Archive Result

Odyssey to Freedom VII – Transcript dated 12/07/2000

20001207GRNYOTF07

Notes: First, Rimpoche talk covers number 17, 18, 19 and 20 in the Odyssey to Freedom. This is out of order with the previous talk given on November 2 or 8. In addition, Rimpoche’s tone changed as a result of the loss of several close associates of his. There is a deep somberness to his talk and a heartfelt call for developing a solid spiritual practice. What I have done is begin the study of Atisha text “Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment.” Rimpoche recommended and relies on this masterpiece as well as Pabongka’s “Enlightenment in the Palm of Your Hand.” I would urge the Sangha to also do the same in conjunction with teaching the Odyssey to Freedom. Though I am still a newcomer to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, my karma is such that we came together. It is with that great good fortune that I transcribe my master’s works.

00:00 Welcome everybody here today. Long pause. Since I was here last time, I think it was somewhere in November, right? Does anybody remember the date or anything? 2nd or 7th, (the actual date of the mp3 file was November 8th). So, quite a number of things have happened. We lost a couple of friends. First, before I went out is Osaler and then I went out and came back Chitta Took (?). I would like to; I don’t know where we start last time. Did we finish this last time, embrace human life, Understanding and Appreciating its rarity? I think we sort of basically covered that, don’t we? Demetri seems to have a lot of notes, did we cover all of those? Audience: faintly heard. Rimpoche: Six Perfections, for what reason? For what reason, Six Perfections comes? Do you remember, Mark? Okay, but the reasons why the Six Perfections come in (?) 3:00 PLEASE NOTE THIS TALK FOLLOWS VOLUME V.

3:13 So the priority in life, I think it is very important, I sort of talked about it a little bit yesterday, last night. But, when you really see it, that the people who are close to you, when you go. Not only do you realize, but you really sort of recompose the necessity of a good spiritual practice within one’s life. And as I said last night, without that “Life is Meaningless.” Which, of course, not so many people will agree. That’s okay. But when you really look to yourself and the people that goes away and people whose living, and you really begin to realize, but really recompose how important a good solid spiritual practice and if you don’t have that, you are really missing a very important thing and if death comes before that all you have been doing is fooling around, thinking I am doing this, I am doing that and there are a lot of us who have been fooling around in our life. I put myself in that category. I am using us. We fool around. We pretend to be practicing. We pretend to be doing this and doing that. And when you really look at it and see something solid and what do we have, probably have nothing. And when that situation, in that situation death comes in, then this precious, important, valuable, rare, whatever we may call all of those are totally wasted. The true wastage is that it really comes in because there is nothing solid which you can count on or carry with you and then is nothing different than having a lot of money or having a huge whatever. There is no difference at a time when you need it, it will let you down and you have nothing to take. 7:02

7:02 So it is not only not having a spiritual practice but also not having a solid spiritual practice. Many of us just fool around. We really don’t get in properly. We don’t get grounded. You really don’t get grounded. You fly a lot. And, those things, when such a time comes, then it is truly wasted this very important life and opportunity. So, I cannot really emphasize enough to remind we, the time what really have to do, is now. What we really have to put efforts in is actually, yesterday. But really, we have to, without fooling around. Fooling around is equally as good as not doing anything. Now, there are a number of things you can do in your practice, as you all know. Basic fundamental, the fundamental basis of the spiritual practice is really to be a good human being. Our foundation has to be basically had to be a good human being. 9:58

9:58 And what does that mean? Every human being is good human being, but what does that mean? That means the basic thing has to be good. You know the real basis is be kind, compassionate and all of those basic needs of a human beings are the fundamental principle as basis of building a spiritual thing. Because, I have been saying it, you know, there may be reincarnation. If there is, if I don’t accept reincarnation, I lose my job and things like that. I use to talk that type of thing. But the reality really is honestly telling you, there is a thing called future life. There’s no question. If I have to prove it scientifically, I cannot. Because nobody has come back and say, hay I am from next reincarnation or past reincarnation. Though all of us are from past reincarnation, but we don’t have a verifiable memory or record. So, I cannot prove it. 12:10

12:10 But the reality is there is. It’s just simply doesn’t end with death. It does not. It is true that consciousness separates from the body. The consciousness just does not die or disappear. It continues. That is true. And that is the same consciousness what you and I have today. It’s the same consciousness that travels in next life. Memories didn’t cut it, mental faculties don’t function, even mind itself is questionable. But the being, the person is the same continues. We may think, but don’t remember, I won’t know, it doesn’t matter. No! It does matter because it is as the same as today. Simply we don’t have the memory of yesterday but as today we feel the same pain, pleasure, suffering, joy, all of them together. And it is me, not another being. So, this is a very important point. 14:35

14:35 It is there, it’s real. Especially when you see losing many friends around, and then, this thing becomes much more, sort of very visit (visible?). Especially, when you witness the consciousness leaving the body. I don’t mean to stop breathing. I mean the actual consciousness leaving the body. Then you’re really much more. So, visit (visible) and it makes a big difference. It is not that it is news to me, we know it. And we have also witnessed many. And when it still if fresh, It makes is much more things a reality. Anyway, so what’s going to happen at that time, is what we do now. It is not who decides what. 16:27 Who grounds what, worships. I don’t think that is the question at all. It is really what we do, what I do now, that is making difference. That’s why I said, without a solid spiritual path to following, then it is empty in life. Not only that, the precious life, has been totally wasted for the individual concerned. 17:16 As far as the individual concerned, it is totally wasted. if there is nothing to carry, which is really big waste. You know, one never knows, when you are going to get another opportunity and a chance what we have now. 17:50 You never know. Perhaps not for a very long time. A very long time, I am talking about, I am not talking about years, I really talking about decades and decades and decades and lives and lives and lives. You may not get it at all. 18:14

18:14 Actually, that once you are out of your physical body, it is like those autumn leaves that fall out of tree in Autumn time and carried by storm and you never know where it’s going to drop. It is almost the same condition of this. Almost the same, just like that. So, you never know where it’s going to drop. So, unless we are attached. The preparation, I am talking here, is I don’t think I am talking about the preparation for dying, but I am talking about the preparation for our future life and I am talking about preparation for tomorrow, for tomorrow’s life. That, that’s what it is. 19:39

19:39 So it is so important. You know, it is not, not, I normally present that to you, it maybe there or at least you give benefit of doubt. Or at least you know, it’s not reincarnation, I lose my job. All of those, I just use it for avoiding telling you directly, it is there. Because, scientifically, it doesn’t prove. They cannot deny, but there is no proof. There may be, but somehow, we cannot. So, we cannot go on that too long. If we do so, we may be doing a disservice. But I don’t think I can always tell you that either because it just, sometimes, we say it straight forward. It is there, it is (?) And when you go through this and then you really feel it, you really know it, that’s what happens. 20:57

20:57 I don’t know whether I talked to you or not. One of my teachers, the teacher who first taught me, a great practitioner. And when he was dying for days he couldn’t speak. And then finally on day he could speak, he got up and living with a family in Lhasa, living with the family that had sponsored and benefited Tsongkhapa in 1357 to 1419, that family she was also been spiritual teacher of that family and he was living there. So, when he sorts of woke up or whatever, and when he began to talk that day, and the actual family members are not there but all the managers of the family are there, so he had collected all the mangers and he told them I am going through with a certain thing in life that particularly not so much with himself but the curses that the family carried. So, I went through with this. So, I prayed to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha very strongly that I can talk back again what it is and what had happened. And the work what he said, “When you really experience that on yourself, on yourself physically, I don’t think he means the physical body, actually really truly when you experience those things, it is not easy. That’s what he said. 23:19

23:19 So, that’s the reality. So, the thing is, is that we are all go through with that and that is not a selected one. It is all will go through with that. That itself is not a problem, but the problem is the day after. So, it is important to do things right, right now. Not only do we have to do right now, but it is also almost getting late. We have to remember that. And there are a number of things you can do as you all know. In the spiritual world in general and particularly in Buddhism, and particularly that of Tibetan Buddhism, there is no shortage of what you can do. There are some very high levels secret, this and that, and all kinds of things. There is a great deity practice, Yamantaka, Kalachakra, (?), Vajrayogini, Avalokiteshavara, you name it. There are hundreds of thousands of different things. 25:37

25:37 And all of them, and all of them I mean it all, without any single exception, they all based on these principles. Either you call it Three Principles of the Path or you call it Odyssey to Freedom, or traditionally you call it Lam Rim, that’s that! Without that, nothing, nothing works. Nothing works. I am being honest with you. Nothing works! 26:59

25:59 I have a story to share with you. I think it’s about 1700’s, there were two Tibetan practitioners, Gelugpa practitioners, see I been Gelugpa, so we say Gelugpa practitioner. It’s better than everybody else (Laughter) and that of Yamantaka practitioner. Two of them sat in a retreat. Completely closed retreat, totally dedicated. One died, the other still continues, and one day sudden a Yamantaka lookalike. You know what it looks like, it looks like a devil. It appears with two horns, and a huge terrifying buffalo face with two horns and multiples hands and legs. And it appeared and that practitioner thought “Wow, I am having a vision of a real Yamantaka.” And he started talking to thing and it said “I’m not a Yamantaka. I’m the person who died with you. So when you die you look like a ghost like this. So, that’s that. And why? The fundamental basis of this things, the steps mentioned in Lam Rim, is not there. And that’s why so many mantras, so many tantras, so many yantras make you real devil. True. Though mantras and tantras and yantras have a tremendous bullaces for purifying this and that all of them. And I cannot emphasize so much. If you read Tsongkhapa Lam Rim Chen Mo without translated into English as certain parts of it are (the First Volume). So, you probably going to find in there, but so many people have different versions of translations or so, everyone who translated them, does not know the terminology, so you have all these (?) I was told. But you will have all the benefits mentioned in there, too. However, without precious bodhimind, no matter whatever you do, mantra, tantra, yantra all of those are simply going to be a cause to create powerful, fearful type of ghost rebirth rather than appropriate, nice, rebirth. That’s absolutely clear. There is no doubt in my mind, that’s what happens. 31:07

31:07 So the best thing is, don’t run after the sound high up, powerful. All this are quality of the practice, no doubt. But whether it is suitable to the individual or not, that is totally different question. It answers according to the time and capability of the individuals. 99.9 percent of the American practitioners are, I can tell you now, are not suitable. 99.9, we already have 1 point, but whether you want to put yourself within that one point, probably not. Why do I give that practice? Because it’s important. Anyway, that’s really true and when the time is right and it functions, it functions perfectly and that’s wonderful without that. The yield what you get is much different than without. It’s a big difference there. And that’s why, even those of you who have taken initiations, and I told them, each and every one of you. You have taken an initiation, fine. You have commitment to say. Just say it but focus your practice on Lam Rim. And I have said that a number of times. All the time and I mean it. 33:41

33:41 You took it because it will make a big difference. It’s a great opportunity. It might have done some disservice to some people because they have to say a sadhana without the meaning, it is sort of meaningless. And it makes more difficulty to say it. However, the individual is better off, if you just have the practice and keep your commitment, just say it, short as possible with the major focus on the Path that we’re talking. So, the Path, is nothing more, nothing less than those of the Sixty-Four Steps we have brought out in the Odyssey to Freedom. And that is solid. That is solid that provides the foundation, that provides the boosting of progress and it is the progress that really delivers that total enlightenment sense (?). That’s why Pabongka named his book. Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. That’s the reason why. It really delivers the goods. 35:33

35:33 Other than that, without that is don’t have to be, that particular practice. But without that, even when you look into any tradition anywhere in Tibet, Kagyu, Nyingma, Sakya and Gelug practice, I even tell you about Dzogchen all this. They talk about it. It looks like instant. But the more you get into it, they say well, you have to do this, you have to do that, and it goes back totally these steps. So, that is the part that Buddha experienced. That is the part that Buddha shared. The essences of the prajnaparamita, or transcendental wisdom is that. There is no other. No, at least to me. I spent sixty years of my life looking through this. As I have always said, “I’m a born-again Buddhist.” So that is with sixty years of life, I put in there. And there is no other than that, nothing! Nothing, even within this, if you lose this foundation, even in whatever level you are in and you lose this foundation, you fall back until you really reach the level where there is no fall back. So this is the big important. This is sort of junction where we are going to go. Up or down, good or bad, I think that’s what it is. And that why it is important to pay a lot of attention and meditate those points seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, which is what we have here. That is the reason why. 38:21

38:21 If we don’t make anything of our life on our spiritual path, no matter, whatever we do, it is (isn’t fooling around). You might have spent sixty years to try to do something. Like flying around and doing nothing. Well, the ego is doing nothing, but you’ve been absolutely busy, which really equals doing nothing, which is a true example of a wasted life. So, as I said earlier, the foundation here, the begins to make yourself a good human being. (?) We can talk about the Four Noble Truths, which is the Buddha’s real thing. But what the real concern is the Fourth One, the Path. And people talk about (?), the Thirty-seven Wings, the Buddhas and blah, blah, blah. But all of them has to really, I don’t know, sort of nice, organized manner, organized, when I say organized, I don’t mean simply put them together, but it means one step will lead to another and each step will throw (move) the individual to another step. It really pushes you, it’s like you are sort of like a mechanical system, that works and works in the thing. It is like a clock. If you watch a clock, you know, the wheels move, and one wheel pushes the other wheel and that pushes the dial of the clock. 41:05 So that what we know what time it is and all of that. That’s how the mechanical system works here. 41:14

41:14 And the spiritual system has to work in that manner. Otherwise, you simply have one little thing here, one little thing there, one little thing. What will that do? Nothing! Remember the word Dharma is actually in Tibetan it is Chur, which really means corrections. The correction of the bottom line, the chur doesn’t translate as correction, okay. The bottom-line, bare bones, that comes through the correction. Correcting our negatives addictions and changing them into a positive addiction. Really, that is the correction, one is looking for. That is the real Dharma. 42:21

42:21 What makes us not to have a proper, what is the spiritual path, really what does that mean? It doesn’t mean anything else except to cut down and eradicate of suffering, which bottom-line nothing but that of negative emotions. Though you may say negative karma, karma created, blah, blah, blah, just skip those out, just go to the bottom-line, it is negative emotions. Without negative emotions we would never create negative karma, never ever. Every wrong thing we did is cause be the negative emotions. Either anger, jealousy, hatred, attachment, whatever one of them makes you do the wrong thing, even knowingly, even knowingly, we do this. That’s why it’s called negative addictions. 43:45

43:45 The purpose of a solid spiritual path is really to cure all these negative emotions. And when you can do that, you have something solid. It you cannot do that, you don’t have anything solid. And not only that, sometimes, some spiritual path in which you think you are somebody, you’re ready to fly, or ready to sit on the cloud, you sort of project yourself with that sort of level and when you do that, the spiritual path that you practice it, is not helping you. 44:41 Rather that that it’s harming you! That is so important. Where it comes from doesn’t matter. What it does to me, it does matter. 44:56

44:56 Every spiritual path has its holy history. It’s coming from here and there and here and there and this and that, everything has holy history. But what really matters to me is what does it do to me, to my mind, to my emotions, to my negative emotions. That is the fundamental basis on which you make your own judgement. If that’s not helping you, no matter whatever you may do a million mantras and million prostrations a million of this, this, this, it’s useless, totally useless. 45:51 No matter how many millions, doesn’t matter. Totally useless. It hurts you even a single mantra is valuable. It has value. It has become important. Single meditation becomes important. And I think that’s what I’m talking about solid. Solid! 46:33 Even doesn’t have to be Lam Rim or Odyssey to Freedom or anything like that sort, as long as you are dealing with your negative emotions. That’s it. No matter whatever you do, it’s fine. Anything you do, if it is going against negative emotions, in any form, in the form of art, music, anything is going against negative emotions, it becomes spiritual path. 47:47

47:47 If it creates any negative emotions, it become anti-spiritual path. Only you can judge. No one can judge. You are the only person who can judge. If we don’t get a solid spiritual path, if death comes before, that’s what I’ve been talking to you, right from the beginning, you are a big loser. It’s a big lose because future life is noting certain. Nothing. 48:17 We may think I will always be a human being. No certainty at all. No certainty at all. Tibetan, like me, could have been born as a big fat yak in Tibet, possible or not. So, I keep on thinking about Tibet, right. So a nice little big fat yak up there. 49:09

49:09 As I told you, everything is open. As I told you it is like the autumn leaves carried by a strong storm, with no idea where it’s going to be dropped. Could be that monkey in the zoo. So that is absolutely open, no certainty. The certainty is we have to make it right now. Long pause 50:19

50:19 Yesterday morning, before I came here, I attended Chura Tulku’s funeral. And they day before that, he is still in that state of meditative state, we have no idea how he is going to be there. But luckily, there was a very good arrangement in Minnesota. It’s been hours and hours, actually you can make some arrangement for up to seventy-two hours. You don’t have to inform anybody. So, after that you can get an extended period if necessary. So, all this is from the hospice people, who make the arrangements. And which I thought is very nice. I never heard anywhere else. And we had a (?) fast in our Winter Retreat one time. And, we really had to rush, because the local police, thought we killed him. 51:56

51:56 And, also it was a very nice arrangement when Allen was passing away in New York, the same arrangement. In some places, it doesn’t. So, now way of telling how long he is going to be in that state. So, that was the day before yesterday. The day when I came back from Charma, I went to Malaysia and people in Jewel Heart, there are very happy. I’ve been able to give them Lojong teaching and I tell you, it is not so good as I did here. Somehow, whatever the reason is, you know, it was good and okay, I am sure you’ll see the transcripts later, but it is not as good as we did here. So, whatever the reason is anyway. I did about ten days teaching there. So, then I went to Beijing and saw my brother, from Tibet. And the situation in Tibet is bad now, really bad. It is not like the usually we hear from both sides good and bad and all that sort of thing. We hear the same thing, bad, bad, bad, but it’s really bad. It is really bad truly. There has never been, they have objection to keep the Dalai Lama’s photo, that’s okay. Politically, they are looking at the Dalai Lama as one person and that’s different. But they never had objection before to have the Buddhist practice. They never did object to give a Buddha teacher, or for that matter any deity or that type of thing. They never did that. 54:32

54:32 During the Cultural Revolution, of course, but after ’87 the never had that. But now they do have that objection in Tibet. It is actually the local Tibetan government is the one who is doing it, not the Chinese government in Beijing. So, it is really amazing and those are the Tibetans, not Chinese. Those are the Tibetans. Not even (?), some important Tibetan person in Beijing and she said, she is now ninety-two, and she said, “These people have gone crazy, completely crazy.” So the fellow told me, I draw attention for the (?) for this 55:57, and the (?) went Haaaaaaa. Why are these people are doing that? 55:42 So it’s at that level and it’s really bad. Actually, they have an order from China, if you are a member of the Communist Party, you cannot have any religion. So, they have an opportunity to catch that and if you are working for government, then you cannot have a spiritual religion. 56:12 So, ninety percent of the people in China and Tibet are employed by the government. So, everything belongs to the government. Even the factory belongs to the government. So indirectly everybody is a government employee. 56:34

56:34 So, the autonomous region of Tibet leaders is able to take advantage of it. And their excuse is as long as there is a Dalai Lama, there is influence, and that’s why we’re doing it. That’s their explanation. So, whatever it is, the situation really bad, as far as the religious practice concerned. Economic, they are all in picnic zone right now, so picknick zone. So, there is no restrictions. There is nothing you can do anything, whatever you want to. So, whatever you want to do, you can get away. Even I got very nice book, this Transcendental Wisdom, Paramita root text, one volume, totally written in gold by hand. It is not rare, a lot of them in the West. But I found one complete, not a single page is missing, found in junk yard in China, in Beijing. So, it’s obviously from Mongolia. Obviously, it is out of a monastery. You know somebody may have spent a whole life writing it. And it’s looks after so well, in between each page they put another page so that the gold doesn’t rub (smudge) each other, or the pages doesn’t touch each other. 59:04 The junk yard, I don’t mean junk yard. It’s what you call an ancient bookstore. So, I bought in there and then I smuggled that out and praying, it may be a good fortune and good thing for Buddhist in America and particularly us in Jewel Heart. 59:42

59:42 So if something meant to be that, so, I thought they may let me go and if they stopped me then I already told my brother and another Rinpoche, I will donate this and to kept in the monastery in Campo (?). So, I made these two things, because I inquired because they said things like “if you are taking it out, if they don’t want you to take it out, they’ll just stop. They are not going to put you in jail. That’s what they told me, really. So, I took the chance and without any difficulty it came. So, I’ll put it out in the Winter Retreat so that everybody can see it. So, anyway, in one way it’s like that. Nothing there. But anyway, but on the other hand when they restrict it disturbed (?) so much. In Lhasa, in Tibet, they even went to private homes and started looking whether you have any practice or not. Any thangkas hanging or not or anything. So, each and every office they have to contest. My brother told me, he has to contest and say he said, yes, I have a stupa of my late Father. Well, we have some images, and we have something, you have to remember where we came from. So, he said nobody came to look in his house. And he has photographs, and he has won three or four international gold medals for photographs so. So, he had some kind, of I don’t know, little pitch (?) stage. Yet, one of his daughters was kicked out of office. And he went there and fought the person who kicked his daughter out the job. He said, “What reason?” The other person said, “Well, the Uncle of this girl is American (that’s me). That’s the reason why we kicked her out of job.” And Auntie, Daharm’s (?) sister in Washington, is working for Radio Free Asia. So they kicked her out. 62:49 Then according to him (Rimpoche’s brother) this is not coming from anywhere else. It is a little office chief is overzealous and doing that. So that sort of thing is happening there, too. Sooooooo, I don’t know what I am talking about. 63:11

63:11 So coming back to the point, to the point. I think I made a bottom-line statement. No matter whatever you do, as long as you are dealing with negative emotions, particularly, those of us who have a higher Vajrayana practice, you also have to be very careful because, if you rely on the Vajrayana practice, we do. But where we rely on we do visualize and say mantras and we think it is enough and that will take care everything. I don’t think it does. I really don’t think it does. So, it is to work hard that tries to change the negative addictions, have positive addictions. That really does the job. Vajrayana practice helps that, tremendously, if you know how to handle. 64:41 But if you don’t handle it, that won’t do any good. Vajrayana is the same thing. Meditation is another thing. Both concentrated meditations then analytical meditation, these are the tools we use. And that also, like concentrated meditation, can reduce negative emotions. It does reduce, it will reduce because you are focusing but it does get rid of negative emotions. 65:38 Analytical meditation can get rid of negative emotions equally; they can increase negative emotions. You do have that. You have to be aware of that. Increase negative emotions rather than, it has the power to rid of that completely, eliminate. But it also can increase it, if we don’t use it the way we should. These are important points, particularly in the West. When we say meditation, we take for granted it is for positive things. 66:29

66:29 Concentrated meditation, more or less, also positive things unless you’re concentrated on attachment or anger or something. Otherwise, which we don’t. Otherwise, it is more or less a positive thing. But we have to know what we’re doing. We have to know our purpose. These are old tools. Even wisdom is a tool, but we cannot misuse wisdom, if you really get to that level that wisdom self corrects. But until that, it is difficult. 67:19 Bodhimind is another one which by nature cannot become increasing negative emotions. Because it is the ultimate love and compassion. 67:29 Other than that almost even those steps from One to wherever that Bodhimind comes up to that level, it is possible to go anywhere. So, it has to be very clear what your purpose is, what your intention is, what you wanted to do, too and then put them together. And that’s how it becomes solid. I hope I have said enough. So, otherwise our practice will be so-so. 68:30

68:30 If that happens, we wasted our life, which you don’t have very often, life with quality. Remember, I have been telling you, life with quality. It is not a superior life, but somehow it happens to have those opportunity and quality. Opportunity becomes quality. If a very conservative person who does, who does shots or things, and who simply have no belief whatsoever, or is even not open for it, and that person’s life and our life is different. I am not saying our life is superior, no it’s not. But we have the opportunity they don’t. I very often said, we try to get our (parma track) in here but they won’t come. Just simply, they don’t have the opportunity. They may suddenly believe it, it doesn’t matter whatever they say. They don’t have the opportunity we do. 69:56 And, that opportunity is rare, which we don’t get very often. It is more rare than human life. That’s very clearly, we see within the human beings. So, if it’s wasted, it’s very wasted. 70:22

70:22 So, these things we talk, it provides you the material for which you can meditate. This is not for information; this is for meditation. This is for practice. This is for training your mind. Don’t think of simple mind training with medicine, training your mind, I am not talking about it. Changing the negative addictions into positive addictions, this is the way. So, I guess that’s that. 71:06 I don’t have much more to say tonight. 71:14 [Housekeeping: talk from 71:16 to 73:31]

Questions from the Audience

Audience: Spoken without a microphone and difficult to hear …

Rimpoche: I explained that a couple of times here. Actually, that’s not even a mantra. It is sort of praise for Tsongkhapa. What happened is, that particular praise was returned. It was written by Tsongkhapa, himself, for one of his teachers and the teacher changed a few words and said it’s you … [Question is repeated] who’s fit to have these praise, rather than me. So, the teacher gave it back to him. 75:27 Actually, the question that you are asking is: The word in Tibetan is MIG ME, the focal point of selfish egos projection does not exist. That’s what they are telling you. The translations say what? ‘Not end.” The true existence is the focal point of, let’s call it ego. It is really a confusion word, but it is a psychologist word for something else they produce. We try to use the opposite of what psychology really made the word for. For lack of a better word in my knowledge, at this moment, is using that as ego. So, the aim of the ego, whatever the ego is aiming at is not there. So true existence, what is the ego’s aim? Make me perfect, make me great, the best forever, is not there. That’s what the word first means, very briefly. But on the other hand, again, not so much the meaning. It is the blessed, value of this particular verse, which is extremely important. It says living Manjushri. Living Manjushri, is the wisdom of all the enlightened beings become a kind of figure, in the form of a deity. So, this particular saying, the living Manjushri sound. It is obvious that I should say it here today. Yesterday morning, when I was attending the funeral, it is obvious, we bid farewell to Chetta Tulku, to the Tushita, Pure Land, where the actual Tsongkhapa is living, for this particular mantra. There is no doubt. It is very clear. So, don’t ask me how to explain it, because I don’t have any satisfactory explanation for that, okay. So, these are the very important points. So, it’s available for us and we recite it, including myself always. So, really, occasions like that, we begin to realize how important it is. It is also very important not to translate. I mean you can translate to understand, but not to say the translation because it carries its sound valid (?). 79:37 Does that answer your question. (Audience: yes). Yes, thank you.

Audience: Why is there so much focus on the afterlife and not … when the Dharma will improve this life?

Rimpoche: It is true, there is also the focus of Dharma practice on this life, no question, but not necessarily afterlife. I think Dharma practice improves from tomorrow. I think that is emphasized. Many of them is this life, many falls into future life. It for tomorrow and thereafter. I think that’s the focus. Traditionally, this life somehow, we manage. 80:47 Just simply being a human being and with good stead as a human being we can manage. Future life it is harder to manage. 81:19 For that matter I don’t think it’s for Dharma only. Any spiritual path, Buddhist or non-Buddhist or whatever, it is for the betterment of the individual from tomorrow onwards. 81:47 People like to interpret and have misunderstanding. I was once traveling from Amsterdam to either Detroit or New York and I was sitting with some guy and it was already night and I had to say my prayers. So afterward, the guy asks me, what are you doing. I said, well, I did my prayers. So, what religion do you follow. I said I’m a Buddhist. He said, oh that the religion of death. So, that how people interpret and then and somehow, they make a little square box where they can fit things and put it in. But I don’t think that’s correct. 82:48 Anyway, good for raising that question. Particularly if you notice I have been raising a lot of these importance of the Dharma practice in life, way beyond where other people do, usual Dharma teachers do. So, if you don’t have any other questions, so I called it to close shop. Thank you and good night. Quietly, Rimpoche says Good Night. 83:54

Migstema follow to the end of the tape at the 85:52 mark.

Completer at: 12:20 Friday, January 8, 2021