Section One: Dharma

Lecture 1

Before explaining the actual subject, there are many hindrances, thousands of hindrances, to be able to practice Dharma.

There are different types of hindrances, outer hindrances. There are living beings who disturb us, who don't want us to develop our mind or to receive peace, ultimate happiness. Can you hear there on the edge? I think we can make it a little bit louder. I think so. I can't hear even myself.

So there are those who don't wish us to receive ultimate happiness, to be free from suffering. They control our mind, cause us to create negative actions, or the cause of sufferings. Due to the inner hindrance of ignorance, the outer hindrance controls our mind. Because our mind is not free from that, our minds are controlled and harmed by the outer and inner spirits. Because we are not free from the inner hindrance, the inner devil, also we are not free from the hindrance.

Another thing that is common is to think of those spirits who disturb our meditation practice as having come to receive a gift, and by having received whatever they want, enjoying whatever they want, they become very fierce and satisfied, and subdued, no longer having harmful thought. Instead of having the harmful thought toward us, the sentient beings, having received these enjoyments become the cause of the beneficial thought. Then the negative spirits go away, they leave beyond this earth, beyond this planet, and it is impossible for them to come back again, like airplanes. Thinking this is helpful. This can be helpful. This is Guru Shakyamuni Buddha's technique. I am not saying this is my power or anything like that, this is the power of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha's technique. The power of the mantras, the power of the teachings. The meditation practice like this can help.

First I would like to thank all you people who came from very far countries, with much difficulties, who came to seek something for your life. You bear so much difficulty, coming to seek a method to achieve peace in one's own mind. Even though that this meditation course is very strict. Even knowing how this meditation course is very strict, with many disciplines, you can't do this and can't do that, you have to sit down many hours, even though you've heard this before, in spite of this, feeling tired even just hearing or reading it, in spite of that, bearing the difficulties of that, you still have a need to come and experience it, and get involved with it. So I want to thank you, like this. I have great rejoicefulness. We have this kind of realization already. However, recognizing this alone does not bring peace of mind. There is some other method that brings satisfaction and happiness in life. There is another way of seeking more true happiness in the mind. There is some other method. Something else to seek, to practice, or to experience.

By understanding and feeling this, you come to seek the method, not closing our wisdom door by ourselves. We open the door of wisdom by ourselves, in order to receive peace of mind. We let ourselves open the door of wisdom and try to experience, try to check up, which method is better, which is the real method. Seeing if it brings the mind peace, not being satisfied with the old actions, the daily life actions. This is making oneself free. This itself, I think, is the door of nirvana; nirvana, ultimate happiness. We do not close the door of wisdom by ourselves. We open it to receive the path to ultimate happiness. This itself is a kind of a door, it is a sort of receiving ultimate happiness. If we close our wisdom ourselves, if we keep it limited, keep our wisdom limited, we don't have progression and we are always in the same place. Then always the problems are the same, there is nothing developed. Always one after another. Always we are in a circle.

So that is why I think and feel the great rejoicefulness of our having that much wisdom. Making ourselves free, allowing ourselves to be free. the prison. From the prison of the wrong conception, the wrong conception that always ties our minds in the problems. So I think that, in the present days, the young people, the Western young people, even though we are called hippies, having long hairs, wearing long dresses, and taking fantastic nectars, physical trips, actually we are very skillful. I would say very wise, very wise. We are allowing ourselves to be free from suffering. I think very skillful, very wise.

Once we come here, there are methods, it is not just one single meditation, just one thing, always depending on just that, not like this. Actually there are thousands of technique for problems within our mind. There is the need for different meditations, different methods. One method is not going to solve the whole problem. It cannot seize the whole problem in the mind. There are thousands and thousands of problems in the mind. It is necessary then to understand each different meditation, which gives solution to these problems, which makes our mind receive peace, by being free from each of the problems.

So, there are different levels of meditation practice, and you people came to learn meditation, which are techniques of the Buddha. But, though I am supposed to teach the meditation course, in fact if I check up my own mind, whether it is capable to teach other people meditation, it is something to laugh at. When I see my mind it is something to laugh at, it is just subject, to laugh at. It is not something to give teachings to other people. It is something that should run away from giving teachings, not to give teachings.

Usually those great teachers who teach Buddhadharma, they have great knowledge. Their mind is subdued so they can subdue, they can bring peace within the minds of others, within the minds of other sentient beings. I am not sure about from the side of my own mind, the mind is full of garbage. I don't think there is any benefit that you can receive.

But I have my Gurus from whom I have received many teachings. These gurus are completely fearless of the whole gradual path to enlightenment, the whole meditations. They teach meditations from their own experience, not just passing words. Not like me just passing the words. They teach with fresh experience. So, perhaps since the teachings have a few words that stay in my mind from the precious teachings I have received from the highly realized gurus, perhaps if I pass these words, then because the teaching is received from their own experience, by their power, by their compassion, it is not my own teachings, my own meditation technique, it is not my own path, it was shown by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. So, it is a teaching explained by Buddha, because by these reasons, there may be some benefits received, by hearing these few words. The subject of Buddhadharma, is like the Atlantic—it is difficult to measure the depth, is has very profound depth, and it is immeasurable. And my understanding of the Dharma is just like one tiny drop taken out of such a wide Atlantic ocean.

Dharma, what is Dharma? The general term of Dharma means "holding." If someone is to fall down, if someone is in danger of falling down, someone is in suffering, if there is a high cliff and someone is in danger to fall down, then the method to protect them, to hold them from that suffering is the Dharma. The method then is the Buddhadharma. It is a method that contains all these things that you call in the West by different names. Psychology and things, and psychiatry, there are many different things about how to solve the problems of the life. There are many different names. Being able to give the solution to the different problems of the mind. So, then, the Dharma contains all of the Buddha's messages. Those are the methods. Those are the messages that have been taught, that have been found. Even if the person says, "I tried," the psychologist, all these different things, even if the person spends the whole life, still the problems that he has to solve, he can't solve, and there are many problems where there is no method. So there is not one single method that is missing. As there are various problems for sentient beings, there is not one single method missing from the Dharma that cannot solve the sentient beings' problems. There is not one single method missing from the Dharma.

So Dharma is the total method that guides, that holds us away from the cause of suffering and suffering. All suffering and the cause of it. It's a method that holds us away from our own mental and physical sufferings, and all the causes of these. This is the method that is called the Dharma. The Dharma. One's own action that protects and holds oneself from suffering and the cause of suffering, that is Dharma. That is what Dharma means. So you can understand, even just from this, a very brief meaning of what Dharma is. You can understand from this, it is not a limited method, only to go to temples, only to go to church. This is a kind of Dharma. And making offerings of flowers and things are not Dharma—that is only a projection, nothing else. Nothing else is Dharma, the spiritual action—it is not like that. Only praying is only Dharma, nothing else, no other actions of life are Dharma—it is not like that.

So from morning until night, even if one doesn't go to church, even if one doesn't know what church is, even though one doesn't worship, even though one doesn't say prayers, doesn't know how to say prayers, from morning until night all his daily life actions, getting up, eating, sleeping, talking, then working in the office, making business, if all this becomes a method that protects him, guides him away from the suffering, the cause of suffering, the delusions, his wrong conceptions—even if the person is in the West, not in the East, not at Kopan, even if the person is working in New York, even if the person is watching a movie, all these things become Dharma. They become the cause of receiving ultimate happiness. It is very easy, so easy to practice Dharma. It is incredibly easy to practice Dharma in just normal life. It is so easy, it is just a matter of the normal daily life, it is so easy to become Dharma, to make it Dharma. So easy, you see, very easy.

It is so easy to practice Dharma, to make our life happy, having peace of mind, even though we live in the city and work, so easy. But of course, without the person understanding how to practice Dharma, how to make everything Dharma, for the person it is difficult. Without understanding how to make the actions Dharma, without consulting Dharma, how to transform the normal actions to Dharma, if one doesn't know, if one doesn't have the understanding then of course it is difficult to make. Then on the other hand it is so incredibly easy to receive the cause of ultimate happiness, to gain the cause of ultimate happiness. So easy to get out of suffering, so easy. On the other hand if one doesn't know the method, how to transform the action into Dharma, the different methods that can lead oneself to ultimate happiness, again it is difficult. So therefore, understand how to change, how to make our daily life actions become Dharma. That is also extremely important. The path that leads to peace. The happiness and suffering. These things are caused by external factors. Our life experiences of happiness and suffering mainly come from the internal factor of the mind. Very simple, very easy to understand this. It is our own mind's experience. It is just a matter of being aware of our life experience. We are aware. We are having this suffering not mainly caused by external factors, but mainly caused by internal factors of the mind. It is our own experience. We are not aware of how we are experiencing things. We are not aware of it. So therefore, we often think that the happiness of life mainly arises from the external factors, from the exterior conditions. We don't confirm our own experience, that happiness is mainly from the mind.

Normally what we believe is the opposite. Normally what we believe is the opposite to our own experience, and own experience is different from what we believe. A simple example, like this, if a person has enough material possessions that he can use, that he likes, he has enough. He has an apartment, material possessions, what you have to use in for living, but the person thinks, "Oh, I want better than this, this is not enough, I want more." When his mind was thinking of this, he wanted better quality, when he was thinking about this, being discontented and dissatisfied, when he followed the attachment, that kind of mind. That is actually okay, but by thinking that this is not enough, by forming attachment, this causes much worry, the mind is not happy, worried. Always missing, missing, much worry.

So after a second, before his mind was very confused, he makes a decision of mind—I don't need anymore of this, this is enough; this I can use for living, it is enough. I don't need any more. So when his mind makes the decision, after a second, when he makes the determination in the mind, all the previous worry, all the previous unhappiness is completely cut off. Whenever he makes this determination of the mind. This is enough, this is okay in his mind. Right at the time, there is peace in the mind of that person, there is happiness. Happiness because the mind is devoid of the previous problem. Devoid of dissatisfaction, the suffering of attachment.

So, right in that second, right after he made that decision there is happiness in his mind. That is Dharma happiness. That is cutting off, stopping, protecting himself from the cause of suffering, the attachment, the dissatisfactory mind of attachment. This is practicing Dharma, and how Dharma brings happiness. The person experiences happiness right in that minute. That is the start of the Dharma happiness.

Also like this, same thing, when we get angry with our mother, when the mother scolds us, you are so bad, complaining so much, you're doing this wrong, that wrong, many things wrong, when the mother comes and scolds then we get angry…

Real angry. Again the mind becomes unpeaceful, unhappy, and so disturbed. It is a dangerous cyclone, very dangerous, the air from which dust comes and destroys the building. The angry mind is very dangerous.

So again it is an unhappy mind. So if you think the mother is scolding oneself, think, "Oh! I should not get angry, it will harm her, she wants me to behave good, to have a good personality. She is instructing me to have a good personality for the happiness of life, for my happiness, she is supporting me. And she is very kind." By remembering how kind the mother is, how the mother has been taking care of us in many ways from baby time, and we remember how much she has suffered for oneself, when you think of this, then again, right that minute the anger stops, it soon disappears. Again, right after you think why one's mother is angry, scolding like this. Once it was anger, and then peace, there is happiness right that minute. The mind is relaxed, and the feeling is love for the mother by remembering the kindness, instead of arising anger. Be concerned about how to help the mother. So right that minute there is happiness in the mind that protects oneself from anger and brings happiness in one's mind. That itself is Dharma.

Protecting oneself from the harmful thought, the cause of suffering, the anger, that itself is Dharma. Buddhadharma means this. Even if you don't know what the Buddha is, that is itself Buddhadharma, and peace is what is received in the mind of that person, Dharma happens. This is just an example. The point that I am emphasizing that you should really understand clearly from these examples of the previous sufferings of anger and other dissatisfaction with the material conditions, is to see so clearly how it came from the mind, how it was caused by the mind. At the same time, just by changing the person's mind, the suffering stopped, and happiness came. So now we understand that suffering stopped and happiness came just by the change of mind. Just by the change and determination of the mind which you cannot see, which is not matter, but very strong. Determination is very strong. You cannot see it like matter. So you see my main point is that, just by a change of mind, the happiness changed from suffering. Suffering stops and happiness comes, like that.

Similarly all those other life problems can be stopped like this. By developing Dharma wisdom. Happiness and suffering are merely not caused from external factors; we understand the example of the person who seeks happiness and who receives happiness by being satisfied with material possessions, and the person who stops anger for the mother by remembering the kindness of the mother. We understand the person did not change the mother, the object did not change, did not become flat or square, she did not change at all—it is the same mother, same quality, like this. These are just examples. Same thing when we are in primitive countries, when we miss the food that we used to live on in the West. We think, "Oh it is different to eat, I am missing peanut butter, I am missing ham sandwiches and pizzas, " then the mind creates great worry. We think of this, remember this clinging, create worry, and we are not happy, the mind is not happy. If you think, "I am very fortunate, I am very lucky even to have a chance, even to receive something to eat, to stop the suffering of starvation. How fortunate."

Soon it will be peepee time. If you think, "I am very fortunate even to receive food in this day, to be saved from the death of starvation." How many people die in the world of starvation, not receiving even this good, worse than this. Some people have to eat dust. There are many people who are hungry and they eat snows people who die in the snow by hunger, and many times people also eat dust. There are many other sentient beings, even just people in the world, who experience incredible life sufferings. Our own life problems are nothing, compared to their life's problems. So be very happy. Actually be very happy compared to those many other people in the world. So when we think like this, when we think of others who have die by starvation like this, when you think of their life's problems, our own suffering is lost. And our own worry is lost, unimportant. Instead of worrying, we feel great happiness. I am lucky, I am fortunate. You feel happiness. So you can understand through these examples, happiness only arises from mind. Of course it is important to recognize the right method that brings happiness to this life, but on the other hand only this life which has a few years, which can be easily counted, in this life only being concerned with the happiness of this life which is only a few years, this is not sufficient, it is not sufficient. This is not enough. Why? Because even after death, even if this body disappears, the mind continues, the mind does not disappear at the same time with the body. As the candle in the wax, as the candle finishes and the flame stops—it is not like that. The mind in the body is not like that. Not like that.

The mind is a different nature from the body. However, the mind continues. Mind continues, even if the body disappears.

…different body, again it takes a different body. It is going to stay again in another different body. As the present time our mind is staying in this body ... living the house, the temple house of this body. After death the mind is going to another body. The different body that the mind will take, that is according to the previous actions of body, speech, and mind, which is called karma, actions that have different functions. Therefore, as the mind continues, the life continues—even in this present human life, there is a continuity of life. And after that, as the mind continues.

So after finishing the time for the mind to live in that body, when that time is finished, again the mind leaves that body and takes another body, and so on like this. It carries on like this. It can be possible that this point is not clear about the continuity of mind, but more discussion perhaps will make it clear when we come to points discussing this topic and reincarnation. So it carries on like this. So therefore, this previous kind of happiness, all the rest is not happy, is suffering, again so many problems. Always having an unhappy life, that doesn't make so much sense, only concerned with this present short term happiness and never concerned with all these future lives' happiness, never concerned to stop those lives' sufferings. Only concerned with this present, short term suffering.

This is just like this. Take an unskillful person who's only concerned with today's lunch, who's not concerned with tomorrow's lunch, tomorrow's supper, or next year's life, who doesn't make plans, who doesn't try to stop those coming years, those future years life's problems, who doesn't have any preparation for the happiness of those coming future years, who is only concerned with today's good lunch. Only concerned with today's happiness. Never makes preparation for the future. He never collects the material, he never collects money, he never thinks of the next coming years. You see this in the world. This person is recognized as a very foolish person. A very unskilled person, very foolish person, uneducated.

Oh then, similarly like this, if one never makes preparation for the happiness of future lives, this is the wrong way, the wrong way. Never making preparation for the happiness of future lives. Never making preparation to stop the suffering of future lives. Only concerned about trying to stop the suffering of this life, which has a few years. This is similar, the same thing, unskillful. This mind is an unskillful mind. By having this mind, the person has a limited aim. By having this mind, one is an unskillful person. This is the same as the person who doesn't understand Dharma. When we think of the length of future lives the length of this life is nothing. It is lost compared to how long we are going to have future lives. The length of our future lives is unimaginable. This life is one kind of second.

When we think of the length of time, our mind is aware of the length of time of future lives. Therefore, in the world, people who are not much concerned with today's happiness, today's good luck, who are not concerned so much of today's happiness, who are mainly concerned with future coming years happiness and to stop the future coming years sufferings, beating today's suffering, beating present difficulties in order to stop the future difficulties.

This person who collects materials, money, to make preparation to store things, food and clothing for next year, who tries to make many arrangements for the future years' happiness, that is a person who can bear the present difficulties. That is recognized as a wise, skillful person in the world by the ordinary people. From the Dharma point of view, it is skillful, but it is not skillful from the Dharma point of view. However, the person who bears the difficulties, the person who is not so much concerned with the happiness of this life, who is more concerned with stopping mainly the future lives, and not experiencing suffering, this is the most skillful person, this is the real wise person. Conclusion. What is the method to receive happiness in all the future lives. There are no material methods, external things can't bring it, can't make us achieve the goal. So what is the method? The method is Dharma, only Dharma, Dharma can do this.

I think I stop here. From Dharma one can have always happiness in the future life, even though you are not concerned with the present life's happiness. Even though you're not specifically concerned in the present to stop the suffering, but automatically, as you practice Dharma to obtain the happiness of future lives, if what you are doing is Dharma, it brings happiness even in the present life, as in the examples I mentioned before. Even though you not specifically concerned with it, it is the foundation of Dharma, it is the benefit of the Dharma.

I will tell the meditation so then you can practice you can concentrate as he repeats ... I think this is similar to last night's meditation, checking about the nature of consciousness, seeing the way the consciousness is and about our definition of conception, what it means, whether mind is born from the egg or whether mind is born from mind.

Dedication. Thank you.

Lecture 2

Like this as I explained this morning, when we check up the length of the future lives, how long they are, the present life is so short it is just like one second. It is nothing compared to the length of the future lives, so therefore it is extremely important, as we have the opportunity to obtain the happiness of the future lives, and to prevent the sufferings of the future lives. That is more important than to stop only the temporal problems right this minute. And then only trying to obtain temporal happiness right this minute, like this. The method is what? No external means, no external things can make us achieve that aim. So that alone can not do it. So what is the method? The method is Dharma. By practicing Dharma we can achieve this. So therefore, because of this reason it is important to understand and practice Dharma.

Again, not only that it is still not sufficient—even if we receive a happy rebirth in the future life, that is not sufficient. For instance, in this lifetime, we have received the human rebirth, which is a happy rebirth, the rebirth of the happy transmigratory. We have received a happy rebirth by being born as a human being but still there is no ultimate happiness. There is no real happiness. Even if one is born as a king, even if one is born as rich person ... always like this.

The people who don't have higher positions, who don't have the position of a king, when they look at the king, they think how the kings are so happy, their rich apartment, a white house or whatever you call it. They go in good cars and fancy cars; everybody can watch. They talk about it all the time. The person's names come up everywhere. However, from the population's side, when they look at the king or the president, they feel the life is so good, and they feel attraction to that life. Everybody wishes to be like a king, like a president.

Then you make plans, you feel attraction to that life, so you make plans how to get that, how to reach that stage or how to get that position. You make plans, how to reach that. However if one carefully checks up the life of that president or the one who has the highest position, the life is full of worries, if it is carefully checked up, whether there is real happiness or not. The life is full of worries and there is no peace. Even during the nighttime there is no comfortable sleep to relax the mind, so much worry, creating so much responsibility. Always there is much complaint, no matter how much you do the work. Always, no matter what you do, there is always complaint from the side of the population. He is not doing like this, he is making this like this. Always he has complaints. There is much worry, because of complaints. In the mind there is so much worry like this.

Even if the person is living in the rich house, beautiful house, the mind is not enjoying the beautiful house. Even though he is always surrounded by perfect material enjoyments, the mind is not happy. Heavy responsibility, heavy burdens. There are so many complaints from certain people. They always worry to lose the reputation, to lose the power, the position. When a person is more important like this, then the life is dangerous. Always there is danger to be killed, to be shot by other people

He has to be surrounded by body guards, like this.

That shows that his life has become more dangerous by having received that position. From their side, the side of the population, they have no responsibility. The king thinks, the population doesn't have a heavy responsibility like me, they don't have such complaints. The president or the king feels attraction to the life of the population, the ordinary people's life, where there are not so many problems. The population feels attraction to the life of the king and the president, but they feel attraction to how their life is happy and good. Again in the population, there is no happiness. There is not really happiness there. Again there are other problems. There are various problems in their own life, there is no real happiness. It is the same thing with the rich people, they only have problems. For instance the beggars who are in the street, they think the rich people who have a good apartment, who have cars and everything, enjoyments and everything, they are so happy, how good it would be if I had that life. There is attraction for the rich people's life, wishing to be like that. Then again if it is carefully checked up, the nature of their life, if there is real happiness. But in their life there is always confusion, after one problem another problem arises all the time, much worry. Even though they have much material possessions there is a worry of losing them, and being unable to collect more, and becoming more poor than other people.

Then, having material possessions, many other people want to steal them. Many thieves come to steal. If there are no material possessions then there is no thief to steal. Many people ask, give me this and give me that. Help me with this and help me with that, and then again there is another problem in the mind. When many thieves come around to take away your material possessions, again there is so much worry. Not being satisfied. There are many problems that happen, there is great danger of being killed by other people or things like that. Or they want to commit suicide themselves, even though they have everything. There is still no happiness, even though they have everything as regards material possessions, but still no happiness, and they want to commit suicide. Therefore there is no solution for the life. They do not know how to make the life happy. Then when their life is in great danger of being killed or things like that, there is a big problem. Due to material possessions, they feel attraction to the beggars. These beggars don't have material possessions and they don't have any of these problems that these rich people have. When their life is in great danger, they feel attraction for the life of the beggar.

But in the life of the beggar, there is no happiness. They have problems, they are not happy, they can't find one lunch. They have their own problems like this. They think, business people have a good life, they can enjoy. They feel attraction to that life. Then you look at the business life and there is no real happiness there. There is much confusion and other problems. Not gaining or receiving profit, losing the profit, losing the money. Having many critics, or many debts you owe. You have trouble, you have to be away from home. Also the life is in danger, so you are not satisfied in the business. Even if you make a lot of profit, then again there is the enemy who wants to take away that profit that you've gained. Then they think, maybe to have a business life is not really happiness, maybe it is good to be a farmer.

Maybe good to be a farmer with cows and goats, drink lots of milk, just lead a simple life, live in the fields, out of the city, work in the fields, grow your own vegetables. Then you do that, then again by checking if there is real happiness in this life, you find there is no real happiness in that life. There are other different types of problems. No rain, crops not growing well, so much worry. Being eaten by animals, germs, like this. Then one has to work in the field with much hardship of the body, with much difficulties. And the sun. There are many other problems. Many animals die by disease or things like that. They have their own problems, like this. Then you think, maybe to be a tourist is good, maybe there is happiness in that life. Just to travel around, go everywhere, where you haven't been. High mountains. Many times you see in the picture, the country is so beautiful in the pictures, because it's more exaggerated in the pictures. Then after you travel and saw that country, it was different from the beautiful picture that you saw. Again you were disappointed, you didn't receive what you wanted, what you expected. Things like that.

Material possessions, what one expects one doesn't receive. The cause or worry of losing money, expenses, all things like that. Not having enough.

Then some people think, maybe to become a hippy is good, maybe there is happiness in that life, not sure, should try it. You have long hairs and you change your clothes and things like that ... do the different trips by taking those different things. Again there is no real happiness there. Many times by taking too much of the different types of drugs, the mind becomes more uncontrolled. The actions become an outer human beings' actions, a useless human beings' actions. The mind becomes crazy like this. Because of these different manners, many times they are caught, then have to go to prison, and again there is much worry. In the countries people kick them out, they don't let them stay. There are many problems in that life.

As we know, as we have been experiencing it, even though we have received a happy rebirth, the birth of the happy transmigrator, whatever the aspect of a different life we take, there is no real happiness. For instance, whatever place we stay, there is no real happiness, it always becomes the cause of suffering, it always becomes in the nature of suffering. Firstly, "Oh! This place is really beautiful, I want to live in this place. I will never leave this place, I really want to live all my life in this place." First we decide like this, then you start to live in this country, then as a month goes, as a year goes, then after some time you get bored. Then again more and more dislike arises for this place, you get bored of this place. So again you try to live in another place, "Oh! maybe this is good place," another one, then you try to live there. Again after some time, after days go, as months go, as years go, you get bored of that. And then change to another place. Whatever place we live is a suffering place.

Friends. First, "Oh this person is such a beautiful person," if he gives a little bit of help, "He is a beautiful person, because he gives me this and that.: If he praises you, if he gives you a good reputation. If he admires you, then how beautiful this person is, then you become so close to that person. Kind of almost inseparable at the beginning, so close, then afterwards as the day goes, again you get bored, the interest that you had before is lost. It disappeared, it's lost, you get bored, and you don't want to be with that person anymore. You get bored of that person. With anger, a serious mind, you fight with the person, become disharmonious. Then you try to live with another person.

You meet another person. This person is so beautiful, more beautiful than the other friend. This is fantastic, he is such a good person. Then you try to live with the other person. Then at the beginning you are almost inseparable. Then as the days go, you get bored, it is lost, again becoming disharmony. It always changes, like this, you get bored like this. With whomever we are friends, we are complaining always like this. Our friends are always the suffering friends.

And also enjoyments. Firstly we think this food is so delicious. For instance the peanut butter ... at first it is so delicious, so good. But if you keep on eating peanut butter all the time, then after some time you get bored with peanut butter. So you want to try something else. Then if you carry on with it, then you get fed up, like this. Any enjoyment, whatever it is, at the beginning it is good like this. It is a good enjoyment, we think, but it changes, it doesn't last. Whatever enjoyments that we have, these are the enjoyment of suffering, all the time like this.

Even when oneself tries to live alone away from all the people, no people around, in the mountains, in the caves, in the forest, maybe there is some peace there, happiness. By living alone. Then again feeling lonely, so many other problems, even though there is only yourself. There are many other problems.

So there is no ultimate happiness, even if we have receive the happy rebirth. Then after death, even if this body disappears, even if we don't have this body, even if we have separated from this body, will there be happiness when the mind is alone? Will there be happiness? Again there is no happiness. Even if we separate from this body. Even if the mind is alone. Still it is not free from suffering. Even when the mind is alone, is there ultimate, real happiness? There is no ultimate happiness, even if our mind is separate from this body.

In order to stop the experience of all of these daily life's sufferings, it is necessary to find out the cause of these thousands and thousands of daily life's problems. It is necessary to find out, to recognize the cause. So what is the cause? The basic cause from which all these daily life's sufferings arise is the delusion, the three poisonous minds. Ignorance, attachment, anger ... and the actions of these delusions. This is the cause from where all the human mental and physical suffering comes from. Same thing, this is the fundamental cause for the animal beings, the creatures who are not humans, from where all their suffering rises, mental and physical suffering. These delusions, and the action of these delusions that is called karma. So like this, same thing, there are also other sentient beings besides human beings and animals, the creatures that we see. There are other sentient beings, who are living in the different planets, who are living in higher planets than the human beings in the world. There are other sentient beings called gods, in Sanskrit sura, and asura, god and non-god. There are different types of sentient beings who have different lives than we the human beings. They have higher enjoyments than human beings have.

So there are suras and asuras, gods and non-gods, like this. Also there are other sentient beings, many other sentient beings-at the moment, with our limited perception, we don't see the different types of sentient beings. At the moment we see some other suffering sentient beings, but there are other beings, spirits, not human beings, suffering beings , who are not the object of our perception at the moment, whom we don't see. There are many other different types of sentient beings, such as the spirits, pretas, things like that, and narak beings, who are always in unimaginable suffering. Different types of sentient beings. All the suffering, all this come from the cause, these delusions, and the actions of these delusions within their mind, within each individual's mind.

So why did I say even if we are separate from this body, the mind is still not free from suffering? Why? The point is that the mind is still not free from suffering; Why? Because the mind is not free, the mind is not free from these delusions and its actions, which is called karma. mind is under the control these delusions and its action karma. So that is why the mind is still not free, even if the mind is alone, it is still not free from the suffering. So what is the ultimate happiness, the real freedom? That is the cessation of all suffering. The cessation of all suffering is what? The cessation of all of this cause of suffering is delusions and it's action karma. That is the real freedom, that is nirvana, that is the cessation of the cause of suffering and delusion and karma, that is the nature of the mind that is free from delusion and its action karma, that is in the everlasting blissful state, the nature of that mind, that is nirvana. What we hear, what we see in the books—nirvana. That is nirvana, the blissful state of peace.

So until the mind is not free from the delusions, there is no way to really experience ultimate happiness, everlasting happiness, which never changes in suffering, which never degenerates, which never loses. So in order to receive, such as this blissful state of peace, ultimate happiness, nirvana, what is the method again? By what method can one can achieve this? There is no other method besides Dharma. Only through Dharma one can achieve this ultimate happiness, nirvana, within one's mind. Still it is enough having received a blissful state of peace of oneself, is this enough? This is still not skillful, just satisfying oneself, just satisfying with one's own peace. That is still not skillful. Having achieved nirvana, the release of the suffering only within one's own mind, that is not sufficient.

There is not one single sentient being to point out, this sentient being has not been my mother. This sentient being has not been my mother. Creatures, any types of human beings, any types of creatures, ugly, beautiful, whatever it is. There is not one sentient being to point out, this sentient being has never been my mother. Not one. Each sentient being has indeed been one's own mother numberless times in the previous life, and as they have been mother numberless times, they have been kind to oneself numberless times in previous life.

They have been kind as our present mother, giving this body. With this body we can do many things. We enjoy the sense pleasures. We even do many beneficial actions for oneself and others, and she suffered so much to give this body, to take care of one's own life, to take care to protect us from the hindrances of life. She suffered so much and she has been very kind. Not only that, also she has been extremely kind in giving enjoyments to oneself from the child-time, from baby-time, also she suffered so much for that. Also she has suffered so much to educate me. So, like this, each sentient being has been one's own mother numberless times, has been kind, never being concerned about the mother sentient beings, to obtain the happiness for them. Never concerned for guiding them to be free from suffering, never concerned with day and night, all the time how to make ME happy. How to make my life happy. Just one person from out of all of these numberless mother sentient beings, only one sentient being, just oneself, only oneself, day and night all the time how to make my life happy. How to be free from suffering. Only concerned for one's own happiness.

And satisfying this by achieving the blissful state of nirvana. This is just like this example.

It is like this, the mother is caught, is in danger of drowning in the whirlpool, in the ocean, where there are waves around like this, and she is screaming, shouting for help, and you are out of that danger, out of that water, you are free from that. And so the mother is shouting there, shouting for help, in great danger of drowning. The son is standing nearby the beach, sleeping, ignoring, dancing, singing, ignoring, not caring for the mother. Not guiding the mother from that danger. Besides not guiding, not helping the mother, he is also singing and dancing because he does not have that problem. This example is a very upsetting example. It is very upsetting when the son does not pay attention to the mother. He is never concerned about the mother who helped him grow up with great kindness and much compassion. Who took care of him, satisfying one's own peace. This example is very upsetting. So like this, he is never concerned for the kind mother sentient beings. Never concerned about guiding them from suffering and obtaining happiness for them. Only concerned with one's own peace, being satisfied with having achieved the blissful state of peace of oneself, nirvana, exactly like this example.

The mother sentient beings have not met the leader, leading them in the path to enlightenment or nirvana. They have no Dharma wisdom-eye to know what is the cause of happiness, what is the cause of suffering. What they desire is happiness, but their body, speech, and mind work for the complete opposite. They always create the cause of suffering instead of creating all the time the cause of happiness, what they wish. It's like wanting to escape away from the danger of cliffs, but running to jump in the ocean. The actual work that is done is like running toward the cliff to fall into the ocean. The action is completely opposite. So that is how there is no ultimate happiness. All the times experiencing suffering.

So oneself having received the precious human rebirth, and also having the possibility to develop Dharma wisdom—we have the possibility as we have met the teaching, we have a method, so in this time, as we have received the precious perfect human rebirth and have met the teaching, the leader who shows the path, as we have the opportunity to develop the Dharma wisdom—we have the method to guide the sentient beings from suffering and lead them into ultimate happiness, nirvana and enlightenment. If we have the method, therefore there is a possibility. There is a method, so as they have been our mother numberless times, they have been kind, sop we must repay them for their kindness. The best way to repay them is to ensure that they receive only happiness, to be devoid of all the sufferings.

So lead them into enlightenment. Not just giving food and clothing, which gives just only temporal pleasure, temporal happiness. Mother sentient beings don't wish to suffer, but always they run to create the cause of suffering. I must make them be devoid of all the suffering and the cause of suffering. No matter how much they wish for happiness, they are ignorant of the cause of happiness. Even though they understand a little, they are lazy to create the cause of happiness, virtue. So, I must make all sentient beings receive the causes of happiness. That whole responsibility should be taken by myself.

At the present time I cannot guide even myself from suffering, besides being unable to guide other sentient beings, or even one sentient being from suffering. So who has the perfect knowledge? And perfect power? And the infinite equal compassion for all sentient beings? Compassion, who has this? Only the perfected being, the enlightened being has this knowledge, and can guide the sentient beings perfectly to enlightenment. The Buddha has achieved this knowledge. These three—total knowledge and perfect understanding, perfect power, and the perfect knowledge of compassion—who has received these three? Only the Buddha is capable.

So therefore, in order to lead all sentient beings into enlightenment, the highest goal, the blissful state, and guide them from all the sufferings, then first I must achieve enlightenment. So when I achieve enlightenment, there is perfect understanding, and I can clearly see all the past, present, and future existences all the time. I can clearly see each of the sentient beings, the different personalities, the different thoughts that they have, I can clearly see all the time each method, to see what fits each of the sentient beings according to the level of their mind. And also for one sentient being there is the need to show hundreds of different methods in order to lead them in the path to enlightenment. As that individual's mind gradually develops, the method has to be different. He can clearly see every sentient being and all these different methods that have to be presented, in order to reach gradually the highest blissful state enlightenment. Not only having perfect knowledge, but also having the knowledge of power to be able to show these methods with the mind, with the speech, with the holy body, to each of the sentient beings.

Not only that, having infinite compassion. Having compassion for all the sentient beings. Even the sentient being who discriminates against Buddha, who criticizes Buddha, who dislikes Buddha, who don't make offering to Buddha—there is no such thing as Buddha not having compassion, there is no such thing. Buddha's compassion for sentient being does not depend on the sentient being. Whether they like the Buddha or whether they criticize, dislike, make offerings or not, Buddha has no discrimination from his own side. Ordinary people's compassion depends on others, on other people. They have compassion for people who like the person, who like oneself, who helps oneself, but they don't have compassion for other people who criticize him, who put him down. The person himself doesn't have compassion for those people, who are his enemy. There is no compassion. Not like this. Never. There is no discrimination. When we have received enlightenment with these knowledges, at that time, we ourselves become Buddha.

At that time, even each pore of the holy body, each ray of the holy body can guide many sentient beings, incredible number of sentient beings from the suffering realms. And it can lead them in the path to enlightenment. Each ray benefits that much for many numbers of sentient beings. So there is incredible perfect power. Even in such a short time with such perfect rays, once one has become Buddha, one can guide so many sentient beings from suffering in the path to enlightenment.

On the other hand it is very easy to guide sentient beings, to guide them from suffering, like this. So the conclusion, what I am emphasizing, is what? We are talking about our aims. The aims of our actions. The aims of our Dharma practice. Not only the happiness of future lives, not only oneself to receive nirvana, ultimate happiness, not only that, the main thing is what? The greatest aim ... the main aim is to practice meditation, to practice Dharma, to benefit other sentient beings, to help other sentient beings, to guide other sentient beings from suffering and lead them to the highest blissful state of enlightenment. That is the principal aim. So with such a wish to receive enlightenment for the benefit of other sentient beings, practicing Dharma, meditation, this is how to practice the Mahayana teaching. This is the essential aim of practicing the Mahayana path. So what I am emphasizing is that, from each one of the sentient beings it benefits, this small action, the aim becomes one aim. The meditation practice that we do, or the listening, even though we don't have high realizations achieved, or the mind being free from delusions, explaining teachings also becomes beneficial in that way, as we have that goal in the mind, to benefit others. It becomes greatly beneficial. Even if we do meditation for five minutes, having this goal in mind to benefit others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of others sentient beings, having this goal in mind for even five minutes practicing meditation from my side, trying to explain even four words, even five words, trying to concentrate on breath, doing this meditation that has been shown to us, since the action is done with the motivation from Guru Shakyamuni to guide us from suffering, and lead us to enlightenment, even the actions of breathing in and out become a cause of receiving enlightenment. Besides being beneficial to oneself, the main aim is to receive enlightenment for the benefit of other sentient beings.

So therefore, as this is my aim, from our own side, the listener's side, if you have a similar aim like to practice Dharma not only for one's own peace, if you have a similar aim, then for that aim if you are practicing meditation, if you are practicing Dharma, in this way it becomes harmonious. The aim becomes one aim. The meditation practice that we do, or listen to, besides being beneficial to oneself, as you have dedicated I am going to do this action to receive enlightenment for the benefit of all the sentient beings, even this breathing in and out, even this small action, benefits countless sentient beings. This small action. Even though we don't have high realizations achieved, the mind being free from delusions, explaining teachings also becomes beneficial in that way, as we have that goal in the mind, to benefit others. It becomes greatly beneficial. Even if we do meditation for five minutes, with this goal in the mind to benefit others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of other sentient beings, even five minutes practicing meditation, even meditating on the breath, even concentrating on the breath, since the action is done with this motivation, with such a goal, it benefits each sentient being. This small action. Even though we don't have high realizations achieved, the mind being free from delusions, having complete control over the delusions, even though we don't have high Vajrayana realizations, the short cut path, with this motivation, practicing this breathing meditation, even for five minutes, each of these actions of breathing in and out becomes the cause of each of the sentient beings receiving enlightenment, as we have motivated that I am going to do this in order to enlighten other sentient beings. So there is incredible benefit that we receive.

The meditation action is not possessed by self-cherishing thought, it is dedicated sincerely for all the sentient beings. With this motivation we are working for the happiness of other sentient beings, not just for temporal happiness, but for ultimate happiness, the blissful state of enlightenment.

Also actions of body, sitting with crossed legs like this, even though we feel uncomfortable, having pains in the legs and backside, since we practice meditation for the benefit of other sentient beings for them to receive enlightenment, our bearing the difficulties, experiencing the pain becomes worthwhile. Usually, for instance, the ordinary people in the world can bear so much difficulty, they can bear so much suffering, they are not able to obtain happiness for others, oneself cannot even receive ultimate happiness. How much they can suffer, just to obtain happiness for this life. How much they can bear the suffering, mental and physical, the difficulties, such as the farmers, having no time, day-time working, people in the factories night-time working, day-time working. How much they get exhausted mentally and physically, how much they get tired. They can bear this just for the happiness of this life. Not for the happiness of other sentient beings, not for ultimate happiness, not for the happiness of future lives, but only for the happiness of this life. How much suffering they can bear.

So therefore, our feeling tired by practicing meditation, having pain, all these things, since we are practicing meditation with this goal, with this beneficial motivation, the experience of bearing the difficulties becomes a cause of other sentient beings' happiness. It becomes beneficial for other sentient beings. And also it becomes a cause, it becomes beneficial for other sentient beings, automatically it becomes the cause for oneself to receive enlightenment—the ultimate happiness, like this. We must achieve enlightenment soon, but then what method should we follow, in order to receive enlightenment soon for the benefit of others? What method, what kind of path should we follow for the benefit of others? We should try to actualize the realization of bodhicitta—the intuitive, effortless wish to receive enlightenment for the benefit of other sentient beings. To be able to receive quickly the realization of bodhicitta, which is the principal cause of enlightenment, that depends on having great compassion, Mahayana compassion for all sentient beings. That depends on having the mind renouncing one's own suffering realm, what is called samsara. To receive this realization depends on fully understanding how this realm is in the nature of suffering, how one is suffering in samsara. How I am suffering in samsara, this one has to clearly understand. This depends on understanding karma, which means action karma.

To clearly understand karma ... to be able to clearly understand how samsara is in the nature of suffering, how I am suffering in samsara, that depends on understanding karma. Understanding karma depends on understanding reincarnation. If you don't understand reincarnation, the evolution of the mind, there is no way to understand karma. No way to understand or to explain karma.

Firstly do the breathing meditation, then afterwards when you breathe in, the three times breathing meditation, afterwards if your mind is disturbed, then you do again the breathing meditation. It depends on the individual. After the end of the third breathing meditations, when you visualize all the holy enlightened beings, the bodhisattvas, the knowledge light is coming in from all directions. As you breathe in, as the breath goes down, the knowledge light goes down. And at the same time you follow your mind. Your mind follows that, then as it goes down, then at the heart, you keep your faults there. Then watch your mind; it calms down, keep quiet, just relax.

Then watch the mind, watch the mind, like you are watching yourself. Always try to be aware, constantly aware, what am I thinking. Always try to watch that thought. At the same time try to be aware whether I am meditating or not. What am I doing. If other different thoughts arise, then just forget the object of thought, forget the object of mind. If your mind is thinking this bell [ding] ... you forget, you don't think of the bell, but you think of the mind, the thought, the subject, you watch. Even if no thought arises, do it like this.

Then after some time you just watch and try to stop other thoughts arising. After some time when the mind is more relaxed, then you check, you think. Sometimes you will think, "Now I'm tired," such a thought arises, or, "I" am hungry, "I" want dinner. Then check your feeling of the "I," your belief of the '"I," or your feeling of the "I." The truly holding "I", this heavy feeling, think where it came from, whether it is born with this, where did it come from, check up, in the mother's womb, where did it come from, did this come from the parents? How did this come? How did this heavy feeling of the "I," this truly holding "I," how this idea come out. Then you check up at the end. I think I stop here. Dedication.

Lecture 3

So at this time what we are doing here is receiving peace in the mind, happiness in the mind, by not desiring suffering. But order to receive the happiness of the mind, in order to obtain it, then we first have to recognize the cause of happiness. What is the cause of happiness? What brings happiness? What brings us suffering? And that is extremely important, otherwise there is no way to prevent suffering, no way to receive the happiness of the mind...

[obscured tape]

Just like this, the happiness in the dream, the small pleasure in the dream that is a creation of the mind, that is produced by the mind. The suffering, the unhappiness in the dream is also produced by the mind. Even that small suffering in the dream is a projection of the mind, the pleasure that one feels by meeting the object. This is easy to understand, how it is dependent on the mind, how it is produced by the mind. Just like this, same thing, all our life's happiness, the small pleasures, when we feel hot, even passing through extreme cold, feeling cold—staying a long time inside, we are hot, then we go outside and feel pleasure. Even a small pleasure like that. Even the small physical pains. Just like the dream, it is, it came from the mind.

Just like this, it is the same thing all our enjoyments, food, clothing, whatever we wear, whatever we see, beautiful or ugly, always wearing soft, comfortable clothing, always receiving good enjoyments, food; always being busy in a beautiful comfortable place—all this is received by depending on the mind. It came from the mind, all this pleasure and happiness came from the mind.

This is explained in the philosophical teaching of the Buddha, which explains about natures, about the evolution of the universe and things. All these various worlds are born from the karma, are born from action.

What he is saying is that all these different planets, the earth on which we live, the reason we have to live on such an earth, in such a country, why there are different planets, at night-time another moon, and lighting, and sun, stars, different planets that we enjoy, all these objects from we can receive pleasure, all these various worlds are born from the action, karma, so like this, the different mountains, different plants, ugly and beautiful plants, bushes, all these different objects, the objects of our senses, all of these in different universes, all these things are produced by the mind, have arisen from the mind.

How they are produced is dependent on the mind. All the sufferings, all the ugly objects, the unhappiness arises by meeting that object, all this is born from karma, from action. The action of body, the action of speech, the sentient beings, we the sentient beings, and the thought—then question. Do all the actions of body, speech, and mind bring suffering? Not all the actions of body, speech, and mind. There are some actions that cause suffering, that cause the existence of ugly objects. You know, the object in relation to which one feels unhappy when meeting it. So which are the actions that bring all this suffering, all these ugly objects? Those are the non-virtuous actions of body, speech, and mind.

The non-virtuous actions of body, speech, and mind are created by what? By the mind. The whole thing comes to the point, to the source, the mind. The sentient beings' mind. So do all the actions of mind bring causes of suffering? All the actions of mind do not cause suffering. There are certain types of mind that cause suffering, which produce the non-virtuous actions. So what type is that mind? The delusions, the non-virtuous thought. Just like this, same thing. It is like this. If you plant a poisonous seed in the ground, all the trees and all the fruit become poisonous. All become poisonous plants.

So, like this, the delusions, the non-virtuous thought is like a poisonous seed. So from this non-virtuous thought, karma becomes non-virtuous, then the action becomes non-virtuous. This action brings the result of suffering, it causes all these ugly objects, the undesirable objects that cause us to feel unhappiness and suffering when we meet them, to come into existence. Same thing with all the problems of life. How do they come? From where do they come? From the non-virtuous thought which is like the poisonous seed, and the non-virtuous actions. The various problems of life are like the various poisonous fruits of the tree, the branches which have grown from that seed.

Same thing, all the happiness, all the desirable objects, beautiful objects, the objects that make you feel happiness when you meet them, that happiness comes from the virtuous actions of body, speech, and mind. Like the medical tree grows from the medical root, fruit, and leaves, just like this from the virtuous thought, the virtuous karma, action arises. Then from there the good result arises. The person receives the good result, happiness. So the whole thing depends on the mind. The key to suffering and happiness. The root of the suffering and happiness. The whole thing is within the mind of the individual himself, the whole root is there.

So therefore, each individual has the freedom to prevent suffering. If he wants to continuously receive happiness, then there is freedom, there is a chance. Since the individual's own mind is the root of all this, it is up to him how to turn his mind. Whether he makes it into virtue, or whether he turns his mind into non-virtue, it is up to him. It depends on the individual himself. How he does. So that is why the happiness and the suffering of all these are not something that is decided by God, not like this, it is created by oneself. It's done by oneself. If it is happiness it is received because you did some good action, from the good mind. And if it is unhappiness it came from the action which came from one's own non-virtuous thought.

There is nothing to blame on other people. Nothing to criticize other sentient beings for. If one always turns the mind to virtue, if the mind always is in virtue, one always experiences happiness, the result. Even though other sentient beings want that person to suffer, since that person has not created the cause to experience that result, no matter how much other sentient beings try to create a problem, try to arrange for you to suffer, you, the individual person, since the cause is not within your mind, it is impossible to experience the suffering of that problem. Even if all the sentient beings pray, since you not created the cause to die in an explosion or atomic bomb, since no cause for that has been created, even if all sentient beings pray for you to be killed, you will never experience that.

Since one has not created the cause, one has not done the non-virtuous action to be bitten by a snake, even if you walk in a place which is full of poisonous snakes, even if you touch them, there is no way to get harmed.

Student: Isn't ugly or beautiful due to our perception?
Rinpoche: Karma is the action that is produced by the mind. You are saying ugly or beautiful is a perception, our mind's creation, isn't it? So that's what I am saying, too. Those things came from the karma, which means action, and that action, the different types of action, are produced by the mind. Same point.
Student: If the mind creates things… I heard that gods see the Ganges river as nectar, humans see it as water, pretas see it as …. Is it that the actual existences are created by the mind or is it the way the mind perceives? We can't say each other are created by our mind. There has to be some sort of working together, we cannot individually create everything, we see certain things in common, so how is it created?
Rinpoche: What we see in common also came from our mind. Like we all see this beautiful pot, we all have the karma to see this shape, we all created the karma. Like everyone sees the sun and can enjoy it. All these experiences are by having created similar karma before, to have these enjoyments. There is general karma like this, similar karma created by many beings, and then particular karma created by each individual, different sufferings and happiness, and general karma, which is similar karma, collected by the group of people, the sentient beings, to have similar enjoyments. Like we enjoy this earth, we live together and enjoy this earth. All human beings on this earth have collected the karma previously to enjoy this earth, to live together like this. There are different karmas like this.

So what you are saying is even though it is a creation there should be some base. I understand a little bit. You are concerned about the base. When you look at this, you think watch-it is because of your perception.

Student: That would be imputed.
Rinpoche: Then what about this? What is the base of watch? You said it is matter. Is matter your perception? Yes? So it is a mind creation.
Student: It would have to be.
Rinpoche: Is there something else there which is not your perception? Besides the watch?

We stop here. The conclusion is that the whole thing arises from the thought, the mind, so at the present time, when listening to Dharma, meditating, actions of the body, mind, all these, whether they become a cause of happiness or a cause of suffering, whatever action we are doing now depends on our present mind. If the motivation is in virtue, listening to Dharma, practicing meditation, all these become virtue, cause of happiness. If our present motivation…

If our present motivation is non-virtue, then all the actions that arise from this become non-virtue. So the conclusion is, it is an individual question, whether this is Dharma, not Dharma, whether this is a cause of happiness, sitting in meditation position, thinking something, meditating on death—whether that is Dharma or not, a cause of happiness or not, is an individual question. You cannot get it from outside, the definition of that has to be found by understanding the motivation, the original thought that produces the action. So therefore it is extremely important that the actions of body, speech, and mind become the cause of happiness, and the mind should become virtuous.

It is not enough that only the actions become virtuous. The cause of happiness in this life and the future lives, that is not enough, our actions that we are doing should be the cause of ultimate happiness, receiving this, the cessation of the whole suffering, our actions should become the cause of our enlightenment for the benefit of all the sentient beings. That is the main thing that we should achieve trying to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. The main goal, the principal goal is to enlighten other sentient beings, to release them from sufferings. So this is what we should achieve. This is the main goal.

So our present action should try to become the cause to achieve that goal; that is extremely important. With understanding one can make one's own mind, the motivation, and the actions to become the cause of receiving enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. So therefore, it is necessary to cultivate the motivation of bodhicitta, the pure thought, wishing to receive enlightenment for the sake of all other sentient beings. This thought, this pure thought, the precious pure thought of bodhicitta. It is necessary to cultivate it.

If one is going to meditate, at the beginning it is necessary to think, "I am going to practice this meditation in order to receive enlightenment for the benefit of all the sentient beings." If one is going to listen to the teachings, before listening, at the beginning one should think, after one's sat down, that this should become the action of listening to Dharma, the real, pure Dharma, not only for oneself to receive the ultimate happiness, but to receive enlightenment for the sake of others. To bring happiness, enlightenment, in the mind of sentient beings. Therefore, it is necessary to think, "This time I am going to listen to the teachings in order to receive enlightenment for the benefit of all the kind mother sentient beings." So after the enlightenment is received, working for other sentient beings. Like when the sun rises, all the people of the earth receive sunlight and they see it everywhere. The reflection automatically appears. Each sentient being receives pleasure by the heat, can see each object. That happened without effort. Just like this, after enlightenment is received, then without effort, without any thoughts, one intuitively, naturally benefits to all the sentient beings according to the level of their mind. To receive this depends on receiving bodhicitta, the principal cause of enlightenment, and that depends on actualizing compassion for all sentient beings, that depends on the mind renouncing one's own samsara, the suffering realm, seeing how samsara is in the nature of suffering. To seek this depends on understanding karma, not just in a superficial way, not just on the surface but to really, to totally understand karma, one has to understand reincarnation.

Sentient beings can enjoy the heat of the sun, even in a small drop of water, even the ocean, everywhere, even in the mirrors, every where, when the one sun rises all the reflection without effort appears even in one small drop of water. Even in the glass of the mirror, and in the oceans, and small waters, even the water in small streams, water in the bowl, automatically, the reflection, without any effort, without thinking, without any effort the reflection appears. There is no need for effort for each of the reflections. Automatically, as the sun comes, the reflection just appears, all over. In the whole earth, wherever the sun reaches, light reaches, the reflection automatically appears. Each sentient being receives pleasure by the heat, and can see each object. That happened without effort. So just like this, after the enlightenment is received, then without effort, without any thoughts, one intuitively, naturally benefits all sentient beings according to the level of their mind. To receive this depends on receiving bodhicitta, the principal cause of enlightenment, and that depends on actualizing compassion for all sentient beings, and that depends on the mind renouncing one's own samsara, the suffering realm, seeing how it is in the nature of suffering. To clearly understand, to feel this depends on understanding karma. To totally understand karma, one has to know about reincarnation. Without understanding reincarnation there is no way to understand karma.

There are people who say understanding of reincarnation is not important, you don't have to think of past and future things, if you think only the present, this day, this hour, then that is enough. However, that kind of thing is just showing the wrong path and misleading other people and making them blind purposely. It blocks the wisdom. To clearly understand karma, it is necessary to understand reincarnation—a little bit you can understand about the nature of mind. This meditation about watching the thought, from this you can understand, from your own experience. This is the best way to understand the relative nature of mind: by checking like this, making such meditation, you can understand the relative nature of your own mind. What we're talking about now is trying to understand the absolute nature of mind, and to do this first we have to be aware of the relative nature. First we should clear up the relative nature of mind, how it is within our mind.

Generally, the whole existence is divided into three. All objects of knowledge, firstly into two: i) permanence and ii) impermanence. Everything that exists, everything that is the object of knowledge is divided into these two, and the impermanence part of the phenomena of impermanence is divided into three i) matter, ii) knowing, iii) compounded phenomena. All of impermanent existence is divided into these three. The compounded phenomena that is the existence which is not knowing, not matter, like living beings. Living beings are not matter and not knowing. So the matter, just talking about here, body, all the parts of the body, all the parts of the brain that can be seen, that are the objects of the senses, that you can see, even by machine. However, since it is an object of senses, eyesight, it produces color, since it is the object of our senses, it has color and shape, like this. If it doesn't have shape, color, it cannot be the object of our senses, our eye, like this. So all those parts, since they have color and shape, which are the objects of senses of our eye, that is matter, those are matter. The meaning of matter is that which is formed by atoms.

The second thing is knowing. That is completely opposite to matter. What the "I" has is two things. What the "I" possesses is two things: the body, which is matter, and the knowing, which is not matter, whose nature is clear and can see, hear, think, touch and taste. The nature is clear and it perceives objects. All these consciousnesses, all the senses, all these are knowing: shapeless, colorless, completely opposite to matter. What the "I" possesses is these two things, mind and body.

No part of the body, the atoms, is the mind. That is simple. This body is used. If a person is riding on a horse, we don't say the person on the horse is a horse, we don't say that. Because he is on the horse he is not the horse, so we don't say that. Just like this, same thing, this body is used as a vehicle by the mind, because it has a function, it works with the body. We cannot say mind is atom, a part of the brain or nerves, or that mind is an element, like electricity or energy. mind is not element, object of body and object of "I." mind is not like that.

In the mother's womb, the mind is not the parents' egg, whose nature is form, and then it becomes the mind, whose nature is formless. Not like that. Just as the relative nature of the earth must become space, whose relative nature is empty, empty of form! Like a seed takes the form of flowers and root, leaves and so forth, not like that, the body taking the form of mind, not like that. Secondly, maybe the mind came from the parents' mind? Our mind did not come from the parents' mind. Is not caused by the father's egg; it is not part of the parents' mind. If our mind was a part of the parents' mind, then we are the parents and the parents are us. It becomes like this.

For instance, if the father died and the body was put into the box, well-painted and smiling, people don't say my father is in the box. They say, my father has gone, he has left. They don't say he is there in the box, even though the body is there. Why? Because the mind is not there. Whether the person is dead or not is defined by the mind. Defined by where the consciousness is. If the consciousness is not there, father is not there.

So if it is part of the parents' mind, if the parents' mind is here, in one part of this body, it would have to be the parent. This is our own experience. It is clear our mind has nothing to do with the parents' mind. We don't think the same thing as our mother; we don't make similar expressions, don't have similar thoughts, we don't constantly do similar actions, with a similar personality, having similar education.

Mind is not born in the mother's womb without any cause. The mind is not born in the mother's womb by accident, all of a sudden appearing in the mother's womb without any cause, from nothingness, like people talk about in Christianity. Mind is not like that, coming into existence from nothingness without any cause.

I think I stop here. You do the same meditation, watching… one time breathing in and out. Slowly breathing out, purifying, slowly breathing receiving knowledge, then after that, your mind watches your mind. At the same time, you think, "How long I can meditate watching the mind?" Then also check about the "I," where did it come from, the belief of the true "I," where did this come from? Clinging to the "I," where that came from? Anyhow, it happened. Where did it come from? Or similarly, why do I cling so much to the "I," why do I grasp so much to the "I?" Why? Like this, check up after watching the mind for some time.

Lecture 4

So before listening to the teaching it is necessary to think, to cultivate the motivation, "I am going to listen to the teaching in order to receive enlightenment for the sake of all the kind mother sentient beings."

So the first way of checking, trying to understand about reincarnation, the first logic is that, how the egg which is in the nature of form cannot become the mind, whose nature of formless. Just like the earth, whose nature of form cannot become the space, whose nature is empty. The nature of earth cannot become the nature of space. And also you can think of a seed and a plant, the nature of the seed can take the form of flowers, leaves, these things. But not like that, the body becoming the nature of mind, not like that.

One way of simple checking is to think if it were that way, mind have come from parents' mind. Check-up whether that is right or wrong. Then as explained, remembering how my mind is different from my parents' mind. How my mind is not part of my mother's or father's mind. How it is different. Different personality, all these things. Usually the definition of the person, existence of the person, that is defined by the mind. Whether the person's mind is in Katmandu or in America, like this, usually it is defined by the mind but not by the body, where the person's body is. As I mentioned in the example, the dead body of the father, like that example. Then the third way of checking, if one thinks that the mind just appeared, just came into existence from nothingness, without any cause, again that is wrong conception believing the mind came out of nothingness, it means without any cause.

It is easy to understand ... if the mind just came into existence in the mother's womb without having any cause, then either it has to be permanent or self-existent. Why? Why does it have to be permanent? Why? Because it does not depend upon a cause. According to conception it is not causative, then the very first second of mind, in the mother's womb, if it is non caused, it could not be changeable in nature. To be impermanent, to be changeable by nature by the cause, the very first second of mind has to be made impermanent by something. The very first second of mind has to be made impermanent by something. So, since there is no cause, there is nothing which makes the first second of mind to be impermanent, to change it. So therefore, according to the conception that it is not caused, it has to be permanent. That means the whole mind, the whole consciousness has to be permanent according to that conception.

However, it is not like this. The mind has degenerations, as material things have degenerations, by the cause. Like the fruit, slowly it degenerates. It gets older and older ... it changes, its outside color changes, then afterwards when it gets older it becomes rotten. Like this. The outside material things degenerate, they get broken or they degenerate by the cause. This is similar to the mind.

The mind also degenerates. Forgetting things. Before having the consciousness of that object, but afterwards not having any more, then it degenerates. Just as outside material things change in each split second, like that the mind also changes. Just like the clock, the time passes, the second passes, just like that, also the mind changes.

So the very first second of mind is impermanent. Since it is impermanent, it to have a cause which makes the first second of mind impermanent, there is a cause—that is the previous continuity. Before the mind took place in the mother's womb, before that second, the consciousness that didn't place in the mother's womb, that is the cause—those previous consciousness are the cause of the first second of mind which took place in mother's womb. Like the present change of the minute is due to the previous minute, due to the cause of the previous minutes. Because of those causes the present minute changes. By the cause of the present minute, the coming minutes changes, like this. This is similar to the mind. Therefore, there is a continuity of mind, which took place in the mother's womb in the first second. There is a previous continuity of this mind, and because there is a previous continuity of this mind, there is a previous life. There is reincarnation, like this, past life. By this reason, by the first reason, the mind is not caused by the body, by the form, the mind is caused by the mind, so there is reincarnation. The mind did not come from the parent's mind, our own mind came from our own mind. Our mind continued from our own mind, not from someone else's mind. Not from God, not from someone else's mind. Not like this.

Then why does it have to be self-existent—either it has to be permanent or self-existent. Permanent I clarified, so about self-existence. According to that conception it does not depend on cause, just came out of nothingness, without any creator, without any subject who created. Then in that case, mind comes into existence, mind exists by itself, without any creator. In that case mind can exist by itself, then mind becomes self-existent. Independent. Self-existent. Anyway, it is not independent. The conclusion is, there is no such mind that is self-existent; there is no such thing. There is not one single mind that is independent, self-existent. Like this. Just by the definition of existing, it means that it is not independent. That itself is the proof, the explanation that it is not independent. Not self-existent. Anything existing means it is not independent. Not self-existent. Not existent by itself. Something that is self-existent, itself does not exist. You see. So it is clear ... I think so. Because you see, if it is independent, there is no way it can come into existence. No way; it is blocked. And there is more to check up about mind. It is very interesting to check up about the mind. How the mind is not self-existent, how it is dependent. It is interesting to find out ... you see. When you check-up what is the nature of consciousness. When you check-up, you don't find any solid thing. Do you find some kind of solid thing when you check-up the nature of consciousness?

Among the mind, there are also all kinds of different consciousness, which have different consciousnesses. Consciousness of the eye, ear, and nose—the six different types of consciousnesses have different functions. Like that. By checking the base of the consciousness you can clearly understand how that is not self-existent. That is the formation of atom that is called the body. The phenomena whose nature is clarity, which can perceive objects, if you don't call that mind, there is nothing else that we can find to call mind. There is no other thing that we can call consciousness. However, by checking like this can understand how it is not independent.

This is not an important subject ... not in a hurry then ... like this. The fourth way of checking is to think about children with different personalities who are born from the same mother. Some are compassionate, some are more angry—they have different personalities, different interests. Different types of bodies. Maybe one doesn't have a nose. Part of the physical things are to do with genes—the gene that forms the nose is missing. This is possible. That is the answer. The reason that atom is missing for that boy, defected or whatever—all of that is the proof of reincarnation, why children have different personalities, why some adults have wisdom, some adults don't have much wisdom, very difficult to teach to learn. From same mothers it is different like that. And also even the body is different. All these things are proof of reincarnation. This is the answer explaining that there is reincarnation. The child who is born with more personality, the nature of patience, who is more compassionate—that is because of the previous life. The child's mind was accustomed, habituated, he was practicing patience in his previous life, trying to be patient.

So because of the previous continuity of that, because of this training, the child is born with that personality. Compassionate. His personality is more compassionate. Many time we see people who have so much personality, so much compassion, always concerned with other people, always wanting to help. He doesn't think of himself so much—many times we see people like that, people who have more selfish feeling. Even from child time there are different things like that. The child who is very impatient, and the child who is very, very greedy. All these things, that previous mind was more habituated to being impatient and angry. In the previous life if the person has the habit to kill then in this life he has that habit and he likes to kill and he enjoys killing, and other children who don't want to kill cry if they see someone harming others.

There are different types like this, not taught by parents or by other people, who are recognized in the West as being kind of instinctive, something like that. This itself is the answer to reincarnation. Even the animals, puppies, right after they come out, somehow the puppies intuitively do certain actions, you know. Right after they come out of the mother's womb they know how to suck milk, mother's milk. Even the mother does not teach them how to put their mouth and how to suck it. But right after they come out, they try to find the milk and suck. Without any cause.

Because it is not taught by the parents and not depending on any influence, it means they instinctively do these things. Why? That itself is the answer. They do these things because of previous life's habits, such as the kangaroo—right away after the baby comes out of the womb, they get into the mother's pocket. There are also people in our life who find it more difficult to control anger, and who get angry more easily. Even if they think it is bad, without control anger arises. Even if we remind them to be patient, when the eyes are big and the ears are red and the nose is red—this becomes a cause for beating them.

Once in Lhasa I heard something like this. In Lhasa there is a big fence around the city, and many holy objects inside. Usually people go around in a day to create merit, make prostrations, or walk around the whole city. So one man was meditating. Another pilgrim asked him what he was doing. The first man said he was mediating on patience. The second man told him, "You eat kaka." Then the first man lost his patience. It is difficult to control anger.

Some people find it more difficult to control anger than attachment. Others are the opposite. Or some people have more difficulty to control pride than others. They have individual problems. So to keep the mind in peace is more difficult, for the mind to be violent is easier. This itself is our own life's experience, this itself is the answer, which proves there is reincarnation. Because the reason the mind is so difficult to control is because our mind has been habituated to living with the delusions, always being friends with the delusions from many previous lifetimes. So therefore, that is why we have difficulty to have peace in the mind. Always the mind is unhappy. This itself is the answer to reincarnation, that there is a past life. Answer the mind has been so habituated, has become so familiar with the delusions in previous lives.

Also talking about experiences, there are also many people in the West who remember and can see other people's past and future lives. There are children who can remember their own past and future lives. Also through meditation practice such as shamatha meditation, one can develop the clear perceptions. There are five different types of clear perceptions, to be able to see very far things and see past lives, to have a clear perception to be able read other people's minds. Then there are different types of clear perception. There are those that gradually develop after having completed the shamatha meditation. So even though it is not an object of one's own present knowledge, it is an object of other people's knowledge. It is an object of the Buddha's holy mind, so since it is an experience of other living being, even though it is not our own experience, we cannot say it is not so.

How the mind continues is just like yesterday and today. When today appeared, happened, yesterday's things degenerated already, passed already. So yesterday's person, yesterday's mind does not exist today, but the mind continued, there is a continuity. mind continued from yesterday to today. So like this the previous life continued to this present life.

Yesterday's mind continued from the day's before mind, so like this, this lifetime's consciousness continued from the previous lifetime's consciousness. That previous life's consciousness continued from other previous life's consciousness and so on, like this. Like this it has no beginning, the continuity of the consciousness has no beginning. So as the consciousness has no beginning the continuity of life has no beginning. In this life, we are born from the mother's womb with the ignorance, we are born with attachment, we are born with anger, we are born with pride ... all these delusions, we are born with them. We are born with the delusions, we are born with the suffering. It is not that suffering started only last year. First we were born and then suffering started, gradually it came into existence, not like that. If you are born without suffering, if we were not born in the suffering nature, then there is no way that we can meet the suffering again. There is not one single reason that we meet the suffering if we are not born with the suffering, like this. In the present lifetime we are born with the delusions, and these delusions continued from the previous life's delusions. Just as the consciousness has continued and has no beginning, then the continuity of these delusions has no beginning. This basic understanding is important. It has no beginning, but it has an end. The cause of suffering, the delusion has an end, but the individual himself has to make his own delusion have an end. If the individual himself does not make his own delusions end, then it does not end. It becomes endless. But it can be ended, so that is why there is a possibility to receive nirvana, the blissful state of peace. If it is impossible to have end, then it's impossible to receive nirvana, the release from the suffering realm.

About this reincarnation, the reason why we put different reasons is for the new people to check up, and try to understand clearly by these different reasons, explanations, and different experiences. Even if you don't understand clearly, if you don't check-up, if there is no definite understanding about reincarnation, even though you believe there is reincarnation, even without understanding reasons why there is reincarnation…

…having much understanding of the reasons then what is not sure. That is not the same. If somebody tells there is no past life, if someone puts this logic, it cannot be true logic, it is not conventional logic. If somebody explains, puts his own theory, the person who doesn't have the definite understanding of the logic does not have a clear mind, it is easy to change. Easy to become anything ... like the animal. If you put the rope on the nose of the buffaloes, then you pull, it follows, it comes. So there is the danger to lose the root of peace, the root of nirvana, the root of ultimate happiness. Even for one who believes there is reincarnation, who accepts reincarnation, who believes it, it is important to have that clarity. So like that ... these basic reasons.

How it is possible then to cease the delusions, to end the delusions. One highly realized yogi who received enlightenment in the lifetime called Aryadeva said in his teaching that in the object of the delusions, anger, attachment, nothing is definite. It always changes. Sometimes it becomes an object of attachment, sometimes an object of anger.

So therefore, through meditation practice we can make the anger and attachment for these objects never arise again. Why it is possible to stop that attachment and anger is because the cause from which it arises is the ignorance. So therefore, ignorance itself is what? It is the false conception, the false notion that can completely destroy that cause of ignorance. So by completely destroying the ignorance, which is the root of the delusions, the branches, there is no way for it to arise. Like the tree—without any root, the tree, the branches, the fruit, and all these things, there is no way for it to grow, to happen. So like that. So ignorance, this false conception can be destroyed. This ignorance is the false conception that projects a false view on the objects. By recognizing how we destroy the ignorance, the false conception, we recognize the false view and by doing this we recognize the right view. Then by that wisdom the false conception is automatically destroyed, it disappears. By this wisdom this false conception can be dispelled. Then afterwards completely, there is not even a seed of this ignorance, completely pure.

So this is the way of the false conception, how all the delusions from which all the suffering arises can be destroyed completely. So that is how there is a possibility to receive nirvana.

Then the possibility to receive enlightenment is the proof to receive nirvana. How can one receive nirvana, the cessation of the whole suffering, this is the proof, logic for this. This is also the logic to realize how the enlightenment is possible to achieve, within the mind of oneself. It is like this. How the enlightenment is received is like this. Why the enlightenment is not received now, but how it is possible for our mind to reach enlightenment.

The enlightenment, enlightenment is a stage ... which is perfected in all knowledge and it is completely purified of all the obscurations. It is a stage where not one single knowledge is missing, perfected in all knowledge and purified of all the hindrance and obscurations to receive all the knowledge. Obscuration which disturbs to receive all the knowledge to fully clearly see the whole existence, is a stage perfected in all knowledge, realizations, nothing is missing. Purified of all the obscurations, all the delusions, all the dualistic mind which is subtle obscurations. Like this ...

At the present, like the mirror in which you can see the whole of the city, mountains and buildings, but it is obscured by dust. Like that, our mind is obscured, temporarily obscured by these mental impurities, like the mirror. Our mind is covered by the temporal obscurations, but the mirror itself is not dust, only obscured. So like that our mind itself is not the obscuration. Our consciousness is not the obscuration. If the mirror itself were the dust then there would be no way to clean the mirror away from the dust. You can't clean the dust away from the dust. Like that, if the consciousness itself is the obscuration, there is no way to purify. The only way to purify it is to stop the consciousness, to cease it.

But consciousness is impossible to be ceased. To receive enlightenment, to receive nirvana, if you have to stop your consciousness, without mind, how can you experience blissfulness? There is no way without mind—if at the moment, for instance, you didn't have this consciousness with this body, if the body were just like a rock, just like a table, with no feelings, like that. So if the consciousness has to be ceased, there is no way to experience the blissfulness, no way to benefit other sentient beings by receiving enlightenment. So it is impossible to cease consciousness.

Following the gradual path to enlightenment purifies the obscurations, the gross and subtle obscurations. There are different levels of obscurations that one has to purify gradually. It becomes more and more subtle. First we purify the gross obscuration, like when we clean the pot, first we wash the gross part, the dirt, then afterwards we clean even the smell of the dirt, which stayed on the pot. Like that we have to purify the obscurations gradually. By following the gradual path to enlightenment, we purify all these obscurations. When all these obscurations are purified, then the absolute nature of our mind becomes the absolute nature of our future buddha's omniscient mind. The present consciousness, this mind, becomes omniscient mind. When the mind reaches that stage, that is called enlightenment, having received the complete knowledge and purified all obscurations.

I think you just want maybe to say this mantra; a good point to repeat the mantra I think, for purification. I think the visualization of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha will be repeated afterwards, so you can do it according to that. Now I just repeat the mantra, the prayer. This mantra also has a lineage. I have received it from one of the very highly realized gurus, who is a highly realized, actual bodhisattva, whose holy name is Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen. This mantra has lineage also. So there is a way to receive blessings. What has been preventing us from receiving enlightenment, what has been keeping us away from not receiving enlightenment, not receiving ultimate happiness or nirvana, is these obscurations, these delusions and this karma. So therefore what is necessary is that we need purification to purify these obscurations, so therefore Guru Shakyamuni Buddha's mantra has much benefit. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha's mantra and repeating Guru Shakyamuni Buddha's prayer, the short prayer that contains knowledge of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. Also repeating the mantra. Lama dron-pa chom dan da, etc., this prayer, which I will repeat to you, by repeating this one time, it has the power to purify the obscurations and negative karma. As there have been delusions from beginningless previous lifetimes and there have been negative karmas collected from beginningless previous lifetime, how much this mantra purifies, how much negative karma, the cause for sufferings, this mantra has the power to purify 40,000 eons of collective negative karma. By repeating this mantra, it has the power to purify all this. So it has that much power and benefit. The meaning of mantra is explained in the back, so it can be repeated afterward, at the end of the meditation. So for now, just repeat the prayer and the mantra.

In order to receive enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, I am going to take the blessing of the mantra. You think this first, then you repeat as I say Lama dron- pa dan da etc., repeat three times ta ya ta om mune…, repeat three times.

[Dedication]

Lecture 5

Puja generally means offering. The meaning of offering is to please the enlightened beings. Not by sacrificing animals. What pleases the enlightened beings is not by offering flowers and so forth. The best offering that pleases them the most is trying to purify the cause of our suffering by following the path that is shown by the enlightened beings. Not only for one's own peace. Trying to achieve the path in order to achieve the highest, blissful state, enlightenment, and purify ourselves from the cause of suffering for the benefit of all other sentient beings. This is the main offering and this is the main puja, which pleases the perfectly enlightened beings.

At the same time as we purify ourselves we purify other sentient beings, together. We try to make preparation in our minds to receive the whole path to enlightenment within the minds of ourselves and all other sentient beings. This is the essential puja.

Those who cannot say these prayers, just as I repeated, you can do the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha yoga purification as you did last night. Visualize all the sentient beings on the basis of Dharma friends who are here, and all the sentient beings around oneself, and make purification, recite mantra together with white, red, and blue light from Guru Shakyamuni Buddha's crown, throat, and heart, purifying one's own mental obscurations. There are so many obscurations and negativities that have been collected in our minds by making mistakes in the actions of our body, speech, and mind that distract us from completing our knowledge of the path to enlightenment. So the main purpose of this morning's puja is, in order to become successful, not only for this one-month meditation course but generally, actualizing the whole path to enlightenment and by receiving enlightenment to enlighten other sentient beings by freeing them from all the causes of the suffering—this is the purpose for doing the puja before the discourse.

[Puja]

So before listening to the actual teaching, whether the action that we are doing now, listening to Dharma, becomes a cause of happiness or a cause of suffering, as I explained yesterday, depends on individual mind. It depends on oneself, one's own mind. The key of one's own daily life action, whether it become cause of happiness or suffering, the key is within one's mind. And it is up to oneself. So therefore, it is necessary to cultivate the pure motivation, which means it is necessary to make the mind of listening to Dharma virtuous. However, it is not enough that it become the cause of happiness of our future life. It is not enough even that it becomes the cause of the blissful state of peace for oneself, nirvana, it is not enough. The necessary thing is to make the action not only useful, beneficial to oneself, but as beneficial as possible for other sentient beings. That's what we should try, that is the main purpose of our practicing meditation, trying to understand Dharma, so therefore it is necessary to cultivate pure motivation of bodhicitta. It is necessary to think that I am going to listen to the teaching, the profound Mahayana teaching, in order to receive enlightenment for the benefit of all the kind mother sentient beings.

So when our mind has received enlightenment, the stage which is perfected in all the knowledge, realizations, and completely purified of all the obscurations, then at that time it is like the mirror that has the capability to reflect, to show—in a small mirror you can see all the mountains, rivers, cities, many things, so clearly, after you wipe off the dust. The mind is also like this after all those obscurations are purified by following the gradual path to enlightenment.

In order to attain such a goal, this highest, blissful state, enlightenment, completion—when enlightenment is received, then that is the final time, you have completed your knowledge. You have completed your understanding and until the enlightenment is received your knowledge is not complete. Always there is ignorance, always there is an object that you don't understand. Always your mind is not aware of every existence. Always there is something until enlightenment is received, always there is some object of knowledge that you don't understand. So to receive such this greatest state of blissfulness, that depends on following this gradual path to enlightenment, the Dharma. Not ordinary incomplete teachings or meditations. Not imperfect Dharma. No matter how much the person thinks it is perfect, powerful, a quick path to peace. These imperfect Dharmas that don't contain the complete path to enlightenment, that don't contain the essential path to enlightenment, no matter how much power you can gain by practicing that, no matter how much clear perception you can receive by that, if you can see things or you can fly in space by practicing that, or you can achieve light around your body, things like that, the single practice of these things cannot bring enlightenment, cannot fulfill the wish to receive enlightenment for the benefit of other sentient beings. It is extremely important to be able to fulfill this great wish, this great aim, so it is extremely important to check up at the very beginning—check up the path of Dharma that we are going to follow, that we are going to dedicate our life to. This is extremely important to check up.

One very highly realized Tibetan yogi, highly realized lama, who achieved the state of Buddha of the wisdom called Manjushri, said in his teachings that his holy name is Sakya. Sakya is the name of a sect, one of the Tibetan sects. This Sakya pandit said, "To make a small business selling and buying horses and donkeys, one asks everybody, one checks up with everybody and observes." You know, you ask all your friends if they want horses, donkeys. Then when you buy material things, a car or TV, or even when you buy food for lunch, vegetables, you don't buy them right away. You don't pick them up without looking at them, without checking colors, how nice it is, how good it is, without checking it, without selecting. So like this, when you buy animals or material possessions, we ask before we spend ten, twenty, or thirty rupees, we ask other people, many other friends—how is this? Is it a good animal or not? There are many ways we check up before we buy—whether this material is old or new, or how long it can last, whether it has cracks, whether the shopkeeper is selling broken things. Many ways we check up. We test before we buy things like that. Like this, even if we are selling, how much one can get? First we check up. Before buying, we also check up, ask many friends, many people, like this. Yourself observe it for a long time, like this. He is saying that even in business, buying and selling horses and donkeys, we ask all the people and spend such great effort. But the happiness of future lives depends on Dharma. But when one meets Dharma, one follows it, just like dog food. That means that when somebody gives food to the dog, he just runs to it, he doesn't care whether it contains poison, whether it helps the body or harms it. All of a sudden, as his mouth reaches the good, he tries to swallow it as quickly as possible, without checking or observing. So what this great yogi is saying is that the happiness of all future lives can only be receives from the holy Dharma, and we never check up, we are just like the dog running to the food and eating it. Whatever we meet, just by accident, as the dog goes along with it, we go along the path, without observing whether this is the Dharma that will bring the happiness of future lives…

... which can make oneself receive enlightenment. So without checking anything like this, anything at all, whether this Dharma can bring these goals, without checking it, what we are saying is…it is important to check up, to spend more time to check up the spiritual Dharma, what we are going to practice, what we are going to follow. This is more important to check up, then checking the buying and selling, the material possessions, the animals, which is only for the happiness of this life.

It is like this. Even if we have sold things for a cheap price, and lost the profit, even if the material things that we bought are low quality, it is not worth to pay that much, but you pay it, and one has lost that much money. However, that that makes the mind feel upset just for the present time, for a short time, a little upset, that never makes us lose completely the happiness of this life, or of the future lives. But not checking the Dharma, the spiritual path, by meeting wrong Dharma, the wrong path, besides not bringing happiness in this life, it makes us close the happiness of this life. It makes us lose the happiness of many other future lives. It makes us not receive them. So that loss is a greater loss than the loss that we think of in terms of the present work, done only for the happiness of this life—that loss is nothing compared to the good result that we have lost by meeting the wrong Dharma, wrong path, like this.

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The Dharma that we want is to receive happiness in the future lives, and to be completely free from all suffering and to receive enlightenment. In order to receive these goals, we need Dharma, the kind of Dharma that is found by the perfectly enlightened being, such as Shakyamuni Buddha. The highly realized pandits checked up whether there was any corruption, any wrong path that misleads one, that doesn't lead to nirvana. There are many followers, many yogis, who have achieved enlightenment, so Guru Shakyamuni Buddha has explained his own complete experience. Enlightenment is his own complete experience of following the gradual path, this Dharma.

He explained, and those great pandits checked-up, and many followers, the great yogis, like the stars in space, innumerable numbers of yogis, meditators received enlightenment by following this path, this holy Dharma. Also in India, in Tibet, in many other countries, like this. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha has himself experienced and explained and others have been experiencing this path until this time. So the way to check up is like this. In order to receive these goals, the kind of Dharma that we should follow—we should check up whether this brings enlightenment or not, whether this makes us receive happiness in all future lives or not? At least, does this make us have a happy rebirth in the future or not? There have been many stories. It is said in the doctrines, if you do this you will receive peace, you will be free from suffering, like this. But has it been the experience of other people? Check up whether this has been experience of other followers. This is just mentioned by one founder and that is all, and no one has experienced that. Millions and millions of people follow, but no-one has the experience of that. Check whether it has innumerable followers. Like this check up. If it hasn't been the experience of any other followers, just a doctrine, just a conception, belief in just a doctrine…

…then that shows it is not working. This means something is wrong, like you want a vehicle that to reach the country where you want to go, but it can never be used. It is not in a position to take the passenger, to take oneself to the country, where one wants to go. That means there is something wrong with the vehicle. So like that there is something wrong with the path, that it is the wrong path, the incomplete wrong path. So, the way to check up is like this.

This holy Dharma, this holy path to enlightenment has no doubt, because as I just explained it is all these things, shown by the perfectly enlightened being, who has this experience and also by other pandits, those who have higher knowledge. By checking the path we can see that by following this path these goals can be received. This has been the experience of innumerable followers. So following this path, there is no need for one single doubt. It only depends on one's own side, from the individual's side, if he practices correctly, as it is experienced in the teaching, it as those previous, great yogis did, as Guru Shakyamuni Buddha did, one will reach the state of the completion of the realization, it is without doubt.

Just briefly talking, just to give a little idea of the lineage of this teaching. The whole teaching, the whole Buddhadharma is divided into two—the extensive path and the profound path. The extensive and the profound gradual path. The profound gradual path is the path of the wisdom and that teaching explains the part of wisdom. The extensive gradual path, that teaching explains the path of method. Just like the bird flying in space, it has to depend on two wings, it cannot fly. Just like this, in order to cease the suffering realm of samsara and to receive enlightenment, it depends on the two wings, like the bird depends on two wings to fly, like that. It depends on actualizing both of these paths, the path which is method and the path which is wisdom. It depends on actualizing these two paths. If one of these paths is missing, one can never receive enlightenment.

So the profound gradual path was handed down by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha to Manjushri, the Buddha of wisdom. Then from Manjushri it was handed down to Nagarjuna, the highly realized one, one of the most well known Mahayana philosophers, who was a great Indian pandit who received enlightenment in his lifetime, who has attained the Vajradhara state in his lifetime. Then from Nagarjuna it was handed down to the great pandit, the bodhisattva Shantideva and many other pandits. After Nagarjuna, there are about nine specific followers. Then to the last one, Lama Rigdul Kuju. From Nagarjuna passing through these nine followers, the special lineage of these teachings, to Lama Rigdul Kuju. From there, this great bodhisattva, the Indian pandit called Atisha, received the lineage of the teaching, the profound gradual path.

Then the extensive gradual path was handed down by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha to a buddha called Maitreya Buddha. He handed it down to about thirteen followers of the specific lineage of these teachings to Asanga. Including Asanga there are about thirteen of them, who received the lineage of these teachings. Then from there Lama Serlingpa, the great bodhisattva; he received the lineage of the teaching of the extensive gradual path. So Atisha has received both the lineage of the teachings, one from Lama Rigdul Kuchu and one from Lama Serlingpa.

Then Atisha, this great bodhisattva, he was invited into Tibet to establish Buddhadharma. He came to Tibet and he spread the teachings so much. He developed so much Buddhadharma in Tibet, the pure Buddhadharma, he revived what was degenerated before in Tibet. He spread the Buddhadharma. Then he wrote in Tibetan, specifically for the Tibetan people. During those times, people had many wrong conceptions, conflicts in the mind about different aspects of the Buddhadharma, Hinayana, Mahayana, Paramitayana, Vajrayana, these teachings, these different aspects of Buddhadharma, the path-they had much conflict in the mind, much wrong conception in the mind, how to practice all these by one person.

So Atisha wrote the teaching called Lam.Dron, The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. It is a teaching which is only a few pages. It is such a condensed teaching, simply written for those ignorant beings, those who don't have much wisdom and those who have many wrong conceptions, to be able to easily understand. To be able to know—they contain clear guidance, explanations on how to start to follow the path to enlightenment. How to start, how to begin. How to practice all these paths. The lesser vehicle path and the greater vehicle, the Mahayana, the Paramitayana path and the shortcut path to enlightenment, the Vajrayana path. He clearly explained how all these three paths are not opposite, not like water and fire, for one person to practice, for one person to receive enlightenment. He clearly explained how all of this is a path for one person to reach enlightenment. This teachings, which has three or four pages, this contains all the teachings as I've just explained, the gradual profound path and the gradual extensive path. The whole sutra and tantra is contained there.

Then Atisha has received the lineage of both those teachings, of these two paths. Then he handed down the teachings to his followers who are called Kadampas. Kadampa means, they are any of the Buddha's teachings that from any of the Buddha's words, even four, five, or two words, any of the Buddha's teachings, three or four words, they know how to use them in order to receive enlightenment. They understand, they don't find confusion, they see it as a path to enlightenment, all the different teachings that are shown and explained by Buddha, even a few words, they see as a path to enlightenment for one person to receive enlightenment. So, therefore, these special followers of Atisha are called Kadampas; like this.

Then, after Atisha, there were three different ways of studying the Lam.Dron or the gradual path to enlightenment, which happened after Atisha. There were three Kadampa forms of studies. So these followers of Atisha, the Kadampas take different forms of study. Some study teachings on the gradual path to enlightenment by studying all the philosophical teachings, the profound, wide explanations written by those previous learned Indian pandits, who were highly realized.

Some study the teachings on the gradual path to enlightenment by studying the essential teaching. This is the teaching which explains the essential path, such as the teaching written by Atisha, the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment.

The first one is called Kadam Shungbawa; shung means discourse, those who study the wide subjects that contain so many details. Then the second one is the Kadam Lamrimpa who study the teaching on the gradual path to enlightenment by following the summarized teachings, such as lamrim, the path to enlightenment, practicing the gradual path to enlightenment by studying this. The third one is Kadam Menngapa. These are the Kadampa followers who take teachings from the guru and try to understand what teachings, what meditation techniques have been given by the guru orally, then they try to understand that and practice and actualize that. Like this, according to the level of mind, level of intelligence. So there are different ways to study. So the last one is Kadam Menngapa.

However then, some more like this, then about twenty-six Kadampas, the specific lineage of this teaching on gradual path to enlightenment which has been handed down by Atisha to the Kadampas.

One is the great saint of Pota. This is the name of place where he lived. Then Nagajan, the great Abbot. Then Lama Tsongkhapa, the highly realized yogi who existed in Tibet after Atisha passed away.

Lama Tsongkhapa is a transformation of the buddha who is called Manjushri, who is the manifestation of all the Buddhas' wisdom, to guide the sentient beings into enlightenment. This highly realized Lama Tsongkhapa has received all these teachings, the lineage of these three forms of study of teachings on gradual path to enlightenment, which came from Atisha. It had been a long time since Atisha, this great bodhisattva, passed away in Tibet, and in the cave of Lion Rock Lama Tsongkhapa wrote the request prayers to the lineage of these teachings on the gradual path to enlightenment, which is called Opening the Door of the Sublime Path.

The request means that by saying this prayer to the lineages, one receives the door of the sublime path to enlightenment, the door of the path opens within one's mind. One receives the door to the gradual path to enlightenment by saying request prayer. So when he was writing this prayer in his cave called Lion Rock, Lama Tsongkhapa saw all the lineage Lamas, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, Maitreya, Manjushri, like we visualize, like we see in paintings, in thankas. He had communication with them, these lineage lamas, those enlightened beings. They absorbed into him, Atisha, the great bodhisattva Atisha, and his followers, called Potowa, Sharawa, and Dromtonpa.

For months he saw Atisha and those three followers in his cave and has communication with the great bodhisattva Atisha and those three other followers. Then afterwards those three other followers, they absorbed into Atisha, and the great bodhisattva Atisha put his hand on Lama Tsongkhapa's head. "You do great work in the Dharma, in the teachings and I will guide you and help you." So then Lama Tsongkhapa wrote the commentary, which is called the Great Teaching on the Gradual Path to Enlightenment. The Tibetan text is very long, it has many pages, commentary to the short teaching written by Atisha on the gradual path to enlightenment. I think I stop here.

I think do the visualization, as you see the in the thanka, of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha radiating ... like that. Then spend more time purifying with the white light and then yellow light. Then first recite the mantra with voice, verbally, then afterwards maybe you recite quietly and do visualization, and spend more time making purification and whenever you receive the white light, the white nectar rays, it is necessary to feel that whatever is received brings us great blissfulness. Feel great blissfulness, that is important.

Ge wa di…