Archive Result

Soundfile 20070109GRAAChooseLife

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Ann Arbor

Topic Choosing Life

Transcriber David Lewis

Date 9/18/2021

Good evening and Happy New Year, everybody. And we are very happy to be together here in 2007. Can you believe it? Anyway, since we stopped meeting last year, in late December, and I have been visiting Jewel Heart Netherlands, giving teachings for a couple of weeks. And then also went to Singapore and Malaysia. And they’re all doing great, and send their best to all of us here. And I’m just conveying the message of everybody sending their best, and wishing a happy new year to all of us.

[01:45.0] Also, I’m very happy to have my father’s reincarnation, and my nephew. His name is Demo Rinpoche, visiting me from India. And he’s also interested in my father’s reincarnation. Somebody else telling me, “is he your father?”. I said, father’s reincarnation, OK. My father’s reincarnation as well as my nephew, and he’s doing great, actually fantastic and wonderful. He’s doing great. He’d almost finished his studies, almost. Just here for a month-long holiday visiting us. So we thought we’ll introduce you here, and you people can meet him, and he will meet you. So that’s what Rinpoche is here today, and Geshela along with it. And Geshela been taking care of Rinpoche since he’s six years old. And in both capacities, as a governor as well as attendant and as well as manager, and making sure everything’s right. And so that’s how the traditional way incarnate lamas are brought up. And so it is perfect. And so I’m very happy to have you here today. He speaks great English, actually. Really, it’s wonderful. Geshela also speaks English, by the way.

[0:04:01.0] So the subject what I have here tonight is choosing a life. If we just read it, “embracing life as it is reveals precious opportunities ready to come forth.” Wow! It’s a beautiful title, no doubt about it. I believe, as we all know, the life – it’s interesting – the life what we have – when we’re looking at the life… I think I’m old enough… have an experience of really… When you are young, you don’t think about life. You’re really busy with whatever, you know. Over here you have… the kids have a tremendous amount of pressure from the schoolwork, and I don’t know. You know, acceptable in the society, and all kinds of things, and you don’t think much about life. When you are in young adults or at that level, also you really don’t think much about life. It’s sort of day-to-day activities, taking over your time. Don’t think about it. When you become old…

[0:06:28.0] It reminds me something very funny. A great Tibetan master called [Pundagatan Detomee], the 1700s. All his students and disciples asked him, please write your own biography. They asked him his biography. So he said, well, OK, OK. And then they remind him all the time. Never worked out. And then one day he said [Tibetan], saying I’m thinking that I am a kid, kid, kid 20 years ago. [Tibetan]. So think I want to do something tomorrow. I want to do it. I want to do something right. So 20 years ago. So [Tibetan] saying, “I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t do it” another 20 years ago. And he says, that is my biography of how I waste my life, over 60 years. So that sort of remind me – even when I’m talking just now. As a kid you don’t think about it. And as young people you have a lot of pressure, lot of commitments. You have life commitments, pressure, deadlines, and pressure from your own life commitments, and all kinds of things. And boy friends and girl friends will give you enough [unclear]. And all kinds of things, right. And so we don’t think about it.

[0:08:28.0] And when you get into old like me, sixties, and then you begin to think, oh my God, what had happened to the life, where it has gone. What happened? And then, you know, 80, you get sick, problem. You begin to get threatened in your life, and then you really worry about it. Until then we don’t think, but we taking granted about the life. And if you think carefully, the life is there with us, all the time. And specially when you are young. At that time, the life is open up tremendous amount of opportunity for us. Opportunity to be good. Opportunity to study. Opportunity to… all these great things… whatever you wanted to do in your life... and these opportunities are open to us. We don’t realize, we don’t know how important it is. We will begin to realize when it’s almost getting late, when it’s almost getting too late, and we begin to realize how important it is.

[0:10:15.0] When you have something tremendous, valuable and precious within us, somehow we don’t recognize. And it’s there. It’s all of us… the quality of… the human quality, the human beings. The human quality what we have is a really… I mean… You cannot buy that for a billion… billions of dollars. Honestly, there is something… You know, I saw the other day, advertisement by the Master Card, credit card. Sometime you cannot buy something with money, there is Master Card. I don’t know whether that’s Master Card or not, but there are some things you cannot buy with money, and that’s your life. Life with the human quality. And that is the mind and its capacity, and capability of communicating. And capability of making the right judgement, actually, although you’re not supposed to. But you know we can do this thing we have, the capability of making right decisions. And that is something which you cannot buy with, really… any amount of money cannot buy that. That, each and every one of us has it.

[0:12:29.0] And it is so important to give yourself a little time to breathe, and that will think, and think the value of the life. We do know the value of life. We only realize and recognize when it’s threatened, when it’s threatened. Until then, we don’t recognize. And that is not good sign, because we will not be able to utilize this great… the precious thing what we have. The whole purpose of human life, the mission of our life… You know, there’s a mission in our life, and we are capable of fulfilling that mission, if you realize the value of the life, then you know where you wanted to focus, where would you like to guide, where you’d like to lead your life to.

[0:14:07.0] Anyone can do [??], the morning comes, the evening comes, night, goes to sleep and get up, and repeat the whole thing again and again and again and again, three-hundred and sixty-four, what five, [laughs] one day short [laughs] 365 day we can repeat every year. And you can do that… anybody can do that. And that is not… that’s not the best way to utilize our life at all. Because this is unlike other life, you know. And I always think a funny way, you know. We always think the wisdom is somewhere out there in the space. Right. There are people who chase their life whole time, you know, whole life chasing UFO. Right, there are people, you know… why do they do that? Because they think there is some kind of wisdom in there, which we can’t have it.

[0:15:35.7] In my opinion, the wisdom is within ourself. The great teachers such as Buddha, the Jesus and all of them came as a human being. And the great human beings such as… just now… contemporary like Mother Teresa or Dr. Martin Luther King or the Dalai Lama, and all of them came as… are there as a human being. The wisdom is not somewhere out there in the… you don’t need a close encounter of the third kind to find wisdom. Honestly.

[0:16:40.5] And people spend their life chasing UFO. Even day before yesterday or somewhere, some kind of UFO standing above some airplane somewhere, isn’t it? I just saw it on news, some very briefly somewhere. Anyway… but when it’s landed… I myself was really looking for… when it’s landed, and UFO landed in the movie… I’m talking about the movie… when it’s landed, and the door open, I was sort of really thinking some kind of wonderful, you know, light radiating, some kind of light nature of some kind. I don’t know… Buddha look like or whatever. But on the contrary you got some funny guys came out, you know.

[0:17:34.2] So it indicates…. It’s funny. The human intuition is something fantastic. I mean…we always say… you know the today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s reality. I mean the human intuition is something really funny. Whatever it may be, those people who are making the movie shoes to make some kind of funny looking person coming out, call it… the… the… I don’t know what. What you call those [audience: aliens] alien, that’s right. I used to be alien. I have a alien ID card. [audience laughs]. What we call it? Green card. It’s called alien card. [laughs] Before you become citizen [laughs]. Anyway.

[0:18:33.2] So really, the… really, truly, the wisdom is within ourself, and each and every one of us, because of the human quality. Really, it is within us. It is not going to be find out from anywhere. If you look in the Buddhist history, and all these great masters, from Buddha onwards, the great early Indian masters, adepts, and mahasiddhis, and the great Tibetans and all these… they’re all human beings. There’s not a single non-human being who had brought this wisdom to us, not at all.

[0:19:26.2] Look at our own, whatever. Look in our own history. Whatever the great wisdoms that we have today, it’s all human achievements. Scientific, philosophical, religion. All of those are human achievements. So it is within the human beings we have produced that, and we have that. And that mind, whatever the mind those great earlier people… the great masters in the spiritual tradition, great scientists, everywhere, whatever they have, you and I have it, actually. Our mind is that much capable.

[0:20:30.5] Few of us think, I’m not intelligent enough. The truth is we haven’t used our brain enough. I’m sorry, our mind enough. If you use it, and you know exactly how to use it, we do have the same capacity. From the life point of view, it is capable, capable of delivering from the spiritual point of view, total enlightenment. Capable of delivering scientific findings, discovers, capable of delivering by calm mind. Plus, our physical structure makes it possible to be able to communicate… One, be able to discover, understand. Two, be able to digest. Three, to be able to communicate. These are the great qualities.

[0:22:01.4] So it makes us able to use any way you want to, as a spiritual practice, as… whatever… scientist… whatever. Whatever you want to do, you be able to do it. Or if you want to utilize your mind and physical body capacity totally to make money, you can do it. Bill Gates does not have different mind, different brain than what we have. Nor does he have a different body than we have. We all have it. Fortunately or unfortunately, that guy happens to have a diligent… some people say brilliant mind… we all do. But we don’t utilize. We’re lazy. We’re lazy. We like it, to waste time as much as we can… as much as we can.

[0:23:17.7] Number one, we don’t want to get up in the morning. You want to lounge. Don’t we? Number two, then we have to gossip, right, as much as we can. You can blow everything else except what you need to do. And that is our fault. If you want to totally dedicate your life to making money, you can. You can achieve, the life can give you. It is capable. Every great professors who have,., you know… and they all… because they put efforts and that’s why they… they have the capacity and they put efforts, and they became… Am I wrong? [laughs]. Honestly. If you put your efforts to your spiritual path, you will get wherever you want to get it. It’s not reserved for anybody else. It is for everybody… is… it’s open to all.

[0:24:47.2] We have a saying in Tibetan, you know the… the throne of Tsongkhapa has no ownership. If you’re capable, anybody can claim it. There’s no ownership. It doesn’t belong to anyone. Did you understand what I said? Some did, some did not. It is sort of a stage you get ahead of certain Gelugpa tradition. It’s called Tsongkhapa’s throne holder. One person becomes… anyway. So nobody owns that throne. If you’re capable, anybody can become that. Because we have the capacity. But everybody does not become the head of that, because you have competitions, and there are other people who are more capable than you are, and so you compete and you get it.

[0:25:56.8] Some people don’t even want it. But that is a life is capable of giving. And I think it’s very important to remember occasionally, specialy when you’re feeling down, life sucks, this and that, and it is miserable, there’s no reason for me to live, without… you know… whatever. Remember the value of the life, capacity, the capability, and what it can make a difference to yourself, and what it can make a difference to the others.

[0:26:55.4] And each and every one of us, not only capable, and possible to make a difference to ourself, but we can contribute to our spouses, the children, the family, and extended family, and whole mankind.. Each and every one of us, not only capable, we can make a difference. Each and every one of us counts. We contribute, we make a difference to the society, because society is nothing more than the collection of us human beings. That’s’ why we make a difference.

[0:28:11.7] Hey, we proved that in November, during the election, right? [laughs; audience laughs] So really true, it’s make a difference, isn’t it? Although we still couldn’t stop the war. Hopefully we will not increased by sending more precious, young 18, 19-year old kids, boys and girls to knock the door of those, whatever you call it, terrorist or extremist. Whatever level you call it, we are simply dumping them in the sectarian fight, nothing more. So that is called waste of human life.

[0:29:29.7] Why don’t… I wish Mr. Bush will choose to send his daughters there. Why doesn’t he do that? Honestly. Uh? [audience inaudible] Yeah. Anyway.

[0:29:57.4] So you know that’s really the precious human life here. And what really talking about life. And every life counts, not only the American life, even the Iraqis too. I mean, you remember the number is 600,000 over. You know, they made that one-time-statement and Rumsfeld denied, remember? But the British now coming out very strongly the number is, you know, way over 600,000, ,which is more than half a million human beings. And this war is longer than World War II, remember? Undeclared or declared or whatever it is.

[0:30:50.8] And in one hand we are talking about the preciousness of the human life. On the other hand we are talking about how we are wasting life there. So this is the contradiction in our life. What to do? We can make a difference. We can make a difference. I wish every concerned citizens will call their representatives and say, hey, enough is enough. How many more we have to sacrifice there now?

[0:31:55.1] Anyway… But in our life, we do have this great life, each and every one of us. The question comes, what do we do with it? The choice is entirely up to us. Day in, day out, get up, sleep, get up sleep, get up sleep. You know, eat, go to toilet, go to sleep, get up and eat and go to toilet. Or you want to waste in that way? Fine! It’s your life.

[0:32:45.6] Or wanted to make a difference in our life. Well it’s slightly different for me, because I’m coming from the background of reincarnation. Not only just I believe… I used to say I believe reincarnation. But it’s not a question of believing. For me it is real, and is a reality. Only problem what we face is we haven’t seen anyone who says “I’m baaack!” [audience laughs]. He says he’s my father and he’s back [laughs; audience laughs]. But good thing he doesn’t claim any one of the earlier properties [audience laughs]. If he does, you know, we have to fight the Chinese [laughs]. Just joking.

[0:34:06.2] It’s true… really. The problem we really haven’t seen anyone who says, “I’m back”. That is the problem. Other than that, it is reality. Everyone… If you make opening poll If you poll opening poll, I’m quite sure 60 or 80 percent in here can not, will not say, we cannot say definitely there is no reincarnation. The question is always, maybe. Maybe. Even Allen Ginsberg used to say that all the time. “I haven’t been convinced or I did not know yet there is reincarnation. But most likely, and seems to be there is reincarnation, I don’t want miss the boat!” That what he said. “If it’s true, I don’t want miss the boat.

[0:35:24.1] For me, the reincarnation is real. Just impossible to go each and every one of us in a huge void and disappear, no longer available anywhere, just because our physical body give up? Or physical body becomes unserviceable? No. To me the physical body is like a rented apartment, honestly. I’m living in that apartment, paying my rent as long as the apartment is serviceable. When I lost the heat, when I lost the roof, when I lost all this, and then I have to get out of it. I can no longer live in there. That’s the reality. That is reality. We have to get out of it.

[0:36:42.3] So the life continues. The Judeo-Christian tradition… I don’t know anything about it. If I’m wrong, please tell me. But I heard all souls are old souls. Don’t they say that? All… soul… are… old… soul. Right? Elizabeth doesn’t think so. [Elizabeth: it’s not across the board in every Christina tradition, and every Jewish tradition.] Yeah, but some do say. [Elizabeth: a few.] Yeah, fine. At least if one says, it’s a human being says, right [audience laughs; Elizabeth: one says it, yeah; audience laughs]. One is good enough to represent, yeah. [audience laughs].

[0:37:40.3] Anyway, so. Honestly. Even you deny the reincarnation you talk about going to the right side and the wrong side of the God who… the individual’s dead. Who is going to the right side? Who is going to the wrong side? Consciousness is the one who’s going to the right and the wrong side, because the individual life is gone. Now it’s no longer there. So anyway, I don’t want to argue on this reincarnation. That’s not my subject tonight.

[0:38:29.7] But it is important because the mission of our life, the mission of our life, to me, my understanding, is each and every one of us have our mission. That mission is to bring happiness, joy and freeing ourselves from the sufferings. Sufferings are the mental, physical, emotional sufferings. We have tremendous.

[0:39:26.4] And freeing ourself from those sufferings is mission of our life at this moment. It is the goal of our spiritual practice. Our goal of our spiritual practice is not just to become rich and success in our life. If you wanted to be rich and success in your life, follow Bill Gates. Honestly. Even you can’t do it yourself, just copy whatever… oh, no no… Donald Trump. There you go [laughs]. That’s the right example, isn’t it? So you go there.

[0:40:35.0] But that’s not the purpose of the spiritual practice. The spiritual was giving us an opportunity to be able to do something right for us to remove all our sufferings, once for all. And that was… Buddha make statement. Every great masters, whatever, wherever you look, East or the West, they make that same statement. And all of them cannot be wrong. If every one is wrong, then it’s horrible for us, honestly [laughs]. The Buddha is wrong. The Jesus is wrong. And every one of them is wrong. Not only the Buddhas and Jesus, but Einsteins, and so and forth. All of them are wrong, then it’s horrible. Hopefully it’s not. They’re right.

[0:41:58.7] The purpose is to be free ourselves from those sufferings, mental, emotional. Physical, yes, but it’s a temporary. It is impermanent. Honestly speaking, it is impermanent. Yes, we do feel pain. We suffer, but it goes away. It’s funny. One time, when Allen was there, Allen called me and saying, the William Bro [Burroughs?] is going to call you, and would you have talk with him? I said, OK. And Allen said some [?] else. After that I received the telephone call from William Bro [Burroughs?], a few minutes later. I never met the guy, but I do know about him. His biggest question to me is, what do you think my addiction to the weed [laughs] to the weed, is that going to block me, hold me back for my future life? What do you think my answer was? I’ll tell you what it is. I said your addiction to the weed is a physical addiction. You’re not going to carry your body in your future life.

[0:44:07.4] But… I said, but anger, hatred… and there are mental addiction that you carry. That can hold you back. So later, Allen Ginsberg told me, you really hit the hammer on his head or something. I said, why? He said he’s so angry person, all the time, very angry person. I didn’t even know that. I said your anger could hold you back. That addiction is… that is mental addiction. Mind goes, body stays. So the mental pain… I did not say physical pain is not pain, I’m not saying that. Don’t misunderstand me. It is pain. It is terrible. But mental pain is much more. And it’s continues. Physical pain is temporary. When we leave our body, we leave that physical pain too.

[0:45:25.4] Honestly. Whatever our physical problems and pains… no matter how sad we may be, or whatever. By time when I leave my body, I say goodbye to the fat body. Honestly, I don’t carry. I cannot drag that fat body across the life. No no, it’s not. Good and bad. Whatever the beautiful looking, handsome, whatever you may be, just goodbye. Or ugly, fat, whatever it may be, goodbye. Pain, or disable, or whatever it may be, goodbye.

[0:46:18.2] That’s what I mean, it is impermanent, it is temporary. But we been tormented and tortured by our mental pains and addiction, for which we need the spiritual path to tackle that problem. Aspirin doesn’t cure that. Meaning any drugs… I don’t mean just aspirin, you know. Any drugs, anything cannot. The only solution to this is spiritual. Honestly speaking. I didn’t say Buddhism, OK? Please remember. I said spiritual.

[0:47:36.6] And the life what we have gives us the opportunity to bring that spiritual practice within us. Specially when you have so many informations. Earlier we don’t have informations. I mean, let’s look back in 50s in the United States. Spiritual information’s limited, very limited. The 60s did open up, really it helped tremendously. Nancy Reagan just said no, but it made big difference in our life. The 60s be able to open tremendously. It opened door in the United States, open people’s mind. You people become open-minded person.

[0:48:56.2] Had that not happened in 60s, we won’t be here today. So just don’t look down on Timothy Leary. Honestly. And all these people during that period. All the Beatnik poets. All of them have contributed tremendously… made our life much richer, and provided much more opportunity. We ae fortunate enough to be really very open-minded. We know we need help. We’ll be happy to take from any quarter we can get it.

[0:50:05.2] We’re not close-minded person. We’re not. We’re not that extreme right-wing. [laughs]. Honestly. And that give us more opportunity, tremendous information from the great spiritual persons like Buddha. All of them available to us, today, specially with electronic age. Really. But let’s say, if the Einstein has not come, we won’t have this much opportunity what we have today. It’s not only the spiritual persons have contributed, but scientists as well as everybody has tremendous contribution. And we are here today. We are capable, we have tremendous opportunity. We can make a difference in our life, and we can make a difference to our loved ones. We can make a difference to everybody else. That is opportunity what we have.

[0:51:44.1] And it’s up to us what we are going to do? Just get up, eat, go to sleep, and waste the whole time that way? Or do something? Do the right thing. Very simple. And I keep on saying, do something, do something, do something. Do what? You may think, do what? What is the spiritual path? This is something very important for us. Each and every one of us has to raise that question within our mind. And ask ourself, what… is… spiritual… to… me. Each and every one of us should always raise that question, and find the answer within ourself.

[0:52:58.9] I’m not saying you have to be Buddhist. I’m not saying you have to be Christian. I’m not saying you have to be – what is it – Jewish. I’m not. I’m saying… so you have to raise that question within yourself and find what answer do you get. Even you ask Buddha, Buddha doesn’t give you the answer saying you to be Buddhist. Buddha never did that. Never. Buddha says simply avoid negativities, build the positive as much as you can. Watch and tame your mind. And that is your spiritual.

[0:54:19.1] Dalai Lama says, the kindness is universal religion. So it’s something to do with the mind, no matter whoever may be saying. You have to look in the mind. Why? Because it is so important, and the mind really controls every activity that we do. Even you think… if you started thinking, yes, of course. If you don’t think, it controls. Unless you’re crazy. Even craziness… even the craziness is also controlled by mind. Because mind doesn’t come in order properly, and that’s why human beings become crazy.

[0:55:41.6] Yesterday I saw that movie called…forgot… that the governor of California’s acting. [laughs; audience says something]. Terminator, right, right, right, right, right, right, you’re right, exactly. And you know he got some kind of machine guy, and going there, and fighting with another machine girl. And then you know, after a little while, he said you get out of [inaudible] because some order’s gone wrong, and I can’t control. So I thought about that. That’s how human beings get crazy. You know, the mind order doesn’t remain in order properly. Mind function doesn’t remain. Looks like it’s twisted with a different screw driver somewhere else, and it doesn’t connect right way. Connect the wrong way and the person becomes crazy.

[0:56:43.7] It’s mind. Even you’re mad and crazy, the mind controls. It’s mind. So it is the mind that we have to look in. What do we do with the mind? Not just looking in, or just [?]ing what the mind going to do. But we are human beings here. So what do you do? We suggest… we sell the good ideas to our mind. To me all spiritual practice is this. Selling the good suggestion, whether you learn from book or teachers, or earlier spiritual teachers, experience, or whatever it is, we’re selling that to our mind and see if they’ll buy.

[0:58:00.5] Practice to me is that. Spend time saying mantras, [?] in and meditating. Bring all this… what are you doing? Selling the idea to your mind. Make sure you’re selling the right idea. If you’re selling the wrong idea, it’s terrible. People do sell wrong ideas. Don’t forget… Hitler sold the wrong idea, to himself and to the Germans, and tried to sell that to the rest of the world. Stalin, Chairman Mao, all of them. Even, even, even, even… I better shut up my mouth [audience laughs] [laughs]. I better shut up, you know.

[0:59:16.5] Anyway, you people do sell wrong ideas. And we are possible to… easy to sell wrong ideas, because we are addicted. It is very easy to sell hatred, because we have a fear. It is very easy to sell obsession. It is difficult to sell compassion. It is difficult to sell caring. It is difficult to sell love. I mean pure love. I don’t mean the sticky love we’re addicted. Honestly.

[1:00:39.7] So when you been able to sell the kindness and compassion, consequences of that will be reducing the hatred. And hurting. And violence follows. You don’t hate. You don’t hurt. You don’t engage in violence. Violence brings violence. Violence brings the suffering, continue. Love, caring, kindness, compassion, concern, will bring non-violence, that brings joy and happiness.

[1:01:45.8] If we look [inaudible], look in the history, Saddam is gone. Unfortunately, very bad way, it’s terrible. But… no matter whoever it may be, such a horrible way. But he’s gone. And there’s nothing to admire and leave, look behind. Gandhi is also gone, also bad way, shot, shot to death, actually. But lots to look, people admire even today. Because of the violence and non-violence. Because of the hatred and the compassion, that made a difference.

[1:03:08.7] Look between the Chairman Mao and the Dalai Lama. People love Dalai Lama. I don’t think anybody says, I love Chairman Mao, except a few communists. That is because of the kindness and the compassion, and hatred and violence, and that’s making the difference. So the non-violence… it is something that we…we all can do, easily, simple, straightforward, easy. When we say we have to do something, do something, do something, that means cut on the causes of the violence, and the build the causes which brings non-violence. In other words, cut and eradicate hatred, obsession. Those are, I call it, negative emotions. Build love, compassion, kindness, caring. These are positive emotions.

[1:05:10.4] That is the basis on which we can work, right or wrong. I’m sure you all have used lot of resolutions for New Year, but I will still suggest you to have a resolution that reduced violence and eradicate… or try to eradicate hatred.

[1:05:55.7] Any questions, anybody? I don’t see any hands, interesting. Right. Yes, there is a hand. Jonas, the lady over here. I think the microphone will come to you. Did not want use it, that’s fine.

[1:06:25.3] [Audience:] I have a question about karma. And you were talking about reincarnation. And I’ve always wondered, is it your own personal karmic collection that goes on, or does some of your bad karma hook up with somebody else’s bad karma to create, you know, perhaps a Saddam Hussein? And the some of your good karma hooks up with somebody else’s good karma and you become a really, really good person, like Mother Teresa? Or is it your own personal baggage that goes on and on?

[1:06:57.9] Well, if Saddam says all bad karmas, we’ll be very happy [laughs]. Good question. What I understand is, karmic is something that completely individual and personal. And, we talk about it, four characteristics of the karma. That is, definite, fast-growing, one doesn’t meet with the karma which you have not created, and one will meet the karma if you have created, no matter how long, whatever it takes. So which really means it is completely individual. So whatever I do, I’m responsible. So my karma will follow me like body and shadow. Or it’s almost like on my consciousness I put a strand say I owe you.

[1:08:13.9] So that… When the mind transit from one life to another, that IOU note goes with it, because it’s a strand on it. See, it is completely individualized, not, you know, somebody else’s karma will affect somebody else. It doesn’t. That’s my understanding. Thank you.

[1:08:42.8] Yes sir. [audience:] Would like the Christian concept of grace ever enter into karma?

[1:08:49.0] The question says, what about the grace? Grace, miracle, every thing has room. Everything has room. But however, my understanding of the karma is, again, it is individual responsibility, and individual can purify, and purify its own negative karma with the help of a higher power. But I don’t think another higher power can release and relieve and all that, doesn’t work that way. What I understand, according to the Buddhist background.

[1:09:44.5] Because it is possible, I’m responsible on my deeds. You’re responsible for your deeds. We all responsible. In one way karma to me is responsibility. Whoever does what, that person is responsible for that. Although the police might not get us, but the karmic police will you a ticket. That reminds me about 20 years ago when I first came in Ann Arbor, somebody give me a… for joke, a karmic police ticket. And you know, you can write the ticket and put on somebody else’s car.

[1:10:41.0] Yes, but…. [audience (Bobbie K):] This is kid of a silly question, but I was watching a documentary about China, and they were talking about a area where Tibetans have lived a long time, and the area where they’ve raised horses for a long time. And do you know what area I’m talking about? They’re still there, there’s a monastery…. [Rimpoche:] Well I’m sure there are a lot of areas… [audience:] It was known for raising horses. [Rinpoche:] OK. [audience:] And they still do. And there’s quite a monastery population there. And I didn’t understand this statement. One of the monks said that sometimes there’s a soul of a Buddha in a horse. [Rimpoche:] There is what? [Audience:] I know, it sounds crazy, but sometimes there’s a soul of a Buddha in a horse. [Rimpoche:] Soul of a Buddha. [Audience:] In a horse. Now I know they didn’t mean that literally, but what are those qualities that they’re talking about or…?

[1:11:53.0] [Rimpoche:] Here [?] You know, you know, I saw a movie called [Numerous audience, inaudible]. What is it, All of Me, or something, right? [Audience:] Oh, yes. [Rimpoche:] All of Me. Do you remember that story? And there was a soul supposed to be transferring, some kind of Indian sadhu who, sort of… Is that the Tibetan Lama or something? In [inaudible] and then that soul been transferred in a little, little… if I remember correctly, a little part of water. And the water… somehow the horse drink the water. No, no. Water went on the flower. Horse eat the flower. And the soul gets into the horse or something. [Audience:] Rimpoche… [inaudible], audience laughs.

[1:12:51.6] Well I saw that movie, but I know they didn’t mean that. [Rimpoche:] Right. No, no, no. I don’t think it… I will not say that they didn’t mean that. I will say, sometimes even the Buddhas will take a live of a horse in order to help and serve people. Really. Always.

[1:13:25.6] And they take life of a rabbit. And there’s a guy in New York who is … owns the HMO. He sold it, become very wealthy and bought a lot of Tibetan thangkas, maybe thousands of them, and made a museum called Rubin Museum. And Rubin said, I would like to be rabbit next life, because he… you know… he did, he did say I would like to be rabbit. Some big lama came to his museum. The lama’s followers made arrangement, and then put a throne, put the lama on top, and then they asked everybody to offer scarf, and they asked Rubin to offer scarf. He did offer. Something he didn’t like it, so the Lama give him a scarf, and say you have done great merit, and you will have good future life. So he took the scarf out, give it back to that lama, and putted his hand on the lama’s head, just like the lama did to him. And he said, I don’t want your luck, and I don’t want to have good life, I want to be rabbit. [laughs, audience laughs]

[1:15:01.4] So, so, so. You know why he said I want to be rabbit? Because he saw a thangka where depicted one of the Dalai Lama’s earlier life, and… he happens to be rabbit in the moon. So that’s why he said he would like to be rabbit. So the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, it made a state[ment?] do sometimes take a life different for a purpose. So there could be a consciousness of the Buddha in a horse, why not? Honestly, we cannot deny, say it’s not.

[1:15:53.1] Go ahead. I can see a long hand over there. [Audience:] My question is for Demo. And we were talking about mental… the mental part of our mind passes forward. And I know that your father Demo had an interest in photography, was [wasn’t?] a photographer. [Rimpoche:] I better let these guys… also great interest in the photograph. [Audience:] Oh really, great, OK.

[1:16:28.4] Ah, John, over there, John Moran. [John Moran:] Rimpoche, you said, you said that there wasn’t a drug that, you know, could fix your spiritual problems and your mind, but [Rimpoche:] I’m sorry, what did you say? [John Moran:] You said there wasn’t a drug that could fix your spiritual problem or your mind. What about these drugs that, you know, people take for depression and that sort of thing, where you take drug. [Rimpoche:] Well, that does help, for sure. If you have the right person, the right doctor, gives you… prescribes you the right drug, that’s help, you’re right. You caught me. I surrender [laughs].

[1:17:20.5] Ahhh… well, Elizabeth, I think… ahh… I’ll have… go ahead… [Elizabeth Hurwitz:] OK. [Rimpoche:] You’re the last one now, OK [Elizabeth Hurwitz:] OK, it’s back to the rabbit. OK. Could you just really briefly describe the difference between what you just described about the soul of the Buddha in the horse, OK, and the general explanation of Buddha Nature in everyone.

[1:17:51.3] What are you talking about? I mean… I don’t know... I don’t see this… what is wrong? [Elizabeth Hurwitz:] Because, um… um… [Rimpoche:] Buddha Nature with the… with the… every human being [inaudible] the one. [Elizabeth Hurwitz:] Right. [Rimpoche:] But that has nothing to do with consciousness of enlightened being. I mean it’s something to do, but, but when we referring to the consciousness of the Buddha in the horse, we’re not referring to the Buddha Nature. We’re referring to actual enlightened being has taking physical form of horse.

[1:18:30.8] [Elizabeth Hurwitz:]OK, then Buddha Nature really is still described as the seed of, the potential to be… [Rimpoche:] That’s what I mean. Why you bring Buddha nature in there? [Elizabeth Hurwitz:] Because in some, in some traditions it’s described as, the Buddha Nature is not a seed, it is something that is already ripened. [Rimpoche:] Yeah, I told you a number of times I don’t buy that. [Elizabeth Hurwitz:] OK, I was just clarifying the point, just because I… [Rimpoche:] I don’t buy that because if you are fully enlightened, then you cannot go back. You got to be enlightened. Once you’re enlightened you’re enlightened. Otherwise there be fall back in enlightenment. So I take that as a seed, as Tsongkhapa said. [Elizabeth Hurwitz:] Thank you. [Rimpoche:] That’s the reason why I don’t have Dzogchen. [Elizabeth Hurwitz:] Right, I know. [Rimpoche:] Thank you.

[1:19:23.8] All right. Thank you.