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20060131GRAA Nourishing the Spirit

Thank you and a welcome. Tonight the topic tonight is nourishing the spirit. I was making jokes about this topic and although the topic was made by Topic Department. I was asked and approved, and it was coming to say, nourish the spirit and I was making a joke this morning saying that we have to go back to good old Tibet and some way of nurturing the spirit.

There are certainly interesting rituals, where we burned some incense, and butter and feed the spirit. So I was thinking on those lines and making jokes and the person who I was joking with was in the office, told me that would be a perfectly qualified to be a cult (he laughs).

So it was interesting, so the idea is, of course, nourishing your spiritual strength and that was definitely the idea, because everybody have a spiritual thing, everybody and everybody is interested.

And so unless you keep on, I like to speak straightforward, unless you keep on sort of recharging your battery, unless you keep on rebuilding then the effectiveness or rather the strength itself a can of the weakened, depends on the person so needs to be really sort recharged especially a your spiritual thing, unless it's been recharged and then it has a lot of you know, it is a long journey and it needs a lot of difficulties and obstacles throughout our journey.

Number one obstacle we get is our busyness in our life and you know, the busyness is so much and so much pressure we have the pressure we carry in our lives and that makes our spiritual activity is secondary thing

Number two a spiritual thing is something there is no bill collector who calls us all the time and you know who chase you all the time and so that's why another reason we sort of neglect, because everything else is most important, because there's a bill collector who calls you. It becomes a priority and the spiritual thing becomes not only secondary, but we know we need it and we always like to have it.

You know we need it, but it's very easy to put on the back burner. But there's no sense of urgency there’s no one calling everybody in chasing you an even your Sangha members. Some of the Sangha member groups in the West have a system that works out, making phone calls sort of the Sangha members link up with the phone calls a chasing to your spiritual works and it may be interesting to do it when someone is doing a retreat or something but then throughout the year and the months and weeks, the calling person may not call..

Number to you to get a call and the calls are bothering rather than appreciation, one time is nice, two times is acceptable, a third time you have to bang the telephone. So it become that way, so it doesn't really matter.

Even then, you know, even if you call, you owe nothing so it's not really becoming a priority. That's why internal re-strengthening and so nourishing it is very important recharging in various traditions in my opinion have this system of recharging it like we go the Sundays on church and in some places, they do the Saturday service.

Some traditions they do Saturday service and things like that. And they do have a some kind of a nourishing it through some activities, making it a more effective and helpful and sort of refresh the individual and so in terms of Buddhists from the point of view of Buddhists of one of the ways of charging or recharging or taking protection and recharging becomes taking the refuge and so I think this topic is linked up with the refuge.

So the Buddhists introduced object of refuge as the Buddha, Dharma and the Sangha. And there's a zillion different reasons from the Buddhist doctrines we give you. why Buddha, why Dharma and why Sangha why not just one single whatever, you know, why not one single thing all this sort of thing, but you know nourishing it and it is very important to one's spiritual life the way and how you nourish it differs a differs to the various individual as some people are very well nourished spiritually by attending weekly meditations or weekly talks, weekly praying or daily praying daily meditation and daily practices, and so much so that in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a lot of them a lot of us does have some daily commitment to say certain prayers to meditate certain things. The more you are involved, the more you get in that anyway

So sometimes it's also becomes too much, to much so really, honestly. It become so much, traditionally people have so much prayer and commitment to say especially when they say a long deity one sometimes it is 12 hours a day, that is very suitable in good old Tibet, where you don't have to do anything and everybody sitting there.

So it's a very good thing to do and so you can meditate you can say your prayers and you can make your tea you can make your food have food and then say prayers and have tea and in and say prayers or have a tea drinking while you're saying the prayers and you know: go in a nice little corner of the room and the beautiful sunshine and keep warm blanket wrapped over you and give you a good Mala that is really the sort of soaked in the oil, the body oil, and so I mean it's nice in that way.

But then, you know, it's very difficult for those of the 21st-century and for those of us who, you know, we have deadlines every half an hour. (He laughs) every half an hour you have a deadline, and it's not even possible that so people are a lot of different ways of nourishing itself. A lot of people are very happy by meditating on love/compassion for compassion or love or both.

A lot of people are very happy like these immeasurables the four immeasurables may all beings be free of suffering. You know, is it free from suffering because I never say in English so I'm always wrong here and they all beings be free of suffering and causes of suffering may never be separated from the joy that never known suffering and all these four immeasurables and each and every one of them and really sort of inspired individuals and reconnecting your ideals with the divine world. And all those and certain people choose a simple little practice.

They may simply, I’m just giving you an example of the White Tara practice a healing practice and that is a very good rejuvenating and recharging your spiritual thing and as I told you Buddhists do to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and the Sangha. Refuge has become very important for Buddhist practitioners, very important because from the very technical point of view from the very Buddhist point of view and from a very Buddhist point then this is like, you know, we say a doorway to be a Buddhist is taking refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha that sort of division and where do you draw a line. Are you a Buddhist or not Buddhist If you take refuge in the Buddha Dharma and Sangha you become a Buddhist and if you don't take refuge in Buddha Dharma and Sangha then you're not a Buddhist.

That does not mean you are not a good person that does not mean you're not a spiritual person. It’s a very technical question of technicality. I don’t know technical? doctrinal? A question very specifically for this and now I have to talk to you from the Buddhist point of view, because that's what I know that's what I come from. So really I'm not here to convert you in Buddhism, believe me I am not a missionary, I have always said that.

I'm not a missionary. It's not my job, if you want to become a Buddhist, it's your choice, no one will ask you to be or no one will ask you not to be it is entirely the individuals thing so the example given here in Buddhism why three Buddha Dharma and Sangha and number one is also very important point here, which is normally you don't even hear.

The moment we say Buddha the idea what we get is immediately looking back, in some kind of 2000 years ago is some fellow named Buddha, who happens to be an Indian prince, who happens to achieve something great in a spiritual thing.

And whatever that guy has said or told us sort of really true and resonates with our lives. Or something like that we may go back and think but that is where reflecting to the historical Buddha. There are two very important points you have to remember here. When we say Buddha. We have two different things here, one of the historical Buddha what is that historical Buddha that historical Buddha represents enlightened beings.

Now that's a very technical Buddhist word - Enlightened Beings. Just because Buddhism does not use a word representing God, whatever the reason is don’t ask me why, somehow they don’t. So it is very technical they choose to call it enlightened ones. Just like almighty type of things. Enlightened ones.

The historical Buddha represents enlightened beings. And when you're taking refuge two things a linking with the historical Buddha who represents the enlightened beings as well as a linking with our own future individual future Buddha and these are the two different things.

It is very interesting, if you look from the Buddhist point of view and in the Buddhist point of view everything is yourself you are responsible for you. I am responsible for me, and we all are responsible for ourselves and our ultimate goal to become by practicing a spiritual path is to become our own Buddha that doesn't mean we become that historical Buddha that historical Buddha is the historical Buddha. It represents, come, came, gone, and leave and continue whatever it's a different story.

However, our future Buddha is extremely important for us, when we went each and every one of us are eligible, eligible to be a perfect, to achieve the ultimate spiritual level each and every one of us no matter how horrible we might have been.

Now, I like to share a funny story that happened here the story is this in Buddhism. Something called the Buddha nature is a sort of mind. I have a friend who is a who is doing a Ph.D. in Colombia now on this Buddha Nature and he is a Chinese guy. He has translated so much of the huge Tibetan texts into Chinese language and he is doing a Ph.D. right now on the Buddha Nature. And any way he is a lucky guy because he supposed to be doing one year during research he got extended by Columbia for two years of research. And he's got two different scholarships from the government of the United States and the government of China both give him a scholarship Ph.D. scholarship and both told and you can keep both.

So he is a lucky guy a double scholarship was everything doubled his budget has been doubled anyway he calls this Buddha Nature, the Buddha gene like a human gene, like a genome type of thing, a Buddha gene it is the mental gene, not the physical gene so when he is talking about the Buddha gene that Buddha gene what that make it makes every individual being able to become a fully matured Buddha so fully matured Buddha. That's why were all not only eligible but also capable capable from all points of us capable from our life point of view of the quality of our life. This is capable number one and number two.

Don't let me tell you this I am going to different subject anyway. So we are all sort of capable and a possible to become a fully enlightened ones as a matter of fact, Buddha introduced to become an enlightened being is a the best goal of a spiritual practice what happens in Buddhism, where I come from, what Buddha shared is 26 hundred years of wisdom what Buddha shared every spiritual practice you follow, which must have a goal what you want to achieved not only you have to have a goal. But you must have three different goals, the best I do this, if I cannot do this then the plan B if the plan B fails then C sort of, you know, really. It makes it that way you make a goal.

You make a goal if you fail that you go to plan B. If plan B does not work then you go to plan C is also provided. So there are three different types of goals, one has to have that and if you don't have a goal If you just think, you be very nice to be spiritual wonderful happy Buddha call that not grounded, flying in the air one of these earlier Tibetan teachers in the United States (Thutben Rimpoche) calls this love and light he call that love and light. Don't ask me to interpret its not my word he is the guy who wrote the spiritual materialism book. And when you read the spiritual materialism book and I don't read English, because I don't know English. And if I have to read a half page it will take me three days,

So you know it's really hard for me and I fall asleep. So I switch to a Tibetan book immediately really honestly that's what I do, so I did not read his book, he talks about the spiritual materialism and I used it a couple times in a talk and then his own organization Shambala people told me and explained spiritual materialism.

I have to have an article explaining spiritual materialism which is not my word, and I try to look up this book so then he doesn't explain spiritual materialism at all he calls that spiritual materialism, but it's interpretable he left it there

So I have to make it from the materialistic using in the spiritual field to some kind of third level of third part of the middle of this spiritual development third part where you are linking with the contaminated and uncontaminated division so I have to be linked up from the ordinary material using as a spiritual to that level and making a very long commentary of spiritual materialism. But I'm not going to do that for this love and light business so I had better not use much, but on the other hand, that's why in the Buddha’s field and if you don't have a goal if you don't have a base if you don't have a how and why and then it is a it becomes a nice beautiful, everything is so wonderful, and sort of sort of like like you know showbiz and beautiful clap clap clap everybody go home, same old thing. You know, the groundhog he stay six months under the earth and then he comes out he is the same old groundhog so nothing changes so that is the point.

So that's what you don't want on the spiritual field if you put efforts on a spiritual field you must get something and that's why you have a goal so the goal number one is to become fully enlightened and to become just like the Buddha and whatever the quality value and understanding and development, whatever Buddha achieved, and we should also achieve that is goal number one, what the Buddha did and that is why I said, the future Buddha each and every one of us is capable and eligible eligible and should be able to become a Buddha because we have a Buddha gene using this Ph.D. guys thing it’s a Buddha a mental gene traditionally it's called the Buddha nature because naturally you can become and that is sort the question comes how much can I improve where can I go what can I be sort of the answer to give you that and that's why it's called the protection its called a refuge because you have a goal.

That's what you want to achieve and if you achieve that what do you gain. You gain total protection, mental, physical and emotional level totally. Fully enlightened being means nothing obstacle there is nothing unknown and there is nothing that is hidden from you and everything is sort of in the palms of your hands. You can see it simultaneously. What it tells you traditionally it gives you a funny example about the bottom line of example is if you use glasses to look in your palm lines the lines in your palm anyway the example is if you put transparent fruit on your palm and the transparent fruit will not block anything you can see the fruit as well as you can see the lines on your hands. Which in other words if you put a glass don’t bother about transparent fruit which is what and where you going to get it (he laughs) so lets put a glass on your hand and you see the glass as well as your palm. So that was the example given for total knowledge, nothing blocks.

Time doesn’t block, the time of the past, time of the future cannot block no distance can block, which is absolute clairvoyant absolute clairvoyant even the time is going to change it, we can also clearly see that person without any doubt and wherever and whenever it’s going to be settled and an all clearly shown.

And that is total enlightenment example, and, this is not only physical and mental emotional. Plus, past present and future everything effortlessly simultaneously at one time is almost impossible and unimaginable to us, but it is the reality. That’s why it’s called a total knowledge, awakened state. Fully enlightened fully enlightened so that sort of thing that is the quality of the mind simultaneously a zillion different sentient beings thoughts ideas and fate seen simultaneously by one person. Don’t worry we’re not going to go crazy at that time, you are going to get around that limitation. Can you imagine at this moment, if at this moment one of us began to see this roomful of people, what are they thinking each and every individual’s thoughts each and every individual’s fate and each and every individual something hopes and all of these you will see simultaneously you go crazy for us. But in total enlightenment beings they don’t because their minds capacity has come up to that level. So that if the ultimate goal and the ultimate protection. Ultimately what you can achieve, so that’s why it’s introduced as a refuge.

Yet, yet that as goal doesn’t help. You must have a way and how to get there and that is Dharma so that becomes our second object of refuge. The Dharma here means that actually if, if I ignore the literal sense what Dharma means if I don’t explain that I would do a disservice for you, in the literal sense of the Dharma means the explanations in the teachings and the information that comes out of and the results of the one’s spiritual development are called Dharma.

However, in the true sense in your own personal spiritual development is your own Dharma. The moment, I say my Dharma it means my spiritual development why my spiritual development makes protects me helps me uplifts me and delivers me to the total enlightenment. And that’s why it’s very important, Dharma is the real thing. It is your own spiritual development that protects ourselves from anger, from negative emotions, such as hatred, obsession, jealousy and so in fourth old these negative emotions and we are only protected by our own spiritual development others cannot cannot, it is the only spiritual development that can and also that makes it happens.

So the Buddha gives you a metaphor, the metaphor is Buddha said well, Buddha is like a doctor, doctor who if you’re sick, you go to a doctor the doctor will examine new look at you and give you a diagnosis that’s all the doctor can do nothing more give your diagnosis and prescribe for you the right medicine whatever we’re sick and Dharma is like the medicine, which you take in or whatever. The Vajrayana Dharma becomes like surgery. It really cuts through, whatever not needed tear out and throw it away what ever needs repair stitch them and put them together. You know whatever you have to do

The other usual one sort of like taking medicine you take medicine and it reduces the wrong chemical whatever is whatever it is you have. I don’t know what is a virus or whatever actually a virus is nothing cured by medicines, I think right with whatever infection or whatever it is inflammation or whatever the real medicine, it works against and the negative individual feels better and leads to the happier state. And that is how Dharma really is the metaphor is the medicine. The real medicine is Dharma. Why Buddha can only say only that’s your problem. And this may help you.

That it! So Buddha is not some kind of spirit that gets inside our body and act like ourselves to twist things around inside. He can’t do that. That’s not the way so the only thing what they can do is give you and point you to the right medicine and if you take that right medicine. It’s sort of balances is your mental chemical, and even elements like a earth water fire, whatever those elements are balanced within our body by balance we feel well and that is how medicine delivered joy to as we know, just like that, the Dharma balances our own mind with that unwanted elements such as anger or hatred, jealousy etc. and what we wanted such as elements of faith love compassion and etc. and all of those. It’s sort of keeps on balancing and brings the individual of better and better level. That is the Dharma’s job. That’s what the Dharma does

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If you have Dharma with you that happens to you if you don’t have Dharma with you, that doesn’t happen to us. That’s why. And then even if you have the diagnosis the doctor tells you even when you take the medicine sometimes you need help. So that’s why there is a Sangha that this Sangha is helping.

You know, if you have to go a lonely road by yourself with no one and no one to be seen that on this particular journey. You know on the path or whatever you are doing, but no one in 100 miles in any direction you if you have no one it’s very difficult, very difficult. A parallel quite a number of the members of the Jewel heart have been through that and they used to tell me 100 miles in either direction. I see no one who can help me or support me or do anything it’s true,

But anyway, so that’s why now the time of that difficult time is over at least where the Jewel heart is anyway. So anyways, so. So that’s why the Sangha, the Sangha is someone to help some group of people to support you can help you. So these are called the assembly of the best of the best. So the Sangha means you have to be the best of the best so be kind and compassionate and caring and caring for yourself and caring for others.

So you know, one does not ignore anyone. Especially the weak ones, weak, poor, sick, aging and all of those will not be ignored. If you do ignore your not a Sangha so this is how that is how the Sangha is all about it.

Taking refuge means seeking their help, seeking their help and this is quite in detail ones and there’s lots of ways and means of seeking their help. This is the same thing, if you keep the divine connection it works the same way exactly..

The source from which we draw strength is from the divine society, the enlightened beings or divine beings. For me it does not make a difference, language, technicality, absolutely but drawing from there maintaining the connection and there is a lot of ways of making and specifically mention refuge tonight listening so I briefly mention that you so if you are further interested we do have courses that comes up like Odyssey to Freedom or we do have Lam Rim courses the different courses, and we do have people to teach those courses and they’re very good each and every one of those people who are teaching are selected by me.

Because they are capable, because not only do they have the knowledge because they have a practice that not only do they have a practice not only are they committed, they work hard they achieve something, so they can share things with you and guide you and support you. Not necessarily to make you Buddhist but to guide you on your spiritual field spiritual path for me, although we give you the information that comes from the Tibetan Buddhism, which is extremely rich and really rich no matter wherever you look anywhere you don’t find such a rich spiritual sources honestly and honestly. I’m not saying that because I’m Tibetan I’m not saying because this is my job and I’m saying it because at least in my limited knowledge really have seen this clearly. I’ve been exposed.

I know nothing about it anything other than Buddhist. Really, my knowledge is equal to zero. However, I’ve been exposed to all traditions all kinds of traditions. You don’t see such a richness what you see in this nothing literature value of the English language is not even a drop. Not even a drop in an ocean. Even then that is extremely rich and if you go beyond that it is tremendously rich. So, so it doesn’t matter wherever it comes from it doesn’t matter wherever you use it in whatever the tradition is it does matter if it helps or not helps the individual. That does matter.

So that’s how we provide here and I guess I better shut my mouth and ask you if you people have any questions, because our program director told me don’t forget question, because sometimes I overspeak you know, and so I better shut my mouth.

And if you have any questions happy to don’t think I have answers nobody really has total answers, for we can share ideas and thoughts and see. Yes I can see a hand way down there it looks like Rebecca. Yes Rebecca

Rebecca: Does it help to do the protector prayers every day.

Rimpoche: Well, what you mean by protector prayers? Buddha, Dharma and Sangha would be considered as protector too and sometime there are protector prayers that we say which some people have a commitment to say and if you don’t have a commitment. You don’t have to say every day, but occasionally if you say it may be helpful. Thank you, and I think there is secondhand, I saw somewhere. Probably Jonas.

Jonas: On the BBC today there was an interesting show on when is too much making fun of spiritual images and there is a giant protest from the Muslim community throughout the world against Denmark

Rimpoche: What did Denmark do? (He laughs)

Jonas: Somebody put a cartoon into a major newspaper of the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban so right now is tremendous economic repercussions and people are not buying milk and people losing their jobs (Rimpoche laughs), but when is it too much because we hold Buddhist images as sacred. We have a sacred space for them and were unhappy when the Taliban blew up the images so where is it too much to what is it not freedom of speech because the argument from the other side is that all Western democracies are based on the freedom of speech.

Rimpoche: Very interesting question if you remember when the Taliban started shooting at the Buddha images in Afghanistan that was before 911.

People in this very place people raise questions saying how sad, what can we do and all that I think I remember and also remember what answers I gave at that time, and that is because of my personal feeling was the same thing.

And for me Buddha image is Buddha image. So it’s not Buddha nobody is shooting Buddha the Buddha image they are shooting.

Even in the consecration of the images it says your spirit may remain in this little symbolic figure or painting or whatever until it was affected by the elements such as fire water earth and air so consecration itself clearly indicates when there is a problem with the elements problem. Shooting is an element problem there is an earth problem because of the bullets it is a fire problem because it was hot you know they shoot and it was an air problem, this air pressure that goes at the moment is an element problem the spirit disappeared is not tied in and they leave, and it doesn’t matter if shooting a little strong, and the person is shooting then is the subject of compassion rather than subject of hatred subject of compassion.

And because why are you shooting at a stone over them and nothing waste of their bullet waste of their anger waste of their hatred for nothing. So for me it was not too much at all. It was okay, because it was it was total ignorance, and total sort of hatred, and it was the subject of compassion. Not a subject of hatred or retaliation, definitely. You can buy Taliban milk if they sell it! But the one thing that we cannot buy is the opium of what they sell. And that’s not right and not because they shoot the Buddha image.

Because of what they sell so that’s my feeling, but if is someone who knows what is right and wrong does something like that. That is wrong. That’s not right, and mostly people you know majority of them don’t really have any idea.

Don’t even know who’s this huge giant thing whatever is that it’s like Chairman Mao in China. When he has to reintroduce something he started the cultural Revolution, because he has to keep the huge population busy nothing doing something so he started rebelling against old education and all of them and you know, the cultural Revolution was started with school examinations are you aware of it? Right and school examinations going on there was one famous boy who worked very hard on the field and does not know how to read or write. So he wanted to pass the exam.

So since can’t read and write. So he wanted to pass the exam. So he couldn’t write so what he did is he put the blood in his hand and he put the hand print on the examination paper and said is that this is my examination. And that is give it to the teacher and the teachers are going to go crazy. And somehow Mao came to know of it and he said I support this. And that’s how it started in the University and the teachers may not given a certificate, but I is the chairman will give him a certificate and that is how they declared war against educated people against educated people and education and against the old culture and the old knowledge and against knowledge. And that’s how the cultural Revolution started because he has no way of controlling the huge population of so everybody started fighting against one another on all this revolutionary reaction is finished, nothing else is left, so it turned against the educated people in the educator in the old culture, and you know who wasted a tremendous amount of ancient Chinese porcelain that generation after generation had saved a penny with a little young kids going around and hammer smashing the porcelains. Everywhere (he laughs), that’s how he started so going in turning against churches and temples monasteries universities and schools and drag the school’s teachers and principals and headmasters down a put them paper hats on them and taken about the streets they kept everybody busy for whatever half a decade seven or 10 years. So the whole country was doing nothing but that so it is ignorant stupid and absolutely stupid. Yet it affected a tremendous amount of people’s lives, and so is it excusable, certainly not but is it because of ignorance or craziness. Maybe the Mao had already gone crazy at that time, who knows these things happen and so for us it is a subject of compassion, whatever it is the subject of compassion and use this as rebuilds and rejuvenate your spiritual strength. By bringing compassion on those people

Compassion on both the Danishes and buying the milk subject of compassion. Danish people from Denmark. Not the Danish cookies. Okay well that there if is no other. Yes, there is one question,

Student: Why is so much emphasis on not to being a missionary in Buddhism. I feel is a very thin line, because between making people enthusiastic and it goes over to being a missionary.

Rimpoche: Thank you for your question, if you want to be a missionary go-ahead I have no objection but what I’m saying is I am not a missionary Buddhist missionary at all because my job I understand, what I little know I share with people appropriately. It is not to promote Buddhism, it is not to propagate Buddhism not to change people from their traditional religion whatever it is. That is not my job. My job is to bring the information, I have been fortunate enough to be born in the good old Shangri la. society which has opportunity to share that and that what little experience I have I bring that in and share with people. I have no objection for people to become enthusiastic and if you have enthusiasm to become a Buddhist go ahead and do it. And that is not my job to promote and if you are enthusiastic to follow your own spiritual path and bring in the knowledge and spiritual information go ahead and do it that is a wonderful thing to do. My job is just to provide information. And as far a Jewel Heart is concerned it is just a learning center where we provide information but we don’t convert people.

They discuss Jewel Heart events and business.