Archive Result

Intro

Welcome everybody okay now I suppose it’’s my turn to talk to you okay so now you sort of know what is going to happen you know all the orientation is done and now only the orientation left for you is the whole purpose of why you have come here and that is that was left anyway so I’’m not going to give you orientation on that I’’m going to go through whatever so I’’m going to be sort of going against the rule number one rule number one is you are supposed to be told what is going to happen and rule number two is you are supposed to follow what you’’re told is going to happen rule number three is you have to tell them this is what had happened and so I am going to break the rule number one and so I’’m not going to tell you what’’s going to happen 000125

but I’’m presuming everybody is here for a purpose the purpose again I’’m presuming it is going to be (Rimpoche has an aside) okay so the purpose why you have come here is to look into a spiritual path and that coming through the Tibetan tradition and particularly wisdom aspects of it but I also tell you this this great Tibetan tradition or the tradition that come through Tibet of Buddhism Buddha’’s teaching Buddha’’s experience it is just like any other Buddhism Buddhism that comes through the whatever the you know they’’re all from India then the southern school and northern school and all the traditions that break into two different ways however it is totally based on the Buddha’’s personal development and experience Buddha’’s personal and the development and actually Buddha did sum up in four lines Dee bwa jay..

Avoid Negativities

avoid all negativities and accumulate and build as much as possible all the positive deeds most important take care and look after your own mind and that is Buddhism that’’s how the Buddha himself sort of give very short statement saying what is Buddhism all about I do remember a few years ago few friends been telling me that we need a what you call it bus stop Buddhism so bus stop Buddhism the Buddhism that you can talk on the bus stop so bus stop Buddhism I think that is what Buddha himself has given that so you can make Buddhism as complicated as possible you can make Buddhism as simple as possible so in essence avoid all negativities very simple reason negativities hurt when you are engaging in the negative actions it hurts person whoever is engaged and it hurts persons who ever it is focusing and dealing with it and that’’s why and that’’s why Buddha choose to be nonviolence because violence hurts not only hurt when they are taking the action it creates reaction a tremendous continuation of reaction everywhere with everybody and that’’s why it hurts it’’s very simple we can see in our life quite clearly anything that we act on the basis of hatred, fear and anything that violence whatever we engage it brings not only killing of the people if we just look what’’s happening that we are continuing that war on Iraq or whatever or around or elsewhere wherever it’’s not only hundred thousand of human beings been killed but also it is tremendous reaction that we all experience here 000801

everything and it continues and not only it is continuing of fightings and wars and all that but it also has consequences affecting the environments we just went through tsunami just about six months ago people have been talking a lot about you know during that period why the tsunami why did good God let it happen and all of those and to me some people ask me and my answer always is this is the first noble truth - truth of suffering truth of suffering not only those who are directly affected but all of us who’’ve been watching experiencing the pain so it is common karma that we all created together and that result and not only that it is also interdependent nature of system through which that had happened and because you know how many times that we have been playing with the earth I mean so many nuclear tests done by this nation that nation here there everywhere and it is just one little planet one little earth it has to move and shake because we bombarded all the time so this are the direct reasons that we see everyday in our life this is the larger part of it smaller very similarly we see every day in our life and that’’s the reason why the first words that Buddha says avoid negativities negativities have been the action that hurts people it is interesting you must notice it not only hurts the people for which we did against but it hurts ourselves as well tremendously perhaps by now you people noticed what’’s happening in the world and particularly in the country so that is the reason why avoid negativities and when you are avoiding negativities, automatically what you’’re left is a positive action just by not engaging in those violent actions and you sort of do have nonviolence with or without understanding so the just opposite of negativities are the positive virtuous actions so that is probably recommended actions for the benefit of all of us both negative and the positive actions are coming from where they come from? It is come from our self 001322

or just like our self or everybody else every living being all our actions somehow either becomes positive or negative and so many factors involved but the most important of all it’’s coming from within ourselves 001349

No one really has a mind of hurting

Some beings mostly human beings because it is the most powerful being mostly human beings thoughts and ideas and that is what it is really coming from though as a good human being no one really has a mind of hurting or destroying however many people have a mind of protecting and saving and in that in that package in order to protect me save me us we have to destroy and hurt this and that and that is human thought it comes up normally good human beings good thoughts really don’’t come out as well I have to destroy or kill these things don’’t come out but it comes out as to protect and safeguard and that’’s how it comes in so they all we produce so whatever we produce it is our physical emotional sound whatever it’’s all coming from the mind so everything whatever it is or whatever we do it all coming from the mind.

Tibetan Buddhism goal is total enlightenment

Mind is not the only thing however it is extremely important thing within us so the idea for this weekend we will try to make ourselves clear what is what we call it mind and what are the traditionally Tibetan teachings call it Sem and Sim jung.... Sem being the mind and Sim Jung means something that come out of the mind and which normally translates as mental faculties but so mind and mental faculties and what is it and that’’s what I would like to really spend time and talk to you and what little I know and what little informations that what I have or it’’s available in certain books certain notes and like to bring them up and see what it is and how it affects us and how it affects to everybody else and the bottom-line question will be what can we do what can we do as we say we are the spiritual person spiritual person means persons who are seeking something good and from the Tibetan Buddhist point of view spiritual seeker or person who desire to have spiritual development is almost they will tell us person who is seeking total enlightenment different traditions have a different goal but the Tibetan Buddhism will tell you the goal is total enlightenment whether it is relevant to us or not it depends on the individual because that is what a human being can achieve and had achieved and that’’s what it is so the Tibetan Buddhism is interesting they say they’’re not going to settle nothing less than the best and that’’s why they say the goal or the results what we hope to get out of spiritual practice is enlightenment total enlightenment total knowledge in other words to become Buddha it’’s a little strange to our Western culture when you say to become Buddha and I do remember years ago when I was at the beginning in New York we have a friend an African American lady many of you remember and so she asked me one day in one of those weekend workshops she asked me one day 002018

what is the difference between the Buddha and God for you but that is not so much important for me but if you keep on thinking the Buddha is a God I have no interest to become God that’’s what she told me I mean she said right and I said the culture and also that is how the people thinks and brought up but on the other hand I was brought up in the culture where by birth sort of I knew as a kid without telling by anyone just my goal is to become Buddha and that is the culture where I come in and it is the goal of Tibetan spiritual path the ultimate goal is to become a Buddha and the question that we always talk about is it achievable can we do it has anybody achieved it can we do it and how and that was the question the answer given to us always through the generations through the lineages through everything they says yes these are the people who have achieved and if you work hard you will also achieve that was the sort of unanimous answer they all give you and then also we would ask question if we don’’t achieve Buddhahood what else happens they said there are a number of things ways you can achieve however you don’’t have to worry they give you the example like you know if you have a mind of traveling from what the teachings normally tell you from Lhasa that is where the Tibetan capital is if you’’re going from Lhasa to next biggest town Sheegatzeh if you’’re going to go (mind of?) going to Sheegatzeh when you keep on going to Sheegatzeh and you pass through all these small little towns in between without thinking you’’re going here so while you’’re traveling you reach all these places and you may reach to Sheegatzeh 002313

if you don’’t reach to Sheegatzeh you get next town next town next town next town so just like even if you don’’t become a Buddha you become stage below that below that and you are going to achieve it so that was the how I was brought up so it is always purpose is to become a Buddhahood to become a Buddha and all this lineages one after another different teachings traditions everywhere there’’s a multi-multi multi lineages and each one of those people have achieved and their contemporaries the lineages also you know people whoever received the teachings and through their teacher and it is traced but that is how it is traced but on the other hand each one of them have hundreds and thousands of contemporaries and many of them have achieved many might not have achieved too

so that is the example or sort of they give you that idea and the most important question comes alright if that is the case how do I go about it and how do I go about it so then of course the answer that Buddha has given you earlier saying avoid the negativities build the positivity and develop your mind because the mind is the one who’’s going to achieve and then there’’s a question whether the mind is a person or not and all of those are there so we will come back and deal with this so the Tibetan Buddhism as I told you right now there is a goal and there’’s also method what to do it’’s also very strongly based on two solid footings and that is what we call it two truths 002549

Two Truths

two truths the relative aspects and absolute aspects of it there’’s always two truths we have to remember we think if it’’s a truth it has to be one tell me which one is it so that I follow that become very simple it doesn’’t work that way it is not that human beings made in that way it’’s not but the reality is there’’s always two the simple reason why there is two actually there is one... am I sound like John Kerry? (audience laughs) you know the Bush used to say that he said before he voted against but he voted for war before he voted against war so I said actually two truths but actually there is one right sounded like that what it really is the real truth is truth of empty truth of emptiness truth of non-inherent existence that is the really truth but why the relative truth comes in because every human being every one of us somehow we could not see the real truth because we are somehow confused somehow misinformation has giving to us misinformation misperception which we had accepted it right from the beginning whenever it was beginning maybe and that and because of that reason we have to have relative truth otherwise everybody becomes crazy so that’’s why always two truths the absolute reality and the relative.... relative or conventional whatever we may say it and that is the and these are the two bases on which we work because if you don’’t work based on truth and then nothing whatever we achieved not going to achieve number one because it is not truth number two even if they achieve something it is not going to be reality because it was not based on the truth and that’’s why two truths on which we base then what to do is the compassion and wisdom these are the two methods when the moment when I was a kid, when I was taught the moment we look into spiritual path we must see the goal the base and what to do 002928

these are the three most important things if you don’’t have a goal if you’’re just sitting and be here 002940

Mental capacity

sort of be fancy then you have no goal and if you don’’t have know how you can’’t do anything no method and if your base is not on the truth you are shaking so you can’’t stand so that’’s why base path and the result are the basic fundamental what you call it fundamental a framework or I mean this is the rule the rule number one you have to have this for what what do you do for what and on what that’’s what it is and then the second question comes if you fail what happens if you fail we felt terribly that’’s a little bad it’’s rather unfortunate you know really because it is unlike I’’m sure we fail so many times but unlike a lot of other times it has some kind of very very good conditions come together this time so many different conditions which is almost impossible to have happened so that has come together that is number one and number one the condition is within our self within our self our mental capacity as a human being we have a tremendous amount of mental capacity I don’’t think there is anything which is more powerful than our mental capacity no comparison with atomic bomb our mind is much more much more capable has tremendous capacity and value don’’t forget we made atom bombs atom bombs did not make us it did not honestly it shows us that capacity of a mind that is number one as a human being we can use it very limited to me in one way total enlightenment total Buddha actually to me means be able to use the mental capacity fully and that is enlightenment you can look Buddhahood some kind enlightenment something very holy pops up comes down whatever you can think that way but if you’’re really thinking carefully be able to use your mind totally total capacity of the mind can be used totally by yourself it is the enlightenment is my opinion there’’s nothing more powerful than the human mind and that if you waste it is really a tremendous waste so never underestimate yourself your own capacity and never think I cannot do this 003513

Because you do have all conditions materials are there 003522

that is number one important thing and number two knowledge knowledge we have knowledge on the basis of experience or informations that comes out on basis of experience that knowledge and number three capability so if you lose all this and that is a tremendous waste no comparison with the waste of millions or billions of dollars trillions of dollars no comparison and that that is the quality that we have and that is really what we have this knowledge and informations are the contributions that made by the previous period earlier teachers and spiritually developed persons and their knowledge adding up on us and if that is wasting if you fail that is what we waste and not only we fail ourselves but we fail a lot of others too so these conditions what we have it sort of very rarely happens even those persons like me with a background of reincarnation this opportunity this sort of thing never happens again very very rare and that’’s why we shouldn’’t fail consequences this is the most important consequences and then the other kinds of consequences we say negative consequences negativities bring suffering and this and that and that we also know it’’s the truth we see it I mean we really see it negativities bring suffering we are not stupid now we see it and then what we don’’t see they talk about the hell realms every spiritual path or the system whatever you go to Catholic tradition you know how many hells they will tell you you go to hell every time you go to hell right and you run to Buddhism they tell you oh no you not only go to the hell you have 18 different hells 003935

there are eight hot and eight cold and one near by and one this and that so there are 18 of them they tell you that too 003946

But these are the not really... the result of you know... it’’s not really bad suffering is also suffering that is fine you suffer but then it changes even there are 18 hell realms and blah blah blah all of them there but that is also changeable you know sometimes we say there is no bad no suffering no bad especially new age they tell you there’’s nothing bad when you say bad they say what is that and all that I mean I don’’t blame them you know why I don’’t blame them because before the new age the traditional I know nothing about the Judeo-Christian tradition but you keep on listening there and everything’’s going to go to hell right so it becomes too extreme the pendulum gone too extreme so everything hell hell hell and then the pendulum swings to the other extremes and no hell nothing is bad there’’s nothing called bad what is bad all that the pendulum swings this way that way that’’s what happened but it’’s in the middle sit in middle it’’s true there is good thing it is true there is bad things too good and bad is every day we experience in our lives every day we experience a lot of good things in our daily life we don’’t notice we are taking for granted we also experience a lot of bad things too we bear it and then sometimes it becomes unbearable and then we scream but that is the reality in our lives and the Buddha calls all of them put together gives one name called samsara it continues good or bad torture continues little joy if you don’’t have a little joy there’’s no attraction when there’’s no attraction we don’’t create more suffering when we don’’t create more suffering we don’’t continue it is as simple as that so there’’s always the system has worked out a little attraction here a little attraction there and so that sort of prolonged the sort of a system itself you know self what you call it (Rimpoche has an aside)

anyway the system feeds itself feeds itself and making sure the people continuously suffer so it’’s there that’’s why it’’s called samsara and then you know the Buddha’’s total knowledge what does that knows hey you just don’’t have to suffer this - you can get out of it. And (that?) he called Nirvana... samsara and nirvana free of suffering there is a freedom don’’t worry about it that is what Buddha says always there’’s always a way out so the way out helping our self helping others all of them are based on mind so we would like to see what it is how it functions I tell you what 004430

and the traditional Tibetan Buddhist teachings a lot of those a lot of those but sort of you know they are sort of summed up by a number of different people by different (levels, labels?) however they came out with the point call it one called the mind and that of what is came out of a mind which they normally call mental faculty and mind also has the principal mind and that eye consciousness ear consciousness and all type of six of them and then the mental faculties or the that came out of minds mostly emotions I think and they are 51 or something 51 or something so out of which I think 10 are very important the rest of them they will say the positive ones and the negative ones and changeable ones but I think 10 of them are very important sort of you know like group of five five one the first five we the Tibetans call it Gundoh which means it all follows every mind every mind has to have all of those five different faculties that is the first five group the second five group makes the mind work with whatever the object of the mind is so I thought this first 10 groups are important to bring in in our discussion and we look into this and how then we can function and the bottom line of this by having a little understanding of what mind and how mind functions to help oneself to help our self to build total knowledge total enlightenment and that’’s what we do

the whole purpose is to have spiritually developed individual spiritually developed really means developing the mind it is interesting if I talk to you too much sometimes you know you know to make all of them is holy.thing is very easy and some kind of holy thing you leave it there you pray and do all this quite easy thing it is not at all difficult it is very easy thing what is difficult is to understand how it works and that is very difficult and when you know how it works the quality of the holiness becomes much more really important and valuable to the individual we have a tendency in the West 004856

and that is something which we cannot think very carefully cannot do much you have to leave it there and it’’s a very holy thing don’’t touch it don’’t analyze don’’t do anything just pray and it will hit you on your head and I don’’t know whether that’’s really.... that is not the spiritual path that I heard or I know so that’’s what we hope to do now I’’ll change my thing earlier which I said I’’m not going to tell you what’’s going to happen so that is the so I’’m breaking the rule going to come back and telling you and that’’s what we hope to be hope to do and I guess and then along with this and the holiness of it and all of them we are going to do is not a kind of you know a study not a kind of experimenting study but is coming with a very very strong and powerful tradition and its blessings are intact it is really blessings are intact it has all of them there it is coming from very strong powerful tradition tradition which liberated millions of different people over the thousands of years 2600 years at least we know it also comes out of a very precious thought and a mind what we call it Bodhimind it is total altruistic mind mind that committed yourself this is hard one when you can’’t think analyze and can’’t think it then what you do is you do it in prayerful when you can’’t think it it is sort of impossible then you make it first it prayerful, prayerful I like to do it, I hope to do it, I am going to do it I may be blessed to be able to complete this and to be able to do it and that is sort of dedicating all our purposes to benefit all living beings including ourselves we need to obtain total enlightenment in order to achieve that we need to know what are we dealing with it how are we going to deal with it I may be blessed to be able to do this not only for my benefit for the benefit of all living beings and that generating thought is you know if you make it a mystery part of it it can be very mystery you cannot go deeper than that it is extremely important and holy in that way but if you make it a simple straight forwardness it is a simple straight forwardness 005302

Straightforwardness

and that’’s what you can do so one the most beautiful in the Tibetan Buddhism is and that is if you make it this simple straightforwardness yet you have a very rich powerful tradition that backing up it and that is the.... I think that is the most important point where we can do very balancing point so I do want you to generate that thought generating that thought means if you meditate and think and that’’s what you’’re here for and you hope and pray and that will achieve and is there any obstacles for me to achieve this mental emotional karmic obstacles it may purify so if you keep on thinking that way and that is meditation whether you bang a gong or a ring a bell burning incense or not and that is really what we are hoping to achieve this and I guess I have nothing much more to say tonight and only hope that you will have a hope to be comfortable here and if you are not comfortable you can move and sit on the chair move the chair up down whatever you want to do it I think you should do it because we have enough pain we don’’t need additional pain so that’’s what I wanted to say and especially if people who are sitting in the middle if you find very difficult to get up or do you know yes you can say I can get up but when you have to get up in the middle it’’s a little difficult you disturb the other person and all that so if you want to sit a session out there you’’re welcome just move around whatever and hopefully you have a good night and comfortable sleep tonight its one beautiful place really it is fantastic I don’’t have to tell you you see it yourself 005553

And we have done so many things in here too for the last couple of years a number teachings a number of initiations a number of things and even his holiness the Dalai Lama also been here and we have a beautiful Buddha as large as life over here sitting and so it’’s a really good atmosphere and a wonderful thing so I do hope you will enjoy that and if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask and we make this and the one thing I think we did not mention earlier because the group leaders will probably give the questions to two people and when you have the question and answer sessions the two people will go through screen through and the same questions if you repeating you can leave it and similar ones you know because sometimes it becomes you know 100 questions or something.... it is difficult so that two people will do the job and I think Mark and Claire may probably do that (he has an aside) and anything else did I forget did I forget anything Jonathan? no okay I guess that’’s it and just enjoy yourself and don’’t forget that good thought evening and morning both and before you go we do a little dedications it is interesting Tibetan Buddhism has the chant praying and the meditating together which is not it is sort of new in this country meditation means you have to sit and think and do nothing and praying means we just pray but we do together and (?) chant something we are meditating as (two?) so we normally do the dedication with the Migsema so we chant the Migsema or there is English dedication whichever she does so we do the dedication and after dedication so tomorrow (Tara?) meditation who’’s doing tomorrow Mark okay so (Tara?) meditations are really wonderful things you should enjoy and get up and do it that’’s a very very good wonderful healing and I’’m not going to talk too much okay thank you. (They chant)