Archive Result

;;Soundfile 19950829GRSR3_01

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Summer Retreat

Topic White Tara

Transcriber Carol Shuford

Date 10-28-2021

0:00:00.0 [begins in mid-sentence] reasons like the [Tibetan] jambu el ah duche..

0:00:09.3 Like a great wisdom bodhisattva or the great dedicated bodhisattvas whatever they have dedicated their good work I would like to dedicate in the same way for the same purposes which is recommended. It’s not that they want to take your credit. It’s not that they want to take they want to cash your benefits. But the reason why they recommending is

0:00:46.4 [Tibetan] chi dala daju chem on chude lo jadu matsu datu chen temen zetengen ja zu …

0:00:55.5 So if you have if you have drop of water and if you mix that drop with the great lake here since we’re in Michigan. So if you mix that with the great lake so until the total great lake is exhausted your drop of water will not get exhausted. No one can tell you your drop is finished. It remains. It mixed with the great one. Does that make sense to you? It’s common it’s common sense will tell you. That’s why I’m recommending for whatever the enlightened beings dedicate I dedicate for that. Then you don’t have to worry about it. All I dedicate for the it won’t bother me. So you are included in that and whenever you need it you get it. It’s there. It’s yours. Nobody else going to take it from you. Ah usual teachings they have a very interesting example here. And I’m sure many of you have heard. Many of you have read about it. But a few of you might not have. So I like to share that. There was two travelers in Tibet traveling from a long distance towards Lhasa somewhere. One is a little wealthy one and one is poor. The wealthy one has you know in old Tibet the staple food for the Tibetans what we call it sampa. It is barley flour. And when it’s made out of barley it is nice white and clean. But those who cannot afford to have that good barley and they make out of pea you know the black pea without removing the skin. And if you remove skin that is good that becomes a delicacy. But with the skin when you grind it and then you have a lot of black spots. So the poor person is carrying a little bit of ah that black pea grinded sampa in the bag. And the little well to do is carrying big bag of barley flour And they seem to be stopping at every spot. In old Tibet you don’t have motels or restaurants so you have to go and carry your own food. So think about that.

0:03:59.3 So they seem to be stopping on the same places all the time but then they’re carrying away. So the poor person thought one day well maybe I should offer to carry the load for him so that I can we can eat together. We can mix them and eat together. It may be beneficial for me. So he broached that for the wealthy one said well we seem to be stopping the same places. We’re going to the same place. And ah we ate together but you have to cook and you have to make yours and I make mine and why don’t we mix our sampas together and I carry it for you. And he thought wow that’s great. Let’s go ahead and do it. So they mixed them together and carry and kept on eating equal amount. So then the day found the sampa become quite little so the wealthy one start thinking well I had a lot and this fellow had very little. And we’ve been eating the same thing and now it’s about finished. Maybe his is gone. It’s very low so I should tell him stop eating now. So he thought about it and said hey don’t you think yours is gone? Because when we mixed them I got a lot and you got very little. He said I’m sure mine is gone but we can look. So he said oh yeah. He looked it and he sees a lot of black spots everywhere and says oh mine is still here here here here here. And then that’s it. So that is the story they used to in the traditional teachings they tell you that story. So the recommendation of dedicating the positive karmic to whatever the enlightened beings dedicated to obtain enlightenment for yourself and for other beings etc etc. For healing for this for that you can do it. And there’s no objection or anything but however recommended in that way. So if you dedicated all of your positive karmas sort of are sort of put in safe keeping. So there’s very simple seven little things to do. Seven little exercise. It is a huge spiritual activity. You just have seven lines here to read it. And seven different exercises you can mentally apply or physically function. So that’s what you can do and it’s so simple so easy yet it is tremendously beneficial. So that’s what I recommended you to take this home when you go home. Do it yourself whenever you want to if possible everyday.

0:07:09.1 Ha ha ha …Okay so I guess oh I’m sorry I’m a little bit gone beyond time. So that’s it. So I stop here. And tomorrow morning ah just like this morning but we don’t…

0:07:37.8[next morning] Good morning everybody and ah ah I hope everybody had a good night’s sleep. But what I understood in certain areas had a little difficulty. And ah since the ah I think I take this opportunity to address that issue. Ah of course it is disturbing ah ah silly little meditation or practice is a little annoying and we have to take all the precautions but at the same time it is also great opportunity to generate compassion. And ah it’s very interesting and use the occasion and opportunity instead of getting irritation. But a cause of generating a compassion and that is the best way. I don’t think I am going to talk very long but give you a little short story. When great Atisha the founder of the Kadam tradition or the great Bengali scholar who came to who really brought pure perfect Buddhism into Tibet. That sound funny as though there’s no pure perfect Buddhism before but Atisha made it perfect. And ah so Athisha brought that to Tibet. And ah along with that Atisha brought one acharya. Of course the acharya is the degree of respect in India right? However we used to say atsara in old Tibet in the sense it is some kind of Indian joker type of ah even dressed differently give you that sort of a picture. Instead of acharya as respect like a so and so PHD you right here that’s equivalent to acharya. However the Tibetans perceived it as acharya as atsara and a joker type of thing.

0:10:15.7 The reason why that had happened is because ah Atisha brought one of those atsaras with him and so he is irritated. He’s always challenging Atisha and doing some funny things and getting irritating Atisha all the time. So finally the Tibetan ah the spiritual leaders over there have decided to request Atisha to send this acharya back atsara back to India. And Atisha said oh no he said he is my best friend available here to generate my patience. So he said the purpose of he being here is to generate my patience. So I just want to share that story and then we’ll proceed to our daily work. ha ha ha . Okay so oh oh oh oh I ‘m sorry. I’m glad I saw this.

I’m supposed to oh not this one only this one. I’m supposed to share that with you. I was supposed to do that yesterday I forgot. Ah all the Tibetan made rugs on the floor in the conference center and thankas hanging in the conference center are for sale. And ah proceeds from these sales of the rugs and thankas benefit Jewel Heart and Tashi Serling School for the children in Tibet. Ask about huh? What is lay away? For thankas rugs and what is this ? Statues I’m sorry. Also we can special order rug thankas and statues right? All that here you go. Are you hanging that somewhere? So anyway ah I don’t think these three at the back with the scarf are for sale. But they are very good ones and they all came from Tibet just now. Most of those thankas are and most of these are proceeds mostly really directly go for the ah the school in Tibet. Individual person who made those schools they made about six or seven schools already in small villages. So not only you are getting a beautiful art piece but it also benefits goes for long way for saving a culture and ah language and especially difficult area in Tibet.

0:13:39.4 And situation in Tibet is of course is very mixed. In one way it looks you know Tibetan culture is really getting destroyed now from two directions. One of course the Chinese well I’m in America I should say Chinese Communist organization ha ha Senator Holmes would like that. Ha ha ha I’m just joking. Ah and destroying the traditional cultures and religion particularly Buddhism and all this. And in another way is ah what we call it? What the Chinese call market civilization or they don’t call it market civilization they call it market economy. Anyway in the name of civilization ah what they’re doing is they are not really having the development what we really thought Tibet should have it or deserve it like environmentally sound ecologically adaptable at the good things. You know we can definitely there’s ways and means at this moment we can almost bypass the the difficulties that we faced including bringing acid rains and all this. I think there is knowledge and technology that can bypass that and can go directly. However we are not. What the Chinese call civilization market what is it market economies or whatever all these are tremendously damaging ecology the land the culture the traditional culture traditional way of life and ah so sort of it is destroying in both directions in the form of civilization. Which you all know I don’t have to repeat. You in the west very well where we get up to here the acid rains in the midwest. And that’s what we call they call it civilization what’s going on. And day and night Mathew will probably tell you when he gets here on Saturday. He said the construction is going on day and night twenty four hours. And ah he was telling me on the telephone he said those beautiful Vajrayogini statue in Norbulinka the Summer Palace of His Holiness he said he was looking at it and it’s such a beautiful its building up sort of great admiration and suddenly he hear a boom went and he jumped up. Because he said they’re using the what you call those dynamite or something blowing up something and building up something that is what is going on.

0:17:07.2 Twenty four hours a day at the maximum speed they could work. So naturally they’re destroying that. At the same time what we call this market economization or whatever it is and they think it is the traditional way and the ancient wisdom is a stupidity. Even younger generation of the Tibetans who also many of them have been influenced and think that way. They think it is necessary for you to smoke cigarette it’s cool. It is good to drink it is fashion you know like that in that style. It’s sort of really going destroying inside as well as outside. It is only external destruction what we went through the cultural revolution etc. It’s very hard to destroy but when it comes in the form of what you call it so called civilization it is very hard to protect. And this is what is going on now. So anything whatever can be a help it has been very useful. And we sort of really urgently wanted to do whatever the best way we can do to help there and looking in many ways. But even indirectly benefitting the schools and all this. And ah so it looking funny a Buddhist center where you have all these Buddhist thangkas and all this valuable and at the same time it’s also for sale. But it is not even right to a Buddhist center to sell Buddhist statues and Buddhist books and things like that. We abstained from doing that for many years and we keep on saying no no no. But lately they see the situation. So one of the great Tibetan teacher called Drukpa Cunleg who had come who founded the Drugkpa Kagu tradition. So Drugkpa Cunleg is a little bit a crazy wisdom a real true crazy wisdom. Drugkpa Cunleg was traveling in this in this in this street of Lhasa and he’s carrying a book a religious text book on his shoulder. So religious textbooks are very well respected. It’s equally respected as that of a Buddha. So you don’t jump on don’t sit on don’t do that sort of thing. Don’t leave it on the raw carpet or ground. So that’s what they do. So the Drungpa Cunleg is carrying it with great respect. So the dog came and started biting him. So what he did he took the book and hit the dog with the book and said

0:20:25.4 [Tibetan] gak ja ching a she shos .. He said there’s a big objection of using the book as a weapon here to protect but the need is more important than the objection. It may be auspicious of hitting the book on the head of the dog. That’s what he said. So you follow in the same footstep. So there is an objection but the need is more greater than objection. I’m sure there’s a lot of discussion in the west and ends means needs and all this sort of thing. But whatever it might be but here this is the condition. That’s why we’re in this situation. And ah I guess I better stop talking otherwise I ‘ll be no where. So ah we still like to do the I don’t know we did Tara yesterday so who shall we do Avalokiteshvara today or should we continue with Tara. Your choice. Tara okay. Ha ha ha ha so. Okay we have said this refuge yesterday so I’m not going to repeat today. Ah by practicing generosity and other perfections other positive actions may I attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. Did we explain that yesterday that half portion? huh? What did that mean Amy?

0:22:20.0 [Amy: You touched on a lot of it and then you said we’re not going to do so much more now.] Alright. Let’s do a little bit. Can you keep me keep the time I don’t want it to be unfinished. However I like to talk a little bit about this. Basically what makes ah what makes buddhist? Those of us who claim to be Buddhist. What makes us to become a buddhist? Which is the line? Where would you draw the line? The line was drawn when you take refuge to Buddha dharma and sangha. I did introduce you to Buddha the historical point the result oriented refuge all of them yesterday. And dharma sangha all three. So I’m not going to talk about that. When you take refuge to Buddha dharma and sangha just taking refuge will that be enough? No. I don’t think so. Taking refuge is a great thing. When you go it is like seeking protection. So you go to Buddha dharma and sangha say hey I need help. Will you help? And they will say yea I will help if you if you listen to me. Or I will tell you what to do. I will give you suggestion what you should do. And ah you say okay okay. So you listen and if you follow it it may help you. But if you don’t follow it it is just like you go and see a doctor. Say hey doctor I’m having a problem. I have pain here ache here there here what do you think? He does an examination and he says oh I think you have this and this problem. I think you should take this and give you a little prescription. Right? So you take the prescription and put it in your pocket and don’t buy the medication at all or throw it in the garbage and say oh I’ve seen doctor. Yep I have seen doctor that’s fine. Will that make a difference? Probably not.

0:24:59.7 So it is the same as this take refuge to Buddha dharma and sangha and say yeah I took refuge hmm hmm. I been there. Okay aww aww okay that will not help. So you have to take the prescription and make use of it. Get the drugs or whatever it is and buy it and use it. So likewise like the prescription what Buddha dharma and sangha give to you by taking refuge they simply say yeah I can help you if you can help yourself. And if you can’t help yourself I can do nothing. That is true fact. Think that way. I mean it is a little stupid statement however think that way. If Buddha and dharma and sangha can do by without your any efforts we will not be here today. Why should you get stuck here. They should have lifted us long time ago. Whatever the way may be. It apocalyptic or Armageddon should have happened years ago or centuries ago or even eons ago. It did not. We’re still here. The fault I don’t think lies on Buddha dharma and sangha. It lies on us because we did not give them opportunity to do anything. Right or wrong? You agree or you don’t agree Padma? She doesn’t want comment right now. Ha ha ha ha ha ha okay. Well if you think about it if they have opportunity they would have done their best. But who owns our body mind speech? We. They don’t. Who owns our karmic karma? We not they. Right? So who’s responsible for ourself? Ourself not them. What I’m thinking is something very funny. You know what came up for me? I say I almost said the state is not responsible for yourself but you are responsible for yourself. I was thinking from the Communist line but however it sounds like Republican. I’m sorry ha ha ha ha ha .

0:28:15.8 I don’t mean that well okay. So but we are responsible to ourself absolutely true. So and that’s why their responsibility lies to only show you the way. Show you the way. Show you the way is showing the way is sharing the experience is showing the way. And I told you that a number of times. There’s no point in repeating it. It’s not that Buddha’s life or for that matter Tsongkapa’s life or for that matter Gyalway Ensapa’s life or this its its its not that they don’t have a mystical part of life at all. They do. It’s not that they don’t have crazy wisdom at their activities. They do. However their magical activities are not considered one of the outstanding activities at all. If you look down like you know twelve ah principle events of the Buddha’s life and all this or the Jakata Avatan stories. If you look in that there’s a millions of different activities however the most important activity of all is like Tsongkapa said

0:29:55.3 [Tibetan] zabe kun la soong zaba chu hey ani…. So the so what we have to appreciate Buddha’s is his sharing of the experience. Most important activity is activity of speech.

0:30:16.2 [Tibetan] zab ah kun su cho e ….Why Buddha’s speech is more important? Because

0:30:26.3 [Tibetan] ky se che sensumbye chenba latumba la ne may ..

0:30:33.5 Buddha who had seen reality. Who had experienced the development. As you experience. As you felt it. As you develop you share it. So that’s why Buddha is considered an equivalent-less masters is not the academic ah dry I don’t mean I’m not insulting academics but dry academic information fired up by professors who give you ah very ah what you call it huh? [ audience: theories] Huh? I’m not looking for that particular word. Very impressive ah understanding lectures but the things what you say is coming from your heart from your guts from your experience. And sharing what you feel felt what you experience and that’s why

0:31:47.7 [Tibetan] chendra temba laname chendra temba laneme. So whatever you know. You feel it you experience. Knowledge as not as knowledge nor as not as knowledge but knowledge you put in experience and become quality of the person and then sharing that. And that makes Buddha equivalent-less. Get it? And that’s the that’s the prescription they give us. And then what is the essence of that prescription? It boils down to basically it’s really the bottom line the bottom line is they tell you basically you can boil it down to Four Noble Truths. That is the Buddha’s way he experienced total life and that’s what he shared with everybody a total life. That’s what it is. Basically it boils down to Four Noble Truth. And that to me is the most important and applicable to everybody whether you are buddhist or not buddhist. As long as you’re a human being with sense and with understanding. If you’re crazy it’s different story all together. Otherwise if you have sense it is the life what we experience. The life what we have. Life what we will have. We have experienced same thing in our past life. We are experiencing now. Where we going to go in the future we will have the same thing. This is the basic Four Noble Truth is in one way simple and basic in another way this is profound and ah what is the other word? Vast thank you. Profound and vast that’s what it is. And I’m quite sure everybody will have idea of what Four Noble Truth is but I’m not going to count here and say. Truth number one is truth of suffering. Truth number two is cause of suffering. Truth number three is cessation. Truth number four is path. I’m not going to say that though I said it. But the point really is truly the first noble truth what Buddha really introduced is truth of suffering right? And that is exactly what we have.

0:34:46.0 Exactly. We have ….suffering. We may deny we do. Everybody almost most of the time sixty percent or eighty percent of the time their eyes will tear. They face are a little longer our not they. Our eyes will tears. Face are a little longer and many times we don’t want to talk about it. And that’s not bad. Then it takes one more step and goes to come to the edge of the rope. And then you get off the rope. That’s we experience right? You know what I’m talking about it. Everybody. I hope so right? You didn’t get it anybody didn’t get it what I’m talking about? Did anybody? You didn’t get it. Then tell me to clarify that you know. I’m talking about I’m trying to introduce the suffering. And when you look in our life not only we have difficulties I’m not going to say here there’s three sufferings eight sufferings this and that . I’m not going to say that. It is there you know it. But basically what we experience is dissatisfaction. Things doesn’t show out as we wanted so you don’t look it. Then we cry for it and we we we experience lots of emotional problems. We sit in the corner. We cry. We have a long face and we say we don’t want to talk about it. And that’s not bad. And some people goes beyond that level and you may not be able to help you need chemical help. You don’t need chemical help. Then you go beyond that you know and then the person reach to the edge of the rope. You know? And then maybe you be able to help. Maybe you not be able to help. Maybe the person be able to clean it up. Maybe they not be able to clean it up. Then go off the rope completely and ah then then people may have to run away whatever it is. Move your building away and then goes to get out of area code. What is it called area code or something you know. And that’s what happens. And this is basically is our life. That’s what I’m talking about it. You get it? Jonathan?

0:37:40.7 [Jonathan: What happens if you don’t feel that yourself in your own life?] Great. Enjoy your life. Why not? Why not? Ah you may not have direct experience but we see this as applicable existing as very progressive. It may show it may not show and that’s the reality truth I know. But when you look around you see it with almost everybody. So that’s the problem here is the recognition. The recognition. The suffering’s there there’s no denial. Everybody accept that. But the connection between the suffering and the individual is the difficult point. Some people like to some people don’t like to acknowledge. Some people like to deny it’s there. The purpose of introduction of the first noble truth is to acknowledge.

0:39:00.4 [Tibetan] dung yeshebira cha gong jung powa ye cha go pungmuen eh cha lang powa ye cha. So the purpose of the First Noble Truth is to recognize to acknowledge. Another point is if the prisoner keep on thinking in prison are it is wonderful house very comfortable safe. I’m not sure how safe it is but one thing I’m sure is you don’t have to pay your bills. You don’t have to pay your bills yeah true. You get blankets. You get bath. You get food good or bad. You get medical. I think you get medical don’t you. You do. So you get medical. So it’s not that bad. It’s quite comfortable maybe. And if you keep on thinking in that way looking in through that manner manner and ah then the somehow the person will not have recognition of this is something wrong. You are forcefully isolated by society making sure that you don’t harm anybody else. That is one of the main reason I believe and I hope it’s not for punishment but for protecting others hopefully. Maybe both who knows. But I was hoping it is for protecting others rather than then sort of idea of punishing it. You know? So anyway so sort of a if you look in the problems if you deny all this problems disadvantages and turn them into advantages like you don’t have to pay your bills and all this the person will be in there forever anyway. So ah whatever even if they do funny things in order to get back or even if they do funny things not to get out of it. All these are we have seen it. In one way the television is great. In another way it is terrible. It’s terrible because it wastes all your time and do all sorts of bad things. But also but also it shows you the total melodrama of samsaric life. Whether it is with O.J. Simpson or whether it is with whatever it may be whoever it may be Susan Smith. Right? Recently all this we have. It is basically the funny the melodrama of a human life human behavior human attitude human suffering made into entertainment. And ah show you so when you look at it if you look as an entertainment and sit there and watch and say ha ha ha and then it is ha ha ha . But if you sit there and acknowledge as wow this is exactly how human life is. This is how fragile the human condition is. This is how painful human life is.

0:42:41.1 Just put yourself in the position of O.J. Simpson for a minute. The every single damn thing in your life was exhibited with a picture through out the world day after day. It’s like an office job. It start at what time is it nine o’clock in the morning or something right and goes until four or five in the evening whatever it is and goes out and exhibits there. And then everybody will make judgements. Guilty not guilty guilty yeah no yeah no all this. Put yourself in that position for a minute. That shows you shows you how everything. Put yourself in the Susan Smith position for a minute. Imagine that you did this and then you are like that person. What are you going to think about it? How you can bear it. By chance you happens to be just by chance we are not O.J. Simpson. Just by chance we are not Susan Smith. But that’s there. The conditions’ there. Everything’s there. It is by chance. That is human suffering. Then think about it. Other sufferings around. Some of them we feel bad and sorrow and we console people and say I’m sorry about it or whatever. Some of them we laugh at and giggle. Did plenty last night. I did. Sorry. And ah so I’m sorry but you know I just can’t help it. Ha ha ha so so things like that. And all this and look at yourself your own condition your own difficulty. Who doesn’t have difficulties? Everybody. We may think the millionaires they’re okay.They’re a millionaire they’re okay they can do anything they want. They can’t do anything they want. Look at O.J. Simpson. And look at the poor people they can’t do anything they want to. But hey have to think where their next meal is coming from. What I’m telling you poor people. I’m not talking about the poor people in the United States. No matter how poor you may be in the United States you are well off. It’s true. People don’t like it when I say that. They don’t like it. But but maybe you people have not traveled outside. If you go to India or Africa you see them. Go to Tibet you’ll see them.

0:45:47.2 The homeless people in the United States is a wealthy among the Indian Coolies. It doesn’t have to be Coolies but that’s what it is. Okay I don’t want to carry out on that. I’d rather stop here.

0:46:08.1 [ends]

0:46:17.0 When we created the cause you’re bound to have a result. That’s the situation of the First Noble Truth. Once you recognize and only once you recognize and you in the sense to be able to acknowledge that. And then the question rises is there a way out? The way out is definitely there because these problems and pains did not came out here without cause . It not that somebody throw them from the sky and landed on you like a what we have recently? What you call it? Huh? huh [Audience: hurricane?] No no no. Yeah it hit the mobile home.The suffering didn’t come in that way.

0:47:36.2 [audience looking for words] If you don’t know what it is it doesn’t mean that it’s not. Ha ha ha ha ah. Anyway so the sufferings are not sort of landed on your lap. I don’t think you brought in our nature. And ah it is because of the cause it came. And not only okay now I forgot I’m not going to go not only one cause but multiple cause and all this but since it is cause and effects. If you can work with cause you can definitely work with not definitely work but your result is automatically carried throughout. The result is carried automatically corrected. So therefore you don’t work with suffering but you work with cause of suffering. That is the key of what the Buddha tells us. Is if you work with cause of suffering and that was with not so much with the karmic cause what cause the delusion cause. Karmic cause is the result of delusion cause not coming as karmic. Are you with me? Okay so the question rise how do I deal with my problem? So don’t treat the symptoms. Treat the cause. Then treat the intermediate cause a little bit but don’t put all your focus on that. Put all your focus on the real cause that is the delusion cause. Delusion here is nothing less than anger hatred jealousy fear so and forth. Remember the six of those delusions and twelve and twenty what you call it? Near dear secondary delusions or whatever they are called huh? Secondary thank you. Secondary delusions are all this. But even twenty and twenty six and twenty six forget about it . Boils down to the three things anger attachment and ignorance. The ignorance is the total cause. The total cause is the ignorance but you cannot deal directly. So try to deal with anger. Try to deal with attachment. And that is our problem. Friends that is Buddha’s message. That is the problem and that is the cause of suffering that is cause of your problem my problem everybody’s problem. Your friends’ problem your nearest problem your dearests’ problem people you care problem lies there. It’s not that intermediate action or that person who did something. It happens to be a condition.

0:50:43.2 And conditions spark the cause and you get the result. It happens to be the condition. But the reality is the cause we created. We have a problem. We created good cause we enjoy. I like to say ladies and gentlemen that is the point. That is meaning of cause and condition. So Buddha really says when you see the First Noble Truth you just look where it’s coming from it is the cause. That is the real message. So then what happens? How you treat. The Fourth Noble Truth the path is the experience that Buddha shared because he is just like us before. As stupid as we are as emotional as we are as problematic as we are but he found a way out. It is unfortunate we should have been there. True. So that is the path. Whatever you’re doing here okay let me tell you what is the path. Path number one acknowledge the difficulties the pains we’re in. Acknowledge the fragile condition where we are in. Acknowledge we are not free from those. And pass a resolution by yourself for yourself seeking freedom. Of course you think I’m American I am free. Sure you’re American. We are American. We have freedom sure. Politically supposed to be but I think we are dominated either by the Republicans or the Democrats anyway so. Ha ha ha so really true. But really the reality we are not free from the problems and sufferings. And if you don’t seek help to ourself. If I don’t seek help for myself I’m not going to get it. Not only seeking help but I must seek my way out. In order to seek my way out I must pass a resolution that I am going to I do want freedom.

0:53:57.6 The word freedom is a very good word Americans associate very well with this word. We are seeking a spiritual freedom. We are seeking a psychic freedom? No. Not call that do you? Yeah we are seeking a psychological freedom. We are seeking emotional freedom. We want our soul to be free. This is very non-buddhist using soul but that’s what we are looking for. That’s it. That is the first path. Acknowledge the problem and seek out pass a resolution that you want freedom. Anybody have objection for that? Will be interesting if you have it. You don’t so that’s why just just do it yourself. Keep on passing a resolution by yourself for yourself solemnly. Say I want freedom. That’s what it is. You seek your freedom. Question will rise how? Of course but by passing the resolution itself you are already on the path. You’re already on the direction. You’re already working. And I told you two yesterday purification accumulation of merit. If you keep on doing that you will be free. I like to stop here. I don’t want go anymore. What time is it? Eleven already. Okay. Who is the time keeper anyway? Me. Alright. So anyway to getting free ourself from this ah I have to sort of I have to. Hi who’s here Susan. I have to sort of polish here. Cement it a little bit. To fit here as we seek freedom to ourself we also need to seek freedom for the we also need to help the people that we care to seek their freedom. I like to be the instrumental to help. Don’t think of the love-compassion from the beginning very vast though every text every teacher every will tell you for the benefit of all sentient beings. We say that all the time. We say it.

0:57:35.9 We do it. And but I don’t know how much you can really do it. Just by saying the word for the benefit of all beings doesn’t mean much to me. You know if you have a good parrot and give a good nuts almonds and walnuts and pistachios and all this and tell the parrot for the benefit of all beings the parrot will say for the benefit of all beings. Will that help? Maybe the word has some value. I’m not sure but as a human being we have to be a little better than parrot. Don’t we? Otherwise you might as well be parrot. You don’t have to worry about it you don’t have to pay bills again. Only you can sit in that little cage and someone cleans up and gives you air we like cage. Okay? So what you have to do is you have to feel it without feeling you know I often say I say love and compassion and people go like this and Allen told me it is the buzz word. Do you remember that? You do. Buzz word. I didn’t hear the buzz word. There are four thousand people watching right and they told you today exactly the twenty eighth of February last year right? Was it last year or year before? [Allen: year before] Year before that’s right twenty eighth of February and some questions Allen get asked out of the audience and something they said something and so the question I said love and compassion is the answer. And I look at the friend side and people are going like this. And Allen says that is buzz word. I didn’t hear the buzz word I sort of heard bourgeois or something. I didn’t get it. I didn’t get it.

1:00:01.0 [audience: bourgeois values] Yeah. ha ha ha ha. So I didn’t get it so what I did you know there’s four thousand people watching and spotlight and I don’t know what to do I smiled a little bit and get my way out somewhere out. After awhile I asked Allen what did you say? So I thought I didn’t get it he said buzz word and he gave me the long history of where the word come from and all this in a detailed very detailed I didn’t question it . It very kind of you really. Give me the whole history where the word really come from in which period the way it was used and everything including meaning. It’s meaningless. So I said okay okay and I thought about love-compassion meaningless. What does that mean? I thought about it. I thought on the throne. In the toilet. I thought in the shower in the nice warm shower thought about it. And then I thought elections. Television helped me. The elections and I remembered how we accused Bush out of touch doesn’t know how much it costs for a carton of milk. Doesn’t know how much it costs for a piece of meat. And he was amazed when he sees the the automatic television in the grocery store. Ah yeah so all this and I thought all of them and I said ah that’s called out of touch. So the love and compassion when it is out of touch it has no value. Then of course I alone watching the television from the Pat Robinson and the right extreme to the left extreme everybody uses compassion. Then I begin to notice no really even the companies named the compassion this and this thing. And there’s a compassion construction company in Australia run by the buddhists. Compassion Construction Company. You can’t construct compassion. So that’s the builders association in Australia. So then I begin to see it’s out of touch and the word becomes meaningless.

1:02:39.5 If you don’t feel it there’s no meaning. Every word what you say you have to feel it. And if you lost the feeling you may say you’ve become a parrot. That’s what it is. So we must have feeling. If you try to have the feelings for all sentient beings nice and wonderful no doubt but very hard to get it. So to begin you know the charity begins at home. Compassion begins at home. You must care and feel for the person that you care the most. Person with you your companion your boyfriend your girlfriend your husband your wife your kid. That’s very easy to go your kid. But if I say your mother then there’s hesitation. But don’t look from your own point towards your mother but look yourself as mother and look to the kid. The feeling is different. The only difference in the conditions is you happen to be the mother not the other way. Can you see the thing can you see the self? Can you feel it? And when you feel that way that explains it. That is compassion. Feel for yourself. Feel for your own future. Feel for your kid. Feel for your friend. Feel for your parents relations so and forth expand it. And by the time there will be a time that you can definitely feel for everybody. As much as you feel for your own the only son or the only daughter you have you will feel that for everybody. When you get that you have greater compassion. Until that you have compassion not great compassion not greater compassion.

1:05:25.3 The greater compassion is object of the compassion is all sentient beings. The feeling of the caring feeling unbearable their suffering that is the feeling. And total dedication is the feeling. Result what you going to get tremendous reward. Tremendous reward the sky is the limit. That’s what it is. Get it? Make sense? Did I communicate it? Did I run you over head? Really particularly those who have ah been here the new friends I will hope to get that thing with you. So you won’t you do understand what compassion is. Love and compassion is one mind either faced this way or that way. The compassion will be the wishing to free from the pain. The love would like to make you remain in joy level. We all say I love you don’t we? I do not know what the message really carries. What should carry is I love you I like you to be happy joyful and wonderful or when I say when you say I love you you maybe I like control you. I like under I like you remain under my thumbs. You know who knows. I like to own you own you own you I like to own you or you are mine. I like to own you and that is the wrong message. That is not love. That is a control issue. It’s a problem. I love you means what does that mean you all say every morning? Don’t be maybe we don’t ha ha I don’t know ha ha ha anyway. So caring love with the feelings please.

1:08:00.5 Do not ever play with that word of compassion and love without feeling. You will be doing disservice for yourself. So that is my sermon here you know. By practicing generosity and other positive actions may I attain enlightenment. So well I’d like to give you a little bit more. The bodhimind the precious mind we talked yesterday what happened? The ultimate love the ultimate care will drive you to the extent you will do anything whatever needed and be helpful for those beings I care. When they drop you then it is only and only then it is relevant for us to become enlightened. Until then it is not relevant. Though the Tibetan Buddhism will tell you right from the beginning buddhahood is your goal. You are seeking buddhahood bla bla bla. They tell you that. But the relevant is the first relevant is freedom for us. The second relevant not second by priority but the level where you go. And once you care for others once you care for others once you really care for others when you have to feel to the extent that I wish I could get inside that person and correct it until then you are really seeking at best two. When you are seeking the best two then it’s relevance are becoming enlightened isn’t it becoming relevant. Whatever the best two you need it. And you do need it. How difficult to help other beings. How difficult to communicate with other person. Forget about all sentient beings with the one person right in front of you right in your face how difficult to communicate. There you may spend twenty-four hours with you but you get miscommunication all the time. So it’s so hard to communicate. We have always breakdown communications ha ha . It is a characteristic of ourself. I’m talking about Jewel Heart. No wonder why it is so difficult to communicate to people. Extremely. You said everything. They heard you differently. It’s because people like to hear what you like to hear. Or you have you have a preset ah what you call notion? Yeah. And when you when you hit that preset notion you like it. When you don’t hit the preset notion you dislike it. And also you hear what you like to hear. And that’s why how difficult even with two people in one little room how difficult to communicate.

1:11:20.8 It is a problem with everybody not a one not another everybody has the problem. Even you speak the same language with the same mother tongue it’s so hard to get through. Right or wrong? That’s one being with you you know it very well and think about two other people more then to communicate. Think about it three more ten more what’re you going to do? How hard to get on the Engler’s head. How hard it is. How hard we have to tell him you can’t cut the social programs. You can’t cut art and things. You don’t get it. Right? The Michigan things you know that. It is hard to get on Engler’s head so one person. I’m talking about Govenor Engler. Yeah it is the one person and you’ve got to get two more what would you do? And if you have to get more of the Republican head how would you do? Just joking. So any way this is just joke side joke. But the really true thing is you need the best tool. So then the buddhahood becomes relevant. And that’s why you say for the benefit of all beings I would like to become enlightened. That’s the reason why you say that is relevant for me at that time. Otherwise what? I’m a downtown find out whether buddha or no buddha what do I care? If buddhahood is not that relevant so why do I care? I remember Louise all the time. The Louise. At Herbie’s house in Long Island that’s the beginning of it. You were there Amy I think. You not there okay. So beginning of it and we talking about the Buddha and then sort of asked me what do you really think and I sort give it’s almost same as God. And just like you know whatever your understanding of the values almost same as Buddha and Buddha’s almost same thing that way. So then Louise walked with me and after a little while and Louise said Rimpoche if the Buddha is God I have no interest to become God at all.

1:14:08.1 Ha ha ha That’s what she said. That’s right. And I’m not talking of the way Christianity point of view or religion but even from the buddhist point of view ah the relevance is not there. What you need is freedom. You don’t need to become a buddha. So the relevancy to become a buddha arise when you have compassion the compassion to all. You have to go out of the way to get on somebodies head. When you have to go out of the way to get corrected somebodies ahh the habitual patterns. When you have to get in get in somebodies head through somebodies head to correct their addictions then you need the best tool. Anyway so that’s why may I attain enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings. That’s what it is. That’s my segue to get over here. Okay? So I should stop talking and start doing something because we all talk all of the time. We don’t do it. So let’s do it now. Since we have taken the refuge already let us do the Four Immeasurables. Meaning with the feeling. You may you may visualize light going out love going out from your body from your heart or from yourself to all the environment around you outside you the outside the camp outside Michigan outside the United States outside this world to multi-galaxy everywhere. Your light goes out. Just by the touch of the light all environments corrected. All inhabitants become transformed and all this and this usual stuff you may visualize but do it with feeling. Do it with compassion as we talked and let us proceed here.

1:16:31.5 [pause]

1:16:38.7 [Sangha recites The Four Immeasurables: May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all beings never be parted from joy. May all beings experience equanimity.]

1:16:52.6 [pause]

1:17:27.7 Next now we will move to the ah basis of ah creating Tara. Basis is the nature of reality nature of emptiness. And if you have a good understanding of emptiness and empty of what all this and utilize here. Otherwise you just utilize just empty everything is all empty open and ah and gone into the nature of reality sort of great void. Space-like vast everything dissolved we do temporarily to substitute true acknowledgement of the emptiness. So it’s OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHA SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM Just very spacious empty space-like neither ourself no nothing or in nature of void. And from there suddenly appears white lotus. Within the sphere of emptiness appears white lotus. It’s eight petalled lotus fresh. Above that moon disc. And above that we generate Tara. Above it is moon disc and above that

1:19:43.0 [Sangha recites sadhana]

1:19:47.0 TAM. Light radiated from TAM transforms

1:19:51.7 [Sangha continues to recite sadhana]

1:21:14.5 Okay. So you just visualize Tara either self or in front of you with ah the ah ah one face two hands and seven eyes. This White Tara seven eyed. And I described and talked to you all things yesterday so I’m not going to go detailed. And if you if you’re not very clear with the visualization look at the thanka or the painting at your at my right or the left both places. Look at them close your eyes visualize look at them close your eyes visualize and that’s how you begin with it. But do not meditate on looking at the thanka and put on the thanka. Doesn’t do. You need your mental image of White Tara and even you don’t get it absolutely clear of holding it is very common. Do not surprise if you don’t get it. It’s not you’re not the only who doesn’t get it. Almost everybody not get it anything anyway. So whatever things come clear to you the face the eyes the eye the face even nose or just white body or just a lump of white even to that extent will do. But one thing what you have to mentally create here not just a lump but a pure enlightened being not just a face but pure enlightened being a total enlightened being all buddhas all enlightened beings taking physically a female form emphasizing the feminine principles within the individual. Without which you cannot become enlightened at all. It depends on that period. So emphasizing that visualize Tara. Beautiful youthful sweet sixteen

1:23:55.7 [pause]

1:24:08.7 yet matured all aspects so not to be too loud. At the heart level of the Tara a moon disc seed syllable letter TAM surrounded by right to left the long mantra called OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA AYUR PUNYE JNANA PUSHTIM KURYE SOHA

1:24:49.1[Rimpoche stumbles a bit on end of mantra ‘sorry’] TIM KURYE SOHA. SOHA so that letter. Then outside the moon disc there’s ah eight spoke chakra or eight spoke wheel. This is not one hundred percent correct but just to give you an idea we’ll pass this out.

1:25:24.2 [pause]

1:25:37.8 Yeah maybe I’ll try to show you like this but you don’t have to think too. One is in Tibetan one is in english so. We’ll get that to you later but eight spoke chakra. This is called life chakra or life wheel of life. Not the wheel of life you hang near the door. Not that one okay ha ha. This is a different one. Ah so we will give you a corrected and nice version later one. Don’t ask me when that later one is but later one. Okay? Here you go.Now you just pass it round. So in that wheel. Maybe I should say this first. When I say it there’s ah the the moon disc at heart level I referring to the center white portion. Now when we talk about eight spoke I’m talking about these spokes. These spokes. And this one has TA RE TU TA RE TU RE SO. OM and HA is inside. So OM TA RE TU TA RE TU RE SO HA goes like that. Then you have here you have A AH I IH U UH Sanskrit vowels. And then outside that you have Sanskrit consonants KA KA GA GHA NGA. CHA CHA JA JHA NYA. TA TA DA that one. Then I think you should have YE DHARMA that’s right. Essence mantra YE DHARMA. And this one has vajra rim and fire rim outside. Whether you have these two or without two will do whatever is easier. Okay so this is a little additional thing coming to you. Little bit things like that will come in time. There you go. You’ll get it. And pass round and keep it. Collect back. She has seen it. Just pass around on that side. So if you don’t get the nice picture but just think that it’s some kind of you know it’s enlightened beings enlightened beings sit down. Enlightened beings are light nature so therefore therefore you don’t have to think what happened in interesting ways like where’s the lung and what happened to it and all this. You don’t have to think. Because this is a luminous body. Luminous body luminous body light body so therefore you don’t have to worry about where you going to put the heart? Where you going to put the lung? Where you going to put the what? The gallbladder or something you know ha ha ha. You don’t’ have to worry about it.

1:28:39.2 So it is light nature. So if you look at the inside it is like the Native American’s teepee. I said that right I have to do something later anyway. So okay? It’s like a hollow light. Therefore you’ve got the chakra at the center instead of organs you have that mantra chakra. Light radiates from that chakra. Okay from that chakra light radiates a powerful light goes out a powerful magnetic light goes out reach to the all the ten directions wherever your life your strength your energy ah your elemental power all of those. It collects if it is missing from you or lost this is vajrayana buddhism so we talk a lot about spirit and all this and that. If the spirits have taken it away something from you stolen or something then collect them back by the powerful magnetic light radiated from the heart mantra chakra of Cittin Tara. Right? Citta Tara. Ah dedicate. So sometimes we do Citta Tara chakra or something. Citta chakra tantra alright. Anyway it is the White Tara wish fulfilling wheel they call it. So that’s what it is. That is the wish fulfilling wheel anyway inside Tara. So that goes all of your life energy strength whatever still stolen from you taken away from you all of them collected by the powerful magnetic light. And what we call it it becomes nectar of life and it dissolves that to the Tara and then light in the in the life nectar form comes from the Tara dissolves to ourself and it’s rejuvenated the strength of our life. The life itself energy the elemental powers all of them. So with that visualization and we should say OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA

1:32:00.4 [end]