Establishing a Daily Practice: Discovering Buddhism (part 1)

0:00 Page 18, there's a prayer by His Holiness the Dalai Lama that I like to use, a prayer to generate bodhicitta, and we'll say it together three times. Did Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:23 you find it, Ricardo? Some of them don't have tabs, so it's really hard to find them. Report an error in the passage at 0:23 Highlight the passage at 0:23

0:33 Usually that's the book I get, actually. With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge. To Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 0:33 Highlight the passage at 0:33

0:57 As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. With the wish to free all beings. I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 0:57 Highlight the passage at 0:57

1:28 As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. With a wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28

1:59 As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain. And dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:59 Highlight the passage at 1:59

2:18 So welcome. Report an error in the passage at 2:18 Highlight the passage at 2:18

2:22 This class is called Establishing a Daily Practice. I'm going to kind of go over some logistics. For those of you that were here on Tuesday night, it'll be somewhat similar. Report an error in the passage at 2:22 Highlight the passage at 2:22

2:37 And for those of you who have done Discovering Buddhism classes before, it'll be somewhat similar. But I do want to apologize for not having your binders ready. I will have them for you next week. It's very unusual, but this is a rather unusual time in my life. My mother passed away two weeks ago, and so I'm very behind on a number of things. Report an error in the passage at 2:37 Highlight the passage at 2:37

3:04 I just got back into the area, and I'm leaving tonight on a plane to New York. Things are slightly turned around, and I'm definitely happy for my daily practice to get through it all. Report an error in the passage at 3:04 Highlight the passage at 3:04

3:25 Tim is coming at some point, so we have to keep an ear out for him. He said he's going to be running late. And I'm not sure if Senka left the door open, so we'll just keep an ear out if you hear. If you're scratching, that'll be him. So that means you won't have any reading homework this week. So you can focus on your meditation homework. You will, of course, have meditation homework. So the basic logistics of this class is that this is also a shorter class. Report an error in the passage at 3:25 Highlight the passage at 3:25

3:53 This will be a six-week class, just like the Tuesday night class. Whenever I see Peter's glasses, I always think that we forgot and left them in a late on, but I see that it wasn't. Okay, that's good. Report an error in the passage at 3:53 Highlight the passage at 3:53

4:11 We will... Actually, we're going to have, I'm not sure if I mentioned this on Tuesday night, the practice day for this class. There's a Saturday at the end. We're actually going to combine it with the refuge class. So we'll do the two of them together. And that's going to be Saturday, November 4th. Originally, I was going to do it on the 28th, but I got the opportunity to... Report an error in the passage at 4:11 Highlight the passage at 4:11

4:31 To bring somebody to teach that I've been trying to get up here for a while, Venerable Steve. And I've been trying to get Venerable Steve up here for a long time and the only day he could do is the 28th. Steve Carlier, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's exciting. So we have to come up with a topic for him. But anyway, we'll think about that on the break or on the way to the airport. Report an error in the passage at 4:31 Highlight the passage at 4:31

4:55 Yeah, no, it's great. He's wonderful. He's been a monk for... Way over 30 years, he's the translator for Kenshi Rinpoche, who was the abbot of Saraje, Geshe-la's boss. He calls him, Geshe-la calls him his boss. So Steve has been studying the Dharma for a really long time. He's got a great wit. He's very funny, but very dry English sense of humor. Report an error in the passage at 4:55 Highlight the passage at 4:55

5:23 Very British, yeah. So anyway, he's going to be here on the 28th. or was the abbot of Sarah J. Report an error in the passage at 5:23 Highlight the passage at 5:23

5:28 Oh, I have to send out the e-news. Okay. I just remembered. It's all ready to go except for the topic of Steve's talk. It's always like, huh. Report an error in the passage at 5:28 Highlight the passage at 5:28

5:38 Yeah, yeah. Well, it is slightly cracked. Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 5:38 Highlight the passage at 5:38

5:44 No, it's okay. It's part of the general feel of the class tonight. So I always make the pitch that because it's a short class, and actually this is even shorter than usual, that... I do assign homework and I do it in order for us to get the most out of the class, and especially for this class, because this class is really a lot about integrating the teachings that you've been getting in all the other classes. Report an error in the passage at 5:44 Highlight the passage at 5:44

6:12 And if this is your first class, that's fine too. It's still about bringing the teachings into your life. So don't freak if you can't do the homework, but I am... Asking to do the homework because, well I'll talk about it in a little bit, kind of how that request from one of my teachers actually sort of initiated my own relationship with having a daily practice. Report an error in the passage at 6:12 Highlight the passage at 6:12

6:39 Sometimes we have to be forced to develop a daily practice and actually assigning a daily meditation is a good way to start with that. And it's definitely a way to go more deeply with the teachings, to go deeper with the teachings. Report an error in the passage at 6:39 Highlight the passage at 6:39

6:57 If life gets crazy and all you can do is show up, then please, please show up because 90%, I think, of just about any class that we take is getting your butt here on the cushion, you know, because then you're going to absorb a lot more of not just what I blather on about, but everybody else's experiences will come into you and you'll... Report an error in the passage at 6:57 Highlight the passage at 6:57

7:23 You'll be able to absorb that as well. It's much more inspiring, I think, to feel like you're part of a group of people who are struggling along or having great times, whichever, whether it's a struggle or whether it's a success. I think it's much more inspiring to be part of a group, so please just show. Report an error in the passage at 7:23 Highlight the passage at 7:23

7:44 So next week I'll have your syllabus for you, too, as to what we're going to talk about each time. There will be time every class to bring up questions. And to discuss things, I just ask that you wait until I'm not in the middle of making a point or something like that because I will just lose my train of thought. Report an error in the passage at 7:44 Highlight the passage at 7:44

8:07 But if you can't, just keep holding your hand up and I will eventually call on you when it's a good time. Report an error in the passage at 8:07 Highlight the passage at 8:07

8:19 But if you reach a point, if it feels like everybody in the room knows what's going on and you don't, just ask. Don't make the assumption because probably somebody else in the room is just as lost as you are. Often everyone else in the room is lost as you are. So it's just good to bring it up and not to feel like you're not going to say anything because you feel stupid. There's no stupid question in this class or any of these classes actually. Report an error in the passage at 8:19 Highlight the passage at 8:19

8:45 So this is actually the eighth out of 14 of the Discovering Buddhism modules. Eight out of the 13 classes and the final one is an experiential module. We'll talk a little bit about that. Some people are trying to do the whole series. Some are just doing topics that interest them. Some are doing topics as they can. I know like Tim can only do Thursday nights and certain people can only do certain nights of the week. Report an error in the passage at 8:45 Highlight the passage at 8:45

9:15 However you decide to approach it, it's great. At this point... There's no prerequisites for any of the classes, although they do definitely build on each other because they're sort of built on the lamrim, what's known as lamrim, stages of the path to enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 9:15 Highlight the passage at 9:15

9:32 So definitely understanding the nature of mind is going to help you understand karma, which is going to help you understand... Report an error in the passage at 9:32 Highlight the passage at 9:32

9:42 You know, the entire path, which is going to help you understand emptiness, which is going to help you understand, you know, they do build on each other. But you don't have to have had the one before or any of the ones before in order to be able to have a great class. So that being said, if people are interested in learning more about discovering Buddhism, I can talk to people more about that. Report an error in the passage at 9:42 Highlight the passage at 9:42

10:08 The whole series was actually... Created by some of the senior teachers within the FPMT, which is the organization that this center is a part of. Report an error in the passage at 10:08 Highlight the passage at 10:08

10:20 People who had been teaching for anywhere from 15 to 30 years, teaching the Dharma to Westerners. And so they all got together at this education conference and started developing this series. And it's an incredible series, actually. It covers a lot. And if you are able to take any... What was that? No, I think it was Crystal or something. Someone's... So if you're able to take any of these classes at any of the FPMT centers, although, of course... Report an error in the passage at 10:20 Highlight the passage at 10:20

10:48 thinking about it. Someone. Report an error in the passage at 10:48 Highlight the passage at 10:48

11:02 Each of us will teach, each person teaching them will teach them slightly different because our personal experience, hey, he's arrived. So we can stop getting up every time we hear anything that sounds like a doorbell. Report an error in the passage at 11:02 Highlight the passage at 11:02

11:16 Maybe you should lock the door, actually. Yeah, that might be a good idea now that you're here. Report an error in the passage at 11:16 Highlight the passage at 11:16

11:24 Any of the FPMT centers in the world, actually, most of them offer Discovering Buddhism as a series. And so you can actually, no matter where you happen to be, In the world, you can actually attend an FPMT center or a home course, a home study course. They do that as well. And continue to follow it. Report an error in the passage at 11:24 Highlight the passage at 11:24

11:46 Also, just no matter what Dharma center you go to, it'll just feed into your general understanding of the entire Dharma, which is useful. So if you take some of these classes, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche would say from this Mickey Mouse teacher, Report an error in the passage at 11:46 Highlight the passage at 11:46

12:05 I want to stress that I am not a teacher. I've been teaching for a couple of years out of necessity, and it's been wonderful for showing me where I need to work in my life. But we do have really qualified teachers here, so when you go to their classes, you'll understand more just from coming to these classes. Report an error in the passage at 12:05 Highlight the passage at 12:05

12:29 You'll have a grasp on some of the basic tenets of Buddhism. So it can only benefit no matter how few of them you are able to attend, all the way to completing the entire course for certificate. Report an error in the passage at 12:29 Highlight the passage at 12:29

12:46 The way that we're trying to do it now is to offer all 13 classes within an 18-month period and then start over. Um, and at the, um, I think. It'll depend because Chodron Rinpoche is coming next March here, so that may throw it off slightly, but what we're aiming to do is to try to finish those 18 courses by the time that Vajrapani offers a two-week lamrim retreat for Discovering Buddhism students. Report an error in the passage at 12:46 Highlight the passage at 12:46

13:15 I don't think you have to have completed all the classes to go to that retreat. I'm sure that you'll get an enormous amount out of it, whether you do or not. But the point of that one is actually it's one of the... Report an error in the passage at 13:15 Highlight the passage at 13:15

13:28 Integration experiences in the final 14th module is the two-week retreat. And so they, I think, are going to be the center that offers it annually after this. Report an error in the passage at 13:28 Highlight the passage at 13:28

13:43 So anyway, that's scheduled, I think, for the end of April of next year. So one of the other things I bring up in every class is that I try to share things with you based on Everything I try to share with you is based on the Buddha's teachings, based on his observations for what he felt would help us each become enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 13:43 Highlight the passage at 13:43

14:10 He didn't teach us everything that he knew. He chose what he taught us because actually once you study what enlightened mind is like, the Buddha actually... Report an error in the passage at 14:10 Highlight the passage at 14:10

14:26 He knows everything. He's omniscient. So it wouldn't really help for him to just teach us every single thing that he knows. He taught things to his disciples and then to their disciples on down to us that would help us awaken our own minds and become enlightened so that we can help others. So I definitely am not trying to create Dharma monsters. Report an error in the passage at 14:26 Highlight the passage at 14:26

14:52 People who just gain a lot of information about the Dharma and then never apply it. And especially in this class, the whole point of this class is to figure out how to apply these things that we're learning about in our everyday life, either formally in a session of either meditation or practice, or informally throughout the day, what's called post-meditation, which is all the rest of your life. Report an error in the passage at 14:52 Highlight the passage at 14:52

15:21 um so So sometimes if I feel like question or discussion is going off in a direction where it's either not to the topic of the class or it's just getting a little bit too impractical might be the right word, then I'll try to bring it back to the topic. And that's kind of why. That's the context of why. Report an error in the passage at 15:21 Highlight the passage at 15:21

15:50 So I wanted to just... Introduce myself a little bit and then talk about my own relationship with the teachings of the Buddha and why in this particular topic of daily practice. And then talk a little bit about what we will cover in here during the course of this, the length of this course. Report an error in the passage at 15:50 Highlight the passage at 15:50

16:17 I think that my own relationship with developing a daily practice I began when I took my first sort of formal Dharma class from Geshe Michael Roach, who was one of my main teachers, is one of my main teachers, but definitely was one of the first ones. And he designed his courses in a way that he always gave assignments of readings and homeworks. He always did homeworks. And the biggest aspect, of course, of the homeworks was a meditation assignment, a daily meditation assignment. Report an error in the passage at 16:17 Highlight the passage at 16:17

16:53 So that actually was the first time that I had done that, where I had an assignment of what to work on every day for whatever the length of the class was. Report an error in the passage at 16:53 Highlight the passage at 16:53

17:05 Sometimes it would only be a 10-day kind of retreat class, and sometimes it would be a couple months like this, 11, 12-week class. He had final exams, and they were hard. hard. But. Report an error in the passage at 17:05 Highlight the passage at 17:05

17:25 But from his perspective, he was feeling like Americans especially are really, we learn based on, you know, when we go to college or when we go to high school or whatever, we take notes, we take tests, we do homework. That's just the way we're trained to learn. And so if we're going to take it seriously rather than just kind of coming to, I guess his experience was that he had seen a lot of people. Report an error in the passage at 17:25 Highlight the passage at 17:25

17:51 Go to Dharma teachings and just sort of space out. You know, just stare straight ahead or, you know, close their eyes and then basically fall asleep. I see that one a lot, actually. But they wouldn't necessarily retain what was being taught. When we watch our, when I watch my main teacher, Lama Tsongkhapa Rinpoche, at teachings by His Holiness, or Chodron Rinpoche, Riva Rinpoche. Report an error in the passage at 17:51 Highlight the passage at 17:51

18:19 He always is taking notes, which is amazing when you think about Lama Zopa Rinpoche's qualities. He's always taking notes, and I feel like he's just showing us how we should be listening to these teachings and taking them very seriously. Actually, with him, I have to take notes because when somebody teaches for 12 hours, it's one way to stay focused on what he's talking about. Report an error in the passage at 18:19 Highlight the passage at 18:19

18:46 And those notes, when I refer back to them, are really amazing, actually. Sometimes it's like a completely different teaching than I got in the moment. I know we have somebody in the room here who didn't get home until 4.30 this morning. Report an error in the passage at 18:46 Highlight the passage at 18:46

19:00 She's having direct experience of Lama Zopa Rinpoche's teaching. We may lose her mid-I saw the head start, already starting nodding. Report an error in the passage at 19:00 Highlight the passage at 19:00

19:09 You can take notes if you want. There you go, there you go. But one of the things that I really loved about Tibetan Buddhism when I first engaged with it was this really methodical approach to what you meditate on and how that feeds into the next thing that you study and meditate on and how that feeds into the next thing that you study and meditate on. Report an error in the passage at 19:09 Highlight the passage at 19:09

19:38 And these teachings are actually known as the lamrim, lam meaning path and rim meaning Gradual stages like steps. And we often learn these in a way that's rather linear, but it's actually much more like a cycle. When we study them, they continue to feed on each other. And each class that we take, every other class that you take for the rest of your life, for example, on karma, you'll gain something different if your mind is open to it. Report an error in the passage at 19:38 Highlight the passage at 19:38

20:13 You'll gain something different than you might have gained in the first few A few classes. So you just keep going deeper and deeper and deeper. So I always think of it much more like a spiral. Report an error in the passage at 20:13 Highlight the passage at 20:13

20:24 But a lot of times people have this idea that the Lamrim teachings are sort of the baby food of the Dharma and that they can study them and then move on to the exciting things like Tantra and emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 20:24 Highlight the passage at 20:24

20:47 You know, the high level, quote unquote high level teachings of the Buddha. And so I always like to start these classes with the fact that the lamrim is our foundation and we never ever leave it behind. We never stop needing the lamrim and it's actually more often when you're in a situation like the one that I just have been going through. Report an error in the passage at 20:47 Highlight the passage at 20:47

21:14 I went back to visit my mom and she suddenly declined and began to die. And I was with her during that process. It's the lamrim. That's what gave me any strength that I had and any courage that I had. Everything was the lamrim. And I realized at that point I was... Report an error in the passage at 21:14 Highlight the passage at 21:14

21:38 Peter and I have been emailing, and I realized how important both refuge, which is the topic of the Tuesday night class, and having a really strong, consistent, solid daily practice gives you something to work with when your life suddenly veers in a direction like that where you have to be able to practice on your feet, so to speak. Report an error in the passage at 21:38 Highlight the passage at 21:38

22:08 Because it will. You know, it does. Due to our karma, stuff happens. Stuff will ripen and it won't always be really happy stuff. Sometimes it's intensely painful or frightening or just a vast unknown. So you need to have a really strong foundation. And the basis of that foundation is having a strong daily practice, which is what this class is really all about. Report an error in the passage at 22:08 Highlight the passage at 22:08

22:41 But like I said, you know, when you first start out in Buddhism, it's kind of hard to figure out exactly what, first of all, what the term practice even means. You know, is practice just the high level stuff that people have to do when they take, you know, empowerments? Is that a practice? Or is practice like 100,000 of this or 100,000 of that? Report an error in the passage at 22:41 Highlight the passage at 22:41

23:02 You know, the nundra, what's known as the preliminary practices. Report an error in the passage at 23:02 Highlight the passage at 23:02

23:07 Or is practice only formal sitting meditation? And if you're not doing that, does that mean you're not practicing? Or when you get up from that, does that mean you're not practicing? Report an error in the passage at 23:07 Highlight the passage at 23:07

23:18 So when I first started, it began with doing the sort of homework assignments. But then, you know, you begin filling in. You find a text like, I remember... Sitting and working with the eight verses of thought transformation as a daily practice for years actually because I think it's such a powerful, it's a brief text and it's also a very powerful text. Report an error in the passage at 23:18 Highlight the passage at 23:18

23:41 So you find texts like that and you find quotes that inspire you and you find practices that inspire you and then you sort of begin integrating them in. Report an error in the passage at 23:41 Highlight the passage at 23:41

23:56 And then you meet certain teachers like Venomo Rene who give you ideas, Venomo Rene Foussi who's down doing long retreat at Rajapani, who help you make decisions about what to include in your practice and what you can condense once we start taking on lots and lots of practices. If you do start taking empowerments and there are commitments, you do start attaining. Report an error in the passage at 23:56 Highlight the passage at 23:56

24:24 Kind of a lot of daily practice and so you try to figure out how do I make this more meaningful than just sitting there and reading these commitments for two hours. How do I make this a living part of my life? How do I keep it juicy and lively? You know how we all like change, right? This is America. So how to spice it up. Report an error in the passage at 24:24 Highlight the passage at 24:24

24:49 So you start getting ideas from that. Lama Zopa Rinpoche actually has given a lot of teachings and advice on daily practice. And actually his text on a, I think it's called a daily practice with Shakyamuni Buddha or something like that. We have copies of it in the bookstore and we also have a couple copies that I can loan out. But that's going to be sort of the basis of this class. Report an error in the passage at 24:49 Highlight the passage at 24:49

25:21 And, I mean, his advice, of course, if you were to follow his advice to a T, you would spend hours just doing that one particular practice because his motivation alone would be ours and his dedication alone would be ours, which is often what happens when you go to his teachings. He'll say, well, like, I think it was Monday night. Monday night, he said, oh, we went so late. We went so late because Sunday night he taught until 7 o 'clock the next morning. Report an error in the passage at 25:21 Highlight the passage at 25:21

25:51 And Monday night when he was teaching, he said, oh, we went so late last night. This is at midnight. We'll stop here. Well, then three hours later, we had done protective practices and dedications and it just kept going and kept going and kept going. And it's just and often he'll often do that. He'll be like, well, we'll stop here. And you see people putting away their books and it's like, no, no, no, don't do that. Report an error in the passage at 25:51 Highlight the passage at 25:51

26:15 You know, I've even done it. And then you're like just pulling it back out again and starting to take notes again. Because, of course, from his standpoint, the motivation and the dedication are hugely important and probably better than any practice that we've even done in the middle. We think that practice is like sort of the meaty part. Report an error in the passage at 26:15 Highlight the passage at 26:15

26:33 He thinks setting our mind in a really good place and dedicating whatever we've done for the benefit of all beings is much more important. Because, again, we're working with our mind all the time. Report an error in the passage at 26:33 Highlight the passage at 26:33

26:48 He actually had a really important role in the development of this whole Discovering Buddhism series, including this one and including the final module, which is all integration experiences, such as doing a three-month retreat on Vajrasattva, doing 100,000 prostrations. Report an error in the passage at 26:48 Highlight the passage at 26:48

27:14 Things that... Um, um. Practices that actually give us the opportunity to take the teachings that we've received from all the other classes and then put them into this really kind of visceral, applied methodology. Because when you're doing prostrations, it's not like you're just throwing yourself on the floor. And it's not just a physical. Report an error in the passage at 27:14 Highlight the passage at 27:14

27:44 Athletic activity, like it's all mind. Everything that you're doing, even if you're doing something with your body in Tibetan Buddhism, is all mind. It's always mind because that's sort of the main point is to transform our mind. So these are all practices that allow us to do that in a completely different way than thinking. Report an error in the passage at 27:44 Highlight the passage at 27:44

28:07 But I remember actually one of the periods that I think I had the best. Practice in terms of being regular and consistent was we had a nun's house that used to be connected with Sechenling when I first got ordained. We had some sponsors step in and each of us put money into it, but we were also supported to some extent. There were four nuns living in the house and one of the nuns had a very strong... Report an error in the passage at 28:07 Highlight the passage at 28:07

28:39 Concentration meditation practice. So the house had to be completely silent from 5.30 in the morning until, I can't remember if it was 7 or 7.30. Report an error in the passage at 28:39 Highlight the passage at 28:39

28:51 So if you wanted anything from the kitchen, you had to be in there at 5 getting your tea, and then you could not move, no sound at all, until this practice was over. What else could you do except practice? There's nothing else to do. We would all get up, we'd all run in and get our tea, and then we'd all come back and do practice for an hour and a half. Report an error in the passage at 28:51 Highlight the passage at 28:51

29:12 I mean, it was great. In retrospect, it was perfect. It was sort of forced upon us, but it ended up being absolutely perfect. That was when I had not only just gotten ordained, but I had just gotten named to be the director of the center, which wasn't necessarily my center either, so it was a really, really difficult time in my life. Report an error in the passage at 29:12 Highlight the passage at 29:12

29:29 And the only thing... That kept me sane during that time period was having this really good daily practice. Really, really strong, really consistent. Report an error in the passage at 29:29 Highlight the passage at 29:29

29:42 And I was forced into it. And making time for regular retreat, which is something else we'll talk about. What that means and ideas for how to do that. Report an error in the passage at 29:42 Highlight the passage at 29:42

29:56 I mean, I would do like a month every year. I don't even know how I did that, actually. I can't even do that now. It's easier when you're your own boss, right? I didn't have to ask anyway, I just made it happen. Report an error in the passage at 29:56 Highlight the passage at 29:56

30:10 So anyway, one of the ways that you kind of assess how your practice or how your study of the Dharma and your daily practice is working is sort of how you deal with stuff as it happens, like the situation that I found myself in a couple of weeks ago with my mom. Report an error in the passage at 30:10 Highlight the passage at 30:10

30:33 And also, I mean, just simple things. You know, when I went to the airport, actually, that time, one of the students actually gave me a ride, and it felt like, I mean, it was like an hour and a half before the flight. I was totally fine, right? Should have been fine. And I got there, and United just screwed up, basically. Report an error in the passage at 30:33 Highlight the passage at 30:33

30:55 They put me in the wrong line. The baggage tag just hadn't worked, hadn't come out of the machine, which should be a simple thing to fix. It was a simple thing to fix once I got to the right person. So I ended up in line 27, which if you guys know, United Line 27. Report an error in the passage at 30:55 Highlight the passage at 30:55

31:13 If they ever put you in line 27, your heart should start beating, actually. And I actually remembered. I thought, okay, this is a perfect opportunity to practice patience. It's not going to help anything if I get upset. And I was able to not get upset. The entire time. By the time I made it to security, the plane was loading. And, of course, by the time I got to the front of Line 27, the woman said, well, they could have just printed you a new baggage tag. Report an error in the passage at 31:13 Highlight the passage at 31:13

31:44 She was completely confused as to why I had been put in Line 27 with all the problem people. And then, of course, I got pulled because I'm... Dressed like this. And then one woman said, I'm going to have to, you know, do extra security on you. And I said, I just want you to know that my plane is loading right now. Report an error in the passage at 31:44 Highlight the passage at 31:44

32:07 And I am really close to missing it. And she just goes, okay, we'll do this really fast. She ended up being really nice. And the entire time I just stayed calm. And it was very interesting. It was just a perfect opportunity to kind of go, okay, this is what we're always talking about. I'm just going to do it. I'm just going to practice it right here. Report an error in the passage at 32:07 Highlight the passage at 32:07

32:23 So it's exciting when you can have those moments where you can actually remember to apply, and that's what this class is all about. This class is all about beginning to see those opportunities and to actually want those opportunities to arise, like to look for those opportunities to arise to apply the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 32:23 Highlight the passage at 32:23

32:46 It's very exciting. It changes the whole situation into... It's like I wanted to call you guys. Hey, guess what? They put me in line 27. The guy in front of me is repackaging his whiskey and the one behind me has a dog. Report an error in the passage at 32:46 Highlight the passage at 32:46

33:04 And we're all here together. And I'm not getting mad. No, right? Yeah, no, that was later. That was at security. Report an error in the passage at 33:04 Highlight the passage at 33:04

33:15 Anyway, so what this class we'll talk about after, I'm going to just allow you guys to have a moment to introduce yourselves. We'll just go around real quick and introduce ourselves and our relationship to the Dharma and to practice or why we're here. Just something brief, you know, not really long. Report an error in the passage at 33:15 Highlight the passage at 33:15

33:37 That's Peter's cue. Exactly. Exactly. Report an error in the passage at 33:37 Highlight the passage at 33:37

33:46 So then after that I'll just kind of go through what I am expecting to cover in the course of this course. But first I'll just introduce myself. So my name is Lobsang Chokyi and I go by Chokyi. It kind of sounds like cookie. Ch is Tibetan for Dharma and Ki is joy. So it's joy of the Dharma or bliss of the Dharma. It's probably joy now and it'll become bliss later. Report an error in the passage at 33:46 Highlight the passage at 33:46

34:14 I think. Report an error in the passage at 34:14 Highlight the passage at 34:14

34:18 And I've been a nun for six years, close to six and a half years. And I've been at Tse Chinling about the same amount of time. Report an error in the passage at 34:18 Highlight the passage at 34:18

34:31 And I am the program coordinator here. So I coordinate all the different teachings and activities that we have here at the center. And like I said, I've been teaching, I think, about a year and a half. Maybe close to, you think a little more? I can't remember. April, I think I started of that year. April of last year, I guess. Report an error in the passage at 34:31 Highlight the passage at 34:31

34:54 Well, I actually think it is just about a year and a half, actually. Yeah, I know. It's covered a lot. Yeah, bodhicitta, because I felt, because the only reason I stepped in is because Venerable Carol, who's now back, actually. But at that time she was indefinitely going back east to take care of her parents and couldn't teach. Report an error in the passage at 34:54 Highlight the passage at 34:54

35:19 And so I stepped in. But I remember feeling like, okay, I could probably do bodhicitta. Like bodhicitta is not so scary. Bodhicitta, I know. Okay. So gradually just trying to teach myself how to teach it to you guys has been a huge growing experience for me. I am really excited about this particular topic because I want to strengthen and reinvigorate my own daily practice, so this gives me a really great opportunity to do that. Report an error in the passage at 35:19 Highlight the passage at 35:19

35:50 Gustavo, do you want to jump in? I just ask that everybody use the microphone because what we do is we record all these classes and then at the end... We'll upload them to a website and they'll be available for free to anybody that wants them. We only do that after we have all of the classes of a series. Report an error in the passage at 35:50 Highlight the passage at 35:50

36:13 But then anybody in the whole world could download this series for free. But if they hear me answer a question and they don't know what the question is, it's really frustrating. So I just ask that people use the mic. Report an error in the passage at 36:13 Highlight the passage at 36:13

36:29 Who you are and why you're here, basically. Or just kind of like your relationship with Buddhism or, you know, something. It doesn't have to be. Swing it. Yeah, just swing it. You're on. Okay. My name is Gustavo Cairo and the reason why I'm here because Buddhism makes my life more meaningful. Report an error in the passage at 36:29 Highlight the passage at 36:29

36:54 That's good. Good sign. Oh, you have to pass. Yeah, direct and to the point. That's good. Report an error in the passage at 36:54 Highlight the passage at 36:54

37:09 Yeah, I heard. Is it? Okay. So my name is Ricardo and well, I've been taking classes and Tibetan Buddhism for over three or four years, but it's until now that I'm getting really serious about it. So I'm taking the Tuesday class and this class and I come in Sundays and reading books. Report an error in the passage at 37:09 Highlight the passage at 37:09

37:30 Cool, that's great. Report an error in the passage at 37:30 Highlight the passage at 37:30

37:36 My name is Tim. I think I've been coming here for a couple of years. Peter and I were in Chokyi's first class. Yeah, you guys are the veterans. You guys are my two good luck symbols. Report an error in the passage at 37:36 Highlight the passage at 37:36

37:48 I don't know, I like coming just so there's a kind of reinforcement because it's easy to get lost in the day-to-day. And when I come here, I remember, oh, that's what I'm supposed to do. Report an error in the passage at 37:48 Highlight the passage at 37:48

37:59 And it's funny, I think I came to Carol and asked her about this class a while back and she said that they had just taught it and I missed it. And so now I'm actually taking it again. Because this is the actual reason I think I came here was to take this class. Report an error in the passage at 37:59 Highlight the passage at 37:59

38:19 So the karma just hadn't quite raised your ripen. It just took a couple of days. Become Dharma buddies. So, yeah, that's it. Report an error in the passage at 38:19 Highlight the passage at 38:19

38:35 My name is Erica Perino, and I am a longtime friend of Peter's here from college together. Oh, excellent. And I've been doing just some meditation on my own, and I've been just talking to Peter, and I've seen how much... This has helped him. He's really enjoyed things here. He just invited me along to check it out. Here I am. Excellent. I was looking for you on Tuesday night, too. Report an error in the passage at 38:35 Highlight the passage at 38:35

39:03 He had said you might come on Tuesday as well. Report an error in the passage at 39:03 Highlight the passage at 39:03

39:08 You're welcome to come next week if you want to check that one out. You were born in a log cabin. Yeah, I was born in a log cabin in Covina, California. I'm the one in the back who sits here going, Praise be! That's right. You're the church lady. Exactly. I'm Report an error in the passage at 39:08 Highlight the passage at 39:08

39:23 I've been coming since Tim and I were in Chokyi's first class, so I've been coming for around a couple of years now. But actually, I had taken this class when Venerable Carol offered it, gosh, that must have been back in 2001 or 2002, a while ago. And I've been interested in the Dharma my whole life, really, had taken refuge and had not practiced seriously and began practicing more seriously a couple of years ago after a series of... Report an error in the passage at 39:23 Highlight the passage at 39:23

39:53 Sort of calamitous events in my life, some deaths in my family and my eyes getting worse. And it's been an incredibly inspiring process for me. It's actually given me something to do with all these events that have occurred and make something out of it. So, you know, it's been incredibly helpful in my life and I'm back for more. Report an error in the passage at 39:53 Highlight the passage at 39:53

40:15 Great. So you can take notes to see the difference between how I teach it and how Carol teaches it. Right, exactly. I'm going to give you reports every day. Yeah, there you go. You'll be checking off things. And because I'm visually impaired, if I ever walk by anybody and don't say hello, I'm not being a snob, I probably didn't see you. So I'll give you that little heads up. Just hit him. You're allowed to hit him. Report an error in the passage at 40:15 Highlight the passage at 40:15

40:33 Yeah, just hit me. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 40:33 Highlight the passage at 40:33

40:41 I'm Louis. I live with Peter. So I'm here. And I've been coming here. Three classes in, so I started with emptiness. Yeah. An interesting and very profound way to revisit Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 40:41 Highlight the passage at 40:41

41:00 I took Venerable Carol's class and a few years before took refuge in the Khokyi order, but that didn't quite hold. And I did some reading between or before, after Carol. B.C. The A.C. B.C. The A.C. . Report an error in the passage at 41:00 Highlight the passage at 41:00

41:25 And now I'm here and I'm trying to complete as much of the series as I can. And I'm just happy to be here. Report an error in the passage at 41:25 Highlight the passage at 41:25

41:37 My name's Ben and I don't know why I'm here. I just keep on showing up. It's good to see you because you didn't do the last series. So we missed you actually. We kept asking each other about you. Because it was karma, was it? Is that the one I missed, karma? Yeah, karma and death. Yeah, karma was the one I wanted to do. He had the karma that missed karma. And then historically I've taught on Tuesday nights. Report an error in the passage at 41:37 Highlight the passage at 41:37

42:06 I mean Thursday nights and then this semester they had me teaching on Tuesday nights so that's why I'm here on a Thursday night. So I'll just keep on showing up until I'm not supposed to show up anymore. Excellent. It's nice to have you back. My name is Alisa and I'm taking Tuesday nights class too and it always seems that when I get to a point where I'm thinking about something that I need they offer a class in that very same thing. Report an error in the passage at 42:06 Highlight the passage at 42:06

42:30 So the last class I was thinking it would be really nice to find a way to make all of this more immersive and then... Thus the next class was this. The wisdom is not mine. I cannot claim credit for it. Report an error in the passage at 42:30 Highlight the passage at 42:30

42:49 I'm Drolkar, I'm Tupin Drolkar and I've been all day for two weeks now. The former Tiziano. I really like when I took class and I'm here to learn more. what's up? Yay! Report an error in the passage at 42:49 Highlight the passage at 42:49

43:12 What is your ordination name again? Tupten Drolkar. Drolkar. She has the Italian accent on it, but it's... Drolkar. Drolkar is combined of Drolma and Carpo. So Drolma is Tara and Carpo is white. Report an error in the passage at 43:12 Highlight the passage at 43:12

43:33 What does it symbolize? Long life? She's a long life deity, actually. Report an error in the passage at 43:33 Highlight the passage at 43:33

43:42 Oh, wait! Talking stick, talking stick. I just would like to know a little more about ordination, but maybe, I don't know if that's... Yeah, yeah, it's a big thing. Report an error in the passage at 43:42 Highlight the passage at 43:42

43:55 But we can talk about it. Yeah, I'm not sure if this class would be so much. I mean, that certainly is integrating the teachings in your life in a really big way. Report an error in the passage at 43:55 Highlight the passage at 43:55

44:07 But maybe we could just make a date to talk about it. That might be better, like a cup of tea. Yeah, because there's a lot to talk about. And there's also always just the stories, you know, like Elisa was my personal shopper today. She sent me an email and said she was available and she mentioned the word charioteer, I think was it. Report an error in the passage at 44:07 Highlight the passage at 44:07

44:28 And so anyway, we were talking at the end, she said, you know, I want to hear your ordination story. I love hearing people's stories about how they... And then also what led them to be ordained. There's actually a book of meditations by monks and nuns in the FPMT and actually more than the meditations of that book, which I can't remember the name of the book. Report an error in the passage at 44:28 Highlight the passage at 44:28

44:48 But anyway, I love just looking at the stories in the back, like how they all became ordained because they were all, you know, they're all just so different and all of their stories are so different. So, yeah, it's a big... But I'm totally happy to talk to you about my own personal relationship with coordination. Yeah, that's great. So great. Report an error in the passage at 44:48 Highlight the passage at 44:48

45:11 Well, welcome, everybody. This class, I think, in a lot of ways, is sort of the quintessence of the whole Discovering Buddhism program. Report an error in the passage at 45:11 Highlight the passage at 45:11

45:28 Except for the 14th module, which of course is when you leap in and are kind of doing it on your own. This is where you really start figuring out how to create a meaningful practice that then you keep working with your whole life. It's not like you're going to figure out a practice and then never change it again. It's really much more massageable than that. Because you're constantly... Report an error in the passage at 45:28 Highlight the passage at 45:28

45:55 Running the risk of it getting stale, so you always are trying to keep it alive. When you have certain practices that you recite every day, you want to make sure that it's not just rote. Report an error in the passage at 45:55 Highlight the passage at 45:55

46:11 I remember actually one of my teachers saying, you know, the Tibetans did that part really good, let's change it when it comes to America, you know, the da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da kind of reciting of your commitments every day, which is the way, if you've ever heard monks and nuns, did you hear at Copan actually, yeah, it's that sound, da-da-da-da-da-da-da, and you hear the little baby voices, and they're all just like, you know, reciting their commitments. Report an error in the passage at 46:11 Highlight the passage at 46:11

46:34 commitments um um so So every time you're doing your own commitments, it's like you've got to be remembering what it is you're saying and reminding yourself what it is you're saying because our whole purpose of it is to transform our mind. And if it's just going kind of past our mind and not our mouth, it's not really going to do anything. Report an error in the passage at 46:34 Highlight the passage at 46:34

46:53 teach I mean it's taught um that that um it's possible if you just keep receiving teachings and you don't put them into practice um that you can um develop or um You reach the state that's called becoming insensitive to the Dharma. And that's when you are attending a teaching and somebody is saying something and you think, oh, I've already heard that before. Report an error in the passage at 46:53 Highlight the passage at 46:53

47:21 And you kind of shut down. You shut off your mind. Or I know that one already. I know all about karma. This is really boring. This isn't really going to help me. You just start kind of closing down. Report an error in the passage at 47:21 Highlight the passage at 47:21

47:37 Or you think that the teachings don't have anything to offer you and they aren't personally speaking to you. Actually what I find that when my practice is going really, really well, suddenly it's very, I think it's very funny, it's very, it feels like the teacher should be saying, Chokyi, da-da-da-da-da, Chokyi. Report an error in the passage at 47:37 Highlight the passage at 47:37

47:57 I mean it feels so direct, like... He's speaking, and often it's like this with Rinpoche. I mean, I'm always making jokes like that because it, and of course everyone will come out and say the same thing, you know, because he's like reaching people at different levels. But you attend a teaching and it's exactly what you needed to hear. I'll find that a lot of times with, I'll sit in with Rubina just to record or something and she'll just all of a sudden, all of a sudden. Report an error in the passage at 47:57 Highlight the passage at 47:57

48:22 coincidentally. Coincidentally, begin talking about something that I absolutely needed to know or something and I'll just be like, you know, writing it all down. So when your practice is really good and it's really working, then every teaching you go to is like direct instructions and it just becomes like that. Report an error in the passage at 48:22 Highlight the passage at 48:22

48:41 Every book that you open is like... Oh my gosh, isn't that interesting? I should open up to this page. It's kind of like after a while it just starts being clear that it's not just coincidence. So they say that there's this real danger that your mind can get sort of hardened. And they actually describe it. There's an analogy in Tibet. Report an error in the passage at 48:41 Highlight the passage at 48:41

48:52 you know. Report an error in the passage at 48:52 Highlight the passage at 48:52

49:05 They use butter, yak butter, actually, to soften leather. And you do it over time, just gradually. You just work the butter into the leather, and it gets softer and softer and softer, and you can do whatever you want. It becomes pliable. You can do whatever you want with that leather. But then the other thing that can happen, they carry the butter in these pouches made of leather. Report an error in the passage at 49:05 Highlight the passage at 49:05

49:28 And after a while, those pouches just get really hard, almost like... If you've ever felt one, it's actually, it feels like stone almost. It's really, really hard and the butter stops penetrating. It's just this chemical reaction that causes this almost like a wax to form on the leather and so the leather stops penetrating and they compare the butter, of course, to the Dharma and the leather to our minds and so we have kind of two ways that we can go with it. Report an error in the passage at 49:28 Highlight the passage at 49:28

49:57 One is like we... Periodically or constantly working the Dharma into our minds and helping it to become one with our minds and soften our minds and change our minds and transform our minds. And the other is we just keep collecting and collecting and collecting and collecting and collecting and collecting kind of Dharma knowledge. Report an error in the passage at 49:57 Highlight the passage at 49:57

50:17 But never really applying it to our own lives. And so we'll talk a little bit tonight about how to see whether or not you're doing that. And what to do if you do, if you notice that you are. Report an error in the passage at 50:17 Highlight the passage at 50:17

50:31 But one of the ways, actually, is if you're still blaming others for the bad things of your life. If you're still thinking that all of your problems are outside of you. Report an error in the passage at 50:31 Highlight the passage at 50:31

50:47 If I only had a better co-worker, my work life would be better. If I only had a better boss, my work life would be better. If I lived in a better apartment, things would be better. If I was in a better relationship, then I could really practice the Dharma. It's always outside of me. It's never me. And if you're still doing that, then that's an indication that maybe you're not softening the mind. You're not seeing... Report an error in the passage at 50:47 Highlight the passage at 50:47

51:15 What part belongs to you? It doesn't mean that you aren't going to necessarily change relationships or jobs or apartments. But to see that as the real source of your problem is missing the point, or as Rubina says, missing the plot entirely. Report an error in the passage at 51:15 Highlight the passage at 51:15

51:31 Because the whole point of Buddhism is to work with our own minds to get it. I mean, the buck stops here in Buddhism. It's not like you're even going to have any kind of external savior. Report an error in the passage at 51:31 Highlight the passage at 51:31

51:43 The Buddha basically teaches us how to do it, but then it's all up to us. And the up to us part is practice. So the goal of the Dharma is to be able to help all beings, and the method is to become a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 51:43 Highlight the passage at 51:43

52:05 And the only way that we're going to do this is basically to do it little by little by little. Although what happens in reality is you do it little by little by little and then you have sort of a ripening of really good karma and you take a leap. So it ends up kind of being like that. And they say actually that's one of the things like if you're meditating a little bit each day, you can suddenly have a breakthrough and you just don't know when that breakthrough is going to be. Report an error in the passage at 52:05 Highlight the passage at 52:05

52:33 And that kind of is an encouraging thing. For those people who have tried meditating every day and don't see a lot of progress. But one of the things we'll talk about in the course, in the length of this course, is sort of like what to do when you feel blocks or obstacles in your practice, what they look like, and also how to know when you've made progress. Report an error in the passage at 52:33 Highlight the passage at 52:33

52:57 What does progress mean? But Pabankar Rinpoche said that regarding this insensitivity to the Dharma, He said, once you are overcome by insensitivity to Dharma, your mind stream becomes ruined and you are incapable of being tamed, even by the lamrim or by the blessed words of your Guru. So apply yourself to the profound method for avoiding insensitivity to Dharma. This is achieved through the blessings of your Guru's speech, along with your own efforts to listen to Dharma properly. Report an error in the passage at 52:57 Highlight the passage at 52:57

53:32 So however much understanding you gain through hearing Dharma, it's vital to generate soon afterwards the understanding which comes from reflection. Traditionally, it's taught that with every teaching that you go to that you spend some time hearing, listening to the teaching, and then also reflecting on the teaching, and then meditating on the teaching, those three. Report an error in the passage at 53:32 Highlight the passage at 53:32

53:58 And I've often heard it actually said, That it's really good to review, like if you take notes, if you go to a teaching, it's actually really, really good to review those notes several times. Which is really hard, like when you go to a teaching by His Holiness, try to review them three times in one night before you go back. Report an error in the passage at 53:58 Highlight the passage at 53:58

54:19 But they do say that, I mean Geshe-la always warns about this, he's always kind of like, everyone's writing in these books and then they put the books on the shelves and whatever happens to the books, you know. So one way that... Those of us who are very, very busy, I always take notes. I take lots of notes in every Dharma class that I go to, from the simplest public talk to Geshe-la's, like last night's class. Report an error in the passage at 54:19 Highlight the passage at 54:19

54:48 The Wednesday night class, Grounds and Passive Secret Mantra, is just intense. I mean, you're just like, I bring my computer and I'm just typing nonstop, and that's translated. I can't even imagine if we spoke it in English. It's so complex. And I don't understand it, but I'm getting it down and I'm hoping at some point I will be able to make use of these notes. Report an error in the passage at 54:48 Highlight the passage at 54:48

55:10 What I do is I take these notebooks with me into retreat and I review them there. And I have found that to be an incredibly powerful way to review. So it's not immediately after the teaching, but often I'll attend teachings for six months to a year and then I'll take those notebooks into retreat because then your mind has some time. Report an error in the passage at 55:10 Highlight the passage at 55:10

55:31 Space, silence, energy to review the teachings. So that's just something that I personally have done and I think that it can be incredibly powerful. Report an error in the passage at 55:31 Highlight the passage at 55:31

55:47 So Kendall, who is one of the developers of these Discovering Buddhism classes, likened this particular class to When the Rubber Meets the Road. This is where we take these different ideas that we're starting to grapple with and teachings that we're starting to understand and we start putting them into our daily life in a way that is going to make sense to us and also be exciting enough to help us transform our rock-hard mind, our often rock-hard mind into soft and pliable. Report an error in the passage at 55:47 Highlight the passage at 55:47

56:30 Because otherwise you can just end up attending some of these classes and then just kind of feeling like you're not getting anything out of it and you just start looking for another center or another spiritual path altogether or the sort of trying this one and trying this one and trying this one that a lot of people do actually. Report an error in the passage at 56:30 Highlight the passage at 56:30

56:50 I see a lot of people come through Dharma centers. We have a lot of stuff happening in the city and it's so hard to... We live in a culture of sort of constantly, instantly gratifying ourselves. You know, you go here and you kind of want, if you don't get a zao, like a kind of excitement out of something, then it's like you keep looking until you do. Report an error in the passage at 56:50 Highlight the passage at 56:50

57:12 There's that constant kind of roaming around. So this is where you see if this is the path for you. You have a chance to actually begin working with it in really kind of tasty detail. Report an error in the passage at 57:12 Highlight the passage at 57:12

57:28 So some of the things that we're going to talk about is what practice is, you know, what makes something practice. I think a lot of times people think practice is when I sit down on my cushion and close my eyes and sit in a funny position and don't say anything. And don't think. And that's practice. And then everything else, then I can just get up and go and hit somebody. It doesn't matter. Report an error in the passage at 57:28 Highlight the passage at 57:28

57:58 So I'm here to say that's not practice. Formal meditation practices is huge. They have an entire module within the Discovering Buddhism series called How to Meditate. It is the most powerful of all the practices, but it's not the only practice. Report an error in the passage at 57:58 Highlight the passage at 57:58

58:19 Having some sort of formal meditation practice that you do every day, even if it's for two and a half minutes, is that what your advice was at one point? Yeah, I think that's good. Even if it's only two and a half minutes every day, it's hugely important to do. But there's lots of other things that we would call practice. Report an error in the passage at 58:19 Highlight the passage at 58:19

58:40 I think the biggest thing and I think the overarching definition I haven't seen a definition of practice, but I'm just throwing this out. It has to be something that's going to transform your mind. So if doing practices while you're at work or transforming line 27, whatever your karma hands you, how am I going to work with it based on what I have learned in my studies? Report an error in the passage at 58:40 Highlight the passage at 58:40

59:14 And, um, um, Teachings of Buddhism. That's practice. I mean, that's practice. Just as much as visualizing Manjushri and getting to know exactly every single detail of his holy body so that you can visualize it perfectly and hold it perfectly for however long it is that you want to meditate on him. That's also practice. Report an error in the passage at 59:14 Highlight the passage at 59:14

59:43 Just like meditating on all the stages to developing the vast mind of bodhicitta is practice. Just like doing 100,000 frustrations single-pointedly visualizing the merit field is practice. Report an error in the passage at 59:43 Highlight the passage at 59:43

1:00:06 It's all a kind of practice. And so actually the Tibetans talk about it in terms of session and post-session, and there's nothing else. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:06 Highlight the passage at 1:00:06

1:00:20 Rinpoche always makes the joke, you know, he's always like, we take a break but not a break from the Dharma. It's like never a break from the Dharma. And I think actually somebody brought that up Tuesday night. Sandy brought it up. She was saying... I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:20 Highlight the passage at 1:00:20

1:00:35 But if you're working with your mind all the time, you know, don't you just want to have like some downtime, you know? And it's like, I think ultimately we just get to the point where everything becomes this vast teaching. I mean, even reading what I used to call trashy magazines, but Rubina hates it when I call them trashy magazines. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:35 Highlight the passage at 1:00:35

1:00:58 She says, there are magazines about sentient beings. It's true. I love People Magazine. It's great. It's like my idea of TV because I don't watch TV. It's much easier to turn off. But you look at it and you see something about how beings are seeking happiness. Once you steep your mind in this, you can't just watch a sitcom. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:58 Highlight the passage at 1:00:58

1:01:24 Everything is pervaded by the teachings and you see it. Once your mind is pervaded by the teachings, like you walk down the street and everything is a teaching. You go through a situation like the one I just came back from and every aspect of it is this huge teaching. It's like your eyes are just wide open and you're just applying it all the time. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:24 Highlight the passage at 1:01:24

1:01:47 It's very interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:47 Highlight the passage at 1:01:47

1:01:51 And I'm not... Saying that I'm a great practitioner, I'm just excited when I can remember something. I mention it to you so that you can have hope that sometime you'll remember too and it's exciting. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:51 Highlight the passage at 1:01:51

1:02:04 Because that's really what it's all about. I mean that's really, I think, the biggest reason that the Buddha taught the whole mindfulness practice was to actually remember the teachings when we need to. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:04 Highlight the passage at 1:02:04

1:02:18 It's not necessarily to walk really slowly and lift our legs up. Hi, and put them back down again. It's so that we'll learn this stuff and then take it into the field when we need it, and it'll come up. It'll be there. It's a surprise when it is, and you'll know what to do. So one of the things we are going to talk about... Report an error in the passage at 1:02:18 Highlight the passage at 1:02:18

1:02:45 Oh, I did want to ask, actually, I think... Most of us in the class, have we meditated before? Most people have meditated before in some way. I meant to, my printer ran out of ink, so I didn't have a chance to actually print up. I wanted to, for those who are just starting a meditation practice, I'm going to, actually I can email you guys who would like one, sort of a little document that I created on getting started on it. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:45 Highlight the passage at 1:02:45

1:03:19 Regular meditation practice. So people would like that. I have a roster, actually. I'll look at my lovely assistant. If people could just fill out their name and contact information, even if you just did this on Tuesday night. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:19 Highlight the passage at 1:03:19

1:03:36 Okay, Report an error in the passage at 1:03:36 Highlight the passage at 1:03:36

1:03:40 okay. So are you going to put your name on this list? Okay, Louis, just mark because I'll forget. Because I'll probably send it, well I might do it, I might do it from New York actually, we'll see, we'll see. Actually I won't do it from New York because I won't have my computer. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:40 Highlight the passage at 1:03:40

1:04:00 I can send you an email saying I will do it, but I won't be able to do it. Unless I go upstairs and do it before we take off, then it'll just help me remember who wanted a copy of that. So if you, when you're, sorry? I'll be back Tuesday night, yeah, I'll be back Tuesday night, taking refuge. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:00 Highlight the passage at 1:04:00

1:04:19 So just write your name and contact information. And if you would like me to send that document to you about starting a daily meditation practice, then just put a little star next to your name and I'll do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:19 Highlight the passage at 1:04:19

1:04:32 Oh, sorry, Ben. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:32 Highlight the passage at 1:04:32

1:04:36 Talking stick. It's okay. What about those of us who sort of have meditation practice but we don't know what the hell we're doing? Put a little star. Then at least you'll know kind of what I'm thinking that you know. Right. Then we'll all be on the same page. Okay, so to start with that and sort of stop doing what we've been doing? For the purpose of this class, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:36 Highlight the passage at 1:04:36

1:05:00 But we can talk, actually. Are you already doing a kind of involved practice? Yeah, it sort of started off with Thurman's book. He had a practice at the end that sort of combined just a whole bunch of stuff. Sort of had a guru sort of like visualization thing, the field. No, let's just work with that. Let's just work with what you're already doing. We'll see. Since I is my favorite subject, then I met with Geshe-la and he gave me the 35 Buddhas to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:00 Highlight the passage at 1:05:00

1:05:40 And I resisted. I'm reading. I got the book and I've been reading about it. Getting ready to get ready. I think I'm ready. I just don't know how. Because it's sort of like, I don't know how to, should I read and try to do prostations? Do I record it? It's kind of a combination of both. Yeah, there are lots of ways to do it. Actually, we'll talk about that. That's one of the, we will talk about doing the practice of prostrating to the 35 Buddhas because that's one that Lama Zopa Rinpoche really likes to give. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:40 Highlight the passage at 1:05:40

1:06:12 And also Venerable Children is going to teach it on a Sunday morning. That's like sort of her. And she's going to teach it, I think, on the 29th of October. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:12 Highlight the passage at 1:06:12

1:06:33 Who was leading it? Do you remember? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:33 Highlight the passage at 1:06:33

1:06:40 Oh, Sarah. Okay, yeah, yeah. So it was an audio CD. Excellent. That's nice. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, they did when Karen bought it. And they will order it for you happily. Actually, Single is our new bookstore person. Single, well, Single's sort of the... A woman on the floor, and Carol is the one sort of overseeing it, at least until it's single, kind of knows more what she's doing. So either of them are really good ones to talk to. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:40 Highlight the passage at 1:06:40

1:07:12 So you can always just look tonight. If you don't see it, send an email to office at zajunling.org, and they'll order it for you, I'm sure. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:12 Highlight the passage at 1:07:12

1:07:26 The prayer book? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:26 Highlight the passage at 1:07:26

1:07:30 They can probably get it for you. Yeah, because we do orders from FEMT. So, yeah. You can also order it from the site. Here you would get the member's discount, so I don't know if it's the same. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:30 Highlight the passage at 1:07:30

1:07:57 Talking stick, yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Joker. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:57 Highlight the passage at 1:07:57

1:08:03 And you're supposed to be on top of this. Okay, so there's a prayer book with a CD. But I wanted to ask you, maybe you or if anybody else knows, How many actual prayers are included in CD? Because it gave the highlights. Yeah, I don't know. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. No, anybody? Yeah. I mean, there is a version of the prayer book on CD that, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:03 Highlight the passage at 1:08:03

1:08:37 Yeah, that would be nice. That I know that we got, centers got before the prayer books themselves were printed. And I'm assuming that they must, if you're talking about it, they must have an updated version. That's sort of the current version on CD. In which case, it is everything. Because there is prayer books, one, two and three on CD-ROMs. But I don't know if it's a different prayer book because the one that I'm talking about had that picture and then had the CD also had the same image as the book. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:37 Highlight the passage at 1:08:37

1:09:10 And the CD was in it or it was separate? No, separate so you could see it, but I'm assuming they have a folder or something. Because I haven't seen it inside it before. I have seen it separate, so I don't know. I mean, I would have to look at the FMT website, actually, just like you guys, because I'm not anything to do with the bookstore at this point. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:10 Highlight the passage at 1:09:10

1:09:33 It's all exciting news to me. But single can find out. So bother single with it? Yeah. All right. She normally will be taking this class. Actually, she takes both classes, but she just had to go do something tonight. But look, too. Did you see it in the bookstore this time? No, I arrived here right at 7 and they put me on this. Yeah, I know. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:33 Highlight the passage at 1:09:33

1:10:04 I tried to do it. We can look, too, and see what's in there. But anyway, yeah. In terms of... and see, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:04 Highlight the passage at 1:10:04

1:10:14 What's available, we can get it. I don't know what we have in stock. But the prayer book is only probably useful for if people want to kind of, like I know in Peter's case, probably you want to memorize some of the prayers and things. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:14 Highlight the passage at 1:10:14

1:10:31 Otherwise, I don't know how useful it is. I think it's actually almost better to just get... It kind of can be overwhelming, I think. It's almost like too much material. So it's almost better just to have copies of the prayers that you're actually working with or the practices that you're working with. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:31 Highlight the passage at 1:10:31

1:10:45 Like for the 35 Buddhists, they're doing more and more of the sort of glossy booklets approach. So you have a glossy booklet of the 35 Buddhists practice and kind of things to think about and things to visualize. And then you work with that rather than, you know, having to find all the different tabs. You know how hard it is for us to just find the opening and closing prayers. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:45 Highlight the passage at 1:10:45

1:11:05 um Anyway, to get back to what we're going to cover in this class, we will talk about what's known as the six preparatory practices, which we should do before we do any meditation. And we talked about those in the how to meditate class, but I don't know that anybody in here actually did that class. So there you go. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:05 Highlight the passage at 1:11:05

1:11:33 Also what meditation is and what we should be meditating on and how we decide what to meditate on and how we decide whether we've meditated on something long enough, which is a big one I think in the West. A lot of times we'll just meditate on something once or twice or maybe for a week and then time to move on. I mean, if you ever read... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:33 Highlight the passage at 1:11:33

1:11:56 Liberation in the Palm of Your Hands, which is a commentary of a teaching that a great Master Pabanka Rinpoche gave at the beginning of the 20th century. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:56 Highlight the passage at 1:11:56

1:12:08 He'll often say, meditate on this until you gain realization. I've actually heard Lama Zopa Rinpoche assign, when he's assigned, his version of nundro, which is not always the traditional versions of nundro practices. the preliminary practices. He'll say to people, meditate on this until you gain realization. Or meditate on this for a year and then meditate on that and then meditate on that. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:08 Highlight the passage at 1:12:08

1:12:35 Or meditate on this for nine months and this for nine months like that. A chunk of time. Even just a few months on the same. The topic can be very, very profound. I think I've mentioned in some of the classes about when Rinpoche had suggested that I meditate on death and impermanence every day for a retreat that I did for a couple of months, which I wouldn't necessarily have decided to do on my own. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:35 Highlight the passage at 1:12:35

1:13:07 It was very, very profound. I started every morning meditating on death, and I ended every night meditating on impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:07 Highlight the passage at 1:13:07

1:13:16 And it was hugely profound. I think it was like one of the most powerful retreats I had ever done, I ever did, up until that point. And actually, in retrospect, I think it was very, very powerful to do that. And I wouldn't have done it if he hadn't suggested it. Because they know that it really takes a while to work the butter into the leather, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:16 Highlight the passage at 1:13:16

1:13:40 And Kendall actually tells this story, and a number of people actually. Years ago, I think 2001, Venerable Riva Rinpoche, who was a great Lama, one of my gurus, who just passed away, I guess a year ago about now. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:40 Highlight the passage at 1:13:40

1:14:02 Yeah, amazing. I used to call him Mr. Bodhicitta. Just an amazing being. He came to teach the Lamrim at Landa Medicine Buddha and began and told people to meditate on... Two topics until he came back. And of course everybody thought he would come back the next year, but he didn't come back for five years. So Kendall did it. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:02 Highlight the passage at 1:14:02

1:14:25 She meditated on these two topics for five years. And it really, really shifted her mind. She's actually doing indefinite long retreat now up in Washington State. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:25 Highlight the passage at 1:14:25

1:14:37 She's the one that if you watch the Discovering Buddhism videos... She makes the joke about, you know, that you can, like, sort of waste a lot of time in practice and then all of a sudden you get it that, you know, maybe I'll just, like, go and become a Buddha or something. She makes that joke. I just think that's great. It's like, maybe I'll just become a Buddha or something. So she just meditated on these topics obediently for five years every day and began to feel her mind shift and shift and shift in ways that she hadn't expected. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:37 Highlight the passage at 1:14:37

1:15:07 I can't remember what the topics were. I think it was precious human rebirth. And it might have been death and impermanence. I can't remember. Anyway, so how do we decide? So that's one of the things to talk about. How do we decide when we've gained a realization? Report an error in the passage at 1:15:07 Highlight the passage at 1:15:07

1:15:28 Actually, there's a lot of talk. Sometimes people advertise that they are highly realized beings or that they are even enlightened. went, you know, Report an error in the passage at 1:15:28 Highlight the passage at 1:15:28

1:15:37 Venable Neal. Thutton Dondro was talking about how this guy showed up at his center in Australia saying that he was a Buddha. And he went and talked to the resident Geshe and came out and realized that he wasn't a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:37 Highlight the passage at 1:15:37

1:15:53 So it's sort of like you have to, the Tibetans are very, very clear on like the measure of whenever Geshe-la teaches things like when he taught the whole series on developing calm abiding, which is a specific kind of very, very deep, powerful, penetrative. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:53 Highlight the passage at 1:15:53

1:16:11 What's the measure of having attained that? What's the measure of having attained this realization? They make it very, very clear so that you don't kid yourself. What's the measure of having directly perceived emptiness? This, this and this and this will happen. So we'll also talk about what to do between sessions, basically with the whole rest of your day. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:11 Highlight the passage at 1:16:11

1:16:34 We'll talk about what to do when you have obstacles in your practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:34 Highlight the passage at 1:16:34

1:16:40 How do you know if it's an obstacle? Sometimes we have an idea of what we should have attained. But also, I mean, His Holiness says that if you look back over the last year or so of your life to what your mind was like a year ago, and you can see a change. You can see maybe you're a little less likely to fly off the handle or a little more likely to be kind to somebody in a difficult situation, a little braver. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:40 Highlight the passage at 1:16:40

1:17:20 If you can see those kind of little changes in the course of a year, then that's good. That probably means that your practice is working. our little, you know... Report an error in the passage at 1:17:20 Highlight the passage at 1:17:20

1:17:27 And I like that. It's very practical. It's kind of like, oh, okay. Especially once you've been practicing for a while. I've been practicing now. I consider when I took refuge, when I sort of jumped in and I engaged with the Dharma. I've been practicing about 10 years now. So I can really look back at what my mind was like at that point. And I am not the best of practitioners. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:27 Highlight the passage at 1:17:27

1:17:51 Let me just say, I try hard. But I don't consider myself like a major meditator. In fact, for years I didn't even know what meditation was, which is why I want to include that, what is meditation. I didn't realize what analytical meditation was. I thought all meditation had to be concentration meditation to be labeled meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:51 Highlight the passage at 1:17:51

1:18:18 But working with it, working with the teachings that you know, whatever you know, So this would be all of us because we all know a little bit. Remembering to apply them when your boss is screaming at you or you're in line 27 or whatever is happening or your mom is dying and you're the only one in the room. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:18 Highlight the passage at 1:18:18

1:18:44 So how are you going to handle that? And seeing how your mind handles that, that's your ultimate test. How's your practice working? And it's not like you can fail it. It's simply you look at it and you kind of go, oh, well, this needs a little work. I came back from that whole situation with my mom and I went into Geshe-la and I said, Geshe-la, my concentration stinks. He said, oh. He kind of looked at me and I said, yeah, it's bad. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:44 Highlight the passage at 1:18:44

1:19:13 He said, and then? Which I love that because it's like you're not going to stop there, right? You know, it's like, you can't just say my concentration sucks, Geshe-la, and then walk out of the room. He's like, it's kind of like, what are you going to do about it? So then we proceeded, this is without a translator, then we proceeded to talk about why it was bad, you know, so we acted out agitated. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:13 Highlight the passage at 1:19:13

1:19:33 I was like, that's it. Then he's like, I'm like, meditate on the breath. He's like, that's it. So I got my instructions. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:33 Highlight the passage at 1:19:33

1:19:45 Yeah, so the point is not to see where your faults are and to think I'm really horrible and I'm never going to do this. It's rather that you use those little tests or big tests as they may be, huge tests as they may be, to see where you need work and you just keep working with it. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:45 Highlight the passage at 1:19:45

1:20:05 So Rinpoche also gave some advice specifically for the students in the Discovering Buddhism. Program on how to start each day and end each day. And so we'll talk about that. Because basically what you're trying to do is to, when we do these motivations and dedications, it's like training wheels. It's like getting your mind in the right place and then like gradually learning how to keep it there throughout the day. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:05 Highlight the passage at 1:20:05

1:20:38 At first you're kind of wobbly and you fall off all the time and you have to kind of keep getting back onto the bike. Gradually your mind is there more and more and more. And so he has contemplations for when you, before you even get out of bed, you just open up your eyes. And this is actually, as you get into higher deity retreats, tantric retreats, a lot of... Report an error in the passage at 1:20:38 Highlight the passage at 1:20:38

1:21:01 You're practicing literally. There's no downtime. There's no outside reading. There's no outside anything. From the moment you wake up, you have things that you're supposed to contemplate, and then the moment that you fall asleep, and then if you wake up in the night, you have to recontemplate. So your mind is constantly, what you're trying to do is keep it in this mind all the time. This is like the training wheels for that kind of practice because gradually we're transforming our minds into, Report an error in the passage at 1:21:01 Highlight the passage at 1:21:01

1:21:31 Buddha minds, fully awakened minds that are vast and capable of helping beings in a myriad of ways. And so it takes a while to get there. We have to build to it. We have to do the baby steps. And these are the baby steps. But we will also talk about the prostrations to the 35 Buddhas. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:31 Highlight the passage at 1:21:31

1:21:57 But mark that down for those that are interested in that particular practice that you'll get a lot of detail on that Sunday morning. October 29th, I'm pretty sure, is the day that she's going to teach that. We should have it on the calendar coming up in the next two weeks. No, that's a Sunday. I'll teach it as part of this class, but she'll probably give it much more detail because she'll have the whole two hours to just do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:57 Highlight the passage at 1:21:57

1:22:27 We'll talk about how to do Vajrasattva practice, which is a purification practice that we began talking about in the karma class last time, which is a really good practice to do at the end of the day to purify all the harmful actions that we all do, stupid actions that we all do every day, not just hitting somebody or stealing something or killing something. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:27 Highlight the passage at 1:22:27

1:22:53 But, you know, saying, I mean, the ones of speech are just so plentiful. And the ones of mind, as you get more and more subtle in your practice, you realize that you're watching your mind all the time, too. So you just see how often you get irritated at the printer or irritated at the people on line 27 or whatever, and you want to bring that up and you want to purify it so you can go to bed with this happy, clear mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:53 Highlight the passage at 1:22:53

1:23:20 And we'll talk about kind of what goes into... A regular morning practice and evening practice and how to keep it from getting too unwieldy so that you get the essence of the practice without losing anything. You might just reduce all the words if it's a written practice and just move into the essence. I think I mentioned in the last class that I remember talking to... Report an error in the passage at 1:23:20 Highlight the passage at 1:23:20

1:23:51 Venerable Roger once and he said, I don't remember if it was him or somebody told me that he said this actually so I should say it that way. Venerable Roger has been Lama Zopa Rinpoche's attendant for close to 15 years I think now and he's an amazing being in his own right. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:51 Highlight the passage at 1:23:51

1:24:12 But he never has time to do those formal practices that many of us get as you start taking commentaries. If you take commentaries you get Often get the text as a daily practice to recite every day, much less empowerment. And so he said basically he has the gist of the visualization and the gist of the practice in his mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:12 Highlight the passage at 1:24:12

1:24:37 He doesn't read the words anymore. And he said ultimately that's where you want to get with your practice. So you're not necessarily reading 17 pages. You're evoking what that is. What visualization is or what the meaning of that practice is and you're getting to the heart of it. Ben, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:37 Highlight the passage at 1:24:37

1:25:14 out how to do is get a gist and then have an heart intention. Just let it there. So I'm not even thinking necessarily, than setting the intention, intention, with whatever that that I can sort of boil it down to. Right. Just leaving it there. Right, yeah. The only thing that I would caution is, I mean, if it's something that's a commitment, is just that you make sure that you are covering all of it, you know, because there are certain things like with certain texts that are part of your commitments, and so you kind of have to make sure with certain things like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:14 Highlight the passage at 1:25:14

1:25:58 Yeah, yeah, so if it's not like that, then yeah. However, you should remember that commitments and vows are all really fast paths to enlightenment. I know a lot of people do avoid commitments, and actually I want to be the first to say that there are really positive reasons to take them on. I personally, if I hadn't had commitments, I never would have gone into retreat. Some of my commitments were retreat commitments. I took one empowerment, and it was only a retreat commitment. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:58 Highlight the passage at 1:25:58

1:26:28 Actually, I think a couple. Fulfilled them. But I never would have done those retreats. And I certainly wouldn't have once I got in there. I knew what it was like. So actually there's a huge power in the daily practice to have to do them because you have committed for the rest of your life to do this practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:28 Highlight the passage at 1:26:28

1:26:47 You stop being freaked out about it. You just think, okay, of course it's going to happen. I don't care how tired I am. It's going to happen. And there's a freedom in that because you're no longer. Your self-cherishing mind begins to have less and less power over either I do this or maybe I'll go do that. Because you can't do that. You have to do this. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:47 Highlight the passage at 1:26:47

1:27:08 So there's actually, I don't know that I would have developed a daily practice. I certainly wouldn't have made as much time for retreat in the early days of my Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:08 Highlight the passage at 1:27:08

1:27:19 If I hadn't taken on those commitments. So actually I can kind of see the value of them. I kind of see. I don't. That's not that I'm saying that everybody should run out and take on hours of commitments really quickly in their Buddhist career. But there is some logic to it that I think we would never think of in the West that I have personally found to be incredibly beneficial. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:19 Highlight the passage at 1:27:19

1:27:41 Peter. Yeah, wait. Talking stick. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:41 Highlight the passage at 1:27:41

1:27:49 Anyway. Oh, no, you don't. You love it. I was just going to say for the people who are new to the class, if you could talk a little bit. We say Geshe-la a lot and people don't even know what that means and who that is. Probably. What that refers to. Thank you. I think actually the only one would be your friend. So you can tell her all about. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:49 Highlight the passage at 1:27:49

1:28:09 No, I'm kidding. No, Geshe-la is an amazing. We actually have this amazing resource at the center who lives upstairs from this room. He's probably listening to us now, chuckling. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:09 Highlight the passage at 1:28:09

1:28:25 Geshe Nawang Dakpa, who became a Geshe actually late in life because he was forced to leave Tibet in 1959 at the same time as a lot of the scholars of his generation. On his way back down to... chuckling. Um, um, um, Report an error in the passage at 1:28:25 Highlight the passage at 1:28:25

1:28:46 Saro, which was then reformed in South India, Saraje Monastery, he stopped off in Sikkim for 20 years at the invitation of the queen and taught there. And then he got his master's degree at Sanskrit University in India. And then he went down and got his Geshe degree, which is like a sort of, they say it's sort of the equivalent of a doctorate. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:46 Highlight the passage at 1:28:46

1:29:09 It's like... It's way more than that. I always think, like, wait a second, how many people who have doctorates have spent 20 to 25 years studying their material? I just don't think it's equivalent. But anyway, so that wasn't until I think he got it in 85, which is really unusual because he's, of course, right now he's like 74, I think. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:09 Highlight the passage at 1:29:09

1:29:37 And so that was like, what, 20 years ago. So that's quite old. Usually people get their Geshe degrees in their 20s, 30s, sometimes 40s, depending on situation. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:37 Highlight the passage at 1:29:37

1:29:50 But the amazing thing is he's been our resident teacher here. Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested that he come. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is our spiritual director, the spiritual director of this center and all of his centers and projects worldwide, which... It's all contained under the umbrella of an organization called the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahāyāna Tradition, which is a mouthful. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:50 Highlight the passage at 1:29:50

1:30:15 We usually just say FPMT. Or people mess it up and say F-T-M-P. And that's about 135 centers and projects, schools, clinics, hospices. You know, um Report an error in the passage at 1:30:15 Highlight the passage at 1:30:15

1:30:34 Prison projects worldwide. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:34 Highlight the passage at 1:30:34

1:30:40 I think most of them are in America and Australia, actually, the two sort of biggest Dharma areas, but we have them in Europe, in Asia, really strong in Asia, especially Singapore, Taiwan. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:40 Highlight the passage at 1:30:40

1:30:57 Even a study group in Russia and in Africa now. So branching out. So that's Lama Zopa Rinpoche and he invites, he's sort of the whole vision. He and Lama Yeshe, who passed away in 1983, I think. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:57 Highlight the passage at 1:30:57

1:31:23 They had the vision for this of bringing the Dharma to the West. At that time, at the time that they began teaching, which was in the late 60s to all the sort of hippies that were coming to Nepal and India, none of the Tibetans wanted to talk to Westerners. We were just too weird for them. And Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche leapt on it. They were totally excited that... Report an error in the passage at 1:31:23 Highlight the passage at 1:31:23

1:31:47 Americans and Australians and all these long-haired, you know, crazy hippies were coming and they just really ate it up and they began teaching Westerners and then they got a little bit more formal about it and set up their own monastery called Kopan Monastery outside of Kathmandu in the space of an old astrologer of the king. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:47 Highlight the passage at 1:31:47

1:32:14 So it's really high on a hill and it's still there and they still do courses throughout the year and one main course every year that's called the November course which is a lamrim teaching kind of fun filled jam packed month of teachings, meditation, practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:14 Highlight the passage at 1:32:14

1:32:37 And so on. That happens every year in November. And out of that course, people get excited. They go back to their country and they want to start a center. And that's how all of the centers have started. Or they want to start a hospice. Or they want to start a school. Or Rinpoche has the idea that a school should be in Bogaya or whatever and somebody comes to run it. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:37 Highlight the passage at 1:32:37

1:32:56 Or has the idea that we should have a hospice here and then put somebody there. We should re... Introduce the Dharma to Mongolia and so sets up a center there, puts a monk there to start teaching the women in prison in Mongolia. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:56 Highlight the passage at 1:32:56

1:33:16 Ideas that I can't even imagine having, much less implementing and actually getting the people to go do them. So that's the kind of mind that Rinpoche has. and so he asked Report an error in the passage at 1:33:16 Highlight the passage at 1:33:16

1:33:28 Geshe-la to come and teach us and Geshe-la came in 99 and has been here ever since and we pray that he's here until saṃsāra ends. We just keep requesting that he stays. So this is a very amazing center in that if you have questions about your practice you can actually go and have an interview with him even if you think I don't have a practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:28 Highlight the passage at 1:33:28

1:33:52 If you reach a point where you've say gone to a couple of classes and you want to have a practice Be careful. Lewis and Peter have both done it. Ricardo, have you done it? Have you gotten a practice? No, not yet. You've just gone and talked to him. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:52 Highlight the passage at 1:33:52

1:34:09 But it also transforms your life, right, once you start doing those practices. It's like we have such fear about commitment, and in reality that's really what transforms your life is the commitment. It's funny. It's funny the way our minds work. Yeah, so this is an amazing center in that. yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:09 Highlight the passage at 1:34:09

1:34:27 None of the other centers, well now Kenshi Rinpoche is at LMB and may stay there for a few years, but most of the other centers in America, definitely in California, don't have that, where you can actually go and talk to him and get personal instruction on your practice. And he's an amazing scholar and practitioner, very, very stable mind, very funny, kind. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:27 Highlight the passage at 1:34:27

1:34:55 Some people are scared because he kind of looks gruff and then you realize he's got this little twinkle in his eye and you're really okay. So that's Geshe-la. That was a long version of who Geshe-la was. Who Geshe-la is and who Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Because at the end of the Tuesday class, three people came up to me who were new and said, when you say these people's names, I can't understand them. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:55 Highlight the passage at 1:34:55

1:35:20 And I remember actually people saying, That when I first started the Dharma, they'd be like, Lama Tsongkhapa Rinpoche. And you'd be like, you know, and try to write it down, you know. Riva Rinpoche, you know, yeah, yeah. And it's almost like you try to say it faster and faster, you know. So thank you, Peter. Actually, that's really good because I don't want people to be afraid of hearing the name Lama Tsongkhapa Rinpoche just because I say it too fast. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:20 Highlight the passage at 1:35:20

1:35:47 Rinpoche, well, God, we could get into that kind of stuff. It's already 9 o 'clock, we have to stop. But a Rinpoche is basically, in Tibetan it means precious one, and it usually means somebody who has reached a level of attainment in their practice to choose to come back and help the rest of us. So basically it has that connotation. It's also sometimes awarded to somebody based on title, like if somebody becomes the abbot of a monastery. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:47 Highlight the passage at 1:35:47

1:36:20 The word Rinpoche often gets added to their name, so it gets a little confusing that way. Like Geshe Jampa Tekchok, who is now Kenshi Rinpoche, down at LMB, and Lama Lundrup, I think, is also now at Kopan, is actually a Rinpoche now, considered Rinpoche. And the reasoning is because they became abbots, so it gets a little tricky. Geshe is a degree, and Rinpoche is usually a level of attainment. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:20 Highlight the passage at 1:36:20

1:36:50 It refers to a level of attainment. Anyway, I've run out of time. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:50 Highlight the passage at 1:36:50

1:37:05 I did just want to make one last point, and that is we will talk a little bit about this concept of having a precious human rebirth in this class. We were sort of introduced to it in some of the other classes, and we'll spend a little bit more time in it. so I think Report an error in the passage at 1:37:05 Highlight the passage at 1:37:05

1:37:21 This doesn't refer to just having a human body. It has to do with actually having a number of really good conditions to meet the Dharma, practice the Dharma, have a spiritual life, basically. So not all humans have precious human rebirths. But if you have a precious human rebirth, which I would say that most of us in this room do, Report an error in the passage at 1:37:21 Highlight the passage at 1:37:21

1:37:48 Without, of course, knowing who you are, you all could be Buddhas and you could be just doing this to help me get enlightened. And I really thank you if that's true. But assuming that you're ordinary beings. Thanks, Ben. My karma wife and you came back. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:48 Highlight the passage at 1:37:48

1:38:05 But not if I assume that you all are ordinary beings as you seem to be, but with those with precious human rebirths. It's important to know that we actually wanted to have another precious human rebirth, and it's not assumed that we would ever get one. There's the concept in Buddhism that once our body dies, once we don't have the karma to be in this body anymore, that our mind goes into another rebirth, and that there are many factors that determine that rebirth, most of them having to do with... Report an error in the passage at 1:38:05 Highlight the passage at 1:38:05

1:38:44 Our karma that we create due to our actions of body, speech and mind and the state of our mind, how deluded our mind is, how many mental afflictions we have in our mind and how many qualities we have in our mind. So the thought is that they say that for us to attain what's known as a precious human rebirth, which is this being a human but with all these opportunities, we actually had to have Several things in place. One of them is that we had to have practiced generosity, they say. We had to have practiced patience. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:44 Highlight the passage at 1:38:44

1:39:24 We had to have been moral, which in Buddhism means not harming. And we had to have made pure prayers, praying for a life like the one that we have now. The point of bringing that up is just that this class is this perfect opportunity to really use this precious human rebirth that we have. It's like the rest of the path, it's like this huge, wonderful opportunity to just wake up to what we already have and to not waste it. Because eventually we will die, and we don't know when. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:24 Highlight the passage at 1:39:24

1:40:03 And so how are we going to make it meaningful when we have a chance? So that's it. That's what I'm going to say. I was going to do a short meditation on Shakyamuni Buddha, but I don't think we have time. But that will be your homework assignment. And I'll have your binders and your syllabuses, syllabi for you next week. And you can start reading. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:03 Highlight the passage at 1:40:03

1:40:26 The reading for this class is really great. There's a lot of really good readings in the binder. So that will be ready for you next time. Okay. Does anybody have any last questions before we just end, dedicate? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:26 Highlight the passage at 1:40:26

1:40:40 You have a quizzical look in your eye. It's probably the enlightened mind, yeah, manifesting. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:40 Highlight the passage at 1:40:40

1:40:54 Anybody else? No? Yes, you do. Yeah. Yeah. I hope I made enough copies, so let's see. Do you want to, Gustave, you want to hand it out? Actually, real quick. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:54 Highlight the passage at 1:40:54

1:41:11 And do Jokar last, just in case, because she at least works in the building and I can give her one tomorrow. Actually, I won't be here tomorrow, but I can give you one. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:11 Highlight the passage at 1:41:11

1:41:22 Peter and Lush, can you guys share one? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:22 Highlight the passage at 1:41:22

1:41:31 Is there a... Yeah, there's a discount if you take two classes. You get $10 off. So, yeah. Oh, you didn't have registration form? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:31 Highlight the passage at 1:41:31

1:41:50 We're breaking in single. She's learning this job. So, yeah, yeah, you can just pay. Yeah, if people are registering for the class and they didn't get a registration form, which apparently didn't exist, then you can do it next week. Or you can call the office and do it by credit card. You can do it that way, too, if you'd rather. So singles new at this particular task, so it's going to take a little, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:50 Highlight the passage at 1:41:50

1:42:18 All right, so let's just take a moment to bring our mind to neutral. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:18 Highlight the passage at 1:42:18

1:42:36 Actually, let's just take a moment to really rejoice. In the coming together of this class, Report an error in the passage at 1:42:36 Highlight the passage at 1:42:36

1:42:47 the opportunity to be with each other in this class, which is actually due to our karma. It's an amazingly good karma. And Report an error in the passage at 1:42:47 Highlight the passage at 1:42:47

1:43:09 to learn how to put into practice these teachings, these amazingly precious teachings of the Buddha that not everyone on the planet has this opportunity. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:09 Highlight the passage at 1:43:09

1:43:22 Not everyone in this city has this opportunity. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:22 Highlight the passage at 1:43:22

1:43:31 But when we see beings like His Holiness the Dalai Lama or Riva Rinpoche, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Geshe-la, we can see what's possible. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:31 Highlight the passage at 1:43:31

1:43:45 And the only way that they got there is applying these teachings day by day, moment by moment, and probably lifetime by lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:45 Highlight the passage at 1:43:45

1:44:00 His Holiness always says that it's good to have both the long view that this may take me several lifetimes. And the short view of, but I can't waste any time. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:00 Highlight the passage at 1:44:00

1:44:18 So let's dedicate this class to each one of us being able to personally integrate the teachings of the Buddha more and more into our lives so that we can actually transform these minds of ours into Report an error in the passage at 1:44:18 Highlight the passage at 1:44:18

1:44:42 soft, open, loving, compassionate. Patient, giving, beneficial minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:42 Highlight the passage at 1:44:42

1:45:07 Dedicate. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:07 Highlight the passage at 1:45:07

1:45:11 So the green prayer book. There's a dedication prayer section, which is two sections from the back. We'll do it on page five. The first two we'll do in English. Next week we'll do it in English and in Tibetan. Tonight we'll just do it in English. And then on the top of page 15 there's one for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We'll do that one too. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:11 Highlight the passage at 1:45:11

1:45:44 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. May the supreme jewel bodhicitta that is not arisen arise and grow and may that which has arisen not diminish. But increase more and more. And then at the top of page 15. In the land encircled by snow mountains, you are the source of all happiness and good. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:44 Highlight the passage at 1:45:44

1:46:17 All-powerful Chenrezig, Tenzin Gyatso, please remain until saṃsāra ends. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:17 Highlight the passage at 1:46:17

1:46:32 I know, rejoicing in our good fortune. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:32 Highlight the passage at 1:46:32

1:46:39 Yeah, to see His Holiness. Thank you. Thank you. Thank Report an error in the passage at 1:46:39 Highlight the passage at 1:46:39