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Name of Transcript: 20050506GRNL3P11

Transcriber’s Name: Sally Boyer

Start date: 09-01-2022

Finish date: 09-16-2022

And that is the completion of the first principle. Then the second principle begins and that also has the reasons why, bodhimind which is ultimate love and compassion are necessary and actual meditation or practice of compassion. I think there is measurement too isn’t it? I don’t remember the words there. There is no measurement there, no. So two then and the reasons why and actual practice and the meditation. So the reasons why cover one verse here, seeking freedom for yourself alone can never bring the exaltation of peerless Buddhahood, therefore the wise develop bodhimind. Now the first question comes, why bodhimind is necessary or is it necessary? This is now the difference between the Mahayana and the Hinayana though they don’t like to call it Hinayana they like to call it self-liberation or even elders’ way and all that but whatever name you may call it traditionally it is the Hinayana. Since where this teaching’s coming from they are from Mahayana tradition so while even tradition is issue actually it is not really a great thing but this is where the teaching comes from, the Mahayana. At the level of Mahayana, we were talking earlier the spiritual practice must have base, path and result. Base doesn’t change because we don’t change. Path in the Theravadin even here you see what we covered so far it actually pinpointedly focusing how I can help myself. It is pinpointed, it did not emphasize much how I can help others but it did emphasize much more how can I make myself free where I am locked in, what is my problem which is the bull’s eye that holds me where all these magnet coming from, where it is holding me and that’s what you’ve seen it. Up till now you have heard it, you have seen it, you have read it, that’s what it is. So the emphasis was actually for me and myself and so it’s called self-liberation but the vehicle is not so spacious or large It is slightly narrow one not in the sense of smaller or weaker but in the sense of focusing self which is very root which is absolutely necessary. I’ve often shared this with you. When I first came out of Tibet, not that year but a couple of years later, I attended a semina in India, a Buddhist semina, and there’s a Kashi pundit, Kashi pundit means…Kashi is in Varanasi area, very typical Brahmin, if you are familiar with Indian culture, the Brahmins are the superior caste, very typical Brahmin Kashi pundit and who’s also very interested in Buddhist studies, called Obadir and Obadir is beautiful speaker and he was speaking in Hindi and saying,” It is wonderful that you people are Mahayana people andof course we all have pride within ourselves think how we are Mahayana they are Hinayana , they are low, we are better, we have that pride, I brought that from Tibet, we have that, I’m thinking. And he said,” You are great, you are high, you are wonderful, you are like Mt. Everest”. Then he said,” Yes, we don’t know how high you are, we have to measure how high Mt. Everest is, so we have to measure from the ground zero level.” So he said,” Your base is Hinayana level, if you don’t have that, you can’t measure you. You are high, you are wonderful, you are great, you are Mt. Everest but do you know how high you are unless you measure from the ground level.” When I heard that, at first it hurt me but it’s really true, absolutely true. We call it Mahayana, how we make ourselves maha if we don’t have that base yana you know foundation. How can we make Mahayana? And also you won’t know how to help others if you don’t know how to help yourself. So these are the two major points from which these are absolutely necessary part of part one although the major focus of the teaching comes out of Hinayana, that’s what it is. And also, I had one in mid now I forgot. Well, I’ll bring it up later, thank you. Also, as I said the base doesn’t change and then I said the path if you do this and that and what happens to the path level if you now look at, in this Hinayana level or earlier first principle level, the path what we’ve been talking if you look in that’s where my point went off. Path is really telling us how to help ourselves and that also by disciplining ourselves. Disciplining ourselves is the discipline is not like that you sit down and don’t look around and that is one way they did, like the traditional way. But they did it like you know the Zen tradition you are suppose to sit there and if you don’t meditate they’ll come around behind you and hit with that stick and even nowadays they request for the stick hit and you know. That’s what somebody told me. In America they do, they request for the stick, hit and then they sit there and thinking they will come and hit you but then when they think they’d come and hit you they won’t when they are thinking and they are not going to hit then suddenly wow they come from the back. So anyway, that is a different way but here the discipline what really did is to discipline individual and to make what’s good for you and don’t attract and don’t give attraction attention for the attractive things, samsaric goods, and so try to that’s why changing the priority is really is the disciplining yourself so that was the path. And the result what they are hoping is also as you have seen it. So even this measurement says, day and night if you are seeking for liberation so then you have goal. So which means the result which they are hoping for achieving is just about the liberation I mean of course since it is Mahayana tradition, so it is coming from all the way of seeking enlightenment as goal but immediate goal is liberation, freedom from the sufferings of both, all three, suffering suffering, changing suffering especially pervasive suffering, that was the goal. Now we change the goal as well as we change the method. Now method instead of using the self discipline here, discipline self now we are switching toward love and compassion and the goal is also total enlightenment rather than just nirvana or free, just freeing yourself. So now the shifting, the gear was shifted from one to two and when you are shifting one to two the speed limit and everything changes and here also the same thing. The method will be love and compassion and the goal will be total enlightenment. So the question rises, is total enlightenment necessary? And that is really, you know if you really look carefully in Buddhist teaching this is for the first time they talk about total enlightenment, and the Tibet Buddhism is such and that Mahayana Buddhism they sort of blend it all over the place right from the beginning when they’re talking about motivation they try to bring you to that level because that’s the ultimate goal. But the true reality is whether that is necessary or not necessary for the individual that is the question we now raise, you know what I mean? So two points here I’m making: shifting of the goal, shifting of the method, and is it necessary? Who makes the decision? Whether the total enlightenment is necessary or not necessary? It is the individual’s decision, you who are the individual practitioner, you have to make a decision, we as the tradition, not the tradition as the teaching can suggest because you have no idea what it is so we can suggest that you should choose this. This is a suggestion, not an order. Nobody issues order in the spiritual path and there is no military regiment here you have to know that. By now you already know that here, so it is not military regiment here at all. So it is everybody, one makes the decision, not the teachers, not the lineage, not the teachings. Teachings are the information, teachers are the informer or guide or whatever and the decisions are all made by individuals and no one can force to make decision. If you try to force to make decision it won’t even work. We all are what you call it, slightly rebellious enough anyway we all know, you know I mean especially many of us have come from by rebelling tradition including myself and many of you rebelled against Catholic Church and come out here and I rebelled against traditional way of doing it. Here we all coming out of those slightly we all have the rebellion blood in ourselves, you know that so no one can tell anything to anyone. Honestly this is information, the choice is yours, even enlightenment is necessary or not necessary you have to choose, no one can tell you. Buddha is example, Buddha presents himself as example rather than Buddha present himself as dictator. No one would like to have brutal dictators around so you know so that’s it. So but the suggestion is this: why do you settle less than that? What is wrong with you? This is a good reason to arguing. Many of you are able to share your knowledge with other people by becoming teachers here, teaching whatever you learned and teaching others. When you become a teacher, my suggestion will be you don’t think I’m becoming a leader. You may become leader, you may be leader, you may be leading but you don’t think that way, you have to think that yourself have become a sales person. I’m sorry to say, you have to think you are a sales person, honestly, and the product what you are going to sell that and you have to tell the people the quality of the product what you are selling. You have to really, you have to present to people the why yours, why not theirs, what is unique in your thing and that is necessary. In order to do that you yourself need to know and if you don’t know, you can’t sell it. Even if you want to sell it, how are you going to sell it? And even if you cannot demonstrate it but you should be able to really present it properly. You know I bought a knife, it’s called Miracle Knife out of television advertisement, honestly, and you know why I bought that? I bought that knife because they advertised, I saw this advertisement so many times, number one, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, I saw it a number of times and that draws your attention. First it becomes ohhh, then you become familiar and then you see it and then it really helps you, it draws your attention and then they demonstrates it then they say how light it is. You know, I mean how light it is. It is really light, you know. A paper weight almost and then they say sharp it is, it remains sharp, you know, they cut these shoes and cut a frozen can and cut the tomato, you cut the paper, they all seem to be working but that didn’t sell me and they said…they sold me there’s life long guarantee if it goes bad, send it to us and we’ll send you a new one. So that’s what they do. So it is very similar to this, very similar to this and you know it is very hard to tell how enlightenment is really great because we don’t know because we are not enlightened. If we are enlightened we can tell, I know this, I know that, I see this, I see that, I do this but we are not. And however we do have some idea, some reasonable idea of what enlightenment is all about and there are lot of qualities of the Buddha and all of those. You can see it you can hear it and all of them but that’s great but that doesn’t give us much, it does give us something but not so much. I don’t know how you people are going to like it or not, what I see, me personally this is I’m not talking Buddhism, I’m not talking about Tibetan Buddhist teaching, me personally, my understanding of the God and my understanding of enlightenment and to me I don’t see different. I don’t see monotheistic god, if you are thinking of that, creator who creates everybody, I don’t see that and that part personally I don’t even accept. Other than that the knowledge, knowing information, capability, all of them I see no difference. I share this with you because that idea is very common in the West, the idea of God but not the God who judges the person, not the God who punishes people, not the God who creates people, but God who knows all, God who has capability, God who helps, who should help. No such a question should ever raise where has the good God is looking when people are suffering with the tsunami. Why he’s looking the other side? Such a question should never even raise it. I don’t mean you should not ask that question, it should not be a subject at all because it is the love, it is affection and it is the service and it is the helping and it is the total knowledge from those angle for me there’s not much difference between the Christian idea of God and Buddhist enlightenment, I didn’t say Buddha, but may be it’s Buddha enlightenment. But what I’d like to clip out of that it is the theologists added up and God that gives you punishment, God that will judge you, this and that and if you don’t please this. That is I’m quite sure, theology, my knowledge in Christianity is zero, please, so if I’m wrong forgive me but I’m pretty sure these are theologists added up. If there’s a God really, that’s whatever it is, it did not say I’m here to judge you, not at all, that is too little purpose for too good person, too little purpose for too good person, very pathetic. It is not, it is there to serve, to help, to guide. That’s what it is and that portion of the God I accept and that is enlightenment to me. And one different thing here is eligibility. It is not one God only, eligibility is we are all eligible as a human being. Unfortunately animals and so on and so forth is lacking, lack of understanding that makes them in that lifetime not to be able to but as a human being it becomes our birthright to be able to become that. It is our spiritual right to be able to achieve that level, there is no limit, nobody is imposing limit. Even the scientists today tell us our brain capacity, we are not using, we are using what some very little amount our capacity we’ve been able to use, nothing. Even the science see it, even the science physically, literally see it. So that tells us there’s unlimited capability of the mind is. Mind is capable when the mind reaches the full capacity, you reach to the position of arhat. That is total enlightenment to me, so that is what it is. Of course, different theological points you know oh Buddha is yellow and Buddha has extra on here and some extra here and all of those and also the God punishes and God does this and that and all of those are the theological. You don’t forget there are two thousand years gone through with different mental capacity on different people went through for two thousand years and everything was recorded not at that time, not the time of Jesus and Buddha and I don’t think there’s that much recorded and then after the recording business came in and then you started writing down, all those popped up. So to me, you know whatever your understanding of the God’s situation, leaving the judgement out, believe me, those are theological points. It is beautiful in Buddhism is you are your own judge, it is not Buddhism, to me it is reality. Reality, I am, well I shouldn’t say but it’s almost I’ve become my own creator, you are your own creator, you create your own future life by you, for your, by yourself for yourself. How can another person doing it? Not possible. Logically it is not possible, spiritually it’s not possible, karmically it is not possible, scientifically it’s not possible. It is only you are capable for yourself. I never use this word you create your own because it is going to upset a lot of people but you can almost think that way. And to me, I am responsible for myself means that when you bottom down, it means that I am responsible for me is that, honestly. Otherwise, what do you mean I am responsible? What do you mean other than that? I am responsible for me means whatever I do now will make a difference in my life and the lives in the plural. If that’s not creation on my own what else is creation? Anyway, something slipped out of my mouth, I’m sorry because of a lot of old friends around here so sometimes you need to know that. But don’t go and sell God, sell enlightenment, you know what I mean. Don’t sell God to yourself, don’t sell God to anybody else. Sell enlightenment to yourself and then sell others. I told you this knife that I bought, I said it is very light, it is true it is very light and similarly, in this Buddhism there is really a lot of lightness it’s not that heavy stuff. If you make it heavy, vajrayana commitment, this and that, it could be very heavy too but when you look at this lightness it’s not so much of orders and discipline, this and that and all of those. There’s a lot of lightness in there and above all lightness is your own choice. Your own choice totally, if you want to you can if you don’t want to no one will chase you, no one really does and no one else there also to tell you if you don’t do this you’ll go to hell. If someone tells you that, excuse me, just say you are welcome. So there’s a lot of…and all this heaviness I think in all traditions all have this heaviness in all traditions comes in you know what they do they like to bring that discipline of helping yourself so when you make yourself you make your own judgement, you make your own choice, you make your own decision and a lot of people bound to help doesn’t help themselves so they made it into this heaviness of you’ll be punished, you’re going to hell, you’ll be cut and cooked and freeze and so on and so forth just using the fear and you know utilizing fear, that’s what happens. I’m sure with the motivation of good and helping, I’m sure did not come out of motivation of how to threaten you. It is later as corruption whether it is monasteries or churches or whatever might change into it because people been looking for how to make it more successful, well, let us tell that. You know why? I’ve told you when I went to Minnesota I talked to the Tibetans, it’s sort of young twenty maybe twenty-one young boy wearing his cap other way around and came up to me and I have a question for you. And I said, “Yes?” He said, ”I love turtles you know, you put turtles and they told me if I use turtles then if I die anybody does this phowa transformation they said it’s not going to work. Is that true?” This guy, so somebody whoever that somebody maybe, teacher or parents or somebody who doesn’t want him to have turtles and told him if you put turtles you die there will be no phowa for you. So he said,” Is that true?” and I said,” Absolutely not as far as I know.” Just doesn’t make sense at all you know. If a turtle blocks phowa what kind of phowa is that? So I mean it just doesn’t make sense. So that is how people use fear or whatever, something to be able to do something and that’s sort little indication here it tell s us how all these heavy stuff have come in. And luckily some of them use it into practice but that’s another good thing and we should look at practice as help to us and to achieve our goal rather than practice is punishment and if you break it you break vows and commitments and you’ll be punished. Not even if true, you will not be punished but if you are breaking your vows that is true. And you don’t want to break your vows because if you break vows you become questionable morality, that’s the problem. So other than that it is not punishable, anything of that type. And I said enough now so the enlightenment is something that we can achieve and it is there available for us and whether you take it or not and that’s it. So t he question is why you settle for less than best? Are you that type of person who has to settle for less than best? What’s wrong with you, honestly? And seeking freedom alone can never bring exaltation of peerless Buddhahood,. Why? Because you did not demand, there’s no order. How you get supply? You are going in the restaurant, sit there looking at that beautiful tuna dough or fish or whatever and you don’t order. Sit there you order a Coca Cola so you are going to get Coca Cola only. The waiter may come up and say,” Would you like to eat something?” And you may just sit there and don’t order you never going to get tuna dough right? So you put the same effort because you did not order total enlightenment so you are not going to get it. Even if you are going to pay that glass of Coca Cola at minimum charge whatever they charge you, you are not going to get food. It’s as simple as that, that’s the reason why I said you are your own judge because you wish it then you’ll get it. Every effort you put in go for it, when you don’t, you are not going to get it. Whatever the money you pay in the restaurant, if you don’t order for that if they give you something else you go to the restaurant and say you do want to eat tuna dough and you don’t look around you don’t want to order that, you didn’t order, you sit there and then waiter will come, “What would you like?” “Give me whatever you think is good you know.” This is simply what we do, go to pray, give me whatever I could get it you know, that ‘s what it is and they will give you the bill anyway so but whether you have tuna dough or fish or vegetarian or maybe Coca Cola when you go to pay your money is not going to pay what you want because you did not express your wish. Simple. So that’s why if you read the traditional text they say without bodhimind, whatever you do, generosity, morality, all of those does not become cause of enlightenment the reason because you did not wish it, you did not issue your order, you did not order it. You cannot blame the waiter when you did not order. So when you are responsible for yourself that means you are responsible for yourself, so what you want you’ve got to say it, you’ve got to order it. So you make the decision by yourself, for you and you think you want enlightenment, order it, go for it, otherwise you are not going to get it. Sit there and pray for enlightenment does not work. It looks like you wish, you ask the waiter whatever you think best give it to me and then you wish and pray and pray I may get chicken, chicken, chicken when you can tell the waiter want chicken you don’t, when the waiter’s gone so then you chicken, chicken chicken and you he’ll give you tuna dough.. So that’s it. I think that covers the first outline of why it is necessary. The question really is why you want to settle for less than what you can get, why? No reason why, honestly. You said,” Well, I’m are too old, I’m too weak, I’m too sick and I’m too young and…” totally everything is excuse because we didn’t see the benefit of what the bodhimind really does. There’s tremendous of benefit to bodhimind. Shantideva dedicated totally his first chapter of Bodhisattvatcaryavatara is totally for the benefit of bodhimind. Really, it makes the reason why he do it because he wants us to be interested. Actually he’s selling bodhimind by showing us what you can do with it, that ‘s exactly what Shantideva did, there are a lot of those. But one most important thing that I want to emphasize here is if you developed this mind, purification also done by this mind, accumulation of merits also done by this mind like Shantideva said, no matter how powerful negativity it might be we have it other than the bodhimind which can really destroy this, so this has that capacity ofpurification. And it has the capacity to build up merit tremendously, even if you don’t do anything, once you develop bodhimind whether you lie down and sleep and no awareness or anything as long as you remain with mind it automatically works for you. It’s like a good investment. When you put in good investment, as long as it is working well your money is working for you whether you are asleep or on holiday or sailing in the ocean or visiting China whatever your money is working for you just like that. So even judging these two benefits alone one should choose bodhimind unless you are crazy. Real crazy, not a few screws loose. Okay thank you and I think we’ll break for lunch here.