Discovering Buddhism - Presenting the Path (24 February 2012)

· · · silence, 3 minutes

3:02 This is a meditation on hearts. Report an error in the passage at 3:02 Highlight the passage at 3:02

3:10 It feels funny. It feels like we are speaking. Empty space. So if people want to move forward, that's great. I'm assuming some people will also come in on the later. Report an error in the passage at 3:10 Highlight the passage at 3:10

3:24 So just take some nice deep breaths and let go of your week. Report an error in the passage at 3:24 Highlight the passage at 3:24

3:30 Let go of any Report an error in the passage at 3:30 Highlight the passage at 3:30

3:36 conversations or difficult or even pleasing experiences you had today. You can just breathe them out like smoke from a chimney. Report an error in the passage at 3:36 Highlight the passage at 3:36

3:55 And then just take some nice deep belly breaths of whatever you need for tonight. Report an error in the passage at 3:55 Highlight the passage at 3:55

4:04 So sharpness, alertness, curiosity about the material. And Report an error in the passage at 4:04 Highlight the passage at 4:04

4:27 then just focus on your breath for a few rounds of ten. At either the level of your belly or the level of your nostril. Just trying to keep your mind as focused as you can. And Report an error in the passage at 4:27 Highlight the passage at 4:27

· · · silence, 2 minutes

7:04 let the mind begin to calm down. And Report an error in the passage at 7:04 Highlight the passage at 7:04

7:15 start with thinking about a neutral object. Report an error in the passage at 7:15 Highlight the passage at 7:15

7:22 that we don't get too attached to or too... Averse to like a pen. Report an error in the passage at 7:22 Highlight the passage at 7:22

7:34 Try to think about where that pen exists within the object. Just visualize a simple pen, like a big pen. And Report an error in the passage at 7:34 Highlight the passage at 7:34

7:54 think about where a pen exists within that black and white cylinder. Report an error in the passage at 7:54 Highlight the passage at 7:54

8:11 If you're honest, you have to admit that even your mind's eye can only see this cylinder in point. Report an error in the passage at 8:11 Highlight the passage at 8:11

8:23 It only sees part of it actually, just the front. Report an error in the passage at 8:23 Highlight the passage at 8:23

8:29 A little bit of the curve and even the front of the point. And it makes up or fills in the parts it can't see. Report an error in the passage at 8:29 Highlight the passage at 8:29

8:44 So where in this collection of shapes is pen? Report an error in the passage at 8:44 Highlight the passage at 8:44

8:55 Would anyone coming in here see a pen? Even a dog? Report an error in the passage at 8:55 Highlight the passage at 8:55

9:05 Or someone from a culture that has no pens? Report an error in the passage at 9:05 Highlight the passage at 9:05

9:21 Imagine your pen blasting apart and forming a small pile in front of you of all the parts. Report an error in the passage at 9:21 Highlight the passage at 9:21

9:31 And the black and white plastic, metal ball bearing in the point. Report an error in the passage at 9:31 Highlight the passage at 9:31

9:40 And all the parts of this thing that you think of as a pen. Is Report an error in the passage at 9:40 Highlight the passage at 9:40

9:50 it still a pen? Report an error in the passage at 9:50 Highlight the passage at 9:50

10:08 And then think about this thing that you think of as your body. Report an error in the passage at 10:08 Highlight the passage at 10:08

10:14 We hold on to this idea of a body, my body. We pamper it, care for it, protect it, feed it. Report an error in the passage at 10:14 Highlight the passage at 10:14

10:27 But where is this thing called body? Report an error in the passage at 10:27 Highlight the passage at 10:27

10:37 Is the body the legs or the arms, the hands, the head, the trunk? Report an error in the passage at 10:37 Highlight the passage at 10:37

10:49 These are all parts of the body. Report an error in the passage at 10:49 Highlight the passage at 10:49

10:54 And where is body within these parts? Report an error in the passage at 10:54 Highlight the passage at 10:54

11:05 If the body is constantly changing and all the cells are coming into and going out of being, where is this thing called body? Where do we hang this concept? Report an error in the passage at 11:05 Highlight the passage at 11:05

11:27 If I lose my legs or my arms, do I still have a body? Report an error in the passage at 11:27 Highlight the passage at 11:27

11:48 Imagine your own body in front of you and then dissolve it too into a pile of its parts in front of you. Report an error in the passage at 11:48 Highlight the passage at 11:48

12:02 Where is the body now? Is it still a body? Is this collection of parts still a body? Report an error in the passage at 12:02 Highlight the passage at 12:02

12:31 If we think about our mind as being made up of parts, beginning, middle and ends of thoughts, feelings, ideas, perceptions and all our afflicted states of mind, then where is that thing called mind? Report an error in the passage at 12:31 Highlight the passage at 12:31

12:58 Which part of our mind do we hang this concept of mind? Report an error in the passage at 12:58 Highlight the passage at 12:58

13:13 Have all these thoughts come quickly into being and then fade away one after another? Each one replacing the last one. Which one of them is mine? Which one of them is my mind? Report an error in the passage at 13:13 Highlight the passage at 13:13

13:36 It's like trying to hang the label of river onto a moving stream of water. It's changing so fast. Report an error in the passage at 13:36 Highlight the passage at 13:36

13:55 From the Buddhist point of view, not only our cells are recycled, but our bodies are too. And even more, our entire identity is. Report an error in the passage at 13:55 Highlight the passage at 13:55

14:08 You die, you're reborn. This life male, next life female. This life black. Next life white, this life dog, next life cat. Report an error in the passage at 14:08 Highlight the passage at 14:08

14:32 The subtle mind simply manifests into another form based on the karma we've created. That's all reincarnation really is. The karma for this life, this body, exhausts and new karma ripens. Report an error in the passage at 14:32 Highlight the passage at 14:32

14:53 So what are we so attached to? What do we identify so strongly with? Report an error in the passage at 14:53 Highlight the passage at 14:53

15:05 Am I so strongly a woman? Next life I could be a man. Report an error in the passage at 15:05 Highlight the passage at 15:05

15:15 Am I so strongly American? The next life I could be Mexican, French, Syrian. Report an error in the passage at 15:15 Highlight the passage at 15:15

15:29 Think about what you identify most strongly with in this life and imagine it not being you. Report an error in the passage at 15:29 Highlight the passage at 15:29

15:55 Imagine the things now in front of you, your notebook, table, pen, the cushion you're on, the people around you, yourself, the way you see yourself, your body and mind, identity. Report an error in the passage at 15:55 Highlight the passage at 15:55

16:14 Beliefs and the eye holding on to those beliefs and Report an error in the passage at 16:14 Highlight the passage at 16:14

16:26 let them too break up into tiny particles just dissolving out into space and Report an error in the passage at 16:26 Highlight the passage at 16:26

16:38 extending that spaciousness in all directions. Just let go. Try Report an error in the passage at 16:38 Highlight the passage at 16:38

17:04 to experience that fastness, that freedom, the bliss of letting go of everything we hold on to so tightly. Report an error in the passage at 17:04 Highlight the passage at 17:04

17:26 And from the center of all that space, feel your body again. Sitting on your cushion, your mind filled with thoughts and feelings, your pen and your books in front of you and just breathe. Report an error in the passage at 17:26 Highlight the passage at 17:26

17:58 Let's motivate this class, our final class of the series, to each one of us being able to fully realize this path to enlightenment, actualizing renunciation, bodhicitta and the correct view of emptiness so Report an error in the passage at 17:58 Highlight the passage at 17:58

18:20 we can become Buddhas, we can fully awaken. We can attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. And Report an error in the passage at 18:20 Highlight the passage at 18:20

18:42 as you're ready, you can end your meditation and we'll start with the opening prayers. Report an error in the passage at 18:42 Highlight the passage at 18:42

19:00 So page 8. Report an error in the passage at 19:00 Highlight the passage at 19:00

19:05 And I am going to need to borrow somebody's three principal paths because I gave away mine at some point. And you've got yours, right? So you guys can share. Report an error in the passage at 19:05 Highlight the passage at 19:05

19:25 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 So the three principle paths. Report an error in the passage at 19:25 Highlight the passage at 19:25

20:02 I bow to all the high and holy lamas. As far as I am able, I'll explain the essence of all the high teachings of the victors, the path that all their holy sons commend, the entry point for the fortunate seeking freedom. Listen with a pure mind, fortunate ones, who have no craving for the pleasures of life. Report an error in the passage at 20:02 Highlight the passage at 20:02

20:23 And who, to make leisure and fortune meaningful, strive to turn their minds to the path which pleases the victors. There's no way to end without pure renunciation, this striving for pleasant results in the ocean of life. It's because of their hankering life as well that beings are fettered, so seek renunciation first. Leisure and fortune are hard to find. Report an error in the passage at 20:23 Highlight the passage at 20:23

20:48 Life's not long. Think it constantly. Stop desire for this life. Think over and over how deeds and their fruits never fail and the cycles suffering stop desire for the future. When you've meditated thus and feel not even a moment's wish for the good things of cyclic life, and when you begin to think both night and day of achieving freedom, you've found renunciation. Report an error in the passage at 20:48 Highlight the passage at 20:48

21:14 Renunciation, though, can never bring the total bliss of matchless Buddhahood unless it's bound by the purest wish. And so the wise seek the highest wish for enlightenment. They're swept along on the four fierce river currents, chained up tight in pastides, hard to undo, stuffed in a steel cage of grasping self, smothered in the pitch black ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 21:14 Highlight the passage at 21:14

21:39 In the limitless round they're born and in their births are tortured by the three sufferings without break. Think how your mothers feel. Think of what's happening to them. Try to develop this highest wish. You may master renunciation and the wish, but unless you have the wisdom perceiving reality, you cannot cut the root of cyclic life. Report an error in the passage at 21:39 Highlight the passage at 21:39

22:01 Make efforts in the ways then to perceive dependent arising. A person's entered the path that pleases the Buddhas, when for all objects in the cycle or beyond, he sees the cause and effect can never fail, and when for him they lose all solid appearance. You've yet to realize the thought of the able as long as two ideas seem to you disparate, the appearance of things, infallible dependent arising, and emptiness beyond taking any position. Report an error in the passage at 22:01 Highlight the passage at 22:01

22:32 At some point, they no longer alternate and come together. Just seeing that dependent arising never fails brings realization that destroys how you hold to objects, and then your analysis with view is complete. In addition, the appearance prevents the existence extreme, emptiness, that of non-existence. And if you see how emptiness shows in cause and effect, you'll never be stolen off by extreme views. Report an error in the passage at 22:32 Highlight the passage at 22:32

23:00 When you've grasped as well as I the essential points of the three principal paths explained, then go into isolation, my son. Make mighty efforts and quickly win your ultimate wish. Report an error in the passage at 23:00 Highlight the passage at 23:00

23:28 I'm just going to leap in. We can try to get to some of the more pithy stuff and then I'll open it up for questions a little bit later. How are you? Nice to see you again. Report an error in the passage at 23:28 Highlight the passage at 23:28

23:47 So. Report an error in the passage at 23:47 Highlight the passage at 23:47

23:52 Verses 12 and 13 of the text that we just read say, at some point they no longer alternate, come together, just seeing that dependent arising never fails, brings realization that destroys how you hold to objects, and then your analysis with view is complete. Report an error in the passage at 23:52 Highlight the passage at 23:52

24:08 In addition, the appearance prevents the existence extreme, emptiness, that of non-existence. And if you see how emptiness shows in cause and effect, you'll never be stolen off by extreme views. So we're going to talk a little bit about the most subtle view of dependent arising. Last night we talked about the first two, which are a little bit grosser views of how things do exist, right? Remember, dependent arising is how things actually exist. Report an error in the passage at 24:08 Highlight the passage at 24:08

24:40 Emptiness is what they lack. They lack this intrinsic, absolute. reality, concrete reality, permanent reality that we project onto everything. So dependent arising, according to Lama Tsongkhapa, that's how we sort of sneak in towards emptiness. So if we can understand how things actually exist, then we can also understand how they don't exist. Report an error in the passage at 24:40 Highlight the passage at 24:40

25:04 That's the two that they're talking about, these two no longer alternating, coming together. They're two sides of the same coin for everything that exists. Everything has its dependent arising and everything has its emptiness. Its lack of existing in that way that we think that it exists. And it's important to keep reminding ourselves that's what emptiness means and that's what dependent arising means because otherwise I think we can begin to think of them as sort of philosophical terms that have no bearing on my life. Report an error in the passage at 25:04 Highlight the passage at 25:04

25:33 But that thing that you're so attached to or that thing that you're so afraid of does not exist in the way that it seems to exist. And it does exist as a dependent rising. And so that's why these terms are really important to remember what they actually mean and not to just leave it in a bookshelf or, you know, in your notebook on the bookshelf. Report an error in the passage at 25:33 Highlight the passage at 25:33

25:56 That's what Geshele used to say when he first came. He was like, he saw us all bring out our notebooks and write it down. And he said, it's great you're taking notes, but they better not just stay on the shelf. Like you should actually be thinking about this in your everyday life. It has to make some effect on... Report an error in the passage at 25:56 Highlight the passage at 25:56

26:12 The way that you deal with the problems that come up or your obsession about somebody or your, you know what I mean? Like the things that we get so obsessed by that we can't sleep or the things that we get so afraid of that we can't sleep or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 26:12 Highlight the passage at 26:12

26:27 Those are the objects that we want to study their dependent arising and their emptiness. I start with pens because they're a little easier to think about, but most of us aren't waking up at night and worrying about our pens, I hope. I mean, I don't know. But it's a place to start that's a little easier to get our minds around. So we project this quality of intrinsic existence onto everything, every single thing that exists. Report an error in the passage at 26:27 Highlight the passage at 26:27

26:56 Which isn't even the problem, according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. It's not such a bad thing that we project this, but the thing that really seals the deal is that we believe it 100%, that it exists exactly that way. We project all of this intrinsic reality on it, this unchangingness, this absoluteness. Not just our feelings about it, which we also project, right? Report an error in the passage at 26:56 Highlight the passage at 26:56

27:24 That's good, that's bad. I really love that food. I hate that food. But the thing itself, we project all these layers of embellishments and stories that we project onto it. And then we believe it 100%. We don't even question that we've done that. And we're doing this all the time, the Buddha said, just like constantly we're doing this with every single thing. Report an error in the passage at 27:24 Highlight the passage at 27:24

27:51 Everything from, you know, the way this room, we like it or don't like it. Every single thing, everything that we taste, everything that we see, everything that our sense consciousness comes into contact with. Lami Eshi said one time, and I actually really loved this quote. Lami Eshi is really good for just saying one line. That sort of captures it. But he said at one point, don't believe what your senses tell you. Report an error in the passage at 27:51 Highlight the passage at 27:51

28:17 It's not saying our senses are bad things. It's just saying our culture especially, and I'm not saying just American culture, but in the desire realm, Everything that we get at, we get at through our senses and we believe that it exists exactly as our senses tell us. Even though we've proved it to ourselves many, many times that due to some faulty light or we're tired or something, we can see things that don't actually exist that way. Report an error in the passage at 28:17 Highlight the passage at 28:17

28:47 We still believe it 100 % the very next moment. And so the Buddha is asking us to analyze, to think. Not just once or twice in this class and then go back to our regular life, but to continue going forward and try to remember it the next time you're having a big problem. I guarantee it helps to dissolve the problem a lot, even at our level of understanding, which is not that great at this point. Report an error in the passage at 28:47 Highlight the passage at 28:47

29:16 We really have to study this stuff like thousands of hours and meditate on it. Over and over and over again and get really good teachings. I mean Geshe-la is teaching the ninth chapter of Shantideva which is only on emptiness. Really profound stuff. Just studying it over and over and over again. Otherwise it all just stays at this philosophical or analytical or intellectual level. Report an error in the passage at 29:16 Highlight the passage at 29:16

29:44 And that's not going to help anybody. So we want to take it from the neck to below the neck. I'm going to take it to the gut level. So if we're thinking about an object, you can think about, for example, a table. Part of the opening meditation is to try to get us to think about where is the thingness in whatever it is that we're dealing with. Report an error in the passage at 29:44 Highlight the passage at 29:44

30:08 You know, where is the penness within the pen? Where is the tableness within the table? You know, is it in the parts? No, but yes. Report an error in the passage at 30:08 Highlight the passage at 30:08

30:19 It's not in the parts. You have to have certain parts to make it a table. You have to have certain parts to make it a pen. Although we know in the modern age that funny-looking things are created all the time that do function as a pen or a table or something. Well, actually, this is a pretty funny-looking thing as far as I'm concerned. I wasn't raised in Tibet, so I didn't know what it was the first time I saw it, especially once it's all folded up and in two parts. Report an error in the passage at 30:19 Highlight the passage at 30:19

30:44 But it is a table. But if I look... Into it for the tableness, there is no tableness within it. It's like taking off the layers of an onion. We keep looking deeper and deeper into this thing and we look at its legs and we look at its top and we look at how it functions. And all those things are important, but where is the tableness in there? Report an error in the passage at 30:44 Highlight the passage at 30:44

31:10 And that's what the Buddha is asking us to do with every single object. I mean, you know, realistically we can't just stop. working and do this, but in our spare time, or even at work occasionally, to stop and analyze where is that thingness that we're looking for we believe is there 100%. We've never even thought to question it. Report an error in the passage at 31:10 Highlight the passage at 31:10

31:34 There is a table that exists in this interdependent, dependent way that changes from moment to moment to moment. This non-inherent table. But that's not the one we believe in. That's not the one we think exists. The same is true for each of us. If we look around, you know, you do exist in this constantly changing, really fluid, spacious, almost like energy way. Report an error in the passage at 31:34 Highlight the passage at 31:34

32:06 But that's not the way I see you. I see you as like, that's John, you know, or Chozang. That's John and he exists this way and then my stories get laid on to that and if I like John then I layer those stories and if John crosses me then I layer those stories and I believe that 100%. I believe that's how he exists and that doesn't even give him room to change most of the time. We meet somebody once and we decide they are that way forever, which is of course why a lot of relationships don't work out, right? Report an error in the passage at 32:06 Highlight the passage at 32:06

32:39 We have this view of the person and then we start laying all this stuff onto it and the person can't even get out from underneath it. And they're doing it to you too. So it's not like they're so innocent of it all either. We can't see the bare reality of each other. We can't see the bare reality of the table or of the pen or anything that we come into contact with. Report an error in the passage at 32:39 Highlight the passage at 32:39

33:03 Because we're doing this all the time. We're embellishing all the time. We're making stories up all the time. And they say that we do this all the time with every single thing, not even things, not even just people, with places, with experiences, you know, like mental experiences. We layer those with all of our stuff. It's kind of amazing, actually, that we can function. Report an error in the passage at 33:03 Highlight the passage at 33:03

33:32 It's probably not a very nice functioning, but it's how we've been functioning for lifetime after lifetime after lifetime. And with ourselves, of course, we do it too, right? So we do this with ourselves too. There is this very subtle version of a self that's just basically a collection of our body and mind that's constantly, you know, our body's constantly changing, right? Report an error in the passage at 33:32 Highlight the passage at 33:32

33:55 We just looked at that in the last couple of weeks. Our body's constantly changing all the time, moment by moment by moment. Our mind is constantly changing moment by moment by moment, you know, all the time. Just like boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop. Think how much has changed just since you got here. You know, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop. Report an error in the passage at 33:55 Highlight the passage at 33:55

34:14 It's this temporary alliance that starts somewhere after conception and then at some point the mind places this label of I or self and then we believe in it 100 % and it feels like not only does it exist as this thing that runs the body and mind, owns the body and mind, even possesses it. But it also is like the most important thing in the universe, right? So our relationship with other people is based on how they treat me, the I, you know? Report an error in the passage at 34:14 Highlight the passage at 34:14

34:48 That's why I always feel like it exists as larger than everything else, too. But it's not so much size, it's in this grandiose self-importance. It's not that we're horrible people to say that. Everybody does it. And actually even beings, animals, you know, insects do it too, obviously. It's sort of a self-protection thing. But the Buddha is saying that things don't actually exist in this way. Report an error in the passage at 34:48 Highlight the passage at 34:48

35:14 And that's this misconception of the sort of self, this created, this fabrication, our story self at the center of the universe. Things don't actually exist that way. And our living this way from life to life is actually causing our pain, simply put. So if we can... Get to the root of it and realize that things don't exist that way. It's actually, we're happier. Much less everybody else, you know, that we come into contact with. Report an error in the passage at 35:14 Highlight the passage at 35:14

35:45 But we can be happier. So it's very, very important. This is the most important teaching of all of the Buddhist teachings. And this is the one that the Buddha really wanted us to get because we can take away our own suffering and then just think how much better and how much easier it is to take away somebody else's suffering. Report an error in the passage at 35:45 Highlight the passage at 35:45

36:05 If you know how to get to the root of your own suffering, really, not just intellectually, but you've actually done it, you've actually had a direct perception of emptiness, you don't believe for a minute anymore that things exist in this way, think how much easier it is than to help other people, to help them do the same thing for their own mind. Report an error in the passage at 36:05 Highlight the passage at 36:05

36:25 Because it's like once you've baked the cake, it's much easier to show somebody else how to bake the cake. It's no longer, you know... Me, I haven't had this experience, so I can only talk about it in terms of what I've learned through my own experience and from my own teachers. But once you've had it, no problem. Then I don't even have to look at my notes. Because then I'm telling you how I walk to work in the morning. Report an error in the passage at 36:25 Highlight the passage at 36:25

36:52 I got it in my body. So I don't have to look at my notes or anything and talk about where I turn left or right or something. Because it's in my body, I know it. And that's the same. Once we have this direct perception of emptiness, we can just be so amazingly beneficial because we got it. So it's pretty cool stuff, actually. It stops being this intellectual pursuit. So in the visualization at the beginning, when we took something like a flower or a pen and we pull apart all the parts, or the body, right? Report an error in the passage at 36:52 Highlight the passage at 36:52

37:25 Hopefully it didn't get too gruesome in your visualizations. You pull apart all the... The parts and you're like, where is that thing called body or where is that thing called pen or flower that we're looking for? That flowerness or that penness or that bodiness or that cupness, you know, we look at that cup, all the parts of that cup, the plastic, the rim, you know, the size of it, it's how it functions as, you know, it holds something liquid. Report an error in the passage at 37:25 Highlight the passage at 37:25

37:57 That's important too. The pen writes. You know, it has some function. Our body keeps us going. We are able to move in it. There is a function to it. It's more than that collection of parts, right? Report an error in the passage at 37:57 Highlight the passage at 37:57

38:15 It's a label, and it's more than a label, but it's also nothing other than the collection of parts and the label. So it's like, that's why they say this term mere label. It's a mere label placed upon this collection of parts. Report an error in the passage at 38:15 Highlight the passage at 38:15

38:33 So this is the third aspect of dependent arising, that things don't exist except through this mere label or concept and the causes and conditions and the parts. So we can't forget the first two levels of dependent arising. They're important too, and we don't lose them by this more subtle. It's more like we start at gross and we just move into the more subtle understanding of how things actually arise. Report an error in the passage at 38:33 Highlight the passage at 38:33

38:59 But we don't lose the other two. They get included. So this idea of a label, it's translated as a label, but it's actually more like a concept, because it's not necessarily a word, right? Because dogs do it too, and dogs don't speak. Well, some of them do. Those end up on late night television. Usually dogs don't speak, and yet they still create this concept of a thing, you know. Report an error in the passage at 38:59 Highlight the passage at 38:59

39:19 don't know. Report an error in the passage at 39:19 Highlight the passage at 39:19

39:29 Bodhi looks at me and I'm sure she sees Chuck Wagon. She sees me come into the room and she's thinking finally food is coming. So there's some sort of a concept that she's putting on to me. I'm sure there's other things too. I'm sure she gets some amount of comfort and she has some amount of affection or something towards me. But those aren't words. Report an error in the passage at 39:29 Highlight the passage at 39:29

39:49 She's not thinking those things unless she is what I don't know. Who knows what she is. But she does have this, she is projecting in the same way that we project. So animals do it too. Insects do it too. And they have this idea of I. Report an error in the passage at 39:49 Highlight the passage at 39:49

40:06 So one of my teachers did this. I usually do it now. I usually make you guys write a capital A. You could write a capital A, you know, two lines and a line in between. And just line up, line down, line in between. And think about how it exists. And that it's not an A from its own side. You know, now when we look at that, those three lines, it's like obviously an A, right? Report an error in the passage at 40:06 Highlight the passage at 40:06

40:42 Why, that's an A, you know? It seems like it's coming from the A's side. Like it's not coming from anything we're putting onto it. But at some point, the first time we came into contact with that thing, it was just lines. Whether we learned English after knowing another language or whether we were a little kid at school. I remember when I was a little kid at school and you were trying to write within the lines. Report an error in the passage at 40:42 Highlight the passage at 40:42

41:07 Mine were always like, you know. And you're trying to just get it in there. There was no real concept that it was going to mean anything. It's kind of like the Helen Keller moment, you know, where she's like learning and all of a sudden it just like makes sense that, oh, this is that thing that I drink, you know. Report an error in the passage at 41:07 Highlight the passage at 41:07

41:23 At that point, it was just you were just drawing these lines and trying to keep them in. I had no understanding and I think we all did that. Hopefully. Maybe you guys are like, boy, she was really stupid. You're just drawing these lines and there's no understanding that there's any other meaning behind them. Report an error in the passage at 41:23 Highlight the passage at 41:23

41:41 And then at some point it crosses this line and you get it that these lines, when you add a bunch of these lines together, that it means something. And that's pretty exciting. That's this exciting moment. And then from that moment on, it seems like that thing, those three lines are coming from, you know, that anus has somehow gotten into those three lines and that it's somewhere deep within it. Report an error in the passage at 41:41 Highlight the passage at 41:41

42:07 And if we pull it apart enough, we're going to find that anus. But we're not, you know. It's not there. We've put it on there. We've placed it on there. Report an error in the passage at 42:07 Highlight the passage at 42:07

42:17 So again, it's not... It's not seeing that it is inherently existent A from its own side that's the problem. It's the believing in it 100%. Because everything arises that way. We've placed labels on everything. And we sort of have to enable to. In order to understand language, we have to do that. Like if somebody says the bus is coming and you're like, what? What does that refer to? We have to know what people are talking about when they refer to certain things like a cup or the bus or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 42:17 Highlight the passage at 42:17

42:50 But we believe that those things exist in this really intrinsic way out there separate from me at all. You know, I'm not putting anything into it, right? It's just this bus and it's out there and it exists exactly the way that I perceive it. That's the way it feels, right? And so when you have these common experiences, like we were talking about, three people going into a restaurant or three people riding the same bus. Report an error in the passage at 42:50 Highlight the passage at 42:50

43:19 I hear people all the time complaining about the 22. I actually don't find it such a bad bus, you know? It's just a bus, you know, and I think it's kind of interesting to like look at the other people riding it, to think about them, you know, like just try to bring Dharma into it, like thinking about even or just humanity, just thinking about the suffering of certain people in humanity and, you know, how do like mothers deal when they have to ride the bus all the time and they're like holding these babies and nobody gets up and stuff like that. Report an error in the passage at 43:19 Highlight the passage at 43:19

43:48 I just find the whole thing fascinating, actually. So, I mean, people bring their own. Karmic perception to a situation and then we believe in it 100%. That that is exactly the way it is. It exists that way. Look at the elections, right? Everybody looks at each different candidate and we see that different candidate based upon our own, you know, stuff. Report an error in the passage at 43:48 Highlight the passage at 43:48

44:11 And then we believe in that 100%. That that person exists exactly as we see them. No room for discussion most of the time, especially about politics. Report an error in the passage at 44:11 Highlight the passage at 44:11

44:23 So then it's based on these really tightly held beliefs in this inherent and intrinsic existence that all of our suffering arises because that's when we get in an argument, right, about the best candidate or the 22 or whatever it is, the taste of that cake or whatever. We believe in it so strongly and that we believe that it exists out there separate from me and that's how all these different... Report an error in the passage at 44:23 Highlight the passage at 44:23

44:53 Mental afflictions arise. So it's not to say that you can't just place a label on anything. Like I can't just look at that table and call it a pen. I can't just look at this paper and call it $100. I wish I could. Report an error in the passage at 44:53 Highlight the passage at 44:53

45:11 I can't just look at that person and call him a Buddha. Could be a Buddha, but I don't know. So you have to have three things in place. And this is what last night when Theo was talking about. Something being a valid base. This is what makes something a valid base. And I'm only really going to talk about the first one because we're not going deeply into emptiness at all in this class. Report an error in the passage at 45:11 Highlight the passage at 45:11

45:33 We just don't have the time for it. The first one is that the object must be known to a conventional perception. Report an error in the passage at 45:33 Highlight the passage at 45:33

45:44 The second one, I'll read them again. So the object must be known to a conventional perception. And I'll explain what that means. The second one is that no other conventional perception can contradict. Its existence. Report an error in the passage at 45:44 Highlight the passage at 45:44

46:03 No other conventional perception can contradict its existence. Its existence, hard to say. And no ultimate analysis can contradict its existence. Report an error in the passage at 46:03 Highlight the passage at 46:03

46:19 No ultimate analysis can contradict its existence. Report an error in the passage at 46:19 Highlight the passage at 46:19

46:27 A conventional perception is talking about somebody with a conventional valid perception or promenade. So someone who is not drunk, someone who's not mentally ill and hallucinating, or physically ill and hallucinating for that matter. Report an error in the passage at 46:27 Highlight the passage at 46:27

46:46 But also if your vision is affected by low light or something like that too. So then there's the story of say you're walking along a road at night and you see something in the distance and it looks like a man. And so you think it's a man, because that's what your eyes are telling you, that's what your data is telling you. It's actually a scarecrow, but you think it's a man coming towards you. Report an error in the passage at 46:46 Highlight the passage at 46:46

47:14 You might even wave. And then someone else comes along from the other direction and says, no, it's a scarecrow, I just passed it. That's the other, he's contradicting what you thought you saw. So normally say your vision's really great, but it's just that it's dusk. It's just low light. So you tried to take all that information. You thought it was your friend coming towards you, but it's not. And you're happy to let go of that idea once somebody comes along and says, no, you can stop waving at him. Report an error in the passage at 47:14 Highlight the passage at 47:14

47:43 It's actually a scarecrow. So it's like immediately... The basis that we had for thinking that it was a man disappears. And we're happy to let it go, right? We believe this person coming towards us. We get it that, oh, actually now I can kind of see that it's a scarecrow. He hasn't moved in the last half hour. Okay, you know, he's got a crow on him, right? Report an error in the passage at 47:43 Highlight the passage at 47:43

48:06 You know, I can, okay, I believe that it's real. So that's what it's talking about when it's talking about conventional perception. I, you know, I'm... I'm not drunk. I'm not on drugs. I'm not hallucinating. But there is low light, and so that's causing me to see something that's inanimate as animate. Report an error in the passage at 48:06 Highlight the passage at 48:06

48:25 But then another valid perception coming the other direction corrects me, and I believe that other valid perception, and I know that my poor eyesight or the low light is what skewed it. It's that same story, and this one's always tied in this way, of the man seeing a curled rope. As a snake in low light. And then, of course, fear arises, right? So say you're in your room. And this is more likely to happen in India. Report an error in the passage at 48:25 Highlight the passage at 48:25

48:54 Hopefully. Maybe Vajrapani. So you're in your room and it's at night and you're getting ready to go to bed. Or maybe you get up in the night. That's even more likely. And you see this thing. I don't know why you'd have a rope, but we'll just imagine that you do. You're going climbing the next day. Come on in. There's the seat saved. Report an error in the passage at 48:54 Highlight the passage at 48:54

49:13 And you see this thing and it looks like a snake and so, oh my God, it's a snake and you're like all freaked. And then you like reach over and turn on the light and it's a rope and you're like, oh. So the affliction leaves immediately, right? The minute that you actually have the light to see that thing and you can see that it's a rope and not a snake. Report an error in the passage at 49:13 Highlight the passage at 49:13

49:35 Everything that we see or that we interact with in reality is like this. So all these mental afflictions arise because we can't see things clearly as they really are. But the minute we are able to see things clearly, there's no valid basis for these mental afflictions to arise. And that's what they say this direct perception of emptiness is like. Once we have this direct perception of emptiness, we have to still work with it. Report an error in the passage at 49:35 Highlight the passage at 49:35

50:04 It's, you know... The whole path of meditation or habituation is getting used to this experience that we have in really deep, deep meditation of this direct perception of emptiness. But what happens from then on is that we no longer have this 100 % belief that things exist the way we see them. That is gone forever. Report an error in the passage at 50:04 Highlight the passage at 50:04

50:27 Like that's just complete. That's the one affliction. It's a huge one that's gone forever. The minute we have this direct perception of emptiness, even though we still, when we get off the cushion and we go walking around and get on the 22, we still see things the way we always did, but we no longer believe them. Report an error in the passage at 50:27 Highlight the passage at 50:27

50:47 It's just gone forever. We know they don't exist that way anymore. Now we kind of intellectually might get it. But we don't really believe it. I mean, we haven't had this direct perception of it. They say it's like, you know, I can talk to you all I want to about the taste of sugar, but until you taste sugar, you don't get it. Report an error in the passage at 50:47 Highlight the passage at 50:47

51:07 Like, you don't really have that in your body. This direct perception of emptiness is not a conceptual experience. That's why they call it direct. Or Geshe-la will often call it naked. You know, so it's not, it's not... This understanding that we have to have first. Especially in our school, we're really big on study, study, study, and then meditate, meditate, meditate. Report an error in the passage at 51:07 Highlight the passage at 51:07

51:31 In the FPMT, Rinpoche, study, meditate, study, meditate, study, meditate. Years of all of that. Then we're building up to this experience of going in so deeply that suddenly it goes from This intellectual understanding to this gut level understanding of how things actually exist. And it doesn't go back. I mean that's the cool thing when you have the direct perception of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 51:31 Highlight the passage at 51:31

52:00 It's not like with bodhicitta where we have more and more and more bodhicitta that gets stronger and stronger and stronger over time but keeps sliding back. Like we can still get pissed off and lose it. And there's all these horrible stories of people who generate bodhicitta and then someone... Screams at them or does something where they lose their bodhicitta until they really get it to a certain point and it doesn't go back. Direct perception of emptiness, once we get it, we are forever changed. Report an error in the passage at 52:00 Highlight the passage at 52:00

52:31 It never goes back, which is very, very cool. And we never again see reality in the same way. Or rather, we don't believe it in the same way, which is more important, actually. Report an error in the passage at 52:31 Highlight the passage at 52:31

52:51 This is what Lama Tsongkhapa is talking about. We have to get to the point where we see both the dependent arising, or they sometimes say dependent origination, it's the same term, dependent origination, dependent arising of a thing, and the emptiness of a thing. It's the two sides of the same coin. Everything has its dependent arising. Everything has its emptiness. They don't contradict each other. They support each other. So that's what he's talking about in this text. Report an error in the passage at 52:51 Highlight the passage at 52:51

53:20 At some point, we study them in an alternate way. We study them. We try to understand dependent arising. We try to understand emptiness. We kind of go back and forth. But at some point, they no longer alternate. They come together. And that's what he's talking about. Every object has it. Every object has its lack of inherent existence, that's its emptiness. Every object has how it actually does exist, and that's its dependent arising. Report an error in the passage at 53:20 Highlight the passage at 53:20

53:49 Lama Tsongkhapa taught that the best way for us to get this understanding of emptiness, or how things don't exist, is by understanding how they do exist. And so that's why we teach it this way. But he said, once you understand the secret of dependent arising, the meaning of emptiness can come in a flash, which I'm hoping for. Report an error in the passage at 53:49 Highlight the passage at 53:49

54:11 I'm taking him at his word. I'm holding him to it. So that's why we spend so much time trying to understand dependent arising. The other reason is because there can be a lot of confusion when we talk about something's lack of inherent existence. A lot of times people think that what's being said is that things don't exist at all. So we slip into nihilism. Report an error in the passage at 54:11 Highlight the passage at 54:11

54:36 um, and we don't. That's not at all what's happening. That's what happened a lot in the lower philosophical schools. As you study emptiness, you begin understanding the tenant system. So it's all these different levels of understanding of how things really exist, especially how things exist rather more than the person. Report an error in the passage at 54:36 Highlight the passage at 54:36

54:57 It's interesting that I think in a lot of ways the four main philosophical schools agree in how people exist, but it's things. That they really debate. I find that interesting. It seems like it would be the opposite. It seems much more subtle. Maybe they were all just a lot more hip than we are. Report an error in the passage at 54:57 Highlight the passage at 54:57

55:16 They got that the self doesn't exist in this way, but how things themselves exist, how reality exists was a lot more confusing. So there are these things called the two extremes. Report an error in the passage at 55:16 Highlight the passage at 55:16

55:32 Nihilism. Is thinking that, well, if things don't exist inherently the way I see them, the way I've always seen them, then they don't exist at all. Report an error in the passage at 55:32 Highlight the passage at 55:32

55:45 So a lot of times if you do come to the Wednesday night class and Geshe was talking about these different schools, that's always the answer for like the first three schools. It's like, what is the problem here? And everyone raises their hand and they all give different answers. It's always that. This school is understanding emptiness incorrectly. They are seeing things. If things don't exist inherently, then they don't exist at all. Report an error in the passage at 55:45 Highlight the passage at 55:45

56:09 It keeps coming up, then they don't exist at all. And obviously things exist, right? So that's not what we're saying. We're simply saying that they don't exist in the way that we've always believed that they exist. The way that things exist to our eyes, the way things exist to our mouth, to our hands. Report an error in the passage at 56:09 Highlight the passage at 56:09

56:29 They don't exist in that way, because that way is this whole embellished way. Things don't exist in that way. But of course they exist. They exist as a dependent arising. Things exist dependently, that's all. They don't exist independently, the way it looks like. Something's just out there, independent of my mind, my karma, my understanding of reality and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 56:29 Highlight the passage at 56:29

56:52 So nihilism is one extreme. And then of course, you know, a lot of times... Two, where you fall into the problem with nihilism is not only that it's bleak, but there's this really wrong view aspect of it where we think, well, it's all empty, right? And you hear this with new Buddhists, too, people who don't really have an understanding of Buddhism and they haven't really studied emptiness very much. And so they say, oh, it's all empty, right? Report an error in the passage at 56:52 Highlight the passage at 56:52

57:23 First of all, what does that mean? you know. Report an error in the passage at 57:23 Highlight the passage at 57:23

57:28 But that usually means it doesn't matter what I do. It doesn't matter how I act. Ethics don't matter anymore. And that's completely wrong view. Ethics totally matter. If things are empty, then karma totally works and we can become Buddhists, so nothing else matters more than our ethics. How we treat each other is how and how we treat ourselves and how we behave. Report an error in the passage at 57:28 Highlight the passage at 57:28

57:55 It's how we create the karma that allows us to become that because we don't inherently exist. We are not permanent beings, thankfully. We're constantly changing, so why not change for the better? Report an error in the passage at 57:55 Highlight the passage at 57:55

58:09 If I step out onto the street in front of this, if me as a non-inherently existent person steps out in front of a non-inherently existent cab, I'm going to get hit and my legs are going to break. you know it's not Saying that just because I don't exist in this independent way that I can't get harmed or that things can't happen to me. Report an error in the passage at 58:09 Highlight the passage at 58:09

58:34 Things function and karma functions. So nihilism is completely missing the plot. Eternalism is where we already are. That's thinking that everything is eternal. Everything is solid. Everything is real. as Venerable Urbana would say. Report an error in the passage at 58:34 Highlight the passage at 58:34

58:52 Everything is, know, permanent. Everything is absolute. And that's where we currently are. Everything is exactly the way I see it with my eyes or ears or taste buds, you know, where my senses, whatever my senses tell me, that's exactly how things exist. And that's eternalism. So the middle way, you know, what Lama Tsongkhapa is always talking about, the middle way, that's somewhere between the two. Report an error in the passage at 58:52 Highlight the passage at 58:52

59:23 So it's not saying that things exist in this permanent, solid, It's the absolute way that they seem to exist, that my senses tell me they exist. And then it's not saying that things don't exist at all, that there's just sort of this void, that there's sort of this weird sort of space thing. I don't even know exactly about nihilism. But it's not nihilism. It's somewhere in between the two. It's simply saying things don't exist the way our senses tell us, but they do exist. Report an error in the passage at 59:23 Highlight the passage at 59:23

59:56 Things still function. The only thing that really matters is what we do with this information. What matters is that we can create the karma to actually experience life as a holy being and to have the power and the capacity to actually help others. And we do that by creating the karma and by purifying the negative karma that we've already created. Report an error in the passage at 59:56 Highlight the passage at 59:56

1:00:23 And that's how enlightenment happens. And it happens because things only exist as dependent arisings and don't exist as these absolute things that we believe exist, ourselves included, probably beginning with ourselves. In our school, we actually believe, in the Galukva tradition, we actually believe that when we have this direct perception of emptiness, the object of our meditation is this self. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:23 Highlight the passage at 1:00:23

1:00:53 This thing called I. And so that's why we're really spending a lot of time on the I. Also because that's the one that gets us the most into trouble. It's bad enough that we see each other in this absolute sense. It's bad enough that we have, you know, we have this relationship with objects in our life. But the thing that really gets us into the most trouble is the sense of ourself as this unchanging, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:53 Highlight the passage at 1:00:53

1:01:19 existent. We spend the most time analyzing that. That's the homework for this week. When I say this week, of course, you guys have a few weeks. You can spend some time on Defendant Arising, which we got last night, and then some time on looking for this eye. And again, when we look for this I, we want to think about a time that the I arose really strongly. So we're not just looking for the I that's sitting in a class right now, because that I is a validly existent I, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:19 Highlight the passage at 1:01:19

1:01:58 That I hasn't so far gotten us into trouble unless I suddenly turned to you and said, oh, wait a second, you were the last one here last week, you took it. And then the I comes up. And the I also comes up really positively, right? So if we're at work and the boss suddenly says, oh yeah, he created this plan. This is the one that got us a million dollars. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:58 Highlight the passage at 1:01:58

1:02:19 And then you're like, yeah. Then the I gets really big too. So it comes up in positive times too. It's like, that's when it feels really, really big. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:19 Highlight the passage at 1:02:19

1:02:29 Excuse us. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:29 Highlight the passage at 1:02:29

1:02:38 It's that nun in there playing her music. The nun. The non-inherently existent Janet who has now transformed Palma. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:38 Highlight the passage at 1:02:38

1:02:59 All right, so any questions about what we've just been talking about? And then we're going to take a break and then we're going to just sort of finish the text a little bit and then end with a meditation. I'll guide you on this meditation looking for the eye so you have some idea of how to go about it on your own. Any questions? Do you have the mic? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:59 Highlight the passage at 1:02:59

1:03:22 You got it, right? Perfectly, yeah. That's so cool. That's so great. Do you want to get here? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:22 Highlight the passage at 1:03:22

1:03:32 Who else? Any questions? You're thinking. You're puzzling. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:32 Highlight the passage at 1:03:32

1:03:47 Christine. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:47 Highlight the passage at 1:03:47

1:04:00 So you're saying if you have a being and other beings are observing it, they're going to have different experiences because their karma is ripening and that's causing their experience. and then I'm... Report an error in the passage at 1:04:00 Highlight the passage at 1:04:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:04:12 Well, amongst other things. Obviously, low light or their position in the room or whether they had a bad day. So it could be non-conventional causes and conditions, too. Okay. So say I'm here and there's two Buddhas with perfect perception. Could be, actually. Right. But, you know, they have a direct perception. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:12 Highlight the passage at 1:04:12

1:04:32 There's no delusions. Do they both perceive me the same way in one given moment? Yeah. The Buddhas do, for sure, yeah, because they no longer have these afflicted states of mind. And they are creating karma, but their karma is untainted, so it's like this pure karma. And so it only nets this sort of blissful experience and this clarity of mind, and they just keep creating the causes to be as clear and unbiased and so forth as they are. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:32 Highlight the passage at 1:04:32

1:05:03 So yeah, the Buddhas, all the... Maybe everybody else is a Buddha in here, except for me. I can only speak for myself. So I'm the only deluded one looking at you, and I have this one view, and everybody else is seeing you in this other way. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:03 Highlight the passage at 1:05:03

1:05:22 But all those Buddhas still have separate minds, and we've talked about that before. They all have separate minds. It's not like some big Buddha mind in the sky seeing Christine. It's like all of us, we become Buddhas, and we all have separate mind streams that have gotten perfected. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:22 Highlight the passage at 1:05:22

1:05:38 But we now, because they are equally perfected, then we can see her as a dependent arising and her lack of inherent existence. And we all see that equally, because we've all had that realization. Somebody else? Somebody else? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:38 Highlight the passage at 1:05:38

1:06:00 Okay. Why don't you take a break? About five minutes, and then we'll come back and finish. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:00 Highlight the passage at 1:06:00

1:06:25 Okay, that's fine, that's fine. I won't take it personally. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:25 Highlight the passage at 1:06:25

1:06:32 Wow, he got scared by the missing eye. He's running out to look for it. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:32 Highlight the passage at 1:06:32

1:06:51 You have to leave right now? Oh, okay, okay. So did you get the homework last one? Oh, you did. Okay, good. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:51 Highlight the passage at 1:06:51

1:07:00 Tuesday. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:00 Highlight the passage at 1:07:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:08:01 they aren't seeing you thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:01 Highlight the passage at 1:08:01

1:08:07 seeing you in all Report an error in the passage at 1:08:07 Highlight the passage at 1:08:07

1:08:21 So it's almost like there's a weird Report an error in the passage at 1:08:21 Highlight the passage at 1:08:21

1:08:29 thing in the way we think. I mean, it's like I don't see how many of them are doing this Report an error in the passage at 1:08:29 Highlight the passage at 1:08:29

1:08:45 text or this text, you know, so it's kind of hard, but that's kind of what I've gotten, Report an error in the passage at 1:08:45 Highlight the passage at 1:08:45

1:08:54 which is the cool thing, because then they see our potential. You know what I mean? We get caught up with that solidity, and then they're actually, they can look at you and see how you're coming along in the past, present, future. I mean, there's no more time. It's almost like now I can imagine. But in that moment then, anything's missing. And that's part of probably why they're so happy all the time. And even when they see the suffering of somebody, that suffering could be the very thing that in the next moment they could gain some realization. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:54 Highlight the passage at 1:08:54

1:09:26 So it's not like, I mean, it's not like it makes them sad in that way because they always see their potential. They always see what's happening. And maybe they can see and know how close we are when we can't see it ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:26 Highlight the passage at 1:09:26

1:09:42 Which is actually kind of cool. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:42 Highlight the passage at 1:09:42

1:09:47 And still love us even when we're screwing up and not doing our homework. You know what I mean? And not doing whatever we said we'd do and all that stuff. I mean, that's the cool thing, too. They have limitless compassion, too. Yeah, it's kind of cool. Sometimes I try to think about that when I look around at each other and I just see, like, what would they see? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:47 Highlight the passage at 1:09:47

1:10:09 Just kind of play with that. Right, Report an error in the passage at 1:10:09 Highlight the passage at 1:10:09

1:10:29 yeah. I always kind of imagine them like... You know, there's this one story of Dilgo Kensei Rinpoche and Tsongkhapa Rinpoche sitting there. There's all these students all sitting around, you know, watching them the way we always do with the Rinpoches at the airport and stuff. And they were just sitting there, you know, quietly. And then all of a sudden, Dilgo Kensei Rinpoche leaned forward and said, you know, they call this a tree. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:29 Highlight the passage at 1:10:29

1:10:56 And then they just both laughed and laughed and laughed. And it was like, what? I mean, that's what I think, we just have no idea what they see or what they think or whatever, but they clearly both got it, right? So it's like, yeah, I just think it's just all this sort of trip in a way, you know, but like not like in a chaotic way that a trip would be a Report an error in the passage at 1:10:56 Highlight the passage at 1:10:56

1:11:22 hallucination or a drug trip or anything like that, but in a way it's close to that because it's so different from Lama Report an error in the passage at 1:11:22 Highlight the passage at 1:11:22

1:11:33 and that's probably why they're just always so late. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:33 Highlight the passage at 1:11:33

1:11:37 We come into the room and we see a door frame and walls and tables and drinks. They come in and they're like, whoa, cool. It's like this completely different experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:37 Highlight the passage at 1:11:37

1:12:00 Lamyesha used to always say, because of course he got popular at the time that everybody was trying all these. And he said, you know, nothing's wrong with trying these drugs because you're trying to, you know, expand your mind and see what, you know, what we see. He didn't say what we see, but what Buddhists see. But don't stop there. Like, don't keep taking the drugs. Your mind can get there on its own. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:00 Highlight the passage at 1:12:00

1:12:27 He was like, I can understand, you know, you guys want to try these things out and have this experience of a different kind of reality. That's okay. But don't keep doing it because you're just damaging your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:27 Highlight the passage at 1:12:27

1:12:38 Now realize that you can get to those in places just for meditation and practice and things like that. You don't need the drugs. So he never really said, you know, drugs are bad or anything like that. He was like, no, I get it. I know what you're trying to do. And that's cool, but don't just stay there. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:38 Highlight the passage at 1:12:38

1:13:00 Can. Yeah, can. And that's why he said not to continue, you know. Yeah. But not all. I think, you know, having one experience of it where you realize that reality might be different than you thought. And then continuing to explore reality through meditation or through, you know, I don't think that's so bad. I think our problem, of course, in a desire realm is that we keep wanting more, you know, and keep feeding that desire. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:00 Highlight the passage at 1:13:00

1:13:27 So that's when it becomes, yeah, that's when it starts. I think only because we keep wanting more of the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:27 Highlight the passage at 1:13:27

1:13:39 Yeah, big time. Big time attachment, yeah. All right, so. The three principal paths that we've spent this whole class kind of examining really are the essence of the whole lamrim. And so the lamrim is what we spend all of the Discovering Buddhism classes on. And they say that unless we have a realization, not just an understanding, but a realization of these three, that we'll never really be able to enter Tantra, much less have success with Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:39 Highlight the passage at 1:13:39

1:14:18 The reason is because if we don't have renunciation, we'll still be really attached to this life and what people think of us, so we won't really practice very hard. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:18 Highlight the passage at 1:14:18

1:14:30 We'll still be living in the world in that way that we'll never really make progress. If we don't have bodhicitta in our mind stream, which is the baseline motivation for ever entering tantra, they say, Report an error in the passage at 1:14:30 Highlight the passage at 1:14:30

1:14:48 A lot of times people ask, you know, what's the prerequisites for taking this or that empowerment or so forth. It always has to be some level of bodhicitta. That should always be the bottom line for entering tantra. You don't want to become a Buddha faster for yourself. You want to become a Buddha faster because it's unbearable to you that so many beings are suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:48 Highlight the passage at 1:14:48

1:15:14 And that you could do something about it. That's the only reason to enter tantra. Even if it's thoroughly contrived. And at our level it usually is. Like we aren't really there yet. I mean if you are who you seem to be. I know for me. You're not doing it for yourself. You're doing it so that you can help remove the suffering of all beings as quickly as possible. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:14 Highlight the passage at 1:15:14

1:15:35 That's why we want to get enlightened as quickly as possible. And tantra is a way. And theoretically, if we really throw ourselves into it, we could get enlightened in one brief lifetime, they say. In three years, it's possible. But I'm here to tell you that you've got to throw yourself into it and basically just give up all aspects of a normal life. But even so, they say, as long as you don't seriously break the bowels, which is hard enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:35 Highlight the passage at 1:15:35

1:16:06 You will attain enlightenment in 16 lifetimes, which is a drop in the bucket comparatively. But our baseline motivation has to be bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:06 Highlight the passage at 1:16:06

1:16:17 And then if we don't both intellectually and experientially connect with or understand emptiness, we won't ever be able to understand how tantra works. So it'll just be like a game. We'll just pretend that we're... you know, I'll be, you know. Yamataka today, I'll be Manjushri tomorrow, but it's still me, because I still believe in this inherently existent me. If we don't really let go of that, if we don't really start dissolving in our own mind this sort of solid world that surrounds us, there's no way that any of the principles of Tantra can actually work. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:17 Highlight the passage at 1:16:17

1:16:55 So we have to understand this. We have to spend, like I said, thousands of hours of studying and meditating on it. Of course we don't know how many thousands of hours we already have in other lifetimes. That's the good news. Something may click in an instant, as Lama Tsongkhapa said. And it can come in a flash. So it still may come. So the final text, the final verse of the text is, when you've grasped, as well as I, the essential points of... Report an error in the passage at 1:16:55 Highlight the passage at 1:16:55

1:17:27 Each of the three principal paths explained, then go into isolation, my son, make mighty efforts and quickly win your ultimate wish. So here he's really telling us, he's telling his disciple, but through this verse he's telling us to go into isolation, which really means retreat. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:27 Highlight the passage at 1:17:27

1:17:48 And ultimately speaking, you know, we're never going to get enlightened if we don't do retreat. I mean, it's true. We start with this, you know, trying to do the little analytical meditation assignments in classes like this. That's where it starts. And then sometimes we might have a little bit more time on the weekend and we do a little bit more. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:48 Highlight the passage at 1:17:48

1:18:09 And then at some point we might get brave and go down to like Vajrapani or Landa Medicine Buddha. Group retreat is a great way to start because you sort of learn how to set up a retreat. You don't have to figure it all out from a book, you know. You'll have a group leader. You'll see how the altars are set and how often they're changed. You have an idea of how each session might work for the best outcome for being able to work with your mind, the kind of discipline that you need in retreat. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:09 Highlight the passage at 1:18:09

1:18:38 You learn all that in a group retreat. And then ultimately... You know, getting brave and doing like your first little weekend retreat and then maybe a week retreat, which feels like forever, you know, the first time, you know, and things like that. So that's really what we can build up to it, build up to a month, build up to two months, even with busy lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:38 Highlight the passage at 1:18:38

1:19:01 We can. We really can. We can actually build up to it. One of my teachers used to say that once you make a commitment to being a Buddhist and to doing this path, really to try to take an average of two months a year. But it can be broken up. He said, you know, it's okay. You could do a week here, a weekend here, you know, like that. It's hard because, of course, it means you can't go visit your, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:01 Highlight the passage at 1:19:01

1:19:27 Grandpa and whatever. You have to give up some things in order to do it. But you can even do it and have a really busy life and a normal job. And at this point, some of us can't do it, right? Daniel was talking about that. You're not going to give up the kids. And maybe you're at this point where it's not going to happen. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:27 Highlight the passage at 1:19:27

1:19:46 But that doesn't mean forever. At some point, those kids will go to college. We hope. You know, and so you just kind of begin with doing a little bit here, a little bit there as you can. That's all. And you're happy with that because your other practices is your relationship with the kids, and that's huge for mind training. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:46 Highlight the passage at 1:19:46

1:20:07 So, you know, there are huge benefits. And there are, of course, huge benefits for working with your boss, too. So those of us who have jobs, we can still use that to transform our minds. So nothing is wasted. But I'm just saying, I'm giving a little advertisement for at some point trying to do retreat, even if you don't think you're quite ready. I mean, I could have you stand up and give an advertisement for doing a retreat. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:07 Highlight the passage at 1:20:07

1:20:32 At some point, after you've studied for a while, you know, especially Vajrapani every year does a Kopan West retreat, which is a 10-day retreat, two weekends and the week in between. They do it every year, I think usually in November-ish. And they have different people come and lead it. And then they go through the whole lamrim in a single, you know, chunk of time. So after you've attended a number of the Discovering Buddhism classes, if not the whole two years, then when you go down, it's all encapsulated. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:32 Highlight the passage at 1:20:32

1:21:07 It's like, it's really, it goes really deep, really fast. The same is true at Copan, our sort of mother. The birthplace of the FPMT at Kopan Monastery outside of Kathmandu. Every November they do a one-month course that also deals with the whole lamrim in a single month. And they have meditations in the morning and teachings in the morning and afternoon and discussion group and practices in the evening and stories about Lama Yeshe with Anikaran at night. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:07 Highlight the passage at 1:21:07

1:21:42 I mean, it's so beautiful. All you do is show up. You don't have to plan anything. It's just like the nicest way to really go deeply into these teachings. You don't have anything else to do. You've got to get there, and it does take a certain amount of money, but I think once you get there, it's only like $250 or something. It doesn't cost that much, meals included. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:42 Highlight the passage at 1:21:42

1:22:06 Everything's included. So at some point, I love to plant that seed because every year, I think Seichen Ling sends somebody. So it's always kind of nice. And then that person's life is forever changed. I went twice. I'd happily go again. It's just a really powerful way to take these teachings from the head to below the neck. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:06 Highlight the passage at 1:22:06

1:22:29 It becomes your life. Then it becomes more your life. And it's only going to happen in retreat. So I like to throw in a little bit of advertisement for retreat. Because I think a lot of times we think, well, you know, I'm so busy. I live in the city. That's not me. I remember for years I actually thought, I'm not a meditator. I can't really do retreat. That's for, you know, this friend and this friend and this friend. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:29 Highlight the passage at 1:22:29

1:22:57 And that's okay. And then at some point it was like, not okay. At some point I had to also go and see what it was like. We all have to, even if we're not meditators. It's okay. We still gain insights. We still understand things a lot better just by spending time not being distracted the way we normally are in the city with our computers and things like that, cell phones that go off during class. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:57 Highlight the passage at 1:22:57

1:23:28 Okay, so we're going to do this meditation on the eye, looking for the eye. So again, just get yourself comfy. And then I'll open it up at the end if anybody has any questions. And if you need to go, then it's a little after 8.30 right now. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:28 Highlight the passage at 1:23:28

1:23:50 So it's quite useful, I think, to think about a moment when that eye got really real for you. It might be a time that you were really afraid or you were really angry. I think anger really brings it out. Or defensive. Like you're really defensive about something, maybe you're accused of something or criticized in front of people. Remember Shay always says these are the best moments actually, even though in the moment we're squirming, but it helps us see that eye. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:50 Highlight the passage at 1:23:50

1:24:26 It might also be a time that you come close to death. You're in a car that almost gets hit. You're walking across Potrero and somebody almost hits you. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:26 Highlight the passage at 1:24:26

1:24:43 And there's that, whoa. And then you're really aware of that eye. So maybe think about some moment like that recently. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:43 Highlight the passage at 1:24:43

1:25:20 So if you think you've identified it, and this is actually something that takes a long time, is trying to identify the right eye. Because we're not trying to refute the existence of the conventional eye. We're not saying that Christine doesn't exist, John doesn't exist, Chokyi doesn't exist. We do exist. But only in this very... Report an error in the passage at 1:25:20 Highlight the passage at 1:25:20

1:25:46 Transient, moment to moment, changing, fluid, energetic way. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:46 Highlight the passage at 1:25:46

1:25:59 So if you think you've found this I, then start examining it. As one of my teachers says, with the alertness of a spy, Report an error in the passage at 1:25:59 Highlight the passage at 1:25:59

1:26:15 where is this I? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:15 Highlight the passage at 1:26:15

1:26:22 Does it exist somewhere in your body? You Report an error in the passage at 1:26:22 Highlight the passage at 1:26:22

1:26:32 can look at each part of your body and think if the I exists there, in your limbs, maybe in your heart. The way you point to I, I didn't do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:32 Highlight the passage at 1:26:32

1:26:55 Maybe all the way down to the cellular or atomic level. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:55 Highlight the passage at 1:26:55

1:27:01 How does it feel to you? Where does it feel like this I exists? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:01 Highlight the passage at 1:27:01

1:27:32 At some point when you have more time, you can actually go from the crown of your head to the bottom of your feet looking for this I. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:32 Highlight the passage at 1:27:32

1:27:42 Don't take anyone's word for it. Look yourself. Think about how it feels when you get angry or defensive or afraid. Where does it seem like this I exists? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:42 Highlight the passage at 1:27:42

1:28:08 And after you consider your body, Report an error in the passage at 1:28:08 Highlight the passage at 1:28:08

1:28:13 ask yourself again how your I manifests. Does Report an error in the passage at 1:28:13 Highlight the passage at 1:28:13

1:28:20 it still appear to be vivid and concrete the way it did a few minutes ago? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:20 Highlight the passage at 1:28:20

1:28:30 Is your body the I or not? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:30 Highlight the passage at 1:28:30

1:28:52 Maybe you think your mind is the I. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:52 Highlight the passage at 1:28:52

1:28:57 That makes more sense in some ways. Until we start examining how the mind exists. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:57 Highlight the passage at 1:28:57

1:29:13 The mind is this constantly changing stream of thoughts and feelings and all these other mental moments, mental experiences. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:13 Highlight the passage at 1:29:13

1:29:24 Which of these mental moments is the I? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:24 Highlight the passage at 1:29:24

1:29:35 Can you find an I in this tumble of thoughts, conceptions, beliefs, memories? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:35 Highlight the passage at 1:29:35

1:30:13 Is there any other place to look for your I? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:13 Highlight the passage at 1:30:13

1:30:23 Could it exist somewhere else in some other way, not in your body, not in your mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:23 Highlight the passage at 1:30:23

1:30:40 Is it inside of you or outside of you or both? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:40 Highlight the passage at 1:30:40

1:30:54 Sometimes it feels like the eye is in charge of the body and mind, like it owns them or controls them. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:54 Highlight the passage at 1:30:54

1:31:10 Who is this eye? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:10 Highlight the passage at 1:31:10

1:31:30 And again, look at how your eye appears or seems to appear to you after you've been searching for it. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:30 Highlight the passage at 1:31:30

1:31:40 Do you notice any change? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:40 Highlight the passage at 1:31:40

1:31:47 Does it still seem as solid and real as it did before? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:47 Highlight the passage at 1:31:47

1:31:59 Does it still appear to exist independently in and of itself? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:59 Highlight the passage at 1:31:59

1:32:20 You have to hold up this seemingly inherently existent I and probe it, analyze it, dissect it. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:20 Highlight the passage at 1:32:20

1:32:36 When we try to understand emptiness, it's sort of like looking at mercury, slippery, hard to hold on to. You think you get it and then it literally slips away. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:36 Highlight the passage at 1:32:36

1:33:08 And don't make the mistake of thinking, if my body is not the I and my mind is not the I, then I don't exist. You do exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:08 Highlight the passage at 1:33:08

1:33:18 But not in this way that you instinctively feel as independent, inherent and worthy of all those crazy afflicted thoughts like anger, resentment, blame. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:18 Highlight the passage at 1:33:18

1:33:43 Conventionally your self exists in dependence upon your mind and body. And this combination is the basis to which the conceptual thought labels I. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:43 Highlight the passage at 1:33:43

1:34:01 Our mind creates this I and then slaps the label onto this body and mind. Every new life we enter. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:01 Highlight the passage at 1:34:01

1:34:11 This is how things actually exist conventionally. This is the dependent arising of the I. Its ultimate nature is its emptiness of this inherent independent existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:11 Highlight the passage at 1:34:11

1:34:39 So think about how your body exists conventionally. Independence upon skin, blood, bones, legs, arms. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:39 Highlight the passage at 1:34:39

1:34:56 Think about how in turn each of these exists in dependence upon their parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:56 Highlight the passage at 1:34:56

1:35:16 Think about how your mind exists in dependence upon its parts, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, sensations, and Report an error in the passage at 1:35:16 Highlight the passage at 1:35:16

1:35:35 how in turn each of these exists in dependence upon the previous conscious experience that gave rise to them. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:35 Highlight the passage at 1:35:35

1:35:58 Now go back to this feeling of a self or an I and think about how you exist conventionally. Independence upon the mind and body and the name. These are the parts of the self. When Report an error in the passage at 1:35:58 Highlight the passage at 1:35:58

1:36:21 the body feels hunger or cold, for example, you say, I'm hungry, I'm cold. When Report an error in the passage at 1:36:21 Highlight the passage at 1:36:21

1:36:34 the mind has an idea, you say, I think. The Report an error in the passage at 1:36:34 Highlight the passage at 1:36:34

1:36:43 mind has a feeling, you say, I love you. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:43 Highlight the passage at 1:36:43

1:36:56 Apart from this sense of I that depends on this ever-flowing, ever-changing stream of body and mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:56 Highlight the passage at 1:36:56

1:37:05 Is there an I that's solid, unchanging and independent? Report an error in the passage at 1:37:05 Highlight the passage at 1:37:05

1:37:24 The mere absence of such an inherently existent I is the emptiness of the self. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:24 Highlight the passage at 1:37:24

1:37:36 And if the self has no concrete, solid, unchanging existence, then who is there to be angry, to be fearful, Report an error in the passage at 1:37:36 Highlight the passage at 1:37:36

1:37:51 to be afraid, to be resentful? So Report an error in the passage at 1:37:51 Highlight the passage at 1:37:51

1:38:17 let's dedicate this meditation and this class and this course. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:17 Highlight the passage at 1:38:17

1:38:27 To each of us being able to realize renunciation, bodhicitta and the correct view of emptiness in this very life so Report an error in the passage at 1:38:27 Highlight the passage at 1:38:27

1:38:39 we can awaken. And so that we can become whatever it takes to be able to help all living beings without exception. Beginning with ourselves. I'm Report an error in the passage at 1:38:39 Highlight the passage at 1:38:39

1:39:13 starting to make this kind of scary like it's going to do a reverb in a minute. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:13 Highlight the passage at 1:39:13

1:39:20 Alright, any questions or anything that people want to... Mention about that meditation or experiences. For Report an error in the passage at 1:39:20 Highlight the passage at 1:39:20

1:39:37 the past, I guess, let me restart that. Begin that again. I've had experiences, like I ride my bicycle around town. I've had experiences where cars swerve. And I'm on a bike lane and I have no idea I'm there. And, you know, sometimes anger rises. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:37 Highlight the passage at 1:39:37

1:40:03 But lately I've realized when things like that happen, that rises and it just seizes. And it almost seems like it just happened a really long time ago if I try to think about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:03 Highlight the passage at 1:40:03

1:40:18 And now I'm in this breath and it's something that it's not consciously there. I'm not trying to avoid me pushing that event so that I'm not angry. It's just I am down the street now. It almost seems like it happened a really long time ago. And I haven't tried to try to make sense of it. It's sort of a pleasant feeling as well where I don't have to hold on to these sort of negative events where this I is in danger of getting hit. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:18 Highlight the passage at 1:40:18

1:40:58 But at the same time, it's sort of I don't know what's happening. I think, you know, what my experience of that is, is when we're practicing, we still have the habit of getting angry, right? And so the anger arises, even if we don't even believe that reality is happening as it seems to be reality. Sometimes, as it seems to be happening, sometimes it's sort of like we still go through the motions. Sometimes I'll see myself behaving in a habitual way, almost like I'm another person. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:58 Highlight the passage at 1:40:58

1:41:31 And I can't quite stop it yet. But I don't believe in it in the same way. It's almost like, well, why am I saying this to her? Because I don't even, you know, so I kind of think that happens. I think it's this kind of schizophrenic existence that we go through. It's like a Buddhist kind of weird bardo that we've got a certain amount of understanding, but not fully the realizations to back it up yet. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:31 Highlight the passage at 1:41:31

1:41:56 And so I think that's part of what happens is like the anger still arises, but we don't. It doesn't have to become this huge thing anymore. You don't have to spiral out of control with it anymore. It just arises and can fall away and you just can move on. Which I think is a breakthrough, but it's not enough. We have to keep going. Yeah, my days sometimes at work, when I'm done with work and I'm at home and I'm sitting, feels like it happened a really long time ago. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:56 Highlight the passage at 1:41:56

1:42:30 Again, I haven't been trying to make sense of it. I've just been just letting it go just the same way as just letting it go and watch it. That's right, yeah, just watch it. And I don't know if it's... I do a lot of single-pointed meditation where I just see things and thoughts as transparent and emotions rise and they cease. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:30 Highlight the passage at 1:42:30

1:42:49 That's right, yeah. And I don't know if that's sort of manifesting itself in everything that I'm doing. It seems like it is. It should be, yeah. I mean, that is one of the things that's our goal is that we don't leave it. when we get back up again. But yeah, that's one of the nice side effects of meditating, for example, on the breath or something like that. All the thoughts that arise, they actually disappear again too. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:49 Highlight the passage at 1:42:49

1:43:14 Like we don't have to chase them all down the street the way we used to do. And so because most of the harm and the danger of this world has been created by really believing 100 % in our thoughts. Everything from 9-1-1 on down. It's believing so strongly in a thought. And in reality, thoughts arise. They often say that idea like clouds in the sky. It just disappears quickly. If we ever spent a time lying on your back as a little kid looking at the clouds in the sky, they just come together, they fall apart. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:14 Highlight the passage at 1:43:14

1:43:51 They come together, they fall apart. Or like waves on the sea. Our thoughts are exactly like that. Arise, fall away, arise, fall away. And apparently, since beginning this time, they are not that exciting. We, in our experience, tend to hold on to them and grasp on to them. But the experience of meditation, we see that we don't need to. Another one's coming. You know when you were a little kid, and I would pick out a wave and watch it. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:51 Highlight the passage at 1:43:51

1:44:21 I'd almost get attached to a wave, and then suddenly it'd be gone. And then another one would come, our thoughts are exactly like that. Is that gearing more towards, what would you say that is, like understanding the mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:21 Highlight the passage at 1:44:21

1:44:36 Impermanence a little bit as well? It's beginning to understand the mind. I don't know so much about impermanence, although to some degree the impermanence of thoughts. Because like I'm saying, we tend to look at inanimate or even other beings. Inanimate objects or even other beings with emptiness, but we also believe 100 % in our beliefs and our thoughts. If I have a thought arising about a person, for example, I'll believe in that 100 % without examining it. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:36 Highlight the passage at 1:44:36

1:45:07 And that doesn't exist inherently either. So getting to understand the emptiness of our thoughts is another step. We start with thinking of the emptiness of the pen, but getting it down to the emptiness of the thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:07 Highlight the passage at 1:45:07

1:45:22 And then even the mind that's thinking, which is getting a little woo-woo. Anybody else? Thank you. Experience or anybody find their eye? Their inherently existent eye? That eye that I was getting hit by the car? Yeah. Or I got pissed off with somebody? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:22 Highlight the passage at 1:45:22

1:45:49 So you have to keep doing this one. I mean, a lot of times, I think I must have done it literally a hundred times before I had some sort of an insight of the fact that... There was some part of me that still sort of believed that the eye was somewhere in the mind. Because that one makes the most sense to me. Body, yeah, it's clear. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:49 Highlight the passage at 1:45:49

1:46:08 This isn't the eye if I look at my hand or something. And there's actually a really great walking meditation in Virtue and Reality, that book by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, where you're really, not a walking meditation in terms of the Theravadan tradition, but a walking meditation where you're actually looking for the eye as you're walking. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:08 Highlight the passage at 1:46:08

1:46:27 But who is this walking? Who is the thinking? You're sort of examining. It's something about movement. It kind of makes you think about it in a different way. Once I did that, I always take that practice into retreat with me, and I try to do like 10, 15 minutes of that each time because it's a little different than sitting on the cushion and thinking about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:27 Highlight the passage at 1:46:27

1:46:47 It's just something different about the body moving. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:47 Highlight the passage at 1:46:47

1:46:53 That's what I was going with. I lost my thought on that one. All right. Who was paying attention? um... Report an error in the passage at 1:46:53 Highlight the passage at 1:46:53

1:46:59 Where was I right before I said that? Yeah, I said that. Virtue and reality before that. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:59 Highlight the passage at 1:46:59

1:47:10 Finding the eye, yeah, yeah. Oh, so then all of a sudden I was in a retreat. It was actually Lama Tsongkhapa Rinpoche retreat in Mexico. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:10 Highlight the passage at 1:47:10

1:47:22 And Venable René was the Western leader of that retreat and he was leading a meditation looking for the eye. And he started getting down to the really subtle way that the mind exists, that it does exist, you know, in these like blips of mental experiences. And then you know how sometimes when you're doing a meditation on the mind and you're sort of, you're thinking about the space between the thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:22 Highlight the passage at 1:47:22

1:47:51 There actually is a space between the thoughts. And then we kind of got into that, and then we got into the fact that even that doesn't exist the way we think. And there was almost that moment of, because some part of me was believing that somehow in there was the I, and then I realized that it just didn't exist in that way. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:51 Highlight the passage at 1:47:51

1:48:10 I'm not saying that I had some great realization, but for me it was just kind of like, whoa, it was like a wake-up moment. And that's what we have to have, because that's... At some level, we can go, yeah, yeah, yeah, it doesn't exist. But we're not really looking anymore. We have to look in this. As I'm leading you, I have to kind of do it the same, you know, the pace that I think is going to help us end the class on time. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:10 Highlight the passage at 1:48:10

1:48:33 But if you're at home, take time, you know. If you only have ten minutes, that's okay. But sometimes take a little bit longer where you're not so rushed and really try to examine. Because you'll catch yourself thinking that it exists somewhere where it might surprise you. And it's not there. And it's not saying that it was there and we've gotten rid of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:33 Highlight the passage at 1:48:33

1:48:56 It's saying it never could have been there. It never could have existed in that way. It's impossible for it to. Everything exists only dependently. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:56 Highlight the passage at 1:48:56

1:49:07 So it only exists. The I only exists independence upon this mind and this body, which only exists independence upon their parts. Which only exist in dependence upon their parts. So what's there? Remember Jay says it's almost like it's not there but it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:07 Highlight the passage at 1:49:07

1:49:29 Like it's almost like nothing exists but it does. We don't want to go too far off and jump off that cliff of nihilism, right? So we have to be really careful of that. But if we can even get a taste when you have that moment of anger. Or like I tell that story about in New York where something had happened and I was going off into a Klesha attack, a mental affliction attack. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:29 Highlight the passage at 1:49:29

1:49:55 And I was getting upset and I was starting to spiral down, as I call it. All the forces of anger and resentment come in and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger and more and more real and more and more important. And all of a sudden I just thought, oh, I don't have to do this. It doesn't actually exist this way. And it was just this... Report an error in the passage at 1:49:55 Highlight the passage at 1:49:55

1:50:14 Such a revelation. It was almost like all the little army of afflicted thoughts was all like, what? What did she just do? You know, it was like all 500 of them had come out in the mind and they're all kind of like, what's going on? It was almost a little bit like you were almost, it was almost like postpartum. It was almost a little bit depressing. You're like, we were all ready for a really big glacier attack and now we don't have to do one. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:14 Highlight the passage at 1:50:14

1:50:36 And this was all happening while I was walking and by the time I finished, you know, the walk. I was totally happy. I was totally fine. It didn't have to go off. It's not to say I don't have any Klesha attacks since that moment, but that moment showed me that my ignorance is what's causing those Klesha attacks and my belief in them as real is what caused them to go on and on and on. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:36 Highlight the passage at 1:50:36

1:50:57 They don't have to go on and on. We can have the habit of getting angry and then we can also decide not to follow it, but it just takes time. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:57 Highlight the passage at 1:50:57

1:51:10 But this belief in this inherently existent I is what allows us to get angry and hurt and resentful, right? Because otherwise, who is there to get angry and hurt and resentful? Report an error in the passage at 1:51:10 Highlight the passage at 1:51:10

1:51:23 If someone's screaming at me, who cares? It's just decibels. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:23 Highlight the passage at 1:51:23

1:51:31 It's easier said than done, isn't it? Did you have another question or thought? Report an error in the passage at 1:51:31 Highlight the passage at 1:51:31

1:51:41 Well, it was more of a, I guess, I don't know if it was a question or not, but any realization? Conceived through thoughts from my understanding, my limited understanding, it's just not true realization. Right. But we can only get to this non-conceptual understanding of emptiness through concepts. Conceptual thoughts. Because that's the kind of beings we are. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:41 Highlight the passage at 1:51:41

1:52:07 So we get at it conceptually and then at some point we have to leave it all behind. It's sort of like they say the boat that carries us across the river. Once we get to the other shore, we can leave the boat. But we need the boat for now. We need the thoughts. We need the concepts. So a thought is sort of a vessel. It's a vessel to get there. And then at some point we have this non-conceptual experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:07 Highlight the passage at 1:52:07

1:52:35 Thank you. So just a couple of announcements one last time. I know I've said them every single time, but I'm still saying them. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:35 Highlight the passage at 1:52:35

1:52:43 Our practice day is going to be on the 24th of March. And I, how many of you got the email that I sent out changing that? So I think everyone, Russ, I'm so sorry. So you did not get it. So I'll make sure you're on the list. And then I'll try to, I'll send out an email that week just to remind everybody because that's a fair amount of time from now just to remind us. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:43 Highlight the passage at 1:52:43

1:53:10 But mark your calendars. It'll be a potluck, so if everyone could just bring something vegetarian to share. If you're really busy, just bring bread or something, you know, that's okay, or cookies or something like that. If you have a little bit more time, it's nice if at least one person makes real food, and I don't know who you are, and you can decide the night before, that's okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:10 Highlight the passage at 1:53:10

1:53:32 You don't have to tell me in advance. It always seems to work out. I don't think we've ever, a couple of times we've come close to having. Three different things that were all pretty much the same, but somehow it does always work out, you know, it's okay. It should be vegetarian, yeah. No, no, no, not vegan, just vegetarian, yeah, yeah. So, just no meat, that's all, yeah, just because it's a Buddhist event. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:32 Highlight the passage at 1:53:32

1:54:03 So, and then the other thing is, I gave you guys that list, oh, I didn't give you guys the list. Well, I'm giving it to you now. The list of presentation ideas. Look it over. If you don't see one that speaks to you and you have another idea and it really is something that you gained from the course, just send me an email and I'll okay it or not. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:03 Highlight the passage at 1:54:03

1:54:23 I just want to know before you just start talking in cases, you know, because sometimes people will just talk about their feelings and that's great, but it's not quite the point of the exercise. The exercise is to try to think of something that you learned that means something to you. And to try to explain it to us as though we weren't there. Because a lot of it actually might not have been. Even if we're in the room, right? We might not remember. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:23 Highlight the passage at 1:54:23

1:54:47 And it's okay to use your notes, you know, it's okay like that, like that's okay. You can also choose to lead a meditation. So if one of the meditations was really nice for you, and I always wonder why more people don't do this, because you can totally read it then, you know, all of us have our eyes closed. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:47 Highlight the passage at 1:54:47

1:55:03 It's totally, that's the easy way out. And it's great. I like it when a couple of people lead meditations. And again, you don't have to check it out. It's not like only one of you can do one thing. Very rarely, and most of the time it ends up that people choose different things, but very rarely we'll have two people do the same thing and their angle on it will be different enough that it's still useful. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:03 Highlight the passage at 1:55:03

1:55:26 So that's fine. It's also okay if you want to come to the day and you just really don't want to do a presentation. That's okay too. I mean, I was the first that would always drop out of any college class that had a presentation, oral presentation, be like, next class. So I can totally understand that. It is lower key than... Report an error in the passage at 1:55:26 Highlight the passage at 1:55:26

1:55:46 Then we might think if we've never done it before. It's very, very low key. I mean, honestly, you can just read your notes and we're happy with that. You know, it's OK. It doesn't have to be perfect. You don't have to do glitter or PowerPoint or, you know, like it doesn't have to be anything big like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:46 Highlight the passage at 1:55:46

1:56:04 It's just sharing. We just sit sort of in a circle. and then, and then I, If I were you, I'd volunteer to go first because then you can just relax. I'm always surprised that more people don't just go, okay, let me just get it all the way. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:04 Highlight the passage at 1:56:04

1:56:19 So that's it about the practice day. The practice day will be 10.30. It starts after the morning meditation. That's why we started at 10.30. So if you really want to have an extra special meditation day, then come to the meditation also. And then we do a drop-in meditation every Saturday morning. at 'clock, 9 to 10. So our practice day will be 10.30 to, usually last around to 3.30 or 4. It just depends on how many people were actually I think probably I didn't write down who said they could come from last night, so I'll probably just send it out to the whole list. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:19 Highlight the passage at 1:56:19

1:56:57 and you know and then so Even if you tell me now that you're not coming, don't worry, just delete. It's like I told her I can't come, delete, that's okay. It's easier for me than trying to figure out you said you could and you can't and you might have changed your mind or your work got canceled or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:57 Highlight the passage at 1:56:57

1:57:17 So I'm just going to send it out to the whole list and remind everybody that it's coming and everybody bring a dish and then have fun. But it is a really nice way to end the class, and I'm really sorry about the interruption that we have, but that just allows you to look for the eye a little bit more, a little bit longer. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:17 Highlight the passage at 1:57:17

1:57:34 And believe me, I get to look for my eye too. March 24th. March 24th. No, that's right. Theo didn't get the email either because he doesn't do email, so you're not alone. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:34 Highlight the passage at 1:57:34

1:57:46 So you better write it down. You can remind him. Yeah. Okay, so just the announcements about the things coming up. Guy Newland is coming next weekend, and I really hope that we have a good turnout. We don't have that much in pre-registration, so I'm really hoping. I think it's such an honor to have him, and so I'm really hoping that we do have a good turnout. John Landell coming on March 16th and 17th, teaching about this really powerful meditation I was talking about last night, taking and giving. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:46 Highlight the passage at 1:57:46

1:58:20 That's quite simple to learn, but quite powerful. And it would also be nice to have him come up again. So I'm kind of hoping if we have a good turnout. He teaches the Discovering Buddhism program at Land of Medicine Buddha. He's the one who wrote Buddhism for Dummies. Art of Enlightenment, he was also the author of that and collected all the art in that. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:20 Highlight the passage at 1:58:20

1:58:44 He's been around for like 30, 40 years, so it would be lovely to have a good turnout for him too. And Tipton Chodron, as I mentioned, is coming on Tuesday the 20th, talking about injecting our practice with a little joyful effort. For the moments when we can't stand it. And also, Venerable Carol is going to be teaching the Death and Rebirth class, which begins on Thursday night, the 22nd, and will go through, I think, the first Thursday in May, which goes really deeply into what death is, which is really just the karma for this life ending, and then the new karma for the next life beginning. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:44 Highlight the passage at 1:58:44

1:59:28 We have it all combined with our attachment for our body and our friends and everything, but in bare reality it's simply this karma ends and this karma begins, like that. So there's some very cool meditations in that one that sort of prepare us for the one thing that is certain. And then after that, the first Thursday in June, I'll teach the class on the spiritual teacher for people to think about how you choose your spiritual teachers, especially how you find your main teacher, the root guru, the big guy or woman, the capital S, the capital T spiritual teacher. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:28 Highlight the passage at 1:59:28

2:00:10 And up until that moment, how do we prepare ourselves to be students? How do we work with instructors and other lower-level teachers to build up to this relationship, this really life-changing relationship that allows us to get enlightened. So that'll be the spiritual teacher class, and that's the one after that. So great. Thank you so much. Thanks for your flexibility with being able to come tonight and changing the practice day. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:10 Highlight the passage at 2:00:10

2:00:41 I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:41 Highlight the passage at 2:00:41

2:00:47 yeah? Is it a performance? Here she comes, she's going to do. Just a few things to Venerable Chokyi. On behalf of all of us, we want to thank you for every word, minute and hour that you have shared with us over the last month or so. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:47 Highlight the passage at 2:00:47

2:01:12 Your teachings have truly inspired us all to become more mindful people and has brought benefit to our everyday lives. And I think it has resonated in each of our own minds in our own way. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:12 Highlight the passage at 2:01:12

2:01:30 So thank you for sharing your knowledge with us and being such an inspiration to each and every one of us. Thank you for everything you do for the Center and all the people who come for the Center. um... Report an error in the passage at 2:01:30 Highlight the passage at 2:01:30

2:01:43 You bring an enormous amount of benefit. And we know that the next couple of weeks or maybe impossible months, you might be going through some difficulties. So I want you to know that you have the support of each and every one of us. And you'll be in our thoughts and our prayers and our practices. Yeah, even better. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:43 Highlight the passage at 2:01:43

2:02:05 And we wish you all the best. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:05 Highlight the passage at 2:02:05

2:02:10 I think he's going out for future director or something. Just a few more years. Thank you very much. Thank you. I was actually slightly mortified about that email that went out about my health. But I am very grateful for prayers and practices. The way it works, of course, is that you can't give me the good karma, but apparently if we have karma together... Report an error in the passage at 2:02:10 Highlight the passage at 2:02:10

2:02:39 Then anything that you dedicate, like if you do anything good at all, and you dedicate it to me, or any good karma that you create, you get to keep the karma, but you can also dedicate it to me. That's the cool thing about karma. It's not like you lose it when you give it to me. So that's why it's quite nice to have that energy while I'm having the surgery and while I'm getting the treatments and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:39 Highlight the passage at 2:02:39

2:03:05 Plus, I have to admit, it's just nice on my mind. I'm just like, okay, it's all right, you know, I'm being supported like that, so I really appreciate it. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:05 Highlight the passage at 2:03:05

2:03:18 And thank you for the flowers. All right, homework, enough of this, enough gooey, gushy stuff. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:18 Highlight the passage at 2:03:18

2:03:30 Did you get, there was a class six and there's a class seven. Did you get class seven? I see, okay, so don't give him. So you got the presentation topics. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:30 Highlight the passage at 2:03:30

2:03:50 No, I gave you the readings. It is the binder. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:50 Highlight the passage at 2:03:50

2:03:56 It's a visual binder. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:56 Highlight the passage at 2:03:56

2:04:16 Let's see, so this was 6 and 7, so you probably missed 4 and 5, okay. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:16 Highlight the passage at 2:04:16

2:04:26 Well, no, I have to, I'm working tomorrow. I'll print them at work. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:26 Highlight the passage at 2:04:26