Enlightened Courage - Becoming a Bodhisattva Warrior Thru the Method of Exchanging Self and Others (11 June 2010)

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5:49 they did, yes, Report an error in the passage at 5:49 Highlight the passage at 5:49

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6:29 Thank Report an error in the passage at 6:29 Highlight the passage at 6:29

6:40 you. actually, I only knew when someone said, I'm a loser. Report an error in the passage at 6:40 Highlight the passage at 6:40

7:01 know what here's your card thank you Report an error in the passage at 7:01 Highlight the passage at 7:01

7:20 stealing from that. See, and then I'm going to mark. I'm actually going to mark important. You can use a little something to take this off. All right. I'll put my own label on it. It's like a little slick. And I thought it was starting to come off really good. It's much clearer than the old one. I bought an old one when I first came here. Report an error in the passage at 7:20 Highlight the passage at 7:20

7:47 But, come on, I wasn't ready. then 21 times a day, I'm saying the 100th syllable. This is yours. Report an error in the passage at 7:47 Highlight the passage at 7:47

8:00 Thank you. you. Thanks, John. Report an error in the passage at 8:00 Highlight the passage at 8:00

8:09 I was going to tell you, Geshe-la, I met with him a bunch of times. I met with him recently and said, okay, I can't, I just really, I try. I'm trying, but I don't quite know how to do it. Report an error in the passage at 8:09 Highlight the passage at 8:09

8:39 He said, why would you study Dharma? That's one of the odd reasons, mind training, for example. And then he said, if you were born in India, if you were living in India, you would know reincarnation is a fact. Report an error in the passage at 8:39 Highlight the passage at 8:39

9:00 But I do remember as a kid thinking, that must have been someone. And now I'm like, well, I must have been into that. Report an error in the passage at 9:00 Highlight the passage at 9:00

9:14 Given my skepticism. Report an error in the passage at 9:14 Highlight the passage at 9:14

9:22 The skepticism part is interesting. A lot of people, when they encounter Tibetan Buddhism, they're like, Tibetan Buddhism is the exception. They put their skepticism aside and they accept it, even though they're still... Well, you know, when I just heard His Holiness last week or two weeks ago in New York, and he said again, do not go on authority. Report an error in the passage at 9:22 Highlight the passage at 9:22

9:45 You have to have the experience of everything. It has to, you have to test it out. I gained courage against him go back to his world. Report an error in the passage at 9:45 Highlight the passage at 9:45

10:03 I don't think I'm a Buddhist now. No, really. I mean, it was just all intellectual. Well, it wasn't intellectual when I was 13. I just thought it was very fascinating. Report an error in the passage at 10:03 Highlight the passage at 10:03

10:20 We still have to meet on the show. Report an error in the passage at 10:20 Highlight the passage at 10:20

10:27 clouds in the room? Probably not. No. So why don't you put in here? Report an error in the passage at 10:27 Highlight the passage at 10:27

10:34 We're going to need Michelle. I ran everything down for the chapters .. Great. And I ran everything down. All right. I go to .. Report an error in the passage at 10:34 Highlight the passage at 10:34

10:58 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 10:58 Highlight the passage at 10:58

11:07 I totally believe in the third thing that I have for my whole life, really. Enlightenment for the sake of all. Because I don't think there's any problem. Report an error in the passage at 11:07 Highlight the passage at 11:07

11:35 I mean, it's. Report an error in the passage at 11:35 Highlight the passage at 11:35

11:48 just look at it this way, like, you know, like this holiness always says it has to be from experience, and that's what we're all searching for. We're actually searching for that experience that we know with us. Report an error in the passage at 11:48 Highlight the passage at 11:48

12:01 mean the first one. Report an error in the passage at 12:01 Highlight the passage at 12:01

12:05 But it's the ones that are hard, I think, that at least I really try to, should try to, like want to know before I die that certain things are true. His Holiness said that if the scientists and neuroscientists find the location of consciousness in the brain, he will stop believing in the universe. And they're going to. Report an error in the passage at 12:05 Highlight the passage at 12:05

12:52 you understand that i need to see where the things are and where we start and do what i did you know what i was kind studying like you know you mentioned about getting together and doing them all why don't you get something easy Report an error in the passage at 12:52 Highlight the passage at 12:52

13:14 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 13:14 Highlight the passage at 13:14

13:25 Oh, I should do the chapter. Yeah, yeah. And I have it there in my folder. No, I started looking at it. It sounds really interesting. It's developed. I'm bringing it up. It's developed. Oh, okay. You want me to give you back that one? No. Costume. Thank you. you, it's still not... Did you give it to him? I should have sent it out. I know. He was going to say, well, what good is this? Report an error in the passage at 13:25 Highlight the passage at 13:25

13:59 It doesn't read English. I just wanted to have it. I think what would be more worth, because you spent so much time working on it, is when we have a qualified translator have them... Well, that will be up to him. Report an error in the passage at 13:59 Highlight the passage at 13:59

15:32 Namu Sushri Namu Tamashri Report an error in the passage at 15:32 Highlight the passage at 15:32

16:05 Start by just sitting for a few minutes to settle our minds and then we'll set our motivation. So first, thank you. So first, just sitting watching the breath, focusing on the breath, either at the nostrils or deeper in the body, the chest rising and falling. Then Report an error in the passage at 16:05 Highlight the passage at 16:05

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17:52 let's take a minute to set our motivation, reflecting on our purpose for being here, for coming to learn about bodhicitta. Maybe Report an error in the passage at 17:52 Highlight the passage at 17:52

18:07 that you're a relatively new student. You've heard this word, you understand that it's important and you're wishing to find out more about the techniques for developing bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 18:07 Highlight the passage at 18:07

18:27 Maybe that you've already been studying and you just like some more practice and techniques and more information. Report an error in the passage at 18:27 Highlight the passage at 18:27

18:38 Whatever your purpose is for coming to this teaching, just take a minute to set your intention for our time together. Report an error in the passage at 18:38 Highlight the passage at 18:38

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19:52 So welcome. to our teaching on bodhicitta. What I wanted to do tonight was a bit of a review probably for most of you. I know everybody in the room and for a lot of you it will be a review just to kind of set the context of where we are in relation to the whole... whole kind of scope of the teachings. Tomorrow we'll start more with talking about the specific techniques. Report an error in the passage at 19:52 Highlight the passage at 19:52

20:19 I know at least one person, maybe more people, will be joining us tomorrow, so we'll get into the actual technique and the text that we'll be using tomorrow. But just to sort of set the framework and the context of where we're going, I thought to do tonight and then we'll do a little bit of meditation. So bodhicitta, what it is we're going to be talking about during this class, the one technique for developing bodhicitta and we're going to be practicing that technique. Report an error in the passage at 20:19 Highlight the passage at 20:19

20:47 And we're also going to be looking at a text on the technique that we're going to be working with. There's a set of teachings called Lojong and we'll talk more about what this Tibetan word Lojong means and one of the root texts that we'll be using as the basis of our teachings this weekend. So starting tomorrow, probably mid-morning, we're going to start looking at a specific text that gives these instructions called the Seven Point Lojong by Geshe Chekawa. Report an error in the passage at 20:47 Highlight the passage at 20:47

21:15 We'll tell the story about this text. So that's our agenda. For the weekend, finishing at about 1 o 'clock or so on Sunday. So we'll have two sessions tomorrow, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and then a morning session on Sunday, including this evening. Okay, so tonight we'll just kind of set the context, and as I say, I know for most of you this is going to be a review. Hi, Teresa. Okay, so where are we in terms of the path? Report an error in the passage at 21:15 Highlight the passage at 21:15

21:43 Now, most of you are familiar with the lamrim, the guided... Graduated stages of the path is generally the way this is translated, this Tibetan word lamrim. And we talk about three levels of motivation or three levels of capacity. We talk about beings of three levels of capacity. And this refers to their capacity. Also one way of thinking of it is referring to their motivation for practice. Report an error in the passage at 21:43 Highlight the passage at 21:43

22:12 Why are they engaging in... Spiritual practice. And there's a low level of capacity and these beings are engaging in their spiritual practice because they wish for an upper level rebirth. That's considered the lowest level of capacity according to the lamrim. They wish, we talk in Buddhism about six realms of existence, three of which are considered to be lower rebirth characterized by suffering, three of which are considered to be an upper level rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 22:12 Highlight the passage at 22:12

22:44 So beings practicing at this level of capacity, their main goal, their spiritual goal is just to guarantee themselves an upper level rebirth. A rebirth is a human or one of the gods. And they're trying to avoid... The rebirths as animals, hell beings and hungry ghosts. Those are the three lower realms that we talk about and I think most of you are familiar with these different realms. Report an error in the passage at 22:44 Highlight the passage at 22:44

23:08 So that's considered to be the lowest level of capacity. They're not thinking yet about liberation from saṃsāra. They're not thinking about enlightenment. They just want to avoid abject suffering of the lower realms. The middle level of... These beings wish for liberation from saṃsāra. They wish to be free, realizing that anywhere they're reborn in saṃsāra, they're subject to suffering. Report an error in the passage at 23:08 Highlight the passage at 23:08

23:38 So they wish for liberation. Saṃsāra is often translated as cyclic existence, uncontrolled rebirth in cyclic existence, driven by the forces of karma and delusion. So beings at this middle level of scope wish to be free of that uncontrolled rebirth. That's what saṃsāra is. So wish to be free completely. Report an error in the passage at 23:38 Highlight the passage at 23:38

24:01 They realize even at an upper realm rebirth, still subject to sufferings, dissatisfaction, mostly at the upper level of rebirth, especially at the rebirth in the god realms, the entire rebirth is characterized by Incredible sense pleasures and the main suffering is it doesn't last forever, it ends. And then when that rebirth ends, incredible suffering characterized at that point. Report an error in the passage at 24:01 Highlight the passage at 24:01

24:34 So not free from suffering ultimately. Even in those upper realms they last for a long time but you're not free. So beings at this middle level of capacity wish for liberation from saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 24:34 Highlight the passage at 24:34

24:50 At the great level, these beings have the capacity that they wish for full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. So beyond liberation, there's another goal, which is full enlightenment, which is different than liberation. An enlightened being is liberated from saṃsāra, that's true, but that's not all. Report an error in the passage at 24:50 Highlight the passage at 24:50

25:12 They have more qualities. Full enlightenment is synonymous with Buddhahood. So these beings wish to become fully qualified, fully enlightened Buddhas for the sake of all sentient beings. That's the motivation for becoming a Buddha. That last motivation happens to be the definition of bodhicitta, which we're going to look at in a minute. Report an error in the passage at 25:12 Highlight the passage at 25:12

25:37 So at the upper level of capacity, the wish is for full enlightenment. And as I said, most of you are familiar with those three levels. And we're going to be talking about the practices at that great level. Now in the lamrim we talk about the practices that are shared with the beings of all three capacities. Report an error in the passage at 25:37 Highlight the passage at 25:37

26:02 Because even if you're practicing at the greatest level, you still want an upper level rebirth and you still want to be free of saṃsāra too. You just don't stop there. So those beings also wish to have an upper level rebirth. Why do you think somebody who wishes for full enlightenment in the meantime wishes to have an upper level rebirth? Report an error in the passage at 26:02 Highlight the passage at 26:02

26:25 What do you think, Ben? Why would they want that? Report an error in the passage at 26:25 Highlight the passage at 26:25

26:33 That's right, that's right. Really hard to meditate well when you're an ant. Or worse, a hungry ghost or craving spirit, these beings that are completely driven by their attachment, their dissatisfied desire. Some of us have periods in our lives that are very similar to that, completely distracted by your desires and craving. Report an error in the passage at 26:33 Highlight the passage at 26:33

26:57 Do you have time to even think about the spiritual path? Like, no way. Or, hell realm beings completely... you know immersed in intense suffering do they have even a moment to think about their spiritual life right so beings even at the great level wish for a rebirth that them the opportunity to Why do you think that would be, Charles? Report an error in the passage at 26:57 Highlight the passage at 26:57

27:32 Because we have the opportunity to practice. Like, mean, don't have, that opportunity. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 27:32 Highlight the passage at 27:32

27:44 that's right. So even in the upper level rebirth, the one that's said to be best for spiritual practice is the human realm. Because, yeah, exactly like you say, you're not distracted by all those sense pleasures. The human realm is said to be best because it's a... when you're in heaven, you're distracted by that are Okay. Report an error in the passage at 27:44 Highlight the passage at 27:44

28:00 Nice balance between happiness and suffering. You've got enough suffering that you get those wake-up calls that we all have. Things aren't going so great that you aren't reminded of the qualities of saṃsāra. But you're not suffering so much like a hell being all the time that you have no space in your mind for spiritual practice. Report an error in the passage at 28:00 Highlight the passage at 28:00

28:22 So it's a really nice balance actually as a human being. We have enough... Quote-unquote suffering. We'll talk a little bit about this word suffering. You have enough dissatisfaction in your life that you do feel motivated, right? And haven't we all had that? Most people in this room have a pretty good life, right? We all have a pretty decent, good conditions, good education. Report an error in the passage at 28:22 Highlight the passage at 28:22

28:46 Most of us really quite good material circumstances that we were raised in. But we've got enough... dissatisfaction that we're sitting here in this room on Friday night instead of all the other places that we could be that we all remember right like we've all been there but here we are why because it ain't that great or else we wouldn't be looking for a way out which is really why we're all here you know or at least something you know there's something less than satisfying about saṃsāra else we wouldn't Be here looking. And so there's that. Yet we're not completely struggling just for survival, for example, as many people in the human realm are. Report an error in the passage at 28:46 Highlight the passage at 28:46

29:32 And then you also have no space for the spiritual quest. I've spent a lot of time in India in the last couple of years and I remember at one point I was working at a Dharma center living in Bodh Gaya and my room looked over the... Root Institute, this Dharma center in Bogai has this big boundary wall and right over the wall are the fields, right? And so I was there for about three months and saw this whole cycle of like sowing the previous crop and then, you know, irrigating the fields and planting and the workers, you know, they're out there at five o 'clock in the morning, they work like dogs all day long, go home at the end of the day, whatever they get paid that day buys dinner that night. Report an error in the passage at 29:32 Highlight the passage at 29:32

30:18 There is no sick leave, right? If you're a worker in India, you know, there's no, you know, sick leave, disability, none of that stuff. You don't work that day, your family doesn't eat dinner. And I would just look and just go, wow, you know, and really appreciated the leisure and the fortune that I had to be living in this amazing place for months and months and months working on my spiritual practice. Report an error in the passage at 30:18 Highlight the passage at 30:18

30:43 So even within the human realm, we talk about The precious human rebirth characterized by all of these qualities that make it especially conducive for spiritual practice. So we also pray for that. Even when we're wanting to be a Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings, we have all these prayers that go, if I don't finish the path by the time I die, please let me have another opportunity as good as the one I've got. Report an error in the passage at 30:43 Highlight the passage at 30:43

31:11 We pray for that. We dedicate merit for that. And then wishing for liberation from saṃsāra. We want that too. We don't want to be stuck in saṃsāra because remember saṃsāra is defined as uncontrolled rebirth driven by karma and delusion. So we don't want that either, but we don't stop there. That's the difference. And at the great level we go beyond mere liberation, which is sometimes... Report an error in the passage at 31:11 Highlight the passage at 31:11

31:43 Qualify is like personal liberation just for ourselves and we wish to develop the qualities of a fully enlightened being to be able to help all living beings. Okay, so the wish for Buddhahood. Yeah, Lynn. Yeah, please. Yeah, I was just... Oh. Okay, Mike. Mike for the questions. Yeah, I was just going to... Okay, hang on one second, Lynn. Report an error in the passage at 31:43 Highlight the passage at 31:43

32:20 This kind of gets to a real problem for me. In the late 60s and early 70s, the early women's movement, I came to realize there was no private solutions. In other words, some woman may think she was liberated, but she wasn't really. There's no private solutions. So the third... Wish for enlightenment for the sake, makes total sense for me. I mean, that's where it's at. You cannot be free if everybody isn't because we're so connected. Report an error in the passage at 32:20 Highlight the passage at 32:20

32:56 The first level, I am still on the, I don't, I mean, I don't know if there's rebirth or not. Right, right. And it's very hard for me to think of anything supernatural. You know, I just don't, I was never. It sounds like it might be the, you know, there's a heaven and hell kind of thing, which I also have no. So the first level I can't relate to. Report an error in the passage at 32:56 Highlight the passage at 32:56

33:24 And the second level, I think it has to be the third level. So you must have heard other people with this. Okay, so how does the third level work if you're not sure about rebirth? Report an error in the passage at 33:24 Highlight the passage at 33:24

33:41 Do you think it's possible to actually have a wish for full enlightenment for the benefit of all beings without rebirth? It's acknowledging that everything you do, you have got to work for everybody. It's kind of like knowing that, whether there's rebirth or not. But really strictly speaking, because this is an interesting question, right? Because there's some famous Buddhist teachers that are around these days writing books that say you can be a Buddhist and you don't have to believe in karma and rebirth or buy into it at all. Report an error in the passage at 33:41 Highlight the passage at 33:41

34:14 It's not necessary. But can you posit full enlightenment, Buddhahood, can you posit developing those qualities that will enable you to work for the benefit of all sentient beings within the context of one life? That's an interesting question. That may be something that I feel like, I mean, sure, I want to get out of suffering. Obviously, like you say, what are we doing here on a Friday night? Report an error in the passage at 34:14 Highlight the passage at 34:14

34:41 Right. But I came to so strongly believe that there's no private solutions, which relates to that. Right, right, right. Yeah, definitely. What's missing from this list? By the way, your question kind of speaks to what's missing as a motivation. From this list, what isn't even considered a Buddhist motivation, Katya? Exactly, which is where most of us are, frankly, right? Report an error in the passage at 34:41 Highlight the passage at 34:41

35:12 I don't know about you guys, I'm pre-lower scope. You know, I just mostly wanted nicer today. Like, I don't know 100 % for sure either about rebirth. I mean, I have a lot of... You know, faith in it based on evidence. I don't think it's blind faith, all of that stuff. But I don't know 100 % for sure that that's true either. Report an error in the passage at 35:12 Highlight the passage at 35:12

35:36 And I think most of us, especially initially, come to a meditation class or come to a class on Buddhism because we've just had some crisis and we're looking for some answer and something that will give us peace of mind like today. And I think that's fine. And that's where most of us start and some of us may, you know, I feel like I definitely have an intense admiration for the great level and I completely aspire to develop that. Report an error in the passage at 35:36 Highlight the passage at 35:36

36:07 But my motivation is really mixed with the pre-Buddhist motivation of I would just really like some techniques to get me through my life better. And that doesn't even show up as a Buddhist motivation. I remember when I first started studying, that used to really piss me off. I was like, wait a minute, that doesn't even count? Report an error in the passage at 36:07 Highlight the passage at 36:07

36:28 Like, come on, you know, because that was where I felt like I was. And I still have to acknowledge that I really, you know, sometimes when I just have a really crappy period in my life, I'm like, wait a minute, how come my Buddhist techniques aren't helping me more? And then I go, oh, right. Karma and delusion, that's the problem, right? I still have negative karma ripening, duh, because I'm not liberated. You know, I have to remind myself and go through this whole thing, because I still sort of expect, not that it doesn't help, but it's not like I'm free yet, right? Report an error in the passage at 36:28 Highlight the passage at 36:28

37:02 So a lot of us really kind of expect, and you hear this a lot, and we as monastics get this projection a lot, you got angry, but you're a nun. Report an error in the passage at 37:02 Highlight the passage at 37:02

37:14 Well, Guess what? Still got karma and delusion. You don't get ordained because you're an arhat. You're not somebody that's liberated. That's not a qualification. But we sort of have this expectation, don't we, that our practice is going to make us kind of instantly a better, happier person with a whole lot less problems. Report an error in the passage at 37:14 Highlight the passage at 37:14

37:36 But it's not really the way that karma works. It gives us a lot of tools for dealing with the stuff that life serves up, but life is still going to serve up, our karma is still going to serve up, all a very mixed bag, which, sorry guys, for a really long time, you know, just because we still are really subject to those forces of karma and delusion. Report an error in the passage at 37:36 Highlight the passage at 37:36

38:00 So it's interesting that that one, which is a main motivator for probably most of us, Or at least in there somewhere, it doesn't even show up as a Buddhist motivation. But I think that is linked to the third one. If you know there's no private solutions, then you really want liberation for everyone. And I think that's what gives us some attraction to this third one, right? Even if we don't feel completely 100 % convinced about karma and rebirth and all those things, you know, yeah, I think what you're saying, we have some... Report an error in the passage at 38:00 Highlight the passage at 38:00

38:36 Feeling of, I want to make things better for everybody, which attracts us to this third one, even if we haven't worked out all the details yet. But it's interesting to look at, can we really develop the third one, really, if we don't think that, let's say if we thought there was no rebirth, personally I think the whole thing falls apart. Report an error in the passage at 38:36 Highlight the passage at 38:36

39:03 Because how are you going to become enlightened and lead all beings to liberation in 84 years, maybe, if you're really lucky? It's the effort, though. Karma could be acting on us in this life. It isn't necessarily in a past life. Whether we believe in it or not, right? But it could be. It's the wishing for, trying to, working for. Report an error in the passage at 39:03 Highlight the passage at 39:03

39:31 There's no private solutions for the liberation of everyone is equated to the most comfort we can have. What do you mean equated to the most comfort you can have? I don't quite get that part. Well, like the Buddha says, or His Holiness or everybody, that helping other people is the source of happiness. Report an error in the passage at 39:31 Highlight the passage at 39:31

39:59 Right, right, right. And having that wish. Yeah, that makes us happier even now in this life. Right, in the present. That's right. And we're going to talk about that a lot this weekend because that's sort of the basis of the practices is overcoming self-cherishing and cherishing others is the key to happiness even today. Report an error in the passage at 39:59 Highlight the passage at 39:59

40:20 That's what I mean. Yeah, good, good. Any other questions about these three levels? Katya, did you have something? No. Okay. Yeah? All right. Report an error in the passage at 40:20 Highlight the passage at 40:20

40:34 one other question. OK, yeah. If you don't know, how can we know that there's rebirth? Yes or no. We can't really know. We have no evidence. And His Holiness says, do not take anything on authority. I just got a boost of him in New York and it gave me courage to go back and say, he says, you must have evidence for every step of the way. Report an error in the passage at 40:34 Highlight the passage at 40:34

40:59 So if you yourself go, maybe, maybe not. How do you decide, how do you make the decision to believe? Yeah, two things, two things to that. One is, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche is fond of saying, there's an overwhelming amount of evidence that rebirth is probably the case and not one shred of proof that it's not, right? Report an error in the passage at 40:59 Highlight the passage at 40:59

41:27 So even though I don't know 100 % for sure because I don't have the clairvoyance to know that for sure, There's so much evidence showing, you know, all of these, I mean, not just by Buddhists, but Western psychologists and scientists showing little kids that have these memories and go back to the village of their past life and they know where all the blacksmiths shop and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Report an error in the passage at 41:27 Highlight the passage at 41:27

41:49 And there's books written. I've read them. So that tends to give you faith based on evidence, right? It's still faith, but it's not blind faith. It's not faith based on quite a lot of evidence. Geshe-la told me that if you grew up in India, you would know because reincarnation is a fact. Well, you grow up with that fact and we don't. So for us, it's different. For us, it's completely different. I guess the question is how do you make a decision to believe in something that you don't have direct evidence for? Report an error in the passage at 41:49 Highlight the passage at 41:49

42:29 Yeah, I think it's that. I think a lot of evidence and then it just sort of makes sense to you and you're willing to get, you know, even though it's not proved 100%, just like enlightenment. I don't know 100 % that there's even enlightenment, but it makes sense to me logically that the mind is freeable from karma and delusion and all these qualities can develop because I've seen beings that seem to have developed an amazing amount of qualities. Report an error in the passage at 42:29 Highlight the passage at 42:29

42:58 So it's a really personal decision and I think for me personally it's a lot of evidence combined with what I feel like is past life imprints that make it very... plausible, and I've never really had a big obstacle and struggled a lot with the ideas of karma and rebirth. But I know for other people it's more of a struggle. Report an error in the passage at 42:58 Highlight the passage at 42:58

43:18 Karma can be in this life. It is in this life. I mean, it doesn't have to be. Right. If you don't have rebirth, how can you have karma? You need the mic. I'm sorry, Report an error in the passage at 43:18 Highlight the passage at 43:18

43:34 it's just that how can you have karma if there's no past life? Then, I mean, one falls apart with the other as well, I mean, from what you were saying. Well, cause and effect can operate even within the context of this life, right? Report an error in the passage at 43:34 Highlight the passage at 43:34

43:52 Right, but then it would be like if there was a first, you know, like there was a first thing, you know, origination, then we fall into that. Right, right, right. Yeah, yeah, and these are some of the arguments. Report an error in the passage at 43:52 Highlight the passage at 43:52

44:10 These are some of the arguments that indicate that there is such a thing as rebirth because the mind doesn't stop at the moment of death but carries on carrying the karmic imprints. Report an error in the passage at 44:10 Highlight the passage at 44:10

44:22 We're getting a little far afield so let's reel it back into bodhicitta. Could you flip my chart? I have my personal chart flipper who I made sit right in the front row and I will prompt him. Report an error in the passage at 44:22 Highlight the passage at 44:22

44:38 Again, review for a lot of you. But at that third level of capacity, what are the practices that we do? And this is a long story and there's a lot of ways of describing the practices. We talk in terms of generating three realizations at that level of the great scope called the three principles of the path, sometimes called the three principle aspects of the path. Report an error in the passage at 44:38 Highlight the passage at 44:38

45:03 And this is where bodhicitta comes in. Because we're working on generating these three realizations. The first of which is renunciation. Report an error in the passage at 45:03 Highlight the passage at 45:03

45:14 Terrible word, terrible translation. What it means is, usually this word, the Tibetan word nature, which translates as definite emergence. That's the literal translation of the Tibetan word nature. It's usually translated in English as renunciation, which makes you think of what, Teresa? Giving up the good stuff. Report an error in the passage at 45:14 Highlight the passage at 45:14

45:40 Especially the good stuff, right? That's right. Report an error in the passage at 45:40 Highlight the passage at 45:40

45:49 Yeah, so, okay, yeah. So, yeah, yeah, got it. Got it. That's right. Report an error in the passage at 45:49 Highlight the passage at 45:49

45:55 So Teresa said, giving up the good stuff, giving up stuff, especially the good stuff. So renunciation, the word renunciation. So that's not what we're talking about. We're not talking about giving up all of our fun and giving up the good stuff and asceticism, struggling, suffering, giving up chocolate, warm blankets, nice clothes. Report an error in the passage at 45:55 Highlight the passage at 45:55

46:22 We're talking about the determination to become free of saṃsāra. Boy, is that ever different. All we're giving up is the source of every iota of suffering that we've ever had since beginningless time, by the way, not just in this life, right? So that's the only thing we're giving up. Sounds like a really good idea to give that up, doesn't it? So the determination to become free of saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 46:22 Highlight the passage at 46:22

46:47 That's what this first... The principle is definite emergence, definite meaning I'm definitely going to emerge or become free of saṃsāra. So whenever you hear the word renunciation, don't think about bread and water and giving up all the good stuff and sleeping on the cold marble slab with one blanket. Report an error in the passage at 46:47 Highlight the passage at 46:47

47:12 I had a friend when he was in graduate school. So as not to become attached to sleep, he was in law school actually and he had to study all the time and he put his bed up against the wall and slept on the floor so that he wouldn't sleep long or well and I'm like, um... That's a little, I don't know about that. So whenever he'd study and he's holding these huge law books that are like this big and, you know, we used to study together because I was in graduate school and he'd just fall asleep all the time because he'd sleep and I was like, you know, just go ahead and sleep and then the other, you know, 20 hours will be great or 18 hours or however many that you're awake. Report an error in the passage at 47:12 Highlight the passage at 47:12

47:53 You know, so it's not this false thing. In fact, the Buddha, as most of you know from the Buddha's Life story, he tried this severe asceticism for six years and then he taught what he called the middle way between extreme self-indulgence and extreme asceticism. So that's not what we're talking about here. What we're talking about is getting it, that saṃsāra is a broken realm that's not fixable. Report an error in the passage at 47:53 Highlight the passage at 47:53

48:21 Getting that from the depths of your heart and you're like, I want out. I'm fed up, sick of it. This is a really advanced realization. You see it shows up as number one of the three, but it's a really, to really truly have renunciation. Pabongka Rinpoche, in his earthy Tibetan way, likens this to a person with hepatitis presented with a banquet full of rich fatty food who just wants to vomit. Report an error in the passage at 48:21 Highlight the passage at 48:21

48:53 And he says, a person with this, sorry, it's gross, but it's Tibetan. He says, you know, a person with this presented with the pleasures of saṃsāra is like, ugh, why would I want that, right? So no attachment, no, not that attraction that says happiness is there. It doesn't mean we go around miserable, right? Report an error in the passage at 48:53 Highlight the passage at 48:53

49:17 We can enjoy things, there's no problem with that, but that mind that says, oh, happiness is there in that object, if only I could have... those objects then I'd be We've given up on that and we know that there's no happiness possible out there in saṃsāra, in any realm, thank you very much, even the upper realms characterized, you know, the Hollywood movie star upper realms, we get it, that there's no lasting ultimate happiness out there possible. Report an error in the passage at 49:17 Highlight the passage at 49:17

49:50 The only lasting happiness is liberation, freedom. Okay, so that's renunciation. Carla, did you have a question? No, okay. All right, so renunciation. Any questions about that one? Definite emergence, way better than renunciation. Which has all those other, especially I think we have all this Judeo-Christian baggage. We have this whole Calvinist Protestant thing, like you've got to suffer to be virtuous. Report an error in the passage at 49:50 Highlight the passage at 49:50

50:19 Like you've got to be kind of miserable to be virtuous. Don't we have that? And so I think we taint our relationship with renunciation with that thing. And Buddhism doesn't have that at all. You try and explain that to a Tibetan Lama and they're like, what are you, what are you, nuts? You know, virtue is misery? That doesn't equate in Buddhism at all, right? So it's not that, but I think we often, that's why this word is so triggering for us. Report an error in the passage at 50:19 Highlight the passage at 50:19

50:49 Yeah, Teresa. So that last point was what I was going to point out, was that we're... Report an error in the passage at 50:49 Highlight the passage at 50:49

50:58 practicing christians that's right that's right it's just in the air culturally yeah yeah i mean i was raised scientific materialist and i have that yeah you know and i wasn't raised like in you know in the protestant reformation and i still have that big right the whole mea culpa and and Many other aspects of that culture. The punitive, punishing aspect as well. And especially, you know, and I see it in Dharma students and I see it especially, one of my friends used to call it the FPMT Center Director Syndrome. Report an error in the passage at 50:58 Highlight the passage at 50:58

51:31 Right? Like you kill yourself for the Dharma and the more miserable you are because you're proving how virtuous you are because you're killing yourself, working like a zillion hours a week for the Dharma. Right. So we take this beautiful practice with this thing that we do. And like I said, the Tibetan lamas, they're like, what are you doing? Report an error in the passage at 51:31 Highlight the passage at 51:31

51:55 They so don't get that thing. They laugh a lot. Yeah, yeah. Well, they're just like, honey, come on, like, give it up, you know, because we're doing this thing that just really, and I just see it over and over. I mean, I'm a survivor of it myself, you know, not completely a survivor. I'm in recovery, you know, and I still relapse from time to time. Report an error in the passage at 51:55 Highlight the passage at 51:55

52:16 But, you know, that thing of like, oh, virtue means killing yourself kind of thing. Which could become a form of attachment as well. And then the point just going, stepping. Going backwards a little bit, it does mean giving up. When you give up saṃsāra, the thought of staying in saṃsāra, to give that up, you do give up the good stuff as well. Report an error in the passage at 52:16 Highlight the passage at 52:16

52:40 Say more about what you mean. What I mean is if you have that motivation to, like myself, there was a time in my life where I realized, oh, it's all a big fat joke and it's not going to help anybody. anybody and not going to get anywhere. And with that, whenever I look at a chocolate cake, I do think the same thing. Well, that's good, but that's also part of the joke. Report an error in the passage at 52:40 Highlight the passage at 52:40

53:07 That also is to be with saṃsāra. It's not like you're going to give up saṃsāra and not give up. And you give up the illusion that that's going to be lasting happiness. That's the main thing you're giving up. You know, for me, renunciation means giving up the illusion because I think we all have this thing. Report an error in the passage at 53:07 Highlight the passage at 53:07

53:29 I mean, I know that I did. Or that the pleasure is in the object itself. That's right. That's right. And if only I get that, like my happiness is right around the corner. If only I get that object. And we don't happen to notice that. By the time we've gotten the object, it never really satisfies. I think we're almost fooled by anticipation. Report an error in the passage at 53:29 Highlight the passage at 53:29

53:54 We think, oh, if only I get my paws on that thing. And the anticipation fools us into thinking that happiness is there because we're all psyched that we're going to get it. And then generally by the time we've gotten it, we're like, that's it? What? You know, and we have some dissatisfaction. And that's the nature of saṃsāra right there. Yeah, Katya, microphone. I'll try and be good, Janet, and remind people. Report an error in the passage at 53:54 Highlight the passage at 53:54

54:22 Yeah, I don't want to go too far afield again, but it's very hard for me to even imagine what it's like to have the determination to become free of saṃsāra because even though, you know, I am conscious of what you're talking about, you know, that happiness isn't there still, you know, at the end of the day, like life. Report an error in the passage at 54:22 Highlight the passage at 54:22

54:42 Lama Tsongkhapa I mean, I sort of see it as you get these sneak previews, right? Like through your practice you have moments of experiencing a mind at least temporarily free of afflictions. And it's so blissful that, and remember saṃsāra is... is mental, a mind subject to karma and delusion and liberation is mental too, a mind free of karma and delusion. It's not some place like heaven or something, it's a mind that's free of karma and delusion and I think through the practice you get these tastes of what that would feel like and I think that keeps you going on the path. Report an error in the passage at 54:42 Highlight the passage at 54:42

55:57 There's this beautiful sūtra that the Buddha is being asked by someone A lot of the Buddha sutras are the Buddha debating with somebody, like somebody comes to debate the Buddha and there's these one-on-one conversations. So somebody comes to Lord Buddha and says, so you're liberated, you're enlightened, right? Report an error in the passage at 55:57 Highlight the passage at 55:57

56:19 So how come you walk around the Ganges River Valley barefoot, eat one meal a day, you're celibate, You wear rags, like what's up with that? You know, if you're free, like how come you don't have this like great lifestyle or something? And the Buddha goes, okay, who do you think has a better time, me or King Bimbisara? Now King Bimbisara was the king of Magadha, where the Buddha lived most of the time. Report an error in the passage at 56:19 Highlight the passage at 56:19

56:48 And the questioner says, that's a no-brainer. King Bimbisara, of course, like he's got the dancing girls and ten white elephants and the treasuries full of jewels and the banquets and the this and the that and the other. Like, come on. And you're this barefoot celibate guy who eats a bowl of rice a day. Like, who do you think has a better time? So Lord Buddha goes, I can go into a state of bliss absorbed on the ultimate nature of reality for a week without a break. Report an error in the passage at 56:48 Highlight the passage at 56:48

57:19 Do you think King Bimbisara can do that, right? So that's it, like realizing that mind free and the bliss of that, right? And I think, you know, obviously you don't get liberated overnight, but I think in our meditation practice we can get these tastes of what that would be like. And for me personally, that's what keeps me going. You know, through the blessing of the practice, I'll get like a little... Report an error in the passage at 57:19 Highlight the passage at 57:19

57:48 And then I'll contrast that to the mind that I've always had since beginningless time of like, if only I got that thing, then I'd be happy. And there's no comparison. So that's it. Even though it's not a stable, lasting liberation, it can be a mind at least temporarily free of that craving, the grasping, the... Report an error in the passage at 57:48 Highlight the passage at 57:48

58:17 All of the afflictions just temporarily through the meditation practice. And for me, that's what makes me feel like, okay, if I can have that even for, you know, five minutes, it's possible. You know, and logically, again, to get back to Lynn's earlier question, logically it makes sense to me that my karma and delusions are fixable, are removable. Report an error in the passage at 58:17 Highlight the passage at 58:17

58:41 You know, and then when I feel like what that kind of mind feels like, then I'm like, that's cool. That feels good. That feels a whole lot better than all of that other stuff that I gave up when I became a nun. Like no comparison, you know, when you've had that. And then beyond that, when you have a taste of bodhicitta and what that really feels like. I mean that, again, so it's that, I think. Report an error in the passage at 58:41 Highlight the passage at 58:41

59:05 You know, and even before we've had those tastes, to me that's why the teachers appear. Because they sort of transmit that. You're around, Lin said, being around His Holiness the Dalai Lama. You get that something completely different is going on. And part of you just is like, I want a mind like that. Report an error in the passage at 59:05 Highlight the passage at 59:05

59:27 Like you're around him and you're like, the first time I met him I completely changed my life overnight. Went back to my little guest house in Dharamsala and wrote a letter to my boss. I'm not coming back. I just met the Dalai Lama. I don't know what he's doing, but I'm going to stick around and find out because I want a mind like that. Report an error in the passage at 59:27 Highlight the passage at 59:27

59:46 Right? Like you're around him and you just feel this like, wow, you've never felt anything like it and you just feel like that's possible. So even if you're not experiencing it yourself, you sort of get, you know, contact high from His Holiness or Lama Zopa or somebody. And for me, I mean, that's my personal answer to why do you stay on the path when there isn't proof? Well, it seems like something's going on there and I'm just pretty interested in finding out. Report an error in the passage at 59:46 Highlight the passage at 59:46

1:00:16 What, you know, from experiencing people with minds like that. Does that help? Just ask one more question I think is necessary to understand. How, I mean, I've probably heard this before, but I just don't remember. How does, what does it have to do with, how does it relate to the body? I mean, does full enlightenment, is that a mind always without a body? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:16 Highlight the passage at 1:00:16

1:00:39 Oh, it always has a body. Yeah, for full enlightenment, we have a fully enlightened body and mind. Completely purified. So for a Buddha to be able to work for the benefit of all beings, they need to appear in a form. So we talk about two form bodies of a Buddha. We have the mental body. We talk about the three bodies. One is the enlightened mind called Dharmakaya. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:39 Highlight the passage at 1:00:39

1:01:06 One is called Sambhogakaya. You can think of it as sort of an astral body. It's this purified energy body. Sometimes it's called the complete enjoyment body. And then we have this body called Nirmanakaya, usually translated as emanation body, which is how Buddhas appear to beings to benefit them. Only beings of really, really high realization can see this purified astral body. So this Nirmanakaya, emanation body, are the forms that the Buddha takes to benefit. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:06 Highlight the passage at 1:01:06

1:01:40 And they say there's never enlightened mind without enlightened form. So for a Buddha, that's true. Because the form is how they manifest their enlightened mind and actually work for the benefit of beings. So we talk about those three bodies of a Buddha. I think Rob had something. Are you sure? You're allowed to ask a question even though you're my flipper. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:40 Highlight the passage at 1:01:40

1:02:09 I was just going to relate. I knew it. Go ahead. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:09 Highlight the passage at 1:02:09

1:02:16 I was just going to relate to the first question in regards to kind of, although we might not have amazing amounts of bliss or happiness, at least we're not suffering that much at the moment, so like how, you know, much better to kind of let's keep on doing this every day rather than this. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:16 Highlight the passage at 1:02:16

1:02:42 know that we can try as much as we like to try and replicate you know yesterday was a good day so let's try and do that again today but it just doesn't work like that does it I mean in our own experience we know that you know I might try and I might go to the same park, I might go and see the same friend, I might go and do all of those things but it might be kind of nice for a little while but then it gets a bit boring and we want something else and even if we want to get something we can't quite get it because we can't keep getting that thing so we can't replicate that kind of idea of even if we have some satisfaction in the moment we can't keep doing that over and over again, it's just not possible. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:42 Highlight the passage at 1:02:42

1:03:26 So it seems sort of, for me it seems better to go for this thing that I'm not even sure about but I hear that it's possible and I can see people that seem to not worry too much about trying to get this piece of chocolate cake or whatever. They're much more worried about kind of making their minds more stable and they seem way happier than me stuffing my belly full of chocolate cake. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:26 Highlight the passage at 1:03:26

1:03:52 And I think for everybody it's different, you know, it's different what it is about the path that's compelling enough to give it a try, even though you don't have that kind of proof. And it's an interesting question. We should write a book and have everybody write their answer to that question, because I think we'd have as many answers to that as we've got people, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:52 Highlight the passage at 1:03:52

1:04:12 And sometimes it is that thing. You know, one of my friends who teaches says, For people to get really serious about the Buddhist path, they need to have suffered enough. And he says, scratch the surface of anybody who's really serious about the Buddhist path and they're going to find a disaster. And often I think that's true, that saṃsāra has failed you so deeply at some point that there's no more illusion that that happiness is right around the corner. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:12 Highlight the passage at 1:04:12

1:04:41 I think that's true for a lot of people. Or, in some cases, saṃsāra has succeeded so... and you're still. I think it can be either extreme, either you've hit rock bottom or you've hit the peak of saṃsāra and you're like, so what? Like, that's it? So I think for a lot of people serious about the spiritual path, if you're muddling along in the middle and the chocolate cake still tastes good and the friends are still fun and it all kind of seems to be working, you're going to carry on like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:41 Highlight the passage at 1:04:41

1:05:15 But if you've kind of gone to either one or the other extreme and really faced the deeply dissatisfying nature of some sort and getting some hint of that, then you're pretty motivated, even if you don't have proof like... Rob says you see people who seem to be more balanced and stable and that something's working like my experience with His Holiness and you're like, okay, I'm going to give that a shot at least. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:15 Highlight the passage at 1:05:15

1:05:43 It may be because I came to Buddhism at such an old age. I know. It helps, doesn't it? I absolutely know. There's nothing in saṃsāra that's... No, age really helps. Sorry for you young people. I got ordained when I was 45 years old. Am I going to disrobe for Prince Charming? I had him so many times, you know. It really helps. You know, if you've just had that experience of over and over and over again. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:43 Highlight the passage at 1:05:43

1:06:24 No, I think it really does. I'm sorry. It's true. No, I came at 66. I'm 68. I knew absolutely the truth of that. That's right. That's right. No, it does really help. All you young people, Charles. I'm sorry. Yeah, like what's up with Charles? He's here. It's Friday night, you know, and here's Charles. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:24 Highlight the passage at 1:06:24

1:06:45 Past life imprints. You got it in your past life. I pray for that in my next life so I don't have to waste. It was about 35 years of this life that I tried to find some sort of happiness in every possible way and mostly just created an enormous amount of non-virtue that I'm trying to really purify. Maybe next life I'll get smart like Charles and at a young age be working at the Dharma Center. That would be great. Next life. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:45 Highlight the passage at 1:06:45

1:07:11 I can hope for that. Okay. So that's renunciation, reeling us back in. Then, bodhicitta, and we talked about the definition, enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. That's actually the wish for enlightenment. I left out wish. Wish for enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. The word bodhicitta has two components. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:11 Highlight the passage at 1:07:11

1:07:33 Bodhi, which is the same root as the word Buddha, means awakening. Buddha is just a title that means the one who woke up, the awakened one. So bodhi, awakening, and citta, heart slash mind. Because in Asian thought there, when you say where's the mind, Asian people point here, like an Indian thought, the heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:33 Highlight the passage at 1:07:33

1:08:02 Mind is the seat of consciousness. We're brainwashed, literally, that Cartesian paradigm, the mind-body split. We think that mind is an epiphenomenon of brain function and that's not a Buddhist idea. Consciousness resides at the heart. So awakening heart or mind in the definition, the wish for enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:02 Highlight the passage at 1:08:02

1:08:25 And we say that the... Benefiting beings is the main cause and enlightenment is the means. It's got these two components, the wish for enlightenment and the wish to benefit beings. The wish to benefit beings is the main cause of bodhicitta and then the method is enlightenment. Why do you think that is? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:25 Highlight the passage at 1:08:25

1:08:52 Why can't we just call bodhicitta the wish to benefit all sentient beings? What do you think, Carla? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:52 Highlight the passage at 1:08:52

1:09:06 So why, for the definition of bodhicitta, why do we say the wish to become enlightened for the sake of all sentient beings? Why don't we just say the wish to benefit all sentient beings? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:06 Highlight the passage at 1:09:06

1:09:18 Why does it have these two components, wishing for enlightenment, wishing to benefit beings, those two components? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:18 Highlight the passage at 1:09:18

1:09:31 It's what, you know, you need the wisdom aspect to be able to help others. So you can... Develop your compassion, but if you don't have the wisdom to support it, you may Report an error in the passage at 1:09:31 Highlight the passage at 1:09:31