Love And The Spacious Heart

0:00 Obviously, we have people here that drove from Livermore and Santa Cruz and maybe other places. It's wonderful to see you. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:10 We're enjoying the atmosphere left that remains from the Vajrasattva retreat we just had here this weekend, where we had a lot more people than we expected. And tonight has turned out the same way. So I think we should get used to that now. First things, anybody parked across the street? don't know. Report an error in the passage at 0:10 Highlight the passage at 0:10

0:30 Please go move your car if you're in that parking lot. They will close the gate and you won't be able to leave unless you have a chauffeur who will come and fetch you the way somebody else did already. Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

0:45 Yeah. There is a funeral going on at the church. It started at 6. So if you had a hard time parking, I parked three blocks away, which is the farthest I've parked since we moved here. So I'm thinking some people will... Show up a little bit late because they're probably looking for parking, so we'll be patient with them. The restroom, since we're not cooking in the kitchen, I won't have you go around through the outside, but you can go through here at any time. Report an error in the passage at 0:45 Highlight the passage at 0:45

1:19 Venable Rene will be following his own schedule, so I said you just present it the way you want to, and that's what he'll be doing, so I can't tell you. Whether there'll be a break or not, I think you'll decide that. And there may be a question and answer period as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:19 Highlight the passage at 1:19

1:44 Take three deep breaths and feel your soft belly, just releasing the tension of just having gotten here, Report an error in the passage at 1:44 Highlight the passage at 1:44

2:01 the tension that comes from listening to the piano player next door. It's an ongoing joke with us. You'll hear that off and on for the next hour or so. It's not too loud, but you never know. It helps our practice. Report an error in the passage at 2:01 Highlight the passage at 2:01

2:22 We're actually trying to give it away. It will cost you just to move it. We have had some takers, but when they found out how much it would cost to move it, they've changed their mind, unfortunately. Report an error in the passage at 2:22 Highlight the passage at 2:22

2:38 It's a very nice piano. If you know someone or an organization who might want it, please do us the favor. Look at all the space that it would free up. Report an error in the passage at 2:38 Highlight the passage at 2:38

2:49 Yeah. Quite a bit. It came with the building, if you want to know why it's here. Some good things, and these chairs also came with the building, so we're very grateful for that, too. Report an error in the passage at 2:49 Highlight the passage at 2:49

3:01 And for how many people, it's their first time here? How wonderful. I'm glad you made it. The doors are open to everyone who wants to come here. Report an error in the passage at 3:01 Highlight the passage at 3:01

3:12 And so, probably Venable Rene is ready. Love and the Spacious Heart. An amazing, amazing topic. Report an error in the passage at 3:12 Highlight the passage at 3:12

3:24 Venerable Rene chose it. So focus on our hearts as we invite him into the room. He's a long, long time meditator. He's been a monk for over 25 years. I've known him for over 15 years. He's originally from Switzerland, French speaking. He's multilingual. So he brings many life experiences and perspectives into his practice. And I just can't say enough about him. Report an error in the passage at 3:24 Highlight the passage at 3:24

3:57 So I'll let you experience this presentation. Report an error in the passage at 3:57 Highlight the passage at 3:57

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4:45 Please Report an error in the passage at 4:45 Highlight the passage at 4:45

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6:06 sit down. Report an error in the passage at 6:06 Highlight the passage at 6:06

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7:08 Good evening everybody. Nice to meet you. Report an error in the passage at 7:08 Highlight the passage at 7:08

7:23 So tonight the topic is about love and compassion. And I think it's a topic which is very precious, very, how to say, something very intimate and very subtle. Report an error in the passage at 7:23 Highlight the passage at 7:23

7:46 Anyway, so before we start the topic, to make a break between what we did before and all the talking, so we're going to settle the mind a bit. And I'm going to chant a little bit in Sanskrit, some prayers. So if some of you want to join in, you're welcome. If you just sit and meditate, just relax. Try to get some inner peace. That's good enough. Report an error in the passage at 7:46 Highlight the passage at 7:46

8:29 You see, the point of the prayers and the chanting is, how to say, to get in touch with something inside, to go in one's heart, to awaken one's soul or one's spirit, to go to that inner pose. To that innermost place in oneself. Usually one is not involved with one's persona, one external being, you know, we communicate with other, we're in the world with other, yet on another side we are completely alone, right? Report an error in the passage at 8:29 Highlight the passage at 8:29

9:11 You're born alone, you go through your troubling life alone and you die alone, right? So there is a place in you where you're completely alone. And that place, if you make peace with it, you discover your inner eternity. That thing in you that is unborn and that is undying. And if you find that spot, you find a deep peace that is not affected by the ups and downs of life. Report an error in the passage at 9:11 Highlight the passage at 9:11

9:44 So chanting and praying sometimes is a way, you see, to the vibration of the sound. Somehow it awakens, you know, that inner space in you. Report an error in the passage at 9:44 Highlight the passage at 9:44

10:00 So usually, you know, the first type of prayer one makes is like, you know, to get in communication or in contact with that space of eternal joy, you know, eternal bliss and the beings which have realized that. You know, in our tradition we call them the Buddhas or the enlightened beings. Report an error in the passage at 10:00 Highlight the passage at 10:00

10:24 But, you know, in other traditions they could have other names. Report an error in the passage at 10:24 Highlight the passage at 10:24

10:32 So it's to get in touch, you see, with this higher dimension and to try to become one with that space of goodness. So that's the meaning of the first prayer that I'm going to recite. So that's, as some of you might know, you know, it's the refuge prayer in Sanskrit. Report an error in the passage at 10:32 Highlight the passage at 10:32

10:55 And then the second one, O Mani Penmayom, is the mantra of love and compassion. So there one goes in contact with one's own heart and try to expand one's heart and to become one with all living beings. To go to that space in us when one is one with everyone. Because we are all the same in just wanting to be happy, of not wanting to have problems. Report an error in the passage at 10:55 Highlight the passage at 10:55

11:23 So we think we are so unique, yet each and every other living being. Faces exactly the same challenges that we face. So in that sense, we all won. So it's to come in touch with that basic humanity in that we care for each and every one. Now Report an error in the passage at 11:23 Highlight the passage at 11:23

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20:33 in our modern society, Report an error in the passage at 20:33 Highlight the passage at 20:33

20:41 how to say, you know the traditional religion, they lose their impact on modern society. So there's less and less people following Christianity or traditional religion. And because of that, you see, the ethic of our society crumbles. You see, selfishness, greed, violence, you know, all this is on the increase. Report an error in the passage at 20:41 Highlight the passage at 20:41

21:15 So there's many people thinking, you know, how we can heal our society. So there's many people which think about how to teach ethic, love and compassion in a secular way. How can you teach these things to children in a working environment so that we have a healthy society again? In the old days, this was the job of the religion. You would learn that at church. Report an error in the passage at 21:15 Highlight the passage at 21:15

21:45 Sunday school, you know, in our culture, right? But nowadays, this traditional religion, they don't appeal anymore to most people, right? So how, you know, you teach this in a modern way. So His Holiness the Dalai Lama is very interested, you know, to meet with scientists and with psychologists, you know, things like that, to create a curriculum that could be taught in schools, you know, which wouldn't Belong to any religion, to any spiritual tradition, but in a secular way. So his Holiness makes a lot of conference, mind science and things like that, to promote these ideas and that the scientists and the psychologists find ways to teach this in a secular way. Report an error in the passage at 21:45 Highlight the passage at 21:45

22:34 So he does his conference with his people and they make experiments. They try to create new curriculum and they test in schools. You know, in universities, and they have all these different programs. And so in a few reports I read from His Holiness, and you know, we have this Mind Science Conference report. Report an error in the passage at 22:34 Highlight the passage at 22:34

22:58 And so these people speak about the benefit of love and compassion, what it does in the school, you know, how the school, how the classroom, you know, becomes more workable. That they can teach better because, you know, the children are not bullying each other and, you know, they're respectful of teachers. So it has great benefit, you know, for the schools or the working place if people are taught a little bit love and compassion and respecting each other and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 22:58 Highlight the passage at 22:58

23:31 And so these scientists then... Psychologists always speak about, oh, the benefit it has for other people. And His Holiness always stops them and tries to make them aware. You see, love and compassion, yes, it benefits others. But the one it benefits the most is the one which has it in his own mind. You see, you don't generate love and compassion for others. Report an error in the passage at 23:31 Highlight the passage at 23:31

23:56 You do it for yourself first. You see, that it benefits others is a side effect. But it's not the main thing. See, the main thing of generating a loving and compassion is that you are very happy. It gives you so much self-confidence, self-respect. And somehow it's so cozy, it's so joyous to have this warmness inside. You see, when you have this warmness inside, you don't fear anything. Report an error in the passage at 23:56 Highlight the passage at 23:56

24:27 If you lose some material thing or you lose some friends, it doesn't matter, you have this warmth inside. It's like a wish-fulfilling spring in your heart. And that no life things can take you away. So that's your precious inner thing that nobody can take you away. And that's the most precious thing you can have in life. Report an error in the passage at 24:27 Highlight the passage at 24:27

24:52 So His Holiness makes very much that aware, when you meditate on love and compassion, it's not for others. You see, the main beneficiary is you. Report an error in the passage at 24:52 Highlight the passage at 24:52

25:05 So this is so important to understand, you see. Yes, if you're loving and compassionate, yes, of course your partner, your children, you know, your working colleague will benefit of your nice attitude, right? But the one which benefits the most is yourself, because it's so coarse, it's so warm, it's so nice to have that state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 25:05 Highlight the passage at 25:05

25:32 So this is... Very important to understand that you don't meditate on love and compassion to become a better person for others, you do it for yourself. First. So in Mahāyāna Buddhism, working on love and compassion is the most important thing. You see, in Buddhism you have two spiritual paths. You have the Hinayana and the Mahāyāna. You enter... Report an error in the passage at 25:32 Highlight the passage at 25:32

26:03 The Hinayana path, the path to liberation, when you generate in your mind the mind that wishes to reach liberation. When you have that state of mind, when you see that having this disturbed, this berserk mind that you have no control over, when you see that I want to stop. And when you have that genuine state of mind, all the time they're wishing to... Report an error in the passage at 26:03 Highlight the passage at 26:03

26:27 To cease, you know, this mental affliction, this disturbed emotion. Once you have that mind, they said, you see, for me, my first course, meditation course, it was in Kopan in 79. And for me, it wasn't the teaching that hooked me to the teaching, you know, to the spiritual path. It was sitting there for an hour and being taught to watch the breath and I was impossible to do. Come on! Report an error in the passage at 26:27 Highlight the passage at 26:27

26:56 It's such a simple thing. You watch your breath. Impossible. In an hour, I was maybe a few seconds on the breath. How can I ever be happy if I have no control over my mind? It really sank in, sitting there every morning for an hour and being so restless. I said, how can I be ever happy with such a... You know, unsubdued mind, a restless mind. So that was my shock, right? So you enter the path of liberation when you realize that. Report an error in the passage at 26:56 Highlight the passage at 26:56

27:34 How can I ever be happy with this untamed mind? Nowhere. Because, you see, no matter with whom you live, that person can be an angel, you know, can be a bodhisattva, can be the nicest person in the world. But if you have a berserk mind with that person, you know, you screw, you know. You destroy the whole relationship because your paranoia, your projection, your expectation, you know, you're wishing, you're not wishing, you know, I mean, you drive the person crazy, right? Report an error in the passage at 27:34 Highlight the passage at 27:34

28:05 And then same thing, you want to be a good parent, right? But if you're berserk, you know, how can you bring up that child nicely, right? So you realize, at some point, you really realize, how can I be happy with this berserk mind, right? And that's very easy to see, to read out. If you have doubt that you have a berserk, just sit for an hour and watch your breath. Good enough. Report an error in the passage at 28:05 Highlight the passage at 28:05

28:33 And you do that for months. And then you read out, wow, I really have a problem. Before coming to the course, I thought I had no problems. And then you sit there and then you realize, oh, actually I have some problems. Report an error in the passage at 28:33 Highlight the passage at 28:33

28:49 So that's the path to liberation, right? So now the Mayana has another starting point. On top of that, there's another starting point. It's that mind of love and compassion. So the Mayana starts when you have that wish for liberation, but on top of that, you have this genuine love and compassion for all humanity. Report an error in the passage at 28:49 Highlight the passage at 28:49

29:13 Where you care not only for your own happiness, but you care for the happiness of all living beings. So when that is stable in your heart, you enter the path. So when you have this genuine love and compassion in your heart, that's the path. You enter the path of the Mariana, the path to omniscience, the path to enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 29:13 Highlight the passage at 29:13

29:37 It's only once you have that state of mind that actually the path starts. Report an error in the passage at 29:37 Highlight the passage at 29:37

29:46 you see, among, you know, It's actually a very difficult thing to be a Mayan, to have that genuine mind that cares for all living beings. Asanga, in the Ornament of Liberation, he gave 22 similes of what that mind is like. One simile is that that state of mind is like the earth, like the ground. If you have no ground, you cannot plant any vegetable, any flowers. Nothing can grow if you have no ground. So the ground of all the spiritual realization of a Buddha is like the earth, and that earth is like love and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 29:46 Highlight the passage at 29:46

30:30 If you have no love and compassion, spiritual realization cannot grow. It is by the ever-expanding of your love and compassion that all the Mahāyāna realization arises. So if you have no love and compassion, the realization can actually not grow because there's no ground on which to plant the seeds. So that image, you see, if you have no fertile soil, no flower, nothing nice can grow. Report an error in the passage at 30:30 Highlight the passage at 30:30

31:01 So if in your mind you have no love and compassion, you can't expect to become a genuine spiritual being, really grow. It's only based on love and compassion that these things arise. And then the second image that Asanga gives is that love and compassion is like a waxing moon. Report an error in the passage at 31:01 Highlight the passage at 31:01

31:28 So it ever grows. So once you generate that genuine love and compassion you have, it's not like you generate it once and you have it. What's in the moon you say? Report an error in the passage at 31:28 Highlight the passage at 31:28

31:39 That love and compassion through the ten bodhisattva levels continue to grow in intensity. So the measure of your spiritual development is a measure of your development of love and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 31:39 Highlight the passage at 31:39

31:55 So it grows in intensity stronger and stronger and stronger till your enlightenment is the image of the full moon. So your love and compassion has to... You have to work on it every day and it keeps on growing, expanding. Report an error in the passage at 31:55 Highlight the passage at 31:55

32:18 And then the third image that Asanga gives is that of the raging fire. So love and compassion. It destroys all your negative karma, all your negative imprint you have done in the past by the power of love and compassion. It destroys, you know, whether you have killed, robbed, steal, you know, whatever you've done in the past is completely burned by the fire of love and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 32:18 Highlight the passage at 32:18

32:53 So the greatest power of purification, you know, there are two. One is emptiness and the other one is love and compassion. So love and compassion has the power to destroy, you know, whether you have been the most meanest person in the past, the power of love and compassion completely destroys it. Report an error in the passage at 32:53 Highlight the passage at 32:53

33:18 And he says also the power of love and compassion overcomes the obstacles to your realization of how things actually exist. So they work together. You see, the more your loving and compassion grows, the more it helps you in your realization how things actually exist. Report an error in the passage at 33:18 Highlight the passage at 33:18

33:43 So these are some of the 22 examples. And myself, the example of the fire, I will give now my own personal simile with the fire example. You see, love and compassion is like, you know, you go out in the wilderness. Report an error in the passage at 33:43 Highlight the passage at 33:43

34:04 And it's cold. And you want to start a fire. And you only have one match. So you cannot miss yourself. You only have one match. So you're very, very careful. So you take dry branches, very small. You make it very small. You cannot take big wood because it's not going to start. Report an error in the passage at 34:04 Highlight the passage at 34:04

34:33 You take straw, whatever you can, and then you put aside little bit bigger sticks and bigger sticks. You make everything ready. You're not sure not to miss yourself. You only have one chance. Okay? Right? And then you start your fire. Okay? So you light it. And you're very, very careful not to let it destroy, you know? Report an error in the passage at 34:33 Highlight the passage at 34:33

34:54 So you protect it so that... The wind doesn't blow too strong. Then you add little pieces, you know, you kindle it very carefully, right? And you feed it. You see, you only have one fire. You see, it's a bit like the first human beings, you know, remember when they had the tribes that have the fire were the more powerful, right? Report an error in the passage at 34:54 Highlight the passage at 34:54

35:17 And wherever they go, they carry the fire with them, right? That was very precious. You know, fire was a source of, you know, Report an error in the passage at 35:17 Highlight the passage at 35:17

35:26 Great possession source of wealth, right? So now with love and compassion is exactly the same thing. You see, you make your heart soft. You have that soft. You see, first of all, it's very hard to make the heart soft. It's very hard to make the heart soft. Usually it's cold here or it's like a rock. You know, one doesn't have any feeling here. And then due to certain... Report an error in the passage at 35:26 Highlight the passage at 35:26

35:53 Circumstance, you know, you meet beings like His Holiness Dalai Lama or you see a sunset or you fall in love with somebody or you see a child. So there are situations in life that suddenly makes your heart soft. You know, you start feeling this warmth inside. Okay? We all have that, you know, in life. Suddenly you have this warmth. Oh, it's so nice. Oh, how that feels. Report an error in the passage at 35:53 Highlight the passage at 35:53

36:18 Sometimes it's having a child or caring for a child. Myself, what I like is puppies. Puppies work. It opens my heart. They're cute little puppies. Or kittens. Or when I saw the movie The Penguins, when you saw the baby one. Report an error in the passage at 36:18 Highlight the passage at 36:18

36:40 It just melts your heart, doesn't it? you know, you know, ah, you know. Report an error in the passage at 36:40 Highlight the passage at 36:40

36:44 So you see this melting up, it feels so nice, it's such a nice feeling. Wow, that experience of having this softness inside. Wow, it's so cozy, so nice, isn't it? And then it disappears. And then somehow you have to create the condition for that to arise again. And sometimes weeks and months and years pass between one experience like that and another. Report an error in the passage at 36:44 Highlight the passage at 36:44

37:14 Right? So love and compassion, bodhicitta is like you awaken that and because you realize it's so precious, you don't want it to die. Report an error in the passage at 37:14 Highlight the passage at 37:14

37:28 You see, like the fire, you don't want it to die out. You have this warmness inside and it becomes your most precious thing and you don't want it to cease. You want it to increase, like the waxing moon. You know, that he becomes bigger and bigger and bigger. Right? So that's the bodhicitta path. You see, the path to enlightenment is to make your heart warm and to make it ever-growing, you know, to expand your love and compassion and to completely emerge yourself, become one, you know, with that space of love and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 37:28 Highlight the passage at 37:28

38:07 And that's our most in, how say, our innermost The innermost possession, the most precious thing in us. If you go in that space, you have no fear of death. You see, whatever life problems arise is no problem at all because you have that thing in you. Report an error in the passage at 38:07 Highlight the passage at 38:07

38:44 So, you see, whether you're on the path of the Mayan or not, it depends whether you have awakened that in you. The whole path is just that precious little experience. And it doesn't matter how you bring it about. You see, I like kittens and, you know, puppies. It works very well, you know. The traditional example for that is remembering the kindness of one's mother, right? Report an error in the passage at 38:44 Highlight the passage at 38:44

39:13 So you have to find a thing that touches the cords, you know, your emotional cords. Me, the kindness of mother doesn't work, but kittens work very well. you know, you know. Puppy is fantastic. Just seeing a picture or a small video, a kind of YouTube video, it just makes me melt. Report an error in the passage at 39:13 Highlight the passage at 39:13

39:40 And then you see, so I have these puppies and kittens that awaken that. Then I say, oh, all living beings have been kittens. All living beings have been puppies. And then I see all these living beings, puppies, and it makes me just melt for all living beings. So, you see, how you generate this loving compassion is very unique, is very personal. You see, that works for me, but you have to find in your own life experience what touches you. Report an error in the passage at 39:40 Highlight the passage at 39:40

40:13 We're all unique. You see, there's not one universal method that works for everybody. You might be your own child, you know, or it might be, you know, your own dog or your cat. Or it might be some movie you saw, some image in a movie. So you have to find what touches you and then you meditate on that and you universalize it. Report an error in the passage at 40:13 Highlight the passage at 40:13

40:38 You see? It doesn't matter what awakens it. The fact is that you need to awaken it. And then you have to expand it. You have to feed it. You see? It's like that. Report an error in the passage at 40:38 Highlight the passage at 40:38

40:54 If you have a fire and you don't add the log, It dies out, you know, if you don't care for it. You know, I live in Washington State and we have, you know, our source of heat is, you know, wood stove. So if I meditate too long and I forget the fire and it dies out and it's cold, right? So one part of human has to keep on attention, you know, that there's a fire burning there and if you don't take care it's going to die out. Report an error in the passage at 40:54 Highlight the passage at 40:54

41:22 So it's the same thing with the emotion of love and compassion. It's not something you can meditate once in a while and think that it will take care of itself. It's something that you have to constantly work on. And among all the meditation, you see in the bodhicitta, there's no more happy state of mind than the loving and compassionate mind. Report an error in the passage at 41:22 Highlight the passage at 41:22

41:46 The happiest state of mind is that one. You know, among all the meditation you find in the lamrim, the one which will bring you most satisfaction, the most happiness, is the loving, compassionate mind, the kind heart. Report an error in the passage at 41:46 Highlight the passage at 41:46

42:03 And I think you all have experiences like that in your life. You know, when you fell in love, when you saw a child, you know, that feeling, that experience of this open heart. Report an error in the passage at 42:03 Highlight the passage at 42:03

42:23 So our problems is that, not that we don't know, How to generate it, I think we all have had that experience, is that we don't value it enough. See, you don't realize that that's a very precious thing and if that little spark, if I expand it, if I expand my growth, that experience, it transforms it into an amazing enlightened state. Report an error in the passage at 42:23 Highlight the passage at 42:23

42:51 Right? So that little seed, that little fire, you're able to generate something. You don't realize how precious it is. Because it's small, you see, it's like just a little flame like that. No big deal. But you see, if that becomes a huge, you know, wonderful, and then you completely emerge, you say, wow. Report an error in the passage at 42:51 Highlight the passage at 42:51

43:16 Wow. And that light, that warm, transforms into bliss. And you become one in it, and it has no dimension. It's everywhere. And you're that thing. It's just so amazing. Report an error in the passage at 43:16 Highlight the passage at 43:16

43:34 And it ever grows, ever expands. Report an error in the passage at 43:34 Highlight the passage at 43:34

43:40 But you have to work on it. You see, if you don't feed it, it dies out. So it's something that you work day in and day out. It doesn't, how to say, see. Report an error in the passage at 43:40 Highlight the passage at 43:40

43:54 On the bodhisattva path, you reach a level where it becomes effortless. But that's very advanced. You see, before it to become effortless, you have really to work on it, you know, all the time. And the more you work on it, the more it grows. And Report an error in the passage at 43:54 Highlight the passage at 43:54

44:27 I think there's nothing that is more needed in our society. And there's nothing that's more... You see, myself now, you know, I practice for many years. And in my retreats, in my spiritual life, I spend periods of time focusing more on one aspect or another aspect of the spiritual path. And recently, I had this thought, which of these state of mind makes me most happy? Report an error in the passage at 44:27 Highlight the passage at 44:27

45:00 Spiritually, I feel more content. Forget about the teaching, what the Buddha says, what Lama, my teacher says. You know, in my own experience. Report an error in the passage at 45:00 Highlight the passage at 45:00

45:09 You know, now, I don't know, now more than 30 years I practice, so I start having, you know, some kind of, I can say, you know, okay, so from my own experience, what do I think? You know, I look back, I say, which state of mind is the most precious, you know? And I realize the most precious state of mind is the mind of love and compassion, which makes, brings me more satisfaction, you know, which makes me most content, you know? Report an error in the passage at 45:09 Highlight the passage at 45:09

45:36 It's not visualizing deities. It's not meditating on emptiness. It's not reciting prayers. What makes me most happy is the mind of love and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 45:36 Highlight the passage at 45:36

45:50 Because you have that warmth and you feel like a genuine human being, you have a worthwhile life because you have this loving mind. So it's very satisfying. When you're in that loving mind, you don't care about dying. You don't care about your possession. You don't care about people loving you or not loving you. You're just happy. You're content with that loving mind. Report an error in the passage at 45:50 Highlight the passage at 45:50

46:20 So of course it says in the teaching, bodhicitta and mind is the most precious. It always says it. But unless you get that conviction yourself, looking back on your spiritual life, which state of mind made me most happy? Report an error in the passage at 46:20 Highlight the passage at 46:20

46:40 And when you can come to that conclusion, always this loving, compassionate mind that makes you most happy. And if you look all, how to say, the genuine spiritual practitioners that we admire in all traditions, the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, saint, yogi, is always those which have a loving, compassionate mind. Report an error in the passage at 46:40 Highlight the passage at 46:40

47:04 These are the people that inspire us most. It's not those that fly in the sky. It's those which have this genuine warm heart. Report an error in the passage at 47:04 Highlight the passage at 47:04

47:29 So once you know that, you really have to think about it a lot. That's what one calls meditation. It means familiarizing the mind with something. So you really have to think about it. Report an error in the passage at 47:29 Highlight the passage at 47:29

47:52 From many different point of view, really see, is this love and compassion something? First, that I know what it speaks about and if I had that experience in the past, was it really something precious? And how come that I have it sometimes and sometimes not? Right? And when I have it, am I not happier than when I don't have it? Report an error in the passage at 47:52 Highlight the passage at 47:52

48:16 And does not my unsatisfied mind It's stronger when I don't have this loving mind. Isn't that the case? You see, when there's something missing inside, you know, I start looking outside for that pleasure, that happiness. Why? Because there's that thing missing inside. Right? Then instead of making that inner thing grow again, I look for outside, you know, to feel that thing. Report an error in the passage at 48:16 Highlight the passage at 48:16

48:43 Right? But I'm looking in the wrong direction. Right? No matter who you are with, no matter what distraction you enjoy, it never feels that thing missing inside. And once you have that warmth inside, it's okay if this happens, it's okay. You can deal with things of life because you have that inner preciousness. Report an error in the passage at 48:43 Highlight the passage at 48:43

49:23 So the first thing is to realize how precious that is and you really want... To develop it, you see, you really say, oh, really that inner feeling, you know, I had it sometime, you know, precious moment in my life, I want to discover that again. So how do I bring that about? And if I'm able to bring it about, how do I make my life in a way that this never dies out again, but constantly increase, constantly grows? Report an error in the passage at 49:23 Highlight the passage at 49:23

50:06 So the point is really to see, Among all my spiritual practice, the mind of love and compassion is the most important, the one I have to spend the most time with. Report an error in the passage at 50:06 Highlight the passage at 50:06

50:24 And if I do other prayers, if I do other practice, it's always within that state of mind. If I recite mantra, it's within the mind of love and compassion. If I take refuge, it's within the mind of love and compassion. You see, if I recite the text, it's within the mind of love and compassion. You do everything with that mind of love and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 50:24 Highlight the passage at 50:24

50:52 You see, how to say it's the ground on which all the other spiritual flower grows. You see, they grow within the ground of love and compassion. You don't start a practice, a prayer, a meditation without the mind of love and compassion. Because it would be like, Report an error in the passage at 50:52 Highlight the passage at 50:52

51:12 Growing a flower in space, it won't work. It only grows if the seed is in the ground. And the ground is a mind of love and compassion. So you don't start a meditation without having first generated state of mind, no matter how long it takes. You see? Report an error in the passage at 51:12 Highlight the passage at 51:12

51:35 And in traditional Buddhists, we call that, you know, generating bodhicitta, not generating the bodhicitta mind. So we hear the word, right? And we even recite the words. It doesn't mean we feel it. So the point is actually to feel that emotion and you spend whatever time until you generate it. Now in tradition Buddhist it says, you see, you recite millions of mantras without that state of mind, you create some positive potential. Report an error in the passage at 51:35 Highlight the passage at 51:35

52:09 But you recite just one word, one mantra. Within that state of mind, it's like reciting billions of mantras. There's a huge difference whether you have bodhicitta or not. It's multiplied by the number of living beings. So you recite one or money per meal with that mind of love and compassion for living beings. Report an error in the passage at 52:09 Highlight the passage at 52:09

52:33 It's like the benefits multiplied by the number of living beings. And you recite millions of mantras without that state of mind is less powerful than just one moment with that state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 52:33 Highlight the passage at 52:33

52:49 So it's much, you see, much more beneficial to spend an hour inducing that mind and then recite one mantra, you know, with that state of mind. More beneficial than spend an hour reciting prayers without that state of mind. Right? Report an error in the passage at 52:49 Highlight the passage at 52:49

53:14 So same thing, you know, when those... Prostration, you know, it's very good for the body, you know, my first motivation is to keep healthy, you know, I'm very honest, you know, because, you know, as monk, you seek it around a lot, you know, so, you know, the doctor says, you know, you have to be careful, you know, because, you know. Report an error in the passage at 53:14 Highlight the passage at 53:14

53:32 Diabetes comes, overweight, because you should exercise. As a monk, you don't do much. Traditionally, the only thing you advise to do is to do prostrations. So I say, oh, I should do some. It's good for my health. So usually that's my first motivation. And then I say, well, wait a minute. You know? Report an error in the passage at 53:32 Highlight the passage at 53:32

53:57 You know Report an error in the passage at 53:57 Highlight the passage at 53:57

54:01 So let's generate love and compassion. And then, you know, for example, our teacher Lama Zopa Rinpoche often says, you know, one prostration with love and compassion, you know, is like doing as many prostrations as all living beings, right? So again, doing just one virtuous thing with that state of love and compassion multiplies, you know, infinitely compared to doing it without that state of mind, right? Report an error in the passage at 54:01 Highlight the passage at 54:01

54:44 So, and then there's many Thing you can do, once you have awakened a softness, you see, then you have all the mind training tools in order to use all your daily activity to feed it, to not let it degenerate. So you use, you know, so there's things like, you see one thing that I do, you know, it becomes almost spontaneous when I'm not talking, you know, when I'm not doing anything, it goes back to Putting love and compassion on the movement of the brain because you always breathe, right? And once you have that softness in your heart, it's very easy. Report an error in the passage at 54:44 Highlight the passage at 54:44

55:25 You see, you have that warmth in your heart. It's almost like you have a sun in your heart, right? And that softness, that warmth is very cozy. So when you stop speaking or stop... Thinking about this and that, you have that warmness in your heart and naturally you breathe it out, you share it with all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 55:25 Highlight the passage at 55:25

55:50 How to say? Now there's another key point there, Report an error in the passage at 55:50 Highlight the passage at 55:50

55:58 is that the mind of living beings have layers. So how to say? You have the thought level, the conception, the ideas, the mental image, things like that. Right? And you inhale it, you say, you know. Report an error in the passage at 55:58 Highlight the passage at 55:58

56:11 And these ones can induce emotion. When they're linked with feelings, they produce all our different emotions. And these emotions are a little bit more enduring than the thought. You know, the thought, you know, you change ideas all the time. The thought passes constantly, right? And then the emotions are a little bit heavier, more enduring. The thoughts are a little bit here in the head and the emotions are a little bit more in the heart. Report an error in the passage at 56:11 Highlight the passage at 56:11

56:42 A little bit deeper, okay? And then you have the moods, okay? The moods are a little bit emotion you have cultivated over the long time and they are enduring, you know? They are not so much affected by the thought and the emotion. It's like your average state of mind, right? Your mood, kind of like that. Report an error in the passage at 56:42 Highlight the passage at 56:42

57:04 And then below that, you have the subconscious stuff. You know, the memories, the imprints, the habits. So sometimes they bubble up to the surface, but mostly it's like an iceberg. You have the tip and you have all that which is below. And then below that is what the Tibetans call the alaya, or the mind basis of all. Report an error in the passage at 57:04 Highlight the passage at 57:04

57:28 This neutral state of mind in which these imprints are stored. And that mind is neutral. You see, the fundamental nature of the mind is just clear and knowing. It's a pure space of awareness. So it has a clarity, a purity there. You see innately we have this Buddha nature. So how to say it's not like we are fundamentally a rotten being and that we have to transfer a pure state of mind into that rottenness and that purity will somehow You know, dispel that rottenness. It's not like that. It's that fundamentally we have that innate purity in us. Report an error in the passage at 57:28 Highlight the passage at 57:28

58:19 Right? And this disturbed state of mind are like clouds that temporally veil the pure nature of our mind. Right? So, and this love and compassion, you see, gradually dispels these clouds. You know? And You see, when you generate love and compassion with others, if you don't have that understanding that each of these beings, no matter how evil or how screwed up they are, if you don't realize that they have this purity inside, you cannot really generate love and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 58:19 Highlight the passage at 58:19

59:00 You have to attune yourself. You see, even somebody like Mao or Hitler had this pure Buddha nature inside. Yes? Superficially, they were completely mad, crazy, you know, doing, you know, they were evil human beings. Yet each one of them had this Buddha nature, you know. I mean Hitler had a wife and I heard he even had a dog, you know, a puppy. Report an error in the passage at 59:00 Highlight the passage at 59:00

59:32 So you must have had some softness, you know, somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 59:32 Highlight the passage at 59:32

59:42 So you see, when you generate love and compassion for a living being, if you don't realize that living being, each one has a beauty, then it's difficult to generate love and compassion. Because some people superficially are crazy or do harmful things. You cannot avoid looking at that level. But if at that moment you focus on that level, it's difficult to generate love and compassion for them. Report an error in the passage at 59:42 Highlight the passage at 59:42

1:00:10 For example, in politics, some people say, I'll trade your thing. How can I love that person? You cannot love that person at that level because you completely disagree with his or her ideas. But you can change the level and you focus on the level. But this person also has Buddha nature, has this inner purity, even at the moment is very veiled. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:10 Highlight the passage at 1:00:10

1:00:36 But someday, you know, Maybe in a long, long time, but that nature at some point will awaken. So when you generate love for being, you have to attune to that level, to that universal goodness in beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:36 Highlight the passage at 1:00:36

1:01:08 So Shantideva explains that meditation is to realize the equality of self and others, that we all fundamentally are the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:08 Highlight the passage at 1:01:08

1:01:23 So that we all have this Buddha nature, right? And one sign that we have this Buddha nature is that we all wish to be happy. So it says, you know, in Matriya's text, the Uttara Tantra. So it says, why do we all aspire to be happy? So it's that innate knowledge that our true home is happiness. So it's just our Buddha nature calling us. It's our inner being. You see, your true home, your true nature is to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:23 Highlight the passage at 1:01:23

1:01:58 And why you aspire to be happy is because that's what genuinely you deserve. And that all living beings have that. It's Buddha nature. So this understanding is important to really critique this. All living beings. Have this Buddha nature, this inner purity. You see beggars in the street, or you see policemen, or you see something where your mind feels like turning away. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:58 Highlight the passage at 1:01:58

1:02:33 I don't agree, I don't like. So when you catch your mind doing that, go to that other level. Oh, that person also has Buddha nature. That person also wishes to be happy. That person also has... A mind that is clear and knowing, that is unaffected by the clouds of the disturbance that at that moment they experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:33 Highlight the passage at 1:02:33

1:02:57 Go to that level, you see, and one has to take the habit, you see, and then... How to say you can still have the discriminating mind that's at the surface, you know, the cause and condition makes this and that happen. You don't become blind to that level and say, oh, everybody's loving, you know, this kind of, how to say, teenager kind of love or new groupie-like, you know, kind of emotion. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:57 Highlight the passage at 1:02:57

1:03:29 Not that. You see, you don't make your wisdom mind disappear, right? But you're able to... Change the level. At that level, it's true, cause and condition, and that person is not right what he or she is doing. But at the same time, at that level, that person also has this Buddha potential, this clear and knowing nature of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:29 Highlight the passage at 1:03:29

1:03:54 So you're able to tune in. It's almost like you can change the vibration of what you look at. You see, one doesn't negate the other, but you're able to tune in to something else. Instead of looking with the head, you look with the heart, basically, to put it simply. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:54 Highlight the passage at 1:03:54

1:04:20 So, for me, one of the most important meditations, there's two. One is the meditation on the equality of self and other. So, you see, you have to expand your head. How to say, in everyday life, we don't realize it. But mostly we are the center of the universe, right? Me, I'm the center and then is my family, then is my friend, then is my working environment, then is my city, my country. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:20 Highlight the passage at 1:04:20

1:04:55 So we have rings of level of concerns, right? And I'm at the center, right? So it works like that, okay? So now... Working on the equality of self and other, you're able to make a quantum leap where you become one with all living beings. So instead of having this center from which you have these different rings, you go to a level where you're one with everyone. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:55 Highlight the passage at 1:04:55

1:05:30 And that's very difficult to do at the beginning. So you see, you can do it in a privileged moment. And then it disappears, you go back to me, the center and the different rings. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:30 Highlight the passage at 1:05:30

1:05:50 So Shantideva says, you have to concentrate on the idea, as myself I wish to be happy, each and every other living being is in exactly the same thing. And you put yourself in their shoes. You try to feel how life looks like from their perspective. And you identify yourself with them, you know, mentally. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:50 Highlight the passage at 1:05:50

1:06:20 So again, you have to use your life experience. When do I have this identification with others? So for example, myself, I used to play soccer, what you call an American soccer. So when you play soccer, you identify yourself with the 11th team member. You have to know where everyone is. So you are aware of your position on the field, but you're also aware of your... Report an error in the passage at 1:06:20 Highlight the passage at 1:06:20

1:06:49 Ten other filmmakers, because otherwise you cannot play together. So those which have played team sport, like basketball, you know, other. So you know how your mind expands and identifies that situation. You see, instead of being you, there's a part of your mind that expands and becomes one with the ten other player. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:49 Highlight the passage at 1:06:49

1:07:09 Okay? Or another example, you go to a music festival, you know, and you identify with the whole crowd. You become one. Part of you is you, but you're also aware that, oh wow, we're so many, woo! Report an error in the passage at 1:07:09 Highlight the passage at 1:07:09

1:07:27 So you identify yourself with all these people, right? Or you go to a manifestation, more salary, more salary, and the whole crowd walking down the street to the White House. So again, you have yourself shouting and you identify with all these other people. This peace movement, you know, stop the war in Vietnam, you know, all together. So you have this gentrification with this group, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:27 Highlight the passage at 1:07:27

1:07:58 So in the meditation, what I do is like I have a mental slideshow that I pass in front of me. And I stop at each slide, you know, the time it takes. So for example, I identify myself, you know, with the football team, soccer team. And I identify myself with all these people. Or then I imagine myself, you know, at the music festival, you know, Jimi Hendrix, you know, and I imagine myself with the crowd, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:58 Highlight the passage at 1:07:58

1:08:28 So I go through my life experience when I had this crowd feeling of identification, right? And I try to re-experience that, you know, how does it feel when your mind identifies with all these people, right? You see, you have to use your own life experience. When I had that experience, right? And then you try to feel how it feels like when you have this team or you are a boss and you identify with your company and you know what each of your employees is doing, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:28 Highlight the passage at 1:08:28

1:09:02 Or when you're a good employee, you identify yourself, you know, and you're really concerned with the company. You know what each one is doing in the company and how the company does well or not, depending on how... How everybody feels. And when one of your co-workers is sick and he's not there, well, you know it because you have more work, right? So you're affected by each other, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:02 Highlight the passage at 1:09:02

1:09:26 So you have this mind that, you know, or if you have a family and you have many kids, right? So you, how to say you're yourself, but at the same time you know what your four kids do or you're 10 or you're 12 kids, right? So, you know, can... Report an error in the passage at 1:09:26 Highlight the passage at 1:09:26

1:09:44 So this gives you an experience of what it is that have that mind that expands, that identifies with something bigger than you. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:44 Highlight the passage at 1:09:44

1:09:55 And then you can expand yourself to all humanity, to all, you know, you read the news. So nowadays we are quite informed of what's happening in the world. So you read something in the news about a country, then you say, wow, you know, you stop and you identify yourself with all the people of that country. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:55 Highlight the passage at 1:09:55

1:10:15 That part of the world, Iraq, South Africa, Afghanistan. So you let your mind become one with that experience. How does it feel like? And they say, oh, each of these living beings have this Buddha nature. Each one wants to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:15 Highlight the passage at 1:10:15

1:10:36 You see, you familiarize your state of mind with that expansiveness. Not me, I'm the center with these different rings. I am with... I'm concerned about each and every one. Okay? Then you do that with whole humanity. And then you can do that with all living beings, you know, with the sixth realm. Right? But you have to start somewhere with that experience and then you expand it. Right? And then you stabilize it. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:36 Highlight the passage at 1:10:36

1:11:06 How do you stabilize it? It's by going often into that state of mind where human is expanded. Right? And there's something there. It's quite a, how to say, it's a very special experience. When you're in that state of mind where you identify yourself with all living beings, there's no ego there. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:06 Highlight the passage at 1:11:06

1:11:31 The me, you have to stop the me with its opinion about things in order to experience this union. It has to temporarily cease. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:31 Highlight the passage at 1:11:31

1:11:43 So there can be no thought of me when I identify myself with all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:43 Highlight the passage at 1:11:43

1:12:06 So that's part of the path. You see, a Buddha, how does he become omniscient? It's because he identifies himself with all living beings. He has that state of mind genuinely always there. So his mind is that mind that... He's aware of each and every living being all the time. So if you don't start somewhere, you never get there. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:06 Highlight the passage at 1:12:06

1:12:37 So you have to start somewhere and know that that's part of the past, the part of your expansion of consciousness. You see, you will never generate bodhicitta if you don't identify yourself with all living beings and genuinely wish them to be happy and know that it's possible because they have this Buddha nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:37 Highlight the passage at 1:12:37

1:12:59 right? And so you have to start with something you experience and work on that and expand in it and make it frequent. You see, every day you do that a few times. And the more you do it, how to say, the easier it becomes. You see, at the beginning you need many slideshows and then you can say jumps and basically you can put yourself in that state of mind whenever you want. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:59 Highlight the passage at 1:12:59

1:13:27 It's a question of familiarity. And then you do that every day a few times where you become one with all living beings. And you say, oh wow, each and every one of those is like me, has emotion, feeling, and each one like me just wants to be happy. And they all have the potential to be happy because they have this basic purity of their mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:27 Highlight the passage at 1:13:27

1:13:56 So I'm not different from others. We're all the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:56 Highlight the passage at 1:13:56

1:14:05 And then... You start to experience this universal caring. You care for all universal living beings. As you care for yourself, you care for each and every one. Like Shantideva gives the example, you know, like we have one body, right? And then you have your big toe that scratches. Why is the hand going to scratch? You know, it's eating, sorry. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:05 Highlight the passage at 1:14:05

1:14:34 So your big toe is itching, right? So why come that the hand goes down to help the big toe and scratches it to remove the itching? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:34 Highlight the passage at 1:14:34

1:14:46 Shantideva said he shouldn't do that. He said, you see, this is the big toe's problem. Why should the hand go to help it? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:46 Highlight the passage at 1:14:46

1:14:58 This is not logical. He says, well, he said, The hand goes to have the big toe because it's to alleviate suffering and the suffering is universal to the body. It doesn't matter whether it's the big toes or the hands. It's just relieving the suffering of the big toe. It's okay. So he says likewise, you see, suffering, no matter which living being it touches, in the same way you should try to remove it because it's just suffering and nobody likes it. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:58 Highlight the passage at 1:14:58

1:15:31 So he says it's the same thing as the hand. You know, if you're not concerned about the suffering of somebody else, it's the same thing as your hand, not being concerned about the suffering of the big toe. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:31 Highlight the passage at 1:15:31

1:15:47 You see, if you really think about it, his logic, you see, oh, that's what he meant. See? So a bodhisattva cares for all living beings, not because he has love, Tooth Report an error in the passage at 1:15:47 Highlight the passage at 1:15:47

1:16:08 How to say because he has attachment to that person and he wants to help that particular person. No, he wants to remove that suffering just because it's suffering and that nobody wants it. And he just cares about this universal problem. And he wants to alleviate all this universal problem from all universal living beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:08 Highlight the passage at 1:16:08

1:16:31 It doesn't matter whether it's Max's problem or Ingrid's problem or whoever. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:31 Highlight the passage at 1:16:31

1:16:44 So if you generate this mind, that universal mind, where you identify yourself with all living beings, and you focus on each one has this Buddha nature and nobody wants problem. And my problem is not more important than somebody else's problem. It's just problem and wherever there is problem, let's remove it. So if you go into that state of mind, Report an error in the passage at 1:16:44 Highlight the passage at 1:16:44

1:17:13 There's some very precious insight that you gain. Wow, that's a state of mind you never experienced before. There's something very particular where you identify with all living beings. It's a very precious experience. Once you have that, you say, wow, that's amazing. It doesn't feel like alien. It almost feels like returning home. It feels like, wow, that's actually much more awakened than my normal state where I'm the center and there's all these different rings. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:13 Highlight the passage at 1:17:13

1:17:59 There's a lot of peace there and a lot of wisdom, a lot of caring. How to say there's a silence there and a caring. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:59 Highlight the passage at 1:17:59

1:18:15 And almost like a new wisdom, a new way of looking at life from that perspective. And almost like, how to say, Report an error in the passage at 1:18:15 Highlight the passage at 1:18:15

1:18:31 within that state of mind you realize, wow, that's my job for eternity. As long as that is, you know. You see, once you're in that state of mind, it doesn't matter whether you are alive, whether you have a family, whether you live alone, whether you have a job, whether you have no job. Whether you have many friends or whether you live alone, it's a state of mind that wherever you are, the purpose of your life is to alleviate suffering wherever it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:31 Highlight the passage at 1:18:31

1:19:05 So in this life, it might be just to alleviate the suffering of your partner or your child or your puppy. But it's a state of mind. That will last your whole life, that you're going to die with that state of mind. You will be in the intermediate state with that state of mind and you will take rebirth in that state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:05 Highlight the passage at 1:19:05

1:19:25 And wherever you are, you live within that state of mind. The purpose of my life is to help whoever is in front of me. You know? And it doesn't matter who it is. It might be my partner, it might be my child, and it might be a total stranger. And it's no difference. And I will use whatever wisdom I have to help this and that person. Good enough. And that's my state of mind and that's how I pass through life. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:25 Highlight the passage at 1:19:25

1:19:57 So that's the insight you get when you identify yourself, you know, with all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:57 Highlight the passage at 1:19:57

1:20:08 So there's an expansion of your head, you know, an expansion in a sense you become one with all living beings and you care for all these living beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:08 Highlight the passage at 1:20:08

1:20:22 And it's a very precious state of mind to experience. So you have to use, you see, how you start. You start by remembering situations where you had that experience in a limited way, where you identify yourself with your family or with your company or with your team. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:22 Highlight the passage at 1:20:22

1:20:46 And then you expand. You see, on that base, you expand it. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:46 Highlight the passage at 1:20:46

1:20:54 Because if you don't start from something you experience, it becomes artificial, it just becomes head created. You see, that state of mind starts from the heart as an expansion of your consciousness where you become one with. It's not a concept in the head, it's you genuinely expand and you become one with the other. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:54 Highlight the passage at 1:20:54

1:21:18 And then you rest in that state of mind and you say, how does it feel? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:18 Highlight the passage at 1:21:18

1:21:29 And then on that base, You add the emotional content. On that base of you identify yourself with the maximum of people, then you generate the warmth. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:29 Highlight the passage at 1:21:29

1:21:44 Then you say, oh, all these beings. Then you try to make that warmth. You remember your child or your puppy or that movie you saw that touched your heart or that music that touched your heart. So you remember see Report an error in the passage at 1:21:44 Highlight the passage at 1:21:44

1:22:02 That warmth, okay? Then you generate that warmth towards that puppy or that child or that partner. And then you say, okay, as I'm able to generate it with that special person, let's experience exactly the same with all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:02 Highlight the passage at 1:22:02

1:22:19 Right? And then you expand that heart, that warmth, you know, to each and every living being. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:19 Highlight the passage at 1:22:19

1:22:40 And then the more you do it, you see, the more you can expand, you identify. identification with all living beings and The more you do it, the quicker you can bring it and the stronger you can bring it. It's not like, you see at the beginning it needs a lot of effort, but the more you do it, the more effortless it becomes, the easier it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:40 Highlight the passage at 1:22:40

1:23:10 You see, you let never the fire completely die out. So as soon as you think I've been again, you can wow, you know, it becomes very strong, you know. Then you forget you're busy with life, you know, and it slowly fades away. But before it goes too far, you know, you bring it up again, you know, and so it ever expands, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:23:10 Highlight the passage at 1:23:10

1:23:30 And the more you expand it, the more warmth and the more cozy, you know, the more you feel you have this precious treasure inside. So one of the 22 similes, it says that that state of mind is like a wish-fulfilling jewel. Whatever you want comes out of that experience. All the insights into life, all the clairvoyances, all the blisses, all the joys, all the fearlessness, all the removal of mental affliction, all comes from this ever-expanding heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:30 Highlight the passage at 1:23:30

1:24:20 Dedication prayer that we recite, you see, may that precious mind of bodhicitta which has not been born, arise and go. And may that which has been born never degenerate but increase more and more. So what it speaks about is about that mind. We recite the words, but it speaks about that experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:20 Highlight the passage at 1:24:20

1:24:47 So we recite the words, but if you don't have the experience, it doesn't mean much. It just becomes mumbling something. Right? So you have to relate it. That's what he speaks about, is this precious inner warmth. And I have to generate it. And there's nothing more precious in my life than to generate it and to ever expanding it. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:47 Highlight the passage at 1:24:47

1:25:10 There's no Mahāyāna spiritual path without that. You see? And that's, you see? It always says in the teaching, the heart of the path is bodhicitta. Whether you are on the path or not is whether you have bodhicitta. So we hear the words in so many countless different ways. But what it relates to is to that experience inside. So you have to induce it by no matter the way what works for you. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:10 Highlight the passage at 1:25:10

1:25:42 Whether the traditional Tibetan way of six cause one effect or exchange self or other works for you, fine. If not, find your own way from your own life experience. Me, the puppies work very well. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:42 Highlight the passage at 1:25:42

1:25:59 And my football team, you know, my soccer team also works very well. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:59 Highlight the passage at 1:25:59

1:26:08 You see, at some point you have to make the teaching genuine for you. You see, what works for me in my culture. For my education, for my life. You see, what the teaching speaks about, how can I relate it to my own experience? It's very important. You know, we are not Tibetan, we are not Asian, we are not that. You see, it might work for Tibetan in their culture, you know, but we are Westerner, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:08 Highlight the passage at 1:26:08

1:26:36 You know, we grew up in our own culture, right? So you have to use triggers, you know. You see, it's a question of finding the right trigger, right? What from your own experience triggers this state of mind that they are talking about and how you can expand that. So you see spiritual development, how to say, another person cannot transfer its realization into you. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:36 Highlight the passage at 1:26:36

1:27:06 You have to do the work. He can only share with you how it worked for him or how it worked for his forefather in his tradition. But that doesn't help it to bring it about you. It can only share that much. So what it says in teaching, the Buddhas cannot transfer the realization into us. So we have to find our own ways. They can only share what works for them. Then you have to find your own way. So it needs a lot of honesty. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:06 Highlight the passage at 1:27:06

1:27:43 To see being a genuine spiritual practitioner needs to be How to say, being very honest with oneself, very humble and really, how to say, you cannot parrot the practice of your teacher, it won't work. You see, you might try, you know, you can recite 100,000 of this, 100,000 of that and a million of this and a million of that, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:43 Highlight the passage at 1:27:43

1:28:14 You can do it. But you see, if you don't find a way, To move the string, the inner guitar, the string inside that moves you, it won't work. So you have to make a link between the tradition practice and your own life. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:14 Highlight the passage at 1:28:14

1:28:47 So normally in spiritual practice, in the Mayana, it always starts with these two states of mind. One is the mind of refuge and then the mind of bodhicitta. So you do all within these two states of mind. So for me, there's no more practice than that. There's refuge and bodhicitta. That's the heart of the spiritual path. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:47 Highlight the passage at 1:28:47

1:29:11 Refuge means what? It means inside you connect yourself with your enlightened mind. You see you have the outer refuge, you have the inner refuge. So the outer refuge... You communicate with all these beings that reach their highest potential, that have purified their mind, have become one with this enlightened state. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:11 Highlight the passage at 1:29:11

1:29:39 So you can imagine that like a space of goodness full of light and bliss and joy and love. That would be like connecting to the Dharmakaya, the basic enlightened state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:39 Highlight the passage at 1:29:39

1:29:55 So that's one level you can take refuge. So sometimes I like to do that. I don't like to visualize all these things. Sometimes I'm just in state of mind. I don't want to become one or entrust myself to the light, to that purity, that goodness, that universal mind. Whether you call it God, Buddha, nature, at all the level you want. It doesn't matter. What's important is the experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:55 Highlight the passage at 1:29:55

1:30:26 So philosophically there's many distinctions and differences. It doesn't matter. What matters at that level is the experience. So you try to genuinely realize that I'm a limited human being and there's something much bigger than me. There's a level of consciousness that's much bigger than me. So I entrust myself to that bigness, that purity. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:26 Highlight the passage at 1:30:26

1:30:56 That enlightened state to that light, to that bliss, to that love. You simply open your heart and you entrust yourself to that space and you try to become one with that space. So that's taking refuge in Dharmakaya. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:56 Highlight the passage at 1:30:56

1:31:19 Then you can take refuge in the Sambhogakaya level. So within that space of goodness, of light and bliss, you see these enlightened beings, they crystallize. Into light energy form. So that's the level of all the deities, the Buddhas, the angels, all these enlightened beings. So they take form for those which like form, which can communicate, which can relate to form, to different aspects. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:19 Highlight the passage at 1:31:19

1:31:50 So that's all the practice, like visualizing Chenrezig, Tara, Jesus, whoever. So it's the crystallization of that purity. You see, it's the embodiment of that enlightenment state with all these different facets. So some people, in some practice, want to focus on that, on those beings. So sometimes one can take refuge at that level. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:50 Highlight the passage at 1:31:50

1:32:19 For example, when one does the Guru Yoga of Lama Tsongkhapa, he's on that level. One does Lama Chapa. Sambu Gakkai, amen. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:19 Highlight the passage at 1:32:19

1:32:28 It's that level. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:28 Highlight the passage at 1:32:28

1:32:32 Then you can take refuge at the level. Sometimes you say, okay, the space of goodness, I don't know. I cannot relate to that space. I cannot relate to all these deities. I haven't seen anyone. But I can relate to some human beings that I see with some genuine purity. I can, I'm inspired by His Holiness, Dalai Lama, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, you know, your teacher. Say, oh, these are genuine human beings which have a loving heart and that's I can relate to, you know, they are at my level and I can see they have more qualities than me and I respect that. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:32 Highlight the passage at 1:32:32

1:33:09 So I take refuge in that, okay? So sometimes, you know, that's why it's good, you know, sometimes to go to teaching or to see this genuine being. Or watch a video, think it inspires, say, oh, wow, they're like me, they're in human body, I can see them, and they have these qualities. So you see, then you take refuge at those beings, and then that's taking refuge at the Nirmanakaya level. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:09 Highlight the passage at 1:33:09

1:33:34 So you see, when you take refuge, you can take refuge at these three different levels outside. And then there's a fourth level where you can take refuge in your own Buddha nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:34 Highlight the passage at 1:33:34

1:33:48 So sometimes you can visualize the Buddha in your heart and you take refuge in your own Buddha in your own heart. So that's your own future. You see you have the potential of this tiny Buddha becoming this big Buddha. So you take refuge in your Buddha to be in your heart. So sometimes it's very effective, you see, to take refuge in the Buddha in your heart and you can also visualize the deities in your heart or the gurus in your heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:48 Highlight the passage at 1:33:48

1:34:20 You know, instead of thinking they're outside, that they're unrelated to you, you visualize them inside and you take refuge in your own, you see, and that somehow it touches something because outside you think it's unrelated to me. They have these qualities and I aspire to them but I'm not there. If you visualize them in your heart, somewhere it's closer, you know, and it's, oh, it's in me. You see, in the Guru Yoga practice, the Refuge practice in Tantra, you first visualize the teacher in front or in space, the Buddhas in front, then you make them come on top of your heart, and then they become into your heart, and then they become one with your heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:20 Highlight the passage at 1:34:20

1:35:01 They become indivisible, right? What's the... The psychology of it is to make you realize that the Buddhas are not outside. It's your own mind that is Buddha, that at one level you're one with them. In that experience of the universal mind, you're one with all these enlightened beings. They're not outside your consciousness. They're within your consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:01 Highlight the passage at 1:35:01

1:35:26 So you see when you have that experience where you expand yourself, you become one with all living beings. You also realize you are one with all the Buddhas, with all the realized beings. They are not outside your consciousness, they are within your consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:26 Highlight the passage at 1:35:26

1:35:46 You see, how to say there is nothing outside your consciousness. Your consciousness pervades all that exists. In the same way that the consciousness of a Buddha pervades all that exists, your own consciousness pervades all that exists. Now, not your sixth consciousness, not your sight, sound, smell, taste and touch or your mental consciousness. It doesn't speak about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:46 Highlight the passage at 1:35:46

1:36:15 It speaks about a more subtle level of your consciousness that you start experiencing when you expand your heart and you identify yourself with all living beings. It's that consciousness purified that becomes this omniscient consciousness. See? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:15 Highlight the passage at 1:36:15

1:36:35 So it's really an expansion of consciousness and an expansion of the heart, of the emotion of love. So that's the Mayana path. So you start where you are and you work on it to ever expand it. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:35 Highlight the passage at 1:36:35

1:36:59 So the refuge practice, it can be expanded, you see, into the Guru Yoga and the Seven Limas. The prayer of the seven limbs. So all this is to purify the heart, you see, to open the heart, to overcome the hardness, the rockness, the coldness that is in one's heart. So the seven limb prayer, the offering of mandala, the Guru Yoga, praying to Guru, receiving the blessing, all this is to open the heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:59 Highlight the passage at 1:36:59

1:37:32 All this is to help you to generate love and compassion. You see, these two practices, refuge, guru yoga and Lama, they're related. They help each other. So if one falls apart, the other one falls apart. Because they're related to your innermost emotion. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:32 Highlight the passage at 1:37:32

1:38:00 So again, you cannot mimic the prayers of your teacher. You have to find the prayers that Touch your innermost cord. That's why, you know, why there's not only one guru yoga? Why you have hundreds? It's because for different yogis, for different people, you know, different practices touches their cord, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:38:00 Highlight the passage at 1:38:00

1:38:25 So amongst the mantras, amongst the singing, amongst the prayer, you have to find the one that touches you, you see? And then you work on that one, you know? And it might be different from your partner or, you know, or even from your teacher. So you have to find something that works for you and you work on that. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:25 Highlight the passage at 1:38:25

1:39:06 And then if you can do that on the cushion, expanding your head, identify yourself with all beings. Once you have that and you do it on your cushion, then each time you walk in the street, you identify yourself with all the beings that work there. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:06 Highlight the passage at 1:39:06

1:39:26 So instead of just being you, you expand. You use whatever your life experience. You know, your company, you identify with all the workers, with your family, you understand all the people in your household. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:26 Highlight the passage at 1:39:26

1:39:41 Wherever you are, you use your mind to familiarize with that expansion. You know, in the city, you know, you fly, you know, so you use whatever your life experience to familiarize yourself with that expansion of consciousness. You see that that's part of the... That's part of the path to expand your consciousness. And each one you relate to, oh, all these beings, they're like me, they want to be happy. And then comes, you see, once you have that genuine feeling, oh, all like me want to be happy, no one wants to have any problem. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:41 Highlight the passage at 1:39:41

1:40:16 And you soak your heart in that realization. You see, at the beginning it's quite superficial, but what happens is that it becomes more and more deep. It becomes really like, wow, this thing, I like it, I just want to be happy. And you reach a point where it doesn't make any difference whether I make me happy or I make that person happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:16 Highlight the passage at 1:40:16

1:40:43 How to say whether you're happy or that person happy, it makes you the same level of happiness. Before it was more important me to be happy than them. You reach a point where it doesn't make any more difference. And Shantideva says there's a point where it makes you more happy when you make that person happy than this one. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:43 Highlight the passage at 1:40:43

1:41:05 You get more satisfaction if he smiles than when you smile. It's amazing. And then you become more and more smart to make other people happy. How can I make that person smile? Report an error in the passage at 1:41:05 Highlight the passage at 1:41:05

1:41:22 What kind of joke can I crack to bring him out of his dark mood? What can I play with that kitten so that he gets happy? So you see, your mind starts thinking, how can I make other people happy? And you become kind of, your happiness is to make other people happy. Your joy is to make other people happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:22 Highlight the passage at 1:41:22

1:41:49 So Shantideva says like that, the selfish mind, How to say, the low spiritual mind thinks, you know, if I give that away, what I have left to enjoy. And then he says, the enlightened mind is that if I enjoy this, what I have left to give. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:49 Highlight the passage at 1:41:49

1:42:09 So you see, it completely reverses the point that other people around you are more important than you, but not in the sense that they're more important. I have to be measurable. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:09 Highlight the passage at 1:42:09

1:42:24 You see, I have to make other people happy and I have to be miserable. That's not the idea. You see, the more you concern other people happy, the more you're able to make other people happy, the more you're happy yourself. Your satisfaction comes by making other people happy. And the more you're in that state of mind, it's like a wish-fulfilling spring. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:24 Highlight the passage at 1:42:24

1:42:49 The more you do it, the more joy you have, the more energy you have to give. know, it can, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:49 Highlight the passage at 1:42:49

1:42:53 The more intelligent you become. Those which have been little bit around Lama Zopa Rinpoche is a very good example. Every moment, how can I make that person? What can I do? He always thinks, oh, what present can I give to this or that person? What can I say? Oh, that person asks me, oh, what can I say? Report an error in the passage at 1:42:53 Highlight the passage at 1:42:53

1:43:18 How to say, he's so tired he falls asleep in the middle of it. Then he wakes up, oh what can I make other people happy? So his whole energy is about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:18 Highlight the passage at 1:43:18

1:43:31 Kind of like that. So for example, I heard recently, he had a stroke in Australia. So he was in the hospital and the doctor tried to explain to him how serious his situation was and give the technical term of his sickness. He wasn't at all interested. He was thinking, oh, how can I make the nurse happy that has been so kind to me? How can I make people happy? Oh, I will make prayer for the success of the hospital and things. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:31 Highlight the passage at 1:43:31

1:43:58 No, completely just concerned about thinking about that. He wasn't at all care about his body, about his serious things. No, his mind is constantly thinking, how do I make him happy? And how to say, Report an error in the passage at 1:43:58 Highlight the passage at 1:43:58

1:44:14 For him, it's not false, it's spontaneous. It's his state of mind, his state of being, and it creates people sometimes crazy around him, like me. I cannot handle him very long because my ego goes crazy. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:14 Highlight the passage at 1:44:14

1:44:32 You know, you say, wow, for me, he's like a person from another planet. He's not a normal human being. How can you be like that? But that's what bodhicitta, that's that mind, only caring about time. You don't care about yourself. And he doesn't look miserable. Among the beings that I know, he's always laughing, giggling, happy, joyous. So it doesn't make him miserable of thinking of other people's happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:32 Highlight the passage at 1:44:32

1:45:05 He makes him genuinely happy. I never saw such a happy human being in Rinpoche. So that, you see, that's a human example of that bodhicitta. His Holiness Dalai Lama, those which have, you know, the chance of being little, is exactly the same. Only thinking, you know, completely out there, how can I help people? And he's so blissed out and so joyous, he's so communicative, you know. He's a laugher, everybody laughs, even if he doesn't know why, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:05 Highlight the passage at 1:45:05

1:45:36 But he's so communicative, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:45:36 Highlight the passage at 1:45:36

1:46:01 So as a conclusion, you see, you have to realize, You have to check your own life whether it's true or not, that this precious mind of love and compassion is the most precious state of mind you've ever experienced. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:01 Highlight the passage at 1:46:01

1:46:17 Is it true or not that you were the happiest when you were loving, when you were kind? And once you realize, I say, okay, this... The Mahāyāna tradition says there's no more happy state of mind than that. There's no state of mind that purifies more the mental affliction or the negative karma than that. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:17 Highlight the passage at 1:46:17

1:46:37 There's no quicker way to reach enlightenment than to generate that mind. So your experience corrobors what the teaching says. So you know from your experience what the teaching says is right. And when I look at my teacher, I see that they all... Have one thing in common, they have that state of mind. And if you look at the lineage Lama or the saints and yogis of the past, they all have this loving, kind mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:37 Highlight the passage at 1:46:37

1:47:11 So you realize that what a spiritually advanced mind is, is a mind that has this love and compassion. So then you say, okay, this is the most important thing I have to work on in my own life. You have to make that determination. So normally, once one generates that state of mind, if one takes the bodhisattva vows, you're supposed to generate that state of mind six times a day. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:11 Highlight the passage at 1:47:11

1:47:37 You have to not recite the words six times a day, but you have to generate that state of mind six times a day. The words are supposed to help you to remind yourself to generate that state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:37 Highlight the passage at 1:47:37

1:47:54 So once you have taken that determination, you say, okay, that's my most important practice. And then Report an error in the passage at 1:47:54 Highlight the passage at 1:47:54

1:48:04 Shantideva says, in the first chapter, he speaks about the beauty of that state of mind. There's no more amazing state of mind than that. Then he says, in order to make that state of mind mine, I have to purify my heart. And then he makes all these offerings and does the seven limb prayer, you know, to purify his mind. In order to make the state of my mind, I have to remove the obscuration within my mind, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:04 Highlight the passage at 1:48:04

1:48:40 So he does his seven limb prayer. Then at the end of the seven limb prayer, he takes the bodhisattva vows. And in front of all the Buddha, he takes, now I'm generating this precious state of mind and I take the commitment to live all living beings. To enlightenment. I will never cease until one living being remains. Then it creates great joy. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:40 Highlight the passage at 1:48:40

1:49:04 Wow, finally this awakened state of mind has been born within me. Now I should act in accordance with that state of mind. I should never let it degenerate and I should constantly make it increase and live according to that state of mind. How a bodhisattva is supposed to live. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:04 Highlight the passage at 1:49:04

1:49:33 So, you see, doing Guru Yoga, Refuge this prayer, is in order, the conclusion, once you do that and you become one with this mind, then you generate that state of mind. You see, these prayers are, they are supposed to make your heart soft, your heart gentle, your heart, you know, transform the stone in your heart into a light, you know, allowing a softness, a gentleness. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:33 Highlight the passage at 1:49:33

1:50:01 Then you become one with that and you expand it through this thinking of becoming one with all living beings and remembering the thing that generates this warmth, these beings around you that generate that inner softness. Traditionally, it's to remember the kindness of the mother. Why the kindness of the mother? It's because normally the mother has been so kind and has made her so happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:01 Highlight the passage at 1:50:01

1:50:29 So you think about the kindness of the mother traditionally, and then you have natural dislove for her because she has been so kind. So for me, the puppy is so kind to me because he's so fluffy and kind of falling down, the tail moving like this, and so innocent and so, how to say, fragile. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:29 Highlight the passage at 1:50:29

1:50:59 If I'm not careful and I walk on it, he dies. So he's very fragile and so sweet. So he makes me so happy. Just seeing him makes me happy. So love is wanting to repay that kindness. The happiness you have received, so naturally you want to pay it back. So that's love. Love is wishing that person to be happy. So that person has to make you happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:59 Highlight the passage at 1:50:59

1:51:27 So naturally you wish that person to be happy. It's almost like a spontaneous reaction. Traditionally, one does that with the mother. You can do it with a puppy, a kitten, or your partner, your child, it doesn't matter. The point is the emotion that it generates. So you have to find that thing that generates that emotion, then you universalize it, you make it grow. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:27 Highlight the passage at 1:51:27

1:52:03 So that's, I think, the most precious thing. Now, how do you bring that in your everyday life? You see, that's a problem, you see, because, how to say, you can do that on your cushion, you know, you might be able to generate that on your cushion, but then you meet that troublemaker, you know, and suddenly your heart closes up, you know, that person is really awful, Report an error in the passage at 1:52:03 Highlight the passage at 1:52:03

1:52:35 you know, somehow not possible, right? And then, how to say, that worm disappears. It becomes cold and you are again unhappy. So that person has made you, that warmth inside, disappear. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:35 Highlight the passage at 1:52:35

1:53:03 So Shantideva in the chapter on patience says, I should not let that happen. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:03 Highlight the passage at 1:53:03

1:53:13 He says that, how to say, I shouldn't let any person irritate me, make me unhappy. He says that if you let that happen, your own inner happiness goes away and you should not let that happen. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:13 Highlight the passage at 1:53:13

1:53:57 And then he says, you see, if there's a solution to the problem, you just apply the solution. There's no point to get unhappy. If you have a problem with somebody, you just solve it. So no need to get unhappy about it, just do what needs to be done. And if there's no solution to the problem, why get unhappy? There's no solution, no problem. To get unhappy doesn't help. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:57 Highlight the passage at 1:53:57

1:54:28 So I meditate weeks and months on that sentence. It's very, very important to realize that. You see, if you have a problem with somebody, if getting unhappy about it would help, then there's a reason to get unhappy. But it doesn't help. So he said, what's the use of getting unhappy if you have a problem with somebody? It doesn't help at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:28 Highlight the passage at 1:54:28

1:54:56 It just makes your mind unhappy. And on top of that, he says this unhappy mind is an unvirtuous mind. And whatever you're going to think, say or do will be negative karma. So there's no benefit at all to generate that unhappy mind. So he said, I should never let my mind get unhappy. If there's a solution to a problem, I just say or do what needs to be done to change the situation. And if there's no problem, in both cases, the unhappy mind doesn't benefit at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:56 Highlight the passage at 1:54:56

1:55:32 That's easier said than done. In practice, it seems that somebody bothers you. There's a kind of automatic reaction. The mind becomes unhappy. This needs a lot of work. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:32 Highlight the passage at 1:55:32

1:55:46 Then you have to work on the mindfulness. Become aware. You see, because it happens so fast. How does somebody bother you, say some unkind words or criticize? And unnaturally, you see, there's a fraction of second between that thing coming and your reaction of being unhappy and snapping back. The gaps are very small. So you need a lot of concentration, mindfulness to slow down the process, to become aware and get control before you react. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:46 Highlight the passage at 1:55:46

1:56:23 And you reach a point where you can. First, you remember it after. Oh, that was silly. That was no beneficial. Then you can start stopping your mind before it goes there. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:23 Highlight the passage at 1:56:23

1:56:41 And then even you can stop it before. When your mind starts, that person says something unkind or criticizes or does something you don't like. So you expect your mind to react and you stop it before. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:41 Highlight the passage at 1:56:41

1:57:06 And that prevents, you see, your loving mind, that jewel that you may grow in your heart from disappearing. So you have to work on that. You see, on one side you make it grow, and then on the other side you prevent the difficult situation of your life, you prevent it to become an obstacle for it to grow. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:06 Highlight the passage at 1:57:06

1:57:37 So I think this is the heart of the spiritual path. If you work on that, you will find real happiness, and a happiness, you see, When you fall asleep with that state of mind, it's fantastic. At night, you sleep there, you have that warmth in your heart, and may all beings be happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:37 Highlight the passage at 1:57:37

1:58:00 So you fall asleep with doing giving and taking on the breath. You give love with exhaling, you take with compassion. So it says in the practice, if you're familiarized with that, if you die with that state of mind, you don't have any worry, any fear. That state of loving and compassion leads you to a good place when you die. That takes care of everything. Actually, when you experience that generally, there's no fear. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:00 Highlight the passage at 1:58:00

1:58:28 When you have love and compassion, you have no fear of death, you have no fear of sickness. You have no fear of loneliness. And on top of that, Shantideva said, when you're in that state of mind, whatever you think, say or do, weakness, you know, all the problems Report an error in the passage at 1:58:28 Highlight the passage at 1:58:28

1:58:46 It's kind to others, so you create positive karma that attracts goodness in your life. If you have love and compassion, you have many friends, everybody likes you, even if you don't want them to be around you. You like honey, you attract all the people around you. You want to be alone. All the beautiful handsome guy and girls come around you. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:46 Highlight the passage at 1:58:46

1:59:07 You don't know why. It's just your love and compassion. Everybody likes a loving person. Everybody wants to go to visit a loving person, you know? So you see, even though you don't want to attract people, people are attracted to you because of your love and compassion. So check, you see, if you check around the people around you, those you like, you will realize that these which have love and compassion, which are genuinely warm human beings, you like them. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:07 Highlight the passage at 1:59:07

1:59:39 And people which are cold, selfish, arrogant. You don't like them. So in the same thing, they are for you. If you're loving and compassionate, people will love you. And they like to be around you and they like to be helped. If you have problems, they naturally want to help you. Love, compassion attracts all the goodness in life. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:39 Highlight the passage at 1:59:39

2:00:04 So Shantideva says that. He says, forget about enlightenment. You see, if you don't have any love and compassion, even in this life you're not happy. You don't attract goodness. Whether if you have love and compassion, even if you don't own the worldly happiness, you attract it. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:04 Highlight the passage at 2:00:04

2:00:48 So the trick for me is first you have to generate on the cushion, in your meditation. This mind that universalizes becomes one and genuinely cares for all living beings. Right? Report an error in the passage at 2:00:48 Highlight the passage at 2:00:48

2:01:03 And then you have to bring about this warmth, you know, genuinely try to feel this warmth for one human being, and then you expand it to two, three, five, ten, hundred thousand, you know, whatever you can. But you have to stay on the genuine side, right? If at the moment you care for ten human beings, you care for ten, not for a hundred or a thousand. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:03 Highlight the passage at 2:01:03

2:01:26 You try to stay... Sincere, you know, I feel that much. And then you work on expanding it, right? But you start from your experience. You don't start on the conceptual intellectual level. You have to start on the emotional level, you know, and you expand it and genuinely feel, right? And then once you're able to do that on the cushion, you bring it about when you walk down the street, you bring it out with your working colleagues. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:26 Highlight the passage at 2:01:26

2:01:57 You bring it out with your partner, your children, and whatever your life, people around you. You don't need to become Mother Teresa in Calcutta. You use whatever life you have and you work, that's your mandala. It's your life with the people you meet at the corner of the street, the people in your life. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:57 Highlight the passage at 2:01:57

2:02:22 So that's your working field. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:22 Highlight the passage at 2:02:22

2:02:28 It's very interesting when you study the lineage Lama, the yogis of the past, in different lives. So in some lives, these high advanced yogis have a very anonymous life. They just have a partner, a few kids, and they take care of their field in their little village. And in other lives, they're a big teacher with many students. And then after that, they're again an anonymous guy, you know, waving. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:28 Highlight the passage at 2:02:28

2:02:58 Things at the side of the road. So you see, once you have that state of mind, it doesn't matter, you have eternity. You see, it's a state of mind that ever grows and you have eternity to make you grow and you have eternity to make all beings happy. You don't need to do everything in this life. In this life, it's just the people around you. And next life, again, is the people around you. And in some life, you have a karma to be a teacher. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:58 Highlight the passage at 2:02:58

2:03:24 Sometimes you have a... Karma to be like a householder, sometimes you have karma to be a businessman, a soccer player or whatever. It doesn't matter. You see, it's whatever. You see, you don't need to be somebody else. Where you are is the perfect spot to be. And the person you help are the people here, around you. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:24 Highlight the passage at 2:03:24

2:03:47 Kind of like that. So you don't need to become a monk, you don't need to become a teacher. It's whatever. Your job is perfect. Your family is perfect. You don't need any other situation than the one you have. And that's where you work. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:47 Highlight the passage at 2:03:47

2:04:15 So in that sense, you see, there's always three refuges, you know, Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. So Buddha are the beings that inspire us, right? The teacher, you know, the people that are more advanced than us. So they inspire us by their... By their genuine experience or kind like that. And then there's the teaching, the method that works for us. And then there's the Saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:15 Highlight the passage at 2:04:15

2:04:42 So it's the community of beings that are like-minded that genuinely want to develop this inner world. So to have like-minded friends which have the same is very precious. You see, alone, you know, because... How to say when you're an advanced practitioner, it doesn't matter where you live, with whom you live, because your inner strength is so strong that it overpowers whatever environment you are in. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:42 Highlight the passage at 2:04:42

2:05:10 But at the beginning, one's practice is very weak, one's selfishness is very strong, right? So you need to have a supportive environment. So to have a Dharma group, a center, you know. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:10 Highlight the passage at 2:05:10

2:05:25 To be part of a community of like one is very helpful because, you see, you forget it, you get out of tracks and you connect again with these people and again it reminds yourself of that inner world. So that's why there's this refuge of Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. Again, it doesn't have to be the ultimate Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:25 Highlight the passage at 2:05:25

2:05:48 You have to be practical. Who is my refuge? Who is my Buddha? Who is my Dharma? Who is my Saṅgha practically? And then work on that. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:48 Highlight the passage at 2:05:48

2:06:14 So how to say the Dalai Lama? There's a very good book I advise people to read. I read it, I think, three times in the last few months. It's Beyond Religion by the Dalai Lama. And there inside Report an error in the passage at 2:06:14 Highlight the passage at 2:06:14

2:06:32 He says, you see, the mind of love and compassion doesn't mean that you have no attachment, that you have no desire, that you have no anger, that you have no jealousy, that you have no pride. These emotions in the right context, they have a benefit, they have a use. It's when they go out of proportion that they are unnatural. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:32 Highlight the passage at 2:06:32

2:06:57 So also he said the mind of love and compassion is not that you say yes, amen to everything everybody do. So you can have love and compassion, you can be wrathful. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:57 Highlight the passage at 2:06:57

2:07:10 You see, for example, you have your child that crosses the street and there are cars, so you shout to stop him or her. At that moment you say, no, no, yes, yes, it's not the point. So your love and compassion sometimes can manifest in a wrathful, angry way. You know? Report an error in the passage at 2:07:10 Highlight the passage at 2:07:10

2:07:27 But your motivation is to help. So it doesn't mean how to say, yes, yes, everybody is nice, everybody is loving, yes, I will do everything you want. No, that's not the point. So you see, love and compassion doesn't mean you agree with... The mistakes of people with their delusion, with their hang-ups, with their anger, their pride, their jealousy, their attachment. No, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:07:27 Highlight the passage at 2:07:27

2:08:03 You know, it's not like the 60s, the flower power, you know, with the flower in the head, you know, love, love, love, you know? No, no. You know, there's a wisdom side there, you know? You have to be genuine, practical and use your wisdom, what's right, what's wrong. You see, love and compassion doesn't negate. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:03 Highlight the passage at 2:08:03

2:08:22 The conventional reality. But you see, even if you say no, somebody has some desire towards you and your wisdom says, that's not right. So you say, look, that's not right. But you see, saying that's not right doesn't make you lose your love for that or your compassion for that person. On that level, you still have love, but you can say no out of love. That's not right what you want. That's not correct. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:22 Highlight the passage at 2:08:22

2:08:52 Right? Report an error in the passage at 2:08:52 Highlight the passage at 2:08:52

2:08:56 So that, you see, needs a lot of wisdom, a lot of work to make it actually be able to, that you can say no without losing the warmth in your heart. You see? So you, yeah, it takes a while to be able to do that. You see? You need to be quite familiarized with that warmth in the heart. It starts to have a certain independence from your head, from your, you know, Report an error in the passage at 2:08:56 Highlight the passage at 2:08:56

2:09:23 With the practicality of everyday life. You don't need to agree with the fullness, with the delusion of other people. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:23 Highlight the passage at 2:09:23

2:09:35 Okay, I've spoken enough for tonight, so if you have any questions, you're welcome. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:35 Highlight the passage at 2:09:35

2:09:43 Yes. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:43 Highlight the passage at 2:09:43

2:09:48 And those which have to leave, you know, it's late, you're welcome to leave. Good night. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:48 Highlight the passage at 2:09:48

2:09:58 Thank you, Venerable. These teachings are very helpful. But I have a question on... Those which need to stand up because you have pain in your leg or you need to walk around the room, it's fine. Need to go to the bathroom, it's over there. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:58 Highlight the passage at 2:09:58

2:10:20 I have a question about generating bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:20 Highlight the passage at 2:10:20

2:10:26 The idea of thinking about puppies or kittens or something similar to that that gives you... You like that? When I'm around people, like in public places, I find it fairly beneficial and easy to generate feelings of warmth for them and see the goodness in people and things like that. When I'm on a cushion trying to generate bodhicitta, it feels more helpful for me to actually Generate a sense of sadness for how much suffering there is in the world and how unnecessary that suffering is. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:26 Highlight the passage at 2:10:26

2:11:15 And when I sort of surrender to that sadness, then there's a really strong, powerful motivation there to do something about it. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:15 Highlight the passage at 2:11:15

2:11:32 And, you know, that seems like Diametrically opposed to just sitting and thinking like happy thoughts. And so I'm curious, in your generation of bodhicitta, where did the consideration of all the unnecessary suffering and sort of tragedy of the world, you know? How do you balance that out with the feelings of gratitude and rejoicing? Report an error in the passage at 2:11:32 Highlight the passage at 2:11:32

2:12:14 Yeah, good question, good point. In relation to bodhicitta specifically. Very good point. You see, so there are beings which whom it's easier to generate compassion and other people which is easier to generate love first. So each one of us, we have a different family. For some people, naturally it's easier to generate compassion. Another is naturally easier to generate love. So you start with the one that is easiest for you. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:14 Highlight the passage at 2:12:14

2:12:45 But then love and compassion are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other, actually. You see, when you generate love, you focus on the beauty or the potential of beauty in the person. And when you generate compassion, you focus on what prevents that person from having that happiness or the problems that that person has. So you focus on the same person, but you focus on two different aspects of that person. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:45 Highlight the passage at 2:12:45

2:13:15 But you start by, you know, like for you, compassion is easier, makes more sense. So you start with that. But you see, if you focus too much on that and you forget that that person also has... Loving side or the potential of beauty. So if you have too much compassion, it will drag you down. You have these people which carry the weight of the suffering of the whole world. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:15 Highlight the passage at 2:13:15

2:13:43 But they forget that these beings also have Buddha nature and the potential to enlighten and that one day their problem will disappear. That while they're having this problem, while they suffer, They also have this Buddha nature and one day they will experience that enlightenment. So you see, you have to work on both. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:43 Highlight the passage at 2:13:43

2:14:05 So usually one alternate and you reach a point where you alternate, put it on the breath. Without breath you generate love and within breath you generate compassion. So both together. But you have to alternate and you have to start with one. You see, you have to start with the one that you naturally feel more attracted. And it's true, for most people, to generate compassion is easier than to generate love. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:05 Highlight the passage at 2:14:05

2:14:32 Isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. That's true. Thank you. Yeah. You're welcome. Yes. So, you see, this is kind of a little bit an introduction. You know, it's too short a time to go very deep, you know. So... I think it's Saturday. We do a whole day at Land of Medicine Buddha. So we have time to expand a little bit more these emotions. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:32 Highlight the passage at 2:14:32

2:14:57 Good night. Thank you for coming. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:57 Highlight the passage at 2:14:57

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

2:15:08 Very often when I go into the soft spot of my heart, I find love, but I find incredible sadness. Can you talk about that? Report an error in the passage at 2:15:08 Highlight the passage at 2:15:08

2:15:24 So you have the warmth, the love. So what makes the compassion, what makes the sadness come? Report an error in the passage at 2:15:24 Highlight the passage at 2:15:24

2:15:34 Well, try to look, you try to see why is there sadness? Is the sadness there because the people are not happy? Is the sadness there? Report an error in the passage at 2:15:34 Highlight the passage at 2:15:34

2:15:46 Sadness is obviously my own sadness. That's very clear. Yes. The sadness is my own sadness. What, what, what? Report an error in the passage at 2:15:46 Highlight the passage at 2:15:46

2:15:55 That part is very clear. When you were talking about love and compassion, I started having tears. And when I'm talking about love and compassion, I started having tears. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:55 Highlight the passage at 2:15:55

2:16:09 I don't know what that is all about. It's interesting. You see, how to say, we all have a carapace of ego, a persona that we maintain to live in society. And I don't know whether you realize It's very interesting. When you meditate on emptiness, you realize that you have many different egos. We speak about one ego. It's not true. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:09 Highlight the passage at 2:16:09

2:16:35 You have an ego with your partner. You have an ego with your child. You have an ego in your business world. You have an ego with the friends. You have an ego with the stranger. How to say you're a different persona depending with whom you are. And you're a different person when you're alone. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:35 Highlight the passage at 2:16:35

2:16:56 Castaneda calls that a different assembly point. So in your psychic, how to say, when you're with your partner, you have association, you have memories, habits of a relationship with that partner, so you're a certain person, you do a certain joke, you're a certain being with that partner, you need a certain lightness, a certain drama you play. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:56 Highlight the passage at 2:16:56

2:17:18 When you're with your kid, it's a different game. So you're the papa or the mama, and you play the parent, and you have different associations in that role. You're in your business environment with your boss, so you're the boss, so you have different persona. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:18 Highlight the passage at 2:17:18

2:17:37 And when you're alone, you go to bed, nobody's around, you're alone, okay, no game to play. What game do I play with myself? Report an error in the passage at 2:17:37 Highlight the passage at 2:17:37

2:17:54 So now, There's one point. When you open your heart, there's one thing that happens. There's a kind of, the ego feels vulnerable. How to say, you normally use to protect yourself in your persona, in your ego shell. And then when you become genuine, when you open your heart, that shell starts disappearing. And at the beginning, you feel like vulnerable. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:54 Highlight the passage at 2:17:54

2:18:25 You know, to be open to reveal your feeling, you know, how you genuinely felt, you know, if you can have vulnerability. But that's just one stage. You reach a point where you can be genuine and you can still play the role in different cities and with different people. But you see you have this inner warmth, but you still can be the boss, you can still be the parent, you can still be the partner, but in a more playful way. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:25 Highlight the passage at 2:18:25

2:18:55 Right? I don't know. It's difficult to express. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:55 Highlight the passage at 2:18:55

2:19:05 And then there's another, what you said triggers another thing, is that there's something related to low self-esteem. You know, some feeling of, how to say, there's something precious there, but yet is not fully accessible. You know, and there's a sadness. You see, there's a sadness there. There's something. Report an error in the passage at 2:19:05 Highlight the passage at 2:19:05

2:19:33 I wish to return home and I'm not there. So there's a sadness there. And again, it's a temporary thing in the process of opening the heart. So there's many different possibilities. So you have to check your own mind. Why is this unhappiness coming about? You have to observe. You have to go into that state with that question mark, with that looking. Report an error in the passage at 2:19:33 Highlight the passage at 2:19:33

2:20:03 What makes me unhappy? Why is this unhappiness? Because normally when you generate genuine love and compassion, there's no unhappiness. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:03 Highlight the passage at 2:20:03

2:20:14 How to say you can have genuine compassion, genuine caring. You can cry out of compassion for the people of the problems of being, but at the same time in your heart is a warmth, a caring, a love and a joy. For example, the Dalai Lama, when he hears situations of people in Tibet, he cries, right, thinking about that. But the next second, he bursts out laughing, right, because he stopped thinking about that aspect and he goes back to this inner joy, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:20:14 Highlight the passage at 2:20:14

2:20:51 So, you see, it's not like the two are incompatible. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:51 Highlight the passage at 2:20:51

2:20:58 I don't know whether it helps. Yes. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:58 Highlight the passage at 2:20:58

2:21:09 Hi. I'm curious about... Report an error in the passage at 2:21:09 Highlight the passage at 2:21:09

2:21:19 The troublemakers. Or the mess maker? Yeah, the challenges. I call it being derailed. You're on a train and then something happens and then you fall off the tracks. I really love everything you said and I'm conscious of how many pages I've collected from your wisdom and only one little section about the troublemakers. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:19 Highlight the passage at 2:21:19

2:21:49 That's my biggest challenge. Yeah, you see, normally it would need a lot of time on that one. But, you know, I had to stop at some point, right? So what I got is if there's a solution to the problem, then apply the solution. Do what needs to be done to change the situation. If there's no solution, then why be unhappy? Report an error in the passage at 2:21:49 Highlight the passage at 2:21:49

2:22:09 So my question is kind of shiatsu between these two. How, my experience is that when I'm in... As close to a state as you're describing on my cushion, when I get up from my cushion and I walk and these troublemakers went, let's just say one, for simplistic, simple, just to be simple as possible. Something happens and that bliss is challenged. So getting back on track is... Report an error in the passage at 2:22:09 Highlight the passage at 2:22:09

2:22:49 When I break it down into microcellular moments, I know intellectually I need to default to the bodhicitta and think of them as good people and understanding them. But my question is, how does one know what are the signs to look for when... Report an error in the passage at 2:22:49 Highlight the passage at 2:22:49

2:23:15 You can decide that it's okay to just leave the company of this person and go a different direction. Because I tend to stick it out longer and then I become hurt because I stay too long in the situation. Thinking that if I apply more and more compassion, things are going to change. So I just kind of want to get your words on it. Report an error in the passage at 2:23:15 Highlight the passage at 2:23:15

2:23:43 What signs I should look for to just leave? So usually it says, you know, when one's mind is weak, it's better to go away, not to lose that pressure, you know, not let the flame disappear. So you take the level of challenge that you're able to deal with at the moment, right? And, you know, when your mind becomes stronger, you're able to deal with more, you know, negative encounter, you know? Report an error in the passage at 2:23:43 Highlight the passage at 2:23:43

2:24:10 So you see, at the beginning, You have to protect your mind. Like Shantideva, he uses the example, you have broken your nose, and you walk in a crowd, so you want to protect that nobody's going to touch your nose because it's going to hurt very much. So you have this precious mind of bodhicitta, love, compassion, and that you need to protect it, that nobody's going to harm it, because that's the most precious thing. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:10 Highlight the passage at 2:24:10

2:24:40 So you keep that, so you protect yourself till you become stronger that it doesn't affect. So then Shantideva says, you see, then actually you reach a point of bodhisattva is so powerful that he looks for troublemaker. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:40 Highlight the passage at 2:24:40

2:24:59 Because actually he has so much love and compassion, nothing can destroy his love and compassion. So he looks for more and more awful people to check what he's... Love and compassion overpowers their trouble, you know, because you're so strong, you know, you become fearless, you know, nothing can make you afraid, you know, but that's, you know, once you're really strong. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:59 Highlight the passage at 2:24:59

2:25:25 At the beginning, better to protect oneself. I'll remember the broken nose analogy, that works really. Thank you so much. Report an error in the passage at 2:25:25 Highlight the passage at 2:25:25

2:25:36 Okay, so maybe we stop here. So maybe we sit for two, three minutes. And again, we chant a few times the mantra, and you try to expand your heart, you know, becoming one with all living beings and try to generate this warmth, you know, this caring, you know, for your partner, for your child, you know, Report an error in the passage at 2:25:36 Highlight the passage at 2:25:36

2:26:03 for whoever you live is in your life, you know, and then you expand, try to become one with all living beings and you wish, you know, have love and compassion for all of them. Report an error in the passage at 2:26:03 Highlight the passage at 2:26:03

· · · silence, 3 minutes

2:28:59 Whatever precious warmth we have generated in our heart, may that never decrease but increase forevermore. And may that which has not yet been generated be generated but also increase forevermore. May we never be separated from this inner jewel of mind of loving kindness for all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:28:59 Highlight the passage at 2:28:59

2:29:25 May that be my most precious thing in my life. In this life, at the time of death, in the old future state in which I will be. Report an error in the passage at 2:29:25 Highlight the passage at 2:29:25

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:30:13 Thank you very much for your attention and wish you good night. Thank you for coming. Good night. Report an error in the passage at 2:30:13 Highlight the passage at 2:30:13

2:30:32 I'm sure everyone here will agree he's a great gift to have gone. Please come back. And I thank Heidi at Bajrapani for having arranged a great part of his visit to the Bay Area. Report an error in the passage at 2:30:32 Highlight the passage at 2:30:32

2:30:47 We will be at Lama Medicine Vida and then at Vashopani for a retreat. So you've just got a taste today. Go and enjoy the Report an error in the passage at 2:30:47 Highlight the passage at 2:30:47

2:31:17 paparazzi. guys. Report an error in the passage at 2:31:17 Highlight the passage at 2:31:17