ACI 14 «Лоджонг: развитие доброго сердца», занятие 1

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Asian Classics Institute
Course 14: Lojong, Developing the Good Heart




presented by Geshe Michael Roach
(RAW TRANSCRIPT)

New York
May-June 1998
The eight verses of Developing the Good Heart in ACI standard pronunciation.

Lojong sikgye ma by Dorje Senge – Diamond Lion

1.
dakni semchen tenchela
yishin norbu le hakpoy
dunchok druppoy sempa yu
tragtu chupar dzinpar shog.

2.
gangdu sudang gokpoy tse
daknyi kunle manta shing
shanla sampa tagpayi
choktu chupar dzinpar shog

3.
julam kuntu rang gyula
togching nyong mong kyema tag
dak shanma rung jepo na
tsantab dongne logpar shog.

4.
rangshin nganpoy semchen ni
digduk dragpu nontong tse
rinchenter dang padpa shin
nyepar kawe chuzin shog.

5.
dakla shengyi trakdokgi
shekurla sokgmi rikpay
gyongka ranggi lenpa dang
gelka shenla bulwar shok.

6.
gangla dakgi pentak poy
rewa chewa gangshik gi
shintu mirik nuje na-ang
she-nyen dampar tawar shok.

7.
dorna nuo dang gyupayi
pende manam kunla bul
mayinu dang dukngel kun
sangwe dakla lenpar shok.

8.
dedak kunkyang chugyeki
tokpoy drime mabak pak
chukun gyumar shepayi
shenpay chingwa le drul shok.
Lojong, Developing the Good Heart
Class One:
May 26, 1998



Okay. Welcome. I’m sorry it’s so hot and oh, we have to do prayers.
(Laughter)
[prayer:short mandala]
[prayer: refuge]
Okay. We’ll try that again. I’m sorry it’s so hot and we … I don’t think we were
supposed to be down here but it sounds like there’s a nice choir out there so
looks like that. After tonight we’ll be up in the main church up there and it’ll be a
lot more comfortable so try to bear with it, okay? It’s a lot bigger up there and
more comfortable. All right?
This class subject is … yes?
Say {lojong}[repeat] {lojong} [repeat] (blo sbyong)
{Lo} means head and {jong} means water. It’s a sweating practice. Not really
(laughs). (Laughter) Okay. Maybe {lo} means mind (laughs). {Lo} means mind
and {jong} is an interesting word. It can mean to make pure, like the same root
is used for Buddha in Tibetan. {jangchub}, {jang} means purified, meaning a
Buddha, a pure being. {jang} can also mean to practice something like {lu tse
jang} means to practice sports, like to practice football or something like that is
called {jang}. And so there the word {jong} can mean … I mean, when a Tibetan
hears {jong} they think of pure, making something pure and then they think of
practising something, okay. So you’ve seen it translated as mental training,
some kind of mental training. And when I heard it translated that way I was
thinking it sounds like something that would raise your IQ. You know, mental
training sounds like maybe interesting, you know, maybe I can finally figure
things out, you know, like that. Mental training. It sounded like some kind of
intellectual exercises or something like that. And it has another meaning. It has
a different meaning and it’s some kind of very radical behaviour modification
therapy, all right. Very, very radical behaviour modification, all right. And, you
know, those of you who were in the last class, the survivors (laughter), I was
kind of disappointed because a whole bunch of people stayed the whole class. It
was like seventy people. I think we started with a hundred and thirty-five and it
was a very hard class. I mean, it was logic. We counted up the pages of
readings; it was three hundred and fifty pages of readings. It was a really, really
hard class and that was Buddhist logic, how to make syllogisms, how to prove
things. It was very, very complicated and very difficult. This class is totally,
totally different, okay. I mean, you're going from one extreme to the other, all
right? {lojong}, a typical {lojong} text is one page long. All right. So like, in
Tibet you have [b: Lam Rim Chenmo], Buddhist teaching, thousand pages long.
You have the monks vow books in the Kangyur, sixteen thousand pages of how
to be a good monk, you know. And Perfection of Wisdom, nine hundred pages
for the tiny one, okay. The other one is twelve times larger, okay. And then
you’ve got {lojong} and the {lojong} you're getting tonight is one page long in
Tibetan, okay, and we’re going to study it for two sessions. We’re going to
spend four hours on one page of {lojong}. {lojong} is totally different than logic
or philosophy or something like that. {lojong} is something that is meant to
change your behaviour forever and it’s meant to be used at work. Okay? It’s
not something for … you can use it for a meditation session and they have
meditation sessions built on {lojong}, but {lojong} is something that’s meant to
be applied at work, with your family, with your husband or wife, with your
kids; something like that. Okay. {lojong} is meant to be applied in your life all
day long. It’s not almost a Buddhist thing I think, you know, and it’s a major
change in how you relate to other people and very much more difficult than
logic. Okay. Much more difficult than philosophy. And I’m not just being, you
know, like the Dalai Lama is so heart … you know, from his heart he speaks and
he’s so inspiring. I’m not being like big friendly religious talk, you know. It’s
really true that it’s much harder to study a {lojong} than Buddhist logic or
advanced philosophy. It’s much more difficult, okay. So we’re going to go
through a {lojong}. To get the feeling for {lojong} and the point of {lojong} and
what {lojong} is supposed to do for you. I tell people I was on a plane. I was
eighteen years old. I was going from Phoenix to Washington DC. I had never
been out of … you know, I had never been on a plane like that and I was all by
myself and I was going for a trip and I was all scared and I … we took off and we
were flying and flying and flying and then we got to Chicago and they said we
reached Chicago so I'm like planning how do I get to the airport and what do I
do. And then they started to circle in the air around Chicago and they circled
and they circled. And then they started to … the plane started to dive and then
come up again, you know. So it would dive, like really sharp. And then they
would stop and they would shoot up again and it was very foggy and we were
all shaken up, you know, we don’t know what they’re doing and the plane’s like,
going like this, and they keep going like this. And then the stewardess comes
down the aisle and she’s shaking, you know, like this. (Laughter) And she’s …
and she … finally she goes in the back and she breaks into tears and like,
whimpering. And we’re all like … (laughter) … (laughs) and it was really, really,
you know, I can’t tell you what it felt like. I can’t describe what it felt like. It was
really weird and she was just breaking down in the corner and then they flew
around in circles for a while more and then finally they came on the thing and
they said, ‘we can’t get the landing gear down.’ And so we’re trying to jar it
loose. And so, you know, we’re going into these dives and stuff. And we can’t
get it down. It’s not coming down. And then they said, we can’t do anything
and they can’t see us on the ground because of the fog so we’ve gone by the
control tower a few times and they can’t see us. So we have no way to know if
the landing gear came down or not. We don’t even know. None of the
equipment is working. And … so they said, we’re going to circle until we run
out of fuel, just short of running out of fuel so that when we crash you all won't
burn to death (laughs), you know. And it was very weird, you know (laughter).
And it had been a normal flight and people complaining about the food and
people talking about the movie and people gossiping and all sorts of human
interaction, you know, people getting irritated at other people, fighting for the
arm-rest, you know, and it had been a normal flight and the stewardess was this
pretty happy person and now she’s sobbing in the corner. And it was really
weird.
And then the other stewardess who wasn’t crying came around and … we had
to take off all jewellery because it would burn through your hand, you know,
like, all … everyone had to take their jewellery off and keep it away from their
body because it would melt and it would go through your fingers. And then
everyone would have to take their shoes off. Anyone without normal running
shoes had to take their shoes off so you could run faster. And it was really
weird. And then they said like two minutes before we go down you’re all going
to have to get into this posture and let’s practice it, you know. And … so
everybody was, you know, we went down behind the seats and you’re
supposed to put your head down and that was the worst because you can’t see
anybody else and all you can do is think, you know, and think about what’s
going to happen, you know. And it was really weird to think that, you know,
when we hit that you’re going to be in that position all by yourself and thinking
about it and it was really weird. And we had like fifteen, twenty … we had
more, I think it was like an hour. And we circled. And something very different
happened, you know, like I almost cry sometimes when I think about it.
Everyone started to love each other and everyone started to serve each other
and I never saw anything like it, you know, it was like, unbelievable. And
people were hugging each other and people were pouring water for each other
and people were helping old ladies and old ladies were helping young people
(laughs), you know, and it was … everyone in the plane, there was this feeling
that I've never felt in my life and the stewardess was the only one that freaked
out and everybody else was (laughs) (laughter) … everybody else was hugging
each other and saying, you know, which town are you from, you know, and
how many kids you got. And they were hugging each other and helping each
other and talking about what they’re going to do if they survive and stuff and it
was weird, it was really, really weird. And this feeling I’ve never felt it in my life
and … you know, and then we landed and the landing gear held and … There
were hearses lined up on the runway and ambulances and twenty, thirty hearses
and it was just weird. And we got off the plane and everybody’s looking around
and then the feeling disappeared, you know. And everybody rushed to get their
baggage, you know (laughs) (laughter), and it was back to this thing and it was
really weird. But just the feeling in the plane at that moment, that’s {lojong},
okay. That’s real {lojong}, okay, and if we have a good {lojong} class that’s the …
that’s where we’re headed. That’s what you’re trying to do in this class, okay.
The homeworks aren’t like … there’s homeworks that I have to make up
something, right? But it’s not the point. This class, of all the classes, you got to
do it at work, okay. And the goal of this class, {lojong}, really means to try to
develop that heart that I had on the plane, you know, it’s try to develop that
feeling in your heart about the people around you, okay. Because we are in the
plane, you know. Like, everybody around us is dying. I went back to work
today after six months; two people died, you know. And it was so sad and
people started … got a little big of {lojong} and then there were extra orders for
JC Penny and disappeared again, you know. And … but we’re all in the plane,
there’s no difference between this room and that plane at all. Right? I mean, we
don’t know that we’re not going to die tonight. Anyone in this room will die.
Somebody will die, you know. When I was at work no one would guess the
people that died. They were … one was a big executive, healthy, you know, tall,
strong, rich, powerful, you know. And the other one was this very, very sweet,
gentle, religious lady running a big department and you know, it doesn’t matter,
they died, you know. And we’re all in the same feeling. Everyone around you is
suffering. Everyone around you is having a bad life, you know (laughs), and
everyone around you is nervous and scared and depressed at times, and we’re
all in the same aeroplane. And the aeroplane’s going down and everybody in
this room is going to die and you're going to lose everything you ever worked
for and you're going to lose any person you love in this life. All your family you
will lose, you know, it’s just a question of a few years, maybe, or maybe sooner
than that. So why not have that feeling about each other? What’s the difference?
Do you see what I mean? What’s the difference between being in this room and
being in the plane? There is no difference but we just have trouble doing it, you
know. Master Shantideva says and they quote in {lojong} texts, {jong} means
you have to practice it, you see, you have to get used to that. You have to … it’s
called developing a good heart, okay. Developing the good heart. I don’t like
the translation, mental training. You know, to me it sounds like IQ training or
something like that. It’s not that. You are seeking to get the feeling about other
people that was going on in that aeroplane and you're seeking to live like that all
day long. And {lojong} means you got to practice it and you have to develop it
because it’s not natural for us, you know. We’re selfish, we worry about
ourselves, we’re worried about that we should get what we want, we’re not
thinking much about other people, we’re struggling to make a living or to get
ahead at work or … we’re not really thinking about the other people around and
we’re not really sensitive to the fact that everybody in this room is dying at the
same rate. You know, and we’re all in the same thing. You and me are going to
lose every good thing we have, period, everything. And still we struggle like
children to get something and it’s useless, it’s hopeless, you won't get anything.
If you get it you’ll lose it, you know, and then you’re struggling your whole life
to get something that you’re going to lose anyway. You know, how many …
it’s cool to watch children inherit stuff from their parents. The parents live to
give stuff to the children. You know, I'm not happy but at least my kids will be,
you know. And they collect things, like a house or money. And then … I don’t
know if you’ve ever watched it happen. It happens over and over again. Then
the kids get the house and they get the money and they just blow it. You know.
I did mine in (laughs) … my mother died, she worked to pay for this house for
twenty years, you know. Me and my brothers spent the money in six months,
you know. And that place was gone. You know, and all that twenty years of
work was gone in six months, you know. And it’s … everything’s going to be
like that. You know, don’t kid yourself. Everything you try to collect or achieve
or … like that, it’s over with, you know, there’s no … there’s nothing like that.
You don’t have anything to look forward to. All the people in this room who
are depressed are right, you know (laughs, laughter). You know. And that’s the
way (laughs, laughter) … that’s the way it is. So why fight with each other, you
see? That’s the point. Why struggle with each other. What’s the point of
struggling with each other? We’re all in the same boat. We’re all going to die
sadly, so what’s the point of having any bad feelings between each other, you
know? All day long why do we do it, you know, and we do it because according
to Buddhism thousands of years of past history, you know, you can't stop it. The
purpose of {lojong}, the meaning of {lojong} is to change your heart and it’s
hard, it’s very hard. But it’s true, okay, nothing I said tonight is like … I’m not
trying to prove future lives or hell realms to you or hungry beings or hungry
ghosts or something like that. You can’t deny anything I said already. That’s
your condition, that’s where we are. You know. You can't deny it. So why not
enjoy things with each other? Why not be good to each other? But it’s … you
have to practice, you have to get used to it and that’s what {jong} means, okay,
{jong}. Okay. So {lojong} means developing the good heart. Okay. Developing
a good heart. I'm going to give you a … I like in the class to pull out some
Tibetan to back up what I say. Nothing in this class is done except by original
sources, okay.     And I'm going to give you a quotation from {Changkya
Rinpoche}, okay.

Say {Changkya} [repeat] {Rinpoche}[repeat] (ltsang skya rin po che)
{Changkya} is a line of lamas, it’s like the dalai lamas or the {panchen lamas} and
the {Changkyas …} this {Changkya} lived 1642 to 1714. He’s famous because he
was the teacher of the Emperor of China so when you talk about politics
between Tibet and China, really the old relationship between Tibet and China
was very sweet and very beautiful and often times great Tibetan lamas would go
to the court of the Chinese Emperor and actually become their lamas and their
teachers. And there was this big thing that when they got there the Emperor
had to sit down on the ground and lama would sit up on the throne because this
is the proper relationship between a lama and their student, okay. And it used to
be very sweet. It looks like this might happen again, nowadays. I mean, there
are indications from China that are very interesting. As China becomes more
affluent and as they get over the hurdle of needing money and things like that, it
seems like there’s a big movement of lamas into China teaching and there’s a big
interest in Tibetan Buddhism starting. And it’s very beautiful to watch. It looks
like that might be the way to free Tibet, you see. And anyway, I like Changkya
Rinpoche because he epitomised the proper relationship between the Chinese
and the Tibetans which was Buddhism. And both of them Buddhists. And there
were Chinese teachers who came to Tibet and they were honoured and Tibetans
studied with them and there was this beautiful between the Tibetan and the
Chinese Buddhists. And I think it should be like that, you know, that’s my hope
for Tibet. And I think it can happen in the next … you know, I spoke to some
Americans working in West China yesterday and they said this is happening and
there’s factories cranking out Dharma books in Chinese and there are brilliant
young Chinese in the United States helping translate Tibetan books. And it looks
nice, it looks very possible. I think it would just be one huge Buddhist country
together and looks very interesting.
Anyway, {Changkya Rinpoche was the key in those days between the Chinese
Emperor and the Tibetan lamas. He’s a former life of a lama named {Pabongka
Rinpoche}, okay. They used to ask {Pabongka Rinpoche}, ‘Are you {Changkya
Rinpoche}?’ And he said, ‘Well, I do like those Chinese sedan chairs that they
carry around.’ (Laughs, laughter) And, you know, originally he was recognised
as {Changkya Rinpoche} and they kept it quiet because there was some political
problems in those days and that was connected with the Chinese government so
they decided to announce that he was {Pabongka Rinpoche} but he’s not, he
wasn’t, he was {Changkya Rinpoche}. And that’s in his biography. And he says,
I’m not a bit tulku and I don’t remember my past lives, but I sure do like China
(laughs), and I sure do like Chinese things and every time I see a Chinese thing I
think I'm not … I think of some other place where I used to live and it looks like
he was, you know, and he keeps denying it very gently and his mother kept
telling about all these dreams she'd had when he was … before he was born.
{Changkya Rinpoche} says a very beautiful thing about {lojong} and I’m going to
put it up here in Tibetan and I like it because I think it shows you what the word
{lojong} means, what it really means, okay. I always wondered what mental
training was, you know, I thought they would take me into a room and have a
bunch of IQ tests and, you know, that if I worked hard I would get smarter. I
like the way he defines {lojong}. This is kind of {long}. This is the longest you’re
going to get tonight so appreciate it. I am … you are not going to have major
homework in this class. The major homework in this class is going to be done at
work with that person you can’t stand (laughs) (laughter), okay. All right. By the
way, if you’re new don’t worry about all the Tibetan. You don’t have to do the
Tibetan. That comes second class you come to. No. But you can do it in either
track, you can do it in English or Tibetan, doesn’t matter. You can answer your
homeworks in English; you’re quite welcome to. Half the people in this room
whose Tibetan is quite good said they would never learn Tibetan, okay, and we
have a couple of good Tibetan teachers here. And I remember the first night
they came to class and they had no clue they were going to learn Tibetan, okay,
and now they're quite good at it. There’s this one nun who swore she’d never
learn Tibetan (laughs, laughter). Now every time you meet her you say, {Tashi
Delek}, and she gives you this long commentary on the meaning of each word
and then she starts telling you other words that you don’t want to know about
(laughter) (laughs). {sempa chenpo langri tangpa dorje seng-ge dzepay jangchub
semjong gi dampa tsikgye mar drakpa} (sems dpa’ chen po glang ri thang pa rdo rje
seng ges mdzad pa’I byang chub sems sbyong gi gdams pa tsigs brgyad mar grags pa)
Okay, we’ll go ahead. Those of you who are carving it can finish later. We are
creating a CD-ROM with two thousand books on it that we saved from Tibet and
a lot of people here are … I mean, I counted up. There is like thirty people
working on it and this book … we came across this book, this is by the first
{Changkya Rinpoche}. This is by {Pabongka Rinpoche} in his former life and it’s
an explanation of a famous {lojong}, okay. The person who wrote that {lojong}
is called {Dorje Seng-ge}; so this part right here. Okay.
Say {Dorje} [repeat] {Seng-ge} [repeat] {Dorje Seng-ge} [repeat].
{Dorje} means diamond, okay. Do means stone and {je} means the king and
{dorje} or {dorje}, it means the king of stones. In Sanskrit it’s {vajra}, okay, {vajra},
and it means a diamond. If you’ve ever seen that thing they hold in their hands
which is called a {vajra}, that little thunderbolt thing, okay, it’s interesting that
that’s a perfect diamond crystal. You know, I’m a diamond maestro and, you
know, I studied these things for many years and that’s the natural shape of a
perfect diamond crystal. It’s called a twin crystal and they come in octahedrons,
so that double-dorje or the two things coming off of the spoke is the natural
shape of a real diamond. And that’s why a diamond on a playing card is like that
or a baseball diamond. That’s the natural shape that they come in. And it has
very, very profound meanings in Buddhism and we’re not going to go into it,
okay. Those of you who studied the Diamond Cutter know about it. {Seng-ge} is
from the … it’s a corruption of the Sanskrit, {singha}, and that means lion. Like,
there’s a small town in Malaysia that was called the village of the lions,
Singapore, and that’s how that word … it comes from the word lion. Okay. So
{Dorje Seng-ge} means Diamond Lion, lion of the diamond, and this is the name
of the author of one of the most famous {lojong}’s ever written, okay. This is the
{lojong} in The Eight Verses, okay, it’s called {Tsik-gye ma} and that’s right here.
{Tsik-gye ma}, okay. Without the {ra}. So if somebody asks you, you know,
“what {lojong}’s did you study”, you’ll say, “oh, I started with {Tsik-gye ma}”,
and they’ll say “ooh”, you know, “who wrote it”. And you’ll say “{Dorje Seng-
ge}, everybody knows that”, okay. What are his dates? 1054 to 1123. He was a
{Kadampa} (bka’ gdams pa). {Kadampa}’s were the first Buddhist fanatics of Tibet.
They met these whackie guys that came from another country. They studied
this weird language that they were speaking. They worked real hard to learn it.
They got really good at it. They started these little centers in their country where
people would get together and practice this new stuff and learn it. And then
they would try to get more teachers to come and then slowly some of them
would go to that other country and learn it and they would come back and get
better and better at it. And then they decided to translate all the books into their
language. So first they got all the books they could and made a big collection of
them. And then they started translating and they made sure they trained a lot of
people in that language.       And pretty soon the little groups became little
communities and they called them monasteries. And it started to spread all over
the whole country. And then sooner … by the end of the … pretty soon there
were like two or three million monks and nuns and everybody was practicing
and it’s pretty amazing. Okay. These were the {Kadampa}s. They were the first
generation Buddhists, okay. They were the … kind of the weird ones that chose
a new way. All right. And the {lojong} was very popular among the {Kadampa}
s. The {Kadampa}s generally started around 1,000, okay, so you’ll see most of
the books we’re studying they come from 1,000. These were especially designed
as Buddhism moved into its new country for the people to apply it right away at
work, okay, and those were the {Kadampa}s, first Buddhists of the new country.
All right. If they hadn’t worked so hard we wouldn’t have any Buddhism. By
the time Buddhism reached its peak in Tibet they had written two hundred
thousand books about Buddhism, okay. It’s the largest collection of religious
books in the world really, okay, and high quality religious commentary. And
they had converted it completely to their own language and spread it
throughout the country, okay. And then slowly the original books disappeared,
there are no … very few Sanskrit books left. The whole thing was transmitted
and brought into the new country, okay, and that’s the way it has to go. So
these are very famous early Buddhists. He has another name, {Dorje Seng-ge},
which is {Langri Tangpa} and sometimes you see his name as {Langri Tangba},
okay. This guy … this means the guy from the plains of {Langri}. It means like
Mr Iowa or Kansas or something like that {Langri Tangba} just means the guy
from Kansas or something like that, okay, {Langri Tang} is a place, it’s a plateau
in Tibet. So {Langri Tangpa} means the guy from {Langri Tang}. Okay.
By the way, he was {sempa chenpo} (sems dpa’ chen po). {Sempa chenpo} means
great bodhisattva; high level bodhisattva. Technically speaking a bodhisattva
with a high realization of emptiness.           With a high level of emptiness
understanding, okay, he was a {sempa chenpo}. And he made {dze}{depay}, he
made something we call … {drakpa} means we call in this case, okay, something
we call … he made a book that we call the {Tsik-gye mar}, okay, that’s right
here, {Tsik-gye mar}. In fact, I think I misspelt it. This should be … okay. There
should be an extra {sa} here [tsigs], okay. {tsik} means verses, okay. This whole
book that you’re going to study … the last book you studied was about a
thousand pages long, the last class was based on about a thousand pages of
material. The {b: Lojong Tsik-gye ma} is one page long. I saw a bunch of
satisfied smiles, okay. {tsik} means verse. {gye} means eight, okay. Eight
verses. That’s all there is. There’s eight little verses of poetry and that’s the
whole {lojong}. And that’s the way it’s going to be so take heart. Those of you
who survived the logic class, this is your karma (laughs, laughter) that by being
patient with that class you’ve gained this class where your whole homework is
like one thing, one page. Okay. {Tsik-gye}, {Tsik-gye} means eight verses. {Tsik-
gye ma}, okay, {Ma}. It’s a tradition in Buddhism that books are named after
women, okay, it’s like hurricanes used to be … or ships. Because a woman is
considered the epitome of wisdom and of knowledge and of power, okay, the
know… the power of wisdom or the power of knowledge, okay (laughs,
laughter). Thank you. And even the Heart Sutra, the real name of the [b: Heart
Sutra] is {bhagawati}, {Chomden Dema}, which means the Woman Buddha, the
woman conqueror, okay, and it’s because the woman, the feminine epitomizes
wisdom and knowledge, okay. So the {Tsik-gye} also has a feminine ending,
{Tsik-gye ma}, okay; it means the book in eight verses, all right, the book in
eight verses, okay, and that’s the {lojong} we’re going to study. We’ll spend
today on it and we’ll spend next Tuesday on it, okay; The Eight Verses. What’s
the purpose of those eight verses? It’s a {dampa}, okay? By the way, for those
of you who don’t know, this is the {dampa} in {Kadampa}, okay, this is dam… if
you want to know how to spell it, there it is, okay, {dampa} (gdams pa). {dampa}
means religious advice or instruction, okay. {dampa} means … it’s a special kind
of religious book where you’re lama comes and he takes you up in the room and
he sits you down and you’re real quiet for half an hour and then he tells you
some holy sweet things; that’s a {dampa}, okay. That’s what {dampa} means.
{dampa} is not in a public class, {dampa} is not in a debate ground, {dampa} is
not something you’re memorizing. {dampa} is something whispered from the
teacher to the student in a very sweet moment in the teacher’s room
somewhere, something like that, okay, all right. And that’s {dampa}. The
{Kadampa}s were called {Kadampa}s because once you get to a certain spiritual
level no matter where you are, {dampa}s keep happening to you. You know,
the boss calls you in to yell at you and all you get is this {dampa}. It sounds like
Milarepa tried to talk to you, you know, and it’s a certain spiritual level called a
{dampa}, okay; very special, very sweet, okay. So this book – says {Changkya
Rinpoche} – is a {dampa}, okay, these are like sweet little words - what do you
call it – sweet nothings that the Diamond Lion is whispering in our ear, okay, and
that’s the meaning of {dampa}, okay, {dampa}. What are you supposed to do
with this {dampa}? Oh, you're supposed to {jong}. Okay. You're supposed to
{jong}. This is the {jong} in {lojong}, okay, that’s the {jong}. So you're supposed
to develop something, you're supposed to grow something and don’t forget the
other meaning of the word {jong}; you're supposed to make something pure,
okay. All right. You know it’s a trouble to try to translate the world {lojong}
because you’ve got to get a word that means pure and means practice and
means develop, okay, very difficult. So {jong} means to try to work on
something over and over and over again until you get it right. What? Try to go
to work and get the aeroplane feeling, you know, all day long with those
irritating people there, okay. I mean, nobody complained about the movie after
they told us about the fuel and the landing gear (laughs, laughter), you know
(laughs). Nobody was arguing for another dessert or something, you know.
People forgot about food and everything. What’s the point of eating if you're
going to die in twenty minutes, you know. And life is like that, you're whole life
is like that. Try … but to try to act like that all day long, to try to reach that
behavior level all day long, that sweet feeling about other people all day long. It
does not come naturally; you have to practice, you have to do it over and over
… you have to go learn it and then you have to try to do it at work and that’s
{jong}. {Jong} means you're going to have to work your arse off about it. Okay.
It’s nice to stand up here and describe this good feeling that I had in the
aeroplane; it doesn’t come back to me very often, especially on a bad (laughs)
day. People are screaming at me, at my job, or someone’s trying to screw me or
something like that, and that’s when you have to practice, okay, because it does
not come naturally to a human being and {jong} means you’ve got to practice.
Okay, you have to … the word ‘develop’ in developing a good heart. Now we
get to the good heart part. He does not call it {lo jong}, he calls it {sem jong}.
Okay, {sem}. He does not call Diamond Lion’s book {lojong}. He says, this is not
{lojong}, this is {sem jong}, okay. You want to know what {lojong} means, this is
{sem jong}. Okay. What’s the difference between {lo} and {sem}? In English we
just have the one word, mind. In Tibetan and Sanskrit there are probably fifteen
words for mind and they all have different meanings, you see. There’s only one
word in English for what we use in Tibetan. So {sem} and {lo} are the same
thing, they mean mind, okay, a mind or thought or a wish. Okay, and that’s
called {sem}. So why does he go to the trouble to use a different word for {lo} if
it means the same thing? Why doesn’t he call Diamond Lion’s book a {lojong}
which is what it is. Why is he calling it a {sem jong}? Because it’s a {jangchub
sem jong}. Okay. And that’s the punch line for those of you who know Tibetan.
{Jangchub} means Buddhahood, okay. {Jangchub} means Buddhahood, okay.
He’s trying to say something. The ultimate compassion, the goal of Buddhism,
an extraordinary form of the aeroplane attitude, of that state of mind that we
had in the aeroplane for half an hour and then we lost it when we knew we
weren’t going to die. Seriously. That state of mind in Buddhism is called
{jangchub kyi sem}, okay, bodhichitta, okay, {jangchub kyi sem}, bodhichitta. And
the word for chitta in Sanskrit … in Tibetan is {sem}, okay. So that attitude of
feeling this sweet feeling for other people because you’re all in the same boat
and you’re all going to die so why are you fighting with each other? Who cares
who gets the promotion? You know, who cares who gets more money? You
know, who cares if it’s hot in the room or cold in the room? We’re all dying, you
know, be good to each other. You know, be kind to each other, what else is
there, what else do we have to do with each other? You all … you're going to
die and lose everything you fought for. So what’s the point, you know, at least
have a good time with each other, at least be sweet to each other. You know
what I mean, and that’s {jangchub kyi sem}, really, that’s … you know, think
about each other and try to be sweet to each other and that’s {jangchub kyi sem},
good heart, okay, I translate it good heart. I feel that translating {lojong} as
developing a good heart is the whole point, okay. What are you trying to do?
You're trying to {jong} or practice {jangchub sem}, the word {lo} is a code word
for bodhichitta, okay. You're trying to practice a good heart and that’s the whole
feeling you get from the {lojong}. When you study the {lojong} now, when you
study the first four verses which we’ll do after we take a break - we’re going to
take a break, okay – and we’ll come back and we’ll do {lojong} and you’ll get the
feeling. This is not IQ training, okay, this is trying to develop some kind of
feeling about other people where you love each other and that’s {jangchub sem
jong} is the meaning of {lojong}, okay, so I don’t want to hear mental trainings
running around much, okay. How about developing a good heart, all right.
Because that’s the meaning of the {lo} here and that’s what {Changkya Rinpoche}
said. All right. All right, we’ll do the … we’ll start the four verses after. Take
like a ten minute break. We have to finish by nine. We have to be good. And
please don’t bring any food or drink in here, okay. You can drink it outside, all
right. Little explanation about those events. {Sojong} is a special ceremony of
renewal and purification and it’s to purify yourself when you break your …
whatever your vows, your … either your freedom vows or your bodhisattva
vows or your secret vows and so it’s a special ceremony. Once a year we do a
long {sojong}, a very long one. It’s a custom during a {sojong} ritual that you
cannot take a book with you, it has to be done from your memory so Rinpoche
has been letting us kind of squeak by in the last few years. Now he’s said he’s
cracking down and he said he wants you to know. So it’s a commitment to
memorize them but it’s what you are putting in your books every day, okay, it’s
only that and the point is that if you memorize it you’ll … it’ll be easier for you
to live by it. So if you can do it it’s very good. All right. Last year he played
chicken with us and at the last minute he said, okay, you can come anyway but I
don’t think he’s going to do it this year, frankly, okay. I mean, if you want you
could try but I don’t think it’s going to work. I believe that even if you haven’t
take a … the initiation you could possibly come for the bodhisattva part but I'm
not sure, so we’ll … I’ll confirm that with him and I’ll let you know next Tuesday.
As far as teachings out of town, I never charge and I always have these conflicts
with centers where I go and they want to charge. So to make it clear, we don’t
charge and they require some kind of registration fee. If you don’t have any
money we’ll just talk about it with them, okay, so … excuse me? They have
schol… you know, they always crack … break down at the end so … don’t
worry about it, you know, send it in if you can but if you can’t you’re quite
welcome to come, you know, I’ll work it out with them, all right? We’re about
to study the first half of The Eight Verses and …
I think that’s as good as it’s going to get. This’ll be all right. Yeah. Just by
coincidence or … I don’t know, but Rinpoche has just come out with a new book
and it happens to be about The Eight Verses that came out like, I don’t know, a
week ago and after, you know, ten years and … which is like you know, twelve
pages a year. So anyway, it’s a very beautiful book on The Eight Verses. That’s
Diamond Lion there on the front. That’s a real carving from the Perfection of
Wisdom sutras from Tibet of him. And his rosary’s kind of big, I don’t know.
Anyway, it’s a really beautiful commentary that Rinpoche gave. It’s published
by our own press which is MSTP. Now, I talked Art into getting me a couple of
boxes to bring here to sell and then I got to feeling bad about selling things
because we don’t like to sell things and then some very bodhisattva student
came up to me and paid for it all. So everybody should take one. Yeah (laughs)
(applause). Who’s not clapping (laughs, laughter). Who’s not clapping? You got
to … not really. Yeah, actually we’re still short a bit so (laughs, laughter) … so,
you know, talk to the bookkeeper’s Fran Dayan, can you raise your hand. She’s
there. And there’s a box outside if you want to throw it in there. It all goes to
the same ocean of expenses. You know. But feel free to take one, okay, it’ll be
… we’ll try to put it at the door as you go out of the class, it’s a very beautiful
commentary. Yeah? Oh, technically it’s seven dollars, six ninety-five, but we do
everything free, so it’s free, okay, and if you want to help that’s fine if you can.
Don’t even think about it, okay, it really is free and we don’t want you stealing
our virtue, okay, (laughs, laughter). All right. (blo sbyong brgya rtsa). By the way,
on the book you’ll see {Geshe Langri Tangpa} and he was one of the first geshes.
Nowadays geshe {dge ba bshes gnyen} is a degree but in those days it meant
{kalyana mitra} which is spiritual friend. Spiritual, you know, buddy, and that was
the first use of the word geshe was during those days. So he was a geshe, okay.

Say {lojong} [repeat] {gyatsa} [repeat] {lojong} [repeat] {gyatsa} [repeat] (repeat).

{Lojong} means {lojong}, developing the good heart, okay. And {gyatsa} is a
special kind of book in Tibet, it means a compendium or a collection of {lojong}s,
okay. {Gya} means a hundred, {tsa} means root text and {gyatsa} is a kind of
book in Tibet where you go get a bunch of lojongs and you put them in one
book, okay. So if somebody says “what are you studying, you know, at ACI
nowadays”, you can say “{Lojong Gyatsa}”, you know. {Lojong Gyatsa} is a
special collection of all the lojong texts that was put together by this brilliant guy
about six hundred years ago and his name was … (mus chen dkon mchog rgyal
mtshon)

Say {Muchen} [repeat] {Konchok} [repeat] {Gyeltsen} [repeat]

I had no idea what {Muchen} meant so I went to see Gene Smith today and he’s
this brilliant master and, oh, he said, {Muchen}’s this little county in central Tibet
like Monmouth County. So {Muchen} means like Monmouth or something,
okay. {Konchok Gyeltsen} is his monk’s name, okay, {Konchok Gyeltsen}. We
don’t know his birth date, we don’t know his death date, fourteenth century,
okay, some time around six hundred years ago. And he put together a beautiful
collection of {lojong}s and I wish we could read all of them together. We don’t
have time. I picked out about the best … well, best … I picked out some sweet
ones, okay, you’ll be studying about six different {lojong}s during this course.
And some of them are just amazing. I'm going to go through the … this will be
in your syllabus if you have the syllabus. We’ll spend today and Tuesday on
Diamond Lion which is The Eight Verses. Which is Rinpoche’s book, okay, that
you’re going to get tonight. The next one is by {Yang Gunpa} (yang dgon pa),
class three. {Yang Gunpa} is a {Kagyu} lama, a very powerful lama and very
much respected and admired in our tradition and we study his books on
{lojong}. The next one is {Tongme Sangpo} Seven Points,[b:{Lojong} in Seven
Points] and this is a very special {lojong} that’s been studied over the centuries
and forms a big part of the {b:Lam Rim} teachings, okay. A lot of the {b:Lam
Rim} teachings are designed off of the Seven Points. Class six is going to be on
the … it’s called Freedom from Four Attachments and this is a very special
{lojong}. To me it’s so special that on Friday night for the next six weeks we’re
going to study only that, okay. So you’re going to get one class on it here but if
you’d like to know more about it you can come to the classes on Friday night.
Okay. It’s a beautiful text written by one of the most important Sakya masters
of history called {Drakpa Gyeltsen} (grags pa rgyal mtsan). {Drakpa Gyeltsen} is
special, {Jetsun Drakpa Gyeltsen}. He was not a monk. He was a layman and he
had layman’s vows. He was like Art or something, okay, and a very special
lama, very great lama. Very important in our {Vajrayogini} lineage, okay. If
you do that {sadhana} he’s in there and very, very extraordinary lama in our
tradition. Came from the {Sakyas}and we borrowed him, okay, and he’s
fantastic. And we’re going to be studying that.
The next one is called Crown of Knives, okay. Some people have translated it as
Wheel of Sharp Weapons which is a bad translation. It refers to a special … like a
throne … sorry, a crown that has like razor blades flying inside of it and
chopping up the person’s head and things like that. It comes from a sutra called
{b: Karma Be Bunga} And if we have time we’ll look at the sutra a bit but it’s a
very powerful … it’s a very powerful {lojong}, okay. Class nine is also a {Sakya
lojong} text and it’s about … it’s a very cool {lojong} about if things are going
right how you can turn it into spiritual practice and if things are going wrong,
how you can turn that into spiritual practice. So it doesn’t really matter if things
going right or wrong. It’s a way to turn everything into spiritual practice, okay.
That’s by a teacher of the {Sakya pandita}. Also in that class we’ll have
instructions on developing the good heart that came down to the master
translator of {Sumpa}. {Sumpa} is a place in Tibet. {Sumpa Lotsawa} (sum pa lo
tza ba) is a famous translator from early Tibet. And I was trying to figure out for
the syllabus … I'm trying to write … I'm in the car going to Connecticut, right -
because Fran Parella kidnapped me - and I'm sitting there trying to finish this
syllabus. And I'm trying to figure out who wrote this book, because it says it
came down from {Sumpa Lotsawa}. And I'm like studying the {lojong} and it
doesn’t … usually they don’t tell you anything; who wrote it, where it came
from, you know, I'm studying, reading, reading, reading and then finally you get
to this part. He’s a translator. He went to India to learn Sanskrit. It would be
like somebody going to Sera to learn Tibetan, okay, and he’s brought all this
gold with him because in the old days you had to pay for class … no (laughs,
laughter). It was a custom to raise as much gold as you could carry and offer to
that lama. And sometimes they would just throw it in the wind; it was gold
powder. Sometimes they would just take it and go like that. But the point was
that you had to sacrifice something for the class, you know, and it would be … I
mean, there are cases where it was your weight in gold or something. And they
would just take it and throw it into the wind or something. You know, they
didn’t care about the money. It’s a commitment from the student, you know
what I mean.       And he had all this gold and he spent it all and he learned
everything and he studied for years in India. And then he’s about to go home to
Tibet and he goes to Bodhgaya to pay tribute to the stupa one more time and
he's sitting there and these two women start talking, right? We know about
them. We already talked about it. And he’s listening and it’s just these two
women, you know, walking around the stupa and they’re talking about death
and they’re talking about not having to die. And he’s like listening, you know,
and he’s like just taking a break sitting there at the stupa and he’s like …
suddenly he realizes that these are some kind of special beings that are teaching
him something. You know, these are not just two people just showed up, you
know, and then he realizes. Suddenly he understands every teaching he ever
got in India and now he’s ready to go home, you know, from these two ladies
walking around the stupa, you know. And that’s the {lojong} we’re going to
study, is what he heard. So that’s why they don’t say it’s written by {Sumpa
Lotsa}… they say passed down to {Sumpa Lotsawa} and that’s the cool thing,
okay. In class ten we’ll do a … I like this one. Instructions given by {Serlingpa}
… {Serlingpa} was a famous lama in Indonesia and he had a famous student
called Atisha, Lord Atisha. And when Atisha was going back to India, I guess, on
this dangerous boat trip in, you know, 1,100 or something and {Serlingpa} says,
look, you're going to Tibet, I better give you some instructions on teaching
weird students in foreign countries (laughs, laughter), okay, who are so difficult
to discipline and to train them and tame their mind. I better give you some
special instructions. So I thought that was sort of aprapo to (laughs, laughter) …
so we’re going to study that {lojong}. I like the last one. Atisha was just hanging
around one night and these two angels appeared to him and told him, you better
study {lojong}. We’re going to give you some advice about {lojong} and that’s a
special {lojong}. I really like that one and that’s passed down by Lord Atisha,
about a thousand years ago, okay. So that gives you a flavour of the lojongs
we’re going to do, okay, and those all come from the {Lojong Gyatsa }of
{Muchen Konchok Gyeltsen}. All right. I’d like to start the {Tsik-gye ma}, okay,
The Eight Verses. It’s very good to memorize it. When I first studied with
Rinpoche he made me memorize it, you know, and it’s only like eight verses, it
takes thirty seconds to recite it. It’s not like seventeen pages or anything. And it
goes … the first verse goes …{dakni semchen tamchela yishin norbu le hlakpay
dunchok dubpay sempa yitaktu chipar dzinpar shok}. And if you have time,
memorise it, it’s very simple, it’s not very difficult. But I’m just going to go
through it with you and I'm going to finish on time. We’ve been told by the
Quaker House that we are not invited back again after this course. Okay. We’ve
abused their rules, we … I broke a lot of them. I … the logic class went till, you
know, ten o’clock, ten thirty and it doesn’t look like they will let us come back
again after this course. So if anybody knows a good place where they don’t
mind if we abuse them, you know, let us know because we’ll need it for the next
course. But in the meantime I think it’s sort of embarrassing as a Buddhist group
that we left such a bad taste in their mouths. So I’d really like you to please try
to keep the … I’ll try to be here on time and leave on time. And you guys try to
not to eat things or drink things in the class. Try to be nice, don’t leave junk here
when you leave, very important, okay. You can’t get to Buddha paradise if you
leave junk at the Quaker House, okay. But that’s when … called {shing jong},
okay, getting your own Buddha field requires that you don’t mess up other
people’s property, okay. Seriously. So be nice to them, okay, be nice to the
janitor, all right. Okay. {dakni semchen tamchela yishin norbu le hlakpay}
{Dakni} means me. {Semchen tamchela}, means to all sentient beings. {Yishin
norbu}… by the way, you have the text there so I'm not writing it. Means a
wishing jewel. By the way, in Sanskrit this is {Chintamani}, it sounds like chitta in
bodhichitta, it’s the same thing. Whatever you can think of you can have. Okay.
And there’s a story in Tibet. There’s this special jewel and there’s a commentary
on this by {Chekawa}, he was a famous {Kadampa} and he looked for {Dorje
Seng-ge}. He went look… walking around Di… Tibet, looking for Diamond Lion
to get this teaching because he heard about it and he missed him, he passed. He
was too late. And he only learned it from one of his students but he went ahead
to write a beautiful commentary on it. And he says … you see, there’s this thing
in Tibet called {Yishin Norbu}. By the way, sometimes the Dalai Lama is called
{Yishin Norbu}. Like, Tibetans don’t call the Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama. Tibetans
call him {Gyalwa Rinpoche} or {Yishin Norbu} and {Yishin Norbu} means wish-
giving gem. And the idea is like an Aladdin’s Lamp, you know, like you rub it
and you get anything you want. And in Tib… in Buddhist Scriptures there’s this
special jewel that is found in muck, you know, you have to go to some muck
somewhere. Like, I don’t know, lots of New York, right, and you have to dig
around in the muck, you know, and then you find this rough … it’s kind of a
rough jewel and then there’s this whole ritual you have to do. You have to put
it on a high … it’s called a {tok} (lcags)) and {tok} means the ball on a flagpole,
what do you call it? I don’t know. The ball at the flagpole. Like you have to find
this special pole and you have to put the jewel up there and you have to wrap it
in special silks, you have to wash it with all these special potions and then you
put it up there and then you do these prayers, you do these rituals, you know,
and if everything comes out right then you can wish for anything you want and
you’ll get it. It’s like a … it’s called {Yishin Norbu} and the Dalai Lama’s name is
{Yishin Norbu}. You know, so it gives you anything you can wish for. Okay.
This text is saying, this line says other people are better than a {chintamani).
Okay. Other people are better than a {Yishin Norbu}. The people around you
are more … {le hlakpay} means more precious than a wish-giving jewel. Okay.
So you know, like imagine this little thing here, this pen, right, the famous
chewable object. You know, imagine that it was like … some … like wishing
jewel and you could take it in your hand like a penny or something and you
could wish anything you want and you would get it. You know, so how could
anything be more precious than that, you know? I’ll debate you, you know.
How can anything be better than that? I mean, you could just get it and wish
that everybody got enlightened, right? And then … it’d be over with. You
know. So what’s better … why does he say they are better than a wish-giving
jewel? Huh? He says you could lose a jewel. Well, it’s interesting. No, you
know, by the way, if you know Tibetan, study this verse, okay, study the
grammar and studied the translations you see of it. And if you look at it
carefully there’s three different ways to read it. Diamond Lion is playing with us.
He’s having a good time. He’s thinking, oh, about nine hundred years from now
they’re going to translate it into English. I'm going to put three different
meanings in it that are different and they’ll never be able to do it. He’s probably
giggling right now. You know. The first meaning of that is you can’t conceive of
how nice it’s going to be when you get to your tantrum enlightenment. You
can’t even imagine right now. You know, if I told you … if I stood up here and
tried to explain what it would be like you wouldn’t understand it. It wouldn’t …
you wouldn’t be able to think of it. Okay. You wouldn’t get it. You know, that’s
by the way why tantra is secret. It’s a self-protecting secret. I mean, you can
open up those books, they’re around. You can study Tibetan, you can try to
read them, you won't get it, you just won't get it. You can’t conceive of what it’s
like to move into a tantric enlightenment. Can’t even imagine it. You can't think
of what it would be like. You can't imagine the process and you can't imagine
the steps in the process until it starts happening and in that sense other people
are better than a wish-giving gem because a wish-giving gem, you and I could
not even make the right wish, you see what I mean? We couldn’t think of the
right thing to wish for because it’s so foreign to us. What it would really be like
in this lifetime to have this world turn into a tantric paradise is beyond … you
cannot imagine even what it … you can’t imagine the result and you can't
imagine the events that would happen to you before that. You can't. You know,
you can practice Buddhism and find out but right now you can't even imagine
what the steps would be like, much less the final goal. Okay. So in that sense
anything that could bring you to tantrum enlightenment in this life would be
better than a wish-giving gem. Okay. Anything that could get you there to that
kind of enlightenment before you die would be better than some wish-giving
jewel that you could find. Okay, better. So what is this holy method, you know,
what is this amazing powerful thing that’s more powerful than that kind of
jewel; he says {semchen tamche} other people. Okay. That’s like some kind of
… what he’s saying is that you want to get to some extraordinary tantric angel’s
body of light and omniscient state of mind filled with ultimate compassion all
day long and you want to become like that? Only way you could do it is by
relating to other people, okay. You ain’t going to get there unless you learn to
do the right thing with other people. And those are the people at work. And
those are the people in your family and that’s your husband or your wife, okay.
And that’s what the book says. And that’s … the first two lines are like that. He
hits you on the head right away. You know, (laughs) he says you want it …
your ticket to tantric paradise is none other than the people around you all day
long. Okay. It’s not some special bell, it’s not like this amazing crown, it’s not
like this {dorje} and all these, you know, weird rituals and stuff like that. You
want to know what’s going to get you to tantric paradise, hey, got news for you.
It’s the people right around you in your office; and that’s what the first two lines
say, you know. You … they are for you your ticket to deathlessness in this
lifetime, are the people right around you at any given moment of the day. And
you have to figure out why, it’s like a koan, you know. Like, some people I
could see that, but not my boss, you know what I mean? Like, can’t be him.
And start… and you have to figure it out. It’s true. Okay, the first two lines are
true. You want to get to a state of deathless bliss in this lifetime, you're going to
have to do it with the people right around you. By doing the right thing with
them, it will get you there. So do they become valuable for you or not? Yeah
(laughs, laughter), okay. I mean, if you did not have people like that around
you, you would not get to deathless bliss in this lifetime, impossible. That’s the
point. That’s very radical change in the way you look at people around you,
okay. Very radical. And he’s not exaggerating and he’s not being symbolic. This
is not metaphorical. He’s being literal, okay. The only way that you’ll ever
change into this incredibly beautiful body of light and this extraordinary mind
forever is with the people around you. You need them. You need them to do
that. You’ll never do it without them. And so you better appreciate them, you
know. You know, these are the people that are going to make you enlightened
and you have to look at them that way as very, very precious. {dakni semchen
tamchela,
yishin norbu le hlakpay,dunchok dubpay sempa yi} They are going to get me to
heaven. {taktu chipar dzinpar shok}. I love you. Thank you. You know, abuse
me some more, you know, okay (laughs, laughter). All right. Test me, burn me,
you know, check me, push me. Make me be kind, make me learn to be kind.
You know, and this is the great thing they can teach you. This is what they’re
giving you. You cannot get it anywhere else. Go to a monastery, you know, I
lived eight years with Khen Rinpoche. I did not go anywhere. I went … one
Thanksgiving night I went to Didi’s house for turkey. It was a big trip. My
mother died, my brother died, they got … my other two brother got married, I
didn’t go. I just lived with him. And then I went to work and I learnt a lot more
at work. Okay. You need those people. You need those people to be a real
Buddhist. You know, to be a … to really understand Buddhism you need good
old New York irritating office workers all around you, you know (laughs), and
that’s the lesson of the {lojong} and the first verse is saying that, the first verse is
saying that. Yeah? Actually you go to a monastery because you need protection
because you're not strong enough to be out in the world. How’s that? But that’s
a long story. It’s also very important to… contemplation and meditation is also
necessary for development and you need a quiet place to do that, you need a
good place to do that. Now, Sera Monastery is about the least quiet place in the
world but that’s another story. It’s just a place to concentrate on your practice
but trust me, there’s lots of events at Sera Monastery that test you just as well as
an American office. Okay. And if you don’t think so, come with me in
September and you'll see. Of course they have personality conflicts as much as
we do. Why do you go to a monastery? To fix yourself, you know. Who goes
to monasteries? People who need fixing. So are they sweet and holy and
wonderful to each other? No, not all the time. Are they learning? For sure. Are
there great bodhisattvas there? Oh yes. But don’t forget, you know, when you
look at me and my brothers and sisters of the robes, we’re here because we’re
defective and we’re trying to fix ourselves, you know what I mean, really. Okay,
that’s a different thing. Anyway. That’s the first verse. Second verse. So it
means that if you're a good Buddhist you better figure out that your Buddhism is
going to take place at your office and in your family and you will not meet all
sentient beings. They are the people at your office, okay. There’s all these
Buddhists who do all these prayers for all sentient beings and then they abuse
the people in their office and stuff, you know. They are all sentient beings for
you. You can’t meet all sentient beings at once, it’s too many. These are
representing all living beings, okay. And if you study the Tibetan grammar,
those of you who are doing the Tibetan track, you can read this grammar to say
that the state of mind that wants to reach the highest goal is more precious than
a wish-giving gem. You see what I mean? Meaning number two. Bodhichitta is
better than a wish-giving gem. If you read it as {Semchen tamche la, yishin
norbu le hlakpay dun chok dup pay}, okay. For those of you who are studying
Tibetan, okay. You can read this line as saying that ultimate compassion is better
than a wish-giving gem. So, so far you have two betters than wish-giving gems;
all the people around you and also compassion itself. And finally, if your Tibetan
is really good you can read it as {Dakni semchen tamche la yishin norbu le
hlakpay dun chok}, which means that Buddhahood is better than a wish-giving
gem. Okay. And you can read it all three ways. It’s very cool. Okay. And if
you translate it you have to decide which one, or maybe you put a footnote I
guess. Anyway, Buddhahood itself is better than a wish-giving gem also. Okay.
And those are the three meanings of it. Next verse is {gangdu sudang gokpoy
tse, daknyi kunle manta shing, shanla sampa tagpayi, choktu chupar dzinpar
shog}. Means, wherever I am, whoever I'm with, may I see myself as lowest of
all. Okay. And may I see other people as the best. This does not … this is not an
exercise in low self-esteem, okay. And I never want you to take it that way;
that’s not the point. Okay. There’s a difference between thinking, oh, I'm the
worst person in this room, I'm the stupidest, I have the least compassion, I'm the
most selfish, I’ve got the most debt on my credit card, everything. You know, I
mean, you can … that’s not what the verse is saying. It’s saying like this, and this
is very holy, okay. How many beings in this room are enlightened beings, in
disguise? Please raise their hands. Ah, you never do, do you. Okay. You’re
always lying, you know, I mean, whatever. Anyway. No, I mean, we don’t
know, okay, we really don’t know. I'm not, okay, but you don’t know how
many beings in this room … there are, okay, according to the Scriptures there
should be a few sprinkled in, at least. Okay, according to the Scriptures there
should be a few enlightened beings in this room disguised as normal people and
we don’t know which ones, we really don’t know which ones. Millions upon
millions of beings have already become enlightened. They can plan events
millions of years ahead of time. You know, they could plan to be here three or
four million years ago with no problem at all, it’s no big deal for them. Okay.
They guy that’s sitting next to you on the subway could have been sitting there
for ten years waiting for you, okay. I'm not kidding, okay, I'm really not
kidding. You don’t know around you which people are that and which aren’t.
You will never know until you get close to being a Buddha yourself. Okay. You
really won't know until you get pretty close, okay. Then you’ll see. It’s like City
of Angels, it’s a good movie if ever you're … okay.
It’s good karma that these movies are coming out. I think the class is having
good. But you really don’t know. What is their intentions towards you? You
know, are they spying on you? You know, (laughs, laughter) what do they want
out of you? Why are they masquerading? You know, why do they go to the
trouble? Why don’t they just hang out in their Buddha paradise? By the way,
they do and they’re just doing this on the sideline. What do they want? Why
won't they stay in their own realms? What are they after? (Laughs, laughter).
It’s really crowded this realm, you know (laughs, laughter). They’re eating and
drinking and everything. It’s like the point of this verse is the reverse version of
… what do they call that, persecution complex or something, okay. This is … I
don’t know what you want to call it. You tell me. It’s the opposite of a
persecution complex. It’s to think that everyone is out to help you. It’s that the
point of this verse is, look, among the people that you relate with every day,
trust me, a certain number of them are enlightened beings and they are out to
force you to get enlightened, you know. They are pushing you, they are
wheedling you, everything they say to you has special meaning. They’re trying
to set you up for that big enlightenment thought, you know what I mean?
They're trying to set you up for that. And they’re working on you all the time.
All around you there are spies from the enlightened realm who are working
very hard to get you there. Okay. And that’s what this verse means. It doesn’t
mean you have to go around feeling like a schmuck all day. It doesn’t mean
that. It means, you look around you, do you really know what the other people
are thinking? Do you really know whether they’re enlightened or not? Can you
say who is and who’s not? You know. So engage in some nice pleasant paranoia
and believe in them and try to listen and try to be sensitive to somebody saying
something to you. Why are they saying that, why are they doing that to me.
Even the people who are bad to you and especially the people who are bad to
you, what are they trying to get out of me? What do they want? You know. If
this is an enlightened being why are they doing this to me, okay, and they're
trying to do something, they’re trying to get you somewhere, they're trying to
… figure it out. Okay. That’s verse number two. Number three. Where’s that
go? What’s number three? {julam kuntu rang gyula, togching nyong mong
kyema tag, dak shanma rung jepo na, tsantab dongne logpar shog}. This is a
special lojong that says, listen, once in a while you’re going to get upset or you're
going to have a bad thought in your mind, okay. Once in a while you're going
to get angry at other people or irritated at other people. Okay. At what point
should you do something? And the text says, right away. Okay. The minute
you start to feel bad, stop it. Okay. There’s this thing in western psychology,
you know, oh, express your anger. You know, don’t bottle it up, you'll just get
an ulcer, you know, go ahead and yell. Take the person out and tell them what
you're really thinking, you know, and let it out, you know. Buddhism says the
opposite. Okay. And I'm quite blunt about it and the minute you start to feel
bad towards someone, stop it, okay, before it gets bigger, stop it, face it and
admit that it’s your problem, okay, they are dying just like you. They want help
just like you. They are sad just like you. They’ve had death in their family,
they’ve had … their body hurts just like yours. Come on, cut them some slack.
Okay. Stop it right there. The minute you start to think something negative
about something, somebody, stop it. Okay. Why? In Buddhism one moment of
a negative thought towards another person, even slight irritation on the street at
someone who jostles you is tremendous bad karma and it builds, you see? One
moment of slight irritation at someone has profound affects on your future life.
Meaning, ten years from now your life won't be as happy. Small things will be
going wrong. Why? Buddhism says because you got slightly irritated at a
person on the street ten years ago. Okay. Believe it or not. Okay. And if you
want to study the reasons you study … you have to study karma. You have to
study how karma works. Basically karma is an impression put into your mind
and it grows much more powerful with every passing day. And it’s not
unreasonable in Buddhism to say that if you’re slightly irritated with someone
on the street that you yourself will suffer greatly in ten years from now. Okay.
A few moments of irritation, okay, are enough to make very powerful effects on
your mind. You have to study karma to know why. Karma is stored in your
mental stream and it has that effect. One sec, okay. I got to finish in like four
minutes. Okay. That’s the main thing. I'm going to do one more verse and then
we’ll … we got to clear out by nine-thirty, all right. But as you run out the door
don’t forget your book, okay. {rangshin nganpoy semchen ni, digduk dragpu
nontong tse, rinchenter dang padpa shin
nyepar kawe chuzin shog}. This is basically saying, look, bad people are hard to
find so try to get the most out of it (laughs, laughter) okay. And then I was in
the car going to Connecticut. I'm like ripping through the commentary trying to
find out why bad people are hard to find (laughs, laughter) and you know. By
the way, those of you who studied Master Shantideva, you know, what did he
say? Why are they hard to find? Yeah. If you stop reacting negatively to other
people, bad people will get less in your life. Master Shantideva said go and kiss
them goodbye, you know. Once you learn the secret of Buddhism which is to
stop reacting to them in a bad way and start reacting to them in a nice way, you
stop the karma of meeting them again. And then you’ll be saying, it’s weird,
you know, everybody at work is getting nice, I don’t know what’s going on
(laughter) and you will honestly, I mean, you don’t have to just … you don’t
have to struggle with people at work. The best way to get rid of those people
you don’t like is to be good to them. According to Buddhism, this is the secret
method of terminating fellow employees (laughter) that you don’t like, (laughs)
okay. Seriously, very serious. And they’ll just change, you know. Whatever
person’s giving you a problem at work, be sweet to them. Realize that you have
caused them and you can change it. Okay. And that’s the other {lojong}, that’s
the fourth {lojong}. These are special {lojong}s. The homework is pretty much
to sit there and meditate about this all day and you go through one verse each
time. Pick a verse this week, okay, you’ve got seven days. Don’t do four, do
one. Okay. Pick one of these four verses and try to do it at work, okay, and
that’s your main homework, okay. All right.

I’ll answer just … you know, catch me next week with that question, so try to
remember, yeah?
Could be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fran’s basically saying what if you meet someone
who makes you angry and it doesn’t work, they’re not helping you, you just get
mad, okay. All right. Those are not angels accord… those are bad people
(laughs, laughter). That you created. No, no way. Okay. We’ll do a short
prayer. Okay. A real short prayer (laughs, laughter).
[prayer: short mandala]
[prayer: dedication]