Archive Result

20140525GRGRWis05

GELEK RIMPOCHE: Thank you, very special thing for Manjushri, and I lost my -- so now to continue where we left last night. If you recall, last night we have developed field of merit, field of merit, and then we make a seven limb, et cetera. Briefly, I spoke to you but didn't talk much about the purification, all that, and I should mention, particularly here, if you want to add a vajrasattva recitation for purification, you can do. Not only this, the offering is -- and when you say offering, many times we think about the material offering only, material offering only, number one. Sometimes those of us who are so used to it in the vajrayana practice, we will say offering of outer, inner, secret, suchness offering. We will also say that. So those of you who are familiar, you know, those of you who are familiar, you know what we are talking about. And those of you who are not familiar, it is opportunity for you to pick up. I just mention -- need to mention it because there are such things like that this. But most important offering is the practice offering.

3:16

The most important offering is the practice offering, offering of what do you do for yourself to cut your negative suffering lives once for all and begin with the positive, wonderful, good life that will lead to total enlightenment, and that is the practice, should supposed to do that.

I can't help it, though I don't want to, because of time crunching, I don't want to, but I still can't help it without saying, referring you to the Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, and Pabongka's Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, right, and it's day eleven, I believe, the first quotation, day eleven -- looks like David has it it. Looks like Mark McGill has it. Day eleven -- Supa busy, too, Supa busy, that means very busy, right. I'm sure many of you have it. It goes in Tibetan.

[speaking Tibetan]

5:10.

I forgot. Oh -- [speaking Tibetan]

So did you find, Mark?

AUDIENCE: Yes (inaudible)

GELEK RIMPOCHE: Yeah.

AUDIENCE: The three realms are as impermanent as autumn clouds. Sound right? That's the first one day, day eleven. Did you say day eleven?

GELEK RIMPOCHE: I maybe could be wrong.

AUDIENCE: Okay.

GELEK RIMPOCHE: Can be day ten. I'm guessing.

AUDIENCE: Oh, oh, the made up dharma quote?

(inaudible)

GELEK RIMPOCHE: Is it day ten?

AUDIENCE: Yes.

GELEK RIMPOCHE: Okay, day ten. Sorry. That's my fault totally.

AUDIENCE: Okay. Hang on. "This is not false invented dharma because it is the pith of authentic oral teachings. This is not foolish talk, because it comes from classical texts by great champions. This is not a shimmering mirage because saintly scholars and adepts have experienced it. This is not a perilous cliff, because it is the highway to highest enlightenment."

GELEK RIMPOCHE: That's it. So the practice, what you need is this, it's real essence of the teachings of Buddha's sutra and tantra, and as well as shastras. This is so important, in the west people, don't pay much attention to the shastras because they look at sutra, sutra, sutra. Sutra are all interchange. The shastras, actually clarify a lot. Shastras and [speaking Tibetan]7:33 is called it ka den, "ka" refers to sutra, "en" refers to shastra. [speaking Tibetan]

It is reliable sutra shastras, essence message and not somebody cleverly made up, and it is also accepted by great early Indian adepts as well as siddhis, as well as siddhis.

[speaking Tibetan]

What is it?

AUDIENCE: Comes from the classical text by the great champions.

GELEK RIMPOCHE: Huh?

AUDIENCE: Classical text by the great champions.

GELEK RIMPOCHE: This particular translation, particular translation is a little interesting. Anyway, I shall leave it there. Kelsang Geshe Lobsong XXX has another version of that translation, right? Kelsang Rinpoche, and if you look at it and see the same thing, then it's I think maybe it's slightly different. Anyway.

[speaking Tibetan]

9:25.

It is the classical text that's accepted by the forerunners of Buddhism, the early Indian teachers like Nargajuna and Asanga, et cetera, who have sort of very well accepted by them, and that's what should be. It's not necessarily some kind of some ____ somebody's talk.

[speaking Tibetan] 10:08.

Great mahasiddhis have experienced. Learned ones have experienced. It's not somebody's shimmering mirage, half dream, half reality state, should not be. So that is the reliable practice. That's what you do.

So when you make the biggest offering, that will be the practice offering. In normal cases, we will say, from the lam rim point of view, lam rim point of view means the path that we really know, no matter -- some traditions, like not necessarily Gelugpa traditions. Other traditions may not call lam rim, but if you look at them, it's nothing but lam rim. You look at the Sakya, and it's all delam, they call it delam, and then that is nothing but lam rim, and then you look in the Kagyu tradition -- it's all available in English, Pabonkga's Jewel Ornament and the lam rim, compare it, what is difference. Then you're looking in the Nyingma tradition and the go sey la me shelo, go sey la me shelo compare it, compare with the lam rim and what is difference. Simply name lam rim is not mentioned, maybe teachers are different, quotes are different but studies and explanations remain the same thing.

So and then you look in this, again, look in the mahamudra, look in the uma, look in the ______ , what is difference, really, tell me.

So there's -- then, you know, the dress up slightly different, everything, and made it into that way, otherwise, it is almost same thing, even first pancheon lama says, I quoted yesterday.

[speaking Tibetan] 12:53.

So experienced person, practitioners look and find what, no separation, whether it is a single bullet or whether -- that is something called single bullet. There is something called coco gawo, joining of this locket, top and bottom, and all of those, and the one base, called xi zhee, and in the west, only known as mahamudra, mahamudra, and dzogchen is quite well-known but in the -- you look in the Tibetan word, you'll find all these difference, like eight or nine, and maybe even twenty some different names, but they're all referring, the bottom line, it will refer to wisdom, emptiness, that's about it, nothing more, nothing less.

Anyway, from the lam rim point of view, what you make offerings is from the beginning of guru devotional practice to now -- beginning of the guru devotional practice to. Now, pay attention. If you are pure sutra practitioners, if you have nothing -- nothing mystical, vajrayana, then -- there's somebody here.

(technical noise)

Okay. I'll cut it here. Until clearing the dualistic --

(microphone feedback)

I think it must be you, Mister -- there you go. Carrying --

(laughter)

Okay. Until clearing the dualistic perception, until that level.

15:35.

Until that level, every development, and if you're a vajrayana practitioner, from the beginning of the guru devotional practice to the union of body and mind, union of body and mind, to that level, whatever practice you have, very convenient, reasonably short enough practice is mentioned in the Lama Chopa, which we most of us do, do every day, at least say the words.

So such a practice should be, in one way to practice by yourself, in second way, to obtaining blessing to be -- to, as we mentioned, to be developed with us, third way, making that as offering to lama inseparable that of yidam, Buddha Vajradhara, everything, sort of a combination you have the field of merit.

And then, you know, making these outer different offerings, inner practice offering, inner practice offering is the most important offering, important offering. So many people don't have to think, don't have to think I will fall, I'm not fortunate, I'm not lucky enough to make such elaborate offerings, but each and every one of us can make unlimited offering, and that is the practice offering. Even water offering is enough during the preliminaries you hear, right. So that's good enough.

So after making all these offering, either you say, through the Lama Chopa, or through even shortest is the Foundation of the Perfections or anything. There are a lot of those things available. So, if possible, if possible, think, meditate, visualize. Don't rely on the words.

18:30.

If that's not possible, then do both. Even that's not possible, simply say the words. That is also good enough, and I just needed to mention to you one thing earlier, and I am debating within myself whether we should mention it or not mention it, it may not be a bad idea to mention it here. You know, the Tibetan Buddhism is such that you can learn very comprehensively and meditate very comprehensively, cut the sophisticated negativities within the mind and build very sophisticated total enlightenment within us. That's one way.

Another way is very simple, as simple as saying mantras alone, say mantras alone. I thought -- I think I better mention it, because when you are saying these -- today's practice, like, om mani padme hum and _____19:40. So I think there is very simple -- it's simply totally rely on mantra. Mantra is not the ritual. Mantra is sound. Om mani padme hum is the sound what you hear. That is om mani padme hum but carved on the rock or wood or gold or whatever. That's not mantra. Mantra is the sound. Sound and energy becomes one. So it is the total involvement of the individual in compassion, when you say om mani padme hum. When you say _____20:40, total involvement of wisdom. The Manjushri, the Buddha of -- you know, yesterday I mentioned to you what yidam really is and all that. Some people may be thinking is it yidam really truly existing.

21:00.

And I will definitely say yes, it is very truly existing, but where and how you exist is, that is becoming combination. I mean you do -- you look in this door or the pillar here at the side of Jonathan. This pillar that's hanging the -- what is that, the speaker, yeah, pillar. Look at that pillar, and the pillar really do exist, isn't it? It's there. If any one of you says, "There's no pillar here," then I will say, "Are you blind?" Right? That's -- anybody else will say, "Are you blind?" It is pillar there. But what is that pillar made out of it? You'll say it's wood. What is wood made out of? It is the collection of those particles, hundreds and thousands of particles are collected together and becomes pillar. There's no such a thing called pillar, right from the beginning say pillar, _____22:10, honestly, true so very similar to that. Okay. The yidams are like that. Buddhas are like that, and your -- when you become Buddha, that will also be like that.

22:30

And solidness -- oops, again, I lost this.

So that's what it is, and so it is reality. It serves the purpose. It can -- it does its work, serving purpose is the definition of existence, honestly, definition of existence is it serves its purposes. So that's what it is.

So practice, also the lama yidam, inseparable. We made very easy field, only one guru, Buddha, yidams, everything one, right. So making those practice offerings and they're all there, all and that one accepted your offerings and very happy and dissolve in the form of light enter through your actually mind stream but visualize even physically entering within ourself.

And those of you who practice the Vajrayogini, you remember in that sadhana that lama melt into the light of red light and as much as bird's ache, ______ and the dissolving to you, right, and those of you who do the Vajrayogini practice.

25:04.

[speaking Tibetan]

And Cittimani, and all others, the field of merit suddenly dissolve into the nature of reality, including yourself become empty.

So anyway, when lama dissole into you, the lama dissolve into you, and then you, yourself, your mind, lama, the guru's mind, your guru mind, your mind, and mind of yidam become one, oneness. Yidams or yidam become oneness, and there's such a joy that like every lost child has returned in the hands of mother, and the reunion of long lost children and parents, type of joy, happy, and that level of the mind, in reality, nature, it is virtue and is lucid, virtue, lucid, lucid in the sense it is not dull, stupid, very clear, crisp, yet nothing observing, space like, nothing observing, empty, and you focus your mind also observing that very mind within you, not entertaining any thoughts.

28:00

Many places they will talk to you, space like emptiness. They will say that. That's what really it is. That's this, and, also, that very mind, neither in form of any form at all, no form at all, therefore, it is void, empty, void, yet it can perceive any appearance. If anything appeared, it is able to accept, perceive. So that is why that's solid now, something lump solid there, empty, void, yep, able to grasp anything appeared, like good mirror. When you show anywhere, the mirror be able to perceive, accept and show even, but nothing's in that mirror, except mirror itself.

30:00

30:07.

So that time, what you avoid is hope and doubts, nothing, just leave it blank and that is for as basis of meditation and focus and try to develop samata on that. Manjushri's way of blasting ignorance cannot function unless you have a little samata there. So that samata is needed. So this is a teaching to teach you, and also so actually we are meditating a little bit together, together, so that you not only hear the information but you also cling little experience.

While you are clinging on that, when you're sort of focusing on that, on that, now so the one your challenge is using true little mental faculties, one is remembrance. Whenever you're focusing on that and keep and remembering that, not lose, don't change the color. Don't change anything. Leave that blank, whatever color come to you, white or sort of gray or whatever, leave it there. Don't make it yellow. Don't make it blue. Don't make it -- if it comes blue, yeah, keep it blue. If it comes yellow, keep is yellowish, bluish, yellowish, but whatever it comes to you, keep it there. Some people will see the space as blue. Some people will see the space as gray. So whether the space is gray or blue, it doesn't matter. It is the mind, how it's going to observe. So keeping that. Important.

33:26.

Whoa, I keep on losing this all the time.

I have a very funny password. Now I forgot. No, that's okay. Funny thing is what I do, I use Tibetan language for my password, "Open the fucking door, Gelek."

(laughter)

In Tibetan.

Oh, it's the wrong number. I don't know what I did. Okay.

(Technical difficulties)

35:10.

Anyway, I thought nobody would think that.

(laughter)

So focusing on that, and while you're focusing on that, the remembering the mental faculty remembering, making sure you remember that. Then alertness or awareness, that mental faculty you utilize then and the seeing whether you are focusing or not. In other words, at the beginning level, we can't do all three together, so we have to do routine, but if you pay attention to routine, then you have a problem. So somehow you have to learn how to juggle these things, three together without losing the focus, without losing the alertness on the focus. So, anyway, most of them we have mentioned very clearly in that Gom transcripts. Apparently the Gom combined with -- the Gom combined with How the Mind Works.

(Inaudible)

Mind and mental faculty. I think it's a new transcript, called How the Mind Works, right?

(Inaudible)

GELEK RIMPOCHE: Huh?

AUDIENCE: Yes, How the Mind Works.

GELEK RIMPOCHE: How the Mind Works, it's new transcripts available here.

Gom, How the Mind Works almost all together you have very, very good material, really good one, very solid one and keep that because I'm not going to -- I can't talk to that, and so keep on talking and then it will be not right.

So that is what you have to bring it here to stabilize your mental activities and which you can't, it's just not that difficult to stabilize your, your --

38:55

Okay. Now I can't move my page at all. It's frozen completely.

(technical difficulties)

I have to move my page.

So, anyway, to stabilize your mind is you have to do that and then -- now you're moving. Okay. Thank you.

And up -- you know, if you have to wait to develop, to develop and then it takes very long time, but you should try to, try to practice. This is not a daily commitment, okay. This is whenever you like to do it, and that's what you do. I like to mention one or two things. When you're watching your mind in that manner, watch your mind. That's really what it is, observe your mind. You hear that very often, right, watch your mind. I don't know what you think you can sort of turnaround and start to looking but, really, what it is, this. This is the best way, watching your mind.

And when you're sitting there and some thoughts are interrupting to you. So, you know, you remember a lot of teachers will tell you any thought comes up, take it out, take it out, peel it off like peeling the orange skin and all that, sort of people -- normal routine, teachers tell you so many. I'm very specifically referring to the American teachers.

41:21

And that is true, like Ram Dass says all the time, right. So it is peel your thoughts. Peeling like orange skin, peeling the orange skin out. You don't -- you don't need the skin, you want the orange, I mean, whatever that is -- says. Really what happens is -- what happens is when you try to block all the thoughts as they appear, you can no longer block, no longer block. So it's popping up, all mind goes, follows certain thoughts, certain appearance thinking, the mind will follow.

So advice on that is let the mind go. Let the mind go. Don't try to force it. It is almost the same thing when you're dealing with children. Some children doesn't want to sit, doesn't want to do the right thing, and you keep on yapping at the children, say do the right thing, do the right thing, do the right thing. What do you get? A lot of terrible consequences of pushing back, right. So that's like this. Let it go. Let the mind go.

Traditional Tibetan Buddhist teaching says early in India there are -- what you call those, boardman, fishermen -- fishermen takes a bird to send messages or send the bird in cage on the boat, and the bird always want to get out of the cage, and what do you do? You try to stop, do whatever.

Some even puts blankets on it nowadays we do, right. If you have a parrot, parrot makes noise you keep putting blanket on it, we do. Anyway, that sort of thing you do, but it's not, and they said let the bird go, particularly when you're in the middle of the ocean, let the bird go and see where the bird is going. It can't go much, those days. Today, there's a lot of ships and all kinds of things, right, but those there's not so much. The bird will go and set so tired it can't land, so it comes back to the boat itself.

44:07

So the traditional example is let the bird go and follow it and the bird will come back and land on the same place, and then bird doesn't have urge of jumping anymore, jumping much less, going out, and then focus, continue to focus.

This is considered sort of the mahasiddha sarahava style, so sarahava mahasiddha syle.

44:50.

And right now like, you know, defeating -- defeating the ignorance we're utilizing that, but, later, when you're in the completion stage and this very type of meditation will be utilizing focusing on the points of your physical body, vajra body, and then makes the subtle energy and subtle mind. Right now, you are focusing on the gross mind and gross mind functioning, and this very activity will be in the completion stage. This very meditation will be the completion stage focusing on the subtle energy, subtle mind. So this is a very important point, utilizing that level of practice, even here, and then ______

46:40

But focusing is important, if you lose the focus then you lost everything traditional Tibetan -- not Tibetan, a Buddhist tale, that tale says there was a swordman and an arrow man. They've been fighting. So they've been fighting. The swordman is very good. Any arrow that comes, he'll throw the sword and arrow cut into pieces. When they're competing each other, and then the sword man -- the arrow man clearly shooting all his arrows and had ten arrows or twelve arrows or whatever, and except one short everything, and everything whatever he shot, the swordman cuts up. And then the arrow man's wife intervened and said, "Don't shoot your arrow just now. So I will hint you when you should shoot and then you shoot." So when they're fighting -- and she came in the middle, started dancing, and dancing and showing all her whatever, you know, beauty, sexy, whatever, all of them are showing.

So the sword man lost his attention and started watching the arrow man's wife. Then the arrow man's wife indicated to the arrow man, shoot now. So then he shot and got the sword man, and that's some kind of pre Hindu Buddhist sort of tale and they have that. They have that. So then the sword man was shot and he -- before he died he said, "I was not killed by the arrow man, I was wounded by arrow man's wife, so lost my concentration," and that's the problem. That's -- I think Buddha use that tale to show if you lose awareness, alertness, that's what we call it, losing your concentration, right.

49:40.

Okay. So that is important, and so keeping awareness, concentration all at that point, and that's what you do.

Now, the focal point here is finding that self or ego or I. All of those earlier, the generation, bodhimind, four immeasurables and practice seven limb and other offerings and guru yoga, purification, and including samata was, actually, now point of defeating the ego or the self or I, whatever you call it.

So while you're focusing, while your mind remaining in that level of empty, and either small part or the teachings will say small part, small piece of mind they'll say, but we can't divide mind. So you change your focus within that. When I perceive me, when I say me, I, I, what do I perceive, what type of thing that I accept or perceiving, because I consider this is the most important. Me is the most precious. Everything I'm doing for me. I want the best, and I don't want anything other than the best.

All of those I, I, I, either in the form of -- yesterday, we focused self-cherishing, remember. Today, we have to focus on self-grasping. So what do we grasp? What is it? So what do we see?

53:30

Actually, truly speaking, that I somewhere hiding is something we labeled by ourself. We're saying there is somebody there deep enough, something called me. It's deep enough. You can sort of look like you can trace. As I talked to you earlier, you look at the pillar and start tracing pillar inside, inside looks like we're going to find something solid in there called pillar, one piece. It's not there. It's a lot of particles together. Likewise, I also, something that I labeled by my mind I labeled, there's nothing from it's all nature. It's not there, but we don't see that. We don't perceive that. Doesn't appear to us that way. It appears to us there is some little he piece or something solid, maybe a little dot, or maybe a little something solid in there and think there's something is, you know, hiding, you know, like peeling an orange, skin peel and you get orange, something like that you think we'll find. We have those Russian dolls, take it out, take it out, tiny little one comes out. Something like that we think we do and that is our perception of object of negation.

56:03

That is the appearance of object of negation. Yesterday, I said we introduced nicely about the self-cherishing and then I left it, this ego grasping by a little bit that way, sort of not the certainty, that's the reason. Now, that's what it is. We see something, even a tiniest little dot or something in there we will see. We sort of guaranteed to have there. So taking granted it's there, and these are how we perceive object of negation. This is called dak dzin or self-cherishing -- no, no, no, self-grasping, ego grasping, I-grasping. That is what it is.

So this is important to recognize within you, what you have, and that if you know that -- without knowing that, you're not knowing what your self-grasping is all about, or dak dzin in Tibetan, dak dzin, self, holding, grasping, grasping.

Without knowing this, no matter how much you argue, it's not there. Using logic, using quotations, no matter how much you do, you're not -- you're not targeting or you're not shooting on the target. You're shooting in the air. You know, you remember there's an expression saying you're shooting your arrows in the forest, no target. That's what happens.

The first Dalai Lama said --

[speaking Tibetan]

59:05

So the ghost is in the eastern gate, and the people who are doing the practice and the rituals and they take the dharma, which you're going to either destroy or give it, and it's taken to the western gate. So it's going like that, right. So that is what's happening when you don't know what you want to be defeated, and then you're using reasoning, quotations, and this and that and try to argue. So you're not getting on the target, no matter how, whatever you do, how much you say.

So once you recognize, once you see whatever that you are perceiving, ego, once you recognize that, then you can use anything, honestly, any good reason. You deal with the mind. Is this the mind or something else? Is it the one with the mind or one with the body? Or is it inside occupy, outside occupy? Is it occasional visit or it's always remaining there? It is their home or is this a guest? Whatever. So you keep on digging yourself within that, and you will see it cannot be, cannot be, and you begin -- then you begin to see, no matter whatever you do, you trace and you won't find it. When you don't find it, you did not lose me, but you lost that ego. You did not lose yourself. You lost your ego. Maybe I will leave here, and then we have afternoon, at 4:00, I have this white Manjushri initiation, and you combine them all together and then I see if I can conclude tonight or tomorrow morning. Probably going to be tomorrow morning conclude. So there you go. That's it. Have a nice lunch.

1:02

Oh, sorry. Don't go yet. Don't go, don't go, don't go, don't go yet. There's announcement. I'm sorry. Thank you.

AUDIENCE: Hi, everyone. I don't if I've met you yet but my name is Kimba and I help Rimpoche out if I can and --

(inaudible)

AUDIENCE: Get closer. There you go. My name is Kimba, and I try to help Rimpoche when I can, including his schedule, and I just wanted to let you people here, who have come to Garrison, wanted to inform you that -- so first of all, just a little bit of disappointing news followed by a lot of exciting news.

So I'll just hit with it with the disappointing news is that normally since Garrison has started, we've had a relationship where we've had two weekend teachings per year here at Garrison, this Memorial weekend and the weekend in October. This year, for Rimpoche, he has a film coming out in June and it's his 70th birthday in October -- 75th is what I meant to say, his diamond jubilee birthday and so, anyway, Rimpoche's schedule is very busy this year.

So looking at the schedule we decided that maybe we should cancel the October weekend retreat this year. So however -- however, there is still room for the summer retreat in Ann Arbor. It's July 4th, through the 14th. Registration is open. The topic is Chandrakirti Madhyamakavatara. Rimpoche will give an oral and teaching transmission who is Chandrakirti and what is the Madhyamakavatara, come to the retreat and find out.

In addition, this year, Rimpoche and Jewel Heart will be takinga pilgrimage to Mongolia. The dates of the pilgrimage in Mongolia is August 7th through the 17th and Rimpoche just asked me to kind of let you know where this developed. You may or may not know that traditionally Mongolia has been a very strong sanctuary and support for Buddhism to thrive and practice, and Tibet and Mongolia have historically had a very strong relationship with Buddhism, the Buddhist tradition for centuries, maybe millenia.

And even through the recent history with communist -- the Russian communist invasion of Mongolia and takeover, Buddhism has still managed to survive and thrive past the Lenin years, the Stalin area, the Brezhnev era, all that. It's still active. Rimpoche went for a conference about three or four years ago to Mongolia and was pleasantly happy to see that the monasteries are there and people are practicing, and he thought it would be a wonderful trip to go back to Mongolia, and we have been trying to schedule it but, you know, different things have come up in between.

So this is the first year we've been able to actually execute the plan. More information about the pilgrimage, you have a packet I believe in your -- in the packet we provided at the init -- at the beginning of the retreat, but also Ujen, in the store, is organizing the trip, and if any of you have ever been to a pilgrimage with Jewel Heart, you know how -- what a great, how well Ujen organizes these things, and these aren't just any old tourist group trips. They're really very wonderful. We get access to monasteries and to meet great and wonderful teachers in Mongolia or wherever we hold these pilgrimages and we get the access through Rimpoche and Ujen-la. And also Rimpoche as agreed to teach at various places with possible during the Mongolian pilgrimage will be fantastic, I'm sure, and, again, plea the dates are August 7th through the 17th.

In addition, Rimpoche annually teaches in Malaysia. We have a very strong group of fellow Jewel Heart members in Malaysia. Many of them come to summer and winter retreat, and Rimpoche goes there usually ever year around August. So after the Mongolia trip, he will be going straight to Malaysia to give teachings. The teachings in Kuala Lumpur will begin Friday evening, August 22nd, with a public lecture. Then there will be a full weekend, Saturday, Sunday teaching and, possibly, an initiation, which has not been determined yet, and then, there will be evening teachings Monday through Friday after that, and we have friends in Malaysia who are trying to organize a wonderful kind of combined teaching Malaysia pilgrimage.

Malaysia also has wonderful, huge monasteries -- I mean it's also an -- all of southeast Asia there's a very strong history of Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, particularly in Malaysia. So they are making arrangements to have various tours during the day and you're welcome and encouraged to attend that as well. We will have more information on that, and the teachings, we're, hoping are going to be in the hotel called the Palace of the Golden Horses.

Rimpoche has taught there before, and we have connections with the gentleman who owns the hotel, and we're opening to get a deeply discounted rate for those who would like to attend the teachings and be a part of the Malaysian tour, if not free. We are working on that. So please do inquire if you're interested, and then after that -- so that's dates are August 22nd through August 29th for Malaysia. And then after that, Rimpoche will go to Singapore and give a weekend teaching. Those dates are September 5th through 7th. Those details are being worked out.

So any or all -- if you would like to join Rimpoche for the whole Asia tour you're welcome to, if you have good fortune to be able to do that, but, also, the Mongolia trip or the Malaysia trip separately, we will try to help you make a wonderful activity with that.

And I do want to mention with the Mongolia trip, Ujen mentioned recently that if you're interested, you should contact him as soon as possible, because he is trying to get the same hotel for the tour group and August is a busy tour month. So he should know as soon as possible, if you are interested.

So -- and also -- and let me just -- you know, we have -- I think we forget that we have these wonderful -- the other portion of the Mongolia trip that I forgot to mention earlier is that it's not only an opportunity for us westerners to explore, you know, this land where Buddhism developed for so long and managed to survive the different, you know, obstacles over the years, but it's also an opportunity for the Mongolian practitioners to see that Buddhism is also thriving in the west. So it's ' really a cultural exchange program and I think sometimes we forget. We get so focused on the immediacy of this life, we forget all our past and future connections and threads.

And on that note, I would like to just remind you that in -- we have, through Rimpoche, but also probably unknown to us in our past or possibly our future, we have very strong connections with these other institutions of Buddhism, not just Jewel Heart. Rimpoche is part of Drepung Monastery and which is an umbrella organization monastery that has several units within it. Just like in Jewel Heart, we have different chapters. And I guess if you combine it -- if you compare it to American university system, then they would have various colleges, of which Loseling is one of the colleges, which Rimpoche is connected to.

1:11:50.

In addition to the colleges, there are probably similar to fraternities or dorm units, little smaller units that people live together, the monks live together and support each other in kind of a housing unit, and Rimpoche's -- they're called khangstens, right? I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly.

1:12:15.

And they're similar to fraternities, and, in the past, Jewel Heart -- we have a very close relationship with Nyagre Khangsten, which is Rimpoche's khangsten. But there are other khangstens through the teachers and the monks that we're also connected to, and they really do need our support and help. I won't go into detail, but there's a flier in the back or you can check with Ujen, and so I just wanted to remind you that we can maintain our connection through helping to support the khangsten. It's not like as distant as we think it is. It's very, very closely connected to us, and this is an opportunity for us to maintain that connection. So I wanted to remind you of that as well.

So since October weekend is cancelled, we were thinking -- we were looking at the schedule and we thought that maybe in the future having one retreat at Garrison Institute for a week might be a little bit easier on Rimpoche's schedule and our schedule. So the exciting news is that we have come up with the three U.S. retreat dates for 2015, and we'd like to let you know this is an exclusive for you Garrison members. We wanted to give you dates in advance so that you can plan the retreats, you know, you can plan the time and your budget. So the winter retreat for 2015 will be Saturday -- from Saturday, January 24th through Saturday, January 31st, and the topic is -- well, Rimpoche will be giving the Yamantaka initiation, the Vajrayogini initiation and Vajrayogini teachings. If you are not sure whether this retreat is appropriate for you, please feel free to contact programs@jewelheart.org. Kathy Laritz is here, or you can ask me and I can pass on any questions if I can't answer them myself, so -- and Ujen. So the three of us are here or you can e-mail or call Jewel Heart office if you have questions about that.

The next retreat will be our Joyful Jewel Heart Summer Retreat in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The winter retreat is in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well. The summer retreat dates are Saturday, June 20th to Saturday, June 27th, and then the Garrison retreat next year will be Saturday, August 29th, through Friday, September 4th, and I just want to point out that Labor Day is Monday, September 7th. So the retreat will end and you can still enjoy the holiday weekend with your family and friends. So I wanted to just let you know. The registration hasn't opened yet, but just to give you a head's up, look for it, and, always, if you have any questions or are interested in what's going at Jewel Heart or with Rimpoche, please feel free to visit our website, www.jewelheart.org. There are tremendous resources on that, as well as the information, and the web -- if you're not aware of the weekly Sunday webcasts is available on that site, and, of course, if you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us at Jewel Heart as well in Ann Arbor. Thank you so much.

GELEK RIMPOCHE: And very good announcement. Thank you. But one thing I like to add up, the -- one of the most important -- one of them, not only we will see, as Kimba mentioned earlier, see the Mongolia and how these people manage to save the Buddhism under the Communism and thereafter. So it's really flourishing, but now there's a big challenge they face. The challenge is something which you we understand clearly, but that's very conservative Christians would like to convert them as much as they can with all resources and everything. Money are pouring in, as well as schools, hospitals, and business adventures and everything and try to convert as much as they can.

But still the Mongolian Buddhists are Buddhists. They are still think -- they admire the western people and the western -- however, you know, no matter whatever we say, all Americans hated by everybody else and blah, blah, blah, we say that, but they all admire, too, they really admire America. So when you see number of Americans and other westerners who are also engaged, out of great civilization, engaged in Buddhism and then give them a lot of encouragement, a lot of encouragement, and so this is what His Holiness wanted to do, and I've been requested to participate in that by various places and including Mongolian head lama, the Mongolian Khambo Lama.

1:18:50.

They call it, everything wonders -- they needed in sort of inspiration and encouragement, and, for us, a great opportunity to see how it went and how it survived, and, you know, by not doing anything extra by going through it will make a tremendous inspiration and impact on them.

So that is why we wanted to go and do this for two, three years, we couldn't even materialize. And then Malaysia because normally I go Malaysia about this time, and it's already in that area. It is really matter of a couple of hours in the plane and a couple of hours, the major expenses is from the United States to Asia, which is already covered, and then if you go to Malaysia, it's also huge Buddhist things there. The biggest -- the Avolokiteshvara, the Chinese call it Guanyin statues in Penang. They say it's the tallest in the world. So they're also in Penang in Malaysia, and then there's a beautiful caves. There's Batu case, Ipoh Cave they're very beautiful. One of our, two of our it now senior, Hartmut and _____ 1:21:00, from Germany, when I first went to Malaysia in the '70s, and they are hippies and they're there and they will come to Malaysia to attend the teachings, and, after that, they sit in the Ipoh Cave for meditate for about a month or two. Then they go to Australia to pick up the fruit and they make enough money, and then they come back to the Ipoh Cave to meditate, and while they are meditating they're hippies, but all the Malaysia communities feed them, feed them lunch, dinner, and breakfast.

So it will be nice to see Ipoh Caves, too, but that is time wise it's so long, you know, because Mongolia is very long and then Malaysia. So maybe we can -- some people may not like to go to go -- can only go to Malaysia or something. That's why we put them together, but Mongolia is organized. Malaysia is not organized, you know, meaning Mongolia has arrangements, travel agents, everything is made. Malaysia is not, but they can be done, not so much problem and ask -- Kimba mentioned maybe you can get very good, substantial discount, hoping, so substantial discount in five star hotel. So possible, and I'm not sure. We are going to contact those person and all. Okay. So that's all I like to say and I'm sorry delay for you.

Kathy wants to talk.

AUDIENCE: Thank you. Just one quick little reminder that the discussion groups are still happening at 2:30, and then groups one and two, who normally are in meditation hall and in the annex are now going to be in the dining hall and the board room, and this room will be reserved for Rimpoche's preparation. Thank you.