Archive Result

Transcript name: 20050504GRNL3P04

Transcriber name: Sally Boyer

Start date: 12-21-2020

Finish date: 12-31-2020

Well, good morning everybody. Today we will continue where we stopped yesterday actually if you look in the three principles aspect of the text we just covered one or two words but however if you look carefully back in the lamrim level we almost covered almost everything of the guru devotional practices and finally little brief meditation it was introduced yesterday. The meditating in lama in the form of Manjushri or Manjushri in the form of lama and lama your own root master, lama Tsongkhapa and lama Manjushri inseparable looking is one of those most important points in the Ganden Kagyu tradition so that’s why without making much noise we briefly introduced that yesterday and that can be used as basis of the guru yoga practice by individuals. That doesn’t mean you can substitute your six session yoga or something like that but that’s what it is. So also and the commitments out of the seven outlines, the commitment to explain the verses also over. Today we are on the verse, I think it’s the third point isn’t it? I think should be the third, right? (reading in Tibetan) So the third point is actually drawing the attention of those who are fit to be like Tsongkhapa’s drawing the attention of Tsawa Pabonga Ngawa Chawa to whom he wrote those and this verse again talks about three principle aspects again. The first, not addicted to the samsara’s delights. It is interesting and there’s a huge difference between the samsaric world and the spiritual world and that’s always a problem. The problem becomes both sides are too rigid sometimes, the samsaric worlds are too rigid, the rigidity or rigidness comes out of our own desire and sometimes the spiritual aspect is also too rigid and it becomes quite a difficulty for the individuals to be able to take advantage of it. Both of these rigidities come out of our desire, the spiritual desire by the spiritual masters and leaders and to be able to make to the individual perfect and our desire, our delights to the samsaric spots and I think that is one of our biggest problems that we face today. Am I talking too long? Very practical way and we have very strong addiction to certain aspects of our life and I don’t know, for example our own attachment, I should say attachment to the samsaric goodies and we just don’t want to give up. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be samsaric goodies but sort of normal habitual way of functioning, I mean just sometimes you can’t give up. We have that rigidity and on the other hand, the spiritual side it also has too extreme thing and cut this, cut that, you know sort of everything is just extremely, I mean for example Buddhist monks and nuns are supposed to living on begging food and no extra dress, no extra clothes and as long as you can cover your body by yourself that’s good enough and you know as long as you can put your head or body under a shelter, protection from the weather and that is good enough and these are on both sides are too strong, very rigid. And those things become very difficult for people like us, especially those of us who are so used to it, the luxury life of Western civilization and it’s very difficult to give up the addictions. So when the first words here say not addicted to samsaric delights and when you really look at it that way it’s difficult but however we cannot say it’s difficult and leave it there and that is somehow it’s not right and that is our job to make it possible, to make it at least adaptable and so anyway that particular word here, not addicted to the samsara delights are probably talking about the first principle because the first principle is the principle that drives against our addiction may be it will come a little later, may be it’s good enough to be today for this particular part. Well this is what Je Tsongkhapa talking to Tsawa Pabonga Ngawa Chawa and we have no doubt Tsawa Pabonga Ngawa Chawa had no addiction to the samsara delights but however when this is talking to us and how can we make ourselves to be qualified to be able to learn and practice ourselves and also share the path with others. So they are like additional steps here, point one: learning, point two: practicing and point three: even leading the people on this path because all the Jewel Heart organization or almost all the dharma centers whether it is Maitreya or Jewel Heart or wherever or whatever it is and or whatever what happens is a number of you who learned it who practice it and who then began to teach others because that’s why it is sort of three steps here involved and so and the question rises how do we make this particular verse applicable to us. Our addictions are no doubt very strong, very strong, doesn’t have to be something fantastic, it can be very strong you know just anything. I do remember, I won’t name it a certain individual who used to wear same old jacket for seven or eight, nine years, it is addiction, that’s just a simple little addiction and there’s much more than that, we all have it. So how do we going to be qualified to be here at least we can say we have desire to give up addicted. We can simply say that much and why do have desire to give up addiction because we want to be happy ourselves. Actually if we look at it carefully where does all our happiness go away? It goes away because of the addiction honestly because of certain addictions, whatever it may be we can very clearly see with some people for example the alcoholic people, drug people, people addicted to drugs, alcohol we se them extremely clearly in our eyes they don’t have happiness because they are just addicted to alcohol or drugs. So we can very well see that part of it because that is a group of people in the society which we do not associate ourselves a part of it even though we may be we don’t want to associate and we somehow look at them as although we all deny, we look at them as subject of pitiness or something or very good subject of compassion, that’s misuse of the people but we do that. That’s why we can see clearly they’re losing their joy, happiness, freedom, all of them because of the addiction and similarly and each and every one of us have addiction, may not be drug, may not be alcohol, may be something else who knows what, you never know who’s addicted to what, no idea, it’s only known to the individual provided if you don’t deny. Some people are completely addicted to coffee, you know there’s a lot of those, or sex or all kinds of things so when we begin to think carefully while looking at the alcoholics and looking at the drug addicts there are other people like me who will be or if not already yet, I’m sure it is, addicted to prescription drugs if you don’t have it you’ll have all kinds of problems and that also an addiction or you may be like to call it dependent, that is sort of polite of saying it the reality is the body is addicted. And then you know certain way of thinking, I mean everybody is addicted to something or another there is no white crow here. However thanks to those people the alcoholics and the drug addicts so we now know addiction is not right it loses, loses the individual’s freedom, an individual’s choice and make the individual completely dependent and reduces people to the level you can do nothing, you can think nothing, do nothing almost to that. And then of course mental addiction we have, we have addictions to hatred so much so that if you don’t have hatred sometimes we even say the person has no bones or balls. And so much of obsession, all these are addictions that we have mental, physical, emotional addictions. So not addicted to the samsaric delights. And these addictions are extremely hard to give up, extremely hard to give up, you need all kinds of help, help that comes peacefully, acceptable or sometimes have to come in slightly semi wrathful difficult to accept so whatever may be sort of whatever it is and that help is what we need. And as a matter of fact the help is already around, it is not like during the elections, the politician say help is on the way, it’s not. Help is around us, help is already there but we are unable to pick it. This addiction of samsara is so deep and it’s extremely difficult for us even to comprehend. For example let’s say we can have very good attachment and addicted to that particular attachment of good future life for example, you know can be any one of those so the problem here is as long as it is within the samsara then it is nature of suffering no matter how wonderful it looks, how attractive it might be but in reality it always ends in disaster, always. Whether this life or future lives and when you clamp up in the higher level that ends with the falling on the ground. And when you build up everything, save and build up everything, that ends with exhaustion and no longer useful. And everything we build up, investment to a company, spouses, children, whatever and all end with separation. So in short, what Buddha really telling us is as long as we have this samsaric thing and then we are bound to be in this particular problem, we can never be able to separate and that’s why it is important for us truly realize what is the true reality and try to help ourselves perhaps this is the most important way one can help oneself . But on the other hand, there is tremendous contradiction in this, in our common society level, our normal understanding, our common, there is tremendous contradiction on this and that’s why I begin to talk to you it is rigidity, the rigidity of you know is there. Somehow I believe it is art of practitioners to be able to balance, not only a balance but to get the best of both otherwise it could wipe out a lot of opportunities for us, it is extremely simple, easy to wipe out because our addictions are too strong, it is very easy, very simple it takes a second, just a second. So I believe this is what it is and as I said we make ourselves qualified to be this because we saw the addicted people have the problem so I don’t want to be addicted. Addiction is addiction no matter whether it is coffee, drugs or whatever so it is addiction so I don’t want to be addicted. So because ultimately the faults and suffering and pains are coming out of addiction, nothing more nothing less, it is simply the addictions that really makes it, so not only a spiritual practitioner but to be a good human being, to be a respectable great one we have to be free of addictions so we say we are in that. While saying we are not addicted is not enough we have to fulfill what we say, we have to mean what we say. It has to be true in our life, when it becomes true in our life and then it becomes mission of our life to free ourselves from the addictions, it’s not simply going to be easy to get rid of it because we are addicted for so long, so many countless lives, and overnight you just cannot get out as you know when you are addicted to anything to get rid of it is not easy at all. How many difficulties withdraw symptoms, sicknesses, this and that, all kinds of time, energy, support system all of them you know it takes and this is what we are talking about really the lives of addictions so it definitely become mission of our life. So fulfilling mission of our precious life because what happen is this addiction really destroys the precious life and make the individual incapacitated, to be able to do nothing, I mean you know it clearly, it makes you frozen state and you know that’s exactly what addictions do when you look at alcohol, drug addicted people and it’s exactly the same way it does to ourselves when we are addicted certain mental, emotional, physical addiction. So it’s a life long job it is a mission, really a mission that of precious life because you have to make best use of the precious life will come a little later precious level but precious life if you just waste it there’s no difference between this alcohol, drug addicted person wasting their life and us that we are addicted to certain emotions and feelings and thoughts, it is almost the same thing in the eyes of the wise ones we are doing the same thing when we look at the alcohol, drug addicted people and that’s why it becomes a mission of life. And when we are addicted and we want to get free from there we need a reliable way of getting out of it and you just can’t say, “I am going to get out of it, I am going to get out of it, I am going to get out of it” and that will be there all the time and nobody would really get out of it just simply saying, “I’m going to get out of it, I begin tomorrow” and that never works. So pursuing a reliable path is like if you are alcohol addicted and you need Alcohol Anonymous, AA program or some kind of program and that have some kind of support system and that has some ways of doing it and that gives the result and you can see you need it. And likewise here when you have this terrible mental addiction life after life addiction to be able to get rid of this you really need very, very wonderful path you need otherwise some are too difficult, some are too rigid, some are too long and some are too sort of almost impossible. So these things don’t really help us so we need very reliable source based on the experience of the person that had experienced and easiest way, quickest way possible. So Buddhism in general and particularly that of Tibetan Buddhism or Vajrayana Buddhism has very strong claims that they do on this and whether it works or doesn’t work it depends on the individual person, how would you take that in, how would you push away, how much willingness that individual has, how much commitment that individual has, how much time that individual can put in, how much effort that individual can put in, or do we get it straight or did we get crooked and all of those. So even though according quotes supposed to be one of the best ways however it works or not work to the individual so many factors are involved. So pursuing the reliable path so Tsongkhapa says, “Listen with a clear mind you fortunately one,” he directly addressing to Chewa Pobongawa Sherpa but indirectly talking to us. The words we use, fortunate one, fortunate ones who can make the conditions right, the conditions that I talk right now, the effort, willingness, time, possibility, all the needed available support system, all of them and all fit together and then you become fortunate one, if something is missing then it is unfortunate, so does not become fortunate one. So that way all these particular four lines are we put in the first principle way. Now to repeat the same thing in the form of the second, I’m dealing with the second principle and there’s a very simple way I’d like to put it in so not addicted here is the self-cherishing whether it is samsaric…it is samsaric delight, self-cherishing and fulfilling the mission of precious life is the you know the difficult, the opposite side of the second principle is the self-cherishing and the purpose of the second principle is to obtain enlightenment, total enlightenment so that’s why when you have the second word here says fulfilling the mission of precious life in that way is obtaining total enlightenment and pursuing the fully reliable path that is the bodhisattva way and listen with a clear mind you fortunate one. So that is the, you can put it in the second principle way too. In the third principle way, the addiction is ego grasping or I grasping, ego grasping and self grasping and these are the addictions we have, very strong, no doubt about it, and fulfill the mission of our precious life is to be able to bring the wisdom and the fully reliable path here is the selflessness and I-lessness, selflessness, I mean both paths of emptiness on person or emptiness on articles, other than person, phenomena so two emptiness are the reliable path here so thus we are explaining actually both of these two verses can be explained through in all principles and previous teachings some of them I do remember the word the line by line switching to the different principles I have done that and here today everything repeated like different principles that’s how Je Tsongkhapa intention that’s how Tsongkhapa talked to the Cherwa PobonNgawa Tawa and indirectly telling us and with the teachers and commentaries so on and forth and explain to us how this works and that should be covered the second verse here and that is the third outline asking who are fit to be, who are fortunate to listen but in other words telling us if we want to use this we have to make ourselves fortunate ones to be able to utilize this, that’s what it is. So I explained the second and third principle very briefly but that’s because of time not because of less important, maybe true to certain extent for us the first principle may be more important than the second and third but we make it brief because of the time rather than points and points become even more important and yes I guess that’s it and I believe it is break time. Before break time I just been able to read this and if you have any questions please do present I don’t know whoever collecting questions and so we will have answer session as well.