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19931116GR12L9

0:00:00.0 Welcome today. This one week I went to Toronto, because of several reasons. One matter is that when I was in San Francisco, Lati Rinpoche was there. So we couldn’t contact each other, although I tried to call several times. The telephone messages could not get through. I was supposed to be receiving a message from somebody and I did not get that message. That person gave my telephone number to Lati Rinpoche and his attendant called, but it didn’t go through.

0:01:12.3 Then the people around Zasep Rinpoche and his students in Toronto invited Lati Rinpoche and requested the Setrabpa initiation, the protector. Lati Rinpoche was going to give that initiation but didn’t have the book and other materials and they called me if I could help. So that was the second reason.

0:01:51.7 Thirdly, Lati Rinpoche also gave the Heruka 5 deity outer bell initiation. The Mahasiddha bell system, the outer five deities Heruka initiation. I should say it that way. So I went there. So I took this initiation. It was scheduled to be given on the weekend of Thanksgiving Day. It was nice to have a fresh one, although I had already taken it and done the retreat and so on, but it is good to rebuild all of them. So with these reasons I went to Toronto. Lati Rinpoche sends his best regards to everybody who he knows in Jewel Heart and also the Jewel Heart center. And we are looking forward to seeing him also when His Holiness comes in April.

I thought I would share that much and looking back at the work we started, the 12 links, we have been talking about it in some cases in quite some detail, in some cases very short, but when you look back I begin to realize it’s time to close. So to make the long story short, we did very clearly the links 1 – 4. That’s absolutely clear and I don’t think anybody has any difficulty. Link 5 we also talked a little bit but I did not make it absolutely clear. So I like to make that clear tonight.

When you look at link 4, it is basically divided into 2 categories: name and form. When we used to learn in Tibet in the monasteries there were two systems. The good ones asked you a question and if you have to answer they try to build up and make it more clear. If one person doesn’t want to answer they shift to another person. Some people will not make it clear and not say anything besides “what is it?” and they follow you to the door and keep asking, “What is it?” and there are a number of people sitting down, saying nothing. The rule is that one has to answer and one will question. If that person doesn’t say anything, the others all have to keep quiet and wait. The questioner may walk all the way to a person near the door and ask them “What is it?” and everybody has to just wait, if that person doesn’t want to answer, the questioner has to walk back.

0:06:58.0 Audience inaudible

0:09:22.5 Audience: name and form, and the name includes recognition, impulse, consciousness and conceptualization and feeling.

0:09:39.3 Rimpoche: So these are the name part of it, and the other is form. What is the next link? That is link 5: The senses. What does that mean?

Audience: eye, ear, nose, etc.

Rimpoche: The name part of the link are further developed here but they cannot experience anything at that level. They are developing, becoming a little stronger than at the fourth link, yet they are unable to experience anything yet. They are still up to the point where they can’t make anything out. Up to that point is the fifth level.

0:12:16.9 It is even going beyond that they can sort of figure out and I can’t use the word ‘experience’, because they really don’t experience anything but can sort of make it out. But the sense of experiencing is developing, at least the basis of the capability of experiencing is developed. The person is not able to experience anything, but the seed of the capability, when it is developed further, then you can experience. That sort of seed, that capability is coming. You are not capable yet, you cannot experience yet. But the potential to be able to experience has begun. That is happening on the 5th level.

0:13:37.2 The 6th level, contact, is when that potential further develops and they get a sense, some kind of feeling is there. But they don’t know if it is a good feeling or bad feeling or neutral feeling. They lack that. If you look at the picture, it is just kissing, just a touch, don’t know exactly what it is, just get some kind of idea, just getting there.

Link 7 is further developing and here you really experience. Now you know if it is good or bad. It may not be what we, the fully grown up people have, but it is there, but they can tell if it feels good or bad or something. They will know. That is the link of feeling. These three levels, the senses, contact and feeling, is the development of the experience. So the division is made on how the individual is developing to experience the good and bad and neutral feelings, the in between feelings. On the basis of the capability of experiencing, the division is made in order to show how the individual is really coming up.

0:16:11.7 We normally call it: growing, developing. In the Buddhist world it is the other way round. It the sufferer who is learning how to experience pain. That’s really what it is. The pleasures you can experience are virtually nothing. Even those feelings we consider to be pleasure have tremendous pain in them too. So that’s why it is the developing of the individual in the way they experience pain. Every pain is not pain, there are some pleasures as well. So you put all of them in it. That’s how it works.

0:17:19.6 Then the next three are all attachment, because now you know. You can feel it, so some things you like. For example, when you are cold you like to feel warm and when you are warm you like to get colder. Now the capability of the individual is beyond that level, so naturally whatever makes you feel good, you like it and you develop attachment to it. You go: Oh, that feels good, I like more of that. So therefore the next three links (8, 9, 10) are attachment.

0:18:11.2 on the last three links you measure the individual’s feelings, how much they can figure out and experience, according to that you shift the level. Likewise, here, we shift according to how strong the attachment is becoming. They are three different kinds of attachment. They intensify the desire of the individual. That is quite simple in that way. Desire comes by experiencing good, bad and neutral feelings. Whatever desire you are developing comes from feeling good about something and liking it and if you don’t feel good you hate it, you don’t like it. Then the third, the neutral state is just some period looking for the next change. You may call it reincarnation. The texts give you the idea of reincarnation or something. But actually, rebirth, or the next state or change, whatever it may be. It is not particularly emphasized as a desire of seeking something pleasurable or avoiding something painful. Somehow it is just looking for change, what is going to be next. So that way we have three different levels of attachment.

0:20:15.3 With that I don’t mean links 8, 9 and 10, but within link 8 itself. It is the desire for good feelings, the dislike for bad feelings and somehow seeking a change. We learn looking for change even at that level. What’s next – that sort of thing. That’s probably just attachment. I don’t know what picture you have for that. A beer drinker! That’s right. So that’s attachment, addiction, it is the beginning of addiction. That’s what it is. When you are alcohol-addicted, you keep on drinking. That’s what it is.

0:21:28.5 Audience inaudible

0:21:48.9 Rimpoche: It could be drinking beer or the water from the ocean, salt water. The more you drink, the more you want, naturally. Anyway, it represents attachment, addiction. That’s how naturally learn to become addicted. It’s not so much learning, but we revive the understanding and experience. We are reviving it, because we don’t have to really learn anything. It is a natural process. It becomes that way.

0:22:40.8 Then on the next one, Link 9, the attachment becomes stronger and you are seeking more than that. It is strong attachment. The five senses will demand more. The eye sense demands more beauty. The ear will demand sweeter sounds. The nose will demand more sweet smells. The tongue will demand more spices or whatever. The body sense will demand more soft and gentle or more rough sensations, whatever it is. It is not necessary always the same thing. Some people have attachment to spicy food, some have attachment to sweets. You may want to put sugar in your yogurt or you may want to put chili in your yogurt or milk.

0:24:16.3 In that way it is strong attachment and desire. Some may want soft and gentle touch. Some want it rough. So you cannot say one is better or one is worse, because that’s how it is. It is difficult for the individual to say this is good and that is bad. You can’t really say because individual desires are different. Basically we say that sweet is good and sour is bad, but there are people who like sour better than sweet. For them that is their desire. That’s how attachment works.

0:25:21.8 Remember the other day I was telling a story. That’s what it is. So the five senses will always develop individual desires. People say the problem is that we are born and that’s why we have these problems. In a way they are right. We take rebirth and these feelings develop. When you have a strong hold of the “I” then you have “my” and then you develop “I like this” and “I hate that”. You get like and dislike. That all comes up because of that basis. That’s why when you go deeper, the Buddha says that whatever we experience and share, whatever we do and have, there is confusion. It’s all based on confusion. That’s totally because of that.

0:27:01.9 Another thing is that we have never experienced the perfect joy. We never had that experience and that’s why every single little different thing causes us to have attachment.

0:27:29.4 If one experiences perfect joy then that person will know what joy really is and no longer be in the confused state of labelling certain things as joy and others as misery. With misery we don’t have a problem. We know what misery is. We have the experience. We know how it feels and we know how we suffer, physically, mentally, emotionally, sometimes even intensified by emotions far more than what really exists on the physical level. That’s what it is. That’s why we have good experience of what misery is. I don’t think we have to learn it anymore. What we are lacking is we never experienced perfect joy at all. So we don’t have that. Whenever we experience something different than pain we label it pleasure – until it gives us trouble. The moment it gives us trouble we have the tendency to bear it and bear it, until you break your back. Then when you break your back you say it is terrible, terrible, terrible.

0:29:12.3 Then it becomes the other way around. That is definitely how it is working here. This is how it develops. Not only that, over this level we also develop different viewpoints. This is also the beginning of the grasping ego. We begin to see grasping and protecting and thinking of protecting and going out of the way and bring suffering and misery. That level of attachment. I think the picture must be the monkey plucking fruit. You know what it is. You are grasping and grabbing. “I want it, I want it, I want it”, that’s the idea here.

0:30:32.2 Now the next, Link 10 is again, a stronger attachment and then there is the karma. The difference between the earlier karma in Link 2 is that in Link 2 you just created karma and left the imprint to develop. Over here the meat has been properly marinated and you are ready to cook a nice, juicy steak. That’s what it really is. They are two different things. In the earlier stage you have the idea of making a nice steak. You may have the meat still frozen downstairs in the freezer. But over here is not only defrosted but also marinated and ready to put on the grill or broiler. It is the time where the individual is looking for rebirth or reincarnation or whatever and whatever it is, making it absolutely strong and ready to deliver the next, the 11th link.

0:32:09.9 That link is called birth. It comes out. Now the karma is ready. We say that attachment is the glue of samsara. You have heard that. It really did all the work. It made it perfectly marinated and ready to go. I use the steak marinating as a metaphor. You don’t have that problem because you like brown rice better! You have to skip the 7th and 8th link. You don’t have to wash the brown rice, you just want to cook it straight away, so you have to use links 8, 9, 10 together and put some water and a little salt in it or some spices. So that is part of link 9 and 10. And the 11th is the thing that comes out.

0:33:54.2 You can say it is a karmic result. Actually what is birth? It is slightly different here. Normally, in our language when you say birth the baby really comes out and cries. But over here when we are talking about this particular link, it is when you are at the conception level. That is the level we are looking at. That’s the 11th link. The 5 forms [aggregates???] of that level is the 11th link.

The 12th link is tashi chi rig pei den pe – that is old age/ death. That is because some people may not get to old age. Some people don’t have the old age at all. So that’s why it should be old age/death rather than old age and death. So basically when you look at these 12 links that really gives you exactly how we come, how we go, how we live. All our living and dying is covered in the links. Coming the developing is covered by link 3 and 3 b and also link 7, 8, 9 and also links 4, 5, 6. They are showing us how we came in. It is not a question of how did we come in but actually the idea of how we are going to go and how we are going to come back. It is not that we are looking at the history and the past, but at how we proceed, how we move and if we let it go without control, without modification, how things go. That’s what we are really looking at.

0:38:22.0 We learn what will happen in the future on the basis of the past. That’s why we look back and say we will come back and how we go. So I basically told you earlier that within the 12 links the basic principle of the Four Noble Truths, particularly the First and Second Truth is really covered by the 12 links. Likewise, when you stop the confusion and the action, that is the 4th Noble Truth. At the end of that, that confused idea will push us down and we are able to stop that, it will be the cessation, the Third Noble Truth. Actually it is a very important point for an individual. You are really looking at the essence of the Four Noble Truths or the Lam Rim in these particular 12 links.

0:39:39.2 It is not only a traditional statement, but it is also a good idea to look at these 12 links and divide them into other categories, and see which are the creating links and which are the result links and which are distant and which are near and what works and what doesn’t work. You should be able to look at the links in another way. That’s what I will probably do next Tuesday. Now at least we have an idea of all the 12 links.

0:40:27.2 Now we have to see who creates what. These 12 were done in the order of 1, 2, 3, etc. But they are not necessarily described in this order. Maybe 1, 2, 3 always follow each other, and maybe the 4th one, but it is not necessarily that we divide link three into two, a and b level. It doesn’t really follow that way. But then we have to see which follows what in another way. You can look in different ways. I think we have some extra work to make another chart by next Tuesday. That will be good.

0:41:39.1 What else we have to do now? In addition we are also left to talk about desire realm and form and formless realms. We already did that? So we don’t have to do that. Then we have to go over that chart again and say why is it desire, etc. That is almost covering this course now. We are supposed to end before Thanksgiving?

Audience: It was supposed to go for 12 weeks

Rimpoche: When did the 12 weeks end? In December? Oh good, that will give us two more weeks, at least one more time.

Audience: there is this one description of the Wheel of Life in which there is a buddha in the right hand corner and in another picture there is a buddha back over here. Maybe this is a way to get off the wheel?

Rimpoche: Buddha has nothing to do with that at all. These are just drawings that put Buddha somewhere in the picture. Buddhism, particularly Tibetan Buddhism has this idea that in every picture they like to put a Budddha in there. The actual idea of the Wheel of Life is that the whole thing is in that circle. What you see outside of that has virtually nothing to do. Maybe you can get the idea that Buddha being outside of the circle can show you the way out of it, but you know people can say all sorts of things, whatever they want to.

0:44:07.1 Audience: It looks like some tail here…

Rimpoche: A tail? Didn’t you know that? Ene meni mini mo…(laughter) catch the tiger by the toe, if he hollers let him go…(laughs)

Audience: I have a question on karma. It is said that if you are an animal you have no opportunity to create positive or negative karma.

Rimpoche: I am sure I didn’t say that. You do have the opportunity to create bad karma for sure. The moment you talk about other spirits taking over and working through a person that individual has nothing to do with that, virtually not. That has to be made very clear. There are a number of spirits who work through individual persons. If that spirit has a good motivation and does something good that spirit is creating good karma. The individual person, the medium or whatever, is not necessarily benefiting from the good karma the spirit is creating.

0:46:07.9 gap in recording

0:46:25.7 not necessarily. They can create good and bad karma, definitely. There is no question. That is not even a Dharma question at all. Why can’t they? They will, there is no reason why not. Human beings have more opportunity and more capability than the animals. We all know that. We don’t have to talk about it. Our intelligence level is totally different. We can speak and make choices and go and do and undo whatever. So human capability is tremendous. Human beings have tremendous opportunity, which animals don’t have. But I am sure I have never said – unless I have gone crazy – that animals have no opportunity to make good or bad karma. If I said that I am wrong. For sure, there is a lack of opportunity for them to study Dharma. That part is very little.

0:48:16.8 I am not sure if I shared that with you people or not, but I will share it now. One of our friends called Geshe Lobsang Tharchin lives in New Jersey and one day he told me, “My dog knows how to say OM MANI PADME HUM. Really, he said that.” You know what he did? This dog always gets these biscuits called cream puff and cream crackers and he has to have cream on top of it. So Geshe-la makes him such a nice thing, really a good snack. Then he calls the dog and shows him the cream puff and after a little while the dog will go “WOW WO WO WOW” and then Geshe-la says, “See he said OM MANI PADME HUM” – to get the cream cracker. Maybe he barked six times or something I don’t know. That shows you how much opportunity they have.

0:49:40.3 That’s why I brought the subject up to show how it is. There are people who say “My pet is so intelligent”, but no matter how intelligent they may be they can’t be more intelligent than you are. I am thinking of the fact that some people worship cows. I don’t know whether cows are so special or not, but in the Hindu tradition in some place at one time some Hindu god might have appeared as a cow and ever since then they took that tradition on, but not all cows are gods, you know. But in India somebody will stand there with a decorated cow and a little basket over there and if you throw some money in it, will the cow even recognize it? So whether that is right or wrong, who knows? But that sort of intelligence is limited.

0:51:29.4 Particularly the major suffering in the animal realm is mostly ignorance and lack of intelligence and being unable to figure things out. But on the other hand we also say that the crows give you different messages, right? Or people say that if the cat is cleaning its face in a particular way, some guests will come. All that’s there too. The animal instincts are there, but that’s not necessarily [a sign of intelligence]. That’s really what it is.

0:52:36.3 Audience: How does purification really work when karma is supposed to be definite?

Rimpoche: As I told you earlier: karma is definite. That’s one characteristic of karma. However, it has meaning behind that. But karma can only materialize if the conditions are right. It is definite, but depends on the conditions. If the individual creates negative karma and purifies it properly, the conditions will never rise. So that karma will not materialize. Likewise, the individual will create positive karma which can be destroyed by negative emotions such as anger. Anger kills the positive karma. You may still have that karmic thing left there, but it might not be able to materialize, because the conditions might not be right. That karma is then not capable enough to ripen. So therefore, you have to give room for miracles, for purification, for increasing and quickening of karma, good or bad. All of that is there.

0:54:54.7 You may raise the question: if karma can be neutralized that way, then what is meant by “karma is definite?” Two things on that. One: the positive karma will give you only positive results and negative karma will only give you negative results. You cannot switch it round or square it up. You may think, “I did some bad things there, so let me do some good things here and call it equal and square it up.” That doesn’t work. Probably that’s one of the meanings that karma is definite. Another meaning is that if the conditions are right, and the karma starts functioning, no one can stop it. Once the conditions are right and a karma starts functioning it is no longer at the seed level. It is no longer sleeping. It is becoming active, activated by the conditions. Then nothing can change it. You maybe make it easier a little bit, but you have got to go through.

0:56:30.2 No one can do anything. Even the buddhas cannot stop the running karma. It is like the Japanese bullet train that runs from Tokyo to Osaka. So that’ what it means: karma is definite. And you cannot suppress karma. If you try to, it will burst. That goes for karma, emotions, and all sorts of things. You should not suppress anything. You can suppress something temporarily, but not permanently. Not at all. You can purify it before it materializes. But our problem is that we will not recognize the negative karma until we really have trouble. No one will really say “I have a problem, I need help”, before the negative karma starts functioning. But by that time I get a couple of dozens phone calls a day but then what can you do at that point? You can’t do anything. So that means: karma is definite.

0:58:52.3 Audience: it is about timing. Often we are in the development of it, like with cancer or something. And the outcome could be the person dying. Is that already established at the time of the deed or at what point is it definitely going to have results of death or not death?

Rimpoche: The result of death is definitely anyway. The end of everything is going to be death, for sure, no matter whoever it might be. The problem is that everyone has to die. You cannot escape. Whatever the cost maybe that you are trying to stop, it is not possible. Once you are born you have to die. There is no way. Once you grow up and develop and come to peak of your career you have to go down. Right? There is nothing to stop it. Once you are together, you have to separate. Once you accumulated something it has to be exhausted. There is no way out.

Specifically the question is: within the sphere of one individual karma, there may be hundreds of different karmas functioning along with that. If one individual person has the karma of say cancer and suffering from that, that cancer may have the power to separate the individual’s body and mind.

1:01:36.0 But they may not have that. They may have the karmic cause to separate something, some part of the body – at that level. There may be another one. You don’t separate anything else, but you may get better. It totally depends on those karmas. You never know what a karma leads to, because to know that you have to be a fully enlightened being. Lets say somebody was sick and there is medicine to intervene in the sickness or a healer intervenes. What is happening? That karma of the person getting sick has ended by the time the healing person is there. And a new karma is taking place. That doesn’t necessarily mean that that new karma has intervened in the old karma. It has not. The power of that first karma has ended and is not being reinforced.

1:03:09.4 Audience: That opens up a can of worms in terms of thinking about predetermination and the mechanism under which karma operates. Maybe you can explain it. For example, there is a person who has an illness who then runs into a healer who heals them. Is that an example where the conditions in which the karma is operating can change or is the person’s karma such that he or she would definitely meet a healer, because that is their karma as well.

1:04:12.1 Rimpoche: Yes, it is definite that this person meets a healer and gets the medicine to cure that illness. That’s their karma for sure. On the other hand, there may be a karma where you meet a healer or doctor and get the medicine, but the medicine or healing does not work for that individual. Then that is also their karma.

For the second part of the question: karma is predetermined, definitely. The capability of the karma, how strong it is, all depends on the moment when you created the karma. Then it builds up everything. But we have room to do something, not to let it ripen, not to let it take place. That is the best way to handle the negative karma. That’s why we call it purification and accumulation of merit.

Accumulation of merit provides the conditions for good karma to ripen. It is not future karma. The result of that karma may be experienced by the individual in future times. I don’t know whether that’s called future karma or not. It is karma that will materialize in future for that individual. Is that future karma? Probably not. It is the present karma. Future karma means karma that you still have to create.

1:06:17.0 Sorry, we went too far. Anyway, it is time to stop. 1:06:29.5