Discovering Buddhism - Presenting the Path (19 January 2012)

· · · silence, 3 minutes

2:30 Sorry, I'm closer to me. That's why you're probably not getting anything out there. Alright, so we're going to just start with a little meditation just on our breath. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 2:30 Highlight the passage at 2:30

2:57 so just kind of feel your body sink into your cushion, your chair. If you're sitting in a chair, remember to move away from the back of the chair and place your feet flat on the floor so that you can extend your spine because that's the most important element of the posture. Report an error in the passage at 2:57 Highlight the passage at 2:57

3:24 And take some nice deep belly breaths. Report an error in the passage at 3:24 Highlight the passage at 3:24

3:31 Let go of your day. If Report an error in the passage at 3:31 Highlight the passage at 3:31

3:38 anything difficult has happened today, any difficult conversations, just breathe them away. If Report an error in the passage at 3:38 Highlight the passage at 3:38

3:52 you feel any tightness in your body or in your mind, just breathe into them. Report an error in the passage at 3:52 Highlight the passage at 3:52

4:20 So tonight, this session, we're going to start with a short meditation on the breath, just to bring our mind to neutral. And then I'll guide you. Report an error in the passage at 4:20 Highlight the passage at 4:20

4:33 And some just basic preliminary ways to set your mind when you meditate. Report an error in the passage at 4:33 Highlight the passage at 4:33

4:41 For those of you who want this, I can give this to you after class. I have a little sheet. These are preliminary practices to any meditation, and I've sort of figured out very informal ways to approach them, ways to set your mind. Report an error in the passage at 4:41 Highlight the passage at 4:41

5:02 So we'll just start with a meditation on the breath. Report an error in the passage at 5:02 Highlight the passage at 5:02

5:08 Finding the level that you want to focus on, either the level of your belly as it expands and contracts with each breath, or Report an error in the passage at 5:08 Highlight the passage at 5:08

5:22 more subtly the little patch of skin inside the tip of your nostrils, just Report an error in the passage at 5:22 Highlight the passage at 5:22

5:30 where the air passes over it going in and out and Report an error in the passage at 5:30 Highlight the passage at 5:30

5:37 focusing all of your attention on that sensation. And every time your mind wanders off, Report an error in the passage at 5:37 Highlight the passage at 5:37

5:47 noticing it and simply placing it back. Report an error in the passage at 5:47 Highlight the passage at 5:47

5:57 If you'd like to, you can count the breaths, but you don't have to. The main objective is simply to keep all of your concentration on the breath. Report an error in the passage at 5:57 Highlight the passage at 5:57

· · · silence, 3 minutes

8:53 Refuge, and Report an error in the passage at 8:53 Highlight the passage at 8:53

8:57 all this really means is having some understanding of your own suffering, the suffering of others, and Report an error in the passage at 8:57 Highlight the passage at 8:57

9:16 that there's another way, that there is a way to liberate ourselves and others from this suffering. Report an error in the passage at 9:16 Highlight the passage at 9:16

9:27 The teachings of the Buddha, Report an error in the passage at 9:27 Highlight the passage at 9:27

9:35 simply because he did it, he overcame his suffering. And got enlightened. So Report an error in the passage at 9:35 Highlight the passage at 9:35

9:49 you can simply think about something that makes sense to you in the Buddha's teachings. That will contribute to your own enlightenment. Maybe it's the teachings on karma. Maybe Report an error in the passage at 9:49 Highlight the passage at 9:49

10:03 it's the teachings on Buddha nature that we all have this potential to get enlightened. Whatever it is, just take refuge in that. Then Report an error in the passage at 10:03 Highlight the passage at 10:03

10:32 we generate some tiny form of bodhicitta, this wish to get enlightened for the benefit of others. Report an error in the passage at 10:32 Highlight the passage at 10:32

10:44 And it might be just thinking about somebody that we know who's suffering and how much we'd like to be able to remove that suffering, have the capacity to remove that suffering forever. Report an error in the passage at 10:44 Highlight the passage at 10:44

11:03 So Report an error in the passage at 11:03 Highlight the passage at 11:03

11:15 motivate doing this meditation to be able to attain some kind of capacity to be able to benefit all beings as much as we want to help that one person or that one animal. Report an error in the passage at 11:15 Highlight the passage at 11:15

11:51 And then we do what's called the seven limb practice. And this is a little seven point prayer that helps open the mind and the heart. Report an error in the passage at 11:51 Highlight the passage at 11:51

12:05 And the first limb is prostrations. And all that really means is you can imagine a throne in front of you. And then place upon that throne either the Buddha, the way we think of him, the historical Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 12:05 Highlight the passage at 12:05

12:28 Or you can imagine a teacher that you have a relationship with or His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Think Report an error in the passage at 12:28 Highlight the passage at 12:28

12:43 of one quality that that teacher or the Buddha has that you admire, that you want. So maybe it's the ability to meditate well. Report an error in the passage at 12:43 Highlight the passage at 12:43

12:54 Maybe it's tirelessness. Maybe it's kindness, wisdom. Whatever it is, think of that one quality and then bow down to it. Honor it in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 12:54 Highlight the passage at 12:54

13:28 An offering. It's the second limb. So then imagine what you would give to have that quality. Report an error in the passage at 13:28 Highlight the passage at 13:28

13:38 What would you give for the Buddha's omniscience? What would you give for the Buddha's enormous heart, his endless patience? Report an error in the passage at 13:38 Highlight the passage at 13:38

13:49 Imagine just offering skies filled with incredibly beautiful lights or flowers, jewels, or Report an error in the passage at 13:49 Highlight the passage at 13:49

14:02 maybe make it more specific and think of your favorite place, your favorite food, your favorite drink. We offer clouds of those. Report an error in the passage at 14:02 Highlight the passage at 14:02

14:30 And then the third limb is confession. This just means getting something off our chest, owning something that we've done. So we just think about some specific thing that we've done that we regret, maybe a harmful act or even just a selfish one that we've done in the last maybe 24, 48 hours, Report an error in the passage at 14:30 Highlight the passage at 14:30

14:59 especially if we have an understanding of karma. Report an error in the passage at 14:59 Highlight the passage at 14:59

15:05 Knowing that whatever harmful act we've done created the karma for us to suffer. And just regret it with your whole heart. Report an error in the passage at 15:05 Highlight the passage at 15:05

15:35 And then the fourth limb is rejoicing and that's where we get to feel really happy about something that we've done. So you can think about something good that you've done. Maybe you were kind to somebody. Maybe you were just coming to class. Maybe you did the meditation assignment this week. Report an error in the passage at 15:35 Highlight the passage at 15:35

15:55 Or you can think about something that somebody else has done. Whether it's huge like the Buddha or whether it's on a more ordinary basis. And just feel deeply happy. Report an error in the passage at 15:55 Highlight the passage at 15:55

16:17 That's rejoicing. Report an error in the passage at 16:17 Highlight the passage at 16:17

16:22 And then we look at the Buddha or the teacher in front of us and we ask them to teach us in any way, formal and informal. And Report an error in the passage at 16:22 Highlight the passage at 16:22

16:41 we ask them to stay with us, not to pass away, not to move to other realms. Report an error in the passage at 16:41 Highlight the passage at 16:41

17:03 And then we dedicate, which is the final limb, we dedicate any merit we've just created through this simple prayer to our own enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 17:03 Highlight the passage at 17:03

17:28 Imagine for a moment that the space around you was filled with other living beings, as many as you can imagine spreading out in all directions, like an ocean. Then Report an error in the passage at 17:28 Highlight the passage at 17:28

17:53 remember that each of those living beings is suffering in some way. Report an error in the passage at 17:53 Highlight the passage at 17:53

18:04 You can think about those that you're close to, people you know, you know they're suffering, mental and physical. Report an error in the passage at 18:04 Highlight the passage at 18:04

18:20 And think about how just like you, they want to be happy and not have any suffering. Report an error in the passage at 18:20 Highlight the passage at 18:20

18:38 Think how amazing it would be if they could be free of that suffering forever. Report an error in the passage at 18:38 Highlight the passage at 18:38

19:00 And then think about some of the people that you don't like and think about how they're also suffering. Report an error in the passage at 19:00 Highlight the passage at 19:00

19:12 Imagine their suffering, their pain, their illness, sadness. Badness, insecurity. And Report an error in the passage at 19:12 Highlight the passage at 19:12

19:29 think about, again, just like you, they want to be happy. They also don't want to suffer. But Report an error in the passage at 19:29 Highlight the passage at 19:29

19:48 we have no choice as long as the mind is uncontrolled and confused and can never find peace by Report an error in the passage at 19:48 Highlight the passage at 19:48

20:06 opening your mind to these people, the people who normally annoy you or those you don't like. And Report an error in the passage at 20:06 Highlight the passage at 20:06

20:27 expand your awareness to the troubles and pain. And worries of all human beings, all animals. Report an error in the passage at 20:27 Highlight the passage at 20:27

20:42 According to the Buddha, all living beings experience suffering. Report an error in the passage at 20:42 Highlight the passage at 20:42

20:56 Imagine some of the suffering that's being experienced right now. Report an error in the passage at 20:56 Highlight the passage at 20:56

21:27 Remember that suffering and unhappiness are mental experiences and therefore impermanent and completely changeable. Report an error in the passage at 21:27 Highlight the passage at 21:27

21:47 They arise because of karma created by our own actions. Report an error in the passage at 21:47 Highlight the passage at 21:47

21:56 And because our minds are confused and obscured. Report an error in the passage at 21:56 Highlight the passage at 21:56

22:04 But once these causes have ended, the suffering itself ends. In Report an error in the passage at 22:04 Highlight the passage at 22:04

22:22 the short term, karma arises and ends, so suffering is impermanent. In Report an error in the passage at 22:22 Highlight the passage at 22:22

22:32 the long term, we can remove all the delusions that cause us to create the negative karma and therefore to suffer. It's not a permanent part of our minds. Report an error in the passage at 22:32 Highlight the passage at 22:32

22:46 It's just a matter of each of us working with our minds. Report an error in the passage at 22:46 Highlight the passage at 22:46

23:04 So make a determination right now from your heart to try to overcome your misconceptions and to develop pure love and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 23:04 Highlight the passage at 23:04

23:22 Ultimately, the Buddha said that each of us has this highest potential in our minds right now, this potential for full enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 23:22 Highlight the passage at 23:22

23:37 And he taught that it was completely possible for each of us to reach. So Report an error in the passage at 23:37 Highlight the passage at 23:37

23:57 let's motivate tonight's class to each of us. Actually doing this, learning about the path and being able to apply it, being able to work with our minds so that we can connect with and awaken this highest potential so that we too can benefit all living beings without exception. If Report an error in the passage at 23:57 Highlight the passage at 23:57

24:38 you want to, in your own time, you can end your meditation. And we'll start with the opening prayer, which Report an error in the passage at 24:38 Highlight the passage at 24:38

25:00 is on page 8 in the white book. Report an error in the passage at 25:00 Highlight the passage at 25:00

25:12 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain. Report an error in the passage at 25:12 Highlight the passage at 25:12

25:42 And dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 25:42 Highlight the passage at 25:42

25:52 So that was a sort of simple way to go through the preliminaries that are taught, you know, the basic preliminaries to do before meditation. I did a little sheet for people who are interested in trying to, it's optional, trying to incorporate those in their daily meditation practice. And if we need more, I can make more. Report an error in the passage at 25:52 Highlight the passage at 25:52

26:15 I sort of Came up with those to make it more heartfelt than just reading. You know, you can read. You can read a refuge prayer. You can read a bodhicitta prayer. You can even read this one that we do with being in class, which is also a nice prayer that kind of opens up your heart. Report an error in the passage at 26:15 Highlight the passage at 26:15

26:34 And then they say that the seven limb practice basically contains everything because it's purification and accumulation of merit. And so doing that seven limbs is just a way of sort of checking in with your mind where you are and then also opening your heart before you meditate. So I kind of wanted to do it in a way that I didn't have to look at any papers. So that was kind of why I created that. Report an error in the passage at 26:34 Highlight the passage at 26:34

26:58 It's sort of a shortcut to get to those minds because that's really what we're trying to do is develop these minds of refuge and the mind of bodhicitta and the mind of the seven limbs, not so much reading more prayers. Report an error in the passage at 26:58 Highlight the passage at 26:58

27:12 So anyway, I wanted to introduce that and I'll do it in other classes too, but just to kind of give you an idea of how to do it in an informal way so it doesn't always have to feel so formal. Report an error in the passage at 27:12 Highlight the passage at 27:12

27:26 Any, I guess, do we have the... know. Report an error in the passage at 27:26 Highlight the passage at 27:26

27:29 Jenna, do we have the mic out? Well done. Does anybody have any questions about any of the reading that you guys were doing this week or meditation assignment or just anything that we discussed in class last week that maybe you thought about during the week and had a question about? Yeah, Daniel. Report an error in the passage at 27:29 Highlight the passage at 27:29

27:57 I sometimes take some. There it goes. Hello. Thank you. Everything's warming up in here. It's freezing. This question relates to the last reading in the binder. I don't remember what it was. Yeah, I haven't really assigned any of the readings in the binder yet. I know that's the problem with handing it out. Report an error in the passage at 27:57 Highlight the passage at 27:57

28:15 Immediately everybody reads it from start to finish. The only readings I assigned were those that I sent to you by email. Yeah, so actually I'd have to review it to see. Do you want me to wait? Yeah, maybe, if that's okay. Yeah, it's fine. All right, thank you. How about the reading on the Buddha's life? Report an error in the passage at 28:15 Highlight the passage at 28:15

28:37 Oh, the lamrim? Remember I sent you one by Venerable Rubina? It condensed to sort of a small lamrim. Everyone just looks at me blankly. Do you remember who I am? Let's start. What center is this? Report an error in the passage at 28:37 Highlight the passage at 28:37

28:54 It's okay if you don't have any questions either. You can keep reading it and you keep asking questions. It's okay. Okay. We're going to talk about the Buddha's life tonight, so maybe some questions will be like, oh yeah, I remember now. This is the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 28:54 Highlight the passage at 28:54

29:12 So I had sent you a kind of condensed version. There's actually a book that we did not order but are willing to order if anybody would like the whole book. But this was just an excerpt out of that book about the Buddha's life. And I just think it's an interesting, I mean, first of all, it's just interesting historically to remember that this person lived and that he was a human and that he had... Report an error in the passage at 29:12 Highlight the passage at 29:12

29:36 He was foiable. He had faults and as crazy a mind as we do. I think that's so useful to remember because I think it's really easy to idealize him and forget that. I certainly have for many years. And I think it's very important to remember that he had to make decisions in his life that were difficult and that he had to learn. Report an error in the passage at 29:36 Highlight the passage at 29:36

29:59 From his problems and suffering and he had to work hard. He had to decide to work hard on his mind and then he had to do the work on his mind. And so I think it's important for us to remember that because it can be inspiring, you know, rather than just thinking, oh, well, he did it. Great for him, but, you know, for the rest of us, he didn't have to work nine to five, right? He was a prince. Report an error in the passage at 29:59 Highlight the passage at 29:59

30:25 So it's just kind of useful, I think, to review his life sometimes and to think about him in those terms because I think it can inspire us. Report an error in the passage at 30:25 Highlight the passage at 30:25

30:34 And so tonight what I have done is sort of picked out some of the key elements of his life and just for us to think about in terms of using it as a guide for our life, for our spiritual path, which I think it's possible to do. and so That's what I'm going to do next. And then also, I've created a sort of a meditation for us to contemplate it. Report an error in the passage at 30:34 Highlight the passage at 30:34

31:01 So that'll be what you do this week, is to think about that. Because each of the key elements of his life also could relate to your life in some way, and you have to sort of figure that out, whether it's happened that way for you. It definitely has for others. And even if in your life you haven't, for example, had the... Report an error in the passage at 31:01 Highlight the passage at 31:01

31:21 A situation where you had to be with somebody as they're dying and death itself hasn't affected you yet in your life. I remember I was really surprised when I was, I'm actually working for the same person again, but she hadn't experienced death in a personal way in her personal circle of friends or family and she was almost 60. Report an error in the passage at 31:21 Highlight the passage at 31:21

31:42 I was like, wow, how nice for you. I had a lot of death in my life before I was even 30. So it depends, but you can still see how it may have affected, maybe you've read biographies of people and seen how experiencing death or illness or so forth has influenced their life. So maybe it's not you directly, but it might be still before your life is done. So maybe to raise that awareness. So one of the first elements of the Buddha's life, and I think this is kind of obvious because he was a prince, that he had a really fortunate rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 31:42 Highlight the passage at 31:42

32:21 Which is one of the things that we're always sort of praying for once we understand that it's possible for us to have a good rebirth or a bad rebirth. We'd really like the good one. Because he had enough to eat, right? He had, oh please come on in. Because we have loads, I mean we set up for the retreat so we have like far more seats. Yeah, you don't need to sit out there. Oh come, oh come. Report an error in the passage at 32:21 Highlight the passage at 32:21

32:49 All right. Fine. He had a really good education, which is also useful. He had good food. He had medicine that actually worked. And we need that in order to even think about spiritual life. If we're just working all the time, if we come from families like that where we're just working day in and day out, if we've ever had times in our lives that we're just working day in and day out, we don't have time or energy. Report an error in the passage at 32:49 Highlight the passage at 32:49

33:19 Or even interest in a spiritual practice. It just doesn't even enter our minds. So what we need in terms of a rebirth, and I think most of us at least at this point now, for this moment in time, and we don't know how long this time window is, but we have those things. We have a roof over our head on this rainy night. We have a center in the city. We have shelter. Report an error in the passage at 33:19 Highlight the passage at 33:19

33:47 We've had some amount of education so that we can read. We take it for granted almost in our culture and certainly in some of our lives. But without that, we can't even take the first step on a spiritual path. We wouldn't even know that we weren't taking a spiritual path because we'd just be so busy trying to just get some food or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 33:47 Highlight the passage at 33:47

34:10 And there are plenty of humans in this world who don't have a fortunate rebirth. We don't even have to leave the city of San Francisco to see them. I see them every time I'm walking. So we don't need to be princes or princesses, but we need to have a certain amount of comfort, just enough so that we have time and energy and space in our minds to think about using our life in a meaningful way like that. Report an error in the passage at 34:10 Highlight the passage at 34:10

34:45 When the Buddha was born, This old sage came to the palace and told his father about this dream that he had had, about Siddhartha, that he was going to become this amazing being. And then he started crying because he said, I'll be gone before he begins teaching. So I have the good fortune to meet him as a baby, but by the time he grows up, I'll be gone. Report an error in the passage at 34:45 Highlight the passage at 34:45

35:13 And then there were other seers who came and they contemplated his life and they realized that this baby had the capacity to become either what they call a universal monarch, this amazing king, or this great spiritual leader. And of course the father, being a king, he wanted him to become this amazing king. So he basically built, he became like a bubble, a bubble baby. Report an error in the passage at 35:13 Highlight the passage at 35:13

35:42 He built this amazing compound palaces, different palaces, spring and summer palaces and winter palaces that were completely to protect him from any thought that might inspire contemplation of the meaning of life. So any sign of illness and aging and death were completely... Covered over. Somebody had to go out and clip all the dying blossoms out of the garden. Any servant had to leave by the time they got to a certain age, so he never had to see anyone who was getting older. Report an error in the passage at 35:42 Highlight the passage at 35:42

36:21 If anyone got ill, seriously ill, then they were shipped out. So he just sort of had this amazingly rosy, sheltered existence for most of his life. Anything he wanted, he could get. It was always provided for him. He never had to leave the palace. But at some point, I think they often say that he got little nudges sometimes by devas and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 36:21 Highlight the passage at 36:21

36:50 They would sort of give him this idea in a dream. They would show up in a dream and just begin to get this little bit of dissatisfaction in his mind so that he'd want to leave the palace compound. Because often otherwise he would have just lived his life out and wasted it. But he snuck out with his trusted attendant and saw the very first person he saw was an aging person. Report an error in the passage at 36:50 Highlight the passage at 36:50

37:17 So somebody who was aged, somebody who sort of bent over, you know, maybe walking along with a cane. And he said basically, what's that? I've never seen that before. What's wrong with him? Why doesn't he just stand up? What's wrong with his hair? Why isn't that color? And his attendant said, oh, he's just old. Report an error in the passage at 37:17 Highlight the passage at 37:17

37:36 All of us will become old one day. So when we think about that, we can think that's what started him thinking about impermanence. The fact that life is short, the fact that all things must end, but most especially me. Again, like I said last week, it's one thing to think about a cup ending, but it's another thing to think about a me ending. I could just get another cup, but it's a little harder to get another me, although as it turns out in this religion, we actually know how easy it is to get another you. Report an error in the passage at 37:36 Highlight the passage at 37:36

38:10 It may not be one that you like. So we can think about how being around people who are aging, which... You know, especially if you live in multi-generational families that live close to each other. I was fortunate to live really close to my grandma, for example, both my grandparents, but one of, you know, my grandpa died when I was pretty young. Report an error in the passage at 38:10 Highlight the passage at 38:10

38:33 So you see people aging. You know what's coming up. You see your parents aging, and then you see your aunts and uncles aging and so forth. And so you sort of have an idea, and it begins to get your mind thinking a little bit. And then of course we see ourselves aging, right? And that definitely makes us think, you know, a few more gray hairs in there. I'm like, wow, you know. Report an error in the passage at 38:33 Highlight the passage at 38:33

38:58 Definitely makes you think about the meaning of life and the whole process of things not lasting forever. Even the conditions that we find ourselves in not lasting forever. So not just... Physical things, but even just conditions, experiences, friends, family, relationships and so forth, also not lasting. Report an error in the passage at 38:58 Highlight the passage at 38:58

39:24 So then the next time he snuck out, he saw somebody very sick. This was in ancient India, which is not so different from modern India, where people sometimes have very poor living conditions and they would be just on a bed out front. I saw a lot of this actually recently in India. You just have a bed out front and you'd use that bed for other things, you know, maybe sorting something or doing some work. Report an error in the passage at 39:24 Highlight the passage at 39:24

39:51 But then when it was time for a nap, you just lay down just in front of the house. So if somebody was really sick and maybe feverish or something, maybe it was better to have them outside. So it was a little easier to see very ill people as you just walked. And so that's what he saw. And so again, he was like, what's wrong with him? Report an error in the passage at 39:51 Highlight the passage at 39:51

40:09 Why is he laying like that? Why does he look so horrible? And why does everybody around him look so sad? And so forth. And his attendant said, you know, he's very sick, Your Majesty, and he'll probably pass away soon. Report an error in the passage at 40:09 Highlight the passage at 40:09

40:22 And so he thought, wow, I've never seen that before. So again, we can think about how this situation, either our own experience of an illness, which can be a wake-up call, a catalyst for our practice, Or the illness of somebody else in our lives, you know, falling ill, maybe a parent or brother or sister or partner. Report an error in the passage at 40:22 Highlight the passage at 40:22

40:48 Being very ill and having to care for that person and, you know, just that it's a wake-up that life isn't always, you know, rosy, so to speak. That there are moments when the suffering becomes stronger. And that there's a lot we can learn from that suffering. So suffering itself isn't always a negative thing, that there are aspects of that suffering, even our own suffering, that can wake us up, that we can learn from. Report an error in the passage at 40:48 Highlight the passage at 40:48

41:20 So then the next time he went out, and this is definitely, you see this in India even still, he saw somebody who had died. So in India and in many places of the world, Death is much more open and accepted, and people are cremated publicly and so forth, which is not true in America. Report an error in the passage at 41:20 Highlight the passage at 41:20

41:44 In many ways in America, we're much more like the bubble prince. We don't want to look at it. We don't even know it exists. And if somebody dies, it's almost like we don't want to talk about it. There's definitely a lot of hiding from death in America, and actually all forms of serious illness, too, unless we have to. Report an error in the passage at 41:44 Highlight the passage at 41:44

42:04 Unless it's somebody we have to take care of, right? And then it's different. But a lot of times people hide from it, and it's quite easy to do if you want to in this country. But sometimes being with somebody who is dying can be, again, another wake-up call. You can think about if any of us, and I'm sure other people in this room have had experiences, being with somebody, caring for somebody as they're dying. Report an error in the passage at 42:04 Highlight the passage at 42:04

42:33 Helping them die, if there's any way to help them die, helping their mind stay calm. And it can be a hugely spiritual experience, actually. Report an error in the passage at 42:33 Highlight the passage at 42:33

42:46 So, again, that could also be a catalyst for our practice. And definitely, in my case, it definitely has been a huge catalyst for practice. Having friends who have passed away, even if I wasn't with them. And then, of course, when I was with my mother, for example. As she passed away, a hugely spiritual moment. Partly because you can't take another person's karma on you. Report an error in the passage at 42:46 Highlight the passage at 42:46

43:15 All you can do is be with them and not run away. And there are times you want to run away, actually. When somebody's suffering that much, you want to run away. And you can't run away. And so you have to just stay and be with that person and just love them through it. That's all you can do. You can't do anything else. And so it's a huge lesson to learn and also the wish that comes to mind that nobody ever should have to suffer like this. Report an error in the passage at 43:15 Highlight the passage at 43:15

43:44 Like if there is any way that I could become a Buddha and do something, even if it took lifetimes, when you're with somebody, you have that wish and it comes to mind. And so it can really feed your spiritual practice to be with somebody as they're dying. Report an error in the passage at 43:44 Highlight the passage at 43:44

44:02 So the next person he saw on his fourth time sneaking out, he was very sneaky at this point, and he wasn't a young kid, you know, he was like 30 at this point, but he still hadn't seen any of these things because he had been so protected. He saw a renunciate or a spiritual seeker, which is another thing that's quite unique to India. Report an error in the passage at 44:02 Highlight the passage at 44:02

44:23 But you still see them, obviously, in America. But in India, you have sadhus and so forth who are wandering around. It's quite normal, especially in the Buddha's lifetime, but it's still quite normal for people to give themselves up to a spiritual life. I mean, there are even spiritual castes in India, the Brahmins. So it was quite a normal thing if somebody was so drawn, especially men at that point. Report an error in the passage at 44:23 Highlight the passage at 44:23

44:49 The Buddha changed it for women. but slowly. Slowly. But for men, they could just leave the home life and sort of go wandering and work on their minds. And so he saw somebody who was walking along the road and had done this. And again, he was sort of like, wow, who's that guy? He looks happy. And he said, you know, he's a spiritual seeker, Your Majesty, and he's left the home life and he's gone off to try to find the meaning of life. Report an error in the passage at 44:49 Highlight the passage at 44:49

45:22 And so I remember actually the very first nun that I saw, the very first, I think actually the first monk or nun, probably I'd seen a teacher, so I'd probably seen His Holiness as probably the first monk. But the first nun who was kind of a somewhat ordinary person was Venerable Rubina at Vajrapani, Venerable Rubina Korten. Report an error in the passage at 45:22 Highlight the passage at 45:22

45:44 But I remember the first nuns that I saw were quite strong, courageous people. And it sort of gave me this idea of, oh, there is another way to live. Like there is, you don't have to kind of, I mean, of course I was already exploring all that, but it was definitely a symbol of another way to be. Like, you know, some other way to live your life. Much the same way as it was for the Buddha. Like when he saw the renunciate. Report an error in the passage at 45:44 Highlight the passage at 45:44

46:14 But I also remember as a kid, I would read, I wasn't Catholic, I was Lutheran, but I remember reading about St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clair and how they had left these very privileged lives and gone off and formed this community and they had all these monks and nuns and they would protect life and all the animals. Report an error in the passage at 46:14 Highlight the passage at 46:14

46:39 And I remember that really inspiring me even as a little kid. I would just like look at the same book over and over that my uncle had given us, you know. So why he gave it, who knows, you know, that must have been the Davis again. Report an error in the passage at 46:39 Highlight the passage at 46:39

46:53 But even at that point it planted a seed in the same way that it planted a seed when I saw monks and nuns of this tradition, you know, when they first began to give me an idea. Or spiritual seekers of any kind. Lay people as well. People who are willing to kind of do a little bit more outrageous a life. You know, it's just maybe somebody who goes off and does retreat or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 46:53 Highlight the passage at 46:53

47:19 Just something slightly different that makes you go, hmm, you know, maybe I could do that someday. Maybe not now, but maybe I could do that. So then the Buddha did decide to leave. He did leave the palace. He left his parents. He left his wife and he had a newborn. Report an error in the passage at 47:19 Highlight the passage at 47:19

47:38 He made this decision and in some versions of the story his wife was very aware and was also more of a spiritual companion to him and apparently had been in many lifetimes too. So she knew, she understood that he had to leave and that he would come back when he had attained enlightenment. But he had to make a decision that it wasn't The palace wasn't the best conditions for him to attain enlightenment. It was a little too comfy. It was a little too nice. The food was a little too rich. Report an error in the passage at 47:38 Highlight the passage at 47:38

48:15 There were a little too many concubines running around. Maybe he had to find a teacher and set up conditions that were going to help him work on his mind. That was a difficult decision, I'm sure. In fact, I think about that a lot. That's one of the things that, for me, of the pilgrimage really stood out. Report an error in the passage at 48:15 Highlight the passage at 48:15

48:35 Is actually going to that, the gate of the palace, which they're just excavating it now, where he grew up. That eastern gate and looking out on the fields, which are still fields, you know, which are not built up. And thinking about the fact that he had to make that decision to leave. And he had to leave. And he had to go forward and not look back. And it must have been hard. Report an error in the passage at 48:35 Highlight the passage at 48:35

49:00 It must have been really hard, especially for somebody so protected. He probably didn't even know how to boil water, you know what I mean? He had to go out and face the wilderness, and he almost didn't even know what to expect. But he just knew he had to do it. So he had to develop that really courageous mind of, like, this is what I have to do, and I just have to go do it, no matter how hard it is. Report an error in the passage at 49:00 Highlight the passage at 49:00

49:24 And to some extent we still have to do that. We don't necessarily have to leave our families. We don't have to put on funny clothes. We don't have to strip down to a loincloth either. Report an error in the passage at 49:24 Highlight the passage at 49:24

49:35 I've been reading the story of Melarepa and he was often caught in a loincloth or eat nettles. We don't have to do that either. But we do need to make time for just our mind. Like you're never going to get enlightened if you're just... If you're always just in the world and with other people. Like at some point you do have to take a little bit of time away and look at your mind. Report an error in the passage at 49:35 Highlight the passage at 49:35

50:01 And whether it's through reading, contemplating, meditation, doing retreat, doing a class like this. Something, something just taking some time to work on your own mind. Otherwise it just won't happen. Like it doesn't happen just through praying for it to happen. Like we actually have to do the work. Report an error in the passage at 50:01 Highlight the passage at 50:01

50:18 So he did have to, he had to break the norm of his life in some way and to some extent we have to do the same too now. He had to find a teacher and he actually kept finding teachers and then surpassing them. You know, so he would go as far as he could go and then he had to decide, you know, and they always wanted to offer him. Report an error in the passage at 50:18 Highlight the passage at 50:18

50:41 They wanted to offer him the school basically. You know, it's like, wow, you're great. You're smarter than me. Why don't I, you know, we could be partners, I could retire, you can have all my students, and he had to say no, and then he had to go and find another teacher, and then he would do the same, and then he had to say no and keep moving on, because otherwise he would be stuck with a teacher that wasn't taking him far enough. Report an error in the passage at 50:41 Highlight the passage at 50:41

51:07 And that's something that we don't necessarily have to keep leaving our teachers, but we have to take the time and the energy to... To find our teachers and to make sure that they are the teachers that we want. And if we find out that maybe they aren't taking us where we need to go, then we need to have the courage to look for somebody else who can take us the next step. Report an error in the passage at 51:07 Highlight the passage at 51:07

51:32 Sometimes there's the analogy of you start out on the train with one teacher and maybe that train goes a different direction and you might want to get off. And head to Chicago. So it doesn't mean that you have to disrespect that teacher, but you might just at some point see that that teacher is not taking you really where you want to go. Report an error in the passage at 51:32 Highlight the passage at 51:32

51:53 But maybe that teacher got you the first few steps. So maybe that teacher helped you with your first meditation practice, for example. Maybe that teacher taught you the lamrim. Report an error in the passage at 51:53 Highlight the passage at 51:53

52:04 Now you're ready for the next step, and so then you can find another teacher. And often, of course, it's more simultaneous than that. We have different teachers along the way who we meet in various ways, and some of them come to town a couple times a year, and some of them are here all the time. So then we might take classes at the same time from different teachers. Report an error in the passage at 52:04 Highlight the passage at 52:04

52:25 That's actually the subject of the, not the very next class that I'll teach, but this summer, May, June, I'll be teaching a class on the spiritual teacher, like what happens, how do we decide who our teacher is, how do we decide when we're ready to have a teacher, you know, like if it's a capital T teacher, not just an instructor, but like a teacher teacher, a guru. Report an error in the passage at 52:25 Highlight the passage at 52:25

52:49 So how, when are we a disciple? We often bypass that question. We'll look for the teacher, but we forget that maybe we have to be really ready. We have to actually become a student before we can find a teacher. So that's the subject of a whole new class, and it's a really profound class, actually, to think about, because not all of us are ready for a teacher yet. Report an error in the passage at 52:49 Highlight the passage at 52:49

53:17 Then, of course, then he had to apply himself to practicing. So he decided to leave. He decided he found his teachers. But he had to not just attend a class and then go home and watch TV, right? He had to actually apply what they taught. And this is the part that, what did they say? This is sort of what separates the men from the boys. It's hard to... Report an error in the passage at 53:17 Highlight the passage at 53:17

53:42 We can show up in the class and we can even take notes, but it's hard to actually remember to apply what we know when the going gets rough. So when people work our nerves at work or the bus is late or the printer doesn't work, that's when we have to remember, oh, this is one of those times that we were talking about in class and try to apply it. Or when we screw up and something goes wrong. Report an error in the passage at 53:42 Highlight the passage at 53:42

54:11 Get back on the horse and just try it again. Wake up the next morning, head off and try it again. Because it's a lot of that, really applying the work that we do in our mind is a moment by moment by moment, day by day by day, year by year by year, lifetime by lifetime by lifetime kind of a practice. Report an error in the passage at 54:11 Highlight the passage at 54:11

54:32 It's not like you find the teachings and everything's rosy. It's not like that at all. It's remembering to practice. A lot of it is actually just remembering to practice and developing the wish to want to remember to practice and surrounding yourself with people who will help remind you to practice. So it's a lot of all of those things. So then he also had to decide when was it best for him to work with others and when was it better to work alone. Report an error in the passage at 54:32 Highlight the passage at 54:32

55:06 Because sometimes it was better for him to work directly with teachers or even with... Other practitioners, you know, there's a story of when he was working with the five ascetics and he began working, he was very determined and he worked for like six years meditating deeply, not eating that much at all and so forth, trying to do all these really strong ascetic practices and so forth until he finally sort of hit this wall where he realized this isn't. Report an error in the passage at 55:06 Highlight the passage at 55:06

55:37 This isn't doing what I want to have happen. I need to change my direction. At that point, he decided he was going to start eating again because he wasn't able to meditate on such a spare diet. And so he actually left the group, and the group, all the other ascetics, thought he was just... Report an error in the passage at 55:37 Highlight the passage at 55:37

56:04 They trashed him. They were just like, forget it. He's given up. He's no good. Let's just leave him behind. He didn't feel like he had to explain himself either. He just left with no ill will towards them. In fact, he thought, well, when I get enlightened, I'll come back. And they were his first students after he got enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 56:04 Highlight the passage at 56:04

56:24 He did come back and look for them and taught them. And they were able to understand. Sometimes it's good for us to work in a group and sometimes it's great for us to work on our own. We're the judge because we're the only one that really knows our mind. We don't really know our mind that well, but we know it better than anybody else. Sometimes it's great to work in a group and sometimes it's great to work on our own and sometimes it's a little of each and you just go back and forth. Report an error in the passage at 56:24 Highlight the passage at 56:24

56:54 The same is true in retreat. Sometimes group retreats are really... Profound and wonderful and not necessarily just for beginners. And sometimes solitary retreat is really the way to go. And so it's just, you just have to figure it out. And sometimes it just requires taking a leap of faith and just jumping in, you know, and trying it out. So we try to figure out like sort of what's going to be the best experience for us. Report an error in the passage at 56:54 Highlight the passage at 56:54

57:23 And we don't always know. So sometimes we just take a guess or sometimes talking to a teacher will help us figure out. Is it good for me to do a solitary retreat right now? I remember before I did my first solitary retreat, I met with Rinpoche and he said, no, it is very good for you to do because you might die before you have another chance. Report an error in the passage at 57:23 Highlight the passage at 57:23

57:49 I thought about that the whole time. I was kind of like, oh no. And then he told me to meditate on impermanence and death every day. Report an error in the passage at 57:49 Highlight the passage at 57:49

57:59 Definitely kept me awake. I was like, what does he know? So I thought about it every day. It really was probably the most profound retreat experience I've ever had. He also had me doing six sessions a day, so I had to get up at 3.30 in the morning. So be careful which teacher you ask. But it was incredibly profound. Report an error in the passage at 57:59 Highlight the passage at 57:59

58:22 I mean, really a profound experience. And I just jumped in. I had no idea what I was doing. And sometimes that's okay. You know, it works out all right. I made sure that I did it at a place where people were around that I could ask questions of. That made me feel safer. If things came up, then I would know. On the same score, I've also had really profound experiences in group retreats. Report an error in the passage at 58:22 Highlight the passage at 58:22

58:49 You know, because ultimately you're always just working on your own mind, right? In a group retreat, you can blame the other people in the group, right? Especially the guy next to you. But in solitary retreat, you realize that there's really nobody else to blame. And so sometimes it's more fun to be in a group retreat because you can blame the other people in the group. Report an error in the passage at 58:49 Highlight the passage at 58:49

59:09 No, but seriously, it can be quite profound in either way. And it's just a matter of where you are working with your own mind. Report an error in the passage at 59:09 Highlight the passage at 59:09

59:19 And then, of course, he developed this really strong mind and he just went for it in terms of struggling with his own afflictions, which is really what the story of his... His battle with Māra on the night of his enlightenment. Māra is really just a code name for all of our afflicted states of mind. Jealousy and anger and fear, which is a big one, right? We hold ourselves back with fear. Doubt, which is another big one. All of them came up looming like these demons and attacked his mind as he was getting closer and closer to enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 59:19 Highlight the passage at 59:19

59:53 Don't think it waits until the night that you're getting enlightened. They are there waiting right now as you are on any level of your practice. They loom up. And so we have to be willing to face all the demons of our own mind. And we all come with our own sets. Not one of them matches the other. Report an error in the passage at 59:53 Highlight the passage at 59:53

1:00:15 So this is really, this is the struggle. In Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Master Shantideva, which is one of the, I think, one of the classic texts, Buddhist texts of all time, there is a lot of analogy of making war. With the demons of our own mind. And I mean, it's so many war terms that you're kind of like, did I pick up the wrong book? You know, I thought this was about compassion and love. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:15 Highlight the passage at 1:00:15

1:00:44 It is, but what you're having, your biggest enemies to developing, for example, bodhicitta, this mind of this sort of huge altruistic mind wanting to work for the benefit of all beings. The biggest enemy to that is your own selfish mind. That's what gets in the way. Right? Because it's always so much easier to just go home and watch TV. You know, it's just always easier. It's always easier to go get something to eat than it is to sit down and meditate. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:44 Highlight the passage at 1:00:44

1:01:10 Like, there's always a hundred reasons to take a nap. And there's not so many reasons not to. I mean, we really have to. We have to encourage the side that doesn't have the strength. So we end up having to sort of do war with. Those lazy parts of our minds, those afflicted parts of our minds that have held us back for lifetime after lifetime. And that's what all those war-like analogies are about. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:10 Highlight the passage at 1:01:10

1:01:35 So the Buddha had to create this really strong, determined mind and just go, no, I'm not going to even give in to you. This friend of mine who did long retreat in Arizona, she said that was the only time she would curse. Whenever her mind would get crazy, she'd be like, no. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:35 Highlight the passage at 1:01:35

1:01:56 Māra, I'm not going to listen to you. And she would just be like, it's kind of like, get thee behind me, Satan, right? Christ's line in the Bible. Get thee behind me, Satan. It's like, no, I'm not going to listen to you. I've listened to you for too many lifetimes, Māra. I'm not going to do it again. So you just have to develop this mind that doesn't see the obstacles. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:56 Highlight the passage at 1:01:56

1:02:16 And we don't at first, right? We have a good day and we tell Māra to get thee behind me and then the very next day we're like, great, fine, let's go and make a sandwich. It's just we have to develop that mind over time. But the Buddha, in order to become the Buddha, had to develop that strong mind. And then after he got enlightened, he didn't run out and tell everybody everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:16 Highlight the passage at 1:02:16

1:02:41 So he didn't just text his best friend. He didn't send emails out. He didn't go on Facebook. He didn't announce it to everybody. He didn't just go back to those five friends and shoot the breeze with them. He actually had to be requested many times to teach. He didn't want to teach at first. Not because he was humble, which he was, but also because he didn't really think that the rest of us could get it. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:41 Highlight the passage at 1:02:41

1:03:08 Which, obviously, after many lifetimes, he's right about me. But even those who, as he, somebody said, was it, I think it was the Buddha who said that there were some who had just a slight veil to be removed. A slight veil of ignorance to be removed. And those were those five. Actually, he went back to his earlier teachers first, but they had passed away. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:08 Highlight the passage at 1:03:08

1:03:32 And then he went back to those five ascetics who he had been practicing with. Who immediately when they saw him coming, they were like, here he comes again, let's not talk to him. And then they could tell that something major had happened and they literally just couldn't stop themselves from falling on the ground when they saw him because something had changed, seriously changed in his mind and they could see it outwardly. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:32 Highlight the passage at 1:03:32

1:03:55 But he didn't just share everything he knew the minute he got enlightened. And that's also... Often, like our experiences in retreat, our experiences even in meditation, they might be better to hold inside and try to figure out. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:55 Highlight the passage at 1:03:55

1:04:14 They might not be something that we necessarily have to share with our best friends or even our teachers. They might be something that we have to work with for a little bit and try to figure out what they mean. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:14 Highlight the passage at 1:04:14

1:04:27 And then again, a situation may happen where they're useful to share. And so then we decide at that moment, oh, I'm having a conversation with Gina, maybe this will help her. And then it comes up sort of automatically. So we have to decide that. When is it beneficial to share what we experience, what we go through spiritually? So looking at all these different points becomes almost like a guide. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:27 Highlight the passage at 1:04:27

1:04:57 For how we can practice and also how our just regular life experience can help us practice in the same way that they help the Buddha to practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:57 Highlight the passage at 1:04:57

1:05:10 Again, not all of us have to leave a palace and become a wandering mendicant and things like that. But we can still look at the key elements and we can think about them in terms of our own lives. And that's what I want us to do for the next. I actually want us to break up into twos and we're going to talk about some discussion questions. And this is, everyone's like, oh my God. I see the eyes open. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:10 Highlight the passage at 1:05:10

1:05:38 I just said twos. It's not too scary. And just sort of talk about maybe life experiences that have caused you to wake up have maybe been a catalyst for your practice. Now she's running away. Boy, that did it. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:38 Highlight the passage at 1:05:38

1:05:57 First class and she's running away. All right, so let's do twos. Maybe we'll just do whoever's near you. So you guys can be together. Theo and Fred, you guys okay together? Daniel and John, maybe? Jenna and Winnie? Everybody, she's... Are you doing... Oh, no, they're just the little ones, the ones that were cut. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:57 Highlight the passage at 1:05:57

1:06:26 Oh, not the homework. Yeah, not the homework yet. Okay, so just... Okay. I don't want people to get confused by the homework, though, so... Just rip it off. Yeah. No, it's okay. So Jenna will hand a little piece of paper that just sort of has this basic idea, you know, have you ever had a life experience with illness, aging, death, or seeing, you know, a spiritual person? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:26 Highlight the passage at 1:06:26

1:06:54 Have you ever had to go against the mainstream idea of how to live your life or even had to leave a loved one for a short amount of time to figure out your mind or something like that? Did you ever have some deep spiritual experience that you felt like you didn't really want to share, that you weren't ready to share or something like that? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:54 Highlight the passage at 1:06:54

1:07:19 Something like that. So taking any of these elements of the Buddha's life and just using, just thinking about them in terms of your own life. So then I think maybe you guys go together. And then you can go with, I forgot what her name is. There she comes. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:19 Highlight the passage at 1:07:19

1:07:41 I think John's with Daniel. What's your name? Do you want to go with John here? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:41 Highlight the passage at 1:07:41

1:07:53 Guys, just talk with each other. I would say if one of you, I'm going to ding the bell like in about 10 minutes to make sure that if one of you is dominating, then you just switch. But one of you just jump in and start talking. The bravest ones start and then start talking and I'll ding the bell in about 10 minutes and that way you just switch people and so like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:53 Highlight the passage at 1:07:53

1:08:15 Just talk, whichever comes up. There's no wrong answer. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:15 Highlight the passage at 1:08:15

1:08:42 Or John, you can also just choose one and you just start talking and then she can use that as an idea. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:42 Highlight the passage at 1:08:42

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:10:07 Start Report an error in the passage at 1:10:07 Highlight the passage at 1:10:07

· · · silence, 9 minutes

1:18:59 wrapping up. Finish wrapping up. Just wrap up. Do Report an error in the passage at 1:18:59 Highlight the passage at 1:18:59

1:19:12 it again, maybe three times. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:12 Highlight the passage at 1:19:12

1:19:19 So take a break. Take a break. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:19 Highlight the passage at 1:19:19

1:19:31 See, that wasn't too bad. I know, it always is. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:31 Highlight the passage at 1:19:31

1:19:39 But it's also a way that you kind of connect with people. I Report an error in the passage at 1:19:39 Highlight the passage at 1:19:39

1:19:49 have to print them because you don't do email right now, right? I can print them after class. Yeah, because I have my computer down here, so I can... Report an error in the passage at 1:19:49 Highlight the passage at 1:19:49

1:20:06 I will have to make you a binder, okay? We'll talk to Janet about that, see if we can make another binder. But the other things I can print for you tonight. So just remind me again, because I'll forget immediately after class, and then just come back up to me and say that. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:06 Highlight the passage at 1:20:06

1:20:31 I'll be like, why is he following me around the house? you very much. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:31 Highlight the passage at 1:20:31

1:20:39 Right, right, right. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:39 Highlight the passage at 1:20:39

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:21:17 Jenna has the homework. Did you want a copy of the preliminary for the meditation? No, no, no. Oh, you might have gotten in another class. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:17 Highlight the passage at 1:21:17

1:21:36 They don't really, technically speaking, but a little bit in rejoicing. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:36 Highlight the passage at 1:21:36

1:21:52 Sure. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:52 Highlight the passage at 1:21:52

1:22:05 Not really, but yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:05 Highlight the passage at 1:22:05

1:22:12 example, where I it very young when you talked about the issue, is that something else? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:12 Highlight the passage at 1:22:12

1:22:21 I think it sounds pretty advanced because it's going to have pretty strict commitments. So I would think it's not really for beginners. Yeah, usually he does do, this is unusual for him to do in America, actually, I think it may be the first time, other than the Kalachakra, but the Kalachakra he offers at all different levels, but usually he doesn't do Tantra, because it's hard to control who comes and whether they've actually had the proper training, and they say it's really better to spend at least a couple years contemplating and studying the Lama room before you do it, yeah, because you're taking that. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:21 Highlight the passage at 1:22:21

1:22:59 To do anything tantra, you would be taking that teacher as a guru for life, not just this life, actually, until you get enlightened. Pretty big commitment. It's bigger than the marriage, right? And then you're also taking vows, bodhisattva vows and tantric vows, for life, actually, many lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:59 Highlight the passage at 1:22:59

1:23:19 And you're taking refuge, if you haven't already taken it. It's pretty big. You're committing in these really huge ways. And that's all before any commitment for that particular deity, which also has commitments. I don't know what his commitments are, but it could be retreat commitments, it could be practice commitments like sadhana commitment or something like that. So I would just say probably better to hold off. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:19 Highlight the passage at 1:23:19

1:23:44 yeah. Because there are other opportunities where he gives public talks and that's nicer to connect with him at that level for a few times first and then make the leap if you feel as amazing as most of us have found. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:44 Highlight the passage at 1:23:44

1:24:05 Then taking him at that level as a guru, then it's more... You know, you've already checked them out. They actually say it's really good to check out teachers for a long time before you take them as even just a teacher, much less as a guru, you know, as a Lama, like a very high-level teacher. So probably better to attend public teachings first, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:05 Highlight the passage at 1:24:05

1:24:34 That being said, if you wake up... And you just feel like, oh my God, I have to go, then come to me and I'll talk about how to get ready. Because I would never say no because I don't know what your karma is. I don't have clairvoyance, so I don't know. I have known of people who just felt really, really strong and determined and they just jumped in and that was just what they did. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:34 Highlight the passage at 1:24:34

1:24:54 I kind of did that to some extent, but I did study for a couple years first. I think, though, if I ever have had any regret in my life, it was jumping into tantra a little sooner than I probably should have. Just hesitate. So cool. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:54 Highlight the passage at 1:24:54

1:25:20 Well, we don't really believe in a creation God, creator God. We believe in karma. And so all the teachings on karma, I'm going to get to that class I think at the end of the summer. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:20 Highlight the passage at 1:25:20

1:25:37 I'm going to talk about it and I think it's a really good... I have a class to do to understand how we create our experience of reality and how we even collectively create reality itself. And so I think I would just suggest, if possible, if you take that class. But any of the Lamrim teachings will deal with karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:37 Highlight the passage at 1:25:37

1:26:04 Some of them deal with it more deeply than others. you know so that the three volume The book that I was mentioning, The Treatise of the Stages of the Path, Lamrim, Chemmo, that one will, and also Liberation in the Palm of Your Hands, that one will also deal with karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:04 Highlight the passage at 1:26:04

1:26:24 There's a number of books on karma, but most of the teachings that I found the most amazing on karma have come from live teachings, just attending classes on karma and how it works and so forth. And it's a really exciting subject because it helps you understand. How we're just constantly creating reality and then we can also create reality that we want rather than constantly causing suffering for ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:24 Highlight the passage at 1:26:24

1:26:50 But it takes a bit of understanding and there's certain principles involved and things like that. But that's really the Buddhist idea of creation. I mean there's not like somebody who's done it. There's not like a god in that sense. you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:50 Highlight the passage at 1:26:50

1:27:12 Exactly. The beings who live in the particular planet, the universe, the country, have created the situation, which is constantly shifting, right? So it might have been good at one point to be on this planet, maybe not so good anymore. And then, you know, in the Buddhist cosmology, it's not just, it's not like we're the center of the universe, you know, it's like they're... Report an error in the passage at 1:27:12 Highlight the passage at 1:27:12

1:27:37 There are many universes and there are many planets that support life. So it's not just a matter of this one planet and that many universes and planets have come into being and have abided a certain amount of eons and then disintegrated, gone up, ended. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:37 Highlight the passage at 1:27:37

1:27:58 And it's all created through karma. And karma is created through what we... Yeah. So, um, Report an error in the passage at 1:27:58 Highlight the passage at 1:27:58

1:28:05 Do with our body, speech and mind. All of us. So sometimes it's a collective karma. You know, for example, in this class, we are creating a collective karma. And we are also, it's the result of collective karma. Like something, somewhere, sometime, we worked on something together and we came together. And so then we are doing it again. Because karma causes this potential to repeat the action. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:05 Highlight the passage at 1:28:05

1:28:28 So negatively speaking, if we steal, we create. Strong propensity to want to steal again. Positively speaking, if we do something kind, we are creating the karma to be kind again. It's almost like we create that sort of mental habit. So we kind of want to go in the direction of positive and create those habits rather than negative. But we all have negative stuff because we've been around for lifetimes. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28:28

1:28:56 And so if you've noticed, for example, if it's hard for you to create the habit of... You know, so we've we've created some Report an error in the passage at 1:28:56 Highlight the passage at 1:28:56

1:29:01 Meditating every morning or listening to somebody when they're upset or whatever it is. Say you have a certain karma of swearing or something like that. You've been doing it for a lifetime. You can't just expect learning about having a positive mind to suddenly shift it. It takes effort to shift that just like any habit. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:01 Highlight the passage at 1:29:01

1:29:24 We create it by forcing ourselves to do something positive. Working on them one by one by one and changing our propensity to be in a positive direction rather than a negative direction. And all of that just takes effort. But it's not impossible. It's not like Popeye, you know, I am what I am, right? It can all change and it's constantly changing. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:24 Highlight the passage at 1:29:24

1:29:48 So that's the good news about karma. So it's not like whatever situation we find ourselves in, whether it's the planet or whether it's the individual, that it can't be changed. And that's the cool. Aspect of karma. And also not to sit on your laurels either. You know, like we have a great Dharma center, we're in a great class, what are we going to do with it? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:48 Highlight the passage at 1:29:48

1:30:09 It's kind of like that too. You know, it won't last forever. This body won't last forever. These conditions won't last forever. My mind won't even last forever in its current state. Believe you me, I know that one. Started going downhill in the 40s somewhere. And I'm always telling John, like, do your frustrations now, man, because the knees, they get so much worse. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:09 Highlight the passage at 1:30:09

1:30:34 The arms, the elbows, the wrists. Yeah, so anyway, but yeah, we can talk a lot more about that in the karma class. But karma comes into everything just because it's so fascinating. So different from... The way Western science sees everything. And yet, there's room for a lot of Western science in karma. You know what I mean? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:34 Highlight the passage at 1:30:34

1:30:57 Like it doesn't discount it all. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:57 Highlight the passage at 1:30:57

1:31:04 I think we need to, because we only have like 20 minutes. I think we need to go back to classes. We only have about 20 more minutes. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:04 Highlight the passage at 1:31:04

1:31:19 So I want to hear from the, if people, if anything came up in the little... dyads and sharing that people want to share together in the group anybody want to share anything that came up for them you don't have to so don't feel like you have to Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:31:19 Highlight the passage at 1:31:19

1:32:00 you might have to hold it down longer. There it goes. if anything came up that you thought might be interesting to the rest of the group or maybe surprised you or something like Report an error in the passage at 1:32:00 Highlight the passage at 1:32:00

1:31:44 to share? Yeah, where's the mic? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:44 Highlight the passage at 1:31:44

1:31:52 You just push the button on the bottom. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:52 Highlight the passage at 1:31:52

1:31:56 then wait patiently for it to come on. Yeah, you Report an error in the passage at 1:31:56 Highlight the passage at 1:31:56

1:32:14 It was about, the question was about going against dreams or giving up loved ones for a short time to figure things out. I feel like I'm at a point where things, actually that's not, I'm not forcing things or loved ones. I feel like it's just happening naturally, distractions. If you want to focus a certain amount of energy in the practice, I feel like there's so much distractions, including friends. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:14 Highlight the passage at 1:32:14

1:32:44 And sometimes loved ones. And I do want to wake up at five in the morning and sit for half an hour. And if I stay out, that's not going to happen. Right. That's it. Yeah. Yeah. And so, and it's not something that I'm forcing. It's something that is naturally happening. Yeah. I just thought that, I don't know, it's sort of interesting how that's. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:44 Highlight the passage at 1:32:44

1:33:08 I think that's, yeah, I think it's really interesting. I remember in one class I was in, the teacher saying. The demons that we sometimes talk about in this analogy, looking out for the demons, the demons aren't necessarily somebody who's red with little points on top of the tail. It could be your best friend going, let's just go out tonight. It's only a few hours. You don't need to do that Buddhist stuff anymore. You've been so boring since you started going to that center. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:08 Highlight the passage at 1:33:08

1:33:34 That could be your demon. It could be a really good program. It doesn't have to be, it could be that really huge dinner that makes you fall asleep after the pizza that messes up your concentration. So, yeah, I mean, it's just fascinating, I think, to think about the obstacles like that rather than, you know, or even your best friend calling and just wanting to blah, blah, blah, you know, like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:34 Highlight the passage at 1:33:34

1:34:01 It's sometimes knowing the benefits of what it's actually... In practice, what you're gaining. That's right, yeah. And sometimes people don't realize their own suffering, and so you can't really explain things like that. That's right, that's right. I feel like sometimes I'm becoming so, you know, I mean, and everything is impermanent, so I'm not completely convinced about the idea, but I feel like I'm becoming sort of flying solo, you know, and it could be lonely sometimes, but... Report an error in the passage at 1:34:01 Highlight the passage at 1:34:01

1:34:36 I feel like the benefits of practicing and being diligent with her, I feel like I can offer something more than just, yeah, let's go out drinking and at some point where I feel I'm more stable or my mind is a bit more stable. Yeah, yeah. And sometimes that won't come up until a friend of yours has a problem. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:36 Highlight the passage at 1:34:36

1:34:59 And then they kind of find that you're a little more present or a little more available or something like that to help them with their problems. Sometimes it might not ever come up with that particular friend, you know, too. Sometimes it's just sort of a natural attrition, you know, as, you know, you just find yourself less interested in that lifestyle or something and they find you boring. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:59 Highlight the passage at 1:34:59

1:35:18 Mutual parting of the ways. Oh, yeah. And that's okay, too. I mean, I actually used to feel kind of bad, you know, and then I was like, actually, it's fine. They're happy. I'm happy. You know, it's like, it's not like, that's why kind of this whole Facebook thing, I'm like, do I really want those people to find me again? Report an error in the passage at 1:35:18 Highlight the passage at 1:35:18

1:35:35 I'm like, no, no, it's really all right. That was normal. That was okay. But yeah, no, that's a really good point to bring up. Anybody else have anything else that came up that kind of maybe surprised them or was interesting to talk about with each other? Report an error in the passage at 1:35:35 Highlight the passage at 1:35:35

1:35:59 Okay, that's fine. So I was actually going to talk a little bit about the three scopes, but I think I'll save that. And instead, we're just going to end with a little meditation that's going to kind of reinforce some of these things, is the same idea. And this will be your meditation this week, too. It's an analytical meditation, thinking about... Report an error in the passage at 1:35:59 Highlight the passage at 1:35:59

1:36:20 The main points of the Buddha's life and then whether or not we have anything in our lives that corresponds that we might learn from. Before I do that, I wanted to just do a couple of announcements of things coming up. I mentioned last week the Long Life Puja for Geshe-la is this Sunday. It's sort of like a huge birthday party. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:20 Highlight the passage at 1:36:20

1:36:44 There's a procession and lots of gifts, some symbolic, some not. A big cake, you know, just like the birthday party idea. And so people are welcome if they'd like to come. It's kind of a really... Report an error in the passage at 1:36:44 Highlight the passage at 1:36:44

1:37:01 Obviously, Tibetan experience. Very ornate and chanting and all that stuff. It will be fun. But that's happening on Sunday. And then I wanted to mention, this is actually, this is perfect for, no, Daniel, it's for you, about karma. Venerable Steve Carlier is coming up. Who will be our Umze, our chant master on Sunday. He's coming up on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of February, so in just a couple weeks and he's going to talk about karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:01 Highlight the passage at 1:37:01

1:37:33 I'm not sure what approach, but he's definitely making it available for all levels of students and it'll be great for understanding how karma works. So it's sort of a nice little... nutshell, kind of a weekend of how karma works and you can ask those kind of questions of him. He's been a monk for way over 30 years. He's really a great guy. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:33 Highlight the passage at 1:37:33

1:37:55 We also have a couple of workshops coming up in March. The first weekend of March, Guy Newland, who is a professor at, I think, Michigan State, I want to say. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:55 Highlight the passage at 1:37:55

1:38:13 One of those universities in Michigan, who also wrote the book Appearance, was it Appearance in Reality? I think Appearance in Reality he wrote. He has been editing for the last couple years His Holiness' teachings when he taught in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on the Lamrim, and he's going to talk about the teachings on the Lamrim. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:13 Highlight the passage at 1:38:13

1:38:36 So that's also great for all levels of student. It'll be, that one will. That one's a full weekend, a Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday morning, the first weekend in March. And then finally the middle weekend in March, John Landau is coming up from Santa Cruz and he's going to do a shorter retreat, just a Friday night and a Saturday, learning how to do this practice of Tonglen, which is... Report an error in the passage at 1:38:36 Highlight the passage at 1:38:36

1:39:05 Taking and giving this practice to develop bodhicitta, compassion and love. And so that will be a nice retreat also for all levels of student. And that will be the middle weekend in March. The flyers are almost done, but I just didn't have a chance to edit them before class tonight. So by next week we'll have flyers for that, and they'll go up on the website. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:05 Highlight the passage at 1:39:05

1:39:27 I think they're all on the website now, so they are on the website, but we haven't gotten the flyers done. We will get those done by the weekend. So just... Tossing that out there, planting those seeds. All right, so we're going to end with this meditation. So again, you just want to get comfortable and especially extending your spine and just relaxing your shoulders. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:27 Highlight the passage at 1:39:27

1:39:53 You might even roll your shoulders or stretch if you need to. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:53 Highlight the passage at 1:39:53

1:40:03 Again, if you're in a chair, you want to move away from the back of the chair and Report an error in the passage at 1:40:03 Highlight the passage at 1:40:03

1:40:12 place your feet flat on the floor. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:12 Highlight the passage at 1:40:12

1:40:17 Take some nice deep belly breaths and let them go. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:17 Highlight the passage at 1:40:17

1:40:37 And imagine Shakyamuni Buddha in front of you, remembering that he was once exactly like us. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:37 Highlight the passage at 1:40:37

1:40:50 He was once an ordinary man who had to make ordinary decisions, extraordinary decisions. He had afflicted states of mind also. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:50 Highlight the passage at 1:40:50

1:41:06 But imagine him now as a being completely made of light, golden in color, in the aspect of a monk, Report an error in the passage at 1:41:06 Highlight the passage at 1:41:06

1:41:20 seated in... Full Vajra posture and Report an error in the passage at 1:41:20 Highlight the passage at 1:41:20

1:41:29 with this expression of peace and compassion, contentment. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:29 Highlight the passage at 1:41:29

1:41:49 And imagine that from his heart, light beams come out into your heart, into all of those beings surrounding you. And on those light beams are all the qualities that we need to get enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:49 Highlight the passage at 1:41:49

1:42:10 The ability to not turn away from suffering when we see it. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:10 Highlight the passage at 1:42:10

1:42:20 The ability to be clear about what it is that we want, what we're looking for, and determined enough to go get it. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:20 Highlight the passage at 1:42:20

1:42:43 We need to develop confidence in ourselves, humility, Report an error in the passage at 1:42:43 Highlight the passage at 1:42:43

1:42:53 know when it's best to work alone and when it's better to work in a group, when it's better to work with a teacher and when it's better to work alone. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:53 Highlight the passage at 1:42:53

1:43:23 We need to be able to be realistic about our spiritual goals, our spiritual thinking, but sometimes we just have to go for it. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:23 Highlight the passage at 1:43:23

1:43:35 It's a balance. So imagine these qualities and any other qualities that you particularly are working on coming from his heart in the form of this golden light, pouring out of his heart and into your own heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:35 Highlight the passage at 1:43:35

1:44:02 Imagine that they're filling you up, completely filling you up. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:02 Highlight the passage at 1:44:02

1:44:08 And imagine also that they eliminate any states of mind that keep you from doing whatever it is that you need to do. So any... Mind that holds you back. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:08 Highlight the passage at 1:44:08

1:44:26 Worry, doubt, fear, laziness. Just imagine them completely dissolved into this golden light. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:26 Highlight the passage at 1:44:26

1:45:03 One of the things that Prince Siddhartha saw was a traveling mendicant who inspired him to go forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:03 Highlight the passage at 1:45:03

1:45:13 So think about if you've ever had the experience of being inspired by somebody who's a spiritual seeker. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:13 Highlight the passage at 1:45:13

1:45:44 Prince Siddhartha also felt that he had to leave home to find what he was seeking. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:44 Highlight the passage at 1:45:44

1:45:57 And remember that leaving the home life doesn't necessarily mean getting ordained or living in a cave. It means pushing yourself sometimes, developing a regular meditation practice, studying with different teachers, doing retreat. It Report an error in the passage at 1:45:57 Highlight the passage at 1:45:57

1:46:21 means neither living a totally worldly life or giving up everything. Because remember he found that middle way. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:21 Highlight the passage at 1:46:21

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:47:01 Remember he had to... Not care what others thought about him and find his own path. So he had to develop that confidence, clarity about his path, determination to go for liberation, perseverance, courage, but also compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:01 Highlight the passage at 1:47:01

1:47:30 He did what he had to do to follow his heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:30 Highlight the passage at 1:47:30

1:47:39 So imagine those qualities pouring into your heart. And Report an error in the passage at 1:47:39 Highlight the passage at 1:47:39

1:48:05 finally remember the Shakyamuni Buddha. He said that we need both this long view to be willing to take this path over many lifetimes as necessary, but as His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, we also need to work as urgently as necessary in this life because we don't know when these conditions will end. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:05 Highlight the passage at 1:48:05

1:48:34 So we do both long view and immediate view. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:34 Highlight the passage at 1:48:34

1:48:59 And now imagine that Shakyamuni Buddha shrinks in size and comes to the crown of your head. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:59 Highlight the passage at 1:48:59

1:49:13 He melts into golden light and Report an error in the passage at 1:49:13 Highlight the passage at 1:49:13

1:49:19 fills you up through the crown of your head. Fills your whole body and mind with all his power and wisdom, compassion and all his qualities so Report an error in the passage at 1:49:19 Highlight the passage at 1:49:19

1:49:37 that you have right now whatever you need on your path so Report an error in the passage at 1:49:37 Highlight the passage at 1:49:37

1:49:46 that you can do whatever you need to do to fully awaken, to become a Buddha, a fully awakened one. And Report an error in the passage at 1:49:46 Highlight the passage at 1:49:46

1:50:05 we'll dedicate tonight's class to each one of us. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:05 Highlight the passage at 1:50:05

1:50:14 Learning how to take this path in our own way, doing the work on our own minds so that we can develop these skills, these qualities, the energy and the inspiration that we need to do it so that we have the capacity to be able to help all other living beings, Report an error in the passage at 1:50:14 Highlight the passage at 1:50:14

1:50:41 beginning with ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:41 Highlight the passage at 1:50:41

1:51:02 So, Jenna, you have the homework, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:51:02 Highlight the passage at 1:51:02

1:51:14 And if anybody wants a copy of the preliminaries that I did at the beginning of the class, I do have some of those too. So maybe John, you want to hand these out? I don't have them for everybody because I figured some people might already know them and not want them. But if we do want extras, I can make extras. We'll just ask first. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:14 Highlight the passage at 1:51:14

1:51:33 Now see if they want. Those are optional. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:33 Highlight the passage at 1:51:33

1:51:44 Dylan, did you want one? Report an error in the passage at 1:51:44 Highlight the passage at 1:51:44

1:51:49 Okay. I can also make one. I have my computer downstairs. Did you work? It looks like he's got an extra. Okay, I can just do it right after class. I have to print some stuff for Theo. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:49 Highlight the passage at 1:51:49

1:52:10 I think, why don't we end so that people can leave because it's 9 o 'clock and then we can talk about, you and I can talk about that or we can talk about it in the next class. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:10 Highlight the passage at 1:52:10

1:52:23 I mean, that's basically just your inner wisdom. That's what it's about, is developing your inner wisdom. But we talk about that in the guru class, actually, in the spiritual teacher class. We talk about that more. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:23 Highlight the passage at 1:52:23

1:52:42 Yeah, so just remember to get your papers, but you can leave the books. So the gold books went away. So Jenna, can you put out the gold books again? Thank you for the retreat. Thank you, you guys. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:42 Highlight the passage at 1:52:42

1:53:02 Oh, sorry, yeah. Sorry, I didn't even mention, 2 to 4. So it's in the afternoon, yeah. Normally it would be in the morning, but we're ending the retreat in the first session. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:02 Highlight the passage at 1:53:02

1:53:14 Probably done, yeah. You can come and have some cake. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:14 Highlight the passage at 1:53:14

1:53:22 Okay, if you remember and send me an email, then I'll send you my notes. Okay, all right, thanks, enjoy. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:22 Highlight the passage at 1:53:22