Archive Result

1990128GRNYC7P1

1/28/99

I have abeen requested to do teachings on the training of the mind. There is a number of different ways, teachings, and books on training the mind. Training of the mind is a borrowed language, so I'd like to explain it from the Tibetan language point of view.

Its called Lojong. Lo means mind; and jong means training the mind. But when you translate it, that's what it becomes. However, when you say training of the mind, many ideas arise -- simple mind control training, or, you know, all kinds of things. You can get the picture. So, I wanted to make it absolutely clear to you, first. There are a number of texts that are available on that. Now, mostly I think its Langri Thangpa's Eight Verses of Training which His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave teachings on in Washington.

There is something called maja dugjom; its called "peacock destroys the poison." I don't know whether peacocks destroy poison or not. Tibetans say peacocks digest poison. When I talk to the Western friends, nobody acknowledges that. It may be only the Tibetan's knowledge. I don't know. Or maybe it is mis-information, who knows?

Tibetans used to say peacocks can digest poison and spiritual practitioners can digest kor. Now, this is a very complicated thing. Kor is when people give you money, or people give you a lunch or dinner or food or clothes, not just for purposes of charity, but for the purpose of helping themselves. When you receive this kinda of gift, it is something a little more heavy than an ordinary gift, because that other person is trying to help themself by giving in this way.

For example, in theWest, its not that bad. Normally, whatever donations they give you go through the institutions, and you get a tax deduction, or something. But if you look in the Asian style, in the Tibetan, Indian, or Chinese, particularly , they will always give in this traditional manner. They will always try to give, whatever it is -- money, clothes, wealth -- to the person, or individual, or head of the monastery. Or even the monastery itself as an individual person, rather than as an organization.

So that particular gift is called "Kor", which is something they're giving with a total devotion to help themselves with the idea that if they give to you, you'll be able to help or do something, for them. So, with that, Buddha has categorized that as "Kor".

If you don't think about it, and just put it in your pocket, it doesn't matter. Go to the discotheque the day after, or what ever you do. But if you think, how did I get that? What are the karmic consequences of receiving that? How much can you help the individual who has given to you? When you look at it from this angle, it becomes a very heavy thing from the karmic point of view. Not for the giver; for the giver it's a great generosity -- perhaps one of the best ways. But for the receiving person, it become a very important responsibility.

That's why traditional Tibetan teachings give you an example, saying that only the peacock can eat the poison. If the crows try to copy the peacock and eat the poison, the crows will die. So, there's a level of the mind training, even equal to this, called maja dugjom. You can eat the poison and you can digest it. This is one of the trainings of the mind.

Another is called tson cha khorlo, which is the "wheel of sharp weapons". That is also very well known, very famous. Actually the Tibetan word I called kor -- the first peacock business- is actually the word I'm quoting out of the wheel of sharp weapons, rather than the maja dugjom -- the peacock digesting poison.

The most important essence of mind training is the Seven Point method, which is considered very comprehensive.

First, I want to talk about the word lojong. These days, the word lojong has been used by so many people, very lightly, everywhere. Everybody talks about lojong, so its becoming almost like a buzzword, like "compassion," or "love-compassion", which is not very good. It should have a rich meaning, with feelings close to the heart when you're talking about lojong.

So what really is lojong? Very often, anybody who thinks about some kind of mind training, such as the give and take business, calls it lojong. That's totally wrong. Some people will tell you that generating bodhimind, the seven stage-development bodhimind, is mind training, so therefore its lojong. That is not correct either. A number of people these days, particularly those of us who claim to be Tibetan Buddhist teachers, and who are a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, are saying this lojong business everywhere. Its a big mistake. The lojong is really a very exclusive way of training the mind. It deals specifically with the Mahayana. The essence of it is how to develop the bodhimind. It is developing bodhimind. That's why anything other than bodhimind, doesn't correspond with lojong -- doesn't get it right.

Even developing bodhimind has three different systems. One is the seven stages of mind development that the Buddha shared and the Maitraya Buddha carried, as did Asanga. All of them developed their seven steps: six causes and the seventh is reserved for bodhimind. That is a way of developing bodhimind. Some people try to call that lojong, but that's wrong.

Lojong is the system, which was introduced by Manjushri, and elaborated more by Shantideva, in the Bodhisattvacharyavatara . It shows how to develop bodhimind through the "exchange" method, plus, the give and take technique. These two, combined together is called lojong. If you're missing one, it doesn't qualify to be lojong.

The basic needs of the lojong are common not only to the Gelukpa's system, but common to Sakya, Nyingma, Kagyu, all of them. That's the theory accepted by Marpa, that's the theory accepted by Milarepa, that is the point which is emphasized by the early Sakya lamas.

Now, the second point is why do you need to train your mind? What is it? Basically, what is the purpose of Buddhism, Buddha's teaching, what is Buddha trying to do? What type of message did the Buddha try to send to us? These days we talk about what type of message are we sending to our children? That is the normal American talk on television these days. So, lets use this language -- what type of message did Buddha try to send, and what is it?

Simply, Buddha tried to send a message saying that the sufferings are impermanent. We can get rid of them. That is the basic message. There is always a way out, if we know how to handle ourselves. That is the message of the Four Noble Truths.

What is the cessation level -- when you get rid of the suffering? What is it? What do you get? Buddha says, there are two or three levels: ordinary enlightenment and extra-ordinary enlightenment. Ordinary enlightenment is normally called the arhat level. Traditionally, the Indian way is the arhat level. Actually, it is a sort of enlightenment, so it is ordinary enlightenment. The extra-ordinary enlightenment is Buddhahood. So, the ordinary enlightenment, or arhat level, everyone can get. That's what Buddha said -- that's the first message .

Message two is saying, you can become extraordinarily enlightened. In other words, you can become a Buddha. You can become a Buddha within your lifetime. That is the second message. That is the Vajrayana message. OK? The difference between Vajrayana and non-Vajrayana ? Let me tell you in this way -- it is like the difference between Theravadan and Mahayana. Theravadan will never claim that you can become a Buddha – it’s not their goal. The goal is Nirvana -- an arhat free of suffering.

In Mahayana, you can become a Buddha. How long does it take? Oh, three eons. Its true --three karma-less eons -- sorry about that! You can purify your negativities and become a Buddha, and blah, blah, blah. That's what they normally tell you. That's great, but it takes three karma-less eons.

So, the next message is the Vajrayana. Vajrayana tells you, you can become a Buddha in this lifetime, if you can manage by yourself. If you can really manage, then its not that far of a goal -- within one lifetime. If you fail, you have a great hope of becoming a Buddha in your Bardo stage, or the next life, or at the very least, within sixteen lifetimes, you are sure to become a Buddha. That is the Vajrayana message, common to all Tibetan traditions, whether it is Nyingma, or Sakya, or Kagyu, or Gelukpa..

Now, my Gelukpa propaganda -- Tsong khapa will usually tell you, you may be able to become a Buddha within a twelve year period. Or, if you are extraordinary, exceptionally good, you may be able to become one in three years. They tell you that; that's propaganda. It doesn't mean its not true, doesn't mean it can't happen, but that's the traditional propaganda which I'm sharing.

That's why you read in the Lama Chopa, "quickly, quickly , in this very life, become a Buddha" . They are saying quicker, then quickest. Not only within your lifetime, but within a twelve year period, or even three years. Why? Its very simple, actually. The extraordinary ways -- how to develop clear light, how to rise from that clear light into an illusion body, and how to develop that illusion body into clear light. There are lots of high techniques - technicalities -- try to solve those. High techniques are shared by Manjushri and that's why they keep on boasting about them.

Such prospects of clear light and illusion body are only possible to the individual because of this body, this life. The importance of the human mind and the human body, that's the main thing. We even know scientifically how good the human mind is.

Buddha is the one who kept on telling us, the human mind and body is extraordinary -- fantastic! He told us this 2500 years ago. Usually, we don't pay too much attention, unless some great scientist says, "Hey, that body is great! That mind is fantastic!" Then we all say, "Oh, yeah, scientific discovery." Recently, I had an interesting experience. I was watching television, a couple of months ago. They said, one of the best ways you can make imprints to your consciousness, is through visualization -- by visual image. This is a discovery from some scientist at Harvard! And I'm saying, "Hey, excuse me" - but television doesn't answer -- "Hey, we knew this for thousands of years; we've been doing it! Hey, hey!" But the television doesn't listen to me.

Look at the early masters -- the great, famous Indian masters. What type of body did they have? What type of mind did they have? Look at the famous Tibetan yogis, like Milarepa, or Marpa? How about Gyalwa Ensapa, who is just like Milarepa? Look at their bodies, and look at our body. Look at their mind; look at our mind. No difference. They were able to overcome their laziness, and do something right, while we have been lazy --we submit to our laziness -- that is the only difference. So, it is important that the fundamental basis from which we can work is the human body, the human mind.

I'd like to teach on the basis of the Root Verse of Seven Point Mind Training. What I am planning to have is a reasonable, not elaborate teaching on this, maybe 21 hours, but at least 14, to try and make a difference to your life. You know that I'm going to talk, and what you're supposed to do is pick up the message. The talk is actually giving you material to meditate on. Its is not story telling or entertainment. Its not the Johnny Carson show or the Jay Leno Show. If you're thinking along those lines ; if you don't want to make a difference in your life, and if you just want to come and look , that's fine, it doesn't bother me at all. But if you really want to make a difference to yourself, I really think you should think carefully. I will also recommend a book to read -- Becoming a Child of Buddha's by Gomo Tulku, by Wisdom Publications.

Why am I recommending you this book when there are lots of mind training texts that are available? Because I learned a lot of things (especially about Vajrayogini) from Gomo Rinpoche, who happens to be one of my gurus. When he finished the book, he gave it to me for editing, and to correct spelling. The publisher gave me a copy he signed. You don't have to read from the beginning to the end, just try to read the subject that we cover. Read it three, four times, and every time you will pick up something different. That will be helpful if you really want to make a difference to yourself. If you just want to do it show bizz style, that'll be fine. That's no problem.

The first thing it says is "Homage to the great compassion." There are a number of different Chakawa translations available, but I chose to pick up this one, it looked a little simpler to me, not so complicated.

So, the first thing in the book, Chakawa says, "Homage to the great compassion." Now, this English translation is very strange. You know, when you say homage to the great compassion, it automatically gives you the message it is an homage to their mind. Its not necessarily the mind only, it refers also to Avalokiteshvara, who is the Buddha of Compassion. So that is the common usage of thugje chenpo . The words thugje chenpo have been used both for the mind as well as for the Buddha of Compassion.

So lets pick up the word thugje chenpo first. When you say homage to compassion here, actually there are two types of homage. The relative and the absolute. Relatively, you are paying homage to Avalokiteshvara, who is the Buddha of Compassion. Absolutely, you are not paying homage to a Buddha, but to a most important point which is the mind. Not the entire mind, but mind that's called compassion.

Why, do you pay homage to a mind rather than a being, a person, a wisdom Buddha or a compassion Buddha? Because, it is important. That mind is important at the beginning, important in the middle, when you are in action, and important when you complete your work.

So, it is important at the beginning, because if you don't have compassion, you don't care for yourself, you don't care for others, you don't care for anything, so why do you bother?

Even coming here is not easy. Maybe New Yorkers get used to it, but otherwise, its not that easy to come here. Its difficult, sitting here, all cramped in this little room here, sitting like this for hours. Why do you bother? Because we care. Whatever our reasons may be, we care. Maybe you care for yourself, maybe you care for me. Maybe you care for a companion? Maybe you want to find a real good spiritual way to help yourself? Whatever your reason for being here, it's because you care.

Every Buddha, every bodhisattva, whenever they have to be involved in any action, it is the compassion-mind that pushes, motivates, energizes them. Otherwise, they would go for a picnic-- go out for lunch. Why bother? Why do I have to come from Michigan to here? Just because I care. I care because I think I may be able to help contribute one little dry word; even if it is one little single dry word, it may have some effect on even one person to relieve suffering. That's why I come here; that's why I go back and forth and do all this. I'd be happy if I could just do my usual projects and lie down, and watch the television and see how the Washington circus is going. I'd be OK. I'd be happy to do that. But, its the motivation which makes you move.

You know, Alan Ginsberg all of a sudden asked me, “ What is the purpose of poetry?” The purpose of the poetry I said, is to relieve suffering. All artists - musicians, painters, writers, editors -- all of them provide a little relief of some pain.

The musicians, who play all kinds of different instruments, and by presenting different kinds of songs create an atmosphere that will give you a little relief from the constant nagging pains and worries that we go through. This is what the Buddha says. I'm quoting this from Tibetan.

It is the caring that makes the difference. Mothers care about their child, and that's why they do things which are difficult. With the exception of a few mothers, if the child calls you in the middle of the night, about 2 a.m., asking the mother to pick them up 40 or 50 miles away, the mothers will not hesitate to go. They put on an overcoat, or maybe even a dressing gown, and go and pick them up. Mothers are able to do that because they care.

That is the reason why they choose compassion at the beginning. You know, there are many things people feel they cannot manage to go through. The encouragement and motivation, to persevere come from compassion, because they care.

I must share here a little story. There's a great Indian teacher called Asanga, who lived in the very early period of Buddhism. Actually, Asanga and Nagarjuna are the co-founders of Mahayana teachings. Asanga wanted to know something about that. He read somewhere a reference to transcendental wisdom, so he said, "Well, I shall practice -- go do a retreat, and try to see Buddha or Maitreya, the Buddha of love, and then I can learn from that Buddha and share with other people.” That was his total goal.

So, he goes up in some rocks somewhere, and sits there for three years, meditating, doing the same mantra, purifications, you name it, he tried doing everything to encounter with one of those enlightened Buddhas, possibly Buddha Maitreya. Three years passed, nothing happened, so he got tired, and gave up. He said "its hopeless", so he walked away, and went back down the mountain where he met an old Indian guy who has a little piece of very soft, cotton cloth, which he is using to rub a huge, big iron pillar. He's rubbing that iron pillar like shoe shine people do, you know? So, Asanga said, "what are you doing?" The Indian man said "I want to make needles out of that big iron pillar". He said, "can you make needles out of that?" "Yes, I can make so many. But I have to have a little endurance, then I can make them."

So Asanga thought about it. "Well, I only spent three years at my task, maybe it's not enough". So, he changed his mind and went back up the mountain. He sat another three years; nothing happened, so he comes down again, and started looking at the cave where he used to meditate, nearby, and he sees some kind of cut in the rock. Something keeps on rubbing the rock, which is producing a deep cut in it. He says, "what is this?" After awhile, he observes birds flying up and down , touching their feathers against it. "Oh my god!" The soft feathers of birds occasionally touching, make such a deep cut in the rock. What kind of person am I? So he goes back again, for three more years.

Anyway, the story ends after twelve years. After twelve years, he gave up completely and he left. The first thing he sees is a female dog on the road. On the upper part of the body, everything's fine, but the lower part of the body is completely wounded. Not only wounded, but filled with worms. So, he feels a tremendous amount of compassion for the dog. He said, I must help; I've been committed to help. How can I help? I must help. So, he started thinking, if I don't remove those worms, then the dog is going to die, so I have to remove the worms. If I remove the worms, the worms are going to die. So, what am I going to do? He decided without any hesitation to cut a piece of flesh out of his own thigh to feed the worms. Then he thought, well, if I touch the worms with my fingers, and I squeeze them, they may die, so, my purpose of saving both of them may be defeated. So, what can I do?

Then he thought, maybe I can take the worms out by my tongue, and then put them on the flesh one by one. He closed his eyes and put his tongue out, trying to reach the maggots, and when his tongue seemed to be getting close, and it's not touching anything, he opened his eyes wondering, what is happening? Instead of seeing the dog, he sees Maitreya Buddha standing there. So, Atisha says, "how unkind you are! I spent twelve years here, trying to see you." Maitreya says ,"I was there, right in front of you, the day you started, but you couldn't see me, because of your own negativities. But today you have such great compassion, even to the extent of being able to cut a piece of flesh from your own body and trying to save both the dog and the maggots. Because of this compassion, you were able to cut a lot of your negativities, and are able to see me.

Asanga said, "before I do anything, I must show everybody that you are here. You cannot run away. I have to share you with everybody. I'm going to carry you on my shoulders, and go around the town, and show everybody the Maitreya Buddha! So, whatever Maitreya says, Asanga will not listen. He carried Maitreya, running around the village, saying, "Look everybody, Maitreya is here!"

Nobody saw Maitreya, but everybody thought he spent too much time up there - great scholar and teacher, but now, gone kukoo -- except for one old lady, who said "leave that dog alone!" This old lady sees him carrying a dead dog’s body, and screaming that Maitreya is here. Otherwise, nobody else saw anything. That is one of the Asanga stories.

Again, the compassion, and the caring made him return four times to meditate for a total of twelve years. Plus, he was able to develop the compassion to even cut a piece of his own flesh to save the life of a maggot, and that made a difference. That's why I say compassion is important during your contemplation period. The beginning is important, the middle is important, and the end is important. When you become a fully enlightened Buddha, if you don't have compassion, surely you go out for lunch. Why bother? But constantly the Buddha's come back, and try to serve, and help. I'm from a Buddhist background, that's why I'm saying Buddha. But the enlightened beings; they come one after the other, and they come back in different forms. They appear again and again in the form of a Buddha, or Jesus, or anything -- Ghandi, Martin Luther King, or Mother Theresa, or maybe Dalai Lama form. All of them coming back, one after another, trying to do something. Why do they have to come back? Because, of the compassion. I'm not necessarily talking about Tibetan incarnation lineage. That's the reason why before you train your mind, to have compassion is important. At the beginning, during the contemplation, even after enlightenment. That's the one of the reasons.

Another reason is training the mind will try to show you how you become a kind, compassionate, loving and caring person. According to the Buddhists point of view, the ultimate, unconditioned, unlimited compassion or love is called bodhi-mind. There is nothing else called bodhimind, and that bodhimind is also grown out of compassion. If there's no compassion, there's no ground for bodhimind. Its like the ground. Out of the ground we get fruit trees, we get grasses, we get flowers. Everything grows, right? Everything grows out of ground. So, the ground level is compassion, or a kind and compassionate mind. That is another reason why "homage to compassion" is here.

The next word is dhutsi nyingbo. It says, "These instructions are the essence of nectar." OK? Instructions. What is instruction? What are they instructing you to do? Normally, when you buy those new electronic gadgets they have those instructions, right? A little booklet that tells you how to put them together -- which one goes where, and how it works and how you operate it.

So, here, the word in Tibetan is dhutsi nyingbo. The instructions here are actually what the title tells you. How to defeat sufferings, such as dying, illnesses, and accidents. How to defeat all these sufferings, that are constantly nagging us, life after life. How can we be free from them? These instructions are the essence of nectar.

What is nectar? Basically, the word nectar in Sanskrit, is amrita. Or in Tibetan, they say dhutsi. The nectar here really means dhutsi nyingbo, the essence of nectar. What is it? There are four types of nectar. One is a Healing Nectar; the nectar is the essence of that which overpowers illnesses. That is one type of nectar, the so-called medicinal nectar. The second nectar is the nectar that defeats death, which is called the Nectar of Life. We don't get it; but we've heard about it. Maybe it is a fairy tale story, or maybe it is Hindu/Buddhist mythological story. Whatever it may be, its told of, and that's why I'm telling you.

The second part is the Wisdom Nectar, which defeats the contaminated things within ourselves. The ultimate nectar really is one who defeats all contaminations. That is the stage of the Buddha, enlightened level. So the instructions will tell you how to defeat sufferings and attain the stage of Buddhahood. These instructions are the essence of nectar.

In other words, traditional Tibetan teachings will have very important points to show to you, before they go into the teaching. There are at least four basic qualities of these instructions. Is it capable of delivering the individual to the enlightened level? That is the message they're giving.

(Question about nectar)

Rinpoche: You know, if you read here, it says these instructions are the essence of nectar. So, I explained instruction, then I explained the nectar; so then I explained them together in the total message, which is saying, these instructions are capable enough to deliver you to the enlightened level.

The next is they have been passed down from Serlingpa. It doesn't mean much if you read this -so what? Right? If it passed through from Serlingpa, so what? Must be some guy called Serlingpa. Maybe he's a little famous, but still, so what? That's not the point, instead, they are trying to show you that this is an authentic teaching, an authentic message coming from Buddha, down to, Serlingpa and thereafter. So, it tries to show you it’s authentic. If it’s not authentic, you cannot rely on it.

We see these days so many rituals, so many practices, instructions, that some wonderful writers put together, and have a ritual performance -- I participated in quite a number of them. A friend of mine who does some king of Kabbala workshop, a very nice guy, who built a huge temple in Ann Arbor. He bought a new house, built his own house, and built a huge temple next to that. And in the inauguration, they wanted me to come. Not only to come, but not come in a suit and tie, but wear some kind of funny Tibetan dress. This was the request. Then he told me to bring a bottle of water for some kind of ritual they wrote - some odd angel, something, something, brings wisdom nectar from the north. So, I have to pour the bottle of water out somewhere. This sort of thing people do write, and perform that way, and they get quite impressed by it, because, you know, it is well written and well composed. They do a ritual, and I don't know what it helps. From the karmic point of view, what does it do? Who knows? Maybe something good happens, maybe nothing happens. Who knows, right?

That's why the Tibetan tradition will make, not only the Tibetan, but all the Buddhist traditions, will make sure the system is authentic. It’s not authentic if somebody sits down and has really wonderful ideas and puts them together and makes a performance. If it is a performance made by somebody's good thought, no doubt it will be good entertainment, but what does that do to the individual from the karmic point of view? How does that help the people or environment?

If you look at Buddhist rituals, Buddha has made sure that each and every ritual has not only its own purpose, but it also contributes to the environment and the inhabitants. That's why the authenticity is necessary. Otherwise, I can sit here and make dreams of so many beautiful things, you know. I can have things singing around, and all of you can go and dance, run around, lie down, get up, experience all kinds of things. I'm very sure I'm capable of doing that. But I can't do that. That's not my background. I'm capable, if I want to, but I don't want to. That's why in the Buddha's tradition, authenticity becomes so important. It has to be the essence of the Buddha's personal experience that is shared. That which has some reliability, some value in it. Not somebody's delusional thoughts and some good ideas, put together -- that can't be Dharma. That can be performance, but it's not a spiritual thing, according to Buddha.

The message must also be tested, and put into practice, with a number of people gaining the same experience. You know, the Buddha's message is based on his personal experience that he shared with other people. When you do everything right, no matter whoever or wherever you might be, you'll have the same experience. That is the value, which Buddha always emphasized. When it is an authentic teaching, these values are there. When its somebody's story, then its a nice little performance, that's about it.

It also has to be experienced by many others. When they do it the same old way, the result must come the same old way. If you get a red result, and I get yellow, and somebody gets white, and somebody else green, then its not right. Something is wrong. It has to be the same result. These are the values of the authenticity. That's why any important Buddhist teachings, particularly from the Tibetan point of view, tries to prove from the beginning that it is authentic. People who try to follow this advice, and try to practice , are not just doing an experiment. They're not devoting their time and energy to do something that does not have a result. Why should we fool each other? That's why authenticity is important.

In short, any practice should lead the individual to the enlightenment level, not the other way around. This is the basis from which the traditional Buddhist teachings have been evaluated, by a group of teachers -- a group of experienced adapts -- to make sure its reliable. Otherwise, why should you and I spend the time we don't have ?

Do not read this as criticisms against "New Age", OK? Really, I don't mean it. But, I mean what I say, because I have the experience of carrying a bottle of water and pouring wisdom, or something, from Archangel somebody. Its very beautiful in there, you know; you go up and down and go circle around here and there, with beautiful music, incense and lights coming. Sort of interesting, you know? It took a couple of hours to do that, anyway. That's my personal experience, that's what I'm telling you.

How does this training of the mind, come from the Buddha? From the Buddha it came and was shared with Maitreya Buddha, and then even in India there are three different divisions. One is from Lama Dharma Rakshitra, one is the Lama Maitreya, the other is Lama Serlingpa. So what happened is, at the time of the 11th Century, these particular teaching became very rare in India. It was almost unavailable. So it is Serlingpa, who happened to be in Indonesia. The great Atisha, the famous Bengali teacher who came to Tibet to bring perfect Buddhism, or revolution, or purification,whatever it is, spent 13 months to find this particular teaching. That's why they're saying it has been passed down from Serlingpa. It was not easily found in India at that time.

India is referred to as the land of arayas --the land of extraordinary beings. At that time, it was true, today, it might not be. It is the land of the atomic bomb, which is absolutely not necessary for India, you know? The birthplace of the Buddha, Mahatma Ghandi's country. Why does it have to be involved with that? Absolutely crazy, right? So, its the land of arayas in those days. Yet even in the land of arayas, its not available. Even Atisha spent 13 months to cross the ocean, to try to get these very teachings --just a couple of pages. That's why they're boasting, saying its comes through Serlingpa. And during the time of Serlingpa all three different divisions are collected into one person. It was Atisha, who got it from Serlingpa, and brought it over to Tibet. He shared it with only Drom Rinpoche, the founder of Reting Monastery a lay person, not a monk.

In my personal opinion, Drom Rinpoche was female. I'm sure if some other Tibetan lamas heard that, they'll probably say "did he go crazy now?" He's probably going senile, or something. But I have very strong reasons. Every other teacher at that time was in a monk's robe. This particular funny person was in the lay person's robe, and had long hair, an interesting belt, that goes nine times around the body. She is the teacher of every Kadampa geshe next to Atisha. Somehow they left her there, because in those days, my theory is (I'm a funny person, I think funny things, so I cook up lot of conspiracy theories) at that time, it is the refining of Tibetan Buddhism, so Atisha comes from India, and so many other great teachers are there. In the middle of that, a woman running around would make a lot of people very suspicious. What the hell is going on up there, you know? So, probably, they put her (perhaps not 100% male, nor 100% female), in a funny robe there, and she took care of Atisha throughout his life.

The day when they met, until he passed away, he or she was a 24-hour companion of Atisha. Even the day when he came and met Atisha - Atisha was invited to lunch by somebody else, but even though he committed to it, he wouln't go. Finally, they all said you have a commitment, you have to go. And so he went and stayed a very short period. When they served lunch, he said, where is the share for my guest? He keep on collecting everything to share with his guest. By the time Atisha came back from lunch, Drom Rinpoche arrived where Atisha was, and they said "Atisha went for lunch". He or she said, "I don't have time to wait; I'm going to go there". So when he was coming back, they met on the road. The first thing he says is, "well, I brought your share here". He gave a piece of butter, and a piece of dough, a little piece of meat, and some cooked daikon radish. That night, he or she made that butter into a lamp, and put it near Atisha's bed. Since that day, until Atisha passed away, every day she made a butter lamp for Atisha, at his bedside.

So, Atisha gave these teachings only to Drom Rinpoche and to nobody else. Drom Rinpoche also gave them to one or two great kadampa lamas, not all those big kadampa geshes. It came down as a "most secret teaching", passing from one mouth to one ear only, maybe two (ears). But one person to another person, only up to Chakawa.

During this period, Chakawa used this practice to help lepers. At that time, in the 1100’s, there's no treatment, so they did this practice with a lot of lepers, and it was very helpful. It even became known as the "leprosy practice" all over Tibet, and people were talking about it. At that time, Chakawa decided to keep this as a secret, which was a very big loss for future generations. So, let me give this as a public teaching. Chakawa started this as a public teaching, and wrote this text that we're reading.

Question: (Inaudible)

Rinpoche: Serlingpa. Probably during the 1100’s -- that period --what you call the 12th century. So, try to read the text. The lojong was taught by so many people; so many books are available, so try to read those. Read Sogyal Rinpoche -- maybe there is something in his book -- The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Then listen, and talk, and compare it, and it will make a big impact on you, on your mind. Especially when you have different viewpoints presented, different explanations presented.