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Soundfile 200409003GRGRLBMT02

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Garrison

Topic Lojong-Infinite Heart #2

Transcriber Helen Breault

Date January 2018

Good morning and welcome everybody today. I would like to draw attention to…Oh sorry, I forgot. It’s a general rule that I have to remind you to generate pure thought: thought that recommended by usual teachings such as generating a bodhimind for which we’re going to work. And when we don’t have it, at least what we make is, whatever I’ve been doing today in general in our life, particularly today, is totally for benefit of all living beings. And in short, for the sake and to the service and to help, to guide, to all living beings I would like to be fully enlightened. And for which I would like to listen, think, discuss, study, meditate, develop myself to the subject whatever we’re going to talk. This is the usual Tibetan Buddhist tradition, I think. I’m sure they’re all doing it, like the different traditions like Kagyu, Nyingma, Sakya. I’m sure they’re doing it. But this is what I was taught and in the Tsongkhapa tradition that is what we do.

[2:01]

And I’d like to draw your attention to Tsongkhapa’s word out of his Lines of Experience. I think the verse 10. I’m going to quote it. It says, “This working basis of a human form endowed with the liberty is superior to a wish granting gem. Moreover, such is only obtained this very one time. Difficult to acquire and easily lost. It passes in a flash like lightening in the sky. Considering how easily this can happen at any time and realizing that all worldly activities are as immaterial as chaff, the skin of barley. You must try to take advantage of its essential significance at all times, day and night. I, the yogi, have practiced in this same way. If you would also seek liberation please cultivate yourself in this same way.” That’s what Tsongkhapa said.

So what he’s saying is that working basis of human form, endowed with liberty, is superior to a wish granting gem. Talking about our life. The life what we have, traditional Buddhist, what Buddha said, Buddha gives ten, eighteen qualities of this life. But those of you who are studying, reading Lam Rim or studying, practicing, meditating, I don’t have to emphasize. You all know. However, those who are not familiar yet, if you’re new or something or you’re beginning to look in here, well eighteen is fine. But there’s two very important qualities in this human life: that is, we can think and we can communicate. Bottom line is this, we can think, we can communicate, and tremendous opportunity.

[5:39]

So the inner quality is the mind. And outer quality is the opportunity that we have. Sort of, you know, this is not a traditional Tibetan way of teaching at all. Nobody says, “Eighteen will fall into two.” Nobody does. But, sort of bottom line, bare bones, the real quality of this life is this. You know we can think and communicate and there’s a tremendous opportunity. I don’t have to emphasize, I did enough last night, the capability of a human mind, capacity of human mind. Material, spiritual development, all of them are the result of activity of a human mind, period. All of those scientific things we have, going to the moon and whatever, Mars and whatever. All of those, medical developments, all of those are the result of a human mind. Everything, wherever you look, art, science, everything is the result of a human mind that’s been active and its result. You won’t have anything to point out which is not the human did. Nothing. In material world, in spiritual world, everything is again is result of a human mind that worked.

[8:10]

Buddha, we’re talking about Buddha, is, from my point of view, is the ultimate spiritual development. Or Jesus, or for that matter any great spiritual beings are again a result of a mind. This may be against—I don’t know, as I said last night I don’t know anything about Judeo-Christian tradition, I hope it’s not going against that, you know—but it is, you know…Let me talk about Buddha, I feel more comfortable with us. You know Buddha is not a Buddha when Buddha was there the first time. Buddha was just like you and me as ordinary, stupid, deluded, as much as you and I are. Buddha was the same thing. But that very individual person worked, dealt with his mind, and had a mental development, spiritual development, that made the person become Buddha. That person made Buddha. It is the result of a human mind. Where I come from, what I know, what I’ve been taught, what I’ve been shared, is that there is nothing that human mind cannot achieve. You know it. You clearly know it.

If you think, if you put thoughts on it, you knew it. It is the human mind that makes everything different. That’s why Tsongkhapa calls this “superior to a wish-granting gem.” It’s like the kid’s story magic lamp. You rub the lamp and Genie pops up and does everything that you wanted, right? So if there is such a thing, but our life is much more than that. I don’t know whether we realize or not. If you’re a sensible human being, if you think, you cannot deny that. Otherwise you may think, “I’m useless, hopeless, helpless. Blah, blah, blah. I blew it. I this, I this. And when I get it, I blow it, I don’t know how to take it. And I’m afraid. I’m this, I’m that. I’m not getting it.” All of those are underestimating your human quality.

[11:28]

In normal language point-of-view, for God’s sake do not underestimate yourself. By saying this I don’t want to make your head big. However, that is the reality. It’s not you. It’s not me. It’s not anyone. It’s the precious human life and human mind. That’s what it is. So we have that. We have to appreciate and we have to embrace that. This is dharma. This is spiritual work.

[12:39]

Appreciate. Do not underestimate, do not undermine it. Make best use. One of the qualities, what they tell you, they tell you this life is superior, which is absolutely true. If you compare it with any other life that we have, compare it, make any comparison, compare it. Our life is superior, believe me. Even the—according to the Buddhist tradition, you know they make six realms; or according to the Chinese Buddhist tradition they make ten realms; whether it’s six realms or ten realms or seventeen realms, whatever it may be—there is no better life than human life. Some people seek wisdom somewhere else, that it’s external, some far away, somewhere. And we make movies called, “Close Encounters with the Third Kind,” right? Things like that. We also make movies of the Captain Kirk thing, “Star Trek.” All of them are the human fascination for the superiority and think that it’s somewhere else and we look for it. But no matter how much we go and search and explore and do whatever you do, it will come back to this life.

[15:01]

Like during the…in the teachings of Mahamudra or great mind level, you see there’s an example given [15:15 Tibetan] so that if you catch a bird and you carry a bird in the boat and it goes in the middle of the ocean. Think those days, 2500 years ago there were not so many boats driving on the ocean. So when you let the bird fly the bird will go and go and go and finally come back to land because the bird cannot land on the water. They will find only the boat from where it was and come back. Like mind will go, go, go, go, and finally land back. So like this, we will search for superior quality somewhere else, somewhere else, somewhere else, somewhere else, and finally you’re going to land back to this. Because we have it in our hand. What is lacking is utilizing it. We don’t utilize it. We’re utilizing in a certain way, certain way.

[16:38]

But we’re not utilizing fully. So embracing human life here means embrace all the human capacity, all the capacities that we have. In other words, simple language: use all your brain capacity, whatever you have, use fully and totally. That’s what I think that’s what they’re telling. We have a tremendous. Use it. Don’t waste. That’s why we said, “Don’t waste time.” Time is precious. Not because you get paid by the hour in the sense of green dollar but you get paid by hour in terms of your own spiritual benefit. That’s why time is important. And it’s rare too because it doesn’t last long, we all know very well. [18:39 Tibetan] Such is only obtained this very one time. Human life and particularly our life, life that you and I have is really more rare than normal human lives. I don’t want to say it’s superior than normal human life. But it’s rarer than normal human life, everybody else’s life. I’m glad I draw the attention of some people. Begin to think, “What does he mean?” It is more rare than many other lives. That is not because of the quality of the life, I’m not talking about that. But it’s the opportunity I’m talking about. There is more opportunity. Opportunity is there but not everybody gets, not everybody gets.

[20:24]

Not all the yuppies are getting it nor all the hippies are getting it— though they try to act like a hippy, but they don’t get it.

Opportunity I’m talking about is the openness and your willingness. Your interest for helping yourself and others. And your interest of utilizing your capacity to benefit yourself once and for all. And try to benefit others once and for all. And that’s what I’m talking about. And that’s very rare, very rare. There are zillions of people in the world. And very few people, less than a handful of people takes, can take that opportunity. Not so many. Even those handful who take the opportunity, they all seek easy way out, easy. Rely on the second person, third person. Not rely on self. Outsourcing the job. [laughter] Send them to India. Indians will do it. [laughs] In the Tibetan Buddhist language, “Send them to the Lamas they will do it.” Outsourcing their job. So that’s what I meant is easy way out, is that. Very few, out of zillions of the people, handful of the people will be interested basically in spiritual path. And out of that 99.9% will outsource, rely on others than ourself. And very few will try to do ourself. Really few.

[24:11]

And we are fortunate to be a part of those very few. Trying to do something.

You know, outsourcing can get done the job in material world but in the spiritual world outsourcing really doesn’t get it done. I mean, if you have to do a puja or a prayer or something then yes, outsourcing will be done and that’s all we can also. But personal spiritual development outsourcing will help but that’s not really going to give you the result. I’ll tell you straight away if you don’t mind: Outsourcing is, you know they will pray, they will say rituals, do pray and we pray and what does that do? That tries to connect the karmic condition slightly different. What happens is karma we carry and condition is met. So those praying and all of those—I’m talking about Tibetan lamas doing prayer for you, blah blah blah—all of them will try to change the condition here and there and it does work sometimes. So what happened is, instead of having a difficult some suffering here and there, if the condition changes slightly so you don’t get it down. Either the wheel is passed a little faster or slow so it just avoids meeting a bad condition. That’s what happens. Or try to meet a good condition. Number one, the first priority is avoid meeting the bad condition. Second is try to meet with the right condition. And that does and that links up with the one right karma and that happens. And that will keep you happy or comfortable for a short period of time. And then the same thing is still there.

[26:57]

Nothing has changed in person, personality, karma, nothing. But it is sort of condition changing, avoiding. That is exactly what happens.

But when we have a such a precious life and precious opportunity, wouldn’t it be better for us to do it once and for all? That’s what they’re talking about. When you really wanted to do it once and for all and when you really want to do it—your own personal developments—and then outsourcing will not work. It is my mind that I would like to develop. It is in my that I would like to develop. It’s like the study in school. When you go to learn at school and you don’t do it, your exercises, and when you don’t read it it won’t help. You know it. It won’t help. You can get the best writer and they write your papers for you, but that’s the paper once is written and then it’s over, finished. And no more. You have to hire another person or the same writer again. But you can’t. Because you didn’t develop yourself. So unless you work, you don’t gain. We know from our education point-of-view.

[28:50]

It’s the same thing in our spiritual path. Unless you work you don’t get it. So you say, “Alright, okay, I agree. “But I’m too busy.” “I’m too old.” “I’m too weak.” “I’m very stupid.” “I have so many obligations. I have responsibilities.” “I’m dealing with the world.” And all kinds of excuses we give. When you’re looking from the window of your own spiritual development, all of them are excuse. Real bone [30:15?]…Don’t let me use the second-half word. It is. True, you have responsibilities. True, you have obligations. And, true, but you also have responsibility and obligations for yourself. And mind you, if you don’t do it who else will do it for you? We examined and talked outsourcing will not do here. Our problem is the wrong priority. Wrong priority because we see and we knew if we don’t pay our bills we get into trouble and bill collectors will come and chase you. Although, if they come to your house you can break their leg. [laughter]

[32:22]

But—you don’t know my story, that’s what happened. So I don’t want to waste time telling my own stories but… Because I was stupid when I first came to the United States, at the beginning, you know. I had a huge hospital bill. I did have insurance but they decided not to pay at first. Gave some excuses. So the bill collector starting chasing me. And one of them said, “I’m nearby your house. So I’m coming to your house and pick up things.” I said, “Good. You come in here and you walk with two feet. And if you don’t come in, you don’t have balls. If you walk back with two legs I don’t have balls.” [laughter] He didn’t show up. [lots of laughter] It was the stupid Tibetan mentality that was behind it. [laughs] Then the good news is when he asked me, he said, “You don’t own the house where you’re living?” “No.” “You don’t even own a car?” “No.” So he said, “Jesus!” and then he said something and he banged the telephone.

[34:19]

But the good news is about three weeks later, I got a letter from Blue Shield/Blue Cross saying, “After second reconsideration, we decide to pay your bill.” That’s a great thing. So that’s what I meant here but let’s not waste time.

We knew what will happen if we don’t pay the bills. We have to work very hard, try to meet the ends, many people. Few have the opportunity. And by your good fortune, good karma, by your own deeds you have the opportunity and have to take a total advantage. And if you don’t take advantage of this now, when are you going to take advantage of it? Taking advantage over here is make yourself a little more busy in real true spiritual path. That makes a difference to your own life and lives of those people who are dealing with you. And that is really taking advantage of the opportunity.

[35:59]

That’s enough. Though that’s where I am. So yes, “I’m busy. I’m this. I have disadvantage. I have difficulty. I’m sick. I’m this. I’m that.” And who is not? Who is not sick? Everybody is sick. Truly we are sick. Everybody has some physical difficulties. Is there anybody here who doesn’t have any physical difficulties? No. No one will be able to raise hand. Some people may think, “I don’t.” But I know you have headaches, you have stomach aches and you have something else. And everybody is sick. There is no one who’s not really sick. Not in this room. Not in this country. Not in this world. People have a problem. And all of us are mentally, we are sick with those three poisons that I was talking about last night. We’re sick with the hatred, obsession, and delusion. We are.

There’s no one. That is not an excuse of not doing anything. And you say, “Well, these are my excuse. I hope for the best in the future.”

The second verse tells you [38:05 Tib] such is only obtained this very one time. Simply you will know it by looking in the world. There are zillions of human beings. There are zillions of educated human beings. There are millions of brilliant people. Also lesser intelligent people. But you look at them, all of them. Do these people really have a total opportunity? No, they don’t. Doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor, man, woman, whatever. Our usual excuse is, “I’m not interested.” The true reality is—I’m not talking about religion, Buddhism, non-Buddhism—I’m not talking about it. I’m simply talking about opportunity that they help themselves. And most of them are not interested. Their interest is only to build a whatever—material world. Very few people.

[39:59]

Their interest is in building the material world because their role model is only in material world. They don’t look beyond. And outsource your spiritual work. Outsource it to the God, to the church, to the lamas, to the monks. And that’s why they don’t have opportunity. And many of them are not even interested for anything whatsoever. “What’s this? I see nothing. I see nothing coming in, I see nothing going out.” That’s what it is.

So we’re looking at them and you think you will be the only, the few who are really having interest of helping yourself. And it becomes more and more and more difficult. And that’s why it is once. And I don’t want to go in so much detail because this is not my real subject.

[41:36]

All right, okay, I’d like to do it, but not today, tomorrow. Tomorrow. You know tomorrow never comes. When it’s tomorrow there’s another tomorrow, another tomorrow, another tomorrow. There’s never a day you say, “Today is tomorrow.” There won’t be. That’s another delaying tactic. You know, it’s our mind that is playing trick to ourself. It is our ego that is playing trick to ourself so that ego can still maintain and control. And ego has done, in our mind, within our self, has very well divided and then ego rules, ego controls. And whenever they’re threatened always they play the tricks in the form that you really think it’s right. You really think it’s right. So that’s what the ego does.

[43:13]

You really think it’s right. So the ego sorted out our priorities in our life. Ego will never choose our spiritual development because once and for all it will kick the ego out of our own system and therefore, and at most they will not touch with the ego. That’s what they do.

That’s why the ego sorts out the priority and makes sure that you don’t do something that will really help you forever. That is the truth. And you say, “Okay, all these are fine. But next time.” So next is not there, you know. [44:55 Tibetan]. Difficult to find, it should say here. Difficult to acquire. And easily lost.

Difficult to acquire—I should give you a little bit. This life, what we said is very precious and wonderful, and all this opportunity and all this—this is not cheap. It really costs tremendous, this life, tremendous. The basic cause to have such a life is really built on a fundamental basis which was built on perfect morality. That is why the morality is so important, because morality really provides the base of such a life. [46:09 Tib] A perfect, wonderful morality provided real ground of this life. [46:26 Tib] It is also congented [?46:29] by a wonderful pure praise that we do. The prayer, pray, all of them, will congent—means connect—with the right karma. And, activities of generosity, patience, and enthusiasm, concentration and wisdom helps, puts in. Generosity brings enough to be able to manage. Patience brings presentable, good, wonderful appearance. Enthusiasm makes works complete, whatever you start. Concentration makes you focus and puts your energies all together. And wisdom discriminates what the best to do is.

[48:03]

That’s why it’s difficult to find. Look in the foundation itself: pure morality. And look back to our own life, what we do. And you are the only person who knows about your own morality. I’m the only person, I know about my morality. So you make a judge from there. Whether we have the foundation in future. And Buddha gives a funny example. It’s very, everybody knows this, most of you anyway. The example is: a blind, turtle pops up once every five hundred years his head out of the ocean. And there is a yoke floating somewhere in the middle of the ocean. And to catch the blind tortoise head in that yoke is almost impossible. The Buddha gives that example of if you think, “I’ll do it next time.” So no matter, whatever. You know earlier Tibetan masters give us the advice, “If we have a life to live one or two or three more years, I will make sure I’ve done what I need to be done, need to do. If I have one or two or three months to live, I will make sure my immediate future life will not be disaster. And if I have one or two or three days or weeks to live, I’ll pray and I’ll put all efforts to purification and praying.”

It sort of tells you how time is important for us. [51:25 Tib] Difficult to find. Easily lost. Easily lost. It passes in a flash like lightening in the sky. Lightening doesn’t last forever. Doesn’t keep on lightening all the time, right? If it keeps on lightening all the time we don’t need electricity. Even if we need it it might not work. [laughs] It is occasional and it just comes and goes, just comes and goes. In other words, it’s like that, so easily lost. And that’s also true because, you know, we don’t think about it. And if we think about it, any minute, anything, anywhere it happens.

[53:09]

In another Lam Rim, the shorter version “Foundation of All Perfections,” Tsongkhapa refers to this as “a bubble in the water.” [53:25 Tib] It’s like a bubble in the water. The bubble comes up very nicely “bub buba bub bub,” however it doesn’t last. Goes “pop pop pop pop.” So life, wonderful, important, precious, can achieve tremendous, anything you want to, but it is impermanent in nature. Impermanent in nature. It changes all the time. It’s changing every minute. Actually it’s supposed to change in this period of making (Rimpoche snaps his fingers), it’s supposed to change three hundred sixty-five times in this short period. It should change. It’s changing. (Snaps finger). That’s why we become older. (Finger snap) That’s why we grow the wrinkles. (Finger snap). That’s why we have gray hair. (Finger snap). That’s why we have salt and pepper hair. (Finger snap). That’s why we wear glasses. That’s why we wear hearing aids. (Finger snap). And all of those. Because it changes (multiple finger snaps) three hundred sixty-five times in this one period. That’s how it changes.

[54:59]

These are not the subtle impermanence (many finger snaps) but sort of three hundred sixty-five in this period. It changes. And that’s why people change their mind. That’s why people change their look. All of those. Otherwise it has to be a permanent structure. Even the Statue of Liberty changes, remember? Just popped up recently. It changed so you have to repair it.

And the biggest change, a gross change, is death for us. And that comes, no matter whatever you do, it does come. Wherever you go. You go to the moon or Mars or somewhere else out of this galaxy, the death will come and get you. You go into temple, the death will come. You go in church, death will come. Wherever you go, whatever you do, when the death has to come it will come and get you.

Buddha has done something very interesting. Buddha belongs to the caste called the Shakyas. At that time there was a war. And one of Buddha’s disciples, Mongalputra had the most powerful magic power, he has. And he told Buddha, “I tried to stop this war and they’re not listening. So should I take off one piece of my hair and tie all these incoming soldiers and throw them all far away?” And Buddha said, “Haha. I know you can do that. However, what will that help?” And he said, “Well, it will avoid the war.” And Buddha said, “All right, it will avoid the war. But those who have to die, they will die anyway.” And Mongalputra said, “If I can avoid the war then they won’t die.” So now Buddha said, “All right. You have magical power. I have magical power, mystical power. Let us pick up two kids today of this Shakya caste. So where would you like to hide them?” And Mongalputra told Buddha, “I would like to hide them in your bowls, your begging bowls.” And Buddha said, “That’s fine. I would like to hide them in one of those god realms somewhere, thirty-three heavens or something, I’d like to hide them there. And then we’ll wait and see what happens.”

So the war came. A tremendous amount of Shakya’s caste died. The sun set. The war’s over. And those were nice wars—they fought during the daytime. So the war is over and then they started looking for those two kids, two of them. Both of them were dead. Nobody hit them. Nobody cut them. Nothing. They were dead. That’s why Buddha said karma is so big and so important. Whatever you do, wherever you do, when the karma consequence comes in time, that’s it. So they came out with the verse [59:15 Tib], “There’s no place where the death cannot catch. It is not in the sky, not in the sky, not in the ocean, not behind the mountains. Nowhere. That is reality.”

[59:50 End]