Archive Result

1313

Soundfile 20071106GRAAIWM

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Ann Arbor

Topic Inner World of Mind

Section

Transcriber Christine Brennan

Date January 1, 2008

Good evening and welcome. Ok, so today I believe it is the last Tuesday I'm talking to you in this 2007. Ok so I've got two points to be raised today. Point number one I have to finish, but we started and so we have to finish the eleven virtuous emotions and all these, all other things they talk in here and then the other thing that I have to do is where do we go from here that's the second aspect that I have to talk about tonight.

So let me just complete the first thing first. So is this the one you...you did one Kimba? The verses that...this is the one? Ok. Since you have everything here with you perhaps I can read almost nothing. On this is all eleven virtuous, so what I have left is a little bit of a few verses at the end. The other day we did non-violence, right? We did non-violence and non-violence is it is extremely important.

Oh, I'm trying to see what it is, ok, here. You're writing the Tibetan twice:

[3:03]

de shi ge wa jub je nyi

So you have the Tibetan with the spelling and without spelling, so that probably you don't, many of you don't need it, but many of you do. Anyway, so non-violence.

Non-violence towards sentient beings is the essence of Buddhism. If one harms the other one is not a practitioner. It is said that with this basis of the, it is said that with the basis of patience on.... Am I reading correctly? With the basis of patience one will not harm sentient beings and thereby be venerated by all beings including gods and.... what are these? Achievers, all the physical signs and marks of the Buddhas. Ok, now what is this?

[4:33]

sem chan nam la mi tse wa

gyal wä tan wä nyi po te

zhan la tse wa je pa ni

ge chong min zhe tu pä sung

Ok, now I know, now I know what I was reading, ok. Did I leave anything in between? That's the one, right? Nothing left? Hartmut? Kimba? Nothing left, right? Let me read here, too. Making sure, ok.

[5:12]

sem chan nam la mi tse wa

gyal wä tan wä nyi po te

According to this; the essence of the Buddha, Buddha's teaching of Buddhism is not harming anyone. Anyone with a mind, you know the expression what the Tibetan Buddhism gives is one with a mind. One with a mind has two. One with a mind with enlightened mind and one with a mind without enlightened mind. So all the buddhas are with enlightened mind, does not come under the category of one with mind. Enlightened is considered, although too, but enlightened is considered totally enlightened so you don't count here. Even one would like to....well let's not say it.

So:

[6:26]

sem chan nam la mi tse wa

gyal wä tan wä nyi po te

zhan la tse wa je pa ni

ge chong min zhe tu pä sung

The essence of the Buddha's teaching is not harming to anybody else. Harming including not only the physical, physical harming, mental, emotional harming all of them are definitely violence no question, but non-violence includes not harming not only the physical but mental through speech and through thoughts and especially through emotional.

Emotionally hurting and harming others is definitely violence and it is very important to remember because we don't. We overlook emotional abuses as violence. We will always look for violence means something physical or you know physical, you know. That's what we normally look or physical or second we may look at somebody who is shouting or yelling and screaming and that's about it, but emotional abuse is the worst too. Don't ever forget it is through the three doors; through the door of physical, door of speech, and door of mind. A lot of people make abuse emotionally.

Emotional abuse is comes in a variety of ways, number one of course we know and we have to be reminded, passive aggressive. Passive aggressiveness, a lot of people do that. Passive aggressiveness is mental abuse, if you try to be passive, yet then you become aggressive, see? A lot of people say, well I keep on keeping my cool and he or she could no longer tolerate, become more and more angry, we say that, right? And we show that off and we abuse people by doing that and that is very strong abuse.

Abuses are violence. Violence does not really have to be beating the person or doing hitting or shooting or something that is definitely on top with these activities. As I said the other day too, not only a simple passive but aggressive but even if you're not aggressive, if you try to be passive by yourself again alone, passive alone can abuse people, you know? So I gave the other day a lot of examples so I'm not going to repeat so that becomes aggressive. Anything aggressive is hurting people. Anything hurting anybody with the mind is going against Buddha's teachings:

[10:09]

zhan la tse wa je pa ni

ge chong min zhe tu pä sung

The word here it says: it is said that those... I'm reading at the wrong place.

If one harms the others one is not a practitioner. A practitioner, the word practitioner that we use and the word practitioner that Buddha uses is slightly different. Though we translated this particular word as practice, but the word really, what the Buddha says ge chong. Ge chong means one who practices in the virtuous, one who tries to be good, one who is practicing virtuous, one who tries to be good. So it's not simply practitioners and Buddha keeps on saying if you hurt, if your way, method of conveying your message is through hurt you are not working for virtuous, you are not. In other words you are not spiritual practitioners according to Buddha, as simple as that. When it's not virtuous means you are not working for positive, you're working for negative. By saying you're not working for positive means you are working for negative. Sort of very simple straight forward.

[11:57]

ge chong min zhe tu pä sung

lhar chä dro wä cho pä nä

tsan pë drä pä zug ku yang

sem chan nam la mi tse war

zo pä gyu yi drub par sung

Then, it is said that with the basis of patience one will not harm sentient beings and thereby venerated by all beings including gods and achieves all physical signs and marks of buddhas.

[12:40]

lhar chä dro wä cho pä nä

tsan pë drä pä zug ku yang

I read this slightly you know:

lhar chä dro wä cho pä nä

The object of worship, object of practice; including gods are who had special eighty and thirty-two major and minor signs. Such a body is a result of non-violence to living beings as well as cause of patience. In other words, how did Buddha achieve this extra-ordinary, Buddha's physical condition?

Sometimes when we look at the Buddha's physical condition if today Buddha appears as we say I don't know whether we'd say it's extra-ordinary or we'd say, what the heck is that? I'm not sure where we're going to go, but America is such a place, no matter whatever, however you come people will accept. Especially the, I don't know about the Midwest, but you know, but the two coasts will definitely, no matter whatever, even if you walk naked, whatever it is they won't even look at you. So this is interesting to the United States, so but anyway.

So the Buddha with these eighty and thirty-two major and minor signs. Major and minor signs are including these tall usnisha, tall, tall ear lobe and joined hands and all these sort of things all are counted. There are thirty-two major signs of achieving enlightenment in Buddhas body, I'm not to talk about it here, but there are eighty minor signs of achieving Buddhas body and all of those are there. So saying here, these signs of achieving Buddha's physical appearance are nothing but the result of non-violence as well as direct result of patience.

Remember patience, we say extremely difficult virtuous. Patience is extremely difficult virtuous, whoever wanted to be patient, it is very difficult, honestly. The most difficult virtue is patience, the beauty of a human being, I mean a woman's beauty, the handsomeness of the young man, and all of them are a result, direct result of patience according to Buddha. Here, not only the handsomeness and beauty but even those special signs of being a fully enlightened are nothing but the result of patience and non-violence.

Non-violence must carry in the principle of patience plus compassion, right? If you don't have compassion you can't, you will not pay attention, you walk away. If you don't have patience, even if you have compassion, you're not going to tolerate or talk on the seat there, just I cannot take that any more, I'm out of here. So that's what we do, right?

So in order to have, you know even walking away could become violence. As I said the other day, when somebody turns out into cold and not answering, not challenging. Not challenging is different, not talking about it could become, although it might be the only choice that person may have, but it could become violence too.

The violence is really has to be extremely when we talk about non-violence we really have to be extremely careful. Even hurting yourself is violence, so that's why I say, so Gandhi tremendously followed the Buddha's idea and certain Western philosophies too, with all that idea Gandhi followed non-violence. However you know hurting yourself, which Gandhi, well Gandhi personally encouraged or not but Indian struggle and [18:11] Satyagraha included hurting yourself. The hurting yourself if maybe not non-violence, and this is, I'm just simply raising as a question under any circumstance but it's never been mean to challenge with Gandhi's non-violence, no not all, but I'm sort of simply raising a thought because self-hurting is, but you know Indian Satyagraha included hurting yourself. You know when the British armies and when they go and you go walk by and you know be tied your leg and tied your hand back go up in there and get a stick hit on your head until you fall and you sit there and then you fall and somebody will take you down. So this is the method that used it. So that might not be non-violence because that hurt somebody. But then you know Gandhi, under the circumstances may not have another choice that could be possible so this is what I meant.

This particular verse says:

[19:31]

lhar chä dro wä cho pä nä

tsan pë drä pä zug ku yang

The great, the object of worship the gods included. Object of worship, that's referring to Buddha. Special marks that Buddha carries, that is the physical appearance of what we call [19:52] nirmanakaya, the manifested body. It has extra-ordinary signs and all those signs are nothing but the result of non-violence and patience.

Non-violence is in principle, you know I talked the other day, it is definitely a mixture of patience and compassion together. If there is no patience it will not be non-violence because you're going to hit back no matter whatever. After a little while even you say something. Then you have another question saying, well if they hit you in your right cheek turn your left cheek. If they hit you on your left cheek turn your right cheek and I'm not, yeah it's a good thing to do if you can, but if the person with the negative emotions like anger or hatred with the person that will be very difficult to do, but if you can do, it's great, no doubt about it. But that doesn't mean you have patience.

That's another thing, if you think, well this is my job, it my duty, god given duty for me, I cannot show my temper, but in my heart I'm really angry, but I cannot show temper. That is not non-violence because a temper came in, anger came in, temper and anger and hatred will overtake patience, thereby the red carpet under your foot has been moved even though you do nothing physically but you got angry in your heart in the mind, that does not justify being non-violence because anger and hatred is violence.

Even an anger against bed bugs, or you know fleas or cockroach is violence. All anger, all hatreds are by nature violence. No question, no doubt. So non-violence is not so simple. It looks simple, sounds simple, wonderful no doubt, not so simple.

So anyway:

[22:58 can't find where this comes from...]

sem beh de beh tso gyan

sem jen neh so jun du zho

The next verse which I have to complete which it says:

[23:08]

de chir ge wa chu chig ni

sung rab kun gyi nyi pö don

Therefore the eleven virtuous, the eleven virtues encompass the essence of all scripture and practice. Ok, that is you know the eleven virtues is in reality it is the essence of all the Buddha's teachings. Buddha's teachings if you look in anywhere, sutra, tantra, Mahayana, Hinayana, wherever you look always you are going to find any single word wherever whatever Buddha says it will be only in encouraging those or one of those eleven virtuous. You're not going to find anyone, even form is empty, emptiness is form, it encourages a tremendous amount of virtue: a) wisdom and b) in the nature of the reality of the form. So even though you may think for is no nose, the word call... no nose, right? In the Heart Sutra, you say no nose, where does that encourage what virtues? So they all encourage virtuous because it is wisdom. So you are never going to find any single word of the Buddha even if you're taking out of context anywhere out of the collected works of the Buddha whatever hundred over volumes, whatever it is.

[25:50 Rimpoche's cell phone rings]

Sorry. I thought this might happen, sorry. Very sorry.

So, over a hundred volumes of Buddha's teaching, wherever you look anyone a single word or single sentence or even just a single letter, if you take it with or without context our of context or whatever you do, you're always going to find encouraging one of those virtuous and discouraging one of those twenty secondary negativities or six root negative emotions so you're going to find either one, you know find that way. That is why it says eleven virtuous is the essence of all Buddha's scriptures because it is essence of the Buddha's scriptures it is the essence of the individual practice.

Practice does not necessarily mean sit down and be the ground and burn the incense and cross-legged. It doesn't mean that. Practice does not mean you have to carry a mala and say mantras. Practice means to keep your mind pure. Pure in the sense, free of these following, I think at the beginning of next year, we'll talk six root negativities, twenty secondary negativities. By being free of that automatically becomes one of those eleven virtues and that is the essence of Buddha's practice.

The essence of the Buddha's practice is not to rely on saying prayers, reading I don't know, whatever, or sitting cross-legged and all this, it is not. It is the mind, how you maintain. Maintaining of the mind, remember it is principle mind and mental faculties. Mental faculties accompany the mind which influences mind and swings the individual's thoughts and ideas and actions and movements and thereby creating negative or positive karma. That is how our life is running, remember? Remember?

So mind is yours and yours only and you are the only person who knows what your mind is doing. You are the only person who can pursue it and change your mind, nobody else. So the essence of the practice is to move your mind away from the negative emotions, negative mental faculties and thereby making it positive mental faculty influence. Thereby your deeds become virtue, thereby your have no negative karma. It is as simple as that. Yes, it's difficult to do, but it is simple, very simple. Doesn't have to be complicated, difficult ones they are there what we call it? Additional activities. The essence is to brining mind to that level whether you do it through vajrayana way, through Mahayana way, through Hinayana way, whatever.

So:

[30:31]

nyam len nyi por dü pa yin

Ok, so this is the essence of practice. Practice is nothing more or less that that, essence of practice.

The next verse goes and says this verse, it is said that you know why it is said. I mean it's not that we're telling you I heard about it, it is said by Buddha. It is said by Buddha, it is said that these virtues are by their nature it is virtue, by their nature, by the action itself it becomes virtue. What does that mean?

It doesn't depend on motivations. Most of the negative thoughts, ideas we have sometimes our motivations change, by changing the motivation it changes your nature of the action itself or the act itself. Even it may be negative but by the accompanying thoughts and by the motivations and by things negatives can be changed into positives, remember? So these eleven do not require to do that type. By virtue of being one of those mental faculties it is nature of the act itself it is virtue so don't depend on motivations, but then the question may rise, if I have a bad motivation and if I do it will that remain virtue? Questionable. Questionable, but this is what this statement says:

[32:53]

drog zhan kyen la mi tö par

ngo wo nyi kyi ge war sung

So it doesn't depend on other accompanying mental faculties. It doesn't depend on the motivation or other conditions. By virtue, by the nature itself all these eleven are virtues.

[33:19]

ge wa chu chig po di dag

so sor nang së je wa dang

gyu la ji tar kye pa sog

gyun dan khä pä man ngag lä

hib tu shë par ja gö so

Each person has to develop within their mind these eleven virtues in detail. Understand them well by the following the expert spiritual advices. It needs a little more than that, and within these eleven:

so sor nang së je wa dang

Within these eleven virtues they may have different divisions, how does it develop with one individual's mind and all of them you have to learn from the experts.

Thus we have completed these eleven virtuous and again this is not like Bodhisattvachavaryata for years going, but we are half-way through by this time end of the year, for me at least.

So you know so this is the whole idea is no to try to make you psychologist, Buddhist psychologist, but know your mind a little more, a little more and see how you handle your mind and what is by nature it is positive. You all saw the positive aspects of it you have not seen by nature negative such as there are ten non-virtuous things are by virtue, by nature it is negativity. Although sometimes motivation and things may make things a little lighter, but if it's by nature it is a negativity to change into positive is difficult.

Similarly, by nature it's positive, even with anger and hatred try to change into negativity is also difficult. This is how, I mean really if there is such a thing called Natural Law, then that is what it is.

So that is how it works and we shared that with you so that you will have a little more understanding of your own mind and may be able to help yourself by you, for you, rather than somebody else is trying to help you. Particularly the functioning of the mind, it is extremely difficult, honestly speaking to you, honestly speaking to you so if I have to depend on a psychologist or, unless the person is really good, right? Other than that if I have to depend on a psychologist to correct my mind I will probably not entertain because you know more or less everybody is guessing.

I don't mean against psychology, that's very good, they work, they help, they're great, no doubt about it, but everybody has to guess. When you are looking at your own mind you don't guess, you see it. You know it, this is the difference I'm trying to show you. You know it your own mind. The other persons will never know your mind.

Other person has to guess your mind because where you sit, the way you talk and then the way you sit, the way you talk. When certain times you're not comfortable you take certain physical posture, and when you're comfortable you take certain different physical posture. Then you have to think, ah when that person does this that person is comfortable when that person does a physical movement like this, that's not comfortable. Then they listen to you and when you are not physically comfortable what you say will be slightly different, some people will just keep on saying non-stop everything ba-ba-ba-ba you know? One after another, non-stop and two reasons, one to entertain you, two you not to know the mind, and all these are the variety of reason. Some people are just taught in their training, you know keep on talking to them they will say something to you, whatever. So people do that, right? So this is the person who is observing has to know what sort of words do you use, what sort of physical gesture, language you use, what sort of actual word you use, according to that they make their guessing work: you're not comfortable with this, you're comfortable with this, you're not comfortable with this, this is because of this and that. With that guessing work then they have to give you suggestions, so the very first guessing work itself it becomes very shaky so the second suggestion will definitely be shaky.

But when you look in yourself, get yourself out of your body and look over there and see, what did I think about this? Why does my mind, what thoughts came up? What did I do? How did I receive this? How did I reject this? Keep on thinking, you don't have to guess you know it. Your experience will tell you. So then you sit down and say ok, I have this problem, what do I do? One at a time, this problem, what do I do? That is how you can help yourself. I'm not talking about enlightenment I'm not talking about it. I'm not talking about virtuous, non-virtuous, I'm simply talking about your thoughts, your thinking and your mind.

So therefore, helping yourself, first person helping the first person is definitely better than the second person trying to guess and help you. And if some people, if there is you know those five omnipresents, all five or three or two or even one missing, then you're missing you are in the wind. You're caught in the cyclone so you're missing and see if you recognize occasionally try to put it down a little bit. If you're missing one of those five object ascertaining you know it and find out yourself which one is missing and you know review your mind, your mental faculties, thoughts, it's in there dün pa, mö pa, dren pa, ting dzin, shes rap which is missing? Then when, dün pa will never miss, because the desire is there always. Mö pa many people will miss it, and concentration many people miss it. So then try to plug that in. Plug that in that is how you make yourself grounded.

Some people fly all the time in the air, so there is a problem with object ascertaining mental faculty, when you keep on flying you're not grounded anyway and then the virtues give you good karma, eleven virtuous

So that's so far what we have done, so do kindly keep that in your mind and observe yourself bring awareness. Remember conscientiousness is virtue in here, remember one of the virtues is conscientiousness. Conscientiousness is a virtue, bring some awareness within you by yourself. Don't let your mind lead your mind, your thoughts lead your mind with no control whatsoever, then you're caught into such difficulties and such difficulties when you get into one difficult to cover up that you have to give that to cover up that you give another difficult and then after a little while nothing but covering, covering, covering.

So that is how we see people get into trouble. Lies, the same thing, lying to cover up one lie you have to tell ten more lies. After a little while the lie is a lie it gets busted anyway. So this is how you handle yourself. I guess that's about mind and mental faculties. Now we are not only the mind and mental faculties, we are the spiritual practitioners.

The essence of the spiritual practice is, once again, I must say it, it is nothing more or nothing less than the Lam Rim practice, honestly. Wherever you look, whoever you look whatever you do you're not going to get anything better than Lam Rim, you're not going to get anything no matter whoever, somebody may say I can teach you how to fly in two hours without a parachute. May be possible, but to liberate the individual there is nothing like Lam Rim, there is nothing more, nothing like Lam Rim.

For us we made Lam Rim as simple as we can into the Foundation of Perfections or a little elaborate in the Lama Chöpa this is the essence of our practice. This is the how all the buddhas have obtained buddahood, through that path.

If you don't have those parts functioning well and try to sit up there and look in the air and see all five different colors are appearing or doing all that. Number one, it won't even appear. Number two, if it appears it's going to be a hallucination going to get nowhere, honestly. Honestly. So even those who taught you in that way and gradually shift everything bring back to the Lam Rim, whether they call it Lam Rim or not they may call it Lam Rim, they may call it Eight Stages of Development, they may call it, whatever the names they may call it but brings down to that level and that is with us and most of you.

You really can you know can do have the not only the idea, but the Lam Rim stages you can turn forward, backward, whatever way you want to at least you can express that. Whatever you could express, even a few of you who cannot express that way at least have every possible information that's available with you in shorter verse form. A longer explanation form, and everything there. It is the matter that using your mind and adapting that information within your mind.

Making familiar with the information, repeating information, analyzing the information, focusing on the information is your meditation. There is no other than, no other meditation than that, whether you're beat the gong or burn the incense or not. That is the meditation because that is one who cuts your negative emotion that's one who builds your positive emotions, that is one who builds your virtuous and that's the one who gives us the happiness, that's the one who gives us joy and thereby we can give our happiness, joy, to our family, spouses, family, loved ones, children, and fellow countries. That is how we serve people. That is how we help people. That is how we serve Buddha. That is how we serve Buddhism. That is how we serve people, it's all in one way and that is putting those practices in daily routine within ourself.

If one cannot do a daily routine, just do it on weekends. Once a week, even then the effect of that is tremendous within the individual. Over time you will see yourself how you have progressed. Progress here we're not looking for whether you're going to fly or not, we're not looking for that. In Halloween we can fly anyway, if we have a broom, I'm just kidding, no. but you know it's not, honestly. It is the thing whether how much we are cutting the negative emotions within ourself, how does one dealing with the difficulties in life and the joy in life happiness in life, happiness in life.

So this is how one makes progress. A spiritually strong person will not swing by incidents in life. Sadness, sadness will come because that's part of life which will follow, joy tomorrow. Oh, today is a wonderful thing is there but don't be so over-taken because it will be followed by sadness and downfall because it is a part of life. So stable, stable to deal with the events in life, sadness, joy, happiness. Stable evens not only the evens to deal with life but the companies, your friendship companies to deal with that, be a stable person. Don't be strong emotional and then you know everybody Aaaahhh! great and then Ooohhhh get out of here, you know? So that is the that is the too much emotional swing which is not necessarily great as many of you know by your own experience as well as seeing other peoples.

Spiritual practitioners have to have quality, that quality is stability, strongness yourself under all the circumstances situation and thereby you can help and support your loved ones, family, and everyone with stability and strong dealing with difficulties. Most all of those done on the basis of caring, love, compassion and faith that follows what? Kimba, help me...

[52:57]

ye she ge deh beh

dan weh te be

non du ge te beh

ye shi ge te beh

Huh? Conviction followed by reasoning.

Kimba: Reasoned conviction.

GR: Reasoned conviction, that's right we have three faiths. One is called reasoned conviction and that is the faith basis of all our quality. All these three, but this is especially, not the blind faith.

And also the trust, we did one called trust? ye shi ge deh bah, that's right. So right, reason, that's the one

And then your trust or conviction has been developed on the basis of reasoning, reliable thoughts and ideas and proof and reasoning and thereby you can rely on and your that particular faith that brought out reasoning,....Reasoned conviction, faith we call that, ok?

So you keep your mind in that way, that is the best way to help yourself, this is the best resolution of new year for yourself and for your family and for everybody else and my suggestion. It'll be great, I'll lose weight and I'll lose a pound and I will gain this and I will.... that's great, no doubt about it, that's fine. But this is most important spiritual resolution one can adopt and follow.

And I guess today is the last Tuesday that I'm talking to you and then I'll be in Europe for the rest of November actually doing working Jewel Heart in Holland and be back for two or three days and then go to Malaysia and so for the Malaysian Jewel Heart activities and be back and then we have the Indian tour. The tour to India begins I think by second or third or something of January will be, I'll be leaving too and then of course followed by be back by end of January we have February the winter retreat, March will be busy working for His Holiness visit, I'm looking forward and April comes the Dalai Lama's visit and Jewel Heart, half a year of next year is also going easily like that.

Anyway, so we're looking forward each and every one of us and along with your families to the great new coming year 2008 and good virtuous prosperity year. Year that hopefully cut down a lot of sufferings, wars and the difficulties that the world is facing. And at that I say thank you so much, it has been, all of you have been completely wonderful, thank you and deeply grateful to each and one of you, your own way of helping yourself and helping others. Also helping Jewel Heart, going through the transition from whatever the way you've been helping they're all great and great help and thank you and we also have to say the program people have done very good work and this year we thank you and all of you working at the program deserves great thank you from us and also the administration side did great and thank you and the store side did great and thank you and the IT people did great we made these talks available other centers through the internet or whatever you call it, what is it? Com-cast, I-cast, Pod-cast, whatever it is as well as through the video pictures and it is really thank you and each and every center their dharma coordinators instructors and everybody has done so great, thank you. The board of Jewel Heart did also great work, thank you. and our director Fran really deserves thank you because she spends a lot of times over here looking for the buildings, looking for this, looking for that, and running around doing everything and so everybody thank you so much and wish you very, very happy new year, thank you.

Kathy, you have something more to say?

Kathy: Hi everybody, welcome to all of you and we have some new faces here we'd like to welcome you and encourage you to feel free to talk with anybody surrounding you. We'd all be happy to answer any questions and we have some flyers at our registration table that you can pick up.

Before I outline the Jewel Heart events and locations I do want to emphasize that we have many fliers for you to take, not only for yourself but hopefully you can take them to your local areas and post them in health food stores or health fitness areas or doctors offices or any place, coffee shops, that would be really helpful particularly while we are in temporary lodgings in different locations to be able to keep that word accessible to people we'd really appreciate it and you can always direct people to our website and our phone number is remaining the same during this time. We've been hearing that question so we still have our same phone number.

This Saturday is the White Tara meditation practice at Neutral Zone, one block down from our 207 address. It's at 310 East Washington and we're alternating Saturdays from 9:00 to 10:00 with meditation practice.

Also just note that it is 9:00 to 10:00 because normally we're used to Tara being at a later time. November 11th is our Sunday talk and this Sunday talk will again be at Neutral Zone 310 East Washington, bear with me while I keep repeating all this. Elizabeth Hurwitz will be our speaker this week and she'll talk on a title: The Promise and Peril of Reincarnation. So join us for the talk and then tea and cookies and next Tuesday Rimpoche mentioned the importance of continuing working with the Lam Rim and one of the options he raised was Foundation of All Perfections and we're continuing with Tuesdays here through November on the Foundation of All Perfections and I'd love to encourage all of your to come to that as well as many of you more senior or longer experienced students if you could please be coming to the Tuesday night talks and the Saturdays and Sundays, it's really helpful support for the newcomers and really enlivens as well as courses that will be coming up in the new year.

On Saturday November 17th we're happy to let you know that Jewel Heart is having a workshop with Helen Weingarten on Compassion and Conflict Navigating of Close Relationships. We hope you can register for that in advance to make it simpler when you arrive the new location for that is over at the new health and fitness center across from Washtenaw Community College and we do have flyers on that and would like to make a request, this Sunday after the talk and tea and cookies if people would plan to come either for the talk and then go over to our 207 location or just come in sometime in that morning we're planning to put all our boxes and furniture and everything on to moving trucks so if we could have as many people as possible that will keep our expenses down in terms of having it move along quickly and as you may recall when we moved everything from the second floor down to the first floor and from the basement to the first floor it was lots of fun. People even mentioned I worked so hard and yet I feel invigorated and energized, so with that little note it would be great if we could recreate that day that was really a wonderful day and we need that help on Sunday.

Also we will need help on Monday so if anybody is available and free on Monday please talk with Birgit either this evening or call her on her number and I can give you her cell number or you can leave a message at Jewel Heart and we'll pick that message up. If you want to write Birgit's number down it's (248) 459-2959 and a reminder for those of you in the Lam Rim course that it meets in this building but over under the chapel in the core room at the center and the Six Session Guru Yoga class meets in Room 16 downstairs there as well.

We also are looking for volunteers for Tuesday nights to help with the setup. Speak with Rose or Jonas, we need hopefully four people to help us out with that. I just want to give you a quick heads up of the future we don't have all the details resolved but December 4th will be meeting here, it's Je Tsongkhapa Day, so we'll be having a celebration of Je Tsongkhapa Day that day with Lama Chöpa Tsoh and then December 11th will be our last Tuesday night to meet and we haven't resolved yet the topic or the speaker but stay tuned.

I know I have them all over here, my didn't have computer printout access today didn't even have e-mail today. All right, that's good. So thank you very much everybody and if thank you Rimpoche very much for everything that you give us and we promise to try and hold our New Year's resolution and put it into place, thank you.