Archive Result

20150621GRAASR02

0:00:18.1 Long Life Prayer, Protector Prayers, Mandala Offering

0:22:34.7 To continue where we left this morning: about refuge. I don’t know if I have to explain much about refuge, but briefly, when you take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, there are a number of ways, particularly the Mahayana refuge, which is in addition to the usual reliance on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. You are also generating compassion and even bodhimind, whatever you can. That will be the Mahayana refuge. Maybe that’s enough.

0:24:01.2 To whom you take refuge, how you take refuge, and why you take refuge, the reasons why you take refuge is the causes: first, you need to get emergency help. You are seeking help from Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. There are a number of reasons, why Buddha, why Dharma and why Sangha, like Buddha himself is experienced, free of all sufferings and he is one of the wisest persons to guide others and have great compassion. It doesn’t matter whether the person likes you or not and all these usual reasons why to take refuge in Buddha, in Dharma and Sangha. Finally, when you talk about Buddha, what type of Buddha are you talking about? Are you talking about the historical Buddha or a Buddha image? There are two important styles of refuge: the causal refuge and the resultant refuge. The causal refuge is of course taking refuge as usual.

0:26:16.6 The result refuge is very specific within the Mahayana tradition. That is as I said earlier: not only you generated compassion/bodhimind, but after taking refuge Buddha dissolves to you, and you become like Buddha. Like in the beginning of the Lama Chöpa:

DHE CHEN NGANG LAY RANG NYI LA MA LHA

GANG DER SAL WAY KU LAY Ö ZER TSOH

CHOH CHUR TRÖ PAY NÖ CHÜ JIN LAB PAY

DAK PA RAP JAM BA ZHIK YÖN TEN GYI

KÖ PAY KHYE PAR PHÜN SUM TSOK PAR GYUR

From Great Bliss I arise as the Lama-Yidam.

My body radiates light, transforming all existence.

Everything becomes pure.

0:26:53.7 So becoming yourself Buddha and radiating light, everything becomes pure and everybody is made pure. That is the result-oriented refuge. Whatever it maybe, whether you take refuge in the causal form or the result form, really, truly important is connecting your own future Buddha within you, connecting that is really important. If you cannot connect that, then it becomes simply worshipping. It has to be a little more than worshipping. Try to make your seed of Buddha within you wake up and function.

0:28:09.1 That is important. Then the actual refuge object is Dharma, not Buddha. That’s why Buddha gives the explanation that Buddha is like the doctor, Dharma like the medicine and Sangha is like the helper. So Dharma is the real medication that cures the diseases and illnesses. The real true refuge is the antidote to your own negative emotions and negativities. Your true spiritual development is the true Dharma. That spiritual development overcomes the negativities and the positivity you gain by overcoming negativity is your true Dharma.

0:29:29.6 That is also your spiritual development and your spiritual development within you is overcoming your negativities and negative emotions. But if you go into detail there are the eight qualities of the Buddha, the eight qualities of the Dharma and the eight qualities of the Sangha. Whatever your understanding is, try to see those qualities.

Buddha has tremendous amounts of qualities:

Tön pa chom den de/ de zhin shek pa/ dra chompa/ yang dag par dzog pai sang gye/ rig pa dang sab chok den pa/ de war shek pa/ jig ten jen pa/ kyi pu dü wai/ khor lor gyur wa/ la na me pa/ ta dang mi len gyi tön pa….(spelling???)

If I keep on talking about Buddha’s qualities it is really going to take time and it is also nothing new. All of you know. Buddha is always addressed as “well travelled” – de war shek pa and total knowledge, and he is the driver leading all beings to the best possible place, without equivalent and he is the teacher of gods and humans and known as fully enlightened Buddha. Even in that way. If you have the longer Buddhist food offering, that will even tell you that. Even the medium one:

Gom po thuk je che den pa

tham che kyen pai tön pa-o

so nam yön ten gya tso jing (spelling??)

That will also tell you the qualities of Buddha, as kind, compassionate, with total knowledge and the teacher and the field of all merit, luck and fortune. That is one who travelled well.

0:32:59.5 The qualities of Dharma are:

dam pei chö ne/ to ma gyal wa/ pa do gyel wa/ ta ma gyel wa/ dö ön sam po/ tsin du sang po/ ma dre pa/ yong sund dzog pa/ yong su tak pa (Spelling???)

It is pure, peace, beginning, middle, end, all the time and it gives good explanations, beautiful wording, not mixed up, very smooth language, etc.

So anyway, and then the Sangha qualities:

Tek pa chen po/ gendün ne leg par shug pa/ rig pa shug pa/ tang por shuk pa/ tim par shug pa/ ta mo gye pei wö su gye pa/ tsa gye pai wö su gyu pa/ so nam gyi pel gyi shing…..(spelling???)

The Mahayana Sangha is well set, well sitting, well functioning and pacifying, not fighting, not gossiping, and is the field where the people can worship and pray and the field where people can prostrate and pray, the field where you can develop merit.

We claim that we are sangha members. So the collection of sangha members is called sangha community. The sangha community is becoming an object of refuge, although the true sangha is more than four full-fledged Buddhist bikshus. That is the best assembly. That is referring to the sangha.

0:35:40.0 When we claim to be sangha members we try to gain the sangha qualities as much as we can. Be kind, compassionate, not interested in gossip. Gossiping is fine, but not unnecessary sangha schisms. That is very important. A lot of people do that, without knowing people engage in schisms. That is not good. That’s one of the five unlimited negativities, creating a schism within the sangha. Remember, there are five of them: killing father, killing mother, drawing blood from a Buddha, killing an arhats and creating a sangha schism. Knowing all that and avoiding that, at least try to gain the qualities of the sangha. You yourself are not object of your refuge, however, you carry the name of the sangha, so try to gain those qualities as much as you can.

0:37:26.5 True sangha is those who have understood the meaning of reality. These are whatever, men, women or children, whoever may be, that is the true sangha. But the relative sangha is more than four full-fledged bikshus of Buddhist celibates. The absolute sangha is those who know the true nature of reality. When you take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, you really have to know whom you are taking refuge to, not the image of Buddha, not necessarily the historical Buddha, but your own Buddha and connecting that and bringing yourself to that level. Until you have your own Buddha, the historical Buddha is substituting. That is really, truly taking refuge.

0:38:55.8 The result refuge is recommended to be the real refuge. Then, in the Vajrayana refuge, all Vajrayana yidams are Buddha. Maybe they have more than two hands and wrathful faces, but in reality they are Buddha. One of the most important points we have to remember is that there is no separation of guru, yidam and Buddha. In the essence of Vajrayana practice we always must see Lama, Yidam and Buddha as inseparable. One thing I might have forgotten earlier to tell you, though you all know:

When you talk about Buddha Shakyamuni, he is the most important guru of ours. We are the followers of Buddha Shakyamuni. We talk about Lama, Yidam, buddhas and bodhisattvas, dakas, dakinis and arhats and dharma protectors. When you look at the field of merit it works that way. But Buddha Shakyamuni is not put in the level of all the buddhas. He is the most important guru of all, particularly in the refuge we have the guru in the form of Buddha Shakyamuni. He is the fourth Buddha of the 1000 buddhas of this eon. Sometimes you see this Lama, Yidam, buddhas, bodhisattvas and you think Buddha has to come down. No, Buddha Shakyamuni is the most important guru, honestly. There is no other guru higher or better or more important than Buddha Shakyamuni in Buddhism.

0:41:59.6 Certain people will tell you: our guru is this fellow or that fellow. The Gelugpas say that the guru is Jamgön Lama Tsongkhapa. It’s true. Jamgön Lama Tsongkhapa is our guru, but he is not above the Buddha. Many Nyingmapas will tell you that the guru is Padmasambhava and he is the most important. Yes, true, he is the most important, but not more important than Buddha Shakyamuni.

0:42:41.6 The same goes for every other tradition. Buddha Shakyamuni is the most important guru, particularly at the refuge level. If you look at the refuge tree, they always depict Buddha as the most important figure. If you look at the Lama Chöpa tree, they will have Lama Losang Thubwang Dorje Chang as most important figure. But Buddha really is the most important. So don’t misunderstand that.

0:43:26.0 You may be wondering what the bodhisattvas, dakas and dakinis are? These are the sangha. The bodhisattvas are the Mahayana sangha. The vajrayana sangha are the dakas and dakinis. The Theravada sangha are the bikshus and that’s why we put the arhats in there, representing the three different vehicles for the sangha level. And then there are the dharma protectors at the end of that line. There are two types of dharma protectors: samsaric and non-samsaric. The non-samsaric dharma protectors are put inside the field of merit. The samsaric ones are not included, as you know. Then taking refuge is totally relying on them.

0:44:35.6 After taking refuge, follow their advice, the positive and negative advice. I will not go into detail here, but the most important advice here is to follow the karmic system. Karma is the one who makes the total difference in our life; causal karma creates positive and negative things, and the result karma is experienced by the individual. So, really the life-governing principle is the karmic principle. In the karmic principle, if you hurt people, as the result of that you get hurt. If you create joyful conditions for people, as the result of that you get joyful states. Positive brings positive results. Negative brings negative results. It is basic, natural law, honestly. We cannot hope to get positive results by creating negative karma.

0:46:32.6 What is negative and what’s positive is quite difficult to distinguish, but as long as you don’t hurt anyone, it could be neutral. As soon as you hurt someone, including yourself, then it is negative. That’s why all violent actions are negative, because violence hurts. Every violence brings hatred. Every violence creates anger. Every violence brings jealousy. Every violence brings all negativities, together or separately. That’s why the violence is really bad. Unfortunately, we engage in violence so much. In our own nature, forget about collectively together, but even individually, somehow violence is in the nature. If you leave yourself innocently and watch yourself, you are always afraid that somebody will hurt you and therefore you would like to take action and before they hurt you, you would like to get to them.

0:48:33.6 It is unfortunately our human nature, not only George Bush’s nature. George Bush said, “We get you before you get us.” Unfortunately it is in many of us. We have that character, because of the fear that they are going to hurt you. Because of that fear you are building protection and it is the wrong protection through hatred. Hatred cannot protect you. Hatred will never protect you. It has never protected you and never will. It creates fear and trouble, between family, between nations, between siblings and everywhere. Violence and hatred creates difficulties everywhere. And that’s why it is called a negative emotion. It creates negative consequences. It makes the individual become part of that. It builds the character of the individual to be negative, to be harmful. So that’s why it is called negative. The karmic rule of what Buddha, Dharma and Sangha told you to follow is: follow the positive karma and avoid the negative karma.

0:50:41.3 Buddha himself has said in one small, little verse:

dig pa che yang mi je de

ge wa pün tsum tsog par je

rang gi sem ne yong su dü

de ne sang gye den pa-o (Spelling???)

Avoid all negative actions

Build all positive actions you can

Tame your mind

This is Buddhism

This is bus stop Buddhism. Honestly. A few of us used to talk about bus stop Buddhism. This is bus stop Buddhism. This really tells you very simply to avoid any negativity, hurting anybody, including yourself. And do help anybody, including yourself. Do it. Honestly. If you go very detailed, philosophically, then whether this is positive or negative, what are the conditions, what is the motivation, what is the mental state at that time, is it complete or not complete, is it satisfied or not satisfied, and so many details are there. That is good to know, however, simple people like us have to simply go by not hurting anybody. That includes little insects too, not just human beings alone, but even insects. They have a right to live. But we kill them all the time.

0:52:57.3 We have to drive our car and how many insects will go underneath our tires? Always, but we have to do our best. We can’t be so righteous either and say, “If I drive my car I will keep sentient beings, so I won’t drive my car.” So alright, “If I walk on the ground, I will kill sentient beings, so I won’t walk.” Can you do that? Not possible. So we have to live our life reasonably. Do the best you can and don’t be so righteous. Some people want to be so righteous. That is very admirable and wonderful, but it is very difficult to live life. Particularly, if someone is following you and watching you, it makes it impossible for the other people to follow. So don’t be so righteous, but karmically okay. But the most important thing is that if you cannot avoid negativities, there is a mechanism for purification.

0:54:31.0 Some people will say that purification doesn’t work, because when you kill somebody you cannot bring that person back. True. When you kill somebody you cannot bring that person back. But you can manage that karma. Try to neutralize that karma and make sure the karmic consequences will not function, because karma is dependent origination. Very definitely. Even karma is dependent origination. So there are causes, parts and parcels and everything. If you could function there, by purifying, actually you try to kill the karma, although you cannot bring the person back, but you have to compensate something. That’s why we talk about the four powers of purification. There is the power of regret, the power of repenting, the power of committing not to repeat and the power of the base, which means you are either taking refuge or generating bodhimind or love/compassion. So basically, if you purify negative karma with the four powers, it does purify.

0:56:31.9 That doesn’t mean vows are purified. Vows are separate. If you take self-liberation vows you have to purify them from whom you took them, the lama with the assembly of monks. If you have taken bodhisattva vows you have taken them from the Lama Buddha Bodhisattvas. You have to purify them there, with their own system. If you have broken vajrayana vows, they are taken in the presence of Lama Yidam Mandala. So you have to purify there. That is how the vows work. Other than that, the purification of all negativities functions in that way. So to be able to purify, to pay attention to purifying is more important than to be righteous – to me. If you keep on purifying your negativities before the period of 24 hours, it is helpful. There is no increase. Otherwise, within 24 hours, positive and negative karma increases, remember? That is why purification is one of the most important activities of individual practitioners. Before you fall asleep, before you end your day, do purification. If you can purify the negativities in general, particularly that very day, whatever you have created, if you purify them with either the Vajrasattva recitation, 21 Vajrasattva recitations stop at least the increasing.

0:58:59.4 Then some people think you hope to do Vajrasattva recitation only. Bodhimind does purification. Shantideva said,

dig pa tob zhe shin tu mi se pa

de ne dzog pei jang chub se mem pa

ge shen gang gi se ge men pa gyur (spelling???)

Bodhimind is such a powerful mind, It overpowers all negativities. Then wisdom. Nagarjuna said,

Te tsom sö pa tsam ji cheng

Si pa lhu bur se par gyur (spelling??)

Just developing doubt alone

Will tear samsara into pieces

Just doubt alone. So these are very powerful antidote actions that are readily available and for our disposal. Even if you can’t say 100 syllable mantras 21 times, then there is shorter mantra: OM VAJRASATTVA AH HUM. That is OM AH HUM and Vajrasattva put together. That is the shorter version. It will help. And even then, if you can’t do that, bodhimind and wisdom are antidote actions. Everyone of those positive deeds that you do will be helpful, but please do purification, even if you don’t believe in negativities and positivities. You don’t proof that there are no negativities and no positivities. You don’t have proof. If it is true, why should you suffer?

1:01:26.0 This life is wonderful, fantastic and great. We enjoy the life, but if at the end of that we have to suffer, that is the worst. The total life is wasted. There is no bigger waste than that. This is an opportunity for once, forever, you can build a positive life and lives thereafter. So if you waste that, then after the end of the life, it becomes the same old ground hog. It goes down again. Then what is the use? Whether it sees its shadow or not, that’s what it is. So make sure, you make your life worthwhile. Have meaning in your life, a meaningful life. If you look at yourself, then not only are you born as a great, intelligent human being, who is educated, but in addition to that you have great interest in spiritual development. In addition to that you fortunately met with the teachings of the Buddha and of Jamgön Lama Tsongkhapa, refined gold-like teaching.

1:03:46.2 They are the essence of all refined gold like teaching. You have Mahayana masters and guides. You understand negativity and positivity. You heard about it and know about it. If you waste your life it is a bigger waste than a yuppie fellow down town in Grosse Pointe. I can’t find any other downtown place like that. These hippie fellows in downtown Ann Arbor should be better than those yuppie guys in Gross Pointe. Don’t you think so? Honestly. The difference is made by this. And that’s why I repeatedly try to say every time to my friends: you do something worthwhile, no matter whatever it is. It is not so much about saying mantras; not so much about praying. But really, the essence of practice is what you need, something solid. There is no better or more solid practice than Lam Rim.

1:05:49.8 Not anywhere you look – nowhere. A number of people will tell you, “This is the greatest. Meditate tonight and you will become Buddha tonight. If you meditate this in the morning, you will become Buddha in the morning.” But I don’t think it happens. Sorry. If there is such a thing all the buddhas should have been leading all living beings in that practice. They couldn’t. You really have to put in solid effort and then work. That solid effort doesn’t mean that you have to spend two, three hours a day. It doesn’t mean that. It means that you organize your practice, not by the words you say, but the mind that thinks. The words you say – the great Tibetan teachers, since people make a lot of commitments and don’t think properly, they made the commitments into words. So just by simply saying the words alone we will not break our commitments.

1:07:29.8 That’s why you have so many bla, bla’s to say. However, if you think very carefully, in an organized manner, then it will make a dent in your ego, in your negative emotions. When you have that, that is making the difference in your life and that is really called practice. It is not simply repeating the words again. That does not mean practice. True practice means making a dent in your ego and negative emotions; changing yourself. I always tell you that dharma in one understanding means change. Change from negative into positive. The word བ�

ོད་ bchöd in Tibetan is the past tense of ཆོས་ chös, which means corrected. You corrected your negative addictions and that is the true chö. When you do that, it builds up solid spiritual development. When you have that, by the time you actually go, you are rich with positive karma; rich with spiritual development, even though you may not have gained control over life, like when you are going to die and where you are going to be reborn, but you have solid positive deeds to count to not even have to worry about what’s going to happen in the future life and lives.

1:10:00.2 Remember, the Kadampa lamas tell you, “If you are a good dharma practitioner you should be looking forward to the end of your life, because you can happily go. It not, you should not be afraid. At least, you don’t have regret.” Remember those three categories. If we can get ourselves in the A group, that’s a great achievement. If not, try to be in the B group. At least, don’t fall below C, otherwise you fail – as we all know, right? That’s where the karmic work is, that’s how we live our life, that’s how we function and that makes all the difference.

1:11:18.1 Positive karma never gives you negative results. Negative karma will never give you positive results. By knowing that, build positive karma and purify negative karma and that makes you feel confident to be able to travel. You become true dharma practitioners.

The Foundation of All Perfections:

LU SOK YO WA CHU YI CHU BUR ZHIN

NYUR DU JIK PAY CHI WA DREN PA DANG

SHI WAY JE SU LU DANG DRIP MA ZHIN

KAR NAK LE DRE CHI ZHIN DRANG WA LA

I must remember that death is quick to strike,

For spirit quivers in flesh like a bubble in water;

And after death one's good and evil deeds

Trail after one like the shadow trails the body.

NGE PA TEN PO NYE NE NYE PAY TSOK

TRA ZHING TRA WA NAM KYANG PONG WA DANG

GE TSOK THA DAK DRUP PAR CHE PA LA

TAK TU BAK DANG DEN PAR CHIN GYI LOB

Understanding that this most certainly is true,

May I discard every level of wrong,

And generate an infinite mass of goodness;

Empower me to be thus continually aware.

That covers for this level. Then the Foundation of All Perfection continues:

CHE PE MI NGOM DUK NGEL KUN GYI GO

YI TEN MI RUNG SI PAY PHUN TSOK KYI

NYE MIK RIK NE THAR PAY DE WA LA

DON NYER CHEN POR KYE WAR CHIN GYI LOB

Sensual gluttony is a gate to suffering

And is not worthy of a lucid mind.

Empower me to realize the shortcomings of samsara

And to give birth to the great wish for

blissful freedom.

1:12:52.1 By then the next is, you are able to realize that no matter how much suffering or joy we use in samsara, no matter how much joy we use there is no satisfaction. It is never ending, never satisfied. Not only that, but it creates more difficulties and suffering. The samsaric goodies are unreliable. It is important to see the faults and then admire liberation or nirvana. Samsara is suffering, nirvana is peace. So we are looking for nirvana, rather disgusted with samsaric events.

1:14:29.1 If you really look truly, it is true. Not only our personal experience of our life, but looking at other people, you see the same old drama; circling, circling, circling; up-down, up-down. That’s not only in one life, but in life after life, that’s what it does. So it is definitely, as long as we are in samsara, we will continue suffering no matter whatever. Therefore, having interest in liberation and working for that is necessary. And that means working with the Three Higher Trainings of Mind, morality, concentration and wisdom.

NAM DAK SAM PA DE YI DRANG PA YI

DREN DANG SHE ZHIN BAK YO CHEN PO YI

TEN PAY TSA WA SO SOR THAR PA LA

DRUP PA NYING POR CHE PAR CHIN GYI LOB

And empower me that with mindfulness and alertness

Born from thoughts ultimately pure,

I may live in accord with the holy Dharma,

The ways leading to personal liberation.

1:15:55.7 Morality is very important. This morning I mentioned to you the three types of morality, restraining from wrong doing, collecting virtue and helping all beings. These are the important moralities that we should always engage in. These three higher trainings will actually liberate us. Keeping proper morality gives us the result of good and better lives. Having concentration will take us beyond the desire realms, etc. Having wisdom cuts the root of samsara’s net and we go beyond. So the Three Higher Trainings are the key to liberation. So we simply pray that we may be able to that and develop that. And then, the next step in the Foundation of all Perfections:

RANG NYI SI TSOR LHUNG WA JI ZHIN DU

MAR GYUR DRO WA KUN KYANG DE DRA WAR

THONG NE DRO WA DROL WAY KHUR CHER WAY

JANG CHUB SEM CHOK JONG PAR CHIN GYI LOB

Just as I myself have fallen into samsara's waters,

So have all other sentient beings.

Empower me to see this and really to practice

Bodhimind, that carries the weight of freeing them.

1:17:44.7 As you realize yourself falling into the ocean of samsara, all other mother living beings are involved the same way. By seeing this, take the responsibility to liberating all and then develop bodhimind. We pray and not only pray, but we work and not only do we work, but we work hard and try to develop that.

1:18:40.7 Thus I have brought you up to the level of the Mahayana path; just a little sort of [teaching]. There is no huge gap left. We have done a little bit of “Common with the lower” and “Common with the medium” and brought us up to this level. Now is the time that we will be observing the compassion and the love. So now, we have reached to our point: compassion and love and it’s development.

1:20:05.7 General compassion slightly differs from the compassion we are talking about here. Let me talk about general compassion a little more. As we all know, we think that compassion is great. You are right. Compassion is great. Compassion brings joy. It brings happiness. It brings service; it makes the individual a better person. It helps people. It is all great. Compassion does not bring hatred. It does not develop violence. As a matter of fact, compassion goes against violence. Compassion goes against hatred. Compassion goes against obsession. It is great. Simply selfless compassion alone is not enough. We need greater compassion.

1:21:58.7 Greater compassion is based on equanimity, equally looking at all living beings. It almost looks like justice. We say that justice is blind. The greater compassion should be blind. It should not be discriminating between near ones and dear ones and enemies. Greater compassion must be focused on all living beings. That is A-L-L, not A. The aspect of that mind want to help and bring the best. That is sort of the definition. So can I do that? No, I can’t. When I think of my enemies I get darkness, horrifying, angry dislike. When I think of my friends I like them, I have attachment, I like to go forward and be closer. So we have this unequal desire driving our mind, this pull-push.

1:24:17.1 First and foremost you have to deal with that. As long as we have this unequal view or perception, we have the pull and push very strongly. When there is very strong pull and push there can’t be equanimity or equality. Equality is important. We all know. The American life, democracy is built on the basis of equality and equanimity. We all know. When there is no equality or equanimity, the hatred becomes so strong, so that people commit hate crimes. Just last Wednesday, nine unarmed peace-loving people doing religious study were murdered, because there is no equality. There is hatred. This is a true hate crime, no doubt about it. The person came in, sat there for an hour, thought about it and suddenly got up and started shooting.

1:26:28.5 With all the words that person said, if that is not hatred, then what is hatred? Honestly. People commit hate crimes, because there is hatred. There is hatred, because there is no equality. I am better, you are worse. Or vice versa: you are better, I am worse. As long as we entertain that view in our mind there is no equality. There is no equality between men and women. There is no equality between Caucasians and African-American or other minorities. So how can there be greater compassion? The earlier great masters tried to gain equality between enemies and friends. We are even in a much rougher state than that.

1:28:22.9 It is simply race or caste for that matter, or color of skin or economic status, education and all kinds of reasons we bring up in our mind not to have equality, not to have equanimity. We have all kinds of reasons. As long as we have this huge difference between black and white – I don’t mean black and white races – but in our mind it is really black and white difference. As long as that’s there, there will be no equality.

1:29:41.1 I think about enemies and friends. If you think about somebody, even if you don’t have enemies, but somebody you dislike, if you think of that person’s face or name, see in your own mind how you see them. You will begin to see dark. You will begin to feel unhappy. You want to move.

II.2.3.1.1.1.1.b) The actual meditation

While meditating the master-deity on your head, visualize clearly before you a neutral sentient being, one who has neither helped you nor harmed you, and think:

Since she wants to be happy and does not want to suffer, may I develop equanimity towards her, free of bias, attachment and anger, without at times feeling close to her and helping her and at others feeling distant and harming her! Master-deity, please bless me so that I may be able to do so.

Having supplicated the master-deity, a stream of light and nectar of the five colours flows from all parts of his body onto your head. It penetrates your mind and body and those of all sentient beings. It purifies you of all the sins and obstructions you have accumulated since beginningless time, and especially purifies you of all the illnesses, bad spirits, sins and obstructions that interfere with the cultivation of equanimity free of bias, attachment and anger towards this neutral being.

Your body becomes translucent, of the nature of light. All your good qualities, life span, merit and so forth expand and increase. Think in particular that a superior realization of equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger towards this neutral being has arisen in your mindstream and in the mindstreams of others.

Once you have leveled your feelings for this person, visualize clearly before you someone you find very appealing and cultivate equanimity towards her. Think, "It is out of attachment that I lack equanimity for this person. In the past it was due to attachment for attractive things that I was born in samsara," and meditate so as to put a halt to your attachment.

Once you have leveled your feelings for this person, visualize clearly before you someone you find very unappealing and develop equanimity towards her. Think, "My lack of equanimity for this person comes from my considering her to be utterly inimical, which then makes me angry with her. If I do not level my feelings, I will never be able to generate the spirit of enlightenment," and meditate so as to put a halt to your anger.

Once you have leveled your feelings for this person, visualize clearly before you someone very appealing like your mother and someone very unappealing like an enemy and think:

From their side, they are equal in their desire for happiness and their wish to avoid suffering. From my side, since beginningless time in samsara the one that I now hold dear has been my worst enemy countless times. Since beginningless time in samsara the one that I now consider an enemy has also cared for me lovingly innumerable times. To whom should I be attached? With whom should I be angry? May I develop equanimity towards them, free of bias, attachment and anger! Master-deity, please bless me so that I may be able to do so.

Having supplicated the master-deity, a stream of light and nectar of the five colours flows from all parts of his body onto your head. It penetrates your mind and body and those of all sentient beings. It purifies you of all the sins and obstructions you have accumulated since beginningless time, and especially purifies you of all the illnesses, bad spirits, sins and obstructions that interfere with the cultivation of equanimity free of bias, attachment and anger for both categories, loved ones and enemies.

Your body becomes translucent, of the nature of light. All your good qualities, life span, merit and so forth expand and increase. Think in particular that a superior realization of equanimity, free of bias, attachment, and anger for the two categories, loved ones and enemies, has arisen in your mindstream and in the mindstreams of others.

Once you have leveled your feelings towards them, meditate to level your feelings towards all sentient beings. The way to do it is to think:

All sentient beings from their side are equal in their desire for happiness and their wish to avoid suffering. From my side, since all sentient beings are my friends, I wish I may avoid splitting them into two groups – holding some dear and helping them, and feeling distant from others and harming them – and instead develop equanimity free of bias, attachment and anger. Master-deity, please bless me so that I may be able to do so.

Having supplicated the master-deity, a stream of light and nectar of the five colours flows from all parts of his body onto your head. It penetrates your mind and body and those of all sentient beings. It purifies you of all the sins and obstructions you have accumulated since beginningless time, and especially purifies you of all the illnesses, bad spirits, sins and obstructions that interfere with the cultivation of equanimity free of bias, attachment and anger in relation to all sentient beings.

Your body becomes translucent, of the nature of light. All your good qualities, life span, merit and so forth expand and increase. Think in particular that a superior realization of equanimity free of bias, attachment and anger towards all sentient beings has arisen in your mindstream and in the mindstreams of others.

Then suddenly drop that idea and think about someone you are in love with. That is beautiful, wonderful, gentle, sweet. All this we see. It’s a huge difference. So the first effort is trying to bring a little better equality. Race, religion, color of skin, etc, are to most of us a little easier, because society demands it.

1:31:34.9 Even if it is not easier, you cannot give the reasons you think of. Then you become antisocial. You become a racist. Here we are going beyond human beings. Here we are even poking our nose into the lives of animals, our pets and other creatures, like insects. It is not possible to be able to look equally at human beings and these animals and insects – very, very hard. You may even feel stupid to even think that way. Silly, stupid. So, this is our challenge. Our challenge is to bring equality as much as possible. As in our life to bring equality between the races is the challenge and the more people are educated the more they become intelligent and it is going less and less and less.

Just like that, the more intelligent you become and the more spiritual you become that inequality should become less and less and less. I don’t mean you have to equalize insects and human beings. I mean you care for insects and human beings. Again, that also, of course, you have to care more for human beings than insects. Of course. But not so much hatred towards those insects. Even among insects, if you are looking at scorpions and spiders and daddy long legs, your feelings are different. We all have them. Daddy long legs, everybody is a little happy to see and they are easy to pick up and do all that. If you see spiders and scorpions you are not going to go nearby.

1:35:22.1 You know why? Because you have self-cherishing and ego within you. You don’t want to be hurt. In a way it’s right. If you don’t protect yourself, who else will? But that doesn’t mean you have to hate the spiders or scorpions and cockroaches for that matter. You have a natural dislike for these creatures. We have a natural liking for our pets or for rabbits and deer – although deer can give you ticks. So this is our unequal mind, particularly between someone we label as enemy and someone you label as friend and someone you label as neutral. There are huge differences, even among human beings. Even among your own family we have that. So this is our first challenge; the ones closest to us, on our own nose. Equality within the family is first.

1:37:54.6 Not only between enemies and friends, but between you and your friends, between you and your enemies there are huge differences. There is this joke: this kid says:

When I see my father fighting with somebody else, I like my father to win, because he is my father. But when I am fighting with my father, I like to win, because it’s me.

You get that? This is how we have that feeling. That is our challenge. A lot of people may not like this. People say, “I am fine to develop compassion and love. Why should I have to have equality here?” I am sure many of you think that. Watch your own mind. Don’t answer it, just watch and see if you are in that category. I bet many of you are. “Why should I bother with equality? That’s beyond. Of course I support equanimity, of course I bless equality, but why should I have to bother? That’s not my job. That’s the job of the constitution or the Congress or the courts.” A lot of people will think that way.

1:39:52.6 That is not the point. The point is watching your own mind, the perception of your own mind, how you perceive people. That is the point. As long as there is a huge gap, that’s not very good.

1:40:45.0 So, developing equanimity. Buddha introduced as the next step recognizing every living being as mother being. This is very difficult for so many people. In one way, it is the figurative mother, on the other hand it is also talking about the true mother. And why do we choose the mother? Because the mother is the most important person in your life, whether you like it or not. Your mother is the most important person in your life. That’s because not only did she give birth, but she nurtured you and brought you up, protected you from so many threats to your life, when you didn’t know what it is. When you were an infant, crawling around, how many times have you put your finger into an electric socket?

1:42:36.2 The mother has protected you, by blocking the sockets or taking you away or protecting you. When she saw you falling from the steps or from a gap or edge, how many times has she protected you! Otherwise you would not have survived today. There are so many obstacles. For a child to survive on its own is very difficult. There are tremendous amounts of diseases, difficulties, threats and so on. The mother has protected you. Not only protected, but also nurtured and brought up. She educated you and made you a human being who can sit among the human beings, who can talk among the human beings and function among the human beings. Mother has done that, whether you like it or not.

1:44:11.5 The mother has given you life. The mother has given you food. The mother has given you an educational degree and so much more. Many mothers choose to rather get sick than their child. They are ready to suffer anything for their child. Who else does that? Nobody. It is the mother and it is very, very difficult to think that every living is your mother being, really, really difficult.

1:45:42.6 In one way, it loses the quality of the mother, on the other hand it is impossible.

How can it be? Never. My father is not my mother. My brother is not my mother, but my brother. My sister is not my mother, but my sister. My enemy is not my mother, but my enemy. My friend is not my mother, but my friend. So this becomes very difficult, a big challenge.

However, the Buddha’s idea is that if it is a mother it doesn’t have to be the mother of this life, but the mother of a number of lives. Yeah, it is maybe true, but I have to establish myself, lives before I have established the mother of this life. I don’t even know whether I have a previous life or future life. I can see my present life. I am living it, I know it. But I don’t know if had a previous life. I don’t know if there is a future life. That’s the reality for us. Truly speaking, in order to develop the recognition of all sentient beings as mother beings you really have to know your past, present and future lives.

1:48:17.7 That has to be developed. Without that I only have one mother, my mom in this life. The aunt is aunt, uncle is uncle, father is father, because there is only one mother. So we have to know reincarnation first.

1:48:51.8 How are we going to know reincarnation? It is very difficult. There are logical reasons, like jung wa wang po lo dang…etc, there is continuation. The immediately born child’s mind is the continuation of a previous mind, because it is mind. Rig pa tse ma tsam je de rig pa yin pei chir – there are all these ideas in Pal Chö kyi Drakpai’s (Dharmakirti’s) logical texts, the Pramanavartika. They are there. They are all difficult points, this one and other ones. They are quite difficult to established. The teaching says the continuation of mind has to be mind. Matter cannot be continuation of mind. We are used to quoting. We say, “This is true, because Pal Chökyi Drakpa said so.” Then the other side has to keep quiet. But when we talk about it here in the open society, with open mind, people will say, ”So what if Pal Chökyi Drakpa said that?” Then that’s the end of the explanation.

1:51:42.4 So all these logical points are a little difficult. But if you look from the Vajrayana point of view you may really see the continuation of mind. Mind is such that it really has its own quality, its own character, its own continuation. Our physical body never becomes part of that mind. And that mind doesn’t become part of our physical body. Mind becomes mind continuation. So I don’t need to talk much here, because this is not the point of establishing. Establishing this point is in the Vajrayana Mahamudra. There you talk about the Clear Light point and the continuation of the Illusory Body and the continuation of Clear Light. There you see it very differently. Otherwise, it is a little difficult. Anyway, I just mention this.

1:53:44.4 There are the seven stages of developing bodhimind and then there are the exchange stages of developing bodhimind. Whether you do the seven or the exchange, it doesn’t matter. You can do either and they will function. But one of Jamgön Lama Tsongkhapa’s very special qualities is the eleven stage development of bodhimind, which is in essence the combination of both, the seven stages and the exchange stages. That is very well explained in Pabongka’s Liberation in the Palm of your Hand. Here I am going to follow the Delam stages. In Delam they talk about the seven stages of development and the exchange stages of development separately. First comes the seven stages.

That has actual session and in between sessions. The actual session comes first. That has pre- actual – and conclusion.

The Pre session is the one that follows everywhere. Remember your own guru, either on your crown or in front of you. Look at him, whatever the physical form you are looking at. In reality it is your guru, and appearing in Buddha’s form, or in the form of Jamgön Lama Tsongkhapa, or in the form of yidam, doesn’t matter. You label him the collection of all refuges:

kyab ne kun du la ma lhag pail ha/ thub wang dor je chang la söl wa deb

You label him the collection of all protectors, of all refuge, Thubwang Dorje Chang. That is Buddha Buddha Vajradhara. In the Lama’s form, in Buddha’s form, in Buddha Vajradhara’s form, it doesn’t matter. That is the individual’s choice, whatever you feel comfortable with to be the field in which you gain all development. It is recommended that every session you sit down you make offerings to that Field of Merit. Particularly it is recommended to make the seven limbed offering. I am not going to talk to you about that again, because you all know the seven limbs or seven branches. It is a very, very good practice, even if you do it through the very short verse that we have in the Jewel Heart Prayers:

I bow in body, speech and mind – that is prostration. I explained that prostration is actually seeking. The English word ‘prostration’ does not justify the meaning of the word chak tsal in Tibetan. It is a unique word. Chag is admiring the qualities of the subject you are addressing. Tsal gives you the understanding of seeking. You are seeking the qualities you are admiring. You are admiring the Field of Merit and their qualities. You also seek those qualities for yourself. That is why certain traditions, particularly the Chinese tradition, when they bow down, they will touch their body on the ground and open the hands, which means “give me”, right? What are they seeking? Not your money. They are giving you the money. But they are seeking their qualities.

2:00:21.4 So really, prostration doesn’t do justice to chak tsal. That is talking very briefly.

Second is offering.

I offer the best I have to give, both real and imagined

Offering should not be limited to physical offerings. These are very limited for us. Even if you make 100 bowls of water offerings, it’s just 100 bowls of water being offered. Even if you make 1000 bowls of water offering, it’s just 1000 bowls of water. That’s not a big deal. But it becomes a big deal when you multiply it in your mind in the Samantabhadra offering style. That’s like one mouth manifesting hundreds of thousands of tongues and each tongue is praising. Each head is praising, each body has hundreds of thousands of heads. Like that, the objects that you offer, multiply them in countless pictures. Every ground has been filled by offering. Every sky is filled up with the subjects to whom you offer. Without any hesitation and without any attachment, without hope of return, from the bottom of your heart, offering – that is the true offering.

2:02:46.6 True offering is the true generosity. Offering is generosity activity and true offering is true generosity. True generosity brings wealth. But you don’t make offerings to bring about wealth. Then it is limited. You make offerings for every living being to reach the state of Buddha, even though it is a simple glass of water, but you multiply it millions and zillions of times. Finally the space is filled with offering and you offer. Likewise, all other things you offer, water for the mouth, water for washing feet, flowers, incense, light, food, music and everything.

2:04:25.1 Not only that, there is clothes, medicine and outer, inner, secret and suchness offerings. Delam is slightly combined with Vajrayana. So all these offerings are used in the Delam too. So when you simply say, “I offer the best I have to give ” think that this includes outer, inner, secret and suchness offerings. So anything whatever it is, without hope of return, without any hesitation, true generosity, without fear. Many times we think, “I can’t offer this, because I will be needing it.” When will you need it? Sometimes, once a year. Forget about offering, we can’t even get rid of things. How many things do we accumulate? There are people who collect everything and you can’t even walk through their living room. I am sure you know that many people do that.

2:06:19.1 Generosity is cutting through stinginess. Stinginess brings poverty, difficulties. Generosity brings wealth. One of the best generosities is offering. With that I will close for today and tomorrow the schedule is the same as today. Whatever we have talked, kindly put into practice. You don’t have a meditation today, but think about equanimity. Think about the object of refuge, Lama Lhagpai Lha, Lama Special god, the collection of all refuge. Lha really means god. I don’t know if it is God or god. But it means god, if you translate. But our translators today try to avoid translating it as god, because that has its own little connotations. So try to visualize that and try to learn the offerings and generosity. So you have three parts to your homework: equanimity, the Field of Merit in a single form and offerings. Whatever we told you, do kindly have it in your practice.

2:08:40.9 da di ji nyi sag pei ge wa di… 2:08:56.6 short mandala offering - 2:09:16.0 lam rim dedication 2:11:01.9 end of file

Next, to meditate from recognition of them as your mothers up to the spirit of enlightenment, while meditating the master-deity on your head, reflect in the following manner:

What are the reasons for stating that all sentient beings are my friends? Since there is no start to cyclic existence, my series of lives is also beginningless. I have been moving from one life to the next and there is no single land or location in which I have never been born. My past lives are countless. There is no single kind of sentient beings' body that I have not had and I have had each of them innumerable times. There is no single sentient being who has not been my mother and each of them has been so innumerable times. There is no single sentient being who has not been my mother in my human lives, each of them has been so innumerable times, and will continue to do so. Consequently all have been my mothers and have cared for me.

If you wonder, "Since sentient beings are innumerable, how could they all have been my mothers?" think:

That they are innumerable does not preclude that they have all been my mothers, for just as sentient beings are innumerable so too are my past lives. Thus all sentient beings are indeed my mothers.

If you imagine that they cannot be your mothers as you do not recognize one another, think:

That we do not recognize one another does not preclude that they have been my mothers as it happens that within one lifetime a mother and a child do not know one another.

Furthermore, if you consider that although all sentient beings were your mothers in past lives it is over, and there is no reason to see them as your mothers now, think:

Yesterday's mother does not cease to be my mother today just because that moment is past. Moreover my mother of yesterday and my mother of today are no different; they are the same. There is no difference between them in that they have both shown me kindness. Similarly there is no difference between my mothers of my past lives and my mother of this life. They are both my mothers and there is no difference between the kindness they all have shown me. Thus all sentient beings are certainly my mothers.