Archive Result

Soundfile 20140601GRAAETB50

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Ann Arbor

Topic Mahayana

Transcriber Steve Kelly

Date Finished 7.3.2014

Saved as RTF

Rimpoche: Good morning and welcome for this Sunday talk. As you know, this was mostly introducing Mahayana path because last year we talked mostly about introducing Tibetan Buddhism. So this year is more introducing Mahayana. 000035

At the beginning I also briefly mentioned the most important thing in the Mahayana path, the base on which we work is the two truths. I did talk a little bit about the two truths but not in detail. We will visit that and then path - that will be 10 different stages.

You may be thinking he’s going to talk about stage one as the Bhumi stage then 2, 3 no. They call it transmission. Transmission on the basis on which actually two truth is one of those 10.

Then the four noble truths - you might think I have had the four noble truths for the last whole year. You have heard the four noble truths mostly from the Theravadan point view. Or common with the lower we say it is not a Theravadan point but common with the lower point of view and you have heard the four noble truths.

The 4 noble truths – Mahayana emphasis

The four noble truths from the Mahayana way of introducing will be slightly different. Actually the four noble truths is the four noble truths there is no change. But the emphasis on what they do will be slightly different.

Then there will be to whom you practice or on the other hand it will be like a prayer. That will be three jewels again you may think I heard the refuge all the time true Mahayana point will be slightly different.

So all of those will come so they’ll be like 10 advices.

Normally when you introduce Mahayana people talk about Bodhimind and then that’s about it. (Rimpoche has an aside).

People talk about Bodhimind and then they talk about the six Perfections and then we say OK that is the introduction to Mahayana - maybe not, maybe not enough. Because Maitreya Buddha when he talked about the transcendental wisdom - the major emphasis was made on the transcendental wisdom.

Transcendental wisdom

The transcendental wisdom - wisdom itself which we refer with the Sanskrit word called Prangyaparamita . Prangyaparamita which we are using Sanskrit which means transcendental wisdom. Transcendental wisdom my understanding is very commonly accepted both by Buddhism and Hinduism. 000509

A lot of great Hindu scholars and teachers they have a very strong base and emphasis on transcendental wisdom. Such as Maharishi, Ramisheri yoga et cetera are very strongly based on transcendental wisdom but from the Hindu point of view and not from the Buddhist point of view.

The Hindu Buddhist difference is the Buddhists think Buddha is the object of refuge and the ultimate achievement and all of us every sentient being, every living being, had that seed of becoming a Buddha.

When you develop that you will be ultimately the fullest fruit level whatever it may be. It is capable. That is one of the Buddhist major emphasis as well as the karma. As well as the karma.

Bodhimind is very strongly with the Hindu too. Though they don’t call it Bodhimind because they don’t call Buddha as a god. So therefore Bodhisattva is not the ultimate followers or one who’s becoming a Buddha . So they don’t call that as Buddhists look to the Bodhisattvas and the Hindus may not look as Bodhisattvas. For Hindus Bodhisattvas are yogis terminology.

But the transcendental wisdom is very strongly accepted. I can’t say it is Mahayana Buddhist but the Mahayana principles are very much. I know nothing about Hinduism honestly. I just started looking back myself and I’m criticizing myself here talking about it because I don’t know anything.

I cannot make heads or tails out of it. But when you’re looking at it sort of 75 years not getting into it but looking at it from outside - it is very similar. There’s an extreme similarity. Just like Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra are very similar.000903

Hindu and Buddhist Transcendental Wisdom and Tantra are very similar

No wonder why Atisha in Tibet said nowadays there will be only a few individuals. He named a couple of them in Bigram Sheela and a couple of them in Nalanda and himself there will be very little people who can really make a difference between the Hindu Buddhist practice. No wonder why Atisha said that. So when you begin to really look carefully you see all this same thing very similar.

But the purpose is different, motivation is different the object of refuge is different the object of dedication is different and almost from that angle you see difference. Other than that what you do and what you struggle, what you challenge, what you hope to achieve are almost the same though Hindus I don’t know whether they say you can become Buddha or not. That part I don’t know. 001045

I don’t know about whether the Hindus say you can become Shiva or you can become Lakshimi or you can become Ishewa or all that I am not sure I don’t know.

To Hindus Buddhism is a part of Hinduism

I’m sure that they do not say you can become Buddha because Buddha is not the object of refuge in Hindu. But the funny thing is Hindus do accept Buddha and Buddhism. They accept Buddhism as part of Hinduism. They really do think of it as Hindu as opposed to Buddhism being something separate.

So does the Sikh religion. Those who have a turban on their head, the Sikh religion todays Sikh feels differently I don’t know. But Hindus definitely accept Sikh as a Hindu religion not only Hindu religion but Hinduism.

Also they really think that the Sikh is slightly a little violent religion a violent principle religion this is my observation, please don’t…. you can judge by yourself looking at it or reading about it and talking about it. 001231

Hindu Muslim problem

So every religion will claim now that love and compassion is our religious principle. But in those days what had happened was there was a problem between Hindu Muslims - a huge problem. And the Muslim religion sometimes has the violence and the Hindu religion does not. So a number of Hindus got killed in early history. I am talking about 1000 years (ago? Or for 1000 years?). Even as late as the late 1940s and maybe a little bit of the early 1950s even - the Hindu/Muslim problem was huge so that these was a division between Pakistan and India and millions of people got killed - really millions. Train load by a train load because the Muslims moved from India to Pakistan and the Hindus moved from Pakistan and India. In that route trains go like this and stops and everybody jumps out train to attack another train.

They attack each other train load by a train load - burned completely! That is why Gandhi went into a hunger strike on the border disagreeing with the Indian leader and disagreeing with the Pakistani leaders and fighting for Asimhi, I forgot the word but in other words – peace and non-violence.

Gandhi almost died – he went to that extent near the Delava Station. Earlier, the Hindu gurus created that Sikh religion with the violence principle to challenge Muslim violence.

But then they limited it up to 10 Gurus. They made one Guru in charge with all others being sub-gurus with one chief guru similar to the Dalai Lama. 001545

That was number 10 and it was limited up to 10 and then they were supposed to finish because they don’t want the violence to continue. They created violence for limited purposes for limited duration and then discontinue thereafter. That’s why they consider that part of Hindu. Buddhism they also consider very definitely almost like a pivotal part of Hinduism because of the love and compassion., particularly because it is emphasized so much in the Bodhimind which is a principle of the Mahayana Buddhism.

Without Bodhimind there is no Mahayana

So this is what I plan to do . But, again without the development of the Bodhimind there will be no Mahayana at all. So I would like to remind you again, what is the Bodhimind? What is the Bodhimind, like the Maitreya Buddha has said. You know who Maitreya Buddha is? I’m calling it Maitreya Buddha but I should’ve called it the bodhisattva Maitreya. I should have because there are two reasons. Whether Maitreya is a Buddha or a Bodhisattva there is not much difference. Even if he is a Bodhisattva, he is an eleventh hour Bodhisattva and is ready to become Buddha. It is almost the same as a Buddha. 001757

Maitreya –Buddha or Eleventh Hour Bodhisattva

But from the tenet point of view you know I studied in Losaling in Drepung. From the tenet or the theoretical viewpoint of Losaling and the Gande shah Tse are following Benje sonam Tabwa

And Gomang follows the Gwinje jaheh sheva. Serame follows Kedru deh ba tahyeh. Serache follows Jen jin Turjee Gentze

Even within the three great monasteries of the Gelupa tradition, even among them there are little theoretical differences. Differences such as in Drepung there are two outstanding schools Losaling and Gomung

Losaling follows Penshen Sonam Tahbah and Gomung follows the Gwinje jaheh sheva. So the Penshen Sonam Tahbah says that Maitreya Buddha is example of a 10th Bhumi Bodhisattva. 001931

So quintin deya sheva says no Maitreya is a Buddha already so what difference does that make? Nothing! Right? Nothing. They are there, up there, whether you are going to sit at the right side or the left side or in the middle – what difference difference does that make? There is no difference – for us.

But it is a theoretical point. So since you are following your theoretical point I should’ve said Bodhisattva Maitreya. Bodhisattva Maitreya or Buddha Maitreya it is the same thing.

Everybody says Buddha Maitreya so why not? There is nothing wrong.

But it has five little booklets and the Bodhisattvas or Buddha Maitreya is supposed to be substituting for Buddha Shakymuni in the pure land of Tushita. Even in Mahayana, even in sutra. I don’t know whether this is accepted in Theravadan or not, I don’t know. But even in sutra Mahayana, Maitreya is the substitute for Buddha. Buddha was there, then Buddha becomes the official Buddha, came to our world and then give his crown to Maitreya Buddha. 002126

Maitreya Buddha is waiting to come down because he won’t sit cross legged. He is sitting on a chair, ready to get up and come. So he is sort of waiting to become the official Buddha in our world. That is the idea. Anyway so he lives in Tushita. When he dictated those five little booklets, it was dictated to Asanga. Remember the fellow who went into meditation for 12 years to see Maitreya Buddha. So Asanga was taken by Maitreya Buddha to that Tushita for a morning – for a Tushita morning. So he sat there for a morning only and then he wrote these five texts later - out of his memory. He wrote it down and called it the five sets of Maitreya Dharma.

Even those meta meditations within the Zen tradition meta meditations within the Theravadan traditions, are on level with the Maitreya. Maitreya (is?) meta, mita, meta, Maitreya so almost a way of pronouncing.

The southern Americans like Alabama, Mississippi, and even Texas to a certain extent tells me, Oh you areTie Betan not Tibetan but Tie Betan. When your are in the Midwest or New York you are Tibetan. 002401

It is just like that for them some are Meta, some are Maitreya some are Mitra, so all of those. So it is the love/compassion. Love/compassion - Maitreya Buddha’s name is love compassion – more love. They should have said the Buddha of love rather than the Buddha of compassion, I don’t know. Maybe they should’ve said the Buddha of love and compassion whatever. 002435

So in one of those texts, the transcendental wisdom the text, this is considered almost like a root text - a root where we based everything. It is the essence of 12 volumes of Buddha’s Mahayana text. It is the essence or synopsis, even shorter than a synopsis.

Like Bodhimind in the (transcendental?) text itself may be volumes but in Maitreya Buddha’s it says “Sengeva”. That is one word that will do. They said Bodhimind that is it. Do shorter than a synopsis.

This text says “ Bodhimind for the benefit of others, desire to become Buddha, desire to become ultimate. 002542

Bodhimind for the benefit of others, desire to become ultimate. So in other words Bodhimind is totally altruistic dedicated for benefiting others and seeking the ultimate achievement for yourself. In other words now they’re introducing what you want to get out of his practice. Introducing your efforts are put for the purpose of that’s what it is. The purpose of not settling for anything less than perfection less than nothing better Yund dah tsoh

The word really is in Tibetan Yung dah which means the completely pure of pure. Sogwey completed all pure. Chyung chu perfection. Not only perfection the perfection becomes total daily chore and daily everything for which in other words in other words faultless total knowledge total perfection all the time as the nature in usual .

So that is that is sort of what is really saying ultimately what you’re looking for. Again it is so important to see what you are aiming at what you are struggling for. Otherwise we’d like to say we are Mahayana.

The image that we get is I don’t know I’ve really don’t know you get your images. Some of you have to tell me later what you get your image. You know my suspicion is red robe monks I don’t know and if you’re easterner or Chinese or South East Asian or something you get yellow robes monks.

That of a yellow robe monk with sort of not the yellow robe that the Dalai Lama wears but the other yellow robe which has sort of a long sleeve and over sort of like a gown wearing over yellow gown worn over whatever you are wearing underneath. Sort of yellow shirts and yellow pants and like you see the Chinese Mahayana monks.

It is funny, very strange, those Chinese Mahayana abbots big high abbots dress Tibetans do wear sometimes and when they wear those they are a religion’s status title called Whodohtu . Those Whodohtus do wear that dress. You know in Tibet when I was a kid there were a couple of Whodohtus.003008

Tyre Rimpoche is one of them. Popularr is one of them. There were a couple of them and when they wear the Whodohtus dress and they wear the yellow gown on the top and they wore a big coral mala around and they wear not the normal cotton or woolen red thing instead of that they wear (silk?) pure old Chinese (silk?) one slip up. Their shoe is a brocade shoe. So we called them Whodohtus costumes.

It is a costume. It is Whodohtus uniform too. Later I noticed that the big Chinese Mahayana Abbots do wear that. So I don’t know why through Mongolia this word Whodohtus might have been a Mongol word.

It might have been through the Mongols or the Manshus or whatever. So that might have come in Tibet as…. certainly not through Indian Buddhism. So anyway so the picture of Mahayana what you get. The picture of Mahayana the normal western people do get. I don’t know. That is something that I totally have to guess. Right? So that is really whether it is an image whatever you get is not right.

It is the mind. It is the mental as well as activities and I hope many of our jewel heart people will get the picture immediately. 003223

Like Bodhimind motivation and the six Perfections that much if you get it. Activities are the six Perfections motivations are Bodhimind if you get that much it is good enough.

Then that of yellow robe monks or the red robe monks that is not the Mahayana definition.

So the Mahayana definition what I give you the Maitreya Buddha’s words word by word, then combine them together and which I think with a little explanation so whenever you hear Bodhimind and that is what you should understand .

That is what you should get. So the Bodhimind is the mind of Mahayana and that is true identification of Mahayana. And also remember that a number of times I said it is the gateway to Mahayana, like refuge is the gateway to become Buddhist. Bodhimind is the gateway to become Mahayana.

So no wonder why refuge is the gateway, the difference between Hinduism and Buddhism? It is really the refuge is making it. 003411

Not what you do. That is why a number of times Tsongkhapa in Lam Rim chemno – the Dharma Mahayana is not enough. The dharma being Mahayana dharma is not enough. In other words that particular practice what you do may be categorized as Mahayana. That is not enough but a person who practices this dharma has to be Mahayanan.

The person you are makes you Mahayanan, not the Dharma

Can you hear that? In other words the division is not done on the basis of the dharma which you practice. The division is done on the basis of the person who you are, do you understand? As we said earlier the Hindu Buddhist difference is refuge. When you have refuge in Buddha , Dharma and Sangha you become Buddhist. The practice that you do is not that much difference. Likewise here the person has to become Mahayanan in order to become the practice Mahayana practice. In other words somebody who reads a Mahayana book just make it, copying, action, acting, thinking even does not become Mahayana.

This is because the dharma what you picked up maybe Mahayana Dharma that is not good enough. The person has to be Mahayanan. Am I communicating or not all? To some people, some people don’t know what I am talking about.

In other words Mahaya, Hinayana Hindu Buddhist are not divided on the subject’s point of view. It was divided by the individual person. The individual person chooses to become Buddhist, chooses to take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha then what ever you do it becomes Buddhist practice. 003729

The individual chooses to become Mahayanan and try to generate Bodhimind then whatever you do, it becomes Mahayana path.

Now Dharma whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. A person must be - now you get it? J. Tsongkhapa’s dharma Mahayana is not enough - the person must be Mahayanan. Get it now? Good thank you.

So in other words the gateway to Mahayana is Bodhimind. Bodhimind is… Bodhimind has a lot of criteria.

Number one. It is total dedication - total dedication for all people, all living beings. Not one person, not two persons, ten persons, one hundred persons or 1000 persons or a million persons but to all.

In other words do you know who all are? No, but in other words it is sort of a general dedication to all.

You know that right? To all, so whoever that all may be, there is nothing to be left out, no one to be left out - including yourself!

It is so important when you say, “all” then you leave yourself out because you were looking up. Oh I forgot about me. 003958

So then the earlier Tibetans teachers says I and all sentient beings. A lot of those sadhanas and practices that we do begins with I and all sentient beings - making sure you don’t forget yourself. Otherwise why should I and all sentient beings are including me, why not? It does not say every being except me. So I am within “all”.

However why do they emphasize I and? Because we always look at all and forget about myself. So that is why - I and all.

Benefits

So the mind is totally dedicated for the ultimate service of all. In other words I will do nothing else except to benefit all. Whatever I do it is meant for something benefiting. Those words when you play a lot think a lot benefit all sentient beings, they become tricky words, tricky words.

It is funny what is a benefit? Like for example benefit. When you look at it, you have activities to benefit - that is making money right? To raise funds you have to have a benefit. 014144

Benefit concert , benefit breakfast, benefit tea, benefit coffee or whatever. Whatever you do, what we are doing is raising money. That benefit is just money. Then some people do food gathering and clothes gathering. These are also benefits.

But here we are talking about benefits way beyond all this. What we really need is joy and happiness no suffering, no pain, no worries and no misery.

That’s what we’re looking for. So that benefit refers to that. Not just a couple of shirts or a couple of pants or a couple of dollars or a couple of whenever - it is not. That benefit so that is one of the criteria.

What you are seeking in your struggling is you are struggling to become the ultimate achievement to get the ultimate achievement whatever you can get. You do this through whatever way, actually spiritual way or the material way.

The material way will not give you the ultimate - we all know that. Which means we only left with the spiritual way whatever. But whatever way you think the ultimate you get and that’s what they’re seeking - the ultimate whatever way, scientific way, practice way, meditative way.

Or logical way whatever way you can get. Uplifting your mind make yourself brilliant and bring yourself the best ever existed. That’s what they wanted that is total knowledge.

The best person that ever walked on the earth - that’s what you want to do. It’s too much demand, aiming too high sure. 004433

Even if you just get partially there

Even if you don’t get it, you get halfway through, midway through, a quarter of the way through, three quarter through, 90% of the way through or 98% or 99% of the way through then you’ll see Buddha or Bodhisattva (Rimpoche laughs). The others will argue whether that is a Buddha or a Bodhisattva that’s what it is. 99% up there so that is what it is. That is a gradual process. We get it. That is the desire. A lot of people will say desire is bad because it is desire. So the desire to become the best is not bad. Just because it is desire it doesn’t become attachment doesn’t become obsession you may get obsessed to become Buddha if you get obsessed to become Buddha it’s great.

It is a wonderful obsession - really the best - so aiming to become total knowledge. Desire to become that and putting virtuous activities all for that purpose. That is something what you think Bodhimind.

But you think more keep on thinking more. I will continue to talk to you on that next week too. All right? Thank you