Archive Result

Soundfile 20020815GRNYOTF

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location New York

Topic Odyssey to Freedom

Transcriber Glenn Powers

Date 2021-06-05

We have last time we talked, the twelve links of interdependent system. [..] Twelve links of interdependent reality, we talked that already and I don’t want to repeat. But, I would like to give you the reasons why, when you have this twelve things happening within our life. Number one, the motivations. Like the, I forgot the word [Tibetan] 0:01:25.8 The 1st, 8th and 9th are delusion. 2nd and 10th are karma. The rest of them are suffering. I introduced that word last time, remember? Out of those, when they say [Tibetan] 0:01:49.5 1st, 8th, 9th are delusion, which also means it is motivation. [Tibetan] 0:02:02.3 So, 2nd and 10th are action, they rest of them using it. So, what kind of motivation coming here? Mostly motivations are not good. Why? It is the influence of the first link and it is delusion oriented. So, motivations, actions and then result. These are the three things you show in twelve link. By seeing everything what is happening in our life, everything is, there is involvement of the motivation, there’s involvement of action, there’s part of result. When you see this, what do you understand? We do understand our life and events in life not popped up, just because it is popped up. It is also not created by anybody else. It is neither coming from no cause nor is it created by anybody. So, it is my own deeds and my own action and my own consequences or privilege. So, what we are really understanding out of this. 0:04:00.4

Anything, whatever happening in our life, is not someone like Buddha created and given to us, nor is it preplanned by something and sort of put on us, saying here is your life, we will guide you. It’s not like we put some kids on a machine which drives a car. So, you put on there and actually nothing happens. We have a little training here and there. You’re loosing and hitting and nothing happens. It’s not that type. So, everything, whatever we do in our life, it has consequences, responsibilities. Like today in the afternoon, I was watching a TV, I had time to watch in the afternoon, nice. And you know what they’re showing is judgment for the Californian kid, when he was 11 years old, and shot one kid and wounded 13 others or something and that is coming up there. So, even you’re 11 years old, you may not know anything, you may not know what it is, but when you pick up a gun a shot and killed somebody, you have the consequences. By now, he got 50 years, anyway. So, things like. Life has responsibility and it had it’s consequences. And it is nobody had prefabricated life. It’s not. It is our life, we shape. We make difference. We do it. It, of course, dependent arise. It is impermanent. So, it’s all this, things we understand our life better. When we understand our life, then we know how to deal with our life better. What to take advantage, what not. How we can function. So, that’s what I like to say about that. And also we talk about the twelve links, twelve of them, if you make it shorter, it be three. Three that this interdependent nature between the delusion, karma and consequences. IF you make it twelve, it’s detailed. If you make it short, make it three. That’s what it is. We talked how the 1st created the 2nd, 2nd created functioned in the other half of the 3rd and then 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th combined with third. And then comes 3, 4, 5. Then goes 11 and 12. Remember that? And also how you reverse them. Because you stop the first, there’s no 2nd, no 3rd and all this. This are the forward and backwardness of these twelve links, how it functions our life. So, one has understand that very clearly and then meditate on that. By meditating on that, what you hope to get, what you expected to gain, these are important, we have to talk, otherwise we meditate, meditate, meditate, and not get any result of anything or nothing, which is not right. Again, simply just sit there and meditate, meditate, meditate and sitting up there and waiting till the cows come home, open your mouth that big and just sitting there will be, I told you, the lizard meditation, which has no benefit. You may get some stabilizing mind, and that much you do. That sort of stabilized mind, you can also get if you’re hypnotized. 0:09:05.6

So, I mean true. Honestly, we you meditate you have to know what you try to achieve. Don’t give me that, it is true, but don’t give me, oh, I meditate to become a buddha. That’s long goal you’re talking about it. It’s a long shot. Here, when I say you meditate twelve link, forward and backward, what do you hope to get? You hope gain the really understanding of the life and nature of the suffering it is and the desire to get out of it, that’s your own. By meditating this long time, if you’re not getting closer to your aim, then it’s not working for you. Something is wrong somewhere. You have to reverse and look and see what was wrong where. And then, correct it. If it’s not, then your just sitting there will be waste of time. If it’s helping you, getting closer to you, that you have to do with every meditation. Some of us have the commitment of saying mantras and sadhanas. They also have their purposes. But to get their purposes are quite tough for us. It is our commitment, we just say it. Other than that, any meditations we do, we have to have long time goal and short time goal and short time goal whether your meditations effecting or not, you got to see it. Otherwise, we will call it, you waste your life. So, that’s important. So, by urging you to meditate on the backwards and forwards or clockwise or counterclockwise of the twelve link, one is hoping to gain the wish to free yourself from samsara. That is the goal. If it’s getting there, then purposed is serving. If not getting there, purpose is not serving. That’s what it is. To become a good person, to become enlightened, all of them are long shot. Yes, they’re true. Yet, that’s long shot. There has to be measurement. Where you measure your own performance. You have to see it. If you can’t see it, your own performance, how do you know you’re doing right or wrong? How do you know? No one will know. 0:12:19.0

Everything has way of measuring. Even the person who work, there is performance measurement. There’s performance valuation. You can renew the person’s contract or kick him out. So, whatever. You have to do that. Right? So, this is spiritual practice. Here you have to have own, nobody else, don’t let anybody else judge you. But, you make your own judgment. You do make your own valuation of your own doing it. If there is nothing to valuate, just sit there till the cows come home, it’s not going to get you anywhere. That’s important. Every point where I tell you meditate, I give you a short term goal, long term goal and see how you’re working. At result of meditating, forward and backward, on the twelve link, one wishes to have freedom from the suffering in general and particularly from samsara. That is the short term goal. Wish to be freeing, traditionally we called renunciation. We tried to change that word. We meaning a number of us, I’m included. A number of, what do you call it, Buddhist teachers who speak English. There are great teachers, there are so many great teachers, but they don’t speak English. So, for them it doesn’t make sense. But, for us, does. I think I was told a the beginning, I don’t remember exactly, I think it is Alex Bursen 0:14:45.9 who told me, Rimpoche, do not use the word renunciation, because it will immediately get understanding of life you have to give up. And so, that’s not what we’re talking about. And so, he says you can use the word renunciation, and then explain 100 times you’re not talking about that, will not make any difference. You already made the damage by using the word renunciation. And I bought his statement. So, I’m using the word seeking freedom. Actually, renunciation, the original word is nice word. We look from various angle, lot of dictionaries and everything. It is a Christian word. But, they’re not talking to you renounce your life. They are not talking to you, renounce your family. They are not saying that. But, they’re saying our desire to have something, you know. Two types of desire. One desire is to be a wealthy, rich, famous and that type. Some people have great deal admiration for fame and wealth and think that is the some great achievement in life. If we have that, that is wrong for us. That’s what Buddha’s saying, renounce that desire. And then some people may not have that at all. Doesn’t really matter. But, just to have another good future life. Another good future life is as good as this one. You might not even get it as good as this one. So, if you don’t have those opportunities what we have here and what will that do? Here, we have great opportunity today. But, if you take another life like this, and if you really become a children of very wealthy family, you a schizophrenic. Or, completely, what should I say, extremist. Or, something like that. What will be the value of the life? Nothing.

0:18:08.1

Son of Bin Laden or Bin Laden himself, wealthy, famous, very famous, perhaps one of the most famous persons in the world. And then what? So, what will that serve purposes? So that’s why Buddha says samsara is suffering, nirvana is peace. Samsara is suffering because we don’t have freedom. We don’t have choice, we don’t control our own life. Why we think United States is so great? United States is so great because you can choose what you want to do. Perhaps this is only country in the world you can do whatever you want to. Almost. Not exactly everything, but you can. That is the greatness here. And we think it’s great because of that. And it’s true. So, in samsara, you cannot choose much. Who chooses? Our delusions and karmic. How they control us, twelve link. Twelve link is the instrumental how they chain you round. That’s what it is. So, we now know how to stop this link. You can’t cut in between. You stop, you reverse it. Having said that, [Tibetan] 0:20:38.0 Tsongkhapa in Three Principles of the Path, by training yourself, thinking in those level. Then you reach a stage where you see any attraction of worldly, samsaric goodies, whatever you see, and you will never take a single minute of your attraction away. Are you with me or am I talking to myself alone? So, you may see yourself in anyway. Tsongkhapa’s , one of the important statement that he made, he says I had such a funny attitude in my life, he said, that was whenever I see a wealthy war lord of China, or Tibetan war lords, their children, high officials or lamas, he said I was not impressed at all. Not at all. When I become myself in that category. When people give me best seat available, best food available, put me on the highest position and sit down and listen to me, nor I have any interest for this. I always think this is impermanent, it is going to change. It is like that of magician’s show. It’s going to disappear within the minute. And I have no desire for whatsoever. I have that since very long, since childhood, I continuously have that. That’s is Tsongkhapa’s statement. That is exactly what he mean in that Three Principle, when there is not a single moment of interest in any samsaric goodies. Then, it is the sign that you have gained the renunciation. Are you with me? So, that is your short term goal for meditating clockwise and counterclockwise twelve link. The moment you have desire to liberation, then you have to know what liberates. Unless and until we have desire for liberation, we’re not going to be interested, everything, yeah, curiosity or something, maybe it is good, good experiment. Just try here, try there. And that’s about it. It does not become serious. So, I call those flying in the air. Just simply flying, not grounded. Not grounded. When you’re grounded, then you begin to see, begin to raise the question, all right now how do I work for liberation? We think we do have some level of understanding of renunciation. In my opinion, we don’t. You know why? Because we do have attraction for money. We do have attraction for samsaric joy. We do have attraction for beauty. We do have attraction for sex. 0:25:39.5

Attraction is fine. But, we work for and we make it like goal of our life. Purpose of life, sometimes people think, the purpose of life is one has to get married and have children. Sometimes people think the purpose of life one has to become rich and wealthy. As long as you have those desires, you never have understanding of what Buddha is talking about it. This is hard. But, I’m not saying you cannot have that. You can have that. That’s fine. But, that’s not your main purpose. That’s not mission of your life. That’s not purpose of your life. That’s not, I better stop. So anyway, so if you begin to look what makes me liberate, what kind of condition, what kind of situation I should be. The situation, the condition, we have the best. The life what we have really provides tremendous condition. On top of that, if you have certain vows, which makes even better. I’ll come back to that. 0:28:19.1

So, path or practice, what really liberate us? It’s again, you heard that before. You’re going to hear it again. It is the direct antidote of root of the causes of all sufferings, which we call it ignorance, ego, fear combined together. Traditionally, it’s called ignorance. Because, it is against knowledge, against wisdom. So the wisdom is the direct opponent of ignorant. So, the wisdom is the path. The really true path which makes us to liberate is wisdom. No doubt about it. That’s it. But, you know what Buddha did is Buddha give three things here, three higher trainings or three special things. That is, yes, wisdom is one of them. But, how does wisdom work with us? Can we understand what wisdom really is? Can we get it? Yes, we can get it if we have stable mind. If you don’t have stable mind, we cannot get wisdom at all. We can get some kind of wisdom, but the special wisdom, what the Buddha is talking about it. Why special wisdom? This are three higher trainings, sometimes it’s call it, some people call it three basket training. Anyway, they talk about it. Wisdom, concentration and morality. These are the three major points. Wisdom, concentration and morality. Wisdom is the main thing. But, in order to gain wisdom, in order to make the wisdom work with the individual, you have to have concentration. Without concentration, cannot. Traditionally, they give you this as an example. 0:31:14.6

When you are fighting with the enemy, you need a strong, powerful weapon, weapon alone will not do. You need a very stable, strong person. If the person is weak, the weapon is good, the enemy will take the weapon and hit you back. So, you need strong. And what makes it strong? The concentration power makes it strong. If you don’t have the concentration, you cannot. Even you have nice, you know traditionally when they cut tree, they have to carry that ax and hit the ax on the tree. So, if you have big tree and you have nice, sharp ax, but if you don’t have a stable shoulder, you’re going to hit up here, down there, up there, down here and it will take hell of time to fall the tree though. If you have stable shoulder, you hit on the point here, here, here, here, hit it about half a dozen times, and you get big tree down. So, like wisdom is like that of sharp weapon. The metaphor for that is sharp weapon. Concentration is stable shoulder. Even you have stable shoulder, and if you don’t have good body build up, good body. Then, even stable shoulder cannot hit so much, because you are weak person, old, fat, like me or very weak. So, even you hit, it’s not going to make any dent. Even you’re hitting in one place. So, like body is the morality. Morality is like body. Concentration is like stable shoulder. Wisdom is like sharp weapon. These are the three metaphors that Buddha gave. You know why? Because it’s 2,500 years ago. We don’t have those electronic saws and those bulldozers and all that, they don’t have it. So, that’s why you get this type of metaphor. So, when they tell you morality is body, that really tells us morality is very important. You just cannot ignore the morality at all. It is important. It is very important in spirit. Here, I differ with a lot of new age people. Some new age people will say morality is not that important. People do say that. Some people will tell you, well there’s everything’s good, there’s nothing bad about it. Very nice, good vision, good positive thing, wonderful, great. But, I don’t agree with that totally. We know that very. There is good. There is bad. There is virtue. There is nonvirtue. There is negative. There is positive. It is the reality. It is true. Some people say hey, wisdom is so important, meditation maybe. Some people say meditation is so important, wisdom maybe. Nobody talks about the morality. That is absolutely wrong. You don’t have a body, you have a strong shoulder and sharp weapon. What you going to do? You can have a sharp, give it to a dummy, put them in the store, standing up, they’re not going to cut anything. So, that’s what it is. So, needed that. The morality is so important. One of this, most important over here, the key for the liberation is three higher trainings that Buddha call it, or three baskets. One depends on the other. Wisdom depends on the concentration. Concentration depends on morality. That is so important. Without morality, nothing can achieve. It’s not just a Judeo-Christian or old Asian spell. It’s not. It’s very important for the individual. 0:36:45.9

The point of morality, when you point it out, may differ. It may differ. It will differ. But, morality itself is extremely important. For example, the point of the morality which is advocated by Bill Bennett is probably not the morality I’m talking about it. It’s not the morality Buddha was talking about it. That’s not the morality I’m talking about it. But, the morality itself is extremely important. If you think morality is not an issue. Then, we are ignoring a basic, fundamental principle here. We are ignoring that. [Tibetan] 0:37:58.9 Nagajuna says the morality is like a ground. When there is no ground, nothing can grow. Every tree and grass and every green staff that grow is based on the ground. Every river that flow through was based on the ground. Whether the ground is based on the river or water or water is based on ground, but whatever it is, ground serve the purpose. [Tibetan] 0:38:42.4 Every good quality is based on that morality. Without which, we won’t have it. We won’t have it. It is one the most important Buddha’s principle. Very beneficial and if we cannot manage, then it is very difficult. Particularly these days. During the time of the Buddha, it’s good old time. In good old time, if you can have so many moralities protected, even then you don’t get that much benefit. Today, at the time where the people is totally ignoring the morality, at this moment, even you can have good morality even a single, the benefit is way too much. Really. Too much is the wrong word. It be really great, tremendous. So, when we are talking about the morality here, we are talking about the vows. When we are talking about the vows, we are talking about the vinaya vows, self liberation vows. The vows that monks and nuns take it. It is extremely important vow. The sangha, the monks and nuns communities, sangha, is actually it is basis on which we will measure whether the is Buddhism or not Buddhism. It’s measured on that. It is not measured on the vows of Vajrayana or bodhisattva vows. Monks and nuns vows are so important. We have to respect the monks and nuns. More than four is called sangha. We really have to respect them. But, they also have to behave properly. It is link, just like teachers and students and gurus and disciples, gurus and tellers 0:41:19.8, the monks and the lay, they have the same thing, same relationship, same connection. For the lay practitioners, it is own sort of giving a duty to respect monks and nuns. And monks and nuns have a duty to be object of refuge to the lay people. So, this interlink there. Like the gurus have responsibility for the disciples, disciples have responsibility to the gurus. Same thing between the lay community and celibate community, there is that relationship. If we, ourself, can take vows, and become a monk, become a nun, wonderful, great. But, if you can remain monk and can remain as nun, that is great. But, if you become like me, twenty years of first life a monk, then twenty years of, the next twenty, wild, crazy, brrr. Last twenty years neither here nor there. That’s how my sixty years of life went. So, if you’re in that position, it’s not good. So, really true. But, even you cannot become a monk or nun, there are lay vows. It’s called upasaka vows. You should take upasaka vows. Upasaka vows, some of them have five commitment, some of them have four commitment, some of them have a single commitment. Single commitment. When you have four commitments, like not killing a human being, not stealing value of somebody else, not having sexual misconduct and lying, big, black lie. Big, black lie is big difference than that of just ordinary lie. Ordinary lie is like the used sale car dealer tell you all the time, that sort of thing is ordinary lie. Big, black lie here is oh, I’m somebody, I have great spiritual development. Actually, you have nothing. But, you keep on saying, you pretend you have. And then, sometimes, you know there are a lot of things. Sometimes, you’re not even pretending. But, you have delusion, you believe you have it. There are a lot of people, I can cross, with a lot of people who believe that they are somebody, but then you judge it. When you try to value the person, when you value in their quality and see this much quality. Less than inch quality. 0:45:10.6

Then what, it’s nothing. It doesn’t matter what type of costume you’re wearing. Doesn’t matter whether you’re you have long hair or short hair. Doesn’t matter whether you have beard or no beard. But, when you’re quality is this much, yet you think you have great spiritual value. That means you’re lying, cheating yourself and you’re making black lie for yourself. And there are some other people who do have certain different label of something, some experience. Something like a luminous experience. Something like explosion at your heart chakra or at your crown chakra or some special sensation moving up and down and some unbearable joy or pain experiencing. And, you interpret that as a spiritual development and believing yourself having that. And, when you observed quality of that individual, there is no quality. These are sad things we do encounter in United States today. And that individual also believes that is enlightenment. Sort of. Enlightenment doesn’t have limitations. If you’re enlightened, you know everything. Let’s say you’re here, you’re sitting where I’m sitting, if you’re enlightened you should be knowing each and everyone of your thoughts, ideas, experiences in your lie from this till lives that you pass through. When you’re not seeing that, it is a clear sign to yourself that you’re not enlightened. But, certainly people do have that difficulties because you do have some physical sensation, which you may call it light or lumenence or something and this… This is what we call it misleading. That misleads the individual. Even the teacher, the student, the follower, the supporter, the benefitter, everybody has been misleaded, even the public. So, that is the wrong morality, negative morality, damage, goes against your vow. I’m talking about very broad point of view. What did happen with Jim Jones is wrong morality. [Tibetan] 0:49:25.9 There are great masters, who really have enlightened, but none of them say, “I’m enlightened.” They will hide all their qualities. But, Tsongkhapa himself has said, it is the quality of the kadampas, either whether you’re old kadampa, the new kadampa, the quality of the kadampa tradition is your quality will hide, like the light inside the thing. So, you really don’t see it. It illuminates something, but it’s not exhibited out and announcing. When you know what had happened to you, when you know what development you got it and then you don’t announce. When you don’t know what had happened, you think it is huge thing happened, you keep on announcing and making it big deal. As consequences of this, you loose your morality, you loose your vow. 0:51:24.7

Good old times in Tibet, the monasteries, particularly monasteries, they have every 15 days, there is a assembly meeting of all the monks, get together and they confess session. It doesn’t do like the Catholic Church does, but you know what they do is they get everybody stand together and count all the vows together and say whatever I have made mistake of. One leads and everybody says. So, nobody will blackmail you afterwords. No institutions. These institutions are terrible, not the religion, not the teaching. But, institutions misuse all of those. So, if there is somebody who has to confess, but you know when there’s a thousand people standing up and saying everything together, who’s going to say what? Who did what? You cannot. Everybody is saying the same words together. So, in your mind you make those purifications. Why you have to do? Because those vows, those type of vows, are taken from the assembly of sangha. From the sangha assembly, that’s why purify at that level. Bodhisattva vows are taken from the buddhas and bodhisattvas, you purify in their presence. Vajrayana vows are taken lama, deity, mandala. So, you have to purify at the presence of lama, deity, mandala. That’s the really sort of prescribed purification for each and every vows that you have. In addition to that, negativities, which is not necessarily downfall of vows, but negative by nature, hurting people. That has to be purified on the basis of four powers. So, when you be able to do that, and then you become pure morality. Pure morality is that. Without which, you don’t have pure morality. 0:54:23.2

So, the morality is important. Since the time is short, I won’t be able to talk to you much. Like to talk to you when we come back in September. I’ll talk to you a little more about the morality. I think there is, each and every individual positions have it’s own morality. The vows and individuals, everything have it’s own morality. Everything. Even the business people it’s own ethics, doctors have it’s own morality, the lawyers have it’s own morality, just simple person in the street like me has it’s own morality, too. So, we really need to see those, know this clearly. Why? Where do we get downfalls or the impure morality, where do we get? From the four angers. Anger number one is not knowing what it is, not knowing. When we don’t know what had happened, so we get all downfalls by simply not knowing. Because you just do it. Because I didn’t feel not right. I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t even know I did it. So, that is really a gateway number one, where you fall on your morality is because you don’t know. You take vows and you don’t know what those are. We’re right, many of us would like to go and say it. We have a friend in Ann Arbor who went and took some vow with His Holiness give give somewhere and doesn’t even know what it is. It happens to be upsakya vow. So, you have five strong commitment. Of those five, which included the four usual ones, plus intoxication, it’s included. Things like that. And then, the bodhisattva vows. Many of us here or those of you listening on the internet have lot of vows taken, because you went and some lama doing some initiation somewhere will like to participate. You went over there. Right? Like when His Holiness comes and give Kalachakra, there’s 4,000 people who are sitting there and taking each and every vow that’s possible to give. Right? Have no idea what you’re doing. So, each one of them, you get downfalls. Because, not knowing what you’re doing. From that angle, you get downfalls. So, if you have taken vows, it is very important for yourself to study what vows you took, what you’re not supposed to do, what you’re supposed to do according to that particular vows. You don’t have to be scholar. But, at least count what are those and have a definition of each points. 0:58:42.9

That is door number one. Door number two is disrespectful, you don’t respect. No respect to yourself, no respect to others, no respect to vow, no respect to commitment. We don’t respect, so you don’t care. So, the Buddha recommends each and every one of the Buddha’s followers should treat your own vow within you as actual living buddha within you. Or, Buddha’s representative within you, for you. Sort of by you, for you and everything within you. So, that’s why having respect. If you don’t respect, then that’s it. That’s end of it. If you don’t respect people, then you mistreat people. If you don’t repect to yourself, you undermine yourself. You don’t respect your vows and you don’t care. So, disrespectful is the number two door where it comes. 1:00:11.6

Third door is the too many delusions. Powerful delusions. Very angry person or very obsessive person. Or, strong very strong pride, ego pride. Some people may have little knowledge and then you think you’re great. You know, we have a saying in Tibetan, those little birds, sparrow, if they could get seven grains and then they will say, “Chi, chi, chi. Bo, bo, bo” everywhere, goes and makes huge noise. It’s me, me, me, me, I know everything, I’m great, I know. That is the pride. Not lot of people gets. But, a number of people do get that pride. When I was kid, I have that pride, lot. One of my teacher used to tell me, he says, I use the sky as my hat and cloud is like when you tie the hat here. So, that’s what I do. They used to say that. So, that is one way of getting downfalls. Ego, pride, anger, hatred, jealousy, obsession, all of those. If you you have powerful that helps to bring, open the door, to bring to damage your morality. So, you have to have awareness. You have to block those. I’m just simply counting because if I don’t explain it much, I may do a disservice. When you deal with this, whichever is most powerful, you have to deal with that first, those delusions. The example given here, if you’re fighting with group of people, try to get the leader first. Then others moral will go down. So, try to get the leader first. If you get Saddam Huessien and don’t kill any Iraqi’s, I don’t have any problem. It’ll be great. But, if you kill lot of Iraqi’s and don’t even get Saddam Huessien then it’s big problem. Anyway. So, that was example. So, if you have powerful hatred, first you deal with hatred. If you have obsession, deal with obsession. If you have ego pride, deal with that first. This are important points. And if you are ignorance is your problem, then you have to deal with that first. What is helpful to you for that level? The mindfulness and shy. If I do this, if someone else came to know about me doing that, how shameful I’ll be. Or, if I do this, even nobody else will know, I’ll be shamed of myself. These three little thoughts are very helpful for this, to challenge you delusions. These are like the guards. I know normally we don’t particularly in the United States, people don’t like to take about shame and shy and all that. There’s something bad thing about it. But, they had values. So, this are the thoughts, ideas, we use. Buddha showed us to use those. That’s all how we help our morality. Otherwise, I used to know people who say we don’t eat in the afternoon. 1:06:01.3

But, in the afternoon, when everybody’s gone, close the door, there’s a huge feast comes on the table, even at night. So, they don’t use this, if I behave like this how shameful I will be. Even though nobody else see it. This is very useful thing. If people came to know how shameful it is, that is useful, it has good and bad, both. But, if I behave this how shameful I am for myself. That is very good thing. There’s no pride, there is nothing. It’s really straightforward, simple thoughts will make you good. After all, there is good and bad. Remember, there is good and bad. That is reality. 1:07:15.1

And then, the fourth door is not having any awareness. Not having any awareness. You don’t even know what you are doing, which will probably be an excuse for in legal cases. But, I don’t think ignorance is excuse for anything of that sort. Not aware, nonawareness. You get nonawareness for two things. One, because you’re careless. Another, because you’re over thinking something. Something draw you attention, all your thoughts go over there and you don’t know what you did other side. So, that nonawareness comes from two ways. One just simply not really aware, you know. Sometimes we learn how to say OM MANI PADME HUNG here, without thinking we will say OM MANI PADME HUNG and keep on saying OM MANI PADME HUG, there’s no thought. Nothing. That is another unaware of action, positive. Another one is you’re thinking about OM MANI PADME HUG, then your thought is lost over there, you’re not saying OM MANI PADME HUNG, you’re saying OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA or something, which is another unawareness. So, both ways it comes in. So, this are the doors, the four doors of how you get downfalls. So, if you can shut all these doors, lock it, throw the key in the forest, and that’s probably how you stop. Any questions? Anybody? Those who are on the internet can’t questions, because there’s nothing to monitor here. So, don’t send. You can only send questions on Tuesday nights. I don’t think there’s question here. Oh, yeah there’s one, two, three. Alright.

Audience: [..]

Rimpoche: Not knowing is simply not knowing. Not having awareness, you know it, but you don’t pay attention. That’s the difference between the first and last door. I think that’s what you asked. Right? Yup. Thanks.

Audience: Rimpoche, is there a way to purify Upasakya vows?

Rimpoche: Yeah.

Audience: How do you do that?

Rimpoche: I forgot. 1:10:43.2

Audience: Is that included in the negativities where you have to use the four powers?

Rimpoche: Four powers, will purify. I think just very specifically for Upasakya vows, I really forgot. So, next time when we meet, I’ll tell you. I forgot. I think there is something there. I really think there is. For Upasakya vow, there is something special you have to do, you have to do something. It depends on this [Tibetan] 1:11:23.4 I think there’s different. For CO ME there’s something else. For SAN GUR there’s something else. I think so. I forgot. I haven’t look up that for forty years.

Audience: Is it allotted like you purify that and do you have to take it again?

Rimpoche: No, you don’t. It is just like monks and nuns, monks vows, whether it’s bikshu vows or novice vows, very similar to that, you don’t have to take again, no. No. That for sure. But, there’s something to do, I don’t know what is it. You have to have some kind of something of something ritual more than four application. Like the bodhisattva vow purification you have to have lama buddha bodhisattvas. In Vajrayana you have lama yidam. The Upasakya has something, I forgot. But, anyway, if your purify Vajrayana vows, it covers almost everything. It is one very liberal view, but it covers everything. You know why? It is the highest vow. That’s one thing. So, very specifically for Upasakya, there is something. I’ll look up and, if I find the book, and if I remember to look up, and then, I’ll tell you. Actually, I should, I’m supposed to know that. I don’t know now. I used to know. I don’t want say I forgot. Actually, I don’t know. When you forgot, you don’t know. That’s it. And, too, done, right? No more questions? Oh, you do. Thank you.

Audience: You mentioned something called unshakable karma a few weeks ago. I was wondering is that something that cannot be purified? 1:13:54.2

Rimpoche: Unshakable karma is something you don’t have to purify. It’s good karma. It’s not negative karma. Okay. So, I like to thank you for everybody for being here and I think this is the last meeting. I will not be here next Thursday. I think next Thursday we are not meeting because it’s retreat week. Then, I will not be here at the beginning of September. I think the first I will be here is September 12th. Is it?

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