Discovering Buddhism - Presenting the Path (19 March 2009)

0:00 There it goes. Hey, we're on. Alright, good. That was good. So hopefully you generated some bodhicitta and everything at the same time. I'm doing your class very good recently. Okay, so we're going to start with this meditation on parts, which is, as we talked about last week, one of the levels of dependent arising, which is a way for us to get closer and closer to understanding the nature of reality as the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:30 it to be. So just start with taking some nice deep belly breaths and imagining them just sort of dissolving away your whole day. Anything you've been thinking about, any conversations you might have just been having, any worries, anxiety, any distractions. And Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

1:05 just breathing those out in the form of black smoke or just in fine air, whatever works for you. So do that a few times. Report an error in the passage at 1:05 Highlight the passage at 1:05

1:38 Imagine that with each in-breath you're breathing in a fresh, crisp concentration, awakeness, alertness. That's Report an error in the passage at 1:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38

1:55 how it fills your whole body and mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:55 Highlight the passage at 1:55

2:24 So start by thinking about a neutral object like the pen that we talked about last week. Report an error in the passage at 2:24 Highlight the passage at 2:24

2:35 Try to visualize or imagine a pen in the air and Report an error in the passage at 2:35 Highlight the passage at 2:35

2:43 think about where that pen-ness resides or exists within that pen. Report an error in the passage at 2:43 Highlight the passage at 2:43

2:54 Where is the pen inside that cylinder? Report an error in the passage at 2:54 Highlight the passage at 2:54

3:08 If you're honest, even with your mind's eye, you can only see part of it. You only see the front part of the cylinder. You Report an error in the passage at 3:08 Highlight the passage at 3:08

3:22 only see part of the cylinder and part of the point. Maybe some of the writing on it. The Report an error in the passage at 3:22 Highlight the passage at 3:22

3:37 mind or the eye sort of makes up for what it doesn't see. Imagines the end. Imagines the other side. Fills it in. Report an error in the passage at 3:37 Highlight the passage at 3:37

3:55 But where within all those parts? This pen. Report an error in the passage at 3:55 Highlight the passage at 3:55

4:08 Would anybody coming into this room see a pen? Would the cat see a pen? Or the dog? Would Report an error in the passage at 4:08 Highlight the passage at 4:08

4:27 an ant see a pen? Report an error in the passage at 4:27 Highlight the passage at 4:27

4:35 Would somebody from some tiny, isolated culture that there are no pens see a pen? Report an error in the passage at 4:35 Highlight the passage at 4:35

4:51 Where does pen reside in this object? All Report an error in the passage at 4:51 Highlight the passage at 4:51

5:04 the parts together. Report an error in the passage at 5:04 Highlight the passage at 5:04

5:14 Imagine blasting apart this pen. Report an error in the passage at 5:14 Highlight the passage at 5:14

5:19 Just imagine it exploding in front of you and all the parts coming into a little pile. Report an error in the passage at 5:19 Highlight the passage at 5:19

5:30 All the parts of the cylinder, the points, the ball bearing inside the point, everything, a little pile. Is that still a pen? Think Report an error in the passage at 5:30 Highlight the passage at 5:30

5:53 about your own body. Report an error in the passage at 5:53 Highlight the passage at 5:53

5:59 Where is this thing called body? Is Report an error in the passage at 5:59 Highlight the passage at 5:59

6:08 the body in the arms? Is the body in the legs? Report an error in the passage at 6:08 Highlight the passage at 6:08

6:17 Is the body in the head? Or the feet? Report an error in the passage at 6:17 Highlight the passage at 6:17

6:25 Or the trunk of the body where most of the organs are? Report an error in the passage at 6:25 Highlight the passage at 6:25

6:51 The body is constantly changing. All the cells coming into or going out of being. Where is this thing called body? Report an error in the passage at 6:51 Highlight the passage at 6:51

7:05 And to what do we hang this concept? Report an error in the passage at 7:05 Highlight the passage at 7:05

7:15 Which part is most necessary to call it a body? Report an error in the passage at 7:15 Highlight the passage at 7:15

7:25 If I lose my legs or arms, is it still a body? Now Report an error in the passage at 7:25 Highlight the passage at 7:25

7:40 do the same thing. Imagine your own body in front of you and dissolve it into a pile of all of its billions and billions of parts. Report an error in the passage at 7:40 Highlight the passage at 7:40

7:54 Where is the body now? Report an error in the passage at 7:54 Highlight the passage at 7:54

7:59 Is it still a body? Report an error in the passage at 7:59 Highlight the passage at 7:59

8:13 Think about your mind. Report an error in the passage at 8:13 Highlight the passage at 8:13

8:19 The mind is also made up of parts. Report an error in the passage at 8:19 Highlight the passage at 8:19

8:26 It'll end with every single one of your thoughts and feelings and emotions, ideas, perceptions, afflictions, the Report an error in the passage at 8:26 Highlight the passage at 8:26

8:47 wealth of our minds. Which part of it is the mind? Report an error in the passage at 8:47 Highlight the passage at 8:47

8:55 What part do we hang mind onto? Report an error in the passage at 8:55 Highlight the passage at 8:55

9:05 If all the thoughts come quickly and then abide and then pass away, one after another, each one replacing the last, which one of them is the mind? Report an error in the passage at 9:05 Highlight the passage at 9:05

9:27 It's like hanging the label of river on a moving stream of water. It's changing so fast. Report an error in the passage at 9:27 Highlight the passage at 9:27

9:46 From the Buddhist point of view, not only cells are recycled, but bodies are recycled. Report an error in the passage at 9:46 Highlight the passage at 9:46

9:56 Your identities are recycled. You die, you're reborn, and you have a different identity. Report an error in the passage at 9:56 Highlight the passage at 9:56

10:09 This life male, next life female, next life black, next life dog, next life cat. Report an error in the passage at 10:09 Highlight the passage at 10:09

10:27 This subtle mind simply manifests into another form and environment based on the karma we've created. That's all reincarnation really is. Report an error in the passage at 10:27 Highlight the passage at 10:27

10:41 Karma for this life and this body exhausts and new karma ripens. Report an error in the passage at 10:41 Highlight the passage at 10:41

10:51 What are we so attached to? What do we identify with? Am Report an error in the passage at 10:51 Highlight the passage at 10:51

11:02 I so strongly woman? Next life I could be man. Am Report an error in the passage at 11:02 Highlight the passage at 11:02

11:16 I so strongly American? Next life I could be Mexican. Report an error in the passage at 11:16 Highlight the passage at 11:16

11:37 Imagine the things in front of you. Your notebook. Your table, your pen, the cushion you're on, all the things in this room, the people around you, yourself, the way you see yourself, your body, your mind, your identity, your strongest held beliefs. Report an error in the passage at 11:37 Highlight the passage at 11:37

12:08 Eye holding those beliefs. Report an error in the passage at 12:08 Highlight the passage at 12:08

12:15 Let them all break up into tiny particles and dissolve out into space. Report an error in the passage at 12:15 Highlight the passage at 12:15

12:25 Imagine that spaciousness dissolving in all directions. Just let them Report an error in the passage at 12:25 Highlight the passage at 12:25

12:49 experience. It's the bliss of letting go of everything we hold onto so strongly. And Report an error in the passage at 12:49 Highlight the passage at 12:49

13:15 from the center of that space, feel your own body again, sitting on your cushion, your table, your books and pens and your class, Report an error in the passage at 13:15 Highlight the passage at 13:15

13:42 our final class in this series, Report an error in the passage at 13:42 Highlight the passage at 13:42

13:50 for each one of us being able to fully realize those three principal paths, this path to enlightenment in our own mind, and be able to actualize pronunciation, bodhicitta. In the correct view of emptiness, Report an error in the passage at 13:50 Highlight the passage at 13:50

14:11 we can actually help others and ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 14:11 Highlight the passage at 14:11

14:26 As you're ready, you can end your meditation and open your eyes. Report an error in the passage at 14:26 Highlight the passage at 14:26

· · · silence, 1 minute

15:03 Does anybody have any questions about your week, your reading, Report an error in the passage at 15:03 Highlight the passage at 15:03

15:13 anything you've been thinking about this week? In the meditation? More questions? Report an error in the passage at 15:13 Highlight the passage at 15:13

15:27 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's next. was just hoping you would talk about the presentation. Report an error in the passage at 15:27 Highlight the passage at 15:27

15:36 Why don't we start with that and then if other people have other things. So you guys all got the email about the practice day for the retreat day. Report an error in the passage at 15:36 Highlight the passage at 15:36

15:47 How many of you think you're coming? I've gotten some emails, but just how many? I haven't looked at my email. When is it? Is it this coming? It's all about you too. We're all going to gather around you. cute. I'm so cute. I'm so cute. I'm so cute. And then you have to think about where that eye is. No, it's coming this Saturday. Report an error in the passage at 15:47 Highlight the passage at 15:47

16:15 Hang on, he's reacting. Let me be with him during his reaction. 10.30. It should end about 3.30 or 4. It sort of depends on how long the people take. Report an error in the passage at 16:15 Highlight the passage at 16:15

16:29 Yeah, but don't worry about that. Report an error in the passage at 16:29 Highlight the passage at 16:29

16:34 No, wait, that's the... the Report an error in the passage at 16:34 Highlight the passage at 16:34

16:37 That is the Demystifying, is that Demystifying Tatra? I think so. I canceled that because I was leading that. So we canceled it. It was just too much because I'm also doing the meditation in the morning. So that Report an error in the passage at 16:37 Highlight the passage at 16:37

16:55 would be 100%. We've never actually had a class make it 100%. It's a lot resting on you guys. I think you're up to it. Is there somebody who's not here? Oh wait, Rico. All right, Rico, if you're out there. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Yeah, Rico's. Okay, well, he usually kind of comes in along the late side, so we'll put him on the spot the moment he comes in. Report an error in the passage at 16:55 Highlight the passage at 16:55

17:24 So if everybody's coming, do people know yet what they're going to bring? I know I've gotten some. Oh, we actually have one person, Dawn, who started the class. She was like in the first class or two and then had to drop it. So I invited her to come to the practice day. She actually has all my notes. She actually had to switch her schedule around. She has a class on Thursday nights. So we will have another person. Report an error in the passage at 17:24 Highlight the passage at 17:24

17:50 Do people know what they're going to bring? Yeah? Yeah, it's okay. It can't be spontaneous. We have two forms of salad-like things. So just to let you know, that's been done. Report an error in the passage at 17:50 Highlight the passage at 17:50

18:06 Probably just something, I mean, it should be vegetarian. It doesn't have to be vegan, so just vegetarian is fine. Report an error in the passage at 18:06 Highlight the passage at 18:06

18:17 That's right, you emailed me, right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So we'll have an entree. So we have an entree. And it sounds like one of the salads is pretty elaborate. Report an error in the passage at 18:17 Highlight the passage at 18:17

18:29 So I think just bring. You don't need to tell me now what you're going to bring. So I think that was kind of, I just want to make sure we have something of substance and not like 17 versions of hummus and bread, which would also be fine. So you're supposed to bring something to eat. Brit, so. Report an error in the passage at 18:29 Highlight the passage at 18:29

18:43 It would be great if you could. Report an error in the passage at 18:43 Highlight the passage at 18:43

18:48 About nine, eight or nine, ten, ten actually, because if we have actually everybody, it'll be about ten. But Tony's not going to bring the most exciting dishes. Report an error in the passage at 18:48 Highlight the passage at 18:48

19:02 Okay, cool. So then I'll go through the way that we normally do it. We usually do, I'll say we. I came up with this, so I'll do it this way. We might do it some other way. We do guided meditations in the morning. Report an error in the passage at 19:02 Highlight the passage at 19:02

19:19 I'll remind you of this that morning too. I like to keep that part in silence and it can be like a little retreat. So I'll just guide you through, you should be familiar with all of them, if you've even just read them. Hopefully you've done them. So there's nothing new, I'm just going to take you back through a lot of the meditations. I was looking at it tonight and actually we've covered an enormous amount in this class. Report an error in the passage at 19:19 Highlight the passage at 19:19

19:44 So I'm probably going to have to figure out how to do it so that it's a, you know, not... It doesn't take the entire day. But normally it takes the first couple of hours to just kind of go through it to guide you. You guys will have a chance. I'll give you breaks like every 15 or 20 minutes. So don't feel like you're going to have to sit there. Report an error in the passage at 19:44 Highlight the passage at 19:44

20:04 I'll say this is a good time for a break. If you want to stretch, you can. And I just kind of do that periodically every 15 or 20 minutes. So I won't forget about you. Report an error in the passage at 20:04 Highlight the passage at 20:04

20:14 And you can do whatever you need to. So you can stand up. And stretch, or you can just stretch in your seat. And most people are actually fine just to stretch in your seat. And also, of course, clearly, if you need to go to the restroom or something, just go. But just be aware of your classmates and that somebody could be having a really profound experience. We can't see everybody's minds. So just be quiet and be respectful of the space. Report an error in the passage at 20:14 Highlight the passage at 20:14

20:38 So don't try to tell your neighbor some great insight you had. If you feel like you need to write something down, that's cool. And then you can always share it later or not. So you might even want to keep, you know, a notebook or something on your desk so you don't have to rummage through seven plastic bags to get to something that's often disturbing. Report an error in the passage at 20:38 Highlight the passage at 20:38

20:56 But please feel free to do whatever you need to do to have a good experience in that morning. And then at the end, I'll open it up. And then if people want to share something or if they have a question about something or whatever, then we'll have just a little talk about that and then we'll break for lunch. Report an error in the passage at 20:56 Highlight the passage at 20:56

21:15 And then we watch a little movie while we're digesting. And then it'll be you guys turn and you can just do your little whatever you want to call it. We started discussing new words. Normally I call it presentation topic. Presentation definitely freaks people out. And so we're trying to come up with other words. So the last class... Report an error in the passage at 21:15 Highlight the passage at 21:15

21:40 The class, the Wednesday night class, we came up, somebody came up with reflection, which I am so Californian, you know. And then discussion sounds like that's, in some ways there's even more pressure, like you need everybody to engage in your discussion. What it really is, is going by that list and going by your experience with what happened in the class, like choose something that moved your mind and just share it. Report an error in the passage at 21:40 Highlight the passage at 21:40

22:06 And share it with us like we don't know anything. So you're practicing kind of explaining something that meant something to you. It doesn't have to sum up the entire class. It can just be one tiny element and you can literally just read your notes the whole time. People do that. They're like, okay, the three types of suffering are, and that's totally fine. Because it's just kind of a way for you to just test yourself a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 22:06 Highlight the passage at 22:06

22:34 But the word that Lama Yeshe used to call it, he used to call it public examination. So I dropped that one right away. But they actually still call it that, public examination. He used to make people do this in front of like 200 students and Lama Zopa and Lama Yeshe. They had to defend some point. Defenders are outrageous sometimes. But of course that's what you do in the monastery, right? Report an error in the passage at 22:34 Highlight the passage at 22:34

23:01 You go out into the debate court and you debate something and people basically are trying to test your knowledge of something. So that's kind of where the idea came from. But for Westerners, we don't really do that so much. So discussion is kind of the closest thing that we do. So it's just kind of like sharing something. Report an error in the passage at 23:01 Highlight the passage at 23:01

23:18 But sharing also is very California. Call it whatever you will. Call it your moment in the sun. And just pick something to share. And again, it's optional. Nobody has to do it. You don't have to do it. I think it's kind of more fun if we all do it because then nobody feels, you know. I've actually attended classes where I'm the only one and that's just weird. It feels really weird. How long should that be? Report an error in the passage at 23:18 Highlight the passage at 23:18

23:47 Five minutes, ten minutes. It doesn't have to be huge. Honestly, if we want to be able to leave that day, it better not be. You don't have to do any kind of handouts. You don't need to do anything. PowerPoint. You don't even have to stand up. We're just going to be sitting in a circle. I mean, very California. Report an error in the passage at 23:47 Highlight the passage at 23:47

23:42 so, anyway. Report an error in the passage at 23:42 Highlight the passage at 23:42

24:09 Sharing circle. Well, I'll pass around the talking stick and I'll take time. Yeah, and then there's always the option too of leading a meditation if you want to try your hand at that. And I actually prefer that because then everybody has their eyes closed. Nobody's watching. And it takes a certain skill to do that and learning that skill is useful. Report an error in the passage at 24:09 Highlight the passage at 24:09

24:33 Help people follow something. Report an error in the passage at 24:33 Highlight the passage at 24:33

24:40 It's really, it's not, you know. The end of the world. I have taken Discovering Buddhism classes before and had to do this. And the teachers are varying between totally leaving it up to you and just email me something. And then also I remember Sanghi Kadro, we had to meet with her privately and she timed it. We had to do like 15 or 20 minutes and like talking about something. Report an error in the passage at 24:40 Highlight the passage at 24:40

25:08 It was really quite nerve wracking. So I never want to do that to people. So I always make it a lot lower. And some people will do that. And then, you know, more power to them. You know, if some people, if you really want to do it like a presentation and teach something, that's great. But the main thing from my side is it's for you to kind of see what you know about something and share it and practice sharing it. Report an error in the passage at 25:08 Highlight the passage at 25:08

25:30 Because then it's useful for you to test yourself. Like if you think you know something, but something's not quite right. Why not catch it now when you have somebody, you have a loving class around you, rather than when you're sitting there at dinner one night trying to explain it to somebody and then you kind of get stuck because you can't remember exactly how this and this match together. Report an error in the passage at 25:30 Highlight the passage at 25:30

25:51 And of course, not getting enlightened because you have something wrong. So you want to think the bigger things too. So it's mostly for that. It's just for you to kind of see. See what moved your mind the most, what kind of snapped with you. Usually there's something on that list that jumps right out at you, that means something to you. Report an error in the passage at 25:51 Highlight the passage at 25:51

26:16 And if not, if you need help, contact me and we'll figure out something. I'll sign something. Yeah, but some people have done it all over the place. Sometimes people have produced like big poster board things with sparkle paint and you know, and sometimes people are just literally, it's this, this and this and this and this. Report an error in the passage at 26:16 Highlight the passage at 26:16

26:36 And this, this, and this, and this. And that's it. That's their whole presentation. You know, and I am just like, that's totally fine. There's no grade or anything. Report an error in the passage at 26:36 Highlight the passage at 26:36

26:58 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's my fear is to be like, why am I in the teacher role if I don't, like, will you correct, like, that's what I, like, I'm fine if you want to correct. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't want to give people information. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I'll jump in if I feel like you're going way off. Report an error in the passage at 26:58 Highlight the passage at 26:58

27:17 But I'll try to do it in a really nice way. Wait a second. No, it won't be like that. It'll be definitely... What I usually do is let the person just finish and then kind of open up for questions. And sometimes one of the students will say something like, I thought that... Report an error in the passage at 27:17 Highlight the passage at 27:17

27:36 But it's always done nice because nobody, including me, has any self-confidence. So it's okay. We'll all just kind of... You'll know by the end where you might have gone off. It's usually not like you're going to be completely off. It's more likely that some logical point may not have made sense to you. Report an error in the passage at 27:36 Highlight the passage at 27:36

27:59 But honestly, it really doesn't have to be a big deal. And the whole thing, it doesn't take more than an hour to do ten of us, you know what I mean? So it's like everybody's just kind of doing it and sharing it. It's actually really nice if anybody does want to lead a meditation because it's a nice way to end. Report an error in the passage at 27:59 Highlight the passage at 27:59

28:15 So I usually ask, and if there's somebody in the group that wants to lead a meditation, then that's the one I use at the end. Report an error in the passage at 28:15 Highlight the passage at 28:15

28:26 Don't freak. Send me emails tomorrow if you're freaking out. I know it's like day after tomorrow, so it's kind of crazy. So just let it be what it is. Report an error in the passage at 28:26 Highlight the passage at 28:26

28:37 And it's also okay if you back out and you don't feel like we'll just put you in the middle. We'll give up Walker's seat. Then we'll make you do an interpretive dance of the three principal paths. The arrow of the Dharma. no, no, no. Nothing missed. Then you have to wash the dishes. Alright. So, I Report an error in the passage at 28:37 Highlight the passage at 28:37

29:11 know I came up with this during the morning puja. We have this whole little elaborate thing. Janet figured it out for me. So we're going to go back to emptiness. So tonight we're going to go into emptiness. Last week we were talking more about dependent arising. And I was going to have us read the verses again, but we'll end with the verses. Report an error in the passage at 29:11 Highlight the passage at 29:11

29:31 I'll just read you the ones that are... So the verses 12 and 13, at some point they no longer alternate, come together, just seeing that dependent arising never fails, brings realization that destroys how you hold to objects, and then your analysis with view is complete. In addition, the appearance prevents the existence extreme, emptiness, that of non-existence. Report an error in the passage at 29:31 Highlight the passage at 29:31

30:03 And if you see how emptiness shows in cause and effect, you'll never be stolen off by extreme views. So these two verses we're going to talk about right now. Report an error in the passage at 30:03 Highlight the passage at 30:03

30:17 So we started sort of talking a little bit about... Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Could you pass something? Oh here, it's okay. Report an error in the passage at 30:17 Highlight the passage at 30:17

30:28 Does anybody else need a copy of the text that doesn't have one? You want? Report an error in the passage at 30:28 Highlight the passage at 30:28

30:41 So we project this quality. This intrinsic, inherent existence onto everything we see, every person we interact with, whether it's a cup, whether it's a person, whether it's a table, it seems to exist out there from their own side, independent of us, independent of any other cause, even those that we intellectually understand that people made this table. Report an error in the passage at 30:41 Highlight the passage at 30:41

31:12 Somebody gave birth to Courtney, you know, like all the things that contributed to her arising or this cup being made or not even counting the karma, you know, just the mundane, realistic effects. We sort of don't think about all the things that might have gone into Kara's mind today that made her irritable or anxious or, you know, that might have led to an argument or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 31:12 Highlight the passage at 31:12

31:36 So we don't think about causes and conditions. We just see angry person. And then we react to that. We do it with people, and we do it with cups, you know, we put all this other stuff on top of it. I love blue cups, you know, cups with blue writing, this is so beautiful. So I make it like, I add all these like embellishments to it, my own stories arise based on this, oh I hate blue cups, you know, so all these like weird afflicted states of mind arise in relationship to this object that seems to exist completely independently of everything and everyone else. Report an error in the passage at 31:36 Highlight the passage at 31:36

32:11 It just exists like that. That's the way it appears. Report an error in the passage at 32:11 Highlight the passage at 32:11

32:19 So we started kind of doing that in the meditation a little bit. It wasn't a strict meditation on parts. We were also meditating a little on that label. The label. The label. Body. And so that's what we're talking about. We're getting into here. If we start looking at this table and we try to figure out where... Report an error in the passage at 32:19 Highlight the passage at 32:19

32:44 This tableness resides in the table. Where is it located? Is it in this top? Is it in the legs? Is it in, you know, all of it together? Is it deeper? Is it within the atoms that this tableness exists? Report an error in the passage at 32:44 Highlight the passage at 32:44

33:04 When did it start to be a table? When would it stop to be a table, you know, being a table? If we chopped off all the legs, would it still be a table? And it's sort of this... Endless analysis of going down deeper and deeper and deeper into the parts and trying to see where the table is or where the cup is, where the clock is. Report an error in the passage at 33:04 Highlight the passage at 33:04

33:29 Those are like onion skin. Just keep taking off another layer. Report an error in the passage at 33:29 Highlight the passage at 33:29

33:37 There is an existent table that validly exists that changes from moment to moment to moment depending upon its atoms and those particles and the changing. And whether or not I dent it and all the ways that it's impermanent as well. The wood kind of degenerates over time and so forth. Already I see there's like a drop of wax. Report an error in the passage at 33:37 Highlight the passage at 33:37

34:01 There's a scar here. There's a scar here. There's a chip here. There is that veil of the existent table, but we don't usually see that. We usually see something that's almost whole, almost partless. We just see table. We just see cushion. We just see mic, microphone, you know. Report an error in the passage at 34:01 Highlight the passage at 34:01

34:21 It's only upon analysis that we start breaking it down into parts. But usually when we see things we don't see, there's a table with the top and legs and some scars on it, and we don't see it like that. We see it kind of out there. And the same is true for people. We see them, we just see you just like you are. Report an error in the passage at 34:21 Highlight the passage at 34:21

34:43 But we aren't really seeing you just like we are. We're filling in a lot. We don't see her back. We don't see... The bottoms are your feet. We definitely don't see everything that went into making you you. It's the process of relationship, right? It's finding out what some of those things are, which sometimes we find out in really difficult ways. We trigger things in each other. Report an error in the passage at 34:43 Highlight the passage at 34:43

35:13 The Buddha is actually teaching that this is our experience with every single thing we come into contact with, every single person that we have relationship with. But, um... Report an error in the passage at 35:13 Highlight the passage at 35:13

35:23 Every place that we have a relationship with. Everything that we experience. And they say that this is the root misperception of reality that begins with our misperception of this I. Report an error in the passage at 35:23 Highlight the passage at 35:23

35:41 We do the same thing with ourselves. We are a composite of our body. Everything that we analyzed. was body, all the cells that go into the skin, the cells in the blood, the muscles, the ligaments and tendons and the brain and all the physical things that go into me, which is constantly in flux, constantly changing, and the mind, which is all those things that we... Report an error in the passage at 35:41 Highlight the passage at 35:41

36:16 We were looking at all of that, you know, the thoughts and the dreams and the perceptions and the memories and the awarenesses of sound and the, you know, awarenesses of taste or, you know, whatever. All of that that's also constantly in flow. And then onto that we label Chokyi, David, you know, or Walker. Report an error in the passage at 36:16 Highlight the passage at 36:16

36:42 We label that me. This is me. And it's this temporary alliance. That happens usually, actually before conception, in the womb there's some sense of an I. It may not be labeled. So I actually don't like that term label. It's actually just some conceptual understanding. But it's not necessarily, you know, a word. Report an error in the passage at 36:42 Highlight the passage at 36:42

37:08 It's not necessarily a language. It doesn't always involve language. And then it stays there, this label, this idea, this concept of I. Report an error in the passage at 37:08 Highlight the passage at 37:08

37:21 Until the karma for this body in this life exhausts and then the subtle most mind goes into the next existence based upon the karma that we've created, not just in this life but in previous lives. Report an error in the passage at 37:21 Highlight the passage at 37:21

37:39 And part of what makes us create such an I and embellish such an I and believe in such an I is the discomfort that comes with that of stark reality of how ephemeral and how... Report an error in the passage at 37:39 Highlight the passage at 37:39

37:57 Fluid and spacious we actually are. Unchangeable we actually are. And it's not necessarily a conscious thought. It's not like, boy, that's big, I'm going to believe in a me. You know, it's not like that. It's just over time, this is what happens. The mind, the subtle most mind in the next rebirth comes into this body, comes into whatever body it is, and begins that process of enveloping. Report an error in the passage at 37:57 Highlight the passage at 37:57

38:26 The story that becomes me to I am. And there is some conscious decision making within it if we think about what we might have done in our, especially our teens, in our 20s, like who am I, you know, really, especially in this culture. I think we do that a lot. Who am I? And then we believe in that. But of course, how many I's have we already had in this life? Report an error in the passage at 38:26 Highlight the passage at 38:26

38:54 So when we break down things into their parts, one of the things we can break down, and probably the most profound thing, To break down is this I, composite basically. Report an error in the passage at 38:54 Highlight the passage at 38:54

39:12 So it's important we start with things like cups or pens, sort of more neutral, flowers like we did last week. Looking at those things because there's not as much built up around that. Okay, so the flower doesn't exist. Most of you didn't lose any sleep about that poor flower that I destroyed. We can pull apart that flower and not find the flower. Report an error in the passage at 39:12 Highlight the passage at 39:12

39:37 Even, I won't, destroy this cup and look for cupness inside of it, you know, to pull it apart. Is it where the handle hooks on, you know, ripping it apart, looking at the cellular structure, you know. And again, most of us aren't going to lose any sleep over this cup, although I actually like this cup. Report an error in the passage at 39:37 Highlight the passage at 39:37

40:00 But we start with that because it's a little easier to look at. So the third level. Report an error in the passage at 40:00 Highlight the passage at 40:00

40:11 So the lowest level of dependent arising is that things don't exist except through causes and conditions, right, the first, and parts, second, so it's all of them, and the mere label that you're placing on those things. So it's the addition of the mere label that you're placing on them. So the lowest level of dependent arising is only Causes and conditions. Things arise due to causes and conditions. The second level is causes and conditions and parts. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 40:11 Highlight the passage at 40:11

40:45 And then the third is all of the above. Causes and conditions. Because that's conventional, right? We need to, things do arise for all sorts of reasons. You know, somebody made this table. Actually, Geshe-la, of course, would say that the biggest cause is actually karma. There's our karmic relationship with that. We see, that's why we see, that's why I see that differently than the dog does. And then the third is this label. Report an error in the passage at 40:45 Highlight the passage at 40:45

41:16 And in some ways, you can actually say, yeah, they always say this term, a mere label. Say a mere, it's not just any label, it's just a mere label. As Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who's my main teacher, says, it's almost... It's so subtle, he says. It's so subtle. It's almost like things don't exist. But they do. It's so subtle. Report an error in the passage at 41:16 Highlight the passage at 41:16

41:52 So one way... Can I borrow somebody else's pen again? Because I never seem to remember bringing one myself. You know what? I should... This is a good one. Well, I found it useful. So if Report an error in the passage at 41:52 Highlight the passage at 41:52

42:13 I look... We're not going to analyze the pen now. We're going to analyze this. So can everybody see this? So we look at this. And we see, most of us, A. If your eyesight's good enough, English-speaking country. Report an error in the passage at 42:13 Highlight the passage at 42:13

42:36 But actually, some would say that it's simply these lines. These lines. At one point, we looked at this and we didn't see A. The label got added later. You know, the first time we saw that, assuming that we learned it, say when we were five years old or something like that, somebody drew it and we were just kind of like, And you probably even looked, I remember pretending to know how to read before I could read, you know, just trying to, you know, because my brothers and sisters could read, right? Report an error in the passage at 42:36 Highlight the passage at 42:36

43:10 So I wanted to go to school so badly and I was just like, look, actually I learned to read before I went to school. But I remember just trying, you know, trying to make sense of these things. It's like reading, me trying to read French now. It's just not a pretty picture. So it's like you're trying to look at it and you're trying to understand what it means, but it doesn't have meaning to you yet. Report an error in the passage at 43:10 Highlight the passage at 43:10

43:30 It's like the Helen Keller moment, right? And then at some point, somebody's like, okay, Kara, this means A. This is A. You know, and there's like some click. Report an error in the passage at 43:30 Highlight the passage at 43:30

43:41 That means A. And then you start using it as a building block, you know. But it's not an A from its own side. It doesn't exist independently of that, you know, of that placement of this label upon these lines. It cannot say I am. Report an error in the passage at 43:41 Highlight the passage at 43:41

44:02 No, well. Well, the cup can't either, though. I mean, at one point, we had at some point, somehow we labeled that A. Either our teacher came along and said, you know, you're a teacher, right? And you had to say, you know, this is an A, Courtney. This meets A. It's the first letter, you know, and then you practice drawing it and it all falls out of the line. Report an error in the passage at 44:02 Highlight the passage at 44:02

44:34 But from its own side, it's not an A. It's simply lines that we've added that label to. And in fact, in French, it's an A, not an A. It's an A. Just three lines. You know, if I show this to the cats, they wouldn't see A. They'd be like, they actually would be afraid that I was going to hit them with the paper. Report an error in the passage at 44:34 Highlight the passage at 44:34

44:56 I think they're former owners. I know. Whenever you pick up a paper, they go, I'm just like, no, no. Look, I'm trying to show you the A. Report an error in the passage at 44:56 Highlight the passage at 44:56

45:06 I haven't tried that one yet. And that's true for everything. That's true for the pen. That's true for people. That's true for the table. That's true for the cup. That's what's meant when they say nothing has an atom of inherent existence out there independent from the mind labeling it. Everything arises independent upon causes and conditions, parts. Report an error in the passage at 45:06 Highlight the passage at 45:06

45:40 And that means that everything arises in that way. That's dependent arising. That nothing exists independently. Everything only exists dependently. And that's what's meant by emptiness and dependent arising. So it's not saying that things don't exist at all. They're saying that they don't exist independently from everything else. Things only exist interdependently. Report an error in the passage at 45:40 Highlight the passage at 45:40

46:14 And the same is true for people. You know, the first time I met this person, I didn't have a label for her. But then I asked her her name and she told me. And after I asked her a 17th time, I finally remembered her name was Courtney. And so then I placed that label. And then it seems like she's just Courtney from her own side. Report an error in the passage at 46:14 Highlight the passage at 46:14

46:33 Like she's just always been Courtney, always will be Courtney. And actually she might have changed her name many times in this lifetime. I certainly did many times. Before I even became a nun, I'd already changed several times. And the same is true for the cats. You know, the cats came actually to us and they already had names. They came with names. Booty. Report an error in the passage at 46:33 Highlight the passage at 46:33

46:56 Booty and Shadow. So we renamed them. We relabeled them. Bodhi and Shanti. But now it seems like it just comes from them. Like you see them and it's just like it's Bodhi or Shanti from their own sign. And we placed that label on them. As Lama Zopa says, the worst is not that we label it, the worst is that then we believe it is that thing from its own side and we have nothing to do with it. Report an error in the passage at 46:56 Highlight the passage at 46:56

47:24 And that grasping on to that inherent existence, that's what that's called, that mind grasping on to it and believing it 100%, without a question, that that thing exists out there separate from my mind doing anything, much less the labeling process. Report an error in the passage at 47:24 Highlight the passage at 47:24

47:42 That's what causes... All the suffering in saṃsāra. Hard to believe, but it's true. This is what the Buddha meant when he talks about the root cause of saṃsāra. This is the ignorance. It's that ignorance of not seeing things accurately. This is that ignorance. This is the root ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 47:42 Highlight the passage at 47:42

48:09 And because we believe in it so strongly, if I created this I and I then began embellishing it, Based on this misunderstanding, especially about the I, I have this whole series of afflicted states of mind that arise. The I gets angry, the I gets defensive, the I gets resentful. All these afflicted states of mind arise based upon this idea that I am something to defend. Report an error in the passage at 48:09 Highlight the passage at 48:09

48:47 I am something that is afraid. I am something that has been attacked. So it becomes this huge story, basically, that we believe exists 100 % because we haven't analyzed it. Or even if we have analyzed it, we haven't analyzed it enough. And then we serve this complete fabrication of this I. And we serve it from lifetime to lifetime to lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 48:47 Highlight the passage at 48:47

49:17 We are slaves to this. And the Buddha is simply going, wait, here's the flashlight. It doesn't even exist like that. So we have to look. We have to analyze. And that's what these meditations do is they allow us to start investigating because we're just lock, stock and barrel buying it and then without even really investigating it at all. Report an error in the passage at 49:17 Highlight the passage at 49:17

49:41 So, and sometimes they talk about, you know, when they talk about the selflessness. You know, the lack of an existent or lack of an inherently existent self. They aren't even just talking about this self that we think of as a self. They actually are talking about all things are also devoid of a self. Report an error in the passage at 49:41 Highlight the passage at 49:41

50:00 Because in Buddha-speak, objects, phenomena also have self. Because what they're talking about is cup-ness. We don't say that in English so much, because this didn't arise in English. Report an error in the passage at 50:00 Highlight the passage at 50:00

50:15 We're trying to make sense of it. So they actually talk about a selflessness of the table, a selflessness of the cup, a selflessness of the glasses holders or the glasses within us, a selflessness of the book and the papers. So they're really just talking about an essencelessness, like that whatever makes that thing a cup actually doesn't, you know, it doesn't exist inherently. Report an error in the passage at 50:15 Highlight the passage at 50:15

50:36 It's all due to causes and conditions and parts and then our label is slapped upon it. So I'm just throwing that out in case you do hear this term selflessness. It's really talking about everything. They actually do divide it into selflessness of phenomena and selflessness of persons. And they say actually that the analysis of the selflessness of persons, this looking for the I and not finding it, ultimately will do that over and over and over again. Report an error in the passage at 50:36 Highlight the passage at 50:36

51:06 And there are a number of other things we have to have in place. But that's going to be what our direct perception of emptiness is going to be about. It's a direct perception of the lack. It's a direct perception of a non... That's why they call it emptiness. We are having an experience of what we thought was there, believed was there, lifetime after lifetime after lifetime, not being there. Report an error in the passage at 51:06 Highlight the passage at 51:06

51:35 And one of my friends, Tenson Chokyi, told this great example. She said, and it falls short, but it's close because you can kind of get an idea. She said, it's like you have some pizza, right? Then you go to work. And all day long, you're thinking about how you're going to have some of that pizza when you get home. You can picture it, you know, you can totally see the box. Report an error in the passage at 51:35 Highlight the passage at 51:35

51:57 You can totally see the... The pizza and it's like you left it on the counter so it's actually kind of room temperature. It's kind of perfect. It's even got the little plastic thing on top to keep, you know, to keep the thing from being attached to it. And you've got it all in your mind. You're going to have some as soon as you get home. And you get home and you're like mouth-watering. And then you realize that your roommate came home and ate the whole thing. Report an error in the passage at 51:57 Highlight the passage at 51:57

52:20 So you open up the box and what you're expecting to see is not there. And it was so real and so vivid a second ago. That you were literally having all these afflicted states of mind about it. And then it's just gone. Just gone. And they say that's what it's like to meditate on the eye once you really have it set up and you know exactly what it is you're looking for, which we're just starting. Report an error in the passage at 52:20 Highlight the passage at 52:20

52:45 So you don't have it yet. They actually say it takes thousands of hours of study and contemplation before we can have a direct perspective. And we have to be able to concentrate deeply, deeply, deeply. It happens in a deep meditative equipoise. It's in a very, very deep state of meditation that this happened. Report an error in the passage at 52:45 Highlight the passage at 52:45

53:05 But it's like that, you know. We go to look for it, what we expect to be there, and it's not there. It doesn't take away what was already there. It simply points out that it was never there and actually could never have been there. So it's not taking away what was already there. That's important to know. And actually, I'm not sure. Yes, I do. Report an error in the passage at 53:05 Highlight the passage at 53:05

53:34 Okay. So it is important to think you Report an error in the passage at 53:34 Highlight the passage at 53:34

53:40 can't just label anything the way you want. So I can't just say, okay, if that's true, then this is a pen and that's a dog and there's a bicycle. Report an error in the passage at 53:40 Highlight the passage at 53:40

53:56 There are three things that have to be in place before you can label something. Report an error in the passage at 53:56 Highlight the passage at 53:56

54:04 The object has to be known to what's called a conventional perception. And a conventional perception means basically someone with a conventional valid perception. So somebody who's not drunk, somebody who's not mentally ill. Report an error in the passage at 54:04 Highlight the passage at 54:04

54:24 But, you know, your perception can also be affected by other things, right? Low light, lack of sleep. Report an error in the passage at 54:24 Highlight the passage at 54:24

54:35 It could be bad eyesight. Yeah, bad eyesight is, I guess, somewhat, in this case, a little bit similar to being drunk, even though it's no choice involved. Report an error in the passage at 54:35 Highlight the passage at 54:35

54:47 But the second point is no other conventional perception can contradict its experience. And I'll tell you a story about that. And then the final is no ultimate analysis can contradict its existence either. So imagine that you're walking on a road. And you see something in the distance and you think it's a man. In fact, you're sure it's a man. You might even think it's somebody you know. Report an error in the passage at 54:47 Highlight the passage at 54:47

55:16 And then somebody comes along from that same direction and says, oh no, that's not a man. That's a scarecrow in front of Dave's house. Report an error in the passage at 55:16 Highlight the passage at 55:16

55:27 And you're like, oh, it just, your perception of that being a man just is gone. There's nothing to place it onto. It had no valid basis anyway. You simply thought that's what you saw. But your vision was affected by the distance or maybe just by sight. And then a valid perception comes along and explains it to you and you're like, oh, okay. Report an error in the passage at 55:27 Highlight the passage at 55:27

55:48 And then there's a famous story where, you know, somebody sees a coiled rope in the dark and thinks it's a snake. And all this fear arises, right? You see it, it looks exactly like a snake, even the pattern on it looks like a snake, and you're totally freaking out, and then somebody turns on the light, or you turn on the light, or you turn on the flashlight, and you realize it's just a rope. Report an error in the passage at 55:48 Highlight the passage at 55:48

56:14 All the fear just vanishes, you know, because you know now there was nothing really, no basis for that fear. It was just this misapprehension of something. I think a lot of us have had similar experiences like that, maybe not. Fear of a snake. Maybe it was more like noises in the night and then you realize, oh, it's just the neighbor. And all the fear just literally vanishes. Report an error in the passage at 56:14 Highlight the passage at 56:14

56:40 They say that having a direct perception of FDS is like this because once we realize, we actually have to over and over get used to it, but once we realize that there isn't an I that exists in that way that we embellish and build it up and believe in it and defend it and all the mental afflictions just begin to... Report an error in the passage at 56:40 Highlight the passage at 56:40

57:04 There's not anything to place them on. There's nothing to defend. In fact, there's nobody to defend it to. But this is not to say that things don't exist, that things don't exist at all. And so we want to talk about that for a moment because this is all still really focusing on how things dependently arise, how things do exist. Report an error in the passage at 57:04 Highlight the passage at 57:04

57:37 The emptiness, the two combined in the root text where we're talking about the two alternate, that's what he's talking about. This understanding how things actually do arise as interdependently as they do and how things don't exist, in other words, as this inherent, independent, permanent, solid, concrete thing that we think we see. Report an error in the passage at 57:37 Highlight the passage at 57:37

58:05 You go back and forth between the two, and that's how you arrive at the correct view of reality, which is that things are empty of inherent existence. And Lama Tsongkhapa, who wrote the root text, said that once you understand the secret of dependent arising, the meaning of emptiness can come in a flash. Report an error in the passage at 58:05 Highlight the passage at 58:05

58:25 He said that the way in understanding emptiness was to understand dependent arising. But also... Understanding dependent arising keeps us from falling into that fear that nothing exists at all, which is called nihilism, basically. Report an error in the passage at 58:25 Highlight the passage at 58:25

58:42 That's the extreme view. That's the extreme view. So we're going to talk about that in a second because there are these two extremes, nihilism and eternalism. You could say eternalism or materialism. Report an error in the passage at 58:42 Highlight the passage at 58:42

58:59 And it's important for us to really take a second and think about this because it's profound. Because if we think nothing exists at all, you know, you hear people say this actually. It's all empty. It's all empty anyway. What does it matter? People actually say this. Karma still exists. Karma still functions. Things still function. You know, if I go out and stand in the middle of Webster Street. Report an error in the passage at 58:59 Highlight the passage at 58:59

59:27 I'm going to get hit by a car, you know. Things still work. It's because things are interdependent that we have to be ethical, that we have to be kind, that we have to create positive karma. If things don't exist interdependently, if things don't exist independently, that means they exist interdependently and what we do... Report an error in the passage at 59:27 Highlight the passage at 59:27

59:57 Has complete import. What we do matters more than we used to think it did, actually. If we're all connected, what we do matters. That's how we become enlightened, actually. It's only because things are empty of inherent existence. It's only because things exist interdependently that this body and mind can become that body. Report an error in the passage at 59:57 Highlight the passage at 59:57

1:00:25 We can actually become enlightened and manifest. billions and billions of bodies as needed and have a mind that is omniscient and things like that. If our mind inherently existed, we wouldn't change at all. We would be I am what I am. We would be Popeye. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:25 Highlight the passage at 1:00:25

1:00:43 So anyway, so there's two groups of two that sometimes can get confusing. I remember when I was first talking about emptiness, there's something called the two truths, and there's something called the two extremes. The two truths... Referring basically to two, they aren't really two truths, they're two ways to see existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:43 Highlight the passage at 1:00:43

1:01:11 They aren't two true ways to see existence. They're called the two truths. The first one is actually sometimes translated as conventional truth or relative truth. I actually like it better, deceptive truth. One of my teachers called it deceptive truth. It's how we see things and how we think things exist, how things appear to our mind. And it just seems true because our mind's mistaken. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:11 Highlight the passage at 1:01:11

1:01:39 So it's deceptive truth. You look like that. You look permanent and partless and independent. And I believe you exist that way. And so that way I can hate people. That way I can obsess about people too because I don't see anything else. I'm just seeing this. thing. None of the causes and conditions, none of their changes, nothing. I'm just, I've painted this picture and I'm going with that. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:39 Highlight the passage at 1:01:39

1:02:04 ultimate truth is true so there's deceptive truth and ultimate truth ultimate truth is the true nature The two extremes Report an error in the passage at 1:02:04 Highlight the passage at 1:02:04

1:02:30 are talking about How we can misunderstand all of this. And the middle way is somewhere in between. So the extreme of nihilism, which is the one I just touched on. And this one is the one that the lower schools of philosophical thought get really stuck on. And that's thinking, if things don't exist the way I think that they do, then they don't exist at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:30 Highlight the passage at 1:02:30

1:02:56 Then what Chokyi's saying is basically, it's all a bunch of air and spade. Punch somebody. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:56 Highlight the passage at 1:02:56

1:03:06 And that's nihilism. And that's dangerous because what we do does matter. What we do creates the karma that manifests, allows us to manifest in other forms, allows us to experience happiness and allows us to experience sadness. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:06 Highlight the passage at 1:03:06

1:03:26 So if we think what we do doesn't matter, then we're forgetting totally about the love, that things are interdependent, things are interconnected. So what we do does matter. Eternalism is what we think now. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:26 Highlight the passage at 1:03:26

1:03:39 Things exist exactly the way they appear to us, the way my senses tell me they are. That thing in the corner rolled up is a snake, just because I see it that way, so it must be true. You know, the show me state, right? The middle way is between these two. Things don't exist inherently, but they do exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:39 Highlight the passage at 1:03:39

1:04:03 They exist in a much more subtle way than we're used to thinking that things exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:03 Highlight the passage at 1:04:03

1:04:12 Everything arises due to causes and conditions. Everything arises interdependently and everything is therefore interconnected. So the only thing that actually matters is what we do, how we act, what we create with our body, speech and mind which then is termed karma but this potential that then ripens as our own reality basically as our experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:12 Highlight the passage at 1:04:12

1:04:41 So ultimately that is the most important. That we do what we do. So why don't I just open up for some questions because I'm sure you must have some. And then we're going to talk a little bit about just a little way of concluding this and then talking about that final verse. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:41 Highlight the passage at 1:04:41

1:05:05 Your mind sees things. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The question was. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:05 Highlight the passage at 1:05:05

1:05:15 Is deceptive truth the way your mind sees things? Yes. Yes. Unless you have the mind of an Arya being or an Arhat or something. If you are an ordinary being, you see things deceptively because our minds are mistaken, what we understand about reality. We haven't had a direct perception of emptiness. Somebody with a direct perception of emptiness, they actually say when you first have a direct perception of emptiness, you come down from that meditation, that meditational state, and you look around and you still see. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:15 Highlight the passage at 1:05:15

1:05:55 The way we saw them when we went into meditation that day, you know, and it can literally be a half an hour later. It doesn't take that long once we've set up, you know, our billions of hours of studying and we know exactly what we're meditating on. We all can meditate very, very deeply from an ear. So we, you know, we walk to the little meditation hall and then we sit down and we meditate and before we go into meditation, I'm looking around and I'm like, you know, well, Courtney's that way and the table's that way and the chair and I have this, the same view that we have right now. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:55 Highlight the passage at 1:05:55

1:06:26 Then I sit down and I do this meditation and I come back out of it. I still see things. I still see table. I still see Courtney. I still see tea, you know, so forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:26 Highlight the passage at 1:06:26

1:06:37 But I don't believe it anymore. Because I have had a direct immersion, basically, in the fact that the very thing that I believe most in, this I, does not exist at all the way I thought it did. So I don't believe it anymore. So they say that that... Direct experience of emptiness, or the direct perception of emptiness, or as Gisla calls it, the naked perception of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:37 Highlight the passage at 1:06:37

1:07:08 The one mental fiction that it does away with immediately is doubt, because you don't buy into it anymore. But you still see it that way. So there's the whole path of what's called meditation. We haven't talked about the paths, I don't think in here are the five paths. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:08 Highlight the passage at 1:07:08

1:07:29 When you're becoming a Buddha, there are these different levels of paths that you're going through and the path of seeing is the direct perception of emptiness. So that's the shortest one. So sometimes it's literally as short as 20 minutes, 30 minutes you have this experience. But then you're like bounded into this whole other path. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:29 Highlight the passage at 1:07:29

1:07:47 Well then you've got to get used to it. So then you've got to keep re-entering that direct experience of emptiness and using it to eliminate one by one all of your mental afflictions. Because you have this experience, so you can use it for every affliction that you have. So beginning with the grossest and moving down to the most subtle, all the way from I can't stand him, he's always like that, that kind of affliction, all the way down to this solid belief in this self-existent I. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:47 Highlight the passage at 1:07:47

1:08:18 They say that's the last to go, that's the most subtle. Because even as you're meditating on the other, you still have this idea of... I'm meditating on the others. I had the direct perception of emptiness. You can't have that at the moment that you're directly perceiving emptiness because the only thing you're meditating on is there's nothing else there. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:18 Highlight the passage at 1:08:18

1:08:41 Nothing there. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:41 Highlight the passage at 1:08:41

1:08:47 It is. It's a lot. And then on the other hand, it's not much at all, is it? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:47 Highlight the passage at 1:08:47

1:08:55 Others? Yeah, Cindy, do you want to pass that to? The Report an error in the passage at 1:08:55 Highlight the passage at 1:08:55

1:09:04 rope thing. The rope, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:04 Highlight the passage at 1:09:04

1:09:12 Say about the who saw that rope. is. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:12 Highlight the passage at 1:09:12

1:09:06 was a snow Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:06 Highlight the passage at 1:09:06

1:09:18 Well, that's a, that is a, that's like all of us, really. That's how we see the world, where we see things sort of faultily. But we have a valid perception, normally, you know, like, you know, I don't think, you know, I'm not like seeing, I'm not having hallucinations all the time. I'm simply in that one situation, I'm having this misperception of reality. So it's very much like us. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:18 Highlight the passage at 1:09:18

1:09:45 But the reality is, the Buddha is saying, wait a second, even though that looks like a snake and you're totally terrified and you're freaking out and jumping up and down because you think that's a snake, or maybe calling your friend and she's jumping up and down, the reality is that there is no snake there, so there's nothing to be afraid of. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:45 Highlight the passage at 1:09:45

1:10:05 So all of our afflicted states of mind arise because of this misperception of reality. So it's sort of just describing. What happens to us day in and day out? So it's saying that we see something with similar shape and we automatically impute. Well, this is an example of just one example. Yeah. But it's saying that basically because of this misperception of reality in all ways, all the ways that we misperceive it, not just visually. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:05 Highlight the passage at 1:10:05

1:10:38 That's just the way that we see the world most. We also, everything, based on our senses, we believe things solidly exist, and then we grasp onto that self-existence, and then we believe in it 100%, and we believe it comes from them with nothing added by us, no stories added by us, and then that's the basis of all self-awareness themselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:38 Highlight the passage at 1:10:38

1:11:00 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think if you've ever had an experience like that, it stays with you. I think because in that case you get so freaked out, you know. I had a friend, actually an old housemate, I won't give her name in case she ever listens to this. And it's just interesting what happens with your mind, but she was reaching in her, she had like, I don't know how to say this exactly without giving her name. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:00 Highlight the passage at 1:11:00

1:11:36 We had our food in a group house, and we had our food in these bins. And she was reaching into the bin, and her eyesight told her, oh, that's a rotten yam. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:36 Highlight the passage at 1:11:36

1:11:50 Data computed, went to brain, oh, rotten yam. Hand reached it, and immediately imputed rat. Dead rat. And she just began screaming and screaming and screaming. But she knew that it wasn't. know oh that's it's like she Report an error in the passage at 1:11:50 Highlight the passage at 1:11:50

1:12:03 But yet still, hand was a little slower than eyes. So it is interesting because the afflicted states of mind like that are really intense. So I think that's why they use the snake story. Plus it's quite easy to do in low light, especially in ancient India, I'm sure. And so all that really strong afflicted emotion arises. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:03 Highlight the passage at 1:12:03

1:12:25 And actually, there's nothing there. There's nothing that's going to ever hurt you there. Yeah, so I think that's what that story is about. It's just the way our mind really, really embellishes like that. It's not perfect 100%, just like the pizza story is not perfect then. Because with the pizza story, the pizza was there once, and the I was never there. So it kind of falls short too. But you know, these examples are only like little ways for us to get closer to understanding things. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:25 Highlight the passage at 1:12:25

1:12:56 To Report an error in the passage at 1:12:56 Highlight the passage at 1:12:56

1:13:09 explain like a pen or a cup, Report an error in the passage at 1:13:09 Highlight the passage at 1:13:09

1:13:14 I don't know, I keep thinking like suppose, you know, if someone, you know, is an animist, or suppose there's a sentient object, like say a tree, it is alive, know, and you're looking at a tree, and... There's still all the causes and conditions that went into that tree, although we wouldn't use the word sentient in Buddhism. Sentient usually means something with mind. So, and so a tree? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:14 Highlight the passage at 1:13:14

1:13:35 And tree would not be something with... Even though it's alive. Yeah, something alive that it doesn't have, yeah. But in that case, think of all the causes and conditions that went into that tree. Which I don't think about when I look at a tree. Just like trees there, sometimes I run into a tree. And I'm certainly not thinking about the fact that that tree came from a seed over many, many, many months. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:35 Highlight the passage at 1:13:35

1:14:00 It had to grow in all the different seasons and things that went in. The soil and the burns and all that stuff. And then this thing began to arise and sometimes they get knocked down. All that stuff. All those causes and conditions that went into that tree. Not the least of it. Is my karma to even see it as a tree and not just something to go to the bathroom against or whatever. Like a dog bite. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:00 Highlight the passage at 1:14:00

1:14:27 In reincarnation, can someone, like sentient, do people ever reincarnate out of sentient life into these other kind of... No, no, not within Buddhism, yeah. Within Buddhism it's possible as a Buddha you can... You can manifest a body called emanation body and it could be something that's an inanimate object. If it was going to benefit a sentient being, for example, if it was going to benefit you to, you know... Report an error in the passage at 1:14:27 Highlight the passage at 1:14:27

1:14:59 I'm trying to think of something. Yeah, exactly. Or to just find a tree that's been knocked over in the wind and then you're like, oh no. And so you're being working on that and somehow does something for your mind that's going to move you further on the path. Then they might do that. Or they might manifest in some other animate form that's like a dog or the woman on the bus next to you or the kid in your class or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:59 Highlight the passage at 1:14:59

1:15:24 Or your mother. That's why they say that it's impossible for us to know who is anybody. That's why I make these jokes that I don't know who you are, but the reality is I don't know who you are. I can't look at a person and know that's a bodhisattva because they almost purposefully don't want you to know that they're a bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:24 Highlight the passage at 1:15:24

1:15:47 So they will pose as a teacher in a jean jacket who's trying to understand something so that I then have to try to... Figure out how to explain it to you. So you all could be manifesting in that form to help me understand it more. So in the Jataka tales, when he becomes trees, those aren't necessarily reincarnations, those are emanations. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:47 Highlight the passage at 1:15:47

1:16:11 Yeah, emanation bodies, yeah. I mean that's one of the absolute coolest powers of a Buddha that I adore. Whenever I'm thinking about why I want to be a Buddha. It is this ability to emanate whatever's needed wherever in the world it's needed to whoever it's needed in exactly perfect way without thought or effort. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:11 Highlight the passage at 1:16:11

1:16:39 I can just do it, you know? I mean, I can't even imagine that one. You could just meditate on that one for 15 years. Like, that's just mind-blowing. It's almost like beyond what we can get our mind around. And actually, to be honest, emptiness is more than we can get our mind around. We approach emptiness conceptually because that's the way we approach things. But it's a non-conceptual experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:39 Highlight the passage at 1:16:39

1:17:07 It's not something that's made up of words. But we have to get to it. We have to understand what it is we're even looking for. So we start with concepts and then we get rid of them. So the experience of a direct perception of emptiness, that's why Geshe uses that term naked. It's completely free of concepts. It's a completely non-conceptual experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:07 Highlight the passage at 1:17:07

1:17:26 experience of the lack of inherent existence. It's an experience of the lack of, absence of. It's the missing pizza out of the pizza box. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:26 Highlight the passage at 1:17:26

1:17:47 So it could be totally, yeah, like, you know, whenever you hear somebody's Dharma story or something, it was like, I was in the library and I got this book. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:47 Highlight the passage at 1:17:47

1:18:00 Or, you know... Somebody next to me on my trip to India told me, you know, who are these beings? And yeah, you know, you could just be like, oh yeah, whatever. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:00 Highlight the passage at 1:18:00

1:18:14 Another, actually the same friend, the pizza box friend said, you could also decide to be pro-noid to decide that actually every single being that you're meeting is trying to help you get enlightened. They just all have different methods, you know. So being pro-noid is okay too, you know. I'd rather live that way, actually. For me, I'd rather live that way and just assume, okay, so what is this person trying to teach me? Report an error in the passage at 1:18:14 Highlight the passage at 1:18:14

1:18:44 If it's true or not, who knows? We can talk about it when we get enlightened. So why don't you take a break? And then we're going to come back and we're going to talk a little bit about the final verse, verse 14, and kind of a little bit about retreat. And then we're going to do the final meditation on the eye. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:44 Highlight the passage at 1:18:44

1:19:17 Okay, we picked up something new. It's a meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:17 Highlight the passage at 1:19:17

1:19:27 I have to know if it's correct. Yes, I need to know. Actually, I'm going to send it to everyone. They're all going to give input. You didn't hear that part? No, and in fact, you don't need to tell me or show me anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:27 Highlight the passage at 1:19:27

1:19:49 Just in case, you know, people have presented it. sorry, I don't have to go to meditation, finally. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:49 Highlight the passage at 1:19:49

1:20:13 meditation? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:13 Highlight the passage at 1:20:13

1:20:18 this Refuge? it's Refuge. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:18 Highlight the passage at 1:20:18

1:20:23 we just did Refuge. We did Refuge on Tuesday night. I think it might be Refuge then. I think we're just one behind on Report an error in the passage at 1:20:23 Highlight the passage at 1:20:23

1:20:33 do a meditation, it doesn't have to be exactly like the one. No, you could create a new one. That's what Cindy's saying that she did. She created Report an error in the passage at 1:20:33 Highlight the passage at 1:20:33

1:20:41 people have done that before. I like that. Because it also gives me new ways to think Report an error in the passage at 1:20:41 Highlight the passage at 1:20:41

1:20:50 yeah, yeah, you can just find another one, yeah, for Was that from that article by Rinpoche? No, it's someone else. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:50 Highlight the passage at 1:20:50

1:21:04 I mean, this class is so broad. There's so many different things. It's the entire path, basically. It's somehow mentioned. And so you can kind of almost bring just about anything into it, including the life story of Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:04 Highlight the passage at 1:21:04

1:21:16 You probably have more room in this class, but it has been a lot of room. Just let it. You've got to cook it. It's a lot. It is. It is a lot. You came in halfway, but even for people from the beginning. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:16 Highlight the passage at 1:21:16

1:21:38 Yeah, totally. And in fact, should be, actually, until you get enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:38 Highlight the passage at 1:21:38

1:22:03 sure as long as you're okay with that if I see I feel like If it's just something that's bringing in your own experience or something that's personalizing it, that's okay. But if it's literally like, Report an error in the passage at 1:22:03 Highlight the passage at 1:22:03

1:22:22 because I did have that happen Report an error in the passage at 1:22:22 Highlight the passage at 1:22:22

1:22:30 grossly, but just kind of misperceiving. It was somewhat serious. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:30 Highlight the passage at 1:22:30

1:22:37 But then it became like, Report an error in the passage at 1:22:37 Highlight the passage at 1:22:37

1:22:46 it's not like that. she's kind of like... You! Then they have to do, what, the F? Scarlet A? Here we go. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:46 Highlight the passage at 1:22:46

1:23:10 ask if I mean, is it, should I wait for like all of I think, yeah, we're still waiting. Are we still waiting for you? Ifan's not Report an error in the passage at 1:23:10 Highlight the passage at 1:23:10

1:23:25 could go ahead and ask, but you have to use the mic. All things exist in their own way. All things exist in dependence upon causes and conditions, parts. And a label, a mirror label. Hungry ghosts and ghosts and even apparitions and even illusions exist. In that way. But nothing exists inherently from its own side, solidly, permanently. The rope as a rope exists? Report an error in the passage at 1:23:25 Highlight the passage at 1:23:25

1:24:02 Yeah. The rope as a pursuit of strength exists. It exists as a rope in... In the fact that it arises under the causes and conditions of the manufacture of that rope, and my Carmenists see it as a rope, and the fact that all of us in the village see it as a rope, or whatever. So it exists in that way. It doesn't inherently exist as a rope, because does an ant see it as a rope? No, it doesn't exist as a Report an error in the passage at 1:24:02 Highlight the passage at 1:24:02

1:24:34 snake. That's just my misperception of it. It doesn't exist as a snake. It was never a snake. That's an example of its emptiness of snakeness. The snake exists conventionally as a snake, you know, just like I exist conventionally as Chokyi. That part's not in dispute. I go to the store, I stand up, I sit down. But that's not the I that gets me into trouble. The I that gets me into trouble is, you know, I get up, I sit down, and then Kara points out and says, you stole my... Report an error in the passage at 1:24:34 Highlight the passage at 1:24:34

1:25:14 And then this other eye exists, this eye that sort of arises and as Renee called it, the dominant eye, this eye that seems to control the body and mind, that seems to possess the body and mind, that's bigger than the body and mind. That's the eye that doesn't exist. The conventional eye does exist, yeah. And there is an eye that will get enlightened, you know. That conventional eye will, which is basically just your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:14 Highlight the passage at 1:25:14

1:25:44 So the snake does exist in that sense, you know, causes and additions. And we place this label on the snake. The snake's harder because the snake is a sentient being. The glasses case does exist in the fact that it arises to our mind due to causes and additions. It has parts, all the different parts that go into this glasses case. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:44 Highlight the passage at 1:25:44

1:26:11 And then we place this label upon all those things. And remember, the biggest, the strongest of the causes is our karma to see it as a glasses case. Not everybody did. The first time we're being pulled one of these out of our pocket, I thought it was a really large lipstick. It's like, no, that's odd for a nun. And then I ran that out and got one. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:11 Highlight the passage at 1:26:11

1:26:32 So it's not inherently anything. But it does conventionally exist in that other way. So things do exist, but not inherently. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:32 Highlight the passage at 1:26:32

1:26:43 And you just keep playing with that and keep going. That's what, that whole idea of, you know, these things no longer alternate, you know, so at first they alternate and alternating is good. How does it exist? How does it not exist? You know, I'm just kind of really playing with that. So part of your assignment this week, which of course we don't have much of a week, but I'm going to still give you, you know, I think I'm going to get away without, you know, doing homework. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:43 Highlight the passage at 1:26:43

1:27:09 It's to just think about things in this kind of new way. Okay, how does that exist? How does that not exist? What's not there? What is there? What is my relationship? How do I label that? Just start pondering it. Honestly, years and years and years of pondering. If you go to a class by Venable René or by Venable Steve or somebody, Western monks who have been pondering this in retreat sometimes and sometimes in the monastery in Venable Steve. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:09 Highlight the passage at 1:27:09

1:27:42 And you can just see they've been staring at cups for 30 years, you know? Like, how does this exist? And it really does take that. It's like the thinker. They suddenly become the thinker, you know? And you're just thinking, you know, how does that really exist? Because at some point, it's just going to go, like you said, in a flash. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:42 Highlight the passage at 1:27:42

1:28:01 Well, in a flash, of course, just means in this, you know, in this lifetime. But in a flash doesn't necessarily mean it will happen tonight. Although, gosh, wouldn't that be great? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:01 Highlight the passage at 1:28:01

1:28:18 Yeah, death and rebirth. And that starts next Thursday, and it'll be Tuesday, Thursday class. It would be a good one to take her out to this one. Totally. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I think it'd be a great one, actually. I think it'd be a great one, too. Yeah, it's death and rebirth, so it's... Because the first one I first taught, and I called it... Report an error in the passage at 1:28:18 Highlight the passage at 1:28:18

1:28:40 I think I did call it death and dying or something. And then I realized that they had actually put death and rebirth. Well, the reason is because the aim of the course is to... Think about what happens in the death process and then what is it that goes on, you know, and what is that process like? So there's an intermediate state, bardo state, and then what causes it to manifest in another form? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:40 Highlight the passage at 1:28:40

1:29:01 What creates, you know, so karma? And then what are the various places that you could, or ways that you could arrive? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:01 Highlight the passage at 1:29:01

1:29:12 So then we learn to purify too, so that in case you're worried about how you might turn out, then you get a chance. But yeah. And of course you're talking about impermanence too, so we've already begun talking about impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:12 Highlight the passage at 1:29:12

1:29:27 It's so powerful, so powerful. I know, I agree. It's one of my favorites actually. Okay, so this whole two months, couple months, with a few interruptions, we've been focusing on the whole path. It's called Presenting the Path. And so we started talking about these three principle paths, where these three principle paths are really, really, really, it's the essence of the Buddhist teachings, they say, it's the essence. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:27 Highlight the passage at 1:29:27

1:30:03 And they say, you know, so I'm presenting them to you, you have to keep meditating and meditating and meditating on them. Like John was just saying, you know, are you still meditating on it? Yes, yes, yes, I'm still meditating on it. I still attend teachings on it. I haven't realized it yet, so I definitely need to still, and every teaching, Something else gets through. Like I get something differently than I got before. Because what? My mind's changed, right? So even if the teacher was saying, as friend Rubina always says, I just say the same thing over and over. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:03 Highlight the passage at 1:30:03

1:30:33 Well, clearly she doesn't. But even if she did, my mind would take it differently because I've had things happen in my life. You know, I've lost a brother. I've, you know, gotten a new job or I've, you know, dropped my cup or something. So I have some deeper understanding of something that... The teacher is saying in a different way than I did the last time she or he said it. So I'm just saying that because I think sometimes people think an intellectual understanding is all you need. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:33 Highlight the passage at 1:30:33

1:31:02 It's not. We get the intellectual understanding and then we contemplate it and then we meditate on it. But they say we need at least an intellectual understanding if not a realization of these three principle paths to be able to practice the higher teachings or what's called tantra. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:02 Highlight the passage at 1:31:02

1:31:23 And why we have to have renunciation or we won't want to practice at all. We won't want to practice heart. We'll still be too attached to this life or to what people think of us or to what I think of myself. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:23 Highlight the passage at 1:31:23

1:31:40 And so we won't want to practice. We won't have a clear idea of what our goal is and that there's something beyond this life either. We'll still be really, really attached to this life. We won't have bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta, we won't have this baseline motivation that we need to practice tantra. The only reason that anyone ever should enter tantra, I say this over and over and over again, is because the suffering of other beings is so unbearable that you want to end it. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:40 Highlight the passage at 1:31:40

1:32:09 You personally, I myself alone, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche always says, I myself alone want to end this suffering. So that's why I want to get enlightened quickly, which is quickly, quickly is Tantra. That's why I enter it without bodhicitta. There's no business entering it. And if I don't understand emptiness, both intellectually and experientially, I won't be able to practice Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:09 Highlight the passage at 1:32:09

1:32:35 I won't be able to understand how to do visualizations. I won't be able to, and I definitely won't be able to gain any of the actual. actual, actualizations as Lama Zopa calls it, attaining the results of completion stage where I actually become a Buddha without understanding emptiness, because it all rests on harming emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:35 Highlight the passage at 1:32:35

1:32:54 All of Tantra rests Report an error in the passage at 1:32:54 Highlight the passage at 1:32:54

1:32:59 The final verse of the root text is, when you've grasped as well as I the essential points of each of the three principles past explained, Then go into isolation, my son, make mighty efforts, and quickly win your ultimate wish. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:59 Highlight the passage at 1:32:59

1:33:19 So here he's actually speaking to his actual disciple, who was also named Nawan Takpa, who was off creating one of, he did a bunch of monasteries for Lama Tsongkhapa out in western Tibet, and he was writing, he said, can you just essentialize all the teachings into a really simple, thing for these wild Western Tibetans. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:19 Highlight the passage at 1:33:19

1:33:45 Just put it into something really short, you know, like 14 verses and send it to me. And so he did. And this was actually a letter to his disciple. But it's to us too, you know. So when we read it, you know, it's for us to make strong efforts to understand this, to realize it. And the way that we do it is, and he says, go into isolation. So that's code for go do retreat. Take this into retreat and meditate on it deeply. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:45 Highlight the passage at 1:33:45

1:34:21 And then quickly win your ultimate wish, you'll get enlightened. So this is my advertisement for doing retreat. So if you've never, ever done retreat. Make some sort of a determination this year to do something, even if it's one day at home on Sunday, turning everything off and just doing retreat. All retreat means is, I mean, actually, Lama Zopa calls it retreating from the eight worldly concerns. It's not like a health retreat. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:21 Highlight the passage at 1:34:21

1:34:55 It's usually actually, in some ways, More intense than working because you're looking at your mind without any distraction for hour after hour after hour. But it's a time that you can actually take all of these teachings and go into them uninterruptedly, you know, for a long time. Not necessarily sitting with the same thing in the notebook open for 15 hours until you gain some realization. You have to be intelligent too. There are ways to do a retreat where you set up each session. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:55 Highlight the passage at 1:34:55

1:35:28 You know, you arrange things on the altar, you prepare your mind for the session, and you take breaks, you know, so you don't feel like I have to shove this into me. You actually hear these stories of people who were so inspired by the teacher, both in the 1400s but also in the 21st century. They get so inspired, they like give up everything and run off to the mountains, and then after a couple weeks it's like so intense that they're kind of like they come back with their tails between their legs because they aren't really quite ready for that yet. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:28 Highlight the passage at 1:35:28

1:35:57 So, you know, again, the middle way. We don't want to do each experience. But try. I think it's actually really great to go to a group retreat, which David has mentioned, I think, that this is what led him here, actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:57 Highlight the passage at 1:35:57

1:36:13 Was it Copan West? I think it was. It was just called, Bena Rubina's Lamrim Retreat, right? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:13 Highlight the passage at 1:36:13

1:36:22 But a lamrim retreat is great because then you get some instruction on how to meditate on these things. And there actually is one coming up and it's safely in the future so you can actually begin imagining going to it. Geshitashi Tsering from Jamyang Center in London is actually coming to Vajrapani in November, November 13th through 22nd. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:22 Highlight the passage at 1:36:22

1:36:48 And he's going to cover the whole lamrim. So he'll teach it and then he'll ask to tell you how to meditate on it. The way that Rubina has done that and other teachers have done that, they differ according to the teacher. So usually what they'll do is they'll present it in some way so that in case you've never heard, in case you miss several classes or whatever and you've missed some of it, you'll get it all there. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:48 Highlight the passage at 1:36:48

1:37:11 And then they show you how to meditate on it and then you meditate. And then in some cases they'll do... I know what Rubina has done in the past is she'll teach it for the first seven days or something and then the weekend will be all meditation on it. So some teachers will do it that way. I don't know how Geshe Tashi will do it. Geshe Tashi used to be able to say he's a young Geshe. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:11 Highlight the passage at 1:37:11

1:37:34 He's my age, so impermanence. But he's meant to be quite brilliant, actually, and he teaches in English. He's Tibetan, but he teaches in English. He's a Geshe Narampa. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:34 Highlight the passage at 1:37:34

1:37:47 And they say that he's quite a brilliant teacher, so it's a great, this is the first time he's been in America, or will be the first time he's been in America, so it'll be a great opportunity for that. I think it's perfect for you guys, if you so desire. It is a big investment of time, and it is difficult with people with normal jobs. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:47 Highlight the passage at 1:37:47

1:38:07 But for those of you with abnormal jobs who are even more inspired, there is a month-long course at Copan. I always like to throw it out there because it definitely is life-changing for me. I've actually done it twice and would love to do it again to keep going through it. That's a month-long course. It's always taught by a Western monastic, but it has all these great elements of discussion groups and meditation and practice, and then Lama Tsongkhapa comes usually for the last 10 days to two weeks and teaches and throws the whole schedule off because he doesn't. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:07 Highlight the passage at 1:38:07

1:38:42 I tend to teach all night sometimes. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:42 Highlight the passage at 1:38:42

1:38:47 But the whole lamrim, again, is covered. And you're in this retreat environment on a hill in Kathmandu. So you can't really... I mean, people do escape. There's always people who sort of escape down into town. I never could quite figure that one out. Even when I was there for the first time, I was like, why on earth would I want to go down and check email? Report an error in the passage at 1:38:47 Highlight the passage at 1:38:47

1:39:08 But, you know, people... sometimes. So, um... Report an error in the passage at 1:39:08 Highlight the passage at 1:39:08

1:39:10 It's like 250 people from around the world who are there for varying reasons. We share the karma of ending up there, but some people have literally fallen into it because they're trekking and they just heard it was a really cool thing to do for a month and it was cheap. Some people are hard, long-term practitioners for 30 years and decide to go again to refresh everything. It's a great experience, and if anyone at all is interested, I would love to talk to you about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:10 Highlight the passage at 1:39:10

1:39:39 It's great. But you can also just, like I said, just take a Sunday and, you know, turn off the phone, cover the TV, make it a retreat day. And then just, you know, sit down maybe four times, look at, take your notes, you know, decide you're going to spend some time with emptiness, for example, and then spend some time with emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:39 Highlight the passage at 1:39:39

1:40:01 So do it like that. And whatever you do, they actually say that it's really good to do about. ongoing as if you decide that this is your path Report an error in the passage at 1:40:01 Highlight the passage at 1:40:01

1:40:14 It's really good to do about a month a year. You can split it up. You can do a week, a week, a week and a week. Two weeks and two weeks. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:14 Highlight the passage at 1:40:14

1:40:24 A weekend here, a weekend here, a weekend here. And people with families, especially, and young children and things like that, it is difficult. So then you just figure out ways to do it at home. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:24 Highlight the passage at 1:40:24

1:40:41 But we have to do it because it's what takes it from being an intellectual exercise to the gut. You know, it takes it below the neck. And that's the only thing that will really, meditation on it is really the only thing that's going to change your mind and your life. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:41 Highlight the passage at 1:40:41

1:40:57 So, getting back to this I, how do we meditate on it? I'm going to lead you in this meditation. Basically, the method is, and this part's in your notes, you just, first of all, you have to find the I. So they often say it's really good to remember a time that you were falsely accused of something. You know, Courtney was in the office late last night, you know, and just that eye that begins to arise when you're being accused of something. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:57 Highlight the passage at 1:40:57

1:41:27 If you were fearful, like if you almost got hit by a car or something, that eye that arises. Maybe if you were really angry about something that somebody did to me. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:27 Highlight the passage at 1:41:27

1:41:41 Or betrayed me. You know, that's the eye. So you first have to find it. And they actually say that can sometimes be the hardest thing. And it can literally take you years to find the right eye. So that's why you want to be accurate in your understanding of what eye you're looking at. So you want to understand which eye you're looking for. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:41 Highlight the passage at 1:41:41

1:42:02 Because otherwise we're just going to waste time. But once we find that eye... Then what we do is we start bombarding it with all the reasons that it can't exist the way we think it does. I just had to have an MRI done last Friday on my knee, and it makes this sound like someone's shooting a machine gun at you. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:02 Highlight the passage at 1:42:02

1:42:26 It's like... And now that I'm reading this, I'm like, that's what you have to do with the eye, the truly existent eye. So you have to find it and then you just start bombarding it with all the reasons that it can't exist the way you think it exists. Yes, it does exist, changing moment to moment, fluid, spacious, arising based on causes and conditions and parts and a label, but that's not the way we see it. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:26 Highlight the passage at 1:42:26

1:42:55 So that's why we have to keep looking. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:55 Highlight the passage at 1:42:55

1:43:03 So now we're going to sit down and look for that eye and then bombard it a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:03 Highlight the passage at 1:43:03

1:43:10 So just relax and find your posture again. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:10 Highlight the passage at 1:43:10

1:43:19 Pay no attention to that blunder in either room. Just Report an error in the passage at 1:43:19 Highlight the passage at 1:43:19

1:43:29 maybe bring to mind an example of one of those things. You know, maybe sometime that you literally... I actually was almost hit by a car once, very, very close to being hit by a car out of front of the San Francisco General. But if you had an experience like that, or an experience where you were just livid with anger at something that somebody did to you... Report an error in the passage at 1:43:29 Highlight the passage at 1:43:29

1:43:53 We're really defensive if somebody accused you of something that you didn't do. If you can think of an experience like that, it's good. But if not, don't worry about it. You can still just begin exploring. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:53 Highlight the passage at 1:43:53

1:44:24 Just slowly. Sadie Kadro says, with the alertness of a spot, so carefully, delicately, probing, become aware of this eye. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:24 Highlight the passage at 1:44:24

1:44:46 How does it come into existence? Or how does it seem to come into existence? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:46 Highlight the passage at 1:44:46

1:44:56 How does it appear to you? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:56 Highlight the passage at 1:44:56

1:45:07 The creation of your mind? Or is it something existing concretely and independently and it's all right? Report an error in the passage at 1:45:07 Highlight the passage at 1:45:07

1:45:33 Once you think you can identify it, see if you can locate it. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:33 Highlight the passage at 1:45:33

1:45:41 Is it anywhere inside your body? Is Report an error in the passage at 1:45:41 Highlight the passage at 1:45:41

1:45:52 it peering out of your eyes? Or is it your eyes? Is it somewhere in your eyes? Report an error in the passage at 1:45:52 Highlight the passage at 1:45:52

1:46:01 Think about each part of your body and try to find the eye. Is Report an error in the passage at 1:46:01 Highlight the passage at 1:46:01

1:46:10 it in your heart? Report an error in the passage at 1:46:10 Highlight the passage at 1:46:10

1:46:15 Your gut? Report an error in the passage at 1:46:15 Highlight the passage at 1:46:15

1:46:26 Does it exist in some cellular level inside your body? Report an error in the passage at 1:46:26 Highlight the passage at 1:46:26

1:46:36 Or does it... Feel it like it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:36 Highlight the passage at 1:46:36

1:47:05 After looking for it for a little bit, does it still appear as strongly as it once did? Does it still appear to be as vivid and concrete? Report an error in the passage at 1:47:05 Highlight the passage at 1:47:05

1:47:21 Is your body down here or not Report an error in the passage at 1:47:21 Highlight the passage at 1:47:21

1:47:40 constantly changing? Is the stream of thoughts, feelings, emotions coming and going? Report an error in the passage at 1:47:40 Highlight the passage at 1:47:40

1:47:54 Which of these mental moments is the moment? You Report an error in the passage at 1:47:54 Highlight the passage at 1:47:54

1:48:06 find it somewhere in this holy jumble of thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:06 Highlight the passage at 1:48:06

1:48:31 Or maybe it's someplace else. Is there any other place you could look? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:31 Highlight the passage at 1:48:31

1:48:42 Do you exist outside your body or outside your mind or somewhere? Independently of them? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:42 Highlight the passage at 1:48:42

1:48:56 Sometimes it feels like the eye operates or manages the body and mind, like it owns them. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:56 Highlight the passage at 1:48:56

1:49:11 Who is this eye? Report an error in the passage at 1:49:11 Highlight the passage at 1:49:11

1:49:23 Look at that eye. Does it still appear as strong as it did? Is vivid? Does any change? Do you still believe in it as solidly and real as it looked? So Report an error in the passage at 1:49:23 Highlight the passage at 1:49:23

1:49:51 just answer the questions, but really probe it with your mind. It's like you have to find this seemingly self-existent eye and then hold it up while you probe it, look at it, try to understand it. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:51 Highlight the passage at 1:49:51

1:50:10 When it tries to slip away, it's like mercury. The moment you start to get your mind around it, try to get a hold of it, it slips away. So Report an error in the passage at 1:50:10 Highlight the passage at 1:50:10

1:50:33 if you think of this eye as simply a collection of parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:33 Highlight the passage at 1:50:33

1:50:41 Try something else. Again, mentally disintegrate your body. Imagine your own body in front of you and then dissolve it into a billion parts. All the tiny particles that make you up. Imagine them just floating out. Imagine that you can actually see them. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:41 Highlight the passage at 1:50:41

1:51:19 Then disintegrate your mind, letting all your thoughts and sensations and feelings just float away. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:19 Highlight the passage at 1:51:19

1:51:33 Imagine you can always see this too. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:33 Highlight the passage at 1:51:33

1:51:45 And just let go of everything you think of as me. Everything you hold on to, just let go. And Report an error in the passage at 1:51:45 Highlight the passage at 1:51:45

1:52:10 don't make the mistake of thinking, I don't exist inherently. If my body doesn't exist and my mind doesn't exist, and those aren't the eyes, then I don't exist. You do exist, just not in the way that you think that you do. As an independent, inherent, and worthy of all these crazy, afflicted states of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:10 Highlight the passage at 1:52:10

1:52:45 Conventionally your self exists in dependence upon your mind and body and this combination is the basis on which you label I. Mind Report an error in the passage at 1:52:45 Highlight the passage at 1:52:45

1:53:00 creates this I and slaps the label on this body and mind with each new life and that's how things exist conventionally. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:00 Highlight the passage at 1:53:00

1:53:11 Ultimately is Report an error in the passage at 1:53:11 Highlight the passage at 1:53:11

1:53:17 the lack of an inherent independent existence. So think about how your body exists conventionally in dependence upon all the parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:17 Highlight the passage at 1:53:17

1:53:29 The skin and blood and bones and legs and arms and organs. And each of these exists in dependence upon their parts, the cells and atoms and tiny, tiny subatomic particles and Report an error in the passage at 1:53:29 Highlight the passage at 1:53:29

1:53:50 feelings. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:50 Highlight the passage at 1:53:50

1:53:54 And how these exist only in dependence upon their parts, Report an error in the passage at 1:53:54 Highlight the passage at 1:53:54

1:54:01 the beginning of each and the dividing of each and the ending of each. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:01 Highlight the passage at 1:54:01

1:54:12 So the self or I exist conventionally in dependence upon the body and mind and name. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:12 Highlight the passage at 1:54:12

1:54:23 If your body feels hunger or cold, you think, I am hunger, I am cold. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:23 Highlight the passage at 1:54:23

1:54:31 Mind has an idea, you say, I think. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:31 Highlight the passage at 1:54:31

1:54:37 Apart from this, this sense of I, it depends upon this ever-flowing, ever-changing stream of body and mind. Is there another I that's solid and unchanging and independent? The Report an error in the passage at 1:54:37 Highlight the passage at 1:54:37

1:54:58 mere absence of such an inherently existent I is the emptiness of the self. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:58 Highlight the passage at 1:54:58

1:55:15 If the Self has no concrete, solid, unchanging existence, who is there to be angry? Report an error in the passage at 1:55:15 Highlight the passage at 1:55:15

1:55:36 Dedicate this meditation, this class, this course, for each of us being able to realize renunciation, bodhicitta, and a correct view of emptiness in this very life, and that we're able to benefit all living beings of others, Report an error in the passage at 1:55:36 Highlight the passage at 1:55:36

1:56:02 including ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:02 Highlight the passage at 1:56:02

1:56:25 Dedicate. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:25 Highlight the passage at 1:56:25

1:56:29 I'd like to do a special dedication actually tonight because it's the end of the class. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:29 Highlight the passage at 1:56:29

1:56:38 page 246, I'm going to go May Report an error in the passage at 1:56:38 Highlight the passage at 1:56:38

1:56:56 all beings everywhere, plagued by sufferings of body and mind, obtain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creature suffer, commit evil or ever fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled with a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forms and the deaf hear sounds. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:56 Highlight the passage at 1:56:56

1:57:29 May those whose bodies are worn with toil be restored of finding repose. May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find water and delicious drinks. May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the follower in fine hope, constant happiness and prosperity. May there be timely rains and bountiful harvests. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:29 Highlight the passage at 1:57:29

1:57:57 May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Whatever diseases there are in the world, may they never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid. and those bound be freed the powerless find power many people now may people think of benefiting each other as long as space remains as long as sentient beings remain until then may I too remain distill the miseries of the world Report an error in the passage at 1:57:57 Highlight the passage at 1:57:57

1:58:42 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:42 Highlight the passage at 1:58:42

1:58:46 Really quick, I want to do a couple of announcements. Kara mentioned the classes starting next week on death and rebirth. And I'll start Thursday night, 28th, and then I'll go Tuesday, Thursday until the practice day on the 18th. So it's about a month in length, actually four weeks. Also Geshe-Lo will start teaching Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life Wednesday, the 15th of March. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:46 Highlight the passage at 1:58:46

1:59:15 And the way he's decided to do, of April, I'm sorry. The way that he's decided to do it is he's just going to pick out selected chapters. So he'll do, he said he's going to start with 10 weeks, maybe go over. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:15 Highlight the passage at 1:59:15

1:59:36 He's going to start with chapter 1, which is about bodhicitta and the benefits of attaining bodhicitta. And then he also wants, then he wants to go straight to chapter 6. Which is the Patience chapter. So we're going to bypass giving ethics and joyful effort. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:36 Highlight the passage at 1:59:36

2:00:02 Then he wants to do next, then he'll see, he might continue if it gets to July, but he's not sure yet. And otherwise then we'll start next year with, at least we'll do the ninth chapter which is on emptiness next year. So I think he's just going to sort of pick and choose what he can do depending on time. But we're at least going to start with chapters 1 and 6. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:02 Highlight the passage at 2:00:02

2:00:34 And also, two Friday nights coming up, April 3rd and April 10th, Venomelum is going to teach Facing Fear. So it'll be Friday night talks. You don't have to do them both. You can just come to one or the other happening. And then also I just want to encourage you guys that if you're not ready to take another class, just come to the Droughton Meditations or come to the Sundays or come to something. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:34 Highlight the passage at 2:00:34

2:01:01 Amen. Homework. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:01 Highlight the passage at 2:01:01

2:01:10 If you want one, I'll give one to you later, but not tonight. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:10 Highlight the passage at 2:01:10

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:01:46 Next Friday night, the book about... Yes, Andy Weber. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, Andy Weber. Yeah, oh good. That's true, I should really mention that. Is everybody on the E! News list? Yeah, people should always read that because... Especially, I know, sometimes it gets lengthy while working on it. But the good thing is it tells you schedule changes too. So it does come to It's great if people can pre-register if you're coming to Andy Weber, especially because space is a consideration. The Friday night talks not so much, but the art workshop for sure. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:46 Highlight the passage at 2:01:46

2:02:27 That's the one next week where he's, is it next week? Yeah, because there's like one on Friday, one on Saturday. Yeah, Friday night is just going to be a talk about, Report an error in the passage at 2:02:27 Highlight the passage at 2:02:27

2:02:38 It's female representations of deities, especially I think he's going to be using Granthara. And then the weekend workshop is about drawing the actual, because he's a Tanka painter, which is a really precise method, and it's a practice. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:38 Highlight the passage at 2:02:38

2:02:58 So it's not just really beautiful, it's her main energy is action. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:58 Highlight the passage at 2:02:58

2:03:09 And Report an error in the passage at 2:03:09 Highlight the passage at 2:03:09

2:03:24 if people can pick up the questions, that's great. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:24 Highlight the passage at 2:03:24

2:03:51 inherent in its spelling as B-O-O-K, because armature or B-O-O Report an error in the passage at 2:03:51 Highlight the passage at 2:03:51

2:04:06 long I put it on for, but I know I always put it on for a minute. just a little too long. There we go, we did it. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:06 Highlight the passage at 2:04:06