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20090514GRNYNL

So do kindly generate pure motivation, motivation of ultimate, unconditioned love and compassion. What we know, normally known as bodhimind. As described in normal, usual lam rim teachings. At least for the benefit of all mother sentient being, one "I" as individual, one would like to obtain ultimate stage of budha, for which I like to listen to this teaching, and then practice and become buddha to serve all living beings. Teaching what you are listening is the lam rim, which is more than chung choo lam rim ripa??. Actually the lam rim is, they are taking out of that chung choo lam rim ripa, so out of that they took out two words, they call it lam rim. Which means chung choo, the perfection, leading to the perfection. Perfection here means buddha level. And then the stages through which one can go. So I normally call this as a road map to the buddha state. And then, the lam rim also has a lot of different lam rims. Although many people think lam rim is just part of the gelugpa tradition, traditional teaching, but lam rim is really essence of prajnaparamita, prajnaparamita text. Which the essence of prajnaparamita is expressed by Maitreya Buddha in the abhisamaya alankara. Abhisamaya alamkara has a direct explanation and indirect explanation. Both are profound path of lam rim, and the vast path of lam rim. What I meant is very compassion aspects of the lam rim, and wisdom aspects of the lam rim. In the Tibetan tradition they will say vast and profound, maybe it is same thing. In English, is it same? Vast and profound. So whatever. In the bottom line it is the compassion aspect, and then wisdom aspect of prajnaparamita is Maitreya Buddha. This is Asanga after 12 years of trying to see Maitreya, sititing in the cave and doesn't know what do to. Purification, accumulation of merit for 12 years. After 12 years he began to see Maitreya Buddha. But that also, so that also wounded female dog, so, so that story you know, so I'm not going to repeat. So after that, Asanga went to the Tushita Pure Land, along with Maitreya, and listened to this teaching.

There are five different teachings of the Buddha. There are five very small booklets, maybe the largest is abhisamaya alamkara. which is the essence of the transcendental wisdom. According to the Maitreya, there is direct teaching and indirect teaching. The direct teachings are mostly the wisdom, and the indirect . . . . Direct teachings, they will say, direct teachings are mostly wisdom, indirect teachings are the compassion. However, the commentaries will talk only lot about, lot about the compassion rather than the wisdom. The wisdom aspect is left out of the Madermiaga aspect.

So anyway, so this is the, that is what Maitreya taught Asanga. The early Indian . . . Asanga and Nagajuna is two, known as great forerunners of the Buddha. In Tibetan they call it shing ta chen po????, one who really made path where horse carts can go. So they really went the first traveler went through, two of them. Two blasts, six others, are known as six ornaments and two excellences. Sort of known outstanding Buddhist teachers within this tradition of Indian Buddhism. That, all of that, you know.

Ok. So then, abhisamaya alankara, the commentaries are done by the, done by the Asanga himself and disciples of Asanga and Dignaga and all of those. And becomes very philosphical, very profound philosophical thing. For which they translated into Tibetan by the earlier translators such as Lotsawa. All this great many translators. Quite a vast philosphical thing. And then there, Jam Gon Tsong Khapa, begin to, wrote lot of commentaries, lot of commentaries from that. All that. Out of eighteen volumes of collected works that the Jam Gon Tsong Khapa, most of them are commentaries on either the abhisamaya alankara or madermiaga or digara??? or metaphysical thing. And then tantra. Ways of ??? [at 24.44 in the recording] yamantaka??? and all that. Different tantra. And lot of them. And then Tsong Khapa thought all of these are very good for those who are extremely intelligent and who are completely devoted. But what about simple people to be able to simply mediate and bring all the paths together? So Jam Gon Tsong Khapa thought, and then he said on the basis of teachings that I, Jam Gon Llama Tsong Kapa, received from Manjushri the three principle path, three principle path. On this basis, then Atisha's assistant, Atishsa is the famous Mongolian teacher from India. They having come to Tibet Lebanan??? Atisha's system. And then easy simple to mediate. And that is supposed to be simple to mediate. And so he and Tsong Khapa composed that big lam rim called lam rim chenmo which is now translated into English. Which we have three or four volumes. But the learning, learning center, the New Jersey Geshe Wang Gyal. The thing. Joshua the other, they did that. But lot of different translators for number of years they put together and it came out two years ago, three years ago something like that. And that is the lam rim chenmo. And that is supposed to be simple one. So, so then the simple one is not that so simple. So Tsong Khapa made medium lam rim, medium one, which I don't think anybody translated. But then after lam rim chemno the medium lam rim will be quite easy to translate. It's sort of taking out from the lam rim chemno. And then the shortest lam rim, lines of experience. Jam Gon Tsong Khapa himself has three different lam rims. Thereafter, thereafter then, thereafter many other different lam rims came out. And this lam rim what we are doing today is the first panchen lama's quick path. Not today, but we have been doing it for the last one or two segments, right? And so we took that gap and today is the beginning.

So in this particular outline we have basic two outlines. Outlining that of, that of fortunate individuals who are, who really would like to achieve the liberation or the ultimate liberation. In the Tibetan you will hear that always harva tange chenma??? [at 28.42]. Harva means liberate. Something will be able to escape. Something will be able to get, if you have a prisoner, if the prisoner run away, if totally gone, he or she, totally gone, so we call them tarva?? or tarvare?? So he be able to manage to get away. So that is the same language, same word, same pronunciation, same spelling is used for liberation. Meaning one individual can get out of the prison of samsara. So that's why tarva?? That is the tarva. That is our shorter goal. Shorter goal. Then longest goal is tange chenma??, total knowledge. Total knowledge. I don't know whether you hear today or not, number of times they refer to Dalai Lama as tonjay kimba???. All knowing, total knowledge. Tibetans used to say that. Now days they don't say much. I think tange kimba??? is replaced by His Holiness. Looks like. But old Tibetan culture, pre- 1959, they refer to Dalai Lama as tange kimba, means total knowledge. Total knowledge.

So total knowledge here means buddha, buddha level. Nothing beyond that can achieve by anyone at any level through spiritual way. So that is called tange kimba. So harva tange kimba - so the liberation and the total enlightenment. That vocabulary is used by the spiritual practitioners all the time, all the time. Because that's our goal. That is goal. That is the purpose of Tibetan Buddhism is - that's that. Nothing less, nothing more. That's that. Shorter goal, and long-term goal, sort of ultimate goal. And shorter goal. Shorter goal is getting yourself free from the suffering of samsara. The longer goal is you become totally enlightened so that you can help others to get that way, to get to the way. And these are the goals, two goals, nothing more, nothing less, honestly. Nothing, the goal is not that I feel good, not feeling good or I feel, you know, this is right thing to do. These are not goals in the Tibetan Buddhism, they do not entertain that part?? (that path??). Very stubborn like that. Honestly. That's not the goal. Because the goal is to make totally different in our life and lives. Life and lives. Because if you make only difference to this life, it only repeat. You are going to die anyway. Sooner or later. Nobody ever lived forever.

So if you don't make difference in our lives, not just life, because you know this is too precious, honestly. Too precious. Have you ever seen anywhere anybody talking, making a difference to your future life? Have you ever seen anywhere anything that is talking, making you become liberated from samsara? Or total enlightment? Become a buddha? No, nothing. Anywhere else you haven't seen it. Everywhere you have feeling good, makes feel good, people think it's good, and I feel good, and so and so says is good. And all that, that has become our goal. It is wrong goal. Honestly. Very wrong goal. For such a precious spiritual path. At least has to make a difference. We talk about, we talk about value of our life. We talk about the quality and capability of our mind and the connection between this physical body and mind. How much they can do different. We didn't talk all about that. If you going to waste that, just to make you feel good? Might well as go to Amsterdam and go to coffee shop. You will equally feel good, and you don't get into trouble with law too. In Amsterdam. Honestly. That way you feel good for awhile.

So that is not goal of spiritual of spiritual path. No, though people look for some kind of hardship, some kind of hardship, sacrifice, something. And that is, neither that is goal, that may be part of purification, but that is not spiritual goal. The goal is to make difference to our lives. This life as well as thereafter. Each life. And for me the reincarnation is real. It's not that when you die you are not going to simply disappear. Honestly. You are not going to disappear at all. You are going to continue. You are going to continue. You are just going to get out of your physical body. And you may or may not recognize or see your own body, you are not supposed to see your own dead body. Whatever the reason. Not supposed to see. But you see your friends and family starting to cry and doing all that. And you keep on saying xxx [36.44] attention, I am hear, what are you doing? They won't see you because that curtain is called death is door in between. So they cannot let you know, and here even if they slap you, you won't feel it. You won't understand. Because they can do nothing, nothing, because we don't see them. The boundary's there. Right? So sometimes, sometimes due to chemical effect or meditative effect, sometimes the wall goes down slightly. So you can sometimes almost glimpse xxx, that happens. That is good indication for us, there is something else beyond this. That is, that is, that is the really thing. So you don't disappear. We continue. Continue. And then after a little while, you know because of the death, because of this bardo, and because of rebirth you going to forget. You going to forget our previous life. So we don't recall our previous life at all. At our level. As a kid, 3, 4, 5, you could, you could possibly. Could possibly.

Some of those incarnate lamas, at the young age, they do see and remember. Some kids, doesn't have to be incarnate lama, they do recollect. They do. At least one I know. I know now this young man is now 20 something, 30 maybe. His teacher was somebody I know and loved for [xxx -unintelligible - at 38.56]. So one day he was telling me, oh this boy is giving me so much trouble, I am beating him up. And I said Why? He said, he told Indian army officer in your file so and so wrote something, something in your army headquarters. He was . . . that army head is looking for Indian army, is looking for promotion. So one of his friends wrote the verse sort of criticize him [xxx 39.33]. Indians xx so secret, they don't show you, don't give you opportunity to answer. Some of xxxx. So he comes to see this boy, and he told this boy I want to have you and incarnate lama, you know, help me to get the promotion. So and so wrote on your file this this this are words. I can see it. So he copied in English what he wrote, and so his teacher freak out and beat him up. After that army officer goes how dare you to say that? Speak to that? And I said why did they do that? And he said that's what we used to do. Used to do. Even if you're young, you know, you've been beat up number of times because you don't set your mind. Then after 7 or 8 they begin to forget. Honestly.

So the next life, future life, is real. That is not a story. That is reality, this is real. So what makes difference at that level is in our own hand. In our own hand. It is almost, you can't say it, it's almost you create your own future life. Whether it's going to be good or bad or enjoyable or miserable or whatever. Healthy or wealthy or poor or sick or whatever. Man or dog or cat or horse or whatever. So it is almost in our hands now. We make a difference to our life. That is why we are responsible for or own deeds. That spiritual practice what we have has to make difference to our future. After this level, ends??? to our previous life, we are not bad, we are o.k. We can improve, for sure. There are ways and means of improving, we can improve as much as we can. Not completely as karmic system is such. I mean we can never live forever. Otherwise who wants to die? Nobody will want to die, but you can never live ever for sure. Like that, sort of a karmic system. Works. But the future is, we are making our future now. This is our spiritual path. This is our spiritual practice. Making diffference. Not having suffering, not having xxx. And we can do it now. Once and for all. That is lam rim is all about. All about. But in order to suit our mind, we talk about tradition, lineages, and stages. And all these are first outline, which we already complete.

Second outline is, after understanding that, how will we practice. We are in that level. That also, root of all development, guru devotional practice. And thereafter how do we function? Root of guru devotional practice, we have completed. Thereafter is recognizing life, importantness, difficult to find, all of those. Difficulty to find also from the causal point of view, how difficult to find. From the nature point of view, how difficult to find. From the example point of view, how difficult to find. All this are over. We have done. Qualities we have done, ten endowments, eight leisures, and 18 special qualities. Plus quality of mind That we already done. We know, human mind. Particularly this educated mind of ours are fantastic. It really have no limit in both material point of view or spiritual point of view. If you are capable, your mind can serve you very well. There is no doubt - unless you've been mentally challenged. If you are mentally challenged, and then we begin to get our limitations. We begin to even cut this out of those 18 qualities. Mentally challenged. So if you are mentally challenged, then becomes difficult. But even then it is not completely out of luck either. Either.

So after that, after that, now we reach to the level of, after understanding all this, root of all development, guru devotional practice. After developing guru devotional practice, how to think. Told you about this, asking us, take the opportunity, don't waste the opportunity of this precious human life. And now, how to use this. We come to this level. How to use it. And then three, this nyr lam's outline is very simple. Only three. Common with the lower level practice. Common with the medium level practice. And mahayana practice. Just simply three.

What are you talking about common? What you mean by common? What you mean by lower level? What you mean by medium level? It is very interesting. If you look at three principle aspect, three principle you have, principle one, the renunciation. Which is divided into two, remember? Renouncing the obsession for this life, and then renouncing obsession for future life. Renouncing obsession to this life is almost equal to common with the lower level. Why it call it common? Because you know Buddha's teachings are basically categorized two - mahayana and hineayana. Into two. Sort of Buddha made such a way, hineayana teachers are very public, for anybody who comes to see Buddha, or whatever. It is everywhere. The mahayana is slightly selective, slightly exclusive. Because certain people cannot, cannot handle mayahana aspect. So Buddha made this slightly selective. Like wherever Buddha is talking, anybody can go, but if the mahayana teaching it is restricted, slightly restricted. Slightly restricted. Because mahayana teaching, some people are little afraid of mahayana, so Buddha thought that fear would not be so helfpul for individual. So they call it not fit to me. Not fit to me. Very select. Even the mahayana followers are referred as fortunate ones. Mahayana practitioners are called bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas. So, so that was sort of divided, sub-division of Buddha's teachings. Hineayana aspects and mahayana aspects. I know today is politically incorrect language to use hineayana, because hineayana means small vehicle, small individual vehicle, and mahayana is big. And people repeatedly ask me not to use, requested. Jack Kornfield even talked to me on the phone saying not only I want to request you not to call it, not call it hineayana, but also please do not call it theravadan. Please call it elder's way, that's fine. Elder's way or something. So that's fine, doesn't matter. I normally say theravadan, rather than hineayana. But today when I am talking about the difference between the mahayana and this, then you have to say hineayana because it will defeat it's purpose. Purposes.

So the theravadan level or the hineayana level, there are certain absolute necessary, certain teachings of the Buddha within that theravadan teachings, within the hineayana teachings, one must have it. Even thought you are geared toward mahayana. Tibetan Buddhisim is not only geared toward mahayana, but it is geared toward vajrayana. But not only mahayana, but vajrayana. So we don't say, there's ways of counting three yanas, it is known in this country when you talk about three yanas you say hineayana, mahayana and vajrayana. That's how they count. Sort of commonly known. But traditionally when they talk about trhree yanas they say sharwakayana, burjikayana, and buddhayana. So that's how Buddhist tradition early in India counts. Sharwaka, burjika and buddhayana. Sharwaka means, sharwaka means one who listens and one who hears. Burjika is self-liberation people. And buddhayana is who are seeking buddha level. Buddhayana. The vehicle that takes you tothe buddha level. That is how it is. Buddhayana or mahayana is divided into two, causal sutrayana, result vajrayana. It is not sutrayana causes vajrayana. Maybe it does. But what it means, causal level, caused, causal level, cause and the result. Casual level functioning is sutrayana, and result level functioning is vajrayana. So in order to reach to the result of total enlightenment, you can only reach through the mahayana path. Because no one, no theravadan teachings, no hineayana teachings, will ever introduce you buddha as goal. The ultimate goal is nirvana. Samsara is suffering, nirvana is peace. That is how it introduces. So then when you reach to the mahayana, then they say fear is two. The samsara fear and nirvana fear. So you have to go beyond that. That is how mahayana introduce you to the Buddha level.

So anyway, within this teaching of the theravadan level or the hineayana level, one must incorporate in one's practice. There are lot of them. So these are called common with the lower, common with the medium level. Common with the lower are mostly talking about this life. Mostly talking about this life. How to improve. What are the difficulties. All this are common with the lower level. Common with the medium level will talk about how to improve life after life. All of that. So if you look in this lam rim, or the road map to Buddha, from the guru devotional practice where you begin, to death and taking refuge is called common with the lower level. Then twelve links of interdependent system as well as the four noble truths system, are known as common with medium. Then love, compassion and perfections are known as mahayana path. So the path, the road is divided into three segments. And one cannot reach to the above without going through this. When you don't have those lower path within you, not as learning, but as a practice. If you don't have this, then higher practice becomes irrelevant. Because what they call that? Ice castle. Because it's built on ice, so it's going to melt. It doesn't stay. Or sand castle, ice castle, whatever, it does not have a solid foundation. So the spiritual, solid foundation was built at common with the lower level. That is solid foundation.

And then common with the medium level will make it . . . . There is tremendous amount of teaching in the Thervadan tradition. So what the lam rim does, absolutely necessary one has to have it. Picked it up from those levels, and put them together here. Put them together here. So that is how it is built. Why you say Why you say lower level? Why you say medium level? And each one of these levels, lower level, medium level, has it's own little, own little set of complete things. It's own little prayers, it's own little way of meditating, it has its own little way of protector, too. And even dharmapalas??? It has its own little dharmapalas? Common with the lower dharmapala, common with the medium dharmapala, common with the, the mahayana dharmapala. [some Tibetan] So even they have their own protectors, too. So this is why mahakala? and dharam king? and bayshawana??? So these are the three. Even it has its own little system of everything, if you look at in that. So anyway. So that is why common with the lower, common with the medium level and the mahayana path.

So, so I don't think I am going to start anything today. I just wanted to bring up to this level. And why I am not doing anything today? Because next Thursday I am not supposed to be here, right? I am not supposed to be here. Next Thursday. Do you know? And then, Thursday after that, 28th, also I am not going to be here because Ben is graduating that day. So I am taking Karen family out to dinner. Karen and family. So I can't be here. So two days there's going to be two-week gap. So I am going to start Thursday day after, which one is that? Probably in June. Fourth June, ok? So starting the common with the lower level. Begin with that. But in between that, we have Garrison Retreat. And that's going to be Three Principles. Three Principles is the backbones of the lam rim. Because when Tsong Khapa started writing the lam rim, the Manjushri asked Tsong Khapa - oh, my three principles are not good enough, so you have to write huge wallama??? So Tsong Kahapa told Manjushri, no, your three principles are the backbones of my lam rim and then I added Atisha's method, Atisha's method of . . . You know Atisha's Lamp on the Path or something. Lamp on the Path. Lamp on the Path. In that principle I keep that start and system and was put on and backbone was your three principles. And so when you have Three Principles done again in Garrison this weekend, so that will establish your backbones. And then we come back here in June we start with common with the lower and medium and all this. Again, I would like to urge you to meditate. If you don't meditate, nothing going to happen to you. I guarantee you. Honestly. So you have to meditate. No matter what you mediate, think that, we just said the lineage prayer, right? And I always try to make the lineage prayer faster, but it's Hartmut who always goes oooh. Sort of big elephant has to learn long tune???? So we have one hour, and then this long tune??? take it twenty minutes. Out of one hour twenty minutes goes for chanting, so that is not right. So yes, that too is very important and very blessed, the lineage prayer. But you can make it shorter. Because you can really, because you people have very good voice, I have horrible voice. So I cannot indicate??? because you people are big voice, so I can't do anything. Instead of saying [chanting], if I should say [chanting]. Rather than that Hartmut goes [chanting]. So that's going to go all the time. So rather have to make it little shorter. Keep the tune, but make it shorter. So that will be better. Otherwise we are going to lose all the time there.

Actually, I think we will do the same thing in Garrison, this lam rim prayer. Then Heart Sutra, the Tibetan and English alternative. If you compare the English translation to Tibetan, doesn't go. Really doesn't go. The English is Susuki Roche's??? translation of shorter version of Heart Sutra from Sanskrit into Japan, Japanese, and that into English. And so it is, there are shorter version of couple of sutras, sod? sutras, in the collected works, so one of them. So if you try to compare this Tibetan and English, it doesn't go. It's not translated from Tibetan into English, it's not. So that's why we do alternative, alternative thing. And what else? Thank you.

Oh while I am remembering today, when you do this [something in Tibetan 1:04:33]. So you know what you do? Hold your left hand here. If you are right handed, and then, I am right handed that is why I am saying it. Left hand here, and then right hand hits on top, like that. Rather than like this. Some people do that. And because I don't see that many, I see it, even very senior students do that too, but I couldn't tell directly looks bad. Then want to tell it, I forgot. So that is how it is. You know why? It is ground, this is the sky, and smash in between. That is what it is. But if ground started jumping up, then there is problem.

So that's that, and then I promised to let you ask questions. I hope during the break people I believe people have done great job of reviewing, and I thank you to all of you who did great job. And so I am sure you have questions. And also need, literally need to owe??? Nancy very, very good, Nancy and Amy, very good work. Thank you for that. And a lot of others, everybody thank you. And I think we need to do very often. And I don't think it's that difficult enjoyable???

So now questions.

Q. In reading the material about guru devotional practice, it became really clear that through ignorance, stupidity, arrogance, and all kinds of things, that um it's been blown many times. And when you look at what you can do to purify, there's very little in the text other than confession. And sometimes getting the lama on the phone to confess can be a problem. So, and also it seems there is so much about if you committed the five heinous crimes you can, it’s better, you are much better off than if you blow this and that for guru devotional practice. So it's starting to feel a little hopeless and unfixable.

A. Yeah, this guru devotional practice is, you know that's the reason why for all these years, twenty years, I didn't talk much about guru devotional practice in the United States. A, it is misunderstood. And then on the other hand it is absolutely necessary to grow our spiritual development within the individual. It is called Root of All Development. So what we really have to do is reasonably good, and I think it is very important to see the lamas has to, sort of don't stay up there, come down as much as they could. Should come down completely and behave just like a normal, completely normal human being with the, with everybody. As very normal, like His Holiness he can't come down, but you known he does. You all know when he came to Jewel Heart he just sat on the floor. He does, he does that way. But you know some lamas has to be really high up there with all decorations and trumpets and all that. From the lama's point of view, have to come very close and they have like, think like normal human being. Function just like normal human being. From the individual point of view, from the student or the disciple point of view, treat them like normal human beings, but with very profound respect within the heart, when you really understand. When you begin to understand, the profound respect comes out from the heart. Appreciate. I think that really becomes the root of development, rather than made up??? That's why, you know, right from the beginning I said don't stand up, don't prostrate. Don’t do all that. So if the lama being helpful to you, if there is something you appreciate, that appreciation becomes the seed of guru devotional practice. And that has to grow.

And then all this downfalls and all that, lucky you did not read lama xxjuba on this fifty verses. I think it was you told me few years ago on teaching of the fifty verses of guru yoga. Lucky you didn't do it, because then you can't walk, can't sit, can't think. And it is become that way. So, so, so either two ways you can do it. And you know some traditions, some centers, treat the lama as some kind of untouchable, supreme, up there, treating. And that is also nice way of doing it. Some don't. In my individual cases, I don't like to be sitting up there on the throne. All this. And I went to Italy this time, the Lama Tsong Khapa Institute. And I went like this. Again. And there is huge throne. And I told them I can't sit on throne because of leg problem. No matter whatever I told them, they have the throne up there. So then they keep on telling me we have made that arrangement for you. So I went up there, throne is shaking. And I am quite heavy right, 227 pounds. Every time I move, the throne going . . . So I sat there three hours very tightly. There is monk in front of me, there's two, there's like quite number of monks and nuns, like maybe twenty or possibly. The monk in front of me told me it does make noise, but it's not going to break. And so high, and everybody's down there. And there's there’s mezzanine, and go like this and I can see water in mezzanine. There's bed there, somebody must be sleeping there. That high. So the next day I said please don't. So next day they removed the throne and I been able to sit on the chair. So then I don't have to worry about breaking the throne. Every time I move it goes . . . .

So that is one way of doing it, you know? But then you have to leave that like completely. Some lamas do prefer that way. And that’s their choice. Some don't. So the relationship is really is the heart, and that counts. Not so much. Although, although it says how to have mental relationship, and how to have physical relationship. Outline. The physical relationship says get up, prostrate, this and that. All of those. And although, but it is the heart relationship that counts. Heart relationship you cannot demand. It doesn’t come out. If they been helpful, then appreciation develops. And that appreciation is the root of individual’s spiritual development. And that is what is counts.

And so fifty verses of guru yoga and all that, they are probably very good for thirteenth, fourteenth century.

Yes?

Q. Rimpoche, can you tell me what to say to someone when they say every religion has a different way of perceiving what happens after death. Like Tibetan Buddhists have their way, and Christians have their way. So they say, so someone said to me, well how can you prove what happens after death? And maybe Christians goes to the Christian place, and Buddhists go to the Buddhist place. Can you just give me a definitive thing to say to someone like that?

A. Very definitely there is no different Christian place and Buddhist place. I don’t think so. Number one. Number two, number two, honestly Buddhists, Buddhism, Buddhist, Christian, all of them, all this –isms, and all of them are from the theoretical point of view. It is sort of philosophical, theoretical, theologist idea. Although we say Buddhist, non-Buddhist, all that. That doesn’t mean good person and not good person. That doesn’t mean liberation seeker and not liberation seeker. Maybe it meant, I don’t know. Maybe I don’t know. Because I don’t know enough of other religions, other traditions. I can’t comment. But after the death, there’s definitely not separate place for Christians to go and Buddhists to go. I think total enlightenment is total enlightenment. Nirvana is Nirvana, whether you are Christian or Buddhist or whatever you are. And you get there. I think this theoretical point is the theory, it is man-made thing. We are very good for organizing. So we not only organize our . . . everything, but we even organize spiritual path. And if it is not organized, and then it is messy. So we organized, so then we labeled them, like you know Christians, Jews, Buddhists. And all that. Sort of identify. With a valid reason, with a valid reason. Some identification done, so then we put them into boxes, and then label them. And then we say situation’s under control.

Chinese did same thing for the Tibetans. In the 1100’s, 1200, a lot of those Tibetan lamas are going to China. Lot of them went. Their goal is to become the guru of emperor. Lot of them going. And Chinese politically receiving them with the political motivation. And then they couldn’t figure out what is what, who is what. So they started giving the hats. Red hat and black hat and multi-color hat, and all this. And then they have their own official documents, and they categorize them with the color of the hat. And so aong them, oh yeah, this one is . . . there is no yellow hat in China. There are, this is the black hat, this is the red hat, this is green hat, this is blue hat. Way they did this is they made the hat and give it to them as honor. And so that is how they organize. Because otherwise they do not know what is what. Another lama comes up with lasa apso?? Yes, you know, honestly. The lasa apso is the gift they give. And some of them are so small they fit in the Chinese ball??? So that’s what they do. They did. And you look in the history. And each one invited, invited by the Chinese emperor. Because that is how they control and how they rule.

So I think it is –isms, these are really individual, man-made. It is man-made. Reality, I think the negativities, negative emotions are the cause of samsara and suffering. And how much you defeat them, how much you control them, how much cessation you can obtain. You know what Buddha gives, Four Noble Truths teaching. First two truths is how we got into samsara. Last two truths, how we going to get out of the samsara. That is how Four Nobel Truths taught. Then say if you are Buddhist you are going to get out, if you are non-Buddhist you are not going to get out. At that time of the Buddha there were lot of Hindus, but they divide the outer and inner divisions is there. But Four Noble Truths is Four Noble Truths, and it is not divided on basis of outer or inner. So probably judging from that point of view, looking from that angle point of view, that is what it is. But then many of those vows and paths and everything was built on the basis of refuge. And that is later, not during the Buddha’s period, but later, they build up. And then the division came, you know outer, inner, taking refuge. Or even the division of outer and inner differs within the Buddhist thoughts. Most of them say who take refuge in Buddha Dharma and Sangha is Buddhist, and others not. Some will say no, the four logos??? of Buddhist, one who accepts, follows four logos of Buddhist, and that is the one. Some will say no, no, even me, I will say no, I didn’t talk to you people in detail, even I will say no, taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha doesn’t make you Buddhist. You know, Buddhist means one who accept Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is perfect refuge. Otherwise Buddha can’t take refuge in Buddha, so the Buddha is not Buddhist. That’s my view. So you have to say Buddha is not Buddhist. Because Buddha does not take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Right? We take refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. So if you say Buddha takes refuge to Buddha, no. So one who accepts Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is perfect refuge.

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Even the schools within the Gelugpa tradition, even the monasteries, Losaling will say this, Serra? will say yes, or Seera chey will say yes who have taken refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Serra men will say no, that's how, you know, if you go in detail in that, it goes in that way. These are philosophers and theologists and that's how it become. The reality is, I think you know, liberation is liberation, whether you are Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jew or whatever you are, atheist, you will obtain that. And I don't think there's a difference. It depends on the person and the personality. And the individual practice. And that's why the dresses, style and all of them become not so important. When I first get into the United States it is mid-80's, and a lot of level of 60's are there. People like to wear mala and throw mala around, so I completely discourage. I did that. Because the mala will not make you Buddhist. Now, now we know even the Muslims have mala called worry beads. Right? So same thing, mala doesn't make you, or the yellow or red color will not make you Buddhist. Nor this, nor this jola???, this shawl, nor the bad you carry, doesn't make you Buddhist. That answer your question? Thank you.

Or maybe we should stop here. Oh you have announcement, go ahead.

Announcements.