Archive Result

Soundfile 19891209GRCHLR3

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Chicago

Topic Lam Rim

Transcriber Dimitri Ehrlich

Date 2/15/23

You do whatever you do and that will lead you to what? Nowhere. It becomes samsaric cause. You be generosity, giving everything whatever you have, here everything whatever you have. It will lead you another samsara life. So it is now, now you see it, and they key is normally we say, “3 principles, 3 principles, 3 principles.”

3 principles, must be something like Laurel and Hardy and something like that. You may look after that level, because you keep on saying it all the time so it becomes like that. But now you begin to see it is not that. It is so important and so available.

[audience: if you have joyful of bodhicitta but not emptiness, does it become a cause for samsara?]

Yes, if you have influence of bodhicitta, no matter what you do, or any virtuous work, it will lead to enlightenment. The moment you have the influence of the bodhicitta anything, whatever you do, it is leading–the karma becomes the direct cause of enlightenment. I use the words “direct cause of enlightenment.” Which means that. Did you get me? You did.

In other words, if you are saving that karma, if you are depositing that karma in the bank–in what account do you deposit? The account for enlightenment. It will go in that. OK?

If you have to sort of organize and put in what account you want to put in that, this will automatically go in the account of enlightenment.

OK?

[audience: What difference does adding the influence of emptiness make?]

Adding the influence of emptiness would be directly cutting samsara loop. Chop chop! Like that! Like the Singapore Chinese they say, chop chop! That’s how they do.

[audience: Emptiness without bodhimind is not the cause of enlightenment?]

No, you go to arhat. You go out of samsara for sure. Yes, out of samsara, it becomes cause to become arhat. Yes. That’s what we call it “two ordinary enlightenment stages.” Yes, you will go for that. Because of the, if you divide the three yanas–the shravaka yana, the pratyekabuddha yana and the bodhisattva yana, so the shravaka yana, the pratyekabuddha yana also have no more learning path, that’s called arhat. So each one of them lead you out of samsara. OK. So is it clear now. So now it shows how these three principles is a little more than Laurel and Hardy. What is it?

[audience: Larry, Curly and Mo!]

OK, when you have that sort of mind, and this influence becomes so important in one’s– now it is really relevant OK. So . OK, that is enough.

Now, the dying stage. The third, right?

Dying, rebirth.

Alright. Are we ready for? What?

[audience: The third stage of what?]

[various unclear audience chatter, trying to figure out what has been covered so far according to outline]

Now, we have to go back, we go back, under the second noble truth, under the second noble truth, umm… the how does the cause start samsara and actual path to liberation. So first, how does the cause work? That has three. How does delusion grow? How it created karma and then dying and taking rebirth. Under that. OK, now we are going back almost to the root outline.

If you could draw a chart like we have the five paths chart it will be very useful. You can do that on computer quite easily. The chart what we have before is up to the common with the lower level. And common with the medium level–I have one in Singapore but not round here. It doesn’t work exactly this way.

[audience: Do you want to get into the outline now, first we talked about the cause of suffering and there were two–karma and delusion]

Well, right if you look from the beginning, if you look right up there before even with common with the medium, common lower level, there is how to reach to the liberation, which are the five states, right? Under that category, actual path leading to the liberation, and how does the cause, the second noble truth, the cause of suffering, function, samsara build up. OK? So under the second noble truth, working you have three: how does delusion grow? How does delusions create karma? And dying, rebirth stage? OK? Now this third is third under the category of how does the second noble truth has division, three. Under that. It’s going even back beyond recognition of the delusion and all of this. OK?

Now we are at the root, almost the root?

[audience: question about the outline being correct]

It’s correct but [unclear] OK? Good. Is it clear now? Thank you. Now we can proceed.

Now what are we going to proceed?

Dying, rebirth. Alright.

So what makes you die? First, what makes you to die? What makes you die?

[audience: Seems like it can be different things. Like, the cause of your life could go away.]

Go away where? That’s called [Tibetan word] severing, exhausting the merit. Your luck’s run out. Your luck runs out. Actually if you read the sutras, they will give you like 9 different causes of dying but what really happens is exhaustion if the life’s strength, run out of luck… even the accident is you run out of luck.

So, out of which, if the life’s strength run out, I don’t think you can do much. Probably there is nothing to do. If your luck has run out, you can do a little bit. If your strength, the body strength and energy things like that has run out you can rejuvenate it.

But if the life strength, you know really, the thing, the natural time period what you supposed to be, the karmic originally created lifespan, I don’t think you can really do much on that, with exception of very high level vajrayana practitioner, they can prolong but that is totally exceptional to them. I mean, anything is possible but beside that, normally it is not.

So then now question is, what is a dying mind? Next question rises. Now, anyway, let’s say one of them had happened. Or two of them had happened or three of them had happened and so you are dying. Not you are dying but the person is dying.

What is a dying mind?

OK? This is very important question.

There are some people who will tell you that dying mind has to be virtue.

Some say dying mind has to be non virtue.

Or the person is so angry and he died with anger. Some say that. Some say, he or she died very peaceful and this and that. Actually the dying mind is very subtle mind. Very, very subtle mind. It is so subtle that the mind cannot be defined as virtue or non virtue at all, it is so subtle. That is Tsongkhapa's viewpoint. Tsongphakpa made it very clear on that point.

The actual dying mind is a very, very subtle mind. So subtle, it cannot be said, virtue or non virtue. Cannot be definite at all. But what does that do? It connects for the next rebirth. The connection to the next rebirth is built during that period. That mind, the subtle mind, will make a connection.

How do they connect? How does that mind? If it is such a subtle mind, right? Could not even be defined as virtue or non virtue, but how can that connect?

With dying principle mind here, it is very subtle mind, however, however, pre to that, there are gross mind. Just immediately before death there are gross mind.

In that gross mind both seva and lemba is available.

[audience: Craving and grasping.]

Did you all hear that? I believe I used Tibetan words. Dr. K translated it. What did you say? Craving and grasping. OK?

OK, now remember this: whether you call it craving or grasping whatever it is, it is 2 out of 12 links. OK. It is 2 out of 12 links. Underline that because we have to know that.

What is craving?

[audience: it’s wanting something, intense desire. Trying to catch it.]

I’ll tell you what’s happening OK, and then you judge. English is not my natural language. You judge. When the person is about to die, you know you’re going to die, you know it. It’s very clear to the person who is going to die. So you immediately think, Oh, I’m going to be separated from this body. This form. Which I use as my identity, to identify myself. I mean, what do we do? We use identity, our face and body. We identity ourself. By this face and body, right? So we are using the same identity, this form has become our identity. Right or wrong?

So when you are about to die, so you have, you’re afraid of losing this. You know you’re going to be separated from this identity, whatever it is. Going to be–separated from this identity. Yes.

So you can’t let it go. You can’t let it go. You just try to catch back, is that now, is that grasping or what? When you are holding that. Is that grasping? That is called seva in Tibetan.

Now, what’s happening. You can’t let it go. Now, second one is become one more step. More than that. So you wanted take it something. You don’t want let it go this identity, and holding on, and then let’s say if you’re going to take rebirth in hot hell or something. I’m thinking cold, so going after the heat, better take it, OK. So if you going to take cold hell rebirth, you say oh it’s too hot and I need cool, so you’re taking after the cold. So not letting it go of this, and chasing after something, which will connect you to certain karma. It becomes easy. You want, you’re looking for the heat, you’re looking for warmth, and then suddenly connect with hot, thot karma. It will give you a real hot one, really. So that’s what happens. That’s these two little things called seva and lemba, which Doctor K. says are craving and grasping.

[audience: maybe craving isn’t strong enough. One has to be stronger than the other, the second one would have to be more coarse.]

Did you get it? So now–maybe I’m going too fast. I’m really afraid I’m maybe going too fast. This becomes so important to each of us. Becomes totally relevant. And totally important. And very often we like to say, let it go, let it go, let it go. A lot of people use this, let it go, let it go, let it go. So what you have to let it go? See, this is the problem. The grasping. And you don’t want to be doing the grasping at the time of death.

Some people have additional problem of grasping at our identity, but they grasp at their companion. Article. Which is even worse. Terrible things. Terrible karmic, really.

[audience: say for example, a person who is wealthy and can’t bear to part with their money, that would be very negative.]

Very negative effect and this, probably they would be reborn in the hungry ghost.

I mean if you look during the karmic period–I mean, what happened to–we did little karmic talk, little less of karma here right, because talked karma when we were on Brook Street, is that right or no?

Because this is a continuation from there onwards. Cherry Street. Ok, we talked karma but Ruby had not yet joined in that time, so that’s where there are problems of this karma, a little bit.

Anyway. If you look into the karma, we gave a lot of examples. The person–Buddha had give very funny examples. Not really Buddha, Shariputra who took one of his signs, he toured somewhere around funny way, and showed a lot of funny different bodies and one place where he showed a dead body where a snake is going round a dead body and getting through the mouth and coming out the different parts of it, and they said what is this? He said that person has so much grasping of the body, so the future rebirth has born as a snake on that body, and that corpse which is totally destroyed. And that happened.

And then we also have a saying in Tibetan, we always say that. We have a big labrang–one of the big labrang it’s called [unclear name–kunduling?] Kunduling, it’s a very big labrang in Tibet, one of the biggest labrangs, probably after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama’s labrang. [unclear name] is the biggest labrang, richest labrang in Tibet. Very often there’s an old manager in kunduling which everyone is scared of, including the 13th Dalai Lama. Scared of him. Really! He is really, really funny guy.

And if you look back in history, very funny 13th Dalai Lama is very interesting, you know he likes to… uh… he had one way of functioning, making the Tibet government rich. Some of those very wealthy labrang or very wealthy noble families, if something goes wrong, something, and uh.. he sort of gives very heavy punishment, sometimes he confiscated 50% of their property or wealth, sometimes 100%.

So he was looking for some excuse for kunduling. He really wanted kunduling because kunduling is the only labrang in the Tibet which never had such a trouble with the Tibetan government. Almost everybody has somehow or another. Kunduling is the only one which never went through. So 13th Dalai Lama is really for to catch kunduling somehow. This old manager, normally people refer to him as [Tibetan name unclear] The Old Witch, people are very afraid of him. But he was so careful, the 13th, His Holiness 13th could not find any excuse at all.

So later even the 13th Dalai Lama told one of his attendants, “I alway look for something to catch, somehow could never catch, I couldn't catch at all.” I mean you have to have some reasonable reason, you can’t just say, “hey you are rich I want money.” You can’t say that. You have to get something. He couldn't get anything.

But people used to say something funny, the public, used to say this old [Tibetan name, unclear] the manager, the old manager of Kunduling, they used to say he would be reborn as a scorpion in the Kunduling store. Kunduling store. That;’s what people used to say. They used to curse him behind his back, I mean they wouldn’t say bad things about him, they would say he would be reborn as a scorpion in the Kunduling store.

He is just manager, he is not even the Kunduling owner. Kunduling owner is Kunduling Rinpoche. Kunduling Rinpoche is so–when I was young, Kunduling Rinpoche is so wise. And he is so funny. And he is also scared of this [Tibetan word unclear] everything he has to hide. Kunduling Rinpoche goes around and borrows some money here and there, and he never repays. And then he is scared of [Tibetan word unclear] knowing it, but then people later go to [Tibetan word unclear] and [Tibetan word unclear] repaid. But he make sure Rinpoche really borrowed it. But somehow he will repay. But it was very difficult to convince him. Because Tibetans never have a rule. If Kunduling comes and says, “I want a hundred pounds.” Who is going to say no to him, right? Neither you’re going to say to him, “please give me a little writing?” Nobody. It never happened. Unless you are going to borrow some kind of very huge amount, then you may draw something. Otherwise, small little things here and there. [Tibetan word unclear] will never agree.

Anyway. Just joking. This is the main point. When people used to say “[Tibetan word unclear] will be reborn as a scorpion in there,” I heard a number of times–even he used to say, “Everybody says I will be reborn as a scorpion.” He used to say that. He was so stingy. And so attached and so stingy.

People used to sort of, you know, say that, and neither he himself will take it from Kunduling, nor any of the other officials can take it from Kunduling. Except whatever they have the right to take it, beside that, no. Otherwise you know, mostly these big labrang, these managers and everybody take so much, you have no idea. We have to be like beggars. The managers control the money, they take everything, But Kunduling was so sort of outstanding example because [Tibetan word unclear] is so straightforward and no one will dare to touch any single little thing and he saw these things. So people said he will be reborn as a scorpion.

And he himself said all the time, he tell me, “You people tell me I’m going to be reborn as a scorpion. Whether I’ll be reborn as a scorpion in the Kunduling store or you’ll be reborn in the hell realm try to steal something,” that’s what he always said.

Anyway, so that is how it shows if you cannot let it go, you die, that is what happens, OK?

OK, now, I said, at the time of the death, the mind of the death, immediately pre to death, seva and lemba will connect. Now connect to whom? Connect to where? Didn’t I say that earlier? They’ll connect. Connect to where? Connect to your karma.

Black or white. Good or bad. They’ll connect. Now which one they’re going to connect? You’ve got a tremendous amount of storage of karma. Good, tremendous. Bad, tremendous. So which one they going to connect? Whichever is powerful.

There’s likely chance of connecting to the more powerful one. Out of all this, whichever is powerful, they’re going to connect with that.

Can change. Not necessarily 100% correct. The most powerful one. Now what do we mean by ‘most powerful one?’ What makes most powerful? The stronger one. The perfect one. The perfect one. The strongest one becomes more powerful. Even among the karma, some karma are weak, some karma are strong, some are very strong, and some are half strong, and that makes the difference. OK?

Ok. If the both good karma and both karma is strong enough, if equal, then which one they will connect? The more you’re used to it. Habitual patterns. The habitual patterns. Even your habitual patterns are equal, then whichever is earlier. The first comes first. Or last choice. It becomes last choice. Now can you see it?

[audience: so if you had first generated negative habitual patterns…]

So now the first come first business is almost the last chance, it’s almost impossible. So the second possibility is whichever you are most used to. And then the first possibility is which is most powerful. Which indirectly tells us, we want to make sure our good karmas are powerful and bad karmas are weak.

[audience: when you say whichever karma is more powerful is that karma of the entire lifetime?]

Any karma. Yes. And what will happen is the fresher ones are more closer to you, so they are likely to be more powerful because it’s fresh. And among them, perfect ones are much more powerful. Perfect ones are much more powerful and weaker ones are less powerful.

And uh, yes?

[audience” woul;dn’t karma be growing, so the older ones are larger?}

Yeah but you also that destructions anyway, purification is there and anger and all kinds of things, so it’s most likely…

[audience: You said the powerful ones are the most recent ones.]

No, I didn’t said that, the fresh ones are most likely to be powerful ones. So it’s closely connected. It’s likelihood to be.

[audience: if it’s perfect karma it’s more powerful?}

That’s it. That’s a totally different question. That’s totally different question. I think you know all this. Can you run briefly for the benefit of others? Neither Brenda or Aura. Someone else?

[audience: to have a completed karma, you have 4 things: 1. An object you are acting on. 2. You have motivation. 3. You do some action. 4. And then you have a feeling of happiness or regret after the action.]

Ok that makes the karma perfect, the cause, action and completion. So that’s just to make it refresher in everybody’s mind. Alright, now the next is… OK, now that’s where do they connect. Now time. What time do they connect?

OK? What time?

Just before dying.

The reason why we say mind immediately before is important is because it was at this time we make the connection. So let’s say if mind immediately before death, if you are so much influenced by anger, by attachment then it’s bad luck. OK? But mind immediately before death if you have a profound sort of uh… rely on Buddha, dharma and sangha, profound mind of relying Buddha dharma, and sangha… compassion, etc., you have good luck. Then good luck.

So a lot friend–now what does that mean? A lot of people ask us, when so-and-so is dying, somebody is dying, what can I do? That question we raise very often. We raise that question ourselves. We ask that question to other people. Very often, don’t we. We do that, don’t we? So here is the answer. That’s what you can do. You can try to influence the thought at that time. Try to get away the mind from the undesirable thoughts and try to put it in those desirable thoughts.

[audience: Does this include the 3 days just possible before bardo starts–the time when I may be actually dead before I actually realize it. Is then when the grasping and craving–]

What? Where did you get the 3 days?

[audience: From some of the books that I read.]

OK, be careful what you read. There’s nothing–

[audience: OK, I understand about the 49 days. But they also talk about 3 days when I don’t realize that I’m dead and I’m doing my grasping and craving.]

No, no, you are dead when you die. Why are you laughing at me? It’s my language but really this is really important what he’s talking. When you die–what is death? What is called death? What is it?

[audience: that’s what I’m wondering. Is it when my heart and brain waves stop?]

I don’t know. I don;t know if that’s dead or not. But what really death is is the separation of the body and mind. The consciousness is no longer feasible to be in particular body, and then you have to leave that body. That is really death. The separation of this body and mind. When that separates, that’s what death really is. Whether it’s brain dead or clinical death, or whatever it is, I don’t know. The mind leaves the body.

Aura wants to say something and she chooses to keep quiet.

Rachel?

[audience: You said that craving and grasping connect to your karma right before death]

Right before death.

[audience: So that;s in this intermediate period?}

What intermediate period. Intermediate period is after death. That is after death.

[audience: is that the time that each element is going?]

Yeah yeah, after that. After the elements is gone. Ultimately, the movement energy dissolves into the consciousness, about that period. Actually, when you become the darknesses, the feeling of darknesses, at that time the actual dying stages have started already, it be could last very long, it could be short period,, but the actual death has already started there. So…

50:26

So about that time, yeah, the darkness stage is actually it is the dying stage. Did you all hearthat? Good. No problems ith that?

[audience: the connection is before that?]

Yeah, a little before that. The more and more you're dissolving– call it dissolving, but anyway, it’s not really–more and more the gross body is giving it up, it becomes more and more subtle. The lesser the subtle it becomes, it becomes, the weaker the mind it is.

Yet it is clear, too. It is clear but it is also weaker.

So whatever the influence you are putting it in, it is much easier to put it in and after some time it will be carried over, because the mind will be so subtle, and it will not have much of this sort this, mind will be so subtle it will not have much of putting restrictions and selections, they will not have it, so whatever the suggestions are coming up and the end of it, and it is most likely to go through with that.

[audience: The influences that causes the selections to take place they can be from the outside as well?]

Yes, definitely.

[audience: So if someone is sitting there reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead, or doing practice, that can help?]

Well, I’m not very sure about that, but any other thing you know, OK, yeah. I mean, thought of good thought, meditate on love/compassion, bhodimind, emptiness or refuge, or remembering yidams, or spiritual masters, saying mantras, within that sort of thing if you go, then it is.

You get some kind of influence, some kind of effect,you can get on, really you can’t go on, you can’t do it, but still you get some kind of yeah, even you can put garlic with that but still you can get the garlic smell.

OK, need to explain more. OK, influence is there. That will help. Actual bhodicitta might not be developed but there is certain influence that will help. Tremendously help, actually.

So, it is recommended at the time of dying, if you try to hear the name of the Buddha, try to remember have good thought,s love/compassion etc

Ao anyway if you are a practitioner who is dying then you try to remind him of the level wherever that person is practicing. And if the person has not been able to develop any path or stages or bhumis or something, then refuge, remembering of the yidams, gurus, or saying mantras. Within that sort of you go. And then the whole period will go through.

I do not know whether many people–I’m sure many of you have experienced: sometimes we get sort of a very light sleep, you know? Sort of half sleep, half awake, funny thing goes on, and in the funny thing, so if you are meditating, saying prayers or meditating, and you fall asleep within that period, sort of next day, when you wake up, you’re still doing the same thing, so that is the clear example for us to understand how the dying stage can be influenced by external influence. Or your own influence.

Even somebody who normally putting so much effort in their practice, but at the time of death something happens and get upset or angry or something so there is very dangerous, very dangerous, though a lot of efforts you put in whole lifetime, but due to the influence of that little anger, little anger, due to influence of little anger, that the person could take rebirth, there’s possibility of person taking rebirth in lower realms. Due to a little anger.

Did you hear me?

It sounds very unfair. But it happens. So in Tibet, particularly, sort of the families which has the tradition of a lot of practice, what do they do? If somebody’s dying, they try not to send everybody there. Though a lot of people may come out of–what you call it, whatever the reason might be. Respect. Love. Express their sorrow-ness, or to be with that or whatever, they may come but it is good idea, it is not very good idea to let everybody in. Because somebody may remind him, him or her whoever is dying, some undesirable thing, if that happens it becomes very big disservice to the dying person.

Did you hear what I said?

So therefore it is a very good idea to restrict the people who are visiting at those days. Those times.

So then there are a lot of talk on this, just to observe whether the person is going–taking higher rebirth or lower rebirth, sometimes they check which way they collect the heat: if the heat started going from the lower body to upwards, up to the heart level, they will say, “oh, probably he will take rebirth,” because the heat went that way.

Sometimes the heat goes the other way round, from the upper body to the heart level and they say, ”oh probably he is going to take rebirth in the lower realms.”

And then also sometimes, painful. Some very –just before people die, there’s some kind of, what you call that, some kind of delusions–no, you don’t call it delusion–hallucinations they get. Everybody gets some kind of hallucination. Somehow or another you get it. In that hallucination, you will see.

[audience: You will see a vision of your future rebirth?]

No, no, no, no.

Some people will feel… Very funny things. A couple of years ago… I forgot now, what year was it? I think it was 1970-somewhere. And there’s a very good Rinpiche in Ladakh, he is known as His Holiness [name unclear] He’s a very senior, very nice.

And Rinpoche has a friend, and the person behaves, the person pretends to be Rinpoche’s disciple, and sort of helps, financially support. I think he is pretending. I’m quite sure. Because [name unclear] Rinpoche is politically powerful in India, so he is member of Parliament from Ladakh, and a minister and this and that. He’s very politically powerful, this guy needs political support, so, he sort of, you know, goes to Rinpoche and pretends to be his totally–whatever it is. Maybe true, maybe not.

Anyway, Rinpoche is also sort of accepted his thing.

And he was sick, and in the [unclear] hospital. Was it the [unclear] hospital or was it the medical center? One of those, dying there. And Rinpoche was there, before he died, the family requested him to be there. And suddenly Rinpoche wrote me a letter from that hospital room, wrote me a letter, along with 500 Indian rupees, along with that, he’s saying please pray for this friend of mine, this and that, name so and so, he’s dying now.

And he’s having the vision of all different Buiddhas jumping on him,. He’s burying under the image of the Buddhas. Did you get it?

So I wrote back to Rinpoche and said,I will certainly pray, but I don’t think 500 rupees can save him out of this! (laughs)

So something like that, a little bit of joking with [name unclear] Rinpoche I replied back. So [name unclear] Rinpiche told me first the family bought a big image of the Buddha in that house, in that room, he has an independent room; he’s very wealthy, very, very rich.

Sort of Nepali Tibetan type of follow. Very rich one.

They brought Buddha image. And he has this funny feeling, saying that Buddha is jumping on him all the time. And he is lying there and Buddha comes and jumps on him and he can’t breathe. So they have to take the image completely away.

So the family is aware of this, you know, reminding Buddha and this and that, but they have to take it away, completely take it away.

And after that, and even the family said, and Rinpoche said, he had sort of, what you call it hallucination that the whole has become a Buddha and whole wall is falling on top of him.

So actually what had happened this fellow happens to be one of those smugglers, whose been smuggling a lot of those images from Tibet, and sold and this and that and that’s not so bad. But what he did, later after he is dead, after much later, everybody came to know much later, he happens to be one of the gang members which try to break one of the Nepalese monasteries, up in northern Nepal. They sold the image in the monastery to some kind of collector, even before they stole it from there.

So at the time, they stole that image, they try to steal the image, and he got–he try to take the image, and he sort of, they had organized something–anyway. When they try to take the image, doesn’t come out, couldn’t take it away.

So he got some kind of electrical thing which cut the image, under the feet. It is some kind of long thing, touch on the ground so it cut the under the feet. And took out that image from that temple and sold it to collector. And they said feet are even cut with an electrical saw. So it come out much later he was involved in that, and all this and that, that’s after he died.

But when he really died, that’s what he’s having vision all the time, sort of Buddha is jumping on him and he can’t breathe.

So when [name unclear] Rinpioche wrote me a note, at that time, I didn’t know–we know that that he’s a smuggler. Smuggling image around. We did not know that he was involve don't hat.

Saying “he’s having these funny hallucinations of even the whole walls becoming Buddha and jumping on him, it definitely looks bad, so please pray strongly and do something. And I’m doing whatever I can.”

So I replied to [name unclear] Rinpoche, I don’t think 500 can save him. {laughs]

So that is exactly what happens.

And then lot of people who are dying, good, virtuous people, who are dying, they sort of hear different things. And I was down in Delhi again, and one of those former Tibetan officials who was dying there, and this is funny, huh? He was having a vision of going and catching a plane. His wife is called Tesla. Tesla. He told me twice, “It’s time to go, is Tesla ready?” I don't think she’s ready. (laughs)

He told me twice, I don't think Tesla’s ready. “Will you please tell Tesla, please hurry, really I have to go, we are going to miss the plane.”

He had a vision of getting on some kind of plane, but they normally they don't travel much on planes, very rare. They might have traveled on a plane once or twice, not much. He’s having that vision of catching a plane.

Then suddenly he said, “Oh! I’m hearing those the lama gyutos, the tantric monks, Gyuto lamas, saying prayers, I’m hearing them, I’m hearing each word,” he said. “They’re making their usual chanting, the lama Gyuto chanting, and I can hear the words, it is Chakrasamvara self-initiation going on.”

“Yes yes, where are lama gyutos? Where am I?” he’s asking. “I can hear the whole tantric group.”

You know like in Tibet there are 500 tantric monks chanting. “I can that.” He say “I can hear each word, I can hear that.”

Then suddenly, “Oh, I’m going to miss the plane. Is Tesla ready? I don’t think she’s ready.”

So that gets sort of a mixed reaction. So I watched these people when they are dying. Fortunately, I didn't see anybody with Buddha jumping on them. [laughs] Yeah really.

69:23

So that way you can tell, also, how it is.

I mean in the west, we don;t observe those, we sort of observe, “die peacefully, and they gone peacefully,” or something like that, that much we say or “suffered a lot.”

[audience:] With the moment before death being so important, in the west, there’s so much use of drugs involved…

Drugging or not drugging, your mind is not so much clear that’s why you have the hallucinations. The clarity of the mind is quite evolved, drugging or no drugging. The people are getting hallucinations while the mind is not clear.

[audience: I was just wondering about how the use of drugs affects the ability to be clear in that moment of death.]

Well, capacity… you can’t be really clear, because when you are dying you have these hallucinations. Why you get hallucinations? Because your mind is not very clear. You are losing control.

[audience: What if someone is in a lot of emotional pain, wouldn’t drugging be helpful?]

I don’t think it is a good idea at all. I don’t think so.

OK.

Well, I think I have to stop here. Because we’re supposed to be talking a lot of important things, and very relevant, and if I go too much, I’m afraid if I go over your head and we don’t have any that much here, so therefore I stop here today. And we’ll say our dedications now. And after saying the dedications, do we have dinner here or not?

72:00

Kindly generate pure thoughts that for the benefit of all mother sentient beings, one would like to obtain ultimate Buddhahood. And for that purpose we would like to listen to this great teaching and practice, etc. Pure motivation, which was taught by the various great lam rim traditions, and then listen. That teaching which you are going to listen here is the great Mayahana path, which leads the fortunate people to the ultimate buddhahood, path which has been cleared by the great saints and scholars, like Asanga and Nagarjuna and essence of Tsongkhapa and Atisha. So the mental focus.

And essence of the Buddha’s teachings of 84 different–all the teachings, which is sort of condensed in a very short, easy to practice, which is known as lam rim.

And for which we have a lot of general outlines and I don’t think I am going to go much in detail into that but cannot afford to lose the basic layout. If you lose the basic layout then you are losing the essence. I mean, even we are talking lam rim, but you know particular lam rims that are missing steps. So that’s why the layout or outline or whatever you call it, cannot be lose it, if you lose that, your step is going to miss it, that’s that. Unless you are not interested to practice, just for whatever the reason is, if that sort of reason then it doesn’t matter, you can sit ‘round if you have time, so that’s what it is.

But if you are interested to follow properly, then you cannot afford to lose those steps. Those of you even who come here and there until you cannot come, I think it is sort of our sangha members, those people who are seriously interested to fill up the gap, the steps to put it in, in order.

So by having those steps or outlines or layout or whatever it is, so that way you recognize the path and you know the steps and the divisions.

And then each one of those outlines you have some kind of certain meditations, and then when you meditate you have to sort of think based on those–whether you like to call it outline or whether you like to call it layout–more or less it’s layout, rather than outline, doesn’t outline much. Sort of it’s a layout. I mean the portions here, the portions there. And each one of those, you have to think, it is here.

It is like looking in the house, you see upstairs, oh that side, got this house, you have this much steps to go up here, you have this portion, that portion, in order to have a complete house. Here is not much sort of house, actually we are not really looking much out rising next, but we are looking really straight. So if you are missing certain things you are going to miss really a step. So then you sort of reach up to here and then don’t know how to go over there, that is the problem so it is really important not to miss it.

On each point you should have the general sort of essence of what you should have to meditate in there. And if possible, remember the examples. The examples help really a lot to bring back the main point.

And then quotations. If you have no quotations to support, you may have a very good statement to make but then it is your word against my word so it doesn't really help much.

So that’s that.

So now, let me go. See.

Where are we yesterday? How did we explain it?

I’m not interested you to tell me what we said, what last word we said. I’m interested you to tell me on what outline we are on, and what did we cover yesterday and what did you learn yesterday, and I’m guessing nobody had meditated anyway, between yesterday and this morning.

So therefore I cannot ask any problems, any practical, but in the knowledge, so what did we do yesterday?

Let me put up question, you:

[audience: as far as I know we discussed the first half.]

How did we get to that?

[audience: From the beginning? Well the first beginning is there are 4 basic outlines.]

Yeah, what are they?

[Audience: First one is knowing the qualities of teaching, and then the second one is the support of that, knowing the people who have taught the teachings.]

Right or wrong? Some people have outline very similar.

[Audience: Qualities of the teachings, qualities of the teacher.]

Qualities of the teacher, qualities of the teaching.

[Audience: Oh, OK. Qualities of the teacher, qualities of the teaching.]

You know why?

[Audience: Right, because the teacher is giving the teaching.]

No. If you–well, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you.

[quotes in Tibetan]

“Because of the Buddha is faultless, therefore teachings of the Buddha is faultless.”

That is the reason how you prove, Buddhism is faultless because Buddha is faultless.

Get it? I mena, you don’t say, you don't prove it–you don’t try to prove that Buddha is faultless because Buddhism is faultless. OK?

Buddhism is faultless because Buddha is faultless.

So you prove it from the person to the teaching.

You understand? So therefore the quality of the Buddha was used to say, if Buddha can open that much and he could do that much and if he is faultless, then surely the experiences he gained are faultless. That’s the reason why, one of the reasons–this is the Dharmakirti’s system.

[quotes in Tibetan]

You do not try to prove that the Buddha is great because Buddhism is great. But the other way, ‘round. OK?

Good.

Alright.

You have shaky first step.

[Audience: Should I continue?]

Yeah. But if anybody wants to help him, go ahead.

[Audience: So the first step is how to teach and how to learn.]

And then the fourth step is the actual practice.

Mmm-hmm. Go ahead.

[Audience: So within the actual practice that is the root of all development, guru yoga, and how to train the mind. Two divisions. Then within the root of all development, guru yoga–]

That’s finished.

[Audience: Oh, that’s finished. And then within how to train the mind, there’s three. Common with the lower, common with the medium, and the Mahayana.]

OK, good. That’s fine. Yeah, then?

[Audience: So we finished Common with the lower. Then Common with the medium has two. Four noble truths and 12 interdependent links. And we’re in the first half of that. The four noble truths. And we’ve covered the first noble truth, which is the truth of suffering. And we’re on the second noble truth, which is the truth of suffering.]

OK, out of the truth of suffering, how many–what was the division of suffering.

[Audience: How many divisions or types of suffering are there?

OK, Types or divisions, doesn’t matter.

[Audience: Three.]

OK, tell me what is the third suffering?

[Audience: I have to start from the beginning.]

OK.

[Audience: I don't know if I can go through them because I don’t think I understand them, but is the third one the suffering of change. No, the suffering of suffering would be the third. The first.]

OK, you said you had to go through the first, so you did go through the first.

[Audience: And then the second would be the suffering of change. And then the third is, I don’t exactly know the phrase but–]

It’s pervasive.

[Audience: Pervasive. It’s where you see that everything in samsara is suffering.]

Why?

[Audience: Why do you see it? Or why is it suffering?]

Why is it suffering? We are feeling warm. Nice, comfortable house, here. And umm, not so bad.

[Audience: It’s not so bad right now, but samsara cycles.]

Yeah, that’s a different matter, story together. Right now it’s not so much problem, Quite warm. Unless you get some hard spot on the floor. It’s quite comfortable if you have pain in the leg from sitting cross legged, just stretch it out.

[Audience: Well, maybe that’s something I’m struggling with. Like, it’s not always bad, so why is it….]

Why is it?

[Audience: Because even in the best moments of our lives we always have an underlying sense that it could still be better.]

Well, it could still be better of course, no doubt but what is this suffering here?

[Audience: Even in our happiest moments, there’s a subtle underlying sense of dissatisfaction, or restlessness.]

Oh yeah. Might not even be subtle. Maybe very gross. I think we did quite detailed on that suffering last time, in Ann Arbor.

[Audience: We did a lot on the suffering of change.]

OK, so then continue.

[Audience: Continue. So we’re on the second noble truth, the cause of suffering, and there are two divisions, the first one is how the cause starts, how the delusions cause samsara. I’m not clear on the second one.]

OK, let’s not because of the time, one of you, let’s do it. Come on.

[Audience: It was the actual causes and the paths leading away from the causes.]

What did we say yesterday? What did we learn the whole day yesterday here? What did we do?

[Audience: How delusion grows.]

Whatever learned yesterday, where are we going to put that?