Samsara and Nirvana - How we got into this mess and how to get out! (25 March 2008)

0:01 it on? No. You want me ready to go? I'm in. Okay. What that? don't know why I did that. I don't Report an error in the passage at 0:01 Highlight the passage at 0:01

0:21 I'm doing a personal study on insomnia this week. It's been like five days in a row, three hours a night, and I'm trying to see how many delusions arise with the lack of sleep. So far I'm doing, no, I'm being sarcastic. She's making the most of it. Yes, I'm using it as my teacher. So far so good actually. Report an error in the passage at 0:21 Highlight the passage at 0:21

0:48 Just foggy brain, but I haven't, you know, I did flash actually once, but I immediately apologize. It was in the heat of the moment last night. Alright, so, let's start in meditation. Report an error in the passage at 0:48 Highlight the passage at 0:48

1:09 Find your posture, however you're sitting, whether you're in a chair, whether you're in a cushion. Report an error in the passage at 1:09 Highlight the passage at 1:09

1:19 Most importantly, letting your extend. You can kind of imagine a cord right in front of the spine. Going out the crown of your head, Report an error in the passage at 1:19 Highlight the passage at 1:19

1:32 your shoulders relaxing. It could be a little without some of the tension. Report an error in the passage at 1:32 Highlight the passage at 1:32

1:46 Allowing yourself to take some nice deep cleansing breaths. Breathing out any distractions, worries, any of the tension from living in Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

2:16 each in-breath. Just bringing with it freshness, alertness. And Report an error in the passage at 2:16 Highlight the passage at 2:16

2:38 we'll start with a round of watching our breath. So Ida, the lovely blue belly, or your chest, or your nostril, just focus on the breath and try to count to ten, ten cycles of an in-breath and an out-breath without losing the energy condition Report an error in the passage at 2:38 Highlight the passage at 2:38

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4:29 that we're forced by our karma and then we keep cycling through Report an error in the passage at 4:29 Highlight the passage at 4:29

4:41 these different states of rebirth. It Report an error in the passage at 4:41 Highlight the passage at 4:41

4:52 causes us to act and harm. Report an error in the passage at 4:52 Highlight the passage at 4:52

4:58 When we do those acts, we create karma. And that karma sort of like seeds in our mind stream goes with us from life to life until the conditions come together and that ripens. And that's the result. Our Report an error in the passage at 4:58 Highlight the passage at 4:58

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6:00 experience of the suffering is part of it. That's the result of the fact that we keep causing more of it. Report an error in the passage at 6:00 Highlight the passage at 6:00

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6:41 Take the time to look at how our mind works. First in meditation and then out in the field. And Report an error in the passage at 6:41 Highlight the passage at 6:41

6:58 we begin to see how these disturbing emotions are real elements, not something outside of us. Not something out there, the way it feels. They are the ones who need to destroy and eliminate from Report an error in the passage at 6:58 Highlight the passage at 6:58

7:24 that kind of happiness that we've been seeking and Report an error in the passage at 7:24 Highlight the passage at 7:24

7:31 help others find it too. Report an error in the passage at 7:31 Highlight the passage at 7:31

7:42 Take a moment to feel how it feels, to be angry. The way it can rise up suddenly when you reach your last straw, almost like a blazing fire from within, spilling you off of this powerful emotion. It's Report an error in the passage at 7:42 Highlight the passage at 7:42

8:06 that other person, your object, into a monster. An enemy. How Report an error in the passage at 8:06 Highlight the passage at 8:06

8:20 it feels like it controls you, Report an error in the passage at 8:20 Highlight the passage at 8:20

8:25 like you don't have any power at all against it. Report an error in the passage at 8:25 Highlight the passage at 8:25

8:38 How sometimes it feels like it's standing up for you or trying to be your friend, protecting you, your friends, your name, your reputation, how it deceives you in this way. And Report an error in the passage at 8:38 Highlight the passage at 8:38

9:08 then take a moment to bring to mind how it feels to be attached to something or someone. What attachment arises in you, the way it grabs onto you and holds on tight. Report an error in the passage at 9:08 Highlight the passage at 9:08

9:31 obsessing about something you can't focus anymore. Report an error in the passage at 9:31 Highlight the passage at 9:31

9:49 you begin to feel like you absolutely have to have that object, that person, that thing. you deserve that, don't you? Report an error in the passage at 9:49 Highlight the passage at 9:49

10:09 you can't live without that object. Report an error in the passage at 10:09 Highlight the passage at 10:09

10:21 small end of attachment is definitely not. Now Report an error in the passage at 10:21 Highlight the passage at 10:21

10:34 take a moment to imagine what it might be like to experience those same triggers, the ones that not only cause you to become angry or grasping, but indifferent. Report an error in the passage at 10:34 Highlight the passage at 10:34

10:46 And imagine not having those afflictions and acts. Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

10:58 Imagine what it would be like if someone say the harshest thing to you in front of everyone and not feel anger or defensiveness or be crushed by it, but to be able to respond without any anger at all. Report an error in the passage at 10:58 Highlight the passage at 10:58

11:26 Imagine having a mind so privated by contention even for that one who's so angry under the control of your own delusions that you also want to end their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 11:26 Highlight the passage at 11:26

11:48 Imagine having enough wisdom so you can figure out how to help them skillfully without the fogginess of your own self-interest. Report an error in the passage at 11:48 Highlight the passage at 11:48

12:00 That self-interest that sort of veils everything that you do. Report an error in the passage at 12:00 Highlight the passage at 12:00

12:22 Try to imagine having a mind that's always stable and strong, a mind that's unable to be felt by another's actions or words or look. Report an error in the passage at 12:22 Highlight the passage at 12:22

12:41 Imagine having this mind when you wake up and throughout your day in your mind what happens around you. Report an error in the passage at 12:41 Highlight the passage at 12:41

12:59 Imagine having a mind that delights in everything that doesn't grasp for anything or anyone. Report an error in the passage at 12:59 Highlight the passage at 12:59

13:22 Imagine seeing the most beautiful man or woman and wanting only their happiness. Not feeling that you want to own them and need them to make you happy. Mind Report an error in the passage at 13:22 Highlight the passage at 13:22

13:44 being clear and free of all the craziness we experience right now. Report an error in the passage at 13:44 Highlight the passage at 13:44

13:57 Fear the vastness and power of this mind and the bliss. This Report an error in the passage at 13:57 Highlight the passage at 13:57

14:07 is the mind we're aiming for. We Report an error in the passage at 14:07 Highlight the passage at 14:07

14:19 work with our delusions moment by moment, day by day. This is the mind we're aiming for. Report an error in the passage at 14:19 Highlight the passage at 14:19

14:29 The Buddha said it's totally possible for each of us to have this mind. We have the potential right now. It just takes practice and patience of ourselves. When Report an error in the passage at 14:29 Highlight the passage at 14:29

14:55 we decided we were going to go out for gold medal, imagine the amount of effort, time, energy we'd put into that. Report an error in the passage at 14:55 Highlight the passage at 14:55

15:10 When we wasn't having a mind about this, even a bigger, more important, more beneficial. Report an error in the passage at 15:10 Highlight the passage at 15:10

15:30 To each of us, being able to attain a mind like this. Report an error in the passage at 15:30 Highlight the passage at 15:30

15:38 And developing all of the patience and perseverance it takes for us to have this mind, to develop this mind. All Report an error in the passage at 15:38 Highlight the passage at 15:38

15:58 the happiness that we actually do deserve. Kind of able to bring others to that same refuge. Report an error in the passage at 15:58 Highlight the passage at 15:58

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16:57 I'll do it twice in Tibet and then once in a minute. Report an error in the passage at 16:57 Highlight the passage at 16:57

17:25 The bottom left of that column? Yeah, there you go. We're doing the one in Tibetan. First we'll do it again and then we'll do it again. Report an error in the passage at 17:25 Highlight the passage at 17:25

17:53 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. and then we'll do the prayer fire smalliness on the next page. Report an error in the passage at 17:53 Highlight the passage at 17:53

18:13 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain. Report an error in the passage at 18:13 Highlight the passage at 18:13

18:41 and to sow the mysteries of He filled Report an error in the passage at 18:41 Highlight the passage at 18:41

18:56 me right in four classes so he wasn't able to make it. This is the first class he's ever missed. Oh, impressive. So we're thinking about you, Jake. Report an error in the passage at 18:56 Highlight the passage at 18:56

19:07 I wonder if anybody had any questions about the special to Mary Concocted. I'll probably go into a swoon, so I'll have to take care and be ready. Report an error in the passage at 19:07 Highlight the passage at 19:07

19:30 So you guys have been, hopefully, at least, Reading, if not attempting to meditate on the antidotes, the different delusions and the antidotes, which we're going to continue tonight. We're actually going to continue with anger and attachment and ignorance. We'll do more on them, a little bit more on what we already said than some other antidotes, because they're the top three. Report an error in the passage at 19:30 Highlight the passage at 19:30

20:00 And then we'll add pride, doubt and jealousy. And then next week we're going to do even more exciting ones like guilt and depression and things like that. Thanks Report an error in the passage at 20:00 Highlight the passage at 20:00

20:16 to my partner. I know, I know, true. And she didn't email me, so maybe she'll come. I was thinking today, you know how our karma is expandable? Report an error in the passage at 20:16 Highlight the passage at 20:16

20:32 Is positive karma expandable too? Yes. Karma period. It is always really good to think about all of those aspects of karma from the positive side too because it works the same. Report an error in the passage at 20:32 Highlight the passage at 20:32

20:48 If our motivation strengthens our negative karma, it also strengthens our positive karma. So setting a positive motivation strengthens every positive act. In other words, the more aware you are of doing a positive act for a good reason so you didn't just... Report an error in the passage at 20:48 Highlight the passage at 20:48

21:08 It's kind of hard to do a, it's easier to do a negative act without thinking than it is to do a positive act without thinking, I think. Yeah, it is. You know, I mean, how many people are going to actually help? You might help somebody kind of unintentionally, I suppose. But it seems to take a little bit more effort to do a positive act. Maybe that's just me. Report an error in the passage at 21:08 Highlight the passage at 21:08

21:26 Because if you help them unintentionally, would it still be marriage? Sure. It just would be stronger if you had done it. You know, sometimes people can, some people, I think this would be a good example, if you are just sort of naturally like generous. You might not have so much intention to be generous, you might just be generous. Report an error in the passage at 21:26 Highlight the passage at 21:26

21:48 Of course you still get positive karma from it, but it's stronger if you do it with this mind where you're really aware and you want to give something. And especially they say too if it's not, if it's something that you treasure. So it's not like your old shirt or something. You still get karma if you get your old shirt. Report an error in the passage at 21:48 Highlight the passage at 21:48

22:08 That's, you know, even giving it to a thrift store, I suppose, but it's better if it's like your favorite shirt, your favorite book or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 22:08 Highlight the passage at 22:08

22:20 So that could be a good example. We might do that by accident. Anybody else? Has anybody been working with us? Has anybody looked? Matthew looks away. People begin shuffling. I hear that Lama is like asking for homework assignments and people have to turn them in. So I could get very tough here. Yeah, he's a tough cookie. He's a tough cookie. Report an error in the passage at 22:20 Highlight the passage at 22:20

22:44 No, my main thing, and I mentioned this to Sandy last night actually, is don't freak out. What I am hoping that I'll just be able to give you some tools and you can just start building your little toolkit. And because I know for me, you know, sometimes you'll get a Dharma book like Working With Anger. Tupin Chokyi has a great book that's called Working With Anger actually. Report an error in the passage at 22:44 Highlight the passage at 22:44

23:07 And it can sit on your shelf for a long time. Kind of don't even think of yourself as such an angry person. And then you go through something that makes you feel like you need to use it as a resource. And it's just nice to know it's there. Report an error in the passage at 23:07 Highlight the passage at 23:07

23:21 This past summer, actually, when I was doing retreat, I just started reading through it for ideas. And part of it wasn't even about anger. Part of it was. And part of it was about other delusions, because you can use some of the same antidotes. Because anger has about 50 billion antidotes, I think, because it's such a heavy delusion. But you can apply those to other things. Report an error in the passage at 23:21 Highlight the passage at 23:21

23:47 You can apply those same delusions. And it's really kind of interesting to look at it that way. So you guys are just creating your own little toolkit and then it's up to you how you use it. I do have to say, and I'll say it again at the end of the class, but... Report an error in the passage at 23:47 Highlight the passage at 23:47

24:07 Collecting this as just words is never going to change your mind. So it's like you guys taking time to contemplate it, sit with it in a quiet way, which we call meditation, but it may not be meditation the way you're used to meditation looking. Report an error in the passage at 24:07 Highlight the passage at 24:07

24:26 But just taking time for it to go deeper and really working with it for your own delusion, not theoretically anger. But the way you felt last Thursday. And really trying to, like we did in this meditation we just did, trying to resurrect that feeling. How did that feel in my body? Report an error in the passage at 24:26 Highlight the passage at 24:26

24:45 Because otherwise, it's sort of like you need to remember what that felt like and how it doesn't feel good. And that's why we want to get rid of it. Report an error in the passage at 24:45 Highlight the passage at 24:45

24:55 And sometimes with things like attachment, we don't think of that as being a bad feeling. Especially in this culture. I think attachment is really considered sort of the status quo, right? And we're trying to actually cultivate more and more and more attachment. So remembering that it also makes you feel really agitated and unfocused and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 24:55 Highlight the passage at 24:55

25:18 Whether it's for cake or a person, you know, it doesn't have to be, you know, the big love affair of all time. It could just be for something in the fridge. And it can affect you. Just a level of degree, you know, can affect you with that same kind of, you're trying to finish a paper, you're trying to do something and you just keep being distracted by this obsessive quality that attachment has and that feeling of like, if I just ate that one cookie, I would be happier, you know. Report an error in the passage at 25:18 Highlight the passage at 25:18

25:50 And we all do this. And so starting to look at how that feels in your mind and how it looks in your mind. It's the beginning of unraveling it. If we don't look at it, it just is an interesting idea on paper. So I give you, as the Buddha himself said, how do you phrase it? I give you these teachings and what you do with them is up to you. Sort of like, it's in your court. So we're going to keep working with them tonight. Report an error in the passage at 25:50 Highlight the passage at 25:50

26:20 And I also thought it would be good to just do some general... things about working with kind of negative emotions getting into all the specifics. Oh, Alunzi, you had them? Sorry, I had my eyes closed. I was so deeply going into my songs. Report an error in the passage at 26:20 Highlight the passage at 26:20

26:38 I don't know if it's a question or observation, I didn't ask last week because I didn't know how to phrase it, but in reaction to the situation that is happening in Tibet, last week, at least my observation, it appeared to me that His Holiness reaction to that. We acted with some agitation. It wasn't anger, certainly wasn't harshness or anything like that, but there was some which led me, as I... Report an error in the passage at 26:38 Highlight the passage at 26:38

27:08 I would say with wrath. I would say he was acting with wrath rather than with anger. Because, you know, it's that same kind of mind that... Report an error in the passage at 27:08 Highlight the passage at 27:08

27:26 Sometimes you have to be really, really strong, out of compassion to try to end, you know, to try to change a situation that you feel is harmful. In the same way that a mom would say, you know, Billy, I told you, get your hand out of that fire. It's going to get burned. Or, you know, don't run into the street or whatever. So that's the way I would interpret it. Yeah, I thought he really did get angry. Report an error in the passage at 27:26 Highlight the passage at 27:26

27:49 There was a moment of anger. And he talks about how he used to get angry, but he does it so much now. And I thought, you know, I think when people get angry, often they're feeling ugly and guilty. And I thought that he felt in some way responsible because so much is going on. They're blaming him and people get killed because they have his picture up. And I thought he might have actually, might have really got to admit that he should stop it somehow. Report an error in the passage at 27:49 Highlight the passage at 27:49

28:16 And that made him have that, there was just a little sense of a flash of anger. It stopped right away. That's what I thought. I wouldn't presume to analyze His Holiness, actually. Yeah, no, that's fine. I think it's fine, yeah, too. I just wouldn't. Because I would actually see that as a wrathful act. And I think you can show a lot of wrath without necessarily having anger in your mind and having it disturb your mind. Report an error in the passage at 28:16 Highlight the passage at 28:16

28:48 And I can also see the responsibility. So that part I can agree with you, that he could feel very responsible. I think he feels incredibly responsible for the Tibetan people. And he also knows that there are a lot of younger Tibetans coming up that are not in favor of maintaining the peaceful means. Report an error in the passage at 28:48 Highlight the passage at 28:48

29:12 Maintaining the non-violent approach to the whole situation. and so In my mind, that's what that wrathfulness was about, was to try to protect those young ones, the next generation, which are, by and large, the ones who are being killed and tortured and executed by the hundreds, actually. Report an error in the passage at 29:12 Highlight the passage at 29:12

29:32 So, anyway, yeah, that's the way I would interpret it, but that's just my personal interpretation. You probably hear other interpretations. Report an error in the passage at 29:32 Highlight the passage at 29:32

29:43 go with wrath, that's okay. Wrath is very strongly used within Buddhism, which is why we have wrathful, we don't have any up in here. No, Paul de Lama is going. Paul de Lama went into Rubina's room. Report an error in the passage at 29:43 Highlight the passage at 29:43

29:56 Another good example of wrathful compassion. So that's what the wrathful deities are all about, actually, is that fierceness that sometimes is necessary to care for another or to teach another. they're going to... Report an error in the passage at 29:56 Highlight the passage at 29:56

30:15 want to remove another suffering that sometimes you have to be just wanted to ask a question isn't that actually one of the Bodhisattva vows you're supposed to use those means If necessary, but they say that that's actually really, really only after you, you know, attain bodhicitta for a really long time, it's really stable, and you have, you know, all these other fine prints. Report an error in the passage at 30:15 Highlight the passage at 30:15

30:42 Yeah, it is, though it is a bodhicitta. Yeah, and to not shirk from it. And there's actually other vows around it so that you don't shirk away. In other words, you don't avoid acting in a tough way with somebody if it's clearly the best way to reach that person and you need to reach that person. Report an error in the passage at 30:42 Highlight the passage at 30:42

31:03 Yeah, something like that. So anyway, that's a good point. Report an error in the passage at 31:03 Highlight the passage at 31:03

31:15 I know it's annoying, but thank you for using it. He threatened to resign. He said if they don't stop using violence. What does that mean? It means that we pray that they stop using violence. He's threatened it before. He's threatened it for other times. He said that he won't come back. He said that if, you know, there was a time that the monk said Sarah, I think it was Sarah, it was one of the monasteries in South India had all those, I think we talked about it in one of the other classes, where they were, all these, Report an error in the passage at 31:15 Highlight the passage at 31:15

31:50 Farmers were sort of setting up near the monastery to sell meat to the monks. And so right outside the monastery gates, all these animals were being slaughtered. And he said there was no point for that. He said it was one thing in the Tibetan hills to have such a heavy meat diet because it was impossible to grow vegetables and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 31:50 Highlight the passage at 31:50

32:12 But in India that wasn't the case and they absolutely had to stop. And if they didn't stop, he wasn't going to come back. He was quite fierce that time, too. So, I mean, he's done it before. I think he's done it regarding this same thing before. I think he did it in 87 as well when the writing was so heavy. Report an error in the passage at 32:12 Highlight the passage at 32:12

32:30 So, I know. We just have to. Even his holiness is not permanent. He has to do something, and he has the power of his speech, which is enormous, but we'll have to see how effective it is. And it's interesting too, because of course those young Tibetan monks and non-monks active in Tibet have been separated from him for so long. Report an error in the passage at 32:30 Highlight the passage at 32:30

33:02 I mean, if you've seen any interviews with the young Tibetans, they don't even know what his voice sounds like. They've been so cut out. So it'll be, I don't know how much we'll get through to them. Report an error in the passage at 33:02 Highlight the passage at 33:02

33:17 So, good point. Report an error in the passage at 33:17 Highlight the passage at 33:17

33:24 Working with our emotions. Report an error in the passage at 33:24 Highlight the passage at 33:24

33:29 So one way of thinking about working with our difficult emotions is that it's kind of like a middle way through the two extremes. And one extreme is kind of what we're doing right now, which is just letting our mind be totally controlled by them and acting out on them. And then the other way is suppressing or denying them. Report an error in the passage at 33:29 Highlight the passage at 33:29

33:52 And both of these are extremes. And Buddhism isn't saying, and the Buddha did not teach us, to do either. He's saying actually we're already doing both. So he's saying actually to move the middle way. And the middle way is acknowledging them, you know, owning it when you're angry. Which is sometimes really hard to do until you begin working with your mind. Report an error in the passage at 33:52 Highlight the passage at 33:52

34:15 Sometimes you don't even know that you're angry. I've known situations where people have had incredibly angry. Parents, for example, and so they don't think what they have is anger because they're not hitting you. You can kind of see where the logic comes from. I think actually my father felt that way. I think he didn't think of himself as nearly a violent person as his father was. In retrospect, I think he was right. Report an error in the passage at 34:15 Highlight the passage at 34:15

34:42 He'd probably done a lot of work on himself and he didn't think of himself as an angry person. So acknowledging them is number one. And that helps us not to suppress them. And then working on them within our mind by applying these antidotes that we've started working with to either dissolve the emotion or to transform a negative mind into a positive mind. Report an error in the passage at 34:42 Highlight the passage at 34:42

35:05 And that helps us to avoid that sort of blind following that we're doing that just kind of causes them to go crazy. Report an error in the passage at 35:05 Highlight the passage at 35:05

35:21 So some general ways that we actually started talking about some of these last week. That you can work with all of them, all of the delusions, all of the... What word should I use? What do people like? Klesha? Klesha? Is Klesha the general people happy with Klesha? Delusion? We'll do a hand count. Klesha? Okay, we've got two, two. Report an error in the passage at 35:21 Highlight the passage at 35:21

35:47 What do you like? Obscuration. Well, obscurations could be something else, actually. Yeah, it could be something else. It could be a karmic obscuration. Report an error in the passage at 35:47 Highlight the passage at 35:47

35:59 Delusion. Is it just the two? Mental affliction. I like afflictions too. Yeah. Disturbing emotions. She's like small. Like raise your hand. Delusions can be innocent. Yeah, yeah. We talked about that one. Psychotic delusions. Which some of these can be actually. But yeah, I see what you mean. Yeah, I think I'll do affliction. Report an error in the passage at 35:59 Highlight the passage at 35:59

36:28 So one of the general ways that we can work with all the afflictions is cultivating mindfulness or self-awareness. And that's, you know, it means the same thing as it does in meditation, which I think we talked about last week, that it's this little part of your mind that kind of is watching when you go off object. Report an error in the passage at 36:28 Highlight the passage at 36:28

36:48 And it takes a while to train that part of your mind. It's a little separate part of your mind that's sort of keeping an eye on the rest of your mind. And in this context, it begins to notice when you go off balance. So if you go into the early stages of getting upset, it catches it because you've developed it and it needs to be strengthened and developed over time. Report an error in the passage at 36:48 Highlight the passage at 36:48

37:11 It takes a while to do this, just like in meditation. It's much more fun in meditation just to start thinking about the day, right? I can take that a long time before I'm like, oh yeah. I'm supposed to be over here somewhere and I've gone off into something else. So developing that mindfulness is the same process and it takes effort and time and practice and patience. Report an error in the passage at 37:11 Highlight the passage at 37:11

37:37 It's the same thing. But once you develop it, then it can nip this in the bud before you go into an obsessive episode or an angry episode. You can kind of catch it when you just are going off the line. Report an error in the passage at 37:37 Highlight the passage at 37:37

37:56 You can take a moment to remember the nature of the mind. And this, of course, also takes some practice. At the beginning of the class, last time we did a meditation on the clarity of the mind. That was from How to Meditate, Sanghi Kadro. And we did that where, I'll just remind you, where you're just sort of imagining your mind like this vast sky. Report an error in the passage at 37:56 Highlight the passage at 37:56

38:19 They often use that analogy. Report an error in the passage at 38:19 Highlight the passage at 38:19

38:29 You can kind of imagine yourself lying on a hillside and looking into this vast clear sky that doesn't have any clouds at all and they say that our mind is like this and that the afflictions are like these clouds that arise or like rainbows that arise. So they can, you know, because afflictions, we usually think of afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 38:29 Highlight the passage at 38:29

38:51 As like sort of the darker minds like anger and depression. But it can also be when we get like hyper-obsessed about something too. That can disturb the mind. Report an error in the passage at 38:51 Highlight the passage at 38:51

39:03 So they can be, imagine they're like clouds or rainbows that just, you know, are in the sky and they dissipate but they aren't the sky. They aren't the sky itself. And so sometimes remembering that is really important when our mind feels so agitated and so wild and so... Report an error in the passage at 39:03 Highlight the passage at 39:03

39:23 Heavy and dark and like that, just remembering what the nature of the mind is. Last week we started talking about karma, a little bit of karma and emptiness and how that works. And thinking of that works in every case too. And actually they say with emptiness that until we actually directly perceive the nature of reality, have a direct perception of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 39:23 Highlight the passage at 39:23

39:52 We will always have some level of afflictions in our mind. We can't really remove them altogether until we have this direct perception of emptiness, which takes a really long time to develop. But in the meantime, we can start applying these antidotes and that can help us loosen the grip of these afflictions. So just starting to think, okay, this thing looks incredibly wonderful because my karma is... Report an error in the passage at 39:52 Highlight the passage at 39:52

40:24 Forcing me to see it this way, or horrible, because my karma is forcing me to see it this way and my karma was created by my past deeds. Not everyone would see it this way. If I really stop and think about it, this guy that looks like a monster to me right now, just because I'm irritated at him, actually looked fine to me yesterday when he brought me a cup of coffee. Report an error in the passage at 40:24 Highlight the passage at 40:24

40:48 If I just kind of back away from the situation a little bit. I can think about that or I can think about how the bus driver wouldn't necessarily see him as a monster or something like that. You know that idea of if I had my worst enemy and my best friend next to me that you guys wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Report an error in the passage at 40:48 Highlight the passage at 40:48

41:04 Even though to me one of them exudes like wonderfulness and the other one exudes horridness. So just beginning to kind of use those kind of analysis on it can also break down the situation a little bit. And impermanence works in just about everything, too. Really, really thinking about your own impermanence, your own imminent death. Like, is this something you want on your mind if you were to die tonight? Report an error in the passage at 41:04 Highlight the passage at 41:04

41:26 And how do we know when we're really going to die? We don't know that. Or is this, you know, like, is this something you want on your mind if this guy is going to die tonight? Or, you know, do you even really, if it's between two people, and if you're obsessing about a car or something, is this something that would really matter? Report an error in the passage at 41:26 Highlight the passage at 41:26

41:44 To you, if you were to die in the next, you know, month. You know, something like just to break down. Or even like if you're assessing about an object, think about the fact that that object itself is impermanent. So even if everything could come together, if you could get that thing, it's going to be gone. You know, it's going to begin just like everything else to age and have faults and not stay as beautiful as it now is starting out looking. Report an error in the passage at 41:44 Highlight the passage at 41:44

42:12 So it really, I mean, the reality is that we all are impermanent and that everything is impermanent and even our minds are impermanent. That's often useful. I think as we grow older, I think it's something we can remind ourselves if we have sort of the blues at night that often the next morning things lighten up a little bit, which we didn't know necessarily when we were 15 or 16 or something. Report an error in the passage at 42:12 Highlight the passage at 42:12

42:35 I remember not knowing that and feeling like, okay. You know, you just kind of ride out the storm and then everything is better in the morning. So the impermanence of our own mind is sometimes helpful. You know, think about just a couple days ago I felt like all perky and now today I'm not and then today and tomorrow I'll be fine. Report an error in the passage at 42:35 Highlight the passage at 42:35

42:54 Or sometimes within the same day. It's just kind of amazing actually, the ups and downs of our minds. And sometimes incredible highs, blisses as well as, you know, incredible lows. So just really looking at the impermanence of our own minds too. Report an error in the passage at 42:54 Highlight the passage at 42:54

43:12 So that's a great one to do for attachment and anger and all of the afflictions. And because things are impermanent, they can't possibly give us any kind of lasting happiness. They just don't have that capacity. It's like seeking lasting happiness in something that's not lasting. Logically, it doesn't even make any sense. Report an error in the passage at 43:12 Highlight the passage at 43:12

43:39 And sometimes checking our own logic is a useful thing, too, because sometimes we're applying some piece of logic that actually doesn't make any sense. We're going to get into that one more with anger, because I think anger is one of the least logical of all the delusions. Sorry, afflictions. But they all have this lack of logic involved, even though we may think we're thinking very logically about why I should get that thing. Report an error in the passage at 43:39 Highlight the passage at 43:39

44:12 And thinking about impermanence in terms of your relationships to people that you're really, really super attached to doesn't mean that you, you know, drop them. It doesn't mean that we're not supposed to have friendships and we're not supposed to have loved ones and we're not supposed to own things. It's just supposed to, it sort of brings this, it's like we've been running around in these rose-colored glasses and the Buddha's like, well, maybe just... Report an error in the passage at 44:12 Highlight the passage at 44:12

44:39 We're these clear ones and look at things a little bit more realistically because we do tend to just not see the fact that, you know, honestly, we only are together with our loved ones for a relative amount of time. We're not together with them forever. We're not in every group we enter into. We're only together for a certain amount of time. Things are female, you know. Report an error in the passage at 44:39 Highlight the passage at 44:39

45:05 Things don't last forever. That's the reality. It's simply... He's just bringing that up to us and it's just a reminder. And it actually makes us a little bit more appreciative. We actually have a little bit more patience with those people. At least I notice that to be true if I'm applying it, you know. And you kind of notice it too if you move far away from your family or something and then you get back together, you have a little bit more patience with them for that week or two that you're with them than you might have if you were with them all the time because of that. Report an error in the passage at 45:05 Highlight the passage at 45:05

45:39 You know that you're not going to be with them again for a while. Report an error in the passage at 45:39 Highlight the passage at 45:39

45:47 Today's a mess. Report an error in the passage at 45:47 Highlight the passage at 45:47

45:52 See, I'm going through a period of missing my sister, so I'm sure if I were with you, I should join me. Yeah, absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? So that's where that one comes from. Contemplating the unpleasant aspects, and they often say this one about... contemplate. Report an error in the passage at 45:52 Highlight the passage at 45:52

46:11 And that one particular meditation that's never really worked with me, where it was originally developed for monks, I think, who were thinking of the lust of some women that they had left at home or something, and the Buddha was basically instructing them to think about the fact that, as one of my teachers said, they're nothing but a sack of skin and bones, a sack of blood. Report an error in the passage at 46:11 Highlight the passage at 46:11

46:44 It's not really worked for me actually, but it must have worked for somebody sometime. I think it isn't such a bad idea to think about the fact that the realities of, you know, if you are really obsessed about a person and we're sort of just thinking you're going to want that person, that you also kind of think, okay. Report an error in the passage at 46:44 Highlight the passage at 46:44

47:06 If I ever got that person and I have this relationship, all relationships have problems. So it's not going to be all fun and games and Paris in the springtime, flowers and dinners out. There's all the other stuff that comes with it too. The same as if you think about if I really, really want that car, then there starts to be the bills involved and the price, the parking. Report an error in the passage at 47:06 Highlight the passage at 47:06

47:32 This one I get in a small scale whenever somebody lends me a car for a week. You can lend my car while I'm gone. It's like, oh great! And at the beginning of the week you're like, and by the end of the week you're like, well you still get your car. It's just like the parking alone is such a nightmare. Or people bang into it and there's dings and all those things. Report an error in the passage at 47:32 Highlight the passage at 47:32

47:53 So it's simply just using that to kind of temper your excitement. Report an error in the passage at 47:53 Highlight the passage at 47:53

48:02 There's a quote, there's some great quotes on these actually, so I'm just going to toss in some quotes tonight, but one of them, Ajahn Sumedho, who's in the Thai forest tradition, in a book called Teachings of a Buddhist Month, said, Desire can be compared to fire. If we grasp fire, what happens? Does it lead to happiness? If we say, oh look at that beautiful fire, look at the beautiful colors, I love red and orange, they're my favorite colors. Report an error in the passage at 48:02 Highlight the passage at 48:02

48:29 And then we'd grasp it, we would find a certain amount of suffering entering the body. And then, if we were to contemplate the cause of that suffering, we would discover it was the result of having grasped that fire. On that information, we would hopefully then let the fire go. Once we let the fire go, then we know that it's something not to be attached to. Report an error in the passage at 48:29 Highlight the passage at 48:29

48:51 This doesn't mean we have to hate it or put it out. We can enjoy fire, can't we? It's nice to have fire. I'm very afraid to say that. Report an error in the passage at 48:51 Highlight the passage at 48:51

48:58 It keeps the room warm, but we don't have to burn ourselves in it. Isn't that great? Report an error in the passage at 48:58 Highlight the passage at 48:58

49:07 And I also think that you can remember we talked about the very first class, actually the first two classes, we were talking about the sufferings, the different sufferings, and the second of the three types of suffering, suffering of change, is really good for desire or attachment. The fact that the suffering of change is referring to... Report an error in the passage at 49:07 Highlight the passage at 49:07

49:28 Everything that we sort of think is pleasurable actually ultimately changes in the suffering of some sort. And we talked about sort of that idea of if you're really cold and you think, well, I'll just go stand in the sun and get warm and then it starts getting really hot and the sun's in your eyes and you're, ugh, and so then you move into the shade and then... Report an error in the passage at 49:28 Highlight the passage at 49:28

49:49 You start getting really chilly. Anyone who's ever been at any picnic in San Francisco has experienced this one. I remember actually we went last year, last summer, we went for a picnic in Golden Gate Park and we had these pictures of Geshe-la wrapped in this enormous blanket with loris, the two of them were sitting in these chairs like totally freezing and had these hats on and everything. Report an error in the passage at 49:49 Highlight the passage at 49:49

50:13 It was just like summer in the city. The suffering of change. Or, you know, if I have this piece of cake and it tastes great, then if I had two, it should be double the fun, right? And then you kind of go like, ooh, you know, suffering of change. And that really applies well to attachment. So contemplating that a little bit, analyzing it. Report an error in the passage at 50:13 Highlight the passage at 50:13

50:37 Aversion and anger. And these are just additional anecdotes, you know, because we talked about some of the main ones last time. Report an error in the passage at 50:37 Highlight the passage at 50:37

50:45 You know, with attachment, our mind is exaggerating the good qualities of the object, and with aversion, we're exaggerating the negative qualities of the bad qualities of the object. Report an error in the passage at 50:45 Highlight the passage at 50:45

50:57 And so, developing patience, we didn't talk that much about what patience is. Patience is really, really a powerful, strong, determined mind. It's not a wimpy, okay. Report an error in the passage at 50:57 Highlight the passage at 50:57

51:12 You can just run over me and I'll lay down and be a doormat. You know, patience is not like that at all. Patience is really deciding I am not going to harm and I'm not going to get angry. And often we sort of, you can play with it a little bit by just saying I'm not going to get angry this morning. You know, I'm not going to get angry this morning. Report an error in the passage at 51:12 Highlight the passage at 51:12

51:35 And then of course the universe decides to help you with this experiment and create. A lot of things for you to possibly get angry at. It's an interesting experiment to try, actually. But patience is really making this determination grow from that one morning to trying every day with whatever comes. And not just not get angry, but to try to actually maintain joy. There's a great quote that I have from Shantideva, from the Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life in the Patience chapter. Report an error in the passage at 51:35 Highlight the passage at 51:35

52:09 I wrote an entire chapter on patients. It's something about, I don't have it in front of me, but it's something about let nothing disturb my joy. So nothing that arises in this life can disturb this joy of mine because I know that I need this joy to be able to attain the potential that I have. And so there's absolutely nothing that can happen that can disturb it. I'll go get it on the break and I'll read it to you. It's such a powerful saying. Report an error in the passage at 52:09 Highlight the passage at 52:09

52:46 And it basically is just this really calm, stable mind that's just going to, great, bring it on, you know. You have to actually almost like psych yourself up for it. It's like going out for a tournament, you know, that no matter what happens today, I'm not going to get angry. And it's not... We sometimes say these things about seeing the problem or seeing the enemy or seeing the difficulty as our teacher. Report an error in the passage at 52:46 Highlight the passage at 52:46

53:18 It's not like a cute little saying, it actually is a practice that can work. But it takes us developing this mind that's willing to give it a try. Report an error in the passage at 53:18 Highlight the passage at 53:18

53:29 Rich Prince talked on anger in the series of delusions. ...delusion talks, I was going to say. He talks on working with difficult emotions and he was really talking about having to just kind of summon that determination every day and how it really takes this determined strong state of mind to develop this mind of patience. Report an error in the passage at 53:29 Highlight the passage at 53:29

53:58 So patience is actually quite courageous as well. It's quite strong. I find some of... Some of the things that make me angry tend to be, like you were saying actually, technological problems. Printers breaking, internet going down, computers crashing, things like that. Especially because there's this element that I don't know what to do. Report an error in the passage at 53:58 Highlight the passage at 53:58

54:25 And I find, I didn't find this anywhere, but I find that it's useful for me. Oh actually, Pema Children actually talks about this one. Just accepting. This is the situation. Because I will waste a day at least thinking this shouldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening. If this had been done right, this shouldn't be happening. Whatever. But it's happening. The thing has crashed. Or the internet is down. Report an error in the passage at 54:25 Highlight the passage at 54:25

54:53 Or whatever it is. The printer has just stopped printing. And so just like wasting all that energy. Thinking that it shouldn't be happening, the reality is that we're in saṃsāra, so all of this stuff is going to be happening. This is kind of what saṃsāra is, and sort of like how we work with it is what gets us out of saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 54:53 Highlight the passage at 54:53

55:13 So, just acceptance of what is. Venerable Sarah Thresher, actually, there's a, she gave a talk at Sichuan Lin years and years ago, but I sometimes just grab that tape and listen to it. That's how many years ago it was the tape. Report an error in the passage at 55:13 Highlight the passage at 55:13

55:31 And she actually had a little saying, and now I can't even remember what that saying is, but it started with just accepting it. Just accepting it. Her saying was getting lost. She always got lost. Every time she came into the city, she would get lost. Every time she was on her way to a teaching, she would get lost. And I do that one too. Report an error in the passage at 55:31 Highlight the passage at 55:31

55:49 If you get lost and you're late for something, that'll be another time that I begin channeling my mother. Just all this frustration and blah, blah, blah, it all comes up. Report an error in the passage at 55:49 Highlight the passage at 55:49

56:01 So just accepting what is. And then with that mind, then it's like it's sort of like you've given, just like with the anger or with the attachment, you've given yourself a step back and you're like, okay, now what can I do about it? Because otherwise you're just like over here, it has no bearing on reality. Trying to see the situation from the other person's perspective. Report an error in the passage at 56:01 Highlight the passage at 56:01

56:25 You know, we hear this, right? Our mothers told us this. They were actually wise when he saw those posing as their mothers. Some of their sayings and things are incredibly, I mean, taking ten breaths is actually an incredibly intelligent thing to do when you're really upset, whether you're angry or whether you're depressed. Report an error in the passage at 56:25 Highlight the passage at 56:25

56:43 I mean, sometimes those ten breaths can just give you so much space. But trying to see the situation from another person's perspective, sometimes, again, all of these things aren't going to work necessarily at the moment unless you've done them. In the privacy of your own room, in your own meditation cushion. Because otherwise your mind is going to be too agitated. Report an error in the passage at 56:43 Highlight the passage at 56:43

57:07 So, you know, a lot of times we're just focusing on what we want and what our needs are and just assuming that the other person of course sees it that same way as disregarding it. But the reality is they're seeing it from the standpoint of their own needs and their own, you know, whatever it is. and we're Our buttons are being pushed, and so then we get really pissed off, really angry, but sometimes just taking that moment to think, how might they be actually seeing it? Report an error in the passage at 57:07 Highlight the passage at 57:07

57:39 Because sometimes it's some way that we never would have thought in a billion years. We may have no idea that they are in severe back pain or something. We just may have no idea what else is going on for them that might be skewing their perception of reality at this point. Report an error in the passage at 57:39 Highlight the passage at 57:39

58:01 And sometimes actually, and this one is a little bit more advanced, but the practice of compassion is actually incredibly powerful for breaking down our anger for somebody. And it's harder to do, of course. It's much easier to develop. Compassion for people that we love who love us, right? But most teachers I've ever heard have said this isn't even a religious practice. Report an error in the passage at 58:01 Highlight the passage at 58:01

58:28 Like anybody can do that, you know. Dogs can do that, actually. So being able to develop compassion for somebody who is your enemy or who is angry at you or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 58:28 Highlight the passage at 58:28

58:46 This is a more, this is a huger act. It's a way of developing our own hearts and kind of making our hearts stronger. And it's actually a counteraction, a counteract. Counter? That's the word. Anyway, it can counteract anger. Wait, that's the word. Verb crisis. Report an error in the passage at 58:46 Highlight the passage at 58:46

59:07 So, I mean, well, yes. Well, all of these are entities. It... Report an error in the passage at 59:07 Highlight the passage at 59:07

59:15 Yeah, that's true. Usually people flash, get angry, what do you call it, when they slash out, when they're upset about something, when they are unhappy, when they have some sort of pain, mental pain or physical pain or something like that. So starting to develop some amount of compassion for that person for also being ruled by their... Report an error in the passage at 59:15 Highlight the passage at 59:15

59:46 The more we get to know our own minds and how controlled we are by our delusions, being in the presence of somebody else who's, it doesn't mean that we can, we're necessarily going to lay down and let them run over us, but it just gives us a way to put them in a perspective that's a little bigger than our usual one of just going, you know, and then finding other people who go, so this takes time to cultivate and it may not be that. Report an error in the passage at 59:46 Highlight the passage at 59:46

1:00:11 Easy at first. It may be easier to sort of, just sort of, there's a loving kindness meditation where you can just begin just wanting to send out love for all sentient beings, you know, like that. But I think it's more powerful when you actually want to send love to that specific sentient being. There's a meditation called Tonglen that we do in the series to develop bodhicitta, but there are simple versions of it where you're simply... Report an error in the passage at 1:00:11 Highlight the passage at 1:00:11

1:00:41 Sending love to a being. You usually start with somebody that you're very close to that it's easy to develop that love. Sorry, you start out wanting to take away their suffering. It's taking and giving. So you want to take away their pain and sort of imagine all their pain and then you want to give them every happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:41 Highlight the passage at 1:00:41

1:01:02 So you can kind of imagine this. And that's a really powerful one to do if you're having problems with somebody. It's really, really powerful. To look at that person as a flawed being who is in need of love. And even as one of my teachers says, even if it takes a while and they go from being your enemy to your favorite enemy, it's still a step in the right direction. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:02 Highlight the passage at 1:01:02

1:01:30 And it's practice, but it's really profound practice actually. And sometimes it's just one meditation can really turn it around. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:30 Highlight the passage at 1:01:30

1:01:41 That's also a harder one to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:41 Highlight the passage at 1:01:41

1:01:47 Yeah Rinpoche does these prayers actually where he wishes, like right after 9-1-1 he would do these medications at the end of teachings where he would pray that all of the terrorists would quickly develop genuine bodhicitta in their mind streams right away and then all those with political power like George Bush would develop. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:47 Highlight the passage at 1:01:47

1:02:13 bodhicitta in their mind streams right away and at first it was kind of this odd thought like I was like kind of like like like you're working out really hard at developing bodhicitta and why should they develop a bodhicitta but of course the reality is think of an amazing world if they suddenly develop bodhicitta like how would that change reality of George Bush walked into his team of advisors with bodhicitta And we want that. We want that kind of reality. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:13 Highlight the passage at 1:02:13

1:02:42 So it's kind of an interesting thought. The Buddha said, holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You're the one who gets burned. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:42 Highlight the passage at 1:02:42

1:02:58 Ignorance is a hard one. Ignorance, which is a third of the three poisons, and then we'll take a break. Ignorance from the Buddha's perspective is this misapprehending of reality, which we talked about. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:58 Highlight the passage at 1:02:58

1:03:16 And like I said, the thing that really cuts ignorance, ultimately the only thing that will cut it completely and eradicate it completely is this direct perception of emptiness that takes us years to develop. To have that direct perception of emptiness, we have to develop this really intense, very strong, stable concentration meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:16 Highlight the passage at 1:03:16

1:03:40 That's called Koma Biding. Blend it with this analytical meditation that's called Special Insight and the two, you sort of bounce between the two until you have this moment of direct perception of emptiness and forever after are completely changed to become what's called an Arya being, a Supreme Being and you forever after see reality differently. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:40 Highlight the passage at 1:03:40

1:04:05 But until then... We can get closer. We still have to use whatever little understanding we have of harm and emptiness and that begins to break down the way we see things so solidly and so absolutely and so concretely. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:05 Highlight the passage at 1:04:05

1:04:22 And so we have to take time to actually study it because a lot of times people think they have an idea of what emptiness is and so they don't go further. And actually emptiness is quite profound and takes thousands of hours of study. And thousands of hours of contemplating, thinking about it while you're walking outside, thinking about it after your day's work. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:22 Highlight the passage at 1:04:22

1:04:48 Venable Steve Carlier was here. He's actually going to come in June, too, and he's going to teach some more about karma and emptiness. And he's just a great teacher. It's like you're having a conversation with somebody and then you turn around and there's a bunch of other people there, too. You're like, oh, you guys are all here, too. Because he's just... Report an error in the passage at 1:04:48 Highlight the passage at 1:04:48

1:05:06 He's just spent 35 years thinking about the way this cup looks, you know? It's just like he's been chewing on this kind of how things exist differently than the way we perceive them and what all those things mean and how the different schools see it and all those things. But he does it in this really down-to-earth way where he kind of is checking up on do you really see it that way or are you just saying that you see it that way because... Report an error in the passage at 1:05:06 Highlight the passage at 1:05:06

1:05:35 That's what the teachers all say you're supposed to say. He really kind of drives you to really think out what it is that you believe is true about these teachings on emptiness. And we need teachers like that because sometimes it's easy for us to just attend a teaching on emptiness and think we understand it and never do anything with it. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:35 Highlight the passage at 1:05:35

1:05:54 So the biggest antidote for ignorance is, you know... Really taking time to study and contemplate and meditate on these teachings, to receive more of them, to work with them, to receive more of them, to work with them, to suss it out with somebody, your Dharma friends, to work it out, to talk about the questions that you have with your teachers and things like that, so that you really can go deeper and deeper and deeper. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:54 Highlight the passage at 1:05:54

1:06:23 Because otherwise, this just becomes a... It becomes an obscuration. It becomes a block to understanding something. And ignorance is not only not knowing, and it's not only misknowing, but it's not wanting to know, too. And that becomes a block. So we have to be careful with that one, too. So let's take a break, and then we're going to talk about pride and jealousy and doubt. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:23 Highlight the passage at 1:06:23

1:06:58 Actually, before you take that break, I might just make a couple of announcements real quick. Chodron Rinpoche is coming. We have the postcards out. Chodron Rinpoche is a ra in that corner over there. He is my abbot, Geshe-la's guru, and he actually has a center now in San Jose, but traditionally the last seven years, I guess, he's been sort of coming around on tour, and that's sort of our biggest Lama visit. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:58 Highlight the passage at 1:06:58

1:07:29 of the year unless someone's operation upon us presence. But anyway, he's coming in May, and one of the texts he's going to teach on this year is Atisha's Lent for the Path, which is the very first Lom Rim. So I think in the first class I may have mentioned Atisha was the Indian planet that the Tibetans brought to India to teach them Buddhism and to clarify some of the misunderstandings and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:29 Highlight the passage at 1:07:29

1:07:58 And he pulled together the Buddhist teachings into this first of all lamrims and it was called A Lamp for the Path. So Jina Rinpoche is going to teach that over four days. So I'm just going to announce that that's coming. And Vena Varubhina is going to teach again on fear. No, is that right? Again on fear? Yes, fear is what you really are. It's fear and becoming who you really are. Sunday the 13th of April. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:58 Highlight the passage at 1:07:58

1:08:28 Two days before the taxes are due. So if you have a lot of fear coming up, she's going to really work on that one and she's going to talk a lot about sort of emptiness too and how to use that because fear is sort of a symptom of ignorance, of not seeing things as they really are. Tenzin Chokey Report an error in the passage at 1:08:28 Highlight the passage at 1:08:28

1:08:50 Who is a good buddy of mine, but also I think a great teacher. She was just here last weekend. She's going to come again on the 5th and you don't need to have done the previous weekend to attend. And she's teaching a class on the mind training teachings, Lojang. So that's on Saturday the 5th. She's also, I just found out, she's going to be the one who teaches the two week, I think it's two weeks, it might be ten days. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:50 Highlight the passage at 1:08:50

1:09:16 I think it's two weeks though, Lamrim Retreat, Kopan West this year at Bajrapani. It's late October, early November. And for those people that are interested in doing the Discovering Buddhism for credit, you need this. This is part of the experiential teachings. But even if you don't, this is a great opportunity of bringing this below the neck. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:16 Highlight the passage at 1:09:16

1:09:42 You know, taking these teachings and working with them. She's a really... Great meditator too, but fun, you know. But you don't have to go for the full two weeks. I'm sure. I can't imagine that she would have that rule. You would be so happy. I would love to go for two weeks. I'm sure they're going to allow people to come in. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:42 Highlight the passage at 1:09:42

1:10:09 Usually the way Venable Renee allows it is you come in. Everybody can come in on the... a version, huh? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:09 Highlight the passage at 1:10:09

1:10:15 How does he do it? It's like you come in. Everybody can start at the same time, but you can leave whenever. So if you can only do it a short amount of time, then you can do it that way. She may allow it differently. She may allow like weekends or something like that. So we can find out more information. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:15 Highlight the passage at 1:10:15

1:10:31 But I just found out that she was leading it and I thought that was great because this is a lamrim retreat and they just go through the entire lamrim and allow time to meditate on all the topics and you get teachings on it too and it's just this nice little package. It's called Kopan West because the original Kopan is that one month course that happens every year, still happens every year and has for the last 30 years at Kopan Monastery in Nepal that's just on the lamrim. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:31 Highlight the passage at 1:10:31

1:10:58 And it's wonderful, I've done that one twice, and it's just amazing to have that time and space to be able to just meditate on these topics. So we do, now we do the Copan West at Vajrakhani, well Vajrakhani or LMB. And then, I think that's it, oh no, so next week David assumed that we weren't having class, and we are, so just not to get confused by that. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:58 Highlight the passage at 1:10:58

1:11:24 The thing that's confusing is that it's a soap night, for those of you who might even notice that. It is a soap night, but we're actually going to hold class downstairs. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:24 Highlight the passage at 1:11:24

1:11:35 I just didn't want to have to cancel a class because then I'm going to be gone to Mexico. So two weeks after that, there won't be class, but next week there will be class, but we're just going to hold it downstairs. I think I got permission from that. I sent an email to Karina. I didn't check her response, but she's okay with it. So, anyway, we'll have it somewhere. So, it'll be an adventure. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:35 Highlight the passage at 1:11:35

1:12:03 We'll have it somewhere else. And then I finally, if you guys can make a note to yourselves to check your calendars. The very last of our classes, which we have seven weeks in this course, the very last night is Tuesday the 29th. Which is a conflict for those people that also want to do Buddhism in a nutshell, which starts that same night, which is taught by Karen. So I am wondering if we could make our final class Thursday the 24th. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:03 Highlight the passage at 1:12:03

1:12:38 So just think about it. Don't rush into it. And bring your answers next time. There's no Thursday class that week. Did you say Tuesday? No, Thursday. Well, our class is normally Tuesday and would normally end on the 29th. I'm asking if we can end it on Thursday, the 24th. No, that's what I was just saying. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:38 Highlight the passage at 1:12:38

1:13:00 There's no class that night. He's canceled it because Shantideva Shae is giving jaynans down at L &B. Hold on Lama. Hold on Lama, which I was actually going to go to. I was going to say. But this is really important. I don't want it to be a conflict for... Karen, and I don't want it to be a compliment for David, too, who said he was going to be the boss. So if we could think of another time, that's an option, too. That just became available and I kind of made it good enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:00 Highlight the passage at 1:13:00

1:13:27 Okay, so now that I've filled your mind with a bunch of stuff. Should we pause you? Do you want to be paused or no? No. I Report an error in the passage at 1:13:27 Highlight the passage at 1:13:27

1:13:45 didn't know people. I was like, uh-oh. Thank you. Oh, I should go get that quote. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:45 Highlight the passage at 1:13:45

1:14:22 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:22 Highlight the passage at 1:14:22

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:15:02 I'm sure it's a shallow understanding. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:02 Highlight the passage at 1:15:02

1:15:10 It doesn't matter. It's like a simple tool that you can use. It was so complicated or simple. It really changed Report an error in the passage at 1:15:10 Highlight the passage at 1:15:10

1:15:23 was a powerful one. I'm Report an error in the passage at 1:15:23 Highlight the passage at 1:15:23

· · · silence, 3 minutes

1:18:17 watching myself do it for the last day, and I'm going, Report an error in the passage at 1:18:17 Highlight the passage at 1:18:17

1:18:22 it just feels so surreal, you know, it's Report an error in the passage at 1:18:22 Highlight the passage at 1:18:22

1:18:29 like, in Report an error in the passage at 1:18:29 Highlight the passage at 1:18:29

1:18:35 this show, where they cut your insurance and make sure you can't ever show up on their doorstep again. It's weird. But it makes you realize that when you think in terms of, oh, this will never change, it's always like this. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:35 Highlight the passage at 1:18:35

1:18:54 It reminds me of those mud lamps and they put a wick in the oil. Right. There's so many ways it could fail, right? It's going to either run out of oil or wick or somebody's going to smash the clay that's holding it together. And so everything's like that. You either run out of wick, oil, or somebody smashes the clay. It's actually like once you start realizing how fragile our bodies are. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:54 Highlight the passage at 1:18:54

1:19:23 It's like we get so amazed when something... Something should go wrong every day if you're really thinking about it. Thousands of cells are dying every day. Yeah, and our wrists are so fragile. I mean, just from breakage point of view. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:23 Highlight the passage at 1:19:23

1:19:38 You're always like two weeks into your refrigerator for a whole lifetime. How does Amitiba know to fill your refrigerator up every two weeks? It's like you're blessed and you're not even wise enough to see how it's happening. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:38 Highlight the passage at 1:19:38

1:19:56 Big stuff. And the other thing is, I see other people have calamity and things in their life, but I don't. I go from one nice house to another with hardly any effort at all, and I think, oh, this is good karma. I'm kind of, like, worried about hell in my next life. You're burning it all up. It's like a God realm. Yeah, very God realm here for the little effort I'm putting in. Well, we'll get to that. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:56 Highlight the passage at 1:19:56

1:20:21 Rejoice in it. Maybe you earned it. But you can dedicate it. You can always think about those who don't. So, you know, when you have certain things in your life, that is kind of like an obsession for whatever, like eating. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:21 Highlight the passage at 1:20:21

1:20:44 Just for example. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:44 Highlight the passage at 1:20:44

1:20:48 That's part of your karma ripening. Yeah, well because that's one of those things about karma is that it creates the habit. So eventually, when it ripens, it'll eventually go away. Yeah, I mean, depending upon how you react to it, if you keep giving in to it, then you keep creating the cause to have it. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:48 Highlight the passage at 1:20:48

1:21:10 Same with anger. Yeah, I know, I was just thinking. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:10 Highlight the passage at 1:21:10

1:21:12 You know, it's like with smoking. At some point, if you can react to it without giving in to it, then you begin breaking that habit. So it just doesn't go away? It doesn't go away on its own, except for the fact that we stir it up every time. But yeah, it is exhausting. It's the same as if, you know, the example that I often give of the screaming boss. The screaming boss is the exhaustion of a negative karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:12 Highlight the passage at 1:21:12

1:21:42 But the problem is that we have to scream back and then we just keep creating that karma. In other words, you're creating more seeds kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. So that's what makes it difficult. It takes that real determination, you know, not to. And you do everything you can to not scream back or you do everything you can to not give in to that desire. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:42 Highlight the passage at 1:21:42

1:22:03 And then, you know, sometimes you just have to sit on your hands or you have to, you know. Run out of the room or whatever it is to keep from doing that thing again. And then gradually you can kind of do it with a little bit more finash. At first it's just like, just don't do it, Chokyi. Just get out of the room, whatever it means, whether it's a truffle or whether it's a screaming boss. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:03 Highlight the passage at 1:22:03

1:22:26 When you're saying that you're screaming, you bring over tendencies, right? Yeah, well the tendencies are just those mental habits. That's karma. And will that go away once you realize it's a time? If you can work with it and you can stop doing it again. It's the doing it again that we do. It's just a mental habit that creates the cause for us to keep having that mental habit. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:26 Highlight the passage at 1:22:26

1:22:54 We have to break that mental habit and not do it in order to... But yeah, they're just seeds that ripen and then they are exhausted, but the problem is that we keep creating more seeds. But that's the negative part now. What about the positive part? Same. You know how little kids sometimes are born? Yeah, sometimes little kids are born and they're really, really generous. They want to share everything. They're really loving. I mean, that's the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:54 Highlight the passage at 1:22:54

1:23:17 That's just their karmic habits from another lifetime. You know, especially you can really see it if the parents aren't, you know, there's some really vast difference between the kids. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:17 Highlight the passage at 1:23:17

1:23:29 Or, you know, so it's the same. It's the same. It's just mental habits from having done it in past lives. Or, you know, becoming a piano virtuoso. We call it child prodigy. The Buddha would just say, they just perfected this particular skill in a past life and it just comes naturally to them. If they didn't have the conditions, they probably would lose that. Eventually those karmic seats would wear out. So it was some incredibly poor family and they couldn't get anything like a piano and they didn't even have any access to anyone else who had a piano and then they actually had to work in the coal mines or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:29 Highlight the passage at 1:23:29

1:24:07 And this probably happens all the time actually. Then those karmic seeds eventually would just sort of wear out. You know, maybe that kid would really love classical music when they heard it until they, you know, died. But otherwise they wouldn't have any way to kind of create new seeds. So they would just kind of exhaust. We usually feed them in some way, either positive or negative, and that creates more seeds. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:07 Highlight the passage at 1:24:07

1:24:31 But those original seeds, you know, ripen and die out. So if we can not give in to them, we can change it if it's negative. And if we want to foster it and encourage it. That's one reason that it's really, that's why we really should rejoice when we are able to change a habit. You know, whether it's changing a habit of not giving in to desire for something that's not healthy, or whether it's not yelling back at the boss, or whatever it is that's a harmful thing if you're able to just not do it even once. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:31 Highlight the passage at 1:24:31

1:25:05 You know, Venema Renee, who's a Swiss monk, always says, not giving in to desire. moves you out of, you know, gets you closer to liberation, giving in to desire. Every time we give in to desire, it keeps us in saṃsāra that much longer. Can't you retain the desire if you know it 40 years of attachment and Report an error in the passage at 1:25:05 Highlight the passage at 1:25:05

1:25:29 Yeah, but that's enjoyment, that's not desire. The desire attachment, this particular use of that word, is talking about this grasping, this wanting, this need, this sort of obsessive need. The delight in something isn't that. The pleasure isn't that. Of course, yeah. I mean, look at our lamas. They all have a jolly time. His Holiness has a lovely time all the time. He's always laughing and enjoying life. He enjoys whatever is given to them. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:29 Highlight the passage at 1:25:29

1:26:01 And then if somebody took it away, he'd also enjoy that. It's not dependent upon the object the way ours is. And Ben Rubin always gives that example of when you ordered the chocolate cake and the carrot cake comes, and you know, you were so obsessing about the chocolate cake and then the carrot cake comes and then you just, you know, fly off the handle and that's that kind of grasping mind that, like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:01 Highlight the passage at 1:26:01

1:26:26 We've lost somebody. Half the class. Ding. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:26 Highlight the passage at 1:26:26

1:26:36 She's announcing it, I think. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:36 Highlight the passage at 1:26:36

1:26:48 Thank you for... ha ha ha. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:48 Highlight the passage at 1:26:48

1:26:50 Manifesting Isabelle. Greatest pleasure of the day. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:50 Highlight the passage at 1:26:50

1:27:00 I'm glad you. I'm like, wait, we're waiting for him. It's not a long time. He is just spending his time. Okay, so here's the quote. And part of the quote is that His Holiness makes this statement a lot. So a lot of times people like Janet, I think it was this morning or a couple of mornings ago, Report an error in the passage at 1:27:00 Highlight the passage at 1:27:00

1:27:19 Thought it was something that he said, but it's actually from Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, the sixth chapter, the chapter of Patience. And this is a particular translation. No matter what happens, I will never allow my joy to be disturbed. Feeling upset cannot accomplish my hopes. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:19 Highlight the passage at 1:27:19

1:27:49 And only makes me lose the goodness that I have. If there is something you can do about it, why should you feel upset? If there is nothing you can do about it, what's use is being upset? There is nothing in the world which does not come easily if you make a habit of it. Make then a habit of bearing the small pains and thus endure the greater. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:49 Highlight the passage at 1:27:49

1:28:14 Yeah, I can actually send it. I have it on. I can send it. Oh, okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:14 Highlight the passage at 1:28:14

1:28:28 Yeah, you can do it after, because we're going to talk about pride and you don't want to miss that. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28:28

1:28:37 So, pride. Pride, they actually say, is the biggest block to us gaining realizations. So it's the biggest block in the Buddhist path. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:37 Highlight the passage at 1:28:37

1:28:49 And pride is actually this mind that thinks I already know. Let's see, how did I say it in my homework? It's this mind, it's an inflated opinion about yourself, your power, your wealth, your physical strength, your good qualities, family wisdom, good looks, whatever. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:49 Highlight the passage at 1:28:49

1:29:14 And usually, usually involves, so that can be pride and then it usually goes into superior over. So there's some element of feeling like you have something more than somebody else has, but not always. That inflated opinion about yourself, when Emily was talking about these different mental afflictions in the low-rig class that she taught before the Heart Sister class, she called it a puffed-up state of mind, which I thought was a great term, because there is that kind of puffness, puffed-up-ness about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:14 Highlight the passage at 1:29:14

1:29:54 So pride. Pride is really, I mean, when you think about it, it's actually very dangerous because it means that we are unable to be taught and we need to be taught. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:54 Highlight the passage at 1:29:54

1:30:08 Prostrations actually are meant to break down pride. That's actually one of their functions. And you can kind of see why, like you get yourself down on the floor, it's not attractive, no matter who does it. Often it's quite humbling, especially the older you get, the more ailments, you start making all these funny noises when you do. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:08 Highlight the passage at 1:30:08

1:30:34 But yeah, if you start thinking that, oh, I already know that, or I've heard that one before, or I don't need to learn that one, I need to, you know. And we do that one. All of us do that at some point. The thing is, is have I gained a realization of that? You know, if Geshe was teaching about karma, you know, and I just say, well, I haven't gotten that one before. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:34 Highlight the passage at 1:30:34

1:30:59 Have we realized karma? Am I applying the teachings of karma all the time? You know, if I'm not, then I still have something I can learn, you know. So often when students have a lot of puffed up pride, Report an error in the passage at 1:30:59 Highlight the passage at 1:30:59

1:31:14 Teachers will tell them to go meditate on some complex teaching like the Twelve Links, which is what we're going to talk about in the sixth class, I think. The Twelve Links of Dependent and Rising. And the point is just to kind of show yourself that you really don't know everything. There's a lot more for you to learn. And actually within Buddhism, you're constantly finding out what you don't know. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:14 Highlight the passage at 1:31:14

1:31:37 It kind of goes like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:37 Highlight the passage at 1:31:37

1:31:41 So we do sometimes have one of the antidotes to it. We sometimes feel like we're so wonderful in and of ourselves and we just sprung into the planet this way. And so one of the ways to kind of break it down, and I think pride is actually a big one in Tibet because these things come up a lot. They're always trying to break down pride. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:41 Highlight the passage at 1:31:41

1:31:59 I think we have sort of a flip side of it that we're going to talk more about next week, which is low self-esteem. But I think they're really related. They're still really focused on me. Instead of being, I'm the best, I'm the absolute worst. My delusions are the most horrible. Nobody should look at my mind. There's still an element of pride in it. But we do tend to think that we sort of popped into the planet being so absolutely wonderful, and so one way to break it down is to really think about how everything that we know has come from someone else. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:59 Highlight the passage at 1:31:59

1:32:37 Everything about us, you know, if we're clever and we're kind of smart by our genes, then it came from our ancestors, through our parents, through those bodies of ours. You know, if it's whatever we, if we know how to speak the language, then it came from, you know, our teachers or our parents. Whatever it is, even if it's just tying our shoelaces, we learned from somebody else. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:37 Highlight the passage at 1:32:37

1:33:01 So sometimes that can break it down, too, is just really analyzing that. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:01 Highlight the passage at 1:33:01

1:33:08 And it's also really, really important to tell the difference between pride and having a good, healthy self-esteem or a good, healthy confidence. Because we absolutely need to have a healthy confidence on this path. And we have to cultivate that. So this pride that I'm talking about is the affliction of pride. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:08 Highlight the passage at 1:33:08

1:33:29 So it's the pride that's like, you know, potty-totty, you know, I know much more than you do. So another quote, this one from His Holiness, from the Art of Happiness at Work. To have greater self-awareness or understanding means to have a better grasp of reality. Now the opposite of reality is to project onto yourself qualities that are not there. Ascribe to yourself characteristics in contrast to what is actually the case. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:29 Highlight the passage at 1:33:29

1:33:56 I don't know how to speak. For example, when you have a distorted view of yourself, such as through excessive pride or arrogance, Because of these states of mind, you have an exaggerated sense of your qualities and personal abilities. Your view of your own abilities goes far beyond your actual abilities. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:56 Highlight the passage at 1:33:56

1:34:14 On the other hand, when you have low self-esteem, then you underestimate your actual qualities and abilities. You belittle yourself, you put yourself down. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:14 Highlight the passage at 1:34:14

1:34:25 I'm like, oh gosh, now I'm catching it. This leads to a complete loss of faith in yourself. So excess, both in terms of exaggeration and devaluation, are equally destructive. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:25 Highlight the passage at 1:34:25

1:34:39 It's by addressing these obstacles and by constantly examining your personal character qualities and abilities that you can learn to have greater self-understanding. This is the way to become more self-aware. And so we do this in meditation. It's getting to know our own minds and which one we do. And sometimes we can do both. Sometimes we may dwell perpetually in arrogance, but in reality it's based on a low self-esteem. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:39 Highlight the passage at 1:34:39

1:35:04 Sometimes we can dwell in low self-esteem and it's based on a certain kind of pride. And it's very interesting to see the two at work. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:04 Highlight the passage at 1:35:04

1:35:15 Jealousy. Jealousy is a mind that's sort of based in attachment. It's a little based in attachment and a little bit based in aversion actually. It kind of has elements of the other delusions coming into it. Jealousy is a mind that can't endure the happiness of others and wishes that happiness for ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:15 Highlight the passage at 1:35:15

1:35:38 So often we think jealousy and envy are sort of two points of the same kind of mind. Often what you're wanting is another object or another thing or another person that is somebody else's. And sometimes it's just painful to see somebody else succeeding in something. So you're just jealous of their success or you're jealous of their good looks or you're jealous of their power or you're jealous of their happy marriage or whatever it is that you're jealous of. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:38 Highlight the passage at 1:35:38

1:36:11 And so the antidote to this one is rejoicing. Which is, I think, incredibly powerful. I think rejoicing actually comes into a lot of these. Low self-esteem, you can also counteract it with rejoicing. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:11 Highlight the passage at 1:36:11

1:36:32 Rejoicing for what the other person has can help you counteract jealousy. But rejoicing for what you yourself have can help you counteract low self-esteem. or depression so Rejoicing is basically cultivating this delight in the others qualities and their happiness and actually trying to be sincere about it so you're not just going, yeah I'm really happy for them. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:32 Highlight the passage at 1:36:32

1:37:08 You know, because it's nice to say it, I should say that, but really honestly trying to feel real happiness and just looking for where that happiness might come. And so from a karmic point of view, if somebody has wealth or power or beauty or, you know, a wonderful family or a wonderful home or whatever, then they have karmically created that cause and they've done virtue to attain that result. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:08 Highlight the passage at 1:37:08

1:37:34 And so we can just rejoice in that. Riva Rinpoche always used to say that rejoicing was the easiest way to make merit, that we could just kick back after a hard day at work. If you were too tired to meditate, you could just kick back, pour yourself a cup of coffee, lie down on the couch and just rejoice at everything around you. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:34 Highlight the passage at 1:37:34

1:37:58 Rejoice in the happiness of others. Whatever was working, like Bill Gates had a billion dollars to give away, would be just rejoice. Rejoice in their good acts, like their generosity. Rejoice in Angelina Jolie's good looks. Rejoice in whatever anybody has done. It's like you don't have to actually do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:58 Highlight the passage at 1:37:58

1:38:20 You get like some big percent, it's like 50 % or something of their merit just by kicking back and deeply rejoicing. So it's actually a very easy way to make merit. And what it tends to do is to counteract the negative critical mind too. So it's like, oh by the way, as Lama Zopa always says, you end up just making your mind happier all the time because you're finding more and more ways to rejoice. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:20 Highlight the passage at 1:38:20

1:38:46 So instead of feeling really upset when your co-worker gets that office that you wanted or gets that promotion that you wanted or whatever, you can just genuinely feel happy. That they got the promotion and they get to go to France this year. Instead of that thing that we always do where we're just constantly finding fault and being bitter. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:46 Highlight the passage at 1:38:46

1:39:07 We usually kind of stir up those minds in ourselves and develop those minds in ourselves. So this is saying, why not develop a happy one? And it's actually a lot of fun once you start. It's actually a lot of fun to develop this mind. If you can remember it, it's quite... A pleasurable way to spend your basara, to just rejoice about the different things that you happen to know. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:07 Highlight the passage at 1:39:07

1:39:31 We actually spend time, Rinpoche actually spends quite a bit of time when you're doing the seven limb prayer, the seven limb practice, there's a limb of rejoicing. And you just spend time, you know, Venomobina is always saying, rejoice in how hard we work, you know, all of us here. Rejoice in how hard you're working on your mind, you know, whatever it is that you're doing. The fact that you might be getting up a little earlier to meditate, just rejoice that you came to class and you didn't feel like it. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:31 Highlight the passage at 1:39:31

1:39:56 You know, rejoice in all the hard work that our teachers do all the time, around the clock. Rejoice in, you know, all the work that His Holiness does, day in and day out. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:56 Highlight the passage at 1:39:56

1:40:08 And like that, so you can just, I mean, we can just go into a swoon sometimes in the morning, we're just like... Just rejoicing about everything, and it really is really good for the mind. It's a great practice to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:08 Highlight the passage at 1:40:08

1:40:23 So if you have a mind that tends towards jealousy or envy, to just try to cultivate this mind of rejoicing in others' happiness and good karma and good fortune, it loosens that hardness around the heart that we tend to have with jealousy. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:23 Highlight the passage at 1:40:23

1:40:44 Without a lot of effort, actually. But like I said, you can use rejoicing as an antidote to a lot of things as a way of sort of developing contentment in yourself or your own situation as well. And the final one that we're going to talk about tonight is doubt. Which is, doubt is considered to be what they call a two-pointed mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:44 Highlight the passage at 1:40:44

1:41:15 And actually there are different kinds of doubt. This afflicted, it's sort of like what we were talking about with pride and with attachment. There are different things, different uses of this word. So this afflicted form of doubt is when you're sort of rejecting something. So you're at this point of disbelief and you're rejecting something and usually doubt is leading in this case to almost like a skeptical. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:15 Highlight the passage at 1:41:15

1:41:43 What kind of mind? That kind of like, I don't know, that sounds really stupid. Or, you know, like, so they say that this wavering mind of doubt can go, it can waver towards, well, but, you know, maybe karma's, maybe that's true. Sounds kind of odd, but, you know, sure, maybe. You know, so you could be doubtful and be like, okay, maybe I'll just, like, investigate that one a little bit more. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:43 Highlight the passage at 1:41:43

1:42:07 Or you can be, well, that sounds really stupid. So you immediately see the difference. It's like you can waver in both cases, but one is going to lead you into sort of a playful curiosity and an openness towards something, and one of them is like slamming the door and getting you dangerously close to just rejecting something. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:07 Highlight the passage at 1:42:07

1:42:30 One of my teachers always said, actually they often teach this, but I like the way he phrased it, where he said, if you don't understand something... Or it's difficult for you to swallow for whatever reason. And there are definitely teachings like that. Don't reject it outright. Just shelve it. You know, some people say put it on the back burner. I like that term, shelve it. Just shelve it. Just stick the book back on the shelf and just be like, I don't get that one, but I'll come back to it in a little bit when I have more information. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:30 Highlight the passage at 1:42:30

1:43:00 Because a lot of times we just don't know enough yet. Maybe once we've had more teachings, we've had more teachers, they put it in a different way, it'll make more sense to us. Maybe it's a translation error, that often happens at this point with Buddhism being introduced in the West. Maybe our own mind is still so obscured, you know, we still have those kind of blocks where we can't get it for whatever reason, and then suddenly you're like, oh, that's what he meant by that. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:00 Highlight the passage at 1:43:00

1:43:26 Like, then all of a sudden it makes more sense. Sometimes we're just not as receptive. And then a little bit later, after some more work and some more study or some more meditation, then we're able to open up to something. So don't reject something flat out, even if it sounds totally woo-woo. Ask questions, you know, like try to talk it out. Like once you've been in Buddhism long enough that you have some teachers that you trust, go to them, you know, chuck up. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:26 Highlight the passage at 1:43:26

1:43:53 That actually I put as an antidote. Because, you know... Your hair is doing that. I'm sorry. Your hair is increasing like the comma. How did you distract? Report an error in the passage at 1:43:53 Highlight the passage at 1:43:53

1:44:12 It caused my doubt to run away. You lost your train of thought. Oh my gosh. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:12 Highlight the passage at 1:44:12

1:44:21 No, I actually put that as an antidote because one of my... you. I love you. I love you. right. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:21 Highlight the passage at 1:44:21

1:44:28 This is actually an obstacle in meditation. In the Bodhisattva Vals, since we started on the Bodhisattva Vals, let's end on the Bodhisattva Vals. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:28 Highlight the passage at 1:44:28

1:44:41 It actually can become an obstacle to our meditation practice, our analytical meditation, if we just develop this sort of hard doubt, this sort of rejecting doubt, and we just stop looking at something. We're just like, well that sounds stupid. And we just don't even look at it anymore, and so we just reject it. It can actually become a big obstacle to our practice. And so one of my teachers called this doubt, which I didn't understand what it was for a while. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:41 Highlight the passage at 1:44:41

1:45:07 When I would read that Bodhisattva vow, I'd be like, how can this be an obstacle in meditation? I didn't reject it. But I was kind of like, well, what does that mean? And he called it having a wimpy practice. And the reason is that we just stop. We don't do anything about that doubt. We don't try to figure out what that thing might really mean. We don't talk about it with other students. We don't talk about it with our teachers. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:07 Highlight the passage at 1:45:07

1:45:34 We don't investigate anymore. We actually just use it to sort of put a lid on a whole area that we just don't investigate anymore. So then we start being sort of wimpy in our practice about it. We aren't investigating it anymore. And so I think that's... That's a way that doubt can have an effect on us in our practice. So His Holiness said, although individuals may be highly intelligent, they are sometimes dogged by skepticism and doubts. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:34 Highlight the passage at 1:45:34

1:46:09 They are clever, but they tend to be hesitant and skeptical and are never really able to settle down. These people are the least receptive. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:09 Highlight the passage at 1:46:09

1:46:19 The Buddha said, there is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts. It is a sword that kills. So it's actually more powerful than we would think, I think. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:19 Highlight the passage at 1:46:19

1:46:40 So the final thing is... Just a reminder that, again, at this point, until you take these words into really contemplating and looking at your mind and your particular buttons and your particular, your favorite flavor of delusions, as one of my friends says, once you start working with your own mind and your own delusions and you start applying these anecdotes, then it starts sinking and it makes sense. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:40 Highlight the passage at 1:46:40

1:47:09 And then it starts transforming your mind. But otherwise, it's just more words. And so you have to be careful not to just be collecting more words. So I offer, you know, these meditations and actually... So the meditations that you guys are going to look at are just going to continue. I actually, there's some additional anecdotes. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:09 Highlight the passage at 1:47:09

1:47:43 That are for the same, like last time you were just working with the three poisonous minds. Look at these three poisonous minds again. They're the first three that you encounter because I have changed something. So there's some additional anecdotes. But just do one a day. So just decide I'm going to just explore ignorance today and I'm going to think about these different things like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:43 Highlight the passage at 1:47:43

1:48:07 I'm going to look at attachment today and I'm going to meditate on something and really bring to mind an actual experience of attachment so that you can remember what it felt like in your body. So you can remember what it felt like in your mind to feel so obsessed about something. So you can remember about what kind of harm it might have caused in your relationships with other people, especially if you have an extreme case. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:07 Highlight the passage at 1:48:07

1:48:30 It's a good one. So if you experience an extreme case of anger, an extreme case of doubt, where it did come between you and somebody, or it did make it hard for you to understand or even listen to teachings, you don't want to go to a teaching, whether it's a Buddhist teaching or not, or an extreme case of pumped up pride. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:30 Highlight the passage at 1:48:30

1:48:51 Try to remember what that felt like because then it becomes more real to you and it'll mean more to you. The Buddhist, the Tibetan word for meditation is gom, which is why we call this a gompa. So it means familiarization. So just getting familiar. So this is really what these... What meditations are about is just getting familiar with our mind, getting familiar with these afflictions, getting familiar with the antidotes for these afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:51 Highlight the passage at 1:48:51

1:49:20 And that takes time. It takes some effort to do. So ultimately, it's up to you to do that effort, to take that effort. Does anybody have any questions about any of the stuff that we talked about? So you guys are going to work with anger, attachment, ignorance, and then start introducing jealousy and pride and doubt. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:20 Highlight the passage at 1:49:20

1:49:43 And then next we're going to add depression, guilt, one of my personal favorites, low self-esteem, which I also really love, fear and anxiety, and anything else I happen to notice that I feel like I want to throw in. But those are definitely the ones that we're going to talk about. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:43 Highlight the passage at 1:49:43

1:50:02 Anybody have any questions? Report an error in the passage at 1:50:02 Highlight the passage at 1:50:02

1:50:11 You know when you talked about the mind and how our minds are like the clear blue sky and the afflictions are like clouds. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:11 Highlight the passage at 1:50:11

1:50:30 Yeah, you said rainbows. That was my question. Yeah, I threw that in there because it could be a positive thought. You know, I remember, I think David actually said that he, when he was reading, maybe it was actually, it might have been actually at our practice day in the last class, but he was talking about how he was reading that book, What Makes You Not a Buddhist, by Shantideva, and in that book he was talking about the four seals. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:30 Highlight the passage at 1:50:30

1:50:55 And one of the seals was that all emotions are suffering. And he said that was when he had to shelve, because he wasn't entirely sure about that one. But in this case, This is kind of what we're working with, actually, is how they can be suffering. And so the rainbows are kind of like those positive minds where we go racing around the house when we get the job. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:55 Highlight the passage at 1:50:55

1:51:19 That's also an afflicted state of mind. It just, it feels really good. But, you know, anyone who has lived with anyone who has bipolar disorder knows that those highs are followed by lows, and they just show it more clearly than, you know, I mean, it's just a matter of degree. We do the same things. We can be happy without doing that manic stuff. You can be genuinely, deeply happy without all the ups and downs like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:19 Highlight the passage at 1:51:19

1:51:47 I thought that was great, actually, when I saw that. It was actually in Kathleen McDonald's book, I believe. I was just looking at that earlier. Yeah, and I hadn't noticed it before. It just sort of popped out in my mind. I thought, well, of course, because not all emotions feel like clouds. Some of them feel like rainbows and you still grasp onto them, you know, and you can't grasp a rainbow. They still dissipate in the same way. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:47 Highlight the passage at 1:51:47

1:52:17 Anybody else? Any questions? Report an error in the passage at 1:52:17 Highlight the passage at 1:52:17

1:52:25 Anybody else? Any questions? Report an error in the passage at 1:52:25 Highlight the passage at 1:52:25

1:52:31 So Report an error in the passage at 1:52:31 Highlight the passage at 1:52:31

1:52:36 let's dedicate. On the dot. You read me the one. . Report an error in the passage at 1:52:36 Highlight the passage at 1:52:36

1:52:28 think the way they're doing it. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:28 Highlight the passage at 1:52:28

1:52:42 How's that? Nine o 'clock. Woohoo! You can celebrate, but don't go leaping around the house. So we dedicate any merit that we may have created. You know, when we came in here a couple of hours ago, or longer, we were one person with one mind, and then we've added all these other things, contemplated all these things, asked questions, thought about these teachings of the Buddha, and so now we have all these new seeds, and they're virtuous seeds, they're good seeds. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:42 Highlight the passage at 1:52:42

1:53:13 So I want to dedicate those seats to actually being able to transform our minds so that we can benefit others, so that we can help others, so that we can help ourselves find that happiness that we are looking for. Blasting happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:13 Highlight the passage at 1:53:13

1:53:33 So next week, I think what I'll do is I'll set it up downstairs and I'll just hang out up here so it'll be confusing for all the soap people who are used to me running the soaps. So maybe just come, so just go back if you're heading to the back bathroom and keep going. Curl around. I'll put a sign up on a wall. I was going to say signs. Come early. I have questions, but I have questions I don't want to. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:33 Highlight the passage at 1:53:33

1:54:04 Oh, what is it? My questions are kind of silly. Like I notice when you do your prostrations, you know, you just do three. But when we do the prostration practice, we're doing the Buddha. Yeah, so you don't do four with... I don't with the half-frustration. I've always thought I could just do three. Yeah, the three, you know, place between mind and the Buddha, the three bodies in Buddha, or three, you know, Buddha Dhanasanga. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:04 Highlight the passage at 1:54:04

1:54:41 But then what would the full frustration be? You do four, yeah. I had to retrain myself because I was doing the three, so it took a long time. Yeah, and then you stopped doing the long one for a while because you hurt your knee? Report an error in the passage at 1:54:41 Highlight the passage at 1:54:41

1:54:54 Then you forget to, and then you start again, and then, yeah. Well, I used to have, like, the knee pads, and now I've been doing it without the knee pads, and now my knees look pretty bad. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:54 Highlight the passage at 1:54:54

1:55:05 and look really bad I feel bad maybe you're just burning off bad knee karma I guess so oh gosh Report an error in the passage at 1:55:05 Highlight the passage at 1:55:05

1:55:17 So many karmas, so little time. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:17 Highlight the passage at 1:55:17

1:55:29 Let's just not. Should we put out some of the trays? Yes. We really only need six trays, so why don't we take all of these and put them away. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:29 Highlight the passage at 1:55:29

1:55:42 going to hit the phone. Yeah. Hit the phone. Silly. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:42 Highlight the passage at 1:55:42