Transform Your Mind & Change Your Life Retreat - 7-Point Mind Training from Atisha (part 58)

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0:38 taught by, that in essence was taught by the Buddha in the Pāli Canon. But how it's presented in that context is simply sending out one's thoughts, one's aspiration of loving kindness to all sentient beings in each of the cardinal directions, each of the intermediate directions, above and below, and just sending out aspirations of loving kindness in all directions. Report an error in the passage at 0:38 Highlight the passage at 0:38

1:03 So he taught that himself. And I simply plucked that from the Pāli Canon and put it into The seven-point mind training. And then relating it to, in between sessions, act as an illusory being, bring in the element of Buddha nature, a bit of Dzogchen, and so then it takes on Mahana flavor. So, we move on then now. As I mentioned yesterday, the points here of the pledges and then the practices of the mind training are pretty straightforward. Report an error in the passage at 1:03 Highlight the passage at 1:03

1:40 I think overall, here and there, I'll give really some comment. Otherwise I think they're fairly self-explanatory. So here we are on the notes coming to page 30. On 30, the pledges of the mind training. Report an error in the passage at 1:40 Highlight the passage at 1:40

1:56 And so first, always practice the three principles. Always practice the three principles. And so that's the, how do you say, the aphorism. And then what are they? The three principles. I think that's coming, there it is. So then we see one, two, three. And so the first of the three principles, do not contravene your commitments to training the mind. So the first one seems kind of obvious, but it's not necessarily so. Report an error in the passage at 1:56 Highlight the passage at 1:56

2:25 Do not be dismissive of vows or ethics. It sometimes happens, and this is one of the dangers of getting into Vajrayana or Mahamudra Dzogchen, that people who do not have a sufficient foundation in the basic teachings, the Four Noble Truths, Ethics, Samādhi, Wisdom, When getting into Vajrayana, or especially Mahamudra Dzogchen, it's happened sometimes that people feel, well, I'm a Vajrayana practitioner. And this means I can engage on all kinds of sensual desires and I just transmute them. Report an error in the passage at 2:25 Highlight the passage at 2:25

3:00 And then also anger, I can just simply transmute that. And so I can be lusty and I can be really irritable, but I can be really sublime at the same time. And then getting into Dzogchen, feeling, well, now I've gone into the realm of non-duality beyond good and evil. So I'll simply act spontaneously in whatever absence just probably should be just fine. After all, it's a spontaneous expression of my Buddha nature. Report an error in the passage at 3:00 Highlight the passage at 3:00

3:23 You can imagine how that might get one into trouble. Like, I don't need those precepts. I mean, no, that's boring. Restrain from this, restrain from that. No, I want to be free and spontaneous. And so it happens. It happens. And just recently I asked my primary Dzogchen Lama, Giatta Rinpoche. What is the reason for the secrecy around Dzogchen? Might be worth sharing. I'd heard, kind of through the grapevine, that some people believe that if Dzogchen is taught very freely, taught to many people, that it loosens its potency, almost like having a certain amount of medicine and then putting it in the water system, it gets diluted, diluted, the more it goes out. Report an error in the passage at 3:23 Highlight the passage at 3:23

4:04 So I asked Gattu Rinpoche, the last time I saw him, just a couple of months ago, is that the case? Because I do teach it. With his authorization a long time ago, he said, I don't teach anything in Dzogchen that he hasn't authorized. And I asked, is that true? He said, no, that's not true at all. There's no truth to that. But then I asked him, I followed up, well, it is called, there's secret. I mean, Dzogchen is secret. Report an error in the passage at 4:04 Highlight the passage at 4:04

4:29 You don't just teach it freely. And so I said, why is it? Well, what is the reason for the secrecy? And he said, well, the reason for it is if it is taught to people who are insufficiently prepared, whose understanding is not adequate, then they'll receive the teachings, they'll immediately misunderstand them, and then misunderstanding them, be deluded about them, and that actually can be very detrimental. Report an error in the passage at 4:29 Highlight the passage at 4:29

4:54 Number one, they may have a misunderstanding and then dispel it, just reject it as a bunch of nonsense. And some people do that, in which case that's not really very helpful to you to take. Such teachings and just look upon them with disgust or contempt of the earth's superior and dispel them or abandon them. That's actually not helpful. Report an error in the passage at 4:54 Highlight the passage at 4:54

5:14 But then also thinking you have understood them and in fact you've misunderstood them and teaching them and you may practice and teach and then do harm in all directions. So for those two reasons, the teachings, the Dzogchen teachings and generally Vajrayana teachings, all the notion of transmuting the three poisons, especially desire or craving and... Report an error in the passage at 5:14 Highlight the passage at 5:14

5:35 Hostility. And the notion that the general Vajrayana theme is that you don't simply have to remedy or counteract or dispel, especially these two mental afflictions of craving and of anger or hostility. You don't need to. You can rather take the energy from them, transmute that, sublimate that energy, and then they can actually really propel you along the back to enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 5:35 Highlight the passage at 5:35

6:00 Well, that's actually like, that's very delicate. It's very subtle and it's extremely easy to do it wrong, in which case you'll just be fooling yourself and just driving yourself deeper into saṃsāra and probably doing a lot of collateral damage at the same time. So those are true statements. Vajrayana is a very, very profound practice. And you are sublimating what would otherwise be toxic. You're sublimating them so there's no harm to anyone. Report an error in the passage at 6:00 Highlight the passage at 6:00

6:25 That's a really crucial point. No harm to yourself or anybody else because it's not manifesting in the world. As some toxicity or some harmful behavior, because you've sublimated it, so when it comes to fruition, it comes to manifest, it's actually not toxic. So it's kind of like a spiritual. It is a very deep spiritual alchemy that you take what would otherwise be toxic, and as they flow through your pure mind, the toxicity is removed. Report an error in the passage at 6:25 Highlight the passage at 6:25

6:54 Well, it's not easy to do. It's not easy to do. And in Dzogchen, the whole notion that, you know, when you're resting in Rigpa, you're not affirming or negating, you're not accepting or rejecting. Well, that's very, very deep, if you're actually resting in Rigpa. But a lot of people nowadays fool themselves. And they think they're resting in Rigpa, and they're not. In which case, if they think they are, and then they think, well, now whatever comes up is a pure display, an effulgence of primordial consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 6:54 Highlight the passage at 6:54

7:22 And then they just feel, then I don't need to show any restraint at all. I won't reject or accept. I'll just say whatever comes up. Again, very harmful. And so because people can easily misunderstand the Vajrayana in general, the Dzogchen in particular, therefore it should be kept secret from those people who are likely to misunderstand it. Report an error in the passage at 7:22 Highlight the passage at 7:22

7:41 It's not like we're being stingy or anything like that, or it's secret, I won't tell you unless you're my friend. But we just don't share it with people who might be harmed by them. And so... So that's what he told me, because I am teaching this and I just want to make sure that, although I've already been authorized, that I teach it in a responsible way that honors the theme. Report an error in the passage at 7:41 Highlight the passage at 7:41

8:04 And so this is why whenever teaching or making any allusions to Dzogchen, I always try to bring in the foundation, that it embraces the foundation, it doesn't simply transcend it. Report an error in the passage at 8:04 Highlight the passage at 8:04

8:15 So that was all something. Oh yeah, so that was a long commentary to a very simple line. Do not be dismissed as the vows or ethics. If you're a monk or a nun and you're a Dzogchen practitioner, you still keep your monastic and conventional precepts, nuns precepts. You do that. If you're a Dzogchen practitioner and you've taken bodhisattva precepts, you keep your bodhisattva precepts. And then there are Vajrayana precepts, Samayas, and you keep them. Report an error in the passage at 8:15 Highlight the passage at 8:15

8:40 And keeping all of those, then your awareness is transcending duality of good and evil and all of that. But you still keep the precepts. Report an error in the passage at 8:40 Highlight the passage at 8:40

8:49 yeah. And then kind of the second point here. This is from the classic commentary. But do not regard this mind training, this seven-point mind training, as not this is the supreme teaching, this is all that's needed. And then being dismissive or sectarian with respect to other teachings. So that would be, if you do that, then you're violating this pledge of this very mind training itself. Report an error in the passage at 8:49 Highlight the passage at 8:49

9:12 Oh yeah. Then the second one is kind of cute. Do not have a sense of bravado in your mind training. And that is when you get, you know, you really start getting very familiar, very well, you know, very experienced in the practice and thinking, I can now transform any type of adversity and then go into the worst neighborhood in Sydney at 11 o 'clock at night with your wallet open. Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:35 Like, as if, you know, you can, you might want to be careful about that. So don't kind of show off, don't go out seeking adversity, thinking I can land, but I'm so macho. Especially the Australians, you're very macho. know like Report an error in the passage at 9:35 Highlight the passage at 9:35

9:50 I think even more macho than Americans. So be careful about that one. Do not have a sense of bravado. And then do not have an uneven mind training. And that is a prejudicial, biased, so bearing harm from humans, but not from non-humans, respecting some, despising others. So any kind of bias is again just more of the same old, same old of craving these and having aversion for those. That's pretty straightforward. Report an error in the passage at 9:50 Highlight the passage at 9:50

10:20 The next one is very important, and I see it widely practiced among mature practitioners, in Tibetan Buddhism in particular, but I found it elsewhere as well. It's just generally a sign of maturity in one's spiritual practice, whether it's Buddhist, Christian and so forth. So the words themselves, not that self-explanatory, change your priorities but stay as you are. Report an error in the passage at 10:20 Highlight the passage at 10:20

10:41 Change your priorities. As you're doing this practice, there should be some very profound and sustained and ever-deepening change from within. The way of viewing reality, the depth of bodhicitta, depth of shamatha, depth of vipassanā, depth of realization of emptiness, of Buddha-nature itself. So there should be this radical change from within, just a total, profound transformation. Report an error in the passage at 10:41 Highlight the passage at 10:41

11:06 But then the caution here is in terms of your external appearance, how you talk, how you behave, apart from non-virtuous, being abusive and contemptuous and behaving in inappropriate or unwholesome and non-virtuous ways, apart from that, of course abandon that, but apart from that, just don't let it show. Report an error in the passage at 11:06 Highlight the passage at 11:06

11:30 Just be ordinary. Manifest ordinary. So inwardly, let the revolution continue. But outwardly, like no one didn't notice. So in this Kadampa tradition, which again the Kadampa tradition was so, I think, so devoid of politics and power and all of that, that they're revered by all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

11:52 All four schools have their time of being deeply involved in politics. The ones on top right now is Galupa. But it used to be Sakyapa, in some areas it was Nyingmapa, early times it was Nyingmapa, in some areas it was Kaikyupa. They've all had their play, just like the Roman Catholics and the Protestants and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 11:52 Highlight the passage at 11:52

12:06 It just happens, you know, with nothing we can do about it. But the Kadambas apparently never got into that. Atisha didn't, Domdomba didn't, these old Kadamba Geshis. So here was their aphorism. For these really, you know, these monks, these nuns, these adepts, they weren't all monastics, but just devoting themselves purely to exactly practice like this. Report an error in the passage at 12:06 Highlight the passage at 12:06

12:25 Here is their motto. Outwardly, Outwardly, whatever ... Whatever vows of individual liberation you have. So in my case, I have just the five upasaka, upasaka vows, lay precepts, lay precepts, just five. That's all I have on that level. But you may be a novice, you may be fully ordained as a monk or a nun. And so outwardly, you're simply displaying the purity of your ethical discipline within the shravaka. Report an error in the passage at 12:25 Highlight the passage at 12:25

12:50 You know, lay person, novice or fully ordained. But you're showing, oh, that person, if it's a monk, ah, good monk, good monk. Inwardly, that's what everybody sees. Oh, good monk, good nun. Like that. Good. Like the Dalai Lama said, I'm a simple Buddhist monk. Okay, yeah, he is a simple Buddhist monk. With benefits. Inwardly be a bodhisattva. Inwardly let your motivation be bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 12:50 Highlight the passage at 12:50

13:18 Inwardly cultivate all the six perfections. But don't show it off. Keep that light within. Keep it in. The Dalai Lama has been asked, On a number of occasions, do you have bodhicitta? He said, oh no, I have no bodhicitta. Only aspiration of bodhicitta. Deep faith in bodhicitta. But no, I have no bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 13:18 Highlight the passage at 13:18

13:38 Poor Dalai Lama. Inwardly be a bodhisattva. And then secretly, innermost secretly, Vajrayana. Vajrayana, Dzogchen, secret. That's really good balance. So that's the way the really mature practitioners are. There was one, I mean, the heart of me is, there was one, it was about ten years ago. There's one Galupa Geshe. Actually, he was trained in Galupa Anyangma. His name was Lama Achir, Lama Achir, on an Eastern Tibet. Report an error in the passage at 13:38 Highlight the passage at 13:38

14:11 I have an article I can send around if you don't already have it. Do you have it? About the rainbow body? Yeah. So I know the fellow who did the research on it. He's actually a Roman Catholic priest. But about ten years ago, about 2005 or so, I think it was, there was this Geshe out there. He was learned. Report an error in the passage at 14:11 Highlight the passage at 14:11

14:29 He had been... He'd gone off to monastic colleges in central Tibet, learned the Galupa, then he went back, he learned Nyingma. And he lived very quietly, and everybody knew him as a very good monk, very pure monk. And he said, he recited Om Mani Peme Ong, Om Mani Peme Ong Lama, reciting the mantra of compassion. And that was it, he was a very sweet monk, very pure monk, lots of Om Mani Peme Ong. Report an error in the passage at 14:29 Highlight the passage at 14:29

14:56 And then he died and displayed rainbow body. His body just dissolved into light, shimmering light, and he was gone. And then all the builders thought, oh. Report an error in the passage at 14:56 Highlight the passage at 14:56

15:09 That's Kadamba tradition. And it was widely reported, and then this Roman Catholic monk, his name is Francis Tissot, and he went on and investigated, interviewed people, he'd seen it and so forth. This still happens. His body was completely gone, dissolved into rainbow light, left only his robes. They wrapped his body in his outer robe, the Namjara. Report an error in the passage at 15:09 Highlight the passage at 15:09

15:29 The golden robe or yellow robe, they wrapped it in that, left it in state, and then a lot of rainbow light, and then it was just robes. Just robes were left. Maybe hair and nails also, probably. So that's the way to go. That you show your cards only when you die. Until then... They're Report an error in the passage at 15:29 Highlight the passage at 15:29

15:55 all good poker players. So change your priorities that stay used. Pretty straightforward. Do not speak of others' limitations. It's very easy to do. It's very tempting to do. It happens a lot in Dharma centers. It happens a lot in Dharma centers. And for very good reason. I mean, it's very understandable that we have a Dharma center anywhere. It probably happens in Christian Dharma centers as well. But we have a group of people that are all coming to practice, together to practice Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 15:55 Highlight the passage at 15:55

16:27 There may be one or two Lamas there, what have you. They're probably doing daily... Prayers, practice together, teachings together. And the whole point, of course, is to be purifying our mental afflictions, cultivating virtue. But, you know, there's a lot of purification to be done. And doing the type of practice we're doing here. Well, when you do a lot of practice like here, you start to become more and more vividly aware of your own mental afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 16:27 Highlight the passage at 16:27

16:51 Before, we're all focused out, out, out. And here we're coming in, in, in and just seeing, whoa, I didn't know it was that bad. Engaging on Taiki. More than 40 years ago, he was the first Lama from whom I learned shamatha, simple shamatha. He taught me a lot of things, but that was one of them. And he said the first sign of progress as you're practicing shamatha is recognizing how chaotic your mind is. Report an error in the passage at 16:51 Highlight the passage at 16:51

17:18 Because when you always focus outwards, you kind of feel, I'm okay, everybody else is screwed up, but I'm okay, I'm okay. And then you turn your awareness in and you say, whoa, I'm not as okay as I thought. And that's a sign of progress. But when you start seeing just, And you start identifying this is self-centeredness, this is self-grasping, this is hostility, this is craving, this is pride, and getting all defined. Report an error in the passage at 17:18 Highlight the passage at 17:18

17:44 You have those words and then you look for the reference. Oh, crap! Yikes! Now I have names for all these things. I thought I was just being human. And you are just being human, but it really sucks. So when you start identifying these with your own continuum and see how they're popping up, like popcorn out of a popcorn popper. Report an error in the passage at 17:44 Highlight the passage at 17:44

18:06 Then after a while, you just really want to get your mind off yourself and look at other people. And, whoa, he's got some real problems. Whoa, she's got some real problems. You know about her. I saw her do this. And over on over there, you wouldn't believe. I'll tell you some stories about her. You just want to get your mind off. Because now you've got your 2020 vision of mental afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 18:06 Highlight the passage at 18:06

18:27 And say, wow, everybody else has them too. Let's talk about them and not me. It's very easy to do. Whereas their whole communities, they don't even have the word for mental affliction. And greed is good as anger is natural. And having a well-developed ego is a way to get ahead. So the three poisons are considered part of your cheering squad. Go ego, go anger, go desire, go greed, and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 18:27 Highlight the passage at 18:27

18:53 And that's part of what Mathieu Ricard calls living a colorful life. I love his phrasing. And so it's very easy, it's very understandable, but of course... It's completely less than useless. That first time I ever translated for His Holiness Dalai Lama in 1979, publicly, he said, it's better to find one fault in oneself than a thousand faults in others. Report an error in the passage at 18:53 Highlight the passage at 18:53

19:16 You find a thousand faults in other people, and then what are you going to do with that? Just, whoa, you're faulty. You find one fault in yourself, and you can actually maybe do something about it and purify it. So is it ever legitimate to speak of faults of others? I think that's a valuable, Report an error in the passage at 19:16 Highlight the passage at 19:16

19:34 Question. Legitimate question. And of course it is. Of course it is. The spiritual friendship. You know, there are golf friends who are just friends because they love playing golf together. And other kinds, you know, where the friendship is like, this is my swimming buddy, this is my, you know, whatever. Where the friendship is very closely related to some kind of activity. Report an error in the passage at 19:34 Highlight the passage at 19:34

19:55 It's very common, you know. And then we have spiritual friends. Spiritual friends. And spiritual friends. Dharma friends, Dharma brothers and sisters. This is also a special relationship where there is friendship, and the whole point of the friendship is that we are there to help each other in our spiritual practice. Report an error in the passage at 19:55 Highlight the passage at 19:55

20:12 If you're not doing that, then you're not a spiritual friend. If you're indifferent to the spiritual well-being, the Dharma practice of those around you, then you may be a tennis buddy, but you're not a Dharma friend. If you're indifferent to, if you're not caring for and seeking to help, you're Dharma friends. And so the whole idea is reciprocal. Report an error in the passage at 20:12 Highlight the passage at 20:12

20:32 It's not one way, right? And so, as in any, and this could be, of course, a Dharma friend, spiritual friend, is a subcategory of friend-friend, just being a friend. And friends, people who have affection for each other, respect for each other, commitment for each other, then when they see a fault in the friend, that they recognize this is really harmful. Report an error in the passage at 20:32 Highlight the passage at 20:32

20:55 This is harmful to you, could be harmful to other people, but sometimes we're not aware of our own faults. It happens. And so the friend, out of a loving motivation, would say, OK, John Doe, John, you know the other day when we were out hanging out and you made that comment, that could really be quite harmful to people. Report an error in the passage at 20:55 Highlight the passage at 20:55

21:16 I think you actually hurt that person's feelings a lot. It was very disparaging. And when it's coming out of a motivation to be helpful, out of a loving motivation, respectful motivation, I respect you as a person, I love you as a person, but that comment or that expressed attitude... I think you might want to look at that because I don't think it's in courts with Dharma. Said in that way, if it's a friend and the friend knows where it's coming from, you're not just putting them down, judging them, then that's perfectly legitimate. Report an error in the passage at 21:16 Highlight the passage at 21:16

21:45 And then you would hope that your friend will do that for you as well. So there are times, or a psychiatrist or psychologist, of course they won't do this outside the context of the profession, but a psychologist may be consulting. I'm going to call in a separate opinion here. It may be professionally. It could happen, I presume. Consult with another psychologist. I have a certain client or patient, and here's a problem, and this person has very strong rage, and discuss it in this purely professional context. Report an error in the passage at 21:45 Highlight the passage at 21:45

22:14 And I've given this advice, but I'm not sure. Do you have any comments here? Maybe I could be more helpful. You're now speaking behind the person's back about that person's faults, only with the motivation to be of help. And as a confidential, so there's no gossip or anything. So again, you are speaking of limitation. But it's all motivation. Motivation, motivation, motivation. Report an error in the passage at 22:14 Highlight the passage at 22:14

22:35 And done in a suitable way. So if you speak with another professional, of course it goes without saying, this is a confidential comment here, because we're both trying to help this person. So, simple point. Think nothing of the other side. So just regarding sentient beings in general, especially Dharma practitioners, And most especially on Dharma companions, it's never appropriate to dwell on their faults. It's easy to do. It's very easy to do. Report an error in the passage at 22:35 Highlight the passage at 22:35

23:06 To note a fault, and whether or not one speaks about it, to kind of fixate on the faults of others. If another person, also the usual tendency, okay, we can speak first person, first of all. I know for myself, it still happened. But if I give a Dharma talk for an hour, and in that one hour I make one comment that I think was inappropriate. Report an error in the passage at 23:06 Highlight the passage at 23:06

23:26 Or not helpful or whatever, inappropriate for whatever reason. But one comment, and I speak for an hour, when the Dharma talk's over and I think about the Dharma talk I just gave, I think about that one comment. That's the one that lingers, catches the attention. Why did you say that? Why did you say that? It's natural. And so we do tend to have a tendency to be looking for faults. Report an error in the passage at 23:26 Highlight the passage at 23:26

23:52 And many of us do that with respect to ourselves. We can do this with respect to our friends. We can do that with respect to teachers. The teacher appears very, very good, but then some flaw, some perceived flaw, and leap on that. Generally good, but... And then we leap on it, or we dwell on it. He's just suggesting this is not helpful. And also the element of this is, there is this issue that is, especially when we're focusing on other people's mental faults, their defects, this person is arrogant, this person is blah, blah, blah, whatever it may be. Report an error in the passage at 23:52 Highlight the passage at 23:52

24:25 The word of caution there is, Unless you are truly clairvoyant, you have a you-me going on here. And that is, you're drawing conclusions about another person's mindset, attitudes, motivation, degree of mental addictions and so forth, seen through the filter of your own mind. And therefore, to be able to tease out, this is the other person's part and this is my part, is extremely dicey. Because we're always seeing, apprehending, appraising others within the bandwidth with which we are familiar. Report an error in the passage at 24:25 Highlight the passage at 24:25

24:56 And we may miss it entirely. I'll give an extreme example. It's crazy extreme. Wild extreme. There's one Lama in Oregon, United States. But he lived, he wasn't a refugee. He came straight from Tibet and then came there. So he's old school, really old school. Tibetan Lama is a Ngakpa, old-fashioned Ngakpa, tantrica. Report an error in the passage at 24:56 Highlight the passage at 24:56

25:21 And he has a number of students up there in Oregon in the Pacific Northwest. And he decided he wanted to go back to Tibet and find... At least one yogi, if possible more, who really displayed paranormal abilities. Cities. Really displayed them. A number of Lamas may have them, but they tend to be very discreet. Report an error in the passage at 25:21 Highlight the passage at 25:21

25:38 He wanted to find someone who actually displayed cities. Because he felt, you know, this is not just superstition or hearsay and so forth. This is really happening. So it would be good to identify such people, bring them to the West, and let it be known that this is still alive. There's not just wisdom and compassion here. We're also drawing forth these extraordinary... Report an error in the passage at 25:38 Highlight the passage at 25:38

25:58 Abilities of the mind, powers of the mind. And so he was seeking around Tibet. And he found, he heard of one, one, he wasn't a monk, but some yogi. And he heard that he was very exceptional in a very unusual way. And he sought him out, and they saw him, and he saw what his unusual thing was. Report an error in the passage at 25:58 Highlight the passage at 25:58

26:20 And it's really, it turns out to be true. People would come up to him, and he'd shoot him. just shoot... Get a gun out and shoot him. Like, oh, hi Sam. Good to see you. Report an error in the passage at 26:20 Highlight the passage at 26:20

26:38 They'd fall over dead. Generally not a polite greeting. And then he'd bring them right back to life again. And he was famous for this. He'd shoot people and then bring them back to life. And so this Lama from Oregon, he went out and sought out this man. And he saw a guy got off his horse and he shot him. Report an error in the passage at 26:38 Highlight the passage at 26:38

26:59 And then he just comes over and brings them back to life. And he said he watched this and this guy got up, hopped on his horse and ran away as fast as he could. So he told me about this, you know, and the man is not a liar. And then someone, it might have been my wife, sent me a photo, a photo of this guy. He looks like a cowboy with a big rifle. And this is the killing Lama. Report an error in the passage at 26:59 Highlight the passage at 26:59

27:20 But he brings everybody back. He's just teasing, I guess. Report an error in the passage at 27:20 Highlight the passage at 27:20

27:29 So it's very easy to judge. Like, you know, you really shouldn't do that. Except, you know, he's just beyond my bandwidth. I just, I'm just gonna, number one, I don't really want to meet him, but number two, I'm gonna withhold judgment, because I really don't get that. And then he met another Lama, and this one was a bit tamer. He'd spent nine years in retreat, his name was Lama Karmagyume. This Lama, and he was a monk, and a very pure monk. Report an error in the passage at 27:29 Highlight the passage at 27:29

27:59 This one had to spend nine years of meditation in a cave where Padmasambhava. Samye Chimpu, the caves up above Samye Monastery, had a vision of Padmasambhava, had a boon, and then he had a healing ability from his boon, from his siddhi that he received from Padmasambhava. And what he would do, and I saw him do it, because eventually I went up and I met him, he would take a stone that he had mounted on a little handle, and this was directly from Padmasambhava, and he put the stone into his mouth, and then you would see him go into deep samādhi. Report an error in the passage at 27:59 Highlight the passage at 27:59

28:34 And applying, doing whatever meditation he's doing. I don't know what it was. He'd put it into his mouth. And then he'd take it out, and then this would be his healing tool, and he'd put it on the skin, and it'd be between 1 and 2,000 degrees. And it would be like being branded with a red hot iron. And it melts the skin. It's so hot. Report an error in the passage at 28:34 Highlight the passage at 28:34

28:56 It melts the skin. And then it cools off. And he puts it back into his mouth. And charges it. He just puts it in the mouth, charges it, heats it up again, and then burns a hole right through the skin, melts the skin. It's like getting branded like a calf. And then it cools off, and then he cleans the skin off of the stone, takes the hanky out, cleans it off, and then charges it again for as many times. Report an error in the passage at 28:56 Highlight the passage at 28:56

29:25 And he will do three people at a time. Heating, he'll say, do you have intestinal problems, heart problems, back problems, head problems, and then he would apply this. Report an error in the passage at 29:25 Highlight the passage at 29:25

29:35 And so this Lama from Oregon saw this in Tibet and invited him to Canada a few years back. So I went up there and witnessed that myself. And then he did it on me. Very intense. And then he came to California just a few months ago and he invited me to come. And I said, OK. And he did it again. So sometimes things are really worth displaying. Report an error in the passage at 29:35 Highlight the passage at 29:35

30:02 And in that case, It is pretty intense because he is burning holes in you that leave a scar. But he's healed many, many people. When he goes to Shanghai or Beijing, 2,000 Chinese will line up to receive the healing from him. And he's famous all over Tibet, Eastern Tibet. And it's a very powerful, it's kind of his wrathful, his wrathful mode of healing. And he's healed people from all kinds of diseases. Report an error in the passage at 30:02 Highlight the passage at 30:02

30:26 So there are occasions when it's good to go public. But also this Lama is so pure. I mean, just pure. Pure as pristine snow. His interpreter is Putanese. I got to know him rather well. He said he's been with this Lama for day after day, month after month after month. He's seen him. And he said, this Lama, there's just no difference between outer and inner. He's pure on the outside, pure on the inside. And he commented once when he gave a short Dharma talk. Report an error in the passage at 30:26 Highlight the passage at 30:26

30:52 He said, the one thing that I would fear is that I'd ever break any of my monastic vows. Just straight, straight, straight, straight. So it's still happening. Report an error in the passage at 30:52 Highlight the passage at 30:52

31:02 So I'm happy to meet him, the guy with the gun. Keep my distance. So think nothing of the other side. Keep going. Abandon all hopes of rewards. So there it is. Keep it purely eudaimonic and don't slip into theodonic. That is wonderful. So abandon all hopes of gaining high status and so forth and so on. But all hopes of rewards. And that is the whole nature of Dharma practice is bring as much good to the world as you can. Report an error in the passage at 31:02 Highlight the passage at 31:02

31:28 But whatever it may be, whether it's Dharma teachings, whether it's offering your skills, whether it's money, whether it's education, whatever it may be. You offer and then you just, and then you release. Don't even hope for, even gratitude, let alone anything beyond an expression of gratitude. Because then it's just pure eudaimonia. That is, your joy is the joy of what you're bringing to the world. And you're not kind of waiting for the echo. Kind of like, okay, now my turn, what do I get? Report an error in the passage at 31:28 Highlight the passage at 31:28

31:55 Release it. Then it's very relaxed. And it's really kind of self-protection, in a way. Because if you just release it with no expectation. Then there's no hovering, there's no anxiety, there's no how much praise, how much, how much. There's just none of that. It's kind of like, and you just move right on. Report an error in the passage at 31:55 Highlight the passage at 31:55

32:15 Much more relaxing. So if you'd like to be relaxed, then don't go to hedonia. Hedonia is just a nest full of anxiety. A lot of wear and tear in the pursuit of hedonia. Avoid poisoned food. Poisoned food is acting out of self-interest while not regarding self-grasping as the enemy. Report an error in the passage at 32:15 Highlight the passage at 32:15

32:39 So avoid poisons as much as you can. Avoid the self-centered attitude, avoid the self-grasping and simply practice with purity. In other words, don't poison the food of Dharma with self-centered grasping or self-centered and so forth. So that's it. That's pretty straightforward. Do not enjolt in self-righteousness. That's pretty obvious. Report an error in the passage at 32:39 Highlight the passage at 32:39

33:12 And it is that issue that... Righteousness, I mean, in old Christianity, this is a righteous person. You follow the path of righteousness. It's kind of old-fashioned terminology, but it meant something entirely good, of course. Following the path of generosity, of kindness, humility and so forth. So there's nothing wrong with righteousness. But then what anybody knows, the word self-righteousness is already kind of repugnant. Report an error in the passage at 33:12 Highlight the passage at 33:12

33:38 The word itself sounds repugnant. And so to be righteous, but not self-righteous. But then to be righteous, that is to be virtuous. In any way, wisdom, compassion, generosity, whatever it may be, I mean, we are to be cultivating these, they bring eudaimonia. And then, of course, to be attenuating, diminishing one's mental afflictions, I mean, that's certainly part of the practice, less craving, less facility. Report an error in the passage at 33:38 Highlight the passage at 33:38

34:00 And so, as you see your mind gradually being purified, and you see virtues gradually arising, that's the whole point. You do need to have a criteria, criteria for evaluating, is your practice working or not, right? And so... Then, if you're practicing well, you should see virtue is gradually growing, mental addiction is gradually diminishing, bad habits of speech, of body and so forth, diminishing. Report an error in the passage at 34:00 Highlight the passage at 34:00

34:22 You should be aware of that. And we kind of call this righteousness. And you're aware of the righteousness. And it's not somebody else. It's your own. So then you can see how close you are to self-righteousness. That I am righteous. I'm more righteous than you are. And I'm less righteous than you are. And so then you're kind of putting yourself into a hierarchy and then finding how you're getting promoted as you go on. Report an error in the passage at 34:22 Highlight the passage at 34:22

34:48 So I mentioned that with regard to my first conversation with His Holiness. And so it's not that we should be oblivious of the purification of our own minds, behavior and so forth. That would just be a form of ignorance. That's never promoted. To be aware of it. But then as soon as we're aware of any virtues, then just any virtues, any purification, Simply go right in, just in a straight realism, straight realism, and say, how did this come about? If virtues are rising, and so forth, how did this come about? Report an error in the passage at 34:48 Highlight the passage at 34:48

35:22 Because I'm just intrinsically so swell, so good, so superior? Or did this come about as a result of causes and conditions? And then when you see, well, there are all these sentry beings that help me survive. Hedonically. And there were these teachers who gave me guidance. And there were these spiritual friends where we support each other in our practice. Report an error in the passage at 35:22 Highlight the passage at 35:22

35:42 And you see all this field all coming together. And then the factor of I am drops out and it's just a field of gratitude. Just a field of gratitude in all directions. And that's all that's left. And it's just gratitude all the way to Buddhahood. And then Bodhisattva ideal is you're just... Then you're motivated by gratitude from here to enlightenment. How can I repay the kindness of sentient beings? I've already received so much benefit. And while so many sentient beings are suffering so much, not even knowing there is such a thing as Dharma, having no idea of the path of Dharma, not knowing wholesome from wholesome, and yet they've been so kind already, viewing them as if they're your own mothers, then the whole notion, I'm better than you are, just kind of vanishes. It's gone. And you're just driven by compassion. Report an error in the passage at 35:42 Highlight the passage at 35:42

36:34 By gratitude and wanting to repay the kindness of sentient beings. And that just doesn't stop until all sentient beings are free. Simple. And it's realistic. So it's not adopting some special pious attitude so you can be really, really humble. You don't even have the sense of being humble. You just have the sense of being realistic. That's all. Just realistic. And we want to be that realistic. So, that's that. Report an error in the passage at 36:34 Highlight the passage at 36:34

37:05 Do not engage in malicious sarcasm. That's pretty straightforward. And then I think it does need a commentary. Do not wait in ambush. Report an error in the passage at 37:05 Highlight the passage at 37:05

37:15 And that is somebody harms you. And then you hold it inside. You hold it, hold it, waiting for the opportune moment. And then, when they're least expecting it, you know, to get back at it, give them their just desserts. Report an error in the passage at 37:15 Highlight the passage at 37:15

37:35 Then do not load the burden of a dzo on an axe. That was not so self-explanatory unless you're a Tibetan. And a tzo is a cross between a yak and an ox, which means it's quite a very powerful beast of burden. They can hold a big load, but the yak generally being, again, larger than the ox. And so, therefore, the ox is weaker. So do not take the burden that should be given to a tzo and then put it on an ox, which is less capable of bearing it. Report an error in the passage at 37:35 Highlight the passage at 37:35

38:04 And so, as the commentary says here, if some undesirable task, something you don't really want to do, but it's really your responsibility, Then don't, how do you say, turn it over to somebody else. Don't say, well, I'm really too busy for this, and then just give it to somebody else. Take the responsibility for that, which really comes your way. Report an error in the passage at 38:04 Highlight the passage at 38:04

38:23 Do not flatter to get to the top, that's pretty straightforward. Avoid pretense. Any type of asymmetry between, you know, what is going on inwardly, going on outwardly, of pretending in any way, trying to make, well, this will come up later, but avoid pretense. Any kind of practice in which your inner motivation is at variance with your outer conduct. That's pretense. So that's straightforward. And then, do not bring a god down to the level of a demon. Report an error in the passage at 38:23 Highlight the passage at 38:23

38:54 So this is, again, it's more of an aphorism that makes a lot of sense in Tibet. So just look in the commentary. If you serve a mundane god, it may help you, but if you show disrespect, it will retaliate like a demon. Report an error in the passage at 38:54 Highlight the passage at 38:54

39:09 So, just reading on, the mind training is for subduing yourself, but it is corrupted if it results in a sense of superiority, a sense of being an outstanding Dharma practitioner regarding others as inferior. So, the God is here, the God is, well, it probably would be, but just as well. God is fine, but it's referring to the divine, the sacred, authentic Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 39:09 Highlight the passage at 39:09

39:32 And that's simply practicing Dharma authentically. But then we can go through the outer display, we can go through the motions, engage in methods that are actually Dharma. But it's the motivation. If it's really about oneself, about, how do you say, presenting oneself, taking business higher than other people, trying to make an impression and so forth, then the outer veneer looks like divine, like God, but in fact it's brought down to the level of demon because of motivation. Report an error in the passage at 39:32 Highlight the passage at 39:32

40:01 So the whole point is we practice to overcome our afflictions. So, be well, not proud. It's coming, making this point a number of times, just because it's so important. And then, do not take advantage of another's misfortune. Report an error in the passage at 40:01 Highlight the passage at 40:01

40:16 Well, these are obvious, I mean, it's pretty straightforward. For example, gladly anticipating a relative's death, so you can get your inheritance. It's said in the Tibetan tradition that when you die, Report an error in the passage at 40:16 Highlight the passage at 40:16

40:31 And then you've just gone through the whole dying process. And now you're in the bardo. It's called the bardo of becoming. Bardo of becoming. So at that point you have only a mental body. There's no physical body to it. But you are a ghost for the time being. You're a bardo being, which means you have a location. And you have a form. Report an error in the passage at 40:31 Highlight the passage at 40:31

40:52 And the odd thing about it is that now your mind is now not simply substrate consciousness because it's manifesting as a bardo. A bardo mind, it's active again. It's not simply resting in bliss, luminosity, non-conceptuality from that substrate. Now it's arising in this transitional phase, like a temp. Report an error in the passage at 40:52 Highlight the passage at 40:52

41:12 You're a temp in the bardo. And it's arising in a mode that is now no longer constrained by the limitations of the human brain. Because it is operating from a subtle current. It's an operation of the subtle continuum of consciousness. And so you have then various forms of clairvoyance. And what we call siddhis during this period of being a bardo being. So you can see other bardo beings, which of course most humans cannot. Report an error in the passage at 41:12 Highlight the passage at 41:12

41:38 You can see other bardo beings. But the odd thing about it, and it is really quite remarkable, is that you can see people. You can see people. You see them and you can hear them. You can't touch them. So it's commonly stated in the Tibetan tradition that when you're in bardo and you're just basically moving around, you are a ghost. Report an error in the passage at 41:38 Highlight the passage at 41:38

41:58 And you can move around and you move at the speed of thought. That is, if you're in Sydney and then you suddenly think of a loved one in Melbourne, you're there. You don't go there, you're just, you're there. Speed of thought. And so you can move instantaneously, you can see others' thoughts. You have clairvoyance of being able to see others' thoughts with motivation. Report an error in the passage at 41:58 Highlight the passage at 41:58

42:19 You can see their minds, what's going on in their minds. There are other paranormal abilities. A very odd thing about it is, even though you know clearly, you don't have a physical body, so you don't have a visual cortex, you don't have retina, you don't have photons striking your eyes, but you're seeing in color. Report an error in the passage at 42:19 Highlight the passage at 42:19

42:36 And you don't have sound waves hitting your eardrums, because you don't have eardrums, but you're hearing sounds. It's very weird. It's very, very weird. But this is a universal report made in this regard. And so the point I'm getting at with respect to this line, this aphorism. Is that it's not uncommon then for beings in the bardo to come and listen in on their funeral. And so, you know, Tibetans would do this kind of thing too, like eulogies and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 42:36 Highlight the passage at 42:36

43:07 But you're coming in and you can see the thoughts of the people attending the funeral. And you can see the thoughts of your children and grandchildren thinking about how much are they going to get now that you're dead. Report an error in the passage at 43:07 Highlight the passage at 43:07

43:23 It's said that this can be very dismaying, that when you think, oh, but that's what they wanted, that's what they were thinking, because now you can see it, and how they're kind of, oh, like that, looking over the will and so forth and so on. It's very disconcerting inside to be aware of the thoughts of those who are attending your funeral and just basically are now coming like vultures and trying to get whatever they can get. Report an error in the passage at 43:23 Highlight the passage at 43:23

43:47 There's a very close analogy to this, and there's some very good research. I know one of the people who's doing it is a man named Bruce Grayson. Also at the G-R-E-Y-S-O-N. And he's a very fine scientist, very grounded, very sober. And I heard him give a talk. A friend of mine in Mexico, we invited him to a conference that we organized. He gave a talk on this near-death experiences, near-death experience, post-death experiences. Report an error in the passage at 43:47 Highlight the passage at 43:47

44:15 And there's a lot of, there's an ever-growing amount of empirical evidence now of people, especially, there's another one, I just had his name. I'll get his name later. And by the way, it was... Can I get that one? So many names in my mind, and they're hard to keep track, all of them. Report an error in the passage at 44:15 Highlight the passage at 44:15

44:33 No? Okay, in any case, a lot of research come out. People who've had cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest. So, heart attack. And they're brought in emergency room, and their heart stops, and their brain goes flat-lined. And then, with the wonderful advances in modern medicine, then, in many cases, they're brought back to life. Report an error in the passage at 44:33 Highlight the passage at 44:33

44:53 And then in many cases, actually 40%, there was a very large study done just a couple of years ago with I think about a thousand patients, including in Australia, Australia, United States and the UK. There's about a thousand people with heart conditions who were temporarily dead, I mean all vital signs flat. Report an error in the passage at 44:53 Highlight the passage at 44:53

45:14 And then two or three minutes later, then it comes back again. 40 % of them reported having experiences after they were dead. And then in this recent study, Sam Parnias, P-A-R-N-I-A-S, Parnias, he was the principal investigator here. There was one case in particular, it's not the first time this has happened, but this was the most recent case. There was one fellow from some very kind of working class kind of job in England. Report an error in the passage at 45:14 Highlight the passage at 45:14

45:46 He had this. But he not only had memories, when he was brought back, memories of ongoing experience after his brain went flatlined, but he had a full-blown out-of-body experience and was witnessing, observing the people in the operating room, the doctors, the nurses, he could see them and hear them. Report an error in the passage at 45:46 Highlight the passage at 45:46

46:07 And then he was brought back to life, and then, after he was brought back, then he reported what he had seen and heard while his brain was flatlined, and it was just straight up right. Correct. Not the first time. There was a case like this back in the 90s of a woman in Arizona, and it wasn't for her case, and it was not a heart attack. Report an error in the passage at 46:07 Highlight the passage at 46:07

46:28 It was an aneurysm deep inside her brain that they had to, it was a very special technique devised by the neurosurgeon there in this institute, where they killed her, they killed her, they stopped her heart, they cooled her down to about, what, 65 degrees Fahrenheit. So you can figure it out, centigrade. And then while she was really cold, they drained the blood from her brain. The heart had stopped. And then while the blood was drained from her brain, then they went in and repaired the aneurysm deep inside her brain. Report an error in the passage at 46:28 Highlight the passage at 46:28

47:01 But they had to do that because they'd gone in when all those vessels are full. They would have ruptured vessel after vessel. So even if the surgery had been successful, she would have been severely impaired, mentally impaired. I think the whole surgery took seven hours. It was very, very high tech. And during that time when she was flatlined, she had out-of-body experience and reported in detail what she saw and heard in the operating room. Report an error in the passage at 47:01 Highlight the passage at 47:01

47:27 So there are other cases like that. It's not just two, and I think the evidence is very compelling to my mind. And of course it's completely consonant with this much vaster database from Buddhism and other contemplative traditions. But I asked Bruce Grayson, who's really one of the top experts in this type of research. Report an error in the passage at 47:27 Highlight the passage at 47:27

47:43 He's written on it and very astute and extremely articulate. And I said, Bruce, how do you account for this? That people who are having this out-of-body experience, the brain is shut down, visual cortex, auditory cortex, they actually put tape over their eyes and they put plugs in their ears for that particular operation. Report an error in the passage at 47:43 Highlight the passage at 47:43

48:02 So they're really out of it. How, when there's no activity in the brain, no possibility of seeing anything, how do you account for the fact that this being, this... Disembodied being, looking down in the operating room, that they can see colors and hear sounds. Because we just naturally think colors arise independent of one visual cortex, damage the visual cortex you don't see anymore, and damage your auditory cortices and you don't hear anymore. Report an error in the passage at 48:02 Highlight the passage at 48:02

48:33 And these people don't have an auditory cortex, they don't have a visual cortex that's operating at all, and they're seeing and hearing. And in fact, this woman had this operation in Arizona. I saw her interview on the National Geographic channel, which is, you know, pretty responsible. I saw a 20-minute interview with her. This was years after her operation. Report an error in the passage at 48:33 Highlight the passage at 48:33

48:53 And she said, I can still remember that experience as if it was yesterday, because those are the most intense experiences, visual and auditory, I've ever experienced. She's talking about something ten years ago. She said, I've never had that vividness. And that's why my memory of it is so vivid now. Because it's unprecedented, without parallel in my experience. Report an error in the passage at 48:53 Highlight the passage at 48:53

49:13 So she's not only remembering, but it's really high frequency, like what Dan was talking about earlier. Just kind of like the wattage has gone up from a hundred to a thousand watt bulb. This is not achieving shamatha. It's just being in that out-of-body experience. And so I asked Bruce Grayson. There are a few top experts. He's one. Sam Parnas is another one. There's another one I know in London. I said, how do you explain this? And his answer was, I have no idea. Report an error in the passage at 49:13 Highlight the passage at 49:13

49:40 I just have no idea. So there's no shtick. There's no agenda. They're not trying to convert people to anything. It's just, that's the evidence. I have no way of explaining it. But that's what people report. That's the evidence. And live with it. Or you can just close your eyes so you like and walk away. And that's what a lot of people do. Report an error in the passage at 49:40 Highlight the passage at 49:40

49:56 But what this would suggest is that color and sound is not just relative to eyeballs and ears, but can work on an entirely sattva plane. And that's exactly true for the form realm. Remember that? Did you cross over into and achieve shamatha? It's form realm. It's a form realm where there's no materiality like what we have here with cells and molecules and so forth, but it's still form realm and you see and you hear in the form realm. Report an error in the passage at 49:56 Highlight the passage at 49:56

50:22 And it's out of that where a teacher says, achieve shamatha, and then out of that comes extracentary perception. Well, remote viewing and remote hearing are two of the common ones. And you're seeing, you're seeing colors and shapes, but not with your eyeballs, because you're seeing something a thousand miles away. And one of the top researchers here, I'll get his name later, almost there, I know him as a physicist, he's done about 20 years of research on it. Report an error in the passage at 50:22 Highlight the passage at 50:22

50:52 He's done a lot of research on not a clear audience, but remote viewing. And he did have 20 years of research, very well funded by the US government, oddly enough. He said, what's interesting about this is, number one, it's not infallible. It's prone to error. But it makes no difference, he said, whether the target you're seeking to observe with remote viewing is one kilometer away, or it's a thousand kilometers away. Report an error in the passage at 50:52 Highlight the passage at 50:52

51:18 That is, the accuracy is no worse. If it's a thousand kilometers away, it's supposed to a hundred or ten. There's no relationship that is fallible, but no more fallible as it goes further away in space. So there's lots of mysteries there. But the point here is that there are just multiple dimensions of consciousness that are waiting to be explored. And Shantideva is a gateway to them, just to learn more about the bandwidth. Report an error in the passage at 51:18 Highlight the passage at 51:18

51:48 And get out of this very narrow bandwidth that we consider this is it for humans. So it's releasing our identification with being human and seeing that we're much more than human, all the way down to Buddha nature, in which case our nature is divine. Report an error in the passage at 51:48 Highlight the passage at 51:48

52:05 So, but keep it pure, keep it authentic, that's what it's saying. Oh, just keep it coming back to Dharma and don't let your hedonic pursuits... Come and take charge. And it's very easy. It's very easy for Dharma teachers, for Dharma practitioners. It's just very easy. That you're teaching Dharma, then what's the motivation? Report an error in the passage at 52:05 Highlight the passage at 52:05

52:24 Is it now, is it money? Is it reputation? You want to get more disciples? You want to start a Dharma center? Then what's the motivation? And it always comes down to that. If the motivation is pure, then you can just teach Om Mani Penga Om, and that's fine, and that's pure Dharma. And if the motivation is skewed, then you can be teaching Dzogchen. And not really Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 52:24 Highlight the passage at 52:24

52:43 It's Dharma in the service of Hidonia. It's happened more than once. For Dharma teachers, we always have to keep our eyes open. Report an error in the passage at 52:43 Highlight the passage at 52:43

52:52 I think there's a point in which you just don't have to worry anymore. Probably Vidadhara. Once you have Vidadhara, they don't have to worry. Until then, I think we all need to be careful. Report an error in the passage at 52:52 Highlight the passage at 52:52

53:03 We're not immune. So the final one of the pledges, do not take advantage of another's misfortune. Yeah. Very straightforward. And you can see the notes. It's very straightforward. So that's that. So why don't we take a break? I think we can cover the practices also pretty straightforwardly. I think they're not very mysterious. And we'll come back at, let's say, 20 minutes to the hour. Report an error in the passage at 53:03 Highlight the passage at 53:03

53:32 So 10.40, let's return. Report an error in the passage at 53:32 Highlight the passage at 53:32