Archive Result

19950124GRLR

Rimpoche: Can you read the verse for me?

Kathy: Once you wear the armor of resolute and irreversible enthusiastic perseverance, your expertise in the scriptures and insights will increase like the waxing moon. You will make all your actions meaningful for attaining enlightenment and it will bring whatever you undertake to its intended conclusion. Knowing this the bodhisattvas have exerted great waves of joyous effort washing away all these [? things 0:00:51.9]. I the yogi have practiced just that. If you would also seek liberation, please cultivate yourself in the same way.

Rimpoche: Still forgot the Tibetan, the Tibetan version of it. I didn't get it Kathy.

Kathy: Once you wear the armor of resolute and irreversible enthusiastic perseverance, your expertise in the scriptures and insights will increase like the waxing moon.

Rimpoche: {Speaks Tibetan 0:01:27.6} Next.

Kathy: You will make all your actions meaningful for attaining enlightenment and will bring whatever you undertake to its intended conclusions.

Rimpoche: {Speaks Tibetan 0:01:41.3}

Knowing this the bodhisattvas what?

Kathy: Exerted great waves of joyous effort washing away all these things.

Rimpoche: {Speaks Tibetan. 0:02:00.4} So now today's subject is enthusiasm. Actually what we are going through is what we did not talk is the development of the bodhimind which in this particular lam rim does not give you that version here. So that's why even from the outline we skipped that, but six activities of the bodhisattvas we have gone through. So today should be the fourth one. That is enthusiasm, right? So what this verse is saying {speaks Tibetan 0:02:45.1}. The earlier Tibetan masters very often they used the enthusiasm as armor. To protect yourself wounded by, to protect yourself getting wound in the war by sort of arrows and you know old movies if you look at, you see them, right? Sort of European movies they come with all these armors and all this. So they always give that as an example. The reason why they do this. One of the our biggest problem, actually, I think it's one of biggest problems is the laziness. Unable to fulfill or complete or do what we need to do, what we want to do, will not achieve is the biggest, is the laziness. That is true to material world and that is true to academic studies if you're a scientist or something or Ph.D. student, whatever it is. Whatever. If you're a spiritual practitioner things which you will not be able to complete is the laziness which is absolutely true. The laziness will really pull us back all the time. Laziness here is not necessarily the lazy, the normal western projection of laziness. Normally we say lazy guy or lazy person, person who just doesn't want to move or doesn't want to do anything, being sloppy or wanting to sleep the whole day or something. We refer to them as a lazy person. Is that right or wrong? 0:05:39.0

Audience: Right.

Rimpoche: Right. Not necessarily. That's true here. The laziness is somehow I think it covers everything. Avoiding certain things that you should be doing or you should be doing it or you ought to do it and you don't want to do it. The resistance that you develop and to entertain the resistance and you make yourself busy for something else. That's what we do all the time, right? All the time. When you don't want to do something and you pretend to be absolutely busy, not only pretend to be, but make yourself absolutely busy so that you don't even have time to look whatever you're supposed to do and whatever the thing is, you don't even have time to look. That's what the laziness does. We do that. We make that to ourself very often. Sometimes we are afraid of looking in certain things. Sometimes we are afraid of touching something. Bank balance is the one thing you can easily think about it, you know? You're sort of afraid of looking at it, so therefore you make yourself a lot excuse. You don't want to look into it. Or something like that. We do that all the time. They're all laziness. Most important, laziness here, is the withdrawing the person from a spiritual practice that you like to do. You know what I noticed over the last couple of years dealing with the friends? It is very interesting. People somehow knew it is useful and it is helpful. It is like something that I would like to do. It is something I should do, something I ought to do. However within that period, within that moment of practicing or doing whatever, within that moment you develop certain kind of resistance. Sort of pulling, going out, pulling in, pulling back, going out, pulling back. Or what I'm doing here, what it is? Is it the answer for all everything or is it not the answer for all everything? Should I do this? Should I not do this? What I'm doing? Pull back and forth and all this. People always seems to do. Not at the beginning level. The beginning level they go for a little while, a little over, very enthusiastic and they would like to go for awhile. After a little while, they get this pull and push and pull and push. That is the, actually, laziness that has been taking a different shape. Also doubting yourself. Doubting, well what I'm doing it? What is all this about it? Oh God dammit, I hate it. Somewhere I'd like to do it. All this sort of thing. Moving backward, forward, backward, forward, all this. People go through this, they play the game. Sometimes, during that period when that's happening, the sangha community who are supposed to be the community who really should be giving support to that person, support to that person, not to brainwash the person, but keep whatever your personal experience, whatever you went through and effective or not effective, helpful or not helpful, sharing your own personal interest. Especially those of the senior people, senior group people should be able to give support to that and then try to, that's what is very useful, necessary and helpful. 0:11:29.0

Otherwise, sometimes when these big questions of yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, comes and sort of split the person into almost within yourself. you have to split and have to fight with this. If you don't get support it is very difficult to make it. Particularly, if you think oh I have been intelligent enough, and I'm very intelligent, so I should not really put every egg in one basket. Absolutely true. You should not put all your eggs in one basket. However, if you have something better than that, very good. But if you don't have it, better not lose it. Within that, then people will give you different advices, different ideas, different suggestions. Lately I don't remember we had a discussion on this, but we used to discuss this. There's something called "non-virtuous friend." I don't remember if I talked here about it two years or a year. We haven't talked about it for a long time. 0:13:17.6

There is something called a friend, dharma friend. There's something called non-virtuous friend. We do have that very often. There's something called non-virtuous friend which is warned by all the great masters. One of the obstacles to your practice path is non-virtuous friend. Earlier Tibetan teachers used to say that non-virtuous friends will not come with a horn on the head and say, "Hey, I am your non-virtuous friend" with shaking their horns. They will not come in that way. But how and way the non-virtuous friend comes in is, "Oh I'm your friend, I know it. I care for you. I give you a good suggestion." In reality, a lot ot the people dump in their own confusion and a lot of people dump in their own doubts and a lot of people will dump in their own difficulties that they face through. Whether it is a childhood difficulty or whether it is a spiritual problem, whether it is a ego problem or a pride issue. Whatever it might be. It is something sort of dump on you. Dump, right? Dump. Dump on you. Get yourself completely either confused or sometimes even to the extent of pretending to be wise, but in reality, you turned completely 180 degrees round. It happens. I do have a friend. We do have a friend in Holland. I'd rather not name, because the tape goes. I'm not going to name it. But, the very nice person, however, had some difficulties whatever it is, difficulties, and within that difficulty, the person turned 180 degrees round. When I saw her, she was very happy. She said, "Do you know what?" I said, "What?" "I can say no to the boyfriend. I can say no." It's great she can say no to boyfriend. It is great, no doubt, but at the expenses of almost no personality left. You know what I mean? So this sort of thing is not necessarily great. These are the part of obstacles. They will come to the individual. The first thing they click in is laziness. The laziness is not necessarily laziness itself. It is taking away the individual from the spiritual path, whatever you need to do. Whatever you're on it, in this case like lam rim, and the lam rim in the individual is sort of taking it away from the practice. Any means of, different means and when that comes in, that is the laziness. We call it laziness. I'm not trying to teach you different English. But that's referred to here as only to overcome that. You need enthusiasm. Enthusiasm with wisdom. That is necessary. If you don't have the wisdom, then what's happening is, is you did not really. Ok, I'd sort of like to bottom line up. I was watching the television the other day. I watch everyday anyway. One of the advertisements for ATT, the guy goes "the bottom line for me is $25.00 everywhere in the United States." I forgot the bottom line. Maybe I forgot talking the ATT. {Laughs.} 0:19:18.7

Audience: Tell us in Tibetan.

Rimpoche: If I remember in Tibetan, I would have told you in English too. I wanted to bottom line, but I lost it completely. The bottom line is when ourself, when we are unable to really ground ourself, we don't have a basic foundation. When we don't have our own principle and then you can sweep here and there and you can be wavering. You know what I mean? When you have your own principle, then you cannot waver. That's the bottom line. That's the $25.00 call. So that's really what it is. When you don't have a principle for yourself, then maybe this is good, maybe that's good. A) you don't have wisdom. I don't mean YOU, the one who doesn't have wisdom. What is a useful, really needed, you don't have the wisdom. 2) On top of that, you don't have principle. Then anything maybe that's good, this is good, that's good, this is good, that maybe, this maybe, that maybe and very wavering. When you have wavering, you don't really expect to achieve anything, because then there is no enthusiasm. Your power of enthusiasm has been totally shaking by doubts, by miscomprehension, by anything. Basically, you don't know what you want. Basically you have no principle. So you're shaking. When you shake and you don't focus, you don't put anything, so how can you expect to achieve anything? 0:22:16.4

The earlier Tibetan teachers used to give an example. Even you're carried away by current, however you keep on thinking you're swimming. Until you sink, you go on swimming and think you're swimming. Until you really go, you can keep on thinking. That's exactly what it happens. So, these obstacles we have covered, at least in this lam rim part under this heading of not having perfect enthusiasm, which opposite of is laziness. So that's why "lazy" is not necessarily the laziness. Making yourself not available. Depriving opportunity to yourself to do something. That is the major laziness. Whether you deprive the opportunity under the pretext of laziness, under the pretext of no time or under the pretext of whatever! 0:23:44.7

So in reality, if you're pulling it away from your own development, then that is laziness. If it's contributing towards your development, whatever it may be, whether it is, whatever it could be! Anything can work. It is pulling and bringing closer to your development, then it becomes "enthusiasm." Pulling it away, it becomes "laziness" over here. I don't mean change your language or dictionary. That's why I normally say the slightly different between the eastern laziness and western laziness. Eastern laziness we would like to sit down, I mean I like to sit down, get a nice cup of tea or coffee, whatever it is, nice something to read or something to watch or something to listen and then, you don't want to be disturbed and sit in corner, don't want even move around. Anything comes, it is disturbing. That is the eastern laziness. Western people don't do that. They all like to be active. So active and busy and running around, jumping around, whatever it is. So, putting a lot deadlines and make yourself absolutely have no time, is the western laziness. Busy-lazy. That's what it is. 0:25:36.6

Basically the point here is and if you're interested to doing something, then you have to find out whether you have these obstacles within you. Within you. These obstacles are really comes from anywhere. From a lot of means. As I told you, through the non-virtuous friend. The non-virtuous friend will come and give you advice. The way they advise you is they really care for you, they really know you, they know your problems and blah, blah, blah. I know you well, blah, blah, blah. All this manner under that pretext and they will anyway, don't let you go straight and make you take zigzag roads or pull back. It is the non-virtuous. 0:26:35.8

I also like to emphasize here because you know, the path is like this. Path like this. Whether you do it or whether you don't do it, it does not make a difference to anybody except yourself. You know what I mean? It does not make a difference to anybody. It doesn't make a difference to Buddha. It doesn't make a difference to dharma. It doesn't make a difference to sangha. Though they want you to do it, but if you don't do it, it doesn't make a difference at all. I can't say couldn't care less, but it sort of you know, doesn't matter. They don't lose a penny for it. They don't, they may lose some sleep or not, but that's what it is. But it makes a hell of a difference to the individual. Look back to all the precious human lives we talk about. We talk about the opportunity. We talk about the capability of this very path, is capable delivering, cutting all our problems once and for all. Once and for all. What I'm describing opportunity to yourself. Look in that way. Then you'll see. That's what I like to emphasize. This is one of the biggest problems. Everybody will go through that. Pull, push, hesitation, out, pull back, out, pull back, you go through that. You have go through that. If you don't go through that, something's wrong with you. Or either you're not thinking, you're just simply flying. Tibetan teachers used to say if you carry a handful of sand or a handful of gold dust and pour it in the ear of donkey, the donkey's ear will move. It will not make a difference at all, whether it is a handful of sand or ear. It will move. If you're going in that manner, everything is nice, wonderful, not beautiful, blah, blah, blah. In that manner, we call it love and light. Love and light, nice manner. In that way, if you're going, then that's it. It doesn't make a difference. Never make a difference at all, anyway. Blah, blah, blah. It goes on, all the time. If you're a little serious and if you're putting a little bit of energy in it, if you're thinking a little bit and analyzing a little bit, you have to have push and pull. Push and pull has to have it. If you're not, you're not thinking. If not, you're not working, you're just moving. Love and light business. Love and light business have no problem, because it's love and light. Where you're going to get it? You're going to get nowhere. You're going to make a nice little circulation around and then back. That's what happens. I'm sorry, I don't mean anything against any particular teaching, against any individual, against any practice, but I like to share that with you because it may make a difference to some people in their life. I think that's good enough. 0:30:36.8

I have to go now according to the text. Basically they talk about three kinds of laziness. One, the laziness that's usual laziness, a delay, a delay, a delay. I'll do it tomorrow, tomorrow. Of course tomorrow you can do, but when is tomorrow going to come? No, I'm right, always there's tomorrow. You can say, I said tomorrow, I didn't say today, so that's what it is. {Speaks Tibetan. 0:31:35.5} Normally people will say I have this important thing, I have that important thing, I have this important thing, I have to do this week that, I have to do next week that, I have to do next month this, I have to do this and when that's over I 'm going to do it something very seriously on this. That does make a difference. Earlier Tibetan teachers have said {Speaks Tibetan 0:32:10.8}. That is the beginning of letting you down. So everything, you know, the activities, the precious, the deadlines that we have, it is like that of wave of ocean. Right? {Makes ocean wave noises.} If you keep on waiting, when that's over, I'll go home, you'll never go home, right? You may say, until the cows come home. That's that. Some Tibetan teachers used to give that thought is like that of an old man's beard and [the more] you shave, the more will come. Keep on shaving it and more will come. There's no end to stop. If you pluck that way, keep on pluck, the more you pluck, the more will come. They will never be an end to it. That is the equal to until the cows come home. 0:33:40.0

That's why it is very important, so whatever you want to do, you don't have to commit something very big from the beginning. I don't even recommend. But give yourself a half an hour, 45 minutes, everyday. At least to think about it. Think about your life. Pull back. Americans will run so much. Just pull and stop for a minute and give yourself stop for gas and tea. Remember that?

Audience: Smell the roses.

Rimpoche: Smell the roses, ok. I was thinking of Allen's poem. Stop for gas and tea. He used to drink tea. That's it. So you have to give yourself a chance to stop. Even if you don't want to meditate, doesn't matter, just think about it. Think about it, your life, think about it, your time, opportunity, how you're going, what direction you're taking, what you would like to do. The normal western idea of what's the mission of your life I think is a very important question. In one way, some people treat that as silly, some people treat that as important, but to me, I think is very important. What is the mission of your life? Each one of us has a mission. No one here would like to think my life has no mission. Is there anybody? No one will think my life has no mission. "I have no mission for my life." Is that right English? But everybody will think, "I have a mission, a purpose of life." Most of them will say, "I don't know what is my mission for this life." A lot of people say that, right? But everybody will think "I have a mission," and you do. Each and every one of us has a mission. Mission to be completed and that is to cut our suffering once and for all. That is the mission. 0:36:32.1

This is the best opportunity to cut it. You do have all the needs there. The best needs there. You do have all the opportunities there. You do have all the necessary things, methods there. Intelligent. If you wanted let laziness take over, that's fine. You just waste your life, otherwise, you do have a mission. Think about it. Give yourself half an hour, 45 minutes. How are you going with it? That is the best meditation you could do for your own sake. That if the first laziness and then the second laziness is addictions. Addictions, that I'm addicted to sleep. I'm addicted to gossip. Anything! I'm addicted to whatever. The addictions will take the opportunity and the addictions will take the chance opportunity and enthusiasm way from our, to complete our goal, because we're addicted to something, so you just have to get out. Do whatever you're doing it. You have to spend more time in it. Let's say if you're addicted to smoking cigarettes and the middle of your practice, probably you will want to get up and so may even have to jump the mantras little bit at the end, faster, so half said, half not said, because you've got to go out and smoke. Right. I'm trying to be nice, just using smoking only. I'm not going beyond that. But anything beyond that will pull you even more. So in other words, we're addicted to do something else which really not necessarily contributes and by taking it away from the helping point. That is the second kind of laziness. 0:39:32.1

The third kind of laziness is underestimating yourself. "I am incapable of doing that. That's not meant for me at all. I can't even look at that side at all." So you make yourself a tiny, little one and thinking that I'm incapable. Enlightenment for me? Forget it. Forget it! I can't even walk straight or something. That is the underestimating ourself. So the Buddha really gives you very good suggestion here. {Speaks Tibetan. 0:40:10.2} What's happening is, beginning you and I are equal, but somehow by sheer luck, I have been a little more enthusiastic and become a Buddha and you have been lazy and left it out. Or the other way around. I have been lazy and left it out; you have been enthusiastic and become a Buddha, so now I have to bow to you. It's rather unfortunate. That's exactly how it is. Between Buddha and ourself, 2500 or whatever years ago, if you look, it is equal. As much as Buddha was intelligent and that much intelligence, we have it. 0:41:16.9

We had the opportunities I'm quite sure, a number of times. Somehow we missed the boat anyway. What we did not have, what the difference between the Buddha and ourself is the laziness vs. enthusiasm. That made the total difference. That made the total difference. If you look at the six paramitas, we call it the bodhisattvas' way, straight where you look at it, yeah generosity, morality, patience, enthusiasm, it looks yeah, yeah, yeah, nice type of thing. But if you look the oppositions what they overpowered very carefully, you see how important these things are. This is not only applicable to Mahayana Buddhism alone. This is applicable to everybody everywhere, any kind of life they take it. This is even applicable to be successful in your career too. If you're lazy in your career, whatever you do, if you're lazy, you're lazy. You have no interest in your job. That's what the normal American language will tell you. This was no interest in your job, so why should we waste time on this? The same thing in the spiritual path or the material path, right? So, that's that. 0:43:15.7

Never think that ha, such a great thing, I can never do it. That's absolutely wrong! If you cannot do it, who can do it? Tell me. In our cases, we have absolutely intelligent person. We are! We're educated. We're open-minded. We're not stupid dumb. We're intelligent. We know what we want. Maybe we don't know. But, we say we do what we want it. We have all the thing whatever you want to achieve. Basically, qualities that we talk in the human life at the beginning of the lam rim level is all applicable here. Throughout actually! Whatever the beginning we talked, it is absolutely applicable here. OK? If you're absolutely looking at the spiritual path to overcome the laziness, is the importantness of life impermanent, death and dying? These are the main points to overcome your laziness. Right? 0:44:48.1

You had an opportunity. We had capability. It looks like we are sort of, we are landed in the treasure island. Whatever we wanted to pick up is there. But if you walk back empty-handed, that would be rather unfortunate. By looking through that, death and dying, impermanence, importantness of life, all of them, they are directly antidote for laziness. That's why at the beginning level, these meditations are introduced. Once you're sort of really within [tape goes blank 0:45:44.1] basically three kinds of laziness. If you read day 20, you'll know this. By talking three lazinesses, I have to talk three enthusiasms. The first is armor-like enthusiasm because any laziness that will come to you will not be able to wound it. A) Will not be able to come near you. Any sort of laziness manner that comes in, it should become a positive thing to push your work through. B) Even you can't do it, but it should not be able to get near you. The laziness has no room to come nearby. Even you can't make it for betterment, but there's no place for laziness. Even the last one. Even the laziness comes, it should not be able to wound you in the sense that laziness will take over you and you will miss the boat. So this is the armor-like idea. That's about that. 0:47:03.3

In the Lama Chopa {Speaks Tibetan. 0:47:06.9} the bodhisattvas say that even for the sake of one sentient being you may have to remain one eon in the lower realms and will never have a single moment of regret or non-endurance. That's sort of the extended bodhisattva enthusiasm for that. That is way beyond for us however. Then the second enthusiasm is accumulation of positive action, whatever you could. Whatever you could, wherever there's an opportunity for us to have accumulation of merit or to do something positive, don't miss the opportunity. Take all the opportunities. That's what it is. Even our ordinary life, you know, people who are very much identified with their work, they will try not to miss any opportunity, whatever they could do, something what they want to do, right? People do that all the time, we see it. Sometime they go to the extent of obnoxious, but that's what they do anyway. That's their job. So it is. We have to do the same way to the spiritual path, whatever it is, don't miss the opportunity. Try to go, that is the second part of the, second kind of, enthusiasm. 0:49:08.3

Third and last is dedicating yourself for helping others. Basically, that is about laziness and that is about enthusiasm. That's how it works. This is the opposition. That is the antidote. The information in your hand, in your mind, in front of you, under your nose and how you're going play, that's up to you. That's what it is. Thus, we have covered the fourth paramita. Next is going to be meditation concentration. 0:50:05.1 [Scheduling for the meditation concentration discussions.] This will not be analytical meditation at all. The analytical meditation will be the wisdom part; this is the concentrated meditation.

19950124GRLR