ACI 11 «Руководство к образу жизни бодхисаттвы, часть II», занятие 2

Class Two: Contemplations on the perfection of patience, Part two
July 10, 1997
transcribed by: Amber Moore



... and the problems that you cannot see, when you get angry and that you
wouldn't be aware of unless you went to a Buddhism class is that it destroys
tremendous amouts of good karma, whatever amout of good karma that you
have in you mind, in your mindstream, anger is very effective at destroying it
and it gavea ratio of about one to a zillion. Meaning that one instance of anger at
a Bodhisattva for example, destroys something like millions of yeas of good
karma and we don't know who the bodhisattva is around us it could be
anybody. Bodhisattvas don't necesarily look like bodhisattvas and as we are
going to learn later it is considered bodhisattva etiquette not to look like a
bodhisattva. So you never konw, so you hove to be careful and then we got into
the benefits of ot which are that if you don't get angry, all the good karma you
have you sava and then that good karma, since it actually creates your world
and creates your reality, your reality starts to cahnge, in a, in a very minor level,
food starts to taste better, the city strats to look cleaner and stuff like that, the
subway comes on time, your friends are good to you, you have good classes and
when you meditate, everything seems to go well and these are all results of
good karma and so that is the opposite. And then he got into the causes of anger
and it was being upset. And he said that being upset was like the food that anger
lived on and that if angers gets it's food, it'll survive and get stronger and
stronger and it will turn around and smash you in this life and in future lives.
And then he says that if anger doesn''t get it's food to eat, andger just whithers
away and dies and the food is getting upset about things happening that you
don't like and about the things not happenning that you do want. And then can
be stopped by either circumstances or other people, it doesn't matter, but you
just have to not get upset at thema nd then he went into how to not get upset
and it was very simple. And he had very short verse a very famous verse, which
was that, "The way to not getting upset, " which means anger will never come, "is
to reflect on the fact that if you can do something you don't like," like if there is
someone at work that you don't like and if you can get them fired, doit. And if
there is nothing that you can do then just shut up and grin, grin and bear it. You
know, don't get upset because there is no point to it. And he also made the point
that getting upset doesn't achieve anything. Getting upset b ittself, you know,
never gets you what you want. It's natural to get upset when you're ot getting
what you want but if you thing about it, getting upset doesn't have any funtion
in getting you what you want. Normally it throws you off balance and then you
are left unable to funtion and then you actually don't get what you want as well
as if you didn't get upset. It's better to calculate you life when you're not upset
than when you are upset. Like when I'm mad at somebody, I made a rule to
myself that I don't talk to them untill two days later, and then usually, I forgot
about it by then. So, he says, " if you can do something about it, do it and if you
can't do something about it, forget it." And then you won't get upset, anger
won't have anything to eat, you won't collect bad karma, you wona't destroy
your good karma and your world will start to change and it will actually be
more pleasant. There will actually be fewer things to gte upset at, then you'll gt
upset less and it;s an upward cycle, Bill Gates talks about it. And then there are
downward cycles and we don't want to get into a downward cycle. Okay, at this
point Master Shantideva goes into some very, very, sophisticated, I think tonight
is the most important class or patience. He goes into some very sophitocated
arguments about why you should not get angry and we're gonna start on those
and Hector is going to read the forst on which is rather short, and then we get to
what we consider the heart of the whole chapter, you know when we were
preparing the readings, I almost skipped this part, because it seemed very
technichal, but when I thought about it, this is the most important part for us. So
you'll get it, but first there is one verse which is not too bad and Hector is going
to read that one, so close your eyes, this is contemplation time.

Hector:    "We should then be angry at unwitting physical objects."
Contemplation Seven.

"You fail to feel anger for bile and such, these major sources of pain, why then
are you angry at those with minds? They are all impelled by influences. Illness,
for example is something that occurs despite the fact that we never wished it to.
just so, the arrival of a violent mental affliction is something we never wanted.
Anger wells up in people despite themselves, no one says then, "I think I'll get
angry now." Anger comes, then all the same. And it starts with out anyone
saying, "I think I'll start it now."

[silence]

Okay this is a little tricky, this one, for this you have to go to Tibitan medicine,
Tibetan medicine says, I had a chance to translate for the Dalai Lamas Dr. about
twenty years ago, I think at Nancy Carins house. And Tibetan medical theory,
which is based in the tantras, the Tibetan medical tantras, says that there are
three basic element in you body. They are called, {chi bub de ken} and{lung},
which means, "bile", phlem", and "wing". And when those three energies, they
are like an energie of warmth and enery of liquid and an energy of, of
movement and when those three energies are in your body and they are in
balance, your body is healthy and when they are out of balance, your body gets
sick, like if you have to much wind element you start to get nervous, like when
you are in meditation and you get what they call lung and if you get too much of
the phlegm element, you get like pnemonia. If you have too much of the bile
element, you might have diseases of the liver or the kidney. But what happen is
that there is some imbalance of the elements that occurs and then you get sick.
And in fact the Dalai Lamas doctor was making a point that a balance of those
three is a mistake and it's not normal, that the normal condition of the body is
sickness, you know and to be healthy is an accident and that, and that it's not the
natural condition of the human body. So Master Shantideve says, "I think that
according to your thinking, the way you guys are thinking, you should get mad
at your liver, or you should get mad at your lung, or you should get mad at
your large intestine, the equivalent in our medicine. In their system it would be,
get mad at your wind or get mad at your bile. And then this guy says, there's
this fall guy who is always standing next to Master Shantideva and he says,
"Why?" You know and Master Shantideva says, "They made you sick." You
know and that 's something that;s going to make you suffer your who live if it
hasn't started yet in a major way then just live a littlelonger, okay, [laughs]. It'll
come. So he says, you know, you should be mad at your body, you know, you
should get mad at your body. And the other guy says, "I don't know why
because my body doesn't hurt me intentionally." Like the elements of my body
may get messed up and my body may get sick, but it's not like the elements had
a meeting and planned it and said, "Okay, you Mister Bile you get heacy anr you
Mister Wind you, slow down, you know and you Mister Phlegm, you speed up
and we'll make this guy sick." You know, he says, "It not like that, the body just
automatically gets sick." It's not like the body is intentionally plotting to get you
sick and people are not like that. People are acting intentionally. People are
hurting me intentionally, with premeditation, they are hurting me. And then
Master Shantideva says, well then you are being illogical because nobody plans
to get mad, you know, nobody says, "Oh, I'll go to work today and get mad."
You know, anger itself doesn't think, "Oh, I'll have a good anger today, you
know, it's not like that, people get angery out of control, their mental afflictions
control them, they get out of contro to a certain level and then they must get
angryand it' snot their fault, it's not premeditated, it's not planned, it just comes
up in peoples hearts. You know, usually anger is just like a big wave and it
somes up and it hits you and, and when it comes you can't do anything about it
and you know that. You try to feel okay and you try to feel not upset, and then
you see that guy again at work and it comes again ant it's not like you are
planning it. You are out of control, somebody else is in contro l, your mental
afflictions are in control. You're, you're being upset is out of control an dyou
don't have a choice at that moment, it's too late. You couldn't do anything about
it if you wanted, it's like a big wave on anger comes up in you. So Master
Shantideva says, "If you're gonna get angry at another person for getting angry
at you ar for doing something bad to you, then you should get angry at your
body." And then the other guy says, "Well they don't do it intentionally ." And
then he says, "Well, who do you think does do it intentionally? You know
nobody goes to work and says, "I'm gonna have allot of nice mental aflictions
today." Because they hurt and they are unpleaseant so Master Shantideva says,
"Your argument is no good, you should just stop being angry." Because those
people that you are angry at are out of caontrol, because being angry is no fun,
being angry makes you unhappy, being angry ruins your health, and so it's not
logical that you shoul be angry at people, becaause theyare not getting angry on
purpose, it's not like they want to get angry. It's not like somebody wants to be
miserable their whole day, you meet people who seem to work very hard at it,
but basically, no one likes to be unhappy, they are under control of another
thing which is their mental afflictions, they cannot control themselves. And then
Master Shantidevas gets into the point of, "Well, who is in control?", and "What is
going on when something happens that you don't like." We are not gaoint o
read these verses, we are going to skip these verses. Because they are very, very
technical, it's in your reading and you can read it. But it's very difficult, so we are
going to just jump straight into it from the point of veiw of explaination, because
the verses are very technical. Okay, Master Shantideva at this point ans again, I
repeat, if you don't listen ti anything else in this course, I think this next twenty
minutes or so is the most imprtant thing in this course, in my idea, it's the most
important thing in this course. Master Shantideva says, "the clue or the key to
stoping your anger is to understand that where did the things that you are
gatting angry at come from? Where did your boss come frome, you know
where did that guy at work that you don't like come from? where did that traffic
jam come from? You know where did that humididty and the heat come from,
you know, where did your credit card bills come from? You know, I mean, both
animate ans inanimate objects that piss you off, where did they come from, who
made they? Why are they here? You know, what's the anwer of where these
things really came from and the you can understand anger and then you can
decide what to do about anger. Okay, so he, he puts up this big banner, you
know, he says, "Everybody who has an idea, you come and we'll decide where
all these things can=me from that we don't like." You know in my life, mine, in
my own thoughts other pwople who bother me, situations that bother me,
things in the city that bother me, my parents that bother me, my relatives,
friends, children, who made them? ANd then you get a clue into if we should be
angry or not. You know, decide who made them. Where did they come from?
You know and this is a question that's no asked in America much. Like I
remember a kid, but there will be somebody driving, two people will be driving,
it happedden to a friend of mine recently, and they hit another car. One person
dies, the other persons, just gets up and wlks off and then the kid hears about it
and goes to mum and says, "Why did he die and why did he not get hurt at all?"
and mum says, "Don't ask stupid questions, you know, he was sitting on the
right side and he was sitting on the left side and the car hit on the right side and
he went through the wind sheild, he wasn't waering a seatbelt, the other guy
was wearing a seatbelt and that's why." And the kid says, "But no mum, I wan't
to know why the one guy was wearing a seatbelt and the other guy wasn't
wearing a seat belt?" And she says, "Well, it's alright, he put his on and the other
guy didn't put his on. Ans he says, "Yeah, but I want to know why he didn't put
his on, and he didn't put his on?" "Well, that guy didn't remember to put his on
and that guy did remember to put his on." "Yeah, but why did he remember to
put his on and the other guy didn't remember to put it on?" And then at some
point, you got used to it and your parents said, "stop asking, there's no reason
after that." But that's not scientific, you know according to every thing of logic,
according to everything about reasonong and science and modern lif, you know,
there should be a reason for everything. There ha to be a reason for everything.
And there has to e a reason that that guy didn't do his seatbelt and the other guy
did do his seatbelt. Where did it come from? You know, where does this world
come from and where do the people in it come from? And you know at a
certain point you stop asking and you know at a certain point maybey you
thought is was the stork, you know and then later on you thought it was god
and then later on you thought it was the big bang, because that's what the New
York Times says, you know, ans, and you are a reasonable person. And the
New York Times is reasonable and everything that you read in the New York
Times is reasonable. You know and I'm a modern, resnable person and
everything came from this big bang because they got this telesco
pe and they saw this dust out there you know, and of course, they change their
opinion every coulple of years, but that's okay, you know, that's the way it
happens, and where did it all come from and where did you come from? And,
and specifically, those things that make you angry, those things that irritate you,
whether it's a traffic jam or somebody at work or your boss or whatever.
Where did he come from? Who made him? This is crucial, because you can get
rid of him if you can figure out where he came from. [laughter] Right? Of
course, not in a violent way. So this is a very importat question, where did they
come from?        Shantideva asks this question, he says, "Let's have a public
discussion, you guys come and tell me." So two people come and one are called
the Nyayakas and one are called the Samkas, these are the two Hindu schools,
they would be the Babtists and the Catholics nowadays, seriously, it would be
whoever, it would be the two religions that are poular nowadays, what wver.
Let's say the big bang theory and God theory. Okay, so let's go through the
Samkya system, let's see what they said caused the world. Say, {tsowo, [repeat],
{tsowo}, [repeat]. {Tsowo} means, you guy know it from {Lam tso nam sum}, it
means "principal", "main. And in this religion in meant, I like to call it the Primal
one. You know like the one, the source of all things. Okay, what is {tsowo} like?
You know what is old Mister Tsowo like? Well, {Tsowo} made the world,
according to this religion in Ancient India, {tsowo}, made the world, and {tsowo}
does things, {tsowo} makes things called {namgyur}, say {namgyur}, {namgyur},
[repeat]. {Namgyur}, means "the expressions of {tsowo}" SO everything in the
world is an expression of {tsowo}, like the Quaker church is {tsowo} expressing
himself. You know, this is another expression of {tsowo}. {Tsowo} is this big,
huge, invisible energy , called, we would call it "God" maybe, in our culture, but
this is {tsowo}. And {tsowo}'s this big huge invisible energy, and everyone in
awhile {tsowo} shows things, you know, like here's this church, here's New York
City, here's America, here's Mars. ans that's what they beleive. So {tsowo} lasts,
{tsowo} didn't have any begginning, nobody made {tsowo}, {tsowo} made
everything. Sound familiar? [laughter] Okay, you gotta get used to it, {tsowo}
has been here forever. {Tsowo} made everything, but nobody made {tsowo},
{Tsowo]'s just always been here and everything you see is, is an expression of
{tsowo}, it's a Namgyur of {tsowo}, {tsowo} is expressing himself and that's what
the Samkyas beleive and Samkye means numerous and they divide the world
into a specific nuber of expressions, lke twenty expressions ans {tsowo} is up
there, hanging out and showing expression ans this is where the world came
from. So the guy that you don't like, your boss, the guy who comes in and
screams at you in the morning, is an [expression of {tsowo}. {Tsowo} was not
busy today, so he made your boss and he's expressing himself and you are
seeing a little peice of {tsowo} in life called your boss and that's a {tsowo}, and
behind him, is tsowo working, it's very close to the Western idea of God, okay,
vey close to that idea. okay. Now what are the Nyayak schools saying? The
logicalists, I call then the logicalists, because they are wrog so it souds really silly,
right? So the logicalists, they say, {dak}. In Sanskrit the word is {attman}, it
Tibetan it is{dak}. And {dak just means, "Self Existant being", with a capital [s]
and a capital [e]. He's been here forever, no one made hima and he makes
everthing, but in a different sense, in that he's this supreme thing that
experiences all things, oaky, like he is an isness, he is a onesedd. Okay and then
like he has these feelers out throught the whole universe an he just feeling these
thing and experiencing these things and this is {dak}, this is "Self". This is "The
Self". And he's like the wizard in the Wizard of Oz okay and he's just this big guy
and he's experiencing all the objects of the world , but he's unchanging, nothing
made him, he's been there forever and he is also resonsible for all the things that
you don't like in your life, these are again creations of the {dak}, the {attman},
the"Self", okay, and these are the two ideas that the, that Master Shantideva
want's to discuss, let's look at what these people think and let's decide what we
are going to do about it. There is another word for this which you should know,
especially Tibetan track people, [silence] Say {sherig}, [repeat], {gyi} [repeat],
{kyebu}, [repeat], {sherig}, [repeat], {gyi}, [repeat], {kyebu}, [repeat]. If you ever
study {drup ta}, which is, what do you call it? Comparitive Philosophy, the
Buddhist way is which they present all the different Buddhist chools of
philosopy, Buddhist and non Buddhist, there will be a big section on {sherig kyi
kyebu}, so I think that it's important for Tibetan track people to learn that word.
What does it mean? It's not very clear. {Sherig}, means "mental", it combined
two words for knowledge, and {kyebu} means "being.                    And in like the
descriptions of it it is like called the orginal mental being. I'd like to call it the
original mental being, it's like the original thinking thing. Okay and, and this is a
synonym for {dak}, okay this is another name for Mister Dak, okay Mr. Attman.
By the way, I think that in the early days of Buddhism in the west, when the
Buddhist said that there was no self and they used this worb, An {attman}, {dak},
the negative of it, I though western philosophers got confused and thought that
the main pont of Buddhism was to refute this particular God and it's not. When
we say that grasping to a self a dak or an {attman}, is causing all your trouble it
doesn't only mean some non esistant guy, if refers more specifically to a non
existant nature of any object to where it sould grow o it's own independant of
your perceptions, okay, so that's the point and I think that if you read early
books on Buddhim I think that they thought that this was the {dak}, the main
{dak} that we are refuting when we are talking about emptiness and this is not.
This is just another non-existant dak. It's not that Buddhism spent all it's time
attacking these poor Nyayakas. Okay so these are the two big daddys that
supposedly created the world. So Master Shantidea says, let's look at these guys
and let's see if they created the people that you are angry at. You know and he
didn't know anything, I mean Christainity was still fifteen hundred years, I mean
five hundred years away, I mean, when the Buddha taought this it was still five
hundred years away, so he wasn't attacking any of our beleifs, so it wasn't any of
our beliefs. I would say that you are either one of three people in this room, you
are either subconsiously beleive that the world was created by a god or you've
rejected that and you kind of beleive that it came from a big bang, but you are
not sure. Or you could care less and you don't think about it much. I mean I
would say one of three possibilities. Master Shantideva says, that if you are
going to get rid of your anger you have to resolve this question, you have to
decide where these people came from. Who created the things that make you
angry, because this is a key to oversoming, you will never overcome anger,
unless you understand who made the things that make you angry. So he goes
through each one of these possibilities one by one, and we will too. So the first
question he asks, and you'll se it in the readingm he says, who made these two
guys? I mean, that's question nember one and by the way this is so simpe and so
obvious that it goes over your head, you know, you didn't even ask this questio
when you were in church. You know, "Mom, if god made the world and god
made everything, and god always, been here, then who made god?" You know,
and you say, "Do,'t worry about it, it's okay," It's impolite to ask that question,
it's it's disrespectful to ask that question. It's combatitive to ask that question.
You know, Grandma would be very upset if she heard you ask that qeustion,
you know, don't ask that question, don't say things like that, just buy it, just do it,
and I'm not being didrespectful to Christianity or to Judaism, I'm not, okay, it's
not the poin,t the point is, can you reach liberation, can you free yourself if you
have those superstitions still in your mind, you have to talk about it you have to
decide where these things come from? And I'm not being disrespectful and
Christianity and Judaeism, incredible benifit for millions and millions of people
over thousands of years and you have to be very, very stupid to say that that's
not true or to focus on the little problems that they've had like the Inqusition or
something, , [laughter], No, I'm serious, you know, I'm very serious, the benefits
of those systems is almost infinate in comparison to small problems that they've
had. But the real question for us is that "if you really want to reach Nirvana and
Buddhahood, can you accept thee two things?" You know, can you accept these
two beings and Master Shantideva says, "No." And you better know why, you
know, you have to use your mind, and it;s not being disrespectful, it's not being
heretical, it's not attacking anybody, it's just that if you have a wrong idea that is
so serious that you might not be able to achieve you goal. So what is wrong
with this? That's the first objectionthat Master Shantideva had. And in fact when
I have tried to explain God to Tibetans, this is almost always the first reaction I
get from Tibetans. They say, "What's God like?" And I say, by the way it's on
your homework, and I say, "{Tsowo}, made everything but he never began,
iencing being, who never changes, who has existed forever and no one created
him and he is also creating the things in the world, and these is what is coming to
you. So Master Shantideva in his first opening salvo, you know, it's like, "but
who made them, I've got to have a cause things got to have a cause and it's like,
who made them? And the they say, "I don't know." They couldn't make them
selves, because if you are not thare to say, "I'd like to make myself today, you
can't make yourself." And it's just so obvious that it goes over your head, and
you thought of it probably in third grade or something and then by fourth grade
your parents had talked you out of it or something, you were right, it doesn't
make sense, it doesn't make sense that there was this big guy who makes
everything up, but no, one made him, it just doesn't make sense, because
somebody had to make him, Somebody had to make him or else he's been there
forever with out a cause, there's two choices. Either somebody made him or he's
been there forever without a cause, okay, so let's say, somebody made him, it
would have had to be who? {Tsowo}, but he isn't, he ain't there yet, okay,
{tsowo} makes everything, that's part of this religion, {tsowo} makes everything,
is god a thing? Is {tsowo} a thing, yes, so who made {tsowo}? {Tsowo}, made
{tsowo}. So {tsowo}, before he existed, thought to himself, I think that I'll make
{tsowo} today, it's just crazy. It just doesn't make sense at all. That Master
Shantidevas first example, okay, "It's imposible for {tsowo} to have thought to
make himself today befor {tsowo} existed. And according to you, {tsowo} made
everything." Yeah?

student: [unclear]

We're gonna get into it. She asked me, "Yeah, but even in Buddhism, we say that
we are beginingless, so what's the difference?" And we are going to get into that.
Maybe right now. No on one hand, we got that, right? Everyone's like, okay,
maybe it's the old God thing from church. If {tsowo} didn't have, if {tsowo} had a
cause if somehting had to have made {tsowo}, bu, but {tsowo} is the only thing
that makes anything, so {tsowo} would have had to have made {tsowo} before
anything existed. And {tsowo} would have had to think to homself, "I think I'll
make myself today, before he existed today, so it's crazy, it doesn't make sense.
the guy who pisses you off at work did not come from {tsowo}. [laughter],
cause {tsowo} never started, okay. What are the other possibilities? [silence] I'd
like to get, I'd like to clarify the meaning of these three words before we can talk
more about {tsowo}. Eternal, Sykes, what does it mean to you? Roughly, what
does it mean to you? Dr. Chilton, What does it mean to you? Yeah, like this is
an eternal problem, springs eternal. Love springs eternal.

student: [unclear]

I think that's what it means to me, okay, eternal to me means no begining and
no end, everlasting, eternal god, like that. I'm not making fun, I don't want to
make fun, but that is what they say, those are the words, that is the wording of
the prayer. Okay, eternal

student: [unclear]

Yeah, there is a little flavour of that, but there could be a beginning and no end.
But I think that the primary meaning of eternal , like, "This is an eternal question
of life." Means that this always has been a question and is always gonna be a
question. So I think we have to, I want to clarify terns, you know, like this is
what we do before a debate. Are we talking the same language? Eternal means,
no beginning and no end, okay. What about permanent and impermanent.
Permanent Resident Status, greencard, what does it mean?

student: [unclear]

Yeah, it will always be. It won't end or break, this is a, you know, permanent
plastic holding this thing and we guarantee that it will never break. You know,
that's usually a bad sign. You know, but the claim permanent means it will never
break or that it will never stop, or something like that. I think things can have a
begining and be permanent, like you can say that this is apermanent fixture, but
it doesn't mean it's eternal, it doesn't mean that this fixture has been here forever.
It just means that we are going to put this fixture here and we intend that it will
last a long time. Yeah, sort of concrete, should be concrete, so permanent
means, like lasts forever, doesn't break, okay. And then changing, you know,
changing means, sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it's big, sometimes it's small,
sometimes hot, sometimes cold, fluctuating, like that, sometimes I like to say,
like that. Fluctuating, always changing, we have to understand these three
words first. Yeah?

student: [unclear]
Right, I think that it could come back to similiar, two days later or something,
like the waether changes, but two days later or something. It could be pretty
sililiar, like that, but almost never the same. So on your home work I've asked
you to do a little bit of thinking, like I call, {mu shi, mu sum}. {Mu shi mu sum} is
an excersise in Buddhist logic where you say, "Does any object include these two
qualities or not? So I'll ask you, okay. "Is there anything that is changing, yet
eternal?" Something which has always been and always will be, but goes
through constant fluctuationans? The mind, the human mind. According to
Buddhism, you don't have to buy it now, but you can go to Bodton this weekend
and you will beleive it by the end of the weekend. But, but the mind, according
to Buddhism the mind has no beggining and had no end even after you become
a Buddha you still have a mind and even a Buddha mind is constantly fluctuating.
Why? What's one reason why?

student: [unclear]

Yeah, because it's perceiving things. Like when you see an apple, according to
Buddhism, your mind gets this, it gets a little apple focus to it a little apple aspect
to the mind. There's this image being inprinted on the mind of this roundish red
thing and when you feel good, the mind changes a little bit and when you feel
bad the mind changes a little bit, and like that, the mind is like a moving mirror
and each object that it encounters, it's changing. And you cannot perceives
something wihtout changing. If you have a good friend, you change good, if
you have a bad friend, you change bad. But every single object that you focus
on. Every songle oject that you see that changes your mind and changes your
life, forever and the mind is in constant flux, as the mind focusses on differrent
objects it is changing and that's the nature of the mind, according to Buddhism,
didn't have any beginning and dodn't have any end, but while it's being eternal
it's in a constant state of flux, okay, got it? By the way, I beleive that these words
have been mistranslated in Buddhism for a long time. And, and so I'm asking
you to question how you think about them. How about eternal, but not
changing? About the on;y example is empty space, okay, what does empy space
mean? There's a place, watch this. There's a place where I put that file, there's a
place there. There's empty space there, okay, right now the file is filling it up it is
occupying the space. Now, watch this, you know, is the space still there? Yeah, I
mean it did not change, I mean it's nature did not change. Space is defined in
Buddhism as the absence of any concrete object, if it, wasn't there, I couldn't hve
gotten the file into it, there is empty space there and it's being occupied right
now. And then I take it out and it's still there, If this world were destroyed,
when the sun supernovas as Buddhism says it will and this world melts, which
Buddhism says it will and if it, it'll evaporate, what do you call it, it will vapourize.
This planet will vaporize. A certain supernova of the sun will occur in so mally
million years according to the [b Abbhidharma] third chapter and then this worl
will not exit any more. Will that emty space still be there? Yeah, it's not affected
by the world, it always has been there and it always will be there. Whether or
not it's occupied, whetheror not we're around it will be there. That's an example
of what? Something which is eternal but not? Not changing, okay. Permanent
but changing? Permanent, but changing? What?



student:[unclear]

She said mind again and that's the perfect answer. Okay, it is permanent, it is
going to be around, it's not going to like break or disapear or something like
that. Impermanent and changing? Just about everything, okay. I put in the
answer key, jobs and worldly relationhsips. Impermanent and chanaging,
constant flux. Never the same. You go to work one day you know, they sold the
company and they said, please don't come tomorrow. "After fifteen years? "Yes,
please don't come tomorrow." And, and relationships, you know you though
that you met the perfect person and within a week they are the perfect enemy.
And three weeks later you could care less, you know. I mean this is this constant
flux. Impermanent and changing, okay and then there's a trick question which
maybe I won't give you because then it won't be a trick anymore. Nah, let's do
that one. {Dak} means like, today, {dak} means like some big guy who's made
the world and who's always been here, okay. Say that again? Very similiar,
yeah, almost the same, yeah. Say, {takpey}. [cut]

student: [unclear]

The loss of hair has a cause, but the absense of the hair does not have a cause,
that's differrent, yeah.

student: [unclear

Right, so it's just a simple absence of something.

student:[unclear]

Oh, it's an instance here, it wasn't created, let's put it that way. It wasn't created,
iit didn't go through a process of growing of starting small of getting bigger and
bigger and bigger. Absentces are absolute, that's the point. Like the absentce of
an elephant in this room is an absolute. It doesn't get more or less absent. It's
just either totally absent or totally present, that's the point, okay. There's not a
sondition of an elephant of being half absent here or half present here or
something like that. Either it's here or it's not here. If an elephant is absent from
this room it's total absentce and it doesn't change. It doesn't waiver, it'salways
just simple, total absentce and it doesn't get more absenteee or less absentee, it's
just absent and that's just, that's the point, that's the point. And it's not created. It
doesn't go through a process of growing it from a seed and getting bigger and
bigger and bigger, fluctuating like that, going through a death process, going
through an aging process. It doesn't happen, it's either a completely absent or
present and that's true of emptiness also. Can I destroy, does this paper have an
emptiness?

student: [uncear]

Yeah, does this paper have an emptiness? Does this paper have it's own
emptiness? Does this paper have it's lack of self existence? Absolutely every
object in the universe has it's own se... lack of self existence. Okay, is that
eternal? No? That's a very important point, fwhen I destroy this paper, you
know or I burn this paper, it's emptiness goes out of existance, was it destroyed?
No. Did it go through a pricess o getting less empty, less empty, and then
suddenly one? No. ANd that's a very subtle thing and you have to learn it. And
it's not the subject of this class, but it's important, it's very important. It does
have i's emptiness and it's emptiness is {takpa}, meaning, "unchanging", does it
mean that it is permanent? Not at all. When I destroy this paper the emptiness
goes out of existence, it the emptiness destroyed? No. Did the emptiness start?
No. Was the emptiness there the moment that the paper existed? Yes. Was it
there the moment before the paper existed? No. Did it grow? No. Did it start
small and get bigger and bigger and more empty? No. It's purely empty in the
first moment of existence, it's purely empty in the final moment of existence, and
on both sides, if you go an inch more, it just was't there, but you don't say that it
went through a process of change and that's difficult ant you have to study that
and many people misunderstand it and that's why that word is translated wrong
since forever. Okay, eternally. Alright, so I'm gonna go on, but I have a feeling,
I just want to make sure that you get the profoundness of what just happened
here. I was not just knocking Judeao Christian beleif, you have them deep in
you guts, they come from your childhood, those things are difficult to remove.
But there is no such thing. When you go to find out who to blame for your
problen, you know, when you to find out who to blame for that guy at your
work or the girl that dumped you or all that stuff, it ain't God, okay, because that
cannot exist, for those three reaconse, that cannot exist. By the way, we didn't
cover one other possibility. Could God have been created from nothing?
Maybe did he just come from nothing. That just doesn't make sense. I mean, no
serious scientist, and no serious Buddhist would even entertain it. It's on your
homework, You know, it says, could he come from nothing and you just say,
"No." [laughter] It just doesn't make, its just not a possibility. Maybe a serious
religious person would think that? Could entertain it. We would say, "Then is
the God which you say exists changing or unchanging?" If that God is changing
then it must have had a couse, because there is something which is causing the
fluctuation, in that God. If that God is a knowing being, if that God is aware of
you and watching you, if that God is doing andything, like working six whole
days to create the world, he must have been changing and moving and in that
vase he must have had a cause. And in that case it's illogical. There is no such
thing as anything which can effect anything which was not effected it'self and
you can study the reading on that point. I'll say it again. There's no such thing as
a thing which effects anything which is not affected by any other thing.
Impossible, impossible, because by effecting he is affected. And it's, it's so simple
it just goes over your head, those three arguments are airtight. The only thing
that rebels in your heart is your illogical upbringing. And you have to, it's time
to stop that an you have to find the real cause of where those things came from.
And your whole culture is fighting you. You know, it's like this kid with his
finger in the dam and theres this whole dam and your like all you have is this
little tiny understanding of things and it doesn't make sense. Yeah?

student: [unclear]

Yeah, to me, big bang is the same as {Dak}, I'm sorry I mean "soul". I mean,
came from nothing? How could anything come from nothing? It's just illogical,
it's just perfectly illogical. You know, you base your whole weters rational life on
the beleif that things have causes, since the middle ages, man has been proud to
say, we've figured out that things have causes, "Oh, but there's only one thing,
everything." [laughs] You know, it's crazy, it's really crazy and the only reason
that your heart is objecting right now is brainwashing, it's just illogical, crazy
brainwashing that you've had. You know and you will still get it, you have to go
for the real reason, you know, yeah?

student: [unclear]

Not if you posit that that being created everything. I'm sorry, It's just so obvious
that you miss it, [laughter], okay, because he wasn't here yet. Yeah.

student: [unclear]

Yeah, well somebody asked me that , what if do you do if somebody comes up
to you and says, "Well then my God is illogical?" "My god doesn't make sense,
my god is beyond all understanding." You know, "My God is uncaused and
causes everything, My God doesn't ever move and makes everything move." In
debate, it a Buddhist monastery, when someone reaches that point in the debate,
you say, {Nyun dingwa dang dzupa me.}                 "I can't debate with a crazy
man!" [laughter] You know and you just, you just go. [laughter] No, you just
go, you just go, you say, "If you chose to suspend the laws which you base your
whole world on, to prove something that you feel like proving today, Well God
bless, you could do that with anything." No, and actually in a Buddhist
Monastery at that point, you just walk off, and say, you know, you want to be
illogical for the next hour? I'll be back later. You know. Yeah.

studnet:[unclear]

I'm sorry, can you say that again?

student: [unclear]

Well, yeah, we draw a ver important distinction between omniscience and
omnipotent. Okay, the Buddha is omniscient, in fact that's what the word
Buddha means, but in no way omnipotent. What is the proof of that? We are
sufferring. We are sufferring, either he is sadistic, or he is not omnipotent,
because if we are sufferring, he should have fixed it by now, or else he is some
kind of sadist, you know. I mean, which we reject. Yeah.

student: [unclear]

You know, to me that'a the {nyun dingwa dang...}. You're, basically, you are
choosing to suspend your own beleifs at the most crucial momenat of your
beleif. One more and then we gotta get going. I could stay all night but I don't
think you want to, we got these buses.

student: [unclear]

[silence]
The {tsowo} and the {dak}, you don't have to personalize them, they could be
impersonal also. She said that why caouldn't the big bang happen if it was just
happen if it was just cause by a previous universe that was expanding more and
shrinking less. No problem with that in Buddhism. No problem at all. You are
just saying that things are caused by other causes, that's just exactly what we are
trying to say, what we are trying to say. When I say that big bang doesn't mean
anything or that big bang is false is when big bang says, "There's not cause, that
before that tere was nothing and then suddenly, there was something," It's
crazy. I mran if the New York Times got to Tibet and it was translated, people
would be like, "ah, ha, ha, big, bang." You know, something came form nothing
you know it doesn't make sense. And the only reason that you entertain it is
that all these eminent scientists say it. You know, there is no logoc for it, it's silly,
it's as silly as the {tsowo} and the {dak}.

student: [unclear]

No, we don't fight with those scientists, we're not fighting with those scientists, at
all, if they said that the big bang had auses, them God bless the big bang, yeah.

studnent: [unclear]

yeah, yeah, it should, it will, yeah, we gotta go on, come afterwards, we'l talk.
alright, next reading Mr. Hector. So basically we finished off God, okay, sorry.
You cannot blame the unpleasant things in your life on this thing, because this
thing cannot exist, period. It's not that we don't like Christianity, or we don't like
Judeaism, we don't like this, we don't like that. This is a description of a {ribong
gyi ra}, what's a {ribong gyi ra}?

student: [unclear]

The horn on the head of the rabbit and my question to you is, "Is it twelve inches
or is is sixteen inches?" It doesn't exist and you can talk about it all day what it is
like, it doesn't matter, that thing that they describe, the Samkyas ans the
Nayakas and our western culture is just flatly impossible, it's just flatly
impossible, get used to the idea, it's very important to clean that and to purge
that from your heart. Again, does that mean that there is not compassionate,
omniscient, holy beings all around us all the time? Not at all. They are areound
us all the time. They are constantly watching after us, they have every intention
of looking after us, they help us in extraordinary, unexpected, secret ways, all
day long, so don't feel you know, that part of the guy exists, so don't worry.
Alright. Number... what are we? Number nine. Close your eyes.

Hector: "People do so much harm to themselves that is is no surprise that they
hurt us" Contemplation number nine.

"There are those who, having lost heir senses, hurt themselves, bind themselves
with thorns and such. To get a woman or the like they get pset an then do
things like refusing to eat food. Some go and hang themselvess, leap from cliffs,
and swollow poison or other harmful things, others go and hurt themselves by
living in a way against the virtuous life. If people driven to it, because of their
mental afflistions, even kiled their own dear selves, then what surprise could it
alse be to see that they harm the bodies of other people? Thus, do people live,
commiting acts like suicide, driven by their own bad thoughts. If by some
chance, you cannot feel some pity for them, at least with hold their anger.

Okay, here Shantideva is giving you some arguments, by the way he is a great
logician, a great debater, he just doesn't sound like it, because it's so sweet. Here
he says, "It just doesn't make any sense to get mad." Why? It doesn't make
sense, Why? You know somebody comes up and says, "I should get mad, I can
get mad cause you cannot deny that this person has hurt me, Joe, blow, has hurt
me. I can prove it, you know, there's this guy at work he went to the boss, he
made up a liem you know, he set me up, I didn't get my bonus, you know, he
hurt me. You can't say, Master Shantideva, that he didn't hurt me, I know, he
hurt me." And then master Shantideva says look, go out in the world and first
you can see people who hurt themselves in the name of religion and this was is
places like India where it was considered a way to get to Nirvana if you walked
of hot coals or if you cut yourself a certain way or if you jusped off a cliffa certain
way. And there were schools that said you could get to Nirvana that way. And
then he says, people also around, people everywhere, that to get things they
want, and he mentions money and women, okay. They do all sorts of harm to
themselves, you know, they refuse to eat, they spend all thei money, they waste
their money they worry about it they get all sorts of treatments on themselves.
You know, they are constantly torturing themselves for things that they can
never get and and this is the nature of people, they are hurting themselves all
day long. And then he just mentions people who are just depressed and go out
and hang themselves or shoot themselves, or jusp off cliffs and he says, just the
normal human being in New york City is, is doing so mch harm to themselves,
what do you expect them to do to you? Why are you surprised? What are you
so surprised about? Human being in our world don't know how to take care of
themselves, they don't even know how to stop hurting themselve. And then he
mentions doing non virtue, which is the ultimate hurt. People all over the world
are stealing. lying, doing adultury, killing people, hurting people to get what
they want, and it is exactly having the opposite effecxt but because of their own
stupdity, and their own ignorance, they are like wild animals, youknow doing
this crazy thing and cutting themselves by accident. So what do you expect from
these people? So we have to introduce the idea {chiba}. Say, {chiba}, [repeat],
{chiba}, [repeat]. And this is a word, you can find it in the third chapter
[b:Abbhidharma] where they discuss the stages of man, you know, first you are,
there is, I think nine stages in the womb, {nu nu por, me me por, le le por}. You
know, these are like "jelly, blob, sticky cylinder, bumby..." You know and these
are all the staged of the feotus in the wonb and then they go through all the
stages of a childhood. They go through three to six, six to nine and you know,
each one has a differrent name. And, and this all the developement of a person
through all the stages of their life and it has differrent nams in Tibetan. Chiba
Refers to like three to six. Chiba refers to an infant of a kid or a child. Okay,
{chiba} means "child" and Shantideva says, Master Shantideva says, "Look,
frankly, the world is filled with a bunch of violent children. Violent, {chibas}."
Okay they are acting crazy, they don't even know how to take care of
themselves, the mass of humanity is murdering eachother, stealing from
eachother and most of all, the mass of humanity is hurting themselves. You
know, the mass of humanity doesn't even know how to take care of themselves.
They are killing thenselves they are hurting themselves they are doing crazy
things to get the things they want and the whole thing is deluded, all of mankind
is like a big gang of, of violent kinds who, who just don't know what to do and
they don't have any clue. And they are, they are doing everything possible,
wverything that man kind is engaged in, has one result to cause themselves
sufferring. All these efforts to get money and to get women and to get cars and
to get famous and all of these things, all of the actions that they do, Ninety
percent of the action that they do are actually bad karma. And they are actually
destroying their own happiness, crazily, like little children. So Master Shantieva,
through out this chapter is going to be refering to {chibas}. But in Buddhist
Philosophy it has another name it means to opposite of a {pakpa}. What is a
{pakpa}? Someone who has seen emptiness directly. And anyone who has not,
qualifies as a violent kid. alright. Very interesting. The world is full of two kinds
of people, if you have seen emptiness directly, you are a {pakpa}, if you have no
seen emptiness directly, you are a, you are an infant, you are a kid, you are a
crazy kid and you are hurting yourseslf and you are hurting other people. You
are constantly collecting bad karma, tremendous bad karma and you are
constantly destroying thousands and thousands of years of good karma. It's just
the nature of anyone hwo has not seeen emptiness directly. Why did we get into
that? He's talking about that this is the way that people live who are, who are
{chiba}. The mass of humanity is living the kind of life that is desroying their
own happiness. So why are you so surprised that they go after you? You know,
these are people who don't even know how to take care of themselves, these are
people who are very effectively slaughtering their own happiness. So what's the
big deal when they come after you, you know, why are you so surprised? That's
deppressing, okay. And then at the end of the verse he says look, if you saw a
bunch of kids playing with razor blades and cutting themselves up and then they
might try to cut you. Why do you et angry at them fro you know, you should
feel sorry, you be crying. You know, when you look and you think of the mass
of humanity engaged in feudal activity, dying hopelessly and alone, then doing
the same to tohers, you should be sad, you should have pity fro them you
should have compassion for them. What are you doing getting angry? What
kind of Bodhisattva are you? You know, he says, you should, thinking about the
way that the mankind is hurting itself and then hurting others should made you
sad and then sweet in you heart, you should feel this sweet compassion for
people and instead you are getting angry at people, you know, that's his
argument. Okay, next one.

Hector: "If people are harmful by nature it is no surprise that they hurt us, if
they are only harmful at moments, we should bear with them." Contemplation
ten.
"If it is the very nature of those who are children to do harm to others, then
being angry with them is wrong. As wrong as hating fire for the fact that it
burns. And if he nature of living beings is to be thoughtful, then all their
thoughts are occaisional and being angry with them is wrong too. Wrong as
hating a puff of smoke in the sky."

So it's another argument by Master Shantideva. He says, "Look, there is only
two choices. Either people, their nature the basic human nature is bad or the
basic human natur is noble. There's only two choices. Either people are by very
nature, nasty, harmful, hurting or, they are good people, you know the basic
human nature is good." So in the first case, let's suppose that the first case is true,
let's say that it's human nature to be brutal and to be harmful and to harm other
people. Then what are you surprised about? You know, I think that you should
get mad at fire. Why? Because it burns, it has a nasty nature, ooohh. You
know,and you should go up and every time a person lights a cigarette, you
should go punch them in the face or something, you kow, because they have
fire, and fore is bad and fire always burns you. You know, you should be mad at
fire. And then somebody says, he says, Shantideva says, "Go out and grab some
fire and then when you get burned, you should be yelling at fire, "Oh, you
burned me, you burned me, you know." But people don't do it, because why?
Because when people burn themselves for the first time when you are a kid, you
know, that's the nature of fire. And you don't expect anything else. You know
you don't go up every fire you ever see and say, "I remember that you burned
me when I was three years old, you're really bad." So if it is true that the nature
of the human being is to be brutal, then what are you surprised about and what
are you getting mad at them for? This is their nature, if they burn you, they are
going to burn you and this is human nature. So don't be surprised and don't be
upset, that's the way people are, that's their very nature. Okay, he's not saying
that it is, but if it were true. It isn't, okay. It is not the nature. And then on the
othert hand he says, "But if not suppose that the inner nature of human beings is
to be kind and to be compassionate and they just slip up from time to time. So
why are you getting pissed off at people who just slip up from time to time?
Okay, look at their real nature. Okay I mean the real nature of the human being
is to have compassion, to have love for other creatures. Human beings do very
noble things. Okay and from time to time they screw up. Are you going to get
mad at them because from time to time they screw up? Their real nature is
kindness. Do you get mad at the sky, because a little cloud comes across the sky"
he says. You don't get mad at the sky and say, "Oh, stinky sky, you always have
clouds." You know, when it's just one small cloud that came across the sky. So
from time to time, human nature, a human being who's nature is noble, comes
and does something bad to you, well, just excuse it, because that's not their real
nature." And that's what mothers do, if you watch TV, Rinpoche is always joking
about it. This guy killed five people yesterday in this drug thing and they
interveiwed his mother today, and she said, "Yeah, maybe he did it, but he's a
great boy and he's a good boy, you know, he was always a nice boy, he's my
boy, he's a nice boy, he's a good boy." And they said. "Yeah, but he killed five
people." And she said, "Yeah, well he just slipped up okay?" No and that's what
it really is, it's the attiude of the mother. The mother is aware that the true
nature of the boy is noble and, okay he messed up from time to time. "SO if the
true nature of people is to be noble, then bear with them. If their nature is to be
totally evil and brutal then why get upset what did you expect? Why get upset
when they hurt you they are just expressing their true nature." Okay, [laughs].
So Shantideva says, "you can't get angry either way, sorry". You know, "If their
nature is noble you can't get angry, if their nature is brutal, you can't get angry,
stop getting angry!" Okay, alright, next one.

Hector: "Should we be angry at sticks?" Contemplation Eleven.
"It's the stick or the like that acts directly. If you are angry at what impells it then
get mad then at anger itself since it's the force that drives the other one."

Okay, now Master Shantideva is giving you another locic for not getting angry,
he's giving you another proof for not getting angry.                He says, suppose
somebody comes up to you on the street and this happened to a friend of mine,
Dan Carleigh, and he was just walking down the streeet and some guy punched
him. And that guy, it wasn't here, what was it. Up at thirty ninth street? He was
just walking down the street and some guy took a two by four and hit him on
the side of the head. He was just wasking down the street. This really happened
to our friend. So who are you gonna get mad at. Shantideva says, "Let's decide
who you are going to get mad at." "I think that you should get mad at the two
by four. You know, you should take that two by four and bang it and step on it
and you know, say, "Stupid two by four." You know and then everybody says,
"Well that would be sill to get mad at the two by four and Master Shantideva
says, "Why?" And they say, "Well is wasn't the two by four that hit me, I mean,
the two by four did the direct damage, but if it, if the guy hadn't picked it up and
swung it the two by four would have been sitting on the ground and I would
have walked by and I would have never got hit by the two by four. It's what
impells the two by four, it's what sets the two by four in motion is what I should
get mad at and that's that guy, you know, I should get mad at him. It's true that
the stick did the damage, but iit couldn't ahve done anything, it's powerless
without this guys motivation and the guys desire to hit me. It's the guy I should
get mad at, it's silly to get mad at the stick. You don't see people in the street
jumping on sticks that hit them, they, they are punhcing the guy who hit them
with the stick. Why? Because they impelled the stick, they mad the stick move.
So Master Shantideva says, "{tsa!}", you know"{tsa!}", "I got you now!". You
know, so the guy is the same. And the guy says, what do you mean the guy is
the same? And Master Shantideva says, "The guy is not under control of himself,
he's being moved by anger, he is being driven by his anger, he is being moved
by his mental afflictions, you can't blame him. You have to blame the guy who is
moving the stick and you have to blame the guy that's moving th guy and that's
anger. So if you want to get pissed off, get pissed off at anger and you've got
enough in your own mind that you can concentrate on, by the way." [laughs]
It's very coool, and it's true. It's perfectly logical. "Don't get mad at the stick, you
should get mad at the stick, why?" It's the thing that hit you. "Yeah, but I
shouldn't get mad at the stick, there's lots of two by fours in New York that
didn't hit me, you know, it's because this guy has swung it. The two by four
itself is hopeless, helpless, it can't do anything by itself, it takes a guy to pick it
up." Well then you should stop getting mad at the guy. "Why?" Because he is
being totally controlled by his anger, as much as the stick is being controlled by
the guy. You can't blame the guy anymore, you have to fight what? The anger.
And you can't even fight his anger, because you've got plenty in your own mind.
So you should go on a campaign against anger and you should start with your
own anger. Next time somebody hits you with a stick. You should go on a big
campaign against anger and you should start at home." You know, that's his
arguement. Okay I think we have one more, let's see. Yeah.

Hector:  Who is it that actually created the object that brings us anger"
Contemplation Number Twelve

" I myself in days gone by perpetuated this very harm on other living being and
so it is right that living beings should act in a way that does harm to me now.
Their weapons and this body of mine, both of them provide the causes for this
pain to come. They produce the weapon and I produce the body. At which
should I be angry? This blister in the shape of a man, unbearable if someone
touches it, filled with sufferring, it's me who, driven by blind desire, grasps to it.
So who deserves my anger when someone harms it. Children want no
sufferring, but at the same time, they thirst for the things that bring them pain.
If sufferring comes to you becaue of some fault of your own, why feel hate for
others? Take for example, the guards of hell and forests filled with trees with
leaves made of the blades of swords. Every one of them was created by the
deeds that you did yourself. Who then deserves your anger?"

Okay, last argument and then we'll go home. Where did the world come from if
it wasn't made by this big dude with a beard. We used to have Rick Feilds, he
looked just like God, that guy. If it didn't come from nowhere and it didn't come
from some guy, then where did it come from? You know, it's very, very
important to identify, where did the things that make you angry come from?
Okay, who made your boss, you know, who made your boss? And we've talked
about it many times. If you haven't been in this class before I will go over it one
more time. We say that the boss is empy. We say that by himself, if you just
very objectively look at it, the boss is just a bunch of colours and shapes, okay,
today he is red, ysterday he was white. Yesterday his nouth was aligned and
now his mouth is a circle. [laughter] Yesterday there was no noise, no decibles
coming out, now there are decibles coming out. Okay, but in and of itself, it's
just decibles and it's just shapes and it's just colours, untill you interpret it a
certain way. Like when that bos comes in and starts making noise, if he was
talking Alainian and screaming at you in Albainian, you know, you'd be like, is
he mad or not. If you have ever heard someone speak Vietnamese, if you heard
someone speak Vietnamese in an excited way, you can't tell if they are mad or if
they are happy. You know, it's like "raa raa raa ra". You know, I mean, and so if
he were speaking some language you didn't know, if it were just noises and if it
were just colours and just differrent shapes, you know, if would be just like
watching colors on a paint... you know just slopping paint on something. You
know you are not sure how to take it yet. And in fact that is just what the world
is, it's just that. It's just a bunch of shapes and colors. And high sounds and low
sounds and loud sounds and soft sounds, okay. Untill something else happens
that's all there is. What is the something else that happens? Your mind
interprets it a certain way. Your mind organizes in a certain way. Your mind
says, "Boss, loud, angry, yelling at me." You know, your mind chooses to
interpret it a certain way. In and of himself he is only colours and shapes. In and
of, you can imagine it, you know, turn off your mind and open your eyes. It's
not Roy anymore, it's just a bunch of blue and some brown and you know.
Okay, turn off your mind and look around again. It's just colors shapes, noises, it
doesn't mean anything untill something else happens. What? Your mind
interprets, your mind starts to organize. How does it organise? I like him, I
don't like him. You know, He's yelling, he's not yelling. You know, she's pretty,
she's not pretty. You know, like that' your mind starts to make distinctions.
They are not self existent, they do not exist in those objects by themselves. Some
of the musiic that you like, other people hate. The music that you think is the
best music in the world. You turn it on for your friends and they are like......
[laughter. Or you says, wait, I'm gonna cook you this really good dinner. You
know, I learned this in Thailand, you know. And you make it and they say,
"Interesting.", you know, [laughter]. It means that, that is not self existent. the
music is not self existent, your favorite song is not self existent. Your favourite
food is not self existent. It's just a bunch of colors, it's just a bunch of shapes, it's
just a bunch of sounds it's just a bunch of tastes. Whether or not the mind
chooses to call it delicious or not, is up to each persons mind. They are not self
existent, okay. Does that mean that next tme Dr, Sykes comes to my house I can
give him a big plate of cow pie. [laughter] And tell him, listen Dr. Sykes, it's all
in your mind. This is a circular brown thing and cheesecake is a circular brown
thing, and all you have to do Dr. Sykes is to think of it as cheesecake and take a
big bite, you know. And, you know, can you do that? Does it work? It doesn't
work. I mean, what I 'm trying to say is that, it's true that the world is a result of
your mind organizing it a certain way, but it is not a matter of choice. It is not a
matter of choice. Okay, things are empty, things don't have their own nature
and it's true that you do give them their nature and that your mind imputes it in
a unique way to you, but it's not a matter of choice. We wish that is was, we
would be in a Budha feild right now, okay. Something is being forced on you,
you don't have a choice. You can even be aware that things are empty. You
could even be aware that a cowpie could be a cheesecake, but you can't change it
by decision, you can't change it by will power, what does it take? You have to
change your karma. Can you do that in five minutes? Absolutely not. Okay.
That perception of. That organization of theose colors and shapes is being forced
on you by your past karma. You ain't got no choice, you are gonna see it as a
cow pie for now, [laughs]. And if a deity came in there, if a Tantric Deity came in
the room, the ambrosia of immortality, cheesecake. Really, the same object, the
same colors and shapes. Buddhas have this quality, called {ro chog nung}. No
matter what they eat. They could eat pure poo. It tastes like ambrosia to them.
Why? Because their mind is being forced by their past good deeds to organize it
that way. What does this have to do with what we are talking about. Where did
that guy come from that pissed you off? Was it made by God? No, it's a bunch
of colors and shapes and noises that your mind is interpreting as an evil person
that is attacking you. Why? Because of your own past karma. And if you want
to see this guy again and if you want to see him yell at you again, what's the best
thing to do? Get angry. And according to Buddhism, that's the only way to get
him back in your room that way. You know, if you stop being angry, he might
come in as a Tanric Deity next time. Okay. So the worst thing you can do is to
get angry. Master Shantideva says, "Come on, wake up, the world wasn't
created by God, and the world wasn't created by nothing. The world is created
by your reactions to the world. Stop reacting negatively ar else you are gonna
have a, what did you say on that T-shirt? Nevermind. [laughs] The world is
gonna suck, okay. The whole world is like that. Stop collecting bad karma, stop
being angry. He says, that. Last argument, I always keep saying last, right?
This si really the last argument. Shantideva says, "Look, who's fault is it? Who
put your body here? Who brought your body here?" And this, you have to
understand samsara, you know, sufferring world of rebirth. It has three realms.
Form realm, formless realm and desire realm. It says there are three realms.
And, and you're in a place called the desire realm, and once you are in a place.
Once you are here, you have to get attacked by other people and your body will
get hurt and cut and sick, you don't have any choice. Once to park the body in
the desire realm, you are stuck and you will suffer, by the nature of that body.
This nature must suffer, this mind must suffer. Okay, and I tell you, up till the
day that you see emptiness directly, you will see the three realms. You know, it's
like up till now, you are taking my word for it. The day you see emptiness
directly, you see directly, after you come out of the emptiness experience that
you really are in the desire realm, and it really is true that everything here must
suffer. And that it really is true that if you are in this realm with me and you are
who you seem to be, which I don't know. You came here because you had some
mental afflictions. You were thrown here by your bad karma. If you are here it
proves that you have bad karma. It's very interesting. You cannot be in this
realm, with us here, unless you were really doing some bad karma and you will
suffer. Once you are in this realm, which you were when your mom gave birth
to you, you are gonna suffer. Period, you must suffer and this body must suffer.
So why are you getting mad at other people for? You know, who parked you
here? Who brought you here? You know, who set up all the nice causes for you
to take birth here? You nkow, who gave you this body? This body must suffer,
this mind must suffer, if it's in the desire realm. If you park your body, if you
stop and gt off in the desire realm you must suffer, so who are you gonna
blame" Get honest, be honest with yourself. Who put you here? And not only
that you like it here. Okay, like Shantideva gets very heavy. Like, not only that,
you think it's nice here. There's this joke in Tibet, you know, there's these two
flies that are sitting on a peice of shit, and one says to the other, "I don't think
that I would like it in the Buddha feild." And the other says, "Well, why?" You
know and he says, "I don't think they have any shit there." You know,
[laughter], you know, it's a Tibetan joke, okay. Master Shantideva says, "You
park your body here, you, you invested in this body and you, you like it and
you grab on to it and you say, this is me." You know, "this is Michael Roach, this
is the best body, this is the best mind. I like samsara, I like the desire realm, you
know I want to be the best in the desire realm, I want ev
eything that the desire realm has to offer." Well it's you who are getting attached
to something that has to suffer. You know, if you want to blame anybody, don't
blame the guy who's hitting your body, blame the guy who made your body ad
blame the guy who is grasping on to your body going cool body, nice body, I
really like this body. You know, blame that guy, because that is the guy who is
really causing the trouble. Okay, once you have a body like this someone is
going to hurt it. Once youhave a mind like this, you're gonna suffer. And not
only did you, not only were you so stupid to park it here, but you, you like it
here. So what do you expect? Quit getting angry at people. You should get
angry at who? At yourself. You brought yourself here and you keep yourself
here. And it's bad, it's really, really bad, it's a serious situation, it's very, very,
how do you say? It's a matter of life or death. It's a terrible realm to be in.
Deadly, Deadly and very painful. Nothing can happen in thei realm except pain.
And you put yourself here and you keep youself here and you're not doing
anything to get out of it. And you're kind of like half heartedly meditating in the
morening, fifteen, "oh do I have to do twenty minutes?" "He said I had to do
twenty minutes." You know, it means that you like it here. It means that
youreally prefer it out in the world.             You prefer the coffee shop to
enlightenment, you really do. Because you are always whining about the hour
that you have to meditate. It's proof, it proves it, you like the desire realm and
it's going to burn you. You know, the nature of this body ad the nature of theis
mind is to suffer nad if you son't get out of it while you have the strength and
the chance, then stop getting angry. You chose that, that's your choice. That's
the last arguement. Yeah.

student: [unclear]

This realm is a good realm to be in if you want to be a Buddhist because you can
think cleary, as opposed to a hell realm where they are in so much pain that can't
have a clear thought in their whole life. And it's better than a higher realm
because they have so much comfort that they don't want to get out. So we have
this very nice situation, where life sterts nice and then gets worse and worse. So
somewhere in between, you should become a Buddhist and study and and get
out. There is one more question on your homework that I forgot and then we'll
quit. For those on the Tibetan track. There are four important words, in Tibatan
for a changing thing and I want you to know them, okay. Sorry. Tibetan track
people should know those four. Say, {ngupo}, [repeat], {ngupo}, [repeat].
{Ngupo}, if you are a translator and you are learning to be a translator, it can
mean in general, anything. But it can mean more specifically, anything that does
something, "A functional thing." Say, {mi takpa}, [repeat], very often translated
as impermanent, but that is a mistake. The mind is {mitakpa}, but it's not
impermanent, it's permanent. Okay, {mi takpa}, means, "a changing thing." Say,
{du chepa}, [repeat], {du chepa}, [repeat]. This si a trick one, they say agregated
thing or composed thing, and they haven't understood the full meaning of the
word. It's {gyu dang kyen duney, chu te chu}, which means, "A thing which is
produced by causes, the thing which is produced by the convening of causes",
oaky. "Produced by causes." Composed thing or aggregated thing is a mistake
because empty space, for example is a composed thing, it's composed of the four
directions, and there is no way that it is changing. It's a mistranslation, a very
serious mistranslation. Say {chepa}, [repeat], {chepa}, means "a produced thing".
Okay, something that was made. What's the point of talkng about these four?
They are absolutely synonymous, every onne is absolutely equivalent to the
others. They all mean exactly the same thing. There is no one of them which is
any one of them and is not the other three. If you are making anything, if you
are doing anything if you are preforming any funtion, you are changing, you
were caused, you were made. And that's very profound. Okay, that in itself
disproves the idea of an eternal god. These four are synonyms. There's no thing
which is one of them which is not the other three. They are totally, {kyaba
nyamba}, which means "totaly the same set of things", and you have to get used
to that, you have to think about it. Anything which has a cause is changing,
anything which does anything is changing, anything which does anything had a
cause. Anything that doesn't do anything, doesn't have a cause. Anything which
didn't have a cause can't do anything, God can't do anything. Can't think
anything, can't do anything, if it's unchanging, if it's not caused or if no one made
him, and no one did make him because he made everything and he didn't have
time to make himself in the meantime, and you gotta get used to it. It's totally,
it's tight. It's tight logic. You gotta overcome your childhood. You can put it in
the category of Santa Clause and stuff, you know. It takes time. And I'm not
trying to be disrespectful, but what I'm trying to say is that untill you realize that
you are creating all of these objects that make you angry, you are in deep
trouble. Okay, you must realize and you must admit that you are creating them.
You must realize and recognize that you are creating them. And therefore, it's
totally insane to be angry at them, because you are just creating more every
time you are angry, you know. And this is the real path to freedom. This is the
real way to get out of samsara. To get out of suffering you must admit and
understand that the person who made it is you. And the last thing you want to
do is create more. So you have to stop. Thats cessation, alright. Okay, we'll do a
short prayer. Sorry to keep you late, but I always do that.

prayer: [short mandala]

prayer: [dedication]

[cut]
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Course XI: Guide to the Bodhisattvas Way of Life, Part II