Archive Result

Soundfile : 19860909GRJHNLBoT1

Speaker : Gelek Rinpoche

Location : Netherlands

Topic : Buddha on Time Part 1

Transcriber : Khoo Suan Khim

Date : December 25, 2021

0:00:06.0 Really, I mean, the choice of the subject what they mean of "Buddha on Time". But I hope Buddha is never late [laughter]. So, he should be on time. It is difficult to say, I mean, what you mean by 'Buddha on Time' but the time is very important in the Buddhist system, in particularly for those people interested on spiritual development, the time is very important. Buddhism introduced three time; past, present, future as we all know. So, they emphasise this more important because of the past lifetime, the present lifetime and the future lifetime. Why this is so important? Because the future lifetime was shaped by the present lifetime and the present lifetime was already shaped by previous lifetime. When I say, the present life was already shaped by the previous lifetime, I do not mean a predetermined life. A lot of people do think life is predetermined. In a way, yes. In a way, life is not really predetermined. In that case, you may say, oh, just now you yourself said the present life is being shaped by the previous lifetime and if it is not predetermined then how can that be possible? So that is the question. When you say, "predetermined,” I do not know what you really understand. But in the Western, maybe I can't say in the Western, maybe few of my friends who have talked to me about "predetermined". They think everything, whatever is going to happen in this life has to been pre-planned and so you have no control for whatsoever and if it has to happen, it will happen. That is what people do think and if that is the meaning of predetermined then I will say certainly, "No" because it is, you know, if you let it go as it is, then it will happen whatever is supposed to happen. But if you don't let it go, your life as it is going, so then you can make it turn here and there. Then you may say, what about the Karma. Does the karma work? If it does, how does that happen?

0:03:52.6 I would like to explain this here, “Karma.” There are two different karma. One karma which created this life in which case is really a predetermined and other karma is karma which runs through our life, and these are two different karma. And in one's lifetime, one goes through with results of many hundred different, maybe thousands different karmic results. Generally, life running karma, you can divide into two. First, karma which produces life and second, karma which runs the life. Okay. So, every karmic system, it is the same thing. Though, it is pre-fixed. However, there's always room for adjustment. Always! This must sound quite strange to few of you, particularly who are quite used to it in certain Buddhist karma talks. The reason why I emphasise here is this, there's always room for adjustment because when one karma functions within one individual, there are original cause which comes from a distance and then you have an immediate, sort of, you call it "Immediate cause" or "Immediate aggravator". So, which will aggravate the original karma and then the result started functioning. So though life might have been sort of pre-planned, however the temporary aggravator, you can always have room to adjust that. You get me? There's always room to adjust, either you give the opportunity for the karma to function or you deny the opportunity for that particular karma to function and you give another one and substitute it. All these are possible. So, with this understanding, then every question of doing a puja or a prayer and all different things are answered, you know within that it's adjustable, otherwise if everything is predetermined then there's nothing to be adjusted at all. Nothing can be adjusted because it's pre-planned. So, that's it! So, this is first way of the Buddhist point of view to looking into a time as an important of the past. The present time....oh sorry....[talking to someone]

0:07:35.1 Dutch translation

0:12:10.0 Okay now... second way on Buddhist view, time is very important, in one's life and particularly if you don't remember and do not keep the time properly then without realising you will waste a tremendous amount of time. So that is why time is the most important in one's practice or one's discipline or in one's Dharma activity, particularly people who are interested in Dharma, though we are, I mean including myself is very bad on time. However, it is really, one must be keeping the time; it is very, very important because particularly if you cannot keep the time properly then your practice will be damaged so badly. Really! That is true fact! So, it is indeed important. So, Buddhist tradition, to remind about the time, people always remind you by talking “Impermanence” because the reason why impermanence was very important practice in Buddhist field is because of the time. Because of the time, impermanence was introduced and put, sort of, really emphasised on that. Before I go and talk in that field, I do not know how the audience here, am quite sure everybody is quite familiar with the Buddhist point of spiritual field. However, am not very sure, so I may have to give you a little bit of background about what really Buddhism is. And when people talk about Buddhism, talk about Mahayana, talk about Theravada, they talk about Vajrayana. In the West, sometimes, some people have a very strange feeling, some do have some understanding. For the one thing I would like to emphasise here, Buddhism is a very interesting religion. I do not know whether I can say it is a religion or not. Lots of Western professors choose to say, Buddhism is a way of life rather than a religion. I intend to agree on this, with the permission from my Buddhist friends. So really, Buddhism, to me, is not a religion, in the sense of religion in the Western system which you understand.

0:15:54.4Buddhism is actually a way of life. Buddhism did not come as a sort of strange, out of the blue moon. It is just based on experience of Shakyamuni Buddha himself. It is not a sort of guided religion which say from the beginning you can do this, you can't do that, you can do this and you cannot do that. No, not at all! It was simply the experience of Buddha himself, build it up and then he relayed his own experience. That is really what Buddhism is. Of course, I am not going to tell you where Buddha has gone, how Buddha did it, what he did and I think that everybody knows. There are hundreds and hundreds of different books on that, so you can read it and there's no point for me to waste your time talking about that. However, I want you to remember one thing, Buddhism is totally based on Buddha's own experience. Buddha himself, of course, you all know very well, is a very good prince, of a very wealthy kingdom in India. There are certain people who said Buddha could not manage his life. Therefore, he escaped into the forest, and that is rubbish! Really, that is rubbish! He has a big kingdom and his parents were hoping that he will take over as the next King. However, he had the tendency of escaping the kingship, or lordship, royalship or whatever, so the parents always try to hide all kinds of the problems from the young prince and he doesn't know anything about the problem outside at all. And of course, he is going to be Buddha, so there's a need for him to see it. Even to the extend to keep him with five hundred different ladies, you know, the Buddha, they provided him with five hundred queens, try to keep him all the time with music, dancers and some nice things inside the palace all the time.

0:18:59.8 So, however, he started one day, wanted to take a walk. As he was forbidden to go out of the palace, so but then, he had a friend, the horse-cart driver, so he was able to take Buddha outside. And when Buddha went outside, he first saw the illnesses, the sick people. He had never seen the sick in his lifetime. He doesn't know what is happening. He asked his friend what is happening with this. He then told the little prince that this is called "illness" and people get the pain and this and that. So that is the sicknesses, the illnesses. And that, of course he was very disappointed by seeing that and turned back. Then the next day, he started going different directions. Anyway, he took four directions. Every four direction, he started seeing illnesses, death then aging. Then he went on to ask his friend, "Am I subjected to this? Can I get sick? Can my parents get sick? Can I get aged? Am I subjected to dying?" All these, and he kept on asking. That fella then. of course, said, "Yes, you are". So, he felt miserable living in an artificial sort of life that he was totally locked in. And he felt so miserable and so he finally he left into the forest. And all these now, I will not tell you because you can read all the books. Really! So, then what happened is he developed spiritual interest by disappointment, by seeing the suffering, pain, miseries. If he has not seen the suffering and pain and problems, then there is no way that he is going to be interested in spiritual development. Why?

0:21:29.5 Because spiritual Path, when you seeking it, you are seeking permanent solution to overcome all these problems, miseries, suffering, illnesses, aging, dying and birth. These are the basic for sufferings, for pains. So, Buddha himself has been pushed towards spiritual path by seeing those problems. So, in Buddhism, to introducing the problems becomes very important in the spiritual field. It is very important! I do know quite a number of people who tell me, "I do not like to hear about problems at all because I have enough problems. So, I don't want to hear that anymore.” But I tell you one thing. it does not help by not hearing the problems, number one. Number two, the problem what we consider problems are not really problems. I call it manmade problems because very small superficial problem which covers our deeper problem up, so we could not really get into our deeper problem. There's no way we can search for spiritual path. People here....

0:23:35.8 Dutch translation

0:30:20.8 What I was trying to say here is, everyone of you here is interested in spiritual development or spiritual field, whatever you may call it. And I don't know why you are interested and I don't know whether you know it yourself or not, and probably a little dissatisfaction in life and then thinking there's another way to do and not knowing what you are doing. Try to sit, try to think, try to do all sorts of things [laughter]. So, that may not be really a spiritual field and might not really have been a proper spiritual motivation either. Dissatisfaction in life is bound to be with everything. Everything, no matter whatever it may be, it is because it is nature. We are in samsâra, in Sanskrit we call it “sam sam”, they call it “Circle of Existence.” So, our life is very much within the circle of existence. So, the circle of existence itself is by the original source of ignorance that have started. Therefore, it is the result of whatever you go through, there is bound to be a dissatisfaction, there is bound to be problem, bound to be misery, bound to be suffering. And facing such a little bit of thing then turning towards some other direction, not knowing what you are doing is very difficult to call a spiritual path. You understand what I mean?

0:32:42.9 I came across certain practice, certain people try to teach you how to walk on fire. By spending one week of the course and teach you how to walk on fire and by the seventh evening and the big fire was laid on the roadside and one by one you walk over it. With or without getting bruises on the leg, most probably, many of them don't but very little. Why? Because for seven days you build a concentration power. By building a certain concentration power, you may walk on the fire. But you visualise and think that it is not fire, it's ice cold, sort of, it’s really a piece of ice laid on it, and you will be able to walk over it without getting much bruises. However, I fail to understand that there is any spiritual benefit because you get nothing. You work for seven days and you pay hundreds of dollars for it and at the end of it, you can walk over the fire, that's all! [laughter] It's finished! This is not spiritual, so not knowing anything what you are doing? There are people, if there are some of you who are like that, excuse me ...not knowing anything what you are doing, just try to sit down and do all sorts of postures, whatever that's best way, you can feel comfortable and think nothing and sit and sit and sit. And that is not spiritual! Is this spiritual? I don't think so. If it is spiritual, then spiritual be too cheap.

0:35:04.5 So, many people, many of us, don't know what we are doing but we do something because somebody else is doing something, so we do it. Or we read certain books like that and copy it out and then feel it and experience it. And some people say " I felt it.” What do you feel? Nothing! Maybe [laugh] shivering in the body? If get a little bit cold, you get shivers, too. Or sweat if get little hot! That is not spiritual, to me and to the Buddha, also. It is not spiritual at all. So then, the question really arises, what is it? Everyone of us, I'm quite sure, are interested or maybe some of you, few of us may feel we are somebody in spiritual field. But question really arises, what really is spiritual field? Some people on the other hand get contact with spirits and they call that spiritual. I'm not sure if it is really spiritual or not, I can't 100 percent say it is. Okay. Then question really arises, what is spiritual? Has spiritual any aims, any goals? If I say, yes, there is goal and you say, of course, emptiness is the main thing, goal-less is the major thing and how that is possible, right? [laughter] But if I say, it is goal- less and you probably say goal-less is goal and emptiness is ...this sort of thing. It is the ultimate and all this.

0:37:31.8 However, the spiritual cannot be without goal. Okay. Without goal, even if there is no goal, there is goal-less goal here. Spiritual must have certain aims. What you going to aim for. So, without any aim, if you do, it is like shooting arrows in the forest. It may land on a tree or land on something else. So, you cannot be like that, spiritual field must have some aim. The aim can be higher, lower, medium, can be anything but without aim, then nothing. You know, I'm sure, some of you people have experienced or will experience, sit and sit and sit and put in effort, effort and get nothing. So, you have no aim, no goal at all, so where you going to get it. That's it! If you sit just goal-less, no purpose for whatsoever, because you do not know where you going to channel your energy, just because your friends are going there, you go, just because your friends are sitting there, you sit, that means nothing, what do you get out of it, that is really time that you wasted, thinking you are doing something but you are not doing anything. Shouldn't do that!

0:39:35.0 So, if you are in spiritual field, first you have to have reason why the spiritual field is important. Of course, this reason is not so difficult in the West because the material development you have totally, you have tremendous amount of material development. I'm from Tibet, a backward country, we still ride on horses, bullock carts and all these. So, material development you have, but still you find dissatisfaction, more dissatisfaction, more trouble. Wherever there is more material benefit, wherever there are more busy life, there are more of people committing suicide, or people with stress, all the psychiatrists are busy[laughter]. All these more and more available in the West. There is the reason why material is not the answer for a life. It is not so difficult for you people to find reason why spiritual is important. Maybe it is difficult for us, not you people. However, for you people, what is more difficult is what really is spiritual and what do we gain out of it. Where do I want to reach, what state, what level, is it feasible or not feasible? All these questions, first, you have to get answer to yourself, I feel. If you don't have those answers, just going and sitting and doing all sorts of funny things [laughter] and calling it spiritual and keep on waiting, nothing happens! No rapcha 0:41:57.2 will come. You understand what I mean? I hope so [ laughter]. Therefore, if you don't know rapcha 0:42:11.9, it is a Latin word, where someone comes and pick everybody up one day. You can't, that will be really wasting a lot of time.

0:42:32.5 So, what do you have to do if you are interested in the spiritual field? First, you find out what is really spiritual. As I told you, one of those things, walking on fire, one day someone will teach you how to walk on water, too, that's feasible, too. I'm sure. Yes, yes, yes, don't laugh, it's feasible. That's a waste of time. Instead of concentrating one week, you may have to concentrate three months or so. It's wasting time, it's not spiritual. Then the question really arises, what is it? Something you have to get benefit out of it, okay? Temporary relief and temporary relaxation, a little tranquillity isn't much enough benefit out of spiritual. No! You can take different drugs, you can also get temporary tranquillity. That also you know better than I do [ laughter]. So that is not actually spiritual benefit. Then it has to be better than that, means it has to be lasting, should not be short period, should not have fallback, it should have some guarantee, this is what you really have to look at. Guarantee of what? Guarantee of not to have to go through a suffering again, guarantee of not having a fallback again, and that is indeed spiritual. Such a type of quality you have to look. When you look at such a quality, then you begin to see what really is suffering, what is the real problem, what do you want to avoid and where and how. These questions should first come out. Even a child knows how to do, right? But we do all these funny things! So, Buddha recommended the least or lowest quality of a spiritual person will be looking for a better future life. Not this life, this life is within our reach. You know what I mean. Meaning we can plan it, we can do it. Even the animals and insects, they know how to 0:46:17.2....[recording cut] unless you have manmade problems. Manmade problems, man can solve it. Why you bother for that, really. Why not? [laughter]you made it, you can solve it, unless it is a very complicated one.

0:46:57.7 Dutch translation

0:55:49.5 So what I was talking about material benefit within the lifetime is nothing difficult, even the animals, insects, everybody can manage that. For collection, accumulation of wealth, sometimes the rats can do better than human beings. If you look at the amount of effort rats put in to accumulate things, the human beings cannot do that. Nothing to be surprised, right? What we really need, is we need the something the day when we have to face the thing call "Death." That is where the spiritual really comes into picture. That's what we really need because no matter whatever you have accumulated cannot help. The day the death comes, no matter how much money you may have, you can do nothing with that, you have to leave it all, totally in somebody else's hands. No matter how big, how beautiful, the number of houses you may have, when the time comes, you cannot stay even in a single room in there, other people will occupy. In short, if you have enough accumulated wealth, enough for hundreds of years, even then you can't take a single penny with you. If you have clothes enough for a hundred years, you will have to go naked that day. Not only naked, the body which we consider so important, so precious, we tell each other to look after yourself, means look after your body, so precious, bond together, mind you, even then that one also has to leave and go.

0:59:00.0 Therefore, for when you really need is, no wealth can help, no power can help, no health can help, all of them, cannot help. So that is where you need spiritual. Because that is the time, you are going unknown road, you don't know where you are going. Really, you are like blowing a little feather in the midstream of a storm, you don't know where you are going to be landed. May be landed in ocean, mountain or where you are going to be landed. You just going! I don't think when you die, you landed there. Please, for God's sake, [laughter]you don't aim there at all. Our consciousness will continue. If I say, twenty years ago, there is a past, present and future life, probably the scientist will tell me, "Shut up! Rubbish!" Today no educated scientist can say it is wrong. Because there is too much evidence. No one can deny and that is true, and Buddha had introduced this 2500 years ago; past, present and future and he has been talking and it has been functioning. And now we are almost clear, seeing it black and white now. Almost! Will take. Even the scientific explanation will definitely come one day, so it doesn't end there. So, there's where you need spiritual and that's really the time we need because wealth cannot help, health cannot help, friends and the number of people with you will not be able to help, even our body we have to leave and go and that is the time that we really need. What do we actually carry at that time? Nothing else except the imprints of virtues and non-virtues, all good and bad karma or positive and negative forces. That's it, and that is our guidance. That will guide you through a tremendous amount of [inaudible]1:02:29.9... actually existed, and no idea where you are going. And so, this if you wanted spiritual and that will at least to gain a control over that, to gain a guarantee on that and that will be the lowest quality of our spiritual aim. The lowest quality! And that will be the lowest aim, one should aim for that and then put energy towards that direction and you will be working for some spiritual field and you will get some benefit. You getting me? And that is the lowest. And if do not have any aim and sit there and do nothing like I told you earlier, it’s going, flying in the air and you are not on the ground at all. So, you have to put your first foot on the ground, sit down and think where is your aim and all these you have to create and that is the lowest quality.

1:03:55.4 For that what you have to do? How can I achieve this? How I achieve that? Very simple again. Buddha had said, [ in Tibetan] 1:04:10.9 [talking to someone]…avoid non-virtuous actions, accumulate virtuous actions as much as you can, watch and control your mind. And this is Buddhism and what Buddha said. Why? Mind is the most tricky thing, the mind does all the mischief. Just now, well, we are sitting here discussing about Spiritual but some people’s mind may not be spiritual at all; could be anywhere at all. Could be thinking non spiritual matters [laughter]. Therefore, controlling or holding mind is very important because most of our positive and negative forces are also by mind. Many of our actions, body and speech whether it become positive or negative it depends on mind. So very important to train your mind. Guide it to a proper line and function to make it pure, sincere and clean. It is the very, very important thing.

1:06:45.2 So how to do that again? Very simple again, Buddhism has recommended renunciation. To renounce. And that word is shocking to few people, thinking that this fella here is trying to sell monk hood or nun hood or something [laughter]. But renunciation is the very important point. What do you have to renounce? Lots of people do think that you have to go away from the life into the forest or the Himalayan Mountain or right in the middle of India or somewhere [laugh], that's what people do think. And I’m sure that’s wrong! You cannot renounce your life, please remember this! You have to need life, live it and live properly, okay. Under the pretext of renunciation, if you run away to forest that doesn’t help, nothing can help, particularly with good excuse when you can’t pay your bills [ laughter], but when you come back one day, the bill collector will come again and you still have to pay. Neither you have to be a monk or nun at all. There are ways and means on how to live within the family and live a reasonable, respectable family life and yet you are renounced. And that you have to learn. Buddhism have very simply introduced eight worldly Dharma. These are the major points where you have to renounce. You renounce then accumulate merits, accumulate virtuous actions. If you can do these two together, you will be achieving the lowest quality of the spiritual.

1:10:06.4 Now the question will be how, when, where. How? You have to learn it. There are very simple ways and means available. Without learning you can do nothing. Nothing! Then only you begin to think on that. Even Buddha had said, don’t take it because I said so. Check it yourself and if it makes sense to you, take it, otherwise not. So, we have to first get information, you have to learn it. The moment I say learning, some people may say, "Wow, where do I learn? Just forget about it. I don't have time." Learning doesn’t really require much time, no matter even if you are 90 years old, still possible that you can learn and achieve it. There are short ways. Learning is endless in Buddhist field. Intelligent people, intellectual people, they can become great intellectual and build up tremendously. But if you are not intellectual, even then the shortest way is, compact, shortest practice way on how to do it, how to think, how to behave, and how to do these things are there. But without learning, you can do nothing. First you have to learn it, particularly spiritual field. Learning is very important, otherwise you can waste your time. Some of the wrong teachings can even lead you into a lot of problems.

1:12:32.5 After learning, you need thinking. After thinking you need concentration. With this you get development. The development is within you have to come out and cannot search for spiritual development outside you, not in the forest. If you sit too long in the forest, you become jungleman [laughter]. Great Phabongkha had said, the Liberation can be obtained within the family structure, right in the middle of family life in town, like Marpa or many other great people who have achieved total enlightenment with family structure and within a busy city; sitting there functioning everyday your life and yet you can have a spiritual development. Going to the mountain, nothing will arise. The moles will remain under the ground in the mountain for six months in a year but after they come out, they are the same old moles again. Nothing different! That’s what Phabongkha said, and that’s true. So, we have to learn the spiritual way on how to develop, how to overcome our anger, how to overcome our hatred, how to overcome our lust, how to overcome our ignorance, living right in the middle of Utrecht [laughter]. Without going to the Himalayan Mountain or the German border forest [laughter]. Whatever learning you get, you have to think and then practice. That's what you really have to do. Spiritual field, I must say, there is no instant enlightenment, there is no instant development. If you get instant thing, it may not necessarily be good. As you always know, the instant coffee is not as good as ... [laughter]. That’s it! So, instants are not good. There is no instant for spiritual, for spiritual, you have to put in little effort. Okay.

1:15:36.9 Dutch translation

1:25:25.1 Any question, if you have, I'll be happy to answer.

Audience: [inaudible]

Rimpoche: 1:25:49.2 What I have just mentioned about achieving, sort of guaranteed future life is the lowest level because thereafter what will happen is that things can again suddenly repeat as it's been repeated and happen here, now. So, it's repeated again, there is again no certainty of what will happen thereafter. So, one step better than that will be not only guarantee our future life better but all future lives are permanently to be good. For that Buddha has introduced this Buddha's Nirvana and Samsâra, different [inaudible] 1:26:58.4. Nirvana, all advantages, Samsâra [inaudible]1:27:03.9, it's one step beyond the circle of existence, so, then getting oneself out of the circle of existence. Because as long as you are in the circle, though you have again one lifetime, sort of guaranteed better life. However, what will happen thereafter is not sure, therefore it's better to be free from the total circle. So, introducing Nirvana and then getting to this direction, getting out of the circle is the second category of achievement. And that is not all. The highest achievement is total enlightenment. Total enlightenment in Buddhist field is total buddhahood. As I said earlier, Buddha himself can develop and go to the highest feasible level wherever people can achieve in spiritual field. So, following the footsteps and achieving buddhahood, in other words becoming Buddha is the total enlightenment in Buddhist terminology. Enlightenment means totally know everything and solve all the problems including imprints of delusion and imprints of [inaudible] 1:28:53.3 are totally solved, and know everything, that is called buddhahood.

1:29:10.0 Now the question is whether it's feasible or not feasible, can anybody achieve that. Yes, it's feasible and people can achieve and a lot of people did achieve. So why not. Firstly, Buddha himself achieved and secondly there are so many of them have achieved. Then another question may arise. Can I achieve? Sure. Why not. Definitely, you can achieve. Can I achieve within my lifetime, that's even more important question. Yes, also. It's possible for which Buddha has introduced Vajrayana and Tantric studies. Without tantric practice, it's impossible. With tantric practice, it's feasible and within that life whatever we have, 10, 15, 20 or whatever left over. The record period of people who have been able to achieve is three years and three months. That is why some of you may have seen those Tibetan buddhist followers, especially those going for three-year retreat, that means I'm going to achieve buddhahood within 3 years 3 months! But I'm not sure if they achieve that well or not. But I don't think you need a retreat for that, I don't think you need a solitary at all. Again, you can sit right in the middle of the city and achieve it. The methods are there. Possible. Yes, I hope that answers.

1:31:26.7 Dutch translation