Archive Result

Transcript Name: 20050503GRNL3P03

Transcriber’s Name: Sally Boyer

Start Date: 07-08-2020

Finish Date: 09-22-2020

To continue where we stopped earlier so we’ve been talking about you know these days people would like to have some clairvoyance and some kind of physical power and all of those are considered important, in the case of Tsongkhapa according to this Panchen Lobsang Palden Yeshe, according to this and says: in general according to the system that Drompa Rinpoche, Geshe Drompa that is Atisha’s disciple, Dromtonpa and Dromtonpa is the founder…Atisha and Dromtonpa are considered the founder of Ganden Kagyu tradition, that is the Gelupa tradition or Ganden Kagyu tradition are also known as Kadampa tradition. Actually from the Atisha Dromtonpa to Tsongkhapa is known as earlier Kadampa and Je Rinpoche below is known as new Kadampa. So anyway in the Kadampa tradition according to Geshe Drompa Rinpoche, the emphasis was all your qualities you really have to hide. So all the qualities you have to hide almost like you know the candle light was put inside flower vase or inside the path so you don’t let everybody to see everything, sort of you no matter whatever the higher development you have but you really have to hide them and you don’t make propaganda, you don’t make publicity, you don’t emphasize because that is not our goal, that is not our purpose, our goal our purpose is to obtaining enlightenment that’s why nothing should be publicized, it should be kept you know sort of hidden, hidden treasure and that is the actually it’s Kadampa’s system, however…okay that much. Especially Tsongkhapa, Je Tsongkhapa is such a great however you know he sort of completely hid as though he know nothing, completely simple just showed none of that type. However there are certain incidences took place a number of times in Tsongkhapa’s life. For example, in those period and a little earlier in that period a lot Tibetan teachers in Tibet is one of the fashion or one of the big rewards what they really looked for is to be the guru of the Chinese ruler, this probably…I don’t know whether Manchu period or whatever it is, whatever the period is they always looked to become a Chinese emperor’s guru, they always do and they sort of look forward since you know since earlier Drongo, Papei, Choje, all these five great Sakya lamas onwards one of them and you know onwards everyone wanted to become if you are good at it everyone wants to become Chinese emperor’s guru so that was some kind of I don’t know what to say,,,it is fancy thing to happen in Tibet and they all looked for and they are almost politic to get that position, they all do and if you read their biography you know sort of thing, you all know. However, Tsongkhapa had no interest for whatsoever to become guru of Chinese emperor, not at all. On the contrary he just does not want to and Chinese government, I am not really sure whether it is really as faithful guru disciple relationship or for political reasons or whatever I think it is the Sino-Indian historians will know but whatever the reason is they always try to get the most popular lamas in Tibet is also brought to China and made Emperor’s guru and offer certain land in Tibet so that they act, they go back and act as you know like great ruler of certain area that is no exception, it is both. All of those earlier Tibetan rulers they all had that, from the Sakya period till the Dalai Lama period, Dalai Lama administration, all of them had that. So one began to wonder whether if it’s really devotion or easy political access, an easy way of ruling you know, and they don’t go have to go and contact those wild, crazy Tibetans and they just sort of grabbed a couple of well known lamas and talked to them and it’s easy way of ruling whatever it is. Anyway, the fashion those days is to become Chinese Emperor’s guru not just Chinese guru, Emperor’s guru. So you know what they do? They make those little Lhasa Apso as a gift, you those little dogs, the gifts they use, and give it to the Chinese rulers. I don’t know these snow lion whether there’s really snow lion or a Lhasa Apso, who knows? I can’t be criticizing the Tibetan culture and history but who really knows you know whether there is something really called snow lion or it is just this Apso, so you know the five qualities, five faces, one here, one here, one here, one there, one there, Lhasa Apso have them perfectly. Pekingnese does not have the fifth one, Jamyang knows so, Lhasa Apso does have big nose so it becomes five you know. Anyway, whatever, so Tsongkhapa is the one who doesn’t want to go. And the Chinese, the ministers really worried that he would deny so what they really plan to do is they really keep it completely secret they are coming, completely very few people know and they came very quietly close to Sera Monastery and Tsongkhapa was staying at Sera at that time. So they came other side of the mountain up there and they were planning on just going to march straight away to Sera Monastery before they even go to Lhasa or whatever they just come up and going to march in that and compelled Tsongkhapa to accept the invitation. So the day before they arrived Tsonghkhapa suddenly decided and with a few people, didn’t tell anybody else, two or three people he said, ”Would you accompany me?” So he went somewhere else. So when the Chinese march in the monastery in the place and Tsongkhapa was not there and not only there’s no teaching there’s a teaching going on but instead of Tsongkhapa somebody else was teaching there. So this is one of those things he couldn’t hide, so exactly he knew they are going to be there. And it’s not like today, today we know people coming in there and that when they keep secret they keep secret then next door nobody knows. So that is how one time it happened. And thus Tsongkhapa able to talk to deal with the Chinese emissary that time. It’s not that he is not accepting the order from the Emperor of China but he will not be able to go and if that’s okay he will be willing to meet with their representatives and officials and if that’s not okay then not going to meet them. So that’s what he made very clear he said, “I respect the order and honor from the Emperor but no way I can go if that’s okay you can come and see me otherwise come and see me, I’m just a poor monk, have nothing to lose.” That’s how he made it and finally Chinese agreed and so Tsongkhapa sent one representative and that is his disciple Jamchen Choje who founded, the founder of Sera Monastery, the second largest monastery. Jamchen Choje was sent to represent Tsongkhapa. And since I’m about this and might as well talk now. Anyway, you do that first. So when Jamchen Choje went to China I think he stayed about a year or something and went to China and whatever the Chinese Emperor wanted him to do he did all this on behalf of Tsongkhapa. And so then the Chinese gave Jamchen Choje a big title and all those and it is the statement what I’m going to say here is I want you people to know very clearly this is nothing insult or anything for anybody or it is not sectarian talk or anything. So what happened is when I was in Delhi while I published a number of books, reprinted a number of books and out of that I think the first I started the series called Ganden Sonam Nyingenbur? series and the first ten volumes are the collected works of Tokang Losang Trijang Nyingma and it is 1700, 1600 something and to the early 1700, I don’t remember the date early, so collected works of Tokang Losang Trijang Nyingma I published it and the second volume of that is the theoretical differences between the Buddhist schools earlier in India and later in Tibet. So in other words, they tell you what is the two lower schools, two Hinayana schools, their viewpoints, two Mahayana schools like the Mind Only School. Is this a problem? Okay. Maybe I’m going back too far. Thank you. Sorry, I remember that. The Mind Only School as well as the Middle Path School and that also two different viewpoints of Bhaviveka School as well as Buddhapalita School. So these are the early Indian viewpoints. And later in Tibet the Sakyas, the Kagyus, the Nyingmas, the Gelupas so all these are in the second volume. Okay. So in that they have mentioned you know the Karmapas have the black hats, in the Karmapa tradition also has the red hat, black hat and what else? I think red and black too. So black overpower the red in history, you know red could never recognize their reincarnation whatever it is and all these and then this last one, the Shama Rinpoche who is red, shama means red hat happened to be nephew of sixteenth Karmapa, he recognized reincarnation and all this sort of problem there and Tokang wrote in his book it says the black hat are the Karmapa hat, it is the title given by the Chinese emperor and it is not as said like by a hundred thousand dakinis hand knitted or something. So Tokang made a joke and very polite joke actually. He says the attendents of this Karmapa are so diplomatic and so well versed so they could find beautiful words of a hundred thousand dakinis hand knit but he said actually it is the Chinese emperor’s title giving, and then he said they gave the same hat and the same title to Jamchen Choje too in that book. So I never knew, I mean people talk about itI heard, I just read that book in Delhi and still wondering what it is and this year just this year 2005 and there’s an exhibition coming, Chinese Tibetan government has sent an exhibition to America and it is invited by a couple of universities in California and I heard it is great but I was thinking of going seeing thinking of going to see it, I never saw it, never went there. So then this exhibition came to New York and it’s exhibiting now in the Rubin Museum and I’ve been able to go there and see it the exhibition, I saw the exhibition and in that exhibition there are two thangkas of Jamchen Choje and it is sort of brocade you know the brocade in those days there are no factories, there were factories but no machines it is made knitted, it is hand knitted in that period and when the Chinese gave the title you know they had drawing and that drawing was knitted into the brocade and the two thangkas of Jamchen Choje wearing that black hat and sitting on the throne and holding the bell and vajra like this and one other one is I don’t know how the hand implement, did you see it? You didn’t see it, okay, so anyway and there are two different ones made by the Chinese emperor at that time giving him the title, you know the title called Sasum Dura Lama it is the leader guru over the earth, under the earth, in the space you know Sasum Dura Lama, the highest leader of all these over and under and space of you know all these Jamchen Choje Sakya Yeshe something something. It is printed in the Chinese I mean knitted with Chinese script, the Mongol, the Manchu script, and the Tibetan script and also printed and came to exhibition in New York. So I said, ”Oh my God, that’s what Tokang was saying, you know.” And Tokang wrote and saying that base and it’s not so probably, who knows. I’m not going to say Karmapa’s hat is not knitted by hundred thousand dakinis hair and that may be true you know. History is history people talk a lot of things this is not so many years, it is not really, few hundred years so it is amazing and so Tsongkhapa did not accept those titles, did not do anything and also Jamchen Chojey was sent to China to represent Tsongkhapa and when he came back and they did not put Jamchen Choje on throne with hat and he sort of locked up his hat and present it to Tsongkhapa and Tsongkhapa told him to keep it and so he sits where he normally sitting and did not do all that and so that is another interesting thing with Tsongkhapa. And personally I feel one more thing, it is so great that I mean there are so many incarnate lamas who are whose incarnation lineage has Tsongkhapa in it but however there is no Tsongkhapa reincarnation, there is no Tsongkhapa Rinpoche, so I think which is great, it’s a wonderful thing I really thought it’s really great otherwise you know it is big enough trouble with Panchen Lama reincarnation and all this reincarnation two, three, four, five or whatever and so it is so great that there’s nobody called Tsongkhapa reincarnation, I think it is fantastic, my personal feeling is and not only that, okay that’s probably enough. And then there’s one time when Tsongkhapa was giving teaching in Sera area, and when he was giving teaching and then the mountain above that has a huge rock started falling down and naturally everybody would be so scared because everybody was going to be smashed, you know if you go to Tibet mountains are like this and then you have a little foothill down there and Gelupa people sitting there giving teaching suddenly the rocks coming down so what Tsongkhapa did is he just gives a little hand like this, threatening mudra and the rock stopped there and that is where everybody had seen it once. He doesn’t show but when it really comes he had all these you know magical powers just showed little threatening mudra and everything stopped. And also one time when he’s teaching and suddenly tremendous air you know sort of storm type, huge storm that you know knocking everything down came up, again he showed another threaten mudra and storm sort of died down and gone away. And to make things are short and to explain there is a praise of Tsongkhapa or they called it Secret Biography written by Jamyang Choje Tashi Paldenpa, the founder of Drepung Monastery and this Secret Biography will tell you everything, it has all these secret things, Secret Biographical praise written by Jamyang Choje, he was also Tsongkhapa’s disciple at that time. So there are a lot of those magical powers that Tsongkhapa had although he’d been hiding everything, not showing anything but certain incidents he has to show and all of those and if you read that it will tell you everything. To mention a few things. And before this Drepung, Sera and Ganden as three great monasteries, before that three monasteries also known as the great monasteries, these are the Gadong, Sangphu and Jurburum, these are the three monasteries, it’s known as Gajusangsang so Gadong Jerum and Sangphu so three monasteries in Tibet until 1400s these are the largest and most well known monasteries in Central Tibet before Drepung, Sera and Ganden so later they took over, the old monasteries become small and the new ones become big. While he was in one of those monasteries called Sangphu while he was in Sangphu and he had this perfect vision of Sarasvati. And while he was in the Gadong Monastery the Manjushri and when he was in Chulung Monastery the thirty–five purifying Buddhas, Medicine Buddha, Amitayus, Maitreya Buddha, had a vision there. And when he was in another small monastery called Gyasog Monastery and where he had the vision of Manjushri and Manjushri was surrounded with Saraha etc., mahasiddhis and six ornaments and two excellences of early Indian pundits and sage sort of sitting together with Manjushri, he had that vision. Six ornaments and two excellences are sort of outstanding example of early Indian sage and scholars. The six excellences include Nagarjuna, Asanga, Dignaga, Dharmakirti, Vasubandhu, Aryadeva. Two excellences are the Gunaprabha and Shakyaprabha, so one is the Vinaya expert and the other is wisdom expert, anyway no metaphysical expert. So actually when you look at those names the prajnaparamita teaching from the Maitreya Buddha goes to the Asanga and the wisdom teachings from Manjushri to Nagarjuna and Aryadeva and so forth. And logical teachings was from Manjushri to Dharmachala Trijang Lambuni, Dharmakirti and before the Dharmakirti it’s….I don’t remember the name in Sanskrit but Chowa in Tibetan, Dignaga, I think so. Because I don’t know Sanskrit so sometimes I’m confused, Bhaviveka and Dignaga, I’m confused all the time, okay this is Dignaga, anyway so this and then you know Tsongkhapa really obtained the Yamantaka initiation from Yamantaka himself. Although there’s a lineage before Tsongkhapa but Tsongkhapa had received initiation from Yamantaka himself. And also while he was traveling in Southern Tibet walking through the mountains where it was known to be Heruka’s Valley a place called Tsari where he was traveling he received initiation, Heruka body mandala initiation from Heruka himself. And also the same place in Tsari where he saw Maitreya Buddha as big as the whole mountain he saw as Maitreya Buddha. Not only that Maitreya Buddha put his hand on Tsongkhapa’s head and gave him a lot of prophecies and blessed and all that. Another place called Nyal and the way he saw Kalachakra did not give initiation, doesn’t say it here. And also in the monastery called Reting where this is Drom Rinpoche’s monastery, it is where the Kadampa’s tradition really started and in that Tsongkhapa had vision from Buddha to his teacher called Lhodrak Drupchen after that whole lineage of Lamrim totally all living talking to him in live, it happened in Reting Monastery. And then finally, all the lineages all dissolved to Atisha and Atisha put his right hand on Tsongkhapa’s head and dissolved to Tsongkhapa and that’s what he had seen in Reting Monastery. While he was building Ganden Monastery he saw Buddha as huge as the mountain there and so it’s like completely yellow golden living Buddha behind the Ganden whole mountain he saw as Buddha and finally Buddha dissolved to him, that was his vision. Then two, three years before Tsongkhapa past away he started this Monlam Festival, the prayer festival according to the Buddha’s life story, prayer festival. During that period, Tsongkhapa saw all these different buddhas and everybody, put up tents in the space above Lhasa they looked like they all came some kind of festival and each one of them put their different tents and sitting in their own tents and all of those and there were a lot of those type of things. So in this particular book here Panchen Palden Yeshe had also said he had a constant vision with Tara, Ushinisha, White Umbrella, Vasijama and all these and plus Mahakala and Dharma King, Vaisravana and all of those constantly all the time. Allthough it didn’t mention here but we know he had constant vision of Manjushri because first Manjushri was…you know between Tsongkhapa and Manjushri it was the Lama Umapa, Umapa who had been translating and later Tsongkhapa had direct vision of Manjushri and giving teachings and that’s where the Three Principles is coming from and though it was not mentioned here but we know that. So another thing not here and I do remember in the Jamyang Choje Sarayamda (quote in Tibetan) so one day Tsongkhapa had vision that Nagarjuna and five of his disciples famous ones sitting up there and discussing the essence of emptiness and wisdom and he had been listening to their discussions for a long time, they’d been talking among themselves and Tsongkhapa just watching and listening and suddenly the Buddhapalita turned around and looked back to Tsongkhapa who’s watching and listening and then he took out his book called Buddhapalita too, commentary called Buddhapalita so he blessed Tsongkhapa with that Buddhapalita text and prayed and said you will be helpful to millions of people in future and then this guy you know Buddhapalita went back to his own conversation with them and that’s what Tsongkhapa had the vision. And the next day somebody came to see Tsongkhapa and presented him the Buddhapalita book Buddhapalita commentary and while he was reading the commentary, “Though” he said, “I read it thirty five times before” Tsongkapa said but he had better understanding that day. And that was considered when Tsongkhapa’s real encounter with the emptiness on that day. So in that Jamyang Choje Secret Biography says (Tibetan quote): so five of them talking to each other and then Buddhapalita turned and talked to Tsongkhapa a little bit and went back to his usual conversation there and next day the person came and gave the text. Again he read it and that is considered when Tsongkhapa directly encountered the emptiness at that time. So what we mentioned here is all in this book, whatever is mentioned here is very little compared with the actual Secret Biography Praise written by the founder of Drepung Monastery. So that should be enough for the qualities of the teacher otherwise we’d be talking all about Tsongkhapa’s biography but there are much more actually a lot more but this is just a few of them whichever this Commentary mentions plus whatever I remember few of them we have just mentioned. Now to go back to this main point and that is first is praise and that is homage to the great masters. I go according to this Commentary, according to this Commentary and they said why Tsongkhapa praise, I mean who is a great master he is referenced to and that is Manjushri along with Lama Umapa and Shonu Rendawa etc., and his gurus and particularly Manjushri. Why he praise this? Because it clears the obstacles of writing a perfect point as well as to you presenting yourself that you are great beings, you behave like great beings. Okay, now the question says the word what we use here for guru is they used jejun. Tsongkhapa really referred to the Tibetans everywhere they really refer as Je Rinpoche or Je Tsongkhapa rather than Lama Tsongkhapa. There’s a reason why Je, there’s a reason why Lama too but in the India language expression of Lama Tsongkhapa is introduced by Lama Yeshe. My good friend late Lama Yeshe introduced that because those of you who know Lama Yeshe you know how he had extraordinary though his English is very limited, extremely limited however he had an extraordinary way of communicating, fantastic way of….those of you who know him you know, extraordinary way, very little vocabulary in English and however he had extraordinary way of communicating tremendously, so he used the word Lama Tsongkhapa because he’s emphasizing Lama Yeshe was emphasizing vinaya rule because it was just after sixties towards end of the sixties, you know I didn’t say that before at all but the idea was in sixties the wild and crazy period. Trungpa Rinpoche came in America you know all these wild things, big name and all that area and all those and it was just period before the Beatles and it was sort of it is too much pendulum went toward right side, so there was swing very strong to the left and it was now the time the pendulum was swinging backwards, so in that period they emphasized to the you know those of you know Lama Yeshe you and he emphasized very much morality and vinaya and monks and nuns, all of those so he used the word Lama Tsongkhapa tried to indicate pure monk. But before that it was Je Tsongkhapa, nobody said Lama Tsongkhapa, everybody said Je Rinpoche or Je Tsongkhapa. The reasons for why Je and because as I told you earlier Je the word Je means leader or principal so when Tsongkhapa referred his guru as Je he was saying that his guru Manjushri is like that of the most important than the jewel of all the teachers so that means Je or principal or leader or….so je and jun two words right? So Je stands for the leader who leads every practitioner from the worlds of ignorance, hatred and obsessions and it is like a world leader or like a political leader or it is a spiritual leader who leads spiritual practitioners away from the world of negative emotions and that’s why Je and likewise Jun emphasizes morality aspects of your behavior, your daily activities away from the unacceptable behaviors but it is perfect morality, so je jun that is the reason why he used the word je jun so that is the reason why people also follow Tsongkapa as Je Tsongkhapa. And sometimes earlier Tibetologists, Buddhalogists translate Je as leader then as lord and then they called it Lord Buddha, Lord Tsongkhapa, lord this lord that if you see early English translations by the snobbish British people write Lord Tsongkhapa and lord this and lord that and we are the commoners, so anyway. And then Je jun Lama, the Lama is also it is not the way the Western people use now slightly different. For a long time the Western people thought those who are, you know it’s very funny when you look at they said those who are wearing the yellow robes referring the Buddhist monks from Southeast Asia and they call them monks and those who are wearing red robes they called them lama so because they are Tibetan. So that’s what they thought and it is Western interpretation and which was then accepted but the Tibetans had no idea, whatever they called they accepted that and that explanation of Lama Tsongkhapa, Lama Yeshe, Lama Sopa business came out of that. And as I said earlier the Lama Yeshe emphasized so much on the vinaya rule which is correct for the Tsongkhapa’s special thing and even today among the Western Buddhist groups especially Tibetan groups FPMT has the largest monks and nuns so I think it is very important point that Lama Yeshe raised and it is contiunuing, I think it’s great. And here when you talk about lama this particular lama point that word Lama referring here is not necessarily referring to that one but this one is referring to Tsongkhapa and his gurus particularly Manjushri, the Manjushri who shared these three principle aspects of Tsongkhapa, who taught Tsongkhapa, shared a little too much. You know sometimes you can share, share, share that is too so it is really Manjushri who taught Tsongkhapa the three principle aspects of it. So Lama Manjushri and earlier we had Lama Umapa and Jejun Rendawa etc., there are so many gurus of Tsongkhapa he’s referring to, all of them and specifically three of these Rendawa, Umapa and Manjushri. And the word guru really means it is heavy, quality as sort of you know when you are buying a car and when the car has everything in that, radio, navigator and all other machines everything and the expression what we use is loaded, the car is loaded you know, right? So it means it’s heavy, it is heavy loaded. Loaded in the sense has all the qualities you wanted to have, it’s not just bare bones, it’s loaded so we do indicate you have heating and cooling, you do indicate also you know all these excess brakes and so forth and you know and the radio and telephones and you know all these and this navigation system, GPS global, all of them and all of them are there so that’s why it’s called loaded so that is exactly what guru means loaded. Not loaded with big flag but loaded with qualities, qualities that absolutely, not only absolutely necessary but also whatever needed is all there, that’s what it is, that’s the reason why loaded, it’s not just bare bones. Second point, I said earlier by praising to the gurus and it also clears obstacles and completes his goal of writing. So why it clears obstacles? Simple. Obstacles are difficulties can come out of negativities, negative karma, by praising guru and lama is considered one of the most important way of collecting merits, there are zillions of reasons I can call zillions of things and all traditional teachings and everywhere it is very clear one of the best ways to accumulate merits is to develop the perfect guru yoga. It is really whether you call it guru yoga or guru devotional practice whatever you call it and that is one of the most important things, very root of spiritual development within individual is guru devotional practice. It was true in the past, it is true today as we can very well see it those people who have great guru devotional practices have better way of developing making it through spiritual practice as well as making both material and spiritual life and those who have difficulties they have difficulties so we can very well see it and also the Buddha said in one of the sutras (in Tibetan), by accumulating merits it also lifts up your good karma and to have a successful in life and it clears your obstacle and difficulties and by clearing, by connecting, by building a perfect merit and connecting in good karma it also gives you (Tibetan) so those people whatever their wishes may be it fulfills their wishes and that is the reason why, traditional teachings will say by praising it fulfills, it helps to clear obstacles and fulfill your goals and that’s the reason why in the traditional books you’ll find first praise whether it’s praise to guru or Buddha or compassion or wisdom or something or another so that is the reasons why. And today we don’t write that. Whenever we have to write book the first sentence should not be praising anybody, first sentence has to be some catchy word you know, you have to catch something you know otherwise the editors will have everything down so they would cut into page across you know with a little red ink, Amy will be busy with one red ink you know another red ink in page after page will write down or so but that is the traditional way that is the reason why. By having connected with the positive merits the wishes of the human being will be fulfilled and that is the reason why. And then you raise thought you know definitely alright if that’s the case you can do it by your heart, you do it by yourself quietly, why do you have to say it at the beginning, you can do it you know to clear obstacles, to reach your merits and all of them why don’t you do it by heart, why you state? But you don’t have to state, you can straight away start with instead of saying homage to the great masters, you could straight away say in the heart of Buddha’s teaching why you have to say it here? Comments too. Simple reason, Tsongkhapa also gives us a message, the message is those of us who follow the teachings of Buddha and those of us who follow the teaching of Tsongkhapa and he tells us the root of all positive developments is totally dependent on the guru devotional, guru devotional is nothing than that of guru relationship and so in order to clear those to us, to give that message he not only prayed quietly in the silence practice but in the words he comes out and make a big statement and before even he writes a single word here and that is that reason. In this level, in Lamrim or Odyssey to Freedom you have all complete guru devotional practices based on the questions like really is guru necessary? Why? Why not? If so, what should be the relationship? What is the advantage? What are the disadvantages? What is the advantage of having a perfect relation? What is the disadvantage of not having a perfect relation? All of those and especially the major emphasis to see guru as Buddha, like Buddha, equal to Buddha and inseparable that of Buddha. All of those points plus why you need to see guru as Buddha or equal to Buddha or like Buddha and how can I do this, the reasons why I can do this and what benefits and what the conclusions is. So all of them are in very detail in the various Lamrims and particularly Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chemo which is now available in English and and our own Odyssey to Freedom. Pabongka’s Liberation in Palms of Your Hand, Pabongka’s Liberation in Liberation (laughs) and all other Lamrims and Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s and all of them will boil down to one point and these are the point that I have said earlier so this is actually at beginning of practice whether it is Buddhist or all traditions, Southeast Asian tradition or Chinese tradition or that of Japanese and Tibetans and Hindus and everywhere even to a certain extent the Judeo-Christian tradition. Recently passing of the Pope and enthronement of the new Pope the German Pope when you say German Pope there’s a message behind that I don’t know why they want Americans to be Pope, anyway so may be God chose to be whatever it is, so all of them indicates you know sort of you know when the Pope passed away you have those funnels going on you have the rituals saying that and explanations the expert saying that, the experts call, the so called experts explain who was picked out and why and all of them really lead down to nothing more than God has chosen representative our God on earth . So that is really truly another way of explaining and think in there you cannot compare with the guru devotional practice with the Pope status however you know this very tradition all share some kind of similarity very much in that. So it’s not only the Tibetan Buddhism or Buddhism alone but all the spiritual paths somehow look like sharing and that. So it indicates something that is…the difference between the Tibetan Buddhism that I know and the difference between the Catholic tradition is the Catholics have chosen one person to be the Pope of whoever you like it or not, accept or not accept, there are no two Popes unless you make a new one, you could but it’s not. But the Tibetan tradition is the representative of the enlightened is appointed with the credentials to me so everybody chooses one so there’s been zillions of them and that is the difference but otherwise it’s not a question of one person to be or it is whether it is emphasized for a person, for general public or a person for me and that is the difference. Okay that’s fine but what I’m talking about what I saw in Rome what’s happening so that is one Pope for everybody and here it is different, one guru for me and which I choose to be, so that is the difference I saw but otherwise the same principle similarity between the Eastern tradition and Western traditions and all of them. It is very similar to the ten non virtues and Ten Commandments which I always make a joke the Buddha telephoned Jesus saying, ”Hey let us do this, you make one point, okay I make another one” so they came to the ten you know but it is very similar to this it might not be just coincident. You know it’s funny you know I’m just remembering my statement earlier, I said you know may be the lion, the Tibetan big lions and the Chinese dragons and all those mythological figures are I don’t know if it’s really true not you know but I said Apso may be representing the lion. You know when I’m just sitting here remembering you know so we talked about that big throne lifted by lions and blah blah blah and if it becomes dog it won’t work (laughs) isn’t that funny so contradicting myself here I just sort of couldn’t help when you were translating here I just thought that and laughing myself you know, anybody can say easily, “Oh yeah it’s called lion throne” it’s a dog throne”, anyway so and that’s my thoughts. Then comes (Tibetan quote) heart of Buddha’s teaching, path praised by Buddha, bodhisattvas, great way to liberation these I will explain as best I can. So first, heart of Buddha’s teaching. The Buddha’s teaching, heart means essence, now we are using too much essence today, we look like Chinese medicine, they call it Chicken Essence, this essence and that essence. The real the bottom line message or teaching of the Buddha is for liberation of all sentient beings equal liberation equal to all sentient beings and in order to liberate actually who liberates whom is not that Buddha comes out, all the masters, all the teachers come out and liberate us just like we look we are doing the commemorating the WWII liberation Day these days you know. The hotel where I’m staying there are a lot of Canadians with the Canadian flags on it so I’m saying, “What’s happening?” and they said, “Oh it’s the Liberation Day anniversary “ or something so you see the allies come and liberate and the whole Europe from the Germans, I’m joking (laughs) from the Nazis you know and I don’t think that way. Here it is nobody else liberates anybody else except ourselves. I must liberate myself, so then you must liberate yourself and all of us the who liberate who is I liberate me and that’s how it works. And When I liberate myself, how is the question, just simply I declare myself liberated that alone may not work but if I declare myself liberated I must have a base on which I can claim that I’m liberated. The basis should be actually basis of liberated is love, compassion and love compassion as one aspect and wisdom is another aspect. Love, compassion, wisdom is on that basis I declare myself as liberated. So the essence of the Buddha’s message, the heart of Buddha’s message is love, heart of the Buddha’s message is the compassion, heart of the Buddha’s message is wisdom. So that’s why the first verse. The second verse should say path praised by the bodhisattvas. What does bodhisattva would praise path? Path that liberates individuals and that was praised by the bodhisattvas and that also love, compassion, wisdom. The third verse; the gateway to liberation, liberation is total enlightenment. What leads to total enlightenment? Love, compassion, wisdom and that I the Tsongkhapa Losang Drakpa will explain as best I can. Okay, I’m going to stop here and that just one of the first verse and I’d like to have meditation done on that and that will be first basically very simple meditation and that will be every time whenever you do any Buddhist practice, any Tibetan Buddhist practice it always begin with the refuge, generating bodhimind, the four immeasureables and all of those and that in our usual practice you have that and what’s happening is when you say refuge separate, immeasureables separate, in between sometimes we forget the generating the bodhimind so that’s why the words I take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha until I become fully enlightened, by practicing generosity etc., may I obtain…that will have the development bodhimind, otherwise the refuge and then four immeasureaables is very good and very emphasized and detail but somehow will lose if we lose the bodhimind though we don’t say it often though we think about it and that’s great so that’s that. That’s what they have so you should follow that. Now the first is what you are meditating and wherever you are sitting in the space before you in the open space the lion throne, not the dog throne, the lion throne, let it be the mythological lion okay? Lion throne, a beautiful, wonderful lion throne which has a moon and the lotus cushion, above that your root master inseparable that of Manjushri, you can have a white Manjushri, you can have all these but it’s recommended that here is the orange Manjushri, one face, two hands,and the right hand holding the sword and the left hand holding the lotus and prajnaparamita text like every day Manjushri, youthful, all qualities, everything with a lot of jewel ornaments and dress and sitting in the rainbow colored tent, tent means a circle here, rainbow color tent, sitting and on the crown letter OM, throat letter AH, at the heart level letter HUNG, white, red and blue in color, light radiates from the heart invites all the lineage and actual root masters and lineage masters, yidams, buddhas, bodhisattvas all of those object of refuge dissolved to the Lama Manjushri and that becomes the collection of all refuges. Okay,so then in their presence, in the presence of that object refuge we make seven limb practice that is seven limb and then finally you make request the request goes, the collection of all refuge, great master I request you I pray to you, bless my mind will develop very special wonderful, virtuous mind, my mind goes toward Dharma , my Dharma will be perfectly complete and I may have no obstacles of outer, inner and secret obstacles and especially I may develop a perfect renunciation, free of obsession to samsaric joy, I may have a perfect bodhimind, free of self-cherishing, I may develop perfect wisdom free of ego grasping. So that’s what you pray and light comes from the crown, throat, heart level of guru Manjushri, obtain body, speech and mind blessings. The precious root guru take your lotus and moon seat on my crown, that verse you say and Lama come to your crown and dissolves to you and your body, mind and speech and that of Lama Manjushri’s body, mind and speech become inseparable. And that will be the meditation for the cause of toward what we covered today. That tells us when you say the prayers you should also say the Buddha’s mantra as well as Manjushri’s mantra too so I guess that’s it and if I start it over (?), my apology.