Archive Result

Soundfile 19900904GRtalkB

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location

Topic

Transcriber Roger Johnson

Date August 24, 2023

And, um, today, actually the last time for this group was giving teaching by Kabje Locho Rinpoche at the friends meeting house I think. So, then after that we had the seven day retreat up in, is it north what is it? Up in northwest. And, uh, and the retreat was very good. Had been very successful, had close to about 87, well 90, close to 90 people attending that retreat, and uh, and it is on and off and so some people came in and some people left earlier all together it is about – (to audience member: Is that your truck? What happened? Audience member: I rolled back about eight feet in the driveway. Rimpoche: Oh)

And, uh, since we came this incident so I might well as announce here today, we normally make request not to park on the Cherry street because we always have a problem with, uh, don’t want to have any problems with neighbors. So you should park on Spring Street, that is good. Spring and Fountain there are two lots and there is a lot of parking, so I would appreciate it.

The retreat was quite good, and a number of you attended up there. So just wanted to mention to you casually. And now today we are meeting here. So, this Tuesday group here as you all know it is open at this moment it is open so people come in every time whenever they want they can come in and they go. It is open, I think it remains open for a little while and after some time we will close this group. That’s what we did earlier too. Those who are already in the earlier Tuesday group who have been closed ah come back in on Friday. I wanted to remind you it is this Friday. This Friday I think it is 6:30, 6:30 to 10:00, the study is going to be on 6:30 to 10:00, 6:30 in the evening to 10:00 in the evening this Friday and uh once a month like a full day retreat we will have a full day teaching. So, it begins this Friday, so this is only for those who have been for the last time it was open and have been waiting. So this is sort of made this available for those people.

0:03:49.7

That is Friday, this coming Friday, 6:30 to 10:00 in the evening. And, um, the people who are already in the Lam Rim studies before they need not come back unless they want to. They need not come back unless they want to. If you want to there is no objection, but I encourage to the study group they should really come in and do and make sure those one day a month be able to spend. I think the next, day after they try to be Sunday, right? October 7th? So the next, starting with this Friday 5:30 to 7:00 then the next will be October 7 the whole day from morning to evening. That is the plan.

So, now, tonight, what we have to discuss here is um the reasons why we are here and why are we meeting? So I would like to raise this question to ourself and saying that to each one of us I want you to raise yourself the question: Why you are here? That is important. Why you are here? There must be various reasons. Some of you are here just wanted to find out what is going on. Some of you might have come here just to pray. And some of you might have come here to improve yourself. So, whatever the reason is you have to ask yourself: Why you are here?

If you find reasons you are here because my friend told me it is very interesting and nice to go there. Then, it is not a very valid reason at all. We are not having any sort of public entertainment. I should say “public entertainment.” We are not having a group entertainment here. It is not an entertainment. But if you are here to improve yourself, spiritually, through dharma or (inaudible at 0:07:01.0 “darum”) uh then have been at the right place.

0:07:09.6

But then the question is, to improve yourself spiritually, what does that mean? We all like to say, “I like to improve spiritually.” So then people will give you various ideas, some people will say I like to uplift myself, some will say I like to be close to the highest soul or something. Some will say I want to be at the right side of the god. Yeah, various reasons. Some would like to say I like to explore what is this Tibetan Buddhism is about it?

So, whatever the reason might be, if you want to improve yourself and then what we try to discuss this here, we try to talk, we try to introduce some points and things like that. So, perhaps you might have come to the right place.

So, now to improve yourself, so first we have to find out improve on what? What do we improve? To make the person whosoever it might be, but the person called “me” with the name as a label, and you need to improve that person. To improve that person we have to see, improve from what? If we have some, if we find something we are not doing right, if we find something we are doing wrong, so we have to correct from there and making itself better. So, that is what I call improving the person. So, correcting yourself, correcting one individual, so that is also a very loose word. You can correct from anything. All the educational institutions will teach you how to improve oneself and all this sort of thing. But we don’t do that. What we are trying to do is to improve our way of thinking, way of living and um all this. That is what it is.

0:10:35.6

When we talk about dharma, or “darum” one way when you look at it you go at some temple and fold the hand and pray there, that is one way of doing it. That is praying. But as an intelligent group, as intelligent people we can do, in addition to that, we can do something personally to improve our self. And that is what we discuss here. And I’m quite sure all of you are quite familiar with this word called “karma.” “Karma.” It sounds very romantic word. Very interesting. It is Sanskrit word. But, I think it is the sort of governing of our life. How we have a life.

If I remember correctly, last couple of talks that I have given to this group is particularly dealing with our relieving pains and misery and problem and to improve and develop our joyfulness and peacefulness and that is what really we talk about it. But I will talk, but we did not talk about it, but that is what we wanted. There will be nobody who does not want relief of pain. There will be nobody who is not seeking joyful state. Or rather, happiness. Very simple, straightforward language. There will be nobody who is not seeking happiness. All the human beings, all the insects, animals all the beings everywhere, birds in the air, fish in the water, and everywhere, everybody is seeking happiness.

As a human being we also seek happiness. And some people think happiness remains on money. And if have enough money you can do whatever you want to do and they think that is happiness, and a lot of people think that too. But the more money you have you begin to realize that is not happiness.

0:13:58.3

You might have relieve certain difficulties, or certain pains that some people go through for not having money, however you also have pain and problem of having money. When you have too much money you don’t know what to do with that. You be afraid of people cheating you, you will be afraid of losing your investment, you will be afraid Uncle Sam is collecting everything out of it. So, all of them are a pain and the problem we have. Besides that, money cannot buy happiness. A lot of wealthy people you can see are not happy. They are not peaceful. They’re not happy. They are upset all the time. They find difficulty. They even commit suicide. They’re life is spent all alone, quarreling, fighting. Somebody try to grab somebody’s fortune and how to protect it and all this and they spend their whole life on that as we see it doesn’t give.

And most of us here do know that. We all know. The material answer, the monetary answer doesn’t really give us happiness. Then, what we need is mental happiness. The mental suffering is sometimes much more severe than physical pain.

0:15:50.5

So whether it is mental or physical, whatever might be all of our pains come from the karmic cause. So, vice versa, all our pleasures and happiness also are karmic result. So it is the karma of ourself which provides ourself the pain or the pleasure, both are produced by our own karma. Nobody else has a giving a prefabricated uh prefabricated fixture to bound us in this. Nobody. It is our own karma which is made ourself to go through. That was the statement of the Buddha, that is the message of the Buddha, and that is what it is. So, the next question arises, “Who made this karma? Who made my karma? Is it someone else made my karma? Or did I make my karma? Or did we all made my karma, or how is it?”

And who made, when made, how it is made? These are the questions. Buddha goes and answers “Nobody else made except ourself.” Because anything, whatever I created, whatever I do I am responsible. And if somebody else provide created and if I have to experience then that somebody has to be responsible for me, and I have to be responsible for that somebody, which is not possible. So, I am responsible for my deeds. So therefore, all my karmas are made by me and nobody else made it.

So I am responsible for my own karma, nobody else. So either r I’m responsible to my karma, then I seek happiness. How come I did not make karma causing happiness rather than I’m creating a karma of creating pain. Because that is what I don’t want it. So, the answer is I created my karma. Number one, I’m not knowing it, I think this causes happiness so I create it. But it happens that it causes suffering. Number two, even though I’m knowing it, I can’t help it because my delusions control me. The delusions, my anger, my hatred, my jealousy and my own attachment, lust and above all the ignorance and make me helpless. I can’t do anything. They will do everything for me.

0:19:58.0

So I lose my control and my control has been taken over by my anger, my control has been taken over by my attachment and my control has been taken over by my jealousy. And so forth. So I can’t help it, I lost control. So while I’m losing control two things happening on me. Number one, I’m creating bad karma to have more problems. Number two, I lost my freedom. I’m sort of governed or controlled by my delusion and my karma so I lost my freedom. And when I don’t have freedom of myself I am suffering. As a great Indian saint and scholar Chandrakirti has mentioned, when you lose, when you have freedom within you and that is happiness. When you don’t have freedom that is suffering because somebody else makes you to do, to work, to go, to act, whatever, whether you like it or don’t like it you have to do it. So you lose freedom, when you lose freedom it is suffering.

So when you are losing, when you lost our freedom to our anger, to our attachment, to our hatred, and above all to our ignorance, to my – rather than our – to my ignorance I lost my freedom to my ignorance, and I created bad karma so I keep on continuously have constant pain and a circle the life, the rebirth and death, rebirth, death, rebirth, death continues because of I don’t have a choice. I’ve been sort of governed and driven by my own karma and my own delusion. So when I want to improve myself where do I improve? I improve on that point. The moment we make attempt to improve that point that is dharma, that is the darum and that is creating the karma, that is the activity of the spiritual. Helping ourself. We will definitely like to help others, we will definitely like to help others, and love, compassion, this beautiful thing, we would like to do it. But before we do that to the others we have to help ourself because person who is going to give love, compassion, and person who is going to help the others has to help ourself. If you can’t help yourself forget about helping others. There is no way. How can we help if we can’t help myself? Right?

0:23:31.0

If I can’t put piece of food in my own mouth how can I expect to put piece of food in others’ mouth? Not possible. If I cannot solve my own problem I cannot expect to solve other people’s problems? Actually, though every problem solvers have more problems themselves, here. But…

Uh truly speaking, it is truth. It may not really like the problem but the example I’m giving might not really work very well. Maybe I am giving wrong example, a stupid example I might have given. But true what it is, if I am not capable of having a compassion on me I’m not going to be capable for having compassion to others. That is for sure. That is (inaudible at 0:24:35.8) that is for sure. So, I need to be capable of having compassion on me before I generate compassion for others. That is definite. In order to generate compassion for others, I have to, I should be capable for generating compassion for myself. In order to generate compassion to myself I have to know my own situation, then I can generate compassion. Until I know what I’m doing, until I know what is my situation, how can I generate compassion on me? As long as I keep on thinking I’m great I’m doing fine, so why should I have compassion on me? When you begin to see how I’ve been controlled by my karma and delusions, then you begin to generate, you can begin to generate compassion to myself. When the delusions take over something you can’t help it. You become absolutely nervous, you become absolutely short-tempered, you become absolutely sensitive and all of them just because of our delusions and its effect. For no reason we get upset, for no reason we get a carry a sort of high up, high up, low, all of them what we call it emotional problems of too low, too high and of them effect of delusion that grow within us. Nothing else.

0:26:38.0

We like to blame to the other people but it is our own. We are very good to, yeah, if so and so didn’t do that I could’ve done other way around. You always like to blame to the other people. We would never be able to see my fault. So, whenever something goes wrong it is very easy to find somebody’s fault, whoever it might be, including doctors. So blaming on others is very easy. We do it. And because we don’t want to blame ourself. We don’t want to see our own faults in it. So we always focus on the others. That is how we function. Which is also sign that we are not willing to look inside deeply or look enough to see what is really going on. And it becomes my sensitive point where I don’t want to be touch it. Where I don’t want to come near by it about it. I must build shell around and block it out.

0:28:11.3

That is the thing. So when you want to improve we have to see how the delusions working within us and how can I improve from there? Due to the influence of the delusion what actions do I take? What physical, mental, emotional actions that I take? Act. How do I act physically, mentally, emotionally? That is a really important point. Most of our non-virtuous action s we have created what we call it karma, the karma we just categorize, boxed over there, what it really truth is, the truth really truth is, the real truth of this is our own functioning. Without thinking. Without paying much attention. Just acting, habitually, sort of habits and patterns, we always have them, our habits and patterns will definitely create non-virtuous actions. Always.

So if we really want improvement we have to watch all of them. Be mindful. Be mindful how I’m thinking, how I’m acting according to the thoughts. Then try to correct on that level. Suppose if I am getting angry I must express my anger out and fight with somebody. It is automatic with us. It is our habitual pattern. If somebody says something to you, boo or something, you are bound to say boo back. That is our habitual pattern. Without thinking we react.

0:30:33.2

So you have to think about it. We have to think what does that help? Nothing. We’ve created more trouble. He or she shows me anger, I show that anger, then that anger generates more anger and as a result nothing happens. You try to impress on the other that my point in right, to try to prove it. Keep on arguing it. Keep on proving it. Then you become louder and louder and finally you start hitting each other to prove my point was correct. In reality nobody’s correct, neither you or he nor she. Nobody’s correct. But try to point across what I did it, right, what you said is wrong, and that we go on and arguing, arguing, arguing. Two things involved in that. Number one, anger. Number two, control issue. Number three…(laughs). There are so many things. Who controls whom, and all this I don’t want to lose my control so that is why I have to argue it and go to the end. There is no end. So there are all this…while going this you also generate a lot of bad karma. There is anger, the anger will definitely use sharper words. Sharper words try to hit hard on other person. Right? When you are arguing with somebody you try to say the words ever possible so that you try to feel that other person (inaudible at 0:32:21.0 “further that”??) Try to get there somewhere. Try to…you want to feel the pain on the other person’s heart, or mind, or whatever it is, or brain or where ever you’re aiming at it, and try to use the sharpest over possible word we try to use that.

0:32:42.9

So then you go to double non-virtuous actions. Number one, there is anger. Number two using harsh word. Number three, try to hurt other people. In the process you hurt yourself, you hurt others. So in reality you destroy yourself, you destroy others. So what benefit does that get? Nobody. Either you get your point across, so what? So what, it’s over in two minutes? Or two hours as if nothing happened. Same thing will repeat again.

So these are our habitual patterns. So if you want to change it, improve, you have to change on this. If I am regularly, if somebody tells me something terrible and if I have to “boo” back I try to think twice before I say “boo.” So if you begin to observe ourself very carefully and then created better atmosphere, you begin to change the bad atmosphere which you created, if you created better atmosphere, then the answer will be same thing, no matter how many people if you keep on saying something bad to you, you don’t say it. You don’t reply, you keep on and watching there, and uh you don’t take it personally, and keep on watching there what else can they do? After sometime they have to stop.

0:34:50.5

And not only you did not get hurt, he or she has to also improve. And that is how things move. We talk about world peace. We talk a lot about those peace and this and that and great. But unless we have peace within ourself we are not going to reflect on other people on peace at all. If you have peace in here this will reflect to this, this will reflect to the others this will reflect to the others. That is how it goes. Without reflecting our individual you cannot generate world peace. Community peace is not going to be. Great teachers have said (Tibetan at 0:35:45.8). If, if you are leaning on a great treasury mountain and nearby all the areas also become a great treasury appearance. If you are landing on the poisoned mountain, and then nearby also become poisoned. So not only our self is bad, not only are myself bad, I will affect others also. They also become bad.

0:36:18.1

So instead of servicing them we are doing disservice to the others. By doing disservice to the others we are creating bad karma. So, as a result I destroy myself, I destroy you. So that is how it goes. So if you want to help myself, if you want to help others, together watch yourself. Watch your way of thinking, try to improve it. Try to bring peace within ourself, within the individual. That is how we make improvement. That is dharma. And that is in the detail how to do, you discuss in the senior study group and do this. That is what we do. Ultimately, when you come here with the hope of improving something, so that is what we do. Your spiritual way of servicing to all the people is try to to share the knowledge, share the experience, share the way, and remind people that is what’s going on within you, and share the way and how to improve the individual. And we share the buddha’s teachings which is end to obtain enlightenment. Buddha’s stage. And how we can go, and that is what we share, that is what we do.

0:38:00.6

And that is what it is, and that is the statement of Jewel heart, that is what we do here. I suppose that much I can say, and if you have questions I would be more than happy to discuss. Anything you want to share it.

Audience question: You said in the case of an argument then nobody is right.

Rimpoche: In absolute reality nobody is right. Everybody has influence of delusion and uh delusion. So nobody can be right. They might be relatively right, but absolutely can’t be right. Nobody can be right. You may have a point to prove, but (laughs)…

Audience: In terms of an event let’s say something happened. Either it did or didn’t happen, and if it did happen and I say it didn’t then I’m wrong.

Rimpoche: No. Yeah, you’re wrong but you say you’re wrong that’s fine. You say well this did happen, the other one goes and arguing and say it does not happen. My point is I’m not saying you can’t point the fault out. But I said, don’t go beyond that. When people argue, they argue from nothing, right? They argue from nothing. It did happen. No, it did not happen. But his friend says so. No, no you’re wrong it DID happen, it DID happen, it DID HAPPEN! Then you get more and more heated, there is no point. That is what I mean. In the reality sense, you know. And yeah it did happen or it did not happen, what is the use of getting angry over that, right? There is no point in arguing for that, there is no point at all.

And then the - ultimately the truth will reveal by itself. And when the truth really reveals by itself and if the defensible person says, oh a little bit embarrassing. That is the time you can prove your point rather than earlier when you argue and bang the table, right?

0:40:43.7

Rimpoche: Yes

Audience: What is the daily practice that you recommend to increase a person’s awareness?

Rimpoche: Daily practice is the practice you introduce every other Tuesday here with meditation. Uh, watching your breathe. And watching your own mind, and uh, the meditation. And also the practice what we do here. By praying to Buddha, and Avolokiteshvara, and Tara. These are the enlightened beings with the love, compassion, activity, etc. And uh at this stage be mindful and be sort of, say those mantras and seek help and watch our mind combination of it is the only thing which you can do. And that is what we have one Tuesday as meditation, and the daily practice whatever you are doing here, giving sheet of paper and you can do that every day with yourself combined with the concentrated meditation. That was very good thing to do. And that will help to pick up awareness.

Audience: Vipasana meditation, is that what you are referring to?

Rimpoche: Vipasana. If you can do Vipasana that is very good. But if you have concentrated meditation maybe it is better, beginning level. Vipasana is very good, it will bring a lot of insight in it. Yes.

0:42:49.1

Rimpoche: Yes, sir.

Audience: What do you sing chanting?

Rimpoche: If you say the mantra without chanting that is fine. Perfectly alright. But if you chant a little bit it makes people to say easy when you are not used to it. And uh when you bring some kind of mantra with nice chanting it provided atmosphere where you feel you can open it up, you feel better, it also helps to provide space for yourself to open it up. That is whole reason why.

Audience: I can’t sing.

Rimpoche: Don’t have to. But others will see you enjoy with that. Fortunately, we have a great number of people who have a very good voice. You can enjoy that. I can’t sing myself. I have a horrible voice. And especially if I have to use tools I mix up everything, even those who get (laughing) Migtsema (inaudible but I think he said Migtsema - 0:44:07.3) That is my problem too.

Well I suppose I said there is no more questions and no more discussions tonight and I remind you once again those of you coming back for Friday it is 6:30 here. Friday 6:30. And, uh, 6:30 right? Not 5:30. 6:30. I told a few people 5:30 if that is so I was wrong. I am very bad to keeping time and everything. It is 6:30 not 5:30. If you see some other people who are not here just tell them it 6:30 okay?

Okay, then we dedicate our virtues, by the continuous dedication there, and thereafter chanting Migtsema three times and if you want to do that daily practice in your own place you can do that. Unfortunately today we are totally disorganized. We just came back this afternoon so we are disorganized. And, uh, we even shortage of copies of that (inaudible at 0:45:46.5) and so but uh next Tuesday it will be there and also I remember next Friday we needed the longer Ganden Lha Gyema copies available for everybody too. (Inaudible mention to assistant – “They’re coming in Friday”??) Thank you.

Audience dedication (inaudible).

0:46:35.5 End