Archive Result

12

Mahamudra

A teaching given by

Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche

Jewel Heart New York

September 23, 2004

Thank you, and welcome here tonight. Before I continue the teaching on Mahamudra, I have some announcements to make. People from the Jewel Heart headquarters have come here to New York, to talk about the formation of a Sangha Council. We’re setting up a Sangha Council at every Jewel Heart [branch] because we are hoping to see every group standing independently.

To tell you the truth, I am planning to retire soon if I can. It depends on setting up these independent groups. We want them to function by themselves. As the first step, I am asking [individuals] to take different positions. I don’t know whether the duration of these positions will be two or three years. The most important thing is for each of these groups to come together at the grass-roots level, to let their ideas come up, and make decisions.

Today, this is my job to announce this. Everybody I asked, except maybe one or two people, has happily accepted. The President of the New York Sangha Council, as we call it, is Nancy Jeffries. We have two Associate Presidents; Fran Perriello and Frederica Foster. The Secretary is Anne Doran and the Associate Secretary is Mark Harada. The Treasurer is Joan Hurley and the Associate Treasurer is Colleen Piazza. Mark Harada is in charge of Program Registration here in New York and at Jewel Heart headquarters. The Volunteer Coordinators are Andrea Massey and Alan Korn (sp?) Nancy Heinz and Nina Ritter are in charge of meeting and greeting new students. Publicists (?) are Robin Brentano, Elizabeth Coleman and Blanche Magill. I hope they have contacted you. You are the only ones on my list with a question mark, so I probably didn’t call you. Sorry about it. Advisors are Elizabeth Coleman, Carol Corcoran, Philip Glass, Diana Rose and Jonathan Rose. We have Dharma Coordinators who were announced earlier, Mark Magill and Sally Titman (sp?)

That part is done. Now the teaching: you have the root text in English, but I think it is different from what we used to have. I did this teaching once before, and the translation we had earlier and the one we have now are different. Also, there is an explanation of the different stages, how to practice the Vajrayana part of the Mahamudra, and of the oral lineage of the virtuous tradition. That is an outline. I don’t think you got that. Probably by the time we’ve gotten the complete materials to you, the teaching time will be over. Maybe not. Week after next we’ll get them to you.

Next Thursday I will be in New York, but I won’t be here because of the opening of the Rubin Museum. They are honoring Robert Thurman. Philip and I will both be participating, right? So that is the time clash. The Thursday after that I will be here.

Those senior ones, who have been with me for a number of years all have the other translation by Joseph Loizzo. I’m going to go through the Tibetan, number one because I can’t read well. Number two, the type is so small, it is out of my scope to read it.

The other day, I explained the Namo Guru Mahamudraya in detail, so I don’t need to repeat it. I explained last week how pervasive it is. There was a question last week, about the pervasive quality.

Audience: I think the idea was the nature of everything is emptiness.

Rimpoche: Yes. The first word is pervasive. Let me explain in a very simple way what Mahamudra is. Mahamudra is another [way of saying] wisdom is emptiness. Maha is ‘big.’ Mudra is gesture, right? It is a signal, a sign, a hand implement. (Rimpoche laughs] Are you getting anything? It is a signature, a seal. In the old tradition, when the authorities, such as the emperors, put a seal on something, it became an unchangeable, unshakable, finalized order. It is like a judge hitting the gavel on the table. Similarly, when the senate, the house of representatives or the parliament meet, they hit [the gavel on the table]. It is a sign, a signal, an unchangeable confirmation. That is why it’s called mudra. I talked about it last week, so let’s not repeat it.

In other words, it is emptiness and wisdom itself. Wisdom and emptiness itself is mudra, so why is it unchangeable, why is it so important? It is because it is the nature of all existence. My nature is emptiness. Your nature is emptiness. Everybody else’s nature is emptiness. The nature of a house is emptiness, a pillar is emptiness, being is emptiness, the country is emptiness, the city is emptiness, and everything; the nature of all is emptiness. There is nothing that exists that is not of emptiness in nature. If you think I’m saying empty, you’re making a big mistake. The country is not empty, a house is not empty, everything is not empty, you’re not empty, I’m not empty. It is not empty, but emptiness. The teaching really is that wisdom is emptiness.

It is also our biggest problem. You know how a lot of people talk about ‘dualistic’ and ‘non-dualistic.’ If you really look deeply into it, when people say ‘dual’ it is two, right? So you say in nature it is one, which is empty. But you see something that is not emptiness. Seeing itself, and perceiving are not that much of a problem. Appearance is not that much of a problem. Accepting it becomes a problem. That’s why ‘dualistic’ becomes a problem, and people talk about ‘non-dual,’ all these are the idea behind this. What this first verse is saying, bottom line, is Mahamudra, wisdom itself, is the nature of every existence, and therefore it is also pervasive. Everybody, everything has its nature within itself, or within themselves. Therefore, that Mahamudra, that wisdom is pervasive [pervades all]. I covered that, actually two slokas or eight lines, right? I don’t have time to repeat it.

In my copy of the root text we are up to page two. I should go quickly. It says it has preliminary, actual and conclusion, that is very simple. We have been talking about the pre-requisites. The second line says,

DANG PO TEN DANG TEK CHEN LA

JUK PAY GO DANG SHUNG SHING CHIR

KA TSAM TIK TSAM MA YIN PAY

KYAB DRO SEM KYAY NEN TEN JA

TEN DANG TEK CHEN LA JUK PAY G0 is like a doorway to Buddhist practice. The doorway of Mahayana practice is taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and developing Bodhimind, which are the most important things.

TIK TSAM MA YIN PAY. These are not mere words, not mere expressions; you have to have profound refuge and profound development of Bodhimind. Bodhimind is love-compassion, which we have talked about many times, so we don’t need to explain it here.

SEM KYEE CHEU NYEE TONG WA YANG

TOK SAK DRIB JANG LA TO PAY

YIK GYA BUM TSAM TUNG SHAK NEE

GYA CHAK GANG MANG NGON TANG NAY

In order to see the nature of the mind itself, you need purification and the accumulation of merit. They recommend that you say about one hundred thousand Vajrasattva recitations, plus as many thirty-five-Buddha purifications along with as many prostrations as possible. ‘As much as possible’ is used because these words are in Tibetan poetry form, which has certain rules. Seven-word, nine-word or fourteen-word lines [are appropriate at different times]. In English you can have as many words as you want, or you can have a shorter verse. Tibetans consider that bad poetry. It’s the culture. So they can’t say one hundred thousand thirty-five-Buddha purifications; it’s too many words. So they say ‘as much as possible.’

In reality, they are recommending that you do a hundred thousand of [each of the Vajrasattva recitations, 35-Buddha Purifications and prostrations], and also the Mandala offering. Why? The actual practice becomes good, effective and helpful depending on how we do the pre-requisites. If the pre-requisites are so-so, the actual practice will also be so-so. There is no accident. Kyabje Ling Rimpoche, the late senior teacher to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and one of my greatest masters, told me repeatedly about his Guru, Kyabje Pabongka, the great Pabongkapa.

He talked about Pabongka and his teachings, particularly about the Heruka Body Mandala. He said that he attended that teaching. He said there were about a thousand people attending, and this was up in the mountains of Tibet. North of Lhasa, on the other side of Sera [Monastery], Pabongka had his retreat area. [At a point] higher than that, Tashi Choeling, Pabongka gave his teaching. Included among the thousand people were Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche, Kyabje Ling Rimpoche and my late father, Demo Rimpoche. [Kyabje Ling Rimpoche] told me that Kyabje Pabongka Rimpoche had an interesting [custom]. When somebody came to visit him, particularly certain Tibetan government officials, no matter how late it was, [Pabongka Rimpoche] would never rush. A thousand people were waiting there, and normally they would start at 12 (noon) or 12:30.

Some big officer was there who had been completely demoted and reprimanded. They almost put him in jail. Finally, they let him go. He and both Kyabje Rimpoches came, and they said, ‘Today is going to be a big long holiday, so let us go and have a swim, and then go somewhere.’ They were sure they would not start for at least two hours. Then, Kyabje Ling Rimpoche said, by nine o’clock at night, they were still there. Lunch came, then afternoon tea came, then dinner came and these guys still didn’t leave. A little after nine they left.

Then Pabongka came down and started giving the teaching. Everybody presumed he was going to rush. You know, there are pre-requisite prayers that you have to say. So everybody thought he was going to rush that. The chanting master even asked, ‘Should I say it fast?’ Pabongka said, ‘No.’ To illustrate, Kyabje Ling Rimpoche said a prayer first at a quick pace (Gehlek Rimpoche says it in Tibetan). Then he gave his rendition at a very slow pace. He said, by the time the actual teaching started, it was after midnight. Pabongka gave the teaching in a very short time. Then they had to go down to another village below. It was all downhill. People were falling down. There was not a smooth road. Rocks were falling. (Rimpoche laughs.) There were all kinds of occurrences the whole night. Kyabje Ling Rimpoche told the story to emphasize that the pre-requisites are extremely important.

When Kyabje Ling Rimpoche was telling me the story, he was singing through all these verses. That conversation could have been finished in five minutes or so, but it took twenty minutes, because he kept on singing all these verses completely. He was giving a message about what not to do, like what I’m doing today. The pre-requisites here – refuge you know, refuge. Then there is Bodhimind, you know, we talk about that all the time. That’s what he was saying not to do [not being casual about the pre-requisites]. If anyone would seriously like to practice my Mahamudra, after the teaching, you have to do it nicely. If the pre-requisites are nicely done, then everything works well.

I have a number of people, throughout, everywhere, who would like to do a retreat. They say, (In a hurried tone, imitating a student) ‘I’d like to do a retreat on this and that.’ In the middle of a busy life that is going up and down, all of a sudden they say, ‘Aha, it is Saturday so I’m free. Here I go on my retreat.’ (Rimpoche makes busy, buzzy sounds like someone hurrying through mantra repetitions.) ‘My numbers are over, I’m done.’

That’s not good. Not good. If you want to do a retreat, the pre-requisites have to be carefully done. Nobody’s chasing anybody. We’re not going anywhere, as long as we’re alive. These pre-requisites that you do don’t have to have retreat-like restrictions. You do them nicely, in your own sweet time, and just properly.

Now the actual Mahamudra comes. When you get the outlines, then you will know.

NGO SHEE CHAK GYA CHEN PO LA

SHE TSUL MANG DU DUK NA YANG

DO NGAG YAY WAY NYEE SU YOE.

Although there are many ways of formulating

The actual (practice) of the Great Seal,

By class there are two.

NGO SHEE CHAK GYA CHEN PO LA. As I told you, the bottom line is the wisdom of emptiness. Here the First Panchen Lama said, when you ask ‘What is the real Mahmudra?’ there are a number of ways of explaining it, but it will actually come down to two ways. There is the Sutra part of Mahamudra and the Tantra part.

Because they mention Sutra first, you would think it should be explained first. Here they explain Tantra first. Why? It is because they are not going to explain it. It involves a great deal of secrecy. That’s why they basically just mention Tantra, [in the explanation part] first.

CHEE MA DOR JAY LU NYEE LA

NAY DU NUN SOK TAB KAY LAY

JUNG WAY DAY CHEN EU SEL TAY

SARAHA DANG LU DRUB SHAB

NA RO MAITRI CHAK CHEN TAY

DRUB NYING KOR NAY TEN PA YEE

LA MAY GYU DAY YANG NYING NI.

There is a system in Vajrayana that involves meditation on the body. There is a physical body, a psychic body and there is an emotional body. They are talking particularly about the psychic body. There is a point where they focus completely on the psychic body. By doing so, as a result they can bring about the fourth stage of actual clear light. That was shared by Saraha, Nagarjuna, etc., in the essence of the real Maha Anu Yoga Tantra teachings. They will tell you just that much and they won’t explain anything. Even for us, we should not explain that. Number one, that should not be discussed on the internet, and number two, it should not be talked about in the presence of people who don’t have certain initiations.

The wisdom/emptiness that you talk about in the Sutra part of emptiness and in the Tantra part of emptiness is one. There is no different emptiness. Even the Mahayana emptiness and the Hinayana emptiness are one. There is only one. The reason why it is talked about differently in Tantra, is that Tantra has a way of developing it much better and much more quickly. I can tell you one thing. We’ve talked about meditation from the beginning of the year until now. We’ve talked in great detail about it, remember? Finally, what it achieves is concentrated focus, concentration power.

Now if you look into Vajrayana, the method you use and the efforts you put in are the same, but the duration of our efforts is much, much shorter. That is the Vajrayana quality. Any discussion of it being the ‘quick way,’ however is immaterial, if you haven’t achieved the first part, which is the difficult one. That takes a tremendous amount of time, energy and effort. Still, Vajrayana does have this special [quality].

There is a metaphor I am thinking of; if it is not right, I’m sorry. It’s just a thought. When you get sick, you take medicine. Sometimes you get better with that approach, sometimes you can’t. Surgeons, however, can cut whatever problem you have and remove it. They have the edge over oral medication, injections, etc. Vajrayana does have the edge over the other ways like that; it can drastically cut. It is also dangerous and difficult. There is risk involved. The bottom line is not the practice you do, but the person who is practicing, and what that practice does to the person. It is the mind of the individual person that makes a difference.

The advantage that Vajrayana has over all other practices is that it gives the method of developing joy within the mindstream of the individual. That joy the individual obtains in the mind is the “surgical” thing. That is what gives Vajrayana the edge over all other practices. What you do is the same thing. There is no doorway to liberation other than compassion and wisdom. Shamatha meditation, vipassyana-wisdom, even Mahamudra, when practiced from the Vajrayana angle, have the edge over all others. That is because of the perceiver mind. It’s not the thing you perceive or the practice you do. It is the perceiver. Right? Am I talking right or wrong? When you focus on something, who focuses? Who perceives what? It is the nature of the perceiver that makes a difference. Though it is me, the individual person [who focuses]. It is the mind that becomes of a joy nature that has a tremendous amount of additional power and force.

That is Vajrayana.

Then, there are some methods that are different. [For instance] these words, DOR JAY LU NYEE LA NAY clearly talk about focusing on channels as well as chakras. “Techniques such as piercing its points” is talking about chakras and channels.

The bottom-line advantage that Vajrayana has over non-Vajrayana, or Sutra, is mind. It is the nature of the mind that makes a difference.

Now the actual part we are really going to talk about is number one in this outline, Sutra and Tantra. Tantra is explained with one verse. Then it goes into explaining the Sutra part of Mahamudra. If you are familiar with the Buddhist teachings, there is this Prajna Paramita, or transcendental wisdom. I’m not talking about the T.M. program. But it could be the same thing. One never knows. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s transcendental wisdom could be the same thing.

Audience: it is Transcendental Meditation.

Rimpoche: The transcendental meditation is supposed to be bringing transcendental wisdom, I believe.

What does transcend mean? It means going beyond. It is very much like ‘Gate gate, paragate, parasamgate bodhi swaha.’ That’s exactly what it is. Tayatha, like this. That is supposed to be my subject in Cleveland. On Saturday I have to teach that. ‘Gate gate’ means gone, gone. ‘Go, go beyond and beyond, well beyond and establish enlightenment.’ That’s what they tell you. When you say ‘go’ it means you have to go. But go where? From what? These are the issues. All of this means transcending here, which is where we have dualistic perception. ‘There’ means going beyond that level. It means transcending not samsara, but from the ordinary level to the extraordinary level and from the extraordinary level to the meditative level to No More Learning. That’s what they are talking about.

What brings you to a different level is not compassion, but wisdom. Who gives birth to [each stage of the] five different levels, or what we call five paths? The mother-like birth-giving is wisdom. Therefore, they are also referred to as ‘Mother;’ the mother of all spiritual development, the mother of all enlightened beings, the mother of all extraordinary beings. The teaching of the Buddha that explains this is called ‘the Great Mother,’ yum chenmo. In Sanskrit it is called Prajna Paramita, which translates as transcendental wisdom teachings, or transcendental meditation teachings. That’s what it really is. That particular teaching has two messages; a direct message and an indirect message. The direct message is the wisdom aspects. The indirect message is the compassion aspects of it.

That transcendental mother-like teaching of the Buddha has three different versions. There is one detailed version in twelve volumes. Then there is a shorter one in one volume. The shortest is the Heart Sutra. In each of the three, there may be a big difference between the words, but the message they really carry is the direct and the indirect message. When we talk about Mahamudra, or wisdom we are talking about the direct message of these mother-like teachings.

NGO TEN TONG NYEE GOM TSUL TAY

DEE LAY SHAN PAY TAR PAY LAM

MAY CHAY PAK CHOK LU DRUB SUNG.

You’re bound to have different translations in English, because even the Tibetan is different here. The message, however, doesn’t change.

Whichever of the three versions you may be reading, none will show you any way to liberate the individual other than the direct message of emptiness meditation. That’s what Nagarjuna states.

DIR NEE DAY YEE GONG PA SHING

CHAG GYA CHEN PO TREE POK [TAY].

I must really read it fast here. Here, in accordance with what Nagarjuna said, I am going to give the Mahamudra explanation. I’m not going to give details such as where Nagarjuna said this. That is for “detail” people.

SEM KYEE NGO TREU CHAY PAY TSUL

GYEN DEN LA MAY SUNG SHIN [JU?].

I’m going to introduce to you the mind. The translation here says ‘The way of confronting the face of the mind.’ Well, I don’t know whether it is ‘confronting’ or not. The word here is NGO TREU. It means introducing. Direct introduction. What we are going to do here is introduce you to the mind. How?

GYEU DEN LA MAY SUNG SHIN JU[S?]

Just as I learned from my masters – the translator should be translating that.

Audience: He did. The translation is:

As described in the words of traditional mentors.

Rimpoche: The Gurus become mentors here. That belongs to Thurman. During some period he said that. So Joe Loizzo is following Thurman. GYEU DEN LA MAY SUNG SHIN JU[S]. The purpose of this statement is to introduce you to the actual wisdom itself. First, who perceives this wisdom? It is the mind itself that perceives wisdom. So we have to introduce you to the mind. According to the traditional teachings, one shouldn’t make it up. Why do they have to say it? GYEU DEN LA MAY SUNG SHIN JU. ‘As described in the words of the traditional masters,’ it’s not that the First Panchen Lama didn’t know about it. The fact is some clever people can find some clever explanation. In order to avoid misleading people, according to the traditional teachings, those are the people who have studied that, those are the people who have learned that, those are the people who have developed it; they are not wrong, so we will not go wrong.

GYEU DEN LA MAY LU SHIN JU[S]

LHEN CHIG KYAY JOR GA-U-MA.

There are many ways of doing it. Gampopa, the great Kagyupa master introduced a way of developing called LHEN CHIG KYAY JOR, ‘vessel of innate communion.’ In Tibetan, the word is GA - U, which means traveling altar. You have one [thing] here, and one here, you put them together and it becomes one piece. LHEN CHIG KYAY JOR GA–U–MA. This is what Gampopa has introduced. This translation says,

NGA DEN RO KYUM Yi GAY ZHI

whose five flavors are hooked with four syllables

Now I raise a question here. NGA DEN, meaning "five" is the Drikung pa tradition. The Drikung pa tradition will teach you something called NGA DEN, five. There are five points: LA MA KU SHEE YAY KA DRIN LA…

The first is Guru Yoga. The first and foremost is that your Guru is like a snow mountain. That’s how they teach. If you do not have the sunrays of your devotion to the Guru, the blessings of the liquid water from the melting of the snow will not be there. There will be no running of the stream or river at all. The second point is generating the bodhimind. The third, fourth and fifth have been taken by a thief named forgetting. So that’s it.

The Drikung pa teachings - bottom line - are these five and the Six Yogas of Naropa. The Drikung pa Kagyu tradition is great. Sanpa Je Repa then has the ro nyum system. ro kyum is a Tibetan typing mistake in the text. ["Six spheres of equal taste" acc. to A. Berzin's The Gelug/Kagyu tradition of Mahamudra]

The Drikung pa tradition has the NGA DEN system. RO NYOM is another one. It is the system of the Drukpa Kagyus. Then there is the system of Four Letters. It comes from the great father Padampa Sanggye. Then there’s more. Machik [Lab dron] has given the CHÖ tradition.

The Nyingmapa tradition will tell you about Dzogchen. The Gelupkas will give you U-ma or Madyamaka. Lamrimpa did a funny thing here. In his book he wrote ‘the Nyingmapas will tell you Dzogchen, others tell you U-ma.’ The ‘others’ are the Gelupkas. (Rimpoche laughs.) Why did he say ‘the others’?

In short, as the root text says, "There are a lot of different names they give you, but in absolute, if there’s someone who really knows, a yogi who has had experience, it will come down to one point.:

NYAM MYONG CHEN GYEE NAL JOR PAY

CHAY NA GONG PA CHIG TU BAP[S]

The practitioner with experience

Who examines, arrives at their single intention.

This is not by me. This is the First Panchen Lama. Experienced practitioners when they look, will come to one point.

Now, actually, we’re getting to the point. There are two systems.

DAY NA DEE LA TA TOK NAY

GOM PA TSOL DANG GOM TOK NAY

TA WA TSO WAY LUK NEE LAY

DIR NEE CHEE MAY LUK SHIN YIN

There are two ways. Either you find the viewpoint first and then search for the meditation, or, you find the meditation first and search for the view. Here, we are okay to go with the second system. You know why? Because we have completed the meditation course, so we are ready for searching the view.

Now I’ve moved to the fifth point.

SAM TEN DAY WAY TEG BU LA

Now we come to the actual meditation.

SAM TEN DAY WAY TEG BU LA

LU NAY DUN DANG DEN JAY LA

LUNG RO GU TRUG DAK DU SEL

RIG PA DANG NYIK LEK PAR CHAY

NAM DAK GAY WAY SEM DEN PAY

KYAB DRO SEM KYAY NGON DU TANG

ZHAB LAM LA MAY NAL JOR GOM

SHUK DRAK SOL DEB GYA TSA SOK

JAY NAY LA MA RANG LA TIM

You have to read a couple of them. The first set says: sit on a comfortable cushion. We talked about that before; and what is a good place to meditate, what is not a good place to meditate.

This is about the qualities of meditation: how to sit, the seven stages of Vairochana’s way of sitting. What [should you] do if the mind is not clear? Count the breathing. Getting out, taking in; nine rounds. Three out from right, three in from left, three out from left, three in from right, three out from both, three in from both. That makes nine rounds.

RIG PA DANG NYIK LEK PAR CHAY

Why are you doing this? To clear your mind. Your mind is not being influenced by so many busy daytime activities and crazy nighttime activities. Be free of that and make it clear. Whenever you are influenced by crazy[ness] or busy[ness] and you try to switch to a good or positive [mind], you can’t. A gentle way of bringing the mind to the neutral level first is the nine rounds of breathing meditation. Then bring your mind to the positive level. Then take refuge, generate bodhimind, and do profound Guru Yoga.

This is important. We’re not going to easily find this mind on which we’ll be focusing, the mind that I call the ‘NBB’ state. We’re not going to find that state without profound Guru Yoga practice. Here it continually says, SHUK DRAK SOL DEB GYA TSA SOK. I should look on both sides because sometimes these two don’t tally. It doesn’t tally here.

RIG PA DANG NYIK LEK PAR CHAY…

JAY NAY LA MA RANG LA TIM[S]

Besides profound Guru Yoga, make hundreds of single-pointed requests and finally dissolve your Guru to yourself.

We will read up to here. I explained it, I don’t know whether you get it or not. Maybe I have to do a little more than what I have done. I emphasize Guru Yoga, because that’s where I come from. If you ask, ‘To reach this level, do I have to have Guru Yoga?’ I don’t know. The Guru has been extraordinarily important for me, and to my spiritual practice. Guru is the role model. Guru is representing the Buddha. Guru is the Buddha for me. Also we talked about your inner Guru, in Mahamudra.

The form of the Guru is extremely important; [to develop] profound faith, joy, happiness and to make tremendous requests. Finally I want to merge with the Guru, the Guru wants to come down and merge with me. We don’t want to separate. Finally we become like one person.

A commonly known example that may serve as a metaphor is when you fall in love, newly madly in love, sort of hot—hot madly in love. At that moment, the two people have the mind of becoming one person. It’s almost unbearable to separate identities. They are merging.

Maybe we don’t have that situation, but it is that sort of strong urge. When you have that strong urge, you think toward the Enlightened One, where you will be. That one will merge with you and become one. There is some kind of joy, like that of a long-lost child who has found his/her mother, like the joy of returning home. That happiness and joy goes beyond words. The mind becomes almost intoxicated. Maybe intoxication is the wrong word. It is not physical. That level of joy of the mind is known as the NBB state. NANG WA BEN BUN.

NANG WA BEN BUN NGANG DAY LA

That is your focal point. We will explain it more the Thursday after next. We will go beyond that.

There are two things I forgot. For the last several years we’ve had three or four coordinators who have worked very hard, trying to put things all together, and I would like to thank all of those. All three of you are in the new Sangha Council in different categories. I want to thank those who have done this tremendous, great work. I would like you to get the outlines from Kathleen or Hartmut so that we can work better.

That’s it. Thank you so much.