Archive Result

20070630GRALSR15 –transcriber Christine Brennan

morning

So kindly generate pure motivation as described in normal teaching tradition at least for the benefit of all mother sentient beings one would like to obtain the state of buddhahood for which I would like to listen and practice. With this mind do kindly listen to the teaching.

The teaching that you’re listening to is also enriched with the four qualities and the only path through which the buddhas have obtained their total enlightenment. Then the essence practice, the heart, essence practice of great maha pundit from India like Atisha and from Tibet like jango long me chu zhi ke poh Tsongkhapa chempo. It is a profound practice of the lam rim stage of development for which you have a preliminary or you may call it prerequisite actual and conclusion.

The prerequisites are all covered with the seven limb practice. The actual practice also has three common with the lower level, common with the medium level, mahayana level.

So common with the lower level is over, common level with the medium level is over, now we are at the mahayana level.

Mahayana level also has prerequisites and recognizing the compassion as the root of all mahayana development. Compassion as the source of all joy, of all existence and developing the compassion is also what we covered yesterday. It is through 11 stages. Eleven stages, that is the combination of 7 and exchange stage combined together so that also has equanimity; recognizing every being as most closest and nearest and dearest and remembering the kindness repaying their kindness developing a love and developing compassion. Before we are developing compassion seeing the faults of self cherishing, seeing the qualities of cherishing others changing actual exchange developing a compassion developing a special mind generating a bodhimind. All this and level we have covered.

Not only that, we have covered after developing bodhimind the way of life functioning with the bodhimind in mind as a general way of functioning and specifically to the last paramita function. For general functioning it also has the generosity, morality, patience, enthusiasm, all are over.

Today is concentration and wisdom level. These are specially mentioning two last perfections. So, when you look back from where you have come, you have come from the ordinary everyday just normal no idea very lay person at the spiritual level. From that level to the mahayana bodhisattva level and that also taking the bodhisattva vow of both praying and action. Action also entering our life as bodhisattva way so the general activity of four first perfections and now concentration and wisdom specifically emphasized.

So we’re at the concentration level. Again, meditation is as we now have done, today at least we did the shortest ever possible of lam rim prerequisite, we tried to do today. So the shortest ever possible, there is no shortness left than what we did. Even the lineages are, you know like all of them from Buddha to Tsongkhapa all these traditional Indian and early Tibetan kadampa period of all five segments of kadampas all functioned in one verse from Buddha to Tsongkhapa we said. Then from Tsongkhapa to gebje Ling Rimpoche all these lineages we’re combined with the words:

[Blue Book pg 35-To the lineage from Je Tsongkhapa to Pabongk’a)

yab sai gyu par chai la sol wa deb

It means the fathers and the sons will continue, all we’ve been supplicated. So all combined, no shorter than that. Then normally when you say those mantras they are normally a mala, always a mala and never cut before. So now the lazy, you know. Then of course earlier when we’ve been doing the lam rim teachings in early days and there’s not so many people here, now Rochelle and Binda and then Supa and Tony, Mark V and who else? Beth, are you there early? No. Colleen, Matthew is there yeah, since age 17 or 14, whatever so and then Colleen and Kathy are a little later, not all this lam rim teachings huh? Oh you got lot of witness saying they’re there. Jim, Jim too.

So those days, you know for the mantras we do a mala and not this shorter version of seven limb, it was not available in those days. Then everybody is saying too many mantras, it’s taking too long, yada, yada, yada. Then we shrank it to 21 and then 21 also people started making it short because it’s Tuesday evenings and because it’s just 1 hour so make it like 2 or 3 or 4,5 whatever the leader does. So we do this and that is how we make it as simple as possible.

And then this other person I don’t know how it happened, the di, di, di when you’re saying this ‘di, di, di’ it got to be 100, otherwise what is the use of saying the ‘di, di, di’?

100 in one breath. 100 in one breath because there is a visualization along with this di di that really cuts, helps for your memory. I can’t claim it is anti–Alzheimer’s but it really makes you remember tremendously, not the short one, but the long ones remembers tremendously. But if it’s not 100 then ‘di di di may all beings..’ and it doesn’t to any good at all.

So anyway that is sort of how far we have covered. Oh my ball had fallen out, my little red ball. I don’t know where that came from, somebody left it on my table to for me to play with it. I enjoyed it a lot, whoever left it here thank you.

Now concentration. so again remind yourself of the lama Buddha Sakyamuni in front of you, because we did all this seven limb. We did to lama. Now, we did not do seven limb to nobody, we did it to lama Buddha Sakyamuni which is the collection of all refuge; all the lamas all the gurus all the buddhas all the yidams all the buddhas, bodhisattvas, dakas, dakinis, arhats, and darmapalas and all together.

Actually, we should mention it here briefly; when you look in the lineage trees or anywhere you’re going to find that all the gurus are on the top. The Buddha Sakyamuni is a part of the gurus, so the most important guru is Buddha Sakyamuni. So Buddha within the guru followed by yidams. Yidams are like Yamantaka, Vajrayogini, and all theses are the yidams, Tara, Avalokiteshvara, even the yidams and these are the vajrayana ones. They’re all vajrayana buddhas. Gurus, buddhas, yidams, are the vajrayana buddhas.

Then below that you’re going to find the buddhas again. That is Buddha beside Buddha Sakyamuni, because we don’t have a direct connection. That’s why Sakyamuni is put within the guru. All other buddhas, the past buddha like Buddha Amitrea or Amitibha and so forth. Amiteahu is the yidams anyway, Buddha Amtibha, Buddha Maitrea, past, present, 10 direction buddha and medicine buddha 35 purification buddha, all these countless buddhas, buddhas, buddhas are there.

So there are all these buddhas in the buddhas category. So out of Buddha, dharma, and sangha they’re all buddha category and their spiritual development they’re teachings and everything is the dharma.

And then the sangha level and then you have bodhisattvas as mahayana sangha, the arhats as Theravada sangha, dakas and dakinis as vajrayana sangha and dharmapalas are the part of vajrayana sangha but so they’re also that should only include non-samsaric dharmapalas within that category.

In one way you have a huge tree, but on the other hand it’s all buddha, dharma, and sangha. That’s how it works. Then also, lama inseparable with that of Buddha Sakyamuni single pointedly, so as we say:

geb neh kun dun lam ah lab eh el lah

collection of all refuge

Which means:

17:14

ku ken bul so tam ju du san kas

so the body is the sangha, speech is the dharma, mind is Buddha. So the Buddha, dharma, and sangha and refuge. All refuge all in one. Simple, single, easy.

And so, making supplications and praying seeking blessings, support, guidance and helping development and so then light and liquid is purifying obtain....

You know when you wash away something you have to fill it up with something else. What you’re going to fill it up with is life, luck, fortune, quality, knowledge so all fills up becomes pure and wonderful. Finally becomes one with the lama.

This is slightly vajrayana but it is very important, and that is finally how does one obtain enlightenment it. Is also single little practice in the bodhimind at the result level:

18:47

sem ji geb eh lam ket er

Meaning practicing the bodhimind as result level.

So with all this, and very very of common with the lower level, common with the medium level practice for which we talked earlier, we need a very brief review of that. And then reaching to the developing bodhimind and, what we did yesterday morning and evening? Develop bodhimind came out to be very good, sometimes when you really wanted to do something good it doesn’t work, sometimes when you say, ‘ok well whatever it is.’ So then it works very well. Yesterday it happened to work very well, the developing of the bodhimind and the paramitias are brief but that doesn’t matter.

So this is sort of built through knowledge. So now the level of the concentration. Without the concentration anything, whatever you try to do, it’s not going to work very well for all of us. When you are not focused then you can’t do it. When you try to do 100 different things you can’t make it. You can’t make it.

It is interesting, when Atisha was teaching in Tibet, earlier Tibetan teachers. One of them had asked Atisha:

When I’m listening to you, you said in India we have this great guy, that great guy, this great guy, that great guy. You have so many. Everybody is so great. How come we have no one in Tibet? What happened?

So Atisha said:

21:00

chi peh bah noh lah teh dem pal had jeh min du ni jah ger wah num hu ge jlu

in ez

So Atisha says:

You Tibetans have 100 different deities and you get nothing done. We Indians have single pointedly focus with one yidams and one practice. So you Tibetans try to do everything. You try to wear the hat, you try to wear shoes, you try to put on the ornaments, you try to take a bath. You try to do everything together. How are you going to achieve it?

That’s what Atisha said at that time. What he really means is not telling us not to do 100 different yidams, but Atisha is really trying to tell us is; you’ve go to be focused.

You know if you try to catch the hat you try to get the shoe you try to get the belt and if you try to do all together, you have one mind you have two hands so how are you going to do it? It’s not going to work. That’s what he meant.

And wear our ornaments taking showers. [laughs] but Tibetans don’t take showers anyway.

Even in Tibet today, they don’t take every day shower. I was a little surprised because all the families we visited they have solar energy water heater. But all of them solar energy is small water heater, water heater is small and so many families. I said how do you take a shower? They said we do take shower, but then there’s not enough water is there? Well we don’t take it every day. Maybe once a week or once in 10 days, even now they are doing it, back in Tibet I’m not talking about India, but they still do, but they look clean to me. I don’t know maybe it’s is due to the climate or whatever it is. Maybe self cleaning. It’s dry, cold and hot and not ever so anyway.

So focusing. So when you don’t have a focus nothing can be achieved. When you have a focus everything can be achieved. There is no such thing that human beings cannot achieve, material, spiritual. Wherever you look there is nothing that human beings did not achieve.

So the only thing lacking is we pay no attention. We really want to do two or three things together. Sometimes when you can do two or three things together and you think it’s great too. Maybe it is great, but when you don’t have a focus on an important point like this you can do generosity, morality, these activities you can do two three things together with no problem; saying mantras, reading, it’s permitted, so I can’t say anything.

But if you’re really reading the subject what you really think about it, then it’s fine. But normally, you know, what they permitted is when you are doing vajrayana retreat and saying mantras you’re permitted to read lam rim. Not only permitted, but recommended. So what you are saying from the mouth and what you’re reading is two different things actually two different subjects come in. But it is permitted, because probably it is more effective and helpful to the person reading the lam rim because for the mantras you need a number come up and it’s going to come on your on your tongue anyway it’s going to roll on your tongue anyway so the sound is produced so maybe that is why. Maybe.

So, whatever the reason is, it is permitted. But then you may not be focusing so much. Not only you are not focusing the meaning of the mantra and specifically visualization but even the numbers you know even the counting you get lost all the time and then you will be re doing it all over again. Again, lost, so that happens all the time.

So anyway, so the focusing is important. Why is the focusing concentration coming at this level, not at the beginning? Because of the wisdom. Now it comes to the point without focusing you cannot do it. So without the focus, Do you know the word shamatha? Shamatha, I’m sure I’m pronouncing it wrong, but shamatha in Sanskrit. We call it shi nez in Tibetan. Single pointed focusing development. Shi nez the Hindu tradition they use the same thing.

Shi nez, in Hindu tradition it is much more, you know, much more than what the Buddhists do. In the Hindu tradition shi nez becomes a prerequisite for Samadhi. Samadhi then goes into 8 different layers of Samadhi: four form level and four formless. So eight different layers of Samadhi, that is concentration and focusing and all that. Eight layers of Samadhi.

Buddha recommended us of those eight the first one has prerequisite which we call it

28:35

neh toh

In Tibetan, prerequisite. Within that prerequisite also is something called

ney doh mi cho nek

Without which you can never do

So Buddha only picks up that without which you can never do. That is what we call shamatha. It is the prerequisite of the first stage of meditative Samadhi level. So that we see. So when there was a debate between the Buddhist masters and nonbuddhist masters and the point of debate is also one of these and there was a great the Hindu, Buddhist master actually very powerful, very well known great one called

[Below refers to the Nalanda Debate]

Chandragomin had a debate with the who is it? I think Chandrakirti. So Chandragomin has a debate with Chandrakirti and finally Chandragomin lost. So they captured him and locked him up in sort of old, you know, where they throw old books, incomplete and all that. In the early Indian Buddhist culture they built a little sort of shack and they’d throw all these old books in there. Later in culture people used it as sort of base for circumambulation and all this because it’s part of the relative dharma. So they have no prisons or anything, so they couldn’t lock him up anyway, so they throw him in with the books.

So he’s sitting over the books. He’s been a great scholar, so whatever he can get his hands on he starts reading. So then one time he turns around and he’s a little uncomfortable, you know he’s sleeping on the books. So he’s a little uncomfortable, one of the pages poked him. So he pulled it out and started reading and saw the Buddha’s prophecy of prophesizing himself and he got a big shock. Oh yeah, this Buddha is not a joke, huh. So he began to think about it and think about it and then he really began to realize how important, and so he wrote. He wrote very famous in Indian Sanskrit language, I think he wrote it in pali, then the Sanskrit and then available in almost every language wherever the Buddhism traveled to.

So in Tibetan it’s called: 32:06

khye par phag tö

Specially praising the Buddha.

So in that, and there’s so many, but in that one point here he mentioned now I remember the second verse, what I wanted to, but I don’t remember the first verse.

32:36

seh siz bar doh soh neh joh toh nun yez joz seh bah doz

So he said that the part that I knew and he said we can go up to the peak of samsara by focusing concentrating alone cannot get rid if it. It’s completely reduced, almost invisible all negative emotions completely subdued at the level almost invisible. The power of this concentration can deliver me to the four stages of the first, second, third, fourth, stage of form and four more stage of formless space like conscious-like nothingness and to the peak of existence, up to that level just by focusing power alone can go up to that level. Yet, when the power of focusing is exhausted suffering pops up and reverts all samsaric things again

But what I see in yours, referring to Buddha, what I see in yours, you didn’t even get to the first stage but you can really cut, destroy the very root of samsara. So he said this is what I admire in you and I’m here with my disciples to surround you and I’m not following your disciples, but I’m following you. That’s what he wrote, you know really, so

35:05

chu je tem beh gen dah wah

sem deh nu jeh mah tob nez

du ji mig rey sah jen du

sem bra dan neh dob rez jiz

So Buddha emphasized only necessary not only necessary but you cannot do without only that emphasized on focusing, nothing beyond that. So when we are talking about the perfection of concentration we are really talking to the level where one cannot do without, prerequisite of those huge, you know, the yogis who sit for centuries and eons. We are talking about only prerequisite of those levels and there the concentration is also quite simple:

Learning Focus

Find the focal point. On what are you going to meditate? Find the point. Find the point that you’re going to focus on. Teaching traditions recommend focusing on an image, imaginary image, not image looking at it. So a lot of us do try to get an image and try to think and look at it and meditate, that’s wrong. That’s wrong.

What you really need is a mental basis. So even if it is an image of Buddha but you have to create it mentally. You cannot get a Buddha thangka down. You can look at it and help to build your image. You can do that, but it must be built up by your mind even if you’re focusing on an image.

So true recommendation is focusing on the subject, like guru devotion, like embracing human life, like impermanence like sufferings in lower realms, like refuge, like sufferings in general in samsara, specifically the higher realms, like focusing on nirvana, like seeing samsara as suffering, like generating compassion, like 11 stages one by one, equanimity, recognizing all being as most closest and nearest like a mother being, remembering kindness, repaying love, seeing the fault of self cherishing, quality of cherishing others, exchanging, developing compassion, developing special mind, getting a bodhimind, generosity, morality, patience, enthusiasm. Those are recommended subjects.

An image is fine. If you’re in vajrayana you know there are supposed to be three, but no one is developed. So if you’re vajrayana practitioner you are recommended to develop this at the level where you have purity, like in the case of Yamantaka before you say the nine faces are the nine teachings and two horns are the two truths, before you say that this is the developing. You develop the mandala and you develop the yidam completely. So focusing on that, right? It is also developing the subtle and gross stage is given at that level. The same with Vajrayogini if you’re a practitioner. The same with the lama chopa if you’re a practitioners, before you’re dissolving level. The same with the six session yoga, before dissolving the guru within yourself. So these are the focal points where it goes.

So whatever it may be, if you can focus on mind, meditating on mind that’s also completely fine. All mahamudras are coming out of that so most challenge for lay person like us, I don’t mean lay and celibate but lay at the beginning, nonprofessional [laughs] us. You know the challenge is finding the focal point, the focal point

Here I would also like to share with you the meditation of concentrated meditation and analytical both for developing the focal point. For example, if you’re going to focus on the image of the Buddha when you begin to look try to visualize the Buddha. Visualizing the Buddha, you know you’re not going to get it. You may get... I don’t know what you’re going to get. you may get a golden piece, the Tibetan joke is you find a lot of them in the dirty open dirty field when you begin, you get it now, right, but a little golden thing you get, right? Then you begin to think and really sort of focus on that.

I’m not going to talk to you about how to sit and all that, you know the seven Buddha varochana styles they’re all everywhere everybody talks about them every meditation teaches whether they call it Buddha varochana style or not but that is how they talk to you that is. You don’t need it.

When you’re looking at that golden piece, the yellow one and you try to make that into the Buddha image. So you start zooming in, when you zoom in then you begin to see the face and then you know the face is not very clear. When I call it zooming in actually your mind is producing it. Your mind is creating that Buddha’s face and then you’re looking and you begin to see the eyes and nose and these third eye level where there’s the hair knot.

In the images you see a little piece of pearls or something but actually it’s supposed to be hair, one single hair you know curled like African American hair, you know curly, right? It sort of rolls up and becomes like a little ball here. In vajrayana it’s the third eye and in sutra there’s a little hair here, so people say what is that hair doing on Buddha? You know they keep on saying , what is this hair? Some people say, I don’t know what it is, it is culture, and they make very serious explanation but the true reality is that is where the third eye is.

What does third eye mean? The third eyes means the upper end of the center channel and that is the uppermost communication level so that is why it is, but we don’t talk about it in the sutrayana, you don’t talk about it. Even if you know it you don’t talk about it. You say, I don’t know what it is, who knows, those old guys, sometimes their culture maybe, Then some people will make a big deal about out of it saying whatever, forget it, ok.

So when you try to imagine each one of them you’re emphasizing, you’re producing this is the analytical aspect of it. That is analytical meditation. Try to have the eye built up, try to have the nose come through straight, try to have you know two eyes, and try to have that little hair ball or whatever in the forehead. These are analyzing, you are analyzing and putting on the basis of the round or whatever that face and once you put it there and then you are holding it is called concentration. Concentrated.

So this is analytical meditation and concentrated meditation. Then it tells you to put them in the sequences. Sequences, one after another, meaning even if you’re focusing on the eye then you have this white part of the eye and then you have the blue rim of the eye, I have it, I don’t if many people have it or not, the blue rim of the eye. Then you have the black spot of the eyeball and when you keep on focusing on that and building up it is analytical, analyzing and putting it and then you have all three together and then focusing. It is concentrated meditation. Taking one eyeball. Get it?

Likewise on this subject, precious, important, reasoning, I can do this, I can do it, I can manage this, even I can do this and I’m looking at the other life and they can’t do it. I have this quality. Building that up. This analytical and this life that I have really precious. How wonderful I have this and that is focusing so analyzing, reasoning, building it up, and then focus, holding it. Then if the holding becomes weak, analyze again.

Pop that up and make it, then focus. When the focusing becomes a like [shaky] then analyze again. Pop it up, then focus, get it? Understand? Good.

I’m going to go to the bathroom. Take a break. 49:20

[Teaching begins again] 50:37

Now, so we just talked earlier sort of in literal sense how does one do the analytical and concentrated meditation combined. So then roughly I have to explain here what the difficulties are when you are learning, when you are practicing focusing. Basically there are two problems:

Mind that can’t focus and loses focus

Instead of focusing the mind wanders, completely wanders here and there. So wandering mind. If you are focusing on this yellow rose here, focusing on the yellow. Then the rose with aspects of the color yellow, and acknowledging yellow rose, perceiving yellow rose, informing the principle mind from the information, from the eye consciousness seeing it is yellow, and mind consciousness knowledge informing it is a rose. Yellow rose, yellow rose. Suddenly I see the pink, suddenly it becomes pink. I’m losing, it is the pink rose, then losing focus. Your mind wandered.

Although you are thinking of the rose, but the aspects have been changed from the yellow into pink or into orange and becoming pink it is shifting. So losing focus. That’s called losing focus.

So we may say it is a natural evolution, you know, sort of yeah yellow becomes orange, orange becomes red, red becomes maroon, maroon becomes mauve, mauve becomes.... you know. So you may think it is a natural movement, maybe it is natural.

So one thing I learned as a diabetic; you know there’s a lot of people who say it is natural sugar it’s ok. That is, sugar is ok for health reasons. For diabetics the nature of sugar is, sugar is not good. As bad as the white powder. Anything natural you see, you know from the diabetic point of view. So from the concentrated point, it may be natural evolution whatever but from the concentrated meditation point of view when you are shifting that focus you are losing your focus even if it’s natural

But then a lot of people will teach you how to follow that, let the mind follow it. So all those big trips they take, you know going all over the space everywhere, you know. I mean all of those are, you know they call it meditation, they do, but as far as I know this is losing focus. It is a wandering mind. So you don’t have to go. The wandering mind does not have to be thinking of last night’s disco singing or anything. It doesn’t have to go that far. That much movement is wandering.

So then the moment you recognize the wandering it is bring back to the yellow rose. Yellow rose. A couple of mental faculties involved, eye consciousness informed you yellow rose. Eye consciousness informs you the color is yellow, so you got yellow rose. So when you are focusing on the yellow rose it is yellow, not pink, not peach, not orange. So when you’re losing the yellow you’re losing focus even if you’re thinking of a rose.

Or if you are not thinking of a rose you’re simply thinking of yellow, then again you’re losing your focus. It’s like, you know, the traditional example is a one-eyed yak. A yak that has only one eye. So one a one-eyed yak cannot see the both sides. When the one-eyed yak goes and eats grass in the field it goes in one direction, the other is left. You know the lawn mowers mow and you see the one thing gone and one thing standing, just like that. The one-eyed yak eats the grass that way.

So the focusing, so the first obstacle you get is wandering. You lose the focus by wandering. So you try to bring it back, bring it back, recognize the focusing, bring it back. Do whatever. I don’t think you, anybody, you know honestly speaking, nicely, cannot focus more than couple of seconds, you lose it. So every time you have to bring it back and as much as you can get it. Then sometimes you say. yellow rose, yeah, yellow rose, yeah. ..... even if you say yellow rose and then you know you’re pushing it and then you’re falling asleep. Still, yellow rose, yellow rose... and that’s not good.

You think ‘I’m pushing, I’m working really hard, I’m working really hard.’ But it’s not. You’re not working hard, actually you know dragging in that way is actually kidding your self. You know not kidding yourself, you know bullshitting, honestly. You know, it’s not focusing. So again you have to stop, analyze it, it is yellow, the color is yellow it is a rose, bring it back, make it fresh again. That’s what I meant, I said when the mind becomes weak and then go back to the analyzing and bring the focal point up.

Sinking is the other problem.

First our problem is the gross level. Gross wandering, gross sinking. And if you manage the only thing is bring it back. Re-analyze, bring it back. You know, when I say ‘bring it back’ you say I’m thinking of the watch I’m thinking of watch, that’s not bringing it back, analyze it back. You know, yeah it is, there’s face there’s this there’s that there’s two what you call it hands and what you call it dial or something? Two hands ok and moving and it’s giving me 12:00 it is a watch. So analyzing and thinking of the subject is really important. It helps a lot. Though the general recommendation gives you Buddha, because it accumulates merit and helps purification and anyway we’re doing everything within the framework or guru yoga having lama Buddha Sakyamuni on the ground or in front or on your palm or heart level or whatever or at the forehead or third eye level or whatever you’re doing so it is there so it’s ok.

So the gross and subtle, also the subtle wandering. Subtle wandering, we’re not losing focus. You’re really focusing, you’re seeing: yes it is yellow rose. but within the yellow rose it’s, you know it’s yellow rose and there within that there’s something else happening, like you see a bug in the yellow rose. You notice the bug and just like that without losing the yellow rose your mental focus is gone. Attention has been taken by this little bug in the middle of the rose.

So that’s not losing the focus of the yellow rose but, you’re focus is not on it. You’re not really focusing there because you’ve noticed the bug and you’re major focus is on the bug. Where is the bug going to go? What is it? Is it an ant or a Japanese beetle or just a fly or what? So the focus is going, even though yellow rose is there. Sort of little example of subtle wandering, or yellow rose is there and it’s become bigger and you’re looking through the yellow rose and thinking something else.

So the importance of life, yes it is very important yet impermanence is popping up right in the behind there pops up impermanence. Importance but impermanence is popping up and losing focus although it is the same sequences.

When you are focusing on precious human life you are focusing on precious human life, you’re not thinking about impermanence. So the next one is popping up because our habit is such that we have to be popping up the next one, the next one, you know, five more minutes, five more minutes, three minutes, three minutes, two minutes, two minutes, you are late, you are late, you know? So that is what happens. So that is when you’re talking about focusing, it is not focusing. Subtle wandering.

Subtle sinking. Subtle sinking is you’re focused, clearly, this is very very difficult to find. You’re thinking is clear but there’s no sharpness. There’s no sharpness at all. That is subtle sinking.

So if you read Pabonka’s Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, Pabonka said that the subtle sinking people could not make difference between the subtle sinking and concentration. It reduces the intelligence of individual persons. He said he noticed, he met a number of people who lost their, you know great people, lost their intelligence completely and couldn’t figure out because it’s been, we may call it gone senile but they might not have gone senile. They might have gone lost their intelligence completely and completely mixed whether somebody give you tray whether the thing is meant for you to eat or throw it, so couldn’t figure it out. That much losing intelligence because that is subtle sinking, it is extremely dangerous. It is very, we couldn’t figure out what is subtle sinking and focusing. The idea is sharpness.

The example given is bowl full of tea, making you to walk from that to this area without dripping any single drop. So how much you have to focus because you are moving it will shake. It is completely filled so it’s protecting it from dripping. So literally, that’s where this Zen lot of traditions do this very slow moving, very very slowly moving you know moving walking, recognizing:

[very slow with much pausing in between]

Telephone rings. I hear the telephone. I acknowledge the telephone. The telephone is ringing. I turn towards the telephone. I bow to the telephone. Now I go to the telephone. I shall pick it up. I am reaching for the telephone. I did pick up the telephone. I must say hello. I am saying ‘hello.’ It has gone dead. Oh, no one there. I put it back.

That happens. I’m not criticizing, honestly. That is the reason why to maintain the sharpness. So I’m sure there has been a lot of danger of losing intelligence. A lot of danger, you know the focusing just focusing becoming watching and then instead of it building it goes. It helps you to gain calmness and quietness much faster but then in reality you’re reducing intelligence here.

Now I’m not saying read Liberation in the Palm Of Your Hand and they tell you, and one of the reasons why Tsongkhapa doesn’t emphasize dogschen is also that those this is one of the reasons too. So all of those are the problems here.

So anyway so: 69:04

Ney bah nah boh du che yet

So there are 5 faults and 8 awarenesses and 9 stages and 4 yela che bah hah[?], attentions and 6 powers. So the application of 6 powers 4 attentions and 8 what is that? du che, awaranesses to overcome 5 faults. So by applying those and then you gain the:

70:22

sam beh tang du nyeh doh me cho meh

The prerequisite of the first stage of the Samadhi which one cannot do without. You reach to that level. Before you reach to that level you experience, again, this experiencing is prerequisite to be qualified to be the shamatha, it is the joy. The joy, the physical joy and mental joy that you experience. Without gaining that joy even if you have very strong focus, focus that you may be able to stay I don’t know how many minutes it is, if you mix the vajrayana together it is touching your right knee left knee forehead goes of like one that is counted as one and that will repeat in 21 time or something? So if you can focus. I think it’s probably a minute or so. So if you even you can open it or so without any problem even if you focus strongly but if you do not develop this joy, both physical and mental, it’s not qualified to be identified as shamatha.

This joy must be there, mental, physical joy. The example is so funny, if you have just now you shaved your head and you’re clean. Then suddenly somebody brought a burning how towel, not burning but steaming hot towel and puts it on your head. You feel that not only on your head, but it will go through your physical body. That effect is how; the very, very beginning of the physical joy, that was the example. And then for the mental joy, there is no example.

So when you have those joys and that and focusing it is called :

73:25

teh wah nez bez som deh

It means the first, though we call it sam deh, som deh has to be Samadhi but this is not even Samadhi. It’s prerequisite of Samadhi, it’s sort of little shamatha. So anyway it’s called joy shamatha. Joy shamatha because the physical and the mental joy. You know each one of these paramitas we are giving three each so this is first joy shamatha, first shamatha: concentration.

Second is : 74:22

yu nem mor bur weh du beh som deh

The quality achieved, Samadhi.

Which means by focusing concentration alone you developed some kind of clairvoyance, reading other people mind and knowing, seeing some futures. Not, ‘I had a funny dream last night’ and this, that. That is not clairvoyance. That is not anything. It is just a simple yada, yada, yada. If it comes out to be true it is just a coincidence. It might have happened somehow, certain of your channels happen to be straight, your air movement might have been straight, happens to be. So by sheer thing it happened. It is totally a coincidence, nothing great. So don’t build pride on top of that because it’s baseless. Because it is the example of unreliability, it’s a dream. What more than that? It’s unreliable. So that’s what it is.

The dream horse is not a horse. The dream guy is not a guy. Dream sex, maybe, but on the other hand it serves the purpose, right? [laughs] So anyway, up that’s not clairvoyance. The clairvoyance is really people see it people understand.

What happened? Oh it’s 12:00 already? Oh, ok. So we will continue tonight. I was thinking I was going to spend the whole time there talking about wisdom so I’ve not even gone through with the... Anyway let me finish this, just a few, want a few more minutes.

So the second Samadhi is called Samadhi of information, knowledge. So knowing clairvoyance and knowing. You know these psychics, really wonderful psychics that make 100% correct information given are the result of this, and which you know 60% is considered a good psychic, but not the achievement of this. This achievement is has to be 100% correct. But then you know these things can lose it. They honestly really you lose this, and you can develop. When you keep on doing it and then suddenly you lose because you’re not keeping it up. You lose and once you lose it is hard to get back. You know I mean you have good progress, but then it’s hard to get back.

Anyway:

79:12

yu nem mah chu du beh som deh

And then the third concentration is concentration to serving people. Service,

sam jeh tum jig som deh

So these are the 3 different shamathas, or the samadhis. or whatever. So three different concentrations.

So now we have covered the first 5 and we’re only left with wisdom. So while it is already 12:00 so I have to stop here and the focusing is the same thing: Lama Buddha Sakyamuni geb deh kun dun lam el lha beh wah tor wah dor je chen no soh wah deb

Begin supplication, light and liquid are coming from the body of lama Sakyamuni purifying negativities in general, particularly the wandering mind and sinking mind and purified and obtaining the blessing and siddhihood of three types of concentration so and duplicate lama dissolves to ourself and we are function in everyday life

[mandala offering]

sa shi po kyi jug shing me tog tram

ri rab ling zhi nyi da gyan pa di

san gya zhing du mig tw ul wa yi

dro kun nam dag zhing la cho par shog

idam guru ratna mandala kam nir yata yami

So we do have a raffle, what time today? A little after 4:00 we have a raffle so it is a wonderful raffle we have to I hope everybody will come and join so although it is very peak period that you may be engaged in, I don’t know outdoor activities or very strong concentration and dreams, but it would be nice if you all joined in. So because Fran puts in year round so much effort year after year traveling throughout the world and she collects this for the raffles of jewel heart winter and summer retreat and then many other people very kindly donated many things so we must at least acknowledge and appreciate.

Kathy: On that note, tickets are still for sale in the bookstore during lunch time and it’s given here the late bloomers can buy tickets also from Peter Artesan outside the lobby this afternoon and if you want to see Bali Greg and the Jewelettes we need to sell out. Plus Fran mentioned just again that we’ve also added to the wonderful items in the raffle the antique thangkas that you see plus the other items unmentioned thus far as a surprise the Bali Greg and the Jewelettes will have their final rehearsal this afternoon so meet in the lobby outside at 3:30.

Now the silent auction closes a 1:00 today so somewhere during the lunch time take your last look and make your last bids on the carpets. Today marshal arts has offered, marshal arts exercise is offered with Dimitri and that’s over in Kellogg from 3:00 to 3:45. As was mentioned, the children’s performance will be at 4:00 and then right after the children’s performance will be the raffle and that’s all I have here.

The rehearsal for those of you not yet ready for enlightenment players is in here from 1:00 to 3:00 and then 5:00 to 6:00. A very tight packed schedule when you see what everyone’s doing.

Peter is requesting he needs two preferably four more drivers for returning... on now that’s since we’ve sat down, wonderful. No pool today, we still have requests from Jeff and from Ujen-la from loading the truck, unloading in Ann Arbor, setting up the store. Talk with Jeff and Ujen-la about that.

Also at the store today we have a discount 10% on books and malas.