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23 November, am

(Rinpoche reads the Heart Sutra.)

Praise to Manjushri.

The first prayer is to the lineage of the extensive method path. There are two paths: the method and the wisdom path. This is the lineage of the teaching of the method. This is like the first request. The nectar rays are emitted from the lineage lamas, from Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, Maitreya Buddha, and Asanga. In the prayer it is small, just this, but if one is familiar with the elaborate merit field, then one can visualize all the rest.

The nectar rays flow from them and enter your own mind and that of all sentient beings, the Dharma friends who are around you and all the rest of the sentient beings. They purify the obscurations that obstruct increased life, fortune, the excellences, and the understanding of the teachings. And then the realizations from the beginning—from guru devotion up to the omniscient mind—particularly bodhicitta, the paths of the method, the five paramitas and all the other paths that are the method, then tantra, the illusory body, and the result, the rupakaya.

This is just for those who normally do these practices of the Guru Puja, particularly the end of the Guru Puja, requesting the gurus to grant the realizations of the whole path to enlightenment, the fundamental lamrim which is explained in the stanzas and the tantra practice which comes in the dorje prayer in the Guru Puja. These are, I think, extremely important for one to be able to quickly subdue the mind, or to soften the very solid, the very hardened mind like iron.

The only thing that can subdue the mind is the holy Dharma. Only the holy Dharma can subdue these vicious thoughts and the vicious, cruel, selfish attitude that is harder than iron, harder than diamond, harder than any of the hard external things. So much harder than any of the external things that are so hard to destroy.

This mind seems to be nothing but attachment. This mind contains only attachment. Sort of, you know, the nature of the mind is nothing but the attachment of seeking samsaric pleasures and perfections. It looks kind of like that. Or the mind is nothing else but selfish attitude. Nothing else. Kind of, if there were no selfish attitude, there would be no mind. If there were no attachment there would be no mind. Then there would be no mind, no heart, sort of. There would be a body but no heart. Nothing else existing except ignorance, the grasping at true existence. At the moment our mind is kind of like that when we just look at it without thinking of the methods and without thinking of the possibilities. If we just look at the mind without thinking about the nature of the mind, that the mind can be cleaned and separated from these disturbing wrong conceptions, not thinking about the possibilities of the methods, then the mind seems to be like that. The mind seems to be oneness, there is no way to separate it, no way to change.

If this mind is nothing else, just selfish oneness with the selfish attitude, selfish oneness with attachment and selfish oneness with anger, then if this stops there is no more continuation of life, or continuation of rebirth. When we just look at it straight without thinking of the nature of the stream of consciousness or the nature of the mind and the methods that make the mind separate away from this, then it looks impossible, kind of hopeless, impossible to change, just on that.

I think this is extremely important for those who are normally doing this practice. I would think that this is the greatest puja. If you are concerned about helping your parents or helping some people who have much confusion in their lives, one after another, not having Dharma, not having understanding of karma or the cause of happiness, or the cause of suffering, not having any answer, not having one single slightest understanding of that, recognition of that, keeping busy all the time, just rushing to create negative karma, the cause of suffering, while the mind believes that it is working for happiness—if there are friends or particular people like this that you are concerned about helping, then this is the greatest puja.

When we do this part of the prayer that we did last night, at the end we request to receive complete realizations, the complete path to enlightenment. We should not only request these realizations for ourselves alone. At that time, during this section, it is very important to pray and request that the hindrances be purified and that we receive blessings. The replica absorbs and the blessings are received.

Here it says, “I request inspiration.” Inspiration is okay but it might be a little bit limited. The request is to generate the realizations of the whole path. Sometimes it says, “I am requesting you to grant blessings.” Sometimes there are prayers like these to grant blessing. In Tibetan terms this is jin.gyi.lob. A blessing is something that changes the mind, that makes the mind capable. So, “Grant blessings, change the mind, and change it by your magnificence, by your power.”

If you plant a seed in the very hot desert sand, it cannot grow. If you plant a seed where is no wetness, it might dry up, it might get destroyed instead of growing. By pouring water and making the soil wet, with this wetness the seed that was planted can do the function of growing, it can produce stems, flowers, or fruit without being destroyed. Similarly when there is devotion, the devotion understands that the merit field has perfect understanding, power, and compassion towards oneself and towards all sentient beings. Even though there might not be that much devotion when we do the request, still, by doing the request to the merit field, asking for blessings to change and subdue the mind, the thought of renouncing samsara grows stronger. The attachment seeking the samsaric pleasures and perfections that always ties oneself to samsara grows weaker.

At the beginning it looks impossible to separate this from the mind, kind of thinking, “This is my life, without this how can I live my life?” and “How can there be life?” Even though at the beginning it seems impossible to lessen attachment, gradually, due to the practice of making requests to the lineage lamas of the graduated path to enlightenment, through the practice of purification, through reciting mantras and doing prostrations, through these various methods of purifying the obscurations or hindrances, the attachment seeking the samsaric pleasures will grow weaker. Then we generate the realizations. The various practices such as the mandala offering and the practices of the seven limbs are the methods for accumulating extensive merit. With these merits we create the causes for generating realizations. Reciting mantras and doing prostrations are methods to purify the hindrances that keep us from quickly generating the graduated path to enlightenment within our minds.

The requesting prayer to the lineage lamas causes blessings to enter into our minds, like pouring water. Like the example that I mentioned before. Like watering the rice field or when you plant flowers, like that. By doing these practices, the attachment seeking samsaric pleasures and perfections becomes weaker and weaker, smaller and smaller, while the thought renouncing samsara becomes stronger. We start seeing all the perfections of samsara as essenceless. The whole thing is in the nature of suffering. This, the realization of the graduated path and the thought of renunciation increases more and more, and then after some time not the slightest single stain of attachment seeking this samsaric happiness and perfections is left.

It is similar with the ignorance holding the “I” as truly existent, holding the “I” and all the rest of existence as truly existent. At the beginning it looks kind of incredible. We lived our entire life with this ignorance and this hallucinating mind, this ignorance grasping at true existence. The whole life, from birth, from that very first second that the consciousness took place on the fertilized egg in the mother’s womb, we have been living our life keeping this ignorance in our hearts, following this ignorance, completely trusting the projection of this ignorance. We have completely trusted this hallucination, which is the projection of our ignorance of true existence. We don’t need more hallucination than we have now. We have enough. It is difficult to tear it off. It is difficult to recognize it, to stop it. By keeping this hallucinated mind, this ignorance of true existence in our heart, we completely trust the projection, the true existence. That is why our lives always have ups and downs, one after another, and we are constantly confused.

Then, also, the selfish attitude is so strong that after some time it even makes you cry to think of the harm you caused others, how you hurt the minds of others with a selfish mind, unbelievably, how you were careless of other’s suffering, careless of others’ happiness. When you think back and you remember this, when you look at your own mind, it makes you feel upset. The selfish mind is so unbelievably strong that it seems kind of hopeless to change it, to separate the mind from that incredibly strong selfish attitude. Among all these uncountable numbers of sentient beings there is nothing else to think about, nothing else to be concerned about but oneself. Among all the uncountable numbers of human beings, nothing else, nobody except oneself to be concerned about. Among all the creatures, the animal beings, nothing else, no one else to be concerned about except oneself.

However, through these three practices the selfish attitude becomes weaker. You sometimes felt it to be hopeless, “How shall I be separated from this selfish attitude?” You felt kind of hopeless. Doing these three types of practices, it gradually becomes weaker and weaker. And then the thought of cherishing others, the bodhicitta, the mind that is in the nature of compassion with the thought of loving kindness increases more and more. After some time there is not even the slightest stain of the selfish attitude that exists this mind. Instead of that, only bodhicitta, renouncing self and only cherishing others. Then you have the same experience as all those uncountable lineage lamas of the teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment as they experienced it, as they explained how they practiced and how they generated the graduated path to enlightenment in their biographies.

One Kadampa geshe, Geshe Tolba, said of his own experience of generating the graduated path to enlightenment: “If one puts real, continuous effort into training the mind in the actual path, and by the way attempts to accumulate merit and purify the obscurations, then even the realizations that one did not think one could generate in a hundred years will be generated quickly.”

Although one may think, “I have incredible anger, I have an incredible selfish attitude, how is it possible to change this even in a hundred years? I cannot be changed, after continuously practicing, continuously putting real effort into meditating, or in order words into training the mind in the graduated path to enlightenment, the actual body, then, by the way, the mind changes.

“By the way” means to be continuously practicing Dharma, even in the break times. We should be accumulating merit not only during the practice of purification in the session times, but even in the break times—while walking, sleeping, eating, talking—whatever action one does, continuously one should practice Dharma by transforming these actions into the holy Dharma. Also during the breaks, one should be doing those particular practices of accumulating merit and purifying obscurations.

One example is transforming eating food into virtue by making charity to the worms that are in the stomach. I don’t remember exactly the number, but there are several thousand worms that are supposed to be there, several thousand creatures in the stomach. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha explained in the teachings that when eating food, you can make charity of the food to these creatures in the stomach. Then dedicate the merits so that in the future these worms will be your disciples and that you will subdue their minds by revealing the teaching. You dedicate for them to find a perfect human body and to become your disciples in future lives. Like this you lead them to enlightenment. This should be done in a similar way with other outside creatures when you make charity to them.

There are various practices, both in sutra and tantra, of transforming these actions that are much more skillful. There are particular profound secret meditations explained in the tantra teachings that transform these actions into the quick path to enlightenment. There are much more profound meditations, much more secret meditations than those that are explained in the sutra teachings. Then, make charity to the insects, to the people, and make offerings to the Triple Gem of whatever material one has, of whatever quality or quantity, as much as you can.

Then, recite those particular mantras, such as Vajrasattva, or the Compassionate One’s mantra. The mind is free to do the meditations and one’s speech is free to be utilized to accumulate virtue, to purify and to accumulate merit. The same with the body. The three should be used as much as possible to accumulate merits.

Besides doing those particular practices, the things that you normally do—sit, sleep, talk, eat, whatever you do—these you should also try to transform into the holy Dharma. That is the most important practice, I think—to transform whatever actions you do in everyday life into the holy Dharma. The same actions that you were doing before you met the Dharma, since we were born and also in the past life. There are different levels of the pure attitude that transforms. The lowest pure attitude is that which is not stained by the worldly concerns, the evil thought of the worldly Dharmas. At least with this attitude try to transform the actions into holy Dharma. I think this is the most important thing.

If one is able to do those other particular practices, one gives special time for that, such as for retreat, or sitting meditation, or doing the preliminary practices like prostrations, mandala offerings, or the sitting meditations. Of course, if one is able to do this that is very good, but I think that the most important thing is to transform those actions that we normally do in everyday life. Even if we don’t practice Dharma, still we do those actions—whatever you are doing now, right this moment, even working in the office—whatever you are doing now, right this minute, this present action— whatever you are doing with the body, with the speech, and with the mind, each of these actions should become the cause of happiness.

Even though it does not benefit others, even if it is not done in order to obtain happiness for others, it should at least be something that benefits you. We should have at least the lowest purpose; of something that benefits you, something that brings happiness to you. That is what I think is important. It doesn’t mean that I practice it, but that is what I think is important in everyday life.

I heard that the Zen masters say, “Don’t think about the future, think about the present.” That makes sense. If you are not careful in this present life, then you lose your future happiness. No matter how much we desire it, we don’t get it. What we get is the opposite of what we wish for. There is one verse, one saying that is very good: “Because of the kind past life, a precious human body was received in this life. Precious present bhikshu, precious present monk, or virtuous beggar. (“Virtuous beggar” means begging for nirvana, the “virtue” means nirvana. One who is seeking nirvana, working for that is “virtue beggar”.) So don’t throw the next life over the precipice.”

It means this: because we worked so hard in the past life to create the cause for this present human body, practicing moral conduct and charity and making prayers, in this life we received the precious human body. Because of the past life, the present precious human body is received; and then one became a “virtue beggar,” wearing robes like these, having much freedom, being fortunate. After having received this precious human body and becoming this precious bhikshu, this precious virtuous beggar, don’t create negative karma! Don’t throw the next life over the precipice of the lower realms by creating negative karma. Therefore, it says, “Present precious virtuous beggar, don’t throw the next life over the precipice.”

This is not only for the monks to be thinking about. What he’s saying is that in the past life he did a good job, so the result has happened. He has this precious human body that has incredible freedom to enjoy the happiness and perfections, as well as much freedom to work for ultimate happiness. So now he is requesting this life, “Now, don’t make it worse in the next life; during this present life what you are supposed to do is to make a better rebirth in the next life.”

One should be able to transform the everyday life actions that one has to do, that one cannot live without doing. One can transform each of these actions. When you are talking to somebody, you talk about something that is beneficial for that person, with the motivation to benefit that person’s mind, to have compassion and patience and to help him with whatever problem he has—with the motivation not to confuse but to benefit. So you should talk with the motivation to benefit others. Before talking one should examine one’s mind and create the pure motivation. At all times, with the voice and the mind, whatever one does, as much as possible, it should at least be the cause of your own happiness. Even if one cannot make it benefit all sentient beings, at least then try to develop the cause of your own happiness.

In this way, one makes an effort—practicing like this one day, and the second day the same, the third day the same, the fourth day the same—then you see even though this month is hard, the next month will be easier. This year is a little bit hard, but next year will be easier. In this way our life is never wasted even if one is not living continuously in a solitary place or even if one is not continuously studying Dharma or retreating. Then, wherever one is, whatever work one does, whatever style of life one has, day and night continuously one takes the essence of this body. In this way all the time one is making preparations for the happiness of future lives. The happiness of the lives coming after this. In this way life is always highly meaningful. To do that, again there is the need for the everyday life not to be wasted, but to be continuously highly meaningful by practicing holy Dharma. To be able to transform each action one does in everyday life into holy Dharma, into positive actions, one needs alertness. Continuously one has to depend on remembrance and awareness.

This is what the first chapter of the Bodhicaryavatara is about, which I will start in my next life. I am not going to start the explanation of the chapters from the beginning, just this first chapter, so that we can understand how to practice remembrance and awareness continuously in our daily life.

What Zen says makes much sense. The present is more important than the future, you know. You should not put off what we study now for practice in the future. Whatever one understood from that teaching, put into practice. Even though one doesn’t have complete vast understanding of the path and of what one is going to practice, if one understands one teaching, if one has understood two words, three words, whatever understanding of Dharma that one has, one should immediately put this into action, without waiting to finish the study or to have complete understanding. The complete understanding, the end of the study or the end of the understanding comes only when one has achieved the omniscient mind. At that time one has the complete understanding of Dharma or whole existence. Then that is the end of study, the end of Dharma practice.

However, for Lama Atisha and those high, great attainers of the graduated path to enlightenment, the Kadampa geshes, their way was to practice and study at the same time. While they were listening they meditated, while they were studying they listened, and reflected on the teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment. They were not split, not separated. In this way you get something done every day. Every day you get some work done to achieve enlightenment for the sake of sentient beings. Otherwise you wait for the future, to have deep, profound understanding, then nothing changes in the mind, nothing happens in the mind. No matter how many years you study in a monastery or whatever it is, nothing happens in the mind, nothing changes in the actions, nothing becomes better. Then suddenly death appears. While you are doing something not finished, always not having finished something, while you are spending the life in such a way, suddenly death comes.

If one could practice holy Dharma in the lower realms, if one could continue, it would be okay, but that is not possible. Then all the Dharma that one studied—sutra, tantra, all these teachings that one has received—just becomes words. Without trying to transform the present actions and whatever one does into virtue, instead trying to create another separate time for Dharma, then also one doesn’t get these things done. If one’s mind is weak in transforming the normal actions into Dharma, then also one cannot make the time for those other particular practices. One gets delayed or it doesn’t get done because the mind is occupied by the thought of the worldly Dharma, by those disturbing thoughts such as laziness and things like that. So, it doesn’t get done. If one is able to always practice the remedy, keeping the remembrance and awareness of transforming those normal actions into Dharma, because of that one is also able to give more time to those other particular practices.

Anyway, I didn’t make it to the prayer. I think it doesn’t matter. The main point of the teaching is to benefit the mind, to benefit the mind. It is not like official work, something fixed. Dharma is to change, to benefit the mind. It is mind food, or mind medicine. However, if it is of benefit to some people, then that is it. Then it has a result, the purpose is accomplished. Otherwise it is just exhausting.

I think I stop here.

23 November, pm

Oneself having attained nirvana or the blissful state of peace, the cessation of the true cause of suffering, is not sufficient. If we are satisfied with just that, then we are no different from the non-human beings, the animals, the goats and the buffaloes. What they are seeking is happiness for themselves, day and night, all the time, not having any thought for the happiness of others, only the concern of happiness for themselves. The animals find grass, each for his own happiness. When he finds water he drinks with the thought, “May I become happy.” With that thought. Like that, seeking happiness only for the self. If oneself is happy, it is good. If oneself is suffering, it is bad. It doesn’t matter what happens with others, whether they are happy or whether they are suffering. If I am happy, it is good. If I am not, if I have trouble and problems, then it is bad. Having that thought only.

This kind of attitude, this way of living life, night and day, all the time—is it any better, is it different from the life of the cows? If you compare, if you think what is the difference between my life, I who am living in a house, in this beautiful, rich apartment, and the life of these animals or birds living in the forest, or those cows living in the cow-shed, eating grass?

With regards enjoyments, of course there is a difference. We have much better enjoyments then them. But look at the attitude that I have everyday and night, the way I live my life. Is it better, is there anything that in my way of living is better than their life? The attitude that I have every day of my life, is there anything special about it? Is there anything about it that is better or more beneficial than the attitude of the animals that are not cows, the tigers and elephants or snakes, those wild, vicious animals? I am here, I am called “human being,” having great enjoyments living in comfort in a luxury house (I am not talking so much about Kopan although this is luxury compared with others—the homeless and those living in bad conditions.) With regards to the food that I eat, it is so rich, very expensive. Then my clothes also and all those things.

Then look at the attitude with which you use all these things that came from, that you received from other sentient beings. For you to have this enjoyment, they experience much suffering. Each of these uncountable numbers of enjoyments were received from uncountable numbers of sentient beings. You did not receive this from them without effort from their side. So many of them had to die, had to be killed. Even if they didn’t get killed, they had to experience much pain. There is not a single enjoyment that has been received by not depending on the kindness of uncountable numbers of sentient beings.

But the person who enjoys all this is one—me. But look at my attitude! How selfish it is. How poor it is. When I wear clothes, when I have good food, it came from the kindness of the sentient beings. It came by so many others creating negative karma, both human beings and animals, sentient beings. So many of them have gone through much pain, so many of them were killed, so many of them created negative karma by harming others. How were all my enjoyments actualized? How did they come to me? The house that I live in was actualized by the kindness of sentient beings. The clothes that I wear, the food that I eat, that I enjoy, that I use, came from sentient beings with much suffering and much pain. I am the one person who eats, who enjoys all these things. I don’t have one single thought to benefit others. I have only the selfish attitude, “May I be happy! When shall I be happy?” With this selfish attitude, I am using these enjoyments.

You could use this example. You worked so hard to collect money. You worked so hard for so many years with so much worry of mind and physical hardship; you worked both night and day. Then with this money you build a house. Then you let somebody stay there in that house, and also you give him food, you offer him all this that you yourself worked so hard for, with so much worry and physical pain. That person is supposed to help. This person is supposed to work for you. You give all these things and he is supposed to work for you. He is supposed to work in your shop for you.

Okay, now he does the business. But besides using all your food, besides eating all the food that is in your house, all of it, everything that came from you, besides that, even the work that he is supposed to do for you, he did for himself. He is supposed to help you out but instead of helping you he took all those things that were in the shop and used them for himself. If he takes something from the shop without asking, or he takes some hundred rupees, something like that without asking, how would that be after you gave him food and all these things? If he did that, immediately when you hear about it, even without seeing him you would kick him out, and he would lose his job. Immediately you run there in front of the person and then with a red face, you scream right in front of his nose, in front of his face. Almost you might eat him. Kind of.

This is an example. If it is related to our everyday life, if it is put the other way, how painful that is. You see how incredibly selfish he is. So selfish and by seeing his incredibly selfish mind, it hurts your mind. You see how incredibly selfish he is—never concerned about you, only about himself. When you look at his mind, when you remember him on your bed at night, before falling asleep, while you are lying down on the huge bed under the huge large soft blankets, then you see, you think of him. How he is so selfish, and you think of his mind, his attitude, and you can’t stand it. If he was there, if you had a bomb or something and he was there in front of you, you would just make him non-existent, just completely disintegrate his body. Such a wish can arise.

When the ill will and the anger starts to arise because the other person didn’t agree to your wish, or said something that you don’t like, that you hate, instead of arguing, instead of fighting and making your own mind confused and overtaken by anger, consider the other person. Otherwise, hours and hours you fight with words, and then if there is still some energy left, you use whatever you can to harm him. You scratch his face, or bang him on his head. If you are sitting on a chair, you throw the chair at his head. If you have nothing else to throw, you throw the chair at his head, or the table or a plate with food.

Not like in those movies on television, that is a different thing. They show a party, they have a party and they rent a lot of cakes. I am not sure if the plates are made of paper or—I am not quite sure—but anyway it contains one cake. Everybody is throwing things at each other making a big mess. Then the police come. The house is full of noise. On the outside the police come by car and go inside with guns. Then everybody kind of stops, everybody stops throwing at each other. Then they sit around and start talking to each other. But I am not talking about that kind of thing.

Actually, it is quite strange, because they are not angry, you know, when they act for movies. Even if they are physically hurt with maybe pain or something. We say bad words with dislike and with hatred, hating each other. The movie actor and actress are saying the same words, saying bad words, insulting each other like we do when we are beating each other. Generally in the movies one does those same things, the same words, the same beating, but one doesn’t get angry. While at other times, when it is not prepared like that, the same words that we said when we acted in that movie, the same thing—the words are the same, the same insulting words or beating, now make us angry. Since it is not prepared, since it was not agreed on with the others to do it, when it is not planned like that, it makes us angry. Then, even if just two words in your talk are a little bit not right, two or three words in your conversation, the way you say something is a little bit not right, you know, slightly not pleasing to the other person, you make the other person so angry. The other person gets very angry because of one or two words. Even though he did not try to kill you or try to beat you, still it becomes so serious for you, this unbelievable anger.

So, an action is done—an action done with the body and an action done with the speech—that is done. With one you get unbelievable anger, you are so unhappy, but with the other one that doesn’t happen. One was a performance, acting or playing, while with the other one became so angry, so unhappy. From this you can see how it completely came from your own mind, how it was created by your own mind. With one way of thinking you get angry, while with another way of thinking you don’t get angry. There was the same action of insulting and beating from the other person, but when thinking in one way you don’t get angry, you even feel happy sometimes. I don’t mean happy by practicing thought training, I don’t mean that, but in some other way.

Similar to these things would be what I heard in America, that when a man is beaten by his girlfriend to whom he is very attached then it kind of makes him happy. It is similar. It is the same beating, but at that one doesn’t get angry at all. Instead you recognize a kind of happiness, although physically there is pain. So you see how it is so much dependent on the mind.

That is not the point I am talking about. The point is, going back, to emphasize this. Instead of letting yourself get angry with a person when you have different ideas, different wishes, or if he does something you don’t like and you can’t really manage at that time to change him, then instead of letting your mind get angry, consider the other person. Even when someone is treating oneself badly, that includes everything—disturbing one’s happiness—especially when there is something that you can’t manage to change really, it’s difficult, well then, instead of letting your mind be overwhelmed by anger and then letting a feeling that wishes to hurt and speech that hurts arise, instead you consider the other person’s feelings.

And then, instead of quarreling for hours and hours and hours and hours, creating much negative karma, even physically harming the other person, instead of that think, when you get a feeling of ill will and you want to harm others like that, then think at that time, “How would it be if he had bad thoughts towards me, like I have now toward him, do I like it or not? I don’t like it. I hate it. Therefore, I should stop. He doesn’t like these bad thoughts that I have towards him, he doesn’t like it either. So, for that reason, I should stop.”

It is similar with your selfish desire, when you desire your own pleasure. Your desire for your own comfort is so strong that others do not agree, so you have problems with these friends, with these people. They don’t like this idea that you have. When the desire for one’s own comfort and for what one likes is so strong that one is pushing it on others, it only causes confusion, it only brings more problems, more disharmony.

Think how when someone is so strongly determined in his wishes or in seeking the comfort and the pleasures that he sees, remember how that makes your mind very unhappy. How, when somebody says certain things like this to me it is painful for my mind, it makes me so depressed or makes me so angry or unhappy. It is the same thing if I do this now. It would hurt, it would make the other person’s mind unhappy—the other person gets aggressive and depressed. Since we are both exactly equal, both desiring any happiness, pleasure, or comfort from the greatest to the smallest, and both of us exactly equal in not desiring any great or tiring suffering or discomfort, there is not the slightest reason to think that I am more important then him. Therefore, I must renounce the selfish attitude that hurts him, that gives him fear and worry, and that makes his body and mind less comfortable.

This selfish mind doesn’t bring peace, doesn’t give any realizations—it only creates disharmony and brings more problems on myself. There comes only harm and no benefits from that. It brings no benefit for others, nor for myself—it only harms myself and others. So what’s the use of keeping this in my heart? I must, I must give it up!

You see, today’s consciousness continued from yesterday’s consciousness. That one continued because of the continuation of the consciousness existing the day before, the day before that, the five minutes before the next day started, the very beginning, the first second, the very first second of that day, the very beginning. The reason the consciousness goes on existing is because the existence of consciousness continued from the last second of the day before that. Similarly, this year’s and last year’s consciousness, the reason the consciousness exists this year is because of the existence of the continual consciousness last year. The very first second of consciousness that took place on the fertilized egg is a continuation of the consciousness of the intermediate state. And the continuity of that consciousness comes from the past life, whatever body was taken in that life—say that of a formless deva, or whatever. It is a continuity of that consciousness continued from other past lives. Like this, the continuity of the consciousness has no beginning.

If the continuation of consciousness had beginning—let’s leave talking about the bare consciousness, let’s talk about suffering, the disturbing thoughts, the ignorance of true existence, the very root of samsara. Well then, this would have beginning as well. If the consciousness had a beginning, then it would be truly existent, either that or permanent—the ignorance would be permanent. It would be truly existent in the sense that it would be independent, it would not be depending on its own past continuation of causes, you know. If it existed without depending on causes and conditions, then it would be independent and truly existent.

In that way, anger and all those other things would be truly existent, independent. In that case since it would not be dependent on anything, then you couldn’t do anything towards its cessation either. There would be no way to achieve nirvana, the cessation of the true cause of suffering. No way. Why? Because you couldn’t make the suffering less by using the method, the remedy of the path, you couldn’t lessen it, you couldn’t do anything. No method, nothing. In that case there would be no way for the disturbing thoughts to become stronger and also no way for them to become less. If they are independent, not depending on causes and conditions, then there is no way for the feelings to strongly increase when you continue the cause.

Like when you just keep thinking of the reasons for being angry with another person. You remember how he harmed you and the more you think of that—how terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible that person is, like counting mantra—the more you think and think about him, the anger increases. You remember how bad he is, how terrible he is. When you think of these reasons and remember his face, you have the mental picture of his face and body, and you see him as kind of ugly, ugly, ugly. The anger is like a balloon. From being small, suddenly it gets bigger. So huge, so large, that you see nothing inside you except anger. In your body, inside yourself, there is nothing but anger.

It is similar with attachment and with pride and with those other things. If they were independent, without depending on a cause, their previous continuation, then the condition is outside the object. If the person who at the time is the object of your anger and the anger were something that existed by themselves, then there wouldn’t be this experience of the anger increasing and then disappearing. Like when after one minute or after one hour the person comes with a cake on a plate and says “Please, excuse me,” with a very sweet smiling face, “Sorry,” or something like that, “About what I said to you before.” Then when you see the cake and you smell it as well, at the same time bliss starts rising in your heart. I am joking, but anyway, suddenly the mind changes, suddenly you are seeing him as a sweet person. Then suddenly the anger disappears. It is forgotten, you know. If these things were independent, without change, it would be totally opposite to the reality of our experience.

However, it doesn’t exist like that. What I am saying is that it doesn’t exist because we don’t experience it that way. If it were permanent it would be unchanging by cause. But when we plant one seed, it goes on bringing stems and other things. It is going to have many seeds. It is similar when a tiny anger grows into a huge one. As we keep it and think of the reasons we are angry, that tiny anger becomes the cause of the next second of anger. The first second of anger becomes the cause for the next second of anger, and that is bigger than the first one. Then that one becomes the cause for the next one. Like this. The first anger itself is in the nature of change. It came from the seed of the disturbing thoughts which are again in the nature of change. Similarly, the ignorance is impermanent, changing each second by a cause. So from this you can understand the mind—from this example you can understand consciousness.

Let me just finish this point about the reason that we cannot remember past lives, or in a similar way the reason we can’t remember certain injuries or things that happened in child time, or those painful experiences we had in the mother’s womb—things that happened in this life, not in past lives. We don’t remember how we came out of our mother’s womb, you see. Then many things from last year or even today, sometimes we forget, we don’t remember certain things that we did this morning—what we talked about at breakfast. Sometimes, suddenly when you think back you don’t remember. This is mainly due to ignorance. For the same reason we cannot remember past lives—other lives, or the life before this one. The beginningless past lives, we don’t remember for the same reason. So similar.

But for those who can remember past lives, it is similar to us remembering yesterday or last year, remembering the trouble that we had, the journey, or the entertainment. We remember because there is a continuation of consciousness between that time and this today. If there were no continuation, there would be no way that we could remember past lives. There would be no way to have the recollection of the past. We don’t remember our past lives’ suffering but when some people can remember past lives it is because there is a continuation of consciousness.

Even though we don’t remember, there are similar reasons why we are born with the ignorance of true existence and these disturbing thoughts, and why we have this particular personality; why some are very impatient while some have a very compassionate nature. These daily experiences prove for us that there is a continuation of consciousness. If not, there would be no reason at all for this mind, or this present life to be in the nature of suffering. There would be no cause for this present life, for these aggregates or this body to have pain. Why does it have to experience pain? Why is it born with such a nature that experiences pain?

Also, there would be nothing that causes the different disturbing thoughts—like incredible anger. So that while you are angry, fighting, and quarreling, if somebody says, “Practice patience!” if somebody reminds you of the practice of patience, and to be a good person, it makes you explode even more—you get even more angry. In short, in our everyday life these things, these experiences, are proof that there is a past life, that past lives exist. So, from that past evolution of the mind, one can understand, one can figure out the future. So this experience is one example.

I stop here.

24 November, am

The meditators experiencing the graduated path to enlightenment, those of the past and those who are experiencing it now every day, make these three requests to achieve their purpose and also do mandala offerings. This regarded as an extremely important method to be able to easily generate the realizations of the graduated path to enlightenment.

Generating the realizations and actualizing the graduated path to enlightenment, from guru devotion up to enlightenment, all this comes from having received blessings. Each time that one has generated a realization in one’s mind, one has received a blessing. Each time one generates a realization or one’s mind gets changed, is more subdued, at that time one is receiving blessings. Before, the mind was completely empty of understanding karma, not knowing at all the cause of happiness and the cause of suffering. But now, we find a little bit of faith in this slowly arising as the understanding grows. That means that that many blessings have been received.

As I mentioned yesterday, the selfish attitude and the anger, as well as other disturbing thoughts, become weaker and smaller by doing the preliminary practices, the practice of refuge and bodhicitta, or the practice of mandala offerings and prostrations, which are methods of accumulating extensive merits. And also by doing Vajrasattva and Chenrezig mantras, which are powerful methods to purify unimaginable obscurations. When the mind gets better and better, that is a sign of having received the blessings of the merit field and the guru—the Triple Gem.

If you cannot think in the elaborate way that I explained with the first prayer, particularly the method and then the result, the rupakaya, from the beginning of guru devotion up to enlightenment, then just think of the merit field. If you cannot think in such detail about the path, about method and wisdom, the resultant rupakaya and then the rest of the complete path, particularly the wisdom and the result, the Dharmakaya—first purify all these obstacles, and on the second repetition generating all those realizations, through a replica of the merit field absorbing into oneself and to all the sentient beings—if you cannot think in such detail, just think of the merit field whose holy names are mentioned. Then these absorb into you and all sentient beings and whatever realizations they have, their infinite excellences of holy body, holy speech, and holy mind, whatever they have, all these realizations, all these excellences, I as well as all sentient beings have received. At least in short, it is very important to think or to feel like this.

If the question arises, “I want to become enlightened quickly for the sake of the sentient beings, I want to generate quickly the graduated path to enlightenment, so what can I do? Which methods can swiftly generate these realizations?” then, these are the answers. These preliminary practices are the answer to that. If one wonders, if somebody has a question, well then, this is the answer, this is the method to fertilize the mind.

If you plant the crops on the rocks, or very solid ground, where there are lots of rocks and stones, they cannot grow. Also it needs to be fertilized, it has to be well treated, it has to have perfect minerals and depending on that, the crops will grow. A similar arrangement is needed for the mind. There is a need to prepare our minds in order to generate the stems, the virtuous crops in our minds. The graduated path to enlightenment and the result, the fruit, the Dharmakaya and the rupakaya. Through the stems, the method and wisdom, the graduated path, one achieves the fruit, the rupakaya and the Dharmakaya.

If anybody has that kind of question, that kind of concern wanting to be of benefit to other sentient beings, to offer extensive benefits and to free all the sentient beings from suffering and lead them into the state of omniscient mind, then one should study well these fundamental practices and practice them in everyday life. Otherwise just closing the eyes and sitting with the legs crossed, whatever, doing some physical exercises called yoga, or some things that are just making the body flexible for it to move around, to curve around, and closing your eyes as if sleeping—that won’t even stop the lower realms, it won’t stop even the problems of this life, it won’t stop even the confusion of the mind, even today, besides being unable to close the door to rebirth in the lower realms.

Any questions regarding reincarnation? Or, no problems at all?

Cloud: Why should I care where my consciousness is reborn, because I don’t even know the address of the person my consciousness will enter next lifetime.

Rinpoche: Do you care about your life tomorrow? Do you care about your life this afternoon?

Cloud: But that is only because I remember from yesterday until the next day.

Rinpoche: But you cannot see what you are going to do this afternoon, or what is actually going to happen, you don’t know. You believe that you believe in the afternoon, but you are not one hundred percent sure. You should really check whether you really believe in this afternoon, after going to bed tonight, after going back to your sleeping bag. Same thing if you do care about your life tomorrow. Your question does not make much sense—if the consciousness is not your consciousness then it is somebody else, that is somebody else, that is some other person, some other separate being, it is not you. Heh?

Cloud: Isn’t it self-cherishing to want my consciousness to have a good rebirth?

Rinpoche: Just to have rebirth you don’t need to worry. Only if you are free, as we talked about just before, like those arya bodhisattvas or the arhats, those who have completely eliminated, completely ceased the true cause of suffering and the seed of the true cause of suffering, then there is no samsaric rebirth. Then maybe you should worry. Because then there is no rebirth. I am just joking.

Anyway, now I understand what your question is. You see, if one’s ears are deaf or one has much pain, just as an example, and one cannot listen to the teachings. So, wouldn’t it be better to have medicine, wouldn’t it be better to have treatment to stop the pain? So that at least, even though you cannot do much for others, at least you can do something good for yourself? No? If you cannot do Dharma practice with suffering, if you don’t have that much will or mind energy, or if your mind is not that well-trained in the practice so that you cannot practice with that pain or transform it, then it is better to have treatment.

You stop that pain, you recover from it, then you can do the practice, otherwise you just live with the suffering, you can’t do anything, you just waste your life. The life is spent just for pain. It is better to do something, even though it means seeking your own liberation with a selfish mind, for your own happiness. Besides being unable to benefit others, you don’t even attempt anything for your own happiness. If you don’t seek happiness at all, if what you are seeking is only suffering, then that is a different thing.

Did you understand my point? If what you are seeking is only suffering, not happiness, if what you want to renounce completely is happiness and what you want to have is only suffering all the time, then that is a different matter, that is a different thing. Then there is nothing to emphasize in terms of creating the cause of happiness. There is nothing to emphasize for that person in terms of creating the infallible causes of happiness. Since the person likes to suffer continuously there is nothing to say.

But since you want happiness and you do not want suffering, then, even if you cannot help others, at least help yourself. If you attempt the infallible cause, in that way you will achieve the happiness that you want.

If we have a perfect human rebirth in our coming life there will be more freedom to work to develop the mind in that which we haven’t accomplished or completed in this life. You will be training the mind in the path, you see, so that you are able to have more realizations, more power. If you haven’t generated bodhicitta in this life, by having a better rebirth, you are able to generate bodhicitta and to generate those higher bodhisattvas’ paths. In this way you will have that much more realization and the power to reveal the methods, to guide others. Your powers will be like those that the arhats have.

The bodhisattvas, the new bodhisattvas and the higher bodhisattvas, have so much more power than the arhats. As a bodhisattva reaches one of the ten bhumis, there is that much more realization—the realization has increased so much, so now there is that much more power and ability to reveal many more methods to others. Not exactly like Buddha, but much better than before. He has much more knowledge and understanding, so he is able to reveal a greater variety of methods and to guide sentient beings better.

Without a better rebirth one cannot complete works for other sentient beings without the slightest mistake; by taking a better rebirth one completes the rest of the path. In that way, one is able to be of more benefit and to complete the path.

And as Buddha, one is able to benefit all sentient beings. For oneself to benefit others there is the need to establish peace and tranquility first within one’s own mind. In order to develop others’ minds, first you need to develop your own mind. If you are a dog, what benefit can you give others? If you are born as a scorpion, how can you benefit others? Is there much that you can do for others? That’s it. Therefore, in this life your responsibility is to purify and not create the cause of the suffering realms. You need to renounce those causes and purify those that have been created. Then you need to create the cause of the happy body that has much more freedom to work towards one’s own ultimate happiness, and has much more freedom to give extensive benefit to other sentient beings as well.

Even if you seek a better rebirth in the next life, you don’t need to do this with a selfish motive. That thought does not become contradictory to the bodhisattva’s practice. As a practitioner of Mahayana teachings you are taking the bodhisattva’s path, so you take a better rebirth, as I just explained, to train your mind in the rest of the path that you did not accomplish in the previous life for the sake of other sentient beings. Isn’t that okay?

The practitioner of the Bodhicaryavatara, the practitioner of bodhicitta and of the Mahayana teachings in everyday life from morning until night, thinks of himself as a servant for others. You think of yourself as a servant for other sentient beings. You are a servant offering service to sentient beings, separating them from the suffering that they do not wish and helping them to obtain the happiness that they wish.

So, you see, you take care of yourself. You give food to this body, taking care of this body for their sake. You take care of your life and your body, not for the sake of your own happiness, but for the sake of the happiness of other sentient beings. Because you have to work with this body, with this human life that has more freedom to benefit others, for that reason you take care of it for the sake of others. As it is said in teachings, “One uses the enjoyments as a servant, one uses the enjoyments for the master.” Not only is the rebirth to benefit others, but so is every day of life, with all these enjoyments. This is the attitude of the practitioners of bodhicitta and the Mahayana teachings; this is their way of thinking. The sense objects should be enjoyed only with the thought of benefiting others.

I stop here. Do you have some questions?

Question: If death and rebirth is a closed circle, with no beginning, how could it have an end? If we never get into it, how can we get out of it?

Rinpoche: How was it made beginningless? What made it beginningless? What do you think it is that causes it always to circle? Heh?

You have to think about that. You shouldn’t think of the circle of death and rebirth as something truly existent, something that happened intuitively—it is a dependent arising. The circle of death and rebirth is a dependent arising. Since it is a dependent arising you can change it. The reason it hasn’t stopped so far is because the cause, the force that makes it circle, the samsaric aggregates that make us circle from one life to another life, have not been ceased so far. The causes—karma and the unsubdued mind and the ignorance of true existence—have not ceased. So far, we have not done any work to stop it, and this is why nothing has happened.. Still we are involved, still we haven’t stopped our journey, circling from rebirth to death.

How can the cause be eliminated? As I explained before, the answer is that it can cease because karma and the unsubdued mind can be stopped, it can be made non-existent by generating the remedy, the path in the mind. This one can figure out, one can understand from practicing the thought of loving kindness toward somebody whom one dislikes. If you meditate on the kindness of that person, if you meditate on how precious he is, the anger goes away, the anger disappears, or at least it becomes weaker. During the time that you are aware of how precious or kind he is, it disappears. Similarly with attachment. When we think of the shortcomings of the object, the attachment disappears.

From the daily experiences that happen during meditation time, you receive the answer. This small experience gives the answer to how to completely cease the true cause of suffering. Through just a few seconds of meditating, we keep the unsubdued mind from strongly arising. So, when we actually enter the path and when we actually take those steps of the path, they are removed. Even the seed is not left. It is eliminated and it is impossible for it to rise again. From this daily meditation experience you can figure out how samsara can have an end. If we individually, from our own side, work hard to put an end to it, then it can be ended. Even though we didn’t have a beginning, even though the continuous samsaric circle of death and rebirth didn’t have a beginning, we can make it end. Otherwise it becomes endless. If you study the philosophy of the teachings, the explanations and the commentaries by Indian pandits such as Nagarjuna and Asanga, very extensively, if you study those detailed, elaborate explanations of the teachings, you will understand thoroughly, perfectly.

Relating to reincarnation—even though we don’t have clairvoyance now, remembering past and future lives, we did have clairvoyance in the past, in other lifetimes. Like education—in some lifetimes we had so much education, in some lifetimes we were very foolish, just a fool, unable to understand even one letter.

Also, in numberless lifetimes we were born in the form and formless world, through the cause of stabilized single-pointed thought. In so many lives we had education, but in other lives we don’t remember. In many lifetimes also we could remember past and future lives. Some people when they do meditation go back to the womb, check back to the womb, when the very first consciousness took place on the fertilized egg. And from there they try to concentrate very intensively. I met some students who get incredibly clear impressions from past lives, as if real—not just mere imagination, not just something that you visualize, like visualizing being a lama in Tibet, or the President of America, but like things that you remember. Like remembering things that you did some years back. Like that, so real, so strong, so clear, with much feelings.

Somebody with very deep feeling said (I don’t remember if it was a lady or a man, but one of the students, he somehow had an incredibly strong picture with strong feeling that (I think maybe it was a she) she was in Tibet, she was a nun or something like that in Tibet, making Tibetan tea with the churner. She could see churners and the kitchen, things like that. And there are other people who said similar things. However, if you disbelieve and if your only logical reason for not believing is, “Because I don’t see it, because it is not the object of my knowledge,” if that is the only logical reason, then you don’t need to believe him when the doctor tells you that you have cancer.

For months and months you are happy, you don’t believe you have cancer, you don’t think that your life is in danger. But one day you go to hospital for a check-up for X-rays, then the doctor says, “Oh, sorry, you have got cancer.” Then you get completely spaced out. Then you should use that same reasoning there in front of the doctor, “This is not my knowledge, I don’t see it..” You should say the same thing to the doctor. Then the doctor will get spaced out. Maybe next time when you go back, when you get worse, then he won’t look at you. Maybe he won’t talk to you, when he receives your name. So, you see, you cannot use this as a logical reason.

Only when you have completely removed all stains of ignorance and you have not the slightest ignorance left, when you have removed both the disturbing thoughts, the ignorance and even the subtle obscurations such as the cause of the four unknowings that arhats have and the buddhas don’t, only then does what you say have value. When even this cause of the four unknowings has been completely removed and your understanding doesn’t have the slightest mistake, when you understand all of existence, every single thought of sentient beings of all the three times, if your mind has reached the state of omniscience, then what you say has value. Then if you say “It doesn’t exist because I don’t see it,” it has value.

As long as you have limited understanding, then how can you say, “Since I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist.” Or, “It doesn’t exist because the scientists do not see it, because they have not written about it in a book.”

Scientists themselves have not finished their discoveries yet. One cannot rely upon them (I am just talking generally) because their explanations change, their definitions of things change. Their discovery is not finished, not complete, so that each time they investigate further they find something that is different from the past discoveries. In short, they are still in the process of progression. The understanding is not complete.

Therefore, even though it is not your own experience remembering past and future lives, or having the omniscient mind or bodhicitta, the compassion covering all sentient beings, or the thought of loving kindness covering all sentient beings—even if it is not your own experience now, it is the experience of others, of those with highly developed minds, those who have developed the good heart.

Saying that it is not possible to have such experience or such knowledge because, “It’s not my experience, because I don’t see it,” can never become a logical reason. If a learned, intelligent person looks at the person’s answer, that answer only proves that the person is foolish. With that answer the person is only showing that he’s a fool. It is not proving anything about the subject, it’s only proving that he is a fool.

Some days ago, one scientist came from America. His body showed that he probably had a very high degree. One very kind looking lady came, then the principal character, the American, and then one other guy came, but I don’t know his title, his job, or anything. That guy brought one small bottle containing embryonic fluid, a small quantity, and some hair from a one or two year old child, as well as some nails and the child’s first name. He asked for blessings. I asked him what had happened, I didn’t know why he wanted blessings. He said, “The child is in the hospital.” “So, what is his sickness?” He says “The normal,” he says, “The usual.” So I didn’t bother to ask him further. I asked him if I could keep this for some days and return it later. He was completely shocked when I asked him if I could keep the stuff for two days and then return it. He said “No!”

So, I tried to bless it, tried to purify the child.

However, the scientist asked questions. It must be very difficult for him to get an answer about the meaning of life. He asked, “What is the meaning of life?” He wants some answer in a short time. So, I said, I think, in brief, that the meaning of life is in everyday life to protect the mind from anger, pride, and those disturbing thoughts by practicing patience, the thought of loving kindness, and compassion and then, through development of this, as you establish peace in your own mind, you yourself become a good example for others. Then you benefit others. You help to pacify, to separate them from problems and to have peace in their mind. In this way, by having changed your own mind first, you are a good example.

Then he asked another question, “Is a human being bad or good?” I think that maybe the answer might prove difficult for him. I don’t know why he asked that question. He had a Nepalese hat and he put the hat between some flowers and some fruit and then very arrogantly he asked, “If this is a human being, on which side do you put him, on the good side?” I said, “I put him on the good side.” He asked, “Is a human being good or evil?”

I said, “There are different types of human beings. Your question is like this: there is yellow, white, green, different colors, many colors. Then somebody asks generally, ‘What is the color? What is the color of the color?’ Your question is like that.”

Then he asked me a little bit about Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, and about the Tibetan monks, the purpose and the result of debating, that form of philosophical study, and the results that come in the mind through this way of studying. I said that the result is unshakeable understanding of the meaning of Dharma, the path that one is going to practice. Also that in order to reach the goal, the ultimate happiness or enlightenment, one needs to have complete, unmistaken understanding of the whole thing. One has understanding of the suffering from which one has to be free. One knows the details, the evolution, everything about it. Then one understands about the path that frees, that liberates one from that suffering. One has complete unmistaken, unshakeable understanding of the goal, so that if somebody gives some other teaching, “Oh, this, this, this, ... this way is very good, blah, blah, blah,” you know. Some guru comes along, somebody who has some title, this and that, comes along, gives teachings, “Something, something, this and this, nirvana is this...” But this cannot disturb his correct understanding; he only sees the mistake in what the other person is saying. That person who has the complete unmistaken understanding is able to discriminate whether what they are teaching is correct. He sees which teachings are correct, which are wrong, which are misleading.

The result is that, after one has correct, unshakeable, complete understanding, by putting it into action, the correct practice comes. As a result of correct practice, the correct realizations come in the mind.

However, these kind of questions are not regarded as clever questions, even by those boys who have lived and studied here a few years. If you ask like this, as a general rule, it sounds a little bit like somebody who doesn’t know debating well. So, I told him that there is a Tibetan term for that kind of question when we are debating, we say rang.dro.

With regards reincarnation, there is not the slightest logical reason that proves that there is no reincarnation. The logical reasons to prove that there is reincarnation are infinite. So many. Like this. Then, whatever reasons that you use to say that there is no reincarnation, that there is no past life and no future life, these can be refuted even by somebody of not even middle intelligence who has studied a few months or just one year in the lower class of debating. If it is argued or discussed with somebody who knows debating then it only becomes weaker and weaker instead of this point becoming more and more solid, harder and harder. It only becomes weaker and weaker. At the beginning it looks quite good, the first answer looks quite good, the second quite okay—then it gets worse and worse.

Anyway, the continuity of the consciousness has no beginning. As I explained before, the ignorance of true existence, the disturbing thoughts and karma, the continuation of that didn’t have a beginning. As I explained before about the disturbing thoughts and the karma: this life’s disturbing thoughts are the continuity of the past lives’ disturbing thoughts. Like this, going back, the continuation of that didn’t have a beginning. Therefore, samsaric rebirth, the circle of death and rebirth, the circle of that didn’t have a beginning.

Each time we took rebirth in the past, we were not always born into the continuity of this life’s mother, the present mother. When she was born as a human being in the past lives, you were born as a horse. When she was maybe born as a horse, you were born as an ant. When she was born as an ant, you were born as a human being. One has taken many different bodies.

When she was a certain body, you took different kind of body. Similarly with every sentient being. So you see, except when born from heat or under the other conditions that are not dependent on the womb, bodies arise in dependence on other sentient beings beings, the mother. Like this, as the present mother has been our mother and kind, all the sentient beings also have been our mother and kind.

Yes, I think I stop here.

24 November, pm

First of all, the mother of this present life has been kind. If the mother had not created the karma to give birth to us, by now we wouldn’t have this precious human body, which has much freedom to experience temporal happiness and enjoyment rather than the suffering consequences of, for instance, the animals. We have the freedom to practice the holy Dharma as we wish—all this is due to the kindness of the mother. Even if the consciousness had taken place on the fertilized egg in the mother’s womb, if she didn’t care, if she didn’t love us, if she didn’t care about us, she might have had an abortion. She might have gone to the hospital and asked the doctor to take it out, you know, or to give this injection that shrinks the baby’s body, that boils it.

In the hospitals they keep files. In Australia the doctors keep files, and also in Israel, I think. If the child’s body is a little bit grown or complete they take it out by giving injections that make it burn, like wax—like when you melt wax it dies. They keep files on how they killed each baby, maybe on how many each month, how they accomplished the killing of the baby. One student, an Australian girl, had the doctor take out her baby. Maybe she saw the body, that I don’t know, but I think it was a complete body. The doctor gave her an injection that burns the whole body. Then later the doctor asked her if she wanted to see the pictures—they took pictures, they kept all the picture inside the file—and they asked her if she wanted to see the pictures. I think she was very scared of seeing the pictures of that burnt baby.

If our mother had not cared about us, if she didn’t love us, even though our consciousness might have entered the mother’s womb, still by now we would not have had all these great advantages. We would not have had this human body, as well as these great enjoyments and pleasures. We would not have had the opportunity to meet the infallible teachings, the complete teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment, which have caused us to have that much Dharma wisdom, knowing what is the cause of happiness and what is the cause of suffering. We would not have that much understanding of karma and that much freedom to renounce the cause of suffering, as well as that much freedom to practice what we know is the cause of happiness. We would not have all these things now. All these great opportunities, all these comforts, all these things—we have received by her kindness. It is completely dependent on her. You can see it is this way—you can see how incredibly kind the mother is from just thinking of those two reasons—namely that she created the cause to give birth to you, and that she didn’t have an abortion. From this you can see how incredibly kind the mother is. While you were in the mother’s womb for nine months and ten days, something like that, she took the best of care. Whatever she could do, whatever she knew from her own heart and whatever she studied or asked others about, or whatever she read in books about how to take care of the child, she did. In many ways she tried not to hurt the baby when sitting down, in many different ways. She would not eat the food that harms the baby, even though she herself wished to eat it. She tried not to hurt the baby. When it was about to come out, after some months, when the body started to turn upside down, then she was in so much pain, as if the body was cracking. She had incredible, unbelievable pain when we were coming out. It was so difficult for her, but even though she suffered so much unbelievable pain, making tears come from the eyes, when somebody asks her, “Did you have a good time? When the baby was coming out, how was it?” even though she went through incredible pain, she never speaks one single word about the pain, she kind of forgets it, or ignores it. She tells others, “No, I had an easy birth, the child had an easy birth.”

While you were in your mother’s womb she took care from her heart. She would think, “If the child is all right, if the child comes out okay, I myself do not matter.” She was cherished and cared more about the child than about herself. After you came out of your mother’s womb, again she took care. When the baby came out, she was so happy, like having found a wish-granting jewel. So glad, so happy, to see the baby. Again she took care from her heart. She wrapped it up with the most beautiful soft cloth, as soft as she could find. She took such good care of this piece of flesh that was crawling like a worm. She took such care of the big piece that had come out and was crawling around on the ground, that did not know in the least what is harmful and what are the things that benefit. The peepee and kaka comes out wherever the baby is. The baby knows nothing, is completely ignorant. She always puts the baby on a very soft, comfortable bed, always wraps it in nice clothes, as warm and soft as she can find. She always takes care. She always lifts up the baby with all ten fingers, always taking care, always keeping it warm with the heat of her body. She always carries the baby at her front or on her back. Day and night all the time, she thinks mostly of the child.

She took care as if her heart were on the outside. If she was away from the baby for even a few minutes, or for some hours, in her mind she was worried about the child. Sometimes she herself didn’t have the time to look after the baby, she had to go to work because without working there would be no food, no means of living. So she hired another person, a nurse or whatever, paying others to look after you. Day and night, all the time you were the object of her one-pointed concentration. Even though she had many hundreds of other things to do, and so many other problems, she had so many other things to do besides taking care of you each day she protected your life from hundreds of harms and mortal dangers.

If she doesn’t watch him every five minutes, every one minute, if she doesn’t constantly watch, after a few seconds or a minute that baby will fall down from the bed. Then again there’s another danger. Soon the baby is about to fall down the steps. Then very soon there’s another danger—the baby is putting harmful things in its mouth—knives or materials. Things that injure, that endanger the baby’s life are in the baby’s hand and the baby about to put them in its mouth. Constantly the mother has to watch, or somebody else has to watch, some other person that is hired—it is the same thing. It is the same inside the house or outside. Even when the mother brings the baby outside there are the same dangers. If it’s not watched... as long as it’s not asleep (asleep would be better), it has to be constantly watched, like the meditators watching the mind, every minute, every second. Also she has to protect it from the harms and dangers of machines, outside vehicles, and creatures.

I just remembered, somewhere in one country, in the West, (the other person who explained to me about the abortion process, I just remembered now she was in one of the courses—Elizabeth, probably. She asked what she could do for purification so she explained all these things about how she experienced the abortion process.) Anyway, this is just something that I saw in the newspaper. The parents were away from home and the child was left outside. Somehow the child caught a snake and ate it. Literally, the child caught a snake and was chewing on the snake. When the father came back home from work, he saw that the child had a snake in his hand and that the snake’s head was in his mouth and he was chewing it. Then the television news people came to film the baby eating the snake. One person asked the father why the child was eating a snake. I don’t know the exact answer, the father said, “It is a challenge,” or something quite simple. Anyway, I remember it was entertaining.

I am not sure if any of you here have a child, but anyway, those who are mothers can understand, through your own experience you can understand your own motherly kindness. From remembering how much you suffered when taking care of that child, it should be easy to understand the kindness of the mother.

For me, I often say that it is very effective to see how much the mothers who have children are suffering. Constantly they have to watch the child or carry the baby in their arms. The child is always making itself dirty, again and again doing peepee or kaka always making itself wet, always dirty. The mother has to change it so many times in one day, and then not only that but she has other children as well. There are those who can walk, and those who can speak. One is behind, one is on the right side, one is on the left side, one is at the front. They are all screaming, and the one to the left is crying and making peepee. Those who can speak and who can walk around are climbing all over the mother’s body, screaming and pulling her hair. Screaming, “I want a milkshake!” One says, “I want chocolate!” Another says, “I want water!” This and that. One says he wants something, another says he wants something else. They shout and they scream for hours and hours, and they are crying. The whole house is filled with noise. They are making it so difficult for the mother, giving her a very hard time. She always listens to whatever they say. She gives them things whenever they ask, always buying whatever they demand. For a mother to not give what the children ask for is difficult. The children give her such a hard time. When I see mothers taking care of their children, it really makes me think about and feel their kindness. In the same way that she is taking care of them now, she has also taken care of me in the past. I see how she is taking care of them, how she is suffering so much, having such a hard time—it’s so clear, you see it with your eyes. Since the continuity of rebirth is beginningless, she has definitely been my mother. So definitely she took care of me like this. As she is now taking care of them, she took care of me in the past with much hardship. Feel the kindness from the very inside of your heart. It is so very effective for your mind when you apply this to yourself. Seeing exactly how the children give problems and hard times to the parents and how the mother experiences much hardship, we understand that exactly like this our own mother suffered for us. She has suffered so much and has been so kind. Constantly thinking day and night, “How can I make my child happy? How good it would be if my child was happy!” She was always thinking this from the heart. Whatever she did, even if she went for a job in an office outside the home. Whatever she did, always she had this in mind. Even though she could not spend much on food or clothing for herself, to make herself happy, she spends and gives the best that she can find. She finds food that doesn’t harm. Also she builds a whole house filled with various toys for the child to play with. She takes the child to the shops, and buys the toys that the child wants to play with.

Then the clothes. Even in one day the clothes have to be changed many times. Even after, when one is more grown up, there are many changes. There are different clothes for different seasons. There are so many different shoes to wear at different times and at different places. Even just with shoes it comes to hundreds and hundreds, not to mention all kinds of clothes. If all the food that she gave us with her loving kindness were piled up, it would make a mountain. The same with all the money that she spent since we were born, inside the mother’s womb until now—it is unbelievable, it is so much. All that she spent on food and clothing and then on education.

When we were like worms crawling on the ground, she taught us how to walk. Then she taught us how to speak and like this she put us in the group of human beings. If she had not spent the money that she saved with much hardship and physical tiredness on our education, by now we would not even know how to write our name. Experiencing much hardship and physical tiredness, even though she was not healthy and had so much worry and fear, she spent all the money that she saved for many years on us, thinking, “May my child be happy! If he has a good education, with a college or university degree, then his life will be happy.” With this compassionate thought she spent all that money to educate oneself. If she had not done this, by now one could not even write one’s signature.

Now we think that this is not because of the kindness of our parents. We think, “Oh, I have a truly existent education. I have a degree, I have a certificate, a doctorate, Ph. D, or whatever it is, this or that. I got this degree by myself, by studying. Because of that I now have a job, I have money coming in. I have an easy life.” We think, “I did it. I did it.” We are completely ignorant of all the hardships, all the suffering, and all the kindness of the parents, what they did for us.

If they hadn’t sent us to school, if they hadn’t spent money and if they hadn’t taken care, we would not have this precious human body now. If they didn’t protect our life from the many dangers of disease, hot and cold, hunger and thirst, if they did not take care of us by spending money for medicines when we had a disease or buying clothes to protect us when we were feeling cold, or giving us drinks when we felt thirsty, if they did not protect our life like this, then by now we would be separated from this opportunity, we would be without hope because we wouldn’t have this precious human body. We would be unable to read, hopeless, with no way to read Dharma books. We would not be able to take notes when the lamas are giving teachings. (I’m not talking about my teachings, I’m talking about when high lamas give teachings and we are able to take notes and understand the meaning of the Dharma words.) If the mother had not taken care, all this wouldn’t happen. We have this incredible opportunity due to her kindness. Even though we cannot comprehend the teaching while the lama is giving it, by making notes we are able to understand it later, by thinking more and more, and reading more Dharma books.

It is a very bad attitude, thinking, “Oh, I did it,” all the time thinking, “I did it,” completely forgetting the parents. The parents are recognized as the enemy that disturbs your happiness. It’s a bad characteristic—not knowing and remembering the kindness of the parents. Instead of helping the parents and remembering their kindness, instead of repaying them, we completely identify them as the enemy, we see them as being completely black. Parents are an object not to be seen, not to be looked at, not to be met. If one does meet them, instead of being kind, instead of repaying them with love and compassion, remembering their kindness, repaying them and helping them when they have difficulties, instead of helping them when you meet them, you want to fight. You only want to hurt their minds as much as possible. You say words as harmful as possible to your parents. What the scientist was asking, talking about evil human beings—this is it. You are so selfish towards them, like a rock.

I also spoke yesterday on this point. I’d like to clarify, in case of doubt. It does not mean that one should listen to everything that other people say. If someone says, “You should kill yourself, I want you to die,” or, “I want you to throw a bomb on this bank, or this city, or to kill this person,” when you give up your selfish attitude and cherish others, wanting to benefit them, it doesn’t mean that you should do whatever others tell you to do. You all are intelligent people and can understand what’s right in case of doubt. However, in case anyone has this question: if you give up this selfish attitude and you benefit others, when you give the victory to others and take the loss upon yourself, should you listen to whatever other people ask of you or tell you to do? That depends on this; you have to know the way of practicing, the way of giving the victory to others and taking the loss on yourself, cherishing others and renouncing yourself.

The conclusion is this: whether or not to listen to whatever they say, whether to put that action into practice or not depends on your capability, how much realization you have in the mind. If you don’t have much capability or insight to be able to do certain actions, then you don’t do it. If you do have the capability, then it only benefits, instead of harming. In terms of the actions that look negative, like killing, lying, stealing, and so forth, the various negative actions of body and the four negative actions of speech, if you do not have the capability to transform these actions into virtue, then do not do them. But if you have the capability to transform these into virtue, then doing so can only benefit instead of harming. It can only benefit oneself and others. However, one has to judge according to one’s own level of realizations and capability of mind.

In short, the answer is this: whichever is more important, do that. Whichever is less important leave that and do the most important one. If there is a choice (like with the dam) you check out what work you can do, then you do whatever benefits others most. The thing that does not benefit others, particularly if it gives harm, is definitely something to give up.

It also depends on this: do whatever gives benefit for more sentient beings, and leave whatever actions benefit a small number of sentient beings. If you cannot do both, the small one and the greater one, then do whichever action or work benefits more sentient beings. Leave out the one that benefits a very small number. That should be left.

This wisdom or judgment comes from Dharma understanding. If you don’t have Dharma understanding, if you don’t have Dharma wisdom, there is no way that you can judge which is more beneficial, and which is less. It is difficult without wisdom or Dharma understanding. Without understanding karma it is difficult to judge or to make the life most beneficial.

If you practice, as the realizations come, after you yourself have generated the fundamental graduated path, you have much more understanding. Then you will be much more skillful in regards guiding or working for other sentient beings.

I stop here.

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