Archive Result

Soundfile 20030605GRNYOTF

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location New York

Topic Odyssey to Freedom

Transcriber Glenn Powers

Date 2021-08-05

We are now talking about hodhimind. Again, the question really rises, what is bodhimind? The technically we call it bodhimind, it’s technical name. Actually, I don’t know what bodhimind means. It is Sanskrit word. But, I think it is the translation in that is call it [Tibetan] 0:00:49.5 is two words in Tibetan, means perfection and perfectly trained. The training has been completed. A perfect. In other words, it will be mind of ultimate perfection. So, mind of ultimate perfection meaning it may be the best mind you can have it. Perhaps that’s not true. The mind that seeks, the mind that wants, the ultimate perfection. So, what the bodhimind really means mind that seeks the buddha level. The buddha stage, buddha level. I think that’s called bodhimind. And I’m sure many of you are familiar with that. And many of you are not familiar with that. So, bodhimind means not the mind of the buddha, mind that seeks the buddhahood. Until we get that mind, there is no reasons why buddhahood is our goal. You know, we don’t get it. In the Tibetan Buddhism, you say the ultimate goal of spiritual work is to become a buddha. It is from the Buddhist point of view. But, when you say just say the purpose is to become a buddha, many people will raise, many people will say, why. But, many of you are so nice, they say that is the Tibetan Buddhist way. So, I accept it without any question. People do that very often. They say yeah, that’s the way the Tibetan does anyway. Or, this is the way it is. We just accept it without raising lot of questions. And we do that. I don’t know, maybe it is Judeo-Christain tradition system with somehow influenced to you people. And whatever the Church says, you have to accept it. Maybe. Whatever it is, you don’t seem to raise any question at all. So, that was a little surprise to me. But, by now I know, because I’ve been with you over 15 years. So, this is somehow commonly accepted. I don’t know why. But, they do. Maybe you don’t know what to do in the spiritual field, so anybody tells you what to do, so you just do it. Maybe that’s what it is. Whatever the reason is, people don’t raise question. If you don’t raise question, then you can be misguided. Misleaded, easily. And, you do have to raise question. Very often. That’s why, very often I do say you do need faith, but you need intelligent faith. You don’t need blind faith. For sure. The blind faith doesn’t give you good result. Intelligence faith does give you good result. So, you do need to say why, why, why. You should also have limits for your why. 0:05:09.7

Some people, you know we have friends, some of them are so much, everything is why, and before you get total answer, the person could die by saying why, why, why. You know? It happens. It happens. If you have too much why, why, why, and you could die before you got the answer. But, you do need to say why. Now, questions like this, buddhahood is the goal. At least people have to think why. And I share very often here, we do have a lady, now she doesn’t come much in Jewel Heart, she’s quite old in New York. Louise, you remember Louise, many of you do. So, whenever we’re meeting at daytime, she comes because night becomes very difficult. So, Louise once told me, Rimpoche, what is buddha is all about it? And I’d been little stupid. And I thought simple way of. That’s very early. Maybe 12-13 years ago. Very early. I said Buddha is something like god and she sort of chewed that for awhile. And then she wants walk with me and then she said, well, if Buddha is god, I don’t have interest to become god. So, it’s very important. She thinks that way. And then, that’s the only person who asked me why. If I’m not making mistake. So, I had been stupid saying buddha like god. Try to be simple answer and not so much conversation there after. So, I wanted to make a short statement. But, that didn’t work well. Anyway. But, the question really is why we want to become a buddha. Why should buddha be the goal of our, yes Mahayana Buddhism accept and says buddhahood is goal. And so then, we have to say why is it relevant for me? 0:08:09.2

Why should I become? If you say, I want to be free from sufferings. We even pray, may all beings be free from sufferings. That, nobody has to say why. Because, it’s obvious. This obvious has lot of difficulties for me anyway. So, it is obvious. We don’t have to say why. Because, we all seek that, we all want that. But, then you say you have to become a buddha, you have to say why. You got say why. You just don’t swallow blindly. If somebody tells you that what Buddha said so, that’s stupid. Absolutely. If you have total trust, faith in Buddha and totally devoted and all that, if Buddha said so, it has value and you are sort of looking into it, seeing whether the water is hot enough or cold or lukewarm, just putting your finger through and put your finger in there, taking it out, at that time if the reason is Buddha said so, it is unvalid reason. Because, individual person, whoever is seeking the answer, has not yet established if Buddha said, it must be true. You may say it must be true. But, you did not establish that within you. It’s just like to me, god told me to do so. Well, if the answer is just simply say, god said, it may be better for me than someone like Jerry Falwell, God told me this. It’s going alright, forget it, so I’m going to say that in my mind. So, it’s not that I didn’t, you know, because it did not establish. Because Buddha said so is not valid reason at all. It’s doesn’t help me to convince more. So, there has to be other than that. There got to be other reason than that. What could that be? [..] 0:11:52.2

So, there got to be other reason than simply Buddha said so. What should that be? Anybody have any idea? Maybe I should go to Jane, I haven’t seen you for awhile. [..] Alright. You just walked in. Anybody want to say anything?

Audience: I mean this is what I believe, Buddha says so. Makes sense to me.

Rimpoche: Very sweet of you. But, I will not buy. You know why? Two reasons. It makes sense to me, is not valid reason for me. I feel good, is not valid reason for me. I feel good from anything. And I feel it makes sense from anything. From various ways it can come. It can come as nice blessing. It can come as mystery activities by the evil spirit. It can be because you had good night sleep. It can come, you know any reason it can come. So, for me, I feel good and I think it makes sense is not valid at all. I need solid reason why. Colleen, go ahead.

Audience: Because I can see negative actions bring negative results and that positive brings positive. So, the Buddha that was what he did, what he showed us and I see that.

Rimpoche: With your third eye? Colleen says, negative actions bring negative result and positive action bring positive result and I can see that. That doesn’t need for you to become a buddha. You can be free of negative karma and that’s good enough, there’s no reason why you need to be buddha at all. I think the hand of this Dimitri is before. So, let’s go ahead, Dimitri.

Audience: I think of it like, personally, I have a nephew who’s six years old. I think that sometimes what life is like as a teenager and being young. I would like to help him avoid some of the mistakes I made. But, I can’t really do it. The real protection, I would like to protect, I can’t really give him that freedom. If I don’t understand it, I can’t make him happy if I’m still nervous and I’m still afraid. So, I look at it like that on a giant scale. So, instead of leaving it with one, loved one, extend that intellectually at first. It isn’t really true for me yet. I don’t feel it. I see that as the ideal. If you want to give some food, you have to have it. If you want to teach about patience, you have to have patience. 0:16:13.8

Rimpoche: So, Dimitri says he had a six year old nephew and he wanted to help the nephew, for example to develop patience. And if I don’t have patience and if I don’t understand patience, I can’t help it. Is this a valid reason? What did you say?

Audience: [..]

Rimpoche: My question is, is that valid reason, I want yes or no answer. I don’t want any explanation. If you say no, then I’ll say why. If you say yes, then I’ll say why. But, I don’t need explanation right now. No. Who said no? Yes? Why? [..]

Audience: Because I think he’s talking about enlightenment. And I think Buddha embodies enlightenment and the goal of becoming a buddha is the goal of becoming enlightened and ultimate compassion and ultimate patience and ultimate wisdom.

Rimpoche: Lady, you said so many nice, beautiful words, but this is the real question. Why this? You just give the question itself as reason. So, it doesn’t work. You try to establish that, why? So, just give that itself as reason, it is enlightenment, it is beautiful, it is wonderful, it is perfection. They’re all true. Why should that be my goal? Because it’s beautiful? Because it’s wonderful? No. Okay, go ahead.

Audience: Because you can be most helpful that way. The less obstructions you have, then the more you see to be able to help and then also what Dimitri was saying.

Rimpoche: Why should it be more helpful that way?

Audience: Because you’re less obstructed.

Rimpoche: Ah, then you have concentrated power, that will only do. Because you’re not distracted. Because you can focus. [..] Why you need it? [..] Why you have to help it? [..] Is that okay? [..] 0:20:08.0

He said we have to remove the pain. a) I’m in pain. b) They’re in pain. I want remove my pain, be the one to remove their pain. And I don’t know my way. So, therefore I need to become fully enlightened. Is that what? That’s what I think. Put it on yours. I think we’re getting somewhere. That is supposed to be the answer. [..] Johnathan, Go ahead

Audience: For the sake of all beings, I shall quickly, quickly in this life become a lama-yidam, primordial buddha. I shall liberate all beings from suffering and the them to the great bliss of buddhahood. Therefore, I practice the profound path of the yoga yama-lima.

Rimpoche: It is true. That is reason there. But, you just read it. You know, you just read it. It was written in 300-400 years ago. So, I want your answer.

Audience: That is my answer.

Rimpoche: Okay. Actually, it’s fine. I want to say this lady over here.

Audience: I think in my life, I see how the people around me, how they’re suffering causes me to suffer so much. So that without buddhahood, I don’t really see any other way to stop that suffering for myself. It gives me sort of the skills to cut that without this teaching, it’s overwhelming. So, it’s kinda related to the boddhisattva.

Rimpoche: Then, I have another question. If you have buddhahood, can you stop the suffering? What she’s talking about it. My suffering, and others sufferings. If you become buddha, can you stop? If not, that’s not valid reason again.

Audience: The way I look at it is metaphor of drowning in a stream, carried along in the current of suffering. And you get a rope and you realize somebody put that rope there. And then you think about who that person was that put that rope there. And, my answer is it must be somebody [..]

Rimpoche: But, that doesn’t mean you have to become that.

Audience: You want to help somebody with more rope.

Rimpoche: Each person has to come on one single rope, one by one or what? Maybe. Maybe. Yes, sir. Are you very senior in dharma for so many years, keeping quiet behind…

Audience: If I see my suffering and my causes of suffering and I’m not happy with that, I see other people having the same suffering, same causes of suffering, I may not be happy with them, [..] and if I see the Buddha [..] he would have the way to help us get out of that.

Rimpoche: Well, there’s Buddha already. Why there’s another one? Why you have to have another one? That’s already there. Maybe he’s getting too tired. We have to go replace him or what.

Audience: I think it becomes our responsibility to help others.

Rimpoche: Why?

Audience: They are so much like us. 0:24:18.8

Rimpoche: You have said so many times, Colleen.

Audience: [..]

Rimpoche: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Compassion didn’t give you, you got the compassion. No one gives you compassion. It’s just like Tibetans. Tibetans always going somewhere, seeking independence. Nobody can give Tibetans independence, they have to make it independent. Just like that, no one can go and seek compassion. The compassion is something you have to gain. I think we got the reason. Yes, Mark, please.

Audience: I’ve thought so much of you analogy of medicine and doctors and so on. On the one hand, doctors depend upon patients. You have to have sick people in order to be a doctor. So, in a funny way, you don’t want to be a doctor. You don’t want to be a buddha. You know what I mean? [..] And that’s something that medical practitioners don’t get. Unless there were that their total lives depend on the fact that people are in fact sick. So, on some level, no, you don’t want to be a buddha.

Rimpoche: You’re really talking serious now. This is serious business. You really getting in there.

Audience: There would be no need for medicine, no need for diagnosis, there will be no need

Rimpoche: Very true, we can close all the hospitals. You don’t have to worry about infections and saras and all that. 0:26:18.0

Audience: This is something that actually Amy started to say, but it’s the kind of question of why really. My question is we can become arhats and be out of suffering ourselves. And I know I have the idea that it’s a beautiful idea of wanting to do this for all other beings, a though I love them like my only child. But, really, if I have to personally say, what is my motivation, once I become an arhat to want to become a buddha, it’s hard for me to really say. It’s a beautiful idea.

Rimpoche: It is honest statement. Go ahead, Joan.

Audience: I think it is because are interdependent. So, if I become a buddha, then I’m going to satisfy that other people are not fully enlightened and are suffering. I don’t quite understand it, but that becomes what the basis of existence is and buddha is in way. Because, you depend on spreading this all over. We don’t fully appreciate it, but that’s one of the qualities of our perfect interdependence. Perfection of our interdependence.

Rimpoche: Well, we’re touching the reasons. Then, we’re getting off. And all of those. I don’t know. But, I can only tell you what I was told. What I was told is when I wanted to help myself, can I really help myself? Oh, now you remember.

Audience: The only way to experience [..]

Rimpoche: You know, this age, this days, this places, people don’t like the only way. I’m just joking. I think it is very good here. So, what’s really happening is when I wanted to help myself and many times I can help, many times I can’t help. But, there’s so many places I become helpless or even sometimes hopeless. I don’t have way, neither I have knowledge nor I have experience nor I have know how, nothing. That becomes handicapped. When you look in that, not only me, but you and you and you and you and finally looking for all sentient beings. Then, you have unlimited way of doing it. Unlimited capability. So, the buddha level has now said, our goal because there is supposed to be, there’s no limitations. 0:30:31.2

Unlimited, total knowledge, awakened state, total awareness. If there is something, it is known to the buddha, therefore there is no darkness. There is light all the time, there is no darkness. There’s no ignorance. If your responsibility is only limited, then you don’t need unlimited, too. When you’re taking the responsibility of the bodhisattva, to free all sentient beings, so you need unlimited capacity. That’s why the budhahood becomes the goal. If it’s only freeing myself, just like Andrea said, if that’s so, freeing myself, I don’t have to become buddha. I can free myself without being buddha. So, why should I go that far? That’s not enough, because of our mental commitment, that special mind. Remember, there was seven stage, recognizing as mother beings. Remembering their kindness, repaying, love, compassion and the special mind. Taking special responsibility, whatever it may be, I’m going out of my way, I’m going to do it by myself, with or without any help from anyone. That made it relevant for us to have that. Otherwise, it’s not relevant at all. So, when we say buddhahood is goal, then that is the reason. When you have a strong reason, that help us to convinced. What is a strong reason? Strong reason is, again, not because I feel good. Not because I think it makes sense. The strong reason is here, that reason cannot be contradicted by a right mind. It’s really, some people will say, this logical system is not so much interesting. But, for practice, it is very relevant. Because, whatever you do, you got to have reasons. The reasons will give you from the logical reasons, valid reasons. When it cannot be contradicted, then it’s valid. When it can be contradicted, it is invalid. Reliability. Reliability means one doesn’t cheat. Your own reason doesn’t let you down. Your own reason doesn’t cheat you. That is reliable. Reliable reason is confirmation of right or wrong, is the reliability. The reliability is, meaning, when it cannot be contradicted. When it can be contradicted by another reliable mind, then it shows your reliable mind is wrong. Not reliable mind, because it contradicts. 0:35:33.2

When I see Amy Hertz, I say this is Amy Hertz, this reliable reason. Why? No one can tell me this is not Amy Hertz, this is Amy Hunter. Then, everybody says this is Amy Hertz. You know what I mean? That is reliable. Cannot be contradicted. And if I say, look at Jane and say this is Amy Hertz, then you will say, no, Amy Hertz is me, this is my mom. So, it is direct, reliable contradiction, which means my statement of looking at Jane and saying this is Amy Hertz is wrong. Proved to be wrong because it directly contradicted. Am I talking such nonsense? Why I do this? Why you do this? Because that way you know whether your practice is right or wrong. Because of that reason. Otherwise, anybody can say, ha, this is profound and wonderful and you become a buddha overnight and why not? So, you can say, oh, why not? And overnight is gone and you not become a buddha, say overnight is gone, I did not become buddha. Oh, poor thing, you have too many negativities, so you have not become buddha overnight. It will go on and on. This are all because you did not use this. If you don’t use this in the Western idea, pulling on your head, don’t use your mind. If you don’t use this and then you can totally mislead. You’re not become independent. People have such a wonderful, beautiful mind, particularly you people. Educated people should not be really fall in the you know like the traps of Jim Jones and all those type of thing. That all fall because you didn’t use this. People are lazy, basically. People are wonderful, beautiful, all of you, intelligent, but absolutely lazy. You don’t want make decisions. If anybody tells you to do that, you are very happy. Jewel Heart has a special quality, I tell you really true, every other dharma center go to the lama and say should I do this, should I do this, should I do this, should I do this, should I do this. Right from the beginning I keep on saying, it’s up to you. You make choice. So now, they don’t ask me. That is good quality. That’s really good quality. It’s really good quality, because you have to use your mind. Otherwise, why this get rotten. 0:39:32.6

You have beautiful skin and then rotten mind. What is the use? So, this not going to be enlightenment, with the rotten mind. Even though, you may think it’s perfect guru devotion. Maybe. Maybe not. But, what you have to do is you have that beautiful mind, you have to use it and give reasons why. If you leave the people alone, people do use their mind, but when you talk too much, people don’t use their mind. So, the bodhimind is something you have to develop. Not that I can sit here and talk. I can introduce, talk, but you have to develop. Not only bodhimind, every spiritual development. It is yours and you have to do it. Whether you are doing right or wrong, yes at the beginning, like a child, we can hold you, hold you like this, walk behind and hold you. But, after a little while, you started walking yourself. When you have to do this, you have to use your mind. You have to use your reason. And that’s what I’m calling for, intelligence faith. Everything, whatever you do, reasons. If you want to get up, go to bathroom, perhaps you don’t need reason, but there is reason. You don’t think about it, because this belly is too full, you have to get up. Otherwise, you will have pain. Right? That is reason. Just like that, everything else. Everything else. Every spiritual practice, you sit down and meditate, and that has to have reasons, if there’s no reason, just because I want to meditate, fine go ahead. Doesn’t really matter whether New York meditates or not. Whatever it is. So, that’s how I learned Tibetan Buddhism. So, then somebody else tells me what you said is not right, you should do blah blah blah and I have hundred different reasons why this is right. Or, I could be wrong sometimes. I’m not saying I’m perfect. But, there’s always reasons. Reasons makes you perfect. And then, when you know it is right, and then you meditate on that, it becomes part of you. Remember, I told you, mental knowledge is becoming, specially mental knowledge of spiritual path are becoming of it. Not looking from here over there, observing. It’s not eye conscious looking at the beautiful feet and acknowledging it. That’s different than the mental knowledge. The mental knowledge is becoming of it. And, finally when you concentratedly meditated bodhimind, you become bodhimind. This is wrong language. You have to say you develop. But, actually you become bodhimind. You become buddha. You become deity. You become that. And, if you’re wrong, you can’t become. You put so much efforts, goes over there. You can’t become because reality doesn’t tell it. Because, you’re wrong. That’s why the right is important. 0:44:29.4

Way we know right and wrong on that ground. Doesn’t look like spiritual talk here tonight. It looks like some kind of [..] high school debate. So, whatever it is. That how you look in each and every point of view. So, you know while I’m saying it, I might well say it here. The Americans have another problem. That’s because if you see something printed, book form, you say, ah, it’s true because it’s in the book. Yes, it’s in the book because it must be true. But, don’t forget, books are written by human beings. They’re not divine books. Every author is equally [..] infallible. [..]

Even spiritual books, even written hundreds of years, even then, the final confirmation has to come with individual. Until we know it, the traditional, reliable, known authors works are, we rely on. But the final confirmation will come with the final development with each and every individual. And I believe that’s how it really works. So, I’m trying to establish here tonight. Bodhimind is two pronged mind. Dedication, totally dedicated, altruistic, we have come a long way, but what we are struggling is why we want buddhahood. Combination of this mind, total dedicated for the all beings and seeking a buddha level to myself. To the first person, so that I can do what I need to do. It’s bodhimind. Normally, people will say bodhimind is ultimate compassion, so there should not be any selfish thought. Yes, seeking buddhahood for myself might not be selfish thoughts. But, you’re seeking buddhahood for yourself. Never discarded self. Any Tibetan books that I read, it says I and all sentient beings. Even the Lama Chopa, what Johnathan read, it says for the benefit, at the beginning they said I become a buddha this, this, that. You know. Lama la and all that. So, they never say, all sentient beings except me should become fully enlightened. Never said that. So, there is, another words I’m also part of all sentient beings. So, you don’t discard yourself. Yes, it may not be selfish, narrow selfish, but the purpose what you do is for benefit of all. We have to make sure this is not tongue twisting. For the benefit of all beings, I would like to become a buddha. You know, nice little interesting tongue twisting, nice little talk, word twisting. Try to make sure, I wanted to become, but I have to say for the benefit of all beings. So, we shouldn’t do that. From the bottom of our heart, there should be total dedication. Whether that dedication going to come or not, it depends on the preliminaries, how much we have done. So, it is all such an interesting thing. If you look, each steps in this lamrim or Odyssey to Freedom, it really transferred you automatically on the next step. Really pushes. If you’re missing one, you can’t get here. Even we go through here, we went through here. Now you say total dedication, you have hesitation. That because we don’t have that special commitment strong. That because we don’t have compassion strong. That because we don’t have love strong. That because we don’t have the acknowledgment of the kindness they have done to us. That because we don’t have strong commitment of returning their kindness. That because we don’t really recognize all sentient being is something very special for me. It’s all stuck each other. 0:51:14.3

That because we have black and white feeling among the people. Some are good, close. Some are bad, distance. These are the bad peoples. They’re Republicans, conservatives. These are the good people, they are the Democrats, liberal. Or, vica versa. These are the good people, they are Republicans. These are the bad people, they are Democrats. Anyway. Because of that, because of that, you don’t have the equanimity. Equality among the people. Because of lack of equality then we see near and dear, distance, far away and then anything, the colors, sexual orientations, male, female, and all this. We are dividing among us. And if you let that division of the mind go, there will be no end. Finally, you be left alone, all by yourself, without any friend or help. That mind will lead to that. So, you say they’re wrong narrow, they’re not good. Then you have to go back and back and back and open it. And ultimately, bodhimind will come. I sort of traced back, so now you can trace forward. If there is one problem on the way, seven steps, you stop, completely. Then, it will only become lip service. Just the words will go from mouth and you have to move because time is going. 0:53:40.6

So, we are taking time because we’re not going anywhere. We are taking time doing this and hopefully our mind will move together. So that we don’t stuck at maybe the right moment. Our mind has bad addiction. That is if you let it go. You know, I told you, we like to be only the tie breaker people. And that living in this building only. Finally, I’ll be the only person left. You know, our mind will cut down to that much. So, you have to go back. Open it up. And then, when you open it up, again, it has it’s difficulties. Then, at the same it teach you the tolerance, understanding, adjustment, all of those. Anyway, I’m going home. So, I hope you get there. So, I’ll be here next Thursday, too. [..] Thank you.

[announcements]

[dedication]