Archive Result

Soundfile 19960409GRNY1

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location New York

Topic Finding a Spiritual Path (Lam-Rim, Tsongkhapa's Three Principle Paths)

Transcriber Matthew McKinley

Date 7/1/22

[Audio cuts-in with Rimpoche speaking] -forget. These are the basically two most important question. Is that right or wrong? For everybody, I mean I'm not being Tibetan Buddhist point-of-view I mean, when people say I mean to state on spiritual path. So the question is what kind of spiritual development are you looking? Or what it is, what are you trying to achieve? Is that [indistinct] or is something wrong. That's not right, there's nothing wrong right? When you're looking for spiritual path means I'm try to get something and what I will try to get it. At least I get that first question, luckily, fortunately I've been born in Tibet and so somehow fortunately I don't have to deal with that, somehow it been ready-made and cooked and given to me. And it's ready to wear, ready to eat, and I keep on doing that. Ready to do that for me, right? So I've been fortunate enough but if I'm like you in downtown New York somewhere, in Chinatown anywhere right we are. So if we say we are interested in spiritual path, I'll be wondering first question will come to my head, what am I looking for? Wouldn't that be? Or you just go, simply somebody says its spiritual path, so it's sort of everything goes smooth and joyful and happy-go-lucky or love and light, or what? So I be wondering what I am looking for? When I say I'm interested in spiritual path, what am I looking for? That question will definitely rise in my head, if I am, say if I am you, if I were you I would do that. What I am really looking for, for that is the main thing, what I am really looking for, various spiritual paths will give you different answers, I belive but I know nothing about it, so I don't want to pretend I know. So the Tibetan Buddhism part, that's only I know, so from that what answer

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do you get, when I am looking for spiritual path. Spiritual development. Then I will only look... so then I am looking for the Tibetan Buddhism, I get three different level of answers. Three different levels of answers. The lowest level, let's deal with the lowest level, the lowest level will give you an answer that I will be free to take a good human type of rebirth in my next life. So, I'm sure this is sort of somehow going off lot of peoples head, right? People maybe thinking when you're looking for spiritual path, oh I'm sort of some kind of, something happening... I don't know what you thinking, anyway. I don't even know what I'm thinking [Rimpoche chuckles]. So anyway, what the Tibetan Buddhism will tell you, the lowest achievement you can get out of the spiritual development work that you do is a good, perfect rebirth, free of suffering, may not be total free of suffering but there's not so much very strong suffering. So that is the lowest achievement they will recommend to get it. The second level is totally free of all the sufferings, once and for all, that is the second achievement. The best achievement is to being total enlightened, like a become a Buddha type of thing. Becoming Buddha, a totally fully enlightened. These are the three different levels what you can achieve out of your spiritual practice, that's what Buddha said and that's what Tibetan Buddhism gives you. Less than that, according to the Buddha, is not spiritual achievement. It doesn't care whether you have clairvoyant or not, it doesn't care whether you can fly in the air or not, it doesn't care. Doesn't matter, if you can fly, good, fly, and if you have

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clairvoyant, good, share it. If you don't have it, fine. Doesn't matter, but what does matter and make sure you yourself will be free. That's what the Buddha tells us, that is what we look for. What does these Tibetan Buddhism practitioners, for the last thousand-years, monks or lay-people, why are they doing, sitting in the temples or in your own home, making circumambulations or saying Om-Mani-Padme-Hum or doing mediation, or doing, what are you doing? Try to get one of them, if possible the best, if not second, at least the third one. So that's why... Excuse me, first I must say, when you are doing something we must have some kind of aim or focus on what you want to achieve. Am I right or wrong? Suppose if you want to shoot arrow or something, you must know which is your target. You're not going to pick-up any arrow and shoot anywhere right? That's not going to work, maybe you hurt somebody. So the Buddha's recommendation is first and foremost, when you try to practice the spiritual path first have your goal worked out. So Buddha introduced three different paths of the goal, so other than that it's not really considered as a spiritual aim. If you wanting to have a comfortable human-life, a comfort in life, you don't need the spiritual path, you can get maybe other way. If you wanted success in your career or business, or whatever, you don't really need Buddhism to get that, you many other ways become success. Am I talking to you right or not communicating too...? Thank you. So, the focus

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spiritual path is really to make the individual free of suffering. That is the main goal, ok? And I'm sure, some people will have a problem with that, some people may be happy with that, some people may not be but that's what it is. So now you may say "free", free, free, freedom is big deal with the Americans and we always think "I'm an American so I'm a free person", who the hell is he a Tibetan kicked out by Chinese out of his own country, lost total freedom. [Rimpoche chuckles What is he talking to freedom to us, right? Um, when you look in our life, let me put this way, when we look in our life the question is this: am I free? Am I free? You may say "Yeah, I'm American, I'm free, I'm not in communist", or this and that but, anyway true. On the other hand, we are not free of rebirth, we are not free of death, we are not free of sickness or illness, and certainly we are not free of aging. Basically, let's check those, so not only we are not free of it, we really don't anything to deal with that much. We have a lot of problems with those and this is when the Buddha says we have a lack of freedom that's what he mean. Freedom to control or whatever you know, illness, dying, rebirth, aging, and this

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we all have that problem. A dozen ways and means of helping it, various ways and means of it. You get sick you can take medication and get better, true, sometimes medication doesn't work. And then if you are born, you have to die, you don't live. The doctors might freeze your body or whatever you do, you know, and wait for some whatever, you know, but individual is not going to be around for that. So don't really have freedom from that either. And aging, you also have a lot of help on that, put on a lot of makeups and this and that, and look different, and you can also have plastic surgeries done. Even your young nice men you can alter completely your body and look like girl type of thing, like Michael Jackson. You can do that but that doesn't completely give you freedom either. So that is a problem and that is why Buddha says we don't have freedom, we want to seek freedom, that's what he meant. So when you talk about three principals of the path, the principal number one is seeking freedom. Ok? And many of you have heard this number of times but many of you have not heard, maybe first time, maybe second time, who knows. Seeking freedom, this is very funny, and if you ask yourself a question, everybody will have a mind of having that freedom. They'll be interested, but interest is not enough. I'm interested to have, to like to have freedom, I would like to have it. That is not enough, that's we not call it

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a development of the first principal, no we don't. Interest, everybody will have interest, when you think about it but that's not enough to develop this first principal. So, so then what do you mean, what do you mean by that? If you read this three-principal path itself, [Tibetan quote: Nyun dze kun tob darpa... gyepa la] Somewhere down the line, it says: the sign of development of development of this very first point is once you have that mind the subtle desire to have this freedom or the liberation, seeking that for day and night, anytime whenever you think you have this constantly wanting that. And that, if you have that, then it is the beginning of having the principal one within individual. Are you with me now, or I went off? Ok, lot of people says OK. I don't know myself. You know why I don't know myself, I've had terrible bad cold, so I've been flying around, adding here... [Rimpoche laughs] totally blocked, sort of sitting ten-miles away from here. That's what I feel, that's why I'm not sure whether I'm coming together with you or not, so that's the case. So seeking freedom here, one has to try to develop this sort of desire of liberating yourself. You always has to have that, very strong. Basically, to tell you the truth, this will be Buddhist 101 for your own Buddhist practice. Buddhist 101, to have the mind of liberating yourself. Very strong. That will be Buddhist practice 101. So do we have it? We don't.

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Are we interested? Yes! Every one of us will have interest on that... but really don't have that. We sort of interested, we looking, we look forward, we look forward, then we sort of we go, we pullback, we go, we pull, push, all this we'll do. This is our struggle, we got to go through it, everybody does. Except a few lucky ones, very few. Like you want to just smoothly transit, smoothly go, but everybody will have push-pull, everything, maybe not, maybe this is better, maybe this is not right. You know all the time, all the time we have this pull-push and until you get over this pull and push, you're not really going to get this strong mind of liberating yourself. And the second question, liberated from what? That will come, right? Liberated from what? Ok, it's easy for me to say from those sufferings but the question comes how? What do you mean by free from sufferings, how? When Buddha was asked by the Buddha's disciples, disciples, is there a way out for this sufferings that people experience life after life? Pay attention, I am with the background of reincarnation otherwise I would be out of my job or title, so I'm talking to you then with background of reincarnation. So when you ask, when they ask the Buddha is there way out these sufferings? The answer from Buddha is yes there is always way out. There is way out, I found the way out so if you follow my footstep you will also find a way out. That is how Buddha shared his path with his disciples. So then, they ask second question: how that work,

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what is way, what is the way out? The Buddha simply says, look the sufferings are, that what we experience is not awarded on us by somebody. It's sort of granted by somebody or put it on us, nor it is grown from nowhere, are you with me? You're not with me [Ally Liner - somebody's name?], oh let me try to repeat once again. Why we have the sufferings, where they coming from? Did somebody give it to you? No, if somebody give it to you won't take it. [Audience laughs] So, it's not that somebody put it on you or give it to you. Nor is caused by causeless, there must be some reasons why you have to have that. That's what Buddha called cause, right? So it is not coming without cause, so it is coming with cause. So then what is the cause? What makes it suffering and not happy, it's difficult. What makes... which is the cause. So the Buddha said don't try to treat the symptoms but try to treat the cause. Don't copy the allopathy, [Rimpoche laughs] if there is doctor around here I am sorry, or women doctor. But act and do homeopathy to treat the cause, because it's true if there is no cause there cannot be result. Are you getting me now? That's what the Buddha found, if there's no cause there will not be result and if you don't deal anything with the cause, keep on dealing with the result no matter how many you keep on dealing it you keep on producing the cause again and again. So therefore there is no point, are you with me? So now the Buddha's answer for this is first look for the cause and work with this, and when they say when there is no more cause whatever little games will be finished and then the time to say you will be free of all the sufferings.

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Does that make sense, is it ok now? Good. So then simply question comes, what are the cause? Very simple, negativities are the cause. Negative actions, negative thought, negative motivations, and the negative emotions. Anger is negative emotion, hatred is negative emotion, jealousy is negative emotion, attachment is negative emotion, and these negative emotions cause negative action wether it is physical, mental, or verbal. Whatever may be, all our negative acts are followed by negative emotion. Right or wrong, we all know that, we're quite clear on that. So whats happening is now it is clearly showing is negative emotions that we have, these are the cause of our suffering. So when you want to seek freedom, you are seeking freedom from those negative emotions. The spiritual path is, actually, truly seeking freedom from anger, freedom from attachment, freedom from jealousy, freedom from ignorance. So when we say seek freedom, meaning freedom from those. So what would you do with your Buddist 101? You watch yourself, look in your own thoughts, look within you, look in your mind, and when you see anger, when you see jealousy, attachment,

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these are your targets. This is the target, that's what it is. So the principal one, or Buddhist 101, whatever you may call it, really shows you this. So all other paths that comes on within that principal one, whatever you know, everything over there is method and how you get approach to all this, your purpose, how you going to complete your purpose. Method, it's only method. Even then beginning at the beginning when we say... [to senior-student] Which translation do we have here? Glenn Mullin's? Does he say "Homages to gurus" or the "Reverence to venerables" what does he say? Oh, homage to venerable gurus. Even those, I mean, I'm sorry I've forgotten something maybe I have mentioned earlier but these three-principles of the path is the real essence of the Tibetan Buddhism. Of buddhism, and um, buddhism, this is composed by Je Rimpoche, who's 1357 to 1419, nineteen, nineteen, and founder of the Ganden-Kagyu tradition or the Gelugpa tradition or the yellow-hat sect, whatever you call it, it's the same thing. So what Tsongkhapa did is Tsongkhapa put a tremendous amount of efforts, not only for himself, but also for future disciples, how best way we can achieve our goal and easy way. So here's a lot of different ways and means of doing it and finally with the effort that he went to retreat, with the teaching with the Manjushri,

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the essence of the Manjushri's teaching for him is this three-principal of the path. This is one of his letter between one of his lay-disciple, lay-disciple, this is actually letter that Tsongkhapa wrote to one of his lay-disciple and that is the three-principals of the path. So... and when I say it is essence, essence. All the different teachings of the Buddha, tremendous amount of the Tibetans, Buddhist cannon they call it, has a like 128-volumes and Chinese Buddhist cannon is even more than the Tibetans. I think they have something like close to 140? Kangyur, Chinese kangyur? How many volumes there? The Chinese have much more than in Tibetan, right? [Audience checks volume counts] Huh? You say Tibetans have more? Oh ok, but there are some versions which they don't have in Tibetan is available in Chinese right? Ok. So he says Tibetans have more, I'm glad to hear that. [Rimpoche chuckles] Just joking. So anyway, that's like a 120-volumes. So a hundred-and-twenty volumes we're not going to be able to study or learn or practice and do, so what happened is earlier teachers what they did was they take the essence out, necessary things out. So, basically, finally, the Tibetan teachers came out with two little points: the essence of the meanings of the Buddha's message and explanations, like you know the explanations and the meaning. Two things comes out. So one of them happens to be direct explanations and one of them happens to be hidden, not really directly related, sort of hidden. So two of them comes out, anyway to make the story cut short, so all the Buddha's teachings made easy to practice by one individual,

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Tsongkhapa introduced thing called Lam-Rim. Tsongkhapa or Atisha, I'm not going to go back and to tell you who Atisha is and all this. Thing called Lam-Rim, stage by stage development, how you work with it. So the essence of the Lam-Rim is becomes the three-principles of the path. So in reality it is a short one single page however it really carries tremendous amount of meaning out of whole total teaching of the Buddha. So the beginning level, it says... what is it "Reverence to the gurus?", didn't you say that? [Audience: "Homage..."] Homage to the venerable gurus, right, that's first thing you see, right? Ok now what that's try to tell you, there's a message behind that, that we have to look. That is always important, if we don't see the message behind we don't get it. This is simply about paying reverence or homage or bowing to the gurus, it's giving you a message. The message is, message is, first step is what they introduce you is guru devotional practice, are you ready for that? Guru devotional practice, ok? It is very important practice. In the Lam-Rim teachings they will say root of all development, guru devotional practice. Root of all development, it is important. It is very sensitive subject and important. Place like good old Tibet we don't have a problem at all about this, we can go and talk into guru devotional practice for ten-fifteen days, it's no problem. Can't do that in the United States, can't do that, because it is very sensitive issue, sensitive subject. We have number of guru trips, right? In sixties-seventies, maybe even before who knows, I don't know.

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And it had helped number of different peoples, it also created lot of difficulties. So it has became a sensitive issue so we try to avoid touching it. But we cannot go on without touching it forever, because people are seeking something. All of you over here, you have not just to come here to have entertainment, nor did you have nothing else to do and try to spend your afternoon here what's going on, no. Many of you have come from long distance and try to spend some time here and try to be with us and try to talk something. Purpose is to get benefit something, to get benefit to me. To cut my negatives little bit down and to build up little positivity, that's the simple reason why you have come here. So in order to reach that, in order to achieve that, guru devotional practice is the person start for this. So it is necessary to talk sometime, you cannot go on and avoid for years, which I did. Since 1987 I've been here, I didn't talk much guru devotional practice til last two years and until then, for last two-years too until retreat and I'm totally devoted to Lama-Chopa, so that is guru devotional practice was taught there. And then we didn't talk and the reason why, why, just because it's too sensitive and then why is become benefit for some people and why it become disadvantage to some people? It also our problem, the problem is we never look in there very carefully and we don't know what we're looking in also. If you're really looking in, if you're really looking in properly for what guru is, what is guru's quality, and why should be and what should not be, if you're really looking in that carefully, the problem, some people who have the problem should not have a problem at all! But we did it, the place like guru, the old place like Tibet. And I personally, let me speak about myself,

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I personally have 38-40 different gurus in my life. With exception of His Holiness the Dalai Lama but each... well that's not really true. The first two, three teachers who taught me when I was age four, five, but he didn't select them, that was imposed on me. But rest of them, rest of them, totally I selected. I choose my own guru, with the exception of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama being the temporal and spiritual head of Tibet and somehow you caught him in the middle of it and that's how it became. So, so but rest of them, [Rimpoche chuckles] it's true, and the rest of them each and every one of the gurus that I had, I selected, I choose them, I go to them, knock their door and can I study with you? Can I learn from you? Will you guide me, will you teach me? All this I did personally, and what we did in this country is opposite direction. You don't go and choose your guru, you sitting there and somebody in group or management or somebody will say, so-and-so is your guru. So it's appointed on you rather than you selected. Right or wrong? Most of them you went in there and they say your guru, or I took refuge in there and so-and-so is your root guru, blah-blah-blah. That's how it happens right? No? Oh that's good then, I'm glad I'm wrong then. I thought many of them went that way, huh? [Audience speaks, Rimpoche recognizes student and greets them] Yeah, many of them do that way cause I was at least told. So the group will tell you or the organization will tell you so-and-so is your guru, or I'm your guru, or he's your guru, and this-and-that. That is a problem, if that's happening, if that's not happening it's great, but if that's happening it's a problem. What my suggestion to you if someone says "I'm your guru", you better run away. [Audience chuckles] Run away without looking, true, true, because you may get into trouble. You better run away.

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You select your own guru on the basis of the quality of the individual person, whether he or she, doesn't matter. On the basis of the quality of the person you select your guru. This is important. So then you also need to know what sort of quality you have to look for. Those of you who have Lama Chopa teachings you know, those of you who do not have other information, basically you must look for good quality guru. Guru, really what does the guru really mean? If you sort of the word if you translate it, it will come down to something called heavy. It's not heavy-handed guru but it is heavy in quality, that's what it is. Why? It is a good quality needed because the guru is somehow it is your mentor. It is somehow your.. what you call it? Um.. the translating guru as mentor I have a problem with that but however it is sort of work like your mentor. It is the person you look for, it is the quality you seek for, it is the source of inspiration and that's what it is. So therefore whatever, you needed a good quality. So even the traditional teachings the guru really meaning heavy in good quality, it will come down to that. So good quality, the person must have it. What is good quality? If possible free of negative emotions, if not possible the negative emotions should not be interfering in life of guru. If the negative emotions are interfering in the life of guru it is the disqualification of guru, are you with me? So that's what it is. It doesn't matter whether the-[Audio cuts out- 0:44:52.2 until 0:45:04.4]

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- at least, if not eradicated, overpowered or subdued. Then automatically the other side of the quality, the love, compassion, caring, wisdom, all of them will automatically shine out. That's what when you look for guru, you look for that quality, that's what you look for when you are practicing yourself, that's what you look for. Subdued the negative emotions and shining out the positive, loving, compassion, caring, wisdom. What you look for the quality of the guru is you look for yourself as development. And if you dislike the persons quality, certain qualities [Audio cuts-out @0:46:17.0 until 0:46:29.4] -borderline, when one must have it with the positive mind of, not attending lecture, but seeking, taking a teaching. And the teacher also knew that person is here to pickup spiritual development rather than to have a lecture or something, and the both of them have proper mind of learning and teaching and receiving. And exactly both of them know exactly what you're doing, so really that's what bottom-line is, both sides. And then you establish the relationship, thereafter it's called it, because simply you attend a lecture cannot become a guru, there be a little too much now. So... any other questions? Doesn't seem to be any questions, so let me move down. So can somebody... do you have that thing there with you? Ok thank you.

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I will not be able to read this properly but, I have a thing in Tibetan. [Starts quoting in Tibetan: Cheze lama no sulu...] I'm going to talk to you from Tibetan excuse me. The next verse will say: "Ja lo tso nyingper der" - the essence of all the Buddha's teaching, "Je tsun tapa lam" - the path which is praised by the Bodhisattvas, "Gyen tan no jum" - fortunate one who leads to the liberation, I will explain as much as I could. I'm doing my own way, excuse me, because I'm have a problem of reading it. That's my personal problem. Ok, so actually meaning that Tsongkhapa saying "That's what I'm going to explain but I'm not going to spend time here and explain it", because the traditional teachings here will tell you each one of those verses will touch each one of those principals. Every principal, whether it is the seeking freedom, or love-compassion, or wisdom, each one of them have these each qualities, it is essence of the Buddha's teachings, it is the path which Bodhisattva's praise, it is the way you can lead to the total enlightenment. So each one of them have every three-qualities, so traditionally they will go three times. And the next verse is the same thing: "Kanda sem de la man ja..." - Um I'm looking here, I'm sorry. Those of you who are not attached to the samsara's delights, "Kande sempe de la ..." - who would like to have meaning, meaningful life or who you would like to get benefit out of this precious life, "Jawe je la..." - one who likes the path which Buddha's are happy. So Tsongkhapa said I'm communicating to these people, in other words who can be benefited out of this, what makes the

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individual fit to be benefit? What qualities you needed? "Ka tsa de me..." - one who doesn't have strong attachment to the samsara's delights, but that will probably disqualified all of us. Because each and every one of us have very strong attachment to the samsara's delights. By the way, samsara, how many people don't know the word samsara? Single. Hand. I'll talk to you later, I'm just joking. Huh? [Audience: Tell us about samsara] I'm not joking, I mean I will, I'm not meaning it. Basically, the word samsara, what I understand, it's sanskrit word but what it's trying to tell you is continuation of the life. The life, the birth, the death, bardo, are you familiar with that word bardo? It is intermediate state between death and rebirth. So death, intermediate state, rebirth, another intermediate state which we will call it life, death, intermediate state, rebirth. Continually circle, one after the another without any stop, going around and around and around. It's called samsara, it's labeled as samsara. It's continuation itself is samsara, I don't know, philosophically it's not right. Technically it's not right, but that's what it is. [Rimpoche chuckles] Philosophically it's not right, that's reasons, technically it's not right, that's reasons, anyway forget it. So, let the philosophers worry about it right? Let the technicians worry about it. So basically that's what samsara really is. The samsara's delights is, now you know, is the beautiful spots in our lives, here and there, whatever it might be. So that is the samsara's delights, and if you have a strong attachment to the samsara's delights then we have a problem. The problem will be... what would be problem?

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[Audience responds with answer, unintelligible] Good idea, why? Give me one more reason. [Audience responds, "lazy"] Huh? Lazy.. maybe true, maybe not. Actually attachment is... is attachment laziness? [Audience mulls it over] Well language wise no but will that really function as laziness within the individual, maybe, maybe! I mean that's what I mean, technically it's not right, right? Nobody will say attachment is laziness but attachment makes the individual lazy. Don't want to go away, don't get away, make you stick there, don't make you move out of it, just want to hold on, even a minute or whatever may be, right? So that way, that's way it works. The attachment is called glue for the samsara, it's samsara's glue makes you stick there. Cannot get your way, makes you stick, right? So that's why those of us who have a strong attachment to the samsara's delights are not going to be benefited much out of this, that's what Tsongkhapa saying right from the beginning. Discard it. And one who doesn't have desire to seek benefit out of life, again is not going to work well with those people. And one who doesn't really appreciate and admire how Buddha had achieved, the achievements, neither going to benefit to these people now. That's what it is. So cutting out the opposite side, who you have all these qualities and then he said so those are the fortunate ones pay attention, that's what Tsongkhapa is trying to say. Are you with me? So if you want the benefit out of this that's what we got to do, we have to reduced our attachment to the samsara's

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delights, we have to appreciate, I mean at least admire what Buddha had achieved. [To audience] What's happening? What is it then? And one who achieves some benefit out of life, so these are the three most important in order to benefit us we have to focus that. So now the next is... "Namde ju ne tsu..." So the next verse here, there is nowhere... divorced of stabilized mind? What does that mean? [Audience: There is no way separate from a stabilized mind] I think the stabilized mind here, this translator particularly is referring to what we have been talking seeking freedom, so the word in Tibetan is "nyenjung" and I'm seeing that number of translators use as "renunciation", number of them use call it "seeking freedom", this one says "stabilized mind" and um, I don't know, so every translator have every different word they will use. So the actual main point here is the Buddhist meditation 101, which is looking in your mind and developing mind that really would like to seek freedom. And if you don't have that mind, "Namde ju ne tsu zu ni...tamde la": if you don't have that you not going to cut down the attachment to the samsara's delights. Right? You get it? To cut down the attachments to the samsara's delights you really have to have strong desire to make yourself totally free. What's going to block you, not going to be able to free yourself will be attachment. Attachment will going to

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make you hold to the samsara's delight, in reality it is suffering but we will perceive that as some kind of delight. Right? It may be enjoyable, doesn't have to be everything in the samsara doesn't have to be suffering. Lot of people think every single thing we experience has to be suffering, that's not true. We have a lot of positive virtue karmas, positive karmic result we are also using now, they are not suffering. They are part of samsara, they can create suffering, they may be in nature suffering but it is delight for us, delightful even, right? You don't have to deny all this however you should not have strong attachment for that, are you with me? Alexandra?

Audience (Alexandra): "I was just thinking of music and..."

Rimpoche: Oh that's fine, you enjoy your music. So don't withdraw your desire for music but don't have attachment for music either. Think about it, really true! Think about it. Attachment is something else, its not what you think it is.

[Audience mumbles]

Rimpoche: What did you say?

Audience (Alexandra): "Are you going to tell us what it is?"

Rimpoche: Don't we know? Don't we know? We do have strong attachment don't we.

Audience (Alexandra): "I'm sure I have it but I don't really know what exactly that means"

Rimpoche: Exactly what I mean?

Audience: "What you said, don't have attachment..."; Another audience member hops-in (Jonathan): "I think don't have desire for music but don't have attachment to it. I think the question is what is the difference between desire and attachment?"

Rimpoche: Desire and... I got it, what she saying, I got it, what I got it. I did get it. [Audience laughs] What do you think it is [indistinct-"can"] anyway?

Audience (Jonathan): I think desire is wanting and attachment is not being able to let go"] You're making interesting distinction. Desire is wanting, there is no problem with that. Attachment is not only letting it go, it is even more than that.

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Audience (Jonathan): "Grasping"

Rimpoche: Huh? Grasping. Grasping does not allow... attachment is very sticky stuff.

Audience (Jonathan): "Attachment is it having you rather than you having it. Attachment is when the object has capture you rather than you capturing it"

Rimpoche: That may or not be true Jonathan. May not be true, when I look at... also anyway true that object catch you. When you really look, when you have attachment, I think it really differs from person to person and it differs to different things. Basically, attachment also always have a control issue, the attachment also have belonging issue, and attachment also have issue of it being mine and mine, and all of those sticky stuff is within attachment. Desire, simple desire, is not.. doesn't really have "I want it", it's less than "I want to control it completely" and "It has to be totally mine". There's a big difference I think if you look carefully, so that's why I say you can have a desire to music otherwise you cannot become a good musician. Yeah, you.

Audience: "I wonder if the distinction that when you are attached to something and it doesn't happen the way you want or it doesn't happen then you get the negative emotions from..."

Rimpoche: The attachment you really want it to be the way you want it, that is definitely true. The negative emotion is there already, where you want it to be, is negative emotion. Because you don't appreciate the other is, as it is, you want it to be where you want it to be. This is our society problem

1:06:00.3

between the mother... and kids... and whatever you know. This is, I wish I didn't pin-pointed mother but you know, between parents and children and all this you know. Sort of the way you wanted to [indistinct-"hit/hear"] them. That is, that itself is not appreciating the thing as it is and so you are changing it where you want it to be, itself is a negative emotion. Anyway, these are difficult point or easy point. That is very much within us, if you observe carefully we will see ourself very strongly. Each one of those negative emotions: attachment, anger, hatred, jealousy, all of them are very much interconnected, interrelated, one brings the other very easily. When it is happening then you will recognize that emotion is negative emotion because it brings the anger easily, brings hatred easily, jealousy easily.

Audience: [indistinct- mumbling]

Rimpoche: So there you go there [indistinct-"Stephanie"], you don't appreciate as it is.

Audience: [indistinct- something regarding pure love]

Rimpoche: PURE LOVE may have some desire, I'm quite sure it does. They will have desire but pure love may not have any hatred or, any hatred, jealousy is another thing. [Rimpoche chuckles] That is looks like it five-, what is it, that five different spices the Chinese put, the Japanese put them together, you know. It looks like that but there all somehow mixed, but really it is. What did we come this out? Where did we talk this?

Audience: "Divorced from a stabilized mind..."

Rimpoche: Huh? Stabilized mind, ok. Anyway, desire to make yourself free - Hi Phillip. Desire to make yourself free... there's chair here if you want to come this side, oh you want there ok. Desire to make yourself free will definitely have an obstacle

1:09:00.5

if you have attachment... right? If you have attachment to jealousy then to make yourself free of jealousy will be difficult. And if you have attachment to anger, make yourself free from anger will be difficult. So that's why samsara's delights, attachment to samsara's delights, become obstacle to a spiritual path. Are you with me, or in the middle there somewhere, huh? Ok?

Audience: [Question inaudible, unintelligible]

Rimpoche: Even you have some kind of attachment, but first and foremost we must seek the freedom. That's what I told you Buddhist 101, earlier. If you talking the four-noble truths, that will be the main point, and if you talk Lam-Rim, that will be the main point, if you talk the Vajrayana that will be the main point. If you talk... even very conservative, traditional, Theravaden or Chinese Mahayana style of very very conservative way, if you come round, ultimately bottom-line will be this. There's no other another way, whether you go simple way this way or traditional style of circling round and come down or whatever you do that will be, bottom-line will be this one. Seeking freedom is the main point. If you don't need freedom you don't need to work for it, why you put yourself in difficult position? And need of the freedom we don't have to explain to us, that we know more than enlightened beings know. They don't have a problem, we do. We cry, we have long face, we say we don't want to talk about,

1:12:00.8

all of them we do, we experience day by day. So these are the clear points that we need freedom from those. Each one of them is result of our negative emotions, each one of them! Give me one single... miserable mental state which is not a result of negative emotions. Think within your life, review last- whatever you have, twenty-years, thirty-years, forty-years, whatever you have, if you find single one. You're not going to find it, because each one of those tortures we put ourselves through with each step is a result of our negative emotion. And that's the reason why we need freedom. So let us say make it, let us make ourselves very strong mind that we do need freedom. If any of you are mediating on this, this is the best meditation. Whether you sit and count your breath or not, whatever you do, what look in your life and seeking freedom from those problems is definitely very important point. We are talking about simple, almost like man-made sufferings, how difficult to bear that. We are not talking about bigger karma-made suffering, we are not talking about hot and cold hell here, we are not talking about hungry ghost, we are not talking about animal realm difficultes, we are simply talking about as human being how many sufferings we go through. And that itself is strong enough reason to make up our mind, to need to seek the freedom. If that is not enough, then think about hell realm,

1:15:00.6

hungry ghost realm. The whole purpose is, of all this, is to push the individual to draw conclusion in that direction. That is the simply, that what is all about it. If you can draw a strong conclusion and push yourself in that direction you don't need to mediate on the sufferings of the hell realms and all of this. That is because of that. Maybe next verse should say "Tana je ner tsong nepa ...", actually those of you with strong, with the background of lam-rim, if you move, now we are moving from the guru devotional practice to embracing human life. "Tarjer ne kha" The life which is precious and difficult to find, does he say that? Oh, by contemplating how difficulty precious human life is to acquire, that's what this translation says. Meaning, the life what we have is precious. The point number one is the life is precious, do you agree? Helen, Ellen? Do you agree, you I'm talking to you. No not Ellen here. Simply acknowledging without saying it. [Rimpoche chuckles] There's no question that life is precious, no question. I have a very childish way of arguing that, we consider million-dollars very precious, do we or don't? [Audience: "Yes."] A million-dollars.. yes, right!? Thank you, if somebody tells you here I give you a million dollars let me cut-off your head, will anybody agree? No, a very childish way I'm talking to you but it simply tells you your head is more important than million-dollars. Why? Because it is your life.

1:18:00.0

I mean one should say [unintelligible- dammit] is life. [Rimpoche chuckles] That's why it is important, that's why it is precious. When you don't think those lines you taking granted everything. Taking granted everything so the line is meaningless sometimes: "It is terrible, it gives me too much pain, I went through with all sorts of up's-and-down's and so many roller coaster down in life, so it's not worth for it". It's a foolish statement, we don't really analyze, we don't think carefully. If you have to cut your heads off then you won't do it for a million-dollars. Or if you have complication in your life and you get sick and complication, then you begin to realize how precious the life is. But then that's only when you get on yourself, when you get on others you don't bother but when you get on yourself then you begin to worry. Life if precious no doubt, everybody has the knowledge of that but we don't have the practice of that. We don't practice that, we practice something worse than dirty laundry or something. We do. We abuse as much as we could, from any angle, to our body, to our mind, to our spirit. So the Buddha's teaching here, it says embrace life... I'm not talking to one individual ok? Don't think I'm talking to you, I do get this problem sometimes when I'm talking group, many people will tell me: "You've been talking to me right?". No, I'm not talking to any one of you, I'm talking to all of you! Ok, ok, really. So the Buddha's discover here life is precious, important, tremendous value, and one must embrace life. So that's why Tsongkhapa puts these in number-two point in

1:21:00.3

lam-rim, after guru-devotional practice. Number-two point, number-two point in life, which probably... actually number-one point because guru-devotional is something which you go side-by-side rather than try to develop first. So sort of number-one to embrace life, that's the Tsongkhapa's... actually lam-rim 101. We have too many 101's here today. This is lam-rim 101, embrace life. It is very important, Tsongkhapa has been talking to us, talking to us, those of us in the 1990's in the United States, this is his talking to us. Embrace life. And then now question comes, how to embrace life, right? We need that, how. Appreciate life, how? By seeing the qualities in life, what life is capable of delivering. Seen the quality of life and appreciate what you have it. And you know it when it has been threaten, that's what I say, so you won't change it for a million-dollars, or even a billion-dollars, right? Unless you're fool. You won't change it, so that's why, that shows how important it is, what value it has. That's one way of looking. Another way of looking, is let's see, let's say, let's think for a minute if we are not a human being right his moment, if I am your cat or your dog, right? So you may say, "Oh my dog is so intelligent" or "My cat is wonderful it knows everything" but it's not more intelligent than you are, right?

1:24:00.5

Can't even say I'm hungry, nor can it say I'm cold, they'll say it "Beow, beow, beow" whatever. [Audience laughs] But you have to interpret and presuming saying its angry, or saying its cold, or saying its hungry, or even angry or whatever. But they can't say it, by chance if you were a dog, what will be our condition? This is how earlier Tibetan teachers meditate... imagine that you turn yourself to dog, try to behave like dog and see the limitations. Then turn back, say "Wow, how great being a human being", so that's how they appreciate, that's how they embrace life. If you can do the step-one then you don't have to do that, if you cannot do with the step-one then do the step-two. Changing yourself, temporarily, imaginatively think another being, don't think of some imaginative persons with "close encounters with third-kind". Try to make even better what we are, who knows, close encounter with third-kind could be less intelligent than the monkeys, every possibility is there. Anyway, the life, the value of the life, embrace the life it is become extremely important. Many of our problems rooted to because we simply do not appreciate life, simply we do not embrace life. We think its terrible, we are angry with our life because our desire is too high and life been unable to fulfill where you wanted to have it, so you're angry, you're angry with your karma but you looked on your life and you reject life. Don't we do that? We always do, lot of people do that. That's the problem, so if you are Buddhist practitioner, if you follow lam-rim, if you follow Tsongkhapa's teaching, number-one what you have to discard it is don't get wrongly angry on life

1:27:00.6

which is precious, important, and give you tremendous amount of benefit. And look around because you cannot fulfill certain thing, you're angry on that. That's the sign of stupidity. Absolutely person is stupid because you know you're actually beating your own head/hand which is feeding your own mouth, you're beating that. Ungrateful. So that's why lam-rim 101 is embrace life. [Rimpoche chuckles] Here you have Buddhist 101, meditation 101, lam-rim 101. Embrace life, look at what the life can give you, Buddha was a human being. Buddha didn't born as some kind of angel, maybe he is angel but didn't born angel but born as human being. I don't think Buddha born as we see here, this big lump up there and big-lump, yellow down there and all this, what we talk about. It's two-thousand five-hundred years ago, who knows what had happened, you know. [Audience laughs] I really don't think so, if we see such a person, maybe if it's America nobody will bother but anywhere else a lot of people will be, you know, wondering, right? So as a human being Buddha had achieved, that is a human being's achievement. The scientifically humans you looking today, I'm quite sure Einstein was a human being, no? Not human being? Oh ok, well if not human being that's fine, I have no argument with that. [Audience: "He's a human being"] Huh, he was human being, fine. So the same human quality, we have it. And those of... people who are angry with life, who could not really fulfill certain things. It's not the life which didn't do it, it is the method and the driving force, the laziness what we had.

1:30:00.3

That was the problem and you're taking that anger on life. We have a saying among the Tibetan monks: "You're angry with your benefactor but you beat the drum". The monks, bang, bang, bang, and you beat the drum, you get it? You're angry with somebody else, you're beating the drum, bung, bung, bung [Rimpoche chuckles] You get it, that's what it is, you're angry with your laziness but you're beating your life. Getting angry with that, blaming---[Audio abruptly ends@1:30:47.9]