Discovering Buddhism: Establishing a Daily Practice (14 January 2010)

· · · silence, 10 minutes

10:21 people get chilly, we do have some Report an error in the passage at 10:21 Highlight the passage at 10:21

10:34 We don't have binders tonight. I started making binders for the second class to make sure they're in the class. Report an error in the passage at 10:34 Highlight the passage at 10:34

10:49 There's some face making going on. Are you trying to get to that seat? Report an error in the passage at 10:49 Highlight the passage at 10:49

11:01 But I'll give you guys a syllabus. You can look it over. And then if we need, I just sort of... mean... Report an error in the passage at 11:01 Highlight the passage at 11:01

11:09 guest and how many people would be in the class. Report an error in the passage at 11:09 Highlight the passage at 11:09

11:20 I'm going to just start with a meditation. Report an error in the passage at 11:20 Highlight the passage at 11:20

11:27 least I can calm my mind down I've been busily working on the sadhana for the retreat this weekend and I will continue to do Report an error in the passage at 11:27 Highlight the passage at 11:27

11:43 Whatever it is that we need to remember, I'm sure that we will remember. Report an error in the passage at 11:43 Highlight the passage at 11:43

11:53 So just start with taking some nice deep breaths. Report an error in the passage at 11:53 Highlight the passage at 11:53

· · · silence, 1 minute

12:55 dissolves in sluggishness. Report an error in the passage at 12:55 Highlight the passage at 12:55

13:07 And Report an error in the passage at 13:07 Highlight the passage at 13:07

13:33 think Report an error in the passage at 13:33 Highlight the passage at 13:33

13:41 about Report an error in the passage at 13:41 Highlight the passage at 13:41

14:27 the people that we know in our lives, our loved ones Report an error in the passage at 14:27 Highlight the passage at 14:27

14:35 and their problems. with just thinking about whatever kind of pain or Report an error in the passage at 14:35 Highlight the passage at 14:35

· · · silence, 1 minute

14:37 And Report an error in the passage at 14:37 Highlight the passage at 14:37

14:55 just think about all the people in the world, all the people that we see on the streets, Report an error in the passage at 14:55 Highlight the passage at 14:55

15:03 and people on the meetings, people in the building, even the people we don't like, Report an error in the passage at 15:03 Highlight the passage at 15:03

15:13 things that keep them up at night, Report an error in the passage at 15:13 Highlight the passage at 15:13

15:18 the places where Report an error in the passage at 15:18 Highlight the passage at 15:18

15:27 lives are shattered by earthquakes or war. Report an error in the passage at 15:27 Highlight the passage at 15:27

15:36 And think about how unbearable it is to see this pain day after day. And the Buddha would say life after life. Report an error in the passage at 15:36 Highlight the passage at 15:36

15:51 Much we wish we could remove, not just our own pain, All the pain that we see around us. Report an error in the passage at 15:51 Highlight the passage at 15:51

16:00 Little pain, big pain, gigantic pain. Report an error in the passage at 16:00 Highlight the passage at 16:00

16:09 Not just take away the pain that brings happiness and causes of all possible, even unimaginable. It's really Report an error in the passage at 16:09 Highlight the passage at 16:09

16:34 important for us to remember that Shantideva was exactly like us. He didn't come into this world perfect. He didn't come into this world made of golden moon. Report an error in the passage at 16:34 Highlight the passage at 16:34

16:52 He got frustrated. He got lazy. He got angry. He was impatient and depressed and bored. Report an error in the passage at 16:52 Highlight the passage at 16:52

17:05 He was neurotic about things. Report an error in the passage at 17:05 Highlight the passage at 17:05

17:11 But he finally looked around him and decided that there must be something beyond all this. It must be possible to transcend this kind of pain and suffering. And he did it. He made a determination to do it, and he did it. He did it with practice. Report an error in the passage at 17:11 Highlight the passage at 17:11

17:36 When we say that he got enlightened, that just means he completely perfected his mind and removed all the negative aspects of his mind. And He perfected or developed all the positives. All the positives. So that they couldn't be perfected anymore. And Report an error in the passage at 17:36 Highlight the passage at 17:36

18:00 when He first got enlightened, He didn't even tell us how to do it at first. We had to beg over and over. Not because He didn't think we could do it, but because He thinks all of us can do it. Report an error in the passage at 18:00 Highlight the passage at 18:00

18:14 He didn't even think we would understand it. He didn't think it was possible for us to understand it, imagining a mind like that. Report an error in the passage at 18:14 Highlight the passage at 18:14

18:32 But in reality, we can imagine it. We can begin to imagine it right now in this class. And we can take the steps that get us a moment like that right now in this class. Report an error in the passage at 18:32 Highlight the passage at 18:32

18:49 The only way to free ourselves from suffering is trying to bring lasting happiness. And the only way to be able to bring that to all living beings is through diligently working with our minds for every day. Report an error in the passage at 18:49 Highlight the passage at 18:49

19:07 And actually every moment of every day. Report an error in the passage at 19:07 Highlight the passage at 19:07

19:16 And it begins with this wish. To take away the pain of others and to bring them happiness. Imagine this wish taking the form of light in your heart and beginning to fill up your whole heart and your whole body and mind with white light. Report an error in the passage at 19:16 Highlight the passage at 19:16

19:40 Imagine this light beginning to expand and swell and radiate out of your heart into all directions. Report an error in the passage at 19:40 Highlight the passage at 19:40

19:56 Imagine how it would feel to have this endless spring in your heart of bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 19:56 Highlight the passage at 19:56

20:08 And imagine that flowing out of every one of your pores, into all directions, into all those beings you are imagining, suffering and removing all of their pain, all of your pain, and bringing a blast of happiness. Report an error in the passage at 20:08 Highlight the passage at 20:08

20:34 Imagine that every single living being is free of pain, and every single living being. Report an error in the passage at 20:34 Highlight the passage at 20:34

20:53 The Buddha said it's totally possible for this to happen, and that this is actually our truth of nature. Report an error in the passage at 20:53 Highlight the passage at 20:53

21:05 Just rest a moment in that feeling of connection with all beings and this potential in your own heart and mind. And Report an error in the passage at 21:05 Highlight the passage at 21:05

21:20 when that feeling starts to fade a little bit, just allow yourself to come back into this room, into a cushion, or your chair. And Report an error in the passage at 21:20 Highlight the passage at 21:20

21:33 feel real joy that we're doing this class together tonight. That Report an error in the passage at 21:33 Highlight the passage at 21:33

21:40 we can motivate that this class become the seed for each one of us to attain that potential. To learn what daily practice is when they begin. Report an error in the passage at 21:40 Highlight the passage at 21:40

21:54 achieving that potential moment by moment, day by day. Report an error in the passage at 21:54 Highlight the passage at 21:54

22:07 we gain from this past guide us to do the right one by one. Report an error in the passage at 22:07 Highlight the passage at 22:07

22:22 as you're ready, you can your meditation. Report an error in the passage at 22:22 Highlight the passage at 22:22

22:28 open up the carpet that's in front of you and start with. The one I like to start with, which is on page 8. You have to read the pages from the front because it doesn't have any pages after 8. Report an error in the passage at 22:28 Highlight the passage at 22:28

22:47 Volunteer project. It's... Should it be entitled Generating the Mind of Enlightenment? And it should have a picture of the Dalai Lama. So if you have that, then you're on the right page. We'll just do it once, read it once. Report an error in the passage at 22:47 Highlight the passage at 22:47

23:04 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence. I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 23:04 Highlight the passage at 23:04

23:40 So welcome, everybody. I'll say a little bit about who I am and then it'll come out in the class. Report an error in the passage at 23:40 Highlight the passage at 23:40

23:53 And there'll also be a point where you all can introduce yourselves, but don't start thinking about that now and not hear anything that leads up to that moment. That's the unfortunate part about announcing that, then you're all sitting there thinking about what you're going to share. You're only going to have two and a half seconds anyway. Report an error in the passage at 23:53 Highlight the passage at 23:53

24:13 So my name's Chokyi. Chokyi, kind of like cookie. It's not tricky, it's not chicky, it's not chucky. It actually means joy of the Dharma. I've been here at the center. This is my 10th year this year. I've also been ordained almost 10 years in May. There's a correlation. Report an error in the passage at 24:13 Highlight the passage at 24:13

24:39 And I've been a Buddhist about 14 years, I guess, give or take. I usually time it for when I took refuge, and that'll mean more to you at some point, if it doesn't already. Report an error in the passage at 24:39 Highlight the passage at 24:39

24:56 I liken it to walking around the pool and jumping in. So I walked around the pool for a while before I jumped in, as I'm sure some of you guys are still walking around the pool. Report an error in the passage at 24:56 Highlight the passage at 24:56

25:07 Yeah, so I'll say a little bit more about myself as we go. This class is called Establishing a Daily Practice, and I think probably each one of you would have a different idea of what this class is really about. I know what it's about. But I've actually run into some interesting... Comments about it just from the staff. So I'm kind of thinking, hmm, I wonder what people think this class is going to be. Even when you think about the word practice, I think we all probably have different ideas about what practice means. Report an error in the passage at 25:07 Highlight the passage at 25:07

25:38 So we're going to actually talk about practice. I have some ideas about what practice means. And you guys might share some of your ideas too. Report an error in the passage at 25:38 Highlight the passage at 25:38

25:51 One of my favorite quotes, and there's a couple of good quotes probably I think even just tonight that I'm going to share with you. I like to share quotes because first of all I don't think I'm worthy to be a teacher so I like to use quotes from people who I think are worthy to be teachers. And I'm not just being humble, I'm just being honest. So I got this one quote that I actually look at almost on a daily basis. Report an error in the passage at 25:51 Highlight the passage at 25:51

26:15 She's actually a friend of mine but she's also a teacher. She said, Practice is the moment-to-moment working with everything you've got as best as you can and, she added, try to create consistency. Report an error in the passage at 26:15 Highlight the passage at 26:15

26:32 Practice is the moment-to-moment working with everything you've got as best as you can and try to create consistency. It gives you some room to work with it. So working with everything you've got. So that immediately kind of puts... Report an error in the passage at 26:32 Highlight the passage at 26:32

26:54 in the position where I think that you've already got a little something, right? So you're not completely brand new. You've got a little bit. And this class is about pulling together what you've got, trying to assess what you've got. Report an error in the passage at 26:54 Highlight the passage at 26:54

27:09 As best as you can, it gives you a little room for lenience. Some of us have been gathering Dharma for a long time and we don't necessarily ever remember to use it. So that's another thing. And actually I think I do talk about that sometimes. I usually call that not creating Dharma monsters. I'm trying not to create Dharma monsters or Mr. Report an error in the passage at 27:09 Highlight the passage at 27:09

27:31 Know-it-alls. I'm trying to help people have tools to live life and get enlightened all the way. But not just gather knowledge. But many of us have been in this business for a while. We've been learning. We've been attending teachings. We've been going to classes. We've been listening to teachings, right? Because we can actually listen to a lot of teachings. Report an error in the passage at 27:31 Highlight the passage at 27:31

27:52 Even if we aren't near a center, we can download, we can watch DVDs and things like that. This is the class that helps you sort of pull that stuff together into some sort of toolkit that you can use when somebody's screaming at you or you're going down in a plane, right? That's the stuff. That's when your boss says you're fired. When stuff happens, you want to be able to draw on all that stuff. Report an error in the passage at 27:52 Highlight the passage at 27:52

28:21 You want to have something to rely on, something that gives your life meaning, something that helps you deal with the hard stuff. And, of course, you also want to be able to use it when you just cranky at the printer, right? Or at the driver, right? And they have a car that won't let you in. Charles was shocked that I got cranky at the driver in the next lane today. Report an error in the passage at 28:21 Highlight the passage at 28:21

28:50 Actually, it wasn't. I just find that so surprising when they just don't let you in, they speed up. Report an error in the passage at 28:50 Highlight the passage at 28:50

28:58 But also, I think this quote, what I like about it is that it's formal and informal practice. So it's not just on the cushion. It's not just, are you cool? Can I just sit in the next room or out on the porch? Report an error in the passage at 28:58 Highlight the passage at 28:58

29:18 It's not just sitting on the cushion. It's not just formal meditation or even formal recitation practice. But it is that. It's that too. And it's not just how we live our lives and what we do when those big problems happen. It's all of that. Report an error in the passage at 29:18 Highlight the passage at 29:18

29:43 As you'll find out, Tibetans don't really give you any time off. They call everything that's not formal post-meditation. Which is the 99.9 % of all of our lives. That's post-meditation. So actually you're just kind of doing something all the time. The idea is just constantly to be looking at your mind. And this tradition is what we call mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 29:43 Highlight the passage at 29:43

30:15 So there's an assumption that we know a little something about karma and emptiness and a little bit of something about bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 30:15 Highlight the passage at 30:15

30:26 And then we want to pull those ideas together and work with them in some sort of a meaningful way. Don't be nervous if you don't know what karma, emptiness and bodhicitta mean, because we will definitely talk about them, as always, in all of the classes. We talk about those three especially. But that's kind of where I'm coming from in establishing a daily practice. It's pulling together a certain fundamental knowledge and then trying to weave. Report an error in the passage at 30:26 Highlight the passage at 30:26

31:00 a daily way to draw one that. So first, getting some logistics out of the way, this class, this Thursday night class, and it's six weeks. I don't miss any weeks, as far as I'm aware. Report an error in the passage at 31:00 Highlight the passage at 31:00

31:17 It usually goes about 7 to 9. We have retreat day, the 20th, which is a Saturday of February, and that's a day long here from about 1030 to 4. I would love it if a lot of you were able to come, and I also know that a lot of people can't come because they work on Saturdays or they have something else going on on Saturdays classes. Report an error in the passage at 31:17 Highlight the passage at 31:17

31:42 But I like to announce it at the beginning in case people can mark their calendar. It'll be on your syllabus, so check your calendar. There's also going to be a practicum that I'm going to offer on the 6th, and that's going to have all those kind of ritual things in it. It's a Saturday morning and it has all those kind of ritual things in it that a lot of people seem to think this class was all about. How to do water bowls, how to set up an altar, how to do prostrations. Report an error in the passage at 31:42 Highlight the passage at 31:42

32:14 I'll force myself to do a couple so you can see. How to do that mudrā of offering the mandala. You know, how to do all those kind of things. It would be like one of those kind of, that's why I'm calling it a practicum. How to do all those things. It's not actually technically part of this class, but I definitely did it for this class, for the people in this class. So you guys all would get 50 % off. Report an error in the passage at 32:14 Highlight the passage at 32:14

32:41 But it's open to everybody, so it could be a lot of other people too. So that's on Saturday morning. Homework. I do give you guys homework. Not to have half the class go running, screaming over the room. I give you guys homework because homework is what got me. Um... Report an error in the passage at 32:41 Highlight the passage at 32:41

33:02 started on a daily practice. Report an error in the passage at 33:02 Highlight the passage at 33:02

33:06 And I'll talk about that in a minute. But I assign homework mostly your homework in my classes. There'll be some reading, but mostly it's meditating. So it's some formal practice. Sometimes it might be contemplating something on the bus. But if I say it's a meditation, usually I really mean a meditation. Report an error in the passage at 33:06 Highlight the passage at 33:06

33:27 And that usually means sitting down on something that resembles a cushion or a chair. Trying to be still and trying to work with your mind about something. If you don't have time to do your homework, you can still come to class. I won't ask and I won't embarrass you. Well, once I get to know you, I do embarrass people. But I try not to embarrass you and I definitely encourage you to come and not use that as an excuse. Report an error in the passage at 33:27 Highlight the passage at 33:27

33:53 I would rather have you here. You'll get so much out of the class just hearing other people's questions about the homework, even if you never look at the homework. but... Report an error in the passage at 33:53 Highlight the passage at 33:53

34:01 But clearly with a class this short, the more, if you want to get a lot out of it, do the homework. Or if you just know you don't have time for it now, save all the homeworks. I'm going to take them into retreat. Take a week off and do a different one each day. So definitely don't use that as an excuse. Report an error in the passage at 34:01 Highlight the passage at 34:01

34:22 I will produce binders of readings. Probably Charles and I will produce binders of readings before the next class. And it's fairly hefty this time. I'm surprised for establishing a daily practice. I will give you a syllabus this class, but I won't be able to give you the funding. But there's no reading assignment. There's not a lot of external reading either. You'll see on the syllabus it does mention... Report an error in the passage at 34:22 Highlight the passage at 34:22

34:37 It's... Report an error in the passage at 34:37 Highlight the passage at 34:37

34:55 If you're doing the class as part of the Discovering Buddhism program, so there is a program called Discovering Buddhism that we offer here at the center. It actually has 14 modules, 13 of which are classes. We try to offer them like every two years. And usually we end up being a little inside of that, about 18 months. Report an error in the passage at 34:55 Highlight the passage at 34:55

35:19 So I think... We are set to go through the beginning of next year with this particular series, and then we just start over. So most people just take whatever's offered when they can take it, but some people are methodically taking the classes and trying to do the assignments, and they can then get little completion cards that I can sign off, and then they get a lovely certificate signed by Lama Tsongkhapa at the end. Report an error in the passage at 35:19 Highlight the passage at 35:19

35:45 In order to do that, there is additional readings, and so... Liberation in the Palm of Your Hands is a commentary on the graduated path to enlightenment. There's a lot of readings from that for each of the classes. So the people that are doing it for the program, I went ahead and listed it and required reading. If you're not doing it for the program and you're interested and just want to read more, you're welcome to read it. Report an error in the passage at 35:45 Highlight the passage at 35:45

36:13 And if you promise to give me it back, you can actually borrow my copy. If you're not and you're just taking it because it's interesting, it just interests you or it's a Thursday night and you want to check out the center, whatever your reasons are, if it's not to do the program, don't get freaked out. Report an error in the passage at 36:13 Highlight the passage at 36:13

36:28 You don't have to do the reading. I think the only other, there's Report an error in the passage at 36:28 Highlight the passage at 36:28

36:40 one that's making life meaningful. I think ignore that one for now. I'll talk about it next time. And then there's a daily meditation practice. And I think I'm going to actually give you the meditation in that booklet in the class. So you don't have to get that. If you really, really love it, then we can order it for you. We did order some books from F &T about things like setting up an altar and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 36:40 Highlight the passage at 36:40

37:06 And those will be available. They're actually in a box right now. But those will be available next week. We'll have them out for you. They just came in today. Report an error in the passage at 37:06 Highlight the passage at 37:06

37:18 What else? In the series of Discovering Buddhism, this class is number eight. So it kind of also shows you that there's an assumption that you've done the first seven. We're not assuming that every one of you have done the first seven for sure. They do build on each other, but we assume being a drop-in center in the city that we're going to get new people in every single class, and that's the way it works. Report an error in the passage at 37:18 Highlight the passage at 37:18

37:43 I've actually had... Some friends who started in the wisdom class, which is the very final class. Actually, the tantra class. I do know somebody who started in the tantra class, too. And they just keep going. Then they just start with the next round. So they may start with the final class, and then they'll just take mind again when it starts. And that's totally fine. They're really much more like a spiral. Report an error in the passage at 37:43 Highlight the passage at 37:43

38:04 They aren't so much. You could actually just do discovering Buddhism over and over and over and still get something out of it, even if you were forced to listen to me each time. We do try to have other people teach the classes, but I do tend to teach mostly with Discovering Buddhism. The final module of Discovering Buddhism program is all experiential, and so if you're going for that certificate, if there's anyone in there that is, it's all experiential, and it tends to be like some retreat. Report an error in the passage at 38:04 Highlight the passage at 38:04

38:35 There's a Vajrasattva practice, and there's also prostration section, 100,000 prostrations. So it's not lightweight at all to get that little certificate signed by Lama Zopa. It's a very beautiful certificate. But you do have to put some time in. Report an error in the passage at 38:35 Highlight the passage at 38:35

38:53 But if anybody's interested, I'll bring it up again in a couple classes if people are interested. I might meet with some of you before class. Or if some of you still want to talk about it, even though you've talked about it with me in the past, that's okay too. Report an error in the passage at 38:53 Highlight the passage at 38:53

39:08 So, one thing I did want to say, let's see. I think I did mention that. Is there... Anybody here who has never taken a class on Buddhism before? Report an error in the passage at 39:08 Highlight the passage at 39:08

39:25 You have too, haven't you? Like John. Report an error in the passage at 39:25 Highlight the passage at 39:25

39:42 Well, I'm going to ignore that one. But anyway. Report an error in the passage at 39:42 Highlight the passage at 39:42

39:48 But you haven't taken an ongoing class, right? But you've attended Sunday mornings, yeah. And you've attended some other class, yeah. my gosh! Report an error in the passage at 39:48 Highlight the passage at 39:48

39:58 And you've attended some other classes, even though. Okay. All right. All right. All right. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 39:58 Highlight the passage at 39:58

40:11 Anyway, so let's talk a little bit about the lineage of these teachings, and then I'm going to go around and let you guys introduce yourselves. Also, I do want to say, too, the format of these classes is that usually I do a little bit of windbaggery. No, I do some talking. And then if there are questions, I'll take questions. And if I see puzzled looks, I'll stop and ask for questions. If I don't, sometimes I'm trying to finish one particular thought and then I'll ask for questions. Report an error in the passage at 40:11 Highlight the passage at 40:11

40:42 If I'm giving you a list, which the political tradition is very fond of lists, and you miss number three or something like that, then that's fine. Just, you know, raise your hand. But otherwise, usually I like to wait to a certain point, especially Kara. Report an error in the passage at 40:42 Highlight the passage at 40:42

41:01 I started getting smart, now I'll just like write down the list so that you guys can just come up on the break. But I do request that you don't just jump in with your question if I'm in the middle of something, partly because I have no memory. And so that's why I have these notes here. So it actually interrupts my train of thought and then everyone suffers. So I will ask for questions. Report an error in the passage at 41:01 Highlight the passage at 41:01

41:25 I also try to do a break. I usually do a break rather than halfway through. I usually do it... three-quarters of the way through. I do it more like about two-thirds, three-quarters of the way through. And then we just do a little break, and then I try to end with final questions and kind of wrap of meditation or more information if I have to give. Report an error in the passage at 41:25 Highlight the passage at 41:25

41:45 So something like Report an error in the passage at 41:45 Highlight the passage at 41:45

41:50 My lineage, usually when teachers teach, where you go, for example, to hear His Holiness the Jali So I started doing that when I started teaching about three years ago. Report an error in the passage at 41:50 Highlight the passage at 41:50

42:06 I started trying to tell you guys a little bit about who my teachers are, just to let you know that I'm not making this stuff up. I received it from very qualified holy beings. Report an error in the passage at 42:06 Highlight the passage at 42:06

42:18 And then I'm now imparting to you as well as I can with that caveat. And then, of course, you guys take it and it grows in you and it becomes your mind and eventually you'll give it to students. That's kind of the way that goes. So my lineage, I first started taking lamrim teachings in about 96 when it was refuge. Report an error in the passage at 42:18 Highlight the passage at 42:18

42:46 And mostly here in California, San Francisco, Santa Cruz area. And then I also did two long, or two month long lamrim retreats. Report an error in the passage at 42:46 Highlight the passage at 42:46

43:04 Those two lamrim teachings, the month longs, were taught by Venable Neal and that goes by Tipton Dundrup. also received quite a few teachings over the years from all of my main teachers. main teacher is Lamasopo Rinpoche. Report an error in the passage at 43:04 Highlight the passage at 43:04

43:24 director of this center and this whole organization of centers. Also, of course, His Holiness of Dalai Rama, Eriva Rinpoche, Shodim Rinpoche, who's coming in March, and Gisela. Those are probably the main influences in terms of lamrim, but clearly Geshe-la. I've taught the lamrim here for about five years, and many other teachers. Report an error in the passage at 43:24 Highlight the passage at 43:24

43:51 Daily practice, as I was saying at the beginning, my concept of developing a daily practice really began with Geshe Michael Roach, when he would assign homework for the classes, knowing that Western teachers, Western students think that way, right? We take classes like... School classes, you know, so there'd be, he would write things on the board and we would have to go home and we'd have to meditate on him. And that began, you're forced to actually, you had to write down the times and the dates, which I'm not going to have you guys do. Report an error in the passage at 43:51 Highlight the passage at 43:51

44:28 You had to sometimes create a journal, which I'm not going to have you do. So it was really good for me because it got me started. It made me sit. It began a regular sitting practice for me. There wasn't a lot of, I give you guys a lot more detail than he did. It would be more like, his would be more like, contemplate the blah blah. You sit down and you have to do it for 15 minutes, so you just be like, okay, you know. Report an error in the passage at 44:28 Highlight the passage at 44:28

44:57 So I try to give you a little bit more to go on than he did, but it was definitely a beginning for me. And then I started sort of pulling in different quotes, especially quotes that I would hear in class or find in readings that made sense to me or inspired me. Report an error in the passage at 44:57 Highlight the passage at 44:57

45:13 A certain short text, you know, for many years I read the eight verses as a daily practice, especially once I read that His Holiness did that. You'll hear what other people do and that will inspire you. Report an error in the passage at 45:13 Highlight the passage at 45:13

45:26 And of course once you start taking, even receiving commentaries, either receiving commentaries on certain texts or receiving tantric teachings or tantric empowerment, then you start getting commitments that you have to do every day. Then you just try to fashion a practice out of all those commitments, as well as vows and so forth. So that kind of was the beginning of a daily practice for me. Report an error in the passage at 45:26 Highlight the passage at 45:26

45:55 I think probably the strongest time of a daily practice I've ever had in a sort of daily working world, I was living in a nun's house. We were the nun's house when I first came to the center. There were four of us, and there was one nun who had a very, very strong concentration practice. She needed complete silence in the house from 5.30 to 7 every morning. So we would all leap out of bed at 5 and run to the kitchen and get thermoses because we couldn't leave our room or move. Report an error in the passage at 45:55 Highlight the passage at 45:55

46:29 And then there was nothing you could do except sit for an hour and a half. So we might as well. So of course we all just sat. I actually had a really great practice at the time. I was of course bitter and resentful as we all were. But once I got over that, It was very, very wonderful. And I actually miss that. It's kind of like enforced practice. I mean, you can kind of see why not a reason monasteries get started because of that discipline. Report an error in the passage at 46:29 Highlight the passage at 46:29

46:57 And it was a crazy time because I was the director of the center at that point, and I probably never would have done that otherwise. You know, I would have used that as a huge excuse. But you don't need to. You can actually create a practice. Report an error in the passage at 46:57 Highlight the passage at 46:57

47:11 And for a long time actually here, a number of us at the center would sort of like gym buddies, we would all meet at the gampa at a certain time and sit together. And I really enjoyed that too, although I have to admit I also enjoyed just sitting at my own little gampa upstairs, but that's also really useful to do, sitting with others. Report an error in the passage at 47:11 Highlight the passage at 47:11

47:33 And so if you have a partner or a housemate who also likes to meditate, that can be really... Report an error in the passage at 47:33 Highlight the passage at 47:33

47:43 Another great explanation of practice from Venmo Rubina, she just says, practice simply means changing your mind. Practice simply means changing your mind, which I love. It's hard to do. Simply changing your mind is like simply stopping smoking, right? Simply stopping drinking. Most of our mental habits are at least as tenacious as those. Report an error in the passage at 47:43 Highlight the passage at 47:43

48:13 physical habits or negative habits that we have. But it is nice to remember that practice is simply changing your mind. It's very much like if we have a garden and we don't like what's there, it's doing the work in the garden. It's not always fun, but the results are nice. So if you really, really want roses and jasmine and you see a bunch of weeds, you have to do something with those weeds and you have to do something with that soil. Report an error in the passage at 48:13 Highlight the passage at 48:13

48:43 And you have to plant something in order to have the garden that you want. And she often uses that analogy, and I love that analogy because that's very much what it is. Working with the mind isn't always pretty, and it might be uncomfortable, but the results are fantastic. Always worth the effort. And it's continual in the same way that gardening is. Gardening isn't just you do it once and it's done, right? If anybody's ever done gardening, it's constant. Report an error in the passage at 48:43 Highlight the passage at 48:43

49:18 And the best way to tell if our practice is working, it's like we don't ever really have to ask anyone or even tell anyone. It should be somewhat evident to ourselves, not necessarily anybody else. Report an error in the passage at 49:18 Highlight the passage at 49:18

49:33 When we receive that bad news, for example, we had a member here that was, I'm going to use her story, I just won't use her name. Report an error in the passage at 49:33 Highlight the passage at 49:33

49:43 She was just, she was flying out. She came here for the puja right before and on the way over lost her suitcase on the bus. Left it. Never got it back, by the way. And she was slightly shaken and apologized to me for being shaken. I was like, well, actually, I think you're doing amazingly well. And then she handled the whole thing just amazingly. She just went through mentally what was missing out of it. Report an error in the passage at 49:43 Highlight the passage at 49:43

50:14 And I happened to have copies of her practices, all her practices, and she had some commitments. We made those. She flew off to Newark with the clothes on her back. And that's it. And a family, fortunately, on the other side. So I was pretty impressed. I felt like, to me, that was a sign that her practice was really working. Report an error in the passage at 50:14 Highlight the passage at 50:14

50:38 Just how calm was she handled it, even though she did shed a single tear because she had lost something that her refuge Lama had given her. But otherwise, she was incredibly calm. So that's a sign. Those are the kind of tests. We actually need those tests in life to see how our practice is working. We need the tests of the angry roommate or the job not going the way we need to, or health, getting a bad diagnosis or something. Report an error in the passage at 50:38 Highlight the passage at 50:38

51:08 Even though those aren't comfortable, they show us where we need to work. Report an error in the passage at 51:08 Highlight the passage at 51:08

51:15 So, um... A little bit, first on the lamrim, you'll hear this term lamrim. Lamrim just, our, lamrim, lamrim means in Tibetan the graduated path to enlightenment. Lam is path and rim, it means sort of like steps, Report an error in the passage at 51:15 Highlight the passage at 51:15

51:37 gradual. And the lamrim are all teachings of the Buddha, but they're pulled together in a way that we can work with in practice. Report an error in the passage at 51:37 Highlight the passage at 51:37

51:50 If we meditate on them in a specific order, in a specific way, they lead us to enlightenment without anything else. It's basically the sūtra teachings. Report an error in the passage at 51:50 Highlight the passage at 51:50

52:01 So they're complete practice in and of themselves. They aren't the baby food that you grow out of. I always mention this because I think a lot of times people think, well, I've taken the Lamrim. I learned the Lamrim. I read the Lamrim. It's not like that. Report an error in the passage at 52:01 Highlight the passage at 52:01

52:20 We can understand this stuff intellectually and it's going to really transform our lives. It's not like that at all. We just keep meditating on it until we gain some sort of a major breakthrough on each topic. And we just keep going until we do. So, for example, sometimes we'll ask a teacher. I asked my teacher, Lama Tsongkhapa, to give me instructions on how to meditate on the Lama. Report an error in the passage at 52:20 Highlight the passage at 52:20

52:38 example, Report an error in the passage at 52:38 Highlight the passage at 52:38

52:50 And he gave me a certain number of months to meditate on each topic. And sometimes it would be like really tiny and sometimes it would be like six months or eight months or something. And you go through and you just keep doing it. And then you get finished with that and then you start over until he says you gain realization. So when I say realization and when he said realization, this is what I think he means. Report an error in the passage at 52:50 Highlight the passage at 52:50

53:12 It's actually shifting your mind in some unchanging way. That's the way I see it. And insight, we can all have insights. We can all gain insights. They're like these momentary pop, you know, where you're like, and then of course you get up and you yell at somebody. It doesn't last, but they're great. We need those insights to get us realizations. This is my understanding of the terms. I've never seen them defined. So realization is something bigger. Report an error in the passage at 53:12 Highlight the passage at 53:12

53:43 Realization is like you have a number of those insights and then you have this kind of a Permanent changing of your mind, like a permanent shift in how you deal with life, you know, in that particular item. For example, with impermanence, you might gain an insight of, wow, I'm really, I'm going to die. Like, not just all you guys, but me, I'm going to die. Report an error in the passage at 53:43 Highlight the passage at 53:43

54:08 Which we intellectually hopefully get, but this is something deeper. So you gain that insight, but at some point, it's so strong that you don't waste time anymore. You don't fight getting out of bed. You leap out of bed. And you don't waste time with stupid stuff. Yelling at people, holding grudges, all that stuff that we, those of us who don't have that realization, waste time with. Report an error in the passage at 54:08 Highlight the passage at 54:08

54:37 That's a realization. That's when it permanently shifts your whole life. And then, maybe only then, you can stop meditating on it. But otherwise, you just keep meditating and keep meditating on it. That's why I like the spiral idea. It works for the Discovering Buddhism program and it also works for the Lama. We just keep going through it over and over. So these meditations that I'll give you in this class and these meditations that we'll talk about even in this class, they're kind of lifelong. Report an error in the passage at 54:37 Highlight the passage at 54:37

55:09 They're lifelong. We just keep looking at them again. Because every time we go back into them, every time we look at impermanence, something else has changed in our lives. We've lost a parent. We've lost a job. We've lost something. Aging. Aging has made us lose something about ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 55:09 Highlight the passage at 55:09

55:29 We've lost a relationship. So our understanding of impermanence gets deeper and deeper and deeper. And the meditations therefore become different. Report an error in the passage at 55:29 Highlight the passage at 55:29

55:40 We tend to go around. same meditations over and over. And you make them by your own experiences. So every time that you do them, you go deeper and deeper. Report an error in the passage at 55:40 Highlight the passage at 55:40

55:54 So that's a little something about the class, and I'll say a little something afterwards, but I wanted to just go around really quick, and then we'll take a break, and then we'll come back and talk a little bit more about practice. Report an error in the passage at 55:54 Highlight the passage at 55:54

56:08 So if people could just say who you are. And why you're here, if it's any reason, it can be any reason, like it's a Thursday night class, you know, it doesn't have to be something profound. But if there's something about this concept of practice that interests you, you can share that too, but you only have literally like a minute, so don't get too excited and don't like expound. Report an error in the passage at 56:08 Highlight the passage at 56:08

56:32 If you're getting too much, I'll go like this. Report an error in the passage at 56:32 Highlight the passage at 56:32

56:38 I'll send Kara up with her cane. That appears. Report an error in the passage at 56:38 Highlight the passage at 56:38

56:45 Alright, why don't we start? You want to start, Courtney? You always sit there, so you always sit there. Report an error in the passage at 56:45 Highlight the passage at 56:45

56:54 Oh, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 56:54 Highlight the passage at 56:54

56:59 I'm Courtney, and I'm here because this idea of practice suits me. I feel like I need to recommit to it in my daily life, and I feel like if I come here every Thursday for six weeks, that might help me get to the cushion. Report an error in the passage at 56:59 Highlight the passage at 56:59

57:17 Go for it, yeah. I'm Jessica and kind of same thing, basically just want to reinforce my own daily practice and kind of strengthen the commitment to do it every day and the details around it. So, yeah, cool. Maybe I should have you guys write down dates sometime. But we'll have, it'll be establishing a daily practice and then getting into your daily practice. Report an error in the passage at 57:17 Highlight the passage at 57:17

57:47 I'm John and to the best of my knowledge, I've just been practicing Buddhism. months, and I'm wanting to go and establish more a daily practice. Report an error in the passage at 57:47 Highlight the passage at 57:47

58:05 regular my the cushion meditating and My name is Report an error in the passage at 58:05 Highlight the passage at 58:05

58:21 David and my first great lesson in impermanence was losing my hair anyway. Report an error in the passage at 58:21 Highlight the passage at 58:21

58:32 It's very funny when you talk about practice because in many ways I don't have a very disciplined sitting practice but I contemplate Dharma constantly and all the time and I can't leave my house without having some Dharma book with me to kind of like keep me on track. And sort of what inspired me quite recently in the last six months my dog died, my mother died and then my father-in-law died all within a very short period of time. Report an error in the passage at 58:32 Highlight the passage at 58:32

58:59 And what I found was that Through each of these events, that it deepened my commitment to my practice, and they were actually very positive and very profound and joyous moments that really taught me a tremendous amount. And so that's sort of what led me to working back on some other levels of consistency. That's a good advertisement. Report an error in the passage at 58:59 Highlight the passage at 58:59

59:28 Thanks, David. I'll pay you later. Report an error in the passage at 59:28 Highlight the passage at 59:28

59:33 I'm Jacob, and I'm just interested in the practice, and my mouth hurts. It kind of hurts for me to talk right now, so I'm just going to pass it on. Report an error in the passage at 59:33 Highlight the passage at 59:33

59:44 I hope you're working with that in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 59:44 Highlight the passage at 59:44

59:49 My name is Bill, and I just want to strengthen my practice at home. It's become more of a routine. Report an error in the passage at 59:49 Highlight the passage at 59:49

1:00:02 I'm Revital. I'm from Israel, but I live in Boise, Idaho. trying to. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:02 Highlight the passage at 1:00:02

1:00:08 And I'm here for a visit for a week, so I came for a visit in the center. How did you find the center? Just online? No, Robina is my teacher. So I wrote her an email and she gave me the address here. You tell her I used her quote. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:08 Highlight the passage at 1:00:08

1:00:33 And I came here because I miss having... Saṅgha in my life. I couldn't find yet Saṅgha in Boise, but I'm working on it. So for me it's just a great opportunity to see people and to feel home. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:33 Highlight the passage at 1:00:33

1:01:00 I've been here since September of last year and I've taken the last two Discovering Buddhism classes, so I'm here again. I take as many as I can until I have to go back to work. I'm Report an error in the passage at 1:01:00 Highlight the passage at 1:01:00

1:01:17 Gina, and I have no semblance of a daily practice. I would really like to study, but I really hate to apply, so I'm hoping this will help with that. I don't believe that, actually. These three, actually, there's quite a few people in this room who are incredible volunteers, and the giving that you give counts as practice, girlfriend. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:17 Highlight the passage at 1:01:17

1:01:42 I didn't say you were a Buddha. Kara, Report an error in the passage at 1:01:42 Highlight the passage at 1:01:42

1:01:51 you can disguise your voice. My name is Betty. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:51 Highlight the passage at 1:01:51

1:01:58 No, I'm Kara. I volunteer every Thursday here. I do a lot of retreats and I love the center. It helps me, my practice, that I'm very bad at. But I can see myself slowly growing better. I survived Texas. I know. We prayed for you. My name is Maria and a friend of mine, Marcella, encouraged me to start getting into the practice of meditation and I'm very stubborn. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:58 Highlight the passage at 1:01:58

1:02:38 So I'm trying to work on attachments and dealing with my mom's departing. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:38 Highlight the passage at 1:02:38

1:02:53 This is going to help me tremendously. Yeah, we missed Marcella this time. She had to choose. She's doing Emily's class. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:53 Highlight the passage at 1:02:53

1:03:08 My name is Barry, and this is the second class that I've taken. Although I've been circling the pool for many years, doing a lot of reading, I've found myself getting very close to the edge. Oh my God, we may hear a loud splash. So I've been wanting to... Commit to a more regular practice because it's kind of sporadic. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:08 Highlight the passage at 1:03:08

1:03:40 I'm Eric and kind of circling pulls to doing a lot of reading, intellectualizing and it's just time to start practicing and feeling. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:40 Highlight the passage at 1:03:40

1:03:57 It's circling you too. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:57 Highlight the passage at 1:03:57

1:04:07 I'm Brooke. I live here now. I want to take advantage of... why I'm here. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:07 Highlight the passage at 1:04:07

1:04:15 All the amazing things that are offered one step at a time. Wow, first step is establishing a daily practice. Well, I'm working with consistency and structure in my life because I do have a very fluid and erratic, create-the-world-anew-everyday kind of artistic life and lifestyle. And so I've been really working on how can I bring more structure because my meditation practice and a lot of my upbringing, I have that. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:15 Highlight the passage at 1:04:15

1:04:54 incredibly useful I haven't had it in years and I'd like to have it again Report an error in the passage at 1:04:54 Highlight the passage at 1:04:54

1:05:08 She has to come, because otherwise we're going to make so much noise. She's right there. We'll be like, boom, boom. Hi, I'm Christine, and I started coming to the first class, and I've just kind of plodded through them all, so this is the next one. When did you start? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:08 Highlight the passage at 1:05:08

1:05:32 But the mind was last January, and I started coming back. you may be the only person in the history of faith in mind has done it that well. I know it. My name is Chris and I just got really nervous. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:32 Highlight the passage at 1:05:32

1:06:00 Establishing a daily meditation practice is something that I need to work on. So, um... Report an error in the passage at 1:06:00 Highlight the passage at 1:06:00

1:06:07 I too do a lot of contemplating of Dharma on the bus, walking, associating songs and movies and trying to find the Dharma in them. But actually sitting down on a cushion, I need to work on that. And actually I won't be able to continue this class after today because I start school and I have to take English at the same time. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:07 Highlight the passage at 1:06:07

1:06:37 But hopefully I can get the notes emailed to me and I can take it through correspondence. So we'll see what happens. Maybe you can listen to it here. Yeah, archive.com, right? Yeah, we do upload all the teachings to archive.org. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:37 Highlight the passage at 1:06:37

1:06:59 said that? Who corrected? Dina. My name is Charles. I just actually moved here from North Carolina, and I work here, so I really don't have an excuse not to come to class. You'll find one. I circled the pool for a really long time, and I jumped in several years ago. But I don't have a very solid meditation practice, so that's why I'm here. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:59 Highlight the passage at 1:06:59

1:07:25 And I can bother Chokyi in the kitchen when she does something. I can say, well, you said this. He's not allowed to. Charles is our new spiritual program coordinator, by the way, you guys. So please welcome, Charles. Yeah. It's really exciting. I can dump all my work on it. No, I'm not. So how many people right now have a meditation practice? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:25 Highlight the passage at 1:07:25

1:07:51 Of any kind. Even if it's just like periodic. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:51 Highlight the passage at 1:07:51

1:07:57 Okay. And how many people, is there anybody who would like... Okay, two things. I could email you information about starting a meditation practice according to this particular tradition's idea of what meditation is, if you'd like. If you've done other classes, I've probably already given it to you, so you won't need it. But why don't you on the break come up and I'll have you sign up if you want me to. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:57 Highlight the passage at 1:07:57

1:08:26 do it after? Can you print the raster on the break and then I'll just have you guys write. So we'll have a raster and then you guys can just write in your name, your email address and the best way to reach you, like a cell phone or something like that in case something should happen and also the email you stop if I need to. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:26 Highlight the passage at 1:08:26

1:08:46 But if something should happen, in other words, like if class had to get canceled, that teacher was sick or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:46 Highlight the passage at 1:08:46

1:08:54 The other thing I can send, if anybody would like, and we can note that on the roster, is there's a little handout on the lamrim, actually a lengthy handout, by Veddera Rubina that some of you probably also have from other classes. But if you're interested in that, if you've never taken another Buddhist class before, you don't know what the lamrim is, just mark a little asterisk next to your name, or just put... Report an error in the passage at 1:08:54 Highlight the passage at 1:08:54

1:09:24 Lamrim. Lamrim handout. So the things to do on the roster is either meditation handout or Lamrim handout or both handouts and I'll email them to you. Otherwise, I just need on the roster as it goes around your name and how to reach you in case anything should come Report an error in the passage at 1:09:24 Highlight the passage at 1:09:24

1:09:45 up. I think that's it. Why don't you guys take a break? Why don't we make it... Are you okay with a short one? Are you okay with like five minutes? Okay. Let's do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:45 Highlight the passage at 1:09:45

1:10:16 I know. I don't know. I don't know. I think he's a snow lion. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:16 Highlight the passage at 1:10:16

1:10:37 Wow. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:37 Highlight the passage at 1:10:37

1:10:41 I Report an error in the passage at 1:10:41 Highlight the passage at 1:10:41

1:10:46 love it. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:46 Highlight the passage at 1:10:46

1:11:06 Wow, that's incredible. Just like this level of patience. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:06 Highlight the passage at 1:11:06

1:11:16 I just got an email from Mary, actually. She wants to come for the empowerment. That's kind of cool. I hope that she does. It would be great to see her. Hey, Missy. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:16 Highlight the passage at 1:11:16

1:11:46 Okay, about taking refuge with children? Yeah. Actually, that's a good thing for me to announce in here is to see if anyone else is interested. said that I need to talk to him and put it on, get it on until Sunday. you give me a pen the desk? desk. And I'll make a note to myself to ask him. I'll see him tomorrow. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:46 Highlight the passage at 1:11:46

1:12:16 Sorry it took me so long. I think it was the numbers. Probably if you had bullet pointed, I probably, it was like, and when I came finally down to it, I was like, why did I put this off so long? I think it was just one, two, three, four, and I was like, ah! Report an error in the passage at 1:12:16 Highlight the passage at 1:12:16

1:12:49 That's why I don't know how you're going to make copies. Because that's kind of a big, big job. So big. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:49 Highlight the passage at 1:12:49

1:13:01 there's 74 pages, so about 30, 37 pages back for each binder. I don't know how many people we have, but it looked like 12 plus change, 13. So anyway, it'll end up being from 10 to 12 binders probably. Yeah. You're sure? I'll see if we already have the binders themselves, but that would be a huge help. We may even have the original, so then all you have to do is, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:01 Highlight the passage at 1:13:01

1:13:45 Sure. Yeah, yeah, that'd be great. We may even actually already have the hole punch paper, if that's easier. Because then you don't have to deal with that, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:45 Highlight the passage at 1:13:45

1:13:56 Okay, that would be great. Thank you. You want to talk after class? Yeah. Okay. Is there, or did you get work done? Yeah. Oh, oh. Do you, do you need to go home, or are you okay? Okay. Oh, I'm sorry. I have to drag. Oh, I don't, I think, I think, I think Charles is, Charles, are you printing the roster now? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:56 Highlight the passage at 1:13:56

1:14:29 Okay, so maybe, oh yeah, good, here he goes. You just do a, so just write name, email, phone, And then maybe lamrim and meditation. Excellent. Our first signer-upper is here. How are you? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:29 Highlight the passage at 1:14:29

1:14:48 You've got a sore mouth. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:48 Highlight the passage at 1:14:48

1:14:53 Oh, really? I'm from Charlie. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:53 Highlight the passage at 1:14:53

1:15:01 I'm from just outside of D.C. I'm actually from the same place Barry's from. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:01 Highlight the passage at 1:15:01

1:15:10 No, Fairfax. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:10 Highlight the passage at 1:15:10

1:15:15 Really? This is too weird. He said his cousin lives in Fairfax. Barry went home to Fairfax. You're actually like... but he actually brought something to my invited you guys in oh no he showed you family pictures Report an error in the passage at 1:15:15 Highlight the passage at 1:15:15

1:15:36 I know she texted me after. She said, he was really nice. We invited him in for tea. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:36 Highlight the passage at 1:15:36

1:15:51 excited Report an error in the passage at 1:15:51 Highlight the passage at 1:15:51

1:15:55 Be careful. I Report an error in the passage at 1:15:55 Highlight the passage at 1:15:55

1:16:05 just have to do the trauma part. I just have to do the trauma part. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:05 Highlight the passage at 1:16:05

1:16:16 I forgot. Oh, man. That's not good. Maybe I should go try calling him now. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:16 Highlight the passage at 1:16:16

1:16:38 Oh, I know, but he doesn't use, Geshella likes the oatmeal way. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:38 Highlight the passage at 1:16:38

1:16:46 No, we use oatmeal. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:46 Highlight the passage at 1:16:46

1:16:51 Shoot, I totally just forgot. It seems like upstairs I just started working on that thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:51 Highlight the passage at 1:16:51

1:16:59 I don't want to call him on a break, because what if he gets into a long discussion or something? Oh, man. Okay, what do I do? I don't have an email for him. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:59 Highlight the passage at 1:16:59

1:17:22 it's actually easier maybe he wouldn't say no because he won't know you this official um Report an error in the passage at 1:17:22 Highlight the passage at 1:17:22

1:17:44 I don't have it memorized. I don't call that often. I'm reading it myself. I'm reading it myself. I'm reading it myself. Yeah, it's in It might be, or Aptos. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:44 Highlight the passage at 1:17:44

1:18:08 Yeah, just call and just say that you're calling for Geshe, Daka and Chokyi. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:08 Highlight the passage at 1:18:08

1:18:22 Urgent. Say it again. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:22 Highlight the passage at 1:18:22

1:18:29 He'll know. Tell him that he's doing six sessions. He's doing a four-day retreat. I thought he said three Tarmas for that, but he might say five Tarmas. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:29 Highlight the passage at 1:18:29

1:18:45 Yeah, Tarmas for every day. Give it a try. If you can't find the number, just bring it back down here. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:45 Highlight the passage at 1:18:45

1:19:00 Oh dear. We started with not giving this poor month any time and now we're giving zero time. In some ways that actually works better. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:00 Highlight the passage at 1:19:00

1:19:09 You can do it or you can't. All right. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:09 Highlight the passage at 1:19:09

1:19:24 Are you guys ready? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:24 Highlight the passage at 1:19:24

1:19:32 Could we maybe get ready? Come on, Carrie, you can do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:32 Highlight the passage at 1:19:32

1:19:44 Take me on five pillows and what do you expect? I know. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:44 Highlight the passage at 1:19:44

1:19:53 Laughter can turn quickly to tears, but I'm going to go a little serious because it's taught, and this I think becomes serious for us in this modern age because we have a lot of ways to, in the old days in Tibet, it was kind of rare to receive teachings. One teacher would come out and everybody would come miles to hear this teacher. Fortunately they had better retention than we do, so they memorized quite easily. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:53 Highlight the passage at 1:19:53

1:20:22 We have all sorts of ways to capture teachings and listen to them again and again and again. So we download teachings. We might listen to the same teaching like five times. You know exactly where the cough comes. You know where, you know, it's like listening to your favorite song recorded a certain way. You just hear it over and over and over. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:22 Highlight the passage at 1:20:22

1:20:43 But they say that if we just listen to the teachings, well, there's two things. One is if we just listen to the teachings and we never apply them, we don't put them into practice, Report an error in the passage at 1:20:43 Highlight the passage at 1:20:43

1:20:55 We don't make the effort to integrate them with our mind. Then we can actually become insensitive to the Dharma, which I find totally frightening. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:55 Highlight the passage at 1:20:55

1:21:08 And insensitivity to the Dharma means you hear a teaching that you've heard before and you immediately dismiss it and you think, oh, I've heard that. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:08 Highlight the passage at 1:21:08

1:21:20 And I hear this. As somebody who works with planning programs at the center, I've heard people say things like that. We learn the eight verses. He taught that last time. Do we really need impermanence? And it's sort of like, have you actually realized it? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:20 Highlight the passage at 1:21:20

1:21:40 But when you do that with your mind, you immediately kind of shut down to a teaching. That's becoming insensitive. You don't think that it has anything to offer you. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:40 Highlight the passage at 1:21:40

1:21:55 When I was working with Geshe the other day on the sadhana, There's one part he wanted me to take out and he just kind of goes like this. Just sort of brushes it away. And that's kind of like what we do sometimes when something's offered and we're like, hmm, that sounds boring. You know, we do that with our mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:55 Highlight the passage at 1:21:55

1:22:20 Or our sense of ourself, our ego kind of gets big and we think, well, I know that. I'm, you know, get all proud and I don't need to take that one again. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:20 Highlight the passage at 1:22:20

1:22:29 I studied that for five years. You know, and then we don't need to take it again. So they say that, oh, and the second way I was going to say is the three ways that the Buddha said that we sort of absorbed the teachings or integrate the teachings is they give us three possibilities and we have to really do them all. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:29 Highlight the passage at 1:22:29

1:22:52 Listening, listening, and I think we can include reading in that. I didn't include reading in most of the... Early Indians and Tibetans didn't read and received it already. But listening or reading the teachings, contemplating them, that's what Chris was talking about, doing it on the 22, on the bus, on the BART, at work, just thinking about it when you have a moment, standing in line at the bank, thinking about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:52 Highlight the passage at 1:22:52

1:23:21 And meditating. The final one is meditating. I think... In this modern age, what we tend to do the most of is listening, listening, listening, listening, listening. And it's great. It definitely gives us the seeds, but it doesn't take it in deeper. Contemplating does, but what's lacking is the meditating. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:21 Highlight the passage at 1:23:21

1:23:44 And that's really where you try to create a still environment, a still body, and a still mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:44 Highlight the passage at 1:23:44

1:23:56 they say, that The Dharma has really saturated or steeped our mind, or soaked our mind. That when we hear just a simple teaching that we've already heard before, it actually gives us a warm feeling in our heart. Or maybe even the hair on the back of our neck. We have some sort of a feeling about it. The way we do if we hear a favorite song. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:56 Highlight the passage at 1:23:56

1:24:30 We can't get enough of it. It's not that we get bored and scoot it away. And they also compare it to, I guess in Tibet in the early days, and maybe they still do, they would rend their leather with butter, make it malleable, make it serviceable with butter. And there's a certain point where when you work butter into leather, it makes it really soft and pliable. And there's a certain point where it actually just gets really hard. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:30 Highlight the passage at 1:24:30

1:25:08 And they would use it both ways. So sometimes it would be soft and usable, and sometimes the hard leather they would actually use is almost like we use vessels, you know, something made out of clay. They would use hard leather like that. So our minds can get hard like that if we over-saturate them. We want to get them to the point where it goes in, the teachings go in to our minds like butter, but not so much where it stops. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:08 Highlight the passage at 1:25:08

1:25:40 what happens is we don't just get bored. We actually build obstacles for those same teachings. we just listen to them and never really do anything, never apply them, never them, and never meditate on Report an error in the passage at 1:25:40 Highlight the passage at 1:25:40

1:25:55 we do meditate on them, then they stay juicy and new. Then they stay lively. Then they stay, know, I'm telling myself this too. Whenever I teach a class. It's myself who gets the most out of it. I don't know, you guys, it's really polite of you to show up. It's kind and I really, really thank you. But I get to hear this myself over and over, so that's really good. But they say too that if we, that at first when we listen to the teachings, there's this gap between our mind and the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:55 Highlight the passage at 1:25:55

1:26:30 There's a space. And then gradually as we meditate on them and integrate, Then that space begins to close and our mind becomes the Dharma. There's no separation. There's no difference between our mind and the Dharma. The Dharma is something out there and our mind is something here and there's separation. So the way that happens is through listening and meditating and contemplating and meditating on the teachings, but also just daily thinking about the kind of attitudes and states of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:30 Highlight the passage at 1:26:30

1:27:05 Qualities of mind that we want to practice and the kinds of states of mind that we don't want in our minds anymore and trying to notice when they arise and try to, as Rubina says, simply change our mind. Like, keep working at it. And I think 100, I would say 100 % of establishing a daily practice is being willing to start over every day. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:05 Highlight the passage at 1:27:05

1:27:27 You know, just know right now that it's not like attending this class. Straight up from here. It's more like, you know, it's like you learn stuff, you get excited, something happens, you drop it off. Usually something good happens, you drop it off. Like when the bad stuff happens, that's when we see everybody. Everybody comes, we all do pujas, we all pray, we all do classes, and then I don't see them for five years. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:27 Highlight the passage at 1:27:27

1:27:54 And then they come back. And that's life. I mean, it definitely happens like that. So continually being willing to start over is a big aspect of practice. So what's Dharma? We talk about this word Dharma. We say this is a Dharma center. Often I have to explain even what Dharma is. It's a Buddhist center. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:54 Highlight the passage at 1:27:54

1:28:18 But Dharma is anything that holds us back from suffering. So developing a Dharma practice is talking about applying those things that will keep us from suffering. It's actually not like we have to just go out and be kind and do nice things only for other people. So even if you haven't reached that point where you want to do nice things for other people, the whole idea of karma and emptiness is that every time we actually are kind, every time we're patient, every time we practice the qualities that we ourselves want, we're the ones that benefit. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:18 Highlight the passage at 1:28:18

1:28:59 We actually benefit. And obviously we also want to know how to benefit others. But ultimately that's what His Holiness calls being wisely selfish. When we work for others, when we help others, when we volunteer, it actually ends up benefiting ourselves as well. We are sentient beings too. So when we say we want to work for all sentient beings, there's no martyrdom in Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:59 Highlight the passage at 1:28:59

1:29:34 So, another quote from another great Lama. This one's Prabhakar Rinpoche. And he gives this, he gave this instruction in how to meditate on the stages of enlightenment or the Lamrim. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:34 Highlight the passage at 1:29:34

1:29:48 He said, once you're overcome by insensitivity to Dharma, your mind stream, which is what you often see in this text, the stream of consciousness, this thing we call mind, your mind stream becomes ruined and you are incapable of being tamed. Yikes, right? Even by the lamrim, or the blessed words of your Guru. So apply yourself to the profound method for avoiding insensitivity to Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:48 Highlight the passage at 1:29:48

1:30:18 This is achieved through the blessings of your Guru's speech, along with your own efforts to listen to Dharma properly. So however much understanding you gain through hearing Dharma, It's vital to generate soon afterwards the understanding which comes from reflection. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:18 Highlight the passage at 1:30:18

1:30:40 Once you're overcome by insensitivity to Dharma, your mind stream becomes ruined and you are incapable of being tamed, even by the lamrim or the blessed words of your Guru. So apply yourself to the profound method for avoiding insensitivity to Dharma. This is achieved through the blessings of your Guru's speech, along with your own efforts to listen to Dharma properly. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:40 Highlight the passage at 1:30:40

1:31:04 So however much understanding you gain through hearing Dama, it's vital to generate soon afterwards the understanding which comes from reflection. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:04 Highlight the passage at 1:31:04

1:31:16 So we just need to be aware of that. It is really wonderful to listen to teachings over and over, but really guard yourself from developing that insensitivity to a teaching by just listening to it to death. You can listen to it over and over, but take time to meditate on it too. Don't give up the meditation. Because it becomes a block for us and we create our own blocks. And we'll talk about that in this class. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:16 Highlight the passage at 1:31:16

1:31:46 So I'm going to just talk a little bit about what we will cover in this class. And that's one of them. If we have obstacles, if we notice obstacles in our practice, we notice obstacles in our study, we notice obstacles in our work in our mind, whatever that looks like. Whether it's a daily meditation practice or whether it's another kind of daily practice. So we're going to talk about accumulating merit and purifying because those are also daily practices that help us keep moving forward. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:46 Highlight the passage at 1:31:46

1:32:26 We'll also talk about how to take what you're meditating on. Well, how to meditate. We're going to start with how to meditate. Not just how to meditate, like how you sit and holding yourself in a certain position and what you do with your mind and what else is there, right? There's actually a lot that prepares us for that. So there's certain practices that we do before we even sit down, especially in Tibetan Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:26 Highlight the passage at 1:32:26

1:32:55 We're big on that. And that's actually what we're going to start with next week. So we're going to look at... All of the formal things we need to do to have a formal practice and what that means, what meditation is like, how do we prepare for it, what types of meditation there are and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:55 Highlight the passage at 1:32:55

1:33:19 And how do we know when we've meditated long enough on something? How do we know if we've gained a realization? Report an error in the passage at 1:33:19 Highlight the passage at 1:33:19

1:33:30 So I talked a little bit about, in the beginning about... Sometimes needing to take a really long time to work with a certain meditation and how do we develop that patience? Knowing it in advance, for me actually it was quite helpful to just feel like, great, I've got the rest of my life. I'll just work on this stuff the rest of my life, that's okay. I didn't feel so much like, oh my God, how am I going to do all that? It was just kind of like, well that's fine, I'll just do that and I'll do that and I'll do that and I'll do that and I'll start over and I'll do that and I'll do that and I'll do that and it's kind of like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:30 Highlight the passage at 1:33:30

1:34:03 There's a little bit of that kind of letting go into the rhythm of knowing how the next, you know, weeks, months, years will go and that you'll just fit it in somehow. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:03 Highlight the passage at 1:34:03

1:34:15 And that's what daily practice is like. I mean, we just fit it in. It's very much like, you know, brushing your teeth or getting dressed. You don't need somebody to tell you. You just do it. Well, hopefully you just do it. So we'll talk about the different types of meditation and how to then take what you're meditating on into your life. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:15 Highlight the passage at 1:34:15

1:34:34 How do you integrate it? How do you integrate the different topics of the Lamrim? We'll talk a little bit about the Lamrim. How do you integrate it with your life in a meaningful way? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:34 Highlight the passage at 1:34:34

1:34:48 So we'll talk about what you do in between those post-meditative sessions, which is everything else. Everything except the sitting on the cushion. question. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:48 Highlight the passage at 1:34:48

1:35:00 And when we talk about the preliminary practices, some of those preliminary practices are those things that we think of as Buddhist rituals, although most of that we'll do on that Saturday morning. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:00 Highlight the passage at 1:35:00

1:35:14 There's specific advice that Rinpoche gave to the Discovering Buddhism students about how to start each day and how to keep our minds in the right place and ways to do that, and so we'll do those purification practices that I mentioned. that are good to do every day. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:14 Highlight the passage at 1:35:14

1:35:35 Especially when you realize that you screwed up. We'll talk a little bit about those experiential practices that I just mentioned that come up in the 14th module. All of the things that I'll introduce in here are things that you do in that module. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:35 Highlight the passage at 1:35:35

1:36:01 We'll talk about things to do in the morning to set the tone for the day. buzz yourself with practice and the frustrations and so Report an error in the passage at 1:36:01 Highlight the passage at 1:36:01

1:36:05 Things to do in the middle of the day, if you can, and things to do in the evening to assess if you did what you thought you might do or wanted to do when you started out your day, and what to do if you didn't, what to do if you horribly did not meet your goals for the day, and then how to face the long night ahead. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:05 Highlight the passage at 1:36:05

1:36:30 There's actually things to do while you sleep. Of course, the Tibetan Vedas stop. We just keep going. There's plenty to do. So it's like how to mix your mind with the practice all the time, all the different ways, so that you can go to bed with a clear conscience and wake up with vigor. We even talk about sort of when to take a break. There's actually teachings on how to rest and when to rest. I haven't mastered those teachings. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:30 Highlight the passage at 1:36:30

1:37:03 I'm actually not so great at that. I did it, though, this past weekend. I forced myself to go rest somewhere. So we'll talk a little bit about that, too. Because there are definitely times to push yourself in practice, and there are definitely times that you need to just let that last bit settle, you know, integrate. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:03 Highlight the passage at 1:37:03

1:37:27 So we'll talk a little bit about that, too. We will also talk a little bit about retreat. my God. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:27 Highlight the passage at 1:37:27

1:37:33 And even what it is. I think in our culture, retreat sort of sounds like you should be getting sauna and mud baths and wine coolers and chocolate on the pillow or something. Clearly have not done retreat according to this tradition. Whenever people are able to do a long retreat, people are always like, have a blissful time. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:33 Highlight the passage at 1:37:33

1:37:59 And it's like, maybe not. There are definitely moments of bliss and there's a lot of other stuff that comes up because you're basically looking at your mind without distraction for however long the retreat is, which isn't always pretty. I don't know about your mind, but my mind isn't always pretty. So we'll talk a little bit about retreat and why it's good and why both sides are really useful. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:59 Highlight the passage at 1:37:59

1:38:27 We definitely need the off-the-cushion practice of dealing with life and work and people. You know, you don't have people in retreat. Usually you're doing it by yourself. But we also need that time of working with letting that stuff go deeper, you know, and taking time that you really honestly have nothing else to do but working with your mind and these practices and letting it all go in deeper. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:27 Highlight the passage at 1:38:27

1:38:54 I think you need both. I don't see how you can do it without that. Most of the, I mean, actually, working in a Dharma center, I'm very fortunate. It's like retreat a lot. Not in any blissful way, but you're working with your mind all the time. You're working with your mind, you're working with your mind, you're working with the teachings all the time. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:54 Highlight the passage at 1:38:54

1:39:18 And then I'm also very blessed that I've been able to do a retreat almost every year since I sort of forced it. I just announce. So I'll be going away for the month of blah, blah. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:18 Highlight the passage at 1:39:18

1:39:32 And then you just go, and it's sort of like you just set it up and you just go, and then whatever happens is what happens. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:32 Highlight the passage at 1:39:32

1:39:41 So instead of having a roommate yell at you or a boss in your job or getting a bad diagnosis, it's all just you and your mind 24-7 with nothing else, no distractions, no TV, no movies, no friends, no favorite food, just you and your mind. And it's pretty amazing. I mean, it's pretty amazing. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:41 Highlight the passage at 1:39:41

1:40:12 It's one of the ways that those aha moments can jump up, those insights, and it's definitely the only way for these realizations. Only way for these realizations. And we have to gain realizations. We are the next generation of Buddhism. All the old Lamas are dying off. That's true, and I think we have to begin realizing that, that it's coming down to us, which is startling and somewhat disheartening. But the reality is... Report an error in the passage at 1:40:12 Highlight the passage at 1:40:12

1:40:45 That we need to really take these teachings to heart. So are there questions that have come up about anything that we've just talked about? And then I can just leave you guys in a closing meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:45 Highlight the passage at 1:40:45

1:41:06 Just silence. It's probably that realization part, wasn't it? Sorry. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:06 Highlight the passage at 1:41:06

1:41:13 I know, actually, Geshe Michael actually started us with that too. He would start it very first at the beginning of class saying, You guys are the next group of teachers. He would always say, your students will be like, I just signed up. I just started taking this class. I don't know. So I'm doing that too. It's partly just to make you wake up, get that heart beating. Okay, why don't we do a closing meditation? Report an error in the passage at 1:41:13 Highlight the passage at 1:41:13

1:41:39 This is the meditation that you'll be doing this week. Christine will be really happy to know. Oh no, it's not the teachers. Don't worry. It's not the teachers. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:39 Highlight the passage at 1:41:39

1:41:53 She didn't like the teachers. No, we're going to do one. It's actually going to be about sort of your own. It'll be how your practice brings you to be. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:53 Highlight the passage at 1:41:53

1:42:11 So again, just find your posture. If you're sitting in a chair, make sure you move away from the back of the chair so you don't fall asleep. Those of you who are on your own. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:11 Highlight the passage at 1:42:11

1:42:22 Check your spine. Make sure that it's extended. We'll talk about posture. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:22 Highlight the passage at 1:42:22

1:42:29 The main thing is just keeping that spine extended because that will help your concentration, your alertness. And start with those cleansing breaths again, imagining bringing in cool white light and letting out any dark thoughts or negative thoughts or any kind of negative states in mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:29 Highlight the passage at 1:42:29

1:43:18 And if there's this part of your mind that just wants to know everything right now, you can imagine that breath dissolves that. It fills you with... Patience with the process. The process is perfect. Welcoming. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:18 Highlight the passage at 1:43:18

1:43:48 And start with just remembering all those psychic beings that we imagined at the beginning of the class. Especially if you have some specific people that you're thinking about. Whether you know them or not. You know they're suffering. You know what kind of pain they have. You know what kind of hopes and dreams they have. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:48 Highlight the passage at 1:43:48

1:44:11 Imagine them around you and then kind of imagine just like a sea of humanity all spreading out. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:11 Highlight the passage at 1:44:11

1:44:34 And imagine too that they are exactly like you and that they want happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:34 Highlight the passage at 1:44:34

1:44:41 They don't want to suffer. And yet here they are suffering. Over and over and over again. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:41 Highlight the passage at 1:44:41

1:44:59 Think again about how you also want happiness. You don't want to suffer. But you are suffering. Somewhere. Somehow. Even if your life is pretty good. You're still aging. You still have to die. You still have to lose loved ones. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:59 Highlight the passage at 1:44:59

1:45:24 So in that way it is a connection with all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:24 Highlight the passage at 1:45:24

1:45:38 Imagine in the space in front of you, Shantideva, and imagine him made of golden light, and it was something Report an error in the passage at 1:45:38 Highlight the passage at 1:45:38

1:45:56 vibrant, so not like a statue or a painting, but something living and vibrant in a human race, made of light. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:56 Highlight the passage at 1:45:56

1:46:24 His essence is the energy of pure, unconditional compassion and wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:24 Highlight the passage at 1:46:24

1:46:33 And it's in this form that's shining at the sun. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:33 Highlight the passage at 1:46:33

1:46:41 And imagine that this light is shooting out in all directions, just filling the whole universe. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:41 Highlight the passage at 1:46:41

1:46:54 And imagine that His face is peaceful, and Report an error in the passage at 1:46:54 Highlight the passage at 1:46:54

1:47:04 He's sending out love in all directions in the form of this golden light. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:04 Highlight the passage at 1:47:04

1:47:17 He's seated in the middle of a beautiful thousand-petal lotus that's also made of light, and it's white. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:17 Highlight the passage at 1:47:17

1:47:28 And on top of the lotus are two discs. One that looks like the sun, and that represents wisdom, and one that looks like the full moon, and that represents bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:28 Highlight the passage at 1:47:28

1:47:47 He's wearing saffron robes of a monk, sitting in full Vajra posture. The Report an error in the passage at 1:47:47 Highlight the passage at 1:47:47

1:47:58 palm of his right hand is resting on his right knee, facing down, fingers facing down. It's called the earth-touching Vajra. It's Report an error in the passage at 1:47:58 Highlight the passage at 1:47:58

1:48:10 a witness that he's tamed the maras, the demons, and Report an error in the passage at 1:48:10 Highlight the passage at 1:48:10

1:48:18 then he's all pained. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:18 Highlight the passage at 1:48:18

1:48:26 Let his left hand rest on his lap in a meditation posture, holding an alms full of body. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:26 Highlight the passage at 1:48:26

1:48:41 Remember everything about a night of light, including the laughter that sparkles, even the robes. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:41 Highlight the passage at 1:48:41

1:48:56 Pure light shines on every floor of his body. If Report an error in the passage at 1:48:56 Highlight the passage at 1:48:56

1:49:12 you can't visualize this, if this is a new thing for you to try, just imagine this golden light, and just know that he's there. And know that He contains all of these amazing qualities that you might need. And Report an error in the passage at 1:49:12 Highlight the passage at 1:49:12

1:49:34 ask for blessing. Whatever you need in your spiritual life right now, whatever light you're here, Report an error in the passage at 1:49:34 Highlight the passage at 1:49:34

1:49:45 ask if you can receive it in the benefit of all. And maybe it has something to do with your practice. Maybe it's something big. And maybe it's just something, some problem that came up today. That's really bothering me. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:45 Highlight the passage at 1:49:45

1:50:29 And as part of the request and also as an offering, We're going to recite this mantra. It's a very short mantra. A mantra is also a practice of protecting everyone. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:29 Highlight the passage at 1:50:29

1:50:45 Protecting us from ordinary people. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:45 Highlight the passage at 1:50:45

1:50:54 It's Report an error in the passage at 1:50:54 Highlight the passage at 1:50:54

· · · silence, 3 minutes

1:53:57 like pouring water. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:57 Highlight the passage at 1:53:57

1:54:08 Dedicate this part and involve those beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:08 Highlight the passage at 1:54:08

1:54:21 To each one of us, it ends with a Report an error in the passage at 1:54:21 Highlight the passage at 1:54:21

1:54:34 mind. If Report an error in the passage at 1:54:34 Highlight the passage at 1:54:34

1:55:04 you're ready, you can end your head. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:04 Highlight the passage at 1:55:04

1:55:15 Would everybody sign on the roster? Report an error in the passage at 1:55:15 Highlight the passage at 1:55:15

1:55:20 Anybody who didn't sign, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:20 Highlight the passage at 1:55:20

1:55:30 And I guess one thing I forgot to ask. How many binders? So you're not coming back because you're going back to Boise, right? Well, it's lovely to have you. I'm so glad you came. And I hope that you're able to find a Dharma group there. I'll keep my eyes open. If anybody else hears about anything, Boise. Did you sign the roster? Maybe sign up. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:30 Highlight the passage at 1:55:30

1:55:51 Give me your email address after. And then, okay, good. Okay. So if we hear about something, we'll let you know. so then, okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:51 Highlight the passage at 1:55:51

1:56:03 At least for you, it's actually really good that there are good things online. And you're welcome to listen to the rest of the class. It will be uploaded to archive cover. Oh, okay, good. Oh, good, good, good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:03 Highlight the passage at 1:56:03

1:56:25 But anybody else? So I know Chris isn't able to finish the class. Is there anybody else in here who knows right now that they aren't going to be able to continue the class? Report an error in the passage at 1:56:25 Highlight the passage at 1:56:25

1:56:36 So just subtract two from the list. Yeah. Do you want one or do you? Okay. So you counted yourself? Okay. Okay. Whatever it is. So we'll just remember that. And we'll have those for you next week. Thanks. I was going to make that possible. All right. Thank you. You guys have a great week. Oh, wait. Homework. I know. And syllabus. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:36 Highlight the passage at 1:56:36

1:57:15 Yeah. How'd you get this little helper? Report an error in the passage at 1:57:15 Highlight the passage at 1:57:15

1:57:19 Yeah. Oh, that's right. That's right, Kara has these hidden skills. She's actually our knitting guru as well. She's not going to be my friend anymore when she realizes how little I did. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:19 Highlight the passage at 1:57:19

1:57:39 I can only do it when you're sitting right there with me. That's why we have to have a knitting circle. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:39 Highlight the passage at 1:57:39

1:57:49 We'll talk. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:49 Highlight the passage at 1:57:49

1:57:56 14 minus the 2? Yeah, 22. Okay. I wonder if anybody, does anybody know if anybody didn't come tonight who was thinking about coming? Maybe we should make an extra one just in case. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:56 Highlight the passage at 1:57:56

1:58:17 an uh-oh coming from the sound. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:17 Highlight the passage at 1:58:17