Archive Result

Soundfile 20060317GRNYOmYoga

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location New York

Topic OM Yoga "OM as a spiritual path"

Transcriber Matthew McKinley

Date 9/17/21

[Cuts in abruptly] Eastern spiritual path has to be good spiritual path, doesn't matter whether it's from a Judeo-Christian tradition or Hindu-Buddhist tradition, doesn't matter. As long as it's good and helpful to the people and that is what is really the need of the people. Not only is that the need of the people, people need an alternative too. Without an alternative... and we are so spoiled that we must have a lot of choice, and without choice its not very good for us. So we really need not only a spiritual path, but we need a proper spiritual path, not only a proper spiritual path, we need a choice, and that also needs to be good one. And that's why I think you are here, to look for a more than material, in other words you need food for your mind and that's why you are here. Am I wrong? Right? No?

When Cynthia asked me to be here and said "What subject would you do?", I said "Om as a spiritual path". Om is the real essence of the spiritual path, you know that. So, you know when you say OM, I don't know about Sanskrit, it is Sanskrit, but I don't know Sanskrit so I can't talk to you much about Sanskrit but we also have Om in Tibetan which I can see, or hear, and three Om's not only once but three times! Om, Om, Om! So three-times is the return there. So I'd like to talk about Om. The word Om, as you see, the beginning of the mantras, any mantra you see whether it is Hindu or Buddhist, looks like I'm only talking about Eastern religions, but when you talk about Hindu or Buddhist whatever you talk the beginning of the mantra is Om.

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And there's a reason for it, how does Om became? What are the part and parcels within the Om? What are there, and why? These are the important points. You cannot have ... Om is combination, combination of three syllables: AH-OH-M. AH-OH-M, together becomes OM. Did you hear me? Ok? All right. Loud enough right? I'm not yelling at you. Ok so, there's a meaning, there's a message, there's an understanding behind those three syllables. AH is when you write in English,when you write in English, it is a combination of A and H together and it becomes one AH and that's how Alan Ginsberg used to write, and always AH, he wrote A and H together. And there's a reason for that, I'm not going to go into that detail, but AH alone will not make, it makes sounds, but it will not make anything else. So it is the basic, fundamental, basis of formation of all messages. Buddha himself said: "Ah me ying du gyen gi tsok... 0:05:17.8" And I hope you all heard about it! [Joking] "Ah me ying du gyen gi tsok" The first verse the Buddha said, it is the basis of all sounds that we produce is AH.If you trace down, if anyone cannot say AH they cannot say nothing else. Really,

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it is the foundation of all sound. And it's also coming down from deep-down, not from the throat or chest, but it has to come from deep-down, from the guts, it really has to come from deep-down. And what does AH stands for? AH stands for the base foundation, base and foundation of spiritual practice is love and compassion. So the AH stands for love-compassion, are you with me? [Audience agrees] So if there is no love or compassion, then there is no value of life. Value of the life is because it is the compassion and love that gives us value. You know it's interesting, interesting, it is easy to say love and compassion but yet it is difficult to understand what it is all about it. I do remember, I think (Faber?) was there in 1964, Allen Ginsberg and Phillip, both are visiting Ann Arbor, right? [Audience: "Little bit later (time)"] Oh, so '94 I mean not '64. You're right, '94. [Rimpoche laughs] I got these numbers upside-down. [Chuckles again] I'm not thinking 69. Ok, I'm sorry but I got them mixed up. Sorry about it [Continues to chuckle]. Anyway, so '94, and when we are talking, and you know Allen reads the poetry and Phillip Glass the piano, and in the middle of that Allen called me up. I was in the audience, he calls up and says something, I forget the question, he asked question something what it is, and I said "Love and compassion, love or compassion, or maybe both". And that is the correct answer,

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right. But then Allen told me and said "That is buzzword!". Buzzword! So, I did not know what the buzzword means. No idea what it is. A buzzword, sort of commonly known doesn't have much sort of meaning doesn't really connect with people. Sort of common, popular buzzword. He told me it started in Brooklyn and told me whole story of where it come from. I didn't pay attention in those days. Anyway, on this stage I had to make a little bit of, you know, sort of excuse and try to cover-up not knowing what buzzword meaning. I had to cover-up and Allen, kind enough, did not bust me there, but later when I got off the stage he said, "You didn't get that did you?". I said "No, I don't think so!". Then he gave me the whole story of where the buzzword was produced and all of those. So anyway, the point is if you just say love and compassion it becomes buzzword. So, buzzword doesn't become good spiritual path because it's just. Anyway, you know after that I paid attention, people overused compassion so much, and I even found theres a construction company called Compassion Construction Company. Really, true, really people use it so much, you know, the compassion. Construction Compassion Company, you know. Anyway, whether that produces constructs compassion or whatever. Anyway so, it order not to be that compassion must be something within ourself, it must touch our heart. Compassion has to be coming from inside and from the heart. Love is the same thing. Love-compassion actually it is one mind with two separate aspects, compassion wishes joy and happiness. Sorry, other way around.

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Compassion wishes free from the suffering, separate from the sufferings and the pain. Love wishes joy and happiness. Whenever somebody tell you "I love you as you are" which means good love. When somebody else tells you " I love you but I want you to change this-and-that", which means not a pure love, nothing. There is something else there. So the compassion really wants you, the individual, whoever the person they're talking about it free from pains and sufferings. And who are we talking about it? First and foremost, ourselves. We want to be free from the pains, although a lot of people think compassion means you're talking about other person, sure, but before you talk about other person you must talk about ourself. If we don't have compassion to ourself there is no way we can have compassion for others, believe me. If you are not capable of loving yourself, you will not be capable of loving others. If you can not carry compassion for yourself, you can not carry compassion for others, no way. So first and foremost, compassion for ourself. We have plenty of reasons why we should have compassion for ourself. Don't deny our sufferings, pains, and difficulties that we go through. Each and everyone of us, everyday we go through with a tremendous amount of difficulties, sufferings, pains, physical, mental, emotional. Countless.That is common to all of us, young or old. We suffer tremendously. Emotional, mental, physical, so do not deny that

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We would like to deny, "I am perfect! The problem is other person!" Always, always we like to do that. "It's not my fault, it is his fault!". "It's not my fault, it is her fault!". We do that all the time. And that itself is the problem! Denial, denial is the biggest problem we face. When we deny, how can we help? When you don't want to tell your difficulties or sufferings, when you don't want to hear with others. How can others help you? Especially if you don't share with yourself, you keep on denying, how can you help? We know so many people who get physical illnesses, who deny and don't want to go see a doctor. "I'll go tomorrow, I'm OK, I'm not bad, I'm alright." "I'll go next week, I'll go next month, I'll go next year." People do that, right? And therefore they don't get any help because you're denying. Similarly, when we deny our emotional problems and no one can help you. Some people think "I can hide it.", there's no way you can hide it! Hundred different ways you express your difficulties. People who put up the make-ups,

I'm not criticizing the make-up people, you know, but when they put on the make-ups and there's the cracks between the make-ups. And through the cracks everyone can see their suffering and emotional pains within that. Number one, you are the best way, you think "I am the best way, I can hide!", but others are the best way they can find better than you yourself. Nothing to hide, nothing to deny. The denial is the really giving shelter for sufferings and pains to grow. If like the swarm that helps mosquitoes to grow, the denial does the same thing. So, by acknowledging, by admitting,

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for yourself, you don't have to go and announce whole world, but you just really acknowledging yourself and then you begin to find, beginning of finding a way to help yourself. All of you are here because you need physical help, you need mental help, and that's why you come to the yoga center to do exercise. That itself is the number one step, to acknowledging difficulties. You also have to acknowledge your emotional pains and there's help you need to take it, you need to find it, you need to take it. Where I come from the Buddha's teaching, Buddha's teachings are not just like some kind of, of course it's holy, but it's not like that holy [goody?] thing over there.

It is really meant to work with the individuals to overcome our mental emotional pains and that is meditation is all about it. And that is OM is all about it. I'm talking about AH right now, I'm not even talking about M at all. I'm talking about AH right now, I'm talking about the compassion, I'm talking about the love and that is the all aspects of this. You know, one aspects of the OM is the AH itself. And a lot of people are, you know, the things are a lot of people are very happy to help other people, but if you don't how to help yourself you can never be able to help others. Did I say that earlier? I'm sure I did. You know why? If you don't know how to help yourself, how can you help others? You don't know, you are completely out of touch. You don't understand, it's our usual good old American language you say "You don't get it, do you?", right? And especially the women use that lot to man, it's true because man has hard to get it. [audience laughter] It's a harder, you know really it is, that's true

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[audience laughter] and "You didn't get it, did you?". You say that number of times, right? That happens. That's harder, they don't understand. I don't! [Rimpoche laughs] I'm sorry, many things, really true. So, so when you don't get it there's no way you can help. So it is important to recognize our difficulties. Acknowledge, but remember that is not end of the world. It's not. It's the beginning of freedom, not end. Lot of people think, well I'm suffering I need to learn how to live with it. Certainly not, there is always help. So, it is the beginning, it opens up, that is the beginning of freedom.

Compassion really helps, that was the ancient message, ancient message that Buddha gave, that Buddha told us almost 2600 years ago. That is the wisdom that Buddha gives us: compassion helps to ease our pain. And we carry that message for thousands of years and we practice, and its proved to be correct for number of people. Probably millions of people. Yet, we have no scientific confirmation. Today the scientists says, they say "We can see it.". They use those good meditators as guinea pig and put them through MRI machine and put them five-hours in the machine and do all kinds of meditations. Do this mediation, do that meditation, do this meditation, do that mediation. And then they begin to find,

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when you do the meditation on compassion, they begin to see that some kind of brain cortical something moving towards happy side, or something, and whatever it may be there is the beginning of a scientific confirmation that compassion brings happiness to all of us. It is amazing for me that 2600 hundred years ago some guy, happened to be prince of, Indian prince, went into forest and meditated for a while and came out and told us compassion brings happiness. Which is now, you know after 2600 years later, the scientists begin to say here it is true. [Audience laughs] It is amazing it has took 2600 years. I always say had Buddha been Caucasian male and then they would have accepted at that time. It won't take 2000 years, I'm sorry that may be too much I'm saying it but it's a joke. Remember its a joke too. So compassion begins at self, to ourself, good old American saying "Charity begins at home". Compassion begins with ourself and when we have compassion for ourself we will be beginning looking the way and how we help ourself. Then comes the M aspect of it, AH-OH-M, the M aspect of it. M stands for mother, which is every language everywhere, M stands for mother. Mom stands for what? Giving birth, providing basis. So in Buddhism, this M is mother, mother stands for wisdom. It is wisdom. AH is compassion, M is wisdom. Until you have compassion

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for yourself there is no need to have wisdom for you. You don't need. Why? Well there's no need, you know? I'm OK, until I realize it's not, when I realize it's not it's too late. It's time for me to go, it's too late. So there's no need. So when you have the compassion you begin to look "How can I help myself, and thereby how can I help others?". Then the M will come, all these three letters started dumping, bumping. The wisdom, wisdom, M stand for wisdom. Wisdom of knowing what it is, what is the real it is. What do I see? Is that really reality? Or what is the true reality of me? You know? People talk about it, who am I? Where do I come from? And all that, lot of people talk about it. Lot of spiritual paths spent time to find out, meditate, to find out "Who am I?". And I always say, I don't care. [Audience laughs] And I'm sorry, you know years ago Tricycle has these "Change of mind" days. You know that, you know, goes to the central park and do the change of mind days. And beginning of that couple of years they keep asking me come and talk there, first two or three years they didn't get it, third one or fourth one I did, I went there. And Carol, who is sitting over there, Carol told me "What are you going to talk about it?". I said I don't know what I"m going to talk about it. So that's when I said I'm going to listen to the other speakers and from there I'm going to pick-up. Do you remember that? You do? Oh, ok. So, I went there, when I went there you know I saw lot of those, all these big Buddhist guns are there. [Audience laughs] Joesph Goldstien and Sharon Salzburg and Michael Roach, and all of them.

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Each one of them talked to me for awhile, "How are you? When did you come? Why did you? Where are you staying?". Blah, blah, blah. And at the end of that I couldn't listen to who was talking what. And then finally when they were all done and I sat down for a little while on a (cuts-out?), and then I paid attention to who was talking what. And that person was talking there, we've been sitting there meditating in the sun, in sun you know, meditating whole day trying to find out "Who am I and where I'm come from?". And I said, what do I care? Who am I, you know. Whether I should say that or not and if I say that maybe people get disappointed. Maybe in American culture, maybe doesn't accept that. So I wanted to ask somebody, by that time Joseph Goldstein walked in front of me and he's a tall guy. So I got up from the (room?), run after him, wanted to ask him is it OK if I say I don't care who am I? He walks so fast with long leg I couldn't catch him! (Audience laughs) Well I couldn't catch him and from the up-there the speaker says "Our next speaker is way over there, would you mind coming back?", so I have to go back.(Rimpoche laughs) So, you know why I say I don't care? Because who I am, what am I, what was me. I don't know how to even say that grammatically correct. Has to be some kind of reference to a time and something you know, I like to say I'm the medical doctor of 16th-century in Sussex England or something. You know what I mean? So you have to have a reference to a profession and medical doctor. Sussex, and England, and place, and country, and 16th-century time. So who's really going to care if I'm a doctor from Sussex in 16th-century or the pleb in London in the 17th-century, who cares? But what happens is

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all the identifications become dependent arise, it becomes dependent arise, it is the interdependent... ness. And that is the true reality within us. I will not be able to say this in front of you comfortably if it had not been Einstein who introduced theory of relativity. With this idea I can say clearly to you. And that's why I don't care who I was and when I was, but I do care what will I do and what will happen to me because I do have compassion and care and love for me. And when you have that you need the wisdom that helps you. That is the spiritual path. Combine these two together N and R combine them with the letter O, put them in the circle, then the combination of that becomes OM. When the wisdom and the compassion joins together within the one individual person and that is the perfect spiritual path that individual is getting. You heard a lot of people saying non-duality and this and that, as long as you have dualistic view of compassions over there, has nothing to do with wisdom, wisdom is over there, has nothing to do with compassion, then we are somewhere else. We are left and we will fall in between the cracks. When these two join together, we are getting together and that is OM and that is your spiritual path, you have it here. The moment you say word OM it is not only the beginning of the mantra, it is

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itself is mantra. Mantra of jewel, a jewel-like who can fulfill the desire of people. If you understand OM is a combination of compassion and wisdom and that brings together within yourself together focused on anybody else or everybody else when you can lock this together you are on the right path. That is OM is the spiritual path. Just say OM, there you go! (Audience laughs) That's it! Honestly, that's not a joke! Honestly, that is OM as a spiritual path. And today we need is simple, we don't need complicated but if you don't know the background little bit then it becomes too simple and doesn't mean anything. And then you have to internalize the OM, not on that piece of cloth over there but internalize within yourself. When you internalizing... I will not go in there now. I'm sorry, maybe then it will go in a very long complicated thing. I may do disservice to you if I go there, so I will not go there. And this what OM symbolized and to understand this and the meaning of that and compassion is key for all your deeds and wisdom as a way and how you function. Bring these two together and you are on the right track. And I just wanted to say thank you for having me here and thank you so much for coming here. If you have any questions I'll be happy to say a few words if I know and if I don't know I'm sorry, which is definitely allowed, ok? (Audience laughs) Definitely allowed and I guess that's it.

Facilitator: Any questions?

Rimpoche: Well, not a single hand up in the air which means everybody knows everything. So, great! I would like to congratulate you and that's it! (Audience laughs)

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Facilitator: Question!

Rimpoche: Oh, who is the one that doesn't know? (Rimpoche laughs) I'm just joking! Go ahead sir.

Sir: How does the wisdom support the compassion?

Rimpoche: There you go, very good question. The essence of compassion of wisdom, the essence of wisdom is compassion. But how does wisdom really support compassion is, you know, compassion just beginning draws feeling the pain and suffering of others and you really wanted to help. And yet does not know how and what, then the wisdom is the one will give you how does one help all others. Also wisdom will give you understanding that suffering is not just happens to be there, it is combination of cause and condition, it is the terms and conditions that effected the individual. So, by knowing nothing is solid or permanent unchangeable, is not there, something is changeable and one can work out. And that is how wisdom support compassion, and actually when wisdom and compassion joins together is becomes much more powerful. Does that make any sense to you sir?

Audience: Yes.

Rimpoche: Ok, thank you! Is there anybody else that doesn't know? Yes, sir? I don't mean he doesn't know, I'm kidding you know.

Audience: If you relax enough through meditation or whatever chanting, does that wisdom and compassion sort of flowing naturally?

Rimpoche: Relax enough will give you the basis on which you can use your mind. If you are not relaxed, if you are so much tied up like this and then you are not going to have any opportunity for you to think. You will be almost like porcupine who's

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ready to protect yourself shoot anything that is sitting like this, and which really deprives complete opportunity from ourself to help ourself. So, that is I should say the beginning. Thank you.Yes?

Lady Audience Member: I wanted to ask about, you talked about having self-love and in order to be able to then help other and I personally don't, I'm not aware of having a lot of compassion for myself. But yet I know I do help others, is it possible that one does have self-love without being aware of having it?

Rimpoche: Still don't know how to answer that question. You know, I use to get some people who say "I'm enlightened but I don't know I'm enlightened, is that possible?". Sooo I use to say well, you know the best. (Audience laughs) You know when I say help, I don't necessarily referring to little bit of giving medicine to sick people and shelter for the homeless. That is definitely help, no doubt about it but we are here with a tremendous opportunity. Opportunity what we have is limitless. You know that way of saying sky is the limit for spiritual opportunity. So that is because we are human beings, the human mind and this human mind, this human body combined together have tremendous opportunity to make our pains and sufferings go once for all. And when you are looking at that opportunity and then help just giving help for the hungry and shelter for homeless and medicine for sick, it is definitely help but we can do something far better than that. And something far

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better than that. Take example, I don't want to talk in the air, take an example anger or hatred. What does anger do to us? Anger tears ourself into pieces, anger creates miserable conditions for yourself and for the others who are around. Not only you're not happy, you make everybody else connected with you unhappy, a miserab-- [audio cuts-out 0:45:38.2-0:45:51.4-cuts back in]... You hate the person, and you now what does hatred do. It is not mystery to us, hatred brings hatred, hatred brings violence, violence brings violence. So it is a long time consequences that we see. Anger. So if you're not going to help yourself to overcome your anger, I'm taking one example, but if you don't help yourself to overcome your anger then noone else can help you to overcome your anger. Some people may think "I have tremendous angry so I can not get angry, I have to suppress the anger, I cannot get angry, I have to smile, I have to give artificial smile!" And that's not the way to handling anger at all! So that is you try to hush-hush your anger, what is the expression called it "sweeping under the carpet", and that's not going to help at all! More so it's going to harm you, there will be one day it will be busted out and when it's busted you never know what consequences it's going to bring it. Right? So therefore you need to, I mean not you as individual, don't take it- , whoever it is, that person needs to help the anger. Yes, the Buddha said, everybody said the antidote of anger is

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patience. No doubt about it, there's no question it is true. However, when a very angry person then you go right in front of that angry person and say "Patience! Patience!", what you going to get it? (Audience laughs) Right? So you have to put that over here. So that's not the way but there must be bridge between the patience and yourself. The bridge will be compassion, compassion for yourself. Compassion for yourself you will think if I let myself control by this uncontrollable anger that I have, where will it lead me? It will lead me miserable, I'm not happy, it will make my friends unhappy, I am unable to sleep, I am unable to learn, I'm unable to pray, I'm unable to meditate, even unable to eat my own food! And if the other person look at you, how am I the angry person? One thing is, the funny thing is, you don't know how the angry person look like if you are, you know, really, and I have that experience. I wrote in book too, that "Good Life, Good Death" in there I wrote that too. I had a boss, big boss not everyday boss, everyday bosses are very good. When I was working in India I have very big boss, its called director general of something, you know, huge boss. And nobody, whatever the reason is, he was yelling one day. Yelling, yelling, yelling and I have very high respect, doesn't even know who that person is, you know, very high respect because of his title. Not only as a person, I always try to have respect to other people but being a boss's boss, my boss's boss-boss, you know I don't know how far it goes but very big, with big title, I have great respect to that person. When he was yelling, you know I couldn't help laughing. Honestly, I couldn't help laughing because it look like the monkey turned-around. (Audience laughs) The monkey is not showing the face to you,

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but monkey is showing the butt to you and it looks like monkey's butt! (Audience continues to laugh) Exactly! So when you are angry, when you are talking to somebody else remember you look like monkey's butt! You didn't see it, others will see it and do you want that?! Would you like to be monkey's butt? Even the ["look-guy-go"?cant make it out"] and so these are the points and the reasons and the reasoning within yourself because we are intelligent. All of you are extremely intelligent educated people and you can reason to yourself. You are not uneducated illiterate stupids, monkeys. But you can be monkey's butt if you don't take care of yourself. Also, if you don't help yourself no one else can help you, remember that. Thank you. I'm sorry I went too far but... (Audience laughs). Yes, lady over there. Yes!

Audience: Can you say more about the relationship between meditation and yoga?

Rimpoche: Oh! The other day I was talking with Phillip. Phillip told me, I think it was last Tuesday, no last Thursday night and Phillip told me when you are talking about yoga there are eight different types of yoga. And the eighth one is "jnana-yoga", right didn't you tell me? Jnana-yoga, which I know nothing about it. So you know you have this hatha-yoga and all different yogas, and the eight yoga is jnana-yoga. Jnana is wisdom and the meditation is for the wisdom. So that's why the wisdom aspect, the M aspect of the OM, represents the eight yoga, the jnana-yoga. And that is the, too short time, that's what I can say, um, meditation. Yes?

Audience: What is non-duality?

Rimpoche: Non-duality I understand as non-double.

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Two separate ones, am I right? (Audience agrees) No separation, together. Compassion doesn't stand by itself, has nothing to do with love and, oh sorry, wisdom. And wisdom stand by itself and have nothing to do with the compassion, then it becomes duality. When these two becomes together, oneness with our mind and ourself then we achieved state of non-duality. Let's say because it's short term, I don't know if I answered right or wrong but the lesser I talk it's better it is, because you know why I don't want to do disservice to you. Honestly. Thank you. Yes sir?

Audience: If you don't want to become a monkey's butt and you also don't deny or repress then what do you do with the anger? How do you express it, how do you work with it?

Rimpoche: Well you don't have to become monkey's butt, but monkey's butt is there to remember: if I don't control it I'll be like a monkey's butt. So that way you don't want to be monkey's butt, so you bounce back. So what makes me monkey's butt because of the anger, why? You know why, you know all this. So the best thing is, why am I angry? What makes me angry? Study this, that's true way of handling. One way you mediate compassion and all this, try to reduce anger, another way analyze anger itself and why its coming there? Why am I associating with this? And you will find false reason which makes you to associate yourself with the anger. Acknowledge that false reason and then correct yourself from that step. That is meditation in a way, actually truly meditation is analyzing. Analytical meditation that really delivers the goods, and once you realize that you see the faults of anger and anger have the faults. Non-violence have advantages, keep on thinking that with you. Back, forth, back, forth, back, forth, and then make a decision that I'm never going to entertain this anger of mine. Never going to entertain, keep on making resolutions but you keep on breaking because we are so addicted.

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But if you break 3000 times, doesn't matter. Multi-zillion times, doesn't matter but never submit to it, get up. It's like you throw off the horse, you must get back on the horse otherwise you would never ride horse, right? Just like that. And so, that's what you do. And then you meditate compassion and see the suffering of yourself. As I have suffering, they have suffering. They don't know what they are doing, poor thing. Don't look down. You can reduce your anger without losing self-esteem, you can not afford to lose self-esteem but reduce the anger, ok? Whatever lot of ways, and Buddhism is very very rich in that. Yes sir?

Audience: Is wisdom, is that somehow different from consciousness or awareness?

Rimpoche: I guess so. I guess so. The consciousness is, I like to look consciousness like a soul, you know like a soul of people. Judeo-Christian tradition, the terminology is soul. And wisdom is something that the consciousness pick-up and became the wisdom-nature. And right now we have tremendous addiction of those negative emotions, hatred, jealousy, obsession, and all of those. And when you changing that from that nature, that addiction, towards compassion you are building your wisdom. Thank you. Maybe I should say thank you and really make thank you and wish you all the best. And when you say OM, remember that one is compassion, the other is wisdom, the combination of that is OM and it is wish-fulfilling. Wish-fulfilling means, you know, if you have, it's like an old ancient story just like you know kid's story called magical lamp.

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If you have magic lamp you keep on rubbing the magic lamp you get genie pops up and said takes all orders and do whatever you need to do. So if you say OM with the meaning of that together, single sound, that you produce by OM is also wish-fulfilling. And that wish is not only self-interest with a desire to benefit all living beings, free of all pains, they remain with the joy, they remain compassionate and that's your wish is. With that mind you do everyday, whatever you do, it will be very helpful for yourself and for the friends, companions, and fellow citizens and fellow human beings. Thank you.

(Audience applause) Thank you. Thank you.

Audience: Thank you Rimpoche too. I have a present for you, it's a hat with an OM on it!

Rimpoche: Oh, thank you, thank you! (Audience laughs and applauses)

Facilitator: Thank you for everyone for coming! It means so much to me that you were here tonight Rimpoche, and that all of you are here, all my friends from Jewel Heart here at my yoga studio and all of my yoga sangha meeting my teacher. And you know, everybody that comes to OM you've already been studying with Rimpoche and influenced by Rimpoche, and it just means a lot to us. We have a way of ending our practice here that we would like to do now. And everybody in Jewel Heart knows this tune.. [Closing prayer]

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