Archive Result

Soundfile 20021107GRNYOTF

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location New York

Topic Odyssey to Freedom

Transcriber Glenn Powers

Date 2021-06-22

Thank for being here tonight. Also, I have to applogize, last Thursday, that was Halloween night, a number of people came here because I don’t know what had happened on the website, something, [..] not on the web site, okay. Anyway, some people thought it was on the website and came here and I was not here. Sorry for that. So, and then Thursday before that, if remember, I went general talk, very sort of conversation in general. Try to lead to the Mahayana path. Somehow, we have been circling round everywhere. Particularly important thing is what is the purpose of spiritual practice and why do you need it and all of those. I thought we did quite okay, I don’t know exactly what you people feel. That’s why I’m hesitating. 0:13:02.4

I don’t want to repeat what I did and said. But, again we hae saying in Tibetan, when it is important, repeat number of times. When it is dharma, repeat hundred times. [Tibetan] 0:13:25.8 That’s what we normally say. So, let’s not repeat hundred times, but I like to briefly say it, this thing. To make it clear. What I understand of spiritual path, way person needs spiritual path and what do you expect you gain out of it and what is your goal? If those are not clear, then people practicing spiritual itself is not clear at all to me. Specially, why do you need to practice spiritual path? Or, what you hope to gain out of it? If you don’t have these two, then you really don’t have the base. You’re just simply doing something because it’s good to do. Maybe everybody else doing, so I must do something. So, this are the not valid reason for me. So, whether it is valid reason for me or not, I don’t think it’s valid reason for you, too. Doesn’t matter whether it’s valid for me or not, but it has to be really valid for you. Because, you are the who’s doing it. You’re the one who’s putting time, energy, efforts, money, everything. Not me, I have done some and had to do some. That’s me, it’s different. But for you, it is more important. And particularly what you hope for. If you don’t have goal, then you’re just floating and floating at the spiritual path is not grounded. You’re flying up in the air. You cannot landed, you don’t have ground. You’re not grounded. That’s why what you want to gain out of it, that is very important point for you to really have good gasp on that. If you don’t, then whatever you do, it is just passing time, just passing time. It should be better than reading a newspaper or listening to radio, watching television, it should be better than that. You have to make it better. And you have to make it secret. And if you cannot, then it’s not going to be great spiritual practice. 0:17:11.7

So, in order to do that, you need a goal. So, what is your goal? What you hope to get it? That is most important. Buddhism can suggest you, you have like three goals. Goal number one, the ultimate goal, to become a buddha. Because we can, we can become buddha. People who had become buddha were not buddha right from the beginning. They became Buddha. So, we can also do the same thing. Our body, our life, our mind, our conditions, time, everything is possible for us and we can. The question if one raises, can we become buddha, very definitely we can. Why we cannot? Because we have obstacles such as laziness. We don’t put our energy to the right direction. Like you don’t put your food in your mouth. I’m sorry, they said put your food where the mouth is, right? [..] Money, oh, sorry, sorry. I did not know you put in the mouth. Anyway. I’m sorry, I didn’t think money, I keep on thinking it’s food. It’s money. Okay. I did not know yo could put money in the mouth. Just joking. Sorry. So, really the energy and everything you put for you purpose, we can. There is no reason why we cannot become a buddha. The Buddha himself and millions thereafter had become a buddha and why not us? Simply, number one we are not convinced we can. Number two, we’re not that much dedicated to put every efforts in it. And, number three, we are very lazy. So, laziness. All of those are our problem. Let’s say even we don’t become a buddha. 0:20:09.4

So, what else can we achieve? What should be, short of that, what should be, let’s say what should be “Plan B.” So, don’t say there’s no “Plan B.” “Plan B” is here, if not become a buddha, free of all sufferings, the freedom. Freedom from the circle that uncontrolled birth, death, birth, death, birth, death, that is the circle, actually, there is no external circle. It is the internal circle. The Tibetans, you know, they draw a wheel of life, they call it, wheel of life. But, it make look like wheel. It look like wheel, but not an external. It is internal, continuing. We continue with control by ourself and that’s no problem. The problem is it is continuing without any control. Completely, we lost the control. So, that’s the reason why we never know what’s going to happen tomorrow. That’s the reason why we never know when we going to die. And that’s the reason why we never know what’s going to happen in our future life. It is simply, it is the wheel that spinning without control. That’s what it is. The life, death, life, death, one after another. I forgot bardo. But, whether you say bardo or not, doesn’t matter. Life, bardo, death, bardo, life, bardo, death, period where we are in is also bardo. It is in between the birth and death, so it’s called bardo. Then, after the death, before the birth period, that’s also bardo. So, if you look at into really carefully, they give you like six different bardos for one individual person. But, that’s not our subject. So, don’t want to go in that. 0:23:03.5

So, this uncontrolled spinning of the life, that is our problem. So, we have to get that under control. Once we get that under control, then it’s called freedom. Traditionally, they call it arhat level and blah, blah, blah, nirvana. The word nirvana, I’m sure you people have heard. But, that is the name. The true reality, freedom from that uncontrolled spinning. So, that’s our secondary goal. And then that sort of like third class goal is also to making sure our immediate future life is good one, so that we can succeed our goal, even we have not yet able to complete in this life. They want to continue. So, that is the third goal. So, you do have a focus. Why do you do a spiritual practice? You want those. You may be saying, oh, these are good, great, fine. But, what I needed is now. I have to get happy. I have to get wealthy. I have to get beauty. I have to get handsome. What else you have to get? Sexy? Very thoughtful. Anyway, so this are what I wanted. And in the future, is good, is fine, but that’s not my concern. You may think that. You know, if you’re going to get your future right, you have to get all this are right. Because, those are on the way. They’re on the way. They becomes byproducts, they become side effects. We don’t put our energy towards that purposes, but they all, even you don’t want to, you get it. There’s a number of things I remember very vividly. One of the poetry written by one of my late master Kabje Trizan Rimpoche saying when he was young, he had quite a difficultly to find appropriate food also. Because there was two Trizan Rimpoche and one was occupied by another person who has the main Trizan labang institution belong to that person and Kabje Trizan Rimpoche was left alone with without any support and all this. My father and Kabje Trizan Rimpoche used to live together, share rooms, share foods, for what, 6, 7 years together. From the age of 7 to 11 or something. So, all this. So, Kabje Rimpoche wrote poetry, saying there were a time that my mouth could not find my food. Now, there is lot of food could not find my mouth. They been circling round everywhere try to find my mouth. The foods are running round, not the person is running round, try to get food. But, the food is running round tried to get the mouth of the person. So, that’s what happens when you have dharma practice. These things come as side effect. There was, remember, there was geshe, Kadampa geshe, I think Bang 0:28:11.2 Geshe Bang is his name. Geshe Bang used to be, he’s a farmer, the farmer with certain acreage of land growing food and it is never enough. So, then he becomes a robber. He goes on the roadside and rob the people in the mountainside. That’s not enough. Then, he becomes thief. So, Geshe Bang himself said, earlier, he said, I used to carry knives, I used to ride horse, and I have land to grow food and I become a thief at the night. I become robber in the high mountain path. I rob people in the daytime. I steal from their houses at night. And I grow my own food, but my two hands could not feed one mouth. Later, he becomes great spiritual practitioner. There’s so many things that people wanted to give him and do all this. He couldn’t use them anymore. So, there’s beautiful poetry on that. By Geshe Bang. That is the little old time, little about 12th century, 1200s, 13th century. Kabje Trizan Rimpoche is just early 19th century. So, it happened here. So, that’s what happens. You don’t really have to work for this, this all becomes byproducts including becoming sexy, too. Even you become bald, it’s okay. So, that is important point to remember, because we are using a great path to a very small purposes if you our practice to gain this and that, have little extra here and there and all that. It’s really we are misusing it. You the example the Tibetans give is using ax to kill a little lice. You know those little bugs that get in your hair, lice. So, if you use ax to chop a lice, it becomes too much, right? So, likewise here if you use your spiritual path to gain some kind of, to become sexy, that is not good usage. But, if you have good spiritual practice and you really become sexy. It’s like the carpenter and wearing that leather cases to put for their instruments. No, you didn’t get the joke, fine. 0:32:12.5

Maybe there’s no carpenter here. So, there are should be some. Anyway, doesn’t matter. So, they become side effects. They become byproducts. So, you don’t have to put energy for that. So, our major energies focused for either those three goals, out of which the goal number one is to become a buddha, that is the best. You know why? Buddha level is free of all faults, all wrongs, free of all sufferings. It is the total knowledge, it is the total quality, that’s why it’s called enlightenment. Total knowledge, total quality and knowledge is power, quality makes it work perfect. If you have power, you don’t have quality, you be like Saddam Hussein or Hitler or Mao. If you have the power and if you have the quality, you be like Gandhi or Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela or Mother Theresa or His Holiness the Dali Lama. That’s, you know, knowledge is power. Quality makes use for the right purposes. If you don’t have the quality, within the individual, if you have all the power, Hitler is example. That’s exactly what had happened. Out of all the quality, still you need compassion, caring, if you don’t have compassion and care, for Hitler it doesn’t matter how many human beings put in the gas chamber or wherever they put it in. You know. And how many they drive in like whatever, they don’t feel their human beings, they feel like they are little roll ball. Just roll them in in there. That’s because the person doesn’t have compassion and caring. Out of all the qualities, the most important quality is compassion, love and caring. So, that’s how it is. That’s why it is total quality, total knowledge. Nothing can be beyond that. Nothing more, cannot go. That’s why in traditional Buddhist teachings they even say no more learning, the fifth path. The cessation level, they say no more learning. No more learning means you don’t have to get any more power. You have total power. But, then you have to have total quality, goes along with that. Otherwise, it is like nuclear bomb in the wrong guy’s hand. 0:35:55.5

So, it becomes destructive rather than helpful. When it’s with quality person, it used for the best purposes. Anyway. So, the quality and the knowledge has to go together. So that’s why buddha level is called total enlightenment. Enlightened. Right? Enlightenment. Total enlightenment. With the total quality. So, that is the best which we can get it. Not only we can get it, but we can really make it possible to shape extremely well within this lifetime, which we can. That is funny thing here, is somehow it happens to be that we do have all the tools we needed, we have all the methods we do needed. It’s just happens to be. That’s where we are very fortunate. That is no other than Vajrayana. Believe me, no other than Vajrayana. Nothing can deliver that enlightenment in proper shape within the life. I don’t mean to be sectarian, I don’t mean to be a propagandist. Truly, nothing can do. Even among the Buddhist traditions you look in, who even talks about becoming total enlightenment, no other that Mahayana. No one. If you look in the Thervadan tradition, Thervadan level, they will only talk nirvana, nothing beyond that. Never talk about becoming buddha. They will simply say, they will introduce, Buddha as Buddha almost like object of worship. It is almost like introducing a god in Juedo-Christian tradition. It’s very similar. That is untouchable, unreachable, beyond our comprehension, beyond our, yes Buddha was there. That is how he showed us. But, he showed us only how to become arhat and that’s it. That ends there. When you go into the Mahayana path, then you begin to say, ha, you can become a buddha. It is eligible, it meant for everybody to grab. Did I say correctly? To grab. Yeah, but it’s going to take eons for you to get it. 0:39:43.0

Why? You have to [Tibetan] 0:39:49.6 the first you have to generate the bodhimind. Then, you have to purify yourself and accumulate merit for three countless eons and finally you will become fully enlightened. That is the Mahayana sutra path. Then, you go to the Mahayana tantra path. They said, ah, you can become a buddha within the lifetime. Within the short lifetime, you can make it. Sometimes, they even say within the three years and three months and three days, you may be able to achieve that. But, His Holiness the Dali Lama said it’s nowadays, in modern times, he said it now becomes propaganda. He said no one can do it because of these times. So, he said it now becomes propaganda. But, that is the traditionally that what they tell you. Whether it is three months, three years, and three days or not, but there are number of countless people who really achieve enlightenment within the lifetime. Very interesting example is Milarapa. Then, you have dowa 0:41:34.4, there’s so many of them there. So many crazy wisdom persons. So many person who have properly disciplined persons and all of them get total enlightenment in their lifetimes. So, there’s no reason why we cannot. But, it is only Vajrayana that does. But, the Vajrayana without bodhimind, without ultimate love and compassion, will be just bare exercise. This word bare is correct or not correct? Just no other purpose. Just air exercise, traditional example given by the great masters is the, what you call that, it’s bellows. Bellows can pump lot of air, but it is bellows. It is empty. It has nothing except the old style, seeking of gold, and little metal tip, which we be able to put under the wood and make it air blow, so the fire catches. It has nothing but skin, and little metal tip, that’s all. If we use the Vajrayana exercises, actually Vajrayana exercises are more less all the yogas are Vajrayana exercise, including hatha yoga. And you know this yoga is very open in this country. And more or less, it is mainstream now. Because yoga has really shown how you can bring your mental level down, how you can bring your been stable, how you can improve your physical health, physical positions, all of them, you have shown it. Even they have introduced the chakras and movements within chakras, within the channels. All of them are very well introduced in this country from the Hindu side and from the yoga point of view. It is very similar to Buddhist Vajrayana, there’s not that big difference as far as the physical structure of the chakras and channels and movement of air circulation and all of them are similar. 0:45:07.3

However, the difference is the bodhimind, the love, the compassion, the caring, the wisdom. These are the three things that make a difference. I mean two things, love-compassion as one package and wisdom is the other part of the sandwich. Or, the other side of the coin. [..] Maybe I’m hungry. So, thinking of food. Right from the beginning I said foot in your mouth. I’ve been thinking food probably. That is the two sides of the coin. And that makes total enlightenment. Otherwise, even that much high level yoga exercise, of course tremendously can improve our health, physical positions. To certain level, it can improve mental things, too. But, they never be able to bring you the total quality and the total knowledge. For that, you need love-compassion and bodhimind. If this bodhimind is not there, even high level Vajrayana yogis will not be able to free themselves from uncontrolled spin. Spin that we have. [..] Uncontrolled one, you cannot get freedom from there. So, that, there’s a lot of other, I counted like ten different reasons why it is important last time. Before we revisited common with the medium level. So, I already counted there. I’m not going to repeat. If I do repeat, then I will get nowhere. Now, I like to talk to you, there’s one verse in the Chandrakitti, it is great Indian master. Something like four, five hundred years after Buddha. Chandrakitti says [Tibetan] 0:49:18.3

This is just little verse, but it is so interesting. [Tibetan] It says let’s forget about NGE DO and SAG NEN and all this. 0:49:36.0 But, let’s think. If we simply said the practitioners, like us, we are born from the Buddha, the teacher Buddha. I’m not saying my mom is buddha. Maybe. I don’t know. Could be. But, I’m not saying that. What I’m saying that we become a practitioner, we practice the spiritual path because we learned from a buddha. So, our practice is the result of buddha’s teaching. Therefore, Chandrakitti calls we are born out of a buddha. Get it? Thank you. Buddhas are born out of bodhisattvas. Bodhisattva is those who have, those people who have bodhimind. It is one greek over another greek. Bodhimind, bodhisattva, this terminologies are greek to some people, many people. Right? But, bodhimind is ultimate, unconditioned, unlimited love-compassion is bodhimind. One who has bodhimind are called bodhisattvas. So, when we said bodhisattvas, we’re really referring those are committed to become a buddha. So, that’s what we’re really looking at it. Those who are committed ones to become a buddha. Another words, I don’t want to revisit this, maybe I’m wrong, but people can understand better, chosen ones. Chosen not by somebody else, chosen by ourself to be the top one. Chosen ones. Committed ones, bodhisattva. Chosen ones. [Tibetan] 0:52:17.7 Buddhas came out of those. That is true. If you don’t become bodhisattva, there is no way you can become a buddha. The level of the bodhisattva go on increasing and getting better and better and finally becomes total knowledge and total quality. And that’s why many spiritual teachers keep on telling us, we are travellers, we are traveling. Then, they say, where are we going? Some people have a problem, say we are universal travelers. We are floating in the space and blah, blah, blah. But, then it becomes blah, blah, blah. Otherwise, we are traveler, we are traveling to be able to reach our destination which is total knowledge and total quality. We are traveling towards that. Not we are space traveler. Maybe, we are space traveler, too. Total knowledge may be in space somewhere, who knows? So, this total knowledge, total enlightenment is born out of chosen ones, the committed ones, the bodhisattvas. Now, I forgot my word, my root. [Tibetan] 0:54:21.3 So, those chosen ones came out of, they’re born out of compassion. What they come from? They coming out of compassion. So, how important this compassion really is. So important. If you really look in that level, then you begin to realize how important it is. It is almost like the mother of all quality. All good qualities come out of compassion. 0:55:32.8

So, this bodhimind, what we are talking about it, is rooted to great compassion, not just simple compassion, great compassion. So, if is like a tree, then the total enlightenment is like fruit. The bodimind and bodhisattvas are like the tree trunk and leaves and branches and flower and all of those. I’m just simply saying, bodhisattva. But, when you divide them, they are a lot of divisions to flower and equivalent, branches and equivalent, to leaves and all of those are there. But, the root of that tree is compassion. So, if there is no compassion, that tree cannot grow. They can not have even that much shoots can grow because there is no root. Forget about big, fat, nice tree trunk. Yeah, really. So, that’s why the compassion is so important. It’s not just so just important just avoiding war or killing or something like that. It is much more important than that. It really the root of all good quality for everybody, not only the individual one person, but everyone in the world and future generations and our own future, too. Everything. That is that much important, compassion. I don’t mean this is the conservative compassion. I’m joking about the real compassion. So, to achieve our goal number one, to have total enlightenment, we have to have this root here. That’s greater compassion, not just simple compassion, is not good enough to be root of that. So, you really need greater compassion. I will not going to tell you what really is greater compassion and what is difference between just compassion and greater compassion because I may do some disservice for you. Some of you think, oh that’s not possible at all. So, I’m not going to talk tonight. If you read it, you may find it. If you rad Odyssey to Freedom, you’re going to find it. If you Good Life, Good Death, you’re going to find it in there. And if you read it, any of those transcripts, you’re going to find it. If you read any lamrim for that matter, Liberation in Palm of Your Hand or any other lamrims, the Essence of Refined Gold, any one of those lamrims, you’re going to find it. So, that is the root. It is worth for us to put energy and struggle to have that. Because, that is the real jewel. That is the one who really can fulfill all our wishes. That’s the one who really can clear to all our obstacles and difficulties. That is the greater compassion. Without compassion, there cannot be greater compassion. So, the compassion itself is almost equally important. So, one has to put as much efforts as possible. What do I mean by putting efforts? Do I have to it and meditate? Yes you do. 1:01:38.5

But, you have to learn what you going to meditate on. Otherwise, if you just keep on sitting, saying compassion, compassion, compassion, it may not become compassion. It might not be good enough. So, when I say you efforts, you put three efforts. Collecting informations, which another words, learning about it. Second one is contemplating that, when you have the information you contemplate that, with efforts, mental, physical, both efforts. You have to contemplate that. Physical efforts is physically doing purifications, prostrations, circumambulations, hatha yoga, all of those will do. And then, mental contemplation. That is the, again, training your mind towards that direction. You have to change our habit of anger, jealously, into this compassion. Instead of saying how dare you say that to me, instead of that coming in mind, you should be able to say poor thing, that person is suffering. Just look at that tiny level of that thought. That thought that brings you how dare that person to say or do that to me which makes you miserable, unhappy, upset, even horrified. Tiny action little action of other person. If you say poor person is suffering, no matter how heavy it is, even that person got up and slapped you across your face. Way beyond how they give you funny look. Even then, peace in the mind of that individual, not disturbed. Not disturbed because your mind is now influenced by compassion, not by anger. 1:05:26.0

I think that how, sort of way how it changes. That is the real essence of dharma, too. Real of dharma, too. Real essence of dharma does not depend on anything else, except changing the mind. Becoming softer and kinder and gentler, rather than being hard, harsh, mean. That is true dharma, whether you are worshiping or not worshiping, whether you are carrying mala or not carrying mala, whether you are mumbling with OM MANI PADME HUNG or not, whatever. That is really what is is. A lot of us will catch one branch and loose the root and tree trunk. Does not work. We all have mala to carry. I have mala, too. Yeah, I do. Maybe not having it. Oh, I do have it. I do have it. Yeah, here. Nice one. I have attachment to my mala, see nice one. Anyway, so if we just hang on the mala, and little bit of mumbling OM MANI PADME HUNG and then you know what, not only OM MANI PADME HUNG, after while people say so much OM MANI PADME HUNG, afterwards it becomes OM, OM, OM, OM, you know, they go that way. OM, OM, OM, OM, we go that. Then it becomes almost useless. I don’t want to say useless because there is benefit for that, even say OM, OM, OM, OM, with mind of saying OM MANI PADME HUNG, there’s benefit. So, I’m not going to say totally useless. But, almost useless. Then, you are just hanging on mala. And word OM, OM, OM, you have no root left, you have no tree trunk, you have no branch, you have no fruit, you have no flower, you won’t have any fruit. But, the benefits will help you to get towards this root. So, that is becomes important. That is spiritual path to me. So, it really doesn’t really matter whether you wear robes, tie, t-shirt or naked, doesn’t matter. As long as you don’t have funny things, people will laugh at you. Anyway. So, now what we really established here, the Mahayana path, we established the goal, the fruit, total enlightenment, then we have the root. Now, where does the root come from? How you going to get that root? How do we get that root from? It doesn’t become root unless you have nice seed. Right? Whether the sedd can be bulb or it can be nuts, or it can be anything. But, you need the seed. The seed becomes better. So, where do we get that seed? We all have it. 1:10:17.8

The one good thing for us is we all have that seed. Which we call it, from the Buddhist point of view, it is the technical name, they call it buddha nature. But, what really is, the goodness of the human beings. I’m not excluding animals either. But, the goodness of the human beings. That is the real buddha nature within us. The goodness. Even the evil ones have goodness, too. The goodness of the human beings is the true buddha nature. Why it’s called buddha nature, because it can develop, and change, become to the level of buddha’s quality. Right now, it must be simple, straight, just seed. But, it can fully develop and become to the total level of the Buddha’s quality. Equivalent to that. So, that’s why it’s called buddha nature. Sort of the nature which can become to that level. So, we do have that seed available with us. So, whether we take care of the seed or let the seed remain in the burlap bags and keep in your garage. Or, you want to put the seed on the ground that suitable to grow. It is funny thing, I rememember, it is very funny, like silly, total silly. When I first came to Ann Arbor, not the first, I had a house where John Madison lives now. So, there’s little place where the grasses grow. And I love to grow grasses. And those days I was not busy at all. So, I’m growing nice lawn and nice flowers and you know, all this. We started seating nice roses and lot of flowers. One name I forgot, temporarily I don’t remember. [..] Snapdragons, yes. I have sort of everything. Lot of huge flowers. Dali, that’s right. I have one huge dali I been able to grow which exactly fits Allen Ginsberg from the end of his mustache to hand. It just fit exactly. Anyway, those days, I got some seeds. I used to throw the seeds on the existing lawn, because I can not afford to, there are so many weeds. Wild weeds. What you do is keep on throwing the good seeds, keep on throwing and after a little while, the good grasses will choke the bad ones. It becomes good. That’s what I did. So, I got a lot of seeds. And lot of them remained in the garage. So, it doesn’t grow when it’s in the garage. It doesn’t grow, naturally. There’s a cement floor and it was kept in the bag. So, it doesn’t grow. So, the moment you put over there, and it grows. Not only it grows, it also chokes those weeds. The weeds become lesser and lesser and good grass become better and better. So, that is the example. If it’s kept in the garage, it never grows. It was used on the suitable ground, then it works. And, it doesn’t work in winter. Because, it’s too cold. Right? You know that. So, exactly like that, the good nature, when we have this, if it becomes extreme, like extreme hatred or anger, then it becomes like winter. It won’t grow. It’s too cold. Or too me, too angry, it won’t grow. Like winter, it doesn’t grow. So, when there is reasonable heat on the ground, that is caring and free, greater compassion, like ordinary compassions. Then, it helps to grow. Our mind is like suitable ground, compassions like the heat. The caring and efforts we put is like moisture, water that we put in. Then, it grows. Then, the root will take root and it will grow. Once it becomes quite strong and stable then everything does by this. Efforts of accumulation of merit will also do by itself. Effort of purification will also be done by itself. [Tibetan] 1:17:51.3

From that time onwards, either you just lie down and putting your foot in the air or whatever you do, everything is sort of done almost automatically. Like some of those computers, good servers. We sometimes automatically save. So, just like that. It almost becomes automatic thereafter. Until then, we have to struggle. I tell you then it’s really struggle. Okay, that’s that I wanted to talk to you. That is the compassion, the importantness of compassion and it is the root and the root of the compassion is our good buddha nature which we have it. Now, what we need is we need a suitable, which we actually have it. Now, we need the moisture, heat and all of those. I guess that it, I wanted to say. I think be here next Thursday. And also, the Queens Library next Saturday [..] Is next Saturday right? What time is it? Do you have idea? [..] 2 o’clock Queens Library. Where is it? [..] In Flushing. Where’s Alex? [..]

I went to this paperback book tour. It was very good and very successful and very nice. Everywhere people showing great deal of interest. I think it’s helping people little bit. In one person, who is elder gentleman, who is radio syndicate person in Philadelphia, when there that time, it was raining like terrible and the guy came and he said, I have radio interview, and kept on talking that on the tape recorder, saying when your publicist approached, I sort of reluctantly accepted and not knowing, when I got this book of yours, I read it before. Somebody, I don’t know where I got it, I was traveling in plane, there’s two person who’s talking and yelling on the telephone and I was very upset even before I got into plane, when I got into plane, these people are sitting next to me. Right and left, they keep on talking. I really want to punch them. But, somehow, I read this book and that calms me down and really gives me some peace. What is it that you have behind the information, behind that, what do you have? That’s what his question. He said, when I realized this is the one, I didn’t cancel, I came in the rain today. I was about to cancel, then I realized this is the same book that I had read and so, when I was doing the homework, he said doing reading little bit, I was think, this is the same book I read it before. So, what is behind that? I know nothing about. Maybe a blessing of 1,000 years of Tibetan lamas or something, maybe. That’s all. What else? 1:23:21.9

So, it has been quite nice and successful and I’m happy to say Boulder Books has chosen this one for gift catalog, highlighted for holiday catalog. So, it has been quite okay. I believe that side effect. I did not work for that. I’ve been saying it, we get side effect. But, if you really work for that, you won’t get it. IF you put lot of efforts, you may not get it. Who knows. So, anyway, I say thank you. I’ll be here next Thursday and also if you’re free, in the Flushing [..] International Resource Center. So, I guess that’s it. I don’t think I’m going to let you ask questions, because I don’t have answer. Thank you.

[dedication]

[end of audio]