Exploring the Heart Sutra: the Essence of Wisdom (24 October 2009, part 1)

0:04 Oh, yeah, we can check. Report an error in the passage at 0:04 Highlight the passage at 0:04

0:14 try to space them out so the people in the chairs have a piece. Report an error in the passage at 0:14 Highlight the passage at 0:14

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2:43 We'll start Report an error in the passage at 2:43 Highlight the passage at 2:43

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3:39 with a few minutes of just sitting, watching our breath to focus our minds, get ourselves here in this room. And then we'll set our motivation teachings today. So let's just sit for a few minutes watching your breath, either the breath. At your nostrils or deeper in your body, in your chest, your chest rising and falling. Report an error in the passage at 3:39 Highlight the passage at 3:39

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5:13 And now let's take a minute to set our motivation. We've seen yesterday that without studying, meditating on emptiness, getting that direct realization, we're never going to be able to become fully enlightened. And only by becoming a fully enlightened Buddha, Well, we have all of the qualities necessary to benefit all sentient beings. So let's set our motivation for studying the subject thinking. The purpose of this is to be able to study, understand enough to get the direct realization of emptiness that's non-negotiable on the path. Report an error in the passage at 5:13 Highlight the passage at 5:13

5:56 It's absolutely necessary for our full enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 5:56 Highlight the passage at 5:56

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6:40 Okay. So let's read the Heart Sūtra again in the Gold Prayer Book and what we'll do is read the title on page 77 first in both English and Sanskrit since we talked about that last night and then we'll read in English on page 79. Report an error in the passage at 6:40 Highlight the passage at 6:40

6:59 So the Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra Arya Bhagavati Prajna Paramita Hiddaya Sūtra. I prostrate to the Arya Triple Gem. Thus did I hear it one time. The Bhagavan was dwelling on massive vultures mountain in Rajagriha, together with a great community of monks and a great community of bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 6:59 Highlight the passage at 6:59

7:25 At that time, the Bhagavan was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called profound perception. Also at that time, the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara looked upon the very practice of the profound perfection of wisdom and beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inheritance. Report an error in the passage at 7:25 Highlight the passage at 7:25

7:48 In the power of Buddha, the Venerable Shariputra said this to the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara. Shantideva, the son of the lineage train, who wishes to practice the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom. He said that, and the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara said this to the Venerable Saritvati Putra. Report an error in the passage at 7:48 Highlight the passage at 7:48

8:12 Shariputra, any son of the lineage or daughter of the lineage who wishes to practice the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom should look upon it like this, correctly and repeatedly beholding those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature. Form is empty, emptiness is form, emptiness is not other than form, form is also not other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness are empty. Report an error in the passage at 8:12 Highlight the passage at 8:12

8:42 Shariputra, likewise, all phenomena are emptiness, without characteristic, unproduced, unceased, stainless, not without stain, not deficient, not fulfilled. Shariputra, therefore in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, no discrimination, no compositional factors, no consciousness, no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no visual form, no sound, no odor, no taste, no object of touch and no phenomenon. Report an error in the passage at 8:42 Highlight the passage at 8:42

9:15 There is no I element and so on, up to and including no mind element and no mental consciousness element. There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance and so on, up to and including no aging and death and no extinction of aging and death. Similarly, there is no suffering, origination, cessation and path. Report an error in the passage at 9:15 Highlight the passage at 9:15

9:36 There is no exalted wisdom, no attainment and also no non-attainment. Shariputra, therefore, because there is no attainment, bodhisattvas rely on and dwell in the perfection of wisdom, the mind without obscuration and without fear. Having completely passed beyond error, they reach the end point of nirvāṇa. All the Buddhas who dwell in the three times also manifestly, completely awaken to unsurpassable, perfect, complete enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 9:36 Highlight the passage at 9:36

10:06 It reliance on the perfection of wisdom. Therefore, the mantra of the perfection of wisdom, the mantra of great knowledge, the unsurpassed mantra, the mantra equal to the unequaled, the mantra that thoroughly pacifies all suffering, should be known as truth since it is not false. The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is declared. Report an error in the passage at 10:06 Highlight the passage at 10:06

10:26 Thaya Tha Gate Gate Pada Gate Pada Samgate Boni Soha Shariputra, the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva should train in the profound perfection of wisdom like that. Then the Bhagavan arose from that concentration and commended the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Avalokiteshvara, saying, Well said, well said, son of the lineage, it is like that, it is like that. Report an error in the passage at 10:26 Highlight the passage at 10:26

10:53 One should practice the profound perfection of wisdom, just as you have indicated. Even the Tathagattas rejoice. The Bhagavan having thus spoken, the Venerable Saritvati Putra, the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Avalokiteshvara, those surrounding in their entirety along with the world, God's humans, asuras and Gandharvas, were overjoyed and highly praised that spoken by the Bhagavan. Report an error in the passage at 10:53 Highlight the passage at 10:53

11:20 Okay, so when we read it now... It's inspiring but maybe a little cryptic. Maybe it doesn't make a lot of sense and hopefully by the end of the weekend you'll be able to see it as meditation instructions. Won't that be different? So we talked a little bit yesterday. I wanted to just review some of the things that we talked about. Report an error in the passage at 11:20 Highlight the passage at 11:20

11:43 We said that the Heart Sūtra is one of the most beloved and most often recited of the sutras of the Mahāyāna. Tradition resided in all Mahāyāna Buddhist countries, Tibet, China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, parts of Vietnam, and so forth. So, you know, America, Europe, Australia, and now we have to include all these other... Report an error in the passage at 11:43 Highlight the passage at 11:43

12:10 Countries to where the Mahāyāna has spread because it's very concise and it's easy to recite the whole thing. It's probably one of the few sutras that's easy to recite the whole thing in less than ten minutes, no matter what language you're speaking. So it's very, very profound and we talked about three different levels. We said it's an explanation of emptiness, it's meditation instructions and it also... Report an error in the passage at 12:10 Highlight the passage at 12:10

12:36 It implicitly talks about the five paths or the progression towards Buddhahood and the realizations on each stage. So we're going to be talking about all three of those levels in our two days that we have together. We're really going to cram it in. So we started by talking about the title. So we had Arya, which means what? Where's the microphone? What is Arya? Report an error in the passage at 12:36 Highlight the passage at 12:36

13:02 Gina. That's convenient. An Arya is someone who's had a direct perception of emptiness? Yeah, okay. So an Arya, this is the title in Sanskrit, Arya Bhagavati Prajna Paramita Hridayah. And an Arya means someone who's had a direct realization of emptiness. Okay, an Arya being. Different from Arhat. And sometimes there's confusion. Report an error in the passage at 13:02 Highlight the passage at 13:02

13:24 We talked about that. So an Arhat is a being that's liberated from saṃsāra. They're an aria first, have to be, because that realization is necessary for both liberation and enlightenment. So they're an aria first. And then they become an Arhat. The amount of time between Arya and Arhat all depends. It could be many lifetimes, it could be within one lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 13:24 Highlight the passage at 13:24

13:48 We talked about some of these disciples at the time of Lord Buddha that were becoming Arhats right and left. So they became an Arya, maybe in the same meditation session, kind of progressed all the way through. But these were beings that had exceptional virtue already, just to be born as direct disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 13:48 Highlight the passage at 13:48

14:06 Already so ripe, you know, so when Shariputra heard this one verse from, actually he heard it from Mokta Yayana, his lifelong best friend, who had heard it from one of the Buddha's disciples and became an Arya right on the spot, you know, and became an Arhat about three days later. It's so frustrating. You read these stories, you're like, God. But these are beings with incredible virtue, which is why Lama Zopa Rinpoche keeps telling us to pray to be born as Maitreya Buddha's disciples. Report an error in the passage at 14:06 Highlight the passage at 14:06

14:38 Maitreya Buddha is the next wheel-turning Buddha, right? We talk about the wheel-turning Buddhas, the Buddhas that will sort of get the teachings going again after the degenerate time when they've completely died out. So Lama Zopa keeps saying, Pray to be reborn as Maitreya's direct disciple. And we're kind of like, we don't get it. We're like, oh no, I want to finish the path by next Tuesday. What do you mean I have to wait for Maitreya Buddha? Report an error in the passage at 14:38 Highlight the passage at 14:38

15:04 That's like however many thousands of years. But from the scheme of looking at the big picture, if you don't finish the path before then, the best thing you can pray for is to be reborn as a disciple of one of these wheel-turning Buddhas. And then you're going to be like Shariputra and you're going to hear one stanza and you're going to be... Report an error in the passage at 15:04 Highlight the passage at 15:04

15:25 So we kind of don't get that because we don't have much of a perspective, do we? And often I think we're practicing to have a better life like right now. We're not really thinking about liberation. We're not really thinking about enlightenment. We might have a little bit of an admiration, some kind of imprint that goes, wouldn't that be cool? Report an error in the passage at 15:25 Highlight the passage at 15:25

15:47 But we mostly just want a little bit of peace of mind right now, you know, and we want a better this life. And that's all right. It gets you here, gets me here, you know, and then we progress. And then our scope sort of increases as we get more and more used to it. But often the instructions we get like that, we just can't really relate to that. Report an error in the passage at 15:47 Highlight the passage at 15:47

16:06 He's like, oh, say Maitreya Buddha's mantra all these times so that you'll be reborn as his disciple. And we're like, what good is that, you know? Incredible. If we could pull that off, we'd be set. We'd be one of those beings. But that was what was happening in the time of Lord Buddha. And then we had this word Bhagavati that had a couple of layers of meaning. Report an error in the passage at 16:06 Highlight the passage at 16:06

16:29 So Ben, why don't you give that one a shot? Yeah, you're allowed to look at your notes. If you were good enough to take notes, by all means you're allowed to look at that. Baga meant to destroy, conquer, overcome. So what are we destroying and conquering and overcoming? Ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 16:29 Highlight the passage at 16:29

16:59 Mental afflictions, which includes ignorance, attachment, aversion, the whole, all of the ones that follow from that. And the karma that follows from them. And then there's one other thing that we're destroying too, another kind of obstacle that we're destroying. Or, um, what are, um... Report an error in the passage at 16:59 Highlight the passage at 16:59

17:20 John, you want to just pipe up and then we'll repeat it for the microphone? Knowledge obscurations. Yeah, the knowledge obscurations, which is another, we'll get into that when we talk about the five paths in detail, so if you don't know what those are, don't worry, we'll talk about that. They're obstacles that prevent the full omniscience of a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 17:20 Highlight the passage at 17:20

17:37 Okay, we've talked about two sets of obstacles. The obscuration of the defilements, which refers to karma and delusions. And the arhats eliminate those. Buddhas do too, but then on top of that, Buddhas eliminate this whole other set of obstacles called the knowledge obscurations. We'll talk about that in more detail. Report an error in the passage at 17:37 Highlight the passage at 17:37

17:57 But the destroyer or conqueror, conquistador, refers to that part. And then what else does bhaga refer to? Report an error in the passage at 17:57 Highlight the passage at 17:57

18:08 Also possessing, as in the, I guess like the paramitas or the qualities of awakening. Yeah, yeah, so those would be, I mean there are so many, but the main ones that we talk about a lot are wisdom. Compassion and power. Those are the three main qualities of the Buddha we talk about. Wisdom being the wisdom of the ultimate nature of reality. Compassion being the wish to free beings from suffering and then power, not meaning... Report an error in the passage at 18:08 Highlight the passage at 18:08

18:38 You know, power-like in this sort of controlling kind of thing, but the power or ability to benefit beings. So power really refers to that ability. So those are the three main qualities of the Buddha we talked about. So that bhaga means that, too, endowed with or possessing. Then what about vati? Vati was the feminine... Report an error in the passage at 18:38 Highlight the passage at 18:38

19:02 Form of transcending? Yeah, yeah. So we have the word van in Bhagavan and it's the same van that shows up in Nirvāṇa and it means transcendent. So often this word Bhagavan or Bhagavati is endowed transcendent destroyer, which is great because it's got all the meanings in there. And why is it female? Report an error in the passage at 19:02 Highlight the passage at 19:02

19:28 I'm not sure. Okay. Lynn, why is it female? This Lynn, she's smirking up here. I'm smirking, I'm thinking, oh, I forgot that part. Well, I hope I've got it right. I think it represents wisdom. I hope you do, too. Okay, so the feminine represents wisdom. Wisdom and the masculine represents compassion. Okay, and then there's another reason that it's feminine, too, because wisdom is considered feminine, and then there was that other meaning of feminine, mother. Report an error in the passage at 19:28 Highlight the passage at 19:28

20:00 Mother, yes. Mother of who? Of all the Buddhas. Of the Buddhas and all the Aryas. Oh, all the Aryas. Meaning that that realization of wisdom is in common, whether you're, no matter what kind of Arya you are, right? Because we talk about the direct realization of emptiness. Same one that an Arhat has before they're an Arhat. Same one a Bodhisattva has before they're a Buddha. Same one a Solitary Realizer has before their liberation. Report an error in the passage at 20:00 Highlight the passage at 20:00

20:27 So it's the same exact. So we talk about the mother because the mother is in common, right? That's the mother that's in common. It comes from that thing from Indian culture that, you know, the lineage comes from the father. The caste comes from the father. So whether you're bodhisattva or whether you're here or whether you're solitary, realize it. That's your lineage. But the mother is in common. That's that direct realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 20:27 Highlight the passage at 20:27

20:51 So it's kind of cool. All these things are hidden in that one word, Bhagavati. Who would know, right? You just think, oh, cool word, Bhagavati. And all those, you know, there's a whole teaching hidden in the title of the sūtra, which is very cool. And then we've got Prajna Paramita. Before you leave that, do you think there's a reason they say Arya instead of Arhat Bhagavati? Report an error in the passage at 20:51 Highlight the passage at 20:51

21:16 Yeah, because I think it's just really emphasizing how important that realization is. And they wouldn't say Arhat, because remember this is a Mahāyāna Sūtra, so the goal, because we're talking about the perfections next, the perfection of wisdom. So we're not calling it an Arhat, because that would not be a Mahāyāna Sūtra. Except when you say Arhat Bodhisattva, which is rare. Report an error in the passage at 21:16 Highlight the passage at 21:16

21:40 No, Arya Bodhisattva, not Arhat. You never would say... Yeah, yeah. You say Arya Bodhisattva, right? Because it's a bodhisattva that's got that realization. Yeah. And what about Prajnaparamita? What does that mean? Who's going to be brave? Teresa, grab the mic. Report an error in the passage at 21:40 Highlight the passage at 21:40

22:05 Prajna is the wisdom. Okay. And what about Paramita? Gone beyond. Okay. To the other side. Right. Saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. It's interesting, right? Because we pray in the mayana, you know, free me from saṃsāra. That's pretty obvious, right? From cyclic existence. And then we also say, don't let me just stay stuck in nirvāṇa, which is solitary peace, right? Report an error in the passage at 22:05 Highlight the passage at 22:05

22:32 So we pray to be freed from both saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. And in the beginning, when you're a new student, you're like, wait a minute, I thought nirvāṇa was where we were supposed to be. No, you know, according to the Mayana, Nirvāṇa, solitary peace, is what we don't want. We want to become a bodhisattva, keep being reborn for the benefit of all beings. Report an error in the passage at 22:32 Highlight the passage at 22:32

22:54 Okay, so we actually pray to be on the other side of both. So that's kind of interesting. That shows up. Paramita, sometimes translated as perfection or both going to the other side and gone to the other side. Perfecting and perfection. That which makes you perfect and perfect. The perfection that you get to, which relates to the path and the result. So we talked about perfection of wisdom. We have the path perfection of wisdom, which is the direct realization of emptiness in the mind of a bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 22:54 Highlight the passage at 22:54

23:32 That realization that they keep using to get them to the other side. And then when they're there, it's the resultant perfection of wisdom, which is the omniscient mind of a fully enlightened being. So it's both going to the other side and gone to the other side, both perfecting and perfection. Right? At the same time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and it refers to both of these things. So we can translate paramita as, you know, going to the other side, perfection. Report an error in the passage at 23:32 Highlight the passage at 23:32

24:08 But it's the process too. When we talk about path perfection of wisdom, it's the process. And then the resultant perfection of wisdom is the goal, that we've gone to the other side. And that refers to Buddhahood, the omniscient mind of a Buddha. And then Hridaya. Oh, do you have something? Report an error in the passage at 24:08 Highlight the passage at 24:08

24:28 And then you can answer what Hridaya means since you've got the microphone. No, we can't. That's the peril of answering questions. So Does that also apply to the six paramitas? Yeah, those are, and this is the sixth, right? The perfection of wisdom is the sixth of the six paramitas. So what are the six? Let's review that real quick. What are the six perfections? I've just blanked. Okay. Compassion and... Report an error in the passage at 24:28 Highlight the passage at 24:28

24:57 Okay. Catherine. Oh, the mic? Yeah. You're off the hook, Sandra. The first one is generosity and giving. Giving, generosity, ethics, patience, patience, patience and tolerance, joyous perseverance, sometimes called joyful effort. Concentration, meditation, and wisdom. Okay, so those are the six perfections. And these are the activities of somebody who's decided to get enlightened for the benefit of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 24:57 Highlight the passage at 24:57

25:33 So bodhicitta is the wish to get enlightened for the benefit of all beings. And then after that, you engage in the activities. And these are the six activities that you do to create the cause for the enlightened body and mind of a Buddha. Bodhicitta is deciding. That's what I want. I mean, amazing, incredible, beautiful aspiration, but it's not enough in itself because as we know, nothing arises without being caused. Report an error in the passage at 25:33 Highlight the passage at 25:33

26:02 So the six perfections are the causes for the enlightened body and mind of a Buddha. After you have bodhicitta, then you start engaging in those practices to create the cause for it. First you decide, wow, that's what I want. Wow, I really want to become enlightened for the benefit of all beings. Well, how do I pull that off? I've got to create the causes. Report an error in the passage at 26:02 Highlight the passage at 26:02

26:22 What are those? Oh, the Buddha taught the six perfections. So the first kind of four and a half create the enlightened body of a Buddha. So we talk about the Buddha's quality of omniscient mind, which is created by the last one and a half. And the reason I say half is because concentration is needed for all the... Report an error in the passage at 26:22 Highlight the passage at 26:22

26:42 First ones, but especially for the wisdom, right? Especially for creating the wisdom. So that's what creates the enlightened body and mind of a Buddha is the six perfections, okay? So the perfection of wisdom is the sixth of those. So the Prajnaparamita as opposed to the other paramitas. Yeah, and tell me your name. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 26:42 Highlight the passage at 26:42

27:09 Sometimes there's ten. Yeah, yeah. So the question is, is there a time that there's more than six? And sometimes they talk about ten perfections. And we'll get to that when we talk about the ten bodhisattva boomies. Because each of those is the perfection of one of the perfections. So we take one of the perfections, and I have to cheat because I can't remember them in order. Report an error in the passage at 27:09 Highlight the passage at 27:09

27:31 But just to answer your question, the last four that we don't usually talk about are method, prayer, power, And exalted wisdom, so method, prayer, so the perfection of method, the perfection of prayer, the perfection of power, and the perfection of exalted wisdom, or the other four. So yeah, we can either talk about, I mean, commonly we talk about six, and then sometimes we talk about this list of ten, and we'll look at that when we talk about the bodhisattva boomies. Report an error in the passage at 27:31 Highlight the passage at 27:31

28:03 Okay, who's going to answer what khiddaya means? Report an error in the passage at 28:03 Highlight the passage at 28:03

28:11 Go ahead. It's the essence, the heart or the essence. Yeah, the heart or the essence. Okay, the heart or the essence. And we talk about the scriptural perfection of wisdom. The Heart Sūtra is, as the name indicates, the essence or the shortest perfection of wisdom sūtra. In the Tibetan scriptures, the Tibetan canon, there's 17 perfection of wisdom sutras. Report an error in the passage at 28:11 Highlight the passage at 28:11

28:35 Okay. We mostly talk about the three major ones that we talk about are the extensive, which has a hundred thousand verses. The medium, which has 25,000 verses, and then the shortest one has 8,000 verses. And I think there's a translation of that one into English. Edward Kahn's, I think, translated that one. And then the Heart Sūtra is only 25 verses in the Tibetan. So really, really short. Report an error in the passage at 28:35 Highlight the passage at 28:35

29:03 These three major perfection of wisdom sutras, the great, the middling and the small, are often called the mothers. So when you hear Tibetan lamas talking about the mothers, it doesn't mean Geshe Dagpa's mother and Lama Zopa's mother and Geshe Solga's mother. It means these three perfection of wisdom sutras. Report an error in the passage at 29:03 Highlight the passage at 29:03

29:23 It's interesting, there's this translator, Gareth Sparum, who's written a couple of books. And I was talking to him once a long time ago. I ran into him in New York and I was like, hey, how's it going? What are you working on? Like, you know, kind of what are you working on these days? Because he's always translating something and he goes, these days I'm working on her ladyship. Report an error in the passage at 29:23 Highlight the passage at 29:23

29:42 And I'm like, what, he got a job with the queen? Like, what is he talking about? And he meant the perfection of wisdom sutras. He called them her ladyship. Isn't that awesome? And he's talking to me for a while, and I'm like, what? And then I finally got, oh, wow, he's talking about the perfection of wisdom sutras that he very respectfully called her ladyship. Report an error in the passage at 29:42 Highlight the passage at 29:42

30:04 Isn't that great? I thought that was awesome. So, Her Ladyship, the Heart Sūtra, Her Ladyship. So those are the scriptural perfection of wisdom sutras. And what turning? We talked about the three turnings of the wheel, remember? We said the first turning of the wheel is the sutras that deal mostly with the things like the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, and that's mostly the Pāli Canon, the Pāli scriptures. Report an error in the passage at 30:04 Highlight the passage at 30:04

30:36 Those were sutras mostly taught in Pāli. And then we have the second turning of the wheel. Which, I'll just answer my own question, includes the perfection of wisdom sutras. Mostly the sutras taught in Sanskrit on the ultimate nature of reality according to the middle way consequent school, right? Okay, this is the view of the middle way consequent school, that these are definitive sutras. Other schools... Report an error in the passage at 30:36 Highlight the passage at 30:36

31:01 Think different things. And that question came up yesterday. Which one of the three turnings of the wheel is definitive, right? So from this perspective of the middle way school, the second turning is definitive. And then we have the third turning of the wheel that includes two types of sutras. There's one represented by the sūtra unraveling the thought of the Buddha, where he talks about the three natures. Report an error in the passage at 31:01 Highlight the passage at 31:01

31:26 And he qualifies what he said in the second turning. He said, you know how... When I said that nothing is inherently existent, I was kind of exaggerating to make a point. You know, it's not really like that. There's some things that aren't inherently existent, but yeah, some things are. And that was a skillful means because sometimes it gets confusing. Was the Buddha lying? Like what was going on here? And he was just teaching appropriate for the students because it's much more important to remain, kind of to maintain faith in cause and effect than it is to, like if you go to a higher view that you... Report an error in the passage at 31:26 Highlight the passage at 31:26

32:02 Don't really understand and you start to think that nothing matters and I can do whatever I want and there is no such thing as cause and effect. That's extremely dangerous, really, really dangerous. So for people of different abilities, he taught different sutras. And it's very interesting to study this third turning of the wheel where he taught the three natures because actually it really helps you understand the middle way consequence school view better. Report an error in the passage at 32:02 Highlight the passage at 32:02

32:30 They talk about these three different aspects or three different natures that every phenomena has, and it actually really, really helps you. In my mind, it really helped me understand the subtlety of the Middle Way Consequence School, which says something different, but it helps. So we talk about the different philosophical schools and how they're like the rungs of a ladder to bring your view up to... Report an error in the passage at 32:30 Highlight the passage at 32:30

32:55 What the Tibetans consider the ultimate is, which is the middle way consequence school. So the third turning of the wheel, those sutras are the basis of philosophically what we call the mind only school. And then there's some other sutras that explain Buddha nature, like the Tathāgata Garba Sūtra. So other sutras considered in that third turning. Report an error in the passage at 32:55 Highlight the passage at 32:55

33:19 But the perfection of wisdom sutras are the scriptural... Perfection of wisdom of the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma. So those three turning. So any questions? That's pretty much... Oh, and then we started with the sūtra and we started with the very first line that says, thus did I hear it one time and we said that was our hero Ananda. Report an error in the passage at 33:19 Highlight the passage at 33:19

33:43 Who memorized everything the Buddha said on the spot. Remember he had that deal with the Buddha? Yeah, I'll be your attendant if I get to hang out with you all the time and hear every conversation you have with anyone. Not just the public teachings that all the monastics are invited to, but everything that you say. And the Buddha said, okay. So a lot of the sutras are, oh, somebody came to visit the Buddha to debate with him. Report an error in the passage at 33:43 Highlight the passage at 33:43

34:06 And that's a sūtra. Because Ananda remembered that. And so when he recited them at that first council that he was only allowed to go to because he got liberated when he just relaxed and let go for a minute. That's a message to us there. He's trying and trying and trying and then at the very last minute he's like, oh the hell with it. And then boom, he's liberated. Report an error in the passage at 34:06 Highlight the passage at 34:06

34:27 So he's able to go to that first council and then recite all of those sutras. So thank goodness we'd be missing a lot if it weren't for Ananda and his realization. So thus did I hear means he was there at the time and he memorized it on the spot and then recited it later at that first council. So any questions about where we're up to? Matthew, there's the mic. I Report an error in the passage at 34:27 Highlight the passage at 34:27

35:02 had a question about... What you refer to as the three baskets? Yeah. So there's the sutras which are somehow associated with Ananda because you remember the sutras. Yeah, they're the discourses of the Buddha. Often we translate sūtra as discourses. Okay. Yeah. And then you were saying there's... An homage usually prior to them and his usually begin, I prostrate to the Buddhas. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, yeah. And that was added by the Tibetan translators. Report an error in the passage at 35:02 Highlight the passage at 35:02

35:34 That wasn't anything Ananda said, right? That was something added later to the Tibetan translations to show which of the three baskets they belonged to. And that was by decree of one of the Tibetan kings. It may have been Trisong Detson. I'm not sure which one it was. Okay, my other question related to that was, so there was the sutras, then there's the Vinayas and the Abhidharma. Yeah. So I have three questions about that. Report an error in the passage at 35:34 Highlight the passage at 35:34

36:02 Okay. One, you said that there was an individual sort of associated with each basket. Yeah, who recited them at that first council. So Ananda was one, and who were the other two? And Upāya, a monk called Upāya, recited the Vinaya. Report an error in the passage at 36:02 Highlight the passage at 36:02

36:21 And then Maha Kasyapa, the senior monk at that time, recited the Abhidharma basket. So they sat around for however long it took because they were trying to just codify. What did the Buddha teach? What did you hear? You know, because he's passed away now. And then they had to decide, what did you get out of all those years that we spent with him? Report an error in the passage at 36:21 Highlight the passage at 36:21

36:43 So they're just trying to codify and recall. Put together what he taught. So these three great beings with perfect memory all kind of took one topic and recited it. Okay, and so the sutras are the discourses. What are the Abhidharma and Vinaya? Okay, Vinaya is all of the teachings on discipline or morality or ethics. They include, you know, a majority of them is monastic discipline. Report an error in the passage at 36:43 Highlight the passage at 36:43

37:11 There's a lot of vows and then there's a lot of sort of codes of conduct and things that aren't specific vows, but like, you know, different kind of codes about how monastics should live. So a large part of the Vinaya, but not all of it, is about monastic vows, codes of conduct. The ways that we should live. But it also includes lay vows, like teachings on the lay vows, the five vows for lay people. Report an error in the passage at 37:11 Highlight the passage at 37:11

37:38 Also teachings on one day vows. So we talk about eight different kinds of pratimoksha or individual liberation vows that are all explained in the Vinaya. And then Abhidharma is the teachings on manifest knowledge. And they include things like teachings on Buddhist psychology, like the mind and mental factors. Report an error in the passage at 37:38 Highlight the passage at 37:38

37:59 Any teachings on Buddhist cosmology fall into Abhidharma. So it's all these lists and categories. And when you study Abhidharma, there's this teaching that some of you may have been, the Gashidakpa did, called the 70 Topics. And that comes from the Abhidharma. All of these extensive lists and categories of phenomena, of mind, of the universe, of phenomena like that. Report an error in the passage at 37:59 Highlight the passage at 37:59

38:26 That's the main subject. One last question. So we talked about how the Tibetan king had the homage that he wanted to add prior to each one. So prior to the sutras, it's I prostrate to the Buddhism bodhisattvas. For Abhidharma, it's I prostrate to Manjushri. What is the Vinaya? Yeah, it would be I prostrate to the omniscient one. Report an error in the passage at 38:26 Highlight the passage at 38:26

38:53 Meaning the Buddha, but it's usually phrased as the omniscient one to signal that it's a Vinaya teaching. And Manjushri is the bodhisattva of wisdom and Abhidharma being manifest knowledge is all about wisdom. So that part makes sense. I'm not quite sure why it says I prostrate to the omniscient one specifically for the Vinaya. You know, in the Buddhism bodhisattvas for the sūtra, I'm not sure how the king decided that, but that's the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 38:53 Highlight the passage at 38:53

39:22 Good, but that's only for the Tibetan translations and those words weren't in the original sutras. Thank you. You're welcome. Yeah, Sarah. Report an error in the passage at 39:22 Highlight the passage at 39:22

39:39 Just following up from that question, so did the Vinaya and Abhidharma come from the Buddha? Yeah. But they're separated out from the sutras? Yes, yeah. Yeah, they're teachings of the Buddha but separated out from the discourses, like the conversations that he had and the general teachings that he gave. Report an error in the passage at 39:39 Highlight the passage at 39:39

39:57 He also made certain... Rules for vowed morality that weren't necessarily made when he was giving some kind of a discourse. Like often, for example, all the monastic vows were made by the Buddha in response to a certain incident that happened. And it's really interesting to read the origin stories because they were all made. At first, when the Buddha started the monastic order, he didn't have any vows at all. And then he started making vows when the monastics would start to misbehave. Report an error in the passage at 39:57 Highlight the passage at 39:57

40:27 And he would be like, how can my, he was always saying, how can my monks and nuns be doing this? I don't get it. Okay, I guess I got to make a rule. You know, so it would be in response, people would come to him and complain about something that the monastics were doing and he'd make a new rule, but it wasn't something that he, you know, kind of taught in a discourse. Report an error in the passage at 40:27 Highlight the passage at 40:27

40:45 So it's seen as something different, you know. Yeah, yeah. Yes, Tamara. Report an error in the passage at 40:45 Highlight the passage at 40:45

40:54 I'm not sure if this question is like really related to what we're talking about. I think everything is. But obviously getting to nirvāṇa or enlightenment is really hard. So if someone is already going to try, why wouldn't they just be enlightened? Why would they want to reach nirvāṇa but not get enlightened? Report an error in the passage at 40:54 Highlight the passage at 40:54

41:17 Yeah, that's a great question. It actually relates to the difference between the way the goals of the path are presented in the Pāli Sutras and in the... Sanskrit Sutras and in the Pāli Sutras they say the only beings who actually have the destiny to become fully enlightened are these thousand wheel-turning Buddhas. Report an error in the passage at 41:17 Highlight the passage at 41:17

41:39 We talk about the wheel-turning Buddhas. Shakyamuni Buddha was one who get the teachings going. It's called turning the wheel of Dharma because they sort of get things going after the teachings have degenerated completely. Shakyamuni Buddha is the fourth one. Of our world system, you know, because it's restricted to our world system. And Shakyamuni Buddha is the fourth wheel turning Buddha. Maitreya Buddha is going to be the fifth one. Report an error in the passage at 41:39 Highlight the passage at 41:39

42:02 And there's meant to be a thousand in all. Those are the only beings, according to the Pāli canon, who have sort of the destiny to become fully enlightened beings. For the rest of us, our ultimate hope is liberation, you know. So it's not like you decide. In that system... That's the only thing that is possible for you. Like, why would we just sit around wanting to be an elephant? Report an error in the passage at 42:02 Highlight the passage at 42:02

42:28 When it's not even possible, it would be a total waste of time. And in that system, sitting around wanting to be a Buddha, why bother unless you're one of those thousand? However, in the Mahāyāna Sutras, a different system is taught, and it's taught that every being has the potential to become not one of those thousand, but fully enlightened with all of those qualities. Report an error in the passage at 42:28 Highlight the passage at 42:28

42:49 There are only going to be a thousand who will get the teachings turning again when they've degenerated, but we all have the potential to become a full... So it's kind of different goals taught in the different sutras. So sometimes you'll hear negative things in this word Hinayana that I hate, lesser vehicle. Report an error in the passage at 42:49 Highlight the passage at 42:49

43:08 And it's almost as if, oh, they just choose because they don't care about others. And it's totally, totally wrong. It's not like that at all. It's just that it's not taught as a goal per se in that Pāli canon in those sutras. Yeah, good question. Good question, so it's good to clarify. Yeah, Carla. Report an error in the passage at 43:08 Highlight the passage at 43:08

43:35 Now your answer just as brought it to another question. Report an error in the passage at 43:35 Highlight the passage at 43:35

43:41 Why there are different, the Pāli, some were written in the Pāli and some are Sanskrit. Yeah, and they say that it's different teachings that the Buddha gave to different beings of different capacities. Like Pāli was the language that he taught very, very publicly. Then for certain disciples that had a Mahāyāna inclination, he taught... Report an error in the passage at 43:41 Highlight the passage at 43:41

44:05 The Mahāyāna sutras that were preserved in Pāli. And there's this whole historical reason of why it was Pāli for some sutras and why it was Sanskrit. But in general, we talk about the Pāli sutras being sort of the foundational teachings that apply to everyone. And then the Mahāyāna sutras are mostly preserved in Sanskrit. Report an error in the passage at 44:05 Highlight the passage at 44:05

44:25 So those were ones that some people don't even accept them as the words of the Buddha, you know, because it was not the ones that he taught to everyone. He would just... Teach them to specific disciples that had that. Inclination that could relate to that and the feeling of bodhicitta was inspiring for them, right? Because different people have different propensities and I told this story, Carla's heard it before, it was so amazing. Report an error in the passage at 44:25 Highlight the passage at 44:25

44:49 I was teaching an introductory course, this just shows, you know, about different people's propensities for, you know, the idea of being a bodhisattva and bodhicitta. I was teaching an introductory course at Tushita Center in Dharamsala this spring and it was a really big course, there were like 60 people from all over the world. Report an error in the passage at 44:49 Highlight the passage at 44:49

45:08 And, you know, I'm presenting the Four Noble Truths and I get up to the path and I present the goals of the path and I start talking about bodhicitta and full enlightenment and becoming a bodhisattva. And I think I'd just gotten to... Explaining the definition of bodhicitta, you know, wishing to get fully enlightened for the benefit of all sentient beings. And there's one guy in the class who'd been challenging me a lot. Report an error in the passage at 45:08 Highlight the passage at 45:08

45:31 Like he'd read a lot and he kind of thought he knew everything and he keeps arguing with me. When we get to the definition of bodhicitta. And he stands up and he freaks out and he goes, what? You Mahayanists are crazy. You think you can get enlightened for the benefit of all sentient beings? And he slams out of the room, slams the door and leaves the course at that moment, goes to his room and packs his bag. Meanwhile, another student from Denmark, Casper, again, first teaching, you know, this other guy's flipping out and Casper's sitting there. Report an error in the passage at 45:31 Highlight the passage at 45:31

46:03 Tears running down his face and he tells me after all, I've never been so inspired. I'm going to do it. I'm going to become a bodhicitta. It's just like, wow, another proof of karma, you know, like the same words out of my mouth. For one person, trigger this complete outburst of anger. I mean, he was angry. He's screaming at me, you crazy Mahayanas. And the other guy's like, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 46:03 Highlight the passage at 46:03

46:28 You know, it's like. You know, you just put it out there. If I were the Buddha, I would have known and I would have taken Caspar to the side and given him all these secret teachings, but they tell me to teach a class, I do it, I don't know, you know, there's 60 people, I don't know how they're going to react. Report an error in the passage at 46:28 Highlight the passage at 46:28

46:44 But it just shows, and that's what the Buddha did, you know, and he knew. And so there are certain people, like Kasper, with the tears running down, like he knew that. So he would take them to the side and he goes, oh, but there's this other thing going on that's like this. You know, so that's the way it's explained the difference between the Pāli and the Sanskrit situation. Report an error in the passage at 46:44 Highlight the passage at 46:44

47:03 Well, but there was Buddha himself teaching in different languages as opposed to people there. later wrote the teachings. And I think that the Buddha kind of spoke the dialect of Magadha and then when it was written down, which was several centuries later, it was the difference between what they call the northern school and the southern school and one was actually recorded in Sanskrit and one in Pāli. Report an error in the passage at 47:03 Highlight the passage at 47:03

47:27 But I think the Buddha, well they say actually that the Buddha did teach in Sanskrit and then everybody, I mean there's a sort of esoteric. A version of the story that says that Sanskrit is this holy language and one of the qualities of the Buddha is he speaks in Sanskrit apparently every wheel turning Buddha and then everybody hears their own. Report an error in the passage at 47:27 Highlight the passage at 47:27

47:49 It's one of the qualities of the speech of the Buddha. So that's the more esoteric meaning of it was that he taught, you know, he said everything that he said in Sanskrit because it's supposed to be this holy language that's, you know, with certain kind of vibrational qualities and then everybody heard their own language. Report an error in the passage at 47:49 Highlight the passage at 47:49

48:06 So that's another way of looking at it. But what he actually said, I mean, there's debate between scholars and it has to do with, you know, history and different languages and things. But they're collected. Now primarily in Sanskrit for the Mahāyāna Sutras and then like for example the Mahāyāna Sutras that have been translated into the Chinese and Tibetan canon were translated from primarily from Sanskrit for the most part. Report an error in the passage at 48:06 Highlight the passage at 48:06

48:34 And the real question was I want to go back to Arya because I was wondering You know, like some people, they at first they get a glimpse of the realization of emptiness. Is that an aria ready or is it like, you know, comma biting after four hours within a single object? I mean, how do you know someone is an aria? You can get intellectual insights, you know, you can get these glimpses, but we wouldn't call those direct perceptions. Report an error in the passage at 48:34 Highlight the passage at 48:34

49:07 We would say that you're getting intellectual insights, but only when it's actually a direct... Do you get the label Arya? And after you've had that direct perception, they say that you can, you know, three things happen at that moment. You overcome any doubt whatsoever about the path. You overcome any view that things are inherently existent. Report an error in the passage at 49:07 Highlight the passage at 49:07

49:32 Like, you know, even though when you come out of that meditation, things look the same way they always did, but you know better because you saw it directly. And then the third thing is you overcome any kind of view that ascetic practices are in any way, you know, to be practiced on the path. So it's really, really different from these glimpses that we get that sometimes I think are intellectual insights that could be very, very profound, but that wouldn't be an actual direct perception, you know, according to the way that it's taught. Report an error in the passage at 49:32 Highlight the passage at 49:32

50:04 So at that point, you're an aria. You know, and a lot of times people have deep experiences or they have... Experiences that are just a byproduct of samādhi, of being able to develop calm abiding. I think sometimes people might mistake experiences for a direct realization of emptiness if they're not really well trained in what that is and in the whole stages of the path. Report an error in the passage at 50:04 Highlight the passage at 50:04

50:27 And it's great that they're having these experiences, but there are certain things like perfectly qualified calm abiding that are prerequisites for getting the direct realization of emptiness. And if you don't have that... You know that whatever experience you have wasn't the direct realization of emptiness. That's one of the qualities that's necessary. But I think people can have intellectual insights and they can have certain results of just samādhi and mental pacification that can be quite profound, but it wouldn't be the direct realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 50:27 Highlight the passage at 50:27

51:03 All right. So let's launch back into the sutras. So thus did I hear it one time, says Ananda. The Bhagavan was dwelling on massive vultures mountain in Rajagriha. So this is a place where the Buddha spent a lot of time, right outside of Rajagriha. The word Rajagriha means king and griha literally means king. Report an error in the passage at 51:03 Highlight the passage at 51:03

51:28 Hold, so like keep of the king, you could translate it like that, like hold of the king, keep of the king. And it was the capital city of Magadha, this country in northern India at the time of the Buddha. The king of Magadha was King Bimbusara, who was one of the Buddha's first disciples. He actually met the Buddha before the Buddha was enlightened, and the Buddha impressed him so much that he offered him half of the kingdom. Report an error in the passage at 51:28 Highlight the passage at 51:28

51:55 Like the Buddha, even before he was enlightened, apparently he was really tall and really good looking. And wherever he went, people would just be like, wow, who's that? You know, he's really beautiful, really subdued. So he was walking through Raj Gere once before he was a Buddha. And everybody, you know, he's kind of hanging out on the outskirts of town and come in with his begging bowl, begging for food every day. And his reputation would start to spread and people would sort of crowd around to like just look at him when he walked past. Report an error in the passage at 51:55 Highlight the passage at 51:55

52:25 And then the king heard about it, you know, about this really kind of amazing. You know, sadhu who'd shown up in town and he went to find him in the forest where he was living outside of town and had a conversation with him and was so impressed by him. And he said, look, you have this really noble bearing. You know, why don't you, you know, have half of my kingdom? And the Buddha said, well, I had one, actually. I had a kingdom. Report an error in the passage at 52:25 Highlight the passage at 52:25

52:51 So thanks very much, but I just left that because I really decided that that's not what I wanted to do. I'm really seeking liberation. And then King Bimbusara said, okay, please come back and tell me. Like when you succeed in your goal, come back and tell me. So the Buddha lived up to his promise, and King Bimbusara was one of the first people that he saw. Report an error in the passage at 52:51 Highlight the passage at 52:51

53:11 After his enlightenment, he went to Raja Grihan and said, I did it, I pulled it off, this is the way it is. So King Bimbusara became a great supporter of the Buddha and offered him the bamboo grove, one of the first actual places that the Buddha accepted. You know, first they were just wandering mendicants and then... Report an error in the passage at 53:11 Highlight the passage at 53:11

53:29 And then King Bimbasara said, here you can have this grove of bamboo and you guys can meditate there. It's close to the city. You can come in and collect alms. And then he offered Vulture's Peak, this whole mountain outside of town. And when you go there, it's very cool because you're walking up to where the Buddha actually taught the Heart Sūtra and you pass Shariputra's meditation cave and Ananda's meditation cave that are really close to each other. Report an error in the passage at 53:29 Highlight the passage at 53:29

53:55 I mean, it's amazing. You're walking and you're like, wow. That's where Ananda meditated. And then you walk up to the top. So it's actually referring to this place outside of Rajagriha, Vulture's Peak. The Bhagavan was dwelling on massive Vulture's Mountain in Rajagriha with a great community of monks and a great community of bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 53:55 Highlight the passage at 53:55

54:19 Let's talk about what this means. A great community of monks and a great community of bodhisattvas. So we've got two great communities or assemblies here. We've got a bunch of monks, there are probably some nuns there, and a bunch of bodhisattvas. So why are they differentiated? And the monks are beings. Report an error in the passage at 54:19 Highlight the passage at 54:19

54:38 Who are not bodhisattvas yet. So even in the time of Lord Buddha, even among his close companions, there were some beings who were not yet bodhisattvas. So they're called monks just to indicate that they're different from the bodhisattvas. Not that bodhisattvas aren't monks and it's not like that. But in this case, they're differentiated by one group being called monks, meaning that they're... Report an error in the passage at 54:38 Highlight the passage at 54:38

55:05 Not bodhisattvas. And then we've got an assembly of bodhisattvas. And the word great doesn't refer to the number. It refers to their qualities. Because you go to Vulture's Peak and it ain't big. It's a small place. So how could there be this huge mob of people there? And that's not what it's referring to. Report an error in the passage at 55:05 Highlight the passage at 55:05

55:25 The great refers to their qualities. So it should really be an assembly of great monks. And they're great in qualities, meaning that they're arhats. Meaning that they're beings of high spiritual realizations. So we've got great monks with great qualities that are arhats but they're not bodhisattvas yet. Report an error in the passage at 55:25 Highlight the passage at 55:25

55:45 And then we've got great bodhisattvas. Another group of people who are bodhisattvas who are also great. And they're great in a different way. So there's two assemblies and two greats. So you have to be careful when you translate. When I was in Colombia, they were reading the Heart Sūtra in Spanish. And they decided that this was redundant, right? And then they said, a great community of monks and bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 55:45 Highlight the passage at 55:45

56:11 And that's why it's really important when you're a translator to study the commentaries because there's all this meaning in the words and you might miss something that's really essential. So I told them to change their translation and put it back to a great assembly of monks and a great assembly of bodhisattvas because the great refers to two different things. Report an error in the passage at 56:11 Highlight the passage at 56:11

56:30 So are you saying it might be better translated together with a community of great monks and a community of great bodhisattvas? But that sounds kind of weird, doesn't it? Great monks? Like, I don't know. Okay, but that's kind of more accurate from the way you're describing it. Well, what I mean is great community of bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 56:30 Highlight the passage at 56:30

56:48 You could still have the whole community is great in their qualities. It's just that it doesn't refer to the number, it refers to their qualities. I'll tell you what, you just cleared something up for me because I was lucky enough to be in. Report an error in the passage at 56:48 Highlight the passage at 56:48

57:00 And I'd sit there in this little space and I'd go, well, maybe he had these superpowers and then everybody was like sitting way down there in the valley and up on the next hill. And boy, he was, gee, it was before PA systems and everything. Like how did that work? Honest to God, I thought it was totally esoteric. Oh, well, it makes me feel better. Report an error in the passage at 57:00 Highlight the passage at 57:00

57:21 Smaller people. Yeah, right. Well, there's that too, which I always find on Indian buses. Yeah, so the great refers to the qualities. So we've got these monks that are arhats and then we have these bodhisattvas that are great in qualities. And I want to read to you the qualities that are referred to because it's a beautiful list. Report an error in the passage at 57:21 Highlight the passage at 57:21

57:42 And this comes from one of the commentaries. This comes from the word-for-word commentaries. And this list is from the Sūtra Alamkara by Maitreya. And it's explaining what the word great means here. And it's the same maha. Maha is the word for great in Sanskrit. It's chempo in Tibetan and maha in Sanskrit. And it's the same maha that you find in Mahāyāna. Report an error in the passage at 57:42 Highlight the passage at 57:42

58:07 And so it has seven distinct meanings and I think it's so cool to read these meanings because to me it's a total description of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. So listen to this and see if this sounds like Lama Zopa or His Holiness the Dalai Lama, all our great teachers. So the first quality in Tibetan is mikpa chewa. They have big eyes, they're looking towards big goals, looking to help as many sentient beings as they can. Report an error in the passage at 58:07 Highlight the passage at 58:07

58:31 So that's the first quality. Big eyes is what it is, literally meaning vast vision, big goals, looking to help many beings. And then the second quality is Drupani, meaning they have two goals in mind, benefiting themselves and benefiting others, because we say that enlightenment benefits yourself and it benefits others. Report an error in the passage at 58:31 Highlight the passage at 58:31

58:54 It's got these two benefits, for self and for others, and that'll come up again in a second, so keep that in mind, benefit for self and benefit for others. The third quality is Yeshi, like Lama Yeshi, and that's a high state of wisdom, okay, very, very high. State of wisdom is the third quality. And then the fourth quality is tsundru. And that's the name for joyful effort, that paramita of joyful effort. Report an error in the passage at 58:54 Highlight the passage at 58:54

59:23 And that just means taking pleasure in doing virtue, being happy at doing virtuous things. Instead of being happy doing all that other stuff, you're happy about doing virtuous things. And then the fifth quality in Tibetan is tapke, and it's the ability to find special techniques and unusual ways of helping people. Report an error in the passage at 59:23 Highlight the passage at 59:23

59:45 There are different ways that you need to benefit beings. It's not just sitting up in front of the room in red robes going blah, blah, blah. A lot of times beings need some other kind of unique, special techniques. So this is another ability of these. Report an error in the passage at 59:45 Highlight the passage at 59:45

1:00:03 It's a kind of skillful means, yeah, yeah. It's a different word. It's a different word than the word for skillful means, but it relates to that, yeah. And then Drupal, they've achieved the ten extraordinary powers. And that's a long story, but it includes things like clairvoyance, clairaudience, being able to hear from a distance certain special powers. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:03 Highlight the passage at 1:00:03

1:00:26 Again, Only achieved so that you can benefit sentient beings with these powers. And it's always caution, don't go after just the powers, just because it's so cool. It's only about benefiting beings. And then the last is called Trenle Chempo in Tibetan, and it means the scope of their life and their activity is huge. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:26 Highlight the passage at 1:00:26

1:00:47 Okay, so the scope of their life and their activity is huge. Does that describe Lama Zopa or what? Isn't that cool? It's really nice to look at those seven qualities. So that's what the great in the great bodhisattvas is talking about. So it's these beings that have those qualities. Tamara, did you have a question? The second to the last one. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:47 Highlight the passage at 1:00:47

1:01:10 Yeah, okay. The first one, they have big eyes looking towards big goals, looking to help as many beings as possible. The second one. They have two goals in mind, benefiting themselves and benefiting others. The third one, they have a high state of wisdom. The fourth one, joyful effort. They take pleasure in doing good things. The fifth one, the ability to find unusual ways of serving others, special techniques. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:10 Highlight the passage at 1:01:10

1:01:41 The sixth one, they've achieved the ten extraordinary powers. And then the seventh, the scope of their life and their activity is huge. So these are seven of the qualities of these great bodhisattvas. Yeah, Matthew, let's get the mic. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:41 Highlight the passage at 1:01:41

1:02:12 I don't want to turn this into a hair-splitting session. What's the difference between one and seven? No. Sorry. So it says a great community of monks and a great community of bodhisattvas. Yeah. No, but I... Report an error in the passage at 1:02:12 Highlight the passage at 1:02:12

1:02:32 You said that's an important distinction. And the monks, well, two questions. So was it monks and nuns, do you think, or was it monks at that time? There were a lot of the Buddhist disciples that were nuns, that were arhats, that were great beings, so I'm sure that they weren't excluded from that assembly. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:32 Highlight the passage at 1:02:32

1:02:54 They were there at so many of the Buddhist significance. So the point I'm making, I don't think it means only men. Okay. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:54 Highlight the passage at 1:02:54

1:03:02 And so the monks and nuns were arhats. Yeah. And if you're an arhat, does that mean that you can be described by all of these characteristics, including like the ten extraordinary powers? No, that's describing the great that refers to the bodhisattvas. Okay. Okay, so that's the second great. That's what the second great means. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:02 Highlight the passage at 1:03:02

1:03:26 So that's referring to the bodhisattvas. Okay, so this great only is referring to the bodhisattvas and not the... Yeah, yeah. So the great, the first great means they were arhats. The second great means they're bodhisattvas with all of these seven qualities. Yeah, good. Thank you for clarifying that. And you can be a bodhisattva and be a monk or a nun too, you know. So it doesn't mean that the bodhisattvas were lay people and then the arhats were all, you know, it doesn't, it's not like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:26 Highlight the passage at 1:03:26

1:03:53 Yeah. Let's get the microphone. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:53 Highlight the passage at 1:03:53

1:04:04 We're remembering. We're doing good, aren't we? We're doing great. We're all And we're going to have a pee-pee break in ten minutes. I just want to let you know. Again, I have the same question, just to clarify for myself. So if in order of a development, you're talking about, and this is my own understanding, is let's say that you are not a monk before you are ordered, so it will be the beginning nuns or monks. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:04 Highlight the passage at 1:04:04

1:04:33 Then you have the monks, and then you have the aria. And then you have the Arhats, and then you have the Bodhisattvas, and then you have the Buddha. Is that a fair statement? They aren't necessarily all different people, right? You can be a monk and an Arya and a Bodhisattva. And you can be a monk and you can be a nun and an Arya and a Buddha. Or you can be a nun and an Arya and an Arhat, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:33 Highlight the passage at 1:04:33

1:05:01 So it's not... All different categories. It's different terminology, you know, talking about different qualities, but it's not necessarily exclusive. But based on the realization of emptiness for any of those? No. Bodhisattvas is based on their realization of bodhicitta. So that's different. So you can be a bodhisattva that has a direct realization of emptiness, in which case you're an Arya bodhisattva, or you could be a bodhisattva that doesn't have that realization yet. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:01 Highlight the passage at 1:05:01

1:05:31 And you still get the name bodhisattva. If you have a certain realization of bodhicitta, which is called uncontrived bodhicitta, meaning it's there all the time, steady, no matter what, you get the label bodhisattva. Now, it doesn't mean that you necessarily have the direct realization of emptiness yet. Or that you're necessarily a monk or a nun. Yeah, or that you're a monk or a nun. Ordination doesn't have anything to do with it. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:31 Highlight the passage at 1:05:31

1:05:56 Thank you. And I think they're saying monks here because mostly when the Buddha taught, the majority of people that he taught to were assemblies of monks and nuns. There were lay people that came and certainly he taught lay people, but in the time of the Buddha there was a big distinction between what he taught to the monastics and what he taught to the lay people. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:56 Highlight the passage at 1:05:56

1:06:17 And it's quite different in the West that lay people and monks and nuns all get the same teachings. Even in Buddhist countries now, like Thailand, there's a big difference between what's taught to the monastics and what's taught to the lay people. There was a great benefactor of the Buddha, Anattapindika, who offered Sravasti, the grove in Sravasti, where the Buddha spent something like 35 rains retreats. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:17 Highlight the passage at 1:06:17

1:06:42 And he was on his deathbed and Shariputra went to visit him. And as he was on his deathbed, he started talking to him about emptiness. And Anattapindika started... Crying and going, I have been a devoted supporter of the Buddha for like 50 years. How come I never got these teachings before? So it's very poignant that there was such a difference between the kind of teachings given to the monks and nuns. And that's something quite different as Buddhism has traveled to the West. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:42 Highlight the passage at 1:06:42

1:07:12 There are a lot of people very, very... Devoted to Dharma, doing incredible practice, who were lay people. And in Asia, traditionally, culturally, it just wasn't like that. So that's sometimes why they make this distinction or they say it was an assembly of monks, because it really was. And the Buddha gave different teachings to lay people. But that difference doesn't exist so much as Buddhism has traveled to the West. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:12 Highlight the passage at 1:07:12

1:07:37 Yeah, yeah, Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:37 Highlight the passage at 1:07:37

1:07:45 Why does it need to differentiate that way between the teachings between the arahats, the monks and the lay people? That was just the way it was culturally because back in the days of the Buddha and traditionally in Buddhist countries, lay people were householders. They were involved with... Raising families, working really hard. Like you go to India now and they're out in the fields at five o 'clock in the morning and they work 12 hours a day. They don't have time to meditate and get the direct realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:45 Highlight the passage at 1:07:45

1:08:14 You know, there's such a difference between like the lifestyle of the householders and the lifestyle of the monastics. So that was the difference. Now there's not so much of a difference. There's more free time. There's birth control. You know, so if you're a householder and it used to be you had 12 kids. What kind of time do you have to meditate? You know, you. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:14 Highlight the passage at 1:08:14

1:08:31 I had to feed them all. So there was a lot of difference just in sort of lifestyle and sociologically between lay people and monastics traditionally. Yeah, Keith. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:31 Highlight the passage at 1:08:31

1:08:48 I think too that in other countries people can move in and out of being a monk. You can, even even today, you could go to Thailand in the summer and become a monk for a few months and then come back. Right. And so that you could, and a lot of children. They become monks very early and receive the teachings then and then move into the working world. Right, right. And then people go back and forth. And it's seen as auspicious, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:48 Highlight the passage at 1:08:48

1:09:14 But here we don't do that here, so it's different both ways. And there's some advantages either way, I think. Right, right. All right. So we've got our two great communities and then the great community of bodhisattvas are the beings with those qualities and we're going to do just this next line and then we'll take a break. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:14 Highlight the passage at 1:09:14

1:09:33 So it says, at that time the Bhagavan was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called profound perception. So at that time means they're all up there, they're all sitting down. Then the Bhagavan, the Buddha, the endowed transcendent destroyer, that's one of the names for the Buddha, Is absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called profound perception. So the concentration is what's called the profound perception, not the categories of phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:33 Highlight the passage at 1:09:33

1:10:05 So he's doing a meditation called the meditation called the profound perception or the perception of the profound. What do you think that is? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:05 Highlight the passage at 1:10:05

1:10:16 Yeah, meditation on emptiness, right? He's perceiving or, you know, perceiving, meditating on the profound, on emptiness. The emptiness that he's meditating on is the emptiness of the categories of phenomena. And that has a specific meaning. We're going to be talking about it a lot. The five skandhas, the five heaps. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:16 Highlight the passage at 1:10:16

1:10:38 The 12 Sources and the 18 Elements. We're going to be talking about it a lot in a little bit. So he's meditating on the emptiness of all of these things. He goes into this concentration called the profound perception on the categories of phenomena. So he was absorbed in that concentration. Now it's interesting what's going on here. Everybody's up on top of Vulture's Peak. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:38 Highlight the passage at 1:10:38

1:11:03 They all sit down, they're waiting for the Buddha to speak, and what does he do? He sits there and goes, right? Now, does the Buddha need to go like this to see emptiness directly? No, right? We say that one of the special qualities of Buddha, and only Buddhas can do this, they can see the conventional reality and ultimate reality simultaneously. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:03 Highlight the passage at 1:11:03

1:11:31 For any other Arya than a Buddha, what happens is they go into meditation, they see emptiness directly, they come out again, they see everything. They can't see the emptiness while they're seeing this stuff simultaneously. They flip-flop back and forth. They go into that meditation, see emptiness directly, which is a mere absence, we'll talk more about what that is, and then they come out and they see conventional Phenomena, which appears exactly the way it always did, but they know it doesn't exist like that. It must be this weird schizophrenic kind of phase, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:11:31 Highlight the passage at 1:11:31

1:12:07 Like you know it's not like that, but it's the way it looks. And then they go back into meditation and they go back and forth. A Buddha doesn't ever have to go like that to see emptiness directly. So what is he doing? He's sitting there. He does this thing which we call, and you hear Lama Zopa using this word a lot, taking the aspect. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:07 Highlight the passage at 1:12:07

1:12:30 He's showing the aspect of going into meditation on emptiness. And you hear Lama Zopa say this all the time. The Tibetan is Sul Tempa, taking the aspect or manifesting the aspect. And it comes up in the Vajrayana a lot because we're supposed to see our Vajrayana teachers as fully enlightened Buddhas. So if they seem to have a cold, we're not supposed to say Geshe Dagpa has a cold. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:30 Highlight the passage at 1:12:30

1:12:53 We're supposed to say, oh, he's taking the aspect of a cold, meaning it's a show. It's just a show. So that's what's happening here on Vulture's Peak. Shakyamuni Buddha is taking the aspect of meditating on emptiness because he doesn't have to. He's seeing emptiness all the time. He doesn't need to sit there and go. And it just shows he's not the one that's going to be doing the talking. That's why he's doing that, showing I'm not going to teach right now. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:53 Highlight the passage at 1:12:53

1:13:22 I'm going to be sitting there pretending to meditate on emptiness. Because it doesn't need to be meditation for the Buddha. It's really interesting what's going on in this scene. Yeah, Gina, did you have... It's right behind you. My question might be premature because it sounds like you're going to get to it later. But when you were saying that they see emptiness versus seeing conventional reality, I get what it is to see conventional reality. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:22 Highlight the passage at 1:13:22

1:13:47 But I always thought that when you talked about the direct perception or realization of emptiness, that it was more your... World view as opposed to what your eyes see. It's not a visual seeing, but it's a perception. Like how you think or how you conceive of things? No, no, no, because it's not a conceptual. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:47 Highlight the passage at 1:13:47

1:14:05 The direct realization, we'll get into that more because we'll talk a lot about what the direct perception of emptiness is. And it's not a visual perception, but it is a perception or a direct perception not mediated by concepts when you're having the direct realization. So we'll get into that more. Okay, thanks. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:05 Highlight the passage at 1:14:05

1:14:25 So that sets the scene of what's going on on top of Vulture Peak. And now let's have a break because it's about an hour and 15 minutes in. So is 15 minutes enough? Is that enough? So we'll come back at 11. I've got quarter of 11. We'll come back at 11 and then carry on with some of the rest of the sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:25 Highlight the passage at 1:14:25

1:14:44 Great. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:44 Highlight the passage at 1:14:44

1:15:13 It's me. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:13 Highlight the passage at 1:15:13

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:15:52 So while everybody's getting settled, I wanted to just make an announcement. Those of you that have been in some of my teachings recently know that I'm... Report an error in the passage at 1:15:52 Highlight the passage at 1:15:52

1:16:02 All the offerings that I get for teaching these days are going into a project I got involved with in India. There's a dog rescue place in Dharamsala run by this young Indian man called Dharamsala Dog Rescue and he's very, just this incredibly compassionate, beautiful man and all these stray dogs just die because, you know, they'll get an injury or get hit by a car and then they'll just die because nobody bothers to... Report an error in the passage at 1:16:02 Highlight the passage at 1:16:02

1:16:30 Take care of stray dogs, so he started this place to take care of them. And then we had this idea there are all these donkeys in India that get injuries because they're put to work really early before their bones and joints have fully developed and then they get these crippling knee injuries. And then the owners just kind of turn them out to fend for themselves when they can no longer work. And they often starve because they're very timid by nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:30 Highlight the passage at 1:16:30

1:16:55 And in India they have to compete for food with the dogs and the cows that are much more aggressive. So often these donkeys starve. So we're trying to get a plot of land. And he has two acres that he's targeted for this and we've raised a lot of money and we only need $15,000 more to buy the land for the donkey refuge. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:55 Highlight the passage at 1:16:55

1:17:13 And so there's a woman who's been helping him with the dog rescue and she started a non-profit and she agreed to take on the donkey refuge as kind of a subsidiary and she made this great little flyer. And there's pictures of the... Crippled donkeys down here. You probably can't see. And this is a dog we made a wheelchair for. There's this beautiful dog that was paralyzed. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:13 Highlight the passage at 1:17:13

1:17:37 She'd been hit by a car. And my friend Arvind found her. She'd been lying in a ditch for three days. And he found her. And took her in, but she was completely, her whole back end was paralyzed. And I had seen dogs in these doggy wheelchairs in America, and I told him about it. So we got somebody in Delhi to build a little doggy wheelchair for her. So this is our dog in her wheelchair. And then they have spay and neuter clinics and rabies vaccination clinics. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:37 Highlight the passage at 1:17:37

1:18:06 And these are little puppies being marked on their noses that they got their rabies shot already because there's a big litter of puppies. So I've got a bunch of these up there, and so when I get offerings, usually the way we teach, we, you know, don't teach for money, we get offerings, and these days my offerings are going to that cause, and this is the business card of the woman who has the non-profit that all the offerings are going to. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:06 Highlight the passage at 1:18:06

1:18:31 So if you'd like a tax deduction for your offering, leave your check blank and I'll write in the name or you can... It's called Piara Kuta, the organization that means beloved dog in Hindi. So that's the... No, I don't think she's in... I don't know that she's involved. She might be. Oh, does she? I wonder if she knows about this thing. I should let her know. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:31 Highlight the passage at 1:18:31

1:18:58 I'll email Jimmy. So anyway, I just brought that because we just got these flyers fresh from the presses yesterday, so I brought some of those along. All right, so we're up on top of Vulture's Peak with... Not very many people, but they have great qualities, right? We have these great arhat monks and a bunch of great bodhisattvas with the seven qualities that we just went over. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:58 Highlight the passage at 1:18:58

1:19:23 And then the Buddha sits down and goes into meditation or pretends to, takes the aspect of going into meditation, looking upon the very practice of the profound or the... The perception of the profound, profound perception. So he's looking at emptiness. The emptiness of the categories of phenomena. So that's happening. And then the sūtra says, also at that time, the bodhisattva mahasattva, Arya Avalokiteshvara. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:23 Highlight the passage at 1:19:23

1:19:57 Wow. Who's this? So also has a specific meaning here. And it means the Buddha isn't just going into meditation. He's doing something else too. What he's doing, we'll talk about in a minute. So that little word also means what the Buddha is doing. Not just sitting there in the profound perception of the categories of phenomena, but something else is going on too. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:57 Highlight the passage at 1:19:57

1:20:25 So keep that in mind because we'll get to that in a minute. At that time, meaning they're all up there seated, the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, what a lot of adjectives, right? They all mean something different. So Bodhisattva, we're kind of familiar with this word. We've talked about this. It's a person who's developed that uncontrived bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:25 Highlight the passage at 1:20:25

1:20:48 Anybody who has uncontrived bodhicitta. And we said that's different from the bodhicitta you get just because you've had a good meditation session. You know, sometimes you'll have a really good meditation. You'll come out of it and you'll just go, wow, that was great. Yeah, I'm going to do it. I'm going to get enlightened. Like Casper, my student, tears coming down his eyes. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:48 Highlight the passage at 1:20:48

1:21:08 I mean, he was so sweet. You know, then he shaved his head and did three-month Vajrasapha retreat, like right off the bat. You know, it's like, okay. So, that's... Something that comes up and is wonderful and is beautiful, but it's not a stable realization necessarily. And then the stable realization of bodhicitta means that's the baseline, night and day, 24-7. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:08 Highlight the passage at 1:21:08

1:21:30 That's where all your activities are coming from, from that realization of bodhicitta, which is the wish to get enlightened for the benefit of all sentient beings. So when you have that, you... You know, are allowed to have the name bodhisattva. That's when you get this name bodhisattva. And bodhisattva is an interesting word too. Bodhi comes from the same root as Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:30 Highlight the passage at 1:21:30

1:21:55 Bodhi, same Sanskrit word that means awakened or awakening. Because Buddha is just a title. It means the one who woke up. There was this story about the Buddha's life and he was sitting meditating under a tree once, looking beautiful and luminous and amazing. And some Brahmin walks by and he says to the Buddha, what are you? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:55 Highlight the passage at 1:21:55

1:22:18 You're not a man, are you a god? Like, what are you? And the Buddha just sat there and he said, I'm awake. Like, I'm the one that woke up. Like, that's why I look so great. So the Buddha just means, you know. Not the awakened one, the one who woke up. So bodhi comes from that same root. And then sattva has three different meanings. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:18 Highlight the passage at 1:22:18

1:22:42 Sattva means, it refers to a sentient being. Just any old sentient being can be called a sattva. Sattva refers to sentient being. It refers to mind. Which relates to the word for sentient being, because sentient means a being with consciousness. So sentient being, mind, and then the third meaning, it has a connotation of courage or bravery. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:42 Highlight the passage at 1:22:42

1:23:08 So one of the nicest translations of bodhisattva that I've heard, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, calls them awakening warriors. And I really like that. Because there's this whole idea of bravery or courage, which a bodhisattva has to have. I mean, you're going to sign on to keep working at it until all sentient beings are enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:08 Highlight the passage at 1:23:08

1:23:29 You've got to be pretty brave, you know. So there's this whole idea of bravery, too, in this word bodhisattva. Being who's on the path to awakening with courage. You could think like that, you know, on the way to awakening with this sort of brave spirit. So awakening warrior. And then we have Mahasattva, okay? Report an error in the passage at 1:23:29 Highlight the passage at 1:23:29

1:23:51 He's also called a Mahasattva, great being, like Mahatma, Mahatma Gandhi, you know, great being. So sattva with the same kind of meaning and great. And these two words are used, are juxtaposed to show what we talked about before. That a Buddha has, you know, or bodhisattvas are aiming towards their own benefit and the welfare of others. So the bodhisattva means the part that's the benefit of their own benefit and then the mahasattva means they're benefiting others in these extraordinary ways. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:51 Highlight the passage at 1:23:51

1:24:28 A mahasattva, you know, benefiting others in extraordinary ways. So that's why these two words that mean almost the same thing but they're put together to just highlight those two. Qualities of a bodhisattva. They're working for their own welfare because of course bodhisattvas and Buddhas also want to be free of suffering too. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:28 Highlight the passage at 1:24:28

1:24:49 Sometimes there's this misunderstanding that if you're a bodhisattva you only care about others and you'll just grovel around in saṃsāra forever. We'll forget it. It's not like that at all because we're a suffering sentient being too, equal to everybody else. So it doesn't mean when you're a bodhisattva, sometimes in some schools it's taught, oh you'll let everybody else go through the door before you and you'll kind of lag back for your own enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:49 Highlight the passage at 1:24:49

1:25:16 In the Tibetan tradition we don't teach it like that at all. We say you hurry up as fast as you can to become a Buddha because only then are you going to have all of the qualities necessary to really... So there is this aspect of working for your own benefit and the benefit of others. So that's what this bodhisattva, mahasattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:16 Highlight the passage at 1:25:16

1:25:37 Anything to clarify about that? Is that clear? The benefit for self and others? Who teaches the lagging? Because I've heard that people are really confused about that. And I've heard it. Yeah. Who teaches the lagging behind? Report an error in the passage at 1:25:37 Highlight the passage at 1:25:37

1:25:55 It's interesting, we talk in some of the scriptures, they talk about a bodhisattva that's like a shepherd, like a ferryman and like a king. And the shepherd-like bodhisattva is the one that everybody else goes before them. The fairy-like bodhisattva, you go together. And then the king-like bodhisattva, you go to enlightenment first and then bring everyone along. And they say we're supposed to have the attitude of a shepherd and do it like a king. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:55 Highlight the passage at 1:25:55

1:26:24 So that's interesting. Like we have to say, it's okay if everybody gets free before me. But the way we actually do it is, and I think that the misunderstanding comes from the difference between liberation and enlightenment. You know, and we say that a bodhisattva doesn't try and get liberated, meaning they're not staying in nirvāṇa, solitary peace. And I think that maybe that's where the misunderstanding comes from, meaning, oh, they don't try and get free of saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:24 Highlight the passage at 1:26:24

1:26:53 Sure they do, with a million times more effort than anyone else, because they're not just doing it for themselves, they're doing it for everyone. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:53 Highlight the passage at 1:26:53

1:27:01 But their goal is higher, their goal is enlightenment. So I think sometimes it comes from this thing that we pray to be freed from both saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. So this idea comes of bodhisattvas just stay stuck in saṃsāra and they don't care. But when you think of the qualities that a Buddha has to benefit beings, it's just astronomical, unbelievable. There's this beautiful text called the Madhimika Avatar by Chandrakirti and it talks about all the qualities of the ten bodhisattva boomis, you know, the ten levels of bodhisattvas and then they get to the Buddhas. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:01 Highlight the passage at 1:27:01

1:27:36 And you read these qualities even at the first bodhisattva level and you can't believe it. And then you get to about the eighth one and it's like you can't, mind-blowing. And that's not even a Buddha yet. And then they get to the chapter of the Buddha and this text says the qualities of a Buddha are inconceivable, ineffable, indescribable. But then he says the Galupas will try and describe it anyway. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:36 Highlight the passage at 1:27:36

1:27:57 even though. So that's why, like we're trying to get all these qualities as soon as possible, which is why in the Vajrayana we practice these special techniques to try and pull off enlightenment in one lifetime, so then you can lead everybody with these special qualities. But I have heard that other view and I think, and I'm not sure, but I think it comes from that misunderstanding between... Report an error in the passage at 1:27:57 Highlight the passage at 1:27:57

1:28:24 Liberation and enlightenment, you know, because we say that bodhisattvas don't want mere liberation alone, you know. On the way to enlightenment, you get liberated from saṃsāra kind of by the way, but it's not that goal of an arhat. Further to that, then when you refer back to the title, it's gone beyond also not only saṃsāra but nirvāṇa. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:24 Highlight the passage at 1:28:24

1:28:54 The questions between, because in Chinese traditions, the Guan Yin, which I believe is a goddess of mercy, her vow is not to become a Buddha until there's no more suffering in this world. Why would she want, doesn't want to be a Buddha? What's the distinguishing between bodhisattva and... If she has a choice, why don't she just become a Buddha herself? Yeah, and in the Tibetan tradition, it's taught, yes, you wish to become a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:54 Highlight the passage at 1:28:54

1:29:26 And like I said, maybe it's because of that misunderstanding of the difference between liberation and enlightenment. Or maybe that's her aspiration. It's not about me, I want my motivation to be about everyone else, but the way we teach it in the Tibetan tradition is, yeah, you have that motivation that the reason you're doing it is about others, but you do it as quickly as possible because that's what gives you the capacity. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:26 Highlight the passage at 1:29:26

1:29:54 To really be of benefit. So it's just a different way that it's taught. But yeah, I know in the Chinese Mayana and Chittagarbha, there's all these prayers like that. Like, let me not become a Buddha. But in the Tibetan tradition, we say that would be nuts. Like, become a Buddha in this life if you possibly can. Because it doesn't mean that you're somehow not going to be able to benefit beings after you're Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:54 Highlight the passage at 1:29:54

1:30:16 You're going to be able to benefit them even more. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:16 Highlight the passage at 1:30:16

1:30:22 Yeah, and like I said, it may be her aspiration to overcome any self-cherishing, like it may just be not literally, but she's just saying that to overcome any attachment to, you know, an outcome for herself. Yeah, yeah, I don't really know. I mean, I don't really know, but that's one way it could be taken as, you know, she's making that aspiration to just emphasize that the goal of her spiritual practice is really to benefit others. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:22 Highlight the passage at 1:30:22

1:30:50 Yeah, that might be it, yeah. Okay, so the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya, we all know what that is. So this is all talking about different qualities of Avalokiteshvara. He's working for his own benefit, getting enlightened for his own welfare, getting enlightened to benefit others. Oh, by the way, he's also had the direct realization of emptiness already. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:50 Highlight the passage at 1:30:50

1:31:14 So he's a high-level Bodhisattva. Very, very high level bodhisattva. Avalokiteshvara we call Chinrezig in Tibetan. The bodhisattva of compassion. This is Guan Yin also. He and she changes gender as she moves east somehow. And it becomes Guan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion. So bodhisattva, mahasattva, aria, Avalokiteshvara. Now, in the Vajrayana, Chinrezig is considered a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:14 Highlight the passage at 1:31:14

1:31:45 But this is a sūtra teaching and he's considered a 10th level bodhisattva. So bear that in mind and don't get mixed up between the sūtra and the tantra versions. According to Vajrayana or tantra, we consider Shinrezig a Buddha. And when he shows up in sutras, we consider him a 10th level bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:45 Highlight the passage at 1:31:45

1:32:09 So that's the difference between the sūtra and the tantra approach, which... It comes in, you know, bear it in mind in the next phrase. So Avalokiteshvara, Chinrezig. And Avalokita, his name in Sanskrit, Avalokita means one who looks down and Ishvara means capable one or powerful one. And it's translated in Tibetan as Chinrezig. Chen is the honorific for eye. And then re means to look at somebody. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:09 Highlight the passage at 1:32:09

1:32:42 With love, gaze lovingly, raising. Yeah, chin raising. Oh, Avalokita means to look down. And then Ishvara means powerful or capable one. So basically the name of this bodhisattva of compassion is one that looks down at all sentient beings with the loving, lovingly. You know, the capable one who looks at all beings lovingly. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:42 Highlight the passage at 1:32:42

1:33:12 Yeah, so Chen is the honorific for I and then Rezik means to look lovingly, loving gaze or loving look. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so the one who looks down lovingly, this great Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara. Then he looked upon the very practice of the profound perfection of wisdom. So he's doing something too. He's also looking at... Report an error in the passage at 1:33:12 Highlight the passage at 1:33:12

1:33:38 So when it says he looked upon the very practice of the profound perfection of wisdom, this means he's doing a meditation on emptiness too. The profound perfection of wisdom, the practice of the profound means he's doing something about it. He's practicing the profound. So he's meditating on emptiness. Now, since he's... Report an error in the passage at 1:33:38 Highlight the passage at 1:33:38

1:34:02 Getting ready to talk, it's not a direct realization of emptiness. He's not sitting there like this because he's about to have this conversation with Shariputra. So it's an intellectual understanding of emptiness. Because we say in the sūtra that he's not a Buddha yet, so he can't be doing it at the same time, having a direct perception and be getting ready to have a conversation. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:02 Highlight the passage at 1:34:02

1:34:27 So he's looking at emptiness intellectually. He's having an intellectual understanding of emptiness at this point. And he's beholding the five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature. So he's starting to look at the five parts of a person and we'll get into what these are in a second. So he's meditating on emptiness on the five parts of a person intellectually. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:27 Highlight the passage at 1:34:27

1:34:53 The Buddha is sitting in a corner pretending to meditate on all the categories of phenomena directly. So these are the two emptiness meditations going on in the scene. So the Buddha is sitting there like that, which he doesn't have to do, meditating on the emptiness of everything, having the direct realization. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:53 Highlight the passage at 1:34:53

1:35:13 Then Avalokiteshvara is having an intellectual meditation on the five aggregates or the five parts of a person. Two different people. Avalokiteshvara is one person and the Buddha is sitting over in the corner. Having his meditation, pretending to have his meditation. Then, through the power of the Buddha, the Venerable Shariputra asks a question, and this is very interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:13 Highlight the passage at 1:35:13

1:35:41 Then, through the power of the Buddha, in the Tibetan here, sangye ki tu, and this word tu is really loaded. It's almost like voodoo. In colloquial Tibetan, there's this word tukyab, which means to curse someone. So this is like... A really powerful, intense thing going on here. By the power of the Buddha. So this means from this point on you can forget about Avalokiteshvara and Shariputra acting on their own volition. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:41 Highlight the passage at 1:35:41

1:36:14 They're like puppets of the Buddha. The Buddha is like the great puppeteer. He's sitting over there, which is what that also means. So through the power of the Buddha. So this gets into... When we talk about three different kinds of sutras, we say that the sūtra are the discourses of the Buddha. And there are three kinds of things that get the label sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:14 Highlight the passage at 1:36:14

1:36:38 And one is when the Buddha is talking directly. The Buddha is the one that's doing the talking. A lot of sutras, somebody asks the Buddha a question or the Buddha is meeting with all the monks and all the bodhisattvas and he gives a teaching. So that's obvious. And then another thing that also gets the label sūtra is something spoken with the approval of the Buddha. And you'll often see sutras like this. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:38 Highlight the passage at 1:36:38

1:37:04 Like Shariputra and Shakyamuni Buddha are sitting around. Ananda's there too, right? Because he's always there. Somebody asked the Buddha a question. And then the Buddha says, hey, Shariputra, why don't you answer that question? You know, I bet you can do a good job. And Shariputra... Answers the question and then the Buddha at the end goes, great, perfect, I wouldn't have said anything different myself. So this also gets called a sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:04 Highlight the passage at 1:37:04

1:37:30 So sometimes in sutras it's often Shariputra or Moggayana are the main speaker. So it's something that was approved by the Buddha. And then there's this third kind of thing that gets called a sūtra, which is something spoken through the power of the Buddha. It's like channeling. It's just like that. So the Heart Sūtra is mostly this third kind. The Buddha pipes up at the end. It includes all three kinds of speech of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:30 Highlight the passage at 1:37:30

1:38:00 The Buddha pipes up at the end. Basically all he says is right on. That's great. It's just like that. And then he approves of it. Yeah, that's right. But most of it is spoken through the blessing of the Buddha. So he's... Like channeling through Shariputra and Avalokiteshvara, blessing them to have this conversation, which is what that previous also meant right after we talked about him pretending to meditate. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:00 Highlight the passage at 1:38:00

1:38:28 Also, at the same time, meaning he's doing something else too. And this is a very interesting concept because we talk about different kinds of emanation bodies. We have in Tibetan, there's this word tuku. Which basically is the Tibetan word for emanation body, chuku, is a translation of the Sanskrit word nirmanakaya. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:28 Highlight the passage at 1:38:28

1:38:52 We talk about one of the qualities of a Buddha, the Buddha can emanate countless emanation bodies, right, to benefit beings. That's the body of a Buddha. You know, one of the qualities of the Buddha's body are these emanation bodies. And we talk about three different kinds of tuku. And we have one called a rebirth tuku. And that's the one we're most used to. Like His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a rebirth tuku. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:52 Highlight the passage at 1:38:52

1:39:18 So one of the emanation bodies takes a rebirth as a specific person for their whole life. They're that, you know, manifesting that Buddha activity. And then we have another kind of tuku that we call a Jinkilapri tuku, blessed emanation. And that's this. Okay, the Buddha can speak through an ordinary being and have an emanation through an ordinary being. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:18 Highlight the passage at 1:39:18

1:39:47 Okay, and that's what's going on here. So from the being's own side, they're not enlightened. They don't have all those qualities. But for that moment, the Buddha can bless them so that they can manifest or emanate as a Buddha. I was attending these teachings with Sanger Kensei Rimshe, this great young lama who wrote this Great book called What Makes You Not a Buddhist. I really recommend it. It's awesome. And he was saying, he was explaining about these different kind of tulkus and he says, it's like this. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:47 Highlight the passage at 1:39:47

1:40:16 Like you go into a coffee shop in Casablanca. You know, he's a movie maker, so of course it's Casablanca. He's like, you go into a coffee shop in Casablanca and a waitress comes up and she just tells you that one thing that... That is it, you know, and it kind of completely sets you off for the next part of your path. And he goes, either, you know, one of two things is going on. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:16 Highlight the passage at 1:40:16

1:40:40 Either she is a rebirth emanation, like she took that rebirth and he says a great bodhisattva would do that, would live their whole life just to tell you that one sentence that's going to... Set you free. Like they would do that. And he was going, the compassion and patience of a bodhisattva is such that they would do that. And I was thinking, God, they'd go through seventh grade again? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:40 Highlight the passage at 1:40:40

1:41:03 Like just to benefit beings? I mean, that's the real test for me. Like would I really be willing to go through seventh grade again for the benefit of all beings? Like, oh, I hope so. You know, just in that for that one moment. Or he could say in that moment, because of the karma of the being. You know, because of your karma, sitting there drinking your latte in Casablanca, because your karma is ripe and you're ready. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:03 Highlight the passage at 1:41:03

1:41:30 A Buddha can speak to you through that person, right? So they can function as a Buddha for you in that moment because you have enough virtue. And so that's a blessed emanation. So it's very cool. You know, we have this whole thing. Chogky right now is teaching a class on guru devotion. And we're supposed to see our teachers as Buddhas in the Vajrayana. And part of it is, hey, if I've got good enough karma, it doesn't matter if they're an enlightened being from their side at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:30 Highlight the passage at 1:41:30

1:42:00 I'm going to get the Buddha's emanation through them. So that's an interesting level to think about that whole idea of seeing your teacher as a Buddha. Trusting. You know, that if you have enough virtue, it's going to be like that. They're going to be channeling exactly what you need to hear in the Buddha. So it's like a puppet. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:00 Highlight the passage at 1:42:00

1:42:21 So it's kind of cool, isn't it? So this is what's happening here. This is a blessed sūtra. You know, the Buddha is blessing Shariputra and Avalokiteshvara to have this conversation and they're like puppets. Matthew has a question. Oh, there it is, right there. Right in front of me. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:21 Highlight the passage at 1:42:21

1:42:41 Two questions. What was the... The Tibetan word again for that, for the emanation? Tuku. This specific sort of emanation? Jin Kilape Tuku. Jin Kilape means blessed or blessing. Like a lot of times we'll say if you recite prayers in Tibetan that I never do. Jin Lab means, you know, bless me to do this, bless me to do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:41 Highlight the passage at 1:42:41

1:43:06 So Jin Lab is the word for blessing, which literally means... Blessing really means to effect a change in one's consciousness. So bless doesn't mean in this, sometimes the word bless we have this sort of Judeo-Christian thing of it's this passive, oh please save me. It means, you know, because of your power and my readiness to meet you halfway, please change my mind, you know, change my consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:06 Highlight the passage at 1:43:06

1:43:33 So Jinki Lape Tuku is what that one's called. Jinki Lape Tuku. Yeah, yeah. The other thing that I think, That was interesting and maybe there's a deeper implication to this. All this is going on and because we're getting this second hand from Ananda, what does that mean about him? What do you mean? Is he channeling too? Obviously he was a great individual, but what are the implications of him? Report an error in the passage at 1:43:33 Highlight the passage at 1:43:33

1:44:11 Knowing all of this, because I mean, the way I understand it from the way you're talking about it, he's been there for all of these great conversations and discourses. So what does that mean about him if he is able to, because the Buddha's over here pretending to meditate and he's channeling. To Avalokiteshvara and Shariputra to have this conversation and Ananda is also sitting nearby. Oh you mean like how does he know that this is what's happening? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:11 Highlight the passage at 1:44:11

1:44:40 Oh Ananda always asks the Buddha afterwards. Like the sutras are full of he'll have some conversation with somebody and then the guy will go away and Ananda goes, why did you tell him that and what did you mean when you said that? So maybe he asked afterwards. I mean that would be the exoteric. Explanation. Esoterically, sure. Ananda's, you know, probably already a Buddha and he's just manifesting as the, you know, Buddha. So there's all kinds of different levels of looking at all of these people. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:40 Highlight the passage at 1:44:40

1:45:08 You know, according to some views, the Buddha was enlightened already and just kind of showed the aspect of going through his life as Shakyamuni Buddha to demonstrate for us how it's done. So there could be that level of explanation. But on one level, he just would ask the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:08 Highlight the passage at 1:45:08

1:45:26 Ananda was so funny. Sometimes the Buddha would just refuse to answer a question if he thought that his answer would induce a wrong view in someone. So there are all these sutras that the Brahmin comes to talk to the Buddha and debate with him and the Buddha just sits there and disses him and doesn't answer. And the Brahmin gets ticked off and leaves and Ananda always rushes after him. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:26 Highlight the passage at 1:45:26

1:45:45 It's not that the Bhagavan didn't know the answer. There must be some reason that the Bhagavan didn't say. And then he goes back to the Bhagavan and says, what was up with that? How come you didn't answer? Buddha says, I didn't answer because I knew that any answer I gave would, you know, tend to the two extremes or something like that. So often he would check later what was going on. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:45 Highlight the passage at 1:45:45

1:46:04 So it may be like that. Yeah. Thank you. Good question. Okay. All right. So through the power of the Buddha, then the Venerable Shariputra asks a question. And he said this to the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Avalokiteshvara. How should any son of the lineage train who wishes to practice the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom? Report an error in the passage at 1:46:04 Highlight the passage at 1:46:04

1:46:27 Now, something really weird is going on here. Shariputra is considered the most wise of the Buddha's disciples. In the Pāli Sutras, he's the one answering a ton of the questions. You know, he's foremost in wisdom. So here he is in a Mahāyāna Sūtra asking this really basic question. So it's already weird when you know who Shariputra is. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:27 Highlight the passage at 1:46:27

1:46:51 He's saying, hey, you know, and again, we're juxtaposing the great monks and the great bodhisattvas because Shariputra is considered an arhat. In this context, he's not considered a bodhisattva. So he's saying to Avalokiteshvara, right? Great being, the great bodhisattva. How do you guys practice, right? How do you guys meditate on emptiness? Report an error in the passage at 1:46:51 Highlight the passage at 1:46:51

1:47:18 You know, I know how I do it. I'm already in Arha. So it's really interesting, like he's humbling himself, foremost of the Buddha's disciples, foremost in wisdom. Asking this really simple question. He's usually not the person asking the questions, believe me. He's usually the one giving these profound answers to the questions. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:18 Highlight the passage at 1:47:18

1:47:37 So it's already, again, juxtaposing and saying he needs to ask the bodhisattvas how they do it. So he asks the bodhisattva ma sattva, Arya Avalokiteshvara, how should any son of the lineage train? Now, son of the lineage, some translations say son or daughter. The Tibetan, the Lhasa edition in the Chinese canon here says sons or daughters. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:37 Highlight the passage at 1:47:37

1:48:03 The Tibetan, there's a Tibetan word that means anyone at all, so it's not excluding women. You know, it's just some translations say the word for son, some say sons and daughters. But it's basically saying son of the lineage means how do you guys on the bodhisattva track? That's what the lineage means here. Remember we said it's like the mother is in common to all the Aryas and then the father decides the lineage. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:03 Highlight the passage at 1:48:03

1:48:30 And that's whether you have bodhicitta or not, right? So when he says sons of the lineage, he's talking about bodhisattvas here, you know, of that lineage. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:30 Highlight the passage at 1:48:30

1:48:42 Sons of the lineage. How do you guys, how do you bodhisattvas train who wish to practice the activity? And practice the activity, it's the same word being repeated. One's a verb and one's a noun. It's almost like how do you walk your talk? It's almost like that. How do you guys, same word. Of action, practice action, practice the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom. How do you guys meditate on emptiness? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:42 Highlight the passage at 1:48:42

1:49:12 Okay, so how do you bodhisattvas, so Sharipucha is saying, those of us who want to realize emptiness according to the bodhisattva track, how do you train? How do you practice? Okay, how are you supposed to learn? He said that. In the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya Avalokiteshvara said this to the Venerable Sharidvati Putra. Sharidvati Putra, by the way, means son of Shari. Shari was his mother's name. Her full name was Sharika and she was incredibly wise and in fact she was a great debater and she was sort of undefeated in debate herself and so he's named after his mother, Sharika, so his name, Shariputra means son of Shari. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:12 Highlight the passage at 1:49:12

1:50:01 So, I've Avalokiteshvara says, Shariputra, any son of the lineage or daughter of the lineage, and here in all the translations it includes both sons and daughters, who wishes to practice the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom, should look upon it like this, correctly and repeatedly beholding those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:01 Highlight the passage at 1:50:01

1:50:24 So this is our first meditation instruction. Okay, so Avalok. Avalokiteshvara is telling us how to meditate because that was the question. Shariputra is asking for meditation instruction. How do you guys meditate on emptiness? And so Avalokiteshvara is answering and saying, well, the first thing you do to practice the profound perfection of wisdom is meditate on the five aggregates. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:24 Highlight the passage at 1:50:24

1:50:51 Okay, the five aggregates is empty of inherent nature. And then there's a word also that means Also the self and the parts of the self. So look at the emptiness of both the self. That's what this also means. It's not just the parts of a person, but it's the whole person. And that was the instruction I got from Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Meditate on the five heaps. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:51 Highlight the passage at 1:50:51

1:51:17 Meditate on the self. Meditate on the five heaps. Then look at how they make up the self. You know, look at the five heaps again. Look at the self again. So both things we're looking at. So let's look at what these five heaps are. Now we're going to digress a bit from the sūtra. We're going to talk about the five heaps and how do we meditate on emptiness of the five heaps. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:17 Highlight the passage at 1:51:17

1:51:40 So first let's talk about what the five heaps are. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:40 Highlight the passage at 1:51:40

1:51:47 Okay, so up to here. Forget about this half. Preserving paper. So the five heaps up to here. These are the five parts of a person. The five components of a person. They're called heaps because they include a whole bunch of stuff. Right? So heaps, piles, because there's a whole bunch of stuff included in each of these. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:47 Highlight the passage at 1:51:47

1:52:15 So this is one way of looking at the components of a person. One of them is physical. Four of them are mental. So let's look at what these five are. And for a lot of you, I know this will be a review, but it's always worth going through it again. So form, that's easy. So when we're talking about the five heaps in relation to a person, the form is the body, the physical stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:15 Highlight the passage at 1:52:15

1:52:41 So form, the form aggregate, we use this word aggregate, again meaning a whole pile of different things. So form, physical body, that's easy. Then we've got four mental ones, feeling. Now feeling here, Isn't what we usually think of in English when we use the word feeling, like existential anxiety or depression, joy. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:41 Highlight the passage at 1:52:41

1:53:09 It doesn't refer to emotions. What it refers to is three really, really basic responses to sensory stimulus. Pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. It's got three flavors, right? So feeling means it feels good. It feels bad or I could care less. It's only those three very, very basic flavors. Where else does this feeling aggregate show up in something that some of you have studied recently? Report an error in the passage at 1:53:09 Highlight the passage at 1:53:09

1:53:43 Maria, do you remember? I Report an error in the passage at 1:53:43 Highlight the passage at 1:53:43

1:54:11 remember it from the Four Noble Truths teachings and I want to say it's part of the Twelve. Gold star for Maria. Very good. Exactly. And it's exactly the one that shows up in the 12 links of dependent origination. Those of you who have studied that, a bunch of you have studied that with me a couple of times. And we have a feeling link. Right after contact comes feeling. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:11 Highlight the passage at 1:54:11

1:54:40 So sense contact with an object gives rise to feeling. Very basic, pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. And it's the same feeling that shows up. In that 12 links. Okay, so that's this one. And then the next one, I think in your translation it says discrimination, discernment. Sometimes this is translated recognition. And that's a pretty good translation too. Because this just means being able to recognize or differentiate between objects. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:40 Highlight the passage at 1:54:40

1:55:13 Okay, so short, tall, you know, hot, cold, Keith, Anna, Gina. The faculty of mind that helps us differentiate between things. That's all. Discernment, recognition, discrimination. Now, compositional factors. When we talk about mental factors, and some of you have studied this, mind and mental factors, we have 51 mental factors. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:13 Highlight the passage at 1:55:13

1:55:45 A list of 51 mental factors. Two of these are feeling and discernment. Compositional factors include things that we would call positive emotions like compassion, kindness, joy, joyful effort, things like that. It also includes the negative emotions, things that we call negative emotions, attachment, anger, aversion, plus some omnipresent. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:45 Highlight the passage at 1:55:45

1:56:16 Mental factors like attention, intention, things like that. So we have all of these things that accompany our kind of consciousness, our main sense consciousness. Things that add that kind of flavor to our main sense consciousness. So we've got 51. Two of them are pulled out here and this is the rest of the 49. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:16 Highlight the passage at 1:56:16

1:56:40 All get lumped together in the fourth aggregate. All the other... Mental factors. And then consciousness. And in Buddhism we talk about six main consciousnesses. The five external sense consciousnesses. You know, sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. And then mental consciousness is the sixth one. Consciousness of a thought. The thought is the object of that consciousness. And then after that main sense consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:40 Highlight the passage at 1:56:40

1:57:14 We flavor it with these mental factors. Okay, so questions about the five aggregates. Yes, Sandra and then Morgan. I Report an error in the passage at 1:57:14 Highlight the passage at 1:57:14

1:57:32 always have a hard time distinguishing between the mental consciousness and self. Can you explain that? Yeah, you're not alone. And in fact, everybody but the Middle Way Consequence School posits one of the five aggregates or the combination as the self. And only the middle way consequence school says none of these are the self. And we'll get there. If you can just hang on a second. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:32 Highlight the passage at 1:57:32

1:57:57 We're going to talk about emptiness in general in a second. And then we're going to do a meditation on the five aggregates. And then look at what the self really is. So that's a great question. And if you just hang on because it's a little complicated. Yeah. So in regards to the consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:57 Highlight the passage at 1:57:57

1:58:17 I've also heard that there's eight consciousnesses. Yeah. And where I'm kind of confused, like when you sit with, it seems like the meditation on when you look at, you know, kind of the eye consciousness as you get through the first five, and then you go to this consciousness as it's in this sūtra, it really seems like a mind-only type of consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:17 Highlight the passage at 1:58:17

1:58:41 Say again what feels like a mind-only consciousness. Yeah, it just feels like, because... It seems contradictory because as you go further, there's no mind, no visual form into the next part of the sūtra. So it seems like when you go with these five heaps, this consciousness relates to there is an ultimate consciousness that sits there. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:41 Highlight the passage at 1:58:41

1:59:03 And then furthermore, as you read further into it, it's like, well, there is no consciousness. So when you look at these kind of heaps, it seems that this is almost like a mind-only view in a way. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:03 Highlight the passage at 1:59:03

1:59:14 And then I was curious, as I've heard about the eight consciousness, they say, well, we don't talk about that. Right. Yeah, so what is that? Okay, so the eight consciousness is a... View of the Mind Only School actually, they differentiate eight consciousnesses because in the Mind Only School there has to be a consciousness that carries the karmic seeds. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:14 Highlight the passage at 1:59:14

1:59:38 So they have something called a storehouse consciousness and they're just differentiating that function of consciousness of carrying the karmic seeds throughout our life and from life to life to life and they're calling that the storehouse consciousness. Kunshi is the Tibetan word, the storehouse consciousness. Then they also have a consciousness that's the defiled consciousness, meaning the consciousness under the control of mental afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:38 Highlight the passage at 1:59:38

2:00:06 But in the Middle Way Consequence school, they say we don't need these extra ones. It's enough. To explain everything just in terms of these six consciousnesses, we don't need those extra two, we don't need the defiled consciousness and we don't need a storehouse consciousness because the way that the karmic seeds are carried from moment to moment in life to life in the Middle Way Consequence school is explained perfectly adequately in terms of those six consciousnesses so that would be a view of the... Report an error in the passage at 2:00:06 Highlight the passage at 2:00:06

2:00:37 Of the mind only school, the way those eight consciousnesses are explained. Now why isn't, you know again it kind of comes to why isn't the consciousness the self? And that's the difference between identifying what goes from life to life to life from a self. Okay, and we're going to get into that in just a second. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:37 Highlight the passage at 2:00:37

2:00:58 When we talk about... How the self does exist and how it doesn't exist. And the self that we identify with is not just the subtle mental consciousness at all. Because if somebody insulted Morgan and Morgan reacted, there would be a view of the self that Morgan is holding that that person could be insulting and it wouldn't be that Morgan is holding that very, very subtle consciousness that holds the karmic seeds and identifying with that. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:58 Highlight the passage at 2:00:58

2:01:27 So there's more to it. There's more to what we're identifying as self and we'll talk about that in just a second. Yeah, good question. Yeah, we've got a couple over here. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:27 Highlight the passage at 2:01:27

2:01:49 I also have the question in terms of the form. Is that including in the environment? Yeah, and when we talk about the five aggregates in general, it encompasses everything that exists. But here we're just restricting it to the personal five aggregates. So it's the difference between talking about the external form, but here we're just talking about since we're using this meditation to attack our sense of self, we're going to just restrict it to our personal. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:49 Highlight the passage at 2:01:49

2:02:18 form aggregate, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:18 Highlight the passage at 2:02:18

2:02:29 Okay, Report an error in the passage at 2:02:29 Highlight the passage at 2:02:29

2:02:48 so let's go to the last one first. This one is just talking about sense. because to last one i thought that meant like or positive feelings but i'm not sure and i may i'm not sure but me the last one seems like like a mind or a soul but i'm not Okay. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:48 Highlight the passage at 2:02:48

2:02:54 Consciousness and consciousness of thoughts. So when we talk about mind in Buddhism, and this is a whole long story about what is mind, we say mind is that which is clear and knowing. And clear means ability to reflect an object like a mirror. One of the words in Tibetan for mind is Yulchen, that means object holder. So we say that the mind always has some kind of object that it's holding. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:54 Highlight the passage at 2:02:54

2:03:22 Either a sense object, like for visual I'm looking at your teal colored shirt, and that's the object of my visual sense consciousness. You know, I just heard... Cutlery clattering in the kitchen. That was an object of my auditory sense consciousness. So there's always an object or it's a thought if it's the mental sense consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:22 Highlight the passage at 2:03:22

2:03:44 So this is just talking about that consciousness that always has one of those six objects. And then, for example, if I love... That color of shirt, which I do. I have to be monochrome these days. I wish I could wear that color. So first I have a sense consciousness of that color. Then I identify it, teal. Then I go, oh, that's really pretty. And then I might have some kind of emotions around that or something else that flavors that sense perception. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:44 Highlight the passage at 2:03:44

2:04:21 Usually we don't have a sense perception. Then we have some kind of flavor to it. We have associations, you know, we have some kind of, you know, so there's a whole list of 51 different things that include positive emotions. They include negative emotions. They include things like motivation. You know, there's a whole big long list and that's a study in itself. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:21 Highlight the passage at 2:04:21

2:04:45 And so what we're doing is just dumping. Most of them together here. So this is the difference between that clarity and awareness that has an object and then sort of the story that we build up around it. You know, and all the associations and all of the flavor of our experience. Does that help a little bit? Okay, okay. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:45 Highlight the passage at 2:04:45

2:05:07 Now, the interesting question. How come there aren't just three aggregates? How come there's not just form? If these two... Are just pulled out of this list, how come we don't just talk about form, compositional factors and consciousness? What do you think? Report an error in the passage at 2:05:07 Highlight the passage at 2:05:07

2:05:31 What do you think, Matthew? Grab the mic. Let's see. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:31 Highlight the passage at 2:05:31

2:05:41 I actually had a question about that that might help answer it. Okay. Or at least draw it out. Or make it more confusing? Okay. Does it have to do with the point of view? Like where? Like for? For example, when we were talking about feeling, you said, okay, it could be pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. But that's from my side. And is there a more concrete way of describing it? Report an error in the passage at 2:05:41 Highlight the passage at 2:05:41

2:06:10 Like we say broadly, pleasant, unpleasant, neutral. But we could also talk about it as attraction and repulsion and that sort of, I don't know. Does that make it more subjective? I don't know. Okay, that's interesting. You're getting there. Yeah, that's related. That's related to the answer. Yeah, Keith. I think I can only speak about how I started to separate them because it was always very confusing for me, and I'm not sure this is really effective, but what I did was start thinking of the process of birth and death and that each of these... Report an error in the passage at 2:06:10 Highlight the passage at 2:06:10

2:06:58 And aggregates go away at the time of death and form in that order at the time of birth. And so I just keep going through that. Because really form goes first and then feeling and discernment and compositional factors and consciousness as one dies. And I think the same thing is true as from conception. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:58 Highlight the passage at 2:06:58

2:07:17 Oh, interesting, yeah. Oh, interesting, okay. That's not exactly what I was looking for, but that's... That worked for me, and we had to try to separate them. Yeah, yeah, good, good. Okay, was there a hand back there? The other Lynn? No? Report an error in the passage at 2:07:17 Highlight the passage at 2:07:17

2:07:40 Okay, I'm going to have Brian take a shot, because he hasn't said anything yet. So why did we pull these two out of this list of 51? No. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:40 Highlight the passage at 2:07:40

2:07:56 What do you think? Okay, Lynn has a question. Hang on a second. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:56 Highlight the passage at 2:07:56

2:08:05 Sort of just clarify or tell us. We have feeling and the compositional factors are, you said, negative and positive affect. Go in. Yeah, there's two categories. It's a list of a bunch of different things including that. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:05 Highlight the passage at 2:08:05

2:08:25 But it's a little more, it's more refined than just pleasant or unpleasant. It's things like, you know, on the negative side, pride, jealousy, attachment, which is sort of one step further along than just a pleasant reaction to something. Yeah. Okay, we've got Anna and then Chris. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:25 Highlight the passage at 2:08:25

2:08:55 Well, I keep, karma keeps coming up, but when you have contact through form, and we always do, Then that's when the feeling arises. Yeah. And it's either going to be neutral, positive or unpleasant. And of course, the way we react has to do also with the kind of karmic seeds that are ripening at the time. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:55 Highlight the passage at 2:08:55

2:09:23 But I think it's mostly to do with the contact, with form. Yeah. Okay. And then Chris had something. We need a cordless mic. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:23 Highlight the passage at 2:09:23

2:09:38 I actually really like what she just said. But what I was thinking was, because a lot of times I identify with my feelings and I identify my feelings as myself. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:38 Highlight the passage at 2:09:38

2:09:50 But remember, feeling here doesn't mean emotions. It just means pleasant, unpleasant, neutral. So it's not what we usually think of when we say feeling. Oh, yeah, that's right. Right? Because I think you're feeling, you know, that's more emotion. Yeah. Yeah. I forgot about that. John has an idea. So I would say discrimination, the ability to distinguish between objects, that's going to be directly related to your perception of things and your reality around you as well as your internal reality, how you're thinking and whatnot. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:50 Highlight the passage at 2:09:50

2:10:27 And feeling being pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, that springs out to me as attachment. Aversion and different ways of what you need feeling and discrimination in order to have, I think, you know, a perception of something so that it could then go and be processed by and have labels thrown onto it from your other compositional factors and all that. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:27 Highlight the passage at 2:10:27

2:10:56 Okay, good. We're getting really close. Very good. Yeah, Sarah. I was just thinking just to have them stand out because they're so, I don't know, maybe sticky or they're a place where we get hooked. Yeah. Look at these, they're important to look at. Yeah, exactly. And that's it, you know, especially with the last two. It's the cause of all of our trouble because it leads to all of our attachment and our aversion. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:56 Highlight the passage at 2:10:56

2:11:30 Because what happens? Somebody walks in the room. Chogky walks in the room. I've known her for 27 years. It's unbelievable. You know, we didn't start out as Buddhist nuns, believe me. She walks in the room. Oh, friend, pleasant, you know, could give rise to attachment. Or somebody walks in the room. We discern, enemy, unpleasant, aversion, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:11:30 Highlight the passage at 2:11:30

2:11:55 So they're pulled out to emphasize what gets us into trouble. We recognize the object, you know, because of, sometimes this is called memory. That's interesting too, because of association. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:55 Highlight the passage at 2:11:55

2:12:11 Recognition and memory are in here. We have an association. Then that gives rise to just raw, pleasant or unpleasant. What do we mostly do when something feels pleasant? We want more of it. When it's unpleasant, we don't want to have contact. Because we're misunderstanding. Where the pleasant and the unpleasant comes from. And that's why it's pulled out. And Lord Buddha keeps doing the same thing over and over and over again. He's trying to drum it into our heads. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:11 Highlight the passage at 2:12:11

2:12:41 The twelve links. He's saying, you guys, misunderstanding sense contact is what gets you into trouble. He's pulling it out here. He's pulling it out here. We'll get here over and over and over again. Saying you have contact with an object. You have a certain feeling. You misunderstand, you think that your happiness or unhappiness comes from the object and that's the cause of all of your mental afflictions and then as Ana said, giving rise to your karmic actions. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:41 Highlight the passage at 2:12:41

2:13:12 So he's pulling them out to emphasize the process, right? The process is discernment, feeling and then... Most often one of the other afflictive emotions which often then will give rise to a karmic action. In a lot of other classes we go through this flow chart. We have ignorance up at the top, ignorance about the nature of reality, ignorance about cause and effect leads to afflictive emotions, leads to karmic actions, leads to suffering. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:12 Highlight the passage at 2:13:12

2:13:44 And that's the relationship between the first and second link. This is all about the cause of suffering resulting in suffering. So our discernment and our feeling for beings who don't have a direct perception of emptiness, this starts the ball rolling for how we create the causes for saṃsāra for ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:44 Highlight the passage at 2:13:44

2:14:09 Yes, Sandra. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:09 Highlight the passage at 2:14:09

2:14:18 I just want to be clear. So is this another, the last two? the... Report an error in the passage at 2:14:18 Highlight the passage at 2:14:18

2:14:24 Either another way or part of imputing or merely labeling an object. The last two, say more about what you mean. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:24 Highlight the passage at 2:14:24

2:14:37 When we see something and then a feeling comes up positive, negative or neutral, if it's an object and it's empty and we're imputing something onto that, positive, negative or neutral, we're labeling it. That's happening in here. Discernment. Right? And that happens in the first nine nanoseconds of sense contact with an object. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:37 Highlight the passage at 2:14:37

2:15:01 It's very cool. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is always meeting with these scientists and psychologists and these neuroscientists measured the interval between the sense data coming in and the labeling. And we're going to get to that in a second for people who don't know what I'm talking about when we talk about imputing. And they measured... Report an error in the passage at 2:15:01 Highlight the passage at 2:15:01

2:15:22 Nine, something like nine nanoseconds it takes because certain parts of the brain fired when the sense data was coming in and just one little, you know, lobe of the brain is going beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And then nine nanoseconds later, there's just this crazy proliferation of, you know. Electrical activity in the brain as the labeling was going on. So the neuroscientist showed this finding to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and he's like jumping up and down. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:22 Highlight the passage at 2:15:22

2:15:49 He's like so excited and the other neurologists are like, what's the big deal? Only the Buddhist ones got why it was so exciting. So that happens almost instantaneously. And apparently when you're a really, really well trained meditator, you can perceive that gap. Between the sense data coming in and a friend of mine who's a teacher of Sarah's, Achan Amaro, this Theravadan monk, was talking to His Holiness about it once at one of these Mind and Life conferences and he was describing in meditation how when you slow things down enough you can actually differentiate between the sense data coming in and the labeling and get that nine nanosecond gap. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:49 Highlight the passage at 2:15:49

2:16:36 I think that's... That would be cool. So you slow things down enough that you get the difference. And for those of you that don't know what we're talking about, that's next. We're going to talk about that process of imputing. But that's like the first nine nanoseconds of this after sense contact. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:36 Highlight the passage at 2:16:36

2:17:00 Oh, mic? Report an error in the passage at 2:17:00 Highlight the passage at 2:17:00

2:17:04 Is that without any feeling of good, bad or neutral? Yeah, that's first. That's first. And it may be almost instantaneous, right? Like the recognition happens so quickly and then it's like almost instantaneous. But we say the recognition has to happen first and then the feeling. So then I see a cup and that's the discernment. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:04 Highlight the passage at 2:17:04

2:17:27 But then does the compositional factor part, would that be cup is good? Yeah, yeah, after that. Like it's pleasant, you know, you hope there's some nice tea in it, and then you have all of this storyline about it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Ana and then Gina. So when we react in a neutral way, our compositional factors don't. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:27 Highlight the passage at 2:17:27

2:17:52 Well, we have some. We have some that are called omnipresent. We have six omnipresent compositional factors. So those are always there in any moment of sense consciousness. But we wouldn't necessarily have any of the, there's a list of 26 that we call disturbing emotions. So we wouldn't necessarily have any of those or necessarily have any of the pleasant ones. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:52 Highlight the passage at 2:17:52

2:18:16 But six of them are always there with any moment of sense consciousness. Any kind of consciousness, they accompany every moment of consciousness. So we would always have at least those in operation. What are the six? Report an error in the passage at 2:18:16 Highlight the passage at 2:18:16

2:18:35 They're called the omnipresent mental factors. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:35 Highlight the passage at 2:18:35

2:18:45 I read some plays that say very good salespeople look at their eyes because when they see that their eyes expand, it means that they like the object. Oh, that's great. Yeah, we have Report an error in the passage at 2:18:45 Highlight the passage at 2:18:45

2:18:58 Right, and you can train yourself to note, you know, certain very subtle things. Okay, for people who feel overwhelmed right now, don't worry. Okay, I'm giving you all the components and then the rest of the weekend is tying it all together. Okay, so in the first morning, because it's just so impossible to be linear. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:58 Highlight the passage at 2:18:58

2:19:20 I wish we could be simultaneous, but you have to explain a bunch of concepts. And then we're going to be spending the rest of the weekend showing how it all comes together. So please don't freak out and leave at lunchtime because you'll leave really confused. I promise you, you know, it will get easier. It's just almost... Yeah, we'll lock the door. You will not get an exit visa. Report an error in the passage at 2:19:20 Highlight the passage at 2:19:20

2:19:44 It's just almost impossible without explaining a ton of new concepts. For the rest of it to, yeah, yeah. So it's not going to be at this pace for the whole weekend, I promise you. It's just we've got to give you all the building blocks before we start putting it all together. Yeah. I was wondering if the five heaps are a concise teaching taken out of the 12 links because they're so... Report an error in the passage at 2:19:44 Highlight the passage at 2:19:44

2:20:13 Yeah. It almost looks like you have the twelve links and you extracted this to explain. And again, the Buddha kept talking about the same thing over and over and over again in different ways. He talked about the five skandhas, he talked about the twelve sources, talked about the eighteen elements, he talked about the twelve links. And he's just emphasizing over and over and over again how we get in trouble, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:20:13 Highlight the passage at 2:20:13

2:20:40 Because the whole point is to get free of saṃsāra. The way we get trapped in saṃsāra is the karma that we create by the actions motivated by these afflictive emotions that are predicated on just the ignorance about how reality works. So he's just kind of drumming it in our heads over and over and over again. And that's what the whole Heart Sūtra is. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:40 Highlight the passage at 2:20:40

2:21:05 All the things that he's telling us to meditate on in the Heart Sūtra is all, again, drumming it in over and over about how we create our saṃsāra and how we can get free. He could have said there's no hula hoops, there's no ice cream cones, there's no merry-go-rounds, but no. He goes, there's no five heaps, there's no twelve sources, because he's just trying to emphasize this process. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:05 Highlight the passage at 2:21:05

2:21:28 So in a way, yeah, it's very, very interrelated with the twelve links. It's just a different way of looking. And how we get in trouble, which is why he's made five and not three, because he's really trying to emphasize that process of recognition, raw feeling and then all the rest, you know, of the mental afflictions that lead to the karmic actions. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:28 Highlight the passage at 2:21:28

2:21:49 Yeah, Gina. When you say raw feeling to describe feeling, one of the lines I was drawing, but I'm not sure if it's accurate, is that in a way feeling and discernment you're pre-delusion because attachment and inversion come in more in the compositional or would fit in as you describe compositional factors. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:49 Highlight the passage at 2:21:49

2:22:07 Is that right? Yeah, that's right. That's right. Okay. Okay. So are we okay about the five links? Dare I delve into dependent origination? Oh, wow, that was an enthusiasm. All right, and again, another essential building block, not to overwhelm you, and we will review it all this afternoon. It's always hard to do something right before lunch because everybody's exhausted and has that low blood sugar fade thing going on, so we'll review. But we've got three ways in order to, because remember, what we're... Report an error in the passage at 2:22:07 Highlight the passage at 2:22:07

2:22:45 What I'm trying to do here is figure out the first part of Chinrezig's answer to Shariputra. Avalokiteshvara is starting to answer the question, how do I meditate on emptiness? So in order to know how to do that, in order to get the instructions, we need to be able to do it ourselves this afternoon, I promise. We need to understand about the five heaps and about how to meditate on emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 2:22:45 Highlight the passage at 2:22:45

2:23:14 First, this will be familiar to people like Anna and Carla who've seen this a million times, or at least three or four. So, in order to understand emptiness, it's important to understand dependent arising, how things, and I'll talk about the relationship, but let's just first look at dependent arising. Report an error in the passage at 2:23:14 Highlight the passage at 2:23:14

2:23:40 And we say in Buddhism that... Nothing exists independently. Everything exists in dependence, okay, on certain things. Everything, even Buddhas, even enlightenment. You know, sometimes in the beginning you kind of think, oh, well, you know, Buddhas and the state of enlightenment must be some other category. Report an error in the passage at 2:23:40 Highlight the passage at 2:23:40

2:24:03 That's not a dependent arising. That's something absolute. Forget about it. In Buddhism we say everything exists in dependence. On what? Okay, things exist and these are three levels of subtlety of dependent arising. And we say things exist in dependence on causes and conditions. And every Buddhist school agrees with this one. Causes and conditions. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:03 Highlight the passage at 2:24:03

2:24:30 Now the difference between a cause and a condition. We say a cause is the direct... Material cause for the result. And then the conditions are what enables that cause to manifest into the result. So the typical example they say is an oak tree. The cause is the acorn. The conditions are the soil, the water, the sunlight that causes that acorn to sprout and then all the conditions that cause the oak tree to grow. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:30 Highlight the passage at 2:24:30

2:25:03 So the cause would be the acorn and then the conditions are all those other things necessary because the acorn isn't going to sprout if it doesn't have soil and water and air and sunlight. Report an error in the passage at 2:25:03 Highlight the passage at 2:25:03

2:25:17 Microphone, where is it? Oh, it's right there. Is that why they say that the result is in the cause? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you need to have, and we call it the Tibetan word is nirlinggyu, the material cause, the thing that actually turns into the result. Okay, so let's look at the cup. This is my favorite example because I'm constantly drinking tea and I always have a cup somewhere in my vicinity. Report an error in the passage at 2:25:17 Highlight the passage at 2:25:17

2:25:46 So, the cup. Is dependent on the causes and conditions. So the causes for the cup we would say is the material stuff that goes into making the cup. So the porcelain, the glaze, the dye for the little dragons on it. So the stuff. And then the conditions are that somebody dug the clay out of the ground somewhere and then it went to Beijing Cup Manufacturing Company and then the factory and the workers and the machinery. Report an error in the passage at 2:25:46 Highlight the passage at 2:25:46

2:26:20 So that's the causes and conditions that go into making the cup. Super easy to understand. So we say the cup does not exist independently of the stuff that went into making it, the process of making it. Really easy to understand. All Buddhist schools agree with this one. So that's easy. Now, the cup also exists in dependence on parts, meaning we've got a cylinder with a bottom with a handle. Report an error in the passage at 2:26:20 Highlight the passage at 2:26:20

2:26:49 This cup has a top. It doesn't need to be a cup. So any cup that exists at least has a cylinder and a bottom and may or may not have a handle. I hate the ones that don't have handles. You always burn your hands. So, cylinder, bottom, handle, open, top. Those are all the parts that go into making a cup. If we didn't have the cylinder, if we just had the bottom, it would be some kind of weird little ceramic coaster. Report an error in the passage at 2:26:49 Highlight the passage at 2:26:49

2:27:18 It wouldn't be a cup. If we just had the cylinder and not the bottom and the handle, it would be some gigantic napkin ring or something for giants. If we just had the handle, I don't know what that would be. So it's dependent on all the parts. It has to have an open top. That's also one of the parts. Because otherwise it would just be some enclosed thing that you couldn't drink out of. Report an error in the passage at 2:27:18 Highlight the passage at 2:27:18

2:27:41 Okay, so parts. That's really easy to understand. Now, the subtlest one, subtlest level of dependent arising, only accepted, by the way, by the middle way consequence school, says things also... Exist independence on conceptual designation and imputation. So let's go over this. So for the cup, what this means is this. Report an error in the passage at 2:27:41 Highlight the passage at 2:27:41

2:28:07 I have in my mind a concept cup. We call it in philosophy a generic image. Dunci is the Tibetan word. I have a generic image, meaning it's very, very general. Cylinder of a certain size. If it's too big, it would be a generic image of a wastebasket or a trash can. If it were too small, it would be the generic image of a thimble. So my generic image, very, very general, but it's a cylinder of a certain size with a bottom and a top that's open. Report an error in the passage at 2:28:07 Highlight the passage at 2:28:07

2:28:43 So then I come in this room and I'm scanning all the objects in this room. And I get the image of this cylinder, and then I label it, cup, with my concept, right? Because I have a concept in my mind, this image, generic image, and I label that cylinder cup. And according to the Middle Way Consequence School, there's no cup there, independent of my labeling process. Report an error in the passage at 2:28:43 Highlight the passage at 2:28:43

2:29:14 so the cup exists as a cup only in dependence on my Labeling process. But it doesn't feel that way. It feels like there's a cup there from its own side. Of course it's a cup. I say to Carla, please make me a cup of tea. And we talk about it as if there were a cup there from its own side. And there's not. And that's what this school is saying. It's saying every object is created by our conceptual... Report an error in the passage at 2:29:14 Highlight the passage at 2:29:14

2:29:48 Designation, our imputation. Okay, there is something there. There are external objects in this school. We say, yeah, there's stuff out there, but it only becomes what it is when you've got a mind with a concept labeling that thing. So there's no cup there from its own side, right? And that's the subtlest level of dependent arising. Report an error in the passage at 2:29:48 Highlight the passage at 2:29:48

2:30:15 So things exist. Independence on our conceptual designation, to be what they are. And the greatest example of this, it's a movie from the 80s, but it seems really popular. Almost everybody's seen it. Do you remember that movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy? Right? In this Coke bottle, you're too young. So a Coke bottle drops out of like some airplane in the middle of the Kalahari Desert, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:30:15 Highlight the passage at 2:30:15

2:30:41 And this bushman takes it home. And it's this hysterical movie and the only reason it's so hilarious is because we think it's really a coke bottle. And they use it as a rolling pin and then they start hitting each other over the head with it. It's like there hasn't been any coke within a thousand miles of the Kalahari Desert. Is it a coke bottle or not? No, for them it's a valid rolling pin. Report an error in the passage at 2:30:41 Highlight the passage at 2:30:41

2:31:05 It's a valid weapon. And we're laughing our heads off. And I think Lama Zopa wouldn't laugh at that movie. He'd be like... So what? What's so funny? So it's very relative, this conceptual designation and imputation. It's culturally relative, what we're doing. There are plenty of cultures that would not recognize this as something to drink tea out of. Report an error in the passage at 2:31:05 Highlight the passage at 2:31:05

2:31:31 Inuits in northern New Zealand. I don't know what they drink out of. Or northern Greenland. I don't know what they drink out of, like some seal bladders or something. God knows what they think that this was. And we would think, oh, it's a cup. Of course, this is a cup. And we'd be trying to tell them it's a cup. Report an error in the passage at 2:31:31 Highlight the passage at 2:31:31

2:31:49 And it'd be like, why? It could function as something completely different. So the subtlest level is saying things... Exist independence on conceptual designation and imputation and their emptiness is they're not anything other than that. And we say that emptiness and dependent arising are like two sides of a coin. They're like two ways of looking at the same characteristic. Report an error in the passage at 2:31:49 Highlight the passage at 2:31:49

2:32:17 Things exist independence on conceptual designation and their emptiness is saying they don't exist any other way than that. Okay? Their emptiness is their voidness of any other kind of existence other than existing independence on all three of these levels. But the subtlest one is this. So their absence of existing in any other way than independence on causes and conditions, parts and conceptual imputation. Report an error in the passage at 2:32:17 Highlight the passage at 2:32:17

2:32:50 And that's their emptiness. And every object has its emptiness, and it's all the same characteristic, an utter total absence of a certain way of existing, that we always thought it existed like that. You know, we never questioned it. Okay, so questions on these three levels of dependent origination. Lynn, the other Lynn. Report an error in the passage at 2:32:50 Highlight the passage at 2:32:50

2:33:19 Thanks, Marcella. Marcella's the microphone assistant. But the thing about... Report an error in the passage at 2:33:19 Highlight the passage at 2:33:19

2:33:24 Were you talking about different cultures recognizing something differently? What if we cross-culturally, suppose you have a ball and you have an infant, a six-month-old infant, and there is a ball. Cross-culturally, an infant might try and feel it and touch it. Right. So how do you see that as needing the conceptual designation imputation? Report an error in the passage at 2:33:24 Highlight the passage at 2:33:24

2:33:56 Wouldn't they need, in order to see it as a toy, wouldn't they need somebody to play with them and throw it at them and bounce it? I don't think so. You don't think so? No, I think an infant goes when they've just Report an error in the passage at 2:33:56 Highlight the passage at 2:33:56

2:34:14 done it. Right, right. But would they have a concept of toy? I mean, is that what you're saying? Okay. No. But they wouldn't have a concept of ball either. No, but cross-culturally, they would probably, I think... Try to do something with it. Try to manipulate the object. Yeah, sure. And that's fine. That doesn't mean that they have any kind of conceptual imputation. Report an error in the passage at 2:34:14 Highlight the passage at 2:34:14

2:34:39 Infants are just trying to, you know, have a sensory experience with whatever they can. They put everything in their mouth. It doesn't mean that they're thinking of it as ball. And that's a great example. They need to learn that concept before they walk in the room and see that round object sitting on the floor and think ball. Report an error in the passage at 2:34:39 Highlight the passage at 2:34:39

2:34:59 So what I'm asking, so there is an object that the infants cross-culturally will reach for. Sure, sure. Without knowing it's evolved, thinking it. Without any imputation, without any conceptual designation. Yeah, yeah. So I'm wondering about that category. Well, it doesn't mean that external objects don't exist. It's just saying it doesn't exist as what it is to you without your conceptual designation. Report an error in the passage at 2:34:59 Highlight the passage at 2:34:59

2:35:30 Right? It's not saying there's nothing there. It's not saying unless you have the word for something, you don't perceive it. But it's just saying you always, and infants have concepts too. They may not have a concept of ball, but they have a concept of, you know, external object. I mean, they come in with karmic imprints. Report an error in the passage at 2:35:30 Highlight the passage at 2:35:30

2:35:50 At the very least, they see whatever their concept of it is, they see it as coming from its own side. They don't see that they're labeling it with whatever their rudimentary concept is. And with infants, they say even within 24 hours, they can recognize their mother's breast. So then it's like feeling would be pleasant, unpleasant, neutral. It would be very, very rudimentary. And then their recognition would just be like, they wouldn't even have the concept of mother, but they would just have some rudimentary concept of this is an object that gives comfort. Report an error in the passage at 2:35:50 Highlight the passage at 2:35:50

2:36:27 You know, it can be very rudimentary in an infant before they have language, but they're still having some kind of concepts about the things in their world. One other question here. What about constructs like circle, square? Yeah, yeah. And those are abstract concepts that are learned. A lot of this is learned. Like mathematics is completely abstract concepts that bears very little relationship to reality. Report an error in the passage at 2:36:27 Highlight the passage at 2:36:27

2:37:00 So all of those kind of things are learned in the same way that we learn other labels for things. And it's just something that's learned. And it's very interesting. There's a big association here with language for humans. Because all sentient beings have conceptual imputation, designation, they all have it, babies, all sentient beings, but it can be very refined by language. Report an error in the passage at 2:37:00 Highlight the passage at 2:37:00

2:37:28 Like I had a student recently in India from Finland and I was saying, you know, the Inuits have 85 words for snow and she goes, in Finnish we have 11 words for snow. So she, I mean, I've never lived anywhere it snowed much. I have two kind of conceptual imputations for snow, the dry powdery kind and then the squishy wet kind that's good for making snowmen. Report an error in the passage at 2:37:28 Highlight the passage at 2:37:28

2:37:50 I only perceive those two kinds of snow. Because of her 11 words, she perceives 11... Different kinds of snow. So it's very tied up for language with us, but we do have concepts even before, you know, we have language and other beings have concepts too. So it's not completely dependent on learning and language. Okay, one more question that's kind of on the same track. If you go back to the circle, and we know in nature there are electrons, there's a whole lot of things that... Report an error in the passage at 2:37:50 Highlight the passage at 2:37:50

2:38:29 Even if we're not aware of them at all, are there. It's not like they don't exist. The circle exists whether or not we see it. Report an error in the passage at 2:38:29 Highlight the passage at 2:38:29

2:38:41 Yeah, does it exist as a circle? We have a concept electron. It doesn't mean that there isn't an object out there, but we've decided a certain... You know, elementary particle with these characteristics, we're going to call it electron. And it's very interesting, how does that happen? Oh, some machine has a little blip, like some machine that we've created has a printout that has a little peak. Oh, there must be something there. Report an error in the passage at 2:38:41 Highlight the passage at 2:38:41

2:39:09 Let's see, let's have a concept of this particle with a certain kind of charge. It's all created by our concepts, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:39:09 Highlight the passage at 2:39:09

2:39:18 It doesn't mean that there isn't something there, but I'm saying electron is a conceptual imputation on some physical property that we're creating with our concepts. I guess what I'm asking is, even if we don't know there's an electron there, we have no idea why it's there. It's not an electron. Right. It's not an electron. It's not an electron. There's something. It's not an electron. Right. Report an error in the passage at 2:39:18 Highlight the passage at 2:39:18

2:39:49 But something is there. Yeah, there is external objects, but it's very interesting when you look at science and look at measurements and scientific theory, you know, and due to some instrumentation and some measurement somewhere, it's like the whole thing about is light a wave or a particle? You know, you design a certain experiment and you decide it's a particle. You design another experiment, it behaves as a wave. Is it a wave? Is it a particle? I mean, perfect example. Report an error in the passage at 2:39:49 Highlight the passage at 2:39:49

2:40:17 We create a concept, you know, dependent on some kind of scientific measurement. You know, you can't directly perceive an electron. A Buddha can. We can't, so there's some blip on some machine and we make up this whole concept electron. You're asking, does external reality exist? And I'm saying yes, but I'm saying it's not an electron. Okay? And you have to get used to it. Report an error in the passage at 2:40:17 Highlight the passage at 2:40:17

2:40:46 And it's hard because we've always thought that things existed from their own side and we just happen to encounter all this pre-existing reality. And this is saying we're creating everything by our concepts. Now how does this help us? We'll get into that this afternoon. So the practical applications for it we'll get to. I have to give you all the puzzle pieces. And then please stay after lunch. Report an error in the passage at 2:40:46 Highlight the passage at 2:40:46

2:41:15 Because I promise I'll show you how does this help you be angry less. You know, be attached less. Be a happier person. How does this help you? Because this is the only point in anything that the Buddha taught. You know, it's all about suffering less. So I promise you I'll tie it together. But we've got to have the concepts first. Yeah. Okay, Gina has a question. Marcella. Report an error in the passage at 2:41:15 Highlight the passage at 2:41:15

2:41:42 My lovely assistant. I start to get really twisty when I think about the emptiness of... We're talking about emptiness as a concept. I've never seen an electron, but I recognize at least in my conventional reality how it's explained, how it can be measured by people with better instruments and minds than mine. Report an error in the passage at 2:41:42 Highlight the passage at 2:41:42

2:42:05 But then can you also take it an extra step to say enlightenment is a concept, the Dharma is a concept, emptiness is a concept. So I guess I'm trying to very poorly articulate that I have questions about the emptiness of emptiness. But then, I mean, too. Report an error in the passage at 2:42:05 Highlight the passage at 2:42:05

2:42:20 And the emptiness of the Dharma. And it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, right? Right. Because that's the important thing. We have always thought that things existed from their own side. So the minute we start to think, oh, it doesn't exist from its own side, it all starts to get shaky. The Buddha is just a conceptual designation. On what? On a being with certain qualities, right? That's valid. Report an error in the passage at 2:42:20 Highlight the passage at 2:42:20

2:42:46 Independence on the path, the Buddha has achieved certain qualities. We have an idea as Buddhists of Buddha. So when there happens to be a being that in dependence on causes and conditions and the path has achieved certain qualities, we call that quality omniscience, we call it quality being able to have emanation bodies, and then we have this idea in our mind, Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 2:42:46 Highlight the passage at 2:42:46

2:43:11 It doesn't mean that being doesn't exist. It doesn't mean they're any less there. But they exist independent. If we had different labels, we might call that being something else. We might call them a saint. We might call them an avatar, right? Being with those same qualities. Did we know the first time we walked in this room, that's Medicine Buddha, that's Tara, you know? Report an error in the passage at 2:43:11 Highlight the passage at 2:43:11

2:43:34 Did we know? No. We just saw these pretty things. We sort of recognized some... Kind of like somewhat like a human, but not really, like what's going on. And then we had these labels. So now we walk in and we see all that stuff. So it's really important. And in fact, as Nagarjuna says, because of emptiness, things can't exist. If they weren't empty, they couldn't exist. Report an error in the passage at 2:43:34 Highlight the passage at 2:43:34

2:43:59 So quite apart from emptiness negating the reality of things or the validity of things, it could only happen. Because of emptiness. Buddhahood can only happen because it's empty. And thank God, because otherwise we'd be stuck. If Buddhahood somehow weren't empty of inherent existence and didn't exist in all three of these ways, we'd be stuck. Report an error in the passage at 2:43:59 Highlight the passage at 2:43:59

2:44:22 If we were inherently existent, there'd be no... No way of changing. So emptiness allows for the possibility of change. And I know in the beginning we get all like, oh, that means the Buddhists don't exist. It means enlightenment doesn't exist. No, it can only exist because it's empty. And because it's a concept, but it doesn't mean it doesn't function. Report an error in the passage at 2:44:22 Highlight the passage at 2:44:22

2:44:43 And let's talk for a minute about how things do conventionally exist. Because after I pull the rug out from under you, I like to give you a little bit of a safety net. That'd be great. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 2:44:43 Highlight the passage at 2:44:43

2:44:54 So how do things exist? And there's this great explanation in Tsongkhapa Rinpoche's book, What Makes You Not a Buddhist? And he says things conventionally exist in dependence on three qualities, on continuity, consensus and function. So continuity means this is not the same cup that was here when I walked in the room at 9.30. Report an error in the passage at 2:44:54 Highlight the passage at 2:44:54

2:45:20 It's not even the cup that was here nine nanoseconds ago. But there's some continuity, right? There's some kind of continuity of the material that make up the cup, even though it's constantly changing, right? We know in Buddhism, impermanence, subtle impermanence means it's changing moment by moment by moment. But there's continuity. So I can call this my cup, you know, and I can think of it as the same cup that I had. Report an error in the passage at 2:45:20 Highlight the passage at 2:45:20

2:45:46 At 9 o 'clock this morning. And that's fine. And that works. And that functions. So the continuity means, even though it's changing moment by moment, strictly speaking, it's not the same object. There is a certain continuity. And then function and consensus, which are related. We've decided in 21st century Western culture that a cylindrical object of a certain size with a bottom and a handle that we drink liquid out of is called a cup. Report an error in the passage at 2:45:46 Highlight the passage at 2:45:46

2:46:16 So we've decided based on the function. So because things are empty doesn't mean that I can drink out of this just because I decide, right? Because it doesn't function as a cup. We've decided based on the function. And just because the cup doesn't exist even one iota from its own side doesn't mean I can just decide that this is a cup. Report an error in the passage at 2:46:16 Highlight the passage at 2:46:16

2:46:41 Just because it's... Exists in dependence on my conceptual imputation doesn't mean, oh, I just decide that this is a cup, and then this is a cup for me. It doesn't function as a cup, because we've decided it needs to have that function, and then we call it a cup. So that's why anything can't be anything, even though it's dependent on your conceptual designation. If I start going around trying to drink out of this, my friends are going to very quickly seek help for me, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:46:41 Highlight the passage at 2:46:41

2:47:11 So it doesn't mean that anything can be anything. It's relative, you know, and it depends on consensus, and that's why it's culturally relative. But we've all decided, based on the function, that's a cup. So that's how this is validly a cup and not a telephone. Hello, I try and make a phone call out of this, same thing. You know, that's why this is validly a cup, independence on all of these. Report an error in the passage at 2:47:11 Highlight the passage at 2:47:11

2:47:38 parts independent on the concept. A Buddha is validly a Buddha because we've decided that, you know, a being with that function of having omniscient mind, having emanation bodies, etc., etc., we, by consensus, as Buddhist students call a Buddha. And that's how the Buddha exists conventionally, perfectly, functions 100 % perfectly well in dependence on this. Report an error in the passage at 2:47:38 Highlight the passage at 2:47:38

2:48:06 Okay, does that help? I think part of it, and it may be semantics, is because I've heard it said several times that the Buddha was trying to teach us the true nature of reality. And when I hear something like this, it almost to me... Has a quality of being some level of existence on its own side. That the concept itself has some level of existence on its own side when you talk about a true nature of reality. Report an error in the passage at 2:48:06 Highlight the passage at 2:48:06

2:48:33 So maybe I'm just tripping over some of the words. And we can talk about ultimate truth and ultimate reality and they're not the same thing. So sometimes it's the semantics. Because we can talk about ultimate reality and ultimate truth and the word ultimate or true mean different things. There's nothing that is not empty of inherent existence. There's nothing that's ultimately existent, but ultimate truth is emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 2:48:33 Highlight the passage at 2:48:33

2:49:04 So there is no ultimate reality, but there is ultimate truth, which refers to emptiness. So yeah, it gets a little sticky. But even emptiness... Is empty. Because emptiness is just again a concept that we label onto that absence of a certain impossible way of existing and we call that emptiness. And I think sometimes I keep using the word like conventional reality to describe how I see things but maybe that's not necessarily the case too. Because a Buddhist sees... Report an error in the passage at 2:49:04 Highlight the passage at 2:49:04

2:49:35 Sees things, sees conventional reality too. They'll see layers of karma or layers of enlightenment that I can't see, but that is part of what I could describe as conventional reality. It's just not something I've necessarily been able to... Right. Kind of grasp or articulate. Right. Okay. Thank you. Good. Yeah. Let's see. Keith has one. And then let's have one more question. Then let's dedicate the merit. Report an error in the passage at 2:49:35 Highlight the passage at 2:49:35

2:49:58 And like I said, you have to, as one of my friends says, you have to cook it. You know, I've given you the raw ingredients and you just have to think about it over and over and over again. So we'll talk about it a lot more when we get back together. Again, after lunch. So don't panic. This is just, I've given you all the raw ingredients and then for the rest of the weekend we're going to be simmering and cooking it. Report an error in the passage at 2:49:58 Highlight the passage at 2:49:58

2:50:21 I guess I was cooking in my own primitive way. I was trying to think of the probability theories in physics where that wall, if a person walked into that wall every two seconds for a thousand years, the probability is they would walk through it. And that is actually a real theory. so therefore if if a person could Could really perceive emptiness like a Buddha, then you would really know how to do things like that. Right, right. I don't know if that makes any sense. Right, right, right. No, totally. I had this great experience. Report an error in the passage at 2:50:21 Highlight the passage at 2:50:21

2:50:50 I was teaching this 10-day course at Tushita Meditation Center in India this spring on emptiness according to the four philosophical schools for 10 days. So we got into a lot of detail. It was great. And there were these three guys in class. I mean, for a lot of people, it was just like, what? And there was these three guys in the class, and they're all up there. Report an error in the passage at 2:50:50 Highlight the passage at 2:50:50

2:51:10 You know, every time I'd say something, it turned out they were all physicists. Like, it was awesome. There's these three guys all on a row, and they're like, yeah, wow. So I said, okay, great. Like, I'm giving the four philosophical schools view of the ultimate nature of reality. Give the modern physics view of the ultimate nature of reality. Report an error in the passage at 2:51:10 Highlight the passage at 2:51:10

2:51:29 So they did this whole presentation on the last day of the class, and it was great. And they drew all the correlations to modern physics and what I've been saying about emptiness, and it was so much fun. It was really great. I just said, yeah, let's get the modern view, because there really are more and more correlations with modern physics. Report an error in the passage at 2:51:29 Highlight the passage at 2:51:29

2:51:51 But the three of them were so cute, they were just like... And everybody else is like... I really got it. It was very cute. Alright, so I want to give you your lunch break. Let's just dedicate the merit real quick. Oh, and then we'll bless the food together. We'll do the meal blessing prayer. But first, let's just take a minute to think about all of the positive energy that we've generated from... Report an error in the passage at 2:51:51 Highlight the passage at 2:51:51

2:52:24 Thinking about emptiness, even if we feel really confused right now, remember what Arya Deva said, just even doubting for even a second that things exist in the way that they appear, tear saṃsāra to shreds. So let's dedicate all that energy towards gaining that realization and then being able to break free completely of saṃsāra, attain complete enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:52:24 Highlight the passage at 2:52:24

2:53:19 And then in your gold prayer book on page 207 are the food offering prayers and we can just do that together. So we're meant to visualize the food as blissful wisdom nectar inside of a vast jeweled vessel and as we eat we imagine a little Shakyamuni Buddha at our heart that we're making offerings to. Report an error in the passage at 2:53:19 Highlight the passage at 2:53:19

2:53:42 So we'll just recite the food offering together. O Mahung, O Mahung, O Mahung. The Guru is Buddha, the Guru is Dharma, the Guru is Saṅgha also, the Guru is the creator of all happiness. To all Gurus I make this offering. May we and those around us in all future lives never be separated from the Three Jewels, continuously make offerings to the Three Jewels and receive the inspiration of the Three Jewels. Report an error in the passage at 2:53:42 Highlight the passage at 2:53:42

2:54:21 To the Supreme Teacher, the precious Buddha, to the Supreme Refuge, the precious Dharma, to the Supreme Guides, the precious Saṅgha, to the Triple Gem, the objects of refuge, I make offering. Report an error in the passage at 2:54:21 Highlight the passage at 2:54:21

2:54:37 Okay. So think of whatever questions that you have during lunchtime because I know there are a couple more hands up and then we'll discuss more when we come back at 2 and then carry on and do a little bit of meditation after everybody's digested. Okay, thank you. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 2:54:37 Highlight the passage at 2:54:37

2:55:10 and the donkey brochures are up here if you want to see. Report an error in the passage at 2:55:10 Highlight the passage at 2:55:10