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Soundfile 19980427GRJHNLOTF01

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Netherlands

Topic Odyssey to Freedom

Transcriber Christine Brennan

Date at which you finished the transcript

0:00:02.5 So the first and foremost important thing is to remind you to have good motivation. The motivation that what you would like to do is: one would like to obtain the ultimate level of Buddhahood by one individual within this lifetime. In order to make that possible I would like to pick up this information and practice and become myself a fully enlightened being, and then help all beings. Just the sort of motivation needed, just the first step, I'm reminding you of the motivation.

0:01:10.2 Now, the second question is whether it is done in Lam Rim style or isn't done in Lam Rim style but whatever information you're going to talk is the same old thing. The purpose of life is, I think, the first question we have to deal with. A number of people will think the purpose of life is, I don't know, what do you people think? And each and every individual person will have a different idea of their purpose of life, and many people don't know what is the purpose of life and there's so many things like that.

0:02:30.1 It's amazing, if you look in the amount of the different thoughts and ideas that people have for looking for the purpose of life. Some people, it is only to win a war. For many people, to get success in life. And many people are totally confused. (0:03:22.4 inaudible) spiritual point of view, from the Buddha's message point of view, the purpose of life, the purpose of this particular life is, if possible, to become enlightened. If it's not possible, at least free from Samsara, which is the cycle of life which is continuation of death, birth, and our usual time. Birth, the time we spend, then the death, circling around. So, according to the Buddha, the purpose of this particular life is to make a difference in that. If possible, to break the cycle.

0:04:58.7 And there are a lot of reasons why, but let's not go into the reasons right now. That is the Buddha's experience, and Buddha found, and that is the best we could do for ourselves in this life, and life itself is capable of delivering that. So now we have to go into the Odyssey to Freedom, better to go through. Now the idea, the Odyssey to Freedom is nothing new. It is the traditional, what they call Lam Rim. We made it a little bit shorter here and there, but otherwise it is the traditionally what you call Lam Rim, that is Odyssey to Freedom.

0:06:15.7 And why did we change the name? There are a number of reasons. Reason number one: when you call it Lam Rim it is the Tibetan language and in the West people don't understand, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, and it is confusing. They will say 'Lam Rim, what is it?' or something. When you have that, the number of people who knows something about Tibetan Buddhism or who know nothing about Tibetan Buddhism will make a lot of interpretations. Some will say, 'oh it's kind of a philosophy.' Some will say, 'it is a meditation.' Some will say, 'it is some kind of a combination of meditation and philosophy.' In that very strange way, people have their own little interpretation and some, the real translation in English it says Stages of The Path. The stages, but again they can be interpreted in any way, and there is very big confusion. That's why we look for a Western name which can be associated with the Western culture and background

0:08:52.8 So we're looking at the path, we're looking at the stage, and searching through a dictionary. Then suddenly pops up odyssey, so I thought it may be good and when we talk to people, some people hate it so much, they totally dislike it, and some people are happy. And so a month later the people who hate it will also become a little happier with it. So then we choose to call it odyssey, instead of odyssey for nothing for twenty years running around, hopefully we can get the Odyssey to Freedom. And it is a Western name, it can be associated with a story, it has its own adventures, and all of that. So we called it Odyssey to Freedom, that's what it is.

0:10:54.8 So this is sort of, I don't know what do you call it, slogans, or you can call it synopsis or outlines or whatever. There's each one of them in there. So the first thing that I mentioned earlier, the motivation, though we did not write this, because these things are in Tibetan Buddhism there are so many things taken for granted. So motivation is completely taken for granted, so that's why we didn't write it here. The motivation is always number one.

0:12:23.7 So when do you generate that great motivation? Actually, first thing in the morning. What I've been taught in childhood, the moment one woke up in the morning, the moment I opened my eyes, I'm supposed to say: My wisdom eye may be opened, I have the practice of sutra and tantra that must be completed, and I will be helpful for all beings. Those are the three things I was taught say when I was a kid. And if I don't say it, I get it. I get a pinch, or I get a slap, who knows, whatever.

0:14:01.6 So the motivation is there, I will be helpful for all beings, is that great motivation. The motivation is there already. So in our case, we should generate that motivation for every day, every morning for the day, every Monday for the week, every first day for the month, and New Year's day for the year in general. And particularly whatever you're doing, like this, what do you call it teaching or retreat? Whatever it is, such a thing, whatever you do generate it again and again. So that is the very important point.

0:15:48.3 The motivation has a number of reasons, but the one most important thing I would like to point out here is; when you have good motivation, the motivation will almost dedicate. So every work you do during that period, if it is by nature, if it is not negative, then almost everything you do can become possible. That is the motivation here, the power.

0:16:53.7 For example, if you have good motivation in the morning, almost dedicating your time for the benefit of all beings, so if you go and do your daily routine chores such as sweeping the floor or vacuuming the carpet or doing your laundry, going grocery shopping, and all of them can be positive creation of karma. Positive karma creation (0:17:30:1) because remains one the motivation.

(0:18:07.6) And if you don't have good motivation even sitting like this or even a meditation cannot sometimes it's possible not to have good karma, but on the contrary it can create negative karma. For example, you may be sitting here but you're thinking of business. You're thinking of something else, I'd better not say too much ok, something else. It can be negativity and that's way Buddha says the two most important activities: activity one is motivation, the first activity. And the last activity is dedication. So simply, I'm not going to talk too long because it will take the whole time. So simply just if you know how to generate bodhimind, love, compassion, etc., then you know what to do, but if you don't just simply having the mindset of your mind thinking that I would like to achieve the best whatever I could achieve in this life. So I'd like to listen to the life experience of the Buddha and his suggestions and see if I can make it for benefiting all.

0:20:57.5 Ok, is it clear to everybody or does any one of you have any questions or anything, if you did not hear properly or if you have doubts or anything. You're welcome to raise your hand.

0:21:52.5 Audience: Sometimes you, how do you know you have the best motivation? You think you have a good motivation and you can (0:22:05.8 Dutch) but how do you really know you've got the right motivation for the benefit of all sentient beings. You're interest in yourself can become so strong

Rimpoche: It's a good question. We don't know. But what you do is you try to project that idea of benefiting others. You project it, sort of you make up the story and put it out there and repeat it and try to say, that's what I'm doing. So there may be deep interest of personal self issues, certainly it will be there, but I'm doing this for this. So you're trying to make up your mind and try to push it. And no you cannot press, but that's what you do, that is the motivation. You don't have to be completely clean of all other things, we're not in that position yet. (0:24:11.9) And one more thing, when you're practicing these things what you're really doing is training your mind. It is not when you say; this is this, this is that, it does not become until we have trained our mind. It is more a training of mind.

When I say training of mind you're immediately get in your head like Silva mind training and things like that. I'm not talking about those at all. So remember it is training of mind, and before we train our mind what sort of place would you like to have? What is preference of place? Though it can be done anywhere, what is the preference? So we need a nice, simple, quiet, comfortable environment or mostly whatever.

0:26:26.3 If it's a noisy place you cannot think you'll be disturbed all the time, so you don't want it. If it's the middle of downtown Amsterdam, middle of the road, well you can't do it because the cars will knock you down. So what you want is, a threat to your life, free of that and free of, I mean not completely free but with tolerable noise. Free of intolerable noise and good and (0:27:36.2 inaudible) and reasonably good food that agrees with your body. And having a good companion who will not be contradicting you all the time. So the Buddha has said:

(0:28:08.2 Tibetan) Sa san wah tam toh tsan nom neh zhur deh weh yur jeh deh

He says, good ground, good water, good friend and good to have the necessary needs for you and that is called your gongpa sacred secret. Important. I'm sure it is valuable in Lam Rim so if you people have seen it, I'm quite sure you have all seen it. So I'm just trying to point it out.

0:29:09.2 Then on top of that, if you have a place where the great masters, great mahasiddhis have practiced or sat or bless and then sometimes even the place can have, you not only you can have a place, but the place also can help you. I'm talking about a place, I mean it just came out of my head, like three or four days ago there was the fire that destroyed the Nest of the Tiger (Paro Taktsang) in Bhutan, which is of course sad indeed. It just popped up in my head. It was supposed to be a place where Padmasambhava went and practiced and heard a lot of (0:30:26.1 hard to understand) and many other great masters thereafter continuously did a lot of things, including Trungpa Rinpoche and all of those. Unfortunately I believe it's all totally burned, somebody told me.

0:31:21.3 That is an external one, anyway. The true sacred place is internally, we produce by our self. If you can think with your mind and if you're happy enough, the place where you are you can make that. And if you wanted more help you can burn incense or light a candlelight and do all this and it may help you too. Whatever is needed, so if you start burning more incense, Jewel Heart will sell more incense maybe.

0:32:41.3 Marianne told me just now this is available in Dutch translation, so I think you all are looking at the Dutch right? So I'm trying to tell you what is the sacred environment here, we're still on line number one. So whatever it takes you, that is up to you and some people can create a wonderful atmosphere wherever you are. Some people could not create a wonderful atmosphere anywhere else except certain area where you have a different smell, different light, shoes off, because I'm wearing. Shoes off, you know and all this, that's what some people need. So whatever you needed, you do it, and whatever it takes, it doesn't matter.

0:34:26.2 Some people may say, oh you have to be sitting in front of your altar. You have to take your shoes off. You have to burn incense. You have to sit with crossed legs. Doesn't matter, you don't have to. Do you remember a few years ago Allen Ginsburg came here with us and we had a couple of concerts right? and one of them was called Dharma on the Rock, remember? and in the dharma on the rock what he says, there are certain words if you look in there. If you don't know how to meditate sit on the ground, if the ground is not there sit on the chair, right? So that's exactly, if you don't know how to meditate, I forgot the words anyway, sit on the ground, (0:35:41.7 hard to understand) Sit on the ground, if the ground is not there sit on the chair. Which means you can sit on a chair, or you can sit on the ground, or you can do whatever you want to do. So that's at the bottom line, whatever you feel comfortable and your mind is sort of looking forward and it is not so much disturbed by the hatred or attachment and is sort of that sort of clean, clear, level we call that a sacred environment.

0:37:17.9 Maybe it is a little strange for you, I don't know. Normally people will try to say why you meditate is it will take you to a different place. Try to sit you down and do different things and then they will try to insist you do these things, but I'm the opposite direction. I'm trying to get people to be able to create the atmosphere wherever they are, whatever they are doing. Because the chances for us to be able to sit cross-legged and block a couple of hours or even and hour or forty five minutes and do something is very difficult.

I have seen my own masters and seen they're prayers and doing things when they're sitting in the car, when they're eating, when they're talking, when they're doing all this. Even seeing a movie and you know doing all those so why not? So that is good enough for creating a sacred environment. Any questions anybody?

Audience: (0:39:42.6 hard to hear) How can you concentrate when...

Rimpoche: Good question. Maybe you're seeing half the movie, maybe you're saying half the prayer. Maybe. I don't know. I do that all the time, watching TV and saying my prayers, all the time. Which is not good, I don't think it's great, it's not good, but you're doing both.

Anybody else, any questions? Is it ok?

Audience: (0:40:49.6 hard to hear) ... you watch TV

Rimpoche: You want to say it in Dutch or in... ok go ahead and say it in English, fine. I watch TV, yes.

Audience: (0:41:01.0 hard to hear) ... things on television

Rimpoche: What?

Audience: There are many negative things on television.

Rimpoche: So what? You cannot avoid negative things at all in this world. You can't be too righteous if you become too righteous it's not that great. It's really true. Right, if you can avoid negatives, good, we should. But every negative we cannot avoid, life is such. Even if you drive a bicycle on the dirt road, under the bicycle how many worms will get killed? There are negatives, some things you cannot completely avoid.

0:42:35.0 Many people will become rigid, very rigid. Rigid so they think oh this is negative so you cannot use it, so you should not use it, you should not indulge. True. But we're in such a life you have to have it, you know. You should be adaptable, be adjustable. Adaptable, adjustable in the sense you cannot be locked out completely either, you know. So you have to maintain your information maintain all of those and that's what it is. Whether I say it here or I say it later, it doesn't really matter. Actually this thing comes a little later, but since I'm talking here, might as well say it.

0:44:09.3 The main thing is to get the message and to pick up the message and investigate the message and internalize it. You know what I mean? And it is not a rigid system, how you sit, how you talk, if you have a discipline it's wonderful. Even if you don't have a discipline it's ok. We're a bunch of lay people here, we're not monks, we're not nuns. Even if you are a monk or nun, I don't know how they really behave, who knows, right? So I think you have to be very open and take the opportunity wherever, whenever, whatever is possible. I think that's an important point.

0:46:06.7 (beginning cut out) time and the idea is you can get this if you're taking part. It's really true. You can soak yourself in the water and think, or say your prayers or do whatever, you know. You can't do your prayers in shower because they will get wet, right? But in the bathtub it's ok.

So you know if you don't do that, the problem is if you don't do that, there's many of you who have commitment of sadhanas and Six Session Yoga and all of those. If you have to find a separate times for forty-five minutes somewhere else, it's going to be very difficult. If you divided that forty-five minutes into two or even three, fifteen minutes each and do certain things here, do certain things there, certain things while you're taking a bath, certain things when you are doing your laundry and waiting for that, you can do. Certain things, if you have them by heart then when you're shopping you could do that sort of thing, and that is how we utilize the time. The whole purpose of the practice is to practice is within you all the time. It is not certain specific times you do some things, certain specific times you do it the other way around. That's not it.

0:49:04.9 Again, ok, better not say it. What?

Audience: Was wondering how it is possible to say your prayer and to watch TV, because you are

Rimpoche: He asked the same question already. She asked, she asked the same question already.

Audience: Yes, but I can't understand how to... (trails off)

Rimpoche: Maybe I said good question. I just make a little joke and saying that maybe you're seeing half television and you're doing half the prayer, you might have. You might have, you know, or it can be. It is possible, anyway. I'm not saying this is a good way, and the good way should be totally dedicated, totally focused, yes. And if you can't do that, this will also do, that's what I'm saying. I'm not encouraging you to watch television and say prayers together, ok? Don't. I'm not, ok?

0:51:06.7 Now let me move to number two, arrange symbolic offerings. Offering is very important in a number of ways. One, it is great generosity. Actually. the best generosity is offering. Offering is also very powerful to cut down attachment. The water and flour and incense and all these are symbolic offerings, not really true offerings. The true offering is offering anything that you have a very strong attachment to.

(0:52:57.5 Tibetan) da shen lu ma ew sung lung ju du sung kelso che

Those of you who say Six Session Yoga, they will say it all the time, what do you say? Because I don't know how to say it in English. Do people say it in Dutch? The Six Session Yoga? So there's a lot of those, my body, mind, speech and go to karma all the three times and what else do they say? Can you say it by heart? Even the short one has it. (0:53:48.3 Audience speaking)

Yeah, you want to say that in Dutch?

(0:53:57.7 Audience, can't hear it)

Except me, everybody understood that. You know but I wanted people to remember it, so the land, jewel, continent, mountains and environment and everything. It is the giving you the maximum example. But what really it is, on the basis on which we have a strong attachment and strong hatred and that's why that is the real offering.

(0:54:38.7 Tibetan) Bah gah cha tam no sum chi whey u ty nem bu sol

du don nong juh je

In the Vajrayogini they said, the places where I develop my attachment and my hatred and my ignorance, I offer the body world. Body, world, and the existence to you the Lama Vajrayogini, remember that one. So that's what the main offering is, the really letting it go. Whatever you're holding back, then letting it go, that is the main offering.

And when you go sometimes you know there's something called (0:55:58.4 Tibetan word) chö? practice, cutting the root. And chö? practice, if you look in there you're just simply giving your body to all those spirits around and you tell them, those who would like to suck my blood, suck my blood. Those who like bones, chew my bones. Those who like to eat my flesh, go ahead and enjoy. That's what they do. That actually the very drastic way of cutting attachment.

0:56:59.2 That's what the chö? practitioners do normally and they go in the cemeteries at night and sit there and sing the chö? and you know the big drum go and they keep on saying eat, eat, and drink, drink and go and do that. But if a rabbit moves (laughter). If a rabbit moves they will throw their drums and run away.

So that is the true offering, but symbolically we offer water, flower, incense, etc. because they're pure. Our water might not be pure now because of all this pollution and particularly what happened to Spain two days ago, right? (Donana National Park toxic spill, maybe) What happened in Spain for two days ago and those are a really big pollution now, but still we have to presume it's drinkable water so it represents purity.

0:59:15.7 And flowers also represent purity. I don't know what is so pure about incense, anyway. I don't know, really. I'm looking for the purity part of it. Huh?

(0:59:43.1 audience, barely audible) .. precious ...

Rimpoche: Precious ginseng?

Audience: Precious things (trails off..)

Rimpoche: Precious things in it. If the precious things make it pure you can sleep on the gold bed. It won't make it pure. But the thing is, you know why I raise the question of incense is because the good incense should have some animal products in there. So that's why, I don't know what is so pure about it, but they are supposed to be pure. Maybe pure smell. Maybe the Chanel Nº?5 maybe too strong so you have to push it out. So you remember the true offering is letting it go.

1:01:16.4 The attachment is the glue to samsara. If you have attachment it is very hard to get away from samsara. It will really stick you back, like glue. So if there's no glue, it's easy to pluck out. It's easy to pull out. When there is glue it is very hard to pull out. That's the reason why attachment is not good here, (1:02:14.0 sounds funny) to be cut it. The moment I say this thing is attachment, then you say, what about love? What about relationship? We're talked that two days, all about relationship, what about love and all this. As I told you, the relationship between two individuals should be based on love and trust, not on attachment. So I'm not going to repeat this because we spent two days talking on it.

Now the next, is it number three? Position body and mind here we go. And now I'm going to contradict myself. I keep on saying you can do meditation on bath time, you can do meditation your throne, you can do meditation in your parking lot and all this. Now I have to contradict myself here.

1:04:05.3 If you have the meditation on the rock, is there mediation? Do the meditation on the rock, yeah do the meditation if you have it. They're all there. The first thing to do, keep your backbone straight. So you can, you're recommended, recommended to sit with crossed legs. You know, that is the traditional Indian culture, that's why. They're traditionally, all the Indians sit down with crossed legs and they don't sit on the chair. The chairs in India have been introduced by the British Imperialists (Rimpoche laughing). Not in traditional Indian culture. And the chairs in Tibet have been introduced half by the British and half by the Chinese. So the traditional culture, they will say sit down, keep your crossed legs, this and that. But that is the culture I'm talking about.

1:05:57.6 And the most important thing is, whatever you feel comfortable, that is important. You know that's why, 'sit on the ground if ground is not there sit on the chair.' So that's your body position and your mind position is, if your mind is completely controlled or overpowered by negative emotions you can't think straight. So when you can't think straight, you cannot do much.

Especially if you are angry or attached, and you just cannot push the positive meditation on that. You will bounce back, it will back fire. You won't like it. And you don't want to do it again. All of them because you tried to push yourself too strong against opposite mind.

So what do you do? You bring your mind from this extreme level to the middle ground. And that is, try to calm down. Try to calm down and focus inside you. Not on the outside, just focus inside you. If you feel comfortable, maybe focus on your head, or the center of your head. Or wherever you feel comfortable and bring your mind level to that and start taking very shallow breaths from your nostrils, not from your mouth. Otherwise you snore. Only from the nostril, very shallow and start taking in and that will give you some kind of relaxed and calm atmosphere.

1:10:18.7 And if you can bring your mind to that sort of little calm level and take a couple of breaths in and out and that will give you enough atmosphere. If you over do it and take a couple of long breaths in and out, you'll go to sleep. That's going too far, you don't want that. As I told you two days ago, and that brings your blood pressure down, I noticed. I told you, I went and saw a doctor to check before I went here and earlier the resident, the junior doctor checked my blood pressure and said it is high, too high. So then I was talking to him and I sat down and thought that, while talking to him again, it's not that I'm not talking to him. While talking to him I did that and I said would you mind checking my blood pressure once again and he looked, he said much better. So that's I just noticed ten days ago.

1:12:22.3 What I don't want is to hear, I don't want him to give me additional dosage of Vasotec, that's why (laughing). So anyway, so that is how you bring your mind from extreme of anything to a middle level. To some people, even the mind will resist that, you can't do it. It depends on the severity of the condition, or depends on the personality of the individual. All sorts of things, right? So in this case it's so important not to force. And if you force you get rejected. That's no good. It takes much longer to come back and do all this.

1:14:02.9 Traditional Tibetan teachers will recommend you to go into the mountain tops and have a nice view and look. Here you can go to the beach or do anything you like to do. I think I should stop here, because then I've done too much talking.

So the main purpose here is bringing your mind very neutral level, calm level and whatever it takes one should do it.

1:15:06.8 And that is the general recommendation. And everybody doesn't have to do it every time when you meditate or when you try to do this because sometimes there's no time, you know? If you have to go up the mountain top before you say your prayers, or go to the beach, it won't work. But you know it's in general terms, but not specifically telling you to do that. Also, giving the you the information and by knowing that you know what to do if the needs arise. All these will help. There are more, many more on that, but still I would like to end that much.

1:16:24.5 Sometimes it's the other way around, it becomes so dull and you go to sleep. Like this one, (1:16:40.4 hard to understand) living to chair, so comfortable I can go to sleep here. For that it recommends rising your thoughts up. Even bringing yourself up to the level of clouds and sitting up there through visualization, just imagine. Even recommended throwing water, cold water in your face. They're all recommended during the teaching, for the teachings, from the teachings.

1:17:48.7 So the mind, in other words, not too extreme of too high, not extreme of too low, just right level. That is the positioning of body and mind. You must know how to adapt your own atmosphere.

So the lady over here has a raised hand earlier and I just said to wait a minute, so go ahead now

Audience: I had a question about offering, to offer money or to offer something to a friend (1:19:02.3 hard to hear) when to offer my anger or my hatred or my fear or my sadness?

Rimpoche: You don't offer your...(cut off)

Audience: Becoming it

Rimpoche: You don't offer your hatred. You don't offer your attachment. You offer object on which you develop attachment, object on which you develop hatred, and that is important. The subject on which you have attachment, I did not say it's easy. It is definitely not easy, but you know object on which you develop attachment or anger if you give it away you have nothing left. That's the reason why.

Audience: (1:20:43.3 hard to hear) ... person, if I'm angry with my mother, my father, I can't give them away.

Rimpoche: I take it. (laughter) True, I mean really true. I mean this is one of the suggestions coming, that maybe you give it away. You give it away from your mind. You give it away so you don't have it anymore. I mean these are the possibilities of how we can work against those emotions. Possibilities, not only two possibilities, but many possibilities. Not two possibilities.

If you need another chair, just put it in. Make yourself comfortable ok? Don't force it. Ok, we said that, right? So now where are we? Position of the body mind. And your questions are very good thoughts, good thought, good thinking. It is true, things like that, we all have, we're all stuck with those sort of things, but our purpose is to get ourselves unstuck unstuck as much as we can. The mother or mother-in-law, it is a very good example, you have attachment there because it's been the mother or mother-in-law. You have hatred there because she didn't do things the way you wanted you to do, or she didn't let you do it the way you wanted to do it, so it is very good practical example.

1:24:25.3 So you have to experiment whatever works better. Bring all different suggestions together and whichever works better. Sometimes some points will be better than others, but other times it's opposite direction. So whenever, whatever works, pick up those things and try to work that out.

Now we're on number four, envision supreme field. And if you look in the Lam Rim or Ganden Lha Gyema or Six Session Yoga, or your sadhanas, there's always the supreme field of merit. If you look in the Lam Rim, it is such a complicated supreme field of merit over (1:26:00.0 can't understand) here.

1:26:11.6 Huge one right? If you look in Ganden Lha Gyema at least you have Tsongkhapa, the true disciples, the three people there. In my opinion, traditionally when people in Tibet, when they have nothing else to do and they can go on look at that tree and put each and everybody up there and give their names and titles, familiarize it, I think that's what's happened before. So people who get it, who do this, and they keep on doing that for a number of times and after a little while and they get used to it so they can picture it easily. People like me, if I remember earlier, people like me, I get some kind of a vague picture like that, nothing who is who, what is what, it's a bad picture of some kind of tree, people stay on the leaves. So because of that, when Marianne VanderHorst (1:28:36.9 spelling?) drawing that, she'll ask me where to write what person, look in the picture. I don't have the answer, I give her a hard time, a number of times.

First I work my hand to tire Rimpoche, I told Marianne ask (1:29:14.2 can't understand) Rimpoche, I worked my hand off. Then the second time saying, third time she get the same thing from (1:29:32.5 same name, can't understand) Rimpoche too. Then I said look in the picture, and then she said, who is this fellow, how many hats this one has, how many hands this one has. When I look in the magnifying glass I don't see it clearly.

1:30:09.9 I don't know. So that tells you, so it's a sort of a vague idea. We'll leave it on that. Ok? So now in the Odyssey to Freedom what we're recommending is only Buddha. Just Buddha Shakyamuni. In reality it's all gurus, and all yidams and all bodhisattvas, all dharma protectors, all the dakas, all the dakinis, all in one Buddha. This is not new, this is traditionally done too. Traditionally you can do elaborate like this and each one of those schools have its own little field of merit. The Kagyu pas have, Nyingma pas have, Sakya pas have, Gelug pas have their own field of merit. Even this is what's called the Lama Chopa field of merit. There is Lam Rim field of merit, which is instead of Tsongkhapa in the center you'll find Buddha in the center. They're all the same thing. So all these different fields of merit are there, but in reality that is the elaborate form, then the shorter form like three Buddhas or Tsongkhapa's disciples, there's a lot of.... (recording cuts off)