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Soundfile 20050621GRAASR21T5

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

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Transcriber Wee Lin

Date 10 May 2024

0:00:00.0 Thank you so much for saying the long life prayer. We will proceed with our usual schedule.

Question: Rimpoche, this is a long question. So many women struggled in some way with body image issues and eating disorders. Women are taught as girls that there is only one acceptable body type, if you don’t have it you are judged. For that matter even if you do have it, you are constantly scrutinized and judged. We’ve learnt to reject our bodies. This is been a cause of suffering to me personally and an obstacle in my practice and relationships. I have felt the fact is the image of Tara reinforces these perceived inadequacies. I understand she is presented in this way to express compassion and bliss but to me the image represents objectification?. Could you address this problem. That’s the first part. The second part is how do you feel about replacing the traditional images on our altar with feminine images that express Tara’s qualities without the other issues. Some male images of Buddha are fat, why not fat Tara?

0:01:37.8 Thank you and I think very important question. What I did try to describe is a exactly what the tradition, the books describes and then it made it a little exaggerated because of the poetry. Poetry always goes little bit thinner, little bit taller, little bit fatter, little bit of everything. All these poetry give a little room for making it slightly more and then of course over the centuries, time changes and while the time is changing people’s ideas and thoughts changed accordingly and poetry also change. You are not going to believe what I am going to tell you is that the subject and the culture that I belong to, the Tibetan culture especially teachers , the Rinpoches who can sit on the throne and give teachings, [ it is ] the fat one that is good quality and it is something they look for, work for prosperity and wonderful. Look at the famous Pabongka. He was huge, and not only we look at that, we even pray ( Tibetan) to become like him, his body, the way of his mind is thinking and the way he expressed [himself]. We pray for these so then when I actually become fat I am in a different culture. ( Laughter) When I finally reach to that point, I am in a different culture.

0:05:05.5 So now I have to pray to lose the weight. That’s the point. The description that I gave is on the basis of this poetry that I have been reading. Even if I don’t read the poetry and it is the also the culture which I came from, really. In that culture you don’t talk about something that is not nice. You don’t talk about it, you don’t mention it and you don’t want talk about it. And if I remember correctly, one time I was doing a workshop with Ram Das, somebody asked and Ram Das said in that culture we don’t talk about it. He was writing something about his guru and perhaps in Indian culture they may not necessarily take as great but you know he has a tremendously amount of unshakeable faith in his Guru. He was writing something and he said he submitted that. The reply did not come from him but one of the persons attending told him, “We don’t write about it” and that’s about it. That’s final so Ram Das thought his Guru was not going to like it so he decided not to write it. It is culture that we always have to say something nice.

0:07:24.0 And the images of the teachers and buddhas, sometimes you make them fat. It is the quality they try to [show]. So that is how culture, time and the conditions change. Along with this question I would also like to take the opportunity here to make one important point. Yesterday as well as today morning, I did say that even Tara has to re-double her efforts just like women in today’s society try to put in double the efforts to prove that they are capable of doing it. I just thought of that idea and that Tara has been doing the double the work because [she is known as] Swift. I tried to use that as comparison but it doesn’t really mean that Tara has to struggle to prove that she is also capable because the feminine quality within the Tara, not only within the Tara, the feminine quality itself is completely capable. Tara doesn’t really have to prove that she can do equal to the male. That is the point that I would like to make clear. And that point I would like to make clear to you is because the feminine energy itself is very definitely not only it is the enlightened energy but is capable of doing whatever it needs to be doing and nothing has to be doubled. The word I used, re-double is sort of the reality sometimes in some places today for some women.

0:10:53.1 Sure you can have a fat Tara, you can have a black Tara, you can have a white Tara. You can have a green Tara you can have a yellow Tara, you can have a Green printed as yellow too ( referring to colour of the Tara in the picture that was thought to have been misprinted). A little clarification here, the Green [thought to be] printed yellow is not green printed yellow. It is the Green Tara and they used gold to draw her body because gold is more expensive and the more expensive and the more rare, whatever they could use accumulates more merits. That is the culture where I come from and that’s what the tradition does. That’s why Green Tara gilded in gold .

0:13:02.8 The second part is , “how do you think about replacing the traditional images on our altars with feminine images that express Tara’s qualities without the other issues? ” This Tara picture that I have here is the first Tara that I been able to commission since I first came to United States from one Marianne. Marianne is some Swedish woman. Thurman introduced her to me in New York. She was then hired by the Fox theatre, in Detroit to have the mural done. So she came during that period and I commissioned her. That is my first image that I have been able to make here and that time if I remember correctly cost me $1500. It was just after I came here [ to the US} and had to struggle to get $1500. So I [paid her instalments] like $500 then $200 and then another $300 in that way. My request was not to have a traditional face. I really wanted to have a face of a western physical appearance. We had a very long discussion. I am not sure whether she remembers now because those days she would like to be very traditional for the eyes and ears and all of those. So finally she did agree. This [Tara picture] is not that traditional, it is neither with Indian, Tibetan or Chinese face. Maybe she had found [some beautiful face] in between. This itself is clear example here. So you can do anything you want.

0:16:35.9 Not only that as I said earlier Buddhism really doesn’t carry much cultural baggage but when the Buddhism goes into the different cultures and they pick up that culture. When Buddha taught Buddhism, for example Buddha really emphasised to have respectable seat for the person who been teaching although I personally have been emphasising not to have a throne and all these. And I would like to sit on one cushion and on this and my one cushio , sat on the one cushion on the stage for a long time. I did lots of teachings and retreats year after year but then my one cushion started picking up another cushion and the people around me made some kind of throne to lean back and which is sometimes even comfortable. So that started building up but now I like to be on chair because of my knees. So if you look at Buddha’s original teaching, it was said they should have a higher seat but in early India and all these teachings, they used to climb on little rock and sat on that so that people around would be able to see. That is pure Buddhist culture and then of course went into Tibet and all these big thrones, lions and decoration and brocades and peacock umbrellas and these and that, all of them culturally picked up. So it is important to sort out what is culture and what is not. Buddhism travels and adopts any culture on its way. Even the images pick up the face of the local people. When the first image was made and the Buddha was asked, Buddha sat there and had this drawings been done and all this, but later on so they asked what to do. He said the most beautiful wonderful handsome looking, pick that face and do it. So that’s was the Buddha’s word. So therefore when you get into culture, in Indian you will see those big nose Buddhas, in Tibet and China you will see flat nose Buddhas and when you go to Thailand you have Buddhas with very sharp [crown]. All of them of are culturally picked up and you will see the Burmese Buddha and you see the Thai Buddha they are different. That’s how [ Buddhism is influenced] culturally as it travelled.

0:20:20.2 I am all for it to culturally adopt whatever you think it is suitable. Go ahead and do it. But try to make it as best as possible and that is necessary. Even when you are drawing your guru and one of those instructions is even if your guru is Aryadeva meaning with one eye, an one eye guru, when you draw or make image, do not make it as one eye. Make sure you make two eyes and that is the omens of what you are creating and what you will become in future, all of them are involved. Because of that reason whatever you think the best it is, go ahead and do it but don’t follow my footstep. I am always looking to become big fat one, when you finally get it you are in a different culture, don’t do that ok?

0:21:46.2 Question: The next one is keeping with this theme. At one point you told us we can envision Tara as someone we find very attractive. What if we envision her as a person we already know and are attached to. And then we identify Tara with her. Is meditating on Tara increase our attachment to that person we know or does it transform it.

Very interesting question. It depends how do you look at that person. If you look at that person as a wonderful, nice, really loving, kind and great companion, then it is great. But if you at that person as a sort of Barbie doll or something in that manner, in other words it is simply looking at that person as a name, not really as a good companion but as a some kind of I am sorry to say it, I shouldn’t say it, but may have to say it, some kind of a sex thing dealing business only, sort of in that manner then instead of generating purity and positiveness, it may have a different effect. But if you are looking at the quality of the person and if you are looking as a pure love, pure good nature within that person and if you are doing it, I don’t see any problem with that.

0:24:00.5 Tradition Tibetan Buddhist way is to observe how much advantage they have, how much disadvantage they have and then the consequences and benefits of the advantage and the consequence of the disadvantage of the and then you weigh them. If you really have the advantage then it is really great, go ahead. Even if you have 60-40 advantage and disadvantage then that could be more harmful to the individual. Therefore if you ask any good Tibetan teacher, they will weigh on this and they give advice accordingly even though there maybe 60% advantage, 40% disadvantage is still taking too much chance so they will normally say no. But now I have been thinking maybe we shouldn’t do that, we should really see it. It is not only for me to say but I think we may have to think that carefully. Thank you. I am sorry.

0:26:17.5 Question: Rimpoche what is the meaning of the ring finger and thumb joined in Tara’s left hand, right as we look at.

Well actually she wanted to give you three fingers. She could have done this ( gesture) and join this finger with this but then this ( gesture would then ) have a different message. This is a message of teaching. So that’s out. If you do this (gesture) perhaps it is a little gross, a little bit rough. So this ( gesture) is gentle. That’s number 1. Number 2 is it is not really in this case of Tara but if you are looking at another yidam.

I am using the word (yidam) that many of you don’t know, especially those of you who are new and who had not been here before. So that word is not familiar here. So yidam, Yi is mind and dam stands for damsi which is commitment. It is a mental commitment. Mental commitment here is not really a commitment as in the English language. I use this because it is called samaya commitment. In English language commitment is I am committed to do something, I give you my commitment I will do it. But here it is mental connection, the mind which you rely on. Whatever your mind can rely on, both ways. In other word it is an enlightened being. Almost all enlightened beings are actually a mental commitment especially connection between that particular enlightened being and yourself. That is what the word yidam really stands for, much better than word deity.

0:29:47.6 Deity can be anything. If you go to South east Asia, every spirit around is a deity. Deity can be all kinds of things. I don’t know what deity mean anyway. But I don’t think it can give you that much value as the word yidam can. So whoever you rely on with your mind close connection is the mental commitment and that mental commitment whoever you deal with, that is your yidam. In this case Tara is the yidam.

0:31:10.5 [To answer the question about Tara’s hand gesture], you are familiar with inner offerings. Sometimes you make the inner offerings from the left finger and thumb join. In that case the thumb represent ocean. And the mountain in front of the ocean which is the mountain-like finger is taking the essence of your offering out of the ocean-like [thumb] and making offerings. [For inner offerings that] has this meaning. I am not sure whether that corresponds with Tara or not. That’s what I know. Other than that, either I don’t know or I don’t remember. When you don’t remember it means you have forgotten and when you have forgotten it means you don’t know. That’s really true. I have been taught as kid, if you have forgotten you went opposite of knowing so means not knowing. So the answer should be I don’t know.

0:32:27.1 Question: Rimpoche the question is my schedule is so busy and sometimes I do my White Tara meditation on my morning walk. Is that alright.

That’s perfectly alright. Also I would like to tell you that the White Tara practice is not a commitment. It is not like some commitments that you have to say every 24 hour. This is not a commitment. If you miss one day, it is not that big a deal. You can do it tomorrow, fine. If you miss tomorrow, fine. If you miss day after tomorrow , fine but if you give up completely then it is not helpful. But you know if you miss one or two [days] it is not something to worry about. But you can do the practice while you are walking, you can do it practice while you are sitting you can do it while you are listening to the news, you can do it when you are watching television. You can do all of those, you can. If it content is not good you have to be aware of it, other than that you can do it. And when you learn to do 2 or 3 things together you will manage, you learn that it is ok. You can almost do your practice by lying in bed but that’s not recommended. At least you just sort of raise your upper body up and do it and not completely recommended to lie down. At least raise your upper body up you know but you are submitting to laziness, that’s why. So you can do it anywhere, anytime including sitting on the pot, if it is appropriate. Sitting on the throne if you are facing the right direction is ok. If you facing wrong direction, it’s better not do it, ha ha ha ha.

0:35:03.2 Question: There are three more quick questions here. One, are the Green and White Taras we often referred to part of the 21 Taras or are they different and distinct. Secondly, are the teaching lineage the same for all of them and third could you recommend some Tara books.

Actually within the 21 Taras, the Principal of the 21 Taras is the Green Tara. Yet within the 21 there is White Tara. This White Tara is also for longevity but the [usual] White Tara that we do is of a separate lineage. The lineage is slightly separate. Even the 21 Taras itself has a number of different lineages. Of course the 21 Taras is used by all Tibetan Buddhist schools and each one of the schools has its lineage system, for sure. But you can trace them to two different lineages from India. One is called the Nyi bä system. And the other the Atisha Lineage. Even within the Atisha lineage, the Sakya has its slightly different way of doing.

0:37:05.4 I was looking at that female Buddha book and in there, there is the Tara with the 21 within the hollow or the aura System, hollow within that light. It said Sakya lineage. The Museum have good Sakya scholar Jeff Watz, a very good Sakya student then and now, scholar. So slight differences are always there.

The Nyi bä system has 21 completely different [version of 21 Taras]. I wish we have that Thangka because some of them have 10 hands, 13 hands , 14 hands, 8 hands, 4 hands, 2 hands, wrathful ones, standing ones and all of those. I had one thangka which I had made in India. But in 1977 there was a healer in Texas. He wanted that thangka and I gave it to him. Now I tried to trace the thangka but I could not find it. That thangka has all these different hand implements. I looked through the Rubin Museum thangka collections but I don’t remember seeing that. But there are some cyclostyled drawings which is really the worse possible old fashion form of duplicating. 30, 40 years ago in India they used carbon paper, put them through a machine and rolled around to get the cyclostyled prints. Out of those Marion Van de hos made some prints and we put some of them outside on the table for you to look at. Would have been better because this one everyone looks the same and everyone carries vase. Then you have to mention the colours, whether it is yellow and white and red and purple. So yes the lineage is different there.

Books [in English] recommended will be The Tara Box and the Tara transcripts. And Tubten Chodren has Tara the Liberator and there is a nice book, Tara and Blind Madonna. Don’t ask me about English books because I don’t read them myself.

0:42:21.4 Question: The next question has to do with Tara’s wealth. Why is it important to know all 21 forms of Tara. Why bother?

True. Why bother? When people like something, they like to know more about it. They want to do more. When people like Tara they would like to know more about Tara. What else is there [about her]? And that is very common. When you like someone you would like to know about that person more in detail. If you are a collector, collecting something, you would like to collect more of that. So there’s a lot of manifestations and each one of the 21 has slightly different purpose which you are going to see by yourself. You are going to see it. We will go through with this. Each one of them has a specialised [field]. So it is like a doctor. In olden days, a doctor is a doctor and the doctor can do everything. Nowadays we have specialist. So whenever you have different difficulties you are referred to these doctors like neurologist, heart specialist, antecologist etc. So you are referred to specialists and each one of those specialists will have its own special way of treating you. Although all of those Taras are fully enlightened ones and one knows for all, however each and every one has it’s little specialties and that’s why 21. 21 Taras is not so many, there are 108 too. And there are even more. So I think 108 and so and forth is we just know the written names there and we read about it sometimes and that’s about it. We can’t even bother too much of those.

0:45:48.7 This 21 Taras is considered very special. As I said monasteries and nunneries always have this 21 praise of Tara, sort of they compulsorily have to do it all the time and it helps not only the study and the development of the members becomes better, faster and more helpful. It also helps the monastery to be successful, both in the spiritual and material world. It also helps to clear obstacles, difficulties and any problems, even court cases and bad dreams, all of these [carried out through the] activities of specialised Taras. So in that way the 21 combined together is called [21 Taras]. Even the praise that we say is not so much but this need to be explained otherwise when you just read, it doesn’t mean much. But bottom line is as I said before they are all one, not only all Taras are one, but all enlightened beings are one. Everything is one at the bottom line. Basis of one manifestation and zillions of things dissolve into one so bottom line is one. You are right. I did not say you should bother or don’t bother but I gave you both.

0:48:15.8 Question: The next question actually deals with the number 21. Why are there 21 Taras? You mentioned that there are also 108 but the second part of the question is, is there something significant about the number 21 in Buddhism. It seems to come up a lot. First it is 21 Taras, 21 mantras . What is so special about that number?

That’s true. I am not sure whether that number has anything special. You know why 21? 10 is just 10 then plus 10 makes 20 and then you add up 1 [to make up in case] you make some mistakes somewhere or something missing. So I think it is just take zero, so 10 , just not being 1 but makes 2 and then add up one more to. Actually every 10 should have add up 1 more but it is just 21. I am not sure. I don’t know. Actually I am sure there is some explanation. Actually the second day, (…..) has a book this thick book, [explaining ] why 1, why 2 why 4 and goes up to 100 sort of numerology type of thing. So many of them there and if you look in that direction, I am sure there are zillions of explanations. But what I think of it right now is, it is 10, just a simple 1 group of 10, one 10 is not so nice, so make it 2 and then just add up 1 more. Probably 21. Maybe I am not sure, I don’t know.

0:50:42.0 Question: Is the source of the poem of the 21 Praises of Taras the first Dalai Lama and what is the source of the translation we have.

We don’t have a translation of First Dalai Lama’s poem at all. And what we have here on the 21 praise of Tara is just drawn out of Tara tantra. I don’t know where the translation comes from, I have no idea. In the transcript? First Dalai Lama’s poem. Oh ya 21 Tara coming from Sanskrit, no doubt about it. When I said it is coming out of Tara tantra, it is only in Sanskrit originally. Do we have translation of the First Dalai Lama’s? I don’t think so. Few words here and there. Glen Mullin had translated, ok. Glen Mullin’s translation we have used it. That’s it. See I don’t know what I have in my transcript. Marion and Anne and Hartmut and Kathleen know what is in the transcript

0:52:39.5 Question: How do you purify broken vows especially Bodhisattva vows and does Vajrasattva purification practice do it.

Everything will do it, honestly. Vajrasattva purification is recommended. The best is bodhimind. And wisdom will do it. Vajrasattva is actually meant for purifying but then when you talk about the vows.

I would like to talk to you first on purification here because there are quite a number of people here who had never heard that before. As I said yesterday, no matter how heavy a negativity one might have created there is nothing, according to the Buddha, Buddha’s statement, that you cannot purify at all. Even one who had committed five limitless negativities not only just negativity but the five limitless negativities like killing your father, killing your mother, killing Buddhas and killing all these ever possible, everything and zillions of people whatever, no matter how heavy the negativities might be, they are purifiable and the individual person can become pure. The bottom line reason for that is the nature of human beings are pure nature. Our nature as a being is Buddha nature. That is the Buddhist idea. We all have Buddha nature. That means everyone is eligible to be fully enlightened and therefore there is nothing faulty in nature. So everything is like silver that has tarnished that type of thing. That is the reason why it is purifiable.

0:56:17.8 Purification is done on the basis of four powers. Application of four powers is necessary. Actually it is something you compensate because most negativities you hurt someone so compensate. Like you go to Court and they made you pay 2 million dollars as compensation. Here it is not compensating in terms of dollars but in terms of doing something to help although if you kill someone you are not able to bring that person back to life. However, it is to do something good like save some lives or do something right to that person whom you have hurt even though the person is dead. To do that we call that power of base, establishing the base. Those beings [ that we have hurt] are only of two categories, no third, they are either enlightened or not enlightened. There won’t be half enlightened or you cannot have neither. So it is always two, either enlightened or non enlightened, there is nothing in between. So for enlightened beings as a gesture of you doing something, you take refuge because this is Buddhist background. So take refuge to the Buddha, dharma and sangha.

Second point is generating compassion and love to non enlightened ones. You cannot generate compassion to Buddhas. What can you do [ to compensate to those non enlightened beings that we have hurt]? We generate love compassion and that builds the first power. You provide the base, foundation of purification. In other words, you do something to repay our debts instead of doing the time.

0:59:33.5 Then second most important power is power of regret. If you did something wrong, you must regret. If you have no regret for whatsoever, and then the chances are that you will be repeating it again and again. Why bother, why waste everybody’s energy. So you must have the willingness, you must recognise that something wrong had been done here. Something has to be corrected. So the power of regret. Then if you really regret deeply, your antidote action will also be equally strong. But if you think, well I have to regret here, I [will just]say sorry, sorry, sorry then your purification will be just sorry sorry sorry and that doesn’t do any good.

So the power of regret brings the non repeatable commitment. It will bring that. Then the real action of doing something good, something right for you and for every living being and doing that constantly and continuously is good and better than not doing anything. It might not be strong enough but if you do it constantly and continuously [it will be good.] That’s why I am recommending that you do that every day of your practice, a little short practice although it may be just one line saying “I purify all my negativities”. [Just as ] a drop of water in the bucket everyday, one day the bucket will fill up so one day [that short practice] will purify everything. It goes a long way.

1:02:09.9 So purification is something important and we all can do. Now either you do Vajrasattva or whatever you do, it’s all fine, however purifying negativities and purifying broken vows are two different things. They are slightly different but two different things. Purifying negativities is just cancelling these negative karma, that’s about it. Vows have to be regenerated. So therefore vows have to be purified on the basis on [from whom] you took so the Bodhisattva vows. Those who took Bodhisattva vows they took from the Lama Buddha Bodhisattva. So you purify in the presence of Lama Buddha Bodhisattva. The Vajrayana vows you took in the presence of Lama Yidam and the mandala so you purify them also at the Lama Yidam mandala. Self liberation vows you took from the Buddha, the abbot and the gathering of assembly of monks or nuns or whoever you took from, you purify in their presence. That’s how it is done.

1:04:19.1 Question: The next question is, today you said that sangha is body, dharma is speech and Buddha is mind. This seems different than when we take refuge and place our palms at our head for Buddha, can you help clarify this.

Buddha, dharma and sangha you can divide into three categories. Buddhas are fully enlightened, dharma are actually spiritual development and sangha are the assembly of more than four fully ordained Buddhist monks. That is relative aspect. In the absolute aspect, if you look in the Mahayana, Mahayana sanghas are the Bodhisattvas, if you look in the Vajrayayana, dakas and dakinis are the Vajrayana sanghas and also one object of refuge is the collection of all three. In that case, mind represents the Buddha, speech represents dharma and body represents sangha. There is no contradiction at all. I fail to see the contradiction because when you take refuge, you probably took refuge from one teacher. I don’t think you took refuge in assembly of monks unless you were taking some self liberation vows and then maybe [you would take that from] assembly of monks. Normally giving refuge is not even done by the assembly of monks. So even when you have like this touring group of monks going everywhere what we called the dancing Lamas, the secret dance Lamas, even if you took refuge there even though all the monks are sitting, it is actually only one person who is giving the refuge. So it is one person from whom you are taking refuge not from the assembly unless you are taking Upasaka vows or self liberation vows. There are eight of those vows, ( Tibetan) three lay vows and five celibacy vows. So unless you are taking one of those vows otherwise you are not taking from the assembly though they may all be sitting there. So where else can they go, in the kitchen, started cooking or what. Some of them might just be doing that too.

Question repeated: This person also wanted know when you did the body speech and mind, Buddha’s mind will be at the heart but they were also saying that placing the palms over the head for Buddha …. They would like some clarification on that.

Oh that’s when you are doing prostration. Not taking refuge.

I do not know you are doing this for Buddha, this for dharma and this for sangha. That is new to me. What I know is when you are doing this [placing palms over the head], you are trying to accumulate merit that will create ushisha of Buddha, the extra lump on head. And when you are coming here [ to the throat level], it is to create speech power that enlightened beings have and when you go [ to the heart level] here, it is to create the mind of total knowledge. That’s what I am aware of. I am not aware of doing this for Buddha, this for dharma and this sangha. I don’t know that.

1:09:23.2 Question: Could you please clarify the meaning of the lotus and moon in visualisations as they relate to pure mind and shunyata.

This morning according to this first Dalai Lama’s poem, I think they put this lotus as emptiness. And the moon as pure mind. ( Tibetan) This can be interchangeable. If it is emptiness, shunyata. Shunyata is the maximum example of purity, completely pure. Rig stands for rigpa, ying stands for dharmadhatu. So out of that emptiness, born the lotus.

1:12:51.1 ( Tibetan) That lotus represents emptiness here because I gave you the example, lotus comes out born out of mud, but it is free of all faults of mud and that also pure in absolute reality. The moon is the mind represents the temporary negativities that we create and the actual negative action negative karma and the dharmadatu represents the nature of the reality, free of all which means imprints of these negativities are, that’s the purity I am talking about.

1:14:20.7 Question: One last question. Will the initiation on Saturday include the giving of refuge and Bodhisattva vows?

I am planning not to. Actually I have to think that carefully a little bit more. Because I wanted to do a Tara blessing not the Tara blessing that we normally do but a little more detail thing. And when I was talking to the program director and saying it is Saturday. I said fine. I was under the impression we are here till Sunday so I thought Saturday is fine. Then I begin to realise when I go this schedule, it goes till Saturday noon so what I am planning to do on Saturday morning will not enough time. Therefore I may probably do it on Friday. We change the schedule because what I wanted to do here will probably take four to five hours. It is an initiation, no commitment and something very simple. Its not decided here, I haven’t even talk to them yet. I am just simply speaking my mind so we may have to negotiate and see how we are going to do that. So it might be on Friday but there is no refuge. Some people want to take refuge and those people who are going [elsewhere] to take refuge there, its fine. But if you want to do it here, you can talk to Kathy and we can set up a separate time. I will be happy to offer you the refuge. I can’t offer you monk’s vows or the novice vows because I am not. I am broken once I can’t offer you but the refuge I can. So I will happy to offer you that and for that please talk to Kathy. But at the part of this Tara blessing there will be no refuge, there will be no Bodhisattva vows, nothing because then there will be commitment. When it has commitment it is something that we try to avoid so as to make it accessible for all. Therefore I would like to do nice little sort of initiation look like, a nice little blessing with all full detail, everything. That’s what I was planning to do which may require couple of hours extra than what they plan, so maybe I will be shifting it to Friday. You know we used to change things a lot and we have stopped changing, we are perfect but sometimes you have to add up something. Otherwise we will lose our title as our good friend Yael used to say, ever changing sangha of Jewel Heart.

1:18:25.9 That’s it? Thank you so much and again I would like to remind you one thing. Two activities, I always talk to you about. One activity is motivation, the other is dedication. Dedication really a safeguard. You know all these purification we talk about, purification destroys negative karma, likewise, hatred destroys positive karma so to safeguard that we dedicate. Because karmic rule, karma is definite. If you dedicate for something, the karma, no matter whatever happens to that karma, until it materialises it cannot be destroyed. That is natural karmic law. I am not lawyer but that’s what it is. So we dedicate. Dedicate to obtaining enlightenment for all living beings. So when you dedicate that, don’t think, what about me, I want this for better health and this and that. You already automatically you have it. When you have enlightenment dedicating, all of them are like side effects, whatever you want. But you want specifically for something to satisfy yourself, I would like to dedicate for achieving this and total enlightenment for everybody else. You can do that as well. So the dedication now. Thank you.