Archive Result

Sound file 20080731GRNYMMF

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location New York

Topic Mind and Mental Faculties

Transcriber Vicki Cahill

Date August 11, 2024

GR: may get here because the Tibetans offering His Holiness the longevity ceremony in Wisconsin on Friday morning. So. So, I’ve been asked to attend there. So, I was attending. So, I couldn’t make it here, so I decided to send Hartmut. So, maybe I thought maybe you’ll like Germans better than. (laughs) Tibetan. But also. And also, I’ve been telling. You know, they’ve been telling me, I shouldn’t come in this August. And so then I said to Hartmut, make sure you confirm it from everybody that it’s not really that you don’t want me to come in August or is it just something the air flowing through. So, everybody said. Hartmut told me. Everybody said you’ll be happy if I come in August. So. So, I’ll be here. Anyway, I’m scheduled to be here today, but I think I’ll be all the August Thursdays, except maybe one at the end or something. Other than that, I’m here all thing. And now we haven’t talked for a long time here. I mean, it’s been very long gap this year because of the. My going out. And then His Holiness’s visit in Michigan. And then followed by. You know, they arranged, we have this tour. That Midwest tour. And which really made me not to get here. So. So, I haven’t talked to you for a long time in between. So, I’m not sure whether we remember what we are talking here. So. (laughs) So, like to remind us we’re talking about the mind. Mind. The moment I use the word mind there are a number of different ideas people will come. People will have different ideas. The definition of mind is something very, every individual will talk differently. And number of people will like to talk. The moment we talk about the mind, they will like to deal with something like clear light. Or the moment we talk about the mind sometime people will like to deal with emptiness.

0:03:06.2 Moment we talk about the mind, people will talk about, think about Dzogchen. Moment we talk about the mind people will talk all kinds of, all kinds of ideas comes up. But I am such a person that I like to be very grounded level. So, I like to make very clear, we’re not talking about clear light. We’re not talking about emptiness. We’re not talking about Dzogchen. We’re simply talking about, simply mind and mental faculties. Mind and what we call it, mental faculties. Certain maybe emotion. Maybe some thoughts. Maybe idea. Whatever it is. Maybe make the mind work different way. First of all. So, I’m talking on the basis of Eighth Dalai Lama’s master. Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen’s mind and its parts and parcels. Normally in Buddhism, two different schools in early Indian Buddhist schools. Two different schools talk this a lot. Both. One is the Mahayana school called Mind only. The founder of it’s called Asanga in Sanskrit. We call it 0:04:54.7 thogs med in Tibetan. And his own nephew which is Vasubandhu in Sanskrit, 0:05:06.3 dbyig gnyen in Tibetan. Who really wrote almost all the metaphysical texts that Tibetan Buddhism rely on is by dbyig gnyen. These are two called upper and lower 0:05:24.3 ngon pa. So, the uncle’s school and nephew’s thoughts. The actually the nephew is the student of uncle but he had his own thoughts and schools. So, these two are the. Although mind has everything to do with the clear light. Mind has everything to do with the ultimate Vajrayana level. Mind has everything to do with the Dzogchen. But when you are talking about mind just simply be mind and nothing else, but be mind itself. Don’t bring all these other things which makes more confused.

0:06:10.3 Simply grounded as. On the ground. Very simple. Straightforward. Mind. Mind, when we are talking about it. Mind, we really talk about it, the consciousness. The consciousness, the eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness and all this. All this five plus six consciousness. Sixth consciousness, which is the most important consciousness. We call it consciousness. We call it mind. We call it everything. So. So, these five different consciousness, like ear, nose consciousness. Like eye consciousness sees, observes and accept whatever thing you see. And acknowledge. Remain. And put under the mental faculty called memory. In the word. So, that it is somehow it’s cataloged and it is remembered. Next time when you see, you identify the picture with, you know, name. Whatever. Age. Background. everything. It’s almost look like we are looking at the record. We look in computer. Type the name. Everything comes out. Just like that. Eye consciousness. Eye consciousness sees the person and memory pops up and bring all this background. Good. Bad. Whatever it is. All of them run through. Brrrrr. Within our mind. So, this is how mind and mental faculty works together. So, but all these other consciousness. Ear consciousness hears beautiful, ugly, whatever music or anything heard recognized, registered. Smell. Taste. Touch. All of them do the same thing. But all these other five consciousness are all sort of controlled by the sixth. Sixth sense? (laughs) Sixth consciousness. Sixth consciousness. So, therefore the mind or the mental consciousness or the sixth one called principal. Out of all this.

0:09:05.7 The most important one is sixth one because sixth one controls all other five. Whether you are going to look at it. Whether you are going to recognize. Whether you are going to listen. Whether you are going to enjoy. Whether you are going to hate it. And all of those, all are worked by the sixth, most important mind. Plus, that’s why. That’s why sixth makes the other consciousness work or withdraw, go out, work or withdraw. Or recognize, seen it. Or. Or decide good, bad. All of those. And so going to be helped or harm or not going to bother. All of them are made by the sixth one. Therefore, we call that as principal mind. Or sixth consciousness. And that is the most important. So, we call it mind. Refers to that. Although, eye, ear, nose, all have the consciousness. They work under the control of the principal mind. So, the principal mind is most important. However, the principal mind itself doesn’t really have. Neither. It’s not tangible. It has no shape, no color. Nothing. Neither it is good, nor it is bad. So, it’s sort of very neutral. Very neutral. Very neutral. You have heard already all this what we call it. When we label them, mental faculties. Whether it is. Like. Such as recognizing. Remembering. Memories. And all this. Feeling. And acknowledging. Understanding. And getting it. And remember, keeping in mind. All of them. All of them are functions. These are, each one of them early Buddhist teachers, Buddhist masters, taught, labelled them as mental faculties. And it is. It is sort of. Sort of, subsection thing.

0:12:05.1 However, mind cannot function without first five of them. If mind goes, tried to function without any one of those first five mental faculties and we call them omnipresent. Five of them. Remember? If mind try to function without. Without any one of them. Without only one of them. No. That’s not right. If it’s missing any one in that. In that. That makes the mind defective. And there’s a default. Mind improper. Because either you don’t feel it or you don’t recognize or you don’t acknowledge. Or you know: 0:13:01.1 (Tibetan: tsor wa du shey sem pa reg pa yee la che pa) So, if anyone of those five are missing, the mind is not functioning well. And that is going to be. Going to be defective mind. Mind has defect. Because it cannot function. Either you won’t be able to see it or get it or understand or all this. And so. So, that’s why it is called omnipresent. Always has to be. And if one of them are missing, then you know there’s a fault. The fault is, you recognize each one of those little mental faculties, what their work is. So, whether that is functioning with you or not. If not functioning with you, that means you know, there is lack of presence of that particular mental faculty. So, what you do. How you’re going to treat yourself is try to get that mental faculty. One. Recognize. B. Bring it in. C. Get used to it. and D. Make it function properly. And that is how you treat your own mind by you. By through A, B, C, D. So. So, you know it better. If you go to second person. You say of course, we do. We go to the psychologist to find out. Because if you try to treat yourself, you may not be objective enough. We say. That’s true. Could be. But on the other hand, psychologist has to look at you. Talk to you. Sit at you. Listen to you. Try to figure out which is missing.

0:15:00.3 Honestly. For a long time, you keep on paying whatever. Eighty-five dollars or whatever it is now. So, you keep on paying that for a long time. And you lie down there and keep on talking. The psychologist has to figure out. But if you could look in yourself and find out what is missing. And then it is the first person treating the first person. So, the first person has total knowledge of the first person’s mind. Second person has to learn. Way and how it learn is looking at you. How you behave and everything in uncomfortable. How you move and all of those. And see according to that, whether you are not going to be comfortable or uncomfortable or your sentence is making sense. Or you’re forgetting. Or all of those together. They put together. They try to make a judgement. It is guessing judgement. It guess. Of course there are great psychologists. They can treat you well. Diagnose well. Treat you well, no doubt. That is knowledge they gain. Practice they practice. They got it for themselves perfection. That’s how it is. But if you do it yourself. You don’t have to guess. You know it. But you crosscheck yourself a couple of times. And then. There’s right there. You can cut out a lot of bills out. Anyway. So, the next five. So, we call them five omnipresent. We already talked on that. We did in detail and I’m not going to go back. Next one is. We’ve got another five. Which makes the individual mind to recognize, acknowledge, remember, make it certain. Making it certain. So, five of them. I forgot. What are those five?

Audience: Object ascertaining

GR: I know. But

Audience: What are they?

GR: What are they?

Audience: dun pa, mo pa, dren pa, ting dzin

GR: 0:17:26.1 (Tibetan: Dun pa, mo pa, dren pa, ting dzin, she rab (??)) Those are the five. These little short. The what do you call it? Dun pa, mo pa, dren pa, ting dzin, she rab. It’s like a little.

Audience: Abreviation?

GR: No, it’s not an abbreviation. It’s sort of the word you say. It’s sort of rhyme. That you

Audience: Rhyme

GR: Rhyme you say. Yeah. These are. You know, these are taught when I was a kid. Like four or five, you know.

0:18:01.0 Dun pa mo pa dren pa ting dzin she rab (????) So, all these are sort of taught at age four or five. So, dun pa mo pa dren pa tzing dzin she rab (??). So, desire. Appreciation. Remembrance. Concentration. Wisdom. Right? Is that five? Yeah. So, those are the. Those makes the mind really get it. really get it. Whatever you’re focusing on it. Whether you are focusing on simple word. You’re focusing sophisticated subject. Or you are focusing “blue”. Looking at blue. And make it. Remember. Blue. No. Blue. So, whatever. Red. Blue. Whatever it is. So, these five make sure it is certain. Certain. So, we call this. We don’t. This. I don’t know. Tibetologist. Buddhologist. They call it object ascertaining. Sort of difficult word. Dimitri told me. You know. So difficult word. Anyway. So, make it certain that you get it. These; you don’t have to be all the time. But when you are working, you have to have it. If you don’t have the desire, you don’t want to look at. You don’t want to even, even listen to it. Immediately you cut you out. Right from the beginning before you even begin. And all of those. Each one of them have a function. The ultimately the function will make a huge impact on the principal mind. So, the principal mind will really get it. Whatever you are looking at it. And these are the activities of these five little mental faculties. That sounds like the five little Indians here and five little Indians. Ten little Indians running around. So, to make your mind function properly. So. So, these are the first five and five. Ten. Which really is neither virtue, nor it is negative, but make the mind works. Makes mind works.

0:21:00.4 If you don’t have those mental faculties, mind is such a big bologna\balloony (?) thing there. You know? I mean, it is big. You know, I mean, nice way we say. I say. You know it is like a clean crystal. Clean crystal lampshade. That’s a nice way of putting it. And if you don’t make a nice way of putting, looks like big fat chopped liver. Because, you know, without those other five or ten. Five plus five. It can’t function. It can’t function. It won’t work. Then it cease to be mind. Because the definition of the mind is sel zhing rig pa. Clear and getting it. Clear. Clear. You know when you talk about clear, you have so many sense of clear. You know. You are. If you have darkness, you don’t see it well. It’s not clear. The light comes out. Or the dark goes away. You see it better. It’s clear now, we’ll say. Right? It’s clear now. I can read it. We say that. Right? Am I right or wrong? Right. Right. So, that is one way of knowing clear. But that is effect of external object. The light. I don’t know whether it is sunlight or moonlight or electricity light or whatever it is. But it is the light. It is external object making it clear. We’re not talking about that type of clear. When we’re talking about the mind and its definition as clear, internally by nature mind is clear. Clear. By nature. Mind itself. So, that’s why they talk about mind luminous. You know what you’re hearing tonight? A luminous mind. Chopped liver. (laughs) Which is it? So, all of those, you know. A luminous nature; meaning not only it is very clear by itself. Knowing. Understanding. Because those ten mental faculties are working together there. Five plus five. The first ten mental faculties working and therefore it becomes very clear. No doubt. Nothing. It’s very clear. Mind understands exactly.

0:24:00.5 It knows. It is neither virtue nor non-virtue. It is neutral. You get it? Sel zhing rig pa. The definition of mind which not only the clear, but getting it. Getting it. Without these ten mental faculties, mind cannot get anything. So. Which, ten mental faculties combined with the principal mind makes the mind function as a mind. You get it? So, that is what we are talking about our mind. When we are talking about my mind. Your mind. Your mind. My mind. We are talking about that capacity within us. Capacity that controls all our functioning. Thinking. When you control the thinking the rest of them followed by thought. Right? If you don’t want to get up, you will not get up. If you don’t want to sit down, you do not sit down. You sit down because your thought comes and thought wants to sit down. So, the physically, somehow, you pack our legs together like this and sit down. Or sit on the chair. Whatever you do. So, these are the thought followed. Thought wants, “Ha. I should get up.” So, then you get up. So, everything followed by thoughts. Right? Our. Our legs. Our hands doesn’t function without; well, without realizing I must be moving my hands like this. So much. Somehow, I noticed. But our legs, our hands, doesn’t function unless there is a thought that, either automatically going or purposely you wanted to make it. That’s moving. But then when you realize you’re moving your hands so much, you try to hold back. Also, you recognize you’re holding it back. Right? So, all of those are because of the mind. So, anything whatever we do, our body. Whatever we do is controlled by our mind, unless we are not corresponding. If our mind and body’s not corresponding they will go. You know. Something’s missing. The missing link will be one of those mental faculties. Right? So, if the mind says, “I want to hit my. Throw my right hand.” So, you started throwing left hand.

0:27:00.8 So, what happened? The memory. The memory is not functioning well. So. So, the memory does not remember the right or left. So, the mind thinks right hand should throw. The physically you throw the left hand. Or you’re so used to throwing left hand and it tooks over the power of the memory. And that is. That is, what do we call it? Addiction. It took over memory. That’s. That’s very common within our functioning. Very common. Addiction on anger, hatred try takes over the mind decision of having no anger, no hatred. We may be taking over by. Although the order comes from the mind. No hatred. But actually, hatred might have come up because the addiction takes over the memory. And then the hatred comes up. And that, that is the lack of coordination. Or mental faculty functioning. So, if you keep on looking this very carefully. Carefully you’ll see every moment. Every functioning of our mind. And mind body cooperation and all of them. And everything is controlled by the mind. That is what is happening. So, that’s why mind is important. Mind cannot function without mental faculties. So, the mental faculties are equally important. So. Because without the mental faculties, mind cannot function. All these mental faculties are divided. With a name. With a responsibility. And so that. So that we can recognize. Otherwise, it will be, it will be 0:29:17.3 cavalcade (?) of thoughts, ideas, one after the another. We won’t be able to make any distinguish at all. So, that’s why each one of them giving a name, definition, and function, and a relationship with the principal mind. Thereby relationship with the body. Thereby relationship with the individual. So, each one of them have a tremendous amount of functioning. So, in short. In short, what this one is divided is fifty-one different mental faculties. So, we are running very sophisticated fifty-one different machines together by us.

0:30:06.0 We’re operating all the time. All the time. Every since we took rebirth. And it’s going to functioning. Functioning And then gradually some functions will drop and we’ll manage it till we die. So, we operating very sophisticated fifty-two different mind machine within our body. That is what is happening. So, the then, next one in this will be the. Will be the eleven virtuous. Virtuous mental faculties. There are supposed to be five virtue of those thoughts. They becomes virtue. So, eleven of them. So, eleven virtuous. Like faith, day pa. Now I forgot third.

Audience: (Indistinguishable)

GR: ngo tsa tre yo. All of those. All of those. Eleven of them. So, all of those eleven of them makes. Makes. Brings positive karma within the individual. 0:31:46.4 (Tibetan: Day pa ngo tsa tre yo chag ma dang ti mu mey tson dru shin jang ba yo tang nyong me tse wa (?)) So, all these eleven by virtue, if you look at. Faith. And then the next is “one who know how to”. What is it? Huh?

Audience: Shame

GR: Shame. One who knows.

Audience: Embarrassment

GR: Embarrassment. So, you know in the west shame and embarrassment is bad. Right? But in Buddha uses so much. So much. So that it will help yourself to help yourself. Honestly. You know, I mean, here one of them you said, even no one knows I’ve been thinking like this, I’d be ashamed of myself. And that thought will make you, don’t think funny things. It helps us not to get into trouble. And so does the tre yo, or the embarrassment, whatever you call it. So, that is, if other people came to know, how I’m going to face them?

0:33:05.0 So, it sort of helps you protect yourself. These two. In the west we don’t want to entertain. We don’t want to look. In western culture. However, but these two are the. These two helps us tremendously bring our moral conduct into proper. Proper. Because, you know, if you just let it. If you do whatever you wanted to. I mean, say whatever you want to say, do whatever you want to do, we call it freedom. It’s great. No doubt about it. We should enjoy it. But sometimes we want to say funny things. Sometimes we want to do funny things. And if you do it. If you have second thought. Can I be? Am I be ashamed of myself. Or if anybody else came to know, how am I going to justify this? And that hold you back a little bit. So, that holding back might not be that bad. Maybe it is limiting yourself. But. But it may help you. It may help you. For yourself for long run. For short run. For everything. So. Anyway I have covered that already. So, I am not going to go with that. Otherwise, I’ll never finish this. So. So, these are the. These are the eleven virtuous. Faith. You don’t have to talk about it. Because everybody knows faith is something good. But Buddhist faith is not blind faith. Buddha never buys blind faith at all, for whatsoever. Faith without reasoning is. There’s no such vocabulary in Buddhism. Always faith with reason. With a valid reason. Then it is really faith. With no valid reason it is simply 0:35:30.9 movement (?). And then somebody else says, “Are you really sure? I heard different things. blah, blah, blah, blah. You know.” Oh. The doubt will come. Faith will be shaking. Then. Then the negative doubts will come. So, you know, your mind of faith goes. It’s not valid. Without valid reason, simple blind faith is not accepted in Buddha’s teaching.

0:36:01.1 In Buddha. No. Not at all. If you have faith, you should have solid reason why you have faith. Or maybe it works for me. It makes sense. And it did work. And it is honestly it is. And these are, could be good reason. It is right because so and so said so. But then so and so said the other way around. So, these are not valid reasons. I feel it. It is invalid reason. You will feel it anything different. Depends what you eat, how good time you had, or what medicine you took. That is not valid reason at all. I felt it. So, you know, that’s not a valid reason. So, the faith must be intelligent faith. Intelligent faith is followed by valid reason. So, then it becomes unshakable faith. And very reliable solid unshakable faith. Right? So, otherwise you know, a lot of people will say, “Oh. This Buddhism is great. Wonderful. Let’s go there and do it.” They say, “ Oh. You don’t understand anything. They talk about all kinds of nonsense. That’s not, you know.” So, then you know your faith be shaken. It is not even faith. It’s not just, you know, a 0:37:47.1 movement(?). So, when we have faith in Buddha, because it’s Buddha it’s stupid statement. Because it’s Buddha, Buddha doesn’t have faults. Buddha has freed from all negativities. Buddha has total knowledge. Something to think. How is it? You have to think. When you get that and then you really begin to unshakable faith to Buddha. Or bring faith to Buddha because Buddhism is such a thing. It is non-violence. And. And it is based on the Buddha’s experience. And it is becomes faultless. And therefore, Buddha may be faultless. It is valid reason. Buddhism is nothing but Buddha’s experience. Experience. So, that experience; if giving us peace, harmony, joy and not giving us misery trouble.

0:39:03.9 And all that. So, then it may be good. Not valid reason, but working towards. Towards. Buddha is great because it’s Buddha. Or many people followed Buddha. Or ancient/Asian (?) one. Is invalid reason, honestly. So. So, even faith is like that. So, this the, again, I already talked. So, I’m not going to talk. So, that is the eleven virtuous. Next comes six root negativities. Six root negativities. Obsession. Anger. Pride. Ignorance. Doubt. Wrong view. So, that becomes the six. Out of which, I’m quite sure we talked anger already. And I don’t remember whether we talked pride. I did talk about pride because I couldn’t count the seven pride. I think I remember that. I’m counting and getting five or six or something. Not seven coming up. Am I remembering correctly or not?

Audience: yes

GR: Huh? Is that right? Right. So, we talked about the pride, but I couldn’t count. I said there was seven. I started counting. It only becomes five or six or something. So, that is where we are.

Audience: We got to six

GR: Did we? Ok. So, the seventh one is missing. Is that right? You people have notes. Did you? Did anybody read note in between or you just picked it up today? (laughs) So. Anger we all. Or the attachment and anger we already talked.

0:42:04.6 Pride. This particular pride is not the. We’re not talking about as a negative. We’re not talking about the self-esteem. Self-esteem. We’re talking about, sort of, I think Guenther, among all of those. I think Guenther called this arrogance. If you have the chart with you. This chart. I think Guenther called.

Audience: Arrogance.

GR: Arrogance. And all others called “pride”. Right?

Audience: There’s also self-importance

GR: Huh?

Audience: self-importance

GR: Self-important. Somebody said that.

Audience: Geshe Rabten.

GR: Who? Geshe Rabten. Ok. So, others are all pride. So, in my understanding, this is. This is not. This is sort of. When we look in these seven different prides, we will know. But, you know, self-respect. Self-esteem is unquestionably we have to respect and honored and maintained. This is almost look like looking down on others. And try to make sure that I am better. Sort of, inferiority, superiority complex. Along with. With the, sort of, self very important-ness. And others are not so good. I’m better than you. You, you, you and you. Because me. And things like that. And why this is considered, considered root negativity in here. Rather than secondary. Because this: A. Blocks opportunity for the individual to learn anything. Because you think, I know everything. I know everything. You will be the last person to ask somebody else.

0:45:02.3 You try to figure out by yourself. By yourself. And sometimes you don’t figure out well so, you can put things differently. Remind me, when we are in Jewel Heart in Ann Arbor, somebody tried to put a sink in the kitchen. And not functioning well. And then, afterwards we realized the person had put the sink inside out. Sink is supposed to face against the wall is facing out. And what is supposed to be front. (laughs) Right? Is that?

Audience: (indistinguishable)

GR: So, anyway. That’s when you try to figure out, sometimes we don’t ask people at all because of pride. You don’t want to ask. Neither you have patience to read the instructions. Nor you know how to put them together. So. So, try to push it and when it doesn’t. Little force. Together. So. So, the sink inside out. You know. Other way around. And that happens. Right? And that is the pride. Gives you the opportunity of learning. Is deprived of that opportunity of learning if you’re not so sure how it is going to work. You should learn it. And you didn’t get opportunity. This is just simple example I’m talking about it. But that pride. The pride person. The pride individual will never be able to really look into detail. Each one of them especially most sophisticated idea like wisdom. Or even compassion, to a certain extent, will not be able to go. The person will just get some kind of rough idea and make a decision to this. This is it. I did research. I read that book. I read this book. I read five books. And came out for this decision. This is my decision. My view. My time. So, you’re not willing to accept anything. Sort of deprived of opportunity. Earlier Tibetan masters say. Masters used to say. Say, 0:47:38.6 (Tibetan: nag gi je ca sa) That couple of different ways of saying it. One they will say, (Tibetan: nag gi je kun. Nag gi je ca ji ga pun pa la….) One of the ones. But both of them are saying the same thing.

0:48:00.6 If you have pride like a little solid iron ball. That can never hold the quality of water. Because no matter how much water fall on that. It will wash it away. Never gives you room to maintain. That is one thing. .Also. 0:48:24.1 (pun dan?) Jam Pal Yang used to see 0:48:26.1 (Tibetan: nyi ma lo ong ….) When you have the. During the autumn period harvesting period, when you have. When you walk in the field. Those few stalks that doesn’t have much wheat or whatever grain doesn’t maintain. All of those having lot of grains will be very heavy and they can’t stand up. Because they are heavy. They are sort of bowing down. You know. You know. In the harvesting you look. But those who are empty will be standing tall. Standing high. Because you don’t have it. Much. It is empty, so it is standing up. I. This is somehow slightly not normal with our usual American culture. That’s why I’m trying to make it little more dramatic. So that. Honestly. So, that you will remember. You know. Because, you know, this is something that we think is great to do. There’s a . There’s a good reason for this. But on other hand, when you are looking at the spiritual quality, the more the learned you are. You are. More the highly developed you are, you will be much more humble. And much more. What do you call it? Humanity. Humility. Humility. Humility. Should be. Because naturally, you know, your mind will be naturally, “That person has something to say which I don’t know. “ So, you gain, you pay attention. You pay respect to the person. And you listen to the person, even though silliest thing, making no sense for whatsoever, I listen until you’re sure it is making no sense, silliest thing. Until then, you pay respect and you listen to the person. Because the person with the quality will always have it in mind, that person may have something to say.

0:51:01.4 Something good, useful for everyone to say. That’s why we listen. Not we, those who have quality people. They listen. They are much more humble. More sort of, humility than total knowledge. I know everything. What do you know? You know nothing. So, this. And that deprives all opportunity for you. That’s why. When you’re deprived yourself opportunity of learning, then you have deprived yourself opportunity of understanding. When you don’t have opportunity to understand, you don’t have. You’re not going to gain the knowledge. When you don’t gain the knowledge, that deprives for you to transform the knowledge into quality. When you don’t have quality, you don’t have spiritual development. So, this is how pride cuts you out. So, it is very important to pay attention to the pride. And the. Although you know. You knew. You know better than. Maybe others have something to say. Pay a little attention. Don’t waste your time if it’s totally nonsense. Then somehow, you have to react. But then, don’t be so quick to make judgement. Have respect to the other people. That is very important. I like to hear that. And I must count those seven today. (laughs) Seven pride. I must count. So, the definition of the pride here is also looking at our own. Our own form. Form here refers to our body.

0:54:06.6 Our body is actually it is perishable or accommodating(?) is. So, we think. We look at this and we say, “That is me.” We identify that’s me and builds a very strong self-pride. Thereby not respecting others. And bring suffering to ourself. So, provided basis of experiencing suffering. And provide opportunity not to gain respect. Not respect others because “I know all best.” So, whether “I’m rich. I have so much knowledge.” Or I have. You know, whatever. I’m handsome. I’m young. I’m youth. I’m beauty.Whatever. I’m tall. I’m short. I’m fat. I’m thin. Any reason. And people may say, “Oh. It’s too fat.” And it is not good for him. Unhealthy. Horrible. I may look other way around, “I’m so nice and fat and great.” You know. I can do that. It’s mind. Mind is mind. You can twist and so misunderstanding. Misinformation. And makes you think that way. Think that way. Can be very proud of being fat. Why not? Right? Doesn’t have to be true. But there’s no truth anyway. So, that’s what it is. Tsongkhapa had said in his Lam Rim Chen Mo, the pride is focusing on the perishable thing and then see external, internal, higher, lower, good, bad. And comparing with others. Making yourself as more superior. It is superiority complex. Or is it inferiority complex?

Audience: Superiority

GR: Superiority complex. And along with the other side, you also have this inferiority complex together. Together It’s all combined together. So, that’s what it is.

0:57:07.6 Alright. Now seven. Counted as pride as one. Special pride, two. Pride of pride, three. Self-pride, four. Me, the best, five. Little better is six. And wrong pride. That makes seven. Pride itself is so. Oh, such a stupid person. I am definitely much better than those. That is just pride. The special pride is looking at your peers and saying, “Well, I am definitely better than he and she and he and she.” Sort of, not only, looking down and pride but equivalence when you’re looking up. And then, pride of pride is, you’re looking at very famous other people and then you acknowledging yourself. Telling yourself that. Telling yourself that I’m better than those one. You tell yourself, “I’m better than this one.” That’s what. That’s what it is. Just simply, “I’m better.” You’re not working hard trying to be better. That is not pride. But say, “Period. I’m better than them. Period.” During my young age in Drepung while studying in small group, one of those 0:59:02.6 (Tibetan: kancens??). We call it group. It’s very small group of monks. And had three outstanding learned teachers. Two of them are my teacher, too. So, both 0:59:20.9 (Khen Pema Gyaltsen and gyen den ma Gyaltsen (??). I think both become His Holiness’s teacher, too, later. So, very, very well known. And there are one very good Geshe. I mean, if he’s not in that group. If he’s somewhere else, he can be very good Geshe. He’s there too. Very good Geshe. Knowledge point of view. But he always thinks both of these two famous ones; he is better. He always says openly, without any hesitation, like in Loseling, during my period, there may be about eight, nine thousand people.

1:00:03.9 Almost all eight nine thousand people are the students of one of those two. Anyway, but then everyone will respect this other Geshe. For he’s very learned if he’s somewhere else. But because there are two, three outstanding. So, he couldn’t raise his head anywhere, because they are so good. So, he’s so jealous of them. So, he openly says, “What do these two know? I know far better than that.” In open, In public. Openly. In their presence, without any hesitation. So, he says, you know, whenever 1:00:47.7 Pema Gyaltsen. That’s my teacher. Khen Pema Gyaltsen(?). He said, whenever Pema Gyaltsen sits on the answering throne. And whenever he says, “Yeah”. He says, “My lion stands up.” (laughs) He openly says. So, when he was passing his exam and I was the debater. So, I made him chop completely down into pieces. And at the end I said. At the end, I said, “You, 1:01:24.7 Para A Sung. Isn’t you a Geshe Lharampa. What’s happened to you now?” Now I look back and I fell embarrass myself saying that, anyway. And those days, I can’t say, Ra. R A properly. I have a problem. I say, Instead of Lharampa I say Hiumpa. Instead of Para, I say Pala. So, everybody laughed because of double quotations, because he was completely smashed. Can’t say anything. And then, I’m saying, “Aren’t you Outstanding Geshe? What happened to you?” That is his final exam. And his final exam. So, “What happened to you?” And then my wrong pronunciation made everybody laugh in Loseling that day. So, I forgot, until last week, 1:02:36.3 Samdhong Rimpoche, the prime minster now, of His Holiness reminded me, 1:02:42.4 (Tibetan:..) Then I remembered. So, this is what they’re talking about. These two are famous. I’m definitely better than them. Somehow, they got their way through. (laughs) So, people acknowledge them, but I’m better.

1:03:00.8 That is this pride. And then the self-pride. That is, looking at our physical body as identity, and saying, “Me. I’m great!” 1:03:23.9 (Tibetan: num ba nga gyel) Something that you have not obtained, you pretend that you have obtained. “I have achieved Buddhahood. I am Buddha.” You’re not. But still, you have that pride. So, that is this one. And then, a little better. That is one. Looking at very famous person, saying, “I’m a little better than that person. A little better than that person.” And then the last one is the wrong pride. Wrong pride is, is something bad. Something bad is made into something positive. Which is really, you know, like me. I’m a very good example here. You know, I was a monk. And I become a lay person. Right? And that is disgrace. However, and somehow people started talking. I didn’t say that. But people started talking. “Well, he become purposely lay person so that he can work with the layman.” Made the disqualification into qualification. And even I build pride on that. That is the wrong pride. This seventh one. I think I counted seven today. And seven completed. (laughs) So, I think I should stop here, because I was wishing to do the ignorance. And then maybe I’ll do the ignorance next week. But I did in Ann Arbor, last week. The ignorance. Last Tuesday. Because in Ann Arbor, I’ve done this pride already. So, here I haven’t done that. That’s why. So, we’re one week behind. So. Or maybe I went to Ann Arbor a couple of times. Tuesdays. Couple of Tuesdays more than couple of Thursdays. So, probably. Maybe that’s the reason. So, I was thinking, you know, before I came here, I was thinking, “Where did I stop?” I look at the book. Then I remember, I can’t count seven. So, then I said, “Oh. Ok. That’s it. Where we are.” You know. Ok. So, I wish I could give you opportunity to ask questions, but it’s already after nine. Nine six.

1:06:05.0 So, then, I have to learn one thing. We have to start on time and finish on time. So, I tried to do that. So. Otherwise, it’s inconvenient for a lot of people. Specially if you have babysitters or going far away. How do you go?

Audience: Me?

GR: Yeah

Audience: (indistinguishable)

GR: All the way to Nyack? How long does it take?

Audience: Without traffic. About forty-five minutes.

GR: Sometime Diana drive all the way to Garrison. That’s an hour long. Lucky we didn’t have those Pennsylvania people. They drive sometimes hours. You know? Luck they don’t. They’re not here. I mean, I don’t mean lucky. But. (laughs) I always worry they get here. I don’t mean lucky. I mean, I wish they’re here, but. But I worry about their driving, you know? Long driving. At the end of the day. You’re tired. You know. Anyway. So, it’s not that we don’t like Vicki. Vicki should be here, but. Ok. So, you have announcement?

1:07:27.7 Audience; I have a couple of announcements. Just as Rimpoche said, he’ll be here the next three Thursdays. The seventh, the fourteenth and the twenty-first of August. Also, the Jewel Heart course starting in September. Although the date is not yet fixed is going to be the Four Noble Truths. So, information about that will be forthcoming. And then, again, I think. The Four Noble Truths? No? And then, I think starting in September we’re going to be doing webcasts here for Rimpoche’s teachings in Ann Arbor which will be on Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings. But volunteers are needed for that to help with the screen and the audio parts of it. So, if you’re interested in helping out with that please see John Yurt.

Audience: Paul

Audience: Paul Yurt. Sorry about that.

Audience: Also, Mark, tonight is collecting money for, contributions towards taking care of the homeless man who lives in our alley. Who we are trying to help a little bit. So, if you can spare anything, Mark will be taking donations.

Dedication: (4 immeasureables)

GR: Thank you