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20120212GRAATB7

Good morning and welcome to this session of “Tibetan Buddhism with Gelek

Rimpoche”.

 

When I turned the news on this morning it was very sad indeed to hear that the great

singer Whitney Houston died. She was one of the best singers I have known, with one

of the best voices. Very sad, she went at such a young age. It reminds me that we all

are completely fragile. You never know when you are going to go. That news

reminded me of one of the Tibetan poems written by the Seventh Dalai Lama. He said

– and I am paraphrasing in English, since I memorized the direct quote only in Tibetan

–

 

to me gyal sar pu mo sundro la te kyang/ cha lo nam gyur pon dror chig jong sa

ma do………

 

The moment we are born we don’t have the freedom to sit and be idle for even

a single second. We are running towards death like a galloping horse. We call

ourselves living beings, but we are on the road to death. Well to do or poor,

high or low, they may have ways to hide their pains, but everybody is suffering

throughout their lives. How sad the situation we are in!

 

That’s what it is. All of us, no matter what we do, are in reality suffering constantly,

continuously from the death threat that is hanging over us, from illnesses, ageing, and

all of that no matter how strong we are physically. Physical strength is very

temporary. Remember Muhammad Ali? Nobody could touch him 20 years ago and

now, look at him. That is the reality. Some of us are weak and crippled while others

are healthy and youthful. If you wanted to catch the bird flying in the air you could.

But in reality we are all running towards death like a galloping horse. When these

things happen, like when an important person such as Whitney Houston suddenly

goes away it reminds us that it can happen to us. You may say, “Oh, that happened

because of….” But whatever the reason, people do go suddenly. There is no fixed time

that is announced from the air, saying, “So and so will be going on such and such a

date, month, year.” There is uncertainty. Thank God, we don’t have that certainty,

because if we did we would be miserable. Let’s say you are told, “You are going in nine

months’ time”; what would these nine months be? Miserable.

 

But then again, if it is true, if I know I have nine months left, what will I do in that

time? That is the question. A number of people will think, “I will conclude my

activities, make my finances right, pay my debts and collect my dues.” May be you

don’t want to pay, just collect whatever you have to collect! Or you may think, “I will

settle my children and grandchildren” and solve all the family matters. That’s the

normal American or western way.

What would be the difference for a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner? There is a huge

difference. If I know I have 3 months to live I will make sure that my next immediate

life will be right. That’s what I have to do. That will be my task, my goal, my challenge.

I am from the background of reincarnation and I believe in it. Not only I believe it, I

have logical reasons that support my belief in reincarnation. People don’t end at the

time of death. Death to me is change – a big change. It’s the true big change. You will

be unplugged from this society. Then you will be plugged in to another area with your

new identity, our new physical body. We call that the five aggregates. With the

combination of new 5 aggregates we will get a new physical identity. Ourselves as

entity will occupy that new identity and function in that way.

 

How do I know? If we look at our addictions we will see something. For the strongest

addictions we have like hatred, obsession, we don’t need a teacher to teach us how to

develop them. We have them automatically. Parents try to hide all this from the kids.

They don’t talk about it in front of the kids. They control the television so the kids

cannot turn on certain programs. But no matter what they do, when the parents pull

their beds out they are going to find all different magazines under the bed. It’s

because the addiction is already there. Nobody has to teach them that, they

automatically develop attachment. We have attachment and addiction, and kids

develop that straight away. Kids who are age three and four talk about boyfriends and

girlfriends. They have all these feelings. Where did they learn that? Nobody taught

them. Honestly. They automatically remember whatever their addictions were. They

just rebuild the ones they had from the previous life. They are bringing the addictions

with them. Similarly, whether people remember their previous life or not, some have

a lot of recollections. Those recollections will come. They will remember something.

They will say, “I don’t know if it was a dream or something I saw.” In that manner

people recollect.

 

Addictions will definitely carry over, whether strong or weak. Some kids

automatically like to go out and hurt creatures like insects and frogs. They will hurt

them, with a stick in hand and so on. Yet, other kids are completely the opposite. They

like to be kind, sweet, gentle and caring to other creatures. Even among twins there

will be different behaviors. Why? Because of previous addictions.

 

I am not claiming these are scientific reasons, but they indicate something. We are

intelligent enough to think and know that there is an addiction we are carrying from

the previous life. That goes not only for negatives, but also for positives. The same

brain, the same wiring, the same kids, have different intelligence levels, very different

interests. Where does that come from? It comes from their previous life-connections. I

can’t help thinking that when Allen Ginsberg was around that he was William Blake

before, because of the way he remembered and picked things up. I don’t mean he

remembered that he was William Blake, but I can’t help thinking that, “He could be”.

That’s not only him, but it happens with many.

 

It is okay for those who have questions and doubts about reincarnation and those

who believe in reincarnation.  In my opinion this is the reality.

 

 

 

No one has confirmed, not even a single scientist, that death is the end of all. No one

has ever said there is no reincarnation. There is no proof, so one has to give

reincarnation the benefit of doubt.  Do you know why? You will be the one going

through your own future life. That’s why the benefit of doubt must be given.

 

As a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner, if I know that I have only 3 months or 9 months or

even a year to live, I will not spend all my time tying up the family business. I will give

up everything to make sure my future life is okay.  How do I make sure the future life

is okay? That is the challenge.

 

Two things: Buddha told us there is a future life. Buddha also told us that positive

deeds will bring happiness and joy. Negative karma will bring suffering and misery.

That is the key. If one thing said by Buddha is true, the second thing he said should

also be true. And in case it is true, the second thing becomes important: avoiding

negativities and building positive deeds. What does that mean? Avoid negative

addictions and build positive addictions. Positive will give you positive results and

negatives will give you negative results.

 

Faith on the other hand brings harmony. You become relaxed, joyful and peaceful.

That is positive. We all know that, even in our daily life. If you have some positive

thought, like faith it gives us a little peace, harmony and a little joy even in the midst of

our massive suffering, busy-ness and hardship. If you observe that by yourself in your

own space, it makes a difference doesn’t it? I am sure all of you have that experience.

That experience tells us that positive deeds give us positive results. It is true today,

was true yesterday and will be true tomorrow.

 

You don’t have to believe in anything. You don’t have to believe in Buddha or karma. It

is just the reality in our own life, every day. If you are disturbed and mad and then

become crazy-mad and angry, what do you do to yourself? Give yourself a little time to

take a break. We automatically do that, even if we controlled by our negative

emotions. We will say, “I don’t want to talk about it, leave me alone.” This is our

natural mind telling us what to do. It is not a question of Buddhism or religion or

anything. It is our natural reaction, trying to give yourself time and space. When you

get time and space, what are you supposed to do? Just sit alone. Don’t keep your mind

busy. Normally Buddhist teaching will tell you: think the opposite. If you are so angry,

the advice is to think about compassion and love and patience. That is true, no doubt.

But, first things first. You have to give yourself time. Just be quiet. Some people say: be

quiet and listen inside. But I am saying: Don’t listen. You know why? Because inside

you are angry. If you listen to that, you get all these angry reactions. Just sit quiet. Plug

your ears. Be like the three monkeys, who close eyes, ears and mouth. In that attitude you have to stay for a few minutes. Then you may gain a little control of your mind for

yourself.

 

If you did gain a little control, then review, “What did I do? How did I react?”  You may

realize, “If other people see what I have done, I would be embarrassed. Even if no one

has seen it, this behavior of mine was a little disgusting. It is not me, it is not my taste.”

If you have a little control you may be able to think that. Or you may not. You may get

more upset. It depends on how weak the anger has become. If the anger flame is

burning don’t try that thinking. Try to stay calm and quiet for a while. Meditators will

tell you to stay like that for 40 minutes. But we can never sit for 40 minutes. Never. If

you can sit for one minute in that situation you are lucky. Then try another half a

minute and another half a minute. Then try another minute.

 

In the sixties people were taught to meditate by watching a stick of incense burn

down. People used to do that.  I will tell you a funny story. In those days I didn’t speak

English well.  So when somebody asked me, “Do you know how to meditate?” I said,

“No, I don’t. I have no idea.” He said, “But you must know how to meditate. You are

Tibetan.” I said, “No, I don’t know.” That’s because we don’t call it ‘meditation’. We call

it ‘gom’. It is a different label that identifies different things. For me the word

‘meditation’ didn’t identify anything.  For example if I don’t speak English and you tell

me about a vase I won’t know what you are talking about. But if you tell me as a

Tibetan, “This is a bumpa”, I will know what it is. It is the same when this guy asked

me about meditation. I didn’t know what he meant. He was an American medical

doctor in Texas. So he tried to show me meditation by bringing incense and burning it.

For me burning and incense is an offering. So once the incense was lit he said, “Look at

the burning smoke and watch it. That is meditation.”

 

Actually he was right and wrong. I began to understand what he was talking about. He

was right, because you are indeed supposed to focus. But he was wrong, because you

are not supposed to be watching with your eyes. If you keep on watching, you are

training your eye consciousness. You are not training your mental consciousness.

Meditation is a mental activity, not an eye, - ear, - or nose activity. Yes, there is eye

consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, but most importantly there is

the mental consciousness, the 6 th  sense. Mental consciousness is the most important. It

is monitoring whatever is happening out of our physical body touch, smell,

everything.  Meditation is supposed to be focusing the mind. It is the mind learning

how to focus. Watching an incense burn is okay to begin with.

 

Meditation in the context of managing anger is first of all relaxing, taking in air, being

able to breathe properly, so that the powerful anger is being reduced and is no longer

that powerful. These powerful negative emotions don’t last. In that sense they are

weak. They are very powerful while they last, but they go away soon, if you don’t give

them fuel. But if you keep on giving them fuel by analyzing and thinking they will keep

on burning. Then you will talk to your friends about it and they will support you,

“Poor you, don’t listen to that, do this, do that, hit back” and this and that. They are

giving you sincere advice; however, it is wrong advice. They are giving you fuel to

increase your anger even more. What will that consume? It will consume your virtues,

your positivity, your peace, your harmony, your gentleness, your kindness, your love,

your compassion. All of them burnt by anger. Don’t feed anger. You can’t apply the

antidote forcefully. So give yourself time and space to think nothing for a while,

though that is not a recommended meditation, however, think nothing. Sit alone. Give

yourself time to breathe. Then gain a little control, a little sense. Then function.

 

So the question we still have to deal with is: What do I do if I have only 3 months to

live? Those negative emotions I shall not entertain. It sounds like “I shall not kill.” So

do not entertain those. Whatever negativities I have built I will purify. You may think,

“If I have done something wrong, it is already done. Can I correct it?” Of course you

can. Yes, if you have killed somebody you cannot bring them back to life. However,

you can correct. You can correct the situation, you can correct yourself. You can

correct your own thinking, your own behavior, your own function. Why? Because they

are all impermanent.

 

Everything changes, every minute, even every second, every moment. You change

your situation, you change your mind. While really angry, I recommend sitting idle.

You may call it meditation or not, but it is sitting idle. You are waiting for the time to

change. It will, because it is impermanent. Every phenomenon, everything, is

impermanent, as long as it is created. Every created, collective thing is impermanent.

That is one of the Buddha’s slogans. When it is impermanent, it changes. Even

permanent monuments are impermanent. A few years ago I saw that the Statue of

Liberty’s head had been taken down to re-varnish and re-paint it. That’s supposed to

be permanent. So that shows it is impermanent. Where is the World Trade Center

now? It is gone, because it was impermanent. It didn’t go because it was permanent.

Why do people die? They are impermanent. Why do people get older? Why do kids

grow up? They are impermanent. Every life, everything we do, is impermanent. So

everything is subject to change and that change is every minute. Impermanent is the

reason we have room and freedom to correct ourselves. We have the freedom to

choose the right thing – always. Allen Ginsberg used to say, “It is very too late – never

too late to meditate.”  He said “You can make the superpowers meditate” in his poem

“Meditation Rock”. That is the reality of our life. Therefore everything is changeable

and we can change and we have to change the right way. If you do that you can make

sure that your next life will be right, that it will be a good one, if not better than the

one we have today. At least that much we will be able to bring. We are human beings.

We can do that. Remember, we are not monkeys. We have the capacity in our mind

that is better than monkeys. Maybe we are the same species, who knows. Where it

comes from may be the same, but ours is a developed mind, with intelligence.

 

You are all educated, wonderful. You can make a difference to yourself. If I know I

have only that much time left, that’s what I will do and that’s what you should do. But

luckily we don’t have that challenge yet. So we have all the freedom to do whatever

we want. Tibetan Buddhism tells us to remember impermanence and death very

often, almost all the time. It reminds you to do the right thing; we should appreciate

this wonderful, intelligent life and make the best use of it – for your own good, for the good of your family, for the good of every fellow human being and for the good of all

living beings. That’s Tibetan Buddhism for you.

 

Audience: If you are extremely upset and you are sitting quietly to calm your mind,

are there any points to focus on, texts to recite or visions to hold that maybe helpful?

Or does it depend on the situation?

 

Rimpoche: It does depend on the situation. It depends on if you are a practitioner of

any tradition. Let’s say you are Catholic. Then you can say “Hail Mary’s”. If you are a

practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism then you can say any mantra that is close to you.

Many of us will say Tara’s mantra, because she is wonderful, a female Buddha who can

help with all kinds of things everywhere, particularly she is great at protecting from

the 8 fears and one of these is the fear of hatred and the metaphor is fire. But most

importantly, as I said earlier, is waiting for the change. Even if you just keep quiet and

think nothing, even then it is better than feeding anger itself. Even if you want to beat

your pillow it is fine. But make sure it is a real pillow,  not the other person. A

practitioner who does practices specific traditions, like the Judeo-Christian or Hindu-

Buddhist traditions, use the practices that are there to overcome those things. So you

have to apply that. That is a different story.

 

Audience: Since we don’t know when death will come, how can we overcome the fear

that we don’t have enough time to purify transgressions from this life and bring them

into the next life?

 

Rimpoche: You are going to be surprised with my answer: I think that fear is a good

fear. It will help us in the long run. It is not going to harm us. I don’t know if it is fear

or not, but is really awareness of how fragile we are. Always be prepared. People who

are well organized are always prepared. There will be no surprises. They are always

ready. Good students always keep their books in order and they are ready to take any

test anytime, anywhere. They are well informed. Good workers have everything at

their fingertips. I have witnessed some of our friends working at the cashier’s counter

in the grocery store, for every item they remember the number. The numbers just pop

up in their minds. So such a person is ready. So the fear you mentioned will make us

ready. If death comes, anytime, anywhere, you say: Come on, I am ready. Bring it on!

That’s what this fear will do. It is not really a fear we have to avoid. It is a fear we want

to utilize and take advantage of. That’s how I think and Tibetan Buddhism tells you

that.

 

Thank you so much for being here today.