Integration Practices - Discovering Buddhism (5 June 2007)

0:01 But with feeling. With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha, and to reach full appointment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain. Report an error in the passage at 0:01 Highlight the passage at 0:01

0:30 Until then, may I too remain and dispel the news of my Lord. Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

0:44 So, like I said, I'm going to talk a little bit about a retreat that's called the Nunyeh Retreat, and then we're going to talk about doing pilgrimage. Those are the last two. Oh, the microphones are useful. Report an error in the passage at 0:44 Highlight the passage at 0:44

1:04 And so, one of those weekends, actually it's been socketed out. It's a good thing I have people in the class to remind me. Of course, it doesn't help that the microphone is fully covered by a cup of tea. It's a blessed microphone. It has been used by many people. Report an error in the passage at 1:04 Highlight the passage at 1:04

1:28 Tim and Chad can never leave my classes. They have to stay here and go. Report an error in the passage at 1:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28

1:37 Exactly. Report an error in the passage at 1:37 Highlight the passage at 1:37

1:47 As long as sentient beings remain. Report an error in the passage at 1:47 Highlight the passage at 1:47

1:53 Oh no, don't mention the cable word. All right. Why don't we start with whether or not you guys have had any questions about, not that I can answer them, about prostrations. later to the end. Report an error in the passage at 1:53 Highlight the passage at 1:53

1:44 Exactly. Report an error in the passage at 1:44 Highlight the passage at 1:44

1:49 much, Jermaine. Report an error in the passage at 1:49 Highlight the passage at 1:49

2:09 Going way back. Or the retreat class. I actually have some handouts which of course are upstairs with a stapler on top that maybe my lovely assistant Keisha can. I don't even know where they are anymore. They moved off the bed and started to follow me down and I don't know. Anyway, I have some really good handouts for you guys tonight. Report an error in the passage at 2:09 Highlight the passage at 2:09

2:29 One is basically a lot of the same information that Tenzin Chokyi gave last week on doing retreat. But as one document, so it's kind of nice because it's like all in one place. And then the other is a document that is a lot about doing retreat and also just on meditating on the lamrim period, so also on a daily basis if you're doing it on a daily basis, by Venable Rene. Report an error in the passage at 2:29 Highlight the passage at 2:29

2:55 So it's like wonderful, totally profound and wonderful in his special way. I tried to keep his accent in there. I did edit it a little bit, but I tried to keep... The little bits of the Swiss French accent in there. And I can email those to you. I think I did, actually. I think I already sent those to you, Peter, right before, right when I printed them. Yeah, so I'll give those out at the end once my lovely assistant has found them and stapled them. Report an error in the passage at 2:55 Highlight the passage at 2:55

3:27 But why don't we start with questions? Does anybody have anything? And the mic is there somewhere, Sarah. Does anyone have any questions at all? Yes. How many do you think we did the other night, prostrations, and how many, if you're going to have it as a daily practice, do you recommend? I was so sore. Isn't it amazing? I was not sore with the beta breakers. It's amazing because it's kind of subtle. Oh, did you staple them and everything? Report an error in the passage at 3:27 Highlight the passage at 3:27

3:52 No. Okay. Okay, so they won't be stapled. And that way you have the pleasure of either stapling them or hole-punching them. Report an error in the passage at 3:52 Highlight the passage at 3:52

4:07 Maybe she's going to stay home. That differs on the person, I think, actually. If you're doing them as a nundra practice, it is really good to do a complete round, which is... No, of doing them to the 35 Buddhas and then doing them to the seven medicine Buddhas and then doing them to the confessional prayer and doing them to the woe is me, the urlulag. Report an error in the passage at 4:07 Highlight the passage at 4:07

4:34 So... All together, I've tried to count them and that's about 70 at the pace I go at. However, some people may go faster and some people may go slower. Some people also, like Venerable Tsongkhapa says, when she does pay no attention to my lovely assistant at the rear of the room. Report an error in the passage at 4:34 Highlight the passage at 4:34

4:54 It's still lovely. Venerable Tsongkhapa says that she finds it more meaningful to stop when she gets to the confession parts and to go down on one knee and to say them. So that's up to the individual. And also I know, and I've actually heard, not as a nundra practice, but as a daily practice, when Lama Zopa Rinpoche leads us in them, he just does them. Report an error in the passage at 4:54 Highlight the passage at 4:54

5:22 He goes... really fast all throughout he's not trying to do one per name which i always thought for years that you had to do you know so you're like you know i'll slow it down and stuff um he doesn't he just you know goes to it and so that's also possible it's not so great as part of your preliminary practices to do it that way it's better to do one per for your My model just exploded. Report an error in the passage at 5:22 Highlight the passage at 5:22

5:47 Oh, did it? That's really auspicious. Oh, that's great, Peter. Wow, that's so cool. I guess you're done. Report an error in the passage at 5:47 Highlight the passage at 5:47

5:56 It's time to go into a five-year retreat. All right. Hope you're packed. It's more holding the image than the physical? It's both. Report an error in the passage at 5:56 Highlight the passage at 5:56

6:09 Equally weighted. Yeah, and actually the words as well, and that was a point that Keisha made that we didn't talk so much about, but it is really good to recite the names as well. And you guys don't know the names already, and so you're kind of going to easy out last time, but that's kind of why we were attempting to between heavy breathing, that's what was going on with us. Report an error in the passage at 6:09 Highlight the passage at 6:09

6:29 So it is really good to recite the names too, because that way you're doing what? You're doing a mental, physical and verbal prostration simultaneously. Pretty cool. Report an error in the passage at 6:29 Highlight the passage at 6:29

6:39 Keep going. Where did it go? So where do we find those names? Report an error in the passage at 6:39 Highlight the passage at 6:39

6:46 There's the handout. Keisha did the copies of the practice from the gold prayer book. There you go. My lovely assistant took care of things that time, too. Good save. This side of the room is really taking care of me tonight. Yeah, it's in the gold prayer book if you should lose it and need it again. There's also, if you decide to take it on as a regular practice, it's really good to get that FPMT booklet that's in the bookstore. It has commentary on the practice, how to visualize, how to motivate, how to dedicate. Report an error in the passage at 6:46 Highlight the passage at 6:46

7:21 It just gives really nice. But if you want to just get started, just use that handout. It's got everything in it. He motivates very well there and he dedicates very well there. So Lama Zopa Rinpoche as well. Yeah. But what I was starting to say is that I know that there have been times where I want to keep it going as a daily practice. I tend to do more prostrations in retreat than in daily practice. Report an error in the passage at 7:21 Highlight the passage at 7:21

7:44 But sometimes, so sometimes you're like pushed for time. And so I'll, I do have it memorized, most of it. I don't have the medicine but it's quite and I don't have the woe is me quite. Report an error in the passage at 7:44 Highlight the passage at 7:44

7:55 So I'll do it and I'll just prostrate quickly. I'll just, as fast as my voice goes, that's how fast. I'll do it. And so it's like in less than 10 minutes. It's actually quite short. And that way at least I'm keeping the momentum of the practice going, but I'm not doing that many frustrations. Report an error in the passage at 7:55 Highlight the passage at 7:55

8:13 Yeah, you definitely don't want to think of it as just a physical exercise. It is definitely what's happening in your mind and your mouth as well. But that's the easy part, the physical part. The physical part in some ways is the easy part. Until you get the visual down. Yeah. Actually, none of it's easy. Report an error in the passage at 8:13 Highlight the passage at 8:13

8:28 but but um One point physically to remember, even if you think you don't need it at the beginning, put something under your knees. I can't stress that enough. I see people thinking, I don't need it, and you don't sometimes at first, and really your knees will take a beating, and it's almost impossible to fix at the point where you finally realize it. Report an error in the passage at 8:28 Highlight the passage at 8:28

8:52 So just a folded shawl is all you need. Just something additional. Even if you're on the carpet, just in it and actually... Yeah, you can do it either way, either hardwood floor or the carpet. If you're on hardwood floor, it's probably a little bit thicker that you need. Just something underneath your knees because our knees don't really have that much covering them. Report an error in the passage at 8:52 Highlight the passage at 8:52

9:12 So, yeah. Gisha. A little misprostration in the back. A couple years ago, I tore a rotator cuff doing prostration. So when you go down, make sure that your hands are under your shoulders. And there should be anyway, yeah. And I do see people kind of zooming out like this and just, yeah, they really should be just going straight out and back up, you know, so like you don't need to like do creative dance when you're doing it. Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:44 I have to mention that actually to, well, I won't mention my name since I'm on record right now. Report an error in the passage at 9:44 Highlight the passage at 9:44

9:52 Yeah, no, that's a really important one. You probably are reborn as a dolphin or something. nervous. Report an error in the passage at 9:52 Highlight the passage at 9:52

9:59 Anything else about prostrations? And how about the retreat talk last week? She was great. Yeah, isn't she? Yeah, she was great on Saturday, too, for those who came. You just came for the beginning. Yeah, yeah. But I've invited her for about three or four more things before the year's over, so hopefully she'll come for some of them. Report an error in the passage at 9:59 Highlight the passage at 9:59

10:23 This Saturday? I saved two copies. I was so scared of losing it. Yeah, I was working almost the whole time, but it was really good. I mean, people were all giving me really, really good feedback. And I had gone the previous weekend and heard it, and I know it was really good. Yeah, so that will be uploaded as a single file, and that was basically from 10 to 5. Report an error in the passage at 10:23 Highlight the passage at 10:23

10:46 Not that many breaks. You know, 15 minute break, 15 minute and a 45 minute lunch. It was a lot. It was full on, on death and impairments especially. But yeah, she's great. She's great. She's both accessible and like mastered. You can tell that she's reached a level of mastery. Does anyone have any questions about what she said? Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

11:10 She did say that she wanted me to remember to tell you and she didn't think she had stressed it, but the first time you do retreat it is really helpful to do it in a group because you learn how to do retreat. Report an error in the passage at 11:10 Highlight the passage at 11:10

11:24 There are often short retreats given at the Dharma centers around here. And I mean by retreat not necessarily just going for like a day long like our practice days. I mean an actual retreat. So the very first retreat I did was a Tara retreat for a weekend. I think it was like a two-day retreat. It's pretty short. A three-day retreat at Vajrapani. And so you actually are doing sessions and you're keeping silence at some part of the day like that. Report an error in the passage at 11:24 Highlight the passage at 11:24

11:51 So you have some discipline involved where you have to show up for a session, sit for a session and then, you know, not leave early if you feel like it. Report an error in the passage at 11:51 Highlight the passage at 11:51

12:00 And often for those retreats, group retreats, you're also doing precepts for at least part of it. So it's just good. It's just useful things to learn and to see how it's done. Then when you're doing it on your own, like she said, it's also really, really good to do to keep that discipline. But you have a little bit more room. Report an error in the passage at 12:00 Highlight the passage at 12:00

12:17 So if a session is going really deep and you want to stick with it, you have that option on your own where you don't so much with a group, depending on how if you have to end together. And if a session is going really difficultly, depending on what the issue is, I mean, if you're ill or something, then you can make it shorter, you know, depending on what kind of a retreat it is. Report an error in the passage at 12:17 Highlight the passage at 12:17

12:45 So, yeah, anyway. Oh, Peter. Could you pass it? Hang on, it's coming. It's coming. Well, I guess what I was wondering is most people that live in the city, you know, they just don't have a lot of time to be able to do, you know, four weeks of retreat. Good segue. It's time to talk about Nunez. So that's kind of what I meant when I was asking her about, you know, breaking in your retreat muscle or kind of getting in that vein. Report an error in the passage at 12:45 Highlight the passage at 12:45

13:14 Do a weekend one. Yeah. Yeah, do a weekend one. Yeah. Get started by doing shorter ones and then build up to a week and then build up to a two-week. I mean, if that's what you can do, that's great. That's actually what I did. I actually did build up. She went straight from three weeks to, yeah, three years. And actually, beyond three months, it's actually probably not a big difference. Report an error in the passage at 13:14 Highlight the passage at 13:14

13:38 I mean, you kind of do figure out stuff in a three-month retreat. But between three-day and three-month, there's a difference. Report an error in the passage at 13:38 Highlight the passage at 13:38

13:47 Because part of it is the mind, right? I mean, probably a huge part of it is the mind. In a three-month retreat, you keep thinking, whatever this is that's bothering me is going to be here exactly the way it is for three months. I can't bear that. And you have to begin to realize the fact that, first of all, it won't be because your mind changes, situations change, the world changes, like everything changes. Report an error in the passage at 13:47 Highlight the passage at 13:47

14:08 Secondly, of course, emptiness, right? It doesn't actually exist the way we're experiencing it. And so you loosen. You have to loosen, or else you just flip out and run down the mountain with your hair on fire. You've got two options. And that's your second option, and that's the one you don't want to take. Report an error in the passage at 14:08 Highlight the passage at 14:08

14:26 And we've all done that one. I mean, I've done that one, I can tell you. For the Vajjah Safra retreat, we had 17 people, I think, except maybe one, minus Elizabeth. Everybody else was freaking out, and their hair was on fire, and they were running down Tushita's mountain, you know? I mean, and it was wacky. Report an error in the passage at 14:26 Highlight the passage at 14:26

14:42 And I think that probably happens a lot in group retreats. It's just like everything becomes an issue. And your issue is not going to be the same as the person sitting next to you. But they'll have issues that arise too. Everybody will have issues. And in a group retreat, you blame a lot of your problems on everyone else. Report an error in the passage at 14:42 Highlight the passage at 14:42

15:02 It's easy to do, right? They're there. It's just like living in a house. Whatever your problems are, it's because somebody else has not done something or has done something. In a group retreat, it's really easy to feel like all your problems are coming because that person's really loud with his mantra recitation, this person's keeping you up, or blah, blah, blah. Report an error in the passage at 15:02 Highlight the passage at 15:02

15:18 And then when you go finally from that environment into your own, you begin to realize it's actually just your own mind. And in a way, that's harder, but in a way, it's easier too. It's like, oh. That's what I'm here for. Okay. You can just settle down and get to work, you know. So I've never felt like as loongy in a solitary retreat. Report an error in the passage at 15:18 Highlight the passage at 15:18

15:39 I've experienced loong. I've experienced like anxiety and things like that in a solitary retreat. But it's sort of like... You know it's just your own mind. You just know. And so you just know you got to figure out what to do. And all the walks and what she talked about, the food and like, you know, taking breaks, staring at the sky. Report an error in the passage at 15:39 Highlight the passage at 15:39

16:00 She didn't mention that one. That one's really huge. I make time every day in my retreat to go and stare at the sky for a certain amount of time. Report an error in the passage at 16:00 Highlight the passage at 16:00

16:09 It sounds funny, but it's really important because the sky is a real mirror image of your mind. And if you can really get that, it just loosens everything. Because it's just our mind that makes us wacky. Do you recommend sending your pets away if you do a retreat at home? I mean, how do you work around that issue? That's a really good issue, actually, because I haven't done retreat at home. I don't think I could do retreat with the girls, actually, upstairs, the cats. Report an error in the passage at 16:09 Highlight the passage at 16:09

16:37 Yeah, Bodhi does this thing now slapping me in the back when I'm trying to meditate. Shanti, she sits in the lap, but I don't want that either, really. I don't want, you know, it's like not what I'm trying to really focus. I know. She does the same when she puts your paw on your hand, too, which is like so sweet. Report an error in the passage at 16:37 Highlight the passage at 16:37

16:56 But it's distraction. It's distraction. And it's so easy if you're having a hard time to just take care of the cat or the dog or whatever it is. It's really easy to just fall into that. You can still do that about your pony. They have wild cats. They have feral cats and stuff who you can focus on. I would say, if possible, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 16:56 Highlight the passage at 16:56

17:17 Yeah. Just like if possible and you have kids, it's probably better to do it at some time that they're at camp or something. But I've known people who know they've done it because there's been no option. I know of a woman in Australia. I don't know her personally, but I've heard of a woman in Australia. Report an error in the passage at 17:17 Highlight the passage at 17:17

17:34 She has a reputation of having done a series of these noon year retreats that I'm going to talk about, which are incredibly intensive retreats with kids and a husband. Report an error in the passage at 17:34 Highlight the passage at 17:34

17:47 I don't know how this is humanly possible, but like not just one or two, but like a series, like I don't know how many, but like, you know, 50 or something ungodly. I mean, an amazing amount. So it's possible, you know. Yeah. Yeah, I'm speaking of my mind. Report an error in the passage at 17:47 Highlight the passage at 17:47

18:12 And I think it's especially the more, yeah, the more it depends on your own discipline. It probably depends a little bit on your experience too. You know, the more experience you have during retreat and the more, you know, this is what this is about. This isn't a break. This is just a different type of work. I'm thinking about my dog and I think like if somebody were to bring me. Dogs are probably a little easier. I've actually done it with a dog, a study retreat with a dog. Report an error in the passage at 18:12 Highlight the passage at 18:12

18:38 I think if I had dog walkers coming to take him out, it might be able to work. Well, even the walking of him is probably all right, too, because sometimes walking is good. Well, no, not so much walking meditation. I don't know if that would work. But just walking and getting your exercise, that's not a problem. You know, just say mantras to him instead of speaking or something. But dogs are a little easier to just you stay and sit, depending on the dog. Report an error in the passage at 18:38 Highlight the passage at 18:38

19:04 Cats are a little harder, yeah. Cats kind of wander and talk and all that stuff. shit, I'll be out. Report an error in the passage at 19:04 Highlight the passage at 19:04

19:10 Yeah, so it depends on the dog and it depends on the cat and it depends on your mind. How's that for a Buddhist answer? Report an error in the passage at 19:10 Highlight the passage at 19:10

19:19 So I want to talk before, because Venerable Katie is going to come running in any second, so I want to talk to you a little bit about Noon Year Retreats. And I don't know, who here has heard of Noon Year Retreats? Okay, about half and half. Who here has done a Noon Year Retreat? yeah. Report an error in the passage at 19:19 Highlight the passage at 19:19

19:33 Other than Keisha, who's done half of one and can't remember any further. Which is interesting. But after I describe it, you'll understand why. She remembers doing half of one and then has no further memory of that. Yeah, really? She went into hypoglycemic fit. Report an error in the passage at 19:33 Highlight the passage at 19:33

19:56 Nunez retreats are really, really intensive. don't know. Report an error in the passage at 19:56 Highlight the passage at 19:56

19:59 Intensive purification. Purification retreats that are based around, oh we don't have him up, based around Avalokiteshvara Thousand-Arm Chendresic, which my lovely assistant is going to get, Thousand-Arm Chendresic, who is the Buddha of Compassion. Oh there you go, I can pass it around, very well done. So it's very disciplined, incredibly disciplined. Report an error in the passage at 19:59 Highlight the passage at 19:59

20:30 Very short retreat. And so Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, for this reason, it's really, really good for people who are really busy. He really highly recommends them all for, you know, those of us who are like really crazy busy in the city. They're hard. They're hard retreats. If you find them really blissful, it's probably not the practice for you, actually. I've heard that said about them. I know of some people who just love them and come out and do them every time, and it's probably not the practice for them, to be honest. Report an error in the passage at 20:30 Highlight the passage at 20:30

21:05 Some amount of work is required for these things. I've heard Rinpoche, I've heard stories when people come back from their retreats and talk about them with Rinpoche, and if they just talk about the bliss, he completely manifests being bored. He's like, Busy, distracted. And the minute you get into the... And then it was so hard because I realized blah, blah. And then he's like, oh, tell me more, you know. Report an error in the passage at 21:05 Highlight the passage at 21:05

21:29 Because retreat is where we work on our minds, whatever the kind of retreat. And these kind are no different. If you're not working on your mind, if you're not kind of working with something, it doesn't mean you can't have blissful moments. Of course you can't have blissful moments. And you can even have blissful moments on Nunez. Report an error in the passage at 21:29 Highlight the passage at 21:29

21:46 But if you're not kind of grappling with it, if you're just Lala Bliss, then it's something, either you're really highly evolved or it may not be the practice for you to help you get deeper into stuff. So let me describe one first, and then we'll talk a little bit about the benefits and then a little bit about the historical context of them. Report an error in the passage at 21:46 Highlight the passage at 21:46

22:12 Nunyes start usually before dawn on day one, which is quite early. Usually you take precepts like 4 or 4.30 in the morning. It's quite early start. Often if it's people's first nunye, then we'll do an orientation session the night before and explain to people what's going to happen, where people choose their seat, because that's really important, where you're going to prostrate. Report an error in the passage at 22:12 Highlight the passage at 22:12

22:35 You set it all up, you know. And you get the whole... But if you're just starting it and you've done it before, then you're going in before sunrise on that day or you're waking up and doing precepts on that day if you've done them before in your own house. So you take precepts, but on that day you're taking basically normal precepts, normal nunye precepts, which are one meal. Report an error in the passage at 22:35 Highlight the passage at 22:35

23:05 Before noon, finished strictly before noon, not just the midday thing, but strictly before noon. And that's it. Nothing special about the precepts other than that. You aren't eating any black foods of onions, garlics, meat, radishes, like that, eggs. They're pretty much otherwise like our regular precepts. Report an error in the passage at 23:05 Highlight the passage at 23:05

23:28 And then you keep being three or four, depending on who your leader is, sessions, usually three the first day, where you're following a certain sadhana practice, described very well in this book here. Nunyei, The Means of Achievement of the Eleven-Faced Great Compassionate One, Avalokiteshvara, by the Seventh Dalai Lama and then translated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Report an error in the passage at 23:28 Highlight the passage at 23:28

23:55 It's a complete practice where you're doing quite a few prostrations. I tried to count them, the very first one that I was doing because I was counting my prostrations and it was like 800 to 1,000 prostrations a day. It's quite an amount. Of course, once again, you can go slow-mo through the same session and just go. I've done Nunez with both. Report an error in the passage at 23:55 Highlight the passage at 23:55

24:22 Geshe Seppel, who does incredibly beautiful, well-formed, but very slow prostrations throughout, the same, measured, like that. And that actually gave me courage, because, I mean, when I did Anunye with him, he was in his early 70s. And I thought, if he can do them, then I can, because I was, like, faltering, and I was like, I don't know how I can do this anymore. Report an error in the passage at 24:22 Highlight the passage at 24:22

24:49 Here comes Bodhi. And he just was focusing on each one was this beautiful jewel that he was offering. And it was just really beautiful to see. And then I've also done them with Venerable Rubina who pushes herself at the same pace no matter what through the entire time. And she probably does about... 200, no, she's got to do more than that. It's probably about 300 per session. No, no. I mean, she's just drenched with sweat. Because for her, it's just like, do them all, push, push. Report an error in the passage at 24:49 Highlight the passage at 24:49

25:22 She's just like, and she just never stops. Nothing changes. And her pace also remains the same. Most of us in between are doing like... We start out doing a lot. Then we realize we're really tired. Then we slow down. And then on the fasting day, we begin doing this strange kind of, you know, like beautiful modern dance thing of like one per every 79 words or something. Report an error in the passage at 25:22 Highlight the passage at 25:22

25:51 And that's all good. It's all good. Because the main thing, again, isn't the physical. The main thing is what's going on in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 25:51 Highlight the passage at 25:51

26:00 The first day, you're basically learning the practice. You're memorizing the mantra, you know, so you're kind of caught up with those things. You usually have like a discussion session after lunch the first day so you can ask questions. You're learning a visualization. You're learning kind of when the places are that we're going to get up and prostrate. You're asking your questions and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 26:00 Highlight the passage at 26:00

26:20 You can drink all the liquids you want throughout that day. And you feel something's coming here. So then on day two, you wake up and you take precepts again. And this time included in your precepts is a vow not to eat or drink for 24 hours and to keep strict silence except for the mantras and the words and the sadhana. Report an error in the passage at 26:20 Highlight the passage at 26:20

26:45 And this is what makes it go like really fast because and you've already sort of bonded with your group. Usually you're doing this with a group of people. Report an error in the passage at 26:45 Highlight the passage at 26:45

26:56 Day two is by far the hardest. It depends. Each time you do it, it's different. But it always is hard because you're doing without food, first of all. But by morning, it's really liquid that you miss. You could care less about food. It's just like, give me fluid. By nighttime, you're usually thinking, I will die. Report an error in the passage at 26:56 Highlight the passage at 26:56

27:19 I will die, and either it's all right or it's not all right. I think it's really, really, and I can't stress it enough, really good to have a basic underlying refuge and some understanding of the Lamrim before you do this. Because otherwise, it's just like, I have known people to freak out and leave forever. I actually knew this guy who was like a really strong, I mean, he was a new. Report an error in the passage at 27:19 Highlight the passage at 27:19

27:48 But pretty strong. He had done a number of things with Rajapani. He was there when I got ordained. He was actually in my group, my discussion group. And he just flipped and panicked and ate and left the next day. And I have seen him since, but he's not done anything Dharma related since. So it's really, really important. That's why when we've done him here, I have a second level of questioning of people to try to talk about what's your background, how much have you studied. Report an error in the passage at 27:48 Highlight the passage at 27:48

28:16 Because if you have some understanding that I'm doing this to try to, the whole point of it actually is to work on developing compassion. Everything you're experiencing is being experienced by other beings in the world right now. Hunger. Thirst, fatigue, exhaustion, fear. Like all those things are being experienced and if you're remembering them as you're prostrating and deciding I'm going to take this on for them, I'm going to do this for them and you're trying to build that strength in your mind, then it's powerful as all get out. Report an error in the passage at 28:16 Highlight the passage at 28:16

28:49 It's amazingly powerful. But if you're just... Panicked and worried about your own body, then you're missing the plot, as Vena Rubina says. So it's sort of like you've got to bring in a certain level of practice. This is not a beginner's practice, the Nunyeh. So then, going back a little bit to the schedule, the... Report an error in the passage at 28:49 Highlight the passage at 28:49

29:13 The second day, the fasting day, is usually some leaders do four sessions that day and some leaders still do. Traditionally, it's done three sessions and then you can do some other thing in the fourth session, like the final session, like just some virtuous activity, like rolling mantras or extensive offerings or something like that, just to be doing something virtuous because you can't eat, you can't drink, there's not anything else to do. Report an error in the passage at 29:13 Highlight the passage at 29:13

29:38 So you might as well be doing something virtuous until you can go to bed. Then the next morning you get up and you don't take precepts. You break your fast during the first session with nectar, which goes around. Each session this nectar goes around in a little bumpavaz. This time you get to taste it the day before you weren't allowed to taste it. So you break it and that's how you break your fast. Report an error in the passage at 29:38 Highlight the passage at 29:38

29:59 And then depending on where you're at, like here we usually then... Come running in, the support crew comes in with all the liquids and we have liquids of different kinds and everybody's like all happy and like, you know, has their little like liquids and then their tea and blah, blah, blah. And then breakfast and then it ends. So it's over by like seven o 'clock. I mean, it's early, quite early the second day. Some people like Keith has just gone straight to work. Report an error in the passage at 29:59 Highlight the passage at 29:59

30:25 I don't get that one. I mean, it's pretty amazing. You do have a lot of energy right afterwards, though you do. Report an error in the passage at 30:25 Highlight the passage at 30:25

30:36 So that's the whole thing. Usually, traditionally, you do eight in a row. So you take a total of 16 days, 17 days, and you're doing one after another like that. And what actually ends up happening, and I can say this from my own experience too, your body gets used to it. And it's amazing. It's actually easier. Report an error in the passage at 30:36 Highlight the passage at 30:36

31:00 To do them in succession like that, than it is to do an individual one. However, I think it's good to start with one and know that it's going to, again, it's that mind thing, because otherwise you're going, oh my God, on the worst, darkest hour of that first night, you're thinking, I can't do this for 17 days. Report an error in the passage at 31:00 Highlight the passage at 31:00

31:20 You know, immediately your mind is like expanding the problem. Whereas if you're thinking, this is going to be over in 24 hours. I can do this. I can do this. If it's a short amount of time, it's just like with any kind of retreat. If you know it's going to end in a certain amount of time, then you're all right. Report an error in the passage at 31:20 Highlight the passage at 31:20

31:36 So I highly recommend just trying one with this mind once you're ready. And, you know, having a leader that you trust, that also helps. You know, somebody who is accessible and energetic and like, you know, Venerable Amy has led quite a few who's coming to teach here this summer when I go on retreat. Report an error in the passage at 31:36 Highlight the passage at 31:36

31:58 And she loves doing Nunez, but it doesn't mean that they're blissful for her. Actually, they probably are right now. She's done, I don't know how many, she's done, and Venerable Rita, of course, who was just here last summer, has done literally, I think more than 100. She had a practice to do 100 back-to-back, and I think she did them all at Tushita. When I was there doing my Raja Safra retreat, she was doing her Nunez. Report an error in the passage at 31:58 Highlight the passage at 31:58

32:26 Apparently that's more and more common, actually. I just was talking to somebody else recently, she said nervously, who had like 100 Nunez given to them. So, I don't know. Anyway. But traditionally, they are done back-to-back like that. And in that case, what happens after you finish the fasting day, you actually, before you take your precepts on the next day, you actually have like a thin gruel, kind of like a little thin porridge. Report an error in the passage at 32:26 Highlight the passage at 32:26

32:55 And then you take your precepts on the eating day, and then you're allowed your lunch. So actually, on those middle days, you're having a breakfast and a lunch. Report an error in the passage at 32:55 Highlight the passage at 32:55

33:04 But your body does get stronger and you begin to realize because, you know, one of our biggest primal fears is not having enough to eat, right? And so the first time you do it, everyone is just gorging on the food. I mean, you're just shoving it all in. And of course, then you have an afternoon session. Everyone's like trying to do their prostrations in there. And then like after the first one, you realize that it actually doesn't like you just eat what you need. Report an error in the passage at 33:04 Highlight the passage at 33:04

33:29 Like you kind of relax about it. Like you get it, that you don't need to shove everything into your mouth. Like actually you'll feel better if you only have a certain amount. So, but you do get this amazing amount of energy on the eating days. And those are the days that you kind of are doing the outward, you know, kind of, you know, helping out in the center, karma yoga days and everything. And then on the other days, the silent days. Report an error in the passage at 33:29 Highlight the passage at 33:29

33:53 You just go deep and that's where you just go into your room and you just kind of contemplate or you take a walk and you contemplate. And you also don't have a lot of energy on those days. Physically you just don't have the same amount of energy so you just kind of go inward. But they are incredibly powerful. Report an error in the passage at 33:53 Highlight the passage at 33:53

34:08 When I first heard of them, I made this mental note never to do this practice. It sounded so extreme and bizarre, and I just was like, no, no way. And of course, within three years, I was doing them. And I was down with Venerable Amy at Vajrapani, who led the first one that I was on. And she's actually hardcore. She's Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Report an error in the passage at 34:08 Highlight the passage at 34:08

34:27 She doesn't even allow you to swallow your own spit, which is extreme. Nobody else I've ever done it with. But by then, I was like, so I was like, What do you mean? Were you allowed to swallow or spit? Like that became like things that you would never think of as being a good thing. Suddenly it became wonderful when you're at with somebody else leading it, you know, who said like not only that, but you can, you know, blah, blah. Report an error in the passage at 34:27 Highlight the passage at 34:27

34:52 Like she also said that you, you cut off at exactly 10 o 'clock, I think at night or something with your liquids on the drinking day. And nobody else has said that, you know, there's like certain people like. I think children are just like, oh, until they go to bed, you know, and I was like, oh, you easy. But I was actually really, really sick the night of the first night, and I had just gotten back from India, and I think it was just all the toxins in my body, you know, coming, you know, like a fast anyway will bring up stuff. Report an error in the passage at 34:52 Highlight the passage at 34:52

35:24 So this is like a pretty extreme fast, plus you're doing 800 to 1,000 prostrations a day. So I was really, really quite sick, and I... And so I kind of did panic a little bit, and I was just kind of like, okay, let's just ride out this night. I may not be able to, because you can't sleep very well, or I can't when I don't eat anything either. Report an error in the passage at 35:24 Highlight the passage at 35:24

35:45 But then the next day it was actually okay. So, you know, for the final, she actually didn't allow you to eat until the end of the first session. Report an error in the passage at 35:45 Highlight the passage at 35:45

35:54 But then I did a second Noonie with Geshe Sepul, like I said, down in Southern California, which was actually much easier. But the second day, the day of the fasting day, the whole day was fine. And then the final morning, I was just dead. And that happens sometimes, too. It's just like... I remember there was only, it was a mostly Chinese group and there were like eight NGs. We were like kind of sitting in our own little section and there were four of us who were just dead and four who were still like all lively. Report an error in the passage at 35:54 Highlight the passage at 35:54

36:26 And there was like the four who were like this. And they kind of just looked and just said, maybe we break fast now, you know. And he like let us all, and of course all the other like women like jumped up and like brought in all the breakfast for everyone else and like served and everything. Those of us, it's like you physically just don't have it. Like your little, like your body's just kind of like, you know. And that happened actually again on the third one that I did with Rajapani again. Report an error in the passage at 36:26 Highlight the passage at 36:26

36:53 And I was like this sort of little helper thing. And I was running around with the Bumpapas and everything. And on the final morning, I just kind of came in and everything was okay. And then all of a sudden I had to like lie down in my, it's like in my head. I literally had to lie on the floor and then run into the bathroom a couple of times and throw up loudly next to the gampa. Report an error in the passage at 36:53 Highlight the passage at 36:53

37:10 While they were doing the final session. But when it came to the point of the Boomba, I know, really. When it came to the point of the Boomba boss going around, Venerable Amy looked at me and said, she just kind of looked at me and she just kind of saw that my head was completely on the floor and she just kind of went, ooh, ooh. Report an error in the passage at 37:10 Highlight the passage at 37:10

37:29 And like looked, grabbed somebody else and somebody else went around and then they came to me last and I poured it into my hand. But the thing that was so amazing about that one, That I found so amazing about that one is that I even I remember feeling I didn't feel any of the fear. It was my mind was really strong. Report an error in the passage at 37:29 Highlight the passage at 37:29

37:49 I totally felt my mind was incredibly strong for that one, even though my body wasn't strong. And even though I and that was a real difference because I didn't go through the panic and all that stuff of before. It was just kind of like, OK. If this is going to purify, if this is going to help my mind, most especially, as we all know what it all comes down to, if this is going to help my mind get stronger and be able to develop compassion, cool. Report an error in the passage at 37:49 Highlight the passage at 37:49

38:18 I was totally willing. I would have been willing to do another one, which is really kind of profound because I'm not the bravest person in the world. And that, I think, is one of the things that no-needs do. They show that you can survive. I'm really attached to food, too. I love food. Food is good. We like food. We like tea. Tea is like a really big thing in my life, those of you who know me well. You have to give them both up. Report an error in the passage at 38:18 Highlight the passage at 38:18

38:42 I was also terrified I get migraines. I was terrified I was going to get a migraine. When you get a migraine, you can't take anything. There's nothing you can take. You can't take medicine. You can't swallow anything. You can't drink anything with it. Of course I got them, and I lived. And what it showed me is, like, I'll live. Report an error in the passage at 38:42 Highlight the passage at 38:42

39:01 And that was actually really quite useful for me for strengthening my mind, because that's really what it's about. It's about strengthening our minds. So I probably told you too much with the throwing up in the bathroom. Report an error in the passage at 39:01 Highlight the passage at 39:01

39:18 Like, the minute we say next time that we're going to be doing a Nunez, everybody's going to get up and leave. Report an error in the passage at 39:18 Highlight the passage at 39:18

39:27 Anyway, so does anyone have any questions about Nunez before I tell you a little bit of the benefits? Maybe I should tell you the benefits before. Let me tell you the benefits. This is a direct quote from this. It's a page in the Nune book, but it comes from a tantra that's called the Durrani of the Eleven-Faced Arya Avalokiteshvara. Report an error in the passage at 39:27 Highlight the passage at 39:27

39:46 So it's one of the lower tantras. It's Kriya Tantra, Action Tantra. By reciting this essence mantra... One will attain the career of a bodhisattva, the compassion of all the conquerors called the matrix of engaging exalted wisdom. For whoever is bound by fetters and whoever will meet with bondage, for all sentient beings who are in danger of water, fire and the various kinds of suffering, this essence of mine acts as an abode, a protector, a refuge and a friend. Report an error in the passage at 39:46 Highlight the passage at 39:46

40:14 Even hateful harmers, yakshas and cannibals will be drawn by this essence of mine. And producing the mind of love and the mind of compassion will be set in unsurpassed, perfectly complete enlightenment. Bhagavan, this essence of mine is thus a great miracle. If by reciting it one time, even the four root downfalls of the fully ordained monk are purified and the five negative actions of immediate retribution are entirely purified, what need is there to mention? Report an error in the passage at 40:14 Highlight the passage at 40:14

40:43 Why ask about one who makes exertion in accordance with what was taught? If they will generate roots of virtue with regard to many hundred thousand times, a hundred billion times, ten million Buddhas, What need is there to mention? Why ask about one who performs the recitation and is accomplished? All their wishes will be totally fulfilled as desired. Report an error in the passage at 40:43 Highlight the passage at 40:43

41:05 If someone, for my sake, fasts on the 14th or 15th day of the lunar calendar, they will neutralize cyclic existence of 40,000 eons. Bhagavan, to retain my name is meaningful, exceeding that of the names of 100,000 times 10 million Buddhas. All sentient beings who retain my name will dwell in the state of irreversibility, will be totally liberated from all illness, and will be totally liberated from all obstructions and faulty behavior of body, speech and mind. Report an error in the passage at 41:05 Highlight the passage at 41:05

41:34 If someone practices the ceremony properly, they will attain the enlightenment of a Buddha as their reward. Pretty good advertisement, hey? It's worth those little moments of puking outside the gamba. Report an error in the passage at 41:34 Highlight the passage at 41:34

41:50 And then I'll do the shorter part from another quote taught in the detailed ceremony of Arya Avalokadishvara, having 1,000 arms and 1,000 eyes. It says, whatever non-virtues and obscurations of actions there are, such as the five negative actions of immediate retribution, so that's the five immediate misdeeds, killing your parents, killing an arhat, and so forth, will be cleansed. Report an error in the passage at 41:50 Highlight the passage at 41:50

42:21 The actions of body, speech and mind will also be totally purified. The strength of Buddha's single-pointed concentration will be attained. The strength of empowerment by light rays will also be attained. And the grounds and perfections of the bodhisattva will also be attained. Keeping in mind just the name of Arya Avalokadishvara and making prostrations to him merely one time are of equal benefit to as many grains of sands as there are in 62 Ganges rivers. Report an error in the passage at 42:21 Highlight the passage at 42:21

42:49 I love that. I always love all the quotes of the Ganges reverse. So those are the benefits, some of the benefits that are mentioned for doing this practice. Report an error in the passage at 42:49 Highlight the passage at 42:49

43:03 And like I said, traditionally this practice is done eight in a row, and the nuns at Kopan always do them, usually at this time period, right where we are right now, from Sakadawa, for the two weeks following Sakadawa. Report an error in the passage at 43:03 Highlight the passage at 43:03

43:21 They do them, the nuns at Copan and also the nuns just below Laudo. So they're done at Laudo every year as well. And Venerable Amy's done them a couple times at Laudo. And Venerable Chodron has done them a couple times at Copan, although I won't tell you one of her stories from that particular. It's probably best not. Report an error in the passage at 43:21 Highlight the passage at 43:21

43:42 I have to watch my mouth flathering. Report an error in the passage at 43:42 Highlight the passage at 43:42

43:47 Just the intensity of it is interesting. But anyway. Thank you. Thank you. MR. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 43:47 Highlight the passage at 43:47

43:52 Yeah, so does anyone have any questions about the Nune that you just heard? Has anyone heard anything about them that they want to, oh Peter, yeah? I just had a couple of practical questions. The first one is... Obviously, if you're doing a lot of prostrations, what's the procedure about showering? Oh, good point, actually, and I meant to mention that. This practice is really big because this is Kriya Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 43:52 Highlight the passage at 43:52

44:20 This practice is really big on cleanliness. You're supposed to shower a lot. You're supposed to change clothes a lot. It's really big on washing yourself. Yeah, keeping yourself really, really clean. And then brushing your teeth on the day that you're not supposed to have water. I think you can still brush your teeth, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 44:20 Highlight the passage at 44:20

44:38 And actually you can still shower on that day too. And that's like, it actually feels refreshing. It feels like your body absorbs it even though, you know, and then sometimes you like have it go in your mouth and spit it out. Report an error in the passage at 44:38 Highlight the passage at 44:38

44:50 And how would that work about not even having saliva? What, you're supposed to just spit all day? Yeah, yeah. That's intensive. It's a little intense. Yeah, it's a bit intense. When Gesellah leads Anunyeh, which unfortunately at this point he He can't anymore because he says that his health, he just can't do the prostrations anymore. But I did a, of course, after I did, I did three, I think, and the very last one was that one I was just describing where the next morning my head was on the ground and I was sick in the bathroom. Report an error in the passage at 44:50 Highlight the passage at 44:50

45:27 So right after that, Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested that I do five more. so Atlanta Medicine Buddha offered eight and I did the The first five. And so the first one was led by Geshe-la. And comparatively, it was Nunye light. I mean, compared to Venerable Amy, it was so much more... He's relaxed and, you know, not intense. He didn't do the spit thing. He only did three sessions both days, which meant you had a lot more sort of free time to kind of relax. Report an error in the passage at 45:27 Highlight the passage at 45:27

46:01 He did introduce, and she hadn't said this, and apparently traditionally this is the case, on your eating meal you eat and you, whatever you take on your plate, that's it. You don't get up and you don't get. Seconds and things like that. But then LMB went around, and we did that when we did it here, and offered you more, and you could do it as long as you hadn't stood up. Report an error in the passage at 46:01 Highlight the passage at 46:01

46:22 If you stood up, then you couldn't eat anymore. So that was something that Geshe-Lah told us was part of the original tradition, and then when we checked, it was true. That was originally, that is the way you're supposed to do them. Did you have another question, Peter? No, no, those were the two. So let's say you do one over a weekend. Report an error in the passage at 46:22 Highlight the passage at 46:22

46:36 It was about more Report an error in the passage at 46:36 Highlight the passage at 46:36

46:43 How do you reintegrate on like a Monday? Because it seems like you would be flooded with compassion. Yeah, well, I actually feel like it's good to just take that Monday off. Yeah, I mean, yes, it is possible to go to work. I think it's actually nice to do it on a holiday weekend for that reason. Vajrapani used to do it over Thanksgiving. Report an error in the passage at 46:43 Highlight the passage at 46:43

47:02 And so we would do, so you'd finish, so you'd still have a day free. We'd actually all go down and eat Thanksgiving dinner together. So you're gorging right before. And then you'd have your little talk and then you'd start and do the Friday, Saturday and then Sunday you'd break it. And then so then you'd leave and you still have all day off. And I think that's really nice. We've also done it like on I think we did ours on Veterans Day. Report an error in the passage at 47:02 Highlight the passage at 47:02

47:27 And so we had, you know, you had a holiday on that Monday because, yeah, you you are. It's just like any retreat. You know how Tenzin Chokyi was saying? It doesn't matter the length of retreat. Any retreat you do. you have to end sort of the You start and end like a sesame seed. You go into it as gradually as you can. You come out of it as gradually as you can. Report an error in the passage at 47:27 Highlight the passage at 47:27

47:53 It's not so much like you're so flooded in compassion you can't be in the world. It's just more that you have a lot to kind of, you just need it to settle a little bit. But it's not like you're so raw that anyone will look at you and you'll burst into tears or something like that. Actually, you're really stoked. Report an error in the passage at 47:53 Highlight the passage at 47:53

48:09 I mean, you just feel really good and you feel you survive. So there's always that. I mean, there's something like the breakfast after the Nunez ends here is so, it's such a wonderful thing to serve because everyone is just so happy. And there's, with a group, you're also supporting everyone else. That was one thing that got me through the Nunez that I've done is just that feeling of like, because you can, it's not like Vipassanā, you can't. Report an error in the passage at 48:09 Highlight the passage at 48:09

48:35 You're in silence, but you can make eye contact. And sometimes that eye contact can really help somebody. If somebody's really having a hard time and you just kind of look at them and try to give them some support, you can feel it when somebody's trying to help you through it. And so you've come through that together because everybody throughout the weekend has some hardship. And then that morning you all break the fast together and you all have done it. Report an error in the passage at 48:35 Highlight the passage at 48:35

48:59 And there's like this really kind of happy feeling. But yeah, going to work is a bit much. I mean, he couldn't get out of it, I think, in his case. And he had a latte. It was like, you know, finish the fast here. Latte, whoa. You know, it's kind of like when Tensichoki was talking about getting the phone call about doing the board meeting, like within hours of arriving home from a three-week retreat. Report an error in the passage at 48:59 Highlight the passage at 48:59

49:25 It's just like too much. It's too much, yeah. I would say try to protect that as much as possible. It's also really, really good to have received the empowerment. empowerment Avalo to Thousand Arm, um, 10 or 86. And so, you know, that's not always possible here. And so then you just visualize it a different way. Instead of being that deity, then you visualize that deity on the crown of your head or in your heart. Report an error in the passage at 49:25 Highlight the passage at 49:25

49:49 Yeah, Peter. Oh, I just had another question. Can somebody pass him? Report an error in the passage at 49:49 Highlight the passage at 49:49

49:55 Since I'm visually impaired, I can't sit there and read a printed sadhana. Do you know if it's on any kind of audio format? I'm sure, actually. I'm sure that Ellen B. probably recorded a lot of Venerable Sarah leading it, because she led seven totally, and then she also partially led the one that Geshe-la led. Report an error in the passage at 49:55 Highlight the passage at 49:55

50:21 So I bet that they recorded some of that. And I know that often, like with Venable Amy, she recorded herself leading parts of it because on the talking day she didn't want to speak. She wanted to be able to play it and just do it. And so she might also have recordings of herself leading it too. Yeah, and that's an option for you, actually. It's an option for any of us. Report an error in the passage at 50:21 Highlight the passage at 50:21

50:45 Because it's really nice, even if you can't do it with a group and you decide you want to do it, or if you just want to do it with, like, two of your closest friends or something, you know. It is nice to have Venerable Sarah or Venerable Amy's voice kind of, you know, leading the thing so you feel like you kind of know what you're doing and you're not just trying to figure it all out together. Report an error in the passage at 50:45 Highlight the passage at 50:45

51:04 Yeah. We could probably, maybe, would you want to check in with LMB and see if they've got anything recorded? Check with somo at, somo at medicinebuddha.org, T-S-O-M-O, she's the S-B-C. Yeah. If you can't remember, send me an email, and I'll just send you her email. Report an error in the passage at 51:04 Highlight the passage at 51:04

51:27 Oh, so, oh, I forgot. I was going to tell you a little bit about the lineage. This started with a nun in the 10th or the 11th century in India. She was a fully ordained nun whose name was Bhikshuni, which of course just means fully ordained nun, Lakshmi, Lakshmi. Report an error in the passage at 51:27 Highlight the passage at 51:27

51:45 And she was, as often is the case, born to a royal family. She took vows early, though, became a monastic early. She became actually highly realized, which was not all that unusual for that time period. But then, as Lama Zopa puts it, due to her past negative actions, her negative karma ripened and she came down with leprosy. Report an error in the passage at 51:45 Highlight the passage at 51:45

52:09 So she was tossed out of the royal grounds, which actually, he said, It became quite good because it helped her cut her ties to other humans and urged her onto serious practice, which is, of course, the Lojong approach to those problems. She transformed it. She then had a dream where she was told to do this practice and where she should do this practice. Report an error in the passage at 52:09 Highlight the passage at 52:09

52:35 And some accounts say it was King Indra Bodhi who told her this, and some say that it was Manchur Sri himself. Anyway, so she did go to this site and she was told that if she did this practice for five years, that she would reach realizations equal to Tara. Report an error in the passage at 52:35 Highlight the passage at 52:35

52:56 They say that she actually, they say that actually doing this, well actually doing this practice along with Highest Yoga Tantric practice or the completion and generation stages of Chen Resik after one year. She was cured of the leprosy and that she attained enlightenment within this lifetime. It doesn't say how long she did. So she might have had to go the full five years to get enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 52:56 Highlight the passage at 52:56

53:21 I don't know. But all accounts agree that it was due to the strength of her love and her compassion of bodhicitta that she was able to subdue the forces causing her leprosy. And they say that the leprosy was caused not just by her karma, but also by nagas, which often they say is skin, causes skin things. Report an error in the passage at 53:21 Highlight the passage at 53:21

53:42 But as a result of her practice, the eight great Nagas promised to protect this practice. So they are somehow associated with protecting this practice. And then, just this is another advertisement, by the end people started criticizing her because she had grown incredibly beautiful and luminous and they all decided that she had broken her vows of celibacy and so she decided to prove to them that she had not. Report an error in the passage at 53:42 Highlight the passage at 53:42

54:05 So as she danced before them, she cut off her own head saying, If I have done this, if I've committed a defeat, let my head, you know, go. But if I haven't, then let it be as before. And of course it went right back on and everyone was all amazed. And then she, you know, started emanating all these different bodies and doing all these different things and all these people developed faith. Report an error in the passage at 54:05 Highlight the passage at 54:05

54:27 And they say she then became a master. Only if people start talking about you. We have no head on for our own. Report an error in the passage at 54:27 Highlight the passage at 54:27

54:36 They say she became a master in both Cheneri Siktara and Bajra Varahi. She mastered all of those practices. So, any more questions about the Nunei? Hopefully I didn't frighten you off. Hopefully I gave you equal quantities. Yeah. Well, the good thing about starting with Venable Amy is that nothing else... Report an error in the passage at 54:36 Highlight the passage at 54:36

55:02 You can start with bodhi. Nothing else will be ever as difficult. Well, the other thing is that probably Venerable Amy is doing it according to the way Rinpoche taught and the way that it's done. If you ever do it with the nuns in Laudo and Copan, that's the way they do it. So at least if you've ever done it with Venerable Amy, you'll know what to expect. Report an error in the passage at 55:02 Highlight the passage at 55:02

55:27 You can decide then if you're willing. After having done it there, I don't think I'll ever deal with those nuns, but I can really rejoice that they're doing it that way and, you know, that I move on to Geshe Zebel. Report an error in the passage at 55:27 Highlight the passage at 55:27

55:43 You do, actually. You still do. Less. Far less. Yes, this is true. I won't tell you the other story about that one. I want to really quick just say something and then let you have a break and then Venerable Amy's going to come up and we're going to watch some of the pilgrimage stuff. She's going to tell you a little bit about her experience with pilgrimage. I just want to tell you a couple things really quick about pilgrimage and the most important aspect about pilgrimage is that it's not ordinary travel. Report an error in the passage at 55:43 Highlight the passage at 55:43

56:12 You're going to sacred sites, but you're not going there as a tourist. You're going there either because you have a connection with those sites or Buddha had a connection with those sites or your guru had a connection with those sites. There's some reason that you're going to these holy sites and you're visiting. And almost always it involves some... Report an error in the passage at 56:12 Highlight the passage at 56:12

56:33 Form of contemplation, you're doing some practice at these sites, some retreat if you can at these sites and so forth because they say that there's power at these sites. I mean if somebody has attained enlightenment or attained, she's got her head all the way. She looks like me on the last day of that new name. Report an error in the passage at 56:33 Highlight the passage at 56:33

56:58 She's made a friend here, okay. Nash. Report an error in the passage at 56:58 Highlight the passage at 56:58

57:05 one of the... I started to say, what was I saying? I just saw her head. Anyway, the power of the places. The power of the places doesn't have to be. We tend to think of pilgrimage, I think, as going to India, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, whatever. You can actually do a retreat here. Those who went to Lama Zopa Rinpoche's house with the spiritual teacher class, the way we did that was very much like a pilgrimage where we did prayers. Report an error in the passage at 57:05 Highlight the passage at 57:05

57:37 We were able to do practice in his room. We were able to do practice at the stupa. And so we did that as much like a pilgrimage as we could. And so you can do that here. You can go to the Zen Center. Zen Center has been, I'm sure Zen Center has had many holy beings. We could go to Vajrapani and do. Vajrapani has had so many holy beings there and Land of Medicine Buddha as well. So there are places we can go locally that allow you the experience of retreat. Report an error in the passage at 57:37 Highlight the passage at 57:37

58:04 I know you can also go in a group or you can go individually on pilgrimage. Venerable Katie is going to talk about the experience of group pilgrimage, which is very, very powerful. I've done pilgrimage as a group. Going with Lama Zopa Rinpoche to Bogaya, Nalanda, Vulture's Peak, that sort of thing. And that's incredible because then he's teaching at each site, which is what Beno Rubina does as well. Report an error in the passage at 58:04 Highlight the passage at 58:04

58:32 But you can also do incredibly powerful pilgrimage on your own. I think probably the most powerful pilgrimage I ever did was when I went to Laudo in 99 because I wanted to see, and I really thought of it as pilgrimage, I wanted to see where Lama Zopa Rinpoche was born. I wanted to see the house he was born in and I wanted to see the cave where he meditated for 20 years in his past life. And I went by myself and I had read about it and I had talked to people who had been. Report an error in the passage at 58:32 Highlight the passage at 58:32

58:57 And, you know, you make friends along the way, but ultimately you go by yourself. And I got really sick and they actually say that's really good on pilgrimage and you just keep going. And like the nunya, you sort of realize you can do anything. Like once I realized, like you have to let go. of how you think it's going to be. And I got very sick of Namche Bazaar and I had to just hire some kid to run my bag up to Laudo. And he could have just run off with it. Report an error in the passage at 58:57 Highlight the passage at 58:57

59:24 There's no reason he couldn't have, you know, except for the fact that so often the Sherpas are so kind and honest. But, yeah, I had to just let go. I mean, he could have come totally running off the mountain with my 50 pounds of stuff, you know, but he didn't. It was there when I got there. And then I just had to walk by myself and I was totally sick. And I was like walking, walking, foot after foot. And you could see, there's Laudo. Report an error in the passage at 59:24 Highlight the passage at 59:24

59:50 Here I am. Okay. And you just walk, walk, rest. Walk, walk, rest. And I was just like, I'll just do it. I'll just, you know, and going at that pace, and you have, you know, at that point it was like 12,000 something feet too. So the altitude is high, so you're just like, walk, walk, rest, walk, walk, rest. Report an error in the passage at 59:50 Highlight the passage at 59:50

1:00:09 And you know, of course, you could turn around and go back to Namjai, you know, but it would be so nice to get to Lada, walk, walk, rest. And you make it, and you know you can make it. And a lot of pilgrimage is like that. You're just kind of like, I can do this, you know. So. so. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:09 Highlight the passage at 1:00:09

1:00:27 And I was able actually to do retreat in his cave. I was actually able to see his birthplace and you have to walk over active avalanches and things to do that. I mean like totally insane things. And what it does is it builds your self-confidence just like the Nunez does. Like you really get that things can be, it's an illusion we're living under right now where we think that our regular life is safe. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:27 Highlight the passage at 1:00:27

1:00:56 Going and doing the spiritual practice isn't any more safe or unsafe than this life. It's an illusion that we're living under. These kind of activities actually kind of point that out. But it can be quite profound to do pilgrimage on your own as well. It's really good to always include some form of practice, even if it's short, and always to keep your mind as much as you can in a contemplative way. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:56 Highlight the passage at 1:00:56

1:01:24 So you're not just blah blah blah with whoever and going out and having tea every night and things like that. You're really trying to keep your mind as much as you can in that state of contemplation. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:24 Highlight the passage at 1:01:24

1:01:39 So why don't we take a short break and then Katie will come down. In fact, Keisha, would you mind going and getting her? I think she's probably downstairs working. And then people can just take a short break and then as soon as... Oh, is she here? Oh, there you are. Well done. They're going to take like a five-minute break or something, but we're all set up, so. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:39 Highlight the passage at 1:01:39