ACI 1 «Основные учения буддизма», занятие 3

ACI I, Class Three What is a qualified teacher?
transcribed by: Louise Rosenthal
7/15/93

[unclear] have here...is this book, in tibetan, okay? We're gonna talk today about
page forty-one. So...that's page one, now go to page nine. Just count nine. I
would have everybody should have four dividers...and there should be a divider
between the, the root text and a commentary. If you don't know where the root
text is...I'll show you. [very noisy silence] This is the last page...the root text has
these four line things, it comes before the commentary, it's the shorter lines, it
ends right here Kylie, that's the last page.

[student, Kylie: Yeah.]

[student: I don't think I have one.]

It comes before the commentary. No you don't have it, okay I'll give you a
notebook. Commentator [unclear], does that give you a divider to put the
recitations? No. We may be needing more, right? Put the mandala offering
and all that.

[students: [unclear] ]

[students: What are the [unclear] divisions?]

[student: It's the root text, commentary and [unclear] ]

[student: How far [unclear]?]

They'll be...they'll be...first thing you'll have is the syllabus, not anything in front
of it okay? You alright? [unclear] Okay so you're gonna have...let's do it this
way. You're gonna have this yellow page, then you have a, a syllabus.

[students: [unclear] ]

[student, Kylie: Particularly [unclear] to have it this way or a?]

No, it just make it easier for you I think. Then you have, then you have those
three things that you're supposed to recite, {kyadrub semkye, mandel,
ngowa}...then you have a divider. Then here you should put your homework

[student: [unclear] ]

Yeah, and your quizzes.

[students: [unclear chatter][laughter] ]

No what it is you'll, you'll have an organized, you'll have everything well
organized when you teach your own students, and I much regret that I don't...I
didn't do this when...my first twenty years of my education. I don't have
anything organized from my lama's teachings. I, I much regret it.

[student, Vilma Staiano: So the second one is homework.]

When I say homework first, quiz second.

[student, Kylie: Oh you want a, so we need another divider then, we're out of
dividers, right?]

[student: Where do we put our class notes?]

That's up to you. You mean on separate lined paper or something like that?

[student: No I mean wher...which division [unclear] ]

Oh that's up to you, I'll let you decide that.

[student, Kylie: Could we chip in and buy a hole punch or do you have one here
already now?]

I wouldn't mind if you bought one, I don't have one in New York but....then you
have the root text, here's what the root text looks like, short lines.

[student: And there's only two pages of ]

No, four pages long. Yours are out of order. No, no I'm sorry they're here. It's
actually five pages long. I think [very noisy silence] That's for Mary Ellen. And
then finally you have the commentary, looks like that, lines like that. That's the
orange book. That's the orange book. And, that thing before it, is the bold parts
of the old orange book, those fourteen lines, if you look through the orange
book, see a bold [unclear] yeah like that.

[student: It's just like a chapter heading or something.]

That's the name of the book actually. It says, "This is a commentary to the
Fourteen Verses." [silence, sort of] Everybody okay?

[student: This is the last, last [unclear] right?]

Yeah, yeah, that's all. Okay? Anybody else need? Okay. [noisy silence] Okay,
please say {shi nyen}[repeat], {dru wa}[repeat], {shi wa}[repeat], {nyer shi wa}
[repeat]. Okay, we're gonna talk about today, we're gonna start a section which
is how to find a teacher, and after you find a teacher how you should behave
towards him, okay? And that's, that's really the, the first and it's the most
important step you have to take. Okay? So we're gonna go over, the qualities of
a good teacher. What, what kind of thing should you look for in a teacher?

[student: One who asks accurate questions?]

[laughs] Alright? This is very important, okay? It's, it's a...there are many
stories of tibetan buddhist...there's a famous story of Atisha, who brought
buddhism to Tibet, one of the people who brought it. He, he went, he went on a
long trip, he went, I don't know for six months or a year, on a ship to go to
Indonesia, from India, which was very dangerous at that time, like one thousand
A.D. And when he got there, he found the lama he was looking for, this is a
lama who was one of the last lamas in the world who knew how to teach the
boddhi...boddhisattva vows. He went there just to meet him. And, he got there,
and he didn't go to his house. He started checking around town, is this a good
teacher? Have you heard anything bad about him? What is he doing? He
interviewed all his students, I think for six months he didn't...he checked him out
for six months. Why? Aah...a dharma teacher can really screw you up. Alright?
If he doesn't know what he's doing, if he's, if he's, if he's not qualified, he, he can
ruin you not for this life but for many, many thousands of years, millions of
years. He can ruin you, okay? It's, it's very delicate question who you allow...to
fool around with your dharma mind. You know? You shouldn't just go to any
initiation you hear about, you shouldn't just go to any teaching you hear about,
you should check out the teacher. Okay? It's a very, very delicate...question. If
he teaches you, for example, that something non-virtuous is virtuous, then...and
then if you do it...he goes to hell of course but you go to hell too. Okay? And it
hurts alot. Even in this life you'll start to get bad results, okay? If he teaches you
something wrong, something non-virtuous or if he teaches you something
stupid about emptiness that's not true at all...it'll mess you up very badly. At the
best you're just...nothing will happen, and after ten years you'll say, "I dunno I've
been coming to dharma classes for ten years nothing happened." And at the
worst, you'll get in...big problems. You...you'll really have big mistakes and you
see it all the time, you see many cases where teachers have taught people that
something is virtuous which was obviously not a virtue, and then they, they ruin
them. So

[student, Kylie: Michael?]

Yeah?

[student, Kylie: Don't you really mean a would-be dharma teacher?]

I mean a would-be, I mean a so-called dharma teacher of course.

[student, Kylie: Because that...how could a dharma teacher hurt anybody?]

Of course, of course. Okay so, we're going to learn tonight the ten qualifications
of a, of a lama. What should you look for, before you go to a lama? Okay, and
the Sakya Pandita one of the wisest tibetan buddhists, he lived in the twelve
hundreds, he said, you know it's crazy, you know people are gonna buy a car...in
those days a horse...you know they check the teeth, they check the legs, they run
him around, they go see twenty-five horses, and then after many weeks they
choose one horse because this is all their money that they have. They're putting
it into this one horse. If they buy the horse and the next day they find out he has
a bad leg, they lose all the money they saved...in Tibet, for maybe years, okay?
But a bad dharma teacher can screw you up for, for your life. It's not just
your...bank account. It's your mind, it's your soul, alright your spirit, he can
mess you up, so you should take a lot more care in choosing a dharma
teacher...then you take in anything. Choosing someone who you're gonna have
a relationship with, something like that. Now-a-days people check out does this
guy might have AIDS and this girl might have AIDS, I better check out you
know? AIDS kill you once...a bad dharma teacher, so-called dharma teacher can
kill you many times. Seriously. Very, very dangerous to get into a relationship
with someone, if they're not qualified. So, what are you gonna look for? You
know? Check the tires...check the carburetor...we'll make a list of ten things that
you should look for.        Who wrote this list it's from the {Do day gyen}...
{sutramaka}. I believe that's, that's the summary. Okay like, one of the most
important early important buddhist saints wrote this book. And this is quoted
always in lists of...what to look for.

[student: What is the name of it?]

{Sutra ah lo kar}. The book list says four hundred verses I think [unclear]. No, it
does say {Sun kar lo kar le}.

[student: How long [unclear]?]

Yeah, I mean if you really want to know...you're not required to know this,
okay? That's the sanskrit. Sutra means sutra, word of the Buddha. {Par lom kara}
means "to make ready", which is a sanskrit word for an ornament. Because
when you put it on you're ready to go to the party. Okay? You don't have to
know that. This quotation comes from...that text. That text is in the [b:
{Tengyur}]. It's in...the point is that it's a very, very old book, it's about fifteen
hundred years old. I mean it's good, it's a good book, it's right, it sounds like he
knew what he was talking about. Okay? And a

[student, John Stilwell: Did you say Asanga wrote that?]

Yeah. And this is his verse about the ten things you should look for in a teacher.
What ten things should you look for in a good teacher? Okay? If he's
qual...check if he's qualified or not. Because you are risking your life, you're
putting your life in his hands basically, he's fooling around with your mind.
Okay? If he puts bad ideas into your mind you will suffer. Greatly. It's, it's not
so bad to learn bad habits: smoking, drinking...that's one thing, but to learn
wrong ideas about the world, wrong ideas about your spiritual practice is
poison. It's much worse than a bad habit like smoking or drinking or something
like that because it will ruin your life. So, very, very important. {Shay nyen}
means..."spiritual friend, spiritual guide".

[student, Kylie: Guide or friend or both?]

They...both of these words are words for relative or close friend. It doesn't, it
doesn't...{shay} means "like a friend" and {nyen} means "a relative" so it means
literally your friend, meaning your dharma friend, meaning your teacher. The
person who you're trusting your mind to. {Shay nyen}. {Tu lu wa}, {tu lu wa} is
the past tense of a verb that means "to tame something", like {dul wa} is what
you'd do to a wild horse during a rodeo. He starts our crazy and you get on him
and you beat him and you beat him and finally he's...friendly.

[student, Kylie: Subdued?]

You, you, you can decide. As a buddhist...yeah?

[student, Kylie: Subduer or subdued?]

Yeah, yeah, no, finished, tamed, subdued, controlled. The noun {dulwa} means
"vinaya". Okay? That is the whole part of the buddhist books that teach about
morality, the vow, the vows of morality, okay? In, in Thailand it's {winayana}.
Okay? Vinaya. You have, in Thailand you have, you have {winaya} and you
have {abridham}. You have those two traditions, you're a hinayana country and
you have very strong, you have those two...in your canon it's forty-five books
and you still have the {vinaye} and you still have the {Abhidharma}. This is
{dulwa}. It means "how to get tamed, how to get controlled", "morality" okay?
{Dulwa}. {Shi wa}. {Shi wa} means...do you know? {Shiwa}. Do you know {shi
wa} do you know {shi ne}? Somebody was telling me these [unclear]

[student: Aah, tranquility?]

We were studying...[unclear] {shamata}.

[student: Oh sha [unclear] ]

{Shamata}...yeah right, that's {shi} this is the {shi} of {shi ne}. This {shi} means
"peace, peace". There's another {shi} that means "to kill, to die", and they're
related. [laughter] Just the peace, right? Okay, no, they're related, after you're
{shi} you're {shi}. [laughter] {Shi wa}. {Nyen shi wa} means "really peaceful".

[student: Is {shi wa} peace or is {shi} peace? ]

{Shi wa} is peace. {Shi wa} is peace, {nyer shi wa} means "very peace". This is an
advertisement for the computer project. I...this verse doesn't tell you much,
okay he has to be peaceful, very peaceful, controlled...what does that refer to?
So, I just look it up, I have the whole...I have forty thousand pages in here. I just
say, "Okay is that verse...does anyone discuss that verse?" You went right, right
to the [b: Lam Rim Chenmo], of Tsongkhapa. And, and he's explaining the
whole verse incredible explanation, so great you know? I don't have to go...we
used to have to go flip through like thousands of pages, we used to spend
weeks, looking for one quotation, you know, now I just ask it...I just asked it and
about thirty seconds it came up, here's a nice explanation by the way,
Tsongkhapa. So I can basically carry around the {Kangyur} and {Tengyur}. With
all the tibetan explanations. So we'll go through Tsongkhapa's...explanation,
okay? He says, "If you haven't {dulwa}ed yourself, it would be crazy to say that
you could {dulwa} anyone else. And therefore "

[student, Kylie: This Tsongkhapa commenting on this verse?]

Yeah Tsongkhapa

[student, Kylie: It's a commentary]

Is [unclear] this very verse.

[student, Kylie: Commentary on this verse.]

Yeah Tsongkhapa

[student, Kylie: So it's Asanga being commented on by Tsongkhapa.]

By Tsongkhapa in the [b: Lam Rim Chenmo] the greatest, maybe the greatest
tibetan book ever written. And he says, "How could anyone {dulwa} someone
else if they didn't {dulwa} themselves first?" And he says, "Therefore you should
seek a, a, a lama, who has {dulwa} himself." And if you ask me, this is all straight
translation from Tsongkhapa. If you ask me how does somebody {dulwa}
himself, it's a...it's not enough to say...that he's just done anything at all to
become {dulwa}, it's says...he has used the three trainings to become {dulwa}.
And this {dulwa}, this one refers to the first training, okay? This {dulwa} refers to
the first of the three famous trainings there are three famous trainings. We call
{la ba sum}, okay? The first one is morality. Morality. Which is basically what,
what's the roughest...collection of buddhist morality ever collected?

[student, John Stilwell: The ten non-virtues.]

The calendar right there, okay? There are eighty-four thousand bad deeds that
you can do. They collected them down into ten because we can't remember so
many. Okay?       So Gracie, give someone who is keeping his morality,
someone...so first of all if you're gonna, if you're thinking about going to hear a
lama, if you're thinking about starting a relationship with a lama, find out if he's
keeping his morality, okay? And there's the ten...moralities right there.

[student: This is lines forty-five right?]

Aah, is it?

[student: Perception and morality...will be trained.]

Yeah right. Yeah. So the, the first word here, the first of the ten qualities, which
means "subdued, tamed", refers to the first of the three trainings, which is
morality he keeps his morality well.

[student: How does this relate to the crazy wisdom school of [unclear] He is not
the [unclear] behavior?]

It's, it's...it's possible that a, a lama could do something extraordinary to help you,
but, you also have to be an extraordinary student to see it and not lose your
faith, and not commit a big bad deed so better...we're normal people, we're not
like Milarepa or something like that I mean we have to find a teacher
who's...who's got these ten qualities. That's the normal...thing, if you some
extraordinary virtue in your past, and you meet some extraordinary teacher
who can read your mind, it, it's true and it has happened that he smashes you in
the head and, you know you realize he's a great lama and he's trying to help you
but, but

[student, Kylie: Give up on Naropa right?]

Yeah the normal...we don't have this

[student: I'm thinking of in terms of reality ]

We don't have this, we don't have this kind of virtue, we are not those kind of
special people and we might as well admit it, find a, find a plain old
straight...lama who, who has these

[student, John Stilwell:: So, so what does that mean for all those lamas that are
teaching that way and all those students that are following that lama's teaching?]
[student, Kylie: Can I say something? I would assume it's there it's just that it's
different ]

By the way we'll get there

[student, Kylie: You can't see it ]

We'll talk about it.

[student, Kylie: It, it must be there still ]

No we're about to

[student, Kylie: It just isn't as clear and straight-forward as [unclear] ]

[students: [unclear] ]

Yeah. Yeah I, I...it'll come. It's a, it's a valid question, a good question.

[student, Kylie: Well I think the question is, he's saying, can it be that some
teachers don't have this? I doubt it even if they appear to be crazy they would
still have it.]

No, that's, that's true too. I mean...being my...what he says is true, they do have
morality and they pretend not to have morality, but that's...I don't want to get
into that question. It will come. It will come in this, in tonight or next week,
promise, if it doesn't then bring it up and give it to me. Okay {dulwa}'s...{dulwa}
means "someone who's keeping the ten moralities". Plain old ten moralities. It's
the plain old ten moralities that make tantra work. It's the plain old ten
moralities that make you a buddha, it's the plain old ten moralities that...give you
all the beautiful results that you ever wanted. Okay? Not very popular to say
that, but it's true. [laughs] And it just makes you happy, just keep them. Okay
{dulwa}. {Shiwa}, so {shiwa} refers obviously to the second...of the trainings.
And let's see what he says about it. [silence]

[student: You said {lay ba sum} was the ]

{La ba sum}. {La ba sum} means...is the word in tibetan for, you don't have to
know it, it's for the three trainings. The three trainings are morality...the second
one is concentration.
[student, John Stilwell: Are these three trainings for a teacher or for anyone?]

The three, three trainings are for anyone. But, but the first quality of a, of a good
lama refers specifically to the first training. He should have the morality. And
it's the plain old ten moralities up there...he doesn't hurt anyone's body, he
doesn't lie, he doesn't try to split up people with his speech, he doesn't have
weird ideas that will hurt people, he doesn't dislike other people...plain old
morality, {dulwa}. {Shiwa}. Okay? {Shiwa} means "peaceful", it refers to the
second training anybody know what it is?

[students: [unclear] ]

[unclear] mention that way. [laughter] I wasn't gonna [unclear] And, and
Tsongkhapa makes an interesting point, he says, "The word {shiwa}...refers to his
ability to keep his awareness and mental guard up so that he can keep his
morality." Okay? So he's not talking about regular concentration here, he's,
Tsongkhapa's explaining to you that you want a teacher who has mindfulness,
okay? He doesn't, he doesn't forget to keep his morality and suddenly lie, and
then say later, "Oh I shouldn't have lied, I shouldn't have lied." Okay? He has
the concentrative ability...concentration here doesn't mean keeping your mind
on...on a visualization, it means keeping your mind on what you're doing, what
you're saying, what you're thinking, so that you don't break your morality.
[student: Could you repeat Tsongkhapa [unclear]? ]

Yeah, he says, "The word {shiwa}, here, refers to the ability...within your mind,
to use recollection and awareness, to, do the good deeds that are mentioned
under the {dulwa}, and to avoid the bad deeds that are the opposite." That's
exactly what he says, in tibetan. It's the ability to keep your mind...on what
you're saying and what you're thinking, and what you're doing...that's what
concentration means in this case, that's what {shiwa} means in this case.

[student: Is this also from the [b: Lam Rim Chenmo]? ]

Ah, all the explanations tonight will come from [b: Lam Rim Chenmo]. And it's
all of this verse. [silence] Okay, {nyer shiwa} refers to the third training. {Nyer
shiwa} refers to the third training. Okay? And the third training is what?

[student: [unclear] ]
Wisdom. Okay? The perception of wisdom. Wisdom. Tsongkhapa says, "The
word very peaceful, exceptional peace," he says, "refers to the ability to analyze
all objects...using that special kind of concentration called {shi ne, shamata}",
okay? Quietude. "Which makes his mind especially"...how would you translate
{vay ser uma}? It's the {vay ser uma} in {ver um, ver um}?

[student: Voulez vous ]

No, literally it means

[student: Approaching?]

Nn-nn, it means...it means if you work out all the day

[student: [unclear] fit, fit.]

Yeah, it's like 'fit'. It means you've worked out all day and then if someone
[unclear] "Can you help me carry this box?" if you're already {lay ser ru wa}. {Ru
wa} means "fit", {lay} means "for the work", "fit for the work".

[student, Kylie: [unclear] for the test? ]

Like that.

[student, John Stilwell: Could you say the whole thing?]

Yeah I'll say it again. "The word {nyer, nyer shiwa}," in this verse he says,
"referring to the training of wisdom, where that lama utilizes that perfect
concentration called shamata, to investigate reality." He has that ability.

[student: Could you say it one more time?]

Yeah yeah yeah. He says, "{Nyer shiwa}", I'm changing it every time right.
[laughter], "Refers to that special ability of concentration called shamata" right?
I'm sorry, "refers to the training of wisdom where that lama uses that special
concentration called shamata to investigate reality."

[student: [unclear]?]

Hm?
[student: What does that mean?]

It means that, the ability to concentrate here, what we call shamata, is a tool.
You could use it for anything. You can get shamata towards meditating that
there's a horn on your head. It's a, it's a neutral object. You can get shamata,
you can do a perfect concentration, you can have a perfect visualization of a horn
on your head. It doesn't help anything it doesn't hurt anything it's just neutral.
But if you aimed that same concentration at the most virtuous object of all,
emptiness, then you, you can finish all your suffering, you can stop suffering all
of your suffering...so this lama has that ability, he has that perfect concentration,
and he aims it at, at the, at reality, at ultimate reality.

[student: I bet [unclear] shamata that means calm abiding, it will never be able to
develop any mental power, that means shamata [unclear] ]

We consider those...minor results. You can. You can read other people's
mind...you can, but...this refers specifically to wisdom, the training of wisdom.
He, he uses that su...my boss has shamata, right? [unclear] has it, he has it, he
won't eat, he won't sleep, he, he can work...we were with him in Japan, he
worked like twenty-two hours straight. And we all died, he was eating sugar
cubes, and chewing sugar cubes, you know 'auungh' and a, and his concentration
is just you know like that, and that's like twelve different years, but the object is
meaningless. This is where that concentration is aimed at: what is emptiness,
what is true reality, ultimate reality?

[student: I thought it was shamata.]

Shamata is only the ability to concentrate. An ultimate ability to concentrate.
Which is aimed at...emptiness.

[student, Kylie: So this is specifically saying, not, not just all objects, well all
objects of wisdom specifically to include ]

Yeah he says, "{Yang dappay dun la sosor chay.}" That's a code word, {yang
dappay du} means "the pure object", meaning "emptiness." {Sosor chay} means
"to analyze." You'll learn that in year number three.

[student:   So how does that fit into your translation?       Perfect, where is the
perfect?]
I just added that. Noooo there's the...oh the concen...the concentration is perfect.
But I just called it emptiness. I didn't call it the, the pure object.

[student, John Stilwell: You're saying that they're applying perfect concentration
to investigate reality.]

Right, right, that's it.

[student, John Stilwell: Does, does this, is this imply the teacher has obtained the,
the ninth, ninth stage of shamata that they're not a qualified teacher?]

Right. We'll, we'll talk about that, seriously. That'll be the last subject.

[student: Could you say the last part of the sentence again? [laughs] [unclear]
utilize the special, special concentration called shamata ]

To investigate ultimate reality.

[student: To investigate ultimate reality.]

Ultimate reality.

[student: When they say investigate they don't mean analytical meditation
they're concentrating on.]

They...it, it comes in two types. One is...we will spend years on it don't worry,
okay? It comes in conceptual...which are the preliminary ways of understanding
emptiness in a class, intellectually, and then direct. Which is also called {tso tsol
je} which is also called an examination of reality.

[student, Kylie: So we, we might as well finish this off then and ask if it just plain
saying that the guy has to have, or gal has to be able to have perceived
emptiness?]

Basically.

[student, Kylie: So a real teacher is someone who has attained the perception of
emptiness.]
Yeah direct perception.

[student: Is that an...the first level of the [unclear]?]

Yeah, first full chapter of [unclear]. Has to be.

[student, Kylie: Has to be, somebody who's already achieved...to be a qualified
teacher.]

Doesn't say that I mean lemme

[student, Kylie: I mean, you know, on the way there you know you can
shamata the head in the right direction or let's just whole kit and kaboodle.]

It's a..no it's not necessary because you can use shamata to investigate ultimate
reality before you perceive emptiness but

[student: Shamata is ]

[student, Kylie:    [unclear] so you have to have one of the two realizations a
conceptual]

He does have conceptual.

[student, Kylie: Right.]

And that's a minimum

[student, Kylie: Minimum right, so it's not necessary the direct perception yet.]

He doesn't say that.

[student, Kylie: Okay. So we cut out a lot of people in here.]

Yup. [laughter]

[student, Vilma Staiano: So how can you ever know this without your teacher?]

Ask him.
[students: [unclear] ]

No we'll talk about that, we'll talk about that. We'll talk about that. It's a good
question, I mean obviously it's a good question. You know, suppose he claims to
have reached it and has not? You know? And, and they say that many people
who reach it will never say they have. We'll talk about it.

[student: Seems backwards doesn't it?]

You're...this is still in your book, it's now on page nine line three. [long silence]

[student: Line three third word. Second [unclear] ]

Second [unclear]. I call it a [unclear] [silence]

[student, Kylie: You usin' an official transliteration here or a?]

It's a pronunciation. It's a simplified pronunciation.

[student, Kylie: Okay, I mean, is this...if, if we follow is it gonna correlate to any
of your ]

It's the closest..sound you can make in english to that sound.

[student, Kylie: I understand that but is it, is this the structure, is your own, or is
this like recognized [unclear]?]

Well there's like twenty different systems. Mine is the best. [laughter] [unclear]
kidding

[student, Kylie: So in other words if I, if I disagree slightly I can write something
a little bit different ]

I don't mind. I, I encourage people to write what they hear, because you might
hear it differently than I do. Okay so please say {yun den}[repeat], {takpa}
[repeat], {tsun che}[repeat], {lung gi}[repeat], {chu}[repeat]. Tsongkhapa says [b:
Lam Rim Chenmo], "A person who has...a...basically tamed his mental
continuum with those three trainings that I just mentioned," okay? "He would
then only have the good qualities",...this is what {yun den} means, {yun den}
means "good qualities"..."that refer to realization, that are mental." What you
have understood, what you have realized...we call {topay yun den}, okay?
{Topay yun den} means...there's two kinds of {yun den}s. {Topay yun den} and
{lung gay yun den}, there's two kinds of Dharmas {topay chu} and {lung gay
chu}. Okay? {Topay chu} is Dharma as it exists in the minds of living people.
That's the Dharma. What do you think {lung gay chu} means, what's the other
kind of dharma?

[student: Written?]

Yeah. Dharma as it exists in books. The teachings. The work, okay? There's
two kinds of Dharma...the [b: Abhidharma], in the closing pages of the [b:
Abhidharmakosha], after you've had like eight years of suffering studying it...at
the end it says...it, it predicts how long Dharma will stay in the world. And it
says {Topay lung, topay yun den, topay chu} will die first. You know? The
books will die later, the books will, will disappear later but first, for example
morality will die out in the world. As a...buddhist morality will die out, buddhist
concentration will die out, buddhist wisdom will die out...so the, the, the Dharma
as it exists in your mind will die out first. And then the, the books will die out.
You know, it means that there'll still be libraries that have these books and
people will look at them and say they don't know what they mean and, nobody
will have those good qualities. So what Tsongkhapa says here is, "Everything I
said before refers to {topay chu}." Dharma as it exists in peoples minds. "But
your teacher should also have {lung}." Okay? {Lung}. And you guys know what
a {lung} is right? I mean you've been to {lung}s right, what's a {lung}?

[student: Initiation.]

A {lung} is a word for initiation but it means "a transmission". What it means is,
"the Word", capital 'W'. A lama sits with a book, like [b: Lam Tso Sum], those
fourteen verses, and he just reads it to you out loud, and that puts a blessing in
your mind. And we're gonna try to get Khen Rinpoche to come here and give a
{lung}, for [b: Lam Tso Nam Sum] before the class was over. We've trying to get
him to come and give a talk about it, to give a {lung}. 'Cause he heard it from his
teacher and he heard it, he heard it from Pabongkha.

[student: [unclear] ]

Yeah. From the original {hung}. So that's great...I should've said Pabongkha
Rinpoche right? So, {lung} means "the Word", "Dharma, scripture", okay? "The
books". {Lung}. {Tchuk} has two meanings, one is "big mistake" and that's not
what it means here. The other meaning is "rich"..."rich". {Tchuku tchuku dun}
means "hey he's a fat cat let's hit him up for the money" [laughs] Okay? We do it
all the time, okay, {lung gay chu}.

[student: The {gi} is what?]

{Lung gay chu}. By. Rich, rich in the...rich in scriptural knowledge.

[students: What was the other meaning?]

It means "a terrible error" like a, huge mistake. The, the, the one place it occurs
in scripture, the other meaning, is what happens with all your future lives if you
trust yourself to a bad teacher. That {chu} is that...is that total terrible error, fatal
error. Okay? So {lung gi chu} means "rich in scripture". He knows his stuff. He
knows the books. It's not enough that he knows morality and he has...he has
morality, he has concentration, he has wisdom, he has to know his stuff.
Hopefully you'll be {lung gi chu} by the time you finish five years. Minimum.

[student: So then the whole phrase, that what you're saying?]

We didn't get there yet. He's working backwards, probably the sanskrit was a
different one. But we have finished {lung gi tchu ku}. Okay, how many qualities
you got so far?

[students: Four...three...two]

Ay-ya! Who said two? Who said three?! We got four, we got four. We got the
three trainings, which are the mental qualities of your lama. Now we got his...of
course this is a mental quality also, his knowledge of the books...so he has to
have morality, he has the concentration to keep his morality, he has wisdom
which understands emptiness, and he knows his stuff about scripture. Okay he's
not just telling you what he thinks, okay? He's using...it's very important that
someone is using the original scriptures. [unclear]

[student, Kylie: Two things. Is this, is this referring to a direct lineage to the
Buddha? [unclear] ]

Sure. We'll talk about that, that's the next class.

[student, Kylie:    And then, the other thing briefly but you know you keep
mentioning what happens when you're with a bad teacher and so forth and, if a
person has great deep faith, and they're with a bad teacher and their motivation
is really pure and everything, don't they get a, a benefit out of that anyway? The
old famous example of the people diving on the trident and so forth?]

They say, in answer to that you will study and if I didn't have this up on the
computer I could call that up.              There's this quotation in the [b:
Abhidharmakosha], and it says the...the people who...it said the best non-
buddhist religion is...what was it, the people who commit suicide thinking that's a
spiritual path, because at least they wanna get out of suffering, you know? It, it
even says that from the standpoint of motivation, they have committed a virtue.
From the standpoint of the action they com...committed a horrible...non-virtue.
But yeah, that's true. I mean but isn't it better to have...cover it al...have a good
motivation and a good teacher at the same time?

[student: That's okay.]

[laughs] I'm looking for the next [unclear] [silence]

[student: So then then in [b: Lam Rim] ]

[silence]

[student, John Stilwell: Michael did you tell us what {rakpa} was?]

Not yet.

[students: [unclear] ]

[student, Kylie:   And the quotation on Tsongkhapa was, was...rather lengthy
[unclear]]

No he just said that, he said it's not enough...that your teacher has those qualities,
those personal qualities of morality, concentration and wisdom, he has to have
the scriptural knowledge also. Which refers to the physical Dharma, and not to
the mental Dharma. It's not enough that he has the Dharma in his mind, he has
to have the Dharma in his hand he has to be able to show you, "Look, this is the
quotation from this book. It's not my own idea."

[student, Kylie:   Paraphrase the rest of [unclear] he must be rich in...book
Dharma [unclear] ]

Yeah. But you...but this is now giving you a good idea what to look for, okay?
In general...I mean the books were written by realized people, I mean if you
read the [b: Abhidharmakosha]...I, I worked on it for ten years, I had no idea for
the first two years what it was talking about. And I was very frustrated. And
then at the end I said, "You know,"...it was written by the first Dalai Lama, the
commentary, and I said, "Who could think of that, you know, who could
describe the thirty-five stages of the path of seeing? You know, who could
describe the thirty-seven qualities of a buddha...you know, the hundred and
eight this and the two hundred million this...you know who, who could spend
that long, in meditation to divide it into a hundred different types, you know?
And I've never even...how could I translate it, I don't even understand what it is,
I don't understand the first level of it. It's a, it's....you have to go back to those
books, it's not good to have a, a lama's, "Oh, oh I have this new idea." You
know? "This is my idea." You know, you know. It's...we don't need it.

[student: It's not that {terma} at work?]

You have to be careful of {terma}s, there are real {terma}s. There are probably
bullshit {terma}s, I don't know. Okay? {Terma} means like a hidden teaching,
look under a rock and you find a book. It's possible. It's possible. And it's
possible that the opposite happens, but, but I'm just talking in [unclear] case.
Don't look for the abnormal. I mean maybe it's possible that to the abnormal
somebody gets a good result. Everyone gets a good result if you're normal.
[laughs] Okay?

[student, Kylie: It seems like in some traditions the {terma}s are the normal, I
mean is it? I mean they could come up so often.]

Alright. We're gonna do this one then we're gonna do the tea break. {De nyi rab
tu topa}. We skipping to the beginning of the next line that...and he'll go back to
that. {De nyi} means "thus-ness, thus-ness"..."thus-ness".

[student: How do you spell that?]

Yeah I'm...but, and don't be shy okay if you, if you have a question just ask.
[silence] It's, it's not an english word it's like a very strange english word. It
means emptiness, it's another word for emptiness.
[student: Is it? Look at it, what's wrong with [unclear] ]

[students: [unclear] ]

Yeah that's okay too.

[students: [unclear] ]

You can say that because 'suchness' probably sounds better right? It's okay.
Yeah, I translated that. [laughs] Suchness is okay. I...literally it's 'vastness' okay?

[student, Kylie: I mean it's emptiness why is it [unclear] ]

{Rab tu topa}...{rab tu topa} means...{rab tu} means "really".         {Topa} means
"realize". It means to fully realize...suchness is better.

[student: This is why [unclear] ]

Actually no, it's actually thus-ness, but anyway. No there's another word for, for
such...it happens to be...it, it, it means "just that". The very that. The very...it.

[student: What does the line {rab u du topa} mean? That was ]

{Rab tu} means "very much", {topa} means "to realize". [silence] Totally...realized
emptiness. Okay if you want it easy, say "totally realize emptiness", "totally
realize emptiness". Now let's see what Tsongkhapa says. Je Tsongkhapa. He
says the word {de nyi to pa}, {de nyi to pa}, refers to a person who has the
perfection of wisdom to a very exceptional degree.

[student: The exceptional what?]

I'm sorry, the training of wisdom to a very high degree.           Not only has the
training of wisdom but he has it to a very, very high degree.

[student, John Stilwell: The training of wisdom being emptiness?]

Right. No...what we just spoke about above, training of wisdom meaning he
uses that special concentration to, to analyze reality. Basically he says here, and
I'm, I'm paraphrasing it, "He has perceived emptiness directly." And that's Tom
[unclear] so now Tom's point is, is well taken. He said, "Well did that other one
mean that he perceived emptiness directly?" And I said, "Well it could but it
didn't have to." And now he says, "He, he has perceived emptiness directly."

[student: Now he's a buddha. ]

No. You see emptiness directly...before you reach Buddhahood. Mainly he says

[student, Vilma Staiano: Then what's the difference between {nyer shi wa} and,
and]

Good point, okay. I would say this is just a, a higher stage of the perception of
emptiness. You could...he...before he was analyzing reality.

[student, Kylie: Kind of analytical realization.]

But that can also refer to...direct perception. Before it was the general training of
wisdom. You...by the way you don't have to achieve the lowest path to have the
training of wisdom. You can have the training of wisdom and not achieve the
lowest of the five paths, which we're not going to talk about, okay? You can say
that the first one Vilma, refers more to an understanding of emptiness and a, and
a...and an ability to analyze emptiness, but now it's that he's seeing it directly.
[unclear] see it directly. And then Tsongkha... Je Tsongkhapa says, "{De menon,
lu rikyi topay, kan duk su lo}". "And, even if he doesn't have that direct
perception of emptiness they say," he says meaning there are good books that
say, "He can only have perceived emptiness through logic, and through his
scriptural understanding." Okay, so it does not have to be direct. He just has a
special understanding of emptiness, more special than the one we talked about
before, and he either sees it directly or, some good books say, it's enough that he
has understood emptiness very well using reasons, reasoning, and scripture.

[student, Kylie: Which is the intellectual [unclear] he basically has to come before
the [unclear] ]

Yeah yeah. So basically he has either seen it directly, or he has a very, very good
intellectual understanding of emptiness. [cut] rich in scripture

[student, Vilma Staiano: We were gonna talk about ]

I'm sorry, it was a
[student, Vilma Staiano: {[unclear], dakpa} and [unclear] ]

Right right [unclear]. So the order is that.

[end side one of tape]

[student: My mind is totally realized [unclear] ]

In...yeah, high realizations.

[student: High realizations.]

What's that?

[student, Kylie: At, at least 'til they realize the first level if not the ]

No, not [unclear] he even said, he said it's okay if he just has a good intellectual

[student, Kylie: So not even he's close to realizing the [unclear] ]

Well it says he has direct...and then Je Tsongkhapa says, "And some good books
also say, that if he doesn't have the direct, it's good enough that he has a high
intellectual understanding [unclear]."

[student: Could you repeat Michael please?]

[laughs] [laughter] I mean I, I'm sleeping here, I don't care what you think.
Morality, concentration on his morality...according to Je Tsongkhapa,          the
training of wisdom which is...which you can have at a pre-preliminary stage, and
then he has 'knows the books'...very good at scripture, and he has a high
realization of emptiness, a very good understanding of emptiness either direct
understanding, which is very difficult, or a very high intellectual understanding
which is also difficult.    Okay. Now the next quality that Je Tsongkhapa
mentioned...is {yunden pakpa} now he's gonna go back okay? Why is he doing
it out order? Maybe the sanskrit was that way, remember this is a translation
from sanskrit. A tibetan version of a sanskrit original...the book was written in
sanskrit.   {Yunden pakpa}...{yunden} means "good quality, good qualities".
Examples of {yunden}s are, you know, knowledge, concentration, morality.
{Pakpa} means..."special...highest...[unclear], special perceiving...special good
qualities".
[student: {Yunten} is good quality.]

Yeah yeah. It's a common tibetan name, by the way, {yinden}. {Yung ten}.
Alright? And so Je Tsongkhapa says...he's doing it nice, he says, "Even if a person
has those mental good qualities," which were the first three or first four, I mean
first three and number five were...were realizations, number four was just
knowledge of books. He says, "Even if a person has qualities like that...if he's
less, or only equal to his student in those qualities...it, it, it doesn't help, he's gotta
be spe...it's gotta be over." {Pakpa} means [unclear] his knowledge has to exceed
that of his student. It doesn't...when I used to play tennis when I was a kid and
they would bet my coach would tell me, "I don't allow you to play tennis with
someone who's worse that you or someone who's as good as you. You always
have to play with someone better." He used to...he wouldn't allow us to play
with anyone who was worse or better or the same. We had to play with
someone who would beat us all, that way we learn. You know. So {yun yen
happa} means that the teacher should...whatever he's teaching you he should
know better than you, supposedly. Okay?

[student, Kylie: So that means just then the knowledge or in all the qualities?]

All the qualities.

[student, Kylie: All the qualities?]

Right. And then he quotes another book, called [b: The Collection on Lamas]
and it says...you don't have to write this down but the book says, "If you, if you
go to a teacher who is less than you, you'll," what do you call it? "You'll decline,
you'll go down. If you go to a teacher who's equal you'll just stay the same way.
If you go to a teacher who, who, who, who is over you on those things you'll
achieve the highest goals. Therefore try to find a teacher who knows more
about it than you do." Okay, that's, that's it. [silence] This is a beautiful point,
Tsong...Je Tsongkhapa says...now I have finished how many qualities?

[students: Six.]

Those referred to qualities, about the teacher's own person, about the teacher
himself, and what do you guess the other four of them [unclear]?

[student, Kylie: What the teacher has to say or teach. ]
Yeah, how can he lead other people. He says here, that the remaining four refer
to qualities by which that teacher helps other people or leads other people.

[student, Fran Dayan: Excuse me Michael have we done [unclear]? ]

No, we have not. Good question. He quotes a very famous scripture which I've
seen quoted by the first Dalai Lama also, you don't have to write it down but just
listen to it. "The buddhas do not clean away your bad deeds with water. They
do not wave their hands over your head and your suffering is removed. The
only way that they can free you is by teaching you the dharma which they
themselves"...oh, and it says, "And they also can't move their understanding to
your mind, without saying anything. The only way they can lead you, the only
way they can free you is by teaching you the truth." That's a famous quotation.
You can't wash away your bad deeds with water. They can't, you know "Oo-oo-
oo-oo"

[student: [unclear] you have to do it.]

Yeah. They can't...the only thing a buddha can do for you...it's very famous, in
tantra it's very famous...the only thing he can do is teach you. The only way he
can communicate with you is, is normally by teaching you. It's part of the proof
for your teacher being Buddha himself, but that's another story.

[student, John Stilwell: So what, so what is it with then with those teachers
that...tear the curtain from in front of the student's eyes so that they can
suddenly perceive emptiness?]

Well it's possible that the Buddha...I mean, this is also Dharma teachings and it's
in the books.

[student, John Stilwell: But isn't that contrary to what he just said?]

Well it means...what it means is basically that the Buddha cannot...the Buddha
has to relate to you. And normally relating to you means teaching you. It's the
only way he can help you.

[student, John Stilwell: Is to interact with you in some way.]

You, you are in this realm...and the realm of enlightenment is over there and the
only person between you and that, the only person who can take you there is
someone who can talk to you, and make you understand something. That's it.

[student, John Stilwell: [unclear] he's a better teacher [unclear] ]

They're rare, very unusual, very

[student, Kylie: [unclear] has to be somebody that they can just the straw that
broke the camel's back I mean somebody who's [unclear] fall off the tree right?]

 Well by the way, by the way it is, it is explained like that. But it is...there's a
thing called {rang sanggye praetyaka buddha} which means "someone who
without a teacher in this life, suddenly he sees nirvana." The, the explanation in
buddhism is that he had a hundred thousand teachers before [unclear].

[student, John Stilwell: But I was thinking more of the case where the teacher
goes to the student you know and, touch their foreheads together and the
student gets the 'boom'.]

Now if it could happen, I tell you this, and I...it's, it's, it's absolute truth, if you
could do that and save a person's soul [unclear], okay, then obviously the
buddhas would have done it a long time ago, we would not be here. There's
something physical I could do to you, if there's anything beyond teaching you at
your own level, I could do for you to get you out of suffering, of course they
would have done it a long time ago.

[student, John Stilwell: So what's it mean like with {Sogyal} Rinpoche and other
[unclear] transmission as a result of that.]

Oh it's possible that there's a special relationship between him [unclear] many
lifetimes, and it's possible.     But it's abnormal.      It's not for...we need
understanding.

[student, Kylie: But you're talking about people on our level I mean it is certainly
possible I would imagine, the higher you go to be able to communicate with
buddhas like Je Tsongkhapa did for instance, by seeing them or having them in
your mind and explaining to you directly like that right? This could be a form of
that, if they're very high beings and are ready.]

Okay now we have to go to...he's gonna talk about four qualities that...a person,
a person has for communicating, teaching other people Dharma. Okay I need
the text.

[student: [unclear] ]

You wanna read it? Or [laughter] [silence, noisy type]

[student, Kylie: You wanna connect it?]

It is, yeah, it's another line. How may lines of the verse have we covered by the
way, most verses have four lines...around the third, we just finished the third
line, we got one more line to go. Okay, about {ma kay den}...{ma} means "to, to
speak" or "to teach". {Kay}...I think you know it, do you know {kayba}?

[student: {Kyepa}?]

{Kyeppa} means "wise" or "skilled", "wise" or "skilled, master". And, and {den}
is...just means he has that quality, he has the quality of being a master teacher.
Okay? He has {den}, the quality of being a master teacher. Tsongkha...Je
Tsongkhapa says, "{Ma keppa ne gee ta [unclear] rimpa kay shin dun du
[unclear]" means...the, the expression master teacher means "He, he knows the
right order in which to give you the teachings, and he, he gives it to your
capacity." He, he knows what to teach you, so he teaches you the right thing at
the right time, and he teaches it to you at the right quantity at the right time,
[laughs] okay?

[student: So what is the {ma}?]

{Ma} means "to teach, to talk", okay? So it's...it refers to two things. He knows
the right order for you, in which to teach the thing. He's a good teacher and he
knows what you can handle. He knows...he, he understands your capacity and
he teaches you to your capacity.

[student, Vilma Staiano: Are we within those bounds now?]

[laughs] [laughter] I knew somebody would say that.

[student, Kylie: I didn't say.]

I knew somebody's
[student: [unclear] what happens when you [unclear] ]

If you could keep up at this level...for five years we can finish in time, we can
finish in five years. A, a skeleton, I mean we're stripping [unclear] that's the
slowest, slowest we can go. Okay don't worry, just hang in. Don't worry. And
it's real stuff, it's not fluff. Fluff is easier...I can fluff you and you go home happy
and, you know. [laughter]

[student: Now we don't go [unclear] ]

[students: [unclear] ]

[student, Fran Dayan: Michael, you erased [unclear] ]

She's still with [unclear]. We'll get there don't worry. [silence-with background
chatter and barking] {Tsaywa tsaywa} which is connected to the other word
with this 'y', {tsaywa} which is the real word, {tsaywa} means "love", "love". Love
is the best translation, there's many, many words in buddhism for love,
compassion, mercy, loving-kindness...it's a wonderful language, it's got all
these...beautiful words.

[student, Kylie: What language were you?]

It's in tibetan...that's it, but {tsaywa} is, is exactly love. {Dag nyi} means "the
embodiment of love", I mean it literally means the, the person.

[student, Kylie: Incarnate.]

Incarnate, yah. I mean he, he is love. Embodiment of love. And Je Tsongkhapa
says, {Tsewa nyi}, the word {tsewa}...refers to a person who teaches because he is
motivated by love and compassion. And not out of a desire for gain or fame, or
respect of others. [student: What is {daknyi}?]

{Daknyi} means "the whole person"...is love, everything just hundred percent
love, okay? It's difficult in english, we have some english words but don't worry
about it. You don't need to know that. It just means heap. Every part of him
is...has love. Every part of him has love, he...and specifically, he's teaching out
of...concern for you and not out of anything that he's going to get. His
motivation is not that you're going to like him, or that you're going to respect
him or that you're that gonna give him something...he's just doing it for you.
That's what the love means. [unclear]. Oh, guess what's next. Frank. [laughter]
We're back to the {chen chay} okay? Remember the {chen chay} we had in the
last line? [silence] I...that's...I didn't write the tibetan it was in the last...it was in
the second line? [unclear] We had a {tsun chay}, okay? Everybody find it? I
already erased it, it was in the second line. You have it already. No it was in...I
put it on the board already.

[student, Kylie: Second line of tibetan fourth line of the explanation [unclear] ]

[student: [unclear] ]

It came about...but you don't have to worry about it, I mean don't have to know
the tibetan. You just have to know the english...for ne...for the homework and
the quiz you just have to know the...and I...you know I'm giving you like two
different words for each tibetan word you just choose one that you like, and that
it gives the meaning.

[student: You don't want us to write just the, the phonetic tibetan?]

Not in phonetics no.

[student: We don't have to?]

No you don't have to. English track. Okay. {Tzun, tzun} means "effort", okay?
{Tzun} means "effort". The fourth parameter is called {tzunda} also. That's the
{tzun} in {tzundu}. {Chay} means...this is not the {chay} that means "big" it's the
{chay} that means "he has". "He has good effort...he tries hard"...okay?

[student, Kylie: Is that referring to the fourth parameter?]

No.

[student, Kylie: It's not.     It's not the same thing that the parameter's talking
about?]

No, no, well I'm gonna explain it right now. The classic presentation of the six
parameters is, is really the [b: Boddhicharyatara] which you will study. It's a
great, great book. It's, it's worth it just to do the five years from here that...the
fourth chapter starts out with the line {tzun kyang gay la toe oo oo} it means
"What is the definition of effort? It is to delight in doing good things." Nothing
to do with trying hard. Nothing to do with sweat. Nothing to do with you
know [unclear] being busy. Just to enjoy doing good things...you should take
joy in doing good.

[student, John Stilwell: That's effort?]

That is what the fourth perfection is. Now this joy, this [unclear] means {shay mi
dun la trowa denba oh}. It means that this person has...that lama has a very
deep rooted...joy...in working for others.

[student: This is number nine?]

I forgot what it is.

[students: Nine...nine...nine]

[student, Kylie: And this is [unclear] beginning?]

Yup. That's all he says.

[student, Kylie: That's a very deep rooted feeling. ]

[student: Try hard?]

Does not mean try hard, it means he loves to help other people. And it's...and
that love is firm, he says {tenbo}. He's not going to change. He's not like, "Oh I'd
like to help you today but tomorrow I don't know if I could help you." [laughs]
[laughter]

[student: [unclear] ]

[student: Always?]

I don't remember.

[students: [unclear] ]

No number eight is, 'Why does he teach? Is it because he loves you? Or is it
because he wants you to like him, or he wants you to give him some money, or
he wants '

[student: He doesn't want one thing in return.]

Right. He doesn't want to be known as big, big lama, big famous lama,
thousands of students.

[student: Michael number nine?]

Number nine is, 'He likes to help other people.'

[student, Kylie: Now that sounds [unclear] ]

Oh sure, but there are other kinds of fourth parameters which are not {shay me
dun la towa tenbo} although it's mostly that.

[student, Kylie: I mean it sounds like it's referring to that.]

Not [unclear]. If, if it were you would have seen the other five somewhere, you
see that's the way tibetans have [unclear].

[student, Kylie: Yeah but I mean shouldn't the para...is it natural that the
parameters might show themselves in some of these things I mean?]

Yes but {Jinba} never...but we'll get...don't worry. Okay, last...last line. Then you
can go home.

[student: Why you didn't give us the tibetan Michael, for the last ]

I did alre...I did already but, but I erased it, it was in the second line I gave you.

[student: Oh okay thanks.]

[students: [unclear chatter] ]

[unclear]

[student, Kylie: I mean so to do your notes on a computer with tibetan it'd
probably pretty need that programming.]
That would be the best but there's other ones.

[student, John Stilwell: {Tsu che}, is that just effort or is it something more?]

{Tsu du che} means "he has".         Please say {kyelwa}[repeat], {pom}[repeat],
{kyelwa pom}[repeat], okay, here's what Je Tsongkhapa says, "{Kyelwa pom}
means"...by the way {kyelwa} means "to be fed up with something" or
"disgusted". Okay? [unclear] It, it comes in a...it comes in the two [unclear].
Yeah, and we'll talk about it. {Kyelwa pong} means to a..."got rid of it", "got rid of
it, doesn't have any."

[student: Which is which?]

{Kyelwa} means "disgust" or "tired" and {pung} means "got rid of it", got rid of
{kyelwa}.

[student, John Stilwell: Got rid of the disgust?]

Yeah, or the being tired and I'll explain to you what it means. {Kyelwa} means
like, you know you don't want to do something it's always [unclear] you know.
That's {kyelwa}.

[student, Kylie: You mean like 'urrrrrrrrrrrrr'?]

Yeah it means that. "I'm very, very tired man, I don't want to clean bugs
tonight." [unclear] {Kyewa pumba} means...Je Tsongkhapa says, "{Yang yung
chepay mingawa}, he does not get tired if he has to explain something over and
over again." [laughter] "Ie-", he says, "he can practice patience with the difficult
task of, of teaching." Okay so you should...the, the teacher should have those
two qualities, I mean you should check, and you should try to find out, you
should not go to a teacher, any old teacher, who's giving some initiation or you
never heard of him...check him out, talk to his students, talk to people who
know him, read what he's written, find out if he has those qualities. Now the [b:
Lam Rim] has a famous...sentence in it. It says, "Well if you had to go look for
one like that maybe you wouldn't find anybody." [laughter] So...you're stuck
with what you can get. [laughs][laughter] The [b: Lam Rim] says that. But at
least you...at least that...I'm serious, I mean it's not so much that...I have great
faults and I...my faults will hurt you, you know my...the fact that I still have
some very bad habits, and I do, and some dirty habits
[students: [unclear] ]

[unclear] I do, I have grievances, I have crimes of desire, and I have crimes of
anger, mostly desire. I, I have those things and a...whatever faults I have will,
will infect this class. And I, and I admit them, I have them. And I, and I have the
good luck to have studied alot so I mean I'm mainly just...[unclear] and I, and
I...you have to be careful, you know...even more dangerous is if someone...at
least I can teach you what's right. I'm not perfect myself I have not been able to
do it well, as well as I would like to, but what I'm saying is watch out for
someone who's, who's teaching you something very dangerous or someone
who'll hurt you. I, I will hurt you...because I'm not perfect, but, but someone else
may hurt you because they really don't know the [unclear] and they're actually
teaching you something that will hurt you, and your, your real estate, your
mental real estate and your spiritual real estate is very precious, and if someone
makes it dirty it's very hard to clean. So it just means be careful...just a...these are
the qualities you should check. These are the things he should have.

[student, Kylie: Perhaps they could of made an eleventh one instead of...and, if
the teacher doesn't have all these above, at least they admit it.]

[laughs]

[student, John Stilwell: The question was asked earlier was, you know, how can
you tell when a lot of these things which are mental concepts and, and ]

Yeah yeah yeah how can you tell? It's very difficult, I mean how do you know if
the person understands emptiness? One thing to do is, is study some emptiness
yourself, and then go hear how he explains. You know, if he's explaining
emptiness in any manner like, "Oh nothing" or "Everything's just the way you
think it is, you can do anything you want. Nothing matters. Oh that's just your",
you know, "just your idea" you know. If they're not talking about...the, the big
test for an understanding of emptiness:       Are they talking about karma?
Emptiness proves karma, karma proves emptiness...they're not talking about
morality, the same moment that they're talking about emptiness, they do not
understand emptiness. And, and they're not leading you the right way. The day
that you really understand emptiness you will want to be good. And, and plain
old good, you know, ten old ten moralities.

[student, John Stilwell: The scriptural understanding and stuff like that?]
That should be checked. "Say look, what are you teaching? You know, are you
teaching something from the, the [b: {Kangyur}] and the [b: {Tengyur}]. The
Buddha's own word, which is the [b: {Kangyur}], and the commentaries on it are
pure, period, and there's...if you can teach that, that's good." If he says, "Well,
you don't need that I, I got this direct, you know, uh-uh-uh." You know, say,
"Well I don't know." Be careful, just be careful...it's possible...it doesn't hurt if you
have all the [unclear]

[student, John Stilwell: It really it seems what it come down to is reputation and
word of mouth, you know [unclear] ]

Not necessarily, no not at all. How do you check [unclear]? I think you have to
check out this person. What would you do if you, you know, you were thinking
of marrying somebody? I mean or, or if you were thinking...it's more important
than a marriage. But people just show up at any initiation, they do, or they hear
[unclear] "Want to come?" "Yeah, let's go."

[end of tape-side two]
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