Archive Result

;;Soundfile 19950828GRSR_03

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Summer Retreat

Topic White Tara

Transcriber Carol Shuford

Date September 4, 2021

0:00:00.0 Those of you who have been associated with us a number of times I don’t have to remind you but those of you who are new here or have forgotten I’d like to remind you the most important activity in this first is as setting of your motivation. The reasons why you would like to go through this very practice or whatever. Why I say whatever there’s a number of different things in Tibetan buddhism traditionally. Whatever you think it is in there we are conducting for seven weeks no sorry seven days ha ha ha sorry ha. ha seven days ahh the reasons why you want to go through with this why you want to spend time especially when you don’t have it. In the United States the most shortage is the time. Everybody doesn’t have time so I mean I don’t mean everybody doesn’t have time I don’t think there are so many people who have time. So but yet still you take out time and come out here to spend whole week. And the whole of them why you want to do this especially this time. You have come you don’t know what’s going on and I keep on receiving the inquirers what is the schedule? What’s going on? And I keep on saying there is no schedule. Nothing is going on. Yea and ahhh so like Kathy and Debbie who keep on saying what nothing what can I say stop joking what’s going on what should I tell them? Nothings going on. No schedule. So yet you still showed up. Which means why you want to sit there Robert Huh? Just get in.Get in. Get in sit with people now. Wherever you know. So. People are very modest. They leave this front row completely empty they like to sit back. Anyway that’s fine. So anyway still you showed up here and so I do not know why. Maybe you thought something wonderful thing was going to happen and maybe you have too much trust on me. I hope not. Ahh and maybe you think it’s a Tibetan buddhist practice.

0:04:08.0 Whatever the reason might be you know the reason. I do not know why you are here but I do know what I am going to do. It’s not that I don’t know what I am going to do. I do know what I am going to do. But however you don’t know what I am going to do. Ahh so still you are here so what I would like to tell you first what to do is set your motivation straight. That’s the first step. So why I’m here definitely you are not here to make money. You may have reasons you’re going to be here to maybe it will improve my health. And if that is the reason you are wrong. You are at the wrong place, I’m not going to say you’re not going to improve your health you may. But if you come for that purposes you came to the wrong place. Ahh and if you have come here to see the famous people like Allen and Philip and all around you have seen them you better go home now. Ha ha ha ha true. So find out why you’re here. Ahh this is not place we are going to show you how you become rich. This is not the place how you are going to build up your popularity. This is not here to make ahhhhh matchmaking contact place. I don’t know what I’m talking tonight. So not. This sort of oh you don’t know why you’re here. All this are the wrong motivations. What I’m trying to tell you this are the wrong motivations. So the motivation here what I what we want a motivation here this may not make sense to you those who are new. But those who are here all the time they know. The motivation here the best motivation to become enlightened. If you don’t know what that means ask somebody else who knows in the next couple of days.

0:07:13.1 And ahh if you can’t make it that at least bring yourself to the level that you can free yourself from the control of delusions. anger hatred jealousy especially ignorance. Even you can’t make it that at least be a little nicer person a little kinder person. Try to develop some kind of sense of love and compassion. Love compassion to others to yourself and to everybody. And that will be your purpose why you are here. That should be your motivation. And that is what you though we tell you don’t hope for anything but that’s what you should hope to get it. Nothing else. You’re not going to get it anyway so. That’s the sort of step number one and I would like you to set up the motivation for that because I do know everybody is short of time. However you take out whole week out of your busy whatever your long schedule whatever you have. Out of that you take out a whole week and try to be here. You need to get something to benefit you and that’s what you aim for. That will be the step number one to setting your motivation. So since tomorrow morning the moment you wake up first thought is set up your goal and give yourself a commitment that you are going through to spend this time for achieving that purpose. Remember that every morning. Whenever you hear the gong we’re looking for the gong and the gong is missing so I saw John brought a drum ha ha right? a musical drum and musical and all these instruments what is this anyway? Ha ha ha ha do you have some kind of band here or what?

0:10:41.1 Some musical band here. It looks like coming out here there’s a drum and things coming out

0:10:54.0 [audience: its Tony’s drum kit] That’s why they are coming out of those. So Tony will have forgotten the gong and brought the drum set ha ha ha just joking. So anyway whenever you hear the well at least this will make some noise in the morning when you hear it and ah the sound of wake you up I don’t know who is doing it we haven’t said but I hope Shalan. How you feeling Jessica? You okay? Good good. May you can maybe we can have Shalan and ah did I say the wrong name wrong again? Tony Mike did I say the name wrong huh huh

0:11:54.3 [audience: it sounded like Shalan to me] Okay. And ah thank you both. She’s hiding she knows I’m talking about she’s hiding behind Tony. So the two of you wake everybody up. Theres no big one here so beat the small one till it breaks. So whenever they hear this sound and when you wake up think the motivation. Set up the purpose of whatever why you are here. Okay? So that is sort of step number one. And I’d like to remind you. I’m not going to go into traditional Buddhist way of saying for the benefit of all sentient beings one would like to obtain enlightenment those who know they know those who don’t know it doesn’t mean much anyway. So so have your goal and set up and remind yourself everyday. You say the rest of my life and particularly this week and particularly today’s day I will not waste I will do for that purpose.

0:13:41.0 And step number two here I will purposely not make any schedules. I try to avoid making schedules because in the United States people always have schedules. Deadlines. Schedules and you have them plenty outside so at least you living out of zone for one week. So the letter things fall by themself. bum bum bum moving some people will think it’s a disorganized letter but I think you really have a very tight schedule all the time. You don’t need it. However there has to be some schedule because the cooks will not know when to give the food. And things like that so therefore we just have a rough schedule. Very rough. Do we? Do we have that huh? Did you say yes or no or very very rough what did you say? Rough very rough okay. So I do expect everybody to get up not so early but at least by 6:00 or 6:30 with the exception of few people we who just can’t get up and that’s okay. But basically I would like people to wake up right about that time. And breakfast is 8:00 o’clock or 8:30. 8:30 thank you. But before breakfast I sort of expect everybody to meet here by about 7:00. I don’t know if you take a shower by then or you take shower later. I don’t know. But at 7:00. And what I’d like to do here we do have those prostrations and ah so so I’d like to have normally didn’t never did that before here in the United States. Simple reason some people don’t like prostrations. Some people can’t prostrate. Some people don’t know why they’re doing. butI’d like to do everybody a little prostrations and that sort of physical exercise combined with the spiritual practice together. Ahh Supa was supposed to be the person who was going to lead but he’s not here. So I don’t expect he will be here early tomorrow either. So I have to find somebody who will show this and but I would like everybody will do pros..and if you physically you cannot do it don’t do it. It’s not compulsory. And do have those prostration mantra and

0:17:25.9 [inaudible] …certain buddhas and all this are printed and they are supposed to be bringing them tonight but they’re not here. so so I hope maybe they’re not there tomorrow morning I don’t I don’t think they’ll be there tomorrow morning. So so we’ll work out something in the morning. So I build the prostration will be done every morning for I don’t think we can do the long prostrations because that’s a little difficult. But if you want to do the long you can sort of pull back and do the prostration. And ah if you don’t can’t do the long one you can do the short prostration. Do not do the prostration on your knees You know some people just sit on the knees and bow down like that. I noticed that. Don’t do it. Just sort of completely stand up and do the full prostration. I would like to talk to you a little bit about the prostration. Why it is important and ah what does that mean. It doesn’t mean anything that I am great and you’re great and this and that or I’m terrible so I’m seeking you know doing all this no. The word prostration here the translation the word is not that great at all. Originally the Tibetan word is cha and sel chok sel meaning admiring the quality of enlightened beings in this case Buddha, Tsonkapa, Tara and all other enlightened beings. We do have this thankhas here representing. This is symbolic representing Buddha. Just to remind you Buddha. Just to remind you Tara. Just to remind you of Tsongkapa and all of those. Admiring their quality and seeking their quality.

0:20:05.1 And during physical little hardship is not an exercise but making it a little hard so that it will purify our negativities. So for purification as well as for accumulation of merit combined together for that purpose we do some prostrations. I do not know how much we can do it how much I don’t know. So let’s see according to the time twenty-one twenty-eight thirty fifty hundred I do not know. I doubt it one can do hundred. Whatever. and that’s prostration will be everyday activity and then also we have those offering bowls are here. Normally what we do is somebody who knows how to do that fills up. And this time I would like everybody to come and fill it up. Making the offerings by everybody. And nine making offering of water of there’s lots of reasons I will tell you later but the water represents purity. So that’s why pure offering. And beside that I do not know the American city waters but the good old Tibetan mountain waters is supposed to have eight qualities. And each one of those eight qualities represents something ah connection between the individual and enlightenment. Connection between the individual and the outside element. And body’s internal element and external element condition connections and there’s many of those. So that’s why we choose to make water offering. And so it’s going to be a little disorganized manner but everybody try to fill up the water offering and put up the water offering and somebody can make straight afterwards.

0:22:58.3 And also in the evening take it out and wash those bowls and dry and fill it up next morning. I don’t know how many bowls you have. About 50 . But not everybody be able to do it but turn by turn whatever. What one did it today didn’t next day. Ah so that’s what you can do or you can do second offering in the afternoon. Those that did not get the opportunity in the morning take the bowls out in the afternoon wash them out and then make another offering in the afternoon. You can make twice three times or whatever doesn’t matter, It doesn’t have to be one time. Then also I would like to bring a lot of awareness within the individual. Awareness is very important because without awareness we do a lot of things without awareness. Without knowing what we are doing we do not sort of habitually do it. So we don’t have any control. So if you try to bring some awareness very useful is a sitting meditation and walking meditation. The walking meditation is we can sort of organize and walk together but most effective walking meditation you can do it individually. You can take a walk in the woods. You can take a walk to breakfast back and forth whatever. Just remember it. Think I am walking. Just put your mind pay attention to the walking. I’m taking my right foot. I’m taking my left foot. I’m putting up You know in Tibet traditionally in good old Tibet ah on the second month there is a big procession of the by a number of people the monks and also some lay people. There’s a setup in the 16th century by the during the Dalai Lama’s period. And I think it did for a number of purposes Purpose one is also to show the different offering instrumentals Tibet doesn’t have a public museum.

0:26:32.9 So what they did do have those different offering things instruments and all sorts of things. They used for the purpose of showing the quality and the wealth of the government or whatever it is. And they carried all sorts of thing which supposed to be over here you would not touch and things put in museum with locks and keys and guards and all this. So one monk will be carrying and walking and carrying round the street. So that’s probably certain purpose of public exhibition number one. But number two is also person who is carrying that person is total responsibility of the thing that will carry. Which has a lot of strings of jewels and things like that and is old and if you touch somewhere it will break and if you break you will get into trouble. And tremendous trouble not easy trouble they not let you get away with easily. So the person has to be totally aware of what the person is carrying and holding the whole day you know. It goes all the way from the central temple in Lhasa they go out and go through the market area completely. They go through in front of the Potala go around to the back of the Potala go to the Ramache Temple and get back to the central Temple and whoever gives that person the thing in the morning he has to hand it back to that person. He will look very carefully whether anything is missing. A piece of pearls has dropped out or something and the get into trouble. So they do that they take take the whole day the whole day. So that is the second purpose. Another thing is there’s a group of monks who be simply walking you know putting the right hand up the right leg up the right leg up and just put it down then put it completely down then great left leg picks up and puts it down then walks up and put it down and that’s what they do. And it takes a long time. These monks make them walk like two hours before all other processions come but by the time they finish completely they’ll be like another hour or something behind.

0:29:15.6 At the middle where in front of the Potala there’s a big those gold brocade thankas like we have here a big one hanging form the wall and they do prostration there. And one prostration will take a long time because the monk will have to take off his clothes the robe top very slowly and then goes and takes his hands up like this completely very slowly and then do the prostration. It takes a long time I don’t know what ten or fifteen minutes to do one prostration probably That’s what they do. So the idea is to be aware of what you are doing. I did ask this of Kyabje Ling Rinpoche HH Dalai Lama’s senior teacher I asked what it is. He said this is to bring awareness. You have to think I am walking with my right foot. Now Im walking with my left foot. NowIm going here. Now I’m entering the door. Now I’m sitting down. Now I’m opening the door. Now I’m closing the door. Now I’m sitting down. So each now I’m taking tea. Each one thing what you do is bring awareness. Acknowledgement almost you can talk to yourself this is what I’m doing what I’m doing constantly remember that. And then Kybje Rinpoche add up on that and he told me this is in the sutra in the Theravadan Hinayana sutra in this and that it is mentioned. And on top of that he said on top of that for Mahayana you have to think for the benefit of all beings now I’m opening the door of liberation leading everybody in. I myself is getting in. Now I’m getting out of the door of the samsara I’m leading everybody out. I’m getting out. Now I’m shutting the samsara door. Now I’m opening the liberation door for the benefit all beings add up one more. It is the second step not the first step but the second step and it becomes a Mahayana practice.

0:31:56.6 So I’d like to apply that. I like to apply that. So do that walking meditation. I don’t think we will organize and make people walk you know like this people do at some retreats they lead you in some walking meditation. And why you need that just be aware of it. Don’t spend too much time while during the eating and all this and don’t spend time to you know yapping all the time. sit quietly and bring some awareness eating food awareness. Chew well the Robert will tell you that how much you have to chew and your telling me yesterday

0:33:05.1 [Robert: 30-55] Thirty to 55 bites every two pieces. Well whether you have to have thirty to fifty five or not remember awareness. I am eating. Don’t spend whole time for yapping. And ah bring awareness in life. It will make a big difference when you get back in that busy world. If you pay attention bring awareness walking slowly acknowledge I’m walking. I’m sure you ‘re going to forget. I’m sure you’re going when you see someone say hi and chat chat for a little while. That’s bound to happen. Don’t worry but the moment you recognize what you are doing remember you just sit quietly and acknowledge walk with awareness. Sit with awareness. Eat with awareness. Drink with awareness. Sleep with acknowledgement which you can’t do. But if you can do when you become available to do it. You’ll make a hell of difference in your life. So motivation, prostration and awareness. Then after breakfast we will meet together here. And I would like to do a seven limb practice in conjunction with the White Tara longevity practice or Avolokiteshvara practice both of them are there. So we like to do I don’t know alternate or maybe both or maybe one of them or whatever. So the major focus will be Avolokiteshvara and White Tara which we will do after breakfast before lunch everyday. We have those a little simple little sadhana type of thing and we’ll add up the seven limbs on that. And we will do that. And I think I’m going to give you sort of ah guided practice on that. So let’s not talk about that tonight. That’s going to be before lunch. And the lunch is what time Debbie?

0:36:09.6 12:30. Could you have a little piece of paper write all this timing somewhere maybe they’re both behind you or somewhere. So then there’s lunch. And after lunch I don’t know if there’s going to be hot or cold so presume it’s hot and we call that Joyful Retreat so we’ll have a big gap there so purposely gap so people can go for walk with awareness or without awareness. You can go in the water swim with awareness or without awareness if you if you with awareness great if you without out awareness fine have fun. Then in the afternoon then ah different speakers will share their personal experience we have selected speakers coming in. I don’t know who speaks when, So whatever. So In the afternoon just before dinner you have that. and if you don’t want come for don’t want to listen it you don’t have to. There’s still swimming in the water whatever. Then dinner. After dinner in the evening I would like to give you a little bit of a basic ah Tibetan buddhist practice. What you can do everyday with your life. I’m not going to follow any traditional text or anything. Just basically what you can do with your life. How every chore that you have to do becomes a little more positive. Every thought. You know I’ve been noticing people ah who have little difficulties and certainly they freak out and think they have to protect themselves by doing all sorts of funny things. So that’s why by doing that with or without realizing you are building a little more negativity.

0:39:18.5 You’re irritating other people a little more than what you should be what you should be doing or should not be doing irritating little more. And ah so by doing that you make your life a little more miserable than what which you could have avoided easily. All of them under the pretext of protecting me or guiding me saving me and ah so let’s sort of deal with that talk how best way we can do. How much you can go how much you can’t go where you draw lines things like that. So every evening after tonight I thought we will come here and discuss. And you may have certain questions or if not it doesn’t matter. So that’s what basically we would like to spend time up to Saturday and I like to say a lot of mantra between this. Between the what is it breakfast and lunch either Tara or OM MANI PADME HUNG.We’re going to say quite a lot. We’re going to say quite a lot on that which I normally don’t I don’t encourage people to say mantras . I even object to people who wears a mala around their neck and I ah pretend to be somebody. I object to that all the time. Truly you’re nobody anybody can put a mala on their head. What a mala can cost three dollars four dollars anybody can afford to do that. That doesn’t make you a spiritual person. That doesn’t make you a better person. But however this time I’d like to say a lot of mantras and there are reasons and purpose and I give you the meditation whatever I could. I can’t give you total everything because a number of people don’t have initiation number of people do. Those who have initiation they know they used to know anyway.

0:42:12.6 If you don’t know you can pick up later. But whatever I going to share I share with that. And then Saturday we do have actual fire puja. Fire puja of White Tara fire puja. The reason why I’m doing the fire puja is two reasons. Self and others. Self because I did sort of a long retreat on White Tara before I did this actually a couple of months but I’ve been here and there but kept on constantly doing one session without break even three in the morning four in the morning or five in the morning. So I’ve been doing that and luckily I’m sort of a requirement the minimum requirement a number of years ago completed. So the completion of that that’s the self purpose. The others purpose is also you most of you have not seen the real fire puja at all. You might have seen the sort of ah artificial smoke puja that we do or semi-official fire puja. Ah semi-official fire puja sort of bonfire we throw things and pray. Ah that type of fire puja you have seen that but it is genuine total tantra style fire puja and you’ll be able to see that on Saturday. Unfortunately it’s not going to be very early I was trying to push it to the morning I don’t think I can. So might even be in the evening. So twice as … between Bloomingdale and the fire puja so ah and ah so that we will genuine fire puja too. Ha ha ha. So then what else.

0:45:11.1 Oh then Sunday we have almost the same schedule and somewhere in the evening we have tsoh offering it is also tsoh for those that do the tsoh. The Tsoh day falls around about that time. Maybe one day earlier one day later or something but you do this Tsoh day. And it is one the Tsoh day and second it is Sandy and Aura made that request because Geshe Ngwang Dharge who happens to be also Sandy and Aura have teachings from Geshe Ngawang Dharge. And also the first Tibetan teacher in the Tibetan library in Dharamsala who passed away in New Zealand and also a number of other teachers who passed away last two months or so for example the Ganden Tripa the head of the whole Gelukpa through Tsongkapa through Aura passed away and ah one of his deputy who’s going to be the next one also passed away and all of those a combination of ah prayerful wish to fulfill the wishes of the those masters and also for our own and we do make a tsoh offerings on Sunday. And Sunday or Monday Robert suggested that I should do a Manjushri initiation just for wisdom purposes. Normally we don’t do that in the Summer Retreat but Manjushri short initiation or blessing or whatever so instance of Robert Thibideau. So Robert here. So we’ll do that. That is the basically the the basic planning of what is happening in the week. And side by side we do have other things going on there will be there will be evening musics and you can see all these big things here. I hope it’s not loud.

0:48:05.1 So not very loud. Not so loud but a little bit’s okay but and then all this and I do want a sort of curfew at midnight even those that are playing music. If you go to bed by twelve it’s great. So you can get up by six. And those particular for those people who like to sit up the night like two three in the morning please go to bed by twelve. We will possibly push you down in bed.

0:48:49.7 [gap] Okay then every evening we should also have dedication stuff. We don’t have much long prayers to say like that usual thing the long Tibetan prayers you going to have a tsoh and all these are going to be long prayers but you don’t have much prayers to say because sometimes it doesn’t make much sense to people. We don’t have many them translated anyway. So there will be minimum of saying prayers and maximum advantage of meditating and doing something and the dedication is at the end everyday it must. Two most important first activity is motivation the last activity is dedication. I don’t know whether I should say it or not if you don’t dedicate even if you do good positive work and they all get somehow spoiled or consumed by fire of anger. So to protect those dedication is considered very important. And not only that if you dedicate it all little positive karma that you have it is like sort of getting a good investment opportunity with big huge companies who have a lot of money and even you have a very little amount by the power of that big company and a lot of money power you can get a lot of good yields right. You know that don’t you. You do don’t pretend to be right Mike? Okay. Anyway likewise if we dedicate with the dedication of buddhas and bodhisattvas so with that sort of with that power with that buying power or selling power or whatever is a huge amount of power and we get benefitted along with that so it is a good way of investing. Good investment for our positive karma. Protection from destroying. A good investment. I think that’s what it is.

0:52:11.9 If you have the capital. That’s what you do. So you spend the whole day trying to build up capital and at the end you dedicate it. So it’s a good investment. And that’s how we conduct the business for this week. Anybody have any questions? Oh food we have one of the best macrobiotic cooks here. Always the food is quite good during the all our retreats and I hope everything is okay but anybody have any individual difficulties you may contact Debbie and I’m sure you may make some reasonable arrangement. I don’t think you can cook each and every different people different things but a reasonable adjustment. And ah I’m sure you will have some discomfort of accommodations or whatever bathroom or toilet or whatever you know. So they’re there so you have to remember. Also have to remember you are not here for a picnic though we call it joyful retreat. And also this is not a five star hotel but even a three star not even a star. It’s also and learn how to adapt a little bit. Adaptable is one of the best trainings that I received as childhood by age of four or five. I do have photos of that period actually. I received one this year so I made a lot of copies for a few friends. So adaptability. I don’t know now if I can do it or not but those days I had a teacher a great teacher who virtually taught me how to meditate on lam rim stages by the by the age of four four and a half five six at that period. And there’s two big great teachers one is Geshe Rinchen Tenba who died in Dharamsala for early mid seventies. And another teacher who from whom Geshe Sonam learned those tsoh tunes … business guy

0:55:11.8 Business guy from Ya and both of them are learning how to meditate this from the teacher who’s teaching me. And so in the evening he would just put me in between in between two of those and I’m supposed to sit there until they finish the meditating. So I said I don’t know what to think right. He would tell me what to think a little bit but then I look up here and Geshe Rinchen Tenba sitting like this and won’t move. I keep on wondering when it going to stop and I look at this Sonam the next one he is sitting like this not asleep but sitting like this all the time and never gets up. I sort of sits there the whole day but it’s not. Actually it’s two three two hours or three hours sitting but that is the teacher. And ah he I do funny thing I was born in very very good family in Tibet and very well to do in our old society. And had a number of attendants and servants and all this. Even I’m not incarnate lama by virtue of family I have that. But when I was with Gay Rimpoche he sent back all the attendants and made me sleep on the floor and tell me yea yea you are big incarnate lama you never know what time will change you’ll have some period you’ll sit down there sleep here and I also I would go out during the daytime and dig the roots of some berries you know some red berries pick up the root clean them up cut them and put them in the clay pot with water put them in the sun. And in the evening pick them up. Put them inside the house and the next day I would put them outside with the sun heat it warm up and the juices of the root would come. That’s my tea. So if I don’t have that I don’t get tea. So that’s how I was trained. So because of that I’m not bad for adapting any condition whether it’s western culture eastern culture whatever it is somehow I’m not difficult to adapt. Of course I learned a lot but it’s not difficult to adapt. So adaptability is a good quality.

0:58:05.8 In the 1950’s during the Korean war Chinese used to the Chinese communist used to give propaganda in Tibet. So they said the Americans do not know how to fight. So during the war they have to bring the rubber pillow rubber mattress for the soldiers to put their knees on the ground before they shoot. So that’s propaganda of course. But that sort of idea they give you that Americans don’t know how to adapt. So even in the war you have to bring a rubber mattress to put your knees on ha ha ha in order to shoot. So adaptability is a good quality. And that’s a spiritual quality too. But if you if your health doesn’t permit or your difficulties create difficulty for others I’m sure Kathy will go to whatever extent she can do. I mean all the time you have those sort of thing going on on and on and on. I remember the change they do every change even until the last day you change right. So anyway. That’s about it. If you have any questions.

0:59:54.8 Mike. [questions about own food. times of things. Meat eating.. ]

1:03:17.4 [migtsema sung as dedication]

1:08:14.6

1:08:43.9 Thank you.

1:08:48.7 And I hope everybody had ah quite a comfortable sleep. First thing in the morning I would like to remind you There was a fourteenth century great Tibetan teacher he asked a question he said what is the beginning of meditation? The answer given like ah two hundred years later and the answer says the first meditation the first thing to do meditation is watching your mind. What does that mean watching your mind? Watching your mind here means whether your thoughts within you thoughts are what kind of thought is it? Is it oriented with negativity or is it with positive? Is it focused or shaky? That is the first thing. So naturally when you sit down and meditate first thing is what kind of thought you having. Just sitting down with the crossed leg or sitting on the chair is not necessarily meditating. So first watch your mind. Any negative thoughts thoughts that influenced by anger attachment or fear or any other have to be pealed off. Do not entertain.

1:11:16.3 At the same time you have generated motivation good motivation. So if anything influences with that it is the positive thoughts. So whole purpose of the dharma practice or spiritual practice you do is the correction of individual thoughts. Correcting. Whatever we have the bad habit or without any thinking that comes up any negative making correction to that is the real dharma. The word I repeat very often the word dharma in Tibetan is called cho. Cho means somebody who had corrected. Corrected what? Corrected our usual way of thinking, usual way of dealing. Ninety percent of our usual way is in negative way because we are so used to it. So correcting from it and making it positive. I mean that is that is most important which you can do all the time. All the time because whenever you go out and somebody looks at you slightly different and you say oh what is the matter with that person. What did I do? Instead of that just correct your thought. Well maybe that person have a hard time, maybe not. Just sort of at least don’t bother that sort of thing you know? So that’s how the stuff you take the normal way of normal attitude normal slightly changing a little positive way. And that is dharma. Dharma means correction. Correcting what? Correcting our usual habit of negative activity in the positive way. And also when you sit down watch your mind. We can normally normally we take your focus on this focus on that focus on any this does not matter it is true but most important thing what we do is dealing with mind watch it. Any negative thoughts comes recognize, peal it off, let it go. And then sit. Sit on it.

1:14:27.5 Any negative thoughts comes let it go. If you can’t change it into positive just let it go. If you can change into positive that’s great. The second, whether I told you yesterday I’m going to introduce you to prostration. Most of you know the prostrations but if you don’t know I would like to try to to show you. The prostrations is ah actually representing a respect giving to enlightened beings or even to all other beings by you by dong a physical gesture. The first is the folding of the two hands together. It has sutra meanings and tantra meanings and all this but actually let’s make the ultimate thing. Actually two hands coming together is a union. Union between mind and body okay that will be enough. Union of mind and body together representative. One here one there together. And ah what we are taught in the tradition of Tibet is we just don’t go this way but put your hands slightly this way. So even inside is something filled in. If you look at some of those thankhas all around some of the hands don’t go this way. What I was told in the monasteries when I was young is difference between buddhist and non buddhist tradition in India is whether you’re putting the thumb in or out. But sort of basically everybody goes in that manner whether either this way or that way. So that’s what it is representing union the body and the mind together. Then first thing is also touching on the forehead like this. The reason why you are touching is this is the highest point of ones body. So when you are giving respect to anybody sort of taking your highest point of your body as gesture bringing you know sort of touching from there is symbolically that’s what you do. However if you look in Buddha’s image, what Buddha had is some kind of extra lump on the head what we call ushnisha. Right? That is extremely difficult to get. This is considered one of those thirty two major signs of enlightenment body signs. So this is one of the most difficult to maintain. It costs tremendous amount of merit for that. I’m not sure whether every egg shaped head has that thing or not but ha ha but so and so by doing that it also accumulates merit.

1:18:56.2 Don’t you need to walk? By doing this accumulating merit to develop this very ushnisha and that’s one of the reasons why people touch this. A lot of people touch this but this one for touching. There are two things some people will touch here I do touch here in between and some people will go from here to here and direct three but I do four. Second reason again in between the two eyebrow is the one of the important physical point of human beings because it is the tip tip of the central channel. The upper tip of the central channel sits here. That’s why sometimes people will tell you meditate a light here or a white ball here or all sorts of things. It’s also the point of anybody you see the third eye it was open here. So it’s not necessarily extra eye here but it is the tip point of the central channel. So what happens is that’s the point where the internal inner me looks out comes out communicates. So that’s the real reason and normally if you look those images which doesn’t have the third eye even in Buddha there’s sort of a hair node here little piece of hair they put here. Right? And that is again from the sutra point of view the second most difficult thing to achieve. So that’s why to build a special merit or karma which will be able to materialize as the point here. That’s why you touch here. These two are the body part. And this touching here at the throat level is representing for speech. And speech or sound what we produce is particularly speech is most important. Important activity of the enlightenment you know way and how when you’re enlightened way and how you help your purpose is to helping others. Way and how you help is through communication and so communication is the most important. And out of all the communication the verbal verbal communication is the most easiest and effective. The visual too but verbal.

1:23:01.1 And so what you are communicating to others is your experience. Your experience is your guidance. And that’s how you guide other people is to share your experience is the actually you’re guiding. Sharing your experience is the real teaching. Book knowledge is book knowledge. Great scholarly work whatever but sharing you own experience is the real teaching. To make sure you don’t share the wrong thing mostly our experience are our negativities so that’s why make sure not to share the wrong thing. And you do maintain the guidance of the teaching, teacher, teaching which do include books and all this to make sure you’re not sharing the wrong thing. Otherwise the real teaching is the sharing of your personal experience. The point of sharing, communication is through here. And ah throat is important right everything that goes in or comes out. So the speech level. And also one of the extraordinary qualities of the Buddha was, whatever language or dialect he speaks and people had been understood in their own dialect.

1:25:07.3 [Tibetan]

1:25:13.0 We sort of do this these days by through the help of interpreters and ah electronic system. So somebody speaks in one language and simultaneously translated in different languages. So during the Buddha’s time Buddha was supposed to be understood in their own language by the different people without depending on translators. It is the quality of the particular ultimate speech quality. Not only that alright when the knot. You call that the knot. The knot on the throat chakra when it is released I’m not I don’t mean when people do physical massages said I open your chakra balah balah balah I don’t mean on that sort of release. When actually when the blockage block all the throat chakra when it is released what happens that people that person’s communication to other beings are tremendously improved without putting much efforts. Whatever they say becomes helpful. Whatever they composed becomes a great presentation. Whether it is poetry or just simple presentation.

1:28:02.6 or music or whatever. So that is the release of the throat chakra. Ah well since I said knot and then just said throat chakra, throat chakra is not knotted. What happens is the central channel in the center of the throat chakra, has not only the throat chakra , every chakra, every level, the central channel of ours is not functioning. It is functioning the right and the left wind pipes or whatever, the two other channels are functioning and they overpowered squished or smashed the central channel. And so when I say its unknotted means that squishing part of the central channel is released then those functioning is taking place. And that’s why touching over here, over here, over here all of them also also generating merit or positive karma to be able to open them. Just by touching alone it’s not going to help to open otherwise you can touch all the time. It’s not. It’s not knocking from the outside and trying to open it. What you are doing is you’re admiring the quality of the enlightened person’s speech, the quality and admiring it. Knowing it is quality admiring it and then going for it. That’s what it is. I seek your quality means going for it. So with all this attitude, thoughts, and open mindedness and dedication when you touch it it works. It builds up ground at least. And then builds up on top all the time. Each one of those positive karmas that we build are like a saving a water in the bucket. If you keep on putting a drop in the bucket every day, when you look at it it’s not, it’s useless kind of thing you know putting a drop in the bucket every day. So what you doing sort of thing. However when it’s done day after day, week after week, month after month, it gets somewhere. And there’s a time when wow the bucket’s been filled. Remember that that’s how you walk do your spiritual path always. It’s not going to be filled up all of a sudden poof like that. And now we can put the water hose and fill it up . It is not possible for us. And also not going to work well. So the only thing what we can do is bring a drop put it in there every day. That’s why daily practice you do constantly it’s so important. It builds up day after day

1:32:22.0 week after week, month after month, year after year the bucket get fills up. Well I said that at this level but anyway. So then the third one or fourth one is touching at your heart level. The level where your heart chakra is. The heart chakra for us it is considered one one of the most, the most rather, important chakra. Because the center of the heart chakra is the supposed to be whether it now maybe it’s different between east and west, but it’s supposed to be the base where your consciousness remains. It is sort of ah even in the west if you think of thinking or intellectualize the idea you point it out the brain up here right and when you say its in your guts you point it down here somewhere go up to the stomach but its up to here. It’s real base source of consciousness and so that’s why it is important. Though you can not trace but if you are supposed to trace where you are and so go all your physical part so the point finger where you can really point is the center of the central channel. That is the source of the mandala source of the functioning and that’s why that’s why you touch here. So then finally what you’re doing is actually you’re looking at enlightenment enlightened being not necessarily those thankas.

1:35:06.4 Thankas are drawings. These are the you know cloth what do you call it appliqué sort of piece of cloth cotton staged or stuck against another piece of cloth which doesn’t mean enlightened being nor does the drawings or posters. But the real enlightenment being is the wisdom being which somehow physically represents like this. Tibetan Buddhism is very symbolic so you have a lot of symbols and this and that. This is supposed to be how that particular enlightened being look like. So whatever it maybe your own spiritual field of merit you have to generate by yourself. These can be representative but if you rely on the representation and don’t rely on piece of cloth but a living in life ah best thing for me is generate some your own spiritual field of merit in the space before so that’s why everything wherever you read says in the space before me bhala bhala bhala. So what you really do is space in before you before ourself each one of you have to think yourself. You don’t have to think others. Though we say space before us but so don’t think a big group and then in front. You can do that but you are the center figure. You are the most important one. So right in front of you where you can look. Where you can watch. Where you can touch. Where you can talk. Where you can communicate. Where you can get answers. Where you can get guidance. And in there so generate from the Buddha’s point

1:37:45.3 [recording ends mid sentence]