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19970218GRAABWL05

Tape 28 side A of 02/18/97

We have talked about the seven limbs. Today I want to explain the mantras of the Jewel Heart Practice.

OM MUNI MUNI MAHAMUNIYE SOHA

That is the mantra of Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha who lived in India 2500 years ago. He happened to be a prince and the hope at the time was that his kingdom could become the most powerful kingdom on the continent. There were a lot of little kingdoms around there and the situation was worse than the cold war we just had, waiting who is going to be mower powerful, the Russians or the Americans. It was worse than that. All those little kingdoms were waiting to see who was going to be bigger and more powerful and then all the other kingdoms would have to pay tribute to them. At the time when Buddha was born in this particular kingdom a lot of auspicious signs appeared which raised the hopes that this kingdom was going to be the biggest and that with the luck of this new prince he would create a universal kingdom which controls everything. Soothsayers were consulted and asked, ‘Are we going to be the biggest kingdom and is this going to be a fantastic prince who will do big things for us?’ All the soothsayers said, ‘Yes, there is tremendous, unprecedented luck in store and you can become the most powerful kingdom, provided that you can keep the prince at home.’

People were then trying to make sure to keep the prince at home. That is why they built an artificial life for him. They kept him in the royal palace and provided an artificial life for him. Anybody above a certain age was not allowed to go in there, anybody who was sick could not go. They created some sort of paradise in there. Everybody was young and beautiful, it was filled with music, scented water bath tubs, lights and music going on for twenty-four hours. The young prince was always wondering ,’What is out there, where I cannot go?’ He wondered why he should not go out there.

One day he ordered his horse cart driver to see him. The prince was sitting in the horse cart and just ordered the driver to go. The driver had no choice and asked, ‘Where do you want to go?’ and the prince said, ‘Straight out of the gate’. So they went out of the boundaries of the palace. Since he was the prince, the driver could not refuse. Once they were out there, they found a sick person, an old person, a dying person and also a meditator - one in each of the four directions. When the prince asked the driver, ‘What is that?’ the driver explained to him that this was sickness, old age, death and meditation. And every time the prince was asking, ‘Will I also be subject to that?’ The driver unfortunately had no choice but to say, ‘Oh, Son of God’, and all these other long titles he had to address him with, ‘You also will be subject to that’. Then the prince said, ‘Lets go back.’

He was now very disappointed with his artificial life, knowing that it was artificial. He was not happy to be barred from seeing the real life. His journey to the outside had become a discovery of real life and real problems, with real human beings. He also learnt that he himself was also subject to all the problems out there. That was actually the first discovery of the Buddha. That is why among the fundamental principles of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths, the first one is suffering. He had been barred from knowing that, but with his forceful efforts and disregard for the orders of his parents and retinue he had gone out of the palace boundaries and discovered the reality of life. He saw that no matter how artificially we dress up our life, we have to go through and experience that.

I think we all are very good at making our life artificial. In our life we try to cover up all our problems. We do that. We don’t want people to see that we are looking terrible, getting old, getting wrinkles and cracks in the skin. We put make-up on and do all sorts of things. We also try to cover our internal, emotional problems and try to provide [an artificial environment]. Sometimes we cover up too much and don’t get in touch. I can’t help it, but I have to mention death and dying. In this country we handle that in a very artificial way. It is covered up, we don’t see it, we don’t smell it, we don’t feel that people die. No matter whoever it is, the moment a person dies the hospital moves them out to a funeral home, where it gets dressed up, made up and done up with flowers and sent away. You really don’t get in touch with the reality. I said that I am sorry - some people may not like it, but that is what happens. It is cover - up business. It tries to push us away from reality, from death. We can’t avoid death, but it makes us disconnected, out of touch. I am not sure whether that is good or bad, but you definitely lose touch.

So that is how Buddha Shakyamuni discovered suffering, the reality, part of people’s lives which everybody experiences. He also found that even he, as a prince, was also subject to that suffering. He discovered the truth, the truth of suffering.

It is true. We all have these pains, truly speaking. There are mental, physical and emotional pains in dealing with our lives. No matter how much artificial make - up you put on, one can see the suffering in between the cracks. The person inside feels the pain all the time, trying to put up a half smiling face. Buddha Shakyamuni discovered that.

He also found that there is a way out. Some people think, ‘If I take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, that is the way out.’ But it is not. It is only getting the key to finding the way out. It is not itself the way out. Buddha discovered that the way out is not found by treating the symptoms, but by treating the cause. Did you hear me? You have to work with the causal level, not the result level. In other words, if you have some suffering, you cannot sit there, ‘How can I get better?’ You have to think about what caused that problem. Then you have to work with that, find out what made it a problem and first stop the cause of the problem. Stop the cause. Once you can stop the cause, the result will not come, because the cause is not there.

The causes of our problems are actually nothing more than our neuroses like anger, hatred, attachment, and especially ignorance. That is a real problem. It is not necessarily only not knowing, but also wrong knowing. That is the real problem. Buddha advised us to look at that, because if you can take care of that, you can take care of all your problems. The solution is to work at the causal level. The result will go through. There is a time when it will finish. There is ways and means of neutralizing that. But the way out is working with the causes. You have to work with your own anger, with the hatred within you, with the attachment and especially the ignorance within you. This is what Buddha discovered as the Second Noble Truth. It is Buddha saying, ‘I came to know these problems and that I am subject to these problems, I don’t want them. I searched for a way out and the way out is working through the causes.

The Third Noble Truth is that through that process you will be free of problems. It is the Truth of Cessation. How do I get that? Through the path which Buddha shared with us. It is the work you do on your neuroses. Following this practice is the Truth of the Path to the Cessation.

So the Four Noble Truths is what Buddha had discovered during his life. It is his experience and he shared it with us.

When you say OM MUNI MUNI MAHAMUNIYE SOHA, the Sanskrit word muni can mean victory or one who has overcome something. Here it is the one who has overcome the problems of suffering, who has overcome the problem of the cause of suffering. Further it is the one who has the complete victory over the cause and result of suffering. That is the meaning of mahamuniye [greater victory]. When you say this mantra of Buddha it really means somebody who has been able to overcome all negativities and their results and also the imprints of the negativities. That is the Buddha. The word soha means to lay the foundation for how to obtain that result. Reciting the mantra you think,

You who have overcome negativities, their causes and even their imprints completely, such a person like you may lay the foundation of your body, speech and mind within my body, speech and mind

You may wonder where that body, mind and speech comes from. It is already contained within the first syllable OM. This syllable is the combination of A U M together. This produces the sound OM.

Incidentally I heard that at the Tibet House New York fund raising event in the Carnegie Hall they all chanted OM. Some Tibetan woman showed up and made the whole hall chant OM. OM representing body, speech and mind can refer to Buddha or yourself, sometimes both together.

The next mantra I have to explain is OM MANI PADME HUNG. You have at the beginning the same OM. It has the same meaning. Somebody else may explain that differently. You can’t say that they are wrong. OM can be explained in hundreds of different ways and all of them are right. Why is that? Because the sound A is the basis of all. Without that sound nobody could create any sound. Whatever you say in any language, German, French, English, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese or whatever, even the sounds of the birds, horses, insects and so on, are not possible without the sound A. The Manjushri nama sangit which is a Manjushri tantra, tells you that. Every sound is totally based on A. If you cannot say A, no other sound can be produced. It is called the life force of sound. From that you can get A U M which is OM and all other sounds. There are zillions of different reasons, I don’t want to go so much into detail, but A is also the basis of all our dreams. Every phenomenon that we perceive is based on A.

MANI is money - everybody likes it, right? Then PADMA is the lotus. So lets have a little lotus on top of a green dollar bill [laughs]. Actually the Sanskrit word mani is very close to money - it means jewel, the jewel-like mind. This is the mind of love and compassion. If instead of mind you say heart, then it becomes Jewel Heart. That is really what it is. The purpose is to try to grow a compassion and love oriented mind, totally free of a personal agenda. That compassionate, jewel-like mind is free of all faults. This is represented by the lotus. It is the wisdom. The combination of love/compassion as the jewel and the wisdom as the lotus. Lotus represents purity. Normally the lotus grows out of the mud. But if you pick the lotus it has no fault of being muddy or dirty. It is a pure, wonderful flower. Likewise, we ourselves all have grown out of attachment, anger, hatred. However, we human beings, in absolute reality, don’t have these faults. Lotus is that purity. When you look at the tangka paintings you see that everything is filled up with lotuses. This is simply trying to tell you to be pure, free of faults. What really are faults? Anger, attachment, hatred, etc. How do they effect us? Here we have those personal agendas. These are normally created by our thoughts of anger or attachment. It is the manipulating of other people, planning what to say, how to say it, what kind of face to put on, planning to change things. That kind of manipulation is a personal agenda. You want to gain something for yourself. It might not even be a gain, it may a terrible loss, but we don’t see it because of ignorance. People manipulate other people all the time. This shows our lack of purity. When the personal agenda comes up you lose the purity and sincerity. When you lose that you lose your control over your own mind. You have lost the control to one of your thoughts. That could be anger, hatred, jealousy, attachment, or whatever. As a consequence the individual is being controlled. As a consequence of that negative karma is building up and as a consequence of that you are getting the negative karmic result and not only that! You also ensure that things continue to function in that way and that is even worse than having to experience the karmic result.

If you kill any beings, you kill one, then two, then four, five, six, seven and then you will begin to like it and you will automatically do it. You have no hesitations. Think of killing insects alone. By doing that, you make sure that you will keep doing it continuously. That is worse than actually having suffering. When you have some suffering, it hurts a little bit and then you get over it. You do get over it for sure. The time is not permanent. You may suffer a lot, but the time will go on - it will change. But because of the habit that has been created it will continue. Even if you know that you are suffering from that, you still have to connect it with that and linger around and try to continue. It builds the habitual pattern, it builds the addiction. That addiction will make sure that the suffering will continue.

So the MANI, the love and compassion, and the PADME, the wisdom and purity, show you that. This is the famous Tibetan mantra. In Tibet they will even try to teach the little babies that are learning to talk, to say OM MANI PADME HUNG. All the three year olds will definitely say it. I can’t help remembering that Geshe Lobsang Tarchin from New Jersey told me one day that his dog could say OM MANI PADME HUNG. I said, ‘No way!’, and he said, ‘I will show you.’ So he went and got one of these British cream puff biscuits, put cream cheese and ham on top of that and made a big sandwich. Then he brought this little Tibetan Lhasa Apso dog out. He showed him the biscuit and the dog got on his hind legs. He still would not give it to him, but demanded that he say OM MANI PADME HUNG. After a while that little dog would say ‘OUP OUP OUP OUP OUP OUP’ six times and then Geshe Tarchin said, ‘See, he said OM MANI PADME HUNG!’

This is the famous Tibetan mantra which everybody knows, including that little Lhasa Apso. This mantra is so important because it gives you the message of love/compassion and wisdom combined. This is the complete way - I can’t say it is the only way - how the individual can be transformed from the ordinary level of the neuroses-controlled mind of today into the extraordinary pure mind.

The last syllable of the mantra, HUNG, indicates union - the union of wisdom and compassion, method and wisdom, of absolute and relative truth, union of male and female, union of body and mind. That is also very important. On our level, there is no union. The mind thinks something, and the body does something else. There is a beautiful connection, but there is also a big separation. The body does not know what the mind does. The mind does not know what the body does. When you are enlightened your body and mind become oneness. There is no separation between body and mind. For them every part of the body can see everything, every part of the body can read and understand everything. That is the extraordinary quality of the enlightened beings. If people ask ‘What is the difference between me and Buddha?’ that is the difference. We function separately. Even on the level of mind alone, our thoughts can only perceive their objects one at a time. At the enlightened level everything can be perceived together without the understanding getting mixed up. It does not drive them crazy to perceive everything. That is normal for them. That is the union of body and mind. I very often share with people that when body and mind function together, then wherever the mind is the body is there too. Wherever the body is the mind is also there of course. We here can sit here and think about what happened in New York City in the Carnegie Hall last night, right? We can think about it, but the body can’t get there. But at the enlightened level, wherever the mind goes the body goes together with it .

end of side A of tape 28

Tape 28 side B of 02/18/97

[The enlightened beings are everywhere] Because they are all knowing, their mind is everywhere. When their mind is there, their body is there too. That creates other trouble too. When you go to the bathroom you think you are the only person there, but perhaps not! [laughs]. That sort of trouble. This is all represented by HUNG. It is the union. The union is known to a lot of people. There are so many books available. You can also see it on many tangkas. You see male and female together, having a good time. You may think that way. But it is not. It is showing the union - the union of body and mind, of absolute and relative truth. Buddha always talks about the two truths. People think that there is only one truth, but that is not the case. There are two truths. So the union of these is experienced on the ultimate level. Enlightenment is the experience of the individual. It is like these poker machines. When the right numbers go together, it clicks. Somebody told me that she came close to the three numbers coming together. She missed out only by that much. It did not click. When it clicks, all the money comes out. Probably the union of body and mind is like that. Their frequencies come together. Enlightened mind is like that. It is the experience of the individual.

The next mantra is OM TARE TUTARE TURE SOHA. This mantra gives you the Four Noble Truths. That will do.

With that I have explained our Jewel Heart Practice, hoping that from now on when we recite that, you have something to think about.

Continuation of Bodhisattvacharyavatara teachings

I would like to get back to the main subject now, the Bodhisattvacharyavatara. We are in Chapter Two, verse thirteen.

Verse thirteen

I adorn with manifold ornaments

And various raiments fine and smooth,

the Aryas Samantabhadra, Manjugosha,

Avalokitesvara and all the others.

By now we have offered them a bath and wiped their bodies. Now we are offering them clothes and ornaments. The commentary goes into detail who these Bodhisattvas are. In essence we are trying to do purification. In order to do that we have invited the Supreme Field of Merit and give them everything. We even give them a bath and a massage -really true. You give them oils. You also give them clothes and ornaments.

Verse fourteen

Just like polishing pure, refined gold

Do I anoint the Buddhas’ forms that blaze with light

With the choicest perfumes whose fragrance permeates

A thousand million worlds.

It is simple here. You are offering the massage oil. With that we also offer beautiful scent. Actually with our senses we see, we hear, we smell, we taste and touch. These are the five senses. Good smell gives us pleasure. When the beautiful roses come, you smell them and that gives pleasure. The consciousness within the nose connects with that nice smell and you feel good. Feeling good is because the nose consciousness is sending a message to the principal consciousness. This message is saying, ‘I have made contact with a beautiful smell. It feels good.’ Now the principal mind enjoys that. We use the same principle for the enlightened beings by offering them a beautiful smell. That is one of the reasons why you use incense. These are not only used in temples but also in the individual homes. It is an offering to the nose consciousness, so that the principal consciousness gets the message. We are offering that here to the enlightened beings. The verse says that this smell is not restricted to one room but pervades a thousand million worlds.

In the traditional Tibetan metaphysical system you count the various layers of the universe. That way you get to a thousand million universes. So the smell we offer is not one little scented incense stick whose smell gets as far as five feet, but a smell that covers one thousand million worlds.

It is the mind which makes the difference. There should be a physical basis and this should be mentally propagated. The reason why it spreads so far out is that you want it to reach all the enlightened beings - wherever they are.

The massage you are giving them with that beautifully smelling oil is not only covering some parts of their bodies but it goes everywhere like a goldsmith would polish a golden statue completely - wherever there is gold. You think, ‘I am giving this massage without leaving any single spot out’.

Verse fifteen

And to the highest objects of giving I offer

Beautiful, well arranged garlands,

As well as enchanting, sweet smelling flowers,’

Such as lily, jasmine and lotus blooms.

I don’t think we have to explain much here. This verse mentioned the best object of offering. That is the Buddha. Why? Because he is totally enlightened and free from all delusions. Giving to Buddha - it is again the subject of generosity. It is important to whom you give, what you give, how you give. For me as the giver it makes a big difference to whom I give, from the karmic point of view. If I give a piece of food to a dog with bodhimind or without bodhimind makes a hell of a difference for me. The result, what I gain from that, makes a difference. If I give the same thing to a human being as to a dog, again it makes a big difference to me. If I give the same amount of food to an enlightened being, rather than a non-enlightened being, that also makes a difference to me. That is why Buddha is called ‘highest object of offering’. So you give to him all these flowers, etc.

Verse sixteen

Also I send forth clouds of incense

Whose sweet aroma steals away the mind, ‘

As well as celestial delicacies

Including a variety of foods and drinks.

Why do you give incense? It has purifying values, it has a nice smell and it gives you a good atmosphere. Incense has that value. We have a lot of incense for sale in the Jewel Heart shop. I am trying to be a used car - sales man! [laughs]. Provided that incense are properly made, they even have greater value. You have to collect the proper ingredients and go through the right rituals while making the incense. I don’t know whether the commercial producers provide the rituals or not, but that is what is supposed to happen. In any case, when you pick up an incense and burn it you can say OM AH HUNG. This is one of the shortest and easiest way to bless anything. You don’t want to offer anything that is not pure. So OM AH HUNG makes it pure. The second reason is that it also accumulates extra merit for you. For these reasons it is very useful for you to pick up incense at the Jewel Heart store and say OM AH HUNG when you burn them in your home. But make sure that they don’t catch fire. Apparently the store also has incense burners. If you get one of those you make sure that your home does not catch fire [laughs].

Not only do you offer incense, but also food.

Verse seventeen

I offer them jewelled lamps

Arranged on golden lotus buds;

upon land sprinkled with scented water

Do I scatter delicate flower petals.

Verse eighteen

To those who have the nature of compassion

I offer places resounding with melodious hymns,

Exquisitely illuminated by hanging pearls and gems

That adorn the infinities of space.

You offer to the enlightened beings land, and with that a house, inside of that there are banners, umbrellas, etc. This goes on like that. Do I really have to explain that?

Verse nineteen

Eternally shall I offer to all the Buddhas

Jewelled umbrellas with golden handles

And exquisite ornaments embellishing the rims,

Standing erect, their shapes beautiful to behold.

Verse twenty

And in addition may a mass of offerings

Resounding with sweet and pleasant music,

(Like) clouds that appease the misery of all,

Each remain (for as long as necessary).

Ultimately, all these different offerings are given to the Supreme Field of Merit. The reason is that by making these offerings you get the best feelings. Likewise you think that also all other sentient beings may be free from sufferings and a cloud of joy remain with them forever. The text goes into a lot of detail about all these traditional offerings and there will come more, much more. But the whole purpose of giving is that, as we have given those beautiful things to the Supreme Field of Merit - which makes them feel good, experience good smell, see and hear beautiful things and develop joy - likewise may all sentient beings be free from their sufferings and have joy with them. That is the whole purpose of the giving. So the main reason of giving is to remove the suffering of people, of sentient beings. The purpose of offering is that. The purpose of offering music is that. We have a lot of musicians here. The purpose of music is to relieve suffering. You hear beautiful music, you enjoy that, right? What does that enjoyment do? It relieves the pains that we experience. Unfortunately we haven’t learnt to be satisfied by the sound of the music. We try to mix it with something else, we are looking for another kick. We have something to drink, and so on. That is going beyond [satisfaction from listening to music].

Aud1: You mention very often body, speech and mind. Conventionally, I think of speech being an extension of the mind. But is it something distinct from the mind?

R: I believe speech is distinct from mind, but without mind speech cannot function. You make up your mind [to speak] and then the sound functions. But it is distinct, just like the body is distinct from the mind. A body without mind will be something else.

Aud2: You mentioned various degrees of usefulness of offerings. You said that it is more beneficial to offer some food to a dog with the motivation of bodhimind than giving food to many people without that motivation. On the other hand you told us that a Buddha is the highest object of offering. What is more beneficial, to make offerings to a Buddha without bodhimind or to offer to a dog with bodhimind?

R: Bodhimind tips the balance. The motivation makes a hell of a difference.

Aud3: What is the significance of the umbrellas?

R: They are beautiful. They protect you also from rainfall and sunshine. Also in the old Indian culture the kings and queens are always surrounded by umbrellas. So traditionally it signifies worthiness and greatness. The Indian culture of keeping umbrellas near royalty has been continued in Tibet too. When the Dalai Lama is somewhere, they often carry a big, yellow umbrella around. I remember the first time the Dalai Lama was picked up in a car. There was a monk holding this umbrella running behind the car! The car was not part of the tradition. So this monk did not know what to do, so he started running behind the car. I remember seeing that as a kid.

Aud4: Did you say that giving to an enlightened being is better than giving to an unenlightened being?

R: I will not say that it is better. But what merit do you get? I believe there is a difference.

Aud4: But everyone needs food.

R: Oh, this one [pointing to the Buddha statue] does not. We left some food there for days and he did not eat it. I don’t think the question of the need is that relevant here. You look more from the angle of what you gain. Do you ignore people’s needs? Certainly not. But enlightened beings don’t have many needs at all. Do you consider offerings to enlightened beings therefore a waste? The Communist Chinese do. They told the Tibetans, ‘You waste all your food. The butter is being wasted by making butter lamps. The food is wasted by making tormas.’

Aud5: But you are not supposed to have a personal agenda when you offer. Aren’t you supposed to offer to all, not just to the enlightened beings, because there is more benefit in it for you?

R: You have got wonderful, strong thoughts. But truly speaking, right at this moment, what we need is a lot of merit. Our lack of merit is getting us into trouble. Getting into trouble is lack of merit. Therefore we do need it. We do need to become enlightened. Developing my enlightenment for the benefit of all may not be a personal agenda.

Aud6: When you were talking about dedication, did you say that once you have dedicated something, it is locked in and subsequent anger cannot destroy that?

R: That is right. That is why it is a security system. There are some codes. These codes protect - like computer codes.

Aud7: What is the difference between frustration and anger?

R: When you are frustrated, you are not really angry. The real anger has a desire to destroy, to harm. When you are frustrated, the most you will do is bang your head against the wall or punch the wall.

end of side B of tape 28