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Lecture 6: November 18th am

[Prayers]

As I explained in the last two or three days, the creator of all one’s own suffering is oneself, all the suffering comes from self. That is one way to think, one way to understand. It is not just a case of believing—in fact not like that, in fact, in the reality not like that, but one should believe that way—it is not like that. Even though you cannot understand, in the long run, from one life to another life by making the connection, if you are intelligent, if you are smart, you can understand if you think a little bit, if you check a little bit, you can understand how even the daily life’s problems are based on this ignorance and come from this ignorance. While the “I” is empty of existing from its own side, we believe and cling to it as if it existed from its own side—how even each day’s life problem, the unhappiness, the sufferings of the body and mind, how they build up on the basis of that or how they arise from that, how that causes it. It is very scientific.

Then also to think in this way is very effective, very effective for the mind. Can you hear? You who sit by the door? By following the self-cherishing thought, so many sufferings and problems arise. That is also very effective for the mind to control, to subdue the selfish attitude, the uncomfortable mind, the very painful uncomfortable mind, the selfish attitude. Think in this way, of the shortcomings of the self-cherishing thought, how the self-cherishing thought obliges you to experience many problems, so much suffering in samsara. How the self-cherishing thought is the thief, stealing away all happiness, all one’s own happiness, temporal and ultimate happiness and perfection. How the self-cherishing thought is like a butcher, a butcher cutting off life, the root of temporal and ultimate happiness and perfection. You see, by following the self-cherishing thought, anger arises very easily. How strongly, how much the person follows the selfish attitude, careless of the happiness and suffering of others, caring and concerned only about one’s own happiness and suffering, one’s own comfort, strongly seeking one’s own comfort for self, how much and how strongly one follows the self-cherishing thought, depending on that, that much easily anger arises, that much easily the person becomes impatient.

The root of temporal and ultimate happiness and perfections is virtue, merit; anger completely eliminates and destroys merit. Like burnt rice, completely burnt rice—even if you plant it, it cannot grow, anger completely makes the virtue no longer have any potential to bring its result of happiness, perfection. It makes it impossible to experience and enjoy the result, temporal or ultimate happiness, whatever it is, impossible to enjoy the result of undedicated merit, the merit that has not been accumulated with the motivation of bodhicitta, and even the merit accumulated with the motive of bodhicitta, those merits that are dedicated to achieve enlightenment for the sake of others. Anger even postpones the result of those. Whatever result of happiness that one is about to experience, whatever realization, it is postponed by anger—it causes it to take a long time to experience the result. Arising heresy is also like this. So the self-cherishing thought is like a butcher. It is like a thief, it is like a butcher who confiscates, who disturbs one’s own temporal and ultimate happiness and perfection.

Then the self-cherishing thought obliges us to experience so many problems, even in daily life. Meeting a desirable object causes attachment to rise—when you meet the desirable object in daily life it causes problems, makes the mind unhappy. When you meet the desirable object attachment arises, and again the mind becomes confused and unhappy and uptight and painful. Then when you meet an ugly object, an undesirable object, a person or food, or a place, when you meet an ugly object, it causes anger. Again the mind is unhappy, painful. Then also ignorance arises with the indifferent object.

This happens particularly with living beings, when you meet other sentient beings, when you meet somebody who is wealthier than yourself, even somebody who has a better looking body or somebody who has a better education. You are a psychologist and the other one is also a psychologist but he has a better understanding, more understanding, and when you find he has a deeper understanding of psychology, or what he does, that his method is more useful, more beneficial for others, when you hear this, it is painful in the mind. The self-cherishing thought that is concerned so much for one’s own happiness causes pain in the heart, when you hear that somebody with the same title of psychologist has a better understanding than you. If you hear that the other friend, that other person is more effective to others, the self-cherishing thought gives you pain in the heart. You become jealous. Somebody who has good meditation or somebody who has a better understanding of Dharma, or you are a professor and he is also a professor, working in the University, doing the same job, when you hear his work is better, his way of teaching is better, when more people are interested in him, when one sees or when you hear that more people come to his class, and less people come to your class, again the self-cherishing thought, which is so much concerned with one’s own happiness, gives much pain, gives so much pain in the heart.

And then the self-cherishing thought obliges a person to generate ill will. Instead of rejoicefulness, it obliges ill will. He thinks, “What can I do? What can I do? How can I kick him out of this University? How can I manage this?” Then he does a very long meditation on that. For months he keeps the pain. “How that person is harmful for me, harmful for my reputation, for my happiness.” Actually he is not harming but the self-cherishing thought makes him think how that person is “harmful for me, for my happiness, so harmful.” Then he keeps that in the heart for months and months, years and years; it causes him to have pain for months and months, years and years, as long as the other person is working in the University.

Then, “What can I do? What can I do in order for him to lose his job? What I can do? Maybe create some criticism. Even though it is not the case, but create something.” Then the person tries to find some blame, tries to find some mistakes so that he can announce it. However, he is unable to find mistake. Then he tries by criticizing the other person so he will become successful, even trying to kick him out of the University, to lose his job so that that he himself will have a greater reputation and more people coming. Things like that, trying to create disharmony between the person and those people who do the same job in the office, in the school, or in the University.

Like this, in daily life when one meets other sentient beings who have a better education, who have better perfections, who have a greater reputation, instead of feeling rejoicefulness, instead of feeling “how good it is,” “how wonderful it is,” instead of thinking like this, the self-cherishing thought causes the jealous mind to arise, and then there is much pain in the heart. The object that you see becomes an unbearable object. The self-cherishing thought makes you see it in that way.

However, without talking much, then even if you meet equal people, who have the same class or same level of education, the same job, then again the self-cherishing thought doesn’t make the mind happy, it causes suffering. Again there is the thought, “I want to be better than him.” The thought of competition arises, wishing oneself to have a greater reputation than the other one. This thought is concerned so much with “my happiness,” thinking this so much more important than others’ happiness and because of this the thought of competition arises. And again like this the mind becomes unhappy. Even though one has the same education, the same job, still the mind is not happy, not satisfied, not happy.

The self-cherishing thought that seeks more happiness for oneself than others causes all the pains. It keeps the life busy and causes all the worries and fears—the fear to lose the job, fear to lose the reputation, fear to degenerate the perfections and wealth, even the fear and worry of becoming older, even though there is no choice, even though you cannot stop becoming older, changing the color of the hair, changing the color of the skin, even though there is no freedom in that, stopping the process of changing, of becoming older, by being under the control of unsubdued mind and its action, karma. Then useless fear, useless worry arises. Even if the person knows that worry and fear, it cannot stop the changes of becoming older. Even if the body doesn’t experience that much hardship or difficulties, even though there is not much physical difficulty, the mind experiences so much difficulty, so much hardship. It has so many worries, even these worries and fears of getting older, feeling upset and getting shocked when you see your face in the mirror, the changes in the mirror, getting great shock in the mind. All those are caused by the self-cherishing thought, which constantly seeks happiness for oneself, which constantly thinks, “If I can be happy.”

Then, when we meet other sentient beings in daily life, human beings, even animals, we feel pride—when we meet other sentient beings who have less capabilities than ourselves, who have less education than ourselves, who are bad looking, who have bodies uglier than ourselves, and who are poorer in wealth than ourselves. Then when one meets somebody who has less Dharma understanding, who has a small view of Dharma, the teaching of Buddha, who has a very limited view, then again, when you meet somebody who is lower than you, again the self-cherishing thought causes pride to arise. Again it makes the mind unhappy. When we meet others who are lower than oneself, again the self-cherishing mind makes the mind unhappy, very painful, like having put a stick or a rock inside, like having built a stupa here inside. Like somebody built a stupa here inside, sort of, like having a stick inside the heart, here, so painful. Like this. Also animals, even with animals, feeling pride, “I am a human being, this is an animal,” even for that feeling so much pride. However like this.

Then, even you see your girlfriend or wife smiling at somebody or smiling at another man. Even just smiling, even without talking, even without running after him, just even by smiling at that person it becomes incredibly painful. The whole sky fell down. All the sun and moon, and all the stars, everything fell down—in your mind it is like that. The mind becomes completely berserk. The mind that was like daytime before, relaxed, happy, suddenly becomes night. No light. No sun, no stars, no moon—I mean at nighttime there is no sun, so no moon, no stars, like that, completely black. Not only black, but so painful; or very angry. Either very painful, jealous of the other person, jealous of the other man, or the great flame of anger burns in the heart, and the body, all the limbs are shaking and nervous. Then, of course, there is no question if she runs away. Of course, if she stayed with that man even for one hour, if she stayed with that man for one day without seeing you, it is painful.

I think three years ago, during the first course that was done in Australia, in Diamond Valley, in Queensland, there was one girl. I think it had only been one or two weeks, and then I think she wrote to her husband—I don’t know where they were living. I guess she wrote to him after one week of the course, I do not remember exactly, but around that time, she wrote that she wanted to become a nun or something like that, that she didn’t want to come back. So her husband came one night, and he came in my room. His whole body was completely shaking. He was talking about something but I couldn’t understand. I couldn’t get the conclusion of what he was talking about, I couldn’t get the essence. He was talking about something, a very long one. I think he was just going around, something like that, not talking straight about what he wanted to say, going around and around and around, completely crazy, sort of like that.

All these things, such as relationship problems, things like that, and becoming crazy—losing jobs, nervous breakdowns, relationship problem, becoming crazy because of lost possessions, money, those things. When such conditions happen, how unhappy the person is depends on how much the person clings, and how strong the self-cherishing thought seeking one’s own comfort is. It depends so much on that. When such a problem happens, such as in business when things are not working even though you try so hard, when nothing is successful, you become completely depressed, and even the color of the body changes, becoming black or kind of white. Due to relationship problem, the mind becomes completely depressed, in great shock, in so much pain, and there is incredible great suffering when you find out that the boyfriend or the husband has another friend, another wife, or another girlfriend. It becomes like narak suffering, incredible suffering in the mind. You are unable to sleep at nighttime, unable to eat food, and may commit suicide. Overwhelmed by problems, you think, “Better to kill myself.” That is the very last answer; there is no other solution in the mind.

This is the lack of understanding Dharma, the lack of understanding the Mahayana thought training teachings. It is the lack of practice and lack of understanding the teachings. So you try many ways, but nothing works. You try many ways to harm the other person that you feel jealous of, you try to follow and catch the husband or the wife who runs away, and bring them back; however you can’t manage. You try everything, but nothing works. So then you shoot yourself with a gun, if you can find a gun in the house. If not, you go in the bathtub and put the electricity in or go to a very high tower and jump over the edge, or go to a very big bridge and jump into the river—somewhere you can die immediately. That is the very last answer, and the person sees that this is the best. He sees nothing else, nothing else; this is the best, so that the suffering is ceased. The suffering is ceased, nirvana is achieved. I am joking. I am joking, but the person believes this. For his mind this is the only solution. The person is not committing suicide with happiness, but without choice. Somehow he can’t manage to stop those problems, so committing suicide happens without choice, the person does it without choice.

The one who has given us all these problems is the self-cherishing thought, the devil, the self-cherishing thought, which is dwelling in our heart, which obliges us to experience all these problems. Even if you see a mosquito in the room, flying around making the sound, “u-u-u,” even though he did not start to bite, even though he did not jump on your body, he is flying around making noise, and when you hear the noise and see him flying around you say, “Oh, there is a mosquito.” This kind of becomes a great shock to the mind. “When is he going to bite me? Now something is going to happen to me, some discomfort is going to happen to me.” Then again worry and fear. What this tiny mosquito can do is nothing—what it can take is not even a mouthful of your blood, just a tiny drop. A tiny, tiny drop, not even one spoon of blood, but it becomes a great shock to your heart. This hungry pitiful mosquito cannot take even one spoon of blood. However, you have an incredible huge big body, which eats two, three plates of food and twenty cups of coffee a day.

However, what I am saying is this—even such a small thing like this becomes a great shock. Even seeing such a small thing as this, one small tiny mosquito flying around making a noise, even if he did not bite, it becomes a great shock for the mind. Worry and fear start. Even those arise by the self-cherishing thought, are caused by self-cherishing thought. You see, as much as you are concerned with yourself, with your own comfort, that much the fear and great worry arise, even if the condition is so tiny that it is nothing. Suddenly if you see a flea on your bed, jumping in your sleeping-bag, you say, “Oh, there is a flea!” It is like somebody came to kill you, like a tiger came to eat you—the shock is like that, what the mind experiences, the mind-shock is like that. Like the flea is going to eat you up, finish you up, and not even the hairs or the bones are going to be left in the sleeping-bag to show the parents, “This is your daughter’s hair.”

Or if you see a little bit of dirt on the plate, on the glass, or if the person who brings food has some dirt on the face or on the hands, if he didn’t wash, or if he is wearing rag clothes or something, even if the food is delicious, you do not want to eat it. Such small things as this become a big complaint, a huge problem for the mind. Those are because of the strong self-cherishing thought.

You give a cup of tea to another person, you compliment the other person or you give them a cup of tea, or you helped another person, and then if the other person didn’t say “thank you,” if he kept quiet, if he stayed in silence, if he kept quiet, you think, “Oh, how shameless, how bad he is.” Even if you liked the person before, suddenly when the other person didn’t respond, did not say even the words “thank you,” these two words, great suffering comes into the mind.

You respected the other person and the other person didn’t respond. You respected the other person and then if the other person didn’t respect you, if he went on keeping the nose in the sky—how do you say? Keeping the nose in the sky? Snob, yes. If the other person did not respond, did not respect you, if you say hello to the other person and he passed by, not looking at you, even if you were close, again great suffering comes into the mind, “How ridiculous, how shameful, how bad he is.” Then you recite many mantras of, “Oh, how bad he is.”

Even such small things as that become great disturbances for the mind. How much all these small conditions disturb your mind is so much dependent on how much you cling to comfort, to reputation. It is so clear that the one who is giving this suffering is the self-cherishing thought.

Even worry about the money of the grandfather or grandmother or whoever it is, “If he or she dies I’ll get the money.” The worry that he or she will not die soon, “If he or she doesn’t die soon I won’t get the enjoyment of using the money, traveling wherever I want, having a nice apartment, a car, several cars, another house in the city, another house outside of the city.” Even these worries are caused by the self-cherishing thought. Having worry like this, even if in fact it is not certain whether or not one will die before the grandmother does, there is still worry. There is so much expectation in the mind, so much doubt and expectation about reputation, food and clothing, the perfections of this life, for now and for the future. And then there is so much doubt that it is not going to happen, and so much worry and fear. All this, you see, is so obvious, so clear. If you check your own experience and that of others—the mind of one who is so much concerned with his or her own happiness, who cherishes him or herself so much, has so much doubt and expectation, and because of that, more confusion, and it is very difficult for the mind to relax and be peaceful, and difficult to enjoy life.

Before Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, so many buddhas descended on this earth, and those buddhas enlightened so many sentient beings, subdued so many sentient beings, and enlightened so many sentient beings by revealing the path. We did not become an object to be subdued by them—even in Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s time numberless sentient beings were led to nirvana and enlightenment, by having the teachings revealed to them. We were unable to be in that group who was subdued by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s directly giving teachings. And even after that, there were many yogis and mahasiddhas—the eighty mahasiddhas, those famous well-known pandits such as Nagarjuna, Asanga and Shantideva, such as Tilopa and Naropa. There were innumerable numbers of great yogis in India. Also, in Tibet there were Marpa, Mila, Sakya Pandit—many highly realized yogis in each sect. Each of them revealed the teachings and led so many sentient beings, subdued so many sentient beings, and led them to enlightenment—but we were not in that group. Still we are suffering in samsara; still we are left in samsara. Still we do not have any realizations in the mind, from beginningless samsaric lifetimes, from beginningless rebirths until now. Our births have had no beginning, so by now we should have had at least some realization. We do not even have the wisdom of shunyata, or the attainment of the bhumis, or tantric realization, or the thought renouncing samsara, or bodhicitta. Still our minds are completely empty of realizations.

All this is the mistake of following the self-cherishing thought. This is the mistake of following “what I want, what I like,” not what Buddha has revealed. The advice that Buddha has revealed: You have the true cause of suffering, like this, like this, like this, so therefore you experience true suffering, problems like this, like this, like this. You can be liberated from the true cause of suffering; there is liberation from it and you can achieve it. And in order to achieve it, you should follow the true path. Even Buddha himself, even Shakyamuni Buddha, left so many various extensive, profound teachings for us to be liberated from suffering and to achieve omniscient mind. But we do not practice the path or follow the advice given by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha.

Buddha Shakyamuni himself showed how to practice Dharma, the reason there is need to practice Dharma, by showing the twelve events, the twelve actions—descending from the Tushita pure realm onto the earth, and being conceived in his mother’s womb. First he lived the princely life, with a wife, and then he completed the action of discovering the suffering of samsara, old age, sickness, death and rebirth. Then he lived the ascetic life for six years, doing retreat, and then he completed the action of becoming enlightened, subduing the maras and turning the Dharma wheel for sentient beings, according to their level of mind. Then he completed the action of passing away. So Guru Shakyamuni Buddha even left the example, besides the teachings.

Why is there the need to practice Dharma? Because there is suffering. If you do not wish for suffering, if you do not want to live in suffering, in samsara, then you should follow this path and practice the holy Dharma. If you practice the holy Dharma, this will be the result.

He showed the action of passing away in order to destroy the conception of permanence in the minds of sentient beings, in order to change the wrong views that confuse them. In order to do that, he left those examples of how the holy Dharma should be practiced right away. How we should practice with this body while we have it, and that we should start right now—because death definitely happens and it is uncertain when the actual time of death will occur. However many years, months, days, hours and minutes we have this precious human body, we should not waste it, we should make it highly meaningful while it is ours. Not following this advice, following “what I want, what I like,” are the mistakes of self-cherishing thought.

However many teachings we have received from the holy mouth of the perfectly qualified guru, however many initiations, however many profound, secret teachings we have received—they are difficult to practice. We are unable to do even one practice, and still we have no realizations, no experience of the path in the mind.

The conclusion is: even if we understand Dharma, no matter how much we understand the teachings of sutra and tantra, no matter how much elaborate understanding of sutra and tantra we have, for the everyday actions of body, speech and mind to become Dharma, to become virtue, is very difficult. This the mistake of following self-cherishing thought, thinking day and night, all the time, “what I want, what I like,” not what sentient beings or Guru Buddha wishes or needs, not “what Guru Buddha wishes me to do.”

We are a slave for the self-cherishing thought, as if we took precepts, committed ourselves, “I am going to work for the self-cherishing thought day and night, all the time.” It is like taking the bodhisattva ordination, making the commitment to dedicate the actions of body, speech and mind always for other sentient beings, to do the work for the sentient beings.

As long as we follow the self-cherishing thought, it obliges us constantly to experience suffering. If anger doesn’t arise, attachment arises, and if attachment doesn’t arise, pride arises. If pride doesn’t arise, jealous mind arises. So you see, the self-cherishing thought obliges the unsubdued minds to arise, one after another. It does not give you any rest from suffering, not even a minute. The self-cherishing thought never gives any relaxation, or a minute’s rest from suffering. All these mistakes, all these sufferings that arise from the self-cherishing thought, all this that one experiences comes from oneself, and is the mistake of following the self-cherishing thought.

So all the sufferings come from the self, and all the happiness and perfections come from where? They come from others. (That part I will explain later.) Therefore Geshe Langri Tangpa, one Kadampa geshe, one great hidden yogi, wrote the very effective short condensed teaching called the Eight Stanzas of Thought Training, which involves eliminating the ignorance of true existence and eliminating the self-cherishing thought. Geshe Langri Tangpa gave this advice: in the situation where there is victory and defeat, what one should do is offer the victory to others and take the loss, the defeat, upon oneself. Why? Why we should offer the victory to others? All the happiness and perfections that one experiences, that one enjoys, which means all the support, all the means that benefit our survival—for example, someone who survives by selling fish lives his life by that means—so all the means that support our life is received by the kindness of others, of sentient beings, according to Geshe Langri Tangpa’s verse. Therefore, when there is victory and defeat, we should offer the victory to others and take the defeat upon ourselves. Why should we take the defeat upon ourselves? Because all the sufferings come from self-cherishing.

Normally in the world people wish the friend or the relative, or the person who likes and helps them, to have the victory, and they wish the enemy to have the loss. If there is a choice, they wish the enemy to receive the loss. Why should the enemy have the loss? Because I don’t like him, he doesn’t like me; he hates me or harms me. Normally when there is a choice about whom to give the victory to, people in the world do this. That is a mistake. Giving the loss to other sentient beings is a mistake. But this is worthwhile: giving the loss to the inner enemy, the self-cherishing thought—the real enemy who gives all the problems of past, present and future lives, all the suffering, everyday life’s problems, who doesn’t allow us to have mental peace. That can only benefit.

We receive happiness and perfection even in our daily life by depending on the kindness of sentient beings. It is very good and effective for the mind if we meditate, if we think of the kindness of mother sentient beings, even those kindnesses that we can see in daily life by the eye. Just think about that part, leaving out the part for which we depend on the understanding of reincarnation. Even somebody who doesn’t have an understanding of karma, even somebody who does not have faith in karma can understand, can see and cannot reject how the sentient beings are kind. In our daily life, we receive our comfort and enjoyment by depending on the kindness of the Lord, the sentient beings.

Any perfection, any enjoyment that we enjoy in our each day life—there is nothing that we receive from them without their experiencing suffering. There is nothing. You can understand by thinking like this, simply: just think about this simple comfortable place where we accumulate merit, which protects us from rain, from the burning sun, this place where we accumulate many causes of temporal happiness in samsara and even ultimate happiness and perfection—in each session, in each hour.

When the foundation was laid, so many creatures were killed and hurt. So many creatures suffered so much to actualize this place. Without them suffering, without those mother sentient beings being hurt by the human beings who built this place, there would be no way for this place—where we are meditating on and listening to the teachings, where we are planting seeds of enlightenment and omniscience in our minds every day for the sake of sentient beings—to exist. There would be no way for us to have the opportunity to enjoy being in this simple house without their suffering and experiencing pain, as well as the human beings who hurt them. Some sentient beings created negative karma by hurting others, and some sentient beings suffered and had to experience pain. From those pitiful sentient beings, who suffered so much and created much negative karma, the opportunity to enjoy this arose for us.

Just like those beautiful apartments we live in, in the West, the luxury houses—the same. When you see and enjoy the house, it looks like everything exists by itself. When we are inside, when we are not aware and examining, it looks like it truly exists from its own side, without depending on anybody’s effort or experience of hardship.

Even the clothes that protect our bodies from heat or cold, from harms of creatures—particularly those that are made of animal hair or animal skins, fur coats, woolen clothes—those warm clothes we wear in the winter time. The animal from whom the wool or skin came experienced much pain when it was killed by a human being. That animal was shot or it was killed by a knife—however, it has gone through incredible pain. The human beings fastened the limbs of the animal with ropes, and pressed it down, and pulled out the wool from the body with much force. Also, clothes that are make from silkworms—any clothing that we wear, which keep the body comfortable, which we enjoy now, came from the kindness of many sentient beings working hard. The animals transported it. And the human beings worked hard to actualize the cloth—in the factory, then in a shop to make it available. Then you buy it. Even just one piece of cloth depended on and came from so many sentient beings working so hard and experiencing great hardship. Without depending on so many sentient beings experiencing hardship, without their working, without their suffering for that, there is no way that we can now enjoy this clothing.

Even the food, the living condition that keeps us alive each day is received by depending on so many sentient beings’ suffering, working so hard for that. Meat is easy to understand—how non-vegetarian food comes from sentient beings suffering so much, and some sentient beings creating much negative karma. That is easy to understand. But even vegetarian food, even one grain of rice—even for this one grain of rice that we eat, the field is plowed and fertilized, either with machines or with animals, and you can see if you check one handful of dust that there are so many tiny creatures, red ones, white ones, moving around. There are very tiny ones, and there are also creatures that you cannot see. If you check the flower place, for example, if you check one handful of mud, there are so many creatures.

For this one grain of rice, first that land was fertilized and then plowed with machines or with animals, and during that time so many creatures were killed. Then the human beings had to work in the rain and under the hot sun with much hardship and creating much negative karma while hurting and killing the creatures, and causing them to experience much pain. At the beginning it was like this. Even in the middle the human beings worked very hard pouring water. And then at the end, the sprout grew and they had to split the rice and plant it separately.

Here we have one Nepalese man who used to be the caretaker of this place. I asked him how they work for the rice. I asked him how the Nepalese work for the rice, how they plant rice. So he explained the graduated path, the Nepalese way of planting rice, to me. When the sprout comes, after the sprout comes, they take it out, they split it, and then they plant it in a triangular shape—one here, one there and one there like this. That is how they plant the rice. So in the middle human beings work hard and also many creatures get harmed. Then also, at the end, when they collect the grains…

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…this is one set of work for this one rice. This rice came from other rice—it’s a result of other rice, so again human beings and many creatures suffered in order to actualize it. And that rice came from other rice. So again, so many human beings and creatures suffered for that. When you think back, for the continuation of the rice, it is unimaginable how many sentient beings died, suffered and experienced pain, and how many created negative karma for that.

Even when you hear that one sentient being suffered and died to actualize this one grain of rice, it makes you unable to simply eat it without doing something, without some thought to benefit to this sentient being. You dare not eat, you dare not swallow this one single grain of rice very simply, unconsciously, for your own comfort, for your own happiness—you dare not eat for the reason of your own happiness. When you think about all the continuation of the rice, of each grain of rice that is on your plate, it is unbearable—thinking about how other sentient beings suffered and were killed for this.

So now what happens if you eat this one plate of rice unconsciously, without any thought to benefit all these pitiful suffering sentient beings—creatures who created so much negative karma and experienced so much pain for this? When you think about how so many sentient beings suffered for each of these rice grains, or worked so hard for each of these rice grains, if you eat this one plate of rice only for your own comfort, happiness and pleasure, how is it? If you eat with such a motive, after all sentient beings suffered for each grain of rice, if you eat only seeking your own comfort—isn’t that a very upsetting, selfish attitude, a very poor mind? There is no thought to benefit even one sentient being who made this rice available, no concern for even one sentient being, who made the rice on your own plate available. There is nothing except the attitude, “If I can be happy; when can I be happy?” When you think about how others suffered so much and created so much negative karma for this, it is unbearable to eat without having some plan, some thought to benefit in the mind.

Even a piece of vegetable, it’s the same thing, again so many creatures were killed. Without spraying they cannot grow well, they get a lot of holes, and by spraying so many creatures get killed. It looks very nice when you buy it in the supermarket, it looks like a self-existent nice fruit, nice vegetable, like nobody worked hard, it simply appeared—it simply exists like that in the supermarket, in the packet. But those creatures who live on that food also need that food. Like it is our food, it also is their food—same thing. So by killing them, we get the food, by force. Those creatures don’t have big bodies like we have. Those who live on vegetables have fragile bodies, so tiny—there is nothing they can do, nothing. It is their food; they are born there by their karma. But the human beings have more powerful, bigger bodies, and they also want the fruit and vegetables, so they take it by force.

Both of them want happiness; both of them do not want suffering. Both do not want starvation, but those creatures are so powerless, so small, so tiny, they can’t do anything, they don’t have machines. Human beings made factories and machines to destroy. Some pitiful human creates this negative karma, harming them for their own means of living, for the happiness of their own life, by force, killing them to gain happiness of this life, in order to make business. If it is bad looking people won’t buy it. If it has a lot of holes, with insects, people won’t buy it. So some pitiful sentient beings have to create negative karma—many guideless, pitiful creatures, and so many have to suffer. Like this. Then some sentient beings put it in the shops, put in the supermarket, making it easy for us, making it available for us, everything together in one shop so you don’t have to go around and around and around. The sentient beings make your life so easy. To save energy, to save time, to save money—everything is together in one supermarket, nice and clean.

If we look at it this way, all comfort and enjoyment are completely dependent on the kindness of sentient beings. Even the water that we drink, that we use for one cup of tea. Even in one mouthful of water there are many tiny creatures that cannot be seen by the eyes. They get disturbed—when the water is boiled all these creatures die, and experience much suffering. Without depending on the kindness of sentient beings, without sentient beings’ suffering, there is no way to enjoy even a cup of tea. There is no way to receive this comfort. Not even a mouthful of water to quench the thirst.

We might think, “I have money, I have a job, I have education, I have a nice house, a car, a job, a degree and money, so I am self-supporting.” But even the education that you have now, with which you can make money, could not exist without depending on the kindness, effort and hard work of the teachers, on their patience and on the parents or whomever—friends, benefactors—spending money for the education. Those who give you financial help are sentient beings. Even the money that is spent for the teachings comes from sentient beings. Education is received by the kindness of sentient beings.

Whether you are educated or not, if nobody offers you a job or wants to hire you, how is it? You have no money to live. Whether you have an education or not, if nobody gives you a job, how is it? Each month you enjoy, living in that nice apartment that you have rented, with water, with a car, with a boat—with all these comforts, just from having money. That money came from the person who gave you the job. Thinking of just that part, just that evolution—each month’s enjoyment comes by the kindness of the person who employs you. If nobody gives you a job there is no comfort. It is so clear how your comfort depends on others.

So now you can see how each day of being alive depends on sentient beings, and particularly how food is received from sentient beings. When you think this way, you can see that each day that we are able to be alive—without depending on others, on sentient beings, each time we breathe, without depending on sentient beings there is no way that we can be alive, no way that we have opportunity to practice Dharma, the complete infallible method to free ourselves from all sufferings, and to free others. Through this we can free all others from all suffering. Without depending on the kindness of the sentient beings we would not be able to follow such an infallible method, the method to achieve enlightenment, today.

So now you can see each day of being alive completely depends on the kindness of mother sentient beings. Now we should think this way. So far, sentient beings, creatures, have been for our use, suffering so much, and have benefited us so much, worked so hard since one was born until now. They have been so kind—all happiness is received by their kindness, they have been extremely kind. Now from our own side, what have we done to benefit others, what worthwhile action have we done for others? Since we were born until now, what did we do to benefit them? Nothing. If we search, we can’t find anything—it is very hard to find.

Actually I just talk the words, like a tape recorder I just talk the words about bodhicitta. I don’t practice, I just talk the words of the teachings—the mind is empty of compassion and love, and there is no practice. The mind is completely empty, like an empty pot, very dry, no water, like ice. Like the very hot sand ground, like that, very dry.

My mother doesn’t talk much about bodhicitta, and she doesn’t understand much of the teachings, but she has much feeling for it and her mind is rich in compassion. She doesn’t read from the scriptures; she doesn’t understand that. But actually, she practices. I do not practice, but she practices. She doesn’t speak as it is explained in the scriptures, but somehow she feels it all the time—anybody who helps her, anybody whom she sees working hard, all the time she says that. Even if they work so little, from her side there is so much concern, she always feels so much kindness in her heart. She always sees the difficulty of others and is always speaking about how they work so hard for her, how they are kind, saying that she is unworthy to receive help from others.

She says, “My stomach is empty,” which does not mean empty of food—she means my mind is empty of realizations so she is not worthy to be served. She is not worthy of receiving help from those monks bringing tea, and not only those monks but anyone. She doesn’t speak about all mother sentient beings’ kindness but practically, in everyday life, with those who are around her she always expresses how all sentient beings are so kind. Now she goes to circumambulate the stupa every day. She says, “I must do something, my mind is empty of realizations, I received so much help, I cannot sit like this, I should do something.” So she wants to do prayers, to circumambulate the stupa, to do the practice of purification and accumulation of merit.

This thought just came about my mother. There are some good things that I found out, which I don’t have, so the thought just came to mention this.

However the point of what I am saying is this. Even if we don’t know how all sentient beings are kind and have been our mother, even if we don’t know this, I think it is very important at least to think about the kindness of the surrounding people. The kindness that you can see by the eye, as I explained before, which doesn’t need a particular belief or understanding of karma—it is just a matter of being aware of it. For the person who offers you the job, always think about their kindness. Always think about the kindness of the parents who have been so kind to give you this body. If they didn’t create the karma to give you this body, there would be no way to be given this body, to be born from the womb. They are kind even in creating the karma to give you this body. They protected the body, each day, from many hindrances and protected the life. They brought you up in the path of the world, taught you the language, educated you and experienced much hardship for this. Like that. Remember the kindness of the surrounding people; remember the kindness of the husband and of the wife. Without depending on other sentient beings, there is no way that you can have a good reputation, there is no one to give compliments to you—the rocks, the plants, the water won’t make compliments to you. Even this is received by the kindness of sentient beings.

Even traveling; somebody created the idea of an airplane. If sentient beings did not make it available we would not have the opportunity in this life to travel. Saving time and energy; you can accomplish your wishes. All this—whatever material you wish to buy you can easily get, you can easily find, you can easily travel. All these come from the kindness of sentient beings, from their experience of hardship. In everyday life, it is extremely important to remember the kindness again and again, in particular the kindness of the enemy—among the surrounding people, particularly the enemy. You should remember that one from the heart, the kindness of the enemy who has hateful thoughts towards you.

Even the job that you do, going to the office—whether you go to the office or something else—the more you feel, the more you remember the kindness of other sentient beings, such as the one who gave you the job, that much easier and more sincere it becomes. Instead of, “I am doing this job for my happiness, I want the money, I want to enjoy my life so I need money,” body, speech and mind completely into one’s own happiness, one’s body, speech, and mind become dedicated to fulfilling the wishes of others. The more you feel the kindness of others, such as the person who gave you the job, every day the more you think of the kindness of others, the more the wish for others to be happy and not to suffer increases, gets stronger and stronger, even if you do not get money. You see, the previous work was completely for yourself and now the work is for others. Even the same work that you did before just for yourself, for your own comfort, becomes a bodhisattva action. Also there are no more problems—it becomes the work for others, so there is less confusion. Also the mind is that much happier, much more happy than previously doing the work only for oneself.

The conclusion is that if other sentient beings benefit you so much, why don’t you benefit others? There is no reason why you would not benefit others. Your life is completely dependent on others, so others are also dependent on you. Then why shouldn’t you benefit others?

The practice of the good heart, patience in particular, even if we don’t know how all the happiness comes from all sentient beings, even if we don’t know that, in each day’s life, in the office where one works, the surrounding people with whom one lives at home, with whom one lives at one place, in one house, in the same room, whose face we see in everyday life, with whom we talk in everyday life—generally the human beings, in particular the surrounding people with whom one eats together, with whom one works together, particularly the one who hates you. They are the people who criticize you, who badly treat you, who complain about you, particularly those virtuous friends, those gurus who help you develop patience, and a better and better heart.

So however, without talking much, even if we cannot give benefit to all the sentient beings, even if we cannot generate love and compassion for all, at least with human beings we should have thoughts of loving kindness. Particularly for the human beings with whom we live together in one house, we should attempt to avoid harming and instead give to them. Because if one doesn’t practice the good heart, if one doesn’t practice patience, not giving benefit but giving harm, always living this life with the selfish attitude, with anger, it is difficult to have harmony in the family, with people in the same office, with friends, husband or parents. Difficult. The relationship doesn’t last. If one lives with strong anger, there are that many more problems. It is not easy to have harmony.

You see, happiness, each day’s comfort, comes from others. Depending on these human beings, from them you receive your happiness and comfort. Happiness, peace of mind is so important—the most important among the means of living. Among the means of living this is of the utmost need, the most important thing, happiness. Without others you can’t receive it. Therefore you need to practice. If you want mind-peace, happiness in life, you should practice patience, love and compassion. Train the mind in loving kindness. As much as possible, avoid giving harm, and train the mind in giving benefit to others.

Lecture 7: November 19th am

[Prayers]

“Obeisance to my guru and to the protector Manjushri, holding to his heart a scriptural text, symbolic of his seeing all things as they are; whose intelligence shines forth as the sun, unclouded by delusion or traces of ignorance. Who teaches in sixty ways, with the loving compassion of a father for his only son, all creatures caught in the prison of samsara, confused in the darkness of their ignorance, overwhelmed by their suffering. You, whose dragon-thunder-like proclamation of Dharma arouses us from the stupor of our delusion and frees us from the iron chains of our karma, who wields the sword of wisdom hewing down suffering wherever its sprouts appear, clearing away the darkness of ignorance. You, whose princely body is adorned with the one hundred and twelve marks of a Buddha, who has completed the stages, achieving the highest perfection of a bodhisattva, who has been pure from the beginning, I bow down to you, oh Manjushri.

“With the brilliance of your wisdom, oh Compassionate One, illuminate the darkness enclosing my mind, enlighten my intelligence and wisdom so that I may gain insight into Buddha’s words and the texts that explain them.” (3x)

While the requesting prayer is chanted in Tibetan, you can read the meaning of the prayer in English. And those who are familiar with it and want to do in that way can follow it. You see the last prayer, the requesting prayer to Buddha, Maitreya and Asanga will be repeated twice, the sang.gye j’ang.sem sum.la sol.wa.deb, making request to the three of them. The visualization is the same as it is normally done in the Jorcho practice, the preliminary practice of the lam-rim meditation.

When you do the first request, beams are emitted, purifying all the general hindrances and obscurations to generating the whole graduated path to enlightenment, from guru devotion up to enlightenment, the unified state of Vajradhara, particularly the hindrances of generating the extensive path. There are two paths to achieve omniscient mind—the profound path and the extensive path—so particularly the hindrances to achieve the extensive path. The hindrances of generating the general path from guru devotion up to enlightenment, the particular hindrances of generating the extensive path of sutra and tantra, those hindrances which are within your mind and in the minds of all the sentient beings, who are around you, are all purified by the nectar rays flowing from this merit field.

Then the second time, sang.gye j’ang.sem sum.la sol.wa.deb, “From you three buddhas and bodhisattvas, I request inspiration.” Then a replica of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, a replica of Maitreya Buddha and a replica of Asanga absorb into you and into all sentient beings. Then think that the general path from guru devotion up to enlightenment, particularly the essence of the extensive path of sutra and the essence of the extensive path of tantra, is generated within my mind and in the minds of all sentient beings. That is the meditation to do during the second request.

The essence of the extensive sutra path is bodhicitta and the essence of the extensive path of tantra is the illusory body. Then the very essence of that is rupakaya.

Then the last one, “From you three crowning jewels of clear exposition I request inspiration.” At that time the particular hindrances that are purified are the hindrances to generating the extensive path of sutra and tantra. Those hindrances that are in my mind and in the minds of all sentient beings are purified by these strong nectar rays flowing particularly from Buddha, Manjushri, and Nagarjuna. Purified. Then second time when you repeat, “…sol wa deb,” they are so pleased—it is good to think that they are so pleased. So far our mind did not face towards the graduated path to enlightenment, the graduated path to omniscient mind. So far we have been backwards, doing the opposite. So now we are facing the graduated path to omniscient mind, following their wishes. Whatever they prayed for us, whatever their holy mind wishes we follow, and also by doing the request, we intend to follow the graduated path towards enlightenment, generate bodhicitta, benefit others and obtain the omniscient mind for the sake of others. So the holy beings are so pleased, particularly by this request.

By that a replica of Buddha, a replica of Manjushri and a replica of Nagarjuna manifest and they emit a replica which absorbs into you your heart. And like that a replica absorbs into each sentient being. Then think that the general path from guru devotion up to enlightenment, particularly the profound path, the essence of the profound path, the essence of the profound graduated path of sutra, the wisdom of shunyata is generated, and then the essence of the profound graduated path of tantra, the clear light, and then the very essence of that, the dharmakaya, is generated in my mind and in the minds of all sentient beings. Do the same thing when you make requests to Shantideva.

That’s the way of doing the meditation while one is saying this requesting prayer. I won’t explain the purpose of this requesting prayer now. Sometime when there is need of an explanation of the other prayers, the purpose of the other preliminary practices, at that time it will be explained.

[Requesting prayer]

[From notes]

How sentient beings are so precious, so kind. How one receives all happiness and perfection from them, by their kindness. Think in this way: one has to accomplish the three great purposes by depending on the kindness of other sentient beings. Meditating on the kindness of others in this way is very deep and very effective for the mind, as the mind becomes more familiar with this subject. Even with this precious human body that we have now, we can achieve any great meaning even within one hour, even within a minute. With this precious human body we can create so many causes of omniscient mind. We can follow the path to omniscient mind, we can create so many causes for liberation—even in one hour, one minute we can create so many causes for a perfect human body qualified by the eight freedoms and the ten richnesses. We can create the cause of a perfect human body with perfect enjoyments and richness in future lives—whatever one wishes to achieve one can accomplish, one can work for that. Even this body is received by the kindness of each sentient being in the suffering six realm beings. It is particularly good to think that I received this precious human body with which I can accomplish the three great meanings and so forth by the kindness of the enemy who hates or dislikes me.

How is this precious human body received by depending on their kindness? The principal cause of the perfect human body is moral conduct. In relation to stones, wood or water, an action cannot receive the name, the label, “killing” or “not killing.” There is no base to label “receiving harm,” “taking life,” “separating the consciousness from the body.” In relation to these material objects we cannot label the vow of abstaining from these actions. If the object doesn’t have a mind then it is not a sentient being. It should be living and having a mind. If the object doesn’t have a mind, there is no way to practice moral conduct in relation to it, no way of abstaining from these negative actions.

So we make a vow, a commitment in relation to any object that has mind. One can make the vow in front of the form of Buddha, or in front of the guru, the abbot, or the assembly of Sangha, “I won’t do the action of killing in relation to this object, sentient beings. I won’t harm these sentient beings.” This covers all objects that have mind, it doesn’t matter what shape it is—mushroom, eggs, flowers, pillars, broom—sentient beings. It covers the whole thing. That is included when we make the vow, “I won’t do harm by taking others’ lives, stealing or lying to the object, other sentient beings.” We make this vow and practice this moral conduct on the object, sentient beings, except if the person doesn’t recognize it is a sentient being due to ignorance. Like a woman who looks like a piece of stick, who doesn’t move much.

There are some amazing creatures—because of karma. There is no particular fixed number of shapes of bodies. Because of the various causes we create, so there are various shapes of bodies that sentient beings take. There are those who look like mountains, but are sentient being. Their bodies are of fire, but they are sentient beings. There are various things like that. Some beings bodies look likes plants, so looking at the shape alone you cannot discriminate them as sentient beings.

So there are various karmas. There is nothing like, “Karma should be like this,” “Non-virtuous karma should be like this.” The bodies that sentient beings take have various forms. If a hair is thrown in water and there is a consciousness that has the karma to have a body like a hair, then it can go in the hair. That happened in Tibet. A monk in Tibet had a leather strap to carry his luggage, and it become dry, so solid. So he put it in the water and after some days it became flexible, like that. So after a few days he came to pick up and it had become a sentient being. One end became the head and the other end became the tail. So he couldn’t use it to carry his load anymore. Even though it was leather, after a consciousness has migrated into it you cannot say that it is leather anymore, or that it is hair. Similarly, even though it has the shape of a plant, you can’t say for sure. That which has consciousness is not a plant, and saying that a flower closes up and eats creatures does not alone prove that it is a sentient being. There can be sentient beings who have the shape of plants, due to their karma and the karma of the surrounding beings, but just the flower closing up, just the reason of harming others cannot alone prove that it has mind.

If people are traveling in the mountains and a stone falls down and hurts a particular person, crushes his head, does that stone have mind? Would scientists say that that stone has mind just because it hit one person and not others? Or a butcher in Italy—all the pigs are lined up and a big wheel cuts the whole body immediately into pieces. The mother of the family cleans the blood for many years. They become so wealthy. One day she slips on that machine and it immediately cuts her body into pieces. That is an example of karma that is created and experienced in this lifetime.

The results of powerful actions done with holy objects can also start to be experienced in this life. If one understands the teaching on karma and checks one’s own life, then one can recognize this. Particularly with treating the parents badly, harming the parents, holy objects, bodhisattvas, sangha or the gurus with whom one has made Dharma contact. Negative and positive actions done with these holy objects are very powerful. By repeatedly doing the same actions one experiences the result in this life, without need to tell about future lives. Doing the harmful action with ordinary beings again and again, the negative karma becomes very powerful, like this old lady who killed pigs. The machine was not supposed to cut her, it was only supposed to cut the pigs. But it happened that way. The machine doesn’t have a mind to cut her in pieces and from her own side she doesn’t want to be cut up, but it happened that way.

Whether we talk of time or not, the condition of time, if there is no further answer than, “The stone fell down on his head because of time,” “The baby was born handicapped because of time,” it looks as if these things happened without a cause or creator. They look close to self-existent. But the stone fell down on that particular person. This particular baby was born with an imperfect body.

Even if there is a physical cause, something wrong with the fertilized egg, some atoms missing or whatever, without reason it would not happen. The reason is the karma, the actions that the person has accumulated in the past. If there were no karma, then there would be less opportunity to be liberated from suffering and causes of suffering such as the three poisonous minds.

There would be nothing that you could do to purify the cause of suffering if there was only limited understanding. It doesn’t give the opportunity for you to achieve complete release from suffering. Just that limited idea does not allow you to follow the path that ceases the unsubdued mind and its action karma. There is something else that causes the child to be conceived on that imperfect fertilized egg, or for that person to be there when the stone falls down—something that makes the elements, that makes the stone fall down, that makes the branches of the tree fall down on your head and the tree fall down on your car.

By understanding karma you have the opportunity—not just the reason of time, but your own mind, your own thought, your own karma. To put it this way: there is more freedom. It is up to you. Except if your own choice is not happiness but suffering, which is a different thing. The more one understands, the more one gets freedom to liberate oneself from undesirable suffering. If it is up to time, it doesn’t depend on karma, the action created by the person himself.

After this life, at the time of death, if the continuity of consciousness would cease, then the purpose of meditation practice, everything besides ordinary life—work, farm-work or doing business, besides the worldly methods to gain happiness for life, to obtain materials, besides that something else, something different from that would not be necessary. Spiritual development or the development of the mind would not be necessary and meditation practice would be unreasonable.

Past and future lives are not objects of our knowledge because we forget. This is the same reason we do not remember things that we did in this life—but we can’t say therefore they don’t exist. Nowadays even in the West, there are so many stories of people telling about their past lives—where they lived, how they died, where they were shot. There are many old people who have clairvoyance and they can tell their own and others’ past and future lives. Many people in the West wrote books saying that there is a life after this, they explained their experience.

For some people, when they get material objects, these last a long time and for some people they easily get broken, lost or stolen. Some people plant flowers and they grow so well, but for some people flowers don’t grow, or they grow so poor, not nice looking.

On the basis of the creatures that you can see as sentient beings, you should practice moral conduct, abstaining from killing, avoiding giving harm, and benefiting. If one cannot see them, then that method is finished. If you want to work for sentient beings, even to be able to discriminate what is a sentient being and what is not a sentient being, you need clairvoyance. To be able to do the works for others according to the level of their minds, to be able to do it perfectly without any mistake, one must have clairvoyance, one must have omniscient mind or shamatha and higher seeing, those realizations, in order to have good realizations, in order to have good clairvoyance, as Lama Atisha said in The Lamp for the Path.

Lecture 8: November 19th pm

Once more, if there is no past life and no future life, if there is no continuation of consciousness before this life and after this life, then there would be no point in achieving omniscient mind for the sake of others, because when the human beings and creatures who live on this earth died, there would be nothing after that, no life. In this case, whatever life there is now—that is it. There would be no life after this one, so what would be the point of bearing so much hardship, putting great effort into achieving omniscient mind for the sake of others? There would be no point. And anyway, the omniscient mind wouldn’t be achieved within an hour, all sentient beings wouldn’t be enlightened within this hour, so whether you worked for omniscient mind or not, after this life there would be no other life so there would be no point in being concerned so much about others’ mental peace. There would be no point. Mental peace, relaxation, release from samsara, release from the bondage of samsara, delusion and karma—these wouldn’t be that important. There wouldn’t be so much point, because anyway, whenever death happens, suffering is ceased. So then in this way, dying soon would be the best method. Dying as quickly as possible would be the solution. After death there is nothing, no continuation of consciousness, so dying would be like achieving release from samsara. You don’t need to meditate or do any other extra thing, you don’t need to do a particular practice. The easiest one is to die now. To die now is the solution.

In that case, since there is no continuity of consciousness after this life, if death happens immediately there wouldn’t be any problem. There wouldn’t be any problems after that—such as not having enough money, empty pockets, then running to your parents or friends, or applying for a job, or going to see a psychologist or doing some tricks. Anyway, I am joking. Then in order to make money, or in order to have happiness and comfort, you have got to be educated, go to school, and then again in the daytime study, at nighttime work, in the daytime study—all this rushing doesn’t have to be done.

But in that case, if there’s no continuity of consciousness, why should there be birth? If there is no continuity after this life, if this is it, if this is the only life, why should there be birth? So many people die on this earth, why do so many get born? Why is it—many worms, many creatures, many insects, many ants, many chickens? How many eggs does a frog lay? There are many eggs from one frog. We see so many other creatures with so many eggs, so many babies coming. Recently there was a story, I am not sure whether it was in the West or in the East—maybe in an Asian country—one mother got nine children at the same time, so many born at the same time and they all stayed alive. There were many stories many different times, I get mixed up. Why is it? If there is no continuity of consciousness after this life, then why should there be birth? There shouldn’t be birth also. If there’s no continuation of consciousness after this, there shouldn’t even be birth to start with. So why is it?

The same reason why, on this earth, there should be fewer human beings and more animals. If there’s no continuation of consciousness after this life, what makes there be fewer human beings on this earth and more creatures? Even if you just think about ants, the human population and the population of ants, (Rinpoche laughs) the number of butterflies—so many in summertime, unbelievable. Why are there less human beings? Who does that? Who keeps that number? Is there somebody here on this earth who keeps the number of human beings down, allowing the number of creatures to be more and keeping humans down? Is there somebody here? I am not saying here, I mean on this earth, I am not saying in this tent!

If there were no continuity of consciousness after this life, many mistakes arise. There wouldn’t be any logical answer to these questions. Even if there is an answer, temporarily, immediately, it might look kind of nice for the first question, but the second question might be difficult, or when it comes to the second or third point, it becomes more and more difficult. Then the first answer becomes completely false, ridiculous. To think in this way is helpful.

So the main subject is the kindness—what I was saying just slipped out—the main subject was kindness, how precious the other sentient beings are. In relation to the object of wood there is no way to practice moral conduct—no way to abstain, to turn away from killing, stealing and telling lies—as there is no mind. So the object in relation to which we practice moral conduct, abstaining from killing, telling lies and those things, is the object of sentient beings. As I mentioned before, sentient beings: “I won’t harm them, I won’t kill them.” When you take that vow, it also includes enemies, not only the friend, the stranger. It is on the basis of all the sentient beings and includes also that particular sentient being who hates you. That is the object in relation to which one makes the vow to abstain from killing.

This present precious human body, with which one can achieve any great meaning, whatever one wishes, has been received by depending on the kindness of each sentient being. Now you can see how this is received from sentient beings, including this present enemy, the one who dislikes you. This present precious human body was received by depending on his kindness. Depending on the kindness of sentient beings, one creates the cause, including the kindness of the enemy, the one who dislikes you now. So the cause and the result of this highly meaningful precious human body are both completely brought about by the kindness of other sentient beings, including the enemy who hates you now. So actually the cause and result both are given in your hands by sentient beings, by this enemy. Having the opportunity to follow the path to liberation, to omniscient mind, comes about by the kindness of the enemy, by the kindness of other sentient beings. One can see how it is by the kindness of others.

Also the enjoyments in everyday life, our means of living, the perfections of life—this is also received by the kindness of other sentient beings, because the cause of the enjoyments is charity. The karma of the enjoyments, the perfections, is charity. And again same thing—there is no such thing as making charity to the rock, to the earth, to the sky, nothing to label, “I am making charity to the rocks, to the earth, to the sky,” no such thing to label. The object, the base in relation to we make charity is a sentient being—it has to be a sentient being. There is no such thing as making charity to yourself . So the base in relation to which you practice charity has to be another separate being, separate from yourself, another sentient being. So now again the cause of charity and the resultant enjoyment, wealth, food, clothing and material perfections, the cause and the result are completely received by the kindness of other sentient beings. It comes from them, it completely depends on others.

Having many helpers around, having surrounding people to support you, to help you—friends, family—those pleasures are received by the kindness of other sentient beings. The cause of having perfect surroundings, helpers, is patience. So, again the same thing—the object in relation to whom we practice patience are other sentient beings, the one who disturbs or the one who dislikes oneself. In this life even having helpers around, even the result and cause of this pleasure, is completely received by the kindness of others, sentient beings, completely depends upon others.

Without depending on the kindness of sentient beings, you can’t do anything. You alone can’t do anything, nothing, you can’t even do a little movement without depending on the kindness of other sentient beings. Leave aside ultimate happiness, even a small comfort in a dream, even a small comfort, cool air passing through, touching the body when one feels hot, even such a small pleasure—there is nothing that is received without depending on the kindness of other sentient beings, there is nothing that is received without others suffering.

So besides the present human body, enjoyments, surroundings, even the causes of these are completely received by the kindness of other sentient beings. And even in the future life, if one wishes for the body of a happy transmigratory being, a human body or a deva body, perfect enjoyments, perfect surroundings, even if one wishes this in the future, the cause and the result both are received by depending on the kindness of other sentient beings. From the three great purposes this is one.

The second great purpose—even if one wishes to achieve ever-release from samsara, ever-release from the contaminated aggregates of attachment, even if one wishes to the achieve ever-release from this samsara, one has to receive it by depending on the kindness of others, sentient beings. How? The fundamental path to nirvana is the three higher trainings. The higher training of moral conduct, as I explained before, is dependent on the kindness of other sentient beings. From that cause one is able to generate the higher training of concentration, or shamatha, tranquil abiding. From that one is able to generate higher seeing, insight. So through the development of this one is able to generate everlasting release, nirvana, on this mind. So you see, by depending on the kindness of others, sentient beings, one can generate the path and the result, nirvana, in one’s own mind.

Then the third great purpose; put it this way. The enemy whom you dislike, the person who hates you, the present enemy—the past ones we don’t remember, the past lives’ enemies we don’t remember and the future enemies we don’t see, so the present ones, this month, this week, this life, somebody whom you dislike, somebody who hates you, whether he is in the East or in the West, wherever he is—if he’s here it is very good, sitting next to you is excellent, very good for the mind.

So first of all we think how kind that person is. Then in relation to the one whom one points out as enemy, the object about which one says, “I don’t like,” “I don’t want to see her or him,” in relation to this enemy whom one hates, whom one doesn’t want to see, in relation to this enemy and all the rest of the sentient beings—you should think of that particular person in front of you, and then in relation to this enemy and all the rest of the sentient beings, you generate great compassion wishing this enemy and all the rest of sentient beings to be free from all the suffering and to cause that by yourself. The great compassion is generated in relation to this enemy and all the rest of the sentient beings, as well as great love, wishing this particular enemy and all the rest of the sentient beings to have happiness and to cause that by oneself, to do that by oneself. So great love is generated on this, and now from this great love and great compassion, which is generated on the enemy and all the rest of the sentient beings, bodhicitta comes. From that cause—the root, great compassion and great love, which is generated by depending on them—from that cause bodhicitta is generated. From bodhicitta, bodhisattvas come. From a bodhisattva Buddha came; from Buddha, the Dharma came; and from Dharma, Sangha.

Even if we have accumulated so much heavy various negative karma, such as the five uninterrupted karmas, very heavy, whatever heavy negative karma, the cause of suffering that we have accumulated, there is the opportunity to purify and make it non-existent. By taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha we have the opportunity to purify the cause, to not experience the result, the suffering, which one has to experience for many eons, for many lifetimes, many hundreds and hundreds of lifetimes—those one can purify.

Even if one has degenerated precepts, pratimoksha vows, tantric vows or bodhisattva vows, even if one has degenerated these, one can purify them with the holy object of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Having this incredible opportunity, such that even when one made a mistake it can be purified, having an opportunity like this is due to the kindness of the enemy. If you think of the evolution, if you think back to the root from where great compassion and great love came, this great opportunity, this great freedom is dependent on the kindness of the enemy. Definitely it depends on the kindness of the enemy—so kind, so precious. However many mistakes we do, non-virtuous actions, everything we can purify, having great freedom—so precious, so kind the enemy. The one who is complaining now, who is criticizing you.

And not only that: from Buddha, Dharma came, and whatever, either we accumulate merit by understanding the Dharma revealed by Buddha or we accumulate merit without knowing karma, without knowing what is virtue, what is non-virtue, without having heard the teaching of Buddha. Whenever we accumulate merit in our mind, that itself is the work of Buddha; that is the true action of Buddha. The true action of Buddha is working in the mind of sentient beings; it is collected by the sentient beings’ minds—only by the Buddha’s holy mind, the Buddha’s holy actions doing the works for sentient beings. Even if we haven’t heard the teaching of Buddha in this life, whenever we accumulate merit, by opportunity not by knowing, not by having intellectual understanding, but by opportunity (there is no need to mention examples) then whatever merit we accumulate in our mind is the action of Buddha.

From this merit, from these virtuous actions, from this merit, we can enjoy happiness, perfections— temporary happiness and ultimate happiness, perfections that we experience, we can enjoy. The cause of happiness is purely virtue, only virtue. The cause of suffering is only non-virtue.

It’s like this, yeah. The cause of this potato is only potato, not corn. The seed, the cause of this potato is only potato, it’s not corn and it’s not avocado. The cause of the seed of the corn is not potato, it is only corn. So like that. By planting potato, as much as you pray, “Please I want avocados from that, I don’t want potatoes growing,” as much as you make prostration, as much as you pray, you will only get potatoes. Because what you have planted were only potatoes. If you have planted the seed of avocados than it’s okay, you don’t even have to make prostrations. It’s like this. You can say, “Why not?” or “Why can’t we grow potatoes if we planted avocado?” However in reality it doesn’t happen. If you were wishing and praying, this year planting potatoes and then next year getting avocados, and other people knew that, they would think you were crazy—that what you’re hoping and what you are doing is crazy.

So like that, if you are expecting happiness from non-virtue, it’s crazy. It doesn’t happen in reality. In reality, this evolution doesn’t happen. The cause of happiness is only virtue, merit—that is the action of Buddha. All the three times’ happiness, perfections that one has experienced from beginningless samsaric lifetimes and that one is experiencing now, what one will experience in the future, temporal happiness, ultimate happiness, all the three times happiness and perfections are completely, completely dependent—you can see, for example, that today each comfort, each pleasure that we have, each spoonful of food, each cup of coffee, each biscuit, each comfort that we experience today—when you look at the evolution and how things are dependent on each other, completely, even today, each comfort is dependent on the kindness of this enemy, is dependent upon this person.

Now we think this way: without depending on this enemy who dislikes oneself, without depending on this enemy, ignoring this, forgetting it, without depending on this, there is no way that great compassion can be generated. There is no way that great love for all sentient beings, great compassion for all, focusing on all sentient beings, can be generated. There is no way to generate bodhicitta, no way for any bodhisattvas to happen. Without depending on this, among all sentient beings, ignoring this, there is no way to generate great love and compassion, to generate bodhicitta, to become bodhisattvas. There is no way for Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and the attainer of the holy Dharma and Sangha to exist.

Then, without them there wouldn’t be the opportunity to purify the negative karma that we accumulated. Liberating oneself from true suffering and the true cause of suffering wouldn’t happen, there wouldn’t be this opportunity. Also without Buddha, there wouldn’t be Dharma, there wouldn’t be the Buddha’s holy actions accumulating merit in our mind. So without this, there is no way that we can experience any—leave aside ultimate happiness, even every day life’s comfort, sitting here comfortably on this cushion, warm—there is no way for even this small comfort to happen, there is no way to experience this. By ignoring and forgetting the enemy who hates us, among all sentient beings, ignoring and forgetting him, there is nothing among the three times’ happinesses—past, present and future happiness—that you can experience or enjoy. This is completely dependent on the sentient being who dislikes you. So that person is incredibly kind and so precious.

Immediately, especially, at the moment, even though we hear the words, even though we understand the words, we might not feel the kindness from the heart. Through this meditation, through this evolution, we may not feel it now, but gradually, if we meditate more and more, as more faith in karma comes, you see the advantage of achieving enlightenment. The more you understand the teaching, the more you meditate, the more you purify and accumulate merit, the more you will feel the kindness of others stronger and stronger from the heart.

There is more to talk about—about the kindness of the enemy, more clarification, and ways to think how the enemy is incredibly kind. There are other ways to prove it. When you think of these reasons then you see and feel that among the sentient beings there is no one who is more kind to you than the enemy. You see this, you feel this from the depth of the heart, and you feel so precious. Hopefully it will be possible to talk more about that, the little advice that I heard from the holy mouth of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, when he was teaching the Bodhicaryavatara commentary.

By depending on the kindness and the existence of the enemy one generates bodhicitta, the cause of enlightenment. One is able to generate bodhicitta, one has the opportunity to generate bodhicitta by depending on his existence, by depending on his having dislikeful thoughts towards oneself. In order to achieve omniscient mind one should complete the practice of the six paramitas. From the six paramitas, one is the paramita of patience. So if nobody has disliking thoughts towards you, if nobody has ill will, there is no opportunity to practice the paramita of patience at all, and no opportunity to achieve omniscient mind as there is no opportunity to practice patience. There is no opportunity to do the effortless work for all sentient beings according to the level of their mind. One cannot accomplish the result, achieving omniscient mind and doing continuous effortless, extensive work for others—one cannot do this. One being able to do effortless extensive work for all the sentient beings, freeing all sentient beings from suffering and leading them to the state of omniscient mind comes from the practice of patience.

If everybody loves you, if everybody is a friend to you, if all the sentient beings love you, nobody has anger, nobody has disliking thoughts for you, then there is no opportunity to practice the paramita of patience, and no way to be able to offer extensive benefit to all sentient beings according to the level of their mind. There is no way to achieve the omniscient state of mind. There is no way; the opportunity to offer extensive benefits for others will be blocked. There is no way. So now, with whom one can practice patience, the paramita of patience? With no one else, no one except this one who has dislikeful thoughts towards oneself, with no one else except this one. So you see, by depending on his kindness, we achieve omniscient mind. By achieving omniscient mind, we are able to free all sentient beings from their suffering and lead them to sublime happiness, enlightenment.

Somebody who doesn’t have dislikeful thoughts, even if he says something negative with words or does something negative with the body, if you know that he doesn’t have dislikeful thoughts towards you, even if he tries to beat you, even though he says something, calls you something, anyway he loves you, his mind loves you—even though his action is something else, not gentle—you wouldn’t get angry with this person, because of the fact that he or she likes you.

The most painful for one’s mind or what makes one get angry is somebody who dislikes one. Even if he doesn’t do any harm with his actions of body or speech, if the mind dislikes or hates you it is the most bothering, the most painful for the mind; when you don’t do the practice of patience that is the most bothering, the most painful.

So you see, by having disliking thoughts, ill will, towards oneself, because of that you label “enemy.” Otherwise there is no way to label enemy.

However, for him it is creating negative karma. Having ill will and negative thoughts towards oneself, criticizing, giving bad reputation, giving harm towards one, he is creating negative karma, he is making himself suffer. In another way this is pitiful. For himself it’s no good, but for you his having dislikeful thoughts is so extremely kind, so precious. His having dislikeful thoughts, ill will and anger towards you, for you it is so kind, extremely kind. With the person who has that type of mind, dislikeful thoughts, anger, one can train the mind, one can develop the good heart, the thought of loving kindness, great compassion, patience. With that person you can work for enlightenment. There is opportunity to accomplish omniscient mind with that person. Through the development of the good heart, train the mind in the good heart with that person who has ill will.

Particularly when you think of the kindness of the enemy, how he is extremely kind to oneself, how helpful, kind and so beneficial in generating bodhicitta, in generating patience in one’s mind, in the path to omniscient mind and to accomplish omniscient mind—in this way you can see how precious he is, the person who has ill will towards oneself. The cause of bodhicitta, the thought of loving kindness, great compassion, the cause—the path, the six paramitas and the result, omniscient mind, doing the continuous effortless extensive works for all sentient beings—this is all received by completely depending on the kindness of this enemy. How kind he is, this enemy. All the three times happiness was received by his kindness, and the three time happiness, perfections and everything was received by the kindness of all sentient beings. Each human being here, those who are together here in this meditation hut, under this shed, all their three time happiness and perfections was received by the kindness of each sentient being, each human being, each deva, sura and asura, by the kindness of each narak, preta being or animal being. It depends on the kindness of each sentient being.

Also, to think the following way is very effective for the mind, especially for those who do not feel so much, do not understand so much this way of explanation about the kindness of others, cannot feel this way of explaining so much. To think this way is very good for the mind.

When we say “I,” it’s one person. How much you, oneself, how much you are happy, it is one person. How much you are suffering, what incredible suffering you experience, it is just one person. It is just one, one number. So no matter how much you are happy, it is nothing to get excited about, nothing to be surprised, it’s just one person. How many incredible problems you have, billions of problems you have, nothing to be so much depressed. Nothing so much to be shocked, it is just one person, just one, “I, I,” just one person. But others, what is called “others,” the sentient beings, are uncountable number, trillion numbers of sentient beings, that many number of sentient beings—even they are happy, it’s so little number. Others, what is called others, even if two sentient beings are suffering it’s too much, it’s too many, there is a mistake, even if two human beings are suffering it’s too many.

So now, think this way—what is more important? Here is one person, here are two people—which is more important—to work for this one person, to eliminate his suffering and to obtain happiness for him, or to eliminate the suffering of two people and obtain happiness for them? What is more important? Is working for the group, the two people, more important, or is working for the one person more important? Now, of course, this is one, this is two, so of course it is more important to work for the greater number. The one that is greater in number is more important. Working for two sentient beings is more important than working for one sentient being. So they are more precious, these two are more precious than only one.

If there is a choice between one million dollars and a hundred dollars, which is more precious; is a hundred dollars more precious than one million dollars? You see, if there is a choice then without even one minute’s delay, of course we take the one million dollars. If somebody puts it on the table, one hundred dollars and one million dollars, “Which one do you want to take?” Then if you are not crazy—anyway, the reason you choose the one million dollars is because it is more in number, so it is more precious, more valuable. So the same thing, the more important is what is more in number. So now, this one sentient being and ten sentient beings—what is more important, to work for one sentient being or to work for ten sentient beings? Which is more important? Of course there is no comparison, it’s more important to work for the ten sentient beings.

Now one sentient being and a billion sentient beings—here is one human being and there are one billion human beings, so which is more important for you to work for? Which is more important? Of course it is more important to work for the incredible number. Now here is one sentient being and here are the others, uncountable numbers of sentient beings, so which is more important for you to work for—for this one sentient being or for uncountable numbers of sentient beings? There is no need even to doubt. Of course it is obvious; the others for whom you work are an uncountable number and this is just one.

So now, that one sentient being for whom you are working is not a separate sentient being, it is yourself; so now, between yourself and all the others, an uncountable number of sentient beings, you and others, for whom you are going to work? Are you going to work for yourself or are you going to work for others—which one are you going to choose? Which is more important, your working for yourself, for your own happiness, which is more important, or your working to eliminate others’ suffering, to obtain happiness for all others, an uncountable number? Which is more important, which are you going to choose?

Same thing: as you want happiness and you don’t want suffering, so the uncountable numbers of others also wish happiness and do not want suffering. So choose for whom you are going to work. You see, when you think of others, the uncountable number, you are completely lost, nothing precious. When you think of others, you, the one, the “I” is completely lost, insignificant, completely lost, not important. When you think of how others want happiness and don’t want suffering, so many numbers, when you think about that, you, the one person, is completely lost. When you compare like this others become so important, so precious. So it is important to fulfill the wishes of others, to work for others, to eliminate their suffering, to obtain happiness for them. Nothing in life is more important than that work, nothing else is important; nothing among the works that you do in the life is more valuable than doing the work for sentient beings. Nothing else is more important. Nothing else is more valuable, nothing is more beneficial than this work, nothing is more important than this work in our life.

Also you can see from this: “So far how I have been living my life? I have been cherishing only me, completely renouncing the uncountable number of others.” All these are left out, day and night, all the time, cherishing only oneself, doing everything for oneself—wearing clothes, eating food, everything, making money, everything for oneself. You can see the selfish attitude.

So now the conclusion is this: it is much more skillful, much more wise to renounce the small number for the many, that is much wiser, much more skillful. If you renounce the many for the small number, if you renounce the two people for one person, it is not skillful—this is generally speaking. If you renounce the many for the small number, it is not skillful, it is foolish. If you renounce the small number for the many, it is skillful. And the small number is not others; it is just one, that is, oneself. So by this logical reason, just by the number, not by particular belief or faith in religion, just even by this number, like the money, a million dollars and one dollar, you can see so clearly…

<end of tape>

…renouncing others, which are an uncountable number, and cherishing oneself is the cause of many sufferings. That is foolish. Renouncing self for the sake of others is more skillful, and this is the cause of all happiness. So the conclusion is this: one should work for others, renouncing oneself and cherishing others and fulfilling the wishes of sentient beings.

So now, what sentient beings want and what they don’t want—what they don’t want is suffering and what they want is happiness. But now, for sentient beings to be free from all the sufferings, to be in sublime happiness, the sentient beings themselves should follow the path to omniscient mind. Without following the path it can not happen. So to do that, in order for sentient beings to follow the path, you should reveal the teachings. In order to reveal the teaching for them, first you should understand clearly, without any mistake, all the various personalities, the various levels of mind of sentient beings. You should see them clearly. Then also there are various methods according to that. So you should know the various methods without mistake. The one who can see this perfectly is only omniscient mind, nothing else. Therefore the solution or the method to free all sentient beings from suffering and lead them to omniscient mind, the sublime happiness, is that one should achieve omniscient mind.

So this should be the goal of our practice, of listening to the teachings, of doing the meditations, whatever. If possible from morning until night, every single action that we do should be dedicated for that, to accomplish these goals. And at least that which are Dharma actions, listening to teachings, doing meditations, those things, as much as possible they should be dedicated for that goal.

Like the mother whose only, most beloved, most dear son or child fell down in the fire—when she hears this, when she sees this, simultaneously the thought to relieve the child from the suffering of the fire, from being burned, arises without effort, automatically. While she is eating or running round, it automatically arises. Like that, she wants to pick up the child from the fire. In the same way, whenever we have the attitude to achieve enlightenment for the sake of all others, effortlessly, like the mother has this thought to go in the fireplace herself and take it out—automatically, simultaneously, effortlessly, it arises—like that, when we have this we have generated bodhicitta, the principal cause of enlightenment.

I stop here. It went quite long, I am sorry.

[Dedications]

Lecture 9: November 21st am

[Prayers]

Homage to Manjushri, mandala offering.

The visualization as I explained before. What we shouldn’t forget is this: the present life’s father and mother, friend, enemy. In the text the friend is in front, the enemy is behind, however I think that whatever is most effective for the mind can be done: the friend behind, the enemy in front, to take more care of the enemy, to have more concern. Then, all the rest of the sentient beings are around, and in the teachings it is explained that you should visualize them in the form of human beings. During the practice of refuge we visualize all sentient beings as human beings because when you recite the refuge prayer, as you are the leader of the prayer all the rest of the sentient beings follow your prayer. If you visualize ants, if you think of snakes, frogs, bugs and fleas, it is difficult to think that they are reciting the prayer. So I think this is just to make it easy for the mind.

However, whichever way is most effective, I think that can be visualized. The whole point is to subdue our mind. The whole point of everything, visualization, anything, is to subdue the unsubdued mind that we have now, to make the unpeaceful mind peaceful. That is the whole point of these various methods. So I think the main point is whatever is the most effective; that is the most important.

Then on the basis of this visualization purifying together, and you and all sentient beings together having generated all realizations. In this way it becomes a great puja, a method for all sentient beings to meet Dharma and gradually to be able to follow this incredible path, which leads to the state of omniscient mind.

[Requesting prayer]

If I abbreviate the previous explanation of the motive of bodhicitta or the way of training the mind in bodhicitta: exchanging oneself and others, the way of training the mind in this bodhicitta.

As it is explained in the teaching written by the great bodhisattva Thogme Zangpo, The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, all the sufferings, each and every suffering, comes from desiring happiness for self, wishing only oneself to be happy; and enlightenment, the fully completed state that is fully developed and purified, which means enlightenment—it’s just making it exact according to the Tibetan term—the state which is completely purified and fully developed came from the thought to benefit others. Therefore, completely changing one’s own happiness into the sufferings of others—maybe my English is not right, might be my own English. Completely exchanging one’s own happiness for other’s suffering is the practice of a bodhisattva, the son of the victorious ones.

Anyway, in short what this great bodhisattva Thogme Zangpo is saying is that since you do not wish for suffering and you wish for happiness, suffering comes from this selfish attitude, seeking happiness for the self. All the suffering, each and every suffering came from that. And all the happiness—here in the teaching it only mentions enlightenment but what it is saying is all the happiness, all the perfections and among that the ultimate happiness, perfection, among that the highest, the state of omniscient mind, the state which is completely purified and fully developed, the sublime happiness [enlightenment], even this comes from the thought of benefiting others, sentient beings.

So what it is saying is that if one renounces the selfish attitude seeking happiness only for the self, if you renounce this, if you give this up, if you change the mind, if you transform the mind from that into the thought of benefiting others, then not only do your wishes for all the temporal happiness and perfections become successful but even the ultimate wishes, to attain the state of omniscient mind, will be accomplished immediately, easily, if you have this thought of cherishing and benefiting others.

So therefore, as you have the opportunity now to practice this, you see, you want happiness now; you don’t want suffering, now, even today. That is the wish you have. Since your wish is like that, since even now you do not want suffering but only want happiness, what you should practice, what you should do, the method, the practice to fulfill that wish is to renounce one’s own happiness for the sake of others, and to take others’ suffering and experience that by oneself. Offer your own happiness and perfections to others, and take others’ suffering and experience on yourself. So you should practice this, even from right now, at this time.

This practice is the practice of the holy beings, the bodhisattvas, the sons of the victorious ones, the buddhas. “Victorious one” means Buddha, who became victorious over the unsubdued mind, who conquered the two types of obscurations—the unsubdued mind obscuration and the obscuration to fully knowing, to the omniscient mind. Who is completely victorious over the two obscurations, the inner enemy, the two obscurations. These are the practices of those holy beings, the sons of the victorious ones, so it is worthwhile to follow their examples, to take their example. It is worthwhile to be able to do the practices that are explained in the teachings, in the Bodhicaryavatara, the great bodhisattva Shantideva’s teachings, instead of renouncing others, renounce self. Instead of cherishing oneself, cherish others. It is worthwhile to be able to change the mind like this and to be able to offer one’s own happiness and perfections to others and take others’ suffering upon oneself and experience it. It is worthwhile to be able to do this practice, to change the mind and even the actions; to be able to exchange with other sentient beings.

If there was a choice, one would take all the suffering, sincerely—all the causes of suffering, the unsubdued mind and all the true suffering, such as the three types of sufferings—the suffering of pervasive formation, the suffering of change, the suffering of suffering. The sufferings of the lower realms, the sufferings of human beings: rebirth, old age, sickness, death, the deva’s suffering—the suffering of suffering. If there was a choice, if this was something that you can take by hand, like a thorn, like a fire on the body of other sentient beings, something that you can help by taking it by hand; if the sufferings of others were like that, it there was that possibility, like if a fire spark fell on the baby’s body and immediately you could take that fire out with your hand—if you could take all the suffering of other sentient beings by hand, like a thorn or a fire, if there was a choice or possibility like that, then you would want to take the suffering of uncountable numbers, you would want to take all their suffering, cause and result, upon yourself. Instead of them suffering, you would be happy to take all their suffering upon yourself and experience their suffering instead. You would be extremely happy if you could really do that, like taking a thorn or the fire that fell on the body if, when someone was suffering, you could take it away and offer the comfort or peace to that sentient being and suffer for them. Like that, if there was a choice, immediately you would want to exchange your own happiness for others’ suffering. To have such an incredible will like this.

Even if in everyday life we don’t have that much great will—if another person makes a mistake, or accuses you—if some other person has stolen a car and that person is in the group with you, and the owner of the car comes along and accuses you, running toward you with a red face, red nose, red ears, with a shaky mind, as if he is almost going to eat you he is so mad at you, and he scolds for stealing the car even though it’s not the case—these small things that happen normally in daily life. If you tell this person, “Oh, I didn’t do this,” trying to prove that it’s not you, then it has to be somebody else, it has to be another sentient being. If you prove that it’s not you, it has to be another sentient being, so he has to get mad at another sentient being, so that means another sentient being has to experience the problem, take the accusation, the punishment, the whole thing, whatever has to be done according to the law, getting caught in prison, all these things. So even though you don’t suffer punishment and all these things, in fact it’s the same or worse, because another sentient being has to suffer. Although you don’t suffer, another sentient being has to suffer.

So even in the case of a small suffering like in this example, you have the choice to take it upon yourself and let the other sentient being, the kind, precious one from whom you received all the three great purposes, as well as all the happiness and perfection, temporal and ultimate, of this life and future lives, who is much more precious than the wish-granting jewel, to let him have the comfort of not having this accusation, all these problems, to offer that to him, to this precious sentient being, and take his suffering upon yourself. We should train the mind in that way, we should have such great will like this. If there’s the possibility to take the true cause of suffering and the result, the whole thing, like I mentioned before in the case of taking the fire out and putting it on your body, we should train the mind in that way, we should have such great will—that is exchanging oneself with others. We should have the great will like this.

Actually in the practice right now you can’t really do that, we can’t really take the fire, the whole entire suffering upon ourselves, and then immediately make them free, to have peace, ultimate peace, the ever-release from suffering. Without sentient beings themselves following the path that releases from suffering, without them doing that, actually it is not possible for them to be free from all the sufferings. But we should train the mind in this way, we should have this great will, if there is the possibility that without delay, even a minute, we can take all the causes of true suffering and true sufferings upon oneself, and experience them by oneself. However what can we do now according to our capability? If we have a choice about even the small problems of other sentient beings that we can experience for others, we should practice them. As we pray, as we wish, in daily life practice we should practice taking other’s suffering and offering the comfort and victory to others. Even if it’s small, we should practice as much as possible.

If we cannot even exchange self with others even in terms of a small comfort, if we can not offer even a small comfort to others, such as one plate of food, or one cup of tea, if we cannot share, then how can we dedicate all the happiness, our body, all our possessions and even the good karmas and merits that you accumulate in three times—past, present and future—to others? How can we offer them to other sentient beings? We can’t. If we cannot practice even the small ones, if we cannot exchange even the small comfort or pleasure for others’ suffering, how can we exchange the greatest suffering?

If somebody stole a hundred dollars and we cannot do the practice of dedication, taking the loss upon oneself and offering the victory to that sentient being, if you cannot dedicate it, cannot offer that to that sentient being, even such a small comfort, such a small perfection, if one cannot give that up or offer to that sentient being—instead of feeling rejoicefulness, instead of feeling happy, feeling how good it is that one sentient being has received it, has got it, even if one doesn’t know how precious he is, how kind, even if one cannot think that he was kind in the past life, kind in the future life, and kind to accomplish the three great purposes—even if one cannot think that, but simply thinks he also wants happiness, he doesn’t want suffering, as I wish happiness and do not wish to suffer—we are the same, exactly the same; equal, completely equal, the same person, the same sentient being, having exactly the same wish. “As my happiness is that important, his happiness is the same thing, also important, so why can’t he have it, why can’t he receive that one hundred dollars?”

When you find a hundred dollars, how happy your mind is. Like that you are so surprised when you find one hundred thousand dollars, even one hundred dollars—you show much excitement, clap your hands, like that, much excitement. So why can’t you do the same thing when others receive one million dollars, when others receive one hundred dollars? Why can’t you do the same thing, why can’t you clap your hands and show much excitement that another sentient being has found it?

If we cannot share or dedicate even a small thing like this for others, how we can do the practice of the great actions of a bodhisattva, such as making charity of the whole body for others? How can we do this practice? The conclusion is, if we cannot even dedicate a small comfort for other sentient beings, then practices such as sacrificing the whole body to other sentient beings will be very difficult.

You cannot even offer your comfortable seat to others. Even such a small comfort we cannot offer to others. You run so fast from the bus to the airplane to get a comfortable seat before other people come. Even for such a tiny thing you rush. It’s amazing. And all the people in the bus are the same, they all want comfort, it’s the same thing.

Just the thought came—I just remembered in England, in the center, outside of London, in the Lake District, at Manjushri Institute, fifteen minute walk from the Center there is a large cemetery. One day in the afternoon I went there on purpose with another person, to see it. One evening I was painting the eyes of the thousand-arm Chenrezig. The artist who made the painting hung the painting in my room. So one evening I went to see the cemetery. It’s a very interesting cemetery. On one side, at one place, in one spot, a person who didn’t die yet put a piece of stone on which they had written his name. It said such and such a name, born at such and such a time—that’s all. After that there was an empty space, a lot of space. So I asked why they ground was empty, and they said that this person was worried that when he died, they wouldn’t find space for his body in the cemetery, so he paid the money in advance. He bought it. I think it is very expensive to die in the West. Even if you have a good death, it’s very expensive. Death costs a lot, a lot of expenses.

Of course making preparations for when you die makes it easier for other people. You make your own plans so that when the death happens your body can easily be taken care of because of caring for other people, because of not wanting to cause difficulty for other people. That kind of thought might be good. Like the example: we have one meditator who lives in the mountains, he is Tibetan and has been living, moving around in Solu Khumbu since the Chinese took over Tibet, since he escaped from Tibet. He’s been moving around for many years, nothing definite, like the people who are called hippies, like that, no definite home. He used to move around with his tent like the ones they put in the forest in America, like a teepee, especially at Vajrapani Center—a small tent that fits one person. So he carried the tent, then his religious symbols, the big damaru and the thigh-bone that are used for practice, and at night time he moved from one place to another, putting the tent in the forest or in a cave, in different places, sometimes holy places or other meditator’s places. Then at nighttime he did the practice called Slaying the Ego. He builds a hermitage at one place, stays some time and then he moves, goes to another place and starts another hermitage. So this meditator has one nun, I think this old nun is his aunt or something, I don’t remember exactly, but she used to cook for him and she offered service to him.

People call this meditator Gomchen-la, and once he thought he would die any moment—today or any of those days. He usually thinks this—this is one of the main points of awareness in his daily life. At that time, however, he thought that this nun is very old, she can’t do much—such as pick up the dried wood, and burn the body with kerosene. So Gomchen-la, this meditator, brought firewood and he piled it up right outside the hermitage. He piled up the wood, and he bought kerosene and made everything ready there so that if he died, the nun would just have to drag out his body from the meditation bed and put it on the firewood. That all she would have to do. She wouldn’t have much problem, and it wouldn’t cause much tiredness or worry for her. So he did this. But he is still alive.

But that is a good idea. It is very good for the mind, extremely beneficial for the mind and careful for others, to save them difficulty. That is a good idea. However, buying that expensive land, paying a lot of money, so much money—if your consciousness stayed with the body, if you would be in that beautiful park, that cemetery, if you yourself would be on that land, then it would be like living in a beautiful park, for pleasure. But after death the consciousness is somewhere else, completely somewhere else. The body is like stone, like wood—even during the death process, when the breath is about to stop, even during that time if you touch the hand, if you touch the fingers, because the heat element is gradually absorbed in the heart, already about one hour or about three and a half hours after the breath stops, when you lift the body up it is already like lifting up a piece of wood—so heavy, concrete. And when you touch the fingers you feel like you are touching wood, like your fingers are made of wood, like touching the fingers of a mannequin—very cold, so cold, very solid—you don’t feel like you are touching a human being, like that. So there is no opportunity for him to come with the body and to live there, to enjoy the flowers around. The reason he paid so much money for which he worked so hard, experiencing much hardship, is because “this is my body, and my body wants good land; my body; my body, so for that I want good land.”

Another way, one can think, “Oh, that’s very nice land, somebody else’s body can be there; so many people are dying in this country, very good, I am sure if somebody’s body can be there, somebody will be happy, somebody has the chance to buy that place, so relatives and friends will be happy…” One can think like this, one can dedicate this small land, that piece of land, a little bit longer than this table, for others. One can think in this way, instead of worrying too much about being unable to get it, and making a lot of expenses just for that. Instead of spending all that money, all those thousands of dollars for that, if one gives it, if one makes charity to the poor people, or nowadays there are many people, refugees from other countries who have so much suffering, if one makes charity of all that money it is incredible. If possible without any expectation for reputation, if one makes charity, it is so beneficial, so practical and so beneficial.

What I am saying is this: even in everyday life, in small things, even the small problems of others, if there is a choice, if there is the possibility that you can take them on yourself, the things that we should practice, it is so good to practice as much as possible—even small practices of exchanging oneself with others. In this way, gradually, as we train our minds and actually practice like this, even with small things, even offering our seat to others because others also want happiness and do not want suffering, even offering a small victory or comfort to others, if we practice like this then gradually also huge problems, even the greatest sufferings that we can experience one day will be no problem for our minds—we will be extremely happy to take that upon ourselves and experience it, and offer the greatest comfort to others.

Similarly, if we practice charity with small things now, like giving food to dogs or beggars, even five paisa, ten paisa or one rupee, if we practice giving small amounts then gradually the thought of giving becomes greater and greater, increases. Then afterwards we do not find any difficulties at all—even if somebody needs your body you will give it with great happiness, even if there is much suffering when you cut the body in pieces and make charity of it, and even though there is much pain in the body, the mind is unbelievably happy to have the opportunity. The mind does not have any difficulty to make charity of the whole body for others. So one can get trained from when one is small—even somebody who has incredible miserliness, who can’t give even one paisa to others, by practicing with small things gradually the mind can be changed, the thought of giving can be developed from small to great.

In Lama Tsongkhapa’s lam-rim teaching, somebody who has incredible miserliness, who can’t give anything to others, who can’t make any charity of food or money, whatever it is, should practice like this: from the right hand you give to the left hand. As if you are giving to somebody else—still it is you but as if you are giving to somebody else. This hand gives to this hand; this hand gives to that hand, like this. So far I didn’t get this practice done.

While you’re practicing, while you’re doing this practice, the mind is extremely happy, so happy, and is in a state of great rejoicefulness. The mind is so peaceful, so happy, and when the mind is so peaceful, happy like that, the outside form and even the action of speech is nice, gentle; even the outside body looks generous. Then all the surrounding people are very happy. They are always very happy to be around you, to see you, to help you. The one who has a good heart, who has such a generous mind, no matter how much he does not want reputation, to be famous, to have a good reputation, automatically, no matter how much he has aversion to reputation, even though he doesn’t cling to reputation, doesn’t expect it, the reputation comes, other people create the reputation. Even if one seeks reputation, if one wants a good reputation, it is important to practice the good heart.

In everyday life according to your present capability, however you can, in small things, you should help others and share others’ suffering. If somebody is carrying a very heavy load, very exhausted, sweat coming, bearing much hardship—we should help to carry it. Things like that, whatever we can do at the moment, small benefits, whatever we can offer, whatever we can take upon ourselves, practice. In that way we should practice the thought to renounce ourselves. In that way, the thought exchanging oneself for others, renouncing oneself and cherishing others will be gradually developed, as well as the actual action helping sentient beings.

The main conclusion is to be able to do this, to renounce self and cherish others, to exchange one’s happiness for others’ sufferings. This is the most important thing, not only in everyday life, but even in the small practices of exchanging oneself for others. The most important thing is to think, to be always aware, to think again and again how others, how sentient beings are so precious, how they are so important, how they are so kind. To think of the kindness of others, to think in many different ways—sometimes they were mother, and the four types of kindness—many different ways. That is extremely important. So it so much depends on how much you are doing the practice of exchanging oneself for others and on how much you feel the kindness of others.

In everyday life it is very important to meditate, to think and to read the teachings that explain about kindness, and discuss how others are precious. It is important to meditate, to study and to be aware—especially when you are dealing with other sentient beings, when you are physically with others. At those times be aware of your meditation of kindness and the teachings that you read on kindness. Then the action to benefit others automatically comes, it has to come. It’s unbearable to not do the practice of offering the victory to others and taking others’ losses upon oneself—you feel not doing this practice is unbearable. Not practicing the thought of loving kindness is unbearable.

Our everyday life enjoyment and comfort, every day that we are able to be alive and able to follow the path to liberation, to the state of omniscient mind, is due to the kindness of sentient beings. So even by this reason we should renounce the self and cherish others. Even by the reason that we can accomplish the three great purposes, depending on the kindness of each sentient being, including the most precious kindness of a sentient being who hates oneself.

By the reason that they are offering the three great purposes one should do the practice of renouncing self and cherishing others—avoiding giving harm and accomplishing benefit for others.

Even by the reason that that which is called “I,” the self, is only one and what is called “others” are an uncountable number. So there is nothing to compare in terms of how others are so precious, so kind, so important, and so precious—what they want, what they like, how much more important this is than what I like. So even by this reason one should renounce the self and cherish others, not only changing the idea, the attitude but also the action, with speech, body and mind. Instead of working always for the self, to obtain benefits for oneself and to prevent one’s own suffering, instead of that we should practice with body, speech and mind to only do the works for the happiness of others.

[Break in tape]

[From notes]

The greatest work, the greatest benefit for sentient beings is to free them from the cause of suffering, from the result of suffering, and to lead them to the sublime state of happiness. That is what is needed and this is the beneficial work for sentient beings. So giving food, money, clothing, making schools, hospitals, helping like this—this is of benefit for others, it relieves others from temporal difficulties, so it is an action that benefits others, but this is not the greatest benefit, this is not enough. Because the sentient beings themselves, these thousands of sentient beings who are starving in Cambodia, they have been millionaires countless times in past lives. They had wealthy lives numberless times but they are still in samsara. Just having wealth alone did not free them from suffering; if this were the case then all sentient beings would have been free from suffering a long time, an unimaginable time ago.

What they need is to be liberated from the cause of suffering—not only from sickness, starvation and the hardships of not having a home, not only that. Actions that give temporal benefit, such as giving food and home, are not enough. Any action that one can offer that gives benefit to others, one should do. But this is not the greatest benefit. The greatest benefit for beings is to attain the omniscient mind. Actualizing the omniscient mind in this mind is the best method to accomplish the most beneficial work for others, extensive benefits for others.

You see, even the arhats who have achieved freedom from samsara, who have incredible psychic powers, who see past and future lives—they are not omniscient but they have incredible powers, according to our mind they have omniscient mind, compared to our ignorant mind an arhat has omniscient mind, incredible understanding—but even the arhat cannot do perfect work for others. An arhat—I’m not going over the cause—cannot see the subtle karmas created eons ago, because of the distance of time. He cannot see the possibilities that the person can become a monk, can become ordained. The reason an arhat doesn’t have omniscient mind and cannot do the extensive effortless work for others without mistake like a Buddha is because he has not even completed the work for self; he has not completed the two accumulations of merit and wisdom. Buddha has completed the two accumulations, has purified the obscurations, has finished the work and has generated the realizations. Such a Buddha, whose holy mind is living in perfect qualities, such a Buddha, with holy body, speech and mind is able to do effortless continuous work until all sentient beings become enlightened, revealing the different methods according to the level of their minds. And this depends on the principal cause: bodhicitta.

So our being able to reach enlightenment depends on our being able to generate bodhicitta and our being able to generate bodhicitta depends on our being able to practice patience because one of the greatest hindrances to the generation of bodhicitta is anger. With anger it is very difficult to generate bodhicitta because it destroys the merits; and to be able to generate bodhicitta you need so much merit.

Even somebody who has no thought to reach omniscient mind for the sake of others, somebody who is not following the teachings of Buddha has to harmonize with others, has to be kind to others and should have patience with others. If not, instead of others only having the thought of self in the mind, then one easily gets angry, impatient, has no peace, has uncontrolled mind and gets angry, disturbing and not allowing oneself to have happiness. This causes much disharmony, and also much confusion for others.

So practicing patience is much more important then lunch, much more important than dinner. It is much more important then the atomic bomb. If everybody practices patience there is no atomic bomb. No anger. Then there is no opportunity for anger to arise, and no need to make weapons. But as long as human beings on this earth don’t practice patience and the material state develops so much, there is much more danger for oneself—not only for others, but also for oneself. So one can see how important it is, more important then a job. If one gets a hundred dollars now, does it make happiness, does it make harmony, does it destroy anger? If you compare it with material things, you can see it more clearly. You can get more harm from material, but practicing patience everybody likes; even spirits. Nagas, those who give harm, those who are vicious, cannot harm you; they like you. There is nobody who dislikes you. If somebody loves you, renouncing self and cherishing you, there is nobody who does not respect that.

So I stop here. Somehow I did not get the Bodhicaryavatara started from the beginning. Hopefully I will finish the chapter of patience in this course and then some other chapter, whatever is necessary, whatever is needed or beneficial.

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