Discovering Buddhism - Death and Rebirth (7 April 2009)

0:15 This will be the first time that we've tried to do a meditation in there and a class in here. Report an error in the passage at 0:15 Highlight the passage at 0:15

0:26 I'll go like this every time I have to laugh. She laughs a lot too though. She's not going to be miked. Not like me. It's going to be me. Report an error in the passage at 0:26 Highlight the passage at 0:26

0:43 But we're going to start out meditating too. That class will end, they end about 8 and then they have a little bit of Q &A. And so right about the time that we break should be the time that they're leaving. So it should work out, that part should work out alright. At least I'm going to try to time it that way. And I think Rosalie's not here. Report an error in the passage at 0:43 Highlight the passage at 0:43

1:07 So she may come in late. But anyway, if anybody comes in, just be kind. Like you guys are going to beat them up. Report an error in the passage at 1:07 Highlight the passage at 1:07

1:20 I think I just have this soft spot for people that come in late. Because you know how you feel so horrible if everybody's sitting like this. Report an error in the passage at 1:20 Highlight the passage at 1:20

1:31 So we're going to do the third part of the nine-part meditation on death, which hopefully you've done at least once since the last class, or at least looked over. But like I said, because these classes are so fast, so close together, Report an error in the passage at 1:31 Highlight the passage at 1:31

1:50 You look really perplexed. Report an error in the passage at 1:50 Highlight the passage at 1:50

1:55 Oh, gosh. Really? I have the wrong class printed, maybe. Is this class four? Uh-oh. I printed the wrong class. Report an error in the passage at 1:55 Highlight the passage at 1:55

2:13 No, I printed the wrong homework. Okay. Hold the line a moment. Let me think. I think it would be good if I printed the right class. So. Report an error in the passage at 2:13 Highlight the passage at 2:13

2:30 You guys are going to do a short meditation on your breath. I'm going to gracefully get up. You're going to put that on pause. Report an error in the passage at 2:30 Highlight the passage at 2:30

2:44 Okay. Did I say gracefully? Report an error in the passage at 2:44 Highlight the passage at 2:44

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:27 Hopefully your minds have calmed down. Now I know why it is that I had relaxing tea before this class. Report an error in the passage at 3:27 Highlight the passage at 3:27

3:42 Now we're going to do the second part of the three parts of the nine point meditation on death. Report an error in the passage at 3:42 Highlight the passage at 3:42

3:57 So you guys have already allowed your body and your minds to catch up with each other. I'm going to do it too, so just take some nice deep cleansing breaths. We're Report an error in the passage at 3:57 Highlight the passage at 3:57

4:37 going to start with a meditation called The Time of Death is Uncertain. Report an error in the passage at 4:37 Highlight the passage at 4:37

4:48 This one can be the most powerful of the three different points because our mind is so stubborn and we're in such denial that we could literally go at any time. Report an error in the passage at 4:48 Highlight the passage at 4:48

5:12 We keep trying to convince ourselves that it's a long way off. We don't have to worry about it yet. Report an error in the passage at 5:12 Highlight the passage at 5:12

5:20 But the reality is we just don't know. We just don't know. Report an error in the passage at 5:20 Highlight the passage at 5:20

5:31 Buddha Shakyamuni said, we don't know which will come first, tomorrow or the next life. Report an error in the passage at 5:31 Highlight the passage at 5:31

5:44 So the first supporting point is that the lifespan and our time in Ram is uncertain. Not everybody dies at 80 or 90 or some safe... Figure far in the future. It can end at any point. There Report an error in the passage at 5:44 Highlight the passage at 5:44

6:10 are a lot of babies who are born in the womb. I mean who die in the womb and are never even born. Report an error in the passage at 6:10 Highlight the passage at 6:10

6:23 A lot of kids die in childhood or in their teens. A Report an error in the passage at 6:23 Highlight the passage at 6:23

6:34 number of people have died in their 20s and Report an error in the passage at 6:34 Highlight the passage at 6:34

6:42 of course their 30s and 40s and 50s. Anytime. Report an error in the passage at 6:42 Highlight the passage at 6:42

6:53 So think now about somebody that you've known who's died younger than you are now. Report an error in the passage at 6:53 Highlight the passage at 6:53

7:01 Whatever age you are, Report an error in the passage at 7:01 Highlight the passage at 7:01

7:17 why is it so that I'm so sure that I won't die yet? Report an error in the passage at 7:17 Highlight the passage at 7:17

7:25 Age is no guarantee. Children often die before their parents. Report an error in the passage at 7:25 Highlight the passage at 7:25

7:36 And even if we don't know somebody, then we've certainly read about it. Report an error in the passage at 7:36 Highlight the passage at 7:36

7:46 Health is no guarantee. Report an error in the passage at 7:46 Highlight the passage at 7:46

7:51 Healthy people die before sick people all the time. Report an error in the passage at 7:51 Highlight the passage at 7:51

7:59 Often when somebody has a diagnosis of terminal illness, we label them the dying person. And the other people are the visitors. Report an error in the passage at 7:59 Highlight the passage at 7:59

8:21 There are so many healthy people that die before their time. We Report an error in the passage at 8:21 Highlight the passage at 8:21

8:29 hear about celebrities and movie stars and just regular people that we know who die in accidents. They can be totally healthy. They can actually be healthier than any of us are in this room. Report an error in the passage at 8:29 Highlight the passage at 8:29

8:53 Or you can think about people who have just been to the doctors and gotten a clean bill of health and then died. Report an error in the passage at 8:53 Highlight the passage at 8:53

9:11 Future plans are no guarantee. We can die before we complete our work. Report an error in the passage at 9:11 Highlight the passage at 9:11

9:23 Even really big work, world-changing work, life-changing work. Think about all the political leaders and world leaders who die without finishing their jobs, even Report an error in the passage at 9:23 Highlight the passage at 9:23

9:54 people doing long retreat. Report an error in the passage at 9:54 Highlight the passage at 9:54

10:01 Somehow I used to think when I first started doing this meditation that if I was doing good enough work or if I was working for the Dharma that somehow I'd be exempt. And then I started hearing about friends that died in retreat or on pilgrimage. Report an error in the passage at 10:01 Highlight the passage at 10:01

10:34 Almost everybody that dies, dies in the middle of living. So things are left undone. Report an error in the passage at 10:34 Highlight the passage at 10:34

10:46 We can't even be certain we won't die today. We just don't know. Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

10:55 We could just have a few hours or we could have 50 years. Report an error in the passage at 10:55 Highlight the passage at 10:55

11:12 The things that kill us are many and the things that keep us alive are few. So Report an error in the passage at 11:12 Highlight the passage at 11:12

11:22 think about some external conditions. That lead to death. Things like natural catastrophes like floods or earthquakes, fires or even wars or robberies or murders, crashes. Report an error in the passage at 11:22 Highlight the passage at 11:22

11:49 My cousin had just finished dinner with his wife and walked to his car and was mugged and died on the street. Report an error in the passage at 11:49 Highlight the passage at 11:49

12:10 I read about a mother and a daughter in the Oakland Hills fire and decided to take two cars instead of one. And the daughter didn't make it out even though she was just one car behind. I Report an error in the passage at 12:10 Highlight the passage at 12:10

12:35 had a good friend in high school whose mother-in-law and aunt both died in a car accident just going to get somebody at the airport. Report an error in the passage at 12:35 Highlight the passage at 12:35

12:50 Things like this happen all the time. Report an error in the passage at 12:50 Highlight the passage at 12:50

13:00 Or think of some internal conditions. Illnesses or disease or poison. Sometimes organ damage that we don't even know about. Report an error in the passage at 13:00 Highlight the passage at 13:00

13:19 My grandfather went to work and died on the... Loading duck. He had a heart attack. Nobody knew it was coming. Report an error in the passage at 13:19 Highlight the passage at 13:19

13:33 Doctors can't even see everything that could go on. They just take a snapshot of how you are at that moment and try to guess. Report an error in the passage at 13:33 Highlight the passage at 13:33

13:48 And even those things that normally sustain us can become the cause of our death. Report an error in the passage at 13:48 Highlight the passage at 13:48

13:57 Food can choke us or poison us. Medicine can interact with us in strange ways. Report an error in the passage at 13:57 Highlight the passage at 13:57

14:10 Even our house can collapse on us. A Report an error in the passage at 14:10 Highlight the passage at 14:10

14:22 friend of mine... Had a friend whose house was swept away in a mudslide in Pacifica. The whole house while she was in it. Some people stay at home somehow thinking that they're safer at home, but people stay at home all the time. Report an error in the passage at 14:22 Highlight the passage at 14:22

14:51 The body is extremely fragile and is itself impermanent. If Report an error in the passage at 14:51 Highlight the passage at 14:51

15:02 we think about the fact that these huge redwood trees, mountains, even planets eventually get destroyed. Of course our little fragile bodies. Report an error in the passage at 15:02 Highlight the passage at 15:02

15:15 End up having to degenerate, pass away. We're Report an error in the passage at 15:15 Highlight the passage at 15:15

15:25 always shocked when we hurt ourselves or even when we get very sick, like it shouldn't happen. Report an error in the passage at 15:25 Highlight the passage at 15:25

15:35 But actually it's more of a surprise that it doesn't happen all the time. Report an error in the passage at 15:35 Highlight the passage at 15:35

15:48 Think about the times that things change really quickly for you. Report an error in the passage at 15:48 Highlight the passage at 15:48

15:56 All of a sudden, doing an injury, a sudden illness. It can happen again and become the cause of your own death. Report an error in the passage at 15:56 Highlight the passage at 15:56

16:13 Somehow we think we're different. Because I'm me. That's not even logical. Report an error in the passage at 16:13 Highlight the passage at 16:13

16:29 Our body itself is what's called a compounded phenomena, created by causes and conditions. So it's necessarily impermanent, just like everything else in this world. Report an error in the passage at 16:29 Highlight the passage at 16:29

16:43 Whatever comes together has to come apart, Report an error in the passage at 16:43 Highlight the passage at 16:43

16:52 has to end. At some point, and we don't know when, we'll breathe out and not breathe in again. It all boils down to that one instant. Report an error in the passage at 16:52 Highlight the passage at 16:52

17:09 And even in a person's last moment of life, they can believe that they're not dying, that they'll live forever. Report an error in the passage at 17:09 Highlight the passage at 17:09

17:21 Knowing that we could die at any time, we have to resolve the practice right now to stop procrastinating, waiting for something better, waiting to be better, waiting to have better conditions, a better house, quieter mind, more time. Report an error in the passage at 17:21 Highlight the passage at 17:21

17:49 We just don't know how much time we have left. Report an error in the passage at 17:49 Highlight the passage at 17:49

17:55 Remind yourself of this every time you hear about somebody who's sick or dying or has died. Just as a way of chipping away at this mind that thinks we have forever. Report an error in the passage at 17:55 Highlight the passage at 17:55

18:19 Motivate this class and any insights we might gain to being able to really work with the time we have left. Work with our mind to make a difference. Report an error in the passage at 18:19 Highlight the passage at 18:19

18:55 So in time when you're ready, you can end your meditation and open your eyes. Report an error in the passage at 18:55 Highlight the passage at 18:55

19:12 And we'll say the opening prayer. Report an error in the passage at 19:12 Highlight the passage at 19:12

19:21 Page 8. Report an error in the passage at 19:21 Highlight the passage at 19:21

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

20:06 And dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 20:06 Highlight the passage at 20:06

20:19 So how do people do this week? Yeah, weekend. I keep thinking that we have more time between classes. I got your money. I have your book. Report an error in the passage at 20:19 Highlight the passage at 20:19

20:37 Anybody, any experiences with this meditation? This one can be a little jarring. Report an error in the passage at 20:37 Highlight the passage at 20:37

20:47 Wait, you gotta have the talking stick. All right. Report an error in the passage at 20:47 Highlight the passage at 20:47

· · · silence, 1 minute

21:09 I found myself rebelling supporting point two seemed very ungrateful Report an error in the passage at 21:09 Highlight the passage at 21:09

21:22 The things that kill us are many and the things that keep us alive are few. Report an error in the passage at 21:22 Highlight the passage at 21:22

21:29 It seemed ungrateful. Say more. Report an error in the passage at 21:29 Highlight the passage at 21:29

21:38 This is Samantha's personal practice. Becoming Phil's personal practice. The idea of focusing on the things that can kill me just really didn't sit well. Report an error in the passage at 21:38 Highlight the passage at 21:38

21:54 And that's what seemed ungrateful. Report an error in the passage at 21:54 Highlight the passage at 21:54

22:03 So I kind of took it backward. I focused on the things that keep me alive with gratitude and then noticed their impermanence, their transitoriness. It's not really about gratitude, though. I think it's just about building awareness, opening up to the fact that basically anything could lead to my death. Report an error in the passage at 22:03 Highlight the passage at 22:03

22:26 It's not awareness. It's not really about being grateful about whatever might kill me. It's more about just remembering that literally I could choke on this and die, you know. So these things, especially the thing that I grasp at the most, you know, like that piece of cake or whatever, you know, or a tea for me. Report an error in the passage at 22:26 Highlight the passage at 22:26

22:48 So it's more like that. It's just that building that awareness of even the things that I love, like sitting there watching TV and I could reach over and get shocked or something, you know what I mean? Like we just don't realize that it could come from anywhere. And so thinking about the examples of that. Report an error in the passage at 22:48 Highlight the passage at 22:48

23:03 So this lays it out in a certain way, but you don't have to do it in that way. But it is important to know the spirit behind it, that you're trying to just build awareness that literally it can come from all quarters of your life. You know, like I'm one that grasps at sleep. I'm always grasping at sleep. Well, I could die in my sleep, you know, so then remembering that, it's like, oh, wow. Report an error in the passage at 23:03 Highlight the passage at 23:03

23:28 So it's not really always wonderful, you know, like that. So it's more like that. So you could do it in a different way if you wanted to. You could just think about. I mean, that's why we sort of think of the different examples of people to kind of bring it alive for you. Just like, you know, there's an old story of Mama Cass Elliot eating a ham sandwich and dying in bed, you know. Probably had her most relaxed, you know, hanging out, you know. Report an error in the passage at 23:28 Highlight the passage at 23:28

24:00 You know, just things like that to just bring it. I think a lot of times we think that death is, I know for years I always thought I'd have some forewarning. Like somehow I was going to get some special message when I woke up. Report an error in the passage at 24:00 Highlight the passage at 24:00

24:17 I would, of course, nobody else would, but I would know. And so this is to kind of shake that a little bit. Like no, you don't always know. I don't think Ashley knew when he fell off the roof. I don't think Laurel knew. And so for me, actually, thinking of people I know very well, that shakes it up even more. But even people like you think about people in 911, they say what a gorgeous day it was, you know, and how people were in great mood and then it happened, you know, and you just don't know. Report an error in the passage at 24:17 Highlight the passage at 24:17

24:52 So that's what you're trying to just shake. If you tell me it's uncomfortable, that's okay. Report an error in the passage at 24:52 Highlight the passage at 24:52

25:03 Yeah, yeah. But do you understand my point? That it's not so much about gratitude. Report an error in the passage at 25:03 Highlight the passage at 25:03

· · · silence, 1 minute

25:38 But don't forget the connection with death. Yeah. I mean, because they all are the things that you feel grateful for and you could actually turn that around into a death meditation too. I mean, there is a resistance and I understand the resistance, but it's important to know, to look at that resistance head on. Report an error in the passage at 25:38 Highlight the passage at 25:38

25:07 I think I got to the same Report an error in the passage at 25:07 Highlight the passage at 25:07

· · · silence, 1 minute

26:00 Like, what am I resisting? What am I really resisting here? Because it's a profound discovery, you know, and so, you know, not to just, just to change it without examining it. That's just my point. Report an error in the passage at 26:00 Highlight the passage at 26:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

26:46 Mine either. Just Report an error in the passage at 26:46 Highlight the passage at 26:46

26:54 like Report an error in the passage at 26:54 Highlight the passage at 26:54

27:05 that. Good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's worked really well. Report an error in the passage at 27:05 Highlight the passage at 27:05

27:16 I Report an error in the passage at 27:16 Highlight the passage at 27:16

27:24 remember one time we had an earthquake. I think earthquakes are good reminders, too, if you can feel them. I remember one time we had an earthquake downstairs. I used to have, there's a little room that we used to have as a copy room, and I used to have that as my office when we first moved in here. And I was working, and we had an earthquake, and Rubina was working in the next room. Report an error in the passage at 27:24 Highlight the passage at 27:24

27:45 I remember Rubina was working in the next room, and she yells out, Did you think of your guru? And I was like, Okay. Now I am. But it's true, you know, it's really true. It is that dramatic, sometimes. We were fortunate it wasn't a very big one, but, you know, it's very much like that, those little tiny moments of, or a sudden headache. Report an error in the passage at 27:45 Highlight the passage at 27:45

28:12 This is how it started. My dad had an aneurysm, so that one always comes up. I have migraines, and this is like a lifetime. Project for Phil. Yay! Ta-da! And the strange thing is it'll get exactly like that the next class. It's just, yeah. Yeah, so often I'll think when I have either a sudden migraine or just one that just lasts and lasts. Report an error in the passage at 28:12 Highlight the passage at 28:12

28:42 You know, if you ever call Kaiser, one of their questions is, do you have a sudden and severe headache? I'm like, all the time. ta-da. Report an error in the passage at 28:42 Highlight the passage at 28:42

28:51 Or they'll say, is this the worst one in your entire life? And that one I can usually answer no. But yeah, I use that to think of, what if this is? It has to be it at some point. Or if you're waiting for that answer in the doctor's office and they give you a good one and you think, well, what if they hadn't? Report an error in the passage at 28:51 Highlight the passage at 28:51

29:12 Turn it around really quick before you get too relaxed. Because somebody down the hall is getting a bad answer. And it could just as likely be you. Or the doctor comes back and goes, oh, I'm sorry, I got this messed up. I actually had a friend who got the results of a test like that. He messed up the giving of the test and he told her bad news and realized by her tears that he hadn't said it right. Report an error in the passage at 29:12 Highlight the passage at 29:12

29:38 I was so incensed. So anyway. So then she came out and I saw her tears and I got the wrong news. It was just this horrible thing. But that stuff happens all the time. So yeah, you can use those little things like that. Has anybody else tried it? Something like that, like what David's describing. Taking those little pains that you have, or maybe not so little, sometimes bigger pains. Sudden pains or sudden changes, light going off, near miss, car behind you, but not quite hitting. Report an error in the passage at 29:38 Highlight the passage at 29:38

30:10 Use those. We get a lot of those in our life and we usually just go, that one's gone and push it out of our mind again. I mean, it like, gosh, what am I going to have for lunch? You know, I just like completely forget about what just happened. So it's like use that because those little things happen all the time. If you get turbulence on a plane, you know, use it. You know, what if this was it? Report an error in the passage at 30:10 Highlight the passage at 30:10

30:32 What would I do right now? What would I do with this moment? You know, not to scare yourself, but really to think. So at some point it's like a preparation because at some point it will be and it's actually better if we're prepared. Don't believe what this culture tells you. This I am standing up here or sitting to tell you not to believe that because so many people in our lives would be like, why are you thinking about that? Report an error in the passage at 30:32 Highlight the passage at 30:32

30:55 It's going to bring you down, you know. How's that going to help? But from a lot of standpoints, even if you don't believe in the whole Buddhist thing, from a lot of different perspectives, it is useful because at some point it will be. And how are we going to? I mean, probably just like anything else, the more that we've thought about it, the more prepared, the more likely we are to be able to handle. Report an error in the passage at 30:55 Highlight the passage at 30:55

31:20 Even the most difficult situation. Because we've practiced it, we've thought about it. I mean, it kind of doesn't make, you know, it's not like, what do they say, it's not rocket science. Report an error in the passage at 31:20 Highlight the passage at 31:20

31:30 We've prepared our minds somewhat. It certainly won't hurt. It certainly won't hurt. It does not bring about your death to think about it. That much I'm going to say. You know, sometimes people actually think that that's true, you know. That it will somehow manifest, yeah. And that by writing your will, you're going to bring your death on. It's like, no, no, no, no. But it does help your family a lot if you have, you know. Report an error in the passage at 31:30 Highlight the passage at 31:30

31:57 Yeah, do you want to pass back the mic? You just can't make it into a macrame backpack. Oh. Report an error in the passage at 31:57 Highlight the passage at 31:57

32:10 You know, being new to this and reading what I've been reading. And I also started on the book we got last week. In this other book that I bought, I think there might be like a fine line. Some people really have to watch out not to become completely paranoid. Because once you really accept that you're going to die, so how do you keep from dying? That's why you have to get to the resolution, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 32:10 Highlight the passage at 32:10

32:37 That's why you want to do the whole meditation, ultimately. Ultimately, yeah, yeah, right. No, I mentioned it to a friend years ago when I first was getting into Buddhism. And I was like, you know, what would you do if you thought you were? And she was like, I wouldn't do the laundry. Like, well, I mean, yeah, it's true. Probably. But that's not where you stop, you know, because I could just see us all with these houses filled with laundry and not cooking and we're all like getting, you know, these beards. Report an error in the passage at 32:37 Highlight the passage at 32:37

33:10 Quitting our jobs, you know, no, that's not the point. You want to keep going. So if the point, the point is to get this sort of urgency with like, in terms of urgency, also is a bit intense too. But it's like to literally get this sense of, wow, this is like this precious opportunity. I really do want to use my life. I want to make this life meaningful, you know, because the people that we know, if you can think of, if you have friends who have had, you know, either... Report an error in the passage at 33:10 Highlight the passage at 33:10

33:40 Either very, very serious illnesses or near-death experiences or whatever, and they come out the other side. In other words, they still get some life afterwards. And even if they don't, even if they just get a diagnosis and they get a certain amount of time, they usually use that time pretty meaningfully. Report an error in the passage at 33:40 Highlight the passage at 33:40

34:00 They try very hard, even if they aren't religious. To connect, to resolve things, so they can die at peace. Yeah, yeah. And so there's nothing stopping us from doing that now. And so if you get nothing else out of it than that, then that's important. Yeah, Rosalie. Report an error in the passage at 34:00 Highlight the passage at 34:00

34:25 I think I have changed my mind after this class, not only from meditation, but when I read the book. Think about that. I think I may change because I start to think, oh, I need to have a life for each moment and avoid some kinds of bad thoughts. yeah yeah yeah and Avoid to have some fight with people because maybe it could be the last time they can see. And sometimes I get mad about my daughters because they do something. Report an error in the passage at 34:25 Highlight the passage at 34:25

35:20 I remember that. I have to talk very gentle. Things like that. I think it's very, very interesting. That's powerful. I mean, if you're trying to help them. And they're doing something dangerous and you manifest wrath. Parenting, that can be helpful. So that's all right. But if you're doing it out of anger, then it's not so great. Report an error in the passage at 35:20 Highlight the passage at 35:20

35:50 So you know the difference. If you're really trying to... How old are your daughters? 29 and 30. It's not a bad thing. So they aren't running out into traffic and they aren't putting their hand in the fire. Things that happened before got me so mad. Yeah. And I feel I'm changing, you know. And sometimes they watch me, you don't say anything. Report an error in the passage at 35:50 Highlight the passage at 35:50

36:18 And I say, no, it's okay. You know, this is good for me. Yeah, yeah. I feel a peace inside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So now we just see how long it lasts. No, but it is a good thing. And it's just like, you know, because this could be an insight or you can develop it into... An actualization or realization of this. So we just see, work with it, the things that come up. But it's definitely a way to cut anger. Report an error in the passage at 36:18 Highlight the passage at 36:18

36:48 It's definitely a way to get a little more space and perspective. Report an error in the passage at 36:48 Highlight the passage at 36:48

36:56 Yeah, it's huge for that. That's great. Thank you. Thank you for you. Okay, Kara. Report an error in the passage at 36:56 Highlight the passage at 36:56

37:15 You could do the David approach of putting it down at your waist. There you go. Yeah. Give it at his waist. Report an error in the passage at 37:15 Highlight the passage at 37:15

37:27 I'm very glad that I'm taking this class. Sunday my mom called me and a very close family friend passed away on Friday. And just at first I was like really upset and angry. It was like the best death. Actually I kept thinking about her last class because she choked to death. Wow. yeah. Report an error in the passage at 37:27 Highlight the passage at 37:27

37:51 in the hospital yeah She was a patient in the hospital. Yeah, I mean, she was older. I mean, she was like another grandmother to me. I mean, she was in her 80s, had a stroke. She was in the hospital and they just like, I mean, it wasn't her first choking incident. And then they just brought her dinner and then they left her and she choked to death. Report an error in the passage at 37:51 Highlight the passage at 37:51

38:16 And my mom was just like so upset and so angry. First I was really sad, and then I kept thinking of the last class, because we kept saying death isn't certain, and you'd even mentioned chok on your food. And so I just kept thinking. I didn't meditate or anything. I did the whole grieve thing, but I kept reading Lama Yushi's poem. Report an error in the passage at 38:16 Highlight the passage at 38:16

38:44 And then thinking about our last class, everything just kept swimming through my mind. I was like, oh, Report an error in the passage at 38:44 Highlight the passage at 38:44

38:52 I'm sad. Because now I'm just like, hmm. now if you can start over again. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a different attitude towards death, actually, that you begin to develop, you know, in terms of thinking about the fact that her karma is just done for this life, you know. I mean, it doesn't always take away the grief, though, and I feel like the grief is part of the love, and you can work with that, you know. Report an error in the passage at 38:52 Highlight the passage at 38:52

39:24 And I, for one, don't think it's horrible to grieve. But it does help. I remember really thinking about that one a lot with my mom because her body was done. Her body was just done, you know. I think she probably wanted to eke it out a little bit longer. But, I mean, I think basically it was the same. She had strokes and Parkinson's and it was just her body was just done. Report an error in the passage at 39:24 Highlight the passage at 39:24

39:47 So the thought that she could have a new one again, just start over again. That's some comfort there, actually. Yeah, yeah. So I want to warn you, a lot of you that are in this class, things will happen. But they would have happened anyway. I think there's a lot of times that people think, well, you know, this person died because I'm in the death class. You know, it's like, no, I think there's so much impermanence in our lives and the people around us and their lives. Report an error in the passage at 39:47 Highlight the passage at 39:47

40:16 But now we'll just have tools. Yeah, and that's what I think you're saying. yeah when because at first i was angry the way she died yeah and then i was like it happens Report an error in the passage at 40:16 Highlight the passage at 40:16

40:31 I think I'm still a little angry. Yeah. But I'm much better than I was Sunday. Yeah. don't because I did it better. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then that allows you to have some space to help them too. Report an error in the passage at 40:31 Highlight the passage at 40:31

40:54 If you can use this. To help you calm your mind, then you're there for them. And it's not to say that something, you know, maybe should be done. But we do, I mean, even in the case that there's absolutely nobody to blame, we want to blame. There's just that natural reaction of this shouldn't have happened, you know, even if there's literally nobody to blame. So if there's a half a chance that there's nobody to blame, then we'll just, you know, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 40:54 Highlight the passage at 40:54

41:24 So that's an interesting one to watch too, that mind. And understanding karma more and more can get you out of that one. That vindictiveness or that, that just that blame. Report an error in the passage at 41:24 Highlight the passage at 41:24

41:37 Yeah. Because at first, because I think, because if you look at the way she died, it was like, you can totally put blame on why they leave her alone. Yep, yep. When she'd already choked previously, but then she could just as easily choked if someone was there. Yeah, because it happens fast. Yeah. or it didn't really can't you're guilty you can't say like oh you killed her because you Report an error in the passage at 41:37 Highlight the passage at 41:37

42:06 just glad I'm It made it much easier. I'm sorry to hear it, but I'm glad you're in that class too, but you can't make me laugh. You keep giggling. Report an error in the passage at 42:06 Highlight the passage at 42:06

42:20 Anybody else? Just any experiences this week? We've got a couple. I can't help it. Report an error in the passage at 42:20 Highlight the passage at 42:20

42:28 Much better, last week nobody said a word, so this is amazing. This isn't quite as poignant or maybe somewhat unrelated, but... We might all burst into tears. Report an error in the passage at 42:28 Highlight the passage at 42:28

42:40 My mom and I and a couple friends went out to lunch last Tuesday right before the class and my mom's car got towed and then the other person got a parking ticket and it ended up being like, what, like in total probably $450, $500 just over lunch. My mom was, you know, my mom goes, oh. It was like, I don't know if it had anything to do with taking this class, but you're like, oh, well, it's going to be fixed with money. It's not really a problem. I really like that attitude of just, you know, so like, it doesn't matter. Report an error in the passage at 42:40 Highlight the passage at 42:40

43:11 Yeah, yeah. I don't know if that directly relates to that, but I think on some level of just. Kind of like accepting things and knowing kind of what's worth. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I was going to say. It's like the don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff. So I just, I like that and I can, you know, sort of live my life like that a little bit. Not stress on all the little things that kind of don't matter very much. Report an error in the passage at 43:11 Highlight the passage at 43:11

43:36 Yeah, yeah. But I think people, it's easy to make a big deal out of, oh my God, my God. Oh, completely. Yeah. Be in tears, be on the floor. Everyone is around you like handing you money. It's still not enough. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's just definitely I've seen people do it both ways. Yeah, it is. That's such a teaching to just be able to see that reaction. Yeah. Yeah. I had a friend whose car got stolen while she was one of the, she was the SBC of Seichen Lange years and years ago. Report an error in the passage at 43:36 Highlight the passage at 43:36

44:06 And she came out one Sunday after the class and her car was stolen. And she was just so. She was like, oh, hmm, okay, that one's gone. And I was like, wow, that's pretty cool. I want to go to classes here. And it just seems like such an easier way to live. Yeah, if you can do it. It takes some practice sometimes, probably. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 44:06 Highlight the passage at 44:06

44:32 And probably more than a few deaths, too. And I think, yeah, compared to a person, yeah, the cars. probably. Report an error in the passage at 44:32 Highlight the passage at 44:32

44:41 Yeah, it doesn't matter. Yeah, but still, good Lord, I could have had a hissy fit. And also use the real sad events in the news to remind you. Big time. I mean, like the earthquake in Italy. Those poor people. They went to bed. They didn't know what was going on. And we live in earthquake country. We're really overdue for a major earthquake. So, I mean, it could happen at any moment. Report an error in the passage at 44:41 Highlight the passage at 44:41

45:05 Totally. And the thing with earthquakes, too, yeah, I'm from the East Coast, so I'm still getting used to them even though I've been here for 20 years. But it's like there's no warning. I mean, there is. I was here in 89, and there was definitely a lot of seismic activity. But there's not also, you know, like you don't know which of those is going to be a three-pointer, which is going to be a seven-pointer, you know. So you can use that type of information to say, you know, what if today something like this happens, you know. Report an error in the passage at 45:05 Highlight the passage at 45:05

45:33 Totally, totally. Or even the wacko guy going in and shooting down a bunch of people. Yeah. I mean, those kind of things happen all the time. And a lot of those people, they just went to, they were going to a very simple English class. Going to a class or something. Yeah, totally. Or going to teach one. There was one woman from Iraq and her husband said, you know, we escaped Iraq. Report an error in the passage at 45:33 Highlight the passage at 45:33

45:50 Thinking that we had gotten away from all the violence and shooting and then she comes here and she... Totally. And you hear that one all the time. Yeah, a lot of times. Yeah. Yeah, definitely reading the news, watching the news. It's like a little meditation. You know, it's like a little meditation all the time. Yeah, I think I was just talking about when you and I were talking before class, the, you know, like the father who killed his children. Report an error in the passage at 45:50 Highlight the passage at 45:50

46:19 Because his wife had left him. And I had to pause for him and I'm like, it's really hard to have compassion for this guy. It's really, really hard. But then we were talking and I was saying with this understanding of karma as we understand it in Buddhism, his suffering has just begun. And it's so intense. And that's enough to break your heart. Because I don't want anyone to suffer, no matter how wrong their action is and how many people they've harmed. Report an error in the passage at 46:19 Highlight the passage at 46:19

46:50 Especially not for, according to Buddhist teachings, he would be suffering for eons, you know, just over and over and over suffering. Yeah, so just, you can use it to build compassion, you can use it to build this awareness of death and impermanence, big time. Report an error in the passage at 46:50 Highlight the passage at 46:50

47:08 Everything's meditation. Yeah. Looks like I'm just reading the Sunday New York Times, but actually I'm doing my practice. People's a little harder, but you can still find it. Rubina is always saying, you know, people is just about sentient beings. I'm teasing her and calling it a trashy magazine. Anyway. Okay, so now we're going to get to the third part. Report an error in the passage at 47:08 Highlight the passage at 47:08

47:33 I guess I was in a hurry. We're going to get to the third part of this three part, the three parts and the nine points. And this is that what will help us at the time of death. And so when we do this part, Report an error in the passage at 47:33 Highlight the passage at 47:33

47:52 We actually can imagine ourselves lying in bed and facing our own death. So this one can get very, very profound. And the next one actually that we're going to do, which is a completely different kind of meditation, the dissolution, which I thought we were going to do tonight because I got things messed up. Report an error in the passage at 47:52 Highlight the passage at 47:52

48:12 The dissolution, death dissolution meditation is also one that you can do lying down. And really trying to imagine yourself in that position of having actually, I guess, a good death. Because a lot of times people aren't just lying there waiting for death to happen to them. Sometimes people die at work or something like that. So this one is where we're just sort of asking ourselves, using the different points of logic of this meditation, what would help me at the time of my death? Report an error in the passage at 48:12 Highlight the passage at 48:12

48:49 And just allowing yourself to be open to thinking about it. They give three examples and we sort of go into those three examples of what might help me. And then they sort of guide you in a resolution towards what will help you. But it's also good for you to think about what you think might help you. I remember because before I met the Dharma I was studying to be a midwife actually. Report an error in the passage at 48:49 Highlight the passage at 48:49

49:13 So a lot of women have birth plans. Which of course you have to abandon immediately. But they go into a lot of detail about birth plans. And so people can have death plans. Well of course the first thing that you should know about a death plan is that things change. It's just like with a birth plan. But it still I think is useful for us to think about. Report an error in the passage at 49:13 Highlight the passage at 49:13

49:38 What would help me? There are forms, actually, which we will get to in some of the later classes, that allow us to write down some things that we would like in place. Has anybody in here ever heard of the Five Wishes document? We won't have time to actually get into it deeply, but I can give you some information about it. Report an error in the passage at 49:38 Highlight the passage at 49:38

49:57 It's a really great exercise to fill out this document. It literally goes into five areas that you can kind of state your wishes. And in the state of California, it is accepted the same way that a durable power of attorney and so forth. You don't even have to have it notarized. You assign a couple of people or one person at least who can make decisions in your stead. Report an error in the passage at 49:57 Highlight the passage at 49:57

50:23 Although they say actually it's safer to have a durable power of attorney and this, to do both. But I mean it goes into detail about the care as well as, you know. When to stop doing the care and things like that. And I think it's useful for you to state that because it was interesting when my mom died, apparently I was the only one she had discussed this with. Report an error in the passage at 50:23 Highlight the passage at 50:23

50:48 And thank goodness my family all just agreed with me. But they could have so easily not. They could have just felt really strongly, especially because we all have different religious. We're like the whole gamut. You know, I've got the born-again Christian brother and the Unitarian sister and the Lutheran brother and then the Buddhist nun. Report an error in the passage at 50:48 Highlight the passage at 50:48

51:11 And for whatever reason, I was the only one she had ever discussed her feelings about all this, you know, wanting to do not resuscitate order and all this stuff. But fortunately, we all get along very well. Would you like? You all right? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 51:11 Highlight the passage at 51:11

51:32 It's there if you need it. So when that situation came up, we were able to discuss it and we all just immediately agreed and there was absolutely no, you know, dissension. But I realized coming home from that, I was like, wow, this could have been really, really different, you know, if we were different people. Or if, you know, situations like that can also make people not act themselves, you know, you get scared or you get angry or, you know, all those things that... Report an error in the passage at 51:32 Highlight the passage at 51:32

52:00 It came up for you after the fact. It can come up before the fact, too, because this is like your mommy, even if you are in your 50s. But, you know, this is like bringing up some deep primal thing, and you're responsible for this person. And then, you know, and here's the weirdo Buddhist saying this, you know. I mean, so it could have gotten a little weird. So that, if I wasn't already convinced, definitely convinced me of the importance of just stating some things. Report an error in the passage at 52:00 Highlight the passage at 52:00

52:28 Putting some things out there. So this meditation is a way for us to begin to get our mind around that. But it's getting at what is going to actually help us at that moment that we finally actually are facing our death. And so it's sort of like, you know, I guess when I first did this meditation, I thought, You know, one of the things when I first started doing a lot of these meditations, I realized that one of the things that I had always taken refuge in was a lot of really close friends, probably more so than any relationships or anything else. Report an error in the passage at 52:28 Highlight the passage at 52:28

53:10 I had a lot of really close friends and that somehow that was my world. That was my community. And so somehow I would go to my death with a lot of really close friends. Right. And doing this meditation, I realized actually, I mean, maybe not such a good idea. You know, they might not be so useful. At that point. And so that was a useful thing to see. So you test your own assumptions, you know, because you guys will all have different assumptions because we've all watched movies. Report an error in the passage at 53:10 Highlight the passage at 53:10

53:38 Right. And then, you know, the great love is there or whatever, you know, would the great love really be so helpful at that time? You think about your own great love, you know, so it's sort of like that, just like really thinking about death as. In this case, as Buddhism is talking about it, which might be different than what you were thinking too, I kind of began to realize I'd have some work to do. Report an error in the passage at 53:38 Highlight the passage at 53:38

54:05 And I kind of would want the room quiet. That was a useful thing to get because I didn't really think about that before. I thought it was sort of all focused on me. I'd be the star of my own production. And they'd all be loving me exactly perfectly, right? Just the way you imagine like any relationship. Report an error in the passage at 54:05 Highlight the passage at 54:05

54:25 Without me ever having to tell them what to do. So you can test your own assumptions in this too. It isn't necessarily what's going to be so helpful for you at that point. So I'm going to just talk you through it and then we're going to take a break and then we'll do it. We'll do the meditation. So the underlying message here is that the thing that actually, I'll say it in advance so it's not a question, the thing that helps you at the time of death is... Report an error in the passage at 54:25 Highlight the passage at 54:25

54:56 The way that your mind, how stable is your mind? I mean, think about the thing that helps you when the car's stolen. The thing that helps you when the plane gets really turbulent. The thing that helps you, I mean, it's always that, really. How can you navigate this problem? If you can navigate the big problems, it's because you've got some stability of mind. Report an error in the passage at 54:56 Highlight the passage at 54:56

55:18 Your mind is able to deal with the craziness. The house is on fire. How calm are you? um so So the stability of your mind, there are also, of course, if we have some understanding of karma, if we've accumulated positive karma, that's a useful thing at the time of death because having a certain amount of positive karma and having a calm mind at that moment, they say, actually helps us to create the causes for a positive rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 55:18 Highlight the passage at 55:18

55:51 So if you're with people at the time of death, keeping the room calm, keeping your own emotions at bay is also helpful. Keeping somebody else's emotions at bay or asking them maybe take it outside and then come back in when you've calmed down. All those things can be very, very helpful for that person because they do have work to do. Report an error in the passage at 55:51 Highlight the passage at 55:51

56:16 They have work to do if you just think about it from the point of letting go of this life and moving on to their journey. So if we're all wailing and screaming and ripping our clothes and, you know, screaming at the nurse for leaving or, you know, whatever, if there's chaos in the room, it's going to make their job harder if you just think about it in those terms. Report an error in the passage at 56:16 Highlight the passage at 56:16

56:40 So the thing that helps us is having a calm mind and having accumulated some positive karma, having to learn to purify, which John and I were also talking about, purify the negative karma. Report an error in the passage at 56:40 Highlight the passage at 56:40

56:53 Because actually the only thing that we take with us when we pass away from this life is our subtle most mind. Everything else, which we'll discover when we do the next meditation in the next class, Report an error in the passage at 56:53 Highlight the passage at 56:53

57:10 We dissolve the sort of grosser aspects of ourself, you know, our personality of this life, the grosser aspects of our mind, the grosser aspects of our body. And then the subtle most mind is all that's left and that's what moves into the next life. So the things, the aspects of that mind, the stability of that mind can go with us. Report an error in the passage at 57:10 Highlight the passage at 57:10

57:31 The karma that we create is actually a working of the mind that can go with us. But nothing else really can. So all the best friends can't really, you know, all the favorite things can't really, you know, and this body can't, you know, even if it looks like princess dies, you know, it can't. Report an error in the passage at 57:31 Highlight the passage at 57:31

57:53 So, so we're good too. So here you just imagine yourself on a bed and you imagine like the whole setup. You have some disease, you've actually had some time to deal with it. Just imagine you've already done some work around it. So this isn't the meditation that you're doing where you're dealing with that. You haven't just gotten the diagnosis. Report an error in the passage at 57:53 Highlight the passage at 57:53

58:17 You've had it for some time. You've said goodbye to everyone, and now you're just sort of lying there waiting. So what's going to help you die most peacefully? Report an error in the passage at 58:17 Highlight the passage at 58:17

58:29 So they start with saying no money or possessions can help us, which sort of makes sense, but still I think we have to really examine it. We have to really look. Report an error in the passage at 58:29 Highlight the passage at 58:29

58:42 Thinking about those things that we're most attached to, the ones that we get kind of freaked out if anybody else touches. For me, it's my computer. How will my computer help me at the time of death? It won't. It's stupid. I mean, you get that, but you actually have to think about it. If you have anything else that you treasure so much that you don't even want to think about giving it to anyone else, that's the one. Report an error in the passage at 58:42 Highlight the passage at 58:42

59:11 Think about that one. How is that going to help you? I have this one cup that somebody gave me for my birthday and people are always using it. It's like the territorial dog comes out. But how is that cup going to help me when I'm dying? It's not going to help me at all. So really think about it. How can it help? Actually, attachments to things and people can actually be harder for us. Report an error in the passage at 59:11 Highlight the passage at 59:11

59:40 We come into this life. Empty and naked and naked, empty-handed and naked, and we leave the same way. And that's important to think about. Report an error in the passage at 59:40 Highlight the passage at 59:40

59:52 No matter how much money you've made in this life or how little, you can't take it with you. Report an error in the passage at 59:52 Highlight the passage at 59:52

1:00:07 Beggars die the same way in the end. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:07 Highlight the passage at 1:00:07

1:00:17 None of our belongings can help us. None of our memories or plans can help us. None of our beliefs. You know, sometimes we're so attached to our identity or our belief. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:17 Highlight the passage at 1:00:17

1:00:32 Values, Report an error in the passage at 1:00:32 Highlight the passage at 1:00:32

1:00:36 definitely none of our wealth. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:36 Highlight the passage at 1:00:36

1:00:42 It doesn't mean that we have to give everything away, but it loosens it a little bit. How can that help me? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:42 Highlight the passage at 1:00:42

1:00:55 They actually say it's worthwhile for us to just imagine giving it away, even if we can't really give it away. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:55 Highlight the passage at 1:00:55

1:01:08 We waste so much time on all of our things, thinking about them, worrying about them, protecting them, insuring them. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:08 Highlight the passage at 1:01:08

1:01:19 None of this can help us at the time of death. At Report an error in the passage at 1:01:19 Highlight the passage at 1:01:19

1:01:28 that moment, it's all gone in an instant. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:28 Highlight the passage at 1:01:28

1:01:34 So we can begin to see this, we can begin to reduce this, Report an error in the passage at 1:01:34 Highlight the passage at 1:01:34

1:01:42 letting go of that attachment, that grasping. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:42 Highlight the passage at 1:01:42

1:01:50 And then the second point is friends and family can't help us. And sometimes, like I was saying, sometimes it actually makes it harder for us to die if they're all gathered around. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:50 Highlight the passage at 1:01:50

1:02:04 Because they have their reactions, you know. I really should be the star of my own death. But they have their reactions, you know. And so then their reactions can be difficult for us to deal with. You know, maybe I actually have calmed my mind down and then Aunt Mary comes in and throws herself on me, you know, and starts wailing or something, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:04 Highlight the passage at 1:02:04

1:02:32 I have this one cousin who has since passed away, but her reaction when my father died was to literally throw herself on the floor and just begin wailing. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:32 Highlight the passage at 1:02:32

1:02:42 And I thought... Well, what about us? We're having a reaction too, but we can't have one now because you're having a bigger one. Even my mom, she's allowed a really strong one here, but nope. So really, how much can they help you? We came into this life by ourselves and we have to go on alone, even if they're holding on to us. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:42 Highlight the passage at 1:02:42

1:03:16 And sometimes that grasping, that attachment, It causes all those feelings to arise in us and then it makes it hard for us to let go at the time that we most need to let go. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:16 Highlight the passage at 1:03:16

1:03:36 Most of the time they don't necessarily, depending on who they are, but they may not know what to say to help us let go, to help us have a peaceful mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:36 Highlight the passage at 1:03:36

1:03:50 Because it's hard for them not to just be thinking about their own loss. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:50 Highlight the passage at 1:03:50

1:03:59 So again, it doesn't mean we have to leave them all. We don't have to stop loving them. Just noticing. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:59 Highlight the passage at 1:03:59

1:04:11 Love. From the Buddhist perspective means wanting another's happiness. It doesn't mean grasping onto them. It doesn't mean being unhappy if their happiness doesn't involve me. So just loosening. This meditation can just allow you to loosen your attachment a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:11 Highlight the passage at 1:04:11

1:04:41 And even if, as you do this meditation, as I did, You start changing the players, you know, first it goes from all your closest friends to like a couple of key Dharma friends. And then like Lama Zopa. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:41 Highlight the passage at 1:04:41

1:04:58 In a perfect world, which is, you know, why not? It's my meditation. You know, ultimately I still need to leave. I still need, he can only do so much. I mean, he can do a lot, but I'll have to just leave ultimately. So I still have to, I still have to go on alone. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:58 Highlight the passage at 1:04:58

1:05:23 And then the final of the supporting points is not even our own body can help us. And actually they say this is like a huge, huge, huge obstacle is clinging to this body and seeing this body as me. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:23 Highlight the passage at 1:05:23

1:05:40 We've had this body since we were born. We know it better than any other companion we've ever had. We know it inside and out. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:40 Highlight the passage at 1:05:40

1:05:50 We've spent so much energy, time and money taking care of it and feeding it and exercising it. Experience every kind of pain and pleasure with it. Then we have to separate from it. They say it's like a hotel. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:50 Highlight the passage at 1:05:50

1:06:10 It's a hotel that we're using and we grasp at it. We're going to have it for life. But when we go to a hotel, we kind of know we're only going to be there for a short amount of time. And that's the attitude we want to cultivate. It's useful. But in the end, it becomes... It actually betrays us. It becomes weak. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:10 Highlight the passage at 1:06:10

1:06:39 It's unable to support us anymore. And our mind has to separate from it and go into a new life. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:39 Highlight the passage at 1:06:39

1:06:50 It's like just the vessel for this mind this time around. When Lama Yeshe, who's the founder of the FPMD, and when he was passing away, he actually had an enlarged heart. That's what he actually died of. His students were clinging to him when it was obvious. It was getting more and more obvious. And he got so angry and he shouted out, Am I this body? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:50 Highlight the passage at 1:06:50

1:07:17 I found that so powerful. So if you can't remember anything else about this meditation, just try meditating on that. Am I this body? We have to keep asking ourselves. I mean, actually, with my body the way it is, I hope not. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:17 Highlight the passage at 1:07:17

1:07:37 But we act like we are. And if we act like we are, it's going to be more of a shock when our mind has to separate. And are you that body? I mean, that's important too with each other. We're not our bodies, you know. Just like when we start, you know, I remember when I was a little kid and I'd hear old people saying they'd look at themselves in the mirror and they'd see 17, you know, they'd think they were 17 and they'd be shocked by this 80-year-old and I'd be like, get over it, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:37 Highlight the passage at 1:07:37

1:08:08 Now I get it. But they aren't their bodies any more than we are ours. They're these minds that are in this vessel. And the vessel ages and changes and dies. The mind's still there, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:08 Highlight the passage at 1:08:08

1:08:28 They say when we die, everything we know, everything we're used to, even our view of ourselves, ends. And we enter this state that we have no memory of, even though we have actually gone through this over and over and over again. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:28 Highlight the passage at 1:08:28

1:08:47 And usually when we're planning to go to a foreign country, we spend a long time studying and thinking about it and preparing for it. And this is the same. You know, we're going completely alone. We won't have anything that we know. We won't have even, you know, the things that I'm probably most attached to now, being a nun, other than that cup in my computer, are pictures of my llamas, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:47 Highlight the passage at 1:08:47

1:09:13 I can't even take them. I can't take my mala, you know. I can't take my books. We can't take any of that. Even our identity, the way I see myself in this life, it's a causes and condition created thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:13 Highlight the passage at 1:09:13

1:09:32 So that doesn't even come with me. It's all lost uncontrollably. So we have to think about this now because we have to allow ourselves time to develop this stable mind while we have some time and clarity. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:32 Highlight the passage at 1:09:32

1:09:54 And conditions, no matter what the conditions are of your life, to do so, you know. No matter what the conditions are. I mean, some of the best meditators that I've ever heard of are people in prison. The conditions are so horrific, you know. But they get it, that life sucks. We don't get it. Lama Zopa says, for you, you know, this is like a retreat, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:54 Highlight the passage at 1:09:54

1:10:19 He says you should have so much compassion for everyone out there who thinks. This is everything, you know. At least they know. And we can't think that we're suddenly going to develop it at the time of death. We just, you know, it's unrealistic. It's like thinking I'm going to go on stage and suddenly know how to play concert piano while everyone's staring at me and applauding, you know, and the conductor's waiting. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:19 Highlight the passage at 1:10:19

1:10:45 You know, it's not going to be like that. We have to familiarize ourselves. We have to work with it and start using all those little times. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:45 Highlight the passage at 1:10:45

1:10:55 Shantideva said, with practice everything becomes familiar. So we have to practice. That's how we practice. Those little pains, those little disappointments, those little deaths. Because we have tons of them every single day. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:55 Highlight the passage at 1:10:55

1:11:15 So the resolution here is knowing that nothing else can help us, we must devote ourselves wholeheartedly to sincere practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:15 Highlight the passage at 1:11:15

1:11:25 What is practice? Developing the positive states of mind that I want and eliminating the negative ones that I don't want. I don't need anymore. They aren't serving me. Day after day after day after day. That's really all practices. It's not anything more exciting or holy than that. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:25 Highlight the passage at 1:11:25

1:11:52 So it is important when fear comes up. Or sadness and you're thinking about your own death or you're thinking about others that have died and it's bringing that up. Use that. Use that sadness. Use that as a way to spur us into action. Because sadness actually makes it more real. Sadness is a real emotion. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:52 Highlight the passage at 1:11:52

1:12:23 It's a really profound emotion. Grief. So we still have time at this point. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:23 Highlight the passage at 1:12:23

1:12:34 So this should give us this energy to use our lives. To not wait to go to Copan. I was talking to John about going to Copan. To not wait to do the retreat. To just go for it. To do these little things like that. Get braver about your practice. Push yourself a little farther. This is that kind of a meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:34 Highlight the passage at 1:12:34

1:12:57 It's like watching G.I. Jane. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:57 Highlight the passage at 1:12:57

1:13:04 Mary and I watch every time we need a little oomph. know Report an error in the passage at 1:13:04 Highlight the passage at 1:13:04

1:13:07 In our practice we go, I'll just watch G.A. Jane, yeah, okay. So Lama Zopa Rinpoche, I'll give you a couple of quotes. Lama Zopa Rinpoche said, impermanence and death don't wait for us. Every moment of this life is preparation for death. Every moment is to accumulate merit and the thought of bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:07 Highlight the passage at 1:13:07

1:13:31 And the Benedictine monk John Main said, to have life in focus, we must have death in our field of vision. You know, to get that perspective, to get that space, and to really work on the meaningful stuff, we have to remember death. It's just, otherwise it won't happen. It's too easy not to. It's too easy not to. So questions, and then we'll do a break. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:31 Highlight the passage at 1:13:31

1:14:05 Do you want to pass through that? Oh, close. A Report an error in the passage at 1:14:05 Highlight the passage at 1:14:05

1:14:12 little freaked out by the reading. Are we going to go through that? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:12 Highlight the passage at 1:14:12

1:14:18 With the dissolution? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:18 Highlight the passage at 1:14:18

1:14:25 We are going to talk about it with the next class. I'll look at it again to see what was raking in. Yeah, there's a subtle body as well as a gross body, and so the death dissolution meditation will get into that subtle body much more. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:25 Highlight the passage at 1:14:25

1:14:47 Anybody else? Any other questions? You said that family and friends can't help you at the time of death, but thinking about maybe family and friends that have... So, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:47 Highlight the passage at 1:14:47

1:14:59 already passed and going somewhere going knowing that they've already gone through that and that they're okay is can be Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's not to say that all family and friends can't. You know, I mean, like I was saying, you know, fortunately for me, a number of my friends got into Buddhism at the same time, and they're still my friends. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:59 Highlight the passage at 1:14:59

1:15:19 And so I can totally visualize them at my bedside being quite helpful. But ultimately, we do have to leave them, even if they are helpful. That was my point about that one. But yeah, in your case, where you're thinking about people that have gone before, sure, that could be helpful. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:19 Highlight the passage at 1:15:19

1:15:36 Yeah, sure, if they died well. Yeah. And even just thinking about the same thing with memories, that memories can't help you. But what if memory is just about thinking about your life and that maybe as you're accepting that you're about to die and just being aware of your memories and that you've... Report an error in the passage at 1:15:36 Highlight the passage at 1:15:36

1:15:58 Sure, sure. Yeah, yeah. I mean more memories that we cling to. Okay. Yeah. Things that we cling to. That's more about attachment. So it's more like, yeah, I mean it's not saying that like if you, you know, like some wealthy people might have the funds to have good, you know, drugs that would help them be more comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:58 Highlight the passage at 1:15:58

1:16:18 So it's not to say that money can't do anything for you. But it's just, you know, it's if we cling to it. That very clinging, whether it's to memories or a view of ourself, our beliefs or, you know, each other or our things or whatever, that clinging will make your clinging to this life harder. Yeah, that's what it's more about. So actually, it's very possible that at the time of death that memories may come up that are pleasant too. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:18 Highlight the passage at 1:16:18

1:16:47 They say that however we die is how we lived, you know. So if in general we are... Which isn't always the case, actually. But for the most part, I think, if we generally are positive people, and Lama's will say this too, if you come to them after somebody's died and they'll say, you know, what kind of person was he or she? Report an error in the passage at 1:16:47 Highlight the passage at 1:16:47

1:17:11 Oh, he's very, very kind. Oh, then they're fine. And I'm kind of like, okay. Because it's not like there's some closet murderer or something like that. I mean, we all are mixed, but there are definitely some people that are just kind of stewing in anger all the time. And then there are some people that are quite positive. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:11 Highlight the passage at 1:17:11

1:17:31 And those kind of positive people will probably, you know, be able to go positively. But yeah, sometimes those kind of memories can actually be positive at that time. Like you might just think, oh, you know, you know, whatever. I'm not going to tell you what you think. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:31 Highlight the passage at 1:17:31

1:17:50 I would be pointless because I don't know what you're going to think. In fact, you don't even know what you're going to think. Yeah. Anybody else? Anybody else? Yeah. Okay. Take a break. I think all those meditators are gone now. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:50 Highlight the passage at 1:17:50

1:18:18 Oh, sure. Oh, good. So I have to run up and get you your book. But you know what? I ordered most of them from this one. This Report an error in the passage at 1:18:18 Highlight the passage at 1:18:18

1:18:54 class. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:54 Highlight the passage at 1:18:54

1:19:02 They brought it inside. Yes. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:02 Highlight the passage at 1:19:02

1:19:33 too, so that's You need to help. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:33 Highlight the passage at 1:19:33

1:19:42 I broke my laptop. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:42 Highlight the passage at 1:19:42

1:19:48 It was open. I was moving from the living room to my bedroom. When I put on the table, I held very tight on the screen. And it cracked, Report an error in the passage at 1:19:48 Highlight the passage at 1:19:48

1:20:06 no screen, Report an error in the passage at 1:20:06 Highlight the passage at 1:20:06

1:20:12 because everybody said, Report an error in the passage at 1:20:12 Highlight the passage at 1:20:12

1:20:23 now I have my daughter, Mom, hold your laptop open. Now I know. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:23 Highlight the passage at 1:20:23

1:20:33 Yeah, but no, I mean, it Report an error in the passage at 1:20:33 Highlight the passage at 1:20:33

1:20:44 was new, it's new, she, she stepped gave me for a half price, a deal. know, I saw that. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:44 Highlight the passage at 1:20:44

1:20:56 the same moment, I thought about my friend. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:56 Highlight the passage at 1:20:56

1:21:17 So can you stay after my run upstairs and not run upstairs directly? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:17 Highlight the passage at 1:21:17

1:21:28 Can I take a picture of your blanket? This one? The crocheted one, I love it. Isn't that great? It's a ripple pattern. But they did it. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:28 Highlight the passage at 1:21:28

1:21:45 As soon as I came in the room, I was like, ah, picture. But Report an error in the passage at 1:21:45 Highlight the passage at 1:21:45

1:21:54 it'll make me happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:54 Highlight the passage at 1:21:54

1:22:06 So do you want to show me it, or do you want me just to look at it? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:06 Highlight the passage at 1:22:06

1:22:22 I want one, yeah. I actually don't, I meant to tell you guys not to read that one unless, I feel like it's odd to have it there. I agree. But Report an error in the passage at 1:22:22 Highlight the passage at 1:22:22

1:22:35 if you're not. Yeah. Has anyone else gotten that far? Don't read that one. Which one is it? Which one? Well, see what it says in the table of content. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:35 Highlight the passage at 1:22:35

1:22:46 Scared. The Report an error in the passage at 1:22:46 Highlight the passage at 1:22:46

1:22:54 transference of consciousness at the time of death. Which number is it? It starts on page 45. No, but which one of the readings is it? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:54 Highlight the passage at 1:22:54

1:23:05 Six. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:05 Highlight the passage at 1:23:05

1:23:16 Yeah, here I have here. Yeah, this time I say find a reading sub and skip six for now. Because I was freaked out by it. And then next time I have you reading number eight. Oh, great. To who? Oh, Chase Card Services. Chase Card Services. So, how do you take, like, your little suffering, like, your pain and stuff and not do, and, like, bitterness, self-pity? Report an error in the passage at 1:23:16 Highlight the passage at 1:23:16

1:23:53 How do you... Well, first of all, notice the pain. First of all, just... you very much, Marilyn. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:53 Highlight the passage at 1:23:53

1:24:06 pity mind is wood, Lamy as she calls called my pity party. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:06 Highlight the passage at 1:24:06

1:24:15 six don't read it know some of them Report an error in the passage at 1:24:15 Highlight the passage at 1:24:15

1:24:28 first of all, just to kind of catch yourself and be aware that Report an error in the passage at 1:24:28 Highlight the passage at 1:24:28

1:24:38 way that you, it's a process. I find one of the ways, and I actually found this, especially when I was just so single pointed, and that's this meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:38 Highlight the passage at 1:24:38

1:25:07 And that's just where using, Report an error in the passage at 1:25:07 Highlight the passage at 1:25:07

1:25:29 but really what's happening is you're getting brave. Talk about G.I. Jane. You're totally like brave. And that act of developing courage does away with itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:29 Highlight the passage at 1:25:29

1:25:41 It's like there's just no space. So it's really powerful. And it's simple. It Report an error in the passage at 1:25:41 Highlight the passage at 1:25:41

1:25:51 can teach you how to do it, but you can simplify it. You can do it on the street. You can do it anytime. It gets you out of yourself. That's the main thing. Getting out of yourself. Does that help with the anger? Because then like, because it turns from like, I don't know, you just go over like. really sad and upset and like and it's like a grieve like for what you know things and it's just then it was like Describe it better. Well, I mean, I get, I mean, there's certain things I just can't do at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:51 Highlight the passage at 1:25:51

1:26:31 And it just kind of, I don't know, kind of roots at you inside a little bit. Yeah. You're so used to it and you took it for granted. Yeah. And all of a sudden it's just taken and you just can't. Yeah. And it was like it wasn't, I don't know. And then I get. angry angry and it's like a trial of anger to go just it's always like there in the background yeah all of these are these take Report an error in the passage at 1:26:31 Highlight the passage at 1:26:31

1:26:59 Anger is really profound to yourself, much less anybody else. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:59 Highlight the passage at 1:26:59

1:27:11 There's methods for all of these, but giving it to you in a nutshell, you know what I mean? This is all the Buddhist path is. It's like, how do you do with this? Okay, how do you do with this? Okay, how do you do with this? Literally. That's it. And what happens is you build more and more of a foundation of understanding karma and understanding what I Report an error in the passage at 1:27:11 Highlight the passage at 1:27:11

1:27:38 do say and think things that eliminate that space. You know, so you start understanding. Understanding karma, Report an error in the passage at 1:27:38 Highlight the passage at 1:27:38

1:28:00 it's like there's a lot of things Report an error in the passage at 1:28:00 Highlight the passage at 1:28:00

1:28:09 developing more and more. Because they won't all work in the same way. Sometimes you'll be really angry. I don't want to think about others right now. I'm pissed off, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:09 Highlight the passage at 1:28:09

1:28:27 Zopa Rinpoche will say, just negative state of mind. It's not useful. And you start getting it that way, you know, negative state of mind, oh, it's not useful, you know. Going into guilt, negative state of mind is not useful, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:27 Highlight the passage at 1:28:27

1:28:43 But, you know, it takes time because first, right now when you have it, I can see and hear it from your voice, you're identifying with it. I do this, you know. You know, and that's, we're layering that whole story onto it, you know. Mind, your mind is just habituated to a certain thing. All of us have our minds are habituated to certain things. It's just like our bodies being habituated to certain things. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:43 Highlight the passage at 1:28:43

1:29:06 You know, I really like Tetley tea, you know, whatever. Some people like cigarettes, you know, you know, it's like, you know, but we layer when our mind does these afflictive sort of patterns or habitual patterns. We layer all those stories on it and then we can't even get to it. We can't stop doing the negative states of mind because we've got all these other stories of I'm horrible, I'm doing this, oh God, here I go again, oh, I'm doing that, you know, and all that stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:06 Highlight the passage at 1:29:06

1:29:40 So you just, you start cutting it. And so that's, that's, cutting it just comes from understanding the teachings and figuring out which tools are going to help me right now. So you learn Tonglen and you do Tonglen or you learn, oh, this is a negative state of mind. I do. Reading once a week for this woman, 94-year-old woman who's blind. And she started to go into it. She got a hearing aid. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:40 Highlight the passage at 1:29:40

1:30:08 She's deaf, too. She got a hearing aid, and her mind is totally clear, you know, so mixed karma. She got a hearing aid, a really expensive hearing aid. We had to cancel one week for her to go and get it, and she lost it. Lost it. And when I came in, I was just like, oh, you know, that's so terrible that you lost it. And she's like, it was a really good one. And then she started, she said, it's really hard because I just don't know where I put it. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:08 Highlight the passage at 1:30:08

1:30:35 And she goes, oh, I'm not going down that road again. That's just because I'm blind. I don't want to talk about being blind again, you know. So clearly she had done the spiral thing for a long time. She didn't want to go down there, you know. She didn't want to go down there. So that's the kind of thing you do too. That becomes practice too. It's like... Report an error in the passage at 1:30:35 Highlight the passage at 1:30:35

1:30:53 Oh, there I go again. I'm getting pissed off at the printer. I don't want to do that, you know. So just that's restraint. That's seeing the negative, getting it that it's going to come back to haunt me. That's understanding karma, you know. Even in the moment, it's going to just make me unhappy, you know. Yeah, it is hard. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:53 Highlight the passage at 1:30:53

1:31:11 And it's lifetime. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:11 Highlight the passage at 1:31:11

1:31:19 Did you? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:19 Highlight the passage at 1:31:19

1:31:27 Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:31:27 Highlight the passage at 1:31:27

1:31:42 yeah. I'm hard. was so... Report an error in the passage at 1:31:42 Highlight the passage at 1:31:42

1:31:43 See, but the guilt isn't really going to help you. The regret is. The regret's good. The regret is actually a positive state of mind. Regret in Buddhism is a positive state of mind because you're regretting a negative act. I mean, unless you're regretting a positive act, then it's a negative state of mind. And you can, believe me. But regretting a negative act is actually the first step in purifying it. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:43 Highlight the passage at 1:31:43

1:32:07 You know, it doesn't take root as strongly in your mind if you can regret it. It's not enough. But it's a start. Yeah, yeah. So you're recognizing it. That's good. You're recognizing it. No, that's good. Yeah, no, no, no. And now you need to act on it. Yeah, yeah. But my point is just I can't give you all the tools right now. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:07 Highlight the passage at 1:32:07

1:32:36 But we can talk about it if you want. Yeah. And it will come up and we are going to talk about different ways to purify and different ways to do these other practices. And it's just, that's all that Buddhism is, is, you know, studying your own mind and figuring out how to work with it. It's like Buddhism is the owner's manual that we didn't get when we were born, you know, and we just found it. And it's like... Report an error in the passage at 1:32:36 Highlight the passage at 1:32:36

1:32:59 Oh, that's how it works. Okay. And it's such a relief if you're able to stop an afflictive state of mind before it spirals out of control. Even before you hit somebody, that's definitely like, yeah, we want to get that one under control. Or David's going to move away from you in the next class. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:59 Highlight the passage at 1:32:59

1:33:20 And I'll definitely make sure David's going to come and be our guard, my bodyguard. No, but I mean that one you definitely want to stop. But even just in your own life, we see, I mean that's the one thing that you see with analysis of your mind is the suffering that anger causes, period. Even if nobody in the room knows you're angry. I remember having this one teacher who I was at, it was actually at Sage and Ling years and years and years ago in the old, two old centers ago I think. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:20 Highlight the passage at 1:33:20

1:33:54 And he was talking, he was teaching. And somebody, a student in the back started heckling him. And I was shocked. I was like, you know, what's up with him, you know? And the teacher was very, very calm. Just dealt with it, you know, kind of challenged the guy, you know, but it was like that kind of playful, whatever. And then the evening completed, you know. And then the next day I went to like a weekend with the same teacher and he was talking about how he had gotten angry last night. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:54 Highlight the passage at 1:33:54

1:34:22 And I'm thinking, God, something must have happened after the glass because I didn't see a bit of anger. But he knew his mind and he knew that it had arisen, even though nobody else in that room would have thought he was angry. But there's still suffering there because our mind is disturbed. So what we want to get to, which takes lifetimes really, not to discourage you, but to give you the patience to work with it, it takes a long time. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:22 Highlight the passage at 1:34:22

1:34:50 And that is the practice. That is the practice. And it's so exciting when you can be headed off in like this destructive state and you're like, I don't have to do this anymore and I'm not going to. And it's so liberating. It really is liberating because we're just so habituated to go a certain direction and then we just kind of get it that we have some choice. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:50 Highlight the passage at 1:34:50

1:35:13 Even if you only do it once, it's really cool. But if you can do it. It kind of validates everything else. It validates coming to classes. It validates going to drop-in meditations. It validates sitting, getting up a little bit earlier and sitting, you know, but it takes time. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:13 Highlight the passage at 1:35:13

1:35:32 Good. Great. Any other questions? Oh, pass the mic. Yes, Kara got away with it because she was asking on the break. Can any negative karma that you, you know, have for whatever reason you... Report an error in the passage at 1:35:32 Highlight the passage at 1:35:32

1:35:53 moment, can you undo it through regret and then purification? Yeah, there's four opponent powers and the first of them is regret. Yeah, so I will check and see if we're going to do that in this class. I actually can't remember. But if we don't, if it's not part of the material for the classes, then we can do it on the practice day for sure if people want to. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:53 Highlight the passage at 1:35:53

1:36:16 What happened last time is that the person who requested it didn't come. And so then I didn't do it. But I'm happy to do it. It doesn't take that long. It doesn't take that long. Something like that will be covered also in the karma class. Oh, it definitely will be. Yeah, it definitely will be. Well, actually, I can't imagine that it wouldn't be. I'm not. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:16 Highlight the passage at 1:36:16

1:36:36 I'm not supposed to teach the karma classes, but I can't imagine you would teach karma ever and not tell people how to purify it. Because what usually happens in the karma class is that people start coming to me and getting down on knees and confessing every negative thing they've ever done. It's like, I'm a Buddhist nun. I'm not the other kind. So you want to know how to purify. And then once you understand karma from the perspective, I mean, karma, I think, is so empowering. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:36 Highlight the passage at 1:36:36

1:37:06 Once you get it that, it doesn't have to control you. It's not fate. It's not destiny. You are not destined to always have a temper. You know what I mean? It's just your particular thing that you're working with. Not even in this life. It could be just now. In all of us, there's so many people that think, Well, I'm not an angry person or I've calmed down quite a bit or whatever. And then the right object comes up. The new neighbor moves in, you know, or you get a new boss or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:06 Highlight the passage at 1:37:06

1:37:35 You know, there's all these stories about these yogis spending years and years and years meditating on patients in a cave and then they come out and the first person they talk to, yeah, you know, because they just haven't met the object yet. Same thing happens with desire and with the other ones too. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:35 Highlight the passage at 1:37:35

1:37:54 I guess the moral of that story is not to get too smug about whatever. If you just think, oh, I don't have a problem with this, this and this, it just means you haven't met the right object yet. But there are tools to work with at all. Otherwise, we couldn't become that. Wait, talking stick. I know it's not profound, but... Report an error in the passage at 1:37:54 Highlight the passage at 1:37:54

1:38:13 Well, I was just wondering, is the karma class, do you think, going to be in May or June? June. It's going to be after Tudor Rinpoche. Yeah, yeah. So how long is the karma class? It's going to be on Thursday nights and I think he's going to do it in six weeks. If I do it, I always do it like eight weeks. But yeah, so it'll be something like that, six to eight weeks. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:13 Highlight the passage at 1:38:13

1:38:41 Yeah, excellent. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:41 Highlight the passage at 1:38:41

1:38:51 Yeah, no, it's one of those ones actually I think it would be good for us to offer more than once. But it just hasn't happened so far. You know, we sort of talked about that one because Elizabeth was asking me at one point if we were going to offer any of them more than once, which would they be? And I think karma is it because so much of the teachings hinge on karma. Everything makes sense when you start understanding how karma works because you begin working with karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:51 Highlight the passage at 1:38:51

1:39:20 You change your life to, you know. Because it's cause and effect. You want a better effect, then you have to create a better cause. And so it's huge, at least in Tibetan Buddhism. I know there are other forms of Buddhism that don't focus on it as much. I think Zen doesn't focus on it as much. But for me, it's just like it's so juicy because it's like what makes everything happen. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:20 Highlight the passage at 1:39:20

1:39:45 Getting that one is really, really important. And correcting our mistaken views. You know, because we have these kind of old hippie views or some old, some from different traditions that aren't even Buddhist or whatever. And it really gets mixed up in our minds with blame and it's her fault. If you say it's her karma, we like lose the compassion standpoint. It's like, sure, it's my karma to have migraines, but you can still be nice to me. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:45 Highlight the passage at 1:39:45

1:40:15 You know what I mean? Like, what happened to the compassion part of Buddhism? Oh, it's just her karma. I'm so happy. Like that doesn't help. So yeah, I think it's really, that's what's so great about that class is just correcting those misunderstandings about karma too. Okay, we're going to do this one. Or are we going to do this one? Do you guys want to or do you feel like you kind of, you had a taste of it and that's okay now? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:15 Highlight the passage at 1:40:15

1:40:42 And maybe, what do you want to do? You want to? Yeah. We have 13 minutes. So we can do it just kind of briefly. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:42 Highlight the passage at 1:40:42

1:40:54 Yeah, do I see nods, shaking? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:54 Highlight the passage at 1:40:54

1:41:00 We could play twister. I don't know. What do you want to do? We could end early. We could have more questions. We could do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:00 Highlight the passage at 1:41:00

1:41:15 Could I have hands? Who wants to do a final meditation? Well, that would be pretty much unanimous. Okay. But you don't want this one. No, kidding. Right. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:15 Highlight the passage at 1:41:15

1:41:30 Well, I know which one Christina would choose. I do want to point out, if people are reading ahead in their binders, skip the sixth reading, the one on POA, the one on transference of consciousness for now. Skip that one. It's a bit much, actually. I wouldn't have put it in the reading if I had had my druthers. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:30 Highlight the passage at 1:41:30

1:41:57 We'll talk about it later. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:57 Highlight the passage at 1:41:57

1:42:01 I'm not going to say any more than that because it's being recorded. I'm going to start changing my voice. All right. So we're going to do this meditation, remembering, of course, the reason is to just have a chance right now while we're, you know, pretty strong, healthy and conditions are good to examine our minds, examine the possibilities around our death and think about what would help us at the moment of death. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:01 Highlight the passage at 1:42:01

1:42:32 While we still have a chance to develop that or to build that. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:32 Highlight the passage at 1:42:32

1:42:44 So here just imagine that you are lying in bed. You can imagine the whole setup. You had some kind of terminal illness. You've gone through all those stages of denial and fear and anger. And now you have some form of acceptance. And Report an error in the passage at 1:42:44 Highlight the passage at 1:42:44

1:43:13 as you're lying there, just examine what would help you die the most peacefully with the calmest. Even happiest state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:13 Highlight the passage at 1:43:13

1:43:31 Thinking about your possessions, the things that you own, the things that you treasure. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:31 Highlight the passage at 1:43:31

1:43:41 Which of all your things can help you now? Think Report an error in the passage at 1:43:41 Highlight the passage at 1:43:41

1:43:52 about them one by one. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:52 Highlight the passage at 1:43:52

1:44:06 How can they help? And Report an error in the passage at 1:44:06 Highlight the passage at 1:44:06

1:44:17 your attachment to them can actually hinder you at this point. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:17 Highlight the passage at 1:44:17

1:44:28 Death is the great leveler. They say kings and beggars die the same way. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:28 Highlight the passage at 1:44:28

1:44:46 None of our wealth can help us. None of our belongings can help us. None of the things that we're attached to in any way can help us, whether they're beliefs or values, stories about ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:46 Highlight the passage at 1:44:46

1:45:11 It doesn't mean that we have to give everything away. It's Report an error in the passage at 1:45:11 Highlight the passage at 1:45:11

1:45:21 just looking at the mind, the mind that grasps onto things. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:21 Highlight the passage at 1:45:21

1:45:31 We waste so much mental energy on our things. And will any of this time help you at the time of death? Report an error in the passage at 1:45:31 Highlight the passage at 1:45:31

1:45:48 It's all gone in an instant. So Report an error in the passage at 1:45:48 Highlight the passage at 1:45:48

1:45:58 we can start now by just loosening our independence, our grasping. Our Report an error in the passage at 1:45:58 Highlight the passage at 1:45:58

1:46:17 loved ones can't help us and Report an error in the passage at 1:46:17 Highlight the passage at 1:46:17

1:46:23 actually they may make it harder on us by clinging to us or stirring up these strong emotions of attachment and love, grasping when we really need to have a calm, stable mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:23 Highlight the passage at 1:46:23

1:46:44 Ultimately, we are on this journey alone. No matter how many people we surround ourselves with, no Report an error in the passage at 1:46:44 Highlight the passage at 1:46:44

1:47:01 matter how many people love us, they can't change our karma at this point. We have to go on alone. Most of the time, they don't even know what to do to help us die peacefully. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:01 Highlight the passage at 1:47:01

1:47:29 If you've had experiences of being with people as they're dying, you can think about those times and how it might have helped or hindered to have people in the room. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:29 Highlight the passage at 1:47:29

1:47:46 It doesn't mean we shouldn't love people. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:46 Highlight the passage at 1:47:46

1:47:53 But we can reduce our attachment a little bit. Love in Buddhist terms just means wanting somebody's happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:53 Highlight the passage at 1:47:53

1:48:06 We can love people without grasping onto them. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:06 Highlight the passage at 1:48:06

1:48:13 Nobody can share this experience of death with us. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:13 Highlight the passage at 1:48:13

1:48:21 And even those that know how to help us die, even our Dharma friends, even our teachers, ultimately we have to leave them and go on. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:21 Highlight the passage at 1:48:21

1:48:41 Not even our own body can help us. And actually this can be a huge hindrance at the time of our death. This attachment to our body and this thinking of that body is me. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:41 Highlight the passage at 1:48:41

1:49:05 This body has been everything to me. I've done so much to try to keep it healthy, to keep it strong, to feed it, care for it, keep it comfortable. And Report an error in the passage at 1:49:05 Highlight the passage at 1:49:05

1:49:22 I've experienced my whole life with it. It's Report an error in the passage at 1:49:22 Highlight the passage at 1:49:22

1:49:29 my most treasured possession. I Report an error in the passage at 1:49:29 Highlight the passage at 1:49:29

1:49:34 have to separate from it. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:34 Highlight the passage at 1:49:34

1:49:42 Mine will separate from it. I move on. It'll be left behind, buried or burnt. It can't help me at all right now. So Report an error in the passage at 1:49:42 Highlight the passage at 1:49:42

1:50:03 we can try now to reduce our attachment and our clinging to our body. Seeing that body is me. It never has been me. Just the container that this mind is in. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:03 Highlight the passage at 1:50:03

1:50:27 And Lama, as she said, am I this body? Report an error in the passage at 1:50:27 Highlight the passage at 1:50:27

1:50:37 Eventually our subtle most mind leaves this body. That's what death is. The separation of the two. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:37 Highlight the passage at 1:50:37

1:51:00 At the time of our death, everything we know comes to an end. We enter this state we have no memory of. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:00 Highlight the passage at 1:51:00

1:51:10 And we go on alone without people, things, Report an error in the passage at 1:51:10 Highlight the passage at 1:51:10

1:51:17 even our body, even our identity. We Report an error in the passage at 1:51:17 Highlight the passage at 1:51:17

1:51:26 have to work with our minds now while we have some clarity to do so. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:26 Highlight the passage at 1:51:26

1:51:44 Resolution is knowing that nothing else can help us. We have to devote ourselves to practice. To developing the mind, the qualities like patience, wisdom, Report an error in the passage at 1:51:44 Highlight the passage at 1:51:44

1:52:03 compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:03 Highlight the passage at 1:52:03

1:52:07 Those go along with us into our next life so Report an error in the passage at 1:52:07 Highlight the passage at 1:52:07

1:52:14 we can set ourselves to the task of cultivating those day in and day out as much as we can. Working with whatever arises and trying to remove those negative states of mind like anger that just end up hurting us, causing us more and more suffering. In this life and in our future lives. So Report an error in the passage at 1:52:14 Highlight the passage at 1:52:14

1:52:47 the point is to be able to use this time we have left the best that we can, the most profoundly, to work with our minds, to prepare, to reduce our self-cherishing, reduce our impatience, increase our wisdom. We Report an error in the passage at 1:52:47 Highlight the passage at 1:52:47

1:53:14 can dedicate this meditation and this class to each of us being able to do this, to use this precious time that we have left. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:14 Highlight the passage at 1:53:14

1:53:24 To get to know our own minds and to work with them and to figure out those tools that are going to help us. Not just now, but at the time of our death. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:24 Highlight the passage at 1:53:24

1:53:37 Ultimately, so that we can help everyone around us as well. We Report an error in the passage at 1:53:37 Highlight the passage at 1:53:37

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:54:13 have to die timely. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:13 Highlight the passage at 1:54:13

1:54:19 So, try to work with this one. You only have two days. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:19 Highlight the passage at 1:54:19

1:54:27 Work with a meditation where we'll figure out... I'll see you next week. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:27 Highlight the passage at 1:54:27

1:54:36 Sort of what is going to be, what is our work at the time that we die? You know, I mentioned that a couple times this class. You know, we have work to do at that point. What is that work? What is going to be happening? What's going to absorb our attention at that moment? It's useful. So that's the dissolution meditation, and that'll be in the next class. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:36 Highlight the passage at 1:54:36

1:54:56 It's your advertisement. So come on Thursday for the death dissolution. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:56 Highlight the passage at 1:54:56

1:55:09 Do you want to hand them out? Report an error in the passage at 1:55:09 Highlight the passage at 1:55:09

1:55:17 David, you started a trend. Now there's three of you getting the notes. Yep. Does somebody have a pen? Report an error in the passage at 1:55:17 Highlight the passage at 1:55:17

1:55:40 Yeah. I think it's coming. Oh, I'm like going to steal it. Who knows? I could die and then you're going to... Report an error in the passage at 1:55:40 Highlight the passage at 1:55:40

1:55:54 You know what? I have this. You should have just a single sheet for your meditation, but it's okay. You have that one. Sorry, that, but I'm like totally ready for the next. I even printed the class and everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:54 Highlight the passage at 1:55:54

1:56:19 Oh there you go, yeah. Copy that, check. Chase card services. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:19 Highlight the passage at 1:56:19

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:57:06 not be. We may have made false promises. Oh, there you go. There, I see her. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:06 Highlight the passage at 1:57:06

1:57:17 Did Elizabeth forward you the first comp of the postcard? I worked for Unmine today, so I was working on it. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:17 Highlight the passage at 1:57:17

1:57:31 Oh yeah, yeah. So I printed it. I mean, it's going to go through a couple more revisions, but I had a couple questions regarding the size. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:31 Highlight the passage at 1:57:31