Transform Your Mind & Change Your Life Retreat - 7-Point Mind Training from Atisha (part 28)

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1:15 Or if you'd like to ask, or you'd just rather write, but you'd like to have your name on it, and I'd like to address you specifically, but that's also a possibility. Report an error in the passage at 1:15 Highlight the passage at 1:15

1:31 Yes, please. Report an error in the passage at 1:31 Highlight the passage at 1:31

1:36 Julie, hi. Report an error in the passage at 1:36 Highlight the passage at 1:36

1:45 Re Report an error in the passage at 1:45 Highlight the passage at 1:45

2:03 -embodiment, pretty good. Simply has to do with kind of our baseline in saṃsāra, in this world, as individuals. And that is the substrate consciousness. If each rebirth were like sending a yo-yo out, like... Like that. Then the palm of your hand is the substrate consciousness. And it's always in motion. It's always in motion. It's crystallized, it's individuated, it's yours, nobody else's. Report an error in the passage at 2:03 Highlight the passage at 2:03

2:35 It has memories, imprints and so forth, karma from your past lives, nobody else's. But of course your karma is entangled with the people around you. Right now we're having, this is a group event, so we're all participating in this event. And so there's collective karma. And then sometimes there's individual karma. Report an error in the passage at 2:35 Highlight the passage at 2:35

2:54 Sometimes there's a karma of 300 million people engaging in a common endeavor. That happens in wartime, where people are thinking as one, our side here and the other side over there. And so on this phenomenal level, the relative level, then this is where we live. And the substrate consciousness is that continuum that carries those imprints, the memories and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 2:54 Highlight the passage at 2:54

3:19 This is the field in which we are sowing the seeds. Our actions, our intentions and so forth. And then as causes and conditions come together, those seeds germinate and they manifest in another life. That's just straight karma. It's more complicated or more interesting than that when we bring in issues like aspiration and prayer, dedication and merit, which I think we'll start tonight. Report an error in the passage at 3:19 Highlight the passage at 3:19

3:45 So that's how that plays out. But then in terms of the emptiness, well... A central theme of the teachings of emptiness and dependent origination, or emptiness and causality, is that, and this is from Tsongkhapa, I think he articulates it more clearly than anybody else I know, he's so brilliant, I mean so readingly sharp and clear in this area, that it's only because phenomena are empty of inherent nature that they're able to engage in or participate or be involved in interdependent relationships, including cause and effect. Report an error in the passage at 3:45 Highlight the passage at 3:45

4:20 If things did exist inherently, if you or an atom or anything else exist by your own inherent nature, such that your attributes, your qualities were intrinsically yours, the implication of that would be that you're bound, you're closed, you're a closed system, which means then you couldn't interact with anything else, which means then you'd be outside the matrix of causality. So it's only because you, I, atoms, galaxies, Plants and so forth and so on. It's only because we are empty of inherent nature that these dependent relationships and causality, including over time from birth to birth, can take place. Report an error in the passage at 4:20 Highlight the passage at 4:20

5:03 So that's a short answer. Short answer, but there's a little bit more from your side, I think. To me, it's to explain how is all these conceptualizations really a basis? What appears real to us in terms of, you know, incarnation, past life, how is that not a function of, you know, Report an error in the passage at 5:03 Highlight the passage at 5:03

5:23 Good, understood. So just the topic of karma is something that in the great monastic universities of Tibet they would study that full time for four years. Because of all the topics, there's perfection of wisdom and Dzogchen and Vajrayana and so many topics, but among all of the topics, the aspects of the Buddhist teachings, it is said that karma is actually the most complicated, the most complex. Report an error in the passage at 5:23 Highlight the passage at 5:23

5:46 So to understand all the texture, all the multiple layers of it, then it does require a lot of study. But the essence is not difficult. And so I'm not going to overwhelm you with complexity right now. I put it this way. I put it this way. And that is in terms of the appearances arising to us. One is cruising along and then one finds that one has become ill. Or someone comes into one's life and it may be something really wonderful, maybe something really very challenging, very difficult. Report an error in the passage at 5:46 Highlight the passage at 5:46

6:15 And so on. All the appearances arising to us throughout the whole course of the life. The appearances arising to us, especially those that have a very clear valence of this is pleasant and this is unpleasant. That's just how they appear to us. You just look at it and say, I'm enjoying this and I'm not enjoying this at all. Those appearances are stemming from karma. They're stemming from karma. Those are the fruition, the maturation of karmic seeds sown in past lives. Report an error in the passage at 6:15 Highlight the passage at 6:15

6:44 And it could be many, many lifetimes ago. But that's what reality is dishing up. So it's an alternative to the two major, kind of views in the West. And one is, God is doing everything to us. not a silly idea. And the other one, of course, is just happening randomly. We're just in a great big-mindless machine, and this is the style appearing. And just no meaning to it at all. Report an error in the passage at 6:44 Highlight the passage at 6:44

7:09 The Buddhist view is neither one of those. Neither is God rewarding or punishing God. It's not God's design imposing that on us, nor are we living in a meaningless... Pointless, random machine that's just pounding out appearances. Here's a phrase from actually the New Testament, as we sow, so shall we reap. Report an error in the passage at 7:09 Highlight the passage at 7:09

7:30 But the reaping is what the appearances arising to us. So that's what's just being presented. But they aren't sheer appearances. They're appearing to us. And then there comes the issue. Among the varied appearances arising to us, which ones are we focusing on? You can't focus on everything. And so we have a choice there. We have a choice of, I mean, right now I'm choosing to attend. I mean, there are maybe 60 faces in the room that I could, you know, just visual units. Report an error in the passage at 7:30 Highlight the passage at 7:30

8:02 I could be focusing on any of them or trying to go back panoramic. But I'm choosing to attend to you. So this is selected. My karma is presenting everyone here. All the appearances arising right now. I'm selecting you. That's my choice. Don't have to. But then also, and here's the real gist of it. What sense are we making of it? Not just what are we selecting this, we're selecting that, but how are we making sense of it? How do we conceive of it? Report an error in the passage at 8:02 Highlight the passage at 8:02

8:29 What is our understanding? And this is where the role of conceptual designation comes in. And how we conceptually designate, how we conceptually designate, that is not a fruit of karma. That's not just happening to us. This is happening to us. It's cloudy today, it's sunny today. That's just happening to us. We didn't choose that. That's karma maturing. But then the way we understand it, the way we conceptually designate it, that's where our freedom lies. Report an error in the passage at 8:29 Highlight the passage at 8:29

8:57 So the lojong, the mind training, this will come in a couple of days, and it'll be our centerpiece in a couple of days. So let's do a little state preview here, because it's really core, that the whole notion of lojong, training, shifting attitude, is that Report an error in the passage at 8:57 Highlight the passage at 8:57

9:14 And here's the point, that something happens that the world would say, oh, too bad, too bad, Shudi. What a shame, what a shame. You lose your job or a loved one dies or you get sick or your house has termites, whatever. Oh, what a shame, what a shame. So the world would say, oh, oh, what adversity, so sorry for you. Report an error in the passage at 9:14 Highlight the passage at 9:14

9:35 Is it adversity for you? And that's where it's up to you. How do you conceptually designate it? So the appearances are there. But is this arising as an aid to your path? Is this going to fuel for you, food for you, that you assimilate and you welcome and you embrace as you transform it into just more fuel for your path? Report an error in the passage at 9:35 Highlight the passage at 9:35

10:00 Or is it just, oh, what a bummer. So it's in the way we conceptually designate what's coming up that we're actually conceiving of the world. So the raw stuff is there. So this is where this goes very deeply. And that is, we're starting with lojong, this is a wonderful basis, the lojong. There's no empowerment, no secrecy, no esotericism. This is just mainstream Hayana Buddhism, right? Report an error in the passage at 10:00 Highlight the passage at 10:00

10:25 But we take this further. Here's a foundation, and we'll see references to Vajrayana in this. As I said, this is a nest, a holder for all of the Dharma. But when we really do have a sense that in terms of the reality, the appearances are here, but the appearances are empty. But then you are a person. Report an error in the passage at 10:25 Highlight the passage at 10:25

10:44 You're not just an appearance. You're a person and those are trees and this is this and this and so forth. So when we're conceptually designating, when we see the emptiness that is not inherently adverse, when we see that, that whether it's adversity for me, whether it's felicity for me, that's up to me. Report an error in the passage at 10:44 Highlight the passage at 10:44

11:04 So when you see the empty nature of it, then you have the ability to transform everything. So we have two things. This runs through multiple spiritual traditions. It's very clear in Christianity, but I'll stick with Buddhism. Here's the karma ripening. Here's the karma ripening. But in the midst of this, for in the Mahāyāna tradition, which I embrace with all my heart, there's also blessing. There's also blessing. Report an error in the passage at 11:04 Highlight the passage at 11:04

11:30 It's not just a big machine. There's your seed and here comes the big machine of karma rolls around and spits out the result. There is that cause and effect. But there's more to it than that. There's also blessing. And so with blessing, with the blessing of conceiving in different ways, we can be in a flow of the blessings of the Buddha all the time. Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

11:55 Including times that are hedonically pleasant or hedonically unpleasant. That's where the freedom is. That we can transform everything and then everything is just flowing right into Dharma. And that's where freedom is. And then the whole notion of this is karma or not karma. Is that clear? It's very, very important. Report an error in the passage at 11:55 Highlight the passage at 11:55

12:16 Very deep issue, but they all play together. Report an error in the passage at 12:16 Highlight the passage at 12:16

12:22 Yes, please. Report an error in the passage at 12:22 Highlight the passage at 12:22

12:33 Tom? Yes. Report an error in the passage at 12:33 Highlight the passage at 12:33

12:40 The world is coming up to meet our, like I said, the objective world is coming up to meet our subjective experience or our subjective mind, which is shaped by our experience and the reification that we place upon that. Report an error in the passage at 12:40 Highlight the passage at 12:40

13:05 Then what is in the mind? Report an error in the passage at 13:05 Highlight the passage at 13:05

13:13 I wish I could ask. Report an error in the passage at 13:13 Highlight the passage at 13:13

13:20 Sure. Well, my short answer is I can't say. I mean, I've forgotten. There was a time when I knew it, but I forgot. But it's a good question. It's a good question. Report an error in the passage at 13:20 Highlight the passage at 13:20

13:33 Let's go deep, shall we? Because my answer is I don't know. But let's go deeper. Let's go deep. It's a very good question. Perfectly legitimate question. But let's do a little genesis here, a little evolution. Let's go from deep. There are two parallel tracks here. Going from deep sleep, deep dreamless sleep, totally zoned out, you're not explicitly aware of anything, to being fully awake. So there's one track. Report an error in the passage at 13:33 Highlight the passage at 13:33

14:00 There's also a track of the moment of conception when you were conceived. The egg and sperm just came in. It's your first moment, Simon's first moment of being in this world, in this body, in this embodiment. There must have been a first moment. I don't say that I know when it is, but there had to be a first moment of your awareness in this life, right? Report an error in the passage at 14:00 Highlight the passage at 14:00

14:22 So here we are. So deep sleep, here's two tracks, and they're actually parallel tracks. So let's just do the sleep one, because it's kind of like you just were asleep last night. You're resting there in deep sleep, and what you're resting in is the substrate, which is to say that the substrate consciousness, which is luminous, has been, the image that always comes to mind, is like a sword in its sheath, like a light, lightsaber, like in Star Wars, but a sword in its sheath. Report an error in the passage at 14:22 Highlight the passage at 14:22

14:52 So it's luminous, but it's completely obscured. You can't see it. You can't see its brightness. And the substrate consciousness dissolves into like water into sand or like a lightsaber into its sheath. And the substrate consciousness becomes veiled by the substrate. And that's a deep, dreamless, non-lucid sleep. So you're not explicitly aware of anything. Report an error in the passage at 14:52 Highlight the passage at 14:52

15:13 You don't even know you're asleep, and that's the most obvious thing happening. We start there. And then as we're going from, you know, this probably occurred early this morning. Deep dreamless sleep. Then, as you're waking up, there's some movement. It's a subliminal unconscious movement, but there's some catalyst. Report an error in the passage at 15:13 Highlight the passage at 15:13

15:31 You can call it karmic energies, you can call it, but there's something that breaks the symmetry, the evenness, the simple unknowing of resting in the substrate. And the substrate consciousness emerges from that. This is kind of breaking into pieces, going from deep sleep to waking state. The substrate consciousness emerges. Report an error in the passage at 15:31 Highlight the passage at 15:31

15:53 And it's luminous, but it's illuminating nothing. That is, it's just illuminating the substrate, which is just a sheer vacuity. But there is light now. You're moving towards being fully awake and engaged with this world. And so out of the substrate emerges the substrate consciousness. But the evolution continues, the movement continues. Report an error in the passage at 15:53 Highlight the passage at 15:53

16:14 And out of the substrate consciousness, there emerges something called... Report an error in the passage at 16:14 Highlight the passage at 16:14

16:21 Nyung Yi, afflictive mentation, but it's a subtle, kind of complex term, but it means something very simple. That comes just sheer luminosity, the sheer luminous cognizance of the sensory consciousness. But then out of that emerges a very primal, raw, basic, inarticulate, non-conceptual sense of I am. Report an error in the passage at 16:21 Highlight the passage at 16:21

16:42 It's kind of a congealing, a coagulation, a drawing in of me being separate from space. Me over here, space over there. Pre-verbal, pre-conceptual. Very raw, very primitive. Fundamental ego. I am. Report an error in the passage at 16:42 Highlight the passage at 16:42

17:00 This emerges. But now as we continue, as you continue to wake up, from this emerges what is called subtle mentation. Subtle mentation. And this is out of this mind stream. This mentation arises that now the ability to distinguish this from that. Report an error in the passage at 17:00 Highlight the passage at 17:00

17:19 Discernment. Basic, raw, Discernment, this from that. And non-conceptual. So it's not thinking things. It's just a non-conceptual discernment distinguishing this from that. That emerges. Very raw, very basic pre-verbal. And then out of that emerges coarse mentation. And that's where it's conceptual, but not verbal. Report an error in the passage at 17:19 Highlight the passage at 17:19

17:42 There's such a thing as conceptualization that's not linked to language. English, French, or what have you. And so now we get into more detail, more distinction of this and that, and it's falling into a conceptual grid. But bear in mind, you can think without having a language. And then out of that comes, now you're just about fully awake, and then finally comes, out of that, This is already conceptual. Then out of that you come fully awake and now your full conceptual mind with your language skills, your memory and so forth, that comes into play. Report an error in the passage at 17:42 Highlight the passage at 17:42

18:15 And as an adult, then you're making sense of your room in which you just woke up. And, oh yeah, this is my room, and then you carry on. That same process occurs from the first moment of your awareness. That first moment in this lifetime was the substrate consciousness. It's raw, it's primitive, it's not differentiated, it's not yet human. Report an error in the passage at 18:15 Highlight the passage at 18:15

18:33 But over the course of your formation in your mother's womb, then this is evolving, but evolving over months rather than just a matter of some minutes as you're waking up. And so by the time you come into, let's say, the last trimester, so now you really are a baby, and your brain is well-developed, but of course we presume that you don't have any language skills because you're an unborn baby. Report an error in the passage at 18:33 Highlight the passage at 18:33

18:56 But the Buddhist view here is that although you have no language skills... By the time you're well developed, your brain is well developed and hearing is developed and of course tackle sensation, you feel pressure, you feel hot, cold and so forth. This is all very well developed in the last couple of months before birth itself. Then at that point there may be not only this non-conceptual but even conceptual ability to distinguish this from that. Report an error in the passage at 18:56 Highlight the passage at 18:56

19:23 Now we can't imagine it because you and I are meshed in concepts and we label everything. So this is the straight Buddhist view. But in the scientific view, I've read this from neuroscientists. They're also not able to interview babies, but they can study brain correlates. And I've read that there's good research indicating that for an unborn baby in the final couple of months, that the unborn baby, judging by the neurocorrelates, is able to distinguish between the sound of the baby's mother's voice and another voice. Report an error in the passage at 19:23 Highlight the passage at 19:23

19:58 So there is awareness of sound, because the ears are there, and the auditory quartices are developed and so forth. And even though that baby doesn't know how to say mama, or any language, and not mama, there is that recognition that this voice versus that voice. And so it's something that, unless we can just go into deep hypnotic regression, that would be one possible way, and the other way would be go deep into shamatha. Report an error in the passage at 19:58 Highlight the passage at 19:58

20:25 Then I can't answer that question. And if I could, you probably couldn't, even if I got the answer right, I don't think my words would convey it to you unless you could actually shift into that mindset yourself, because we're both speaking in English and we're activating our language minds, our conceptual minds. Report an error in the passage at 20:25 Highlight the passage at 20:25

20:42 But the simple point is that the conceptual distinction between this and that, conceptual designation is taking place even before you develop language skills. And then as you develop language skills, then you have these conceptual categories that have already been... And then you drop the language into it, the labels and so forth. So if you'd like to have a real answer to that, then you might find a hypnotist that is so skillful that could take you that far back so that you could relive that experience. Report an error in the passage at 20:42 Highlight the passage at 20:42

21:14 But then when he came back to your mature adulthood, I don't know that you could bring that back with you because it's a very different mindset. Or you could simply achieve shamatha and direct your awareness back to very early childhood. And then you tap into it at will. That's where you can actually know the answer to that question. Okay? Report an error in the passage at 21:14 Highlight the passage at 21:14

21:42 Maybe more than you bargained for. Hi, I'm Eric. Eric, hi, I'm Eric. Is there a correlation between biological evolution and self-trade consciousness? Starting from a little cell, going to a human being, where it becomes self-aware, it starts from consciousness, you have to see consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 21:42 Highlight the passage at 21:42

22:05 Don't think so. Don't think so. People often ask, it's a very standard question, but people are just kind of getting their toes wet in the Buddhist worldview. Report an error in the passage at 22:05 Highlight the passage at 22:05

22:16 If reincarnation is taking place, how come the human population is getting bigger and bigger and bigger? Where are the newcomers coming from? Are they coming in from other planets? How is this growing? Because there are one heck of a lot more now than there ever have been, right? Report an error in the passage at 22:16 Highlight the passage at 22:16

22:33 But then, you know, in the Spanish Flu right after the First World War, 50 million people died in the Spanish Flu. So where do they all go? Because suddenly population went down. And then it pops up again. And the simple answer for this is that if you're a stem cell, if you're resting in that substrate consciousness, you are just sheer potentiality. Report an error in the passage at 22:33 Highlight the passage at 22:33

22:55 You are a full-fledged actual sentient being. You're not a Buddha. You're an actual sentient being. You haven't lost your status. Full-fledged sentient being. But if you're just resting in the substrate consciousness, like you've just died, the end point of dying is resting in the substrate consciousness. That's the dead zone. Report an error in the passage at 22:55 Highlight the passage at 22:55

23:14 Brain has gone flat. There is no consciousness arising independent upon brain activity because there isn't any brain activity. And what's left then is just the substrate consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 23:14 Highlight the passage at 23:14

23:25 What happens after that, after being dead, because that's when you're dead, is especially if you've had some genuine experience of this deepest dimension, that unborn awareness. Then you may be resting in that dead zone, resting simply in the substrate consciousness. You may be lucid, just like being very similar to being lucid in dreamless sleep or having achieved shamatha and resting in the substrate consciousness completely lucidly. Report an error in the passage at 23:25 Highlight the passage at 23:25

23:54 So achieving shamatha is a wonderful preparation for dying lucidly and being conscious, lights on, clear all the way through to the point that you've lost your mind, this mind arising independence upon that brain. You've lost it, but you're still lucid. That stillness in the midst of motion, well the motion is stopped and the stillness of clarity of your awareness is still there. Report an error in the passage at 23:54 Highlight the passage at 23:54

24:15 And if in addition to having a good taste of that stillness of the substrate consciousness, if you've also broken through, had some taste or maybe even deep realization of unborn awareness, pristine awareness, then that substrate consciousness, your final course mind, your final kind of conditioned mind, In this lifetime, that melts. And that melts right into what's called the clear light of death. And that is the natural arising of pristine awareness. Report an error in the passage at 24:15 Highlight the passage at 24:15

24:48 And if you've experienced it before, the metaphor, the classic metaphor given is like a child crawling up on its mother's lap. Or being separated from an old friend. And then after years, seeing the friend and having instant recognition. I haven't seen you for years. That kind of thing. That you're now recognizing, you're recognizing that which you have cognized previously. And then if you do so, that's to your great advantage. Report an error in the passage at 24:48 Highlight the passage at 24:48

25:14 Because then you can rest not just in the substrate consciousness, which doesn't really enable you to evolve anywhere, you're just resting there. But if you can then rest in Rigpa, which is manifesting here as the clear light of death, well that is tremendously advantageous. And the longer you can stay, the better it is. Report an error in the passage at 25:14 Highlight the passage at 25:14

25:32 And so that's, and we've seen yogis every year manifesting this. It's really not that uncommon. And this is where they abide in, called Thutam. They're abiding in their final meditation, where the body is no longer alive, because living bodies have brain activity and heartbeat and breath and so forth, circulation of blood and all of that. Report an error in the passage at 25:32 Highlight the passage at 25:32

25:51 That's what living bodies do. This body is not alive. There's no brain activity, there's no heartbeat, there's no respiration. So you can't call it a living body. If it's not doing what living bodies do. But dead bodies decompose. And that's just what they do. And they decompose pretty quickly. You're neither one. Report an error in the passage at 25:51 Highlight the passage at 25:51

26:09 Your body is not alive in the sense of doing what living bodies do, like heart pumping blood. But it's also not dead because they decompose. You're right there on the cusp. Right there on the cusp. And you're just resting there. And every year, not every year, we hear at least one more yogi, one more abiding in that for four or five, six days. Report an error in the passage at 26:09 Highlight the passage at 26:09

26:30 Or two weeks and so forth. And they're resting in that clear light of death. And that is profoundly transformative. Deeply transformative. But then you emerge from that. Report an error in the passage at 26:30 Highlight the passage at 26:30

26:41 People don't remain for months and months generally. It's maybe days or a couple of weeks. But then, that very subtle continuum, that very subtle consciousness, the rippa, or the very subtle consciousness, it disengages from the body. It separates from the body. And then your body may start to decompose. Only then. Report an error in the passage at 26:41 Highlight the passage at 26:41

27:00 But this means now there's no one here. And so then you can cremate the body. And then you've got all these cool relics. But you can cremate the body, no harm. Because the consciousness now is completely disengaged from that. The first moment as you step into the bardo, as you're coming out of the clear light of death, the first moment is the substrate consciousness again. Report an error in the passage at 27:00 Highlight the passage at 27:00

27:21 And when you're there, you're about to launch into the bardo, which means you'll be a bardo being. And then you'll be in that very transient interval. And you'll have a variety of experiences. But the point being here that when you've just stepped into the bardo in that first moment, like your first moment in the womb, the first moment in the bardo is this substrate consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 27:21 Highlight the passage at 27:21

27:43 And it's not human. And it's not animal or devo or preto or anything else. It's about to become bardo, which is kind of a transition, a transit, a transit mode, which is very, very finite. But then, either by the force of prayers, or if you're lucid in the bardo, Which is my primary reason for practicing dream yoga and Tibetan Buddhism. So by the power of prayer you can do it. That can just get you right through to a really good destination. Not just karma, but power of your prayers, your aspiration. Report an error in the passage at 27:43 Highlight the passage at 27:43

28:12 You cultivate merit, you accrue merit, and then you dedicate it. And then that can carry you right through the bar to a very good destination. It's not just karma. You must have the virtue there. But you can direct it with the power of your prayer and aspirations. That's a possibility. The second one is you're just lucid. Report an error in the passage at 28:12 Highlight the passage at 28:12

28:29 You died lucidly. You got dead lucidly. You got in the clear light of death lucidly. And then you come out of that in a bardo lucidly. You know exactly what's happening. In which case, as exactly like, I mean, it's such a strong parallel. Just like being in a very lucid dream. Do what you like. You're not subject to karma. If you're in a lucid dream, I mean, appearances can arise and you can change them any way you like. Report an error in the passage at 28:29 Highlight the passage at 28:29

28:55 So if something unpleasant is happening, if you wish to, you just change it into something pleasant, because you're lucid. Well, likewise, if you're lucid in the bardo, well, you simply make your decision. Where would you like to go? And you're there, and you're motivated by compassion and guided by wisdom, in which case you'll simply go where you find you can be of greatest benefit. Report an error in the passage at 28:55 Highlight the passage at 28:55

29:19 And you simply choose. It's not by the power of previous prayers. You're simply in the bardo, and then you look at the situation. It's okay. And then you direct there. That's another possibility. And another possibility, the bleaker possibility, is you don't die lucidly. Report an error in the passage at 29:19 Highlight the passage at 29:19

29:39 And when you get into the dead zone, you're unconscious. You're just flat out unconscious. You may as well be in deep room of sleep. And then you may not even experience a clear light of death. You just flip right through it because you didn't access it previously. And then you just find yourself thrown into the barred out. Report an error in the passage at 29:39 Highlight the passage at 29:39

29:54 And that's very bewildering because it's very commonly the case that during the first days of the bardo you don't even know you're dead. And you get very irritated that people talk to people and they don't talk back because you can see people. Report an error in the passage at 29:54 Highlight the passage at 29:54

30:07 Like in the movie The Sixth Sense, there's a lot of reality to that. But then it dawns on you after a while that you're dead. It's kind of an unpleasant discovery. Report an error in the passage at 30:07 Highlight the passage at 30:07

30:19 But then if you're not lucid all the way through, then you're swept through the bardo by your karma. It could be good karma. It might propel you to a very fortunate rebirth, rich and famous, whatever. Or something else, but it's basically like being in a non-lucid dream. And you're just going to push through it. So those are all the options. But the point of all of this is that the mere fact that one is going from birth to birth to birth by no means implies in and of itself that you're evolving. Report an error in the passage at 30:19 Highlight the passage at 30:19

30:51 That you're finding greater wisdom, greater compassion. I wish that were the case. Some new age people like to think of reincarnation that way. That you're learning lessons and you're just becoming wiser and so forth. But according to the Buddha, I'd love for that to be true. And there's just no evidence that it's actually true. That if you're choosing it, then yes. Report an error in the passage at 30:51 Highlight the passage at 30:51

31:15 If you have power of very virtuous prayers, yes. But if you're just thrown by karma. From year to year, do our dreams really get better and better and better? Or is it just kind of more of saṃsāra, saṃsāra? So, speaking of these two tracks, maybe this is more words than you needed, but in terms of biological evolution, I've spoken with some really good evolutionists. Report an error in the passage at 31:15 Highlight the passage at 31:15

31:39 They make it very, very clear, we're not talking about progress here. It's not progress. Alligators, you know, have been alligators for, what, a couple hundred million years by now. They're not getting better at alligator-ish. They're just alligators. Because being an alligator turns out to be really good for your survival and procreation. Until those Floridian pythons came along, things were working out really well until they showed up. Report an error in the passage at 31:39 Highlight the passage at 31:39

32:03 And now they're going to have to really team up, like two basketball teams, the pythons versus the alligators, and try to work it out. But they're not getting better at it. Cockroaches are not getting smarter or faster and so forth because they've filled their niche and they're doing very well at it. So biological evolution is not about getting better. Report an error in the passage at 32:03 Highlight the passage at 32:03

32:21 It's just adapting to changing environments. That's it. I've heard that from the world experts. It would be nice to think that we're just getting better. It would be nice to think that, well, we're so much smarter than our nearest neighbors like chimpanzees and gorillas that we got this way because we're all getting better and a thousand years from now we'll be so much better. Report an error in the passage at 32:21 Highlight the passage at 32:21

32:39 There's no basis for that at all. It's just adapting and surviving. Just pure biological evolution, genetic mutation and surviving because you didn't get eaten and prograding because you had the chance. And so that doesn't have a real direction to it, except for simply keep your head above water and pass on your genes. And then in terms of the continuity of consciousness from embodiment to embodiment, if it's non-lucid, if there's no Dharma, there's no evolution there. Report an error in the passage at 32:39 Highlight the passage at 32:39

33:09 So people who have no Dharma at all, no understanding of that at all, they can still engage in virtue, clearly. People do virtue. And so... Without any particular Dharma, understanding, meditation, practice, any specific following ethics, people still do kind and virtuous things. And if that's the karma that's catalyzed, then that will cast them into a fortunate rebirth. But then we come to Dharma. So, for example, if one has just virtuous karma, just something really virtuous, you just do something really virtuous and then manifest. Report an error in the passage at 33:09 Highlight the passage at 33:09

33:47 Well, here's one way it can manifest. If it's a very strong virtue, But with no paradedication, no Dharma, no Yudha Monia, no path, no nothing, just you did something really virtuous, another karma is maturing. Then it could be taking birth in a situation where you're taking birth in a very affluent family with a lot of influence and power. Report an error in the passage at 33:47 Highlight the passage at 33:47

34:10 And then you may also, as your karma matures, you may become very famous. So you may have wealth and power and, what's the third one? Fame. All three of those. These are all effects of positive karma. Are you going to experience any happiness in all of that or not? Karma is maturing, but it could just be an ego trip. Report an error in the passage at 34:10 Highlight the passage at 34:10

34:35 It could be an occasion to manipulate other people, exploit other people, show off, be the jet setter and all of that. So it can be arising there, but does it really mean anything? And one may simply experience that good karma and then use it up. And then like having driven in a car and used up all the gas, then you just kind of back to nowhere. So in this broader context, this is where the theme of path and motivation and dedication and prayers of dedication really come in. Report an error in the passage at 34:35 Highlight the passage at 34:35

35:06 And I have to say this doesn't weigh heavily on me, but it looms very large. Looms very large. Because one can ask in this bigger picture, what could be more important? For yourself as an individual, for your well-being, for your flourishing, for your long-term well-being, what could be more important, or I'll speak first person, what could be more important than the continuity from lifetime to lifetime of continuing in one's practice, meeting skillful guides, being with good spiritual friends, having the leisure and the opportunity to continue on the path and never have one life that is off. Report an error in the passage at 35:06 Highlight the passage at 35:06

35:48 Off. No Dharma, no teacher, no nothing, just a house with two cars in the garage and a white picket fence. So the continuity is like the most important thing. Whether we achieve enlightenment very, very quickly, like just one lifetime or something, that would be very cool. Or we achieve enlightenment, enlightenment of a Buddha after a hundred lifetimes. Report an error in the passage at 35:48 Highlight the passage at 35:48

36:11 Between those two, I don't see a whole lot of difference, at least for oneself, no big deal. Two lifetimes, a hundred lifetimes. If it's all Dharma, all the way through, then okay. A hundred lifetimes is a hundred lifetimes of Dharma. That's a big deal. Report an error in the passage at 36:11 Highlight the passage at 36:11

36:26 But a life without Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 36:26 Highlight the passage at 36:26

36:32 And so it's a life with Dharma that you can see, okay, in that context, with Dharma, with motivation, with a prayer and so forth, then you can see from lifetime to lifetime, that's evolution. That's growth, it's maturation, it's deepening, it's moving along a path. And that's where the whole notion of path comes in. Path comes in. It's not just practicing Dharma, not just engaging in virtue. Report an error in the passage at 36:32 Highlight the passage at 36:32

36:54 It's path. And that's what has the continuity from now until the night. And that's why that strikes me as the most important thing. Report an error in the passage at 36:54 Highlight the passage at 36:54

37:09 Yes, please. A chicken? No? Oh, here. Please go ahead. Report an error in the passage at 37:09 Highlight the passage at 37:09

37:15 just in practice was following Sanghi's method, most of the attention on the breath, after a while I'll get to the point of... Report an error in the passage at 37:15 Highlight the passage at 37:15

37:29 baseline of relaxation just me and the breath for the most part yeah and then i sort of I listened to your teaching earlier, followed the prompt of saying, could I relax deeper, could I relax deeper, asking myself, could I relax deeper? Oh yes, understood, yeah. So I, you know, on the upright and following that, but then it sort of sends me close to, I can quite easily fall asleep at that point. Report an error in the passage at 37:29 Highlight the passage at 37:29

37:56 You tend to fall asleep? Yeah. Or it starts with sort of some... Hypnagogic imagery or some abstract thoughts that come up and my awareness quite a lot fuses with that and goes dull and into sleep from a halfway point. Report an error in the passage at 37:56 Highlight the passage at 37:56

38:18 Recently I've tried to be a bit more aware of that ahead of time and when I see that imagery comes up or something like that I try not to fuse with it. Try not to fuse with it. But then I go back to where I was, and it's me in the breath again, and then I go, could I relax more? Report an error in the passage at 38:18 Highlight the passage at 38:18

38:43 So I might seem to plateau. If I attempt to relax more, I go to sleep. Or that tends to happen. So I'm just seeing, should I be satisfied with the ... plateau and not attempt to relax more, or is there an alternative that I could explore? Yeah, very good. Very good. Might I ask, in terms of this particular balance, like a saṅgha approach, full body awareness, mindfulness of breathing, very clear, I think you've got it. Report an error in the passage at 38:43 Highlight the passage at 38:43

39:18 In terms of that practice and this initial emphasis, remember the three challenges. And here's the first one. Relax more and more deeply without losing the clarity with which you began. Do you remember the other two? It's not a quiz, but do you? Report an error in the passage at 39:18 Highlight the passage at 39:18

39:32 imagine something to do with Denbigh... Yeah, I'll remind you. No big deal. Not a quiz. So there's the baseline. It's relaxing more and more deeply without losing the clarity with which you began. Then the second challenge is now begin to enhance the stability, that unbroken continuity of attention without tightening up, losing the relaxation. Report an error in the passage at 39:32 Highlight the passage at 39:32

39:52 And the third one is enhance the vividness, the clarity, the acuity of awareness without losing stability. Those are the three. And so here's my question to you, a very simple question, and that is in terms of doing this practice with that initial emphasis of deepening relaxation, without losing clarity. Report an error in the passage at 39:52 Highlight the passage at 39:52

40:10 Have you been doing this for weeks or months, or have you been doing it just for the last couple of days? For months. For months? Aha, OK. Well, that's good to know. That's good to know. Report an error in the passage at 40:10 Highlight the passage at 40:10

40:22 Yeah, good. In that case, so you've been using a podcast or something like that? Yeah, I did half your eye-wink retreat last year. Acha! Oh, you mean on the podcast? No, at Araluen. In Araluen? Yeah, I had to go home. I focus on the past very little, so it's not very real to me. Report an error in the passage at 40:22 Highlight the passage at 40:22

40:45 I tend to be in the present and anticipating future possibilities. So thank you for reminding me. In that case, then, what I would suggest is you might take a look at secondary factors, like posture. When you find you're kind of slipping into fusing with the hypnagogic imagery. Losing the clarity. Is it in the supine position or does it happen also in sitting and lighting? It can happen in both. Good. Report an error in the passage at 40:45 Highlight the passage at 40:45

41:11 That would be something to check. Check other things like diet to see that you're really eating light, that you're eating kind of like, if you can, like a sports diet to keep you really light, full of vitality and so forth. Very nutritious food, but not heavy like that. If you've checked all of those, these are the kind of mundane influences that could have an impact on that. Then what I would suggest is I would compliment. Report an error in the passage at 41:11 Highlight the passage at 41:11

41:33 complement that method I think I would go for balancing earth and wind. It's just a shorthand. It doesn't matter. Is that mind? Exactly. So it's just shorthand. It's not like a secret code or something. It's just shorthand. But when you find combinations of two practices alternating, they can really turn out to have this wonderful reciprocal effect. Report an error in the passage at 41:33 Highlight the passage at 41:33

42:08 Like that. And so what I would suggest is it looks like you're going very well into the earth, that grounding, that relaxation, but hitting something of a plateau in terms of not being able to relax more deeply without losing clarity. Report an error in the passage at 42:08 Highlight the passage at 42:08

42:21 So then what I would suggest is a combo, like a combination plate. And that is do that. It's good. It's good to be relaxed. That's just, that's good. That's a good baseline. And you do feel very mellow, very relaxed. It's good? Yes? That's good. But then what I would suggest is if you can either take one session and break it into two pieces, like 12 minutes, 12 minutes, or even better, having two sessions and maybe a little break, maybe going from the supine to the sitting. Report an error in the passage at 42:21 Highlight the passage at 42:21

42:46 That's what I would suggest to experiment with. And that is go ahead and let the first one be supine. Just really mellow out, mellow out, 24 minutes, whatever feels good to you. And then roll out of that and come into a good sitting posture, sitting at attention, whether in a chair, cross-legged, whatever's good for you. Report an error in the passage at 42:46 Highlight the passage at 42:46

43:03 But when you come to the second practice, that is balancing earth and wind, as you recall, wind is exactly my shorthand, for facing into the wind of thoughts, images, memories, desires, emotions, facing into it and being fully aware, fully present with whatever is arising in the space of the mind. You might recall a very nice image of that, of the falcon kiting into the wind. You remember that? So the falcon, you've all seen this, at least on documentaries, you've probably seen it in real life, where the falcon... Report an error in the passage at 43:03 Highlight the passage at 43:03

43:33 Sparrow, hawk, whatever, faces into the wind and it's kiting, which means the falcon is stationary with respect to the ground, but with very subtle movements of the wings and the tail feathers remain stationary with respect to the ground, but is keeping there by very subtle movements of being very sensitive to the fluctuating winds coming from the front, the side, strong, weak and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 43:33 Highlight the passage at 43:33

43:55 It's that sensitivity, that sensitivity of remaining right in the present moment. We're not talking about Rigpa here. We're talking about the flow of your awareness, which really does fluctuate a lot. But with your sensitivity, your awareness of being very present, right there in the present moment, and aware of what's ever coming up, thoughts, images, memories and so forth, and just this slight modification, not being swept into the past, not being drawn into imagination about the future, that is refreshing. Report an error in the passage at 43:55 Highlight the passage at 43:55

44:25 That's like cold water in the face. Because you never know what's coming up. It's novel, it's fresh, it's always fresh, unprecedented. And having that freshness, that awareness of whatever's coming up right now and right now and never knowing what's it going to be in three seconds. You never know, right? Because you're not controlling it. That will add the element of vividness, of clarity. It's like cool water on the face. We're taking a drink of cool water. Report an error in the passage at 44:25 Highlight the passage at 44:25

44:49 That will refresh, brighten up, lighten up the whole quality of awareness. And if you can do that without losing, The sense of ease and relaxation. And maintain that stillness. That's the kestrel, or the sparrow hog, stationary with respect to the ground. If you can maintain that, that will balance that out. So in the supine position, you're really playing some nice deep roots for relaxation and stability. Report an error in the passage at 44:49 Highlight the passage at 44:49

45:14 Really good for that, very mellow. Balance that out by sitting upright. That's already going to accentuate clarity. And then do this practice. It's the most stimulating. Of the practices I've been teaching here, it stimulates because all kinds of stuff is coming up. And sometimes very unexpected, you might recall. Memories or emotions or desires or images coming up, sometimes they have a real emotional charge to them. Report an error in the passage at 45:14 Highlight the passage at 45:14

45:36 That certainly wakes you up, you know, whether pleasant or unpleasant. It's not boring. So if you do that, I think you'll find that's kind of bracing, it's a nice word, bracing, invigorates, enlivens, clears things up. And you do that for a while, and then if you could do three sessions, then do that, and then go back to the supine, right back to a saṅgha approach to the full body mindfulness of breathing. Report an error in the passage at 45:36 Highlight the passage at 45:36

45:59 Then you may find the clarity that comes from the wind attending to the space of the mind and its contents, that refreshes and brings greater light to your baseline of mindfulness of breathing, so that you're not getting groggy, not slipping there. So let's just work with those two, the combination. And they may both really help each other. Because that deep sense of relaxation will help you be relaxed and still in the face of all these activities arising, the events in the mind. Report an error in the passage at 45:59 Highlight the passage at 45:59

46:28 But the clarity, the bracing quality of being invigorated, aroused, attentive, that will bring freshness to your mindfulness and breathing practice. Balancing earth and wind. One last question. I have had some experimentation. With that combination, because when the images or thoughts start coming up, rather than staying with the breath, I will switch them to expertly taking that as my object. Report an error in the passage at 46:28 Highlight the passage at 46:28

46:56 But by that point, I don't get that stimulation so much because they're not thoughts or images that I really associate with. So it's not like a thought about work or a spouse. It's almost like a dream. Report an error in the passage at 46:56 Highlight the passage at 46:56

47:15 It doesn't have so much a charge, because it is not personal. So then I find, from that not personal aspect, is there a way of, because it can be a little abstract in a sense, is there a way of maintaining stability when the thoughts or the images are not personal, rather than discombobulating? it's sort of random in a sense. Is there a way of having a steak or something? Report an error in the passage at 47:15 Highlight the passage at 47:15

47:48 I may have lost the breath at that point, I'm switching modalities. So is there another method for getting stability whilst you're entering into that secondary phase? It would certainly have a lot to do with having an interest in. That is, if images, thoughts and so forth are rising, they're bland, they're impersonal, they just don't. They're just not interesting. Report an error in the passage at 47:48 Highlight the passage at 47:48

48:10 Then, of course, it's hard. To mean the clear, vivid moment-to-moment awareness. If you can arouse yourself to take an interest in them, then that will help a lot. And it doesn't have to be that this thought was interesting and that thought was interesting, but it's a meta-level of interest. And that is, being interested in exploring your mind, interested in developing these qualities, interested in proceeding along the path of shamatha, because there's great benefit there. Report an error in the passage at 48:10 Highlight the passage at 48:10

48:37 So it's a metal level of interest. If you can refresh your interest, remember refresh, restore and retain, if you can refresh that and take a lively interest in whatever's coming up in that stillness and motion, that will help. But one more point that can be helpful, and I often teach this in kind of long-term retreats, eight-week retreats, when people enter into this, another possibility is start walking. Report an error in the passage at 48:37 Highlight the passage at 48:37

49:01 Go for a walk. I mentioned this many times in Tuscany this last year. Number one, it's a beautiful area. It's, you know, it's Tuscany in the springtime. It's not bad. And it's out in the countryside, a lot of beautiful weather, beautiful countryside. And so I would encourage people, okay, if you're getting a little bit sluggish, a bit heavy like this, maybe a bit bored, then go out for a fresh walk. But it's not just go for a stroll and walk it off. Report an error in the passage at 49:01 Highlight the passage at 49:01

49:26 Rather, I encourage people, because a lot of people kind of take note of how many hours they're practicing each day. And they say, count this. When you go for the walk, count this. Not that we're trying to get brownie points or anything like that, but if people, I'm about to start my walk and I'm going to count this, that gives kind of an inner incentive. Report an error in the passage at 49:26 Highlight the passage at 49:26

49:47 This means I'm not just going for a walk, I'm about to continue practicing and I'll do that while I'm walking, in which case I'm not fooling myself. So it's just kind of a little help, really do practice. And so when you're out walking, and it doesn't have to be in Tuscany of course, but it is helpful to have it in nature. Report an error in the passage at 49:47 Highlight the passage at 49:47

50:03 So you don't have a lot of noise and traffic and congestion around you. But any place in nature is really good, where you're just surrounded by trees, animals and so forth. But go out, but as you're walking, then let your awareness come out. So when you're supine or when you're practicing mindfulness or breathing, it's really coming, it's retreat, right? Report an error in the passage at 50:03 Highlight the passage at 50:03

50:25 You're retreating from the phenomenal world around you into the sensations within your body. Or you're retreating into the space of the mind. That's happening here. Here, in this regard, what needed is a refreshment. Like that. And so go for a good brisk walk. Not this slow, slow walking. Go for a good brisk walk. But that's just the physical aspect. The mental is let your awareness come out into space. Report an error in the passage at 50:25 Highlight the passage at 50:25

50:50 Really come out. Out into space. See clouds, you know, a kilometer away. Look at the horizon. Bring out. Like that, out into space. And so on the one hand, be very mindfully walking so you feel the contact of your feet on the ground. You're grounding there. But while grounding, you're also very much aware of sounds in the auditory space, sights, the sky, the clouds, birds in the visual space. Report an error in the passage at 50:50 Highlight the passage at 50:50

51:18 And you're coming out, but you're coming out very mindfully. You're very present with all of that. Not spacing out, not going back into the ruts of rumination, mind chattering. Talk, talk, talk, talk, and then you're finished and you're back home again. Do that and that will refresh. Sometimes just a bit of walking, some physical movement, but also the freshness of awareness coming out into space. Report an error in the passage at 51:18 Highlight the passage at 51:18

51:40 That can be very, very helpful. Okay? That will do it. That should do the job. Report an error in the passage at 51:40 Highlight the passage at 51:40

51:59 Right behind Jen? Report an error in the passage at 51:59 Highlight the passage at 51:59

52:06 Wendy? Hi. Report an error in the passage at 52:06 Highlight the passage at 52:06

52:13 Simon? Sam, Sam. Simon over here. Sam here. Yeah, please. Sam said, go ahead. I missed her now. Report an error in the passage at 52:13 Highlight the passage at 52:13

· · · silence, 1 minute

53:48 So, you know, I'm a Buddhist, so when I speak... From my own practice, it's within that worldview. That's where I live. And it's very much part of this whole, especially Mahāyāna, with the affirmation that the Buddha is not simply a historical figure that then vanished into Paranirvana, but Buddha-mind very much present, very much present, as in the whole conversation with Pema, Buddha looking through her eyes. Report an error in the passage at 53:48 Highlight the passage at 53:48

54:17 And so, in broad respects, it's very similar to Christianity. Very similar. Not the same, but there's a lot of common ground there. But I'll just stick with the Buddhism. But if you know the Christianity, then you'll see, well, there's a lot of resonance there. But I'll just speak straight Buddhism. That we can call for blessings, and it can be simply calling upon the Buddha, or any manifestation of Buddha, like Tara being the feminine embodiment of compassion. Report an error in the passage at 54:17 Highlight the passage at 54:17

54:46 I'll look at Deshvada, male embodiment of compassion. So there are many faces, many manifestations. That draw out and personify, embody specific qualities of enlightened awareness. And some of us will resonate with more, just like Christians with having a particular saint, that is their patron saint, what have you, that aspect of the divine they really strongly relate to. Report an error in the passage at 54:46 Highlight the passage at 54:46

55:08 They may pray to the saint more than Jesus or to God. That's fine. Because they really, it's praying to the same, but the face, you know. And so in Buddhism, in Mayana Buddhism, then we have these many manifestations or faces of the divine. And some calling out wisdom, some calling out compassion, and so on. And so, just on that level, blessings can flow. Report an error in the passage at 55:08 Highlight the passage at 55:08

55:32 But also in Mahāyāna Buddhism, especially when we go into Vajrayana Buddhism, which I think is the very deepest, then there may be a very meaningful, very profound, very pure relationship with a guru. Report an error in the passage at 55:32 Highlight the passage at 55:32

55:46 The words are very important. It's not idolization. It's not fixation on this person. You know, with maybe, you know, great love and affection and respect and so forth, but it's not locked onto a person. It's not independent of the person, but what you're really taking refuge in is that which is embodied by way of this person. Report an error in the passage at 55:46 Highlight the passage at 55:46

56:10 And so if one is viewing the Guru as empty of inherent nature, which the Guru is, whoever it may be, and if as attending to the Guru, who is there, but empty of inherent nature, you can attend to the Guru and you can see what is sacred, what is divine, flowing through the Guru, attending to that, focusing on that, which is the very source of the blessings, the wisdom, compassion, kindness, and so forth, then by way of the Guru, you may focus on Buddha call for blessings. Report an error in the passage at 56:10 Highlight the passage at 56:10

56:45 the blessings are So it's said very broadly speaking that if one focuses on some manifestation of the Buddha, Tara Avalokiteshvara, Which is clear, just that, distilled embodiment of some enlightened quality. And if the prayers for blessing, for guidance, for blessing, are very sincere, the heart is open, then you receive very deep blessings, very deeply transformative blessings. Report an error in the passage at 56:45 Highlight the passage at 56:45

57:10 If you have a guru with whom you have a very pure relationship, and it is this, again, it's not idolatry, it's not personality cult, it's none of the rubbish, it's not about ego. Report an error in the passage at 57:10 Highlight the passage at 57:10

57:20 It's not that, it's looking through that to the divine. To the sacred. And you pray to the guru in that way, very purely, then the blessing is very fast. So, and then what is blessing? Report an error in the passage at 57:20 Highlight the passage at 57:20

57:35 It's not karma. You're not praying for good karma. It's not karma. It's separate from karma. It's going right to the source of yedemonia, right to the source of genuine well-being, right to the source of wisdom, compassion, the source of all virtue. And it's going there, it's kind of bypassing that whole... Report an error in the passage at 57:35 Highlight the passage at 57:35

57:54 Causal matrix of karma. And especially when the prayers are not simply, may my child get better, which is a perfectly good prayer, but it's hedonic. Perfectly good, and it's hedonic. Because maybe the child will or will not. But when the prayers are all about eudaimonia, all about the path, all about something utterly real, then the blessings can really flow very deeply and very quickly. Report an error in the passage at 57:54 Highlight the passage at 57:54

58:20 And that is beyond karma. Where you experience this, and it's hard to find words for it, but it's kind of an energy, it's a blessing, it's something transformative. It's a gift. It's a gift. But then if we think, is it a gift from someone else, somebody outside, like a Buddha way over yonder? And then the answer is, no, that's not it. Report an error in the passage at 58:20 Highlight the passage at 58:20

58:46 That if you pray to Tata, for example, and I do that all the time, a lot, basically whenever I teach, because I don't know what I'm going to say. And I got a lot of information because I've studied and listened a lot. But then I just pray for blessings. Because I'm not here just to transmit information, read a book, go on the internet, information's all there. Report an error in the passage at 58:46 Highlight the passage at 58:46

59:08 But I pray for blessings, that the words can really be of benefit. So I do that every time. You see me close my eyes? I'm doing that all the time. Report an error in the passage at 59:08 Highlight the passage at 59:08

59:17 And so I'm just calling for blessings. That what gets offered can be really truly of help, benefit, people here now in this unique situation. And then I call for blessing for myself as well. But I kind of almost never ask for blessings for something hedonic. I don't need it. I don't need any help in that regard. I've got enough already. But for the eudaimonic, oh yeah. So, I don't know what to say. Report an error in the passage at 59:17 Highlight the passage at 59:17

59:49 It's that which profoundly empowers the practice. Way beyond your skills, your knowledge, all of that. Way beyond karma. That's what deeply empowers, transforms, enriches the practice. It's very powerful. And the source of the blessing is not outside your own Rigpa, not outside your own pristine awareness. Report an error in the passage at 59:49 Highlight the passage at 59:49

1:00:13 It's not from somebody outside. So there's one Bhutanese Rama that I interpreted for just for a very short time, but I received teaching from him and then in Paramus. He's one of my lamas. His name is Gangtun Drupuramuji. He came to Santa Barbara. We invited him. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:13 Highlight the passage at 1:00:13

1:00:30 Two splendid days of teaching, empowerment teaching, Sun Sokchen. And then after the empowerment teachings, which were really wonderful, then somebody asked, are there any Samayas here? Now that we've received empowerment from you, now we have this guru-deciper relationship with you, are there any Samayas, are there any pledges, any commitments we have, now that we've formed this bond with you and have received empowerment? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:30 Highlight the passage at 1:00:30

1:00:53 And he said, yes, there's one. And the one Samaya, he said, is, do not look outside yourself for the Buddha. That was it. So we can pray to Tara, we can pray to Buddha Shakyamuni, pray to Padmasambhava, pray, pray, call for blessing, call for blessing, and the blessings can flow. But they're not really coming from over yonder, and then, you know, like through time, through space. But we are praying to the embodiment of enlightened qualities that are not other than these qualities in our own brain. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:53 Highlight the passage at 1:00:53

1:01:31 So finally, in the final analysis, it's an inside job. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:31 Highlight the passage at 1:01:31

1:01:38 There's a nice joke in this regard, a Christian joke, about a fellow who said he became an atheist. He was a Christian. And he said, I kept on praying to God, and after a while it dawned on me, I was the only one listening. And that can either make you an atheist or a very profound Christian mystic. That's what the fork in the road is. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:38 Highlight the passage at 1:01:38

1:02:04 Blessing, it's kind of like chocolate. You've got to taste it. You can talk about chocolate a lot. But once you've tasted it, you say, oh, that's a Report an error in the passage at 1:02:04 Highlight the passage at 1:02:04

1:02:18 portion. It's like driving a Porsche. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:18 Highlight the passage at 1:02:18

1:02:24 And if somebody ever gives me a Porsche, I'm going to want a Porsche. I just like joking around. All right, it's 8.30. What I'd like to do now is bring this evening to a close, first with homework and then the dedication. And that is, the homework is, there may be some of you who find it very easy to fall asleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:24 Highlight the passage at 1:02:24

1:02:45 I think one of you mentioned that your spouse can fall asleep in two minutes. Was that here? I think so. Doesn't matter. Yeah, two minutes. Spouse is out. And you may spend 20, 30 minutes and just, you know, finally slip off. But the spouse is gone, you know. I've met people like that. I'm very jealous of them. You know, I've known people, like Tibetans especially, in a car with a Tibetan, Shabba Tukul once, Shabba Rinpoche. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:45 Highlight the passage at 1:02:45

1:03:07 And he was in a car. We were driving up in upstate New York. And they looked around. There was nothing to do. So he just put his... He's gone! And, you know, we're going this long, long drive. He just... It took about three seconds before you sleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:07 Highlight the passage at 1:03:07

1:03:25 But there are people like that. I congratulate you. As you might notice, I'm not one of those people. But let alone three seconds. If you're one of those people who put your head down on the pillow, you're sleepy, you're tired, you're ready for bed, and five minutes later you're out like a light. If you're one of those people, then something you might experiment with, just in a playful way, light-hearted way, is finish the day, as I said last night and the night before. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:25 Highlight the passage at 1:03:25

1:03:47 Go in the supine position, arms out, pillow beneath your head. And then... Rest your awareness in its own stillness, subtle body, speech and mind as you've done. Rest in the stillness and then direct the light of your awareness to the space of the mind. Very gently, single-pointedly and with interest. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:47 Highlight the passage at 1:03:47

1:04:06 Just in that stillness, you're not thinking any thoughts and you're not desiring this, you're not remembering that. You're just resting there and desires may arise, images may arise of memories and so forth. And just observe, observe and rest very deeply but continue observing. And see how long, as you're now falling asleep, see how long you can keep the light on. That's my symbol for the light, the unflickering candle flame. See how long you can remain aware of the thoughts arising, thoughts arising, thoughts subsiding, thoughts subsiding, mind going to sleep, mind going to sleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:06 Highlight the passage at 1:04:06

1:04:40 And see how long you can keep the light on, not the external light, light of your awareness. See how far along the lane or the avenue of falling asleep you can remain lucid. You may very well pass through hypnagogic. Very, very, very possible. But without just getting sucked into them or getting hazy and so forth, just see how long you can stay clear. And just keep on coming back, very gently, very gently. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:40 Highlight the passage at 1:04:40

1:05:05 At a point when you see you're just losing, you're getting totally drowsy, then go ahead, snap fingers, bring the session to a close. That's for people who fall asleep very easily. For the rest of us, don't try that. Because if you do, you'll still wait, you'll stay awake. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:05 Highlight the passage at 1:05:05

1:05:24 You can lie there for, I mean, I've tried this, you can just lie there for hours. And you might actually need to sleep. So get a good night's sleep. So there it is. Either way, the top priority here is get a good night's sleep. You may one day become really interested in dream yoga. It's incredibly cool and interesting and so forth. But sometimes people get really eager beavers, really try hard, and then they wind up breaking up their sleep cycle, they don't sleep properly, and then they wind up really tired in the morning. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:24 Highlight the passage at 1:05:24

1:05:53 Don't do that. Sleep first, and then you can enter into this. So that's it. If you fall asleep easily, you might try that. Try it until you get drowsy, how far you can get along the passage of sleep. And if you're one of those who has a very active mind, better mindfulness of breathing. Just slip right into it. But now, on something like third night, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, yep, third night, now it's not too soon. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:53 Highlight the passage at 1:05:53

1:06:19 Maybe it's not too soon anyway. Let's just take a couple of minutes, no more than two minutes, two or three minutes, and just sit quietly. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:19 Highlight the passage at 1:06:19

1:06:27 And as you're settling in, I think I can say with confidence, there's been a very meaningful day. We've been looking at authentic Dharma. We've been practicing. The motivation has been good. So I think it's very safe to say that individually and collectively, we've kind of charged up a battery of merit. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:27 Highlight the passage at 1:06:27

1:06:45 We've accumulated merit, like charging a battery. And that merit is kind of like an energy that is accrued. It can also be lost. But it's been accumulated here, individually and collectively. And so energy is energy. It can be used for really good things, whatever, trivial things, meaningful things. And so what I would invite you to do now is it's called prayer of dedication. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:45 Highlight the passage at 1:06:45

1:07:07 And that is with your aspiration. As you consider there's something really good here, some really good energy, momentum, karma, virtue, that can be directed. And it could be directed to becoming rich and famous. It could be directed to be incredibly beautiful in your next lifetime. It could be directed to becoming a Deva. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:07 Highlight the passage at 1:07:07

1:07:24 All those are very pleasant, but they're kind of frankly, they're dead ends because they don't go anywhere. And so what I would invite you to do, if you consider there is merit here, there's energy here, very positive, very good, dedicated to that which you find most meaningful. And so then if there's 60 people in the room, it's 60 different, 60 different aspirations. But what direction would you like to see this go, this virtue? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:24 Highlight the passage at 1:07:24

1:07:49 How would you love to see this come to fruition in this lifetime, future lifetimes? For the greatest possible benefit for yourself and others. It's called dedicating merit. And a teacher will say later on in this text, there are two tasks at the beginning and the end. And at the beginning is setting your motivation. That will flavor everything throughout the course of the day. And at the end, the closure there is something has come to an end. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:49 Highlight the passage at 1:07:49

1:08:15 Our time together for today is now coming to an end. There's a closure. So it's like a nice echo or something kind of parallel to. Initial motivation, you engage in the actions, and here's dedication, and you tie a ribbon on it and send it off in a parcel post to the future. So, let's sit quietly and dedicate the benefit, the merit, the virtue of the day to the realization of your most meaningful aspirations for yourself, for others, over the short term and the long term. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:15 Highlight the passage at 1:08:15

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:09:56 Have a good night, sleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:56 Highlight the passage at 1:09:56

1:10:04 You know what this is? Dead men talking. Right? It's my reminder that I'm mortal. Cut the baloney. Just be authentic. Give teaching and no attachment. That's what that is. Message to the teacher himself. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:04 Highlight the passage at 1:10:04

1:10:19 Ola so. You've had the oral transmission on Ola so. And there's one more. Now it's time to share it with you. This business. I'm not an Oriental. Most of us here are not Oriental. So we're not trying to be Oriental. Why should we try to be Oriental? So this is not just an Oriental gesture. It is. But that's not why I'm doing it, because I'm not pretending I'm Tibetan or anything else. What this means in Buddhism is it is a showing of respect, even reverence. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:19 Highlight the passage at 1:10:19

1:10:51 But as we do this, attending to one person or a group of people, it's not attending to people's, how do you say, how intelligent you are, how attractive you are, how wealthy you are, any of that stuff. Because then I'd have to say, a little one for you and a big one for you. I'd have to give you a 9 out of 10, but you're only getting one out of, you know, it would be kind of really weird. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:51 Highlight the passage at 1:10:51

1:11:14 And we don't do that, it's just homogenous, right? So what are we going Namo to? What are we showing some reverence and respect? And that is we are saluting, showing reverence to respect to the Buddha nature in every single being. In that regard. Intelligent, highly realized, not very realized, smart, not smart, etc., etc., irrelevant. So you may go and if you see a dog, you may say, oh, Buddha nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:14 Highlight the passage at 1:11:14

1:11:44 But that's what we're attending to. This is an interest of attending to. Looking through the veneer of how people appear, intelligence, all the stuff. Looking through that and revering that which is your ground, your core, your Buddha nature. And attending to that and showing respect and devotion, reverence for that. That's what we're doing. And so you see, it goes both ways. You do it here, yeah, just one more person, but yeah, I'm manifesting here as teacher. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:44 Highlight the passage at 1:11:44

1:12:13 So then, that's good. But of course, it's reciprocal. This is no less. Even though right now I'm in the world of teacher. Often I'm not. But here right now I'm manifesting in that way. So this, that's fine. But it goes both ways. Because I don't have any more Buddha nature than you do. And nobody does. So that's what that's about. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:13 Highlight the passage at 1:12:13

1:12:30 It is not an individual, and it is not just an Asian greeting. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:30 Highlight the passage at 1:12:30