Discovering Buddhism - Intro to Tantra (25 August 2011)

0:00 do is we can use that and it'll be like people have to come down and ask a question it'll be like at his holiness or something you know where everyone kind of lines up and asks other questions sorry about that I mentioned it and but we just don't have enough hands right now to do everything so so we'll use this mic but you'll have to just come to this section Is that one still on, David? Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:25 Okay. or is that one still on? Report an error in the passage at 0:25 Highlight the passage at 0:25

0:27 up and down. At the... That will keep people asking questions. I'm so sorry it's gone so late too, but we'll just do what we can do. That's all. That's all. If anybody still has the old kind of video set up, these are available and you can have them for your very own. Lama Yeshi's Introduction to Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 0:27 Highlight the passage at 0:27

0:54 Oh, there's a hand up in the back of the room. Pass it back to Marcella. And if anybody else does and wants to share it with her, I'm sure she'll share happily. Report an error in the passage at 0:54 Highlight the passage at 0:54

1:05 Well, they are. I mean, that's the way they're available now, yeah. But we just still had those kicking around, so we're, yeah. All right, so let's just take a minute to set our motivation for tonight's class, just to let our minds calm down. Report an error in the passage at 1:05 Highlight the passage at 1:05

1:21 It's been a very, very fold. Report an error in the passage at 1:21 Highlight the passage at 1:21

1:26 Let's take some nice deep belly breaths. Report an error in the passage at 1:26 Highlight the passage at 1:26

1:46 Remembering that... A real purpose for being here, it's not just enlightenment for ourselves, not just happiness for ourselves, not just to remove our own suffering, but to extend that out so that whatever we may gain from tonight's class and from this whole course and any seeds that come after this course from this material, Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

2:13 may it become the cause for our own awakening, our enlightenment, our Buddhahood for the benefit of every living being without exception. Report an error in the passage at 2:13 Highlight the passage at 2:13

2:37 We'll start with the opening prayer on Report an error in the passage at 2:37 Highlight the passage at 2:37

2:47 page 8 in the white book. Report an error in the passage at 2:47 Highlight the passage at 2:47

2:51 Henry, there's some seats right there. And there's another seat there in between Gina and Jeremy, but I promise they won't bite. At least Gina won't. I don't know what Jeremy might. Report an error in the passage at 2:51 Highlight the passage at 2:51

3:06 Give him a cookie, that might occupy him. Report an error in the passage at 3:06 Highlight the passage at 3:06

3:14 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge. The 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 3:14 Highlight the passage at 3:14

3:51 like something to I use that little table and I'll Report an error in the passage at 3:51 Highlight the passage at 3:51

3:59 I'm just afraid I'll start knocking things off. Report an error in the passage at 3:59 Highlight the passage at 3:59

4:12 So day after tomorrow is our practice day. And I'm wondering if I could again get a show of hands as to who is planning to come for the practice day. And you're welcome to come, David, if you didn't attend the class. Two, four, six, eight, something in that neighborhood. Okay, great. Thank you. So it is a potluck. And if people could bring something vegetarian. Report an error in the passage at 4:12 Highlight the passage at 4:12

4:41 to share that would be great it can be simple be great if at least one person decided to make something sort of a little more substantial so we don't have 10 people bringing bread and cheese but you know five bringing bread and cheese all right so yeah if you can bear We're going to try, I need to remember to call Scott and tell him. Report an error in the passage at 4:41 Highlight the passage at 4:41

5:07 He needs to finish up with the meditation so we can start promptly on time. There's a German television crew or German film crew that's going to be filming him leading the meditation. It's kind of funny. Well, they're filming him all during the day for some reason. So he actually is going to be leading the meditation as part of his day. Report an error in the passage at 5:07 Highlight the passage at 5:07

5:31 So that's kind of cool for us. Maybe we'll have more Germans come. Who knows? But anyway, so there'll be a slight bit of chaos at the beginning, but that's sort of been, you know, apropos for the entire course. So that's all right. We're transforming that chaos into all sorts of happiness. All right. I wanted to review a little bit from the last class that I didn't. Report an error in the passage at 5:31 Highlight the passage at 5:31

5:55 Well, I don't know how well I covered it, and I felt like I was slightly out of it last class. Fortunately, I ended up getting a cup of tea tonight in the puja, so I'm a little more alert than I would be otherwise. We ran out the last few people. Report an error in the passage at 5:55 Highlight the passage at 5:55

6:11 So I wanted to talk about how one of the interesting aspects of tantra that we can talk about a little bit is how highest yoga tantra especially uses the process of ordinary death and transforms it into becoming a Buddha. So it's kind of a... Oh, we're having a guest sitting in. So it's using the ordinary process of death, bardo and the rebirth that we all go through and all have gone through many, many, many times, even if we can't remember. Report an error in the passage at 6:11 Highlight the passage at 6:11

6:47 And it's transforming those same processes with practice into the development of the three kayas, the three bodies of a Buddha. Amen. Report an error in the passage at 6:47 Highlight the passage at 6:47

6:58 So normally for the ordinary person, there's no control. There's no control over what's happening, and so the death process can be somewhat confusing. And depending on your karma, it could be frightening. Everything is dependent upon karma, right? So it just depends on how much we've worked on our minds and tried to subdue our minds in our life and practice. Report an error in the passage at 6:58 Highlight the passage at 6:58

7:20 But at any rate, it is uncontrolled, usually, because we haven't really... We controlled our minds so well. And so. The visions and things that happen with the dissolution of the body can be surprising and overwhelming. um the very end last week we went through the stages of the dissolution of the body um david did you do the death and impermanence class did you do that class i can't remember Report an error in the passage at 7:20 Highlight the passage at 7:20

7:50 you done the disillusioned meditation? just in the Right. All right. Anyway, that's what our homework was last week, and so that's what we did. We did a little bit of it in class. We'll also do a slightly modified version in class today, and then I know you actually have two days of homework, but I can give you homework anyway. Report an error in the passage at 7:50 Highlight the passage at 7:50

8:13 You'll sort of see how we take that same dissolution process and then work with it. To a degree, now you're not going to be able to do the, there's some ways that I've had to modify it because most of you anyway haven't had the highest yoga tantra. But you can still sort of see how the process is done without me revealing anything too big. But normally when we arise in that, you know, when we get to that last stage and we get down to the subtlest level of our mind you know the indestructible drop opens and our clear light nature of the mind arises dawns they actually call it dawning Report an error in the passage at 8:13 Highlight the passage at 8:13

8:59 For the yogi, that can be this moment of indescribable bliss and wisdom. For most of us, we miss it. We miss it in the death process. We miss it at other times. They say that it also happens like when we go to sleep and so forth, only because we haven't slowed our mind down very much in life. With practice, we can actually take that moment and use it as a meditation upon the nature of the mind, the emptiness of the nature of the mind, and then recognize that as the Dharmakaya. Report an error in the passage at 8:59 Highlight the passage at 8:59

9:36 And this is what you and I were talking about after class last week. Lama Yeshe always has a stop whenever he describes this experience and to realize this is the nature of my mind. This is who I really am. This is the Dharmakaya. And so whenever I do this meditation, I take that moment. At first it feels a little contrived, but what it's reminding us is this is who I really am, not... Report an error in the passage at 9:36 Highlight the passage at 9:36

10:03 This, you know, not that cranky pants who, you know, yesterday yelled at somebody or something. You know, we so much focus on the ordinary things that we do and say and believe that we are. And the point that the Buddha is making is, and that Lama Yashi is making is, no, this is who I really am. This clarity of mind, this vastness, this spaciousness of mind and wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 10:03 Highlight the passage at 10:03

10:29 I am the nature of... I am the Dharmakaya body of the Buddha. This is who I really am. And so sometimes we have to say that because it's reminding ourselves of that. Because we don't want to believe it. We'd rather believe that we're ordinary, which is an interesting thing, you know, but we're not. So that's how the ordinary death experience is transformed into the Dharmakaya experience. Report an error in the passage at 10:29 Highlight the passage at 10:29

10:57 And then after the death experience, Normally, we would arise into our bardo body, so the intermediate state body, which is a formless body. It's like a mind body, and it takes on the shape of the life that we are going to already have. Our karma has already determined it by the time we enter the bardo. Report an error in the passage at 10:57 Highlight the passage at 10:57

11:21 Do you want to sit down right there? Either there or there, actually. There's a seat in the middle of both. It's like in the airplanes. The aisle seats are all filled and the window seats are taken, but there you go. Report an error in the passage at 11:21 Highlight the passage at 11:21

11:36 Then I'll do. This is why I don't usually have tea at 7 o 'clock at night. Report an error in the passage at 11:36 Highlight the passage at 11:36

11:44 So normally we would then arise into our bardo body. Which is also determined by our karma and all the experiences of that experience in the bardo, just like in the death process, could be confusing, could be frightening, could be wonderful, totally depends on our karma. Report an error in the passage at 11:44 Highlight the passage at 11:44

12:03 But in tantra, we train ourselves to recognize as we are in that clear light state, we then think, you know, we go back to our bodhicitta motivation and we think, you know, Wait a second, I want to help all sentient beings. It's great. I can't hang out here in the Dharmakaya. I mean, literally, that's what you sort of convince yourself because you can get just blissed out in the Dharmakaya and we can't do that as bodhisattvas, right? Report an error in the passage at 12:03 Highlight the passage at 12:03

12:29 So we have to think, I want to be able to benefit all living beings, so I need to arise in a Sambhogakaya aspect. I need to arise in a form that I can help all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 12:29 Highlight the passage at 12:29

12:40 In most tantric practices, that is usually like a column of light. Of a particular color that's related to the deity, or it might be the seed syllable that's related to the deity, like a hung or a tam in Tara or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 12:40 Highlight the passage at 12:40

12:57 And so we would not just see it like there's a gold light or a blue light. It's like my mind is arising in that. No, it's not for you because you guys haven't taken Hayat Yoga Tantra for the most part. But in this explanation, our mind is actually arising in this column of light and I am knowing, again, reminding myself, this is me, this is the Sambhogakaya, arisen for the benefit of all beings. Report an error in the passage at 12:57 Highlight the passage at 12:57

13:23 I am this, this is me, as Lama Yeshi always says. This is who I really am. Whatever form of that phrase works for you, you're reminding yourself of your capacity to help all living beings. And so that's the way that the ordinary... Bardo experience is transformed into the Sambhogakaya experience. And then we transform the Nirmanakaya experience. Report an error in the passage at 13:23 Highlight the passage at 13:23

13:47 So then the ordinary rebirth experience from the point that you're in the Bardo. dough people are in Today we were doing special prayers because this is the 49th day that Max would be in the Bardot possibly. They say actually most of the time we are reborn within the first three weeks. All of us, like all beings. But on the off chance, we always do practices for the full 49 days of somebody's. Report an error in the passage at 13:47 Highlight the passage at 13:47

14:20 possible time there just in case just to help and so we do special prayers that time then that final It's seven times seven, right? So it's seven weeks. So at the end of that final time, at the end of each of the seven days, you actually experience a little death. It's like the little bardo body actually goes through an experience of death and is reborn into another bardo body, and you do that seven times if you're not reborn. Report an error in the passage at 14:20 Highlight the passage at 14:20

14:49 At the end of that time, when you go through that final little death, you actually are reborn into your next life, or you enter the womb of your next life. You enter into that conception. Report an error in the passage at 14:49 Highlight the passage at 14:49

15:07 And again, it's completely dependent upon karma and the delusions that cause that karma. So remembering again, just in simple terms, our deluded states of mind cause us to do certain things, right? Like yell back, grab things, steal things, you know, whatever it is. Take all the chocolate, you know, don't turn the lights off. Report an error in the passage at 15:07 Highlight the passage at 15:07

15:32 We do things during our lives usually based on deluded states of mind. Unfortunately, usually, it takes more effort to do virtuous actions. So all those actions create karma. That karma then, in the form of imprints, travels with our subtle most mind. That determines what kind of rebirth we're going to have. So that happens. It's like the movie's already been made by the time we're reborn. Report an error in the passage at 15:32 Highlight the passage at 15:32

15:58 So we can't change it at that point. Now, we can change karma, and you can purify and so forth, but that's the subject of another class. So at the time that you enter the womb of your next rebirth, for example, say it's human or a mammal at least, we are at the mercy of our karma at that point because we're a fetus, right? Report an error in the passage at 15:58 Highlight the passage at 15:58

16:19 So we can't do a whole lot of practice at that point. We can't really, you know, there's not a whole lot we can do. We are shot in through actually what's called throwing karma. We are shot into our next experience and then the environmental karma or the... Finishing, completing karma is going to fill in all of the various aspects of that life. So that's completely uncontrolled. Report an error in the passage at 16:19 Highlight the passage at 16:19

16:45 So in all of these ordinary states of death, bardo and rebirth, everything's uncontrolled at this point until we become at least, I think, eighth level bodhisattva. We have to actually rise up in our abilities. We have to become... masters of our mind before we can start controlling our rebirth but it is possible to do and that's one of the things that is one of our goals. Report an error in the passage at 16:45 Highlight the passage at 16:45

17:13 That's what Tokus do. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for example, can choose the best place for a rebirth and then the family. That would also provide the best situation and conditions for rebirth and so forth. We can't do that at this point. I mean, I can't. I'll speak for myself. I can't do that at this point. My situation is completely controlled by my karma and unfortunately my delusions. In Tantra... Report an error in the passage at 17:13 Highlight the passage at 17:13

17:45 We transform that experience too so we arise at that point instead of going into the womb of yet another human or animal or whatever rebirth based on our karma and delusions, we then arise as the deity. Because we think again right before that, I can hang out here in the Sambhogakaya but only 8th level or high level bodhisattvas can see me in this state. Report an error in the passage at 17:45 Highlight the passage at 17:45

18:09 So if I really want to access all sentient beings, I definitely need... The body that can be seen by them, I need an emanation body. I need a nirmanakaya body. So that's when we arise into the form of the deity that we are familiar with. So like with Shakyamuni Buddha, it would look like this. With Tara, it would look like this. With Manjushri, it looks like this. So that's when we arise as that form. Report an error in the passage at 18:09 Highlight the passage at 18:09

18:34 And we think again. This is me, the nirmanakaya. I've arisen for all sentient beings in this form. It's like, yeah, this is who I really am. And you actually do repeat that to yourself because you're reminding yourself every time that you arise as a deity that you're doing it for all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 18:34 Highlight the passage at 18:34

18:53 So you can't forget that. That's really, really important in Tantra. Our bodhicitta motivation is totally the foundation. Of our whole practice. And so we almost on an hourly basis we remind ourselves of that. Every time we arise as a deity, and you do many times, you're supposed to be all the time, then you're always doing that trick of I am doing this for the benefit of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 18:53 Highlight the passage at 18:53

19:22 I need to arise in a form that can help them, that they can see me in. Report an error in the passage at 19:22 Highlight the passage at 19:22

19:29 Chanting. Report an error in the passage at 19:29 Highlight the passage at 19:29

19:35 So as one of my teachers actually put it, the only reason that we have a body, period, is to be able to help all sentient beings. And I think that's a really powerful way to think of it too. Rather than that clingy feeling of I need a body, it's more like how can I use this body to help all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 19:35 Highlight the passage at 19:35

19:55 So that's an abbreviated version of the three kayas. Um... Report an error in the passage at 19:55 Highlight the passage at 19:55

20:03 When we're doing it in the form of a practice, for example as a sadhana, you would start with, just like with every practice that we ever do in Buddhism, you start with taking refuge, remembering your refuge, and generating an overall feeling of as sincere of bodhicitta as you can. And then we do that. Report an error in the passage at 20:03 Highlight the passage at 20:03

20:27 That aspect that we have done in class where we visualize our teacher or Shakyamuni Buddha in front of us knowing that they're the same, knowing that there's no difference between them. And then we visualize them coming to the crown of our heads and dissolving that light and that energy into us and that merging, that three-point merging of Buddha's mind, teacher's mind and my mind. Report an error in the passage at 20:27 Highlight the passage at 20:27

20:54 Remembering that what it really is is the qualities. So it's the enlightened qualities of the Buddha merging with our minds. So our minds, our ordinary little mind isn't ordinary little mind anymore. And that gives us a taste of that, this is an enlightened mind, and this is what I am. So at that point, then you do the... Report an error in the passage at 20:54 Highlight the passage at 20:54

21:22 Modified, you go through the three points that we just discussed, the transforming of, you go into dissolution of your body, arising into the clear light and then remembering this is the Dharmakaya and this is who I am. And then you then, after a few, as long as you can, you try to stay in that. That's a completely non-conceptual state. Report an error in the passage at 21:22 Highlight the passage at 21:22

21:49 um you it's a it's um it's it's like a In some ways it's like a meditation on emptiness of the mind. So you just focus on that spaciousness. And Lama Yeshe actually makes a point in Introduction to Tantra that space and emptiness aren't the same thing. But that space-like emptiness, what's called space-like emptiness, is actually this experience of the direct perception of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 21:49 Highlight the passage at 21:49

22:20 So when you're having this experience of Your mind being the Dharmakaya, it's the emptiness of your mind being the Dharmakaya and you try to stay in that for as long as you can which could be two and a half seconds. I mean realistically our concentration is not too strong or at least I'm speaking for myself. That's two and a half seconds of an emptiness experience so do not ever underestimate two and a half seconds of a Dharmakaya experience. Report an error in the passage at 22:20 Highlight the passage at 22:20

22:46 So that space like meditation on your own mind as the Dharmakaya is Like a direct perception of emptiness. Now you're not really having the direct perception of emptiness, but it's preparing you for that experience. Report an error in the passage at 22:46 Highlight the passage at 22:46

23:02 Then again, you do that realizing, okay, I can't stay here, I have to arise as the deity. So then you visualize yourself arising, say, as a column of light, which I always find. Again, you're not going to be able to do this until you enter Tantra, but this is the way it goes. Arising as the column of light of Sambhogakaya, which we can't even visualize. That's why they usually give us these simple things like the column of light or a seed syllable. Report an error in the passage at 23:02 Highlight the passage at 23:02

23:34 It's beyond our conception at this point because we're ordinary beings, right? I mean, at least I am, right? I don't know who you guys are. So we arise in that form and then we think, this is who I really am. And then we think again, this isn't good enough. I need to arise in a form that can reach all beings. So I now need to arise in the form of the emanation body. Report an error in the passage at 23:34 Highlight the passage at 23:34

24:00 So that's what you're doing. And then in that form you can do everything. So then the practice is almost always about making offerings to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the Ten Direction, the form of light, bringing back all their blessings. Sending out all that light again to all sentient beings, changing them all into Buddhas and all the environment to Pure Lands, bringing back that light in the form of blessings. Report an error in the passage at 24:00 Highlight the passage at 24:00

24:25 You're just lots of this. You're sending out light, you're bringing back light, which is really quite powerful. But at this point, of course, it's still imagination. Report an error in the passage at 24:25 Highlight the passage at 24:25

24:39 The other thing that you want to remember is in that spaciousness, when we're in that spaciousness of focusing on the Dharmakaya or our mind as the Dharmakaya, we have to keep as much alertness as we can, right? So remember when we were talking about the way that we normally grasp on to pleasant experiences, like the baby at the breast, right? We just kind of lull out. Report an error in the passage at 24:39 Highlight the passage at 24:39

25:02 We don't want to do that. We want to stay as alert and sharp as we can in that experience. That's our wisdom. That's using our wisdom. So we're not just, that's not at all what a tantric experience is about. We're trying to stay very alert in each one of these experiences as much as we can. We're training our mind to do that. So we're trying to stay as alert as we can in every pleasurable experience. And one of the tantric... Report an error in the passage at 25:02 Highlight the passage at 25:02

25:32 The lessons in daily life is to do that. You have a really nice cup of tea, stay very alert with it. You're at a really good movie, stay very alert with it. You have a really nice hot bath, stay really alert. You have a great massage, stay really alert. Don't just lull out. Train your mind to stay as alert. Report an error in the passage at 25:32 Highlight the passage at 25:32

25:54 Be wise and open as you can during those experiences. I often will try to stop myself if I'm having like a really great experience like on a walk or something, there's like a beautiful view or something like that and I'll just be like, wow, offer it up. You know, like don't just go, wow, that's really pretty, you know, but just be like, oh, that's gorgeous, you know, offer, oh ma hung, oh ma hung. And then it just like kind of brings me present so that my mind's not just like, what am I going to do when I get there? Report an error in the passage at 25:54 Highlight the passage at 25:54

26:21 You know, because we do, right? We just kind of live this half-aware life and part of tantric practice is to bring us really firmly into the moment, into the body, into the experience. Report an error in the passage at 26:21 Highlight the passage at 26:21

26:37 So you're just reminding yourself through the whole thing, this is who I really am, this is who I really am, this is who I really am. And this is my entire purpose is to help all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 26:37 Highlight the passage at 26:37

26:52 And so part of our goal in tantric practice is to really begin to believe that we really are the emanation of the deity when we are able to, you know, when we have the empowerment, the initiation and so forth to be able to arise as a deity, not just to pretend. It's not just some sort of a mind trip or a game to do this. We are really trying to overcome our ordinary view of ourselves and our world and our workplace and the people that are around us, but starting with ourselves, because that's really the hardest. Report an error in the passage at 26:52 Highlight the passage at 26:52

27:29 And that's called divine pride. So what we're trying to do is to overcome... This ordinary view, the ordinary view of everything around us and especially ourselves with this divine pride, this feeling of this is who I really am and really starting to try to believe it and it takes a long time. You really have to just keep chipping at it because we're so ingrained in this very ordinary view of ourselves and all, we limit ourselves and we've been limiting ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 27:29 Highlight the passage at 27:29

28:01 For eons and eons and eons, not just a few lives, you know, so eons we've been limiting ourselves and telling ourselves that we aren't really this and we don't believe it. So we're trying to undo that in one short lifetime or at least plant the seeds to be able to undo it more quickly in our next life, you know, so like that. Report an error in the passage at 28:01 Highlight the passage at 28:01

28:21 But it takes a lot of practice. And so Lama Yeshi says that the basic thing just... So that's when we kind of move out of our conceptual constant thinking about it. So we start out saying this is who I really am, which is conceptual thought, right? And then just be. So whatever it is that you're visualizing yourself, or in your visualization, if you're visualizing Tara at your heart or on the crown of your head. Report an error in the passage at 28:21 Highlight the passage at 28:21

28:56 Just imagine that that's really true. For this moment, just believe and just let go. And when I say let go, when Lama Yeshe says let go, let go of distractions, let go of conceptualization, let go of ordinary view, just let go. And it repeats that a lot, let go, let go. And it's really letting go of that. Report an error in the passage at 28:56 Highlight the passage at 28:56

29:21 Part of our mind that's like, well, this is a load of crock. I don't want to, you know, I don't want to believe this one, you know. Just stop. That's critical mind and there's no need for it here. So just let go. And you can often just repeat that phrase too. Like as that thinking mind comes in and it's kind of like, I don't know, what am I doing this right? Report an error in the passage at 29:21 Highlight the passage at 29:21

29:40 You know, let go. Just let go. And it's almost, it becomes like a mantra. Like let go, just let go. He also suggests one possibility if you get distracted, and we all do, to just try reciting like a mantra, the mantra of the deity that you're doing the practice. For example, the homework will be Tara. We're going to do Tara practice if we have time at the end of class. So Om Tara to Tara to Soha, a very short mantra. Report an error in the passage at 29:40 Highlight the passage at 29:40

30:11 And repeating that mantra as a way of sort of drumming out the ordinary thoughts and allowing in. The extraordinary thoughts or the supreme thoughts. Having a lot of expectations is also another way that we can shoot ourselves in the foot. Like I should be able to get this in three tries. I learned to play the piano really fast. I'd probably be really good at this. Or I'm an artist, so I should be able to visualize really well. Report an error in the passage at 30:11 Highlight the passage at 30:11

30:40 Don't do that. right or um you know Report an error in the passage at 30:40 Highlight the passage at 30:40

30:42 Just follow, you know, whatever the practice that you're doing. Follow your teacher's advice on it. Follow the commentaries, you know, because fortunately we're following in the footsteps of many, many great beings who many of them have written commentaries. Report an error in the passage at 30:42 Highlight the passage at 30:42

30:56 And then just do it and just believe it, you know, just believe that it's possible. And so every time we get distracted, you just use that distraction to kind of show you how much. We need this. It's sort of like when people start learning how to meditate and they say, oh, I can't meditate because I'm just too distracted. Report an error in the passage at 30:56 Highlight the passage at 30:56

31:18 It's like, no, that's why we need to keep meditating. That's why we want to meditate. That's not a good reason not to. That's the exact reason that we need to. Report an error in the passage at 31:18 Highlight the passage at 31:18

31:30 So this that I'm describing... It's actually what's called generation stage. So we're practicing generating as a deity in generation stage, and it's still at the imagination level. But it's quite powerful, very, very powerful. At the next level it's called completion stage and that's where we are actually working with our practices on the level of our winds and channels. Report an error in the passage at 31:30 Highlight the passage at 31:30

31:58 Like last week we were sort of talking about some of the idea of the 72,000 channels in the body and that wind is like an energy that moves through and then we have the central channel and so forth. The completion stage practices are totally working on this level. You are kind of, you're actually literally, Completing the creation of your own body as a deity, your mind and body as a deity. That's actually happening on a physical and a mental level. You are creating that, which is way beyond the scope of this class. Report an error in the passage at 31:58 Highlight the passage at 31:58

32:32 But it uses a lot of the same elements. It still uses divine pride. It still uses clear appearance. It still uses emptiness. Emptiness, you know, emptiness is every time, every time that you begin. Begin a practice, you dissolve everything into emptiness. So you sit down, you're all cranky, you had a hard day at work, dissolve it all into emptiness. And then arise. Report an error in the passage at 32:32 Highlight the passage at 32:32

32:59 So there's three main parts. Divine pride for every practice is this divine pride, remembering emptiness, and remembering that everything that you're experiencing is in the nature of bliss. Report an error in the passage at 32:59 Highlight the passage at 32:59

33:15 So everything's in the nature of bliss. So sometimes it is, in fact it always is contrived at first. And that's okay. That's okay. This is not the way we normally live in America in the 21st century. And that's alright. We're going in a completely different direction than the rest of our compatriots. Report an error in the passage at 33:15 Highlight the passage at 33:15

33:42 So it takes practice. So we just keep practicing. We just keep reminding ourselves. And so I actually often will have to, you know, especially when I first began doing tantric practices, I have to remind myself, you know, divine pride, emptiness. You know, so I actually have to remind myself, what's the third one? You know, you're sitting there, you're like, oh yeah, great bliss. It's okay, because what we're trying to do is have it become second nature. Report an error in the passage at 33:42 Highlight the passage at 33:42

34:08 When we first started brushing our teeth, we had to learn too. We just don't remember it so well, but our parents probably do if they're still around, you know. We had to learn how to put on our shoes. I remember actually having to learn to tie my shoes and it seemed like something really hard, you know. Report an error in the passage at 34:08 Highlight the passage at 34:08

34:22 When we first started learning to drive, it seemed, you know, I mentioned that last week, it seemed like an incredible amount of details to have to remember and how did you ever do anything else. And I remember watching like an older brother or sister and they could drive and drink a Coke, you know, and things like that. This is the same, like it just takes practice. Report an error in the passage at 34:22 Highlight the passage at 34:22

34:42 We want to get to the point where we're doing it all the time. But even if you're just doing it sometimes, it can do a lot for deconstructing this solid, absolute box that we put ourselves in. So, for example... When you feel like everyone's against you and life is really hard, dissolve it all into emptiness and arise as a deity. You know what I mean? Report an error in the passage at 34:42 Highlight the passage at 34:42

35:09 You can't beat that as a tool for dealing with difficult situations in life. And then, of course, visualizing everybody else as deities. It's the next step, and that one's tricky too. If you're having difficulty with somebody, dissolve them into emptiness and visualize them as a deity. Talk about a way for... Report an error in the passage at 35:09 Highlight the passage at 35:09

35:29 And if you can't even do that, then just at least see that they have the potential. They have Buddha nature. One of my teachers actually... It talks about seeing everybody's Buddha nature, and I think that's really, really powerful. If we're not at the level yet where we can actually see people as Buddhas, at least we have to remember that they all have Buddha nature. Report an error in the passage at 35:29 Highlight the passage at 35:29

35:50 All of them do, without exception. There's not a single person in the universe that does not have Buddha nature, even if their actions right now don't seem like it. But everyone has the potential to become a Buddha. And that's useful to remember if you're having difficulties with somebody, if somebody's really challenging. Report an error in the passage at 35:50 Highlight the passage at 35:50

36:11 So when we remember this great bliss, when we have the mind that remembers the great bliss during the practices that we're talking about, we're remembering that we're not just experiencing great bliss for the heck of it. Um. Report an error in the passage at 36:11 Highlight the passage at 36:11

36:27 We're not just experiencing great bliss because it's fun, because it feels good, you know. There's a lot of different Hatha yoga classes. Postures and so forth that awaken that sort of kundalini energy and that has a feeling of bliss. In Buddhism it's really specific because our mind becomes more subtle when we're experiencing great bliss and we can then use that very subtle mind to have a direct perception of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 36:27 Highlight the passage at 36:27

36:51 That's the goal. So we don't want to lose that goal either. So we're not just doing it to experience bliss and having a good time. We're trying to experience bliss so that then we can use that very, very subtle mind. A very blissful mind to penetrate the nature of reality. So it helps to have studied emptiness and so forth. That's why we do this class after the emptiness class. Report an error in the passage at 36:51 Highlight the passage at 36:51

37:16 And if you haven't ever studied emptiness and you ended up in here, there's a really great, I think, Geshitashi Sering, I think, right? Is his last name? Geshitashi, anyway, from London, who does the Foundation for Buddhists. thought program out of london he There's a number of books that he's written based on his teachings. One is simply called Emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 37:16 Highlight the passage at 37:16

37:43 And I think it covers the subject very well. They all cover each of their subjects very well. There's one on bodhicitta called the Awakening Mind. There's one on Buddhist psychology, which really talks about how the mind works and functions and so forth. But emptiness is quite good. So if you haven't ever studied emptiness and you kind of want to get it in a nutshell, that's a very accessible... Report an error in the passage at 37:43 Highlight the passage at 37:43

38:03 He does get into a little bit of the debates between the schools, but you can skim those parts. And you can skip to the final chapter and still get quite a bit out of it. It really gives you the basics so that you, you know, and then if you ever have the chance to study with a master like Geshe-la. Or His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Any of His Holiness' books also on emptiness are usually very clear and very accessible. Sometimes he goes into the really, really high philosophical views, but often they're quite accessible. Report an error in the passage at 38:03 Highlight the passage at 38:03

38:41 So any questions on anything that I just mentioned? You have a puzzled brow, but unfortunately you have to come forward, don't we? David, do you want to see? Report an error in the passage at 38:41 Highlight the passage at 38:41

38:56 Because we don't have a mic. Report an error in the passage at 38:56 Highlight the passage at 38:56

39:02 Yeah, you have to come forward. No, it's out of batteries. I mentioned it last night, but there's just nobody to take that one on. Report an error in the passage at 39:02 Highlight the passage at 39:02

39:16 Well, no, Tim is actually going to start a whole rechargeable thing, and I'm going to show the volunteers. Because they go through it fast. He just put them in like two days, and then it was out. But anyway. it's out of battery space. Report an error in the passage at 39:16 Highlight the passage at 39:16

39:29 It's possible somebody left it on, but it seems to be able to turn itself on. Thank you, David. After all this, probably nobody's going to have a question. Report an error in the passage at 39:29 Highlight the passage at 39:29

39:43 Just Report an error in the passage at 39:43 Highlight the passage at 39:43

40:02 make sure you don't point it at the speaker, because that will make that really scary noise happen. It's not exactly what you were just talking about. Report an error in the passage at 40:02 Highlight the passage at 40:02

40:15 Point it toward yourself. why am I doing this? Report an error in the passage at 40:15 Highlight the passage at 40:15

· · · silence, 1 minute

40:12 that was that it's yeah yeah like there you go um just kind of go Report an error in the passage at 40:12 Highlight the passage at 40:12

40:23 I'm a little confused on a couple of things, but in the other classes there was a lot that I could take and then apply in my daily life. This one, not until you enter tantra, unfortunately. But it's put here so that it can kind of answer some of your questions so you know when you're ready to enter tantra. Report an error in the passage at 40:23 Highlight the passage at 40:23

40:42 This one's not a lamrim class. This is actually what happens after we study the lamrim. So the other classes all fit together a lot more. I know, yeah, but it's okay. We're ignoring that little funny noise. This one's just to give you a taste of what lies ahead. Tantra is very advanced. I think a lot of people in the West actually enter it too soon. I think in many ways I entered it too soon. Report an error in the passage at 40:42 Highlight the passage at 40:42

41:07 So I feel, it's sort of like with refuge when I meet with students and I go through the refuge things, I would bodhisattva vows and I meet with students. Nobody did that for me. So with Tantra, I think it's the same. Once we enter Tantra, we can't un-enter Tantra. You know? Once we connect with a Tantric guru, we can't un-connect with them. Report an error in the passage at 41:07 Highlight the passage at 41:07

41:29 We are connected with them. For better or for worse. It's like the days before divorce, you know. So you need to be really sure. So what this class is about is this shows you kind of what Tantra is all about and gives you some of the ideas of how it relates to the stuff we've been studying all along. Report an error in the passage at 41:29 Highlight the passage at 41:29

41:47 And you're a good example because you've actually attended almost every one of the classes. Report an error in the passage at 41:47 Highlight the passage at 41:47

41:53 But this shows you how all of that plays into it. and then it also shows you how it then Takes it and runs. And it runs. It's at a really advanced place. So, yeah, you can begin to, I mean, you can use it to sort of see, for example, you can use some of the meditations that we've done to help you kind of cut down the concreteness that we have of ourselves and of reality. Report an error in the passage at 41:53 Highlight the passage at 41:53

42:23 You can kind of use the, you know, you can use deity practice with the deity on your... Crown of your head, you know, the way we do in both the Drava meditation and in here, and at your heart, and those are all totally fine to do before you enter Tantra. That's fine. And that also can remind you that things are not as they seem. But to fully practice Tantra, no, you have to actually have the initiation and then make the commitment. Report an error in the passage at 42:23 Highlight the passage at 42:23

42:51 I have a second question. Yeah, yeah. I thought you were going to say no further questions. Report an error in the passage at 42:51 Highlight the passage at 42:51

42:59 Be seated. Report an error in the passage at 42:59 Highlight the passage at 42:59

43:07 Okay, so there are some things that are tantric, like Vajrasapha practice is in the nature of tantra, right? It's totally tantric practice, yeah. Although you can do it on different levels. You can do it before you've entered Tantra, especially in the FBMT because of Lama Yeshi. Lama Yeshi felt like Westerners really could relate to Vajrasattva. Report an error in the passage at 43:07 Highlight the passage at 43:07

43:28 Vajrasattva is a deity that's right over Steve and Marcela. This is solitary Vajrasattva, and that's a purification practice. That actually probably would have been a better one to do tonight, and I did Tara instead, but anyway, that's okay. So there are some that we can do, like the crown on the crown of our head, Raja Safa. What's the distinguishing aspect, just to be able to recognize if you go to, if someone's doing a practice or you go to a drop of meditation, you can say, oh, this is sort of beginning tantra. Report an error in the passage at 43:28 Highlight the passage at 43:28

43:57 Well, you know, to be honest, the visualizations at the pujas, like both Medicine Buddha and Tara, can be done either way. And so if the person leading it knows that when I'm leading Medicine Buddha, I try to say, if you've had highest yoga tantra, this is where you can dissolve into emptiness and arise as a deity. Report an error in the passage at 43:57 Highlight the passage at 43:57

44:16 If not, then just keep doing the visualization we've been doing and imagine the Medicine Buddha dissolving into you and like that. So you can sort of explain it either way. And that's true, I think, for... For any of the practices that are done here. Unless, for example, Geshe-la is going to be giving commentary on solitary Yamantaka, which is the highest yoga tantra. Report an error in the passage at 44:16 Highlight the passage at 44:16

44:40 You need a highest yoga tantra empowerment specifically on solitary Yama Taka to even attend that class. Nobody else can come in. And that's always really hard to control the door. I'm not going to be there that night, that first night. But yeah, that's going to be one that we have to be really, really careful and just make sure. Report an error in the passage at 44:40 Highlight the passage at 44:40

44:58 And it's not being nosy. And we don't need to know the details about when and where. But we need to know that they had it. Because... Otherwise, it's like I said before, the master who's giving the empowerment, the master who's giving the commentary, takes a risk with us. And so it's a danger to Geshe-la to have people there who haven't actually prepared themselves fully. Report an error in the passage at 44:58 Highlight the passage at 44:58

45:25 So yeah, those classes are usually marked restricted. And those practices are, you know, at our center we don't do so much like that. Sometimes at Vajrapani, especially Vajrapani, which is a more remote meditation center, there'll be things like Vajrayogini self-initiation and things like that, and they're marked restricted. Report an error in the passage at 45:25 Highlight the passage at 45:25

45:49 They're usually marked restricted. Really carefully because we don't want people to show up. We're just like, hi, what is this? And any empowerment that you ever, ever hear about, even if everyone and their brother seems to be going, first of all, make sure if you're thinking about going, make sure that you know who the Lama is and that you feel really strongly that you want to be connected with this living being for the rest of your life, which is a big thing. Report an error in the passage at 45:49 Highlight the passage at 45:49

46:18 We don't think about that very often. Ask everyone, especially, I would say, the spiritual program coordinator of the center that you're going to. So don't ask. You know, I remember I had somebody emailed me one time and said, I've been asking all of the Saṅgha. I'm like, don't ask the Saṅgha, ask the SBC. That person connected with that teacher and knows what those commitments are that you are taking. And sometimes they are surprising for something like a one-nighter. Report an error in the passage at 46:18 Highlight the passage at 46:18

46:45 So ask. Always ask. Make sure you know because you don't want to be surprised after it's all over and everyone's like, oh, it's really great. And then it's like, whoa, what? You know, I have to do what for the rest of my life? So, yeah, always check. And if it's not clear and you have, just come and talk to me and I can help you find answers too. Report an error in the passage at 46:45 Highlight the passage at 46:45

47:05 If it's any of the centers in the Bay Area, we can find out. Sure. Anybody else? Kathy? Report an error in the passage at 47:05 Highlight the passage at 47:05

47:21 Everything is... In the nature of pure bliss? Could you say any more about that? I think you're just cultivating this mind that is incredibly... How do you feel when you have incredible bliss? Incredibly happy, right? So you're just feeling really, really happy. If you've ever done any of the emptiness meditations... Did you do the emptiness class? I can't remember now. I can't remember. Report an error in the passage at 47:21 Highlight the passage at 47:21

47:54 The one right before this class. Sometimes when we do meditations on emptiness, they say that if you have a certain type of karma with emptiness, the emptiness teachings, it's incredibly blissful. It's just liberating. Sometimes people get freaked. Usually they haven't had... The study of it enough in their life, but once they do study it, then usually the feeling, because it's liberating, and that liberation from our ordinary self, from our ordinary view, from our limited, boxed-in view, absolute view, all of that, it just feels incredibly blissful. Report an error in the passage at 47:54 Highlight the passage at 47:54

48:34 That's the bliss that you're trying. And at first, again, you have to sort of cultivate it. You're just... You're just remembering. Remembering that blissful state of mind over and over and over again, becoming more and more familiar with it. So when you're saying everything is in the nature of bliss. Report an error in the passage at 48:34 Highlight the passage at 48:34

48:52 Bliss and emptiness. You're talking about a viewpoint, a view. It's remembering that, that that was the Buddha's experience, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 48:52 Highlight the passage at 48:52

49:05 Yeah, so usually bliss and emptiness. They usually talk about the two together, bliss and emptiness, bliss and emptiness. And that way you're not just off in left field trying to remember the bliss without remembering the emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 49:05 Highlight the passage at 49:05

49:18 Somebody else had their hand up? Report an error in the passage at 49:18 Highlight the passage at 49:18

49:22 I thought I saw another hand. Okay. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 49:22 Highlight the passage at 49:22

49:30 So I'm going to cut a little. Report an error in the passage at 49:30 Highlight the passage at 49:30

49:37 Yeah, can we shut it? Oh, yeah. Let's shut it off while Anne's talking. No, no, no, go ahead. She's like, okay. Report an error in the passage at 49:37 Highlight the passage at 49:37

49:50 The question around bliss is, on some level, isn't that it's the nature of reality? On some level, it's our true nature. I mean, it's not just like, oh, I'm going to think it. Well, the nature of reality is emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 49:50 Highlight the passage at 49:50

50:14 Reality as we know it, objects, things, people, places, experiences, mental and physical. All lack the independent, intrinsic, inherent existence that we project onto them. This feels a little loud, I think. Report an error in the passage at 50:14 Highlight the passage at 50:14

50:35 So that is the nature of reality that the Buddha experienced and that we can also experience. The experience of that gives us bliss. So that's how the bliss ties in. that's what it's kind of Report an error in the passage at 50:35 Highlight the passage at 50:35

50:52 Because bliss is what we experience in relationship to things. So often what I'll do is just think this is in the nature of bliss and emptiness. I'll combine them in that sentence like that. Report an error in the passage at 50:52 Highlight the passage at 50:52

51:14 That's a good question. I'm going to end with a list, and then I'm going to, for those people who can stay, I'm going to just do a very quick green Tara meditation, and that's what you'll have to take home with you. And we'll do it again on Saturday. So if everybody's coming on Saturday, then we won't spend this much time, but I just want to kind of introduce you to it. Lamayashi pointed out four qualities that we need to succeed in tantric practice, so I thought that those were useful ones. Report an error in the passage at 51:14 Highlight the passage at 51:14

51:43 And of course, everything that I'm teaching is coming straight from Lama Yeshi, so I feel like why not? Let's just follow him to a T. Indestructible devotion is his first one. And he said that it's really important. This means basically that we have a clear understanding of the path that we're following, that it's reliable, that it's worthwhile. Report an error in the passage at 51:43 Highlight the passage at 51:43

52:08 In other words, we have to develop this confidence. But he calls it indestructible devotion. Do we want to just make that noise go away? Report an error in the passage at 52:08 Highlight the passage at 52:08

52:28 That didn't work. Do you want to, don't turn mine off, but turn the other one down maybe? Okay, it's all right. It's all right, we'll transform it into, remember the bliss and emptiness of that annoying sound. Once our karma changes, that'll sound like mantras. Report an error in the passage at 52:28 Highlight the passage at 52:28

52:55 Okay, so indestructible devotion. Which really narrows down to just having a strong confidence in what we're doing. Obviously it's easier when we're in class and I'm guiding you guys or when you're around all your Dharma friends and so forth. But when you're alone out in the world or you're alone in retreat somewhere, we have to cultivate that confidence. So before you go into retreat alone somewhere, you should work on cultivating that confidence. Report an error in the passage at 52:55 Highlight the passage at 52:55

53:23 Have your questions answered before you go into retreat. That's important. That's very important to do. Freedom from doubt, which is very similar. That's number two. Report an error in the passage at 53:23 Highlight the passage at 53:23

53:39 And he's talking about having an unclear mind and an unclear motivation about this. This comes up. This is actually one of the bodhisattva vals. They talk about how this is an obstacle to our meditation practice. That's one of the obstacles. Report an error in the passage at 53:39 Highlight the passage at 53:39

53:58 And remember again, gaining wisdom dispels doubt. So the more wisdom we can gain, not knowledge but wisdom based on experience, can dispel doubt. And actually, technically, when we have a direct perception of emptiness, the one affliction that is completely dispelled from that experience is doubt. We no longer have any doubt about the practice, about Buddhism, about what the Buddha said. Report an error in the passage at 53:58 Highlight the passage at 53:58

54:29 All the things that we've been studying and all these lifetimes until that moment when we have that direct experience of emptiness, doubt is just gone. Everything else is still there. So we still get irritated. We still, you know, we still are an ordinary person, but our doubt is just completely. Single-pointed concentration is a third quality. Report an error in the passage at 54:29 Highlight the passage at 54:29

54:52 Oh yeah, that. This is something we can work on right now. Obviously, if we can only hold on to these momentary experiences for literally two and a half seconds without being distracted, they're going to be less vibrant and have much less of an impact on us. If we're able to hold our mind on it for any amount of time at all, it'll go in deeper. It just makes sense. Report an error in the passage at 54:52 Highlight the passage at 54:52

55:20 That's true for studying the lamrim too, right? So if we have a very strong concentration and we're studying about the suffering of saṃsāra or the bodhisattva path, it's going to make more, it'll be more meaningful to us. Any meditation that we do on emptiness obviously will become more meaningful if we can keep our mind on the subject. I mean it sounds obvious but it's often presented later in the lamrim. Report an error in the passage at 55:20 Highlight the passage at 55:20

55:48 In reality, we need it at the very beginning. Just to study the mind, we need to be able to concentrate. That's one that all of us can start working on right now. There are lots of great books, and it really takes practice. And it takes practice every single day, no matter what you feel like. And there's no other shortcut. There's no, you know, it's just kind of there's no other way. Even if you just do two and a half minutes, remember Peter's adage, just two and a half minutes is a start if you do it every day and you never don't do it. Report an error in the passage at 55:48 Highlight the passage at 55:48

56:23 So that's the only way we're going to get strong, clear concentration. Secrecy is the fourth. And remember we talked about secrecy and the reasons for it. Report an error in the passage at 56:23 Highlight the passage at 56:23

56:35 We have to keep our practices secret. And it's very, very possible for us to have a completely subdued outer appearance and be an inner yogi. This is what Lama Yashi says. And so we don't make a big show of it. We don't talk about where we went on the weekend. We don't talk about what we did in our retreat. You can talk about it with your friend, your teacher, or another friend who you know is at about the same level as you or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 56:35 Highlight the passage at 56:35

57:05 Or with a saṅgha member or something like that. The idea is that if we're blah, blah, blaying, we're diluting the energy, number one, and that, two, people can hear it and get confused. And then it could, worse, more than confusion, it could actually create aversion in their minds, and that's even worse. And then they could just be like, I don't know what that's all about. Report an error in the passage at 57:05 Highlight the passage at 57:05

57:30 I'm never going to do that. And then it just becomes this wall that they will have to... break through at some point in order to So we don't want to do that. So I'll do those again. Indestructible devotion, freedom from doubt, single-pointed concentration and secrecy. Report an error in the passage at 57:30 Highlight the passage at 57:30

58:03 Oh, those are the four qualities that we need to have a successful tantric practice. According to Lama Yeshe. according to Lama Yeshe. Report an error in the passage at 58:03 Highlight the passage at 58:03

58:15 And then they say, you know, all the yogis of the past say that if we can cultivate these four steadily and correctly, then everything is totally within reach. There's nothing that's not within reach. Report an error in the passage at 58:15 Highlight the passage at 58:15

58:32 So we're going to do a very short version of Tara, and then I'm going to hand you out your homeworks, but I'm going to use one of the homeworks as my guide. Report an error in the passage at 58:32 Highlight the passage at 58:32

58:50 So let's just get comfortable in our seats. And if people have to go, do you have to go? Oh, I know she's going to come up and say goodbye. If you have to go, it's 8.55 right now, so I'm going to try to do this in 10 minutes. It'll be a very, very quick Tara experience. But just to give you a taste, and like I said, we'll do it again on Saturday. Report an error in the passage at 58:50 Highlight the passage at 58:50

59:16 Okay, so you just stretch, roll your shoulders, maybe stretch your neck from side to side. And just the most important aspect is bringing your spine. Extending your spine, really visualizing that your spine. There's that central channel that goes right in front of the spine. It goes all the way out the crown of our heads. We can kind of bring that to mind. Report an error in the passage at 59:16 Highlight the passage at 59:16

59:50 So Green Tara embodies action energy, active compassion. And her main energy is about removing obstacles. So that's why she's seated in this. A certain position where her right foot is out in front of her left because she's ready to jump up and help all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 59:50 Highlight the passage at 59:50

1:00:20 So visualize in the air above your head, green Tara, brilliant green in color like a forest. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:20 Highlight the passage at 1:00:20

1:00:32 She has long black hair that tumbles down her shoulders and she's wearing a crown and ornaments, silks, armbands, bracelets, anklets, so on. But remember that she's completely made of green light, so she's not solid like we are. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:32 Highlight the passage at 1:00:32

1:00:59 In her right hand, she's holding a blue hupala flower. This flower, they say, this flower blooms at night, and so it symbolizes her ability to protect us in times of great fear, when we feel really alone and afraid. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:59 Highlight the passage at 1:00:59

1:01:32 At night when we're alone, and also when our mind is just completely bathed in darkness. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:32 Highlight the passage at 1:01:32

1:01:44 Her left hand is in the mudrā of giving and Report an error in the passage at 1:01:44 Highlight the passage at 1:01:44

1:01:54 she sits with her right leg in front of the other as though she's about to jump up to help. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:54 Highlight the passage at 1:01:54

1:02:01 She's seated on a lotus which is also made of light and Report an error in the passage at 1:02:01 Highlight the passage at 1:02:01

1:02:09 her face is completely serene and happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:09 Highlight the passage at 1:02:09

1:02:16 And if all of this feels like too much, just imagine that this energy of action is in the form of this green light right at the top of your head. So you can even imagine like a sphere of green light and that's fine. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:16 Highlight the passage at 1:02:16

1:02:35 And remember, too, to see her as completely one with your teacher's energy. So if your teacher is, for example, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, you can imagine His Holiness' energy and Tara's energy as being completely one. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:35 Highlight the passage at 1:02:35

1:03:02 And then just take a moment to ask her to help you clear through any obstacles that you have in your life right now, in your practice, in your study, in your work, in your life, in any form. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:02 Highlight the passage at 1:03:02

1:03:18 Just ask for her blessings. Ask her to help you remove any obstacles at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:18 Highlight the passage at 1:03:18

1:03:34 And imagine that she happily agrees because she always does. They always do. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:34 Highlight the passage at 1:03:34

1:03:44 And imagine that her response is to send all this brilliant green light energy dissolving all your blocks, all your confusion, all your negative states of mind. Imagine it just fills you up. Every laziness. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:44 Highlight the passage at 1:03:44

1:04:04 Whatever kinds of minds keep you from becoming who you really are. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:04 Highlight the passage at 1:04:04

1:04:15 And imagine this light pours through you until, as Lamia, she always says, you're clean, clear, like crystal. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:15 Highlight the passage at 1:04:15

1:04:47 And then imagine that she's completely happy with you and that she shrinks to the size of a tiny green bird's egg. And Report an error in the passage at 1:04:47 Highlight the passage at 1:04:47

1:05:03 then she dissolves into light and energy into you, coming down through your central channel. Into your heart chakra. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:03 Highlight the passage at 1:05:03

1:05:17 Where this energy of you, your teacher and Tara become completely one. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:17 Highlight the passage at 1:05:17

1:05:29 And just focus on this experience. This union. And Report an error in the passage at 1:05:29 Highlight the passage at 1:05:29

1:05:50 imagine your body dissolving. We use the inner visions that we did with the meditation that we worked on this week. Just beginning first with that shimmery blue mirage. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:50 Highlight the passage at 1:05:50

1:06:07 And then the smoke like a stick of incense filling a room. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:07 Highlight the passage at 1:06:07

1:06:16 And then within that smoke sparks, Report an error in the passage at 1:06:16 Highlight the passage at 1:06:16

1:06:25 and a flame or flickering light at the base of a well, and Report an error in the passage at 1:06:25 Highlight the passage at 1:06:25

1:06:37 a vast clear light pervaded by white light, and Report an error in the passage at 1:06:37 Highlight the passage at 1:06:37

1:06:46 a vast clear sky pervaded by red light, and Report an error in the passage at 1:06:46 Highlight the passage at 1:06:46

1:06:56 a vast clear sky pervaded by darkness, like night coming on fast. A Report an error in the passage at 1:06:56 Highlight the passage at 1:06:56

1:07:10 new experience, like a swoon or faint. Your Report an error in the passage at 1:07:10 Highlight the passage at 1:07:10

1:07:16 next experience is... Your own clear light nature of mind, Report an error in the passage at 1:07:16 Highlight the passage at 1:07:16

1:07:26 like the clear light of dawn and an autumn sky in the Himalayas. And Report an error in the passage at 1:07:26 Highlight the passage at 1:07:26

1:07:39 that's the nature of who you really are. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:39 Highlight the passage at 1:07:39

1:07:48 So just let go. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:48 Highlight the passage at 1:07:48

1:08:03 Distractions begin to arise. You just find your way back through the visions, experiencing a clear sky pervaded by darkness and then a vast clear sky pervaded by red light. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:03 Highlight the passage at 1:08:03

1:08:23 Then a vast clear sky pervaded by white light like moonlight. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:23 Highlight the passage at 1:08:23

1:08:32 Then a flickering candle about to go out or like a moon in water at the base of a very deep well. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:32 Highlight the passage at 1:08:32

1:08:52 Then sparks within smoke. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:52 Highlight the passage at 1:08:52

1:09:01 Then just the smoke. Then Report an error in the passage at 1:09:01 Highlight the passage at 1:09:01

1:09:08 the shimmery blue mirage. Then Report an error in the passage at 1:09:08 Highlight the passage at 1:09:08

1:09:16 you find yourself back in your own body, in your own cushion, in your own chair. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:16 Highlight the passage at 1:09:16

1:09:25 But now this body is this manifestation of your wisdom and compassion and of this wish to help all others. You have Tara in your heart and in your mind. So Report an error in the passage at 1:09:25 Highlight the passage at 1:09:25

1:09:46 rest in this state of union with Tara and your teacher and your own wisdom for as long as you can. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:46 Highlight the passage at 1:09:46

1:10:07 What would it feel like to be able to arise as Tara right now with all her wisdom and compassion and capacity to help others? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:07 Highlight the passage at 1:10:07

1:10:20 What would it feel like to be able to help all living beings and have the ability to do so? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:20 Highlight the passage at 1:10:20

1:10:32 Imagine what this would feel like. And Report an error in the passage at 1:10:32 Highlight the passage at 1:10:32

1:10:49 we dedicate this class and this little taste of energy of tantra to each of us being able to find perfect tantric masters when we're ready and be able to take this path all the way to full enlightenment so that we have the perfect capacity to be able to help all living beings without exception. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:49 Highlight the passage at 1:10:49

1:11:20 And we especially dedicate it to Max, that he has a perfect rebirth as quickly as possible, if he hasn't already, and that he's able to meet the Dharma and his perfect teachers. Thank Report an error in the passage at 1:11:20 Highlight the passage at 1:11:20

1:11:42 you. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:42 Highlight the passage at 1:11:42

1:11:47 So, here's, I'm going to hand this to you if you just want to pass it back. Are you in a hand? Yeah. She's like Tara, that foot's coming forward. It's the right foot, though, actually. Ha, ha, ha. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:47 Highlight the passage at 1:11:47

1:12:01 If anybody has any questions, you can go ahead and ask, but I just wanted to be able to dedicate so people who do have to leave feel okay about leaving. So Saturday, 1030, those of you that are coming, and we'll do some more. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:01 Highlight the passage at 1:12:01

1:12:30 And if anybody has a moment. Oh, I also wanted to make an announcement. So we might have seen some flyers out front, and if you're on our list, you might have seen. Thank you. You might have seen the announcement that went out about this day-long celebration of peace, but in honor of the commemoration of September 11th, which will be on September 11th, which is a Sunday this year. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:30 Highlight the passage at 1:12:30

1:12:58 It's the 10th anniversary of September 11th. And so we have all sorts of things that will be happening. It will be a good day if you want to bring a friend maybe who's not so familiar with Buddhism because it will be very accessible. We'll have a lot of things happening in here practice-wise, meditation, time for Q &A, things like that. But also in the bookstore we'll just have food. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:58 Highlight the passage at 1:12:58

1:13:22 Things to buy and little films playing and things like that. So it will be accessible if people don't really want to do those practices. They can still come and experience the center and have some nice imprints without having anything too woo-woo. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:22 Highlight the passage at 1:13:22

1:13:43 Yeah, so the next DB program will start over and the next class will be starting on the mind. So we're going to do five weeks on the mind and its potential. And I'll be teaching that. And that starts on the 8th of September. I know. Where? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:43 Highlight the passage at 1:13:43

1:14:05 And then following that one, we'll have How to Meditate with Venerable Carol. So she'll teach the next one, yeah. And that one starts on October 20th. Good. Thank you. Thank you. Good night. Christine, do you want this? We get a lot more in these notes than we did in class. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:05 Highlight the passage at 1:14:05

1:14:45 Sure, if you email me, I can send you, so I sent you the first three, right? Yeah, and they're so wonderful. It's a lot more than I can actually say. They have great intentions. You never know, sometimes I get through more than others. Yeah, they're excellent. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:45 Highlight the passage at 1:14:45