Archive Result

Soundfile 19911116GRNYLivingMoment 1

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location New York, The Open Center

Topic Living Moment

Transcriber Colleen Retherford

Date 12/9/2021

[Introduction, probably Allen Ginsberg, goes through to 0:05:52.6]

So good evening, everybody. Tonight, a lecture by the venerable Gelek Rimpoche, born in Tibet, former abbot of the Gyuto Monastery. I guess you’ve all heard, or heard of, the Gyuto singers, the Tibetan ensemble that has been traveling through the United States and was in New York recently. That monastery was formerly headed by our lecturer tonight until he took off his robes to begin teaching in the east, so he could no longer then be the abbot. On the hand he could spread his wings here in New York, Ann Arbor, Lincoln Nebraska, Cleveland, Chicago, and travel further to Amsterdam and Malaysia, where he has centers.

He comes to New York generally once a month to teach, and has a study group that he meets with, and occasionally lectures here and other places. But there’s an ongoing study group and I think a little hand out gives you that information as to where to connect with the study group if you’re interested.

I first met Gelek Rimpoche through mutual friend Philip Glass. Dumo Geshe Rinpoche is Philip Glass’s teacher, a close friend of Gelek Rimpoche. And so, Philip and I went out to Ann Arbor to do a benefit together for the Jewel Heart group, which is the name of Gelek Rimpoche’s meditation center and study group. And my heart melted immediately, partly because he reminded me of my old teacher Chogyam Trungpa, same sort of Oxonian (?) accent and somewhat same shape physically: big brown lump. (Audience laughter). But also, they were close friends and passed some months of their adolescence together learning English.

Trungpa Rinpoche had invited Gelek Rimpoche to teach history at Naropa, or the Delek system, politics, basically, because Gelek Rimpoche is also quite learned as a historian and is the informant and co-author, so to speak, of a celebrated book of 20th century 0:03:02.1

Tibetan political history by Mel Goldstein, which was published by UC Press, University of California Press, which is the authoritative history, a great deal of it coming from Gelek Rimpoche’s head, gossip and inner knowledge of Tibetan politics of the last ninety years, in as much as he was related as a cousin or nephew of the previous Dalai Lama. And his father was also a very learned Buddhist practitioner, so that when we met the Dalai Lama together earlier this year, the Dalai Lama said to Gelek Rimpoche, “I just saw your father in Dharamsala, the that a little child, the reincarnation which whom Gelek has not yet met, he hasn’t met his father yet.

So, he comes from the Gelupga tradition, which is a different tradition from my own, the Kagyu. It’s always supposed to be some kind of big contest between the Kagyu and the Gelupga. It’s some sort of legendary spiritual warfare. But on the other hand Gelek seems to be sort of a little more cynical than to get involved in spiritual warfare, and too much immersed in history to be trapped in the local chauvinistic politics. And so he was able to get beyond the sectarianism that does afflict, and always has afflicted historically, both in America and in Tibet, some of the Buddhist centers, and so he had a good relationship with the Kagyu people, and good relationship with his friends in the Gelupga. But at the same time maintaining a kind of independent and interestingly, almost bohemian American, western attitude as an independent teacher with his robes off.

So, I was taking teachings from him, and found him extremely clear, approachable, workable as a teacher. Fortunately, he doesn’t have too many students now in the sense that you can get at him directly. I don’t know what will happen in the future as he gets more popular. But he does his own laundry and does a lot of his own cooking and drives his own car sometimes and lives a sort of with in and out of his own house, and so it’s a pleasure to be with him, to take teaching from him and to hear him speak and to hear some genuine and authentic Tibetan presence again here, in New York. So, with that, I recommend you open your ears to Gelek Rimpoche. Sir…

0:05:52.6

[Begin Gelek Rimpoche]

I do have the memory of the last time. (Laughter and adjustments being made). Thank you. So good evening, everybody and thank you for the introduction. And I have no quarrel with that except one point, which I have to be clear, which has to be clarified. My previous incarnation was the abbot of the Gyuto monastery, and I was not, I myself have not been the Gyuto monastery abbot, so that has to be clarified. That’s all. And I do not know about the fight between the Kagyu and the Gelupga.

So, now, tonight we have an opportunity to talk here…is there… actually I’m going to talk from the Buddhist, Tibetan Buddhist point of view and from my own background. And from that angle we will be looking into in the moment and the habitual patterns and awareness and how it is related to works with the individual. And I’m going to give you a lot from the point of dharma, the Buddha’s teaching, from that angle. And so, and that is what I was planning to do. And also, it is connected with the workshop that we’ll be doing tomorrow between Allen (side conversation) and Aura, Aura Glaser, she’s here and that’s all, right? (laughter)

0:08:56.7

And Aura had been… I met Aura in 1980, right? Or is it ‘79 or ‘80? ‘80 in Dharamsala, that’s in India. So since then, we have been sort of, we have contacting, so we have been studying together. And she had been with me for a number of years, studying and so I think it’s a very good idea that she will do some, sort of, share with that personal experience and all this. And so, three of us are doing the workshop together. I think called Fear and Fearlessness, right? Because I have a problem with English titles.

So tonight, with habitual patterns that what we’re going to talk. And it’s also going to be linked up, hopefully, if I manage to link up with the Fear and Fearlessness. So that’s the plan. So, reason why we have to do this? Why we doing this? The problem, what we face normally, is awareness. Awareness is very much less with us. Whatever we do, a lot of things, whatever we do, we do without awareness in our daily life. Am I right? Am I sort of… you know that.

So, when we don’t have the awareness, our actual mind, or you may call it actual person, or actual being, the actual being itself, is a very beautiful and wonderful nature. It’s faultless, actually. I mean completely, might not be, but it is sort of faultless. I’m sorry. I’ve been in the Drepung monastery, right? One of the Tibet’s top monasteries, so we do have a lot of this debate goes on in the monastery, every time. So, every single word what I say, if I see a problem, so I immediately have to put it up (?), that’s why. (laughter) That’s why when I say totally faultless, then immediately comes up in my head, why do we have to work if it totally faultless? So that is, that’s why I just sort of slightly withdraw that big statement and a little…

So, any nature, as a being, human being, as a beautiful and wonderful nature as a being, everything is really wonderful and beautiful. And not a problem at all, I mean, within a nature of a beautiful being.

0:12:01.0

However, we cannot function that. We cannot function that beautiful nature of each individual, right? If we can shine our beauty nature we not going to have a problem with anybody. We will get along very well with everybody. And everybody will like each other and that will wonderful world, for sure. No question.

However, we can adapt. We cannot be…but the problem with us is that beautiful nature had been covered up by all sorts of things, like my, our, ignorance, delusions like anger, attachment, hatred, jealousy. You name it. All of them. They cover that up, so our beautiful nature cannot shine out. It looks like covered up.

So, all this delusions, what does they do to us? What does anger do to us? What does hatred do to us? And does fear does to us? So, we always get into trouble, create difficult to ourselves, and for others, too. In one level, when you look, what does anger do? What does all this delusions do? We also create bad karma, right? Karma is now, everybody knows when you say karma. I don’t have to explain what karma is. So, everybody knows. So, you create bad karma. So spiritually, that is bad. When we create bad karma, we’re bound to have bad result. That is karmic principle. So that is the spiritual level.

And not only create bad karma, but it also disturbs the good karma that you build up. And it is, it makes that covering up the beauty nature of human being even worse, more cover up. And all this our problem, we get it.

0:14:55.0

And how do we get those problems? Because we’re not aware of what we’re doing. Weak on awareness, strong in habitual patterns. We’re very weak awareness, right? I mean, I don’t think anybody have a quarrel with that. We will realize what we did after a little while. It’s always sort of too late, right? Afterwards, anybody can say anything, but at the time it’s difficult. It’s because of the weakness on the awareness.

Strong in habitual pattern. Habitual pattern, in…I don’t think habitual pattern is the right word. Our habit, actually. The habit is very strong with us. Right? It is strong. I’ve been noticing people, particularly, I mean it’s everywhere. I’m about to say particularly in the west. But it is everywhere, but especially in the west more noticeable, little bit more noticeable. I do not know why. Just a little example what I’m thinking from that angle, when I look, it is more noticeable in the west how strong the habit is.

I guess a simple example, right? If somebody regularly going to office, and driving from a certain street to the office, right? And you go from that street, and you follow certain different street and go to that office. Right? And then, if someone else asks you a favor, can you please take the other street, take the next one, turn around and then pick me up or something. And you see how much resistance do people give. Right? Some people will say, well you may like to say, yeah, okay, because it’s the next street. But whether you say it out loudly or not, in your mind, well, I’m going to be late, I have to get up early, I’m going to lose my parking place, all this and that, and this da da da da da da da, business will come. And strong resistance, we notice that, right? And that is a simple little habit that we have formed, just been working in that same office. Maybe a couple of months, maybe a couple of years. And that’s about it.

So, it’s sort of strong, how strong we get into, right? But bringing delusions up, that habit has been much longer with us. I’m sorry, but I’m a Buddhist background. So, I’m a believer. I believe in a past, present and future life. Otherwise, I can’t be an incarnate lama. (laughs) I have to protect myself.

0:18:26.7

That’s a joke. So, I do believe in the past and present and future life. So during the past, all these lifetimes, we have built up, in our habit of doing, those anger, hatred, etc., of those patterns built up all the time. And become much strong and much more used to it. And opposite of it, it becomes difficult. It’s very difficult. Right? So even, if you look at the children, I don’t notice over here, sometimes you like to…I mean you have to, not only you like to, but you don’t want children to see certain programs on television, or certain movies. You have to chase them out of the room and push them in their bedroom or something. You don’t want them to know, don’t want them to see it.

But to our surprise, they know much more than even we know. We sort of, you discover them they know more than even we do. And they have picked up that, without teaching, without anybody putting efforts, without themselves putting efforts, without anybody teaching them. They sort of automatically picks up what you don’t want them to learn it. They do. The way that you really want them to learn it, you have to put a lot of efforts in it. They have to work hard. They have to do, and all this, and why? It is the habitual pattern that they build up from many lives.

0:20:29.0

I mean that’s what Buddha said. I’m not simply saying it. That’s what Buddha said. We don’t have to teach somebody how to get angry. We know very well. We don’t have to teach somebody how to show our long faces, right? Emotionally down, we don’t have to show that, er teach that. They will do it. But we have to put efforts to be patient. It’s not going to be easy. We have to learn that.

And not only learn, but also you have to practice. Otherwise, it becomes knowledge, and you can’t do it, right? It becomes knowledge. You take notes, you take note, and it’s on your notebook. Or you put in tape recorder, and then it’s on tape recorder. And you know it, yeah you heard about it, you read about it, you know it, but you can’t do it. Because you don’t have practice. Very simple. I mean, this daily life, what we deal with it. That’s really daily life.

So, all of them is where I’m not habitual. Right? So, our habitual, sort of, what habit we’re used to it, we bring all this non-virtuous. We’re afraid, all the time. Truly telling you, we’re really afraid. Afraid of what? Who knows? As though you’re so scared that some kind of ghost going to walk out of the closet. And we’re really afraid of it. Afraid of facing our life, even afraid of knowing what really truth is. I don’t mean it, I don’t mean truth of reality. I’m not talking about Buddhist emptiness. Just afraid of knowing what really truth is. You don’t want to know it. You just want to shut up. And make some kind of false truth you like to believe in that. All sorts of things we do. Right? We, too, are afraid of knowing our bank balance, too. Right? We do. We’re afraid.

0:23:23.0

We’re afraid of almost everything. We’re afraid of yourself, right? We talk social injustice, sometimes. Sometimes we talk family problems. But I have seen it in America, some of them are so afraid of facing a life. And no matter how difficult it might be, they have to sit with that. Particularly women. I’m sorry, I’m not authority, but that’s what I observed. They’re just simply afraid of living, afraid of putting their heads up. That’s what happened. Right?

So, then you come, you know, to protect that, you come denial. You deny all your problems, you like to deny. Afraid. Fear is a big problem in our life. So, the fearlessness is a really important. Not only important in our social life, but it is important in our spiritual life. If we are afraid of facing a life, a little bit like that, we are much more really afraid of facing our anger, hatred, jealousy. And if you keep on afraiding of that, you will die under the fear. That’s it. And after that, if you die after that, they’ll put your body away or whatever, burn it or put it under the ground or whatever it is. And that’s the end of it. You don’t want to even think with the fear.

But then unfortunately doesn’t end, at least in my belief. It will continue. You take another rebirth, and your fear is much more bigger. Bigger than before, because fear had upper hand once before. And that’s why we’re always afraid of it. We lost, we lost tremendous battle to the fear. Right? It easy for me to just say, we’re afraid of what? I mean, it’s very easy. We can say that. But if you think of it, we’re not to be blamed. We lost tremendous. Do you know what I’m thinking? When I say you love, you lost. We lost our youth to time. Time goes on, we become older.

0:27:00.9

We lost our life to death a number of times, countless times. We lost our wisdom to ignorance. All of this we did a number of times. And that’s why, for no reason, we’re always afraid of losing something. Why did we lose all this? A weakness on awareness is the key. It’s not as if, it doesn’t mean, I mean, if you’re aware you’re not going to get older. I don’t mean that. But if we are aware, and we will protect ourselves. Awareness is weak, that’s why.

If you have strong awareness, and that awareness can begin to cut through our habit, right? I mean, I’m really, tonight, I must tell you here. I’m really giving you a very good dharma here. It’s really a Buddhist teaching, Buddha’s dharma, actually. Buddha tells you in a different way. I mean, Buddha tells you, and says well, you have to avoid non-virtuous and build up virtuous as much as possible, right? They say that. And then we say 0:28:55.8 Tibetan quote. Say, avoid non-virtuous, build a good virtuous, and control your mind. This is Buddhism. That’s what Buddha said. Essence of Buddhism, right? Buddha said. That is the technical way of seeing it, Buddhism.

If you talk about our daily life, I sit down and think about it, and just like…I even try to leave the Tibetan language aside and try to think about it, how does America work, American behave? And how does the people think? And then naturally, all this what the Buddha said, you avoid non-virtuous, we do that by habitually. Habitually we do it. And then Buddha said build up virtues as much as possible. We don’t do it because we don’t have habit of doing it. And we don’t have awareness of it.

0:29:55.1

So that is the essence of Buddhism, actually. Friends, really, it is the essence of Buddhism. So, looking into our habit, what they’re doing. Even the other way round. Even, I tell you, even in Buddhism, they say, oh, this person is very highly developed, spiritually developed. Okay, that’s true, spiritually developed. How the development came? Through practice, right? How does the practice become development within the individual? And that practice becomes habit in the individual.

So, any sort of conditions where they are sort of, I hate to use that word…anyway, non-virtuous. So, any non-virtuous condition wherever it comes to have, okay, let me use it, any bad karma, wherever you want to create that condition arrives, that awareness shoots up its signal. Right? Awareness shoots up its signal. So, we can prevent doing that. As, in normal way, our awareness signal shows up, you know how our habit will show up, signal.

If somebody tells us something which we don’t like to hear, right? If we don’t, if somebody telling you something, so we immediately shoot the signal. Oh! This fellow’s trying to say something to me. Or he’s trying to insult me. Or he’s trying to get at me, right? We always, the moment somebody is trying to, I mean, even somebody try to really do it bad or not, but moment you hear, you come nearby, we automatic signal goes within us and we will, we will immediately, the first, if we are lucky, we take a protection, protective shell like armadillo or something. We have those shells, immediately (Back and forth on how to pronounce armadillo).

0:32:33.3

Yeah, armadillo, will take up. That’s a good one, right? That’s not so bad. The bad ones usually immediately shoot back. What do you call it, porcupine. Right? Immediately, because that attitude is automatically we get the signal and we act automatically. That is habit. And if you change the habit, and keep on by though awareness, a changed habit, instead of the signal for the porcupine, you get the signal for love compassion. How wonderful would that be, right?

How wonderful would that be? And that, not only we should not say, we should not leave it there, saying how wonderful it will be. What we should really make it ourselves to do that. And that’s why we call it a spiritually developed person, full of love and compassion. That comes from there. How they get it, they become habit. How you get habit? You bring it by awareness. See how important it is, awareness. That is the essence of dharma.

Whether you go to temple, or whether you sit crossed leg meditate, or whether you shave your head or grow your long hair, or whether you wear a yellow robe or red robe or white robe or green robe or blue robe or whatever. Doesn’t matter. No, really. And that, if you can do it, that’s really it is. The essence of Buddha’s message, the essence of the Buddha’s teaching, essence of Buddhism, essence of practice is that. If anyone one of you have a problem with that, I try to challenge you that, for that. That’s what it is.

(Inaudible remark from audience elicits laughter) Could anybody like to repeat that? (laughter) Would you?

0:35:46.3

I’m afraid you have to buy a tape, you’re going to sell it. (much laughter) I’m just joking. That is, that is the habitual pattern. (laughter) right? What did you say? Right? You’re going to sell the tape. I’m just joking. I said habitual pattern is the key to it. Really, that’s what it is. And awareness is the key to change habitual patterns.

Actually, awareness cuts the habitual patterns. It changes the habitual patterns. And that’s what, that’s what I’m talking about. I think it’s the whole, since, ever since I got up here and I think I really said, that’s it, nothing else. I went around and round and round, but that’s what it really is, you know? I don’t think I said anything else in that, really. (laughter)

So that is how you reduce your anger, right? Of course, the antidote, each one of them have different antidote on those delusions – anger, attachment, hatred and all this have different antidote. Miserliness. Generosity is the antidote on the miserliness. (Back and forth about pronunciation of miserliness) So you don’t, one cannot share what one has. Want to have everything belong to that one individual. Yeah, that’s what it is. Antidote of that is generosity.

All of those are Buddha’s teaching and Buddha’s experience. Actually, you know, teaching of the Buddha, or rather Buddhism, whatever it is we call it, you know? It is nothing but experience of the Buddha himself. Nothing but experience. That’s what’s so great about this Buddhism. I’m sorry because this look like Buddhist propaganda, but (laughter)

0:38:36.4

But that’s true. It’s so great about that because it is the experience of the Buddha, and followed by all the teachers that I know in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. All the teachers, whether it is Nyigma, or Kagyu or Gelupa, whatever it is. Really. Truly, the teachings, or the teachers, will only talk based on their experience. It is experience you share with that. So, when you really look into this and that’s exactly how one’s individual life.

So, awareness is the most important to work, to keep, to look into the habit. Doesn’t matter if you realize much later, doesn’t matter. No one is expected to be perfect from the beginning. It doesn’t matter. It is important you pay attention to the awareness itself. And if you keep on paying attention it improves. Improves means it comes quicker, it comes earlier, it will caught on red-handed. Huh? Yes, that’s it, red-handedness you can caught. Otherwise, you’ll be realize it much later, right? All of them, that means awareness improving.

You sit down and meditate. Keep on watching either your mind, or breath, or abdominal, or external or internal. Whatever it is you do that, don’t you? A lot of people do that. They say how wonderful the meditation is. I’m not criticizing it, okay? It sounded like it but I’m not criticize. It is wonderful. But what for? Have to bring awareness. Okay? To the extent they will go, I mean you know, Buddha had taught, like you know, awareness. If you go deep into the awareness you really go into microscope awareness you started awaring, now I’m taking my right leg up and I’m putting my right leg out.

0:41:30.6

I’m now lifting my left up, and going, now I’m opening the door, and now you know, now I’m closing the door, you do all this and the general Buddhist teachings carry that all the time. And Mahayana will add up a little flavor on all that: I’m now lifting my right hand up for the benefit of all sentient beings. (laughter) That’s true! Right? Now I’m opening the door of the liberation for all the benefit of all sentient beings. You don’t say, I’m closing the door for the benefit of all sentient beings. (laughter) You change that, you know?

So, that’s sort of awareness, and the normal Buddhist sutra will teach you. And to do it, you can make elaborate and make it very big. Or you just make it short and still do all this. Whole purpose, you know, is geared to the individual to be able to focus, to focus on the mind, so that you are aware that tricky little monkey has not been mischief. Right? The mind is like a little monkey inside your museum. And if you don’t, if you leave it unattended it’s going to break all your beautiful, expensive china and art pieces. That’s what it is. So be aware, be alert and be aware of it. The whole purpose of a meditation, concentrated, is for that purpose. As far as I know. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope not. But that’s what I can see it, and that’s what I can feel it.

So, we do have one common enemy. The enemy which takes away, snatches away our good spiritual development. So, if you to be aware, and that’s what you have to.

0:44:15.1

And it’s like the old, the Indian traditional, old Indian or Tibetan system where they tell you, it gives the example like, you know, if you have enemy coming from somewhere else you put somebody else on the high top of the mountain, watching it, right? Because it’s not fully developed, it’s not, when we have a war in old Tibetan or early Indian, it’s not like the war in Iraq, right? It is different, right? So, they go on high top of mountain and watch whether these enemies are coming or not. Similarly, awareness does that for us. And if you have neglect that, then we will only know when the enemy’s took over completely. And that’s why many of us will realize what we did after a little while. Anger took over completely, and we don’t even know what we did it.

And mind you, attachment and lust does the same thing. When you look at anger, very easy for everybody to say, right? The anger took over, and I’m not aware of it, and I did this and that. And people will accept that. And nobody would like to say attachment took over, and I did this and that. Because we enjoy that, right? We enjoy that. We’re afraid of losing that even. Right? We’re scared of losing it. So, see how our mind works. Which we have to be aware. That is really a practice. And I’m quite sure, I just said that’s a Buddhist practice because I only know about Buddhism. But I’m quite sure any other religion, if you do it, I’m sure that is, that has to be key. Is there anything else that’s the key besides that? I don’t know. But I think that should be key, really.

0:46:55.3

So, the habitual way of handling it…well I meant to, I wanted to say something earlier. I even forgot about it. When you say the spiritually developed person, the person who had been gain experience, gain experience, all of them, what does that mean? That’s one thing I’d like to bring up. If you have one experience once, well that’s great, wonderful. But that doesn’t help that much. You’ll be only aware once. You’ll just have seen it once. What I call it glimpse of something external. Glimpse of sunlight, more than that. Only glimpse. That’s very helpful. That brings you lot of enthusiasm. That brings you a lot of motivation. So that brings all of them. Great. But still, it is one experience and it’s gone. It was not with us. And if that experience remains with us, it will be great.

And how to make it remain with us is, again, by bringing awareness. So, you know, I’m not sure how many of you are very familiar with the Tibetan Buddhism. I’m quite sure a number of you are, but. What they always say, effortlessly functioning, effortlessly doing this, effortlessly, we always say. Effortlessly, we just said that all the time. Effortlessly function. What does that effortlessly functioning comes in? By building habit. As we have anger effortlessly comes up, right? When we get a problem we get upset anger, effortlessly rise. Attachment, effortlessly rises. Jealousy, particularly jealousy, effortlessly. We just get it. Get up. We just see the condition – BOOM! It goes, right? That’s it. That is effortlessly function.

0:49:37.8

And when you want effortlessly comes in the good things, and it’s only the habitual help. So to make it habit way, then the techniques will come, right? Mahayana techniques. Vajrayana techniques, supposed to be the best, and dangerous, and all this. Right? It’s the best and the dangerous is the Vajrayana technique. Quickest, yes. Interesting. Might well as shared this with you. If you look in the Buddhist tradition, teachings, Buddhist tradition, if you look like Theravadin, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. In some texts Theravadin referred as Hinayana or something. But whatever it is, Theravadin, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. If you look in that, if you look in that pattern even, if you look in that carefully what do you see? The Theravadin tradition will tell you have to, I mean you have to control your mind. Bring awareness and overcome the delusions. And your result, what’s going to be is Nirvana. Okay, right? Nirvana, arhat state. All right?

So, how long it takes? Who knows. But you can go ahead and do it.

And the Mahayana will add up a little more than that. You do this, you do that, no don’t do it for yourself alone. Do it for the benefit of all other sentient beings. For everybody’s sake, do this, do this, do that, do that and your result will be Buddha state. Enlightenment, total enlightenment. Buddha state, right? It’s sort of not nirvana alone, it is a Buddha state. It’s become a little bigger, and they show you that picture, right? That’s what it is.

So how long you going to take that? They say, oh, a million lives, or something. Right? A million lives or something or almost equal to that. It goes on and, you know, they have different ways of counting. It goes on for that. So, that’s what it is.

And then the Vajrayana comes up…now watch! The Vajrayana comes up and says, yeah. That’s state, that Buddha state, is right. You get that as a result. How long going to take it? Says, well, if you do it well, within lifetimes. That’s right, yeah, see? And if you cannot do it well, well, eight lifetimes, minimum sixteen but don’t go beyond that. I mean, it’s not a million. Do you see the reduction? And that’s why the Vajrayana becomes so great and so wonderful, because it has a lot of tremendous techniques to apply.

0:52:29.6

And a lot of, and I hate to use the word, I mean, don’t quote me (laughter) a lot of tricks the Vajrayana has. Yeah, really, a lot of tricks. That’s why it makes the difference. Techniques, or whatever it is. Tricks, or whatever it is. And that’s why it makes difference. It’s great.

But all of them, all of them have to use awareness. All of them have to touch habit. All of them have to cut ignorance. You cannot escape that. So that’s what I see as Buddhism, or Buddha’s teaching, as everyday life, dealing with it. I don’t see anything else, anywhere else. Dealing the Buddha’s teaching everyday life. How, what better can you do than that? Buddha’s experience, bringing it in our everyday life, that’s what I can see. There’s no mystery about it, no mystery about it. If you keep on looking for mystery, you get mystery result, too. (laughter) Yeah. A lot of people like to look in some mystery things, right?

Even Tibet, a lot of people, I mean, I do remember in beginning, not so many people know about Tibet. Tibet is something very weird thing. But only what you know is mystical things, lamas and peaks and mountain peaks and mystical things. Right? I’ve seen a movie called Shangri-La. Right! And all these mystical things there.

Some people like the mystical thing. But my worry is, if you’re always looking for mystical, sort of mystery, and you get mysterious result. Somehow. And probably you don’t want that.

So, it is important, the essence of those Vajrayana practice or, or whatever the Buddha’s experience bringing, dealing with everyday life. You don’t have to be Buddhist. You don’t have to put a label here and say, “I am Buddhist”. You don’t have to put a label here, I’m a Gelugpa, I’m Nyingpa, I’m Sakyapa.

0:55:26.9

Yeah, right, big deal, right? Really! But one should be proud to say, I’ve been able to handle my life the best way. One should be proud about it. Not only you put one label here, but put ten on top of head, if you can do that. (inaudible) And that will be essence, that’s really essence of dharma.

I mean, I do see it that way. I do see bringing as a practice in daily life. It’s more important than you sit down and meditating, going to temple, worshipping, all that. And I’m not denying going to temple and worshipping are great, wonderful. But that alone is only a shorter period you sit there. Even you go to temple, I’m not sure what you going to pray. Who knows, huh? A lot of people like to go to temple. I mean, I don’t know what you pray. You may pray that I have good business today if you have a store. Or you may pray I get promotion, whatever it is, you know? And that’s not even dharma, or not even a practice, right?

So even you do that, I mean even you don’t do that, all right? Even you just sort of pray nicely, whatever it is. Even then, it is short period. Short period. And the problem what we face is our usual the long period. The long days that we go through. Not only 8 to 5, but almost 8 to 12 or something. Or, I don’t know, whenever you get up, maybe 7 to 12 or whatever it is. For that long period, that long period, it is the period where you really have to bring awareness. Where you really have to watch the problem and overcome it. That’s how one becomes, that’s how you shine the beauty nature of the human being, inside.

Once you’ll be able to shine that, it will affect your immediate, immediate, I don’t know what you call it, family members? Or immediate relationships, you affect that, right? You affect that. And that essence one affects to other, other affects to ten, ten affects to a hundred, hundred affects to thousand. And that’s how you bring enlightened society.

0:58:21.7

Oh, I forgot. We should call it New World Order. (laughter). And that will be the Buddha’s way of bringing New World Order, okay? True. I really mean it. And if one cannot handle oneself, and if you want to, I want to help others, that’s American kindness, or I mean it’s kindness. And a lot of Americans normally say that, right? I want to help. Where can I help. My answer will be, help yourself. True.

If you cannot help yourself, it’s very difficult to help others. It you are a very angry person, and irritated and frustrated person, if you try to be a nice therapist, or whatever…I’m sorry, but, really, how you going to affect others? Right? Who knows, we going to, you going to help or you going to harm. You going to do service or disservice. On top of that they’ll pay you, too. I mean, I’m sorry, I’m making funny jokes, but I don’t mean against anybody, okay? It’s really true. And the kindness and compassion and nice be beauty human nature inside. And if you be able to affect that others, and that is therapy. And that is how affects others.

You know, Dalai Lama, His Holiness use the warm heart touching other. He used the word warm heart. And that is my understanding of warmheartedness. If you have something within you, that will affect others. So that’s how, if you want help others, there you begin. If you want to help yourself, there we begin. I don’t see any other way. So,

we choosed the word (rather Aura choosed, right?) awareness and ha…what did you call it? (inaudible answer from aura) In the moment, okay. So that is the important point. That’s how it works. (Inaudible comment from audience) Habitual to awareness. From habitual to awareness, I’m sorry. Right? Did I say it right or wrong? (inaudible audience answer) From habit to awareness. Okay. That shows how good I am.

1:01:30.8

So anyway, that’s important. Hard work. So, we picked it up and that, and that’s the reason. And fear and fearless is part of it. And I should be linking, that I should say a little bit about it. Where does all the fears come from? Because of not knowing. Nothing else. And we have the habit, experiencing of losing. We keep on losing all the time. We lose all the time, all the time, every time we lose. Every time we lose that. Every moment we lose, right?

Impermanent, we call it. 1:02:19.5 TIBETAN QUOTE: DYEN NI GYU ….. Seventh Dalai Lama has said, the moment we born, we don’t even have a minute to ourselves. We are running towards losing our life. Every minute to minute, second to second we’re running towards…like a horse, running, the racing horse running. We’re running towards. So that’s why we lose, a lot of time, that’s why we’re afraid of.

And what cuts through? What transcends fear? The truth. So, we do have t-shirts called “Truth transcends fear”. But unfortunately, it’s only in Tibetan, so nobody knows. That’s really true. It says TIBETAN QUOTE: 1:03:18.9 PAN DA CHO LA JIG DEME. (?) Fearless is, once you know the truth, and there is no fear at all. Nothing to be afraid. The mystery gives you the fear. Not knowing will give you the fear. And when you see the truth, and that cuts through all the fear. However, they’re talking a little distance. Right? A little distance. But then, immediately, the meaning of life, meanings of what you’re doing, dealing, and that will probably cuts through the fear. And that’s what we’re thinking of talking tomorrow. And talking, doing that, that’s what’s tomorrow.

I guess I talked too long, and it’s a little hot here, too, so if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer. I don’t even know what time it is. So, I’ll be happy to answer questions, right. You’re the first one, I’m sorry.

1:04:40.5

Audience: (inaudible)

Rimpoche: Is there a point… what? Over exaggerated.

Audience: (correction by audience) Over saturated.

Rimpoche: What does that mean?

Audience: Too much taking into.

Rimpoche: Ah ha. Do you think so? Why? You know, let me put it this way. Awareness is important, but you don’t have to remind yourself all the time awareness. After some time, the awareness is becomes automatic with you, automatic with you. Just like our habit of armadillo and porcupine. In that manner the awareness will also be habit with us. After that, if you still keep on reminding awareness, then there’s no point. It is useless after that. After that I don’t think it will bad. After that, then you are wasting your time. You don’t need to. There’s no need for it. I think some straightforward. Are you happy with that? Please do think, chew it, because after that there’s no need.

1:06:31.4 Audience: (inaudible first part) I want to ask you what you think about the horrendous Chinese invasion?

Rimpoche: How did I react? I was very afraid, in fact.

Audience: (inaudible)

Rimpoche: Now. To tell you the truth, I’m not angry, if you’re looking for that. I’m not. Well, it’s very sad. I don’t say the Chinese in general, I mean it’s not the fault of the Chinese, as overall Chinese. Nothing. It is a matter of a few people who make certain decisions.

Audience: (inaudible comment)

Rimpoche: Well, if you ask me if Mao is guilty of that, sure, he was guilty of that. So, I do recognize that. And am I angry with Mao? I probably am not. Really, I’m not. And I’m… why you get angry for that? I’m sorry, yes. I’m very sorry for that. Okay, when I say I’m not angry with that, let’s say if Mao comes up, and will I associate with them? No. I will keep my distance. But I’m not angry. Is that answer your question, or….

1:08:36.0 audience (inaudible)

Rimpoche: Well, it is really very sad and a sorry state. And not only, you know, what I’m worried, I’m not worried about what really destroyed. The monasteries been destroyed. The images been destroyed. Books been burned. I’m not very much worried about that. If there…you know why? If there is a really good practitioner, person who are practicing, the monastery is something you can always build up. The images, you can make new ones. And if you have the knowledge and information, you can write the books. Losses, yes.

But what I’m worried more is the karma that has been produced by those decision makers and particularly the innocent persons who are caught in between. The decisions makers will make decisions somewhere else. Maybe not in Tibet, maybe Asia or wherever it is. They make the decision, and their orders been carried, and innocent guys over there has to execute those orders. So, their karma, that’s what I’m worried. Maybe it’s just a funny habit of an incarnate lama, but that’s what I really worry about. I’m more worried about that than that of destroying monasteries. The killing people, that is terrible. You cannot rebuild that up. That’s what I mean. The tortured ones, we need to help them and stop them as much as we can. And those who have been killed, we can only pray and dedicate our virtue. We cannot bring them back. So, those who are dead, lost their life, and those innocents who has to execute orders, and those are the, I mean, as a Buddhist practitioner I’m worried that most. Sounds funny, maybe, to you people but I’m sorry, that’s what it is. Maybe I’m not very nationalistic, or whatever it is. I’m sorry.

1:11:17.6

I don’t know who’s now. Please give me another one.

Audience: inaudible

Rimpoche: Okay, the question is about the meditation, whether it is concentration…I have to repeat that because of this tape guy here (laughs). Um, did I repeat enough? I hope so, anyway. So, I like to, I give you straightforward answer, what I know of it, okay? I’ve been brought up by the tradition, the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and particularly the lineage and monastery that I’ve been brought up, has a very strong emphasize on the analytical meditation, analytical meditation rather than…I don’t answer rather than. We have very strong analytical meditation, emphasize on that. And almost all the course that we take, all the (categories?) been worked out how to build this analytical meditative state and its power.

They almost expect you, they sort of granted and expect you, to know how to do the concentrated meditation. They sort of granted to that. And they sort of, they sort of, you know, to the extent they go even a child know how to meditate. So, to that extent they emphasize very strong to analytical meditation.

If you remember, when His Holiness was giving those teachings here, I’m sure many of you have attended that during the Kalachakra. And he keep on giving each and everything point was giving the reasons why, the reasons why, even to the point of somebody raised a question and do you even emphasize reasoning, analytical reasoning over awareness, remember? So, that’s what the point is. But if you don’t have a concentration meditation, called Shamata basis, if you don’t have, all the analytical meditations will be useless.

1:14:14.4

Will be useless. The Shamata basis definitely necessary. Now, coming to your question, whether the concentration is important or relaxing mind is important. From the Tibetan tradition, they will definitely tell you put efforts on concentration. But with my personal experience with western people, even concentrating, with efforts put in in the beginning, is bringing problem. So, you have to start even a step beyond where effortlessly you’re sitting and then bringing awareness and then gradually watching breath. Even counting the breath becomes a problem. But I notice, I keep on noticing everyday with the dharma friends, western friends all the time.

So, you have to begin almost effortlessly. When you get used to it a little more, then you put a little more in there. Alternately, if you don’t have analytical meditation, if you have the concentrated meditation, it will also do no good to you. No good to you. Why? It will simply bring you a calmness, quietness and awareness, and a wonderful nature. But that goes away. It will bring a karma to be taking rebirth in the formless realm. So, I don’t want to go too much on that, but that’s what it is.

So, both are necessary. Absolutely necessary. Okay? The Tibetan tradition, it says, like Tsong Khapa, the Gelupga foundation, Tsong Khapa says…what did he say? (laughter) Okay. I lost the word. Okay, that’s particular (inaudible) 1:16:20.3 Tibetan quote: Nye me shine dala…. I can’t remember the word above that. Nye Me….. Tsong Khapa gives the Shamata, the concentrated meditation as a somebody who goes to the war. If you’re a warrior you think, you have to think about primitive Tibetan war period, okay, like (unintelligible). If you want to go in the war the Shamata will serve you a stable horse. You ride a horse, right? The analytical meditation will give you like a weapon, right? So, if you don’t have a horse you can’t go and fight with some enemy with a horse and weapon together. And if you don’t have a weapon, if you just go running a horse, that will also do no good. So that was Tsong Khapa’s example. But I’m trying to remember the words from before, but I don’t. I don’t remember, I’m sorry. But that’s what it is.

So, it becomes important. Ultimately, the analytical meditation is the weapon to destroy ignorance, which is the source of delusion, which is forming our habit. Yes, now sir.

Audience: (inaudible)

Rimpoche: Anger may do something good to some short period, for give you some kind of immediate relax, or at least you feel good, so I got that out of my chest. Or something. But at the same time, it costs tremendous, it is extremely expensive. I don’t think we can afford to have that for such a short relax or benefit. Its like, if you go to a hot tub, you call it hot tub, right? And sort of, you pay like one million dollar for half an hour. Is that worth? (laughter) Sort of that, really. Anger is the most expensive non-virtuous to cost the virtue. It’s not worth. It gives you some relief but it’s not worth. So therefore, on that point of view, on rely on the Buddha’s word, I will say it might not be appropriate.

1:19:21.1

I’m sorry, but it is. Okay. Yes, is it okay? Yes.

Audience: (some inaudible) …about having too much awareness? It made me think about when you have a great awareness of the suffering, or the problems…..inaudible….seeing more deeply into those problems, so you go and sit (?) with all the pain of seeing all those sufferings. So, there’s (inaudible) many different problems we have (inaudible).

Rimpoche: But it might have, the question’s much more clear and really thank you for that. That’s true, you have to aware. But awareness alone also cannot help. But if you’re aware everything, you’re knowing it, and knowing it still, let it go, happen. And then there must be something wrong up here. Not only a few screws loose, but lot of screws loose. (laughter) So when you know it is wrong, and going round, and you just can’t sit there and watch. You have to do something, right? Correct. And particularly when that’s happening within our mind, within ourself, internally. Not only externally, internally when you see it. We don’t want let it go under our nose. So, but if you keep on sitting there and worrying about it, keep on following, keep on following, then it definitely bring a problem. For sure. Not only a mental problem, but also bring physical problem. I’ve seen it many. You have to go to acupuncture lesson, you have to do all sorts of things all the time. So, I’m sorry, did you…..

Audience: (inaudible)…imagine being aware and driving a car at the same time (mostly inaudible) but if I’m being aware something and I don’t think at that moment, I’m being aware (inaudible)

Rimpoche: If you keep on…if you keep on sitting on awareness, if you keep on sitting reminder awareness, to me, it’s not become awareness. It’s become you’re meditating on awareness.

1:22:30.5

And that’s a difference. Aware of the situation, awareness. And acknowledging awareness, awareness, awareness, and then it becomes meditating on awareness. So, you don’t want to meditate and drive together, do you? That’s what it is. So, awareness, here, and knowing it, acknowledging it, you don’t have to keep on awaring all the time. I mean, you don’t have to say ‘I’m awaring’ I mean I’m acknowledging awareness. Or I did acknowledge awareness, I did acknowledge acknowledge acknowledging awareness. (laughter) You know, you can’t go on do that.

(audience speaks – inaudible)

Rimpoche: The purpose of bringing awareness, when the wrong conditions comes, we should be able to handle it like that. And if you are driving, you know it. When you see you going to hit somebody or you’re going to hit your car to a pole or something, our awareness immediately brings and try to use the brake as much as possible. You may or may not be able to control it, but you do it. And that is awareness. And that’s what we’re looking for when the delusion pops up, the awareness should come in. That’s why we’re reminding a lot. Doesn’t mean you keep on sitting there and being acknowledging awareness, and awareness, back and forth and you know, you do nothing but…right?

Audience: It may be that the confusion is arising between the notion of awareness and the word self-consciousness. Over-self-consciousness. It’s a (inaudible) tension between what you mean by awareness and what (inaudible) regret, of embarrassment, (inaudible) of looking at yourself over and over again. That may be the source of a lot of this, some of this complicated (inaudible).

Rimpoche: Thank you. Yes?

Audience: (inaudible) 1:24:53.1 then no audio until end of soundfile 1at 1:27:50.8