Radical Compassion (5 April 2008)

0:04 Hello everybody, how are you? So, it looks like we have a couple of new people joining us for this weekend. We started last weekend on a text, whoops, need a little more slack here in the microphone, a text on exchanging self and others by Geshe Chekawa and we went partway through this text. Report an error in the passage at 0:04 Highlight the passage at 0:04

0:34 Which are instructions on developing bodhicitta or the mind that wishes for enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings. So for the people who are new this week, have you had teachings on bodhicitta at all? There are a couple of new people. Yeah, yeah. So you're familiar with this genre of teachings in general. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 0:34 Highlight the passage at 0:34

0:57 Okay, so what we're doing is going through a text called The Seven Point Lojang by Geshe Chakawa and this book, The Kindness of Others, which was given out last week and hopefully we'll get some more copies for you because we've been going through this text and are about halfway through. And what I wanted to start with is a meditation. At the end of last session, which was two weeks ago, We had instructions on Tonglen meditation, giving and taking. And so what I thought we'd do is just start today with some meditation, Tonglen. Report an error in the passage at 0:57 Highlight the passage at 0:57

1:35 And what I'll do is guide you through since some of you are new. And anyway, we got the instructions two weeks ago. So what I thought we'd do is just start with some Tonglen meditation and then just continue on through the text. So let's sit. Report an error in the passage at 1:35 Highlight the passage at 1:35

1:53 And watch our breath for just a couple of minutes to settle our minds. Sit in the meditation posture with the back straight, head tilted slightly forward, your tongue resting on the roof of your mouth, right in front of your teeth. Report an error in the passage at 1:53 Highlight the passage at 1:53

2:14 In our tradition, we have our hands just a few finger widths below the navel, our right hand on top of our left and our fingers touching, our thumbs touching. Report an error in the passage at 2:14 Highlight the passage at 2:14

2:25 And our eyes slightly open, your head tilted downwards slightly. Report an error in the passage at 2:25 Highlight the passage at 2:25

2:35 So just focus for a few minutes on the breath, either the sensation of the breath going in and out of your nostrils or your chest rising and falling. Report an error in the passage at 2:35 Highlight the passage at 2:35

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:30 And so before we do the main Tonglen meditation, we do some preliminaries to prepare our minds for the realizations to purify and accumulate merit. Get our minds ready for the realizations of the path. The first thing we do is visualize in front of us at the level of our forehead. Report an error in the passage at 3:30 Highlight the passage at 3:30

3:57 About two yards in front is a large golden throne. It's beautifully adorned with jewels, supported at each corner by a pair of snow lions. Report an error in the passage at 3:57 Highlight the passage at 3:57

4:16 And on top of the throne is a lotus, sun and full moon discs. Report an error in the passage at 4:16 Highlight the passage at 4:16

4:29 the lotus, sun and moon, is seated Shakyamuni Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 4:29 Highlight the passage at 4:29

4:36 His body is in the nature of golden light and it's very magnificent. He wears the three robes of a monk and he's seated cross-legged. Report an error in the passage at 4:36 Highlight the passage at 4:36

4:52 His face is beautiful and has a loving smile. His eyes are long, narrow and fine and his gaze is very peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 4:52 Highlight the passage at 4:52

5:07 His lips are red, his hair is blue-black and on the crown of his head is a crown pinnacle. Report an error in the passage at 5:07 Highlight the passage at 5:07

5:19 The palm of his right hand rests on his right knee with the middle finger touching the moon cushion and his left hand rests on his lap in the mudrā of meditation, holding a bowl full of nectar. Report an error in the passage at 5:19 Highlight the passage at 5:19

5:33 So visualize Shakyamuni Buddha in front of you and instead of being flat and two-dimensional and lifeless, visualize him as a real living presence in front of you, smiling. Kindly, so happy that we're doing this meditation and Report an error in the passage at 5:33 Highlight the passage at 5:33

6:03 to remind ourselves that we're not just practicing for our own sake but for the benefit of all living beings. We visualize all sentient beings around us with our mother on our left, our father on our right, the rest of our friends and family around us and Report an error in the passage at 6:03 Highlight the passage at 6:03

6:27 our enemies in front, people we don't get along with. Because we have to remember that we're practicing for their sake also. There's no one left out of the range of our compassion. Report an error in the passage at 6:27 Highlight the passage at 6:27

6:42 And then all living beings in human form spreading out to the horizon. Report an error in the passage at 6:42 Highlight the passage at 6:42

6:51 Imagine all these living beings around you and generate a sense that you're leading them in the practice. You're actually leading them to enlightenment, leading them in the meditation practice. And Report an error in the passage at 6:51 Highlight the passage at 6:51

7:11 then we'll take refuge and generate bodhicitta. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 7:11 Highlight the passage at 7:11

7:43 I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 7:43 Highlight the passage at 7:43

7:58 May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. Report an error in the passage at 7:58 Highlight the passage at 7:58

8:10 May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 8:10 Highlight the passage at 8:10

8:22 May all sentient beings never be separated from the happiness that is free from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 8:22 Highlight the passage at 8:22

8:32 May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment for friends and hatred for enemies. And Report an error in the passage at 8:32 Highlight the passage at 8:32

8:45 then in order to purify negativities and accumulate merit, we'll meditate on the seven limb prayer. Report an error in the passage at 8:45 Highlight the passage at 8:45

8:58 Reverently, I prostrate with my body, speech and mind. Now think about one of the qualities of the enlightened being in front of you, of Shakyamuni Buddha that you visualized in front. Report an error in the passage at 8:58 Highlight the passage at 8:58

9:12 And in your mind, bow down and pay respect to those enlightened qualities. Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:25 I present clouds of every type of offering, actual and imagined. So imagine the whole sky filled with offerings, both the traditional offerings that we make on the altar and also anything beautiful that you can imagine. Imagine offering. Report an error in the passage at 9:25 Highlight the passage at 9:25

9:50 Before we can purify, we have to acknowledge our negativities. I declare all my negative actions accumulated since beginningless time. Now think of something specific, especially some negative habit that you have, some non-virtuous habit or something you may have done in the last couple of days that was particularly negative that you regret. Report an error in the passage at 9:50 Highlight the passage at 9:50

10:28 I rejoice in the merit of all holy and ordinary beings. One of the easiest ways to accumulate Vast amounts of virtue is by rejoicing in the virtues of ourselves, of others, of holy beings, Report an error in the passage at 10:28 Highlight the passage at 10:28

10:50 generating a sense of gladness in all of the virtuous actions of others. Report an error in the passage at 10:50 Highlight the passage at 10:50

11:02 And in order to create the cause for our teachers to stay with us and teach us, we have to request, please remain until the end of cyclic existence and turn the wheel of Dharma for living beings. Report an error in the passage at 11:02 Highlight the passage at 11:02

11:25 So now we'll do the main practice of giving and taking, which is the main meditation for this lineage of bodhicitta instructions on exchanging self and others. Last time we talked about the main points of this practice, equalizing our thoughts for ourselves with the thoughts of the happiness of others, meditating on the disadvantages of cherishing ourselves and the advantages of cherishing others. Report an error in the passage at 11:25 Highlight the passage at 11:25

11:57 And doing the actual exchange and then this is the meditation practice that's the main technique for this lineage of teachings. Report an error in the passage at 11:57 Highlight the passage at 11:57

12:07 So in front of you visualize an object of your compassion and often at the beginning it's easiest to visualize yourself, your own future suffering self. Think of a time in the future that you know that you're going to be going through a hard time feeling some physical Mental suffering, discomfort. Or you can choose an object that's Report an error in the passage at 12:07 Highlight the passage at 12:07

12:40 someone that you feel as much unconditional love as possible. Someone you're very close to, that you love very much. Someone for whom you wish only happiness. Report an error in the passage at 12:40 Highlight the passage at 12:40

12:54 It's important in the beginning to choose an object that's very easy for you to generate a sense of compassion so that you get a strong feeling for the power of this meditation. Later as you progress you'll be able to increase the difficulty of the object but in the beginning either yourself or someone for whom you have unconditional love. Report an error in the passage at 12:54 Highlight the passage at 12:54

13:16 Visualize them in front and Report an error in the passage at 13:16 Highlight the passage at 13:16

13:22 visualize some specific problem they're having, some suffering they're going through, something very specific. It may be that you have a good friend who's going through a difficult divorce. It may be that you're in some kind of Physical pain yourself. Report an error in the passage at 13:22 Highlight the passage at 13:22

13:47 Think of something very specific and then visualize that suffering, filling that person like black smoke, black gritty smoke, filling that person. Report an error in the passage at 13:47 Highlight the passage at 13:47

14:13 And then focus on your feeling of compassion, your wish to free that person from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 14:13 Highlight the passage at 14:13

14:23 You love that person so much. Or if it's your own future self, you know how painful that suffering will be. And so you make a determination in your mind that you will free that being from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 14:23 Highlight the passage at 14:23

14:43 So imagine as you inhale, with your in-breath, almost like a vacuum cleaner, you start to pull that black gritty smoke that represents the suffering out of that person. Report an error in the passage at 14:43 Highlight the passage at 14:43

15:00 And it collects in a little cloud in front of you. So spend about eight or ten in-breaths pulling out that black gritty smoke, thinking of the force of your compassion and your wish to free that being from suffering. And Report an error in the passage at 15:00 Highlight the passage at 15:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

16:21 now comes the magical part of this practice. Report an error in the passage at 16:21 Highlight the passage at 16:21

16:27 So that being is freed from their suffering. Their suffering is in front of you in the form of this black cloud and again focus on your compassion, your willingness not only to free them from their suffering but even to take it on yourself. Report an error in the passage at 16:27 Highlight the passage at 16:27

16:47 And what happens next? In one powerful in-breath you draw in that black cloud of smoke but instead of filling you with suffering it transforms inside of you. The minute you inhale it it transforms into a powerful Report an error in the passage at 16:47 Highlight the passage at 16:47

17:06 Bolt of lightning and inside the middle of your chest is a little hard rock that represents your self-cherishing, this little hard black granite rock representing your feeling of being shut down, closed off, self-absorbed, your selfishness and when you inhale that black smoke it goes down and blasts that black rock. Report an error in the passage at 17:06 Highlight the passage at 17:06

17:36 Of self-absorption and selfishness to smithereens. So let's do it now in one big in-breath. Draw in that cloud of black smoke. It transforms into that powerful lightning bolt, the antidote to that selfishness and self-cherishing and smashes it to smithereens. There's not even a trace left. Report an error in the passage at 17:36 Highlight the passage at 17:36

18:08 And in its place, there's a warm golden light. Which starts right in the middle of your chest, right where that self-cherishing was. Imagine it feeling almost like warm water going out into a bathtub of cold water. It sort of fills your chest with this warm sensation, which is love, peace of mind, loving kindness, open-heartedness. Report an error in the passage at 18:08 Highlight the passage at 18:08

18:42 And imagine it filling your whole chest slowly, expanding. Report an error in the passage at 18:42 Highlight the passage at 18:42

19:07 And it expands, filling your whole chest and imagine you're filled with this peace of mind, this loving kindness. Report an error in the passage at 19:07 Highlight the passage at 19:07

19:18 And it expands, filling your whole body, slowly filled with this warm golden light. Report an error in the passage at 19:18 Highlight the passage at 19:18

· · · silence, 1 minute

20:01 And then after you're filled completely with this energy of loving kindness, imagine exhaling. And as you exhale, that person in front of you, Report an error in the passage at 20:01 Highlight the passage at 20:01

20:16 You're able to give them whatever they need that would make them happy, whatever would make them happy. If it's a mental suffering they're going through, fear, anxiety, depression, you can imagine the golden light going out and filling them completely and then they're filled with this peace of mind. Report an error in the passage at 20:16 Highlight the passage at 20:16

20:37 Or it may be that they're going through some sort of physical suffering or there's something they need, they're hungry. They're homeless. They're in prison. So imagine the golden light transforming even into anything physical that they might need. You can get creative. Imagine them getting whatever they need that would make them happy and spend about eight to ten exhalations imagining that golden light transforming for them. Report an error in the passage at 20:37 Highlight the passage at 20:37

· · · silence, 1 minute

22:28 And we'll repeat this cycle again. Report an error in the passage at 22:28 Highlight the passage at 22:28

22:34 Now you can either imagine the same object of compassion or if there's someone else for whom you also feel the same kind of love. You can pick a different object, so either repeat it with the same person or someone different. Imagine them in front, some specific suffering in the form of black smoke filling their body. Report an error in the passage at 22:34 Highlight the passage at 22:34

23:28 And then as you inhale about eight to ten inhalations, bring that. Black smoke of their suffering in front of you in a black cloud, thinking of your compassion and wish to free them from suffering. And Report an error in the passage at 23:28 Highlight the passage at 23:28

· · · silence, 1 minute

24:55 then motivated by compassion, the one big inhalation where you draw in the black smoke which transforms into that lightning bolt and smashes that hard rock of self-cherishing in the middle of your chest. So again, imagine that all of your selfishness, self-absorption. Represented by that black rock, the force of your compassion is the antidote to demolish it completely. Report an error in the passage at 24:55 Highlight the passage at 24:55

· · · silence, 1 minute

25:58 And in its place is the warm golden light of loving kindness, filling your whole chest, Report an error in the passage at 25:58 Highlight the passage at 25:58

26:07 expanding out, filling your body with peace, loving kindness. Report an error in the passage at 26:07 Highlight the passage at 26:07

· · · silence, 1 minute

26:49 And imagine your whole body filled with this energy of loving kindness, your whole heart transformed. Report an error in the passage at 26:49 Highlight the passage at 26:49

27:24 And then imagine exhaling, that golden light transforms into whatever it is that your object of compassion wants and needs, whatever it is that would make them happy. It Report an error in the passage at 27:24 Highlight the passage at 27:24

27:42 could be something physical, food, housing, a job, a relationship if that's what they want. Or it could be that that golden light fills them and gives them mental peace, freedom from fear and suffering. Report an error in the passage at 27:42 Highlight the passage at 27:42

· · · silence, 1 minute

29:16 And then spend a few minutes doing a third round, just on your own to make sure that you know the instructions. Again, either pick a different object or the same object of compassion and then just do it on your own. Report an error in the passage at 29:16 Highlight the passage at 29:16

29:35 We'll spend about eight or ten minutes on this round. Report an error in the passage at 29:35 Highlight the passage at 29:35

· · · silence, 5 minutes

34:58 And now imagine that the Buddha in front, who's been with you all the time, meditating with you. Rises up in the air becoming smaller and comes to the crown of your head facing the same direction as you and Report an error in the passage at 34:58 Highlight the passage at 34:58

35:27 then the Buddha melts into light that melts into you filling you completely with all the enlightened qualities of compassion, wisdom, power, loving kindness and Report an error in the passage at 35:27 Highlight the passage at 35:27

35:58 imagine then from the pores of your skin Report an error in the passage at 35:58 Highlight the passage at 35:58

36:04 Light rays go out in all directions to all those beings sitting around you and as the light rays touch them, because you've been completely filled and cleansed, purified of all defilements and filled with all enlightened qualities, as the light rays touch all those other beings, they in turn are also purified and filled with enlightened qualities. Report an error in the passage at 36:04 Highlight the passage at 36:04

· · · silence, 1 minute

37:05 And then in order not to waste this powerful virtue that we've Generated from doing this meditation, from doing giving and taking, imagining benefiting all of these beings. We've done it in our imagination. We've taken away their suffering, given them happiness. But at this point it's just at the level of imagination. Report an error in the passage at 37:05 Highlight the passage at 37:05

37:33 We're not able to do it yet, but we've created very powerful causes for this. So dedicate that merit. To that goal, that we be able to become a fully enlightened being and actually have the capacity and the power to free all beings from suffering and give them happiness. Report an error in the passage at 37:33 Highlight the passage at 37:33

38:02 Due to the merits of these virtuous actions, may I quickly attain the state of a Guru Buddha and lead all living beings without exception into that enlightened state. Report an error in the passage at 38:02 Highlight the passage at 38:02

38:15 May the supreme jewel bodhicitta that is not arisen arise and grow may that which has arisen not diminish but increase more and more So Report an error in the passage at 38:15 Highlight the passage at 38:15

· · · silence, 1 minute

39:10 we kind of just jumped right into that, but I thought it was a great way to kind of review where we were in the text, because that was the point that we'd gotten to. And there's a verse, for those of you who have the root text, and if you don't, I think that there's extra copies. So during the break... Report an error in the passage at 39:10 Highlight the passage at 39:10

39:29 Everybody can get copies. So for those of you that have it on page 98, the verse says, practice a combination of giving and taking. Giving and taking should be practiced alternately and you should begin by taking from yourself. These two should be made to ride on the breath. So that's what we just did. Report an error in the passage at 39:29 Highlight the passage at 39:29

39:50 And for those of you who are new this time but have had these teachings before, In equalizing and exchanging self and others, as I mentioned, the first step is actually equalizing, realizing that we all want happiness, we want to avoid suffering, there's no difference between ourselves and others in our wish for happiness and our wish to avoid suffering. Report an error in the passage at 39:50 Highlight the passage at 39:50

40:15 You know, we're usually the center of our own universes and we think we're the center of everybody else's universe too, but guess what? Everybody's the center of their own personal universe and just getting that. Getting that. And even that alone, as I mentioned last time, is such a powerful realization. Even to get a realization of step number one. Report an error in the passage at 40:15 Highlight the passage at 40:15

40:35 When someone hurts you, did they really mean to hurt you? Are people really malicious? No, they're really not. You know, they just want their own happiness and they're sort of just bulldozing their way through life as we have all done a million times, right? If we're honest with ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 40:35 Highlight the passage at 40:35

40:55 I think that's the key to forgiveness. For me, this one first step is the key to forgiveness, both for others and for yourself too, because we often really beat ourselves up for how we hurt other people, right? You make mistakes, someone gets hurt by your actions, and we're harder on ourselves than we are on... Report an error in the passage at 40:55 Highlight the passage at 40:55

41:14 Anybody else and harder than anybody else would be to us, you know, and we have to forgive ourselves too. We want happiness and want to avoid suffering too. And sometimes we get in that self-absorbed place and hurt other people in the process. So that's the first step is just equalizing and realizing that we're all equal and wanting to have happiness and avoid suffering. Report an error in the passage at 41:14 Highlight the passage at 41:14

41:38 And then that second step we talked about last time, meditating on the disadvantages of self-cherishing. Which was, you know, that, and again, self-terishing is that kind of shut down, me first, you know, little box of everything needs to be a certain way or I'm not going to be happy. Which is miserable in the moment. Report an error in the passage at 41:38 Highlight the passage at 41:38

41:59 Isn't it? It makes you feel so miserable. It's that control freak thing of it all has to be my way right now and if it's not I'm going to be miserable. So it's miserable in the moment, it creates so much conflict with others and in the long term it causes you to create all kinds of actions, you know, motivated by that, non-virtuous actions that buys you a world of negative karma which will ripen in your own future suffering. Report an error in the passage at 41:59 Highlight the passage at 41:59

42:24 So on all these different levels. Bad news, you know, just forget about it. And the advantages of cherishing others, the advantages of looking out for others, of getting out of that little narrow box of self-cherishing. Again, it makes you feel better in the moment. It really is an advantage to your relationship with others. And it's where all your virtue comes from. Report an error in the passage at 42:24 Highlight the passage at 42:24

42:50 They say in all of these beautiful texts, we can't become enlightened without sentient beings. Because all of our virtue is done in relationship with others, you know? You can't become enlightened, you can't become a Buddha without depending on others. And then the fourth step was the actual exchange, actually in your mind, exchanging your thoughts of self-cherishing with your thoughts of cherishing others. Report an error in the passage at 42:50 Highlight the passage at 42:50

43:17 And then the fifth step, the main practice, is this beautiful giving and taking meditation that we just did. And we'd gotten up to that point last time, so I thought we'd start with that and hopefully the people that are new this time are familiar enough that you can kind of catch up. So are there any questions about that? Anything that came up that was challenging, interesting? Was it easy to come up with an object for that? Report an error in the passage at 43:17 Highlight the passage at 43:17

43:45 Anything? Perfect? You're all enlightened? Blissed out? Great. Report an error in the passage at 43:45 Highlight the passage at 43:45

43:54 Is one of those windows open or is it just really loud? Oh, that's okay. It just seems, I'm a country girl. It just seems really loud to me. Okay, sorry, go ahead. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 43:54 Highlight the passage at 43:54

44:16 yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Report an error in the passage at 44:16 Highlight the passage at 44:16

44:27 yeah, right, Report an error in the passage at 44:27 Highlight the passage at 44:27

44:34 right, Report an error in the passage at 44:34 Highlight the passage at 44:34

44:38 yeah. It's extremely cool, isn't it, that part? Because, you know, sometimes people hear about this meditation, they don't get really good instructions, they're like, I don't want to breathe in all that crappy dark smoke, like, I don't want to be, no, I'm not going to do that, you know, because they think, oh, taking on the suffering. Report an error in the passage at 44:38 Highlight the passage at 44:38

44:58 Then you're filled with black smoke and you're... Pitiful and suffering and terrible. And it's like, no, no, the whole point is it transforms into the antidote for that self-cherishing. And then you're just this empowered bodhisattva warrior filled with love and compassion and da-da-da, you know, instead of like the, it's not about being filled with all their illness and suffering and all that stuff at all. Report an error in the passage at 44:58 Highlight the passage at 44:58

45:22 It's like that. And that's what I was, I always call it the magic of Tonglen. In fact, I taught this class in Vermont last year. A couple of weeks after I said, Tonglen is magic, you know, anytime you're having a hard time, do Tonglen, it's magic. So a couple of weeks later, I get this bumper sticker in the mail. Report an error in the passage at 45:22 Highlight the passage at 45:22

45:39 This guy who's in the class had gone and custom made me a bumper sticker that said Tonglen is magic. It was so cute. I was like, yeah, that's great. Because whenever, and this is a wonderful practice to do whenever you yourself are suffering, you know, perfect, extremely beneficial. If you're feeling any kind of suffering, instantly widen the scope and think, oh, I have a friend who has really bad migraines, you know, really bad, like go to bed for 30 hours in a dark room with a cold cloth on your head migraines, you know. Report an error in the passage at 45:39 Highlight the passage at 45:39

46:14 So instead of just thinking about how much he's hurting, think of all of the other people that suffer from the same thing and go, okay, I have the karma to be feeling this right now, you know. Bring it on. Like, let me feel it for everyone. If I need to be feeling this right now, at least let me take it away from others. And it's so powerful. Report an error in the passage at 46:14 Highlight the passage at 46:14

46:35 And Lama Zopa, you know, when people are diagnosed with cancer, back when people would get AIDS and there weren't many good medications, Lama Zopa would say, great, awesome. You know, practice Dong Lin. Like, if you have some life-threatening disease, some... Major suffering. It's a perfect opportunity to do Tonglen and take it on for others. And then you don't waste whatever problem you're going through. Report an error in the passage at 46:35 Highlight the passage at 46:35

47:01 Believe me, how many people on the planet? Six and a half billion? Millions at least are always experiencing anything that you are. We're not as unique as we think. So use it for your practice. And this is another... Part of this text is transforming problems into the path. And this is perfect technique for that, whatever you're experiencing. Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 47:01 Highlight the passage at 47:01

47:26 But it's very, very powerful, that lightning bolt thing. It's, yeah, I got this instruction for the first time from this Icelandic meditation teacher in India. Her name was Torhala Bjornsdottir, you know. She couldn't have been. She had this, she... She sounded like Bjork, that rock singer, you know, and she had this long kind of magenta colored hair and she was just so fascinating and so she taught the lightning bolt method to us and I've just always used that because I found it the most powerful. Report an error in the passage at 47:26 Highlight the passage at 47:26

47:54 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And with practice you can do this meditation all the time, you know, this is a wonderful one as you get really used to it. You can do it walking down the street, you know, great to do on public transportation. There are suffering people everywhere. You know, you will never have any lack of objects of this meditation. And it's a wonderful thing just to do quickly. Report an error in the passage at 47:54 Highlight the passage at 47:54

48:21 Like you get used to it on the cushion, you know, get familiar with how it works. And then this is a wonderful way not to waste any time at all because you will always be in direct contact with people that are suffering. For people who do hospice work or nurses, things like that, this is a wonderful practice to do if you're sitting with someone who's dying or sitting with someone who's very sick. Report an error in the passage at 48:21 Highlight the passage at 48:21

48:42 You know, you're sitting there, they're sleeping, you're just kind of wanting to be with them. Do Tonglen. It's so powerful to do when you're with anyone who's in a situation of suffering. Yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 48:42 Highlight the passage at 48:42

49:03 I'm a little bit confused. Is the process the same when you take on suffering? Going through something and, well, I might as well take on everybody's suffering. Do you go through the same steps about breathing in the black sun? Yeah, yeah. Because it still transforms into the lightning bolt. Like even if you are experiencing it also yourself, that just makes you more able to be really empathetic to whatever it is that that person is going through. Report an error in the passage at 49:03 Highlight the passage at 49:03

49:28 And it gives you automatically all of these objects, you know, that you automatically have empathy for. You think of everyone else who's going through it. And it still transforms. It still transforms into the lightning bolt. Like even if you're experiencing the migraine while you're doing it, it doesn't matter. Your willingness to take on all of that migraine pain from everyone else that's experiencing it also, because you're so empathetic with them in that moment, makes it really powerful and it still transforms into the lightning bolt. Report an error in the passage at 49:28 Highlight the passage at 49:28

49:57 It still destroys your self-cherishing. You may still be feeling the pain of the migraine, but at least you've used that to increase your empathy with others and makes a very powerful object in that moment. Well, I'm glad you cleared that up because I always thought that was a little bit different kind of meditation and you just took it and... Report an error in the passage at 49:57 Highlight the passage at 49:57

50:18 And it stayed there. Yeah, no, it always destroys your self-cherishing. I mean, there's really no point. We all suffer enough, you know. The point of Buddhism is to try and... The first noble truth is the truth of suffering. That's unambiguous. The whole point of Buddhism is to try and move up to the third and fourth noble truth. So, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 50:18 Highlight the passage at 50:18

50:37 It's just more about... You know, especially when we're suffering, we can get so self-absorbed, can't we? Like even more so than normal. Like when we're happy, we're usually not super self-absorbed. Boy, when we're suffering, it's all about me, you know, really big time. So it's about breaking open that hard shell that can happen when we're suffering. Report an error in the passage at 50:37 Highlight the passage at 50:37

51:00 And it can be so transformative. I don't know, did I tell the story last week about the woman who had cancer, this liver and... Colon cancer? Did I tell that in this group? Did I? Okay. So this woman had, just for the people that weren't there, a woman in the hospice that we have at Land of Medicine Buddha had liver and colon cancer, wasn't a Buddhist practitioner at all. Report an error in the passage at 51:00 Highlight the passage at 51:00

51:21 You know, wanted to work with her mind and I taught her this technique and I said, think about all the women who have colon and liver cancer who are suffering just like you. It completely broke her out of this pit of depression. She was in this depression because of her pain and immediately she thought of all the other people in the same boat as her and that hard little self-cherishing thing just couldn't survive her thoughts of others. Report an error in the passage at 51:21 Highlight the passage at 51:21

51:44 You know, it just won't. It just breaks open right away. So that's kind of more what it's like, not, you know, that you take on their suffering and it doesn't transform you, it just fills you up with even more suffering. Yeah, yeah, so. Yeah, it's, you know, this is why, like I said last time, why this was taught secretly for so long. It's, you know, it's very easily misunderstood. Report an error in the passage at 51:44 Highlight the passage at 51:44

52:08 People use it as a way to just reinforce their low self-esteem and codependence, you know, and that's not what it is at all. It's just this incredible, powerful technique, but it's subtle. You know, these things are very subtle and it's very easily misunderstood. But if you understand the nuances of difference, it's extremely powerful. Report an error in the passage at 52:08 Highlight the passage at 52:08

52:29 But yeah, yeah, that's why it was taught secretly for so long because people couldn't handle it because they're like, no way, man, I'm not going to be filled with that black. Like, that's nuts. You know, Lord Buddha was nuts. Forget it. Yeah, yeah. Any other questions? Yeah. I found today, as we began, in the first book, using myself, I found it very difficult to stay focused on myself and not, as I was trying to bring out the problem or the suffering. Report an error in the passage at 52:29 Highlight the passage at 52:29

53:05 Not getting wrapped up in that in my own headache. Oh, oh, right. And so I kept trying to calm my head down and not do that. Yeah. I heard Veneral Rabina say, you know, you have a thousand opportunities a day to practice. Everything, every challenge, every bit of suffering is an opportunity to practice. And I thought, this is like that. I need to... Report an error in the passage at 53:05 Highlight the passage at 53:05

53:26 If I'm using myself as the object, I need to think of that. I'm just pulling out the suffering and that's giving me the opportunity to... Right, right, right, right. And so it got a little easier. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And for some people, using themselves is too weird and complicated. Like sometimes that's not the easiest one. They usually suggest that first just because for most of us, because of our self-absorption, we're more willing to take on our own... Report an error in the passage at 53:26 Highlight the passage at 53:26

53:55 Future suffering. But then it gets really complicated for some people too. It's not that straightforward that we're necessarily the person we feel the most compassion for at all. Maybe in Tibet that was true. In America it gets a lot more complicated like with this low self-esteem and all of this other... Report an error in the passage at 53:55 Highlight the passage at 53:55

54:13 So yeah, and then sometimes you can get all caught up in the storyline of why you would be suffering next Tuesday. And then that just becomes another distraction. Oh, but I wouldn't be suffering then if he did that and if it were all different. And then that's like, it just makes, yeah, so sometimes it's best to make it just non-conceptual, you know. Report an error in the passage at 54:13 Highlight the passage at 54:13

54:35 And I told the story of one student, this young... Teenage boy who comes to every teaching since he was 16. He's going to become a monk so fast, I can just tell. And he said, my cat is who I have the most compassion for. You know, can I just visualize my cat? And I said, yeah, go for it. And then there's not much of a storyline. It's just about this like pure love that you have for this being, you know, and you don't get caught up in the distraction of making a whole story about it. Report an error in the passage at 54:35 Highlight the passage at 54:35

55:04 Okay, so the next part of the text after Tonglin, and again, we didn't have all the copies on the desk last time, but I'll make sure that we get some for everyone. The next line, and again, this is why this text needs to be explained. The next line simply says, concerning the three objects, three poisons and three virtues. Report an error in the passage at 55:04 Highlight the passage at 55:04

55:28 Well, what the heck does that mean? What are the three? Objects, three poisons and three virtues. And this is exactly what we were talking about. The three objects are the objects that everybody is focusing on. The object of attachment, the object of aversion and then just the object of ignorance which is just neutral things. Report an error in the passage at 55:28 Highlight the passage at 55:28

55:52 Our mind always has an object, always has some object. In fact the definition of mind in Actually, the word for mind, one of the many words for minds in Tibetan is Yulchen, object holder. And in Buddhism, mind is defined as that which always has an object. It either has a sense object or a mental object. So for all of us, since our mind always has an object, then the object has one of these subjective flavors. Report an error in the passage at 55:52 Highlight the passage at 55:52

56:24 It's something that makes us feel good. You know, it's something that makes us feel crappy or it's something that doesn't make us feel any particular way. But just the fact of the way we perceive the object is flavored by basic ignorance about the nature of reality. Okay, so the three objects, object of attachment, object of aversion and neutral object. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 56:24 Highlight the passage at 56:24

56:51 It could be a thought. It could be a thought. It can be a sense object. It can be a sound, for example. Okay, so the typical, there are six senses according to Buddhism. And they're the typical five that we think of, sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. So the object of, for example, of hearing could be a sound. Report an error in the passage at 56:51 Highlight the passage at 56:51

57:15 So it doesn't need to be a tangible form. Okay, like that. And the sixth one is mental consciousness. So that could be a thought being the object of mind. So it's a little bit different in Buddhism. When you think of an object of the senses, there's that additional one which is thought. And then the three poisons. Report an error in the passage at 57:15 Highlight the passage at 57:15

57:43 Who knows what the three poisons are? Some of you lamrim types. Report an error in the passage at 57:43 Highlight the passage at 57:43

57:51 Yeah, yeah. Greed. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 57:51 Highlight the passage at 57:51

57:53 Or attachment, wanting more of what feels good, right? That object feels good, I want more of it. The actual definition of attachment in Buddhism is exaggerating the good qualities of an object and thinking that by possessing it you're going to have lasting happiness. Sometimes people say, oh, is attachment to my meditation practice wrong? Is desire for liberation attachment? Report an error in the passage at 57:53 Highlight the passage at 57:53

58:23 Well, when you think of the actual definition, exaggerating the good qualities of an object and thinking that by possessing it, you're going to have lasting happiness, that definition doesn't really apply to things like our wish for enlightenment, does it? Because we're not really exaggerating anything about it. We're not thinking that by just grasping at it. Report an error in the passage at 58:23 Highlight the passage at 58:23

58:43 We're going to be happy, you know. So not all desire is bad. Not all wishing for something in Buddhism is bad. It's that exaggeration, that extra quality, that exaggeration of the object and thinking that by possessing it. Aversion is the opposite, you know, similar definition. Exaggerating the negative qualities of an object, thinking that by being separated from it, you're going to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 58:43 Highlight the passage at 58:43

59:09 And then ignorance is just ignorance about the way that object exists, which is a whole other story. That's emptiness. It's a long story. But ignorance is just misunderstanding two things, basically, the law of cause and effect and the nature of reality. So in Buddhism, when we say ignorance, it doesn't mean not knowing Schrodinger's wave equation and not knowing botany. It means these two things specifically. Report an error in the passage at 59:09 Highlight the passage at 59:09

59:38 Ignorance and misunderstanding about the law of cause and effect and about the nature of reality that things do not exist in the way that they seem to us. So that's the ignorance that creates neutral objects. That just creates our baseline reality. I'm sitting on this cushion right now. I'm neither blissed out by sitting here nor am I uncomfortable. It's just a neutral baseline. Report an error in the passage at 59:38 Highlight the passage at 59:38

1:00:06 My body's sitting. It's reasonably comfortable. It's not uncomfortable. That would be a neutral experience. For some of you that aren't used to sitting cross-legged, sitting on one of these cushions right now could be a negative. Experience and you're hoping I give you a break soon so you can get up and walk around and maybe you have to go pee or whatever. You know, for me it's neutral in the moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:06 Highlight the passage at 1:00:06

1:00:31 Okay, like that. And then what are the three virtues? So we've got these objects that arise for us a feeling of attachment and grasping or they make us feel aversion or they make us feel neutral. So what do we do? When that comes up for us, Report an error in the passage at 1:00:31 Highlight the passage at 1:00:31

1:00:52 When we see someone else experiencing that strongly or when we experience it ourselves, do Tonglen. Take it into the path. When you feel someone having an anger attack, think of all the times that you've been angry too. Take it away from them. Take that poison away from them and transform it for you into the path. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:52 Highlight the passage at 1:00:52

1:01:17 We're always around people who have mental affliction attacks. We're in the midst of these mental affliction, kleshas, the Sanskrit word, you know, mental afflictions, delusional attacks all the time of grasping and aversion. So take it into the path, just the way we do the migraine, just the way we do the colon cancer, just the way we do anything. So that's what this line means concerning the three objects, three poisons and three virtues. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:17 Highlight the passage at 1:01:17

1:01:46 Make it into virtue, whether you're experiencing a poisonous attack of anger, attachment or ignorance or someone else's. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:46 Highlight the passage at 1:01:46

1:02:00 And then the next line says, the instruction to be followed in short is to be mindful of the practice in general by taking these words to heart in all activities. And what this means is when you're doing this practice, when you're a thought transformation yogi, when you're a lojong warrior, we have to train constantly. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:00 Highlight the passage at 1:02:00

1:02:23 And that's going to be the subject of our next little piece is the five powers of how to train in this stuff all the time. So what this is saying is be mindful of the practice by... Reciting verses. You know, you can memorize verses from these texts. Verses from this text, there's a beautiful thought transformation text called the Eight Verses of Thought Transformation. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:23 Highlight the passage at 1:02:23

1:02:47 At Land of Medicine Buddha, Lama Zopa wanted us to make a trail and to put these big plaques with all of the eight verses of this beautiful thought transformation text. So we've got this trail with the... A plaque with the text and then a bench in front. And all these people from Santa Cruz come hiking and get this imprint of thought transformation verses. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:47 Highlight the passage at 1:02:47

1:03:09 It's beautiful. And so a lot of these Kadampa Lamas who worked with these thought transformation texts would recite verses and they'd say them on their prayer beads, you know, all day long to remind themselves to train their minds. Because as you may have noticed, this stuff goes really against the grain. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:09 Highlight the passage at 1:03:09

1:03:28 Does it go against the grain or what? You know, to exchange thoughts of self and others. We need to train ourselves and we need to be patient and we need tricks of the trade. And the rest of today is mostly going to be about like tricks of the trade to train your mind into lojong, you know, because it takes time. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:28 Highlight the passage at 1:03:28

1:03:47 It's like getting a puppy. And they're not housebroken. And one day, the first time you explain it to them, they intellectually go, oh, that makes a lot of sense. Lord Buddha taught great. Yeah, but then you have to do it over and over and over again. And our minds are no different from those puppies, that we need to be patient and loving and train them and remind them. And we'll mess up, but we just keep training. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:47 Highlight the passage at 1:03:47

1:04:12 So these verses are a way to train. And one of the ones that's really beautiful... For those of you, there's a practice we do every couple of weeks for people who've had tantric empowerment called the Guru Puja and there's some beautiful thought transformation verses in this final prayer in that text and we're actually going to meditate on that later on today. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:12 Highlight the passage at 1:04:12

1:04:35 There's this beautiful one and I'll read this one out loud because this is one of the ones that the Tibetan lamas would do on their prayer beads. It says, And thus, perfect, pure, compassionate gurus, I seek your blessings that all karmic debts, obstacles and sufferings of mother beings may without exception ripen upon me right now and that I may give my happiness and virtue to others and thereby invest all beings in bliss. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:35 Highlight the passage at 1:04:35

1:05:03 Isn't that beautiful? It's sort of the ultimate Tonglen Lojong, Exchanging Self and Others verse. Really beautiful verse. So these are some tricks that you can use to just remind yourself. And like I said, we're going to be doing a lot of these sort of reminder tricks for the rest of today's class. And then we'll also, so what we'll do is we'll go through the rest of the text and then at the end we'll have another. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:03 Highlight the passage at 1:05:03

1:05:32 Practice session in Tonglen to make sure that you really have it straight. I've also made a handout that I'll put, we'll have a break now and I'll put the handout with sort of an outline of the instructions of Tonglen so that you'll have that to be able to practice. So are there any other questions about anything before we take our break? Okay, okay. So let's have, let's see, it's about... Report an error in the passage at 1:05:32 Highlight the passage at 1:05:32

1:06:00 11.15. Do you want a 15 minute break? Would that be good? Tea and... Okay. So what I'll do is ring the bell. I think they have tea for you out there. I told them we'd take a break around 11.15. I think they've got tea and they have the whole latte bar thing going on out there. These city centers, you know, I tell you. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:00 Highlight the passage at 1:06:00

1:06:21 So I'll ring the bell and then we'll reconvene in about 15 minutes. Okay. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:21 Highlight the passage at 1:06:21

1:06:34 Sort of. Except when it keeps banging into my mouth. Okay. So the next topic we're going to talk about is the fourth point of the seven points. Did everybody get a text by now? Okay. So in the very back, in the appendix, is the root text of the seven-point mind training. And so the fourth point is called the integrated practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:34 Highlight the passage at 1:06:34

1:07:07 of a single lifetime. And the first two lines on page 99 says, in brief, the essence of the instruction is to train in the five powers. And again, this text is meant to be a reminder of teachings that you've had. This is not one of those texts. In fact, there are very few that are like this, that you can just read it and get what it means. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:07 Highlight the passage at 1:07:07

1:07:32 You know, there's all kinds of... Hidden meaning and code, language and things like that. So this is one of those. Now the five powers is an amazing, powerful practice. And this again, as it says, the integrated practice of a single lifetime. And this is how to practice all day long. Because if our Dharma practice is restricted to when we're sitting cross-legged on our cushions, we ain't going to get very far, are we? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:32 Highlight the passage at 1:07:32

1:08:01 you know because how how many How many minutes a day do we spend doing that? Even me, here I am, I'm supposed to be this nun and everybody thinks like I meditate all day long and then I sort of glide in to teach, you know, spontaneously from the depth of my realizations with no preparation whatsoever and I got news for you. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:01 Highlight the passage at 1:08:01

1:08:20 It ain't like that. So even for me, it's very curtailed the amount of time that I'm doing like formal sitting practice. Okay, and so a lot of these thought transformation texts are all about, you know, How do you practice where the rubber meets the road in daily life? Everybody always says Dharma for daily life. Well, this is it right here. And especially these five powers. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:20 Highlight the passage at 1:08:20

1:08:43 This is how you practice in daily life. All the instruction that you need is right here. So there are two sets of five powers. There's sort of the ordinary five powers, the Dharma in daily life. Five powers. And then there's the five powers for the time of death. And I want to go through that with you too, because many people who come to Dharma teachings are involved in some, you know, volunteer work, hospice work, as caregivers. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:43 Highlight the passage at 1:08:43

1:09:15 For people who are dying, we're all eventually, not only are we all going to die ourselves, often eventually in a position where you're caring for someone who's dying, one of your Dharma friends, something like that. So I think it's worth spending time on also reviewing. How the five powers, the same five powers, but have a different connotation for the time of death, because this is very powerful for us. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:15 Highlight the passage at 1:09:15

1:09:40 Okay, first we're going to do the Dharma and Daily Life five powers. The first one is called the power of determination. And I have a handout I'll give you after this, but it's good if you want to take notes, because then you can kind of write it down in your own language. The power of determination. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:40 Highlight the passage at 1:09:40

1:10:00 this is about You know how in Buddhist practice we're really big on setting our motivation for everything, right? Our mental attitude, our intention, our motivation is really important. So this power says, first thing in the morning, the minute you wake up, make a strong determination that you're not going to let self-cherishing and self-absorption rule your day. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:00 Highlight the passage at 1:10:00

1:10:27 You're not going to let your life become meaningless. You're going to subdue yourself cherishing and take care of others. It's great to do this power of determination even before you get out of bed. We're so easily distracted, right? By the time you've made coffee, you're already off to something else and you're thinking about those, you know, 30 emails that you have to send. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:27 Highlight the passage at 1:10:27

1:10:50 So just lie there in bed for a couple of minutes. This is not a big deal, you know, but it's super important. Lie there in bed and think. What am I going to do with this day? It's a miracle. We all, you know, those of you who've had lamrim teachings, precious human rebirth, impermanence and death. It's a miracle. I made it through the night. Remember that prayer we said when we were little kids, if I should die before I wake? And you're like lying there. You know, but it's true. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:50 Highlight the passage at 1:10:50

1:11:17 You know, we all could and we didn't. You know, if you happen to be lucky enough to wake up in the morning, think, wow, maybe I even have a whole nother day. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:17 Highlight the passage at 1:11:17

1:11:28 What am I going to do with it? Am I going to watch those Leave it to Beaver reruns or am I going to make my life meaningful? Like what am I going to do with this day? And make a strong determination. And it's sort of like this mid-course correction. That sets the tone of your whole day. Even if you get distracted, you know, you deal with the 30 emails, you know, the poop hits the fan at work, whatever it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:28 Highlight the passage at 1:11:28

1:11:50 You've really set a strong determination. In that moment to make your life meaningful. And especially by subduing your self-absorption, subduing that, me first, I'm number one. I remember my father told me when I was... Growing up, you know, this is probably the typical thing of that generation. Honey, you got to look out for number one because nobody else is going to look out for you. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:50 Highlight the passage at 1:11:50

1:12:15 Well, dad was wrong. It's not about looking out for number one. So set a strong determination first thing. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to look out for others. I'm going to remind myself that everyone wants happiness. Everyone wants to avoid suffering. How can I care for others today? So that's the power of determination. First thing in the morning, really important. And then the second power is called the power of the white seed. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:15 Highlight the passage at 1:12:15

1:12:45 The power of the white seed. And what this means is work hard on building up the two collections. The collections of merit and wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:45 Highlight the passage at 1:12:45

1:13:00 And for those of you that have had some teachings, you may be familiar with these two collections, the collection of merit, the collection of wisdom, that create the cause for the two bodies of a Buddha, the form body and the mental body. The collections of merit and wisdom. And purify obstacles. And these are so important. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:00 Highlight the passage at 1:13:00

1:13:24 Accumulating merit and purifying obstacles, incredibly important on the path. We don't get any realizations. Nothing happens from our meditation practice unless we also equally, and sometimes as beginners, even for the most part, engage in these practices of purification and accumulation of merit. How do you do that? We just did it this morning. The seven limb prayer is perfect. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:24 Highlight the passage at 1:13:24

1:13:51 I prostrate to those qualities, I confess my non-virtues, I rejoice in the virtues of others, I make offerings, all those things that we did. I request the Lamas to stay and live long. Perfect practices for accumulating merit and purifying obstacles. Many of you may do a daily purification practice. I know in some of the classes they teach Vajrasattva meditation, for example, other purification practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:51 Highlight the passage at 1:13:51

1:14:20 Really important. You cannot sit down and have realizations on the path without purification and accumulation. And the analogy they always give is like a vacant lot in the Bronx. And somebody wants to do a community garden. Maybe I shouldn't choose the Bronx because we're on the West Coast, like somewhere in South Central LA or something. Some vacant lot. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:20 Highlight the passage at 1:14:20

1:14:42 Where? The Tenderloin. The Tenderloin. Thank you. Great. An even more local example. You know, full of rocks and broken glass and a bunch of weeds and, you know, whatever, you know, a bunch of broken bricks from the building next door. So what are you going to do? You're going to go in there with your Johnny's packets of, you know, community garden seeds and just toss it on the ground. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:42 Highlight the passage at 1:14:42

1:15:06 Like, no way, nothing's going to happen. What do you have to do first? You go in there. You pick up all the broken glass and the rocks, you pull out the weeds, then you get the rototiller in there and you add a bunch of compost and build up the soil. And then when you plant the seeds, something's going to happen. And our minds are exactly like that. They're just like that vacant lot. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:06 Highlight the passage at 1:15:06

1:15:31 Before we purify and accumulate merit. Purification is like pulling out all the broken glass and bricks and weeds. And accumulating merit is like adding the compost, you know, taking the soil to be tested at one of those places that tells you what to add to it. And it's just like that. And then when you sit down and meditate, your mind is ready. It's ripe, it's receptive, it's fertile. Just like that fertile soil that's ready to receive the seeds. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:31 Highlight the passage at 1:15:31

1:15:58 And then boom, they come up. So it's just the same. And in fact, Lama Zopa has said, you know, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who's the spiritual director of Seichen Ling and the whole FPMT, has made extreme statements like, for beginners, it's useless to meditate, just purify and accumulate merit. You know, and he's doing that to exaggerate the importance of these practices. I had a friend who started out, you know, he heard about Dharma, went to his first like weekend course. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:58 Highlight the passage at 1:15:58

1:16:28 And then heard about meditation on emptiness, you know, the ultimate nature of reality and heard that this meditation is the key that cuts through saṃsāra at the root. So he's like, great, I'm just going to go for that. Forget about this other stuff. Forget about all these visualizations and forget about, you know, I'm just going to go. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:28 Highlight the passage at 1:16:28

1:16:48 So, of course, what does he do? He spends a week trying to meditate on emptiness, not having a clue what he's doing, gets totally frustrated and almost gives up, you know, and then I was like, honey, no, you gotta do, you know, start slowly and all these prayers we do, there is a reason and, you know, making offerings and things like that because then you really see the difference. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:48 Highlight the passage at 1:16:48

1:17:10 If you engage in these practices, you really see the difference. Now, it doesn't need to be... You know, some formal thing in chanting in Tibetan. Personally, I hate chanting in Tibetan. If I never chant in Tibetan as long as I live, it'll be totally okay. Some people love chanting in Tibetan until the cows come home. I don't understand it. It's distracting to me, you know, reading the words because I don't speak the language, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:10 Highlight the passage at 1:17:10

1:17:35 Do it in your mind. Do these things in your mind, which is why when we did the seven limb prayer, I paused and I said, okay, don't just say, you know, reverently I prostrate with the body. And meanwhile, you're, when's she going to finish? I've really got to pee. I need to come. You meditate on each step, you know, and do it mentally. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:35 Highlight the passage at 1:17:35

1:17:55 Think of that holy being. Wow. Lord Buddha. Amazing. You know, all these qualities. Visualize the sky filled with offerings. You know, really think of some non-virtue that you did. So all the steps, the prayers are just supposed to prompt us to meditate. You know, it's not supposed to be like a substitute for thinking about what it is. So even if you're doing some sort of recitations and prayers, think of the meaning of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:55 Highlight the passage at 1:17:55

1:18:26 It's really important. And other practices for purifying and accumulating merit. I kind of believe in really practical things. Formal visualizations for purification are great. They're wonderful. They're effective. They really work. Also, with a lot of students that I work with, I really suggest doing something as an antidote that's really practical. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:26 Highlight the passage at 1:18:26

1:18:50 For example, I have these two students that were both in the military. One was in the Israeli army and one was a Navy SEAL. They both have a lot of killing karma that they really are. to purify. And so they've sort of banded together to do this animal liberation. Like the Israeli army guy had this thing going on for a while of all these pit bulls and all these really vicious dogs that were going to be killed. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:50 Highlight the passage at 1:18:50

1:19:14 And he made this vow that he would save any dog that was going to be euthanized. It didn't matter how out of control and vicious it was because he was so alpha that he could, and he is, you know, these dogs are just like. And he's got like scars all over his arms. He's like, yeah, bite me. Give it your best shot. Go right ahead, you know. He once broke up a fight between his pit bull and another one by leaping on the other pit bull and biting its ear. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:14 Highlight the passage at 1:19:14

1:19:38 So you get an idea of the energy of this guy, you know. But he's this unbelievable bodhisattva. He's got seven dogs. You know, half of them will never be able to be adopted by anyone. Like some of them he can train and subdue and all this stuff. So then the Navy SEAL guy shows up. I'm all, dude, do you like dogs? He's like, I love dogs. Great. So they're doing this animal liberation specifically as an antidote for their killing karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:38 Highlight the passage at 1:19:38

1:20:03 And it's great for them. And then they also do meditation practice. They do, you know, they do their daily Vajrasattva purification and they save these dogs, you know. So that's the way we practice to purify. And it's because we all have deep pockets of karma, you know. And I believe in being really creative with antidotes because purification of that is what you need. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:03 Highlight the passage at 1:20:03

1:20:26 And then you sit down and meditate on the ultimate nature of reality and you get it. You get it with the purification. Accumulation of merit, visualize offerings. Put offerings on your altar. Also, serve Dharma centers. You know, and they don't pay me to say that at Se Chin Ling. Like, serve the Dharma in whatever way you can. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:26 Highlight the passage at 1:20:26

1:20:48 That's the most amazing way to accumulate a lot of virtue. You may not know what help they need. Just ask, you know. Serving the Dharma any way you can by making donations, by volunteering, any way that you can serve the Dharma at all. You know, serve the Dharma, serve your teachers. Meditating on emptiness is a great way to accumulate a lot of merit. Doing Tonglen, meditate on bodhicitta, phenomenal amount of merit. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:48 Highlight the passage at 1:20:48

1:21:18 Bodhicitta is the only thing that will get you fully enlightened. It's the only thing powerful enough. And it makes the difference between an arhat, a person who's just liberated from saṃsāra and a fully enlightened being, bodhicitta. So meditating on bodhicitta, meditating on tanglin, unbelievable virtue. There's four components to a complete karmic act. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:18 Highlight the passage at 1:21:18

1:21:46 There's the intention, the object, the action itself and the result or the conclusion. So for bodhicitta, The mind that wishes for enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. The object, oh gee, all sentient beings. Let's pick the most all-encompassing object we can think of. The intention, to liberate them from all of their suffering completely. The action, oh, let's become a Buddha to do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:46 Highlight the passage at 1:21:46

1:22:17 And then the conclusion is pulling it off. We've just designed the ultimate positive karma. We've just designed the most ultimate virtuous act. What is that? Chi, bodhicitta, wishing to get enlightened for the sake of all sentient beings. So nothing more powerful in terms of accumulating merit than meditating on bodhicitta. So this Tonglen meditation that we just did, super powerful virtue. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:17 Highlight the passage at 1:22:17

1:22:45 So that's the power of the white seed, purification and accumulation of merit in all of these different ways. And then the realizations will come. You want to get free from saṃsāra? You need a direct realization of emptiness. You want a direct realization of emptiness? Purify and accumulate merit. It's really simple. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:45 Highlight the passage at 1:22:45

1:23:03 You know, that's the recipe. Okay. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:03 Highlight the passage at 1:23:03

1:23:15 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:15 Highlight the passage at 1:23:15

1:23:24 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:24 Highlight the passage at 1:23:24

1:23:29 Yeah. Yeah. Well, remember we said the definition of attachment is exaggerating the good qualities of an object. And thinking that by possessing it you'll find happiness. So the wish for enlightenment doesn't fit that definition of attachment. And you can't get enlightened if it's about you at all. Like there's no way. I mean it's completely impossible. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:29 Highlight the passage at 1:23:29

1:23:58 It's the total antithesis. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:58 Highlight the passage at 1:23:58

1:24:03 It ain't about you at all. Yeah, you have to do it. You have to pull it off. But there's not one iota that it can be about, I want to be a Buddha. Or else it just doesn't work at all. And we're all there at the beginning. Because we all have this attachment and grasping to this view of self that's completely a hallucination. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:03 Highlight the passage at 1:24:03

1:24:29 Totally hallucination, that ego grasping way that we think that we exist. But we have to start somewhere. And slowly, slowly, our motivation purifies of that self grasping. And that's why they say that wisdom and compassion are like the two wings of a bird. We need both. Because if you have only compassion, but it's tainted with that ego grasping, It's always going to be lopsided and it's going to be about I'm going to save the world, you know, and then you're going to have compassion burnout like all these wonderful political and social activists because it's really about them saving the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:29 Highlight the passage at 1:24:29

1:25:10 Me, I'm going to be the hero, right? Unless it's balanced with the wisdom that sees that I don't even exist in that way, I think, you know, and that's why they say in Buddhist practice the two have to be really balanced. Too much wisdom without compassion leaves you cold. Too much compassion without wisdom leaves you egotistical and burned out, like a lot of these. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:10 Highlight the passage at 1:25:10

1:25:37 But it feels like that in the beginning. But as you practice, it completely purifies of that it's about me thing. And in fact, the two can't coexist. They say, bodhicitta, this wish to get enlightened for the benefit of all sentient beings, They say when it's uncontrived, you know, when you don't have to muster it up through a lot of meditation, but it's just an uncontrived thing. They say it's a main mind, which means it's just the baseline mental state that underlies every other mental state that you have, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:37 Highlight the passage at 1:25:37

1:26:15 And at that point, it's not about you at all. Like there isn't that taint. It's a great question. It's a great question, but it won't work at all if it's about you. And in the beginning, it may be, oh, you want to be a hero. But you purify that taint. In fact, Lama Zopa had this great analogy that I may have told in the last class, I can't remember now, about the plate and the food. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:15 Highlight the passage at 1:26:15

1:26:39 Did I go into the plate and the food thing? Yeah, I did. Okay. I'll say it again. It's brief. He says, it's like you're going into a kitchen. kitchen to get food you need a plate so first you grab a plate you go into the kitchen you put the food on the plate you go and you sit down He says, how stupid would it be to grab a plate, go in the kitchen, not get any food and sit down with an empty plate? He said, the plate is the wish to get enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:39 Highlight the passage at 1:26:39

1:27:08 Benefiting beings is like the food. The only reason you need that plate is to benefit beings. The only reason you need to be a Buddha isn't because, oh, it's so cool to be a Buddha. They're so cool, you know, they're radiant and they have all these arms. The only reason to be a Buddha is to benefit sentient beings. If you don't want to benefit beings, just get liberated. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:08 Highlight the passage at 1:27:08

1:27:31 It's a whole lot easier. Seven lifetimes versus three countless gradients. Like, I don't know about you, you know. If you really don't want, because the only reason to become a Buddha is to benefit beings. So it's sort of self-correcting for that view that you mentioned. Yeah, slowly, you know, as you increase your understanding of the path. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:31 Highlight the passage at 1:27:31

1:27:54 Does that make sense? Okay. Okay, so any more questions about the power of the white seed? Okay, so the next one, the power of familiarity. And that's practicing all the time. And remember that last little line we had about like reciting verses all the time? That's a great trick to support the power of familiarity. This means remind yourself all the time of that power of determination that you said at the very beginning, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:54 Highlight the passage at 1:27:54

1:28:28 You woke up in the morning, you lay there in bed before you even got up and thought, You know, I'm going to do it today. I'm going to make my life meaningful, going to serve others. So the power of familiarity means practice all the time. Just get used to it and keep reminding yourself. And those little verses like that one that I read are great reminders of how to do that. There's a little trick in this text that I wrote that I really like. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28:28

1:28:53 And it says, every time you change positions, mentally recite your little daily verse. You know, you go from sitting to standing. Train yourself. Remind yourself. Standing to walking. Walking to sitting down. Every time you change positions, train yourself that that's your trigger to remind yourself of your thought transformation practice with a little verse. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:53 Highlight the passage at 1:28:53

1:29:21 Very powerful. How many times do we change positions in any one day? You're going to be reminding yourself constantly. Like for ergonomics, you're supposed to stand up from your computer every 15 minutes. None of us do that, but still, you've got to stand up at least every hour and a half. And so you remind yourself at that moment of your thought transformation practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:21 Highlight the passage at 1:29:21

1:29:42 And the next power is in my favorite one. The power of repudiation. Is the word they often use. The Tibetan for this is Sun Jinpa. The Tibetan word is Sun Jinpa and it has the connotation of this fierce act of tearing something out by the heart. It's a samurai kind of. Sun Jinpa. Somebody's grimacing. But let me explain what this means. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:42 Highlight the passage at 1:29:42

1:30:10 And this means the minute your self-cherishing begins to raise its ugly head, you just bash it. You know, the minute that little, and we all know what it sounds like, right? That little voice, eh, what about me? I don't know. I'm not getting, I want this. The minute that starts to come up and starts to control your life, starts to, you know, influence what you're doing, just demolish it. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:10 Highlight the passage at 1:30:10

1:30:35 Just destroy it in that moment. And then this one text by Bhavanka Rinpoche, he gives this analogy, you know, in Tibetan monasteries, it's not like they buy these big... Bags of Purina dog chow and feed the dogs, right? Like there's all of these dogs running around, the guard dogs. They just get the cast off the bones and the, you know, old stuff that nobody wants. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:35 Highlight the passage at 1:30:35

1:30:55 And so they're always sort of sneaking around trying to get the food off the table. What it says in Pabanka Rinpoche's text is, the minute it raises its ugly head, just bash it like you would a thieving dog. And you can imagine some big, ugly, like Tibetan Mastiff, you know, in a big pile of meat momos and it's trying to put its head about, you know, and you're like, bam. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:55 Highlight the passage at 1:30:55

1:31:18 And of course, we wouldn't do that. We'd feed the dog the most. But you get the idea, you know, just bash it the way you would a thieving dog, you know. When I was in this long meditation retreat, I understood the sort of power of this metaphor of Māra. In these Buddhist texts, there's Māra who's like, you know, and everybody says, oh, is Māra like the devil? It's this personification of self-cherishing. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:18 Highlight the passage at 1:31:18

1:31:44 And it's nothing more, Māra is nothing more than your own self-cherishing. But sometimes it's useful to like project that outwards and create a being. That's what we do in deity practice. We take our own compassion, we project it outward and call it Chinrezig, the Bodhisattva of compassion. So we take our own self-cherishing and we call it Māra. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:44 Highlight the passage at 1:31:44

1:32:04 And I found it useful sometimes in doing the power of repudiation to actually have a little harsh... Talk with Māra. You know, when I'd feel that coming up, I would be like, Māra, you've kept me suffering in saṃsāra since beginningless time. You're not going to win this round. You know, and I'd sometimes use bad, unknown language to Māra. But it's that energy of self-cherishing. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:04 Highlight the passage at 1:32:04

1:32:29 And you have to just be like, look, you've kept me suffering since beginningless time. That me first, look out for number one thing. Forget it. I'm not going to let it win this round. Don't give it an inch. Don't give it any breathing room at all. And that's what this power of repudiation, the tear it out by the heart thing is all about. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:29 Highlight the passage at 1:32:29

1:32:55 I think these teachings can easily be misunderstood to you thinking, oh, but I'm cheating myself out of any happiness by thinking of others. We've got it completely backwards. You know, completely backwards. It's not where our happiness comes from. And you have to really understand that in order to wholeheartedly engage in these teachings. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:55 Highlight the passage at 1:32:55

1:33:19 If you think that Lord Buddha is just trying to cheat you out of all your fun, it's not going to work. But we have to really understand what's going on here. That little voice of Māra is what makes us suffer. And turning that around is where all the happiness that we'll ever have comes from. And we have to get used to that or else we'll think, you know, that it's the path for a martyr. You know, that this is like we're giving up all our fun and we have to be martyrs. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:19 Highlight the passage at 1:33:19

1:33:49 And it's not like that at all. And I beseech you to just try it out. Really just try it. Think of your happiest moments. Has it been when you've been a control freak and gotten your way or has it been when you've... Done something to make somebody else really happy. All you have to do is check. All you have to do is check up. And then the last power is the power of prayer. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:49 Highlight the passage at 1:33:49

1:34:16 And with all of our Buddhist practice, we dedicate. So at the end of the day, before you go to sleep, dedicate all of your virtue. All day long, starting with the power of determination before you even get out of bed. You've been thinking of others, hopefully trying to... Bash your self-cherishing, practice the power of the white seed, dedicate all the virtue of that towards your enlightenment, the increase of your bodhicitta, you know, the increase of this wish to serve others, to be of benefit to others. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:16 Highlight the passage at 1:34:16

1:34:51 Think about the day, review the day. Think about the times that you've caught yourself from self-cherishing. Think about the times you've given in. We're not perfect. Just knowing it theoretically doesn't mean you're going to be perfect right off the bat. Think of the ways that you may not have done as well as you would have wished and make a resolution to just try harder next time. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:51 Highlight the passage at 1:34:51

1:35:14 Figure out what made you give in and so forth. And then dedicate the merit of all that trying to the increase of your bodhicitta, to the increase of your helping others. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:14 Highlight the passage at 1:35:14

1:35:27 So any questions about this set of five powers? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:27 Highlight the passage at 1:35:27

1:35:48 I need some help with sort of concretizing the repudiation, the one that grimaced. Yeah, yeah, yeah. my sort of Strongest problem is my own beating myself up really intensely. It's like every decision I make, I get beaten up inside. There needs to be some way of dealing with that. That's the piece that's the self-cherishing part. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:48 Highlight the passage at 1:35:48

1:36:19 If I'm trying to break up the self, it's going to be judging the way it is. I don't know if you could use a specific example during the day. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:19 Highlight the passage at 1:36:19

1:36:31 A repudiation in sort of daily life. Yeah, yeah. And your repudiation may have to be more gentle because sometimes we are extremely harsh with ourselves and then our repudiation needs to come from a gentle way of understanding that whatever we did that we would like to stop doing is only going to bring us even more suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:31 Highlight the passage at 1:36:31

1:36:52 So it needs to be, instead of bashing the ugly dog, It needs to be more like, honey, if you go to that place, you know you're just going to buy yourself more suffering. Because I think that low self-esteem is exactly the same as arrogance. It's you out of balance. Equalizing, exchanging self and others can equally be about bringing up the low self-esteem so that your need for happiness and need to avoid suffering is equal to others as it is to bringing down The arrogance and starting to think about others, you know, because low self-esteem is so self-absorbed. It's really the same energy. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:52 Highlight the passage at 1:36:52

1:37:34 It's just feels like kind of opposites, but it's really just the opposite side of the coin. But if you feel like this would just trigger more kind of self-abuse, then you need to be more gentle and analytical and go, okay, in this situation, you know, Am I really going to, you know, this thinking of myself first that's happening in this situation, is it going to give me happiness or not? Report an error in the passage at 1:37:34 Highlight the passage at 1:37:34

1:38:04 I'm already unhappy enough because I beat myself up so much. Do I want to add to it? Is it really going to give me happiness? Or is, I had this thing that I worked on for a really long time about Being really uncomfortable with silence when I was around people and I felt more comfortable. My low self-esteem manifested as if I'm entertaining people, then they'll like me. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:04 Highlight the passage at 1:38:04

1:38:31 They'll be smiling at me and laughing at me and it'll make me feel better about myself, you know. So I remember really training myself that it's really okay to be quiet with people. It's really okay not to be the center of attention. I'm okay in a room full of people, even if I'm sitting in a corner and they're not smiling and laughing at me, you know? And so it was like that of like when I would have a tendency to do that, which was my self-cherishing, rising up of like, oh, I've got to burst in and interrupt and do this thing so that like the attention will be on me. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:31 Highlight the passage at 1:38:31

1:39:06 Just talking to myself gently and going, you know what? Don't like you anyway. Like even if you're sitting there quietly, it's really okay. And so sometimes it's checking really in the moment when you feel like, because even that is self-cherishing. It's coming out of like, oh, I need, you know, I have to get my needs met in this situation for kind of validating attention. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:06 Highlight the passage at 1:39:06

1:39:30 So I'll do this thing. And still it was all about me. I wasn't paying attention to how the other people were happily interacting. It was still all about me, even though it was coming from that sense of low self-esteem. So it's like that. So I just had to really gently, like the puppy, train myself, sit, stay. You know, you don't need to jump up. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:30 Highlight the passage at 1:39:30

1:39:51 And then this is like, you know, 10 years ago and just slowly, slowly kind of retraining myself and really checking where that, where that, You know, me first thing can so equally come out of a low self-esteem. But yeah, you can be gentler. You don't have to. But you still don't give it any slack. And that's the point. You don't have to be harsh with yourself. But you still, when you notice yourself doing that, don't go, oh, I'll just let myself be the center of attention for 10 minutes. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:51 Highlight the passage at 1:39:51

1:40:22 You know, you're like, no, it's not going to work for me at all. You know, it's just not what's going to really give me happiness. So that's it. It's more the point is like, don't give it any slack. Don't buy into it at all. And then you don't have to bash it harshly, but it's just about, no, this is really not the way to get happiness and really understanding that and just not cutting it any slack. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:22 Highlight the passage at 1:40:22

1:40:47 I did hear once something about that you would put your fear in the cradle of loving kindness. Oh, that's really sweet. When I hear the self-hatred voices, if I can just my arms around them and pull them Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think it's that misunderstanding of thinking that, you know, looking out for ourselves is going to give us happiness is the root misunderstanding that drives all of this dysfunctional behavior, whether it's low self-esteem or arrogance or whatever, it all kind of comes from this. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:47 Highlight the passage at 1:40:47

1:41:28 Total misunderstanding about how things work. This has to do with when you were talking about serving the Dharma Center. And so my question is, I think sometimes self-cherishing is involved. Oh yeah. I still kind of, if I really look deeply, I think there is a need for approval or you're thinking you're creating merit. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:28 Highlight the passage at 1:41:28

1:41:58 In that, is it that at least if you catch your mind and realize, okay, there is some self-cherishing here, how do you sort of transform that to say, I want this to be a pure offering? Is it just catching yourself and then saying, okay, I really want this to be a pure offering? To the best of my ability, I mean, is that sort of good enough? Yeah, yeah. And you're exactly right. Because until you are at what's called the path of seeing, which is when you have a direct realization of emptiness, which is a huge high realization, no act you do, even of serving others, is untainted by self-cherishing. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:58 Highlight the passage at 1:41:58

1:42:43 In other words... Even all the acts that we do to benefit others until that realization is always tainted by some self-cherishing. So the best that we can do is be mindful and aware of it. Because it's definitely always going to be mixed for us until that point. And that's just sort of the way it's going to be until we've actually seen directly the nature of reality, which is just cut through completely that ego grasping to that false. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:43 Highlight the passage at 1:42:43

1:43:13 Sense of self. So it's just about being mindful and trying to purify your motivation as much as you possibly can, but know that it's going to be Tainted by that. I think often when we get into that, I mean, I've known people, you know, I've been living in these Dharma centers for like 20 years and so many people get into this total victim martyr thing about working in centers, you know, and it's all about like, oh, if I do this thing, I'll be good enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:13 Highlight the passage at 1:43:13

1:43:41 It's that whole thing can totally repeat in this environment, just like it does in anyone else. That whole codependent, like if I'm taking care of everybody, then I'll be... Good enough, you know, and I won't be a total waste of oxygen and it completely repeats in these. And I think when you find yourself doing that is the time to really step back, you know, set boundaries, take some space from the situation until you can try and purify a little bit and really see what that is and see what makes you think you have to do this to be good enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:41 Highlight the passage at 1:43:41

1:44:15 Because so much... That's where it's coming from. When it gets really out of balance like that, it's usually coming from your self-esteem needing to be buoyed up by serving others so you'll feel worthwhile. So it's really good. And I tell people, I'm like, cut back, quit, because you can get into this whole cycle of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:15 Highlight the passage at 1:44:15

1:44:41 And the minute you start to feel really indispensable, And really exhausted and resentful of your Dharma Center service, just stop. You know, just stop. Don't tell them I told you. You know, stop completely and back off until you can purify, until you can do it joyfully. And also knowing that it will be tainted by that a little bit. But when it's way out of balance and out of control like that, just stop. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:41 Highlight the passage at 1:44:41

1:45:11 Because it's no good to serve a Dharma sinner with this resentful mind of a victim. Forget it, I was there. Been there, done that, have the scars to prove it. And everybody can see it and they're tiptoeing around you because you're all pouty and resentful. And it just creates like really... Bad energy, so it's really good to set limits. Just rest, you know, take space and look at it. Like you said, you know, really bring your awareness to that. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:11 Highlight the passage at 1:45:11

1:45:39 Yeah, yeah, I think that's a really, really good step. And you might want to make deals with people who are close to you. Sometimes we make deals with our Dharma friends to like be our wake-up call and tell you the really hard things that you sometimes can't see about yourself. I have deals with that, like that with several of my long-term Dharma friends. I know they love me and sometimes they sit me down and they go, look, this is what's going on for you right now and you're just so in it you can't see it, but I love you so I'm telling you. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:39 Highlight the passage at 1:45:39

1:46:14 And it's really hard to hear, but sometimes you need, it's like a cold water thrown in your face because often when we're in that thing, it's just this spiral and we can't. We can't even see it, but everybody else can. So it's nice to make those kind of deals with people and say, please tell me no matter how hard it is to hear. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:14 Highlight the passage at 1:46:14

1:46:36 When you feel like I'm doing something that's like total Dharma dysfunctional, like please wake me up. It's nice. My other question is with the Vajrasattva purification practice, is that something that you are initiated into? Report an error in the passage at 1:46:36 Highlight the passage at 1:46:36

1:46:55 You know, you can do it both ways. You can actually get an empowerment to do the practice, which makes it more powerful and you get the oral transmission of the mantra and all that stuff. It is one of the practices that even though it comes from Tantra, you can do it even without an empowerment. It's one of the few ones that you're authorized to do even without. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:55 Highlight the passage at 1:46:55

1:47:15 And empowerment, and it's still incredibly powerful to do. So yeah, from the booklet that explains exactly how to do the purification with the four powers, even if you don't have the initiation, you can do like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:15 Highlight the passage at 1:47:15

1:47:30 That brings up a question for me. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:30 Highlight the passage at 1:47:30

1:47:36 I just started using it. How do you know which prayers and practices you can do without initiation and which you cannot? Report an error in the passage at 1:47:36 Highlight the passage at 1:47:36

1:47:49 I'm trying to think, there was some booklet recently that had a whole, and I don't think it was Vajrasattva, I think it was a, maybe a green tar, one of the FPMT booklets, and then they had this whole section, oh I know what it was, it was for a Nung Ne, fasting retreat that's based on Thousand Arm Chin Raising, and then there's a whole section that said, you know, if you haven't had the initiation, skip this and this and this section, if you had had the initiation, in general, Report an error in the passage at 1:47:49 Highlight the passage at 1:47:49

1:48:19 Don't visualize yourself arising as a deity if you have not had the empowerment, as a very general rule. Now in Vajrasattva, that's one of the reasons that you can do it without an empowerment, because you just visualize Vajrasattva on the crown of your head and the healing nectar coming down. In many tantric practices, the point is to sort of take the, they call it taking the result into the path, which I... Report an error in the passage at 1:48:19 Highlight the passage at 1:48:19

1:48:45 Phrase as faking it till you make it, you know. So you arise as a fully enlightened being. You visualize yourself as a fully enlightened being as a powerful way to create the cause for that to happen in the future. That you can't do unless you actually have an empowerment to do that. So that would be sort of the... Report an error in the passage at 1:48:45 Highlight the passage at 1:48:45

1:49:05 Bottom line, there are a couple of practices like Tara and I think there's some Chinrezi practices in Vajrasattva that you can do with what they call the front generation, visualizing the deity in front of you and doing certain practices, light coming from their heart and things like that. And that's fine without an initiation, but it's visualizing yourself as the deity that you can't do. And in some of the practice booklets, you know, more and more they're delineating. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:05 Highlight the passage at 1:49:05

1:49:34 Exactly how to do that. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So I think what we'll do is the five powers at the time of death and then it'll be time for the lunch break. So the next part of the text, section four said, the five powers themselves are the great vehicles, precepts on the transference of consciousness. Cultivate these paths of practice. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:34 Highlight the passage at 1:49:34

1:50:02 Transference of Consciousness. And some of you may be familiar with the Tibetan word for this practice, poa. This was really popular in the early 90s. You know, there's phases in Buddhism and death and dying was really popular in the early 90s and then prison work became the next fad in Buddhism and there's all these sort of Buddhist. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:02 Highlight the passage at 1:50:02

1:50:24 Now I think it's like youth is the big fad. Buddhism, you know, there are these things that go on. So I remember in the early 90s, all these lamas were going around giving instruction in POA, transference of consciousness. So what this means is very, very highly realized beings, if they have a strong karmic connection with you, sometimes, depending on your karma, have the power to help guide your consciousness at the time of death to a better rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:24 Highlight the passage at 1:50:24

1:50:57 You know, often sort of the default better rebirth is Amitabha's pure land. So Amitabha poa is something that is done often. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:57 Highlight the passage at 1:50:57

1:51:08 Now, this five powers at the time of death is the most powerful transference of consciousness. That's what this text is saying. Forget about all of these other ones that involve, you know, visualizations of deities and all of this other business. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:08 Highlight the passage at 1:51:08

1:51:26 What this text is saying is this is the most powerful transference of consciousness. And this is something that anyone can do. You don't have to have any special initiations or anything. And this is beautiful. So the five powers at the time of death that we can use to prepare for our own death and to help people through theirs also. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:26 Highlight the passage at 1:51:26

1:51:48 So it's the same names of the five powers, but they mean something more specific at the time of death. So the power of determination for the time of death. Resolve not to become separated from your bodhicitta motivation, your wish to benefit others to get fully enlightened, even in the death process, in the intermediate state. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:48 Highlight the passage at 1:51:48

1:52:17 So think, I'm about to go through this incredibly scary process of death. According to all accounts, It's painful and it's scary, mostly because we do cling to this identity and you're being ripped away. We identify so much with our body, you know, with our identity of who we are in this life. You're being ripped away from that. Think, I'm about to die. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:17 Highlight the passage at 1:52:17

1:52:45 Even during this scary process where I'm going through this total dissolution of identity, I won't lose sight of the fact of this bodhicitta motivation. motivation. I won't lose. Side of the feeling that I'm doing whatever I do is to benefit others. All of what I'm doing, even during this time, it's all about benefiting others. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:45 Highlight the passage at 1:52:45

1:53:07 Benefiting them somehow. And hold on as tightly as you can to that thought of wishing to get enlightened for the benefit of others. Now there's no way on earth you can do this without the power of familiarity that we just talked about before. Unless you're completely familiar with this thought, believe me. I remember reading, you know, Ram Dass had his stroke and then he wrote a book about it and he goes, I thought I was a really spiritual guy until I thought I was dying and I didn't even think about anything spiritual. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:07 Highlight the passage at 1:53:07

1:53:40 And that was a huge wake-up call. He was like, wow, I'm Mr. Be Here Now. Like, I'm Mr. Spirituality. And what happened? I'm lying on the floor of the bedroom after the stroke. Farthest thing from my mind. So how is it going to happen at the time of death? You can't expect some Lama to sweep into your hospital room and pull it off for you unless you've just trained over and over and over again during your life with the power of familiarity. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:40 Highlight the passage at 1:53:40

1:54:09 So the power of determination at that moment. I'm not going to be separated from this beautiful thought of bodhicitta even during this scary death process. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:09 Highlight the passage at 1:54:09

1:54:20 The power of the white seed. Remember before it was purification and accumulation of merit. Die clean. Die with nothing. This is about not having any attachments at the time of death. Dying without attachments. This instruction says forget about leaving a will. Just give it all away before you die so you won't have any attachment. And this is something that really Is what makes the wheel of saṃsāra go round. You know, as we're dying, we have attachment to our stuff, to our friends, to our family, to our identity, to our body. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:20 Highlight the passage at 1:54:20

1:55:03 And it's that clinging that's the main attachment that drives rebirth. We have this attachment to embodiment. You know, we want to be embodied. We identify so much. So give away your stuff. Say goodbye to your friends and try and really cut even your attachment to that sense of I that's really identified with your body. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:03 Highlight the passage at 1:55:03

1:55:27 Because even attachment to this identity is going to hold you back. So possessions, give away your possessions before you die. Make amends with all of those people. Say goodbye to people who love you. The Buddhist instructions for the deathbed are quite different than the traditional thing you see in those movies about like the godfather whatever that everybody's like wailing and grabbing them and like keening and all of this stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:27 Highlight the passage at 1:55:27

1:55:54 It's not like that at all. They say don't have really you know outward displays of emotion around the deathbed of someone because that's just going to increase their attachment to you and it's going to make it harder for them to really Let go completely. So for us in our minds, say goodbye. Say goodbye. Give away your stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:54 Highlight the passage at 1:55:54

1:56:18 Even try and reduce your attachment to your own body. And the sooner the better. Because who knows? We were talking about this in one class and I had a student... And he had his first heart attack when he was 42. And he's had like, he's now 53 or something and he has all these stints and all this stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:18 Highlight the passage at 1:56:18

1:56:38 And he's just, you know, he raises his hand and he's like, you're acting like I'm going to be quietly lying in bed with everyone around. I'm going to be able to say goodbye one by one. He goes, you know, I'm going to have the big one in the Safeway in the middle of the aisle in the frozen food section and be surrounded by strangers. And I was like, great, do it now, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:38 Highlight the passage at 1:56:38

1:56:57 Give away your stuff. Lama Zopa said one Lama goes, he was practicing the power of the white seed and he gave away all his stuff and it's six years later and he's still alive. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:57 Highlight the passage at 1:56:57

1:57:08 But it's just about attachment. It's just about attachment that holds us back and makes it impossible for us to actually like, you know, go to some rebirth that isn't driven by clinging and attachment. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:08 Highlight the passage at 1:57:08

1:57:22 The power of repudiation and destruction. So this is about dying clean mentally, okay? Dying clean mentally. If you've taken any level of vows, whether it's some sort of pradhi moksha, individual liberation vows, bodhisattva vows, tantric vows, there's a way to renew and restore all of those vows. It's really good to do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:22 Highlight the passage at 1:57:22

1:57:51 Before you die. Every Tibetan Lama in the world, if they have time to prepare, does practices to restore their vows, restore any broken vows, kind of clean up, confess and purify before they die. Purification practices. Also, as I mentioned before, making amends with people. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:51 Highlight the passage at 1:57:51

1:58:14 Often we have this hospice at Land of Medicine Buddha and I work with the people there and I'll ask them, is there anyone you feel that you have unfinished business with? Is there anybody you're estranged from? You know, if you would like, I'll help you contact them, even if they don't know how to contact them. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:14 Highlight the passage at 1:58:14

1:58:33 Sometimes writing a letter where they say they're sorry, even if the person isn't going to get it. You know, but in their mind, they're making amends. Kind of clearing this slate, because that's really, really hard at the time of death. If you have that kind of unfinished business with someone, you know, it's the time that all those estranged relatives, like you make it okay with them. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:33 Highlight the passage at 1:58:33

1:58:58 When the Tibetan Lamas hear about the Catholic last rites and the final confession, they're like... Right on. That's great. And in fact, I went to help my father who is dying and one of my teachers at the time was giving me some advice and he said, the best thing you can do is get him to talk about what he regrets. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:58 Highlight the passage at 1:58:58

1:59:18 Get him to confess, you know, just get him to unburden himself. And he goes, and you may hear some stuff that is going to be hard for you to hear that he's never told anyone. And I tried to Do that with my father. And he actually admitted something that, of course, we all knew, but he'd never been able to actually acknowledge it as a non-virtue until he was on his deathbed. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:18 Highlight the passage at 1:59:18

1:59:40 He couldn't stand my sister-in-law, like he hated her for the 25 years she and my brother were married. And he was so mean to her. And we're all like, wow, what's up with that? And he finally admitted. He goes, oh, I haven't been very nice to her. I really regret being unkind to her. and it just blew my mind because he'd never shown the slightest bit of Remorse or even hesitation. He was just like outwardly unkind to this person. And so I sort of organized something so that they could talk and he could apologize before he died. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:40 Highlight the passage at 1:59:40

2:00:11 You know, so like that. It's really important to unburden yourself if you're in that position and you're conscious enough to be able to do it, to really encourage people close to you to do that and to help facilitate as much as possible that. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:11 Highlight the passage at 2:00:11

2:00:27 Okay. The power of prayer. This is your big chance to do the big Tonglen at the time of death. It's scary. It's physically and emotionally painful. So at this point, at the moment of death, pray that all the suffering and obscuration of all beings ripen upon you, you know, in the same way that you did when you had the migraine, in the same way that you did when you got cancer. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:27 Highlight the passage at 2:00:27

2:00:59 Think. Okay. The karma for this life is finishing. I'm going to be going through this scary, painful death process. May all the suffering and pain and fear of all beings ripen upon me right now. May I take it on for all those other beings because I need to be experiencing it right now. Karma for this life is finishing. Do the big Tonglen at the moment of death. Really, really powerful. Cherish the act. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:59 Highlight the passage at 2:00:59

2:01:32 It's the code word in our text that refers to this, cherish the act. That means that final Tonglen, the big Tonglen. So die peacefully. There are many of us when we get this teaching that wonder if this may not have been what Jesus was doing on the cross, right? Jesus died for our sins. What was he doing? Was he doing Tonglen? Makes a lot of sense. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:32 Highlight the passage at 2:01:32

2:01:57 Geshe Chakawa, our big hero Geshe Chakawa, I told the story of his life last time that we met. There's this beautiful story about when he was on his deathbed, you know, this great bodhisattva taught this publicly, healed all these lepers, benefited beings, extraordinary. So he's lying on his deathbed. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:57 Highlight the passage at 2:01:57

2:02:21 His students recorded his words as he was dying and he's going into the death process and he goes, oh no, it's not working, it's not working. He goes, I'm praying to be reborn in the deepest hell for the benefit of all beings and all I see opening up before me are the pure lands of the Buddha fields. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:21 Highlight the passage at 2:02:21

2:02:44 He's like, no, it's not working. You know, he's trying to be reborn in hell for the benefit of all beings and of course because he's this amazing bodhisattva. And those were his last words. Recorded by His disciples. In that moment, if you die with that mind, there is no way you will have anything but the most extraordinary rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:44 Highlight the passage at 2:02:44

2:03:06 No fear of a suffering rebirth. If you die with bodhicitta in your mind, you're home free. Absolutely guaranteed. There's no way you can have that pure mind at the time of death. You don't have to worry about anything. Just beautiful. And then the power of familiarity, because you've familiarized yourself over and over and over again your whole life, you can pull it off. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:06 Highlight the passage at 2:03:06

2:03:35 You can leave this life with that mind because of the power of your familiarity of having trained your whole lifetime. Even in that scary death process, because that's your knee-jerk... Report an error in the passage at 2:03:35 Highlight the passage at 2:03:35

2:03:49 You know, that's your main mind that you've trained in your whole life. So you can do what Geshe Chakawa did. You're not distracted by the pain. You're not distracted by the fear. You're not distracted by the thought of, you're like, okay, you know, let me do it for all other beings. Let me go through this for all other beings. And you're able to do that, which is why we just have to train constantly every time you change positions. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:49 Highlight the passage at 2:03:49

2:04:16 Or else we're not going to be able to do it at the time of death. It's just impossible. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:16 Highlight the passage at 2:04:16

2:04:24 It's also said in the Buddhist text that the best position, the best physical position to die, and when we're helping people in the hospice and other places, Lama Zopa often encourages this, and I've been with him at people's deathbeds many times, and he always gets us to turn the person on their right side. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:24 Highlight the passage at 2:04:24

2:04:45 Okay, so on the right side with your hand under your head like that and your other hand kind of laid out on the body. And this has to do with the subtle body. This has to do, and it's a long story, but there's a subtle kind of psychic body that, you know, those of you who may have studied yoga or other systems or Chinese medicine, it's where the acupuncture, you know, and so forth, there's a subtle body. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:45 Highlight the passage at 2:04:45

2:05:11 And lying in this position, Has a certain effect on the subtle body that helps direct the rebirth to a higher rebirth. So he always has us, if we possibly can physically, even if the person's in a coma, you know, we'll lift up and put pillows and prop them up on their right side. And I've seen him do this over and over when it seems that the person is just about to die to have us position their bodies on the right side. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:11 Highlight the passage at 2:05:11

2:05:38 You die like that with the thought of bodhicitta. So this is the five powers at the time of death. So any questions about those? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:38 Highlight the passage at 2:05:38

2:05:55 Why do you say that death is scary and painful? That's what they say. You know, I don't remember my last death, but that's what it said. But it's mostly because of this attachment that we have to our identity, that we fear being ripped away from that. And actually in the intermediate state, in Buddhism they say that between our death of, for example, this life and our next rebirth is... Report an error in the passage at 2:05:55 Highlight the passage at 2:05:55

2:06:24 A state called the intermediate state known in Tibetan as the bardo. And they say that that is a place that's full, it's a very disorienting state of being because we do so identify with our body and we're sort of a disembodied like an astral body which can be very disorienting and for most of us when we're disoriented it's very fearful. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:24 Highlight the passage at 2:06:24

2:06:45 There's a lot of hallucinations because of our past karma. We have different appearances that can be quite scary, but it's mostly just the feeling of disorientation, apparently, is what causes a lot of fear for us. Because you can imagine if you're just kind of dropped in the middle of some play, some Fellini movie, and everything's like completely surreal, you'd probably freak out, you know, and that's kind of what it's like. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:45 Highlight the passage at 2:06:45

2:07:11 Like you're dropped into a Fellini movie in somebody else's body. You know, I think that's what it's like, this intermediate state. So that's where the fear comes from. But if it wasn't your expectation for that and you didn't mind dying, it doesn't have to be then. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:11 Highlight the passage at 2:07:11

2:07:32 You would have to be, I think, well, in order to not have that grasping to the identity, which is the cause of that fear, sure, for a person who didn't have that and who didn't mind dying and all of that stuff, sure. But most of us aren't there yet. You know, this is, I'm talking like for ordinary, I don't know about you, but I would be. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:32 Highlight the passage at 2:07:32

2:07:54 I still completely identify with who I am in this life and I don't have that level of realization. They say for beings with high levels of realization, they say dying and being reborn is just like changing clothes. No more of an impact than changing clothes. But for most of us, because we do grasp at this false sense of identity and being ripped away from that in the disorientation causes a lot of fear. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:54 Highlight the passage at 2:07:54

2:08:22 I know that I'm not a high being and I know I'm grasping for all of that, but also I have this belief that I'll be reborn, that it's sort of exciting. I find people who say they want to live a long time. It's sort of like I don't have any agenda about living a long time because I believe I'm going to live another one. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:22 Highlight the passage at 2:08:22

2:08:47 So I don't think... know, I know I have an ego and I know I feel so wrong but also I believe that you know, there's sometimes I sort of wonder what, you know, okay, what's the next life like? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, me too. But I also know that I also really identify with who I am in this one. But I think that can hold you in good stead. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:47 Highlight the passage at 2:08:47

2:09:08 You know, I think people who really do have some kind of confidence, they say if you have so much confidence in the practice that you've done in this life that you don't have any. A, regret about what you did in this life. B, fear of what your karma is creating for you next time around. For sure, there's so much less fear in a condition like that. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:08 Highlight the passage at 2:09:08

2:09:29 And it doesn't, I don't think it has to be terrifying and fearful, but even the disorientation alone would make you forget this. You know, like Ram Dass. I mean, he was so disoriented by what happened, he didn't think of spirituality. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:29 Highlight the passage at 2:09:29

2:09:46 So just the disorientation alone, even if it's not subjectively terribly fearful, would make you just sort of lose track of something like this. So that's why they say with the power of familiarity, have it so ingrained that it's just so second nature, you don't lose sight of it at all. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:46 Highlight the passage at 2:09:46

2:10:06 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:06 Highlight the passage at 2:10:06

2:10:18 death break the spine someone? Do you know this and do you know why? I never heard that. Breaking the spine. Like right after? I guess when they're wrapped, they put them in a ball in order to break the spine and they wrap it. Oh, you know, I've seen the wrapping thing, but I didn't know they had to break the spine to do that. Yeah, I don't know about that. Never heard that. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:18 Highlight the passage at 2:10:18

2:10:45 But you're the chiropractor, not me. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:45 Highlight the passage at 2:10:45

2:10:50 Check. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:50 Highlight the passage at 2:10:50

2:10:53 Oh, interesting. I haven't heard... Oh, yeah, you check and I'll check and we'll see if we can figure out what that's about because I've never heard that. I'll ask the Lama. There's an elderly Tibetan Lama that lives at Land of Medicine, but I'll try and check with him about that. Probably go, don't be ridiculous. That's his response to most questions I ask him. What are you, nuts? Sorry. Where did you hear that? Report an error in the passage at 2:10:53 Highlight the passage at 2:10:53

2:11:21 I'll check. Anything else before we... Yeah. I'm Report an error in the passage at 2:11:21 Highlight the passage at 2:11:21

2:11:28 not sure if that's turned off. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:28 Highlight the passage at 2:11:28

2:11:32 Oh, does the little thing blip when you speak? Hey, if you had the karma to be here, you got the answer. Otherwise, forget it. There's a question about if it's a sudden death. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:32 Highlight the passage at 2:11:32

2:11:47 Even if it's a sudden death, there's still a period where you could be practicing this? Well, with a sudden death, and then this gets into the whole stages of death. Which is a whole other story. There are all of these stages of death and dissolutions of consciousness that happen. And best is if you're able to do the whole process very consciously in a peaceful place, seated upright, in meditation, yada yada yada. If it's a sudden death, especially if it's violent, like a car accident, a gunshot, something like that. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:47 Highlight the passage at 2:11:47

2:12:21 All the stages of death happen really quickly and it's extremely hard to go through any of this consciously at all. I would imagine for some being like Geshe Chakwa or His Holiness the Dalai Lama, well for one they probably wouldn't, you know, no way they would have a death like that, but even if they did because of their training. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:21 Highlight the passage at 2:12:21

2:12:40 They could probably do it, but it's much more difficult if you have, like my friend who was like, I'm going to bite the big one on the linoleum of the Safeway, you know, because of his heart disease. And for him, it's actually very interesting because it gives him so much more urgency for his practice, knowing how, you know, he really is completely convinced that's going to be what his death is. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:40 Highlight the passage at 2:12:40

2:13:03 So he has this incredible urgency for his practice to train his mind. So even then, at least... Possibly he's going to have that kind of thought, but for sure when it's unexpected, sudden, etc., it's more difficult, which means we really have to have it be second nature, you know, for us to be able to pull it off at that point. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:03 Highlight the passage at 2:13:03

2:13:23 But this is sort of the ideal. You have the hospice at Land of Medicine, but you're surrounded by a bunch of lamas doing prayers and doing your, you know, which happens. I mean, I've been there when it's happened several times. It's amazing. We call it the deluxe package. Like when our friends die like that, afterwards we're like, you know, you're sad that you lost your friend. But like last September, one of our friends died and Lama Zopa and all of us had been up with her all night the night before. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:23 Highlight the passage at 2:13:23

2:13:49 And it was so beautiful and so amazing. Like Lama Zopa. I was just like, oh, please let me pull this off karmically. Because all night, you know, he's doing these practices. And then he kept standing up and going to her ear and saying, don't worry, I will guide you at the time of death. You don't have anything to worry about. I was like, I'd never heard him say that to anybody. He kept saying, All you need to think of is Amitabha. Don't worry about anything. I will guide you. And it was so amazing. After she died, we were able to leave her body for a couple of days, which is also recommended. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:49 Highlight the passage at 2:13:49

2:14:25 She had this little smile on her face. You know, after she passed away, her skin had this incredible radiant golden color. And she just had this little smile. And I said, Lama Zopa is just taking her through the bardo. By the hand, I was just, he promised, you know, and I heard later that she told one of her friends, she had cancer and she'd been in remission a couple of times and then, you know, back and forth. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:25 Highlight the passage at 2:14:25

2:14:49 And she told one of her friends like a year prior, which I only heard after she died, I'm not afraid of death at all. Lama Zopa promised me he'd take care of me. So I'm, and sure enough, he arrived at the airport that night, went straight from the airport to the hospice, stayed up with her all night and then she died that afternoon. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:49 Highlight the passage at 2:14:49

2:15:08 And he just kept promising her. I'd never heard him say that. I've been with him at a couple of deathbed scenes. And then afterwards we're like, wow, we'll really miss her. But man, did she ever get the deluxe package? Just incredible. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, really first class. I was like, what do I need to do to pull that off? Report an error in the passage at 2:15:08 Highlight the passage at 2:15:08

2:15:32 Yeah, right. If I save up all my miles. a fool. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:32 Highlight the passage at 2:15:32

2:15:36 don't know. I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:36 Highlight the passage at 2:15:36

2:15:44 Okay, great. Oh, my goodness, we're even late. Did you have one more? Yeah, sure, why not? Sure, why not? I think it's just soup. They'll probably keep it heated up until you guys show up. Well, I experience a certain urgency. Good for you. That's a good thing. Well, I've come to the Dharma rather late in my life, and so I do experience a sense of urgency knowing that I could die at any moment. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:44 Highlight the passage at 2:15:44

2:16:11 Yeah. So I feel like there's a combination of anxiety about practicing and learning and then I feel like then I also have this grasping and wanting to go to as many teachings and so I feel like there's some level of self-cherishing and then I hear relax and I'm going like well how can I relax? You know I'm just kind of scratching, barely scratching the surface and so I have this urgency and but I feel like it's a... Report an error in the passage at 2:16:11 Highlight the passage at 2:16:11

2:16:42 Yeah, yeah, yeah. How do I relax into it and really try to consistently practice and be mindful? Right, right, right. Oh, completely. And you know what? I think there's two things, and it's not easy. There's two things. One is, yes, I completely hear you. You know, you hear, the precious human rebirth, don't waste even a second, especially your student of Lama Zopa and he's like, staying up all night and don't waste even a second. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:42 Highlight the passage at 2:16:42

2:17:12 You're like... And then you just freak out. You're like, I can't do anything. You know, I've just got to practice all the time and then I've got to not sleep like he doesn't sleep and all of that stuff. And I think it's two things. It's like really being aware of your pace that works for you in the moment, realizing that your capacity will increase over time. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:12 Highlight the passage at 2:17:12

2:17:38 It's like we all have to start wherever we are. And you've got this goal out there, so how not to kind of panic that you're not at this goal. But that just is one of the biggest obstacles in the path. And it takes a while to get the balance right of like, it's like the tortoise and the hare thing. And it really is because I've seen so many people burn out because they've been so frantic about their practice and it's become so joyless to them that they can't maintain it. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:38 Highlight the passage at 2:17:38

2:18:08 It's this joyless trial. It's like that thing of trying to be good enough once again to please. I mean, for me, it was this whole... Male patriarchal authority figure thing, I had to realize, you know, I realized at a certain point that my practice was about like pleasing them or something and the Buddha is like dad Jehovah and like somebody all mixed up and it's like, it's not like that, you know, but we have that. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:08 Highlight the passage at 2:18:08

2:18:32 And I noticed when that was my motivation was so tainted by that, I had to really get what's going on. It's really about being able to benefit others and not pleasing some authority figure or trying to be good enough quickly before it's too late. So I think it's that mindfulness of always checking. And slowing down, it's better to do a really simple practice with a really pure motivation than to do all of these hundreds of thousands of things with a wrong setup. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:32 Highlight the passage at 2:18:32

2:19:05 Like, you know, it's just, I had a student last week who came in and she was raised Catholic. So she has this parental authority figure thing going on big time. And she said, oh, I haven't been coming to L &B for a while. I haven't really been doing much in the way I practice, so I'm hoping, and this is almost a direct quote, I can just kind of slink in the door and the Buddhas won't notice. Report an error in the passage at 2:19:05 Highlight the passage at 2:19:05

2:19:29 I was like, wow, that's deep. And for her it was about like she had misbehaved and she was hoping that she could just like open the door, a crack and sneak in. And then we just work for the next like 45 minutes on this view of who the Buddhas are. Really are in that whole thing. So it's constantly kind of correcting for that and the thing of being good enough and realizing that a little bit of practice done with pure bodhicitta blows doors off any amount of practice done out of like resentment and victim and trying to please daddy and all of that stuff. Report an error in the passage at 2:19:29 Highlight the passage at 2:19:29

2:20:10 So I think it's just being... Super mindful of that. And also realizing, I remember once, I worked for Lama Zopa for about ten years and then went on this long meditation retreat. And I remember at one point I was working for him and I used to talk to him on the phone, you know, from time to time. And I remember once saying, oh, you know, Rinpoche, I wish I had more capacity to serve you. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:10 Highlight the passage at 2:20:10

2:20:33 And he goes, oh, oh, but your capacity is increasing all the time. And I was like... Oh my God, he's right. Like I thought of what I was capable of doing, you know, a year before, two years before, five years before, and what I was capable of doing. And I saw that like slowly, slowly it increased. And I had to, and sometimes I really urge people, look back in your life. Don't look forward to these impossible goals and think, oh my God, I still have to sleep at night and Lama Zopa doesn't. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:33 Highlight the passage at 2:20:33

2:21:05 Look back and go, what was I doing a year ago, two years ago? Five years ago. And then really rejoice in how much you are doing and how much you've changed and your capacities changing. You know, because that's the real measure of your practice being effective. And for us so much, we raise the bar so high. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:05 Highlight the passage at 2:21:05

2:21:27 That it's just become so joyless. So I think we have to really correct for that. But it's not easy. There's no simple solution. It's just checking, constantly checking. How joyful is it? How much of a burden is it becoming? What's going on there? And always be thinking, I ain't doing it for me and I ain't doing it to please daddy. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:27 Highlight the passage at 2:21:27

2:21:49 I'm doing it to have the capacity to benefit all sentient beings. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So. Have a nice lunch. Can we come back at 2? It's about quarter of. Is an hour and 15 minutes enough? Because they serve you here and then take a little sprint around the block to get the juices flowing. Digest. And then everything has disappeared. But hopefully you can get a cappuccino if you really need one. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:49 Highlight the passage at 2:21:49

2:22:38 Can I use this? So what I do is do like that. And then for six squares. I do a plus or minus a Report an error in the passage at 2:22:38 Highlight the passage at 2:22:38

2:23:09 couple of hours. What I do with mine, we can just use the ten numbers as an example. So you'd say killing, stealing, Report an error in the passage at 2:23:09 Highlight the passage at 2:23:09

2:23:26 lying. Report an error in the passage at 2:23:26 Highlight the passage at 2:23:26

2:23:34 And if you have other vows, if you have like lay vows or bodhisattva vows or something like that. For me what I do, I do one refuge commitment, one monastic vow, one primary and one secondary bodhisattva vow. One of these, and then one tantric vow, because I have all those levels of vows, so it would just depend on what vows you have. Yeah, well then the ten non-virtues would be a good, so like this would be a good thing to do. Report an error in the passage at 2:23:34 Highlight the passage at 2:23:34

2:24:02 And then every couple of hours, you check, and you don't necessarily have to think what you've done in relation to that vow within the last couple of hours, but just the last day or two or whenever, since the last time you had the vow. So for killing, let's say, you know, volunteered. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:02 Highlight the passage at 2:24:02

2:24:19 at the SPCA. And then you may not have taken out a spider. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:19 Highlight the passage at 2:24:19

2:24:33 So it's not like you killed the spider, but you just weren't careful to take a being out of danger kind of thing. So for some of these you have to think really broadly. What did you do just around the whole idea of preserving life or not taking life in a much broader way? Report an error in the passage at 2:24:33 Highlight the passage at 2:24:33

2:24:54 So do that. A couple of hours later, come back. And then you've got stealing as your next one. And again, think. Did I take anything that wasn't offered? Did I even think about it? Did I do anything around that, both for the positive and the negative? Carry on like that. And at the end of the day, when you're sitting down and revealing your day, what I usually do is I'll do three of positive and three of negative. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:54 Highlight the passage at 2:24:54

2:25:20 Now, if one of these was especially... You can write it down here, like either heavily positive or heavily negative and you want to emphasize it, or you can write down anything that you did in that day, even if it didn't relate to any of the vows that you picked, like anything at all. You know, you sit down and think and say, oh, I was kind of unkind or I joked with that person in a way that was a little harsh and hurt their feelings. Report an error in the passage at 2:25:20 Highlight the passage at 2:25:20

2:25:47 You know, anything at all that you come up with. And then when you do your purification practice, You've got a basis of purification. You know, you've reviewed and mentally you're thinking about these things and then you can use that as the basis of your purification. Yeah, so it's a really powerful way to train. Okay, so just have a little notebook and do this again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Usually, you know, you just buy a little thing you can carry around in your bag and then just pull it out every couple of hours. Report an error in the passage at 2:25:47 Highlight the passage at 2:25:47

2:26:17 And now that you have these, you can load your book with a couple of the ten non-virtues, a couple of these vows. I have a student who's preparing to take bodhisattva vows, and that's a level of vows that you can study before you take them. So he's working with the bodhisattva vows now, even though he hasn't taken them yet, just as a way to train his mind. And even before I took monastic vows, I started training with the monastic vows before. Report an error in the passage at 2:26:17 Highlight the passage at 2:26:17

2:26:46 Taking them for the same reason, just as a way to begin training. So even things like that, you can work with them. Even you don't have the vow, but you can kind of begin work. Some vows you're not allowed to really study until you've already taken them. But for the bodhisattva vows, for example, you can study those before you take them. Report an error in the passage at 2:26:46 Highlight the passage at 2:26:46

2:27:07 There's no fault to that. And then you can train. With that ahead of time, and those are beautiful too, they're very similar to this, they're these beautiful, amazing ways to train. Another question, I wanted to get your tablet checked. Oh, okay. So, can I mail you a tablet? Yeah, yeah, that's fine, that's fine. Oh, well I wanted to know, like, if I wanted to communicate with you, because I live in Marin, and I'm becoming, I mean, I live near Jack and Judith, and so, but is there a way that, You know, email works best for me. Okay, is that okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, sure. Yeah, email is sort of the best way, because I'm not kind of near a phone and I travel a lot to teach, so. Report an error in the passage at 2:27:07 Highlight the passage at 2:27:07

2:27:57 Yeah, yeah, okay, thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:27:57 Highlight the passage at 2:27:57

2:28:07 The period in between the Tenzin and Lama. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 2:28:07 Highlight the passage at 2:28:07

2:28:14 thank you. Yeah. I really appreciate your teaching. Oh, good. I don't know, so down to earth sort of, you know, and I feel really comfortable because I really do feel so, like such an amazing beginner, but I'm so excited, but then all these things, you know, and Venable Lama comes. Oh, right, right. She's a little bit more advanced. Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:28:14 Highlight the passage at 2:28:14

2:28:41 I really, I would really appreciate Oh good, I'm really happy. I'm very inspired. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful practice. It's really amazing. Good, I'm really happy. By all means, just email me. As long as you don't mind being patient. I'm on the road. It takes me a while to get to email. Report an error in the passage at 2:28:41 Highlight the passage at 2:28:41

2:29:06 Thank you. We just appreciate the opportunity. Yeah, I'm actually going over there. to hang out with me. One more section, which is the measure of having trained the mind. And we're skipping around a little bit, we're skipping down to, back to section five. This is the non-linear presentation of the seven points. Report an error in the passage at 2:29:06 Highlight the passage at 2:29:06

2:29:31 So how do you know when it's worked? How do you know when your thought transformation practice has borne fruit? And we had a question before about how do you know when your purification practice has worked? And so this is kind of similar. Integrate all the teachings into one thought. So all teachings boil down to being antidotes to self-cherishing. Report an error in the passage at 2:29:31 Highlight the passage at 2:29:31

2:29:54 So the best sign of accomplishment is whether or not you've decreased your delusions. How are you doing in terms of your delusions, those thoughts that disturb your mind, your rampant, rampaging attachment, anger, resentment, self-absorption, pride, all of those things. Report an error in the passage at 2:29:54 Highlight the passage at 2:29:54

2:30:15 All the Dharma boils down to one thing as a way to counteract your delusions. And so how is it going? Is your practice working? Do you feel... More peace of mind or not. And remember, the definition of delusion is any thought that disturbs your peace of mind. Is your mind more peaceful or not? And we talked before about these ways you can get so like, I have this student who's a surfer in Santa Cruz and he uses all this slang and he came up with this phrase the other day that I'd never heard, but I don't get out much. Report an error in the passage at 2:30:15 Highlight the passage at 2:30:15

2:30:46 He said, you get all spun around the axle. I was like, wow, I never heard that. How spun around the axle do you get about your Dharma practice? You know, it's just your motivation, that thing of using it to, you know, reinforce your low self-esteem. Oh, I'm never doing enough in my Dharma practice. I don't volunteer at Seichin Ling enough. If your delusions are getting stronger, if you're just feeling more and more guilty and more and more worthless because of your Dharma practice, it's not working. Report an error in the passage at 2:30:46 Highlight the passage at 2:30:46

2:31:15 Look at how much joy and peace of mind is it giving you. And that's the litmus test for whether your practice is working. And so we need to correct. His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, if you're practicing Dharma and your delusions are getting worse instead of better, you're doing something wrong. You need to examine what you're doing because you're doing something wrong. Your mind should be getting. And as I said, it's a long path. It takes a long time to get these realizations. Report an error in the passage at 2:31:15 Highlight the passage at 2:31:15

2:31:45 But still, when you look back over sort of the medium term, you know, six months, a year, a couple of years, you should notice that your mind is happier and more peaceful or something's wrong. You need to adjust, make some correction. Report an error in the passage at 2:31:45 Highlight the passage at 2:31:45

2:32:02 Primary importance should be given, in this translation it says should be given to the two witnesses, but I think this is a slight mistranslation. What it means is uphold the chief of the two witnesses, which is yourself. In the two witnesses are other people's ideas about how you're doing and how you know how you're doing. Report an error in the passage at 2:32:02 Highlight the passage at 2:32:02

2:32:23 We're the only ones that know. They can't really judge how we're doing with our practice. We all know people have all kinds of projections about what we're doing. They have all kinds of projections about what they're doing. They have all kinds of projections about everything caused by their karma. It may not necessarily have anything to do with what you're doing or not. Report an error in the passage at 2:32:23 Highlight the passage at 2:32:23

2:32:46 You're the one who really knows. Are your delusions decreasing? Is your compassion for others? You may do things that seem strange to other people. They may not understand the choices you make and what you're doing and they may judge you for that. So you can't get so thrown off by that if you feel like you're sincerely practicing in a way where your motivation is to cherish others, to serve others. Report an error in the passage at 2:32:46 Highlight the passage at 2:32:46

2:33:12 So this is saying, you know, you're the bottom line. You know yourself best and your motivation. So don't get too thrown off by what other people think. Report an error in the passage at 2:33:12 Highlight the passage at 2:33:12

2:33:23 Constantly cultivate only a peaceful mind. Wow, if only it were that easy, right? What this is talking about is don't get too thrown off by what's going on externally. You know, whether you're rich, you're poor, the stock market crashes, you lose everything, you know, you get that big promotion, whether you're criticized, whether you're praised, just don't worry about it. Report an error in the passage at 2:33:23 Highlight the passage at 2:33:23

2:33:49 Just don't worry about these fluctuations of fortune. You know, it comes and goes. You get yelled at and criticized by the boss one day and praised the next day. Just don't worry about it too much. Don't get too thrown off by that. Karma takes a while to ripen. You know, karma doesn't ripen immediately. Report an error in the passage at 2:33:49 Highlight the passage at 2:33:49

2:34:09 It takes a while to kick in, which is why people who seem so compassionate struggle and suffer. And have a hard time because it's not an immediate thing. It takes a while for karma to ripen. So just don't be attached and don't be so thrown off by what's happening in the moment because it takes a while for these practices to bear fruit. Report an error in the passage at 2:34:09 Highlight the passage at 2:34:09

2:34:34 The measure of having a trained mind is that it is turned away. There are five great marks of a trained mind. So here's the five great marks of a trained mind. You're patient. Your mind won't tend towards delusion no matter what happens. One of the definitions of patient, there are three definitions of patient. Report an error in the passage at 2:34:34 Highlight the passage at 2:34:34

2:34:56 One is you don't get angry when you feel like it's justified. That's one level of patience. This is talking about the second level of patience, which says you can endure suffering and hardship if it enables you to benefit others. If it's for the benefit of others, you don't mind a little bit of hardship. Report an error in the passage at 2:34:56 Highlight the passage at 2:34:56

2:35:17 Dharma practice is not easy. It's not fun. I said before, meditation is hard work. You're holding this mirror up to your own mind. It ain't pretty a lot of the time. You know, don't get discouraged. Be patient with the hardships of Dharma practice and just keep going. That's one of the measures of the trained mind. The second, you'll cherish others more than yourself. Report an error in the passage at 2:35:17 Highlight the passage at 2:35:17

2:35:43 In general, you'll look out for the welfare of others more than yourself. The third one, you'll always practice virtue. Now, I love this always, you know, but again, this is training. And when you get to that point, you're practicing virtue, your activities will be in accordance with this thought transformation training. Report an error in the passage at 2:35:43 Highlight the passage at 2:35:43

2:36:05 You'll remain calm, composed, not harm others and keep your vows. That's another one of the... Measures of a trained mind is this calmness and composure. And you'll practice the real Mahāyāna path, which involves combining an understanding of emptiness with all of our activities on various levels to benefit beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:36:05 Highlight the passage at 2:36:05

2:36:33 They say a bodhisattva acts, when they engage in any action, they motivate with the motivation to be of most benefit to sentient beings. In the course of the action they keep in mind the ultimate nature of reality and the law of cause and effect and then at the end they dedicate the merit. So that's how any bodhisattva goes through an activity and that's a way not to get attached to the outcome and not to think it's about you and you're a hero and you're going to save the world like that. Report an error in the passage at 2:36:33 Highlight the passage at 2:36:33

2:37:07 Okay, and then the last... The trained mind retains control even when distracted. And this is that thing about the power of familiarity. If you're well-trained, you'll be able to maintain control under all circumstances, even when you're distracted. And in the traditional text they say, like a well-trained horse person. Report an error in the passage at 2:37:07 Highlight the passage at 2:37:07

2:37:36 And if you're well trained, if you're a really good rider, no matter what the horse does, even it bolts, it starts, you know, something goes on and you still stay on. And this is what this is saying. Your mind is so well trained that no matter what happens, even when you're distracted, your thought transformation practice is sort of your baseline mental state. Report an error in the passage at 2:37:36 Highlight the passage at 2:37:36

2:37:59 And these are all ways that we can tell that our mind has really been well trained. And your reaction time is really short. When anything happens, especially those adverse circumstances, your thought transformation practice kicks in right away. You know, you don't react with anger and then a day or two later go, oh no, I forgot, like I'm supposed to be patient. You know, you're patient right away. Report an error in the passage at 2:37:59 Highlight the passage at 2:37:59

2:38:26 And that lag time gets shorter and shorter and shorter as you train your mind. And it's extremely cool. To notice, I've even noticed a little bit. I remember coming out of this long retreat and I had no idea what had happened because I hadn't been around people in a long time. And I said, oh, it's going to be really interesting to see if my mind has changed at all. And sometimes I would note that like a day or two after I had been in a certain situation, I would be thinking about what happened and I go, oh, wow, I reacted really differently in that situation than I would have done. Report an error in the passage at 2:38:26 Highlight the passage at 2:38:26

2:39:00 Years ago, before I did this long retreat, oh cool, like something happened. And it was only after the fact that I realized how much just my knee-jerk reactions to situations, like my delusions had really subdued, and I wasn't as reactive, you know, I didn't get mad, I responded with more patience, just a little bit, but it was really gratifying to see, oh wow, something changed, you know, and it was so interesting to practice with that and to really Get the realizations of what happened only later after being out and interacting with other people was it obvious what had happened. Report an error in the passage at 2:39:00 Highlight the passage at 2:39:00

2:39:37 And you'll notice that. Like your lag time between the lojong kicking in will get shorter and shorter and shorter until it's just second nature. And that's the measure of a really well-trained mind. Okay? Any questions about that? Pretty straightforward. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:39:37 Highlight the passage at 2:39:37

2:40:00 I want to go basics. We were talking at the break. I have this impression that I'm actually asking what a mind is. Because I see a lot of the sarcastic and all of that is the ego and all of that this time. And the mind is like what goes from life to life. And so when you become enlightened or the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 2:40:00 Highlight the passage at 2:40:00

2:40:30 Do you still have to practice? Is it just so natural you don't? Will you get angry? Is that the part that's so pure that none of these sort of color it or dirty it sort of things? Right, right. So when you're talking about mind control, you're talking about removing things? Wow. That's the topic of at least a six-week class. But the short answer is a short answer. Okay, the mind is defined in Buddhism as that which is clear and knowing. Report an error in the passage at 2:40:30 Highlight the passage at 2:40:30

2:41:08 Clear means it reflects an object. Remember earlier we talked about the six objects of mind, the five? External sense objects and thought. So clear means the mind always has an object. The mind always holds one of, it's a Yul Chen, an object holder, always holding one of those six objects. Okay? Clear. But unlike a mirror that's just reflecting an object, it's also aware. Report an error in the passage at 2:41:08 Highlight the passage at 2:41:08

2:41:39 It's knowing. It knows that it's holding an object and that's the level of the awareness of the mind. Okay, so mind is clear and knowing. That's all mind is in Buddhism. Mind is not angry. Mind is not attached. You know, all of those are what they call, and this is one of those words that only shows up in Buddhist texts, adventitious, which means they're on top of the nature of mind. Report an error in the passage at 2:41:39 Highlight the passage at 2:41:39

2:42:04 They are not the nature of mind itself. It's something on top of that clear knowing nature of mind itself that's removable. Okay. And it's a result of ignorance about the nature of reality. It causes us to have those delusions. And so if that ignorance is eradicated with wisdom, understanding the nature of reality, seeing the nature of reality directly, those delusions will be eradicated because they're adventitious. Report an error in the passage at 2:42:04 Highlight the passage at 2:42:04

2:42:34 They're not inseparable from the nature of mind. Now, a being who has completely removed... All the delusions, not only all the delusions, but also all the karma, all the karmic imprints, is a being who is liberated from saṃsāra, liberated from the round of rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 2:42:34 Highlight the passage at 2:42:34

2:42:55 That's not a Buddha yet. That's what's called an arhat, a foe destroyer. They've destroyed the foe of delusions and karma. This is sort of the Buddhist path 101 in, you know, seven minutes. So they've destroyed... It's okay, you can come in. So they've destroyed... Karma and delusions. No more karmic imprints. No more of these thoughts that disturb the peace of mind. Then on top of that, to become fully enlightened, a whole other level of realizations has to take place. Report an error in the passage at 2:42:55 Highlight the passage at 2:42:55

2:43:28 Another level of obscurations called the knowledge obscurations needs to be eradicated. The first are the, you'd call them the afflictive obscurations. And that's the ones for delusions and karma. And then a whole other level of knowledge obscurations. And the basic, without going into a lot of detail about what those are, basically they block the omniscient mind of a Buddha from functioning. Report an error in the passage at 2:43:28 Highlight the passage at 2:43:28

2:43:58 So a Buddha, on top of being free of any karma and delusions, also has this other quality. It's mostly mental of omniscient mind. Now the only reason for having that is to benefit sentient beings. Like I said before, it's like the plate and the food thing. The only reason to have omniscience is because you can see a being's karma. You can see exactly what to say to teach them. Report an error in the passage at 2:43:58 Highlight the passage at 2:43:58

2:44:25 Remember we said the only way that a Buddha can really benefit you is by teaching you. I can get up here, I have not one shred of clairvoyance, I go blah, blah, blah, blah, throwing things out randomly, maybe something hits the mark, I hope so, you know, random. If I were an enlightened being with omniscient mind, I would be able to look at you, know exactly what your karma was, know your past lives, see the whole thing and be able to teach you so much more exactly, exactly what... Report an error in the passage at 2:44:25 Highlight the passage at 2:44:25

2:44:55 You need to hear in this very second that may wake you up because that's all a Buddha can do is help you wake up. And if they do it effectively because they can see your karma and can see exactly what to say, then it's the most effective thing. But it's still up to you to wake up. And that's that extra quality that makes a Buddha. So to answer your original question, Even long before Buddhahood, you have not one shred of anger or delusion left. And then on top of that, you also have these extra qualities that make you a fully enlightened being. Report an error in the passage at 2:44:55 Highlight the passage at 2:44:55

2:45:30 It's kind of a long story. That's the outline. Report an error in the passage at 2:45:30 Highlight the passage at 2:45:30

2:45:41 You've completed the path. There's five, what they call five paths or five levels of realization So I just want you to confirm so that when you are a Buddha, you don't Report an error in the passage at 2:45:41 Highlight the passage at 2:45:41

2:45:48 between Like the beginning of the five paths in Buddhahood. Buddhahood is called the path of no more learning. Path of no more learning. You're done. You're home free. You're out of here. Not only are you out of saṃsāra, you can emanate in infinite manifestations to benefit all sentient beings. You don't have to practice anymore to achieve any result, but you never stop benefiting beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:45:48 Highlight the passage at 2:45:48

2:46:21 Then from that point on until saṃsāra is completely empty and everyone's liberated, you never stop benefiting beings effortlessly without any volition at all because you've created such powerful causes by bodhicitta, by all your meditation. It's like fusion. You've created so many powerful causes that then it's like every action that you do creates so much leftover virtue that it's a self-perpetuating process. Report an error in the passage at 2:46:21 Highlight the passage at 2:46:21

2:46:49 Like what is it you can run a city on a teaspoon of water if you do the right reaction? It just like multiplies like crazy. And that's what a Buddha is. So it's self-perpetuating. You can never fall from Buddhahood once you're there because every action that happens creates leftover virtue that then there's just no way not to. Report an error in the passage at 2:46:49 Highlight the passage at 2:46:49

2:47:13 To fall from Buddhahood. And there's no need to practice, but there's no end to their activity, which is a different thing. Report an error in the passage at 2:47:13 Highlight the passage at 2:47:13

2:47:23 Let's go. Okay. Any more questions about that or anything? Okay. Do you have one? Oh. Okay. So let's do another Tonglen meditation. da-da-da, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:47:23 Highlight the passage at 2:47:23

2:47:44 Let me ask you this. This will take about five minutes. I got this incredibly inspiring letter from an inmate in a prison this week about his bodhicitta practice. Do you want to hear it? Would that be inspiring? Okay, that was pretty unanimous. For a while last year, I was... Going to this prison in Jamestown, which is like almost Yosemite, it was about three and a half hours away from Santa Cruz, teaching this group of inmates. Report an error in the passage at 2:47:44 Highlight the passage at 2:47:44

2:48:12 They had contacted Liberation Prison Project that they wanted to, there was this group meeting and they wanted to take refuge. And so LPP said, would you go in and teach them the refuge commitments? But the more I started asking questions about this group, I realized that I didn't feel like they were ready. Report an error in the passage at 2:48:12 Highlight the passage at 2:48:12

2:48:30 You know, they had all kinds of random mixed background. One of the problems with refuge, if you don't understand it, is it becomes very theistic. You know, you're just praying to the Buddha to save you. Oh, I take refuge in Buddha because, like, the God thing didn't work out. But it's this theistic... Report an error in the passage at 2:48:30 Highlight the passage at 2:48:30

2:48:48 Kind of relationship with the Buddha. And so I was like, no, you know, I think they need more understanding. So I went in and did this whole class on the Four Noble Truths. And then we did a whole class on refuge. And then right before, like near the end of this, I went in one day and they were completely freaked out because they'd found out two days before that they were all going to be transferred to all these different prisons all over California. Report an error in the passage at 2:48:48 Highlight the passage at 2:48:48

2:49:13 They were reconfiguring that prison. And here we'd work together. They'd been meeting together for ages. I'd been going there for six months. We were this tight group. They were awesome. They were so inspiring. And then they're like, Tenzin Chogky, oh my God. And so we had to work through that. And it was like, oh. And then they said, oh, we were organizing for Geshe Dagpa to go in and give refuge. Report an error in the passage at 2:49:13 Highlight the passage at 2:49:13

2:49:37 And they're like, please, please. We want this so bad. Can you please finish getting us ready and do it? We might be transferred in two weeks. And so I ended up going in there three times in one week. I ended up staying here and just driving back and forth to Yosemite like three times. You know, and then we took Geshe Dagba in and it was so beautiful. Report an error in the passage at 2:49:37 Highlight the passage at 2:49:37

2:49:56 They took refuge in lay vows, 14 of them. I had a group of about 30 and 14 of them took refuge in lay vows. And it was just one of the most extraordinary, amazing, like inspiring. Report an error in the passage at 2:49:56 Highlight the passage at 2:49:56

2:50:08 And we're all so happy. Afterwards, we all just stood there kind of standing around going, well, we're all blissed out, you know, and they got new names and I wrote them on a card in Tibetan and like then the transliteration and then what it meant so that when they write me letters, they all sign their Tibetan names. Report an error in the passage at 2:50:08 Highlight the passage at 2:50:08

2:50:25 And we're all blissed out. And the chaplain's like, finally, he's like, you guys need to get back in yourselves in like three minutes or you're in really big trouble and they all go running. So then they all got transferred. So I've been... Trying to track down where they are to see if I can go. And this week I got a letter from one of the star pupils. And then the day after I got the letter, I got the permission from the chaplain at his new prison that I can go. Report an error in the passage at 2:50:25 Highlight the passage at 2:50:25

2:50:50 So I'm going next Monday to see him. And it turns out that three of them from that old group ended up together in Kalinga. Like they're always in these godforsaken places. So now I'm going to start driving to Kalinga. But this letter just, I mean, it's made me cry like three times. I'll probably cry now when I read it. Report an error in the passage at 2:50:50 Highlight the passage at 2:50:50

2:51:08 Where's my Kleenex? Okay, get ready. But it's just so beautiful about his practice. And this guy is, I think he's in for life. Like we never really talk about like what they did or anything. Sometimes they hint, but you know, I don't want to go there. Pretty sure he's a lifer. He's been in 23 years. He used to be the gang leader for the Aryan Brotherhood, like this white supremacist thing. Report an error in the passage at 2:51:08 Highlight the passage at 2:51:08

2:51:33 The chaplain was telling me a little bit about his past. He's completely transformed. You wouldn't believe this guy. He wrote me this letter before this one going, I want you to come and I want like a hundred, you know, students from all, you know, prisoners from all the different, we have this terrible race gangs and I just want everybody to be brothers together and I'm all, dude, man, you really changed. Report an error in the passage at 2:51:33 Highlight the passage at 2:51:33

2:51:57 Knowing about his past, you know, and he's just, so this was so inspiring. This is this letter that he wrote me about, an experience that he had in this bodhicitta. So he goes, I've got a story for you that I think you'll like. It's kind of a continuing story that unfolds day by day, moment to moment. I'll give you the short version. Report an error in the passage at 2:51:57 Highlight the passage at 2:51:57

2:52:15 It has to do with how the Dharma finally moved from my head to also embrace my heart. As you know, I love to study. It's really true. Six, seven, eight or more hours per day is the norm, along with contemplation and meditation. It's no burden either. Like I said, I love it. But unfortunately, I was having a hard time with the development of bodhicitta and often moved around it onto other subjects. I mean, I understand intellectually, the head, its importance and purpose, and I accept it, but I just wasn't feeling it. Report an error in the passage at 2:52:15 Highlight the passage at 2:52:15

2:52:44 In fact, I mistook the knowledge of it almost with the experience of it. In short, 23 years in prison and other life experiences had kind of stunted my ability to feel love, experience compassion for others. I was often even harder on myself and actively sought to steel myself to such weaknesses before I found the Dharma. So anyway, of course these self-inflicted wounds didn't just magically go away upon contact with the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 2:52:44 Highlight the passage at 2:52:44

2:53:12 But I was forced to confront a different worldview, this one based upon compassion, and see that I was coming up short, way short at times. Well, a funny thing happened to me in the last six or so months that somehow literally transformed everything. Anthony, who is another guy in the group, somehow managed to bless me with the ability to feel the Dharma, to experience the love and compassion for others that I had for so long sought to eradicate from my life. Report an error in the passage at 2:53:12 Highlight the passage at 2:53:12

2:53:40 And he did it not with long speeches or philosophic reasoning, but with three words spoken with what I perceived was utter sincerity. He said, I love you. This occurred just days before I was transferred out of Jamestown, and we were kind of saying our farewells. He and I were at that time going to different prisons and wouldn't see each other again. Report an error in the passage at 2:53:40 Highlight the passage at 2:53:40

2:53:58 When he said it, I was shocked, uncomfortable, kind of worried that some of my non-Dharma friends may have seen it, etc. So on that note, I was transferred here and put on lockdown status. Some time passed and this whole incident popped into my head one day as I meditated, so I started analyzing it from all angles. Report an error in the passage at 2:53:58 Highlight the passage at 2:53:58

2:54:16 Did he mean it? Did he want something? Was he gay? I mean, I tore it apart and was left with its utter simplicity and sincerity. Because of it, the walls started to crumble and for the first time in decades, I began to experience real emotion. And even though it was joyful, it was also painful in a way to recognize how very long it had been since I felt this way. I really missed and loved this brother, or began to, so imagine my joy when karma brought him here instead of where he was originally scheduled to go. Report an error in the passage at 2:54:16 Highlight the passage at 2:54:16

2:54:48 Well, since then, that initial seed that I attribute to Anthony has grown, and it's really sort of like one Lama described somewhere as feeling as though a floodlight is emanating from your chest. And that light has begun to spread to my dealings with others as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from being the walking love machine, but everything is changing. Report an error in the passage at 2:54:48 Highlight the passage at 2:54:48

2:55:09 I know I'm sort of struggling here to convey or describe this intense, joyful energy that he triggered, but it's the purest, most pure love I could imagine. A rare but powerful thing. Pure in the sense of wanting nothing in return but the well-being of another. Peer in knowing at a deep level of your being that you really could lay down your life for another and peer in the sense that self and other has disappeared completely, if only for that moment, but its impact changes everything thereafter. Report an error in the passage at 2:55:09 Highlight the passage at 2:55:09

2:55:39 You all and Buddha, of course, provide the fuel, refuge, vows, motivation and Anthony the spark and I'll never be able to thank you enough other than to assure you that I will not allow what has been started to dissipate and go out. I'll do everything I can to nourish and develop that love and compassion to encompass as many sentient beings as I can. Isn't that beautiful? Report an error in the passage at 2:55:39 Highlight the passage at 2:55:39

2:56:03 And you should see this guy. I mean, so amazing. I just found that so incredible. You know, after 23 years in prison and who knows what else got him there, whatever, that he's able to experience this. So I just wanted to share that with you. I thought it was so beautiful because sometimes you get so discouraged and we think, you know, oh, I can never change. It's so hopeless. Report an error in the passage at 2:56:03 Highlight the passage at 2:56:03

2:56:27 And here's this guy like the mastermind of the Aryan Brotherhood, you know, walking, talking, love machine in the middle of prison. Report an error in the passage at 2:56:27 Highlight the passage at 2:56:27

2:56:37 Okay, so let's do another Tonglen meditation again. Did everybody get the handout that was on the table out there? Okay, so you know how to do it. So we'll do the final meditation and dedication and Report an error in the passage at 2:56:37 Highlight the passage at 2:56:37

2:57:00 I'll go ahead and guide you through if you don't have your handout right in front of you. Report an error in the passage at 2:57:00 Highlight the passage at 2:57:00

2:57:11 So let's just sit in our meditation posture with your back as straight as possible. Report an error in the passage at 2:57:11 Highlight the passage at 2:57:11

2:57:31 And then focus on your breath for a minute or two just to settle your mind. Report an error in the passage at 2:57:31 Highlight the passage at 2:57:31

2:58:03 And now again visualize at the level of your forehead about two yards in front, Shakyamuni Buddha seated on the golden throne, which is adorned with jewels, supported at each corner by a pair of snow lions. Report an error in the passage at 2:58:03 Highlight the passage at 2:58:03

2:58:26 He's seated on top of a lotus sun and moon disc. He's sitting cross-legged and dressed in the three robes of a monk. Report an error in the passage at 2:58:26 Highlight the passage at 2:58:26

2:58:36 His body is made of golden light. He's beautiful, magnificent. His right hand rests on his right knee with his fingertips touching the moon cushion and his left hand held in his lap. The gesture of meditation holding a begging bowl filled with nectar. Report an error in the passage at 2:58:36 Highlight the passage at 2:58:36

2:59:06 To remind yourself that you're practicing not just for your own sake but for the sake of all living beings, imagine your mother on your left. Report an error in the passage at 2:59:06 Highlight the passage at 2:59:06

2:59:17 Your father on your right, your friends and family around you. Report an error in the passage at 2:59:17 Highlight the passage at 2:59:17

2:59:28 People you have problems with are in front because don't forget we can't lose sight of them. They're not outside the range of our compassion. Report an error in the passage at 2:59:28 Highlight the passage at 2:59:28

2:59:41 And then all living beings stretching out to the horizon in all directions in human form. And we imagine that we're leading them in the practice. And Report an error in the passage at 2:59:41 Highlight the passage at 2:59:41

3:00:07 then we'll take refuge and generate bodhicitta. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 3:00:07 Highlight the passage at 3:00:07

3:00:37 I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. Report an error in the passage at 3:00:37 Highlight the passage at 3:00:37

3:00:59 May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 3:00:59 Highlight the passage at 3:00:59

3:01:06 May all sentient beings never be separated from the happiness that is free from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 3:01:06 Highlight the passage at 3:01:06

3:01:14 May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment for friends and hatred for enemies. Report an error in the passage at 3:01:14 Highlight the passage at 3:01:14

3:01:28 Reverently, I prostrate with my body, speech and mind. Report an error in the passage at 3:01:28 Highlight the passage at 3:01:28

3:01:36 I present clouds of every type of offering, actual and imagined. Report an error in the passage at 3:01:36 Highlight the passage at 3:01:36

3:01:46 I declare all my negative actions accumulated since beginningless time and Report an error in the passage at 3:01:46 Highlight the passage at 3:01:46

3:01:55 rejoice in the merit of all holy and ordinary beings. Report an error in the passage at 3:01:55 Highlight the passage at 3:01:55

3:02:02 Please remain until the end of cyclic existence and turn the wheel of Dharma for living beings. Report an error in the passage at 3:02:02 Highlight the passage at 3:02:02

3:02:16 I dedicate my own merits and those of all others to the great enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 3:02:16 Highlight the passage at 3:02:16

3:02:27 And so in front of you, visualize someone, it may be your own future suffering self, someone close to you that you know is going through a hard time, someone for whom it's very easy for you to generate compassion, the wish that they be freed of suffering, be given every happiness. Report an error in the passage at 3:02:27 Highlight the passage at 3:02:27

3:02:57 So pick someone, specific person, visualize them in front of you. Report an error in the passage at 3:02:57 Highlight the passage at 3:02:57

3:03:07 Then visualize the suffering that they're going through, whether it's physical or mental, Report an error in the passage at 3:03:07 Highlight the passage at 3:03:07

3:03:14 as a cloud of black, gritty smoke filling their body. Report an error in the passage at 3:03:14 Highlight the passage at 3:03:14

3:03:40 And now feel a strong wish to relieve them of their suffering. You love them so much, so difficult to see them suffering. Report an error in the passage at 3:03:40 Highlight the passage at 3:03:40

3:03:53 Compassion arises, the wish for them to be free of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 3:03:53 Highlight the passage at 3:03:53

3:04:01 And then as you inhale, imagine that the force of your compassion causes you to have the power with your inhalation to draw their suffering out of them. And it collects in a little black cloud in front of you. So for about eight to ten cycles of inhalation, imagine drawing out their suffering, which collects in front. Report an error in the passage at 3:04:01 Highlight the passage at 3:04:01

3:04:26 In the form of a little black cloud. So you're actually able to free them of their suffering through the force of your compassion. Report an error in the passage at 3:04:26 Highlight the passage at 3:04:26

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:05:43 And then imagine that your self-absorption, self-cherishing manifests as this hard kind of black rock like granite in the center of your chest. Report an error in the passage at 3:05:43 Highlight the passage at 3:05:43

3:06:01 And now with one deep inhalation, draw in that cloud of black smoke, the force of your compassion. You're willing. Even to take on their suffering. So you draw in that black smoke which magically transforms into this lightning bolt. Report an error in the passage at 3:06:01 Highlight the passage at 3:06:01

3:06:21 Your compassion is transformed into this powerful antidote to your self-cherishing. So it goes down and just strikes that black rock, smashing it into smithereens. Report an error in the passage at 3:06:21 Highlight the passage at 3:06:21

3:06:44 And then in its place is this warm golden light. Almost a physical sensation of warmth in the middle of your chest that starts to grow, which represents your compassion, loving kindness, peace of mind. And Report an error in the passage at 3:06:44 Highlight the passage at 3:06:44

3:07:13 it gets stronger and stronger, filling your whole chest. And Report an error in the passage at 3:07:13 Highlight the passage at 3:07:13

3:07:20 feel that blissful, peaceful feeling of loving kindness filling you. And Report an error in the passage at 3:07:20 Highlight the passage at 3:07:20

3:07:53 it fills your whole body. You're completely suffused with this feeling of peaceful, loving kindness. Report an error in the passage at 3:07:53 Highlight the passage at 3:07:53

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:08:38 And then after your entire body's been completely filled, imagine as you exhale that golden light is sent out of your body with your exhalation towards the person and imagine it transforming into whatever it is that would give them happiness. Report an error in the passage at 3:08:38 Highlight the passage at 3:08:38

3:09:01 If it's mental happiness, peace of mind that they need, it fills them completely, Report an error in the passage at 3:09:01 Highlight the passage at 3:09:01

3:09:09 easing their suffering. Calming their fear, giving them whatever mental happiness they need. Report an error in the passage at 3:09:09 Highlight the passage at 3:09:09

3:09:20 If it's something physical they need, imagine it transforming into food, drink, clothing, a home, a job. Report an error in the passage at 3:09:20 Highlight the passage at 3:09:20

3:09:59 So continue doing this for a minute with your exhalation, sending out more and more of this golden light through the power of your love, your wish to give that being happiness. Report an error in the passage at 3:09:59 Highlight the passage at 3:09:59

3:10:13 Your love transforms into whatever it is that would make them happy. Report an error in the passage at 3:10:13 Highlight the passage at 3:10:13

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:11:10 And then when you're finished with that round, spend another couple of minutes doing another round on your own, either with the same object or you can pick a different object. Then Report an error in the passage at 3:11:10 Highlight the passage at 3:11:10

· · · silence, 3 minutes

3:14:20 visualize that the Buddha in front rises up in the air and comes to the crown of your head, facing the same direction as you, becoming smaller. And Report an error in the passage at 3:14:20 Highlight the passage at 3:14:20

3:14:41 then the Buddha melts into you. Report an error in the passage at 3:14:41 Highlight the passage at 3:14:41

3:14:49 And imagine that the Buddha melts into this golden light that flows into you and enters you, especially at your heart. And again, visualize that warm energy of loving kindness, especially in the area of your heart, Report an error in the passage at 3:14:49 Highlight the passage at 3:14:49

3:15:11 like warm water poured into a bathtub, getting stronger and stronger. You've been completely blessed with the Buddha's energy of loving kindness, which then spreads out through your whole body. Report an error in the passage at 3:15:11 Highlight the passage at 3:15:11

3:15:37 Filling you completely and imagine as it fills you that all of your obscurations, your karma, your delusions, any sickness and pain you might feel are completely dissolved. Report an error in the passage at 3:15:37 Highlight the passage at 3:15:37

3:15:55 Your whole body transforms into this golden light, this pure energy of loving kindness, hindrances, obstacles, delusions completely absolved. Report an error in the passage at 3:15:55 Highlight the passage at 3:15:55

3:16:10 Dissolved in this warm, radiant light of loving kindness. And Report an error in the passage at 3:16:10 Highlight the passage at 3:16:10

3:16:37 then imagine after you've been completely filled that the light overflows and goes out your pores to all those sentient beings around you. Imagine first your mother on your left. You send out these rays of light and she in turn is completely purified of all negativities, filled with all good qualities, Report an error in the passage at 3:16:37 Highlight the passage at 3:16:37

3:17:05 transformed, freed of all of her suffering. Report an error in the passage at 3:17:05 Highlight the passage at 3:17:05

3:17:19 And then the light rays go out to your father on your right and in turn he is cleansed, purified, endowed with all good qualities. And Report an error in the passage at 3:17:19 Highlight the passage at 3:17:19

3:17:43 the light rays continue to radiate out, going to all of your other friends and family around you. And Report an error in the passage at 3:17:43 Highlight the passage at 3:17:43

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:18:27 then to your enemies or the people that annoy you, irritate you, the people you have problems with in front of you. Imagine the light rays going out to them. They in turn are purified and filled with all good qualities. And Report an error in the passage at 3:18:27 Highlight the passage at 3:18:27

3:19:04 then to all living beings surrounding you, send out light rays from your body. Because of the quality of your love, you're able to benefit all of these beings in all directions. Report an error in the passage at 3:19:04 Highlight the passage at 3:19:04

3:19:19 Imagine every living being surrounded you by the force of your love and compassion. You're able to benefit them, free them from their delusions and karma. Report an error in the passage at 3:19:19 Highlight the passage at 3:19:19

3:19:34 Fill them with all the enlightened qualities of a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 3:19:34 Highlight the passage at 3:19:34

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:20:32 So at this point we've become purified, endowed with all the qualities of a Buddha at the level of our imagination. We've been able to benefit all these beings around us. And so in order for this virtue of this day not to go to waste, At this point it's just the level of our imagination. It's not yet a reality, but we've created incredible virtue today by doing these meditations, by discussing, looking at ways to develop bodhicitta so that it doesn't get wasted on just a ripening in some samsaric pleasure. Report an error in the passage at 3:20:32 Highlight the passage at 3:20:32

3:21:18 We'll dedicate it towards our full enlightenment and for the realization Of this holy practice of exchanging self and others. So as part of the dedication I'm going to read verses from the Guru Puja on this seven point thought transformation practice. So after I read each verse I'll just pause and just meditate on the meaning of the verse as part of our dedication of our work that we've done together. Report an error in the passage at 3:21:18 Highlight the passage at 3:21:18

3:21:53 There's no difference between myself and others. None of us wishes even the slightest of sufferings or is ever content with the happiness we have. Realizing this, I seek your blessings that I may enhance the bliss and joy of others. Report an error in the passage at 3:21:53 Highlight the passage at 3:21:53

3:22:16 This chronic disease of cherishing myself is the cause giving rise to my unsought suffering. Perceiving this, I seek your blessings to blame, begrudge and destroy the monstrous demon of selfishness. Report an error in the passage at 3:22:16 Highlight the passage at 3:22:16

3:22:43 The mind that cherishes all mother beings and would secure them in bliss is the gateway leading to infinite virtue. Seeing this, I seek your blessings to cherish these beings more than my life, even should they rise up as my enemies. Report an error in the passage at 3:22:43 Highlight the passage at 3:22:43

3:23:07 In brief, infantile beings labor only for their own ends, while Buddhas work solely for the welfare of others. With the mind understanding the distinctions between the failings of one and the advantages of the other, I seek your blessings to enable me to equalize and exchange myself with others. Report an error in the passage at 3:23:07 Highlight the passage at 3:23:07

3:23:40 Since cherishing myself is the doorway to all torment, while cherishing my mothers is the foundation of all that is good, I seek your blessings to make my core practice the yoga of exchanging self for others. Report an error in the passage at 3:23:40 Highlight the passage at 3:23:40

3:24:05 And thus, perfect, pure, compassionate gurus, I seek your blessings that all karmic debts, obstacles and sufferings of mother beings, May without exception ripen upon me right now, that I may give my happiness and virtue to others and thereby invest all beings in bliss. Report an error in the passage at 3:24:05 Highlight the passage at 3:24:05

3:24:38 Should even my environment and the beings therein be filled with the fruits of their negative actions and unwished-for sufferings pour down on me like rain, I seek your blessings to take these miserable conditions as a path by seeing them as causes to exhaust the results of my negative karma. Report an error in the passage at 3:24:38 Highlight the passage at 3:24:38

3:25:11 In short, no matter what appearances arise, be they good or bad, I seek your blessings to transform them into a path ever enhancing the two bodhicittas through the practice of the five forces, the quintessence of the entire Dharma, and thus to enjoy solely a blissful mind. Report an error in the passage at 3:25:11 Highlight the passage at 3:25:11

3:25:45 Whatever I occasion to meet, I seek your blessings that I may adapt it to my meditation by the skillful means of the four applications. May I render this life of liberties and endowments infinitely meaningful by practicing the advice and commitments of thought training in Report an error in the passage at 3:25:45 Highlight the passage at 3:25:45

3:26:17 order to rescue all beings from the vast seas of existence. I seek your blessings to become adept in bodhicitta through a pure selfless wish as well as by love and compassion conjoined with the visual technique of mounting giving and taking upon the breath. Report an error in the passage at 3:26:17 Highlight the passage at 3:26:17

3:26:48 Due to the merits of these virtuous actions, may I quickly attain the state of a Guru Buddha and lead all living beings without exception into that enlightened state. Report an error in the passage at 3:26:48 Highlight the passage at 3:26:48

3:27:02 May the supreme jewel bodhicitta that is not arisen arise and grow and may that which is not arisen not diminish but increase more and more. Report an error in the passage at 3:27:02 Highlight the passage at 3:27:02

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:28:06 Questions? Realizations? Epiphanies? Report an error in the passage at 3:28:06 Highlight the passage at 3:28:06

3:28:14 Okay, great. Thank you very much. I had a really nice day. It's always nice to have an excuse to come and go blah blah blah about bodhicitta. So all you Buddha emanations, thanks for showing up and pretending to be students so that you give me a chance to talk about bodhicitta. I enjoyed it very much. Report an error in the passage at 3:28:14 Highlight the passage at 3:28:14

3:28:33 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 3:28:33 Highlight the passage at 3:28:33