← Lobsang Chokyi

Discovering Buddhism - Establishing A Daily Practice (24 January 2013)

Lobsang Chokyi · 24 January 2013 · 1 h 46 min · Tse Chen Ling via Internet Archive

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  • 4:45

    I like to listen to the teachings without actually doing the second step. They usually say there's three steps. This is sort of the traditional way that it's taught. In fact, Geshe-la was just talking about this. Listening to the teachings, contemplating those teachings, and then meditating on those teachings. And we tend to leave out two and three. We just listen to more and more and more and more in our culture, traditionally, just because they're available.

  • 9:57

    This one is, practice is the moment-to-moment working with everything you've got as best as you can and try to create consistency. Practice is the moment-to-moment working with everything you've got as best as you can.

  • 55:50

    Adopting the meditation posture, which is the third step, so that's where we're going to sit and do, sometimes it's taught as seven point posture, sometimes eight point posture, sometimes you hear it called Vajra posture, there's different, full lotus, sometimes you'll hear it, there's different terms for it. Usually it's taught seven, I learned it eight, the eighth is your breath. So that's the one. It's all physical. It's much more physical. And then the breath is the eighth point, which is very important.

  • 1:18:50

    So this one is the physical and this one is the mental. This is also where we might set a motivation for our meditation. That came up in the last class. Where do we motivate? I would do it after you're in the position, after you've attained the posture. It depends on how difficult your posture is.

  • 1:37:14

    You're basically wanting all sentient beings to have what they need. That's a simple way of putting it. It's equanimity, which is basically just an even mind towards whatever is happening around you. Happiness, which as we started out the class tonight, everybody wants happiness. Everyone wants to be free from suffering, which is the third one. And then the final one is that everyone has this sort of

0:03 I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error

0:31 I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. One of my teachers said that the reason that we say it three times is that we might actually. Report an error

0:49 Think about what we're saying one of the times. For me, it's usually the last one. It's like, oh yeah, right? Oh yeah, I want to do that. Okay, yeah, that sounds good. Okay, and then we'll do the prayer on page eight, generating the mind of enlightenment. With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Report an error

1:16 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

1:41 Okay. Report an error

1:46 I know I was supposed to print. I know you for sure, Tammy, wanted some hard copies and I didn't get them done. So I'm sorry. I'm immediately starting out with my mea culpa, mea culpa. Report an error

1:58 I also have another, I want to include Jenna and Russ on our roster, so maybe Jenna, if you want to take this, do you have a, okay, so maybe, Report an error

2:14 and then I, what I did last week is I just sent out all of the material in one group email, which should have also helped me create the, Report an error

2:29 and then, so I can, I'll do the same for Jenna and I'll send you, Report an error

2:37 and then, Report an error

2:41 and I think at this point, I think the, No, I think, Report an error

2:53 I don't know Russ, Jenna Woodlinders, but I'm just going to have you note next to on this little list that will coming up the outer aisle. Come on down, come on down. Maybe to go ahead and just mark on the empty side so it doesn't get lost with all the others. If you want a physical copy or PDFs work for you for those so that I can just remember. Report an error

3:24 I'll still send it to you as a PDF because that way I know you have it and then I'll do my best. Report an error

3:34 So do we have any questions after week one? Do you want to hand the mic? Sorry, I know I gave you two assignments there. I know. First of all, this is Jenna and this is Ross. Welcome, you guys. I had mentioned Jenna last, I think. Report an error

3:59 Jenna's going to be the TA, I guess, the teacher's assistant, the volunteer for the evening. And may continue on Thursdays too. And I had mentioned last week that she did do the November course at Kopana, so maybe if we have time at the end, tap you. Pop quiz. Oral presentation. Actually, this is all for you. Report an error

4:24 Anyway, go ahead. Report an error

4:31 Listening to teachings hardening your heart. Report an error

4:38 Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because we have a tendency, I think, in our culture to listen to things over and over. I like to listen to the teachings without actually doing the second step. They usually say there's three steps. This is sort of the traditional way that it's taught. In fact, Geshe-la was just talking about this. Report an error

5:00 Listening to the teachings, contemplating those teachings, and then meditating on those teachings. And we tend to leave out two and three. We just listen to more and more and more and more in our culture, traditionally, just because they're available. We can watch them online sometimes on YouTube. We can buy them, you know. Some Dharma centers sell them. And, you know, I'm as guilty as the next person I will listen to them. Report an error

5:28 But we skip the next two steps. And so they just stay surface. So they tend to stay surface. And so they don't put in roots. You know, so it's sort of like we just keep throwing more and more seeds onto the garden. I think we're using the garden analogy. Report an error

5:44 And it just never, we never water it with the contemplation. We never, you know, add any manure. How far do we want to go with this analogy? Report an error

5:55 We don't, yeah, any kind of fertilizer. And manure works better than anything else. We don't turn the soil, you know. So it just kind of just stays there. And, you know, sometimes due to karma, teachings will take root really fast. You know, so sometimes we'll... Thank you. Thank you. Report an error

6:11 We'll hear something and it's like, oh my god, it suddenly means something to me. But not everything will do that. That's just karma ripening. And so it doesn't necessarily mean that you're any wiser than your neighbor. It just means you have particular karma with the teaching, for example, bodhicitta or death and impermanence or something like that. Report an error

6:32 And so that one you are contemplating and it is going deeper again in this lifetime because you already have some, it's kind of juicy. Some of the other ones are going to just take a little more effort because you don't have that karma with them. They say that if we don't do those second two steps, then they just stay kind of on the surface and then our heart gets harder instead of softer, just listening to them over and over and over again. Report an error

7:02 I guess it remains to be tested. The Buddha and all great teachers I've ever heard since always say, I mean, His Holiness always ends with this, if what I say, you know, helps, then take it and leave it. So it just sort of, it's our responsibility. Report an error

7:28 Test it like a, you know, Geshe-la says we spend more time testing or checking up on like a car or a computer than we, Report an error

7:46 days, week. Report an error

7:50 So it's the same way. We're purchasing with our mind. Report an error

7:59 Doing all three, taking time. Report an error

8:04 Anybody else? Or any comments about it? Anybody try the homework and have anything? Report an error

8:17 I'm not one of those teachers. Jenna? Report an error

8:24 It does keep you on the edge of your seats, actually, but I've just never been one of those teachers because I've always hated when somebody does that. Chokyi? Did you do? How did it go with you? No, it's okay. I won't do that. Report an error

8:40 Anybody? Or anything just come off that's puzzling? You can always ask. Report an error

8:50 I did notice that I forgot in all my blathering last week, I actually forgot to talk about what practice really is. They're the key thing. Report an error

9:01 And of course there's no one answer. It's just I'm presenting it sort of using various quotes that I think are useful. You might find a quote that really works for you in the same way. Report an error

9:15 There are some things that are really precisely defined in Buddhism, and I actually really like that. It's a little scientific in that way. So don't assume when we use a word, for example, like refuge or mindfulness or karma, that it's something that you already use in English, that you already have some sort of a definition. Report an error

9:37 Wait and hear the definition because it's often different than you're expecting, and it makes a big difference for how it's being used. But practice, I've never heard a formal definition, and so a friend of mine gave this definition, and I liked it, and then also I think I mentioned Ben Rubinas, but I'll say it again. Report an error

9:57 This one is, practice is the moment-to-moment working with everything you've got as best as you can and try to create consistency. Report an error

10:08 Practice is the moment-to-moment working with everything you've got as best as you can. And try to create consistency. I would also add, don't be hard on yourself. Or if the opposite, if you need to push yourself, push yourself. I tend to be hard on myself and so I have to add that extra thing because we are none of us already Buddhas, oh surprise, so we're not perfect. Report an error

10:38 And that's another reason why we use the term practice. So it's to use... We listen to these teachings, we contemplate them, we think about them, we eventually meditate on them. And then when things come up, whatever that thing may be or whatever those things may be or whatever that experience may be or whatever difficult or challenging situation comes up, it's sort of like you then hope that through all of this study and meditation and contemplation, something will come up that is useful to you. Report an error

11:14 I like to think of Tibetan Buddhism, I think especially Tibetan Buddhism for me. But these classes, and this class in particular, is sort of like a toolbox. Or maybe you already have the toolbox. Maybe your body is the toolbox, your mind is the toolbox. And then I'm giving you tools to put in your toolbox. But you don't have to use every single thing in the workshop. Report an error

11:35 So tonight, especially when we're going through the various elements of formal practice. It can be like, oh my god, you know, I can't do that. Think of it more like tools. And you'll spend a little time with each tool getting used to it. Like you would never just purchase a whole toolbox and use it all the first night. Probably. I wouldn't. I don't think. Some of them are going to be a little more difficult to use, right? Report an error

12:03 And some of them are going to be easier, again, according to karma. And so the same is true in Buddhist practice. As we study... Especially as we do the various classes in Discovering Buddhism, you'll grab onto things and things will make sense to you. And then other things won't, and I would just say shelve them until you need them or until you understand them. Rather than rejecting them, I'm never going to use that one. Report an error

12:40 Just shelve it because the next time around it might mean something to you because your life experience has changed. Because your mind has changed, because you received some teaching on it that made sense, you know, or something like that. So eventually this stuff makes sense. And with the lamrim, remember, it's more like a spiral. It's not so much that we study the whole lamrim and then we move on. It's more like we just keep going around and around. Report an error

13:08 And so the second time around, the third time around, something might jump out at you and become useful to you as a tool. And that's really how it's... It works. So it's not a one tool fixes everything. It's more like you get a whole bunch of things and you'll play with them. And you'll have your own personal experience and that experience changes. Report an error

13:35 Plus this or whether or not you lost your job or whether or not you got sick or whatever. Things change. Report an error

13:45 So it requires us to both be patient with ourselves and the process. And it also sometimes requires us to push. You know, so there are times that we can get lazy, and so then we kind of push a little bit in our practice. And there are times when we have to be just patient and accept and be gentle. And both of those are valid, and they can change. And you're the judge of that. Like, nobody from the outside can say, you know, oh, Lisa needs to push, because I don't know what's going on in her life or her mind. Report an error

14:19 You know, I'm not clairvoyant at this point. Maybe one day. And certain teachers will kind of suddenly in the middle of class kind of give you a certain look and you're like, that definitely won't happen in here. Usually with me it's low blood sugar, it's not any kind of clairvoyance. Report an error

14:39 But sometimes we have to, it's a balance and our practice becomes a learning that balance and what to do, what we need to do in any given time. Report an error

14:51 What I like about that quote is, practices moment to moment working with everything you've got as best as you can and try to create consistency, is that it embodies both the formal and the informal, and this class is about both. Report an error

15:06 And then remembering that both formal and informal are just tools. They're just tools for working with mind. Everything in Tibetan Buddhism, no matter how physical, you know, like with prostrations or the Nunye retreats, Purification retreats, water bowls, even tonka painting. It's all about working with our minds. Like it looks different. Report an error

15:32 It looks something, you know, it's kind of like out there in terms of Western approaches of working with our minds. But they were all practices created to work with our minds. So practice is really just, it's not anything other than that. So Venerovina always just says, practice simply means changing your mind. Report an error

15:55 Practice simply means changing your mind. And she often gives the analogy of the gardening and, you know, with gardening, anybody in here a gardener? Yeah. You aren't surprised when a rose bush jumps up if you planted it, right? It's more surprising if it jumps up and you haven't planted it. You also aren't surprised if the weeds go crazy if you haven't done anything to remove the weeds. So it's a lot like that. I mean, it's like gardening in terms of, like, taking out what we don't want. Report an error

16:27 And putting in what we do and tending to or taking care of or encouraging those things that we really, really want. And eventually sort of also, if not at the beginning, having some sort of vision for the whole thing, right? So that's kind of stepping back and having motivation for doing it. So gardening is a lot like this daily practice. And we can get caught up in all of the formal aspects of it. Report an error

16:58 But it really is just about encouraging what we want and getting rid of what we don't and learning the different tools to do that. And meditation is one of the tools to do that. Report an error

17:11 Purification practices, which we'll talk about in the last class, is just a method to do that. Setting up an altar is a method to do that. So they're just methods to work on our mind. If we forget our mind in the practice, mindfulness simply means in this tradition, Bringing our mind to what we're doing. So it's not so much like exaggerating pouring the tea, it's more about being present while you pour the tea, being present while you set up the altar, being present while you do the prostration, being present while you actually meditate, which is an easy one to not be present for. Report an error

17:53 That's not, then it won't be a way to work on your, you know, so we can, we can. Look like we're doing a formal practice and not a bit of it is really practice if our mind is off in Bali somewhere, right? Or planning our next vacation or when we're going to do our next workshop or whatever, you know, and it's easy to do. Report an error

18:11 Or just thinking about the next meal, forget, you know, Bali. If the mind isn't present with what we're doing, then it stops being present. And so we have to constantly be checking in whether our mind is there and if it's not, bring it back. I remember one time at a... I think it was just at a day-long workshop with Venerabina, and she led us in a meditation, and she just kept saying, bring the mind back, like suddenly. Report an error

18:41 It was like every couple of seconds or every couple of minutes, and it was always when my mind was off too. It was like perfectly timed. Bring the mind back in that voice. You'd be like, oh God, okay. Bring the mind back, okay. So it's kind of like we have to become that. Bring the mind back, but you're doing it for yourself kind of like. Report an error

18:59 Just bring it back, you know, not with anger, not with frustration, not with wanting it to be any different than it is, but with the vigilance and awareness that it's happening. Report an error

19:14 But keeping the mind on what we're doing is the whole game. It's not even part of the game. If you are mindful and you're on the 22, that's better practice than having the most ornate, you know, formal practice that you can have. Having the biggest altar in the world. If you're like, and when I say the 22, the bus, I'm sorry, that's my bus and it's been my bus probably for 15 years and it's sort of like that's one of my practices is the 22. Report an error

19:45 But it could be the two, it could be 280, right? It could be looking for parking. If you're mindful, then you're also more likely to catch it when your mind goes off, whether it's doing water bowls or whether it's looking for the parking place. And begins to get upset, and then you begin to yell, and then you act on that being upset, blah, blah, blah. So mindfulness is really just a tool also to keep us present. Report an error

20:12 And when we're present, we're more likely to catch it when our mind begins to do things that maybe are not. Report an error

20:23 So slowly, slowly. So tonight and next week, we're going to focus more on setting up a formal meditation session, especially tonight. But next week, talking a little bit more about the object. The meditation, what are we going to meditate on? Once we've done all this, once we've set the stage, now what the hell? It's like we've done everything, now it's like, oh god, that's a lot of pressure. Report an error

20:49 But it's fun, that'll be more on lamrim, and then that's classes two and three. Class four is kind of what we do off the cushion. In Tibetan Buddhism they talk a lot about post. Report an error

21:04 Meditation and post-meditation, and post-meditation is the other 23 and a half hours of every day. So there's a lot to do post-meditation, especially if you are a student of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who is my main teacher. Everything can be made into a mindfulness exercise. And then class... Five is talking more about what happens when you're hitting obstacles or snags in your practice, and you need to do things to either create the cause for success karmically, and there are certain practices to do, and then also what do you need to do to clear those obstacles, and those are purification practices. Report an error

21:43 So we'll talk about that. And then in class six, we're sort of bringing it all together. So that's kind of, I meant to do that, and I'm not sure if I did that last time. So I threw that in. Report an error

21:55 So these teachings, especially about the formal meditation practice, come directly from Vavanka Rinpoche's Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, or Liberation in Your Hands, which is mentioned as required reading for those people who are doing the program for credit to get that little certificate. Report an error

22:19 And he goes into really, In-depth instructions in there. I remember the first time I read those instructions basically going into fetal and rocking because it's just like, oh my god, you know, how can I do all of this? It just seems so incredible, the depth. It's important to remember that he was teaching to a mostly monastic audience, and it was a big audience, actually, because that tells you a little bit about what Tibet was like in 1921, but it's people who had basically Given their life to the Dharma. So they had full days to do all of this. So it's important to remember that. Report an error

22:58 In here, I'll present things to you from the ideal standpoint, and then we'll talk about maybe how can we reduce it a little bit so that you can actually go to work or have a family, see your child occasionally, or partner occasionally. Report an error

23:19 So... So start out simply and then gradually or occasionally add a little bit more, you know, things like that. And all of it can be done that way. There's no expectation that you're going to be able to do these, you know, five-hour sessions before you go to work and so on. In retreat, you can play with that because you actually have time. Report an error

23:42 It's like, oh, maybe I'll try that. Thinking about refuge a little bit more, you know, or maybe I have some time on a Sunday morning and the house is empty, you know, or something like that. And that's always really cool to do because with us, first of all, we have to even get familiar with this stuff. Report an error

23:57 Like that's the first step, is just like looking through it all and just getting familiar with some of the terms, which might sound different than you're used to, or the idea, like bringing up Shakyamuni Buddha, you know, as a... Golden being of light? Like what the heck's that? So it's sort of like first just give yourself time to get familiar with it. Report an error

24:20 And then as you get familiar with it, then you can kind of work with it a little bit more in meditation. And it takes time. I mean, if we were going to practice the piano, we would assume it was going to take some time. We think we have to practice every day a little bit, a certain amount of time every day. We'd be patient with ourselves if we weren't fantastic immediately. Report an error

24:39 But for some reason, and the same is true for athletics, right? If we were going to race, if we were going to run somewhere, we would figure it was going to take a little time. I can guarantee you it would take me a little time to practice and to build the muscles in your legs and to not damage anything if you suddenly took off. Report an error

25:00 But we don't do that for some reason with our spiritual practice. We think that we're going to just immediately be fantastic. Report an error

25:08 And something's wrong with me if I'm not. Or something's wrong with it, with the whole practice if I'm not. So think about it more like you're taking up a sport or going to a gym, you know, so it's going to take some time, or taking up something like, you know, piano, where it's just going to take a little bit of effort each day and then you'll see improvement. Report an error

25:30 And you do see improvement. And if you check your mind after a year and you don't see any improvement, then, you know. That's another issue. Call me. But if you do put a little bit of effort into it each time. Report an error

25:49 If you do put a little bit of effort. Hey Anna, come on in. You can sit in the front. Report an error

25:54 Even just a little bit of effort into it on either daily or every other day or, you know, weekly basis and do attend some classes and do take the time to think about them outside and do take the time to try to apply them when life goes bluey, which it will, then you will see some improvement. Because it's all working with your mind. So you will see some improvement. It's just like doing those scales, you know, which we are hearing. Report an error

26:24 My little prop. Thanks, guys. You can stop now. Yeah, so just remember that Pabanka Rinpoche was teaching to a mostly monastic audience and that this all takes time and that we go gradually and that if our expectations are too high, then our sense of Report an error

26:56 mentioning the visualization of Shakyamuni Buddha, since it's a big one in here, that is our merit field. That's our entire merit field thing for this class. So last week we did a visualization and that was part of the homework. It's just that visualization, a simple visualization of Shakyamuni Buddha where he's just in front of you and he's made of light. And I know when you first start that may just be a blob. Report an error

27:21 It's like a gold. That's actually good. That's not a good night. It's a gold blob. That's totally fine. Like don't feel like I'm a failure because I don't have a... Report an error

27:37 It is jaunty though, isn't it? It's like, bring your mind back. That's our version of bring your mind back. It does be, it sounds very like nautical. Report an error

27:52 Anyway, so starting with visualization meditations, if you're not familiar with them, just like any other kind of meditation, it takes time. And so we just kind of, we try to, you know, when I was, Leading you in that, I sort of gave you the highlights of it. You imagine him seated, you imagine him in the robes, you imagine him this and that, and you imagine him in me. Report an error

28:17 Like I said, if you just have like a blob line, because then that just becomes your object, just know that it's him. Then let it go. Because otherwise you're spending the whole rest of the time trying to get it clear. And they actually say it's better just to let it go and just know that this blob of golden light is Shakyamuni Buddha. Report an error

28:36 And then gradually it actually does begin to fill in. You know, it sort of almost matters. But it's our mind relaxing that allows it to fill in. It's not our mind working really, really hard to try to fill it in. So just, you know, just like know that, set it up and know that he's there and then let go. This came up, I remember, for my first longer retreat, a three-month retreat at Tushita in Dharamsala for Vajrasattva. Report an error

29:05 It's a purification. And you try so hard to get this image clear. Well, that's not the point. The practice is just to purify yourself. We were all working really hard at that too. We were a hard working group. And that's not the point. The point is to just trust the practice and let it go. You know, you just trust the practice. You set it up, do the best you can to set it up. Occasionally bring it back. Report an error

29:31 You know, bring the mind back. Because you're wandering Report an error

29:37 here. Bring the mind back. Okay, right. You don't have to work so hard at what his hands are holding or what color he is or whether his eyes are open or closed. White blob, know he's there, he's sending down loads of nectar. And it was like such a relief when somebody finally, who was a Lama Yeshi student, who was just so laid back. Report an error

30:06 He was just like, no, no, no, no, because we're all like with our notebooks, you know. He's just like, just set it up and then just sit back and see what's on the mind today because there's something on the mind. It's like a TV, you know, just click it on and there's the mind and you'll just see it and all of it will just get purified. Report an error

30:23 And it was just such a relief because we tend to get tight, or I do, type A personalities in the room. We get tight, tight, tight, tight, tight. And actually it's the relaxing of the body and the mind within reason. Relaxing of the body and mind that then allows details to begin to arise on whoever it is that you're visualizing. Report an error

30:47 So Shakyamuni's eyes suddenly will come in or his hands or whatever. And you can also just focus on the eyes or the hands. Report an error

30:56 So I mentioned that because that's one of the basic, I used to bring that up when we would do, for the drop-in meditation, when we would do visualization meditations just to make people feel a little bit better because you can try really, really hard to get it clear. The main thing is actually to build some stability with the mind first and the clarity comes later. And that's actually one of the strongest teachings in the calm abiding teachings is not to try too hard. Report an error

31:28 We try first for the stability. Stability comes with just sitting. Just sitting at that piano, just sitting on our cushion. The more we do it, the better we get. Report an error

31:46 Tonight we're going to go through the six preparatory practices. These are the practices that we are supposed to do before we sit, every time we sit. Geshe-la just taught these last fall, so some people may have attended when Geshe-la was teaching these on Sunday. Also, if you did the How to Meditate module with Venerable Carol, she probably talked about these, and I may phrase them slightly differently, etc., etc. Report an error

32:15 Because it's a lot of lists, this is the class that has the worst amount of lists, the Galukpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism is sort of known for our many, many, many lists. We have many lists, and then we have sub-lists, and then we have sub-lists. If you're doing the lamrim class with Geshe-la on Wednesday nights, it's like this huge outline that has A, B, C, and then C has three, and then the first of C has four more, and then it's sort of like this huge. Report an error

32:45 And I think part of it was because most Tibetans were not literate, and so they memorized everything. Lists actually are easier to memorize. You know you've got all seven parts, right? If you know there's seven and then you just sort of memorize those seven and then the first one has three. And so I think that's part of what it is. It was a very monastic tradition. Huge university environments which have now transplanted to India and they still do that. Report an error

33:15 But of course I think their memories are just like ours, not as good because we have computers and now we can all write and so we write things down. But I think that was part of That's the reason that we have all the lists. Anyway, I decided to try to do a visual presentation. And then I'm going to also hand you exactly what's on there so that you have either way. Report an error

33:37 Because I didn't have big enough paper, so probably only the first couple of rows can see it. So I just wrote the same things on the paper so you can kind of look. This is like the short version so that then we'll talk about each item, but it's a little bit more visual than just blah, blah, blah, blah, and you guys going into a... Report an error

33:54 So maybe, do you want to do, yeah? And you'll get more detail about this in your homework tonight or for this week as well. But I just did the short version so it's not quite as overwhelming. Are you ready, Vanna? All right. She didn't know to wear her like, you know, high heels. Report an error

34:16 But she can do the poses, yeah. So. These are the six preparatory practices and we will go through them item by item. And you can just sit because it's going to take us a while to go through. It's basically like the end of the class. This is the class actually. But you can flip it. The last two lines didn't fit on there. And so what I'll do is I think what I'll do is I'll present half of it and then we'll take a break and then we'll present the other half and then we'll ask questions. Report an error

34:49 We'll kind of do it like that if you don't mind holding questions. We'll see how much we can get covered. Share. I can send it out. I never know. Report an error

35:04 They're going to share. Who else? Did everybody get one? Report an error

35:12 Okay. You can look on, too. Can you see it? Oh, well done. She's well placed. You can see it. Yeah, the people in the front rows can actually give to the people in the back rows because it's the same information. And as I said, you'll get more. And if you'd like the cheat sheet. Because that is a nice cheat sheet. Once you're familiar with all the details, then it's just sort of like, oh yeah, this is what I'm supposed to do. Again, don't freak. Report an error

35:39 I say this very cautiously because I can easily freak. So I'm like the deer in the headlights. The ideas behind this are to help you move into your session slowly and mindfully, be present, sit in a position that's going to aid your... Your meditation and then set up your mind. See, this is setting up your body, this is setting up your mind and then meditating. It doesn't mean that it has to take you 17 hours to get to the point of the actual meditation, right? Report an error

36:10 Then you have to get up and get a cup of tea because it's been going on for so dang long. No, that's not the point. The point is just to keep you there. So we'll talk about ways. Well, first of all, the posture will get easier if you're not already familiar with it. That's not going to be like, you know. Report an error

36:28 Thinking it through because it'll become more natural. You'll know how to sit. You won't even have to think about it. Sort of like riding a bike or driving a car. When I first drove a car, I thought, how do people do this? You have to look over your shoulder before you get into that lane. I just thought, how on earth? I still remember that feeling. I was like 15, learning how to drive a car. Report an error

36:47 Of course, now it becomes part of your body, right? Sitting becomes the same way. The same with actually setting up the offerings. You don't want to do them by rote. Report an error

36:57 Says the guilty one in the room. You want to be present for them, but it doesn't have to take a billion years to do that, to set up your little bowls or your, you know, candy. It doesn't even have to be the whole formal setup. So as you become more familiar, and invoking the merit field, remember in this one? That's just the Buddha. We're easy out in this class, you know? Report an error

37:18 Some of the classes are like that. That's your merit field. And they actually, when... When Geshe-la describes that in a class, he actually, it's like His Holiness too, he just closes his eyes and just goes, and then he's right here, and then he's right here, and you're just like, wow. For me, it's like I've got a general idea, and none of them have any faces. But I kind of have bodies, there's bodies there, yeah. Report an error

37:45 And they, you know, like what they're holding and stuff is kind of there sometimes, you know. But yeah, no, when he describes it, he closes his eyes and he can actually. Report an error

37:56 And that's through practice, right? He's 80, so he's been doing this for a while, you know? It'll happen, next life maybe. And that probably happened too. He probably had many, many lifetimes as a monk to memorize all the stuff. So with us, Shakyamuni Buddha. Very simple. So let's go through them. Clean the place and set up the altar. This is one that gets forgotten a lot in the West. Report an error

38:22 We just plop down, right? We're like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. So it's not going to work that way. According to the traditional teachings, first of all, we have to set up an altar. First of all, let's back up a step. This is like A1 before. If you don't already have an altar, all you really need, we'll talk about more of the detail of what goes on the altar as we get to obtaining the offerings honestly, so you don't go out and steal them, right? Report an error

38:56 And arrange them beautifully. It's terrible that they have to actually say that. So we'll talk more about it, what goes on to an altar, what sort of the bare minimum is. But in our lives, few of us have an extra room in the house, right? I mean, San Francisco? I don't think so. You'd probably rent it if you did. I actually housed that right before I moved into Palmos in the last, and they're still in the process of moving, which is why I go. Report an error

39:25 I'm sort of always looking like bags under my eyes. But I house sat a lot over the past seven or eight months. The last house that I house sat for has this shrine room to die for. I mean, it is just, people came to visit me, but they were really visiting the shrine room. They really just wanted to see. It was an amazing shrine room. It's sort of like Tibetan Disneyland, you know, all in one room. Report an error

39:52 It's just like... Probably, I would say, and I don't think I'm exaggerating, but probably 100 to 200 statues of varying size and satsa, images of the Buddha, texts, thangkas throughout the world. Report an error

40:12 And then, like amazing offering, crystal, you know, a bunch of them. I was all happy when I got one. She's got them to represent the flowers on every, you know, every set of offerings. It's just amazing. So you just sort of sit there, like the first month. I was just like trying to do my prayers and I'd be like, and the cat too, even the cat, the cat would be like, you know. Report an error

40:42 But most of us don't have this in our daily lives. So you want to just pick some part of your room or even I did a closet one time. If you've got an extra closet, it kind of works if it's a walk-in closet. A corner, a windowsill even, you know, it doesn't have to be enormous. But some place that's your place to sit. Your little holy place. Report an error

41:13 Some place that you can do your work on your mind. If you share a room with somebody to let them know that I need to have this space for just X amount of time. I'm not going to be here for 15 hours, but I just need to have this time every day. If it's too much to have it in the bedroom and that person has different hours than you or whatever, You know, and they're shaving or something while you're trying to sit. Maybe pick a corner of the living room, you know, or a corner of the dining room or something like that. Report an error

41:43 I also house it for a friend who's one of our students, and he found, he just sort of carved out a little place in the garage. Actually, a couple students, Jessica does that too. There's like just a, they just made their little altar garage. Report an error

42:00 And it's very quiet, and on Report an error

42:05 David's case, he has like a big gate there so those don't come in. You know, some privacy. So just, you know what your space is like. You don't need it to be extensive or elaborate. You just need a place that you can sit and feel safe to sit for, you know, time. Report an error

42:27 The more elaborate, the better. If you have the time and you have the energy and you have a piece of furniture you can, you know, dedicate to being an altar, that's great. But it doesn't have to. And I'll try to give you like the maximum and the minimum. So... So you have your little area, and then you're going to make sure that it stays clean. This one, I'm sort of a pile magnet. Report an error

42:52 I'll be like, this book is good, and this book's kind of good, and I might want that book too. So then after a while you have like seven books. I haven't actually opened any of them except that one, so I'm just going to move them all back to the bookshelf. Just occasionally make sure that it's straightened. Report an error

43:08 Because it affects your mind. It totally affects your mind. If you're sitting in a really piled up, dusty area, your mind can't be clear. It can't be clear. You'll never get the gold blob to move into an image, you know, because your mind will be cluttered. And so we want to avoid, so cleaning up the place doesn't have to be this huge, you know, vacuuming thing. Report an error

43:29 It just is keeping it straightened, keeping, if you notice that there's dust on the pictures, you know, maybe dust it once a week. like that Report an error

43:43 Traditionally, in retreat, I actually do the sweeping of the area, and there's something really beautiful about sweeping the area, but a lot of us actually have carpet, and so that doesn't really work so well. You know when you get out the vacuum and then wake up the entire household, so it's kind of like more about keeping it straightened and keeping it neat for your mind. Report an error

44:03 So if you can kind of do that, and again, that can be two steps. and be like, I have like a little tiny cloth and I have like sort of a kuja table and just kind of arranging that, okay, you know, that's nice, you know, and then occasionally doing a little bit more straightening up the various things on the altar so they look nice. Report an error

44:21 If you have put offerings on the altar, changing them out when they get really rotten. You don't want to leave, and that should be obvious, but not so much. Sometimes people leave flowers on until they're, you know. Report an error

44:37 petrified. So that's part of cleaning it, actually. Setting up, oh I should mention too, there's this story in the Buddhist teachings, there is an old monk, some of you may have heard this story, there's an old monk who wasn't able to meditate at all, wasn't able to memorize any of the teachings at all, and so the Buddha put him on arranging the sandals in the courtyard of the other monks, and so he did that every day. Report an error

45:06 And gradually the Buddha actually had him start sweeping the courtyard. And he gave him a little mantra to say, dirt be gone, dust be gone. Dirt be gone, dust be gone. So he would just kind of work with that. Dirt be gone, dust be gone. And at some point he got it that he was really just cleaning his mind. And that monk became an arhat in one life. Report an error

45:27 He actually attained nirvāṇa in one life. So it can be a simple practice of cleaning. We look at it as like, We can bypass that one, right? I don't need to do that one. Well, it helps to prepare the mind to sit down. That's really what it's all about is just preparing the mind to sit, preparing the mind to do the next step. So cleaning the place and setting up the altar. Report an error

45:55 Setting up the altar, and we'll talk about this more in that workshop I had mentioned on the 16th of February, which I still need to put on the website, getting started. Report an error

46:06 Basic Buddhist rituals will spend a lot more time on setting up an altar and doing some of the traditional things like the water bowl practice and things like that. You don't have to do water bowls. Water bowls, you see them on the altar? Water bowls, traditionally they represent the various offerings that you would make if you had a kind of high visitor come to your house in ancient India. Report an error

46:32 And so it's like water for washing, you know, they just come, well, I guess drinking first, water for drinking, because they're dry, parched, they've been walking a long way, their feet are really dusty, so then you give them water for washing. You would traditionally give them a lei, kind of like a garland of marigolds, flowers, and then incense, and then you sort of incense and lead them to wherever, like we do with... Report an error

46:59 The teachers, when they arrive, we lead them, we sort of purify the space that they walk through. Light, and then, help me out, this is where we need Pictionary. Report an error

47:16 Oh, scent, so like scented oils, and then food, and so then you would serve them food, and then music, which is often represented not with a bowl. Report an error

47:31 Sometimes you'll see a set where there are actual representations of all those things, like you might see a flower bowl, you might see two sticks of incense. Report an error

47:48 For our altar, the barest minimum, the three basic components of it are having an image of the Buddha, an image representing the Dharma, and something representing the Saṅgha. Report an error

48:04 The image of the Buddha can be anything. It could be a postcard, a picture of the Buddha. It could also be a picture of a teacher that you have a really strong connection with, like His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It doesn't have to be one of these images of these various Buddhas unless you have a strong feeling for one. So sometimes we have stronger feelings for living human that represent that quality. Report an error

48:33 The text usually represents the Dharma or the speech or the realizations of the Buddha. I know for years I just had this little sort of traveling altar that I've done it again with the last few months, but you just sort of have like a little tiny text. I would be like one of those mini books, you know, with like His Holiness' little mini book or Thupten Chodron's little, or what's her name, Parama Chodron's little mini books. Report an error

49:02 That can be the Dharma. It doesn't have to be something really big. Sometimes you'll see a Tibetan text. Report an error

49:15 That goes on your left as you're facing the altar. So that's the Buddha's right. And then a stupa represents the mind of the Buddha. I'm sorry, I think I said the saṅgha, but it actually is the Buddha's body, speech and mind that we're representing on the altar. So a stupa represents the mind, the enlightened mind of the Buddha. Report an error

49:39 And this goes on as you face on your right. Report an error

49:50 My lovelies. Could you grab us? a couple stupas those two stupas we can pass them around that'll be show and tell it'll wake everybody up Report an error

50:04 So these are two different kinds of stupas. There is all of this information. Oh, that was really good. They do that in classes, right? They start them on two sides of the room. That's so good. You've been studying, haven't you? You've been practicing? Yeah. To us, they're kind of like, what the heck is it? Right? Report an error

50:22 But it's just, it's usually something that is filled with holy objects. If they're, you know, these are really miniature. Usually they're quite big and you see them in Tibet or India. They're often called, they might actually have relics in them. Sometimes they just have mantras or other holy or precious, precious objects in them. So then when we walk around them, then we gain merits. Report an error

50:53 That's the traditional teaching. In this case, because of how they are structured, all the details of every level is representing something. So that's to have one of these on your altar. Do you have to run out and buy a stupa? No. We are going to have an art workshop in here with a nun, Jampa Sangmo, who's going to come up and show us how to paint stupas according to Rinpoche's instructions. Report an error

51:22 And they'll look more like that one that he's holding right now, demonstrated by my other lovely assistant in the background. Report an error

51:32 And she'll probably be able to tell us more about stupas too. You can actually just get a picture. You can Google it. Image stupas and pick out one you like and print it and put that on your altar. It doesn't have to be an actual thing. Same with the Buddha. You could just like Google and find a nice picture of Shakyamuni Buddha or Tara or His Holiness and just take it on. Report an error

51:51 So you could do your whole altar with Google. Just don't publish it because you're running copyright things. But just to stick it on your altar is fine. And then the whole thing packs up really nicely, too, in case you're traveling. Obtaining the offerings honestly and arranging them beautifully just means putting something on that represents sort of this thought of, like, what would I give for this? Report an error

52:18 What would I give for these teachings? What would I give to actually have this wisdom or this compassion like you do? And so you're just making an offering. It can be an apple. It doesn't have to be all the bowls and remembering, but it's fun. That is kind of a neat thing to do. And they actually say that when you're doing the bowls, it helps your concentration so that when you sit, then your concentration is stronger, which makes sense, right? Report an error

52:41 You're trying to line them up. You're remembering what they mean and blah, blah, blah. But you can start with a truffle. You know, it doesn't have to be this whole elaborate thing. It can just be one nice, beautiful little thing that I got, and I'm just going to put it on there, and it's going to stay on until... Report an error

52:57 I take it off and offer it to somebody, which is even nicer than eating it yourself, actually. Getting something that you yourself have no thought that you'll ever get it. Get it and give it to somebody else because then that also helps that generosity in your heart. So whatever it is that you're offering, you don't want to steal the neighbor's flowers. Report an error

53:22 You don't They say it's free of being obtained by any of the five wrong livelihoods. So basically any way that may have caused harm to anyone. Report an error

53:39 You wouldn't want to put guns on your altar or probably not alcohol either like that. Unless you're going into the whole tantric thing. But that's a whole different story and that's like in a couple years. So just stay cool. Stay cool. But anyway, so the basic idea is keep it simple and keep it beautiful. So you remember what it's for. Report an error

54:05 You're not just sitting there meditating thinking, what is that truffle for? Why didn't I put it there? I forgot. It should be an offering from your heart with that thought of like, because the Buddhists don't need it, right? It's not like Santa. It's not like Santa's going to come and eat the cookies that you left. You're offering the cookies out of your own. Report an error

54:25 It's for you, really. All of this is really for your mind. They're happy if you're trying. They say that bodhisattvas are everywhere and that they are pleased by our efforts. But they aren't going to come and eat the cookies. They have much better cookies where they are. So it's really about us. And if we get the nicest cookie we can afford or make, then it's more about our heart and our mind. Report an error

54:53 So that's really what it's about. So keep it as simple as you'd like it to be and have it still mean something. And you can also make it as intricate as you'd like it to be and still mean something. It's like there's no right or wrong answer. It'll depend on your mind and your schedule on any given day. But once you know the water bowls and you decide you want to do the water bowls, it's a really sweet practice. Report an error

55:20 And again, believe me, I can do them in like three and a half minutes. I've got the tiniest water bowls in the universe, and I've got like this tiny, tiny little picture, and it's just like, I like incense them all the day before, so it just takes like no time at all. But yet, you can be present. So I am the queen of taking all of these things and trying to do them quickly, but also with some presence, with some meaning. Report an error

55:50 Adopting the meditation posture, which is the third step, so that's where we're going to sit and do, sometimes it's taught as seven point posture, sometimes eight point posture, sometimes you hear it called Vajra posture, there's different, full lotus, sometimes you'll hear it, there's different terms for it. Report an error

56:11 Usually it's taught seven, I learned it eight, the eighth is your breath. So that's the one. It's all physical. It's much more physical. And then the breath is the eighth point, which is very important. But the legs, like we talked about last time, the full lotus position is very hard when most of us meet the Dharma in our 20s or 30s or 40s or 50s. Report an error

56:38 And so the main thing is you want to sit in a position that your legs won't distract you. So how you sit is going to be part of the fun. It's figuring out how your body is part of the adventure of this game. Report an error

56:55 Most of us didn't grow up in cultures where we sit cross-legged all the time. The longer you do it, I can guarantee you, the better you'll get. That much I know, this much I know, that you do get better just like the piano player. You get better sitting. Report an error

57:15 And then we have accidents. I've torn my meniscus a couple times and then you have to figure out a different way to sit and then you can gradually go back to your old way or maybe not. And so it's an evolving thing too. Don't get too attached with any one way of sitting. I would also say to think a lot about your cushion. Report an error

57:39 Spend a lot of time, you know how Geshele said, we spend a lot of time thinking about our computers and our cars. Think about your cushion. That's a really, really important purchase, probably. And it doesn't have to be purchased, actually. You could just figure out how to make one with stuff at home. I would say try a bunch of your friends' cushions. Try cushions here. Report an error

58:00 I really, really, really like the buckwheat hull cushions because they kind of... When I bring mold to my body, I bring it everywhere. I have a travel set that I travel with because this one just weighs way too much to carry. But I bring it every time I come to the center. It's just I can sit on it and I've got hip and knee problems, you know, that wouldn't allow me to sit on a cotton cushion. Report an error

58:28 So if you find that these cotton cushions are hugely painful for you, you're not alone. I'm with you, sister and brother. I find them horribly painful, and some of them are just hard as a rock, and I'm like, who could ever? And then someone will come and be like, oh, this is my favorite cushion. It's a really subjective thing. Keep searching. If you think I cannot possibly sit, find a way, because there are ways that you can sit. Report an error

58:55 If you can't sit on the ground and you know you can't sit on the ground, sit in a chair. That's okay. There's nothing wrong with sitting in a chair. When I tore my meniscus at both of those times, I figured out that actually we have some stools that right now, Lama's using one as like a little side table. Report an error

59:12 They're from Ikea. They're perfect actually for sitting because the chair, I would tend to get a little comfy, you know, and I wasn't... Feeling my sits bones in the same way that I do in a cushion. Whereas with that, it was perfect for the height of my legs. And you can find one too, if you need it. But you're just sitting, so your feet are flat on the floor, your back is away from any back, and you're just trying to bring that same awareness that you can bring on the cushion. Report an error

59:43 For me, the cushion, there's like a certain level of awareness because you have to maintain. Your body, right? In the same way, whereas a chair, you can get a little too relaxed. So same, they say not leaning against the backs of walls or columns and things like that. You've got, you're keeping yourself upright. And there's a little bit of an effort to that, but not a, you know, sometimes you see people sitting and there's like, and so I've mentioned in your notes, your back should be extended, but not tight or stiff, you know? Report an error

1:00:17 And I was doing that one for a long time too, not like so exaggerated, but during one retreat with Venmo, Rene Foussi, who's an amazing meditation teacher, he really focused a lot on getting us to find that balance between having the mind be alert but relaxed, having the body be alert but relaxed. Because we want to be alert, but we don't want to be like... Report an error

1:00:45 So stiff and so tight that actually we're causing damage, you know, causing more tension in our shoulders or whatever. So I went straight, I skipped the hands. So the legs, but the legs are like the biggest one, I think. If you can find a position for your legs that works for even two minutes, it'll grow with you and that's okay. Report an error

1:01:07 And that's the hardest. The hands in this tradition are usually resting in the lap, right over left. Thumbs touching lightly. So like that. If that's, and then usually it's down here. If you're sitting in full lotus, it's up here, right? Because your feet are there. Your feet, you know, that's not my problem. So I often will, I have like a couple of shawls and I'll put them in my lap and that sort of brings it to more to the level that it traditionally would be. Report an error

1:01:35 But also notice it brings my arms away from my side, which in a really hot place, which San Francisco is not, It helps to have your arms away from your side. So that's mentioned in the text too. If that doesn't work for you, try it on your knees. Try it as many other places. I also have a friend who sits more like this. So you just try whatever works for your hands. Report an error

1:02:05 The traditional way of sitting, where our legs are crossed in full vajra and our hands are like that, It's all playing with the subtle level of channels and winds that are tantric, the tantric teachings on the inner body. So it's set up not to hurt us, although it feels like it. It's set up to actually create the perfect flow of all of our winds through our channels so that we can have meditation. Report an error

1:02:35 It's very interesting, but it doesn't always work for us now. We didn't grow up in this culture. We haven't been doing it since we're seven, and so we have to figure out ways to let it work for us. So don't freak if you can't sit cross-legged. You can make it work. I sit in what's called a Tara position, where the right leg is sort of, you know how we have Tara. Report an error

1:02:57 There's Tara. So Tara's right leg is a little bit in front of her left, and she's kind of like getting ready to get off the... Lotus, to help us. She's like the Buddha of action, enlightened action. So my right leg is in front of my left, so nothing is crossed, which means nothing goes to sleep, usually. Report an error

1:03:19 So it's a flatter sit, it's a wider sit, but it works for my body and hips. So you can find it, you can study them. They all are showing us different ways to sit. No, most of them are in full vaguer, actually. So just play with it. All of this stuff, I'll present it to you, but then you play with what works for you. The hands in the lap, the back being extended or straight, but not tight or stiff, like I just mentioned. Report an error

1:03:47 Sometimes you can kind of imagine, you hear sort of the analogy of the stack of coins. So imagining that your spine is like a stack of coins. You can also imagine that it's somebody else. It's almost like you're a puppet. If anybody's seen puppets and you're sort of... Being dangled by those strings. So you're not doing the effort anymore. It's like somebody else's, which kind of takes that shoulders level. Report an error

1:04:18 Sometimes in our culture we hold, I think because of all the computer work, we can hold a lot of tension in our shoulders. And that's why I mentioned that during the opening meditation, because that's where I hold all of mine. And you don't notice it until somebody goes, so if you have some tension in your shoulders, you're like, oh, yeah. Report an error

1:04:37 So just having them be level, like noticing if they're level, because sometimes it's like, this is the one you listen to on the phone, you know. Report an error

1:04:48 But back a little bit, I think it's, oh, Report an error

1:04:59 Wallace calls this the posture of vigilance. So it's like you're opening up your heart, you know, so it's like kind of a little bit back like that. But again, not like, you know, painfully. Report an error

1:05:11 Mouth and jaw are relaxed. Again, we hold a lot of tension in our mouth and our jaw. I'm going to meditate on this. So just bringing some awareness to those areas. They say tongue resting on the palate behind the front teeth. Well, that's where it naturally rests. But I do notice that sometimes when I'm meditating, for whatever reason, it's like the lips are closed in this tradition. But sometimes my mouth will be open. Report an error

1:05:40 Oddly, and then I'll be like, oh wait, lips, I mean the tongue is on the palate. So it's kind of like it brings that, you're breathing through the nose, so it brings that awareness back to that, you're breathing through the nose in a relaxed way. Report an error

1:05:55 The head is slightly, they say the head is slightly tilted forward, bringing a little bit of space to the back of the neck, which also helps the mind to be a little bit more awake. You want to play with this, because they say that if you're too far forward, you know you're going to nod off. If you're too far back, it actually brings more distraction to the mind. Report an error

1:06:20 So you'll have to play with it. It'll depend upon the person, and it is different for all of us. When I have the gaze, the gaze is talking about the eyes, and this one is often troublesome for people. you know. Report an error

1:06:34 A lot of people learn to meditate with their eyes closed, and learning to meditate with your eyes even just slightly open takes a long time. It took me about a year to meditate with my eyes open. And so it's not like imperative, but it does help the concentration, so it's good to work with it. But you could try doing it just maybe at the beginning or the end of the meditation, you know, just to practice it a little bit. Don't give up. Again, it's that idea of... Report an error

1:07:03 If it's not working for you at all right now because your life is too crazy, just know that you'll try it later. Don't stress on it. But basically the gaze is just a little bit off the end of your nose and then unfocused. So you're not focusing on the pattern on the rug. You're just letting your eyes kind of relax in a slightly open, just enough to let a little bit of light in because we can definitely get dreamy if we close our eyes. Report an error

1:07:31 When do we usually stop all sensory stimulation? We go to sleep, right? Because we're used to that. That's why closing the eyes can bring on more like kind of dreaminess. So we want to try to keep the eyes open just a little bit. And then the eighth one is the breath. Just bringing this, you know, you take a couple deep breaths, belly breaths even, to relax. Report an error

1:07:57 But then you're just allowing your breath to go to normal. And sometimes we'll do a concentration meditation on the breath, but you don't need to be like, you know, I'll hear sometimes in the drop-in meditations, I'll hear people breathing like really loudly. And because they're trying to focus on their breath, right? But you actually don't need to make it any louder. And certainly in a group environment, you don't want to make it any louder because it's hard enough to focus on our own breath without also focusing on yours. Report an error

1:08:27 The main thing is just to allow your breathing to come to natural, just not forcing it in or out in any way, because that will just stress you out. So you're just trying to allow your breathing to be natural and unforced. You're going to play with your room a little bit, so if you have a really dull mind, if you go more to sleepiness, then have it be a really bright room. Report an error

1:08:51 You might want to have even two, three lights on. It's not too much. I'm more of a distracted mind. I have the opposite. I can be dull, you know, if given a chance. But a distracted mind, actually, you can play with having it dark. In retreats, sometimes for the session that starts kind of after breakfast, like 9, 9.30, I'm ready to go to work, right? That's the time that I'm usually going to work. Report an error

1:09:18 So I'm really, like, my mind's like, yeah, you know? So first of all... I usually close all of the windows, like I pull the shades on all the windows in the cabin, you know, because I need it to feel like I'm not aware that the sun's risen and that it's time to go to work. So you play with that. You can also play with, you know, whether or not your mind is benefited by having a little bit to eat. Report an error

1:09:45 Say it's first thing in the morning, if you've got sort of a low blood sugar problem, a little bit to eat helps if you need a cup of tea. Before or after, probably not so great to have a lot of caffeine in your system, but some people need a little bit just to wake up, you know, so play with it. Also, you can kind of, I find it useful and when I'm teaching the how to meditate class, I usually ask people to keep a journal of their meditation for a few weeks and you'll see when it was more successful, kind of what you did, like when you went to bed. Report an error

1:10:22 How much sleep you got, what you ate. Like if you ate pizza the night before and you went to bed at midnight and then you got up at 6, maybe the session didn't work so well. Or maybe it did. And if so, then maybe you went up pizza every night and go to bed a minute. But just kind of noticing that. Is it better to take a shower before? I have also had friends who are kind of like me in terms of the distraction things. Report an error

1:10:43 What works the best for them is literally falling out of bed and onto the cushion. Like don't check your email. Don't. Don't do anything that's going to make your mind too lively. Just go straight to the meditation and then as the mind wakes up then you can do other practices and things like that. Report an error

1:11:01 So you'll just have to play with it. And like I said, there's no right or wrong answer. It's just you getting to know your mind. So let's take a break. We may not finish this tonight. I can already guarantee that we probably won't. But let's just take like a five minute break if people are okay with that. And then we'll come back and try to do a couple more. Report an error

1:11:25 go? There you go. You missed the Pictionary. We did that part first. Report an error

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1:12:01 I don't know what happened to that other. Okay. I don't know, but she should have. Jenna, do you have the other, just sort of, how do I want? Report an error

1:12:17 As well you should be. So Russ just put a little PDF okay, meaning I can just send him everything electronically. Are you okay with that or would you prefer a hard copy of anything? Okay. Okay. So I'll just send it out to you guys. Yes. Sure. You can talk off. Whenever Report an error

· · ·

1:14:02 I try to cut and paste any of this stuff. It's like word just goes crazy with these lists and they, it just can't get like, it keeps changing like the numbers to letters and all this stuff so I don't know. I have these daily battles with, Report an error

1:14:25 oh it just so does. And it's trying to like help, I can tell it's trying to help and it's like it's so not helping right now. It just hurts, yeah it's painful. Report an error

1:14:42 It's terrible if it's like during Yeshua's class and I'm just trying to organize it during. And it keeps doing these weird things. I'm like, stop it. I'm just trying to get this down before I put it in. Report an error

1:14:59 But then, you know, it sometimes does. Sometimes it jumps in then, too. Sometimes I'll just like, okay, fine. I'm just going to do A, B, D. And then all of a sudden it'll be a... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error

1:15:13 Yeah, because sometimes I just give up on the... It still tries to help. It looks like you're making it. Report an error

1:15:41 No, it's talking about how it happens in the mind. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not going to answer that right now just because if we ask it, then we should ask it on recording. Yeah, because otherwise it's like if you're one of those people who's not here and then you are listening, then you'll be like, what did she say? Report an error

1:16:03 But the question was, is Nirvāṇa a state of mind? It makes it limited. It sounds like it's just like, you know, I know she actually just filled it up. Report an error

1:16:14 It's actually just talking about how it's a mental experience. And so it's not like a place. You know, sometimes we're like, my goal is Nirvāṇa, I'm going to Nirvāṇa or I'm going to enlightenment. And it's talking about how if you've actually attained the realization of Nirvāṇa, if you have actually eliminated all of the afflictive states of mind, like anger and depression and envy and all that stuff, the experience is mental. Report an error

1:16:41 So you could be here and have a mind of... Nirvāṇa or of complete peace. And for you, this experience would be nirvāṇa. Whereas for me, it's totally saṃsāra because my mind is saṃsāra. So it doesn't matter where I am. That's the point of that. It doesn't matter. I could be in nirvāṇa on the number 22 or at work or in this class. Report an error

1:17:12 So it's not like a question of this being. Nirvāṇa and that being saṃsāra or you know sometimes people will say that too like you know when I come to the center it's you know it's all you know wonderful or whatever and then I go outside and then it's saṃsāra and it's like no actually as long as my mind is saṃsāra I take it with me you know it's sort of like when people go on retreat they're like you know oh it was like a blissful Retreat and then they come home and then they start yelling at the cab driver or whatever, you know, because the mind is still samsaric and so we haven't perfected it into these experiences of either nirvāṇa, liberation or enlightenment. Report an error

1:17:55 So we still have to drag it along. Otherwise those retreats would be a lot nicer, right, if we didn't have to take our minds with us or if our minds were better. Report an error

1:18:05 I'm going to ding just because I've gone over. So you have to suffer, sorry. Just to try to finish presenting and then we can also spend time at the beginning of the next class on this too. Report an error

1:18:20 Plus I just love that bell. Just got to do that at least once every class. Such a cool, it's so long. For such a tiny little bell. Report an error

1:18:35 So the second half of adopting the meditation posture is this little line here. Which actually includes quite a bit. Refuge, bodhicitta and the four immeasurable thoughts. This is like the meditation posture but of the mind. So this one is the physical and this one is the mental. This is also where we might set a motivation for our meditation. Report an error

1:18:59 That came up in the last class. Where do we motivate? I would do it after you're in the position, after you've attained the posture. Report an error

1:19:10 It depends on how difficult your posture is. Report an error

1:19:15 I didn't. So, generating the minds of refuge and bodhicitta, and actually I would say, and the four immeasurable thoughts. There are little prayers, you know, like we read at the beginning of the class. That one actually counts as refuge and bodhicitta. The main idea is the state of mind. Here we go with that state of mind again. Report an error

1:19:12 is. Report an error

1:19:16 didn't. Report an error

1:19:37 The mental experience. So that comes with time, energy, practice, years and years of practice. How strong your refuge is is an indication of many years of practice, really. So when you're in a plane that dips, that's one of those pop quizzes for how strong your refuge is. Report an error

1:20:02 If you're turning in your mind at that moment towards the teachings or preparing your mind for death or how can I benefit the people around me if the plane goes down, then that strengthens your, honestly, that can be, it can be your, I'm not even being funny there. That's what I try to remind myself when we have turbulence on a plane or if I'm in a car that almost hits somebody. It's like, okay, if that was that. Report an error

1:20:28 Or if this is that, you know, because sometimes when the plane's tipping, you haven't figured out that it's not that. Or even just before the plane takes off, I always do a little prayer. If something should happen, at least let me be present and try to help the people around me too, not just like, boom, you know. The nun got off, but none of the other people got out of there. Report an error

1:20:54 So trying to develop a strong refuge is something that takes a long time. So you're not going to develop it by homework time tomorrow. Report an error

1:21:05 So the idea is just plugging in. So we use these little prayers to kind of plug into this energy that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are around us and even just opening up to the fact that they're around us. Again, let's back up two steps. Just opening up to this energy that it's taught that it's around us, that there are enlightened beings, that actually any of you guys could be enlightened beings, and I wouldn't know. Report an error

1:21:31 Maybe you're just posing as students so that I can sit up here and you can just smile at me, you know, lovingly, hoping that I get enlightened finally. Maybe everybody else is already enlightened in the world. So just taking refuge in any, I usually just say, let's start small, just take refuge in any quality that appeals to you, that you want. Report an error

1:21:50 And maybe it's concentration, right? Maybe it's love. You know, maybe it's wisdom. It can be anything. It could just be, just take refuge in that. And that's enough. It doesn't have to be any more than that. It doesn't have to be this elaborate generation of refuge. That word generate sounds like you have to do a lot of, you know. Report an error

1:22:10 It's not like that. It's just that. You develop refuge over time, understanding what the refuge objects are and your own relationship to them, and that takes time. And so for us right now, just starting with something small of, you know, I'm taking refuge in the Buddha's, how the Buddha said that he perfected his mind, or how karma and emptiness work, you know, or any element of the teachings that works for you, and that's enough. Report an error

1:22:42 That's all. That's all that really is meant by refuge. You're just relying on something that makes sense to you right now. The more you know, obviously, the more you have to rely on, right? And so that just takes time. Generating the mind of bodhicitta. Again, that's huge. I mean, it's this enormous, courageous... Report an error

1:23:03 Vast mind wanting to benefit all sentient beings and so becoming a Buddha because it's the best tool to do that. I mean, it's huge. It's actually huge. It's so much bigger than we often, even in Dharma centers, you hear people called bodhisattvas all the time because they come in on Saturday and clean. Report an error

1:23:23 We limit it. Bodhisattvas are these beings that are willing to take rebirth. Limitlessly under any condition as long as it helps people. I'm not there. I don't know what the rest of you. So we just want a taste of that. So sometimes when we say these things like I do this class for the benefit of all sentient beings, we have to get there, right? Like at the beginning of class where I was trying to help you start with somebody you know and build. Report an error

1:23:55 Start with the people you know and then build. Even if you just sit. I'm sitting for Aunt Mary because she can't and she's dying now. You know, just keep it. That's your sentient being. It doesn't have to be this vast thing. You can start small and then as that gets stronger, you can make it a little bit more and maybe a little bit more. So you might start with... Report an error

1:24:20 The people that you love and know who are suffering or even yourself and then expand it to maybe several people and then maybe you just saw the news and so you want to, I'm just going to include everybody in Bosnia, you know, or whatever. And then just kind of keep going from there. Oh, I just watched the animal channel. It's horrible. So let me include all those animals too, you know. And there's no wrong answer. Report an error

1:24:42 You're just kind of playing with that expansion. That expansion is preparing us to actually have this mind. That takes a long time, too. So now we're just starting small. So when we say, all sentient beings, just pick some from your life, you know. As Urbana Rubina always says, too, she's like, that's your suffering sentient being, you know, the one in front of you. Report an error

1:25:03 Don't try to imagine the limitless, non-faith beings as some of these visualizations. Just try to imagine one or two that you know. Report an error

1:25:15 Like I mentioned at the beginning, the number four is just invoking the merit field. In your case for this meditation, it's just Shakyamuni Buddha. And that's fine if it stays that. You can just keep it Shakyamuni Buddha. He's pretty great. As a historical Buddha, you know, he was like us. He wasn't like a god. Report an error

1:25:34 He didn't come to the world perfect. He worked on, you know, removing imperfections out of his mind and developing perfections. And so he's a great role model. That's fine. He can just stay there. If you would rather do a living, somebody living that you have a connection with, like I mentioned, you can use like the Dalai Lama or somebody like that. Report an error

1:25:54 But for this one, we're just going to do Shakyamuni Buddha. So number five, offering a seven limb prayer and a mandala. This one, again, the cheat sheet helps. This is all mental. Report an error

1:26:14 And these things, and again, like deep breathe, because I'm sure we're getting at the bottom of this long list. After you memorize it, I just do all of this just in my head. So I'm just like, this is not getting back up again to do prostrations. I actually just like, as I sit there, I kind of imagine as many bodies as you need to making prostrations. Report an error

1:26:36 The idea of a prostration, chakselo in Tibetan, just means I want what you have, so give it to me. So I want those qualities you have, so please give it to me. I want your wisdom, I want your compassion, I want your love for all beings, so please give it to me. So it's like bowing down is like honor. So if you don't bow down, you can do this, this can be your prostration. You're seated, you're in meditation posture already, so I basically sort of visualize myself in many different bodies. Report an error

1:27:12 But I've done prostrations too. If you haven't done prostrations and that seems odd, just honor in your mind. It's a mental prostration, so just honor anything about the teachings. Offering, I usually just visualize flowers or jewels. So this is like playing with your mind. It's like the scales with piano or whatever kind of exercises you do to get ready for the main exercise. Report an error

1:27:43 So offering, I try to imagine just like a billion flowers of whatever kind you love, or the most beautiful sunset that you've ever seen, or the most incredible stars, or if you love food, then you can make the food, or if it's a tea, or whatever. It's just that experience of opening your heart. And so I just kind of do it really quickly. I just love flowers, and I just think flowers are beautiful. Report an error

1:28:10 It's much easier than growing them too. So just offerings. It can be anything. Confessing. A lot of people get nervous about this one, but confessing is just owning something. You're not telling anyone. There's no priest involved. But it's just basically owning something that you regret, not feel guilty about, but regret. Report an error

1:28:35 And we'll talk about this more in the purification part, but I try to keep it specific. So I'll just think, you know, maybe my resistance to sitting, you know, it could be resistance to meditation or maybe something that you did that hurt somebody with speech or sad. It doesn't have to be huge. So you're just picking some specific thing and you're owning it and then letting it go, right? Report an error

1:29:06 So it's just this little action of shedding light into your, because then it can't distract you. There's an actual reason for this. If you're still stewing about yelling at your roommate, then you're not going to be able to meditate, which is why when we get into the teachings of the three higher trainings, the concentration begins with ethics, keeping ethics. Report an error

1:29:31 So the clearer our heart and minds can be, we won't have those distractions when we try to meditate. So there's an actual reason for this one. So you're just kind of owning, gosh, I shouldn't have yelled at Jenna yesterday. Report an error

1:29:44 And then just recognizing that with regret, which is really different, like I said, than guilt, and then letting it go. So you're not stewing about it for the rest of your meditation. Rejoicing is equal air time. That's thinking something that you've done right, something that you've done good. And it might be just meditating. Sometimes I'll just be really happy that I'm sitting meditating, or just really happy that I'm doing this class or something like that. Report an error

1:30:11 Lama Zopa Rinpoche spends a lot of time on rejoicing. He'll add it in there because they actually say that we get karma. Like, say, for example, if Anna's done something really fantastic for the center and I just rejoice that she's done it, I get a lot of karma of her merit for doing, for just being happy for her. Report an error

1:30:33 Because, again, it just makes our hearts bigger, right? So we can be really happy. For example, that somebody got the parking space that we were trying to get. Rather than getting angry, we can be really happy, and that allows our hearts to get bigger instead of tighter. So it's a little simple act of rejoicing. And like I said, often I'll just do, you know, really happy that I'm sitting or really happy that I do water bowls or something like that. Report an error

1:31:01 If you can't think of anything that you feel happy about yourself, think about somebody else. And just rejoice in that person, some action. It can be a mundane action. It can be something like the Dalai Lama, the way he works day in and day out for us. And just being really happy. Requesting the Buddhas to stay and to teach. I often do the two together. They say that the teachers are teachers or the Buddhas. Report an error

1:31:30 He won't stay unless we ask him. And so we actually formally have to train ourselves to request them to stay with us and to teach. Last night we celebrated after Geshele's class one of his birthdays. He has several birthdays. This is his American birthday. And we asked him to stay as long as saṃsāra lasts to save all of us and to teach us, to keep teaching us. Report an error

1:31:55 And we just kept asking, you know, keep asking him. This same is true for the Dalai Lama. So sometimes I just sort of imagine myself on bended knee, you know, in front of the Buddha, please, please, please stay, over the teacher. Report an error

1:32:10 Don't leave, don't leave me. So that, again, that can be incredibly fast. And then dedication. I know one of my friends, Tencent Chokyi, waits and does the dedication at the end, but this is really dedicating all of the things that have gone before. So again, just in case you get angry, right? In case the cat starts howling or some downstairs neighbor starts playing the piano. Report an error

1:32:39 You don't want to lose all that positive energy you've just created, so you dedicate it to your own enlightenment. So it's sort of going through this mental checklist, but it can be very sweet and also very short. Again, like I'm saying, you're getting familiar with it, so it takes... So it takes more time, but it doesn't have to take an elaborate amount of time. When I first was learning to meditate, my teacher at that time would go through these steps over and over while we were seated. Report an error

1:33:11 And so then after a while, you just kind of, you'd have your own experience. And so it would come. Mandala offering. Again, there is a whole lot of detail in the mandala. It doesn't have to be. You're offering the universe. That's really all it is. So your view of offering the universe can be whatever it is. It can be, according to the Tibetan cosmos, it's more like Mount Meru in the center, these continents, these islands. Report an error

1:33:44 I mean, it's like this whole different view. For us, we can just imagine the most incredible places we've ever been, our own virtue. We can offer whatever we want. There's a formal prayer for it, or you can just imagine. I'm all for just imagine. Don't break it up and go and sing a little song. But you can just imagine giving the whole universe. Report an error

1:34:11 For what? For these realizations. That's what we're trying to... This is sort of like all this work before we meditate is to attain the realizations on whatever it is that we're meditating on. That's the purpose. And we often forget all of these works, but... But Lama Zopa Rinpoche would often say, this is actually the most important because our meditation isn't so great yet. So he'll spend hours on the motivation for anything he does, really. Report an error

1:34:44 And then the teaching will be like this. And then the dedication part will be really, really long. And that's because that's like the training. Those are our training wheels. And then the meditation part can be really short and sweet. But we've done everything else right, so we're creating the causes for meditation practice for lifetimes, really. So it's sort of like we're just setting the stage. Report an error

1:35:09 So the last one is making requests. Again, there's a simple little prayer that you can read, or again, I would just say just make a simple request to eliminate any obstacles that you might have in your practice, your meditation practice. And to be able to attain realizations. And that's fine. Even if like you're just using your cheat sheet. That's totally fine. Report an error

1:35:37 Because it's just, you're saying it is actually helping you to eliminate the obstacles and helping you to attain realizations. It's creating those comfort causes. We're going to spend an entire class on that. But for now, it's just simply a request to eliminate all. So. That's a lot. No other class will have quite this much. But I did want to give you as much of the traditional teachings of how to set up a formal meditation as I could. Report an error

1:36:14 And now we're going to spend time kind of making it a little more breathable. But any questions on all of this stuff that I just blew at you? Report an error

1:36:37 Ah, you're right. I left them out. That's interesting. Oh, the four immeasurable thoughts. So, Report an error

1:36:51 here. After we've adopted the meditation posture, we generate, we adopt the mind of refuge, we generate bodhicitta. And then we have these four immeasurable thoughts. The four immeasurable thoughts, actually we can read them tonight as our closing. But basically you're just wanting, Report an error

1:37:14 You're basically wanting all sentient beings to have what they need. That's a simple way of putting it. It's equanimity, which is basically just an even mind towards whatever is happening around you. Report an error

1:37:29 Happiness, which as we started out the class tonight, everybody wants happiness. Everyone wants to be free from suffering, which is the third one. And then the final one is that everyone has this sort of unending joy of liberation basically you can just pray or wish that all sentient beings have whatever they need Report an error

1:37:55 their practice, on their path my mind. we'll end with a prayer thank you that's thanks for noticing that that's why I give you guys all cheat sheets you can get me when I go off tangent Anybody else? Report an error

1:38:24 Oh, JJ has one. Report an error

1:38:34 I'm curious about the... In all the postures and with the hands, you put the right on top, you put the right leg first, and what's the right left? Where does that come from? Oh, that's the way, well, the right leg actually for me probably has to do with just the way my hips work. Now the reason that Tara has her right leg outstretched so that it becomes Tara position, I don't know. I actually don't know that. Report an error

1:39:05 We can ask. um... Report an error

1:39:05 Karen, she probably knows, she knows everything about Tara that there is to know. There is a left-right thing in terms of left usually meaning wisdom. And I have heard from some students, although I haven't seen it in what I've read, but that there is a slight difference in the way women sit versus men sit and stuff like that. Report an error

1:39:32 But the way that I have learned the right over left thumbs touching It has to do with just the channels and so that when the thumbs touch it actually, Report an error

1:39:50 so it's very short. Report an error

1:39:57 Anybody else? And again, you can play with that. Maybe it would feel more normal. Report an error

1:40:12 That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In this, we're just doing one and you just, yeah. And that, I mean, I've always just heard that and it actually feels quite normal to me, but I don't know if it's just because I've been doing it. Report an error

1:40:43 the opportunity to use it at my altar. I'm offering all the water bowls. I'm offering just one every day. That's totally fine. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, and occasionally, if you ever had one, you could put a flower in it. Yeah, no, it's totally fine. You could just do a piece of fruit. You could do a bowl of fruit. I have known people who, when they get their groceries, they just... Report an error

1:41:13 Put some of their groceries on the altar. There's actually a mantra which I can give you before the class ends that you blow on things that are on your altar before you eat or drink them so that you don't get this kind of negative karma of desiring things that you've offered and things that you've already given to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Report an error

1:41:36 So we do that after silk. But you can put anything on there. you know, can of beans, you know, apricots. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or even anything special. It is nice to get something that you know is completely just for offerings and that you're not even going to eat. It's almost like it's just out there. It's like a frustration. It's so out there. It's kind of neat. Report an error

1:42:06 It's like the water bowls. It's so out there. It's kind of neat to do. Because it's just like an exercise for your mind. But, for example, getting really, really beautiful little candies. And I can't eat sugar. And so it's sort of like, they're just beautiful. I'm not doing it right now. But I have done in the past. So that, you know, those little lint candies or something like that where they're really beautiful. And then you just give them away to somebody. Report an error

1:42:31 So the whole exercise is just being generous with your mind and offering whatever is beautiful. So yeah, one single bowl of water. I think originally water was chosen because everybody had it, you know, so it didn't have to be any difference, you know. Not every place, that's not true, every place. Although they say doing the water bowl practice actually has the karmic result of bringing more water to that place. Report an error

1:43:05 So if you're doing water bowl practice, for example, in Crestone, which is really, really dry, It's supposed to actually bring water to that place karmically. Interesting. I haven't tested it long enough. Venerable Sarah has. She goes there every year. Good point. Yeah, so you can offer anything. I mean, it's the karma. It's your karma of offering. Report an error

1:43:33 And it can be absolutely anything. And it can be ornate or beautiful or it can be incredibly simple. Report an error

1:43:42 Anybody else? Report an error

1:43:48 So try to have fun with us this week. Don't get all bound up with it. It's the same meditation on Chakyamuni Buddha that you did, but now I'm sort of inserting the various things so that you can... And I would just suggest... Report an error

1:44:03 You know, taking it maybe twice and just like on days that you have a little bit more time, just reading it through and, you know, so you just become familiar with it rather than like trying to do it every day and like freaking out because you're going to miss the bus and all that stuff. Just try to look at it and look it over and then bring any questions back to me and we'll start with questions next week. Report an error

1:44:26 If anybody needs more time, we'll leave this attractive. And then we can just kind of go through a couple more things, examples or something like that. But then we're going to move into what we then meditate on once we've done all this after we fall asleep. Report an error

1:44:45 That's why you need that cup of tea. Anyway, okay. So let's just dedicate. So actually we can dedicate the merit by... Going to our little white prayer book, again page 7, Report an error

1:45:12 and we'll do numbers 5, 6 and 7 in English. Due to the merits of these virtuous actions, may I quickly attain the state of a Guru Buddha and lead all living beings without exception into that enlightened state. May the supreme jewel bodhicitta that has not arisen arise and grow, And may that which has arisen not diminish, but increase more and more. In the land encircled by snow mountains, you are the source of all happiness and good. Report an error

1:45:48 All powerful Chenrezig, Tencent Getsu, please remain until saṃsāra ends. Thank you very much. We went over three minutes, but I was pretty happy with that. The way things were going there. Report an error

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Talk by Lobsang Chokyi, recorded 24 January 2013. Original at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/LCEstablishingADailyPractice201301. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.

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