1. The Concept of True Existence

December 6, 2007

THE CONCEPT OF TRUE EXISTENCE CHEATS US

[The students begin chanting the mandala offering, then Rinpoche interrupts]

The Praise to Shakyamuni Buddha and the Heart Sutra.

First, we are going to do the Praise to Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, to the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and then meditate on the nature of life, the Buddha’s instructions, what is Dharma, on how phenomena are impermanent, how nothing lasts, how everything changes, decays. Not only day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute, second-by-second, but even within one second, nothing lasts. We should meditate on causative phenomena, including our own life, our material possessions, surrounding people, and form, sound, smell, taste, tangible objects—these sense objects. The Buddha’s explanation in his teachings is to think that the very nature of all phenomena is impermanence, that they do not last, they decay, even second-by-second, even within a second. What exists in this present second doesn’t last; by the next second it has stopped. These causative phenomena are like that, due to being under the control of the cause and conditions.

We should look at them as, say, like a water bubble, for example, like dew dropping from the wires or from the plants. Dew [is on a plant] but it can drop off at any moment. He gives us many examples to realize how the very nature of all these causative phenomena, including our own life, is impermanence, and how their very nature is emptiness. What they really are, their very nature, is emptiness.

While they are totally empty of existing from their own side, of existing by their nature—truly existent or inherently existent—these phenomena appear to our hallucinated mind as truly existent. Due to our ignorance, due to our unknowing mind, not knowing the very nature of these phenomena, which is their emptiness, [we cannot see] that all these phenomena exist in mere name, merely imputed by the mind. Whatever we do, twenty-four hours a day, day and night, all these phenomena—the doer, (ourselves), our action, the object—everything exists, but while it exists, it exists in mere name, merely imputed by the mind.

If we analyze, how things exist is something extremely subtle, what all these phenomena really are, including the I and how this I feels—I’m happy, I’m unhappy, I did this, I want to do this, I want this, I want that, I don’t want this. It includes all these things.

If we really analyzed it, how things exist is totally something else. This is not the way it has been appearing to our hallucinated mind, not the way we have been apprehending and believing so far. It’s not that. That is a totally false view. If we look for it, we can’t find it. The way things have been appearing to us, the way we have been believing in them, holding on to them, entrusting them, is the way they have appeared to our hallucinated mind, Because of that, we have been apprehending things, believing in them, holding on to them and entrusting them.

I use the word “entrust” because we entrust as a good friend, somebody who seems to love us and help us, while in reality they are constantly cheating us, deceiving us. We didn’t examine them well but just believed the superficial, external appearances and then held on to that, believing that to be true, whereas in reality, that person has been cheating us constantly, nonstop.

Here, we do the same thing, like that friend who has been cheating us constantly from beginningless time—not only from this morning, not only from the birth, not only from the life before that, but from beginningless rebirths. The way things appear to us, as something kind or nice, and the way we hold on to that, entrusting that, has been cheating us, deceiving us, because it is not true. Because we believe reality is like that, we are totally cheated all the time. This is what causes us problems all the time.

This wrong concept, this hallucination, this appearance—holding on to these things, entrusting them as true—has been causing us problems without even a second’s break, cheating us, deceiving us, twenty-four hours a day, from this morning, from birth, from beginningless rebirths. But if we look, if we really analyze, we can’t find it anywhere; it doesn’t exist anywhere, neither on that base which we label “this” and “that” nor anywhere.

This is what we realize, what we come to discover, when we analyze it. We see its emptiness, the absence of all this true existence. We need to analyze it, like being a meditator scientist, an inner scientist. When we do, we discover these truly existing phenomena are totally nonexistent. Instead of proving that they are really true, we discover the exact opposite, that they are totally nonexistent, totally empty. It is this wrong concept that holds onto things as true. They appear [to our hallucinated mind] as truly existent, as existing from their own side, or by their nature, and we believe it.

In daily life, the word which we use for this is “real.” In daily life, we don’t use terms such as “inherently existent” or “existing from its own side” or “by nature.” We don’t use those expressions the Buddha explained in the philosophical texts, which exactly describe how things appear to our hallucinated mind and how we believe. The common word, in ordinary language, is “real.” Things appear real and we believe them to be real, but actually, if we really analyze what is real, we can’t find that. What appears to be real (and what we believe to be real), is unfindable; it is totally nonexistent there.

That does not mean things do not exist. It does not mean our actions don’t exist; objects don’t exist. It does not mean that. It does not mean suffering doesn’t exist; it does not mean happiness doesn’t exist; it does not mean hell doesn’t exist; it does not mean enlightenment doesn’t exist; it does not mean samsara and nirvana don’t exist; it does not mean problems and happiness don’t exist. It doesn’t mean that. They exist. Happiness exists, the cause of happiness exists; suffering exists, the cause of suffering exists, but it’s not the way it appears to our hallucinated mind, how we apprehend it; it’s not the way we believe it to exist, the way we hold onto it. All that part is totally nonexistent, totally empty. That part—the way it appears and the way we hold on to it—is totally nonexistent. But that does not mean samsara and nirvana don’t exist; it does not mean there is no enlightenment or hell. 

All these things exist in mere name, merely imputed by the mind. This is what really exists—something else entirely. In our daily life, what really functions is something else; the I that really exists is something else. It does not exist in the way it has appeared to us and we have believed up to now. The reality of these phenomena, how they exist, what they are, is totally something else. How they exist is something unbelievably subtle. What are phenomena, what is the I, what is action, what is suffering, what is happiness, what is enlightenment, what is hell, these things do not exist as they appear to our hallucinated mind. There is not the real hell appearing from there, something that is apprehended, that is really something. 

The way all these phenomena exist is something unbelievably subtle—hell, enlightenment, samsara, nirvana, happiness, problems, the four noble truths, what we think in daily life, “I have this problem,” “I have that problem,” “I have this great pleasure,” and so forth, all this is what is merely imputed by the mind and believed by the mind, because there is a valid base.

But even the valid base on which we label “this” and “that” is nothing except what is merely imputed by the mind. Even the base is what is merely imputed by mind, and we believe that. That’s it. There is nothing else.

And, of course, that base also has to have a base, and that label has another base, also merely imputed by mind, nothing else except what is merely imputed by mind and which is believed. So, the whole thing is like that, starting from the I and the aggregates, down to the particles of atoms, according to Prasangika Madhyamaka. There are four Buddhist philosophical schools: Vaibhashika, Sautrantika, Cittamatra and Madhyamaka, [which has two subschools,] Svatantrika and Prasangika. According to the second Madhyamaka School, Prasangika, the atoms have particles, and the particles also have particles, and so on like that.

It is similar with the consciousness. Because of the continuity of consciousness, we go from life to life. For example, for however many years the consciousness lives in this body, while the unity of this consciousness and this body abide together, that is life—that many years of the continuity of consciousness; that many months of the continuity of consciousness; that many weeks of the continuity of consciousness; that many days of the continuity of consciousness; that many hours of the continuity of consciousness; that many minutes of continuity of consciousness; that many seconds of continuity of consciousness, and then down to split seconds. So again, according to the Prasangika school’s philosophy, this is similar.

From the I, down to the particles of atoms, and from the consciousness, hour-by-hour consciousness, minute-by-minute, second-by-second, and the particles, even the split seconds, within that continuity, all this exists being merely labeled by the mind. Everything exists in mere name, in mere imputation.

You have already gone through the four noble truths, with true suffering and the true cause of suffering, what is samsara and the evolution of samsara, looking at all the general sufferings of samsara and the particular sufferings of each realm. You have gone through that, how we create the root of samsara, ignorance, the concept that holds on to true existence, the totally false mind, believing in a real I that doesn’t exist. As I mentioned before, using our daily life language, what we normally feel every day, what we believe, that which is explained in texts—inherently existent, truly existent, existing from its own side—that is not there at all, even the slightest of atoms.

We create all this. It’s also created by our mind: the root of all the suffering, ignorance, this wrong concept, which is the king of delusions, the king of the superstitious mind, this ignorance holding the I and the aggregates, the base to be labeled “I,” as truly existent, as real. It doesn’t exist from its own side, even this ignorance, the root of samsara, doesn’t exist from its own side. When we think of this ignorance, this root of samsara, the way the ignorance appears to us and how we believe is and hold onto it, is as a real ignorance. Then, there is also real anger, real attachment, something that appears as real. Real attachment, real anger, real ignorance, we also believe these are true, but there is no such thing. These are all totally nonexistent.

Even the root of samsara, ignorance, is created by our mind. It’s not created by God; it’s not created by somebody else, by our enemy or by our parents, not by our friends or our dog or our cat!

HUNGRY GHOSTS AND DOGS

New York was the very first Western place Lama Yeshe and I went to from Kathmandu. We went straight from Kathmandu to New York. I was very impressed by the customs people in New York, how they checked everything and what questions they asked. I thought they were very intelligent!

We stayed in Brooklyn for a week with a student of a Mongolian geshe, Geshe Wangdu, the first lama to go to the United States. Then, we went to many different places, mostly other students’ homes, and then to Wisconsin where Geshe Sopa Rinpoche had already been teaching in the university as a professor for many years. He is Lama Yeshe’s teacher from Tibet, and after meeting him, he also became my teacher, my guru. Then, we went to Indiana. We spent eight months in the United States in different places.

Recently and at other times, we stayed in a place in New York—I’ve just come from there, but I’ve forgotten the name—in Manhattan. We stayed many times at the apartment of a student nun, Yangchen, once for His Holiness’s teachings and, in recent times, taking many teachings from Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, who lived in New York for many years and took many lineages of teachings.

Each time I go out of the apartment in the morning to make water charity to the pretas and offer food for the pretas, there are many birds in the garden and they also get food, by the way. But the main purpose is to make water charity for the hungry ghosts, the pretas, in order to liberate them. There’s a special mantra you chant when you make the water charity that purifies their negative karma, which not only stops their unbelievably heavy hunger and thirst, which they experience for hundreds and thousands of years. They can’t find even a single drop of water, due to their past heavy negative karma, their stinginess, their attachment, through not practicing generosity, not giving. As a result, they must experience the heavy suffering of hunger and thirst. They have many sufferings, but that is a major one and they must experience it for hundreds and thousands of years, unable to find even a spoonful of food.

So, there’s a practice where we can help them. There’s a special mantra given by Buddha, which has power, causing the food and water to become nectar for them. It not only stops their suffering of hunger and thirst, but it also purifies their negative karma and they get a higher rebirth. If we are able to help them get a higher rebirth, that’s our great gift to them.

Although we don’t have the clairvoyance to see them, we can’t see them with our eyes, in reality they are there, like a forest. The number of human beings is nothing compared with those lower realm beings, those hungry ghosts. They are there in unbelievable numbers, like a forest outside.

There is an incredible practice the Buddha gave to liberate them, with a short mantra that does unbelievable good. Even though what we might offer is very little, to them it appears huge. They receive it like that by the power of the mantra.

Whenever I went out to do that, I would see people walking dogs! There was this road and people would walk their dogs on the other side of the road, all sorts of different dogs: big dogs, small dogs, even very tiny dogs, dogs with lots of hair, dogs without hair! It was near a garden where they took them, and I could see them everywhere.

I was wondering what I would be like if dogs didn’t exist, if there were no dogs. People live with their dogs and rely on them for their happiness, for their pleasure. I mean, it’s not just for their pleasure; they also take care of the dog—you are there for the dog, not the dog is there for you. For some people with a compassionate mind, who do not have that much self-cherishing thought, they see they are there for the dog’s happiness, not the dog being there for their happiness.

Anyway, recently I was thinking probably life would be very lonely for people if they didn’t have a dog. What would happen to their life without a dog? I began to think that!

Anyway, I just remembered a story. In Tushita Dharamsala, we had thirteen dogs. Dharamsala, India, is where His Holiness the Dalai Lama lives and we have a retreat center there. I think they had about thirteen dogs at one time, a mixture of Lhasa Apso—the ones with the flat nose. Lama Yeshe used to say, “I love my dogs.” When I suggested we give some of the dogs to other people, Lama said, “I love my dogs.”

Later, I gave one to a lady who worked for the American embassy in Delhi. Instead of taking money, I gave her the commitment to chant the prayer, The Foundation of Good Qualities, the lamrim prayer composed by Lama Tsongkhapa that contains the whole path to enlightenment. I don’t know whether you’ve been reciting it or not, but it’s a prayer that has the whole path to enlightenment. She’s not a particular student of Buddhism but she loves dogs, so I gave her a dog, and she had to recite The Foundation of Good Qualities in the dog’s ear every day.

She did that very sincerely every day for a year. But after a year, one day when the gate wasn’t closed, the dog went out and she lost the dog. Until now, I have forgotten to give her another one!

Anyway, I then gave one to another student. When I gave it, it was very small, but when it grew up it became long like this—maybe not like that, but anyway, when they are small, they are very cute! I saw it some years later and it was very long like that. I’ve given dogs to other people but always with a commitment. They can have the dog, but they have to do this practice for the dog.

Anyway, that’s not the main story. Sorry! 

Lama had a brother who is still there, Geshe Tsering. He was cooking. His style is usually to cook momos very quickly. The Tibetan food called momos were half-cooked, they weren’t well-cooked because he does everything very quickly. Lama scolded his brother, Geshe Tsering, saying “You’re like this! You don’t know how to do this.” Then Lama said, “My dogs are better than you, because they don’t cause me to get angry!”

Then, the next morning, we were attending His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings in the temple. At the teaching, at the beginning of the motivation His Holiness said that in the West people don’t get along with other people; they rely on their dogs! It might have been an accident, but it was interesting that Lama had said that the night before, and then it happened the next morning.

Anyway, now I’ll go back. I don’t want to expand.

BELIEVING THE I TO BE TRULY EXISTING

So, first there are the aggregates. The mind that sees the aggregates makes up the label “I.” Because of the mind seeing the aggregates, it then makes up the label “I,” merely imputing the I.

In the next second, the I, which is merely imputed by the mind, appears back to us. Now, here is the problem. When the I, which is imputed by the mind, appears back to us, there is the problem, because it should appear back as it is—merely imputed by the mind, because that’s what it is—but we are not aware that is so. But that’s not the only thing. The main thing is this. The I that appears back the next second is totally the opposite to that, as existing from its own side, as not merely labeled by the mind. This is totally wrong, totally contradictory to reality.

Just a second before, our mind merely imputed the I, so [this not-merely imputed I] is not true. This is a totally false view. It’s a false I, something which is not there. Not even the slightest atom of it exists anywhere.

The minute the I appears back, it appears as not merely labeled by the mind, which means it exists from its own side. Just before, our mind merely imputed this I, but we are not aware of that, so we let our mind hold on to that. That’s the third thing. We let our mind hold on to that as being a hundred percent true. This is the real I, not merely labeled by the mind, the I that exists from its own side. We completely, a hundred percent, believe in that. That’s the third thing. After it appears, we let the mind hold on to that, we entrust that, we completely trust that.

So, that is the root of samsara. That wrong concept is the root of all the delusions, of karma, of all the suffering, of the whole entire samsara, with all the general sufferings and the particular sufferings of each realm. It is the root of the oceans of sufferings of the hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras, asuras. In the god realm there are the form and formless realms, so this is the root of all their sufferings, of the entire suffering of samsara. That concept is the root that we have created. Nobody else created it; we created it. It is just a way of thinking.

Our mind cannot see it. It’s formless; it’s empty of being a substantial phenomenon. At the same time, of course, that ignorance, that mind, which is formless, is also merely labeled by mind. It also exists as a mere imputation. What is called ignorance is named by the function.

THE OBJECT TO BE REFUTED

Now, what we have to know is why. Why do we have to have the hallucination? Why, every time, for example, after the mind merely imputes the I, it appears back totally false. It is merely imputed by the mind, but it appears back not merely imputed by mind. This is what the philosophical texts call gag cha, the object to be refuted, the object not merely imputed by mind, existing from its own side. Why do we have this hallucination when it appears back? Why does it appear back as false, not according to reality? Instead of appearing as merely imputed by the mind, as empty of existing from its own side, which is the reality, it appears back in a totally wrong way, as a real I, as existing from its own side.

The minute the mind merely imputes the I, the past ignorance, which has left a negative imprint on the mental continuum, projects this true existence. It is like something recorded on film with a camera which is projected on a movie screen. Similarly, if we view snow mountains, which are white, through a blue glass, they appear blue, or if we look at them through red glass they appear red. However, we can say it is like the film image projected there on the movie screen or the TV screen. Like that, past ignorance leaves a negative imprint on the mental continuum. And right after the mere imputation, [Rinpoche snaps his fingers] there is the hallucination of true existence from this negative imprint. It decorates, it projects true existence on that merely imputed I. The past ignorance leaves a negative imprint on the mind, and then, right after the mind merely imputes the I, that negative imprint decorates or projects true existence there.

So, when the I, which is merely imputed, appears back, it seems like something real because of the negative imprint left by ignorance, decorating this hallucination, this true existence, projecting it onto the merely imputed I. So then, when the I appears back, it is made something real.

So, now you get some idea. It’s the same when we think about the aggregates. What makes the aggregates appear real to us from out there—these aggregates that are the basis to be labeled I—is exactly the same. After the mere imputation, the negative imprint decorates true existence onto the merely labeled aggregates, again making the aggregates appear real.

Right after the mind has merely imputed “body”, the negative imprint left by the ignorance decorates true existence there onto that mere imputation, making the body appear a real body to us. And the same thing with the mind. Right after our thought imputes “mind” on this phenomenon that is formless, whose nature is clear, this perceiving object that is the base, this merely imputed mind, right after that, the negative imprint left by the ignorance on the mental continuum projects true existence, decorates true existence, making the mind appear a real mind.

This is the same with all the different parts of the aggregates—the head, the leg—everything is made real to us—a real head, a real eye, a real nose, real hair—everything appears real to us, right down to the atoms. They appear real atoms to us, something real. Everything has true existence projected on it, or decorated on it, down to the particles of atoms. Everything, which is merely imputed, immediately has this projected, this hallucination of true existence, making it real.

This is the same with all form. The light, the ceiling, the floor, the pillars, the flowers, the table, everything we see, everything is merely imputed by our mind—this and that, that pillar, ceiling, door, window, flower, carpets, everything—but the moment it is merely imputed, the negative imprint left by ignorance projects true existence, making everything real, so we see everything as real, the real lights and so forth.

As I mentioned before, when we drive a car in the city, there’s a green light and a blue light. Is it a blue light? A red light and green light. There’s no pink, right? Maybe for some special reason there’s a pink light!

Anyway, that is one example of gag cha, the object to be refuted. When we drive a car, when we see the red light or the green light, which exists as being merely imputed by our mind, which comes from our mind, that’s what exists. But we don’t see it that way. The way the red or green light appears—according to our appearance and according to our belief—is existing from there. The red light exists from there; the green light exists from there. It is a real red light, a real green light. It exists from there, from the object’s side. But no, it is not like that.

Although it has totally come from our mind, there is not the slightest awareness that is so. Just now the green light and red light were merely imputed by our mind. The red light means to stop; the green light means to go. That is the label we have just put on it, but there is not even the slightest awareness of that. Of course, for those who have realizations, it’s different, but generally speaking, we have not even the slightest awareness of that. The real green light, the real red light existing from there is totally the wrong view.

Sometimes I use that as an example of gag cha, the object to be refuted. This is an example, showing how to recognize the gag cha, the object to be refuted.

That real red light, that light existing from there—real in the sense of from its own side—is exactly here. Right now, we have just merely labeled it, but then the hallucination has decorated, has projected it, as something real. It’s not there! In reality, there is no such thing there at all, not even the slightest atom. If we look for it on that, we cannot find it. We cannot find it existing either on that base or anywhere. It is totally nonexistent, empty.

This is good to remember. Because we have to stop the car for a while there, it’s a very good opportunity to meditate on emptiness! It doesn’t waste time. Even if the red light lasts for some time because it is not working properly, instead of getting angry, getting emotional, we use this red light not working to meditate on emptiness. In that way, we can achieve liberation! We can be totally free from the oceans of samsaric suffering and its cause, karma and delusions, forever. This is the advantage we get by meditating on emptiness, recognizing the gag cha.

If we get angry at the red light, that’s not the root of samsara, because it’s dependent on its causes, the concept of holding that—which appears to us as truly existent—as real. Even though it’s not the root of samsara, it’s a cause of samsara. On top of that fundamental wrong view, getting angry becomes the cause of samsara, even the cause of unimaginable sufferings of the lower realms. So, it makes a huge difference meditating on the reality of an object, on its nature. The result is total liberation, everlasting happiness. And if that is done with bodhicitta, the result is enlightenment, the cessation of even the subtle defilements.

But with the wrong concept, holding that red light that appears as real to exist from its own side, that is the cause of samsara. And if we do it with a nonvirtuous thought arising, especially anger, that becomes the cause of the lower realms.

WE PERCEIVE ALL THE SENSES AS REAL

What I’m saying is, forms, sounds, smells and so forth—everything is made real. When we go outside and look at the sky, it is real to us, appearing from its own side. The trees are real, the road is real, the rocks are real. When we walk, we walk on a real road—real from its own side, in the sense of existing from its own side.

When we listen to a sound, when we meditate on it, we see that this is the gag cha. The sound is merely imputed by our mind. In the dura, in the beginning philosophical subject, debating, we debate on any object of our senses. For instance, with the ear sense, the object that the ear sense hears, the sound, that has to happen first, and then, after that, our mind labels the sound as good sound, bad sound. It could be a good sound, like peaceful, cooling music, or a bad sound like irritating music. Anyway, first the ear sense has to hear the object, and then our mind labels it “sound.” The label comes afterwards. The base comes first, then the label comes afterwards. The label “sound” doesn’t come before we hear the object. It also doesn’t happen at the same time because there would be no reason to cause us to label “sound.” For the mind to label “sound,” we have to have a cause, we have to have a reason. And the reason is what we hear first, the object of the ear sense. That is the reason that causes the mind to label “sound.”

Therefore, this is merely imputed by the mind. But, as soon as that’s done, there’s a projection that it is truly existent. Ignorance projects the hallucination and we think there is a real sound existing from its own side. We believe what we have heard is real. When we’re not aware, when we have not discovered emptiness, although it exists in mere name, the sound appears to be real and we hold on to that as real, believing it is true.

And this is the same with real smells, real tangible objects, real taste. When we eat sugar or honey, first the tongue sense apprehends the object and then the mind labels it “taste.” It can be “sweet taste” or “sour taste,” but we have to have something. We have to have a reason. Something has to happen before our mind labels that taste and that difference in taste. Before putting the label, we have to taste something. So, that’s the base, and the label comes after, “sweet taste” or “sour taste.” Whatever it is, it comes after.

It was merely imputed by our mind, but the moment after that, true existence is projected from the negative imprint, so we think there is a real sweet taste or a real sour taste. That is totally wrong, totally false. This is an example of forms, sounds, smells, tastes and tangible objects.

Like this, we make everything real. When we think of enlightenment, we think of something real, something truly existing, and the same with hell. I mentioned this before, so I don’t need to repeat it.

THE PERSON CRITICIZING US IS THE OBJECT OF REFUTATION

It’s the same when we think about problems. Something happens, some change happens in our life. Maybe somebody’s mind changes toward us. It is just a change of their way of thinking but we interpret that person’s way of behaving to us as a problem. There is some change and our mind labels it a “problem.”

Why? Because it’s not what our attachment likes. Our self-cherishing thought doesn’t like it, and because we follow the self-cherishing, because we are a friend to it, that causes our mind to interpret it, to put a negative label on it. We think that person is bad, that they are behaving badly. Everything is bad. Like that, we make everything negative.

Although it is merely imputed by the mind, we think we have a problem. After the mere imputation, this truly existent hallucination is decorated, projected, there by our negative imprint, which is in the mind. So, the problem is merely imputed by the mind, but our mind has made it real. Instead of being merely imputed by the mind, the ignorance, by leaving a negative imprint on the mind, has projected the hallucination and made the problem real to us. We see it as a real problem and then so many afflictive emotions arise, such as anger. We might even want to commit suicide. We can’t sleep, we can’t enjoy eating, even if our meal costs a thousand dollars; we can’t enjoy staying in five-, six- or seven-star hotels. We might be physically there, but we can’t enjoy it at all. We might have a Mercedes car or a very long limousine, but we can’t enjoy it. The mind is constantly suffering, with fear, sadness, depression, all that.

This is the effect of believing this is real as it appears—fear, worry, depression. The last thing is we want to kill ourselves, thinking maybe that’s better. Maybe there will be more peace! Actually, we think of peace, but it would be totally the opposite. Such a person has no idea what happens after death, no idea at all; it is totally dark.

Because the mind is so overwhelmed by problems, even if we are an expert in Buddhist philosophy, if we are not practicing in daily life, when problems come, the mind has no space and then the thought of death arises, the thought to commit suicide. We think maybe that’s more peaceful. That is totally ignorant. To die like that would be to die with a nonvirtuous thought, a nonvirtuous action, which would mean a rebirth in the unimaginable suffering of the lower realms. Somebody who commits suicide is totally hallucinated, not knowing karma and reincarnation, not thinking about that.

This has happened in the past. Some students who have studied well, who intellectually knew the subjects and knew how to explain reincarnation well, but due to lack of practice I think, not knowing how to control attachment, not thinking of karma in everyday life, they were totally defeated by attachment, by the self-cherishing thought. Then, when that friend or companion, the wife or husband, left, even though they could read Tibetan scriptures and knew Tibetan, even though they intellectually knew many things, because they didn’t really apply meditation to control the mind, to overcome attachment and those negative emotional thoughts, when their friend or companion left, they were unable to meditate and they committed suicide. This has happened.

That is a total hallucination, totally ignorant. When suicidal thoughts arise, we must remember the continuity of the consciousness, reincarnation, and that where we reincarnate depends on karma. If we create negative karma, how can we get reborn in the higher realms? There’s no way. There can be no peace.

This is a very good meditation in our busy daily life. This is how to practice emptiness in a busy life.

Since I brought up this issue, I want to emphasize this. While you are having a meeting and there are people who criticize you, who put you down, who argue opposite views that would normally cause you to get angry or upset, try to allow one part of the mind to meditate during that meeting, to spy, to continuously meditate on how all these things that appear as something real, such as the person criticizing you, how all this is gag cha, how everything is gag cha, how all these are false, hallucinations, how they are totally empty, how there is no such thing in reality.

While you are talking during the meeting, a part of the mind meditates on emptiness, looking at that which is a hallucination as a hallucination. When you do that, what comes in your heart is that they are empty. When the awareness, the mindfulness, is on the gag cha, what happens does not affect you. What happens around you, what people say—whether they praise or criticize you—doesn’t affect to you; it doesn’t make you unstable, making your life up and down. Meditating in this way, these things do not affect you. There’s stability; there’s peace and calmness in your heart. Whatever happens around you, however people behave, nothing disturbs you.

SHOPPING WITH THE THREE PRINCIPAL ASPECTS OF THE PATH

This is the same when we are shopping. While we are shopping, we ourselves appear as a real I, and then there is a real shop, a real shopkeeper, real money, real goods. When we go to the food section, there are all those real vegetables, those real tomatoes, and in the cheese section there are thirty, forty, sixty, seventy different types of real cheese, like the old smelly cheese with a lot of fungus on it. I think the old smelly cheese is regarded as very healthy cheese!

I didn’t see any worms in the cheese! In Solu Khumbu where I was born, there was often very rotten, very smelly, very old cheese that had worms, and there were often worms or maggots in the meat. When people made soup, they put the maggots in the soup. Some people regarded maggots as protein. I think the Chinese eat the worms as protein. Anyway, I remember that when I was a child in Solu Khumbu, some people had this very old cheese. Anyway, it doesn’t matter.

In the food section, there are all these different kinds of meat and fish, and everything is real. So, we should go there to meditate, to practice mindfulness, lamrim. I didn’t get to mention at the beginning, but the lamrim is the heart of the 84,000 teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha gave us the teachings; he left them in this world for us sentient beings to be liberated, to achieve enlightenment. All three baskets of teachings that comprise the entire Buddhadharma come into the lamrim, the graduated path of the three capable beings. And then, all that is condensed into the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment. So here, from the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment, we are meditating on emptiness, the heart of everything.

Here, when we shop, we look at all these things as gag cha, objects to be refuted. We look at all these things which are hallucinations as hallucinations. When we do that, that helps stop strong attachment from arising, as well as helping to stop anger when some problem happens.

When we shop with the lamrim, with renunciation, bodhicitta and right view, it becomes the cause of enlightenment. With bodhicitta, our shopping is only for others; all our activities are only for others. Whatever we do in our daily life, when we do it with bodhicitta, it is only for others. So, all this shopping becomes the cause of enlightenment. I’m using this as an example, but all our activities in daily life done with bodhicitta become the cause of enlightenment.

Everything becomes Buddhadharma with renunciation, right view and bodhicitta. And when it is done with the meditation on emptiness, it becomes the antidote to samsara. In that way, our shopping becomes the antidote to samsara. Walking, sightseeing, it’s the same—it becomes the antidote to samsara; it doesn’t become the cause of samsara.

When we do a sadhana and we visualize the deity, if we do it with the emptiness meditation and an awareness of dependent arising, how because it arises dependently, it exists in mere name, merely imputed by mind, or if we look at it as a hallucination—although it appears as something real, we look at that which is hallucination as a hallucination—if we do that, it becomes the antidote to samsara; it doesn’t become the cause of samsara. Otherwise, there is the danger of it becoming the cause of samsara. Here, even doing our tantric practice becomes the antidote to samara.

Any normal activities we do, like eating food—if, while we are eating food, we meditate on how the I, action of eating and the object, the food, exist in mere name, merely imputed by mind, or if we look at everything that appears to us as something real and see it as a hallucination, how the food, ourselves as the eater and the action of eating all appear real while we understand that all these, which are hallucinations, we look at them as hallucinations, that is the antidote to samsara. What comes in the heart is that these are all empty. Even without thinking they are empty but looking at them as hallucinations—which they are—the result is to feel in our heart that these are empty. So, again, eating food becomes pure Dharma; it becomes the antidote to samsara.

Similarly, while we are working. I’ll mention this but keep it short. I mentioned being in a meeting as an example, but also, while we are cleaning, cooking, writing, being a secretary, even if it doesn’t happen continuously, we should try to remember from time to time with mindfulness of the gag cha or of dependent arising, looking at things as empty. Even if we cannot continuously develop that mindfulness, we should try to remember again and again.

All those times that we work like that, even doing secretarial work, that mind of emptiness becomes the antidote to samsara; it becomes the heart of the 84,000 teachings of the Buddha, the heart of lamrim.

It becomes the antidote to the root of samsara. Every time we do it, it leaves more and more imprints until we have a realization of emptiness. It is imaginary at first, then later we have the direct perception, which ceases karma and delusions, ceasing first the gross negative imprints of delusions, then the subtle ones. Then, with bodhicitta we create a lot of merits with six paramitas, the deeds of the bodhisattva, and we are able to cease the subtle negative imprints, thus achieving enlightenment.

This is how to integrate the Dharma in our busy life, the entire lamrim practice and the three principal aspects of the path. Here, I’m particularly talking about emptiness at this point.

Then, we will constantly have peace in our heart. Negative emotional thoughts will not arise, such as fear, attachment, depression, all these. We are always calm, peaceful, with an open heart, not a closed one. We have a very healthy mind, a very open heart; we have space to generate loving kindness and compassion for others. When there are minds like anger or attachment, they block the development of compassion, the pure, unconditional loving thought.

So yeah, what was I saying?

So, the next thing … the minute we let our mind hold onto this I as true, that this real I exists as it appears, the minute we hold onto that as true, entrusting that, that becomes the root of samsara. We are creating the root of samsara.

You have gone through the twelve links, the twelve dependent related limbs, ten drel yen lag chu nyi, so you can see how we are constantly creating the root of samsara, and then, due to that, attachment, anger and all those negative emotional thoughts arise. From ignorance, compounding action leaves a karmic imprint on the mental continuum, which throws the future rebirth on the continuity of the consciousness.

Either at the end of that life, near death, or in another lifetime, craving and grasping arise. Craving arises, and then strong attachment, grasping, arises, which nurtures the karmic seed, just as earth and water nurture seeds that grow into a stem. Craving nurtures this seed, this karmic seed that begins the future rebirth, which is called becoming.

Then, in the life after that, there is consciousness and then name and form. After [the consciousness enters] the fertilized egg—the physical part, the “form”—the mental part is “name,” and then there is feeling and so forth, compounding the aggregates, those other mental factors, and then cognition, which are called name. Then there are the six sense bases, the six sense sources, and then there is contact and feeling. After that is only aging and death. Relating to us, while all the other things are happening, old age has been happening. Every day, every hour, every minute, every second, old age is happening.

This is what we are constantly going through from birth [Rinpoche snaps his fingers], nonstop, even for a second—we are constantly going toward death. Like a person who is going to be executed, being taken by police in a car, we are constantly going to the place to be executed. From birth, we are constantly, nonstop—even for a second—going to death. This is one meaning of the Tibetan term dro wa [in the refuge prayer]. Because we are constantly aging, there is impermanence, and now what is left is death.

Now here, in one day, we are constantly creating the root of samsara. Even within one hour, out of ignorance, karmic formation comes and so many started twelve links are initiated. Within one hour there are so many that we must go through, experiencing suffering. So many happen within one hour, so no question within one day.

THE REAL SOLUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING IS TRANSFORMING OUR MIND

In the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, in the section on how to generate compassion for other sentient beings, Lama Tsongkhapa says,

Swept away by the current of the four powerful rivers,
Tied by the tight bonds of karma, so hard to undo, 
Caught in the iron net of self-grasping,
Completely enveloped by the total darkness of ignorance,

Endlessly reborn in cyclic existence,
Ceaselessly tormented by the three sufferings—
Thinking that all mothers are in such a condition,
Generate the supreme mind of enlightenment.

Just as the limbs can be chained, trapped, we are bound by karmic chains. There are so many chains, even talking about one day, and then there are all the ones from birth, from beginningless rebirths, all the twelve links that we have started and not yet finished. There are so many.

To generate compassion for other sentient beings, Lama Tsongkhapa says it is like our hands are fastened with so many chains. There is no control, no freedom at all. Then, he says sentient beings are trapped in the iron net of self-grasping, the iron net of the ego, of ignorance, without any light, total gloomy. That is how Lama Tsongkhapa describes samsara in the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, showing us how to develop compassion for others by seeing how much they are suffering.

If we use ourselves as an example, after realizing how we ourselves are suffering, we see how others are suffering. Then, we can develop compassion and loving kindness. Then, we can develop bodhicitta. Then, we are inspired to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings. We ourselves need to achieve enlightenment; it is the only way we can do perfect work and liberate all the sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment. We can only do this through the lamrim. Therefore, we need to actualize the lamrim if we want to help others. Only through the lamrim can we do perfect work for sentient beings. We need to develop the subjects of the lamrim even for ourselves, in order to complete our potential, actualizing the graduated paths of the lower, middle and higher capable beings.

Here, I’m not going to go on, blah, blah, blah, blah. But this is the real meaning of life. To attain the most meaningful life is this way.

All problems come from the mind. Global warming comes from the mind. It comes from ignorance, from the self-cherishing thought. This is what we have to deal with. Without changing this mind, without transforming it, without eliminating it, [we must experience] all these dangers. They all come from the mind: global warming, earthquakes, all the diseases, all the famines, torture—these all come from the self-cherishing thought, this ignorance I described just now, this wrong concept, this mistaken way of thinking, of believing. We make the mistake in believing what the I and the aggregates are; we have this wrong belief, and this mistaken way of thinking becomes the root of all the problems, not only relationship problems but also global warming and all these wars, and all these diseases, new and old diseases, like cancer and AIDS. There are many new diseases happening, both curable and incurable. And there are many famines. Everything comes from that [ignorance].

So, the real solution is there in our heart. We have to find the real solution in our heart, in our mind. The real solution is there in the lamrim, transforming our mind, eliminating karma and delusions.

COMING TO THE KOPAN COURSE IS THE BEST DECISION

Therefore, I would say that your coming here at this time to this Kopan course is the best decision in your life. It’s the best decision, whether you made it by good luck or not. I think even scientists refer to having good luck. When I watch TV, they sometimes use the term “good luck,” but I don’t think they really know what good luck is. They don’t refer to it as merit or good karma because they don’t see that. The term that people normally use when they have some success is “good luck.” They don’t say “merit” or “good karma.” They don’t relate it to positive thoughts and positive actions. The term they use is “good luck.” But it means the same; it means good karma. They just don’t know the term. They’re not sure, they can’t describe it. It’s like God. They can’t describe what good luck is. I think they think good luck is causeless, but we create good luck. It is not that good luck comes from the outside, from the sky or something.

Unless we transform our mind, we do various nonvirtuous actions with these wrong concepts. Of course, there is ignorance, and this creates the cause for droughts, earthquakes, tsunamis. It is the cause of global warming. This all comes from the mind. The root is there. So, if this [our mind] changes, everything changes. With this one change, which is our own mind, everything changes. The solution is Dharma; we change our mind with Dharma and then everything changes for us.

But if our mind—this one person’s mind—does not change, then the problem, the suffering, does not change, no matter how much we try to solve the problem externally. We might alleviate it temporarily, but even if it’s solved, it’s temporary.

The conclusion is this. You have a choice during this time. You have come here to do a lamrim course. It is not just a meditation course but a lamrim course. In the world, there are all kinds of meditation, such as just watching the breath or just watching your stomach moving! You can concentrate on your shoes or if you have a home, you can spend an hour watching that. Anyway, I’m joking! Maybe during that time it helps you to not get angry or to not develop strong attachment if you meditate on something like toilet paper. Anyway, I’m joking! Spending many hours concentrating on an object helps stop emotional minds like strong attachment from arising. It might help, but not much.

We have achieved shamatha numberless times. We have been born in the form realm and the formless realm numberless times. By achieving shamatha, through meditation we have been born in the form and formless realms numberless times, but that alone is not sufficient. That is not a special Buddhist practice. It is also a Hindu one. Hinduism even has fully characterized zhi nä and I think even tummo.

What is very special is the lamrim, the three principal aspects of the path. That is the heart; that is what makes the difference, allowing us to cut the root of samsara and be free from samsara, to achieve liberation, and through renunciation, bodhicitta and emptiness, to achieve enlightenment. Then, we can become the perfect guide, able to do perfect work for sentient beings, liberating numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bringing them to enlightenment.

I’ll stop here. I’m not going to mumble any more.

Actually, my plan was not this subject. It was to talk about the benefits of reciting TADYATHA OM MUNE MUNE MAHAMUNIYE SVAHA, and to give the lung of Praise to Shakyamuni Buddha, which is the heart of the Buddha’s teachings.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Another time. Thank you very much. I think that’s all. Good night. Thank you so much.

DEDICATIONS

[Rinpoche and the students recite in Tibetan]

“Due to all the three-time merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, may the bodhicitta be actualized within my heart and in the hearts of all the sentient beings without delay of even a second.”

[Rinpoche and the students recite in Tibetan]

“Due to the three-time merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, may the bodhicitta be actualized in the hearts of all the leaders of the world, especially, very urgently, in the hearts of all the religious people as well as all the people who have harmful thoughts to harm others. May bodhicitta be generated in their hearts, instead of harmful thoughts.” That’s very urgent.

[Rinpoche and the students recite in Tibetan]

Then we dedicate all the merits for His Holiness, the only object of refuge for all of us sentient beings, and the source of peace and happiness for all of us sentient beings. Every single opportunity that we have to learn Buddhadharma, to hear, to reflect, to meditate on it, to actualize it, every single understanding that we receive is by the kindness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Next, particularly for Lama Yeshe, who is the founder of this organization, who actualized this place, Kopan, to do courses like this. So, it’s also by the kindness of Lama Yeshe. Every single understanding of the Buddhadharma we have, every single purification we do, the many eons of negative karma we have purified by meditating on bodhicitta, every time we have made ourselves closer to liberation and enlightenment, and to enlighten all sentient beings, this is by the kindness of first, His Holiness, and then second, by the kindness of Lama Yeshe.

Dedicate for His Holiness to have a long life and for all his holy wishes to succeed immediately. After that, dedicate that the holy wishes that Lama had be actualized, and that Lama Ösel Rinpoche have a stable life and become a dynamic teacher, like Lama Tsongkhapa and His Holiness, in this world, for all sentient beings.

This is a prayer for His Holiness’s wishes to succeed.

[Rinpoche and the students recite in Tibetan] 

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, may all the father and mother sentient beings have happiness, may the three lower realms be empty forever, may all the bodhisattvas’ prayers succeed immediately. May I be able to cause all this to happen by myself alone.”

[Rinpoche and the students recite in Tibetan]

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, just by me thinking [this], may everybody dedicate in this way. Due to all the three-time merits collected by me and by others, may it affect all the sentient beings who are connected to me, just by merely being in this universe, this world, this country, this place, this house. May it affect all the sentient beings living in this universe, this world, this country, this place, this house. May their negative karma immediately be purified, and may they never ever get reborn in the lower realms. May all their mental and physical problems be completely, immediately, instantly healed. Those who are living in this universe, this world, this country, this area, this house where I am, just by my being there, in this universe, this world, this country, this area, this house, simply by my being here, may all those sentient beings benefit. May it become healing for everybody.

“May I become wish-fulfilling for all the sentient beings in this universe, this world, this country, this area, even the people living in the same house. May I become wish-fulfilling for everybody, just by being there, just by existing in this universe, this world, this place. May everybody’s mental and physical problems be completely healed, and may everybody find faith in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and in karma. May they actualize bodhicitta in all their hearts and may they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. May all their wishes be completely fulfilled, instantly, just by me simply being in this universe, this world, this country, this area, this house. May they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

“And not only that, just by me simply being in this universe, this world, this place, this house, may war, famine, disease, torture, poverty, sicknesses and the dangers of fire, water, air, earthquakes, all these things, wherever they are happening, wherever there is danger, may it be stopped immediately. In Burma and Iraq, wherever all these problems are happening, may it be stopped immediately. And may nobody in this world experience all these undesirable things forever, not only now but forever.”

And this is my favorite dedication, my favorite hobby. “Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by all other sentient beings, including bodhisattvas and buddhas, which exist but do not exist from their own side, which are totally empty, may the I, who exists but who does not exist from its own side, who is totally empty, achieve Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which exists but which does not exist from its own side, which is totally empty, and lead all the sentient beings, who exist but who do not exist from their own side, who are totally empty, to that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which exists but which does not exist from its own side, which is totally empty, by myself alone, who exists but who does not exist from its own side, who is totally empty.”

When we meditate on emptiness like this, even though the words themselves are correct, if we analyze, there can sometimes be nihilism. Even though the words are correct, when we meditate, not according to the words, sometimes it can be nihilism. For instance, if we look for the table—not thinking of an inherently existent table, not relating to the real table that appears to us and that we hold onto, just the mere table—but in the end we cannot find even that [mere table]. There is nothing to point to that this is a dependent arising and we don’t come to the conclusion that the table exists. Lama Tsongkhapa said in the Middle-Length Lamrim that that kind of analysis is nihilism destroying dependent arising. There’s a danger it might become like that.

It’s not that I have the realization, but it seems to be something very deep, where not the slightest thing exists from its own side. This is something very deep, very profound, that things don’t exist from their own side. It’s not that when we meditate we become spaced out. But even if the words are correct, when our mind meditates but we don’t become exactly like that, spaced out, or the examples I mentioned, still it does not become meditating on emptiness. 

When we meditate, we have to really examine our mind to see whether we are really meditating on emptiness or not, even though the words we say might be correct. It’s not easy. But we have to become liberated. We have been suffering in samsara from beginningless rebirths. Our suffering has had no beginning. Even the Buddha’s omniscient mind cannot see its beginning. Therefore, to reincarnate in samsara even once more is utterly unbearable. Because we have already suffered in samsara from beginningless rebirths, to reincarnate again is the most horrible thing; it is utterly unbearable. Even being in samsara for one second more is so unbearable. 

This is how our understanding, our realization, of renunciation should come. Even to be in samsara for one second more is unbearable—for one day, one hour, one minute, one second. To reincarnate again is the most unbearable thing, like we are going inside a septic tank or like we are jumping into the midst of a blazing fire. It’s even more unbearable than that. Jumping into a fire is nothing. The solution to reincarnating again in samsara is the realization of emptiness. Therefore, we have to study, we have to meditate, we have to realize emptiness, no matter how difficult it is.

How difficult is it? If we don’t create good karma, if we don’t collect extensive merit by practicing compassion and bodhicitta for sentient beings, by benefiting sentient beings, by collecting extensive merits with the Guru, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha [it is very difficult]. If we do collect extensive merits, if we leave many imprints by reading, listening and studying the teachings and meditating on them, then realizing emptiness can happen very quickly.

But if we don’t create much merit, much good luck, if we don’t pay much attention to those practices, and we are unable to leave positive imprints by listening to the teachings on emptiness, studying and meditating on them, it is extremely difficult to realize emptiness. Whether it is difficult or not is up to the individual person’s causes and conditions.

“I dedicate all the merits to be able to follow the holy extensive deeds of the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Manjugosha as they realize. I dedicate all the merits in the same way that the three-time buddhas dedicate their merits.”

[Rinpoche and the students recite in Tibetan]

“Due to all the three-time merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, may the stainless teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa, the unification of sutra and tantra, be actualized within my own heart and in the hearts of my family members and in the hearts of all of us, of all the students and benefactors, of the many people in different parts of the world who sacrifice their lives to this FPMT organization, and do service for sentient beings and for the teachings of the Buddha. May it be actualized in all their hearts. And all those who rely upon me, who I promised to pray for, whose names are given to me, in all their hearts, and in the hearts of everybody in this world, may Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings flourish forever and spread in all the directions.”

[Rinpoche and the students recite in Tibetan]

Thank you so much. Sorry, again it took such a long time!