Archive Result

Soundfile 19961010GRBH3P

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Bloomfield Hills

Topic Three Principles of the Path

Transcriber Jill Neuwirth

Date 1/28/2021

(Audience sings and recites prayers) [0:08:50.5] Good evening everybody. Last Thursday when we met together I think we went through the prayer that what we- not prayer I shouldn’t say that, little thing what we say we went through with that. I hope everybody was there and hope it’s clear to you. But I don’t recall correctly whether we explained that muni muni and mani peme hung and tara tuttare ture soha. I did one place, maybe it was Chicago last Sunday. (Laughs) I think that’s what happened you know. Actually whenever you have those seven- I did explain the seven limb, right? Okay seven limb I explained, I did not explain the mandala. That’s right. Mandala’s not necessary but those mantra of three Buddha and mani and tare tuttare ture soha should automatically go in there, but somehow, somehow you know they slip this out and when they slip out then I doesn’t seem to bother much. Does bother, but thinking that it was donein that way so I don’t try to correct much, so that’s maybe my fault. So it’s no big deal I always blame somebody so that’s so, (Laughs) that’s the thing.

Anyway, so in that case I like to explain little bit of the mantra. Mantra itself and then each one of those mantras because we’re going to introduce that. And just before we started talking the subject we will say that every day. Basically there’s an open space here, Tom. (Speaks to audience about seating) [0:10:58.8] Basically the word mantra. How many people are not familiar with that word thing called mantra. One hand I see did I see two hands? Two, three, four, five, six, seven. Even you? That’s little surprising. Alright so let me explain little bit. You know- oh, by the way, how many people are not familiar with word tantra? Tantra. One, two, three, four. That’s surprising. Tantra’s basically it is quite popular word, you know. When I first came in the United States here, I mean this area I was asked to give talk on tantra by Aura then in the store, in hr store called Crazy Wisdom in Ann Arbor and I remembered that I did number of days, a couple of days talking tantra there.

A group of people came, I’m not going to name it anyway. Very interesting lady who leads that tantra and there’s a very strong group of twenty people came in together. And I talked, I talked the tantra I think it’s one day or two day I forgot. Tantra talk. And after little while and one of them said, all your talks are fine when we begin with taking our action? Do you know what that mean, you know? (Laughs) They started putting their hands in between saying when do we begin to take action? So basically tantra’s quite known in the United States particularly in certain area very sort of wrong informed as a some kind of sexual practice and that’s the people refer that tantra for, for 60s, 70s. Monty you must be there that time. So anyway so 60s and 70s I think they’re quite well-known. So that’s why I was a little surprised lot of people say doesn’t know. Anyway tantra, Vajrayana, I don’t know how to explain that anyway. (Audience and Rimpoche laugh) Audience: Give it your best shot. Rimpoche: Give my best shot. Alright. I should give my best shot. Alright.

[0:13:58.4] So, okay let me put this way. What is Buddha’s teaching, Buddhism I simply said the personal experience of the Buddha dealing with the negativities and how to overcome your neurosis is the Buddhism. And that basically within three categories within itself. Three categories. One category I’m simply afraid maybe I’m sort of giving you misinformation. That’s why I hesitate. But if I don’t say that way it is normally said in the America throughout so that’s why my hesitation. Whatever they may say it normally in America so I’m going to be true to the authentic origin. So it is two categories. Category one is called Theravadan or hinayana or self-liberation. Okay, the category two is called mahayana or Bodhisattva path or buddhayana, all this. So the difference between these two is one, the category one is the the interest is totally individual self individual liberate by yourself. And category two the mahayana path is not only a self together with the self you’re concerned with all beings so they bring the love and compassion as more important than that of self liberating alone. So that’s why it’s called big vehicle mahayana or higher vehicle whatever.

[0:16:39.0] And the category one is called called self-liberation hinayana smaller vehcle and this and that. But don’t go and say it openly because people who are following the hinayana path they don’t like to call them hinayana. They really don’t like to. They resent that. So though it is originally said that and it is in the sutras and tantras and everywhere they say that, but they don’t like to call it smaller vehicle people (Laughs) so obviously, so so they have have a new name they call it self-liberation people. So they don’t want to call it smaller vehicle so don’t use the word hinayana. That’s I just like to by the way like to say it. Now the mahayana, the bigger vehicle or the love compassion oriented practice based path which is the mahayana is divided into two categories. Two categories. A category one during the preliminary level and category two during the result level. Causal yana and result yana. Yana is vehicle. So the causal vehicle and result vehicle.

You come through with it actually three of them, all three of them you go through. First you take this lower or small or hina vehicle whatever self-liberation path it is it is very important to the individual to have it. Second when you when you when you are when you sort of comprehends the the words comprehends not really right. I don’t like the word but when you sort of mastered when you become a master of this the first path or the smaller vehicle then you immediately switch to the the bigger vehicle. It’s sort of learning how to drive on the automatic gear and then once you’re okay on automatic gear you can also switch to the stick shift or whatever, you know. In that manner, something like that. Also you can go right from the beginning in stick shift and then you don’t have to put efforts to learn how to drive the automatic gearshift that is also there. So, so that is the switch to the mahayana level.

And when you switch to the mahayana level the first what you really have to do is there’s a no way to skip the first what you have to do is the causal part of it, not the result part of it, called it sort of love and compassion and all this lot of other activities will come even after here. Even this they will tell you all of them are the causal mahayana part. Now what do you do during the beginning level? How you handling this hinayana level or this level self-liberation level? How you’re handling with the neurosis is more or less through discipline. Through a concentration awareness and putting a discipline to yourself. Discipline, through the discipline. Discipline. That’s why when you look those monks and the nuns who are from the Theravadan-oriented monasteries or like from Ceylon, Sri Lanka is now properly it’s Ceylon. Sri Lanka, or Thailand, or even Chinese, or, or Vietnamese, or Laotian, all these monks when you see and they will be really like this, you know. Straight this way. Their heads are down, their eyes is straight, they won’t look here or there. They’re not allowed to look neither the five feet this way or five feet that way. Just go like this, straight.

[0:21:32.2] Very strict discipline oriented. So that’s why even Zen tradition and all this if you look at, they will emphasize so much sitting and sitting and just sitting and discipline and sit. Right? And they’re very nice and very great. Those monks and nuns in their tradition when they walk they will walk like elephant one after one behind other like one straight line as though a lot of elephants going down to drink water. Go straight one after another they’ll go. And then mahayana level the discipline slightly relaxed, and slightly relaxed discipline, so, so even you see the Tibetan and and some portion of Chinese, and northern Indian, like Ladakh, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Mongolian and in that sort of oriented when you see the monks they’ll be smiling here and try to (?) to talking here and you know sort of involved everywhere you know sort of goes around and mix everywhere and all this because the tradition itself and not a discipline oriented. So what they do is if you do not know how to handle your delusion then don’t deal with it. And discipline yourself and get away. That is how self-liberation looks in. Teachings are like. Practice is like that way.

[0:23:34.2] So the mahayana level they may be some usefulness within that maybe useful for yourself and for others and so take advantage of it. As long as you can handle it. If you cannot handle it, go down. If you can handle it remain here and deal with it. Did you understand now? If you can handle attachment alright you have little involvement in that and see how it works can there be some useful within that. Can it help you, can it help others. If there’s anger, if there’s maybe some usefulness in that maybe you can be pretend to be angry for a little while and somebody may behave little better than you or something and sort of little just example. And that is the causal mahayana level. Now result mahayana or Vajrayana or Tantrayana they’re all synonymous. Vajrayana, Tantrayana, mantrayana is the they said transform it. But very easy way you know like simply saying, get over it. Almost like that. Transform it and don’t take don’t take don’t take trouble of of you know don’t take trouble of discipline don’t take- why don’t you transform it. Just transform it. So that’s what it is.

[0:25:09.9] So the transformation oriented practice is called Vajrayana, or mantrayana, or tantrayana, so, so that’s what it is. So, so in that what you really get is it’s so (?) the neurosis are there everybody has it so doesn’t matter you study the neurosis little carefully how it develops with you and then you look with this and you deal with that and try to make it positiveness and try to change it. And all this delusions that we have study this, how it comes, how it works with that, and transform and make that wisdom. And that is the Vajrayana way of doing it. So within the Vajrayana there’s methods been taught how anger can be transformed and made into the perfect path. How attachment represented by the sexuality the sexuality and spirituality how can you combine them together and transform that and becoming a made into path. So these sort of things are taught in the, Buddha shared that path so these are categories are called result yana or Vajrayana or mantrayana or Tantrayana. And that is based on the causal love compassion oriented path, that is based on the self-liberation path.

And if you wanted to jump, say I’m not, I don’t, I’m not interested self-liberation, I’m not interested love and compassion, I just wanted to know how to transform, you don’t get it. There’s no way. That’s what it is. It’s builds on top of the another. Really true. That’s build on top of the another. One the basis because it’s build on top of another. So whatever we’re talking here is actually the ground level we’re talking here in this total except one or two last verses here. Or maybe three or four last verses here. Most of those are the ground zero level. So Buddha, Buddhist 101 level we’re talking about that, this is what it is. So Vajrayana the transformation when they when you come to the transformation level and not only you yourself has to work hard and get those negativities transformed, but you also need a support and help of blessings and pushes and all sorts of things you need. The forces has to be behind you in order to make it in Vajrayana. So in order to bring the forces behind you they introduce thing called mantra. That’s where the mantra comes in.

So basically mantra mean, it’s Sanskrit word and if he bottom line meaning of it it says protection of mind. Mantra means protection of mind. Mind how you protect your mind. Protection of mind. Is that clear? So, the mantra what we said here which I did not explain earlier is the muni muni, you will remember all of you very easily because you have great connection here. So you if you hear it couple of times you’ll know it. The first thing what we said om muni muni maha muniye soha, we said that right? You people didn’t get in writing it is not my fault. You know who to catch it, so. You didn’t write the mantras down right? Huh? Audience: Only the migtsema. Rimpoche: Only the migtsema is available so that’s not- you probably get next Tuesday since we talked today. So but what happened is, om muni muni maha muniye soha it is the mantra of Buddha, Buddha Shakyamuni. Mantra of Buddha Shakyamuni. Buddha Shakyamuni is the historical Buddha. Okay? Historical Buddha that we talk in Buddha come to India, and prince and this and that and all this thing we talk. That is the Buddha Shakyamuni.

[0:30:15.3] So it is mantra of that particular Buddha. Each mantra has it’s own individual reality. The mantras are in life. We, though we say it we produce the sound but each has a life. That life is the individuality there. So the individual connection, individual. It is, it is something like the the essence of the individual sort of thing. Essence. You know how the Chinese make chicken essence and all this sort of thing you know? (Laughs) Essence of- now muni muni maha muniye soha is the Bu- the mantra connecting Buddha Shakyamuni the Buddha Shakyamuni. The word om. How many people are not familiar with om? This will be interesting. Is there anybody who does not, who not familiar with word om? None. One. Alright. I should probably tell you quietly. (Audience and Rimpoche laugh) Just joking. But many of you are familiar with the word om but I’m not sure whether you’re really aware of what really om is. Okay, how many people think you know what om means? Lot. I didn’t see your hand Susan, there you go. (Laughing) A lot. But I like to I like to share what little I know about om, okay?

Om is such a thing that’s a hundred different way of explaining om. Really. Hundreds different. Not only one hundred, but hundreds of different ways of explaining om. So but what I really like to explain om here, is how do you make the sound om? How? What involved? There is, actually if there is no ah you cannot say oh, right? Ah oh em makes om. It is ah oh em, right? That truly because people say it om. Or we may say om om om or they may go ommmmmmm, whatever they may say. (Audience laughs) Whatever they may say, true. Whatever they may say the word really involves three- what you call those? Audience: Syllables. Rimpoche: Syllables, yeah, okay. Ahhhh ohhhhh emmmm combined together makes aom. Get it? So that ah oh em has a representation it has meaning behind. Meaning behind. It represents the body, mind, and sound. Really. That’s why I said essence. The body, the mind, and the sound or speech or sound all combine together makes aom.

[0:34:21.1] So when I said essence mantra of Buddha Shakyamuni, it is the Shakyamuni Buddha’s body, mind, and speech. That’s what we’re dealing with it. That’s why all oms, people will say om is the beginning of the mantra or people will explain all sorts of things. All sorts of different explanation. Nobody is wrong. There’s hundreds of different explanation. Everythiing is right. Even, beginning of the mantra it is true. It is life of mantra, it is true, It is essence of all, it’s also true. It’s all true, in that. Because that’s why it mantra it’s something totally different than with our normal, basic human mind comprehensible, it’s not. It’s something different in tere. Though I know among the Tibetan Buddhist and particularly all Buddhist are known as ground zero level person I always try to emphasize everything on the ground basic and everything. The simple reason if you get the basic correct everything will be correct. If the base is not there no matter how much you fly in the air you have to land it down and you fall down. So that is the reason why I emphasize so much ground level. But even though I known for that but I but om I can’t do it it has to be mystical point there I mean you cannot skip that. No way you can skip. To be justified to om.

[0:36:17.0] Okay I’m not talking about the Om restaurant here. (Laughing) Though you can get very delicious lunch or dinner there, right? (Laughs) But I’m not talking about that Om, not Om in the (?) [0:36:36.6] But I’m talking about the om, okay excuse me. So, so body mind and speech. Why I’m taking time to explain the om? Because every mantra has om there. So I don’t have to explain each and every one of them. Muni muni maha muniye soha. There’s like muni muni they said double muni. The reason why they said double muni here muni really means victory. One who had obtained victory over the first muni is delusions. The second muni, muni muni, self cherishing. Third muni is even the imprints of delusions and self-cherishing and all this. Muni muni maha muniye soha. Maha muni- great victory, it is victory over even the imprint of delusions and self-cherishings. That’s referring to Buddha. Did you get it? did you or are you confused? Audience; (Inaudible) [0:37:56.8] Rimpoche: Self-cherishing. Audience: (Inaudible) [0:38:03.4] Rimpoche: Thank you. Did you get it, everybody? Muni muni maha muniye soha.

There are people who say muni muni maha muni Shakyamuni soha. I don’t- I have no objection but I don’t have any explanation for that. Simply what I was taught was muni muni maha muniye soha and that I know. And a lot of people say maha muni Shakyamuni soha, that’s okay they can say it. Because Shakyamuni, because Shakya (?) [0:38:35.1] the Buddha is known as from the caste of the Shakyas they adds up that. So people can add up and cut down, they do that all the time anyway. So it’s two thousand five hundred years, so, so lot of cuts and adds in there too. It is true. Lot of cuts and adds there you know? Anyway so muni muni maha muniye soha. The word soha is also very commonly used. Basically soha means so swa, or soha. Both I believe are correct though Indians will say swa rather than soha. Tibetans will say soha. Maybe they don’t know how to pronounce Indian language properly. That’s very very true. But what does the word really say is actually says soha means lay a foundation. Are you with me? Foundation.

Foundation of what? Foundation of the body mind and speech of that Buddha lay within the my body, my speech, my mind. In other words putting the foundation to be able to transform your body, your mind, and your speech into that of fully enlightened person’s body fully enlightened person’s mind, fully enlightened person’s speech. That’s why this soha is that. Okay? So I don’t want take so much time. If I take time I can explain it. I spent sixty years learning that so it not run out. But basically basically basically I think that will probably do if the individual wants to then there quite, there maybe few people who really like to say it or do it. So that’s what om muni muni maha muniye soha, that’s what we did first, right? The second one what we said is the famous Tibetan mantra. Sort of every Tibetan by about four or five years time or two, maybe two three years time they will automatically say it om mani padme hung. So you have seen them in return every book everywhere anybody who say about Tibet they will say om mani padme hung. It is famous Tibetan mani mantra.

That’s money, m-o-n-e-y. (Laughing) Joke. (Laughs) You know why I remember why I making joke this and I was in Singapore about five, six years ago. And group of bankers they wanted separately not with everybody, they want to do a separate meditation and learning and thinking actually how to make themselves sharper, their mind sharper than what they are. And sort of they said our job’s kill to go out and kill but you know when you when they become older and older they become dull and dull. So how do we make sharper. So I spend three weeks every morning talking with them doing something and one day one of them said is there some mantra really makes quick way of making money? I said yeah, you want it? He said yes, please Rimpoche! I said, okay say it, om money come, money come, many money come. Come quick soha! (Audience and Rimpoche laugh) Money come, money come, many money come. Come quick soha. (Laughs) So that’s why I make this joke, you know. Mani sound like money you know. Actually there is a connection that too. The money really meaning jewel. Jewel. Jewel. Jewelry, jewels. You know ladies like jewelry anyway. I don’t know, not every ladies like it. Anyway jewel. What does jewel represents?

The meaning of the jewel is wish-fulfilling, right? Wish-fulfilling. It is like they’re talking like magic lamp or something, that type of thing. Traditionally a jewel is expensive and if you have jewel you can buy get lot of things done with that so wish-fulfilling sort of thing. Sort of mani referring to jewel. The jewel here is not an ordinary jewel that a diamonds and sapphire and whatever. Or red, black ruby or, I mean sorry, the (?) ruby or not that type of thing I’m referring to. But jewel here is the love and compassion oriented bodhimind it refer to jewel here. Jewel that’s om mani. Padme is actually padma it’s the lotus. Lotus refers to purity. As usual Buddhist thing they said lotus grown out of mud but there’s no fault of mud in the lotus when it blooms. We all know that, right? So that has meaning, the meaning the we are belong – we sort of are born in the midst of all this delusions and anger attachment hatred jealousy and all this. But in nature of our self as an pure human being there is no fault of those delusions though we carry with us but it is not in the nature of human being itself. We don’t have it pure. We are pure.

[0:45:34.4] Like a lotus. Beautiful like lotus. As well as kind and compassionate one like a lotus. Pure like lotus. That is what we are in reality. So the Allen Ginsberg has wrote a very interesting- not wrote but he has a nice translation in this point. He says, huh? Huh? Everything pure. Audience: Nature is pure, naturally pure. Rimpoche: No, no. Doesn’t say nature is empty. Audience: Nature empty. Rimpoche: Nature empty. Everything- Audience: Everything pure. Rimpoche: Pure. Naturally pure. That’s what I am. Did you get it? Huh? Can you say it again loudly. Audience: Nature empty, everything pure. Naturally pure. That is what I am. Rimpoche: Did you get it? (Audio cuts) [0:46:52.2] –of the deeper subject that Buddha ever shared with people. So that is the ess- the the ultimate wisdom is recognizing emptiness within the individual. So we always think, you know, every time you hear the people say oh, you have dualistic mind, and we’re confused, all these people tell you. They give you big (?) lot of them, right?

So all of them is really, what is really referring to is we do have a tremendous confusion of, confusion on essence of our self- who are we, what we are. I don’t really care who we are. Really doesn’t matter. We are human beings. That’s what it is. But what we are is and where we are is important. What we are is also not that important. Where we are is important because we are on the journey. Journey of spiritual path. Are we or are we not? We are. The the reasons why you have interest on spiritual path reasons why we are, we are not fully satisfied by the materialistic answer only. We think there is something beyond that of material something else. These- don’t you think that? Actually, I’m really grateful what had happened in the 60s. If the incidents that have taken place in the 60s opening up people in something extra beyond what we see materially goinf beyond what we see only by our ordinary eye and ear and nose and tongue and body. Going little beyond that, this little opening it’s a done, somehow it’s a great thing and that makes the people begin to have some kind of glimpse of something beyond this. Do you know what I’m talking about it? Thank you.

[0:49:49.9] Sometimes I get in the completely stone wall when you talk that, you know. They may have disadvantages of you know all this and that and all sorts of things too but at the same time we also have very precious opening to the people in particularly in this country something a glimpse of looking. And that glimpse whatever get little one is the really telling us something beyond our thing that what we (?) Actually it’s true. What we have a two eyes, two ear, and is it one nose or two nose? Audience: One. Rimpoche: Two hole there, anyway. (Laughs) And one tongue and all this things and whatever we know out of that is very great. And there’s a limitation in that. We all know that, right? All this today the scientist and technology, technical people they have to have extra machine to look. Even we, even I have to have glasses to see better. Right? It because there’s a limitation in here so we put up these and make it better.

So because we have our ordinary human consciousness has a limitation so therefore mechanical things you know, the machines and things like that see something more than, than what you our ordinary eyes and ear can hear it and see it. That, that’s why all the laboratories are for that, right? So that shows us the limitations here. And what we don’t have is spiritual laboratory. You know the spiritual life’s not there so you cannot have blood test or whatever in that done because that machine has not developed. So there’s something beyond this whatever we can see it and feel it and all this. And with help of machine and all this we can see it understand it better however still there’s a limitation. It’s great but still there’s a limitation. And that’s why doctors will tell you something’s good for you first then afterward they tell you it’s not good for you. All sort of things you know? That’s what they call it scientific discovery. (Audience laughs) It is not a new discovery but it is the the capacity for which we can take and understand and and is getting better.

There’s nothing new it’s coming from the food or whatever it is, you know. Whatever the harmful is there is there, whatever helpful is there is there. Simply we gain better knowledge, we’re understanding that. So the spiritual path is very similar to that. Except we don’t have those machines to look. So instead of machine we’re using mind through meditation. Through both analytical, analytical as well as concentrated meditation and mantras and all of them are the the tools that we have try to discover more and go deeper. That’s very similar to that. Now coming back to the point, point of that emptiness what I’m talking about it, if I don’t tell you something because I told the wisdom, I said lotus and I made big deal, right? The born out of negativity but there’s no fault and blah, blah, blah, which is referring to the essence of emptiness.

[0:54:00.0] So what is emptiness? You need to have a little understanding of that. Emptiness really not telling you nothingness. That’s a big difference between emptiness and nothingness. Okay, sounds empty sounds something strange. But what it emptiness means empty of what? That is very important. One has to know empty of what. Everything we recognize we say ha, here it is. This is it. Right? We say that this is it. To our self, to any other chair other person anything else. We say, this is it and we think that’s the end of it. But when you really look in their nature and in their reality it’s not end of it. It is combination. Whatever this called, podium? Or whatever they call this. Okay it is podium, you look at it you see it’s podium. What what really is a little piece of wood on the top, that’s little thing standing and then down there to keep it balanced not fall off spout a flat wood. Combine them together and somebody call this call this podium. So then thereafter this got a label called podium so everybody who sees this they’ll call it podium but somebody else said this is table. You say no, you don’t know English. This is called podium, right? That’s what it is.

So the podium become, a podium is existing because of combination of all this plus the label. Plus no one will contradict not a correct mind person will not be able to contradict that. When the correct mind- a crazy guy come up say, this is not podium it piece of wood, we all think heh heh heh because he’s crazy we’ll say that, right? But a correct mind person real smart guy comes up this is not podium we think twice. Are you sure it’s not? So, so that’s the thing to prove not only a a labeling alone is not right, otherwise you can label the gold the brass, brass the gold. You can’t do that because correct mind independent mind without person without lose of screw will say that is wrong. They contradict. So no contradiction plus combination togetherness this podium exist. Are you with me? If the top of the podium gone, no one will say it’s podium. They may say a broken or piece of podium, whatever you may call it. So when you look at the emptiness emptiness you look from the angle how do we exist. If you look in the zero you going to find zero. But if you look in the fullness you going to find how we exist.

So in the bottom line, the bottom line what Buddha really said, bottom line, no matter how much you go down in detail either it is particles or beings or whatever wherever you go you cannot find point which cannot be divided. Are you with me? Okay. So Buddha said east part can never joined with western, west part as long as thing is existing in between. So so like pick up little dust. Cut that down and no matter how much you cut that there will be little part and parcel will continue. That’s what Buddha’s saying. And that each part and and parcel does have east side of that and west side of that. So as long as you have the two sides there’s a point of division. Farther subtlety in that. Scientifically we begin to know, when we say item, right? I mean, that’s, when you discover that, that is the finalist, the final fine detail most thing. And then the machines become better they say, oh this also partition, they’re neutrons and this and that you can go and say, right? That is, that’s what the Buddha’s saying the right from the beginning. You cannot have thing called this is it, There’s always- so every existence is become collectively. Not an independently. Collectively. Are you with me? That’s what it is.

[0:59:57.6] Collectively. If the east merge with the west of the then the articles gone. That’s disappeared because it’s been merged it’s no longer there. And we perceive at different level. Ordinary eye level we perceive something we say, it’s gone now. We don’t even see it anymore. But you bring some machine there look at there, still. You bring another different machine you can still go deeper and deeper. Can you wait one minute? Okay- so. So so independent existence is not there whether it is me or you or person or being or items or neutrons or whatever it might be there is no independent existence is not there. That is what Buddha mean. Empty of independent existent. That’s what emptiness means. So that’s why we all depend on each other. I depend on you, you depend on me, we all depend no matter whatever you do. Doesn’t matter. The China depends on United States, United States depends on China. The whole world depends on each other.

So much interdependent relationship is involved within us exist. Not only this universe alone, other different multigalaxies we depend on each other. There a tremendous dependent relationship. Believe it or not, if the butterfly flew wrong in China it will affect the New York. And that was the statement that Buddha give two thousand five hundred years ago. They didn’t say New York and China but the the the the how it’s affect. So the interdependent relationship, the interdependentness is basic fundamental structure existence of our self. And that is the wisdom faultless wisdom. That is the lotus which has no mud of anger, no mud of attachment. Attachment, anger, jealousy will tell you that is not true. It is me, I am the only one I have to have my way. I don’t care what you do, what you think. But I must have my way. So you can’t have your way because we all dependent. Clinton depends on Bob Dole, Bob Dole depends on Clinton. (Audience laughing) But one of them will lose. (Laughs)

Anyway that is the basic wisdom. So I just wanted to make something you can get it and don’t to really confuse much so that’s the wisdom part of padme, om mani padme. Padme. That’s padma. Lotus. Whenever you see lotus flower next remember that. Then hung, hung is union. Union togetherness. Union of everything. Union of a union of a male and female. Union of, of a being and articles. The union of union of yourself with yourself. Union of the male part of yourself with the male- female part of yourself. It’s all of this union, oneness. It’s interdependent oneness which is really the essence when you say hum. Or hung. Om mani padme hum. Get it? Okay. That is very basic, fundamental, not a detail, nothing mystical, very fundamental mantra. Om mani padme hung. That’s what it is. So if you think the meaning of om mani padme hung and you say the word of om mani padme hung the combination of your thought of the meaning of the mantra and sound that what you produce combined together makes things materialized. That’s how miracles work.

That’s how everything works because it is interdependent relationship. Everything. Impermanent, death and dying, rebirth, reincarnation, everything it is this. Interdependent relationship. It’s a fundamental basis of our self. And that’s why we can purify our negativity. That’s why we can become from the ordinary being to extraordinary being and that’s why we are eligible to be enlightened. Because of this. That’s, because of that reason I don’t believe in guilt. If you to play a guilt trip you better forget about it against me. Because I don’t believe in guilt at all. I do believe regret. Not only I do believe I regret if I made mistake. But I don’t feel guilty. There is nothing called permanent punishment. There is nothing called permanently you can duck down. Nothing. Nothing. It’s like a rainfall, it’s comes from the sky dissolves into the ground. There’s nothing called permanent punishment or whatever you call it. That doesn’t mean there’s no hell realm. There is a hell realm, it is also impermanent. It changes. You know that. There was a great teacher in eleventh century called Ra Lotsawa. It is I think it is basically originally Indian. And brought lots of teachings to Tibet.

And he is he is very he’s not a humble person. He’s very what you call, brag. It’s a not- Audience: Bragging. Rimpoche: Bragging himself, thank you. That’s the word, bragging himself lot, all the time. So heis responsible to destroy thirteen bodhisattvas. Actually literally he killed them. Physically, literally he killed them not by knife or fighting but through mantra power. He destroyed thirteen of them. Thirteen of them. So he, he, he brag, him- huh? Audience: Bragged. Rimpoche: He bragged all the time saying that, ta me do te (Recites in Tibetan) [1:08:04.4] He said including great Dharma Dode I have destroyed thirteen bodhisattvas however I will not go to the hell realm this is me the Ra Lotsawa. He used to say that all the time. So lot of enlightened beings are observing what happened to him when he dies. When he died. And they found that he did go to the hell realm for that but very short period. They said period like that of football throw on the ground and popped up. That sort of period he went in. But he keep on br- Audience: Bragging. Rimpoche: Bragging that, that he said he’s not going to go in the hell realm and but he did go there for a short period. Anyway and that may confuse you more questions will come for sure but that’s good thing to have it you know? So this is what I’m talking about the real crazy wisdom, that’s what it is.

[1:09:13.4] Since I’m talking mantra anyway. What did I say that for? Oh there is a hell realm, yeah. There is hell realm, yeah. There is a hell realm that’s even though, there is a hell realm. It’s also impermanent. It doesn’t it not necessarily that you remain forever and ever and ever and ever and go on forever, no. That’s not right. It’s circles. Anyway, that is hung. Now what I’m talking? I lost myself, where am I? Huh? Audience: Guilt. Rimpoche: Yeah, guilt. Guilt because the because it’s based on emptiness and impermanent so I don’t accept guilt. I have a very strong reason for that. A lot of people feel guilty and oo- don’t have to worry about. Why worry, be happy, a what does this say? (Audience laughs) Don’t worry, be happy. (Laughs) The reality really is is we commit negativity, we all do. There is nobody who does not commit negative karma negativity. That’s not a single person who can who that’s not possible. Not possible from mind. Particularly mind, my god. Our mind is such a thing you know it always very active somewhere. You know earlier Tibetan teachers used to say it is wild monkey in the temple. Our ind is like the wild mind monkey goes in temple they will ring everything throw everything drink everything eat everything knock everything down right? Just like that our mind function within our self so therefore negativities no doubt it will come.

[1:11:08.3] It will come. But every negativity are purifiable because it’s impermanent. Because it based on interdependent relationship because it is emptiness and that’s why everything is possible. If it’s not interdependent if it’s not an emptiness you can’t have miracles also. There’s no room for miracle. Great Indian teacher says ka la tung (Quotes in Tibetan) [1:11:38.3] One who can accept emptiness everything you can accept there’s room for everything. If you don’t have emptiness you filled up. You filled up there’s no room for anything . That’s what it is. So that is the faultless wisdom. Padme. Hung. Union. I’m not sure if I can explain anything more than that. So I why I did that because we say this and you may be wondering what it is all about it. That’s what it is this is nothing of committing yourself to be something. This is nothing that. You’re simply tapping in that enlightened link and their energy and t heir way, their wavelength you’re linking. Actually you’re connecting, try to connect your internet of enlightened society. That is the, that is the America Online for you. Really true. It is your American Online. And you do have a mail. (Audience laughs) Okay?

[1:12:59.3] You do have a mail. Okay that’s what it is. So if- excuse me I’m not going to explain the other mantra it is really too long talking mantra. I’m not even yet at the Vajrayana level or anywhere. So om mani padme hung will do. Om tare tuttare ture soha I’ll do next time. Okay? So let’s try to do this little bit (Laughs) otherwise we are not on the basis. Where are we, what we did last time? Oh, gained but once, that’s what I remember. Has great potential but is easily lost. Right? That is impermanent, okay, we’re okay. We’re talking about impermanent we’re talking about emptiness. The gross level of the emptiness is impermanent. The subtle level of impermanent is the emptiness. Are you with me? That’s what it is. That’s how you, that’s how you can understand philosophically I’m wrong what I said this is wrong. But practically that’s how easy we can comprehends. Okay? If I write a book I can’t say that, somebody will accuse me later. So because philosophically I’m wrong. But practically, that’s what it is.

The emptiness is the gross level- sorry impermanent is the gross level of emptiness because it changes. The subtle impermanent changes every moment. Every moment. Just like yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And if you goes down as I told you you keep on dividing there’s no end to it. You know we can divide days, hours and minutes, and seconds. But if you go in detail you can go on dividing much more and every minute, every second, the past second, present second, future second is changing. Change. Likewise we the human beings, we also change. All other things are changing. That is the subtleness. It’s comes up slowly builds up. So you don’t- that’s why you don’t becoe a gray hair overnight. It is slowly comes up here and there and here and there and there and then one day it is all gray. That’s because slowly it is changing. If all of a suddenly it changes we become- we’re going to become crazy. You’re going to go to crazy. Right?

A young man of twenty five or something all of tonight is nice young youthful great black or what brown or whatever it is and tomorrow morning you wake up and suddenly you found all the wrinkles all over and become a gray or whatever it is it become, you’re going to go crazy. So that’s why the change comes every moment slowly, slowly changing. And what that changing leads to, the subtle, that’s what I’m talking about not really as subtle as subtle but it is little subtle. And and then that leads to the gross change. The gross change is the death, That’s as fr as we’re concerned. It’s big change. It’s gross. I mean in between that you have a lot of big changes, right, you know? Every time in the life you move your house, you change your everything, you change your everything whatever it is you know. I’d rather not say in detail much. Change your business, change your, whatever you know, company, you know or companion, or whatever you know. So there’s also big change you know like smaller big change that the biggest change is the death. Why? Why is it the biggest change? Because we change our identity. We change our identification. It’s like every five years you have to change your driver’s license, right? You change your, I mean you renew or whatever it is. And it is we’re changing our identity. The death is a change of identity. Right?

So we recognize people through a help of face or body or whatever. For human beings we recognize each other through face. For animals and insects we recognize them through body. Well horses and cats and dogs are maybe different story because you get used to it but basically we recognize them through body shape. They’re that physical identity. So death is the thing that we change our identity. No one can identified you the day after through the usual identity. So we don’t recognize each other because of the change of the identity. And we do recognize each other if our mental capacity is better than what we are today. But if you depend on that limited capacity we don’t recognize. Are you with me? And that is the death. Changing of identity. What is going to be next identity, what is the new identity we’re going to get it? Huh? That new identity may have some horns, some tails, hairy, I’m thinking of yak. Tibetan yak. You know what a yak I s. You do. Okay. So that might be, who knows. But, but if you become yak it’s okay you have a beautiful pasture high up in the Himalayas, free of all pollutions. Clean water, clean environment, clean air and clean grass. Will you be happy Probably not. Why? Because you cannot express. You can simply say rarrr or something. Or urrrr, whatever it is. Nothing more than that. Your capacity of expression expressing is limited.

It goes according to the identity. So that’s what I told you earlier. Human life is precious. Human identity has a tremendous value. It has a capacity. Mental capacity, physical capacity, brain capacity, sound capacity, whatever. Tremendous capacity. It’s goes according to the identity. Never say never. That is true. You know that James Bond says never say never. So never say never thatI’m not going to be different identity. It is bound to be. Simple reason we don’t recognize each other because change of the identity. And each one of us bound to go through that. And a number of people thinks when somebody died after that (?) whatever we may be doing it, but that, that person, person who is gone is knowing it, being around, hearing, feel this and that we talk but that not necessarily true. According to the Buddha it is not true..According to the great number of my own teachers I ask them it’s not true. To some cases it is possible. It’s not a blanket true to all. That’s what it is. It depends whatever identity you get next time. If you are lucky you get a nice human identity. Then we will be a human being again the same old tricks we will play again. If we are animal and we got a limitations of it if we are better than human beings then we have different levels there.

So basically I like to talk a little about this death. Death itself. I don’t know whether I have time I don’t think so, it is already 9:15 so I rather not talk tonight but I will talk next Tuesday- oh sorry, this is Thursday right? Okay not on next Tuesday. Next Tuesday I’m talking Bodhisattvacharyavatara. But Thursday we’ll talk about the death. What is death, what people experience, and what happens thereafter. This will be the plus this om tare tuttare ture soha. That will be next Thursday’s subject. You raise your hand earlier and I’m sorry I couldn’t give you tie to say that time because I don’t want to lose my rhythm or whatever, momentum. So if you have a question you can say now, but you don’t want to say it that’s also fine. Audience: I was wondering when you were talking about the- Rimpoche: Table. Podium whatever this is, table. Sorry. Audience: You spoke of east and west and I’m wondering if you were talking about direction? Rimpoche: Direction, direction. I’m not talking about the Eastern knowledge western knowledge, no, no I’m not talking about only simple direction. When the eastern direction of the east touches the direction of the west, the in between is gone. And east west is gone in that moment. That’s what I’m talking. That’s what emptiness is all about it actually.

[1:25:02.3] So so as long as you exist you are you are there. You are dependently exist. And when you’re gone they’re joined, right? That’s what it is. But you think we know we think with our capacity and limitation we think it’s gone. That’s not true. You bringanother machine you see you will see it there. That’s what it is. Okay? So no other questions and I like to quit. And we have a dedication to do. The dedication again we use the migtsema but don’t let me explain migtsema tonight. Okay? Thank you. (Audience applauds) Excuse me one important point I’m forgetting. If anybody is meditating on this, you have to think the A-O-M three letters and meditate on that and then soha, you meditate o that. Muni muni is knowing it just knowledge understanding, mani is nothing but that of love and compassion, padma is the wisdom whatever I talked to, think about it. And then if you want meditate on the impermanent I don’t think I can explain tonight so if you are following the steps you still remain at gained but once. And and up to that level and don’t go ahead in the meditation of impermanent. Yes?

[1:27:10.0] Audience: A brief question, to repeat that mantra is to come to no thought? Is that the purpose? Rimpoche: I’m sorry what did you say? Audience: I said to repeat the om mani mani- Rimpoche: Om mahe mahe Audience: Muni.. Rimpoche: That’s okay. Audience: Is the purpose to come to no thought as much as possible? Rimpoche: No. Thought with o as I explained with the three letters body mind and speech combination of your body mind and speech and that of object of refuge’s body and mind, speech combine them together oneness unionness laying the foundation, all this. Muni muni you don’t have much to meditate simply know the words and meaning behind. Mani padme is also love compassion, think little bit, wisdom think little bit, hung is the union again. So that’s what I’m talking about it. It is only mantra. And those who are following this meditation then you meditate up to gained but once. Because when you go impermanent there’s three, four major important points I couldn’t tell tonight so that’s why I say wait. Get it? There we go. (Audience dedicates with migtsema)