Discovering Buddhism - Intro to Tantra (5 November 2008)

0:00 So we're going to do the homework in class. We're going to do some meditation. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:25 How about those elections, huh? Okay, that's all I'm going to say. Report an error in the passage at 0:25 Highlight the passage at 0:25

0:33 And thank you all very, very, very much for being so supportive and sweet last week when I felt like caca. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Report an error in the passage at 0:33 Highlight the passage at 0:33

0:47 So we're going to start. We're going to do your meditation homework as our motivation. And then we'll do this week's homework as our dedication. Report an error in the passage at 0:47 Highlight the passage at 0:47

1:01 So you can tick one off. There you go. So we'll just start with checking our posture. Report an error in the passage at 1:01 Highlight the passage at 1:01

1:18 So just extending your spine, rolling your shoulders back if you're like me and you've been spending a lot of time sort of hunched over projects and computers and desks. Small children. Thank you. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:18 Highlight the passage at 1:18

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:37 Hands either on your knees or in your lap, Report an error in the passage at 1:37 Highlight the passage at 1:37

1:43 eyes either lightly closed or slightly open, tongue on the roof of your mouth, chin just slightly tucked under just to lengthen the back of your neck, Report an error in the passage at 1:43 Highlight the passage at 1:43

2:06 legs in whatever position feels great for you. If you're on a chair, it's good to move away from the back of the chair so you're not too comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 2:06 Highlight the passage at 2:06

2:18 And I only speak from experience on that one. Report an error in the passage at 2:18 Highlight the passage at 2:18

2:25 And if you're in a chair, it's also good to have your feet firmly on the ground. And if you can't reach the ground, then maybe have a cushion under them. That also kind of helps with keeping alert. Report an error in the passage at 2:25 Highlight the passage at 2:25

2:35 And then just start with some nice deep cleansing breaths and let go of the day and let go of all the excitement of the past two years and all the conversations you've been having today and all the... Things that you've been doing at work or at school or in your life. Just imagine them just dissolving and floating away. Leaving your mind clean, clear as Lama Yashi likes to say. Report an error in the passage at 2:35 Highlight the passage at 2:35

3:07 Leaving yourself very alert, focused, present, open, curious. Report an error in the passage at 3:07 Highlight the passage at 3:07

3:19 And then just start with watching around of your own breath. Just focusing on that breath. Report an error in the passage at 3:19 Highlight the passage at 3:19

· · · silence, 1 minute

4:34 And then take a moment to imagine Chakyamuni Buddha in front of you, slightly raised. You can imagine him on a lotus. Imagine him made of pure golden light. Report an error in the passage at 4:34 Highlight the passage at 4:34

4:52 And just try to imagine that he embodies all the qualities of enlightened mind, perfect mind. Report an error in the passage at 4:52 Highlight the passage at 4:52

5:11 He's gazing down at you. Report an error in the passage at 5:11 Highlight the passage at 5:11

5:19 And if you can't bring to mind any features, just imagine sort of an orb of golden light that embodies enlightened mind, enlightened qualities. Report an error in the passage at 5:19 Highlight the passage at 5:19

5:43 Then we just start with recognizing the situation that we're in right now. We have human life. We have intelligence. Report an error in the passage at 5:43 Highlight the passage at 5:43

6:00 There's strength in our body. Report an error in the passage at 6:00 Highlight the passage at 6:00

6:05 Some inclination for spiritual practice. Not just interest, but... Some interest to put them into practice, the teachings into practice. Report an error in the passage at 6:05 Highlight the passage at 6:05

6:21 And that we're free at this point from being involved in any extreme negativity. Report an error in the passage at 6:21 Highlight the passage at 6:21

6:32 Like if we were in an area where there was a lot of corruption or war or gang fighting. Report an error in the passage at 6:32 Highlight the passage at 6:32

6:49 And you live right now in a place where the Dharma exists and is freely given. Report an error in the passage at 6:49 Highlight the passage at 6:49

6:59 And they say that it's possible. For there to be times when these teachings aren't so widely available, it's difficult to find them. Report an error in the passage at 6:59 Highlight the passage at 6:59

7:22 For people who don't have the karma, they can drive by the center and centers like it for years and never see the signs, never find the books in the bookstore, never even see the announcements or the flyers. They just don't have the karma. So for them, it's like living in that dark age. Report an error in the passage at 7:22 Highlight the passage at 7:22

7:55 And not only do the teachings still exist in the world, but there are people, very serious practitioners, trying to master those teachings right now, even while we sit here tonight. Report an error in the passage at 7:55 Highlight the passage at 7:55

8:11 Not just practice them, but actually sitting in retreat somewhere and trying to gain deep, permanent realizations. Report an error in the passage at 8:11 Highlight the passage at 8:11

8:30 We still have places to go to receive teachings, authentic teachers. People who support the teachings, people who pay, you know, make offerings for these teachings to be given, for books to be published, people who support teachers. Report an error in the passage at 8:30 Highlight the passage at 8:30

9:00 And for us here in California, there are so many different teachings available, amazing teachings. Report an error in the passage at 9:00 Highlight the passage at 9:00

9:12 So this is starting with the richnesses, really seeing what we have, recognizing what we already have. Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:25 And if we really think about it, there's nothing to stop us from gaining liberation, nothing standing in our way. It's only a matter of us making the effort. Report an error in the passage at 9:25 Highlight the passage at 9:25

9:51 And then we think about, out of six billion or so human beings in the world, in all the different countries and circumstances, how many of them even live in a place where they hear the word Dharma or Buddhism? Or Buddha. Or liberation. Report an error in the passage at 9:51 Highlight the passage at 9:51

10:22 And even in places where Dharma is available, it's just in small pockets, just small centers, each one holding maybe 20 people in a class, if we're lucky. Report an error in the passage at 10:22 Highlight the passage at 10:22

10:52 Of all the people in those places where the Dharma does exist, Report an error in the passage at 10:52 Highlight the passage at 10:52

11:00 how many of them actually make it to the teachings? Report an error in the passage at 11:00 Highlight the passage at 11:00

11:07 And of those who come, how many actually have interest to practice? Report an error in the passage at 11:07 Highlight the passage at 11:07

11:16 And of those with interest, how many have the time and the freedom? Report an error in the passage at 11:16 Highlight the passage at 11:16

11:24 And of those with time, how many have found their teacher? Report an error in the passage at 11:24 Highlight the passage at 11:24

11:35 And of those who have all of these things, how many are actually doing it? How many are actually pursuing the teachings, practicing, trying to gain realizations? Report an error in the passage at 11:35 Highlight the passage at 11:35

11:51 How many are actually devoting their lives to getting enlightened? Report an error in the passage at 11:51 Highlight the passage at 11:51

12:01 It's not common in the world to think like this. Report an error in the passage at 12:01 Highlight the passage at 12:01

12:07 It's very rare and very precious. Report an error in the passage at 12:07 Highlight the passage at 12:07

12:14 So if we think about it, what's possible for us to achieve with this life, with these conditions? Report an error in the passage at 12:14 Highlight the passage at 12:14

12:26 We've met the method, the same method that Shakyamuni Buddha used to get enlightened. So what are we going to do with it? Report an error in the passage at 12:26 Highlight the passage at 12:26

12:40 So many people are suffering all around us. Report an error in the passage at 12:40 Highlight the passage at 12:40

12:48 Sickness, old age, mental and physical disease, sadness, dissatisfied mind, death. Report an error in the passage at 12:48 Highlight the passage at 12:48

13:02 I've come into contact with teachings that tell me they can actually stop all of these sufferings if I apply them consistently and wholeheartedly. So how can I not try to pursue them? Report an error in the passage at 13:02 Highlight the passage at 13:02

13:21 If there's some opportunity to stop the death of all living beings, to stop war, famine, disease, and all the other pains, and I were not even to try, how unfortunate that would be. Report an error in the passage at 13:21 Highlight the passage at 13:21

13:44 How lucky I am. Report an error in the passage at 13:44 Highlight the passage at 13:44

13:50 It's said in the teachings that a precious human rebirth comes about only with causes, having practiced generosity, morality, patience and making prayers, especially making prayers. Report an error in the passage at 13:50 Highlight the passage at 13:50

14:10 That means I prayed to receive this life and these conditions. I prayed to have this opportunity. I prayed to have this view, to meet these teachings, to perfect my mind. Report an error in the passage at 14:10 Highlight the passage at 14:10

14:27 And now all these causes and conditions have come together. In this life my prayers have been answered. I prayed to be able to help these beings and I got my chance. Report an error in the passage at 14:27 Highlight the passage at 14:27

14:45 So what am I going to do with it? Report an error in the passage at 14:45 Highlight the passage at 14:45

14:58 So from the depths of your heart, ask Shakyamuni Buddha to help you recognize this opportunity that you have and to use it to Report an error in the passage at 14:58 Highlight the passage at 14:58

15:13 the best of your ability. Report an error in the passage at 15:13 Highlight the passage at 15:13

15:20 Whatever that means for you. Report an error in the passage at 15:20 Highlight the passage at 15:20

15:29 And then imagine that Shakyamuni Buddha is very pleased and promises to remind you of this preciousness, this opportunity you have. Report an error in the passage at 15:29 Highlight the passage at 15:29

15:41 And then imagine that he melts into a stream of golden light and descends into your heart through the crown of your head. Report an error in the passage at 15:41 Highlight the passage at 15:41

15:56 And he becomes inseparable with your own mind, Report an error in the passage at 15:56 Highlight the passage at 15:56

16:03 like water being poured into water, as Lama Yeshi says. And Report an error in the passage at 16:03 Highlight the passage at 16:03

16:14 your body and mind are completely pervaded by this golden light. And all the qualities of Shakyamuni Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 16:14 Highlight the passage at 16:14

16:34 And imagine that you are transformed into a being completely made of pure golden light, abiding in this world solely for the purpose of benefiting others. Report an error in the passage at 16:34 Highlight the passage at 16:34

16:53 This is your true potential. Report an error in the passage at 16:53 Highlight the passage at 16:53

17:00 Imagine what this would feel like when Report an error in the passage at 17:00 Highlight the passage at 17:00

17:27 we motivate tonight's class to each of us being able to realize this potential. And that whatever we gain in this class becomes the seed. Of that eventual ripening. And Report an error in the passage at 17:27 Highlight the passage at 17:27

17:56 in your own time, you can end your meditation and we'll start with an opening prayer. Report an error in the passage at 17:56 Highlight the passage at 17:56

18:29 So page 8, Report an error in the passage at 18:29 Highlight the passage at 18:29

18:43 with feeling. With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion. Today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 18:43 Highlight the passage at 18:43

19:19 We'll just say it once. Report an error in the passage at 19:19 Highlight the passage at 19:19

19:28 So I think before I open up for some questions, I wanted to finish a few thoughts about... Renunciation that I didn't get to last week. And then we'll just talk a little bit if you guys have questions about last week's class or any of the material. And then we'll go into bodhicitta, one of my favorite subjects. But then I say that for just about all of them, so there you go. Report an error in the passage at 19:28 Highlight the passage at 19:28

19:56 So one of the points that I think Lama Yashi makes really clearly in his book is that renunciation, true renunciation, Once we actually generate the mind of renunciation, it implies that we no longer rely on sensory pleasures for ultimate happiness. So we sort of touched on this a little bit. And this requires actually having some understanding of the fact that all that sort of ever-changing phenomena that our senses come into contact with, It isn't going to give us lasting happiness. It doesn't mean, and I think he's really clear about this too, it doesn't mean that we have to give up sense pleasures. Report an error in the passage at 19:56 Highlight the passage at 19:56

20:53 It just means that we have to have a more realistic attitude about them. And we need to look at how we experience them. So I don't know if anybody was watching how they experience sense pleasures this week, but it is an interesting... Exercise to do. Just looking at how our mind grasps at and how we interact with, for example, food or tea or whatever, a hot shower or lack thereof. Report an error in the passage at 20:53 Highlight the passage at 20:53

21:32 So it doesn't mean that we're denying ourself pleasure, and I think that's often the way that renunciation is seen in the West. Just the name renunciation sounds like that's what we're giving up pleasure, but actually what we're giving up is the way that our mind grasps at. And it also, what that grasping at gives rise to is these sort of heightened expectations. Report an error in the passage at 21:32 Highlight the passage at 21:32

22:00 Grasping an attachment period distort. So it's also giving that up too. So renunciation is actually sort of like having a clearer view of reality. It's like, you know, being just a little bit more alert about what it is rather than just sort of traipsing along the way we normally do. Report an error in the passage at 22:00 Highlight the passage at 22:00

22:20 Because attachment, the bottom line is that attachment ends up polluting a lot of the things that we enjoy. And I, at this point, of course, I am speaking the words of holy minds. I am not beyond attachment myself. But I can see how my attachment, you know, definitely destroys or pollutes. My enjoyment of things, you know, rather than just delighting in the pure pleasure of enjoying, you know, a single cup of tea. Report an error in the passage at 22:20 Highlight the passage at 22:20

22:53 I just keep having more and more and more, assuming that each one is going to taste exactly the same as the first one, which is what we do. It's what we do when we buy things. It's what we do when we eat things. It's what we do when we have sex. It's what we do when we watch movies. You know, it's like whatever it is. Report an error in the passage at 22:53 Highlight the passage at 22:53

23:10 If we have pleasure, then we want more pleasure. So we just keep doing the same thing and we just keep, you know, it's really quite addictive. Our minds are quite addictive. Report an error in the passage at 23:10 Highlight the passage at 23:10

23:22 So Lama Yeshe actually talks in part about just developing the sort of easygoing, renunciation sort of more like easygoing attitude towards the things that our senses, you know, put us into contact with. And also I think he also says, and there's a good quote, which I didn't include in this, but it just came to me. He says somewhere else, don't believe everything that your senses tell you. Report an error in the passage at 23:22 Highlight the passage at 23:22

23:54 So there's some recognition too that our senses, it's not just our attachment, but our senses themselves aren't seeing things as clearly as we would like to believe that they're seeing things. They aren't necessarily objectively seeing things. They are tainted by our attachment. Report an error in the passage at 23:54 Highlight the passage at 23:54

24:15 So this dissatisfied mind that we have, this dukkha that the Buddha talks about, that's just a condition of our mind. It's not something that comes from the banana or the cup of tea. If the cup of tea starts to get cold, it's not the cup of tea's fault. You know what I mean? We reach out there looking for our pleasure. We keep eating more and more things and getting more and more things and stuffing more and more cups of tea. Report an error in the passage at 24:15 Highlight the passage at 24:15

24:49 But if we get bored with the taste of Tetley, for example. It's shocking, I can't even imagine, but I think it might be about to happen. It's because of our dissatisfied mind. So that's where the problem is. That's where we work. But we don't get that, and so we keep looking out there and we keep buying more boxes of Tele-T, hoping that somehow it will change the situation. Report an error in the passage at 24:49 Highlight the passage at 24:49

25:11 And of course we do it with larger things too, not just I'm pointing out Tele-T because that's my personal. It can be partners and jobs and cars as well. That gets certainly more expensive. Report an error in the passage at 25:11 Highlight the passage at 25:11

25:24 It's safer with Marxist Patel. It doesn't cost too much. So it ends up being up to us to work on our own minds. In other words, we're getting back. You keep hearing the same things in Buddhism. You know, I mean, there's no way around it. We have to work on our own minds. That's probably, if you condense the Buddhist teachings into one sentence, that would be it. Report an error in the passage at 25:24 Highlight the passage at 25:24

25:47 We have to work on our own minds and therein lies our happiness and therein lies the key to ending our suffering, you know. And unless we actually do that, we not only can't get out of this mess, but we can't help anybody else get out because we won't know how. I mean, you know, I can parrot all of this, but boy, I can teach you a hell of a lot better if I'm not caught up in it myself. And my words have more import, you know, they have more. Report an error in the passage at 25:47 Highlight the passage at 25:47

26:17 You have more faith in them or more, you know, they're more exciting or something. There's more juiciness to somebody who's describing a trip he's taken down the Amazon rather than one he's read about or that somebody told him about, you know. So it's, the more we have actually done it, not only can we get ourselves out of it, but we can help others. Report an error in the passage at 26:17 Highlight the passage at 26:17

26:41 And the other thing is, it's not like, you know, Report an error in the passage at 26:41 Highlight the passage at 26:41

26:48 We keep sort of coming back to this, not having to give up the pleasure itself, but the other major part of renunciation is us gaining some faith or some confidence. I think faith also has a bad rep, so confidence could be, trust could be used just as easily. But having some recognition or trust that there is something beyond this, that liberation is possible, that enlightenment is possible. Report an error in the passage at 26:48 Highlight the passage at 26:48

27:17 And that actually it's possible for mind, all mind, to experience bliss beyond what we can even imagine currently. That it is possible. Because then it becomes just a matter of, I mean, then that sort of lures us on, you know, that confidence that there is something beyond this. Right now... We're settling, basically. The Buddha's like, you know, you guys are settling. You're settling for these things. And actually, banana and jelly tea aren't that exciting. Report an error in the passage at 27:17 Highlight the passage at 27:17

27:53 And we're just like, no, no, this is great. This is like the best thing, you know. And all of our pleasures are like that as far as they're concerned. You know, I mean, I'm joking with them because they're simple. They're totally simple pleasures. But even like the finest baked Alaska, you know, in some. I mean, look at the things that we spend huge amounts of money on in this culture. Report an error in the passage at 27:53 Highlight the passage at 27:53

28:13 Even the most incredible cars can be destroyed in an instant and eventually will be destroyed, period, just through rest and age and everything. And we get so excited and we're willing to give salaries our entire lives of service to pay for these things. So the Buddha is kind of like, you've got to get it that you're settling. Report an error in the passage at 28:13 Highlight the passage at 28:13

28:35 At least admit it that you're settling, that there's something different. that, that, um, As one of my teachers said, it's sort of like being willing to give up your single scoop cone for a full fudge sundae. So it's not like you're giving up all the pleasures for no reason. There's something way beyond our wildest imaginations that's possible. Report an error in the passage at 28:35 Highlight the passage at 28:35

29:01 The Buddha has said it's possible for us to attain. And so it's just kind of opening ourselves up to that and beginning to develop some faith in it based upon our own study and our own practice and things like that. It's not just blind faith. And then we started to get in a little bit, and I know that Jane and I had this conversation after class actually, and I think this is such a big one, and it took me a while to get this one, so I have to bring it up. Report an error in the passage at 29:01 Highlight the passage at 29:01

29:35 Probably every class I'll bring this one up. Also says it's not just that we misperceive these ordinary pleasures and that misperception holds us back, but our grasping acts like this sort of intoxicant that makes us fall into like this stupor. And we do this a lot, especially with like food, movies, TV, sex. Report an error in the passage at 29:35 Highlight the passage at 29:35

29:58 You know, hot tubs, like whatever. We just kind of go into, it dulls the clarity of our mind. So it sort of brings to mind, I don't know if I use this, I know I use this analogy when we were talking, but I'm not sure if we use this analogy in the class. It's like the baby at the breast. You know, the baby's like, and then you put the baby and the baby just kind of goes into like this, doesn't go to sleep really, just kind of goes into like this stupor, you know. Report an error in the passage at 29:58 Highlight the passage at 29:58

30:23 And that's what we do all the time. and with Tantra, what we're trying to do is to be able to... It's time to come to class. Report an error in the passage at 30:23 Highlight the passage at 30:23

30:39 What we're trying to do is to be able to stay, to keep that clarity of mind, to keep that alertness when we are enjoying something so that we can keep examining our relationship to it and keep examining what we do in relationship to it. Report an error in the passage at 30:39 Highlight the passage at 30:39

30:56 And, you know, eventually... Our desire itself will be using that on the path. And so we need to be wide open. Our eyes need to be wide open. We need to be very alert. So it's just, I think what the, what I started to call Lama Yeshe the Buddha. Well, I suppose there's truth to that. So what he's saying is just to get more realistic. Report an error in the passage at 30:56 Highlight the passage at 30:56

31:26 What Lama Yeshe is saying is just to get more realistic in the way that we enjoy things. It's great to enjoy things. And if you know anything about Lama Yeshe, I think he's like the king of enjoying things, especially when he came to California. They say that he went to Disneyland, he went to gay bars, he wanted to check out everything that Western... Report an error in the passage at 31:26 Highlight the passage at 31:26

31:46 You know, students were totally into and what brought them happiness. So he wanted to see it. So he'd like get these suits, you know, so he could try to fit in, you know, shorts to go to Disneyland. He wanted to go to the beach, you know, because, you know, he just so he totally enjoyed life. He lived life to its fullest. Report an error in the passage at 31:46 Highlight the passage at 31:46

32:07 So he was never saying that we had to just like, you know, put on the burlap sack and give up all pleasure. And that's not at all where he was coming from. Report an error in the passage at 32:07 Highlight the passage at 32:07

32:17 And it connects with refuge. Actually, there's an element of, we discussed refuge a couple of classes ago. The two are really related, renunciation and refuge. Refuge, usually we cover refuge first in the teachings, but it's sort of like you go deeper into your refuge as you gain more renunciation because you sort of, you gain more understanding how little the things of this world. Report an error in the passage at 32:17 Highlight the passage at 32:17

32:47 You know, how little importance they are in the long, in the huger picture, in the larger scheme of things. And so that's where it becomes sort of like on a daily basis we're doing refuge, as Lama, as she says. These little, if we sort of keep our eye on the prize, as they say, you know, if we have this idea of our enlightenment in mind, then the little ups and downs become, you know. Report an error in the passage at 32:47 Highlight the passage at 32:47

33:10 Not so important, not so huge. The things that bring us pleasure as well as the things that bring us disappointment don't sort of pull us off course all the time. Report an error in the passage at 33:10 Highlight the passage at 33:10

33:21 And that's really, refuge is like the anchor for that. Report an error in the passage at 33:21 Highlight the passage at 33:21

33:29 So, of course, I think the main reason that we spend time on renunciation in this class is just that it should be something that we are developing. Report an error in the passage at 33:29 Highlight the passage at 33:29

33:45 And we won't be able to ever develop bodhicitta without it. It's definitely a prerequisite for bodhicitta. And we need bodhicitta to ever even enter tantra. At least we need some semblance of bodhicitta. We need at least an aspiring bodhicitta to enter tantra. That needs to sort of be our motivation for even wanting to enter. Report an error in the passage at 33:45 Highlight the passage at 33:45

34:14 And we can't have that. It would be a completely pseudo-bodhicitta if we don't have any type of renunciation to support it because they're based on each other. We have to have some form of renunciation. We have to be able to look at our own situation and our own suffering and our own possibility, our own potential, before we could apply all that understanding to somebody else. Report an error in the passage at 34:14 Highlight the passage at 34:14

34:42 It's like we're faking it, totally faking it if we haven't really done the work on ourselves, don't really have the recognition for ourselves. So why don't we stop there and see if there's any questions and then we'll start on bodhicitta. Do people have any questions about renunciation? Is it making sense what I'm trying to say? Report an error in the passage at 34:42 Highlight the passage at 34:42

35:08 Yeah, starting to. Questions? Any questions? Report an error in the passage at 35:08 Highlight the passage at 35:08

35:18 Do you want to pass Nancy back the mic? Report an error in the passage at 35:18 Highlight the passage at 35:18

35:28 So, hi, I'm confusing renunciation with benefiting others more than ourselves? No, renunciation is really the mind of, I don't have the definition right in front of me, but it's a mind of recognizing the situation that we're in. Report an error in the passage at 35:28 Highlight the passage at 35:28

35:55 Deciding with your eyes wide open has to have these two elements. You're recognizing the situation that we're in and then you know what else the potential is. Report an error in the passage at 35:55 Highlight the passage at 35:55

36:05 And so you're deciding basically to go for that true potential and to give up what's holding you back from reaching that true potential. I think I phrased it far more succinctly last week, but I can't remember. I don't have it in front of me, the definition. It's basically those two points. You're recognizing the situation that you're in, that we are grasping at things. Report an error in the passage at 36:05 Highlight the passage at 36:05

36:36 It's causing our suffering. It's causing us to stay in this sort of mess of saṃsāra and that it's possible to get out. To emerge from, you know, it actually translates into definite emergence. So it's possible to emerge from saṃsāra and you're going for it. You've got that, there's that element of, so it's not just understanding these concepts, it's like you have reached this point of awareness that you're going for nirvāṇa. Report an error in the passage at 36:36 Highlight the passage at 36:36

37:14 You know, renunciation is like you've pointed the arrow. And all that that means. So what does that mean? I mean, that means a lot of things. It means that you are actually doing the work to get there. So renunciation is actually quite, that's why your life shifts when you gain renunciation because it's like you're deciding, it's like you've been reading up on a PhD program and now you're going for it. Report an error in the passage at 37:14 Highlight the passage at 37:14

37:41 It's like the difference between understanding. The descriptions in the course catalog and actually doing the course or doing the PhD even. Maybe we'll say Masters and we'll leave the PhD for enlightenment. But yeah. And actually that's really important to say too that all of these renunciation, bodhicitta, direct perception of emptiness, anything that we talk about, even we're talking about... Report an error in the passage at 37:41 Highlight the passage at 37:41

38:14 Impermanence and death. When we're talking about realizations of these, we aren't talking about understanding the words. We're talking about having this actual shift in your mind so that it totally changes your relationship to each other, to yourself, to the world, your goals. Like everything shifts. So how you interact with people and everything. So it's not just understanding. Report an error in the passage at 38:14 Highlight the passage at 38:14

38:43 What renunciation is, it's this vast change in your mind stream, like how you perceive your worldview changes. Same happens with bodhicitta and then definitely happens with a direct perception of emptiness. Does that help? Does that make sense? Yeah. I feel like I just kind of rambled, but I'm a step up from last week. Report an error in the passage at 38:43 Highlight the passage at 38:43

39:06 Do you want to pass the mic over? Report an error in the passage at 39:06 Highlight the passage at 39:06

39:24 So didn't you say renunciation, reality of life? What is reality of life? You mentioned that just a bit ago. I don't remember saying reality of life, but often I will talk about our relationship with reality. That's usually a code word for emptiness. Okay. But my main question is, I'm kind of confused with attachment. Yeah. Because I'm very attached to things. Report an error in the passage at 39:24 Highlight the passage at 39:24

39:52 But part of me feels okay with that. Because I kind of grew up with saying, well, you're not going to go with it, so just enjoy. You're not going to die, so just enjoy it now. But don't think of it as a selfish thing. Don't feel like greed or, I don't know, it's just. No, wait, you're on to something. So you were saying that if you're feeling like you can't take it with you, but you can enjoy it here, then that is different. Report an error in the passage at 39:52 Highlight the passage at 39:52

40:27 But you do have to be careful that that's really what you're feeling, that you're not just saying it, but deep down you really are grasping at it and thinking it's going to bring you some sort of lasting happiness. Report an error in the passage at 40:27 Highlight the passage at 40:27

40:38 Because our minds can play tricks on us. It's like, I love you, I'm not going to hold you back. Then he tries to leave. Sometimes our mouth can say something and it's not what's going on in our hearts. You really hit that really good. So it's just kind of to look. You know, not to say, okay, you have to give up all your attachments. That's going to take us, you know, a long time, except with Tantra. But it's just to look at how we interact with things that we're attached to. Report an error in the passage at 40:38 Highlight the passage at 40:38

41:09 And are we, you know, is it going to be, I mean, think of it just in terms of this life. Is it going to be difficult for us to leave that when we have to, and we will have to leave it. I mean, that part's a given. If nothing else, we'll have to die and not be able to have Tetley tea that last time. There will be a time that I cannot have another cup of Tetley tea. Report an error in the passage at 41:09 Highlight the passage at 41:09

41:28 There will be a time that whatever you're attached to, you won't be able to have it again in this life. And so that's just an interesting thing to think about. Report an error in the passage at 41:28 Highlight the passage at 41:28

41:39 Because it takes up space in your mind, too, even if you're not thinking about how it distorts your relationship. With it and all the other aspects of attachment where it exaggerates something's, you know, good qualities and things like that or bad qualities if it's a version. But just to think of how it takes up all that space in your mind too, you know. You watch people who are dying and you can definitely see like how they're all concerned about their things and stuff. Report an error in the passage at 41:39 Highlight the passage at 41:39

42:11 I'm not attached to objects. No, it works for anything. I'm attached to wanting to take care of people. I'm attached to wanting to take away people's pain. I have that. I don't know if it's a problem or whatever, but I'm always thinking of myself secondary, so I put my studies to the side or something, but I'm caring, I think, too much for those people that are in my life. Report an error in the passage at 42:11 Highlight the passage at 42:11

42:43 So I worry a lot about them. Yeah, so I mean there are good aspects to it and not so great. Ultimately it's great to have an attitude where we do care for others more than ourselves, but we can't do it without wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 42:43 Highlight the passage at 42:43

43:01 So if we're just caring for others more than ourselves without any understanding of the fact that we don't even have a self, then it just becomes some sort of martyrdom thing and it's just going to burn you out. You know, it's not going to actually benefit anybody because you won't be coming for any kind of true place of compassion. You're just it's just like another kind of mental habit. You might it might actually help people in some way in the short term. Report an error in the passage at 43:01 Highlight the passage at 43:01

43:29 And of course, it might also if if you're trying to have a pure motivation, it might also be a good stretch for you to try to help others and things like that. But sometimes it's just coming from this. It's just another kind of mental habit in a way. So it may not be the most beneficial thing. Sometimes it might actually be more beneficial to let somebody help themselves. And so that one actually, that's when we have to really think what's going to benefit this other person. Report an error in the passage at 43:29 Highlight the passage at 43:29

43:59 And I think parents have this one. They have to reach that at some point where they can't do everything. For the kids and especially how many kids are still living with their parents in their 30s and 40s and 50s. At some point you have to think, you know, maybe it's not so beneficial for a junior to live here anymore. Report an error in the passage at 43:59 Highlight the passage at 43:59

44:19 So, yeah, I think you just have to, and there's no one right answer. It never is in Buddhism. It's always about you really being honest with yourself and looking at your own mind. So it just sounds like this is what your particular thing is. But yeah, attachment can be for anything. Attachment can be for my beliefs, you know, Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 44:19 Highlight the passage at 44:19

44:41 Tibetan Buddhism, the best, you know. And then I, you know, put down other people's stuff and I don't necessarily investigate it. I just hold up these beliefs, you know, and can cause a lot of problems with that. And usually when we're attached to things in a way that's not so healthy, we definitely have a very strong attachment to the outcome. And that doesn't leave much room for creativity, you know. Report an error in the passage at 44:41 Highlight the passage at 44:41

45:08 So if you're trying to help somebody, they may decide they want to do it in a slightly different way than the way that you wanted to do it. And then that causes all sorts of exciting problems. So that's where attachment is not so great. Helping people is great, but maybe with a motivation of compassion. Report an error in the passage at 45:08 Highlight the passage at 45:08

45:26 Love, wanting them to be happy, that definition. Not necessarily, you know, you have to just really check out what's my motivation. And that's often checking out our motivation like all the time during the process. It's not necessarily, like at the beginning it might be really pure and then it gets all tainted, you know, and kind of, so just to be honest, just to look. Report an error in the passage at 45:26 Highlight the passage at 45:26

45:55 So how do I get that wisdom? Over time, working with your mind, yeah. I can't give you, I mean, you know, the Buddha can't give that to you. It's just something that you develop over time. It comes, that's the natural result of practice. I mean, they say that, you know, the outer teachers and the outer teachings are like a bridge to our own wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 45:55 Highlight the passage at 45:55

46:19 And it comes with time. But it comes from, with deep work. You know, it comes from deep practice. Report an error in the passage at 46:19 Highlight the passage at 46:19

46:29 I mean, 30 years of practice. But think about that. Think about that as a blip in the eons and eons and eons of ignorance that we've been spending. So I think right now it's like we really want, especially Americans, I think we really, really want instant success. But I mean, think about if you're going for the gold medal. Report an error in the passage at 46:29 Highlight the passage at 46:29

46:50 You wouldn't be able to go tomorrow, you know, and run or, you know, swim or something and get a gold medal. You definitely have to put in that time. And so we just keep using those examples because this is definitely wanting to master something. In this case, it's your own mind. It takes time. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 46:50 Highlight the passage at 46:50

47:14 Let's talk about bodhicitta and then take a break. So bodhicitta, jang sem, jang sem in Tibetan. Sem again is mind and it's just like chitta. And Zhang refers to bodhi or enlightenment, mind of enlightenment. Literally, it's the mind that wants to become a Buddha for the benefit of all beings. And it's wants to become sounds kind of wimpy, I think. So it's not just like, yeah, wouldn't that be nice? Report an error in the passage at 47:14 Highlight the passage at 47:14

47:55 It's like... You get there from this series of meditations that you're constantly, you really honestly have to do these meditations over and over and over again in a really disciplined manner where we have to reach the point where we get it that this is the only way for us to reach our true goal, which is to help all beings. Report an error in the passage at 47:55 Highlight the passage at 47:55

48:22 So first of all, we have to... We have to actually have that become our true goal to help all beings. And then enlightenment or bodhicitta, we realize that enlightenment is just the best tool to get the job done. So bodhicitta, they say it is the most powerful mind possible for us to attain as an ordinary being, as a non-enlightened being. Report an error in the passage at 48:22 Highlight the passage at 48:22

48:49 It's a total 180. From the mind that we usually have, from this mind, they call it self-cherishing. I like sort of self-absorption or selfishness. Self-cherishing, I know sometimes Venom Rabiner is talking about this friend of hers that just, she actually came to a workshop. Because it sounded so sweet, self-cherishing, she wanted to learn how to do it. Report an error in the passage at 48:49 Highlight the passage at 48:49

49:18 So actually we want to not learn how to do it. So I'm trying to use words that self-cherishing is just a Tibetan term. I mean, there is a Tibetan term that translates as self-cherishing, but it was coined by the Tibetans to sort of take in this way that we just... Report an error in the passage at 49:18 Highlight the passage at 49:18

49:41 It's the exact opposite of bodhicitta. We start trying to imagine bodhicitta by trying to understand the minds of love and compassion, the way they're defined in Buddhism, but they're nowhere near bodhicitta. Even the most selfless love and the most selfless compassion that we've ever experienced is like the Grand Canyon away from bodhicitta because bodhicitta is not just having this sort of pure wanting someone to be happy and wanting to remove their suffering for one person. Report an error in the passage at 49:41 Highlight the passage at 49:41

50:36 For every living being without exception, I mean, it's so vast. That's what makes it so insanely different than anything we've ever experienced. But we start with trying to do these meditations that open up our mind and our heart, that sort of force us in a way sort of to get out of this mind of like... Report an error in the passage at 50:36 Highlight the passage at 50:36

50:57 Boy, I wish she'd shut up so I can go get my cup of Tuttle tea. Which is where we are all the time. It's embarrassing, but that's where we are. And they actually say we have this element of self-cherishing all the way until... I'm trying to remember, actually. I think we have to have... It's even after the direct perception of emptiness. I think it's all the way... Report an error in the passage at 50:57 Highlight the passage at 50:57

51:23 Until we get to the high, after we actually attain our hotship, which is nirvāṇa, we still have this subtle self-cherishing of believing in this subtle self. So we actually keep it for a really long time. Everything is sort of tainted by... Report an error in the passage at 51:23 Highlight the passage at 51:23

51:47 This self-cherishing mind. Definitely up until we attain a direct perception of emptiness and we begin to work with that and realize that this self that we're cherishing so much doesn't exist. And actually never has existed, but that's emptiness and we'll get to that next week. So, you know, seeing that, like don't be too embarrassed because actually we all have it. Report an error in the passage at 51:47 Highlight the passage at 51:47

52:09 But it does, it struggles to get out in every single thing we do. Even these really, really kind things of helping people. There's always some element of, you know. Boy, I hope everybody notices how hard I'm working. You know what I mean? It's there. It's just there. I hope he notices how hard I worked to get him this. Report an error in the passage at 52:09 Highlight the passage at 52:09

52:32 You know what I mean? It's just subtle and it'll blip up and you're kind of like, God, how horrible. I can't believe I even thought that. And the Buddha's like, no, actually, this is in all of us. And that's the point is just to begin noticing it. We have to kind of notice the yucky stuff before we can get rid of it. So bodhicitta's. Report an error in the passage at 52:32 Highlight the passage at 52:32

52:51 This huge revolution of our mind away from that self-absorbed kind of mind, it's strong, it's incredibly courageous, which is also something I think that gets lost in the translation. I think a lot of times we think of bodhicitta as almost being like the monk sitting on the highway or something. It's just like everyone just roll right over me. And that's not it at all. It's more like... Report an error in the passage at 52:51 Highlight the passage at 52:51

53:21 The Amazon is like taking on the world for all beings, taking on the worst of the enemies, which are the delusions, right? The worst enemies of our lives are actually our own minds. But being willing to take on whatever, being willing to take on the suffering of others, being willing to do whatever is necessary to bring people happiness and take away their pain, it's that kind of mind. Report an error in the passage at 53:21 Highlight the passage at 53:21

53:50 So that's why somebody who has bodhicitta is called a bodhisattva, which is an enlightenment warrior. You know, it's like G.I. Jane, you know, which actually one of my teachers suggested watching to get into that kind of right mode. So the two are really related. Renunciation. you know um Report an error in the passage at 53:50 Highlight the passage at 53:50

54:14 It doesn't have this sort of courageousness about it unless you think of it in terms of having the courageousness to work with your own mind and to look at your own suffering, which does take courage. I mean, I would say probably most people, certainly most Western people, don't want to do that work. And I think that's part of why renunciation is sort of seen as kind of a drag. Report an error in the passage at 54:14 Highlight the passage at 54:14

54:34 It's like people don't really. It's kind of almost more exciting. To go straight to let's be bodhisattvas, you know, instead of just like doing like looking at our own lives and looking at working with our own minds, looking at our relationship with, you know, the stuff that we're attached to and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 54:34 Highlight the passage at 54:34

54:51 But we have to do that in order to get to bodhicitta because it's actually bodhicitta and renunciation are the same mind. It's just a different object. Renunciation is looking at the suffering that I'm in. Report an error in the passage at 54:51 Highlight the passage at 54:51

55:06 Determining to get out of it. And bodhicitta is looking at the suffering that everyone else is in and determining to help them get out of it. But it's that same recognition. And how can we see their suffering if we don't know what suffering is? If we're still thinking suffering is only if there's blood involved, we're missing it. Report an error in the passage at 55:06 Highlight the passage at 55:06

55:25 We're missing that suffering is also getting tired of this tea, you know. It's every little level all the way up to... To death itself. So bodhicitta builds on that mind. They're really interrelated. There are two types or two levels of bodhicitta. What's called wishing bodhicitta or aspiring bodhicitta. And then the other is engaging bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 55:25 Highlight the passage at 55:25

55:55 And wishing bodhicitta is having this mind where you want to become that warrior. It all sounds good, but you're not quite ready to do it yourself. Paris sounds really, really interesting, and you're in all support of it, but you're not ready to go there yet. You definitely aren't quite ready to start collecting what you need to go there. So engaging bodhicitta is where you go beyond that, wishing, and you're willing to start doing the activities that would expand your mind in this way. Report an error in the passage at 55:55 Highlight the passage at 55:55

56:12 You know, you're, you Report an error in the passage at 56:12 Highlight the passage at 56:12

56:38 I think with wishing bodhicitta, you still can do the meditations, but with engaging bodhicitta, that's where you would take and try to keep the vows and try to engage in the activities of a bodhisattva, which is the six perfections at a very deep level, not just occasionally trying to give money to a beggar or something, but just really trying to use the six perfections. Report an error in the passage at 56:38 Highlight the passage at 56:38

57:05 Develop and strengthen this mind of bodhicitta. Because they say sort of if we generate it at all, we just keep generating it stronger and stronger and stronger. So it's like we start out generating and it's kind of weak and then we try to make it stronger and stronger and stronger. So quickly the benefits of bodhicitta, some of the benefits of bodhicitta and actually a really wonderful book to read or study. Report an error in the passage at 57:05 Highlight the passage at 57:05

57:31 About bodhicitta is the guide to the bodhisattva's way of life, which is, there's probably half a dozen translations of it. It's just an incredibly beautiful book about, generating the, about bodhicitta and then about generating the mind of bodhicitta and then the six perfections. Report an error in the passage at 57:31 Highlight the passage at 57:31

57:52 It's, it's just incredible. And Geshe-la actually has. He taught on it quite a bit and he's going to teach it again next year in a more concise form. But the last time he taught it, he took five years to teach it. And it's thinner than that book. I think you could probably just spend your entire lifetime trying to master just that one book. Report an error in the passage at 57:52 Highlight the passage at 57:52

58:17 It's incredibly dense, actually, and really beautiful. And actually tonight, I think I just thought of it, but I think we should end. Our dedication tonight should be out of the gold book. We have an excerpt from The Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, which is just so powerful. And in fact, the last line of His Holiness' Prayer comes from that final dedication chapter of The Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life. So one whole chapter is... Report an error in the passage at 58:17 Highlight the passage at 58:17

58:48 The benefits of bodhicitta at the very beginning. They usually like in Buddhism period, they like to tell us the benefits of something. So we're really intrigued about studying it, working with it. This is like a technique. So you hear this a lot. Whatever it is that we study, we learn all about the benefits of generating it first. So Lama Yeshe goes into some of these benefits in his book. Report an error in the passage at 58:48 Highlight the passage at 58:48

59:14 He mentions this one and I think these ones that are more, I mean it's great to hear the really wonderful ones for sort of out there eons from now, but the ones that sort of stick with me the most are the ones that sort of affect me now. And he says actually if we want success in our practice and meditation we need bodhicitta attitude. Without it we cling to all the nice blissful experiences and then it destroys them. Report an error in the passage at 59:14 Highlight the passage at 59:14

59:42 So this comes up, right? In our meditations, we might have really amazing, blissful experiences. And then our immediate response is, it's that mind again of just like, baby at the breast, more, more, more, more, more. And then we just kill it, you know? So it's just, again, developing that sort of lightness, easygoingness, like, well, that was kind of cool, you know, but not feeling like the next time, wait. Report an error in the passage at 59:42 Highlight the passage at 59:42

1:00:11 Where is it again? You know, which just makes it to you. Then we tighten and then our mind isn't relaxed. But some of the other benefits of bodhicitta, once you attain it, this is also a personal favorite, once you attain it, it keeps generating more merit without interruption, even when you are asleep or distracted. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:11 Highlight the passage at 1:00:11

1:00:32 I love that one. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:32 Highlight the passage at 1:00:32

1:00:36 And what do we need so much merit for? Um... Report an error in the passage at 1:00:36 Highlight the passage at 1:00:36

1:00:39 I mean, just think about it. What do we need a lot of merit for? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:39 Highlight the passage at 1:00:39

1:00:47 Nah. Eyes on the prize. Especially, yeah, Buddhahood. Buddhahood, and before that, we definitely need it for the direct perception of emptiness. They say that it takes an enormous amount of merit to have this one little tiny direct perception of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:47 Highlight the passage at 1:00:47

1:01:09 It just takes... Tons of merit and tons of time preparing for that one little experience that's going to shift our reality, really bust it wide open. And so bodhicitta is one of the ways that we develop that merit. And merit is, again, just, it's positive, it's like positive karma. That's really, I mean, merit is basically just positive karma. Positive karma that is... Report an error in the passage at 1:01:09 Highlight the passage at 1:01:09

1:01:39 Earmarked for Buddhahood in a way. It's in the Buddhahood account. You can't get it out. The cool thing about merit is you can give it away, but you still have it. It's kind of interesting. It's not like money. With bodhicitta, every action you ever perform becomes a cause of Buddhahood. So my, you know, feeding a bird. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:39 Highlight the passage at 1:01:39

1:02:01 It can become a cause for Buddhahood because I'm doing it with this constant awareness that my life, my body, everything I do is for the benefit of all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:01 Highlight the passage at 1:02:01

1:02:13 So every single thing, even the most, cleaning up the kitchen becomes a cause of Buddhahood. Geshe-la always talks about how it makes your life very profitable. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:13 Highlight the passage at 1:02:13

1:02:27 You get the biggest gain. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:27 Highlight the passage at 1:02:27

1:02:32 So it also acts to purify huge stores of negative karma, which also of course allows us to get, you know, to move those obstacles. Most obstacles in our path are caused by negative karma, so it allows us to progress quickly. And of course, without the wish to become a Buddha, we can never become a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:32 Highlight the passage at 1:02:32

1:02:53 You know, it sounds very, you know, almost like too simple, but... It's true. Without bodhicitta, we can't become enlightened. We have to generate a mind that really wants to get enlightened in order to get enlightened. We have to decide to go for the gold in order to get the gold. Nobody's going to suddenly hand it to us just because we're good students. In that way, they call it the elixir that transforms base metal into gold because it transforms this ordinary body into the body of a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:53 Highlight the passage at 1:02:53

1:03:28 I think. I haven't seen this written anywhere, but for me it feels like it's the fuel of all of our practice between now and then. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:28 Highlight the passage at 1:03:28

1:03:40 When I look at teachers of mine who seem to have it, and of course they never admit it, including His Holiness, you know, they just want to work for others. It gives them this amazing fuel and energy and drive and joy. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:40 Highlight the passage at 1:03:40

1:04:00 You know, so that actually it's a joy to work for others. I mean, look at His Holiness. It's a joy to work from, you know, 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. every day, you know, all around the world for forever, for 70 years, you know. And it's a genuine joy. And I think that's his bodhicitta. And I think the same is true with Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You know, his spare time in the middle of the night, he'll be... Report an error in the passage at 1:04:00 Highlight the passage at 1:04:00

1:04:27 Thinking up more projects. And we'll get these emails, you know, that Rinpoche has another project to help some sentient beings somewhere, you know, children of Mongolia or whatever. He'll like have some amazing idea in the middle of the night. And I mean, he never takes a day off. He like literally never, he never says, I'll see that person after I get a cup of tea. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:27 Highlight the passage at 1:04:27

1:04:49 I just really need a break, you know. Because in his mind it's like, oh cool, somebody needs help, great. And I think it's coming from that mind of bodhicitta. So it makes the practice a lot more fun. I mean actually, once we have it, then we stop thinking so much about me, me, me, me, me. And that's really what causes us the suffering, actually, is that mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:49 Highlight the passage at 1:04:49

1:05:12 And we don't have that mind anymore if we actually have genuine bodhicitta. So we go through just a... The steps of the meditation are, I mean, there's an entire class on bodhicitta that we do in Discovering Buddhism. I'm sure Emily will also spend a lot of time on bodhicitta in the Friday night lamrim class. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:12 Highlight the passage at 1:05:12

1:05:40 And so it's a subject of much more complexity. But the basic meditation that we're doing is we try to generate a mind of compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:40 Highlight the passage at 1:05:40

1:05:55 Remember that that is defined as wanting to remove the suffering of another based on a sort of obvious object of compassion. And then we realize that we can do visualizations that allow us to develop this mind of compassion, develop a mind of love, of wanting to give that being happiness. But then we kind of realize that actually... Report an error in the passage at 1:05:55 Highlight the passage at 1:05:55

1:06:24 At this point, I can't really help that being or anyone else. I mean, I can't even help myself. If I'm hurting, I can, you know, maybe change my attitude about it, but I can't take away my own pain. In fact, often cause more suffering for myself. So the situation that I'm in is that I'm still flawed. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:24 Highlight the passage at 1:06:24

1:06:45 I'm still human. I still have delusions. I still have a lot of negative karma. And if I can't even fully help myself, how can I help others? And so then I look around to try to figure out who can help people perfectly, and it's Buddhas. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:45 Highlight the passage at 1:06:45

1:07:01 It's beings who are existing only to benefit others and actually have the capacity to help others and are completely unbiased, so not even caring if people are Buddhist or not, not caring if they... How long it takes or how hard it is. They have the limitless capacity to help other beings. And so if I look at those qualities and I spend time actually getting familiar with those qualities, then I realize I have to become enlightened in order to benefit them. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:01 Highlight the passage at 1:07:01

1:07:34 And having that as a genuine realization is the mind of bodhicitta. And at first we start sort of with a sort of contrived mind of bodhicitta, just like we start with a contrived mind of renunciation. Just like we start with a contrived mind of understanding impermanence and death and so forth. But then with a lot of deep work, it becomes spontaneous. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:34 Highlight the passage at 1:07:34

1:07:59 And they say that it becomes as natural as the thought of food entering our mind if we're hungry or as wanting our own happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:59 Highlight the passage at 1:07:59

1:08:10 Wanting others' happiness becomes as natural as wanting our own happiness. We don't have to work at that. We already want that. So this becomes our baseline motivation, actually. And for a lot of us, this is what drew us to Mahāyāna Buddhism, is this mind of compassion. Buddhahood is itself very... There's something very beautiful about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:10 Highlight the passage at 1:08:10

1:08:41 Wanting that to be your main focus and your reason for being, your reason for living. But in order to get there, we have to begin to understand how this mind of selfishness keeps us from getting there. How it's actually kept us in suffering and actually fuels that mind of grasping desire. And so part of our lesson on the path of... Report an error in the passage at 1:08:41 Highlight the passage at 1:08:41

1:09:10 To bodhicitta is getting it that this mind of self-cherishing or selfishness or self-absorption is what our true enemy is. You know, that's the biggest enemy. It's not even a delusion. It's just this habitual state of mind or condition of mind that causes all these other delusions to arise. And it makes it impossible for us to be able to cherish others. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:10 Highlight the passage at 1:09:10

1:09:36 It just makes it impossible. We don't even see how it blocks us and limits us and constricts us. So part of our development of bodhicitta is Report an error in the passage at 1:09:36 Highlight the passage at 1:09:36

1:09:53 deconstructing or destroying this self-cherishing mind because we begin to realize how it holds us back and it constricts our hearts and it makes it impossible for us to practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:53 Highlight the passage at 1:09:53

1:10:08 Because we always have some good reason not to, you know, to help others because it's always often more difficult. And so, you know, we talk ourselves out of it. And that's the mind of self-cherishing often that's doing the talking. Sometimes it sounds like wisdom. Sometimes, you know, self-cherishing sounds like I always compare it to, you know, on television commercials when they bring out some actor in a white coat. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:08 Highlight the passage at 1:10:08

1:10:35 And he sounds really knowledgeable. And he's wearing glasses, of course. And he's somewhat older. And actually on the radio they can only do that with like voice. So they have like the grandpa sounding voice. And that's what self-cherishing sounds like. It's like, you know, the voice that's going, well, I think it's getting sort of late. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:35 Highlight the passage at 1:10:35

1:10:54 I think you should just give up your study tonight and get some rest. You know, and it sounds like the guy in the white coat who's like... And sometimes it sounds like wisdom, but usually it's not. Usually it's actually just our selfish mind kind of going, you know, go sleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:54 Highlight the passage at 1:10:54

1:11:12 So we have to be able to recognize what, and again, it's not always the same answer every time. So we have to become familiar with our own mind and we have to keep looking. And we have to be willing to be honest with ourselves when it is self-cherishing and kind of... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:12 Highlight the passage at 1:11:12

1:11:30 Be willing to destroy it. Self-cherishing is not me. You know, it's not, it's not, it's not, we can't identify with it and think that it's who we are. It's simply this mind that's gotten us into trouble a lot. It's not, it's not anything that we can't do without. And in fact, we have to do without it if we're going to develop bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:30 Highlight the passage at 1:11:30

1:11:55 So why don't you guys take a break and then come back and ask me some more questions. We have a little bit left and then we're going to do a short meditation on Tonglen before we close. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:55 Highlight the passage at 1:11:55

1:12:08 So contemplate bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:08 Highlight the passage at 1:12:08

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:13:05 No, Report an error in the passage at 1:13:05 Highlight the passage at 1:13:05

1:13:18 no, this is good. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:18 Highlight the passage at 1:13:18

1:13:31 This is all going on to the recording. For the viewer at home, we're simply adjusting the microphone. He said, no, no, no commitment, he said. But then ever after, since I haven't yet done that, he has manifested not recognizing me, not remembering my name. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:31 Highlight the passage at 1:13:31

1:13:54 And I was talking to another student of his and she goes, oh yeah, he did that to me once. You just got to go ahead and do the practice. So before I die, I have to do 100,000 restorations to bodhicitta. So I know I do in order to clear that up. So it's in my mind. I'm just counting it with some of my life practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:54 Highlight the passage at 1:13:54

1:14:11 Yeah, so going in with an open-ended, can you give me advice on what to do here? You have to be careful. Because often it seems like, even with Geshe-la, like you think it's going to be really straightforward, like I'm having a Medicine Buddha Puja or something really safe like that, like you do and I go to or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:11 Highlight the passage at 1:14:11

1:14:29 And then all of a sudden he'll come out with this totally like interesting advice, you know? So we just have to be careful with these, like, opening. Yeah, like, maybe try it out on me first or, you know, Emily first or something. I'm thinking about going and asking, you know, or being a blah blah or something, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:29 Highlight the passage at 1:14:29

1:14:46 What do you think? Then if we kind of go and blanch, then you know that. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:46 Highlight the passage at 1:14:46

1:14:56 But then again, it could also be the most wonderful thing of your life. I'm thinking my life might have been so much better if I had done those 100,000 frustrations. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:56 Highlight the passage at 1:14:56

1:15:05 So I still, like I said, I still have it in my list of my to-do list. Did you, yeah, could you pass the mic to Nancy? Well, we were. That was actually a question on the break. We hadn't started again, but now we have. This isn't a question, it's just a comment on that. I got the impression that I took refuge once, and then I got the impression I have to take refuge again, because I was just, you know, going all over. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:05 Highlight the passage at 1:15:05

1:15:23 Mm-mm. Um... Report an error in the passage at 1:15:23 Highlight the passage at 1:15:23

1:15:33 And I did. And what happened was I let go of another church. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:33 Highlight the passage at 1:15:33

1:15:45 Well, maybe partial letting go. Are you saying that in a positive way or? Yeah. Yeah, positive way. Yeah. I was wondering if it was like an Obama thing, you know, where he had to like make a break with something that he felt important. Yeah. So, I mean, it could have been a positive or a negative. But yeah, I see what you're saying. When you decided that you wanted to take refuge again. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:45 Highlight the passage at 1:15:45

1:16:05 That one comes up for people for sure, or especially if people took refuge and they didn't really, they weren't really aware that they were, or what it meant. I did that, you know, I mean it's embarrassing to state, but that's part of probably why I tried to teach. This is definitely why I'm teaching a tantric class, because of course I just like leapt into it with the best motivation I could, but still. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:05 Highlight the passage at 1:16:05

1:16:32 So I think the more we know the better, but yeah. I think that that one comes up a lot. Probably every refuge ceremony, somebody is there who did it before and didn't really know what they were doing and is trying to make it better. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:32 Highlight the passage at 1:16:32

1:16:50 So, remember again that Lama Yeshe talks about bodhicitta and he uses this term opening, opening the heart. And so I think we can all kind of experience that. I mean, in Western thought, we're, you know, the heart is something separate from the mind. In Buddhist thought, the heart and mind are the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:50 Highlight the passage at 1:16:50

1:17:12 So it's really opening our, it's opening our outlook to include all beings. It's opening our motivation, our whole purpose for living, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:12 Highlight the passage at 1:17:12

1:17:25 And totally getting away from this self-absorbed, preoccupied me, me, me. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:25 Highlight the passage at 1:17:25

1:17:34 Outlook, you know, a worldview, which actually causes us to be more anxious and constricted. It actually has never really made us happy, despite the fact that it convinces us that it's really the best way to go. It actually doesn't make us happy and never has. So opening our heart actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:34 Highlight the passage at 1:17:34

1:17:57 And we'll end with this meditation on Tong Lin. And when you experience any tiny bit of opening this heart, it actually, the result is bliss. Like it actually feels good to stretch and to care about others. It's like what His Holiness talks about, you know, being wisely selfish. If we want to be selfish, be wisely selfish, you know. Working for others actually brings us happiness, you know. It's like the sort of... Report an error in the passage at 1:17:57 Highlight the passage at 1:17:57

1:18:27 The trick played on Western culture is that we actually find happiness by taking care of others, caring about others. So bodhicitta actually makes our mind more vast, more spacious, more open. And then our own little problems sort of filter away. They stop being the focal point of the whole point of our lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:27 Highlight the passage at 1:18:27

1:19:00 So yeah, it's sort of like, you know, one of my teachers actually called it sort of self-cherishing kind of this mind of neurotic obsession. He calls it the neurotic obsession of me, me, me, me, me, which immediately makes it feels like that, doesn't it? It feels sort of like a grasping fist at our heart or like a tightness or constriction. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:00 Highlight the passage at 1:19:00

1:19:22 And the opposite of that is, you know, this opening, very liberating feeling of... But it's also, Pema Chodron often talks about, it's sort of like, it's scary to open our hearts like that, you know, and then leave them open. It's not like, you know, it's like opening them up and leaving them open and it's a little, it's a little uncomfortable to imagine being that, that open. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:22 Highlight the passage at 1:19:22

1:20:00 um, to others. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:00 Highlight the passage at 1:20:00

1:20:06 And it's also important to remember that bodhicitta isn't a really sentimental or emotional state of mind. We might have to generate certain emotions to get to that place. So sometimes when you do the meditation to develop, there's actually a series of meditation that you do in order to develop the mind of bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:06 Highlight the passage at 1:20:06

1:20:33 Some of them are four points, I think, and then seven points and then 11 points. So you're meditating on this series of meditations. And sometimes you are cultivating an emotional reaction to something in order to generate that state of mind. But bodhicitta itself is not an overly emotional state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:33 Highlight the passage at 1:20:33

1:20:58 It's actually this calm, vast, courageous. You know, very brave, spacious state of mind. And then from that, then the next, that's the direct cause for enlightenment. You know, that mind, actually we go through this mind of deciding that it's my responsibility to bring them happiness and to take away their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:58 Highlight the passage at 1:20:58

1:21:24 And then we reach this mind of bodhicitta. This mind of enlightenment. But I mean, that's how we get to it. We have to have bodhicitta in order to directly get enlightened ourselves, become enlightened ourselves. We cannot, I mean, some of the other paths of Buddhism that don't include the development of bodhicitta don't have enlightenment as a possibility. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:24 Highlight the passage at 1:21:24

1:21:51 You know, a lot of paths in Buddhism end with nirvāṇa. They don't continue on to full enlightenment. And so this step is missing. And then the other thing that Lama Yeshe actually points out, and I think it's important, is, you know, we're talking about these three paths. These three paths are prerequisites before we study Chantra. But we start practicing them all sort of simultaneously. Like we don't have to wait until we have full, genuine renunciation before we start. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:51 Highlight the passage at 1:21:51

1:22:27 Training the mind of bodhicitta. In the same way, we don't have to wait to have this genuine bodhicitta before we can directly perceive emptiness. We actually can train our mind simultaneously in all of them at the same time. So that's why we start doing things like setting these motivations to include. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:27 Highlight the passage at 1:22:27

1:22:48 All sentient beings, even though sometimes it sounds so vast for like a 15 minute meditation on the breath yesterday, you know, before we were watching the election returns. Sometimes it's this tiny thing that you've done and it sounds almost like too big. But what it's trying to do is to get us to have that mind all the time. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:48 Highlight the passage at 1:22:48

1:23:08 It's like generating this. That's why we start with that kind of a prayer. In some ways it almost sounds too dramatic for sitting in a class. But in reality what it's doing is it's getting our mind around this idea little by little, day by day, moment by moment of generating actual bodhicitta. So we're just like bringing it in all the time. We're dedicating to it. We're motivating to it. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:08 Highlight the passage at 1:23:08

1:23:35 And we're doing these kind of little prayers that kind of inspire our mind, you know. And we're doing these meditations like this meditation. It's sort of like practicing. It's like the scales. And this particular meditation that we're going to do, Tonglen, is like definitely a way of exercising our hearts and making it sort of open more and more, you know, and being willing to open more and more. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:35 Highlight the passage at 1:23:35

1:24:04 So again, Report an error in the passage at 1:24:04 Highlight the passage at 1:24:04

1:24:08 Um, this We don't enter tantra without at least a baseline motivation of bodhicitta. Even if we don't fully understand what bodhicitta is, our reason for entering tantra, and this is really, really important, our reason for entering tantra should be that the suffering of others is so unbearable to us. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:08 Highlight the passage at 1:24:08

1:24:35 That we would do whatever is necessary to be able to take away that suffering. That should be our baseline motivation. It shouldn't be to just get enlightened faster for ourselves and get out of suffering faster for ourselves, although that will be a byproduct, as you will. But it's really, really important that bodhicitta motivation has to be there. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:35 Highlight the passage at 1:24:35

1:25:02 Before we enter Tantra, even if it's just contrived, you know, even if it's not genuine bodhicitta, just to have, that should be our reason for entering Tantra. And that's really, really strong. And we're starting to now, I'm noticing, you know, a lot of when Dharma centers invite lamas and they give empowerments and things like that, I don't think it's clear enough what people are getting into. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:02 Highlight the passage at 1:25:02

1:25:31 And so we're trying to actually say what your motivation should be for taking right on the website, you know. You know, you should have some understanding of, you know, renunciation with some description of what that is. You should have the suffering of other living beings should be so, you know. unbearable for you that you would want to enter this path that you want to become a Buddha you know like if you don't understand what this means then you're probably not ready for it you know um um Report an error in the passage at 1:25:31 Highlight the passage at 1:25:31

1:26:09 And if you don't have even a contrived sense of bodhicitta, how are you going to want to live the vows of the bodhisattva vows, which you take when you enter Hayashi Yoga Tantra? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:09 Highlight the passage at 1:26:09

1:26:24 Engaged bodhisattva vows or tantric vows. How are you going to want to do those daily commitments? What that adds to your life? How are you going to do a daily sadhana practice? Much less trying to see yourself as a deity day in and day out and everyone around you as deities and all these other things that come with the territory. So if we don't have like some strong baseline motivation, we'll give it up, which is of course what happens. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:24 Highlight the passage at 1:26:24

1:26:49 There are many, especially Western students who, you know, They decide somewhere into it that it's too much and they just don't have time for it anymore because their motivation was never strong to begin with, why they entered it. So it's definitely very, very, I think this is one of the strongest, this is, I think, the strongest motivation to ever enter Tantra. So you have to really understand it. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:49 Highlight the passage at 1:26:49

1:27:15 You know, you have to have worked with it for a while. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:15 Highlight the passage at 1:27:15

1:27:21 But then he also says, Lama Yashi also says, and this is always the interesting thing about Buddhism, you could also say that the opposite is true, that the purpose for practicing tantra is to enhance one's bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:21 Highlight the passage at 1:27:21

1:27:38 Every one of the deities we're empowered to practice in tantra are there to help us develop and expand this mind of bodhicitta. So it's sort of like it's the... The cause and the result of the practice. I think it's to help the people who sort of leapt in a little bit too quickly. It's also a way to practice the three principle paths. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:38 Highlight the passage at 1:27:38

1:28:05 Definitely it's a way to practice. Tantra becomes the way to practice the three principle paths. We're supposed to have them before we actually enter tantra, but most of us end up practicing them on the path. So we're going to end with this meditation on Tonglen. Has anybody done a meditation on Tonglen before? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:05 Highlight the passage at 1:28:05

1:28:29 I think yours might be similar. Yours probably was me, right? Yeah. Sometimes people have practiced it before. It's also called taking and giving. So you might be familiar with it from... Report an error in the passage at 1:28:29 Highlight the passage at 1:28:29

1:28:47 Somebody, you know, some of the other Western teachers like Pema Chodron or Thupten Chodron or like that. And they might have slightly different imagery. I sort of play with the imagery. Sometimes if I'm doing the meditation, if somebody else is leading and I kind of like their imagery, then I'll grab it. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:47 Highlight the passage at 1:28:47

1:29:08 So mine becomes sort of, I sort of play with it because I want it to have a result of the most powerful. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:08 Highlight the passage at 1:29:08

1:29:17 imagery that I can imagine and so change it sometimes so even for those of you who have done it So we're just going to start again. Just check your posture, roll your shoulders back, maybe take a deep breath, belly breath and then release it. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:17 Highlight the passage at 1:29:17

1:29:49 And then just start picturing somebody in front of you that you really care about. So you already care so deeply about this person that... Wanting to remove their suffering and wanting them to be happy comes really easy for you. This is a good object of your meditation. So, you know, somebody that you already just love so much that you would gladly take on their suffering. It Report an error in the passage at 1:29:49 Highlight the passage at 1:29:49

1:30:22 might be a partner or a child or a mother. It can also be an animal as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:22 Highlight the passage at 1:30:22

1:30:35 And it should be somebody whose problems you know really well. So imagine in detail, as much as you can, some of the problems that this person or animal is experiencing. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:35 Highlight the passage at 1:30:35

1:30:52 Again, it doesn't have to be physical. It could be physical pain, sickness, mental pain. It could be just anxiety, worry, grief. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:52 Highlight the passage at 1:30:52

1:31:11 Maybe they're experiencing, you know, maybe they've lost their job. Or their home. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:11 Highlight the passage at 1:31:11

1:31:23 So whatever their problems are, just start imagining them in this person's mind and body. And Report an error in the passage at 1:31:23 Highlight the passage at 1:31:23

1:31:47 then begin to feel really strongly that you want to take these away from them. This suffering, you want to take it away from them. You want to take it away completely. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:47 Highlight the passage at 1:31:47

1:32:02 And this is the mind of compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:02 Highlight the passage at 1:32:02

1:32:09 It's really important for us to think of this definition of compassion, not... Some other way that we use this term compassion. So it's not pity, it's not some sort of sad, sentimental feeling of discomfort when you see somebody who's in pain. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:09 Highlight the passage at 1:32:09

1:32:33 It's literally wanting to take away that suffering. So there's a sense of action about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:33 Highlight the passage at 1:32:33

1:32:48 And then imagine that their problems and their suffering and their pain begin to manifest in a physical form that you can see. Like a form of black light or black smoke in their body. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:48 Highlight the passage at 1:32:48

1:33:14 And take some time to do this, but just imagine that as you're sitting there across from them, just through your breathing, you're able to bring all of their suffering from all the parts of their body and mind into their heart in the form of a little sphere of black light or black smoke. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:14 Highlight the passage at 1:33:14

1:34:07 And then when you think you have it all, Make sure you haven't forgotten any. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:07 Highlight the passage at 1:34:07

1:34:26 And again, taking some time and doing this on the breath, imagine that you're able to take that puff of black smoke from their heart and on your breath, bringing it from their heart through their nostril into the air between you, Report an error in the passage at 1:34:26 Highlight the passage at 1:34:26

1:34:49 actually pulling it from their body on your breath. And Report an error in the passage at 1:34:49 Highlight the passage at 1:34:49

1:35:16 imagine that you've gotten it all. So again, just checking and making sure you haven't forgotten any of their pain or suffering and that it sort of hangs between you and the air. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:16 Highlight the passage at 1:35:16

1:35:36 And then make this decision to Report an error in the passage at 1:35:36 Highlight the passage at 1:35:36

1:35:42 use all this pain and suffering from this loved one in front of you to destroy your own selfish, self-absorbed mind at your heart, remembering why you don't want this mind anymore and how it keeps you from caring for others. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:42 Highlight the passage at 1:35:42

1:36:10 And how it causes your own suffering. And Report an error in the passage at 1:36:10 Highlight the passage at 1:36:10

1:36:21 then go to your own heart and Report an error in the passage at 1:36:21 Highlight the passage at 1:36:21

1:36:27 imagine something very self-absorbed, very selfish that you've done recently. Even something really tiny. But something specific. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:27 Highlight the passage at 1:36:27

1:36:44 It can be as little as just not paying attention to someone when they're trying to tell you a problem. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:44 Highlight the passage at 1:36:44

1:36:57 Not making time for somebody. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:57 Highlight the passage at 1:36:57

1:37:04 Leaving a mess for somebody. It can be something really small. Imagine whatever it is, whatever selfish act comes to mind. Imagine it taking a physical form at your heart like a hard black rock, cold encasing your heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:04 Highlight the passage at 1:37:04

1:37:34 This is your own self-cherishing mind. It's not you. It's just an attitude that Report an error in the passage at 1:37:34 Highlight the passage at 1:37:34

1:37:47 keeps you from feeling compassion for others and loving deeply. And you can use the suffering. To destroy it and free this mind of bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:47 Highlight the passage at 1:37:47

1:38:15 Now just slowly on the breath bring this black smoke into your own nostrils and imagine it coming in and then going down towards this hard black rock at your heart Report an error in the passage at 1:38:15 Highlight the passage at 1:38:15

1:38:35 beginning to encircle it, Report an error in the passage at 1:38:35 Highlight the passage at 1:38:35

1:38:41 soften it and Report an error in the passage at 1:38:41 Highlight the passage at 1:38:41

1:38:54 once it's all inside and around your heart imagine in Report an error in the passage at 1:38:54 Highlight the passage at 1:38:54

1:39:02 a flash of light. The hard black rock explodes. It's pulverized. Nothing is left of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:02 Highlight the passage at 1:39:02

1:39:22 And where it was, you begin to notice this sort of glowing white light. And Report an error in the passage at 1:39:22 Highlight the passage at 1:39:22

1:39:36 imagine this glowing white light getting stronger and stronger at your heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:36 Highlight the passage at 1:39:36

1:40:00 And be aware of the relief in the other person's eyes for having all their suffering removed. And feel deep joy about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:00 Highlight the passage at 1:40:00

1:40:18 And also feel really happy that you've freed your own heart, your own compassion and love, and they're getting stronger and stronger. And Report an error in the passage at 1:40:18 Highlight the passage at 1:40:18

1:40:41 if you have any understanding of emptiness, that things don't exist the way we think that they do, you can do a quick meditation on the emptiness of that self-cherishing mind you just destroyed. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:41 Highlight the passage at 1:40:41

1:40:58 It never existed as solid and concrete as it feels or as it felt. We give it a lot of power, but actually it has no power. It's not solid. It's not you. But it does hold you back. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:58 Highlight the passage at 1:40:58

1:41:23 And now feel for a moment that you want to give this person or this animal in front of you all that they need to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:23 Highlight the passage at 1:41:23

1:41:35 And this is the Buddhist definition of love. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:35 Highlight the passage at 1:41:35

1:41:42 So we want to give them everything that they need to be happy right now, in a worldly sense, all the way up to full enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:42 Highlight the passage at 1:41:42

1:41:56 So start with imagining this glowing white light at your heart. With each breath, you're just beginning to breathe it up and out towards them. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:56 Highlight the passage at 1:41:56

1:42:10 But it's still part of your heart. It hasn't disconnected from your heart. It's like a cloud of glowing white light breath. And Report an error in the passage at 1:42:10 Highlight the passage at 1:42:10

1:42:27 with each breath, it gets farther and closer to them and that it contains everything they need to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:27 Highlight the passage at 1:42:27

1:42:39 You know, whether that's good health or peace of mind, a home, a job, all of your qualities, if you have qualities that might help them right now. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:39 Highlight the passage at 1:42:39

1:43:01 And with each breath, just imagine it stretches from your heart closer and closer to them and then they begin breathing it in too. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:01 Highlight the passage at 1:43:01

1:43:16 And for a while, you just share this breath between you, this glowing white cloud. That's filled with everything good, everything they need, Report an error in the passage at 1:43:16 Highlight the passage at 1:43:16

1:43:33 all peace and joy and happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:33 Highlight the passage at 1:43:33

1:43:48 And then finally imagine them breathing it in and it disconnecting from your heart. And they're completely filled with everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:48 Highlight the passage at 1:43:48

1:43:59 And they're totally at peace and completely blissful. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:59 Highlight the passage at 1:43:59

1:44:12 And then imagine that you're able to also fill them up with all the teachings of the Buddha. And they're able to transform their own minds and gain all the realizations of the path. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:12 Highlight the passage at 1:44:12

1:44:26 So you can imagine them becoming a bodhisattva, gaining nirvāṇa and becoming a fully enlightened Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:26 Highlight the passage at 1:44:26

1:44:42 Imagine that they're completely transformed into a being of light and Report an error in the passage at 1:44:42 Highlight the passage at 1:44:42

1:44:51 really try to feel how happy you are that you were able to do this for them. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:51 Highlight the passage at 1:44:51

1:45:12 And imagine at your heart that all that love and compassion is still there. It's like an ever-flowing spring at your heart and it begins to fill you up with this light of love, compassion, courage. All the qualities of enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:12 Highlight the passage at 1:45:12

1:45:34 And eventually it just begins to pour out of your own pores. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:34 Highlight the passage at 1:45:34

1:45:41 Not just into this person in front of you, but into all living beings in all ten directions. And Report an error in the passage at 1:45:41 Highlight the passage at 1:45:41

1:45:51 then it's limitless. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:51 Highlight the passage at 1:45:51

1:45:59 And just rest in this feeling. And Report an error in the passage at 1:45:59 Highlight the passage at 1:45:59

1:46:25 then we dedicate this class and this meditation to each one of us being able to open our hearts in this way. Or open our minds in this way. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:25 Highlight the passage at 1:46:25

1:46:40 And to generate this mind of... Genuine bodhicitta so that we can benefit others as well as ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:40 Highlight the passage at 1:46:40

1:46:59 And then in your own time when you're ready, you can end the meditation and open your eyes. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:59 Highlight the passage at 1:46:59

1:47:18 I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind getting the gold books. I forgot on the break, actually. Does anyone have a question? Well, sorry. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:18 Highlight the passage at 1:47:18

1:47:30 A little stiffness of legs. Does anybody have any questions about that meditation? sorry. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:30 Highlight the passage at 1:47:30

1:47:37 This is what you're going to be working on this week, Tong Lin. You too? Report an error in the passage at 1:47:37 Highlight the passage at 1:47:37

1:47:47 With Tong Lin, yeah, thanks. I think this is on page 246, wasn't it? That's the one we did on Sunday. 246. The only thing I have memory for is numbers because of years of being a bookkeeper. 2.46. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:47 Highlight the passage at 1:47:47

1:48:02 so So Tung Lin is a really, really powerful meditation that you can do in a lot of different ways. There's so much creativity that you could do with it. You could do it for yourself. If you've got something coming up that you know that you're going to go into a funk, you know that you've got a really heavy, you know, meeting or something like that or something that totally stretches you out. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:02 Highlight the passage at 1:48:02

1:48:26 You can do it for another person when they're not there. You can do it when you watch the news and you see someone who's suffering. You can do it on the street when you see somebody suffering and that suffering is so extreme that you just don't know what else to do with it. You can do it when somebody comes to you and is sitting there. You can do it when someone's dying with you. You can do it, I mean there's so many ways to do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:26 Highlight the passage at 1:48:26

1:48:54 You can do it when you're in pain. And you want to remember the fact that so many other people are having the same pain tonight. Get you out of yourself, you know, because we can get really, if we think we have self-pity mind when we're well, imagine it when we're sick. I mean, even a cold becomes the hugest thing on the planet, you know. We can do it when we're experiencing a mental affliction that just feels like it's engulfing us, like depression, remembering that so many other people have that. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:54 Highlight the passage at 1:48:54

1:49:24 Same pain, you know. So there's so many ways we can use it. And nobody has to know we're doing it. So you can just be listening to, you know, Olivier tell his sad story to you, and you're totally focused on his sad story, and in your heart you're breathing it in and giving him everything he needs to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:24 Highlight the passage at 1:49:24

1:49:45 And he has no idea. I mean, you don't have to breathe funny or anything. Like, you don't have to, like... Nobody has to ever know. It's for your mind to get stronger and more courageous and bigger and, you know, open, open, open. That's really what it's all about. They do say that once we have developed these levels of attainment, you know, like bodhicitta, our tonglen becomes stronger and more powerful and we actually are able to take away suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:45 Highlight the passage at 1:49:45

1:50:17 Even Severe suffering, even from ourselves. There are stories of people who have cancer and other terminal illnesses where just through doing this meditation they have sent it into remission or something. But that's not really the point of it. That's sort of a byproduct. It's a big byproduct. But the main thing is to open your heart to the point where you are... Report an error in the passage at 1:50:17 Highlight the passage at 1:50:17

1:50:46 Generating genuine love and compassion for another or yourself. So, yeah, it's such a powerful. They actually say this is until we attain, you know, really high realizations. This is like the most powerful meditation for us to do at the time of our own death, which, of course, you are never going to be able to do if we haven't practiced it before. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:46 Highlight the passage at 1:50:46

1:51:11 But if you have practiced it before, it does become possible. To do at that moment. And they say it's the most powerful. Why is it so powerful? Because we aren't focused on fear. We aren't focused. There's no negative. There's no place for negative mind. It's like we are dying with this. Even if it's a contrived bodhicitta, it's still such a powerful mind for us to enter that transition into the next life. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:11 Highlight the passage at 1:51:11

1:51:39 It's so positive. It's hugely positive. But we have to practice it. Practicing it with a cold is actually a good place to start. Because otherwise you're never going to be able to deal with it when you're all plugged in and all these different things and a bunch of people in your room making noise and stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:39 Highlight the passage at 1:51:39

1:51:57 So it's like we start small. So we're going to end with this prayer that's on page 246. And that's our dedication for tonight's class. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:57 Highlight the passage at 1:51:57

1:52:10 May all beings everywhere plagued by sufferings of body and mind obtain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creature suffer, commit evil or ever fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled with a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forms and the deaf hear sounds. May those whose bodies are worn with toil be restored on finding repose. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:10 Highlight the passage at 1:52:10

1:52:37 May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find water and delicious drinks. May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find hope, constant happiness and prosperity. May there be timely rains and bountiful harvests. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:37 Highlight the passage at 1:52:37

1:53:02 May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Whatever diseases there are in the world, may they never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid and those bound be freed. May the powerless find power and may people think of benefiting each other. For as long as space remains, for as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:02 Highlight the passage at 1:53:02

1:53:36 Isn't that incredible? I think it's so beautiful. So powerful. So carry that one with you out into the night. Thank you. Now it's time for your homework. While you're all warm and glowy and fuzzy. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:36 Highlight the passage at 1:53:36

1:54:00 Yeah, no surprises though. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:00 Highlight the passage at 1:54:00