Archive Result

Soundfile 19981015GRBH4NT

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Bloomfield Hills

Topic

Transcriber Roger Johnson

Date 21 January, 2024

…And, um, try to spend the time just uh chit-chatting. So, in that case, so, so, how do we deal with our life and what is Buddha’s viewpoint of – that probably is reason why four noble truths have come up. Alright, thank you.

So that makes sense. I should’ve continued that.

Uh, basically when I look at the Buddhism, the Buddha’s teaching and Buddha’s sort of “Buddhism” what you really find in there is not so much of “ism” as such, as “ism” or even as a religion, as a religion you don’t really not going to find much. It will probably be most, the most essence, what you really have is, basically - whether you look at the beginning, sort of really preliminary, kindergarten level, or whether you look at the, at the, end of the, the sort of study, whether you are going to be a specialized person who is doing research for PhD or the PhD who is doing research to further develop, or whatever. Wherever you look, whatever the level you look in the Buddha’s way of sharing things it is definitely dealing with the individual life.

0:01:45.9

Whether you are looking at the Vajrayana, or whether you looking into, to little bit of more advanced level of Mahayana Buddhism, or even very beginning level, wherever you are looking, and all the time you are going to find it is the dealing with the life and there is no obstruct, nothing. It is always like this. Dealing with our life and the problems that we face.

Whether you are advanced level or beginning level it is always the same thing. So even if you begin like four noble truths, we say, four noble truths, even if you begin at that level and when you begin to start looking on that it is simply dealing with our life and even at the end when you are about to become a Buddha, even at that level it is also dealing with your life. Very simply because there are two things, very straight forward. Two things.

The persons, or let’s say person, who tried to become a Buddha or tried to liberate themselves, whatever, even making yourself better, whatever your ends and goals level might be. So when you look at this life what you have is two things. One is obstacles that you have which you cannot break through, and the other is the methods of how you are breaking your obstacles. Very simple. That is the, that is the, that is the whole thing.

First, recognize obstacles and whatever it may be. If the level from level to level changes. That’s why, how a person develops, right? At the beginning level it might be simply, very simply, beginning level it might be simply like a strong anger, strong attachment or strong hatred or very strong jealousy. That type of thing at the beginning level that may be your obstacle. Most of us at our level, what makes us not to be a perfect person that we wanted to be is simply because of our strong attachment or strong anger or strong jealousy or something, that is the obstacle, there is no other person that is holding you down. Truly, we can blame anybody, whoever, the number one person you blame is your own, the person you are close to, maybe not, sort of like a mother-in-law or something, easy person to get to blame, very easy handy way of doing things because you really don’t want to blame your own companion, so mother-in-law is very easy target.

0:05:14.4

Um, and then that is not there, and then you, then whoever comes close to you then you blame the other person, you blame yourself all this we do. But truly speaking, when you really look very carefully it is not another person who is your obstacle, this is the, our, delusion. The neurosis we have. Anger, attachment, hatred. One of them is holding, that is the real obstacle. At our level, very gross anger, very gross hatred, very gross, very strong and gross problem that we see and we deal with it. We don’t see subtle anger, subtle attachment or subtle jealousy, we don’t notice that. That is not our direct obstacle.

Our direct obstacles are sort of really, very gross anger, hatred jealous. And our sort of practice, the Buddha’s way of practice, is really dealing with that. Dealing, dealing, actually challenging our own anger, challenging our own jealousy, and challenging our own hatred. And if you cannot handle then you better not challenge. The challenge is the level where you begin to be able to handle something, then you can challenge. And when you cannot handle it, you avoid it.

Are you with me? It is very interesting. I’m thinking, like, you know, if you encounter with a ghost, that is popping up on my head, that is why I’m going to share that, it might not be a good example. Um, but, but if you know you can handle that ghost then it is okay you can face the ghost and uh, and uh you can challenge the ghost. But if you don’t think you can handle the ghost then you better run away rather than try to sit there and try to say, you know, say something. Um, sometimes it doesn’t work.

0:07:53.6

I don’t know why I got the ghost on my head. Huh?

Audience: It’s Halloween.

Rimpoche: (Laughs) Is that right? Oh thank you (Laughing). At least there is justification, thank you so much.

I just share a little sort of personal little experience I had once um that is about a few years ago, now, maybe ten, maybe fifteen years ago. Between ten and fifteen. The time doesn’t really ring much bell in me you know. A few years ago up to fifteen, right? It has been quite a long time ago. Between ten and fifteen I think. And I was, um, I was in the Malaysia and there are so many type of those ghosts, and this and that, and you’ll find, you know, if you just speaking like this you’ll probably find like five or six or seven or maybe ten people shaking there you know? Coming in a trance and singing or doing something, you’ll find that all the time. And those are harmless ghosts, and that is okay. I don’t bother with them. They just shake themselves a little bit there, here and there (Laughing) I keep on talking and continuing whatever I am doing I don’t even bother. So they are there they go, they come they go. So that’s no big deal. And then when there is harmful ghost and they try to bring, when them is around they try to bring it and I always try to avoid. And sometimes I couldn’t avoid. Once I remember, and there is, it is not the eastern Malaysia but in the west, but sort of really at the border. Almost like where the bridge is near the U.P. here.

0:10:00.3

So, it’s almost like that type of, in the main peninsula in Malaysia, and I was giving a dharma teaching to maybe like 800 people and in that, in the middle of that they brought this ghost so I can’t run away (Laughing) so I have to sit there, right? And so, so, so I said okay, it’s about 11 year old girl. Um, and I said “Wait until I finish and then I can handle it.” So, when I finish my talk and I got the guy, these people in my room and I said “Just send the girl alone.” And then they said “no.” I said “why?” He said “It is so strong, so powerful and they will beat you and a couple of other Rinpoches came and she sort of got up and sort of slapped a couple of times” and so there are like four people holding her. So, I was scared.

(Audience laughing). I was scared. So finally got into room and then I sat there and started doing my little prayers and started doing things and um so, so then this father of that little girl was telling me, telling that girl, and go and see Rimpoche and she started running away towards the door, “There is no Rimpoche there, there is a blue man there. There is a man with blue color, completely blue color” so she started running. So then I thought “I can handle it now” (Laughing) and I said, I started calling her “come back here.” And she looked back, started running into the, into the closet, you know, scratching the door of the closet and trying to run in there. So, then I grabbed her from the leg and pulled her back. So then I got more you know (Laughing). So, so things, I don’t know what I’m talking about, but (Audience laughter).

0:12:04.4

So, at the end, at the end of that since I raised that thing, at the end of that there are eleven different ghosts one after another. One after another, you know. So when one is sort of you handle it then they said yeah, but, I’m okay but my boss or my friend and then there’s another person, being comes in the trance, and another being comes in and almost like 200 years back there is a very wealthy lady that has been murdered by um somebody working for her and then reach up to that level. And even that wealthy lady has been benefiter of some monk from Thailand and that is also included in there. So it is a terrible family of, I don’t know, of one protect the other, and one protect the other and it involved eleven of them in tiny little eleven year old girl.

And then at the end I draw the conclusion I said “Why are you doing, what are doing this? For what? What did this eleven year old girl do to you and why are you torturing her? Why are you making her life miserable?” And that lady, the rich lady said “I haven’t got my revenge yet. I haven’t gotten my revenge yet.” I said “If you keep on waiting for your revenge you are going to have a worse and worse time, so I think it is time for you to go. Leave.” And then the monk came. I said “You are wearing the Buddha’s robe and going around and teaching peace and harmony and now look at where you landed. Your anger did this and don’t you think it is better for you to live? Leave now.” And then finally they agreed to leave the next day, and I agreed to do certain pujas for them. And so I did, and finally it was settled. It is okay.

By the time when you know how to handle that pops up, because maybe Halloween, it is in my head. So, if you know, if you can handle it then you can challenge them. And if you don’t know you can handle then you better run away because they will slap you back. So, that’s what happened.

0:14:14.8

Um, likewise, our delusions, our negative emotions are the same thing. And if you really know you can handle it with your anger, then you can challenge, you can face them. And if you don’t think you can handle it then avoid it. That is way to go, truly speaking. A lot of people will think “Yes I learn a lot about this anger, I learn a lot about this, I may be able to handle it” and then you get defeated badly. So, then that’s not very, that’s not fun. When you get defeated by anger or defeated by the, by the, by the attachment, and then so sometimes they link them together and uh it becomes very difficult for the individual to handle.

And then in addition to that you add up certain chemicals in your body and that exaggerates more. And then you take more Prozac or something and that gets you even more faster going so then it is really, what you really are doing is abusing yourself. Physically and mentally both, that happens with a lot of people. So I wanted to share that, so because if you do not really handle the anger so then better not challenge the anger and avoid. That’s what, that’s what Buddha said. And that’s why Buddha gives so much discipline to those monks and nuns that don’t move around they just sort of sit there. The Tibetans are different, because of Vajrayana they, you know, goes on and all that.

0:16:08.8

But, uh, but if you look at those monks from southeast Asia and, or (inaudible) and all this, really struck me when they sit down and meditate they will sit like mountain or rock there. And when they walk they walk straight forward they won’t even look five feet this way, five feet that way that goes step one behind another. So, these disciplines are given because if you do not know how to handle your delusions, best thing is to avoid it. That’s what Buddha’s really teaching is. So I really want people to remember that you recognize anger and you know it is not good and sometimes you cannot help it it is coming, but , but you don’t just sort of go on and challenge the anger so I’m dealing with my anger and see how it works, and then anger may consume you, consume you completely.

And then this is what happens with all our sadness, emotional things that become so powerful and they almost overtaking us. So then to protect that and uh we try to do a little meditations you can do it properly. You try those, some prayers that may or may not work very well. Um, you try, some people go for drinking, some people go for smoking, some people take some other chemicals, and some people go to doctor and take some pill, I have nothing against all this, okay. Don’t worry, don’t, I ‘m not, it looks like I’m saying it is bad, but uh these are all unnecessary. All unnecessary really. Anger is there within the individual. You know, when you really don’t know how to handle the anger, instead of challenging anger just recognize anger, realize “I’m getting angry.” “And anger is bothering me”. Realize, I’m getting attached, I’m keeping the attachment pinch.

0:18:23.5

That’s why people get pain out of attachment because attachment pinch you get. So, these things are to be just recognized. And recognize them, and then don’t - do nothing. Just keep on recognizing. This sounds very strange, I’m telling you do nothing sounds very strange. But, at the beginning level or at the level where, it’s like you know when you know there’s ghost you don’t know what to do run away. But, but, but sort of really recognize that is real ghost, not somebody pretend to be, somebody pretend to be just slap twice and you’ll know it. (Laughs).

And so, then they’ll start to say “Ouch, ouch” you know. (Laughing). Old Tibet has so many of that type of ghost story, not ghost they call it “protectors.” So many of them. Every village, every family almost have one or another that type of thing. And, um, and it was in 50’s true near Lhasa, village near Lhasa, some sort of funny guy, funny guy, so that funny guy never sort of happy with that particular protector what that comes in towns, in his own family, never likes. So, people are very afraid of Chinese at that time, the Chinese are coming, the Chinese are doing this, the Chinese are doing that, so what did he do?

One day he did wear a sheep skin dress and put the skin outside. I mean, in Tibet, the old Tibet system they prefer the skin inside and put the smooth side out, but in the west you put that hair out and your know, but the old Tibet the hair in and smooth side out. So he put that outside hair outside and when they comes in the towns and begins to make noise over there and um he jumped from the roof and landed in right in front of that and screamed “The Chinese are coming!” So, that protector has gone off the charts and he’s a normal person immediately after that.

0:21:03.0

And two three days later when they invited this protector again he comes (versus?) “Is there Chinese?” (Laughs) He comes and “Is there Chinese” (Laughing). So, so things like that when they are fake you know it. But when they’re real you better not challenge because you don’t know what you are going to do with it. And if you don’t know how to handle it it can be not very good. Can be harmful.

So, just like that if you don’t know how to handle the anger better not try to handle it. Um, if you can that’s fine. But anger is a thing that is going to come up all the time. Jealousy is thing all the time it is going to come up. And try to be really good to be, try to recognize and let it go. Don’t try to block, when I say challenge. So you say, well I’m getting angry I cannot, I cannot, I should not anger, I should not get angry, try to suppress and people do that very often, and that shouldn’t be done. Because, when I say recognize, acknowledge and let it go, rather than try to hold on, say well it is chance for me to get rid of once and for all. Now you are going to have anger very often coming up, even you waste that opportunity you did not waste anything. So it is better. So, people have that big problem. I wanted to share that with you, sort of really recognize and avoid it. Recognize…there’s a lot of people will tell you you cannot keep running from your problems all the time you have to face. That’s true in a way. But you can only face it when you know how to face it. Otherwise, you can have big problem.

0:23:15.6

That’s what I wanted to say. That’s Buddha’s way of telling. Buddha’s way of teaching at the Theravada level, if you don’t know how to handle it avoid it. Avoid it, keep on avoiding that itself has a tremendous amount of help. But avoiding does not mean suppressing, okay? Suppressing. Whatever the anger may coming up, if the person is getting angry and you want to yell and scream, yell and scream it doesn’t matter, don’t try to hold back. What I’m saying is yell and scream it. Yell and scream it to, to, to your own shadow. Yell and scream it to, look in mirror and yell it and shout it to yourself. And don’t yell and shout to your companion. That doesn’t help. Don’t blame them.

Look in the mirror and, and um yell at yourself, but don’t punch (Laughs). You will have a problem (Laughs). So, so, so what I mean is let it go. Recognize and let it go. That is the main point I’m trying to tell you. There are number of people you try to surprise, thinking that I’m handling and, you know remember the situation under control, how many people say that? That word is very familiar, right?

Situation under control. We think under control but it’s not. So that’s what’s happening. So remember that. Okay, that is the one way, and then the second way, where and how you really deal with your anger is when you are not angry. That is the time you have to really deal with anger. Because when anger is powerful, strong attacking you, avoid it. But when you are not there deal with the anger. Where and how you deal with the anger is seeing the problem created by anger. Don’t think of this a negativity, negative karma, and its bad all this and that. That is fine if you can think that way if you like to think that way, that’s okay.

0:25:33.3

No big deal. But the really thing is to see the problems, the problems created by anger. How anger makes me miserable. How anger harms me physically, mentally, emotionally, I should‘ve gone the other way around: Emotionally, mentally and finally even physically. These things you can think, think about those. And try to pass some kind of resolution saying that “Ha, anger does bad, it is bad. That’s what I don’t want it.” When you are not angry that’s what you do.

(To assistant) Oh, thank you. What kind of tea is it? (Response: Imperial?) Thank you (Laughing). I don’t know how it tastes, you know. Does not stand out to the name (Audience laughing). But not bad. Thank you.

Um, so keep sort of keep on passing resolution and saying that’s bad I don’t want it. And that is how its affect to the mind stream of the individual, by acknowledging anger is not good, it is bad so, so that way it helps anger not to become so strong, so powerful within you.

Sometimes, sometimes it can trigger anger back and can get really nasty one. What do you do at that time? Do you try to challenge? The advice is no. Do not. Try to avoid. Try to avoid by doing anything you like. You can switch on anything you want to. You can, you can you know like the traditional old Tibet they will recommend you go to the high mountains and look out because of the beautiful views of the valleys going through, and the rivers all going through, going up to the high mountains, going down to the beach of the, bank of the river, and uh, walk through a beautiful place and listen to music and all that type of thing, anything you can.

And if you are used to it, meditation, try to meditate. But don’t try to meditate on anger, try to meditate on, like appreciation of life. Try to meditate on embracing the human life. Try to meditate on the qualities of the enlightened beings. Or try to meditate on the quality of human beings, wonderfulness, and so that’s recommended in that way. And do not try to meditate sufferings at that level. Because that feeds anger. “Why I’m suffering. Worse that and that I have to punish myself. I have to torture myself.” And all this funny things will trigger in human mind. So, therefore it should be way how to avoid thinking good things, the wonderful times.

You know, I’m telling you meditation. Truly, the meditation is in a big way it looks some thing very holy type of thing over there. But what is really bottom line, if you look at very ground level what is meditation it is the, it is the thought process you go through. And either you sit there without any thought processing, or, or analyze through. Both are mediation. And on e of the best meditation is also visualization. Through visualization, visual, visual imagination is visualization.

Am I making the meditation too cheap? You know, really when you call visualization it seems some kind of you attach some kind of mystical significance in there and visualize, but truly is visually imaging thing is visualization.

0:30:35.6

And uh most of the Buddha’s, Buddhist, Vajrayana Buddhist meditations are visualizations. Because visualization is the most powerful tool that makes impact on the mind stream, rather than simply sitting or even reading or even thinking. Visual image gives you very important impact, better than anything else. That is why the Vajrayana Buddhism use visualization as a technique for 2000 years. I’m saying the because you know a few months ago I saw on television some, some, some sort of smart Harvard guys discovered that visual thing is much more impact and blah, blah, blah. It’s discovery.

So but thing is we do this for 2000 years (Laughing) and we knew it, you know really. That is true. So even visualizing anything if you really become very angry and you want to meditate and visualize pure land if you know how to describe pure land. And if you don’t know how to describe pure land it is very interesting. Recently I saw a movie that is called, what, “What Dreams May Come?” I’m sure many of you have seen it, quite sure. Right?

0:32:25.5

So, in that you see the pure land and you see the hell. Hell and heaven both you see them there. It is very funny, they give you that, the idea, the whole thing, people die then go somewhere and all your, all your, actually art, the drawing of your art becomes your pure land. And that is very funny, sort of stuck on my head for awhile, you know, those visual image of the blue trees that drawn, and the red leaves, flowers they’re drawn, then people walk through, sort of a visual image stuck on my head too (Laughs) for awhile.

So, and um, and um, and uh and also what best they could make of the hell as well. So, um, so…what did I say that for? Huh? (Audience prompting Rimpoche).

Ah. So, the pure land part. So the pure land, but you know Buddhist visualization is not simply you just sit there and think whatever beautiful you can think, and you sort of letting it go your mind everywhere, that’s not Buddhist visualization. And that’s why it is guided meditation. Guided visualization, the visualization will tell you what to think about, they suggest you, they suggest you, they guide you, they suggest you whether you follow or not is your choice.

0:34:02.6

But they suggest you think with certain systems. So that make the perfect impact whatever you wanted to build in within your mind it is that sort of constant what goes on and builds up so that it have effect to the individual. That’s what they do. That’s why it is not simply just sit down there and let mind go everywhere. That’s why it is guided. So even you talk about the pure land, pure land will also have its own little, own little special things. Special qualities. Qualities that we cannot ever imagine we have on the human, human land ever possible.

So the pure lands are normally, normally, it is almost like that picture, really, and uh, they said, they said the ground was also so beautiful. Anything that, anything which you don’t want is not there. Everything what you wanted is there. It is environmental, also whatever you are attracted yourself and the most beautiful, physical aspects of any part of the world wherever you see, you include that in your pure land.

In reality the pure lands are coming out of, now for the Buddha you say it is the pure lands are the mind manifestations of, mental manifestations of the Buddha’s. Are you with me? So that means my pure land will be my mental manifestation. I, excuse me, create my own pure land. That’s what it is. But, pure land with qualities that I wanted. The quality that, that is difficult is what I don’t wanted. I don’t know anybody visualize the cockroaches in pure land, I don’t think so.

0:36:38.3

Cockroaches must, those um, mosquitoes, cockroaches and mosquitoes, we don’t visualize them in the pure land. That doesn’t mean we will be excluding them. No it is not. It is not, it is not simply a part of your own creation you don’t create it in there. So that sort of pure land which manufactured through your own mental fabrication, your mental fabrication. But your later what is really happening is, when your positive karmas build up, those positive karmic of our self become this and that. That our positive karma becomes our pure land. Our positive karma becomes our uh pure companions that we visualize. Our retinues that we visualize. It is nothing more other than yourself. But your own manifestation and your own positive karmas of that’s how it becomes.

0:37:35.8

When we look at the pure lands, what we talk today pure land, those pure lands there’s a lot of different pure lands, according to the Buddhism, and these pure lands are each and every one of them creation of our own mind. And our own mind which becomes materialized and becomes real. That is the different part. And we are unable to do that right now. And when we have inner positive karma it will be able to materialize that, and that is, becomes pure land. So that tells you another thing, another thing. So all our obstacles that we have is our mental creation. And all our positive things that we have is also mental creation.

At this moment what’s happening is our negative mental creations becoming real and that’s why we get sick, we have problem, we get mental, physical, emotional problems, are the our negative mind activities are really becoming real. Likewise, the positive mind, uh, mind creations will become real just like negative creations are here. That is the switching what we are looking for.

0:39:01.2

Did you hear me? Okay. Well, this is a pure Buddha’s teaching and this pure Vajrayana Buddhism too. That’s what it really is. And we are unable to, to, to create, forget about create it, even probably imagine, imagining the positive things happening, things happening. So, forget about it actually being materialized. But negatives are happening. All negative thoughts that we have they are materializing. So, the both negative effects that we experience as a real and it is real, and the positive things we will hope to experience and they will be real are both mental creation, of our own, nobody else’s.

And those mental creations of our own, to have that happen, to have that happen, and that is the struggle what we are going through. And that is why we say delusions, this anger, attachment, these are problem. Because they give you negative effect. And it materialize. You know, I keep on telling you: Emotional, mental, physical. Right? First comes on emotional level, then it goes to mental/physical level. It effects that way.

This is the process that comes in. So when you try to reverse the same way but it reverses from the mind level, mental level to physical level. We talk a lot about the transforming negativities. I mean, transformation, and that is some kind of people have interest and people look in there and how do I transform? A lot of people will say, ask the question, all the time. I mean, I just simply have to stand and smile and say “hey hey” or something, you know really, I don’t know what to say.

0:41:42.2

I mean truly when you begin to look at it, it’s not like that white piece of cloth dipped into some kind of yellow color and came out a yellow cloth. That’s not the process like that, transforming. Transforming is constantly working at the mind level, mental stage. And that mental stage over, affecting over on the physical level, and that positive way or negative way is the transformation. Bottom line, to cut it short, say a few words. And that’s that. And then, the true dharma practice is also this. This is become true dharma practice. We are not simply, you are not simply worshipping, you are not simply praying, you are acting. You are functioning by yourself.

Dealing with your own mind. Dealing with your own mental fabrications. Dealing with your own mind manifestations, and you are working to have your own mind manifestation to try to become real, real. Did I say correct? Real. Really actually it is there, it happens. To be able to produce your own table by your own mind. That is what I mean it. Real. I mean it is impossible. Table has to be made by wood and the carpenters has to be, right? And if you started to make your own mind table you would put the carpenters out of business.

0:43:37.7

Right? (Inaudible comment on a sip of tea just made). Now it is bitter (Laughs).

So, so in other words , the other day, I don’t remember what I said about it, but if I mentioned the four noble truths, the level where we are now is the first noble truth, the truth of suffering. That’s where we are. And Buddha same way discovered that and started looking for “Is there a way out?” That was the question. “Is there a way out?” How it…(Recording cuts).

(Recording resumes) Isn’t this amazing? Sometime when we are looking for liberation and we’re really sort of look for liberation and somehow something happened and will change everything. Some kind of overnight thing, right? Do we? Or what are we looking for, liberation? What are we imagining, liberation? I mean every person who has interest in the spiritual practice path is looking for liberation. That’s what it is. Bottom line.

You’re not looking for fun but you’re looking for liberation – real big fun, real liberation yeah, not a simple small little fun, but really looking for liberation. So how, if you keep on thinking liberation, it’s going to think something is going to come out from the somehow externally and is going to change me. It’s not.

0:45:46.1

It is internal perception that changes. Really, the internal perception that changes. Sort of removing, freeing suffering is internal perception. Don’t we normally say “mind over matter”? So that is really is. I saw last night on television in Chicago that there is somebody, some guy who is able to work with computer through mind. Did anybody see it? So, they even said “mind over matter” and so they are able to work through some guy like, they give this persons age, 7 or 8 years younger than me, 52 or something. Um, paralyzed completely and so far he can only communicate to the family and only through the eye. Now somehow they found a way how they can work through computer. And computer and almost started communicating quite easily through the computer and yet he is completely paralyzed so it is mental focusing point and through the mental focusing they can somehow push button. So, see it is always, that’s nothing new, you know that? It is nothing new. It is, it is, it has been there, you know?

0:47:35.6

You go to southeast Asia there are so many people, so many people with just mental focus they lift pennies up. They focus, they bend hangars. You know, those who are watching, looking for the water whether there is anywhere in India there’s full of them and they go and they carry little, two little piece of iron piece go over and out of sometimes they cannot control it. Shaking, and even the iron piece will bend down and all this and then they dig down there are find water.

These are the, these are the naturally is there it is happening. So, so it is the mind is really so important and much important and um, um mind can make the difference. And Buddha, I think almost every religion, truly speaking, if you think and use that particular mental power to try to bring the individual up to the level. So, to me Buddhism is sort of really a mental activity, mind exercise. For our level it is simply exercising. And later it may become actual reality. Right now moment we even visualize the field of merit. Our field of merit, right now is our imagination only. And we do business on that, on that field of merit we do business over there.

0:49:14.1

But, it is only mentally we do it. But right now mentally we are doing it but it may become actual one day. And, uh, it is simply depends how our level of obstacles we have, how much it goes down. And when it goes down that becomes real. It becomes more and more real these obstacles. The sort of blocks and obstacles are all here, it is not over there, it is over here. When it goes down, it goes down. That thing becomes more and more rare. So, in other words, in other words right now what we try to reduce our anger by visualizing a beautiful land and beautiful person and our anger eradicates that beautiful land and beautiful person would really become your own pure land.

But only imagine (envision? @ 0:50:16.1) at that level, it will become real. That’s the difference here. And uh imaginatively it is your own pure land. Everybody can accept that, that’s no problem. And when I say it will become real, the real land and real being, and then you begin to think “I don’t know about that.”

That is true. I mean you don’t know. But you will know it when it really becomes real. Sounds like fairy tale, but that’s what it is. Whether you talk this way, or whether you talk other way around, so whatever is bothering us at this moment are those negative emotions. These are the real devil within us.

(Transcriber note: Some slight disturbance in the room…)

I thought the devil was catching me (Laughter).

I’m not even sure if there is external, physical thing called devil. I’m not even sure I haven’t’ seen it. But the, but the, all the difficulties we have is the creation of our own mind through negative emotions. The negative emotions, how it creates I used to give you that example I’m not sure whether – I’m quite sure I did it here, ah but, it is simply, negative emotions change our mind itself. And I used to give example.

Mind is like a clean, clear crystal lampshade. And emotions are, look like colored light bulbs that goes in there. And when you have red light bulb in there, you look at that outside it looks like little red ball rather than the white ball. So does the green, the green ball. The blue, the blue ball. So the negative emotions we have will change the mind color, but the mind has no color, no shape, but if there it changes how we can, we can talk about that.

0:53:04.3

This is, that is how it influences. I’m saying that, I’m saying that negative emotions influence mind and if I don’t tell you how that is exactly what has happened. The pure, nice wonderful, relaxed manner can be destroyed by a simple little irritation. If you look back that nice little piece of mind after irritation, its piece of mind is gone. The irritation has disturbed the individual.

So the person individual remain with that effect, after effect of that irritation for at least a while, not so happy. All of those feelings of loss, feelings of loneliness, and all of those are effect of those negative emotions. It is also perception. It is definitely a perception. Buddha’s teachings normally say, normally say when you are born you are born alone; when you die you die alone, why bother?

(Audience laughter).

Yeah, that’s really what Buddha normally says “Why bother.” Nobody will share, nobody will take your share of misery anyway. No matter whoever that person might be. Not going to take your share of misery anyway so why bother? That doesn’t mean Buddha is not trying to tell you you don’t have companion, you don’t have companion. And they are telling you if you don’t have a companion it is not so bad.

0:55:09.5

I mean, really true that’s how you read it. So, so I have to go back to the four noble truths. So, the second truth is the cause of suffering. The cause of suffering is now it is very sort of really clearly nothing outside, nothing external, it is our self. Within our self. And that also, when you search, not me the individual person, no. I don’t create suffering for me. But my negative emotions creates, effects me and I take action. And that is the consequence. Whatever the action I take it becomes karma.

The karma is also not the real cause, the real cause is the thoughts that are popping on our head. Which is the emotions. Which makes you, certain thoughts make you do and effect, you can, basically if it is very smooth, normally all kind of thoughts pop up on our head. I mean, every time zillions of different thoughts popping up, it is like popcorn machine. But several of them, certain you take, certain you don’t. And who does screen, who does screen that? The principle mind.

The principle mind does screen those thoughts and many of them go without recognizing, notice or anything. Zillions of them go through. But certain more obvious ones we do recognize and notice, notice. And that’s why if you begin to look very deeply inside detail there is so much thing to see and recognize because so many thoughts are travelling through. And how much really we can perceive is very difficult.

Zillions of them going through. We perceive very few. And out of those what we perceive few of them and if it is normal level the principle mind can weigh whether right or wrong and can accept and reject, that’s what we have. I mean capacity does that. That’s human value. And uh, and then these powerful emotions come and then these mind, principle mind who is screening and making decision of accepting or rejecting have no power, it is completely overwhelmed, and completely overpowered. It is almost like a color red, or green, or orange, or blue it is poured inside and outside and completely covered the principle mind.

0:58:20.5

So that it could not make any discrimination decision on that. Because the power of discrimination becomes weak because that is completely overtaken by the powerful emotions. It is like pouring ink on your head and letting it flow through your mouth and fill it up. Just like that. That is how emotions take over.

So the dharma practice is try to deal with this. This is the main thing. This is the main dharma practice. It is nothing else. Try to deal with this. Try to deal with this, don’t swallow so much. Don’t let it get completely overrun. And if it is overrunning sometimes you give up, let go. But don’t let it go too long and try to recognize, better late than never. Catch up. That’s how it works.

And when it is not there you know it is not good, it is terrible. It is, you don’t, the color tastes terrible it makes your stomach ache and this and that you keep on thinking which is seeing the forms of anger, or hatred or these. And by doing that when it comes up you don’t sort of take it straight away, straight away. That is how you are training your mind to be, to be able to resist while it is not there.

0:59:48.9

Did I make clear enough? This is how you deal with it. This is, the second noble truth will tell you this is cause and we change the third and make being the fourth the fourth is path. Path really means practice. That will tell you how to handle this. On that now you can also do through prayer. That also you can do through with meditations. And that you can also do through the just simply analyzing, um, you can do anything or you can do all of them. And, or you can do all of them or you can do few of them, doesn’t matter. Purpose is this, method is this. If you are praying you simply praying, not to the Buddha and saying “Please change me.” You are not doing that. You, if you’re praying you are praying by utilizing the seven limb that we read here. I, what do they say? I bow to body, speech and mind. I purify all my negative actions, I present offerings, and these are the, these are the way how you, if you are praying that is the way, how they pray. The Buddhist, Buddha’s experience way of doing this.

That also praying is not relying on that third person quote unquote Buddha, and using that and using yourself again, using yourself for purpose of expressing appreciate of the quality of those who quote unquote called “liberated ones” or “enlightened ones.” And appreciating them, their body quality, mind quality, speech quality. Appreciating them and expressing that “I would also like to have that quality. And every effort that I am doing I would like to put in that manner.”

And also do the purification. Purification is also simply, it is not simply say “Please forgive me.” Very controversial thought coming in my head I had better shut my mouth. (Audience chuckle)

You can forgive, or you cannot forgive, but my action is my responsibility. It is me that matters, not, it is me that matters not the other person. If you hurt somebody of course you have to seek forgiveness from that person. Not only do you have to seek forgiveness, but you have to, you have to convince it something, whatever you could (Transcriber note: This doesn’t make sense upon reading back. 1:03:15.8). Without which it doesn’t even work. But the major point is me, not that one.

1:03:15.8

I mean, very easy for us to say “sorry.” It almost becomes automatic, like Simon. Huh? Simon. (Audience helping find word). Simon is bird. Not salmon, right. Huh? Okay Simon, okay there you go, is a parrot. So, Chris has a parrot named Simon. So, that’s it. It is almost like parrot we say “sorry, sorry, sorry.” Right? (Laughs) We bounce into somebody we say “sorry.” I mean nice, good culture.

But you are not really sorry are you? (Laughs). Excuse me is reasonable, but are you really sorry? Probably not. (Laughs). So, things like that. And really the purification part even I look very carefully and this is me this it matters, I really don’t think it matters very much there. And, sort of, without getting, without, without sort of convincing them something and if you try to purify it doesn’t work. You have to convince it something, for sure. No question.

But question arises whether that other person has a right to forgive or not forgive. That is also big question. And all these morality questions. These days it is a very important question; it is arising all the time. Thanks to the President and Monica Lewinsky because it becomes an international issue, the morality. And you really look, the morality is individual matter.

Really it is very much individual. There are certain things you know like if you are killing somebody, if you are killing or stealing or that type of normally, commonly accepted common morality. It is different, of course. But most of them is individual. I really think it is, it is the individual. It is so much individual. It is individual right and it is individual freedom, it is individual point rather than black and white morality. I’m sorry to say that, but it is not, certainly not mister morality, the Bill Bennett morality is too much black and white. But don’t want to go back in the ‘50s, do we? I really don’t think so.

Whatever had happened in the ‘60s, there have been bad things and there have been good things too. And good things like how much open society becomes. How much effect an individual had. I was, I met Ram Das last uh Saturday, right? Or Sunday…Saturday. Huh? Saturday, last Sunday, Saturday I met Ram Das. And he is still difficult to talk, but he’s talking a little bit. Huh?

I’m sorry, Ram Das. He’s talking a little bit but he’s talking. And he tried to talk to me, the issues, the social issues that are going on today. Particularly these moral issues, and issues what had happened in the ‘60s and what are those people like Timothy Leary, Ram Das and even for that matter Allen Ginsberg and all this, what is it, William Burroughs, and all of those (another name transcriber could not understand @ 1:07:41.2) and all these people and uh I mean keep on telling me, keep on telling me almost in tears and what we did in the ‘60s is not bad and it is brings a lot of openness to a society and to the people and telling himself “My heart and my mind opened up by what we had done in the ‘60s. We have gained certain number of freedom, freedom that acceptable in the society and then now if you need, if some people try to reverse that back, and roll, sort of roll it over, roll back, by sort of driving forces and using things like Clinton Lewinsky business and try to real roll back.” So he was telling me the issue is much more than Clinton Lewinsky business it is much more and it is things like that, so it is interesting.

1:08:50.0

So, he would try to tell me what do you think is all about it. And I keep on telling him whatever I could, and it uh I mean it really becomes morality is, it is really individual matter rather than somebody else tells you whether this is right thing or wrong thing. It is individual freedom that is really very important. It is the point to me. Even my morality is different from yours. To tell you, I have my own commitments, you have your own commitments and that doesn’t, you cannot say “This is my morality so it has to be your morality.” How it is going to work?

So, no it doesn’t work that way. So it is really individual, but there’s a generally accepted morality, too. Commonly, we cannot kill anybody. We cannot steal anybody. We cannot lie. Certainly not under oath (Laughing). That is joke, I’m sorry. I support Clinton but I make a joke, sorry.

So, these are the, these are the points. And that is why the perception is so important. And that the freedom is also equally important. And lack of freedom is suffering. That we know that very well, very well. I have personally experienced, I came out of Communist Chinese control, ten years with the Chinese, so that is good enough experience.

I went back and saw Beijing last year and saw how open it is and also so how people are scared of it. I mean, you can never, ever imagine to talk about Jiang Zemin having a girlfriend in Beijing, forget it. Forget about talking on the public, on television or something, even you cannot whisper in your own home. Then you probably looking here and there somebody coming to catch you. So, situation like that. That’s where we have great freedom here, we can talk about Clinton all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we can do that, right? And it is a great freedom, no doubt.

1:11:36.8

But at the same time, same time within that freedom and if we lose that freedom then it is not right. Well, I ‘m not giving here a political speech, so…

But then you know politics is not politics; it is a social way of functioning. And the spiritual path is also a social way of functioning, and how the individual functions their life. So I don’t look at this a pure politics, but it is social matters. And that is why I bring that up together with the dharma. Mixture.

Okay, so I talked too much. I don’t realize. Okay, so anybody has anything you want to share it, or questions or anything? Well, I don’t blame you, today I didn’t do a good job, so that’s fine I like to say thank you and I believe this weekend the Loseling monks are going to be in Ann Arbor. They are not doing any public performance, but they are going to be in Jewel Heart for a couple of days, saying prayers and things like that. If you want to pop up in Jewel Heart anytime. I think during the daytime it will be like Saturday and Sunday and even Monday.

Sunday I think they will be over by 5, or 5 or something. I’m sorry (Audience member sharing something).

They are not there on Saturday? They will be there on 17th, 17th is what? Saturday, so that means they are arriving late at night so nothing on Saturday, thank you for correction. Yes?

Audience member: I just want to thank you…

Rimpoche: Thank you

Audience member: I learned a lot and I have a lot to think about.

Rimpoche: Thank you. Okay so that’s that.

1:14:11.2