Archive Result

12

Soundfile 20010814GRAABWL

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Ann Arbor

Topic Bodhisattva’s Way of Life

Transcriber Lay Tin Ng Elsie

Date 25 June 2022

Transcriber’s note: Recitation of prayers.

0:06:35.4

Rimpoche: And welcome here tonight, the Tuesday’s night we are meeting at Ann Arbor, with the guide, Bodhisattva’s way of life by the great Indian Maha Pandit Shantideva. And translated by Stephen Batchelor. We are using that as a text. And we also, we went chapter by chapter and actually verse by verse and we are in this chapter 6 and the verse 83. So, the verse 83 talks, (Rimpoche speaks in Tibetan.) so, if I do not wish for beings to have even this, how can I wish for them to awaken. And, where, where is there a awakening mind in him who became angry when others receive things. So, in other words, this particular verse was trying to tell you, they are telling you, you who are the individual practitioner, who is committed to make your life worthwhile, and to make your life, to be able to bring yourself and others to the ultimate level of Buddhahood. That’s your commitment and we have accepted this as our goal, and our purpose and our mission of this life.

While you are having that, when somebody is getting something a little better deal, we always make deal, so, a little better deal, a little bit of monetary benefit or little bit of mental joy, or little bit of physical joy, and when we see that they are getting this and how come you, the, my mind, you don’t like it. You can’t bear it. When that is true, how can you commit to bring them the ultimate joy, the ultimate development of the bodhi-mind. And that doesn’t make sense at all. Not only, it doesn’t make sense, but it also not right. It’s very wrong. Very wrong. So, when they say how can I wish for them to awakened, awakened mind state, which means state of the Buddhahood. And, it also says where is there an awakened mind in him means in you and in myself, who become angry when others receive some little things, whatever little benefit it may be, just maybe a little better deal or whatever it is, something very little for that. So, so, when they say doesn’t make sense. So, when you have committed ourself to devote our energy, to bring ourself and others, to level of total enlightenment, total enlightenment ultimate joy, the ultimate joy been brought to the individual little by little rather than something called ultimate joy, here it is. It’s never going to happen.

0:12:58.1

No one. Though we say may all the sentient beings be happy. Free from suffering. We say that every day whenever we meet. Or we say, we take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha until we become fully enlightened and all of this. Our act of generosity and other etc. mean other perfections may become all sentient beings to the level of enlightened. It’s like lip service we do. See, I am not criticizing for you to say that, sounded like I am criticizing. But I am not criticizing. I am glad you say, I am glad you think that way, even if you don’t think that way, you pretend to think that way, at least you say these words, I am very glad. However, I am also telling you, it is like a little bird that repeats, you know, parrot or mynah and all of those. If you give them good nuts, and then they know, whatever you want to say, they will tell you, they will repeat. So, we want to make sure whatever we do, we are not copying mynah or parrot with the nuts, that little bird, sweet bird, they can say whatever you want to say, in one way. In another way, even if you don’t repeat those words, sometimes, people like to do funny thing.

We shouldn’t really behave like that. Anyway. So, the Bodhisattvacaryavatara, the bodhisattva’s way of life, tells you that. It becomes like bird repeating after human being, the sound whatever you give it to them. Why? Because you say those words, you don’t mean it. You don’t even wish for it. If you really wishing for it, any little joy that you bring to another person. If another person has a tiny little joy, we should be more grateful and more happy, then thinking ah, why him? Why not me? Why here? Why her? Why not me? I am more important. I have this, I have that. And that we carry in our blood. Good work, bad work, everything we carry that in our blood. So, that’s why whenever we see somebody is getting something, we don’t like it. It should be me who is getting all this. Not you. Why you? What do you have more than I do? Why you deserve more than I do?

I work hard. I put 10 or 12 hours a day. I should be the one who is enlightened, not you. I should get better deal. Whatever the reason is. I have more deeds or I am more richer than you, I should get better deal, not you, because you are poor. Or the opposite, I am poor so I should get better deal. So, you are rich. So, you know how the mind works. It actually working for a self-servicing, that is exactly what it is. What does that means, that means, no matter how much we say this, all sentient beings have this and that, but in our deep mind, I the most precious. It’s me that is most precious and most important. So, I am looking for that. It’s the symptom of ‘I’ Rinpoche. ‘I’ the Rinpoche most precious one, that is the ‘I’ Rinpoche symptom which we all have it.

I used to have talks, topics like called ‘I’ Rinpoche, Queen Bee, they are all there. And these are the symptoms of Queen Bee. ‘I’ Rinpoche, Queen Bee, all of them do this. Anyway, so, I don’t want to spend all my time on little verse here, but I think that what this verse tells you, 83. 84. 84 will tell you, if you notice when someone is getting something little bit thing and if you don’t like it, it’s a clear sign, that you are not really wishing ultimate enlightenment for all beings. You are not. Though you may say it, you think you are, you even, maybe you even putting thought on that level, but all of them are just become a dressing, you put different dress, it is not there deeply inside you. Just putting up different clothes, different color. You know what I mean? You didn’t get you, did you? It’s not your deep conscious. You some sort of putting up different colors on you or putting up different make-up on you, try to make you look like different. Are you with me? No. Yes. Does that make sense in English what I said? You try to be phony, if you want me to go, not honest to yourself, phony. Why it is phony? Because what you saying from your mouth and what your thought suggesting, because of lecture you heard, books you read, because of the Buddha’s teaching and because of all these, you try to impose certain thought on you, but not deeply inside there, you don’t have anything of that type. Because you keep on contradicting yourself all the time. You are contradicting yourself. (Rimpoche speaks in Tibetan.) I don’t know.

0:22:18.4

Oh no, no, no, I am sorry. I make mistake here, I explained only the half of the 83, I did not explain the other half. (Rimpoche speaks in Tibetan.) The other half, will telling you, one who has raising anger for someone who is getting some little better deal, little better benefit and if you getting upset with this, it is a clear sigh how you can have bodhi-mind with you. It is directly contradict you what you say you wish and what your mind does. It directly contradicts you. This is the other half of 83. That is what it is. Where there is awakening in him who become angry when others receive things. So, I sort of try to cover up the first 2 lines, the whole verse, but the second two lines, half of the verse will tell you, it contradicts the individual, when we say, we wish for Buddhahood for all sentient beings. And suddenly when X sentient being getting a better deal, you get jealous. Which we do. We do not get jealous much to the people we don’t know. We do get jealous to the people we know. It’s very true. If you hear someone Henry down in Texas got a lottery. You say, oh, doesn’t really bother much. We know, ya. If someone, your next person, who sitting next to you and got lottery. You will be happy and at the same time you are jealous. We all going to happen that. That’s how jealousy really work. The person sitting next to you is looking nice, you appreciate and you are jealous. You raise your jealous as well. Why we do this? Because they are getting some little benefit better which you don’t get, which I don’t get. So, I am jealous.

It is interesting in American culture. Sometimes you say I am jealous. It is good expression too. But it is true statement. I do get jealous because you got better. Which really tell you I have competitiveness with you. Even your work or not work to competing with me but I view as competition. So, the comparativeness, is that correct language, comparativeness, comparativeness is the result of modern education. We do, we are taught to do it. Not necessarily bad. But when you look in the spiritual path, it is bad enough. So, that what we have. It might not be that bad in material world, it sometimes helps you, it will drive you, it will drive you crazy. And it makes you work harder than others. So, but still, that is what it is. So, it has advantage and disadvantage. Advantage is it make you better, I don’t know better person or not I am not sure, but make you make more money, make sure work harder, right.

And also, it gives you opportunity for you to recognize who you are and what you are. Especially if you don’t to have to ??? anyone. Sit by yourself. Think by yourself. Your own action, sometimes, this jealousy and greedy make you embarrass yourself very often, really do. And I do get opportunity to think particularly when I lie down. Especially in the morning, wake up, do your prayers, whatever, go back to sleep, lie down. And you don’t fall asleep, and you are waiting. And all different thoughts with you. And certain things bad. Certain things, certain things, certain things. (Are you feeling better?) Certain things, ah, make you so embarrassed of yourself. And at that time, you don’t know, what you say, what you yell and what you do and what you demand. And when you think about it, you know, you feel little itchy over here and you have to cover your own face by your own bedsheet. And very often. So, so, that way, these are useful to tell you who you are.

And we are interested to know who you are. We are not that much interested to know what’s your name. Name and the reference, is history. It is, we all depend on that. And that part who you are in 18th century, or 1631 or 1419, is not a big consequence for us. We could figure out. But that is dependent arise. It depends on the name and the time. That doesn’t make that much difference to us. What does that make difference if you are the Jones Ark in the, in the, what is it, 16 hundred? Or if you are Jap today, what does not make the difference. Whether you are Jones Ark in 16 hundred or whatever it may be, you are not Jones Ark today. You are Jap? So, what does make a difference but it does make difference if you are Ngawang Gelek, who, because, because it is me, it makes a difference. But if you are Ngawang Gelek and you have to think about this Gelek’s thoughts, and deeds and ideas for last few weeks, and suddenly you feel itchy in your cheek and that makes a difference. And that way, you know who you are. And that way, I know, when I say this. And this word I read and I interpret, I talk to you. I have to make sure I am not phony on it. I could be phony. Right? Phony is the correct pronunciation right. So, I have to make sure I am not phony here. And when you embrace your own actions or deeds whatever it is, it is helping you. And when you think you have to defend that and you have to say, I was right and this and that, and then you become stubborn, and will never ever help you, never every help you, because you wanted to find excuse to just fight by your own action. And people can find. Believe me.

We have a saying in Tibetan. I don’t know remember the words now in Tibetan. But, but, but they say if a son who can kill, who kill your own father will also has an explanation and excuses. I wish I remember the Tibetan words. I don’t. But that is the saying. So, people will have excuse for anything whatever you do. Even if you murder someone there is always explanation, always. Always, they have explanation. So, if you looking for the explanation and justification of your deeds, you are not helping yourself at all. If your deeds embrace you, oh no, no, embarrass you, then it is helped. Because next time, when that pops, you say, oh, you better be careful otherwise I will be embarrassed later. And that is how Buddha try to use these two little mental faculties which you don’t like it much in the West, called shame. And the other one? Tony? Embarrassment. Guilt, who said that? It got to be you. John, it got to be you. You know, I am a person who never believe in guilt. You can never play guilt trick on me. Some people try a number of times. A number of times. It doesn’t work with me. You know why?

Because I accept wrong doings, but every wrong deed you have done, I knew it, not only I accept, I knew it, it is impermanent. It is changeable. So, no damage is done. No matter whatever. Even if you kill someone, you cannot bring that person back, however, you can purify the negative karma of killing. So, it is also impermanent, it is changeable. It is dependent arise. You know what that means. It will only materialize when the condition is right. That’s why dependent arise. Not independent arise. It is not solid. It is always shaky ground. Everything. Positive as well as negative. Both. And that’s the reason why no one can play guilt trick on me. That’s remember some funny stories which I will not share here tonight because it is on internet. So, really, but some very well-known Tibetan Buddhist teachers try to play guilt trick on me, two years ago. But somehow, I don’t accept that so. It’s okay. So, no guilt Sir. No guilt.

Embarrassment show, sure, certainly, the best is, if you are embarrassed by your own thoughts, by your own only, rather than somebody else make you shame. You don’t want that. That’s not only embarrassment but it is also little bad. You don’t want that. Before that happens, if you realize yourself, by yourself and you correct yourself, how wonderful it is. Though it is bad. We have a saying in Tibetan. Tibetan tailor said the saying, though you put your mark wrongly, you haven’t cut yet. You know what does that mean? If you are cutting a cloth, dress, so you mark wrong but you haven’t cut yet. So, when you haven’t cut yet, you have not spoiled the material yet. So, you can correct the marking. Actually, that’s a very good opportunity for the practitioner. Get yourself corrected by yourself. Your own deeds. You don’t have to go and tell somebody I did this and I am terrible. You don’t.

0:39:35.3

Why? You have to get message by you for yourself. You can deliver your own message for yourself in a sort of really enough to embarrass you. And that’s good enough. If you try to get confess, somewhere else, you have to go to church, going to the box, and give your confession, right, confession. And how many times we have seen in James Bound sitting on the other side of the box, how many times we have seen that. It’s not wise at all. No anyone of us, or anybody, or whoever may be, we don’t want to be blackmail by anybody else. Not by Jewel Heart, not by church, not by temple, not by anybody, for that matter. So, the purpose of this is, to good enough to embarrass you. And if you can do it yourself, how wonderful it is. You don’t have to go through humiliation of other people doing it to you. I believe this is how you do self-liberation. That’s the real meaning of self-liberation. Seeing our own faults and correction, is the correct spiritual path. The number of friends used to ask me, I want a buzz-stop, Buddhism, buzz-stop, Tibetan Buddhism. Here you are. Seeing your own fault by yourself and correct.

If you make yourself embarrass by yourself in your own room, bed, or in your own toilet, it doesn’t matter. It is good to have it. But if somebody else humiliate you then it is wrong again. So anyway, where did I get there from. That’s right I got from this particular verse. Not only this. Here, this particular commentary goes on and tell, when you have that in your blood, I mean, I am translating different way, you know, I can say blood here, you know, it is in your blood, when you do this, this is one of the obstacles, particularly jealousy. Jealousy makes you suffer and pain and when others are getting better than you. It is one of the important obstacles for you to really have true love, true compassion.

0:43:29.3

Because it will not allow your mind to really have true love because when other person are getting better than you, you are jealous. You are upset. You are angry. The jealousy will bring anger. And there is attachment, because you are attached to yourself, you find somebody else getting a little better than you, better deal, it is not big deal, it is deal of glass of water, even than you get that problem. One of the great early Indian sage says, (Rimpoche speaks in Tibetan.) this is important point. They are reinforcing here. And those who have a little jealousy for little people to getting little something and that person will never be able to grow a bodhi-mind within that person. Why? The bodhi-mind is faultless. This is faulty.

0:45:20.4

Anything pure will reject impure. Traditional Indian Buddhist culture or mythological story will tell you the ocean is pure, they will reject all impure. I wish I remember the word, Chandrakirti has used this example very often for morality. Anyway, they say, the ocean will reject all impure. In other words, dead fish or anything, they will throw on the shore, rather than keeping inside. It is tradition before we overpower our ocean with our pollution. Today we throw every impure thing in ocean, right? Even the sharks swallow all of them, I just saw yesterday or the day before yesterday, and they did this, you know, opening of the shark, and you find all kinds of metals and the cans and can openers and little, everything inside the stomach of the shark. So, today, this is our situation of our great ocean. During the Buddha’s lifetime, 2,500 years ago, it was pure. They give you as an example, impure will be rejected by ocean.

(Rimpoche speaks in Tibetan.) This is Chandrakirti words, I was try to remember. So, the dead bodies of the animals or anybody will be rejected by ocean, it will throw on off shore. So, likewise, the pure people, this is not this part, the word I try to remember, that also tell you the same thing. The pure people will not like to accompany so much with impure people. It is not racist statement that I gave the other day about the Chinese. But it is, it is, when we are talking about pure and impure, we are talking about it, people would like to go with some people because of your personal interest. That is what we are talking about it.

0:48:45.4

So, to continue with this great early Indian sage has said here, since we realize that we should always put effort to try to avoid all the faults. Bodhi-mind commit so big. They demand you to be generous, generous and also it demands you a single person to save whole world. So, one should not be underestimating ourself. And one should not underestimate one’s capability. In other words, you no matter whatever your mental capacity may be today, once you cultivate love and compassion, you will be the person, one single who can save whole world. So, don’t underestimate yourself. Don’t let yourself to control by tiny little emotion such attachment, hatred and jealousy.

0:50:21.2

Not only that, they add more here. (Rimpoche speaks in Tibetan.) Not only that, if you are jealous of somebody else getting something better than you, not only you make yourself unhappy, but also it destroys your good karmic fortune. Do hear this, this is more important. I was talking with Ujen-la little before I came here. We have somebody we know commonly. The guy saying, let me hear your tantric. So, this is the Buddhist tantric. Buddhist tantric tells you, I am sorry, I shouldn’t say this. Because it is not in the American culture at all, so you don’t get the message. When I say Buddhist tantric, you probably think in the tantra, it says something, no. It is Indian culture if you are giving a prophecy, that’s called tantric sometimes. So, your prophecy, Buddha’s prophecy for us is this, if you get jealous to the others, you destroy your own good fortune. That is the Buddhist prophecy. (So, there is some noise, is it me? Or this one? It is better? Oh, good. I didn’t turn this on. I don’t know who did. Oh good.)

So, this commentary what I am reading here goes on continuously. It says since Buddha has said this, so, if you want to help yourself from today, you have to make your mind, you have to make your commitment, from today onwards, when other people getting something, don’t ever entertain your jealousy because it goes against your love, your compassion. So, they called it, this jealousy as a bad thought, bad idea, never entertain that bad idea. Never let yourself associate with that bad idea. On the contrary, if anybody getting better deal, make yourself appreciate from the bottom of your heart, rather than simply show-biz type of put-up face. Not only that. This mind will demand you that you will be willing to give or share all your own happiness and wealth, everything. Right? The bodhisattvas are very happy to share whatever they could share. Looking the Buddha’s life stories. Even he gave up his life to save those tigers.

0:54:47.0

It is a very common story in the Buddhist Jakata tales. So, it tells you here, there is one Bodhisattva called Peiting, he gave his own commitment to the Buddha’s lion’s roar, not Buddha Shakyamuni, the lion’s roar Buddha. And his commitment says, a great Buddha, from now on I will never, never, entertain my jealousy and that’s my commitment from today onwards. That’s what the, one of the bodhisattvas gave commitment to Buddha named lion’s roar. So, what that tells you, that tells us, that tells us, the early actions of the buddha are the lessons for us. Lessons for us. So, many times we say, the history teach us lesson, that is exactly what it meant. So, what they did earlier, historical fact, biographical incidents and they are actually meant, good way we pick up. So, we are talking here, no jealousy, no jealousy, no jealousy, but what is really jealousy? That is also important. It is very important to recognize what is anger. What is attachment. What is jealousy. And what is confusion. What is ego. These are very important. We keep on saying, no ego, don’t entertain, that’s your ego, that’s your bad. Or that is attachment, that is jealousy, and that is that, and we never recognize. And when you don’t know, you get all kinds of problems. It is important to recognize. From time to time, we need to, we need to remind ourself, what these all about it.

I was talking with somebody today about my upcoming book. So, what I wanted to say in there, is, those people who are overpowered by their anger, attachment and jealousy. I have no hope of this book will help you. Then, why did you write? To remind myself, maybe there are couple of friends who would like to, maybe not completely overpowered by those negative emotions. They may find some useful in it. But that friend says, no, no, no, you not going to put that up. I don’t know. So, it’s important, so, I like to say a little bit here. Because this commentary itself goes.

Wow, this is interesting. It says, (Rimpoche speaks in Tibetan.) it was quoting from sutra, somebody asked Buddha. What is jealousy. So, Buddha’s answer says, the jealousy makes you unhappy when somebody is getting better treatment or gain some material gain and you will feel very upset and you even go, not really depressed, but you like to be very low. Can somebody throw me a word in here? That mental state of mind. Disheartened. Disheartened and unhappy. And makes you feel it is attacking you, it is insulting you.

It is capable enough to develop hatred. So, you know, like Buddha’s way of putting it. So, it has to be disheartening you. It has to be, you not getting it and somebody else getting it. It is capable of bringing you depression. And it is capable enough to make, to put to bring hatred to the friend you know. And makes you very instable person, mentally at least. So, this sort of quality that Buddha builds up. So, not simply just jealous we talk about it, it’s a little more than a simple word of jealous what we talking about it. So, when we look that ourself has gone emotionally down one time or another, and if you review it, and you will know it, certain time, certain level, something happen and make you feel this way, make you feel that way and capable enough to throw you off from the track where you are on. So, that is the jealousy we are talking about it.

This is also a part of attachment because you know, the gains, we have attachment for gains. And we hate losses. We don’t like losses. We love gaining. Particularly, this American culture, our American culture, really make us do that. So, the nature, the nature of jealousy is actually you cannot bear it others are getting better than you which you didn’t get it, others got it. Cannot bear it. What does that do to you? During the lifetime, it makes you unhappy, in future it has its own little consequences. I don’t wanted sounded like Catholic here, hey, you going to hell. Though in Buddhist text, they will tell you that too. So, the activity, the action of this particular thought makes you miserable in your life and miserable in your future life, so it is really worth? What are you going to gain out of that? Nothing. Going to make you totally miserable. Day after day. Night after night. It is going to deprive your sleep. It is going to deprive your happiness, it is going to make your companion miserable, because you are miserable. It makes your children not to entertain you, not to respect you, not to love you because you are miserable.

It will make friend eliminate you because you are miserable. Is that victim blaming? Maybe. But it is true. Nobody else did it. Our own thoughts. We love to say it is not my fault, it is not our fault. In a way, it is true. But on the other hand, it is my thought that makes me embarrassed, not your thoughts, not your action, it is my thought makes me embarrass of myself, by me, for me, everything me. It is true. So, that, all our faults are like that. Do I have control over my thought? No, I don’t. So, then, you may say, well, it that’s so, that is not my fault. In a way it is true, but your fault you never make attempt to control your thoughts. You never make attempt to change your thoughts. And that’s your fault.

1:06:33.7

This must be something important here. They are adding up much more here. So, it tells you, so, when we have this attachment to our gains, and make you jealous of others is a wrong attitude, wrong thought, it is bad, it create trouble, so, we should really throw that out. So, if you throw that up, if you give up that thought, what in there for me. That question. It sounds like a 21st century American question, but the same question was asked to Buddha, 2,500 years ago, what in there for me. So, (Rimpoche speaks in Tibetan.) so, Buddha himself says, what in there for you? Is, if you don’t have jealousy and if you can look for everybody with loving and kind eyes, the eye ball which is the nature of love and kindness, if you look everybody with that. Then, everybody will love you back. So, what in there for you is everybody’s love, everybody’s compassion, and your name and fame and your power.

You get power because people respect you. If you don’t have any respect, you have no power even though you may have military power. Hitler does not have any power, have military power and force, make everybody miserable. So, did the Mao. I mean the Chinese Mao. I make mistake with somebody else. Somebody thought Mao. When I say Mao, they thought I am talking about cat. So, they are done. Honestly speaking, they may have temporary force power, they really didn’t have real power, power that people respect. But on the other hand, look at Gandhi. Doesn’t have any military power, but have tremendous power. You don’t have to look very far. Gandhi is just one generation before. And he had hold on every one of us today, those of us who are interested in the spiritual path. So, did Mother Theresa. So did Dr King. This power coming out, they have this power, because people respect them.

Hitler doesn’t have power because people don’t respect Hitler. So, people love you if you can manage better way yourself. You know, one thing, you can buy things but you can never buy love. You can never buy respect, you have to earn it, and that is how you earn it. If you are good to somebody, they will be good back to you. No guarantee, there are a lot of ungrateful people around too. But that is what it is. So, when you don’t have that jealousy, if you, if you remove that jealousy filter out of your eye ball, your eye ball will really become love eye balls.

And when you look with that love eye ball to the people, they love you back. But the moment you put the filter people don’t like it. Right? Especially you put dark glass and three-piece suit, you probably think these are guys who sit in dark room and make all funny plans to get us. That supposed to be joking anyway. So, that is what it is. So, that is what this particularly, so it is, I think we did one verse only today, two, they are good, it is important. We talk here with all these funny little things. But what I want you to do is, is I want you to remember it, the message behind this. Is, if you really can generate compassion and remove the jealousy out, the compassion come out. Remember the positiveness, all these positive things are the result of removing the negativities. If try to gain positivity, a lot of people think we have to work hard to gain it, we have to work hard to gain more positiveness. No. You have to remove the negativities. And that’s why so important to recognize those negativities and avoid. Once you remove those negativities and the positivity of this is by removing the negativity, the positivity is automatic result.

And that’s how you really work. A lot of people think I have to work hard, I have to do this, I have to go here, I have to go there. I have to run this, I have to catch this, I have to catch that train, I have to catch this plane, I have to catch that plane. I have to get this car and all this. But you don’t. The actual answer is, remove the instability within you. Remove that. In one way, it is impossible, on the other hand, it is very easy. And particularly us, those of us here, it is very easy. Because we have a total support, support system. We do. We do have a total support.

But if you act differently, even the support we have, could do nothing. And if you try to remove those unwanted flickering, mental flickering things, if you remove those, the result of that removing, is your development is there. If you looking for development and searching, you not going to find it. You can go to the Moon and Mars, and Jupiter and whatever, Western Paradise, or Eastern Paradise, or the hell realm or heaven, wherever you go, you not going to find it. But you are going to find it if you begin work with yourself. Removing those things, everything is there. This is honest statement. And this is what Bodhisattvacaryavatara says, and this is this commentary says, and this is what I interpreted and translate, and that is what I am try to do myself for 60 years and I am sharing with you.

1:17:34.0

It is not necessary that you have to sit and meditate so long. In one way, it is good if you can sit. Sit there till cows come home. But if you don’t work with yourself, nothing going to happen. Cow will never come home. So, keep on sitting there until somebody throw you off. But I don’t mean you don’t have to meditate. Okay. Everything you have to do a balance point, never do extra. Even positiveness, even positive effort, you must know how do you balance. When I say sit there until the cows come home, I am not insulting the tradition that teach you meditation, how to sit down. But people have an attitude, they may have to something much all the time, when you do it and all of suddenly, when you out of the trance, off the trance, and suddenly, you do nothing. So, that’s not right.

That is what I am saying. I am saying right from beginning, do it limited way. And whatever you do, it is continue, continue. Don’t bring it flat in one day and don’t have lean ground another day. Don’t do it. Continuously. And that is important. Whatever it is. Five minutes you can do it. Good. Do it five minutes. Do it every day. 10 minutes you can do it. Good. Do it every day. Two hours you can do it. Do it every day. 13 hours you can do it. Great, do it every day. 26 hours you can do it. Great. Do it every day. Okay. So, that is what it is. Need to be a stream. Don’t have something huge and suddenly nothing there. Will give you no result for whatsoever.

With that I am going to close the shop. I am not going to let you people raise questions today. But I will be here next Tuesday, what, whether you are scheduled or you are not scheduled, I will be here. And those of you who would like to be here, I will be here next Tuesday. Okay. So, we give you next Tuesday, is not in the scheduled. So, we are not fixed we are impermanence. I used to be accused by a friend from Cleveland. What did she used to say? Never-ending impermanence or something. Supa says there is a Vajra Yogini Tsog tomorrow, here in this room. What time? I know that, they know that. They know that. Actually, I am saying those who qualify to come. So, I know that. They know that. So, what time? 6.30. Those who are listening to the internet, particularly third repeating time. Will be 6.30 already. So, they won’t come. So, no problem. Okay. And thank you so much and I will be here next Tuesday.

1:22:37.1

Transcriber’s note: Recitation of Mig-tze-way

1:25:31.3

(Sounded ended)