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First Two of the Four Noble Truths

Good evening. And thank you. And welcome today. Well, looking here, and look at my job description here today, and it says the first two of the Four Noble Truths. Which means last week I didn't look in this carefully. What happened is, I did see last week what Buddha discovered. So I sort of went into the Four Noble Truth, in that way. But actually, that was not clear job description for me. I made mistake. However, I'm not going to make mistake today. So I'm going to try to talk to you about the first two of the Four Noble Truths. Last week, if I remember correctly, I presented the first noble truth as discovery of Buddha. And I slightly shared with you the Buddha's life story - commonly known [very briefly?] but commonly known as Theravadan story. So today, I have to do the other one. The other one is the Mahayana point of Buddha's life story. Mahayana point of Buddah's life story is slightly different than the Theravadan point of life. Theravadan point, what we talked the other day. Buddha was just born as ordinary human being, who happens to be a prince of India. And who happens to have selected life, who happens to have restricted life that doesn't see any suffering and this and that. The Mahayana story is slightly different. How it goes . . . different does not mean again here, before I go in that story, I'd like to share that. You are going to hear two different stories, more or less. So you not going to raise in your mind say, which is the truth? So both are true. This is very funny. In Buddhism, there's always two truths. Is never one. Always two truths. So keeping that in mind.

From the Mahayana point of view. . . point of view, Buddha . . . Buddha is . . . the Mahayana point, the Buddha is, the way the Theravadans talks about it, exactly. . . . The Mayahana will say these are exactly what happened, however, these are the manifestations of a buddha. Buddha had already obtained enlightment way before he came as prince of India, at that time. So what happens is . . . according to the Mahayana tradition, the Buddha generated the motivation of precious bodhimind and accumulated merit as well as purification for three countless eons. If you listen to the Dalai Lama's talk on the Four Noble Truths, there he talked about countlesse eons. And Robert Thurman, in the inroduction, he says you have to accumulate merit and purification, and how long you have to do, the Dalai Lama talks about countless eons. So actually, according to the Mahayana, that Buddha has contemplation, which means purification and accumulation of merit, for three countless eons. And within that, he not only covered completely the five different stages, or we call it five paths, as well ten boomies. These are sanskrit words. Boomie, I don't know how to translate boomie. I'm not sansrit scholar. Do you have any idea what boomie is all about, Kimba? Land. Land owner, or landlord, or something. I don't know sanskrit, but I do know the Malaysians, the Malai language is sanskrit offshoot. In Malaysia they call it malais are the boomies. And if you're not malais, you're not boomies, you're second class citizen. So all the Chinese and every Buddhist in Malayaisa are known as second class citizens. So all Muslims, born as malais, are, they don't call it landlords, but land owner, one who owns the land.

So anyway, ten stages. Another words is very well grounded. Fully grounded. Ten different stages. Are all completed in three countless eons. And finally became the first, not the first, the last prince of Tusita heaven. Tusita heaven, in the Tusita heaven, this is very funny system, completely. It is completely different . . . I don't want to say mythological, but is completely different system of mystical system. So what happens is, when we call this Buddha with all this historical Buddha with the little pointed hat and long ear and different you know, all this signs, the buddhas are known as official buddha. Official buddha are the sort of you know, in this eon, there's supposed to be one thousand official buddhas. And Shakyamuni buddha, what we call it buddha who was Indian prince, was fourth one. Fourth one. [And not verse first three is over????], but fourth one. This fourth official buddha comes to the human land from the pure land of Tusita. As sort of stack/stick ??? two words together here,. Similarly, when that buddha, is not as buddha but as most important being in that pure land, will become the official buddha. And before he moves to the human land, he changes, he sort of give his crown to the next person. Next person happens to be Maitreya buddha or the buddha of love, who happens to be at present the most important person in Tusita heaven. Which is next step, sort of next step becomes official buddha in the human land.

So according to the Mahayana, Buddha is already buddha, but came out as a human being, as a prince, for the sake of benefiting human beings. So therefore he would like to be looking like human being, functioning like human being, and acting like human being. So born as a human, look like human - but doesn't really look like human, does it? Anyway. So, subject to human physiological rules and physical rules. All physics, all applicable. And that's what we call it, human manifestation. So that buddha came willingingly and chose to be Indian prince at that time. Because it was the time during that period, this is interesting. If you look in this Buddhist history, that buddha's clearly mentioned. There was period where the principality of the royal things are very impotant for the human beings. There are periods where the scholarship is most important. There are period where the public or majority, which now we call it democracy, is important. That was very clearly mentioned even 2,500 years before in the Hindu-Buddhist tradition. Already clearly mentioned. And at that time, this budda chose to be most important prince of India at that time, because it was the time that royal things are very imporarnt. I mean time changes, you know? The time the royal are sort of important period. So the official buddha always born, whichever is most important time. If today we have official buddha is going to be democratic leader, not democratic party, but a little of democratic system. I mean that is how buddhas function, they're supposed to be function that way. If it is time a little bit earlier than 2,000 years, like 3,000, 4,000 between that, that buddha will be Brahmin buddha. And is going to be Brahmin buddha. Today it could have been Harrijen?? buddha, you know. Harrijen in the India caste system which is untouchables. Untouchables. You know today people will have lot more resepct to the untouchables than that of either the royals or the Brahmins. So the buddha been born acording to whatever public wants at that time. Whatever can convince a public, whatever they can associate with public the best way. So buddhas are born, because they're born, because they have already have done work, and they already fully enlightened, and they come with the choice for a purpose. And therefore, their life, how long they going to be, how much teachings going to be, how many people they going to touch, all of them, are almost predetermined. That is according to the Mahayana system.

So whether it is Mahayana or Theravadan or the Hinayana tradition whatever it may be, the most important message that Buddha can give to us is the Four Noble Truths. Truth is most important. And it's not one, not two, not three, but four noble truths. And that is the message of the Buddha. And these four noble truths are also based on the personal experience of buddha him or herself. Not just nice thoughts, or nice ideas or beautiful thoughts, cooked up from here and there, put them together. So you know we do sometimes. We really like to pick up certain things out of Buddhism, certain things out of Judaism, certain things out of Christian traditions, certain things out of Catholic tradition, certain things out of Hindu, and certain things out of this and that, and we get very good American chop-suey. And that's what Buddha doesn't do. Budda's big teachings, nothing's wrong with any tradition, whatever the teachings giving, nothing's wrong. But what Buddha shared is based on personal experience of the Buddha, whether it is Hinayana system or Mahayana system, whatever it may be. So it is the Four Noble Truths. The most important.

Because it is relevant for our lives. It was true and relevant for 2,600 years ago, and it is true and relevant today. And will be true and relevant in another whatever, thousands and thousands and thousands of years. As long as living beings exist. Why? Because in our life, basically, positive and negative. Positive, negative effects. Positive, negative [events?]. Positive, negative things control us. Or we control them. Or we influence them. Or they influence us. And that is basically how our life functions. Either positive or negative. Maybe neutral little bit, but whatever neutral there are, it be influenced by either the positive or negative, they're just going to take over anyway. We don't stay in between much. So what we wanted is going to be a postiive good one, which is happy, joy, peace, harmony, comfort. What we're getting is suffering, pain, and miserable. And that is exactly what we get it. What we want and what we get are two different things, and it affects us differently. So that's why Buddha very interestingly divided this Four Noble Truths into two category. Two positive truths, and two negative truths. Two negative truths is what we have it today.

Soundfile 20060613GRAA4Truths2

Speaker Gehlek Rimpoche

Location Ann Arbor

Topic Four Noble Truths

Section 2

Transcriber Colleen Retherford, July 23, 2006

Two positive truth is what we would like to replace what we have it, that is, the cessation, truth of cessation, and way to get to that cessation. We’re going to be replace, wanted to be, replace truth of suffering and cause of suffering. So basically when we counted the four noble truths is: truth of suffering, truth of cause of suffering, truth of the cessation of suffering, which is nirvana, or joy or peace, and fourth is truth of way and how you get to this cessation. So it’s sort of basically divided into two positive and two negatives.

Two positive truth are supposed to be the spiritual practice for us means we would like to replace these two negative truths by two positive truths. And that is according to Buddha, spiritual is all about that. Not about the magical, not about how to fly, not about all this. Even the Buddhist teachings normally tell you in very, very interesting, normally tells you…. In old Tibet if there is somebody try to tell you, you can fly in the air, they said, nothing surprise. When we were a bird we flew all the time. If someone tells you, you can remain under the water, nothing to be surprised. When we were fish we remained under the water all the time. When someone tells we remain, you can remain under the ground for years, nothing to be surprised. When we were worms we remained under the ground all the time. This is a basic, normal Buddhist teachings, lectures will tell that in Tibet before nineteen fifty-nine all the time.

What does that tell me? That tells me two things. That tells me our life today is not our first life. Nor it is our last life. It happens to be one of our lives, fortunate one, a good one. Although we will not be able to fly in the air, but we can sit on the ground nicely. We can grounded. So that gives us a message out of that. Our ????? message. This is a life, not all of our life. That means we have a life after life, and life before life. That is, what we call it, reincarnation. That’s what the message tells me. Doesn’t prove anything, but that tells me.

It is also important to notice, to really to know, how does the noble truth work. Unless we know the reincarnation, very difficult to know the how the two noble truth works. Although it is not that difficult to know. Good things bring good in life and bad things brings…… Good deeds bring good things in life, bad deeds bring bad things in life. That is no secret. That is no mystery. That is clear, simple, straight forward. However, when you don’t have idea of reincarnation we are very limited. Our views are narrowed because we see life, birth, we see death, then life becomes short thing in between. The moment we have, even we have a doubt, just doubt on the reincarnation, it will remove the partition of life begins at the birth and ends at the death. When we remove this partition you beginning to have panoramic view of lives, lives with the plural. So when you begin to see the panoramic view of the lives you have very different view of cause and the result, karma and its consequences, or the good deeds.

And first two noble truths is nothing but that. Truth of suffering which we do not need anymore explanation because we are expert on that. We have mental, emotional pains always. We give each other the mental, emotional pains day after day. We do! Although we are thinking we’re giving a joy to each other, but it creates pain day after day for everybody, all the time. We do. So we’re expert for physical, mental, emotional pains. We do not need Buddha to tell us what is all about it. We know.

However, we don’t know where does that come from. Is it come from nowhere? Or is it God gift to us, or is it….Where does it come from? Does my parents give this? Uncle, auntie, whoever, whatever. Or is it gift of my lover or whatever? Or from nowhere, popped up like toast out of toaster. Even toast out of toaster is you put bread in there, you turn on the light, and then pops up. If you don’t put bread in there nothing to pop.

So likewise, all our sufferings are come from cause, each and every one of them, every minute of it, every shade, intensity, form, whatever it may be. It is created by actually millions of karma, millions of karma. Not one karma, not a single karma. Millions of karma combined together create it. What do you think our sophisticated physical structure, our brain, our inside body structure, you know, think each and every one…

We have very limited knowledge, but those of you who knows how body functions, or particularly if you have seen, what you call it, that body something going on New York. I forgot. (Audience) What is called? Not autopsy. There’s some kind of body show, huh? Huh? Somebody… Yeah, body exhibit, yeah. Thank you. Yeah, if you look at, if you seen that you will know better. I haven’t seen it, but when you look at it, look at it, each and every one of our tiny little veins, how do they function? The air flow through, and liquid flow through, and how did it function? You know, I mean the heart and lungs and all this are very, very sophisticated, mechanical system. And do you think it has just came out of nothing? Even fools will not think that.

And then forget about our brain function. Today, neurologists probably know twenty-five to thirty per cent of how brain functions, those great ones. All these physics people. And that is not out of one karma. It is millions of different karma that made this. That made it possible to be able to do and function everything what we need to do and function, and much more. Capacity is almost unlimited. If we can utilize our body, even brain, completely we will be almost enlightened.

So every minute of our life, whatever we experience, joy, pain, maybe together or separately, each one of them are created by hundreds and thousands of different karmas. Every pain that we have, mental, physical, emotional, all of them as though we think we did today, “She created my pain. He created my pain.” We may think that. It’s not true. He became the condition. She become the condition. Otherwise, cause is already within us. We’ve been carrying this three countless eons within our self. Because it is so sophisticated, because it is so complex, yet, it has to go through, it has to be bottle-neck through throat. That throat is our self. It is our self.

And I’m sorry to say, in Buddhism, no god creates human beings. So I’m talking from the Buddhist point of view and I’m talking from these first two noble truths out of four noble truths. First two out of four noble truths. And according to this each and every pain, each and every joy, each one of them are our own responsibilities. It is our self. I am responsible for my deeds, so whatever joy and good things I have it, I deserve it. Whatever misery, pains that I have, I am responsible for it. And it’s my and my alone. No one else to be blamed.

Can I avoid it? Sure, we can avoid it. But we get sometimes, many times get at the wrong place at the wrong time. So each and every suffering or joy is not from nowhere, it’s from somewhere. That somewhere it has to be me and me alone, nobody else. Each and every one of us, our good, bad are our own, nobody else’s. Conditions must be somebody irritated somewhere and that becomes there’s two girls the things?????, and things happens. But that, it’s not the creation of that other person.

So she is not your enemy and he is not your enemy. It’s not. That’s why our hatred, our obsessions, are baseless. It is confusion within our self. We don’t know we have created cause. We do not know it is the person has just triggered. We thought, “That person did it to me, so I will not forget until I get my revenge.” Whom you going to get revenge? You going to get from your own mother, nothing else. Truly speaking, and that is truth is all about it. If there is no cause we created, we will not suffer.

Even the whole plane lot of people crashed and died. One survives, what we call it, miracle. Yes, it’s a miracle. But at the same time that individual person doesn’t have karma of dying at that moment. That doesn’t mean that person will live forever. No, at that moment, that time, the karmic doesn’t function that way.

So knowing, I’m responsible for my self, so does you, each and every one of us, our responsibility. Knowing our pains are caused by our self, knowing our joys are caused by our self, and that’s why we can change our suffering at the causal level. It is very hard to change at the result level, because karma is definite. But it is always possible to change at the causal level. Yes, sometimes you can change at the result level because it is impermanent. However, at the causal level we can cancel it, we can defuse, we can neutralize, and everything is possible at the causal level. That’s why, second noble truth, truth of cause of suffering, which is karma.

Karma is not something popped out of ground or fall from the sky. My karma is my own creation, good or bad, both I did it. It is not like our politicians sometimes say, “I’m responsible,” and then forget about it. It doesn’t work that way. When I’m responsible, when you’re responsible, each and every one of us, are, you know, our karma will follow. Unfortunately it will be functioning just like our body and shadow, or body and body odor. Normally we think, yeah, our toe and toe jam, if you want better example here. But you can wash your toe and have no toe jams, toe jams. Just like that, we can purify our karma and get rid of smell. Just like we washing and putting talcum powder on it. You can purify our karma, negative karmas.

So, this is two negative truths is all about it. We constantly, continuously create cause, every minute of our life, from our body, from our speech, from our mind, and from every part of it. The more efficient person you are, that much creation of karma you have. More the higher you are, more the people you control, and that much karma we produce.

Rimpoche’s teaching

20060613GRAA4Truths3

Janet Bourgon

Transcribed beginning Aug. 2

Give you example. Very interesting. I’m sorry. That is according to the Buddha. Not by me.

But what happens in Iraq when we kill people? We kill. Not only the soldier who are on the spot who shoot the people and get killed, but probably he or she has to do it, otherwise you are going to lose your life. You have no choice. But that person is going to have one karma of shooting the individual, one or two, or whatever you kill there. You have that karma, and that’s ???? limited. The commander in the field will have all the karmas of all the different soldiers who have killed number of people. The commander will have all the karma together, on that commander, because he is the one who issued the order. The commander in chief, you know who that person is, at this moment, is going to have all the karmas of all of them killed over there. From the karmic point of view, that karma is very, very heavy. No comparison with the colonel of Kentucky Fried Chicken. No comparison. Colonel Sanders will probably have karma of all the chickens that been killed, as well as continuously killing, and will be killed in the future. In the name of Kentucky Fried Chicken. And here you have not chicken, but human beings. See the difference.

So the karmic system is such a sophisticated and such a profound. Buddha himself said even you develop the perfect wisdom, even then it is hard to figure out. That’s how we get our own karma. Some people may think when we pay our tax, in that, do we also get the karma of killing because we contribute our tax. And I thought about that a lot. My conclusion is no, we pay tax for a betterment of mankind. And betterment of Americans. We pay tax for our development. We pay tax for our better road. We pay tax for our better protection of what happened to New Orleans. We pay tax for all this. We also pay tax to help people outside. We don’t pay tax to kill people. We don’t. But people who use it for that purpose that’s their karma, not our karma.

While I’m mentioning the tax, not only we (don’t go into the discover) ??? , I saw one great opportunity for paying tax. You got to pay your tax, otherwise they get you anyway. You are not going to escape it, they are going to get you anyway. So got to pay it, but pay it as generosity. Generosity with the mind of being generous for helping mankind. Your tax has the opportunity to help all mankind. We are superpower, no doubt about it. If we use our superpower for better way, we can be the outstanding, greatest. If we use our superpower for wrong way, we can be horrible. The choice is ours. The people of the United States. We are part of it. We are a member of American society. Society is nothing but that of a collection of human being. So American society is nothing but that collection of American citizens, such as yourself and me. For me.

So we do have opportunity. We do have great opportunity to be good. And we do have great danger to be horrible. We have a huge responsibility. We pay tax for that purpose. And all of us think you’re contributing. You’re generously giving. Generously giving toward betterment of mankind. With that mind we pay tax. It’s going to be our generosity activity. Not that whether you like it or not we have to pay it. So that we deprive opportunity of being generous. So we contribute towards betterment, and if someone misuse it, that is that person’s responsibility. Not ours.

Then there’s some people will normally think well in that case we have to punish the person, on god’s behalf. Remember, how many times we have heard, we have to punish the person on behalf of god. If god cannot look after him or herself, then I’m sorry--ha, ha, ha. We don’t have to punish on behalf of god. They know what to do. They know it. From the Buddhist point of view, there’s karma standing there. And that is their responsibility. And when the karma gets them, remember, we will not rejoice. We will develop compassion. Believe me. Here we can go wrong. Never do it. When you see the karma getting that one, remember compassion, compassion, compassion. Not revenge. Not satisfaction. Nothing. Then we are not better than them. By developing compassion over there, we get better cause of, we create better karma, which will give you better result. If we create, if we satisfaction, out of anger or hatred, what do we call it, revenge.

Or that’s why, for me personally, personally, I do have a problem when they say justice is done. Whether they bring justice to them or what is it, bring to the justice, or justice bring to them. I do have a problem with that. This is very interesting view. A number of people will really think we have to punish the guilty, and reward the great ones. And my opinion is there is somebody called karma or god, they are standing there, to do. We don’t have to do their job. Why should we have to subject our self suffer by being the, doing that. But we think we become instrument to bring justice. That is our own thought. No god comes out says “Hey, you’re my instrument.” God doesn’t need poor human being like us to help his work. So does karma. Each and every individual karma will be the, you know, will never let you skip. That is second noble truth. Second noble truth is telling us what causes suffering or what causes joy. Which is first noble truth.

Anyway, that’s what I know of first two noble truths. The other day is said, no matter how heavy, how difficult it may be, but when you’re looking in there, it’s not bottomless pit. No it’s endless continuation. It’s not endless, not. There’s always end. There’s individual end, as well as collective end. In both positive and negative. So for us, knowing this, our responsibility for our self today, is changing the first noble truth into fourth noble truth, and second noble truth into third noble truth. That is our job, our spiritual job is all about it. How do we change? Second noble truth into third noble truth. All our teachings are, all our works are, all our efforts are, at least from the Jewel Heart. Yours, mine are all are putting on this.

Simply, how does one individual should do? That’s why we have those teachings. Particularly, now the next is probably the summer retreat. In the summer retreat we are going to talk about developing compassion for our self, which is how I will change my second noble truth into third noble truth. That is developing compassion to your self, is all about this. We’re going to spend seven days in Albion College. What date is it? Sorry, June 24th through July 2nd. And this is our thing. How our negative emotions effect to us. How do I change it? Why should I change it? Who am I? Do I have opportunity? Do I have a chance? How do I go about it? That is going to be the thing of the teachings in the summer retreat. As I said earlier, I’ll say it again. It is on the basis of experience of the Buddha, and the great early Indian sages and siddhis and scholars, and the Tibetan masters and scholars and teachers. Actually, am I here next Tuesday? So next Tuesday I’m supposed to be talking two last truths. That will be brief talk. But the major work of changing the second noble truth, which is cause of suffering, into third noble truth, which is cause of joy. And that is the theme of the summer retreat. If you look in the Jewel Heart, year round programs are organized on that basis. What else can I tell you. Nothing more. What I wanted for you to take home today, whether you’re convinced or not, whether you realize or not, but you did hear, that you are responsible for your self. I’m responsible for my life. For me. My lives. Lives. OK, my lives, with ‘s.’ Underline the ‘s.’ Actually, that is what Buddha discovered. Actually this is the wisdom of 2600 years. Ancient, modern wisdom.

Since we are responsible, since I’m responsible for me, what should I do? Every step that I take, every thought that I generate, every action that I do, effects me. Not only me, it will effect my associates, my companions. It does. Saying in Tibetan--????. “If you’re near the golden mountain...” (Tibetans have mountain peaks) so “..if you’re near a golden mountain, nearby everything becomes gold. If you’re near a poisonous mountain, nearby everything becomes poison.” And that is how me, meaning each and every one of us, effects our companion. Our family. Our everybody. Me. The one individual effects to all of them. My family, my children, my parents, my spouse. Everything I effect. Specially your spouse. Definitely effects. If you like to be nice, jolly fellow, that will effect your spouse. If you like to be angry, lazy person, that will effect your spouse. If you extend anger, anger will be made your anger. If you extend love, love will be made by love. No secret about it. No mystery about it.

I always think, you know for awhile before we had this emergency of, what is it, terrorist business. Before that our aim was world peace. Remember? Since this terrorist came, we forgot the world peace. Nobody talks about it. But when you are thinking about world peace, I always think no organization, no leader in the world, never going to bring world peace. The peace is going to be created by each and every one of us. Within our self. Within our family. Within our fellow countrymen. And within the world. It’s not going to be other way around. The world will have peace, then the country will have peace, then the county people will have peace, then family will have peace, then me will have peace. Not going to work that way. It’s the other way around. That why good old American saying “charity begins at home.”

So it is the individual that matters. Individual. That is you and me. It’s you and me that matters. If I let my mind be influenced by negative emotions, such as hatred, anger, obsession, my influence will effect my spouse, family, children, and so on and forth. If I let my mind be peace, kindness, compassion and love, that will effect, that will effect my spouse, my children, my everyone. Whenever we have difficulty to ??? with two members of the one family, do not think he is responsible, or she is responsible. Please do think, I am responsible. If you have not created anger, other one does not create anger. Even other one’s angry, if you maintain love, compassion, not passive-aggressive, if you’re not passive-aggressive, really maintain love and compassion, the other one has to give up and come down. No way out- ????

I shared ghost story all the time, remember? Even in China, during the students’ struggle, ’87 right? Is it ’87? Student trouble. When they got soldiers with, you know, all these (tanks and through the paging,) ???? when the students carrying flower and giving to the soldiers, no soldier’s shooting them. Remember? Until they get barbarians from north ??? And that’s why soldiers in Beijing sent to overcome the students—they could not manage because the students came up with flower and show soldiers ?????? Even the Communist Chinese soldiers don’t shoot when someone’s bringing flowers to you. So within the family, if one is angry, the other one gets angry, the consequence is broken family. Please make sure it is not passive-aggressive. Passive-aggressive is equally like fighting.

Anyway, so what you take home is you’re responsible. Spiritual practice means changing the cause of suffering into the cause of joy. Changing the second noble truth into the third noble truth. Two points. A. We are responsible. B. Change, since we are responsible, we should change second noble truth into third noble truth. That’s what you should meditate. That’s what you should practice. And that should be way of your life. Should be. If that happens, you have happiness, joy, peace, harmony. All in the palm of your hand. And that’s it. Good night to you.