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Soundfile 20050619GRAASR21T1

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location

Topic

Section

Transcriber Wee Lin

Date Dec 4 2022

(Introduction by Kathleen)

0:09:14.9 I would like to say thank you for the wonderful introduction. Thank you so much everybody for coming here. As I was watching, many of you are here for the first time and we will like to welcome you especially. Many of you have been coming regularly, also welcome. And I would like to welcome family members from Malaysia and everywhere. Thank you. Kathleen had already thanked everybody before so if I [keep thanking people], I don’t want to [leave out] somebody and get into trouble. I think I will stop here. We all come here for a purpose.

0:10:29.1 The purpose is to help ourself and to be able to help others. To help ourself and to help others there are a variety of ways of doing it. Most important is helping yourself by yourself, no matter whoever says whatever. As far as I know and from where I come from, only you help yourself. The moment we have to depend on the second and the third person, it is already quite difficult although it is not impossible or not as reliable. Reliability is wonderful and everything, however helping yourself by yourself is most important.

And that also [using] a variety of ways through a practice, through meditation, through mantras, through prayers, through rituals and through many other activities. Many of them done particularly through different deities or yidams or enlightened beings. That is very common [for those] with Buddhist background, we always do through Buddha and so and forth which we know very well.

0:12:20.4 Here we gather together this week, we are dealing with female Buddha. A Buddha who is a female, who was female, who will be female and who is female. It is the female Buddha through which we are going to work. Many of them work through mantras and through meditations. The rituals are mostly mantra and meditation based. So we will be working with this and will be really very excited about it because somehow it is time that we talk about female Buddhas. It is time, it is happening everywhere.

Recently I even learnt there is an exhibition of the female Buddhas in the Rubin museum. The activities of the female Buddhas are happening everywhere and we also happen to be having the Tara based retreat so we will be working through a female Buddha here. It is very wonderful and exciting so we will be looking forward to the next 7 days how we are going to work here.

Actually I think I went a little too fast. The order here is we begin with our usual Tuesday prayers and then I will be speaking to you but somehow I went half way through. Let us start with our usual Tuesday prayers.

Chris McCall is going to be leading here. Karla, our Umza is here. Chris is taking over the umzaship for this week and we are all very excited. Both of you here are wonderful together and it is great. Everybody else is here and the other umzas from the different chapters are here. Not only Marion Soeters is here but also the Naomi the Umza from Netherlands is here. Then of course Mr Hopperman is here as well. Then Cleveland Umza and Chicago Umza are here. Rochelle is here and I guess that’s it.

And let us start with our usual Tuesday prayers including the Manjushri’s and then I will talk to you.

0:16:30.0 (Tuesday night prayer )

0:37:17.9 As we have been saying, may all beings have no sufferings, may all beings be free from their attachment and hatred, may all being have the joy that had never known suffering. These are all very important ways of thinking on compassion and for dedication. Of course right now we are almost like praying, rather than actually happening with us. We have no problem wishing ourself, our family and our circle to be free of suffering and things like that but [to wish that for] all sentient beings, that is quite difficult for us at this moment. But it is still in the form of prayer. We pray and it may function that way. We pray that it may work that way. It is setting our motivation, it is setting our goal and it is trying to tell us that is our aim and our purpose.

0:38:48.1 So all of them because, no matter whatever we say, it is coming from the Buddha’s teaching and Buddha’s experience. You are here with me so whatever little I know is from the Buddha’s experience, Buddha’s teachings and that of experience of a thousand year of Tibetan spiritual Buddhist masters. That’s the only thing I can contribute to you. So that doesn’t mean you have to be a Buddhist but that’s [where] you are going to get it from. That’s why this compassion and the caring for all sentient beings become so important.

That’s why when we set our motivation at our first meeting here tonight, we are setting our motivation, why we want do all these. We would like to do that so not only me, my family and my circle but also all living sentient beings may be free from the suffering, may all living sentient beings have joy that never sufferings, they may never be separated from that joy and they may be free their attachment, their hatred and all of those. Right now it is really in a prayer form, we are praying. Whatever we are praying there will be a time when it will materialise and it will become reality. When I say it materialises, it becomes reality and I hope it is true but I really don’t think it is practical to think that all sentient beings will be free from suffering and never be separated from the joy that never known sufferings. I don’t think it will be really become reality.

0:41:33.9 However the purpose ideas and the cause become real to the individual person. That will definitely become true to the individual one day. Right now it is in prayer form. It is very hard for anyone of us to be able to think that straight. Yes we can give you a variety of reasons, we can give you variety of quotations, we can do all that but it is extremely difficult to really become a reality for the individual. So it is only prayer form right now. But that prayer will materialise one day and that’s what we are stepping in for. That’s what we have been working for. That is really our goal. So whatever the goal is, we are setting motivation toward.

Since it is not only coming from the Buddha’s teachings but that of Mahayana Buddhist teachings and not only that of Mahayana Buddhist teachings where it is coming from but it is Vajrayana Buddhism. Therefore these ideas, thoughts, motivations and all extremely important. And that is not only important just because it is important but as I had said, it will be materialised for us particularly for those of us here.

You know it is very funny and it is wonderful thing. It is very interesting. All of those are quite rare. It is not commonly available and it is something very unique and that something unique wonderfulness is somehow what you people are going to be exposed to. And which is in my personal opinion, something fantastic. Which does not really happen very often. It is not really there but it happens to be here and therefore it is something of unique opportunity. That unique opportunity whatever it is and we will do it for the benefit for not only ourself, but all living beings. And with that mind we will proceed with whatever we do the next seven days. As Kathleen went through this orientation very detailed so I have nothing to add on top of that.

0:45:23.9 Some of our people may think I sometimes have a tendency to be start late. I am trying to avoid that so whatever the schedule may be, at 9 in the morning, I will be here. So don’t think it is going to start 5 minute or 10 minute or 20 minutes later. I would to say there is no Tibetan time here, whatever they would like to blame me for all the time. That is not going to happen, hopefully. And number 1, I would like to say one thing. Which you know the in the retreat like this, people have habit of nesting, you collect things and have 2 or 3 or4 or 5 bags sitting around and start nesting. Please avoid doing this nesting business because sometime we need to clean, vacuum and sweep when we are not around. That’s why please do not have the things left, nesting. Secondly dharma books and dharma articles and dharma materials we have bad habit of leaving them on the floor and walking over them and all that. That is actually for those of us who are taking refuge, against refuge advice. Therefore please avoid that.

There is a wonderful raffle here very beautifully [displayed] Somebody had worked very hard throughout the year to collect things from throughout the world for the raffle. We hope to get some tables so that we can leave your things and dharma things on when we go out. That’s one thing.

0:48:18.0 And the second thing also when I was raising my hand for the first I have been in this retreat here, sitting over there, I have an interesting experience of wonderful perfume created by, being able to experience perfume so I really personally, if you don’t feel uncomfortable I will not insist you take your shoes off. So I prefer you wear your shoes. Even in Jewel Heart, I will request people not to take off the shoes unless you are bringing in some dirt or something. Some people asked me, can I wear my shoes, by all means but those of you who would like to sit crossed legged you may have difficult of sitting crossed leg with shoes but I am used to sitting crossed leg with shoes. In Tibet we don’t take shoes off siting crossed leg except the teachings. At all the prayer meetings everywhere, we will wear shoes. Taking off shoes I have learnt that since we came to India and south east asia. So if you want to wear shoes you are welcome to wear but if you really want to take your shoes off, just pay a little special attention in the morning when you are taking bath. And so that will be nice. Just for benefit of all beings, ha ha ha in here, ha ha ha. And I guess nothing more I have to say and but with great hope and pray that we pray to female Buddha Tara that whatever we are going to put our efforts for this for seven days it will be worthwhile for benefiting ourself, our family, and all living beings with this I would like to emphasize for the motivation as a first night

Those of you who need to do the fire puja I do hope you have said your Yamantaka sadhana. Today is Yamantaka fire puja. We have set for that. Those of you who did the retreat who really need to do this fire puja, if you have not said your sadhana, take your time and just say your sadhana and when we go down there we are going to start fire puja straight away and may not be able to give you instructions. Many of them are not here but I am not going to talk to you there but I will offer the fire puja. Those of you who need to do this, keep on saying the activity mantra, no matter whatever going on, keep on saying the activity mantra, each one of those activity mantras. Think whatever material offering is offering to the Yidam and that’s what you should think. Mostly if you think what we are offering to whom and where, it is very simple.

There is a short verse, it says ( Tibetan) The liquid is offered to the mouth, liquid here is only the melted butter liquid. The rest of all offered to the hand, except the wood. Wood is offered to the light, the aura, the radiating light and wood is offered to the aura radiating light around the body and whether it is the samsara five deities or non samsaric yidams whoever may be, the wood is offered to the that aura there and the rest of them, all food are offered to the hand except butter liquid. Liquid is offered directly to the mouth. So if you are wondering, rest of them, the argham, padyam , etc they all go in from, pupe goes on the head, dupe, aloke, nyunde, shapta go in the front. Similarly rupa, shapta, gandhe, rase, pasha also in that way. This may be a little Greek for those who are here for the first time but sorry because I won’t have opportunity to explain to those who need to do the fire puja. So as you know the fire deity is generated in the middle of the fire, making the offering to the fire deity and at the heart of the fire deity you generate the Yidam which in today’s case is Yamantaka and then offering is made to Yamantaka. The wisdom dissolves and again thanking the fire deity to provide the whatever to hosting and this feast and then finally purify and dissolve and that’s how it is going to be.

Those of you who would like to come and watch, you are welcome. I don’t know where we are going so hopefully somebody will show us where to go. We have done a couple of fire pujas here. My guess is we are crossing that railway and then turn left then going all the way up to the end I don’t know whatever is going on here. I am also getting mixed up between two other camps. Somehow there’s a left turn near the river down there. Some stadium or something near there so that should be where we will be going. I don’t want take long time, the fire puja and then some people like going little far away, so I would like to conclude here today and we do not need to have another dedication because we have other activities at the end

The morning meditations is going to be your meditation practice and explanation of the Tara sadhana. All of the meditation points are going to be shared at the morning meditations. Some people may think that this is not so important so am not going to go. If you know what you are doing, fine, but if you don’t, try to make it because all the explanations are going to be given during the morning meditations. It is going to be divided and so the first thing, this explains certain level, second, third. Whoever is leading the meditation are going to explain it so you are going to have a complete practice with you by the time you go home. So that’s why don’t think the early Tara meditation is not so important because it may be very important for you and whatever I talked during the teaching is going to be added up on that.

Actually I am supposed to talk to you on the basis of 21 Taras and the protection of eight fears and all of them. Therefore the morning Tara meditations are not going to be explained during the teaching. Then the Tara blessing on Saturday will be a slightly different Tara blessing than the usual Tara blessing because it is going to be little more detailed one because this is a weeklong retreat. It is not going to be a complete initiation but it is going to be much more detailed one so that’s what I would like to talk to you. So I hope you enjoy and as Kathleen said, I said don’t have expectations, don’t doubt and just be happy and be whatever you are and that’s what should be and that’s how we will move, thank you.