Archive Result

Soundfile 20020808GRNYOTF

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location New York

Topic Odyssey to Freedom

Transcriber Glenn Powers

Date 2021-06-03

We’ve been talking talking here on the basis of the Odyssey to Freedom. Looking back, specially revisiting common with the medium level. This are the interesting language. Those of you new today, we have interesting language here, common with the medium level, that is the language. New language. Basically, people who are practicing Buddhist practice or people who try to be good spiritual practitioners, we divide them into three categories, preliminary level, medium level, and greater level. So, when you’re talking about common with medium, we are talking about the medium level of the people who are practicing. At the medium level, what is the purpose practicing? There is two purposes. One, to get rid of something, another to gain. What to get rid of is uncontrolled life, that continuing one after another, sort of never ending story. Our life doesn’t end, it continue. That’s for sure. I begin to say much more now, then even when I write the book. It’s very definite. There’s no doubt whether you have a past and present and future life. There is definitely. The future life is there for sure. There’s various reasons. I can’t bring them back. I think I talked last Tuesday, you have heard. I give a variety of different reasons why there is a future life, why there is previous life. We all know that quite well. No matter what ever we do, we will not end our life. Our life continues. That, yes, you die. But, that doesn’t end there. If it’s end there, then there should not be any memory to anybody. There should not be any bad habit for anybody. There should not be any good habit to anybody. We all have that. We don’t have to teach the kids how to behave. They know how to behave. Particularly the parents may be very good at hiding the Playboy magazines, but kids of that age are very good at finding it more better than the parents do and they know where to hide and those all. We don’t have to teach anybody how to get upset and angry. We don’t have to teach anybody how to gain the obsession. All of those are clear sign, there is something else we did before. All of those are there. Even you’re learning something, some people are good on certain subject, some people are not good on certain subject. Where does that come from? 0:03:57.5

So many of them, beside that, there are so many people who are talking to you, telling you about the past, the present, the future life and psychics and this and that. They are not lying. You know it, I know it. We all know it. They are not liars. Maybe they’re not correct. But, they’re not lying. They have something. So, we all know that. You know, from the, I don’t know, if you are a new person, you know you have to very politely say there may be, nobody has proved past, present and future life. But, no scientist have ever proved there is no past and present and future life. We say that for people who are not used to it, the newcomers or it is white washing for me. It’s white washing. The reality is reality, it’s there. We all know it. Our own habit will tell us. Our own experience will tell us. But, anyway, so that’s continuing, we couldn’t end it. We continuing life after life. But, in case if we are all human beings, today I’m sitting there, tomorrow, I’m sitting there. You’re sitting here. If that much change, we have no problem. That is not a problem. The problem is sometime the change is too drastic. Too drastic, today we are having a nice, beautiful, wonderful life and tomorrow we probably have two horns on our head and running in the field. Who knows? And that is problem. There’s no control. No one controls. Nobody made that life, you have to remember. Your life, my life, all our life, nobody made it. If they made, it has to be mass manufactured, we should all look the same thing. We probably have same mole. Or, same brain, same consciousness. We should be everything same thing. But, I do hope it will not become, you know. We do have danger of becoming that with the genome projects, you know. Since we know how to uncode the genes and there is danger of that. However, there will not be the same brain, there will not be same mind. They may make it same look of the look of the person, everybody should be about six foot tall and whatever. They don’t get that fat like me. Or, don’t get thin like some of you. Like a chopstick type of person. Maybe perfect, you know they may get it, but the mind’s never going to be in the same mass production. It’s not going to happen. Why? Because nobody really made it. No one can make everybody. No one can make everybody. That’s what it is. It’s reality. 0:07:57.8

We all made ourself. That’s why we cannot stop this machine that running continuously. It is already in gear and we don’t know how to stop. It’s running. That’s what Buddha called samsara, circle of life, continuation, one after another. The machine is already in gear and no one could stop, except ourself. So, this continuation of the life is is not necessarily great. Reincarnation is not necessarily great. Though, Tibetans have funny culture. Like me, quite advantage, got the label called reincarnated and got a lot of privilege when I was in the old culture, the other side of the world. So, in that old culture, I got a lot of privilege, because I got that thing. I happens to be lucky. No one’s going to get in future anyway, now. So, that’s what it is. The reincarnation not necessarily good or great. We all reincarnated. Each and everyone of us. [Tibetan] 0:09:31.7 because our death and birth and rebirth, we don’t recognize each other. We have different parents, different relations, blood relations and some of you are caucasen, some like me is whatever, what am I? Yellow? Orange? Whatever that it it. And red. And some are black. Some of you people have bigger nose. We have flat nose. These are the just happens to be, right? So, we don’t recognize each other because there so many change. Transition life after life, so many death, so many birth, so don’t recognize. In reality, we all had been related to each other. We had been all kinds of relationship we had. No one can tell me here, no I did not have that relationship with you. If you do so, it will be Miss Lewinski. So, you can’t say that. So, anyway. So, that is the circle where we are in. Where do we cut? How do we end that circle? How do we end that circle? [..] How did we get in here? How do we go about it? That’s what we’re talking about it. Twelve links of interdependent nature, what we been talking here for the last whatever, three, four weeks. 0:11:58.7

This is how it is been done, how it been going on. That’s why this twelve links, they link together. Remember, I told you, it’s like Audi automobiles have the logo one hoop link with another hoop, just like that, these twelve are linked each other. That’s why we are continuing. Rememeber, we counted all twelve, we talked a little detailed about everything and particularly that beginning, the first link. The ignorance, we talked a lot. So, I’m not going to repeat this. Because, otherwise it never going to be, our talk will be never ending story, too. So, we don’t want to do that. So, the first one is, what we call it, ignorance. Remember? I give you my opinion, I don’t know why people translated called it ignorance. Actually, it’s not knowing. Anyway. So, that, by not knowing, what we do is that automatically moves to the second link. The second link is creation. So, by not knowing, we really have I and my side and you and your side. I have to protect myself. You are here to attack me and I have to get you before you get me and all of those ideas are the part of that first not knowing or ignorance or wrong in that. By that they force us to create and do something, most probably we do, if you leave it in our usual habit, we create negative karma. Always, because we are protecting, I think I’m protecting, I get you before you get me. So, that’s how I protect myself. That we know. That’s our nature, normal human, not necessarily good human beings, but it is sort of natural human instinct. Not much better than animals, anyway. So, I get you before you get me. So, because I have to hurt you before you can hurt me. So, that’s how I protect myself. So, the moment you’re acting, the actions becomes from that link one to you’re transferred in the link two. All this actions, positive and negative are the actions. Both are in this second link. Though we say we do good job, good things, most of, 99.9% of the good work that we see we admire what the people are doing it. More or less there are samsaric good work. It creates good samsaric result. It gives you samsaric delights. It gives you good samsaric goodies. So, this are the result of the positive karma, that we know. When we look at it, there are lot of wonderful people are doing wonderful work. But, most of them are doing it for creating a positive karmic result within the circle of samsara. 0:16:11.3

Not so many are working to get out of those circle, the circle. Number one, they don’t have information. Number two, even they have information, they don’t want buy it. They don’t want buy it. So, this are the variety of reasons why there’s millions of wonderful people, but many of them are wonderful, they did great work, great create good karma and all of them and yet they’re not been cutting the loop out of the samsara. They are simply creating better life within the samsara itself. That’s why in this karmic, we talk about it, three different karmas. Positive karma, negative karma and unshakable karma. All this positive karma within the samsara are creating samsara. Anyone who had the motivation of getting out of the samsara and creating positive karma. Anyone who are wishing to become fully enlightened and doing good karma, create. They all becomes karma that causes the liberattion, whether it is full, total enlightenment or in between. That’s what, really, it is. That’s why it becomes so difficult. So difficult. The true Buddha’s teaching, if you look at it very carefully, almost everybody, we are all playing with that circle. And not so many people are really looking for getting out of that circle. Yes, I don’t blame people because there’s no incentive we can see it. There is no vivid incentive. Only few people can understand. Otherwise, there’s no vivid incentive. So, why should you bother? This is not going to make me rich. This is not going to heal me from illnesses. This is not going to make me long life. This is not going to make me more happier than what I am. So, why should I bother. There is no vivid incentive available, unless and until we really see it deeply inside. Then, there’s a tremendous example. We’re going to gain a total liberation. We will never going to be horns again. We’re never going to be in the hell realm again. What I teach in Ann Arbor, the Boddhisattvacharayavatara, the verses what we been covering last couple of weeks are the hell realm and the subject of enthusiasm. It is tremendous amount of hell talk there. Lot of hell realm, the cold hell, the hot hell and all of those. The verse after verse it comes. I had to explain. Because, we’re reading it. Otherwise, I would have skipped it. But, that verse after verse. So, I have to read the verse and I have to explain. So, we’re talking about a lot of hell talk over there. Those of you, if you are listening on internet, you’ll hear it, you heard about it and you’re hearing continuously here. Anyway, not to go to hell realm, not to be animal anymore, not to be hungry ghost anymore, not to be that difficult human life anymore. These are the tremendous incentives that we can see it. But, it is only visible to only for a few people. That’s the reason why it is not even popular. That’s the reason why, because there is no nice incentive. Even Buddhism, though people may say Buddhism is quite popular, and some people say it’s almost in mainstream now, but a lot of people comes out, I’m Buddhist, I’m Buddhist, and all this public figures are coming out, one after another. But, that popularity is simply based I sit and I meditate and it gives me tremendous mental relaxation and it gives or it is really deep and wonderful and all that. And that much, you can talk about it. We don’t go beyond that. 0:21:46.7

So, that is the reason why samsara is still very intact. So, now the question really rises, doesn’t matter whatever happening the general samsara, but it also does matter what’s happening with my, the individual, samsara. Because, if I don’t take care of my individual samsara now, no one will take care of my individual samsara. Me, personally, I am born again Buddhist. So, I don’t believe that I been created by a creator. That’s me. I’m not urging you to follow that. That’s me. You’re not born again Buddhist. I’m born again Buddhist. So, I don’t buy a creator at all. So, I am responsible for all my deeds. In one thing, what is really great in Buddhism is a tremendous individual empowerment. It is really, if you make it, it is you. If you loose it, it’s you. No one else do it. Buddha created me or you or anybody for that matter. Did not. I’m my own creation. I’m a fat, because I created, I ate so many sugar. That’s why I created my own fatness and my own diabetics. Buddha didn’t make me fat. That for sure. I knew it. That’s true. So, anyway, the second link over here is creation. Creating a karma, whether it is positive or negative, both are there. So, that is when your creating, when I’m hurting someone, I’m creating my negative karma. When I’m helping either myself or someone, I’m creating positive karma. When I’m hurting myself or someone, I’m creating a negative karma. That is the second link, it’s called creation. We’re in that the moment we created, the moment the karma is complete. That moment has to be deposited. It’s not going to be created here a BAM is going to pop up. It’s not going to happen. Right? Even a baby has to be kept in wombs of the mother for nine months or something. Right? Just like that, every karma we created, that seed, has to be deposited. So, where do you deposit that seed? That seed has been deposited on our consciousness. My own mind is my own witness. So, it’s deposited in my consciousness. The moment you shifted from the creation to depositing, so I’m getting on the third link. The third link is called consciousness. I’m shifted from second to third, consciousness. That consciousness is my own mind. 0:26:06.1

So, I have to divide these two. Causal level of my mind and the result level of my mind. Actually, it’s one mind. The division is time. When I am depositing my own karma, it is the causal time for me. That karma is not going to materialize right there and there. So, that is the third link, yet causal level. So, when I’m going to see this result? Most probably, next life. Or, couple of lifetimes. It is very hard to get immediately affected, though it’s not impossible. But, more or less, that’s how it functions. So, the third link is mind. And the mind that has strong influence of ignorance, the first, ignorance. Actually, it’s ego. Truly, it is ego. So, the moment you deposited that deed, whatever we have. What do you mean by deposit here? There is no bank or anything. But, it’s almost like I.O.U. note. Philosophical, what I’m telling you, is it correct? No. It is wrong. But, for us to understand this is better that way. Like we put a stamp or signature on paper saying I.O.U. So, invisible signature has been put on our consciousness with myself as witness that I have deposited that karma and I will have the result that. So, when you’re getting to that depositing level, you shifted from the second link to the third link. Third had been divided into two, remember? Causal and result time, causal time. So, what happens then, I’m not going to talk the life that goes in between and all of those, I’m not going to talk. I’m just simply going straight one, how does that work to the individual. So, what happens is, I have deposited that. And, I liked it, what I deposited. I like it and I don’t want to separate from that. I don’t call this attachment, but attachment look like feelings we get. That feeling, when you get, according to the orders we’re in the third, you should have gone to the fourth, right? It will not go to fourth. It will go to the eighth. When it’s really happening with people, it goes to the shift from the third link with the causal link, which we just put the seed down, and it’s like seed, if you put flower seed, you like the flower. So, you put up water and fertilizer and all of those, that type of thing. But, actually for a human being, like us, whatever we have, we like that. We really like it. We don’t have obsession yet, but we like it. So, this liking business will be the eighth link, link number eight. So, from the link number, this is traditional, the other way be easier. I’m sure Amy’s thinking why doesn’t it make 1,2,3,4,5. So, it is from there, it’s sort of second half of the third, first half of the third, links straight away to the eighth. Eighth is not really attachment, but it is, sort of seed has been looked after and it grown up. And then, that growing, that level. Liking, desire becomes more, stronger desire. It is sort of wanted. You don’t want to separate, I want to continue with this. My desire, my attachment, at this level we can say attachment. When you’re having that attachment growing up. We have transferred from the link eight to link nine. Am I going to fast? I hope not. Am I going to fast? Okay. Link eight to link nine. Link nine is attachment. First, eighth, ninth are negativities. Second, tenth is karma. The rest of seven are sufferings. That is how it works, twelve links. 0:33:21.3

So, from that desire, like say attachment say for our life. From that attachment, it will connect to a karma that we created, to be human, that’s what it’s connecting. Right? We’re at the ninth level and then at the tenth level, tenth that karma has now been confirming. It very strongly confirmed that whatever your desire, you’re going to get it. It’s been confirmation, it becomes tenth level, tenth link. Okay? Tenth link make us to be able to travel our consciousness, go and enter in this mother’s womb, in the mixture of egg and semen mixture. The moment we enter, the minute after that, then we’re now transferred in the fourth link, name and form. The form are the physical forms. They are not physical shape. They’re not physical shape. They may be like liquid. At that moment liquid make a little more solid. Maybe like become a little more like yogurt look like. And then there’s lot of those, I’m sure the doctors have names. I talked to you already, earlier. [Tibetan] 0:36:00.0 We divide that like six different levels. Just before even you have any shape with thickness and solidness of it. There are certain shapes, they’re named. All of them are the fourth link which is name and form. All this physical solidness, whatever there, liquid, not solid, liquid, they’re all forms. And the rest of all five skandas are called name. That’s why form and name, this fourth link. Fourth link, actually we get after the tenth link, right? Up to here, our consciousness is, if you divide life, birth, death and bardo, up to here, it is after death, before life, so we refer that as almost bardo. The moment you enter in there, the bardo is over. Though bardo is over, but this consciousness will not be included. This consciousness will be included in the birth consciousness, no longer into the bardo consciousness. Another words, the individual has been now transferred from the category of bardo into birth or rebirth. It’s always rebirth, anyway. Been transferred as rebirth. So, then it begins to have basis of those organs, eye, ear, nose, and all of those organs. Basis of the organs begin to establish, yet they cannot function. They cannot feel and all of those. That period is now, we have shifted from fourth link to fifth link. 0:39:28.0

Fifth link, you have the basis of all this organs and all that, yet they are not functioning. Okay? So, then it goes more, at this level now, the object on whatever you’re going to touch or the mind that acknowledges it and physical form, whatever touches anything. Are you with me? Touch, right. So, when you have these three together. Another words, by this time you can touch and you have mind that acknowledges the touching. You may feel it, but you don’t feel good or bad or anything. Just touching, feeling. So, this is the sixth level. At the seventh level, seventh link, then you have good feelings and bad feelings. Right? So, you have comfort inside and discomfort and you move, you kick, you do all that. Because you don’t like. You can begin to shake and all those. So, you do have feeling. That is [Tibetan] 0:41:54.2 seventh, called feeling. Because of the feeling, then you get like, dislike, eight, nine, ten. That’s how it works. When you’re function at nine, ten is gone already earlier. After that, you take rebirth and the rest of them you know. The moment you take birth, you’re born, and then this third what we divided, at the causal and result. The result comes here. The causal is over there. That’s where you divide. Right? It is the eleventh link called birth or born or birth or whatever. Twelveth is growing older and dying. That’s it. Then, it continues again. Because, why, because we have that first ignorance there. Since the ignorance is there, continuously, so the creation continues. When creation continues, the deposit continues. When the deposit continues, you get feelings, you get attachment and all of them and the desire and all of them are continued, that is how the circle continues. That is how they go this way. Now, what does we expect spiritual practitioners to do? Reverse this. Way you reverse, you cannot reverse the twelveth link and then because twelveth link stopped, eleventh stopped. It doesn’t work that way. Because this is coming from there. One stream, powerful stream coming that way. Where you go? You go where root, where the water is coming, the source of the water. What you do, you have to cut the first one, the ignorance. Because you cut the first, you don’t have second, because you don’t have second, you cannot deposit anything on third. Because you don’t have third, your don’t have eighth, because you don’t have eighth, you don’t have ninth, because you don’t have ninth, you won’t have tenth. Because you don’t have tenth, you don’t have fourth. Because you don’t have fourth, you don’t have fifth, sixth, seventh. That is how it’s reversed. That is always we have to know that. Because, it’s not done anywhere in between. That what Buddha says. When there’s a huge circle going you cannot discontinue in between. It has to be at the root level. That’s what it means. 0:45:32.1

Why you cannot? Even you try to, even we try to, how many people over here, we have put efforts, try not to get angry. No matter how much you try to be patience and try to do it, somewhere, something happens, you loose it. Don’t we? How many times we try to stay away from obsession. Somewhere, something happens and we loose it. That’s clearly why we cannot cut between. Because, when the root is not cut, even you cut one level here, another 100 different channels come through and it will continue. Habits will kick in, no matter whatever you do, you can’t stop smoking, you can’t stop drinking. So, that’s why the goal of spiritual practitioners now is clear. Your target is the first link, nothing in between. That’s why the traditional example, no matter how much branch you cut it, tree will grow again. No matter whatever you do, this will continue. Blah, blah, blah. All this blah, blah you have heard, all of them, are really boiled down to this reason. So, that’s how I like to conclude this twelve link and really talk to one individual human being how this twelve links are controlling our lives. Unfortunately, it doesn’t circle this way. Then it’s independent of it’s own. When it circles this way, one life, second life, third, fourth, fifth, that’s how it continues. That’s why all twelve never finishes in one life. Minimum of two life. No more than three. But, in between that, there may be different lives comes, you don’t count it. One karma connection. One, two, three, that’s what happens. So that’s why how this circles are difficult. That’s why how samsara functions. That’s how we’re interlocked. It’s not really interdependent, but it’s interlocked. And dependent, too. Everything is dependent on that first one. The first one is like ground. When there is no ground, nothing can stand. Right? Gravity will pull everything down. So, that’s why spiritual practitioners purpose is to stop that continuation. Way how to stop is at the root level. And that’s why wisdom is absolutely necessary. Without wisdom, no matter whatever we do, love-compassion is great, but it’s not an antidote of ignorance. So, since it’s not an antidote of ignorance, love-compassion produces beautiful karma, but not necessary nonsamsaric karma. Not necessarily, but if it’s bodhimind, it’s different, motivation is different. But, simply love-compassion alone just doesn’t do it. That’s why I’m against love and light. Really true. You know what love and light is I’m talking about it. I’m not talking about this light. Love and light, everything is wonderful, oh so great, wonderful, don’t you feel good? Sit over here and wait and think and nothing. I don’t like that. That is the reason why. So, this is [Tibetan] 0:51:22.9 the second nobel truth. Truth of suffering, truth of cause of suffering. That’s how it works. Truly speaking, without knowing this twelve link, how it works properly, you really don’t know about the second noble truth. Here in this twelve, you have delusion, you have the karma, you know theoretically when you talk about the second noble truth, you divide them into two, right? [Tibetan] 0:52:17.0 Karmic cause and delusional cause. But, delusional cause is the main thing, because you have the delusion, you create karma, you continue. That’s how we talk. But, that is how it works. Out of these twelve [Tibetan] 0:52:45.5 1st, 8th, 9th is delusion. 2nd and 10th is karma. Rest, seven, are suffering. That’s how these twelve links, if you categorized. 1St, 8th, 9th are delusion. 2nd and 10th is karma, rest of them suffering. That is the twelve link of the independent system. That is how our life functions. That is everything. Life after life functions within that framework. That’s interlock, that how karmic connections builds in. So, to get out is getting out of this delusion, the ignorance, the root, ignorance. I like to ask you question. But, I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re going to say. So, I have to give you time for asking question. But, probably I give you time to think. And maybe when you come back next week you can ask questions. Because, I would like to conclude this twelve link in that way. So, when you come back on next Thursday, then you can ask questions. I give you time. 0:54:54.2

So, let’s put together, 1st, 2nd, 3rd half then 8th, 9th, 10th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 12th. If you begin to think, 11th and other the half of the 3rd may be same. The 11th and other half of 3rd may be same. Okay. That’s all I wanted to talk to you tonight, from this twelve link point of view.

I have something else to talk to you, because I normally don’t do this here, but I did in last Tuesday in Ann Arbor, and I like to do here, too. All of you come week after week over here and you do come and listen. I come from Michigan here and talk to you. We try to do something. What we’re trying to do? We try, I try to share what little I know about things like that. So that you may make improvement to your life. And that’s what we do in Jewel Heart. Jewel Heart also have lot of other activities, too, which you know. I don’t want go into detail what we do, most of you know. The question rises, how does Jewel Heart function? How do we survive? We don’t talk about it. I don’t ask you to donate. I don’t ask you to all this. Sort of more or less, I never ask. So, we don’t really talk about here to much, except in Summer and Winter Retreat. We say twice in a year. But, I think it is important to talk to you here as well as Ann Arbor, because most of you normally don’t come for either, most of you, there are quite a number of you sort of like religion comes all the time, both Summer and Winter Retreat. Some people are even upset they can’t make it, sometimes. Particularly this summer, right? But, many of you come like religion. But, many of you don’t even come at all. You just come and listen and then go away. I hope you’re doing some practice. As a part of all this, we do have this Winter and Summer Retreat to build up sangha and community and practice and help each other and all this we do. But, when you can’t make it, you can’t make it. And it’s all your own benefit, it’s not for my benefit. It is extra work for me. If I don’t have to have Winter and Summer Retreat, I don’t have to talk. And, I don’t have to go in the middle of nowhere in Michigan or wherever it is and sit there whether good weather or bad weather or whatever it is, it is. So, it doesn’t matter for me. But, if you can make it, you should come. As a matter of fact, if you really do this practice and follow, you should be there. I’m not talking about Summer Retreat here. So, I’m talking about how normally we meet the Jewel Heart expenses. We do it on your pledges and donations. I’m sure you’ve never heard, I’ve been talking this year excepted somebody to do or something. But, we do. So, we do. There are a number of people who really do give great pledge and becoming Jewel Heart member and give the pledges. Number of you, neither we ask you nor some of you may not even know it, some of you may know it, but somehow not been pushed. So, I’m here to push you to be a member of Jewel Heart and be participated and make Jewel Heart as your own organization. A sense of belonging if you put your money in there, it is sense of your belonging. Or, you may think where the money goes. Don’t have to worry about it. Our account has been audited for the last five, six years. Everything is audited and audited documents available for everybody to be able to read it. So, nobody is putting anything in anybody’s pocket. 1:01:33.9

Wisely managed or not, it’s different question. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t and that’s human being, that’s what we do. But, that’s what it is. So, it is audited. And also, if makes difference, it’s tax deducible, too. So, we would like to ask you, everybody, to be a pledging member. That’s all I want to talk to you. How you do is either you go on the, do we have the membership form here? Yeah, we do have it there. Or, you can go online, it’s jewelheart.org. You can go over there and do it online. Or, you can call Ann Arbor, 734-994-3387 or you can call in the New York office, [..] even then, there are people who are listening on the internet. So, they may not be able to. So, 914-767-0024 and Jenny is the person who deals with it. Do kindly pledge and that’s it. That help all of us. Thank you. I’ll be here next Thursday. Thank you. So, the dedication coming from there? Okay.

[dedication]

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