Archive Result

;;;Soundfile 19920105GRJHNLLR 4

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Netherlands

Topic Lam Rim

Transcriber Jess Willyard

Date 10-8-2021

It doesn’t work. And there are some people who will say, doesn’t matter, everything. At the end it’s all zero. At the end with will come all empty. So what does make difference? At the end it’s going to total be empty. There are a number of people who say that too. These days. And that’s wrong. It maybe zero in absolute reality at the end. But relatively, everything is functioning. There’s good, there’s bad, there’s mistake, and there’s good karma, there’s bad karma, there’s good karmic result, there’s bad karmic result. And when they experience those, it is real. It is real. In absolute reality it maybe empty. But when you experience in your body, or on your mind, it is real, it is difficult. By saying at the end it’s all zero and empty, it’s not going to take away your pains that you will experience on physical. It’s not going to take away pains that we experience on our mind. That’s real. So we have to deal with as real. You can not act as, well at the end it’ll be zero. These days, number of people do that. Number of people do that. Doesn’t matter at the end, it’s zero. This is good way of escaping. And people teach that. And people practice that. They say at the end it is zero, doesn’t matter. And big popular movement also. Because, doesn’t matter it’s good for, a lot of people become agreeable to that. It’s easy to go over to that.

0:02:12.5

But does matter. When physical pains catch you on our physically, or the mental pains catch us, it is real, it’s not, it’s not. But even the people who does the faith healings, if you look at them. Some of them say, I mean, they will sit there and say that faith will heal. They will not take medication and even the kids dies. It’s always there, you know the faith healing people. Many of them and their own children, they don’t let them heal, because they say well, the faith will heal. And they don’t let them take medication, and they really died. I mean literally they died! That’s real. Then they come with another excuse. They died yeah, they died because God decided they should not be there anymore. That is a total excuse. God might have decided they may not be there or God might have decided they be there and they got obstacles in between, and you have not taken care of the obstacle. That is the real thing. It’s real reality. Anyway so the zero point is zero point but that is absolutely, relatively, it has to function. As Tsongkhapa says, relative truth is relative. Relatively when you suffer, you really suffer. So mind power over matter is sometimes, it is very powerful. When somebody tells you in your mind, it doesn’t matter. It is absolutely, it is true. This is a little mistake and this is nothing. And the person individual will also feel it, you feel a little better. Because that’s your mind is making that. In actual reality you are not getting better. Right? When you are use to it with continuation and pain, then it no longer become a pain also. It is a little easier to take it. Right or wrong. It is.

0:04:36.9

So it is only the showing the mental power over matter and that’s all. But in reality, it is reality. People die. You suffer. That is reality. So therefore by using absolutely zero at the end, doesn’t matter we can do all sorts of things which is, of course there is no danger with a number of people here but out there there is! So we also have to acknowledge that and function. Because Buddha has given two truths. The reason why they have accepted two truths, absolute truth and relative truth, and if you deny relative truth you don’t find absolute truth. So here, when you say it is zero at the end nothing happens, it is a denial of the relative truth. So anyway, that is also denial to. So anyway, acknowledging the mistake, and regretting it, instead of boasting it, regretting it. And they look for, “how can I purify”. I mean, if you need justification, it’s not the matter if you convince other person, or even whether you try to convince yourself. But the matter is, the matter it matters, if you can convince the karmic law, if you can convince the karmic way and the justify that and the purification is justification the only left for us to do. So that is the one way, anyway one way of one point. The point of getting antidote action and regretting. Then, some justification whatever you have committed, non virtuous. Whether it is committed to the enlightened being or non enlightened beings. So practice like this has already justified taking care of this particular point. Because you have taking refuge to the enlightened ones at the beginning, you have generated love compassion thought including four immeasurable practices at the beginning, so it justifies, it completes the power of base, what we call it, power one.

0:07:37.4

The power of base is already done. So power of action, it’s also going on. You’re saying the Ganden Lha Gyema Guru Yoga practice, the foundation of all spiritual development. The basis of the individual upliftment. In normal Western language, it is the magic word. It is the Guru Yoga practice in the spiritual path. So that was, you’re doing it. So there is antidote action. In addition to that, you’re going to say a number of mantras. In addition to that, you meditate wisdom also. So it’s almost all antidote action recommended, except broken vows, are all different story together. All are included here. So you have antidote action. Only what you need is generate regret and repentance. And if you regret, the repentance will come. If you do not regret, and there’s no repentance at all. If you don’t regret doing something, why should you repent yourself, right? As a matter of fact if you enjoy doing it, why should you say I would not do it again? People don’t. It is like drinking. You enjoy drinking whiskey, or wine, and there’s no reason why, as you say, I will not drink again. Yeah, there is a reason. You say you see it, it is not good for you health wise. The doctors tell you not to drink. And you can see it your health is deteriorating, and you say you will not drink, probably so say I shouldn’t drink, however you mind is not strongly built up not drinking. So when somebody else is drinking, you like it. And you say well, maybe a little sip. I shouldn’t be drinking but maybe a little sip. That’s how you go, right?

0:10:07.7

And that little sip you are taking is actually, just washing it away all the trouble of your not drinking for hours and hours and hours, days and weeks that you have taken a pain of retaining from that. Whether it’s a drink, or smoking cigarette, or whatever it is. You took hours and hours and hours, that you built in your credit, it only goes for a little sip, which may take a few seconds. “Mmmm”, you say right? For that “mmmm” what you have washed it, as you have washed it for weeks and months of efforts what you have put it in, right? You really feel like drinking. You say no you don’t want to drink. You say no, it’s not good for you. You keep on bumming and bargaining hardship you made. Look at hours that you built up in between, by not drinking, right? Not smoking. Look up the hours, the time that you sleep included and in that. Sort of like hundreds of hours we just simply go for matter of seconds. You, sort of we sacrifice that much of our good efforts, efforts put it for at that little second, we do. That is our bad habitual pattern. It is our habit pushing it. If you give good recognition instead of denying, what’s a matter? What is the problem, a little sip? That is the denial of that particular wasting the efforts that you put too much, too many efforts you are willing to sacrifice. That willingness will give you a denial of what a little sip, doesn’t make difference. Doesn’t matter. One puff. One cigarette puff, doesn’t matter, right? So, if you think the hours that you put in, the days that you put in, the weeks you put it in, the months you put it in. Then you have second thought. You don’t want to touch that cigarette again. You don’t want to touch that drink again. Because they’re taking that much suffering you took, and that much suffering, if you can manage that much hours, there’s no reason why you can not manage another hour. And I have my experience. I’m telling you because my experience. After being a number of years as monk, and I get my freedom, I have built up my rebellion, almost like teenage rebellion. I built up. And that was a little later than teenage, and in twenties. And I pick up cigarette, I pick up drinking both purposely, just because you are told not to do it, so I want to do it. I used to smoke a lot, for 13 years I smoked 20 cigarette pack, or maybe one and a half pack a day, for 13 years I smoke. On the day when I have to cut it I said, ok now, that’s the end of it. And then you feel like taking it. And then you say, how many hours you wasted? How many difficulties you took, keep on building that, that’s how you build up.

0:14:01.1

So I’m sharing that will you because the denial, the denial will come, well one puff what does it matter? One I can take then I won’t take again. And that one will make all the problem. That one, one, one, one, one, one, one. Some people cut smoke for a couple of days, and they take one, and again cut for a couple of days, then they take two. And then couple of weeks again they pick up, that’s what’s happening. Sort of, the denial’s strong, as well as your will power has to be equally strong to be able to deny that. If you deny the denial, that’s that. There’s no problem. That is the key, really truly, that’s the key. Deny the denial. That’s about it. Also, your friends will tell you, yeah this is only for social, doesn’t matter. Have a cigarette, have a pot, all sorts of things they say. That’s what it is. Anyway, sort of, if you recognize the problem, and then the antidotes are able to apply. Then the regrets also able to build. You can not build regret, and there is no reason why you repent at all. Right? Anything, what ever it is. Why do I have to promise not to do it again, if I don’t feel that’s bad, what I did it. If I don’t feel bad what I did is wrong, why should I promise not to do it? As a matter of fact, I enjoy doing it, why should I say I’m not going to do it. There’s no reason. Practice is such a thing, I believe, it is not only the artificially you build in, and sort of social structure, or like this group it has become social structure, right? We are building a social structure. The structure will bring you in it. It is also good, but the true practice lies on each individual. It is not a structure. It is not the saying of mantras. It is not reading the book. It’s not only the meditation. It is the actually the convincing each individual, by yourself, by using various analytical reasoning. Points as well as concentration combined together, will be able to change the way you want to change. Change the way through which the enlightened beings experience, through that way. We switch our way of doing things. Way of thinking, way of functioning, that is the real practice to me. Doesn’t matter whether you sit in this way or that way, or this way. It doesn’t really matter. What does matter is count it. That is the real practice. Similarly when you apply four powers here, it’s that. It really doesn’t matter whether you are sitting or walking, or even sitting on the pot, in toilet. It doesn’t matter. But it has to be working with that. Working with you, reasoning. It’s not again, when I use the word reasoning, you may think, oh I may have to convince myself, by using various reasons. No you don’t have to convince yourself, by using various reasons. What you have to do is you have to find the truth, whether that is good or bad. Find the truth in the best capacity you can. And that is the important thing. If you try to convince yourself by artificially, try to do something, say hey, I have to convince myself this way. That is slightly brainwash. You try to brainwash yourself, I think. Or slightly, is it brainwash, you call brainwash? I’m not sure whether it’s brainwash or not. You know because a lot of people do think, you know, we said, hey, emptiness is good. And I have to convince myself that emptiness is great. So then you try to think, all sorts of reasons you say emptiness is good. And probably you don’t convey yourself after something you pretend I’ve been convinced that emptiness is good. I mean really, we do that very often.

0:19:31.8

We say love/compassion’s good. Why it’s good? Because everybody says it’s good. I can’t say it’s not good, cause everybody will think I’ll be bad. These are not really the practice. That’s really, you know, different things. So to me, you have to think a lot. Think a lot because, that is again funny. We have to think, I think it’s a matter really, life you really have to find the truth in deep, truth, whether that’s really good or not. That is the best way convincing yourself. So when you are using the work convincing, it probably can be misleading. What does convincing mean? If you have to convince your wife, if you have to convince your husband, convincing here meaning you use all sorts of reasons, ideas that the husband or wife are willing to except, agreeable, and you use that, and try to make it that person agreeable, and once that person says yeah, so then you call on that then say hey you promised me! You know, that’s, I don’t think that’s the way to convince for the spiritual practice to yourself. If you do so, I think you are cheating yourself, slightly. Unless you are really convinced. You really know it is best for you. And then your making it to do, that’s ok, different story. Right? So it is very similar. The work convince is tricky. So probably you have to properly understand, that’s what you should do.

0:22:01.6

(Break…prayers)

0:28:42.1

So to continue to talk the purification now. The power of base is refuge taking as well as the generating love compassion combined is the established power of base. Power of antidote action is the praise, what ever you are doing, mantra you are saying, meditation you are doing and particularly emptiness, et cetera and all this are the power of action. Power of regret is regret. And power of repentance of course, you promise not to repeat again. So by four powers, application of four powers, no matter how important non virtuous it might be. Even you have destroyed all the religions established on the Earth, you have destroyed completely, killed all the enlightened beings, killed your own parents, or whatever you do, unlimited, limitless non virtuous, no matter whatever high, big it might be, if you apply the four powers strongly and with strong regret, or the strong repentance, if you do it, and it purifies all non virtuous committed. And that’s what Buddhas have giving us assurance and a word of purifying it. Otherwise, the Buddhas are lying. So therefore, so one shouldn’t have doubt on it and do this application, and purify. Once they keep on purifying all your non virtuous as much as possible, everyday, that makes each individual life much easier in the future lives. So because, no matter how bad you might have been, but you keep on purifying it constantly, so that is very little thing left to suffer, so it contributed tremendously. It helps you to reach long way, for that is the purification which is whatever the non virtuous the body, speech and mind I have accumulated from the beginningless time. And especially any transgression of my three vows. Three vows here is the vow of the refuge, vow of vajrayana, and vow of mahayana. That can be called three vows. But basically, it means vow of liberation, self liberation, and that is monks/nuns vow, et cetera, vow of celibate. Vow of celibacy and vow of bodhisattva, and vow of vajrayana. These are the also three vows.

0:32:06.1

So for us, relevant vow is refuge, vajrayana, and mahayana, but that’s the bodhisattva vow. These are the vows, three. So anything whatever, against that vows we purify here. However, it’s not necessary that these vows are repaired. Because as I mentioned to you, vow of bodhisattva vow is taken in the presence of the lama buddha bodhisattva, so therefore it purifies in the lama buddha bodhisattva. The vow of vajrayana taking is lama yidam deity mandala, so it purifies there. So anyway, non virtuous nature, whatever is within the individual, it stops there. So that’s why very profitable. So, now the next is karma business. Entrepreneur karma business. That word I couldn’t get straight. (Talks to audience member) You shouldn’t have problems, good business. You do have problems. There’s no investment. A lot of profit. You get it? No investment, lot of profit. What is the problem? What did I say?

Audience: What I think he’s trying to say is that you talked then during that teaching is that what he should do is rejoice, when somebody else does something good. But the problem there is that you always of have a sort of arguments, but this, but that.

Rimpoche: That’s right, that’s true. Ok you heard that. Ok alright, so let’s see. Very nice. Ok now out of seven limb they choose this one as one of the limbs. The reason why, it is very profitable, really true. It is one of the best ways to make it and the best way to make it, is if we rejoice people’s good actions, somehow it is said that we get the benefit of whatever the people are doing good, instead of getting jealously, and if you can rejoice, we get benefits.

0:36:21.9

Perfect benefits we get by rejoicing. Amount of the benefits, if you rejoice people higher than your own spiritual status, then you get half of their good work, benefit. And if you rejoice spiritual status equal to you, and you get equal amount of benefit. If you rejoice spiritual status lower than you, then you get double the amount of benefit. This is rule, don’t ask me why, just, that’s what it is. There is no special reasons why, because that’s the statement made by the enlightened beings and that’s the way they function. That’s how it is. It’s nobody made it, but that’s how it functions. So what happens is, so we rejoice. We rejoice since we have supreme field of merit in front of us, so we rejoice. So we rejoice the great activity of our supreme field of merit, whatever the activity they did correct, right? In general they are particularly they are each individual activities in general, and particularly at this degenerated age, one developed, one puts a lot of efforts. Taking, like Lama Tsongkhapa’s way of doing it, so though it’s degenerated age, they put lot of efforts of learning.

0:38:33.6

Not only learning, learning very widely, learning very comprehensively, not only you have learned whatever you have learned, you ponder on it, you think about it, and finally meditate it. So the Tsongkhapa himself has a number of times mentioned the best biography of any great teacher, Tsongkhapa himself said that the greatest biography of the spiritual teachers, first learn every comprehensive, learn comprehensively. Second, whatever you are learning is, you put your thoughts on it, think about it. Finally meditate and experience about it. And that was considered one of the best biographies to everybody. So which means, great Tsongkhapa himself, or Buddha Atisha, or for that matter, everybody, somehow, is on that path. Including ourself. We’re also here. We try to learn. We try to think. We try to meditate. That is our way of practice. If you can not learn, what do you meditate? You can’t meditate on anything. You just have to sit there. Right? Only sitting. Hold your breath, or watch your breath, watch it going in going out, coming in coming out. And that’s all you can do, because you don’t know anything else. And even you don’t know that, watching in breath, watching in and out, and then you just simply have to sit. So it’s very limited. I’m not criticizing that meditation is bad, but it’s very limited. That had it’s own purposes, and use that whenever you need it. But you can use more than that. If you are only limited to that, it is a very pathetic situation. It is very pathetic. Because then the spiritual practice is not only going against any delusions. It is simply just retaining your sort of capacity of thought. Just pulling your thoughts just slightly straining from the delusions, and that’s about it. And that is a very pathetic situation. If you are only that much. So it’s not. So you got more than that. Since you have more than that, those more than that, has to be learned.

0:41:41.3

You have to learn from the ordinary, today’s level, to extraordinary buddha stage level. Up to that level, you have to learn how should one go about it. How should one retain about it. How should one progress about it. What steps are involved. What things. So then it becomes learning important. As one of these great Sakya Pandita I think, Sakyapa lama said: If you did not learn, you try to meditate. It will be somebody, you people without arms and legs, they try to climb on the rock. If you don’t have arms, if you want to climb a rock, it is difficult. Not only is it difficult, it is almost impossible, expect, if you hang on the rope and somebody pulls the rope up all the way, that will be totally dependent on the others. There is no way. So likewise, if you did not learn anything, and if you try to meditate, it will be, can get nowhere. Because you did not put enough effort of learning, so you don’t know what to do with it. I don’t know. It’s not that you don’t know what to do with it, but you don’t know what to do even. And once even you get those informations, then you don’t know what to do with it. So these are the problems. So therefore, when we have a spiritual path, once you are picking up the spiritual path, you have to learn. No way without learning, you can not go. It’s simple, people can say you can sit there and watch your mind, encounter with your mind, train your mind inwards, looking in, encounter with your mind, certainly you will recognize that. People say that. But that is not going to happen unless you really learn intensively about it. At least you should learn what steps involved. What delusions involved. What their antidotes are. How you can overcome. All of this. All of them are subject of learning. Once you learn all this, then you begin to use, think about it, it becomes under control. And when it becomes under control, then you can concentrate more easily, and then finally you can meditate on it.

0:44:52.1

And by doing so, you can gain realization. Otherwise no. So we rejoice effort that put in by Tsongkhapa for learning. Learning the sutra path, learning the tantra path. Learning it properly, so that one can develop with that, not only a learning whatever you learn you’ll be able to share that, so we rejoice that. So we really rejoice Tsongkhapa’s activity of learning, thinking, meditating.

(tape flip)

Age is one thing. It is what they call it in traditional India is Kali Yuga. Kali Yuga is difficult period. Period where our delusions including anger, hatred, attachments are very high. And our efforts are weak. And every environment around doesn’t support our efforts. They support opposite point of it. So this is called degenerated age. We are very much in it. Though people have good thoughts, by virtue people are good, everything’s wonderful nature, however we are in a period of bad elements. It is that. I mean it’s really bad. Well, when you have the war, Gulf War, you see it. There’s a Gulf War going on, and people don’t oppose. People actually very strong support it. I don’t know if the Europeans did or Dutch did, but Americans support Gulf War. There are group of people who really wanted to go against, but they could not get anywhere because majority think it is wonderful. It is manipulated, very well manipulated because of the media is very well manipulated. So the media performs (manipulating?) peoples minds somehow.

0:47:23.9

And so even before it comes out with some kind of flags and things like that, and it was a very difficult period, which indicates the degenerated age is there. And everybody’s there, it’s also sort of supporting it. And the way they support is also very funny. Way they support is, that’s very funny, you know. Way they support is, they don’t support the war, they support the American people over there. That is how they got the support. They never said, we should support the war. They never said that, they keep on saying that our voice over there deserves to be supported. So the actual potential of the anti war could be the families, because they don’t want their kids go over there. So when they use that, they said your kids need support, so they can’t say no we don’t want to support our kids, they have to support, so that is how it was manipulated. So people could manipulate people for purpose like this. It’s clear sign of degenerated age. There is no other age called degenerated where it is darkness and raining, some kind of suffering rains fall, there is no such a thing happens, doesn’t happen. People talk about it, doesn’t happen. People talk about there had been an earth rain. Even the Buddhist myths tell you, some kind of earth rain, sort of instead of coming water, they got earth and everybody was stuck underneath earth. So they talk about that. So that’s the myth, I don’t 100% buy it. That sort of degenerated age. Degenerated age really is where killings are encouraged. And where our under different form, a perfect different form. It is under positive form. It is encouraged, not under negative form. And if they had come out, saying that we have the war over there you need to support, nobody, not the American public is not going to support. It’s clear. They said that your boys over there needed support. So I mean, they came out openly. They said we are not asking you to support the war, you support your own boys. And so everybody support. And that’s what it is. So, how it goes. Anyway, in the degenerated age, it is more difficult to learn. It is more difficult. It is more difficult to practice. It is much more difficult to gain development. So we admire the quality not only of learning, thinking, meditation was done, but it’s also done at this degenerated age.

0:50:31.4

And that was extraordinary quality you can rejoice. So over here I can talk eight worldly dharma and all this, but since our time is limited, so I like to conclude here, the way we gain very profitable spiritual gain is through rejoice. You just sit in comfortable cushion or even sleep in very nice warm bed. And sleep there and keep on rejoicing what other people doing, good things and you get benefit. And during the war I keep on saying it. If people, not only me number of teachers keep on saying it. If you keep on rejoicing the war, you also get the equal benefit whatever over 200,000 Iraqis have been killed. You also get equal benefit of non virtues too. If you keep on rejoicing that. So it is very tricky. I mean you have to draw the line and rejoice if it’s profitable in good way it is also profitable in bad way too. So one has to have the wisdom of cutting where to rejoice and where not to rejoice. So, that’s what it is. So, think of what activities Buddha did. Tremendous activity Buddha’s effort, puts in leaving the kingdom, as total heir of kingdom. He left with no attachment for what so ever.

0:52:20.3

When Buddha left, Buddha did not leave one girlfriend. Buddha leave a number of them. That’s true! Left a number of them. Vice versa, they don’t think the other way around too, you know? That’s not easy. We know. If we have to leave one have difficulty in going through. Or they leave you other way around. It is equally difficult. So what ever it is. So that’s how it is. And that shows how difficult it has been. And not only that, whole kingdom! I mean he’s the heir to the throne. And it’s not like Queen of England or King of England heir today. But it is during that period they really own it. Every other human beings are subject. They’re the lord. And like that, without any attachment, without any hesitation. And the parents are very strict. They just don’t want him to hear any difficulties at all because the fear of leaving. And they’re really nice to him and all this. And permission is out of question. Buddha left without permission. So today basically we say, oh you leave without parents permission it’s bad! But it’s not bad for Buddha! So he left. It’s not easy either. He left. And after that, how much efforts did Buddha put in? At least that we know? It was six years, so much hard work. probably not eating. And living on the grain. One grain a day. That much, bare minimal survival of human life on that. And powerful kingdom’s prince, heir to the throne has left that way. We can rejoice that. After obtaining enlightenment, after gaining all the experience, he shared the experience. With the people. How many benefited. Even today, after 2500 years, even in the West, we try to follow his footstep, and that is great effort put in. We can rejoice those. Even the death of the Buddha, is an actual teaching of impermanence.

0:55:22.7

It shakes you. You have a solid figure over there. For us anything you need to ask. Giving guidance, getting guidance. And that solid figure is no longer speaking and that solid figure is gone, it was a very shaking situation. I remember when Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche died, he just died. Whether I saw his body, that’s that. It’s no longer, I mean, whatever you need to, whatever from religion practice to political view on economic situation, everything we used to go and ask Kyabje Rinpoche. And there’s somebody who can always ask and give you the best advice all the time. Including matrimonial. And I was so embarrassed later because I was writing a little article on the Tibetan marriage system. Not even I’m writing, somebody’s book I been editing on it Tibetan matrimonial system. Anyway, I asked several questions to Kyabje Rinpoche in writing, in marriage system! You know he’s been throughout his life a monk and he did reply, totally this is this, this is this, this is that. At the end he said, “you ask the wrong person, but wrong person has some information”, the person who had been whole life time 60 some years; I think Kyabje Rinpoche was 70, person who has been in 70s in his life a monk, who had never experience of marriage, or even attended or even seen it but, “I think this functions that way”. So that’s it. So even that much you can ask you know. So when that solid figure is gone, it will really shook you. And shook you and not only shooking you but shook you and too strongly recognition of impermanence. And that sort of activity, what the buddhas have, is also can be rejoice. So there is a tremendous of easy profit we can pick up in this universe. And it is countless, limitless, universal energy there, positive which you can pick up. There is no limit. But the limit is with us. We have not been able to rejoice enough of it. So, all the activities of the great teachers, spiritual masters, their life and their influence, particularly their teachings, which influences the other people. And that each and every individual will get benefit, thereafter beyond 1 to 10, 10 to 100, 100 into 1000 the message goes through. And each message each and every individual. So these if you rejoice, there’s countless, countless, limitless benefits we can even get it. They are there. It is readily made available food, put it on the table in front of us, only problem is we could not take it. So change that and try to take it. And talking about taking food, it’s time to eat too! So with that we stop here….

(End of session, prayers)

1:05:12.0

Now next is requesting to give, to shower the benefits which ever brings the benefits to the individual. So among them, the most benefit is the sharing of their personal experience through the spiritual path, which we now call teachings, so actually the request to give, to shower the benefit for us, whatever the benefit is needed to the individual whether it is past, part of talking teaching, or as part of information supplied through whatever means way or even messages, indications, whatever is needed. Particularly few individuals will take lot of signs rather then teachings. And for them the sign could be the teaching. For a lot of people they like to listen and understand for them a teaching. For a lot of people they can not be teaching, but indications. So anyway, this is the point, not only requesting teaching, but the point, whatever the benefit, seeking the shower of benefit. Where does that come from? It has to come from the compassionate thought and if there’s no compassion, nobody will bother. So compassionate thought. And compassionate thought has to be, also has to be showered on a perfect ground, otherwise it’s wasted. It is too precious to be wasted. So therefore it is at the appropriate place and appropriate time at the appropriate person, appropriate benefit of shower when you’re giving. And that’s what the request. So to make ourself is a fortunate one. You will always ask the benefit of shower of teachings, so that’s what it is. So here…even here it says, “you the great master may your sky of dharmakaya develop cloud of love and compassion and showered profound and deep teaching as suitable on the ground, as suitable” so it is important to make a request of whatever is suitable, because it’s not suitable things, no matter how profound, how great it might be, but if it is not suitable, doesn’t make much sense and doesn’t have benefits. So therefore it is not very good. So it is necessary to have a suitable.

1:08:43.6

Otherwise, buddhas and bodhisattvas and great teachers can go on and give a tremendous amount of the teaching, but if the people doesn’t understand, what is the use? Like that of Mitigana (sp?) the great Indian sage who have come over to Tibet, long before Atisha came, but Miti is one of the outstanding saint and scholar. However Miti’s activity in Tibet was very limited. Absolutely limited because Saint Miti could not communicate with the Tibetans, and so many families have kept him as sort of a servant for cooking as he is a clever boy, he is a clever person. He knows lot of funny tricks. So they used him as a cook, they used him as a shepherd, and things like that. We have only benefitted by a few thumb print of the Miti. You know Miti used to go around and look after the sheep and things like that, where they pick up kind of mud and make some thumb print on it. And under the thumb print, you see a few sanskrit words written. So that is the only benefit what we can get out of Miti. He wrote a few poems and left somewhere else. Nobody could understand that, cause he’s funny guy, he wrote something who knows what it is. That sort of thing. About 200 years or later, 50 years or something whatever it is, about 100 some years later, when Atisha was greatly invited in Tibet, Atisha was 76 then, wow! It is Miti’s poem, Miti’s already been here! Then they say more and more, Miti is one of the outstanding, the most important Indian saint and scholar in Buddhism at that time, when over to Tibet he just disappeared and gone over to Tibet to try to do something in that area, but couldn’t do anything because of limited. So that’s because Tibetans are not ready! So they can only use him as a cook! A cooking person and things like that. So it is very necessary to have suitable ground with a suitable teaching. Well, there’s a ground, then there’s a ground. When there’s no ground, then there’s no base, as well as ground suitable whatever it is. So you have to make it that way, so suitable for the ground. Request. But there is nothing special on this part, except in your visualization. It is always recommended you visualize here, you offering, you offer a thousand spoke golden wheel. Wheel. The chakra. Gold chakra. Gold chakra represents dharma chakra. This is some kind of Buddhist omens. So during all the Buddha’s teachings, has been giving, giving a name of “Dharma Chakra”. Chakra is wheel. Wheel is most effective, everything functions through wheel anyway.

1:12:16.5

So, dharma wheel has been sort of visualized, offering a dharma wheel. That is, sort of, teachings they tell you that. And nothing else! I don’t think there is anything special about this. So we can move to the next.

That will be, hey we are getting over, dedications! Wonderful! Dedication. That’s great, so we can dedicate. The next is dedication. So the seven limb, within the seven limb, the dedication is one of the important points. The reason why dedication is important. As we mentioned earlier for motivation, I’m not sure whether I mentioned yesterday or not. He said there is two most important activities. Activity of the beginning, and the activity of the ending. The beginning is motivation, because I did mention yesterday, motivation is important. Dharma, whatever the dharma may be, the effect of it makes difference. Whether it is mahayana or hinayana, or whatever. It is the effect of the motivation. Though, you may do the same thing. As a mahayana practitioner, may give piece of food to an animal, or as theravadin practitioner, give piece of food to animal. So the same action by different person, with a different motivation makes hell of difference. Without the generating of the bodhimind, if you just give one piece of one little old dog. Which is one piece of food given to one little old dog. You get that much benefit. But for the benefit of all sentient beings, as part of the mahayana practice, leading towards enlightenment, contributing towards it through the act of generosity. Which in actual reality, you may be giving a little rotten food to a rotten dog. However the effect, the gain what the individual gets, huge difference. Which is due to the motivation. Similarly, at the end, where you dedicate, it makes difference. If you do not dedicate your good virtues, and it remains there as good karma within you. However, something happens.

1:15:19.9

So let’s say you get angry. So you get irritated. You get angry. The power of the anger is like that, a power of a fire. Even you look into the Tara practice, there’s eight fears. The fear of fire! The fear of fire is the fire burns everything. Similarly, anger destroys everything. The nice wood comes from the wooden village is, in this case is the good virtues. The anger, fire consumes the whole good virtue. So therefore, you left things unprotected. It is like leaving your house without insurance. Right? If there’s no insurance, the thing comes and takes your television set and VCR plus what…camera or coins or stamps or whatever you’re collecting. What do you collect? Coin or stamp? Both of them not. Oh, bottles of wine. If it comes and takes and takes, it’s gone. But if it’s insured, in absolute reality they can’t take it. They might have taken the bottles but you get the bottles back. In the form of money. So you can recollect those bottles again. So, like that, it’s to ensure, and not sweep away by the anger, is the dedication. Dedication makes total difference. It is the insurance policy that one can hold on is the dedication. So, that’s right the insurance policy, what you can hold on, is the dedication. So as in the Western culture, we always maintain insurance policy. Unless you are stupid, right? Or you can not afford to, that’s different matter. But mostly, you maintain insurance policy. So similarly here, there’s no problem. There’s no question of not affording it.

1:18:18.8

It is actually, you can not afford without it. Because you do have, we do have tremendous amount of merit and virtue. Because this looks like simple, looks like a little funny. Strange, however, those are very important techniques. And when you combined them together it makes something very big. Even you look into, I mean, to a layperson, if I see a parts of rocket, little parts of rocket, it probably doesn’t mean anything to me, probably. Looks like maybe children’s toy. Somebody to play with it. You know, but when they combine together, it is something fantastic. Right? So similarly here, each one of them you look at naked, so what. Cleaning is cleaning. Offerings are offerings. Purification is purification. Ok, rejoice, they say that, maybe not, ok. All of them you can sort of say that way, but when they’re combined it really is fantastic. As one of the best way of accumulating and purification. So it is very, very, very rich and wealthy. You can not afford to let it be without insurance. It will be too much to lose. So, insurance is the dedication. So you dedicate for whatever you want to, you can. Whether you want to make best use of it, or whether you want to make so so, or mediocre, or you want to spend it cheap way, whatever the way you want it, it is in your hand, when you are dedicating it. You dedicate for that purposes. If you are dedicating it for healing, it’s ok, not bad. And if you are dedicating for benefit of all sentient beings, it is great. If you dedicate it for enlightenment, that’s good. Why is it good? Because it secures til then. Til then. It is like getting a safe box in the bank. As long as the bank is not destroyed or as long as you don’t throw it away, so whatever you put in there, it will remain. Unless IRS, we don’t have IRS here, what do you have? Who collects your income taxes?

Audience: Income Tax House.

Rimpoche: In America there’s Internal Revenue they call it. So they call it IRS. So unless IRS comes and take it away…so anyway it might not be. In America some people don’t pay taxes and some people do pay tax, and IRS makes mistake and they can take away money right from your bank. Straight away, straight away. That happens. So you write a check today, you think there’s $1000 and tomorrow morning IRS goes there and you wrote $10 and it’s not cashed. You say what happened, you can’t get money, what happened, IRS took! (Laughs). They can take it straight away. So that’s why IRS is good example maybe that’s not happening in Holland. So that’s a good thing. They do? So, but IRS can not take safe deposit box. It is in an account, (then) they can take it. They made special court order to open your safe deposit box. So just like that.

1:22:33.8

So dedication, it shows you. So whatever you dedicate for, so that is the thing. So if you dedicated for the benefit of getting enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. So these virtues, whatever you are accumulated, they will remain there. So the most recommended dedication is…So like the Bodhisattva Manjushri and Kuntu Sangpo (sp?) et cetera, whatever, so toward their footsteps, whatever they have recommended for dedication, I dedicated for my virtues, so that all the enlightened beings, buddhas of past present and future, whatever they have recommended to dedicate for, and I will dedicate all my virtues in that direction along with theirs. So that was the most recommended dedication in general, because in that way, if you do it, rededicating whatever little virtue we have, and we are, sort of we are putting them, we are indulging them, we are mixing them with the great ocean of virtues that enlightened beings have. You all follow what I’m saying right? They used to translate here, so now you don’t have here so you don’t need it, right? So, you don’t need translation, right? Nobody needs translation. No? Because we used to translate here, that’s why. I want to make sure people follow. If you don’t follow, will you raise your hand, and stop then we can translate. So, if you have difficulties, right? So that’s what you do.

So anyway, so you dedicate. If you dedicate that way, whatever little virtues we have, we mix them with the great oceans of the buddhas and bodhisattvas virtues.

1:26:09.1

So what happens? If we put a drop of water to a big ocean, a big lake, and you can not really say, till the lake is completely dry or exhausted, you can not say “my drop of water is gone”. It might have gone long before but it will remain there. It always, teachings will tell you here, and I’m quite sure it is in the Liberation in Palms, must have the English. There’s two Tibetan travelers from a distance coming together. One reach one, and one for one. In Tibet the staple food is barley flour. That is for quite well to do, middle class, and upper class people eat that. But for poor people, very very poor at the bottom people, they eat the pea. The pea power. And if the pea been pealed from each individual, and especially Tibet, then it becomes gourmet tsampa. But pea which has not been pealed with skin together, they sort of make a little rough powder. And that is the powder on which the poor people. Not the wealthy, not the middle class, small group of poor people will really live on that totally. And they have very limited amount too. So two of them going together, and one well to do, not rich, some sort of mediocre class, one well to do. It is also dependent, you know? The rich and poor is dependent. Right. It is dependent arise. You’re rich compared with…they think you are rich. You are poor compared with Asian Dad. And everybody here from Holland, or mostly from Western Europe, if you go to India, you are all rich. You’re very rich. In India or Tibet, right? Alfred went there, you’re rich. Right? So that’s that. You’re rich. You might not be rich in Europe, but you are rich over there because others are poorer than you. So it is all dependent origination. If there is no poor, you can not have rich. The rich depends on the poor. Poor depends on the rich. Right? The east depends on the west, west depends on east. If there’s no east how can there be west? Not only that, east and west mountains or this side and that side, both depends on it. If you are here, this is this side, if you are here this is this side. If you are there, that is this side. So all of them have dependent arise. So anyway, similarly here, it’s also dependent. So if you depend on the vast virtues dedicated by various enlightened beings, if we are somehow mixed along with that, we are ok. Just now I’m telling you, two Tibetan travelers that’s called the rich and the poor. So the poor person has very unrefined tsampa of the pea with black color, this much (small amount), the wealthy one got big one cause there’s no hotels in Tibet, so you have to carry, or no restaurants, so you have to carry whatever you have to eat, for days you have to carry it with you. So you got the big one carrying, so this poor one may be a little intelligent, or a little witty. So he said, well, if I finish this, what do I do? So it’s better that I somehow could join with him. So he would like to approach this guy. So we are going together. Said hey, we are going together. You are going to Lhasa and I’m going to Lhasa. We are going together, right? Yeah right. You are carrying on big load and I’m carrying on mine, so we stop in every place together, we eat together, why don’t we mix them together and I carry it for you, so you don’t have to carry. So you have to give something to get it. Says I’ll take it I’ll carry it for you. He thought about it, he said oh that’s very heavy. You take that, good enough. That’s fine, let’s mix together. So they mixed them together, and the poor man carried, and they went together, they walk day by day, day by day. So then it becomes small until it’s become…..(tape stops)