Lama Tsong Khapa Guru Yoga (part 2)

0:01 So we'll start with 15 minutes of silent meditation. Report an error in the passage at 0:01 Highlight the passage at 0:01

0:10 Silent meditation? So Report an error in the passage at 0:10 Highlight the passage at 0:10

0:30 maybe before giving the instruction I will wait five minutes because some people still arrive. So Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

· · · silence, 14 minutes

14:18 if one wants to make progress into Report an error in the passage at 14:18 Highlight the passage at 14:18

14:28 dwelling deeply in the nature of the mind, so Report an error in the passage at 14:28 Highlight the passage at 14:28

14:36 one has to make progress in Report an error in the passage at 14:36 Highlight the passage at 14:36

14:44 getting some kind of inner stability of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 14:44 Highlight the passage at 14:44

14:51 So you have to learn to be able to stay on an object without the mind wavering to somewhere else. You see, to experience the mind deeply, you need a certainly still state of mind, to fully grasp, to fully understand anything, Report an error in the passage at 14:51 Highlight the passage at 14:51

15:20 even if you use, you see, reasoning to understand reality, like Madhyamika philosophy. Report an error in the passage at 15:20 Highlight the passage at 15:20

15:34 though the whole thing is correct. you come to that of inherent existence. Report an error in the passage at 15:34 Highlight the passage at 15:34

15:43 you don't have mental stability, cannot stay there. just have a glimpse, a conceptual glimpse. you don't experience it. don't get and you don't see all what it implies. Report an error in the passage at 15:43 Highlight the passage at 15:43

16:10 Recently I met a friend Which has been a teacher for 30 years of Buddhism. And Report an error in the passage at 16:10 Highlight the passage at 16:10

16:22 I asked him, you know, we were sharing the car together among ourselves, and I was asking him, you know, so what kind of experience, so what's your experience after 30 years of teaching and practicing? Report an error in the passage at 16:22 Highlight the passage at 16:22

16:39 Do you get some experience? Report an error in the passage at 16:39 Highlight the passage at 16:39

16:46 And he said, you know, honestly, I think I'm at the threshold. threshold of experience, but I cannot say that I got any experience. Report an error in the passage at 16:46 Highlight the passage at 16:46

17:00 can speak about it, you know, and I can explain it to others, I'm at the threshold of the experience. get some glimpse here and there, I cannot say I have any experience. Report an error in the passage at 17:00 Highlight the passage at 17:00

17:20 why is that so? Report an error in the passage at 17:20 Highlight the passage at 17:20

17:26 So even though you know the whole theory of Buddhism, Report an error in the passage at 17:26 Highlight the passage at 17:26

17:38 You know all the meditations. You can explain it to others. But Report an error in the passage at 17:38 Highlight the passage at 17:38

17:48 if we don't have a certain level of calm abiding, we Report an error in the passage at 17:48 Highlight the passage at 17:48

17:59 cannot dwell into it. Report an error in the passage at 17:59 Highlight the passage at 17:59

18:10 So how do you train in calm abiding? So Report an error in the passage at 18:10 Highlight the passage at 18:10

18:22 it's so important every day to do some calm abiding meditation. Report an error in the passage at 18:22 Highlight the passage at 18:22

18:30 Because it's not difficult, actually. It's just a matter of training in it. Report an error in the passage at 18:30 Highlight the passage at 18:30

18:42 So the first obstacle to overcome is laziness of not wanting. To meditate on calm abiding, lack of interest, other things more important to do, other Report an error in the passage at 18:42 Highlight the passage at 18:42

18:59 things more exciting to do. So you have to think about the benefit of having calm abiding. Report an error in the passage at 18:59 Highlight the passage at 18:59

19:13 So one of the benefits, if you have a stable mind, your mind is very peaceful, very blissful, it's very pleasant, then whatever meditation you do with that calm mind, like Lama Tsongkhapa said in the Lamrim Chemmo, Report an error in the passage at 19:13 Highlight the passage at 19:13

19:32 One hour of meditation with calm abiding is like 100 years of meditation without it. It's like day and night. Report an error in the passage at 19:32 Highlight the passage at 19:32

19:46 And that's true even before calm abiding. The more stability of mind you have, just the more impact any meditation you do will have. And Report an error in the passage at 19:46 Highlight the passage at 19:46

20:09 if you have a certain level of control over your mind, you can block the negative emotion before they arise. I Report an error in the passage at 20:09 Highlight the passage at 20:09

20:28 will Report an error in the passage at 20:28 Highlight the passage at 20:28

20:50 try to... start having control over your states of mind. Report an error in the passage at 20:50 Highlight the passage at 20:50

20:45 that leads you to the conclusion of Report an error in the passage at 20:45 Highlight the passage at 20:45

20:57 you develop the intention. Report an error in the passage at 20:57 Highlight the passage at 20:57

21:02 going for 10 minutes or 15 minutes Report an error in the passage at 21:02 Highlight the passage at 21:02

21:06 of following my thoughts randomly, I try to... I'm going to hook my mind onto one thing and not letting it go. Then the main job is to develop this mindfulness of continually holding onto one object. Report an error in the passage at 21:06 Highlight the passage at 21:06

21:26 So what is the movement of the breath, the space-like nature of the mind, whatever your object might be, you decide now for ten minutes, I'm not going to letting it go. So you make your object very clear to your mind, I'm going to move, you know. For example, the movement of the breath, going to follow the inhale and exhale of the breath. Report an error in the passage at 21:26 Highlight the passage at 21:26

21:56 If you have a lot of extraneous thoughts, you might even count them, or say, breathe in, breathe out. So, you see, if you focus on one breath, sorry, on one thought, and you make that thought kind of very long-lasting, so there's no space for other thoughts to arise. rise. doubt. That thought takes so much space, so you're less distracted by other thoughts. And gradually you can let go of that thought and just focus on the breath or whatever you focus on. Report an error in the passage at 21:56 Highlight the passage at 21:56

22:35 So at the beginning you must be satisfied if only 10 % of your attention stays on the object. You decide it. But the main point is that one part of your mind never lets go. Report an error in the passage at 22:35 Highlight the passage at 22:35

22:48 And if it lets go, if you forget, The object you were intended to meditate on, as soon as you become aware of it, you bring it back. And then you try to extend the duration of not forgetting the object. That's your main job. And if you do that very quickly, you can come to the point where one part of your mind always stays on the object. Report an error in the passage at 22:48 Highlight the passage at 22:48

23:15 It's not that difficult. Simply the power of intention. intention. Like you decide to wake up at a certain time. So it's the power of will, you know, I want to do that. So the stronger your will, the more power your mind has not to forget the object. Report an error in the passage at 23:15 Highlight the passage at 23:15

23:42 So you need this kind of forceful holding the object in a gentle way, but with a type of firmity. I'm not going to let go. Report an error in the passage at 23:42 Highlight the passage at 23:42

24:06 And then once you get certain stability, you start to control how tightly, how intensely you hold the object or not. So usually we hold it too loosely, so we have some kind of subtle fogginess, a lack of clarity of holding the object. So you need to increase the tension. And Report an error in the passage at 24:06 Highlight the passage at 24:06

24:37 then if there's too much tension, your body starts shaking inwardly. So you know you are too tense, so you have to relax a bit. So you have to find that middle way of how tightly, how much pressure you put onto the object. Report an error in the passage at 24:37 Highlight the passage at 24:37

25:08 Then, once you have found the right level of pressure, you just simply hold your mind there. Report an error in the passage at 25:08 Highlight the passage at 25:08

· · · silence, 5 minutes

30:17 So usually a mistake we do at the beginning is that we are too relaxed. So there should be a certain tension in your body. When you hold on to the object, you have to have the strength of not letting it go. So the beginning is what's called forceful engagement. Report an error in the passage at 30:17 Highlight the passage at 30:17

30:42 So this kind of, how to say, concentration realigns the energy in your body. It's like when you put an electrical current, all the electrons... become aligned in one direction. Report an error in the passage at 30:42 Highlight the passage at 30:42

31:03 sensing concentration makes that it completely realigns the energy of your body and mind. It puts an inner current in. Report an error in the passage at 31:03 Highlight the passage at 31:03

31:17 it's that current that, as your concentration increases, turns into suppleness and into bliss. So often when Report an error in the passage at 31:17 Highlight the passage at 31:17

31:41 we start to meditate, People think that it's just, you know, relaxation, relaxation of the mind, to feel some inner peace, so one kind of relaxes. But calm abiding is not like that. Calm abiding, there's a tension there, and Report an error in the passage at 31:41 Highlight the passage at 31:41

· · · silence, 1 minute

32:36 that tension then turns into bliss, to peace. Report an error in the passage at 32:36 Highlight the passage at 32:36

33:09 That tension then turns into inner warmth, a kind of suppleness of the energy. Inside your body-mind, at Report an error in the passage at 33:09 Highlight the passage at 33:09

33:28 the beginning that energy is kind of hard, kind Report an error in the passage at 33:28 Highlight the passage at 33:28

33:36 of a little bit unpleasant, some kind of tension, but Report an error in the passage at 33:36 Highlight the passage at 33:36

33:44 then gradually transforms. Report an error in the passage at 33:44 Highlight the passage at 33:44

34:14 And as you become accustomed with that state, you need less and less effort to stay serenely still on any object you choose. Report an error in the passage at 34:14 Highlight the passage at 34:14

34:29 After a while you need just a little bit of effort at the beginning. Report an error in the passage at 34:29 Highlight the passage at 34:29

34:35 And then it's a free ride. And then later on, whenever you want, you can enter into deep samādhi meditation without any effort. Report an error in the passage at 34:35 Highlight the passage at 34:35

34:50 Whenever you choose and Report an error in the passage at 34:50 Highlight the passage at 34:50

34:59 then whatever state of mind, whatever emotion, you can stay at will in that state for any length of time without any effort. So Report an error in the passage at 34:59 Highlight the passage at 34:59

35:17 whatever prayers you do, Whatever meditation or insight you want to have, it's very easy. So Report an error in the passage at 35:17 Highlight the passage at 35:17

35:43 it's our scattered mind that makes it very difficult for us to make progress in our spiritual development. It's not our lack of intelligence, it's Report an error in the passage at 35:43 Highlight the passage at 35:43

36:02 one's mind is so scattered. See Report an error in the passage at 36:02 Highlight the passage at 36:02

36:29 if your mind is focused, even if they sound, they're very far away, they don't move your mind. Your mind is focused on the breath, on the space-like nature of the mind. So although there is sound arising from your ear consciousness, because the power of your concentration is so stable, your mind is completely unaffected by the sound. Report an error in the passage at 36:29 Highlight the passage at 36:29

37:05 You are aware that there is sound, but it doesn't move your mind. Report an error in the passage at 37:05 Highlight the passage at 37:05

· · · silence, 1 minute

37:57 So, Report an error in the passage at 37:57 Highlight the passage at 37:57

38:20 question, do you all train in calm abiding every day? Report an error in the passage at 38:20 Highlight the passage at 38:20

38:29 Very important. Very, very important. If you don't do karma-abiding, you'll never go anywhere. As simple as that. Never. You can become somebody very knowledgeable about Dharma. You can explain it. You might have some intuition, some glimpse here and there due to the blessing of a teacher. For example, we go to the teaching of His Holiness Dalai Lama and we fly for two weeks. Report an error in the passage at 38:29 Highlight the passage at 38:29

39:00 We don't know what's happened. So you come out and you're a different person. Class two weeks and she disappears. Report an error in the passage at 39:00 Highlight the passage at 39:00

39:10 It's almost like an LSD trip and you come back to your normal level. It's the same. disappears and you go you come, you Report an error in the passage at 39:10 Highlight the passage at 39:10

39:18 I reached a point, at some point, I didn't want to go anymore to the teachings because I hated that fact of getting high and going back. It was so painful to go back to my own level. I was completely unhappy about it. Report an error in the passage at 39:18 Highlight the passage at 39:18

39:37 So training in calm abiding is so, so important. And the best time is in early morning. You think you have no calm abiding. Try once to wake up at four o 'clock in the morning. From 4.30 to 6.30 you can have deep meditation. After once nature starts waking up, then for me it doesn't work at all the same way during the day. Report an error in the passage at 39:37 Highlight the passage at 39:37

40:04 Early morning I can have experience that I don't have during the day, just because of that early morning energy. So in order to wake up early one needs to go to bed early, and that's the difficult part, right? But once you test it, once you have, you know, for example I have a friend, she's 70 something and she was never able to meditate. Report an error in the passage at 40:04 Highlight the passage at 40:04

40:33 She came to do a retreat recently and I told her, wake up at 4 in the morning, start at 4.30. And after one month she has incredible experience, she never had her whole life. Report an error in the passage at 40:33 Highlight the passage at 40:33

40:47 Incredible experience. Incredible experience. She never thought she could have, after 30 years in Dharma, she never had any experience. I said, look, wake up early morning. Do you practice the other way around? Start with the essence? Do the meditation first and do the prayer after. An incredible experience she got. Report an error in the passage at 40:47 Highlight the passage at 40:47

41:08 Really amazing. So it's possible. Report an error in the passage at 41:08 Highlight the passage at 41:08

41:16 And I think it's possible even in city. It has nothing to do with noise. It has to do with a certain energy that is there early morning. Report an error in the passage at 41:16 Highlight the passage at 41:16

41:25 So His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he wakes up at 3.30 in the morning. He starts at 4. He's at bed at 9 o 'clock at night. So it's a question of, you see, if we want, we can do it. Report an error in the passage at 41:25 Highlight the passage at 41:25

41:48 So it's the calm abiding, you see, that will... How to say? Is the calm abiding that will give you peace, that will give you inner joy, control over your mind, that will stop the mental affliction from arising? Report an error in the passage at 41:48 Highlight the passage at 41:48

42:10 That's really the first stage. And then whatever state of mind, whether it's love, compassion, bodhicitta, you see, if you have that stability of mind, you bring your mind there and then you stay there. Report an error in the passage at 42:10 Highlight the passage at 42:10

42:23 So without that, very difficult. Report an error in the passage at 42:23 Highlight the passage at 42:23

42:51 Why don't we do it? Why don't we do it? Report an error in the passage at 42:51 Highlight the passage at 42:51

43:01 Habit? Report an error in the passage at 43:01 Highlight the passage at 43:01

43:10 What? You Report an error in the passage at 43:10 Highlight the passage at 43:10

43:18 see, I think for spiritual development you need three things. It's the prayer, the blessing, like Lama Tsongkhapa, Guru Yoga. And then you need the concentration. And then you need the analytical meditation. So you need all three. And you need to find the right balance in your life. So you need to have these three components. Report an error in the passage at 43:18 Highlight the passage at 43:18

43:43 For example, myself, when I do an hour of meditation, I do 20 minutes of prayer, 20 minutes of calm abiding and 20 minutes of analytical meditation. I always do all three. So one needs this balanced approach. And if you do sadhanas, in the sadhana, again, if you do a daily... Report an error in the passage at 43:43 Highlight the passage at 43:43

44:25 or the stage of yourself, visualize yourself into a certain deity, things like that. So you stop there and you do whatever time you decide of calm abiding there, you know, you zoom into that. Kind of like that. And then you reach the point of the guru yoga in that practice. Then you do the guru yoga and you bring forth the emotion. Things like that. So again, even in a tantric practice, you need to have these three components. Report an error in the passage at 44:25 Highlight the passage at 44:25

44:51 Otherwise, you can do it for years on end. You unfold that movie, but you never deeply penetrate in anything. You just watch a movie and you feel bored of doing that every day for so many years. And nothing, it has no power. You know, it doesn't change the mind. So Report an error in the passage at 44:51 Highlight the passage at 44:51

45:26 calm abiding, an important thing at the beginning is to make short session, you know, just five, ten minutes. But you can stop any point in your prayer. You just say, okay, now five minutes. You zoom in. You're not letting go of the object. So it's a kind of forceful engagement. You're not letting go of whatever is there. Of course, after a while it becomes easy. Report an error in the passage at 45:26 Highlight the passage at 45:26

45:54 But at the beginning it's a strong will, strong power. And then as you start becoming confident that you're not losing the object, you can start to relax a little bit the tension. You remain focused there. So at the beginning there's no choice but you have to hold it very, very tightly. So it's not true, you know, that developing calmer body, you have to relax. You know, relax will not bring you there. Report an error in the passage at 45:54 Highlight the passage at 45:54

46:25 It's the opposite. You have actually to bring tension, force there. I'm not going to let go. Like that. And then once you have that power of not letting go, you're being confident, you can start losing it up a little bit because you know you're not losing the object. Report an error in the passage at 46:25 Highlight the passage at 46:25

46:45 So that's how. And if you go that way, actually it's very fast. It's not that difficult. So at the beginning what you need is just a short session because you need so much power, so much tension, so you get very quickly exhausted. Report an error in the passage at 46:45 Highlight the passage at 46:45

47:02 So you do three, four, five minutes and then you relax. And then again you say, okay, two, three minutes. You make your object very clear and you hold it. And then when you get exhausted, you relax. Report an error in the passage at 47:02 Highlight the passage at 47:02

47:22 Like that. So you usually want those many sessions. So we come Report an error in the passage at 47:22 Highlight the passage at 47:22

48:15 back to the Guru Yoga of Lama Tsongkhapa. Report an error in the passage at 48:15 Highlight the passage at 48:15

48:28 So now, usually... You see, when we do the seven-limb prayer like I started yesterday, can you hear me? Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 48:28 Highlight the passage at 48:28

48:49 if somebody wants to sit on the floor, there's a place here. Tamara, you want to sit on the floor? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 48:49 Highlight the passage at 48:49

49:03 So, now, Report an error in the passage at 49:03 Highlight the passage at 49:03

49:08 you see, we do this daily prayer of the seven-limb, you know, of prostration or bowing down and showing respect as an antidote to pride. So, again, Report an error in the passage at 49:08 Highlight the passage at 49:08

49:25 We do it in the ritual, in the daily prayer, but the point is to accustom oneself to that state of mind, that we can use it in everyday life. So as soon as you realize that your mind gets puffed up, that you start having pride arising in the mind, so you notice it, and you become aware that pride arises, so you counteract it, because you familiarize with the antidote of... Report an error in the passage at 49:25 Highlight the passage at 49:25

49:57 You see, of feeling humble, of thinking about people which have more qualities or of your own mistakes or the things that still need to be changed in yourself. So like you lower down that kind of... You Report an error in the passage at 49:57 Highlight the passage at 49:57

50:20 see, some of you, maybe most of you, are good in a certain field. You know, so you have certain skills, certain capacity, whether as teacher or as artist or whatnot. So in our own field, you know, the tendency of pride can arise, you know, because we are good at something. So myself, one key is like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, you know, when he sits on the throne, there's a Tibetan habit of... Report an error in the passage at 50:20 Highlight the passage at 50:20

50:54 You know, making the sound, so it's to remind oneself of impermanence, right? So at this present moment, you know, I'm good at that, but it's not going to last, you know? So I'm going to die, you know, what's the point, you know? Okay, people like me, you know, they admire me, so what? You know, it's kind of fleeting, you know, it's nothing to be attached to, nothing. Report an error in the passage at 50:54 Highlight the passage at 50:54

51:16 That naturally, you know, brings it, yeah, okay, you know. No big deal. People like me. Many people don't like me. What to do? Report an error in the passage at 51:16 Highlight the passage at 51:16

51:29 And then the generosity, the giving. So you make offerings. But the intention is to open the heart that we actually give in everyday life. If you make an elaborate altar and you visualize all these offerings, and then when you come around a beggar or somebody which needs your help and you're not able to help, what's the point? Report an error in the passage at 51:29 Highlight the passage at 51:29

51:51 You know, of all these offerings, all this generosity, you know, it's kind of... So it's a training of the mind that then actually when you, in everyday life, somebody asks you something, that you have that spontaneous wish to help, you know. Report an error in the passage at 51:51 Highlight the passage at 51:51

52:10 And then confession. So this also can, in everyday life... Personally, I like very much to do confession when I take the shower or when I wash dishes, because you clean. So, you know, as you clean your body, you brush your teeth, or you clean, you know, or we clean the room, you know, you say, well, as I clean, you know, and it's a very good reminder because it always becomes dirty again and you have to wash again and again and again. Report an error in the passage at 52:10 Highlight the passage at 52:10

52:39 So some people think, I have done 100,000 Vajrasattva, I don't need to do any more. No, it becomes dirty again and again and again. So you never have done enough of cleaning. As you keep on cleaning your room and your teeth and your body, same thing, your mind needs to be cleaned on and on and on. Report an error in the passage at 52:39 Highlight the passage at 52:39

53:01 You see, to integrate, instead of just doing it on your cushion, if you integrate it whenever you clean something, you say, you know, at the same time you regret what the negative things, and you clean your mind at the same time as you clean something out there, then, you know, that's how you integrate it in your everyday life. Report an error in the passage at 53:01 Highlight the passage at 53:01

53:24 So then you don't need to do the purification while you sit on the cushion, you have done it already, you know, while you clean your dishes, or you wash your car, you know. Whatever you clean. Report an error in the passage at 53:24 Highlight the passage at 53:24

53:38 And it keeps the mind healthy. It keeps the mind happy. If you keep on cleaning, really the mind... It takes quality of... You're peaceful, you're happy with who you are. Kind of like that. I think it brings a kind of self-esteem. You're comfortable, you're happy with yourself. You take care of yourself. Report an error in the passage at 53:38 Highlight the passage at 53:38

54:07 And then the next state of mind is rejoicing. Report an error in the passage at 54:07 Highlight the passage at 54:07

54:13 So again, you see, this is an antidote to jealousy. You know, if somebody knows something better than you or has more qualities or more wealth or more beauty or things like that. So, you see, often the mind tends to be jealous about this and that. So the antidote to that is to rejoice, to be happy for them. Report an error in the passage at 54:13 Highlight the passage at 54:13

54:38 You see, no matter how jealous we are, it doesn't transfer their possession or their qualities into oneself. So jealousy basically is useless. It just makes our mind uncomfortable. It's a painful state of mind. As if we feel happy. Report an error in the passage at 54:38 Highlight the passage at 54:38

55:01 So often in Buddhism practice they say, you see, if you rejoice, for example, in the qualities of His Holiness Dalai Lama, Myself, I try every day to rejoice in the quality of the Dalai Lama. Every day I'm thinking, oh, the Dalai Lama, today he woke up at 3.30, 4 o 'clock in the morning, he did his prayer, he did all these sadhanas. Report an error in the passage at 55:01 Highlight the passage at 55:01

55:23 So he says he does six or seven times a day the death absorption into clear light, and then all the people he benefits and things like that. So I rejoice, it's fantastic that he exists and he does what he does. I get half the merit he has done. Report an error in the passage at 55:23 Highlight the passage at 55:23

55:41 I get more married by rejoicing in what the Dalai Lama does in my own practice. I don't need to practice, it's better to rejoice. Then I think of my other teachers, all the good things they do. Then I think about all other spiritual masters and teachers and spiritual centers in the world, whatever tradition. Then I think of all the doctors, nurses, social workers. Report an error in the passage at 55:41 Highlight the passage at 55:41

56:11 You know, all these people and all the mothers which have a good heart, which bring up their kids in a nice way. I just rejoice in all the goodness that is out there. Report an error in the passage at 56:11 Highlight the passage at 56:11

56:22 And that, first of all, brings you in a happy state of mind. And spiritually, it creates a lot of positive energy. So Lama Yeshe, he always used to joke, you know, you go to the beach, you lay down and you just rejoice in all the other people which practice. practice. You just have a good time and you rejoice in the other people which have, you know, which struggle with their mind. Report an error in the passage at 56:22 Highlight the passage at 56:22

56:52 If you rejoice in the quality of a person which is spiritually higher than yourself, you get half the same spiritual energy benefit that he accumulates. If the person is at the same level as you, You get the same benefit that he has. And if he's lower than you, you get more. You get more merit. So basically the best spiritual practice, if you want to accumulate goodness, good luck. Report an error in the passage at 56:52 Highlight the passage at 56:52

57:25 You see in Buddhism, whether good things happen in oneself, whether one has easy success in one's profession, How to say, relationship, whether life is easy or hard, depends on what in Buddhism we call merit, positive energy gathered from virtuous actions done in the past. So the best way to gather that wealth of spiritual energy is by rejoicing, feeling happy. So again, it's a habit to take. Report an error in the passage at 57:25 Highlight the passage at 57:25

58:02 Each time you think about something nice, you feel, wow, fantastic, I'm happy for them. Myself, sometimes I read the news. you, you Report an error in the passage at 58:02 Highlight the passage at 58:02

58:15 Like this People magazine, you know, so you see, you know, these wealthy and famous and things, you know, instead of saying, well, you know, my rejoice, fantastic, you know, they must have been very generous in the past, they must have done this, they must have done that, you know, fantastic, they are so wealthy that they are so famous and things like that, great, you know. Report an error in the passage at 58:15 Highlight the passage at 58:15

58:36 And instead of, well, you know, which makes you unhappy, you know, it makes you unhappy, you know, wow, fantastic, happy. Great for them. Report an error in the passage at 58:36 Highlight the passage at 58:36

58:51 So, again, at the beginning one might be mimicking it, but after a while, once you understand the process, you start doing it sincerely, you know, from the depth of your... You see, rejoicing is not just, yes, you know, how to say, pretending to be happy, but you're not genuinely happy for them. You have to be really sincere, you know, it's really genuinely from the heart, you're happy for them. Report an error in the passage at 58:51 Highlight the passage at 58:51

59:21 Wow, karma has ripened so they experience that happiness, that fame or that fortune or that wealth or that nice relationship. Great. And Report an error in the passage at 59:21 Highlight the passage at 59:21

59:42 definitely it makes the mind happy. You see, often what I notice, much of one's unhappiness comes in the life is that we're so centered about me. How to say, my success, my well-being, my spiritual evolution. How to say, we always need to be the center of our world. So rejoicing in other actually brings you out there, identify yourself with other. Somehow, again, it is an antidote to this tightness. Report an error in the passage at 59:42 Highlight the passage at 59:42

1:00:27 To this ego grasping, this me. And Report an error in the passage at 1:00:27 Highlight the passage at 1:00:27

1:00:45 then the next stage is requesting teaching. So requesting teaching, again, this Report an error in the passage at 1:00:45 Highlight the passage at 1:00:45

1:01:01 is quite interesting. Sometimes in prayer, again, if we miss the point, we request teachings. But then the Dalai Lama comes and we don't go. So in the morning in the prayer we make requests, you know, may I never be separated from the teachings, you know. But then the teacher comes and then, you know, I'm not going, you know, I'm busy with other things. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:01 Highlight the passage at 1:01:01

1:01:28 So again, how to say, for me now when I go to teachings, it's not that I hear anything new, you know. It's not like, you know, after 30, 40 years in Dharma, it's not like you hear something new. For me, I go to teaching is a guided meditation. So I go to teaching and it's just like instead of myself leading my own meditation, I let the teacher lead the meditation and I just follow where he leads the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:28 Highlight the passage at 1:01:28

1:02:03 So it's actually very nice because I just sit there and I enjoy the meditation. So he brings you to different state of mind, different insights and things like that. So it's very pleasant. And there's a spiritual energy of being together with like-minded people. And if you at the same time visualize the teacher as an actual Buddha, whether that person is a Buddha or not doesn't matter. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:03 Highlight the passage at 1:02:03

1:02:33 But if you visualize that person as a Buddha, it's like it's described in the teaching, that person becomes like a magnifying glass. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:33 Highlight the passage at 1:02:33

1:02:44 It conveys all the spiritual energy of the Buddhas for all enlightened beings and that through that person you can receive blessing. So it's very interesting to observe that, to play with it in one's mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:44 Highlight the passage at 1:02:44

1:03:01 So it's very powerful to go to teachings if you do it with the right motivation, the right state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:01 Highlight the passage at 1:03:01

1:03:16 So you see in the Tibetan context usually you do a lot of prayers before to bring you to that state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:16 Highlight the passage at 1:03:16

1:03:26 But for us Westerners, I'm not sure whether that really works. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:26 Highlight the passage at 1:03:26

1:03:47 I think also requesting teachings, you see what it brings to your mind, also that if you do something professionally, it helps you to ask advice, to ask help, to ask information. Sometimes we feel so hard to say, I should know by myself, so we don't dare ask advice or ask somebody which has a skill. Let's say even with the computer, I will figure it out by myself. The other one knows how to do it, but somehow I won't ask, kind of like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:47 Highlight the passage at 1:03:47

1:04:28 Unless you ask and say, oh yeah, you do this, this, this. you know, you know, Control-Alt-Del, and, you know, you are... Report an error in the passage at 1:04:28 Highlight the passage at 1:04:28

1:04:37 So I think Report an error in the passage at 1:04:37 Highlight the passage at 1:04:37

1:04:44 it helps us in daily life to ask advice for other people. So it's not asking just teaching, it's just some person has certain skill, so you're humble enough to ask advice. How do you do this and that? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:44 Highlight the passage at 1:04:44

1:05:07 And also, of course, karmically, it creates the cause to meet teachings again in the future, whether in this life or future lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:07 Highlight the passage at 1:05:07

1:05:20 And then requesting for them to have long life. So this, of course, creates the cause to enjoy the teachers for a long time, which is quite important, you know. I mean, myself, I had a few teachers, like Trijang Rinpoche, Ling Rinpoche, you know. lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:20 Highlight the passage at 1:05:20

1:05:39 But I saw them only once or twice. They passed away very quickly. So I didn't have much time to benefit from them. Whereas other teachers have since 20, 30 years. So you see, if they live a long life, you can enjoy their teachings, their presence and their own evolution in their own... own way of teaching, their own spiritual progress, their own unfolding through life, you know? So you share their own unfolding and you grow with them. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:39 Highlight the passage at 1:05:39

1:06:19 Shantideva, Shantideva, His Holiness the Dalai Lama To have long life, to be in good health. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:19 Highlight the passage at 1:06:19

1:06:51 And then of course if one wants to have long life, it's good if one has the opportunity to extend the life of others, whether animals, insects, help the sick, the poor, things like that. So these are all things that help to extend the life, to get long life and to be in good health oneself. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:51 Highlight the passage at 1:06:51

1:07:20 And then all this positive thought we dedicate or we offer to the enlightenment of all beings. So it's by offering it to others that it won't be destroyed by anger. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:20 Highlight the passage at 1:07:20

1:07:34 So Report an error in the passage at 1:07:34 Highlight the passage at 1:07:34

1:07:39 again, I think the dedication... It's often important to make it more personal. We say the words, may I become enlightened for the sake of all living beings, and we recite it five, ten times a day. But the mind is, how to say, the mind doesn't think what it says, it just says it. May I reach enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:39 Highlight the passage at 1:07:39

1:08:12 You could say Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola, it would be the same. Satsang with Mooji Satsang with Mooji you change it from time to time, and you dedicate to a specific thing. You have some friends who are sick, have some problems. You see, to understand the power of dedication, you have to, it's kind of, it's a certain spiritual energy there, and then you offer it for a certain purpose to that energy, you want it to work, to accomplish something, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:12 Highlight the passage at 1:08:12

1:08:53 So you start with small thing, you know, you have somebody which is sick or some problem, so you dedicate that energy for that problem to be solved. And as you see that, that... Actually, it helps to solve that problem. You start having faith, which comes from your own experience, that, oh yes, dedication has a power. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:53 Highlight the passage at 1:08:53

1:09:15 Because if you always dedicate to things and it doesn't seem to affect, you lose faith in the power of dedication. Why do I dedicate? I don't believe that it has any power, any benefit. So you have to put it on small things and you see how it works. That it has a power, that it is a strength, a power. And then you start having confidence in your dedication, because you see that it works. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:15 Highlight the passage at 1:09:15

1:09:43 Otherwise it's just words. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:43 Highlight the passage at 1:09:43

1:09:50 So especially it's good to dedicate for, you see, if you have spiritual obstacles, you're lazy, so you dedicate to overcome your laziness, or you have a specific mental affliction. What is bodhicitta? It improves and it gives you confidence that the power of your prayer is effective. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:50 Highlight the passage at 1:09:50

1:10:47 then, so that's the seven-limb prayer, then one offers the mandala, you know, so you see whether do the traditional mandala, you know, of Mount Meru for Kant. What I found effective is actually for those which, you know, Do this practice regularly. It's actually effective to have an actual mandala set or to have something, to hold something in your hand. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:47 Highlight the passage at 1:10:47

1:11:16 For example, last retreat I led, we just took an upside-down wooden plate and put some rice on top. But it's the fact of holding something in your hand and actually offering it. You see, it's actually you hold something in your hand and you imagine it's a jewel or a flower and you visualize the enlightened beings in front of you like His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:16 Highlight the passage at 1:11:16

1:11:44 And you imagine with your two hands you actually offer him something. So you offer from your heart something precious to you and you offer that gift. And that mudrā, that hand gesture. This is a beautiful state of mind to be when you offer something with your both hands. That gesture, for me, it fills me with complete bliss just to sit like that, just to be in that state of giving. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:44 Highlight the passage at 1:11:44

1:12:23 I visualize an enlightened being, body of light, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whoever, and I offer my whole being and I offer that precious thing with my whole being. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:23 Highlight the passage at 1:12:23

1:12:35 It's so powerful, so powerful. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:35 Highlight the passage at 1:12:35

1:12:45 So, of course, when we do in group practice, one says, you know, I offer my whole four continents, the sun and the moon, and so on and so forth. But that doesn't matter, you see, it's more... The state of mind. Sometimes I imagine I shrink the whole Milky Way, the whole cosmos into my hands and offer the whole cosmos like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:45 Highlight the passage at 1:12:45

1:13:06 And sometimes I just offer one thing. The basic thing is to offer one's whole being to that enlightened state. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:06 Highlight the passage at 1:13:06

1:13:22 And then there's the one-pointed request. Like in this practice you see this prayer. you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:22 Highlight the passage at 1:13:22

1:13:39 is the great treasurer of objectless compassion, Manjushri, lord of stainless wisdom, Vajrapani, destroyer of Māra's army, Tsongkhapa, crown jewel of Tibetan station, Losongrappa to So actually this prayer was composed by Lama Tsongkhapa himself, and he wrote it for his own teacher, which was one of his Sakyamasa, which was called Randhawa. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:39 Highlight the passage at 1:13:39

1:14:01 So he wrote that prayer. So I think the prayer went, Chenrezig, great treasure of objectless compassion, Manjushri, lord of stainless wisdom, Vajapani, destroyer of Māra's army, Rendava, crown jewel of Tibetan sages. I don't remember his monk name. To you I pray. And then when Rendava received this prayer from his student, Rendava said, no, this prayer is more appropriate to you. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:01 Highlight the passage at 1:14:01

1:14:30 So he changed the two. And it says Tsongkhapa crown jewel of Tibetan sage and offered a prayer back to Lama Tsongkhapa. So that's how it became Lama Tsongkhapa's kind of mantra or praise of request. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:30 Highlight the passage at 1:14:30

1:14:50 So basically what you're saying there is that you see what His Holiness Dalai Lama or whoever you visualize as Lama Tsongkhapa. So basically what you say is that that person has the same Report an error in the passage at 1:14:50 Highlight the passage at 1:14:50

1:15:08 Love and compassion, then Avalokiteshvara, then Chenrezig. And the type of compassion that they have is objectless, so it's not focused on any single being, it's for all beings. And not only, how to say, the ordinary aspect, but also the ultimate aspect. Aimless or objectless compassion, to understand the emptiness of inherent existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:08 Highlight the passage at 1:15:08

1:15:36 You see that beings are not solid, so you don't have compassion to the inherent being, but to the fact that they lack inherent existence. You see that beings are fundamentally pure, right? But they don't recognize it and they suffer because they don't see their pure nature. nature, know. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:36 Highlight the passage at 1:15:36

1:16:08 You see, when you say that you imagine that that being has this type of love, this type of compassion, Report an error in the passage at 1:16:08 Highlight the passage at 1:16:08

1:16:20 and then you think that this person has the same level of wisdom than Manjushri. You know, Manjushri is the embodiment of Buddha's intelligence, you know, wisdom, kind like that, of seeing reality as it is. So you say, oh, your teacher, you see, has the same wisdom than Manjushri. You know, the same intelligence. And Report an error in the passage at 1:16:20 Highlight the passage at 1:16:20

1:16:49 then you say also that, you know, like Vajrapani, you know, which destroyed Māra's army, which, you see, which has the power to overcome mental affliction, to overcome inner obstacles. So you have that spiritual teacher has this power of mind, you know, to overcome outer and inner difficulties. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:49 Highlight the passage at 1:16:49

1:17:13 So Tsongkhapa, crown jewel of Tibetan sages. So you see, how to say, Tsongkhapa was very learned in all the sūtra and tantra. So you praise him for his learnedness, kind of like that. So then whatever your teacher is, you praise him, you admire him for his learnedness, basically of knowing more than you about the spiritual path. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:13 Highlight the passage at 1:17:13

1:17:39 So like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:39 Highlight the passage at 1:17:39

1:17:43 And then Lama Tsongkhapa, you know, to you I pray. So to you I pray, in Tibetan usually say, to you I make requests. So what do we request? Basically we request all the spiritual realization of the whole path. What do we request? We request renunciation, we request... The development of love, of compassion, of the wisdom seeing reality, of being able to, you know, mindfulness upon the concentration. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:43 Highlight the passage at 1:17:43

1:18:19 We request the whole realization of all the stages of the past. Is that what we request? And we request that all the conditions, you know, in everyday life come together for us to gain that. That's what we request, you know. We request all the outer and inner condition to come about. for us to become like they are. from the heart we make this request. So basically for it to work you have to be in a state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:19 Highlight the passage at 1:18:19

1:18:53 wanting to break through, you know, this capacity. You see, if one is happy with one's life, one is happy with one's samsaric life, how to say, see. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:53 Highlight the passage at 1:18:53

1:19:07 One doesn't understand the full impact of what it is to be in cyclic existence. Your request is not so sincere. Yes, I request, but I'm quite fine. My spiritual practice is to add a little bit of cherries on the top of the cake, but I'm quite fine. So this is not really how it would work really intensively. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:07 Highlight the passage at 1:19:07

1:19:33 you know this can Report an error in the passage at 1:19:33 Highlight the passage at 1:19:33

1:19:37 You know, this example of the beings which become arhat, they see life like being on fire. It's like having a fire on your head. They give these images like their hair is burning, but they want to get out of cyclic existence. They don't want to extinguish the fire there. They see the whole saṃsāra. They see their whole life as just a burning hell. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:37 Highlight the passage at 1:19:37

1:20:07 So they intensely want to get out of it. They intensely want to get this spiritual realization. So I think for our prayers to become sincere, you have to understand the suffering nature of cyclic existence, how painful it is to grow old and die, to be sick, the uncertainty of not knowing where we are going to take rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:07 Highlight the passage at 1:20:07

1:20:38 You know, of having to being again this small baby completely dependent on others, not knowing whether the next life will attract it to spiritual development or not. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:38 Highlight the passage at 1:20:38

1:20:51 You know, we might be reborn in a country of war, you know, and we become a fighter ourself and that life we kill hundreds of people and then after that life, you know, because of that karma, we're reborn in lower realms and for millions of lifetime we don't get out. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:51 Highlight the passage at 1:20:51

1:21:15 fine and we, you know, but there's no guarantee as long as we Report an error in the passage at 1:21:15 Highlight the passage at 1:21:15

1:21:44 My feeling is that, how to say, death is just exhaling and not inhaling again and we're dead. But yet we all feel so confident we're going to be around next year. Yet death, next life, is very close by. But we always think, not this year, maybe next, but not this year. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:44 Highlight the passage at 1:21:44

1:22:22 So I think this... This state of mind of being uncomfortable about the fact that we are going to die, I think it's very precious. It's uncomfortable, but it's an uncomfortable that makes you act in your spiritual life. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:22 Highlight the passage at 1:22:22

1:22:41 If you think, you know, I'm not going to die this year, then we procrastinate, we find lots of excuses, because in life there are so many fun things to do. It's true. Life is fun. There are many nice things to do. So we procrastinate and we live out what is really, truly important. And maybe a special opportunity, this human intelligence that we have, all these teachers we have met, all these spiritual techniques we have learned, if we would dedicate ourselves to practicing them, maybe we could actually reach enlightenment in this life. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:41 Highlight the passage at 1:22:41

1:23:19 We could actually reach liberation. We have given up the idea that I can reach liberation. We have given up that idea. And that's so sad. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:19 Highlight the passage at 1:23:19

1:23:55 We have given up the idea, I can reach liberation, and yet it's not far away. It's really not far away. But somehow we have these inner obstacles, we have given up. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:55 Highlight the passage at 1:23:55

1:24:20 But the ego is a complete hallucination. It has never existed, it doesn't exist, it will never exist, yet it maintains us in its prison. It's so fascinating. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:20 Highlight the passage at 1:24:20

1:24:36 So, when you get a little bit inside, you say, how can I ever be, how is that possible? Something that doesn't exist maintains me in its prison. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:36 Highlight the passage at 1:24:36

1:24:49 Like Shantideva says, you know, the mental afflictions are no legs, no arms, you know, they're neither strong like that. How come that they maintain me in its grips all the time? Report an error in the passage at 1:24:49 Highlight the passage at 1:24:49

1:25:02 It's so, you know, once you're a little bit inside, you're like, how is it possible? How is it possible? There appears to be a flower here on the table, but actually the flower that I see doesn't exist at all. It deserves the collection of petals, stems, things like that, and the mind merely imputes that flower, chrysanthemum. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:02 Highlight the passage at 1:25:02

1:25:29 You call that chrysanthemum in English? There is only a collection of parts, and on that call the mind merely imputes it. You see, the way it exists is a mere designation by the mind. So if you get that, that flower is merely imputed by the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:29 Highlight the passage at 1:25:29

1:25:52 So there is no chrysanthemum at all. If you can see only the hundreds little petals. know, yeah. 100 little petals, you know. So there, if you switch your mind, you can see only hundreds of petals, right? On that hundred petals, the mind imputes flowers, makes it out one thing, makes it a flower. But if you switch your mind, you don't see a flower, you see a hundred petals. And on those hundred petals, the mind imputes flowers, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:25:52 Highlight the passage at 1:25:52

1:26:31 So the way the flower exists is a mere designation by the mind, right? So this is not too shaking. Why? Because the petals really exist. But the petals themselves are also merely labeled by the mind, down to the atom being merely labeled by the mind. So the whole reality is merely imputed by the mind. There's no solidity there at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:31 Highlight the passage at 1:26:31

1:27:02 So if you get that, you get it. The I, you see we meditate as a meditator, one which gets upset, which gets bored, which gets distracted. But if you check that I, it appears to exist as a solid entity on its own right. But again, if you look, the I that exists is a meditation on the collection of body and mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:02 Highlight the passage at 1:27:02

1:27:28 That other I doesn't exist at all. It's very simple. You can write complex Buddhist philosophical texts. There are hundreds and hundreds of volumes. But if you look at it, actually the essence is very simple. Things exist in an interdependent way, dependent arising. That's simple. So what is empty is this solidification. Things exist simply. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:28 Highlight the passage at 1:27:28

1:27:59 You see, there appears to be a hand there, but there is no hand there at all. From his own side, the hand is a mere designation on something that is not a hand. There is no hand there. There is a collection of bones and muscles and skin, and on that I label hand. hand this you see but But the way we perceive, everything appears to be solid, existing there on their own. But as soon as you start thinking about it, you can see that it's merely labelled by the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:59 Highlight the passage at 1:27:59

1:28:30 But what we lack is the mindfulness, the continuity of staying in that awareness. You see, you can get it for a few seconds. How come we cannot stay in that state? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:30 Highlight the passage at 1:28:30

1:28:44 You know, how come that, you see, you know that the I is merely labeled on the body and mind. You say it, you experience it for a fraction of a second, and the next moment the ego comes out of his box and takes possession of you again, and you completely forgot that actually it's merely labeled on the body and mind, and that one doesn't exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:44 Highlight the passage at 1:28:44

1:29:04 You see, so it's not difficult, yet how come that we don't make it? We know how to get out of the box. We know how to get out of psychic existence. And what prisoner inside is not something big. It's a complete hallucination. Yet we have given up. We know how to get out. We know how painful it is to be in the prison. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:04 Highlight the passage at 1:29:04

1:29:34 We know how to get out. We know the method. Yet we have given up. I cannot do it. Adam, maybe. But not me, not in my lifestyle, not at my age. We give ourselves excuses. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:34 Highlight the passage at 1:29:34

1:29:56 So basically the request we make, this one pointed request, is to gain this spiritual energy, this power of the mind, to wish to get out, to really get it. Because how to say, we know it intellectually, You know, one has studied it, one understands it. You know, we understand the twelve links of dependent origination and this and that. We know how we're stuck. And we know how to get out of it, because we see that things... Report an error in the passage at 1:29:56 Highlight the passage at 1:29:56

1:30:28 You see, each time mental affliction arises, it's because we see things as solidly. There's a solid, beautiful person there, there's a solid, beautiful object that we want. There's a solid me that wants this and that. But if you analyze, Report an error in the passage at 1:30:28 Highlight the passage at 1:30:28

1:30:45 You know, that object disappears. The solidity of that object disappears. And if you see that the solidity of the object disappears, then the mental affliction disappears. Because the mental affliction functions on the basis of this reification of oneself and the object or the person. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:45 Highlight the passage at 1:30:45

1:31:08 So you hold the key, you have the key to get out. But somehow there is a laziness, How to say a giving up? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:08 Highlight the passage at 1:31:08

1:31:24 You see, we like this power of the mind, I want to do it and I will do it. I can do it and I will do it, I will do what is needed. And there is nothing more important than getting out of cyclic existence. There is nothing more important. It's very important, Report an error in the passage at 1:31:24 Highlight the passage at 1:31:24

1:31:42 And often you see we have this mistaken conception that it will take 10 years, 20 years, 30 years of solitary retreat, you know, that is a very painful process, a very long time. It's not at all like that. It Report an error in the passage at 1:31:42 Highlight the passage at 1:31:42

1:32:03 can be just the next second. You see, how to say, one Report an error in the passage at 1:32:03 Highlight the passage at 1:32:03

1:32:12 moment you see things as inherently existent, as solid, concrete, your encyclical existence. The next moment you decide to see things from the point of view of dependent arising. That moment you experience liberation. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:12 Highlight the passage at 1:32:12

1:32:30 So as long as you are in that space of awareness, of seeing dependent arising, of seeing emptiness of inert existence, you experience nirvāṇa. For however many seconds or minutes you can stay in that state, you experience reality like an Arya being sees it. So it's just a matter of extending the duration of staying in that state. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:30 Highlight the passage at 1:32:30

1:33:00 So of course, if you want to go technically about it, first you experience that through the medium of a mental image and so on, so a conceptual image, but it doesn't matter. As long as you see things from that perception, it leads you to liberation. You're on the way to become free. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:00 Highlight the passage at 1:33:00

1:33:21 And as long as we see things as inherently solid existence, we are still in the box. And all what we do, all our good deeds, all our nice activities, keeps us in the box. Instead of being an unpleasant box, it becomes a beautiful box, but we're still in the box. There's nothing that makes us free. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:21 Highlight the passage at 1:33:21

1:33:45 So I think if you have some understanding of emptiness, of dependent arising, Every day we should meditate on it. Every day a little bit of that is so important because that's the only things that put you the imprint to become free. Nothing else, just depenetrizing emptiness. So often when you do lamrim retreats and you do four sessions, they advise you to do the first session to do on guru devotion. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:45 Highlight the passage at 1:33:45

1:34:20 To get the blessing and then the two other sessions you would do on the actual going through the lamrim meditation and the last session, the fourth session, you would do on emptiness. So every day you would meditate on emptiness. And I noticed for myself it's good every day to read a few lines about emptiness because if you stop reading about it, your own reasoning becomes narrower and narrower. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:20 Highlight the passage at 1:34:20

1:34:49 You might get the same thing, but your insight, your understanding, you have less streams of reasoning, less approaches. So the more you read about it, from more different venues you can come to the same conclusion. So your meditation becomes richer. So just to read a half page or a page on emptiness every day is good enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:49 Highlight the passage at 1:34:49

1:35:14 And then you contemplate it. So it becomes very rich and very entertaining. I found emptiness very entertaining. I found it fantastic. It's really interesting. Because Report an error in the passage at 1:35:14 Highlight the passage at 1:35:14

1:35:35 the solidity that we are prisoners of is not very strong. It's simply a mental projection that we add onto reality. So Madhyamika reasoning is like a Zen koan. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:35 Highlight the passage at 1:35:35

1:35:53 It just makes you that shift, hey, actually it doesn't. The way we see things as inherent existence is just a laziness, a habit. But you can switch your mind and you can stop that habit. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:53 Highlight the passage at 1:35:53

1:36:09 But how to say, how to force ourselves to have the continuity of wanting to see things as dependent arising, as empty of inherent existence. We can get that. I think most of us, we can get there very quickly. In a few seconds, we can be in that state. But we cannot maintain it. That's our difficulty. As soon as another thought comes, you start thinking about something else. Again, things appear very concrete, solid. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:09 Highlight the passage at 1:36:09

1:36:45 You forget. And how come it's so? Because we have this beginningless habit of seeing it like that. That's all. It's just a A strong familiarity with inherent existence and a lack of familiarity with the absence of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:45 Highlight the passage at 1:36:45

1:37:13 You see, often in Buddhist philosophy you start with meditating on the emptiness of outer object because it's easier to see like the chariot or the bicycle, you know, that is mainly labeled on the collection of parts, right? But the real impact is on the I. Once you understand the reasoning, where you have to apply it is on the I. Because the I is the creator of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:13 Highlight the passage at 1:37:13

1:37:47 If you realize that the I, the ego, is not there, your mental affliction... So the stronger you incite in the absence of the I, the ego, the weaker your mental affliction becomes. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:47 Highlight the passage at 1:37:47

1:38:03 They say the most important meditation, like His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, if you have some insight into emptiness, the object of calm abiding should be emptiness. Why? Because that's the antidote to all the mental affliction at once. The other one you tackle one problem after the other, but emptiness resolves all of them. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:03 Highlight the passage at 1:38:03

1:38:25 So emptiness, if you take the emptiness of the I, you realize that the I, That appears solidly in your head, the thinker, the doer, the meditator, the one that gets upset, the one that gets jealous, the one that thinks that he meditates on love. That one, if you realize that that one is a phantom, a dream, a hallucination, that doesn't exist at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:25 Highlight the passage at 1:38:25

1:39:01 And that the I that exists is a meditation on that space of awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:01 Highlight the passage at 1:39:01

1:39:09 There is no I in there at all, but the I exists as a mere imputation on the body and mind. And you stay there, you repeat again and again and again. You let the I arise and you see that it is unfindable within the body, mind, outside. You stay in that space of not finding the I and you see how it exists, that you still exist even though there is no this solid I. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:09 Highlight the passage at 1:39:09

1:39:45 How do you exist? As a mere designation on something that is not an I on the body and mind. If Report an error in the passage at 1:39:45 Highlight the passage at 1:39:45

1:39:59 you meditate like that every day for 10-15 minutes, amazing, so Report an error in the passage at 1:39:59 Highlight the passage at 1:39:59

1:40:14 powerful. And Report an error in the passage at 1:40:14 Highlight the passage at 1:40:14

1:40:20 the more you do that, you see then in everyday life when the ego arrives with his tantrum. Because you have experienced that space without it and you convince that that ego doesn't exist, So you don't play his game, you don't believe in what he says. So there's the appearance of the ego, but you don't believe in it, because you have seen that that one doesn't exist and you're confident that he doesn't exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:20 Highlight the passage at 1:40:20

1:40:55 So straight is a level of peace, of not buying into the story of the ego. And the ego will continue to arise till the Eight-Body Sattva Bumi. So you have to bear with his presence for quite a long time. But Report an error in the passage at 1:40:55 Highlight the passage at 1:40:55

1:41:18 the appearance doesn't matter. You see, what prisoners is in believing in the truth of it. It's not the appearance of the ego that is the problem. It's in believing in what he says that it's true. That's what prisoners are. If you don't believe in what he says, No big problem. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:18 Highlight the passage at 1:41:18

1:41:49 But the problem for us, we believe what he says. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:49 Highlight the passage at 1:41:49

1:42:04 So basically when we make this request to Lama Tsongkhapa or to our spiritual master, visualize as Buddha, so that's what we request. We request, help me to break through, break through this carapace of the ego. Help me to cherish others more than myself. myself, more than myself. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:04 Highlight the passage at 1:42:04

1:42:39 the type of request that we make. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:39 Highlight the passage at 1:42:39

1:42:55 this is the one-pointed request that we make Report an error in the passage at 1:42:55 Highlight the passage at 1:42:55

1:43:03 And then, of course, there are different complex visualizations that you can do while you do that, while you make that request. So you can visualize white light coming from the heart of Lama Tsongkhapa and Khedrubje and Gyaltsabje, which were his two main disciples or closest disciples. So after Lama Tsongkhapa passing away, Gyaltsabje became the throne holder of the Ganden tradition. And then after him, Khedrubje. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:03 Highlight the passage at 1:43:03

1:43:33 So they were the two first, foremost disciples of Lama Tsongkhapa. So that's why they are visualized or seen around him. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:33 Highlight the passage at 1:43:33

1:43:50 And then beams of light come from their heart and white light enters into your crown and removes, you see, this obstacle of believing in inherent existence, this self-cherishing mind, this lack of non-attachment, this lack of, you know. All these spiritual obstacles that one has and grants us all the realization, gives you the confidence that you can reach liberation, that you can reach enlightenment, that you can see emptiness, that you can cherish others sincerely more than yourself, that you wish to lead them to enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:50 Highlight the passage at 1:43:50

1:44:27 So you imagine that all these qualities grow in your mind in the form of this white light, kind Report an error in the passage at 1:44:27 Highlight the passage at 1:44:27

1:44:36 of like that. If one wants to make it more elaborate, you can visualize white, red and blue light coming from the crown, throat and heart chakra. Or you can visualize the seven wisdom from the Manjushri practice to give you the seven types of intelligence. So there are many different forms of visualization that one can do. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:36 Highlight the passage at 1:44:36

1:45:05 But the main thing is to have this sincere request from the heart. heart, one truly wants to change. If you truly want to change from the heart and you request blessing, then definitely blessing comes. I think it just needs a very humble mind, a mind that truly understands I'm really in a mess. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:05 Highlight the passage at 1:45:05

1:45:38 I might be wealthy, I might take care of my life, I might have a nice flat, a nice car, nice friends, but spiritually I'm in a mess. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:38 Highlight the passage at 1:45:38

1:45:49 I'm going to grow old and die and I haven't a clue where I'm going to end up next life. I don't even know what is the next life or not. I have no clarity, I don't see. I just have words and concepts and ideas borrowed from other people that I repeat like a parrot. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:49 Highlight the passage at 1:45:49

1:46:13 But from my own experience inside, what do I see? Nothing. I'm completely lost. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:13 Highlight the passage at 1:46:13

1:46:25 So if you go to that space where you're humble enough to accept your limitation, then you open your heart to those people which see. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:25 Highlight the passage at 1:46:25

1:46:42 And you request that spiritual insight, that blessing to enter your heart, that you yourself see. So you make this one-pointed request. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:42 Highlight the passage at 1:46:42

1:47:01 And then once you've done that, you see, then you absorb that Lama Tsongkhapa or whoever into your heart and you merge his mind with his spiritual realization, with your own mind, and you feel that, you see, that the spiritual realization of that being merges with your own mind so that you experience the same spiritual realization that that being has. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:01 Highlight the passage at 1:47:01

1:47:33 So that's the idea of the guru yoga. You make this one pointed request and then you absorb him into your heart. And then it's like, you see, when the air, for example here in this room you have a certain air, then you open the window and the air from outside merges with the air in this room, becomes mingled. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:33 Highlight the passage at 1:47:33

1:47:59 So it's the same thing. You absorb Lama Tsongkhapa into your heart. Then you merge your mind with the mind of Lama Tsongkhapa or with the mind of the Dalai Lama or the mind of your root teacher. You see, they become completely inseparable, they become completely one. So you imagine that your mind becomes one with the mind of the Buddha and then you do again single-pointed meditation on that state. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:59 Highlight the passage at 1:47:59

1:48:34 You stay there. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:34 Highlight the passage at 1:48:34

1:48:38 So your mind becomes completely, intimately one with the mind of the Dalai Lama. You see, it's not the Dalai Lama out there. The Dalai Lama is inseparable from your own mind. Your own mind is the Dalai Lama. Your own mind is Lama Tsongkhapa. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:38 Highlight the passage at 1:48:38

1:48:59 So your mind has the same realization, the same experience that they have. And Report an error in the passage at 1:48:59 Highlight the passage at 1:48:59

1:49:09 you stay there. So Report an error in the passage at 1:49:09 Highlight the passage at 1:49:09

1:49:24 that is a... A way to experience the same love, the same compassion that they have, the same understanding of reality, is by merging your mind with the mind of these highly realized beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:24 Highlight the passage at 1:49:24

1:49:51 So then, of course, if you have some insight into emptiness, you would use that state, you would stay there and use that to Report an error in the passage at 1:49:51 Highlight the passage at 1:49:51

1:50:05 understand the emptiness of the I, emptiness of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:05 Highlight the passage at 1:50:05

1:50:23 So this is the quick path to liberation and enlightenment. You Report an error in the passage at 1:50:23 Highlight the passage at 1:50:23

1:50:31 see, by merging your mind with the mind of the enlightened beings. So Report an error in the passage at 1:50:31 Highlight the passage at 1:50:31

1:50:46 that's how, you see, something which might normally take three countless great eons can be achieved in a few years. So one purifies one's mind through devotion, through the seven-limb prayer, through offerings. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:46 Highlight the passage at 1:50:46

1:51:06 Based on projecting the enlightened qualities onto that person and then one absorbs this projected enlightened quality into oneself and one merges one's mind with it and one stays there at a single point of concentration. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:06 Highlight the passage at 1:51:06

1:51:30 Like Pabongka Rinpoche says, you see, if you do that, realization that you think that couldn't be achieved in ten years can be achieved very quickly. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:30 Highlight the passage at 1:51:30

1:51:44 I think Report an error in the passage at 1:51:44 Highlight the passage at 1:51:44

1:52:10 we all know that, isn't it? My question is, how come that our practice becomes just a routine? We say the prayers, we mumble them, but somehow we don't experience it. How come that often our practice becomes... You know, we go to the prayer, but they don't touch us anymore, they don't... Report an error in the passage at 1:52:10 Highlight the passage at 1:52:10

1:52:50 do you think? How come? Report an error in the passage at 1:52:50 Highlight the passage at 1:52:50

1:53:00 see, unless you find the missing link, know, experientially, what happens in our life? Report an error in the passage at 1:53:00 Highlight the passage at 1:53:00

1:53:10 makes it not possible. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:10 Highlight the passage at 1:53:10

1:53:17 you can pinpoint in your life, you see, that thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:17 Highlight the passage at 1:53:17

1:53:23 that prevents it from happening, you have the Okay, we Report an error in the passage at 1:53:23 Highlight the passage at 1:53:23

1:53:46 make a break, tea break. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:46 Highlight the passage at 1:53:46

1:53:51 How long you want? Report an error in the passage at 1:53:51 Highlight the passage at 1:53:51

1:53:59 Alright. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:59 Highlight the passage at 1:53:59