Discovering Buddhism - Death and Rebirth (23 October 2007)

0:11 Can you hear me if it's out here? Because I think it doesn't have to be right underneath my face. I think you actually pick it up pretty well. You guys can hear, right? Yeah. It just feels odd to have it shooting out like that. Report an error in the passage at 0:11 Highlight the passage at 0:11

0:24 Careful. Report an error in the passage at 0:24 Highlight the passage at 0:24

0:36 So again, if you have registration forms, you can give them to me on the break or next week. I'm Report an error in the passage at 0:36 Highlight the passage at 0:36

0:45 going to get one of these things on the ready. Report an error in the passage at 0:45 Highlight the passage at 0:45

0:52 So welcome, everybody. My name's Chokyi. And I am going to be the teacher of tonight's class. I usually like to start with a silent meditation just to bring our mind down to neutral, let go of the day, let go of the craziness of getting here, looking for parking and so forth. And then set our motivation for tonight's class, which is something that we do a lot in Tibetan Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 0:52 Highlight the passage at 0:52

1:23 So we're going to do that, and then I'll tell you a little bit about the logistics of the class. So let's just start. I'm going to start with, first of all, just taking what I call nice deep cleansing breaths. Report an error in the passage at 1:23 Highlight the passage at 1:23

1:42 Nice deep belly breaths. And with each breath, you're just letting yourself become more present into this room and let go of whatever might keep you from being present. So Report an error in the passage at 1:42 Highlight the passage at 1:42

1:59 you can actually visualize it, like breathing in, awareness, presence, clarity, alertness. And breathing out, you know, distraction, sluggishness, sleepiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:59 Highlight the passage at 1:59

2:25 And then we'll just start with reviewing our posture. So if you're seated on a chair, you just move away from the back of the chair so you're not too comfy, which sometimes leads to sleepiness. Report an error in the passage at 2:25 Highlight the passage at 2:25

2:37 If you're seated on a chair and you meditate, then it's good to have your feet firmly on the ground. And otherwise everything else relates to you. Report an error in the passage at 2:37 Highlight the passage at 2:37

2:47 If you're on a cushion... You can have your legs in any position that feels comfortable for you, so you don't have to strive for full Vajra posture or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 2:47 Highlight the passage at 2:47

3:03 You're trying to strike a balance between being alert and being comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 3:03 Highlight the passage at 3:03

3:14 The most important element of your posture, however you sit, is your spine should be extended. So you just imagine a cord going through your spine and out the crown of your head. Report an error in the passage at 3:14 Highlight the passage at 3:14

3:39 In this tradition, we usually have our hands in our lap, right over left, thumbs touching lightly, just about the level of your navel, a little below it. Report an error in the passage at 3:39 Highlight the passage at 3:39

3:51 You can just relax them in your lap. Report an error in the passage at 3:51 Highlight the passage at 3:51

4:01 Your shoulders are back just a little bit and level. We tend to have our shoulders sort of scrunched up, so just make sure that they're relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 4:01 Highlight the passage at 4:01

4:11 And your chin is just tucked in a little bit, which opens up the back of your neck. Not too much where you get drowsy, but just a little tucked under. Report an error in the passage at 4:11 Highlight the passage at 4:11

4:29 Your eyes can be open and unfocused, gazing off the length of your nose. Or if you're like me and you're in a group, I find it easier to keep my eyes closed. Just don't scrunch them. You just let a little bit of light in through them. It keeps you alert. Report an error in the passage at 4:29 Highlight the passage at 4:29

4:59 Your tongue is on the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth, but not touching. And that tends to keep your mouth and throat moist without having to swallow. Report an error in the passage at 4:59 Highlight the passage at 4:59

5:16 And then the final point is just your breathing should be relaxed. We're going to start with a few rounds of just watching our breath. Report an error in the passage at 5:16 Highlight the passage at 5:16

5:28 But you don't need to change your breathing in any way. You don't need to make it more or less rhythmic. You don't need to make it deeper. You just are watching what is. Report an error in the passage at 5:28 Highlight the passage at 5:28

5:42 So when you're watching your breath, you can watch it at one of three places. The level of your abdomen, the way your belly falls and rises, or the level of your chest as your lungs expand, Report an error in the passage at 5:42 Highlight the passage at 5:42

6:02 or the level of your nostril, just the feeling, the sensation of the air crossing over the skin inside your nostril. So that's your object and everything else is not. So any distraction of sounds inside the building or outside on the street, or the biggest distraction, your own mind. Any thoughts, any memories, any plans, any ideas. You just extract your mind and place it right back on the object. Report an error in the passage at 6:02 Highlight the passage at 6:02

6:39 You don't need to try to suppress your thoughts. You just are not giving them any energy. Report an error in the passage at 6:39 Highlight the passage at 6:39

6:48 Just try to watch a few rounds of in and out breath. If it helps, you can count. And just try to keep your mind as firmly as you can on the object. Now Report an error in the passage at 6:48 Highlight the passage at 6:48

· · · silence, 2 minutes

9:10 that our minds start to calm down a little bit, we can... Start to formulate our motivation for being here. It's Report an error in the passage at 9:10 Highlight the passage at 9:10

9:23 taking this opportunity to come together and look at impermanence and death and how we can use that awareness to make our lives more meaningful. Report an error in the passage at 9:23 Highlight the passage at 9:23

9:41 So just for a moment imagine yourself surrounded by all beings and people that you find challenging or difficult in front of you and people you're close to, around you, behind you and Report an error in the passage at 9:41 Highlight the passage at 9:41

10:02 all other living beings. Spreading out like an ocean in all directions. Report an error in the passage at 10:02 Highlight the passage at 10:02

10:20 And now think about the kind of suffering that we experience in our own lives and that we see in the lives of those around us. Even on the news or in the streets, in Report an error in the passage at 10:20 Highlight the passage at 10:20

10:36 our friends' lives. People that we see who are homeless, Report an error in the passage at 10:36 Highlight the passage at 10:36

10:46 people whose lives have been shattered by war, people in Burma, Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

10:58 people we know who have been suffering due to addiction, depression, mental illness. Or just sadness. Report an error in the passage at 10:58 Highlight the passage at 10:58

11:13 Think about how unbearable it is for us to see this pain day in and day out and not be able to relieve it. Report an error in the passage at 11:13 Highlight the passage at 11:13

11:23 And how much we'd like to be able to relieve it. Report an error in the passage at 11:23 Highlight the passage at 11:23

11:30 Just wanting to relieve another suffering is what the Buddha defined as compassion. And Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

11:40 wanting to give them happiness and love. Wanting to give them happiness is what he called love. Report an error in the passage at 11:40 Highlight the passage at 11:40

11:59 So imagine this wish to relieve all these beings. Suffering and to give them happiness, taking the form of a white light at your heart. Imagine it just filling you up completely. Report an error in the passage at 11:59 Highlight the passage at 11:59

12:19 And then imagine it pouring out of your pores in all direction and going into all the beings surrounding you as far as your mind's eye can see. Report an error in the passage at 12:19 Highlight the passage at 12:19

12:34 Imagine it filling each one of them with happiness and all the causes of happiness, moving their suffering and all the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 12:34 Highlight the passage at 12:34

12:52 Imagine it rippling out from you until every being around you is filled with this white light. And Report an error in the passage at 12:52 Highlight the passage at 12:52

13:19 then just rest in this connection with all beings. And when it starts to fade, allow yourself to come back into your body and on your seat and your cushion and Report an error in the passage at 13:19 Highlight the passage at 13:19

13:38 feel real joy that we're able to come together and hopefully, through this class, plant the seed for each of us to be able to realize this dream. Report an error in the passage at 13:38 Highlight the passage at 13:38

13:52 Our true potential of being able to help all beings, being able to enlighten our mind, become a Buddha, so that we perfectly know how to benefit all beings. And Report an error in the passage at 13:52 Highlight the passage at 13:52

14:10 may this begin tonight. When Report an error in the passage at 14:10 Highlight the passage at 14:10

14:25 you're ready in your own time, you can end your meditation and we'll do an opening prayer. So Report an error in the passage at 14:25 Highlight the passage at 14:25

14:41 in the little white booklet right in front of you, on page 8, there's a picture of His Holiness. We're going to do that one three times. I use this one as a refuge. If you've ever gone to see the Dalai Lama, this is the one he does to strengthen and generate bodhicitta. So it's the same prayer. Report an error in the passage at 14:41 Highlight the passage at 14:41

15:06 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, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 15:06 Highlight the passage at 15:06

15:36 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, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 15:36 Highlight the passage at 15:36

16:07 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, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 16:07 Highlight the passage at 16:07

16:43 So I apologize for the cough drop. Report an error in the passage at 16:43 Highlight the passage at 16:43

16:50 So welcome. My name is Lobsang Chokyi and I'm the program coordinator here. I think I know most of you, but we'll go around right before the break and you guys can introduce yourselves. A little more about me will kind of come in the context of the class and my own relationship with this subject. Report an error in the passage at 16:50 Highlight the passage at 16:50

17:12 But I'm just going to kind of go over some of the logistics. So some of you have heard this before, especially Chad. Chad probably hasn't memorized. He could probably stand there and give it as a presentation. But no, there'll be some differences. Report an error in the passage at 17:12 Highlight the passage at 17:12

17:28 So the main thing is that this is a weekly class. It meets Tuesdays starting tonight and lasting through the 11th of December. We'll miss one class. The 4th of December is a holy day, so we aren't going to have class. It's Lama Tsongkhapa day, so we'll do something that night. Probably light offerings usually we do. Report an error in the passage at 17:28 Highlight the passage at 17:28

17:54 It tends to be what's done. At Kopan, they actually do, Kopan in Nepal, they actually do this big parade, everyone carrying candles. It's very cool. We won't do that. Probably be like me and Tsongmo, you know, doing a bunch of light offerings. I'm sure we also do a soak that night, too. But you guys are all welcome to come, but we just won't have a class. Report an error in the passage at 17:54 Highlight the passage at 17:54

18:15 So I did readings, I did binders for you guys, and then I also, in the front of it, and I'll hand those out on the break, there's a syllabus. So it'll give sort of the breakdown of what to expect each week. I do do homework, so hopefully it doesn't scare you guys off. Clearly, I can't force you guys to do the homework. Report an error in the passage at 18:15 Highlight the passage at 18:15

18:35 But I like to give out homework because, for me, the classes that have... Made the biggest impact on my life actually required me to do something in between. And that something is a little reading. You guys don't have much reading in this class. But mostly meditating. That's like the biggest thing. So it sort of somehow makes you have to do that. So it's better than me just saying, it'd be really cool if you guys wanted to do that this week. Report an error in the passage at 18:35 Highlight the passage at 18:35

19:00 Instead it's like 15 minutes a day. So it's a really short class. It's less than two months. And it's the way to kind of take it, as one of my friends calls it, below the neck. Otherwise, it'll all just stay here. And so this is like a way to bring it into your heart, into your gut. So I just request and encourage you to do that. Report an error in the passage at 19:00 Highlight the passage at 19:00

19:30 However, that being said, if you haven't done your homework, come to class. Like, please don't feel like, I haven't done my homework, I can't come. Actually, you'll probably get more out of coming, even if you haven't done any reading or any homework, than not coming. So just come, because you'll absorb other people's experience and their enthusiasm and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 19:30 Highlight the passage at 19:30

19:50 So it's really, really good to just come. Report an error in the passage at 19:50 Highlight the passage at 19:50

19:55 What I do, the format of these classes, usually what I'll do is we'll start with a little meditation like that, kind of calm our mind down and set our... our motivation and do the opening prayer which is part of setting our motivation and then I usually just open it up for questions so that's usually a time that people like bring you know I just was reading that doesn't make any sense or you know like I've been doing this meditation and I can't stand it or whatever just bring those kind of questions to class My email address is on the syllabus and you guys are welcome to send me emails whenever. Report an error in the passage at 19:55 Highlight the passage at 19:55

20:34 sort of. I tend to be online quite a bit, so I should be able to get back to you pretty quickly. Sometimes people ask really huge questions right at the beginning because they want to know everything. And so you can kind of take a couple of approaches. One is go ahead and ask it, and I'll probably say this is a really big question, and maybe we'll get to it in Class 5 or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 20:34 Highlight the passage at 20:34

20:59 Another thing is to just... Try to cook the information you're given a little bit and see if it begins to come out in the class material. And then, of course, the other is just ask me and I'll just try to answer. But sometimes, I mean, I remember actually one of my favorite moments was at the end of a class one time, somebody just said, what is this thing called emptiness? Report an error in the passage at 20:59 Highlight the passage at 20:59

21:23 You know, it's literally like five minutes left in the class and emptiness is this enormous subject. And so it was kind of like... Report an error in the passage at 21:23 Highlight the passage at 21:23

21:33 let's Okay, let's try to tackle that one. And sometimes you can do it actually in a way that the person, sort of like when a little kid asks you about sex. Sometimes they only really want to know a little bit. You don't have to go into the whole thing in detail. So sometimes a little information will take you a long way. Report an error in the passage at 21:33 Highlight the passage at 21:33

21:51 But I do encourage you to go ahead and ask, and that's fine. Oh, I have an ant. I have an ant on my little piece of paper. Chad, would you like to take this little fellow outside? Because otherwise he might get vacuumed or he's right there. Thanks. Luckily we were done with that page. Report an error in the passage at 21:51 Highlight the passage at 21:51

22:17 So this class focuses on death, dying and rebirth from the Tibetan Buddhist perspective, particularly the Galupa perspective. And I'll talk about what that means. It's one of the schools that came out of Tibet. I'm Jim so I'm Rita Dizzo Report an error in the passage at 22:17 Highlight the passage at 22:17

22:31 The youngest of the four schools. So, excuse me, thank you very much. So, we're going to spend a lot of time with some very powerful analytical meditations that actually if you work with them over a long period of time, even a short period of time, they can literally change the way you think and the way you live your life. Report an error in the passage at 22:31 Highlight the passage at 22:31

22:59 It doesn't have to freak you out, and that's not the point of this class, is to get scared and freaked out. Looking at death and dying doesn't have to be a depressing thing, surprisingly. It can also just be a wake-up. And so that's kind of the approach that we're taking. It's sort of like if we all knew that we were going to go to Lithuania. Report an error in the passage at 22:59 Highlight the passage at 22:59

23:21 And we just never wanted to look at the fact that we were going to Lithuania. So we never wanted to read about it. We never wanted to find out how to get there. We didn't want to read about what it was like when we got there. This is the approach that Tibetan Buddhists take. It's sort of like these are things that are mapped out and actually we can tell you what to expect during the dying process, preparing for the dying process and during the after death process. Report an error in the passage at 23:21 Highlight the passage at 23:21

23:44 And so it actually behooves us, since this is something that all of us will go through, to look at this. And this awareness of knowing that we're going to die, all of us were going to die, keeps us from slipping into the sort of mundane day-to-day stuff that sort of robs us of our richness in life. Because the point is that we have this life now and it's very precious and it's finite. It doesn't last forever. So we have X amount of time to do something meaningful with our life. Report an error in the passage at 23:44 Highlight the passage at 23:44

24:17 So it's sort of those two... Two approaches. One is very practical and one is a reminder that keeping this awareness helps us live our life more fully, keeps our life very meaningful because it's really easy to not remember that we're all going to pass away. Report an error in the passage at 24:17 Highlight the passage at 24:17

24:39 A little bit about this. There's a series of classes that are called the Discovering Buddhism Program. There's actually 13 classes in a final 14th module that's experiential. This is the fifth out of those 13. Report an error in the passage at 24:39 Highlight the passage at 24:39

24:58 You don't need to take them all in order, clearly, because some of you haven't, unless you've taken them in another center. They do build on each other. If you do take them in order, that's great. Most people don't. Most people just pop in. On whatever class they come in on and then they keep going. So what class did you come in on, Chad? I was thinking it was Karma too, so we're just about there. Report an error in the passage at 24:58 Highlight the passage at 24:58

25:23 Wow, that's really good. We can have like a little graduation ceremony. Put a little hat on you and everything. Yeah, so some people come in. I actually had one student come in on emptiness, you know, so it just totally depends on where you are. Sometimes people just come in. Sometimes people only can do one class a week and so they just do all the Tuesday classes. Report an error in the passage at 25:23 Highlight the passage at 25:23

25:43 For example, I know Tim did that. Some people can only take them periodically. So you just take the classes that interest you. And all of those ways are fine. I'm just mentioning that it is a program for those people who haven't figured that part out yet. That if you are interested, you can do it for credit, meaning there's a certain amount of extra reading, there's a certain amount of experiential stuff that you do, and you can actually get a little certificate. Report an error in the passage at 25:43 Highlight the passage at 25:43

26:13 In the mail, when you complete it all. I think more importantly, you can feel like you've gotten a really strong Buddhist education at a certain level. It doesn't mean you know all there is to know about any of these subjects, because I can only present so much in a two-month format. Some of them are actually even shorter than two months. Report an error in the passage at 26:13 Highlight the passage at 26:13

26:34 But you'll have a really good basis for attending any. With Geshe-less classes or any other class at any other center, you'll know certain terms, you'll know what karma is, you'll know what all these different things like emptiness means. So that's my plug for the Discovering Buddhism program. I think it's a great program actually. And so if anybody's interested and would like more information, I can bring more information to the next class. Report an error in the passage at 26:34 Highlight the passage at 26:34

27:05 I didn't put it in the binders today. Because there was a lot of reading going into the binders. But we do try to offer all 13, all 14 classes in an 18 month period. And we've been actually pretty successful in doing that. We just taught this class last year in June, July and August. So we're only, we're actually doing a little faster than 18 months at this rate. Report an error in the passage at 27:05 Highlight the passage at 27:05

27:31 Because I usually teach it twice a week. So if you miss a class, just wait, it'll come around again. So all of the subject matter from these classes, all the classes that I teach, came from the historical Buddha, Buddha Shakyamuni, who began as Gautama. Report an error in the passage at 27:31 Highlight the passage at 27:31

27:59 So this is him. The one that we all think of as the Buddha. There are many Buddhas. That's the one, the historical Buddha, who taught all of what's now called Buddhism. It wasn't called Buddhism in his time. It was later that they tacked that on. He simply taught, actually after much prodding, he didn't teach right away, but when he did start teaching, he really just taught what he felt would get us enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 27:59 Highlight the passage at 27:59

28:26 That's all. He didn't teach every single thing he knew. And he probably knew a lot because he got enlightened. So he taught basically these instructions that will get us enlightened. My approach is somewhat similar, not that I am enlightened, but my approach is to not create what one of my teachers called Dharma monsters, which are basically people who collect a lot of Dharma information intellectually but don't actually apply it in their lives. Report an error in the passage at 28:26 Highlight the passage at 28:26

28:55 So I'm trying to... Help you guys be happier and live nicer lives and eventually, if we all have the karma to get enlightened, not to just know a lot of really interesting facts. So if it feels like we're sort of veering off on just getting caught up in some factual stuff that isn't really going to help anybody or you, then I might kind of steer you back onto the subject. Report an error in the passage at 28:55 Highlight the passage at 28:55

29:21 So that's where I'm coming from. Especially... There are a bunch of traditions. Just like with Christianity, Buddhism has been around for a long time, well over 2,500 years. There are many, many different traditions. And each tradition may approach death and dying differently. I'm teaching you from one particular tradition. So you may hear various stories or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 29:21 Highlight the passage at 29:21

29:43 And it's cool to check them out, but I may not know that much about those traditions. And if I don't feel like it's all that useful to that subject matter, then I may kind of steer you to the break. We can continue the conversation elsewhere. Buddhism as we know it, after the Buddha was enlightened 25 years ago, it actually flourished in India for about 1500 years after his death. Report an error in the passage at 29:43 Highlight the passage at 29:43

30:20 Then during that time period it actually began to spread to other Asian countries. Fortunately for us because then it was completely eliminated in India. The only Buddhism that's in India now has come back to India from other sources. There was a great master called Padma Sambhava who brought it to Tibet in the 8th century. Report an error in the passage at 30:20 Highlight the passage at 30:20

30:45 um, A.D. And his tradition, the tradition that he brought to Tibet at that point was the beginning of the Nigma tradition. So you may have heard of the Nigma lineage. That's the oldest of the Tibetan Buddhist lineages. That lineage, according to our lineage, began to degenerate at a certain point a couple of hundred years later. Report an error in the passage at 30:45 Highlight the passage at 30:45

31:08 And so a great master was invited, Master Atisha. I'm cutting to the chase a little bit in these stories. But he was a great master, and he was invited to reintroduce Buddhism to Tibet. So it's called the Second Flourishing of Buddhism in Tibet. This was at the 10th century A.D., and then his followers were what's called the Kadampa Geshes. Report an error in the passage at 31:08 Highlight the passage at 31:08

31:37 So maybe you've heard some stories of the Kadampa Geshes. They were these amazing... Practitioners who took everything that the Buddha said as personal life instructions. So they didn't just see it as some sort of dry teachings. They put everything immediately to test. Report an error in the passage at 31:37 Highlight the passage at 31:37

31:54 They were incredibly earnest and they were willing to practice all night. They just were crazy. They're the ones who kind of would do those stories where if they were meditating in a cave and there was a thorn by the door and it was catching their robe on their way out, they wouldn't. Take the time and chop down the bush because they could die before they went back in again. So they were just always kind of, they're a little bit wacky but in a really inspiring way. Report an error in the passage at 31:54 Highlight the passage at 31:54

32:21 Those were his followers and out of those followers came Lama Tsongkhapa who's here to my right and his two main disciples. And Lama Tsongkhapa is the founder of this lineage which is the Kalukpa lineage which his I think he was born in 1358. So that sort of tells you about the time period that this lineage began. Report an error in the passage at 32:21 Highlight the passage at 32:21

32:51 So he wrote what's called Lama Atisha actually gathered a lot of the Buddhist teachings into the first lamrim, which is a gathering of the sort of main topics that the Discovering Buddhism classes are sort of based on, like... Report an error in the passage at 32:51 Highlight the passage at 32:51

33:08 The spiritual teacher, death and impermanence, karma, like those kind of main topics, topic-based. And that's called the lamrim. The lam means path and rim means graduated. So it's like the graduated path to enlightenment. His idea was to make it really simple for the Tibetans, and I think we have a lot in common with the Tibetans. Report an error in the passage at 33:08 Highlight the passage at 33:08

33:30 We're a rather wild, unruly bunch as well. So his idea was to take these teachings, put them in a really methodical... And teach the Tibetans to meditate on them. So it works for us as well. Then Lord Tsongkhapa did the same thing. He basically wrote a lot of commentary on Atisha's lamrim and then wrote his own lamrim which is really well known and called the Lamrim Chen Mo. Report an error in the passage at 33:30 Highlight the passage at 33:30

34:00 And the teachings on his lamrim are... gathered There was a commentary that was given on his lamrim in 1921, a 24-day teaching by a great pastor called Pabanka Rinpoche that was captured at the time in writing by his disciple, Trijong Rinpoche, and became a bestseller, which tells you a little bit about Tibet at that time, to have a bestseller called Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. Report an error in the passage at 34:00 Highlight the passage at 34:00

34:30 That is a really well-known... Commentary on the lamrim, and we still use that as actually the basis of all of these Discovering Buddhism classes. Liberation in the palm of your hand, another translation is liberation in your hand. Report an error in the passage at 34:30 Highlight the passage at 34:30

34:46 So Trijong Rinpoche, who wrote it all down, became the tutor of the Dalai Lama, and Pabankar Rinpoche was also the root guru of Riba Rinpoche and the Dalai Lama. So those were our lineage masters. And their disciples became our teachers. And so that's how it's been passed down to us. And the interesting and the exciting thing about Tibetan Buddhism especially is that it is still living. Report an error in the passage at 34:46 Highlight the passage at 34:46

35:14 It's a living tradition. It's a living lineage. And that many of the masters are still living, which is really incredible. And all of them spend a few moments at the beginning of each of the class showing and telling where they got these teachings from. And so that's kind of what I was just going to do, is to tell you where I originally began studying the Lamrim and with whom and who I have studied, especially about death and impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 35:14 Highlight the passage at 35:14

35:44 So I actually began studying the Lamrim teachings extensively in 96, 97, 98, including a couple of one-month teachings in Nepal at what's called Kopan Monastery. Just outside of Kathmandu. And have received also many, many teachings over the years from my main teacher, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who is in the middle. Report an error in the passage at 35:44 Highlight the passage at 35:44

36:11 On the break you can come up and look at him. He's in the middle picture up on here. He's also the spiritual director of all these centers. This center is part of an organization called the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahāyāna Tradition. And it was founded by two Lamas, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, who is right here. Lama Yeshe passed away in 1984 and took rebirth as a Spanish child who is apparently now dreadlocked and about 21. Report an error in the passage at 36:11 Highlight the passage at 36:11

36:42 And I'm sure just ready to like come at us with some exciting new teachings. So I also hear he's interested in film, and I think he's going to be very interesting once he starts teaching. So most of what I have studied actually is the lamrim, that I would say. My main teachers for all teachings, but especially the lamrim, have been Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Chudin Rinpoche, who is my abbot, His Holiness, of course. Report an error in the passage at 36:42 Highlight the passage at 36:42

37:15 Riba Rinpoche, who was an amazing master who passed away two years ago. Geshe-la, of course, Geshe-takpa, who's here, and Geshe-mai-go-roach, especially at the beginning with Geshe-mai-go-roach. All my biggest teachings on death and impermanence have come from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Venerable Neil Houston, who was a Western teacher who taught both of the one-month kopan courses that I went to. Report an error in the passage at 37:15 Highlight the passage at 37:15

37:42 So it's just traditional to do that so that you guys know that I didn't make all this stuff up. I actually got it from some somewhat qualified source. But I have to say that one of the things that attracted me first to Tibetan Buddhism was this methodical lamrim. This fact that things were organized in a way that if you meditated on this, then you would then get to this point and then you would meditate on this and you would move towards... Report an error in the passage at 37:42 Highlight the passage at 37:42

38:09 Actually attaining the same qualities that these great masters had. Because I have been raised as a Christian and I really admired actually the saints and Christ. But I never saw a method to become them, to get those qualities of compassion and love and kindness that I saw in them. And that was one of the things that I thought was very cool about, especially Tibetan Buddhism, is sort of this guidebook. Report an error in the passage at 38:09 Highlight the passage at 38:09

38:37 And the lamrim is really like a guidebook. And it's a guidebook for life. So it's not like this is like the baby food. And then once you get this, you can leave it behind and then graduate and get the really juicy stuff. It's not like that at all. This is actually what you learn in these classes or any lamrim classes that you take. Report an error in the passage at 38:37 Highlight the passage at 38:37

38:57 Actually, you could only meditate on this for the rest of your life. It would be great. This would be enough to get you enlightened. Tantra is actually what allows you to get enlightened the quickest. It's the quickest method. But these in and of themselves are complete methods to get enlightened. This is the sūtra approach. Report an error in the passage at 38:57 Highlight the passage at 38:57

39:20 And it's the meditating on them that really is what begins to change your life. It's not just understanding them. Because I think even looking at death in and of itself, I think there's not one of us who would say, I'm not going to die. I think we all know, realistically, intellectually, that we're going to die. But where it becomes... Report an error in the passage at 39:20 Highlight the passage at 39:20

39:43 Life-changing is when you really begin to meditate deeply on death and impermanence, especially your own impermanence, and it begins to shift how you face it. And so there's a difference between going, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know, I've heard her say that, you know, I know, I know, and shutting me out or letting it trickle in. Report an error in the passage at 39:43 Highlight the passage at 39:43

40:03 And the way you trickle it in is doing your meditation. And especially doing a retreat on it, if that's ever possible. Even a one-day retreat where you're not doing anything else but looking at this material, once you know the material. My relationship with this subject actually began like that. Actually, I think my relationship with this subject, period, began when I was quite young. My dad and my grandma passed away when I was 22, really close together. Report an error in the passage at 40:03 Highlight the passage at 40:03

40:37 My grandma helped raise me too. So in a way she was like a third parent. So I lost the two of them within six months when I was 22 and I think that permanently shifted the way I viewed life. You know, like I knew that people didn't last, which I think a lot of people don't get until later on in life. I've actually known people who haven't lost anybody and they're in their 60s and I'm like, really? Report an error in the passage at 40:37 Highlight the passage at 40:37

41:01 Like how did that happen? I just, my particular karma has been to lose people. Which is not an easy way to live, but it also profoundly changes your life and it makes you realize that life is finite, but that it's precious. So it's like both of those things. There's a gift from loss, actually, if you can get through the loss, and that's the hard part. Report an error in the passage at 41:01 Highlight the passage at 41:01

41:33 When I first... Met the Dharma and I think it was probably, I'm sure it was one of the impetuses for me even having a search for spiritual life. I had lost a number of friends to AIDS in the early 90s. Report an error in the passage at 41:33 Highlight the passage at 41:33

41:47 And the year that I went to Copan, right before I went to Copan, I found out I was pregnant and then I lost the baby. Two months pregnant, lost the baby literally right before I was supposed to get on the plane, so I had to postpone the flight. But I decided to still go. I remember calling Venerable Holly, who is Rinpoche's secretary, and saying, you know, is this crazy? Should I still go? Is it like a crazy place for me to go right now? Report an error in the passage at 41:47 Highlight the passage at 41:47

42:16 She just said, there is no place on this planet that this is like the most perfect place for you to go. And she was totally right. I was so ripened. To receive these teachings so deeply that I just plugged in and settled down. And it was actually perfect for me to receive the teachings. Then I came home and literally within a month a really good friend of mine died in a car accident. And by this point if I hadn't gotten the message I got the message that it was really important for me to use my life for something meaningful. Report an error in the passage at 42:16 Highlight the passage at 42:16

42:55 And I also now had tools. So I had prayers and practices to do for her, which I hadn't for anybody else, which really helped a lot. And I knew I needed to make use of this gift from her, which was basically, wake up. You don't have that much time. You've got to get moving. And so I decided to give myself a year of as many... Report an error in the passage at 42:55 Highlight the passage at 42:55

43:24 And so I basically created a year, saved like crazy, couch served and then went to India, Nepal for a year and spent probably nine out of those 12 months in either retreat or study, which I've never been able to replicate. So I highly suggest if you get a chance, do it because you never know when you'll ever get a chance again. Report an error in the passage at 43:24 Highlight the passage at 43:24

43:50 But out of the loss is the main point. I was given this gift of this really deep spirituality. And of course, by the end of that year, I knew I wanted to get ordained and had already talked to Rinpoche about it. Report an error in the passage at 43:50 Highlight the passage at 43:50

44:04 During the beginning of that year, I actually did what's called a three-year purification retreat, a Vajrasattva retreat, right above Chad's head. There's a tanka and there's a... Report an error in the passage at 44:04 Highlight the passage at 44:04

44:17 A form of enlightened energy, or a Buddha, called Vajrasattva. And he's all about purifying negative deeds. And so traditionally in this lineage, there is a three-month Vajrasattva retreat. And they're offered in a couple places around the world, guided retreats, so you can do it with a group, which is what I did. So I went and did this three-month retreat in Dharamsala, India, so up in the mountains. Report an error in the passage at 44:17 Highlight the passage at 44:17

44:45 In the summer in the monsoon. I mean, it's totally insane, you know. It's totally crazy. And I'd never done a retreat before in my life. So, of course, and it was a group retreat. We actually got a reputation as like one of the worst groups that anybody had ever seen. People in America had heard of our group by the time I got home. So that's how bad we were. Report an error in the passage at 44:45 Highlight the passage at 44:45

45:07 I mean, it was this wacky sort of collection of people from around the world from various levels of practice. You know, some brand new people. Some, you know. Very practiced. And so we were doing all the normal things of just like self-cherishing mind and action of, you know, picking on the food and picking on the place and hating the room and hating the roommate and hating the people next to you and, you know, all the crazy normal things that you do in group retreat. Report an error in the passage at 45:07 Highlight the passage at 45:07

45:31 And once you've done group retreat, you'll totally remember this story. Finding fault in everything. And then about halfway through the retreat, one of the people in the retreat, the guy that was sitting next to me, who of course I had been... He got a message from his parents, and his parents had been trying to reach him apparently repeatedly, but because the people that worked in the office didn't speak English, somehow it just didn't get through. Report an error in the passage at 45:31 Highlight the passage at 45:31

46:05 But it turned out that two of his sisters had been in a really bad accident. One had died, and one had gone into a coma, and they weren't sure it was reversible. Two little sisters, younger sisters, I think like 17 and 18. So instantly the whole mood of the group shifted. Like we all got it. This is so stupid. Like any complaining just ended. We all supported him. We had to do all these extra practices for his sisters and of course willingly did them. Report an error in the passage at 46:05 Highlight the passage at 46:05

46:36 We were just doing practices all the time. It just completely shifted our mind for the remainder of the retreat. And that was one of the... The telltale moments where I really could see how this awareness of death and impermanence could just make you just cut through the crap that normally just pervades our mind at all times. Report an error in the passage at 46:36 Highlight the passage at 46:36

46:55 I mean, just given half an inch, it just grows madly and takes over our mind, that crazy self-cherishing mind. So it actually, by the end of the retreat, most of us, they were still a couple of wacky people. Not inherently, of course. but... But by the end of retreat, we really pulled together. It was a really tight group. But actually, a number of those people are still really good friends of mine, wherever they are in the world. Report an error in the passage at 46:55 Highlight the passage at 46:55

47:26 And a similar experience happened when Rinpoche allowed me to do a six-week retreat, my first solo retreat that winter, right after the Kopan course. So it's in the winter in Nepal, which is... Really a hard situation to do retreat. We lost water a lot of times. It was freezing. There was like no heat. And the amount of water you'd get would be basically a thermos of water and you'd have to just wash with that and drink it. Report an error in the passage at 47:26 Highlight the passage at 47:26

47:56 Just crazy. And I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't have any idea what I was doing. I just sort of went for it. He said, every day I want you to meditate on death and impermanence. I didn't know what that meant. So I had my little teachings. And so every morning I would focus on death, and I did all of these meditations over and over and over again for that amount of time. Report an error in the passage at 47:56 Highlight the passage at 47:56

48:22 Because I decided morning was a better time to meditate on death, and night was a better time to meditate on impermanence. So every night I would really think about the impermanence. Every aspect of my life, you know, how many pets I had had and lost, how many people I had had and lost, how many, you know, partners I had had and lost, how many homes I had lived in and lost, you know, the belongings, you know, just all the various things that we place so much import on that we just go through. Report an error in the passage at 48:22 Highlight the passage at 48:22

48:54 We just change so many, many times in our lives. And also just slowing down each day, like really making myself stop and look at the sun as it's rising and stop and look at the sun as it's setting and really slowing down like every moment as much as I could, being aware, okay, when I come back out again, the sun's going to be gone. Report an error in the passage at 48:54 Highlight the passage at 48:54

49:14 You know, that day's gone. You know, really bringing it, slowing it down. And I can still remember. And elements of that retreat just because I slowed it down so much. Because usually we just run by it, right? Like an entire day passes and I never leave the house. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I literally this past week I was at the house all week from the time I got back from New York until this weekend. Report an error in the passage at 49:14 Highlight the passage at 49:14

49:41 So it's just easy to just rush by our lives and not see the little changes and not notice the losses and the... The shifts and even the changes in our own minds. So this was a real experience of just slowing down life and being able to begin to see impermanence on a day-to-day basis. Report an error in the passage at 49:41 Highlight the passage at 49:41

50:09 So in this class we're going to talk about impermanence and death, which death is of course the biggest impermanence, right? Certainly the one that matters the most to us. But we're going to start tonight just talking about gross and subtle impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 50:09 Highlight the passage at 50:09

50:24 And of all things. And then, of course, death is the biggest one of those. And within the subject of death, we'll talk about the dying process itself. And we'll talk about then how one takes rebirth. So there's what's called the bardo or the intermediate state. We'll talk a little bit about that. And then where you can be born and why, like what causes you to take rebirth in different places. Report an error in the passage at 50:24 Highlight the passage at 50:24

50:54 So, which of course gets back to how you live, right? Rebirth, the subject of rebirth actually plays right into karma because it's how we live now that determines where we'll be born. Report an error in the passage at 50:54 Highlight the passage at 50:54

51:08 And like I said, we'll approach this through listening but also through contemplating and meditating and reading and like that, discussing in class and so forth. So what I thought we would do right now before we take a short break is we could ask questions if you'd like, and then I'd like to just go around and have you guys introduce yourselves, but also especially to say, what is it about this class that brought you here? Report an error in the passage at 51:08 Highlight the passage at 51:08

51:38 And also maybe just a little bit about your connection with Buddhism, like if you've taken other classes, if this is your first class and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 51:38 Highlight the passage at 51:38

51:53 Oh, microphone. Yes, yes, yes. Thank you, Chad. Report an error in the passage at 51:53 Highlight the passage at 51:53

51:59 We only ask, and actually for this section you wouldn't have to. We could actually not. If you're saying anything personal, that's cool too. And that may happen in this class where people do want to say something personal and we can always pause the recorder. But the idea behind it is we create an MP3 file that gets uploaded and so the series can actually be downloaded by anyone, anywhere for free. Report an error in the passage at 51:59 Highlight the passage at 51:59

52:24 So I've actually gotten emails from people. There's somebody in Austin, Texas who has listened to our classes, which is kind of fun to think about. It's also kind of bizarre for me to think about because I just blather on. So it's kind of like you have to shut me up if you hear me saying something that's really... But actually I've gotten emails from people in other countries where they don't have any Dharma centers. Report an error in the passage at 52:24 Highlight the passage at 52:24

52:47 And they're just trying to find some sort of teachings online. So the reason we try to do that is because otherwise they hear, and we all go, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, or something, and they don't hear it. Or they'll just hear my answer, but it doesn't make sense because they don't have the question. So any time that anybody asks any questions, we'll try to encourage you to remember to use the talking stick. Report an error in the passage at 52:47 Highlight the passage at 52:47

53:09 Well, I'm Paul, and I just moved here from Chicago. I started school at San Francisco State. And I've been into Buddhism for quite a while, but especially in the past year. When I was in Chicago, I went to a group called Jewel Heart for a meditation course. So that's the only formal Tibetan Buddhist class that I've attended. But actually, especially when I was younger, my interest in Buddhism really came mostly from the teachings on death. Report an error in the passage at 53:09 Highlight the passage at 53:09

53:41 Because when I was in high school, I was just very, very interested in what might happen to me when I die. And so that was really the main aspect of Buddhism that I focused on. And now I'm interested in all of the various aspects. So I kind of felt like what better place to start than this particular subject area that I've always been. Report an error in the passage at 53:41 Highlight the passage at 53:41

54:00 So kind of compelled to study. So yeah, I guess that's about it. This is your first class here, right? Yeah, this is my first class here. Okay, cool. That's great. That's good. Welcome, Paul. I'm Chad. I've been coming to the Center for about a year. Actually, this is my anniversary of my refuge. Oh, well done. Report an error in the passage at 54:00 Highlight the passage at 54:00

54:23 I emailed Ricardo. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's at Copan. Yeah, yeah. He's at Copan now doing the Copan course. Yeah, pretty good. Report an error in the passage at 54:23 Highlight the passage at 54:23

54:35 I think, though, I mean, I haven't had many people close tight, so I guess I'm one of those people. Well, you're not 60. Yeah, that's true. Well done. Report an error in the passage at 54:35 Highlight the passage at 54:35

54:46 yeah I Report an error in the passage at 54:46 Highlight the passage at 54:46

55:06 Chad's also our little sound guy, especially when I forget. My name is Angela, and I've been involved in Buddhism since probably the 80s. Did lots of exploration, though, before then. Report an error in the passage at 55:06 Highlight the passage at 55:06

55:24 I'd been seeing teachers, and it turns out that a co-worker of mine was secretly a Tibetan nun. Invited me to KDK on Fell Street, which is Kagyu. And I started going there and took refuge with Tai Situ Rinpoche. And then as I continued to explore teachers, I ran into the fascinating Rubina, and there was drawn to Tsai Chen Ling. Report an error in the passage at 55:24 Highlight the passage at 55:24

55:53 I have taken classes over the years, and what brings me right now is my husband died about ten months ago, Report an error in the passage at 55:53 Highlight the passage at 55:53

56:08 It's really shaken me further than other deaths like my parents. And I'm really wanting to prepare myself for my death and prepare my son and know exactly what to do when I am with dying people or for people who have already died. Report an error in the passage at 56:08 Highlight the passage at 56:08

56:35 That's great. I'm glad you're here. I wanted to mention too, and we'll talk about it a little bit more in detail, there is a workshop coming up a week from this weekend called Dying Well that will get into much detail on a lot of this information. It will also give you some additional information, especially on what Angela was just saying, how to help somebody who's dying. Report an error in the passage at 56:35 Highlight the passage at 56:35

57:04 This is from a spiritual point of view. The prayers, the practices that Lama Zopa Rinpoche especially advises to use at the time of death. But also what that might be like to be with somebody. And also what it would feel like for you. Now we'll get into some of that too. But just to tell you that that weekend will be organized by a nun, a really good friend of mine, Tenzin Chokyi, and a woman, Leni Kronish, who... Report an error in the passage at 57:04 Highlight the passage at 57:04

57:34 Has been a hospice nurse for a billion years. She actually is one of the founders, the founder of Tara Home that's attached to the line of medicine Buddha. She's also one of the people that was with Lama Yeshe when he passed away and has stories from that time period. Report an error in the passage at 57:34 Highlight the passage at 57:34

57:49 So it'll be a really intimate but also very practical meeting because one of the things they'll talk about is completing a document that sort of tells people what you want. Which is called the Five Wishes document, which I cannot recommend highly, more highly. It's similar to a durable power of attorney, but it also has spiritual things that you want done, which is really useful in this land where our families may not be Buddhist or our friends may not know what to do. Report an error in the passage at 57:49 Highlight the passage at 57:49

58:23 So it's just like you hand it all to them and you go over it with them and it's all in writing. And doctors in this state, respect. Report an error in the passage at 58:23 Highlight the passage at 58:23

58:33 The Five Wishes document. So anyway, so I just interrupt with that because that is going to be something that I'm going to encourage all you guys to go to if you can. So yeah, that's coming up on the 3rd and 4th of November. So it's not this weekend, but it's next weekend. And it's like a day long on Saturday and then a partial day on Sunday. Report an error in the passage at 58:33 Highlight the passage at 58:33

58:57 Hi, I'm Mike. I've been dealing with death my whole life. Probably since I was about, well actually my mother died when I was seven. But I've literally watched hundreds of people die. And I've been very lucky in that. Report an error in the passage at 58:57 Highlight the passage at 58:57

59:20 I work in the AIDS world. I'm still working with sick people. Sick and dying people. And I have a guru. I've been connected to Hinduism for a long time. Report an error in the passage at 59:20 Highlight the passage at 59:20

59:36 And have known about the Buddhists for a long time, have watched the Buddhists, have been very impressed with the Buddhists. Report an error in the passage at 59:36 Highlight the passage at 59:36

59:46 And I figured that since I've had so much death in my life that I might as well figure out what's going on here. Although it kind of scares me that there's no way out of this. I mean, I don't want to come back, frankly. Report an error in the passage at 59:46 Highlight the passage at 59:46

1:00:03 That's pretty much who I am. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:03 Highlight the passage at 1:00:03

1:00:08 To be continued. I'm Paul. My partner John was a friend of the center and he died almost a month ago. We're like six days away I think. Yeah, shocking to think of. Five days away. But he was my introduction to the center and I actually met Chokyi and people on the day that he was dying. And it was because of them that it was an easier experience for me. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:08 Highlight the passage at 1:00:08

1:00:39 What I remember is they came in and they just said, we need to keep the room happy and calm. And that to me was something to go on and it made it an amazing experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:39 Highlight the passage at 1:00:39

1:00:54 So it just inspired me. And John told me quite a few times, you need to come with me and come take some classes. And I said, no, that's your thing. I've been doing some sittings at the Zen Center on the street. Not regularly, but maybe two or three times a month. So that's my introduction to Buddhism, I guess. My Report an error in the passage at 1:00:54 Highlight the passage at 1:00:54

1:01:21 name is Sandy. My second time around this class. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:21 Highlight the passage at 1:01:21

1:01:27 I just feel like I can still learn more this time around because the other one was my first class here. It was kind of overwhelming. I don't think I observed as much. This interests me a lot because I had my little shift of loss with my mom when I was 28. And it took me a good 10 years to Report an error in the passage at 1:01:27 Highlight the passage at 1:01:27

1:01:56 come back, I think, after having two kids and then taking them back to the temple that I was raised at and finally realizing that I understood why my mom died. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:56 Highlight the passage at 1:01:56

1:02:11 Anyway. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:11 Highlight the passage at 1:02:11

1:02:14 So you can be the voice of reason if I blather on too much. You can be like, it's okay, you guys. You don't have to take it all in the first time around. Hi, I'm Ed. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:14 Highlight the passage at 1:02:14

1:02:27 And I guess I was raised Methodist. We really didn't have a particular religion in my family. And so that worked for me at the time. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:27 Highlight the passage at 1:02:27

1:02:42 As an adult, I started to search. Just for some kind of meaning. And so I read a lot. Buddhism was very cerebral for me. I read a lot of books, but I didn't have much experience. Until about five years ago, I took a meditation class and had an incredible experience at a retreat. And so that kind of started something for me. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:42 Highlight the passage at 1:02:42

1:03:07 And incrementally over the last five or six years, I've kind of deepened my experience through other workshops. And I got a life coach and have been working with him for about a year, a year and a half, in an effort to give my life some new direction. And one of the reasons I'm here is that he finally called me on one of my faults, which is, you know, I have all these intentions, but I'm not putting forth the action. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:07 Highlight the passage at 1:03:07

1:03:41 And he finally said, you know, it's time for you to make a decision. Is this going to be a hobby? Or is this going to be really serious? And so, you know, I was on the website and this class came up and I thought, okay, well, it's time to get serious. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:41 Highlight the passage at 1:03:41

1:03:56 And also, unlike some people, I really haven't had a lot of loss of people I've known in my life. But what I have realized in the last, say, year is an incredible sensitivity to hearing about the loss of others. And just last week, my mom informed me that a very close friend of hers committed suicide. And that really, really affected me, really hit me very hard. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:56 Highlight the passage at 1:03:56

1:04:26 And so I've been thinking a lot about this particular woman and her life and, you know, what is her experience now. So it was very timely that I went to the website and saw this class available and I thought, okay, well. Let's do it. You're welcome. That's great. I'm glad you're here. Hi, I'm Cedric, and I've been coming here since about June in the summer, and I think this is my fifth class. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:26 Highlight the passage at 1:04:26

1:05:00 Well done. That's good. Pack them in. I haven't had a lot of experience with death, but I do feel that I should start getting ready for... For dealing with it, especially my parents are getting older. And I also want to deepen my understanding of Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:00 Highlight the passage at 1:05:00

1:05:31 I started studying Buddhism probably in the late 80s and kind of dropped away from it for a long time. So now I'm just coming back and wanting to learn and deepen my practice. So that's basically why I'm here. That's great. It's good to see you keep coming back. Don't scare your way too much. So I wanted to make a couple of announcements and then you guys can take a little stretch break, potty break, and I'll call Michelle if anybody wants to buy anything or wants any caffeine. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:31 Highlight the passage at 1:05:31

1:06:09 So let's see. Haley wanted me to announce. That the book club meeting that was postponed last week is happening tomorrow night, right? And what are they talking about? Dreaming Me? Dreaming Me, which is a really great book, actually. I read it a couple times by Jen Willis, who was one of Lamaeshi's first students, actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:09 Highlight the passage at 1:06:09

1:06:35 African-American woman who is now a professor at Wesleyan University and a great teacher and a great speaker. And grew up in a really wacky time in the 60s, 50s, 60s in the South and her experience. And then how she came to Buddhism, which is basically either, if I remember correctly, it was basically the Black Panthers of Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:35 Highlight the passage at 1:06:35

1:07:01 Those were her choices in 1966 and 67. So it's actually a really interesting book. So even if you haven't read it, if you're interested at all, you can go to the book club meeting and find out more about it. Also... Also, most of the required reading is here. It's going to be in your binder. But there is one text that Haley will order if she knows that anybody would like it. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:01 Highlight the passage at 1:07:01

1:07:29 There's a book called Mind of Clear Light, Advice on Living Well and Dying Consciously by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I think it's an incredible little workbook. It's actually also... That's actually more expensive than it looks. It's $13. But I find it, I mean, I just think it's one of the most readable presentations of the Tibetan Buddhist view of death. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:29 Highlight the passage at 1:07:29

1:07:52 It also goes really deeply into the dissolution. There's a certain meditation that we do on the dissolution of the elements that happens at the time of death. He goes very nicely into that. It's organized, incredibly readable. Who is the... Translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins. So he does it really nicely. Each chapter he summarizes the main points. I mean it's just such a readable little book. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:52 Highlight the passage at 1:07:52

1:08:20 I can't recommend it highly enough. And if you decide to do the Dying Well workshop, this is their main text too. So it's like you can kill two birds with one stone. Do I want to say that for a Dying Well? But anyway, if anybody would like this, I'd like to get a show of hands and then she's going to place an order. So, yeah? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:20 Highlight the passage at 1:08:20

1:08:40 One, two. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:40 Highlight the passage at 1:08:40

1:08:45 No, that's just going to be the one that they recommend. So one, two, three, four. Everybody. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. All right. We've actually got one in stock for the lucky. Whoever would like to buy it, this one is actually available. Or you can just wait. I don't know where she gets them because it's from an unusual publisher. Atria Books? I've never even heard of it. But she's going to try to get it in the next week. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:45 Highlight the passage at 1:08:45

1:09:15 So let me write that down because I'll forget. And then I'm going to ask her to add a couple extra because people sometimes add in the next week. Also, is there anybody here who would like more information on the Discovering Buddhism program? I printed up. What's called the summary sheets, and they actually tell you what each course involves. And if anybody would like it, they can have it. Otherwise, I can make a copy for next week. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:15 Highlight the passage at 1:09:15

1:09:43 I just didn't want to waste the paper if people aren't interested. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:43 Highlight the passage at 1:09:43

1:09:49 There is a lot on the website. So if you'd rather get it there, then... You want it, Mike? Sold to the man in the striped shirt in the back row. All right. We actually had this happen on the... So, yeah? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:49 Highlight the passage at 1:09:49

1:10:06 Saturday class, a person brought in, Tim actually brought in a copy of Liberation. So we had one free copy that he was just giving away. The first person who raised his hand got it, so it was great. And then I just wanted to announce also the All About Karma class, which is going to be the Thursday night series, starts next week, next Thursday, and it's going to go... Report an error in the passage at 1:10:06 Highlight the passage at 1:10:06

1:10:35 For eight classes, it's actually going for seven weeks and then the final week it's going to have two classes. That's how to cram it in before Christmas. And I think that's it. So why don't you guys take like a, does anybody have a question before the break? And then you guys can just take a 10 minute break. Yeah. Oh, but please use the talking stick. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:35 Highlight the passage at 1:10:35

1:11:01 I'm sure you've stated this several times before. You haven't memorized it yet? Finally you woke up during the... Atisha period now. Exactly, Atisha. So you said that Lama Tsongkhapa was one of Lama Atisha's followers, his disciples. No, not a direct disciple. He was a disciple of, because he was born in 1358, and Lama Atisha... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:01 Highlight the passage at 1:11:01

1:11:31 Tisha lived in the 10th century, so there was a couple of centuries in between. That's when the Kadampas came. The old Kadampas, they're called the Kadampa Geshes or the old Kadampas, are not, by the way, related to the new Kadampas. If people have heard of the new Kadampa lineage, it's a completely different lineage. It actually cut off from the Galupa. It's no longer connected with the Galupas. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:31 Highlight the passage at 1:11:31

1:11:52 They don't follow His Holiness at all. But these are called the old Kadampas, and they were direct disciples. I think Lama Atisha's main disciple was Jontompa, actually. And then from him was all those ones. They all have kind of names like that, Gompompa. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:52 Highlight the passage at 1:11:52

1:12:09 Anyway, but yeah, so there's a couple centuries of taking this stuff and working with it. I was wondering why Lama Tsongkhapa rewrote the lamrim when Atisha just wrote it. Well, they sometimes do that, actually. Yeah, I mean, you know. Immediately it felt like commentary needed to be written. They say actually Lama Tsongkhapa actually wrote 10,000 pages of commentary on the lamrim in his lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:09 Highlight the passage at 1:12:09

1:12:37 So a huge amount. Not nearly all of it has been translated. Actually the lamrim has just been translated in the last five years. So we're actually really hitting this at a peak time that it's just coming to the West and it's just being translated. this stuff. That's a good question. Anybody else? Any other questions? Okay, let's take a potty break. So does anybody want like a juice or a water or a tea or a coffee? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:37 Highlight the passage at 1:12:37

1:13:07 Yeah? Okay, so let's get Michelle, our lovely barista. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:07 Highlight the passage at 1:13:07

1:13:17 Oh, Chad. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:17 Highlight the passage at 1:13:17

1:13:31 Especially if he's not here. Tuesday night's a hard night for the cafe bookstore because Haley's off on Tuesdays, so she's trying to arrange. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:31 Highlight the passage at 1:13:31

1:13:42 But clearly it's not entirely working out. So we'll figure out something. Maybe we'll just train Mike how to be a barista. He'll be a far better one than I was. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:42 Highlight the passage at 1:13:42

1:13:54 Okay, so we're just going to talk. Does anybody have a question before I start? I'm just going to talk a little bit about impermanence and then we'll end. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:54 Highlight the passage at 1:13:54

1:14:09 So impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:09 Highlight the passage at 1:14:09

1:14:15 Impermanence is actually one of the easiest to understand of all the concepts of the Buddha. according to, and I, I, in permanent. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:15 Highlight the passage at 1:14:15

1:14:21 Because we've all had some experience of impermanence. We've all seen a cup break. We've all had flowers die. These are actually kind of amazing. You could probably watch them die during the class. Because every day I come in and another one's head has gone down. This is an example of both gross and subtle impermanence probably. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:21 Highlight the passage at 1:14:21

1:14:41 It's not something that you have to believe in. It's just something that happens. And I think we've all already seen it to some degree. But the reality is that we try to pretend it doesn't happen. And we're shocked every time it happens. So we actually haven't realized it to the degree that we've allowed our understanding of it to change our life in some way. Like we still are in denial that things that we are attached to can break or pass away or change. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:41 Highlight the passage at 1:14:41

1:15:15 I mean, think about it in terms of people. that we fall in love with, right? You fall in love with somebody and then within a month they're completely different and it's their fault, right? So the point of seeing impermanence is trying to understand that every single thing Changes over time. Every single thing that is created and that's there's what's called a created phenomena or a compounded phenomena and uncompounded phenomena and really the only example of uncontaminated I mean uncompounded phenomena is space and we aren't so attached to space. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:15 Highlight the passage at 1:15:15

1:16:13 I think most of us wouldn't be very attached to space. So I think most of what we're looking at is actually what's called compounded phenomena. And compounded phenomena just means things that are produced by other things, things that arise independence upon other things. And that includes our bodies, which arise independence upon our mother's and father's egg and sperm. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:13 Highlight the passage at 1:16:13

1:16:37 This cup which arises independence upon the clay and the potter and so forth to make it. It's basically every single thing in reality. The sun, you know, natural phenomena also are called compounded phenomena. And all of them are impermanent. Every single thing that we can possibly think of is impermanent. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:37 Highlight the passage at 1:16:37

1:17:02 But we grasp to them as though they are permanent and unchanging. So we think of people that we fall in love with are permanent and unchanging. We think of ourselves, our own bodies, as permanent and unchanging, which is just a shock when you reach a certain level of life and you look at yourself in the mirror and you wonder who that is staring out at you. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:02 Highlight the passage at 1:17:02

1:17:25 We think of our lives as being permanent and unchanging, and then we're shocked by the changes in our own values and our own minds over time. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:25 Highlight the passage at 1:17:25

1:17:36 We think of our belongings as permanent and unchanging, and then we're shocked by the little holes in the knees and things like that, that suddenly we notice that our souls are wearing out, or whatever, souls meaning the souls of our shoes, not our souls. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:36 Highlight the passage at 1:17:36

1:17:49 So the point is that the Buddha pointed this out, and it was actually one of his earliest teachings, that everything around us is impermanent. And it was his final teaching as well, actually, that all compounded phenomena is impermanent. Eventually, every single thing that we are currently grasping onto to give us happiness will change. It ends. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:49 Highlight the passage at 1:17:49

1:18:16 Things change. Days end. Sun comes up and sets again. Cups break. People coming together will separate. And that's in every form, not just in relationships, but this class. We come together in this class, and it's possible that somebody's going to drop the class before next week, or that we'll have five more, or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:16 Highlight the passage at 1:18:16

1:18:39 In some way, it will shift, it will change. At the end of the seven weeks, we'll separate. And some people we may not see again. And that's kind of the reality of this game, which is, you know, the classes here. People come because of the interest in the topic, and then you never see them again. If you get together with friends... Report an error in the passage at 1:18:39 Highlight the passage at 1:18:39

1:18:57 It's great, but it will end. You know, the coming together always... Sorry, she does have a lot to say, too. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:57 Highlight the passage at 1:18:57

1:19:08 Speaking of the coming together of different groups, here's our comic relief. Every coming together ends with a separation. Every collection ends with dispersal. Everything that is created ends. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:08 Highlight the passage at 1:19:08

1:19:28 Changes, shifts. Energy is never lost, it's just, it shifts into a new reality. Yeah, she's got like little, so I took her collar off because her collar, I think her, yeah, she's got like a scab on her neck, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:28 Highlight the passage at 1:19:28

1:19:45 So, and the reason that we point this out is just because we keep grasping onto things to be permanent and to give us lasting happiness when it's not in their nature to do so. It's impossible for them to do so. And we can look around us and we can see forms of impermanence, and we can even experience impermanence in ourselves and in others. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:45 Highlight the passage at 1:19:45

1:20:12 And then it's almost like quicksand. It's like our mind tries to cover it back up again and try to pretend. We tend to try to pretend that impermanence doesn't happen. And even after you've gone through the deaths of many, many people, I remember actually going through the death of a good friend of mine. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:12 Highlight the passage at 1:20:12

1:20:29 Actually, a good friend of mine is a lover, and I remember leaving the hospital, and my friend and I looked at each other and said, let's never forget that people die. Let's not forget. And of course, within a month, it was just easy to just not think so much about it. Your mind sort of just begins covering it up again because it's a little too painful and a little too raw and too real, actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:29 Highlight the passage at 1:20:29

1:20:58 The Buddha taught that there were two levels of impermanence, gross and subtle. Gross impermanence we can actually see with our own eyes. We see how flowers wilt. We see wrinkles. We see people age. We see people die. We see cups break. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:58 Highlight the passage at 1:20:58

1:21:27 And, I mean, um... We may not directly see the impermanence happening. We may not directly see the flower wilting, but we can definitely see decay. We can see food. You put something in the fridge, you just bought it, and then the next day you go for it and it's like a mold on it. That's actually gross impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:27 Highlight the passage at 1:21:27

1:21:52 Just having your clothes wear out and get holes in them or thin places in the fabric, that's gross impermanence. And all the things that we are attached to or averse to are impermanent like this. So, you know, food, people, animals, drinks, alcohol, places, belongings, like all the things that we are attached to We might then create negative actions based on are actually impermanent. So part of the Buddhist teaching is like cut through this attachment. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:52 Highlight the passage at 1:21:52

1:22:42 There's no reason for you to be so attached to this thing. It's changing all the time anyway. In the same way, we could be averse to those things so that we could actually hate certain foods or hate certain people, feel angry at certain people, hate certain animals. Hate certain places, hate certain homes, you know, like that. The things that make us willing to fight with somebody or feel angry at somebody or hold on to anger. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:42 Highlight the passage at 1:22:42

1:23:09 All of those things are impermanent too. So actually remembering... Death and impermanence, when you're feeling really strong afflicted emotion like that, can actually cut that afflicted emotion. Whether it's really strong attachment, you know, thinking Venerable Rabina always is talking about the chocolate cake and how the chocolate cake seems to exude deliciousness from its own side and how it calls you down in the middle of the night because it's so wonderful from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:09 Highlight the passage at 1:23:09

1:23:37 If we look at it and we see that it's actually just made up of these decaying food particles, it's not nearly as interesting, you know. The same is true if we really hate somebody or we're angry at somebody, just remembering, this person could die before I have a chance to apologize. This isn't worth holding on to. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:37 Highlight the passage at 1:23:37

1:23:54 It's the same way you can kind of cut through these really strong emotions. And from the side of the person, place or thing, they don't have any power from their own side to last. Their nature is impermanent. They don't have any... We try to make people impermanent, we try to make things impermanent, but they don't have any power from their own side to be impermanent. So again, we can understand this intellectually, but it takes actually thinking about it and looking at it over and over and over again to keep it fresh in your mind because basically the self-cherishing mind, which is a... Report an error in the passage at 1:23:54 Highlight the passage at 1:23:54

1:24:36 A name that the Tibetans coined for this basically self-centered mind, this mind that basically just wants our own happiness at the expense usually of everyone else. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:36 Highlight the passage at 1:24:36

1:24:48 It's really a stupid mind. And so even though we learn this, you know, we'll understand this intellectually unless we actually have realized it so that it's deep and unchanging and profound. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:48 Highlight the passage at 1:24:48

1:25:06 We'll still keep acting like everything is permanent. Sorry, this is really distracting, having her, like, wander. Exposing her butt for everyone. For the viewer at home, we have a small cat walking through. So even though we're constantly surrounded by this impermanence, we have to just keep reminding ourselves of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:06 Highlight the passage at 1:25:06

1:25:37 It's sort of like when I was describing my experience in the retreat where I would like walk out in the morning and go, wow, this is this day. This day has never been here before. Anything could happen on this day, but it's finite. It will end. You know, right now the sun's rising. Then, you know, in the evening when I would go in after dinner to do the final session of the day, it's like, okay, this day has ended. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:37 Highlight the passage at 1:25:37

1:26:01 You know, really being aware. As much as you can of the passing moments and the impermanence of the day itself. Bringing that kind of awareness. They say that actually yogis can actually perceive impermanence directly because their concentration is so incredible that they can actually look at this cup and see how it's deteriorating before our very eyes. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:01 Highlight the passage at 1:26:01

1:26:26 We don't see it. We suddenly know it's impermanent because the handle falls off or something like that. I was talking about this in class on Saturday and someone was drinking from a cup and the handle actually got loose in their hands as we were talking about impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:26 Highlight the passage at 1:26:26

1:26:45 Which actually I should caution you, this class, I don't think it actually brings up impermanence, but the last time we did this class, all of us had some sort of... I think all of us, I can't say all of us, many of us had a direct experience of impermanence during the class. One person had to move and got a diagnosis of cancer, and my own mother had a massive stroke during the class and died at the end of the class. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:45 Highlight the passage at 1:26:45

1:27:15 Another person in the class lost a really good friend. So it just kind of all these things began happening to the various members of the class. I don't think it's the class itself. I think... The interesting thing is that we all had a way to deal with it, actually is the way it ended up being, but Peter vowed never to take this class again. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:15 Highlight the passage at 1:27:15

1:27:37 Please don't feel that way. So that's gross impermanence, sort of the big stuff, the stuff that we see and have seen our whole life. Subtle impermanence is basically when... Something arises, decays and dies out all in almost the exact moment. And this is really talking about like the cellular level or an atomic level. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:37 Highlight the passage at 1:27:37

1:28:01 It's like within the momentary changes within the life of one cell or something like that. And they say that these yogis can actually perceive impermanence at that level. Once they've developed what's called calm abiding meditation, which is a really deep form of concentration meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:01 Highlight the passage at 1:28:01

1:28:24 So the mere fact that we're born, it's sort of like coming together, any kind of coming together. The mere fact that we're born means that we have to die. There's really no other way to reverse that and make it permanent, except, of course, if you become a Buddha in this life, which is possible. But very, very difficult. For the rest of us, there's no way to reverse that natural order of things that really applies to everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:24 Highlight the passage at 1:28:24

1:28:58 It applies to the planet. It applies to this house. It applies to the street. It applies to all the books in the shop. It definitely applied to your tea. Is it already gone? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:58 Highlight the passage at 1:28:58

1:29:08 Almost. It applies to everything that we come into contact with. And we're no different. We're just another compounded phenomena. We like to think that we are somehow beyond this, but we aren't. We're just another compounded phenomena. We're a little more important than this cup. We have the ability to do more than this cup, but the fact that we are impermanent is the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:08 Highlight the passage at 1:29:08

1:29:36 Even the city is impermanent. Even the planet is impermanent. We hope it doesn't... pass out of existence in our lifetime but according to the Buddha It's not like this is the only planet. It's not like this is the only realm. It's sort of like His Holiness says, Big Bang Theory is fine, but why just one? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:36 Highlight the passage at 1:29:36

1:30:00 As far as the Buddhists are concerned, this has happened many times where it's come up, entire universe has been created, planets, beings and then passed away. And then another whole one has come up. And so this happens over and over again. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:00 Highlight the passage at 1:30:00

1:30:17 So we can't force things to be solid and permanent. The reality is we have to learn to look at the impermanence of things and soften so that that grasping that we constantly are doing on some level, we can begin relaxing that a little bit basically because otherwise we're just causing our own suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:17 Highlight the passage at 1:30:17

1:30:41 This is what the Buddha's point is, looking at this, is that we have no way to change it. We keep trying to change it. We keep praying for the Buddha or God or whatever to change it, but that there isn't a way to change it at this point. We have to just realize that this is reality and that then we can actually get on with the job of transforming our minds, which is a more useful job, according to the Buddha, because we can actually transcend death, which is the whole point. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:41 Highlight the passage at 1:30:41

1:31:09 Becoming a Buddha. It actually means transcending the whole cycle of birth and death. So the reality is you're trying to look at the reality and you're seeing that there is something beyond that. And the Buddha was able to find that and his methods actually can lead us to that. So there's a good quote from Words of My Perfect Teacher, which is a book by Patro Rinpoche, who's a Nyingma Lama. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:09 Highlight the passage at 1:31:09

1:31:39 And it's just a great quote. You can actually meditate on this. You can actually meditate on the rest of your life. But you can meditate it. You can contemplate on it quite a bit. It's just a simple thought, and I think it's really well phrased. He said, all roads and paths are impermanent. Think of this while walking. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:39 Highlight the passage at 1:31:39

1:32:00 Sleep is impermanent. Wealth, food, and drink are all impermanent. All those you love as well as ideas, thoughts and meditation experiences are all impermanent. So just remembering, just keeping that in mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:00 Highlight the passage at 1:32:00

1:32:16 So I have a question. How many people have some sort of regular meditation practice already? Kind of know how to meditate, the basics of meditation. Or maybe I should ask it the opposite. Who doesn't and needs a little guidance? So everybody has. That's great, man. You guys are cool. Maybe you guys can teach me. So I'm going to actually ask you in your homework this week to do a simple meditation on impermanence, which I'm not going to do in class because we've run out of time. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:16 Highlight the passage at 1:32:16

1:32:52 But it's pretty straightforward. And I'll start the next class with it. So I'll give you the chance and guide. I'll get you in a second. So there's just to give you so that we're on the same. Ballpark, our same page with meditation. Different traditions have different forms of meditation. The Tibetan Buddhist approach has two main forms of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:52 Highlight the passage at 1:32:52

1:33:17 One is what's called concentration meditation, which is what we started with on the breath, where you're basically placing your mind on an object. In that way, it was the breath. And you try not to let it wander away. So you're repeatedly replacing it on the object. The highest form of that meditation, that form of meditation is calm abiding or shine. It's called shine, shamatha in Sanskrit. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:17 Highlight the passage at 1:33:17

1:33:45 So that form of calm abiding, basically you can place your mind on any object for as long as you want without any interruption or any effort on your part. It's this amazingly strong form of concentration meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:45 Highlight the passage at 1:33:45

1:34:02 And Ultimately we all need that. We need to develop that form of meditation. Most of the meditations that I'll be giving you in this class will be what's called analytical meditation. And that is unique to Tibetan Buddhism. It's basically like a formalized contemplation. So I'll give you something to contemplate and you'll have to kind of peek at first. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:02 Highlight the passage at 1:34:02

1:34:26 So that actually is a form of meditation. You'll have the notes in front of you. We tried to print it double-sided and something happened, so it's on two pages. So you'll kind of, you'll just look at it and you'll think about it and then you'll kind of peek at the next bit and then you'll think about it and that's okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:26 Highlight the passage at 1:34:26

1:34:44 That's okay. I'm saying that because honestly for like two years I thought I wasn't meditating because I didn't realize you were allowed to peek and that that was really meditating too. Basically what you're doing is thinking, but in a non-distracted manner as much as you can. So you're still sitting in as much as you know of the posture, and we'll review the posture every week. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:44 Highlight the passage at 1:34:44

1:35:08 And you're trying to keep your mind just as undistracted as you did on the breath, so you're not just thinking about anything. You're trying to think about, in this case, we're going to be looking at impermanence. So as you're thinking about impermanence, if you suddenly have some idea to like, You know, go help the Dalai Lama. It's not. It's not your meditation. So you've got to bring the mind back to the subject. So your object is in permanence. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:08 Highlight the passage at 1:35:08

1:35:36 Anything else, even incredibly wonderful, virtuous thoughts are distractions. So in this case, your object is in permanence and you want to just keep replacing the mind. Usually I find that analytical meditation is a little easier in some ways to keep your mind. Your mind's occupied. So your mind's pretty happy being occupied. And then when you reach what I call an aha moment, a moment where you're like, and that will happen in some of these, then you apply the concentration meditation and try to hold that moment of insight as long as you can, which could be two and a half seconds. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:36 Highlight the passage at 1:35:36

1:36:13 You know, I mean, honestly speaking, you guys might be all master meditators, but I'm going to assume that you're not. For most of us, we don't have strong concentration powers, but we want to apply that little concentration that we have to those little insight moments and hold it as long as we can. And then when the mind gets active again, you just go on with your meditation. So in this one, when you're thinking about the fact that your body is made up of all these impermanent parts, your mind is made up of all these impermanent parts, the entire planet is made up of all these impermanent parts, so this will be the same one that we did actually on Saturday. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:13 Highlight the passage at 1:36:13

1:36:49 Chad, so you're familiar with it. And you sort of get this moment where you just, I actually, for me, it's almost like, it's almost like you get it that everything is living, like your entire body is living, the floor is living, the cushions are living, like everything has these movable like cells and atoms coming into and out of being and you just like, and that's when you hold that inside for as long as you can and then you just go on and finish up. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:49 Highlight the passage at 1:36:49

1:37:19 It's a pretty short little meditation. If you find that you have any questions about it, you can email me or you can just bring the questions to the next class. This one's pretty straightforward. Some of the later ones you might have a little bit more questions about. And we usually try to do one of them in the class so that you always get the experience of how I would lead it. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:19 Highlight the passage at 1:37:19

1:37:38 And when I'm leading it, then you can just let go. and experience so you can just Being led through one of these analytical meditations, I find easier because you can just let go and just experience. Although, of course, I might push you a little faster than you would at home. At home, you might just give yourself a half hour or something and be really relaxed in it. So that's the pitfall of being led. Mike, pass him the talking stick. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:38 Highlight the passage at 1:37:38

1:38:13 Well, you kind of hit on it before I asked the question. I've been meditating for years and I've never meditated on something. So what are you actually saying? Are you actually saying that you read this as you're meditating? See, one of my problems is intellectually I got it. It's the practice that's the problem for me. So at this point, humor me and just go through the meditation and let... Report an error in the passage at 1:38:13 Highlight the passage at 1:38:13

1:38:45 What it's doing is it's beginning to let your mind absorb it on a different level than intellectually. You are still taking it in conceptually, but then you are holding concentration on those little insights throughout the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:45 Highlight the passage at 1:38:45

1:39:02 That will be the difference. In this tradition, you always are meditating on an object. In this particular meditation, it will be impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:02 Highlight the passage at 1:39:02

1:39:15 And if it were on your breath, then it would be your breath. And so basically the object is where you're placing your mind, like forcefully at first, because it does wander off, because you're strengthening that concentration. So here you're just repeatedly bringing it back to the meditation on impermanence. So just go with it and see. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:15 Highlight the passage at 1:39:15

1:39:39 See what your experience is. Is it kind of like reading a couple lines and then just sitting on it? Yeah, and actually after you've gone through it once or even twice, you can probably then know how to do it just without even looking at the words. Because eventually the words are like a spur, but then eventually it'll just be an experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:39 Highlight the passage at 1:39:39

1:39:57 And that's what you're meditating on is the experience. So now it's like when I do this, I don't necessarily need to look at the words anymore. I can remember this and I can guide myself through it without any words. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:57 Highlight the passage at 1:39:57

1:40:10 And I just wanted to... As you've been talking, in my mind, I've been thinking, no wonder why we're so messed up, or no wonder why things are so crazy. And then it keeps on going back to the big picture, like, why? What is this all about? Which I won't even get into, but that's how my mind goes. It's like, okay, you're talking about all this impermanence, and we're all running around grabbing onto anything we can not to... Report an error in the passage at 1:40:10 Highlight the passage at 1:40:10

1:40:42 Not to even be aware of it. Yeah, and it's like, no wonder why. We're absolutely, completely bonkers. All of us. Right, right. I mean, it makes sense. But then you look at it and say, okay, but really, what does this mean? What is this about? But we won't get into that. We'll talk about that more. Yeah. Anybody else? Anybody else have any questions? Yeah, Paul. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:42 Highlight the passage at 1:40:42

1:41:07 Paul and Paul. I just have a question about the talk that you gave on impermanence. I remember that I keep having this question about impermanence whenever I read about it. I feel like it's always talked about in terms of physical objects and things like that. I'm just curious if you know what the teachings would say about the impermanence or permanence of abstract concepts. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:07 Highlight the passage at 1:41:07

1:41:08 I don't remember what he's saying, Paul Squire. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:08 Highlight the passage at 1:41:08

1:41:33 Like? Like anger or justice or love or compassion or anything like that. Well, that's true. I don't think I even mentioned that the mind also changes all the time, moment to moment to moment. And actually, that's really profound. I had it in my notes, but I missed it. But yeah, actually, just sitting and looking at your own mind. Well, how many of us were able to keep our mind on the breath of the beginning? Report an error in the passage at 1:41:33 Highlight the passage at 1:41:33

1:41:53 And probably a few hundred thoughts came through the mind, actually, at that time. And I'm not even exaggerating. Your mind constantly is changing. And so each one of those thoughts, we give enormous power to, actually. So that's why we can stay angry at somebody for weeks at a time or years. People give up. Actually, sometimes people never speak to a sister again or something like that. We give this enormous power to basically what the Buddha would say is a thought. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:53 Highlight the passage at 1:41:53

1:42:20 And that thought is impermanent. And so if we actually just let go... Those things just rise. The Buddha actually described it as like waves on an ocean. And that's literally if we just allow anger and we see it as just a thought, it just absorbs back into the ocean again. But we tend to give it this enormous power, mostly based, and this is getting a little ahead of ourselves, on this whole view that I exist in that way that I see myself where I'm this enormously important. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:20 Highlight the passage at 1:42:20

1:42:54 And so if I'm angry or if I've been wronged or if I've been hurt, then I'm going to have to do something about it for the rest of my life. So I build this huge fantasy around your wronging of me and so then I hold it against you for the rest of your life. Whereas actually it's just a thought arising and a thought falling. And it's based on my karma anyway. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:54 Highlight the passage at 1:42:54

1:43:19 So the Buddha is pointing out these sort of basic misunderstandings of reality that we take and run with. And that's the cause of our suffering right there. So just starting to see the impermanence of our mind and our body and our thoughts and our anger and our values and our beliefs that we can identify ourselves with so strongly, like I am a socialist or I am a nun or I am a whatever. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:19 Highlight the passage at 1:43:19

1:43:47 I mean. Basically, we changed a billion times within this lifetime. I just had to give this interview to this kid that just started working here, Jason, who's a 16-year-old homeschooler. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:47 Highlight the passage at 1:43:47

1:44:00 There's a certain requirement, I think, with the homeschooled. Kids that they have to do a certain amount of volunteer work. So he was interviewing me about my life, and you just realize how many incarnations you go through within one life. I mean, I'm old, too. But I mean, many, many things that you identified with so strongly at any given time. All your identities. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:00 Highlight the passage at 1:44:00

1:44:21 And you see how many of them you go through and how you discard them like old jackets, honestly. And each one you were willing to identify yourself with. And then, of course, the last one most recently is I'm nobody's daughter anymore, which is a really odd thought. And that's just an identity, and it never even existed beyond concept. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:21 Highlight the passage at 1:44:21

1:44:43 But, you know, it was important to me. So it's interesting. All of those things are also impermanent, too. And we wage wars over them. We have the view that America is this or this or this, you know, and that this, you know, it's all impermanent. So getting impermanence on any level can reduce all that agony that we just put ourselves through, much less everybody else around us. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:43 Highlight the passage at 1:44:43

1:45:10 I mean, families, households, countries, all suffering because of this, you know. Does that help? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I guess there's a part of me that feels like these ideas, if they're held by more than just one person, then that gives them a slightly different status than just a thought because they're the thoughts of so many people. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:10 Highlight the passage at 1:45:10

1:45:35 I feel like people are compelled to grant some kind of an actual status of being to them, like math or something like that. Yeah, but I don't think they necessarily have much more reality. I think it's just a bunch of people believe it. If we all believed we were Martians, it wouldn't necessarily make it real. But we could believe it really strongly. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:35 Highlight the passage at 1:45:35

1:45:55 You know, we could really believe that we were, I don't know, I'm just thinking, you know, like, I mean, there have been, you know, very strong beliefs that, you know, women shouldn't vote or that black people shouldn't vote. And entire, you know, billions of people believe that. And then thankfully it changed. So I think we can give power to beliefs, but I don't think it necessarily validates them. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:55 Highlight the passage at 1:45:55

1:46:22 And at the very least they're contingent upon those that are believing them, so they do stand in some kind of... And they change still because those people's minds change and bodies change and situations change and all that stuff. No, but it is very, very interesting to look at. And we're just touching the tip of the iceberg. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:22 Highlight the passage at 1:46:22

1:46:40 So hopefully in your meditation you'll go deeper into some of these things. Thank you. Sure. Anybody else? Yep. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:40 Highlight the passage at 1:46:40

1:46:53 Consciousness in this tradition is really synonymous with mind. Consciousness and mind are the same. So there is, it's not to say that nothing exists, because there are levels of consciousness. Actually the Buddha taught that there were three levels of consciousness. Gross consciousness, which includes all these wild thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:53 Highlight the passage at 1:46:53

1:47:14 Our plans for tomorrow and all their kind of gross reality. My identity is Chokyi and things like that. Then there's like a subtle level of consciousness and that we can access in certain states of meditation. We actually also access it during the death process. There's certain visions that we'll talk about that happen during the death process and deep meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:14 Highlight the passage at 1:47:14

1:47:38 And then there's a most subtle level of consciousness and that's what goes from life to life. It's this very, very subtle level of consciousness or mind that goes from life to life. That actually is what defines, if you hear the term sentient being, and the Buddha talks about different levels of sentient being. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:38 Highlight the passage at 1:47:38

1:47:59 So anything with mind is a sentient being. So a flower isn't considered a sentient being. And this comes up in sunglasses. However, that ant. That Chad so kindly put out the door would be considered a sentient being because it's considered that it has a mind. Mind and brain are not the same. Consciousness is mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:59 Highlight the passage at 1:47:59

1:48:19 So it does have something that will go after it gets mushed, hopefully not by any of you on your way out. After it ends this life, which it just has received as a result of karma, it will take another rebirth and that subtle most mind will go into the next rebirth. It could be... A human next time. The Buddha actually taught this, and we'll get into this in some of the later classes. So consciousness and mind for this context is actually the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:19 Highlight the passage at 1:48:19

1:48:49 It's just different levels of that mind. Sandy, can you pass it? Be careful, it's encircling you, Paul. Would you consider that consciousness is perhaps energy that is transferred from one sentient being to another? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:49 Highlight the passage at 1:48:49

1:49:07 I think in a lot of ways that's actually pretty accurate. It's like an energetic thing. Because in the same way that energy isn't physical, if you can think of it that way, mind is not a physical thing. Mind is a completely different substance than body. So it actually, you could say energetic, I think. But that energy then carries a lot of karmic... Report an error in the passage at 1:49:07 Highlight the passage at 1:49:07

1:49:33 Mind does carry karma. Karma is considered a working of the mind. But energy wouldn't carry that, right? I don't know, actually. I don't know so much about how Western science defines energy. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:33 Highlight the passage at 1:49:33

1:49:46 Yeah, I'm not so sure about that, actually. I think in the same way that energy is never lost, I think the Buddha would be in agreement with that. So things just come into a different form. So nothing is ever completely lost. It just shifts, change. Form changes like that. So, you know, even though we have to get used to the fact that everything changes, in some way it's all still with us. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:46 Highlight the passage at 1:49:46

1:50:12 It's just in a different form, you know. Did you have your hand up again? I do. I feel like I can keep going. I know. Well, this is good. This is good. This is good. But, yeah, we probably aren't going to answer them all tonight. I was just curious if consciousness is considered one of the five. I think it's five skandhas. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:12 Highlight the passage at 1:50:12

1:50:29 Yes. Actually, five skandhas is mind and body, but only one of them is for the body. All the rest of them are the five skandhas or five aggregates that the Buddha talked about in like the Heart Sūtra. He'll talk about it anyway. It's actually basically mind and body, but one of them is form and all the rest have to do with the mind. And consciousness is one of those? Report an error in the passage at 1:50:29 Highlight the passage at 1:50:29

1:50:54 Consciousness is everything, yeah. So it's, yeah, I mean there's like, yeah. Anyway, that probably gets into it too much. But yeah, there's different forms of how the mind works. Discrimination is actually separated out. Feeling is separated out. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:54 Highlight the passage at 1:50:54

1:51:13 Consciousness is actually one of those, I think, actually, rather than the collection. But they all are really forms of mind. I know, that just kind of... Anyway, let's keep it there. All right, any last questions and then we'll just dedicate? Report an error in the passage at 1:51:13 Highlight the passage at 1:51:13

1:51:34 So why don't we, actually I'm just going to dedicate without doing a prayer. We'll do prayers later. So just allow, imagine your mind being sort of like a pool of water or a glass of water and all these different thoughts and ideas and little insights and pops and popcorn that's been going off in class tonight. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:34 Highlight the passage at 1:51:34

1:51:58 Just imagine it all sort of settling down and your mind sort of getting clearer and clearer. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:58 Highlight the passage at 1:51:58

1:52:17 Buddhist activity, we usually start with what's called the two bookends. So we motivate whatever action we do, which in this case was attending this class, participating in this class. And then at the end we dedicate. And what we're dedicating is any positive energy or merit or positive karma, whatever you want to call it, that we've just created. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:17 Highlight the passage at 1:52:17

1:52:43 And we are dedicating it to each of us being able to realize not just the topics of this class, but basically that we'll all be able to understand reality as enlightened mind has seen it so that we can actually fully awaken our own minds, become Buddhas ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:43 Highlight the passage at 1:52:43

1:53:08 And the reason is that that's the best method to be able to help all beings. And Report an error in the passage at 1:53:08 Highlight the passage at 1:53:08

1:53:17 we can also in our own minds dedicate it to those. We've lost who may have gotten us here. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:17 Highlight the passage at 1:53:17

1:53:34 Okay. Thanks. Have a great week. Or a couple days, for those of you that are coming on Thursday. And did you guys get your homework? No, here. Cedric, do you want to just hand it out? Report an error in the passage at 1:53:34 Highlight the passage at 1:53:34

1:53:55 Yeah. This is our last class of this current series this Thursday. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:55 Highlight the passage at 1:53:55

1:54:14 Did you get one, Paul? Yeah. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:14 Highlight the passage at 1:54:14

1:54:25 And does anybody want to buy the Mind of Clear Light? Going, going, going. Mike's got it! Again, sold to the man in the striped shirt. So now you've got $3 plus $13. It's $16. You bring your money to Haley on Thursday. Thanks, you guys. Oh, yeah. Thank you. That would be great. If people could stack the cushions in the corner, that would be great. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:25 Highlight the passage at 1:54:25

1:55:20 dad died in August, so he's coming back to see his mom and his family. The impermanence of the microphone. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:20 Highlight the passage at 1:55:20

1:55:34 But we'll do them again. So now I'm determined that we aren't going to lose it again. So I think what we'll have him do is when he gets back, we may do a couple of one-ups and then we'll have him start again in January. It'll probably be Friday nights if you're interested. Yeah, maybe. I don't know if I took you, but I just started wearing this thing. Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:34 Highlight the passage at 1:55:34