Section One: Lectures 1 & 2

LECTURE 1, 28 NOVEMBER 1986

INTRODUCTION
Please listen to the teaching well by thinking at least of effortful bodhicitta, thinking, “I must achieve the state of enlightened mind for the sake of all the kind mother sentient beings who equal infinite space, therefore I am going to listen to the teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment.” Also please purify the righteous conduct of listening to the teachings according to the practice of the lineage lamas.

It is said by Maitreya Buddha in the Do.de Gyen, “The disease is to be understood, the cause of disease is to be abandoned.”

You have come to Nepal, to the East, to opening your mind to seek some other means for happiness, something unmistaken. By recognizing that the past means of obtaining happiness has not been perfect, by recognizing that something is missing there, by opening the mind, you give yourself freedom instead of closing you own mind. You can see there is some other means that is unmistaken—that you can definitely can attain, and you can achieve satisfaction, ultimate happiness, liberation, either concerning yourself or concerning others—how to make life meaningful and beneficial for other sentient beings.

So, the reason for coming here should be either the happiness for yourself or the happiness for others—to make the life beneficial, to obtain happiness for other sentient beings temporarily and ultimately.

I think it is extremely worthwhile, incredibly worthwhile, that at this time you have found the precious human body, which has so many possibilities, incredible advantages. The problem is that you do not recognize how precious it is. Especially after you heard the teachings that Buddha explained about the qualities of this precious human rebirth, the great meaningful things—the great benefit—you can do for other sentient beings, you can cause so much temporary happiness, as well as ultimate happiness, liberation, peerless happiness, enlightenment for sentient beings.

Whatever you wish for can be fulfilled while you have this precious human rebirth—with this body you can fulfill the wishes of all sentient beings. So I think it is great!

See, the more you understand the teachings, the more you meditate, the more you do the listening, reflecting meditation, the teachings explained by Buddha, the more joyfulness there is in your mind, in your heart. Instead of being depressed, instead closing up and interfering with the development of wisdom, you open the door to liberation. It is like you have been given a wish-granting gem, but you have not recognized it, not realized it, so because of that you have so many problems in life. You didn’t know how to use it, and that has caused so much unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Basically, you did not know how to live life, how to make life meaningful. But, now you recognize that.

As you develop more and more wisdom by listening, reflecting, and meditating, with great joyfulness you can make the life more and more meaningful and beneficial for all sentient beings.

LAMA ZOPA AND THE BUDDHA ARE LABELED BY THE MIND
Then, before going over the subject, if there’s something that I can answer, if you have some questions to discuss, a little bit.

Student: We are very glad that you are here.

Rinpoche: I don’t know where I am. It is believed I am at Kopan.

Student: Is it an illusion?

Rinpoche: I think there is a part that is the illusion.

Student: Which part is real?

Rinpoche: What you have just labeled on this valid base, that’s real. While you are thinking of me, on this throne, this particular valid base, aggregates, you are just labeling that Lama Zopa is there, that exists, in that case, in that sense its real. Okay? In that sense.

Student: What doesn’t exist?

Rinpoche: What doesn’t exist? I don’t know. I think there might be something on the top of that which doesn’t exist. On that which you have labeled, Lama Zopa, there must be something else. There must be something on top of that which you have merely labeled, so that part is interesting to check, to analyze whether it exists or not, particularly on these aggregates, from the head down to the feet. You have labeled Lama Zopa—not only that but there is something more than that, which you believe is more than that, what you have merely labeled. There should be Lama Zopa, something more than what was merely labeled, on this valid base. That is the thing that you should really check, whether it exists or not, that is the problem.

Even though that is the reality, it does not appear as Lama Zopa, as it is merely labeled on the aggregates. It appears as the opposite, contradictory to the evolution that is not merely labeled, that exists from its own side. So there’s something more—you agree that Lama Zopa is a lama who is ordained, who has this name—the mind labeled on this base, the aggregates, you agree on, but in appearance, the Lama Zopa that is merely labeled on the aggregates, on that there is something that exists from its side, if you analyze, if you check, which cannot be found anywhere.

This cannot be found on Lama Zopa, which is completely empty, and cannot be found on any group or parts—it cannot be found, on that, or separate from the aggregates. Just merely believing in the words, on the basis of correct teaching, correct explanation, you need to experiment, you need to meditate, whether that is true or not. Then, with great support, with great foundation, much merit and purification, meaning purifying the obstacles, the mind becomes more aware, sharper, quicker to experience, to see more clearly, as the teachings says. Even when we read the scriptures of shunyata, through reading or whatever by meditation, they are very easy to feel.

Then, especially out of these experiences, there is great devotion, stable great faith arises in the teachings of Buddha, the teachings written by the lineage lamas, the great yogis of Tibet, as well as the Indians. Also, very deep, very stable faith arises in Buddha, those lineage lamas.

So then with this, it causes you more and more easier and quicker to achieve realizations, and all the rest of the realizations up to enlightenment.

Student: What is the nature of Buddhahood and if it is permanent, how is it related to emptiness?

Rinpoche: The nature of the Buddha, talking about the true types of natures—generally, the nature of the absolute is the absolute truth, and the nature of causative phenomena is the nature of conventional truth, or truth for the all obscured mind, ignorance.

The nature of the Buddha—when we call “Buddha,” in simple way of speaking—one whose consciousness is completely separate away, or pure from, the two obscurations, by having completed the remedy, the true path, the method wisdom, so in that way, that consciousness is omniscient mind, that way, that consciousness becomes omniscient mind.

Then, the Buddha has infinite compassion for all beings and perfect power to be able to guide without the slightest mistake—able to perfectly guide sentient beings to the peerless happiness of enlightenment, able to liberate them from true sufferings and the cause, karma and disturbing thoughts.

One who has these qualities of omniscient mind, infinite compassion, and perfect power—on that base we call “Buddha.” One who has these qualities, we call “Buddha.”

So you see, on the base of one who has these qualities, we merely label “Buddha.” So now you can see that Buddha is labeled by thought, on that valid base, your own mind merely labeled Buddha, so you can see, in this way, that Buddha came from the mind, and is under the control of the mind. You understand? So you can see there is no such Buddha that exists from its own side, without depending on the mind labeling. While you are thinking “Buddha,” while you are meditating on Buddha, it’s related to your mind—it’s from the mind that labels. It exists on that base; it exists on that valid base, the valid mind labeling.

So you see now, without the mind labeling Buddha on that valid base, there is no Buddha. Even if there is the base, if there is no mind that labels Buddha, there is no Buddha. You just concentrate on what I’m saying—there is no Buddha, at all, Buddha doesn’t exist at all, the slightest atom, on that base.

So your name? Garland? That name Garland is given by your father and mother. Your name Garland is given by the parents, labeled on your aggregates by your parents. Before your parents agreed, decided to label Garland on your base, on that particular base, no Garland existed.

Okay? Even though there was the body and mind aggregates, before your parents decided to label Garland, Garland didn’t exist at all. So, only after they decided, right after they labeled “Garland” on that base, Garland existed.

That is the Garland who is happy, who is suffering, who is sometimes high, sometimes down, the Garland who meditates, who eats, who works, who sits, who sleeps—the Garland who does all those activities—it is that Garland. There is no other Garland, except what the parents merely imputed on your aggregates. There is no other Garland who does all the activities, a Garland other than that doesn’t exist.

So now you can see very clearly that Garland, since it is name, has come from the mind.

So same thing with Buddha, what is called Buddha is name—it has come from the mind. Understand?

So now similarly, without the valid mind that labels, Garland doesn’t exist. Similarly with Buddha. So now, there is no Garland that exists from its own side. You can see that very clearly.

That Garland exists from its own side, without depending on labeling is not its nature, not the reality. That is contradictory to the reality, to the way it exists. There is no Garland from its own side.

It is the same thing—there is no Buddha from its own side. That is the nature of the Buddha. That is the emptiness of the Buddha. That is the self nature of the Buddha, the ultimate nature of Buddha.

There is no Buddha existing from its own side—on that aggregates, on that base. That which is not merely labeled by the thought—because it exists in mere name, being merely imputed on the aggregates by the thought. That is the nature of Buddha, that is the emptiness of Buddha. Okay?

If you realize, if you understand the emptiness of Buddha, what does it mean—empty of what? You see the emptiness of the independent Buddha—if you understand the emptiness of Buddha, the Buddha that is merely labeled on that valid base, there is something existing from that, inherently existing on that—the Buddha that you merely imputed on the base, there’s something inherently existing on that, a Buddha existing from its own side. So if you understand the meaning of empty, the Buddha that you merely imputed on the base, that on that base something appears to you as existing from its own side, a Buddha existing from its own side, if that comes in your heart when you think of the emptiness of Buddha, then you see the nature of Buddha very clearly—the emptiness of Buddha is one thing. Okay? Like that.

THE UNIVERSE YOU EXPERIENCE COMES FROM KARMA
Student: This question concerns energy. Energy is a word being used a lot in this course, mind energy, wisdom energy, but to Westerners energy has other meanings—wind energy, sun energy, the energy that is a contained in a dam before electricity is made—are there any similarities between the energy in the physical world and the energy of the mind, or are they the same?

[Question repeated]

Rinpoche: All these things, all external development, came from mental energy. Even physical energy came from mental energy. That we can make physical things, like atomic bombs, that we can make machines having power, by putting things together, that which can produce particular powers that can perform particular functions—all this comes from mental energy, understanding, and effort. Understanding how things work, how the atoms work, how things work by compounding and then the mind putting effort into it. So you see, it came from mental energy.

Student: [inaudible]

Rinpoche: Which part did you not agree with?

Student: I think I understand what you said, that the intelligent energy, the mind energy can make machines, can make things that are useful, and I agree. But the energy in the universe seems to be separate, and that mind energy is just using something that existed already. We are told that mind has no form, is colorless, and all this, but energy in the physical universe can be measured, not directly by itself perhaps, but the effect of energy on something else, heat on water for instance, so it seems rather different.

Rinpoche: I’m not saying they are the same thing, but I’m saying the evolution—you know how all those things came from the mind. I’m not saying they are the same energy, that they’re one.

Student: The energy of the sun is created by the mind.

Rinpoche: Yes.

Student: Whose mind?

Rinpoche: Those who enjoy the sun! Especially those who lay down at the beach, waiting for the red color, so they create the sun’s energy. Same thing. That sun is one of the enjoyments of beings living on the earth, so it came from karma—that is part of karma. That enjoyment of the sun came from good karma, which is thought, and thought came from the mind, from consciousness. So that virtuous thought is how the sun came from beings’ minds.

Similarly, from this morning until night, in this twenty four hour day, from this morning to this night, undesirable objects bother and disturb you, and you believe and interpret that they are bad, and this brings unpleasant feelings. Then you interpret some objects as nice and good, and labeling them so, a pleasant feeling arises. Or an indifferent feeling arises. Various feelings arise in the twenty four hour day as you meet various objects. So all of these object come from karma. From all of those objects you get various feelings, and all of those are the results of past karma, the virtuous thought, the nonvirtuous thought.

For example, just to get an idea. When you are angry, even if the other person is not angry at you, you see that person as ugly. You see them differently. You are angry, they are an undesirable object. When you are angry, you see even objects that you liked before as undesirable. You want to destroy that undesirable object, you want to beat it, you want something bad to happen to that other person or his objects—his house, his beautiful apartment, to his car, or his belongings.

So you can see very clearly how this came from the mind, from your own thoughts. This is very easy to understand.

Now this is direct, this is the moment. Right now your mind become negative and the object appears negatively to you, and this is very near evolution, and in the sense of karma, what happens is very direct and immediate. As a result of negative thoughts, the environment becomes negative, and the appearance becomes undesirable—so you can see that this is an immediate karmic result. You see, you experience it there. But also there is a karmic result that you experience for a long time.

At the present time you experience it like this, and the results are like this, undesirable objects. In the long run, they are that which harm the places of beings and oneself. This comes from wrong conceptions, wrong ways of thinking, negative thoughts.

So in this life, during this life, even though there are many undesirable things that you experience in this life, if you are unsuccessful in many things, this is from the karma, from the wrong thoughts in the past, accumulated some days ago, some months or years ago, in the earlier lives, in the past lives, many, many past lives. So they are like this.

Similarly, when your mind changes to negative, the good object immediately becomes negative. Similarly, while place and people appear negative, immediately you can also change your perceiver, your thoughts, by applying the meditations from lamrim, from the graduated path to enlightenment—remembering the meditations, patience, loving kindness, compassion, remembering the kindness of the enemy, the kindness of sentient beings, remembering the teachings. This transforms the mind from negative to positive, to virtuous thought. Immediately as you transform your mind, again you have a different environment. You see the person completely differently. Right after you change your mind, you see the person as very warm, kind-hearted, very kind.

Rather than becoming distant from that person, holding that person very far from your heart, even if before that person was very far from your heart, now you have transformed the mind in compassion, loving kindness, or patience, and the person is near to your heart—you feel that person within your heart, so precious, so kind. So it changes. You can see from positive to negative, from negative to positive. That shows how things depend on the mind. Day to day life, the environment, bad appearance, good appearance, disturbing, benefiting—it all comes from one’s own mind, depends on one’s own mind. So like that, using that as an example, you can extend it to the whole world, to the beings’ place.

Student: Can you explain how this world’s system came into being?

Rinpoche: It came from the collective karma of the beings, the human beings, creators, all those beings who use and enjoy this earth. It came from their collective karma.

That is the basic thing. Then, as explained before, it is similar. The basic thing is karma, the karma of the beings living on this earth—that’s the main cause, the inner cause. Then, as it is mentioned in the teachings, physically, first of all in the beginning it was empty, space, and gradually the four elements started. The first thing was the water element, and the air element. It is mentioned in the teachings that this came from the other continents—how the air came from other continents. So the elements were the first thing. Then, it took twenty middle eons to complete the earth, to complete it from bottom to the top. The evolution of the beings is similar to the scientists—what I am saying, you see, is the same thing—before the animals existed, then the human beings came into existence later. That is similar. But for monkeys to become human beings, that I don’t know.

That part I don’t know, but otherwise it is the same. I think since science mainly talks about the body, and is mainly focused the mind on physical evolution, not the consciousness—but even the physical part of a monkey doesn’t gradually change into a human being. Now are there any monkeys becoming human beings? Do tails get absorbed into the main body? And on some part of the body, do hairs fall down or absorb?

THE LABEL AND THE BASE
Student: What is the nature of the basis that the labeling consciousness puts the label on? If it doesn’t inherently exist when there is no mind perceiving it, does that mean it comes into existence at the same moment as it is labeled? I’m asking about the nature of the basis that the label is put on. If it doesn’t inherently exist when there’s no mind aware of it, does that mean it only comes into existence at the same instant that it is labeled?

Rinpoche: After you label, then it exists.

Student: What is the nature of this basis that it is labeled on?

Rinpoche: That is you see ... Spaces? Basis? Sorry! What is the difference between a hamburger and steak?

Student: I assume you mean the basis. Is the basis there when I don’t think of a hamburger or a steak?

Rinpoche: Is the basis there when you don’t think?

Student: Yes. Does it exist?

Rinpoche: The base of the hamburger, and... When you don’t think hamburger? In your hand now, or generally on this earth? On this earth, even if you don’t think it exists, other people are eating now.

Student: If no one is eating hamburgers.

Rinpoche: You think this time no one is eating?

Student: Say five hundred years ago.

Rinpoche: No one is eating... then no one could see hamburger. When no one could see hamburger then hamburger didn’t exist—at that time, there was no base.

Student: Say now. If no one was aware of a hamburger, no one was thinking about the hamburger, We all knew it existed but no one was aware of it, no one was thinking of it, is that basis ...

Rinpoche: No one is thinking of it? On this earth you mean?

Student: On this earth?

Rinpoche: No one is thinking now of hamburger, you mean?

Student: Does the basis exist?

Rinpoche: If no one is thinking hamburger, then hamburger doesn’t exist—as well as the basis.

Student: So nothing exists?

Rinpoche: Yeah, if today if hamburger today doesn’t exist on this earth, then nothing exists—it could be said.

Student: Where does the basis come from?

Rinpoche: The basis also came from mind. This is the same as the hamburger that you label on. Same thing, base also. You see, you think, making hamburger, then you understand. You visualize and you meditate that you are making a hamburger, a very good hamburger. So you can understand how the base also came from the mind. Don’t you have to buy the base first from the shop? When you buy it from supermarket, hasn’t it got a name? Do you ask...

Student: Yes. You ask for a dry hamburger mix or something...

Rinpoche: Hamburger sauce... When you go shopping at the supermarket, what do you see? In order to buy hamburger, in order to make hamburger, what do you see in the shop, the thing that is going to make hamburger? What is thing that you buy to make hamburger, in the shop...

Student: Meat. I’m only assuming, I’ve never made a hamburger.

Rinpoche: I think you won’t get the job to make hamburgers. So you see when you come into the shop you buy the material, which you are going to make hamburger. So then, that is the base. You know how it is put together?

Student: Vague idea. You mix the meat with the onions, maybe with bread crumbs, perhaps you should ask an American.

Rinpoche: You’re from where. England? Okay, do you know potato and mash? Potato and what is it with cheese? I don’t know the name. The potato that’s mashed then mixed with cheese, do you know that, do you get the visualization? Anyway, so whatever it’s called, the potato that’s ground, mashed, not solid. So anyway, you see, you have the base, the potato, then that is mixed with cheese, whatever, so that’s the base. Whatever you see there, that is what’s labeled, so what appears to you is what you have labeled. So then on top of all, everything is integrated like this, on top of it all, and you label something again. So it is similar.

Student: Maybe an invention is an example of what you are saying. If you think of a neutron bomb before it was invented, it didn’t exist. It only came into existence when it was invented. Of course the parts of a neutron bomb did exist, but it was not a neutron bomb, it was only when it was in the mind that it started to exist. Same with hamburger.

Rinpoche: The scientists who found the idea, the atomic power, like Einstein—he found the idea of how you can create power by bringing together and integrating the atoms. Later, the other scientists put this into practice, they actualized it. Even though the later scientists had the idea of the atomic bomb, the name and everything, before they put everything together, it didn’t exist, even though they had the idea, they had the names.

It’s like this example. You could visualize that you are king of the whole world, and you are living in a golden palace, billions of palaces made with different jewels, billions of swimming pools, billions of cars, airplanes, children, friends, wives—you can visualize anything you wish. When you visualize, all the names are there, but it doesn’t mean that they exist. Same, all the ideas are there, but until everything is integrated, until they put it together, the atomic bomb doesn’t exist. Only after everything is put together, and it is functional, when the idea, the label, and the base exist, happen, then the atom bomb exists—so it has to depend on both.

NOT BELIEVING IN INHERENT EXISTENCE BRINGS PEACE
Now the main thing we have to be aware, talking about this, the conclusion, when we think about the atomic bomb, is that it exists in mere name, merely imputed by the mind. So the atomic bomb, that which appears to exist from its own side, without depending on the base, and thought labeling, that which appears to us, the independent bomb—that is empty, that is empty, that is a hallucination.

Similarly, in all existence in everyday life, always we have these three: the “I” or the self, the action, and the object. In everyday life, nothing exists in the slightest from its own side, except merely imputed on this basis by thought. Nothing of this exists in the slightest from its own side, so therefore, the conclusion is that there is nothing to cling to, there’s nothing to grasp, there’s nothing to be attached to, there’s no reason to get angry, no reason to feel jealous, no reason to feel pride, there’s no basis for the pride—feeling pride in your educational qualities that do not exist from their own side over somebody who has a lower education.

If you think of the evolution, if you are aware of the evolution, that all these things exist in mere name, being merely imputed by the thought on the base—just thinking that, just practicing awareness of this evolution, the way things exist, naturally, as a result, by the power of practicing the awareness of dependent arising, how things are dependent arising, depending on base and thought, the thought merely imputing on the base, that is okay. So practicing awareness of this with effort, you need to think that they do not exist from their own side—this answer comes in the depth of one’s own heart, the understanding awareness that they do not exist—the subject, action, and object that appear to exist from their own side. This appearance is a complete hallucination; they are empty.

So in this way there is much relaxation in the mind, much tranquility, much calmness. Things doesn’t bother you, the people or the environment—they do not disturb the mind, they cannot disturb the mind. There is no space in the mind—one not find any reason for anger to arise, for the dissatisfactory mind’s attachment that creates disharmony in the relationships, which brings lot of problems, dissatisfaction in one’s own life—there is no reason for them to arise. Instead of seeing reasons, the opposite—they don’t arise.

Then as well, they constantly stop the ignorance, clinging to the subject, object, and actions, clinging to the appearance that subject, object, and action exist from their own side—while they are completely empty and there’s not the slightest atom that exists. So in this way you have not yet received the ultimate liberation, you are completely free from this, and it is impossible for the cause of the cause of sufferings, the disturbing thoughts that produce karma, to arise. Even if you have ceased the cause of suffering completely, it is impossible for them to arise again. Even if that did not happen, that ultimate liberation, even if you have not achieved this yet, practicing awareness of this is like liberation, compared to one who is suffering, compared to one who does not practice awareness of dependent arising in everyday life—in the nature of things, the subject, action, and object. You completely believe in the hallucination side, that part of the world, that side, and completely grasp onto that, and then life becomes miserable with anger, with attachment, with pride and jealousy, full of doubts. So many things are so confused and one is unable to benefit others—not only are you miserable and confused, but it interferes in your benefit for others.

For example, if you are so depressed you cannot do things, you even cannot talk—it is difficult to talk to others, to help others. Compared to those, the person who constantly practice awareness, especially of dependent arising, the nature of things, it becomes the best protection for life, the best protection from the sufferings of the life. So in this way you gives yourself so much freedom.
When the mind is calm, like this, it’s very easy to achieve concentration, less distraction—and if you do concentration very easily, then there is quick success of the realizations. So in this way, in day-to-day life, with the practice of awareness, the virtuous thought of the awareness of dependent arising, in this way you don’t create the karma to take rebirth again, the karma that throws you into samsara in future lives. You do not take the aggregates caused by karma and disturbing thoughts, the container of all problems, the base, the originator, the base from which the problems arise. So in this way it stops. Then you are able to quickly realize emptiness. The emptiness of the “I,” the aggregates—then by developing the wisdom of emptiness, in this way you are able to stop the continuation of the aggregates, samsara—which means cycle or cycling—these suffering aggregates under the control of karma and disturbing thoughts, joining from one life to another life, always like this—life to life, so this gets stopped. By ceasing these, there is no circling of the suffering of rebirth and death. Once you cease rebirth, there is no death, there is no suffering of death, as well as all the problems between rebirth and death—they get completely ceased—old age and sickness, and so many other problems. So this is the essential, the very basic, most important meditation if you really wish to be free from the problems and the cause. If you do not wish to die.

Just to tell my experience, what I think in the West. Everything is there, except what you cannot find is, what they have not done, what they have not actualized, is what is left to stop after death. They have actualized many other things, but the most important thing is missing, they have not tried to stop experiencing death. That is what I normally think when I go to the markets, the department stores, and see those machines, those things.

In order to stop death, to never experience death, you have to never experience rebirth—to make rebirth never happen. To do that you have to realize the cause. As long as you are ignorant of the cause of rebirth and death, the true cause of suffering, which is a mental factor that exists within your own mind—not outside, separately from you own mind. It does not exist as something else apart from you own mind. As long as you are ignorant of the nature of mind, how things depend on the mind, suffering and happiness, that the main creator is the mind, and as long as you point out the main creator of happiness and unhappiness as an outside object, an eternal thing, then even if you know all the teachings of the Buddhadharma, all the teachings of sutra and tantra, even if you have studied well all the five treatises and all the tantra teachings extensively, even intellectually, even if you know all the words, as long as you believe the creator is not yourself, the creator of suffering is not yourself, but somebody else or some outside object, then I think the problems are still the same, even though you have all the intellectual understandings of the teachings.

I think I’ll stop here.

[Dedication]

Please dedicate the merits having listened to the teachings that have been explained. May the ultimate good heart, the originator of all happiness, bodhicitta, renouncing oneself and cherishing other sentient beings and the wisdom realizing emptiness, absolute truth, which cuts off all the obscurations, all the causes of suffering, all the obscurations and those that are the foundation to achieve the peerless happiness, that this mental continuum become omniscient mind, to be able to perfectly guide all sentient beings. May these two be generated within my mind without delay this second, as well as in the mind of all other sentient beings, who don’t have these realizations. And in those who have these realizations, may they be developed.

[Dedication]

Thank you very much.

[End of first teaching]

LECTURE 2, 29 NOVEMBER

THE “NO” OF THE HEART SUTRA DESTROYS WHAT DOESN’T EXIST
Try to follow, try to keep the mind in the words, the meaning, or at least the words. So there are many words that say, “There is no nose, there is no tongue, there is no eye, there is no ear, there is no food, no cakes…” so there are many “no’s,” points that say “no this, no that.” It seems you own nothing, it seems you don’t have anything, it seems that you do not exist and that you own nothing. It may sound like there are no possessions, no actions of possessing, no possessor and no self. But the “no” is not referring to the things that exist. The “no” applies to that which is not merely labeled, which appears to our mind or senses, which exists from its own side. So applying the “no” to the hallucination, to that which exists, is wrong—that way you are following the extreme of nihilism, you are not meditating the middle way.

So the way to meditate is this. It is not the thing that which exists in mere name, “no” is not applied on that, but applied on what appears as contradictory to that, that it exists from its own side—the I, the action, the object, all the things, samsara and nirvana. In other words, you apply the no on the hallucination that you believe in now, which you do not recognize, that which is empty. Then those who are familiar, who recognize the refuting object, the truly existent, that which appears, truly existence of the refuting object which is on the things, which is on the I, which is on the five sense objects, that which is merely labeled on the base. So somebody who recognizes that, there is no danger, there is no mistake. It is like a person who can see the target, who recognizes the target, the enemy, then he can shoot exactly and destroy the enemy. The meditator of shunyata can destroy the enemy, ignorance, by destroying the object of ignorance, that which is a hallucination, the truly existent object.

On the basis, what you need is the explanation of the two truths, so I suggested that the other geshe explained that to you. So, now, samsara, nirvana, the I, the action, the subject—all exist in mere name. If is birth, it can start, stop, continue, it can rise, it can cease, these experiences happen because it exists as merely labeled. Because it exists, you are able to experience suffering and happiness. You can cease suffering and develop happiness. There is somebody who is experiencing something; there is the object and there is the action of experiencing. With this understanding you see the continuation of the consciousness never ceases; the base does not completely stop. There is no such thing as the whole consciousness entirely, completely stopping. So therefore, as long as there is a continuation of the valid base, there is always “I,” there is always a “self” that exists on that, without choice. As long as there is the continuation of consciousness, the base, even though the consciousness is not associated with the body, there’s times when the consciousness is alone, and the self exists. However, there is no such time when the consciousness, the whole thing, gets completely stopped, even though the virtuous thought arises for some time and then stops, and then attachment arises for some time and then stops—sometimes so strongly arising it becomes visible—as do anger and other things. But this does not mean the “I” stops, the self stops, or ceases—it does not mean that.

Even if the gross consciousness stops, the subtle consciousness continues all the time. So the subtle consciousness never stops. If the subtle consciousness ceased, the “I” could be stopped, and there would be no base, no aggregates, there would be no base at all. Therefore, if the subtle consciousness stopped, if that was possible, then the “I” that existed on that as being merely imputed would also get stopped. Now for example, similarly, when somebody calls you, you say, “Are you calling me?” or when you speak about yourself, the “I,” you are pointing to the aggregates. Then you say, “Are you calling me?” “I,” by pointing to the aggregates—at that time when the subtle consciousness ceases, to get an idea, there is nothing to point to. Now we can point to the aggregates, then we can say “I,” “I didn’t do” or “I did it” if it is something good, then, “I did it,” or if it is something bad, “I didn’t do it.”

At the moment we have something to point at, so we point to the base. We point where there is the base—in terms of the table, we point there, we see the base at this place, we point to the base and then we say, “That is a table.” We see the base first and then we point out and say, “That is the table.” We label. So at that time there is no base. If there were no base, consciousness, and so on, that on which you label “I” would be a permanent phenomenon. If it were not the consciousness it would be a substantial thing or an uncausative phenomenon, such as space. So it would be like labeling the “I” on the uncausative phenomenon of space. In that case, the “I” would become permanent, because the base is permanent, an uncausative phenomenon, and space is permanent, so then “I” becomes permanent. In this way, since the base does not have a base consciousness, there is no such thing as saying, “I experience happiness.” Now we say, “I am happy,” “I am suffering,” “I am worried,” “I am excited,” or depressed. According to the experience of the consciousness we label, we talk all day long, we talk about our lives, we talk about the experience of life, from birth until death, as long as we can remember, we talk about life, happy and unhappy, good and bad, like this. So all this is to do with relating to the experience of the cause. So now there is something to refer to.

When the cause, when even the subtle consciousness completely stops, if we still accept that the “I” exists, then it would be something labeled on the uncausative phenomena of space. And then in that case, the “I” would become permanent because the base is permanent—either that or the “I” becomes like a million dollars in our hand which is now empty. That completely does not exist; even in mere name it does not exist. So like that, even if you label, “I have a million dollars in my hand,” even if you say this, it does not exist because there is no base, there is no valid base on which you label a million dollars right now in your hand. So similarly, even if we believe that there is an I, if the base consciousness is completely stopped, actually, in reality what happens is that the “I” becomes non-existent, the “I” ceases, and there is no possessor, there is no attainer of that time. After the consciousness has ceased, there is no attainer, or no subject experiencing happiness—the one who possesses liberation, who experiences liberation, who has achieved liberation becomes non-existent.

So the subtle consciousness never stops even though the gross consciousness stops. Even though all the gross consciousness completely stops, there is still a subtle consciousness that continues. That which is called primordial consciousness or subtle consciousness did not have a beginning and does not have an end, so therefore the “I,” the self, did not have a beginning.

Even though when you have fears, sometimes through meditation, in a meditative state or something, you feel they are getting lost or that they appear as if they don’t exist. That strong experience only proves that there is no inherent existence, that the inherent existence that appears to you on the “I” or from the “I,” that the one that is merely labeled on the base is completely empty. It only proves that the inherently existing “I” is empty. Your meditational experience is proving that. It is not experiencing that the “I” has become non-existent, even in mere name. By understanding that this “I” and the aggregates, samsara and nirvana, this existence, exists, and that the way it exists is in mere name, on the basis of knowing this one can relate to the heart sutra and the words, “no.”

On the present “I” that appears to you, that you cling and grasp onto with the sense objects, the aggregates, the one that appears right this minute, like shooting the arrow on the target, you use all these things. Even if you cannot differentiate the merely labeled “I” and the object at the moment, you cannot differentiate that which exists and that which does not exist—the merely labeled “I” and the truly existent “I,” even if one cannot differentiate or analyze one’s own present appearance—the “I” and so forth and the objects—you see that things are mixed, what does not exist and what does exist, you got mixed up, you cannot differentiate what appears, it has become one, so what is that one? That is only true existence. So you see, if something exists it has to exist from its own side, independent, not merely labeled. This is how things appear and how you believe, due to habituation to ignorance. In other words, being addicted to ignorance—like addicted to drugs, but addicted to ignorance. That is the biggest suffering. Even people who believe, “I don’t have suffering, so I don’t have to practice Dharma.” The person believes that suffering means to be starving or not having money or something like that, or that suffering is only the poverty of materials. Many people think like that, not knowing the evolution of suffering, the evolution of problems.

So how things appear is appearance and reality are mixed. Their appearance is truly existent but in reality they are empty of true existence. Being merely imputed by thought on the base, existing in mere name, those two, appearance and reality. What should appear, what you should recognize, what you should realize, what you should see, is contradictory—the present appearance and the reality. Then this way, there is a chance, then we start liberation from here, then it is definite that we will achieve liberation. It starts from here—by realizing emptiness and the false appearance. As long as we see that the appearances, which are false, hallucinations, and reality as one, as nothing else but true existence, that is a problem. This is the base of the delusions, of all anger, attachment, jealousy, and disturbing thoughts.

So, I did not mean to talk long. So you look at your own appearance of how the “I” appears, how the aggregates appear, how the sense objects appear, how the senses appear, and apply the “no” right on these things. This is the way to meditate on the Essence of Wisdom. If fear rises in the heart when you meditate, that is a good sign. That is a good sign, it means you are shaking the inner enemy, hurting the originator, the creator of your sufferings, of all the sufferings that one experience, all the problems, the aggregates caused by karma and delusions. Fear means harming the ignorance. Like the arrow, your meditation on shunyata is not shot in the wrong way, it is shot at the right point, on the target, the ignorance.

Slowly read, so then everybody please meditate.

[Ven. Wangmo reads the Heart Sutra]

THE REFUGE PRAYER
Those who are familiar and can visualize it, do the elaborate merit field related to tantra, Lama Chopa, the Guru Puja merit field, then do it the sutra way. Instead of Lama Tsongkhapa, there is Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, the Jewel Tradition All Encompassment. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha is the embodiment of all the gurus, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and then there are all the lineage lamas, the indirect gurus and the direct gurus, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, like that. Strong nectar beams emit from them. Those who are familiar with the elaborate visualization, according to the name that comes in the long requesting prayer called the requesting prayer, Opening the Supreme Path, written by Lama Tsongkhapa—a few verses from that, making it short. I am going to recite this. Strong nectar beams are emitted and purify all the obscurations, particularly the self-cherishing thought, the greatest obstacle to achieving enlightenment, and then the root of samsara, ignorance. All the obscurations that exist within your own mind and in the minds of all sentient beings are completely purified. After each verse a replica of the lineage lamas absorb into you and into all sentient beings, generating the whole path to enlightenment, the profound extensive path of their holy minds, and you and all sentient beings receive it.

[Recitation, mandala offering, refuge]

Taking refuge and generating bodhicitta. “I go for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma, the supreme merit field, the Sangha until I achieve enlightenment.”

“I go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha”—that is taking refuge in the causal refuge, that shows causal refuge—“until I achieve enlightenment” includes the resultant refuge. To free all the sentient beings from all the obscurations, all the sufferings, and lead them to the state of omniscient mind, it means that you have to become a buddha. For you to become a buddha, you have to generate the actual refuge of Dharma within your own mind, and in that way you also become Sangha by having attained the actual refuge of Dharma, the true path, and cessation of suffering. So you become a buddha. By generating the actual refuge of Dharma within your mind, the true path, and true cessation of suffering, you becomes the Sangha and then through this development, you becomes a buddha. Then you can perfectly guide all sentient beings. For this to happen, you need to rely upon the Dharma and Sangha—the separate beings, the Buddha, Sangha, and the Dharma, which are in the minds of others. The Dharma is in the mind of the Sangha, which is in the holy mind of the buddhas. Rely upon these three. Without relying upon these three, without guidance, without receiving the refuge, the guidance of these three, there no way to perfectly succeed in this. Without relying upon and practicing causal refuge, relying upon a separate buddha, separate from one’s own mind, you cannot succeed. Without the refuge relying upon the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha in their holy minds, you cannot accomplish the resultant refuge. You cannot perfectly guide all sentient beings. Therefore, you can see how extremely important refuge is, the practice of the two, result refuge and the causal refuge.

So the next two lines, “The merits that I have accumulated by making charity and so forth”—here in the place of charity, then say, “listening to teachings.” From your side you say, “My merit accumulated by listening to the teachings and so forth.” This means all the rest of the merits that I have accumulated. So in other words you can dedicate all the past and present and future merits altogether, “Due to all this, may I achieve enlightenment in order to benefit all the migratory beings.”

MATERIAL WEALTH, DHARMA POVERTY
This time the teachings didn’t happen like other courses, in the past, doing more. And after coming back there were some other activities that came up, the World Fellowship, and so on. Anyway you have many other qualified lamas and geshes here, so therefore no time is wasted. Your life is not wasted. Even though it is difficult to believe in some of the teachings, life is not wasted. Even if you think, “I’m not sure about certain things,” that’s only temporary, because there’s a block—like the blue sky is covered with a fog, it’s temporarily like that. But if that meets some condition, the wind or something, then it will go away.

These mental obstacles and obscurations do the same—if you practice they will cease, by accumulating merit and dedicating the merit for the development of the mind to be able to understand the teachings and have the realizations and achieve enlightenment, to generate the whole path to enlightenment. Then if you practice skillfully it will come, if you create the cause, the merit, and purify the obstacles, if you practice those methods and continuously examine them, not just putting it off because you don’t understand or because you don’t feel it, or because you don’t have faith. This is like finding actual gold and instead of examining it and thinking, “Oh I don’t feel it. I don’t understand, I don’t feel that this is real gold,” using one’s own feeling as proof.

Instead of trying to avoid something because it is difficult to understand, you examine it and understand it. For example, just a very simple way, if it were so easy to understand the teachings, so easy to generate realizations, just by reading the scriptures, if that whole realization just came through meditation on the sensations, just watching the sensations, awareness, or just simply letting the mind go blank or something—if by that you could became free from all the samsara, all the sufferings, and achieved liberation from all the sufferings and all the cause of sufferings, then there should be many people with mental peace on this earth. If loving kindness, compassion and patience were so easy to realize, without effort, without needing of study, listen, reflect and meditate, then in the same way as there are many wealthy people on this earth, there should be many people with mental peace—like the meditators who have bodhicitta and emptiness in their minds, seeing everything as illusory, like those who are well-trained and accomplished in thought transformation, and in turning all undesirable and miserable conditions into happiness. There should be great peace, with nothing disturbing it. There would be so many people on this earth like that. But this is not so in reality. There are many who are wealthy from the outside, with material wealth, but without inner wealth, Dharma wealth, the wealth of realizations, understanding karma, the exact cause of happiness, and the cause of suffering. It is easy to find materially wealthy people, because there are so many, but people with Dharma, spiritual wealth are very few.

There are many who have the poverty of Dharma, without Dharma wisdom, and many who have material wealth. There are so many, uncountable numbers—the world is full of people like this. But those who have Dharma wealth and great peace in the mind are very few. The reason there are so few of them is that it’s difficult.

If you make it easy, you can easily achieve great peace, the attainment of the path. If you make it difficult, not having extensive understanding, not skillfully practicing, not correctly practicing, then it’s difficult. That’s how inner peace becomes difficult. It basically depends upon whether you make it easy or difficult.

THE BUDDHA DOES NOT WASH AWAY NEGATIVE KARMA WITH WATER
I thought to go over this text about emptiness, putting the blame on ignorance. This text argues about the ignorance that believes in the “I” in a completely wrong way and the wisdom of shunyata, the wisdom realizing emptiness.

Before that, we will discuss how all of samsara is in the nature of suffering. If you do not understand this then the wish to achieve liberation, to be liberated from all of samsara, doesn’t arise very strongly. If the renunciation of samsara becomes just words, then wishing to achieve liberation becomes just words. Then you don’t see, you don’t feel from the depth of the heart how important it is to meditate on emptiness, to generate the wisdom of emptiness. You may find it interesting, something to talk about, but it is not really inside the heart—something that you must realize, that makes you feel, “I can’t wait even a minute, can’t wait even an hour, without having these realizations that cut the root of samsara.”

It becomes something to talk about or some other philosophy to study, or to teach to others or to write books about. It becomes something to show that you have understanding of something, and it becomes a very limited goal. One of my teachers, and also Lama Yeshe’s teacher, Geshe Sopa Rinpoche, gave different explanations of the basics of the twelve links, the evolution of samsara. So I thought that with these understandings you could meditate. This will be beneficial for the mind.

Please generate the motivation of bodhicitta with least the effortful bodhicitta thinking, “At any rate I must achieve the state of omniscient mind for the sake of all kind mother sentient beings who equal infinite space. Therefore I’m going to listen to the profound holy teachings.” Then also the righteous conduct of listening to the teachings according to the lineage lamas traditional practice, of the lineage lamas.

The purpose for which Shakyamuni Buddha descended on this earth was only to liberate sentient beings from samsaric suffering and to lead them to liberation, to the state of omniscient mind. Only that, for only that purpose, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha descended on this earth. There’s no other reason. The way that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha liberates sentient beings from samsara, from the whole suffering of the samsara, and leads them to liberation, leads them to the state of omniscient mind, is as it is explained in the sutra teachings.

“The mighty ones do not wash away the negative karma with water,” refers to the true cause of the sufferings, the disturbing thoughts and karma. The resultant sufferings cannot be washed away by water. The way that Buddha guides sentient beings is not like that. These things cannot be washed away by water, so that is not the way Buddha guides or liberates sentient beings.

Also, he doesn’t eliminate the sufferings of migratory beings with his hands, which is like taking the thorn out of the body with the hand. You can’t take away the suffering without sentient beings, from their side, attempting to practice the path that was revealed by the Buddha. Taking it out like a thorn in the flesh is not possible. If the Buddha could eliminate anger, ignorance, attachment, the six root delusions, the twenty secondary delusions by wiping it away or taking it in his hands, there would be no need for effort from the side of sentient beings. You could just wait for the Buddha. Without ever practicing patience, you just wait for the Buddha to take out the anger. If it were as easy as that, if liberation were only up to the Buddha, all the sentient beings would have been enlightened already because Buddha has compassion for every suffering being. He has a hundred thousand times more compassion and loving kindness for us sentient beings than we have for ourselves.

If liberation was not dependent upon you and your own effort, but upon some other creator—I find similarity in Christianity. Even though there is talk about a creator God from one side, on the other side there is much emphasis on the practice of morality. Only looking at one side, everything is created by God, but if you look at the whole thing there is an emphasis on abandoning the ten nonvirtues and practicing the ten virtues for the people who want happiness or want to go to heaven.

So that is talking about karma. Even though the word “karma” in Sanskrit is not used, or the words “action and result,” I see that there is much emphasis on karma. But it might be difficult to find it clearly and extensively explained. But otherwise there is much talk. So now you can see that it’s now only up to God, or up to Buddha. We need effort from the side of sentient beings, and we have to follow the unmistaken method, which is abandoning the cause of suffering and creating the cause of happiness—abandoning of ten nonvirtues, and practicing the ten virtues.

Somebody who understands Buddhism looks at the Christian teachings as very interesting, and very meaningful. If you can see them with the understanding of Buddhism, they become clear. Maybe it can be said that Christianity can be explained better. More logically. So there is no taking the suffering away by the hand. Also, Buddha cannot transplant realizations—like transplanting the brain or the heart into somebody else. Sentient beings become liberated from samsara by revealing the reality, the truth, which means emptiness.

So Buddha revealed the teachings of emptiness, the truth, the absolute truth, and then we sentient beings, by listening, reflecting, and doing meditation practice, get liberated from samsara. So all the 84,000 teachings taught by Buddha are the means to subdue the minds of us sentient beings. All the sutra, all the tantra, all the extensive teachings, every word that Buddha said is to subdue our own minds. All these teachings are means to subdue the minds of the sentient beings who are the objects to be subdued. All of the 84,000 teachings taught by Buddha are the means to realize emptiness and to develop and to achieve omniscient mind, to lead the sentient beings into the state of omniscient mind.

So I think I’ll stop here.

Please dedicate all the merits that were accumulated in the past, present, and future by listening to the teachings—all the three times’ merits accumulated by other sentient beings. May the sentient beings who have not generated bodhicitta, renouncing oneself, cherishing other sentient beings, and the wisdom realizing emptiness generate it immediately, and for those who have generated it, may it continue to be developed.

[Prayers]