Archive Result

Default Page Style;Soundfile 19980430GRNLOTF11

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Netherlands

Topic Odyssey to Freedom

Transcriber Christine Brennan

Date February 13, 2022

total idea of total existence and all of those, they're going to have it. So therefore there's a need to have a continuation of this rather than thinking you're done with the Lam Rim. You can study how the Tibetan tradition of the concentrated meditation is done, you practice it together with that and when you have sort of basically established the Tibetan style of doing the concentrated meditation you may look into other traditions such as Zen tradition, even Christian tradition and maybe Kabbalah tradition and all of those. At that level see what kind of concentration they do and bring them together, see what the differences there and then you can proceed. I don't see anything wrong with that and I recommended the text that you use is almost all different Lam Rim texts available. Most of the Lam Rims, they have a shorter chapter because it's at the end. You know when you give the teaching it's always the end, you're left with a half and hour or you're left with five minutes, so then zoom you go. That's why it's always short. But Alfred told me Geshe Loden said it's almost taught at the same level, so maybe he had a whole time to teach or maybe he sort of prepared or whatever. He may have a little more additional information may be there.

[0:04:03.7] But first you have to establish the Tibetan Buddhist way. Because it's Tibetan Buddhism. But I think no. The main thing is, we're following this step, following this tradition, so you establish that first. You can use Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand it gives you sufficient information. Once you establish that, then you can pick up the others and then you can compare it. Before you establish this, if you try to pick it up here and there, then there's a danger that you'll neither be here nor be there. So that's what I thought and for wisdom, of course all the Lam Rim books will talk a little bit about it, but the Treasury of Dharma by Geshe Rabten will be a good book to start.

[0:06:15.3] Then there's a lot of other things. For example, there was a book by Nancy Napper, Jeffry Hopkins be fore he became a homosexual, before he came out of the closet he was married and his wife was Nancy Napper, she wrote a book. I think it's called Emptiness? [Dependent-Arising and Emptiness]

Audience: Elizabeth Napper

Rimpoche: Elizabeth Napper, oh I'm sorry not Nancy. Elizabeth Napper. I was told the book is good, but I don't read English myself so I really don't know much. Then if you manage Thurman's [0:07:13.6 not clear, maybe he means Tsong Khapa's Speech of Gold in the Essence of True Eloquence]

Elegance or whatever that is, Speech of Elegancy or whatever that says, if you manage.

Translator: Speech of Eloquence

Audience: [not clear...] Philosophy of Tibet .... Speech Gold

Rimpoche: Oh, don't think you're learning philosophy. Even if the book's title is philosophy. Then there's one book Carl showed me two days ago with Geshe Yeshe Thubten, he was a very great learned person so if it's truly there, it must be useful.

Audience: Path to the Middle Way

Rimpoche: Path to the Middle Way. Then of course, I don't know what chapter it is, nine or something. In the Bodhicharyavatara there's a lot of those exchanges and arguments and all this and that there, you can pick those things up too.

[0:08:52.9] Hopefully we will be completing the Path of Seeing. Well, then there's cause for celebration. You have to celebrate the quality and rarity of Vajrayana. I talked yesterday, so I'm not going to repeat today. Uphold the vows and commitments.

Translator: I think you're missing one now.

Rimpoche: What?

Translator: I think you're skipping step fifty-eight

Rimpoche: What did I do? Well, let's skip that. Actually how to enter in the Vajrayana is you have to rely on the Vajra Master who will introduce you or initiate you. That's what it's talking about. The doorway to the Vajrayana is the initiation. Doorway to becoming Mahayana is development of bodhimind. Doorway to become a Buddhist is taking refuge. The doorway of taking Buddhist practice in your heart is impermanence. So after taking the initiation, what do you have to do? The most important is uphold vows and commitments.

[0:11:26.3] Even if you cannot do anything else, but if you are able to uphold vows and commitments and that itself is capable of delivering enlightenment. So when you are in there, the first practice that you do is generation stage. Generation stage is actually beginning of establishment of a pure state. Pure environment, pure inhabitants, pure death, pure bardo, and pure rebirth. Using these three important events in our life, using every day and try to make everything pure. By doing that completes the path of meditation and the same thing. Whatever your pure visualization, whatever your pure thing going on is and the same process when you keep on constantly, repeatedly doing it and then you will be able to reach a pure state which you have already imagined before at the stage of development. You will actualize it, actually becoming true.

[0:14:21.4] By this time, it's actually materialized. You have become pure, everything has become pure, everything you're connected with perfect, everything has become wonderful. It's actually materialized. Development stage is an imaginative state and completion stage is the actual state. Whatever you visualized it's really become now. Something actual, touchable, changeable, photographable. So that's why it's called completion stage. This completes the path of normal learning. So enjoy the freedom of ultimate union. Union of body mind oneness. The oneness of the conventional truth and the absolute truth. A union of bliss and void. Union of compassion and wisdom. Thus you will be able to fulfill the purpose of your life and make a hell of a difference to a lot of other people as well. Ok?

Now that I have questions and saying, what is Tara, what is White Tara there's a couple of words. So White Tara is white, it's become like a formal. It is very similar to normal Christian sense Mother Maria. I almost said Mother Mara, she's in Germany somewhere.

[0:17:27.0] An important point on Tara, I mean what is Tara? Where does Tara come from? So the answer to this, all the activities the commitments and fulfilling the commitment of all enlightened beings becomes something, you know? All the enlightened beings, so they need to complete their job so they manifest in the form of Yiddam called Tara. Sometimes certain manifestations specialize for healing, sometimes certain manifestations specialize for prosperity, sometimes certain manifestations it's sort of general activities. Sometimes certain manifestations specialize for wrathfulness. So that's why you have the White Tara for healing, Yellow Tara for prosperity, Red Tara for power and Green Tara for general activities and Dark Blue Smoky Tara for wrathful.

[0:20:21.4] Some funny thoughts came up on my head right now, I don't know whether that's going to work or not.

Translator: Let's try.

Rimpoche: Yeah. We should say that first?

Translator: Yes, please

Rimpoche: Tara is like your companion in the house who will try to help you, who will try to nurture you who will try to you know if you're sick, look after it and make you get better, who will also bring money and the needs in the house and who will also involved equally with you for the decision making. So see, the peaceful, the prosperity and the power, and who will do anything whatever you need to be done and sometimes if you're so hard headed they'll be able to pick up the frying pan and hit you on the head.

[0:22:03.2] But without anger, without hatred. So that's just a thought that came up in my head. I mean if you really look, that's how it functions. And then I look at Tara as the feminine principal in Buddhism. If you look in Buddhism it is the traditional Indian religion, which is based on Indian culture. So it's truly male chauvinist religion. No doubt about it. It is true. So everybody, when they become enlightened they always wish and work, they become a man and then become enlightened [audience laughter]. No it's true, it's true, 99.9% it had been. But what Tara did is different. She came in contact with the path in the female form and she contemplated everything in the female form. She committed to become enlightened in the female form without changing. After becoming enlightened, functioned as a female. So it is the symbol of feminism in Buddhism, that's what I said.

[0:24:51.5] It is that female energy which is very important and she's using that energy and so it is very, very important and particularly nowadays. That is Tara. Then she's unlike other Yiddam who had a lot of difficulties, you know like if you did something wrong it might not be right or something. You have all sorts of rules and regulations, but Tara does have rules and regulations but if you keep on breaking rules and regulations she won't mind as long as you don't break compassion. She is very easy to function and very effective and fast and it's wonderful. Many of you have a Tara practice within. You do it, so you know how it is.

[0:26:43.5] Also the long life initiation of Tara has no commitment whatsoever unless you are taking it for the first time a refuge vow or Bodhisattva vow or something, otherwise there's no commitment. We also have a Tara practice, a little practice like one page or two page something available here. If you want to go deeper in that there is a transcript, right? There's a Tara transcript. That's also there. Again we're making it available for you.

The refuge and bodhichittta who have taken vow, who seriously want to take it, it will become. Who just want to be participate in ceremony, it will be ceremony. Who will just want to be spectator, they will be spectator. Thank you very much. That's it.