Discovering Buddhism: Establishing a Daily Practice (18 February 2010)

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2:50 Sorry about meditation running over. You guys all move forward. I see how it works. Meditation ran over because the puja ran over. Report an error in the passage at 2:50 Highlight the passage at 2:50

3:02 This was a wealth vase. These are wealth vases, which I get to say vase because they really are pretty cool. If they weren't as cool, then we'd have to say wealth-based. Report an error in the passage at 3:02 Highlight the passage at 3:02

3:15 Basically, they are created. There's this long list of all these things that go into them and these prayers and everything that are done, but basically the gist of it is that we are inviting various Buddhas and protectors and so forth to help the center be able to produce the money that we need to keep going. Report an error in the passage at 3:15 Highlight the passage at 3:15

3:40 So it's not just Sechenling, it's also IMI, the International Mahāyāna Institute is also involved with these different... Report an error in the passage at 3:40 Highlight the passage at 3:40

3:49 So Geshe-la and Samta and this monk from Land of Medicine Buddha came up and they made all the Toramas yesterday and then they started I think right on the dot at 10 o 'clock and they went all the way in probably until about 5.45 with a break for lunch. Of course, good behavior. So hopefully that helps the Center and International Mahāyāna Institute get the funds that we need to keep going. Report an error in the passage at 3:49 Highlight the passage at 3:49

4:22 And apparently IMI got a donation from Lama Zopa right in the middle of it. So something's working. We don't really need the gold prayer books, but that's okay. Report an error in the passage at 4:22 Highlight the passage at 4:22

4:40 Sorry? What was that, Kara? Report an error in the passage at 4:40 Highlight the passage at 4:40

4:49 All right. We're going to just start. We're not going to do a meditation this morning. I am. Okay. Hello. Good morning. don't know. Report an error in the passage at 4:49 Highlight the passage at 4:49

5:01 We're just going to do a little short one on our breath and allow ourselves to arrive and then set a motivation and then we'll start. So you might just allow yourself to arrive by doing some deep breathing or some cleansing breaths or belly breaths, imagining dissolving anything that might be blocking you from being present tonight. Report an error in the passage at 5:01 Highlight the passage at 5:01

5:25 If you're really distracted, just imagine dissolving every one of those little thoughts. Every time it arrives, dissolve it back into your mind. Report an error in the passage at 5:25 Highlight the passage at 5:25

5:36 Or take a deep belly breath and imagine that breath cleansing your whole body and mind of any apples or blocks and then breathe that out. Report an error in the passage at 5:36 Highlight the passage at 5:36

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6:21 Then we'll just begin with setting a motivation for being here about Report an error in the passage at 6:21 Highlight the passage at 6:21

6:33 whatever we may learn tonight or any ideas that come to us or any insights, any understandings that come to us. And any positive karma that we create just from being here Report an error in the passage at 6:33 Highlight the passage at 6:33

6:50 ripen as our own enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 6:50 Highlight the passage at 6:50

6:56 It's like we're planting the seeds of our own enlightenment. And that enlightenment won't come unless we create the causes for it. It's not like something is just handed to us. We have to actually create it. We can create those seeds slowly, slowly, day by day with our practice, with our study, and with anything good that we do. Report an error in the passage at 6:56 Highlight the passage at 6:56

7:29 May whatever we gain from this class ripen into our own Buddhahood. Our own perfection of our body and mind so that we can perfectly benefit all living beings without exception, including ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 7:29 Highlight the passage at 7:29

7:59 And then we're going to start with opening prayers. We're going to go to page 8 and we'll do the prayer by His Holiness first and then we'll do on the next page we'll go ahead and do all of those opening prayers too. Report an error in the passage at 7:59 Highlight the passage at 7:59

8:24 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain. Report an error in the passage at 8:24 Highlight the passage at 8:24

8:53 And dispel the miseries of the world. So we'll do the refuge in generating bodhicitta. Do people have on the next page, people have the Sunday morning? You have it? Okay, good. Sorry. Some of it may be slightly differently arranged. So we'll do it twice in Tibetan. And the way that you normally do it is there's like a leader in Tibetan. It's called an umze. So I'll be the umze. So I say sangye and then you guys. Report an error in the passage at 8:53 Highlight the passage at 8:53

9:26 Comment on Chidong, okay. Ah, Report an error in the passage at 9:26 Highlight the passage at 9:26

9:33 yeah, people have it in different ways. These books have gotten a little bit mixed up. Report an error in the passage at 9:33 Highlight the passage at 9:33

9:47 Oh, actually, yeah, on the next page for the Zambala practice, it actually has it. Yeah, certain versions of it, Eileen, are different than others. Yeah, some of them have it in Tibetan and some have it in English. But if you go one more page over, you'll see at the beginning of that. Oh, no, it's, yeah, I think that's okay, actually. Report an error in the passage at 9:47 Highlight the passage at 9:47

10:10 There it is in Tibetan. It says Sangye. That's the beginning of it. Okay, so people have access to it. Maybe that's why we got out the gold prayer books. Sorry. Report an error in the passage at 10:10 Highlight the passage at 10:10

10:24 Sangye Chodan Sogyi Chonam La, Jangshu Parthu Dagnikyapsuchi, Dagi Chunyengi Pesonam Gyi, sorry, Cholapenshir Sangye Druparsho, Sangye Chodan Sogyi Chonam La, JANG SHU BAR DU DAG NI KIAP SU CHI DAG GI CHUN YEN GI PHE SO NAM GI LA PEN CHIR SANG YE DRU PAR I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. Report an error in the passage at 10:24 Highlight the passage at 10:24

11:14 By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were to abide in equanimity, free from hatred and attachment. May they abide in equanimity. I myself will cause them to abide in equanimity. Please Guru Buddha, bless me to be able to do this. How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings had happiness in the causes of happiness. Report an error in the passage at 11:14 Highlight the passage at 11:14

11:45 May they have happiness in its cause. I myself will cause them to have these. Please Guru Buddha bless me to be able to do this. How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were free from suffering in its cause. May they be free of suffering in its cause. I myself will cause them to be free of suffering in its cause. Please Guru Buddha bless me to be able to do this. Report an error in the passage at 11:45 Highlight the passage at 11:45

12:13 How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were never separated from the happiness of higher rebirth and liberation. May they never be separated from these. I myself will cause them never to be separated from these. Please, Guru Buddha, bless me to be able to do this. Report an error in the passage at 12:13 Highlight the passage at 12:13

12:33 Reverently, I prostrate with my body, speech and mind. I present clouds of every type of offering, actual and imagined. I declare all my negative actions accumulated since beginningless time. And rejoice in the merit of all holy and ordinary beings. So stop there for a moment and rejoice in something. Rejoice in something that you did. Report an error in the passage at 12:33 Highlight the passage at 12:33

12:57 It can be anything. Maybe it's just coming to class tonight when you weren't in the mood. And if you've done more than one thing that's worth rejoicing in, rejoice in that too. And Report an error in the passage at 12:57 Highlight the passage at 12:57

13:25 if you run out of stuff to rejoice at in yourself, then rejoice in other friends or your teachers or anyone that's done anything virtuous that you even heard about. Report an error in the passage at 13:25 Highlight the passage at 13:25

13:55 Please remain until the end of psychic existence and turn the wheel of Dharma for living beings. I dedicate my own merits and those of all others to the great enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 13:55 Highlight the passage at 13:55

14:12 Okay, so I want to start with a couple of announcements and then questions if people have any and then we'll start. Just a reminder that tomorrow night and next Friday night Geshe-la is doing a little commentary on the Foundation of All Good Qualities. Which is actually a short lamrim. It's the same lamrim that you guys have in the meditation that you've been doing. The one that you stop at, precious human rebirth, and then you start up again. Report an error in the passage at 14:12 Highlight the passage at 14:12

14:41 I'm sure you all know it very well by now. But that's called The Foundation of All Good Qualities. It was written by Lama Tsongkhapa. And when I asked him if he would teach a little class to help people prepare for taking Tantra, he said... Perfect. The Lamrim. No better preparation for Tantra. So it's basically an open teaching. Report an error in the passage at 14:41 Highlight the passage at 14:41

15:06 And everyone's welcome to come. And it'll just be these two Fridays. And he'll go through the entire Lamrim. You can't beat it. Seven to nine. Report an error in the passage at 15:06 Highlight the passage at 15:06

15:18 Also, this coming Sunday morning, Geshe-la is offering refuge and lay vows. And if I have And most of you who are taking refuge or taking lay vows have already contacted me. If you haven't and you want to talk about it, I could probably fit you in at least by phone. I did one woman by phone this morning. So I like to talk to people if people are considering taking refuge just to make sure you know what it is that you're taking. Report an error in the passage at 15:18 Highlight the passage at 15:18

15:51 And I'm happy to do that. So just talk to me in the break if you're interested or email me. A general call, we still need volunteers. We need volunteers. We just lost our Saturday person. So if you can either be a sub on the desk whenever we give you a call when we need you or email you if we know we're going to need you. Report an error in the passage at 15:51 Highlight the passage at 15:51

16:17 Or if you can train to do like a regular shift every week and do it or even once a month and do it, then that's really helpful. Just let me know. Also, we have a big event coming up. Shantideva Rinpoche is arriving here at the center on the 1st of March, which is a week from Monday, and he begins teaching on the 5th. Report an error in the passage at 16:17 Highlight the passage at 16:17

16:40 He'll do a three-day teaching. During that weekend, we definitely need extra hands. So if anyone is available Friday night, the 5th especially, that's going to be the most insane night. Report an error in the passage at 16:40 Highlight the passage at 16:40

16:55 Insane in a good way. In a virtuous way, at least. Or Saturday and Sunday, the 6th and 7th, then contact me. We don't have it yet, but I did talk to V. Ellen today. I think we will soon have an email called volunteer at seichenling.org that you can contact. But until then, you can contact me. Report an error in the passage at 16:55 Highlight the passage at 16:55

17:18 Also, I wanted to... Oh, yes. Someone just manifested in the back. Report an error in the passage at 17:18 Highlight the passage at 17:18

17:30 Should we translate this into the microphone? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 17:30 Highlight the passage at 17:30

17:37 A woman in the back is saying. Report an error in the passage at 17:37 Highlight the passage at 17:37

17:48 If they're inside. Yeah, if they're inside, yeah. There are things for them to do, especially setting up and so forth that don't require it. And, of course, we actually need cleaning help. Thank you for being the good plant. Oh, you're already cleaning. Come on. Report an error in the passage at 17:48 Highlight the passage at 17:48

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18:07 You've already signed up, honey, so you're already on the list. No, if people want to help Maria clean. No, we actually need cleaning, especially because he's arriving sooner than we thought, which is great. But it happens to be that he's arriving the day after Day of Miracles, which is the 28th, which means we're doing virtuous activities from 6 a.m. Report an error in the passage at 18:07 Highlight the passage at 18:07

18:29 through about 9 or 10 at night. So we have to clean before Day of Miracles and then all during Day of Miracles we have to keep cleaning up after ourselves so we don't have a big mess because then He arrives bright and early, 9 o 'clock the next day. So if anybody also just wants to help clean, you don't need any high shagatandra for that. You can just come and clean. I think we're going to start probably Thursday, Friday, Saturday of not this coming week, but next week. Report an error in the passage at 18:29 Highlight the passage at 18:29

18:56 You can just come and clean. Or you can talk to Michelle. Michelle at staginling.org and she's going to organize that. But that is a good point. During the second and third days of the empowerment, if you have not had tantra, which I assume probably none of you have, then if you volunteer, it would be doing things outside, like handing people programs as they come in or checking them off the little registration sheet or something like that, which also needs to be done. Report an error in the passage at 18:56 Highlight the passage at 18:56

19:29 Um, or helping single cook dinner for children or something. So we'll come up with something for you to do. The biggest night that we need help is either preparation of or the first night. The first night we're expecting almost twice as many people as the other nights. So it's just definitely going to be insane. So just kind of having especially hands to kind of keep it calm and friendly, then that's useful. Report an error in the passage at 19:29 Highlight the passage at 19:29

20:01 Okay. I did want to say too, the next Discovering Buddhism class, ours goes, okay after this I can think twice more, right? It's the next, what day is today? Today's the 18th, so next week's the 25th and then the one after that's the 4th and that's the last. So after this class we have two more. Then the next Discovering Buddhism class starts the one right after that, because we did have a break but I took it. Report an error in the passage at 20:01 Highlight the passage at 20:01

20:31 And that's the 11th and that's going to be called Saṃsāra and Nirvāṇa. And that's actually taught by Venable Carol. I'm taking a term off. So that's all about how we create Saṃsāra with our mind and so therefore we can create Nirvāṇa with our mind. Nirvāṇa just meaning liberation from Saṃsāra. I don't know how many weeks that is. It's maybe six or seven weeks I think. Report an error in the passage at 20:31 Highlight the passage at 20:31

21:00 Any questions or things about your homework or your meditation or anything that we did last week or anything like that? A couple hands are going up. So where's the mic? Report an error in the passage at 21:00 Highlight the passage at 21:00

21:21 Both of you. Why don't you get it? It's coming back to you so then Christine can have it. Patience. Report an error in the passage at 21:21 Highlight the passage at 21:21

21:30 This mic always makes me like, what? What's that mean? The mic always makes me. Oh, yeah. Just pause for a second. I know. This one woman, every time she asks a question, she always goes into that loungy voice. Yes, Allah. So don't do that. So... Actually, I had a question about some of the meditations where you're actually speaking out loud. Report an error in the passage at 21:30 Highlight the passage at 21:30

21:56 And I was traveling this week and I was in situations where I actually couldn't be vocal. You're kind of sharing a room or like that? Yeah. I was camping. Yeah, yeah, yeah. just no. Report an error in the passage at 21:56 Highlight the passage at 21:56

22:12 So I was wondering, doing them silently is okay in those kind of situations, right? Or is it just... I think it's fine, yeah, in that situation. You're talking about the mantras? The mantras and just reading things out loud. Yeah, you never have to read the things out loud. You can always read them to yourself. Yeah, you mean like refuge, like when you're taking refuge and things? Report an error in the passage at 22:12 Highlight the passage at 22:12

22:32 You can just read that to yourself, that's okay. The mantra, it's better to chant it because the vibration is good, but, you know, I mean... Tibetans are anything if not practical. There are certain practices, we actually just mentioned them in the drop-in meditation, where in advanced tantra practices, you actually do mantra, they're silent recitation of the mantra. Report an error in the passage at 22:32 Highlight the passage at 22:32

22:59 And we're not there yet, you know, so you're not there yet, but I think in this situation that you're describing, that's okay. Or you can just do it really quietly, like... Instead of chanting, you can just do like that. That's okay. That's not going to bother anyone, hopefully. They say when you chant a mantra, it should be loud enough for a flea sitting on your shoulder to hear it, but not so loud that it's going to disturb the people around you. Report an error in the passage at 22:59 Highlight the passage at 22:59

23:32 So you definitely can chant it quite quietly. Thanks. Yeah, yeah. I do it all the time on the bus. I mean, I already look like a weirdo, so that's okay. But, you know, you can just definitely do it very, very quietly. It doesn't have to disturb. In fact, most people don't even know. I mean, they do because I am always using a mala, but they don't necessarily know what I'm doing. Report an error in the passage at 23:32 Highlight the passage at 23:32

24:00 It's just a kind of housekeeping question. Did we set on a date for the practice day? Oh, yes, I'm sorry. I thought we did, but apparently there was other confusion this week, too. So, yes, we did move it officially to March 20th. Please do not come Saturday. I've already booked up the entire day with meetings now. No, the 27th. Report an error in the passage at 24:00 Highlight the passage at 24:00

24:26 I know it's confusing. This whole class. Let's just start over. The 27th is the day that the practicum, the workshop, was moved to. So the one that used to be on the 6th, that was basic rituals, basic Buddhist rituals. That's now on the 27th. The retreat day for this class, which I'll talk about a little bit at next week's class, that is now March 20th. Report an error in the passage at 24:26 Highlight the passage at 24:26

24:53 It's on the other side of Chuddin Rinpoche. And that came up last week because Christine was mentioning, which actually I thought it was a good idea, that because now we extended this class by two classes, it didn't make sense to have the final retreat day before the class even ended. Report an error in the passage at 24:53 Highlight the passage at 24:53

25:11 So we're going to do that on March 20th. And like I said, we'll talk about that next class a little bit. So any other questions? I mean, you'll have another chance. Report an error in the passage at 25:11 Highlight the passage at 25:11

25:30 All right. Report an error in the passage at 25:30 Highlight the passage at 25:30

25:34 Okay, this has nothing to do with anything else. But there was a difference. But he's going to ask it anyway. There was a difference between what you were chanting. Oh, yeah, I meant to mention that. Yes, yes, that's a good point, especially because you guys are all learning about practice. So you guys, especially those of you that were following, on the Zambhala practice, you said a different word, right? You said Jinsuk instead of Chunyan. Report an error in the passage at 25:34 Highlight the passage at 25:34

26:03 Chunyan is teachings, you know, by listening to the teachings. That's how it translates. And Jinsuk is by doing this practice. So usually we say Jinsuk if we're going to do a meditation practice or if we're going to sit down and meditate or do our own personal practice, we would say Jinsuk. Report an error in the passage at 26:03 Highlight the passage at 26:03

26:22 And then the other one we use at teachings, so Chunyin. And there's always someone in the room that says it wrong anyway, so don't feel badly, those of you that said the wrong words because you were reading from a different place. Apparently there's even something that the teacher says differently, and I don't know what that is, or it's something like through teaching the Dharma. But since I don't know it, then I just happily say through listening to the Dharma, because I do listen to myself as I speak, so good question. Report an error in the passage at 26:22 Highlight the passage at 26:22

26:51 Especially because I could answer it. Report an error in the passage at 26:51 Highlight the passage at 26:51

26:57 So we're going to talk a little bit more about what happens between sessions, different ways to use your day, every moment of your day, which is the way, this is the way that Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches actually the way he lives. And so he teaches us the same way that he lives, which is basically don't let a moment go by without doing something, right? Report an error in the passage at 26:57 Highlight the passage at 26:57

27:21 We waste so many moments of the day. And I think he knows perfectly well that none of us are going to do 100 % of these. They're just like, here's a bunch of ideas. Here's a bunch of ideas to juice it up when you're thinking about it. And then when you forget, then you'll remember to do some of them some of the time. Report an error in the passage at 27:21 Highlight the passage at 27:21

27:43 It's kind of more like that. And retreat, which we'll talk about a little bit in the last class, what I mean by retreat. Report an error in the passage at 27:43 Highlight the passage at 27:43

27:53 You actually have a lot more sort of time and space to do these things. And so sometimes it's really useful to allow yourself to even have a retreat day in the middle of your busy life, you know. And we'll talk about how you might do that. It doesn't have to be going away for three years, you know. It can be setting it up so that a Sunday is a retreat day where you turn off the phone. Report an error in the passage at 27:53 Highlight the passage at 27:53

28:16 Well, it's hard with a three-year-old, but maybe a three-year-old's going somewhere. Come, bye-bye. Or that's a different kind of retreat, isn't it? Basically, turning off the phone, turning off the computer and allowing yourself some space and time to practice. And some of these practices might be how you practice. So it doesn't mean that you have to meditate for 17 hours every day. It just means you're allowing yourself some time to practice. Report an error in the passage at 28:16 Highlight the passage at 28:16

28:46 Yeah, so we'll talk a little bit about what that means. Well, actually, we've talked about it. One way that you can do that is the very first thing I was going to talk about is living in the vows. I met with a couple of you, John, about refuge and the lay vows. And I don't know that I mentioned this, but the Galupa tradition, especially out of the four schools that came out of Tibet, is definitely really big on vows. Report an error in the passage at 28:46 Highlight the passage at 28:46

29:18 We have lots of various levels of vows, I think. Probably even more so than the other Tibetan schools. Obviously bodhisattva and tantric vows, they're all done in all the traditions. Our tradition is also really big on ordained, or people like me, people who wear these funny, outdated little outfits and chop our hair off. Report an error in the passage at 29:18 Highlight the passage at 29:18

29:44 More so than the other schools, we have more monasteries, and that definitely is a factor in our... Why is that? I mean, what is the underlying reason of these vows? Why do we think that it's important to take vows? Lama Yeshe used to say that when he first started looking at, you know, teaching Westerners and talking to Westerners, they saw vows as like prison, you know? Report an error in the passage at 29:44 Highlight the passage at 29:44

30:12 Like, why would you ever want to take vows? You know, you're just locking yourself up. You're throwing away the key, basically. And they're completely the opposite from... The dharmic point of view. It's like when you take vows, this idea is that you're making this determination not to do something, and that determination lives in your mind stream all the time. Report an error in the passage at 30:12 Highlight the passage at 30:12

30:38 So if we just decide not to kill a bug when we have a chance to kill a bug, we might do that a few times, right, in our lifetimes? But if we make a determination never to kill a bug... That determination becomes part of our mind stream. It's almost like an aura that's in our mind stream. And that power of having made that determination continues to generate merit, even if we're not thinking about killing a bug, even if we're not in the situation where we could kill a bug. Report an error in the passage at 30:38 Highlight the passage at 30:38

31:08 And even when we're just distracted, they say distracted or asleep, which is something I love. So the vows themselves actually are merit generators, but they also give us a chance to live the way the holy beings just naturally live. You know, they just naturally don't want to kill. They just naturally don't want to steal. They just naturally do the things that we have to take vows to not do. Report an error in the passage at 31:08 Highlight the passage at 31:08

31:37 So for us, they're kind of like, I was talking yesterday. yesterday. About the precepts, the refuge precepts, which are not vows. They're actually kind of like commitments. They're not technically vows. Report an error in the passage at 31:37 Highlight the passage at 31:37

31:55 They're kind of like guidelines of living, how we live. You know, I call them like training wheels. They're like ways to get us closer to what we want to be when we grow up, spiritually speaking. Report an error in the passage at 31:55 Highlight the passage at 31:55

32:07 The lay vows, the first level of actual vows are actually these 24-hour vows that we take on holy days. Or actually you can take them at various points in the calendar. Those of you who have the Liberation Prison Project calendar, they actually have precept days marked. Here at the center we tend to do precepts on the holy days. Report an error in the passage at 32:07 Highlight the passage at 32:07

32:28 There are four main Buddhist holy days related to the Buddha's life that we do. They're merit-multiplying days, so one of the things that we do are these 24-hour vows. That's the first level of vows. You're only taking them for a day. But it's a great starting place, right? And it feeds right into this idea of how do you make a little tiny retreat day. One of the ways you might do it is giving yourself these 24-hour vows. Because one of the things I notice if I'm in retreat and I'm keeping these vows really carefully and I'm not eating at night and so forth, Report an error in the passage at 32:28 Highlight the passage at 32:28

33:00 Then you open up the whole evening, right? You don't have to spend any time making dinner or eating it or cleaning up. That just immediately clears like three hours of your time. It gives you so much more energy and time to practice. So even if you just do that one day, it creates a sort of special feeling around that day that just can allow it to be a practice day. Report an error in the passage at 33:00 Highlight the passage at 33:00

33:22 And you can decide what a day is. It might be a holiday from work or it might be a... Just a day that you got child care. It could be anything. And you can make it into something special. So sometimes those precepts are just like a little instant, little mini retreat. And all you're doing is taking those vows for one day. Traditionally speaking, in order to have the lineage so that you can take them on your own, you're supposed to receive them from a Lama first. Report an error in the passage at 33:22 Highlight the passage at 33:22

33:54 Which we've had a hard time in the last few holy days to have a Lama here. Geshe-la keeps saying, you give? And I'm like, no. No give, Geshe-la. Report an error in the passage at 33:54 Highlight the passage at 33:54

34:04 So we just take them together from the Buddhas and then you guys can do that, but you then don't have what's called the lineage to go and take them on your own. So you just have to keep coming back here and taking them from the Buddhas. At some point we'll get Geshe-la in here again in the morning. Report an error in the passage at 34:04 Highlight the passage at 34:04

34:24 Then you guys can get the lineage. Or maybe ask Shantideva Rinpoche when he's here or something like that. Maybe we'll pick a precept day on the week that he's here just to do that so that we can give you guys a good lineage. The next level of vows is what's called lay vows, five lay vows. I'm not going into detail with this, but I'm just kind of mentioning some things about it. Report an error in the passage at 34:24 Highlight the passage at 34:24

34:45 They're covered in more detail in other classes. And if you're interested in them, actually Geshe-lo will teach on them. To some degree on Sunday. So if you want that information, come on Sunday. He'll talk about refuge and lay vows after people have already taken it, which always kind of is like, why don't you do it before? Report an error in the passage at 34:45 Highlight the passage at 34:45

35:04 Unless someone will leap in and take it. But he waits until after you've made the commitment, and then he tells you what you just did. It's a different way, and he's much closer to enlightenment, so I'm not going to say anything against it. Report an error in the passage at 35:04 Highlight the passage at 35:04

35:21 The next level after that is ordination. All of these are what's called pradhimoksha vows. Vows of individual liberation, they're called pradhimoksha. And the highest level of those are the ordination vows. And of course in ordination vows you have different levels too. I mean this is nothing if not hierarchical. And then after that is bodhisattva vows. Report an error in the passage at 35:21 Highlight the passage at 35:21

35:46 And then after that is tantric vows. And they each... Create a firm foundation for the next. So the very basic one actually is refuge, really even before the eight Mayana precepts, which of course I know, we discussed that after the fact. Report an error in the passage at 35:46 Highlight the passage at 35:46

36:04 It should actually be refuge first. It doesn't mean we all do these ideally, believe you me. When I took refuge, I didn't really fully know exactly what I was doing, which is why I now have the karma to teach refuge over and over to many people. Report an error in the passage at 36:04 Highlight the passage at 36:04

36:19 It's a good foundation for everything else to take root. So you do the refuge, you do the 24-hour vows, you do the lay vows, and they all provide a great foundation for the higher vows. All of those, all the Prati Moksha vows, including the ordination vows, are really at a level of, as I said with Venerobina, zip your lip and keep your hands to yourself. Report an error in the passage at 36:19 Highlight the passage at 36:19

36:44 They're at that basic level of morality of not Harming each other with our body and our speech. Not yet our mind. The mind is dealt with more in the bodhisattva and the tantric vows. Report an error in the passage at 36:44 Highlight the passage at 36:44

36:59 And bodhisattva vows is possible to study before you take them. And they aren't offered so often for those of us that don't enter tantra. So every once in a while I ask Geshe-la to offer bodhisattva vows. And I'm thinking then... Of course, no, I'm not the one who makes these decisions, but I get to still plug Charles. I was thinking when he finished Shantideva's text, The Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, it would be a really lovely time for him to offer bodhisattva vows. Report an error in the passage at 36:59 Highlight the passage at 36:59

37:30 So I'm going to request Charles to request him to do that, which would probably be in the fall sometime. So if people are interested in bodhisattva vows, we might actually even also discuss with Emily, maybe she could teach about those bodhisattva vows. Report an error in the passage at 37:30 Highlight the passage at 37:30

37:47 Or invite somebody else to do that. So you know what you're taking before you take them. They're very exciting vows, actually, bodhicitta vows. Report an error in the passage at 37:47 Highlight the passage at 37:47

37:58 So I just mentioned a little something about vows. I think otherwise it just sounds like a lot of contracts that you're signing. They're all just ways for us to help develop mindfulness, especially at the lower level, mindfulness about... Offering the food, for example, to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Mindfulness about how we're speaking, how we're acting towards each other and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 37:58 Highlight the passage at 37:58

38:28 And the Bodhisattva vows and the Tantric vows are really trying to turn our world around 180 degrees in the way that we normally think, you know, in terms of cherishing others and so forth more than ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 38:28 Highlight the passage at 38:28

38:45 Another little thing to remember, and I've mentioned this in other classes, and in fact we did it a little bit in the beginning where we're doing the prayers, is rejoicing. Rejoicing is a great practice. You don't need any special tools. Rejoicing basically just means taking deep, heartfelt happiness in something virtuous that you've done or somebody else has done. Report an error in the passage at 38:45 Highlight the passage at 38:45

39:10 And it really is an incredible practice. If you're depressed, if you're jealous, if you're angry, it's pretty much like whatever ails you, this is the perfect practice for you. Report an error in the passage at 39:10 Highlight the passage at 39:10

39:24 And it's really hard to do if you're depressed or angry or jealous. So you practice it before you're in one of those states of mind so that when you are, then it becomes a useful tool. Report an error in the passage at 39:24 Highlight the passage at 39:24

39:38 All of my teachers praise this to the hilt in terms of really easy ways to... Accumulate Merit because that's what we're going to focus on in most of this class is purification and accumulation of merit, both of which are really, really important within our tradition. So rejoicing is, they say, the easiest way for us to accumulate merit. Just by rejoicing, for example, if you, you know, did a three-year retreat, if I rejoice sincerely and with my whole heart, I actually collect some of the merit of your three-year retreat and I never. Report an error in the passage at 39:38 Highlight the passage at 39:38

40:14 Left the city, you know. So it's actually an incredibly easy way to create merit. Lama Yesha used to say that it's like, you know, you just come home from work and you just lay on the couch and you just rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. You know, it's just an easy way to... Report an error in the passage at 40:14 Highlight the passage at 40:14

40:30 Of course, it's also easy because it counters that mind of criticizing other people, of being jealous of that guy got to go on vacation and I don't get to go on vacation. Instead, just rejoice that he got to go on vacation. He must have created the causes for it, so just be happy. It shifts our mind. It starts pervading our mind with this kind of joyfulness. Report an error in the passage at 40:30 Highlight the passage at 40:30

40:57 There's a lot of... Problems that come up due to the negative karma. So I talked about the fact that if we've created the causes for positive things to happen, positive things will happen no matter what we want. The same thing, unfortunately, is true for negative stuff. So negative stuff happens. I guess there's a bumper sticker slightly to that effect. Report an error in the passage at 40:57 Highlight the passage at 40:57

41:22 Which I won't repeat. But stuff happens and according to karma, according to the law of cause and effect, we've created the causes for it. And so how do we deal with that? How do we deal with it when we face problems in our life? How do we deal with it when we get the flu? How do we deal with it when we lose our job? Report an error in the passage at 41:22 Highlight the passage at 41:22

41:38 How do we deal with it when the boyfriend leaves or whatever? That's actually the subject of reams and reams and reams of teachings. Report an error in the passage at 41:38 Highlight the passage at 41:38

41:50 It's called Mind Training or Thought Transformation Teachings, Lojang in Tibetan. And in fact, in the Discovering Buddhism program, there's an entire class on transforming problems right after the class on bodhicitta, which is right after this next class. So it's coming up. But there are some easy ways to start thinking about it. Basically, it's just changing your mind about how things appear. Report an error in the passage at 41:50 Highlight the passage at 41:50

42:20 If we're practicing really, really well and negative stuff still happens, how might we look at it with a different set of eyes? One of the things is if we're purifying a lot, if we're practicing really, really well, negative stuff might appear to be happening that's actually a purification of much, much heavier negative stuff. Report an error in the passage at 42:20 Highlight the passage at 42:20

42:44 For example, getting the flu. It might be just incredible purification of actually a lot of really virtuous stuff that I just was doing over the last few months. How do I know whether it is or it isn't? Well, why can't it be? I know that Van Ravine at one point when she just said, we have to see it as purification. Report an error in the passage at 42:44 Highlight the passage at 42:44

43:07 And it is true to some degree. It's like I have a choice to just think, okay, I'm just sick, or I have the choice to think, this is purifying some old crap. Great. Let her rip. Bring it on, you know. I want to get rid of this stuff in this life. As I mentioned last class, when I have these incredibly cushy conditions, you know, I'm living in an Edwardian mansion, for God's sake, with chandeliers in the bathroom. Report an error in the passage at 43:07 Highlight the passage at 43:07

43:33 You know, so I want to get rid of it in this life, and I would rather it just come out in ways like the flu or something like that, or migraines, which I also get. Report an error in the passage at 43:33 Highlight the passage at 43:33

43:45 I would rather just get rid of it in those simpler forms than to have it ripen as eons in the hell realms, for example. So it sort of changes the whole attitude of it. There's this one story of this woman that was going on pilgrimage in Tibet, and of course, when you're doing pilgrimage, you have to just expect that negative things will happen. Report an error in the passage at 43:45 Highlight the passage at 43:45

44:07 The same is really true. The so-called, I should say, so-called negative things will happen. The same is true in retreat. Things happen because you're purifying at a really massive rate. So she just kept saying like a mantra, bring it on, I want to get it over with. You know, bring it on, bring it on, bring it on. And every time she would get sick, she was just actually really happy. Report an error in the passage at 44:07 Highlight the passage at 44:07

44:28 So it completely changed her attitudes towards stuff. She actually was just very, very accepting of it just because she began changing her. understanding of what was happening. Does this mean we go out and we seek pain? No, we're not Jains. There is actually a specific religion that does believe that if you increase the negative things happening, that you are purifying. Report an error in the passage at 44:28 Highlight the passage at 44:28

44:53 So it's taking this to another degree. Buddhists don't believe that. But, you know, we don't really have to do too much to have negative things happen. Things just happen. So when things happen, then we can change our attitude towards them. And that's the beginning of the mind training teachings is just welcoming or learning how to welcome whatever, you know, exists, whatever comes at you. Report an error in the passage at 44:53 Highlight the passage at 44:53

45:15 Knowing that it's either, number one, my negative karma that caused it and now it's exhausting. As Judas said when our house burned down. Well, as Lama Yeshi would say, that karma's finished. Then she also finished it with, my dear, I think I'm in shock. But I was really impressed that she said the first sentence, actually. Report an error in the passage at 45:15 Highlight the passage at 45:15

45:38 So at least to think, okay, this is at least negative karma exhausting itself, and this karma's done. I'm never going to see this karma again. This one's done. Or, even better, step up. This is great. Let me just get rid of all. know, um, Report an error in the passage at 45:38 Highlight the passage at 45:38

45:56 Let me just get rid of all this negative karma in this life by purifying it and then it's completely done and then I don't have to experience this kind of suffering. Or a step above that one is let me take it on for all others so they don't have to suffer, which is starting to get the bodhicitta mind, the big heart. Report an error in the passage at 45:56 Highlight the passage at 45:56

46:15 You're opening your heart. You're not thinking about yourself. So instead of me just like... I'm sick. I don't feel good. Then I start opening up my heart and going, okay, let me take it on for the street people so they don't have to be sick like this on the street. I can't even imagine that. Report an error in the passage at 46:15 Highlight the passage at 46:15

46:33 Year after year. So just starting to get our minds out of the self-pity mind. So you can use it to build your mind. Any little thing that happens, you can use it to build your mind. But I do want to say... Report an error in the passage at 46:33 Highlight the passage at 46:33

46:49 I was reminded of it when I was just recently sick. When we learn these mind training teachings or we learn about karma, it's really for us to work on our own minds. It's not so much that we run up to other people and go, rejoice! Great, rejoice! First of all, you don't know I may be already rejoicing. Report an error in the passage at 46:49 Highlight the passage at 46:49

47:09 And secondly, just be nice. If somebody's in pain, be nice to them. The Buddha didn't really want us to run around and yell rejoice at each other. We're learning to rejoice to make our own minds happy, but we don't need to tell other people how to do it. So it's not a permission to just run around and tell people how to act, which often, unfortunately, as Westerners we do. We take these incredibly profound, sacred, sweet teachings and we turn them into just another way to tell people what to do. Report an error in the passage at 47:09 Highlight the passage at 47:09

47:42 But I am just mentioning it because, especially as we get into purification practices and accumulation of merit, you may see that the dirt's coming out in your life. In other words, Rinpoche used to always say that, when you wash your clothes, the dirt's got to come out, the dirt's got to come out, the dirt's got to come out, which I actually think is a useful mantra as well. Report an error in the passage at 47:42 Highlight the passage at 47:42

48:03 The dirt's got to come out, you know, when that's happening. But just know that if your practice is really, really strong, things are going to happen. You're going to see some sign that things are going to happen. Positive things will, but also seemingly negative too. And just remember that dirt's got to come out before you can get enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 48:03 Highlight the passage at 48:03

48:24 There's a lot of dirt to come out, so just to be aware and not to lose heart. So these are kind of a bunch of different little things. I'm changing subject, but believe me, they all are related. In the different tantric teachings, Report an error in the passage at 48:24 Highlight the passage at 48:24

48:42 There are these different yogas, that your day is actually divided into the different yogas, the yoga of sleeping, the yoga of eating, the yoga of waking up, the yoga of, you know, all these different, the yoga of sitting and so forth. So that's how I'm kind of approaching this. The yoga of eating is just talking about how you can think about the simple mundane activity of eating. Report an error in the passage at 48:42 Highlight the passage at 48:42

49:04 Some of us that have been practicing for a while may have come up already with a way that we eat. Believe it or not, even eating isn't time off in Buddhism. So there's lots of ways you can do it. And in fact, at the practicum, I'm calling it the practicum, the basic Buddhist rituals, we will talk about that a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 49:04 Highlight the passage at 49:04

49:28 There's actually a sort of a Buddhist grace that Geshe-la always chants if he's leading. And in fact, at day-longs, I'll usually lead that. There's a little sort of a grace thing. I actually think that's less useful than, again, the words. I think it's less useful than just actually visualizing something because then it's something meaningful to you. Report an error in the passage at 49:28 Highlight the passage at 49:28

49:48 So one idea is imagining if you have a teacher or somebody that you relate to like a Buddha, like Geshe-la or His Holiness, imagining that being at your heart. And then whenever you're eating, then you bless the food by saying these three syllables, Om Ahung, that we use all the time when we're offering. Report an error in the passage at 49:48 Highlight the passage at 49:48

50:14 Om Ahung, actually, all those syllables do is they purify, transform into nectar and increase whatever. So if we're placing something on the altar, Om Ahung. If we're eating something, Om Ahung. It's the same thing. It's taking what's ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary. So we bless the food by those syllables and then we imagine that that food is blessed and that the light sort of goes out into all space, feeding all the holy beings. Report an error in the passage at 50:14 Highlight the passage at 50:14

50:47 You can imagine them all receiving it in bliss and then imagining the rays coming back into the food and then as you eat it and it goes down, it feeds the holy being at your heart. So that's one possible way to do it. You could actually even, and for years I just kind of came up with my own because nobody taught me, and so I would actually just say, basically, I do variations on a theme, I would just say basically, may this food... Report an error in the passage at 50:47 Highlight the passage at 50:47

51:18 Allow me to benefit all sentient beings, basically. I just, in my mind, be thinking that this food is like medicine to make my body and mind strong so that I can help others. It just helps me remember that sort of bigger goal of being able to benefit others. Sometimes I'll actually think about... May this food increase my understanding of bodhicitta. May this food increase my understanding of emptiness. Whatever it is that I'm thinking about, may this food increase my understanding of impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 51:18 Highlight the passage at 51:18

51:46 Another one, Venerable Rubina used to always say, you spend all this time cooking it and in about two hours it'll just be caca. And it's true. It's totally true. We have entire cultures built around food and special implements and wines and all this stuff. And in two hours, it just basically comes right back out the body, you know. Maybe four hours, maybe 16 hours, depending on how slow your system is. Report an error in the passage at 51:46 Highlight the passage at 51:46

52:12 We laugh at that, but the reality is it's really true. It's a colossal waste of time, actually. So sometimes at least remembering that with each bite that we get closer to that realization so that we start using our time incredibly meaningfully and not wasting time. Report an error in the passage at 52:12 Highlight the passage at 52:12

52:33 One of the things we were talking about yesterday, actually, with John and Barry, we were talking about that one refuge commitment of offering the food, right? So there's lots of ways that you can do that. There's a refuge commitment to offer the first bite of any food or drink that you have to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, especially remembering their kindness. Report an error in the passage at 52:33 Highlight the passage at 52:33

52:53 And the Buddhas, I say, I threw in Bodhisattvas wine and I offered it to them, too. Report an error in the passage at 52:53 Highlight the passage at 52:53

53:00 And I was talking about this with this one student today by phone, and this is like one that was really making her nervous. And I said, you know, I used to always do it in the kitchen before I would go to the table, because then at the table people start talking at you and then you forget. She also said, you know, what if you remember when you're eating? I'm like, just offer it then. You know, just, just, it just. Report an error in the passage at 53:00 Highlight the passage at 53:00

53:20 They're like training wheels. We're just trying to become more mindful so that we can become better beings. It doesn't mean you're a horrible person because you forgot. The Buddhas don't need our corned beef sandwich. It's all about opening our hearts and trying to develop mindfulness, trying to remember the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, trying to remember that this food is basically just a conduit to us becoming enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 53:20 Highlight the passage at 53:20

53:48 That's all. It's just reminding ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 53:48 Highlight the passage at 53:48

53:53 The yoga of sleeping, so you don't get that time off either. There's lots of ways to go to sleep to make it a virtuous activity. Actually, when you're studying mind and mental factors, Tibetans are actually very detailed in how our mind works. There's certain, what they call, how do they call it, variable. Report an error in the passage at 53:53 Highlight the passage at 53:53

54:18 Mental factors. And sleep is one of them. It's neutral. It's neither virtuous or non-virtuous. So what we do with it makes it a virtuous or a non-virtuous activity. So setting the mind, again, before you go to sleep, allows what then happens to become a more virtuous activity. And there's a lot of ways to do that. Report an error in the passage at 54:18 Highlight the passage at 54:18

54:39 One is just looking at, for example, I have a friend who, I forgot which book it was, actually. It might be one of the lamrims. She literally just reads a page a day. It is neither Report an error in the passage at 54:39 Highlight the passage at 54:39

54:48 So she reads that page right before she goes to sleep and that just kind of permeates her mind so that it becomes a positive state of mind. There are also physically ways, lying down. Has anyone seen the images? It's called the reclining Buddha, the position that the Buddha got in as he passed away. That particular way of lying down with your head resting in your right hand, on your right side, the knees. Report an error in the passage at 54:48 Highlight the passage at 54:48

55:14 It's slightly drawn up. I can't remember exactly how it is. I try to lie down that way every night when I go to sleep. If you move from that position, it's okay, too. It doesn't mean you have to lie like that all night. It's basically setting. It's just like creating a good imprint, they say. And they actually say when you pass away, if you can remember or have the people around you help you get in that position, that it's supposed to be a very virtuous position to pass away. Report an error in the passage at 55:14 Highlight the passage at 55:14

55:43 And I have actually heard of situations where somebody was dying and they were on the phone with Rinpoche getting advice for that person, obviously a student of his. And he advised them to put this person in that position, so they were trying to put this person in that position, which was sometimes difficult. Report an error in the passage at 55:43 Highlight the passage at 55:43

56:02 Oxygen and so forth. So the more familiar you are with it, the more likely that you would just automatically get in that position. That's true for all of this stuff, right? The more familiar our mind is with, you know, going for refuge, the more likely we're actually going to do it at the time of our death. Report an error in the passage at 56:02 Highlight the passage at 56:02

56:20 The more familiar we are with bodhicitta, the more likely we're actually going to think about others when we're in trouble and we won't be so self-pity-minded, you know? So all of this stuff is about familiarizing it. So if we do it every night when we go to bed, then it's a good practice. You can also imagine, and I've done this one many times, especially if you're upset, lying with your head in the lap of the Buddha or in the lap of your teacher, if you have a teacher. Report an error in the passage at 56:20 Highlight the passage at 56:20

56:50 I find that incredibly calming if you... Even if you don't, if you have a Buddha, especially one that you relate to and it doesn't have to be Shakyamuni Buddha, it could be Tara or so forth. And just lying with your head in their lap. And then of course you're trying to remember that when you wake up, that you're waking up with your head in their lap. If you're really upset, it's also just a very calming thing. Report an error in the passage at 56:50 Highlight the passage at 56:50

57:18 It's also really good when you wake up to remember that... To not take it for granted, to remember that you could have died, that many people did die but you didn't. A lot of times we just take it for granted that we're going to wake up in the same body, in the same conditions and at some point that won't be true. Report an error in the passage at 57:18 Highlight the passage at 57:18

57:39 So actually remembering it isn't a negative thing, it's actually an incredibly positive thing to get it that this day is a gift and that we shouldn't take it for granted and that we have this great opportunity to feel this joy. Report an error in the passage at 57:39 Highlight the passage at 57:39

57:52 Lama Zopa Rinpoche is always really stressing like, You know, really to remember that it's an amazing, an amazing, as he always says, amazing that I woke up and that I still have this body and that I still have strength and that I still have a mind and that my mind is somewhat sane. And that to feel great joy about that, you know, and that you have this amazing opportunity to try once more to practice, no matter how bad yesterday was, that you can start over again. Report an error in the passage at 57:52 Highlight the passage at 57:52

58:25 And again, you can wake up with this idea that you're resting in the Buddha's lap. There's actually a book called that, In the Lap of the Buddha. And he talks about that. This was somebody who had AIDS. And he was talking about how at night he would lie down and visualize that he was in the lap of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 58:25 Highlight the passage at 58:25

58:46 So when you wake up, you're waking up with your head in the lap of the Buddha and then... The Buddha melts into light and enters through your crown and descends to your heart. A couple of ideas on how to take a nice mundane activity like eating and going to sleep and making it into a virtuous activity. Report an error in the passage at 58:46 Highlight the passage at 58:46

59:07 Any questions about these little tips, fun tips to know and tell? I was going to interrupt if you didn't ask. Report an error in the passage at 59:07 Highlight the passage at 59:07

59:20 I can be mindful about So, so for Report an error in the passage at 59:20 Highlight the passage at 59:20

59:25 Going to sleep and mindful about waking up, but there's that tricky part in the middle where my... Believe me, there are advanced practices for dreaming yoga, but we're not getting into them. There actually are yogas for what you do overnight, too. But I'm not going to go into them here. They're more tantric in nature. Good question. I mean, actually, in some tantric retreats... Report an error in the passage at 59:25 Highlight the passage at 59:25

59:43 Yeah. All right. Report an error in the passage at 59:43 Highlight the passage at 59:43

59:56 And what's interesting is, of course, in those retreats, you are trying to visualize yourself as a day at all times. And the time that is the hardest is when you wake up to pee in the middle of the night, right? You're just like, oh my gosh, wait. It's supposed to be. And so it's just constantly mindfulness about, oh yeah, this is really what I'm supposed to be doing. Report an error in the passage at 59:56 Highlight the passage at 59:56

1:00:18 And it's just that training. It's that training. So you're just constantly catching yourself. Same eating, right? Because we can mindlessly eat for sure and you're like, oh wait, you know, wait, let's just be visualizing like this, this and this and this. It's interesting to catch yourself, to see how mindlessly we go through most moments of every day. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:18 Highlight the passage at 1:00:18

1:00:41 Retreats are a lot about noticing that, you know. But yeah, middle of the night, whether you're awake or whether you're asleep are big times that we get into trouble. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:41 Highlight the passage at 1:00:41

1:00:52 I saw some more hands up. Gina, could you pass that down? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:52 Highlight the passage at 1:00:52

1:01:00 With rejoicing, is there a little process or practice or is it really just thinking about rejoicing? I was likening it to the purification with the four R's. It's not something specific like that, is it? It's just generating a mind of rejoicing? Yeah, the only specifics are you can either start with yourself and go outwards or start with... Report an error in the passage at 1:01:00 Highlight the passage at 1:01:00

1:01:28 The top, meaning the holiest beings, the Buddhists, rejoicing in what allowed them to be Buddhists and then coming all the way down to yourself or the most mundane people. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:28 Highlight the passage at 1:01:28

1:01:41 I like to start with ourselves because I think as a culture we don't like ourselves so much and I think it's quite useful to spend a little bit of time being really happy with some change we've done or maybe we were kind to somebody when we were really irritated with them or something like that. Then expanding out from there. But yeah, other than that, there's just like those guidelines to think about everything His Holiness did today. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:41 Highlight the passage at 1:01:41

1:02:09 And just imagine those. You don't necessarily know what those are, but you know that He's done a lot of good. I can guarantee you that, no matter what. Thinking about everything that Shakyamuna Buddha did to get enlightened or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:09 Highlight the passage at 1:02:09

1:02:22 So yeah, if you were ever in the hospital for days on end, you could just lie there and rejoice. And it basically is like, if you just rejoiced in what Lama Zopa did today, there's plenty. There's a lot of material there. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:22 Highlight the passage at 1:02:22

1:02:39 And if you really can't relate to any of those holy people, think about all the hospice workers. Think about all the people helping out in Haiti. There's tons of mundane level stuff that we can focus on too. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:39 Highlight the passage at 1:02:39

1:02:56 I could see that like some spot rejoicing might be good too. I like that. Like if you find like these moments. Target rejoicing. Right. Like these Klesha attacks where something pops up and you just have a moment where you just know you have like this raging jealousy over something. Maybe trying to stop yourself at that point and kick in with some rejoicing. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:56 Highlight the passage at 1:02:56

1:03:16 And it's hard to be really sincere. And that's okay. You're changing a mental habit so it can be fake too. But you're trying to get it to be sincere. So if you're just like, okay, wait, I want to rejoice because she's getting to go to Spain. All expenses paid by the company. That's great, you know. Then it's not quite there yet, you know. It's not heartfelt yet. But you're starting. And then to actually think for a second, wait a second, why can't I just be happy for her? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:16 Highlight the passage at 1:03:16

1:03:49 You know, no matter what this person's like. She's going to have some pleasure. I'm saying that I'm working for the benefit of all sentient beings. Here's one now. I get to rejoice. It's good practice for me to just feel happy. It's certainly not going to hurt anything. It's not going to change the situation anyway. Whether I'm jealous or whether or not I'm rejoicing, that can only benefit me. Neither situation is going to help me go to Spain. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:49 Highlight the passage at 1:03:49

1:04:12 All expenses paid. It's just going to make me have a happier mind, which actually could be really helpful. Especially if that person is, you know, somebody that you work with very closely. So it actually could have a mundane reason, too. Yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:12 Highlight the passage at 1:04:12

1:04:29 Somebody else? Oh, John had one. And then Christine? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:29 Highlight the passage at 1:04:29

1:04:39 Oh, sorry. Well, I've noticed, like, when I wake up is, like, a very important time to set, you know, my motivation for the day because, like, a couple weeks ago, you know, I just wake up. And, you know, immediately go and, you know, make breakfast, eat something, and then go on the internet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I tend to, like, go and, like, read political blogs. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:39 Highlight the passage at 1:04:39

1:05:06 Or just anything you do on the internet. It's just kind of, we scatter the mind. And one day I was reading something and I got just a little bit annoyed. And that seed of annoyance, by the end of the day, it had grown into me snapping and snarling and being really not a nice person to be around. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:06 Highlight the passage at 1:05:06

1:05:25 It was actually kind of good because I was like, oh, wait a minute. If I go and first thing when I wake up, go and take refuge and set a positive motivation and try and generate a little bit of bodhicitta, then that has since then, since I've been doing it, Report an error in the passage at 1:05:25 Highlight the passage at 1:05:25

1:05:49 my days have been better in general. Rinpoche actually says to do it, and sometimes I've seen it. Before you even get out of bed, you're still just lying there and just like, oh yeah, like your eyes open up, oh yeah, you know, okay, let me just set my motivation, you know. Before you even set foot on the ground, you know, before anything else has happened, you know, that you're taking that moment, it really does help. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:49 Highlight the passage at 1:05:49

1:06:17 And I would highly suggest no matter what kind of a morning practice you have, even if you don't have a big one. Do not go onto the internet before you do something to set your mind for the day. Like really to take, to do that gift for yourself, to just, and everyone who lives with you or works with you. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:17 Highlight the passage at 1:06:17

1:06:38 I mean it really, it really does, there's that word again, behooves. Charles was asking, what does that mean, Charles? He was like, behooves, what is behooves? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:38 Highlight the passage at 1:06:38

1:06:48 It behooves us. It would benefit us. It's to our best advantage to actually care for our minds in that way. And that's really one of those things that we were talking about last week when we were talking about what do we do with our minds when we're not meditating? Does that support the rest of our practice? And limiting the amount of time, and I'm at fault too because I work online all the time, limiting the amount of time that we're just constantly scattered. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:48 Highlight the passage at 1:06:48

1:07:16 For no necessarily apparent reason, following every possible bit of knowledge that's out there, it's not necessarily going to be the most supportive to your practice. So at least limiting it, at least not getting on before X time and not getting on after X time. Definitely perfect, perfect input. Thank you, John. Yeah, setting that motivation, whether you set it the moment you sit down at your altar or whether you set it before you even get out of bed is really... Report an error in the passage at 1:07:16 Highlight the passage at 1:07:16

1:07:45 That is really key. Christy? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:45 Highlight the passage at 1:07:45

1:07:54 You were saying before about when something bad happens, you can look at it and say, okay, well, that is completely done. The karma for that is done. But sometimes people have, or a lot of people have in their lives, like recurring themes. Oh, for sure, yeah. It doesn't mean that you're never going to have this happen again. It just means that karma is done. It's a bit of a technicality, but it is true. That particular karma is done. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:54 Highlight the passage at 1:07:54

1:08:17 It doesn't mean you're not going to have five more years of, you know. Back pain or something, but that particular karma is done, so it's like that. Yeah, yeah. And when you say, this is a small question, but when you say OMAM, is it H-U-N or H-U-M? It is, that's a technicality too. I've seen it both ways. I actually think it's closer to H-U-N-G. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:17 Highlight the passage at 1:08:17

1:08:44 But they always write at H-U-M for, I mean, often for Westerners, it's like they don't think we can say it. Yashila always writes at H-U-N-G. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:44 Highlight the passage at 1:08:44

1:08:55 And I was, for one retreat, the retreat that I've talked about a couple of times, the Vajra Safra retreat, we had a leader who was Indian, and he always said, he actually said it more like, it was actually more like that. I don't think it matters. I think, fortunately, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are incredibly understanding at our lack of Sanskrit, and so I think it's totally fine. I think just you pick one that works for you, and that's totally fine. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:55 Highlight the passage at 1:08:55

1:09:23 Most of us haven't visualized what those Sanskrit syllables look like, because we get into that, too, and just a big old H-U-M is fine, too. They'll go with that, too. So, yeah. Anybody else? Yeah. Wait, wait, wait. Talking stick. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:23 Highlight the passage at 1:09:23

1:09:42 It's an M or an N with a dot, and it's a nasalized. Yeah. And it's a very important syllable for mantra. And so I think in Tibetan it's probably more of an NG sound, but in Sanskrit it's nasalized. Yeah. There you go. Right there. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:42 Highlight the passage at 1:09:42

1:10:04 Obstacles. So we're going to talk about purification and accumulation of merit and then take a break. I think I did that to you last time, right, where there was, I told you about the break 15 minutes before it actually happened. Sorry about that. This is to kind of. Wake you up again. Did somebody else have a question? I'm seeing hands waving. Did you have a question? It's vanished. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:04 Highlight the passage at 1:10:04

1:10:26 It dissolved into light and then, okay, that's great. Okay, so we're going to talk about when to purify and when to accumulate merit because they're two different activities. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:26 Highlight the passage at 1:10:26

1:10:42 Both of them come around. If we have obstacles in our lives, we would do one or the other, but how do we decide what's what and when to do it? It's kind of like that. These different activities that I'm going to mention are, again, I think it's very similar. Oh, we were talking about this at the meditation, actually. Skillful means. They're like more skillful means for how to use our mind and train our mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:42 Highlight the passage at 1:10:42

1:11:10 I remember actually thinking at the end of the Vajrasafra retreat, three months. And four, sometimes five sessions a day of chanting, visualization, meditating, cleansing out. You know, I mean, it's like a Drano. It's like this huge Drano of your winds and channels. And I remember at the end of the summer thinking that was really skillful because if somebody had said you have to go and sit there for 12 to 14 hours a day and... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:10 Highlight the passage at 1:11:10

1:11:40 Meditate, I would have been like, we'll see you later, you know. But this was like all this stuff. We visualized much suffering. We chanted this. And then, you know, you always had, of course, it's a group retreat, so you have all that going on. And it's far more exciting than just sitting on a cushion. So I'm clearly in the right religion for me. So they're kind of like different skillful means to work on our minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:40 Highlight the passage at 1:11:40

1:12:03 And that's really all they come down to. They all come down to just working with our minds. They're all about working with our minds, all of this stuff, no matter what it looks like from the outside, whether it's a prostration, whether it's a water bowl, whether it's a chanting of a mantra, no matter what, it's all about working with our minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:03 Highlight the passage at 1:12:03

1:12:20 So just keep remembering that. I do think the Galupa tradition or the Galupa school of Tibetan Buddhism gets a really bad rep for being a really highly academic school. We have really a lot of focus on study. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:20 Highlight the passage at 1:12:20

1:12:38 But those of you who know anything about Lama Zopa Rinpoche know that practice is really, really big in the FPMT. So the whole Discovering Buddhism program is coming from the idea of experience. The classes, for example, I mean that's why the homework is all meditation, right? Or chanting or something. It's all to have so that you come out of this not just with a taste of... Report an error in the passage at 1:12:38 Highlight the passage at 1:12:38

1:13:05 The different practices or different ideas on how to meditate. Basically it's to give you the tools to get enlightened. There's nothing lower about these meditations than you would get in much more advanced classes. You're getting a taste of them right now, but these exact meditations can get you enlightened. So they're tastes of, but they're also the actual practices themselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:05 Highlight the passage at 1:13:05

1:13:31 The whole point of discovering Buddhism. The program is to give us tools to get enlightened, is to take us really deep in these practices kind of early. Lama Yeshe had that approach a lot. He's the one who sort of really pushed people into Vajrasafra retreat early. He was the big one on thinking that even very beginning students could just go ahead and get started. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:31 Highlight the passage at 1:13:31

1:13:58 Because then you had this taste of... Tantric practice and that spurred you on to doing these other practices. A lot of Tibetan Buddhism isn't like that. Lama Yeshe was actually of the ilk where he felt like Tantra and the Western mind were really nice fit and he felt like go for it kids. He was definitely really big on encouraging us to do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:58 Highlight the passage at 1:13:58

1:14:28 So it's kind of like these two sides of the coin, the Galukpa tradition with this whole emphasis on study, and then this whole Lama Yeshi side where it's just like practice, practice, practice. So Lama Zopa basically took these two sides and really helped create this Discovering Buddhism program with a little bit of each. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:28 Highlight the passage at 1:14:28

1:14:48 The practice comes in in the homeworks, but it also comes in in the final... That 14th module on integrative experiences. And we're going to talk a little bit about that tonight. But basically, they chose two of what's called the nundros, the preliminary practices that are sort of traditionally taught to prepare us for practicing Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:48 Highlight the passage at 1:14:48

1:15:20 They picked two of them for the 14th module. So if you actually do the entire Discovering Buddhism program, you also then do 100,000 prostrations and 100,000 Vajrasattvas. A lot of people don't know that until they do the 13th class. I start trying to prepare people. So it's actually a fairly big commitment, but what it also does is, some people kind of freak out by that, but the reality is, Those practices, through those practices, we go deeper and deeper into our own minds and into our own practice. We get deeper into Buddhism just by doing those practices because those practices are about working with our minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:20 Highlight the passage at 1:15:20

1:16:04 I'll just say it again. It's all about working with our minds. When we're doing prostrations, we're working with our minds. Believe me, you're working with your mind when you're doing prostrations. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:04 Highlight the passage at 1:16:04

1:16:14 If you're doing purification practice like Vajrasattva, You're definitely working with your mind. Yeah, you're definitely working with your mind. So anyway, so I just wanted to mention that those integrative experiences that we deal with in the 14th module are all these practices that there's usually 100,000 of this, 100,000 of that, 100,000 of this, 100,000 of that. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:14 Highlight the passage at 1:16:14

1:16:43 And a lot of Western students actually get a little flipped by that. But if you think of them as life. Practices that you're just basically working with for the rest of your life to prepare your mind for higher level realization. It doesn't matter. How long it takes doesn't matter. You're just working with your mind. You're just always working with your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:43 Highlight the passage at 1:16:43

1:17:10 One of these practices is just making heartfelt requests. I think I mentioned that when I was talking about how you prepare to sit down and do a meditation. Idea of making a heartfelt request. This prayer called the Foundation of All Good Qualities was actually a heartfelt request that Lama Tsongkhapa wrote. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:10 Highlight the passage at 1:17:10

1:17:31 In every single stanza, he's saying, please bless me, please bless me, please bless me. It was quite emotional when he wrote it, I'm sure. We just read it, la-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, la-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. But it's not like that for him. It was this heartfelt request of... Please bless me with everything you have in your mind to have my mind be like yours. This heartfelt request, I try to include it in I think all the meditations that you've done this term with just at the end after you set it all up. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:31 Highlight the passage at 1:17:31

1:18:04 It's like bless my mind with your qualities. Bless my mind with the qualities that I'm seeking. Help me become like you. This is a form of guru yoga. You've heard this term guru yoga. The guru in this case is the Buddha and the blessing is really just inspiring our mind with their qualities. We're visualizing it in the same way of having those qualities be in the form of light and entering us. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:04 Highlight the passage at 1:18:04

1:18:30 It's the same thing that you do in tantric practice. We're just doing it in a slightly different way. We're not the Buddha when we do it. That's the biggest difference. We're asking for those... Report an error in the passage at 1:18:30 Highlight the passage at 1:18:30

1:18:44 Blessings onto our mind stream. But it's the same exact practice, guru yoga. Okay, so if you find, so there's two things. If you find that you have a lot of obstacles in your life or in your practice or in your meditation, there are two ways to look at it. One is that, for example, that we have sort of this feeling that your practice is running out of steam, that you don't have any fuel. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:44 Highlight the passage at 1:18:44

1:19:15 It's kind of dried up, basically. That's kind of a sign of merit-making activity, needing to actually inject a little bit of positive energy into it. Merit, in this case, just meaning positive karma that we're basically earmarking towards enlightenment. That's a shorthand way of thinking of merit. And there's lots of different merit-making activities that you can do. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:15 Highlight the passage at 1:19:15

1:19:42 Practice feels dry, and in fact we have an entire day of them planned on Sunday the 28th. The reason that we do a lot of merit-making activities on these holy days is they're said to be merit-multiplying days. They're days that our karma is multiplied, sometimes 100,000, sometimes according to Rinpoche, almost always according to Rinpoche by the millions. So the karma is increased by that amount, so of course you want to be doing positive things, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:42 Highlight the passage at 1:19:42

1:20:08 If you're doing negative things and you're increasing it by a million, It's not so good. So on those days, you want to make sure not to fight with somebody, not to blame people, not to be pissy, not to get jealous, all those things. So you want to instead, flip, do really positive things. So they're kind of obvious. There are things like serving people, helping people, donating, doing any of these practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:08 Highlight the passage at 1:20:08

1:20:35 Actually, water bowl practices are also considered a merit-making activity. Anything that's sort of a positive offering the mandala. People know how to offer mandalas. Any kind of offering, any kind of generosity type activities. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:35 Highlight the passage at 1:20:35

1:20:54 Placing any offerings on the altar at all. And you'll notice on those days how people do come sometimes when you're not looking and they'll sneak things onto the altar. Sometimes they'll make a big show of it, but most of the time they'll just kind of sneak things on. And in fact, I was having a conversation with somebody and she asked, she said, Which I thought was great that she even asked. She said, is it okay when I come to the center to just put things on the altar? I was like, yeah, that's okay, you know. Especially I mentioned some key things that we always need, like flowers. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:54 Highlight the passage at 1:20:54

1:21:23 I think we never have enough flowers in the Gampa, you know, or saffron or tea lights or things like that that we offer all the time. It's such a great offering. Sometimes people on Holy Days actually stick. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:23 Highlight the passage at 1:21:23

1:21:34 Like we'll find it at the end of the day and be like, oh, look at this, you know. That offering, by the way, if that's on the altar, that has to go for offerings. So we have to keep that money separate. So when we find money like that on the altar, it has to be used for things like saffron and things like that that we offer. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:34 Highlight the passage at 1:21:34

1:21:57 I've actually been at the center in some capacity as an employee almost for 10 years. Bookkeeper. Director, spiritual program coordinator, this thing called spiritual care coordinator, teacher, leader of various things. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:57 Highlight the passage at 1:21:57

1:22:15 And they say that working at a Dharma center does both. You create an enormous amount of merit because you're involved in bringing the Dharma to people. Same with producing written materials for the Dharma. But also you're purifying. You're purifying at a really, really high level of purification because of the same thing, the power of the object. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:15 Highlight the passage at 1:22:15

1:22:42 It's a minefield of holy objects. Bringing Lamas like Chodron Rinpoche here, for example, doing an activity like that, there's such an enormous amount of virtue that there's a lot of purification. When you're doing, when you're serving like this, and especially even when you're bringing the llamas, it's important. I always try to remember to tell those volunteers that are helping for the first time that it can be incredibly blissful. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:42 Highlight the passage at 1:22:42

1:23:15 But it can also be really, really hard because all this stuff comes up, especially in the presence of the Lama, and it's not stuff you necessarily like about yourself. That's called purification. And some people may have already noticed this at times, that if you're in the presence of a really high being, some really yucky stuff comes up in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:15 Highlight the passage at 1:23:15

1:23:35 And it's like, oh my god, I'm mortifying. I remember three of us discussing this at Kofan one time, once we became friends, you know. Once we trusted each other enough to admit it. Just the horrible things that came up in your mind when Rinpoche came into the room. And it's just purification. The dirt's got to come out. The dirt's got to come out. Imagine living with Lama Zopa Geshe-la. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:35 Highlight the passage at 1:23:35

1:24:00 In a ravina constantly all the time, the dirt's got to come out. It's not always easy. And then sometimes it's literally over the moon. Like the bliss is beyond what you can even imagine. So there's a little of each, you know. Purification practice is when you're feeling so like stuck or your mind is blocked. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:00 Highlight the passage at 1:24:00

1:24:23 And you can't understand things. It's like you're dense. It's more like that, you know. One is sort of like you're missing energy. And the other one is like that kind of dull, stuck place. And that's more purification. Of course, most of us need both, right? I remember the first time I was studying this, I was like, well, kind of both, right? I'm stuck and I'm juiceless, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:23 Highlight the passage at 1:24:23

1:24:48 And that's true for most of us. We actually need both. But sometimes you can tell where you're leaning more towards one or the other. Especially if I'm studying a lot, purification actually is really, really helpful. You know, you just keep reading the same thing and it just doesn't make any sense. You're just reading it over and over and over. That's more purification. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:48 Highlight the passage at 1:24:48

1:25:11 Okay, so then... Why don't you guys take a break and then what we're going to do is talk a little bit about the four opponent powers that Gina mentioned really briefly. That's the basic ingredient of a purification session. Next week you're actually going to learn Vajrasattva but what I thought I would do is teach you those four. We'll talk a little bit about it and then we'll do a really simple Vajrasattva to end just so that you can purify all the negative energy that you've had about me. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:11 Highlight the passage at 1:25:11

1:25:38 Then you'll do the same meditation that you did last week. And then next week, for the final two weeks, you'll do Vajrasapha, the meditation that you'll do. Oh, wait. Pass that to her. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:38 Highlight the passage at 1:25:38

1:25:53 We're going to chop off Rick's head again. How do you know which days are the days when it multiplies? Like, you know, you said the 28th, but how does... There are calendars that exist that are done according to the Tibetan astrological. And those days, that's why I mentioned the Liberation Prison Project calendar has it. But you can also, I think it's actually on the FPMT website. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:53 Highlight the passage at 1:25:53

1:26:23 If you go fpmt.org and you put in calendar, I think there's actually, you can bring up. And a lot of times, for example, that's how we chose to do this puja today because it came out really good astrologically. Geshe-la is also conveniently an astrologer. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:23 Highlight the passage at 1:26:23

1:26:42 So he picked a day that was really, really good for wealth and generosity practices, for example. So he chose one according to that. The same is true for merit multiplying. The merit multiplying days tend to be holy days. And so this one on the 28th, this year, they're done to the lunar calendar. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:42 Highlight the passage at 1:26:42

1:27:02 That day is the commemoration of the day that the Buddha showed all of his powers, both to subdue. opponents, but also for his disciples to gain faith. The Day of Miracles is said to be very, very potent. This is like a very potent period, so kind of watch our minds. We want to be doing positive things as much as possible, or at least stopping ourselves from doing negative as much as you can. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:02 Highlight the passage at 1:27:02

1:27:35 That's why, actually, at Land of Medicine Buddha, they're doing a series of nunyes, those really tiny, really intense purification retreats. The two-and-a-half-day ones, they're just doing a series of eight. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I'm getting these emails from Soma. She's still working while she's doing these retreats, and she's like, oh, it's hard. And then she's silent, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:35 Highlight the passage at 1:27:35

1:27:56 But they're doing a bunch of them because it's a really potent time period, yeah. I have a really pedantic question. What? You're doing it again. Yeah. So talk a lot about merit as sort of a quantifiable thing. There's some days when your merit could be multiplied 100,000-fold, and it involves a lot of numbers. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:56 Highlight the passage at 1:27:56

1:28:26 And, you know, it leads me to think of like, oh, I'm in a video game. You know, if I hit this thing, it gives me five points. And, you know, just kind of wondering, like, what's sort of the idea behind, you know, like relative measures of merit or anything like that? No, if you think about merit, if you think about... Report an error in the passage at 1:28:26 Highlight the passage at 1:28:26

1:28:48 Positive and negative karma like you're preparing a field. So negative karma is all those things that keep anything from ever taking root, anything from growing like that. Merit you can kind of think of in the same way as all the conditions that help us, help all those karmic seeds take root, help the studies go in deep, help the practices to be meaningful, help us to have the conditions to do those practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:48 Highlight the passage at 1:28:48

1:29:15 So merit is sort of like all of those. It makes everything possible. And they actually say, for example, if you think of negative karma as, which is all, karma is all created by our actions of body, speech and mind. So that's just a general thing. We create it all. So we've created the negative karma that acts as our block right now, but we also have created the positive karma to be here in this class or to have the center in our neighborhood or to have these teachings come to even have His Holiness in the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:15 Highlight the passage at 1:29:15

1:29:47 We've created that karma too. So if we think about positive and negative karma like that, if we create more positive karma, it allows more positive conditions and more positive, it allows... More positive conditions so that when I receive the teachings I actually understand them and I actually can understand them to the point of realizing them and then I can actually generate bodhicitta and actually have a direct perception of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:47 Highlight the passage at 1:29:47

1:30:15 All of that I need a certain amount of this positive energy. If it's all negative energy, I could be in the same room and never understand a word. My mind would be so dark and closed and cut off. So it's more energetic. If you think about karma energetically, I think it makes more sense rather than the number thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:15 Highlight the passage at 1:30:15

1:30:33 Yeah, I know it takes a lot. There's actually entire classes on karma. So we aren't getting into that so much. But if you understand karma, it changes everything in terms of what's possible because karma means that we basically create our own reality. It's what makes it possible for us to get enlightened. Otherwise, we still are stuck in this idea that somebody else is helping us get there or somebody else is doing it for us. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:33 Highlight the passage at 1:30:33

1:31:03 And then we stopped. So karma actually is this whole empowering teaching on how we create our experience, mundane as well as all the way up to enlightenment. And merit is just positive karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:03 Highlight the passage at 1:31:03

1:31:23 I think take a break. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:23 Highlight the passage at 1:31:23

1:31:34 That's okay, maybe do some purification and accumulation of merit. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:34 Highlight the passage at 1:31:34

1:31:44 It has to do with emptiness. And I think a lot of times if we think that... Things exist absolutely. In other words, there are certain prayers, there are certain teachings, and basically all I have to do is just show up. We're missing the point. Then we're missing the point. Because if we haven't done the work of purifying and accumulating merit, we could literally be attending every class and it's just not going anywhere. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:44 Highlight the passage at 1:31:44

1:32:17 It's like falling on bad soil. It's like our mind doesn't have the conditions for it to ever do anything. And you definitely see that at points in your life where you're attending the class and everyone else is like, oh my God, that's great. And you're just like not getting it. And that's a karmic block. We've created a karmic block. Fortunately, karmic blocks can be cleared. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:17 Highlight the passage at 1:32:17

1:32:39 It's not permanent. It doesn't mean we're stupid forever. It just means that we have this block and that block like a veil can be lifted and we can do that. Nobody else can do that for us, basically. So all these teachings on karma are just giving us the reins. They're just handing us the reins so that we do the work, we do the practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:39 Highlight the passage at 1:32:39

1:33:07 Yeah, we're going to talk a little bit more about karma, especially next week at the beginning of class, because we're going to spend more time on this whole purification idea. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:07 Highlight the passage at 1:33:07

1:33:27 Towards 100,000? That's a good question. I actually don't know. But I have known people that... That just do like the full 100,000. Actually, Sangmo did that. She did her full 100,000 as a nightly practice because she was working as a nurse and she just couldn't take the time off. So she just, I think she did a mala at night. I don't know how long it took her. But, you know, it didn't matter because it's good to do them at night anyway. So you purify for the day. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:27 Highlight the passage at 1:33:27

1:33:56 So she just did a mala, which, of course, you have to build up to because otherwise it takes you forever to do a mala. But once you can do them fairly quickly, it doesn't take you that long. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:56 Highlight the passage at 1:33:56

1:34:07 I think it may have taken her a few years, but she finished it that way. But I'm kind of the, Report an error in the passage at 1:34:07 Highlight the passage at 1:34:07

1:34:16 I know somebody did it like that too. Stephen actually, I'm like naming these people by name, sorry. He did, Geshe-la gave him a hundred, he said do a hundred thousand prostrations, but do them a hundred a day. So I think it took him like three and a half years or something like that. And Geshe-la was very strict and said, you can only do them at home. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:16 Highlight the passage at 1:34:16

1:34:40 When you're traveling, you can visualize them, but they don't count. Or you can do them, but they don't count. So you can only do them at home. He actually travels quite a bit for his work, too. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:40 Highlight the passage at 1:34:40

1:34:51 But he did it. He did his 100,000. He was so happy when he came in. He was putting katas everywhere and everything. It was like over the moon. So it is possible to do. You just discipline. Discipline. And it's better to do that number like 100. than to do 35, because that definitely will take you forever. Or to do, you know, 35 in the morning, 35 at night or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:51 Highlight the passage at 1:34:51

1:35:18 That's what I was doing for a long time, was doing like 35 to 50 in the morning, 35 to 50 at night. Seemed easier than 100. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:18 Highlight the passage at 1:35:18

1:35:27 I saw your frustrations, yeah, I saw your frustrations, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:27 Highlight the passage at 1:35:27

1:35:40 There's one by His Holiness on Dream Yoga too. Actually, I meant to mention that too. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:40 Highlight the passage at 1:35:40

1:35:55 Yeah, and there's one by His Holiness. I think it's also just called dream yoga, too. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:55 Highlight the passage at 1:35:55

1:36:02 What happens in the middle of the night? Yeah, be conscious when I'm conscious. Right. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:02 Highlight the passage at 1:36:02

1:36:09 But you discover, actually, especially the more that you practice, that you can, you know, that it's that sort of lucid dreaming thing, that you can actually affect the outcome of dreams and stuff. You can, I actually have had the experience. This happened at Kopan. I don't remember my dreams that often, actually. I don't have them all that often, or I wake myself up in the middle of them or something and I just don't remember them. Especially if somebody says, look at your dreams tonight. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:09 Highlight the passage at 1:36:09

1:36:38 That's a definite guarantee that I will not remember anything that I've ever dreamed. But I remember one time, the first Kopan that I went to, it's a lamrim course, one month lamrim course at Kopan, Monastery in Kathmandu. I had this dream. We were doing precepts. It was the first time we were doing precepts, and I had this dream. It was almost like Fagan and Oliver Twist. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:38 Highlight the passage at 1:36:38

1:37:03 I was like one of the kids. One of my friends was like the Fagan one. I told him, and he was all upset. Unfortunately, he's still my friend. And he was trying to get us all, I guess we were all stealing for him. It was kind of like the same idea as Fagan and the kids and Oliver Twist. And I said, I can't. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:03 Highlight the passage at 1:37:03

1:37:23 Because I took these vows and I can't steal anything. And I woke up and I thought, that's so interesting. And they actually say that's a really good sign because you're stopping yourself even in sleep from doing something negative. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:23 Highlight the passage at 1:37:23

1:37:38 That's actually come up in dreams as a nun too. It's like, oh no, can't do that because I'm a nun. And then you wake up and you're like... so, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:38 Highlight the passage at 1:37:38

1:37:46 And I think it's just that mindfulness begins to seep into even your dream activity. Sorry, what's that? Yeah, I know. No, no. Well, it's a form of subduing your mind, I think, and it starts creeping into your very unsubdued dream activities, too. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:46 Highlight the passage at 1:37:46

1:38:18 That's a good, yeah. Actually, I think I forgot to mention that when I talked to you. It's traditional if you're taking refuge to just bring an offering of some sort. It can be a red envelope. That's what most of us fall back on. Or it could be a box of incense. It could be a bowl of fruit. It could be somebody brought a 50-pound bag of rice one time, which I was like, wow, really? Report an error in the passage at 1:38:18 Highlight the passage at 1:38:18

1:38:38 But, I mean, he loves it, so it's good. It could be anything. It's just the karmic. It's that karmic. It's that energetic, again, that relationship with Geshe-la because he becomes your refuge Lama for Report an error in the passage at 1:38:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38:38

1:38:54 the amount. Yeah, that actually came from Tenzin Chokyi, my friend. Name her by name. A.K.A. Petra McWilliams. She told me one time, if you don't have very much money, just make an auspicious number. And so, yeah, if I'm really, really broke, then it's $3. And then if I have a little bit more, it's $7. And if I have a little bit more, it's $21. I Report an error in the passage at 1:38:54 Highlight the passage at 1:38:54

1:39:23 don't think so. I don't think there's an inauspicious number, is there? Huh? Oh, really? Well, if you're giving it to a Chinese Lama, then. But I think as far as Geshe is concerned, no problem. Yeah, I usually try to pick something that's auspicious, but I don't know if there's anything inauspicious. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:23 Highlight the passage at 1:39:23

1:39:45 So, yeah, probably all right. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:45 Highlight the passage at 1:39:45

1:39:52 No, it's not like a graduation ceremony. We're all going to sing. No. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:52 Highlight the passage at 1:39:52

1:40:05 No, actually, what I've asked Gina, Gina and I are going to set it up for you guys, and the refugees are going to be kind of near the front. And the reason is so that you have some room to prostrate, because he'll say something like, okay, now you get up and you prostrate to the Buddha. Now you get up and you prostrate to me as the master, like that. He'll say that, yeah. He'll tell you what to do all the way along. And if I don't see you doing it, I'll be like, Maria! Don't worry, that's what I'm there for. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:05 Highlight the passage at 1:40:05

1:40:31 But it's not like anything like that. And then at the end of the whole thing, then I'll say, this is a good time if people have their offerings. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. So then you guys all get up and stumble all over each other. You'll be fine. Yes, actually, good point. It's traditional if it's a monk, which Geshe is a monk, to not actually hand him if you give him cash. You put it down so he doesn't have to take it. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:31 Highlight the passage at 1:40:31

1:40:58 It's like that. Or you hand it to his attendant, which he doesn't have. Why? What? Me too. Oh, you don't hand it to the... Oh, I didn't know that. I didn't know. I've never been to Vegas and I hope never to go, actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:58 Highlight the passage at 1:40:58

1:41:18 So you just set it down. Put it down. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, I need somebody to ask a really long question so I can have a break. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:18 Highlight the passage at 1:41:18

1:41:31 Yes, katas. We have loaners if people don't have them. And if you are unfamiliar on how to make an offering with a kata, come a little bit ahead of time. We're going to do role play. So come at like 10 and then we'll practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:31 Highlight the passage at 1:41:31

1:41:47 That's probably better. Yeah. We'll try to set it up and then while you're in here, I'll be in the bookstore or something practicing with them or in the office or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:47 Highlight the passage at 1:41:47

1:41:59 No, it's helpful because then you just kind of know what to do. You guys are all like my little chicks, so I have to make sure you don't embarrass me. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:59 Highlight the passage at 1:41:59

1:42:09 He'll tell you something to me. Yeah, and that's when he gives you guys the little names. He'll come up with your refuge names and then Nima can translate them. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:09 Highlight the passage at 1:42:09

1:42:22 She had one more? What? Report an error in the passage at 1:42:22 Highlight the passage at 1:42:22

1:42:26 No, it's a half winds. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you'll see some of his disciples like falling and doing the whole thing. Don't worry about that. Just ignore them. Just do enough, you know. It's fine if they want to. That's okay. But for our purposes, it's actually quicker and better. And at this point, it's more. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:26 Highlight the passage at 1:42:26

1:42:44 It's not appropriate to do the half ones. John? Is this about refuge or about the class? Yes? Because I feel like we should be doing the talking stick. It's about refuge. Oh, okay. I heard it's advisable to wear white. No. No? Okay. I just heard that somewhere. I mean, not. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:44 Highlight the passage at 1:42:44

1:43:08 Now watch. Everyone else is going to wear white. No, I'm kidding. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:08 Highlight the passage at 1:43:08

1:43:15 Oh, we'll discuss that on the practicum, the 27th, I will describe. And I will attempt, my knee is not so great, I'll just have to, well, okay, I'm getting a stern look. But I will, maybe I'll ask, maybe I'll have Charles be like my demo, my model, my demo model on how to do a half prostration, how to do a whole prostration. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:15 Highlight the passage at 1:43:15

1:43:41 Yeah. You'll be my model. How's that? Report an error in the passage at 1:43:41 Highlight the passage at 1:43:41

1:43:47 I'll talk about it there. It is a mantra, yeah, it is a mantra. And it multiplies them, actually. Okay, Vajrasattva has four, I shouldn't even say, okay, Vajrasattva is one of many, many purification practices. It's kind of the, it's considered the creme de la creme of all the, Rinpoche actually said, Rinpoche, yeah, Rinpoche does too. Geshe-la says that it is the fastest, strongest method of purification that you can do because of the power of the mantra. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:47 Highlight the passage at 1:43:47

1:44:23 So we think of, in Tibetan Buddhism, we think of Vajrasafra practice when we first think of purification. There are many other practices, for example, Dorji Kadro, Vajrapuja. Some people in here have done that. We do that on New Year's Day and we also do it at other times. We actually have a little handy urban fire pit that we can pull out for just such an occasion. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:23 Highlight the passage at 1:44:23

1:44:49 There's also, for example, copying the sutras. There's different purification practices that are described in sutras given by the Buddha on how to purify the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:49 Highlight the passage at 1:44:49

1:45:05 Of all of those, the strongest and the most powerful one is Vajrasattva. So as I said, next week you'll get a more detailed one, but I thought it would be nice to get a little taste. This is the short one that you kind of can keep, and actually I'm happy to give you this really short version one so you can just keep it in your wallet for when you scream at somebody at work or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:05 Highlight the passage at 1:45:05

1:45:30 Once you memorize it, you can do all four powers. Go to the bathroom and do all four powers and come back and you're ready to go. I remember once I was describing that and I said go to the bathroom like that. I just mean go to a place that you're quiet. I don't mean you have to do it in the bathroom. And I remember, did people remember, was anybody in that class when Sangal Olsen said, after about the fourth time she said, why do you have to go to the bathroom? Report an error in the passage at 1:45:30 Highlight the passage at 1:45:30

1:45:57 I don't mean that you have to go to the bathroom, I just mean if you get angry at somebody at work or in your house, you just go somewhere, you can do these four points and it can purify it before, with that same analogy of the field, before that negative karma takes root and gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:57 Highlight the passage at 1:45:57

1:46:14 Because as we'll discover next week when we're talking a little bit about karma, karma increases just on its own. Positive and negative. So if we do a negative karma, it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger if we don't purify it. If we do a positive karma, fortunately it does the same thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:14 Highlight the passage at 1:46:14

1:46:30 So a little tiny positive act can become an entire lifetime of happiness. A really tiny negative act can become an entire lifetime of suffering. It can work that way. So it's like an acorn in an oak tree. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger. So if we know how karma works and we know we've done something that is going to cause us suffering, forget the other person at this point, at this point we're just thinking, this is going to cause me suffering, I want to rip it out, I don't want it in my mind stream, that's when we purify. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:30 Highlight the passage at 1:46:30

1:47:03 That feeling is the first of the opponent powers, it's called regret. And that's what makes regret completely different than guilt. That's hugely different than guilt. Guilt paralyzes us. We think we're horrible. We just kind of shut down and go into fetal position and we don't do anything. Regret is simply intelligence and understanding how karma works and deciding based on that that I want to purify. So regret is actually really proactive. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:03 Highlight the passage at 1:47:03

1:47:34 Regret is a proactive feeling. Guilt is a very paralyzing kind of a feeling. And guilt also is really focused on... Me, me, me, me, me. So you get caught up with like, oh God, I'm horrible. I did it again. It's more like that. And regret is like, again, that whole idea of the way Rubina always talks when she's like, isn't that interesting what the mind does? Report an error in the passage at 1:47:34 Highlight the passage at 1:47:34

1:47:58 There the mind goes, getting angry again. Oh gosh. So I'm not identifying so much with it. I'm just trying to get rid of those negative habits. So the first of those four appointed powers is this power of regret. And I like this version with the four R's because they're easier to remember. You see it translated in various ways. I think everybody says regret, but some of the other ones have various other translations. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:58 Highlight the passage at 1:47:58

1:48:23 So when you're doing a purification practice, including a simple one, then you regret a specific action. I think that you do. I think it makes it much more powerful, especially at the beginning of our practice, to actually think of an action that we've done, not to think all the negative actions I've done since beginningless time, because you don't have any relationship to those actions, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:23 Highlight the passage at 1:48:23

1:48:47 Most of us don't even believe that we lived another lifetime, so let's just stick with today, you know? Let's just think about something. It doesn't have to be huge. Maybe you didn't murder anyone before class, but you're thinking of some... Action that you regret from the standpoint of karma, of planting a negative seed that will ripen as your own suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:47 Highlight the passage at 1:48:47

1:49:09 Maybe it was yelling back at somebody. Maybe it was blaming somebody, not remembering how karma works. That's one of my personal favorites. Forgetting that I created the cause that's causing me some sort of suffering and instead blaming you for making me suffer. It can be little tiny things like that. It can be using up the end, you know, taking the last momo before you've realized whether or not sangal's eaten yet. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:09 Highlight the passage at 1:49:09

1:49:36 So it can just be little selfish things like that too. Picking some action that's really specific and that is negative from the standpoint of how karma works. So those are the two elements of regret. The second of the four opponent powers is reliance. In this one it has two aspects, taking refuge and generating bodhicitta. Taking refuge is that idea of getting it how these little acts of negative karma are what add up to our suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:36 Highlight the passage at 1:49:36

1:50:10 That's the mess we're in. That's recognizing how it works. and When we take refuge, we're deciding that we want to get out of this mess and we're choosing something that we trust, which is somebody who's done it before, right? The Buddha has done it before. That's the only reason we choose the Buddha. It's not that the Buddha is inherently holy. It's that the Buddha was exactly like us, just as messed up. You know, I am assured. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:10 Highlight the passage at 1:50:10

1:50:36 He was just as messed up, just as depressed, just as jealous, just as everything, and he overcame it through. His methods and practice were also taking refuge in. So that's refuge. Bodhicitta is remembering that everybody else is suffering too. So I'm not just doing this for myself. I'm doing it for all other beings. But I'm not forgetting myself either. So it's not martyrdom either. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:36 Highlight the passage at 1:50:36

1:51:01 So refuge and bodhicitta are the two elements of reliance. Remedy. Or antidote. Often you see the third power described as an antidote. The reason I like remedy is because it's one of the four R's. But antidote in some ways makes more sense because it gets into that idea that I've just planted poison. I've just taken poison. You know, when I've done a negative act, I've just created my own suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:01 Highlight the passage at 1:51:01

1:51:29 And I know enough to know how it works. And believe me. Once you've been studying this stuff and practicing this stuff and you still see yourself doing these age-old habits that are causing yourself suffering, it really is like, ah, I just did it. I know better. I don't want this in my mind stream. I don't want this to ripen. So doing a remedy is doing one of those practices that I just mentioned. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:29 Highlight the passage at 1:51:29

1:51:54 For example, Vajra Safra practice, that's a remedy. Doji Kadra Fire Puja. Reading any of the sutras, especially those on emptiness. Studying emptiness. Meditating on emptiness. This one comes up all the time. The very strongest remedy is understanding how things actually exist. That's really going to eliminate our ignorance. But if you don't understand emptiness, then that's just a waste of time. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:54 Highlight the passage at 1:51:54

1:52:22 So then we come up with all the other ones like Vashya Safra Practice, Doji Kadra Fire Practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:22 Highlight the passage at 1:52:22

1:52:29 Copying the sutras, making satsas. We're actually getting some satsas for the sponsors of the Chin Rinpoche event. Daniel, who has been our Saturday volunteer, is going to paint them all. He's going to get enormous merit out of this activity. He probably doesn't even realize how much merit he'll get. That's a remedy. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:29 Highlight the passage at 1:52:29

1:52:54 It's like undoing. It's an action that purposefully I'm doing that actually has no other purpose except to turn that action around to sort of remove those negative seeds. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:54 Highlight the passage at 1:52:54

1:53:06 And resolve the final power, which in some ways is the most important power, is deciding not, determining I should say, not to repeat the action again for as long as you can, realistically. So, great, when we first get into Buddhism, we think about the stuff that we'll never do again, you know, and that is possible. We can actually say, I resolve never to do this again. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:06 Highlight the passage at 1:53:06

1:53:33 Most of the time, realistically speaking, if we know that every time the boss screams at us, we're going to scream back, don't say, I'll never scream at him again, because you will, and then you'll be lying to the Buddhas on top of it. So don't say that, just say. Pick an amount of time that you can actually do it. It may be the first 10 minutes when I get to work and that's fine. Like pick an amount of time that you know you can do it because that proves to you that you can do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:33 Highlight the passage at 1:53:33

1:54:03 It shows you that it is possible for you to not do that action for a certain amount of time, even if it is three and a half minutes. If it's something that you have a real problem with, for example, a habit of criticizing people or a mental habit like that, you can't eradicate it instantly. This resolve helps us turn the corner from just going back into it mindlessly and continuing to practice that sort of negative activity without even thinking about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:03 Highlight the passage at 1:54:03

1:54:32 So pick an amount of time that you know you can do it and do that. And then each time you do it, you can extend it a little bit. So it might end up being three minutes, five minutes, ten minutes the morning. No matter what he says, I will not get angry, you know, or whatever, if it's somebody like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:32 Highlight the passage at 1:54:32

1:54:52 I actually remember I was working with this friend of mine who was a long-term practitioner. It was when His Holiness was at Mountain View in 2001. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:52 Highlight the passage at 1:54:52

1:55:01 We had just unloaded all the t-shirts. We had just unloaded them all. This was before I was a nun, actually. No, I was a nun. We were unloading everything. We had piled them all up, and there were billions of them. And then someone came over and said, oh, no, they aren't supposed to go there. They're supposed to go here. And my friend had obviously made a determination not to get angry no matter what. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:01 Highlight the passage at 1:55:01

1:55:24 She goes, okay. I saw it. It was almost as clear as like you could, almost the way we were doing the nine-point breathing where you were visualizing the breath going through the tunnel and finally coming out the other side and she kind of went, okay, let's do it. And she just went over there and it was great. So we can prove to ourselves for longer and longer and longer amounts of time that we can actually not do even the most entrenched habitual act. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:24 Highlight the passage at 1:55:24

1:55:53 So even something that you can't even imagine yourself not being, not doing, you can do. Shantideva actually says basically in the Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, there's nothing that doesn't become easier with practice, so then make a practice of whatever it is. So in that case he's talking about patience, but it's really everything becomes easier with practice. Everything. So the resolve power is actually... Report an error in the passage at 1:55:53 Highlight the passage at 1:55:53

1:56:22 Showing us that we can practice it, even for a tiny, tiny amount of time. So it's regret, reliance, remedy and resolve. So basically when you do, since it's 9 o 'clock, we're not going to actually do the Vajrasapha, but the way you would do it is, say for example, I am at work and you do something that triggers one of my, you push my buttons and I scream back at you. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:22 Highlight the passage at 1:56:22

1:56:53 And then, oh no, wait, that's just what Chokyi was talking about. Okay, let me clear that up really quick. So I just think, okay, that's the thing I regret. I'm regretting it not because I even scream at you. It has nothing to do with you yet. I'm regretting it because my mind got angry. I'm regretting it because I went into this habitual thing of screaming back at somebody who's yelling at me without remembering karma and emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:53 Highlight the passage at 1:56:53

1:57:17 That's what I'm regretting. Because it's just perpetuating that cycle because that nasty thing about karma is every time we do something we create the seeds to do it again. And negative wise that means every time I get angry I create the seeds to get angry again. That's heavy to remember that. So that's what I'm remembering when I regret it. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:17 Highlight the passage at 1:57:17

1:57:38 It's not necessarily even, you're not even involved yet. You're simply what triggered it. You become involved in the second one, the power of reliance. I remember, I don't want to keep in this cycle of creating negative karma, having it ripen, suffering, life after life, continuing to be born like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:38 Highlight the passage at 1:57:38

1:58:01 I'm going to trust the Buddha and his teachings, that's reliance, and I'm going to do it for all beings, including you, because... That's what I'm working for. I want to become a Buddha. I want to become somebody who can help all beings. So I'm just going to take refuge and generate bodhicitta that quickly. I can then do, since I'm not going to, I don't have very much time, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:58:01 Highlight the passage at 1:58:01

1:58:23 I'm at work. So I'm just going to do this short Vajrasattva mantra, Om Vajrasattva Hung. Trying to do that nasal. Om Vajrasattva Hung 28 times. With as much focus as I can. That's why the bathroom actually is a good place because nobody's going to bother you in there. So you're just visualizing. Vajrasaf is on my crown. He's washing away all my angry seeds, all my yelling back kind of seeds. And I'm doing own Vajrasafah hung 28 times. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:23 Highlight the passage at 1:58:23

1:58:55 And then I'm setting a resolve not to get angry no matter what he says to me in the next hour, 15 minutes, two and a half minutes, depending on how entrenched the habit is. I'm not going to get angry at him and then I'm going to go out there and do it. If I go out there and I say I'm not going to get angry at him for the rest of the day, but then I do, then I'm just going to purify that too. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:55 Highlight the passage at 1:58:55

1:59:15 So it's not like the end of the world if you can't quite keep it, but be as realistic as you can. If I know that I have this really horrible relationship, I'm just using you as an example because you're sitting in that seat. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:15 Highlight the passage at 1:59:15

1:59:27 If I know that this is like a common thing, we've been working together for 15 years and we always yell at each other, then I'm just going to say probably five minutes. I'm going to keep it small. So I know that I'll do it. That's the important part. I know that I'll do it. So that's the way you can do it. Honestly, the whole practice could be done in two and a half minutes. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:27 Highlight the passage at 1:59:27

1:59:44 It doesn't have to take that long. What about Report an error in the passage at 1:59:44 Highlight the passage at 1:59:44

1:59:53 apologizing to the person? How does that factor into it? That's totally fine to do and has nothing to do with this practice because this practice is, once again, about purifying your mind. So, yes, I often will include that as an activity that I want to do, but it's not required, and it's also not required to confess to anybody, not even to Vajrasattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:53 Highlight the passage at 1:59:53

2:00:14 It's not about that. It's you confessing to yourself because you created the negativity with your mind, so you are purifying it with your mind. Nobody else has to even be involved. Okay. Thanks. Yeah. That's all a Christian thing, actually. Right, right, right. Well, if they're Buddhist, they are. And believe me, we all work together in the center, and that one happens a lot. We're all in our room going, and then the next day we're like, I mean, you'd love to believe that we were perfect, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:00:14 Highlight the passage at 2:00:14

2:00:42 We're so not perfect, you know? We just have similar tools, you know? But, yeah. I have a lot of Western Catholicism. Yeah, no, we all do. And even those of us, I wasn't raised Catholic, but boy, I've got guilt down, you know? I've got more guilt than any Catholic I've ever met. So I think one lifetime I must have been very strong. Any other questions? Any other questions? Report an error in the passage at 2:00:42 Highlight the passage at 2:00:42

2:01:07 Sorry, I did have a cup of tea right before class. Any other questions about, especially those of you that have never learned any kind of purification? We are going to spend much more time on karma and purification at the beginning of class next time. No, it's okay. You actually mentioned, like, The purification brings up a lot of things. Is this something that we should be doing ourselves without any kind of guides or teachers? Report an error in the passage at 2:01:07 Highlight the passage at 2:01:07

2:01:34 It's fine too. Well, I sort of am your guide. Sorry. But it's fine. It's not like you're suddenly going to – I mean, okay, let me back up. There is a particular sūtra called the Diamond Cutter Sūtra. And the Diamond Cutter Sūtra is a hugely, profoundly deep sūtra on emptiness, how emptiness works and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:34 Highlight the passage at 2:01:34

2:02:03 If you study this sūtra, it even says in the sūtra to expect huge amounts of physical and mental purification will happen. In that case, I would say don't try to study it while you're in a car. And I'm serious. I'm totally serious. Don't try to study it in a plane. Like just study it with a teacher and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:03 Highlight the passage at 2:02:03

2:02:29 When you're talking about yourself, no, I think you're fine. You know, it's not going to be at that same level. That is a really profound one. When I studied that for the first time, I threw my back out. It was the most painful thing that I had ever experienced. And it was really interesting to me when we got to the section about how when you study this for the first time. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:29 Highlight the passage at 2:02:29

2:02:49 You'll experience, you know, very profound purification. So in that case, I would say there are some fine print. But for purification practices like this, no, I think it's fine. Yeah, and if people have unusual experiences, definitely come tell me. But I think we might as well just get started. Yeah, no, now that's said, hopefully nothing will happen. Anybody else? Report an error in the passage at 2:02:49 Highlight the passage at 2:02:49

2:03:16 And it can be a comment, too, especially those of you that have already tried some of these practices and stuff like that. It doesn't have to be a question. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:16 Highlight the passage at 2:03:16

2:03:27 Oh, that's right. We're reciting it, yeah. Yeah, that's right. And it's funny. Yeah, but it's not studying it. We're not studying it. We're reciting it. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, it's very rare to see teachings on the Day of Miracles, probably for that very reason. But once you have studied it, I actually love that sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:27 Highlight the passage at 2:03:27

2:03:47 The reason I chose that sūtra for us to recite on the Day of Miracles is because Rinpoche asked. asked us to recite that I think five times and we still haven't done it and so I thought at least coming out of that it's a fairly short sūtra so we should have at least five coming out of that that can take care of that so I kind of was doing it for that reason but I actually love that sūtra it kind of when you first read it it's like what but I once you study it a little bit it kind of makes more sense Report an error in the passage at 2:03:47 Highlight the passage at 2:03:47

2:04:21 Would Sangatha Sūtra also fall into the remedy category? It's a very long sūtra, isn't it? It's not specifically about emptiness, but any of the sutras can be a remedy for sure. But especially those that are on the nature of reality, because that's what's going to eradicate ignorance and what causes us to do every negative thing we've ever done since beginning of this time is ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:21 Highlight the passage at 2:04:21

2:04:48 So anything about emptiness, that's why they say meditating on emptiness, studying emptiness. And specifically, if you're studying emptiness, thinking, okay, I'm going to read this page on emptiness and I'm applying this towards my habit of screaming every morning. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:48 Highlight the passage at 2:04:48

2:05:05 So you're really doing it purposefully. Or I'm taking this class, so I'm going to dedicate this towards eradicating it. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:05 Highlight the passage at 2:05:05

2:05:16 No, it's very cool, I think. It's very cool. It, again, gives us the power. We stop thinking somebody else is going to make our lives good. It's putting it back in our hands. Anybody else? Any other questions? Report an error in the passage at 2:05:16 Highlight the passage at 2:05:16

2:05:35 Look at your little homeworks tonight. They're so tiny. But, of course, it's actually a lot of reading. There's no change on the meditation, same meditation. Do you want to hand these out? um this Report an error in the passage at 2:05:35 Highlight the passage at 2:05:35

2:05:52 The binder reading is the one that's called A Great Value of Being Human. If you haven't already read that, go ahead and read that. But then there's also a link here to the Lama Yeshi Wisdom Archives. There's a booklet there called, which is out of print now, unfortunately, called Making Life Meaningful, which is confusing because there's also an article in your binder called Making Life Meaningful, but it's not the same. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:52 Highlight the passage at 2:05:52

2:06:17 So download Download that or read it online. I can't remember. I think you can just read it online. That booklet just for the whole rest of the class for the next three or four weeks. Take some time to read that. Is there enough of these for everybody? Okay, I have one too. You want to just take them? You just have two? So you just put them together? Yeah, then just print them. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:17 Highlight the passage at 2:06:17

2:07:05 Thank you. yeah. Would I did take them. you? The question is, so I had an office manager that would always try to say, try to catch me like I did something wrong, but I'm not the type of person that usually makes, you know, does, I follow instructions. And, you know, after a while it gets kind of tiring, but I could feel my resentment toward her and like trying to hold my patience and thinking like. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:05 Highlight the passage at 2:07:05

2:07:36 She's so stupid, you know, and all this stuff. Now, should I be doing a purification after that? Yeah, because the negative thing that you are purifying is not her continually finding fault with you or pointing out faults or whatever. That's a karmic ripening for sure. That's actually the result of... Report an error in the passage at 2:07:36 Highlight the passage at 2:07:36