← Steve Carlier

Understanding Karma - Working with Cause and Effect to Change Your Life and Your World (5 February 2012)

Steve Carlier · 5 February 2012 · 2 h 12 min · Tse Chen Ling via Internet Archive

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  • 1:11:30

    And so regret... Like the kind of regret you have after having eaten poisonous food. Which means thinking back over those unskillful actions that one can remember having done and thinking it was a big mistake. I really made a big mistake by doing those actions.

  • 1:15:32

    And that's actually the main one. And the interesting thing is, if you think about it, even if we sort of start off the list with the power of reliance, and even if when it comes to actually sort of... Sitting down and going through a practice, the first thing you might do might be the power of reliance. What's going to get you doing that practice would be the regret. And that's why it's so important, you see. The regret automatically triggers the third of the four forces, which is what it comes down to is the determination not to re-offend.

  • 1:18:55

    And also naturally what's going to happen, which is very important, is the determination not to do the action again, and we have to talk a little bit about that. And then the fourth opponent power is the power of the antidote. So the power of always using the antidote, literally is called. And so that means something you might describe as being sort of like some sort of positive action that's going to balance that negative action.

  • 1:32:52

    Even future lives, certainly the future during this life, you need the mindfulness and vigilance. You need to remember, you need to train your mind to remember the promise that you've made and the vigilance, which is like watching to see whether what you're doing during the day is you're keeping to plan kind of thing. So that's the reliance and the... Determination, the regret and then the power of the antidote. So those four.

  • 1:38:45

    we recite the mantra, we think that nectar, which is the Chenrizi, Chenrizi's inner qualities of wisdom, compassion and kindness, which is flowing down through us in the form of nectar, blissful nectar. Flowing down through us and purifying all of that negative karma, all of that bad karma.

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1:02:39 edit things before you upload them, do you? Report an error

1:02:49 because one of the recordings you sent me had Report an error

1:02:59 my stuff yesterday during the break. Report an error

1:03:09 No, I think that was recorded. Report an error

1:03:23 In fact, we've had all of that was recorded. All of that was recorded on here now. Report an error

1:03:33 What we'll Report an error

· · ·

1:04:06 do is we'll recite the... Refuge prayer on page 34, Refuge and Bodhicitta prayer. And as before, recited once in Tibetan, twice in English. Report an error

1:04:28 We'll pause to think about the meaning. I'll try to record what we've just been talking about as much as you can. Report an error

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1:06:29 Refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. So since we're doing this as part of a purification practice, bear in mind that... Here, when we're going for refuge and generating bodhicitta, it's the first of the four punan powers of reliance. Report an error

1:07:05 Your refuge and generating bodhicitta purification practice in that way. Last Report an error

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1:08:58 time, I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error

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1:10:21 Okay, now. Report an error

1:10:24 As I mentioned, we have the four, there are these four opponent powers. Report an error

1:10:33 Really, out of these four, choosing to practice the power of reliance first, I guess has got very much to do with the fact that traditionally somehow the refusioned bodhicitta come at the beginning of any practice. Report an error

1:11:00 I think actually... Anyway, so we'll look at the power of the last three, because you've got the power of, the easiest way to call it is the power of regret. It's sort of like the power of eradication or something like that. Anyway, it refers to regret. And so regret... Like the kind of regret you have after having eaten poisonous food. Which means thinking back over those unskillful actions that one can remember having done and thinking it was a big mistake. Report an error

1:12:01 I really made a big mistake by doing those actions. Why? Because you're thinking of what's going to happen as a result if you don't purify. So, you know, like the poisonous food itself might have been very tasty, but when you think about what's going to happen to you if you don't get the medicine, Report an error

1:12:24 the illness and the pain that you're going to have to experience if you don't find the antidote, if you don't take the medicine, then you feel like, oh, that was a big mistake. Not because it tasted nice. But because of what's going to happen. So just like that, you might have very much enjoyed yourself doing these unskillful actions. That's not the point. The point is that you're thinking about what's going to happen as a result of all that because karma is undeceiving, as they say. Report an error

1:12:59 Anyway, we've looked at those four points. So you know that if you purify, then there's only one thing that can happen. It's definitely going to happen eventually if I... If I don't purify and even if what I did might seem to have been a very small thing, it can grow. Report an error

1:13:24 Coupled with the kind of awareness that you gradually have as you meditate on a combination of the precious human life and the death. you know, and... Report an error

1:13:39 So, you know, you're aware that you have this incredible opportunity which is not going to last forever and it's no good thinking, well, you know, there's always future lives because there's no guarantee that next life is going to be anywhere near as good as this. Report an error

1:13:54 It's really, you know, you can't just assume that. It's really quite difficult to get this kind of opportunity, this kind of situation. That kind of thing that you tend to, you know, come up, that tends to kind of like... Come into your mind, come up in your mind as a result of having reflected on the procedure in rebirth and death. So the urgency in other words, the feeling of urgency, not just the regret, but kind of like regret coupled with urgency, this is very important. Report an error

1:14:27 Because otherwise you could have the regret and then you think, oh, it was a big mistake. But anyway, I've got some TV I want to watch. There are some other things, you know, there are some other things I want to do. Report an error

1:14:39 Some other time, you know. The urgency, you know, Report an error

1:14:45 just because, you know, because death could intervene, you know. If you could guarantee that you're going to live another hundred years or a thousand years or whatever, maybe it would be reasonable to sit down and watch some TV first. Report an error

1:15:02 But even that, you know, because the thing is, you know, if you had a thousand years, there's a lot of work to do. So even if you had a thousand years, you might need that thousand years and you might kind of find yourself regretting having spent... Report an error

1:15:15 Like, you know, a hundred of them or two hundred watching TV. Report an error

1:15:22 Okay, so, yeah, that urgency. So that's what we'll call the power of regret. And that's actually the main one. And the interesting thing is, if you think about it, even if we sort of start off the list with the power of reliance, and even if when it comes to actually sort of... Sitting down and going through a practice, the first thing you might do might be the power of reliance. What's going to get you doing that practice would be the regret. Report an error

1:16:00 And that's why it's so important, you see. The regret automatically triggers the third of the four forces, which is what it comes down to is the determination not to re-offend. Report an error

1:16:21 The determination not to do that action again. It speaks for itself, doesn't it? It's kind of obvious. When you've eaten poisonous food and you have that feeling, oh, that was a big mistake, you definitely have this feeling, I'm not going to come back here again, I'm not going to be that again. You know what I mean? So if you didn't have that kind of regret... Report an error

1:16:51 So you know, right, yeah. So, you know, you have that... If you didn't have the regret, you wouldn't... It's quite difficult to think where the thought would come, I'm not going to do that again, where that would come from. It sort of follows very naturally. Report an error

1:17:10 Okay, so, in fact, many things follow naturally from the regret, don't they? I mean, you know, from the regret comes the wish to do something. So the regret isn't going to just happen by... Report an error

1:17:22 Just stand by itself, you know. Okay, so you've got the regret, this thought, oh, that was a big mistake. Well, you know, because the feeling it was a great mistake, where does that come from? Thinking about the results. That's the regret, isn't it? The regret is thinking I made a mistake because now if I don't do something about it, this is going to happen. Report an error

1:17:47 That's really the regret, isn't it? So you naturally want to do, when you've got the regret naturally, You'd want to do everything that you can to prevent having to actually experience that illness, that suffering. So you want to purify. So it's actually the regret that gets you wanting to purify. So really, when the Lamas are telling us about practicing the four opponent powers, the first thing they want us to think about is the nature of karma. Report an error

1:18:19 You need to become kind of convinced that even if you can't remember having done a whole lot of karma in this life, perhaps... Simply because of not having thought about it deeply enough, but at least you know that there's all the past lives of karma. And if you don't purify that, then you're going to have to experience suffering as a result. Report an error

1:18:40 So the first thing is really the regret. The regret. And then naturally you want to do everything else to purify, including the power of reliance. Report an error

1:18:55 And also naturally what's going to happen, which is very important, is the determination not to do the action again, and we have to talk a little bit about that. And then the fourth opponent power is the power of the antidote. Report an error

1:19:15 So the power of always using the antidote, literally is called. Report an error

1:19:27 And so that means something you might describe as being sort of like some sort of positive action that's going to balance that negative action. Report an error

1:19:41 You could describe it in that way. Report an error

1:19:48 And although there is a list of six principal ones that you'll find mentioned briefly in Bhavankar Rinpoche's Liberation, Report an error

1:20:03 And I mentioned it a little bit more length in the great exposition of the stage of the path. Generally speaking, the power of the antidote means any skillful action. It could be anything. And so in terms of meditation, it can mean meditation on emptiness, it can be meditation on love, compassion, anything that serves. Report an error

1:20:35 It can be considered constructive and skillful action. It can be helping others in any way. In terms of not just meditation but other kinds of formal practice, it can be reciting mantra, it can be mandala offerings, it can be doing prostrations and so on. In terms of more informal ones, helping others, protecting others in various ways. Report an error

1:20:44 can be, you know, so. Report an error

1:21:08 Okay. Yes? Report an error

1:21:12 I have two questions. I thought that it was first reliance or refuge and then regret for the action and then remedy and then resolve not to do it again. I don't really think it matters which order you do things in. Oh, okay, good. It's almost like they could be in any order. And in actual fact, you know, like... Report an error

1:21:40 I mean, it's not like you have to have all these four together. To have a complete purification, you need to have all four. But any time that you're doing any of these four, especially in the context of wanting to purify, then it's at least partially purifying. Report an error

1:21:58 I don't know if that makes sense. Yeah, because I was thinking, like, anger. Because you know you're going to get angry. Like, you know you're going to get angry again. But you can kind of... Set like a time period. Yeah, that kind of thing. And that's what I mean. We need to talk about that one, the power of the determination a little bit more. Report an error

1:22:17 Right, right. Also, I wanted to bring up, and I'm glad you got to it, the reciting mantra. I think that kind of goes back to the original question, how do we ask for help? Report an error

1:22:34 My dissertation was... Was chanting Tara's mantra in order to overcome fear. And I felt like part of that was working with our karma. You know, working with mantra kind of as an antidote, but using it to come to refuge and reliance. Report an error

1:23:00 Yeah, well, you know, there are various things that might be going on in your mind when you're reciting mantra. If you're reciting the Chenrezia mantra, you can recite it as a request to the Chenrezia. You can also do it in combination with purification, practice the descending nectar that purifies you. Report an error

1:23:29 That's what I'm saying, it can be. It can be like that. When you're doing the purification practice, it's not necessarily the case that what's going on in your mind at that point is you're requesting help, you're reciting the mantra and focusing your mind on the actual purification. Report an error

1:23:59 I'm saying that it doesn't really matter so much what order they're in. Obviously, the regret seems to... Jack going to say something? Report an error

1:24:08 It's like if you're going to do a meditation, it's what gets you meditating. If you're going to do the purification, it's the regret that gets you purifying. Report an error

1:24:41 So with the determination not to do this unskillful act or those unskillful acts again in the future, there are different ideas about this. Generally speaking, what Kauja Zobramashe... Report an error

1:25:03 Again and again emphasizes very much that whereas what seems to be implied is like a promise not to do the action again, he emphasizes, his point seems to be that if you promise, if you make a firm promise not to commit any kind of... Report an error

1:25:34 Unskillful action again in the future, then it risks becoming a lie when you don't keep your word. Therefore, he encourages us to make a determination not to do this and that action. And it depends upon the action, you know, so although purification can be something general for, you know, our... Past unskillable actions in general, it can also be specific because you remember particular things that you've done maybe during the day that you particularly want to purify. Report an error

1:26:15 So then the purification at this point, you know, the power of determination can mean thinking, well, this one I think I can keep for a year. So you make the determination not to do that action for a year. Some actions it might be more like... You might think it's more reasonable, you think you can manage a month, a week or a day or an hour and he says even a few seconds. Report an error

1:26:50 So there is, I mean at the same time I have heard His Holiness the Dalai Lama teach that when you sincerely make a promise, Not to engage in these unskillful actions again. When the promise is sincere, then if you do make a mistake and you aren't able to keep to that plan, it wouldn't be a lie. Report an error

1:27:39 So these seem to be sort of like different ideas, right? One is saying, you know, it's good to make the promise. I was, what I think... Report an error

1:27:44 The other one is like it's not good to make the promise. And I think that the difference is when you make a promise you know you're not going to be able to keep, that's a mistake. Report an error

1:28:00 So I think that maybe what His Holiness is talking about is like having the determination not to do any kind of negative action again in the future. This is something very useful and very powerful. It's having the determination. So I wonder if, you know, like having the determination as opposed to making a promise, these are two different things. Report an error

1:28:25 It's like, you know, this, it's like, it's almost like with the, maybe what the distinction I'm making is it's not so much I'm never going to do this again when you kind of know you will. Report an error

1:28:37 It's not really that. It's like, it's almost like the, what the Holiness is talking about is Report an error

1:28:49 What do you call it? It's almost like I'm going to try my best. It's like that, you know. I'm really going to try. And it's almost like, you know, if I think to myself, I'm going to try, but I probably won't be able to succeed. It's like the determination isn't so strong. It's like, you know, I'm really going to try. Report an error

1:29:09 I'm just not in the sense of like making a promise. You know you're going to break, but like I'm... I'm just not going to do that. I'm just not. I'm just not. And the stronger that is, the more likely you are to succeed. So from that point of view. So anyway, I think that those two ideas do fit together. Report an error

1:29:29 So, you know, sometimes when it's, you know, when it's like maybe it's, I don't know, like saying nasty things to people. Maybe, you know, you know that when you get, you know, you can't completely control your mind. So you know that you're going to. That you get angry and that when you get angry then you say hurtful things. But you're like, for the next three hours I'm not going to say anything unpleasant to anybody. Report an error

1:30:00 In fact, if you're doing this thing the last thing at night you can probably make a bigger promise than that because of course you spend the next six or eight hours sleeping. Report an error

1:30:13 No, it's not. It's not cheating. No, no, no. Because you're keeping your promise. But anyway, obviously it's not so much of a challenge, is it? Maybe it's to make a promise. Up until 9 o 'clock tomorrow morning, no matter what happens, I'm not going to say anything unpleasant to anybody. I'm not going to lie. Report an error

1:30:41 You know what I mean? You could apply that to various things. Like people make a... I'm not going to smoke until 10 o 'clock. That kind of thing. Report an error

1:31:00 So also, you know, anyway, there's something which Gishijan Pagiatso adds to this, which I also find useful, where he says that in the case of those actions where you really don't think that you can make any kind of commitment, you pray to be able to. And not pray like, you know, Well, I mean, it could be, you know, because we've already talked about the idea that, you know, we need help and so we can ask for help. But pray more in the sense of like, almost like a prayer to yourself. Report an error

1:31:33 May I be able to do this in the future? May I be able to stop in the future? And that's also very useful. So it's all to do with, if you think about it, it's all to do with building up a force in your mind that's going to be able, that will be there when... The impulse when the situation arises where normally you would make this mistake and so building up that force is going to help you to stop. Report an error

1:32:04 It might not completely stop you but it will help you to stop and it will limit it, limit the harm like that. So actually when you think of it along those lines you can see that also really even if it's not... Strictly speaking, one of the, even if they're not actually on the list of the four, one of the keys to purifying properly. Report an error

1:32:37 And particularly in the context of the power of the determination, which extends outside of that little, maybe the 10, 15 minutes of your practice, because it's to do with what you're going to do in the future. Even future lives, certainly the future during this life, you need the mindfulness and vigilance. You need to remember, you need to train your mind to remember the promise that you've made and the vigilance, which is like watching to see whether what you're doing during the day is you're keeping to plan kind of thing. Report an error

1:33:22 So that's the reliance and the... Determination, the regret and then the power of the antidote. So those four. So we don't have so much time. So I think we can do Report an error

1:33:48 some money recitation. I saw something here. Report an error

1:34:01 I didn't notice this before, but you know, of course, there's the... Anyway, those are those four. Report an error

1:34:05 In this book, this gold book, there's one of the main purification practices on page 39, the practice of prostration to the 35 confession buddhas. Report an error

1:34:19 And then there are the reciting also the names of the eight medicine buddhas. And then following that as a sort of appendix, it mentions you can add on to that if you've got the time. You can do the Vajrasattva recitation. Where is that? I saw that somewhere. Report an error

1:34:49 Yeah, that's what I thought. Yeah, 64. Okay. So there you see, you can. That would be, you know, I think some people do actually recite the mantra as they're prostrating. So, you know, the 35 Buddhist practice involves recitation and prostration at the same time. And so... One can carry on prostrating and reciting the Vajrasattva practice. I think really if you haven't memorized it or if it just doesn't seem to work for you, you could always just sit down and do the Vajrasattva practice. Report an error

1:35:35 Actually where it says Cenrezi practice, it's this special Cenrezi. prayer that's on page 65 that he's talking about, but in any case what I'd like to say is that Report an error

1:35:52 in the one time when I was, can't remember the exact context, but I was talking about this with Kinza Rinpoche, Jamba Techo. Report an error

1:36:04 Well, anyway... Basically what he was saying was that whether you purify with the Vajrasattva... recitation or whether you purify with the recitation of the Omanipimi Hum mantra know it's said I can't really see much difference So what we can do then, I guess we have Chenrezis everywhere. Report an error

1:36:37 there's the one there. I was just wondering whether there were others. Anyway, that one's that. You can think of Chenrezig... Report an error

1:36:48 Just like the other day when we were doing the Buddha Shakyamuni, of course, you know, not made of flesh and blood, but made of light, but a real person, your guru in that aspect is best, like His Holiness the Dalai Lama or Kevzala Rinpoche, in that aspect, in that form. Report an error

1:37:09 And so then we can, or it could be the forearm Chinriji form. I haven't got my beads. Report an error

1:37:30 Can't recite mantra without peace, can we? Report an error

1:37:36 Sorry? I got one. I got it. I found it. I found it, thanks. So, yeah. And we think that on the crown of our head, on the lotus and moon seat, is seated or standing, depending on the form of the Chen Rezi. Report an error

1:37:56 So one's guru in the aspect of the Chen Rezi. You don't have to be able to see this sort of like form in detail. The main thing is to think that he's there, that he is there. And not only on the crown of one's own head, but we're surrounded by all the infinitely kind mother sentient beings or in the form of human beings experiencing their various types of suffering and also... Report an error

1:38:35 Just like ourselves, having all of this karma that needs to be purified, urgently, as Report an error

1:38:45 we recite the mantra, we think that nectar, which is the Chenrizi, Chenrizi's inner qualities of wisdom, compassion and kindness, which Report an error

1:39:06 is flowing down through us in the form of nectar, blissful nectar. Flowing down through us and purifying all of that negative karma, all of that bad karma. There's different ways of doing the meditation, but one way is that you think that it's all flowing out through the lower orifices of the body and the pores of the body. Report an error

1:39:45 And so as we're reciting the mantra, we're being purified, completely purified. So all of that, all of those, that negativity flows out through us and disappears into the earth, deep into the earth. Report an error

1:40:04 So you have to think of all of your, this unskillful karma as being like biodegradable. Otherwise you might think that you're polluting the planet. Report an error

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1:46:24 And then it's very important to think at the end of having done such a practice, you think all of your negative karma, all of that. Report an error

1:46:34 Unskillful karma has been completely purified. There's nothing left. Report an error

1:47:02 You can keep Chen Rezi on the crown of your head if you want to do some more meditation. Otherwise, if not, or if you think you might forget, which is also not very good, then you can have your Guru Chen Rezi dissolving into your body so that you become blessed by the qualities of, the enlightened qualities of... Report an error

1:47:49 I thought we could dedicate with the king of prayers. Good idea? Report an error

1:47:58 Just 249. Thank you. Report an error

1:48:09 So we're dedicating, this is a way of dedicating all of the good karma we've created during this weekend as well as all of the goodness or virtue of the past, present, future of oneself and others for the sake of all sentient beings and with particular people in mind that you want to pray for. ready? Report an error

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1:48:27 Like on Friday, I would like to ask you to think of Matilda Kent, whose life support system was withdrawn or switched off Friday night, and then his other friend in Delhi, Keji Tenzin, and I'm sure there are others who Report an error

1:48:52 are dedicating for them. I bow down to the youthful Arya Manjushri. You lives amongst humans, gone to freedom in the present, past and future, in the worlds of ten directions. To all of you, with bodhic, speech and sincere mind, I bow down. With the energy of aspiration for the bodhicitta way, with a sense of deep respect, and with as many bodies as atoms of the world. To all you Buddhas visualized as real, I bow down. Report an error

1:49:21 On every atom are Buddhas numberless as atoms. Each of them is the host of Bodhisattvas, and I am confident that the sphere of all phenomena is entirely filled with Buddhas in this way. With notions of sound from the aspects of my voice, I sing the breathtaking excellence of Buddhas and celebrate all of you gone to bliss. Report an error

1:49:44 Beautiful flowers and regal garlands, sweet music, scented oils and parasols. Sparkling lights and sublime incense, I offer to you victorious ones. Fine dress and fragrant perfume, sandalwood powder, heaped high as Mount Meru. All wondrous offerings in spectacular array, I offer to you victorious ones. With transcendent offerings, pierce and vast, with profound admiration for all the Buddhas. Report an error

1:50:11 With the strength of conviction in the Buddhas' chattva way, I offer and bow down to all victorious ones. Every harmful action I have done with my body, speech and mind, overwhelmed by attachment, anger and inconclusion, all these I can publicly bear before you. I lift up my heart and rejoice in all positive potential of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in ten directions, of solitary realizers, during still training and those beyond, and of all ordinary beings. Report an error

1:50:44 You who are the right lights of worlds in ten directions, who have attained the Buddha's omniscience through the stages of awakening, all you who are my guides, please turn the supreme wheel of Dharma. With palms together, I honestly request you who may actualize power and nirvāṇa, please stay with us for your own generous otims of the world, for the happiness and well-being of all wanderers in saṃsāra. Report an error

1:51:11 Whatever slight positive potential I may have created by paying homage, offering and acknowledging my faults, rejoicing and requesting that the Buddhas teach, I now dedicate all this for full awakening. May you Buddhas, now living in the worlds of ten directions and all you gone to freedom in the past, accept my offerings. Report an error

1:51:34 May those not yet arisen quickly perfect their minds, awakening as fully enlightened ones. May all worlds in ten directions be entirely pure and vast. May they be filled with Bodhisattvas, surrounding Buddhas, gathered beneath a Bodhi tree. May as many beings as exist in ten directions be always well and happy. Report an error

1:51:55 May all saṃsāra beings live in accord with the Dharma. And may all their everything be filled. Remembering my past lives and all varieties of existence, may I practice the Bodhisattva way, and thus in each cycle of death, migration and birth, may I always abandon the householder's life. Then, following in the footsteps of all the Buddhas and perfecting the practice of a Bodhisattva, may I always act without error or compromise with ethical discipline, purpose and pure. Report an error

1:52:27 May I teach the Dharma in the language of God. in every language of spirits and models, of humans and of demons, in the voice of every form May I be gentle-minded, cultivating the six parameters and never forget bodhicitta. May I completely cleanse without omission every negativity and all that obscures this awakening mind. Report an error

1:52:51 May I traverse all my lies in the world free of karma, afflictions and interfering forces. Just as a lotus blossom is undisturbed by the water's wave, just as the sun and moon move unhindered through the sky. May I ease the suffering in the lower realms and in many directions and dimensions of the universe. Report an error

1:53:12 May I guide all wanderers in saṃsāra to the pure bliss of awakening and be of worldly benefit to them as well. May I practice constantly for eons to come, perfecting the activities of awakening. Acting in harmony with the various dispositions of beings, showing the ways of a bodhisattva. May I always have the friendship of those whose path is like mine and with body, words and also mind. Report an error

1:53:38 May we practice together the same aspirations and activities. May I always meet a spiritual mentor and never displease that excellent friend who deeply wishes to help me and expertly teaches the bodhisattva way. May I always directly see the Buddha's masters encircled by bodhisattvas, and without pause of discouragement for eons to come, may I make extensive offerings to them. Report an error

1:54:04 May I hold within me the Buddha's genuine Dharma, illuminate everywhere the teachings that awaken, embody the realizations of a bodhisattva, and practice ardently in all future eons, while circling through all states of existence. May I become an endless treasure of good qualities, skillful means, wisdom, samādhi and liberating stabilizations, gathering limbless pristine wisdom and positive potentials. Report an error

1:54:32 On one atom I shall see Buddha fields, numberless as atoms, inconceivable Buddhas among Buddha-suffers in every field, practicing the activities of awakening. Perceiving this in all directions, I dive into an ocean of Buddha fields. Each an ocean of three times Buddhas in the space of a wisp of hair. So I too will practice for an ocean of eons. Thus I am continually immersed in the speech of the Buddhas, expression that reveals an ocean of qualities in one word, the completely pure eloquence of all Buddhas, communication suited to the varied tendencies of beings. Report an error

1:55:12 With strength of understanding I plunge into the infinite enlightened speech of the Vatana. Of all Buddhas in three times gone to freedom, who continually turn the wheel of Dharma with, I shall experience in one moment such vast activity of all future eons, and I will enter into all eons of the three times in but a fraction of a second. Report an error

1:55:35 In one instant I shall see all those awakened beings, past, present and future lines amongst humans. And with the power of the illusion-like stabilization, I will constantly engage in their inconceivable activity. I shall manifest upon one single atom the array of pure lands, present, past and future. Report an error

1:55:55 Likewise, I shall enter the array of Buddha in every direction without exception. I shall enter the very presence of all my guides, those lights of this world who are yet to appear, those sequentially turning the wheel of a complete awakening. Those who real Nirvāṇa, final perfect peace, may I achieve the power of swift magical emanation, the power to lead to a great vehicle through every approach, the power of always beneficial activity, the power of love, the power of all surpassing positive potential, the power of supreme knowledge unstructured by its culmination. Report an error

1:56:36 And through the powers of wisdom, skillful means and samādhi, may I achieve the perfect power of awakening, purifying the power of all contaminated actions, crushing the power of disturbing emotions at their root, diffusing the power of interfering forces. I shall perfect the power of philosophical practice. May I purify an ocean of wealth, may I free an ocean of beings, may I clearly see an ocean of Dharma. Report an error

1:57:04 May I realize an ocean of pristine wisdom. May I purify an ocean of activities. May I fulfill an ocean of aspirations. May I make offerings for an ocean of Buddhas. May I practice without discouragement for an ocean of eons. To awaken fully through this philosophical way, I shall fulfill without exception all the diverse aspirations of the awakening practice of all Buddhas gone to freedom in three times everywhere. Report an error

1:57:33 In order to practice exactly as the wise one calls Samantabhadra, all embracing good, they are the brother of the sons and daughters of the Buddhas, I completely dedicate all this goodness. Likewise, may I dedicate just as the skillful Samantabhadra with pure body, speech and mind, pure actions and pure Buddha feels. Report an error

1:57:55 I shall give rise to the aspirations of Manjushri, for this Bodhisattva practice of all embracing good. to perfect these practices without discouragement or pause in all future aims. Report an error

1:58:09 May I actualize infinite emanations, limitless the end of space, limitless are living beings, thus limitless are calmer and afflictions. May my aspirations reached be limitless as well. One may offer to the Buddhas all wealth and adornments of infinite worlds and temptations, and one may offer during eons numbers as atoms of the world, even the greatest happiness of gods and humans. Report an error

1:58:43 But whoever hears this extraordinary aspiration and longing for highest awakening gives rise to faith just once, creates far more precious positive potential. Those who make this heartfelt aspiration for the bodhicittaful way will be free of all low rebirth, free of harmful companions and will quickly see Amitabha, infinite life. Report an error

1:59:07 And even in this very lifetime life, they will be nourished by happiness and have all conducive circumstances. Without waiting long, they will become like Samantabhadra Himself. Those who give voice to this extraordinary aspiration will quickly and completely purify the five boundless, harmful actions created under the power of ignorance. Report an error

1:59:29 Blessed with supreme knowledge, excellent body, family, attributes and appearances, never being invincible to vast, interfering forces and misleading Jesus, and all three worlds will make offerings. Going quickly to the noble Bodhi tree and sitting there to benefit sentient beings, subduing all interfering forces, they will fully awaken and turn the great wheel of Dharma. Report an error

1:59:55 Have no doubt the complete awakening is the fully ripe result, componented only by a Buddha, of holding in mind by teaching, reading or reciting his aspiration of the Buddha-sat-for-way. In a way, just like the hero Manju Sri, who knows reality as it is, and just like Samantabhadra as well, I completely dedicate all this goodness, just as they did. Report an error

2:00:21 Dedication which is praised is greatest by all the Buddhas, gone to freedom in three times. I too dedicate all my roots of goodness for the attainment of the Bodhisattva practice. When the moment of my death arrives by eliminating all obscurations, And directly perceiving Amitabha, may I go immediately to Shukavati, pure land of great joy. Having gone to Shukavati, may I actualize the meaning of these aspirations, fulfilling them all without exception for the benefit of beings for as long as this world endures. Report an error

2:00:57 Born from an extremely beautiful superlative lotus, In this beautiful land, the Buddha's magnificent mandala, may I receive a prediction of my awakening directly from the Buddha Amitabha. Having received a prediction there, may I create a past benefit for beings throughout the ten directions with a bearing emanations by the power of wisdom. Report an error

2:01:20 Through even the small virtue I have accumulated by offering this prayer of the bodhisattva practice. May all positive aspirations of beings be fulfilled in an instant. Through creating limitless positive potential, by dedicating this prayer of Samantabhadra's deeds, may all beings drowning in this torrent of suffering enter the presence of Amitabha. Report an error

2:01:45 Through this king of aspirations, which is helping infinite wanderers in saṃsāra, through the accomplishment of this scripture dazzling with Samantabhadra's practice, May suffering realms be utterly emptied of all beings. I think the one who's dedicating is completely empty, just like a dream or like an illusion, like an hallucination. Report an error

2:02:12 Likewise, the dedication itself is totally empty of existing as it appears and all of the goodness that we have dedicated and the goals to which we've dedicated and those to whom we've dedicated, for whose sake we made the dedication, all the... Kind mother sentient beings are totally empty, existing as they appear, empty of being. Report an error

2:02:38 So they seem like they're not merely labelled, so they're empty of existing as they appear because they're merely labelled by the mind. Report an error

2:02:56 Good, thank you. Report an error

2:03:00 We made it. Report an error

2:03:07 Thank you. To come again. Report an error

2:03:15 You mean come back enough not to annoy you. I repeat it often get a noise. No, I get a noise. I'll be back. Report an error

2:03:31 I keep this? Report an error

2:03:38 for your patience. Report an error

2:03:42 Thanks for not getting too annoyed. Report an error

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Talk by Steve Carlier, recorded 5 February 2012. Original at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/SC_UnderstandingKarma_20120203. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.

Recorded at Tse Chen Ling Center, San Francisco, and archived by the center on Internet Archive. More from Tse Chen Ling

Listen on Internet Archive · CC BY-NC-ND 3.0