Exploring the Heart Sutra: the Essence of Wisdom (25 October 2009, part 2)

0:00 version of the 12 links of dependent origination with So I find it's easier to relate to the picture if you know what the concepts are first. So we're just going to go quickly through part of it and we're going to deal mostly with the part where we can use our understanding of karma and emptiness to free ourselves from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:20 Because this is the 12 links that... Avalokiteshwar just talked about when he said no ignorance, no cessation of ignorance and no aging and death and no cessation of aging and death. He meant, and all the rest of them are empty too. So let's look at this. This is usually explained in terms of three lifetimes. Report an error in the passage at 0:20 Highlight the passage at 0:20

0:40 The past life or lives, as we shall see, not just necessarily, just the previous one. And then the present life, which is expanded to show You know, kind of the dynamics of what's going on and then the future life. So it's usually explained in terms of three lifetimes. So it starts up at the top. The first link is ignorance. And this is especially the ignorance of the ultimate nature of reality, the ignorance about how we exist. Report an error in the passage at 0:40 Highlight the passage at 0:40

1:11 You know, the root ignorance that is at the root of saṃsāra. Okay, so that ignorance. And then the next link is karmic formations. Karmic formations. And we know that there's got to be an afflictive emotion in there somewhere, right? So we know how it works. So ignorance. You know, there's a bunch of more spaces in here. John, do you want to move so you can see better? Report an error in the passage at 1:11 Highlight the passage at 1:11

1:40 You got it? That's not the same as this, honey. Okay, this is my diagram. That's the other person's diagram. Yeah, you got this before. Okay, so karmic formation. So we've got that ignorance about the nature of reality giving rise to a disturbing emotion, right, an afflictive emotion. For example, attachment and aversion are the prime ones. Report an error in the passage at 1:40 Highlight the passage at 1:40

2:06 Based on ignorance, and remember we said the definition of attachment, for example, exaggerating the qualities of an object, thinking that if I possess that object, I'm going to be happy forever. How could that happen without misunderstanding the nature of the object? I just created it with my concepts. What's to get attached to? Report an error in the passage at 2:06 Highlight the passage at 2:06

2:26 It's just a creation of my concept. So it's based on ignorance. So ignorance. And then there's an afflictive emotion in here and then the formation of karma because we engage in some action motivated by that ignorance and that afflictive emotion. So all of that is going on in past lives. The formation of karma because of that ignorance. The formation of karma and then that consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 2:26 Highlight the passage at 2:26

2:54 This is the first link of the present life. That consciousness loaded with karmic imprints. Completely packed with karmic imprints comes into this life. Because from the Buddhist standpoint, hang on, let me just kind of go through the thing and then we'll have questions. So from the Buddhist standpoint, it's not like, sometimes there's this new age thing, oh babies are pure, babies are fresh, forget it. Report an error in the passage at 2:54 Highlight the passage at 2:54

3:21 Babies are loaded with all kinds of karmic imprints. In the beginning of this life, our consciousness brings those karmic imprints into this life. Babies are loaded. The new bumper stickers. Babies aren't pure, babies are loaded. You'd have people like that. Loaded baby on board. Yeah, loaded baby on board. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 3:21 Highlight the passage at 3:21

3:50 So present life consciousness. And then this is interesting because we just went into this. Name and form is the next link. So it means the consciousness links up with the fertilized egg and then the formation of the fetus. This is kind of, you know, one way of looking at this is talking about what's happening in the womb. And this refers to the five aggregates. Report an error in the passage at 3:50 Highlight the passage at 3:50

4:13 Okay, form is the form aggregate and name is like a code word for the four mental ones. So this just really means body and mind. Okay, so body and mind. That subtle consciousness comes in from the past life into the fertilized egg according to Buddhism at the moment of conception and then the new being starts to form, starts to form the sixth sense. Report an error in the passage at 4:13 Highlight the passage at 4:13

4:39 Powers, remember, that are dependent on the sense organs. It's more than that, but the brain forms, the sense organs form. So what we're talking about here is the potential to have some kind of sense consciousness as a result of contact. You've got that potential, that sense power. Remember, this is six of the sources that we just had on the previous flip chart. Report an error in the passage at 4:39 Highlight the passage at 4:39

5:05 So all these things keep showing up over and over and over again. Remember the 12 sources, we have the sense powers plus the objects they come into contact with. So you've got the sense powers and then they come into contact. Here, this is contact. Okay? That's six. Sense power comes into contact with an object, giving rise to that sense consciousness. And now we're into the 18 Datus. So we've got the sense power, the object, the consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 5:05 Highlight the passage at 5:05

5:37 And then after that, a split second later, we've got a feeling. And this is the same feeling that showed up in the five aggregates, the five heaps. That's just pleasant, unpleasant, neutral. Just that completely basic reaction. It feels good, it feels bad, I don't care. Okay, so contact. The next link is feeling. Report an error in the passage at 5:37 Highlight the passage at 5:37

6:04 And then the next link is craving. Okay, and this refers to two things. It refers to craving for more contact if our feeling was pleasant or craving to be separated from that object if the feeling was unpleasant. So even though it's craving, Which we usually think of as craving more, it can also be craving less. The reason that we use craving here, which is sort of synonymous with attachment in a way, is because we've got about a thousand attachment thoughts to every one aversion thought. Report an error in the passage at 6:04 Highlight the passage at 6:04

6:43 Most people are going around, I want it, I want it, come on, more and more. More of the pleasant stuff and then every once in a while something comes up and you're like, get me away from that. So in the Theravadan tradition they say attachment is the root of saṃsāra. In the Mahāyāna we say ignorance is the root of saṃsāra, but saying attachment is the root of saṃsāra is 99.9 % true. Report an error in the passage at 6:43 Highlight the passage at 6:43

7:08 We would just say, okay, it's more than that because also it's aversion, but attachment is most of our problem because it comes up so much more that we're seeking pleasant sense contact. That's mostly what's happening. So that craving, this is just very basic. This is, ooh, that felt good. I wouldn't mind more of that. Report an error in the passage at 7:08 Highlight the passage at 7:08

7:30 And then the next link, grasping, is a decision to do something about it. Oh, okay, I'm going to do something to get more of that thing that felt pleasant. Okay, so this is more a decision to act. And then the next one, becoming. Weird word, right? But that's the way the word is translated. And that is, okay, on the basis of deciding to do something about it, you take action. Report an error in the passage at 7:30 Highlight the passage at 7:30

7:59 New karmic imprint formed as a result of your action. So craving is just, ooh, that was nice. Grasping is, I'm going to get more. And then becoming is whatever action that you took to get more. Of that sense contact or to push away the negative stuff. And the craving would be like, oh, that felt awful. I want to get away from that. Report an error in the passage at 7:59 Highlight the passage at 7:59

8:25 Grasping is I'm going to do something to make sure that that never happens again. And then you do something stupid, right? Because we're creating saṃsāra. So, you know, especially if you do one of the ten known virtues as a result of that feeling. Particularly if you do something, some karmic action that's one of the ten non-virtues. Okay, so becoming, and now we're at the end of the present life and then we flip into the next life. Report an error in the passage at 8:25 Highlight the passage at 8:25

8:54 The power of that new karmic seed, right? That becoming those new imprints forces us to be reborn. That's what creates the power of rebirth. We say that, you know, rebirth is driven by the force of karma and delusions. It's like this power that propels us into the next rebirth. I always think of it as being kind of flung out of a catapult of karma and delusion into the next rebirth, characterized by birth, old age and death and everything in between. Report an error in the passage at 8:54 Highlight the passage at 8:54

9:27 Okay, so this is showing how we create our unenlightened existence. This is how we keep doing it. So, how does karma and emptiness help us? Who can think of a way that we can break through? Report an error in the passage at 9:27 Highlight the passage at 9:27

9:45 How does our understanding of karma and emptiness help? Ben, microphone. Where'd it go? Report an error in the passage at 9:45 Highlight the passage at 9:45

10:06 Probably because out of all these 12 things, there's only three that looks like we can really control or have any effect on. Okay, so tell me. um the the if um know Everything from ignorance to the feeling, or I guess the feeling, contact, all the six senses, if all those things are all an effect of cause and effect or whatever, and they're empty of their own nature or whatever, then they don't exist except that we make them exist. Report an error in the passage at 10:06 Highlight the passage at 10:06

10:44 So then the only three things that we... Can control is the craving, grasping and becoming around them, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you got the right point that we can cut through because what he's looking at here is this circle, cause and effect. And this is interesting to look at this. All of this stuff is an effect of past causes, right? Report an error in the passage at 10:44 Highlight the passage at 10:44

11:10 And we misunderstand that. What do we think? We think there's a cause and effect relationship here. We think that thing that we had contact with was the cause of our happiness. We think that thing that we had the contact with was the cause of our suffering. And when you realize, hey, you know, if that chocolate cake tasted good, having chocolate cake in my world and the fact that it tasted good are both the result of what kind of karmic imprints? Report an error in the passage at 11:10 Highlight the passage at 11:10

11:44 Craving? No, good karma, virtue. Good karma, by definition, is that which leads to happiness in the future. Bad karma, by definition, is that which leads to suffering in the future. The chocolate cake tastes good. It is in my life and I'm enjoying it because I did... helped somebody in some past life. It's the only cause. And it ain't the chocolate cake that's the cause. It's a condition. And that's when we get the difference between causes and conditions. Report an error in the passage at 11:44 Highlight the passage at 11:44

12:17 A cause is what turns into the result. The actual stuff that turns into the result. The conditions are what makes it happen. It doesn't matter how many chocolate cakes are in your life, if you don't have a karmic cause because you've done something good in the past, ain't no amount of chocolate cake is going to make you feel good. Report an error in the passage at 12:17 Highlight the passage at 12:17

12:38 You have to have that karmic seed and then the condition of the chocolate cake can then cause that karmic seed to ripen. But it's just like planting a flower and then you water it and you put the grow light on it and give it the nice compost. If you don't have a seed, you can water the hell out of some pot with really good soil in it and nothing's going to happen, right? Report an error in the passage at 12:38 Highlight the passage at 12:38

13:03 So we're mistaking the condition for the cause and we're thinking this is cause and this is effect, okay? So, you know, if you realize that they're both an effect of your past virtue, if you want future lives filled with chocolate cake. What are you going to do? Share it with your friends. Bake your friends' chocolate cake. Are you going to steal it from the bakery? No, because you've just created the cause for future lives completely devoid of chocolate. Report an error in the passage at 13:03 Highlight the passage at 13:03

13:35 I can't imagine anything more miserable. So it's understanding this. Karmically and also understanding even the fact that chocolate cake appears as something pleasant to you is also your karma. Because you're just creating that pleasant appearance also by your karma. And what's the proof of that? Report an error in the passage at 13:35 Highlight the passage at 13:35

14:02 Yeah, I've heard, it's hard to imagine, but I've heard there's people who don't like chocolate. And if chocolate were inherently delicious from its own side, independent of my... Projection and independent of my karma, everybody would love chocolate the same. And some people break out in hives, some people just don't like the taste of it. Report an error in the passage at 14:02 Highlight the passage at 14:02

14:24 Go figure, you know. My friend Acha Namro, who Ben knows, you know, it was his birthday recently and I sent him this email wishing him, you know, skies full of chocolate cake and he wrote back going, well I don't really like chocolate cake but I had a nice birthday anyway and I'm like, how can that be, you know. Report an error in the passage at 14:24 Highlight the passage at 14:24

14:42 So, this misunderstanding. Right here. And so understanding that we cut the wheel here because we understand the stupidest thing that you're going to do is crave more contact with the object, especially misunderstanding that it's the cause and doing something stupid to get more of it. And that's what we've been doing since beginningless time. And it's why we're in this mess. And so this is free will, Lynn. Report an error in the passage at 14:42 Highlight the passage at 14:42

15:12 This is where free will comes in. All of these we can't help. You know, we're in the moment kind of riding this, you know, I'm from Santa Cruz so I have to use a surfing analogy. You know, we're at the peak of a wave and our past karma has pushed us here. There's nothing we can do about it. We're in the middle of an experience and we're experiencing a feeling in that moment. Report an error in the passage at 15:12 Highlight the passage at 15:12

15:36 Nothing we can do about it. But there's definitely something we can do applying our wisdom to make sure that we don't keep that wheel spinning. So there's nothing we can do in the moment because it's an effect of something that we created in the past. But our reaction is not an effect. So Buddhism says there isn't determinism in that way. Report an error in the passage at 15:36 Highlight the passage at 15:36

16:00 That our effects or our responses are predetermined, right? So that's where the whole idea of free will comes in. Our experience that we have is an effect of past karma, but we can choose here before creating new causes with our wisdom. If we don't know this... We're probably going to continue to do stupid things and continue to be stuck in saṃsāra because we're going to react stupidly. We're going to keep thinking that that's the cause and we're going to keep doing stupid things. Report an error in the passage at 16:00 Highlight the passage at 16:00

16:32 But we can use our wisdom to override our impulses. We have karmic imprints for reacting in certain ways. All of that is true. But thank goodness we can use our wisdom to override our karmic... Impulses. We asked Kirti Sanchabrimse one time, we were talking to him about this and the whole thing about free will, and he said, when the mental affliction is so strong, it's almost as if you don't have a choice. Report an error in the passage at 16:32 Highlight the passage at 16:32

16:59 And there are certain times that you're just so full of attachment or aversion that it's like you don't know better. And it's almost like you can't help it, but most of the time we can. And that's why I say in those moments when you feel that really strong... You know, you're having a strong, pleasant or unpleasant experience. For God's sake, remember the 12 links, right? My students have this diagram like pinned up to their refrigerator and next to the meditative, because it's the key to everything and it's the key to cutting through. Report an error in the passage at 16:59 Highlight the passage at 16:59

17:32 Because if we can remember then, oh, it's not that experience, it's not the contact with that person, that object that's causing the negative feeling. And that's why... In the Chinese prison camps, some people are suffering and some people say, like my teacher Reba Rinpoche, oh it was great, I had all this time to practice and do retreat and it was really good for my renunciation. Report an error in the passage at 17:32 Highlight the passage at 17:32

17:57 Because it's not the cause. That experience is not the cause of the feeling. So remembering this is huge. It's like enormous and it's the key to breaking through saṃsāra. So we use our understanding of karma. To see that our karma made us have that feeling. And we also use our understanding of emptiness to even question the appearance that we're having of that sense object that we're contacting. Report an error in the passage at 17:57 Highlight the passage at 17:57

18:26 Okay? Yeah, Catherine. Microphone. Report an error in the passage at 18:26 Highlight the passage at 18:26

18:34 The link of craving. This is making me think about the eight worldly dharmas. Is that the same? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Report an error in the passage at 18:34 Highlight the passage at 18:34

18:40 That's the craving for certain things and craving to avoid other things. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's part of it. That motivation comes in, you know, craving for more pleasant sense contact. You know, we're craving for more, for gain, for pleasure, you know, for fame and all that stuff. Again, misunderstanding that all those things are the cause of our happiness. Report an error in the passage at 18:40 Highlight the passage at 18:40

18:59 And the only cause of our happiness is virtue. You know we can have and And the proof is Hollywood millionaires that commit suicide, right? Like if all that stuff was really the cause of happiness, nobody with all those things would be depressed and sad and commit suicide. And then the proof of that is somebody like Mother Teresa with two saris who's like blissfully happy in the middle of the leprosy colony in Calcutta. Report an error in the passage at 18:59 Highlight the passage at 18:59

19:27 Because she's got so much virtue that she can transform this... It's a situation that would have most of us freaking out into a pure realm. So that's the proof of why it's not the stuff that makes us feel the way we do. It's our karma. And it's great because then you can be an inner being. Then you can be one of those nangpas. You can be an inner being realizing it's just my virtue that makes me feel good. Report an error in the passage at 19:27 Highlight the passage at 19:27

19:52 It ain't all that stuff. And it's huge. It's a really, really huge way to break through. So I always say here, widen that gap before you instantly go into craving as a result of your feeling. Just create some space there. One of my students said, I didn't even know there was a gap. Like what gap, you know? Like I just go. But if with our wisdom and with our mindfulness, and that's where good old-fashioned Buddhist mindfulness practice really helps, right? Report an error in the passage at 19:52 Highlight the passage at 19:52

20:24 Because we slow it all way down. You know, you have contact with an object, you feel a certain way before you immediately jump to craving and grasping. You slow it down. You feel that grasping arising. You feel that craving arising. And you remind yourself, hey, wait a minute. That thing is not the cause of my happiness. Report an error in the passage at 20:24 Highlight the passage at 20:24

20:47 My virtue is the cause of my happiness. The thing happened to be there causing that karmic seed to ripen. But it's not the cause. So we have to just slow down. You know, we go at this completely ridiculous breakneck speed and there's no way we can be mindful when that craving starts to arise, you know. Report an error in the passage at 20:47 Highlight the passage at 20:47

21:08 So part of it is understanding this, getting super familiar with this, you know, knowing the dynamic, knowing the process. Okay, and then just slowing everything down so we can feel that mind of craving which is an ignorant mind arising and we can remember, hey, I remember. Tenzin Chogky wrote that diagram, you know, and it's the effect, it's not the cause. So this is a huge place that we can break through. Report an error in the passage at 21:08 Highlight the passage at 21:08

21:35 And then there's another place in our Buddhist practice that we can break through. Can anybody see where it is? There's another significant place that we can break through. Report an error in the passage at 21:35 Highlight the passage at 21:35

21:48 It has to do with our practices. Report an error in the passage at 21:48 Highlight the passage at 21:48

21:54 John, yeah. You're cheating, John. You heard this before. No, I'm kidding. It's all right. Well, right there at the top, ignorance. Yeah, yeah. And the direct realization of emptiness, right? The path perfection of wisdom, remember? We've got that path perfection of wisdom. Katsamsara at the root. So that's what we're going for in the Heart Sūtra, you know, is breaking through at that root ignorance at the very, very top. Report an error in the passage at 21:54 Highlight the passage at 21:54

22:21 None of the cycle is going to go. That's link number one. None of the cycle is going to go. There's another place in our practice where we break through right before sense contact. So, for example, we have certain vows to avoid certain sense objects that are especially compelling. And even if you don't have those vows, it's interesting in our practice. Report an error in the passage at 22:21 Highlight the passage at 22:21

22:46 We say, until you're stronger, And until you can transform this whole thing, if you know that there are certain objects that are especially compelling for you, avoid contact with them until you're stronger. We say it's like a sapling. Our minds are like a little sapling. Beginning you need to surround it with a deer fence and give it a lot of water and fertilizer until it's stronger. Report an error in the passage at 22:46 Highlight the passage at 22:46

23:11 And then it's going to be impervious. Once it's a big oak tree, it doesn't matter how many deer are around. They can't bother it. And our minds are the same way. So when we're starting out, it's smart to... Kind of figure out what sense contact with which objects are going to almost always make you forget that the object wasn't the cause. Report an error in the passage at 23:11 Highlight the passage at 23:11

23:33 And that's the reason behind, for example, the Buddhist monastic vow of celibacy. We have a celibacy vow to avoid that sense contact because sexual contact is so compelling it's almost impossible to not think the guy is the cause of your pleasure. Oh right, it's my past karma, yeah. See how that works. So, you know, in certain practices you avoid the sense contact. Report an error in the passage at 23:33 Highlight the passage at 23:33

24:02 That isn't as effective as understanding emptiness, right? Because it's cutting it midway through the effect. But if your mind is still, you know, it is a way that we can practice. And in fact, I, as a friend of mine... Who has been a monk both in the Tibetan tradition and the Theravadan tradition. And he says in Theravāda a lot of the practices are about just cutting it here and avoiding the sense contact. Report an error in the passage at 24:02 Highlight the passage at 24:02

24:31 So the way the monastic discipline is practiced is about avoiding that contact in the first place. Being very, very subdued and avoiding that contact. But for us... I think right here is really important. Cutting it here means we're at the path of seeing, and we've seen what it takes to get there. We'll get there, and that's very powerful. Report an error in the passage at 24:31 Highlight the passage at 24:31

24:53 We say that that cuts saṃsāra at the root, meaning if you chop down a tree's root, it's not going to sprout back up again. This is cutting off some branches and some twigs, and this is maybe cutting the main trunk, but this is cutting the root. You know, so it's not going to spring up again at all. Okay, we have Matthew and then John. Matthew and Mark and Luke are in there somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 24:53 Highlight the passage at 24:53

25:23 Sorry. Report an error in the passage at 25:23 Highlight the passage at 25:23

25:31 The first question was, I was a little confused about how this plays out in terms of free will and determinism. Did you say that? Here, here. Report an error in the passage at 25:31 Highlight the passage at 25:31

25:42 Not free will up to that point? Is that what you were saying? Well, it's effect. And free will, again, that's a Christian idea, right? So it doesn't exactly correlate. But we're kind of talking about are our choices determined by our karma? Okay, so it's determined up to that point. Well, we're experiencing this as a result of our past karma. Report an error in the passage at 25:42 Highlight the passage at 25:42

26:04 Right here is where we're creating the new causes. And by the way, we're in different parts of this 12 links and overlapping parts all the time simultaneously. Like you're in the Starbucks with your mocha frappuccino and your brownie bites. And then a cute guy comes walking in the door, right? So it's like that. Like in every moment, we're in different links. Report an error in the passage at 26:04 Highlight the passage at 26:04

26:33 Simultaneously. But the point is, all of this stuff is in effect, and then this is where we can choose to respond differently. And this is where a lot of our Buddhist practices come in. We choose to respond differently here because of our wisdom, our understanding of karma and emptiness. For those of you that really like this... Report an error in the passage at 26:33 Highlight the passage at 26:33

26:55 In New Zealand, they asked me to do a week-long course called Karma, Emptiness and the Twelve Links. Oh my God. For a week. New Zealand on top. Yeah, New Zealand on top of it. Yeah, because there's so much to this, you know, and we're kind of packing it in to like, but they asked me to do a whole week on Karma, Emptiness and the Twelve Links. Report an error in the passage at 26:55 Highlight the passage at 26:55

27:18 So there's not, anybody who wants to, look on my website that's got my schedule on it, which is on my little card. God, now I've forgotten. Either December or January. Yeah, December, January and February, New Zealand summer guys, come on, we can have a class reunion. Report an error in the passage at 27:18 Highlight the passage at 27:18

27:39 Okay, John had something. Oh, you've got another one. Yeah, the other question I had was, so you were talking about in the area of the six senses, one thing you can do is to, you know, you can... and just do Carmen. Report an error in the passage at 27:39 Highlight the passage at 27:39

27:54 avoid you know like take vows of chastity and poverty or whatever you whatever you The other thing I was wondering is where would performing virtuous deeds fit on the cycle? Well, remember, this is the cause of saṃsāra. Performing virtuous deeds is what gets us out with an understanding of emptiness. knows. Our negative, our... Report an error in the passage at 27:54 Highlight the passage at 27:54

28:23 We talk about contaminated good karma, just virtuous deeds done without an understanding of emptiness. And they cause us to have good feelings here, right? So all of the good feelings that we have from the virtue that we've done in past lives without thinking of emptiness is just what we call contaminated good karma. Report an error in the passage at 28:23 Highlight the passage at 28:23

28:42 It doesn't get us free from saṃsāra. It just causes us to have better samsaric experiences. So that's still in there. So it doesn't contribute to our positive karma. Report an error in the passage at 28:42 Highlight the passage at 28:42

28:54 The fact that we're in a human rebirth is caused by our contaminated good karma. The fact that we can meet somebody like His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Geshe Dagpa and get these teachings is due to contaminated good karma. The reason that we motivate and dedicate and think about emptiness now that we know better when we're doing all our virtues, that puts it in the karmic bank account for enlightenment and not just a better rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 28:54 Highlight the passage at 28:54

29:21 So that's the difference between virtue done with an understanding of emptiness and karma and with the right kind of dedication. It kind of propels it in that direction versus just plain old virtue that we've done that got us here. I mean, thank God. And it gets us to, for example, a good samsaric rebirth, but it doesn't create causes for our enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 29:21 Highlight the passage at 29:21

29:48 Without that understanding. Except indirectly, because we can be a human and hear the teachings. Okay, John and then Lynn. Report an error in the passage at 29:48 Highlight the passage at 29:48

30:00 Isn't this cool, by the way? Is that cool or what? Can I get some positive visual feedback? Report an error in the passage at 30:00 Highlight the passage at 30:00

30:09 Just so that I know that I'm seeing this. The proper way, just for some clarification. So it would seem to me that, yeah, if you can open the gap between feeling and craving, that would be a good thing. Report an error in the passage at 30:09 Highlight the passage at 30:09

30:26 Now, by what to open, to widen that gap, I would assume a good way of doing that is developing bodhicitta, right? Well, mostly what we're doing here is understanding and meditating on... Karma, emptiness, the 12 links, how our saṃsāra is created and slowing down and being mindful. I would say those are the main practices that make us widen the gap. Report an error in the passage at 30:26 Highlight the passage at 30:26

30:56 Bodhicitta is great as a motivation, but to directly cut this here, it involves understanding this whole process, understanding karma, understanding emptiness, doing lots and lots of meditation on it and then being really, really mindful. Because with mindfulness, if you're well trained, you can feel those impulses start to arise. And you can catch them before it manifests in any kind of action. Report an error in the passage at 30:56 Highlight the passage at 30:56

31:24 You usually catch it right about here. It's like it starts to come up and then you're just like, oh, that craving is coming up. And then you remind yourself. The mindfulness catches you and then you use wisdom to remind yourself. So it's mostly karma and emptiness at that point. Yeah, because I was wondering. Report an error in the passage at 31:24 Highlight the passage at 31:24

31:44 As I was explaining to you last night, the thing that I've been trying to do is to have the bodhicitta motivation. Yeah, yeah. And that's made it easier to go and be able to go and, you know, like when anger arises, to go grab it and then turn it back in on itself and see where it's coming from. Yeah, and for sure that helps is just the baseline. Yeah, yeah, definitely for sure is just that motivation that you're setting. Report an error in the passage at 31:44 Highlight the passage at 31:44

32:08 For everything that you're doing, definitely, you know, but then directly. So I would say that would be more of an indirect kind of cause for being able to widen that gap and then the direct cause. But if you just got bodhicitta and you don't understand the 12 links, you don't have the ammunition you need to really stop it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 32:08 Highlight the passage at 32:08

32:29 And it's interesting, you know, for example, I said how sense contact and then, for example, monastic celibacy vows. We have these pre-monastic trainings where for two weeks they meet and they tell you your vows. I posit, and I think it's really true, that if you don't understand the twelve links, you're not going to be a happy monastic. Report an error in the passage at 32:29 Highlight the passage at 32:29

32:50 You're just going to think that Lord Buddha is trying to spoil all your fun. But if you understand where those vows stop you from creating the cause of saṃsāra, then you'll be happy. So it's very interesting when we think of any kind of Buddhist morality or any kind of ethics. Sometimes we do it kind of begrudgingly. Oh, you know, Lord Buddha just said I couldn't have fun. Report an error in the passage at 32:50 Highlight the passage at 32:50

33:14 But forget it. Lord Buddha is telling you, because this, by the way, is what he realized the night that he got enlightened. He got this 12-link thing. And for years I would be taught it in these classes and I just didn't get it at all. It's like all these weird things in the three lifetimes and you're like, what's going on? Report an error in the passage at 33:14 Highlight the passage at 33:14

33:35 And then I had this insight into where you can cut through. And so it's really important to have that understanding. And then it makes your morality make sense. It makes all your bodhisattva practices make sense. It makes everything make sense. But it's mostly directly this understanding. And then your mindfulness slowing yourself down that allows you to create that gap. Okay, Lynn had something. If she remembers, it was a long time ago. Report an error in the passage at 33:35 Highlight the passage at 33:35

34:01 Yeah, well, I don't even have some questions. I've been just thinking about it for years. I questioned why we began with ignorance and why the cause is so negative to start with. Because this is saṃsāra we're talking about right now. Okay? Okay. Because I think a lot about Buddha nature. We really are motivated. We're altruistically motivated underneath it. So I just wondered about that. Yeah, and this is the explanation of how we create our uncontrolled rebirth in saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 34:01 Highlight the passage at 34:01

34:38 So it's kind of bad news. It's kind of a drag. But understanding it, you can realize how to reverse it. Because remember, I have a look at where I said, and no aging and death. And you... Reverse the whole thing. With your wisdom, you reverse it. But this is just, you have to understand how you create it. Otherwise, we're going to be doing all our practices because Lama Zopa told us to. Report an error in the passage at 34:38 Highlight the passage at 34:38

35:02 And then the minute we get tired of it, we're going to drop it because we don't understand why we're doing it. And when you can relate your Buddhist practices to where does it cut through the 12 links, It's so much better, you know. Then you won't give up. Because if you don't understand, you're just doing it because Daddy told you to. Like, forget it. It's not going to work. Report an error in the passage at 35:02 Highlight the passage at 35:02

35:22 Yeah. So that's why we have to understand this. You know, that's why we have to. When you were talking about the contact and feeling and talking, varieties of experiences. Yeah. Right. And I suddenly told you to. Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 35:22 Highlight the passage at 35:22

35:47 No, but people really transformed it. There's this book by Elie Wiesel who talks about the difference between the survivors that made it into a positive experience, mostly by bodhicitta, trying to think of others, trying to make others happy, trying to take care of them. And then they came out without post-traumatic stress disorder. Report an error in the passage at 35:47 Highlight the passage at 35:47

36:07 I was talking to somebody recently who was in Dharamsala and there's some psychologist there studying why the Tibetans don't seem to have post-traumatic stress disorder because of what happened. It's because they understand. So it's true, you know, even for concentration camps, it's not like everybody thought it was a party, but some people were able to use it as part of the path and as a way to increase their bodhicitta and just their plain old compassion. Report an error in the passage at 36:07 Highlight the passage at 36:07

36:35 Because they've done all these studies and people who are just like victim, oh poor me, it's so horrible. Of course, for most people it was like that. And then there were some outstanding people that really tried to take care of others and benefit others. You know, and for them it was a teaching. You know, it was a lesson. It was part of the path. And I'm trying to study how do this dumps are part of PTSD. Report an error in the passage at 36:35 Highlight the passage at 36:35

37:01 Yeah. And I think probably... Yeah, understanding karma and emptiness. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 37:01 Highlight the passage at 37:01

37:11 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I'm just, like I said, I'm giving you the raw material and you gotta cook it. Okay, Maria's got something and then Carla. Report an error in the passage at 37:11 Highlight the passage at 37:11

37:33 When Lynn said the thing about the concentration camps, I automatically... I'm not going to get this totally right, but I read A Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield. And he was talking about a man who's now or was a psychologist and was in that situation as a child. And as a child, he could see how amongst all the torture, all the suffering, that there were still men and women who would put their suffering aside to help all other people there. Report an error in the passage at 37:33 Highlight the passage at 37:33

38:10 And he just... That resonated with him and ultimately he basically said that no matter how much torture you suffer, no matter how much you go through, there's still that ultimate decision, that last human freedom where you have the ability to choose how you're going to react to your situation. Right, right. And that just kind of just burst into my head when she said that. And that's why His Holiness the Dalai Lama calls, you know, exchanging self and others, this method that we have for developing bodhicitta, enlightened self-interest. Report an error in the passage at 38:10 Highlight the passage at 38:10

38:49 Because he goes, oh, only by giving up attachment to your own happiness just happens to be the only way to get happy. You know, it's like weird. It's like you give up all of this self-absorption and you just go, oh, it doesn't matter whether I'm happy. And then boom, miraculously, you're happier than you ever were. So enlightened self-interest. And even if people don't know that phrase, you know, just instinctively or past life imprints or whatever it is that causes them to do that and they suffer less. Report an error in the passage at 38:49 Highlight the passage at 38:49

39:19 Because the rule of thumb seems to be think about other people more and yourself less and you'll be a lot happier. You know, that's just... Pretty basic. And we're not trained that way at all. We so don't think that way. I remember my father when I was growing up and he was like, honey, look out for number one because nobody else is going to look out for you. Report an error in the passage at 39:19 Highlight the passage at 39:19

39:37 And I'm like, daddy, you're wrong. You know, sorry. Because it just doesn't work. If it worked, I'd say do it. But it just makes us more and more miserable. And then we think, oh, I'm unhappy. I've got to look out for number one more. And then we get more miserable. And it just goes on like that. It's just this never ending. Report an error in the passage at 39:37 Highlight the passage at 39:37

39:55 Yeah, yeah. Okay, any other questions about the 12 lengths? Oh, Carla had one, sorry. Just a clarification, when you talked earlier about creating virtues and sprouting in the pleasure of eating the chocolate cake as a form of happiness, I mean, that's conventional gross level experience. Yeah. Is that really the happiness that comes out of past virtues? I have a hard time. Any happiness that we have comes out of good karma. Report an error in the passage at 39:55 Highlight the passage at 39:55

40:37 The definition of good karma is that which leads to happiness. Even temporal happiness. If I kill someone and I feel pleasure. That's not the cause of your pleasure at all. Your pleasure was caused by some other karmic seed. That happens to be, and we're fooled by proximity into thinking there's a cause and effect relationship. We're fooled by proximity. Report an error in the passage at 40:37 Highlight the passage at 40:37

41:03 Anybody who feels happy after they do some non-virtue, whatever it is. It's some other karma that's taken a long time to ripen and then that non-virtue that they do is going to take a long time to ripen into some suffering. And we're fooled by proximity all the time in thinking there's a cause and effect relationship and that's not a cause and effect relationship at all. Report an error in the passage at 41:03 Highlight the passage at 41:03

41:28 you know? OK. And it's not the sense contact of killing someone that makes you even fooled into things. It's not that. It's not like a sense contact with an object that then serves as a condition for your pleasure. Yeah, so I'm still mistaking effect as cause by saying that, right? Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's what's happening. Right, right. And still identifying as cause as opposed to both or effect. Or you steal, let's give an even more mundane example, you know, you steal $500 and you buy a nice stereo system and you listen to music that makes you happy. Report an error in the passage at 41:28 Highlight the passage at 41:28

42:08 And you think the stealing was the cause of your happiness. Getting the nice stereo system and listening to the music and having that mundane happiness is still the cause of some good deed that you did in the past. And then stealing is going to create the cause for some not having the resources that you need to live later on in this life or in some future life. Report an error in the passage at 42:08 Highlight the passage at 42:08

42:32 So we're fooled by that proximity. What about non-virtuous things that... People did before they knew better. I mean, I guess that's part of ignorance, but like children. It's like physics. Karma is completely impersonal and it doesn't matter how much you know. You know, it's still going to have an effect. Now, if you know that something is wrong or if you've taken a vow not to do it and then you do it, it's heavier negativity because it's a deeper imprint. Report an error in the passage at 42:32 Highlight the passage at 42:32

43:05 Like to go against something that you do know, you know, especially something that you vowed not to do, creates a stronger imprint. Because remember, karma isn't anybody keeping track. It's the imprint in your mind, you know, and just carrying that into feeling an effect in the future. So the more you know, the more your negative karma actually causes a worse. So sorry, everybody. Now I've told you about this, so I just made it worse for you. Report an error in the passage at 43:05 Highlight the passage at 43:05

43:33 Or better, because I've given you the ammunition that you need to cut through it. Sorry, a quick follow-up. What if you did something without an intended consequence and the consequence was way worse than you intended? You see what I'm saying? Report an error in the passage at 43:33 Highlight the passage at 43:33

43:52 Anyway, yeah. You did something meaning like for some beneficial result and then something negative happened? Yeah, for a beneficial result or even neutral, but then something pretty terrible happened. Yeah, it mostly depends on your intention. And again, this isn't a class on karma. It's really complicated. You know, we do a whole course on how karma works and the mechanisms and all the components of a complete karmic action, what makes the effect heavier or lighter. Report an error in the passage at 43:52 Highlight the passage at 43:52

44:21 And so we just don't have time to get into all of that. The motivation is a big part of it. The motivation plays a big role. So any more kind of general karmic questions, we just don't have enough time to get really into a lot of the detail of karma, but there's other places that you can go for those details. Report an error in the passage at 44:21 Highlight the passage at 44:21

44:42 But just using our understanding to break through this. Really, really important, especially that gap. So when you feel caught up in a strong, subjective experience of pleasant or unpleasant, you feel like taking some action, just check and see. It's not that that sense contact with that object is the cause. So just remember this relationship. All right. Report an error in the passage at 44:42 Highlight the passage at 44:42

45:12 So let's get back to the Heart Sūtra. So we're on. The section where Avalokiteshvara says, Shariputra, therefore. So we've started, again, another path. So what we're talking about here is the last meditation before Yerabuddha. So Avalokiteshvara is giving us the instruction on the final meditation. That leads us to Buddhahood. Because remember I said the difference between or you transit from one path to the next in deep meditation. Report an error in the passage at 45:12 Highlight the passage at 45:12

45:51 So there's a meditation at the end of the path of meditation. Okay, we're here. We're at the end of the path of meditation right before this line. The very last meditation of that path of meditation is called the Vajra-like. Meditative absorption. Okay, the very last meditation. The Vajra-like meditative absorption. Report an error in the passage at 45:51 Highlight the passage at 45:51

46:20 And so up until now in the path of meditation, been meditating on the 12 sources, the 18 elements, the 12 links, the four noble truths, all along. And now we're at the point of Buddha and we go into our final meditation. And then... Therefore means since that's the case, since you've perfected all four paths, the fifth path is going to be the result. Report an error in the passage at 46:20 Highlight the passage at 46:20

46:47 That little word therefore means all of that stuff. Therefore, since you just finished, or you're just getting ready to finish the four paths, the fifth path is the result. There is no attainment. We're at the point of Buddhahood. Does it mean? There's no Buddhahood. There's no attainment. No. From its own side, yes. So he's saying there's no attainment from its own side, meaning everything that you've done up until now, therefore, because you traversed all four of those paths, there is a dependently arising attainment. Report an error in the passage at 46:47 Highlight the passage at 46:47

47:29 There's no attainment from its own side, but the attainment you get at the end of all of that is a dependent arising. So that's what he's just saying. At that point of attainment, there's no attainment from its own side because you just got there through all that hard work that you did, all those causes and conditions you created. Report an error in the passage at 47:29 Highlight the passage at 47:29

47:50 Then there's attainment. There's no attainment for that being in that meditative absorption until the moment they're a Buddha because then they can see conventional and ultimate reality. At the same time. So you go into the meditation. You're still a tenth level bodhisattva. You go into that vajra-like meditative concentration, that last meditation. Report an error in the passage at 47:50 Highlight the passage at 47:50

48:15 You go into the direct realization of emptiness, all conventional phenomena. You can't have any awareness of it. And then, you know, a nanosecond after you've eliminated the final obscuration to omniscience, which is the last defilement to go, and you're a Buddha. And you must know then, because you're still meditating on emptiness and all of a sudden you can see the emptiness in the conventional, so you must know at that point. But just right up until that point, you don't even know that you're a hair's breadth from being a Buddha yet. Report an error in the passage at 48:15 Highlight the passage at 48:15

48:49 The only thing appearing to you is emptiness. That's pretty trippy. That's going to be interesting, right? Like you're in that, nothing else is appearing and all of a sudden you're still in the direct realization of emptiness and then everything shows up again. Then what it looks like then is a big debate. What does a Buddha see then? What does conventional reality to a Buddha look like? Report an error in the passage at 48:49 Highlight the passage at 48:49

49:14 Big debate. So that's what that means. There's no attainment as you're approaching it. You're still just seeing emptiness directly. Still just seeing that mere absence. Because there's no attainment from its own side, bodhisattvas rely on and dwell in the perfection of wisdom. That means, what is rely on and dwell? Report an error in the passage at 49:14 Highlight the passage at 49:14

49:40 That's what they depend on to get there. And the perfection of wisdom here is talking about the path perfection of wisdom, which remember is that direct realization of emptiness. So they rely on it and they dwell in it, meaning they do it over and over and over again. Doing that meditation. So all during the path of seeing, all during the path of meditation, all the bodhisattvas depend on that meditation. Report an error in the passage at 49:40 Highlight the passage at 49:40

50:05 They keep doing it over and over and over again. So rely on and dwell in the perfection of wisdom means keep doing the path perfection of wisdom. Keep doing the direct realization of emptiness over and over and over again. Report an error in the passage at 50:05 Highlight the passage at 50:05

50:18 The mind without obscuration and without fear. Okay, no more obscurations. And remember we talked about the two kinds of obscurations. We have the defilements, which was the karma and the afflictive emotions. That's eliminated after the seventh Bhumi. And then we have the obscurations to omniscience. That's eliminated now, okay, at the moment of Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 50:18 Highlight the passage at 50:18

50:45 No more obscurations. And no more fear. Because you've got no more causes of suffering, you've got no more causes of being in saṃsāra, you've got no more causes of being an unenlightened being. So it's very cool. No more obscurations, no more fear. Not a shred of anything left that limits you at all. No more limitations. Having completely passed beyond error. And then this means they've... Report an error in the passage at 50:45 Highlight the passage at 50:45

51:17 Completely passed beyond what we call the four distortions. The four distortions. Four wrong ways of looking at things. This is specifically the error that we're talking about here. It's the four distortions. So the four distortions are seeing the impure as pure. Report an error in the passage at 51:17 Highlight the passage at 51:17

51:38 Seeing suffering as happiness. Seeing things that are impermanent. Or changing as unchanging and seeing things that are selfless and without essence as having some self or essence. So seeing things that are impure as pure. So that's a distorted kind of mind that most of us have. We see impure things as pure. Report an error in the passage at 51:38 Highlight the passage at 51:38

52:08 We see things that are really in the nature of suffering as happiness. We see things that are... Changing as unchanging. We think things are going to last forever. If we have some kind of happiness, we somehow just think it's going to last forever and we freak out when it doesn't because we expected it to be permanent or unchanging. Report an error in the passage at 52:08 Highlight the passage at 52:08

52:33 And then we see things that are selfless as having some self or essence. In other words, we see things that are empty as having inherent existence. So those are the four. Report an error in the passage at 52:33 Highlight the passage at 52:33

52:46 Those happen to also be, remember I said the 16 aspects of the Four Noble Truths before that you realize directly right after that first meditation on emptiness? Those are the four aspects of the truth of suffering. Those are the four aspects of the First Noble Truth, or those four distortions. Report an error in the passage at 52:46 Highlight the passage at 52:46

53:09 Same thing. So those four distortions is overcoming error, completely past beyond error. So we go 180 degrees opposite to those wrong views, you know, completely eliminate those wrong views. They reach the end point of nirvāṇa. So this is talking about the fifth path. And the word nirvāṇa, because we said, wait a minute, nirvāṇa is just solitary peace. Report an error in the passage at 53:09 Highlight the passage at 53:09

53:34 But the Tibetan word that's translated as nirvāṇa here means pass beyond sorrow or pass beyond grief. So we could retranslate it and say they completely pass beyond error and they completely pass beyond grief or sorrow. Which is the Tibetan word for nirvāṇa. Report an error in the passage at 53:34 Highlight the passage at 53:34

53:59 So fifth path, path of no more learning. And then he says, all the Buddhas who dwell in the three times also manifestly, completely awaken to the unsurpassable, perfect, complete enlightenment in reliance on the perfection of wisdom. So he's saying, every Buddha that ever... Report an error in the passage at 53:59 Highlight the passage at 53:59

54:21 All the buddhas in the three times, past, present and future, all depended on this path perfection of wisdom. They all depended on the direct realization of emptiness to get enlightened. No exceptions. Non-negotiable realization to have for enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 54:21 Highlight the passage at 54:21

54:46 Past, present and future. Alright. Yeah, okay. Report an error in the passage at 54:46 Highlight the passage at 54:46

54:52 So we're at the end. We're at Buddhahood. Okay. Do you need a little break before we finish the sūtra? Are you okay? Yeah? Everybody all right? All right. So therefore, okay, the mantra of the perfection of wisdom. So the mantra, and it's interesting, the word mantra means protection of the mind. Okay, the etymology of the Sanskrit word mantra. Mantra literally doesn't mean a bunch of words in Sanskrit. It means that which protects the mind. Report an error in the passage at 54:52 Highlight the passage at 54:52

55:29 And what's the real protection for the mind? Yeah. Gokris, the direct realization of emptiness. So that's the real mantra. So the mantra of the perfection of wisdom is actually referring to, I mean we're going to go into some Sanskrit words, but the real protection of the mind is that direct realization of emptiness, that path perfection of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 55:29 Highlight the passage at 55:29

55:54 So the mantra... 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. So what does all this mean, all of these superlatives? Okay, good going Carla. Report an error in the passage at 55:54 Highlight the passage at 55:54

56:20 Okay, so what does all of this mean? Okay, the mantra of great knowledge. The mantra is called the mantra of great knowledge because it destroys ignorance and the three poisons. So ignorance, attachment and aversion. So it's called the mantra of great knowledge because it destroys ignorance and the three poisons. It's called the unsurpassed because there's no higher protection than this. Report an error in the passage at 56:20 Highlight the passage at 56:20

56:51 It protects us completely from ignorance, negative karma. It protects us from the two extremes of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. So it's unsurpassed, no better protection than that direct realization of emptiness, that perfection of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 56:51 Highlight the passage at 56:51

57:10 It's called equal to the unequaled. So Buddhahood is synonymous with the resultant perfection of wisdom. There's nothing higher than that. That's the unequaled because nothing is equal to it, nothing is higher. So we're saying here that it's equal to that. That perfection of wisdom is equal to the resultant perfection of wisdom, Buddhahood, the omniscient mind of a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 57:10 Highlight the passage at 57:10

57:37 Nothing equal to that. That's the unequaled. So this is equal to the unequaled, the enlightened state. So by using the path perfection of wisdom, we attain that resultant perfection of wisdom. So that's equal to the unequaled. And then thoroughly pacifies all suffering. It pacifies manifest suffering and any... Report an error in the passage at 57:37 Highlight the passage at 57:37

58:06 Propensities or karmic potentials for any kind of suffering. So all suffering, both manifest suffering and the karmic seeds and potentials for that suffering. Report an error in the passage at 58:06 Highlight the passage at 58:06

58:19 And then because it is not false means two things. It's undeceiving. It will not lead you astray by practicing the perfection of wisdom. It is not false, meaning it's not going to lead you astray. And it's also telling you the ultimate nature of reality, the truth about reality. In that way, it's not false either, right? Because it's not any kind of false view of reality. It's the ultimate nature of reality. Report an error in the passage at 58:19 Highlight the passage at 58:19

58:50 So this is what all of those superlative adjectives mean. So any questions here before we go into them? Report an error in the passage at 58:50 Highlight the passage at 58:50

59:04 Okay, the great knowledge, because it destroys ignorance and the three poisons, it's called the mantra of great knowledge. Yeah, John. Report an error in the passage at 59:04 Highlight the passage at 59:04

59:14 Ignorance, attachment and aversion. As those are the three, sometimes we call them the three root delusions or the three poisons, because everything, all the other mental afflictions, afflictive emotions are some combination of those three. So ignorance, attachment and aversion are the main three. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 59:14 Highlight the passage at 59:14

59:37 Any other? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 59:37 Highlight the passage at 59:37

59:48 So what is the purpose of the mantra? Yeah, yeah. And it's to remind us of the five paths that we'll see in just a minute. It's to remind us of the five paths. Because each part of the mantra refers to one of the five paths. Because that's the real protection, is traversing, you know, it's not, Tibetan Buddhism isn't magic. Report an error in the passage at 59:48 Highlight the passage at 59:48

1:00:12 Sometimes it seems kind of magical and mystical and you just recite some words and then all these miracles happen and it's not like that. So the meaning of the mantra is to remind us of the five paths. And it's interesting, this is one of the few mantras that shows up in a sūtra teaching. Sometimes Vajrayana is called secret Mantrayana, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:12 Highlight the passage at 1:00:12

1:00:35 And so the use of mantras is very common in the Vajrayana and this is one of the few... I can only think of a couple of sūtra teachings that also include mantras, and this is one of the few ones, but it mostly reminds us of the path. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:35 Highlight the passage at 1:00:35

1:00:52 Yeah, Ben. Can you just repeat what the, you said that it's not just a literal mantra, but the definition of what a mantra is. Yeah, protection for the mind. That which protects the mind, yeah. That's what mantra means, protection for the mind. So the real protection is that realization. The real thing that protects the mind isn't a bunch of words in Sanskrit. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:52 Highlight the passage at 1:00:52

1:01:16 It's that realization in our mind, that direct realization of emptiness. Okay, so now we're at the mantra. Tayata means it is thus or here's the way it is. Tayata, here's the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:16 Highlight the passage at 1:01:16

1:01:33 Paragate means go. And this first go refers to the path of accumulation. The first gate refers to the path of accumulation. Get going on the path of accumulation. And then the second gate refers to the path of preparation. Get going on the path of preparation. Paragate means go beyond. And that refers to the path of seeing. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:33 Highlight the passage at 1:01:33

1:02:04 It's kind of interesting. They go from gate gate, which refers to what we call the mundane path, the path where you're not an Arya yet, to paragate, the path of seeing, go beyond. And then parasamgate, go completely beyond. Parasamgate, go completely beyond. And that refers to the path of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:04 Highlight the passage at 1:02:04

1:02:29 And then bodhi, awake, path of no more learning. Awake, Buddhahood, that refers to the result, bodhi, awake. And sometimes you'll read in scriptures bodhi being used as sort of a synonym of Buddhahood. You know, when we attain the result of bodhi, they'll say, meaning Buddhahood, so it's a synonym. Soha, so be it, or may this be realized. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:29 Highlight the passage at 1:02:29

1:02:57 Okay, may this be realized. So it is thus. Get going on the path of accumulation. Keep going on the path of preparation. Go beyond during the path of seeing. Go completely beyond during the path of meditation to enlightenment. May that be realized. So that's what the mantra means. Yes, microphone. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:57 Highlight the passage at 1:02:57

1:03:29 See, this is why I really wanted to take your class, because I didn't know any of this before, and it was just confusing. And actually, honestly, kind of a little boring to read the Heart Sūtra. But now that I know, it's so beautiful. Because not only is the whole Buddhist path condensed into a page and a half that we can recite, but that whole page and a half is condensed into a little mantra. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:29 Highlight the passage at 1:03:29

1:03:59 That is so beautiful. Cool. I'm so glad. Yeah, me too. It's cool, isn't it? Isn't it great? You're never going to read the Heart Sūtra ever the same again. And we're going to read it at the end before we dedicate. Really slowly and pause. After every paragraph it will be like a review meditation of the whole class. And just feel how different it's going to feel when we read it like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:59 Highlight the passage at 1:03:59

1:04:25 Yeah, I think Geshe-la referred to this mantra as the instructions for those people who are very skillful. Very wise. So this is like the smallest condensation of all the instructions of the path. It's in this one little mantra. Yeah, perfect, because if you really know it well, like the back of your hand, all you need to do is hear the mantra and you review the whole five paths thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:25 Highlight the passage at 1:04:25

1:04:55 All you do is hear the mantra and all of this runs through your mind. You're like, oh yeah, right, the path of accumulation. This is what's happening there, the path of preparation. That's what's happening there. Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:55 Highlight the passage at 1:04:55

1:05:13 But it's cool. Yeah, it's very, very cool the way that works. But don't you think that there's not one person here? Oh, microphone. She's heard me enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:13 Highlight the passage at 1:05:13

1:05:26 Don't you think that everybody here at some point in one of their previous lives has just that mantra. They've heard that. There's no way we would hear that. Totally. Absolutely. No way. Absolutely. There's no way. I remember once. Reba Rinpoche, one of my teachers, I remember one time we were at, Lama Zopa Rinpoche wanted us to do some puja for the water system at Vajrapani and it was like 1993 and Alan Wallace was teaching a course that weekend and we had to do this puja with Reba Rinpoche on Sunday morning at the last minute at 9.30 in the morning. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:26 Highlight the passage at 1:05:26

1:06:02 It was way before the days of email. We had to just call people Saturday night, you know how many people we got at home, to see, because Lama Tsongkhapa said, as many people come to this puja as possible would be really good. We only had about 15 people, because everybody else was in the course, or we couldn't get them on the phone. And I remember, so this motley crew kind of stumbles into the Chinre Zegampa at Vajrapani to do this puja. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:02 Highlight the passage at 1:06:02

1:06:26 And Riba Rinpoche, before the puja, he just, he stopped and looked around the room, and he goes, It might seem really random who's here right now, but he goes, we created specific causes in past lives to be in this room doing this one puja together right now. We're all like, we did? And I think of that like my Dharma friends that I'm in classes with year after year after year and practicing in group retreats and all that stuff, man, no way that we weren't. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:26 Highlight the passage at 1:06:26

1:06:59 And to be in this room together for this weekend, Absolutely no way it could have happened by accident, random. It was created by karma. So yeah, for sure. For sure. You know, definitely. I'll never forget when Rupert Rinpoche said that and we're all like, huh? You know, it's like, oh no, it's just like who's home on Saturday night. Like we're the losers. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:59 Highlight the passage at 1:06:59

1:07:26 All us losers that did something really good in some past life. That's funny, that's funny, that's Report an error in the passage at 1:07:26 Highlight the passage at 1:07:26

1:07:32 Yeah, but for sure, definitely. Yeah, we have some connection, you know, because otherwise why would we be here, for sure. So, the mantra that's supposed to remind us of the path, okay, now that you've gotten the explanation of the path. Yeah. The Om, which we've been omitting. You know, I never, ever have heard a Tibetan Lama put the Om in there, and in the commentaries they don't have an explanation of the Om. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:32 Highlight the passage at 1:07:32

1:07:59 So I don't put that in there. I just, yeah, I've never, I mean, maybe it's an alternative, it's in brackets. And in the commentaries that I've studied, they don't explain the Aum. Yeah. This is pure speculation, but it might, I wonder if it's like an abbreviation for it is this, like, because I've never heard Tayata Aum. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:59 Highlight the passage at 1:07:59

1:08:20 Well, no, they have the Tayata and the Aum. Oh, they do? Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. So much for that. It's in the brackets, yeah. But I think the first time I ever heard the mantra, they never said tayata. They said om gate gate paragata. Oh really? Okay, because I've only ever heard tayata gate gate paragata. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:20 Highlight the passage at 1:08:20

1:08:38 Yeah, so maybe it is. Maybe the om is an alternative. I don't know. So then Avalokiteshvara is wrapping up. His instruction to Shariputra, and he says, Shariputra, the bodhisattva, mahasattva, should train in the profound perfection of wisdom like that. So bodhisattva, mahasattva, we already talked about what that meant. It means, you know, those beings who are working for their own benefit and the benefit of others. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:38 Highlight the passage at 1:08:38

1:09:09 Remember we said bodhisattva means own benefit, mahasattva means benefit of others. So those bodhisattvas, mahasattvas should train in the profound perfection of wisdom just the way that I've explained, meaning they should practice the path perfection of wisdom to get the resultant perfection of wisdom, just like I explained in the scriptural perfection of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:09 Highlight the passage at 1:09:09

1:09:35 So he just gave us all the instructions about how to practice the path perfection of wisdom, keep practicing that direct realization of emptiness to get to the resultant perfection of wisdom that we just got to. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:35 Highlight the passage at 1:09:35

1:09:48 Then the Bhagavan arose from that concentration and commended the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara. Wait a minute, he's supposed to be meditating on emptiness, right? So he gets out and commends... Avalokiteshvara, proving he's a Buddha. Because if he wasn't a Buddha, he wouldn't have heard what was happening while he's sitting in the corner. So he's busting himself here. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:48 Highlight the passage at 1:09:48

1:10:15 You know, if he was really absorbed in the concentration on the aspects of the profound without being a Buddha, he couldn't have heard the conversation. So he comes out of his pretend meditation and he says to the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara, Well said, well said. Son of the lineage. It is like that. It is like that. One should practice the profound perfection of wisdom just as you have indicated. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:15 Highlight the passage at 1:10:15

1:10:43 Even the Tathagatas rejoice. So he says, well said, well said. And in the Tibetan there's three well saids. One is translated here as the commending the bodhisattva. So he's saying well said three times. Was considered a real... A grammatical error to repeat something, to be redundant. So each of these three well-seds means something different. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:43 Highlight the passage at 1:10:43

1:11:11 So he says, well-said, he commends him, that's one well-said, saying, well-said, well-said. He's not just stuttering. The Buddha isn't just being redundant. They all mean something. So the first well-said means, you taught it well. Okay, it means you taught it well. And we've just gone into the realm of the other two kind of sutras with this one line. So remember we said there's three kind of sutras. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:11 Highlight the passage at 1:11:11

1:11:41 Speech spoken directly by the Buddha. This is the first time he's said anything. So now we've got that first kind of sūtra. And then we said there's sutras that are words spoken with the approval of the Buddha. It's the second kind too. Because he's saying well said. You said it right. The second well said means I'm pleased that you spoke like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:41 Highlight the passage at 1:11:41

1:12:06 So we've just gone from the third kind of sūtra, which is that blessed emanation sūtra, speech blessed or inspired by the Buddha. The whole thing up until now has been that third kind. Now suddenly we've jumped and we've added the first two kind of sutras. You know, speech directly spoken by the Buddha and speech spoken by the, you know, permission or approval of the Buddha. So now the Buddha's approving of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:06 Highlight the passage at 1:12:06

1:12:34 So everything now becomes both inspired speech and speech that was given the Buddha's approval to be called Sūtra. So now Ananda knows, right? So that when they all gather together, he can... Say what happened. He's been given permission because the Buddha said, well said, well said. So the first one means you said it right, exactly like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:34 Highlight the passage at 1:12:34

1:12:59 The second one means I'm pleased at what you said. I approve of what you said and it pleased me. And then the third well said means, because remember there's all those other monks and bodhisattvas hanging out. Hey guys, you can pay attention to this. This was good instruction, so you pay attention. So the commentaries say all of these three well saids mean something slightly different because otherwise it would be a mistake in grammar. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:59 Highlight the passage at 1:12:59

1:13:29 Interesting, isn't it? We wouldn't have known that. We would have thought, how come? Well said, well said. Neon also says it is like that twice. So the first one means... You've taught the Dharma the way it's supposed to be. That's a correct teaching. So again he's giving his seal of approval to that teaching. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:29 Highlight the passage at 1:13:29

1:13:49 And then the second one again is addressed to the audience saying he's right. You can trust that. You can follow the instructions that he gave in this Heart Sūtra. You can follow that teaching. And then he says even the Tathagatas rejoice. So Tathāgata is another word for the Buddha. So he's saying, wait a minute, he's the Buddha, he's already approved of it, he's happy, who else is going to be happy? He says all of the other Buddhas are going to be happy too. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:49 Highlight the passage at 1:13:49

1:14:22 Not only is it going to please me, but any other Buddha that ever existed, all those Buddhas of the three times, they're going to be happy about it too. So he's saying all of the other Buddhas rejoice. The Bhagavan having thus spoken. It means that the Buddha is giving his permission. And that means that we can call this a sūtra because the Buddha gave his permission. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:22 Highlight the passage at 1:14:22

1:14:48 So the last part, the Buddha having thus spoken, the Venerable Charidvatiputra, the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Aryo Avlaka Cheshwara, those surrounding in their entirety, along with the world of gods, humans, asuras and Gandharvas, were overjoyed and highly praised that spoken by the Bhagavan. So the Bhagavan having thus spoken means he's given his approval, we can call it a sūtra now, then everybody's like, woohoo, that was great. And wait a minute, there's all these, before we said there's just monks and bodhisattvas and now there's humans, gandharvas, gods, asuras. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:48 Highlight the passage at 1:14:48

1:15:24 So that means anytime the Dharma is being spoken, there's beings from all of these other realms there listening to it too. And I mentioned that biography of that Thai forest master, Acharya Mun, and he was saying, oh at midnight I teach the devas, they come. You know, there are beings of other realms that have the ability to benefit from the teachings of the Dharma. So they say that whenever there's a Dharma teaching, there's all of these other beings come along to listen too. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:24 Highlight the passage at 1:15:24

1:15:52 I remember my teacher, Kirti Sencha Rinpoche, when he would teach, you know, he would teach and then he taught in Tibetan and then the translator would be translating and he'd be kind of sitting on his throne and he was always like so blissed out, you know, he'd just be sitting there like, and then all of a sudden he'd just kind of go, kind of like a cat, you know how cats do that? Report an error in the passage at 1:15:52 Highlight the passage at 1:15:52

1:16:13 Sometimes they're all, and we'd be like, who's up there? You know, and I'm sure that like the Gandharvas showed up. You know, and he's all, he would like look up at the ceiling. So that's supposedly the way it works. And I'm, you know, I'm sure that he saw him. So everybody else is there too. And then they commended, they were overjoyed because it was such a perfect teaching. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:13 Highlight the passage at 1:16:13

1:16:40 And they highly praised that spoken by the Bhagavan. Wait a minute. What do they mean spoken by the Bhagavan? Hint number three about what's going on, right? So this shows again the whole thing. Was that blessed speech? Because otherwise, what are they so excited that he would say like it's well said? No, you know, the whole thing was spoken by the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:40 Highlight the passage at 1:16:40

1:17:03 So another hint that it's that kind of blessed speech. So. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:03 Highlight the passage at 1:17:03

1:17:13 So I want to read it again before we dedicate the merit, but we've got some time for some other questions. If we've got some last. da-da-da-da! Report an error in the passage at 1:17:13 Highlight the passage at 1:17:13

1:17:26 Last, last. Last questions, comments? It's right here in front of me. So let me just ask, what does pronoid mean? Report an error in the passage at 1:17:26 Highlight the passage at 1:17:26

1:17:39 It's the opposite of paranoia. I know that, but how did you parse that? You know, there's a website called pronoia.org or something, only their definition is a little bit different. Their definition is... Report an error in the passage at 1:17:39 Highlight the passage at 1:17:39

1:17:54 Realizing that everybody's conspiring to make you happy. And I take it one step farther, you know, thinking that everyone's conspiring to get you enlightened. So I've taken it one. It's not just about samsaric happiness. It's actually, you know, realizing. But I remember, and I can't remember, it was eons ago. I don't even know if that website still exists, but it was this website all about, you know, it had a link to the Rainbow Gathering. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:54 Highlight the passage at 1:17:54

1:18:17 It probably has a link to Burning Man now. You know, links to all of these things. Yeah, Pronoia. Pronoia.org or something. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:17 Highlight the passage at 1:18:17

1:18:31 We should make bumper stickers. I'm Pronoid. How about you? Or something like that. I actually have a request. I wonder if you have time to explain own money payment home? I think... That is kind of a long explanation and I think we don't really have time because I want to just kind of focus on the Heart Sūtra right now because there is a couple of different ways to explain the meaning of Om Manipemium and to really do it justice would take quite a bit of time because there's several different interpretations of the meaning of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:31 Highlight the passage at 1:18:31

1:19:08 So next time. Okay. Yeah, Rebecca. You had mentioned, I think, I'm just, this is a detail, well. That Avalokiteshvara is an Arhat, not a bodhisattva? No. Oh, okay. I'm glad I'm asking. Yeah. In the Vajrayana, we consider him a Buddha. In the Sūtra, we consider him a 10th level bodhisattva. So it's the difference between being a Buddha and being a 10th level bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:08 Highlight the passage at 1:19:08

1:19:36 In this sūtra. In this sūtra, because it's sūtra and not tantra. So in the tantra, we see the bodhisattva of compassion as an actual fully enlightened being. And here, because it's a sūtra context, which is why I said in the beginning, he's meditating on emptiness intellectually because he's getting ready to speak. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:36 Highlight the passage at 1:19:36

1:19:58 Now if it were a Vajrayana teaching, no problem with that because we're seeing him as a Buddha. But we have to see him as a bodhisattva here because... It's a sūtra level teaching. So he's meditating on emptiness intellectually because he's just getting ready to talk. Thank you. And is there someone who's an arhat? I might have misunderstood what you said. Is there someone? Yeah, Shariputra. Is it Shariputra? Okay, that's what I was trying to say. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:58 Highlight the passage at 1:19:58

1:20:24 And that's what the monks are in this one. The great assembly of monks are all arhats that aren't bodhisattvas. So the reason that we have these two assemblies, Is just showing the difference. And so Shariputra is this great arhat foremost in wisdom that has to ask this really basic question of the bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:24 Highlight the passage at 1:20:24

1:20:46 How do you guys practice? Thank you. I just misheard you yesterday. Thank you. And there's this great story about how Shariputra lost his bodhicitta in some past life. He used to be a great bodhisattva. And this is a story to exemplify. So he's a great bodhisattva. He actually had the ability to give parts of his body away. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:46 Highlight the passage at 1:20:46

1:21:08 And so some yaksha, this kind of demonic being, masqueraded as a human and came to test Shariputra and he asked him for his right hand. I need a hand. Happen to have one? I heard you're a great bodhisattva. How about it? So Shariputra, without hesitating, chopped off his right hand and handed it to the yaksha, masquerading as a Brahmin or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:08 Highlight the passage at 1:21:08

1:21:34 Well, in India... You don't hand anything to anybody with your left hand. Really, no, no, because that's used for poo-poo, right? So you don't ever hand anything to anybody in India. It's seen as the most extreme insult, to touch anybody with your left hand, to hand anything. But hey, Shariputu just chopped his right hand off. He needed to hand it to him with something, so he hands him his right hand, and then the yaksha, masquerading as a human, goes, oh! Report an error in the passage at 1:21:34 Highlight the passage at 1:21:34

1:22:04 That's disgusting, how dare you? And he just flings the hand to the ground and goes stalking off. And in that moment, past life Shariputra goes, I've had it with these sentient beings. You know, you cut off your right hand and it's still not enough. So he gave up his bodhicitta. He just got completely fed up in that moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:04 Highlight the passage at 1:22:04

1:22:25 So that's the story about how Shariputra in a past life was a great bodhisattva. And this is sort of this morality tale because one of the bodhisattva vows that we have is never give up your bodhicitta no matter how anybody treats you. You know, just forget about it. You know, you try and help them and they're not grateful and just forget about it. So that's the story about Shariputra. So in this context, he seemed to be in our hunt. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:25 Highlight the passage at 1:22:25

1:22:50 Did you have something, Anna? No. I did. Oh, yeah. On the path of meditation, getting back to this, trying to get my mind around it, is this one constant meditation? No, no, no, no. So what are you doing in between? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:50 Highlight the passage at 1:22:50

1:23:09 Benefiting beings. Okay, and then you go back and you're in your hut and you're quiet and it's all and then you do the next. Yeah, so you're just doing whatever's most beneficial at that moment. You might be in long retreat if that's the most beneficial thing. You could be zipping around the globe teaching students if that's the right thing. You could be working in a soup kitchen, whatever it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:09 Highlight the passage at 1:23:09

1:23:29 But yeah, it's not one long continuous meditation. You just keep going into that direct perception of emptiness over and over and over again. You come out. Like I said, everything looks the way it always did, but you know it's not like that. So it's just keep going and coming up. It sounded like you said that that person, that yogi or yogini or bodhisattva, how would you describe it? Report an error in the passage at 1:23:29 Highlight the passage at 1:23:29

1:23:56 I guess you'd say aria-bodhisattva. That they're not aware of these shifts? They are. They've got to be, no? Yeah. No, no, no. What I'm saying is when you shift to the next path, the moment that you shift, you're in deep meditation. So you're not aware of it then because the only thing that you're perceiving then is emptiness. And then you come out and you've just shifted from the path of seeing to the path of meditation, for example. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:56 Highlight the passage at 1:23:56

1:24:25 So all of those shifts and the shifts between the... Bodhisattva grounds happen in deep meditation also. All of those shifts between paths and between grounds all happen. So when you're in the meditation, all that's appearing is emptiness and you're not aware that you've just, now you're suddenly at the next level. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:25 Highlight the passage at 1:24:25

1:24:45 Until you come out. Okay. Until you come out. And then you're aware. Okay, kind of describe what you think that might be like to be aware of, oh, I just shifted. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:45 Highlight the passage at 1:24:45

1:24:58 I want to run right back into meditation and keep going. Why would you want to go get on a plane? Yeah, right. Only to benefit beings and to increase your virtue because you're still working on the accumulation of wisdom and merit at that point. So you're still doing those. And you're perfecting those ten perfections, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:24:58 Highlight the passage at 1:24:58

1:25:22 As you've perfected, you're the perfect generous person. And it doesn't mean that that means that all the beggars in the world are fed. It just means that personally you've perfected your generosity so you're able to provide without any holding back. So you'd be doing that. You'd be doing all those things when you're out of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:22 Highlight the passage at 1:25:22

1:25:44 Yeah. And in fact. . These things actually couldn't happen only in meditation. No, no. Because, I mean, where would you be practicing patience? Right, right. If not for other humans? Yeah. Or dogs? Right. Fleas? Fleas. Yeah, Gina. Are there any books you'd recommend to further explore karma or what some of your favorites would be? Report an error in the passage at 1:25:44 Highlight the passage at 1:25:44

1:26:10 Yeah, there's, boy, there's a great book by Geshe Tashi Sering called... The Four Noble Truths that's got a lot about karma in it. There's a huge book by Geshe Sopa. Geshe Sopa from Wisconsin has been teaching the lamrim for like 35 years or something and they're transcribing all his teachings and there's a fat volume all about karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:10 Highlight the passage at 1:26:10

1:26:38 Geshe Sopa? S-O-P-A. Geshe Sopa. And it's published by Snow Lion, I believe. Is it in the bookstore? Okay. I just requested Report an error in the passage at 1:26:38 Highlight the passage at 1:26:38

1:26:55 Yeah, okay. So those. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:55 Highlight the passage at 1:26:55

1:27:00 Does he have a karma one or just the Four Noble Truths one? Okay, because he doesn't have a karma one. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:00 Highlight the passage at 1:27:00

1:27:13 And then also if you've got the lamrim, chanmo, Lama Tsongkhapa is the three volume set in the first volume. There's a lot of detail about karma in that first volume too. There's a great teaching on the 12 links by His Holiness the Dalai Lama called The Meaning of Life. Like you'd never figure that that's about the 12 links. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:13 Highlight the passage at 1:27:13

1:27:33 And also in the last part of, I believe it's the first volume of the lamrim, chanmo is a good... Twelve links section two, so that would be more on the twelve links there. Did everybody get those books? Was I going too fast? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:33 Highlight the passage at 1:27:33

1:27:52 Geshitashi Sering. T-S-E-R-I-N-G. You mentioned that you meditate on emptiness. Meditating, actually sitting on emptiness. But when you meditate on the other perfections, can you make the leap in terms of, let's say, giving and not acknowledging that you are not the giver, you are not the gift. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you're doing that intellectually. Intellectually, you know, you're reminding yourself. So it's more of contemplating when you're in the act of giving. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:52 Highlight the passage at 1:27:52

1:28:30 You're contemplating what they call the emptiness of the three spheres. You know, the giver. The actual process of giving and the recipient are all empty of inherent existence. So yeah, exactly. Would that be meditation on emptiness at the same time? We would call that contemplation. We wouldn't really call it meditation so much. And remember I said meditation only really happens after the path of accumulation is finished. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:30 Highlight the passage at 1:28:30

1:28:59 Okay, the path of accumulation. Because before that, anything we do, we're calling it contemplation. And only when we have perfect single point in concentration do we even call it meditation. So the kind of things that we do when we're in the act of doing it, we'd probably call that contemplating emptiness of the three spheres while we're practicing the perfections, which is also great. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:59 Highlight the passage at 1:28:59

1:29:23 You know, really important to do that. Good, I'm glad you brought that up. Great. Yeah, one more question, then we'll... Oh no, we've got time, we're alright. I'm so used to being late, you know, I can't get used to like that we actually have some time. Liz, can you tell me the difference between Tantra, Mantra and Sūtra? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:23 Highlight the passage at 1:29:23

1:29:51 Oh, okay. So sometimes, oh you mean the meaning of the words? The actual meaning of the words? The word Tantra actually means continuum. Continuum. Continuum. And it... And then mantra means, as we said, protection of the mind. And then sūtra, we usually translate that as discourses. But in general, we talk about secret mantra, which is synonymous with tantra, which is synonymous with vajrayana. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:51 Highlight the passage at 1:29:51

1:30:22 Those are three phrases that we use for certain techniques. Tantra, Vajrayana and secret mantra often are used synonymously. Tantra literally just means continuum but it refers to those techniques that we use, special techniques. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:22 Highlight the passage at 1:30:22

1:30:49 Hang on, Report an error in the passage at 1:30:49 Highlight the passage at 1:30:49

1:30:54 hang on, hang on. I spoke some yesterday. You were turning of the wheels yeah and you talked about the third turning of the wheel He was stepping back a little and saying, wait a minute. Yeah. So I was trying to look it up, what was the third turning of the wheel, and I saw someplace Buddha Nature, and you had said something about three natures. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:54 Highlight the passage at 1:30:54

1:31:20 Right, right, right. There are two kinds of sutras that were considered to be the third turning of the wheel. One... The main sūtra that's usually studied to explain something called the three natures is called the Sūtra Unraveling the Thought of the Buddha. Then there was another group of sutras that was included in the third turning of the wheel, which are the sutras on Buddha nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:20 Highlight the passage at 1:31:20

1:31:44 For example, the Tathāgata Garba Sūtra is an example of that. So the third turning of the wheel... It includes two kind of groups of teachings. One on something called the three natures, which doesn't mean Buddha nature. The word three natures is used, but it's not Buddha nature. And then Buddha nature would be the other main subject of that third turning of the wheel. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:44 Highlight the passage at 1:31:44

1:32:18 When you explain Tantra, what does it mean by continuum? It usually refers to mental continuum. A mental continuum meaning... thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:18 Highlight the passage at 1:32:18

1:32:27 Meaning kind of a string. And a string is another way that tantra is sometimes translated as just a continuum, meaning it just goes on from moment to moment to moment. The mental continuum kind of continues on through time, changing moment to moment. So that's what it mostly refers to. But that's a long story. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:27 Highlight the passage at 1:32:27

1:32:51 Okay, why don't we get up and stretch, and if anybody needs a pee-pee break real quick, we won't take a whole long break, but maybe five minutes or so if you need to get up and stretch. And then what I want to do is come back and read the Heart Sūtra slowly, stopping to contemplate, and then we'll dedicate the merit. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:51 Highlight the passage at 1:32:51

1:33:14 So maybe just like seven minutes. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:14 Highlight the passage at 1:33:14

1:33:45 Dalai Lama's book? Essence of Heart Seat. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:45 Highlight the passage at 1:33:45

1:33:58 in the Royal League, I always need Janet. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:58 Highlight the passage at 1:33:58

1:34:11 checking people. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:11 Highlight the passage at 1:34:11

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:34:47 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:47 Highlight the passage at 1:34:47

1:34:54 Same size. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:54 Highlight the passage at 1:34:54

1:34:59 I saw somebody has it. They have to get used to it. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:59 Highlight the passage at 1:34:59

1:35:09 This is like a margin. No, this is extreme. This is bigger than this one. Anybody that's interested in any of the groups? Really? Yeah. This one? This one? This one's awesome. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:09 Highlight the passage at 1:35:09

1:35:29 Oh, Oh, no. no. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:29 Highlight the passage at 1:35:29

1:35:43 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:43 Highlight the passage at 1:35:43

1:36:03 Thank you. I didn't hear you. Um, the other one, I didn't hear you. Somebody else is online. some in Spanish, right? If they are printed, I don't know. Yeah, some are, and there are Spanish. There's a Spanish, I'm sure. I'm totally anti-state. Thank you. I'm just clear again. Oh, they just did? Okay. I thought I was years older. Well, there was nobody there. Oh, really? Yeah. It's so funny. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:03 Highlight the passage at 1:36:03

1:36:35 I'm not really aware of what's around. I'm so focused, you know? I mean, if you're sitting for a second row, you'd like sit a little more. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right. And I'm like, I'm sitting like this, so I have a little more. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. For me, being such an extrovert, it's helpful for me not to see somebody in front of me. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:35 Highlight the passage at 1:36:35

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1:37:36 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:36 Highlight the passage at 1:37:36

1:38:01 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:01 Highlight the passage at 1:38:01

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:38:34 Thank you. Actually, I don't know that I haven't seen it, but for you, I don't know that I haven't seen it. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:34 Highlight the passage at 1:38:34

1:39:08 it's good. Yeah, we can consider that. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:08 Highlight the passage at 1:39:08

1:39:29 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:29 Highlight the passage at 1:39:29

1:39:42 Yeah, they're up on the front table, along with the donkey thing. Thanks for moving that. It's always like I get up and crash into it. and then they would need to reach for that as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:42 Highlight the passage at 1:39:42

1:40:07 Oh great, great, you got that. Or I could just take the whole thing. Yeah. And then it's right. And then that's about the donkey thing. So if you have connections in Dharamsala, let them know about that project. I don't. Oh okay, I thought maybe with your research. No, I'm doing one from here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:07 Highlight the passage at 1:40:07

1:40:28 yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:28 Highlight the passage at 1:40:28

1:40:35 I think you're getting on this one. My head is so cute. That's to show it was a whole litter of puppies that was getting rabies shots and then they were putting a red stripe so they could tell which ones already got their shots because they all look the same. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that great? Yeah. And then that was this paralyzed dog that we built a wheelchair for. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:35 Highlight the passage at 1:40:35

1:40:58 Yeah, yeah. And then those are the donkeys and you can see their knee injuries and things. Oh great, perfect. And then this is the card of the lady who's doing that. Her email is here, but that's her card. She's started a non-profit so that, you know, we can raise money in the States for the donkeys and the dogs. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:58 Highlight the passage at 1:40:58

1:41:21 That's great. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:21 Highlight the passage at 1:41:21

1:41:32 Okay, so what I wanted to do now is... A review meditation. So what we'll do now when we go through the Heart Sūtra is we'll pause after each, just to make it easy, after each paragraph. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:32 Highlight the passage at 1:41:32

1:41:48 And we'll just pause and just review what you've learned this weekend. Go over the meaning in your mind again. Just review what the meaning of it is. The more we imprint what the meaning is when we recite it, then every time you recite it, it's going to be an actual, Meditation on emptiness, meditation on the five paths every time that you recite it. So we're going to start again with the title because it's always auspicious to say the title, both in English and in Sanskrit. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:48 Highlight the passage at 1:41:48

1:42:24 Page 77, Report an error in the passage at 1:42:24 Highlight the passage at 1:42:24

1:42:31 The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra. Arya Bhagavati Prajnaparamita Hridhaya Sūtra. I prostrate to the Arya Triple Gem. Thus did I hear at one time, the Bhagavan was dwelling on massive vultures mountain in Rajagriya, together with a great community of monks and a great community of bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:31 Highlight the passage at 1:42:31

1:42:58 At that time, the Bhagavan was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called profound perception. So stop after this paragraph and then just review the meaning of that first section. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:58 Highlight the passage at 1:42:58

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:44:00 Also at that time the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Avalokitesvara looked upon the very practice of the profound perfection of wisdom and beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:00 Highlight the passage at 1:44:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:44:59 Through the power of Buddha, the venerable Shariputra said this to the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Avalokitesvara, 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 1:44:59 Highlight the passage at 1:44:59

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:45:45 He said that. And the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Avalokitesvara said this to the Venerable Sharidvati Putra. 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. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:45 Highlight the passage at 1:45:45

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:46:51 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 1:46:51 Highlight the passage at 1:46:51

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:47:57 Shariputra, likewise all phenomena are emptiness, without characteristic, unproduced, unceased, stainless, not without stain, not deficient, Report an error in the passage at 1:47:57 Highlight the passage at 1:47:57

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:48:50 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 objective touch and no phenomenon. There is no I element and so on, up to 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. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:50 Highlight the passage at 1:48:50

1:49:32 Similarly, there is no suffering, origination, cessation and path. There is no exalted wisdom, no attainment and also no non-attainment. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:32 Highlight the passage at 1:49:32

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:50:35 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 Buddhists who dwell in the three times also manifestly, completely awaken to unsurpassable, perfect, complete enlightenment on reliance on the perfection of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:35 Highlight the passage at 1:50:35

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:51:58 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. Thayata gate gate paragate parasam gate bodhisoha. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:58 Highlight the passage at 1:51:58

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:53:12 The Bodhisattva, Mahasattva should train in the profound perfection of wisdom like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:12 Highlight the passage at 1:53:12

1:53:35 Then the Bhagavan arose from that concentration and commended the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Avalokiteshara, saying, Well said, well said, son of the lineage, it is like that, it is like that. Once you practice the profound perfection of wisdom, just as you have indicated, even the Tathagatas rejoice. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:35 Highlight the passage at 1:53:35

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:54:29 The Bhagavan having thus spoken, the Venerable Saridvati Putra, the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Avalokiteshvara, those surrounding in their entirety, along with the world of gods, humans, asuras and Gandharvas, were overjoyed and highly praised that spoken by the Bhagavan. And Report an error in the passage at 1:54:29 Highlight the passage at 1:54:29

1:55:05 now we're going to dedicate the merit with the prayers on page 246. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:05 Highlight the passage at 1:55:05

1:55:16 Master Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara, guide to the Bodhisattva's way of life. So before we recite the prayers, take just a minute to think of your own special dedications. It may be that you've got some dedications that you'd like to make. Just reflect all the energy of our time together this weekend, all this incredible virtue to going towards... Report an error in the passage at 1:55:16 Highlight the passage at 1:55:16

1:55:47 Your personal goals and especially our enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. So take just a minute to reflect. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:47 Highlight the passage at 1:55:47

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:56:27 May all beings everywhere, plagued by sufferings of body and mind, obtain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creature suffer, commit evil or ever fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled with a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forms and the deaf hear sounds. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:27 Highlight the passage at 1:56:27

1:56:52 May those whose bodies are worn with toil be restored on finding repose. May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find water and delicious drinks. May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find hope. constant happiness, and prosperity. May there be timely rains and bountiful May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:52 Highlight the passage at 1:56:52

1:57:29 Whatever diseases there are in the world, may they never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid and those bound be freed. May the powerless find power and may people think of benefiting each other for as long as space remains, for as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:29 Highlight the passage at 1:57:29

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:59:10 91 in your gold book. Oh, there you go. I tried, but it's just a good one. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:10 Highlight the passage at 1:59:10

1:59:22 Keep going. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:22 Highlight the passage at 1:59:22

1:59:34 Oh, I did mine first. I won't. I can't lead into it. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:34 Highlight the passage at 1:59:34

1:59:47 Keep going. 91. All right. I'm jumping in. I'm jumping in. Start it again. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:47 Highlight the passage at 1:59:47

· · · silence, 2 minutes

2:01:25 would like to borrow one of these white scarves. They're just And, um. But I would like very much to request Tenzin Chogky to come back. We have already been in contact many times in the last month. Email requesting. And right now we do have some dates set up with her for April and June. I would love to do one of those. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:25 Highlight the passage at 2:01:25

2:01:49 We have to alter it for a city center and a non-residential center, but to try to do a karma and fundraising, of course, would be great. So maybe when Geshe was not here, like late, before you go back to New Zealand next year, we'll talk about that. Thank you, and I will download and listen to all of this. Thank you, and I just want to thank everybody, Etich and Lynn, Chogky and Michelle, who works a lot. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:49 Highlight the passage at 2:01:49

2:02:17 They're sleeping right now. And all the volunteers that helped, because of course with the recession, you know, they had to lay a lot of staff off, and the gap has been amply filled by all of these. wonderful volunteers, all these songs, you know, everybody, Janet and Gina and Karen, everybody, Marcella, all the volunteers, Carla, so I just want to thank everybody for keeping the center running because it's just so important to provide the teachings and, you know, often in these challenging times, we don't have the means that we Thank you so much for all that we're doing for everybody. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:17 Highlight the passage at 2:02:17

2:02:59 It is an honor. Thank you. What else would we be doing, right? It keeps us out of trouble. When I come in at the end, which is what it's happened both days, and I'm dedicating, I just feel so happy that we're able to put this on. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:59 Highlight the passage at 2:02:59

2:03:15 We had fun, didn't we? Yes. Thank you. Thank you for the donkeys. The donkeys, thank you. yes. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:15 Highlight the passage at 2:03:15

2:03:30 the donkeys could speak. Yeah, the donkeys, thank you. Thank you so much. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:30 Highlight the passage at 2:03:30

2:03:55 It was great to have you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:55 Highlight the passage at 2:03:55

2:04:08 thank you for coming, thank you, thanks for being here. Thank you. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:08 Highlight the passage at 2:04:08

2:04:21 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:21 Highlight the passage at 2:04:21

2:04:34 Great to have you in class. Thanks for all your great questions. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:34 Highlight the passage at 2:04:34

2:04:43 Great. See you again. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:43 Highlight the passage at 2:04:43

2:04:29 Thank you so much. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:29 Highlight the passage at 2:04:29

2:04:43 Thank you. Thank you Report an error in the passage at 2:04:43 Highlight the passage at 2:04:43

2:05:04 so much. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:04 Highlight the passage at 2:05:04

2:05:16 you, thank you, thank you, yeah, it was great to have you in the class, it was great to meet you. I hope to see you again. Yeah, hopefully. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:16 Highlight the passage at 2:05:16

2:05:29 Oh great, yeah, great, excellent, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for Report an error in the passage at 2:05:29 Highlight the passage at 2:05:29

2:05:44 your help. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:44 Highlight the passage at 2:05:44

2:05:48 Thank you so much for coming. mean, I missed this in pieces, I just felt so... Report an error in the passage at 2:05:48 Highlight the passage at 2:05:48

2:05:59 Absolutely, you can take a couple. I took some yesterday, but I'm going to send them to all my friends. I'm trying to get the electronic file for my friend that put it together, and I can send to you too. Okay, cool. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:59 Highlight the passage at 2:05:59

2:06:14 But yeah, you can take as many as you need. Thank you for spreading the word. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:14 Highlight the passage at 2:06:14

2:06:27 I will keep peppering. please do, absolutely. Make sure you get my email. We've got my email. Oh, yeah. Peppermule. Yeah, Peppermule. Thank you so much. Thank you. My lid is spinning. It's not a lot more energy than I can say. Good, good. I'm really enjoying it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So while this line is happening, I want to make a couple of announcements. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:27 Highlight the passage at 2:06:27

2:06:58 It was beautiful, thank you. Just a reminder that Yashitashi is coming on November 12. Also that we have a room office available still. It's the one that Liberation District Project is rented and it's available. If anybody knows anyone, please tell us. For whatever reason, all the other ones go. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:58 Highlight the passage at 2:06:58

2:07:43 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'll look at tomorrow and Tuesday, and tomorrow I have all there to be. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:43 Highlight the passage at 2:07:43

2:08:22 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:22 Highlight the passage at 2:08:22