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Soundfile 20060307GRAAEntertaining the Spiritual Path

Speaker Gehlek Rimpoche

Location Ann Arbor

Topic Entertaining the Spiritual Path

Section All

Transcriber Janet Bourgon

Date date on which you finished this transcript Begin 7/14/2006

Good evening, and welcome here tonight. Tuesday, March 7 I believe. And the subject, what we are talking tonight, I think the title is called “Entertaining the Spiritual Path.” Which means the spiritual paths are going to be dancing round, and then we are going to be entertained by those dancing spiritual paths. You know, we have those dancing lamas. As well now we have dancing spiritual paths. I think that is supposed to be little joke for me for this title. So anyway, when you read that subtitle, it goes “entertaining the spiritual path in our life requires an open mind and indispensable art of listening. Right from the beginning, it is essential to discern how we listen, and how we process all we encounter.” Did I read correctly? So the entertaining changes is not the spiritual path entertaining us, but we are entertaining the spiritual path. So I think we are the one who has to dance, rather than spiritual path is dancing. And I think number 1, according to this title is “open mind.”

I believe, I don’t know whether it’s true or not, do we have to be open minded for getting the spiritual path? If it’s true, you have to say all conservative Christian people are not in the spiritual path, because they’re not open minded. I don’t know how to answer that question. Unless you’re going to say the conservative Christian party’s not a spiritual path. Then it’s a different story.

So I’m starting the dialogue with our program people who’s making, has this title. So, on the other hand, if you are not open minded, and then you’re closed minded, like Gandhi says, Gandhi says it is absolutely necessary to let the fresh air flow through the house, therefore we should not shut our windows all the time. That was one of the Gandhi’s advises. I used to work in All India radio, that’s Indian radio. Building in which All India radio is hosted, placed, is a big Indian building next to the Parliament House. Close to the Parliament House. Not next to it immediately. And the moment you enter the main gate, there’s a huge court ????of Gandhi, has to open all your windows, let the fresh air flow through. If you shut the windows, no fresh air will come. Huge carved on the wall????? So that’s why I remember.

So that’s what Gandhi said. You have to be open minded. You have to have fresh air passing through. And if you don’t get fresh air, you know, you get stale air. And you know better than I do what stale air does for you. From health-wise, or anything. So maybe it’s right, to have to have open minded. So I give you two points. Point one: whether the person needs a spiritual path, needs open minded. If so, all Christian conservative are not a spiritual path, because they are not open minded. And if you don’t think you need it, I quote you Gandhi here.

So that’s why you have this dilemma of whether you need open minded or not open minded. Which means you have to draw your own conclusions. You don’t look right or left, you have to draw your own conclusions. If you are happy with what you are, and you think you can get, deliver the goods, whatever you’re following, even you’re not open minded, you’re ok. But if you don’t think you have a perfect, total knowledge or whatever you needed in your spiritual path, and then if you shut down on top of that, you still make additional limitations for yourself, and therefore, if you needed more, you should be open minded. Is that going to be correct conclusion, or is it going to be debatable or questionable? And it should be debatable and questionable, because you have to draw your own conclusion, because no one should draw your conclusion.

Anyway, idea behind this is, all this, whether you’re entertaining the spiritual path or spiritual path entertaining you, or whatever may be, the idea behind this is already built, the basis before. That is, is it necessary to have a spiritual path, to anybody? We had that, I don’t know whether it’s last Tuesday was Tibetan New Year, before that. I think we already talked about it. Or is it coming up? I think we talked. It is the spiritual path is necessary, because otherwise it is only the material thing left. Which doesn’t really fulfill our needs. Which doesn’t answer our question. Which really doesn’t do what we need to do.

And lack of spiritual path have a tremendous amount of consequences in our material life, in our life, every day, in the world. Truly speaking, the wars that we’re going through, the destructions, and really the amount of the people that get killed, you know, are changing places into almost like a killing field. And all of them are lack of spiritual, to me, lack of spiritual path. Although it seems that conservative Christians always support, not always, but this time, they’re supporting the war. Normally they don’t. And they are supposed to be the person with the compassion and care, and love, and saving a life. And that’s what really what it’s supposed to be. But this time they chose to be supporting the war. Which doesn’t, seems to me, coming out of spiritual influence at all. To me it is a lack of spiritual path, lack of compassion, lack of love, lack of caring. The idea that we’re safer, which is definitely questionable. You cannot say no, we cannot say yes. That is very questionable. I don’t know, because one thing we know very clearly--the hatred brings violence. Violence brings violence. And that continues hatred. And that continues miserable life what we’re experiencing now. Continue. That’s what we know. So whether we’re really safer, in that way, we don’t know. But the chances are not likely.

Even from the Buddhist point of view. From the Buddhist point of view, remember the most important protection is love. The love is the most important protection, not the guns. Not the battle (barrel???) of guns. It is love. If you look into the Buddha’s life story, I’m sure many of us do remember that we saw a movie a few years ago, called “Little Buddha.” And if you remember in that, one of the scenes is protecting the person who’s becoming Buddha. Well, there are attacks coming from the evil forces. All these weapons, and arrows, all of them throw at the person, within certain limit it changing into flower and becoming flower shower. And that is all credited for the love/compassion, rather than the hatred. Or pre-emptive. Wars.

So if that’s true, as well as we talk very often Buddha always told us cause of happiness for us is love and compassion, and caring for others. We don’t have a scientific until now. Now the science is finding some kind of physical evidence that that is becoming true. So it’s really for the first time, after 26 hundred years almost. Twenty six hundred year later, that the Buddha’s message for us, saying that compassion, love brings happiness and joy to our self, is now beginning to have some kind of scientific confirmation. And looking at all of those, it seems it is really true. The love and compassion is really an antidote of terrorism. Rather than battle (barrel???) of guns. And B2 bombers.

Anyway, they’re all consequences of the lack of spiritual path. Because of that, is the general in the country. But individually, there also difficulties within the family. Huge amount of American family is, I’m sorry to say, is broken family. Single father, single mother, you know, all kinds of things. And that is also, I attribute that, lack of spiritual path. It doesn’t matter, doesn’t have to be Buddhist at all. But you need a strong spiritual thing. And if you had a strong spiritual thing, and that will have a different effect for sure. I don’t mean by force. Certain religion’s tradition will force you not to get divorced, or whatever it is. I’m not talking about that at all. I’m talking about the feelings and the desire, and wonder what you wanted from inside of our self will be slightly different, because we’ll be looking through a different window. Rather than looking through some kind of old window. I don’t want to elaborate much because that’s not my subject tonight. But I use this as reasons why we need a spiritual path in general, in the country, particularly in the family and in the home. A lack of spiritual path really brings a lot of difficulties and consequences within the family. We know that.

So if you really need a spiritual path, what kind of spiritual path you need? And that is entirely up to the individual, who are on the journey, on the path, on the journey. Absolutely to the individual. Not by anyone, any religions, orders, centers, churches, monasteries, temples. They may propagate. They may advertise. They may do anything. That’s free for them to do. We’re in the free country. But at the same time, they cannot push, force people. And that’s you’re decision, only you can make it. Nobody else should make that decision for you. And in order to make that decision by you, for you, for your own practice, your own good, where I come from, for your own lives after lives benefit. And that choice is only by you, nobody else. No one has a right to force or do anything. And that is your own, entirely your own decision. Nobody should ever force you to do that.

As well as when you feel you are on the path, and you feel you realize it is mistake, you don’t want it, you want to change it, and that also completely up to the individual. No one should be able to impose anything to anybody, in any form, or any way, it means. We made a very important point. Right from the beginning, when we set up Jewel Heart here. People who are in Jewel Heart, when we don’t see them, we probably owe a telephone call for them. Find out if they are ok. And when we know they are ok, that’s end for us. We should not pursue it, anyone, to try to, you know, that is very principle we made right from the beginning. And we’re following that.

It is funny why I made that, because there’s a funny instance. I know a healer called Noparchen. It is an interesting healer in, he was between Houston, Texas and Dallas, Arlington, Texas. That was in 1970s, mid-70s. He was a great healer, no doubt about it. Really, no doubt about it. Because I do have a number of people that came to talk to me because, medical doctors, who are wearing these thick glasses. Because of his healing, they doesn’t have to wear anymore glasses. People on kidney dialysis, because of his healing, they’re off, their kidney’s functioning ok. Not only one or two, but quite a number of them.

But on the other hand, the person himself is absolutely crazy. Just crazy. I mean, believe me, it is really crazy. Crazy. Just crazy. And he is good healer. Beyond doubt. What is his spiritual status or level, I have no idea. However, he is very good healer. So he had a funny idea. He had definitely the healing capacity. So he had a very funny idea, that all the people that he’d entertained for healing, he sort of put them together at the beginning of the month, and those days, every healing session he used to charge $700 to $1000, which take about 2-3 seconds for him. So anyway, that is his charge. And so what he does is, before he healed them up, he put them in the living room, and then he comes, he wears a Tibetan monk’s robe. He’s not monk. During the healing he wears monk’s robe. And then what he does, his hand’s like this and he put at the back. And walk round and yelling each and every individual to patients waiting there. Just he keep on yelling them. Literally, I mean calling them all kinds of names and putting the finger to their nose almost touching them. And yelling them, you know. So some get so scared because they have no idea what they came to, but they wanted, some got so scared and run away, you know, before the healing. Well he’s yelling. I mean he yells on top of his lungs for about 45 minutes or an hour. Keep on yelling each and every one of them—maybe seven or eight people, whatever is there that day. Every day he keep on yelling.

And then one patient drove up to the front gate, maybe somebody running away saw it, or whatever. That person left, you know, drove up and didn’t come out of the car. Left. And left, and there was a Tibetan young boy there, and he thought she misunderstood the address, and she thought that’s going somewhere else. He chased the guy out. The Tibetan took a car and followed him. And followed her, but, and then you know, few blocks away that person turned the other way so then he came back. And then they received a call, telephone call, saying that we wanted to come there and heal it, and healing, but somebody’s running out, seems to be. Then we run out and an Asian following us. So what’s going on? So I thought, oh, Asian following us. So we should never follow. Chasing. Anyway, so that is an incident I had. So I made that mind right from the beginning, so never follow, never urge anybody to come back or do anything of that sort. We never do. It is entirely up to the individual.

So in order to made the right decision, decision is made not on the basis of feeling. “I feel great, I feel that’s right for me.” That is very unreliable reason. Could have valid reason too, but directly looking through, through, feel good is not good reason to be right, because every addicted person will feel good when you’re using whatever the substance you are addicted. That doesn’t mean it’s good for you. So you just clearly know, just feel good is not good enough reason.

And then what makes decision? Information. Information is power. On the basis of information, and use your own intellect capacity. Use your own mind. And collect information. You remember? We all know, we all agree information is power. So you have to collect information. In order to get the information, you have to be open minded. If you’re not open mind, if you shut your windows the fresh air doesn’t follow through the house. Says Gandhi. So the open mind makes you open up for everything. Look into it. Doesn’t have to become a scholar. But at least look into it. Look into it, and almost three things has to be clear. What do you want it to be? Why you want the spiritual path? What is your goal? Does this path, which ever it is, deliver the goods of what you want it? How many people have achieved? What is it all about? That’s number one.

Number two--what does this involve? Alright, on the other hand, you know, I mean you have all things, you can say now a days we’re in almost living in the era of business. Everybody’s selling something for everybody. Everybody is seller. So they’re all selling something. So everybody who are selling everything, I mean anything. There’s how great this is, this is you can do this, you can do this, you can do this, you can do this. They cannot say you cannot do this, you cannot do this, you cannot do this. And if you have all disadvantages put up, nobody will buy. So they will only put up all advantages, and it becomes our duty to find out what is the disadvantages. What is the down side of it? Is that right or wrong? Right. So that’s what it is. It is.

Everything had, you know, advantages of you can do this. I lost my hand phone yesterday. Day before yesterday. So I had to get a new one. So every hand phone that you look at it, they have a lot of good qualities, and this and that. And everyone of them has, you know, this one has things, small, easy to put in pocket, you can put in side pocket. This one have a contact. This one has memory this much. Da, da, da, da, da. This one you can have emails. You can have this, that, that, that, that. And so, and then you get set, ok can you, can you synchronize with your computer and get all the information on it? Oh, this one cannot. This one cannot. This one maybe, but you need Outlook. On this one maybe, but you have to have some program. So the disadvantages comes later. Not at the beginning. So that’s why I think the second point is you need to know what are the down side is it. What are the disadvantages.

And then finally, how long? It be like, you know, we have a saying in Tibetan, I don’t mean bad to the Tibetan medicine people. But you know we have saying in Tibet, if you go and see a doctor, that is Tibetan doctor, they will give you medicine, the medicine you have to eat till you die. That’s sort of normal. Sort of funny way, you know, I mean you get better, then you know they made a juice, but sometime you don’t get better at all, so you eat medicine till you die. So we sort of critical way, we say why you go to see doctor and eat medicine till you die? So you know that’s how we say. So similarly you want to make sure that do you have to eat the medicine till you die? Or is that medicine going to cure you?

And these are the sort of three most important point you need to know. By asking to somebody else, or the salesperson, or anyone, you may not be able to get that information, because that information is you have to collect. So the way and how you collect is pick up the information through learning. So it is very important to be able to learn. That was number one. Learning. I think we already covered that the other day too. So that is, really, learning is extremely important. Even simple practice, simple. I mean, you say you want to meditate. You have to know how do you meditate. Not how you sit. That is a simple thing. You can look at it and copy it. However the right side person sits, however the left side person sits, you just copy it. Sitting. That is a simple thing. But what you cannot copy is what do you think. How you use your mind. Is it the focusing alone? Is there more than focusing? What type of meditation? All this, you have to learn it.

So without learning, how can you be on spiritual path? Just because I said, I am going to be spiritualistic. That doesn’t become, doesn’t make me spiritual person. Some people like to say “I am Jewish,” then “I’m Christian,” and “I’m Muslim,” and “I’m Buddhist.” And everything, they want it to be. I don’t know how. That person may know, but I don’t know how. And all those, that doesn’t mean one is better than the other. But it needs????what you want it, what you need it. What do you looking for? And your needs and their deliberation(??????). Will that be going to suit you, or not going to suit you? And that’s what you have to find out. In order to find out, you have to learn. You have to really learn. Learning is a great thing. It is the light that clears the darkness of ignorance. I think I already said that. I’m now going to repeat.

So in order to learn, you really need open mindedness, and you need intelligence. You really do. Intelligent. Preferably discriminating intelligent. Intelligent. That will know is right or wrong. Can figure out. Discriminating. Able to discriminate. If you are unable, you know, if you are not intelligent, everybody can tell you everything. Where ever you put your finger, it becomes East. And that’s not going to be true. All this, there are two ways people bring to that level. One—as we all know through the history of 60s through now, a charismatic spiritual teacher could really lead you, believe you, to do something strange. And we had so many instances. Like Jim Jones. And all of those, Heavens Gate. And all of them are one, very charismatic spiritual leader leads large number of people to the wrong path. And led to this.

And Buddha already told us that’s going to happen. Buddha give in one of his, what do you call it, jakarta ????? stories. One of them he had given interesting story, saying one monkey, one stupid monkey who happens to be the king of monkeys in certain forest, suddenly saw on full moon day, full moon night, the moon shining in the lake. So the king of the monkeys thought “Wow, the moon has fallen in the lake. So this is not good. It is our duty to take them out. Take the moon out of the water, out of the lake. If we could do this, we monkeys establish tremendous great service to the living beings. And we going to be rewarded. We going to be respected.” So that’s what this leader thought. So he called all the monkeys there, and said “the moon has fallen in the lake--look down there.” So everybody looked. The moon’s down there. “So it’s our duty to pick them up.” OK. How? So says, “I’m going to go head first, and then I’m going to hold onto another monkey, and another monkey will hold onto another monkey. The last monkey will hold onto the tree branch and we go down as much as we have to go there, and pick the moon up.” So the monkeys have decided to do this. And no matter how much you go down, you’re not reaching the moon. More monkey comes in, more monkey comes in. So finally the branch broke. All monkeys fall in the water.

That’s how Buddha had shared with us. So that is misleading. And misleading is not good. Terrible. I’m not going to go in that, consequences of individual and all that. That’s not my point. But point here is our duty to make sure that we don’t follow the misleading path. And that, you can be saved by you only, by your intelligence mind. And each and every one of you, one of us, I’m included, each and every one of you have a great intelligent mind. Do not underestimate yourself. Do not put your intelligence at the back stop, back burner of your stove. If you do so, you’re doing disservice for you. So you have to use your intelligence. And you have to have it—intelligence. And that also have discriminating intelligence. You can’t be you know, right and wrong, be able to make it clear. But if you can’t make it immediately, no one force you to make immediate decision. No one can force you. No one will force you. So give yourself time and enthusiastically you have to learn, and make your own decision. And that’s what you do. So not only open mindedness, but intelligence and enthusiasm.

Buddha had given us an interesting example of learning. Buddha said “When you learn,” and he used, it’s almost like Zen uses, Chinese culture they use, and almost they use everywhere, they use the cup as an example. Cup. The information on the spiritual path, they use as nectar. And when you’re drinking nectar, and when you’re pouring nectar for you to drink, you have to have nice cup. The cup must not have three things wrong. Must be perfect cup—three things. Number one thing, is if the cup has hole, in the middle there’s a hole, no matter how much you pour, nectar or water, nectar or water Buddha tells anyway, nectar or water, whatever you pour, when there’s a hole, it goes off. Just like my table here. Some crazy guy made a hole here. This beautiful table of mine. So there’s a hole here, so no matter how much you poured here, and anything go in this hole, nothing will stay. So just like that, if you collect information, collect information, collect information, and nothing you remember, everything is gone in the hole of forgetting, or forgetfulness. That is equal to not collecting information. That was fault number one.

Fault number two is completely shut your ear, or eye. Everything. Like this monkey gesture. Three monkey gesture. So Buddha has given the example put the cup upside down, and started pouring the water on top. So when the cup is upside down, you cannot expect anything to go inside. Right? So that means you closed your mind and you don’t want to learn. And then why pretend to learn? Why pretend to take interest? It’s not going to have any receptive at all. Which I think what we are referring to—close mind. Which indirectly establishes that open mindedness is necessary here. You know at the beginning, when I put two arguments first, for and against needed open mind or not. So here, it sort of almost comes too. Draw the conclusion of needed open mind. Otherwise it will be like a cup upside down. Nothing’s going to go inside. Cup upside down.

Also have a funny example in Tibet, Old Tibet, when we are learning. The example given is, you will never think that example actually, the example given is sharp mountain peaks. When you have those sharp mountain peaks, no water will retain at all. No matter every water, whatever goes this way or that way, never going to stay here. And that is specifically referring to some wrong pride. Pride. That “I know, I know, I know, I know, I know. I heard this, I seen this, I know, I know, I know, I know.” Mister Know All. Or Miss Know All. Whatever you are. And that is the sharp mountain. I know everything. But I’m dry. I maintain only snow. No green. No pasture. Nothing. That is Know All. Know All puts a tremendous limit for your self, because you’re never going to learn, you’re never going to check anything with you. Everything will be show biz. Looking outside. Externally. Every fault is everybody else’s. Every quality, I have. And that is Know All. And Know Alls have automatically how do you know that person is Know All? So when you bring a problem to that Know All person, that person will never listen to your problem, to your difficulties. Immediately they take a position of advising. Straightaway they will advise you. Straightaway they take the position of, I don’t know, teacher, or advisor, or something. Which quite indicates that the person is Know All. You don’t even listen to the problem of the others. Sometimes, what the need of the person is, not advise. Probably speak heart to somebody, just share the pain and sorrow that one’s going through. Share with somebody. And drop, sort of drop a few tears. They just need shoulder. But if that happens to be Know All, will never give you the shoulder. Straightaway advise you. Advise you, advise you, advise you, advise you. Appointed advisor. And that is close minded people too.

Third problem what we have is a dirty cup. If the cup is dirty, no matter whatever you going to put, you may put lion’s milk in there. The snow lion’s milk in there. No matter whatever you do, how good it might be, because cup is dirty, no one can use it. Somebody incidentally put shit in it. So you can’t use it. Sorry my language. Very sorry.

But, I’m referring this, and that is, what is it, what dirty we’re talking about? We’re talking about it, prefabricated. Lot of people have a prefabricated idea. And when you look at the people, talking to people, and you looking at the people, what happens is when somebody who has prefabricated idea, when you reach with their ideas, they will shake their head more than usual. They will agree with you more than usual by shaking their head, because their prefabricated, predetermined idea was just made with that idea, and what you say. “That’s good. I agree. That’s what I think so too.” So that is the one thing. And another thing is, if doesn’t tally with you, and then you know “Oh no, no, that person doesn’t know what he or she is talking about it.” Very close to the mountain peak. But a little better than mountain peak. At least they listen, so I don’t think so.

The judgment comes in immediately. With no basis. No reliable reason, no reliable basis. And so you just simply say “I disagree.” I disagree is not a valid reason. Even the parrots who are taught by giving good nuts, can tell you “I disagree.” Even the chimpanzees can say “I disagree.” Definitely. The words “I disagree” can be said by anyone, as long as you don’t have to follow why. The human beings are precious human beings. Human beings have a mind. Mind have understanding Understandings are brought on the basis of valid reasons. Human beings use reasoning to make up their mind yes or no. If you loose a lot of screws, and then you don’t use the reason because you don’t know how to use, because screws don’t work.

So you just make decisions—agree, disagree, agree, disagree, agree, disagree. And that is not good. As good as automatic, electronic speaker. You know what I mean? I don’t think so. I don’t think so. You know why? I have something else in mind. You know what I have in mind? I was in Singapore. And this was in the early 70s. Or late 60s, early 70s. In Singapore, in one of those Chinese temples. Singapore. I was asked to give teaching. So whenever I’m talking something, the Singaporeans normally don’t listen much. And they always want some initiation. And the initiation, you know, does at the temple where I was in is a small temple. But whenever you’re talking and teaching, really talking something like this, there hardly will be 20 people will come. So when there’s initiation, so they always want initiation. When there’s initiation, not only the room filled up, but the windows, open doors, open the outsides also fills up. And then I noticed you know what? During the initiation there are some places where you touch the vase on your head and drink water, and that time the population increases more and sometimes, almost doubled. And there may be 50 or 60 people attending the initiation. When you’re touching the vase on the head and there may be 150 or something lined up. So then I suggest to them, what you need is an automatic machine. I said, I leave my vase here with you, and hang that up on the ceiling and automatically it comes and hit on the head of people who goes. And that’s how you can do, I said! And that was what I have in mind. So that’s why I said automatic machine—agree, disagree—but that’s what I had in mind. Unless I explain it, then that doesn’t make sense. So that’s what it is.

So, that is the one. That is the reason why the people, the human beings use reasoning, valid reasoning for yourself, whether you agree or disagree. So I should draw a conclusion here. The conclusion is not only we need a spiritual path, we need a right spiritual path. The right spiritual path absolutely depends on the individual. It’s not in a blanket one. Not a blanket, not necessarily good for you, is not necessarily good for me either. So each and every individuals have its own needs. Whatever the need is, is your needs, you have to frame it up, your needs. You frame up your needs on the basis of the information that you get. So if you have the information, you can make your frame. If you don’t have the information, you cannot make your own frame. Each and every great spiritual path, such as Buddhism, or Judaic/Christian tradition, or Hindus, or all of those traditions, does have a frame made by the tradition itself.

For example, for Buddhism, two different frames. Buddhism one, one is nirvana is peace, samsara is suffering, that is one frame. It is very clear in Buddhism, what we don’t want is suffering. Where ever there suffering is, that is pain, and we call it suffering, so we call that samsara. Circle of life. Life after life, suffering after suffering, one after another, continuation of suffering, is called samsara. And one of the goals is to end continuation of the suffering and reach nirvana, which is peace. Peace. Referring to joy, happiness. Peaceful. May or may not necessarily be tranquility. Peace, happiness

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