and how the mind works. So the logic is that mind is, we're going to go into a little bit of the nature of mind, which there is an entire class about, the nature of mind. And in this case, we're talking more about the fact that mind is a continuity of experience and that mind isn't the same substance or stuff as body, right? Report an error in the passage at 41:38 Highlight the passage at 41:38

42:11 So when we are conceived, the body comes from the little bits of physicality from our parents, the sperm and egg, no problem with that. But the mind is something else. The mind isn't physical. The mind is experience, actually. It's like a stream of constant experience. And that, according to the Buddha, is beginningless and endless, which is huge if we've never really contemplated that way. Report an error in the passage at 42:11 Highlight the passage at 42:11

42:43 It's like the number line. It goes back infinitely and goes forward infinitely. Report an error in the passage at 42:43 Highlight the passage at 42:43

42:50 This particular body or housing or vessel that this mind has come into due to karma is just a temporary thing. And we continue to move on based on our karma. And if we look back at our different lives, there's been all kinds of lives. So this mind that I think of as Chokyi's mind, my mind, my mind, is actually, has been many beings' minds, you know. Report an error in the passage at 42:50 Highlight the passage at 42:50

43:17 This thing that I've constructed called me is actually a temporary construct of this life. And this mind has been in different forms all back and will be in different forms going forward. And in most of those forms I've had mothers. So even though we say infinite sentient beings, there's actually a finite number of sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 43:17 Highlight the passage at 43:17

43:44 But there are many, many sentient beings. And in all of those lifetimes, we've had mothers. And all those mothers have had some sort of role of, especially when we think about the animal and the human realm, have had some sort of role of caring for us in some way. So we're starting to think about the different forms that I could have been. So we're thinking about like... Report an error in the passage at 43:44 Highlight the passage at 43:44

44:13 The different animals that I could have been and the different birds that I could have been, the different domestic animals, pets, as well as wild animals, the different humans in different conditions, poverty conditions and wealth conditions in different realms. They actually say, according to Buddhism, that it's not just this planet, that there are different planets that are different. Report an error in the passage at 44:13 Highlight the passage at 44:13

44:43 Realms where other humans live. So we could be human and not necessarily be on this planet. And one of the interesting meditations, which is in the mind class, and we don't do it so much here, but if you're new to this idea of beginningless and endless mind, taking a moment to just sort of think about your own continuity of starting with just today, going back to... Report an error in the passage at 44:43 Highlight the passage at 44:43

45:10 When you first came into the class and then going back to looking for parking and then go back to when you finished your work day or your study day or left your family or whatever and then going back a little bit further from that to whatever your afternoon held and going back to your lunch and going back to your morning and going back to getting to work or your... Report an error in the passage at 45:10 Highlight the passage at 45:10

45:38 Study or whatever it is that you do in your day and then going back to when you first got up and maybe sat down and did your meditation on equanimity and going back to your getting up out of bed and maybe your dreams of the night and just following your mind back like that to start seeing how the mind is, this continuity of thoughts or ideas or memories or experiences and following that. Report an error in the passage at 45:38 Highlight the passage at 45:38

46:06 Continuity back on your own for a little bit. This is one meditation that we do that sort of starts letting us experience that continuity. And going back to then yesterday and the same and going through all of those experiences, going back into last week and going back into last month and last year, last decade, going back into your... Report an error in the passage at 46:06 Highlight the passage at 46:06

46:29 Maybe your 30s or your 20s or your teens or your childhood or whatever and going back, following that mind and trying to just stay with the experiences without getting distracted by the different stories, seeing how it goes all the way back to your babyhood. It's a really impressive meditation to take time to do and I'm sort of giving you the sweet and condensed version of it but it is a good experience to try that out. Report an error in the passage at 46:29 Highlight the passage at 46:29

46:58 You can also imagine just on your own imagining the different stages of this life to try to imagine what it would be like to be different beings because think of all the different beings you've just been in this life. If you can just think about the little baby that you were and the little and the toddler that you were. Report an error in the passage at 46:58 Highlight the passage at 46:58

47:20 And the child that you were and the teenager that you were, maybe several teenagers that you were. You might have been the sweet one that suddenly turned evil when the hormones happened. It is amazing how that happened, that shift. And then they switched back in their 20s and then their 30s. And I know I have had many. I've even had different names. So it's like I've been different beings. There's this continuity. Report an error in the passage at 47:20 Highlight the passage at 47:20

47:48 This mind, but I've been different beings and sometimes it's interesting if you find like an old journal or something and you see some image of what you were like it's like wow I really believed that you know or whatever or you see pictures of yourself of course that's that can be shocking too. Report an error in the passage at 47:48 Highlight the passage at 47:48

48:10 But that gives you some idea of what it might be like to have the same continuity but to be all these different beings, you know, having this same continuity. Report an error in the passage at 48:10 Highlight the passage at 48:10

48:28 So for this part of this meditation, recognizing that all beings could have been our mother or have been our mother. We just can imagine taking birth in all these different situations where we have moms. So we can think about maybe being a goose. Suddenly you wake up and you're in a goose body and there's a mama goose and you're trying to follow this mama goose. Maybe you suddenly... Report an error in the passage at 48:28 Highlight the passage at 48:28

48:59 born and you're in a fox den and your mom's a fox. That was one that came up for me one time in meditation. Maybe you are sitting with a large family around a fire somewhere. Maybe you are in a castle. I mean, there's so many different realms of experiences that we could have had, so why not just imagine them in this situation? And then imagining whatever the mom is doing. Report an error in the passage at 48:59 Highlight the passage at 48:59

49:25 I mean, if you're a goose or a chicken, the mom is trying to protect you from eagles and other prey. I mean, other, what's the word? Predators. I'd be the prey. Janet told us this story, actually. Report an error in the passage at 49:25 Highlight the passage at 49:25

49:44 Janet told us this story. She and Hillary, I don't know if people know Janet, but anyway, she's our bookkeeper and one of our board members. Michelle called her our resident slave last night. Anyway, she was sitting around without anything to do and she decided to watch this show that was called something about the history of the chicken. Report an error in the passage at 49:44 Highlight the passage at 49:44

50:06 She started telling me about it one time when we were in a car and of course I'm thinking, oh right, okay. Yeah. It ended up being so moving that first I cried as she was telling me the story, and then I made her tell Karen and Anna at the Demystifying Tantra study group, and then we all burst into tears. Report an error in the passage at 50:06 Highlight the passage at 50:06

50:25 I don't know if Anna did, actually. I did notice that Karen was really moving. I know. So the story is that she was watching this show, and this guy was telling this story. Actually, he had written a poem about this chicken, his chicken. Report an error in the passage at 50:25 Highlight the passage at 50:25

50:40 A mama chicken. Report an error in the passage at 50:40 Highlight the passage at 50:40

50:45 So the mama chicken, she, I think the story was, and don't correct me if I'm wrong, let's just go with it. So the mama chicken, she actually, I can't remember all the details, but I know that she couldn't have babies for a long time. When she finally gave birth to her first, whatever they call it, litter, brood, there you go. She had about four. Report an error in the passage at 50:45 Highlight the passage at 50:45

50:41 Chicken. I've that. Report an error in the passage at 50:41 Highlight the passage at 50:41

51:08 And she took them out to a little chicken yard and she was wandering around with them and then this hawk came. She kind of noticed all the other birds, all the chickens were scattering and disappearing and so she started to scatter and she ran and then all of a sudden she remembered all her little chickies were out in the yard. Report an error in the passage at 51:08 Highlight the passage at 51:08

51:28 So she ran back for them and gathered them underneath her and then stood up tall so that she would distract the chicken hawk. And they wouldn't kill the chickens. So she basically was giving herself to be killed so that the chicks would be saved. And the hawk went right to her and like bammed her and she like kind of fell over. Report an error in the passage at 51:28 Highlight the passage at 51:28

51:50 And the farmer saw all this from his window and he thought, oh, she's dead. And he was like completely sad, you know. And he ran down there and it turned out she had actually only been injured. And that she was all right. She actually survived. But all her little chicks were underneath her wings and they were protected. So she was just like, and he said, what I liked is that after seeing that, he said, anybody that wants to call me a chicken, they can call me a chicken. Report an error in the passage at 51:50 Highlight the passage at 51:50

52:18 So we were so, she told it better, sorry. We were so moved because it's just such a great example of the kinds of things that you hear about. And some of us see with animals, especially in the wild, but domestic. And this is a good example of a domestic situation where animals are willing to give their lives and have done so many times for us personally to keep us from being killed by predators. Report an error in the passage at 52:18 Highlight the passage at 52:18

52:46 And humans do this too. And maybe this has actually already happened to you in your life. Maybe your mom has already saved you in some way. being killed. Report an error in the passage at 52:46 Highlight the passage at 52:46

53:00 They talk about stories, of course, in Tibet and Nepal, it's a lot rougher situations. When Lama Zopa Rinpoche talks about this situation, he talks about how you could crawl near a cliff or something like that, which doesn't happen so often in our lives, but I suppose you could crawl near traffic. That could happen where you could run suddenly out into traffic or do something else, pick up something poisonous or put your hand in the flame or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 53:00 Highlight the passage at 53:00

53:33 So for this meditation, we're just thinking about how the mind works because that's the logic. That's how we're thinking about it. It's not just that we're taking this leap of faith. We're actually using some logic. We're thinking about the fact that if I have beginningless and endless mind, then... I have had many different forms, many different lifetimes, and I've had moms in most of those lifetimes. Report an error in the passage at 53:33 Highlight the passage at 53:33

54:01 And I say most of because there are certain realms that you sort of pop into experience without having come from a birth. I'm not going so much into those, but that's like the hell realms, for example. They say that you are born fully grown. You don't grow up. And yes, we have Hal Roms if people haven't heard of that in Buddhism. We'll get into that in other classes. So you're just imagining the different forms just to allow yourself that idea that you've had many different mothers in many different lifetimes. Report an error in the passage at 54:01 Highlight the passage at 54:01

54:35 And then thinking, well, where are all those mothers now? You know, they're still my moms. They're every single being that I ever meet. Report an error in the passage at 54:35 Highlight the passage at 54:35

54:46 So it's kind of far-fetched with our minds the way we think of how that I came into being completely my mind and body in this life and I am all there is and this life is all there is. So we're actually taking a huge leap to begin to explore, if we haven't already, beginningless mind and reincarnation and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 54:46 Highlight the passage at 54:46

55:06 But that's a huge tenet of Buddhism, is thinking that this life isn't all there is. And actually that sort of... The good news that everything that we have, many, many things that we have done in the past have led to this life and that all the things that we do in this life will lead to the next life and that's kind of the point. Report an error in the passage at 55:06 Highlight the passage at 55:06

55:29 So we're just spending time in this meditation thinking about all the moms. That we've ever had and then starting to see that in the faces that we see on the street or the people or the annoying people that we know or the you know this person has been my mom. Report an error in the passage at 55:29 Highlight the passage at 55:29

55:48 This person this person has been my mom or even starting to say this person has been my dad this person has been my grandma you know this person has been my brother this person has been my best friend this person has been my lover you know I mean like thinking about that with somebody that you have really. Report an error in the passage at 55:48 Highlight the passage at 55:48

56:05 Difficult feelings about can actually also soften, you know. It's like I have been so close to this person some other life and due to karma and due to situation, I'm not in that situation with that person now and we're getting rid of some other karma, but I have been very close. This person has borne me in their belly and given birth to me. It's a really interesting thing, you know, if somebody's irritating you to think that, you know. Report an error in the passage at 56:05 Highlight the passage at 56:05

56:31 You were a bad mother. . . And you've been that person's mother. And you've been that person's mother. So if that one is actually easier for you, you can focus on that. I have been that person's mother. I have given birth to this person. This person has been my dearest baby. You know, that's a very interesting thought too. So why don't we stop there because that's already a lot of material if you're new to this. Report an error in the passage at 56:31 Highlight the passage at 56:31

56:56 And why don't we see if there's questions about that. What I'll do at the end is I'll lead you through this as a meditation. Any questions so far on recognizing that all beings have been our mother or could have been? Report an error in the passage at 56:56 Highlight the passage at 56:56

57:12 You got one that's percolating? Slowly. Slowly. I was waiting to see if somebody had something more related before I grabbed the mic because I was thinking as you were talking how much I like. The poem by Thich Nhat Hanh, Call Me By My True Names, because I think we hold so firmly to different perceptions of ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 57:12 Highlight the passage at 57:12

57:41 You know, I'm this, I'm this person's daughter and that person's whatever and that I'm all good and that I'm not bad. Or that I'm all bad. Or that I'm all bad, right. And I just really like that poem because It enables me or it makes me see through the eyes of so many others. And, you know, what's so hard about thinking about some people being your mother is that you have put them in that you're the bad person chair. Report an error in the passage at 57:41 Highlight the passage at 57:41

58:14 I just know you're no good. But you could be me too. So why couldn't you be my mother? I can see myself in you. Do you want to bring that poem next week? Sure. Yeah. Yeah. That'd be a nice one. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 58:14 Highlight the passage at 58:14

58:29 Anybody else? Don't be afraid if you think it's a stupid question. No question is stupid. Okay, well you can think about it and you can ask again. So the third step is based on this, remembering, well the third step has two parts. Report an error in the passage at 58:29 Highlight the passage at 58:29

58:53 So if we're thinking about the fact that all beings have been our mother or could have been our mother, then 3A is remembering the kindness of the mother. And 3B is thinking about the kindness of all beings in general. Report an error in the passage at 58:53 Highlight the passage at 58:53

59:12 And I want to say right up front, because this one usually comes up whenever we discuss bodhicitta and this, this all comes from the seven point, but the 11 point process. Some people have had really challenging moms. And it's really difficult to think about the kindness of that, you know, the mother of this life. Report an error in the passage at 59:12 Highlight the passage at 59:12

59:33 And if that's you, then think about somebody else who stepped in and helped raise you. I know for me, I was also raised by my grandma. I had a very sweet relationship with my mom as well. But I also was raised by my grandma, so I have done this meditation thinking about my grandma and all the things that she's done for me, that she did do for me, which is no longer with me. Report an error in the passage at 59:33 Highlight the passage at 59:33

1:00:00 You might think about an aunt or your father or your grandpa or the neighbor or your teacher or somebody who stepped in for you and helped raise you in some way. So it has to be somebody who kind of was there in a little steadier way than once or twice, you know. It has to be because what we're trying to get to in our mind with this is a sense of gratitude. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:00 Highlight the passage at 1:00:00

1:00:24 So it's not just somebody who maybe saved you once and then never saw you again. It has to be somebody who helped you to the point that you can kind of spend some time thinking about the ways that they were kind to you. And then in your mind it begins to generate this sense of gratitude. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:24 Highlight the passage at 1:00:24

1:00:49 For this first part of the meditation, for A, thinking about the kindness of the mother or whoever the main caregiver is, think about all the different things that they did. So if they were your mom, really think about them carrying you in their womb, giving birth. And as an infant, of course, we're completely defenseless, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:49 Highlight the passage at 1:00:49

1:01:09 So whoever it was. And in this case, I'm going to focus more on the mom because that's more standard. But imagine whoever this person is and all the kind things that they do. And you can really go into quite an amount of detail. The more that you do this, you can really spend a long time thinking about how they bathed you and how they taught you to walk and how they fed you because you were like, you know, unable to do any of that. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:09 Highlight the passage at 1:01:09

1:01:34 How they taught you to speak, you know, how they taught you to... To wash yourself, how they taught you to do everything, how they got up in the night repeatedly, even when they had their own lives and their own concerns and sometimes their own pain to deal with. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:34 Highlight the passage at 1:01:34

1:01:53 And even if what they did, for example, if... We were adopted into a family. You could actually do the meditation having two moms because you might imagine the birth mother that she went through. She decided to give birth to you. She didn't abort you, right? So you could actually think about that. And then you could think about the other mom who then stepped in at whatever age you were adopted and became, or mom or dad, and became that person for you. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:53 Highlight the passage at 1:01:53

1:02:22 where they Try to give you enough skills that you could survive on your own, basically, which is really, I think, what parents do. They take us from having nothing and no skills to, you know, kicking us out. And it doesn't stop when we're, right? It doesn't stop when we hit teenagerhood. I remember at one point when I went in to have kids, I thought it sort of ended at 18, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:22 Highlight the passage at 1:02:22

1:02:50 When I think about the fact my mom was my mom. Until her dying breath. I mean, honestly, her final words were like, have I been a good mom? You know, I mean, she was thinking about it up until her final breath, which was like four years ago. Right. So, I mean, she was like she was 85. You know, we were all well grown. She did not stop being our mom. So they just keep going, you know, and a lot of times, too, you know, they. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:50 Highlight the passage at 1:02:50

1:03:20 I remember, too, I was raised in the earlier days where it seems to be before polyester, there was a lot of ironing going on. I remember she was just constantly ironing and ironing. It was a lot of cotton, you know, and things were wrinkled. Lots of laundry and stacks everywhere, too. And we didn't have that big a family, but, you know, I guess we sort of did, four kids. But, you know, just lots of that kind of stuff and cooking. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:20 Highlight the passage at 1:03:20

1:03:49 And, you know, she didn't even like to cook. She didn't even want to do any of that stuff. She wanted to be a poet. She didn't. She just sort of gave up all of that for us. And that actually came up doing this meditation, too, is thinking about what she gave up to raise us because we found her journals and stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:49 Highlight the passage at 1:03:49

1:04:04 And she really debated it. We might not have been, you know, if she had made that different decision. But, you know, if there are other kids involved and those kids are sick and then she's also caring for you. And, you know, so it's like thinking about this in a lot of detail, really going into a lot of detail about, you know, getting up. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:04 Highlight the passage at 1:04:04

1:04:25 And I remember, too, I had my wisdom teeth out when I was in college. And my mom and I saw how old I probably was like 20. No, I wasn't even quite. I think I was probably like 18 or 19. And I remember she sat by the bed overnight. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:25 Highlight the passage at 1:04:25

1:04:42 It was just like that, you know, like stuff like that. And she did the same thing for my sister after my sister had hers out like a little bit later. So it's like just kind of interesting stuff that people who totally care about us do. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:42 Highlight the passage at 1:04:42

1:04:57 So, yeah, taking it through all those different steps, you know, and at the time, of course, we just take it for granted. Of course she's going to take care of me. Or I come home from college or something and of course she's going to wash all my clothes. Of course she's going to cook for me or whatever while I just go out and see my friends. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:57 Highlight the passage at 1:04:57

1:05:19 But not of course. This is an act of kindness. And so it's just recognizing that kindness. And then they ask us to sort of take this step. you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:19 Highlight the passage at 1:05:19

1:05:25 us. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:25 Highlight the passage at 1:05:25

1:05:33 Mother or father or grandmother or caregiver has had this role, this exact role for me in many, many lifetimes. You know, maybe not always even as a human. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:33 Highlight the passage at 1:05:33

1:05:46 She looks away. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:46 Highlight the passage at 1:05:46

1:05:51 Maybe not even always as a human, but always the same role. So, you know, you can kind of play with that idea of this person or this stream of consciousness. That became the mother of this life or the father or the grandmother. Having this role for us in different families and in different situations, even non-human, you know, even animal. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:51 Highlight the passage at 1:05:51

1:06:20 And then you can also even imagine how then the reverse is also true, that again, all these beings have also had this role for me. So after we, again, we think again how, you know, How then all these beings that we come into contact with, the bus driver, the person that you share the cubicle with, the person sitting next to you in class, has also been a mother to me and has raised me and has given birth to me and has burped me and has, you know, diapered me. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:20 Highlight the passage at 1:06:20

1:06:54 And it's an interesting thought. Yeah, it's an interesting thought. John's done it for you there, Dave. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:54 Highlight the passage at 1:06:54

1:07:06 So, you know, it's interesting. It's an interesting thing to kind of go through a whole day and really just try to become aware of that, you know, the bus driver, you get on the bus driver and, you know, and the cashier and the, you know, the person who does your coffee and all those people. Yeah, so I like thinking about them in this different way. So the second part of this is remembering the kindness of all beings in general. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:06 Highlight the passage at 1:07:06

1:07:32 This is getting into a little bit of dependent arising, although we're not really calling it that, but it's really just thinking about our dependency on others for everything that we use. So our food, our clothing, our shelter, our transportation, our spiritual life, all comes from other living beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:32 Highlight the passage at 1:07:32

1:07:53 And what those other living beings do. Whether it's intentionally for us is another issue. And we're not even going to get into that issue because the reality is that we couldn't survive without other living beings. In this case, we're focusing more on people, but it's true for other animals as well. So, for example, thinking about food. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:53 Highlight the passage at 1:07:53

1:08:16 And just taking one sandwich, you know, thinking about one sandwich and thinking about the bread in that sandwich and all the farmers who grew that wheat and harvested, planted that wheat and then harvested that wheat and then made it, milled it into flour and then, you know, made that flour into bread. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:16 Highlight the passage at 1:08:16

1:08:36 Probably somebody else made it into bread, not the farmers. And then, you know, made it into either brought the bread to market and then you bought the bread or somebody else bought the bread. And then whatever goes into the sandwich, you know, so whether there's cheese that you made or tofu and who made that or who, you know, who took care of the cow and milked the cow and and then made the cheese and then, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:36 Highlight the passage at 1:08:36

1:09:03 And then the animals that might have been, or the beings, the living beings, the insects who might have been injured or harmed in that process, you know, of the planting of the wheat or the planting of the lettuce that went onto your sandwich. and, um, and, um, All of those beings who took it to market and all that stuff, just so you could have the sandwich to eat. And that's just a sandwich. And we should hear the detail that Lama Zopa Rinpoche goes into it for rice or tea. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:03 Highlight the passage at 1:09:03

1:09:31 Just the amount of living beings that go into every single thing that we make use of. So when we think about... For clothing, we think about cotton, or we think about wool, or we think about the polyester, or we think about whoever. In the case of cotton, since it's organic, we can think again about the people who planted the cotton, and then harvested the cotton, and then milled the cotton, and then made it into cloth, often in sweatshops or in really horrible places, sometimes in really groovy places. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:31 Highlight the passage at 1:09:31

1:10:09 The thread that has to be made and also spun and then, you know, all of that is made into cloth and then sewn together and then we use it. You know, we don't even think about those people, you know, all those different hands that have touched all these clothes. Everyone goes home and washes their clothes. And that's all from people's kindness and the same is true for everything we use, you know, the people who made this mug, the people who made this table, the people who made this bell, the people who made the clock, you know, the people who made my computer. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:09 Highlight the passage at 1:10:09

1:10:39 That I'm so reliant upon that we all are at this point. People who made our telephones and keep them working. People who made this microphone. Built this building. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:39 Highlight the passage at 1:10:39

1:10:49 People who built the giant stadium. People who record the music that we like. Or the television shows or the movies or whatever. All the things that we make use of in our life are all created by others. And by other living beings and through their kindness, we have everything that we need. So it's just taking a moment to really think about all of that. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:49 Highlight the passage at 1:10:49

1:11:15 And you can really think about it. You can spread out for every single thing. So if you don't know what to meditate on for this one, just open your eyes for a moment and just pick a few things and then just go crazy, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:15 Highlight the passage at 1:11:15

1:11:27 Even our spiritual path, right? So, I mean, we're dependent on our teachers and their teachers and their teachers. We're dependent on the texts. That were memorized but also that were printed by hand, many of them at first, and then by woodblock and then by printing press. We're dependent on the center itself and the people that support the center. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:27 Highlight the passage at 1:11:27

1:11:49 We're dependent on all these beautiful objects that people give the center and create first and then give the center. And then we're also to practice, if you think about the six perfections, which are the activities that we're going to get into in the final classes for the bodhisattva, for giving we need someone to give to, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:11:49 Highlight the passage at 1:11:49

1:12:10 For generosity, sometimes it's translated as generosity. Um, um... And for ethics or morality, there's got to be somebody that we are refraining from harming when we have the chance to harm them. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:10 Highlight the passage at 1:12:10

1:12:29 If we don't kill somebody, that's what the merit comes from, when we have the opportunity. If we don't harm somebody, when we have the opportunity. For patience, which is basically not getting angry when we... Should, when we have every right to. We also need somebody. We need somebody to practice patience with, which we talked about before. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:29 Highlight the passage at 1:12:29

1:12:55 For joyful effort, we need others. Even to accumulate merit, we need others. To become a bodhisattva, we need others. To get enlightened, we need others. We couldn't get enlightened if there weren't other living beings around. Of course, there wouldn't be any real reason. So any questions about that? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:55 Highlight the passage at 1:12:55

1:13:41 Yeah, Christine. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:41 Highlight the passage at 1:13:41

1:13:45 I guess two parts. So if you were trying to meditate on all beings having been your children, what would 3A be? And then the second part is I assume it's not quite the same as gratitude. It's more of an obligation. It is, yeah. That's why it's difficult to do that. Does that make it like a lesser quality or just a different quality? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:45 Highlight the passage at 1:13:45

1:14:05 Well, you're trying to have the end result because the fourth, I'll give you a preview, is going to be wanting to repay. Wanting to repay. So you need this sense of gratitude. So it would have to be, I think, rather than your child, I think you'd have to pick somebody else that had a sort of parental role, if you could, rather than your child. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:05 Highlight the passage at 1:14:05

1:14:31 When I was talking about that, I was thinking about that more to soften your heart when you... Or irritated by somebody to think, you know, oh yeah, John could have been my baby, you know. Actually, Scott gave this great meditation one time where he went through this thing, I think it was on a Sunday class. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:31 Highlight the passage at 1:14:31

1:14:48 Were you here? He was talking about the whole using the Lamrim at work and he was talking about if you're having a difficult time with somebody, imagine the whole arc of that person's life, their little babyhood, somebody rock them. Somebody cared for them and all that stuff to soften your own heart towards this person all the way through the point that they too will lie on their own deathbed and they'll take their last breath and live their life the best they could have and they'll be gone. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:48 Highlight the passage at 1:14:48

1:15:16 So it's like a way to see this person in a sort of encapsulated way. But yeah, in this case I think it's difficult because you want to get to the point where you feel this gratitude. So try to choose somebody that you feel that gratefulness to. Do you still have the second question, or did that kind of blow the second question? That was like two parts, because if it wasn't, because in the readings it seemed like you could substitute it for one of your children. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:16 Highlight the passage at 1:15:16

1:15:43 That was a sense I got. Okay, yeah, so maybe. But then I wasn't sure. I think it's hard to get to that fourth step then, I think. I would think, unless, does anybody else have an opinion about that? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, we'll experiment with it, and then, yeah. Give us feedback. Because I'm certainly not opposed to anything. And I think, you know, I think in Tibet the mom is really held very sacredly. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:43 Highlight the passage at 1:15:43

1:16:13 I think that's true from everything that I've read. They were shocked when they came to America and they started hearing one after another. These people would say that they had a hard time with this meditation and so forth. And so now it's our opportunity to take these meditations and play with them. What works? Report an error in the passage at 1:16:13 Highlight the passage at 1:16:13

1:16:32 What we want to do is get enlightened, right? So we want the same mental states to evolve, so we want to try to get to those mental states however we're going to get to them. But I think it's totally great for us to just do whatever we need to do to get there. So yeah, go for it. And in fact, this next little exercise is going to have you guys think about this a little bit. We're going to break up into twos. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:32 Highlight the passage at 1:16:32

1:16:59 Everybody just grab somebody. It doesn't have to be the person next to you. Just grab, yeah. Hold yourself back. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:59 Highlight the passage at 1:16:59

1:17:09 And we're going to just talk about that. And you don't need to bring back any information. It can just be private with you two. And in fact, even with the person, you don't have to share anything. Like, for example, if you had a really horrifying experience with your mom, and I've known of a number of people like that, you don't need to share that experience unless you want to. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:09 Highlight the passage at 1:17:09

1:17:26 Remember that we only have, you know, like probably at this point seven and a half minutes for each person instead of ten. So don't get into too much detail. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:26 Highlight the passage at 1:17:26

1:17:36 But just what we're going to do is the discussion is going to go something like this. If you couldn't choose your mom for this meditation, pick another person you'd choose and talk about this with your partner. Why do you feel grateful to this person so much, because this is what we want to get to, so much that when you remember their kindness, you'd do anything to repay that kindness. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:36 Highlight the passage at 1:17:36

1:18:01 That's what we're trying to get to. So it can be anyone that makes you feel that way, so think about who. And it may feel like, if it still feels like it has to be your mom, then think about why. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:01 Highlight the passage at 1:18:01

1:18:11 If it feels better to choose this other person, think about why. So we're not going to be able to get into so much of that detail, but just basically just discuss it. And I would say, rather than going back and forth, back and forth, let one person just say their piece, and then I'll ding the little bell, and then let the other person say their piece. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:11 Highlight the passage at 1:18:11

1:18:29 And there will be some back and forth, that's okay, I'm not going to stop you if two people are kind of talking. But really try to hear the other person out a little bit. It's kind of a listening exercise, too, because we often... Report an error in the passage at 1:18:29 Highlight the passage at 1:18:29

1:19:00 just look at it when you get in your ear yeah If you couldn't, that's... Yeah, the assignment is if you couldn't. So for you, it might be your mom. Then say why. That's fine. Yeah, it's not saying not to. For me, I have tried it with other beings, but I feel incredibly fortunate that actually my mom is the one that leads me to this state, no problem. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:00 Highlight the passage at 1:19:00

1:19:25 But I have experimented with other beings. My dad actually would have been harder. Sorry, Dad. But my mom... That I actually have reached incredibly emotional states of gratitude with. But that's not true for everyone. So we're exploring something different here. So it's just like taking a few minutes to talk about it with somebody and helping them if they're trying to figure out who else they can meditate on, who they can use. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:25 Highlight the passage at 1:19:25

1:19:55 You know, that's all it's really about. Okay, so take a moment to find a partner and then one of you come forward and get a piece of paper that explains it. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:55 Highlight the passage at 1:19:55

1:20:09 Okay, David, there you go. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:09 Highlight the passage at 1:20:09

1:20:23 And if anybody doesn't have a partner, then you're going to go into a group and make a triple. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:23 Highlight the passage at 1:20:23

1:20:32 You guys? Everybody has a partner? Okay. Start. I'll ring the bell to let you know when it's halfway. Okay, so we're starting. And you don't have to be in here. If the noise is too much, you can go into the other room, too. Okay. Yeah, go down to the bar. Yeah, that'll work. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:32 Highlight the passage at 1:20:32

· · · silence, 2 minutes

1:22:51 Thank you. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:51 Highlight the passage at 1:22:51

1:23:32 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:32 Highlight the passage at 1:23:32

1:23:47 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:47 Highlight the passage at 1:23:47

1:24:01 Thank you. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:01 Highlight the passage at 1:24:01

1:24:43 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:43 Highlight the passage at 1:24:43

1:25:39 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:39 Highlight the passage at 1:25:39

1:26:03 So start wrapping it up if the speaker, then switch. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:03 Highlight the passage at 1:26:03

1:26:34 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:34 Highlight the passage at 1:26:34

1:26:55 Thank you. need just my other one. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:55 Highlight the passage at 1:26:55

1:27:09 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:09 Highlight the passage at 1:27:09

1:28:22 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:22 Highlight the passage at 1:28:22

1:28:37 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:37 Highlight the passage at 1:28:37

1:29:07 Thank you. Thank you. I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:07 Highlight the passage at 1:29:07

1:29:46 Thank you. Now, I mean, she's like a dream and a kid was like, she didn't have a dream. She did just that. Oh, she's been an icon. And it wasn't that she was supposed to be. You did it, she was such a long time. So, just that, that's pretty good. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:46 Highlight the passage at 1:29:46

1:30:12 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:12 Highlight the passage at 1:30:12

1:30:42 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:42 Highlight the passage at 1:30:42

1:31:00 So start trying to wrap it up if you have it already. Find a nice way to end it. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:00 Highlight the passage at 1:31:00

1:31:12 And then those of you that are done, you can go ahead and take a break. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:12 Highlight the passage at 1:31:12

1:31:26 yeah, I mean, yeah, it's just, yeah, it's because you get treated Report an error in the passage at 1:31:26 Highlight the passage at 1:31:26

1:31:51 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:51 Highlight the passage at 1:31:51

1:32:07 You guys can take a break. Everybody can take a break if you didn't hear that. Go get some cookies, go get some tea. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:07 Highlight the passage at 1:32:07

1:32:23 No, no, no, that's okay. I didn't bring it in, I was like, big. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:23 Highlight the passage at 1:32:23

1:32:25 did you maybe get me some more hot water in there? Thank you. Just hot water? Just hot water is good, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:25 Highlight the passage at 1:32:25

1:32:46 Just remind me in an email, and then we'll start the process of trying to find a slot. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:46 Highlight the passage at 1:32:46

1:32:54 Well, that's not true. I work. Yeah, no, I work. Yeah. Oh, with your schedule? My schedule's going to be the hard one. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:54 Highlight the passage at 1:32:54

1:33:09 Right, right, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:09 Highlight the passage at 1:33:09

1:33:18 That's right. That reminds me, I did want to, can I use your pen? Thank you. No, that's perfect. That's great. I did want to actually mention that, and I also wanted to mention, do you remember the dates? Report an error in the passage at 1:33:18 Highlight the passage at 1:33:18

1:33:38 Something like the 26th or something. It's in my opinion on Report an error in the passage at 1:33:38 Highlight the passage at 1:33:38

1:33:47 Friday. It's the Friday afternoon. Okay. It's the third Friday of the month. Third Friday. And it's 10 days. Yeah. And it's Copan West. And it's, I remember it's Yangtze Rinpoche and Tenzin Chokyi. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:47 Highlight the passage at 1:33:47

1:34:03 Yeah, I wanted to mention that. I also wanted to mention the sooner there's the bodhicitta retreat that Tensichoki is leading, which is I think the second weekend in October, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:03 Highlight the passage at 1:34:03

1:34:22 Right. Oh, so it's the third weekend because this year, no, this time the first is the first. It's Saturday the first and then the second is actually the weekend of my birthday, not that I'm aware of that. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:22 Highlight the passage at 1:34:22

1:34:38 No, I think it's actually the one of the 13th, 14th or whatever. Yeah, I think it's actually the Report an error in the passage at 1:34:38 Highlight the passage at 1:34:38

1:34:48 14th. I don't know. Find out what that date is and come in and I'll announce that too. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:48 Highlight the passage at 1:34:48

1:34:59 I'll say it's like third weekend. I wish I had the actual dates. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:59 Highlight the passage at 1:34:59

1:35:08 Do you remember what that weekend was called? What Tenshoki's weekend was called? Something about bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:08 Highlight the passage at 1:35:08

1:35:20 Oh God, it's bad. Do you have one of those phones so you can actually look something up? Could you go to the Vajrapani website and give me the name of the bodhicitta retreat? I wanted to announce that and the dates. And also, well, the other one's Copan West. I can just call it that. That'd be great. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:20 Highlight the passage at 1:35:20

1:35:44 Wednesdays. Yeah, also 7 to 9. 7 to 9, yeah. I know, it's difficult, but even just coming once or twice is great. Oh, good, good. I saw the little shake of the head and I thought, oh, no. Yeah, good, good. I'm glad it's not difficult. That's joyful effort in action. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:44 Highlight the passage at 1:35:44

1:36:04 Joyful effort in action. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:04 Highlight the passage at 1:36:04

1:36:14 There you go. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:14 Highlight the passage at 1:36:14

1:36:19 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:19 Highlight the passage at 1:36:19

1:36:25 Yeah. It's not the one in September. That's it. Open your heart. Free your mind. And it's about bodhicitta? Does it say that? It's in October. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:25 Highlight the passage at 1:36:25

1:36:36 No, that one was canceled, unfortunately. They didn't have enough people. No, we got that one. But what's the actual date of that? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:36 Highlight the passage at 1:36:36

1:36:56 The September one. Then there's something in October about bodhicitta. I'm just trying to figure out. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:56 Highlight the passage at 1:36:56

1:37:08 You're looking for the bodhicitta? No. Oh, I see it. I'm sorry. Experiencing bodhicitta. Oh yeah. Oh. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:08 Highlight the passage at 1:37:08

1:37:18 a meditation retreat. And the dates on that? October 8th to 11th. That's right. Oh, there's the second one. That's the one that I can't go to because I'm on. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:18 Highlight the passage at 1:37:18

1:37:33 Cool. Do you have an experience of bodhicitta? Yeah, experiencing bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:33 Highlight the passage at 1:37:33

1:37:43 Yeah, I think they're trying to be more lenient with that than they have been in the past. Yeah, it's the way it has to be in the West. Yeah. Do you need another one? Report an error in the passage at 1:37:43 Highlight the passage at 1:37:43

1:37:53 I think he's got that because he's... Report an error in the passage at 1:37:53 Highlight the passage at 1:37:53

1:37:59 Oh, so it actually encompasses Thanksgiving. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:59 Highlight the passage at 1:37:59

1:38:07 Just meditating on the long rim. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:07 Highlight the passage at 1:38:07

1:38:17 It's the third, but it's something around the 20-something. I don't think it's the 18th. I think it's the one after the 25th. The last one? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:17 Highlight the passage at 1:38:17

1:38:43 The 28th, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:43 Highlight the passage at 1:38:43

1:38:51 Yeah. I yeah. Well, Thanksgiving's like the Report an error in the passage at 1:38:51 Highlight the passage at 1:38:51

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:38:52 Well, see, because you can either do the whole thing, and so the first week is teachings on all the topics of the Lamrim, and then they lead you in meditations on those topics, or you can just come and do what Gina was saying, you can just come and do the weekend. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:52 Highlight the passage at 1:38:52

1:39:12 But I wonder if what I was thinking is that they would let you come and just do some of the teaching part too, and that's something I think you could, if you could. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:12 Highlight the passage at 1:39:12

1:39:24 What my approach would be if I were you and you could only attend parties, just ask. Just say, you know, look, I can come Monday and Tuesday, then I can't come, and then I can come Friday through the weekend or whatever, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:24 Highlight the passage at 1:39:24

1:39:39 We'll announce that one later when we get into it. We don't want to overwhelm. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:39 Highlight the passage at 1:39:39

1:39:50 It's a perfect opportunity. So a couple of announcements as you're swallowing your last cups of tea. I know, I just, like, I'm like, well, that would be really interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:50 Highlight the passage at 1:39:50

1:39:57 Sounds like you're going into something horrible, your last cups of tea. A couple of good things that are coming up at our sister center Vajrapani in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:57 Highlight the passage at 1:39:57

1:40:15 October 8th through the 11th, it's a weekend, Tenzin Chokyi, who many of you know, she's come here and taught a few times. She's doing an experiencing bodhicitta weekend. So it's a great time to just kind of like take some of what you know by then and launch into it. And she'll kind of guide you through it. She'll give you more teachings on these points. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:15 Highlight the passage at 1:40:15

1:40:37 I don't know which of the methods she'll use in that weekend. So that'll be interesting to see, actually. I don't know. 8th through 11th? October. October. So coming up. Yeah, coming up. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:37 Highlight the passage at 1:40:37

1:40:52 Bajapani Institute. So it's down near Santa Cruz in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It's about a two hour drive from here only because the final half hour is on gravel. But it's a wonderful retreat center. They have a dorm and it's a nice dorm actually now. I love their dorm. They have great cabins as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:52 Highlight the passage at 1:40:52

1:41:12 But there are different, so there are different prices based on how you stay. I think it's probably too cold for camping, but you could check. Maybe not in October. It might still work for camping if people are interested in that. But yeah, if you are interested in that, we can, it's, I'll spell it, Vajrapani. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:12 Highlight the passage at 1:41:12

1:41:34 My mother, to her dying day, could never say it. She'd be Vajrapani. It is an odd word, all right? But Vajra, V-A-J-R-A and then Pani, P-A-N-I. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:34 Highlight the passage at 1:41:34

1:41:49 I did never ask her to. She called me Kath all the way to the end, actually. She was the only one that called me Kath. Yeah, Chuchi. He actually says it more, Chuchi. The region he and Chudrin Rinpoche come from, they both say Chuchi. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:49 Highlight the passage at 1:41:49

1:42:11 But she used to call, my mom used to call Chosang Tucson. I thought that was great. And she called Chudrin children. She must have thought we had the most interesting names here. Anyway, also in October, and I don't know any details, but if you have any information, you can ask this fellow right here. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:11 Highlight the passage at 1:42:11

1:42:32 Pema Chodron is teaching in the East Bay, right? I think it's sold out currently, but... Yeah, and also there might be some change. There might be like some, you know, if somebody can't come, there might be tickets out front. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:32 Highlight the passage at 1:42:32

1:42:51 Yeah, that's it. So it's the 15th, 16th and 17th of October. Then in November at Vajrapani, again, I hear my mom's voice, what's called Kopan West is a lamrim retreat. It's actually 10 days of teaching and meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:51 Highlight the passage at 1:42:51

1:43:12 And there is also the option of taking the final three days, which are the three days after Thanksgiving, by themselves and just doing the final retreat portion, which is just going to be done as a silent retreat on the entire Lamrim. It's a great opportunity. For those of you that are doing the Discovering Buddhism program as a program in order to get a certificate so that you too can have a little ceremony like we did last night. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:12 Highlight the passage at 1:43:12

1:43:36 um um There is a requirement to do a two-week meditation on the lamrim, and this would count towards it, even though it's only 10 days. You get a discount. So the reason it's called Copan West is because in our organization, the FPMT, the Foundation for the Meditation, for the... Preservation. Thank you. Whatever. Sorry, Mary. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:36 Highlight the passage at 1:43:36

1:44:08 you get a phone call tomorrow. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:08 Highlight the passage at 1:44:08

1:44:13 We began in a monastery called Kopan just outside of Kathmandu. And so every November there is a big Kopan course which goes through the entire Lamrim and teaches it and you have meditation on it and it's an amazing experience. And Jen's actually going to go. Anna went. And hopefully others in the room will go. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:13 Highlight the passage at 1:44:13

1:44:37 It is life-changing. I've been a couple of times. So that's Copan East. But that's hard. People take a month off. It's hard with our lives. So we started creating Copan West so that we could have the experience of Copan but not have to take off, or like I did, quit my job, in order to do it. So it's kind of like... Report an error in the passage at 1:44:37 Highlight the passage at 1:44:37

1:44:59 So every year, and I think it's always at Vajrapani now, we have Kopan West. And it's always a 10-day retreat, and it's usually in November because of that tradition of it countering the one that's in Nepal. So those are announcements. Any questions? Oh, yeah, sorry. Go ahead and do your questions. Yeah, but go ahead and use the mic because I let you get away with it a couple times, David, but you didn't say the dates into the mic. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:59 Highlight the passage at 1:44:59

1:45:25 You have to stay after class. An announcement? Sure, yeah. That Land of Medicine Buddha is also having a retreat on the weekend of October 8th through 11th, a Medicine Buddha retreat. Oh, good. Is that Venerable Dream A leading? Yeah. Oh, good, good, good. And then on the weekend of October 22nd of Friday through, I believe... Report an error in the passage at 1:45:25 Highlight the passage at 1:45:25

1:45:48 The following Saturday, or maybe Sunday morning, the 24th at LMB, they'll be having John Landau and then Venerable Dermay will be doing a workshop on caring for the ill and dying. Oh, excellent. Yeah, that's wonderful. Atlanta Menacean Buddha, which is in Soquel, which is just below Santa Cruz. A little easier to get to and they have more of a sort of a bed and breakfast feel. You have like sort of hotel rooms and it's an old lodge so it's a little less like a hotel but motel rooms. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:48 Highlight the passage at 1:45:48

1:46:22 It's still rustic but yeah Vajrapani is a little bit more rustic. Great. Hi, how many people know that the Dalai Lama is going to be in San Jose? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Does anybody need tickets to that? Who hasn't gotten tickets? I actually had a friend who offered me, she says she has some tickets to, for all, I think both events. I don't know if all three of us. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:22 Highlight the passage at 1:46:22

1:46:47 So I can contact her and see if she still has tickets, Jen, if you want. Yeah? Okay. I'll connect you with her. The first two. Yeah, so not Stanford yet. I don't have to use a Stanford one. Yeah, so the first one is a teaching and then Amitabha is an empowerment, yeah. A lower tantra empowerment, yeah. Anyway, those things are coming up. Did you, but Karen had a question from the start. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:47 Highlight the passage at 1:46:47

1:47:17 I want to make sure her little question got asked. Or a huge question gets asked. But you don't care. So you said Discovering Buddhism, yeah, that's a two-week retreat. Would the Tara retreat in December count? It's not a lamrim retreat. Yeah, I don't think it will. It's great to do as many retreats as you can, but I think specifically they want something where you're going to go through the entire lamrim. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:17 Highlight the passage at 1:47:17

1:47:41 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:41 Highlight the passage at 1:47:41

1:47:45 So you should be thrilled you get to do another retreat. Yeah. I think we have a question in the back row. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:45 Highlight the passage at 1:47:45

1:47:57 Dalai Lama event, it's going to be on a Wednesday, right? Yeah, I don't know. The 12th and the 13th. I don't even know what these are. The Tuesday one, where is it at? Report an error in the passage at 1:47:57 Highlight the passage at 1:47:57

1:48:12 San Jose Convention Center. Convention Center, yeah. Oh, because I don't know about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:12 Highlight the passage at 1:48:12

1:48:25 And are there tickets still available? Do people know for that? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:25 Highlight the passage at 1:48:25

1:48:34 The one on the 12th? Yes. Yeah. Or, yes. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:34 Highlight the passage at 1:48:34

1:48:52 For that one, they're the ones who are doing it. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:52 Highlight the passage at 1:48:52

1:49:00 G-Y-U-T-O. Yeah, but just do Gyudo. I think you'd find it. Or Gyudo San Jose. I think you'd be all right. Let's not try to spell Vajrayana, too. Vajrapani was enough for one night. All right, we're going to end with a meditation, and then you guys can announce all you want. Oh, I still have this, actually. Sorry about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:00 Highlight the passage at 1:49:00

1:49:25 Smile at fear. That's what Pema Chodron is going to tell me. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:25 Highlight the passage at 1:49:25

1:49:34 Somebody. Okay. All right. So we're going to just try to do this meditation. And as you noticed, I didn't really ask any questions about what happened in your partnerships, your dyads or whatever you want to call them. And that's up to you if you want to share those at any time. But at this point, we're just going to let those be private conversations. But hopefully they will. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:34 Highlight the passage at 1:49:34

1:50:04 Come into this meditation for you. And if you're still having a hard time working with the mother thing, we can still talk about that later. That's okay. Don't worry about it. There's nothing wrong with you. We have to adapt all these different meditations to us and our lives and our minds, so don't worry about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:04 Highlight the passage at 1:50:04

1:50:23 We'll do it. But just kind of ride this meditation the best you can until you can work out who it is that you're going to meditate on. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:23 Highlight the passage at 1:50:23

1:50:34 right, so... Report an error in the passage at 1:50:34 Highlight the passage at 1:50:34

1:50:37 We're going to start with recognizing that all beings have been our mother or could have been. So even just opening up to that possibility, using that logic that the nature of mind is that it doesn't arise from a physical source. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:37 Highlight the passage at 1:50:37

1:50:58 Whatever comes from something else has to be of like substance and mind is a different substance completely than the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:58 Highlight the passage at 1:50:58

1:51:10 So it's not physical matter made of atoms, the way the body is. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:10 Highlight the passage at 1:51:10

1:51:23 The body comes from the physical sperm and egg of our parents. The mind is a completely different entity. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:23 Highlight the passage at 1:51:23

1:51:38 According to the Buddha, the mind is of a nature of being a stream of experiences, mental experiences arising and passing away, one after another very quickly. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:38 Highlight the passage at 1:51:38

1:52:01 Each moment comes from the moment just before and so it goes back infinitely. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:01 Highlight the passage at 1:52:01

1:52:18 If we follow our mind back, it's hard to say when it started. Did it start? Or was our first moment of mind in this life just following the last moment of mind in the last life? Report an error in the passage at 1:52:18 Highlight the passage at 1:52:18

1:52:49 So if my mind can go back infinitely, Report an error in the passage at 1:52:49 Highlight the passage at 1:52:49

1:52:56 I've had so many rebirths and every rebirth, just about, I've had a mother. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:56 Highlight the passage at 1:52:56

1:53:08 And according to this logic then, at some point or another, all sentient beings could have been my mother. In all different forms, in all different lives. I've had many, many, many mothers. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:08 Highlight the passage at 1:53:08

1:53:35 I just imagine taking birth in all different kinds of life forms. Human families, different... Countries, different conditions, Report an error in the passage at 1:53:35 Highlight the passage at 1:53:35

1:53:58 wild animals, domestic animals, pets. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:58 Highlight the passage at 1:53:58

1:54:15 In all these rebirths, we've had mothers that cared for us in some way, sometimes protecting us with their lives, Report an error in the passage at 1:54:15 Highlight the passage at 1:54:15

1:54:33 always feeding us, nurturing us, protecting us, teaching us what they think we might need to survive. If we're wild animals, that might be hunting. For humans, it might just be feeding ourselves, walking. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:33 Highlight the passage at 1:54:33

1:55:09 So where are all those mothers now? Report an error in the passage at 1:55:09 Highlight the passage at 1:55:09

1:55:17 They're every being that you meet. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:17 Highlight the passage at 1:55:17

1:55:27 And just as your mother of this life is still your mother, even after she dies, they're all still your mother too. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:27 Highlight the passage at 1:55:27

1:55:54 So then we try to remember the kindness of the mother, thinking in detail about our mother or our main caregiver, maybe it was our grandmother or sister or father. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:54 Highlight the passage at 1:55:54

1:56:11 And what they did for us, recognizing that kindness. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:11 Highlight the passage at 1:56:11

1:56:20 If it's our mother thinking about them carrying us in their body, sometimes having to take care of what they ate or how they treated their body, sometimes enduring quite a bit of pain, giving birth to us. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:20 Highlight the passage at 1:56:20

1:56:47 But whoever it was feeding us, getting up with us in the night, Report an error in the passage at 1:56:47 Highlight the passage at 1:56:47

1:56:54 changing us, washing us, Report an error in the passage at 1:56:54 Highlight the passage at 1:56:54

1:57:00 over and over and over again, not just once or twice. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:00 Highlight the passage at 1:57:00

1:57:14 Comforting us, teaching us to speak, to walk, to read, to dress ourselves, to clean ourselves, no matter what they're going through or whether they feel like it. We Report an error in the passage at 1:57:14 Highlight the passage at 1:57:14

1:57:37 were totally dependent for so long and even as we got older they still continued to do things for us, even if we disagreed with them or didn't like their point of view or argued with them. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:37 Highlight the passage at 1:57:37

1:58:01 And we can try to see that the mother of this life, Has had the same role for us, has been our mom in different lifetimes, in different forms, in different types of families, in different human families, different animal families, birds. The same mental continuum that in this life we might call mom or mother. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:01 Highlight the passage at 1:58:01

1:58:28 In other lives we might speak different languages or be not human, but still having that same role many, many, many times. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:28 Highlight the passage at 1:58:28

1:58:49 And we can think of other people that we've been close to in this life also being our mother many, many, many times. Our grandmother, our sister, our brother, our husband, our wife, Report an error in the passage at 1:58:49 Highlight the passage at 1:58:49

1:59:05 even our child of this lifetime has been our mother many, many times. Our neighbors, bus driver. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:05 Highlight the passage at 1:59:05

1:59:26 And then we remember the kindness of all beings in general, thinking about how dependent we are on other beings. Those so-called strangers out there for everything that we use, the food that we eat, clothes we put on, dishes we use, the things that entertain us, the things that we study, even the center, the transportation we use, the computers we use. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:26 Highlight the passage at 1:59:26

2:00:05 So just think about whatever it is that you had for lunch today. And try dissecting it the way we just did, thinking about whatever it was that you ate and how it grew and who grew it and who harvested it and how it became what it became once it hit your plate. How many people and even animals might have been involved in that food that you ate for lunch today. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:05 Highlight the passage at 2:00:05

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:01:16 Then don't stop at the food. Think about the dishes that you had it on or the carton or even the napkin, the utensils, the table, the chair, Report an error in the passage at 2:01:16 Highlight the passage at 2:01:16

2:01:34 or if you ate outside, the people who mowed that grass, the people who cared for that bench or built it. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:34 Highlight the passage at 2:01:34

2:01:50 And whatever kind of transportation you took to class tonight, whether it was a car that was built by some team of people. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:50 Highlight the passage at 2:01:50

2:02:00 Designed by somebody, whether it was a bus, whether it was your own feet, the roads that you walked on were definitely built by others. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:00 Highlight the passage at 2:02:00

2:02:15 And try to feel some gratitude for all of those beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:15 Highlight the passage at 2:02:15

2:02:35 And then thinking about our spiritual path and how we're dependent on our teachers and all that they know and their experiences and their teachers, Report an error in the passage at 2:02:35 Highlight the passage at 2:02:35

2:02:47 the texts that we use. Those meditators who have meditated and realized these steps. The centers where we take classes. Everything in those centers. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:47 Highlight the passage at 2:02:47

2:03:08 And then all the people that we need just to progress along the path. To practice patience with. To practice generosity with. To practice morality with. Non-harm. To practice being joyfully enthusiastic with. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:08 Highlight the passage at 2:03:08

2:03:32 To accumulate merit with. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:32 Highlight the passage at 2:03:32

2:03:37 To generate bodhicitta with and for, to get enlightened for. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:37 Highlight the passage at 2:03:37

2:04:00 So we dedicate any merit that we may have created tonight in thinking about these two steps of the meditation, even struggling with them, discussing them and trying to meditate on them. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:00 Highlight the passage at 2:04:00

2:04:22 We can dedicate this merit to our own realization of bodhicitta. So that we ourselves can become enlightened beings for the benefit of all living beings, including ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:22 Highlight the passage at 2:04:22

2:04:39 And we can also dedicate for those students who aren't here, and especially I'm thinking of Kara. Thank Report an error in the passage at 2:04:39 Highlight the passage at 2:04:39

2:04:53 you. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:53 Highlight the passage at 2:04:53

2:04:58 This is the meditation assignment. Let's see if I have enough, I think. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:58 Highlight the passage at 2:04:58

2:05:09 I think there is enough there. There should be enough, but if not, I have one more here that the staple didn't work for some reason. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:09 Highlight the passage at 2:05:09

2:05:19 What did you call it? Sunny. Sunny. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:19 Highlight the passage at 2:05:19

2:05:39 Did anyone not get a homework for last week who would actually like to have one just so they get the whole set? Yeah, you want to take it? Could you hand this to her? It was for last week. So did everyone get one for tonight? Anybody not get one for tonight? Oh, good. Excellent. Finally got the right count. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:39 Highlight the passage at 2:05:39

2:05:59 All right. Thanks, you guys. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:59 Highlight the passage at 2:05:59

2:06:30 why it was funny that we all three sat together. I know. It was like all we need. So Kenyan Sam, she wrote a book called The Sky Train, Tibetan Women on the Edge of History, and she's won many awards so far for this. So she's going to give a talk at 7 p.m. October 8th, on a Friday. And we also have a holy day that's coming up on October 29th called Labab Duchen. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:30 Highlight the passage at 2:06:30

2:06:49 So there will be a lot of different activities. And what does it celebrate? It celebrates Lord Buddha's descent from Tushita. So there will be lots of opportunities for people to make merit and we'll recite sutras and Geshe-la might give precepts that morning. So you can stay tuned for that. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:49 Highlight the passage at 2:06:49

2:07:11 feel so glad on those days. Charles, did you ask Jeff to get precept? Report an error in the passage at 2:07:11 Highlight the passage at 2:07:11

2:07:29 very excited. I know. It sounds real, but I have a little more conversation until then. And the audience will still have an idea of who they've said, and if, for example, these technologies were going to be going to be decided offer them. Yeah, no, that's great. As soon as they can, they'll start coming to the administration. Right now, it's damn good. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:29 Highlight the passage at 2:07:29

2:07:58 it will, in a few weeks. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:58 Highlight the passage at 2:07:58