Discovering Buddhism: The Spiritual Teacher (4 April 2013)

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3:49 Getting Bodhi's treats ready before she doesn't realize I picked up the bag. Report an error in the passage at 3:49 Highlight the passage at 3:49

4:04 I have some. I got used to not having any attendance where you and Jenna were gone. And Jenna's still gone. Report an error in the passage at 4:04 Highlight the passage at 4:04

4:29 I got three emails that people weren't coming, but just three. Report an error in the passage at 4:29 Highlight the passage at 4:29

4:36 All right, let's start with a little meditation. Usually when we do, when we open our eyes, then suddenly... empty cloths now. Report an error in the passage at 4:36 Highlight the passage at 4:36

4:33 rest of the people are in, they come in late. Report an error in the passage at 4:33 Highlight the passage at 4:33

4:45 We get two or three more people. Report an error in the passage at 4:45 Highlight the passage at 4:45

4:51 So if you feel any tension in your shoulders, you can kind of roll it out or raise them in the room a few times. Stretch your neck from side to side. Report an error in the passage at 4:51 Highlight the passage at 4:51

5:02 Deep Report an error in the passage at 5:02 Highlight the passage at 5:02

5:06 belly breaths. Report an error in the passage at 5:06 Highlight the passage at 5:06

5:23 Conversations you were just having. Whatever it's taken for you to come here tonight. Report an error in the passage at 5:23 Highlight the passage at 5:23

5:35 The kind of day you've had. Report an error in the passage at 5:35 Highlight the passage at 5:35

5:52 Try to focus on your breath for a few minutes. Keep your mind with it as you breathe in. Report an error in the passage at 5:52 Highlight the passage at 5:52

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6:46 And then visualize in this space above your head a small sphere of white light, Report an error in the passage at 6:46 Highlight the passage at 6:46

6:58 pure, transparent and formless. Report an error in the passage at 6:58 Highlight the passage at 6:58

7:03 You can imagine it about the same size as your own head, this pure white light. Report an error in the passage at 7:03 Highlight the passage at 7:03

7:18 Just spend a few moments trying to imagine it. And it doesn't matter if it's not clear or sharp, just know that it's there. Report an error in the passage at 7:18 Highlight the passage at 7:18

7:47 Imagine that this light represents all the good qualities of the world and the universe. Love and wisdom and patience and concentration. It's biblical means, compassion. It's Report an error in the passage at 7:47 Highlight the passage at 7:47

8:09 the fulfillment of your own greatest potential. Report an error in the passage at 8:09 Highlight the passage at 8:09

8:36 Can you imagine that this sphere of light shrinks in size until Report an error in the passage at 8:36 Highlight the passage at 8:36

8:46 it's about an inch in diameter? Can Report an error in the passage at 8:46 Highlight the passage at 8:46

8:52 you imagine that it completely dissolves to the front of your head and comes down into your heart center? And Report an error in the passage at 8:52 Highlight the passage at 8:52

9:10 from there it begins to expand out, slowly spreading through your whole body and mind. And Report an error in the passage at 9:10 Highlight the passage at 9:10

9:28 as it expands, Imagine that all the solid parts of your body dissolve and become light. Your Report an error in the passage at 9:28 Highlight the passage at 9:28

9:42 organs, your bones, your blood vessels, tissue, and skin, all become pure, boneless, white light. Report an error in the passage at 9:42 Highlight the passage at 9:42

10:05 Concentrate on this experience of your own body being made of pure, transparent light. Report an error in the passage at 10:05 Highlight the passage at 10:05

10:24 And put all your problems, your worries, completely, and just Report an error in the passage at 10:24 Highlight the passage at 10:24

10:36 be in love. Thank Report an error in the passage at 10:36 Highlight the passage at 10:36

10:51 you. Report an error in the passage at 10:51 Highlight the passage at 10:51

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12:05 Thank you. going to turn around for it, please. Report an error in the passage at 12:05 Highlight the passage at 12:05

11:10 thoughts arise that distract you? Report an error in the passage at 11:10 Highlight the passage at 11:10

11:17 you those thoughts just dissolve into the speaker Report an error in the passage at 11:17 Highlight the passage at 11:17

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12:03 be like this class, and then... Report an error in the passage at 12:03 Highlight the passage at 12:03

12:17 may become seed to each of us, connecting with them. own spiritual teacher. Report an error in the passage at 12:17 Highlight the passage at 12:17

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13:13 We'll do refuge in bodhicitta, the bottom of the first column. And tonight we'll do it in English the first time and then we'll do it twice in Tibet. Report an error in the passage at 13:13 Highlight the passage at 13:13

13:27 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. Sangye Charan Sokhi Chanamna Jamshabardu Dami Khyap Su Chi Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 13:27 Highlight the passage at 13:27

14:11 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 14:11 Highlight the passage at 14:11

14:20 Drill up and cheer Sunday to party With a wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 14:20 Highlight the passage at 14:20

14:51 As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 14:51 Highlight the passage at 14:51

15:10 So that meditation actually comes from Sange Kadro. Thank you. Sange Kadro. A.K.A. Kathleen McDonald and How to Meditate, which is a great, try not to give it to you again tonight, which is a great resource. If anyone hasn't seen it, it's called How to Meditate. And it's just got a lot of different pieces of advice as well as another meditation, so different types. Report an error in the passage at 15:10 Highlight the passage at 15:10

15:40 Visualization meditations, analytical meditations and so forth. It's a nice book to have. Report an error in the passage at 15:40 Highlight the passage at 15:40

15:51 That's a nice easy one, too, if you're ever upset about anything. It's pretty easy. It doesn't have that many parts to try to remember. You don't need a cheat sheet with it. Well, if you do, you can kind of just make it up, too, if you forget the various essences. It's a nice way to, especially that aspect, if you have anything that's upsetting you, just imagine it dissolving into life. Report an error in the passage at 15:51 Highlight the passage at 15:51

16:19 Any questions or any feedback or input or anything from the week? Contemplating deeply all of your homework assignments. and then come up for people and thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 16:19 Highlight the passage at 16:19

16:42 forgot to check it, so hopefully it's okay. You probably have to turn it on. I think you need to turn it on. Push it on the button. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 16:42 Highlight the passage at 16:42

16:56 I have the experience that I have this morning regarding the Dharma and our practice. A neighbor two weeks ago stopped me, my neighbor, and she told me that she found out that she had breast cancer. Report an error in the passage at 16:56 Highlight the passage at 16:56

17:18 I noticed her face that she was a girl of course. this. Report an error in the passage at 17:18 Highlight the passage at 17:18

17:23 Overwhelmed. And I said, okay, you know, just go and meet. She leaped on herself. I think I was asking her how is everything. She got a flu and she couldn't get the surgery. But today this morning, I saw her and I said, hi, I'm much better. I'm going to get the surgery next week. And she said, yeah, I feel like everything is going to be okay. Report an error in the passage at 17:23 Highlight the passage at 17:23

17:47 But then, you know, I had the... The feeling that I have to approach to her. And I was listening to her, how she feels about that. And then she said, I know I'm trying to put good thoughts and positive thoughts about this. But at the same time, I remember at that time, I feel so blessed. And because of all the connections with our gurus, you know, for the Dharma teaching, I remember to share with her about... Report an error in the passage at 17:47 Highlight the passage at 17:47

18:20 How can we dedicate, if we're going to go through any kind of experience that is a big thing for us, we can dedicate it. Report an error in the passage at 18:20 Highlight the passage at 18:20

18:30 And she, when I explain to her, when doing surgery, you can think, okay, I'm going to do this, but not just for myself, I'm going to do in name of others too. And that can be more meaningful and you can feel more useful that you're not going to suffer just yourself as you're going to do for somebody else or all the people that have the same experience at this time. Report an error in the passage at 18:30 Highlight the passage at 18:30

18:54 And her eyes were full of, you know, she wanted to cry. And she said, I never thought that. What that's giving me, like, an idea how to go through this. And I feel much better already, because it's not going to be just for myself. And I rejoice for that. And of course, all this is because I'm so blessed to have Dharma in my life and a little bit of experience about it. Report an error in the passage at 18:54 Highlight the passage at 18:54

19:21 I feel useful. I feel so happy for that. And at that time, I thank my gurus. you know, I feel very good about it, and she has to do that, and it's very, very nice. It's true, and there's so many, so often that the Dharma just gives you a different perspective that you can share, and that simple shift in perspective can be really helpful to somebody's state of mind, anxiety, worry, you know, whatever. Report an error in the passage at 19:21 Highlight the passage at 19:21

19:56 But we do have to be careful, like it has to be somebody who's open. So that's an important thing to mention too, that it has to be somebody who, like in her case, she approached you both times and you assessed in some way that she was open to it. And so it requires us to be sort of skillful because one of the things that Buddhism never does is proselytize. So we don't want to push something on to somebody that either hasn't... Report an error in the passage at 19:56 Highlight the passage at 19:56

20:30 ask for it or perhaps might even have aversion to it you just don't know so you acted skillfully and great we do need to be careful and I think it's especially Thank you very much for sharing that. That's great. I think it's important to mention because sometimes we do get excited about the Dharma and then sometimes we do push it onto people, like our families, you know, out of a good heart, often out of a good heart. Report an error in the passage at 20:30 Highlight the passage at 20:30

20:59 Sometimes they have tools that are even working for them. And so we have to respect that their tools might not be our tools, like another religion. Report an error in the passage at 20:59 Highlight the passage at 20:59

21:12 And even if their tools aren't working, if they haven't asked, or if they aren't open, it might actually create a version in their mind. So we have to be careful sharing some of these ideas. But yeah, with Buddhism, some interesting things like that. You can mention them without ever even saying the words Buddhism or Buddha or any kind of, there's no religious connotation at all. It's simply a shift in perspective. Report an error in the passage at 21:12 Highlight the passage at 21:12

21:39 It's almost like Buddhist psychology without the terminology. So it can be quite spiritual. And in her mind, it shifted the whole perspective. So, yeah, it's very powerful. Yeah, thank you. Anybody else? Report an error in the passage at 21:39 Highlight the passage at 21:39

22:05 Well. don't think I'll keep on the side. Report an error in the passage at 22:05 Highlight the passage at 22:05

22:06 More about the teacher. Report an error in the passage at 22:06 Highlight the passage at 22:06

22:10 So we're going to talk a little bit more about the teacher, and then we're also going to talk about becoming a student, a good student, in order to karmically create the causes to have a good teacher. And we'll talk a little bit about karma tonight, too. So for some of you, this will be a repeat or a review, but make sure that people are on the same page. Report an error in the passage at 22:10 Highlight the passage at 22:10

22:29 Maybe people haven't studied karma before, or a long time ago. check. Report an error in the passage at 22:29 Highlight the passage at 22:29

22:33 I studied karma. So bring up some basic ideas about karma tonight too. Report an error in the passage at 22:33 Highlight the passage at 22:33

22:42 Lama Zopa Rinpoche said, at the very least, one should entrust oneself to a spiritual master who has renounced and is encouraging us to renounce a samsaric life. At the very least, one should entrust oneself to a spiritual master who has renounced and is encouraging us to renounce a samsaric life. Report an error in the passage at 22:42 Highlight the passage at 22:42

23:04 I thought that was an interesting quote. Report an error in the passage at 23:04 Highlight the passage at 23:04

23:10 How can we really tell what's going on in their mind? We can't. But we can kind of watch their actions a little bit, you know? Does it look like they're still buying into saṃsāra? Or trying to perfect saṃsāra, as Tazutoki always says. Trying to perfect something that is imperfect by its very nature. Or have they gotten it that saṃsāra doesn't work and they want to get out and that there's something better? A better choice in a teacher or somebody who knows it or something better. Report an error in the passage at 23:10 Highlight the passage at 23:10

23:40 Even if they haven't reached it yet. If they're on the path, if they're headed that direction. And it's less their knowledge, like learning knowledge, you know, kind of like that, education, than their experience. If they have some actual genuine experience of working with their mind, that's very useful. Practical experience. Report an error in the passage at 23:40 Highlight the passage at 23:40

24:05 Somebody who can help us have the same experience. Or can verify our experiences. So if we're having an experience and we don't know what it is or we have a question about it, they'll be able to answer those questions. And somebody who can inspire us with the way that they live, how they embody the teachings is really, really important. Report an error in the passage at 24:05 Highlight the passage at 24:05

24:30 Somebody who makes us feel like, I can do it. This is something I can do. I can do this. Sort of like a cheer. There are certain teachers who I think of as sort of cheerleader teachers who are sort of like, yeah, you walk out of there thinking, yeah, I can do it too, I can do it too. And again, it may not be what they say. Report an error in the passage at 24:30 Highlight the passage at 24:30

24:51 It might be just how they are, how they live, how they walk, how they spend time with an animal, how they phrase things or how they are with a person who comes up with a problem. Watching them with somebody else. Or as one of my teachers, Venable Neal, said, watching Lama Zopa Rinpoche eat lunch can change your life. Report an error in the passage at 24:51 Highlight the passage at 24:51

25:24 Because it's just so different than the way the rest of us eat lunch. And it's very inspiring. Even if we can't instantly become like that. Report an error in the passage at 25:24 Highlight the passage at 25:24

25:37 It's a whole different way of being. It's sort of like saying, you know, there's these stories about, When the Buddha, before he left the palace, he saw these four different people. He had these four different experiences that inspired him to go and search for the end of suffering. One of the people that he saw was a medicant, somebody who had left the home life for a spiritual life. Report an error in the passage at 25:37 Highlight the passage at 25:37

26:07 And that's still one of our roles in the world, is to just sort of walk down Fillmore Street. And be another way of being. It's just another idea, another way to live that's different than the ones that we see on TV. So far we don't have our own TV show. Report an error in the passage at 26:07 Highlight the passage at 26:07

26:25 Although we thought about it. Probably a comedy. But yeah, it's just another way of being. And you never know the effect of seeing that even years later, how that could affect even a little kid. That they can have this in their mind. It's like, oh, you know, there's just some other way of living. Teachers can do that for us. Report an error in the passage at 26:25 Highlight the passage at 26:25

26:51 They can show us another way of living. They can show us another way of working with our mind. Sometimes with a simple shift of perspective. Report an error in the passage at 26:51 Highlight the passage at 26:51

27:05 So we're going to talk a little bit about karma. And karma is a really, really complex subject, but I think it's a really juicy subject. It's the subject of a complete... discovering Buddhism course a couple month course so I'm just going to say a few key points so those of you who just took the karma course or if you've studied karma in any of the other classes this is like a top see if you actually remember yeah that's right what's the first no I won't do that The definition of karma in Sanskrit is an action of thinking. Report an error in the passage at 27:05 Highlight the passage at 27:05

27:47 and what those actions of thinking inspire your body and An action of thinking and what those actions of thinking inspire with your body and speech. Report an error in the passage at 27:47 Highlight the passage at 27:47

28:16 Karma just means action in Sanskrit, but this is what it's referring to. It's referring to any kind of action, especially of the mind. action of thinking and what those actions of thinking inspire with your body and speech. Report an error in the passage at 28:16 Highlight the passage at 28:16

28:26 Our mind is like changing, moving all the time. And according to Buddhism and according to other religions that were around at the same time, this was not unique to Buddhism. Everything arises in our experience due to karma. They say causes and conditions, but Geshe-la says the main cause of everything is karma. Report an error in the passage at 28:26 Highlight the passage at 28:26

28:52 So causes and conditions is not a synonym of karma. But it includes karma in a really big way. The main cause of everything we experience is karma. And who creates that karma? We do. Not we as in, you know, Jage or Marcella, like the we, this identity, but this mind stream which has gone back limitlessly and is going forward limitlessly. Report an error in the passage at 28:52 Highlight the passage at 28:52

29:21 So we in that sense, the I in that sense, but not the I necessarily. So you may not have created the karma in this life, for example, to get cancer. You might have created it several lifetimes ago. But you're experiencing it. And so according to the Buddha, you created the causes. And it's important to keep thinking that the difference, I say you and I say we, and it doesn't mean necessarily the identity of this life. Report an error in the passage at 29:21 Highlight the passage at 29:21

29:49 So I'll keep repeating it and not to be annoying about it, but just to get us away from that thought. Because right now it's really hard to separate. If I think I, I think Chokyi, right? This I, this is the I I know and love and sometimes know and hate. Report an error in the passage at 29:49 Highlight the passage at 29:49

30:07 And so this is really the only creator energy of this religion. There is no creator God. There's no other creator force. It is simply karma. And we create that karma. Report an error in the passage at 30:07 Highlight the passage at 30:07

30:28 Whether something is positive or negative depends upon, in large part, depends upon the mind at the time that you created the karma. So if your mind was motivated by a positive thought, by and large, then the karma becomes positive. And the result then becomes positive, which becomes pleasure. If the mind was motivated by a negative thought, Then the karma becomes negative and the result is a negative, is the lack of pleasure, is suffering. And that's all that makes something positive a negative. Report an error in the passage at 30:28 Highlight the passage at 30:28

31:11 It's not some old guy with a white beard, you know. It's not dependent on culture. It's simply if that karma was created with a mind that was positive or negative and if the result was positive or negative, that makes it a positive or negative. Report an error in the passage at 31:11 Highlight the passage at 31:11

31:32 So when the Buddha taught certain actions created suffering for us, those became known as negative actions, the ten non-virtuous actions. Sounds very similar to the Ten Commandments, but there's not the thou shall not idea. The thought is, this will cause you suffering, so why do it? If you want to not have suffering, stay away from these things. If you want to have pleasure, try to cultivate their opposites. Report an error in the passage at 31:32 Highlight the passage at 31:32

32:07 And nothing in our experience is not from our own creation of karma. So if we are experiencing it, therefore we created it. And that's not about guilt or blame or it being our fault or anything like that. Those are Western spins that the traditional teachings never included those words. We've added them later. And that was never part of the teaching. Report an error in the passage at 32:07 Highlight the passage at 32:07

32:38 It's simply the way mind works and karma is a working of the mind. Mind creates karma with every thought that we do, every action that we do. They say that we create karma at the rate of 64 finger snaps per moment. 64 moments per finger snap. Report an error in the passage at 32:38 Highlight the passage at 32:38

33:02 I get dyslexic when I get tired. so tired. So imagine that, I mean, 64 finger snaps, 64 moments per, yeah, 64 moments per finger snap, and that's so fast. And you get 64 of them in there, and they say that our mind is actually creating karma at that rate. And that's in the lower schools, and the upper schools is even faster. Report an error in the passage at 33:02 Highlight the passage at 33:02

33:32 So... Before you get too overwhelmed, which I think there's the chance to get overwhelmed when we hear about this because our mind is constantly creating more karma. Just in this class you're creating more karma and not always positive. It's like, ah, we should shut up. Get to the point, you know. Report an error in the passage at 33:32 Highlight the passage at 33:32

33:55 But the good thing is that mind is infinitely changeable. Habits can be changed. I was just clapping over. Report an error in the passage at 33:55 Highlight the passage at 33:55

34:03 There's no other creator. We get to create our own reality. I mean, ultimately, it's the most empowering of any teaching ever. It's definitely the biggest selling point for Buddhism, I think. Because if we want pleasure, if we want happiness, if we want to get what we want, then we have to do the actions that will karmically create it, which are virtuous actions. Report an error in the passage at 34:03 Highlight the passage at 34:03

34:29 If we want to avoid suffering and pain, We need to counter the actions that we're doing with our speech and with our mind as well, and our body as well. We want to do virtuous actions. We want to avoid doing negative actions. And it takes time. Because lifetime after lifetime after lifetime, we've just sort of been doing whatever our negative states of mind have told us to do without ever trying to stop them. Report an error in the passage at 34:29 Highlight the passage at 34:29

34:58 Finally, suddenly in this lifetime, we're trying to stop them. So it's not going to be instantaneous. It takes a while. It takes a while. So, patience, getting back on the horse the next day, you know, doing purification practices, which we talked a little bit in the last class, the daily practice class, and also I'm sure you guys talked about in the karma class. Report an error in the passage at 34:58 Highlight the passage at 34:58

35:23 Purification practices are huge and involve the states of mind of regret and resolve to not do the action again. So it's not like you're doing some... Purification practice and then you're just continuing to, well you might be continuing to do the negative action, but with some thought to stop it for even a half a second. Report an error in the passage at 35:23 Highlight the passage at 35:23

35:45 And that's where it starts. It's doing little steps, add up to big steps and big changes. So if we remember that negative karma is mostly created when we're in a deluded state of mind or we're unaware. Report an error in the passage at 35:45 Highlight the passage at 35:45

36:07 I would say, actually, it's always created when we're in a deluded state of mind or unaware. Report an error in the passage at 36:07 Highlight the passage at 36:07

36:14 Positive karma is created through mindfulness, and mindfulness becomes very, very important, not just as a tool in meditation, where we try to develop mindfulness and introspection, introspection being like a vigilance of pulling the mind back when it goes off of the object. It's the same way in our life. Those same tools that we develop for meditation, Help us stay on the straight and narrow in the daily life, you know, when we're off the cushion as well. So we need to develop mindfulness to even notice that we've had negative thoughts or that we're just in a complete spin out. Report an error in the passage at 36:14 Highlight the passage at 36:14

36:55 And probably for most people, there's no awareness of that or even if there's anything wrong with that. So half of our battle is simply recognition. Report an error in the passage at 36:55 Highlight the passage at 36:55

37:07 Even if you can't fully stop it and for a long time there's a disconnect when you're first learning about Buddhism where you have the habit of getting upset about something or the habit of getting angry, the habit of getting depressed or whatever your state of mind that might be a problem for you, your favorite flavor of klesha as I call it. Report an error in the passage at 37:07 Highlight the passage at 37:07

37:28 You have that habit and you can't break a habit of many lifetimes in a single lifetime. I mean it's hard to do I should say. You can do, but it's hard to do, and it takes a lot of diligence and a lot of effort. So it's simply first just developing some sort of mindfulness and beginning to see your mind going off. Report an error in the passage at 37:28 Highlight the passage at 37:28

37:51 And that just takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. A lot of this stuff does the same with meditation. It's the same process. It's just getting to know our own minds. Report an error in the passage at 37:51 Highlight the passage at 37:51

38:01 Lama Yeshe said, you are karma. You cannot separate yourself from karma. Your body and speech and mind are karma. Report an error in the passage at 38:01 Highlight the passage at 38:01

38:13 You are karma. You cannot separate yourself from karma. Your body, speech and mind are karma. I think a lot of times we think of karma as something separate from us or something that we carry, but we still get back to the me, right? Report an error in the passage at 38:13 Highlight the passage at 38:13

38:30 It's my suitcase, but it's still me. But everything about us, how we experience our body, how we experience this moment, how we experience even the colors in this room. The temperature and the smell and the people that are here and the taste if you're drinking something. It's all due to karma. Everything in our lifetime is due to karma. The fact that you even made it to this class tonight is due to karma. The fact that others didn't is due to karma. The fact that the center exists is due to karma. Report an error in the passage at 38:30 Highlight the passage at 38:30

39:01 The fact that it won't forever is due to karma. Every element in our life. Report an error in the passage at 39:01 Highlight the passage at 39:01

39:10 So understanding karma even in a tiny way. Is really, really important to understanding how we attract and create, co-create the teacher, you know, our relationship with our teacher. First of all, recognizing and connecting with the teacher, but then secondly, working on that relationship with the teacher. So if everything is a karmic projection, we can't experience or can't perceive something that's not already in our mind in some way. Report an error in the passage at 39:10 Highlight the passage at 39:10

39:46 But... How we react to something, so for example, if we get back to the screaming boss, how we react to the screaming boss or the screaming cat today, how we react to the screaming cat will help change that karma. But if we respond to the screaming cat or the screaming boss, likewise, you know, screaming back, then it just keeps screaming bosses and screaming cats in our lives. Report an error in the passage at 39:46 Highlight the passage at 39:46

40:17 But if we can shift the way we respond, even a tiny bit, or even a, you know, like, or just, you know, cut yourself off from the object. As one of my teachers used to always say, just go to the bathroom. They can't get you for going to the bathroom. So if your boss is screaming at you, just go, wait a second, I gotta go to the bathroom. He used to always talk about, like, knocking over a cup of coffee. Report an error in the passage at 40:17 Highlight the passage at 40:17

40:37 And then in the, you know, ensuing kind of chaos when they're cleaning up the coffee, you know, then everything sort of calmed down a little bit. But he said people must have just thought he was the biggest klutz because he did that all the time. Whenever anybody was fighting or there'd be any tension, he would spill the coffee. So do whatever you can. So it may just be not necessarily a skillfulness of being some sort of realized being and being able to just like respond completely with loving kindness when somebody's screaming at you. Report an error in the passage at 40:37 Highlight the passage at 40:37

41:06 It may be simply removing yourself from the object. But you're doing so with a wisdom of understanding that this is my karma. This is my co-creation. Whatever is happening to me in this moment, whatever is causing my upset, whatever bad news, diagnosis, whatever, I have created this through my karma. Report an error in the passage at 41:06 Highlight the passage at 41:06

41:29 And if I can remember that for half a second, that's bringing a touch of wisdom into the situation that normally would have made me think, I am the victim. The boss is yelling at me, but I didn't do anything wrong. I'm a perfect person. This is like interjecting this little tiny bit of space and wisdom into it of realizing that I co-created it. Report an error in the passage at 41:29 Highlight the passage at 41:29

41:53 How I respond now is how I'm going to co-create the next chapter, basically. If I yell back, I'm just ensuring that I will have screaming bosses for the rest of this life, if not many lifetimes. you know, immediately, you know. Report an error in the passage at 41:53 Highlight the passage at 41:53

42:08 How we respond to it is really, really important. Report an error in the passage at 42:08 Highlight the passage at 42:08

42:15 So how do we create the causes to have a good teacher? We've talked a little bit about it. We have doing actions with our body, speech and mind and then dedicating the merit specifically to the purpose of meeting our teacher, for example, like dedicating this class. Motivating and dedicating this class. We're trying to take a moment at the beginning and a moment at the end to do that. If you are sitting for a meditation at any time in your week, dedicate to that. Report an error in the passage at 42:15 Highlight the passage at 42:15

42:46 If anything good happens, you know, you actually are able to not scream back at the boss or the cat. Dedicate it. Dedicate it that night, you know, to that. It can be you just happen to read your homework. This week. Dedicate it, you know. So don't think it's too tiny. Every little seed, you know, grows something. Report an error in the passage at 42:46 Highlight the passage at 42:46

43:14 So any kind of merit that we create, if you support the center in any way, dedicate it. Even if you give money to a homeless guy, dedicate it to meeting your teacher. I mean, it doesn't even have to be related, you know, just some act of goodness on your part from the tiniest, tiniest bit. You give up your parking space. Report an error in the passage at 43:14 Highlight the passage at 43:14

43:32 You just circle three times. You see when somebody else is looking at the same time and you guys are looking at each other. Give it to them and then dedicate it. Dedicate it to being able to meet your teacher. Dedicate it to whatever it is that you're trying to do. Report an error in the passage at 43:32 Highlight the passage at 43:32

43:49 And if you haven't met your teacher yet, then ask yourself the question, have I created the causes to do it? And if not, then start working on creating those causes and be creative. Report an error in the passage at 43:49 Highlight the passage at 43:49

44:02 If our experience, if our life, if all of our lives are created by cause and effect, then we have to be proactive. Nothing happens randomly. According to Buddhism, nothing happens randomly. It's completely opposite than what it's like in the Western world or the point of view of the Western world. So the best way is serving a Lama. And again, it doesn't have to be huge. You don't have to be building houses for your Lamas and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 44:02 Highlight the passage at 44:02

44:33 You can work on a very small level and you can support the Dharma in any way. It can be supporting Geshe-la's classes, it could be making sure that they get recorded, things like that. It could be supporting the Dharma that His Holiness supports. He's involved in so many different projects. It can be supporting the translation of the Dharma and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 44:33 Highlight the passage at 44:33

45:00 There's lots of ways to support the Dharma. Just always remember to dedicate the merit that you create to whatever purpose, for your own enlightenment or to meet your own teacher and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 45:00 Highlight the passage at 45:00

45:14 The problem with karma, and this is a big problem with karma, is that there's always this huge lag time between when we do the action and the result of that action. So... Nargajuna actually said it's really too bad that there's this lag time. If we could see immediately the result of our negative actions, like if some big foot suddenly came onto our head as we were smooshing a cockroach with our foot, we would never kill another cockroach. Report an error in the passage at 45:14 Highlight the passage at 45:14

45:46 We'd get it. Like we wouldn't have to go through a class like this. You'd already get it. It would come to you in an instant. You would never waste time doing non-virtuous actions because it would come back so quickly. Unfortunately, usually there are lifetimes between cause and result, but not always. Report an error in the passage at 45:46 Highlight the passage at 45:46

46:08 One of the cool things about karma, one of the many cool things about karma, is that if... It's not a cool thing if it's a negative act. It's a cool thing if it's a positive act. If your motivation is really huge, like as bodhicitta as you can make it, for the benefit of all beings, whatever that means to you, to remove the suffering of others, however you can phrase that. Report an error in the passage at 46:08 Highlight the passage at 46:08

46:37 If you want to meet a teacher to follow this path, to expand your heart, to be able to love and limit. And limitlessly, and to be able to help others limitlessly, then things can happen, can ripen more quickly. So the same if you have a really horrible motivation, things can ripen really quickly. So they say, for example, like killing your own parents in this lifetime, the suffering of that can actually ripen. Report an error in the passage at 46:37 Highlight the passage at 46:37

47:11 You know, like big or killing your teacher or something like that. like a really huge negative karma can also So there are four main principles of karma. Karma is definite, is the first one, and that means basically if you do something positive, you'll get a positive result. If you do something negative, you'll get a negative result. Which sounds very commonsensical, but there's a lot of... Report an error in the passage at 47:11 Highlight the passage at 47:11

47:46 Confusion about that when we are doing something unethical that we think maybe nobody will know about, like cheating on taxes. Sometimes it looks like when we cheated on our taxes, right, we got an extra $500? Report an error in the passage at 47:46 Highlight the passage at 47:46

48:00 Well, according to the Buddha, the cheating is going to create a result that you haven't experienced yet. The $500 is simply the result of a positive action of generosity that you did. So they're two separate karmas. Because we see them together and link them in our minds, we think that the one has netted the other, and in reality they're unrelated. So you're having the result of a positive karma, but you're creating the causes of a negative karma that you have yet to experience the right thing you have. Report an error in the passage at 48:00 Highlight the passage at 48:00

48:28 So principle number one, karma is definite. If you do something positive, you will get a positive result, no matter how big or small the action, no matter whether anybody saw you, or you told anybody. And the same, of course, is true. If you do something negative, even in your own room, even submitting the tax return and nobody saw you, then you will get a negative result. Report an error in the passage at 48:28 Highlight the passage at 48:28

48:57 No good action you do will ever cause you suffering. No wrong action you do will ever cause you anything. Report an error in the passage at 48:57 Highlight the passage at 48:57

49:10 And we think about this in the physical world, it makes sense, right? If I plant roses, I won't be surprised when the roses grow. Right? But if I want lemons, I shouldn't plant roses. I should plant the seeds for what I want to ripen. Report an error in the passage at 49:10 Highlight the passage at 49:10

49:31 So it's like that. If you want a teacher, then you have to just plant the seeds together. Report an error in the passage at 49:31 Highlight the passage at 49:31

49:42 Or at least try to nourish the seeds that are going to grow. The second of the four principles of karma is that karma always increases. Report an error in the passage at 49:42 Highlight the passage at 49:42

49:53 The results are always bigger than that. Again, this is really true in the physical world, too. The causes of a tree, like an acorn, are always much, much tinier than the resulting tree. Or the causes of a fruit are always much, much tinier. An apple seed is much smaller than certainly an apple tree, much less an apple. So it's like that. Report an error in the passage at 49:53 Highlight the passage at 49:53

50:17 So a tiny moment of anger at somebody could cause you a lot of suffering later. A tiny moment of kindness can result sometimes in like a lifetime of happiness because it grows. It's left to grow in our mind stream until it ripens. Report an error in the passage at 50:17 Highlight the passage at 50:17

50:39 So if we do tiny little acts of supporting the Dharma, then they add up. Report an error in the passage at 50:39 Highlight the passage at 50:39

50:47 If you didn't create the karma, this is one of those double negatives, you won't experience the result. In other words, if you do create the karma, you will. Experience the result. Nobody else can cause your suffering or your pleasure. And you can't cause somebody else's suffering and pleasure also. Report an error in the passage at 50:47 Highlight the passage at 50:47

51:13 Which, that one's really hard, right? In any relationship, you know? Sometimes we feel like, she made me mad, you know? Or that person's like, you made me mad, you know? And according to the Buddha, no, you're mad. Your own anger is your responsibility. This thing that's happening in our, you know, that's causing, if I'm unhappy, it's the result of negative karma, right? But I don't have to perpetuate that. Report an error in the passage at 51:13 Highlight the passage at 51:13

51:43 How I respond is what's going to shift it, what's going to create a better ending to the movie, basically. The movie's already created that I'm experiencing. So if you didn't create the karma, you won't experience the result. I remember actually saying this. When I was going home to be with my mom and what I knew was probably her end, she had a massive stroke. Report an error in the passage at 51:43 Highlight the passage at 51:43

52:09 And I remember her saying, and as I was getting into the car at Land of Medicine Buddha, she said, you can't change her karma and you can't take away her karma. All you can do is be there with her. And that was really useful because if somebody you love is suffering, there's nothing more than take away their karma and you don't have that capacity. Report an error in the passage at 52:09 Highlight the passage at 52:09

52:31 We just don't have that capacity. But we cannot leave. And that's huge, actually, to not leave when somebody's suffering and that suffering is hard to bear, you know, just to stay. Report an error in the passage at 52:31 Highlight the passage at 52:31

52:48 So if you are suffering, you created the cause. Another way to look at it is if you want to get enlightened or if you want to meet a teacher, then you have to create the cause. Being a nice person and showing up in class isn't enough. You know, it's different than the whole idea of going to church on Sunday. It's actually non-stop, as we all learned in the last class, right? Report an error in the passage at 52:48 Highlight the passage at 52:48

53:12 Tibetan Buddhism 24-7, as Ann called it. She was like, I need the notes from the 24-7 class. And you were talking about how to practice 24-7. Like, there's never time off. So, yeah, you have to create the causes of it. Or it won't happen. It won't just happen. Report an error in the passage at 53:12 Highlight the passage at 53:12

53:33 And the final one is that karma is never lost. It can never just disappear. Even the tiniest act will produce a result. So what happens when we purify? It gets diffused or it gets diminished, but it doesn't just disappear. So if we're doing a lot of purification, you will experience stuff happening. Report an error in the passage at 53:33 Highlight the passage at 53:33

54:01 Which won't always be comfortable. And what it is is it's diffusing what could have caused you great suffering in other lifetimes. It's now causing you a manageable amount of suffering now. Like several days of a headache or the flu. Or like I was talking about in the last class when Jan Willis fell and broke her foot when she was at Vajrapani. Report an error in the passage at 54:01 Highlight the passage at 54:01

54:22 And she said, oh thank goodness it was just the foot. If I hadn't been teaching the Dharma, then it could have been like broken hip or much worse. So yeah, purification, you still get a result, but it's a much, much smaller amount because it diffuses that karma. It doesn't completely eliminate it. You can't really eliminate it. Any karma, once it's created, has to ripen. Report an error in the passage at 54:22 Highlight the passage at 54:22

54:52 And negative karma can create blocks that keep us from meeting our teachers. I know for me, once I started understanding how karma works and I realized, why didn't I meet the Dharma and meet my teachers until I was in my late 30s? You know, what blocked me? So I really, part of why I got ordained actually, and definitely why I wanted to serve Rinpoche by working in his centers and so forth, was to create the causes to meet my Lama's earlier next life. Report an error in the passage at 54:52 Highlight the passage at 54:52

55:21 You know, I see these kids basically meeting, you know, their teachers are meeting the Dharma in their 20s and so forth, and I'm like, wow, why did that happen? I think it was karmic block of some sort, and so I wanted to just eliminate that in this lifetime as much as I could without, you know, again, I'm not clairvoyant, and so I don't, and I'm not a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 55:21 Highlight the passage at 55:21

55:41 And they say actually only an enlightened mind truly understands the workings of karma, but we can begin to work with it. With our level of mind, whatever our level of mind is. So it's one of those things that even a little bit of understanding of karma, we can start to make it work to our favor and to our benefit with wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 55:41 Highlight the passage at 55:41

56:05 And one of the definitions of wisdom is just simply understanding how karma works. The more profound levels of wisdom have to do with the nature of reality, which is how emptiness is. Report an error in the passage at 56:05 Highlight the passage at 56:05

56:18 And karma and emptiness work together. If things were absolute, if our minds were absolute, if the people and experiences and things around us were absolute, then karma wouldn't work. Report an error in the passage at 56:18 Highlight the passage at 56:18

56:32 Karma works because things are empty of that absoluteness, that solidity, that concreteness that we place on everything, we see on everything that doesn't actually exist that way. Report an error in the passage at 56:32 Highlight the passage at 56:32

56:46 So the fact that things... Ripen due to karma, due to cause and effect, means basically that things don't happen randomly and that everything comes down to what we do with our body speech in the moment. So we have to become more and more mindful of that. Not in a repressed sort of way, but in a wise way. Just seeing, understanding, like every moment sort of analyzing. Report an error in the passage at 56:46 Highlight the passage at 56:46

57:14 This is happening, if I'm unhappy, you know. How is this being caused? If I'm unhappy because I don't have enough money, can I practice generosity and change that karma? If I'm unhappy because I'm sick, can I serve somebody who's sick? Can I support life in some way by perhaps supporting an animal sanctuary or something like that? Report an error in the passage at 57:14 Highlight the passage at 57:14

57:41 How can I shift what I'm experiencing in some positive karmic way within this lifetime? That much we can do even without having a night in here. So any questions about any of that? It's a lot about karma. Like I said, some of it might be a review for those of you who did the class before last. Report an error in the passage at 57:41 Highlight the passage at 57:41

58:03 Anybody need one of the four principles repeated? The third one. If you didn't create the karma, you won't experience the result. Report an error in the passage at 58:03 Highlight the passage at 58:03

58:18 Tibetans are known for that double negative thing. If you didn't create the karma. You won't experience the result. Report an error in the passage at 58:18 Highlight the passage at 58:18

58:29 So basically, if you are experiencing the result, you did create. Report an error in the passage at 58:29 Highlight the passage at 58:29

58:41 Anybody else miss one? Report an error in the passage at 58:41 Highlight the passage at 58:41

58:47 Any questions? Report an error in the passage at 58:47 Highlight the passage at 58:47

58:55 I know it's like somebody at the end of one of my classes one time said, I just have one question. Can you explain emptiness? We've been talking about emptiness. And I actually think I did it. It was like a 19-second presentation. So I can talk to you. You can try. I might say too much. I guess I'm wondering, so, I mean, from the perspective that we live in a society where there's certain groups of people that are not classed. Report an error in the passage at 58:55 Highlight the passage at 58:55

59:24 So I guess it's a two-part question. One would be, if you're a member of one of those groups, does that mean you created the karma? Yeah, I mean, I think the Tibetans would be the first to say that... Collectively, they created the karma to be experiencing en masse what's happening to the friends. Is that their fault? No. Report an error in the passage at 59:24 Highlight the passage at 59:24

59:45 That's, again, that Western spin on things. It's more that idea of creating that karma netted this result, and so trying to shift that karma. So trying not to hate the Chinese, for example. Even when the Chinese are completely... Certain Chinese people are completely torturing you and your family and so forth, taking your belongings and so forth. So you're trying to use whatever's happening to you to have both wisdom about it and to not respond in like kind. Report an error in the passage at 59:45 Highlight the passage at 59:45

1:00:17 So, of course, can you change the situation? Yeah, and we should, with compassion as the motivating force. Rather than, I know I used to do a lot of political work and it seemed like the motivating force was anger. And I hear that a lot. Without anger, then we wouldn't have this sort of righteousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:17 Highlight the passage at 1:00:17

1:00:36 And it's like, no, actually, we can do it out of compassion. Because we don't want them, whoever the them is, we don't want the Chinese to be creating all that profound negative karma either. Do you know what I mean? We don't want whoever is burning the cross on my front lawn to be... creating the karma that they're creating either because it's ignorance Report an error in the passage at 1:00:36 Highlight the passage at 1:00:36

1:01:02 we have to act to change that situation, but the understanding or the recognition is that some degree I have created this and what can I do now to shift it. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:02 Highlight the passage at 1:01:02

1:01:17 And also knowing that I might not be able to shift it in this lifetime, but I can shift it in little bits, you know. But yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:17 Highlight the passage at 1:01:17

1:01:30 It's difficult to not respond with anger. So part of it is, but also part of it is a change. That's right. Yeah, yeah. So it's not to become a doormat. Yeah, exactly. Not to become a doormat. Yeah. Rather to become wiser and to become more compassionate, but to act. I mean, I think His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a great example of that. He's not laying down and saying, well, sure, let's just give up all of Tibet to the Chinese. That's not what he's ever said. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:30 Highlight the passage at 1:01:30

1:01:58 He's always said, you know, First he said for, I think now he's saying autonomy, yeah, but before he was saying independence, but then he's saying autonomy, but basically he's always stressed very clearly that Tibetans are separate people, they had separate money, they had separate laws, they had separate language, blah, blah, blah, and at the same time stressing, and especially the younger and younger generations of people who are just completely spent and done with it all, please. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:58 Highlight the passage at 1:01:58

1:02:30 Try not to respond with anger and violence. It doesn't help. And with all the self-immolations, it doesn't help. But at the same time, having compassion for those who are pressed to the breaking point. It's not easy to hold this point of view. It's not easy. But it is a point of view that makes sense. To me, it made sense. And I think it's useful in this class on the teacher to understand. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:30 Highlight the passage at 1:02:30

1:03:00 understand how reality works according to the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:00 Highlight the passage at 1:03:00

1:03:06 And there is such a thing as collective karma. So what you've mentioned is collective karma. Whether it's, you know, everybody on the plane that's going down, that kind of collective karma, or whether it's... All women who in this lifetime were women, but the next lifetime we may be the very men who are oppressing the next group of women who were the women who were oppressed. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:06 Highlight the passage at 1:03:06

1:03:28 I mean, you know what, we just switch off every lifetime. It's kind of silly when you think of it with this long term, you realize just how many lifetimes we've just wasted just doing this kind of crazy, deluded, ignorant actions. Without understanding that we're causing our own suffering, much less everybody else's, just getting it that we're creating our own suffering by our actions. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:28 Highlight the passage at 1:03:28

1:03:57 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:57 Highlight the passage at 1:03:57

1:04:15 Well, if it's a lot of people doing one thing, for example, a lot of people fighting a war are creating a collective karma, and then in the next life or several lifetimes, they may be on the receiving end of an army coming in and basically... Destroying their homes and so forth, which is what they created together. So if a bunch of people are experiencing a similar, and it won't be exact, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:15 Highlight the passage at 1:04:15

1:04:43 Sometimes there's one baby that survives the plane crash or something like that. But there is a similarity, and that is that shared karma. But each of us have our own mind stream, so each of us have our own karma, and so there could be a variance. One person survives the plane crash but then dies a couple years later of a broken pelvis or something. There could be slight differences. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:43 Highlight the passage at 1:04:43

1:05:06 Somebody goes flying out of the plane and survives. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:06 Highlight the passage at 1:05:06

1:05:11 Somebody is the cause of the plane crash, the drunk pilot or something, who then creates a new karma because of that. Or on that plane going down, one person is helping the old lady, whereas everybody else is just trampling her. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:11 Highlight the passage at 1:05:11

1:05:29 Think about 9-1-1, all the stories that we heard about 9-1-1. Some people just responded to it with complete, like this huge heart, you know? And then some people were just kind of like, get me out of the building and I'll walk over anybody who's in my way, which is, you know, I mean, not to judge at all, simply what's happening. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:29 Highlight the passage at 1:05:29

1:05:46 So they're in this collective karma, but then they're creating other karmas in every moment of that experience that's going to then dictate the next karma. It's very fascinating, actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:46 Highlight the passage at 1:05:46

1:06:03 Yeah. Or like the people that were on that one plane that they tried and did succeed in turning it away from its original goal, you know, but it still crashed. But they did this amazing act and that was positive karma. Some of their mind streams might have not been the best, you know, some of it might have been based on anger, hatred or, you know, rather than compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:03 Highlight the passage at 1:06:03

1:06:28 Some of it might have been more bravery or, you know, I'll take this on so that others can live. You know, who knows? We don't have clairvoyance, so we don't know. But some people came out of that with this amazing karma because they did this amazing. And then some people still did an amazing act with maybe mixed karma, which is a lot of what we create is mixed karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:28 Highlight the passage at 1:06:28

1:06:52 Not 100%. Positive motivation. But sometimes good intentioned and sometimes we do stupid things. You know, we bring in the street guy and we try to take care of him and actually we didn't really have the wisdom to do that and then like he rips us off and you know what I mean, like in Cratesmark Armand. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:52 Highlight the passage at 1:06:52

1:07:13 So we do these things, we try to bring these two people together, actually one ends up killing the other, you know. Just lots of things in our lives that we do with an intention of goodness, but it's not 100%. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:13 Highlight the passage at 1:07:13

1:07:28 We know it's the right thing to do, but we don't even have a strong intention. We know it's good to support the Dharma Center, but we forget to motivate. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:28 Highlight the passage at 1:07:28