Samsara and Nirvana - How we got into this mess and how to get out! (4 March 2008)

0:04 So we always start with three prostrations. You don't have to if you don't want to. But the prostrations just mean simply respecting the body, speech and mind of a Buddha, or the qualities of the body, speech and mind of a Buddha, with this underlying thought that I want them to, I want to attain them to. Report an error in the passage at 0:04 Highlight the passage at 0:04

0:29 And then we do a little mantra that multiplies the good karma that we make by prostrating to them. Report an error in the passage at 0:29 Highlight the passage at 0:29

0:40 Oh, Namah, Shri, Namah, Su, Shri, Namah, but I'm on Shri, Samo. O Namo Manjushriye Namo Sushriye Namo don't know, but it's how my shriek is so good. Om Namo Manju Shri E Namo, Su Shri E Namo, Bhutama Shri Esau. Whatever Report an error in the passage at 0:40 Highlight the passage at 0:40

1:30 you can, I won't bite. Promised. Report an error in the passage at 1:30 Highlight the passage at 1:30

1:39 No. Nobody's going to do it. Well, Karen will come in late and she'll come sit up front. Report an error in the passage at 1:39 Highlight the passage at 1:39

1:50 Well, welcome. We'll have a chance later to go around and introduce ourselves, actually. But my name's Chokyi, and it's sort of like cookie, but not quite. Report an error in the passage at 1:50 Highlight the passage at 1:50

2:04 Oh, look, I got two cups of something. How exciting is that? They're probably both hot water, but that's okay. Never have too much hot water. Report an error in the passage at 2:04 Highlight the passage at 2:04

2:17 So I'm the program coordinator here and also the teacher of this class. And I usually like to start class with a little meditation, just to kind of have us all show up. So even if you're already here, you can just humor me. Report an error in the passage at 2:17 Highlight the passage at 2:17

2:37 So I just sort of start with checking our posture. Um. Report an error in the passage at 2:37 Highlight the passage at 2:37

2:43 And I'll just go over those positions. So those of you that have been meditating for 459 years, you know, you can just ignore this part and immediately go into deep samādhi. With the rest of us, we can review our posture. And the most important element of our posture is keeping our spine extended. Report an error in the passage at 2:43 Highlight the passage at 2:43

3:06 And I always like to phrase it that way because it's not so much, you know, keep sitting up straight the way our moms used to tell us, rather really just imagining... Somebody's holding a cord that's going through your spine and out the crown of your head, Report an error in the passage at 3:06 Highlight the passage at 3:06

3:25 almost like you're a marionette. Report an error in the passage at 3:25 Highlight the passage at 3:25

3:32 And your shoulders are just level and back a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 3:32 Highlight the passage at 3:32

3:41 Your chin is just a little tucked under. Report an error in the passage at 3:41 Highlight the passage at 3:41

3:47 Your eyes are either open and unfocused, gazing off the length of your nose, or you can have them lightly closed. Report an error in the passage at 3:47 Highlight the passage at 3:47

4:01 Your tongue is on the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth, which allows your mouth to stay moist. Report an error in the passage at 4:01 Highlight the passage at 4:01

4:12 Your hands, in this tradition, usually they're on your lap, right over left, thumbs touching lightly. And they usually go a little below, about four finger widths below your navel, or you can just rest them in your lap. Report an error in the passage at 4:12 Highlight the passage at 4:12

4:31 Or you can have your hands on your knees. Report an error in the passage at 4:31 Highlight the passage at 4:31

4:43 And the legs are usually, traditionally, if you were doing deep meditation, which we're not going to do, we're going to do like two minutes or something, but they say that it's really good to work ourselves slowly, slowly into full vajra posture, where the legs are crossed and the feet are resting on the opposite thigh. Report an error in the passage at 4:43 Highlight the passage at 4:43

5:07 Many of us cannot get into this position. So I always just say, have your legs in whatever position works for you. And that may change over time. Report an error in the passage at 5:07 Highlight the passage at 5:07

5:22 I actually have my right leg in front of my left leg, and so nothing is crossed. And that works for me. That's called Tara Posture. Report an error in the passage at 5:22 Highlight the passage at 5:22

5:32 But you can also just sit in the same position you'd be in if you were sitting watching TV. And Report an error in the passage at 5:32 Highlight the passage at 5:32

5:45 I usually like to start any meditation with just a quick watching the breath meditation. So you just watch with your mind's eye your breathing at whatever level feels most appropriate to you. So the belly as it expands and contracts, the chest or the nostril as the air passes over the skin just inside the nostril. Report an error in the passage at 5:45 Highlight the passage at 5:45

6:14 Because this is the eighth point of the eight point posture is your breathing. So you don't need to change it. We're just going to observe it exactly the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 6:14 Highlight the passage at 6:14

6:25 Just watching it coming in and going out. And everything else that's happening around us, any sounds in the building, any thoughts, just not giving energy to them. Report an error in the passage at 6:25 Highlight the passage at 6:25

6:40 So you don't need to suppress them, but you're attempting not to follow them. Report an error in the passage at 6:40 Highlight the passage at 6:40

6:51 You just try to count to ten without losing the object. Report an error in the passage at 6:51 Highlight the passage at 6:51

· · · silence, 1 minute

7:45 Pema is not the object. Report an error in the passage at 7:45 Highlight the passage at 7:45

8:10 So one of the basic Buddhist teachings is that we all want to be happy 24 hours a day. That's one thing that we share. With everyone in this room, including Pama, everyone in this building, everyone on the street, everyone in the city, country, planet, universe, human, non-human, animals, insects. Report an error in the passage at 8:10 Highlight the passage at 8:10

8:48 And we all want to be happy and we all want to avoid suffering. And even shifting in your seat during a meditation is a sign of that, just wanting to feel more comfortable and wanting to avoid pain. Report an error in the passage at 8:48 Highlight the passage at 8:48

9:17 Every moment of every day is spent with this underlying motivation. Even when we go in some really inappropriate direction with our lives, like getting involved with a married person or even Report an error in the passage at 9:17 Highlight the passage at 9:17

9:34 committing suicide, we just want to be happy. We just want to avoid pain. Report an error in the passage at 9:34 Highlight the passage at 9:34

9:50 People who stay in bed all day just want to be happy. People who rob banks just want to be happy. People quit their jobs and find new jobs to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 9:50 Highlight the passage at 9:50

10:07 People get into new relationships, stay with them and then leave them to be happy. People Report an error in the passage at 10:07 Highlight the passage at 10:07

10:17 eat all day to be happy. People stop eating altogether to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 10:17 Highlight the passage at 10:17

10:27 People take drugs to be happy. People enter rehab to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 10:27 Highlight the passage at 10:27

10:36 And the Buddha taught that there's absolutely nothing wrong with this. Report an error in the passage at 10:36 Highlight the passage at 10:36

10:46 There's really nothing wrong with wanting to be happy and wanting to get away from suffering. But the problem is because we don't understand how things work. Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

11:03 Mary, could you do me a favor? Could you take her out of here, please? It's waiting till the right person passed by. Report an error in the passage at 11:03 Highlight the passage at 11:03

11:16 Lama right now just wants to avoid suffering. Report an error in the passage at 11:16 Highlight the passage at 11:16

11:31 The Buddha said there's absolutely nothing wrong with this, but the problem is that we don't understand how it all works, so half the time we create more and more suffering for ourselves, just trying to be happy, like many of the examples I just used. Please. Report an error in the passage at 11:31 Highlight the passage at 11:31

· · · silence, 1 minute

11:49 Desperately seeking happiness, but instead creating more and more pain for ourselves and for others. And that's really only in the short term. Report an error in the passage at 11:49 Highlight the passage at 11:49

12:07 Until we start understanding how karma and emptiness work, until we study how the Buddha observed reality, Report an error in the passage at 12:07 Highlight the passage at 12:07

12:19 we just keep creating more and more suffering for ourselves. And the Buddha is taught that this has been happening lifetime after lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 12:19 Highlight the passage at 12:19

12:33 So the subject of this class is how we create and perpetuate this cycle and how we break it. And Report an error in the passage at 12:33 Highlight the passage at 12:33

12:43 we'll learn some really practical methods that we can apply right now. And through this, we can begin to unravel this whole tapestry of misery that we keep creating. Report an error in the passage at 12:43 Highlight the passage at 12:43

13:02 And it may not be easy, but it is empowering and it's exciting, Report an error in the passage at 13:02 Highlight the passage at 13:02

13:10 especially when we begin to see it in action in our lives right now. Report an error in the passage at 13:10 Highlight the passage at 13:10

13:20 And this class holds the key. So may... Each of us, by attending this class, plant seeds for Report an error in the passage at 13:20 Highlight the passage at 13:20

13:38 these kind of transformations to occur in our own lives so that we can slowly break the hold of saṃsāra and Report an error in the passage at 13:38 Highlight the passage at 13:38

13:51 reach nirvāṇa and full enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 13:51 Highlight the passage at 13:51

14:06 In your own time, you can end your meditation. And we'll start with a few opening prayers. I Report an error in the passage at 14:06 Highlight the passage at 14:06

14:17 apologize for... Thank you, Mary. I apologize for Pema's... Demonstration of saṃsāra, her own personal saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 14:17 Highlight the passage at 14:17

14:32 We actually have three cats here at the center. Epema is owned by a woman who is on the east coast taking care of her mom right now. Her mom has had some back surgery and she's been there for a while. So Epema is really, really needy right now. She's making her needs felt. Anyway, so I was going to start with on page seven. Report an error in the passage at 14:32 Highlight the passage at 14:32

14:56 There's a bunch of prayers. It's under the title Seichenling Prayers for Saturday Programs, even though this isn't Saturday. And on the left-hand column on the bottom, number three, where it says Refuge in Generating Bodhicitta, we can do it in English, and we can just do it three times. Report an error in the passage at 14:56 Highlight the passage at 14:56

15:17 This is the one. This is generally what's done at the beginning of a teaching. And so I thought I'd start getting my classes used to it. I usually use a different prayer, but we'll still do that one. Report an error in the passage at 15:17 Highlight the passage at 15:17

15:30 I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 15:30 Highlight the passage at 15:30

15:54 May I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly by the merits I create through listening to the Dharma. May I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 15:54 Highlight the passage at 15:54

16:14 Sounds like setting the wish, setting our mind. So on the very next page, there's a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and I like to read this prayer too. I think it really says everything, and I think it's so inspiring. So we'll just read it once. 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. Report an error in the passage at 16:14 Highlight the passage at 16:14

16:41 Today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 16:41 Highlight the passage at 16:41

17:08 David, would you mind starting this? This is just like a class roster. And I usually like to create one for every class just in case. Sorry, did you let go to sleep? I like to create one for each of the classes in case I have to reach you guys in a hurry. Everything's all in one place. So even if you know that I know your email address or your whatever, just put it there because that way if something should happen to me and Amy should have to reach you or something like that, then it's all in one place. Report an error in the passage at 17:08 Highlight the passage at 17:08

17:38 That's the usual reason for that. Like if we had to suddenly cancel a class or something like that. It has happened a few times, so it's proved useful, but it doesn't happen often. Report an error in the passage at 17:38 Highlight the passage at 17:38

17:54 So this is a class on... um, this is a class on... The condition that we happen to find ourselves in, which is called saṃsāra. And so we're going to talk a lot tonight about these different terms. And actually, I decided to create a glossary of various terms that... We throw around in here. And this class, especially when I was just creating the syllabus for it, it was like so many Sanskrit terms. Actually, this term, both classes have Sanskrit terms. Report an error in the passage at 17:54 Highlight the passage at 17:54

18:25 It's like saṃsāra nirvāṇa and bodhicitta. And I think a lot of the reason is that the Sanskrit terms are a little more, you've heard them a little bit more than the Tibetan terms. But we don't really have English terms for them yet. Not in the same way. I think Nirvāṇa, we have liberation, I think. But Saṃsāra, we don't really have anything that's one word. Report an error in the passage at 18:25 Highlight the passage at 18:25

18:52 And bodhicitta, we don't really either. We have various translations of them that kind of work in a pinch, but not as well. And so I kind of still stick to the Sanskrit for some of these things. So we're going to spend tonight talking a little bit about... What is this? What is this? What is this? So that we all get on the same page so that we know. And then you guys will, I didn't include the glossary in your reading because I didn't want it to be too much stuff coming at you all in one night. Report an error in the passage at 18:52 Highlight the passage at 18:52

19:22 So you are going to get little binders. There's not a whole lot of reading for this course. You'll be happy to hear. Of course, there's always things to read. So I actually, in the reading, There is one book, I think, other than the liberation in the palm of your hands, there's always additional readings from that for these Discovering Buddhism courses. Report an error in the passage at 19:22 Highlight the passage at 19:22

19:49 But there's one book by His Holiness the Dalai Lama that's called Making Life Meaningful, I think. Report an error in the passage at 19:49 Highlight the passage at 19:49

19:59 The Meaning of Life, sorry. The Meaning of Life. And I thought that if... If people were interested, I could see if the bookstore could order it. So if people were interested, I could go ahead and try to place an order. Otherwise, it's always optional. I mean, it's good to do the readings out of the binders, but everything else is always optional as far as I'm concerned. Of course, it will enhance your experience and understanding of the material, but I know we're all crazy busy, and I have a hard enough time trying to keep up with the readings to prepare the courses. Report an error in the passage at 19:59 Highlight the passage at 19:59

20:35 So at the end of the class, I'll ask you guys for a hand count. And then if not, you can do otherwise, you can just order it off Amazon if you decide you want to get it. Report an error in the passage at 20:35 Highlight the passage at 20:35

20:49 So where to start? So we're going to talk a little bit in this. Um, Report an error in the passage at 20:49 Highlight the passage at 20:49

20:58 I mentioned in the opening motivation the terms... Report an error in the passage at 20:58 Highlight the passage at 20:58

21:08 Karma, I think I said karma, did I mention karma and delusions? A little bit about the nature of reality as the Buddha sees it, which is really emptiness. It's kind of code words for emptiness. And there's sort of an expectation that people have had a little bit of... Report an error in the passage at 21:08 Highlight the passage at 21:08

21:31 Study of this before. Could I just have a hand count of how many people have taken any kind of Buddhist class before at any center and any level? And it's okay if you haven't, but I'm just trying to get an understanding of who has done what. You guys have, haven't you? Yeah. I'm like, you were in my classes. Report an error in the passage at 21:31 Highlight the passage at 21:31

21:52 So, okay. So it looks like it's, yeah, maybe about two-thirds, one-third. That's fine. And then that also sort of helps me figure out how to gear the classes. I intend to talk a little bit about what karma is and what kleshas are and things like that. A little bit about how emptiness works as well. But I just kind of need to know how much to go into that. Report an error in the passage at 21:52 Highlight the passage at 21:52

22:21 Sandy, would you mind closing the door back there? Or at least with a crack kind of in the middle. That would be great. Report an error in the passage at 22:21 Highlight the passage at 22:21

22:32 So the Buddha taught actually that the root cause of this thing that we call saṃsāra, which I'll discuss in a minute what that means, is what's called... Oh, come on in. I didn't realize you were coming in. Don't we need to slam the door in your face? I think actually Mary's going to come in too. So yeah, maybe just leave it a little cracked. Report an error in the passage at 22:32 Highlight the passage at 22:32

22:54 That's great. It's mostly for me and my lack of focus because I saw these people running around out there. So the Buddha taught that the root cause of the suffering of saṃsāra or this condition that we find ourselves in is actually karma and delusions or kleshas, but of those two that really the main one is... Report an error in the passage at 22:54 Highlight the passage at 22:54

23:23 There's delusions, please come forward, sit, sit, sit. Report an error in the passage at 23:23 Highlight the passage at 23:23

23:29 And kleshas are actually described, kleshas, sometimes they're translated, the word kleshya is Sanskrit, sometimes you hear it as delusions. But I think in our culture, delusions usually mean like... it. Um. Report an error in the passage at 23:29 Highlight the passage at 23:29

23:43 You're insane, which I think the Buddha was trying to get at, actually. Here we say that person is delusional or something like that. And the Buddha's point, basically, is that we are completely misunderstanding how things exist in that same way that we would say it about somebody who... Report an error in the passage at 23:43 Highlight the passage at 23:43

24:06 Who was delusional in the sort of mental illness sense. As Veno Rubino always says, we're all mentally ill. It's just a matter of degree. And it's based on this misunderstanding of how things exist. So the definition that I like for these delusions is literally anything that disturbs the mind. Report an error in the passage at 24:06 Highlight the passage at 24:06

24:30 Anything that disturbs the mind, anything from the fact that this lid doesn't go with this cup, it's slightly rankling to my mind being a Libra, all the way to road rage, you know, like severe, like the most extreme hatred or anger that you could imagine coming up in your mind. So it's just basically anything that disturbs the mind. Report an error in the passage at 24:30 Highlight the passage at 24:30

24:58 So that disturbance can be subtle or gross. And it's translated in all different ways. Mental afflictions, delusions, disturbing emotions, difficult emotions. We just did that series on the Friday night series called Working with Difficult Emotions. It's talking about the same thing. His Holiness likes disturbing emotions. Report an error in the passage at 24:58 Highlight the passage at 24:58

25:19 I like mental afflictions. That's just the one I happen to choose. So I'll tend to call them delusions or mental afflictions most of the times, or kleshas. I actually like the word kleshas. Kleshas, K-L-E-S-H-A, kleshas. Report an error in the passage at 25:19 Highlight the passage at 25:19

25:36 I had one teacher who would say, you know, who would describe it as having a kleshas attack when your mental afflictions were really, really strong, which I think is perfect. I mean, it's like... It's like a big Mac attack. It's like they just come up and sometimes it's like a storm that goes through you. And then you're kind of left afterwards kind of going, what was that all about? Report an error in the passage at 25:36 Highlight the passage at 25:36

25:57 And it's really like that. They feel like they have so much power. And unfortunately, we give them a lot of power. And so that's what causes all the, those are the pesky problems that cause all the problems in saṃsāra. So this is the root cause. And because this is such an important aspect of it, we're actually going to take three whole classes and just talk about how to work with these things really practically. Report an error in the passage at 25:57 Highlight the passage at 25:57

26:25 The Buddha actually gave really clear antidotes to working with these various mental afflictions, such as anger, how you would meditate to try to... Lessen the amount of anger in your mind like that. So different ideas, you know, to lessen the amount of depression in your mind, to lessen the amount of guilt in your mind like that. Report an error in the passage at 26:25 Highlight the passage at 26:25

26:54 And so they're really handy. It's good to know these. We familiarize ourselves with them. And then when we're, the more that we've worked with them, the more that at the time that, you know, these afflictions come up in our minds, we'll have something to do. We'll have a different plan of attack than just following it for hours, months, days, years, which is what we currently do. Report an error in the passage at 26:54 Highlight the passage at 26:54

27:20 So I'm giving the most amount of time to that because that is the root cause of cyclic existence or saṃsāra. And in fact, actually, a friend of mine suggested... A description of Buddhist practice which I've just adopted. I think it's like the best description of Buddhist practice that I've heard in the moment that I'm thinking anyway. Report an error in the passage at 27:20 Highlight the passage at 27:20

27:46 I'm sure it'll change tomorrow. But right now my favorite description of Buddhist practice is from moment to moment working with whatever arises and applying everything you've got as best as you can with as much consistency as you can. Report an error in the passage at 27:46 Highlight the passage at 27:46

28:01 I think it's great because everybody has this idea that Buddhist practice is all holy and It requires you to have big tankas on your wall. These things are called tankas or fancy altars. And it's totally working with your mind, moment by moment by moment, dealing with whatever's coming up. And half the time, whatever's coming up is what's coming up in our own mind anyway, right? So it's like, yeah, Pema can come into the room and be loud, but what's going to cause a problem is our irritation at Pema. Report an error in the passage at 28:01 Highlight the passage at 28:01

28:35 She's simply... The condition for whatever to arise to arise. Report an error in the passage at 28:35 Highlight the passage at 28:35

28:43 From moment to moment, working with whatever arises and applying everything you've got as best as you can with as much consistency as you can. Report an error in the passage at 28:43 Highlight the passage at 28:43

29:10 Did you get that? So applying everything you've got. That kind of infers that we want to create this great little toolbox. We want to have some stuff to apply, because otherwise, what do we apply, you know? I mean, you could just pray, I suppose, but there's nothing wrong with that. But it's great to have some methods and some tools, and actually over the 25, 26, almost 2650. Report an error in the passage at 29:10 Highlight the passage at 29:10

29:44 In 2650 years that Buddhism has been in existence, there have been many, many methods created that have been successful for various holy beings who have made it to enlightenment. So it's not like we have to reinvent the wheel. But you'll also figure out ways to deal with things in your own way that won't be part of this. Report an error in the passage at 29:44 Highlight the passage at 29:44

30:03 You know, you'll create your own way. Report an error in the passage at 30:03 Highlight the passage at 30:03

30:07 So tonight we're going to just talk about some of these terms and then we'll get into... After the break, we're going to get into looking at one of the terms that we'll talk about, which is suffering, which is, of course, we keep talking about the suffering of saṃsāra, the suffering of saṃsāra, and sort of like, what does that mean? Report an error in the passage at 30:07 Highlight the passage at 30:07

30:31 You know, because a lot of times people are like, I'm not so, I've got an okay life, you know, I'm not suffering so much. You hear this a lot when you go to these big Buddhist courses, like half the people there will be like, you know, what's all this emphasis on suffering? I'm fine. Report an error in the passage at 30:31 Highlight the passage at 30:31

30:46 Of course, they're usually people in their early 20s or something. So one of the first ones is renunciation, this term renunciation. I think a lot of Western students hear this and immediately think that someone's going to ask them to shave off all their hair and put on robes and go live in a cave and eat. Report an error in the passage at 30:46 Highlight the passage at 30:46

31:09 One seed a day or something, you know. And that's not really what it's about. Renunciation is a mind. A lot of these things are actually sometimes described as like minds, meaning a mental state. Renunciation is a mental state. And you get there in levels. It's sort of like, you know, peeling off the layers of an onion. Report an error in the passage at 31:09 Highlight the passage at 31:09

31:31 You get closer and closer to it. It's not like you suddenly wake up and you're renounced, you know. But we all do it in little ways. Report an error in the passage at 31:31 Highlight the passage at 31:31

31:39 And they say that we can't develop bodhicitta without renunciation. That's a prerequisite. We have to. We have to develop renunciation in order to generate bodhicitta. And we can't get enlightened without bodhicitta. So there's the rub. So we need it if we want to get enlightened. But renunciation, I mean, it's as simple as, you know, people hear it and they think it's giving up something. Report an error in the passage at 31:39 Highlight the passage at 31:39

32:09 Renunciation is really developing a good understanding of how karma and kleshas work to keep us stuck here and then doing something about that, knowing that there's something beyond that. So recognizing suffering, recognizing the imperfections of this condition that we're in is a key to getting out of it. Report an error in the passage at 32:09 Highlight the passage at 32:09

32:36 But recognizing it, like realizing that saṃsāra sucks isn't enough. We all realize saṃsāra sucks at some point. You know, we could get really sick, have something really bad happen, lose our job, lose a partner, have a really horrible year, you know, and we might get it then, that saṃsāra sucks. But if we haven't realized that there's something better, so that element has to be there. We have to be able to see that there's something. Report an error in the passage at 32:36 Highlight the passage at 32:36

33:10 go for. And so that's what makes it really renunciation. But I say that it's done by levels because really just deciding that you're going to meditate in the morning and giving up that extra 20 minutes, that's a form of renunciation. Deciding to do this class is a form of renunciation because there's other stuff you could be doing. Taking two classes a week is definitely a form of renunciation. Report an error in the passage at 33:10 Highlight the passage at 33:10

33:37 There's always something you could be doing on the other day. And deciding to learn how to teach a class is also a form of renunciation. Report an error in the passage at 33:37 Highlight the passage at 33:37

33:47 So they're all forms of renunciation. You know, deciding to go on a weekend retreat is a form of renunciation. It doesn't mean that you've given up everything fun forever. You know, it's not like that. It's little by little moving towards enlightenment. That's really all it is. So ultimately what you're giving up is saṃsāra and this condition of suffering because you're just going for it. Report an error in the passage at 33:47 Highlight the passage at 33:47

34:18 Ultimately we'll all reach that point, but slowly, slowly, as they say, it's a process. So what is saṃsāra? Saṃsāra or sometimes called cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 34:18 Highlight the passage at 34:18

34:33 It isn't this world. It isn't this room. It isn't this street, although there are times. It isn't a place. It's not like we get out of saṃsāra and we go to someplace else. It's not like a physical place. Renunciation is defined as the wish to get out of cyclic existence or saṃsāra. So in order to get out of it, you have to know what it is that you're getting out of. And you have to know what it is. Report an error in the passage at 34:33 Highlight the passage at 34:33

35:02 What it isn't. So saṃsāra is described as this condition of having to take, having is a key word there, being forced to take a stream of impure parts, meaning our body, our mind, various aspects of our body and mind. It's forced on us by our karma and kleshas. We don't have any control on it. And at this point we have no control over any of the conditions of our birth, our body, our minds, what would happen next if we were to die tonight. Report an error in the passage at 35:02 Highlight the passage at 35:02

35:42 It's completely, according to the Buddha, determined by the karma that we've created based on these minds, these kleshas, which cause us to do things. So every time we get angry, we either storm around. Which is one type of karma, but not involve anyone else. Maybe kick the dog, that's another kind of karma. Or we go out and yell at everyone else, or we go out and do worse. Report an error in the passage at 35:42 Highlight the passage at 35:42

36:10 So with each kalesha that arises in our mind, we are driven to either act with our body, act with our speech, or just maintain that angry mind. All of those are karmas. They say that we create karmas all the time. Report an error in the passage at 36:10 Highlight the passage at 36:10

36:28 They say 65 moments per finger snap. So we're just constantly creating more and more. It's mind-boggling. Constantly creating more and more karma. And it seems like you guys are just sitting here, right? But actually, you're creating karma. Right now, hopefully, good karma. But you're also using up good karma because you got here. Report an error in the passage at 36:28 Highlight the passage at 36:28

36:50 But you could be... I don't know what's going on in your mind. You could be totally criticizing me in your mind. You could be criticizing the carpet. You could be criticizing the room. You could be criticizing the treat you just got in a cafe. Anything could be happening in your mind. You could still be mulling over some horrible day and blaming somebody and looking like you're looking at me, but actually some horrible story is going on in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 36:50 Highlight the passage at 36:50

37:12 All of that creates karma, and all of that karma at some point ripens, and it either ripens as a positive event in our life, pleasure, Happiness, a comfortable cushion tonight, you know, a good bed, you know, someplace to sleep, a good life, or it ripens as suffering. And unfortunately, for the most part, we're still creating more negative than positive. So renunciation means not wanting this anymore, based on the fact that you know that there's something else. Report an error in the passage at 37:12 Highlight the passage at 37:12

37:50 currently it's At this point, we are still in strong denial, even those of us who consider ourselves Buddhists and have been studying for many, many years, we're still in strong denial that it's our own condition that keeps us trapped here. It's our own mind and our own karma, and that saṃsāra is really as horrible as the Buddha said it was. Report an error in the passage at 37:50 Highlight the passage at 37:50

38:17 We still think that, yeah, saṃsāra is horrible, but there's some really good movies and there's some really good food. We'll still keep trying to make saṃsāra work. And the point is that saṃsāra, by its very nature, is imperfect. So we can't really fix it. We can notice it. We can examine it, we can analyze it, we can see what our role in it is, but we can't make it perfect. In order to reach perfection, we actually have to transcend it. Report an error in the passage at 38:17 Highlight the passage at 38:17

38:52 And that's kind of the point. That's what nirvāṇa is. That's what liberation is. So our karma and kleshas keep us chained to saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 38:52 Highlight the passage at 38:52

39:06 And then so, you know, what is karma? We're actually going to spend some time, I think it's the next class actually, I should check my little syllabus just to be sure. More on karma and how it works. Yeah, a little bit more on karma and emptiness. But karma is defined as the action or movement of the mind and what motivates it. Report an error in the passage at 39:06 Highlight the passage at 39:06

39:30 Karma in Sanskrit actually just means action. But it's the same word for both the cause and the result. Sometimes it's translated into the law of cause and effect. So karma is both... My mind having this movement of aversion towards this water getting cold and my receiving cold water. They're both karmas. One's the result of having done something in the past and then one of them is creating a result that will happen at some point in the future, probably in a future life. Report an error in the passage at 39:30 Highlight the passage at 39:30

40:11 It's not really getting cold. so. Karma and kleshas are the root cause of us to stay in this condition of saṃsāra, which is at its very heart, not just imperfect, but suffering, unsatisfying and painful. I mean, it's reality that all of us will age and die. It's reality that most of us... We'll get sick in some way in this lifetime. I mean, there are those odd people who never get sick. I mean, really never get sick. And all those around us also get sick, age and die. Report an error in the passage at 40:11 Highlight the passage at 40:11

40:53 And it's not, again, when we talk about the suffering of saṃsāra, which we will spend some time on tonight, it's not to depress ourselves. It's simply to look because we don't want to. It's very much the way, it's our nature to kind of be like, why do I want to do that? I think I'd rather go to the movies or something. Could we see if there's something on TV? Report an error in the passage at 40:53 Highlight the passage at 40:53

41:15 It sounds much more fun. And we do that our whole lives, basically. And so the Buddha's kind of like, come on you guys, you've got to look at this. This is really, really important. So they say actually that we can't really... really understand. Renunciation is basically the same state of mind that bodhicitta is, but aimed inward. It's looking at our own suffering, recognizing our own suffering, and developing the compassion to not want it anymore. Report an error in the passage at 41:15 Highlight the passage at 41:15

41:49 Compassion is simply not wanting suffering. In this case, it's starting with us. Before we can really develop compassion for anyone else, which I think most of us, I was definitely attracted to Buddhism because of all the talk of compassion, right? I feel like in some way I am a compassionate being. Wanting to help all sentient beings sounds great, right? Of course, until you think it's the actual person next to you. Report an error in the passage at 41:49 Highlight the passage at 41:49

42:17 but, um, um, but. We have to start with compassion for ourselves, and that means recognizing our own suffering. In the bodhicitta class that's starting on Thursday night, you begin looking at the suffering that other beings are going through. And there is an assumption that you have already developed an awareness of your own suffering and a desire to transcend that suffering. Report an error in the passage at 42:17 Highlight the passage at 42:17

42:45 Because if you don't have that for yourself, how can you have it for other people? We always want to skip ourselves, you know, and just go straight to helping others. But realistically, we can't do as good a job if we haven't started with ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 42:45 Highlight the passage at 42:45

43:01 So this Report an error in the passage at 43:01 Highlight the passage at 43:01

43:08 kind of leads to a little bit to looking at the mind. Does anyone remember, is anyone who has ever taken a Buddhist class before, what the sort of classic... Classic Buddhist definition of mind is mind is clear and knowing. That's how they always say it, which I think is kind of a poetic thing, and you're kind of like, what does it really mean, you know? But it really just means mind is shapeless, formless, beginningless, endless, and its function is to know. Report an error in the passage at 43:08 Highlight the passage at 43:08

43:47 Mind knows. So mind is not physical matter. It's a different stuff. It's completely different stuff. And currently, we only use a little bit of our minds. We tend to read books and think thoughts, and we're kind of in conceptual mind a lot, maybe in central mind as well, right? Our eyes see things, our ears hear sounds and things like that. But what Buddhahood is, really, Buddhahood or enlightenment is simply put, I should say, but not simply accomplished. Report an error in the passage at 43:47 Highlight the passage at 43:47

44:25 Perfection of mind. It's perfect mind. So it's a mind that's free of all harmful thoughts and harmful states of mind and has perfected all positive to the point where they cannot be perfected any further. So that's really what enlightenment is. It's simply mind. Same mind that we have, but just... Amped, like perfected to the nth degree to the point where it cannot possibly be perfected any further. So at this point, you know, we have an ability to know, but we have all these obstacles and we have all these different kind of afflictive states of minds that arise and we don't really even... Report an error in the passage at 44:25 Highlight the passage at 44:25

45:13 Sometimes we might try to restrain ourselves from punching somebody, but we may not have reached the point where we actually try not to actually have the anger to begin with. That's a huge step. It's great to not punch people. That one's good. But it's sort of like to actually reach the point where the anger doesn't arise at all in the same situation. Report an error in the passage at 45:13 Highlight the passage at 45:13

45:40 One teacher used to describe patience as not getting angry when you have every reason to, which I think is a great description of it. It's like everyone else on the planet would say, yeah, he has every reason to get angry, but you're choosing not to because you understand how things really exist. So it's not like you're restraining or you're repressing in any way. It's simply that you've analyzed it enough that you're not going there, which takes a lot of practice. Report an error in the passage at 45:40 Highlight the passage at 45:40

46:09 It takes a lot of practice. So when we've perfected our mind, it's like we've eliminated all of these various negative states of mind, these kleshas that cause us all this suffering that keep getting us into trouble, keep making us create all this negative karma. We've eliminated them. We've eliminated all these obstacles to any kind of knowledge. And it's sort of like if you have this free-flowing river and you remove the dams or you remove the rocks or whatever, it just freely flows. Report an error in the passage at 46:09 Highlight the passage at 46:09

46:39 And so our mind then is just freed to know everything. And that's what Buddhas know. Buddhas are omniscient. That simply means that their mind can be everywhere, go everywhere, know everything with absolutely no obstructions. And that's one of the definitions of a Buddha's mind. Report an error in the passage at 46:39 Highlight the passage at 46:39

47:00 So this is Buddhahood. This is what we're going for. It's good to remember it sometimes. So what's the difference between that and nirvāṇa? Report an error in the passage at 47:00 Highlight the passage at 47:00

47:09 Nirvāṇa is one of those words, it's like karma, where it's sort of tossed around a lot that we think we already know what it means. So it's good to, again, identify what it means. I mean, it's even a name of a perfume, right? So it better be a good one. Report an error in the passage at 47:09 Highlight the passage at 47:09

47:25 It is funny, actually. I don't watch TV, and so occasionally, since Sarah's been gone, sometimes I'll go hang out with Pema and I'll watch some TV, and you just see these things, like things called karma, something called karma I was watching the other day. And then, of course, nirvāṇa being used like that. It's very interesting. Nirvāṇa is close. Nirvāṇa is really close, actually. Report an error in the passage at 47:25 Highlight the passage at 47:25

47:46 It would be great to hit nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is where you have eliminated all of the gross... There are afflictions of the mind, but you still have subtle obscurations to work through. So you haven't reached full enlightenment. You are not omniscient. You might be a clairvoyant, but you're no longer at the mercy of your karma and clashes. So that means what? Report an error in the passage at 47:46 Highlight the passage at 47:46

48:12 It means you're actually out of... Oh, now we have another one, but luckily she's quieter. This one's name is Bodhi for enlightenment. She's looking for Pema because she's terrified of her. Report an error in the passage at 48:12 Highlight the passage at 48:12

48:29 So nirvāṇa means that you've actually gotten out of saṃsāra altogether, which is amazing. You are completely freed of this bondage of karmincletias. You're no longer at the control of karmincletias. But you're not fully enlightened. From the Mahāyāna point of view, which is the bodhisattva vehicle, it's considered almost a waste of time to get stuck there because you would just spend eons being blissed out. Report an error in the passage at 48:29 Highlight the passage at 48:29

49:03 You could have been helping other people get enlightened. Ultimately, it's taught that you're going to be tapped on the shoulder. Report an error in the passage at 49:03 Highlight the passage at 49:03

49:13 You might as well just get fully enlightened and not waste all that time. There's always these kind of things like that where it's sort of like you don't want to just get stuck in this blissful state forever. It's a waste of time. Go help other people. So there's always this kind of attitude coming from the Mahāyāna tradition. And in some of the... Report an error in the passage at 49:13 Highlight the passage at 49:13

49:33 Other traditions, nirvāṇa can actually be called enlightenment, although from the Mahāyāna point of view it would be called, sometimes you'll hear Geshe-la say a lower enlightenment. Or you'll hear the phrase, this came up once because you know you always hear this phrase, fully and perfectly enlightened, full enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 49:33 Highlight the passage at 49:33

49:52 Well it's like, well what other kind is there? And that's when he said, well nirvāṇa is considered. In some schools or in some traditions, enlightenment, but it's not this enlightenment. And so this is the way these terms get delineated. Report an error in the passage at 49:52 Highlight the passage at 49:52

50:12 So a little bit about this class. So that's a lot to kind of toss out at you, but anyway, there's some basic ideas. I'll tell you a little bit about logistics and then we'll take a break. So this class meets seven Tuesdays. Report an error in the passage at 50:12 Highlight the passage at 50:12

50:30 And there are two weeks where we won't have classes. It'll all be on your syllabus, too. There are two weeks, the 8th and the 15th of April. Oh, tax day, so you guys can, if you haven't gotten it filed, then you can have that night off. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is giving a lamrim retreat in Mexico that I am fortunate enough to get to go to, so I'm going to be gone those two weeks. Report an error in the passage at 50:30 Highlight the passage at 50:30

50:54 But, of course, you'll have plenty of assignments to do. And you'll know that I'm getting new ideas on how to meditate on things so that I can bring it back to you. Because he always spends forever on the suffering, so that's good. So, and there are a couple of classes where we're starting to actually have to double book within the center. Report an error in the passage at 50:54 Highlight the passage at 50:54

51:16 You know, so there'll actually be a soak one week down here, and so we'll meet upstairs and things like that. But that's okay, I'll tell you the week before so you know where to come. And then the final, there's a final day-long. practice day on a Saturday, Saturday, May 3rd, that we'll be able to integrate the material together. Report an error in the passage at 51:16 Highlight the passage at 51:16

51:37 We just did a combined practice day on Saturday for the refuge and the daily practice class. I'm still reeling from it. It was an amazing day actually. I'm getting all these little emails from various people that were there too. It was really great. So I like to mention at the very beginning when that is so that if people at all can come to try to make time to do that. Report an error in the passage at 51:37 Highlight the passage at 51:37

52:05 And I know some people have separate work schedules and things and they can't. The format of the class is that usually some amount of time is spent in... Report an error in the passage at 52:05 Highlight the passage at 52:05

52:20 Meditation and presentation of a certain amount of material, but then I'll try to give a break about two-thirds of the way through, and there's time for questions as we go through stuff. Then I'll keep trying to check out, especially if I see quizzical looks, or there's sort of that, you know, when people start to ask something and they start moving their mouths. Report an error in the passage at 52:20 Highlight the passage at 52:20

52:41 I do request that anybody who asks a question speak into the mic, even if you feel silly or you think it's a dumb question or whatever. You can disguise your voice. But the main thing is because if somebody is listening to this teaching at home, or if it's you listening to it if you're not here and you decide you want to listen to it, we record everything and then we put it on a website where it's downloadable anywhere in the world. Report an error in the passage at 52:41 Highlight the passage at 52:41

53:06 Usually Malum loads it up after we've done all the classes in a series. But at any rate, if somebody's asking a question and the person at home can't hear the question, it can get kind of confusing. So that's why I always really request that you use the mic. I do assign homework. Report an error in the passage at 53:06 Highlight the passage at 53:06

53:28 I assign homework because of the whole idea. I mean, in the West, we're kind of used to homework. When we take classes, we get homework. Most of my homework, probably 99.9 % of my homework is either reading and or meditation. And like I said, most of the reading is in this binder, so they aren't really long articles. And if they are, then I usually assign them over a couple weeks. Report an error in the passage at 53:28 Highlight the passage at 53:28

53:53 But the reason that I assign the meditation or contemplation, however you want to look at it, is so that you can go a little deeper with this material than you can just showing up for a class. So you can either take this class just showing up, which I think is so important. So just do that one if that's all you can do. Report an error in the passage at 53:53 Highlight the passage at 53:53

54:17 But if you want to take it to the next level. I highly recommend just making 15 or 20 minutes a day to just review the material in some way. And I know as well as anybody how hard that is, but it really will make a difference in your understanding of the material and in your personal experience of the material. Report an error in the passage at 54:17 Highlight the passage at 54:17

54:39 you know, so I just Toss that out. I intend to spend a lot of time putting this class together, so I really encourage you to put some time into doing the class. So like I said, this class is actually part of a series of classes that's called the Discovering Buddhism Program. It's actually the ninth out of 13 classes, so we're like two-thirds of the way. Report an error in the passage at 54:39 Highlight the passage at 54:39

55:10 And the reason I mention that is just because there's this sort of assumption that you have taken some of the other classes. Most people have not started with class, I don't think anybody that I know has ever had started with class one and taken all 13 in a row. Usually, especially in the city, we offer them like as soon as one series ends, we just start in again. And so it usually ends up being about 18 months. Report an error in the passage at 55:10 Highlight the passage at 55:10

55:36 Every 18 months we just start over. I say we, but it usually ends up being me. But anyway, the center offers this. And so usually what happens is people will take them as they can, and that's totally fine. Once you've taken a couple, you can take just about any class that's offered at the center with more confidence. I'm getting these emails now from Tim Beatty, who was in the very first class that I ever taught. Report an error in the passage at 55:36 Highlight the passage at 55:36

56:05 It was four people. All four are still connected with the center, actually. But he completed them all, and then he took some classes from Geshe-la and some classes from Emily, who teaches on Friday nights. And now he's gone off to do the master's program in Italy. And I'm getting emails from him that he's just so happy that he had this foundation, that it's really, really serving him, the classes that he took. Report an error in the passage at 56:05 Highlight the passage at 56:05

56:35 So just to let you know that it makes it a little easier any time that you go to any other teaching, this stuff really will help your understanding. So it's not just in an informational, given an informational spirit. Actually, this program was created to give you an experience, some taste of the teachings, a little bit more so than simple information, which is also why I always give the homework. Report an error in the passage at 56:35 Highlight the passage at 56:35

56:59 I also, my experience when I... Started taking Dharma classes. I had a teacher who always gave meditation assignments, and that's really how I started meditating, you know, because I was forced to. I come from a long line of being forced to do things. But I think most of us are like that. It's almost like you have to be told. We actually had to, and I haven't even made you guys do this. Report an error in the passage at 56:59 Highlight the passage at 56:59

57:25 We actually had to write down when we did it, for how long. And you had to do it every day that way. And so you just had to do it. And you knew you were accountable, and that's what you had to hand back in. And he also had quizzes. So at the beginning of the next class, you get a quiz on what you did at the last class, and an exam at the end. So you guys are getting off easy, actually. Report an error in the passage at 57:25 Highlight the passage at 57:25

57:49 So This is the 9th class. Bodhicitta is the 10th. So we'll only have a few more after this, and then we'll start over again. I think we start over again actually in the fall. There is a 14th module, and it's all experiential, like Vajrasattva practice. I'm looking at this Vajrasattva practice, which is a purification practice, prostrations, like those kind of things, lamrim retreat, I think. Report an error in the passage at 57:49 Highlight the passage at 57:49

58:19 And I actually created a little module to kind of introduce those things to people too if anyone's interested in learning them as a practice. So we'll do that and then I think the next series, the next Discovering Buddhism program itself will start over in the fall. Report an error in the passage at 58:19 Highlight the passage at 58:19

58:35 So a little bit about Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 58:35 Highlight the passage at 58:35

58:40 Buddhism, you know, began in India. When the Buddha got enlightened, he didn't actually call it Buddhism. It became Buddhism after his death. After he manifested death, I should say. He simply attained what's called Paranavana or the great enlightenment. And then he actually thought it was just so amazing and far out that nobody would be able to understand it. Report an error in the passage at 58:40 Highlight the passage at 58:40

59:13 Which when you get into the teachings on emptiness, it's true. You're kind of like, wow. So when he had this experience of enlightenment, he actually kind of just retreated. He never planned to teach it to anybody. And then people really begged, you know, what? Because they could see a difference in him. And they wanted, they wanted, it's sort of like when we prostrate at the beginning, I want that. Report an error in the passage at 59:13 Highlight the passage at 59:13

59:32 I want what you have. It's the way that Chakselo, the Tibetan of I prostrate, it comes out as sort of like, I want what you've got. So people wanted what he had. They saw a difference in him. They wanted him to teach. And he finally began to teach. And he began to teach in a way that everything he taught really was to get us out of saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 59:32 Highlight the passage at 59:32

59:55 I mean, everything comes down to that. It was to get us out of this condition of suffering, into nirvāṇa, and then ultimately to full enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 59:55 Highlight the passage at 59:55

1:00:06 So it flourished in India for about 1500 years and then it began to spread during that time period. It began to spread to other countries and it spread to Tibet in about the 8th century. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:06 Highlight the passage at 1:00:06

1:00:20 The teacher who brought it to Tibet was named Padmasambhava who lived 730 to 805. Again, one of my teachers is really good on the names and the dates, like the way we learned at school. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:20 Highlight the passage at 1:00:20

1:00:35 It's kind of interesting to see what we were doing in the West at that time period. So Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava is the same person. He's the one who brought it to Tibet, and he is the one who founded the Nyingma or Nyingmapa tradition, which is the oldest of the schools of Buddhism in Tibet. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:35 Highlight the passage at 1:00:35

1:00:59 It actually flourished there for a couple of years and then there were a couple of really, really powerful and violently anti-Dharma kings that were in power and so it began to die out and also began to degenerate. And so Lama Atisha was invited, 982 to 1054, was invited to come to Tibet. Don't worry, it won't be on the quiz. I'm kidding. So he was a great master. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:59 Highlight the passage at 1:00:59

1:01:28 And a scholar from India, and he was invited to kind of reintroduce Buddhism in Tibet. And so he came. And then as he was teaching the Tibetan people, he began to devise the system of what's called the lamrim, which is this collection of Buddhist teachings put in a certain order and meditated in a certain order in order to get us enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:28 Highlight the passage at 1:01:28

1:01:56 We tend to think of the lamrim as a really linear set of teachings. It's actually a genre of teachings, too, so it's not like the lamrim is a text. There are many lamrims. Lam simply means path, and rim means graduated, like steps, you know, like stair steps. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:56 Highlight the passage at 1:01:56

1:02:17 And so there are many lamrims ranging from, you know, I think there's a 14-verse lamrim. The Three Principles of the Path. All the way up to the great treatise, you know, the Lamrim Chem Mo, that three volume set by Tsongkhapa. That's quite vast. There's probably more that haven't been translated. And all four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism have their own lamrims. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:17 Highlight the passage at 1:02:17

1:02:46 But they're all slightly different. So this... This particular tradition that we, this center is part of, is called the Galupa tradition. And it was founded in the 14th century by a great master who was this little statue in the middle there, Lama Tsongkhapa or Jai Tsongkhapa, Lord Tsongkhapa, Jai just means Lord, who was descended from Lama Atisha's teachings. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:46 Highlight the passage at 1:02:46

1:03:15 So, Lama Atisha He created, well actually after him, his disciples actually created what's called the old Kadampas or the Kadam tradition, who really, really took all the lamrim teachings as personal advice, all the teachings of the Buddha as personal advice, like really sincerely. And they practiced really, really hard. They were around in the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries. And they led straight to Lama Tsongkhapa. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:15 Highlight the passage at 1:03:15

1:03:44 He came from them. He actually came from them and the Sakya tradition. So he is known, he's mostly known as this great He was also an amazing yogi, too. At some point, when he was almost at the height of his fame, he took eight close disciples and just went into this long retreat, which drove everybody insane. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:44 Highlight the passage at 1:03:44

1:04:08 He was at the height of his teaching capacity and fame, and he just threw it all aside and went off into a retreat with his eight closest disciples. He was also a great yogi. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:08 Highlight the passage at 1:04:08

1:04:22 he wrote... They say he wrote more than 10,000 pages of commentary on the Buddha's teachings and on Atisha's teachings. He also wrote the Lamrim Chenmo. So that was a direct commentary on Atisha's Lamrim. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:22 Highlight the passage at 1:04:22

1:04:40 And Pabankar Rinpoche, who is a 20th century scholar, taught, hey, come on in, see, you're forced to come to the front. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:40 Highlight the passage at 1:04:40

1:04:52 We haven't introduced ourselves yet, so I've just been blathering on for a while. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:52 Highlight the passage at 1:04:52

1:04:59 So Pabanka Rinpoche, I'm just giving you some lineage background because His Holiness always does this. Whenever he gives any kind of teaching, he always goes on for a while with the various, you know, where these teachings come from. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:59 Highlight the passage at 1:04:59

1:05:15 So Pabanka Rinpoche, who was a 20th century Lama, his dates are 1878 to 1941. He actually gave a commentary on the lamrim in the year 1921, and apparently it was a 24, 25 day teaching, which is pretty amazing anyway. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:15 Highlight the passage at 1:05:15

1:05:35 Mostly attended by monks, I should say, but some lay people too. Apparently he was hugely popular as a teacher, like very anecdotal and, you know, Interesting to listen to, even though he wasn't really known that much as a scholar in his years at Sera. But he taught, and his main disciple was Trijong Rinpoche, who wrote it all down. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:35 Highlight the passage at 1:05:35

1:05:57 That teaching became Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, or Liberation in Your Hands, which are two different translations of that teaching, which we still use today. That's actually the root text of this class and of all the Discovering Buddhism classes. And it's simply a commentary on the lamrim. So his disciples, Trijong Rinpoche, Riba Rinpoche was also his heart disciple. They became the teachers of our teachers, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Geshe-la, who then in turn teach us. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:57 Highlight the passage at 1:05:57

1:06:28 And then the responsibility falls onto us to be able to learn this well and hopefully teach it to others. We become the direct lineage holders. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:28 Highlight the passage at 1:06:28

1:06:39 So a little bit about me and then we can go around and introduce ourselves. I first began to study Buddhism 12 years ago. I mostly have studied with the Lamrim actually is most of the basis of what I've studied and I've studied with Lama Zopa Rinpoche who's my main teacher. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:39 Highlight the passage at 1:06:39

1:07:05 Also with Geshe Michael Roach, who's the one who gave the quizzes and the tests and all the years. So if you have anyone to argue with, it would be him. Also went to a couple of one-month lamrim courses at Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, which is sort of the cradle of the FPMT. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:05 Highlight the passage at 1:07:05

1:07:25 And the teacher on both of those courses was Venerable Neal Houston, also known as Chubton Dundrup. I've also studied with Chodron Rinpoche, who's my abbot, who I took ordination with, Riba Rinpoche, His Holiness, of course, the Dalai Lama, Kirti Sancho Rinpoche, Geshe-la, Venable Rabina, Venable Renee, Sanghi Kadro, Sarah Thresher, and so on. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:25 Highlight the passage at 1:07:25

1:07:53 And I have to admit that when I first met the Dharma, the whole system... Because I think you could also call lamrim a system. The system of the lamrim is one of the things that attracted me. It was all very methodical. I had never seen that before in anything else, and I tried other things, including Christianity. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:53 Highlight the passage at 1:07:53

1:08:13 But it was very methodical, and it was very clear. The teachings are very, very clear, very clearly put forward. It doesn't mean it was easy. Clear and simply laid out doesn't mean that it's simple to put in effect. But it was definitely clearly laid out, like a map to get you enlightened, which I thought was very interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:13 Highlight the passage at 1:08:13

1:08:40 I think I met the Dharma. I think I did it in the way that a lot of us do it. Things were kind of hard. I had had a number of deaths in a relatively short amount of time. Um. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:40 Highlight the passage at 1:08:40

1:08:53 And so I decided to go to Copan Monastery for the month-long course, kind of like many of us do when things aren't working. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:53 Highlight the passage at 1:08:53

1:09:04 You're trying to figure out what's going on, like what do all these deaths mean? What does life mean? What's the meaning of life? So I was definitely one of those kind of seekers. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:04 Highlight the passage at 1:09:04

1:09:17 And when I met the Dharma at that point, I had actually... connected with it here but I went to Copon to sort of deepen that connection and And then I got home and another really good friend was killed in a car accident. And I just kind of felt like this was like my sign. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:17 Highlight the passage at 1:09:17

1:09:39 Her death actually really helped me realize how precious life is and that we only have so much time to really try to get to this meaning, what is the meaning of it, to use it to the best of our abilities. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:39 Highlight the passage at 1:09:39

1:09:57 But also her death hitting at that time, I sort of had some tools to work with it that I didn't have for the other ones. So there was something that came out of that. I mean, actually, I thank her a lot in my mind because I think she actually pushed me a lot faster than if I could have just gone home and gone back to work for a couple of years, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:57 Highlight the passage at 1:09:57

1:10:16 But as it was, I came back, this happened, and I just thought, wow, this is... I've got to do something. So I actually went to Nepal and India for a year and decided to just do as many Kopan-like experiences as I could set up. So I just kind of went from monastery to monastery and set these things up. It was actually more circular. And it was an amazing time in my life. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:16 Highlight the passage at 1:10:16

1:10:40 And then the result of that was in 2000, I came back. I mean, I was back here. In 2000, I got ordained here in California and I started working here. And I never left again. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:40 Highlight the passage at 1:10:40

1:10:56 But anyway, that's another point. So anyway, so that's a little something about me. I do find that you never ever get tired of the lamrim. You just begin to look at it with new eyes. So I started to say, we tend to think of it as a linear set of teachings, you know, starting with one and ending with one and then you're done. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:56 Highlight the passage at 1:10:56

1:11:20 It doesn't really work that way. It's very spiral. Can you say spiracle? Anyway, they're spiral teachings. They're circular teachings. And you just keep coming around and around and around and around and probably until you die. I mean, that's kind of the way I'm seeing it now. I'm on another round of them. We're meditating on them. And of course, the cool thing is, is because we're at such an interesting time in history, more works get translated. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:20 Highlight the passage at 1:11:20

1:11:50 So the next time around, there's a whole new, so then it's like, wow. And you read this whole other translation of how to look at saṃsāra. You know, a whole different, and you hit something that just hits some point in your heart, and it means something different this time because of what you've done in the interim. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:50 Highlight the passage at 1:11:50

1:12:08 While you're coming around again. So it's sort of like you're never done with the lamrim. You just keep looking at it again and looking at it again and hopefully at some point gaining deep insight and deep realizations of these various steps on the path that begin to affect our lives and begin to affect how we treat others and begin to affect how we think of ourselves and our worldview basically begins to transform. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:08 Highlight the passage at 1:12:08

1:12:33 That's what's really happening when we practice and study the Dharma. So why don't we go around real quick. You don't have to spend hours or anything, but just introduce yourself and say why you're in this particular class and also maybe just a little bit about kind of where you are in your path or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:33 Highlight the passage at 1:12:33

1:12:56 Just whatever you want to say is okay. Don't feel on the spot. Can we start with you, Karen? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:56 Highlight the passage at 1:12:56

1:13:07 Hi, I'm Karen, and this is... There are 13 classes in, so this is about my 11th class in discovering Buddhism. So I'm almost done. Forever. In the discovering Buddhism series. And I feel like I could learn a lot more about saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. And so that's why I'm in the class. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:07 Highlight the passage at 1:13:07

1:13:40 My name is David and this is my... Third Discovering Buddhism class since moving here in July. That's amazing. And I think Chokyi sold it on delusions. We're going to learn more about delusions. And I love the word and really don't want to be delusional anymore. We're tired of it. But I love that word and want to learn more about saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:40 Highlight the passage at 1:13:40

1:14:15 Hi, my name is Carol. I've been drawn to a lot of contemplative and meditative practices for about 20 years, or my whole life, but more seriously, about 20 years in various places. But I'm at a point in my life where I really, really need more tools in my toolbox. And I'm very left-brained, but I'm not really interested in learning all the terms and everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:15 Highlight the passage at 1:14:15

1:14:40 I really need experience. And I've been coming to the Friday night classes and felt at home, It's already helped. Excellent. Good to know that. I need to be here, and I'm glad to be here. Great. Thanks, Carl. My name is Matthew, and my memory is like a sieve, so I might have taken this class, but since I don't remember. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:40 Highlight the passage at 1:14:40

1:15:03 I don't think so. I've never taught it before. Oh, okay. See, that's right. I can confess that to you guys. So this is new for me, so that's why I'm here. Hi. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:03 Highlight the passage at 1:15:03

1:15:13 I'm so sandy. And he's just following me. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:13 Highlight the passage at 1:15:13

1:15:21 Matthew's like a puppy. Take how many classes? About four or five already? Probably, yeah. I repeated one. Yeah, yeah. Sandy always takes death every time it comes around. Really mean it, huh? Yeah. Really learned a lot. I really enjoy it. Excellent. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:21 Highlight the passage at 1:15:21

1:15:48 My name is Dominique. Dominique. I grew up as a Catholic. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:48 Highlight the passage at 1:15:48

1:15:52 Then I joined the Zoka Gakkai Buddhist organization, the ones that chant. And I was curious about your branch, and that's why I'm here today. Excellent. Welcome, Dominic. Hi, I'm Cedric. I think I'm about halfway through discovering Buddhism, but really I'm just looking to learn and maybe put some of these ideas into practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:52 Highlight the passage at 1:15:52

1:16:21 Excellent. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:21 Highlight the passage at 1:16:21

1:16:25 I'm Emily and this is my first Discovering Buddhist class. I went to Venerable Rubina's talk last week and it was really inspiring and empowering and I just want to learn more. Excellent, great. I'm not quite as lively as Venerable Rubina or enthusiastic as she always calls it. I'll do my best. My name's Rick. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:25 Highlight the passage at 1:16:25

1:16:56 I'm on sort of a pilgrimage, I guess. I had some, you know, talking about the suffering of saṃsāra. I had sickness of my old lady and her. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:56 Highlight the passage at 1:16:56

1:17:11 After being in the hospital, she got addicted to morphine. She started doing some really bright and bad checks. I was trying to pay all that off. Then I got laid off. Still trying to pay off the checks and we lost her place. Ended up in a bad situation. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:11 Highlight the passage at 1:17:11

1:17:31 She's in jail in South Carolina and I needed, I've been studying, Report an error in the passage at 1:17:31 Highlight the passage at 1:17:31

1:17:41 I needed a new start, I needed something new so I knocked on the door. Is that how, you just knocked on the door and Rubenna answered? Excellent. Now that's good karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:41 Highlight the passage at 1:17:41

1:17:56 I just saw you sitting in there that one day and I was kind of like, who's that? Report an error in the passage at 1:17:56 Highlight the passage at 1:17:56

1:18:02 Excellent. Well welcome all of you. So real quick, how many people, Already do some sort of meditation practice. And so those who don't, you want to talk to me real quick at the break? We're going to take a break. Okay. So anybody who needs to kind of figure out what the heck I'm talking about by means of the words meditation practice can come up. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:02 Highlight the passage at 1:18:02

1:18:29 And then you guys like to take a... Report an error in the passage at 1:18:29 Highlight the passage at 1:18:29

1:18:34 Hey David, can I ask you a favor? I emptied one. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:34 Highlight the passage at 1:18:34

1:18:42 Chug, chug. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:42 Highlight the passage at 1:18:42

1:18:47 Can you just fill it to the brim with hot water? Thank you. Sure. I wonder if anybody's there, actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:47 Highlight the passage at 1:18:47

1:18:57 Is there? Okay, good. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:57 Highlight the passage at 1:18:57

1:19:04 Hi, Emily and Dominique. Welcome. So I think what I'll do is you filled out the roster, right? So what I can just do is send you a little document. You have your email addresses on there? Okay. That's just kind of a little bit of how to start a meditation practice. But most of what we're going to do is what's called analytical meditation. So it's a little bit like you're sort of reading through it and thinking about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:04 Highlight the passage at 1:19:04

1:19:36 So it's a little bit more like contemplation, the way we think of it, rather than sitting quietly and trying not to think, which is often what we think of as meditation. I thought for years. Thank you, David. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:36 Highlight the passage at 1:19:36

1:19:49 Oh, God. Thank you, thank you. We'll just put that down there and I won't look at it. Thank you. Yeah, so I know for years when I was doing, well, these meditations that I was telling you about that were part of my homework, I didn't think of it as meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:49 Highlight the passage at 1:19:49

1:20:10 It was years before I thought I was meditating. I kept thinking someone was going to tell me how to really meditate. But in this particular tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, Galukpa tradition, we are really into analytical meditation, which is simply thinking about something until you reach some moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:10 Highlight the passage at 1:20:10

1:20:29 I call it an aha moment. It's like an insight of some sort, even a tiny one, where you're like, oh. That's when you apply whatever concentration ability you have. It could be two and a half seconds. You're just trying to apply the concentration at that moment and just try to let that sink into your mind a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:29 Highlight the passage at 1:20:29

1:20:51 Then your mind gets distracted and you just carry on. That's really what's meant by analytical meditation. We forget sometimes to do that concentration bit, but that's really important because they say that's how we make inroads into our minds. You know? Report an error in the passage at 1:20:51 Highlight the passage at 1:20:51

1:21:06 The other type of meditation of the main two types is called concentration and that's what we did at the beginning on our breath. So you can use your breath and I usually say to just start every meditation session with a little meditation on the breath to bring your mind to neutral and also to build that ability to concentrate because we need that. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:06 Highlight the passage at 1:21:06

1:21:27 But in this class we're mostly going to be doing analytical meditation. So if you don't already have a place to meditate, This week, maybe make that part of your assignment to just sort of find a quiet place. It could just be a corner of your room. I use my closet. And just figure out a comfortable cushion that you can sit on. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:27 Highlight the passage at 1:21:27

1:21:48 Or if you need to sit in a chair, that's fine too. It's nice to have an altar, but you don't need one. I've used just a tabletop, part of a shelf. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:48 Highlight the passage at 1:21:48

1:22:00 windowsill, whatever, and just light a candle and go to town. You don't need to have the whole shebang in order to It's mostly just having your space feel welcoming and inspiring. That's really all it's about. So it doesn't have to be big and fancy and ornate. It can just be, you know. A place that you can put a tea light and sit down. And then the more that you learn or the more you get inspired, like you say you attend a teaching by the Dalai Lama, then you might want to put his picture there or something and then you might get more ornate as it goes along. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:00 Highlight the passage at 1:22:00

1:22:32 Or one day you might get a bunch of flowers or something and stick it there. But otherwise, it's simply to create a space that your mind can get quiet and focus. And that's really all it is. So I will make a point tomorrow to send you guys. Actually, you're going to hand me that roster and I'll mark you. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:32 Highlight the passage at 1:22:32

1:22:52 And I'll send you guys this little document about how to start a meditation practice. But don't get overwhelmed by it. It's mostly just to allow yourself space every day to kind of contemplate. That's really all it is. So, you know, do it. Do it slowly, slowly is fine. So let me see. There's Dominique. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:52 Highlight the passage at 1:22:52

1:23:12 And there's Emily. Emily, what's your last name? A-D-A-S? Oh, oh. Cedric's G came down and went through it. Okay, good. So send med doc. Okay, cool. So I'll just take a little break. Thank you. And if you guys have any questions, especially because you haven't attended as many classes, just feel free. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:12 Highlight the passage at 1:23:12

1:23:37 I have on your... On the syllabus, I have my email address. Just send me an email anytime. And if you feel like you want to get together and talk about some stuff, that's fine too. If you'd rather just send me questions as they come up for you, that's fine too. So don't feel like, oh, I'm really stupid. I don't know what everybody's talking about. Don't feel that way because probably you're not alone. Probably somebody else has the same question. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:37 Highlight the passage at 1:23:37

1:24:01 But just feel free to contact me anytime. Okay, great. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:01 Highlight the passage at 1:24:01

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:25:03 Yeah, yeah, he's cool. Come on. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:03 Highlight the passage at 1:25:03

1:25:15 Cedric, how are you? How was your move? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:15 Highlight the passage at 1:25:15

1:25:24 You missed, I think, two, right? You missed, no, you missed just this last one since January when you were here. Yeah. It feels like longer, I think, because we had a few weeks off at Christmas and stuff. Yeah, a lot, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:24 Highlight the passage at 1:25:24

1:25:41 Excellent. Good. Are you going to do Thursday too? I'm just going to focus on one at a time. Two is hard. Yeah, I tried doing that last time. Yeah, Karen told me, sent me an email saying that she just said two at a time is just too difficult. Well, she's also working on a dissipation. It gets to be too much, I think. Unless you're really at that point in your life, and some people are. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:41 Highlight the passage at 1:25:41

1:26:10 I think David is at this point and he's jumping in with both feet. And then sometimes I know people have to pull back a little bit and let it integrate a little bit and then jump back in again. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:10 Highlight the passage at 1:26:10

1:26:20 So sometimes it's useful to do that. Somebody was just asking at the practice day what they could do to help it integrate more rather than just taking in more information. I was really encouraging him to try to do a little short retreat. And so I got an email from him today that he's going to try to do one down at Vajrapana on a weekend. Yeah, just to allow some settling, you know, because sometimes it's just more and more and more information and not really enough time to let it, especially if you aren't able to meditate on it every day. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:20 Highlight the passage at 1:26:20

1:26:51 And then it just becomes, yeah, more, we get enough information as it is in this world, you know, it's the information age, so it's like, yeah, so. A little retreat is good, and he happened to find one that is a short one and also really not a lot of information, you know, so you can just focus on the experience of retreat and taking walks and things like that, so that's kind of nice. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:51 Highlight the passage at 1:26:51

1:27:22 So yeah, I highly suggest that. I've asked Vajrapani and LMB to do more short retreats so people in the city... Come down. It's really hard because sometimes they'll offer like these three-week retreats, you know, and you're like, that's wonderful for people who are at that place, but more people are at the place where they just need a little short, tough taste of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:22 Highlight the passage at 1:27:22

1:27:44 And once you have the taste, then you might want to be willing to do that, but most people don't even get off that much time from work, so it's kind of hard. So I was happy that they were doing some shorter ones this year. I said, yes, yeah. But if you get a chance, it's definitely a thing to do. Yes, definitely something I want. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:44 Highlight the passage at 1:27:44

1:28:09 That's okay. That's good. Actually, I'll make that announcement. Yeah. If you know you're going to miss a class, you can let me know by email and I can actually send you the notes and the homework by email. That's the way I do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:09 Highlight the passage at 1:28:09

1:28:28 And I just, I write. Really complete notes when I teach because I also have the mind, the brain of a sieve. And I just have this total fear, and it has happened actually, it's not unsubstantiated, where I just am all of a sudden go completely blank. So I write really detailed notes. I don't always stick to the notes, but then if you have them, you kind of know what was covered even without listening to it. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28:28

1:28:53 And sometimes it's easier for people. So just let me know if you know. That you have to miss it. And also, of course, if you're sick, something comes up and you can't come to class, then just contact me. And that way, by the time the next class comes, in theory, if I get it to you on time, you feel like you kind of know what everybody else knows to some degree. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:53 Highlight the passage at 1:28:53

1:29:12 Any questions so far on anything that I've said? David's been waiting for the magic word. Regarding clashes, is that? Yeah. Well, I don't know because I've not studied Sanskrit. That's the way I pronounce it. Is ekklesia the state of mind or the cause of the state of mind? No, ekklesia is the afflicted thought itself or the afflicted emotion itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:12 Highlight the passage at 1:29:12

1:29:39 So ekklesia is always afflicted. It's not like compassion or something like that. So it's an afflicted state of mind. The cause for that state of mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:39 Highlight the passage at 1:29:39

1:29:53 It's a karma, it's a karmic seed, a mental karmic seed. So therein lies part of our problem is every time we do anything or think anything or say anything, we create, and this gets into karma, which we're going to go into a little bit more next week, it creates the habit. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:53 Highlight the passage at 1:29:53

1:30:16 So that's how it gets really difficult to kind of break this cycle because... It's sort of like every time you get upset, you reach for a cigarette, you're creating that habit. It's the same thing with our speech and our thoughts. And we kind of know this, but when you really start looking at it in your life, you realize it. So I remember Venable Renee, who is the teacher who's leading that retreat that I was just talking to you about. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:16 Highlight the passage at 1:30:16

1:30:41 Charlie's going to go try to do a retreat with him. Actually, a little short retreat. He said once, and it really stuck with me. Every time you give in to anger or attachment, you stay that much longer in saṃsāra. Every time you fight that or resist that urge, you're a moment closer to enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:41 Highlight the passage at 1:30:41

1:31:02 And it's really hard. Sometimes you're like, I don't care. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:02 Highlight the passage at 1:31:02

1:31:07 Especially if the hand's already stuffing the whatever into the mouth or whatever. But if you can catch yourself when you're still on the stairs, it can be really useful. And it's quite empowering, you know, to kind of go, I don't need to go into that, whatever that is, you know, including anger, including like some of the really, really big destructive ones. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:07 Highlight the passage at 1:31:07

1:31:30 I will often use examples of like grabbing the piece of cake and stuffing it in your mouth because it's sort of like, I think we can all relate to it, but also it's not quite, but I mean, you know, sometimes we don't think of it as quite as heavy. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:30 Highlight the passage at 1:31:30

1:31:47 An affliction as like screaming at somebody or, you know, punching somebody or whatever. But actually attachment is pretty strong and that's actually, they say, that's like one of the roots that is like what waters this whole thing of saṃsāra is that. That kind of gripping, it's like the Velcro that keeps us here. Attachment to everything. So that's another reason why I like to use attachment. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:47 Highlight the passage at 1:31:47

1:32:20 Also because of course I know it so well. Sandy, you had a question. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:20 Highlight the passage at 1:32:20

1:32:27 Based on the other classes that I've taken, you said Nirvāṇa was eliminating the gross mind. Is that the same thing as in the other classes we were talking about the demigods? No, it's not. The demigods and the gods, and we'll talk about the six realms in here a little too, they are still in saṃsāra. They just happen to get a really good birth. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:27 Highlight the passage at 1:32:27

1:32:49 So they're just blissed out for a while, but then it ends. So you know, they still have the gross mind. They still are, they're still subject to karma and delusion. They just don't have a whole lot of delusions arising because they're all blissed out because they just happen to have a really good, you know, actually the demigods do have jealousy that arises for the gods. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:49 Highlight the passage at 1:32:49

1:33:07 It's like getting a really good karmic rebirth and then they say at the end what you're just doing is using up all your good karma. So it's like you're using up all the good karma and then all you've got left is negative so then you have a negative rebirth the next time around. And they say that one of the worst sufferings in saṃsāra is actually realizing that, which they do as they're dying. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:07 Highlight the passage at 1:33:07

1:33:29 They realize that they just wasted eons of bliss. But nirvāṇa, you've actually transcended it all together. But they still say that at some point you'll have to attain full enlightenment. And you still have subtle obstacles to omniscience. So what state of being are you then at that point? Nirvāṇa as a, what's called an arhat. An arhat. And they're sentient beings? They still have mind. They aren't enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:29 Highlight the passage at 1:33:29

1:33:57 Do they have bodies? Um... I think they have like nirvāṇa without remainder and nirvāṇa with remainder and all that stuff. And so if you attain nirvāṇa within this life, you'll carry this body until you pass. But you don't exist as a human anymore after that. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:57 Highlight the passage at 1:33:57

1:34:19 I have heard that. Most of the time I've heard it taught as without remainder and with remainder. But we'll get into that more when we talk about nirvāṇa. Yeah, Karen. so. The once born. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:19 Highlight the passage at 1:34:19

1:34:30 Everyone just sort of looks at the microphone. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:30 Highlight the passage at 1:34:30

1:34:36 So does that mean Nirvāṇa is a Hinayana term or a Theravadan term? It's not a Mahāyāna term? It's not a goal of Mahāyāna. That's the difference. It's not a goal of the Mahāyāna. It's a goal of the Hinayana traditions or the paths of individual liberation. It is individual liberation. Mahāyāna is complete enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. So it has a completely different motivation. And just to pick your brain since we're asking questions and the other side doesn't have any. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:36 Highlight the passage at 1:34:36

1:35:14 So when you were talking about Klesha and it's the mind caused by karma, would that be the karma of the previous life? Because there's different types of karma, right? There's karma that we feel right away and there's karma that ripens. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:14 Highlight the passage at 1:35:14

1:35:29 Very rare for us to have the results of karma within the same life, which of course all of these deeper questions on karma are really handled better in the whole course on karma. But yeah, most of the karma that we create is not experienced in this lifetime, except if the object of whatever action you've done is incredibly powerful. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:29 Highlight the passage at 1:35:29

1:35:57 Or your motivation is incredibly powerful, both of which can cause it to ripen, for good or bad in this life. So, for example, this is how tantra works. If you have a motivation of wanting to benefit all beings, a bodhicitta motivation, for example, if you want to attain enlightenment for the sake of all living beings, then your motivation is vast. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:57 Highlight the passage at 1:35:57

1:36:25 And it can ripen faster, which is what you have to have before you enter Tantra. That has to be your basis of motivation. And, for example, if you are serving a teacher or a master, the power of that object creates incredibly powerful karma and that can ripen quickly. So like that. And there are other examples, but like that. But usually... Report an error in the passage at 1:36:25 Highlight the passage at 1:36:25

1:36:52 By and large, what we're experiencing now, including this entire environment, our bodies, you know, our sort of leanings or tendencies or habits and things like that are an example or an indication of what kind of lives we lived in the past. What we're creating now will be experienced in the future. So they say, if you want to know what you were, they say it's something like, if you want to know what you were like before, look at the conditions of your life. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:52 Highlight the passage at 1:36:52

1:37:21 Now, if you want to know where you're headed, look at the conditions of your mind now, which is a bit frightening, actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:21 Highlight the passage at 1:37:21

1:37:31 But we're going to work on that. It's a process. Anyway, so now we get to talk about suffering. This is the final grand finale, and this is what you're going to think about. Why do we talk about suffering? What is suffering, first of all? Let's start with what is suffering. The very first teaching that the Buddha gave after he got enlightened is often called the Four Noble Truths. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:31 Highlight the passage at 1:37:31

1:37:59 Most of us have heard at least of this teaching before. Whether we have realized or not is another story. But it's basically there is suffering. There is a cause of that suffering. There is a cessation or stopping. Cessation is kind of a funny word. We don't use it for anything else. There's a stopping of that suffering and there's a path to get to that stopping or cessation. So those are the four. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:59 Highlight the passage at 1:37:59

1:38:27 Anybody need a repeat? Okay. There is suffering. There is a cause of that suffering. There is an end to that suffering. And there is a path to the end or cessation of that suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:27 Highlight the passage at 1:38:27

1:38:50 So that's why we're starting with suffering. The Buddha thought it was good. I thought so too. I think it's also something we can all relate to. A lot of the ways we're going to talk about are different ways that the Buddha said we are suffering that we might not think we're suffering. Definitely the ways that Rick described, those are huge sufferings. Those are gross sufferings. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:50 Highlight the passage at 1:38:50

1:39:10 Most of... The things that we think of as suffering are considered gross suffering. But that's not all the kinds of sufferings that the Buddha describes in his teachings on suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:10 Highlight the passage at 1:39:10

1:39:24 The Sanskrit word that we often translate as the word suffering is actually this word called dukkha. Dukkha, which is also one of those great words. I love that word. Dukkha. Dukkha can be translated as dissatisfaction as well. So it's not necessarily just, you know, having your arm fall off, you know, it's this subtle mind of complaining about the temperature of the water, you know, or the color of the carpet or the timber of my voice or, yeah, climbing up the hill. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:24 Highlight the passage at 1:39:24

1:40:06 I mean, it can be very subtle or it can be the simple. The simple, there's that word again, I've used that five times tonight. The fact that saṃsāra is suffering in its very nature because it is the creation of karma and kleshas and that actually is one of the types of suffering. So it's very minute or subtle all the way up to full diagnosis of cancer, you only have three days. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:06 Highlight the passage at 1:40:06

1:40:37 It's like everything in between. It's the house falling in on you down to your pen, the ink running out. I mean, it's everything. And so the Buddha was seeing all of this as suffering. And so we have to completely change the way we think of suffering. So this word suffering, I think, is not entirely adequate. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:37 Highlight the passage at 1:40:37

1:40:59 But anyway, so that's sometimes why I spend some time on the terms because I think sometimes suffering sounds like the flu and it's not always, not in his what he's talking about. And sometimes we think we understand a term and it's not accurate for this context of this particular philosophy. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:59 Highlight the passage at 1:40:59

1:41:19 Interesting time for a visit. Um, so, um, The Buddha taught that it's this underlying dukkha that keeps us here and it keeps us anxious and it keeps us unhappy. And so it's important to look at. And so we're going to start with looking at what's often called as the three, it's called the three sufferings, but it really is like the three levels of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:19 Highlight the passage at 1:41:19

1:41:48 And so I'm going to give you three lists. And these three lists are going to be part of your homework of just... I would say the first couple of times that you sit down with them, just read them. That's enough. Just read them and think about them and kind of note, you know, maybe with your pen, kind of note the ones you want to come back to that you want to think more about on the third day. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:48 Highlight the passage at 1:41:48

1:42:09 So the first two days, you got it easy. You're just going to have your little cup of tea, sit down and then just kind of review this stuff. And then by the third day, pick out a couple and just contemplate them a little deeper. And then, you know, same. And there will be ones that will pop out at you more than others. So the first of the three, these are the three sufferings, which really encompass all the rest. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:09 Highlight the passage at 1:42:09

1:42:34 Suffering of suffering is the first. Dukkha of dukkha. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:34 Highlight the passage at 1:42:34

1:42:40 Suffering of suffering. This is gross suffering. This is what Rick just described. This is my migraine on Sunday. This is, you know, deep. Mental illness. This is profound grief that lasts for five years. This is, you know, I mean, this is kind of what we think of when we think of a suffering. Suffering of suffering. It's also, of course, missing a tooth or, you know, it's also the other little ways of pain. But any kind of gross pain, physical or mental. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:40 Highlight the passage at 1:42:40

1:43:12 Any kind of gross mental or physical suffering. The second is what's called the suffering of change. This one's a little harder to grasp because it's what we often think of as happiness, like a really good meal. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:12 Highlight the passage at 1:43:12

1:43:27 Everything changes. All pleasure changes into suffering or pain. And that really sounds like the Buddha's a killjoy. But the reality is that Rinpoche is always doing this one. Whenever you spend a while making your lunch and you have it all, she's always just like, you know, it just turns into caca. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:27 Highlight the passage at 1:43:27

1:43:49 And you're just kind of like, yeah. And that's the suffering of change. I remember I sat down, we were going on a pilgrimage once from Copan, and I sat down next to a good friend of mine. And I sat down next to her and I was talking for a little bit and I said, God, I guess now you're having the suffering of change. You were really happy I was sitting next to you and now you're kind of blathering on. You were kind of wishing that I would go away. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:49 Highlight the passage at 1:43:49

1:44:12 So we were laughing about that. But it's a lot of times it's sort of like you're really, really hungry, so you eat a good meal. And so you think, well, that was really good. I'll have more. And then you actually get sick or you get a stomach ache or it's just never as good. Like you have like one cup of tea and the second cup you think it should be just as good, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:12 Highlight the passage at 1:44:12

1:44:35 It's the first one and it's not because you're, you know, because we live in saṃsāra is the Buddhist point. So the suffering of change, we get really hot, we decide to go in the shade, we get really, really cold, we decide to go back out in the sun, we get really, really hot, we go into the shade and this is what we do all the time. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:35 Highlight the passage at 1:44:35

1:44:55 We're just constantly dissatisfied with what's going on. And so it basically is the fact that everything that we think of or that we seek out as pleasure eventually changes into suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:55 Highlight the passage at 1:44:55

1:45:15 And what confuses us and what makes it feel like pleasure is that it's sort of this momentary relief of the suffering. And so we identify, we think of that as pleasure. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:15 Highlight the passage at 1:45:15

1:45:28 That momentary relief. The Buddha is basically pointing out that's not happiness. What you guys think of as happiness is not happiness. There is something that's much better. It's sort of like when you're watching little kids on the playground and kind of going, you guys, this isn't really all there is, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:28 Highlight the passage at 1:45:28

1:45:48 And I always get this image of like great teachers and the Buddhas and bodhisattvas kind of looking at us like we're little kids on a playground, you know. They're simply patiently and repeatedly pointing out that there is another world outside. The third one is the hardest one to understand. And the more that you study in this class, hopefully the more clear it will become. It's called all-pervasive suffering or pervasive compounded suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:48 Highlight the passage at 1:45:48

1:46:17 And this is the subtlest form of suffering. This basically is because our body... Gross mind, lifespan, environment, all the beings in it, entire experience of every single day is determined by our karmicletias. It is in the nature of dukkha, our suffering. So it's basically the very nature of everything that we go through and experience and live is in this nature of all-pervasive suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:17 Highlight the passage at 1:46:17

1:46:54 So you will get these things in your, so don't worry about it if you're not getting every word because you will get, I mean that's the cool thing about computers, cut, paste, it's yours. So you don't have to worry about it if you're not getting it, you'll get it. And you know, what's the point of even looking at this suffering? The point of looking at this suffering, why did the Buddha point this out first? Report an error in the passage at 1:46:54 Highlight the passage at 1:46:54

1:47:18 The point is, is that if we don't, I mean most of us think, Looking at suffering is a depressing thing to do, but his point is like if we don't look at this, we don't even realize that we're in prison, much less do we have the desire to get out. We're fairly comfortable, some of us, at least right now in this exact moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:18 Highlight the passage at 1:47:18

1:47:43 And it's not until we hit problems that we begin to question that maybe there is more to life. I mean, which is what I was just describing, which is where when I began really deeply seeking, when you began seeing so many people dying and so many, you know, not necessarily in positive ways, and you actually can have better deaths than others, you do begin to question it all. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:43 Highlight the passage at 1:47:43

1:48:06 It becomes sort of... apart at the seams but otherwise we can kind of merrily move along in life and not really think about the fact that we are stuck in a prison of our own making according to the Buddha and that we have the key ourselves to get out And so, unless somebody points out that there are bars on the window and door, but that we can get the key, then we could just merrily move along until we ourselves die. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:06 Highlight the passage at 1:48:06

1:48:33 And so, the Buddha's point is kind of like... You know, this is suffering and you don't have to stay here. You got another option, kids. Come on. A couple of quotes real quick. His Holiness, I was reading Healing Anger a few, probably a month ago, and His Holiness said, it's not only important to reflect on suffering, but there is a great benefit in doing so as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:33 Highlight the passage at 1:48:33

1:48:59 Reflecting on suffering has a tremendous significance because not only through recognizing the nature of suffering is it possible to generate a genuine sense of renunciation, you get this quote as well, a genuine desire to seek freedom from this bondage. For instance, in the case of a practicing Buddhist, one has to reflect not only upon the suffering of immediate and obvious pains, but also upon this very existence as being in the nature of suffering and dissatisfaction. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:59 Highlight the passage at 1:48:59

1:49:28 So as long as one is under the influence of karma and delusions, one is in a state of suffering and dissatisfaction. So we can perceive obvious sufferings like pain, hardships, injuries and so forth as strong indicators of the basic dissatisfactory nature of our existence. They are like the pointers or reminders of this fundamental nature. And so actually he's pointing out there that whenever things go wrong, we can use that as a pointer of going, of course. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:28 Highlight the passage at 1:49:28

1:49:58 As Geshe always says, it's saṃsāra, what did you expect? Whenever we come to him with just about any problem, it's a way to notice this prison that we're in. He also said, additionally, when one becomes aware of the suffering nature and one's own pains and suffering, it also helps one to develop a capacity for empathy. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:58 Highlight the passage at 1:49:58

1:50:21 The capacity which allows one to connect with other people's feelings and suffering, thereby enhancing one's capacity for compassion towards others. In addition, by realizing the nature of suffering, one will develop greater resolve to put an end to unwholesome deeds which lead to suffering, which of course indicates some developing a trust in karma, because otherwise you wouldn't have that thought, and one's enthusiasm for engaging in wholesome actions and deeds which... Report an error in the passage at 1:50:21 Highlight the passage at 1:50:21

1:50:48 Deeds which lead to happiness and joy will increase. So this is why we spend some time looking at suffering. The six sufferings of saṃsāra in general, so all the different realms which we'll talk about, and then we'll end with the eight sufferings specific to humans, and then we'll dedicate. The problem that nothing is certain. Absolutely nothing is certain. Anything could happen tonight. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:48 Highlight the passage at 1:50:48

1:51:19 And yet we still have this idea that it's just going to be a night like any other. Everything that we know it will last forever. That we know what's going to happen, that we can plan on it. We just move through life this way until something happens and then it's a shock. But absolutely nothing is certain. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:19 Highlight the passage at 1:51:19

1:51:43 Two, the problem that you're never satisfied. You get what you want and then you lose interest in it. You get bored with it. You find something else. You develop huge expectations about something and then enormous disappointment once you get it. And we do this in relationships all the time. Or that chocolate cake. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:43 Highlight the passage at 1:51:43

1:52:14 And the Buddha has said that we've been doing this for lifetime after lifetime after lifetime. So when you're contemplating, you can just think about that. you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:14 Highlight the passage at 1:52:14

1:52:26 The third one is the problem that you have to discard your body over and over again. And we're going to talk about the process of going through death and the intermediate state and then taking a rebirth and how that's determined by karma and delusion. So we'll talk a little bit about that in this class as well. But the point is here that you just repeatedly go through this. You've been everything and you've died over and over and over again. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:26 Highlight the passage at 1:52:26

1:52:56 And then the fourth one is related. You have to be born over and over again. You have to take a new body, a new family, learn everything all over again. It's sort of like just developing this thought of like this enormous waste of time in a way, you know, that we don't have to do this. This is all because we are still utterly controlled by our karma and our delusions. The problem that you go up and down in life. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:56 Highlight the passage at 1:52:56

1:53:26 This is number five. When you get a high position, you fall again. When you get a low position, you move up. You get to a certain level in a company and the company gets sold and closes down. You work in a campaign and the person gets elected or the person doesn't get elected. You see this a lot in D.C. I'm from D.C. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:26 Highlight the passage at 1:53:26

1:53:49 and you see a lot of people moving in with the new... You know, administration and then you see all those people moving out or just as likely all the people moving in to fight the new administration and then those people move out with the next one. A lot of moving in D.C. A lot of organizations springing up just to fight whoever's in office at this, you know, current time. Not just presidency but Senate and Congress as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:49 Highlight the passage at 1:53:49

1:54:18 And the sixth one is the problem that you go through life alone and you die alone. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:18 Highlight the passage at 1:54:18

1:54:26 I mean, this is one that you really notice if you spend any time with anyone who's dying. There could be ten people in the room with that person, and ultimately that person has to move on, has to do the journey by themselves. There's no way. We surround ourselves with a lot of people in life, and ultimately we are in this life alone, even if we don't recognize it now. At that moment, you definitely recognize it, if you're lucid enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:26 Highlight the passage at 1:54:26

1:54:54 The eight sufferings specific to human life are sort of similar. So these six sufferings that I just read you, they are true for animals. You know, they're true for other beings as well. These next eight are only specific to humans, although I think some of them are similar. The suffering of birth, Report an error in the passage at 1:54:54 Highlight the passage at 1:54:54

1:55:17 which, you know, the whole process of being in the womb. For a certain amount of time and then forcing your way out of the womb or being ripped out of the womb, depending upon the situation, the conditions of your birth, is not pleasant. But I think from this standpoint, it's mostly considered to be suffering because we just have to do it over and over again and we have no control. We have no control of who our parents are. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:17 Highlight the passage at 1:55:17

1:55:43 We have no control over where we'll be born and things like that. We have no control over our bodies. Everything is sort of... It feels like it's happening to us even though we are actually, according to the Buddha, creating it by our karma and delusions. The suffering of aging. And most of us in this room, I think, many of us can relate to this one. But definitely when you spend time with people who are aging. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:43 Highlight the passage at 1:55:43

1:56:15 Who have reached the point of their 80s, 90s and so forth. And you really see the suffering that you go through, losing all your friends, which is a hard one. At the point where you most need them, that's when you start either being separated because of your different family situations or because they start dying. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:15 Highlight the passage at 1:56:15

1:56:37 You lose your ability to think clearly, your ability to see or hear clearly, your memory. Sorry, Matthew. Independence, you know, a lot of times people are kind of forced to go live with children or something in some other state and give up their whole life in this particular. Some people handle us all more gracefully than others. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:37 Highlight the passage at 1:56:37

1:57:03 The simplest things about walking and getting up and things like that become really difficult. And a lot of things because of that then get more intense, like you get more fearful or angry or resentful or paranoid. You start seeing those tendencies. Mostly coming out of this just the anger of the whole situation, frustration of the whole situation. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:03 Highlight the passage at 1:57:03

1:57:24 So many people, I remember my mom was in an assisted living situation for a long time and so many of the people that were in that situation were just angry, just so much anger. Everybody kept saying, God, your mom is like so nice, you know, and it's just because she was normal. I mean, she just was like, thank you. She'd say things like, thank you, you know, and she'd always do that, you know, which is, I think, a huge sign of grace because she had no control. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:24 Highlight the passage at 1:57:24

1:57:51 The suffering of sickness. Everything again from the tiniest headache up to terminal illness. And they say the thing again to think about is we've had them all. There is not a single illness that we have not had throughout all of our time in saṃsāra. If you think that we've had beginningless lives, we have had that diagnosis of there's really nothing else we can do now. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:51 Highlight the passage at 1:57:51

1:58:16 You know, you'll have three days, you know. I mean, I can't even imagine what that would sound like. The Buddha said basically we have had every single illness that exists from the most devastating to the simplest over and over and over again because we keep creating the causes. Again with mental illness too, so not just physical, but mental illness as well. The suffering of death. Again with this, so the number four is the suffering of death. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:16 Highlight the passage at 1:58:16

1:58:50 If you are present at somebody's death, Even in the best of circumstances, it's always difficult. It's always a difficult thing to give up this life, no matter how spiritually prepared you are. Not so much for, you know, for really high masters. But for most normal people, it's always difficult because you have to leave behind everything rather quickly and you have no control again, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:58:50 Highlight the passage at 1:58:50

1:59:16 That's what it always comes down to is not having any real control over when we go, how we go, the conditions of our dying and so forth. And so having to go through that over and over and over again. Number five, the suffering of separation from what you like. How many times have we done this today? Report an error in the passage at 1:59:16 Highlight the passage at 1:59:16

1:59:39 You know, separation from, we finally meet, you know, the perfect person and then they get shipped to another state or something, you know, or out to sea. We finally get the perfect job and then somebody else takes it or, you know, we get fired or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:39 Highlight the passage at 1:59:39

1:59:56 We get the perfect car after researching it and everything and then we wreck it. Or we find the perfect pen and then we lose it. You know, I mean, there's that, there's the little stuff too. So it's not just the great big things. Or we've had the perfect cup and it breaks. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:56 Highlight the passage at 1:59:56

2:00:13 And again, we've just done this throughout all of our lives over and over and over again. Number six, the suffering of encountering what you dislike. So everything from you get the perfect job and then you have to share an office with somebody you absolutely can't stand, you know. You find the perfect pen and then it explodes all over you. I mean, this kind of everything from like annoying co-workers to huge things, you know, like domestic violence situations for 15 years or something. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:13 Highlight the passage at 2:00:13

2:00:44 And again, we've done this over and over and over again. The suffering of not obtaining what you want. So, you know, really thinking that's my parking space. Why is that guy parking there, you know, which causes a great amount of suffering? Or, you know, thinking that a certain person is going to bring you happiness and then somebody else gets them or whatever it is, you know, thinking that's my apartment. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:44 Highlight the passage at 2:00:44

2:01:13 I know he's going to give me that apartment and then, you know, somebody else gets it. Again, it can be very tiny or it can be big. And the final one is... And this is mixed. It's like the third of the first three sufferings. The suffering of these contaminated aggregates being in the nature of suffering. So again, they're faulty by nature. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:13 Highlight the passage at 2:01:13

2:01:33 They're produced by carmen clashes. And again, we just do this over and over again where we get these impure body and mind. So the point is not to get depressed about all this. The point is that we have to see that there's suffering in this life and that there's another way. To exist, that doesn't include all the suffering. And the Buddha actually was able to figure out a way to transcend this suffering. And so this class is about, first you look and see that we are suffering, and then we begin to believe that there is something beyond that, and so then we begin to go for it. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:33 Highlight the passage at 2:01:33

2:02:12 We begin to go for, we're willing to apply some of these methods of getting past the suffering. There is hope. So, um... So His Holiness says that genuine renunciation comes from not only recognizing suffering but also understanding the causes of suffering and seeing that liberation from suffering is possible. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:12 Highlight the passage at 2:02:12

2:02:39 So that's why we begin by looking at suffering. So does anybody have any questions about any of those? And then we'll dedicate. And actually, would you mind? Report an error in the passage at 2:02:39 Highlight the passage at 2:02:39

2:02:49 Or anybody can, actually. Of course, I'm calling on you because I know you. And I did ten, and we're nine, so that's good. So you can leave one, I guess. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:49 Highlight the passage at 2:02:49

2:03:05 Oh, can you pass that to Sandy? Just one? Well, it's really, it's puzzling. You're saying that the Buddha or anybody could reach this renunciation to get into nirvāṇa or enlightenment. Well, in Shakyamuni... He was an actual human being. He reached enlightenment, but still he had to face the suffering of death, illness and age. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:05 Highlight the passage at 2:03:05

2:03:31 He manifested that for us. I don't quite understand. I think it's really difficult when we look at high masters and they look like they're getting old or that they are facing death. For them, it may not be the same situation that it would be. In fact, I would say it is not the same situation that it is for us. Their experience of death is not. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:31 Highlight the passage at 2:03:31

2:03:54 They will manifest it as a, I mean, they say that his manifestation of death was simply to teach his disciples and us about impermanence. That everything is impermanent, right? Those are his dying words. Everything is impermanent, including me. It's like, look, you guys, I don't last forever, neither will you, you know? Report an error in the passage at 2:03:54 Highlight the passage at 2:03:54

2:04:14 So it's the ultimate teaching. They often will use their own so-called illness and death to show us about our own. About the imperfections of saṃsāra and about impermanence and death. So it's sort of like Lama Yeshi did the same. All the way through his illness and his dying process, he was completely using it to teach. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:14 Highlight the passage at 2:04:14

2:04:38 He never stopped for a moment using it to teach. So he wasn't actually suffering. Yeah, so he's not actually suffering. His mind is going through this. Same as, you know, those stories about Riba Rinpoche when he was being tortured for 21 years by the Tibetans. His experience of it was completely different. Oh, sorry. Well, some Tibetans actually, I stand by my earlier, no, it was the Chinese, but some Tibetans actually, because he was a Rinpoche, he was like dragged through the streets. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:38 Highlight the passage at 2:04:38

2:05:10 They would show up at his house, drag him through the streets, and people would spit on him and kick him and stuff. And sometimes they were forced to. Some of the Tibetans were forced to. But sometimes, of course, they were for the government as well. So his experience of that was to use it to strengthen and develop his own bodhicitta. And he used it to teach that way. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:10 Highlight the passage at 2:05:10

2:05:29 He taught from that standpoint for the rest of his life. And he lived to be in his 80s. And he made a point. To connect with Chinese students because he felt huge gratitude to the Chinese people to help him develop his compassion. I mean, that's completely different than the way I deal with it. I can tell you, first of all, I'd need years of therapy, you know, so if I hadn't committed suicide first. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:29 Highlight the passage at 2:05:29

2:05:56 So it's like just the same experience. You can see one being in it and you can see another being in it and their minds are totally different. You can see that with ordinary beings too, right? Maybe we could have two people and they both have the cold and one of them is just miserable and the other one's just like, oh, well, you know, I guess I won't go on that hike today or something, you know, but their mind is not so upset by it. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:56 Highlight the passage at 2:05:56

2:06:18 And so it's kind of like to be careful with the holy beings because sometimes they're using what looks like an ordinary aging illness and death to be a teaching. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:18 Highlight the passage at 2:06:18

2:06:30 So that's why you use words sometimes like he manifested illness or he manifested like that. It's a good question. We don't manifest when we get in light. I don't have any control. I don't know about you. Personally, I don't. You could be a holy being, Sunny. I don't know. But, you know, I mean, that's the point. We don't really know who anybody else is. I personally, I don't manifest anything because I don't have any control. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:30 Highlight the passage at 2:06:30

2:06:55 I barely have control. As one of my friends said, if I can keep my mind on the breath for three breaths, it's a good day. That's the amount of control I have. So I don't have any control whether or not I get sick. I don't have any control whether or not somebody's going to come jump me tonight with a knife. I don't have any control where I'd end up the next morning. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:55 Highlight the passage at 2:06:55

2:07:16 But I can develop control as to how I'm going to. Deal with that if it arises. And that's where I go back to that description of practice as the moment by moment, you know, whatever it was. How I deal with whatever arises moment by moment. And that just, it's just like with playing the piano, it's like you've got to practice it. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:16 Highlight the passage at 2:07:16

2:07:39 Because you're never going to know what to do if somebody jumps you with a knife unless you've practiced subduing your mind and not getting pissed off when something little happens, you know. So it's just slowly, slowly practice, practice. That's what they call a practice. Any last questions? Report an error in the passage at 2:07:39 Highlight the passage at 2:07:39

2:08:02 The six sufferings of saṃsāra. The six sufferings of saṃsāra in general. That's great. Three S's. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:02 Highlight the passage at 2:08:02

2:08:15 So let's dedicate the merit. So we started with a motivation and now we're ending with a dedication. They call it the two bookends. And we end just in this relatively short amount of time. We've been here for a couple of hours. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:15 Highlight the passage at 2:08:15

2:08:30 The Buddha would say that actually seeds have been planted in our mind stream, that if we dedicate them, they can grow, they can kind of go the direction that we want them to go. So we dedicate those seeds that have been planted so that we're able to put these teachings into effect and transform our minds so that we're able to liberate ourselves from saṃsāra so that we can become fully enlightened so that we can help others. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:30 Highlight the passage at 2:08:30

2:08:56 Because clearly if we can get there, it's much easier and effective to be able to show others how to do it. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:56 Highlight the passage at 2:08:56

2:09:05 So thank you very much. See you next week. And if anybody has any questions, my email address is on the homework. And it's an excitingly new email address, you may notice. No, I still get SBC though. So we changed all our email addresses to be name at seichenling.org. But it's a little confusing with me because actually I'm Lobsang Chokyi, but everyone just calls me Chokyi, so we went with Chokyi, but anyway. It's usually the name that you call the person. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:05 Highlight the passage at 2:09:05

2:09:39 Like Michelle at Sechenling, Amy at Sechenling, Malum at Sechenling, Chokyi at Sechenling. Did you get all that? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:39 Highlight the passage at 2:09:39

2:09:54 Thank you! Okay, so the only... The required reading that's on the in here, right inside the cover page, it says, further required reading includes the following text. And the third one says, the meaning of life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Is there anybody in this class who would like us to order the meaning of life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama? Report an error in the passage at 2:09:54 Highlight the passage at 2:09:54

2:10:24 Is that a yes or no? Okay, everyone raise your hand if you would like it. One, two. Three, four, five. Emily's like, mm, mm, mm, mm. Yes, okay. So where was I, six? Okay, it was six. Okay, six. I'll see if we can do it, and I'll let you know next week. And if not, then you can do what I did and go to Amazon. Six copies. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:24 Highlight the passage at 2:10:24

2:10:56 Yeah, if you wouldn't mind. So we just need five tables. So we're setting up for Report an error in the passage at 2:10:56 Highlight the passage at 2:10:56

2:10:59 it's just Report an error in the passage at 2:10:59 Highlight the passage at 2:10:59

2:11:04 So if you guys in the back, yeah, could just put away the other tables. And Karen is collecting all the prayer books. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:04 Highlight the passage at 2:11:04

2:11:15 Sure. Listen to Karen. She knows exactly what to do. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:15 Highlight the passage at 2:11:15

2:11:23 We only need five, so... That'll Report an error in the passage at 2:11:23 Highlight the passage at 2:11:23

2:11:40 be our new route Report an error in the passage at 2:11:40 Highlight the passage at 2:11:40

2:11:45 on the times that you come in. So you'll always know the benefits. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:45 Highlight the passage at 2:11:45

2:11:53 Oh, Report an error in the passage at 2:11:53 Highlight the passage at 2:11:53

2:11:58 I guess I'm going to actually turn the sound off. Oh yeah, wait, stop that man. We need five total left in the room. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:58 Highlight the passage at 2:11:58

2:12:14 Turn your back in. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:14 Highlight the passage at 2:12:14