Archive Result

Soundfile : 19950603GRCL

Speaker : Gelek Rimpoche

Location : Cleveland

Topic : no topic provided in file name, so I wonder if “Three Principles and Six Perfections”

Is ok

Transcriber : Suan Chin KHOO (Elaine)

Date : December 27 2021

…from certain texts.[cough].

It means whatever people get, people get complete. We are not going half here and half there.. you know, we don't want to have what the Tibetans used to say [Tibetan] 0:00:16.1. It means the goat’s head should not be on the body of sheep.[cough] excuse me. That's why we keep text to keep things straight and put together. As a result, what happened is the individual who had been studying seriously, then they have a complete account of whatever the text comes. So that is the reason. [Thank you….inaudible ]

0:00:55.6 Let me… the textbook what you have in your hand….Oh, before I talk about the textbook. You know I was sitting there and then I sit out there I normally don’t feel much about it. When I'm moving when she came in and I would give up seat so I moved up here, I sat there and watching you people and look this mantras you do here... GATE GATE PARAGATE, OM MANI PADME HUM, OM TARE TUTARE, [Migtsema prayer] ...To some people it’s making sense, to some people, can you hear me okay? OK, well next time we talk, we should get some public speaking system, so some people it look like doesn't even know what's going on with that and this absolutely true. Some of you may be coming here for the first time or maybe couple of times doesn't really tune in, doesn't know and then I felt as though I'm giving a little additional burden on you to be able to say those things.

0:02:33.6 So I thought while sitting over there I thought it was this OM MANI PADME HUNG and this OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA is two very important enlightened beings [Inaudible]0:02:46.7. One specialized for healing and living a life-- That's the White Tara, OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA. The OM MANI PADME HUNG is the compassionate Avalokiteswara, embodiment of the compassion of all enlightened beings through which we will utilize a lot of activities for death and dying.

So, if I take a time out of this teaching and try to talk about healing and the death or dying and then again we're taking away from a regular thing what we do. So, I thought I was sitting over there and thought, perhaps in September or October, if we can make two days workshop and that has to be a Saturday and a Sunday, two days workshop, workshop dealing with death and dying, and healing so that'll be a living and dying according to the Tibetan tradition. For this will not be this regular meetings that what we do and we do completely separate workshop so that those of you have this OM MANI PADME HUNG keep on saying it, just because saying it well might as well maybe part of it or whatever it is or they get a little more idea of how it works and also get a little more understanding of the death and dying stages, which I do a lot of workshops anyway. So, it doesn't matter so much. I'm sort of forced to do that workshop by the larger conference in New York, the death and dying conference. I was not supposed to be on that. I was supposed to be there for the healing part. I was to do the healing part of it, so for me it's supposed to be only for about 2 hours something. And Sogyal Rimpoche who wrote the book on the Tibetan Living and Dying or is it called Dying and Living or Living and Dying or whatever it is. Oh, living and dying. He is supposed to be doing there whole-day plus half-day workshop but he couldn't make it. So, the last minute they try to substitute me for that. So, I got to do that. There was 700 people registered for this workshop in New York. So couldn’t even cancel it at the last minute. So, I got to do that and since then I took a number of times because then Chicago asked and then Indiana, everywhere.

So, I thought maybe we should do that so that you people can get some idea.[Inaudible] 0:06:19.0 Look like this mantra put on you and say it or something you know, I sort of felt that. Maybe we should do that either in September or October and I'm sure that it’ll be overburden in our usual organization that Yael does, and Yael and a couple of people do together. So, I don't see Megan around here, also that will be her punishment [Laughter] and so, people can have more. Yeah, I know. But let that be Megan’s punishment [Group Laughter]. Since she is not here [Laughter]. Let see in September or October, I don't know, I will have to look in the schedule with Kathy. Let's do that—two-day workshop. The first Saturday will be “death and dying” and the second, Sunday, will be “living and healing”. You can't just end it there, you don't want that right now.

0:07:38.4 So, based on Avalokiteswara, since after that so much, people want to do that so much. Thurman pressurized me all the time to do that. I also scheduled to do in something in New York. [Hey, here you are… some long inaudible conversation with someone in the audience]

0:08:45.1 So, let’s do that then we talk about OM MANI PADME HUNG, and how we deal with that dying things and all this. Timings will be like 10 to 12, 2 to 5. That's what we normally do. That's exactly how it should be. That works better, for the people get a time to eat lunch and chit chat and think about it and then come back and do the leftover or whatever it is. And now that…hmmm, briefly, how did Aura do by the way? [inaudible conversation with someone]0:09:26.9 Good. That's OK but did OK. Alright, so let me try to sum up little bit today. I'm glad we’ve finished. I’m not sure how much you got it. But as far as reading text is concerned, it’s done. I kept on wondering why we had stopped, you know. So, that's good.

Three principal paths is the three most important points. You want me to sum up on the basis of the text or you want me just talk about it, whatever the majority want. Oh you don't care, whatever you do, fine, right? OK is that idea? [inaudible]0:10:34.0 The idea is if you look at the textbook, you get some idea, you think about it. That's why summing up on the textbook is not bad idea. But if you don't want to, I can just talk. It easier for me.

Audience: talk [inaudible]0:11:10.4

GR: Alright OK I'm sorry what did you say? [inaudible conversation] 0:11:18.6

0:11:33.9 So, let me talk to you today, emphasize on the two last points. [cough] basically when we say three principles. If one individual is seeking a spiritual path which Buddha followed. So, what is involved in that? How did Buddha go? What are his experience? And how you sum up in 3 words, actually, that’s the question. So, what the Buddha did is that he sum up in three important points. When you hear a lot of three this, three that, three that. You might think, oh yeah, I have heard about three yanas. OK that maybe that is one, maybe not. So, here it was based on the personal gain of three big jumps. Within three jumps there is a lot of small stage of development are there. So these are you know from the text called the lamrin. But let me sum up the three principles. Three giant jump ups in this spiritual path. So, the giant number one is actually getting free, free yourself, getting free, this is a very well associated with the American mentality because the freedom is a big thing to the Americans. And it is true, it is a big thing in the spiritual path. If you are not free and then you have all the problems. As we know very well, if you are not politically free, you have all sorts of difficulties.

0:14:07.8 Funny thing is I'm supposed to go to Tibet, I was supposed to go to Tibet in the middle of June and the people who wanted to go with me the first thing came up like 60 or something, then finally dropped down to 25, 30. So, when the final point came and we apply for the visa and all this, and they're very enthusiastic and one invited me, the one invited group. You will be invited, group will be invited by appropriate people, so then appropriate decisions came in saying, you’ve been invited as a guest of some some organization, but you cannot go with your group. You can go, group can go, you can invite the group to dinner in Lhasa maybe once or something, but you cannot go together anywhere you want to go. So that is lack of freedom in communist country, what do you expect even though we are not Communist. We are American citizens. But they have that sort of thing. So, the lack of freedom cannot do anything, which is demonstrated. I’m not talking about the tortures, imprisonments and all these, that is totally different. But even this, little tour we want to go, have these restrictions, lack of freedom. As a result, only five people are going and I'm not even sure that I'm going or not. If I go, I will simply go like for 10 days or something, that’s to see my relations. So, lack of freedom will not let you do what you want to do, even in our life, you know that, right?

0:16:10.0 So, in the spiritual path, it is same thing. If you don’t have freedom, you can’t do what you want to do, you can’t achieve. What makes you difficult to do, what controls you, is not a second or third person but yourself. You yourself and your emotional thoughts, doubts, suspicions, and craziness, one after another will come and make obstacle to you to do what you want to do. And there is not a single person whether young or old who doesn't want freedom, who doesn't want happiness, who doesn't want a joy and a wonderful time, and a blissful life. There’s nobody. Yet everyone, no matter how free we may be as Americans but we always have obstacles, we don’t get it. We always have a problem. If you don't have economic problems, you have a political problem. If you don't have political or economic problems, you have health problems. If you don’t have that, you have something else. If you don't have that, you have something else. All of them comes in. And that is the sign of lack of freedom. [Inaudible chat and laughter]0:17:47.8

0:18:22.5 So, where are these obstacles we’ve been talking, where are they coming from? We always blame, like to blame somebody, that is definitely what we want to do and we always do. If so-and-so didn’t do that, that would have been different, right? Sure, yeah, that's what we always do. But it is the delusion. It is really a wrong angle we're looking. We always blame somebody. I notice within myself. [inaudible]0:19:02.7 I will not be late for that place if so-and-so did not let me wait or even someone had told me to move a little bit early, I won't be late. So that's sort of mind, simple mind, even I watch myself, I get that very often. So, what it means, whenever you get a bigger problem, you blame somebody else all the time. In reality, that somebody has no business and that person who I think should have told me move a little bit earlier has no business to tell me to move earlier. It is my total responsibility to be able to measure how long it takes to get there, whenever you plan and to be able to move. But we have to blame somebody. That is simple example, but in reality, the bigger things will blame other person, which is totally looking at the wrong side. It is ourselves. We, within ourselves, our emotion, the thoughts that comes up [Inaudible]0:20:22.9

It is only our own personal emotional thoughts—anger-oriented, hatred- oriented, jealous-oriented, attachment-oriented. That is the problem. So, when you are seeking freedom, you are not seeking freedom from Fidel Castro from Cuba. [Laughter]. We have to seek freedom from the monster within ourselves. So, that's why the Buddha’s giant step, getting freedom from them. And the root of all, of those, lies to ignorance. Ignorance of not knowing, alone but ignorance of wrong knowing as well. Can you hear me okay now? Ignorance of wrong knowing is more problem than that of ignorance of not knowing though ignorance of not knowing has no excuse for downfalls.

0:21:52.2 So, basically, step number 1, or principle number 1 is looking deeply in ourselves, this whole inside meditation they call it. From the Zen tradition, they have got a total setup is actually a focus on that looking deeply inside ourselves, seeing how these thoughts coming up and how these ideas are working with you, and what does that idea make you do things, observing it, watching it very carefully, within you and look at other person too. Now, interesting thing is if you look at somebody chemically or physically or mentally unbalanced person. A person with a couple of screws lose more than us. [Laughter] Other ways we all have a couple of screws loose anyway. If we are not a little bit of crazy we won't be here, you know. [Laughter] So, when you watch those unbalanced people, sometimes when you're watching at them and they really have a very nice intention and wonderful person no doubt, but still they absolutely act something absolutely crazy and which they have no idea what they did and what they're doing, right? We've seen that. I have seen it. I'm quite sure each one of us has somehow or another seen it or heard about it, knowing about it. So what's happening is that these emotions, when they become so powerful, they can completely overtake our awareness. Because the person doesn’t know. [inaudible]0:24:50.8 then they watch us and they not completely overtake but somehow some other different reason or cautious or whatever, with good intention, somehow it will limit us to do whatever we want to do. You know what I mean? So, the degree of the controlled emotions have, it differs. So, it is time for us to fight back and to control, to gain control of ourselves by the wonderful nature of the human being inside rather than leading this delusion thoughts taking over. And that's system number one.

0:25:53.2 Then there is the real Buddhist practice, whether you sit with crossed legs or whether you sit on the chair with the whatever this style called …[inaudible]0:26:05.7 ..usual name where I'm sitting, or if you sit with your head down and legs up, or if you sit on your pot I mean porcelain pot [laughter], whatever you do and if you think those and challenge that, and observe that, and you have wisdom number one, the principal number 1. Okay? That’s my summing up of the first principle, giving freedom for yourself.

One thing I would like to tell you, Buddhist practice, as far as I know, Tibetan Buddhist, two types of people who does. One type of person who does practice will understand ideas, thoughts and correcting your uncontrolled or even unattention habitual patterns leading your lives by awareness, attention, understanding is one way of practice. As a matter of fact, it is a good one and the better one.

The other one is very limited. Absolutely limited of understanding, limited, so it’s simply sit down and meditate and said mantras and carry malas around your neck and show everybody you're doing something, aaah, that’s another one. I do carry mala but I don’t wear it on my neck. I put ties instead of them as I would look like normal usual American. I don't want to look like a stranger coming out of some kind of UFO landed something. I don’t want to look like that. So that is what it is.

0:28:32.3 In our case, what we need, we need both. But we need more understanding and work with the mind. We don’t want to be psychologist but we want to see the mind within ourselves, how it functions so that we know exactly how we tame the wild elephant within ourselves. So, we like to know how it functions. If we don’t how it functions, no matter whatever you do, you will simply be shooting arrows where there is no target. Thank you. When there's target, you will be simply shooting it no matter where it goes, whoever where it hits. [Inaudible]0:29:43.1 hit the right target…what’s happening. So you need to know how it is functioning and understanding that we are all educated people. But don’t look so much of those of Tibetans, basically, because the majority of Tibetans are uneducated persons. I’m neither educated in the any education, spiritual or even otherwise. So, I am speaking only OM MANI PADME HUM, and that is about it. It has its own value. We are all educated. So, use our thoughts, ideas, brains and intelligence and see how it works. Also, adopt the other one. Combining the two together, it works perfectly.

The second thing, second principle now, [ inaudible]0:30:57.9 but total idea of love compassion. I would like to say, the charity begins at home. That is normal American saying. There is so much wonderful things in our basic human culture [inaudible ]0:31:43.8. Whatever the reason might be, the American attitude towards the love compassion is always focused out. The moment you say love and compassion, you sort of have to immediately think somebody else outside other than you who is little more difficult than you or maybe little more weaker person than you, or little more poorer person than you, or what whatever the economically or spiritual, whatever we sort of look outside, some suffering being out there rather than you. So, try to project ourselves completely some kind of ego which is saying I’m beyond that, so we always compassion look outside. But the problem really is, first you need compassion for yourself. Absolutely! If you are incapable of loving yourself, you will never be capable of loving others. You know that, we all know that. We like to deny. But that is absolutely true. If you don’t know how to take care of yourself, how do you expect to care of others? What shall others expect out of you when you even don’t know how to tie your own shoe-lace? Really true.

0:33:41.3 So, the first and foremost is compassion to yourself. Don’t leave you out. Don’t always look out. Look both, in and out. Remember, charity begins at home. Compassion to yourself. Love yourself. Don’t hate yourself. People make mistakes. Who does not make mistakes? And Buddha made billions of mistakes, and corrected, and became a Buddha. Do not say always good learning and leave there. We do. We make mistakes. If you blame yourself. Well, we learn this time, and you repeat the same old common problem again, and the same old comment again…all good learning…how long you going to learn? That’s a problem. So, what you need to do is you have to learn then correct yourself. Awareness. Awareness is the key for ourselves to whatever we learn lessons, making sure not to repeat that. It is really learn the awareness. If you don’t have the awareness, you have learned intellectually but you have not learn from your heart. You’ve learned in your head. You’ve not learned in your heart, so you don’t act. You act whatever your head tells you. So that’s why you keep on good learning experience hundred times, maybe thousand times [Laughter] repeated out there. That is the problem. So, awareness, compassion to yourself. You are also a human being. We have a wonderful nature. We have a great quality, wonderful life. No doubt about it. At the same time, we are not problem-free either. We have a tremendous amount of suffering within ourselves. We do, we are worried. The elder ones have their own suffering, the younger ones have their own sufferings.

0:36:38.0 I was with a family, I will not name it, last night, with a kid and mother. And I was watching, and that kid wanted to do something different. The mother, both kid and mother wanted to be good for both, for the kid actually. But mother there is constantly bugging the kid, every 10 or 15 minutes, constantly bugging. And the poor kid can’t even do whatever he wants to do. As a result, after a little while, the kid went into the toilet and didn’t come another 15 minutes. And mother is at the door of the toilet and shouting. And I told her, “Why don’t you stop bugging?”. She had a big surprise. “Bugging?” I said, “Yeah, bugging. So, that is what it is. The kid’s problem is to get the mother off the back, the mother’s problem is that she wants the kid to do exactly what she wants the kid to do. As a result, both are suffering. So, the elder has its own problem, and the younger has its own problem. This is just simple example I am giving you that I encountered last night. So, I am just giving you this simple example.

0:38:25.7 But then, bigger than that, they all have it. So, everybody has its own problem, suffering, whether it is right or wrong, or genuine or whatever it is, it is the reality that individual is suffering. That is what it is. And then you have the problem of aging problem, you have the problem of sickness, you have problem of dying, and we have the problem of emotional suffering, and we have the problem of loneliness. And fear of being lonely, fear of being afraid of something we couldn't even know what we are afraid of. These all our problem.

So, we do need compassion for ourselves too. Don't think it's the only bad person is suffering [inaudible]0:39:30.7. So you need compassion to external as well as to yourself. And it is easier to develop compassion to yourself. When you develop compassion to yourself, again another problem, you should not be self-pitying. That is something you don’t want. Compassion and pity feelings are two separate things. And just as compassion and pity feelings are two separate things, loving (yeah, I love you, love, love, love…), that love and controlling are two separate things again. You know what I mean? Sometimes, what I'm noticing when the mother loves the kid lots and they wanted to make absolutely right, a perfect picture. In order to bring that, every single five minutes they’re bugging the kids, like hell. That is not love, it is a control issue. Even if it is good thought, compassion thought, whatever it may be, control issue you wanted control, you have an idea of what's called ideal instead of a human being, you want to bring that person you care in that shape. So you try to make it and try to make it and you're fighting between the personality of that person and you, keep on fighting. It’s a control issue, it goes on between mother and kid, it goes on between husband and wife, it goes between boyfriend and girlfriend, it goes on between the companions and the individuals all the time. It is the source of our problems. And so you have to have a compassion for that, if you have to have pure love for those.

0:42:12.5 The body that the Buddha want..that is love and compassion, is free of control issue, free of pity feeling, self-pity feeling, which called the ultimate love and ultimate compassion-- unconditioned, unlimited. And that is the second level what the Buddha’s state. OK?

And that mind has to be developed with you. It means that it is training. It does not come out that way easily. You have to train yourself. Give yourself training. What training? First you have to learn how to forget, forgive. Even in the Christian tradition you call it forgiveness. How to get it? How to give it? How to give out the grudge against the person that doesn't listen to what I told that one. I told with my sincere thoughts, enthusiasm and ideas but he didn’t listen. So they are suffering. What else? They would deserve it. That is you need to know how to forget. And recognize suffering as a suffering. It is real. It’s a reality.

[Inaudible]0:44:11.5 comfortably there, when you are in that state. Don’t forget how painful it is, acknowledge that, don’t deny. Denial is a problem, tremendous problem. All our biggest problems that we have is find a shelter in denial. That’s not my problems but…blah, blah, blah. It is never ending…but blah, blah, blah. Whatever it is, it is denial. Denial is, like you know, hiding nest for a poisonous snake. So don’t keep that within you. Be compassionate to yourself, then you’ve shelter from your own poisonous snake within you. Get it? If you do that, though you may think poor me, and only pity feeling. Then instead of loving yourself, you are creating another problem. That is love and compassion. Go to that from [inaudible]0:46:38.7 …to other person. Don’t try to develop for the “all sentient beings” as we say all the time. It’s a great thing to do, but there is a gap in between, the gap has to be filled. Don’t ever try to develop compassion immediately on enemy. [Inaudible]0:47:00.9…so the Buddha says the enemy has to be loved equally. Not only the Buddha, but every spiritual master says.[inaudible]0:47:08.6 …Are you disconnected? [Inaudible]

So, what do I do now?…[Inaudible], laughter, thank you...laughter]

0:48:02.2 OK, now, that is basically love and compassion. So once you develop love, and it is a genuine caring feeling for yourself and for others. You must begin with the person you love. If you have difficulty with yourself, begin let’s say with …[inaudible]0:48:24.9, your kids, your children, somebody you love, although Buddha and Tibetan Buddhism recommends you to look every sentient being as a mother and then have love and compassion. But I am not very sure whether you are going to like the mother very much or not. Lot of people will have problem with that. …[inaudible]0:49:00.1

Other than try to make the measurement of the care, the depth of the caring, with the exception of the feeling, most of the mothers do have a strong caring business. You don’t look to your mom to find that out. You look to yourself if you are a mother or if you been mother, how much you care for your own kids. How much you go out of your way to protect your kids? And you look that way, then you know. Don’t look at your mother because your mother have been bugging you long enough so the picture that you got is the bugging business first rather than the caring. Look at yourself, many of you have been mothers , if you really look at mother and how much you are caring for the little sweet one or caring that you have, then you know the feeling. That’s why they said look as all mother beings. The care that a mother give to their little kids are very difficult to be substituted by anybody, not by father, not by boyfriend, not by girlfriend. [Inaudible]0:50:48.3. There is something special bond between the mother and the kid --from the mother’s point of view, from the mother’s angle; not from the kid’s angle. That is the caring to give you the example of when you say “I love you” and that’s what supposed to be, with that feeling.

But most of us will say [Inaudible phrase]0:51:23.4, as Americans we have to say three times a day “I love you” to make sure that you are stuck together. But that is becomes a problem, right? Many times people do that. We have to say 3 times a day “I love you” to make sure you are promising that. But when you say that, actually the feeling really that you are ensuring is that much care, and that much feelings you are expressing. That is my understanding of love. So, when you say “I love you”, don’t say “I want to control you”….But do say, “I love you as you are”. That is American culture, tell you the truth, right?..I love you as you are, right? Don’t you say it? [inaudible]0:52:20.1. Hey, you people are supposed to be American. So, I did hear people say I love you as you are, right, don’t they? That is okay. In other words, they are telling, “I don’t want to control you and make you different personality” That’s what it is. Anyway, that is love and compassion.

0:52:55.8 So, if you have that caring feeling, and you have that compassion, do you just sit there and say “Hey, I love you, I love you” Don’t just sit there, do something! Right? Just sit there and say “I care for you, I care for you” [makes smooching sound, laughter] …and sit there and do something…you got to do something.

So, Six Paramitas, or the Six Perfections comes into the picture. For what the Buddha recommended, don’t just sit there and say “I love you”…but do something, so what do you do? Six Perfections.

The perfection No. 1: Generosity

Generosity is extremely important. The moment I say “generosity”, how many people did not think money? How many people? Raise hand. That‘s 4 or 5. So, the rest of the people think generosity is giving money. It is a great thing, a great American tradition, Western tradition, the Juda-Christian tradition really had somehow ingrained in the people that generosity is a great thing, and share it. The easiest thing to share and more effective to the collectors is the money because you have learned that generosity means giving the money. But that is not the only picture, that’s not the only picture. It’s a great thing, no doubt. I’ll tell you great thing because I was once at the receiving end.

In 1959 when I came out, or rather when I was kicked out of Tibet, in that period, we came out without anything --just 2 hands up in the air, walked out. All of a suddenly there is a [inaudible] 0:55:35.4 giving you some vitamins, some hot tea, some blankets, and some food to carry. It was so wonderful. You don’t expect that. You have no knowledge, no idea, and all of a sudden in the middle of the road some people were giving you those. Wonderful to receive from the receiving end. Very helpful. For all of us, very grateful for the kind and generous Western people. Unfortunately Indians are not that generous. And they are, but at the same time they [inaudible]0:56:38.4…anyway, forget about it [Laughter]…Or maybe I should say, because comes from my head. What happened is people give old clothes from the West, nice clothes [inaudible]0:56:52.5. You can see the bundles, and the bundles that was replaced in between--Instead of when you open it up, instead of giving normal Western things, you get bundles of old tools, dothi [inaudible]0:57:09.7 . And you can’t even touch them… When you take it out they go to pieces. That came up in my mind, sorry about it. My apologies for that, really. And so, that is what it is. Americans are very good.

0:57:32.8 And that is not the only thing you can give. You can give love. You can give kindness, you can share the method of solving a problem, whether it is spiritual, practical, economical, whatever it may be. Be generous means that, not only giving money. Be open. Open to listen to people’s problem. But some people really like to listen, just give them little time to listen to their problem. Give some suggestions from a genuine kindness. It may be help. Don’t impose, don’t overdo it, because they don’t like it. The receiving is another human being, you have to really go according to what they can take it. You don’t want to go beyond that. Then it becomes imposing, control, bugging. [inaudible]0:59:03.5, right?

And then, protection--protection from a certain life, giving a life, saving a life. These are the generosity. And generosity also must have…er incidentally, generosity [laughter]….I was talking to Yael this morning. Can I say it? [Audience laughter] and [inaudible]0:59:47.3. I was talking to Yael this morning, and I’m sorry, hope you don’t mind, I am going to say it…I was talking to Yael this morning and I said, “Well you do have to send the notice [inaudible]1:00:05.9…all those dates in August and September. She said, “I’ll mail them together”. I said, “No, people like to receive the notice or maybe a reminder so that they don’t forget….[inaudible]1:00:28.7 …She said, “It costs a lot of money...Every time we send mailing, it would cost $150. And then … we can't make $150, only $50 or $60 dollars. Then it makes a problem for the mother organization in Ann Arbor to pay more if we send it… And we are talking about the labour that involve, work that it involves, time that it involves, time to put stamps on them, time to fold it, put stamp on them…unless there are hundreds willing to carry it out. [Laughter]

I said, do you put a bow anywhere? And she said “I do!”

“Oh, can I see it?”, I said.

She showed me the little plastic jar.

I said, “That’s not good”

She said, “Why?” [Inaudible]1:01:56.5

I said, “no, you got to put big bow.”

[Laughter]…So, I thought I would share this with you …

[Laughter, some description, inaudible]1:02:12.8

But at the same time, I would also like to say, generosity should have morality, which is discipline. Discipline on the generosity which you have. You know, for some people who are very kind and generous, and giving somebody something all the time. And then you get fed-up. Yeah, I keep giving them all the time but no satisfaction, no shame, whatever you say, whatever the thoughts pop up, no shame, but it comes up in your head and you may say, no satisfaction something…. whatever… fed up, or normal American terminology what they like to use is burnout…so can’t do it…Burnout. And all these. Have no discipline. So, generosity must go with morality. The morality must have generosity. Each one of the six paramitas, six perfections has to work within the six. So the generosity have the generosity of morality, which is the discipline. That is what it is.

When people make their pledge, they should have the discipline, [whole segment is inaudible] 1:03:51.2 once you agree, you’ve got to pay, you’ve got to give because on the other side, there are people who are dependent on it. So that’s why you’ve got to move on time. That is the discipline of generosity. Don’t get burnout. Don’t get fight. You should have generosity of PATIENCE. Discipline, time, patience, don’t get burnout. Generosity of ENTHUSIASM. Whatever you give, you should give enthusiastically rather than feel pinched, don’t want to but have to. I'll be obligated, I’ll be embarrassed, you know. Why help? Right? That’s waste of money, waste of receiving point , waste of the giver and [inaudible]1:05:00.5 Give whatever it may be …maybe it’s only one cent, maybe it is a million cents, whatever it is, give with enthusiasm.

Give with CONCENTRATION . Concentration, thinking this is going to set purposes for two purposes. Purpose of self for benefiting self, opportunity to be generous, opportunity to be participant, opportunity to be involved and to other person whoever is getting it a program, a project, whether it is for the homeless, a shelter, for the environmental issue, the church dinner, whatever it is, it is its own purposes, serving for that, these are the two concentrations. Self benefit, others benefit, with these two mindfulness

1:06:08.7 Give with WISDOM. Don’t give cash to junkies, that is without wisdom. Yeah, what would they do? Shoot another thing. Also, don’t give extra cash, no matter how poor he is, don't give to the alcoholic. Make sure instead of buying a hot bowl of soup…[inaudible]1:06:37.4 I saw a number of times but at the same you have to give a little but don’t give too much. That is what I did. I saw a couple of people who said I have no food, and blah blah blah. I give a dollar or two dollars, that is not enough, I’m not going to get hamburger out of it, arguing. …[inaudible]1:06:59.0

just a dollar…. [inaudible 1:07:04.8..came out of a liquor shop and carrying a little bottle. …]Feeling miserable of giving two dollars, but feeling miserable of damaging his own health. But you have to give something. You can’t just turn them away. You need wisdom for that. Give something they could really use it. You know. And then you try to give [ inaudible]1:07:37.4, then laughter]Anyway, you need wisdom, and that is how generosity work with the six perfections.

Similarly, MORALITY, morality also works with the six perfections. When we talk about morality, it is also little difficult in the Western tradition. You mention morality and you get a different picture from what morality really is. In the Juda-Christian tradition, when you talk about morality, they think there is no place for homosexuals, there is no place for Muslims. We are not talking about that. We are not talking about sexual orientation. We are not talking about it. Morality here we are talking about discipline. Discipline of whatever you wanted to do. Don’t ever leave for tomorrow because tomorrow might not come. There is always tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow! For discipline, do it NOW! Whatever you want to do, do it now! Even discipline, time discipline, thought discipline, action discipline. Keep discipline, that is morality, keep your commitment, fulfill your commitment. Whatever commitment maybe…vows, commitments, whatever, these are the basic morality. Be generous on that. Be patient. Be enthusiasm. Concentrate. Have wisdom. Can you see it? That is how you conduct your life.

1:09:55.1 Patience, next. Be generous on the patience. Don’t get burn quickly. Have a discipline. Patience, patience. No matter how hard it is, once you have committed, be brave, don’t chicken out. If you have a commitment of taking care of a sick person, be on time, whatever it is , weekend, two hours, one hour, even half an hour, be on time. Have discipline, and have patience, and brave. Don’t get chicken out. Be enthusiastic. Don’t say it … I've a lot of things to do one thing Blah..blah…But I have to come in here and blah blah blah. So, you’ve come, and it’s great. But you have spoilt the effort by bugging the person that I have to come to see you …blah blah blah blah. Of course, and the sick person is the person who has this condition that needs you to help. And you’ve not been ordered by any king to do that job. You volunteered. So, stop bugging! Right? If you do that, instead of helping that person, that person feel that you shouldn’t come or something, and then it a total waste of your own efforts. That’s what being patient means. Instead of overpowering anger, you make the person angry. Patience is the antidote of anger. No doubt. If you don’t have it, you have to develop anger?? (1:12:40.9 note to editor: I think Rimpoche meant to say “You have to develop patience”) . Right? That is what it is.

I don’t know why I am telling you. It is very hard for me to drive 3hrs from Ann Arbor to here…Blah, blah, blah…I came in storm ..blah, blah blah…[Laughter]…I can tell you that. What you bugging for? [Laughter at Rimpoche’s impersonation]1:13:12.7. When you go and volunteer help somebody, don’t bug the person, the patient. Person freak out some times. You should allow them to freak out. They need room to freak out. When we are in total control, total health, how many times we freak out? When you lose something, when you lose job, how much we freak out. When we lose some friend, how much we freak out. This dying person is losing everything, losing his or her job, losing his or her position, losing his or her friend, everything! So naturally you should allow them to freak out a little bit. Give them room to freak out. Don’t freak out yourself. Just because the other one is freaking out. Think, they are losing everything, ok?! Should allow them to freak out little bit. That’s what patience is.

And Enthusiasm. It is not your [inaudible] 1:14:42.4 Tax. You have to pay but you don’t want to pay. You know. [Inaudible]1:14:51.2 So that what you can do it. Enthusiasm.

1:14:58.7 Concentration. What I talking about? I’m talking about Patience, right? Patience with enthusiasm and concentration. Concentrate what you are doing. A lot of people do not concentrate what they are doing. Lot! We all sit somewhere, just pretend to do something but we are thinking a million things different. So, the work whatever you do, it is not necessarily perfect. And that goes for the young people who are studying, and that goes for the older people who are practicing, that goes for the youth, and the middle-aged people who’ve been working, practicing, driving, everything. Have concentration! Okay?

So basically talking the Wisdom of how these 6 perfections you use within your life. [inaudible conversation]1:16:11.6 . Enthusiasm. So, be generous on enthusiasm. Have discipline. The words, now you can see it. Be generous. Have enthusiasm. Be Concentrate. Have Wisdom. Wisdom of to know what to do and what not to do. Have concentration. Be generous on your concentration. Have a discipline. Be patient. Work enthusiastically. Think and have wisdom. And basically the meditations are in the part of concentration, particularly meditation on mind. Meditation on mind is the most important. You have to observe how your mind is functioning. You have to observe how so many thoughts and emotions suddenly pops up, and how it changes the mind.

I always give example. The mind is like that of a colourless lampshade. The mind does not have physical shape, nor has it got colour. It is not tangible. Or catchable. Or paintable. You cannot paint the mind, though the modern artists do…jumping around [inaudible]1:18:23.7 and they say that’s the mind. [Laughter] Not tangible. So it is a colourless lampshade. And all these emotions that we come up, like the different colour bulbs we put in. But the real bulb inside colorless crystal lampshade and looks like red lampshade, that’s when you are angry. Then you have the green, light green light blue dull lampshade, looks like light green, light blue lampshade, right? So, the mind has been totally influenced by the emotions that pop up. [inaudible]1:19:26.8 doesn’t need any preparation. It comes out like toast, out a toaster. For you to know how it’s functioning, meditate on your mind. And the way and how you do it is by [inaudible]1:19:51.1 observing or watching how the thoughts come up, how it is functioning. Right? That is the concentration.

Actually, true wisdom is actually knowing the true reality of the mind and its nature. It’s the wisdom. I cannot give a long explanation on the wisdom just now because lack of time, knowledge, patience and [Laughter] what else? And the heat everything. That’s about it. Actually these 6 paramitas or 6 perfections are actually how you conduct your life daily. Doesn’t matter daily having to be praying, saying mantra, or something but in principle how you conduct your life in this manner. And that is the real Buddhism. This is how Buddha conducted his life. And this is the way how the unbroken lineage of Buddhist masters have conducted their lives. That’s how my teachers taught me. That how I am telling you how you conduct your life.

I have nothing more to say…If you have something [inaudible]1:21:59.2, I'm fine.

Well, that’s it.

1:22:08.0 [The rest is conversation that I could not fully capture]

We are going to meet again, whether you get mailing or no mailing [Laughter], depends on the [inaudible, laughter] 1:22:23.0. It’s joking. Don’t take seriously, whether you get the mailing or not, we are going to meet on 8th of July. [inaudible conversation] [laughter]1:22:41.9 the people can come and participate [1:22:51.7 ] I have no idea in Cleveland where you can go for picnic. [inaudible, quoting from Ginsberg]1:23:20.9

Ok thank you so much. What do you have there. What did they say? Let’s say the dedication together.

[Dedication verse]

Thank you. That will do.