Discovering Buddhism - Wisdom of Emptiness (4 September 2008)

0:24 Some new faces, some old faces, some missing faces. Report an error in the passage at 0:24 Highlight the passage at 0:24

0:33 Okay, so I guess those who weren't here last work are excused from the homework. Can I have a prayer book? Report an error in the passage at 0:33 Highlight the passage at 0:33

0:49 We're going to do on page 79 the Heart Sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 0:49 Highlight the passage at 0:49

1:06 Thus did I hear at one time that Bhagavan was dwelling on massive vultures mountain in Rajgriya, together with a great community of monks and a great community of bodhisattvas. At that time, the Bhagavan was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called profound perception. Also at that time, the bodhisattva and mahasattva, Ayra Alvikichasavara, looked upon the very practice of the profound perfection of wisdom and beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:06 Highlight the passage at 1:06

1:34 Then through the power of Buddha, the Venerable Sharaputra said this to the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Avalokiteshavara. How should any son of the lineage trained who wishes to practice the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom? He said that and the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Avalokiteshavara said this to the Venerable Shavidati Putra. Report an error in the passage at 1:34 Highlight the passage at 1:34

1:55 Saraputra, any son of the lineage or daughter of the lineage who wishes to practice the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom should look upon it like this. Correctly and repeatedly beholding those five egrets also is empty of inherent nature. Form is empty, emptiness is form, emptiness is not other than form, form is also not other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness are empty. Report an error in the passage at 1:55 Highlight the passage at 1:55

2:21 Sharaputra, likewise, all phenomena are emptiness, without characteristic, unproduced, unceased, stainless, not without stain, not deficient, not fulfilled. Shared preacher, therefore in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, no discrimination, no compositional factors, no consciousness, no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no visual form, no sound, no odor, no taste, no object of touch and no phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 2:21 Highlight the passage at 2:21

2:47 There is no eye element and so on up to including no mind element and no mental consciousness element. There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance and so on up to including no aging and death and no extinction of aging and death. Similarly, there is no suffering, origination, cessation and path. There is no exalted wisdom, no attainment and also no non-attainment. Sheprucha, therefore, because there is no attainment, bodhisattvas rely on and dwell in the perfection of wisdom, the mind without obscuration and without fear. Report an error in the passage at 2:47 Highlight the passage at 2:47

3:17 Having completely passed beyond error, they reach the end point of nirvāṇa. All the Buddhas who dwell in the three times also manifest completely. Making it to unsurpassable, perfect, complete enlightenment in reliance on the perfection of wisdom. Therefore, the mantra of the perfection of wisdom, the mantra of great knowledge, the unsurpassed mantra, the mantra equal to the unequaled, the mantra that thoroughly pacifies all suffering, should be known as truth since it is not false. Report an error in the passage at 3:17 Highlight the passage at 3:17

3:44 The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is declared. Thayta Om Gathe Gathe Paragathe Parasam Gathe Bodhi Soha Shavaputra, the Bodhisattva and Mahasattva should train the profound perfection of wisdom like that. Then the Bhagavan arose from that concentration and commended the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Ayur Al-Aviki Chishvara, saying, Well said, well said, son of the lineage, it is like that, it is like that. Report an error in the passage at 3:44 Highlight the passage at 3:44

4:08 One should practice the profound perfection of wisdom just as you have indicated. Even the Tathagatas rejoice. The Bhagavan having thus spoken the venerable Shavadada Putra. The Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Aral Avikichasvar, those surrounding in their entirety along with the world of gods, humans, Yashuras and Gandharas were overjoyed and highly praised that spoken by the Bhagavan. Report an error in the passage at 4:08 Highlight the passage at 4:08

4:32 This is an amazing sūtra. Does anyone know what it means? Report an error in the passage at 4:32 Highlight the passage at 4:32

4:38 It's all about emptiness. I think they say that by reciting the Heart Sūtra you create the cause to have the realizations of emptiness. It's all really there. Report an error in the passage at 4:38 Highlight the passage at 4:38

4:57 What are the five aggregates? Another word in some traditions is called the Skandas. Someone know those? Report an error in the passage at 4:57 Highlight the passage at 4:57

5:13 It's right there, yeah, it's right there. If you find it in the sūtra, you'll see it. Report an error in the passage at 5:13 Highlight the passage at 5:13

5:29 So what do we mean by form? Report an error in the passage at 5:29 Highlight the passage at 5:29

5:38 Material, Report an error in the passage at 5:38 Highlight the passage at 5:38

5:44 shape, discrimination, between Report an error in the passage at 5:44 Highlight the passage at 5:44

5:56 this and that, compositional factors, Report an error in the passage at 5:56 Highlight the passage at 5:56

6:03 an example. Report an error in the passage at 6:03 Highlight the passage at 6:03

6:20 It's more like concepts, actually, I think. Report an error in the passage at 6:20 Highlight the passage at 6:20

6:27 Person is a compositional factor. Report an error in the passage at 6:27 Highlight the passage at 6:27

6:34 Yeah, the label person is a compositional factor. Report an error in the passage at 6:34 Highlight the passage at 6:34

6:40 Just a label put on... Another example is Sunday. Sunday is a day of the week. It's kind of a catch-all for some of those things. Consciousness, another word for that is mind. Feeling, it's kind of the... Feeling and discrimination are also what we call... Mental factors, so along with consciousness, they're just divisions of mind. I'm not really particularly aware of why they're distinguishing only those particular mental factors when they talk about the five aggregates, but they do. Report an error in the passage at 6:40 Highlight the passage at 6:40

7:30 There's also jealousy, pride, laziness, doubt. There's like 52 mental factors. I don't remember them all off the top of my head, but it gives you some idea. Report an error in the passage at 7:30 Highlight the passage at 7:30

7:46 And so discrimination and feeling are two of those. There's what they call the virtuous mental factors, there's the non-virtuous mental factors, there's the neutral mental factors. Report an error in the passage at 7:46 Highlight the passage at 7:46

8:02 It's just a way of classifying, and I don't know if you're familiar with this particular system, but certainly the Tibetan Galupas have a way of classifying everything into 1, 2, 3, 4, A, B, C, D, 6 of this and 7 of that. It makes for easy learning and outlines and things like that to understand these things. So they talk about that in emptiness there is no form. Report an error in the passage at 8:02 Highlight the passage at 8:02

8:31 Form is empty. Emptiness is form. So what do you think that means? Report an error in the passage at 8:31 Highlight the passage at 8:31

8:44 What do we mean by emptiness? Empty of what? Report an error in the passage at 8:44 Highlight the passage at 8:44

8:51 Empty of inherent existence? Empty of independent existence? So form has no existence in and of itself independently. So form is emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 8:51 Highlight the passage at 8:51

9:09 Emptiness is form. There's no such thing as emptiness without form. So the emptiness of flower and flower, form of flower, arise simultaneously. Report an error in the passage at 9:09 Highlight the passage at 9:09

9:25 You don't have emptiness of flower and you don't have flower without. Report an error in the passage at 9:25 Highlight the passage at 9:25

9:35 That's kind of what we mean by that. Report an error in the passage at 9:35 Highlight the passage at 9:35

9:49 cold, can melt it. Report an error in the passage at 9:49 Highlight the passage at 9:49

10:01 that's why I think you can change the form now. That's one of the ways in which we discuss emptiness in terms of causes and conditions. So in terms of form having gold and having a form of solid, you mean, and then it becomes liquid? Yes. That's one way in which it translates. That I would think would be more related to, where is it, here in the sūtra? Report an error in the passage at 10:01 Highlight the passage at 10:01

10:38 Discrimination comes into consciousness and life. uh, uh... Report an error in the passage at 10:38 Highlight the passage at 10:38

10:41 Without character, unproduced, unceased, also, maybe. What? Report an error in the passage at 10:41 Highlight the passage at 10:41

10:55 There is no inherent production, no. There's no inherent production, that's what we're referring to here. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 10:55 Highlight the passage at 10:55

11:06 is it really hot? Is this really confusing? Or what? Report an error in the passage at 11:06 Highlight the passage at 11:06

11:18 I'm looking at a bunch of blank faces here, and I don't know what to make of it. Report an error in the passage at 11:18 Highlight the passage at 11:18

11:30 Yeah, so maybe we'll do, let's talk about homework and then we'll do a meditation. Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

11:40 Does anger originate from an internal cause or an external object? What were people's answers on that one? Report an error in the passage at 11:40 Highlight the passage at 11:40

· · · silence, 1 minute

12:41 So you're saying it's internal. Your conclusion is internal. Yes? Internal. It doesn't feel like it. Anyone else think it's external? always asking to no matter what happens, I have to control Report an error in the passage at 12:41 Highlight the passage at 12:41

· · · silence, 1 minute

13:06 Where does it originate? Report an error in the passage at 13:06 Highlight the passage at 13:06

13:28 Anyone else say external? Report an error in the passage at 13:28 Highlight the passage at 13:28

14:00 You would have to have the condition. That's true. But I think in terms of the word originate, I would probably have to think it's internal. Report an error in the passage at 14:00 Highlight the passage at 14:00

14:12 Anyone else? By Report an error in the passage at 14:12 Highlight the passage at 14:12

14:19 an object. Something external. Triggered. It Report an error in the passage at 14:19 Highlight the passage at 14:19

14:32 happens very fast, for sure. Report an error in the passage at 14:32 Highlight the passage at 14:32

14:41 But we have to be able to separate that, too. I mean, that's the point of just looking at this deeply, is to separate that cause. Report an error in the passage at 14:41 Highlight the passage at 14:41

15:00 Because, you know, I mean, you know, when we talk about the truth of the cause of suffering, which is grasping at the self-existent I, that is really the original problem. Because of that original existence, grasping at the self-existent I, you distinguish between this and that. Report an error in the passage at 15:00 Highlight the passage at 15:00

15:20 And then you have feeling and you have craving and grasping. And once you start that cycle, of course, you then are going round and round. So you wouldn't come in contact with any kind of object if you hadn't really started that cycle of grasping the self-existent eye. Or from labeling something as good or bad, or like or dislike or red or... Report an error in the passage at 15:20 Highlight the passage at 15:20

15:54 Green or however we label it. It has to be internal. But it does come, there is that external kind of condition. That really is nothing much more than an appearance. Report an error in the passage at 15:54 Highlight the passage at 15:54

16:39 Well, I think that's mostly habit. That's what we do by habit. And that's why we're investigating here. It's like, okay, by habit we are conditioned to see things in a certain way. And it's very, very subtle. Report an error in the passage at 16:39 Highlight the passage at 16:39

16:56 And it's only when we start investigating that we kind of say, okay, there's a part that I play in this because I see this from my side. It doesn't exist that way from its own side. And it's because of my habits to see something, let's say, Report an error in the passage at 16:56 Highlight the passage at 16:56

17:17 It can be old, white, black, green, whatever. Somehow, because of your habits, you react in a certain way. And then, of course, you blame them. Report an error in the passage at 17:17 Highlight the passage at 17:17

17:29 Society, look at our campaign speeches. It's working on the basis of using an external source for our problems. And it's not in accord with reality. but are That habit is reinforced. It's only by looking and investigating that we start to kind of pull it apart and see it for what it is. And just that you come in contact with an external object in and of itself is not enough to cause anger to arise. Report an error in the passage at 17:29 Highlight the passage at 17:29

18:10 There must be a habit for you in particular. For that particular condition to not only arise, but for you to react to it in such a way. Report an error in the passage at 18:10 Highlight the passage at 18:10

18:30 Because otherwise everyone would react completely in the same way. If that external object was a source, a true source of anger, then everyone would react exactly the same way. Report an error in the passage at 18:30 Highlight the passage at 18:30

19:03 What was the other question? Report an error in the passage at 19:03 Highlight the passage at 19:03

19:16 Ultimately, no. Report an error in the passage at 19:16 Highlight the passage at 19:16

19:24 From the Report an error in the passage at 19:24 Highlight the passage at 19:24

19:32 point of view of ultimate truth, no. Well, I mean from a true justified even out of itself is a word, a label. But from that which can be beneficial in terms of proceeding along the path to realizing emptiness, maybe. Report an error in the passage at 19:32 Highlight the passage at 19:32

20:00 Do you understand what I mean by that? Report an error in the passage at 20:00 Highlight the passage at 20:00

20:10 Same in Tibetan Buddhism. In fact, the monasteries, the gecko has disciplinarians. Well, it depends. I would say, in Tibetan we distinguish between wrath and anger. And one cannot be certain from the point of view of the person who is just manifesting in a wrathful form. If they actually have anger in their mind, if they're a realized being, at least this is the way we would see it, you would not attribute them to being angry. Report an error in the passage at 20:10 Highlight the passage at 20:10

21:02 This is just the way they're appearing for you, for you to get a lesson. But from their side they have no anger. Report an error in the passage at 21:02 Highlight the passage at 21:02

21:14 That's how we would look at those things. Report an error in the passage at 21:14 Highlight the passage at 21:14

21:22 Anger is a good example, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 21:22 Highlight the passage at 21:22

21:32 Attachment is another one, but it's like, yeah, the point of this class is really to apply this stuff into our own experience here, so what is it that arises for us? Report an error in the passage at 21:32 Highlight the passage at 21:32

21:51 Politics are a really, really good kind of igniter, aren't they? We all believe our view is correct, Report an error in the passage at 21:51 Highlight the passage at 21:51

22:05 it's not as if would be... even necessarily Report an error in the passage at 22:05 Highlight the passage at 22:05

22:17 Our view of what's maybe beneficial, but maybe we, I don't know. You can see how easily it gets people riled, doesn't it? To different extremes, but nobody sees it the same way. People have very divergent views. But whether they get angry or not, it was interesting, in July we were in Indiana, we were invited by these Christian brothers for lunch. Report an error in the passage at 22:17 Highlight the passage at 22:17

22:52 I can't remember if it was Dominican or Benedictine. And they had a couple of guests who were lay people. And we got into this discussion actually about politics. And it was really obvious within a few... I think it just started as a very simple thing about people getting their medicine by going to Canada, which was a big thing in some of the states even in the Midwest were going to Canada to get their... Report an error in the passage at 22:52 Highlight the passage at 22:52

23:20 Drugs for their people who were on government plans because it was much cheaper. And this person, one of these people started saying, you know, from a very conservative point of view. And, you know, like how the money, the drug companies need the funds to be able to do the research. By, you know, people putting in initiative and stuff like that through business that, you know, this is the way our country operates. Report an error in the passage at 23:20 Highlight the passage at 23:20

23:56 And it was very interesting to watch the dynamic because of course then the Christian brother was kind of, you know, much more about for the poor and this and that. But in the end, there was a lot of anger on both sides. And I was watching this kind of dynamic playing out, being a Buddhist. Report an error in the passage at 23:56 Highlight the passage at 23:56

24:19 And really, it was quite interesting to see, because culturally, we have this background, but if we lose ourselves in the anger, we kind of lose. Report an error in the passage at 24:19 Highlight the passage at 24:19

24:37 So we have to see it beyond that anger. We have to see the emptiness point of view, no matter what. And it can be very, very, very difficult to really digest all of this, because... There is a tendency, you know, for us to try to wish good upon the world and want certain social and policies and human rights and things like that, Report an error in the passage at 24:37 Highlight the passage at 24:37

25:14 and work very hard to have those for the benefit of the society, of the individuals in the society. Yet, if we have to resort to anger and violence, then somehow we've lost the view. Report an error in the passage at 25:14 Highlight the passage at 25:14

25:42 Somehow we've lost the view. And this I think even you will see with His Holiness the Dalai Lama's particular kind of fight for the Tibetan people historically has always been on a non-violent platform. Report an error in the passage at 25:42 Highlight the passage at 25:42

26:06 And he holds quite strongly to that view even though he has a lot of opposition. Report an error in the passage at 26:06 Highlight the passage at 26:06

26:18 Do people get it? I mean is this working for you in terms of your experience? Because I'm pretty sure if we were to talk politics in this class, we'd all have things arise for us, wouldn't we? We'd all kind of come out on one side of the scale or the other. Report an error in the passage at 26:18 Highlight the passage at 26:18

26:36 Most likely, since we live in San Francisco, we're going to end up more on the one side than the other. But even within this class, we're going to have differences of opinion. And that kind of comes from our view, doesn't it? And have an upbringing in culture. Report an error in the passage at 26:36 Highlight the passage at 26:36

26:56 We have a few people who maybe weren't born in America here that maybe have some different cultural backgrounds that might have a different perspective on things. Report an error in the passage at 26:56 Highlight the passage at 26:56

27:09 Yeah, it's kind of interesting. Seeing it empty is from its own side. Okay, we're going to get into trying to find the eye tonight, if we can, but let's try to do a meditation. Report an error in the passage at 27:09 Highlight the passage at 27:09

27:24 Any more questions before we get started? I Report an error in the passage at 27:24 Highlight the passage at 27:24

27:35 better turn off my cell phone, I realized it. Oh, maybe it's not on me. Okay, good. Report an error in the passage at 27:35 Highlight the passage at 27:35

27:47 Relaxed. Back straight. Neck and shoulders relaxed. Chin tucked in slightly. Report an error in the passage at 27:47 Highlight the passage at 27:47

28:00 Eyes directed to the ground about three feet in front of you. If you want, you can close your eyes or just let your eyelids relax quite naturally and keep them just barely open. Report an error in the passage at 28:00 Highlight the passage at 28:00

28:14 Right hand placed in the palm of the left. Thumbs touching. Report an error in the passage at 28:14 Highlight the passage at 28:14

28:21 Tongue on the upper palate behind the front teeth. Report an error in the passage at 28:21 Highlight the passage at 28:21

28:28 Lips slightly pursed together, very relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 28:28 Highlight the passage at 28:28

28:54 And just begin with following the breath, the rising and falling of your abdomen as you breathe in and out. Report an error in the passage at 28:54 Highlight the passage at 28:54

· · · silence, 1 minute

29:43 Let go of all the mental activity and keep the mind focused on the breath. In Report an error in the passage at 29:43 Highlight the passage at 29:43

· · · silence, 3 minutes

33:08 alertness of the mind, slowly and carefully become aware of the I. Report an error in the passage at 33:08 Highlight the passage at 33:08

33:18 Who or what is thinking, feeling and meditating? Report an error in the passage at 33:18 Highlight the passage at 33:18

33:42 How does it seem to come into existence? Report an error in the passage at 33:42 Highlight the passage at 33:42

33:54 How does it appear to you? Report an error in the passage at 33:54 Highlight the passage at 33:54

· · · silence, 1 minute

34:42 Is your I creation of your mind? Or Report an error in the passage at 34:42 Highlight the passage at 34:42

35:11 is it something existing concretely, independently, in its own right? Report an error in the passage at 35:11 Highlight the passage at 35:11

· · · silence, 1 minute

35:48 If you think you can identify the Report an error in the passage at 35:48 Highlight the passage at 35:48

35:55 I, then try to locate it. Report an error in the passage at 35:55 Highlight the passage at 35:55

36:01 Where is the I? Report an error in the passage at 36:01 Highlight the passage at 36:01

36:21 In your head? Report an error in the passage at 36:21 Highlight the passage at 36:21

36:31 Your hands? Report an error in the passage at 36:31 Highlight the passage at 36:31

36:43 Your heart? Report an error in the passage at 36:43 Highlight the passage at 36:43

36:59 Your feet? Report an error in the passage at 36:59 Highlight the passage at 36:59

37:21 Carefully consider each part of your body, Report an error in the passage at 37:21 Highlight the passage at 37:21

37:28 the organs, Report an error in the passage at 37:28 Highlight the passage at 37:28

37:32 the blood, Report an error in the passage at 37:32 Highlight the passage at 37:32

37:39 the bones. Report an error in the passage at 37:39 Highlight the passage at 37:39

37:46 Can you find your eye? Report an error in the passage at 37:46 Highlight the passage at 37:46

· · · silence, 1 minute

38:34 It might be very small and subtle, so consider the cells, the Report an error in the passage at 38:34 Highlight the passage at 38:34

38:43 atoms, Report an error in the passage at 38:43 Highlight the passage at 38:43

38:47 parts of the atoms. Report an error in the passage at 38:47 Highlight the passage at 38:47

38:53 Can you find that eye? Report an error in the passage at 38:53 Highlight the passage at 38:53

· · · silence, 1 minute

39:27 Again, ask yourself how your eye manifests. Report an error in the passage at 39:27 Highlight the passage at 39:27

39:40 Is your body the eye or not? Report an error in the passage at 39:40 Highlight the passage at 39:40

· · · silence, 1 minute

40:15 Perhaps you think your mind is the I. Report an error in the passage at 40:15 Highlight the passage at 40:15

40:31 This constantly changing stream of thoughts, feelings, Report an error in the passage at 40:31 Highlight the passage at 40:31

40:42 experiences, Report an error in the passage at 40:42 Highlight the passage at 40:42

40:48 coming and going. Report an error in the passage at 40:48 Highlight the passage at 40:48

40:58 Which one of these is the I? Report an error in the passage at 40:58 Highlight the passage at 40:58

41:21 Is it the loving thought? Report an error in the passage at 41:21 Highlight the passage at 41:21

41:30 An angry thought? A Report an error in the passage at 41:30 Highlight the passage at 41:30

41:43 happy feeling? Report an error in the passage at 41:43 Highlight the passage at 41:43

41:56 Is your I a sad feeling? Report an error in the passage at 41:56 Highlight the passage at 41:56

· · · silence, 1 minute

42:32 Is your I the meditating mind? Report an error in the passage at 42:32 Highlight the passage at 42:32

42:47 The distracted mind? Report an error in the passage at 42:47 Highlight the passage at 42:47

43:00 The dreaming mind? Report an error in the passage at 43:00 Highlight the passage at 43:00

43:29 Can you find the I in your mind? Report an error in the passage at 43:29 Highlight the passage at 43:29

· · · silence, 1 minute

44:18 Is there any other place to look for your I? Report an error in the passage at 44:18 Highlight the passage at 44:18

44:26 Could it exist somewhere else? Or in some other way? Report an error in the passage at 44:26 Highlight the passage at 44:26

44:37 Examine every possibility you can think of. Report an error in the passage at 44:37 Highlight the passage at 44:37

· · · silence, 1 minute

45:28 Now let's again investigate the way in which this I actually appears to us. Report an error in the passage at 45:28 Highlight the passage at 45:28

45:41 How it feels to you. Report an error in the passage at 45:41 Highlight the passage at 45:41

46:02 After this search for the I, do you notice any change? Report an error in the passage at 46:02 Highlight the passage at 46:02

46:33 Do you still believe it is as solid and real as we felt before? Report an error in the passage at 46:33 Highlight the passage at 46:33

47:00 Does it still appear to exist in and of itself? Report an error in the passage at 47:00 Highlight the passage at 47:00

47:34 Now mentally disintegrate your body. Imagine all the atoms separating and floating apart, Report an error in the passage at 47:34 Highlight the passage at 47:34

47:50 billions upon billions of minute particles scattering through space. Report an error in the passage at 47:50 Highlight the passage at 47:50

48:08 Imagine that you can actually see this, Report an error in the passage at 48:08 Highlight the passage at 48:08

48:25 your body disintegrating. Billions upon billions of minute particles Report an error in the passage at 48:25 Highlight the passage at 48:25

48:35 separating, scattering through space. Report an error in the passage at 48:35 Highlight the passage at 48:35

· · · silence, 1 minute

49:20 Now your mind. Let every thought, feeling, sensation, perception float away. Report an error in the passage at 49:20 Highlight the passage at 49:20

· · · silence, 1 minute

50:30 Stay in this experience of space without being distracted by thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 50:30 Highlight the passage at 50:30

· · · silence, 1 minute

51:52 You can relax. Bring your attention back to the class. Stretch if you need to. Report an error in the passage at 51:52 Highlight the passage at 51:52

· · · silence, 1 minute

52:36 How'd that work? Did it appear to be so solid? Report an error in the passage at 52:36 Highlight the passage at 52:36

52:46 It is or it isn't. Report an error in the passage at 52:46 Highlight the passage at 52:46

53:08 Anyone else? Report an error in the passage at 53:08 Highlight the passage at 53:08

53:14 Did something shift? I mean, did it appear to be as solid as you believed it to be at the beginning? Report an error in the passage at 53:14 Highlight the passage at 53:14

53:23 What was people's comment on your experience? I'm waiting to hear from you. Report an error in the passage at 53:23 Highlight the passage at 53:23

53:30 Well, eventually. Yes? Report an error in the passage at 53:30 Highlight the passage at 53:30

· · · silence, 1 minute

54:12 It is, isn't it? That's actually quite a good... Good thing from this perspective? That panic. Yeah, there's a story of the monk who's getting the teachings on emptiness and all of a sudden in the middle of the teachings he has to kind of grab himself because he really needs something to hang on to. That kind of panic that arises. That's actually quite good to happen because it really means that there's a shift there. Report an error in the passage at 54:12 Highlight the passage at 54:12

54:53 And the understanding. So, yeah, there would be a panic. This inevitably would arise. This is the kind of panic that arises kind of at the time of death when all this stuff is dissolving away. There's that sense of panic because you have nothing left to identify with. I mean, everything you believed as identifying with. Report an error in the passage at 54:53 Highlight the passage at 54:53

55:22 Your whole life story, your family, your friends, your education, your job, your career, everything like that. That you've built all this story around at that point. Report an error in the passage at 55:22 Highlight the passage at 55:22

55:33 And even your body now is, you know, this sense of I is separating from the body. And so there is a great moment of panic at the time of death. And then there's a reaction to try to really hang on to something. It can be quite frightening. But it's actually okay. We have to move, you know. It's actually good to have that experience. Report an error in the passage at 55:33 Highlight the passage at 55:33

56:22 Yeah, you would, yeah, because it's not as frightening as it may appear to be initially. It's just the habit that we have to identify really strongly with an eye. And when that's pulled out from underneath us, it does give us quite a sense of panic. Report an error in the passage at 56:22 Highlight the passage at 56:22

56:44 When you think of all that's built upon the predicate of being an I, having an I, Report an error in the passage at 56:44 Highlight the passage at 56:44

56:52 it becomes the whole basis of our experience. All of our little systems of what's right, what's wrong, who we love, who we don't love, what foods we eat, it's all predicated on this I. And Report an error in the passage at 56:52 Highlight the passage at 56:52

57:22 when you start to understand it, you can't really, it's just not, it does not exist the way it appears to exist. Report an error in the passage at 57:22 Highlight the passage at 57:22

57:35 Because then, I mean, you know, Report an error in the passage at 57:35 Highlight the passage at 57:35

57:41 certainly at the level that I'm teaching my own experiences and my own realizations, I can only take it into something that I think can be helpful in this life. Report an error in the passage at 57:41 Highlight the passage at 57:41

57:58 I think it leads to the enlightenment and there's a path of that, but in terms of my own experiences, I don't have any realizations. But I certainly do feel the value. Report an error in the passage at 57:58 Highlight the passage at 57:58

58:11 In loosening that grip we have, Report an error in the passage at 58:11 Highlight the passage at 58:11

58:19 it allows us to flow much Report an error in the passage at 58:19 Highlight the passage at 58:19

58:26 easier, less friction, less suffering, less contention, like a river flowing, just flowing, not grasping that this is right and this is wrong, this has got to be this way, this has got to be that way. You're still functioning in a very conventional re-world, but it's not. Totally throwing you if it's not exactly the way you expect it to be or the way you think it should be and the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 58:26 Highlight the passage at 58:26

59:05 That much, if we even grasp that much, it can be quite helpful. Report an error in the passage at 59:05 Highlight the passage at 59:05

59:16 It can begin to chip Report an error in the passage at 59:16 Highlight the passage at 59:16

59:23 away at this real identity with an eye, but it also can really open up the heart to developing compassion. know Report an error in the passage at 59:23 Highlight the passage at 59:23

59:33 Because you don't hang on so solidly to all those beliefs and judgments and ways of seeing things as being so solid from your own side. Report an error in the passage at 59:33 Highlight the passage at 59:33

59:48 But you also develop compassion for all the suffering that people are putting themselves through based on hanging on to that I. And Report an error in the passage at 59:48 Highlight the passage at 59:48

1:00:02 those qualities, there's certainly no harm in developing them. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:02 Highlight the passage at 1:00:02

1:00:10 It can be hard, it can be difficult. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:10 Highlight the passage at 1:00:10

1:00:16 Because in some ways you kind of have to accept the world as it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:16 Highlight the passage at 1:00:16

1:00:29 You can try to affect change, but you also know it's just this stream of experiences that Report an error in the passage at 1:00:29 Highlight the passage at 1:00:29

1:00:41 adjusting to that can be quite difficult. But it's good practice and does change one's mind, one's experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:41 Highlight the passage at 1:00:41

1:01:03 Do you want a tea break? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:03 Highlight the passage at 1:01:03

1:01:07 Any more questions or you want a tea break? Let's take a tea break. Okay? Chloe? They're ready for tea. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:07 Highlight the passage at 1:01:07

1:01:45 the table, I'll bet she's checking us some binders, wants to bring them in, then um... are additional reading materials to sure I get a copy. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:45 Highlight the passage at 1:01:45

1:01:59 everyone really need a copy of the book here? anyone else? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:59 Highlight the passage at 1:01:59

1:02:07 I'll try to get that one. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:07 Highlight the passage at 1:02:07

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:03:03 Do you need to copy the books as well? I'll copy them at the end of the class. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:03 Highlight the passage at 1:03:03

· · · silence, 3 minutes

1:06:34 These were students of Lama Geshe, so they were quite open, although, yeah, that Report an error in the passage at 1:06:34 Highlight the passage at 1:06:34

1:07:01 was actually Seattle, I think. Yeah, yeah, and then may have taken as It's also intertwined with the life of Buddha with Kino Reeves that's in the movie. You're right, that's right. There Report an error in the passage at 1:07:01 Highlight the passage at 1:07:01

1:07:28 are many actually, there's a whole book about trees. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:28 Highlight the passage at 1:07:28

1:07:40 I think, you know, especially in this day and age, I think that it's from Report an error in the passage at 1:07:40 Highlight the passage at 1:07:40

1:07:49 the side of Lama's ritualization that makes sense to be born into, although they don't necessarily always get them trained in the same way. Right. But not what we Report an error in the passage at 1:07:49 Highlight the passage at 1:07:49

1:08:13 he may not be born into death, and he's actually asking people to decide whether he should take Report an error in the passage at 1:08:13 Highlight the passage at 1:08:13

1:08:23 what is said with these teachers is that they reincarnate, they're kind of realized beings, so purpose in taking reincarnation is for the benefit of others. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:23 Highlight the passage at 1:08:23

1:08:42 But, you know, I mean, he's also playing the game, too, with the Chinese. The Chinese, of course, think that the longer they hold out, when he dies, the problem goes away. But more realistically, instead of his resolve, those issues weren't so alive, he can actually get the acceptance to be quite engaged in dialogue. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:42 Highlight the passage at 1:08:42

1:09:13 It'll be, he actually, you know, last year, I think, in Japan, he alluded to he's appointing his reincarnation before he would pass away. And this has also been kind of, it's beyond, kind of beyond our reasoning in some ways, but it's What do you mean by talking this? is re-incarnishing a little boy that's already living so like transferring his consciousness into the little boy. They're manifesting in this boy and if he would give the power of that manifestation to that boy then there's certainly his followers. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:13 Highlight the passage at 1:09:13

1:10:01 For the Tremendants it's not that much of a stretch of imagination. For us it is because we kind of think they are bitter in us. But this movie, actually, you're just referring to, also has more than one reincarnation that was right in the act of that three, a body, speech, and mind. So, these are concepts of, uh, who's the, um, the one that, um, there's a little boy that recorded, and he just disappeared, and then they, one of the other, they picked. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:01 Highlight the passage at 1:10:01

1:10:45 By the Tibetan people, revered leader. Yeah, I've been told though that eventually that situation will resolve itself. Last year when I was in Tibet it was believed that this boy maybe has escaped Tibet. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:45 Highlight the passage at 1:10:45

1:11:14 Actually, I was told maybe possibly both of them, but that because of what happened when the Karmampas escaped, kind of the, what do you call it? It's Report an error in the passage at 1:11:14 Highlight the passage at 1:11:14

1:11:36 a word I'm looking for. Oh, this thing is still going. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:36 Highlight the passage at 1:11:36

1:11:42 Repercussions from the Karmampas that they were considering that if the... He's probably actually probably about 15 now. If he had actually escaped, it would make more sense to keep him undercover for several years so that the people who were involved in his being spirited out would not be harmed and repercussions that way. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:42 Highlight the passage at 1:11:42

1:12:10 Also for the Chinese, it might be a little bit less of an embarrassment if it's after several years, I don't know. It depends, so it's hard to say. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 1:12:10 Highlight the passage at 1:12:10

1:12:23 you all get some binders which have some very nice short readings. Demolotra Rinpoche, who actually I think is in the Bay Area actually at the moment, I don't know if he has a teaching schedule, The Wisdom of Emptiness, very kind of simple Western understanding, Seeking the Eye by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Non-Duality, Report an error in the passage at 1:12:23 Highlight the passage at 1:12:23

1:12:49 How to Meditate on Emptiness. So these are fairly short articles. That come from many of our teachers, who I've heard certainly taught us. Demolotra Rinpoche gave a very wonderful teaching on emptiness several years ago that this center sponsored. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:49 Highlight the passage at 1:12:49

1:13:11 Probably about seven or eight years ago at the Unitarian Center on emptiness. Amazing teaching. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:11 Highlight the passage at 1:13:11

1:13:21 You know, he's the first one, but I don't think this was... Report an error in the passage at 1:13:21 Highlight the passage at 1:13:21

1:13:28 This was extracted from another teaching he gave, but it's probably similar. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:28 Highlight the passage at 1:13:28

1:13:44 Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:44 Highlight the passage at 1:13:44

1:13:48 What? Yeah, yeah, you can take them out, yeah. The idea is for you to read them. This will give you some lineage from within our tradition as well, like our teachers and stuff. So these are the people that I have studied with and take teachings from. Lama Yeshe, not really because he was a long time ago, but Lama Tsongkhapa certainly. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:48 Highlight the passage at 1:13:48

1:14:11 Lama Tsongkhapa. It certainly teaches a lot on emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:11 Highlight the passage at 1:14:11

1:14:16 The whole point, you know, he's just constantly reminding us, he speaks, he teaches in English, is this illusion, this big kind of Report an error in the passage at 1:14:16 Highlight the passage at 1:14:16

1:14:33 illusion of an eye, this illusion of a life, you know, he's really trying to poke holes in it all the time, this how we believe so solidly in this eye, always reminding us of it. It's funny because he's really well known. He teaches, he's got a reputation because he doesn't sleep. Lama Zopa Rinpoche, which is, where Report an error in the passage at 1:14:33 Highlight the passage at 1:14:33

1:15:03 is he? He's behind you somewhere. He's about, in his early 60s, was born in Nepal. He's a recognized reincarnation. He's the spiritual director of Se Chin Ling and about 150 centers around the world within this. A group called the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mayana Tradition or FPMT, which were one of the centers. Anyway, he comes around and teaches. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:03 Highlight the passage at 1:15:03

1:15:33 He actually often is in California. There's a house down near Santa Cruz that he sometimes comes through and does retreat and takes the teachings from other teachers that come through California. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:33 Highlight the passage at 1:15:33

1:15:47 But he has a reputation because he doesn't sleep. Never ever, I mean I think sometimes he goes into these meditation states and it appears that he might be sleeping but I've never questioned him on it. Because he also is like, he's way out there in terms of maybe picking up on other realms of existence. It's like kind of somebody who's speaking in outer space and just picking up on signals and you just don't know where his mind is at. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:47 Highlight the passage at 1:15:47

1:16:15 But he also puts us through these agonizing sessions all night long. Where you're actually sitting there really for sometimes from like 7 o 'clock at night, 24 hours even, 7 o 'clock at night until 6 o 'clock the next morning in a teaching similar to this. And he's just repeating himself over and over again. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:15 Highlight the passage at 1:16:15

1:16:42 About emptiness and this and that, and trying to get you, or he does these wonderful dedications, he's so filled with compassion for sensitive beings, and dedicating all this effort for sensitive beings. And so you find yourself, especially, it can drive you crazy. he? You know? Your knees are getting sore, you're really, and you just want it to be over, you know, and you're squirming, you know, after, you know, it's three o 'clock in the morning, you just want to go to sleep, you know, and you just really find yourself like, and that's when you really are starting to do the work with this eye, because the eyes are rising quite strongly, because it wants, it doesn't want to suffer. It wants to go home to bed. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:42 Highlight the passage at 1:16:42

1:17:32 And so, you know, it's very interesting the way it kind of really comes up. But it also, if you let go, then, let go of hanging on, let go of all those thoughts of resisting, then it's quite spacious. It's actually, you know, it's very, very spacious. It's not easy. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:32 Highlight the passage at 1:17:32

1:18:04 You don't necessarily go to sleep, but you relax. You don't fight. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:04 Highlight the passage at 1:18:04

1:18:14 Whenever we're fighting, there's an eye, a real strong sense of eye. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:14 Highlight the passage at 1:18:14

1:18:33 What? Report an error in the passage at 1:18:33 Highlight the passage at 1:18:33

1:18:38 In a conventional world, yes, because there are causes and conditions. You know, I mean, this is the one thing to remember is because even though things don't accord with the way we think they exist, there is still this conventional reality of the reason why we have a particular experience. In this very conventional reality is because of cause and effect. So in that sense regret is good. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:38 Highlight the passage at 1:18:38

1:19:27 Well regret and remorse is not guilt. Buddhists distinguish between guilt and regret Report an error in the passage at 1:19:27 Highlight the passage at 1:19:27

1:19:40 because of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:40 Highlight the passage at 1:19:40

1:19:47 We'll get into this discussion later on in class when we talk about really trying to make this connection between dependent arising and emptiness because they are one and the same. That which is arising. And when you think about it, the reason, I mean, even though there's no solidly appearing existing eye, we're still having appearances that we're labeling in certain ways. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:47 Highlight the passage at 1:19:47

1:20:10 And the only reason we're labeling in certain ways is causes and conditions. It's like this merely labeled eye is not in India. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:10 Highlight the passage at 1:20:10

1:20:28 It's not in France. It's here. It's labeled. It doesn't exist as concretely and solidly as it appears to exist. But the merely labeled I, Monlam, labeled Monlam, is not in India at the moment. Not in France at the moment. He's right here. Why is he here and not in India? Dependent arising. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:28 Highlight the passage at 1:20:28

1:21:00 Why does he have this particular experience at this particular moment? Is dependent arising. And why do you have this particular moment of this particular experience with him at this particular moment? It's because of dependent arising, causes and conditions. Those are inextractably linked. The alternative would be that there would be no cause and effect and there would be no, it would be nihilism basically. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:00 Highlight the passage at 1:21:00

1:21:30 Nothing exists, you know, there's no point to anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:30 Highlight the passage at 1:21:30

1:21:38 The reason why we have a particular body, the reason why we have particular tastes and all these things, even though they're empty from their own side, is because of cause and conditions. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:38 Highlight the passage at 1:21:38

1:21:52 We will really look more carefully at that one in the next coming classes. Which reminds me, I won't be here next week. Venable Chucky will be leading the class next week. I'll probably just have a... Discuss more of this four-point analysis we're going to do again tonight. Then the following week I will be here. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:52 Highlight the passage at 1:21:52

1:22:18 The following week after that, which I think is the 25th, I will not be here. And we have a choice. I can either arrange a discussion group or we can skip the class. Show of hands. How many people want a break? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:18 Highlight the passage at 1:22:18

1:22:39 How many would show up for a discussion group? Discussion group? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:39 Highlight the passage at 1:22:39

1:22:47 Okay, that's good enough. So I'll try to arrange something. I'm not sure who's available, so I will see what I can put together. Venable Chucky will be going into retreat, so I know she won't be available, but we might be able to arrange something else. Okay. Now, let's go into a discussion really on these four points, which we kind of really... Report an error in the passage at 1:22:47 Highlight the passage at 1:22:47

1:23:20 It started when we did this meditation. Identifying the object of negation, Report an error in the passage at 1:23:20 Highlight the passage at 1:23:20

1:23:30 there's a four-point analysis here. There's also a seven-point analysis, which we'll kind of go into a little bit as well, but there's a four-point analysis. Number one is identifying the object of negation or the object to be refuted. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:30 Highlight the passage at 1:23:30

1:23:54 Then we have to determine, in this case we're going to use the eye, you have to identify the eye. Invest, identify. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:54 Highlight the passage at 1:23:54

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:24:00 Or person that is our object of negation, that sense of I that's arising. Secondly, then we have to conclude that either this Report an error in the passage at 1:24:00 Highlight the passage at 1:24:00

1:24:15 person or I has to exist or be found in relation within the aggregates or the body-mind complex, shall we say, or it must be separate from. Those are the only two alternatives. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:15 Highlight the passage at 1:24:15

1:24:42 Is that right? Can anyone think of a third alternative? Report an error in the passage at 1:24:42 Highlight the passage at 1:24:42

1:24:53 A combination of within and outside of? Report an error in the passage at 1:24:53 Highlight the passage at 1:24:53

1:25:05 But then there would be two I's, wouldn't there? That wouldn't make Report an error in the passage at 1:25:05 Highlight the passage at 1:25:05

1:25:17 sense to me logically, would it? Report an error in the passage at 1:25:17 Highlight the passage at 1:25:17

1:25:43 Yeah, but, okay, I guess, but, yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:25:43 Highlight the passage at 1:25:43

1:25:55 it has to be either one or the other. It can't be both, one or the other. And here, Report an error in the passage at 1:25:55 Highlight the passage at 1:25:55

1:26:10 And then the third point is investigating whether you can find the I within the body-mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:10 Highlight the passage at 1:26:10

1:26:23 And the fourth is investigating whether it exists outside. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:23 Highlight the passage at 1:26:23

1:26:34 So we're trying to find an I. We're really saying it either has to be, we have to find it within these five aggregates, the form and consciousness, the body and consciousness, all those things that we talk about. Or it has to be separate from them. There's no other way it could exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:34 Highlight the passage at 1:26:34

1:27:00 Right? That's the second one. And then the third one is that then we look to find it within the five aggregates and we don't find it. And then the fourth one is looking outside to see if it exists outside of the body mind. Okay. Most of the time, Report an error in the passage at 1:27:00 Highlight the passage at 1:27:00

1:27:25 I think the most important thing they do say is to be clear about our object of negation. This sense of I that's arising. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:25 Highlight the passage at 1:27:25

1:27:39 And there are meditations just at identifying that object of negation to be clear that we know what we mean by this I, this sense of I that arises. And we get a sense of it when we get angry, Report an error in the passage at 1:27:39 Highlight the passage at 1:27:39

1:28:00 get attached, some kind of emotion arises, there's a real strong sense of I. That's the object of negation. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:00 Highlight the passage at 1:28:00

1:28:13 You get that? Understand that part? So there's a real strong like... Especially when you get angry or you get attachment or some real strong sense of an I arises like I want that or I don't want that. There's a sense of I that really strongly arises. That's your object of negation. So that's what you're really trying to get a real good sense of that which you're trying to analyze here. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:13 Highlight the passage at 1:28:13

1:28:47 What is that I that you're identifying? Try to find out, investigate, is it the body and mind? We're going to say body-mind complex, which is another word for the five aggregates. Or is it outside? Those are the only two possibilities. It has to be one with or outside of. And then it's either within the body-mind complex or it's outside the body-mind complex. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:47 Highlight the passage at 1:28:47

1:29:20 We investigate all those. So that's the four points. So this object of negation is really, really critical. And we do have a sense of I that arises. Even when we first sit down, I'm meditating. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:20 Highlight the passage at 1:29:20

1:29:39 Now, Report an error in the passage at 1:29:39 Highlight the passage at 1:29:39

1:29:42 the second part is that that I that's arising, it either has to be findable within that mind-body complex or outside, separate from it. Those are the only two possibilities. Do we agree on that? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:42 Highlight the passage at 1:29:42

1:30:04 Logically, it either has to be one with or apart from. Those are the only two possibilities. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:04 Highlight the passage at 1:30:04

1:30:13 It's either this or that. So then let's look at the mind-body complex. Is it the body? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:13 Highlight the passage at 1:30:13

1:30:29 So the eye is the body. So then could be. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:29 Highlight the passage at 1:30:29

1:30:43 But we're looking at logically now. We're trying to identify it logically. Not emotionally, but logically. Is the body the eye? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:43 Highlight the passage at 1:30:43

1:30:55 Not really. Because then, first of all, what do we mean? Who is the I that refers to my body? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:55 Highlight the passage at 1:30:55

1:31:04 That's the consciousness. So the consciousness is the I? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:04 Highlight the passage at 1:31:04

1:31:13 Which part? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:13 Highlight the passage at 1:31:13

1:31:17 Deep within the consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:17 Highlight the passage at 1:31:17

1:31:25 What does it look like? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:25 Highlight the passage at 1:31:25

1:31:42 Those are deep inside. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:42 Highlight the passage at 1:31:42

1:31:49 Okay, let's go back to the body, for example, for a minute. We'll go take that discussion a little bit further. Does anyone see the I as being the body? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:49 Highlight the passage at 1:31:49

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:32:41 The brain is the eye. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:41 Highlight the passage at 1:32:41

1:32:51 Which part of the brain? Report an error in the passage at 1:32:51 Highlight the passage at 1:32:51

1:32:58 So at any one time, in any one moment, one part of the brain is the eye and the next moment the next part of the brain is the eye? Report an error in the passage at 1:32:58 Highlight the passage at 1:32:58

1:33:10 So we have more than one eye? We have one part of the brain that's one eye and we have another part of the brain that's considered another eye? It's all eye, together, the brain. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:10 Highlight the passage at 1:33:10

1:33:27 So we have the brain that's an eye that is actually made up of parts. That are actually changing from moment to moment. So which moment is the I? Which part is the I? Report an error in the passage at 1:33:27 Highlight the passage at 1:33:27

1:33:51 Was it the I that was a moment ago? That part of the brain? Because those chemical reactions are taking place all the time. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:51 Highlight the passage at 1:33:51

1:34:09 And why would we say my brain? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:09 Highlight the passage at 1:34:09

1:34:16 Just by saying my brain, there's an assumption that there's something outside of the brain that owns that brain, right? The I that is the owner of. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:16 Highlight the passage at 1:34:16

1:34:56 Yeah, and if we cut apart, I mean if we cut out a section of your brain, which sometimes happens when people have tumors, does that mean their eye is gone? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:56 Highlight the passage at 1:34:56

1:35:18 I agree with you that the speech part would no longer work, but are you saying that this part of the eye and this part of the eye are two separate things? Report an error in the passage at 1:35:18 Highlight the passage at 1:35:18

1:35:33 Because at one time, this was one eye. I mean, you're kind of having one eye and two eyes and you can interchange them is kind of your logic that you're using, right? You can have one eye or many eyes. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:33 Highlight the passage at 1:35:33

1:35:51 I'm trying to find this eye. Because if you take part of that one eye out, you're saying the other part doesn't cease to be the eye. But now does that mean you have two eyes? Report an error in the passage at 1:35:51 Highlight the passage at 1:35:51

1:36:18 It's made up of parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:18 Highlight the passage at 1:36:18

1:36:23 So is the eye exactly which part of the eye? Exactly which part is the eye? Is it this part over here? Over Report an error in the passage at 1:36:23 Highlight the passage at 1:36:23

1:36:42 there? Exactly which part is the eye of the brain? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:42 Highlight the passage at 1:36:42

1:37:17 I think Greek philosophy has an id, doesn't it? Report an error in the passage at 1:37:17 Highlight the passage at 1:37:17

1:37:24 Oh. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:24 Highlight the passage at 1:37:24

1:37:43 Okay, but we still have some problems here. One of which is parts. The other is moments. Which moment is the eye? Because they're separate moments. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:43 Highlight the passage at 1:37:43

1:37:57 And this goes in truly when we get into the mind, or some people might think the brain is mind. In Buddhist philosophy we do not associate the brain and the mind as being one and the same. The mind and consciousness have a physiological relationship in terms of how they signal and things like that, but they're not one and the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:57 Highlight the passage at 1:37:57

1:38:24 The brain would be more the gross level. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:24 Highlight the passage at 1:38:24

1:38:30 In terms of sensory experiences and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:30 Highlight the passage at 1:38:30

1:38:54 Yeah. No, I understand because we all kind of grew up with that kind of reasoning. And science certainly has... I Report an error in the passage at 1:38:54 Highlight the passage at 1:38:54

1:39:15 mean, this is where the dialogues are going on in terms of, you know, the Dalai Lama and some buddhism and scientists are talking about what is mind. Is mind brain or not? Report an error in the passage at 1:39:15 Highlight the passage at 1:39:15

1:39:40 Independent, meaning it cannot change. I know, that's another part. And mind changes even. One feeling, I mean we did this in our meditation, one moment you're happy, the next moment you're not. So there's no concrete thing to point to that is I, that we cannot find it. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:40 Highlight the passage at 1:39:40

1:40:19 Okay, okay, okay, I kind of understand what you're asserting here. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:19 Highlight the passage at 1:40:19

1:40:28 Like when we're meditating, there's a part of the mind that's aware that we're meditating and that's the I. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:28 Highlight the passage at 1:40:28

1:40:52 Really? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:52 Highlight the passage at 1:40:52

1:41:05 So you're asserting there's a separate mind that's aware of this other mind that is changing from moment to moment. It's kind of like the mind that's the watcher of the mind meditating or the mind. Talking, the silent witness. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:05 Highlight the passage at 1:41:05

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:42:08 I know exactly what you're talking about, but I've never ever heard it asserted that that's not changing. That's permanent. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:08 Highlight the passage at 1:42:08

1:42:36 Well, just by going to sleep at night, you have the same experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:36 Highlight the passage at 1:42:36

1:42:43 And you're sure of that? Or do you want to believe that or are you sure of that? Report an error in the passage at 1:42:43 Highlight the passage at 1:42:43

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:43:23 Yeah, I understand what you're talking about and in some ways this is kind of maybe where in some schools we have the proposition of a soul or what's the Sanskrit term in Hindu? Ātman, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:23 Highlight the passage at 1:43:23

1:43:45 But there's no way that that's not changing. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:45 Highlight the passage at 1:43:45

1:44:18 I'm not saying it doesn't appear that way, but does it exist that way? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:18 Highlight the passage at 1:44:18

1:44:35 I have to actually go back to my notes on mind and mental factors because they really talk about this kind of mind that's observing. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:35 Highlight the passage at 1:44:35

1:44:54 But I've never ever taken it to be, and I don't think they would assert it to be unchanging. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:54 Highlight the passage at 1:44:54

1:45:08 And I'm not even so sure and clear that our memories are Report an error in the passage at 1:45:08 Highlight the passage at 1:45:08

1:45:17 actually so. Dependable either, but that's another matter. So that's the I, that's what you're asserting to be the I. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:17 Highlight the passage at 1:45:17

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:46:09 Are you sure you can't know about his memory? You're positive. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:09 Highlight the passage at 1:46:09

1:46:22 There's no one saying that there's no two distinct mind streams, but they're more or less streams. They're not, they're not, they are changing, this is the assertion made, they are changing, they're streams of moments, streams of moments of mind. Streams of moments of awareness, Report an error in the passage at 1:46:22 Highlight the passage at 1:46:22

1:46:46 but there's no... And it's not that, and certainly maybe not within my own experience, but it's not that far-fetched to know that some other more realized beings don't have an awareness of our thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46:46

1:47:12 So I'm not sure that you can't have an understanding of his memory or his... That I think could be achieved, but there are two distinct... These streams, continuities of moments. See, Buddhism would say that there's no more than this, continuity of moments, continuities of awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:12 Highlight the passage at 1:47:12

1:47:39 They would assert that there is a continuity that is unique, that this is one that's labeled Monlam now, this is, you know, it's labeled Monlam now, before it was named something else and before that something else. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:39 Highlight the passage at 1:47:39

1:48:00 And going back to since the moment you were born, what about the moment before you were born? Was that I there? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:00 Highlight the passage at 1:48:00

1:48:17 And what about the one that was there 23 years ago and two days ago? 23 years and two months and two days ago. Was that the same I? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:17 Highlight the passage at 1:48:17

1:48:32 You try to believe. There's a distinction between what we want to believe and what is actually there. And I think this is what we're trying to kind of... Report an error in the passage at 1:48:32 Highlight the passage at 1:48:32

1:48:43 Grasp here. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:43 Highlight the passage at 1:48:43

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:49:16 But does it really exist that way? And that's what we're investigating here. Does it really exist that way? It doesn't matter that we have an experience that feels like that, because we do, we all do, by force of habit, and I'm not saying you're any more different than I am in terms of this, because I have a sense that I'm the same person who woke up yesterday and today. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:16 Highlight the passage at 1:49:16

1:49:41 You know, I'm the same person who's a monk holding particular vows. It's not like we wake up randomly that I wake up as you tomorrow morning, Report an error in the passage at 1:49:41 Highlight the passage at 1:49:41

1:49:58 but is Report an error in the passage at 1:49:58 Highlight the passage at 1:49:58

1:50:05 there really a permanent I there that can be an independently existing I? Report an error in the passage at 1:50:05 Highlight the passage at 1:50:05

1:50:28 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh gosh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that example. Good question. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:28 Highlight the passage at 1:50:28

1:50:53 Yeah, we have that example. I mean, like the on it? Report an error in the passage at 1:50:53 Highlight the passage at 1:50:53

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:50:57 There's nothing in my mind that would certainly give me any sense of Report an error in the passage at 1:50:57 Highlight the passage at 1:50:57

1:51:10 provability that I Report an error in the passage at 1:51:10 Highlight the passage at 1:51:10

1:51:18 am the same person. The same person who went to sleep last night is the same person who woke up. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:18 Highlight the passage at 1:51:18

1:51:31 It simply cannot be true in my mind. It doesn't make sense. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:31 Highlight the passage at 1:51:31

1:51:46 But I understand this feeling of this continuity. I guess maybe, and unfortunately we can investigate that a little bit more next time or next time I meet. Because I want to go back to do some research on mind and mental factors because they talk quite clearly on that aspect. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:46 Highlight the passage at 1:51:46

1:52:15 But how many of you actually see that as, first of all, how many of you actually believe that that's the I based on your experience? Report an error in the passage at 1:52:15 Highlight the passage at 1:52:15

1:52:28 This kind of observer or... Report an error in the passage at 1:52:28 Highlight the passage at 1:52:28

1:52:38 No, well, first of all, it's something we can identify. I think all of us can kind of identify that if anything were the eye, that would probably be it. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:38 Highlight the passage at 1:52:38

1:52:48 Because it's not the body, it's not really the mind. But how many of us believe that that's permanent and unchanging? Report an error in the passage at 1:52:48 Highlight the passage at 1:52:48

1:53:13 The awareness itself is not changing. My awareness is changing from moment to moment. But the fact that I'm aware is... The fact that I'm aware... Report an error in the passage at 1:53:13 Highlight the passage at 1:53:13

1:53:31 The fact that I'm not aware all the time and I'm not aware of the same thing at all the time. I don't have this. There are moments when I have this awareness of an eye that's very clearly arising. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:31 Highlight the passage at 1:53:31

1:53:52 But I also don't see that there's this awareness is not changing from moment to moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:52 Highlight the passage at 1:53:52

1:54:05 So is it physical? Report an error in the passage at 1:54:05 Highlight the passage at 1:54:05

1:54:13 Does that form? Report an error in the passage at 1:54:13 Highlight the passage at 1:54:13

1:54:21 That's on a gross level actually. Do you have awareness when you dream at night? Report an error in the passage at 1:54:21 Highlight the passage at 1:54:21

1:54:30 Probably actually all the time you just... Do Report an error in the passage at 1:54:30 Highlight the passage at 1:54:30

1:54:50 we need the brain to be aware? But Report an error in the passage at 1:54:50 Highlight the passage at 1:54:50

1:55:08 that's changing from moment to moment, so that still doesn't give us much stability about what we're perceiving and aware of. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:08 Highlight the passage at 1:55:08

1:55:27 I guess I'm really having trouble kind of seeing how this witness, shall we speak of, is independently existing, permanently. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:27 Highlight the passage at 1:55:27

1:55:44 How many of you believe... There's a sense of awareness, but that's different than the awareness itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:44 Highlight the passage at 1:55:44

1:56:00 Yeah, that's Report an error in the passage at 1:56:00 Highlight the passage at 1:56:00

1:56:11 true, that's a good point. Yeah, I mean, because it's again the subject-object relationship we're dealing with too, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:56:11 Highlight the passage at 1:56:11

1:56:20 It depends upon something. It depends on, that witness depends on something to be witnessed. So it's not independent. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:20 Highlight the passage at 1:56:20

1:56:39 What do you mean we can't get out of it? Report an error in the passage at 1:56:39 Highlight the passage at 1:56:39

1:56:44 What do you mean we can't get out of it? You don't believe in enlightenment? Report an error in the passage at 1:56:44 Highlight the passage at 1:56:44

1:57:06 Training. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:06 Highlight the passage at 1:57:06

1:57:10 Direct realization of emptiness. It's the first. Then you stabilize that. Anyway, that's the way we hold what we hold. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:10 Highlight the passage at 1:57:10

1:57:24 I actually do believe that you can get rid of the duality subject-object. I think we even have moments of that in our experience. But it's quite subtle. Quite, quite subtle. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:24 Highlight the passage at 1:57:24

1:57:51 It's the moment before the panic. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:51 Highlight the passage at 1:57:51

1:57:58 Just the moment before the panic. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:58 Highlight the passage at 1:57:58

1:58:10 Okay. Any questions? Report an error in the passage at 1:58:10 Highlight the passage at 1:58:10

1:58:26 I think one of the biggest dangers actually is coming to an understanding of nihilism, especially from a Western point of view, because I think in some ways, and it's very clear that we are actually seriously really kind of contemplating these things. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:26 Highlight the passage at 1:58:26

1:58:45 we like Our minds are really, really working with this stuff and we're kind of getting it, at least conceptually, which is good, but if it leads you down a nihilistic path, it's all kind of just random, then it's dangerous. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:45 Highlight the passage at 1:58:45

1:59:10 It could drive someone over the edge. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:10 Highlight the passage at 1:59:10

1:59:22 It's actually one of the bodhisattva vows is not to teach emptiness to those untrained, Report an error in the passage at 1:59:22 Highlight the passage at 1:59:22

1:59:31 which means a teacher has to have a pretty good understanding of his students because they could really bring you to a very dangerous place on the path where you either have a very nihilistic outlook or you think this is just totally Report an error in the passage at 1:59:31 Highlight the passage at 1:59:31

1:59:59 mind-boggling so that you... Don't accept any of it, and then you kind of turn away from the teachings. That's the other danger, of course. It's just too intellectual, and Report an error in the passage at 1:59:59 Highlight the passage at 1:59:59

2:00:15 you turn away from the teachings. Those are the two extremes, really, and the danger. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:15 Highlight the passage at 2:00:15

2:00:25 I certainly have your brains, or your minds, I shouldn't say brains, because we could associate mind with brain here, churning away, thinking about this stuff. Which is actually quite good because it will make you think of the implications. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:25 Highlight the passage at 2:00:25

2:00:44 Which means it's not as apparent as it was a few weeks ago. You're questioning what you've taken for granted all these years. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:44 Highlight the passage at 2:00:44

2:01:05 So that's a good sign. I'm not here to give you all the answers because even my own understanding is somewhat limited. And that's why we have such masters like Geshe-la upstairs who can really explain this stuff in very precise terms at very advanced levels. But this course is really meant for us to kind of turn this stuff within our minds and really start to become aware. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:05 Highlight the passage at 2:01:05

2:01:34 And then also to apply it to our own experience. And we're starting to kind of get that. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:34 Highlight the passage at 2:01:34

2:01:58 Could somebody tell Rubina that there's class still going on? Report an error in the passage at 2:01:58 Highlight the passage at 2:01:58

2:02:03 Anyway, it's Report an error in the passage at 2:02:03 Highlight the passage at 2:02:03

2:02:11 okay. I wouldn't want to tell Rubina anything. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:11 Highlight the passage at 2:02:11

2:02:20 Okay, we should... Are there any questions? I don't want you to leave in a confused state. I do want you to be thinking and contemplating here. But if you're in a confused state, it can be quite dangerous. But it doesn't mean that it's completely clear either. I was just kidding. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:20 Highlight the passage at 2:02:20

2:02:40 It means more that you need to sit back and think about this. Think about the implications, think about approaching it from these different angles. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:40 Highlight the passage at 2:02:40

2:02:51 If we're okay with that, then you can go home. If you're really confused, we need to kind of speak out now and try to resolve some of it. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:51 Highlight the passage at 2:02:51

2:03:07 Yes? Report an error in the passage at 2:03:07 Highlight the passage at 2:03:07

2:03:15 Phenomena. Phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:15 Highlight the passage at 2:03:15

2:03:23 Yes. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:23 Highlight the passage at 2:03:23

2:03:32 About space. Okay, can you write that on a slip of paper and hand it to me? Because otherwise I'll forget in my mind. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:32 Highlight the passage at 2:03:32

2:03:44 Yeah, I have to write it down because what happens is I have so many activities going on that I just... Oh, Report an error in the passage at 2:03:44 Highlight the passage at 2:03:44

2:04:16 yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:16 Highlight the passage at 2:04:16

2:04:23 And it's available on YouTube? Report an error in the passage at 2:04:23 Highlight the passage at 2:04:23

2:04:35 Aurora Form, yeah, because I know we would try to win tickets to go to that. They had a lottery for... Aurora is A-U-R-O-R-A. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:35 Highlight the passage at 2:04:35

2:04:46 It's a group that does these kind of lectures and yeah, they did have this Holiness speaker, one of these. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:46 Highlight the passage at 2:04:46

2:04:55 Okay, we need to dedicate for a moment, just reflect. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:55 Highlight the passage at 2:04:55

2:05:07 Even though it may appear to be confusing, mind-boggling, may actually give moments of fear. It actually, all this time I actually spent contemplating. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:07 Highlight the passage at 2:05:07

2:05:29 Trying to understand, become aware is actually a benefit and Report an error in the passage at 2:05:29 Highlight the passage at 2:05:29

2:05:41 we can rejoice in that benefit, dedicate that benefit Report an error in the passage at 2:05:41 Highlight the passage at 2:05:41

2:05:51 which is empty from its own side. The we, the I can rejoice, the I which is empty from its own side can rejoice which is empty from its own side and the benefit of that which is empty from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:51 Highlight the passage at 2:05:51

2:06:12 So you have an I which is... And that which the eye is the action and the results which are all empty from their own side. They're Report an error in the passage at 2:06:12 Highlight the passage at 2:06:12

2:06:29 not existing inherently, nearly enabled. This awareness we dedicate for the long lives of our teachers, for peace on the planet, for the happiness of all beings, for the freedom from suffering of all beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:29 Highlight the passage at 2:06:29

2:06:53 And for this enlightened state which is free of all this conceptuality, free of all this clinging to the... A perfect abidance in emptiness. Okay. Rejoice. Regret. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:53 Highlight the passage at 2:06:53