LECTURE 9: 1 DECEMBER 1992

EMPTINESS
I thought since I brought up this subject about emptiness, since the subject happened about emptiness, the true existence, the refuting object or true existence, which is the view, true existence or inherent existence or independent object, that which is the view of ignorance, which is the view of the, the concept, the wrong concept. So to mention little bit, since this subject was brought up, so to mention little bit on this. So, more checking, some more, further more checking, more analysis on this, different ways to meditate, to check.

This subject on emptiness, normally this subject on emptiness comes, in the, according to the text, the graduated path to enlightenment, the way it is set up, usually this subject comes according to the outline, it comes only at the end of it, the last subject there [RL] the text the last subject, according to the outline of the graduated path to enlightenment.

The teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment, the way they set it up, is already on the basis of people who already have faith in karma, who already have faith in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, the three objects of refuge and even there’s no clear understanding what they are, all their extensive qualities, even the person doesn’t have a detailed understanding, extensive understanding what karma is, who have some faith that basically recognition of ten nonvirtuous, example, ten nonvirtuous actions how they, that they are negative karma, that they have, if one does those then there is, that has a suffering result. So basically knowing some actions that, that is negative karma and that has result only suffering. Things like that. Even one doesn’t have a detailed understanding of karma, but some faith, some recognition what’s negative karma.

So the way the text is set up is on the basis of that, on the basis of people who already, who are, some understanding or, have a, by the person’s karma, by the person’s merit, from past, basically due to a person’s merit, past merit, result of their past good karma. Then even they, even didn’t receive, even did not receive teachings from a lama or didn’t, haven’t done the study but somehow, because, now this is the practice, the Buddhadharma become the practice, in that country, in that family, so condition, because of these things.

Based on that, the subject of emptiness is regarded as very difficult to understand, to really, to memorize the words is easy but to feel, to recognize what it’s talking about, the difficult is not just to memorize the words, to be able to recite what is written in the text, not just that, it’s to really understand what it’s talking about, to feel, to feel according to, it is a description of, it is explanation of how things are, nature of things, ultimate nature of things, ultimate nature of the I, what is the nature of the I, how the I exists.

There are four schools, as one study each one, then higher, higher school views and their different explanations, their different views of how things exist are, nature of the phenomena, so it becomes more, more subtle. So the last one is Madhyamika School, within that two schools, Svatantrika and Prasangika School. So Prasangika School, their view, this school’s view of the ultimate nature of the things, so that’s the extremely subtle one. That’s, that is the, as I mentioned earlier, that school’s view of emptiness, that is the unmistaken right view. That is the unmistaken emptiness, that is the unmistaken ultimate truth of things. So in the reality it’s just the one emptiness, even though the different schools they all talk their own point of view, the hallucination, refuting object and, what are empty, the point of view of ultimate nature, but in reality it’s just one.

Studying each of those school’s views helps, they become the, they become basis. So the first one becomes basis to understand clearly the second school, the second school’s understanding of the second, first and second school their view, their philosophy, their view, then becomes clear, easy to understand the third school’s view, which is called the Mind Only School. Then that helps, even to understand clear the fourth school’s view, philosophy. Then within that two, so then understanding well the Svatantrika view, their view of emptiness, their, what their point of view of refutation and the emptiness, that one is more subtle than previous one. So understanding this helps to really recognize the more subtle, the refuting object, the subtle hallucination, that which the Prasangika school, according to their view. Then that helps to really understand or to realize the unmistaken right view, the ultimate right view, the right view of the Prasangika School that because things exist being merely labeled by the mind, so nothing exists from their own side. There’s nothing from, things don’t have any existence from its own side. So that there’s no slightest independence or inherent existence. Things do not have the slightest inherent existence. Nothing exists, the way things exist is being merely labeled by the mind, so nothing the slightest, nothing in the slightest exists from, phenomena, nothing the slightest phenomena exist from its own side. Nothing exists from its own side. What appears things existing from its own side, it’s completely empty. What things appears existing from its own side is completely empty from its own side.

THE EIGHT TYPES OF SUFFERING
This is the ultimate right view, emptiness, shunyata, the ultimate truth, which can cut the very root of all the true cause of suffering, disturbing thoughts, karma, all the whole entire sufferings of samsara, the hell, preta, animal, human beings, sura, asura, the whole entire sufferings. Usually even for human beings, eight types of human, all the human problems are integrated into five, into eight outlines, six or seven, seven or eight, in some texts explained. But generally, all the human sufferings are outlined in eight.

On the suffering of rebirth, there are five ways to meditate, when one reincarnate in your mother’s womb. There’s so much suffering that we do not even remember, as we do not remember, like many things, like childhood, baby-time. Even one came out of mother’s womb, but now one cannot remember so many things. We cannot remember, even we came out of mother’s womb, even we cannot reject that we didn’t come from mother’s womb, because you don’t remember that you came out of mother’s womb, because you don’t remember with your knowledge, that yourself don’t have the knowledge to remember that coming from, how you came from mother’s womb. Because, by using that reason that I didn’t come from mother’s womb, if you say that then people regard you crazy. Because you don’t remember, you yourself doesn’t have the knowledge to remember, so if you use that, because you don’t remember and then that’s why you, I didn’t come from mother’s womb, if you use that reason, to say, to not accept, basically because you don’t, your mind doesn’t remember, so then if you try to reject, you didn’t come from mother’s womb, then immediately the people might put you in the institute home, that [RL] they might think you, different world [GL], nothing to do with them or something, anyway.

Not only that, there are many things, every day during, the whole time, the whole life, the whole, all those years of life, when one was baby, one can’t remember everything, one can’t remember every day life, when one was baby. And there are many things even recent past years, even the recent past years that, every day what kind of breakfast you had, what kind of lunch you have, what kind of dinner one had, or all the people that we met, every single person that we met, in those recent years, we cannot remember every single thing today. So there are many things, there are so many things that happened, so many things, object of the, so many objects of the senses and that we met, but do not remember now every single thing. So even just talking things what we have seen in the past, what we ate, everyone that we saw, met, there’s so many things even this life, that happened that met or have seen or we did, so many things that we did but we do not remember today.

So however, that, even I have forgotten what I am talking about [GL, RL]. Even the same minute [GL], even one minute to talk what I have started, forgotten, I have forgotten.

In the teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment, so we haven’t reached those meditations yet, those sufferings, the meditation on the true sufferings, in order to be free, in order to be liberated, in order to get renunciation, that the determination to be free from those sufferings, to be, in order to be liberated from those whole entire sufferings. Then for that reason, then meditate on the true sufferings. From the four noble truths, meditating on the true sufferings extensively and details. So there are general sufferings of samsara and the particular sufferings of each realm, human being, worldly gods, then hell beings, preta beings, animal beings. Besides general suffering then there are the particular sufferings of each realm to meditate on. In order to be free, in order to liberate oneself from all these sufferings.

The whole suffering of rebirth is integrated in five outlines. Then the meditation on the suffering of sicknesses is also integrated five outlines. Then the meditation on old age is also integrated in that way. There are five outlines how to, which contains all the sufferings of the old age, then also, then also the suffering of death. Then the suffering of separating from the desirable object. That is always one major suffering, separating from desirable object, worry, fears separating from desirable object. Then, the worry and fears of meeting the undesirable object. Then even one found the object, the desirable object, one cannot find satisfaction. So all, then the suffering of the aggregates, this association of the body and mind, so again this has five outlines to meditate on. To realize how these aggregates, samsara, is nature of suffering. Using the five outlines of each one can get extensive idea of how this life is in nature of suffering. So like this. The particular sufferings of the human realm.

So however, to cease completely, to eradicate, what can eradicate, what can directly cut off the ignorance, the concept of true existence, concept of truly existent I, that which is the root of the whole, all other disturbing thoughts, ignorance, anger, attachment, so forth, all other disturbing thoughts.

GURU DEVOTION AND EMPTINESS
So there are six root delusions, the five wrong views and five non-views, which are also wrong views. That which are condensed in the six root delusions, then the twenty secondary delusions, so there are all these disturbing thoughts and karma motivated by the ignorance, anger, attachment, the true cause of the suffering, then whole entire suffering, the general suffering of samsara, particular of each realm. So what can directly eliminate the very root of the whole entire cause and sufferings of samsara is only by this unmistaken view, this ultimate view, the Prasangika’s view, which I explained at the beginning.

Even though there are other schools from these four major schools that which happened, former times that, during Buddha’s time, the four schools are explained according to different levels of mind of sentient beings, according to the different levels of capacity of their mind, in regards to understanding the ultimate nature, understanding how the I exists.

Even within the four Tibetan Mahayana sects—the Kagyu, Nyingma, Sakya, Gelug —and other traditions such as Zen Buddhism, whatever the different schools talks about different, different presentation of emptiness, different view of emptiness, different view of the nature of phenomena, in the reality, that which can directly can cut the root of the whole entire suffering, this ignorance, the concept of true existence, the concept of truly existent I, is the only one, in the reality, only one emptiness, this ultimate right view, the Prasangika’s view. Only this, only the wisdom realizing this emptiness can cut, can directly cut.

Within these the four Tibetan Mahayana Buddhist sects, even though there are different presentations by the lama or by the guru, from the practitioner’s side, there is inner merit accumulated, extensive merit is accumulated, enough fortune, enough extensive merit is accumulated and then, then having done powerful purification, having purified so many past lives’ negative karmas, the heavy obscurations, were purified. Then have left many imprints from past, planted so many seeds in the mental continuum from past lives, by doing listening, reflecting, meditation practice on emptiness, the person who has gathered all the causes and conditions—due to accumulation of so much extensive merit—then when the person meditates on emptiness, all the causes and conditions come together, and through strong guru devotion, through guru yoga meditation, correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, with quotations and logics, The meditator receives the blessings of the guru in the heart of that disciple, that practitioner who is a seeker of liberation, who is a seeker of enlightenment, for sentient beings.

When all these causes and conditions are perfected, it doesn’t matter from what Tibetan Mahayana Buddhist sect the practitioner comes from, that person who has perfected all these causes and conditions [snaps fingers], then this person one day able to, that meditation is able to, the person’s meditation is like shooting the arrow on the target without missing. One day, so when all the cause and conditions, everything is perfected, perfected by the person in his mental continuum, then meditation works on the right point. Within that meditation, suddenly the person is able to recognize what the hallucination is, what the refuting object is, what the merely-labeled I is. Then, by depending on one or two words of teachings on emptiness that they see in the text, the instructions of the experienced lamas, the spiritual master, the guru, in one or two words, when all the conditions are perfect, suddenly it opens, and where your has been got stuck for such a long, from beginningless rebirths of samsara, unable to recognize the hallucination and believing that’s real, suddenly that day straight, when you have made everything perfect like this, within your mental continuum, all the cause and conditions, everything, then depending on one or two words, the lama’s instructions that experience, the word of Buddha, one or two words that introduces what is the refuting object, what is the hallucination that you have to realize empty, the refuting object that which you have to realize is empty.

Just one or two words, like “a vase on the vase”, like that, for example, from an experienced yogi, an experienced lama’s description of the refuting object that what one has to realize is empty. What does it mean? The first vase means the merely-labeled vase, the second vase means the truly-existent vase, so it has meaning, but the words, just expressing, putting it in a simple way introduces the hallucination, the refuting object, so putting it in simple way, but leaves out the philosophical terms, which can make you think of something concrete—“Oh truly existent, inherently existing”—or something else than what you see how things are appearing to you now, how the I is appearing to you now, how the vase is appearing to you now, how the colors are appearing to you now. For example, this red, blue, yellow, how they are appearing to you now. It has nothing to do with your present perception or appearances, not this one, something else, the hallucination, which is expressed in the philosophical terms the truly existent, inherently existent which the person might think that, Oh, it’s something else, this refuting object or this hallucination is something else, not this one the way it appears to me or the I and things, this is reality, that one might be something else. So there is, which might, the person might think that way.

Then that one, that is the greatest obstacle, when the person doesn’t apply, when the person hears, when the person recites this, when the person doing the discussion or when the person is reciting these teachings, talking about truly existent, inherently existence, independent, all these things, but in the mind thinking something else, this is something which doesn’t exist, but nothing to do, but you never relate that what it’s talking about that doesn’t exist is right here, on this I, the merely labeled I, right here, it is here in my view, the view of the five senses, the six senses, the view, in the view of my mind. Like able to identify, you have the picture of the enemy, it’s like unable to identify, you see the person all the time, the enemy is there with you all the time, causes all the trouble, that person is always with you, but somehow, you are keeping the picture of this person, enemy, but somehow you are unable to identify. This is the person, how to say, now I got confused [RL, GL], so unable to identify that [RL], that this is, the picture that you have, your enemy, as soon as you meet without delay of even a second you want to destroy him. You are keeping the picture, that person is always with you but you are unable to identify, this person is this one whose picture you are keeping, unable to identify.

So all these words that we use when we recite, when we read the texts, teachings of Buddha, such as the Heart of Wisdom Sutra, those teachings of emptiness, when we read, when we study, when we discuss, what it says is something else, it’s talking about something which doesn’t exist, but something else, it’s not, nothing to do with the present appearances, perceptions, I and objects of the senses. And then, the independent or inherently existent, that these things are existing by nature, so this, one’s own mind is projecting, one’s own mind is constantly merely labeling things, merely imputing, then one’s own mind is constantly projecting on these things the true existence, inherent existence, independence, all these hallucinations, constantly projecting on the merely labeled things which exist, merely labeled I, merely labeled body, mind, merely labeled subject, action, object, all these things, samsara, nirvana, hell, enlightenment. That’s one’s own mind constantly merely impute on those, on those merely impute depending on the valid basis. One’s own mind is constantly merely imputing, one’s own mind is constantly making up the labels. So constantly, one’s own mind constantly merely impute, constantly making up the label this and that.

Because of the imprint left on the mental continuum by the past concept of true existence, ignorance, so the imprint constantly projects, decorates the hallucination, the true existence on the merely labeled which exists, on the merely labeled aggregates which exist, on the merely labeled subject which exists, on the merely labeled action which exists, on the merely labeled object which exists. The additional thing is this hallucination. There is the I merely labeled by the mind, there is the appearance of I that which is merely labeled by the mind but the extra thing, the additional thing which doesn’t exist on that, that is the appearance of the true existence. That’s the additional thing on the top of that, the true existence, the inherent existence, independent, there’s this appearance.

Constantly the mind merely imputes, then constantly the mind projects the hallucination on that, as I mentioned before that putting cover on the table, putting carpet on the floor like that, like that thing is covered with the paint. However, the mind constantly projects the hallucination. This is the problem that blocks us from realizing emptiness, in order to escape from the suffering, in order to be liberated completely from the whole entire suffering and causes. All the descriptions of the explanation of the hallucination, the refuting object, all this which are said in the text, which are explained in the teachings, the Essence of Wisdom and the teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment, all those, those Prajnaparamita teachings, all those, the extensive scriptures explaining emptiness very extensively so those, so from those philosophical scriptures, we are somehow unable to identify, unable to put together those terms, those descriptions, unable to integrate them and apply them to our own present appearances, I and so forth, the skandhas, the way things are appearing to oneself, so unable to identify, unable to apply on these.

The way the things, the way the I and things appearing to you and one believe so this is the meaning of, this is what it’s talking about, unable to understand this is the meaning of these words, these are the meaning of these words, you see, unable to identify like this. So, unable to identify, then believing all these things that they are the real, they are true, then these words, what it’s talking in the teachings, these words, then, these are something else, nothing to do, unrelated to one’s own moment to moment the way things are appearing to oneself. So somehow for you, if this is, the way things appearing to you now, including the I, action, object, everything, if this is what the teachings says this truly existent, all these things that which is said that it doesn’t exist, something hard to believe, difficult to comprehend, it’s kind of shocking, because the way how the life has been is, from the beginningless rebirth, from the birth have been believing all the time, day and night, constantly one has been believing that all these are, the way things are appearing to me, including I, action, object, all the things, the way things are appearing to me is true, they are true, so they are like this, they are true, means like this, this is the reality, they are true means the way things are appearing to me, real one in the sense existing from its own side, there’s something from its own side, existing from its own side.

Those are habits, believing this is true, so it’s difficult to comprehend the meaning of those things, the meaning of those words. All these things—oneself, action, object, all these things—have been appearing like this and what one has been believing, apprehending, it’s wrong, not true, because they don’t exist, they don’t have true existence. Difficult to comprehend because the habit, mind is so much addicted, like the alcoholic or the injections, the person who got addicted to drugs. From the beginningless rebirth until now the mind is so much addicted, used to believing this is real. It’s kind of difficult to comprehend, all these things that which appears existing from its own side it’s not true, that they don’t exist. So in your mind, for your mind, looks like, it’s like the Madhyamaka school, the Svatantrika school, like that view, like how these things. So when you think that these, including the self, action, object, all these things, the way things are appearing is, that they are not true, that the way things are appearing to me existing from its own side, it’s not true, they don’t exist from their own side. So when one, when it comes to this point to think this way, then for your mind, looks like they don’t exist, coming to nihilism, falling in nihilism, for your mind looks like that, looks like they don’t exist.

What I was talking before that, in one’s own mental continuum, all the cause, conditions, everything is, when it’s perfected there, the strong devotion to the guru, that with whom one has established Dharma contact, then strong devotion developed, generated within one’s heart, this causes to receive blessings within one’s heart, then so many imprints of emptiness left on the mental continuum and extensive merits accumulated and having purified so much obscurations, negative karmas, then, even just two words like this, then suddenly it clicks, suddenly one day, having perfected all these things, causes and conditions, suddenly cleared up the mind, that, suddenly you see the meaning what it’s talking about, suddenly you become aware, you are able to recognize what it’s talking about, the colors, you, others, all other phenomena, like this brocade around the thangka, like this, something that which is bright color, then, then also you see similar, there’s a blue on the blue, there’s a red on the red, there’s a yellow on the yellow. Suddenly you see those other phenomena similar way.

THE TRULY-EXISTING I AS THE OBJECT OF REFUTATION
After you recognize this, you think of the I, how does the I appear to you? Then it becomes very clear, very clear how the I appears to you, much clearer than before. There’s this I on the I, this self, this I, existing from its own side. It becomes very clear, very clear. Once you recognize this and you know, suddenly you are able to relate or identify, “Oh, this is what is truly existent.” This is what it means, what the texts talk about what the refuting object is, true existence. Suddenly you are able to relate to the texts, those words in the teachings; suddenly you are able to identify the meaning of the words, “Oh, this is what is called refuting object.” This refuting object does not exist, it is a hallucination. You see especially with logic, that if you don’t refute this hallucination, this truly existent I, that which appears to you, that which doesn’t exist, so if you don’t refute, by logical reasons, such as the opposite, how the I is dependent arising and so forth. Dependent arising is the king of the logic. This is the foundation, that the I is dependent arising, dependent on cause and conditions, base, thought and label, depending on all these things, the I exists. Dependent arising is the king of the logic. There are so many other logical assertions explained in the Nagarjuna’s teachings, in the Madhyamaka teachings, the root text by Chandrakirti or commentaries by Lama Tsongkhapa, other lamas, other pandits, however, the analysis the four points, then the seven, there are many different ones, in those teachings extensive proved with many lines of reasoning, the way things are appearing as existing from their own side, how that is hallucination, how that doesn’t exist. However, all these are based on the main principle, all these are based on the logic of dependent arising, this is the main one.

So suddenly one able to identify or recognize, “This is the refuting object, that this I that appears the real one, existing from its own side or I on the I.” Then, in the heart, while you are focusing, that which is appearing, there is a I on the I or there is I existing from its own side, while you are focusing on that, and in your heart, you identified this is what is refuting object is, this is hallucination. Then you have the recognition in your heart, it means this is empty, it means this is empty. Also, like this, thinking like this also that, after the recognition that this is a refuting object, this is a hallucination, the I is, that the I is dependent arising. So you can also think that.

LOSING THE I
So the time when all the cause and conditions come together, everything is perfected by oneself then able to identify what is a refuting, the I appearing to oneself, so one is able to identify, This is the refuting object, which means it is hallucination. In your heart, understanding in your heart, is means it is empty. Then there’s possibility, then in a minute [snaps fingers], then in a minute, in a second, suddenly, one feels one is losing the I, that this I is going to be completely lost. That this self is going to, this is how it is appearing to oneself and this your interpretation, that is one’s own interpretation, this is how it is appearing to oneself.

Suddenly, just in this one second, this real I in the sense existing from its own side, can’t, can’t exist. Of course it doesn’t exist, but in one’s own view, what has been appearing as the real I is utterly unable to stay. Then, the appearance that there’s a self, the I, the meditator oneself, the I going to be lost. In other words, the I, the I you have been holding from beginningless rebirths, without beginning have been holding, so that, that’s what appears, that’s how one feel that time—this I is being lost, not the general I but, you the meditator, that I, is being lost.

Then at that time, depending how much merit one has, depending on level of intelligence, depending how much one understands, how much one knows about the experience of realizing emptiness, how much one knows the teachings of the experience of the meditation, teachings of the experience of the realizing emptiness. Depending on how much one knows. If one doesn’t know much, one knows some but one doesn’t know completely teachings, when one realize emptiness what happens, so teachings about the experience, there’s also can be great obstacle that, so if you let it go, it you let it to complete, if you let go the I, if you complete the, if you follow the experience, if you let the I, the self, the meditator, self, that which you feel losing, if you let it go, if you let it get lost, then that is the most wise, then that achievement, then that same, that never happened, that never achieved from beginningless rebirths, from beginningless of samsara, from beginningless rebirth until now. This is a new experience, this achievement never happened, which never happened before. This the first time, so if one is able to let it go, let it to be lost, let the self, the meditator, in your experience that I the meditator is being lost. If you let it get lost completely, you complete that experience, so then you are able to, only in that way then you are able to realize emptiness and unmistaken, the ultimate right view. Then you are able to, then you are entered in the Middle Way, you are entered in the Middle Path. The Middle Path is devoid of nihilism and eternalism. Nihilism, where nothing exists and eternalism, where not only it exists but it truly exists. It inherently, truly exists which is the view of the hallucinated mind. So, you see, the Middle Path is devoid of nihilism and eternalism.

Only after this, only after this, you realize how the I really exists. Only after this, you know how the I really exists. It is not that I exist truly but that it exists in mere name or being merely imputed by the mind. So this is the conventional truth, truth for the all-obscuring mind, kun tsob kyi denpa. How the I exists, how the I really exists, that is the conventional truth, then only after realizing that the I is empty of existing from its own side, only then you realize the conventional truth or how the I exists, that the I exists, definitely exists, that the I definitely exists, it’s not that non-existent, it definitely exists, but exists in mere name, being merely imputed by the mind.

So, there’s unshakeable understanding of how the I exists. Even if somebody says “I’m going to kill you if you don’t accept, if you don’t believe that the I doesn’t exist, I’m going to kill you”, it has become your experience, it has become your realization, even somebody says like that, it can’t change, it became your realization.

If one doesn’t know the whole complete teachings of the experience of realizing emptiness, then when you realize emptiness what is supposed to happen, if you don’t know what is supposed to happen in the experience, if one doesn’t know that then it becomes, then there is danger, great obstacles. Even though one reaches the point to realize emptiness, one recognizes the refuting object on the merely labeled I, refuting object on the I, even one recognizes that this is refuting object, this is the hallucination, and it’s empty, in one’s own heart there is recognition that, there is understanding it is empty, then immediately one starts the experience of losing the I. At that time then, since one doesn’t know the whole thing about the experience, what happens when one realizes emptiness, then there’s danger that one might think this experience might be wrong. Even though it’s right, but you may think it’s wrong and you are doing something wrong, because you lose the self. You might interpret it like that and strong fear arises. [This can happen to someone] with lower intelligent and less merit, very deep fear, deep fear from within one’s own heart, very deep fear can rise because of that experience.

Because one thinks this is wrong, you didn’t know this experience before or you didn’t hear about it, so therefore, it can cause stronger fear. Even there is fear but stronger fear. Deep fear, being afraid that you are going to fall in nihilism. Actually in the reality, no need the slightest worry to fall in nihilism, there’s no danger at all, but because you don’t know the experience so then you interpret it this way, you are falling in nihilism. Then there is great danger, you suddenly stop the experience, you suddenly escape away from this experience. Then also there is danger, because you are so afraid that you don’t want to meditate on emptiness for many months, because you haven’t heard about the experience before having the experience.

It also difficult to come back, since you didn’t take the chance in the first place when the experience is happened, then it is difficult also to come back because the mind is degenerated and so forth, so there are many obstacles. The realization is not easy. There are so many obstacles, realizing path is the greatest achievement in the life, and that’s the most beneficial thing for oneself, for all sentient beings to achieve ultimate happiness. To cease all the suffering this is the only way.

Therefore, this is not easy because this has, even normal, even business, even common activities, even works for this life has many obstacles. So many obstacles, even works, even business, so forth, works for this life to achieve, to be achieved there are so many obstacles, so realizing the path of course has to, of course so many, much more, hundreds, thousands, much more obstacles, because this is the most beneficial thing. So like this, so also and later also difficult to go back to the same experience.

It is extremely important if one is meditating on emptiness, to know about the experience before, so that you are guided, so that you are safe, you are guided. Then, you don’t make those wrong interpretations, even though it’s correct, even though what you experience is correct but you interpret it wrong, which becomes greatest obstacle to achieve liberation, to achieve cessation of the whole entire suffering, you to come to the end of the whole suffering, you to end the whole suffering of samsara. So that blocks it off. Then you interfere with yourself, you interfere for this achievement by yourself.

It is explained in the commentary of the Mahamudra, by one very high lama who accomplished the whole graduated path to enlightenment, Getsang Rinpoche, that happened in Lhasa. The reason why the why the person feels he is losing the I, at that time there is no such differentiation, Losing the merely labeled I, losing the truly existent I, just like when you’re driving a car, the other person driving car didn’t stop, continuously driving towards to you. When you feel there’s going to be an accident, how you feel about the I at that time, something is going to happen to this I, something is going to happen to this real I. One doesn’t think, “Oh, something’s going to happen to this merely labeled I.” [RL] There’s no time. One doesn’t think this way: Oh, something’s going to happen to this merely labeled I, even though that’s the reality but [RL], even though that is the reality, one doesn’t think, “Oh, now something’s going to happen to, some injury going to happen to this merely labeled I.” One doesn’t differentiate like that. Or even when I talk normally, even if I say hundreds and hundreds times in one hour “merely labeled I” [GL], even I talk in one hour that the I is merely labeled but when, but the moment when there’s going to be car accident, I’m so afraid there’s no time to think merely labeled I [RL]. This real I is going to be dead or some terrible thing, some terrible thing’s going to happen to this real I. So that’s what one thinks.

That’s what it means, not differentiating from the merely labeled I that which exists and truly existent I which doesn’t exist. Just thinking that, this real I in the sense of existing from its own side, itself is the way how it exists. If the I exists it should be this way, it should be this, existing from its own side, real one in the sense of existing, meaning existing from its own side. Your meaning of real, according to the hallucinated mind, this ignorance, real in the sense of existing from its own side. If the I exists that the I is, what the I is, is this.

So like that. So like the experience, the I appearing that, that this real I something is going to happen during the car accident, during the time when there is danger to have car accident.

So similar, when one realizes emptiness, losing the real I, losing the I, there is no differentiation, the merely labeled I and the truly existent I, there is no differentiation, losing the I and losing the real I.

THE CONTINUATION OF THE CONSCIOUSNESS
One has to understand is this: it is impossible to lose the I, it is impossible that the I become non-existent. That which is the merely labeled I is impossible to become non-existent, that I the meditator, I who meditates on emptiness in order to be free from samsara, to achieve liberation, enlightenment, that I, the I the meditator, impossible to become non-existent, to get lost. To lose in the sense become non-existent is impossible. It’s impossible because there is always the base, there’s always the continuation of the aggregates, which is the base. There’s always continuation of your mind, there’s always continuation of your mind.

Today’s mind doesn’t exist tomorrow, yesterday’s mind doesn’t exist today, but there’s continuation of today and a continuation of today’s mind goes to tomorrow. The same thing, today’s I doesn’t exist tomorrow. The particular I that that exists today doesn’t exist tomorrow. It is stopped, the I that is particular of today, is stopped midnight, twelve o’clock or [RL, GL] according to the, that is according to the West, according to Western way. The other way is, it stops the very beginning of the day, the dawn time, it stops when the very first dawn time starts, the very beginning, the very beginning of dawn time. From where the sun comes, there’s a little bit whitish, over from where the sun comes, even the rest is dark, which is the very beginning of the day. So the I that exists in particular time today stops that time, but there’s continuation of that I goes to that continuation next day.

The continuation of the consciousness, continuation of mind, even after, even when one becomes enlightened there’s a continuation of mind all the time, there’s always continuation of mind, even after one becomes enlightened. Even after every sentient being becomes enlightened, there’s the continuation of the mind.

This is the base, this is the aggregates, this is the base to be labeled I. So this is the main one to be labeled I. Since there is the base all the time, the continuation of mind all the time, the label I exists. Therefore the label I exists forever, there is always continuation of the I that exists. What is that? That’s not truly existent, that’s what is merely labeled by the mind, the continuation of I is what is merely labeled by the mind depending to the continual existence of the consciousness. The meditator I to be non-existent that is unnecessary worry, that is completely unnecessary worry, useless worry, unnecessary fear, unnecessary worry which can never happen.

But why is this experience happening in your mind, this sense of completely losing the I, why this experience happening? That is due to habit from beginningless rebirth until now that, that the I, what has been appearing, that the I what has been appearing, truly existent, then one has been, then one’s own mind has been apprehending that is true, one’s own mind, the concept or the ignorance have been apprehending that as true, this is true. So the mind is habituated not just only few years, not just from the birth time which has been only, only some years ago, not just that, from beginningless rebirth. So you stop that. There’s no I other than the truly existent I, this is kind of have been, our mind have been habituated, so addicted or habituated. Because of this, when you realize emptiness, you experience the semse of your mind losing the I. So this is what is happening.

This experience proves and shows in the reality the additional thing on the merely labeled I, the true existence, this additional thing on the top of that, so the experience is proving in the reality that this additional thing it doesn’t exist there, on the merely labeled I that there’s truly existence, something really, inherently existence. This is not there. This is not there. The experience proves that, the experience losing I, that the I is completely lost is proving that.

After one has the experience that the I is completely lost, the other term of the experience is that there is, nothing to hold on to, there’s nothing to hold on to. What you’ve been holding all the time, suddenly there’s nothing to hold on to, there’s no I for your mind to hold on. Suddenly. All the time that you’ve been apprehending, believing, holding on, suddenly there’s nothing to hold, your mind has nothing to hold on, right there, nothing to hold on. So that’s the exact term.

This experience proves, not that the I doesn’t exist but the truly existence I, that which is on the merely labeled I, this additional appearance, that doesn’t exist at all on the I, on the merely labeled I. On the top of this, the reason for this, after one has completely lost that the I, real I, you see it is completely empty. Then only after that, then there’s unshakeable understanding, realization that the I exists but exists in mere name, being merely imputed by the mind.

So that explains even more of this experience when one feel losing the I, that is actually proving the truly existence which appears, which is appearing from above the additional, from above the merely labeled I, that this doesn’t exist.

So that if, if you’re experiencing losing the I is losing the merely labeled I, which means the I is being ceased, the continuation of I gets stopped, in that case, if the experience is this, then how it’s possible, then after realizing that the I is empty then how is it possible that at the end the result is to, that you realize the I exist and exist in mere name. That one has this unshakeable understanding.

The more the mind becomes familiar with this, the more one meditates on emptiness then one sees the I as more and more illusory. “As illusory” means it is appearing, still appearing as truly existent, but in your heart you know that it is not true. So then your appearance of the I is as, it’s appearing as truly existence because you still have the imprint left by the, not removed the imprint left by the ignorance. So you still see the I as truly existent but because you have realized emptiness of the I, so your heart realizes that it’s not true. So that’s how you see I as illusory.

So however. Yeah, so I stop here.

[Dedication prayers]

Due to all the merits accumulated by me and by others, may the bodhicitta be generated within my mind and the mind of others. Those who have may it be developed.

Due to all the three time merits accumulated by oneself and by buddhas and bodhisattvas, due to all these merits that which are merely labeled by the mind, may the I who is merely labeled by the mind, achieve the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, that which is merely labeled by the mind and lead all sentient beings who are merely labeled by the mind to that enlightenment as quick as possible.

Okay, thank you.

[End of Ninth Discourse]

LECTURE 10: 2 DECEMBER 1992 AM

REALIZING EMPTINESS
So yesterday, as I mentioned, when one meditates on emptiness, when the analysis, the logic that one uses, the meditation on emptiness, when it touches or when it hits the right point, the right point above the, refuting object, the truly existence object, when one does meditation on emptiness, when the meditation hits on the target, like when we shoot an arrow or gun or whatever, the target, the enemy. So like that, when the meditations hit on the right point, the object of ignorance, the concept of true existence, the I that which appears as truly existent, particularly the refuting object on the I, when the meditation, that means the meditation become effective, you didn’t miss the logic. The analysis of the logics that you use like a weapon; you don’t miss the target, don’t miss the point, that object that the object of the ignorance: the concept of true existence, the I appearing, I that which is merely labeled by the mind appearing as it is existing from its own side. So, that which doesn’t exist.

Your meditation, the logic, the reasoning, when it hits then you see that is false, that is not true and also so that leads to realizing that this truly existent I doesn’t exist, that this is empty, which is empty, which is empty, which has been empty, which has never existed, which has been empty from beginningless rebirths, from very beginning, from beginningless rebirth. There has not been beginning of the continuation of the I, continuation of the I has been beginningless.

Therefore, the I, which has been existing from the beginningless rebirth, this I that which has been continued from the beginningless rebirth until now, the way it has been existing has been depending on causes and conditions—the base, mind and label. Depending on all these things the I has been continued. The I that has been continued from beginningless rebirths, from the time without beginning until now, this I which has been existing, it has been existing by depending on all these things. So therefore, the I has been empty, has been empty of existing from its own side, or inherently, the I has been empty of inherent existence. The I that has been continuing up to now, from beginningless time, the I, the way it has been existing, is by depending on all these things, so that the I has been empty of existing from its own side.

So, the reasoning of the meditation, the analysis, so when it hits on the object of the ignorance, the concept of true existence, not only one, but only that one recognizes this is false, but you see it makes to realize, to recognize, to realize that this is empty, this is empty as it is empty in the reality.

It is mentioned in the texts that for the intelligent bodhisattvas, when they realize emptiness they get incredible joy, happiness and tears come from the ear, ear I’m talking [RL], tears come from the ear [RL, GL], tears coming from the eyes [RL], tears coming from the eyes [RL], ears [RL], tears coming from the ears [RL]. I wonder anybody got tears coming from, anybody cried from the ear - I’m not sure [RL]. The hairs of the pores stands up and incredible joy. When the intelligent bodhisattvas realize emptiness, incredible joy, unbelievable happiness and because of that then and the tears comes from the ear [RL, GL] - I said from the ear? From the eyes, from the eyes [RL] from the eyes [RL]. I think my mouth become more and more crazy [GL], besides the mind.

When the lower intelligent bodhisattva realize emptiness fear arises. Depending on the individual person who realizes emptiness, fear arises. However, when we meditate on emptiness, when the meditation hits on the refuting object, the object of the ignorance, the concept of true existence, when it hits that which we have to realize as empty, that which we have to destroy, so that time the fear rises, when it hits on the right point.

This is a good sign, when the fear arises when we meditate on emptiness, that means your meditation is effective, that means your meditation is working, it become effective. That means it is harming the object of ignorance, the concept of true existence. That means that your meditation is able to harm to the root, your root of samsara, the concept of true existence, the ignorance. You are able to harm to the inner enemy, who creates all your sufferings, who creates your samsara, who creates all your samsara: the hell, preta, animal, sura, asura, human being, all these, the whole entire samsara creates. And who makes you to experience, who makes you constantly to experience suffering of samsara.

THE SUFFERINGS OF SAMSARA
Of all the general sufferings of samsara, the six types of suffering, the nothing is definite in samsara. However much one has, uses, enjoys, it never gives satisfaction, one never finds satisfaction. Then leaving the body again and again, then joining again and again. One become higher again, it ends up, after one become higher, but it ends up being lower. After becoming king then becoming a slave. In that life or in next life. So after reaching a very high position then next, it ends up by being lower. So after becoming wealthy, one ends up by being poor. So either in same life or different life. One life rich, one life poor. So however, like this. Higher, you cannot stay always higher, it ends up by being lower. Such these sufferings, then without company, without companion or, when the death happens only the consciousness goes to the next life, even this body has to be left, nobody comes with oneself, no friend, how many billions of friends one has cannot, how much population one has, how many bodyguard one has, nobody, one can’t take one person, no one comes with oneself, so only consciousness goes to the next life, only one’s own consciousness. Like when you take the hair from butter, the butter doesn’t come with it, only the hair comes when you pull the hair from butter. So like that, only consciousness. Also birth time, also when one was born, without companion oneself alone was born.

When one experiences all the negative karmas that, in the narak, in the hell when one experiences the negative karma that which one has created, the family, relatives, friends, with attachment, with the disturbing thoughts, with the anger, attachment, ignorance, so however, then nobody, when one experience result of those negative karmas in the hell, nobody comes to share, No one calls, “Don’t worry, we will come to you, we will come to share with you, we will come, you don’t worry that we will come to share some of your suffering of the hell, we will share.” Nobody comes down, no one comes to share.

The cause, the negative karma, was created by oneself, so the result of that, the narak suffering, one has to experience only oneself by oneself.

The general sufferings of samsara are classified in types: the six types, the four types, then three types, which are the suffering of pain, suffering of change (the temporary samsaric pleasures) and pervasive compounding suffering.

These are the general sufferings of samsara and then there are the sufferings of the narak, the hell, the major suffering, the heaviest suffering the hot and cold. Then, the eight major hot hell sufferings, cold hell sufferings. Then there are four or six surrounding heels and the secondary hell sufferings. Like the main big city, there’s main big city like Kathmandu, then there’s small towns around, so like that, secondary, the surrounding hell four or six.

For the hungry ghosts, the preta beings, the heaviest suffering is of hunger and thirst, that even ten thousand eons, so they last, ten thousand years, it has incredible length of time due to their karma, that they have to experience suffering, hunger and thirst for such incredible length of time without dying, those who have very heavy karma, even that much length of life have to suffer. They have three types of suffering but their major suffering is hunger and thirst. Three types of obscuration, food obscuration, the outer obscuration, inner obscuration, they are like this.

Then, the major suffering of the animal beings, being eaten by another one, being extremely foolish and hunger and thirst. Even the animals who live with the human beings that, the household animal or even animals that raised by human beings or have been kept by human being, then tortured, killed for skin, for meat, then for various reasons.

The human beings have eight types of suffering which I mentioned yesterday. Then the worldly gods, the sura, asura. They have suffering that being controlled by other powerful devas and being kicked out from their place, things like that. Then fighting and the suffering of jealousy. Then fighting and being killed. Then also, their heaviest suffering is the signs of death, that they have incredible wealth, these worldly gods, they have incredible wealth, that, like for example, anyway, so like this, that wealthy, for example, wealthy family or wealthy person that even one ornament, even one ring or even just one ornament that even other people, that who are wealthy, who are also wealthy but that, but that higher wealthy, more wealthy person, even that one ring, one ornament, all that family’s wealth it is nothing comparing that more wealthy person’s even one ornament, even one ring, something like that.

So similar like this, even one ornament of a deva, even one dress, the clothing or even the shoe, according to their karma, according to their merit, one whole country’s wealth is nothing, the wealthiest person in the world’ wealth is nothing comparing to one ring of those worldly gods, those devas. Even their one dress or one ornament, the one country wealth or one richest person’s wealth, in the human world, one richest person’s wealth, it is nothing comparing to that one worldly god, deva, even one dress or even one ornament.

So however, due to their good karma accumulated in the past, so much merit accumulated in the past, so they have great, they have much more greater enjoyment, many hundred times much more greater enjoyment than most developed, than human, in the human world, the most developed country.

Many years ago I saw in one magazine that somewhere in Germany or Swiss somewhere, there’s one family, the father of the family, he felt something is going to come outside of his house, on the ground, something is going to come he felt. Sort of premonition and he felt something’s going to come. So he put camera, so he set it up, set up the camera, this equipment outside. And he was, and he waited, and waited. And [RL], so the flying saucer came [RL], flying saucer, so it landed there [RL] and then [RL], that landed there and then, so he, there was a person inside and he talked to that person. So it described how the person’s face looked like, there was picture, something long ear, face is something kind of long, round, and then long, kind of this part become long face. Then this person it looks like lady, this person described to him that from where this person came, described how fast. It came from incredible length, distance, but I have forgotten, it described. I think it gave some idea of the distance or how fast it came, and things like that. So then described [RL] the place, the continent from where this person came [RL], that they have thirty times’ greater development than your country, than this world, than our world. And the people there they live for one thousand years, their length of life is one thousand years and like that, it’s mentioned there.

I was surprised that, because the, what that other person explained about their continent, it’s similar to what is explained in the Dharma, in the scripture of Buddha: that the human, there are numberless, each universe has that, the sun, moon, those planets, each universe has these planets and that the sura, asuras, those in the higher planets on the levels of the Mount Meru, the sura, asura beings situated. And then there are Eastern human continent, Western human continent, the South, Northern human continent. So normally it is explained in the teachings that Northern, in the teachings particularly the Abhidharmakosha, this is one of the extensive subjects of the evolution of the world, of the evolution of the earth and beings, living beings, all the different living beings, those worldly gods, human beings, then also hell beings, how all these things happened, also the place. So that is one sutra scripture that contains detailed description, explanation of the evolution of the world.

Each universe has the four continents, four human continents, east, south, west, north, like that. Then there are branches, there are small ones, around of each one, each the main continent. So it is explained in the teachings that the, in the northern continent human beings have incredible enjoyment. So much more, much more developed, much more higher, so much more higher enjoyment, better quality, higher enjoyment than our southern continent. So the world, our world is the southern continent. So that human beings who live in the north continent they live, they have fixed length of life. Everybody live for one thousand years.

My surprise is that what this person described their continent to this person who was taking picture, who felt something is going to happen. So that is similar, the continent what was described by this person who came by this whatever, flying saucer, so somehow the way it describes is similar about northern continent.

The teachings also describe the length of the body of the human beings. Like for example the eastern continent, the human beings living in the eastern continent their length of life, their length of body is, if not longer than the length of body, we human beings have in this southern continent. So those who have tall body, not short but those who have tall body. So the human beings in the eastern continent they have twice, their length of body is much long, is twice longer.

So however, as I am describing the deva realm, so just this thought came [RL], just this thought crowded, just this thought came, this about what was mentioned in the magazine, this, the from another planet or somebody came and described. So just this thought came to, thought to mention anyway.

So the sura, asura, the worldly god, their main suffering is, their main problem, their heaviest problem is the signs of death. So due to their karma if they are going to die after seven days then they hear from space, due to their karma they hear a voice that, You are going die after seven days. And then that time due to their karma they can remember their past life from where they came and they see the present life samsara, their present life standard how incredible enjoyment that they have, sense pleasure that and so they see where they are now in the deva realm, where there is incredible great enjoyment, sense pleasures, so much wealth, so many friends, so all these the desire enjoyment. Then they see after death, after the death where they are going to reincarnate - due to karma, not by developing meditation but due to karma they are able to see where they are going to reincarnate.

So they finish their karma to be in the deva realm enjoying all these great sense enjoyments, sense pleasures, having all these rich things, their karma is finished. So now is time to experience result of the negative karma, what is left. However so they see their, they see that they are going to reincarnate in the lower realms, human realm, lower realms, where there is so much suffering, where there is not all these great enjoyments as they have. So mentally like hell. So during this time their mind is like being in hell. Physically deva but mind is like being in hell.

There are five signs of death. One is dislike, so they become dislike the bed that they are sleeping and sitting, they become bored, they dislike. Then usually the flower garlands that they wear don’t decay, don’t become old. But due to their karma it does not become old. But then that time the flower garlands that they wear decays, becomes old. And usually the body doesn’t get sweat, due to their good karma body they never get sweat, but then that time they get sweat and their clothing get smelly. Then there’s another five nearing signs.

Their mind gets so depressed, unbelievable depressed, and their friends, the boyfriend, the girlfriends normally that they sing or dance or play together in the beautiful gardens and so forth, that they enjoy because they play together, those friends then that time then they don’t come near. They don’t come near, they look at you, they look at from very far, they don’t come near like before. And they pass, they put a flower on the top of a stick, like people who got leprosy disease, somebody who has contagious disease then kept away from society or away from family. You don’t go, people don’t come near to be around like before. So it’s like that kind of. So the friends that who used to be together then they on the long stick then put a flower on the top of the stick then they pass, give the person.

And I think I heard also this, I don’t remember a hundred percent, but I think I heard also this, they tell the person to pray, so in the human realm accumulate merit then to pray in human realm to accumulate merit then come back in deva realm, something like that. So however by being born in human realm then accumulate merit, create good karma then try to be born in the deva realm, something like that. This is the heaviest desire realm devas this is the heaviest suffering what they experience.

So however, that these deva realms have incredible enjoyment, sense pleasures, the sense enjoyments. So very difficult, the life is completely distracted by these sense enjoyments, very difficult to practice, very difficult to calm the mind, very difficult to practice meditation, very difficult to practice Dharma. Life is so distracted, so occupied by this great, the sense enjoyments, the desire enjoyments.

That, some devas in the realm of Thirty-three have the karma to hear teachings, but they don’t have the karma to hear teachings directly from Buddha or from a virtuous friend. They hear teachings through the sound of the drum. That is one of Buddha’s actions. So whom it do not fit to directly give teachings then through sound of drum, things like that, then give teachings to them. It is very difficult to practice Dharma, very difficult to see suffering, very difficult to realize that their realm is nature of suffering, is very difficult to realize this. Because life’s fully completely distracted, fully occupied by these desire, very great enjoyments.

Usually, even normal example, the people who are more wealthy, some are more busy, less time for retreat, less time for to attend the teachings or less time for to do these things, to practice Dharma, to do retreat or to come for the teachings, so forth, more busy. Somehow, less time. Even the person met Dharma, but less time for Dharma. Even the person has met Dharma but somehow there’s much more distraction in the life. But those who are more poor somehow more time for, not that much wealthy, more poor. However, generally seems they are like this, more time for Dharma, more time to do practice. Generally, so they are like this. Even in Tibet a person who is a monk but who is from very rich family somehow there are so much obstacles, and it’s difficult to do extensive study and to complete the study. Doesn’t get done. There is so much distraction. That much there is so much wealth but you see, so much distraction.

THE TIBETAN MONASTIC STRUCTURE
Most of the monks, almost all of those monks who become top learned geshes, who studied everything, all the texts, who studied all the five major sutra teachings, the logic, the pramanavattika, that which is all the logics to prove reincarnation, dispelling the wrong views about one life, then how Buddha is a pure founder, reliable, because his is, that his teachings how it is valid, pure, reliable, so all the logics, so forth. So, the Madhyamaka, the explaining extensively about the two truths, those things. Then Abhisamaya-alamkarika, that which explains the whole path to enlightenment besides the tantra path. Then the infinite qualities of Buddha’s holy body, holy speech, holy mind, the whole path and all the Buddha’s qualities: the explanation of the four kayas. Those subjects, base, path and the result, the achievement. So then about moral discipline, vinaya, then the Abhidharmakosha, which explains details about skandhas, the aggregates, the nature of the mind, those different mental factors and evolution of the worldly beings. However, so there are different chapters which has different subject.

This is what they study extensively. With the logic and quotations, root text and commentaries, while they are in these monasteries, the Sera, Ganden, Drepung, these monasteries. So this is one example. These are not the only monastery but these are the major monasteries. In the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition these three are the main major monasteries where they do extensive studies on sutra. Then also many of them, also while they are studying sutra also they practice tantra. They achieve, they train the mind in the path of secret mantra, in the Highest Tantra path and try to achieve the realizations of tantra. So while they are studying those extensive sutras, so like that.

Then after when they have finished these, when they passed, when the course is complete, when they finished, having done examination, all these things, among the many, many thousands of learned monks by having done the examination, debating and giving answer to all the questions, however, then the, examined by many learned ones and the abbots of those different monasteries, and so like that. So after this then they go to learn more extensive of tantra, rituals, mandalas, like you have seen here, the boys did in the library. So like those things. Then actually constructing mandala. So then, so whole thing about tantra, so extensive on those things, about rituals, all those things, very extensively they study.

After all this, so by going, by entering tantric college, then that they become, they have to become the disciplinary, the person who looks after discipline of the monastery, called gegu, who looks after discipline of the monks for a certain number of time. Then after that have to become abbot of the monastery. Then another called lama utsen, I’m not sure the particular, maybe this one’s maybe more teaching Dharma, I’m not sure the particular function of that. Then when they’ve finished all these responsibilities, however, to help to preserve the, to help the monastery to, others to preserve, to develop the practice the Dharma, the tantra subject, the education of that, practice of that. Then when they have finished these then there’s another position. Then after that, the Gaden Tripa means the representative, the regent of Lama Tsongkhapa. He who sits on the Lama Tsongkhapa throne, the successor or regent of Lama Tsongkhapa.

So this way the person become fully qualified master, fully qualified spiritual master. That who can, who is living in the practice but also who has all the education, who has all the knowledge, sutra, tantra, all the teaching, the whole entire teaching of Buddha. The Lesser Vehicle teaching, Paramitayana teaching, Mahayana, the Paramitayana teaching, then Mahayana the tantra teachings. So in this way you become fully qualified teacher, that, Dharma teacher, that you can preserve the whole entire teaching of Buddha, Lesser Vehicle, Paramitayana teaching, tantra teaching and you can preserve and you can spread. So you can teach Dharma. You can guide, the essence, so you can preserve the whole entire teaching and you can guide other sentient beings, you see, according to their, by revealing Dharma, by revealing the path whatever it fits to their level of mind. You have so much to offer according to whatever it fits, with depth and clarity, clear and depth, with logics and quotations one can extensively can explain to others. So I think this is the main point why, the way they set it up by Lama Tsongkhapa, the regulation or the program or the course, how, the graduate how it is done. So however, it is a way, not only, besides practicing the essence of Dharma, then having, to have very deep extensive knowledge or education of Buddhadharma.

I don’t know why I brought this subject. So anyway, so this is what here also the, here the Kopan monks, this is also what they are, in the same way, this is also the same subjects, so what they are studying now. In the same, in this, to be able to go in the same direction. So to be fully qualified Dharma teacher. Not only you are qualified, not only that you have complete understanding of Dharma for your own practice, for their own practice, for their own development in the path to enlightenment. Not only that, also, especially to preserve the whole entire teaching of the Buddha, that which is most precious thing in this world. And then that the Dharma from which all sentient beings they receive their happiness, so them to preserve this and to spread that in the mind of other sentient beings. So like that.

To become a perfect teacher, living in the practice, practicing the essence of Dharma, then, essence of path, essence of Dharma. Then having extensive education, the knowledge of the whole entire teaching of the Buddha, however, then this way they become wish-fulfilling [RL], hoping that they become wish-fulfilling for other sentient beings. So however, reliable, perfect reliable guide, the great leader revealing Dharma, the path, the unmistaken path to peace.

So, all right then.

So they have much more karma to study the Dharma than I did, that [RL] for so many years to study Dharma. That I just heard little bit, heard little bit of these teachings but that’s all. That, I don’t know why I brought this subject [RL, GL]. [Someone whispers to Rinpoche.] Oh, I see, that’s right. [GL] Then I think it went on and on I think.

Even in the monasteries, even in the Tibetan monasteries, those top, those great practitioners, the top learned, almost everyone those are from poor families, however, with much hardships, without food, with much hardships in the monastery, that with very little, so, many of these learned ones, that even they don’t have solid food to eat in the monasteries for many months like that they, but they don’t have any depression or upset, worry or anything because their mind is fully, twenty-four hours their mind is fully all day into Dharma, studying Dharma, thinking, in the meditation all day long, teaching Dharma to others and oneself learning, always mind is in state of meditation, always thinking, mind, the whole life is engaged in learning Dharma, practicing Dharma. So mind is completely occupied by that, so there’s no concern even what they have is just black tea, only that and then, not even enough tsampa, this flour from barley, flour made of barley, even they don’t have enough to eat concrete food, just put a little bit on the tea and then they, so many learned ones, those top learned ones, those who become great teachers, able to reveal whole entire Dharma, also with the experience of the path. So with much, through hardships then they achieved path and they become learned, understanding all the words, meanings. So like this, great leader, perfect teacher. So like that.

THE SUFFERING OF THE GOD REALMS
The point that I’m talking about this is, the worldly gods, devas, their sense enjoyments is so much more greater than their sense enjoyment is much more greater. One arhat Sharipu, one of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s disciples, had one disciple, I think this disciple must be I think, called, it must be doctor, called ?Suchi Shonnu, I think he must be a doctor. So in the human realm, when he was in the human realm, when he saw his teacher, his guru, Sharipu, this arhat, even if the doctor was riding on an elephant or a horse as soon as he saw his teacher, immediately even in the distance, he immediately came down from the backside of the elephant, immediately came down and prostrated or respect to his teacher, even he see in the distance.

But then after that life this disciple was born in the deva realm. I’m not sure which one, Thirty-three realm or Tushita deva realm. So there’s Tushita deva realm like a city, then the pure realm, the pure realm of Lama Tsongkhapa or Maitreya Buddha, like a monastery away from the city. So there’s a pure realm—pure means where there’s no suffering, the suffering rebirth, old age, sicknesses, death, these things, where you do not experience these sufferings, where there’s no, where one, the beings who are born there they don’t experience these problems. There’s no separating from the desirable object, no meeting the undesirable object, all those worries, fears, they don’t have. So in that sense it is called pure realm.

So the Sharipu’s disciple, this doctor, was born in deva realm. Then Sharipu, when he checked, he saw his disciple was born in deva realm. Then Sharipu this arhat with his psychic power he went to deva realm to teach Dharma to his disciple. When Sharipu went in deva realm he saw his disciple, he was on the way to a garden, to go to play in the garden with his girlfriend. In the human realm, even when he was riding on an elephant as soon as he saw his teacher he immediately came down and respect, to prostrate, but there his mind is so distracted by the enjoyment of deva, the desire enjoyment of deva realm, when he saw his teacher but he just put his hand like this and then left. He just put his fingers like this and then he left. [RL] The point is that, with such incredible greater sense desire enjoyment, it is very difficult to control the mind, very difficult to calm the mind, very difficult to see, to realize the samsara, those to realize shortcomings of desire, to realize how samsara is in nature of suffering. So very difficult to see this, so therefore very difficult to practice Dharma.

It is similar that in this continent, the northern continent, the continent of the human beings who are there, who are born in that continent. It is said in the teachings that, by being born as a human beings who are born in that continent. you don’t have the karma to directly see emptiness. And also asuras, I think also one is asura, I think, those worldly gods, asuras, cannot, they cannot see, they cannot realize emptiness directly.

THE FORTUNE OF BEING BORN IN THE SOUTHERN CONTINENT
All this shows how we are extremely fortunate we are, we who are born as human beings in this southern continent where there is the whole entire teaching of Buddha existing, the Lesser Vehicle teachings, Mahayana, the Paramitayana teachings, then the Mahayana the tantra teaching, where there are all the teachings existing, not degenerated. The continent where Buddha descended and revealed teaching not only sutra also especially tantra, which is extremely rare. The quick path to enlightenment, which is extremely rare. Extremely rare. Even there’s one thousand Buddhas descending on this earth, so that, the present Guru Shakyamuni Buddha is the fourth one, then there is all the rest to descend on this earth to reveal Dharma, to guide sentient beings, to liberate from the lower realm sufferings, from the samsara, and then to lead to enlightenment, like this. But however, all the Buddhas do not reveal the tantra teaching, the shortcut path, the quick path to enlightenment. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha is the present founder of the Dharma, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha is the first one who revealed tantra, the quick path to enlightenment.

Then the seventh Buddha, who is the embodiment of Lama Tsongkhapa, it is said that this Buddha will reveal tantra. Then the last Buddha, because that Buddha promised to reveal Dharma whatever the previous Buddhas taught. So because of this promise so it is, because of this promise it is believed that this last Buddha might teach tantra, the secret mantra, the quick path to enlightenment.

So however, that we are born in this time Buddha descended and taught, revealed all these teachings and all these teachings that revealed by Buddha is not degenerated, not stopped yet, not degenerated yet.

We are extremely fortunate to be born as human being in this southern continent where these things happening, where all these Buddhas descending. And the time, in the time Buddha descended, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha descended and revealed the teaching and that, so by this, because of this we have all the opportunities to practice all these different levels of teachings. Not just Lesser Vehicle path, the Mahayana, the Paramitayana, then especially tantra, the quick path to enlightenment.

In this southern continent, in the human continent which is our world, there are wealthy people, poor people, there are all kinds of, everybody is not the same. There are so many different problems that people experience, various problems, you can see so much suffering, so many different problems, that human beings in this world are experiencing, you can, we can see. We experience and we can see also others and length of life is nothing definite, not fixed like other continents, like deva realm, like other continents, like northern continent, like that, like those other continents, it doesn’t have fixed length of life. So dying in the womb and in child time or nothing definite.

There is happiness, this is also sense enjoyment, and there is also so many problems, difficulties. So because of this, in this continent, we who are born in this human continent so we have much more opportunity for us much to generate renunciation of samsara, to see the nature of samsara, the see the samsara how it is nature of suffering. It is much easier to see and to realize this and generate the wish to be free from the whole entire samsara. To have this realization the renunciation of samsara, so, very easy.

It is very easy to generate renunciation of samsara. And because of this it is, for us, it is very easy to realize bodhicitta. Because easier to generate, easy to realize, easy to see suffering, easy to realize how samsara is nature of suffering. So easy to generate bodhicitta, for us easy to generate compassion because easy to see how other sentient beings are suffering, easy to see. Easy to see one’s own samsara how it is nature of suffering and to see how other sentient beings are suffering. Then because of that easy to generate compassion and easy to generate great compassion. And because of that then easy to generate bodhicitta, the thought of enlightenment, so like that.

That means, we human beings born in this southern continent easier, quicker to achieve enlightenment. Like those deva realms or like those northern continent, like those other human continents, difficult to see, difficult to generate the renunciation of samsara. Without the renunciation of samsara you cannot achieve liberation from samsara, ultimate happiness. Because the beings of the northern continent have great enjoyment, they don’t have like us, they don’t have like this continent, that people have, some people very rich, some people very poor, experience of various sufferings. So everybody, in that, in northern continent there is no poor, everybody have great enjoyment, everybody wealthy like that, there is no different life, having the different problems, like this continent with, they don’t see, they don’t have. So difficult to see, difficult to generate renunciation of samsara. So it is very difficult to generate bodhicitta and difficult to achieve enlightenment.

Before my mind got distracted some other things [RL], other subjects. So that what I was talking before, that all these six realms sufferings: general suffering of samsara, six realm’s sufferings, so all these are cause, all these what one experiences, all these are created by your, by the enemy, by one’s own enemy, the ignorance. That was the point [RL], that was the point—it’s just I got distracted, just went away.

So that when one’s meditating on emptiness, when one is able to hit, able to harm the object of the ignorance, concept of true existence, the truly existent I, able to harm that which makes to see that is false and empty, as it is empty. Also that time for most people the fear arises. So that, however, so that means that one is able to harm, one’s own meditation, one is, the meditation what one does one is able to harm to the ignorance, the root, the enemy which is the root of the whole entire samsara.

Yeah, so I stop here.

[Dedication; short mandala]

Due to all the past, present, future merits accumulated by oneself and by all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, due to all this merit, may the bodhicitta be generated within one’s own mind and in the minds of other sentient beings. Those who have, may it be developed.

Due to all the three time merits accumulated by oneself and by the buddhas and bodhisattvas, due to all these merits that which are merely labeled by the mind, may the I who is merely labeled by the mind achieve Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment that which is merely labeled by the mind, and lead all sentient beings who are also merely labeled by the mind to that enlightenment as quick as possible.

LECTURE 11: 2 DECEMBER 1992 PM

THE KINDNESS OF OTHERS
We talked about and meditated on how other sentient beings are so kind and so precious, that how they are so kind to oneself, that how everything, every single enjoyment that we have, happiness, comfort, how it came from them, how it is received by depending on the kindness of other sentient beings, and even each day’s survival, even each hour, each minute, our survival it is by kindness of other sentient beings. Even each hour, minute that we can be human being and have opportunity to practice Dharma, to make preparation for the happiness of future lives, the long-run happiness, the happiness of future lives, and to make preparation to achieve the liberation from samsara, to achieve liberation, that is, liberation that which is the liberated forever from the samsara. Then, it is impossible to change from that or again one fall in samsara or one experience, again one experience samsaric suffering, without need to experience suffering of samsara again, by having completely removed the seed of the disturbing thoughts.

We can make preparation to achieve full enlightenment, that which is cessation of even the subtle imprints left by the concept of true existence, this disturbing thought, that which is completion of all the realizations. Even one day, one hour, even a minute, whatever cause of happiness one wishes to create one can with this perfect human rebirth. And how many causes of happiness of future life, liberation, full enlightenment, how many one wishes to create one has a great opportunity. By having this perfect human rebirth that one has great opportunity to, how many times one wishes to create, how many times in one day, even in one hour, minute, the cause of all this happiness, how many times one wishes to create one can, one has great opportunity.

Then we meditated and we talked about the meaning of life, that is, why we have a human body, this precious human body, that is to free every sentient being equaling the infinite sky, the sentient beings equaling the infinite sky, and especially, not only to cause temporary happiness but especially to cause ultimate happiness, to lead to full enlightenment. So that is the meaning of our life.

And we meditated and we talked about how we are responsible to free all sentient beings from all the sufferings and to obtain happiness for them, how we are responsible. And in particular that if one has compassion within one’s heart then all sentient beings they don’t receive harm from oneself. That is one peace that they receive, the absence of harm, absence of harm is peace. The absence of harm that which they receive from you, that is peace. Not only that, with compassion then also one help others, other sentient beings. One benefit for other sentient beings besides not giving harm. So again by this reason also they receive peace, happiness from you, from oneself.

So all this peace, happiness what they receive from you, from your compassion, dependent to you, dependent to oneself. So all this happiness, peace, what they receive from you, from oneself, oneself is fully responsible. Oneself is responsible all this happiness, peace. Temporary happiness, ultimate happiness, which they receive from you, you are responsible. So, every one of us are responsible of all sentient beings happiness, temporary happiness and the full enlightenment, like this.

And I also mentioned some days ago that in our everyday life that one’s own comfort, happiness, dependent the surrounding people how they think of you, how they behave towards to you. Now exactly the same, now it is exactly the same, the people who are around oneself and including animals, insects, their happiness, their peace, is dependent on oneself. How you, how you think of them, how you look at them, how you behave towards them, whether you look at them with loving kindness, compassion or not. And whether one respect, the kind respectful towards to them or not.

Without talking all sentient beings, how one is responsible for the happiness, peace of all sentient beings, that the, also in day-to-day life, the animals, human beings who are around oneself, how their happiness, peace, success depends on one’s own attitude. Dependent on, how it’s dependent on one’s own attitude and conduct, behavior, towards to them.

What kind of effect on the human beings, animals, who are around us everyday life, what kind of effect do they get when they see you, whether it is happiness, peace or unpleasant or harm, pain, whatever, so it’s dependent whether one has, whether one looks at them, what kind of attitude what one has towards them, loving kindness, compassion or the respectful manners or kind actions or the opposite.

COMPASSION
Even all sentient beings are angry towards to oneself, even they don’t have compassion towards oneself, that is one object, just one object, one sentient being, that is oneself. Now, this one sentient being, oneself, doesn’t practice patience or doesn’t practice compassion, this one sentient being, oneself, if one doesn’t practice compassion, then the object whom this one sentient being, oneself, gives harm, there is danger to give harm, object whom this one sentient being oneself give harm is numberless. If this one sentient being oneself does not practice compassion then the danger, whom this one sentient being oneself give harm is numberless, is uncountable number, uncountable object whom this one sentient being oneself gives harm, numberless. It’s not just the family, it’s not just the people in the office that, it’s numberless, those who receive harm directly or indirectly, from life to life. Not just talking today or this hour, this minute, but here we are talking about other sentient beings receiving harm directly or indirectly from life to life. Which means all sentient beings, all other sentient beings. When we talk this way which means all sentient beings, all other sentient beings.

If this one sentient being, oneself, if oneself doesn’t practice compassion, the harm is great, the harm is so much because sentient beings are numberless, the danger who receive harm are numberless sentient beings. Therefore whether other sentient beings practice compassion or not, if oneself doesn’t practice, if oneself—the one person—doesn’t practice compassion, how many sentient beings receive harm is numberless. So it becomes so crucial, it becomes utmost need, it becomes so crucial, how important it is, urgent it is, that oneself practices compassion. It becomes unbelievable, so important, so crucial.

This is without talking about one’s own happiness, peace, success, without talking about that, in order that numberless sentient beings to not receive harm from you, for the numberless sentient beings peace it becomes so crucial, so urgent the, even the need of compassion within one’s own mind is even without delay, without delay even a second, the need of compassion in one’s own mind towards others is, how important it is, how urgent it is that even without delaying even a second, it is like that.

To practice compassion so that you have happiness, peace in your life, this is the way you have success in your life, that is true, and that’s the best way. That is the best way. As often His Holiness the Dalai Lama says that if you want to be selfish then it is better to be intelligently selfish, that wisely selfish [RL], so that is, the wise way to be selfish is by cherishing other sentient beings. By cherishing other sentient beings then this way all your wishes for happiness get fulfilled. Anyway if you’re going to be selfish then better to be wisely selfish. This is what often His Holiness says.

Of course it’s true it’s the best way to have success, happiness for yourself, of course, by cherishing other sentient beings, by having loving kindness, compassion towards other sentient beings, by benefiting other sentient beings. Even though it’s true, even though it’s the best way to have success for oneself, but yourself is one sentient being. Yourself is one person, one living being, that how important it is, how important you are is nothing, how important you are, how your happiness, how to obtain happiness for you who is one living being is nothing important, is completely lost, it is completely lost, it is nothing, how important it is, is nothing compared to the numberless other sentient beings.

I often mention the example. The one atom is nothing, the one atom is completely disappeared, is nothing comparing the rest of the earth, the numberless atoms. If you compare that one atom to rest of the big earth, which has numberless atoms, it is nothing. So like that, even though that method by benefiting others, cherishing others, is the best way to bring success to oneself, happiness in your life, even though that’s true it’s the best way, but the reason to practice compassion, the reason of this way of using the reason to practice compassion, this is nothing, that how you are important is nothing to obtain happiness for yourself, that is nothing. How important it is is completely lost comparing the rest of the sentient beings who are numberless.

Even if oneself was born in the hell, but you are one living being, one living being that is oneself, nothing so much to be depressed if one is born in hell. Even one achieves liberation but you are one living being, oneself. Nothing so much to be, nothing that much to be excited about, even one achieves liberation from samsara. The numberless other sentient beings who are uncountable, they are so precious, and the work for them, the service for them to pacify their suffering, to obtain happiness for them, these numberless sentient beings become the most, most important work, most important service. There’s nothing more precious than the sentient beings. Nothing more important than working for sentient beings. Nothing more important than the work, than working for sentient beings, eliminating their sufferings and obtaining happiness for them. Nothing more in the life, nothing more important than the work for the sentient beings.

Whether others practice compassion or not, whether from the side of other sentient beings, other people, whether they practice compassion or not, there is no choice, there is utmost need from one’s own side to practice compassion towards them. However, from their side, from others’ side whether they practice compassion or not, first oneself should practice compassion. From others’ side whether they practice compassion or not, first from one’s own side one should practice compassion towards them. The reason was explained before, so like that.

As I normally mention, how much the world has peace that depends on how much people have compassion. The leaders of the countries, the people living in this world how much compassion they have, whether they have compassion or not, and how much compassion they have. So by depending on that cause, then there is that much result peace in the world. So like that. Same thing in one country how much peace there is for the population, how much peace they have, happiness they have, also depends on how much compassion there is in the minds of the people in that country. Same thing in one family, that how much happiness there is, peace there is in one family depends how much they practice, how much, whether they have compassion or not, how much practice compassion. And depends even one couple’s life how much peace, harmonious, happiness there is, husband and wife, even one couple’s life, how much happiness and peace they have, harmonious there is that is dependent on how much compassion they have, good heart they have.

As I often mention, even the husband doesn’t practice Dharma, doesn’t practice compassion but if the wife practices Dharma, practices compassion, then, practices good heart, even the husband doesn’t practice good heart, even his mind is very selfish, but if she is practicing good heart, at least one person is practicing good heart, then even he gives harm to her, even he gets angry to her, but she doesn’t retaliate back, but she doesn’t revenge back, so therefore he has peace. Even though he doesn’t practice Dharma but because she doesn’t harm back, doesn’t get angry towards him, doesn’t retaliate back, so therefore he has that much peace. As he doesn’t receive harm from her then he has that much peace. So even one couple’s life, even only one person practice Dharma, good heart, there’s peace. No question how much there’s peace, satisfaction, happiness, peace in her life, without question of that, even he has peace as he doesn’t receive harm from her. So both people’s life there’s peace. At least if one person practice Dharma, at least one person practice good heart.

In a similar case, in the family where there’s five or ten members of the family, if one person practices Dharma, good heart, compassion, not only his or her life has peace, much happiness, but this person who practices Dharma, good heart, gives much happiness and peace to all the rest of the members. Gives so much peace, happiness to the rest of the member of the family, how many there are, five or ten. The rest of the member don’t receive harm from this person, they receive help from this person. They harm they receive becomes less, becomes that much less because one person practicing Dharma, a good heart, in that family.

Starting from the numberless sentient beings is same, the reason is same. The numberless sentient beings receive peace, how much peace they receive from this person, from this one person who practices Dharma, who practices good heart, compassion, so this person, more and more, more and more he or she is able to develop the mind, develop the method, compassion, and wisdom, so all the rest of sentient beings they receive more and more help, deeper and deeper benefit. So ultimately, this one person is then able to bring all sentient beings to achieve enlightenment. They all are placed in enlightenment, they are all lead to enlightenment, by this one living being who practices Dharma, who completed the path by developing compassion and wisdom. So like that.

So, how much peace, happiness there is in society that depends on how much compassion, whether they have compassion or not, how much they are able to practice compassion.

Therefore compassion is so precious, is unbelievably precious, this quality of mind, unbelievably precious, the valueless, valueless? Valueless or priceless? [Answer: Priceless.] Priceless [RL]. So priceless. That there is no material that can compete, there are no jewels, even the whole sky filled with diamonds, dollars, gold, even that much wealth, even the value of that much wealth is nothing compared to the value of the compassion. One person’s compassion, one living being’s compassion.

In other words, when we meditate on compassion, when we generate compassion, how precious it is, how priceless, how precious it is. Even that much of wealth, the value is nothing compared to the value of compassion, the compassion that we generate when we meditate, that we generate towards others. Whether it is one sentient being or whether it is many sentient beings. So like that.

Even just having the mind, this is how I think, that just even having the mind to see others’ problems. Just even having the cognition, mind, seeing other people having problems, other sentient beings having suffering, just even having the mind to see others having problems in the life, even that becomes the reason to have compassion, even having the mind seeing others having suffering, even that becomes the reason or cause to generate compassion.

IMMEASURABLE COMPASSION
For the thought wishing others to be free from the sufferings to arise, then on top of that to cause others to be free from the suffering by oneself. Not just only wishing others to be free from the suffering, not just that, not just that compassion. Normally it is explained that when you generate the thought of wishing other sentient beings to be free from the sufferings, that is immeasurable compassion. There are different types of compassion, you see, wishing other sentient beings free from the sufferings, that is immeasurable compassion.

Then, when you take responsibility on yourself: I will cause others to be free from the sufferings, when you take the responsibility to do that work then that thought is what is called great compassion. So compassion becomes great, great because you have taken the responsibility. So great, the label great, you see, where one labels, where one put this label “great” is the thought, is the special thought, when the compassion, when your compassion takes the responsibility to cause others to be free from the suffering by oneself, so that compassion, that stronger, that strong compassion and then that is called great. Only then receives the label “great.” So like that.

The reason to have compassion, even by having the mind, cognition, seeing others having suffering, others having problems, and then with that compassion then stop giving harm others and help, if one can then help others.

It is mentioned in the teaching, the Praise to Compassion, “You, compassion, you have compassion and accomplish extensive benefit even to those who give harm to you.” [In these verses, compassion is personified.] What this means is that, you the compassion not only cherishes and accomplishes extensive benefit those who help, those who like you, those who help, also the strangers that, even to those who give harm to you, you cherish them, and you accomplish extensive benefits for them. This is expressing the function of compassion. If one has compassion generated towards all sentient beings, then, what compassion does. It’s praising the special qualities of compassion, the function of the, what compassion does towards sentient beings.

What it is? Even though all the migratory beings, they have been enemy, friend, indifferent to you, but if from your side, you cherish them, you have concern for them, from your side you, always you cherish them, you cherish all the migratory beings, all the sentient beings, like a mother’s one beloved son. The essence is the feelings a mother has towards her beloved child. What it is saying is that no matter how disobedient the child is towards the mother, how unkind towards the mother, always disturbing, giving trouble, giving hard times, never giving a single benefit, never a single help, no single material help, no single peace, nothing towards the mother—the child is so disobedient, only cruel, only, there’s no loving kindness. But from mother’s side, the one beloved child, daughter or son, whatever, the one child, but from mother’s side no matter how wicked or violent the child is, the mother still cherishes him. The mother is always only ever concerned, always thinking of that child, that daughter or son, that one child that she has. She’s always concerned and always attempt to eliminate the problems and to obtain happiness for her one beloved child.

Similarly, compassion is always concerned for all the migratory beings. In the teaching Praise to Compassion, it says that, the migratory beings have been enemy, friend, stranger, which means gave harm, gave help, was nothing, indifferent, all the migratory beings they have been enemy, friend, stranger to you, but from your side always you are always concerned for all the migratory beings, like the one beloved child. Which means, as I mentioned before, how that mother who has one beloved child, how she loves the child and takes care of him or her. Why is this? It puts it as a question like this, to compassion, why is this?

There is no other example for the compassion other than how the mother loves her beloved child. In the scripture it says her beloved son, but that is, anyway, so without describing about they used the son [RL, GL], I’m afraid that again doing, again like this [GL], so we don’t talk about that this time.

What it says in the next verse is there is no other example, other than how the mother loves her beloved child. How the good mother, I’m not sure anyway [RL], how the loving mother probably, how the loving mother [RL] loves her beloved child. What it is saying is that for you, compassion, there is no other example to explain, to express how you how your feelings, how your concerns, how you think about the other sentient beings all the time, constantly forever, forever, other than that the loving mother, how much she loves, concern, sacrifices her life to this, take cares to eliminate suffering to obtain happiness for this, for her one beloved child.

From this explanation we can understand that how much this loving mother loves the beloved child, so that much, so exactly the same, exactly same if we feel like this towards every sentient being, towards every sentient being, all the six realm sentient beings, if we feel exactly like this towards every sentient being then that time we have realization compassion. From this you can understand, the experience of, if you have compassion towards all sentient beings, if one feels like how the loving mother feels concern, day and night constantly only thinks of the child, day and night constantly wishing the child to be free from sicknesses, free from a cold, free from the sufferings, and to do and also that contains also herself to do. If you relate to great compassion, then herself without asking other people then herself to do.

When we feel like this towards all sentient beings, then that time we have the realization of compassion towards all sentient beings. Then just as a mother especially feels sorry for the child who often gets sick, who gets sick again and again, like that, you, compassion, have greater compassion for—maybe put it this way—you, compassion, shows greater love towards the migratory beings who are more pitiful. What it is saying is this, that you, compassion, you love, even you are concerned, even more greater to those who are more pitiful, who are more suffering, who are more selfish, who are more impatient, pitiful in the sense more suffering, in other words more selfish, more impatient, more dissatisfied, more jealous, with more pride, more heresy, instead of devotion. So this is talking about the pitiful mind. And then body, with diseases like leprosy, contagious diseases, those that other sentient beings, that other people don’t want to be near, that other people don’t want to see, don’t want to touch, so however, you see, and mind only negative and actions only negative, only doing nothing good, doing nothing good only cause of suffering, only the vicious, harmful conduct, action. Doing nothing good for others, for him or herself, only harmful action. So you, compassion, love and have concern to an even greater degree, even greater degree to these pitiful, to these suffering sentient beings. Like then the previous example, how the mother that feels so much sorry that compassion to the child who often gets sick, who gets sick, again and again or whatever, who has more problems.

For ordinary beings, there is nothing more to cherish other than oneself, there is nothing more precious than oneself. But you, compassion, how much you cherish, how much you regard as precious all the migratory beings. [RL] I should have said this better, I didn’t think well. Ordinary beings have no other object to cherish more than themselves, no other object more precious than themselves. But this is no comparison to you, compassion, your cherishing all the migratory beings. In other words ordinary, person like myself, however much one cherishes oneself, however much one thinks one is so precious, that I am so precious, I am most important, so precious, this is so small. In other words, compassion cherishes all the migratory beings including the enemy, friend, stranger, who help, who don’t do anything, even those who give harm, all the migrators, compassion cherishes all the migratory beings, all the migrators, all. This has great meaning, one important word, the one important subject. Compassion cherishes all the migratory beings is a hundred times much more than the ordinary people, people like me, who cherish so much oneself. I think I am so important and so precious, I am so precious, I am so important.

What compassion cherishes is not only you, object sentient being, what compassion cherishes is not only one, it’s not only you, it’s all sentient beings, all migratory beings, all the sentient beings who migrate in one of the six realms all the time. By being under the control of the karma and delusions, means without freedom, so always reincarnating, always migrating, always have to migrate to one of the six realms, from the six realms, from one of the realms from the six.

By having compassion, one feels all sentient beings in one’s own heart, all sentient beings are close, close to oneself, close to one’s own heart. One feels all sentient beings in one’s own heart. One sees all, by having compassion then one sees all sentient beings as friends, all sentient beings as friends, helpers, precious, kind. Every sentient being. By having compassion one feels close towards all sentient beings.

Oneself is responsible for the happiness and peace of, all sentient beings especially ultimate happiness, enlightenment. Then all this success, service to do other sentient beings depends on having compassion within one’s own mind. By having compassion then one is able to cause all the happiness for all sentient beings. One is able to do all these services, happiness of future lives, liberation, enlightenment, all these things, cause all the happiness for the sentient beings.

GURU DEVOTION
For this to succeed, to cause all this happiness for, to do perfect work for all sentient beings, first one has to achieve full enlightenment. And that depends on actualizing the graduated path to enlightenment within one’s own mind. Within one’s own mind and then actual, success, whether one, to make all these things possible, to actualize the realizations of the graduated path to enlightenment and to receive enlightenment, from the beginning of the lamrim path, perfect human rebirth, from there up to enlightenment, in order to happen, in order to succeed all these within one’s own mind, that depends on receiving blessing, accumulating merit and purifying the obstacles. Necessary condition accumulating merit, purifying the obstacles, and to receive blessing. Without blessing of the guru, without receiving the blessing of the guru within one’s own heart there’s no way, like before planting, like before making the field, planting seed and grow, enjoy the crop. First one has to fertilize, get rid of the rocks, all the things which become obstacles to grow things you have to destroy, you have to clear it away, you have to throw it away. Throw it away and fertilize the land, the field, make the soil soft, then water, all these things. So like that, same thing for the realization to grow the, to generate the realizations of the path like the crops grow in the field, from the field of one’s own mind. So one pour water and so forth. Same thing, that depend on receiving, generating realization within one’s own mind, that depends on receiving blessings of the guru.

In order to receive the blessing, the cause of receiving blessing is one’s own devotion. Therefore there is need to practice guru devotion as it is explained by Buddha in the sutra and tantra, those root teachings and the commentaries by pandits, yogis, then essence such as the essence of the whole entire teaching of Buddha, the lamrim, the teaching of the graduated path to enlightenment by Lama Tsongkhapa, those realized beings such as Milarepa and so forth, those realized, those who achieved enlightenment, completed the path, as they advised, as they themselves practiced and achieved, completed the path and achieved enlightenment, so as they advised with their own experiences, the correctly devoting to the virtuous friend.

For that reason one needs to find guru. One needs to find a guru, since your aim is now to achieve enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, since this is the greatest service for sentient beings, since this is the most important and greatest benefit for sentient beings, since this is the ultimate meaning of the life, yourself to achieve enlightenment so that you can free all sentient beings from all their sufferings and to bring highest happiness, enlightenment. If that is the ultimate aim of the life, therefore for oneself to have all these success, to accomplish all these things from beginning of the path of the lamrim, the graduated path to enlightenment, the perfect human rebirth, from there up to enlightenment, to accomplish all this then one need to find the qualified Mahayana virtuous friend. Here we are talking about the complete path to enlightenment, we are not just talking about happiness of future lives, we are not just talking even to achieve liberation for self, not talking that as ultimate aim of the life. Here we are talking about to achieve enlightenment, to free all sentient beings from all their sufferings, to bring to enlightenment, that’s the ultimate goal of the life.

Therefore the guru, the virtuous friend whom one devotes, has to be somebody who can reveal the whole path to enlightenment, who can show you the whole path to enlightenment. It is not enough, even though it is unmistaken, even though it is not a “nonvirtuous friend,” it is a virtuous friend, it is not nonvirtuous friend that who leads you to lower realms, who mislead you, who show you wrong path, who lead you wrong path which leads to lower realms, the result is rebirth in the lower realms. Even it is not like that, not a nonvirtuous friend, the virtuous friend who can lead you at least to the happiness of future lives, the long-run happiness. By letting you to practice morality and charity, emphasizing you how important it is to work for the happiness of future lives than working for the happiness of this life. Who emphasizes this, how important to work for the long-run happiness, happiness in future life than happiness in this life which is only few months, few years, few days. So who lead you, who shows you right method, who reveals the virtuous path that definitely makes you possible to achieve happiness of future life, the body of the happy migratory being, deva, or human body. Even just that alone, that is not sufficient. Even who has that qualification who show, it’s called path but that alone is not enough. Even who has revealed, even who is able to reveal complete path to liberation, for oneself to achieve liberation from samsara, even that, even who can show the whole path to liberation, even that is not sufficient, even that, even virtuous friend who show the right path to liberation, who has all that qualification, even that is not enough. It should be one who can show the whole path to enlightenment, from beginning of the path, perfect human rebirth up to enlightenment, the whole graduated path to enlightenment.

So however, there’s much more details [GL], to talk about this point, so I’m not going to mention at this moment [GL] that.

THE MEANING OF DHARMA
So therefore after you understood what is the ultimate meaning of life, what is the ultimate goal of life, after this explanation now, after this analysis, so now there’s no way how it’s possible just one meditation watching on the breath, spend your whole life on watching the breath. Spending whole life just sensation of the belly, stomach moving up and down [GL]. That spend your whole life just on that: the stomach now went in and now came out [GL]. Of course it is useful to calm the mind or when you concentrate on that then other strong anger, attachment, other strong emotional mind doesn’t rise during that time. So it is helpful. But that is not sufficient. How are you going to develop your mind just with that one meditation? There’s no way to develop all this path, no way to achieve even the liberation for self just with that meditation, no way. Without talking about enlightenment. Or just to meditate on the sound. Your whole life just meditate ah or ee or oo or something like that [GL]. That spend your whole life meditating on the sound.

So remember I told you that it is very important first to know the aim of the life. Otherwise even if you are practicing, even if you are following spiritual path, even if you are meant to be following the spiritual path, seeking spiritual path, but everything is very confused, unclear. So even if the aim of life is happiness of future lives, it’s clear what to practice for that, even if your aim is just liberation, to achieve liberation for yourself. You see it’s clear what to practice, what path to follow, it is clear. There is a path, a method existing. Even those lower aim of life, even those lower goal of life, even those lower aim, but it is clear method, path to practice and you can achieve that result. But nothing clear and so become very confused, not sure, that, of course, it is great that one has much energy, much perseverance to meditate every day, continuously, it is excellent, but not sure even that become Dharma. Not sure even the meditation become Dharma, virtue or not, even that is not sure. Even that is not sure.

The Kadampa Geshe Potowa asked Dromtonpa, “What is the differences between Dharma and non-Dharma?” And then Dromtonpa, who was the translator of the Lama Atisha in Tibet, who is the embodiment of the Buddha of Compassion, said, “Whatever you do if it becomes against to the delusions, whatever you do if it becomes remedy towards the delusions, then it becomes Dharma, it becomes Dharma.” Which implies that if your attitude, your action, if it become friend of delusion, friend of attachment, friend of anger, so forth, if it become friend of delusion, harmonious with delusion, that the action, the attitude, action, become against, remedy towards delusion, then it become Dharma. If it become friend harmonious with delusion then it do not become Dharma. In other words Dharma that what you have been doing, what you have been believing, if this had been, instead of diminishing the delusion, instead of subduing the delusion, cutting off the delusion, making less, less anger, less attachment, less delusions, if it causes more and more delusion then the Dharma what you have been doing, what you have been believing, it did not become Dharma. The Dharma what you have been doing, what you have been believing it did not become Dharma, if it has been increasing delusion. So like that.

Also there are mentioned, what you are doing is what everybody does, what you are doing is what all the worldly people are doing, then it is not Dharma. But what you are doing is not harmonious with all the what worldly people are doing, if it is against what all the rest the worldly people are doing, then it is Dharma.

So all those are, it is not different meaning, it is just presented in different ways but it is talking the same thing. What it is saying is, all the worldly people what they are doing is working for delusion, you see, they themselves become slaves to ignorance, anger, attachment, delusion. All the works what they are doing is action of delusions. All the works are done by following attachment, clinging to this life. And so forth. So did not become Dharma. It all becomes worldly dharma. Worldly dharma because attitude is worldly mind, the attachment clinging to this life. So the attachment, so the motivation is nonvirtue, worldly mind, nonvirtue, attachment clinging to this life, so the action become worldly action, become nonvirtue. So the result, what rebirth will be of those actions done out of attachment clinging to this life, and ignorance, anger, it is explained by Lama Atisha to Dromtonpa, Dromtonpa asked Lama Atisha, “The attachment clinging to this life, actions done out of the worldly mind, the attachment clinging to this life, what the result will be?” And Lama Atisha explained, “The actions done out of this attitude attachment clinging to this life, and then out of anger, ignorance, the result will be rebirth in the narak, hungry ghost, animal rebirth. Then the actions done without ignorance, anger, attachment, the result will be the body of the happy migratory beings.” However that is just one example. General idea, one example, the one good result. So, like that.

So, even one has been believing that I have been doing meditation so many years, I have been practicing Dharma so many years, even one has been believing, not necessarily all those actions become, all those meditations become Dharma, not necessarily, because Dharma, if your motivation become Dharma, only then action become Dharma.

Generally our everyday life actions what makes to become Dharma—eating, walking, sitting, sleeping, doing jobs so forth—our activities to become Dharma, the attitude of the action, motivation of the action has to become Dharma. So if the motivation is attachment clinging to this life then did not become Dharma. It became thought of the worldly dharmas, the nonvirtuous thought. So, if the motivation is not attachment clinging to this life, if the motivation is seeking happiness beyond from this life, or seeking liberation for oneself, then highest, best motivation, best quality motivation is bodhicitta to achieve enlightenment, for oneself to achieve enlightenment in order to, for the sake of all sentient beings. So these motivations, these three levels of motivation, it becomes virtue, it becomes Dharma, pure Dharma.

So generally our day-to-day life actions has to be made Dharma by the attitude which become Dharma. Generally it is like this, except special, except actions done with respect to holy objects—prostrations, making offerings, respect, circumambulation to stupa or to the Buddha, even not actual living Buddha but even the statue, all these actions done towards these holy objects. Then because the, even the motivation is anger, ignorance, attachment clinging to this life, because of the power of the object, the actions, that these specific actions, they become Dharma. They become cause of even the highest enlightenment, without depending on the bodhicitta motivation. So like that.

So the right answer to, what’s his name? He’s there? [RL, GL] So the right answer to his question. I think he’s not there [GL, RL], I think the answer’s complete, the right answer’s completed when he’s not there [RL, GL].

This point then, the meaning of life, the aim of life, then one needs to achieve, one needs to achieve enlightenment. So one needs to actualize the path, that comes down to the guru. So that path is the most important, that one is the most important. That contains the most important answer, into that, about the guide, the spiritual guide is the most, there is all the importance is there. The all the importance is there. Then by correctly devoting the virtuous friend with thought and action, keeping the mind, developing the devotion, keeping the mind in the state of devotion. From one’s own side, once, first analyze, check, then once one has established Dharma contact of guru and disciple, from whom one received Dharma teaching, it’s a guru, with this recognition, once relationship is, once Dharma contact is established, with this recognition once one has received teaching, then the relationship is established, the guru-disciple. So then, with complete determination, then mind by correctly devoting to the virtuous friend with thought and action, so keeping the mind, generating devotion, keeping the mind in the state of devotion. So from one’s own side, from the side of the disciple, from the side of oneself the disciple, keeping the mind in devotion, that means practicing the pure appearance, looking at it the pure, looking at it from one’s own side, looking at it as a Buddha. With this, then one begins the path. So the very beginning of the graduated path to enlightenment is the perfect human rebirth, from that meditation, you have already done this meditation for one or two, before. So what is the very beginning of the path is the perfect human rebirth. So from there then one train the mind, from there, beginning from there, from the very beginning of the path, from the very beginning of the graduated path of the lower capable being, then after that middle capable being, then after that higher capable being. So like that, like that step by step.

Then the practice, where to begin Dharma practice from? Where to begin Dharma practice from is from karma. Dharma practice as regards meditation on the path is from perfect human rebirth. Then from where to begin the practice, that is the Dharma practice, from the karma. So the avoiding, by realizing the shortcomings of negative karma, nonvirtuous action, then one avoids, one abandons, so protecting karma, by abandoning cause of the sufferings, negative karma. Then by understanding the benefits of living in the morality, however, practicing the good karma, abandoning cause of suffering, negative karma. Then creating good karma, then living in the morality, abstaining from those nonvirtuous actions such as fundamental practice protecting karma. Then such as, even for the lay, lay vow, to not kill, to not steal, so forth, only refuge upasika vow, then the five lay vow, eight vow, then even one cannot do all the five, one, two, three, whatever, morality abstaining from such-and-such negative karma. So these are the fundamental practice of protecting karma, that living in the vow, making commitment, taking the vow until death time, whatever one can. Like that.

Then these are very fundamental and very practical Dharma practice. Then in daily life watching the mind, if the mind, if the motivation doing walking, sitting, sleeping, working, if it is negative then you transform into positive, Dharma, try to make the mind Dharma. Then this way you are able to transform the action into Dharma. Otherwise it becomes negative karma, all the walking, sitting, sleeping from morning until night, becomes negative karma. So this is how watching the mind, protecting the mind, keeping the mind in Dharma, this is the way how one do the practice of protecting karma. Then this way one protects from the negative karma. So like that.

So then, he is not there but [RL], so this is the how to, beginner to how to practice Dharma.

I meant to do the oral transmission today [GL]. I made a big promise but didn’t happen also, but I ended up this way, waiting for some time to finish this topic.

So, this evening to do short the blessing of Tara, the blessing of Tara, the permission to practice Tara, do Tara meditation and recitation of mantra the permission.

LECTURE 11A: 2 DECEMBER 1992 PM

TARA COMMENTARY AND MOTIVATION

THE POWER OF THE TARA PRACTICE
So I guess, I have very bad, vague memory, that time Mr Lim, I guess came to see, the end of the teaching, [GL, RL]. That time Mr Lim came, I think he might have come out to see me probably at the end of the teachings. So [GL], that time he had stomach cancer. So then I think, I have a very vague idea, that’s not clear, so gave the Tara, I think meditation, probably Tara guru yoga practice, this one I think maybe, for him to do. Probably what is in the book The Pearl of Wisdom I think. So Mr Lim did the practice, he did the Tara meditation with great faith and devotion. So his cancer was completely recovered. The doctor checked and could not find, completely recovered, became very healthy.

So then not only that he himself completely recovered by doing Tara practice, the guru yoga practice that, by praying to Tara that he was able to heal many other people. Many other sick people come to his house and he heals them. And then also by giving the water from the altar, giving them, he healed many other people, including his own son who had a heart, I don’t know the description, something very bad, something very dangerous, the blood not running in the right way or something, blocked or something, anyway very bad heart disease. So also by praying to Tara that his son’s heart which is very serious disease, even that completely healed, completely got better.

So, that I am very happy that, not only that he recovered his own disease but that he is able to offer this service, to do healing for other people through the devotion to Tara. So, that is the reason to do Tara initiation tonight. So before he leaves for Singapore. So it is like that.

[Prayers]

So before taking the Tara, the blessing which allows to do practice of Tara meditation and recitation. So just, to have some recognition of what Tara is, a little idea what Tara is. Tara is called the Liberator, Mother of the Victorious Ones. Victorious Ones means Buddhas. That means the Victorious One’s, Buddha who got victory over the four maras, four gross maras and also subtle mara. The mara of the Lord of Death which harms, which becomes condition for death, which harms the life. The mara of the Lord of Death.

THE POWER OF TARA (NO OUTSIDE YAMA)
Then again one should understand there is no Yama or Lord of Death outside, existing without depending on one’s own mind, there is nothing exists outside. The Yama that is Lord of Death, Yama, which one sees after death, before taking rebirth, before one starts to experience the sufferings, such as in the narak, the hell. So, or also in the, that who, that the Yama who checks, who sees all the, who sees all the, one’s own karma in the mirror, who tells the negative karmas, what was done or, the Yama which one, the guardians of the hell which one sees, those who torture, they are the appearance of one’s own mind, they are the appearance of one’s own ignorance. They are the appearance of one’s impure mind, just like the dream, fearful things that we see in the dream, that is like that. They are the same as the appearance of the ground of the hell realm oneness with red-hot iron, oneness with the fire or sword or the whole thing is like a volcano, this lava. One of the secondary hells is lava, like that, liquid but oneness with the fire liquid, one sank. So then, as the karma is ripened, then the imprint left by past negative karma, which result is to experience that particular hell realm, then as the imprint gets manifested, actualized, then this appearance happens, that one gets drowned, that one sinks into the oceans of lava, that is oneness with fire, that is very difficult to get out. So like this lasting, suffering for incredible length, unbelievable length of time, that according to human year, so many millions of billions, so it’s incredible length of time according to human years, so much.

However that the lava from the volcanoes which is coming from under the ground that is extremely hot, which when it touches rocks, all those hard things, it melts. That is one close example for the, that especially that particular secondary, one of the secondary hell, which is called ________ ra me in Tibetan language. So that which is extremely hot, hotter than the common, hotter than the common fire that we make with wood. So much hotter than that, that cannot melt rocks. So that is one close example, the lava. Particularly that, that particular secondary, not the major but one of the secondary naraks.

Anyway all these things what it is describing, what is explained by Buddha in the teachings, all these are again appearance of one’s own impure mind. All these are appearance of negative karma, appearance of negative imprint left by negative karma, all these are appearances of that. All these Yamas are the appearance of the, all these Yamas, karmic guardians who torture oneself, those are the appearance of our ignorance, the concept of true existence. So in such a form, in such a terrifying form, then one has this appearance as explained. So like that, one sees one’s own karmic appearance, appearance of one’s own mind, but the impure mind, the delusion. So like that.

Like for example, when one’s mind is in the nature of the patience, you see that person as kind and precious. But when your mind is in the nature of anger, you see that person as completely opposite. You see that person as terrible, they are so bad and terrible. In the view of anger, you see nothing good, only terrible, bad, completely black, that doesn’t want to see, doesn’t want to hear. So what you are seeing, how you see that person, so undesirable, while your mind is nature of anger. So that is appearance of the anger. How you see that person is appearance of your anger, kind of manifestations of your anger, and appearance of the angry mind.

So then the next minute when we practice patience, when anger is stopped, you have a different view of that person; that they are kind, so precious, completely different view. Same thing, when you practice compassion that person who is criticizing you, who doesn’t love you, but when you practice compassion, loving kindness towards that person in the view of one’s own mind, which is the loving kindness, compassion, in the view of compassion, you don’t see that being as something to renounce, as something to get rid of, as something to hurt, to harm that person. But in the view of jealous mind, ill will, anger, in the view of these then one sees that person undesirable, something that you renounce, that you don’t want to help, and harm. So completely different appearance. So it is completely creation of our own mind, how the person appears to us, so negative and so undesirable and so bad, is completely manifestation of, projections of our own negative mind. So that is according to, that person’s appeared like this, according to the characteristic of our negative mind.

Even in our human realm, even day to day life, our appearances are like this, depending what state, depending our attitude, our mind is the pure or impure, negative or positive. So depending on that, things appear, people, when we look at other beings, they appear according to quality of our own mind, according to the characteristic of our own mind. So like that, what’s called hell, there’s no hell exists from the outside. There is no such thing as hell existing from outside, except from one’s own mind. It is the appearance of the karma, the negative karma created by the disturbing thoughts. So like that.

It’s just because I brought the word Lord of Death, so I just to say some idea, some explanation of that. So similar, the person who doesn’t love to oneself, who hates, who harms, all these are appearance of one’s own, appearance of the negative imprint left by the past negative karma, that one has harmed, negative karma that one has harmed others with the disturbing thoughts.

So this appearance, somebody hates you and doesn’t love you or harms you, it comes from one’s own mind. That is one thing how it comes from one’s own mind, how this appearance comes from one’s own mind. And then the other thing is that during that minute while this situation is happening one’s own mind, the anger, the self-cherishing thought, attachment clinging to this life, the worldly mind, the anger, they interpreted that this person is bad, harming me and this is bad. So made, the interpreted negative imprint on the top of the past negative imprint, manifested or actualized. The negative karma ripens, the past negative karma is ripened and having this appearance, negative appearance, having this appearance somebody doesn’t love you, hate you or harm you. So like that.

THE POWER OF TARA (VICTORY OF THE MARAS)
So the victory over the mara of the Lord of Death, the victory over the mara of delusion, victory over the aggregates, samsara, the mara of the aggregates, which is samsara, caused by karma, delusion and contaminated seed of disturbing thoughts, which creates again future samsara, which again compounds future samsara by creating the cause. The victory over the mara of aggregates, the samsara which brings all the problems, which is the container of all the sufferings and then the mara, victory over the mara of the Deva’s Son, worldly god, Deva’s Son.

So there are stories. I don’t remember at the moment this exactly, those different names. The black guardians, not black guardians, the black side, means the evil beings, those who give harm. When we practice Dharma, when we do good things, when we (Rinpoche hiccups) excuse me, accumulate, when we accumulate virtue (GL RL) when we accumulate (RL GL), this is the additional than the cough (RL GL). The evil mara called Having the Garland of Lotus Flowers, this has four surrounding, I think, kind of four worldly guardians. However, this evil mara, Having the Lotus Garland shoots five arrows of delusion, five or four, not a hundred percent clear, arrows of delusion. Then it hits the sentient beings, those who have more miserliness, those who have more attachment, those who have more anger, more ignorance, so depending on which delusion, the sentient beings have more.

When the sentient beings try be pure, try to practice morality, then they harm, that they shoot the arrow of the attachment. Then that causes attachment to develop, than that makes to degenerate or to lose, to break the vow, the morality, like that. Then those who practice charity, then by shooting the arrow of miserliness, then it makes miserliness to rise when the person is about to make charity. By shooting the arrow of miserliness, miserliness rises in the mind of that person, then it stops them making charity, to create the cause of happiness. So like this, it causes to rise, by shooting the arrow of delusion, then it causes to rise delusion and then it stops the practice of Dharma.

That is also the reason when one does a retreat why normally one has a break at twelve o’clock, when the sun rises in the morning and then when the sun sets, and that one should have a break at those times because those times that these evil beings called Garab Wangchuk, devas, so they give, these are the times they are wandering to disturb. So then if one is meditating during those times it interferes for the concentration. So that is why it is advised to not have session when the sun rises, at twelve noon, then when the sun sets. So there is a relation to these evil beings.

Then, victory over the mara of the deva’s son. So like this, the victory over the four gross maras. Then also the victory over the four subtle maras. So Buddhas, such as the appearance of the true existence, such as the imprint, subtle imprint left by the concept of ignorance, concept of truly existence, so victory, so Buddhas called a victory, they are free. So they are completely controlled, they are completely free from these maras.

So the Tara is called the Liberator, Mother of the Victorious One; Victorious One means Buddha. So the point is this, so the point why I am talking about is the meaning of the Mother, why Tara is called Mother. Then the actual meaning of the Mother is this. So what is Tara? Tara or the Mother of the Victorious one. Who is that, what is the meaning of this? So the actual meaning of this is the absolute guru, the real meaning of this, is the absolute guru, which is the dharmakaya. Absolute guru which is Dharmakaya, the wisdom of non-dual bliss and voidness—that which is the primordial, which has no beginning, no end, which is eternal. Christianity talks about God, eternal, but then there is no clear explanation of what it is. However, this primordial that has no beginning, no end. So this is, when we say guru, guru, guru. So this is the lama, but here I’m talking about, there is general title lama, but here I’m talking about the lama in the sense with whom one has, from whom one has received Dharma contact, with whom one has established the relationship, the guru-disciple. This one, this lama, guru.

THE POWER OF TARA (THE ABSOLUTE GURU)
So now, this dharmakaya transcendental wisdom of the non-dual bliss and voidness. Now this which has no beginning, which continuation has no beginning and no end, the eternal, which is eternal. So this is what we really, what we have to, this is the real focus when we see, when we hear, when we think the guru. So this is what, this is the main meditation, this is the main focus of the meditation. This is the main thing that we have to remember, practice awareness. Lama or guru, the actual meaning is this. So then, that is the meaning of this prayer, the prayer which we use for food offerings, the prayer which we use for taking refuge; the gurus are the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, all the doer is the guru. So this is the meaning, this is the explanation of that prayer. All the doer is guru. So the logical explanation is like this.

So this explanation just comes by the way, the describing, the meaning of the mother. So now, so this, this absolute guru, the primordial, the wisdom of non-dual bliss and voidness. Strictly even this term should not be mentioned, this Highest Tantra term, the dharmakaya. The term, this explanation of the dharmakaya, is the highest, only in the highest tantra it is used, this term. So it is very secret. I think if it meant to be born in hell, I think already finished [RL] by revealing this, the secrecy.

All the Buddhas are manifestations of this absolute guru, this dharmakaya. All the Buddhas are manifestations of this, numberless Buddhas are manifestations of this, whether they are wrathful or peaceful, male or female, embraced, whatever, is, all these are manifestations of this one; the absolute. All these are manifestations of one thing, the absolute guru. So this one manifests into many and many are embodied into one. One is manifested into many. So one embodies into one, one manifested in one, does the, the many embodied into one, that means, in the Guru Puja one is talking like this, that means the guru. Then one is manifest, the one is manifested into many, so that is the guru, the absolute guru manifested into many. All these numberless aspects of Buddha. So like this.

That is one, also, so all the Buddhas came from, all the Buddhas are born from this absolute guru. All the Buddhas came from this absolute guru, born from this absolute guru. All, the other thing is by manifesting from, then reveal the teaching, reveal the various means, highest guidance, teaching. Then the sentient beings follow the path; practice the teaching, generate path, then become enlightened. So those Buddhas, now you can see, came from the numberless sentient beings who became Buddha, all these were born from the absolute guru; this dharmakaya. So this is one way to think. So therefore this absolute guru is the mother from where all the Buddhas are born from. So that is the absolute guru, so this is the mother. So the real meaning of mother is the absolute guru. So now become, so there is some idea. The liberator mother of the victorious ones. So like that.

THE MEANING OF THE TARA MANTRA
Then liberator, so first word [Tibetan], the OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA; TARE the liberating, who liberates from liberates from the samsara. Then, that TUTTARE: who liberates from samsara, with TURE, then the second one, who liberates from the eight fears. Eight fears with TUTTARE. So, I think the first one might be showing that true suffering, liberating from the true suffering. Second one, eight fear, one who liberates from eight fears with TUTTARE, tuttare jetsun ma, so that might mean liberating from the true cause of the suffering. Then liberating from the disease with TURE. So this shows the true cessation of the suffering. And then the true path is also contained, indirectly it is contained inside. So straight what it shows, true cessation of suffering, but within that, this word contains also the path which leads to that, true path. And this is the meaning of also the mantra: TARE TUTTARE TURE. So like this, meaning of the mantra or the function that this mantra does. You see, what we get by practicing, by doing, by reciting, by doing meditation recitation of Tara. Then you see, what it causes. So it can be understood also this way.

So by reciting, by hearing the Tara mantra, which contains the four noble truths and the whole path to enlightenment. So it leaves imprint within our mental continuum and then, of the whole path by hearing the mantra, by reciting, it leaves imprint in our mind of the path, the whole path which is contained in this mantra. So then sooner or later because of this imprint, this imprint gets manifested, actualized. So then at that time we able to meet Dharma again, able to actualize the meaning of the mantra, the whole path to enlightenment. Not just only the four noble truths, but the whole path, whole graduated path to enlightenment. So then this way we achieve enlightenment, cessation of all the mistakes, completion of all the realizations. So this is the, then able to do perfect work for all sentient beings. So that’s the ultimate result of doing meditation practice, the recitation of Tara mantra. So OM TARE TUTTARE TURE, so that is the meaning of TARE TUTTARE TURE. Like this.

So, the last verse: I prostrate to the liberator mother. Then, what it is saying is that not only that Tara herself, she is completely liberated from all this, from the whole entire samsara and the cause of samsara, that, by having completed the remedy of path: method wisdom, whole path to enlightenment, that, having ceased all the obscurations, all the two obscurations, gross and subtle, not only free from samsara, also free from not being bound in the lower nirvana. Liberated from both: samsara and the peace, the lower nirvana.

That the mother of the victorious one who liberates us all sentient beings, myself and all sentient beings from the whole entire samsara and the causes. That who grants all, not only temporal happiness, that ultimate happiness, including highest enlightenment, who leads, who gives not only temporary happiness, ultimate happiness including enlightenment, the full enlightenment, who fulfills wishes of myself and all sentient beings. To you the mother liberator, so which means absolute guru. So to you who grants, who liberates, who saves oneself and all sentient beings from all the sufferings, from all the fears, from all the sufferings of samsara. And all the causes, and who grants all the wishes, who grants all the happiness. So to you I, whatever circumstances happens, you know miserable or happy, whatever time, circumstances, whatever happens, that I forever, in any circumstances, any time, all the time I prostrate with the body, I prostrate respectfully with the body, speech and mind. So this is the meaning of the, a rough meaning of this stanza. The prayer [Short Tara Praise in Tibetan]. So this is just a brief introduction what Tara is. Like that. Why it is called Mother of the Victorious Ones, like that.

THE BENEFITS OF THE TARA PRACTICE
So the Tara is embodiment of all the Buddha’s actions. If one prays to Tara then it is a very quick, all the Buddha’s action manifested in this form, the female aspect called Tara to grant, to save sentient beings from the suffering, to grant the sentient beings’ wishes for happiness. To guide us, the sentient beings. So therefore, if we pray to Tara, if we take refuge in Tara, if we do meditation recitation, it is very quick to eliminate obstacles, to be saved from the problems, the whole entire suffering of samsara, the causes, as is mentioned in the meaning of the mantra, and then to achieve all the wishes seeking happiness for oneself, especially for all other sentient beings. So like that.

So, quicker to grant help, and it is, and the experience received, the experience by praying to Tara, that receiving help, having success, temporary, ultimate success, is very common. It is not only the experience of great meditators, it is the experience of even common people who pray to Tara, who rely upon Tara, it is their common experience. So like that.

And what pleases Tara, what makes you closer to Tara, what makes Tara to be closer to you, what makes Tara to communicate to you, what makes Tara to grant quick help? That is bodhicitta, and the more we practice bodhicitta cherishing other sentient beings, serving for other sentient beings, the more we sacrifice ourselves, the more we sacrifice ourselves for sentient beings; taking other sentient beings sufferings, problems on oneself and giving one’s own happiness, body, merit, towards other sentient beings, the renouncing oneself, cherishing other sentient beings, such this practice of bodhicitta. So this is the one that makes Tara pleased and what makes you become, what makes oneself to be close to Tara or Tara to be close to oneself, to receive quick help.

So it seems that in the past, many years ago, when, in the past, so, many years ago that here when we were, Lama Yeshe, Lama and myself, when we were staying at this place in the old house. There was an old house here before this, old house built by the previous king for his guru who is astrologer, astrologist. So that, the little meditation, the bodhicitta, which was good time. Now there is no practice that, those times that was fortunate times that a little practice to leave imprint, to leave a positive imprint in the mind. So it seems like that, that this is the best, this is what pleases. But this is not only Tara, this is what pleases all the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, what makes oneself close to them, near to them. So that is the purpose of taking this initiation. So that is, as I mentioned before, to achieve, the ultimate meaning of the life is to achieve enlightenment in order to free all sentient beings from all the sufferings and to lead in full enlightenment, peerless happiness, the full enlightenment. So for that then, one needs to actualize the graduated path to enlightenment.

So for the success of this, like all those lineage lamas, like Lama Atisha so forth, many, many of those who did incredible work, who did incredible benefit, inconceivable benefit for the teachings of Buddha, for the sentient beings. Still they even they holy name is doing, is benefiting, is giving extensive benefit for the sentient beings mind, us sentient beings mind. And their teachings, their holy actions, still are continuing. Even that aspect doesn’t exist, even passed away, but the holy action, the teachings still benefiting us sentient beings. So many, even now there are so many sentient beings who are actualizing the path. Many people, many practitioners are actualizing the path; guru devotion, renunciation, bodhicitta, emptiness and tantra path. So now, even nowadays there are many practitioners who are accomplishing the path. So then besides leaving positive imprint to achieve liberation, enlightenment, all these things. So therefore, so like them, like so many of them, who received enlightenment successfully by practicing Tara, praying to Tara. So like that us also to succeed the actualizing, the graduated path to enlightenment, and to be able to do extensive benefit for the teaching of Buddha and extensive benefit that we are able to offer other sentient beings, us to have success in working for other sentient beings. So to have success doing service for other sentient beings. So for that reason then taking Tara initiation.

Then there is a graduate from disciple’s side; the cleaning of the mouth, then doing prostrations, then the distributing of flowers, offering flowers. Then from the side of the lama, then having to do preparation; front generation, self-generation, things like that, then so now, the giving torma to the interferers, who interfere to receive or, to grant or to receive initiation. So during this time, one can meditate on compassion for other sentient beings, strong compassion for other sentient beings. So then this makes to receive the blessing stronger, the devotion, compassion.

[End of Discourse]

LECTURE 12: 3 DECEMBER 1992

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
The meaning of the human life. Why we were born this time as a human being, that is to eliminate others’ sufferings and to obtain happiness, benefit, for other sentient beings. Whether it is one sentient being, whether it is one person or whether it is thousands, millions, whether it’s numberless living beings, to eliminate others’ problems, sufferings, and to obtain happiness for other sentient beings, so that is the purpose of living and, as I have mentioned, three different reasons how we are responsible for the happiness of other sentient beings.

So as I usually mention this example that there is one blind person, who cannot see where there is cliffs, where there is road, that blind person is about to fall down the cliffs, in danger. So if oneself is there, you’re not blind and you see that person is in danger and you have the opportunity to help, to rescue or to save that person from falling down from the cliff. Even if that person doesn’t ask for your help, but even just by the reason that you are able to see that person is in danger, and you have arms and you have hands, you are able to see, at least you can tell that person there are cliffs, even one doesn’t have arms, hands or legs. [RL] Anyway, so if one has legs, then one can go there or if one has arms then can grab the person and one can, however, you see, as one has the opportunity to help, whatever capacity that one has, one should help that person. So having the capacity to help that person just by that you have the opportunity, the capacity to help that person, that itself becomes the reason that you are responsible to help that person. You see that person is in danger and you have the opportunity to help, even if that person doesn’t ask you for help, without depending on the other person asking you to help.

Similar to this example, even all sentient beings, in a broad way, even all sentient beings don’t ask, they don’t advertise in the newspaper or TV [GL] that, by mentioning your name or by calling your name, by asking you for help [RL], all the animals, all the insects, they are begging you, they don’t advertise on the TV or in the paper to ask for your help by calling your name. That all the hungry ghost beings, hell beings, however, all sentient beings, that these sentient beings do not have Dharma wisdom to be able to discriminate what is right and wrong, what is the thing to be abandoned and what is thing to be practiced, blind of Dharma wisdom eye, and they are constantly experiencing, are tormented by the three types of severe disease: the suffering of pain; temporary samsaric pleasures which is only in the nature of suffering, the suffering of change, by believing that as real pleasure, how much they work for, never end, never find satisfaction, and also that even with what they call pleasure doesn’t last, suffering of change; and pervasive compounding suffering. So they are all tormented with the three severe diseases.

Then, possessed by or overwhelmed by the spirit or the mara: the ignorance, anger, attachment, this evil, this mara of ignorance, anger, attachment, they are completely overwhelmed, possessed, completely overtaken, like a person who is completely crazy, possessed by a spirit. That person, him- or herself, has no single freedom, completely overtaken by the spirit. Like that, the sentient beings, one’s own kind, precious mother sentient beings from whom one has received all one’s own happiness, comfort and enjoyment of all the past, from beginningless rebirth, now and future, including enlightenment. So these kind mother sentient beings are completely possessed or overwhelmed by the evil, the mara of ignorance, anger and attachment, these delusions, and they themselves do not have any single freedom.

So, this is the nature, how these kind mother sentient beings from whom one receives all one’s own past, present and future happiness, then they are devoid of the blind leader, the virtuous friend, who revealed the unmistaken path to peace, the unmistaken method to achieve happiness, the long-run happiness, happiness of future lives, the liberation, the full enlightenment. Who reveal the unmistaken method to these happiness. So they are devoid of the blind leader, the virtuous friend. So like this, so they are suffering so much, that these one’s own kind, the precious, these mother sentient beings from whom one receives all the happiness, all the success, all the perfections.

HELPING OTHERS
So oneself has that much Dharma wisdom eye to be able to discriminate what is right to be practiced, what is the wrong thing to be abandoned and have met the blind leader, the virtuous friend who reveals the path of virtue, the unmistaken method of achieving happiness, specially liberation, full enlightenment. Even one hasn’t met that but one has opportunity to meet, to find, the virtuous friend, the blind leader, the virtuous friend and so you have received the perfect human rebirth, which gives the opportunity to understand the meaning of the teachings, the path, which gives opportunity to listen, to reflect, to meditate, which means to transform the mind into the path, to actualize the path, which gives all these opportunities. So if from one’s own side, if one wants to help others, one wants to help benefit all sentient beings, to free them from the entire suffering of samsara and the cause, karma and disturbing thoughts, and to lead to highest, the full enlightenment, the peerless happiness, if we do, we can help, because we have all the opportunities to actualize the path, the graduated path to enlightenment and through this we can make ourselves fully qualified, perfect guide to be able to guide all the kind mother sentient beings who are suffering. So if we do, then we can do, can help.

So by this reason that is that we have all these opportunities, so therefore, we are responsible. So it is very selfish, it is very cruel, that while the mother, who has been so kind, and who is so precious for oneself, for the daughter or her son, a mother who is so precious, so kind and did whatever she can, the best according to her capacity, according to her wisdom, her capacity, she did her best, whatever she can think of, the best, she tried everything, to obtain happiness. Then one day, this kind precious mother is in danger being attacked by the tiger. Then oneself, the daughter or the son standing on the top of the tree [RL] and then dancing or singing, because yourself is not in danger, your life is not in danger, you do not have that problem, simply because of that, because your own life is not in that danger, so simply you are satisfied by that and then not helping the mother and leaving her to suffer, which is the turn when the mother is in risk, it is the daughter or the son’s turn to help the mother. You see, the daughter or the son has a responsibility, it is the daughter or the son’s turn to help the mother, to rescue the mother from that life danger.

So not doing that and then just because your own life is not in danger, just singing, so one is not concerned for the mother whose life is in danger, so how that is so cruel, how that is so selfish. So, like that, all these sentient beings have been one’s own mother and kind, numberless times as I mentioned one of the days, the four ways, all the kindness integrated into four number, then how all sentient beings have been mother and kind four ways numberless times, kind to oneself numberless times. But here we are just talking about mainly being mother and kind; we are not talking the extensive that by being father and kind, then also, times even not being mother or father, there are many other kindnesses, as I mentioned such as how everyday our everyday life enjoyment, comfort, that we receive by the kindness of numberless sentient beings, such as those things; how all the past, present, and future happiness including all the realizations of the path to enlightenment, how everything is received, the infinite qualities of Buddha’s holy body, holy speech and holy mind, that able to perfectly guide sentient beings without any slightest mistake, so all these things we receive by depending on the kindness of the other sentient beings.

So while one has all the opportunities to help others, to help the kind mother sentient beings, the precious kind mother sentient beings, specially by actualizing the graduated path to enlightenment, by developing the mind in the whole path to enlightenment, so without attempting to help others while one has all the opportunities, then only seeking happiness for self day and night, My problem! All the time, My problem, my problem! [GL] My problem! My happiness! My happiness! My happiness! My happiness! My happiness! So, like reciting a mantra continuously, like that, in the mind, in the heart: My happiness! My happiness! My happiness! My problem! My problem! My problem!, like that, continuously.

If the pleasure that one is seeking for oneself, if one is able to obtain that, then satisfied by that, so as the purpose of life, the meaning of the life, nothing else, nothing special, nothing better than that. As this is the only purpose of living, then so like that example, the son and daughter, while the mother’s life is in great risk, because one’s own life is not in that danger, so one is just satisfied with that and not having concern the mother’s suffering. Then dancing or singing, how that is so painful, selfish, cruel, to the mother, so like this, same, so it becomes very cruel and selfish towards all these numberless - not just one - all these numberless, kind, precious mother sentient beings.

THE THREE SCOPES
So however, therefore, one must achieve full enlightenment and for that reason one much actualize the whole path to enlightenment from the beginning to the end, the graded path to enlightenment. Then as Lama Atisha explained in the Lamp for the Path, a person with a method seeking just only the happiness of samsara for oneself, that is to be known as the lower capable being. So what he is saying is this, this translation says a person who has completely cut off the attachment clinging to this life and seeking, and able to obtain the happiness of future lives, this describes, this is the definition, this describes what means capable, the meaning of, the definition of this lower capable being. This describes that, who completely cut off attachment clinging to this life. So that is one capacity, able to achieve happiness of future lives, that is the capacity that person has. So therefore this person is capable, such this capable being, that in order to - so I just give the meaning, not following according to the verses, just the meaning. So in order to achieve the aim which is just only the happiness of samsara, the pleasure, happiness of samsara, which means the happiness of future lives, as you can understand, that being has completely cut off clinging, attachment clinging to this life, this life’s power, reputation, this life’s happiness, by gaining power, reputation, so forth, then the enjoyments, food, clothing and so forth. Who has completely cut off attachment clinging to this, so therefore the samsaric happiness that this practitioner is seeking it has to be only the future life happiness, the body of the happy migratory being, human body or deva, and so forth.

In order to achieve this, then the method, living in the morality, such as the ten virtues. With the preliminary, faith in karma, action and result, so this practitioner, this person is to be known as the last capable being. So such as this practitioner, this path what this capable being practices is the graduated path of the lower capable being and general or common. Why is it common? Because this first graduated path is the foundation for the graduated path of the middle capable being and the higher capable being. This becomes the foundation, so that’s why it’s the graduated path of the lower capable being and common. Probably it may not be the exact translation, it is translated like this, or some of the terms may not be exact term: common doesn’t mean ordinary, it is not saying ordinary, but together; because this is the foundation for the graduated paths of the middle capable being and higher capable being. It is not that middle capable being doesn’t need this realization, the higher capable being doesn’t need this realization, they have to have the realizations of this first path. Only then there is a possibility to achieve the graduated path of the middle capable being and the higher capable being, so maybe it’s okay to translate like that.

Then, the graduated path of the middle capable being, the capable being who turned the back towards the happiness of samsara, then changed the action from the negative actions, negative karma, which means having stopped the negative actions, seeking only the blissful state of peace, seeking only one’s own peace, that is what is called the middle capable being. So what it is saying is, the person who sees the whole entire samsara, the aggregates, our present aggregates, the association of body and mind. But the formless being, the deva realm, the worldly gods are divided into three categories: the desire realm, whose happiness depends on, like us, the outside object, the object of the five senses, so they are called desire realm devas, whose pleasures depend on outside external objects, object of five senses, the desire realm.

THE THREE REALMS: THE FORM REALM
All the six realm sentient beings can be divided into three, desire realms beings - we human beings go into the section of human beings whose pleasures depend on outside sense objects, desire object, so it goes in the section of desire realm.

Then there is the form realm, whose happiness, whose pleasure does not depend on outside sense objects. They renounce, they have no interest, they see only suffering, the pleasure what we experience depending on external objects, these form realm gods, the form realm beings, they see this is only suffering, no slightest attraction. No matter how much we think how great it is or how much excitement we have, that even we think that is great pleasure, not having recognized how it is suffering nature. But these form beings see the desire realm pleasures as unbearable, only in the nature of suffering, extremely gross, like we don’t have attachment, we don’t have clinging when we have toothache, we don’t have attachment, clinging to the pain of the toothache [RL, GL]. Anyway, just an example [RL], that when we have headache there’s no attachment clinging to the headache, [RL] except how terrible it is, how unbearable it is, there’s no attachment clinging how fantastic it is. There is no excitement having toothache and headache, diarrhea [GL], the stomach ache. The form realm beings, through analysis, like a scientist who analyzes atoms, through analysis, meditation, they see totally, totally, suffering nature. No matter how much we think it is great pleasure, that which we have great excitement.

So the form realm being’s pleasure, the inner pleasure, is derived through meditation, through concentration, so they seek only this. However, the form realm beings see the desire realm has short life, so much disease, so gross, no peace. So they see all these things. The desire realm has only suffering nature. And then their realm has a much longer life, more peace, no disease and so forth, so many qualities they see, they look at that way. They seek the peace derived from the concentration, so they seek this and they have renunciation desire realm pleasures dependent on external things. Anyway, like garbage, how we feel garbage. Anyway, so for them, our sense pleasures, desire realm pleasures, through their analysis, it’s just garbage.

Even within the form realm, there are four categories, four levels. I think Jeffrey Hopkins translates as state of absorption, something like that, right? Meditative absorption. The Venerable ________ says “meditative absorption.” [RL, GL] The meditative absorption.

So, there are four levels of meditative absorption. Through achievement of shamatha, calm abiding, which has nine levels, so when he or she can achieve these meditative, the states of these meditative absorptions, they are like this, the path depending on mainly calm abiding, then this special insight, mainly through calm abiding or mainly through the path of special insight. So first the preliminary, in order to achieve the actual state of this meditative absorption, they go through this preparation, the worldly path, the discriminating gross and peace, unpeaceful and peace. So looking at the desire realm unpeaceful as it is unpeaceful, all the desire realm pleasures. Then looking at the form realm having greater peace, longer life, having no disease and so forth, many qualities. Then, looking at the desire realm only mistakes. So through this analysis, doing analysis like this, comparing the form realm, all the qualities that it has, more qualities and the desire realm, more mistakes and suffering. So through this analysis, they cut off attachment clinging to the desire realm pleasures, then seek the peace and happiness of the form realm, which is better, more qualities.

So there are six categories: the six comprehensions, the comprehension which understands, which sees the characteristics individually. So, do you know how it’s translated, the first one? The six comprehensions. Maybe if you request to your omniscient mind, can remember [RL, GL].

So first, there are six states of comprehension, the first one is comprehension seeing the characteristics individually, called ting-nyi so so bag-gyi cho, the Tibetan term. This is like the substitute of the path of merit, from the five paths, the path of merit, substitute of that, that accumulating merit mainly by doing listening and reflecting. Then second, like in the place of path of meditation. The comprehension of wish or faith—this has to be checked, I am not quite sure which term to be used. It’s call mo-pa yi-che. So it’s like the five paths to liberation, the path of conjunction, which makes to approach or to join to the third path, the right-seeing path. So the second path, the path of conjunction, there are five paths to achieve liberation, so this is like the comprehension of faith or wish. This is in the place of the path of conjunction. Then, the third one I don’t remember, [RL] disappeared. The third one is like the substitute of right-seeing path. Maybe one of the boys can remember? [Tibetan] They have done extensive studies on this, you see, [GL, RL]. Know all the details on this, unless it hasn’t gone with kaka.

They start to abandon, to remove, the desire realm, the disturbing thoughts of the desire realm, so there are about nine sets, the delusions, the visible delusions of the desire realm, great of the great, middle of the great, small of the great. So there are three like this.

They remove that time, after achieving this third level, the comprehension, then they remove these three visible delusions of the desire realm. Then, after that, the comprehension of collected joy. Then, there may be other translations that, however to get the general idea, the comprehension of the collected joy. So this time, because of those delusions, delusions of the desire realm are removed, are abandoned. So, because of that, the mind is distracted by peace, by the bliss, and from time to time, also little unhappiness, or little slight, like a kind of small depression [RL] time to time then a little unhappiness, the meditator experiences.

Then after this, the comprehension of analysis or comprehension of cutting off the delusions, comprehension of cutting off, I just put this way just to get general, just to get some idea. So, at this level, when one reaches this fifth level, the disturbing thought of the desire realm, the great of the middle, middle of the middle, small of the middle, those delusions were removed before. So, because of that now it looks like as if there is no delusion. For that meditator’s mind appears, feels like as if there is no delusion at all. Then the person again checks up by looking at the object, whether still delusion arises or not. Then the meditator sees there’s still subtle delusion arises, depending on those objects, form and so forth.

Then the last one, comprehension of the result, comprehension that which is the result of the limit of the preparation. So, during this sixth level of comprehension, one has removed the desire realm delusions, the great of the small, middle of the small, small of the small. So all those were removed.

How the person’s mind reaches from one level, the six comprehensions from one to one? How the mind reaches, get developed is again through this analysis, the meditation, the developing the renunciation to the desire realm, looking at its mistakes, and then the form realm, looking at the first form realm, the first state of meditative absorption, looking at its quality, having more peace, like that. So when they completed the six comprehensions, then after they removed all these delusions of the desire realm, small of the great, small of the middle and small of the small. So then that time, they completed the preparation and they achieved the first meditative absorption.

Then again, they look at the second meditative absorption, more peace, more quality, longer life, like this. Then they compare the first meditative absorption, comparing to the second one, the first is mistake, unpeaceful compared to the second one. So look at many mistakes. So then again, by doing analysis like this, comparing, looking at this second meditative absorption has more quality, more peace. Then again go, they achieve the six comprehensions. Then, that’s how they reach the second meditative absorption.

Then, again, after they achieve this, they compare to the third meditative absorption, then they look at that one, it has more peace, more quality than the second one has more mistakes, more unpeaceful. Like this. Then again they achieve the six comprehensions then they reach the third meditative absorption.

Then, again, from there, after they achieve that, then they again do analysis of the fourth meditative absorption. Then they look at it more peaceful, more quality, then third one more mistakes, unpeaceful. Then again through this analysis they cut off the attachment, clinging even the third meditative absorption, so they cut off. This is how they renounce the attachment even to those, the peace, the happiness that one experiences through the meditation state, the first, second, third. So they have renounced even those peace, happiness derived through meditation.

Then, the fourth one, then by completing the six comprehensions they achieve the fourth state, meditative absorption. So then, again, they see that the delusion arises, by looking at form delusion arises. So then, the form realm, then they even look at the fourth meditative absorption, fourth level even that happiness, peace from meditation, then they look as mistake, they do analysis and then even cut off attachment clinging to that.

They then look at whole existence as nature of space. They look at this as quality, more peace. So they even get bored, renounce the attachment clinging to those form realm, those happiness, which is not sense pleasure, not come from depending on outside object but through meditation, so even that they cut off attachment clinging. Then look at all the existence as nature of space, then even they cut off attachment clinging to this peace. Then looking at all the existence as nature of space. Then, after that, they stop that and then looking at all the existence as consciousness. Then even they get bored with this, renounce this clinging to this. Then they look at everything, all the existence, it is not that there is nothing, that they don’t exist, but looking at all the existence as nothingness.

THE THREE REALMS: THE FORMLESS REALM
So the formless realm has four categories: looking at all existence as nature of space, nature of sky; then consciousness, nothingness, like consciousness, the limitless space, limitless consciousness, then nothingness, then the last one is tip of samsara. So there are four categories in the formless realm. This is still samsara, form realm, formless realm which is still samsara, caused by karma and delusions, that they are created by karma and delusion, that these realms or aggregates created by karma and delusion, contaminated seed of disturbing thoughts, with this, again create the cause of samsara. It is the same, all this is samsara, even the form and formless realm.

So now, we should think, the differences between zen meditation and this formless realm, nothingness, which is samsara, formless realm the third one, nothingness. So, looking at everything as nothing, so nothingness, so we should analyze this and zen meditation what is the difference, whether it is the same or not, one should analyze. The zen meditation, what meant to be meditating on the emptiness, the ultimate truth. So, one should analyze this formless realm nothingness and zen meditation on emptiness, their point of view of emptiness.

So, according to His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, who is a great enlightened being of the deity called, the Buddha called Chakrasamvara. So, Rinpoche said many times during the lamrim teachings that this meditating on the blank mind, thinking of nothing, Rinpoche often used to say, thinking on nothing, the philosophy of nothingness, the meditating no thoughts, nothing, no object of the mind, the philosophy of nothingness, anything you think is nihilism, any thought comes that is wrong. Any thought, even if it’s virtuous thought, even it’s positive thought, it is wrong. So, any thought arises it’s mistake. So, however, any object appears to the mind it’s wrong, that philosophy. So Rinpoche used to say that by doing this meditation, the best thing what you can achieve is, the formless realm, and the best thing what you can achieve, by doing this meditation, so by clinging into this, by clinging in this view, nothing exists, to have no thought, so best thing what you can achieve is the formless realm, this nothingness, looking at everything as nothing. The other thing is, the animal, fool, very ignorant minded animal, so that is because this causes to dull, to make the mind dull, to lose the sharpness of the mind, clarity, the wisdom, it makes to lose the sharpness of the wisdom, staying with a blank mind, that however, so it makes the mind dull, more forgetful, it causes more and more forgetful.

I mean there are other reasons, other conditions, that why the forgetfulness, why it’s happening, there are other reasons, there are other conditions, but this can happen also through unskillfulness of meditation, that such like this, keeping the mind in blank, this kind of meditation, then such like this meditation, then makes to lose, makes the mind dull, to lose wisdom.

After nothingness, then the tip of samsara, so they look at nothingness again, you see, mistake and then tip of the samsara as quality, by analyzing so then cut attachment clinging to the looking at things nothingness, then like this, one reach to the level, tip of the samsara. So all these four categories is done like that.

To reach this level one doesn’t need to be a Buddhist, one doesn’t need to take refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. This form realm, formless realm, even Hindus, even they can achieve this meditation state, even they have calm abiding, this meditation, even they can achieve these nine levels, this calm abiding meditation. So, the conclusion is all these are still nothing special, they still in samsara.

So now, this being who reached the fourth level, tip of samsara, there is nothing higher in the realm of samsara to compare, the other realm, the higher realm to look at more quality and this one, tip of samsara, to look at it as nature of suffering, there’s nothing to compare. So, then they don’t have remedy to cut the attachment clinging to this one, tip of samsara. So now, this attachment what they believe is only visible attachment, not completely removed attachment with the seed of attachment, it is not that, only removed visible attachment, which means only when they are at those realms, the attachment, they renounced attachment to the lower states, lower realms, that is only time being, because the seed of attachment is there, they haven’t removed. So therefore attachment what they believe they have removed is the visible attachment, so it’s only for the time being while they’re in those realms, form realm, formless realms.

So in order to remove completely attachment, in order to abandon attachment that means you have to remove the seed of attachment, the imprint. If you don’t remove the seed, then there is always possibility to arise attachment. So after reaching fourth level, tip of samsara, the formless realm. Then, when, they cannot stay there forever, so when that karma finishes, again they reincarnate in the desire realm, in other realms they reincarnate, from the formless realm, according to past imprint.

So, again, they circle in samsara that is because even though they have realization of samatha, the mistake is they haven’t generated renunciation of the whole entire samsara. This meditator, generates renunciation to the desire realm, form realm, formless realm, those three other categories, but there is no renunciation to the tip of samsara, the last one, because there’s no other higher realm of samsara to compare, to see this is suffering and other one is quality. So, therefore, there is no method to see the whole entire samsara, for that being, the tip of samsara, to see even that is nature of suffering, there is no method to see that, method to cut the attachment clinging to that. So therefore, no opportunity to generate renunciation to the whole entire samsara.

So, there is no way to generate the path, the five paths to liberation, in order to enter this five path to liberation, the door of the path is the renunciation of the whole entire samsara, seeing the whole entire samsara as the nature of suffering is the door of the path. So without that, there is no way to enter in the path to liberation. That is the first thing. So, therefore, there is no way to achieve liberation from the whole entire samsara. It is blocked.

Then also, one mistake is not having realized emptiness. So, not having renunciation to the whole entire samsara, that is the main mistake, second thing is wisdom is missing, wisdom realizing emptiness is not there. So there is no way, no direct remedy to remove the seed of attachment. So then, because the seed is always there, then again, by depending on the object, again attachment arises. So what they believe, even Hindus who achieve these levels, maybe even some of the Theravadins, those, there can be possibility that even think there is no delusion at all, even one feels like there is no delusion but it is only the visible delusion that is stopped, but not the seed, not completely abandoned, not making impossible to arise. So there can be also this possibility even as a Buddhist, for some, depending on how much Dharma one studies. However, sometimes there can be also this possibility. So like that. So I lost my point again. [GL, RL]

THE MIDDLE SCOPE BEING
Talking about the graduated path of the middle capable being. So, seeing the person who turned back towards happiness of samsara and who see, which means renounced, cut off clinging to the happiness of the whole entire samsara, the desire realm, form realm, formless realm, all these things, even the tip of samsara, even that peace, even the highest in samsara, tip of samsara, formless realm, even seeing that happiness like hell, suffering nature like hell, not having any slightest attraction, even to that tip of samsara happiness, seeing like hell. So then not having any even slightest attraction, the whole entire samsara happiness, that only in the nature of suffering, like hell suffering.

So then, seeking the blissful state of peace, the cessation of the whole entire suffering and cause, in this ultimate liberation, blissful state of peace for oneself. And then for that method, in order to achieve this, then living in the morality, then practicing the higher training of the morality, concentration, great insight. This is the fundamental path to achieve liberation.

So the fundamental path to achieve liberation is morality. There are seven fold of ordination. To achieve liberation for self, which is the path to individual liberation, so the refuge upasika vow, the five lay vow path of liberation, then the eight those, the thirty-six vows, the two hundred and fifty-three, then there are also vows, more than three hundred for the fully ordained nun. Then, before the fully ordained nun there is one to check called gelongma, as a preliminary to the full ordination of the nun. So there are seven levels of ordination. Taking the vow of morality, to live in morality. So they have seven types like this which are paths to liberation.

So this person, this path is graduated path of middle capable being, who is able to practice this, as I described here, who has that quality of mind, practicing these moralities abstaining from negative karmas. So this is middle capable being.

So I stop here.

[End of Twelfth Discourse]