Archive Result

20120115GRAATB3

Rimpoche: Good morning everybody and welcome on this Sunday. So before I even talk about Tibetan Buddhism with Gelek Rimpoche, I would like to remind everybody about this Martin Luther King Day.

 Martin Luther King Day

It is one of the greatest compassionate nonviolent activities that took place during our lifetime. So I would like to commemorate that. It is the principle of the Buddha as well as a great Western thinker which was also followed by Mahatma Gandhi in India

Dr. King and many others thereafter have followed the principle of non-violence. Violence is violence. Violence brings suffering. Violence brings violence. Violence destroys the joy happiness, peace, harmony - everything.

Many people think violence is a way of managing. People think it’s useful helpful but we all know that violence is not right. This is the principle of Buddha and of Buddha’s teaching.. Buddha himself says my followers should not hurt or harm others Reb doh shoh...

So harming others and hurting others are not virtuous. I’m sort of paraphrasing Buddha’s words in a straightforward way. So nonviolence is a principle of Buddhism in general and Tibetan Buddhism in particular.

To me and this is just me personally, whether it is hurting or harming other human beings or harming yourself violently that is violence to me. So anything anybody hurting anyone is not in accordance with the thoughts, ideas, philosophy and advice of Buddha. The principal of Buddhism is actually nonviolence that is the reason why compassion becomes extremely important in Buddhism. 000442

Compassion is really really really important. The language of compassion talks about compassion for others but in your practice your compassion should include compassion for yourself too.

If you don’t care about yourself, there’s no way you can care for others. When you don’t care for others there is no way you will develop love for all beings. When you don’t develop love for all beings there is no genuine compassion and genuine care towards all beings - you don’t have it.

When you don’t have that genuine love genuine compassion you have individualized love individualized compassion then it is something else as you all know. As we all know. That is a very important point. So as we already know, it is very difficult to make a distinction between love and attachment.

So here’s one of points too and I know a lot of people will not like this. They won’t like it because a lot of people, including myself, would love to live in attachment and label it as compassion and love.

We all do that. That is the easy way to get some kind of cocoon where we can hide our own ego. So that’s what we normally do. So truly speaking pure love, should not have any particle of something benefitting me. Do you get it? Something benefitting me.

Okay so if I show love to you then you show kindness to me so therefore I have been benefitted. That love becomes questionable. I have to say it and I know you don’t like it, many of you not necessarily you but you means you (Rimpoche and audience laugh)

Everybody else besides me is you (audience laughs). So honestly we don’t like it because no matter whatever we do, if you look at it deeply, me, my self, my ego is where we give our biggest protection.

Anything that comes near that we will block from a distance, dismiss and do all kinds of things. 000910

So that is again protecting self, benefitting the individual. Not truly benefitting. It is some kind of wish and plan of the individual to be successful or we do something like that. 000942

So when that is happening anything that that works against that we have to block from very far away and block. Not only a few individual persons but many of us have that problem. Perhaps by not recognizing the attributes of genuine love real compassion we are getting quite confused between genuine love/compassion and attachment.

I use the word genuine because His Holiness the Dalai Lama uses that phrase “genuine compassion”. I’m sorry I started talking about nonviolence but this is the same thing. Nonviolence. non-attachment violence attachment they’re all coming together.

So all of those negativities - I call it negative thoughts, negative emotions. They come together and they make an impact on the individual. Having said that and I’m talking now about Tibetan Buddhism. I’ll have to make a clarification here.

Why am I doing this?

The clarification that I wanted to say is this - what does Tibetan Buddhism do to the individual? What does the individual practitioner hope to gain from Tibetan Buddhism?. This is important, please pay attention. Anyone who puts effort, time, energy, into the path called “the spiritual path” must first raise and address the question of “why am I doing this”?

What do I hope to gain from this? What is my purpose in engaging myself in a spiritual path not necessarily this or that but any particular path - whatever it is. Why?

That is an important question. I myself never raised that question as a child because I am a born again Tibetan Buddhist (audience laughs)

I was born in Tibet and there are no questions nobody talks about it. It’s not an issue but I learned as part of my steady learning you do nothing - you do nothing:

1) without knowing what you’re doing and

2 ) without a purpose. 001328

Do nothing! You need to have reasons that support your purpose for engaging in your spiritual path.

If you are a born again Christian, that is your family tradition, and you continue along that path that’s fine there’s nothing with this.

However, when you specifically try to engage in something other than “normal” (Rimpoche laughs) we’re all abnormal right? I’m just joking but on the other hand it is. As for me, a Tibetan Buddhist, if I’m doing Buddhist practice there is nothing wrong with that it’s usual for me.

If I try to be a Christian or try to be a Hindu or something else then I have to have a damn good reason why I’m doing it. You need to know why - why you are taking this new path.

It is similar for you. You have to have a damn good reason why you are paying attention to let’s say, Eastern mystic traditions. Or maybe not traditional but non-traditional paths like new age hodgepodge that we have.

So whatever attention you pay to a path that is new to you - you should have a damn good reason. So the Tibetan Buddhism gives you a good reasons as to why you are paying attention why you are following Buddha’s footsteps.

It is one thing if you go to India on a pilgrimage to follow the footsteps of the Buddha. You call that footstep following and that is one thing.

But as a practitioner following Buddha’s footsteps that another thing. You know the reason why a practitioner wants to follow Buddha’s footsteps is because we would like to achieve what the Buddha attained. Did you get me? That is the reason why we admire Buddha.001639

That is the reason why we not only admire Buddha, we appreciate Buddha! Not only do we appreciate Buddha, we pray to Buddha. Not only do we pray to Buddha but we would like to be like Buddha.

So that is the one reason. So this is the purpose and the goal of anything that you try to do within Tibetan Buddhism.

Within the Buddhist tradition some say it has it three Yanas and some two Yanas

Yana is the Sanskrit word for vehicle. Mahayana is the big vehicle and Hinayana the smaller vehicle, Whatever you call it

A name is a label

I must say here, that some people don’t like to call it Hinayana although traditionally it is identified as “Hina” which means “small” so small and big vehicle. Some people don’t like this label and they object, preferring to call it self liberation vehicle.. So that’s fine. It doesn’t matter because a name is a name. A name is a label. You just label and that is it! Label it and that’s good enough to be able to understand, you know. 001828

Traditionally Tibetan Buddhism tell you if someone comes and shows you a vase and then tells you “this is a vase”, then from now on you will say this is a vase. Whenever we see it now we will say this is a vase, that is how a label works.

Then someone will say “this is a vase” (Rimpoche is presumably holding up a drinking glass) and you will say “well you can use it as a vase but this is actually a glass”. You can say that right? That is how labeling works.

Why am I saying this? I’m not just saying it. I am saying that because in the principle in this Tibetan Buddhism every single thing that we see we see, we feel, we experience we use the phenomenon are existing with three or four reasons but one of them is label, label.

That is again a principal - nothing is predetermined - nothing is made by itself. To be correct nothing has inherent existence - everything is a dependent origination. Everything! Our self, our future, everything!

Everything, the mountains, the environment, the water, the trees, the houses - everything is a dependent origination. So why am I throwing this in the middle nothing? It is because that is one the most important points of Buddha. Not only in Tibetan Buddhism but all Buddhism it is an important point this dependent origination. So everything depends on conditions and cause - everything!

The environmental situation - everything depends on it. When everything is right - it materializes. When everything is not right - it will never materialize. These are the principles of Buddha looking in our life, looking in the situation.

It is also the knowledge that Buddha shared with us. It is also the knowledge that Buddha hoped all of us would pick up - not just only the follows of Buddha but that all living beings would pick up that knowledge. 002232

Karma is a reality in our life

Buddha called the wisdom to pick that up. We are doing that today - not only the spiritual person but scientists. I am not talking about psychologists but physicists and biochemists like Dr. King here right?(Hartmut I don’t think Dr. King was a biochemist) true he said thank you.

Honestly they are all looking for this not as a spiritual practice but as their own study of a scientific subject. and that is what’s happening. That is because of this dependent origination principle. What does that do? It makes us responsible for our own deeds. That makes us understand that karma is real. Karma is real not just philosophical thoughts or theory or just an abstract idea. Karma is the reality of our life.

The makes the individual so important for your own self as well as for others. So this is one of those unique principles. 002433

You know it’s funny, if you look in the Buddhist texts or Buddhist teachings they will just call this a view! So I look through the window and I can see cars and trees and some buildings and that’s also a view right? But they call it view, view. View does not necessarily mean what you see 002500

What it means here is what you see, what you understand is right and then using that as your principle for contacting your life.

That’s why it’s called view because what you see what you know - you do. When you don’t know - don’t do anything - you will be better off.

That’s really what that is telling you about. So in principle within Buddhism to have the purpose is what you wanted to get out of the Buddhist practice. So it is up to the individual but Buddha recommends to give you like three choices.

Number one - become just like me. Buddha said I was like you and I was totally controlled by my delusions by my negative thoughts negative actions.

Become like me

Somehow I had an opportunity to see, to know, to understand, to correct and become me today. So you should do the same thing! That is really Buddha’s number one choice for people not only followers of Buddha but for people that’s what Buddha offers. Become just like me.

What is Buddha? Nothing but the total knowledge the awakened state they call it These are technical names, the awakened state, it looks like we are all asleep and he is awake. It’s almost like that. On the other hand it is the total knowledge. There is no limitation of knowledge of the Buddha - past, present, future - simultaneously knowing.

Buddhist teaching give the example: It is like a transparent fruit put on your palm and you can see the fruit as well as your palm (writings, lines?).

This is 2600 years ago. They may not have had glasses or something. You can just put a glass on your palm and look at it right? So you can see the glass and you can see the palm writings (lines?) on there. That is what direct knowledge, total knowledge is. Buddha gives that example. Everything - knowing and unknowing to all of us - direct indirect everything direct knowledge to Buddha.

That is why it’s called total knowledge. If you know then you can do right or wrong. If you still know that you are doing the wrong thing then you must be crazy. I mean some people do that. We all do that as a matter of fact.

I do it a lot. I do it - I know it’s wrong but still I let it go. One, because I’m lazy and two because I don’t like disharmony, honestly. So that’s what I do. Buddha’s don’t do that. 002908

They are intelligent, they are not stupid like me, honestly. So the number one purpose is to become like a Buddha. In case I cannot become like a Buddha because I live in a degenerated age. You understand what a degenerated age means - it is bad times, so lazy, so much destruction, or so much confusion and all that. So then it says at least you’ll be free from your ego and negative emotions, such as hatred, obsession etc.

So that is your second purpose. Your third and last purpose is this, even if you can’t do that you want to make sure that your next life is a right one and a good one. You know Buddha comes from the background of reincarnation. I know we have doubts. That’s okay because we do not have total knowledge So therefore we do have doubts.

Even if you have doubt you should be able to give the benefit of the doubt. You give yourself the benefit of the doubt, that is the best you can do. If you deny yourself the benefit of the doubt then you will be totally denying. Totally denying.

Denial and its cost

There are people who say the Holocaust never happened and totally deny it. We all know it is a total denial. That is the same as this “there will never be a future life - forget it!” Same thing, same thing, same thing.

You know what Alan Ginsberg used to say? He used to say, “I’m not seeing my future life yet, nor have I met anybody who came back to the future but I don’t want to deny myself if it’s true.

I will be too late and I don’t want to be suffering there.” That’s intelligent American thought honestly. So now none of us can honestly can tell ourselves “no there is no reincarnation” you can’t say that.

So give it the benefit of the doubt. So if there is a future life and we don’t want to be suffering that is the least you can do for yourself by your spiritual practice.

So these are the three purposes. These are the three purposes. Not so much I’ll be happy, I’ll be rich. Well you can be rich, nothing wrong with that. 003314

If you are rich then you enjoy if you are happy great! If you’re sad, it’s not good change it. That’s what they say. But that’s not the purpose of the spiritual path - it is not the goal to make myself happy.

You can make yourself happy by means of all kinds of things. We all know. There are all kinds of things that will make us happy. You can drink. You can smoke dope. You will be happy for awhile. Why not? Otherwise why do people get addicted right?

You don’t need and ax to kill lice

So that’s it. Do you know what the Tibetan teachers used to tell me? You don’t need an ax, you know that big ax to cut down a tree? You don’t need an axe to kill a lice.

You know little lice? You don’t need an axe to kill a lice.

So the spiritual path is meant to be an important tool. I you use it only to make yourself happy, to have a better life, or something like that then you’re misusing it. You’re misusing an important tool. They call that misuse. I know you don’t like that. I know we all want to say I would like to be happy.

They will be any single person who would not like to be happy. Unless you are miserable anyway. If you are miserable you will say I don’t like to be happy anyway. Some may say that. But other than that, everybody would like to be happy.

There’s nothing wrong with that - you can be happy. But the purpose of the spiritual path is not just to make yourself happy. You can make yourself happy by all means by many ways many ways. You can enjoy a good view and you can be happy. You can go to a beautiful environment and you can be happy.

You can go to a holiday in Tuscany. You can be happy. 003553

You can go to South America on a cruise, yes provided you do not go to Italy (audience laughs). So anyway with things like that there many ways the individual can be happy. So bringing happiness something is not the purpose of “ the spiritual path” that really what the Buddha shared - it is not.

So I would like to clear that up for you so that you know what is this all about. What is the purpose of a spiritual path, particularly that of the Buddhist (true?) particularly that of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. So whatever you do within Tibetan Buddhism, anything, if you don’t know the purpose of what you’re doing, don’t do it, because it will waste your energy, it will waste your time, it will waste everything.

So have a purpose. If you know the purpose, if you have the purpose, if you have the path, it is the greatest opportunity one can get for oneself within you own life and lives.

There are millions of people who follow the Buddha’s path and have achieved those purposes. Not only have they achieved in ancient India, ancient Tibet, ancient China, ancient Japan but also it was achieved in so many other places.

I do remember recalling one thing. One time, Baba Ram Dass, who is Dr. Richard Alfred came to Jewel Heart when we were on Washington Street.

So we had a couple of workshops and teachings done with Ram Dass. 003858

The question of Ram Dass

When Ram Dass was leaving I went to the airport to see him off. In those days, you can go all the way through to the plane because this was before 9/11. You don’t take your shoes off and underwear off when you go to the plane.

So I was talking to him and I almost walked him to his seat. He said to me can I ask you a personal question? I said sure.

He said yes I know all about it. He said I may Hindu but I’m a great Buddhist. I know all about it. Don’t tell me this and this but tell me if any Westerner, a Caucasian like me who had achieved any one of these goals. Don’t tell me professor this, professor that, writer this, writer that, don’t tell me but can you give me one or two examples? So I said, “what do you think about Ginsberg?. He thought for a little while - “there you have one point” that’s what he said, “there you have one point” and he said good and thank you.

That’s how he left. So it is not only the ancient Tibetan, the ancient Indians, but it does affect people. People who are living in the West - not like me who have come from Tibet or something, no! Normal usual people, we do have people that benefitted 004124

And see Caucasians in Netherlands and we do have people who not only benefitted but wonderful things are happening as the spiritual path.

Even today right here in America. So it is not that we are just going somewhere and I don’t know where I am going. It’s not that. There is a goal, there is a purpose, there is a way, that’s how you go, that’s how you get the result. 004218

Well many people may say I didn’t get it. True I didn’t get it. That is probably not the fault of the teaching, not the fault of the practice and certainly not the fault of Buddha. So who’s fault is it? Think about it honestly. So there is a purpose, there is a goal, there is a way and you do follow and it is very scientific too.

If you follow it right, if you do it right you do get the result whether you are Caucasian whether you are African-American or you are Asian or Indian or whatever it may be.

Whether it is in the 1800s the 1900s or 2000. Yes, I can proudly say that yes people do get the result even today, even today in 2012. 2010, 2011, 2012 we do have people getting these vivid results.

So don’t think there is no result honestly.. For various reasons I’m not announcing their names, obviously you know. That is an honest statement. So that is the purpose and that is why you engage. Without purpose - do not engage.

I talked to you the other Sunday - the lizard meditation remember? I talked to you about that. So just remind you of those and I’ve been talking a lot so I was planning to talk about something else and it went somewhere else, anyway.

I was trying to keep on my outline on who what and how but anyway this is part of it so it’s all Dr. Martin Luther King fault anyway (the audience laughs) It started from there.

So if you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer because I do have to give a little time to questions and answer if there are questions.. I don’t see any hands do I? oh yes.

Audience: In the beginning Rimpoche when you were talking about how compassion and love for others can actually be in your self interest but it’s failed sometimes. I’ve always been surprised when you meet a former colleague or friend or student that you have not seen in a long time and they give you complement or thank you for something.

And it’s like “what?” because it is the last thing you would think they would compliment or thank you for. And I think it’s because they sense maybe what the difference is between what you do in your self-interest versus what you do actually for them without any self-interest or ego or whatever. I mean somehow maybe they can detect more than you can anyway it is never what you think they are going to thank you for or compliment you for.... Do you think there is some connection there? That they understand the difference in some intuitive subconscious way? 004648

Rimpoche: Doc thank you for that question and I think it is very very important and you obviously being a great professor so a lot of people have benefitted from your teachings and then they thank you. But I get very similar I’m sorry so many people say thank you and I say honestly I believe I did nothing why are you thanking me? Nowadays it’s become routine, so many people say oh thank you so much for this this and this, thank you.

And I say it’s all your deeds - I didn’t do anything normally I say that - I picked it up. Sort of normal language how to reply it’s all your deeds you did it and I feel that way.

However with a sincere motivation without any personal gain of anything such as name, fame, money, anything. Sincerely when you talk about it to people and try to share the best what you know. Sometimes it makes sense sometimes it doesn’t make sense sometimes it goes well with people sometimes it doesn’t go well with people.

Whatever it is in the long run it will make a difference to the people. So when there is improvement on the individual I appreciate it. I feel happy. I feel satisfied honestly I do.

The best way to bring happiness to yourself is bringing happiness to others

Then also from the Buddha’s teachings point of view, Buddha said the best way to bring happiness to yourself is bringing happiness to others and sharing the path to others sharing the information with others.

An improvement in the other person’s way of living, way of thinking and that is how you make yourself improving on your path. That is how you make yourself happy. So I think there must be a very very strong connection between what we serve and what they gain. And this is not the purpose of our job this is not the purpose of our efforts or anything but somehow it circles and affects them and affects me and this is how perhaps I mentioned earlier dependent origination interdependent-ness is functioning in the world. That is how the world will improve through the interdependent-ness.

World Peace

Honestly when the people talk about peace in the world. Bringing out of the United Nations and even as a kid I always used to think how are they going to do that. There is no way they can do that honestly. I don’t mean anything bad or talking bad about United Nations don’t misunderstand me. When you have improvement within yourself then you will affect the other person then that effects the other person and that is how you’re going to bring happiness and peace in the world. 005141

No one is going to come from the top and make a rule that says do this way do that way to bring peace into the world - that’s never going to work. That is how it’s going to affect. If it all there’s something called world peace it is going to come from the people like ourselves people like yourself and then affecting.

Affecting everybody, affecting friends, community, neighborhood, and then the City, the County, the country and the world - that is how it’s going to happen. It is not going to happen this way or that way no one can make it happen.. How we help people, how we serve people that is very important, that is exactly how we make it happen and that’s how we do it.

That is the achievement we have. People talk to me about legacy I think for me this the legacy this is what it really is. Thank you for your question. I don’t know whether I answered your question or not but that is how I feel anyway so. Okay so when there is no more question I will just simply say thank you for listening and then I have one or two more things to say about the events that are coming this week.

I’m happy that Philip Glass is coming. He is coming today actually about an hour from now anyway so he is coming today so he’ll be here for a few days maybe a week or 10 days or something. So he will have a couple of things you’ve been hearing in this NPR that he has that performance in the Power Center-right? 005413

The Power Center on Campus - there you go sorry... Also tomorrow evening, we have a sort of fund raising spiritual conversation between Philip and me that will be limited in the number of people who can attend.

The conversational between Philip and me tomorrow evening is at seven. I don’t know if there’s any seats available there’s a restriction on the number of people that we can put in the building. I hoped everybody could fit in but it is not going to happen. Again I would like to thank the person who is hosting this I am not sure whether I am supposed to say the specific name or not I would love to say it but I don’t not sure whether it is allowed or not.

So anyway, I thank you, the person who is here too. The limitation is due to the space of the building that’s what it is. Then on Tuesday Phillip will be talking here in the evening at seven so please make yourself available here no charge. Oh there is a charge? Sorry there is a charge (Rimpoche laughs) Okay whatever it is. You can probably see it on the website which I noticed yesterday. It says a conversation with Philip again. I thought it was a mistake and confusion so I asked and the person told me no it’s not a mistake Philip wanted to write it that way, so that is why.

So Philip’s it is conversation with Philip on Tuesday okay (audience laughs) or maybe your conversation Philip maybe. 005708

So that’s going to be on Tuesday at 7 PM and anything else? The week end is “Einstein on the Beach” so we have two exciting days tomorrow and the day after tomorrow so we’re looking forward and I just wanted to say once again thank you for hosting honestly. We may have difficulties but it is always the case anyway (Rimpoche laughs)

So thank you I guess that’s it. Oh Tuesday night Philips conversation with me is going to be broadcast as a live video so anybody watching today will see them too okay thank you and I better close thank you so much. Dedication? Okay. (they close with chanting) thank you.