The Spiritual Teacher - Discovering Buddhism (part 2)

0:07 Look at this, 701. Oh, actually, that would be great. Thank you. Haley's gone this week, too, so she's the one that's been getting that. Report an error in the passage at 0:07 Highlight the passage at 0:07

0:32 Oh, really? I'm sorry. Oh, no, Report an error in the passage at 0:32 Highlight the passage at 0:32

0:46 no. So it's an inauspicious tone to the beginning of the thing. Actually, I'll have it just open. I'll lead you guys in meditation first when Chad gets back. Report an error in the passage at 0:46 Highlight the passage at 0:46

0:57 You can just try to find your posture. Spend a few moments on that. Chad will just have to catch up. But since he's serving the teacher, he's creating really good karma. So, you know, you guys will have to catch up with him. Report an error in the passage at 0:57 Highlight the passage at 0:57

1:17 So you just take a moment to maybe take some nice deep cleansing breaths. Let go of your day. Let go of your transportation here, your parking, conversations. Report an error in the passage at 1:17 Highlight the passage at 1:17

1:31 Whatever else you might have planned for this week or this month, just let it all go. And just let yourself come into this room in this really precious time. And Report an error in the passage at 1:31 Highlight the passage at 1:31

2:03 then check your spine, that your spine is extended. Shoulders back a little and level. Eyes either slightly open or lightly closed. Report an error in the passage at 2:03 Highlight the passage at 2:03

2:17 Jaw relaxed. Tongue on the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth. Thank you. I deliberately drew it out a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 2:17 Highlight the passage at 2:17

2:31 Hands can be on your knees or more traditionally in your lap. Thumbs touching lightly right over left palm. Report an error in the passage at 2:31 Highlight the passage at 2:31

2:47 Neck just a little bit. Your chin just a little bit tucked down so the back of your neck opens just a little bit. And Report an error in the passage at 2:47 Highlight the passage at 2:47

2:56 your breathing just relaxed, natural. We're Report an error in the passage at 2:56 Highlight the passage at 2:56

3:20 actually going to just do a short meditation on loving kindness. that's why you don't Report an error in the passage at 3:20 Highlight the passage at 3:20

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:24 That's a visualization kind of a meditation. Report an error in the passage at 3:24 Highlight the passage at 3:24

3:31 So it just begins with placing your attention at your heart. Not your actual heart, but your heart center, the seat of your emotions. Report an error in the passage at 3:31 Highlight the passage at 3:31

3:45 I think it's going to blow. Report an error in the passage at 3:45 Highlight the passage at 3:45

3:50 Sorry. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 3:50 Highlight the passage at 3:50

4:01 so bring your attention back to your heart center, the seat of your emotions. So it's actually your heart chakra for those of you who are familiar with the chakra system. So it's a little bit in front of your spine at the level of your heart. Report an error in the passage at 4:01 Highlight the passage at 4:01

4:24 And don't feel like you're looking down from your head, but rather try to feel that your subjective mind is based in the heart. Report an error in the passage at 4:24 Highlight the passage at 4:24

4:36 So you yourself are in the heart. Report an error in the passage at 4:36 Highlight the passage at 4:36

4:46 And take a few moments to think about somebody who you're really close to. Just bring to mind one person, somebody that you care about. Report an error in the passage at 4:46 Highlight the passage at 4:46

5:00 Somebody that you love. And the Buddhist definition of love is that you want that person to be happy, Report an error in the passage at 5:00 Highlight the passage at 5:00

5:09 whether or not they're with you. So Report an error in the passage at 5:09 Highlight the passage at 5:09

5:17 it's just wanting their happiness above all other things. Report an error in the passage at 5:17 Highlight the passage at 5:17

5:25 And then take a moment to imagine them blissfully happy, having everything that they want. Report an error in the passage at 5:25 Highlight the passage at 5:25

5:50 Generate loving kindness, pure unconditional delight in their happiness. Report an error in the passage at 5:50 Highlight the passage at 5:50

6:09 And notice that it... It has this physical sensation of warmth arising in your heart like fresh warm water flowing into a cold bath. Imagine it just getting stronger and stronger and continuing to pour out of your heart throughout your body. Report an error in the passage at 6:09 Highlight the passage at 6:09

6:32 Imagine this healing energy of loving kindness spreading throughout your body and mind, taking on the appearance of brilliant white nectar. And Report an error in the passage at 6:32 Highlight the passage at 6:32

6:48 as it courses through your body and mind, everything it touches, It brings bliss too. And Report an error in the passage at 6:48 Highlight the passage at 6:48

7:00 at the same time, it heals you of whatever pain you have, of your suffering, physical, mental, any kind of anxiety, worry, Report an error in the passage at 7:00 Highlight the passage at 7:00

7:11 any kind of problems at all. Report an error in the passage at 7:11 Highlight the passage at 7:11

7:23 After a few moments, your entire body is filled with blissful, radiant, healing white nectar of loving kindness. Now Report an error in the passage at 7:23 Highlight the passage at 7:23

7:40 imagine all the hard parts, your bones, your organs, muscles, dissolving into this radiant white nectar. So you're just filled with this light. Report an error in the passage at 7:40 Highlight the passage at 7:40

8:00 The nectar is extremely bright. It's like a sun or a star. Report an error in the passage at 8:00 Highlight the passage at 8:00

8:09 And imagine this incredible white nectar of loving kindness pouring out of every single pore of your body in all directions, sending countless rays of loving kindness throughout the universe. And Report an error in the passage at 8:09 Highlight the passage at 8:09

8:33 as these rays of light touch all the beings around you, beginning to those closest to you, Which are sitting behind you, your family, friends, loved ones. It does the same thing. It brings bliss and it heals of what other pain they have. Report an error in the passage at 8:33 Highlight the passage at 8:33

9:09 Imagine it bringing them all the happiness all the way up to full enlightenment. And Report an error in the passage at 9:09 Highlight the passage at 9:09

9:30 then it goes to those in front of you or everyone who's ever harmed you, even irritated you, annoyed you. So they can be big enemies or just simply people that you're uncomfortable around or irritated by. And imagine it also bringing them happiness, bliss beyond their wildest imaginings and filling them with light, with happiness, all the way up to full enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 9:30 Highlight the passage at 9:30

10:07 And as you're imagining that, try to forgive them for any kind of pain they may have caused you. Report an error in the passage at 10:07 Highlight the passage at 10:07

10:32 And then finally send it out to all universal living beings, so all the so-called strangers, the billions upon billions of other beings who make up our universe. Report an error in the passage at 10:32 Highlight the passage at 10:32

10:51 Don't leave anyone out and imagine it doing the same thing, bringing bliss, cleansing, purifying, bringing total happiness, all the way up to full enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 10:51 Highlight the passage at 10:51

11:11 So it's like Islam Yeshi says, the whole universe is transformed into light. Report an error in the passage at 11:11 Highlight the passage at 11:11

11:30 Try to imagine that you've brought all suffering in the universe to an end. Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

11:41 Imagine that all the beings have become Buddhas and all the environment has become a pure land. Report an error in the passage at 11:41 Highlight the passage at 11:41

11:52 And then imagine this blissful energy of loving kindness flowing back into you. And Report an error in the passage at 11:52 Highlight the passage at 11:52

12:13 now all that you've visualized surrounding you dissolves into the blissful Dharmakaya, the Buddha's omniscient mind. Report an error in the passage at 12:13 Highlight the passage at 12:13

12:26 It's like a space-like emptiness and you remain like a bubble of light floating in the empty space. Report an error in the passage at 12:26 Highlight the passage at 12:26

12:40 And finally, like condensed breath upon a mirror, slowly evaporating, your body gradually disappears from the outside in. The last part to go is at your heart. Report an error in the passage at 12:40 Highlight the passage at 12:40

12:53 All that remains is your blissful mind, focused single-pointedly upon your empty, ultimate nature, which appears like the first hint of light in the dark sky before dawn. Report an error in the passage at 12:53 Highlight the passage at 12:53

13:23 And now generate the blissful healing energy of loving kindness again, which appears like a white light that takes the form of your body with your mind inside. Report an error in the passage at 13:23 Highlight the passage at 13:23

13:39 Try to feel that your old body and mind, the products of karma and delusion, have gone forever. And Report an error in the passage at 13:39 Highlight the passage at 13:39

13:49 this new body and mind are produced from your wisdom and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 13:49 Highlight the passage at 13:49

14:04 And think the entire purpose of my existence is to bring happiness to others. And to ease their burden of suffering however I can. Report an error in the passage at 14:04 Highlight the passage at 14:04

14:16 From now on, I'll eliminate even the slightest hint of self-importance, self-cherishing from my mind and work for others. Report an error in the passage at 14:16 Highlight the passage at 14:16

14:27 With every action I do, every word I speak and every thought I think. So Report an error in the passage at 14:27 Highlight the passage at 14:27

14:37 we'll motivate that this class becomes the direct cause of this mind to blossom and grow stronger and stronger. Ready? Report an error in the passage at 14:37 Highlight the passage at 14:37

15:04 You can end your meditation. And we'll start with the opening prayer. May His Holiness, Report an error in the passage at 15:04 Highlight the passage at 15:04

15:14 which is page 8. We'll do it three times. Report an error in the passage at 15:14 Highlight the passage at 15:14

15:23 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 15:23 Highlight the passage at 15:23

15:54 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence. I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 15:54 Highlight the passage at 15:54

16:27 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 16:27 Highlight the passage at 16:27

17:11 So I wanted to real quick do a couple of announcements because I forget all the time. I don't really remember why you guys are still coming out of your meditation. Like, what is it? Encircled by loving kindness. Infused by loving kindness. Report an error in the passage at 17:11 Highlight the passage at 17:11

17:31 So one thing is that Venerable Rubina has just agreed to give three different teachings this fall. And the first one's coming up really soon on Saturday, September 8th. It's going to be a day long on working with karma and dependent arising. So it should be a really good one. So September 8th is... Report an error in the passage at 17:31 Highlight the passage at 17:31

17:52 Next weekend. Not this coming, but next weekend. Yeah, that's the one right after Liberty. And then she's also going to teach in October and December, but I won't tell you that. It'll just be too much information. I should have it on the website tomorrow, actually. Report an error in the passage at 17:52 Highlight the passage at 17:52

18:11 And then the second is just a reminder that Venable Renee is going to teach on Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, which is his only scheduled teaching with us this year. Report an error in the passage at 18:11 Highlight the passage at 18:11

18:24 And he's getting so busy down there, it's really hard to get him to come up. Especially for this class, I think it's just such an amazing teaching. But, you know, anybody, I'm encouraging everybody to go. But I think especially with this class, you don't need any prerequisite to do this practice. And he'll talk us through it, and he'll give incredibly beautiful visualizations, I can guarantee. He's just an amazing teacher. Report an error in the passage at 18:24 Highlight the passage at 18:24

18:51 It'll be a really, really sweet retreat. And so that's the weekend, the final weekend of the month of September. So it'll be a Friday night and an all-day Saturday is the way that's going to go. And we'll do some sort of a dinner on the Friday night and some sort of a lunch on the Saturday. So that'll be all part of it. It's as much of a retreat as we can make, but you have to go home. Report an error in the passage at 18:51 Highlight the passage at 18:51

19:13 Amy keeps saying that. It doesn't say anywhere that people have to go home. And I'm like, no, people kind of know. Famous last words. Report an error in the passage at 19:13 Highlight the passage at 19:13

19:21 Yeah, well, all these people make her really nervous. All these people with little suitcases. Report an error in the passage at 19:21 Highlight the passage at 19:21

19:30 She gets to go home. And then finally, for those who are interested, and if you know of anybody who's interested, we have a feng shui weekend. We actually had two scheduled, and we had to cancel one because Chud Rinpoche, they're doing a long life puja for Chud Rinpoche on Sunday the 16th. So the Feng Shui weekend now is going to only be on the 22nd and 23rd of September and it's the fundamentals only. Report an error in the passage at 19:30 Highlight the passage at 19:30

19:59 We canceled the other one so it'll just be the fundamentals move forward and the other one's gone. This is a monk who lives in South India at Sarah and he's meant to be quite a master. Rinpoche often consults with him. Report an error in the passage at 19:59 Highlight the passage at 19:59

20:14 He came once before and kind of went through and looked at all the offices. I think you guys may have noticed sudden changes. We rearranged all these things. I think Ben and Rubina and I were the only ones who had our rooms right. But he's very practical, too, and he's going to work a lot with individuals and stuff. Report an error in the passage at 20:14 Highlight the passage at 20:14

20:32 So if you have any interest in this or if you know of people who are interested, please get the word out because this is a rare opportunity because he's not based in the country. So. Report an error in the passage at 20:32 Highlight the passage at 20:32

20:44 It's also sort of slightly different. It's not Dharma related. So I think it could hit a new group of people, but we unfortunately haven't gotten as much word out as I'd love to see. Report an error in the passage at 20:44 Highlight the passage at 20:44

20:55 It's based at Sarah. Yeah, he's been there for a while. He's a British monk. Lundrup Jampa. Lundrup Jampa. No N. Yeah. And, duh, presenting the path starts Thursday. So Thursday night, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 20:55 Highlight the passage at 20:55

21:13 That's this Thursday, like two days. So, yeah, that'll be an eight-week course. It'll actually end up lasting for ten weeks, and two weeks will not have classes. Report an error in the passage at 21:13 Highlight the passage at 21:13

21:27 Next week, which is, I know, a little soon, but it was another soak, and it was kind of the only way to, you know, when you get into the holidays later with the other classes, it wasn't going to work, and so I kind of decided to start it early, even though it'll have one. So that will be the 6th we'll be missing. And then I think it's the 11th of October because I decided to go back east and see His Holiness. Report an error in the passage at 21:27 Highlight the passage at 21:27

21:52 Yeah, New York City. Yeah, yeah. Are you going to go? I'm going to Ithaca. Oh, wow. September 22nd to the 1st. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, you're going to Ithaca just to see your family. Yeah. Oh, yeah. oh, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 21:52 Highlight the passage at 21:52

22:17 Oh, well, they do stuff because I'm on their mailing list and they have all sorts of teas and meditation teas. And I mean, I'm always like, well, these guys are busy. Yeah. I think they teach Tibetan and things like that. Yeah, you should check it out. Take notes. Yeah. Take notes and tell us what they're doing. That's great that we need to do. So anyway, a lot of things coming up next month, this month and next month. Report an error in the passage at 22:17 Highlight the passage at 22:17

22:39 Does anybody have any questions about what we did last week and the advantages and the disadvantages? with a teacher spiritual teacher correctly and incorrectly i should say and um also just like whatever um however your meditation or your contemplation You know what, in the translation I was just looking at today, which is Geshe Loden's translation, which I cannot praise highly enough. Report an error in the passage at 22:39 Highlight the passage at 22:39

23:07 I wish it was less expensive. I'm definitely going to invest in it, but it's just a great translation. He says contempt. And I liked that. I was like, okay, that makes sense. Because that's, I don't know, there's like this implication of, I know scorn, I don't know. I didn't, I forgot to look up scorn. Report an error in the passage at 23:07 Highlight the passage at 23:07

23:24 Did you? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 23:24 Highlight the passage at 23:24

23:32 something about contempt made more sense to me or something. Scorn, I guess because we just don't use that word very much. Yeah, Amy, you're still there. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 23:32 Highlight the passage at 23:32

23:38 I think contempt I can actually imagine feeling for something, although please never for my only precious growth. But contempt is something that, I mean, I'm sure I felt for somebody in the last month, you know what I mean? So it's like it's a little more, scorn sounds like something from, you know, the Middle Ages or something. It's like it's a little more, you know, it's like malice. Report an error in the passage at 23:38 Highlight the passage at 23:38

24:00 It's like one of those words that we just don't use in everyday speech so much, so it's a little harder to relate to. Report an error in the passage at 24:00 Highlight the passage at 24:00

24:11 So Pabanka Rinpoche in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand or Liberation in Your Hands, two translations of the same teaching, says that developing genuine guru devotion is one of the hardest realizations on the entire path. The second hardest, I think, is actually considered, no, not the direct perception of emptiness as one would think, but actually trying to see every being as your mother, which is one of the bodhicitta steps. Report an error in the passage at 24:11 Highlight the passage at 24:11

24:40 They say that that one's also really, really difficult to do. This is, I think, considered the most. So he also says, you know, he underscores the idea that we need to take time. We really need to investigate teachers before we attend their teachings, and we definitely need to investigate them before we decide that they are gurus, or spiritual mentors, for that matter. Report an error in the passage at 24:40 Highlight the passage at 24:40

25:05 And I'm sure that you've memorized that whole list of eight. It's number four. We'll just use the code. Number four. Before you decide that a teacher is a number four for you, you should spend time checking up on them. Report an error in the passage at 25:05 Highlight the passage at 25:05

25:24 No, we're doing that tonight. No, I know there's lots of lists. I think in this topic, more than any other topic, we have like tons of lists every week. Probably just to help us when we are reviewing it. Report an error in the passage at 25:24 Highlight the passage at 25:24

25:39 There's a bunch of different types of meditation. One of them is, I think, Chargom. It's called Chargom, which is just like review. This is a lot of review meditation where you're just kind of reviewing and contemplating each point on the list and you're going through it like that, as you guys did with the disadvantages and the advantages. Report an error in the passage at 25:39 Highlight the passage at 25:39

26:01 And especially before you even have a guru. You know what I mean? So it's kind of like at this point you're just kind of... Getting familiar and filing away this information in your mind so that as you are checking out your teachers, you can pull it up. Report an error in the passage at 26:01 Highlight the passage at 26:01

26:19 But he said also, if you have any hope of reaching up to the high spiritual qualities of the various levels and paths, then from the outset you must absolutely find and follow a Lama who can show you how to do so. And the Lama we are describing here isn't just anyone you might happen to come across. It's not just anyone they call a Lama. Report an error in the passage at 26:19 Highlight the passage at 26:19

26:42 Which is, I think, a really good point to make. In Nigma tradition, a person becomes a Lama by doing a three-year retreat. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are a teacher. They are awarded this title. So it's different in different traditions. So especially if you are attending teachings in different traditions of Buddhism or in different traditions even of Tibetan Buddhism, it's important to know what the different titles mean. Report an error in the passage at 26:42 Highlight the passage at 26:42

27:13 And actually, we can take a second to do that. Geshe, like Geshe-la, is actually an earned title from somebody who has... Report an error in the passage at 27:13 Highlight the passage at 27:13

27:25 I've completed anywhere from 15 to 25 years of really intensive study and debate. And it's sort of, they say it's like the equivalent of a doctorate or something, but I think it's just like, no way. I mean, you're talking about 20 to 25 years of like 24 hours a day study. I mean, it's not even anything like we have in the West. Report an error in the passage at 27:25 Highlight the passage at 27:25

27:49 That's a geshe. Now, I think that's slightly different in the bun tradition. I'm seeing advertisements and stuff for teachings with bun tradition leaders who are not Buddhist. There's an ancient religion of Tibet that's called the bun religion, and it has a lot of similarities to Buddhism, and I think it can be quite confusing to people because they see Tibetan, the name sound. Report an error in the passage at 27:49 Highlight the passage at 27:49

28:13 And then some of the teachings sound Buddhist. And some of them even have the name Geshe, which is really confusing. So I think Pabanka's words are coming in quite handy in our day and age. Lama and Guru can be just used as teacher. Somebody can decide to start calling themselves Lama or Guru. So you have to be very, very careful. It's sort of like, where did this person get this name? Report an error in the passage at 28:13 Highlight the passage at 28:13

28:45 They shouldn't. Yeah. It should be coming from either their teacher or their students, which I think is what's happening now with Venerable Rene. I'm starting to hear, like in reference, people are calling him Lama Rene, which is interesting. That's not coming from the FBMT. That's coming probably from his students out of a level of respect. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 28:45 Highlight the passage at 28:45

29:10 So it's interesting. And I see that at Diamond Mountain, actually, people who have done the three-year retreat are starting to be called Lama, which is not traditional for the Galukma tradition, but it is traditional for Enigma. So it's just, you know, just to be careful when you hear these words kind of bandied about. Is there another one that's used? Lama, Guru. Report an error in the passage at 29:10 Highlight the passage at 29:10

29:31 Oh, Rinpoche. Rinpoche is a good one. Rinpoche, you're my plant in the audience. In the thousands of you. Everyone calm down and get quiet. We're going to talk about Rinpoche. Rinpoche means precious one. And it's often given to a tulku, which is another word. Tulku is somebody who they consider is a recognized holy being who has decided to come back to help sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 29:31 Highlight the passage at 29:31

30:00 So it's somebody with this huge level of not only bodhicitta, to say. Report an error in the passage at 30:00 Highlight the passage at 30:00

30:04 But also some level of control of when they're going to be born again. So they have to have a huge amount of merit and control over their mind to do that. And then Rinpoche is the name that's often given to them, like Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Report an error in the passage at 30:04 Highlight the passage at 30:04

30:21 Kyapche is someone who is worthy of taking refuge. Yeah. And that's awarded too. That's usually like one that, it's not like they start out being Kyapche. Report an error in the passage at 30:21 Highlight the passage at 30:21

30:34 And I often don't use that because I think it confuses people because we've been calling him Lama Zopa Rinpoche and all of a sudden we call him Kapche Zopa Rinpoche. But I will use that with him. I will address things to him and things officially from the center I will address. But I do see other centers will say Kapche Zopa Rinpoche. Report an error in the passage at 30:34 Highlight the passage at 30:34

30:56 And sometimes I use it in description about him after I've announced Lama Zopa is coming. Kapche Zopa might be in the description thing, but I think it can be confusing. It's sort of like, is that the same person? There's just so many titles that are around. But that's somebody who's... And I've seen that actually with his gurus. He would call like Riba Rinpoche. Report an error in the passage at 30:56 Highlight the passage at 30:56

31:14 He would say Kya Rinpoche, Riba Rinpoche. And I see it in other traditions too, like with the head of the Sakyas and the head of, you know, they'll say Kya Rinpoche. And they also say His Holiness with the heads of their traditions as well. Report an error in the passage at 31:14 Highlight the passage at 31:14

31:32 Khyapche is someone who is worthy of taking refuge in. That's not well worded, but you know what I mean. Like a worthy object of refuge. Report an error in the passage at 31:32 Highlight the passage at 31:32

31:44 A valid, yeah, valid object of refuge. Report an error in the passage at 31:44 Highlight the passage at 31:44

31:52 Ka. Ka. Ka. Ka. Yata. Yata. Yeah, kya. Khyap. Khyap. It would be pa. Khyap. Jai, probably Jai Jambo Jai, yeah. There we go. Very good. And then he'll probably say, there's probably some exception that's like, right, right. Report an error in the passage at 31:52 Highlight the passage at 31:52

32:22 It's like all these different letters. That's Tenzil Lama's main line. It's exactly like that. Except if it's an exception. Report an error in the passage at 32:22 Highlight the passage at 32:22

32:34 Which is mostly. There are many, many exceptions. Report an error in the passage at 32:34 Highlight the passage at 32:34

32:43 So tonight we're going to talk about the qualities, the traditional qualities that are taught for us to look for in a spiritual teacher. And I thought it would be good for us first to just sort of think about what qualities we would want. So Tim, I want you to write these down. Report an error in the passage at 32:43 Highlight the passage at 32:43

33:02 And people just think, like there's no wrong answer. Because this is what's true for you, you know, so what you're looking for in equality. I mean, I would just think, like, kindness would be one I would want, you know, because I wouldn't want somebody I was scared of. You can be in awe of them, which we'll talk about, that's a different thing than being scared of them. Or, you know, somebody who's, like, a really good meditator or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 33:02 Highlight the passage at 33:02

33:29 I would want somebody who's a really good meditator because I'm not, so I want to learn how to be a really good meditator. But, I don't know. Chad, any? Um... Report an error in the passage at 33:29 Highlight the passage at 33:29

33:36 ideas? I'm going to say dignity, there are exceptions. No, yeah, really. Yeah, really, we should write these down, what we are looking for, and then see if we actually end up with them. Report an error in the passage at 33:36 Highlight the passage at 33:36

33:51 Sorry? Report an error in the passage at 33:51 Highlight the passage at 33:51

34:10 Willing to listen. Yeah. that's a good one. Report an error in the passage at 34:10 Highlight the passage at 34:10

33:59 clarity of their mind or clarity of their speech when they're probably yeah Report an error in the passage at 33:59 Highlight the passage at 33:59

34:13 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 34:13 Highlight the passage at 34:13

34:24 Tim, do you have any? Report an error in the passage at 34:24 Highlight the passage at 34:24

34:28 You could do, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 34:28 Highlight the passage at 34:28

34:43 Anything else? What would you really want the most? Report an error in the passage at 34:43 Highlight the passage at 34:43

34:51 Knowledge. Report an error in the passage at 34:51 Highlight the passage at 34:51

34:55 What do you mean by that? Like, knowing, you know. Knows a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 34:55 Highlight the passage at 34:55

35:13 One of my favorite descriptions of a guru is that they don't... Their only desire is to get you enlightened so they don't even care if you like them at any given time. Which actually, there's something incredibly calming about that. It's not like they're going to be out for any mind games to make you like them or play with your mind in that way. Because if their whole desire is to get you enlightened and you begin to trust that, then you realize that they're beyond all those kind of games that we normally play with each other and we're sort of used to playing. Report an error in the passage at 35:13 Highlight the passage at 35:13

35:45 If I say this in a certain way, then they'll like me or they'll think I'm funny. You know what I mean? We do that with each other, right? Because we're human. And they don't. Right? Exactly. Actually, Rinpoche does that one. It does this thing where he just sort of stares at you. Like that. And you're just kind of like, wah, wah, wah. Report an error in the passage at 35:45 Highlight the passage at 35:45

36:09 Yeah. Or you'll tell him something that you know darn well he knows. And I'll go, oh, really? exactly. Yeah, they just. Report an error in the passage at 36:09 Highlight the passage at 36:09

36:17 And you know he knows this. It was the last time I was like, no, Rimsha already knows that. He's like, oh. It's like, no, no, I know you already know this one. Report an error in the passage at 36:17 Highlight the passage at 36:17

36:27 Any others? Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 36:27 Highlight the passage at 36:27

36:35 I found that one quite good, quite useful. Because there's this element of safety kind of. Report an error in the passage at 36:35 Highlight the passage at 36:35

36:50 Yeah, they embody it. They embody the teachings. Report an error in the passage at 36:50 Highlight the passage at 36:50

36:57 Anything else? Report an error in the passage at 36:57 Highlight the passage at 36:57

37:02 Sense of humor? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 37:02 Highlight the passage at 37:02

37:09 Well, actually, I decided to show you guys on the final night of class, which is another announcement, I'm going to ask you guys if you can, and it might be hard, but to come at 6.30 on that night, which is the last Tuesday of this class. I think it's, I don't remember what that date, is it the 25th? I'm going to show you guys this film called Words of My Perfect Teacher, and it's about Tsongkhapa Rinpoche, who is quite funny. Report an error in the passage at 37:09 Highlight the passage at 37:09

37:39 And he is someone's guru. He's these people's guru who made the film. So it's just an interesting portrait of what guru devotion might look like in the 21st century. And it's very, very different than it looked in the days of Milarepa. But it's definitely still guru devotion. And he's definitely a master. And he definitely keeps you on your toes. It's very funny in parts. Report an error in the passage at 37:39 Highlight the passage at 37:39

38:08 And I think it's a good film for making you think. So I thought that would be a good, it's not that long a film, so I thought we could do that. I'll teach at the beginning of that class and then we'll just watch that. That'll be kind of our ending of the class. Okay, so the one actually, Saki Pandita actually says that if you see, if one sees both good qualities and bad qualities, but a predominance of good, then one can trust that teacher. Report an error in the passage at 38:08 Highlight the passage at 38:08

38:36 So that's kind of the barest minimum. Where you have, everyone's like bowing to stop you guys. Report an error in the passage at 38:36 Highlight the passage at 38:36

38:45 Anyway, Report an error in the passage at 38:45 Highlight the passage at 38:45

38:51 so that's like the barest minimum, that you want to see more good qualities than bad qualities. And one quality that isn't mentioned in the list, but is I think really, really important, and is mentioned usually in most descriptions of, I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 38:51 Highlight the passage at 38:51

38:46 you know, anyway. Report an error in the passage at 38:46 Highlight the passage at 38:46

39:08 Teachers of qualified teachers, again here we are talking about this word qualified teachers, qualified spiritual masters, is humility, is this complete lack of ego. Report an error in the passage at 39:08 Highlight the passage at 39:08

39:23 And I think that's one that kind of blows me away with Rinpoche. There's just no ego there. There's just no ego there at all. Nothing he does is for himself. It's very, very interesting to see that because I've never seen that. I mean, you know, you can see teachers, and I begin to see it in other teachers, but I think with him first, with regular ordinary beings, you don't see that very often. Report an error in the passage at 39:23 Highlight the passage at 39:23

39:50 There's always some amount of ego, and usually quite a bit of it. And their mind is really quite subdued, and so they aren't really going to tell you what kind of attainments they have. So their humility sometimes gets... Report an error in the passage at 39:50 Highlight the passage at 39:50

40:11 You have to really look quite carefully. It's not like you can just go to several teachings and decide that somebody has all these qualities because they won't tell you that they have any qualities. I mean, His Holiness, right, is a good example. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he always says he's just a simple monk. And now people sort of laugh and laugh when he says that. Report an error in the passage at 40:11 Highlight the passage at 40:11

40:35 But he does still say it, and he's quite... Serious when he says it. And some people, I suppose, believe it. So he would never, ever admit to anything in public. Report an error in the passage at 40:35 Highlight the passage at 40:35

40:50 He probably would with his senior-most students. And maybe, you know, like after you reach a certain level, then they would sort of reveal a little bit more to you. Because it would help you. Because it would benefit you. Report an error in the passage at 40:50 Highlight the passage at 40:50

41:04 Actually, I was listening to some teachings by Venmo Rinne and he was saying that maybe this is one that should change in the West because a lot of Westerners kind of go... Oh, you don't have any qualities after 25 years of practice? Then why do I want to follow you? It's a different culture. In Asia, it's different. You wouldn't talk at any time about your qualities. Report an error in the passage at 41:04 Highlight the passage at 41:04

41:24 In Asia, we advertise one tiny thing we've done. We announce it to everybody, as many people as we can tell. It's a really different culture. We're a lot more kind of blah, blah, outward. So there's some discussion. Maybe this is something that should change. But I think what often happens is when students begin to see these qualities, then they'll talk about them and their teachers. Report an error in the passage at 41:24 Highlight the passage at 41:24

41:48 And that sort of acts as like the advertising for the teacher. The teacher doesn't really have to do anything. And in fact, I think it's better not to come from the teacher. It's better to hear it from those students who have been studying with that teacher for a while. Marpa, if you know the story of Milarepa, which is... Report an error in the passage at 41:48 Highlight the passage at 41:48

42:07 And believe me, I didn't actually have anything to do with this, but it's the next book being discussed in the book group. And it's also one of the suggested readings for this class, the story of Milarepa. And his guru was Marpa, who was quite unconventional and quite wrathful in the way that he manifested. Report an error in the passage at 42:07 Highlight the passage at 42:07

42:29 Was he really angry? You know, read the story. You have to read the book. He manifested as arrogant. He manifested as wrathful. But he was doing this to help Milarepa. And the reason was Milarepa came to him and he had already committed quite a few murders. I mean, he wasn't even just like kind of not a great person. Report an error in the passage at 42:29 Highlight the passage at 42:29

42:53 He was like he had done some serious negative acts. And in order to get... And he wanted to get enlightened, and the only way he could get him enlightened is to purify vast amounts of negative karma. And so one of the ways he did that was his treatment of him. And so he had him do these really wild things, like, you know, I want this tower, and then build it exactly like this, and the minute he got it built, then he's like, chop it down, and then start, I need it over here, I told you over here, you know, and so all by hand, and carrying these things until he blisters all over his back, never giving him a teaching. Report an error in the passage at 42:53 Highlight the passage at 42:53

43:27 Refusing to give him an empowerment or a teaching. So he had to just totally wear down this exhaust, this negative karma. And then he actually did attain enlightenment in one lifetime. And they say it's because of his guru devotion. He never allowed his mind to get angry at his guru when his guru was manifesting like that. Report an error in the passage at 43:27 Highlight the passage at 43:27

43:48 So we have to be careful because we can't always tell. From outward appearances, if we watch a guru with a disciple, not even our guru and not even us, but we watch it and it seems like someone's receiving a negative teaching or like, you know, just be careful of judging because we may not know all the parts of it. Report an error in the passage at 43:48 Highlight the passage at 43:48

44:12 We may not know what's going on. It may be just skillful means, actually. So the 10 qualities of a spiritual master. I'll say them first and then I'll fill them out. The first is what's called subdued. It actually all fits into like a little poem. Report an error in the passage at 44:12 Highlight the passage at 44:12

44:35 Subdued, peaceful, very peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 44:35 Highlight the passage at 44:35

44:42 Those are three. Subdued, peaceful, very peaceful. Quality superior to yours. That one actually is somewhat complete. Report an error in the passage at 44:42 Highlight the passage at 44:42

44:59 Energetic, learned. Do-do-do-do! Report an error in the passage at 44:59 Highlight the passage at 44:59

45:11 Realized suchness. That's number seven. Realized suchness. Report an error in the passage at 45:11 Highlight the passage at 45:11

45:21 Yeah, it'll come. Yeah, but you cheated. You read it. Report an error in the passage at 45:21 Highlight the passage at 45:21

45:31 Endowed with eloquence is the way they phrase it. Report an error in the passage at 45:31 Highlight the passage at 45:31

45:37 Compassionate. Somebody was like reading the list. Report an error in the passage at 45:37 Highlight the passage at 45:37

45:47 And then never tire of teaching. -do-do. Report an error in the passage at 45:47 Highlight the passage at 45:47

45:53 So let's talk about the first three together actually. Subdued actually is, as another one of Tim's, ethically subdued. This is what this is referring to. Having the higher training in ethics. So this is one that if we really consider morality to be the heart of the Buddhist path, we have to try to observe are they following ethics or not. Report an error in the passage at 45:53 Highlight the passage at 45:53

46:22 Without judgment, just looking. And that's really difficult to do. It's not like you're going to diss this person if you don't think they are, because remember that we can't always see everything. We don't know what's going on in their mind. Remember Lama Yeshe's quote, you know, how dare you judge the actions of a bodhisattva. Remember about Trungpa Rinpoche? We talked about that last week. Report an error in the passage at 46:22 Highlight the passage at 46:22

46:44 Yeah. So you can't always know everything, but you can make decisions discriminating. Using your discriminating wisdom for yourself, like what feels safe to you? Does it seem like they're following ethics? Because that's all we can go by, right? We don't have the direct perception. Well, I don't. You guys might. I don't have the direct perception of emptiness. I have to look at things conventionally to some extent, and I have to see. Report an error in the passage at 46:44 Highlight the passage at 46:44

47:07 Like, what do my eyes see? What does it feel like around this being? Report an error in the passage at 47:07 Highlight the passage at 47:07

47:15 Peaceful is referring to meditation. This person is a good meditator. And actually... They're talking about this is somebody who has the higher training in meditation. So we have the higher training in ethics, the higher training in meditation. This is somebody who has realized calm abiding in the perfect world. Report an error in the passage at 47:15 Highlight the passage at 47:15

47:37 And if that's true, what does that mean? They can read your mind. Yeah, that's one of the... That's not why we want to realize calm abiding. We want to realize calm abiding, which is like the zenith of concentration meditation, so that we can have a direct perception of emptiness, which is the nature of reality, so that we can get enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 47:37 Highlight the passage at 47:37

48:03 But one of the side benefits is that you attain this clairvoyance where you can read other people's minds. The third one, very peaceful, is the higher training in wisdom. Now this at this point is not referring to having a direct perception of emptiness. This one's having a good intellectual understanding of emptiness. So it's different. Report an error in the passage at 48:03 Highlight the passage at 48:03

48:27 They've trained their mind in emptiness. They probably meditated on it quite a bit. But at this point we're not talking yet about the direct. Report an error in the passage at 48:27 Highlight the passage at 48:27

48:37 The fourth one is they should have spiritual qualities or knowledge superior to yours. Well that one makes sense. Actually in some ways it seems like that one should be first. You know? If you have nothing else you want this person to have, because what's the point of having this person as your teacher if they don't have the qualities that you want, like that you want to develop when you look at them? Report an error in the passage at 48:37 Highlight the passage at 48:37

49:03 Being energetic about practice means that they have the perfection of joyous effort or enthusiasm, which really is defined, that's one of the six paramitas. does, six Report an error in the passage at 49:03 Highlight the passage at 49:03

49:20 And that is defined as delighting in doing virtue, which I love that definition. Report an error in the passage at 49:20 Highlight the passage at 49:20

49:32 So you should watch them and you should see some enthusiasm in their practice. Which when I think about Rinpoche, I mean, it's just like, he's so delighted to just fall on the floor and do prostrations, even if the floor is dirt. Like there's just, he doesn't have those kind of thoughts. Like he's just like, and he makes it fun. He's just like, okay, you know. Report an error in the passage at 49:32 Highlight the passage at 49:32

49:52 We just got a copy because we're going to do a presentation. There's a film about a pilgrimage that Rinpoche led 50 of his students to Tibet. And Christina Lundberg went along and filmed the whole thing. And of course... If you think that Rubina is busy on her pilgrimages, she is her guru's disciple. This is in Tibet where it's just, you know, you've got these crazy altitudes and these, you know, illegal, I mean, like half the things are illegal, you know. Report an error in the passage at 49:52 Highlight the passage at 49:52

50:27 Police are like cracking down on them and everything else and he's still like leading poojas at midnight and you know and then like half the time he's talking to the camera like he's out of breath or somebody's out of breath because the altitude's so high or they just hiked up here and then you know they reach this one level of 16,000 instead of everyone going to bed he like gives them a teaching until 2 a.m. Report an error in the passage at 50:27 Highlight the passage at 50:27

50:48 you know there's just like there's never he's just tireless you know and so you just see that that you know. That quality that comes out. Learned in scripture is number six. And that's basically what Tim described. It's basically really knowing the scriptures well so that they can kind of go, oh yeah, you know, Gampopa said that, you know, when he was talking about blah, blah. Report an error in the passage at 50:48 Highlight the passage at 50:48

51:14 Or, oh, it was written in the Akala Chakra Tantras. Geshe does this one all the time because he's so incredibly learned it and he has it all in his head. He rarely has any notes. If you ever look at his notes, it's always like, Three lines or something, you know. It's like he'll just be like, you know, it's just all up there. And it's very interesting. He just can pull it all out. Report an error in the passage at 51:14 Highlight the passage at 51:14

51:36 And if you go to him with questions, he's the same. He'll just close his eyes and it's like he's doing a computer. search you know a find he's like hit a find and it's just going through and then he's just like oh yes I think it's in this text you know and then he goes and finds it so that's really useful if we're trying It's exciting that a lot of... Report an error in the passage at 51:36 Highlight the passage at 51:36

51:59 or whatever they can tell us oh it's really good for you to study this and the blah blah and we wouldn't necessarily be able to find that it's exciting that a lot of Tibetan texts are now getting translated and are more and more available on computers, and we can do searches like that. So we aren't fully relying on these holy beings' mind, which thankfully is holding out all this time until we get it all loaded on computers. Report an error in the passage at 51:59 Highlight the passage at 51:59

52:24 But not everything's translated. I think some tiny amount has been translated. I mean, percentage-wise, it's probably 5 % to 10 % of all of these things. And probably some of them haven't even come out yet. They've probably even gotten them all out yet. Report an error in the passage at 52:24 Highlight the passage at 52:24

52:39 Or they've gotten destroyed, you know. Report an error in the passage at 52:39 Highlight the passage at 52:39

52:46 Right, right, right, right. And even though Geshev is never recognized, you know, he's clearly, he's got these first three. Report an error in the passage at 52:46 Highlight the passage at 52:46

52:57 Not to mention the next few. So number seven is a big one. Realize suchness. That's the realization of emptiness. The direct realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 52:57 Highlight the passage at 52:57

53:11 So this is a big one. And I've heard it taught sometimes, you know, that they should just have this, you know, have meditated on it a lot. And it's not really, the way it's taught is that they should have, to be a qualified spiritual master, what we call a qualified spiritual master. They should have had a realized, I mean, a direct perception of emptiness. So how can you tell that one? Because they'll never admit that one, right? Report an error in the passage at 53:11 Highlight the passage at 53:11

53:39 So watch how are they living according to the laws of karma. Because emptiness and karma, we'll begin talking a little bit about karma tonight. Emptiness and karma are incredibly intertwined. If somebody has had a direct perception of emptiness, their faith in karma should have skyrocketed and they should be living totally according to the laws of cause and effect, which means practicing virtue, abandoning non-virtue. Report an error in the passage at 53:39 Highlight the passage at 53:39

54:05 It's not just like our faith in it is not quite there yet. We study it, we have some belief in it, but at the same time, sometimes it's just easier to slide on our morality or something. If we had the direct perception where we totally saw how things exist and we saw that karma really was the way the Buddha taught, we'd never... Report an error in the passage at 54:05 Highlight the passage at 54:05

54:29 Steal our roommate's milk or those little kind of slides that we do because we don't quite have 100 % faith. So they should, if they have this realization of suchness, they should be living totally according to the laws of karma. And for example, with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, constantly we're getting these emails, especially the Saṅgha, that the Saṅgha should be doing these prayers or this practice or whatever because... Report an error in the passage at 54:29 Highlight the passage at 54:29

54:58 This problem is happening with the funding for Maitreya statue or whatever, and so we need to shift the karma. He's always acting according to the laws of karma, always. So it's like we have to do these practices to shift this karma. We have to act in this certain way. We have to create a bunch of new virtue in order to help this business deal. Report an error in the passage at 54:58 Highlight the passage at 54:58

55:16 And no businessman would be doing this. It's like it's totally on this different plane of his business, which happens to be. Report an error in the passage at 55:16 Highlight the passage at 55:16

55:27 Running this organization of Dharma centers. And that's the way we have to operate the center. We have to think about the center a lot that way. We have to think conventionally, like how can we raise money? But then we also have to think, how can we increase our merit and how can we, you know, generosity? So we have to, you know, think about ways to, like, Gawagetsu just opened, so we gave them this incredibly beautiful tanka of Shakyamuni Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 55:27 Highlight the passage at 55:27

55:49 Yeah, it's a nice thing to do, but it also really helps the center's, you know, generosity karma. So then that helps us. You've got to always be thinking of those ways of working with how karma works. Endowed with eloquence means that they're a skillful teacher. Report an error in the passage at 55:49 Highlight the passage at 55:49

56:07 Now, it doesn't mean that their words are always poetic or beautiful to the ear. This is really specifically talking about being able to teach to different levels. Report an error in the passage at 56:07 Highlight the passage at 56:07

56:25 So if all three of you are at a different level and I was a qualified teacher, then I would be able to teach in a way that Tim could get what he needed, Chad could get what he needed, and Cedric could get what he needed. And His Holiness does this. You can see His Holiness will teach on like, I mean, seven different levels simultaneously where like the two old geshes in the front will like... Report an error in the passage at 56:25 Highlight the passage at 56:25

56:49 You know, get that much closer to direct perception of emptiness or something. And the grandma on the back, it's like, great, you know, like she comes away with something too. And everybody in between. And sometimes everyone will come out and go, wow, that was great, did you? And we all got different things out of it. It's very odd and very skillful. And he makes it look effortless, which is another thing. Report an error in the passage at 56:49 Highlight the passage at 56:49

57:10 It looks like he hasn't planned it at all. He's just kind of chatting over his tea, you know, or whatever. So that's... Definitely a sign of a skillful teacher. What did she say? The giggling and putting us all at ease while he tells us how to get enlightened. Compassionate nature. They're motivated by love and concern for the students and not by anything else. They aren't trying to get popular. Report an error in the passage at 57:10 Highlight the passage at 57:10

57:40 They aren't trying to increase the amount of honor or gifts that we give them. Better not be. So that's something you keep your eye out for. Are they collecting all the things? You know, you can usually tell, and actually one really good sign of a teacher is if people all give, teachers give. This happens. I think a really good sign of a teacher is that they just give it away. Report an error in the passage at 57:40 Highlight the passage at 57:40

58:08 They don't even hang on to it. They just, like, the next student that comes in, they're like, here, you know, and there's this great story that happened here where Michelle doesn't mind if I tell it because she's told it herself. She spent a really long day making a salsa for Geshe-la and she, like, made it, she put, like, things that she got at Kailash in the back and this whole thing and painted it and everything and took it. Report an error in the passage at 58:08 Highlight the passage at 58:08

58:30 The student came in, we've never seen him again, he, like, popped in. Geshe-la gave him this, and he came down and he was like, oh my God, look what Geshe-la gave me. It has things from Kaila. She's like, yes, I see. There was nothing she could do because she had given it from our side. We just give and we know they aren't going to have any attachment to it. They're going to do whatever. Report an error in the passage at 58:30 Highlight the passage at 58:30

58:52 Actually, he was doing two things, right? He was benefiting that one student, but he was also making Michelle let go of all this time. An energy she put into it and this attachment to thinking, I've made this gift for him and he'll keep it forever or whatever. Rinpoche does that one all the time, often right in front of you. Report an error in the passage at 58:52 Highlight the passage at 58:52

59:11 You know, you're just like, here, you know, and you spent like a billion years and all your money in the world, like you're like, here, and then the next person just gets handed and they're like, look, you know, and you're just like, yeah, that's really great. Report an error in the passage at 59:11 Highlight the passage at 59:11

59:23 So they shouldn't be motivated by anything other than love and concern for their students. And the last one is one of my favorites, too. I think Geshe-la shows this one really well. Never tire of teaching. Never get discouraged with your students, no matter how many times we ask the same questions over and over and over. Report an error in the passage at 59:23 Highlight the passage at 59:23

59:46 They ignore weariness. That's good, too. I practice tons of patience. So they say that in this degenerate age, it's really hard to find all ten, so you should look for five. The first three, you know, subdued, peaceful, very peaceful, the three higher trainings. They should have a compassionate nature. Report an error in the passage at 59:46 Highlight the passage at 59:46

1:00:17 And then they throw in the really hard one. They should have realized suchness. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:17 Highlight the passage at 1:00:17

1:00:26 So it's not like you can get off the hook on that one. But then they say at the very least, you should have three. More virtues than faults. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:26 Highlight the passage at 1:00:26

1:00:37 Again, karmically, according to who? You. You see, Chad sees in his teacher more virtues than faults. Tim may just be like, that guy's stupid. If he's smart, he's not going to say why. He's not going to diss him to him. He might diss him to somebody else, but he's not going to diss him to Chad. More virtues than faults. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:37 Highlight the passage at 1:00:37

1:01:02 Giving more importance to future lives than the present life. Remember that you're not even really a Buddhist if you're not concerned about future lives. So this is somebody, if we're talking about a Buddhist teacher, they should be thinking about more than this one life. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:02 Highlight the passage at 1:01:02

1:01:23 And the very last one is more concerned about others than themselves. Again, according to who? According to you. But then Pabankin Rinpoche adds a couple more. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:23 Highlight the passage at 1:01:23

1:01:37 And says, wait a second, you've got to add that this teacher is never careless in whatever they do or say or think. So everything this teacher does, even in passing, is a teaching. Nothing is wasted. And the more that we begin to watch our teachers, we see that. They look like they're just kind of joking or going to the store with you, but it's always there's something else going on. There's another level. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:37 Highlight the passage at 1:01:37

1:02:06 Geshe was very good at that because he looks like he's just being all casual, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:06 Highlight the passage at 1:02:06

1:02:13 And finally, they never lead their disciples along a mistaken path. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:13 Highlight the passage at 1:02:13

1:02:22 That one's a hard one to test. If you take time, then you can kind of watch and look at the disciples. And then there's this quote from the Tantra requested by Subahu, which is a Tantric teaching that says the qualities of a Tantric teacher in these degenerate times should be, and there's a lot of them. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:22 Highlight the passage at 1:02:22

1:02:43 So I'll just read it to you. If you want me to, I can email it to you. Just tell me if you do. They should have intelligence. A good appearance, great purity, be of reputable lineage, I'm assuming in terms of their teaching, you know, like who were their teachers, you know, or did they just pop up and make all this stuff up. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:43 Highlight the passage at 1:02:43

1:03:08 Incline towards the teachings, so do they hold Dharma, like really, really important. Have great confidence, I'm out. Perseverance, perseverance is sometimes the same translation for joyful effort. That's that same word, perseverance. And have disciplined the senses. So they aren't just like running around like grabbing, you know, handfuls of M &Ms or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:08 Highlight the passage at 1:03:08

1:03:37 Unless they're doing it as a teaching for chat. They should speak pleasantly, be generous and compassionate, forbear hunger, thirst and the afflictions. And you can see this in Chid Rinpoche, right? Or in any of these teachings where they can go on for hours. And barely, and they don't actually, they don't, they don't lift their own. They'll just like wait and then their attendant will come up and like lift the thing and then they might, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:37 Highlight the passage at 1:03:37

1:04:09 And actually, I actually have done it where I've placed it wrong. I remember during a nunyeh one time, I placed it wrong for Geshe-la. I placed it like too far away or something and he just, he didn't touch it. And then someone said, you have to put it closer to him. And I was like, oh my God. So I had to run up and like. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:09 Highlight the passage at 1:04:09

1:04:24 He was in the middle of talking and then he took it. But yeah, they're not going to give in. I would just be like, Tim, give me some water. They aren't like that. If it would benefit, they'll just talk all night. If it would benefit, they would do without eating or drinking or sleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:24 Highlight the passage at 1:04:24

1:04:46 Why? To benefit. They're important. The most important thing to them is to benefit you. So if it would help for them to just keep teaching you, then they would keep teaching you. Even if it means they don't get to go in and get, you know, some din-din. Yeah, that's what it's about. Oh, that thing? I'm not sure. Yeah, that's something different. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:46 Highlight the passage at 1:04:46

1:05:08 Yeah, but just to show that, I mean, I would have just grabbed it. You know, right? The difference? Because I'm just like, I want, I'm thirsty. But I think it might be that it had to be offered and maybe I didn't offer it, you know, with it. The right kind of mind. I'm sure it was one of those things where he was trying to teach me. Of course, I didn't get it. Luckily, he's tireless, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:08 Highlight the passage at 1:05:08

1:05:29 He never tires of teaching. He'll just keep doing that one until I get it. Thirst and afflictions. They should be focused, which clearly I'm not. Adept. Grateful to their teachers. And that one's kind of cool to see. And have faith in the three jewels. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:29 Highlight the passage at 1:05:29

1:05:48 Since those who have all such qualities are very rare in this age of degeneration, mantra practitioners should rely on those with one half, one quarter, or even one eighth of these qualities. So I remember I counted it out one time. I don't know how many there were, but it's something like it comes out that they at least should have three. You always come down to at least have three of these qualities. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:48 Highlight the passage at 1:05:48

1:06:13 So why do we spend so long looking at the qualities of a teacher? I mean, clearly... A really big thing is that we want to know what it is that we're looking for. We want to know when we're looking for teachers that we can trust. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:13 Highlight the passage at 1:06:13

1:06:28 But a big one also is that we can begin to develop these qualities in ourselves. These are goals for us to attain. It's not just for somebody to teach us and we're off the hook. We also want to attain this level of being ethically subdued, having our mind be peaceful, having the higher training and wisdom, having these high spiritual qualities, having this energy around our practice, being learned in scripture. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:28 Highlight the passage at 1:06:28

1:06:57 So they're all qualities that we also want to attain. And then also... We know what it is that we need to develop in our karmic perception of our Lama. And so this is where we start talking a little bit about karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:57 Highlight the passage at 1:06:57

1:07:14 If you have the belief in karma or if you have any understanding of karma, and belief might not be a good word, but trust, I suppose, and how karma works, you can work backwards karmically. Because with good karma, then you can... Find somebody with three qualities. With better karma, you can actually see five qualities. And with great karma, you can find somebody with ten qualities. And that's kind of like what we were talking about with His Holiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:14 Highlight the passage at 1:07:14

1:07:46 I feel really happy that I can see what I consider to be this amazing Buddhist teacher, like this master. But I'm not seeing him like made of gold with an ushnisha and like made of light and, you know, I'm not seeing him like a Buddha yet. So clearly my karma still needs some purification. You know, when Lama Zopa Rinpoche sees him, what does he see? I have no idea, but I know it's not what I see. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:46 Highlight the passage at 1:07:46

1:08:12 And I see him pretty good. And then I think when my mom saw him as that nice guy who's on PBS sometimes and maybe in Time magazine, well I guess maybe this Buddhism thing isn't so weird that, I won't even say my name, my non-ordained name, that she's gotten into, I guess it's probably alright because he seems okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:12 Highlight the passage at 1:08:12

1:08:33 So she sees him as basically a nice grandfatherly. And then you can see, some people don't even see him as that. They see him... As a threat, like the Chinese government. An annoying pain in the butt, probably more. Actually, not even a threat. It's just more like, why won't he just go away? He's just been in trouble for us for 50 years. And then there's probably worse beyond that, where somebody really actually hates him, which is so horrible to even imagine. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:33 Highlight the passage at 1:08:33

1:09:05 And those are all karmic perceptions of the same being. He's not any different from his side and we're all just projecting all these things onto him based on our karma. So I feel like I've created a decent amount of good karma to be able to see him at all actually because there are many, many people in Tibet now who haven't ever even seen him, haven't even seen his picture, haven't heard his voice and probably elsewhere in the world as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:05 Highlight the passage at 1:09:05

1:09:37 So there's a fair amount of karma that you have to have to even just find a teacher and then to find a teacher with some good qualities and then to find a teacher with greater qualities. And sometimes what you'll see is that you'll find a teacher and then you'll begin seeing more and more and more qualities in that same teacher. Have they changed? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:37 Highlight the passage at 1:09:37

1:09:56 No, but your mind begins to change. So that's about karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:56 Highlight the passage at 1:09:56

1:10:05 The interesting thing to know about karma is that if I don't see the qualities, or if I don't see many qualities, or if I don't see the qualities that I want in a teacher, I need to work on those qualities in myself. So if I'm not seeing somebody who's compassionate, then I need to work on compassion. If I don't see somebody who can meditate well... Report an error in the passage at 1:10:05 Highlight the passage at 1:10:05

1:10:30 I need to work on my meditation. I actually need to work on the same qualities that I am not seeing in my teacher. And that's true actually for all the beings around us. It's not just for the teacher. But we're more willing to work on them for the teacher. This is how karma works. If my teacher is impatient, I need to practice patience. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:30 Highlight the passage at 1:10:30

1:10:58 It's also not like there's a bunch of really great teachers around and I just happen to have not run into them. Like I have to create the causes. I have to directly, actively create the causes to meet them and to recognize them and to see their qualities. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:58 Highlight the passage at 1:10:58

1:11:18 So again, we just think about, if we think about the fact, we know that it's important and we know it's actually It's imperative that we find a teacher and then we know what these different qualities are that we're looking for. We just begin, actually, it's almost like being methodical. If you were going to do this, if you wanted to become a really a master carpenter, you would begin, well, first of all, you probably... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:18 Highlight the passage at 1:11:18

1:11:49 We'll just start working on your carpentry first. You might not wait until you meet the master carpenter. But you would definitely also start checking out carpenters. You would check out all of their qualities before you would apprentice yourself with them. Because you're with them around the clock. You're actually with them quite a bit if you're apprenticing yourself. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:49 Highlight the passage at 1:11:49

1:12:09 And this is very much the same way. We have to spend time checking up on... On how they are because we're apprenticing our minds. This is our mind that we're apprenticing with these masters. So if we mess up, we could really do great damage to our minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:09 Highlight the passage at 1:12:09

1:12:30 So it's really important. It's really, really important to spend a lot of time checking up on these teachers. And how do we know if we found a spiritual teacher or a genuine spiritual teacher or what's called an authentic? Spiritual teacher. Because they don't advertise their qualities. So how do we begin to check up? We can definitely watch them over a period of time by attending their teachings. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:30 Highlight the passage at 1:12:30

1:12:57 That's one way. Starting to attend their teachings. But also watching them as much as we can when they're not teaching. And sometimes you just have to kind of be sneaky about that one. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:57 Highlight the passage at 1:12:57

1:13:10 You see them on their off days, you know. Volunteer a lot at the center, you know. Oh, you know, come along, can I come along? How are they with their teacher? We talked about that one. You know, are they keeping their samaya with their teacher? How are their students with them? And how are their students away from them? Actually, Tsongkhapa Rinpoche mentions that too. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:10 Highlight the passage at 1:13:10

1:13:39 He's like, I act one way in front of my teachers, in front of the pictures of my teachers, and one way. Not. So he said, so clearly, you know, I haven't gotten it yet. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:39 Highlight the passage at 1:13:39

1:13:57 As long as I can see Rinpoche in this film, the Words of a Perfect Teacher. Actually, I think he might say there's an additional interview with him. That's quite good. But I don't think we have time to watch that. Extra credit, yeah. We can watch on the practice day. And also talking to their students. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:57 Highlight the passage at 1:13:57

1:14:16 How has their life changed over time working with this teacher? You know. What has it been like working with this teacher? How has it changed? Because people's minds and lives should change if they're working with a teacher, a spiritual teacher, an authentic spiritual teacher. They should feel changes. They should see changes. It should be fairly obvious. It shouldn't be just like status quo. I mean, that's not what we're in it for, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:16 Highlight the passage at 1:14:16

1:14:43 We want to get enlightened. I mean, that's assuming you want to get enlightened. Maybe you just want status quo right now. That's okay. And then once you find them, what do you do? Do you go up and ask them? And there's a bunch of answers out there. Vanna Rinpoche says very clearly yes, although I just recently, we were actually going to show Chasing Buddha to the teen group on Friday night, so I was re-watching it, and she said that she didn't know either. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:43 Highlight the passage at 1:14:43

1:15:11 She just arrogantly went and told, her words, arrogantly went and told Lama Yeshe that he was her teacher. And she said he responded, I know, dear. dear. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:11 Highlight the passage at 1:15:11

1:15:24 And she said it was just that she was so humiliated. Like she just felt like she just kind of wilted. Although I think it's kind of sweet. I know a deer is actually, but maybe it was the ways. I know a deer. Maybe it was rather withering or something. I don't know. So the question is, do we tell them? Do we ask them? Report an error in the passage at 1:15:24 Highlight the passage at 1:15:24

1:15:41 Do we, you know, just change our behavior towards them? Do we ask their attendant? Do we make an appointment? How is it done? I didn't know, just from experience, my experience, I didn't know what you were supposed to do. I had never taken this class. This class didn't exist. But I had a definite shift in my feeling towards Rinpoche during a specific teaching on Guru Devotion. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:41 Highlight the passage at 1:15:41

1:16:01 is um Report an error in the passage at 1:16:01 Highlight the passage at 1:16:01

1:16:13 I was feeling like that. I wasn't so sure, but it just felt like that might be who it was going to. It was like the thing that I described before where you think that you should fall in love with this person. It makes total sense. They have a good job. They have, you know, you can get a house, you know, you can settle down. And then there's this person here on the motorcycle, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:13 Highlight the passage at 1:16:13

1:16:41 It's a lot like that. So, I mean, I definitely felt this shift in my mind happen. And I was just like, wow, this is what it is. And I was kind of a little, like, afraid of it. And so I just... Kept it really precious, like that line from the Bible, Mary pondered these things in her heart. It's like you just created this space around this really precious thing, but I didn't talk about it with anybody, and I didn't do anything with it. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:41 Highlight the passage at 1:16:41

1:17:06 I didn't go to him. I didn't know I was supposed to. I didn't write him. I didn't communicate it to him. But just that shift, I felt an enormous change. And actually, it was right after that shift. That I got to meet with him and talk to him about my life. It was like that shift had to happen before. Because I had actually requested to see him at that same Copan course and I couldn't get in. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:06 Highlight the passage at 1:17:06

1:17:32 And then the shift happened and then all of a sudden, literally, my friend Brian, who was at that time his second attendant, knocked on the door at like 3 in the morning and said, I wish I could see you now. And I was like... I was literally like sobbing tears and my friend was like, I've never seen you like this. And all of a sudden, knock, knock, knock. It was very weird. It was very weird. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:32 Highlight the passage at 1:17:32

1:17:52 It was like that shift had to happen in my mind. And that was all that happened. I mean, I didn't say it out loud. I didn't talk about it. So then the very first time that I actually said it was in written form. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:52 Highlight the passage at 1:17:52

1:18:08 Well, then I continued. and it was in a Report an error in the passage at 1:18:08 Highlight the passage at 1:18:08

1:18:11 I asked him what to do on certain things. I asked him, you know, about getting ordained and I had that meeting with him, but I didn't say anything at that meeting. I asked him about getting ordained, I asked him where to study, things like that, you know, things about my practice. I began asking him, so clearly he became a spiritual mentor, right, in the outer manifestation. But I still didn't use that keyword, guru. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:11 Highlight the passage at 1:18:11

1:18:37 Not with him or even like almost... It was in my mind, but not in anything larger. And then I actually wrote it on a letter. I wrote to my precious root guru. That's it. It was inside. It wasn't on the outside of the envelope. And he just touched this, and just like this enormous shift. All of a sudden it was like this completely different feeling in our relationship. It was like I had to, again, that shift had to happen. And it's very interesting to me. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:37 Highlight the passage at 1:18:37

1:19:07 Because neither time had I said, will you be my guru and done all the proper things, which I now know that you should do. It actually is quite good. Vena Rubina says very clearly, you should make an offering, you should make a request, you should ask this teacher. I think it was my fear that he would say no. I always thought, well, that would be horrible if you recognized and found your teacher and then you went to them and they said no. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:07 Highlight the passage at 1:19:07

1:19:32 I mean, I wonder if that happens. I bet it does. I think it would only probably happen if, in the times that I know that it's kind of come close, and they're of course incredibly kind about it, is when it turns out later that that person's guru is someone else. And that teacher recognized it in their life. But still, that would be so heartbreaking if you went to them and you made your little offering. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:32 Highlight the passage at 1:19:32

1:19:56 They're like, no, maybe not. So, I mean, the main thing, and this comes up with... Vows to, it's not the words that we say, it's what's happening in our mind. So with your relationship with a teacher, when you go to attend a teaching, and I do this very clearly in my mind now, if I'm going and it's just an informational teaching and I know very well that I have not chosen this person as my guru, I'm really clear in my mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:56 Highlight the passage at 1:19:56

1:20:30 I just... I don't even know if you have to do this, but I've decided to just be really clear in my mind. This person is not my teacher yet. This person is not my guru. I'm just taking an informational teaching. And that way I'm just really, really clear. The same way that those of you that I've counseled about when you say you're taking four of the lay vows and not the fifth, which is always the same one. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:30 Highlight the passage at 1:20:30

1:20:54 Nobody ever wants to take the one about intoxicants. Then to be really clear in your mind, because sometimes Gashala would just go right into them and we'll just say them, and in your mind you have to be like, I'm not taking the fifth one, I'm not taking the fifth one, you know, because it's what's happening in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:54 Highlight the passage at 1:20:54

1:21:10 It's not necessarily words, especially because we're not necessarily even saying the Tibetan right, you know. So it has to be what's in your mind. The same is true when you take bodhisattva vows. The same is true when you're attending an empowerment. If that shift hasn't happened in your mind, you never even receive the empowerment. Gisela says most of us have never received an empowerment. You have to be really, really present. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:10 Highlight the passage at 1:21:10

1:21:32 You have to be knowing what you're doing and you have to be taking those commitments, you know, really aware. Same is very true with a teacher. You have to be really, really clear. This is my, you know, guru. I am making that shift. I am making that decision and that commitment because it's a huge commitment. So it's not like you have a marriage or commitment ceremony, but in your mind you do in some sense. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:32 Highlight the passage at 1:21:32

1:22:00 That shift happens and you're very, very aware. So I always just say that I think it's a good practice to get into. You're looking at someone, you're checking them up, and you're just really clear. I haven't chosen this person yet. This person is not my teacher. I'm still checking them out. Even if everyone in the room is exuding love and adoration. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:00 Highlight the passage at 1:22:00

1:22:22 You see this a lot at Copan, right? Rinpoche arrives and everyone's fawning all over him and everything. and, you know... Report an error in the passage at 1:22:22 Highlight the passage at 1:22:22

1:22:29 A lot of new people have never seen him before and they're all like funny because everyone is. And so you kind of get it and you have to be really careful of that. You don't know who this person is. You don't know that you're going to have any relationship at all with this person. So just be really, really careful in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:29 Highlight the passage at 1:22:29

1:22:46 So anyway, that's just my particular story. And I know that when... I have talked with other students here, like when Jolkar was deciding who her guru was and she wanted to approach him. Rabina was quite clear. You go, you ask him, will he accept you as a student? You make an offering. And I was just like, wow, man, I should have done all that. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:46 Highlight the passage at 1:22:46

1:23:11 But who knew? It's my particular karma that I didn't know. And her particular karma that she's not only counseled, but she's counseled by this high nun. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:11 Highlight the passage at 1:23:11

1:23:21 Just show something there. So you get the karma to actually get some good advice here too. So you should know, just to know. It is a really good thing to do. I think it's quite respectful to request and to make an offering for that. Because what would you give for this incredible relationship? It's this incredible relationship of somebody who can take you to enlightenment. It's this enormous thing. So it's like, yeah, I think she offered like a mandala. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:21 Highlight the passage at 1:23:21

1:23:51 And did like the whole thing. So it's really good to do. Very good to do. She gave him a mandala, I think. A mandala set that was all put together and everything. It was very beautiful. Yeah. And originally she was thinking body, speech and mind, I think. And so she was going to do like a representation of the body, a representation like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:51 Highlight the passage at 1:23:51

1:24:11 Either gift, of course, is like an incredible gift. But then he returned and gave her a mandala set. And I said, you gave me a mandala, I gave you a mandala. That's like very sweet, yeah. So then the other question pops up and then we'll take a break. Why is it that I would ask my teacher, you know, my root guru, why would I ask my guru kind of what to do? Report an error in the passage at 1:24:11 Highlight the passage at 1:24:11

1:24:38 Why would I ask, if I'm trying to develop my own wisdom, why would I ask? When to get ordained, if I should get ordained, where should I get ordained, what should I do, should I study? You know, most recently I asked him, is the karma still here for me to, you know, stay at Sechenling? Report an error in the passage at 1:24:38 Highlight the passage at 1:24:38

1:24:58 You know, things like that. You know, what's the point of that if I'm trying to develop my own wisdom? The main thing is that I don't have my own wisdom yet. It's not there yet. I think maybe 30 years down the line, probably, I would hope. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:58 Highlight the passage at 1:24:58

1:25:15 I would have less of a reason to do that. But actually, Rubina still asks him about stuff, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:15 Highlight the passage at 1:25:15

1:25:23 So if I really want to get enlightened, I mean, first of all, if I want to serve him, which I do want to serve him, because, you know, there's that incredible wish to give of myself to him, then I want to offer service. And so, you know, I would ask. That's how I can offer service. But if I really want to get enlightened, I would want to know the most beneficial thing to do. Now, I might have all these great ideas that are all, like to the outer world, they all look equal. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:23 Highlight the passage at 1:25:23

1:25:56 To me, they look equal. Should I go do a retreat? Should I study at Chenrezig? Should I, or, you know, master's program? Should I, you know, service center? Should I? Report an error in the passage at 1:25:56 Highlight the passage at 1:25:56

1:26:10 Whatever, go into silence and live in the mountains, you know, like go on pilgrimage to Kailash. Like they all could be incredibly great things and not one of them is, I'm not saying, you know, should I go open a woman's bookstore in Bolinas? You know, like none of them are just kind of like missing out on the Dharma. That was always like our joke about like when you just can't handle like how hard it is sometimes in a Dharma center. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:10 Highlight the passage at 1:26:10

1:26:33 It's like, let's just go open a bookstore in Bolinas. You're right. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:33 Highlight the passage at 1:26:33

1:26:42 So, I mean, none of them are non-virtuous activities. They're all virtuous activities. So how do I know? I mean, I'm still operating a lot based on attachment. Like, I'll just want to do one because it's easier for me or because I particularly like Italy or because I really like to study. But I'm not necessarily going to be that great a teacher afterwards. You know what I mean? So I could have the incorrect motivation for one of these actions. I could want to go and be in retreat because I can't handle being around people, which isn't the right motivation, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:42 Highlight the passage at 1:26:42

1:27:17 Because I should be going into retreat because my mind is at a point where I can meditate deeply and I can gain realizations. Otherwise, it's just a waste of time. I could just get lungy and kill myself or something. It may not be beneficial at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:17 Highlight the passage at 1:27:17

1:27:31 Yeah, so I go to him and I ask him these questions and most of us do for that reason because he does have this kind of wisdom where he's not looking at it from what is Chokyi like to do? Is Chokyi going to have a good time this year? It's more like how can Chokyi get enlightened fastest? So it may be going and opening a center in Mongolia. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:31 Highlight the passage at 1:27:31

1:27:52 It may be working for 25 years in this center. It may be, you know, going into retreat or going to do the seven-year program or whatever. But he does it without the kind of attachment that I bring into it. Because my mind's still deluded, right? I still have delusions in which I'm basing my decisions. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:52 Highlight the passage at 1:27:52

1:28:11 I don't have the wisdom, but I can practice. What I usually do is I come up with several ideas. And then he'll do what's called a mo, a divination, based on those. I think a lot of the times that he's doing a mo, it's like he's actually just sussing you out. He's like checking out your mind. You know, he's looking like he's doing a mo, but I think he's actually just checking out your mind whether or not, what's the best for you? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:11 Highlight the passage at 1:28:11

1:28:39 No, not always. Not always. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, sometimes. This time I actually didn't ask him whether the karma was still there for me to be here because I knew it was. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:39 Highlight the passage at 1:28:39

1:28:53 And he brought it up. Oh, yes, I didn't answer your question about whether or not you should be there. I think the karma is still there. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:53 Highlight the passage at 1:28:53

1:29:03 Yeah, yeah. And I do want to mention too that it's really, really bad form to ask the same question of about five different llamas. This is something that Westerners do a lot. And it really sort of, it's kind of disrespectful because it's kind of like you keep asking until you get the answer you want, you know, which is kind of like what you were saying, but a little the opposite, you know, like eat. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:03 Highlight the passage at 1:29:03

1:29:28 There's a trust factor involved. Anytime you ask somebody who you consider to be a teacher for advice, you have to be willing to follow it. And their advice may not look like what we were expecting. So if I go to him and say, I go to Geshe-la, and I say, I haven't been able to find a job, and I'm really out of money. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:28 Highlight the passage at 1:29:28

1:29:53 He's not going to just go, oh, that's really too bad. He'll be like, You know, it's good for you to do four hours of practice a night. I mean, you just don't know what he's going to suddenly pop up with. And it's not going to look like our toolkit, right? Because he's got this whole different toolkit. And it's going to be stuff to help you work with your karma because he has a strong faith in karma. He knows how it works. And it's going to be stuff to help you work on your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:53 Highlight the passage at 1:29:53

1:30:16 So it's not necessarily going to be go out and get a job even. It could be, you know, maybe you should do this puja and then maybe you should do this practice and then maybe you should meditate on this and maybe you should, you know, practice generosity. And, you know, it's going to be different kind of practices. But if you ask the question, be willing to follow the advice. And if you're not, best not to ask the question. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:16 Highlight the passage at 1:30:16

1:30:40 You know, you can talk about it with other students and see what they think or something, you know, where it's like, you know. Recently I went to talk to a senior student and in my mind it was really clear, I'm going to talk about this with him, but I'm not going to see what he gives me as advice. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:40 Highlight the passage at 1:30:40

1:30:58 That's clear in my mind before I get attached to either one thing or another. So you have to, again, the same thing. If you already consider that person your teacher, it's really best. I'm just, that's Report an error in the passage at 1:30:58 Highlight the passage at 1:30:58

1:31:11 But if you go back to the whole idea of I want to get enlightened, this person is going to get me enlightened, I'm going to trust that, give it a try. You just don't know. It's like, remember Peter's reaction when he got the 10 million manis, you know, he went to see Geshe-la and Geshe-la gave him these practices and one of them was 10 million manis and he freaked out. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:11 Highlight the passage at 1:31:11

1:31:33 And I was just kind of like, why not just try it and just see. And it's like the most profound practice for him. It's like this incredible practice for him and for his mind. We just don't know until we try it, you know, because we have this whole aversion to giving up our TV show or whatever it is that whatever it is we're giving up that feels like it's more important. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:33 Highlight the passage at 1:31:33

1:31:55 You know, it's probably not. And it's probably actually, I mean, if we think about it really. Realistically, if we want our mind to be more serviceable, we want to get enlightened, we want to gain these realizations, why not try some of these practices? Especially if you have gotten to the point where you trust this teacher, even just a little bit. Why not? I mean, you could give it back if you had to. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:55 Highlight the passage at 1:31:55

1:32:23 Or you could do the thing. I mean, again, it comes up. Remember I told you about that one time that I went to the... The teacher asked and he gave me a practice that I wasn't able to do. You always have the right to say, wow, you know, I can't do that right now or I, you know, I can't do that at all, like for whatever reason, whatever it is that he may be asking or he or she may be asking you to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:23 Highlight the passage at 1:32:23

1:32:47 You know, by all means, it's totally fine to do that. Do it right then. Don't go home and cry about it and call all your best friends and then get back to them. Right then and there, just like, I can't do this. I'm not able to. I'm in a sublet. I don't have a floor to prostrate on, which is my situation. So go ahead and tell them if that's what the situation is. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:47 Highlight the passage at 1:32:47

1:33:14 But if it's just like a practice that maybe they're suddenly giving you a couple of hours of practice and you can do it, the only thing that's keeping you from doing it is laziness. Just try it. Just try it. And see if there might be a shift in your karma as a result. Why not? I mean, the only thing that you have to give is a little of your time and maybe some of your delusions. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:14 Highlight the passage at 1:33:14

1:33:36 Maybe a couple of your problems. Your mind may change about your whole problem. It could actually work. So I do just mention, yeah, it's really an important step to ask a guru advice. But it's also an amazing thing to ask a guru advice. For me, So asking Rinpoche what to do and then finding out that I should do something like in this case, you know, working at the center or whatever like that, it frees up your mind in a lot of ways because then you're just like, well, this is the most beneficial thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:36 Highlight the passage at 1:33:36

1:34:08 I don't even have to worry. So you're not like always in this mind thinking next year I could go blah, blah, blah. I could go blah, blah. And you're like, you know, we can spend a lot of our time fantasizing and daydreaming. You don't do that because you're just like, cool. This is the most beneficial thing for me to do. This is great, you know. I should just like grab this bull by the horn and just, you know, it kind of gives you this confidence and this contentment. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:08 Highlight the passage at 1:34:08

1:34:31 So let's take a break. And I'm sorry that I didn't give you a very, I gave you more class than break tonight. I think we may do most of the karma next week. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:31 Highlight the passage at 1:34:31

1:34:48 I know. I love the subject. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:48 Highlight the passage at 1:34:48

1:34:56 So check more like this. And then slowly. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:56 Highlight the passage at 1:34:56

1:35:06 One of the things I wanted to say is, and I think I may have even mentioned this a little bit, one of the roles of a teacher is not necessarily going to be very comfortable, but it's helping you sort of destroy your ego. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:06 Highlight the passage at 1:35:06

1:35:22 And that's really referring to what the Tibetans call the self-cherishing mind. But also arrogance. It can also manifest in arrogance because clearly if we have a bunch of arrogance we're not going to turn to somebody else, right? We're going to think we don't need any help. They say pride is like the biggest obstacle on the path. So that also needs to get smashed. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:22 Highlight the passage at 1:35:22

1:35:47 So of course some of the ways they do that might make you not so happy. And I've seen this one too where Rinpoche will do things to build your confidence. You know, because we do this Funny thing in the West where we'll have this really low self-esteem, but then the flip of it almost is like too much pride. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:47 Highlight the passage at 1:35:47

1:36:09 It's hard to find the balance. So sometimes I'll see these things where he's really, and actually Rabina does this too, where he's really being so sweet and so kind and he's just drawing you in and drawing you in and then you take it for granted. And I've seen people do that where then they see him at the airport and they're kind of familiar and he's just like, he'll do that look, like he's never seen you before kind of look. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:09 Highlight the passage at 1:36:09

1:36:40 And the person just, and I've had it happen too, the person just kind of withers. You're just like, you know, maybe I can carry the bags. And it's not to be mean, it's totally just to like slice, you know, it's just like, you know, you're forgetting yourself basically. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:40 Highlight the passage at 1:36:40

1:36:58 You're being a little too uppity, basically. So that's an important thing because that's really, I mean, eventually they'll help you get to and connect with your own wisdom. But to get there, you have to get rid of this feeling that you know it all already. And this feeling that you're sort of somehow entitled and overly familiar with the guru. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:58 Highlight the passage at 1:36:58

1:37:28 Yeah, there's this term awe that I referred to at the beginning. And I just, I actually really like this term because it kind of explains, it's not, it's not something, we don't have awe for that many people in our lives. But you definitely have awe once you've connected with a fully qualified spiritual master. And you never really just, you can actually chat and laugh with that spiritual master, but not in the same way that you would with your buddy. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:28 Highlight the passage at 1:37:28

1:37:59 Or, you know, with like in that same way. Like that awe is always there. And it's like a profound respect. But almost like you do have to know your place in a way. Like you don't ever forget that that person can take you to enlightenment. So that awe can be there. And it can also become a barrier. I have found and I have noticed for myself that I'll be... Report an error in the passage at 1:37:59 Highlight the passage at 1:37:59

1:38:27 Timid to ask questions and stuff because that awe can sometimes be too great. And so, again, you have to find the balance of having this respect but then also remembering to grab your chances when you can. Not to the point where you do see some students doing this where they'll just bring long lists of questions to Rinpoche. And he's so kind, actually. He will answer these questions. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:27 Highlight the passage at 1:38:27

1:38:49 And is it a bad thing? I don't know. Maybe it's not. Maybe actually it gets that person closer to enlightenment, so it helps us all. I don't know, you know. And they're grabbing whatever chance they get to have his ear, so maybe it's a good thing. I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:49 Highlight the passage at 1:38:49

1:39:02 But the other extreme of that is just always being in the back and always kind of hiding. And I'll do that one for sure, you know, and I have to worry about you. You won't even be in the front row with me until I got rid of all the other rows. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:02 Highlight the passage at 1:39:02

1:39:17 I mean, awe is really good. Respect is really good. But then you also have to be able to ask, OK, what do I do now? Like, you know, help me with my practice. I need your help, you know, like admitting that I need your help. I need you to show me what to do. was good. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:17 Highlight the passage at 1:39:17

1:39:29 do. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:29 Highlight the passage at 1:39:29

1:39:32 And then one thing too that's really important to mention is that this, you know, where we try to, you know, it's really hard for us not to see faults in others. It's just sort of a natural thing that our mind does. We see faults in regular people around us, much less in our teachers. Our minds will still perceive faults. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:32 Highlight the passage at 1:39:32

1:39:53 We still have that kind of negative karma that's creating that perception. So, um, The point is not to dwell on them. Not to just, like, that's all you can see anymore is that. Because that's just damaging to your own mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:53 Highlight the passage at 1:39:53

1:40:12 It's just keeping your mind this negative thing. The same is true if I'm, like, living in a group house with Tim and I just dwell on the fact that he, you know, he, like, leaves his dirty cup. Every morning on the way. Now I'm not thinking about the fact that he always cleans the bathroom and he always does the grocery shopping without any complaint. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:12 Highlight the passage at 1:40:12

1:40:32 Like I forget that stuff. And we do that kind of stuff all the time with the people we live with and work with and are involved with. Where we'll just focus on... The thing that's irritating us and we won't look at their qualities. So it's really good to keep your mind as expansive as you can, especially once you have decided that this person is your guru and to try to really remind yourself of all their qualities as well, even if you see their faults. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:32 Highlight the passage at 1:40:32

1:41:00 It's not saying that you won't see their faults, but to try to remember karma. That my mind, my karma is forcing me to see this. It doesn't mean that we have to remember this whole idea of karma and emptiness that this inherently existent fault doesn't exist in the way that I perceive it. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:00 Highlight the passage at 1:41:00

1:41:23 But it's painful. It's also probably more importantly in this particular point is that it's more painful for your own mind. To dwell on the faults of your teachers or other students, other Dharma students. It's quite dangerous actually. Once you connect with a teacher, their students become sort of like your brothers and sisters and it's quite dangerous. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:23 Highlight the passage at 1:41:23

1:41:52 To get in harmonious relationships with them. So it's like you're really trying to watch your mind all the time. Tantra, of course, is taking this to the nth degree, right? Where you're trying to see them as pure beings and you're trying to see your environment as pure. And you're trying to see yourself as a Buddha. So you're taking this to the... Report an error in the passage at 1:41:52 Highlight the passage at 1:41:52

1:42:11 This is this at a smaller level of just trying to dwell more on the qualities than the false. If you're seeing them. And actually there is a, we'll talk about a way Rinpoche in one of the binder readings, and I think we'll do that in one of the final classes, talks about how to make that into a practice that actually increases your devotion for the guru when you start seeing faults, because we will see faults. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:11 Highlight the passage at 1:42:11

1:42:41 I wanted to give a couple of quotes because we aren't going to have time to get started on the karma, but we'll do the karma next week, just going over sort of the main principles of karma and how that relates to this. But there are some really good quotes, and you'll have these so you don't have to write them down. You'll have this in your homework as just some contemplation. Most of these teachings on guru devotion actually come from the tantric tradition in Tibetan Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:41 Highlight the passage at 1:42:41

1:43:10 But all of the traditions from all of Buddhism agree on the importance of a qualified spiritual teacher. So I'm just going to give you some really powerful quotes and you can just think about them. One of them is from Geshe Potowa, who is one of the so-called Kadampa Geshes who were the... Great masters who came right after Atisha. Atisha was like in the 10th century, something like that. And then the Kadampas were like 11th, 12th, 13th centuries. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:10 Highlight the passage at 1:43:10

1:43:48 And they were really, they took all of the instructions of the Buddha as like personal advice, personal instruction. And so they just, they were really hardcore, but I just find them so inspiring. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:48 Highlight the passage at 1:43:48

1:44:00 He said, Geshe Potawa said, To reach liberation, there is nothing more important than a Lama. Even in the simple things of this present life, there are things you learn just by watching someone. You can't get anywhere without a person to show you, so how on earth are you going to get anywhere without a Lama when you want to go somewhere you've never been before and you've only just arrived from a journey of the lower realms? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:00 Highlight the passage at 1:44:00

1:44:29 It packs it all into one sentence. It's a run-on, but you know. No, it's a couple of sentences. pretty, like... Report an error in the passage at 1:44:29 Highlight the passage at 1:44:29

1:44:38 Geshe Gampopa, another Kadampa Geshe, gives three metaphors for the spiritual master. Just as a traveler needs a navigator for traversing an unknown route, an escort or guide for making a dangerous journey, and an oarsman for crossing a mighty river, a spiritual seeker seeks a mentor for treading the path of enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:38 Highlight the passage at 1:44:38

1:45:04 As a navigator, a spiritual master supplies correct information so the disciple knows the way. As an escort or guide, he or she remains close to the journey so the disciple doesn't wander astray. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:04 Highlight the passage at 1:45:04

1:45:19 And as an oarsman, he or she provides the energy that drives the disciple on to reach his or her goal. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:19 Highlight the passage at 1:45:19

1:45:29 So we don't do that many trips where we hire a guide, but you definitely encounter this in Nepal and India, and I'm sure Tibet, big time. And you can go terribly wrong if you leave them. I mean, like if you make a wrong turn, you could die from exposure and things like that. So this whole idea of really having to stay close to a spiritual teacher in that way, using this metaphor, is quite powerful considering the place. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:29 Highlight the passage at 1:45:29

1:46:00 Sakya Pandita, who is a great Sakya Lama, he compares the Lama to a magnifying glass. And says, without a magnifying glass to focus the rays of the sun, the sun itself cannot light a flame. In like manner, unless a student finds and works with a teacher to focus the Buddha's teachings and influence, the latter cannot themselves spark the student's enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:00 Highlight the passage at 1:46:00

1:46:32 And the way they explain this is that we see the Buddha's teachings embodied in the Lama, and that's why. They help us get closer to it. And it's because they inspire us, you know. Because if we see somebody who's living the Buddhist teachings and actually having a good time, we can kind of see what that looks like. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:32 Highlight the passage at 1:46:32

1:46:55 It's like then we start getting the idea of like, oh, maybe I could get like that. Maybe I could be like that, you know. We see what it looks like. Whereas if we just read the Buddhist teachings and we see like these tankas and statues, it sort of... You know, we don't necessarily, at least I certainly don't have the karma of taking it to that next step of like, I can do this. I mean, it's really, really important whenever we study Buddhism to remember the Buddha started out like us. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:55 Highlight the passage at 1:46:55

1:47:19 He had delusions. He just was able to transcend them. He wasn't like, he wasn't born a god. He wasn't born Christ, you know, in that same way that Christianity is. He was born deluded and overcame his delusions. But we forget that. It's really easy to think that he was just... So amazing. And actually, with some of our teachers, you just think, oh, they're so amazing. I'm not quite like them. So, you know, Rinpoche says, you know, it's actually that it's out of their kindness that they show these little, like, faults and errors and stuff, because that way we think, oh, well, maybe I could be like that, too. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:19 Highlight the passage at 1:47:19

1:47:56 You know? There's a lot of issues coming to help us. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:56 Highlight the passage at 1:47:56

1:48:05 So I think we're at the end, and like I say, we'll just talk more about the karma next week. I was going to talk about it and then re-talk about it next week anyway, so I made time in next week's class, so we'll just talk about it all next week, just much more about the karma of creating your teacher, basically, creating this relationship, and also how you prepare karmically. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:05 Highlight the passage at 1:48:05

1:48:29 So we'll talk about that. So I'll just lead you guys in like a final contemplation. If you don't have any questions, if you have any questions about anything that we talked about tonight or any of the qualities, any of the quotes. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:29 Highlight the passage at 1:48:29

1:48:47 I know we haven't talked a single time into the talking stick. I should hand out that on homeworks too. When you were talking about... I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:47 Highlight the passage at 1:48:47

1:49:00 We shouldn't dwell on the faults of our teacher. I thought you were going to go in a different direction. We are going to talk about that more. Actually, the highest level of that or mode of that... Did I do four? I was trying really hard to actually do the right amount this time. But there's always some fear that somebody's going to just show up and you're not going to have it for them. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:00 Highlight the passage at 1:49:00

1:49:23 The highest mode of that is actually learning to see the guru as a Buddha. And we'll talk about that in a later class. I actually thought you were going to go in a different direction, that we shouldn't see our own faults more, like we shouldn't grovel at most, or we shouldn't let the perfection of our teacher showcase our own faults. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:23 Highlight the passage at 1:49:23

1:49:45 Yeah. In a bad way. Yeah, that's a little like that awe thing of where you're... Low self-esteem. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I haven't heard that one taught. I think that's probably something that will be... A specific teaching for Western teachers, Western students. And it is interesting to see how the, especially looking at teachers of the Tibetan tradition, how they come and what they have to do with the teaching so that we get it in a different way because our particular delusions, culturally speaking, are different. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:45 Highlight the passage at 1:49:45

1:50:22 Then perhaps the Tibetans were. Certainly the Tibetans in Tibet. And then I don't know so much about the Tibetans who were born in exile in India. Things slightly change. Culturally we have different hang-ups. Our particular hang-ups tend to be incredible arrogance. And I'm speaking as American. I think Americans just have this arrogance worldwide. But then we also have this incredible low self-esteem. And we aren't so good with... Report an error in the passage at 1:50:22 Highlight the passage at 1:50:22

1:50:51 We don't memorize things. That's not something that we learn very much in our schools. And I don't think that's true necessarily in England or Europe. I think that they still do some memorization. So it's different, even like you say Western, but actually Americans are really different than British, which are different than Swiss, which are different. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:51 Highlight the passage at 1:50:51

1:51:09 And Tibetan Buddhism, of course, is going into all those countries and modifying in that way. So it'll be interesting to see. I haven't heard that particular teaching before, but I could see what you're saying. In a way, yeah, yeah. This is more about learning to dwell more on the qualities of the teachers so that we continue to respect them and hold them up. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:09 Highlight the passage at 1:51:09

1:51:37 I think that's probably more in the tantric teachings, being able to not dwelling on our own. Faults so much is more of a tantric practice where you're having to really try to apply like not ordinary view. Remember we've talked about those two things of like seeing, you know, ordinary view from the tantric perspective is seeing faults. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:37 Highlight the passage at 1:51:37

1:52:08 And Kishla said it really simply, if you still see faults and complain about other people's behavior, you have ordinary view. It's like wah, wah, wah, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:08 Highlight the passage at 1:52:08

1:52:19 Busted. Like 30 people. So that's ordinary view. And then there's also pure view. Its opposite is seeing things in their purest form. And we have to start with ourselves in that. Like you can't generate yourself as a deity to see yourself as a Buddha and still see all your faults. But it takes time. It's just like lifetimes of having this low self-esteem or this, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:19 Highlight the passage at 1:52:19

1:52:49 Feeling that I'm not good enough or discouragement or whatever form that takes. So you have to kind of just keep working with it and working with it. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:49 Highlight the passage at 1:52:49

1:52:59 If we can see ourselves that way, then maybe we can see the teacher that way. Or vice versa. So I'll just stop with this final contemplation about these qualities that we want to see in our teachers. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:59 Highlight the passage at 1:52:59

1:53:22 And we want to develop in ourselves. So Report an error in the passage at 1:53:22 Highlight the passage at 1:53:22

1:53:30 part of why we can't always see people's qualities and we instead focus on their faults is because of our own obscurations due to the negative karma that we've created. And Report an error in the passage at 1:53:30 Highlight the passage at 1:53:30

1:53:48 the Buddha taught that if we work on cleaning up our own life and creating the right causes, that we'll begin to see for some of these qualities. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:48 Highlight the passage at 1:53:48

1:54:06 And then more of these qualities, and then finally all of these qualities. And then we'll be able to see them in not just one Lama, but all of our teachers. And then ultimately we'll be able to see them in all beings, in Report an error in the passage at 1:54:06 Highlight the passage at 1:54:06

1:54:30 ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:30 Highlight the passage at 1:54:30

1:54:35 But it just starts with this really special relationship with one Lama. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:35 Highlight the passage at 1:54:35

1:54:47 So just think about, again, the qualities that you want to see in your spiritual teachers. Look at your own mind and think about where you might begin. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:47 Highlight the passage at 1:54:47

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:55:35 And we'll just dedicate this class to each one of us being able to create the karma defined and serve perfectly qualified teachers so they can lead each of us all the way to perfect and pure enlightenment so we'll be able to benefit every living being. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:35 Highlight the passage at 1:55:35

1:56:09 And tonight we'll actually do a dedication prayer. You Report an error in the passage at 1:56:09 Highlight the passage at 1:56:09

1:56:15 can go to, I think it's page... Report an error in the passage at 1:56:15 Highlight the passage at 1:56:15

1:56:26 yeah okay that's good we can do the first Report an error in the passage at 1:56:26 Highlight the passage at 1:56:26

1:56:34 And then we'll do the second to the last one. So we'll do the first in English. Through the merits of these virtuous actions, may I quickly attain the state of a Guru Buddha and lead all living beings without exception into that enlightened state. May the supreme jewel bodhicitta that has not arisen arise and grow. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:34 Highlight the passage at 1:56:34

1:56:56 And may that which has arisen not diminish, but increase more and more. May my Venerable Lama's life be firm, his white divine action spread in the ten directions. May the torch of the teachings of Lobsang always remain, dispelling the darkness of all beings in the three realms. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:56 Highlight the passage at 1:56:56

1:57:19 So Lobsang is referring to Jason Kapa. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:19 Highlight the passage at 1:57:19

1:57:25 Okay, thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:25 Highlight the passage at 1:57:25

1:57:35 We dedicate to Brett, attaining Sine perfectly. This weekend. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:35 Highlight the passage at 1:57:35

1:57:49 Yeah, hopefully blissed out. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:49 Highlight the passage at 1:57:49

1:58:04 that cookie out of your mouth. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:04 Highlight the passage at 1:58:04

1:58:13 Nectar? Is that the one? Is it called African Nectar? Report an error in the passage at 1:58:13 Highlight the passage at 1:58:13