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1212

Soundfile 2010124GRAANL5

Transcriber Hartmut

00:00 Prayers, Mandala Offering, sang gye chö dang…

00:20

Do kindly generate the pure motivation of bodhimind. If you cannot generate that, then at least for the benefit of all mother sentient beings I would like to obtain total enlightenment, for which I would like to listen, learn, analyze and meditate and obtain the state of a Buddha and lead every living being to that state. With that motivation do kindly pay attention to a few words that we have to say. This teaching is a lam rim teaching, in particular the nyur lam teaching, the Swift Path, by the Panchen Lama. Basically, it has a prerequisite aspect, then the common with the lower level practice, the common with the medium level practice and the Mahayana practice. The first three are over and we are on the Mahayana practice level. That has first the actual development of bodhimind as well as the practice thereafter.

The actual development of bodhimind has two:

Developing bodhimind

Obtaining the bodhisattva vows through ritual

Developing the bodhimind has the

7 stage way of developing bodhimind – through Maitreya and Asanga

5 stage way of developing bodhimind, the exchange way – through Manjushri, Shantideva, etc.

The 7 stage development is build on equanimity, which is not counted as one of the 7 stages, but as the foundation for it. Then comes recognizing all living beings as mother beings and then remembering or acknowledging the kindness shown to us by all living beings as mother beings. Then comes reciprocating that kindness. Then comes developing love, compassion and the special resolution, resolving in our own mind that “I will deliver those who have not yet been delivered to the level of enlightenment, and console those who are suffering from samsara in general and its imprints. I will console those who are under the influence of suffering suffering and changing suffering, and particularly pervasive suffering. I will not only liberate, but liberating all living beings will be my personal responsibility.” Resolving to that level is called resolution here.

That resolution leads to today’s subject: developing bodhimind, the meditation of developing the ultimate altruistic mind. It begins the way we normally do the meditation. You sit down and meditate. You don’t have to sit cross legged but can sit on a chair or even stand up. You think just like in any other lam rim meditation with the prerequisite level. We have already gone through that. You visualize the supreme field of merit with the Lama in Shakyamuni form. Then you image the wisdom lineage, the compassion lineage, and the practice blessing lineage.

0:10:29

Then the yidams, buddhas, bodhisattvas, the sanghas of the arhats and dakas and dakinis, and dharmapalas. After generating them, you make the 7 limbed offering, including mandala offering, then make the three important requests, and you can even mantras or whatever and then you dissolve the field of merit from the lower groups above. Remember, there are eleven layers or lotus petals with all the groups of figures on them. You dissolve them one into the other. Also the sections of lineage masters dissolve into their respective principals. Thereby you have Manjushri, Maitreya, Buddha Vajradhara and Lama Buddha Shakyamuni left. Finally, Manjushri and Maitreya dissolve to Lama Buddha Shakyamuni. Buddha Vajradhara enters through the crown of Lama Buddha Shakyamuni and that is how lama kundu lama lhag pai lha Thubwang Dorje Chang or Lama Buddha Vajradhara is born. That is the easiest way. We praise and make strong requests to him, again making the 7 limbed prayer and mandala offering to him. Light and liquid come from the physical body of lama kundu lama lhag pai lha Thubwang Dorje Chang. You have the strong resolution that you are not only going to completely liberate all these kind and compassionate mother beings from the suffering of samsara and its imprints, but liberating them is your personal responsibility.

Now think: Do I have the capability to do that? I did resolve that I have to do it. It is my job and responsibility, but do I have the capacity? Right at this moment, not only can I not liberate all sentient beings, but I cannot even liberate one of them and let that be me. In order to liberate all beings, what do I have to do? I need the best capability. And that lies at the level of the fully enlightened Buddha. Such a Buddha is free of all obstacles and blockages. There is tremendous and total freedom. Because of that you can function extremely well without any obstacles, without any difficulties. For example your physical capacity will be so much that you will be able to manifest millions of living buddhas in millions of different places simultaneously. Your speech will be such that you can not only deliver them in their personal language and mother tongue, but according to Tibetan Buddhism your speech will be the “ear ornament of the fortunate”, meaning it is not only the soothing language of their mother tongue, but it is the language that delivers and communicates the perfect message to so many individuals all at the same time. It delivers whatever is needed for any particular individual. They will understand it as though the Buddha has been talking to them personally only. You will be able to do that simultaneously in millions of places with millions of people simultaneously.

Not only that, then there is the quality of mind. It is total knowledge that not only knows the minds of other individuals, but knows them clearly, without any mistake, without absolute clarity, for millions of them all together. It will be like the sun shine that although it comes from the one sun reaches everywhere and touches everyone. That’s how a buddha’s mind functions.

0:21:58

Then the activities are such that you don’t have to put physical or verbal effort in. Just by putting a thought, just by generating light, just by wishing and praying, or just by sitting alone you can achieve everything. That is what we refer to as effortless. The quality you have then is the best of the best of all. Not one, not a few, but all.

Mind, total knowledge, speech, totally in touch with all beings in their own mother tongue, body, multiple manifestations simultaneously, quality, free of all non-knowing, obstacles, delusions, imprints of delusions, activities, effortless functioning.

When I obtain such a level of quality then I will be able to deliver all living beings to buddhahood. Therefore, in order to achieve my commitment, my resolution, I must become a fully enlightened Buddha. I would like to become and I will become a fully enlightened Buddha. I may be blessed to be able to become a fully enlightened Buddha.

That’s how you meditate. I mentioned to you body, speech and mind and total quality. In this particular case total quality of mind is kyen tsen ngö sum: knowledge, compassion and capability.

Compassion is not only that oneself has totally achieved enlightenment, but your compassion is such that you care for every single living being as the mother cares for her only child. In that manner Buddha’s compassion functions. The 7th Dalai Lama said,

Dang dreng rang la tse wa de chek

Chü to nying je char me wö

my caring for myself cannot match Buddha’s love and compassion to all living beings not even by one per cent divided into hundred.

In our imagination our love for ourselves is almost ultimate. And that is not even a quarter of one per cent of Buddha’s compassion for each and every living being. You cannot image how strong and powerful that love and compassion is. Then the capability of the Buddha is that by a simple thought and wish, by simply generating light, enlightened beings achieve all their aims.

Therefore, I must obtain that stage for the sake of all living beings. Then we make the requests for blessing. Light and liquid are coming from the physical body of kyab ne kundu lama lhag pai hla Thubwang Dorje Chang, but they reach to me and all mother sentient beings, purifying all our negativities in general and in particular the negative emotional oriented delusions and their imprints. These are emotions such as hatred, obsession, confusion, fear and so on as well as their imprints. Imprints here are although negative emotions are not active currently, any condition can make them come back any minute. Negative emotional activities are the subjects we directly have to clear at the level of the arhats. Without that we don’t get free from samsara.

The imprints are the effects. Some imprints are not capable of coming back but still they have influence and effects. That is like working with garlic. When you remove the garlic physically, the smell of the garlic can still remain in the chopping board, your hands, the knife and so on until it is washed off properly.

35:58

That’s the imprint I am talking about. Until the imprints are over you are not going to become fully enlightened. When you purify not only the direct emotional negativities, but even the imprints, then you become fully enlightened. That’s the difference between being fully enlightened and being an arhat – the simple enlightenment. Simple enlightenment is the ultimate goal for the lower and medium levels of practice. Buddhahood is the Mahayana goal. When you are practicing the Mahayana path your goal is to become fully enlightened. Your direct opposite that you have to get rid of is not only the delusional, emotional activities, but also the imprints and their effects. Finally, light and liquid are coming from the physical body of the lama and purify all of them. Then the duplicate lama kyab ne kundu lama lhag pai hla Thubwang Dorje Chang comes and dissolves to you physically, mentally and emotionally. You become oneness in all these ways. Thus you transform yourself from an ordinary being into an extraordinary being. That “me” is sitting on the lion throne. You look like Shakyamuni, your physical body has been changed. Your color is golden yellow, sitting cross legged in vajra – or as known in the west – in lotus style. You have the 32 major and 80 minor physical signs of total enlightenment. All these qualities of body, speech and mind, knowledge, compassion and capability, all of them you have. You have all these Buddha qualities. You have think, “I have now become in that way.” That has very important omens. So you have to think that at least for 5 minutes or so.

From yourself as Buddha you generate light from your physical body, cooling, soothing, not disturbing wonderful light. That reaches to the hot hell realms, clearing their suffering of heat. Even that environment transforms and becomes a wonderful pure land. Also you generate lots of heat-oriented sun ray- type of light from your body. Think, “I am now focusing on the cold hells”. So the light becomes heat nature light, reaching to all cold hell realms and just by the touch of the light from your body all living beings in there become transformed. The environment is corrected.

Light also comes and reaches to the hungry ghost realms. Here the activity of the light clears the sufferings of hunger and thirst and all other sufferings. Sometimes it is too cold, sometimes too hot. The hungry ghosts always have the suffering of being deadly tired. All these sufferings are completely cleared – particularly the causes of becoming a hungry ghost. That cause is stinginess, unable to be generous.

Similarly, light comes and clears the physical, mental and emotional limitations of the animal realm. They are divided into two: those deep under water and those on the ground. Thus you purify their suffering completely and clear the environment they are in and it becomes pure.

Next is the realm of human beings. Light goes from your heart as Buddha and reaches to all human beings everywhere. The light generated physically and mentally reaches to every human being everywhere and removes their physical sufferings of being physically challenged, their mental sufferings, their emotional sufferings such as hatred, obsession, confusion, fear, not knowing, the limitations of knowledge and clarity and particularly also the problems of environment, such as a hostile environment, such as elementary difficulties like earth quakes, floods, air difficulties, etc. That includes things like air filters with toxic effects, cyclones. That includes hostile environments due to war, but also naturally hostile places are too cold, too hot, too unfriendly to living beings. Maybe it is too smooth or not smooth enough, maybe it is difficult to walk there, maybe there are too extreme land features like canyons, etc. All physical and environmental problems are cleared. To do this visualization gives you also the karma to develop your own pure land. Such a thought followed by actions will contribute to the environment too. That is the job of yours to work in the human land. It is not only to relieve the sufferings of beings, also the environment. The wrong environment is often created by war. Unsettled elements effect it too and particularly nowadays we have the creations of toxins. Sometimes the environment itself does react. So all of these have to be purified.

0:53:21

And then the next level is the demi god realm. Their major suffering is fighting and the consequences of war against the samsaric gods who have tremendous power. So the demigods lose all the time. They get killed, cut and wounded and separated from their physical body. All that is being now purified. They become pure and fully enlightened.

Finally, we reach to the 6th realm of the samsaric gods. That is supposed to be the example of joy. However, all their joys are contaminated. Thereby they are temporary and causing suffering. So they have to be purified. Their vivid physical suffering is the signal that they are going to die, losing the quality of their flowers, developing strange smells, perspiring physically. They then know that they are going to die and they suffer tremendously. They are even being discommunicated from their own groups of friends and even spouses. Somebody who really cares may bring some kind of rosary of flowers at the tip of a long stick, so they don’t have to touch you. And they will throw that rosary at you. Then you may be happy to receive the flower mala. It may look almost like the Hawaiian flower garlands. When your own mala is getting bad, someone may throw you a new one at the end of a long stick. You will appreciate having the flowers but you also will be very sad, because you see they don’t want to come near you. From the distance they throw it to you on the tip of a stick.

Usually in the god realms there is no physical or mental suffering; so then when you develop one it is unbearable. All those sufferings in the samsaric god’s realms are completely purified. The environment and the inhabitants are purified. The samsaric gods are purified and become fully enlightened buddhas. These are your activities when you become a fully enlightened Buddha. In short, you are in the form of Shakyamuni Buddha. The lights you generate are actually the virtues you have accumulated during the contemplation periods. These limitless virtues you now send out in light form: rainbow type of light and nectar. You give those to all living beings. All living beings obtain temporary and permanent perfection.

1:00

That will be the practice. Finally the conclusion. That is as always: dedicate all your virtues. That doesn’t mean just say the words. If you say the words you have to think and agree with the words you say. It means dedicating everything for everybody to become fully enlightened. When you do it that way, then until you have achieved your purposes, your virtues will remain. They will keep on giving results because their purpose has not been completed as dedicated. That is the karmic principle. Karma is definite. So when you dedicate it, it becomes much more powerful, strong and stable. That’s why at the end there is dedication. That can be done through saying words, mental thoughts, etc, but whether you say the words or not, the mental dedication is absolutely necessary.

Then the second point: what to do in between the sessions

When you are doing meditation or retreat of this sort the time in between sessions is equally important as the session. At that time you read and think about the subject you are meditating on. Your 24 hour attention should be drawn to the subject. All your power and capability has to be put together to achieve this. This is important. Otherwise, you may think, “I am in a break between sessions

, so I can do anything I want to.” But if you do so, it will disturb the trend of your thoughts. So in between sessions it is sometimes more important to stay focused than in the session. You can’t in between sessions keep on yapping in meaningless chit-chat from the top of samsara to the bottom of samsara. That is our habit and we enjoy doing that, but disturbs us a lot. So while you are in retreat you should pay attention to the subject.

You do take breaks because you get too tired of thinking or saying mantras. So you are giving yourself a physical and mental break. That doesn’t mean you go everywhere. You can’t do that all the time, but on occasions, when you are doing retreat, you can. There is permission to not completely retreat, so you can talk in order to organize your necessary activities. That doesn’t mean you should go haywire and crazy in between sessions. Some time back some people were doing retreat in my house. I think Ribur Rinpoche was there. So in between sessions everybody was talking a lot and Ribur Rinpoche almost freaked out, saying, “You can’t do that.” So the time in between sessions is very, very important.

What you do in between sessions is through three door ways: physical, verbal and mental. In between sessions, if you want to rest, you want body, speech and mind to rest. That is not just by changing the object of attention. That looks like rest, but it isn’t. That’s what we do. We watch movies to get rest and relaxation. But we are just shifting our attention from one thing to another. It looks rest, but you are making your mind work on something else. Plus you keep your mouth busy with chatting, instead of keeping quiet. So then it is not really a retreat.

1:10

For the upcoming winter retreat I am really hoping to maintain some silence – not only in the retreat sessions but also where you live, where you are sleeping. Maintaining silence will give you a little more effect. We used to name the Chicago sangha as example of how not to keep quiet. So if the Chicago people can shut their mouth then everybody can. We used to say that. It’s not true, it’s just a joke. But hopefully we will be able to maintain some silence. If you meditate on lam rim you should always do that. It is not a commitment. If you don’t do it one day you are not breaking any vows. But doing it effects your development. Whether you do long or short sessions, that doesn’t matter. But proceed in the proper order. If you look in the lam rim outlines, you may be focusing on one outlines for months and years. Then have a brief review or preview – that depends on the individual. To some people it is a review and to some it is a preview. Keep on changing the focus as it effects you. Then you will have something really solid. Let’s say there is somebody called “Yama” or “Lord of Death”. Of course that is a metaphor. There is nobody physically, but lets say there is somebody who does the total calculation at the end of this life. When they send you the bill of negativities and positivities, then you will have something to put across. You will have some plus and minus things to deal with. Otherwise you will have nothing. Even if we try to be good human beings, that may be a lot, but none of these efforts will take us out of samsara. That’s because there is no influence of renunciation. None of them will contribute towards enlightenment, because there is no bodhimind. Then, when you do the plus-minus business, you may have done something good, but you don’t get much out of it. But this sort of thing is like playing cards. [If you do proper lam rim practice then] not only you have three kings but you also have three black asses. (aces)

It is now 12 and we are supposed to go till one. The next subject is the exchange of self and others. Maybe we will need a little break. But if we do that, by the time you come back it will be 12.30 or 12.40 and that won’t do. Instead of that lets’ sit for another 30 minutes and then finish a little earlier.

1:17 – short break

1:17:21 Welcome back. I guess it is time to say hello to the other chapters who are hooked up with this webcast teaching. (interchange between Rinpoche and chapters on skype, one after another in Chicago, Cleveland, Lincoln NB, NYC, Philadelphia (well audible, Rinpoche as well as skype connections)

Questions from Lincoln: Is there a translated root text for the nyur lam?

Rimpoche: There is a root text, but not translated. However, there is book by the Dalai Lama called “Becoming enlightened”, which apparently is based on the nyur lam outlines. That is translated by Jeffry Hopkins and published by Simon and Schuster.

1:28:55 Questions in Ann Arbor

Audience: Can we combine the Ganden Lhagyema with the nyur lam meditations?

Rimpoche: Yeah, you could. You could even adapt the nyur lam meditations into the Foundation of Perfections. The words of the Foundation of Perfections are much shorter than the nyur lam, but you can make gaps in the recitation or reading. That means the tongue will be waiting for the mind.

Audience: Could you also use the lama chöpa to do that?

Rimpoche: Yes, it’s the same thing. You can use the lam rim stages beginning with zhing chog dam pa… During mantra saying you are also permitted to meditate on the lam rim, even during mantra retreats. But if you do meditate on the lam rim your numbers are not going to come up very fast. If you are in a time crunch it is faster to focus on the mantras. During our upcoming winter retreat our time will be very crunched, because we need the various mantras for Yamantaka to come up. If you keep on meditating on lam rim, then instead of 8 or 9 days it will take 2 or 3 months. Otherwise, it is permitted and even recommended.

Audience: Should one do a dedicated nyur lam retreat?

Rimpoche: You could, but can you also do your nyur lam retreat every day in your daily practice and spend one or two hours.

Audience: Should one do that in the context of the lama chöpa or Ganden Lha Gyema or can one do it separately?

Rimpoche: It doesn’t matter.

1:33

Audience: So do you want us, if we are doing our lama chöpa practice, to effectively stop at some verse every day and meditate there or do you suggest another way?

Rimpoche: No.

Audiencence: When I do White Tara, can I use the meditation you just did on bodhimind, sending light rays into the different realms and removing the problems of sentient beings, or is that too much mixing?

Rimpoche: I don’t know. Yes, you can use the lam rim stages everywhere, but I don’t know it is useful to do it in such a short time. You are doing very limited mantras. Even if you are doing 2 – 5 thousand mantras, it is still too much to do. Depends on how the individual handles. Is it permitted? Yes. Is it good to do that? Yes. Is it appropriate? There is nothing inappropriate. But is it recommended? I don’t know. It depends on the individual.

Audience: Can one have both, love and attachment to the same person?

Rimpoche: We all do. But at some time you will have to leave the attachment side and develop the love further.

Audience: Logically, recognizing all beings as mother beings makes complete sense as far as that there is nobody that you could think of from whom you could say with absolute certainty that they have never been your mother. Logically, that works for me. But in Liberation in the Pam Pabongkha Rinpoche says that literally every sentient being has been your mother countless times. When I try to make my mind stretch to accept that every single ant, spider, fish, bird, person anywhere has been my mother, it is too much. Maybe when I have a greater capacity I will be able to do that. But is it enough to be able to tell yourself: since I can’t prove that you weren’t my mother in a previous life, I will love you as if you were. Is that good enough?

Rimpoche: I don’t know what to answer. I think it is good enough….to begin with. But logically, you cannot deny that every fish, bird, spider and scorpion literally has been your mother. So it is a matter of thinking more. That is really the point, when you look into these texts, especially Pabongka, he very often says: when the mind is ready and trained it can do it. So I think there is a transition that has to come about. That’s a good thing. When you are using your intelligence, you will find, if you are really open-minded that you cannot deny this. And that is definitely leading you to the right direction. It is almost normal, but stubborn people will totally deny that and a group of stubborn people will even say that whoever is thinking that way is totally crazy. It’s true, actually. But if you are intelligent and use your mind properly you will see in that direction.

There is that expression: dharma and worldly affairs are two separate things. Sometimes though that expression is denied and it is said that whoever uses that expression shows their lack of intelligence. Both positions are correct.

1:42

Audience: Yesterday you gave an example saying that if you go through a tough time think it is like a movie. But how can a person living his life and going through a tough time be an observer of his own events?

Rimpoche: There are two things here: One thing is that in order for tough times not to hurt you personally it is good to look at the melodrama of this life as just like a movie. And that’s true. Movies are based on the life stories of people. Maybe there is the screen writer’s imagination. However, the imagination is based on some people’s lives and life stories combined together to create characters and make that into entertainment, enough to entertain an intelligent person for one or two hours.

The second thing is that life is really like a movie. It is temporary, it is happening, but everything at the end really doesn’t make that much difference. It is a true movie.

Further, if you separate too much, if you go too far then you are disconnected. If you are totally disconnected you become a true lunatic. Then who is going to take care of you?

So you have to be able to know how not to hurt yourself, yet stay in touch and be responsible and be able to function. Read Deepak Chopra’s book “Merlin”. That really tells you how it is. Whether it is the truth or not, it gives you the idea. Maybe it is drawn from the Vedas or whatever the original source is.

Audience: So what you are saying is that you have to live like a lotus in the water, but not in touch with water. But how do you do that?

Rimpoche: (laughs) Very good question.

Audience: I read that when you practice equanimity and see all beings as your mother, the benefits that you can give to them is like the earth, water, air. That made me realize how difficult it is to get to that level if you have all these emotions. Then I read that you really can’t do these activities until you understand the truth. My question is: how much time should one spend on understanding emptiness and how much on those equanimity-related subjects?

Rimpoche: Good question. It is the not a question on how much time to spend on it. But the question is how much effect you have. But you are right, unless you understand the truth you cannot do it. From another angle though it is also not true. When you are doing those, you try to change. I should have said it more mystically: you are transforming your perception, your mind, even your reality. In other words, you are not wasting your time. It is effecting you, it is building up. On the other hand it is not really a question how much time you spend here or how much you spend there. Maybe no time management is required. Maybe just spend time on which one you feel like it, wherever your thoughts take you. But don’t let the thoughts run without watching. But it may not necessary to have strict time management.

Audience: I have a question on dissolving the lama chöpa merit field. When we are dissolving Guhyasamaja, Heruka, Yamantaka and Hevajra, who do they dissolve into, into the Lama Buddha?

Rimpoche: in the lama chöpa it is Lama Losang Thubwang Dorje Chang. The figures on the 11 petals dissolve from the bottom up, the lower ones into the upper ones and then finally, they dissolve to the four petals with Guhyasamaja, Heruka, Yamantaka and Hevajra. Then they dissolve into Lama Losang Thubwang Dorje Chang and then all the figures of the lineage lamas are dissolving into each other and finally you are left with Buddha, Maitreya, Manjushri and Vajradhara and then they dissolve to Lama Losang Thubwang Dorje Chang. In the nur lam, the Vajradhara from the practice blessing lineage dissolves last and thus gives birth to Lama Thubwang Dorje Chang. So the only difference really is that in the lama chöpa you add up Losang.

Audience: I just wanted to address the question from earlier on the possibility to see all beings as mothers. It is by a guy called Willson and he addresses the idea that all beings are your mother. He came from almost a mathematical perspective, how it is possible to be connected to all these beings.

Rimpoche: Well, with this I have to say thank you for everyone to be here, in New York, Cleveland, Nebraska, Philadelphia or wherever you are. It is almost time for us to dedicate.

1:54

These are good ways of getting together. From this year on we are changing the Tuesday - and Thursday teachings and I think it gives more solid information rather than an hour here and an hour there. Now the next get together will be in New York next weekend. It will be almost the same subject, with a few up and down additions. I told a few people who are listening not to tell everyone that I am going to do the same thing. I have to sometimes play that pull and push business. We had already announced something else and now we are changing it, which is not that easy. The program people kindly will allow me to do that. Also you can’t do much about it as long as I teach – just kidding. Once I am on the chair you can’t come over there and tell me, “You can’t teach that. You have to say this.” So sometimes we have to do this.

His Holiness once told me about the late Ganden Tri Rinpoche Losang Nyima. During his debate exam His Holiness was also present and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was there and then he, [Losang Nyima] started some question in madhyamaka – the Middle Way - about emptiness. His Holiness says that according to the laid out subject the discussion was supposed to be about prajna paramita. It is about the same thing but goes according to the abhisamayalankara text book. So His Holiness, without thinking, suddenly said, “Hey, you made a mistake. The subject is supposed to be this….” He [Losang Nyima] said, “Okay” and went down to the debate place, where the questioner walks up and down and turned back and started to talk about a totally different subject from what it was before. His Holiness said, “I was so surprised. He must be very learned that he can just switch like that, without even thinking.” His Holiness must have been very impressed with him, because immediately after that exam, not only did he earn the Nr 1 position but shortly after that became the Gyme disciplinarian, then immediately after that he became the head lama and after that immediately became abbot and then came very fast up to become the Ganden Tripa.

So, anyway, this way of doing the teachings over weekends will be more effective and helpful. Then after that we will have the winter retreat, and before that on Feb 17, we are going to have the Yamantaka initiation. Originally, it was supposed to be only for a few people who never had the initiation and then it suddenly got announced publicly. So sometimes we are over-efficient. Our problem used to be that we were inefficient. Now we are…very good. So that happens. Now, if you had the Yamantaka initiation before and you might have broken your commitments or forgot to say the sadhana or mantra and so forth, this is the perfect opportunity to rejuvenate and rebuild your vows and be perfect. Those who have received it before can come back and take it again, no problem.

2:02

Those who are new, this Yamantaka is the Solitary Hero Yamantaka. Even Jamgön Lama Tsongkhapa kept it secret. In the 3 yidams of his system, the Yamantaka is the 13 deity-Yamantaka, the Heruka is the Luipa Heruka and the Guhyasamaja is the one with Akshobya as the principal. So this Solitary Hero Yamantaka initiation has a very short sadhana commitment. Those of you who may not understand the sadhana, you still have the commitment of saying it. So for a while you may have to say it without understanding. If you are willing to do that you can come. If you are completely new to Highest Yoga tantra vajrayana you also get the Six Session Guru Yoga commitment. Every Maha anu yoga tantra vajrayana person has the Six session yoga commitment.

The basic requirement, as you know, is to have the perfect foundation of the ‘common with the lower’, ‘common with the medium’ and ‘mahayana’. That also should have the compassion aspects as well as the wisdom aspects. All of them are the prerequisite. At least we pretend to have it. So if you have taken either the lam rim or the Three Principles of the Path or at least the Foundation of Perfection teachings that will cover. If we do a three day initiation the first 2 days would be spent on lam rim and then 15 – 20 minutes on the specific prerequisites. But since we are doing it in one day, there won’t be much talk about lam rim.

If you think you can maintain that you are welcome. But please do register, because the door will be shut whenever the time is. The starting time will be communicated to you by e mail or twitter or facebook. So you have to watch there, because the information could change. But the door will be open at the appropriate time. Otherwise the door will be shut and only a few people who are helping me will be inside the building. Otherwise every door everywhere will be shut.

Those who are not participating in the initiation and the Yamantaka retreat may not enter the building. Then those who are helping during the retreat can come in of course. We will establish their number.

The retreat itself will be this time a little tough. We have to maintain the numbers of mantras. I am making it a two way retreat. One group of people will be focused on the lama chöpa, saying the migtsema mantras, hoping to reach 100,000 mantras. They will meet in one place. Then there is a group of people doing the Yamantaka retreat. But in the morning both groups will be together. That’s because there will be nobody – including the lama chöpa retreatants who are not eligible to saying the sadhanas. So in the first morning sessions we will be all together, doing the Six Session Yoga, lama chöpa and within that, those who have the commitment of Vajrayogini and Heruka Three Purities and all other commitments, including OM AH HUM, all these will be said in that one session. I will give some few reminding points. From the second session onwards, the Yamantaka retreat people will sit in one room and the lama chöpa people will be sitting in another room. That group will straight away begin to say migtsemas. The Yamantaka retreat people will in their first session begin with the shortest sadhana and saying mantras, then in the afternoon session I will give very little explanation on the practice, but not much, because we have to emphasize achieving the numbers. In the last evening session we will meet all together again to do the conclusion of both, the sadhana as well as the lama chöpa.

Here you require some time management. So now I have to conclude and say thank you. We dedicate our virtues, and whatever we learned, please kindly try to practice.

2:13: Da gi ji ni sag pai……sa zhi pökyi…lam rim dedication – 2:18