Meditation (6 January 2012)

0:21 No, I think we're good. Report an error in the passage at 0:21 Highlight the passage at 0:21

0:29 of trying to bring them up. Report an error in the passage at 0:29 Highlight the passage at 0:29

0:36 New Year. Report an error in the passage at 0:36 Highlight the passage at 0:36

0:52 Welcome. We're going to start in a couple minutes. I just wanted to make a couple of announcements. Report an error in the passage at 0:52 Highlight the passage at 0:52

1:03 So, well, this one's available. This one's got a, is this you? Lori O? I don't know who that is. Yeah. Or actually, Christine, you could move to the front and then they could sit together. You want to do that? Are you okay with your things? Report an error in the passage at 1:03 Highlight the passage at 1:03

1:24 I just picked on her because I knew her. I knew she'd do it, too. Report an error in the passage at 1:24 Highlight the passage at 1:24

1:31 So welcome, everybody. Report an error in the passage at 1:31 Highlight the passage at 1:31

1:38 So my name is Chickie. I'm sorry to say my name is Christine. I don't know who I am now. So welcome. And let's see. So we might need those ones in the office to be set up. Yeah. is. Report an error in the passage at 1:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38

1:45 you're Lori. Oh. Report an error in the passage at 1:45 Highlight the passage at 1:45

1:54 Yeah, I think. We weren't sure, you know, because not that many people pre-registered, so it was just almost impossible. We do need to add some seats, Janet. Janet, we are going to have to add some seats because we're full in here now. So, yeah. And people are coming in still, so I think we are going to add some. Report an error in the passage at 1:54 Highlight the passage at 1:54

2:14 Anyway, before Teresa goes up to get Sangye Khadro, I just wanted to make a couple of announcements really quick. About some things that are coming up at Sechi Lang and also to welcome you guys here. Some of you I think maybe are new, completely new. Welcome. It's so nice to have some new faces. It's nice to have older faces here too. Old and new. And new and old. So anyway, so this weekend's events were a little bit broken up because... Report an error in the passage at 2:14 Highlight the passage at 2:14

2:54 That's true. Yeah, and I can sit there too. I've seen her before. I can just listen to her. I'm easy. It's a little chilly back there, too. It has to be somebody who doesn't mind that. No. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. Anyway, so this weekend, it's tonight and tomorrow morning's session and then tomorrow afternoon's session, and that's one whole. Report an error in the passage at 2:54 Highlight the passage at 2:54

3:19 And that's the awakening compassion. And then on Sunday afternoon from 2 to 4, she'll talk on a completely different subject on depression. And of course, everybody's totally welcome to come to the whole thing. Sunday morning, our Geshe-la, our resident teacher, will talk about offering a mandala. That's what he's going to be teaching on Sunday morning, so it's a completely different topic. Report an error in the passage at 3:19 Highlight the passage at 3:19

3:41 But since he hadn't been teaching because of the holidays, we just didn't want to cancel his teaching for yet a third Sunday when he's getting ready to leave for India. So we sort of grasped onto him and asked him if he would still teach on Sunday mornings. That's why we arranged it like that. What else? Report an error in the passage at 3:41 Highlight the passage at 3:41

4:01 I did want to mention too, and I will mention this at the end too, and I'll also mention these same announcements tomorrow. There is a Discovering Buddhism class that's starting on Thursday night that I'll be teaching on presenting the path, and it's just really presenting the whole path. As it's discussed in this one essential small text. But it's a whole path to Buddhism from the Tibetan Buddhist point of view. So it's a great class for a beginner to take. Report an error in the passage at 4:01 Highlight the passage at 4:01

4:29 And I'm also going to talk a little bit about the Buddha's life and how we can use the Buddha's life as a guide for our own practice. So that starts Thursday nights. It's seven weeks and it's seven to nine. And no interruptions, no missing class. I think one missing class. Actually, I think there's a soak. Report an error in the passage at 4:29 Highlight the passage at 4:29

4:48 And then also in a couple of weeks there's a Chenrezic retreat which is also on compassion but a completely different approach because it's a deity retreat and that's led by Geshe Dakpa and there's some flyers in the back and I'll mention that at various times during the weekend too. So I think that's all I'll say right now. Teresa, did you want to introduce her and then go get her or do you want to introduce her and then I'll go get her? Report an error in the passage at 4:48 Highlight the passage at 4:48

5:21 Does anyone have a question about logistics like restroom? I'll tell them where they are. I welcome Report an error in the passage at 5:21 Highlight the passage at 5:21

· · · silence, 1 minute

6:01 you all on a Friday night. Congratulations, you found parking. That's actually the hardest part of coming here, just finding a parking space. We can always sit you somewhere in our little gompa. Report an error in the passage at 6:01 Highlight the passage at 6:01

6:18 Kathleen McDonald is known by people through her book oftentimes. They haven't met her and they've read her book and she's inspired many people to start walking the path of Buddhism through a simple book which I will show you, How to Meditate. Report an error in the passage at 6:18 Highlight the passage at 6:18

6:38 Maria is testament to that. And then she has another book called Awakening the Kind Heart, How to Meditate on Compassion. Very beautiful book. And I hear she has a third book, and I'm not sure of the title of that one. We'll ask Chikki what it is, or maybe she'll tell us. And I know she's presently coming from Italy. Report an error in the passage at 6:38 Highlight the passage at 6:38

7:02 She's studying at Instituto Lama Tsongkhapa, Center of Buddhist Studies, to FPMT. And those of you who are not familiar with the FPMT, it's the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahāyāna Tradition. So we tend to be more... Kind of Buddhist conservative in a way, conserving, in the true sense of conservative, conserving the Dharma as it was taught in Tibet. And that's what our center tries to do here. Report an error in the passage at 7:02 Highlight the passage at 7:02

7:26 So you're always welcome to attend our teachings by any of our teachers here, including our very special Geshe Dakpa, who teaches on Sundays and Wednesdays. He'll be leaving for India, so if you get a chance to see him before the 20th, that's a very special teaching. He has a more academic approach. You get a little taste of what it's like to be a student, a serious student of Buddhism. And I hear Kathleen is actually a Californian, so she's here to inspire all of us who are here now in California to understand that it does get better. Report an error in the passage at 7:26 Highlight the passage at 7:26

8:06 It really does get better, as unbelievable as that may seem. And I don't know a whole lot about her. Except that she's been with the FPMT I think since, she's been a nun since 1974. That's a long time. So we're very, very fortunate to have her here. From here she goes off to Paris. So think of how lucky we are to have her here today, teaching us about compassion, something that we can take out into the world and influence others as well through example. Report an error in the passage at 8:06 Highlight the passage at 8:06

8:40 So she's coming down now. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 8:40 Highlight the passage at 8:40

· · · silence, 1 minute

9:18 you might be new to this center and to Tibetan Buddhism. just to let you know, there's something we do at the beginning of talks and meditations. Report an error in the passage at 9:18 Highlight the passage at 9:18

9:32 Oh, sorry. I guess there are people in the back. So just to let those of you who are new to Tibetan Buddhism know, there's something we do at the beginning of talks, teachings, meditations and so on and that is to bow. We call it prostrations. It's a way of expressing respect to the Buddha, to the teachers and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 9:32 Highlight the passage at 9:32

10:00 It's also a way of opening our mind, our heart to receive help from the Buddha so that we can start to become more like him, start to have the same qualities. Report an error in the passage at 10:00 Highlight the passage at 10:00

10:13 Any of you who know how to do this and want to do this, we can do it together. Any of you who don't know, So, um... Report an error in the passage at 10:13 Highlight the passage at 10:13

10:20 And don't want to do it, that's okay too. You can just watch. So it's completely optional. But I'm just letting you know because otherwise you might wonder what's going on here. Report an error in the passage at 10:20 Highlight the passage at 10:20

10:31 Please Report an error in the passage at 10:31 Highlight the passage at 10:31

· · · silence, 1 minute

11:30 make yourselves comfortable. Is Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

11:44 this the right place? Report an error in the passage at 11:44 Highlight the passage at 11:44

11:58 Testing, testing, testing. Maybe higher? I have a soft voice. Report an error in the passage at 11:58 Highlight the passage at 11:58

12:16 So good evening everyone. And I'm happy to be back. I was trying to remember how now there's an echo. Report an error in the passage at 12:16 Highlight the passage at 12:16

12:32 Yeah, I couldn't remember how many years it's been since I was here last. And Chuki reminded me five years, something like five years. Yeah, when Bodhi and Shanti came, that was a memorable occasion. Let's see. Report an error in the passage at 12:32 Highlight the passage at 12:32

12:51 So I'm happy to be back and I can see some familiar faces and some new faces. Are there any of you who are here for the first time tonight? Report an error in the passage at 12:51 Highlight the passage at 12:51

13:06 Welcome. So I've been asked to talk about the subject we call the four measurables. Is that right? That's what I thought. Love and compassion. Love and compassion, yeah. yeah, and Report an error in the passage at 13:06 Highlight the passage at 13:06

13:26 But I'd like to start with some more general, basic material about Buddhism, for those of you who may not be familiar with it. And even for those who are familiar, it doesn't hurt to hear the same things over and over again. Sometimes we forget. So one thing I like to say to people, especially in the West, is that within Buddhism, the Buddhist approach to... Report an error in the passage at 13:26 Highlight the passage at 13:26

13:57 The teachings, what we call the teachings or the Dharma, is that they are not dogmatic, which means in Buddhism we don't say that there are certain truths which everybody has to believe, has to accept, and also that you have to accept everything that's taught in Buddhism. So it's like that in some religions, but it's not like that in Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 13:57 Highlight the passage at 13:57

14:27 My understanding is that when the Buddha was teaching, he encouraged his listeners to check what he was saying, not blindly believe. And he ever said, this is the truth, you have to believe it. So he wasn't like that. Instead, he wanted people to use their own intelligence, their own discriminating wisdom, think about... Report an error in the passage at 14:27 Highlight the passage at 14:27

14:54 What he said, take time, check it out for themselves, see if it's true or not. And only after having gone through that kind of process, if they feel this is true, I like this, I want to do this, then to take it on, to take on learning and practicing what the Buddha taught. So that's the Buddhist approach. And that applies now, today, as well as in the Buddhist time. Report an error in the passage at 14:54 Highlight the passage at 14:54

15:21 People do this anyway. People always think for themselves and check if what they hear is true or not. But I just want to emphasize that that is very much encouraged in Buddhism. It's completely okay to ask questions, to have doubts, to be skeptical, to check for yourself if this is true or not. Report an error in the passage at 15:21 Highlight the passage at 15:21

15:47 So whatever I'm saying here tonight and over the weekend, this is for you to think about and check. And also I'll leave some time at the end of each talk for you to ask questions. So if there's something that's not clear or something you want to know more about or you want to challenge, then feel free to do that. Report an error in the passage at 15:47 Highlight the passage at 15:47

16:10 And then another thing is that... Buddhism is quite vast and complex, and I think in particular Tibetan Buddhism, as you might notice. There's a lot of different images and different kinds of objects we have on the altar here. Some Buddhist traditions are much more simple, more simple meditation room, decoration and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 16:10 Highlight the passage at 16:10

16:41 it. And also, There's a lot of teachings, a lot of material, a lot of information, and a lot of different kinds of practices, meditations and prayers and prostrations and so on. So it can seem kind of complex and maybe even overwhelming when you first approach Buddhism. And I think that's understandable. Report an error in the passage at 16:41 Highlight the passage at 16:41

17:07 It is complex and it can be overwhelming. But… I've heard His Holiness the Dalai Lama sometimes say that the essence of Buddhism is transforming our mind, transforming the mind. And I like that and I like to repeat that to people because I think it helps to make sense of the vastness, the complexity, all the different aspects there are in Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 17:07 Highlight the passage at 17:07

17:38 If you understand that the purpose of all of these things is transforming our mind, then it gives you a kind of framework to make sense of all these things. It's like putting Buddhism in a nutshell, making it kind of simple. Not that it is simple, but at least to make sense of all these images and all the different practices and so on, and all the different teachings. Report an error in the passage at 17:38 Highlight the passage at 17:38

18:06 So what do we mean by transforming the mind? Report an error in the passage at 18:06 Highlight the passage at 18:06

18:13 The term mind is used a lot in Buddhism and it has a particular meaning which might be different than the way the word mind is used in other sources. So I'll just briefly explain what we mean by mind. We can also say consciousness, mind or consciousness or awareness. Those pretty much mean the same thing. Report an error in the passage at 18:13 Highlight the passage at 18:13

18:38 So according to Buddhism, each person has a mind. Each of us has a mind. It's not that there's one huge, sorry, one huge universal mind and we're all just part of that. But each person has their own individual mind. And the mind is a non-physical thing. So it's not the brain or the nervous system or any part of the body. Report an error in the passage at 18:38 Highlight the passage at 18:38

19:05 So it's not a part of the body. It's not made of cells or molecules or atoms or quarks or any kind of material substances or particles. So it's said to be non-physical, non-material, which makes it a little mysterious because it means we can't see it. You know, if doctors can open up the body and examine all the different parts of the body, Report an error in the passage at 19:05 Highlight the passage at 19:05

19:34 But the mind isn't something that can be examined. It can't be seen even under a microscope, even with any kind of instrument that has been invented so far. Mind is not visible, not tangible, not something that can be weighed or measured in any of those ways because it doesn't have any of those kind of properties. Report an error in the passage at 19:34 Highlight the passage at 19:34

19:54 It doesn't have size or shape or color or weight or... You know, like I say, made of material substances. So it's totally non-physical. And another feature of the mind is that it knows, it experiences. So it's that part of us that knows things, that experiences things. And it can experience things in different ways. One is through thinking. Report an error in the passage at 19:54 Highlight the passage at 19:54

20:27 So probably most of us, if not all of us, have a lot of thoughts going on all the time. Very, very busy. So all of those thoughts that happen in us, those are the mind. Those belong to the mind. Those are part of the mind. But according to Buddhism, mind also includes feelings and emotions. So again, we have many different kinds of emotions. Report an error in the passage at 20:27 Highlight the passage at 20:27

20:54 We can feel happy, unhappy. We can feel loving. We can feel angry. We can feel peaceful. We can feel disturbed. We can feel good. We can feel miserable. So many different kinds of emotions and feelings. So those are also part of the mind, according to Buddhism. So we don't make the separation between the intellect, thinking and emotions, feelings. Report an error in the passage at 20:54 Highlight the passage at 20:54

21:25 I mean, they are different, but they're still part of the mind or they're included in what we call the mind. And mind also includes our most basic experiences like seeing, what we call the five senses. The five senses, seeing, hearing, smell, taste, touch. So anytime we have any of those experiences, we see something, we hear something, we smell an odor, we taste something sweet or salty, we feel something in our body, hot or cold or hungry or pain. Report an error in the passage at 21:25 Highlight the passage at 21:25

22:00 So those experiences are also part of the mind. It's not the body. It's not the eyes and the ears and the body that experiences those things. It's actually the mind, but independence on the body, related with the body. So all conscious experiences, all awarenesses, all thoughts, feelings, perceptions are included in the mind. Report an error in the passage at 22:00 Highlight the passage at 22:00

22:26 So the term mind then is a kind of general term that covers all of those experiences. Report an error in the passage at 22:26 Highlight the passage at 22:26

22:34 And another thing that's said about the mind is that it's constantly changing, similar to a river or a stream. So we shouldn't think of the mind as being something kind of solid and static, always the same. But it's better to think of a river or a stream which is constantly moving, changing, made up of different particles. Report an error in the passage at 22:34 Highlight the passage at 22:34

22:56 I mean, a river is made of particles of water, but the mind is made of different particles. Experiences that are constantly changing. So it's never the same from one moment to the next. That's pretty amazing. But we can check that out for ourselves and see if it's true. Again, don't just believe it, but check it for yourself. And the mind never stops. Report an error in the passage at 22:56 Highlight the passage at 22:56

23:22 There's never a time when there isn't something happening in the mind. So all the time when we're awake, our mind is... Experiencing things. And even when we fall asleep, our mind still has experiences. When we dream, we have dreams. It's our mind that dreams. And it's said that even when we're in dreamless sleep, there's still something happening in the mind. Report an error in the passage at 23:22 Highlight the passage at 23:22

23:47 The mind is still there experiencing something. Even a person in a coma, a mind is still there experiencing things. So it goes continuously 24 hours a day. Report an error in the passage at 23:47 Highlight the passage at 23:47

24:01 So that's just a little information about the mind. What is the mind? What do we mean by the mind? And then, in a kind of general way, we can say that within our mind, there are some experiences that we can call positive and other experiences we can call negative. Report an error in the passage at 24:01 Highlight the passage at 24:01

24:23 And just to explain those terms, a positive experience is one that feels It feels good. It brings about a happy feeling, a good feeling. It helps us. It's helpful for ourselves, for our own state of mind and also for our physical well-being. And it can also be positive for others. For example, one of the best examples of a positive state of mind is love, loving kindness, which we're going to look at later. Report an error in the passage at 24:23 Highlight the passage at 24:23

24:59 We all feel this way sometimes. We feel loving and kind and caring towards others, or at least towards some people. And when we feel that way, if we check, if we turn our attention around to how we actually feel, the state of mind that we have at that time, I think we will all agree that it's a nice feeling. Report an error in the passage at 24:59 Highlight the passage at 24:59

25:20 It feels good. It's a good state of mind to be in. So it kind of brings an immediate benefit to our own mind. And also physically, if we check the way we feel physically, that probably also is a nice feeling to have. And then when we are in that state of mind of feeling loving and kind, and we meet other people, we talk to people, we're with other people, we interact with other people, then there's a greater chance that they will feel good as well. Report an error in the passage at 25:20 Highlight the passage at 25:20

25:56 There's no guarantee. It's not like 100 % sure. But sometimes people are really grumpy, really in a bad mood. And even if you're really nice, really sweet to them, they can still be grumpy. So it's not certain that it will help another person or change another person. Report an error in the passage at 25:56 Highlight the passage at 25:56

26:15 I think probably most of the time people do have a good response, a positive response. They like to be treated nicely. Animals as well. When you treat animals with gentleness and kindness, they look really happy. And kids, they run up to you. They want more of that. So we can see that the effect of our loving kindness on other people is also something positive. People like it. Report an error in the passage at 26:15 Highlight the passage at 26:15

26:43 Not just people, animals too. Other beings like it. They like that energy we're putting off. So this is something we can check, we can see for ourselves that having that particular state of mind brings positive results, positive consequences that we ourselves experience and also others can experience. Report an error in the passage at 26:43 Highlight the passage at 26:43

27:06 And also, you know, if we just look at the world in general, we can see, we can hear about so many Beautiful acts of kindness that people do to other people and to animals. And just hearing about that makes us feel good. We feel happy. We think, oh, how wonderful. So again, that's a positive result that comes from that particular state of mind of loving kindness. Report an error in the passage at 27:06 Highlight the passage at 27:06

27:33 So I'm just trying to explain the meaning of positive when we say a positive state of mind. A positive state of mind is one that brings about positive results, positive consequences, good things. It brings about good things for you, for others, for the world. Report an error in the passage at 27:33 Highlight the passage at 27:33

27:50 Then, on the other hand, we talk about negative states of mind. And these have the opposite effect. A negative state of mind is one that brings about bad things for you, for others, for the world. So one of the best examples of a negative state of mind is anger or hatred. Which are quite similar. And I think we can see in our own experience, we all sometimes get angry. We sometimes feel hatred. Report an error in the passage at 27:50 Highlight the passage at 27:50

28:20 If we could at that point in time look at our state of mind and ask ourselves, what does this feel like? How does this feel? Does this feel good? Maybe some people actually like feeling angry. I don't know. Maybe because it gives energy, you know, it kind of makes you feel full of energy and strong and you like you do anything. But aside from that, is it a good state of mind in the sense of being kind of calm and peaceful and happy, relaxed? Report an error in the passage at 28:20 Highlight the passage at 28:20

29:00 So it's actually difficult to do this. At the time you're feeling angry. I think it's... Unless you're trained in mindfulness, it could be quite difficult to check your state of mind and how that feels, how it feels to be in that state of mind. But you can check it afterwards. Maybe when you've calmed down a bit more, you're in a more calm state of mind, then you can think back on that experience of being angry or having hatred. Report an error in the passage at 29:00 Highlight the passage at 29:00

29:26 And I think you'll probably find it's not such a good state of mind, not such a good feeling to have. And I've heard also that scientists... There's been research done on the effects of different kinds of emotions on the body and health, and it seems that there's definite evidence, proof that anger, anger and hatred, have an adverse effect on our health and our body. Report an error in the passage at 29:26 Highlight the passage at 29:26

29:55 I even saw a book once with the title, Anger Kills. It's like smoking kills. So it seems... Pretty definite that there's evidence, scientific evidence of the harmful effects of anger on our health. So if we examine this, then we might come to see that, yeah, anger, hatred is harmful for my mind, harmful for my feelings, harmful for my health, my body. Report an error in the passage at 29:55 Highlight the passage at 29:55

30:22 Then how does it affect other people? So to understand this, it can be helpful to remember times when we were around somebody who was angry. We were in the presence in the same room with somebody who was like really, really angry and just try to remember how it felt. What does it feel like to be around someone who's angry and shouting and maybe even doing things physically, breaking things, slamming doors, about to hit somebody or actually hitting somebody. Report an error in the passage at 30:22 Highlight the passage at 30:22

31:01 So I think we'll probably find it doesn't feel good. It's not a pleasant feeling to be around somebody else who's angry. In fact, we probably feel quite tense and scared. And then if we're even on the receiving end of the other person's verbal abuse or physical abuse, then it's even worse. Then we really do suffer as a result of that person's anger. Report an error in the passage at 31:01 Highlight the passage at 31:01

31:28 And again, we can look in the world and see so many examples of the terrible things that people do when they're angry. You know, sometimes, you know, like terrorists, terrorist attacks, terrorist bombs, or what do you call it, when someone picks up a gun, goes on a shootout. So many people can be killed just in a short period of time. And so that means all those people who are killed suffer. Report an error in the passage at 31:28 Highlight the passage at 31:28

31:56 And each of the... People who is killed has family, friends, you know, a circle of people who love that person and who suffer with grief, you know, who are horrified and grief-stricken and that can take them years or maybe their entire life to recover from. So there's just a huge amount of suffering and happiness that is caused as a result of anger and hatred. Report an error in the passage at 31:56 Highlight the passage at 31:56

32:29 So I think it's not too difficult to see that anger brings about bad things, bad results for oneself, the one who's experiencing anger, for other people who happen to be around and affected by one's anger. And waves of that unhappiness and problem can reach further and further to reach many people. Report an error in the passage at 32:29 Highlight the passage at 32:29

32:57 So that's an example. That's probably the best example of a negative state of mind because we can really see how it brings suffering and problems. So each of us has within us some states of mind, like ways of thinking, attitudes, emotions that are positive. They bring about good things for ourselves and others. And we also sometimes have states of mind, thoughts, feelings, attitudes that are negative. Report an error in the passage at 32:57 Highlight the passage at 32:57

33:28 That bring problems to ourselves, problems to others. So the Buddha's point of view is this is normal. This is normal for beings who are ordinary beings, who are not enlightened beings. So there's an explanation of some beings who are enlightened beings, like the Buddha. That's actually the meaning of Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 33:28 Highlight the passage at 33:28

33:55 Buddha isn't a name like John or Mary, but it's... It's like a term, a title, given to someone who has attained enlightenment. And the state of enlightenment is a state of mind. Mainly it's a state of mind. And it's a state of mind in which all the negative aspects of the mind, all these negative thoughts and feelings, emotions, have been totally eliminated. Report an error in the passage at 33:55 Highlight the passage at 33:55

34:19 Like they just don't exist. They never occur. A Buddha never gets angry, never has hatred, never has violence. Never as selfish, never greedy. The negative states of mind just never occur in an enlightened being. And all the positive states of mind, like love and compassion and joy and equanimity, what we're going to look at in this weekend, and patience and generosity and wisdom, intelligence, courage. Report an error in the passage at 34:19 Highlight the passage at 34:19

34:50 So all the good states of mind have been fully developed. Like they're there, they're on all the time. They're never off 24 hours a day. A Buddha always feels love and not just for a limited number of beings but for everybody, every being without exception, pure unconditional love. So the positive states of mind have been fully developed to the highest degree and they're present all the time in the mind of a Buddha and enlightened beings. Report an error in the passage at 34:50 Highlight the passage at 34:50

35:20 That's just in a nutshell the meaning of enlightenment. It's the most perfect, the most fully developed state of mind there is. So there are those who have attained that. There isn't just one Buddha. There's actually many Buddhas. And so a Buddha then is anyone who has done that with their mind, who has transformed their mind and brought their mind to the state of enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 35:20 Highlight the passage at 35:20

35:43 And then there are others, like me, who are not there, who haven't attained enlightenment, who still have. Negative states of mind and positive states of mind have not been fully developed. So according to Buddhism, there's a lot of us, a lot of beings who are not enlightened. So it's completely normal that we have negative states of mind. Until we reach enlightenment, we still have these negative states of mind. Report an error in the passage at 35:43 Highlight the passage at 35:43

36:11 So it's normal. But even though that is the case now, it doesn't have to be like that forever. Because we all have the potential to change our mind. The mind by its very nature is changeable. It does change. Report an error in the passage at 36:11 Highlight the passage at 36:11

36:30 Its nature is to, like I mentioned before, it's like a river, constantly flowing, constantly changing. It never stays the same from one moment to the next. That's the nature of the mind. Its very nature is to change. And that's good news because it means that we can change our mind. Our mind isn't sort of fixed. Report an error in the passage at 36:30 Highlight the passage at 36:30

36:49 Frozen, static, you know, like now I have anger, I will have anger forever and ever and ever. It's not like that. Now I have anger, but I can work on my mind and gradually decrease the anger and the hatred and the other negative states of mind and eventually get rid of them so they're not there anymore. Report an error in the passage at 36:49 Highlight the passage at 36:49

37:09 And I have some love, but not enough, not as much as I could. I don't love everybody all the time, but that's something that can be changed. Report an error in the passage at 37:09 Highlight the passage at 37:09

37:20 We can work on cultivating love and have it more and more often for more and more people and so eventually that can become perfect love. Report an error in the passage at 37:20 Highlight the passage at 37:20

37:30 So according to Buddhism, this is true for everybody. Whoever has a mind can change their mind because the mind anyway changes. Even if we don't do anything, our mind changes. It just changes by itself. But we can work on our mind. To kind of take charge of our mind and work on changing it, decreasing the negative aspects, increasing the positive aspects. Report an error in the passage at 37:30 Highlight the passage at 37:30

38:01 And eventually we can get to that state of enlightened mind. So this is true for everybody. And in Buddhism we talk about Buddha nature. So Buddha nature is this potential that we all have present in our mind. Buddha nature is present in everybody's mind all the time. Whoever has a mind, wherever there's a mind, there is Buddha nature. The potential to become Buddha, the potential to become enlightened, the potential to totally transform. Report an error in the passage at 38:01 Highlight the passage at 38:01

38:32 So this is just to explain this statement by the Dalai Lama that the essence of Buddhism is to transform our mind, transforming our mind. So just to help you understand what that means. What is the mind? What does it mean to transform the mind? What kind of transformation are we trying to bring about? We're not trying to make it more negative and get rid of the positive things. Report an error in the passage at 38:32 Highlight the passage at 38:32

39:02 We're trying to make it more positive and get rid of the negative things. And why? Why do we do this? What's the reason? What's the purpose for doing this? Report an error in the passage at 39:02 Highlight the passage at 39:02

39:12 What do you think? Why should we change our mind? Huh? To become enlightened? Yeah. For the benefit of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 39:12 Highlight the passage at 39:12

39:28 Yes. To be happy, yes. Yeah, exactly. Because, like I say, positive states of mind are beneficial. They make us feel good and they make other people feel good. And isn't that what people want? I mean, who wants to feel bad? Who wants to be miserable? Who wants pain? Who wants suffering? Yeah? Report an error in the passage at 39:28 Highlight the passage at 39:28

39:56 It's universal that people, all people and all beings, want to feel good. I want to feel happy. I want to avoid pain, problems, suffering, misery, unhappiness. So it's something we all have. It's again the kind of common or universal feature of the mind is that it kind of gravitates towards what feels good. Report an error in the passage at 39:56 Highlight the passage at 39:56

40:24 And it tries to avoid what doesn't feel good, what feels bad. So Tibetan lamas always say, All sentient beings want happiness. All sentient beings want to be free of suffering. So this is a very common saying. And if we think about it, we'll probably find that it's true. And so then, if that's true, if all of us, all beings, want happiness and we don't want suffering, how do we do it? Report an error in the passage at 40:24 Highlight the passage at 40:24

40:57 What's the means? What's the method for getting happiness? What's the means, the method for... Getting rid of suffering. So according to Buddhism, it's mainly transforming our mind, working on our mind, working on our thoughts, our feelings, our attitudes. Probably most people in the world think that happiness comes from having money and things and doing all the normal things, materialistic things. Report an error in the passage at 40:57 Highlight the passage at 40:57

41:29 Of course, those can bring happiness, but there's no guarantee. It's not certain. I'm sure we've all had experiences where we've been in a really beautiful place with beautiful people and beautiful food to eat and beautiful things to do like going swimming in the sea and surfing and dancing and watching movies and whatever we might enjoy. So we've been in that kind of situation and having all these things that we could enjoy. Report an error in the passage at 41:29 Highlight the passage at 41:29

42:06 But if in the mind, if in our mind there was something that made us unhappy, you know, like maybe you just had a quarrel, a conflict, a fight with somebody, or you heard some bad news. Someone close to you, someone very dear to you, very important to you, just died or was diagnosed with cancer or something bad happened to them. Report an error in the passage at 42:06 Highlight the passage at 42:06

42:30 So even though you're in this beautiful situation and able to enjoy these Wonderful things. Do you enjoy them? Are you able to feel happy? Are you able to enjoy all these things? If there's this pain in the mind, if there's this kind of knot of suffering in the mind, then no. And we can also see people, there are people who are millionaires, billionaires, movie stars, celebrities who have so much. Report an error in the passage at 42:30 Highlight the passage at 42:30

43:06 And yet they can be so unhappy. So unhappy they even take their own lives, commit suicide. Or they take drugs. They're addicts, addicted to drugs or alcohol. They have to go for recovery programs. They have to go to psychology, take a lot of medication. His Holiness the Dalai Lama once mentioned he was in the house. He was somewhere in America. Report an error in the passage at 43:06 Highlight the passage at 43:06

43:32 He was invited to the house of this very, very wealthy man, this big, huge, beautiful mansion, and he had to go to the restroom. So when he was in the bathroom, he said he saw these two big bottles. One was a bottle of tranquilizers, and the other one was sleeping pills. Report an error in the passage at 43:32 Highlight the passage at 43:32

43:55 So he said for him that was kind of evidence that even if you're very, very wealthy and you have a really wonderful life, But that doesn't guarantee that you're free from problems. You can still have unhappiness, still have inner turmoil and be unable to sleep at night and so on. Report an error in the passage at 43:55 Highlight the passage at 43:55

44:15 So from the Buddhist point of view, the most important thing is the mind. Not so much what's going on outside of us, material things. Of course, that's important too. But more important is the mind because... Even if we're in a situation where things outside aren't going so well, we may not be in such a beautiful place, we may not have so much money, we may not have such delicious food to eat, but if we know how to work on our mind, how to make our mind happy, we can be happy, even if things around us, outside of us, aren't going so well. Report an error in the passage at 44:15 Highlight the passage at 44:15

44:49 So I think we all probably have some experience of that as well, how it's possible to be happy, even if you're not a millionaire. Report an error in the passage at 44:49 Highlight the passage at 44:49

44:58 You don't have tons of money and things, but if you know how to be happy inside, you can be happy. Report an error in the passage at 44:58 Highlight the passage at 44:58

45:08 So that's the essence of Buddhism. All the different teachings and practices and decorations and images and so on, it's all for that purpose of working on the mind and making our mind more positive and less negative. And the reason for doing this is to have more happiness for ourselves and for others. Report an error in the passage at 45:08 Highlight the passage at 45:08

45:32 That's kind of the short-term reason. And then the long-term reason or purpose is enlightenment, bringing our mind to the state of enlightenment. But of course some people may have doubt about that, you know, especially if you're hearing about this for the first time. You may not be 100 % sure there's such a thing as enlightenment or that you can achieve it. Report an error in the passage at 45:32 Highlight the passage at 45:32

45:56 And that's okay. That's something to think about, to check. But I think we can all relate to the first reason. Working on our mind that it helps us to be more happy and it helps people around us to be more happy as well. Report an error in the passage at 45:56 Highlight the passage at 45:56

46:13 Okay, so the main topic of this weekend is what we call the four immeasurable thoughts. And so we're going to look at those. Those are four very positive states of mind, which we all have. We do have these already, but we can learn how to have them more of the time. Increase them. Report an error in the passage at 46:13 Highlight the passage at 46:13

46:41 So what we're looking at this weekend is already something that will help us to have more positive states of mind, less negative states of mind. But I also wanted to just talk about some general ways of working with the mind when we find ourselves having negative thoughts or negative emotions. Report an error in the passage at 46:41 Highlight the passage at 46:41

47:05 One thing that's very important is honesty, being honest about what's happening in our mind. Because sometimes it can happen that there may be some negative thoughts or emotions, but we don't really want to acknowledge it. Instead we deny, suppress, pretend it's not there. Report an error in the passage at 47:05 Highlight the passage at 47:05

47:32 Does that help? Is that a helpful way of dealing with negative thoughts and emotions? To just look the other way and pretend you're not angry, you know. Everything's okay. I'm not angry. Report an error in the passage at 47:32 Highlight the passage at 47:32

47:52 So according to the Buddhist point of view, it's not helpful because negative thoughts and emotions don't go away by themselves just by suppressing them, denying them, trying to pretend they're not there. Report an error in the passage at 47:52 Highlight the passage at 47:52

48:06 What can happen is that kind of thought can come up again and again and again and then negative energy builds up and then maybe one day we're like a volcano, you know, we kind of explode, have a breakdown. So it can be dangerous, mentally, emotionally and also physically. It can also lead to sickness, physical problems. Report an error in the passage at 48:06 Highlight the passage at 48:06

48:30 And it's not a solution. It's not a solution. Another thing that people sometimes do when they have negative thoughts or emotions is sort of the opposite to suppression. And that is to just blow it out, act it out. Just let themselves get caught up in the anger or whatever the... Emotion may be and just do whatever they feel like doing. Let it out, explode, get angry, yell at people, break things. Report an error in the passage at 48:30 Highlight the passage at 48:30

49:01 And they may think that's also a helpful solution. It's a way of getting that negative energy out of themselves. But again, this is something to examine. Is that helpful? Especially if there are people around, other people, other beings around who could be hurt, affected. Report an error in the passage at 49:01 Highlight the passage at 49:01

49:22 Disturbed by this blowout of your negative energy. Report an error in the passage at 49:22 Highlight the passage at 49:22

49:29 Another thing about this is it becomes a habit. It becomes habitual. Anytime you feel angry, anytime you feel like yelling or shouting or speaking abusively, if you just let yourself do it, then it becomes more and more frequent, easier to happen. Report an error in the passage at 49:29 Highlight the passage at 49:29

49:52 It becomes like a habit, and then it becomes more difficult to change. Once something becomes habitual, it becomes harder to change. So this is another problem with just acting out, getting into and acting out negative emotions. So the Buddhist approach in general lies between those two. Those two are like two extremes. Suppressing, denying on the one hand, acting out on the other hand. Report an error in the passage at 49:52 Highlight the passage at 49:52

50:18 So a middle approach, it would be to... Acknowledge the existence or the presence of this negative thought or negative emotion. Being honest with yourself. Being true to yourself. Yes, I feel angry. I feel depressed. I'm frightened. I'm greedy. I'm attached. I'm selfish. Whatever it may be, you acknowledge it. Report an error in the passage at 50:18 Highlight the passage at 50:18

50:41 You admit it rather than denying it. But then you don't go to the extent of just going with it and acting it out. That's not helpful either. Instead, you use some kind of method to bring about a transformation in your mind, to change that state of mind. Because again, it's possible to change the state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 50:41 Highlight the passage at 50:41

51:06 And so within the Buddhist teachings, there's a lot of different methods that we can use to... To change our minds. I'll talk about some of these over the weekend, but there are also a lot of books available. For example, there's a number of books just about anger, how to deal with anger, how to transform anger. Report an error in the passage at 51:06 Highlight the passage at 51:06

51:27 So they contain a lot of different ideas, different methods you can use to transform anger. Report an error in the passage at 51:27 Highlight the passage at 51:27

51:35 So by using some kind of method or antidote to the negative thought or emotion, You can change your mind so that instead of being angry, for example, you can at least be more peaceful, more accepting of the situation. And it's even possible to go further than that and like maybe you were angry at another person, you might even be able to feel compassion for that person, love for that person. Report an error in the passage at 51:35 Highlight the passage at 51:35

52:02 That's a totally opposite state of mind. That isn't easy, but it can be done. It is possible. By working with these methods. And just as I mentioned before that if we just follow negative thoughts and emotions then they become habitual and it becomes easier to do them, more frequent and so on. So the same is true with the positive states of mind. It's just a question of making ourselves familiar with them, doing them. So it's like the word... Report an error in the passage at 52:02 Highlight the passage at 52:02

52:40 In Tibetan language, the word that's used for meditation literally has the meaning of familiarize or to become familiar, to become habituated. So what we do in meditation, the purpose of meditation is to make our minds familiar with more positive ways of thinking, more positive states of mind, more positive experiences. Report an error in the passage at 52:40 Highlight the passage at 52:40

53:03 So for example, we have meditations for loving kindness, meditating on loving kindness. So we sit there for a period of time and just think loving kindness. Think loving thoughts. It's like making our mind familiar with that particular state of mind. And we do that again and again and again. The more you do it, the more it becomes your natural way of thinking, natural way of being, natural way of seeing others and treating others. Report an error in the passage at 53:03 Highlight the passage at 53:03

53:30 So you're making yourself familiar with or habituated to being a loving person. Report an error in the passage at 53:30 Highlight the passage at 53:30

53:40 So familiarity or habituation is very important. Report an error in the passage at 53:40 Highlight the passage at 53:40

53:50 So that's kind of the general approach to working with negative thoughts and emotions. And then another thing that's very helpful is to remind yourself that they're impermanent. They're not permanent. They're not always in your mind. They're not always going to be there. They're transitory. And there's this nice analogy in the traditional Buddhist teachings. Report an error in the passage at 53:50 Highlight the passage at 53:50

54:17 Of thoughts and emotions being like clouds. And they say our mind, the nature of our mind is similar to the sky in the sense that the sky is very vast and spacious and naturally clear. Like when you go high enough above the clouds, above the pollution, it's so clean, clear, pure. It's beautiful up there, 10,000 feet or 40,000 feet or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 54:17 Highlight the passage at 54:17

54:48 So in a similar way, the real nature, the true nature of our mind is said to be similar to that because it's clean, clear, pure, vast, spacious, full of potential. Report an error in the passage at 54:48 Highlight the passage at 54:48

55:02 And then negative thoughts and emotions are like clouds or pollution, which sometimes appear in the sky, but they're not always there. Report an error in the passage at 55:02 Highlight the passage at 55:02

55:15 So clouds come and go, pollution comes and goes. It's not permanently there in the sky, not permanently part of the sky. So in a similar way, negative thoughts, negative emotions, negative feelings, negative experiences, negative states of mind are not always there. Report an error in the passage at 55:15 Highlight the passage at 55:15

55:32 They come and they go. And this is something we can see for ourselves. You know, there are times we get really, really angry, but after some time it fades, goes away, and you can even feel really loving towards the person you are angry at. Report an error in the passage at 55:32 Highlight the passage at 55:32

55:49 The anger can also come back after some time, but at least to recognize that it's not fixed, it's not permanent, it's not frozen, it comes and goes. So that is very helpful to remind yourself of when you notice that there's some negative thoughts or emotions in the mind. Just to say to yourself, it's impermanent. It's like a cloud or like pollution that's just... Report an error in the passage at 55:49 Highlight the passage at 55:49

56:15 It comes and goes in my mind. It's here right now, but it's not going to be there forever. That is really helpful. It's good to try that and see what effect it has. Because my own experience, and I know other people also say this, that just reminding themselves that this negative state of mind is impermanent sort of makes it less heavy, makes it more light. Report an error in the passage at 56:15 Highlight the passage at 56:15

56:42 And you'll probably find that it goes away more quickly. As opposed, like if we think it's permanent, like if we get all tense, oh, there's that anger again, or there's that depression again, you know, we get all tensed up as if it's permanent, as if it's always there and it will always be there. Then it feels more heavy. It really feels heavy and solid and it probably lasts longer. It won't go away so quickly. Report an error in the passage at 56:42 Highlight the passage at 56:42

57:11 Whereas if we see it as, oh, it's impermanent, it's like a... The whole experience becomes lighter, less heavy, and most probably that state of mind will disappear more quickly. Report an error in the passage at 57:11 Highlight the passage at 57:11

57:27 I remember noticing this myself once, because I have a tendency to get depressed sometimes. And so one morning I saw in my mind there was depression. So I just said to myself, oh, there's depression. Yeah, never mind, it's impermanent, it's not going to last. And very quickly, I mean within maybe an hour or two, it was gone. Whereas, you know, people sometimes get depressed and stay depressed for days, for weeks, for months. Report an error in the passage at 57:27 Highlight the passage at 57:27

58:07 Another thing that's helpful, I'll just say one more thing and then we'll have a little break. Another thing that's helpful in a general way with negative thoughts and emotions is to de-identify with it. Because I think have this automatic, spontaneous... A habit of identifying with whatever happens in our mind. Any kind of thought, any kind of emotion that comes up in our mind, we kind of immediately feel, I am that. Report an error in the passage at 58:07 Highlight the passage at 58:07

58:40 If it's anger, I am angry. If it's depression, I am depressed. If it's fear, I am afraid. Yeah? We kind of own it. Not necessarily we do this consciously or deliberately. I think it's just a... Automatic reaction. And again, this way of responding to negative thoughts and emotions makes that experience more solid and it will last longer. Report an error in the passage at 58:40 Highlight the passage at 58:40

59:08 It won't go away so quickly. So it's helpful to change the message we're saying to ourselves. Instead of, I am angry, there's anger in my mind. There's anger in the mind, there's depression in the mind, there's fear in the mind. Because then I think this is a more realistic approach because it is just this state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 59:08 Highlight the passage at 59:08

59:39 It's a temporary transitory phenomena that comes into our mind sometimes, not always, but sometimes it's there and then it passes. It's not me, it's not who I am or what I am, but it's just something happening in my mind. Going through my mind. So it's actually helpful to do that when you notice some kind of state of mind that's unpleasant or negative. Report an error in the passage at 59:39 Highlight the passage at 59:39

1:00:06 Just say to yourself, that is in my mind. One woman, I was in Singapore for a long time teaching and there was one woman there who would come and she heard me talk about this and she tried it out with her teenage daughter who would often do things that were naughty. And then the mother would explode with anger. And she didn't like doing that. She didn't like being angry at her daughter. So she tried this out. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:06 Highlight the passage at 1:00:06

1:00:37 The next time her daughter was doing something naughty, the mother said she could see the anger coming up in her mind. And she just said to herself, anger is in my mind, in my mind. And she said she could see it come and go. And she remained calm. She didn't explode like she usually does. So she was so happy that she found a method that helped her to avoid losing her temper with her daughter, staying calm. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:37 Highlight the passage at 1:00:37

1:01:15 But with something like depression, it may not be realistic to expect that it's just going to go away right away. That may stay a little longer. But like I say, comparatively, it'll probably go away more quickly than if we... Identify with it. If we feel, I am depressed, we own it, we identify it, we get into it, I am depressed. So then in that case it probably stays longer. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:15 Highlight the passage at 1:01:15

1:01:44 But if we say depression is in my mind, depression is in my mind, it will probably disappear more quickly. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:44 Highlight the passage at 1:01:44

1:01:56 Okay, so let's take a little break now. You can stand up and stretch, relax, just for a few minutes. Then when you come back we'll do a little bit of meditation. on what I was just talking about to see if we can get a deeper experience of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:56 Highlight the passage at 1:01:56

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:03:18 Yeah, but just to look like I'm on the right page. Good. We did. We did it. We took them up and then we put them down. Hey, Scott. Nice to see you. Nice to see you. I thought it was longer. You sent me a photo. Hi, nice to meet you. What's your name? Anna. Anna. You sent me a phone. I thought you look kind of similar. Yeah, I heard. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:18 Highlight the passage at 1:03:18

1:03:56 She couldn't take it. So she, six, seven, seven months? Eight months old. So we've just taken care. you. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:56 Highlight the passage at 1:03:56

1:04:31 Are you both working? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:31 Highlight the passage at 1:04:31

1:04:36 Thank you. I'll try to work it up when the baby's sleeping. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:36 Highlight the passage at 1:04:36

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:05:16 Do you bring your baby sometimes? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:16 Highlight the passage at 1:05:16

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:05:54 I see. So you've been going to Zen centers? Is it around the corner here? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:54 Highlight the passage at 1:05:54

1:06:22 Japanese teacher. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:22 Highlight the passage at 1:06:22

1:06:31 Yeah? Yeah. He did meditation. I don't think he told me about that. Oh, yeah? I was wondering what his death was like. Did you hear any news? Was he peaceful? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:31 Highlight the passage at 1:06:31

1:06:47 I said that at the moment he died, that he just said, Report an error in the passage at 1:06:47 Highlight the passage at 1:06:47

1:06:56 Oh, that's good. Oh, that's good. He must have had some good things he did. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:56 Highlight the passage at 1:06:56

1:07:21 No, I'm living in Italy. I'm doing the master's program. That's the problem when you can. That's the problem when you can. That's not it. I know. Yeah. I think part of it's not the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:21 Highlight the passage at 1:07:21

1:07:25 So we've done four years already. Two years ago. I'm Report an error in the passage at 1:07:25 Highlight the passage at 1:07:25

1:07:34 happy to be there. It's tough. It's challenging. I never feel like I have enough time to do everything I want to do. But I just feel so fortunate to be doing these studies. It's really amazing. No, doing a study program. We're studying some Indian Buddhist texts. from a great master's in the past and I was studying Kvasubandhu. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:34 Highlight the passage at 1:07:34

1:08:03 So it's actually really rare to be able to study these texts. Even if they're translated, you try to read them, you can't make sense of them. So you need to have this kind of program where the teacher is playing and discussing and looking into commentaries and so on. So it's really wonderful. It's just so amazing. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:03 Highlight the passage at 1:08:03

1:08:22 It's almost like the more I learn, the more I know I don't know. There's just so much. This Report an error in the passage at 1:08:22 Highlight the passage at 1:08:22

1:08:34 kind of hunger to know as much as possible. The path is so vast. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:34 Highlight the passage at 1:08:34

1:08:48 Some people say, I say, oh, I'm in Italy doing the master's program. They say, oh, you're teaching it? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:48 Highlight the passage at 1:08:48

1:09:00 You're the kind of student that other students get really angry at. And they're like, wait, she should be in this Report an error in the passage at 1:09:00 Highlight the passage at 1:09:00

1:09:11 Well, no, the teachings are given in Tibetan, and then they're translated into English, and then simultaneously there's someone translating it into Italian, because the majority of students know English. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:11 Highlight the passage at 1:09:11

1:09:28 Well, it's in the countryside, but the nearest big city is Pisa, so it's Tuscany. The famous Tuscany. Beautiful. I thought about doing it. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:28 Highlight the passage at 1:09:28

1:09:54 went to some development of Buddhist retreats in Tuscany. Oh, really? Yeah. Where? Well, they're not too far from, they're in southern Tuscany, it's on that time north of Tuscany. Oh, okay. Yeah, he has a center. Is it called Marigar? Yeah, Marigar. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:54 Highlight the passage at 1:09:54

1:10:25 I think his son is teaching. So in like a cinema? Yeah. In cinema they had a film. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:25 Highlight the passage at 1:10:25

1:10:53 I don't know much about him. I've seen some ads, like cards, advertising, teachings that he was giving. But he looks, maybe the mother is Italian. He doesn't look really Tibetan. He looks kind of in between. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:53 Highlight the passage at 1:10:53

1:11:13 I don't know much about him. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:13 Highlight the passage at 1:11:13

1:11:18 A lot of books. He's read a lot of books. He's quite famous. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:18 Highlight the passage at 1:11:18

1:11:27 Yeah, we have two months off in the summer. and one month off We have a week off at Easter. So I haven't been home. I wanted to visit my family. I've been back for three years. and then and Land of Medicine Buddha invited me to come and teach there and then the other centers around also asked me to come and teach. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:27 Highlight the passage at 1:11:27

1:11:52 I was happy to have the chance to come back because it's been many years. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:52 Highlight the passage at 1:11:52

1:12:00 She's the director of the Also down at L &B, there's so many old fans. The old, old Mamiya, she's doing that. Hey, welcome. I didn't get to cause your punny this time. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:00 Highlight the passage at 1:12:00

1:12:27 You're teaching meditation here, huh? Exciting. And we're going to have you tonight. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:27 Highlight the passage at 1:12:27

1:12:37 I just bought a new one and I got a PC. It's a Lenovo? Because I remember you... and recommending them. Would that be easier? Are you okay? Yeah. I'm kind of regretting now that I didn't because I thought they're either very thick or very expensive and they're also heavy. I wanted something small and light. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:37 Highlight the passage at 1:12:37

1:13:03 Yeah, but that doesn't have much storage. It only has 120 something gigabytes. I mean, I just thought it'd be good to have more. You know, they fill up so quickly. Because my old computer, I think it had 80 gigabytes, but 40 of that was taken up with programs and, you know, like 20 gigabytes of space. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:03 Highlight the passage at 1:13:03

1:13:28 And it filled up so quickly. I thought, this time I'm going to get a really big one. But yeah, probably. I don't know where it would be, but this is what I'm thinking, everybody's, well, there's a next door here. I'm not sure if I can sell or return the one that I have. Do you know if it's possible to sell? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:28 Highlight the passage at 1:13:28

1:13:50 I mean, it's still real, just before Christmas. It's for me. It's for me. Well, I don't know, because when I was shopping, I brought it online, not from Lenovo, but from, yeah, it's kind of a special day. I think it said, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:50 Highlight the passage at 1:13:50

1:14:06 And my mom is not helping us, so. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:06 Highlight the passage at 1:14:06

1:14:18 I know, I've been spending this since Christmas and trying to get this. Well, it's more because it's got Windows 7 and it's got Office 2010. So these are like new programs. I'm just trying to figure out my way, trying to get my... But the same would happen with the Mac as well. It takes getting used to... Report an error in the passage at 1:14:18 Highlight the passage at 1:14:18

1:14:37 Yeah, what happened was I was trying to fix problems that were occurring. I was going and losing. And then there were these... These applications, you know, fixing your PC, download this. And we all want to be like people like that. And we all agree. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:37 Highlight the passage at 1:14:37

1:15:01 I'm just like, you got one of those. Maybe I'd get a name. I was wanting to come. He was. I can't stop showing him. Is it because there's some kind of virus? Yeah, because you want something to come through, I guess, but I'm going to start. This is where you don't even need, you don't even need. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:01 Highlight the passage at 1:15:01

1:15:35 Well, I'm here till 1st. I'm just busy this weekend. If you don't have time to work, you can make your own hours. Anyway, if I don't get to tell them about it, I have friends. Let me just let them know. It's really nice, it's like really thin, very light. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:35 Highlight the passage at 1:15:35

1:15:59 It's a nice computer, but I think it's a thing. I'm sure the problem isn't the computer. I think the problem is me. I was stupid. I was very naive to just trust these programs. And people told me, you know. It's hard, and you just have to remember it's temporary, but it's hard. It was so funny. Yes, I was using Denise. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:59 Highlight the passage at 1:15:59

1:16:14 so proud of you. It's happened. It's happened. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:14 Highlight the passage at 1:16:14

1:16:28 Denise, Denise, we're driving out from, yeah, so we're just in the car. Okay, thank you, thank you for, yeah, okay, okay, thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:28 Highlight the passage at 1:16:28

1:16:49 Is there a dinger? I mean, I'll be here tomorrow. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:49 Highlight the passage at 1:16:49

1:16:44 just talk to you. Okay, thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:44 Highlight the passage at 1:16:44

1:17:09 Yeah, I can see. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:09 Highlight the passage at 1:17:09

1:17:19 No, no, it's still warm. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:19 Highlight the passage at 1:17:19

1:17:27 Thank you. Right, you don't get this. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:27 Highlight the passage at 1:17:27

1:17:54 No, thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:54 Highlight the passage at 1:17:54

1:18:09 Is Report an error in the passage at 1:18:09 Highlight the passage at 1:18:09

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:19:16 there anyone here who hasn't done meditation before? Yeah? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:16 Highlight the passage at 1:19:16

1:19:39 No, I just wondered how much I need to explain about meditation. I did already talk a little bit about it. Meditation mainly means making our mind familiar with positive thoughts. Or positive states of mind and learning to de-familiarize ourselves with the negative ones. So there's different kinds of meditation, many different kinds. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:39 Highlight the passage at 1:19:39

1:20:08 And so some involve just focusing on one object like the breath, watching the breath come in and go out or a mantra. Something kind of simple, focusing on that and learning to concentrate. And there are other meditations that involve thinking. Using thought, using imagery. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:08 Highlight the passage at 1:20:08

1:20:31 So I thought this is the kind of meditation we can do now just for a short time. So I'll be talking a little bit and asking you to think about certain things. So just try your best to stay focused. Not let your mind wander away to think about what you're going to do later when you go home tonight. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:31 Highlight the passage at 1:20:31

1:20:53 Think about what you were doing earlier today. So try to stay here in this room and in the present moment and on the meditation that we're doing. So if your mind does wander away or if other thoughts pop up in your mind, just say to yourself, no, not now. I'm not going to think about those things now. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:53 Highlight the passage at 1:20:53

1:21:14 I'm going to do this meditation. So make yourself comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:14 Highlight the passage at 1:21:14

1:21:24 Try to find a position that's comfortable for you. But it's good to keep your back straight, Report an error in the passage at 1:21:24 Highlight the passage at 1:21:24

1:21:34 your back slouch. Keeping the back straight helps the mind be more clear, concentrated, focused. But other than your back being straight, let the other parts of your body be relaxed and not tense. So just make a quick scan of your body and see if you notice any tension. In any part of your body. And if you do, see if you can just let it go. Let it melt and flow away. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:34 Highlight the passage at 1:21:34

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:22:42 Also, when we meditate, it's a good idea to not close our eyes completely, but leave them open a little bit. Closing the eyes can lead to sleepiness or drowsiness or dullness. Keeping the eyes open helps the mind to stay more awake and alert. So you can just have them open a little and look down. On the floor in front of you or on your lap. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:42 Highlight the passage at 1:22:42

1:23:21 So we're just going to do a kind of investigative meditation on some of the things I was talking about earlier to see if we agree or not, if they are true or not. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:21 Highlight the passage at 1:23:21

1:23:38 So see if you can bring to mind an experience you had where you had some negative thought or emotion. For example, anger. You may have felt angry. Or unhappy or depressed or anxious. So some state of mind that was disturbed, unpeaceful, unpleasant. It's good if you can remember something that's fairly recent so that it's still fresh in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:38 Highlight the passage at 1:23:38

1:24:32 Now don't get caught up in the content of this state of mind. Why you're angry, why you're upset. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:32 Highlight the passage at 1:24:32

1:24:44 Instead we're going to investigate if this particular state of mind is something permanent or not. Permanent means always there, unchanging. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:44 Highlight the passage at 1:24:44

1:24:59 So this particular state of mind, this disturbing or negative state of mind, is it permanent? Is it always there in your mind, 24 hours a day, non-stop? Can Report an error in the passage at 1:24:59 Highlight the passage at 1:24:59

1:25:32 you think of times when you didn't feel this way, you didn't have that particular state of mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:25:32 Highlight the passage at 1:25:32

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:26:20 Now check if you can think of times where you felt just the opposite. Instead of angry, you felt loving and kind. Instead of depressed, you felt happy. Instead of fearful and anxious, you felt calm and courageous. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:20 Highlight the passage at 1:26:20

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:27:43 So based on what you've learned or discovered, see if you can say to yourself that that particular state of mind is Impermanent rather than permanent. It's something that isn't always present in the mind, but something that's only there sometimes, something that comes and goes. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:43 Highlight the passage at 1:27:43

1:28:33 Remember this analogy that was given of thoughts, emotions, being like clouds in the sky that come and go. So see if you can relate to that analogy. That these kind of disturbing thoughts and emotions just pass through your mind, similar to the way that clouds pass through the sky. Also, in the sky sometimes there can be really heavy, dark, thick clouds, thunder, lightning, rain, like a real storm. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:33 Highlight the passage at 1:28:33

1:29:13 But it passes, it's also transitory. So in a similar way... Sometimes there's a storm in our mind, but it doesn't last. It passes. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:13 Highlight the passage at 1:29:13

1:29:41 And see if you can relate to the analogy of the mind being like the sky, Report an error in the passage at 1:29:41 Highlight the passage at 1:29:41

1:29:51 pure, spacious, vast. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:51 Highlight the passage at 1:29:51

1:29:57 So in a similar way, our mind is always there. And its nature, its real nature, is not to be disturbed by negative thoughts and emotions. Its real nature is to be clear and peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:57 Highlight the passage at 1:29:57

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:30:48 To investigate is, is this particular negative or disturbing state of mind, is it me? Is it who I am, what I am? So as I mentioned, we have this tendency to identify with the thoughts, the feelings. So if anger comes up, we feel, I am angry. So is that true? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:48 Highlight the passage at 1:30:48

1:31:19 Are you anger? Or depression or anxiety or whatever the disturbing thought or emotion might be. Is that you? Or Report an error in the passage at 1:31:19 Highlight the passage at 1:31:19

1:31:39 is it just a state of mind that occurs, that happens, something that happens in your mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:39 Highlight the passage at 1:31:39

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:32:40 Okay, so now spend a few moments bringing the meditation to some conclusion. If you came to have any new understandings, About your mind, about your emotions. See if you can feel a determination to try to continue that understanding in order to help yourself deal with your disturbing thoughts and emotions in a more positive way, in a way that's more helpful to yourself and to others. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:40 Highlight the passage at 1:32:40

1:33:14 See Report an error in the passage at 1:33:14 Highlight the passage at 1:33:14

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:33:51 to end the meditation. You can slowly open your eyes. Relax your position. So Report an error in the passage at 1:33:51 Highlight the passage at 1:33:51

1:34:21 in case anyone is wondering, why do we have these things in our mind? They don't make me happy. They make me unhappy. They make other people unhappy. Why are they there? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:21 Highlight the passage at 1:34:21

1:34:36 Especially if we feel, I don't want them. I don't want to think this way. I don't want to feel this way. I don't want this stuff in my mind. According to Buddhism, The main reason, the main cause for these types of thoughts and emotions is normally the term ignorance is used. But ignorance here just means not knowing, not seeing things as they really are. So it's actually a kind of confusion. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:36 Highlight the passage at 1:34:36

1:35:05 It's a state of mind where we're confused about how things really are, what our own reality, our own self, our I, What is that and other people and other things and everything in fact. We're confused about everything according to Buddhism. That's our basic problem. We don't see things as they are and we see things in a completely mistaken way. It's because of this mistaken way of seeing everything that we end up having anger and hatred. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:05 Highlight the passage at 1:35:05

1:35:41 Or jealousy or pride or greed or selfishness. All these fear, anxiety, all these disturbing thoughts and emotions happen because we don't see reality. And this is what makes somebody a Buddha. How a person becomes a Buddha is by waking up to the way in which things exist, the truth, the reality of things. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:41 Highlight the passage at 1:35:41

1:36:07 It's not an easy process. We shouldn't think. Oh, this is something we can do in a short period of time, easily. It's something that takes time. But it's worth it. I think there's nothing better to do if you really think about it. Because everything else we do is like a dead end. If we don't work on our mind, if we just run after money or travel all over the world or try to have as much fun as we can, even if we do other kinds of beneficial things, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:07 Highlight the passage at 1:36:07

1:36:39 Being a doctor, being a psychologist and so on, but still it doesn't really solve all the problems. It doesn't really bring about long-term, long-lasting happiness and peace, whereas working on the mind does. So it's a good thing to do. Are there any questions so far before I continue? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:39 Highlight the passage at 1:36:39

1:37:12 But there's people way in the back. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:12 Highlight the passage at 1:37:12

1:37:23 I was, I'd like you to, well... One of my experiences has been in my attempt to be a loving, kind person. I have ignored or not observed when anger has come up inside of me or depression has come up inside of me. And I have continued to try to be a loving, kind person. And then there's a moment where that... Report an error in the passage at 1:37:23 Highlight the passage at 1:37:23

1:37:55 Explodes out of me or rears its ugly head. And if you could just speak to that for a moment. I've seen that in other people too, especially... that, I mean, I, Report an error in the passage at 1:37:55 Highlight the passage at 1:37:55

1:38:10 In California for the past several decades where practicing meditation, trying to be loving kind people has been a hobby of people, you know, of sorts, which is a wonderful goal and at the same time it seems that it sometimes brings about a case of ignorance of what other feelings might be going on that might need addressing. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:10 Highlight the passage at 1:38:10

1:38:33 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think this is quite true. I can see it in myself as well. We start learning meditation, we start learning Buddhism or some other spiritual tradition and there's all these beautiful qualities and values and practices and we just really, oh yeah, that's what I want, that's what I want and really try so hard to embody them, to be them. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:33 Highlight the passage at 1:38:33

1:39:00 But yeah, the reality is... We still have all this negative stuff inside, negative thoughts and emotions. They don't just go away because we're meditating or we're trying to practice loving kindness. That's not the way of getting rid of them. We have to deal with them. We have to confront them. And so I think it's easy, and maybe this is what you're talking about, that it's easy to deny or suppress. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:00 Highlight the passage at 1:39:00

1:39:28 These negative aspects of the mind because we're trying so hard not to be that way and trying to be the opposite way. And maybe, I don't know, maybe it can also happen sometimes that in some spiritual traditions, they don't actually teach you how to deal with the negative stuff. You know, I mean, this is when I was raised a Catholic and I was a naughty kid. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:28 Highlight the passage at 1:39:28

1:39:58 So it's like, you know, we're taught about the saints, you know, and all these saintly qualities. And there's all these goals, like you're supposed to be like that. And you're not supposed to be angry, you're not supposed to be selfish and so on. But there's no explanation on how to do it, how not to be angry, you know, how to be this saintly person. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:58 Highlight the passage at 1:39:58

1:40:22 So that was one thing I found really discouraging. And then when I started... To learn Buddhism. This is one of the beauties for me, one of the wonderful things about the Buddhist teachings. In particular, I haven't studied all the different traditions, but the Tibetan tradition in particular has this wealth of all these different methods for working on your mind, for taming your anger and your pride and your selfishness, all these things. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:22 Highlight the passage at 1:40:22

1:40:51 So there's practical things you can use. and, and, uh... For me, that was just such a wonderful discovery. But still, I can also see what you're saying. It can be very difficult to be genuine about this because I know in my own case, it took me a long time to get to the point where I could even acknowledge that I had anger. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:51 Highlight the passage at 1:40:51

1:41:19 I had this long habit of suppressing. Since I was a child, I was suppressing my anger. And an unwillingness to acknowledge that I had anger. And I remember the point where that kind of changed and I finally was willing to say, I have anger. There's anger in my mind. And then, you know, starting to really work on those methods. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:19 Highlight the passage at 1:41:19

1:41:47 But like I was saying before, this is what we need to do. We need to be honest and acknowledge. The presence of these disturbing thoughts and emotions because they don't go away by themselves. They don't go away just by sitting down and saying, oh, I wish all beings to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:47 Highlight the passage at 1:41:47

1:42:06 Actually, one woman told me a funny story. She was actually living in a Buddhist center and she had a couple of kids. And one morning she was sitting there doing meditation on loving kindness, mettā meditation. because you can get a Report an error in the passage at 1:42:06 Highlight the passage at 1:42:06

1:42:23 And her kids were running around making a lot of noise. And finally she said, will you be quiet? I'm trying to do meditation on loving kindness or something like that. She didn't even realize at the moment, she didn't realize until later the irony of that situation. But yeah, this is what can happen. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:23 Highlight the passage at 1:42:23

1:42:46 So there's this really nice saying I heard in the Tibetan tradition. I don't know if it came from the Buddha or whatever, but anyway, it said that the Dharma is like a mirror. Dharma means the Buddhist teachings, that they are like a mirror that enables us to see our mind. Because an ordinary mirror, glass mirror, just shows us our face, our hair, our body, our clothes, and helps us to see what needs to be fixed up so we look good. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:46 Highlight the passage at 1:42:46

1:43:19 But it doesn't show us our mind. We can't see our mind in a... Glass mirror. But the Dharma, the teachings, are like a mirror that shows us our mind so that we get a chance to see what's going on, what's messy, dirty, out of place, needs to be fixed up. So that's another thing about the Dharma, like the reason or purpose of learning the Dharma, listening to Dharma, meditating on Dharma, so that we can look at our mind and see what needs to be worked on in our mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:19 Highlight the passage at 1:43:19

1:43:57 But it's difficult and it's painful. I mean, it's not pleasant, you know, to see this yucky stuff in the mind. But that's why I also try, I sometimes teach whole courses just on how to work with disturbing emotions. And I go through, you know, anger and jealousy and pride and depression and so on. And generally these courses are quite popular and I think they're very useful for me as well as for people. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:57 Highlight the passage at 1:43:57

1:44:27 To remind myself of this. But one thing I try to emphasize is how important it is to be kind and patient and non-judgmental towards oneself. When we do this kind of work, working on our mind, looking at our mind, that we need to do this with an attitude of kindness. Because it's so easy. This is... What Western people tend to do, it doesn't seem to happen so much in Asia, but Western people have a tendency to beat themselves up, criticize themselves, be hard on themselves, not kind and patient and loving. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:27 Highlight the passage at 1:44:27

1:45:10 So this is something else we need to make sure that we do when we're working on our mind. Do it with kindness towards ourselves. And also because we talk so much about being kind to others. Having loving kindness and compassion for others. But that will not be successful if we can't be loving and kind to ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:10 Highlight the passage at 1:45:10

1:45:32 You know, like if you're beating yourself up because you see something in there that you don't like, when you see that same thing in other people, which you probably will, because we all have the same basic problems, when you see somebody else having the same quality or behavior or attitude that you have in yourself that you don't like, You're going to be critical and judgmental of that in them. So you won't be able to be really loving and kind to them. So it's really important to have this attitude of kindness and also patience because it takes time. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:32 Highlight the passage at 1:45:32

1:46:09 My teachers are trying to say that to us all the time, even though we're so gung-ho, you know, about doing all this work and getting to enlightenment as quickly as we can. But say, it takes time. It takes time to change the mind. They even have a nice saying I find very helpful. They say that negative states of mind are like a boulder rolling down a hill. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:09 Highlight the passage at 1:46:09

1:46:36 You just have to give it a little bit of a nudge and it just goes by itself. Whereas having positive states of mind is like trying to push a boulder up a hill. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:36 Highlight the passage at 1:46:36

1:46:48 I mean, this is a Tibetan saying, right? So it's not just... We who have this problem, they have the problem too. So they say it's difficult to change the mind. And they say the reason, well, this may be something some of you may not be able to accept, but they say the reason it's so difficult to change the mind is because the mind is very old. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:48 Highlight the passage at 1:46:48

1:47:11 It didn't just start in this lifetime. It's been around a long, long time. We have a long history, many lifetimes of being angry and jealous. And selfish and greedy and having all these negatives. We're already born with them. You know, we're born with these strong tendencies already in our mind. So the amount of time we have been acting out the negative thoughts and emotions is really, really long. The amount of time we have been trying to develop positive states of mind is very short, very little. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:11 Highlight the passage at 1:47:11

1:47:47 So it's only natural that it's difficult to change. But it is possible. Difficult, but definitely possible. If we work little by little, slowly, slowly, the mind does change. And I can say this with conviction, because like I say, in the past I used to get, I used to have depression, I used to have anger, I used to have all of these negative emotions, and I still have them, but I can see definitely not as much as before. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:47 Highlight the passage at 1:47:47

1:48:16 They've definitely decreased, and the positive states of mind have increased. So I have no doubt that it can be done. Does that answer your question? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:16 Highlight the passage at 1:48:16

1:48:35 Okay, so we just have a little bit of time left, but just to introduce this main topic of the weekend, which is the four immeasurables. What are the four immeasurables? One of them, even if you don't know. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:35 Highlight the passage at 1:48:35

1:49:02 Okay, so love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Those are the four immeasurables. And I think these are pretty universal in all the Buddhist traditions. In the Theravāda tradition, I don't think they're called four immeasurables. I think they're called the four Brahmavihāras, which can be translated as divine abidings or divine abodes. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:02 Highlight the passage at 1:49:02

1:49:32 But it's the same four. And yeah, definitely the Buddha did teach them to his disciples. And there's various prayers in the Tibetan tradition related to these four, but there's one nice short one you can find in the gold prayer book in front of you on page 34. So Report an error in the passage at 1:49:32 Highlight the passage at 1:49:32

1:50:04 halfway down the page, the four immeasurables. So you have the Tibetan there, Tibetan phonetics, you can ignore that for now. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:04 Highlight the passage at 1:50:04

1:50:16 Just look at the bold letters. So in this prayer, it has four lines and each line relates to one of the four measurables. So the first line is about immeasurable love or what we sometimes call loving kindness. So it says, may all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. So according to Buddhism, this is the meaning of love. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:16 Highlight the passage at 1:50:16

1:50:44 Love or loving kindness is wishing happiness for others. And also for oneself. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:44 Highlight the passage at 1:50:44

1:50:55 So this is something we do already have. I think everybody does have love or loving kindness for at least some people. Sometimes people say to me that they find it easier to love animals than people. So you might not like people very much, but maybe you like animals, little puppies and kittens and so on. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:55 Highlight the passage at 1:50:55

1:51:21 So I do think everybody does have it. Feel it. At least sometimes it's when there's another being or person that we see as kind of very dear and precious and beautiful and we want to treat them with kindness and care and protect them from suffering and problems and this kind of very beautiful appearance to our mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:21 Highlight the passage at 1:51:21

1:51:53 And yeah, we want them to be happy. We want that person or that being to be happy. So if they're hungry, we give them food. If they're tired, we give them a place to sleep. If they're cold, we try to make them warm. So we're concerned about their happiness and we do what we can to make them happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:53 Highlight the passage at 1:51:53

1:52:16 So it's a quality we do feel sometimes with some people, some beings, but probably... We don't feel it all the time and we don't feel it for everybody. And even those people we do feel it for, we can sometimes not feel it. As you said, you know, sometimes you can be very loving but then anger can come up. You can kind of explode with anger even at your loved ones, your partner or husband or wife, your kids, your mother, your father, siblings. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:16 Highlight the passage at 1:52:16

1:52:55 So even people towards whom we normally Have feelings of love, kindness. It's possible for anger to come up in our mind. So from the Buddha's point of view, that's normal. It's not something to worry about, something to be surprised about. Because again, the mind is impermanent. It changes. So there's moments when love can arise and there are moments when anger can arise because we haven't eliminated anger. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:55 Highlight the passage at 1:52:55

1:53:28 We're not enlightened beings who have eliminated their anger. We are unenlightened beings. Well, those of us who are unenlightened, maybe some of you are enlightened, but if you're not an enlightened being, you haven't eliminated anger, so it's still possible to come up. So it's just normal because of habit. The reason anger comes up is because of habit, familiarity, because we got anger so many times before. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:28 Highlight the passage at 1:53:28

1:53:53 So every time we get angry. It leaves a kind of seed or imprint in our mind, just like a tree, you know, a tree leaves seeds in the ground and then from those seeds more trees can come. In the same way getting angry leaves seeds in our mind, not literally, you know, physical seeds but like seeds, and from those seeds more anger can come. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:53 Highlight the passage at 1:53:53

1:54:18 That's how it works. That's another reason why it's a good idea to try not to get angry. Because if you get angry, you're just creating the cause for more anger in the future. But anyway, the reason we get angry now is because we got angry in the past. And past experiences of anger left seeds that we have. We have all these seeds in our mind, planted from old anger and old jealousy. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:18 Highlight the passage at 1:54:18

1:54:47 So when the circumstances are right, they come up. Just like in the spring. There's all these seeds in the ground and when it's warm and the rain falls, then all this stuff comes up. So it's just nature. It's just the natural way things work. So it doesn't help to feel bad or to judge ourselves or criticize ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:47 Highlight the passage at 1:54:47

1:55:10 It's just nature. It's just nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:10 Highlight the passage at 1:55:10

1:55:16 So for me, this was very helpful to discover because when I was younger, I found it hard to love people. Somehow I got this idea in my mind. I don't know where it came from. It was just my own invention. But I thought that if I really love somebody, I should never get angry at them. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:16 Highlight the passage at 1:55:16

1:55:37 And I would find myself getting angry at people. And then I would think, okay, that means I don't love them. I don't love my mother. I don't love my father. I don't love all these people because I get angry at them and I shouldn't be angry at them. So it made me really depressed. I was already depressed, but that made me even more depressed because I thought, I can't love. I don't know how to love anybody. I don't love anybody. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:37 Highlight the passage at 1:55:37

1:55:57 So it was really helpful to learn that you can love somebody but still get angry at them. Although it can happen at the same moment because love and anger cancel each other out or they're just like totally opposite states of mind. So if there's love at one moment, it's impossible for anger at that same moment. But you can have love in one moment and anger in the next moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:57 Highlight the passage at 1:55:57

1:56:21 So the mind can change. It can go back and forth between love and anger, but not at the same moment. So according to Buddhism, the Buddhist explanation of mind, that's okay. That's normal. That's how the mind works. An unenlightened mind. An enlightened mind is different. An enlightened mind always feels love, never feels angry. But for those of us who aren't enlightened, who still have seeds of anger and so on, then it's certainly possible for one of those seeds to pop up and anger to pop up. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:21 Highlight the passage at 1:56:21

1:56:54 But that doesn't mean we don't love. Just because you get angry at somebody doesn't mean you don't love that person. You can clear away the anger and then restore the love. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:54 Highlight the passage at 1:56:54

1:57:09 So what we want to do, what we try to do in our practice is to try to familiarize our mind with love, loving kindness, so that we have more of that. That is more frequent and we can feel it for more people and beings. Not just in a kind of this exclusive club of our friends and family, but start to feel love for more and more and more people and beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:09 Highlight the passage at 1:57:09

1:57:37 So there's lots of different methods for doing that. And we've run out of time now, but just to mention, maybe this is something you could start working on from now until we meet again. One way of starting to have more love, more loving kindness for others, Is just to remind ourselves that they want to be happy just like me. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:37 Highlight the passage at 1:57:37

1:58:08 See somebody or think of somebody or hear somebody's voice or see somebody in the newspaper. Just say to yourself, this person is just like me. They want to be happy. Just like I want to be happy, so does he or she or that being. I mentioned this before. Tibetan lamas say it over and over and over again. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:08 Highlight the passage at 1:58:08

1:58:33 All Sinti Mings want to be happy. All Sinti Mings want to not suffer, want to be free of suffering. So this is something like a common ground, something we have in common with everybody, every living being. Everybody just wants to be happy. It's a fairly simple idea. It's not something so complex or difficult to understand or profound, but it may be something we don't think about very much. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:33 Highlight the passage at 1:58:33

1:59:03 Something we don't really put our mind to. But if we do, yeah, it's very helpful. It kind of opens your heart, starts opening your heart more to other people, even strangers or even people you might, you know, look kind of suspicious or scary to you. You just think, oh, this person, it's just another person, another being like me who's trying to be happy, wants to be happy and doesn't want to be unhappy, doesn't want to suffer. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:03 Highlight the passage at 1:59:03

1:59:34 So it kind of establishes this feeling of closeness, at least more close than before. We start to feel more close to others. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:34 Highlight the passage at 1:59:34

1:59:49 There's a really nice book called, Sugi recommended it and I read it, A Truthful Heart by Jeffrey Hopkins. Have you ever read that? It's very, very nice. Most of his books are about emptiness. But this one is about compassion and love and bodhicitta. And he kind of just talks, kind of interweaves his own story, his own personal story. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:49 Highlight the passage at 1:59:49

2:00:12 He's one of the first American people to start studying with Tibetan lamas. And he said his first teacher, who is, what's his name, Geshe Wang, in New Jersey, New Jersey, Mongolian, Kamak, Kamak. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:12 Highlight the passage at 2:00:12

2:00:33 So that was his first teacher, and I think he was still in college, you know. A university student at that time taught him this practice of bringing to mind people and then thinking this person wants to be happy and doesn't want to suffer. And then another person wants to be happy and doesn't want to suffer. And his teacher would tell him to stay up all night sometimes, whole night, sitting and doing this. I thought, wow, that would be really wonderful. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:33 Highlight the passage at 2:00:33

2:01:00 I'm not sure I could do it all night, but just to sit there, you know. And he said he would go back over his life, all the way back, as far as he could remember, and think of his mother and his father and his siblings and kids in the neighborhood and all the people, you know, right up to the present, all the people he knew, all the people he could think of, and just say to himself, this person wants to be happy and doesn't want to suffer. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:00 Highlight the passage at 2:01:00

2:01:25 And so his teacher would teach him to do this again and again and again. I thought, wow, that would be really helpful as a starting point. To start going in the direction of feeling more open, more loving, more kind towards others. So that's one thing. And then tomorrow when we meet again, we'll look at other meditations. Or maybe we can actually do that meditation. And then there's some other meditations as well we can do for increasing our loving kindness. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:25 Highlight the passage at 2:01:25

2:01:58 But if you think this sounds like a good idea and something you might try, When you're going home, there's always lots of people around, especially a place like San Francisco. How many million people live here? Report an error in the passage at 2:01:58 Highlight the passage at 2:01:58

2:02:14 Many millions. Huh? Oh. Anyway, Report an error in the passage at 2:02:14 Highlight the passage at 2:02:14

2:02:27 there's a lot of people around. So people in the streets, other drivers in the car, or if you ride the bus, then people around you, people at home when you go home, your family, your neighbors and so on. People and beings, dogs and cats and birds and whatever else is out there. Yeah, just see. Just when you see a being and you can think of it, you remember it, just think, oh, there's a being who wants to be happy, just like me. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:27 Highlight the passage at 2:02:27

2:03:02 Any last questions before we finish? Report an error in the passage at 2:03:02 Highlight the passage at 2:03:02

2:03:08 Yeah, that's a translation, the Tibetan term. Oh yeah, he just asked the meaning of sentient. Sentient means having a mind, having a mind. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:08 Highlight the passage at 2:03:08

2:03:23 So it's a term Tibetans use. Maybe it's translated from the Sanskrit as well. Do you know Siggy? Report an error in the passage at 2:03:23 Highlight the passage at 2:03:23

2:03:32 I'm trying to hide back there. I just feel embarrassed talking about Tibetan. I don't know Tibetan that well. But anyway, it's a Tibetan term, Semchen, which kind of literally means possessing mind. Possessing mind. So it's the term used for beings. And it's not just people. Animals, insects. According to Buddhism, there's all kinds of beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:32 Highlight the passage at 2:03:32

2:03:57 Sentient beings who possess a mind. It just means beings who have minds, feelings, awarenesses, and also have the potential to be enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:57 Highlight the passage at 2:03:57

2:04:21 Okay, so... Report an error in the passage at 2:04:21 Highlight the passage at 2:04:21

2:04:31 I do sometimes try to do that with remembering that all beings are just trying to be happy and do what they feel they need to do in order to be happy, but sometimes it seems like what they feel they need to do in order to be unhappy. To be happy makes me very unhappy. So what do you do with that? Report an error in the passage at 2:04:31 Highlight the passage at 2:04:31

2:04:59 Well, we can talk about that more tomorrow because it's also good to look at what is happiness. What is this happiness that people wish for? And there's actually different kinds of happiness. Not all happiness is the same. So there's different types of happiness. And in Buddhism there's some happiness which is kind of very fleeting, transitory, doesn't last like a rainbow, you know, like a dream, doesn't last very long. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:59 Highlight the passage at 2:04:59

2:05:28 And then there's more long-term types of happiness up to like the happiness of enlightenment when you've totally transformed your mind and your mind is just always in a positive state. So there you experience a happiness which is far beyond. What normal people consider happiness. Because normally what probably most people in the world consider happiness is, you know, having money and having food and sex and wine and, you know, entertainment and so on. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:28 Highlight the passage at 2:05:28

2:05:57 And I mean, from the Buddhist point of view, that's not real happiness. That's more like pleasure, fleeting, trans-tire pleasure. That's not really what I'm talking about. Sorry? That's not really what I'm talking about. No, but what I'm saying is... Report an error in the passage at 2:05:57 Highlight the passage at 2:05:57

2:06:14 You're talking about people who do things in order to get happiness. And the things they do in order to get happiness can sometimes be things you don't approve of or make you a... No? Report an error in the passage at 2:06:14 Highlight the passage at 2:06:14

2:06:36 Somebody making life choices that affect me. Okay, this isn't clarifying it. Just didn't... Pardon? Report an error in the passage at 2:06:36 Highlight the passage at 2:06:36

2:06:49 Just in a work situation, maybe even of, you know, they feel that they need to, Report an error in the passage at 2:06:49 Highlight the passage at 2:06:49

2:06:58 okay, then that one doesn't fit that one. All right. Just the kind of happiness, I guess, that you were talking about up here, that people want to be happy. So they feel that they need to be in a position, you know, maybe it's not true happiness, but relative happiness that they feel that they need to feel safer. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:58 Highlight the passage at 2:06:58

2:07:17 or Report an error in the passage at 2:07:17 Highlight the passage at 2:07:17

2:07:21 Confident or good about themselves by having other people look up to them or whatever it is, but that somehow in that process it negatively affects somebody else. Or even just a life choice that they decide, somebody very close to me decides they have to live really far away. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:21 Highlight the passage at 2:07:21

2:07:42 Yeah, it becomes quite complex. And I think from the Buddhist point of view we would say, yeah, everybody wants to be happy and everyone's trying to be happy. But we have this problem of confusion. We're confused. And because of confusion, we sometimes do things that actually make us unhappy instead of happy and sometimes make other people unhappy instead of happy. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:42 Highlight the passage at 2:07:42

2:08:08 So the problem is confusion. The problem is not knowing reality, not knowing how things really work. What is real happiness and what do we need to do in order to get happiness? So because of... If you have ignorance or confusion about that, then people sometimes don't make wise choices. So we would, I mean, I think the ideal thing for a Buddhist practitioner would be to look at that and think, okay, there's a person who's making these bad choices and they're making problems for other people. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:08 Highlight the passage at 2:08:08

2:08:42 Good for them. Maybe problems, but sometimes people actually make problems for themselves as well and would feel compassion. That's more of a situation for feeling compassion. The person wants to be happy, but what they're doing is actually making suffering instead of happiness. So how pitiful that is, how sad that is. If there's something one can do to try to help that person, then you can do that. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:42 Highlight the passage at 2:08:42

2:09:07 But sometimes people are really stuck in what they're doing and there's not a lot of openness there that you can help them. But you can still feel compassion for them and maybe wish them... To change or make prayers. You can make prayers that the person's mind will change. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:07 Highlight the passage at 2:09:07

2:09:30 Also having this long-term view, like I was saying before, it takes a long time to reach enlightenment. It takes a long time to change the mind. and, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:30 Highlight the passage at 2:09:30

2:09:38 A Buddhist would think, okay, everyone does have the potential to change their mind and get rid of all the negative things and develop all the positive things, but realistically it's going to take a long time. So right now this person may be stuck in this particular situation, but it's not permanent. They're not going to be there forever. They're going to change one day and get out of that. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:38 Highlight the passage at 2:09:38

2:10:00 So thinking in that way, thinking in terms of impermanence helps to not get so kind of upset. We're uptight about that. I don't know if this is helpful, but anyway, we can have more time. Over the weekend, we're going to look more at compassion and love, and maybe some of these things will become more clear. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:00 Highlight the passage at 2:10:00

2:10:21 Hi. I'm just starting to explore Buddhism. It's been about a couple of weeks now. But I'm wondering about this idea that happiness for oneself comes through happiness for other people in that process. That's how you achieve your own happiness. But I'm kind of really focused on myself right now because I'm so unhappy there's no way that I can make somebody else happy. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:21 Highlight the passage at 2:10:21

2:10:51 And so I'm trying to understand through the process here or the conversation about extending that out to somebody else how I can actually do that at this point right now so I'm not missing the greater... Lesson or the bigger picture, but I'm really very self-preoccupied right now. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:51 Highlight the passage at 2:10:51

2:11:18 That's a good question. I don't know how to do the process if I can't get out of my own way, I guess. Yeah. No, I think what you're saying is quite true. Even if you think, oh yes, how wonderful it would be to have love for others and compassion for others and help others and so forth. But if in yourself there's a lot of unhappiness, a lot of problems, Report an error in the passage at 2:11:18 Highlight the passage at 2:11:18

2:11:42 So, yeah, realistically, that's limiting. That will limit your ability to help others, even if you want to. But then, of course, it's so easy to just get caught up in oneself and difficult to even want others to be happy. And sometimes you may even want others to be as unhappy as you are, you know, because seeing other people happy when you're unhappy just makes you feel worse. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:42 Highlight the passage at 2:11:42

2:12:05 So it's even possible to have that kind of thought. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:05 Highlight the passage at 2:12:05

2:12:10 So for sure it is important to work on our own mind and try to make our own mind more happy, take care of our problems. Whatever it is that's making us unhappy, try to find solutions to those and try to find ways of making the mind more happy. We will be talking about this because one of the four measurables is joy. And this is a way of making your mind happy. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:10 Highlight the passage at 2:12:10

2:12:40 But also love. I mean, all of these are love and compassion and so on. If we can bring these thoughts in our mind, they make us happy. And the Dalai Lama sometimes talks about being wisely selfish, meaning that, you know, if we are concerned about our own happiness, we want to be happy, we want to feel good ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:40 Highlight the passage at 2:12:40

2:13:05 To be happy ourselves, is it better to be... To be nasty to other people and unkind to other people? Or is it better to be kind and helpful to people? Which way makes you more happy? Which one feels better, makes you feel better? Report an error in the passage at 2:13:05 Highlight the passage at 2:13:05

2:13:41 At this point, intellectually I understand that. In practice it's really hard because I don't feel it authentically. I don't think I'm being nasty to people just because I'm unhappy. Trying to pay attention to that. But extending myself out beyond myself is really difficult. And to do that, I think there's a problem in being inauthentic in the hope to become, that keeps you from being less unhappy. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:41 Highlight the passage at 2:13:41

2:14:14 That's what the Dalai Lama means. That's what he means by being wisely selfish. He says, if you realize that being kind to others makes you feel good, That brings you happiness. So you're taking care of your need for happiness. It's kind of selfish in a way, but at least it's wise selfishness because it's also benefiting other people. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:14 Highlight the passage at 2:14:14

2:14:37 So anyway, it's kind of logical. There's a kind of logic there that if you want to be happy, you're going to be more happy by being nice to people than being nasty to people. So you might as well do what makes you feel better. And by the way, It makes them feel better too. And I think slowly, slowly you, I don't know, I think it works like this. You find out, oh, this actually feels better. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:37 Highlight the passage at 2:14:37

2:15:04 Yeah? And then you want to do it more and more and more. And it starts to become more genuine. In the beginning it may be a bit fake. Yeah? Artificial, like you say. But it starts to become more genuine. Gradually. So it's like the fake it till you make it, you know. At least you're doing it. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:04 Highlight the passage at 2:15:04

2:15:25 And eventually it does become more real. I think we better stop. I'm getting a little tired and you're probably getting tired too and maybe I have buses to catch and so on. So let's just stop, take a few moments to make a mental dedication of what we've been doing here tonight. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:25 Highlight the passage at 2:15:25

2:15:49 So we've been spending this time focusing on how to... Work on the mind to make it more positive, less negative, and how to have more love and so on. So this is something very good, what we've been doing, very good for ourselves. It will help us to be more happy, more healthy. And it's also good for others because if we can be more happy, then we'll be less likely to do hurtful things to others and make problems for others. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:49 Highlight the passage at 2:15:49

2:16:24 So this happiness we experience can spread to more and more people. So feel confident that we've been doing something really good here tonight and we've created what we call merit, which means positive energy. We've created some positive energy here tonight. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:24 Highlight the passage at 2:16:24

2:16:55 Mentally share this positive energy with others, wishing that it will be helpful to others, as many other people and beings as possible. May it help them. To also start working on their minds and those who may not even want to work on their minds, may it help them wish to work on their minds, see that that would be good for them to work on their minds. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:55 Highlight the passage at 2:16:55

2:17:23 So may it contribute to other people and other beings, making their minds more positive and less negative and in that way being more happy, less unhappy and spreading more happiness to others. And getting closer to enlightenment. So feel that wish and imagine sharing this positive energy we've created with others in this way. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:23 Highlight the passage at 2:17:23

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:18:26 Tomorrow at 10. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:26 Highlight the passage at 2:18:26

2:18:32 And we're just going to leave it all set up. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:32 Highlight the passage at 2:18:32

2:18:38 I know we have very many helpful people, so turn around and it'll be all packed up. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:38 Highlight the passage at 2:18:38

2:19:06 can show you what it is. Report an error in the passage at 2:19:06 Highlight the passage at 2:19:06

· · · silence, 2 minutes

2:20:59 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:59 Highlight the passage at 2:20:59

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:21:36 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:36 Highlight the passage at 2:21:36