ACI 17 (обзорный курс), Занятие 03 (прогон ГМР, Нью-Йорк 1999) — стенограмма

Class 3
Part 1
Transcribed by: Karen Becker

(prayer: refuge)

Okay, we'll start. Today's class is a slightly different format.
 We're gonna start out by just talking about all the projects we
have and all the help we need, especially over the next three
years, and that will be in place of the thing I usually give at
the end. The reason we're doing it first is that after that
we'll talk a break, the usual break, and during the break if you
hear a a project that you'd like to get involved with or you'd
like to volunteer your time for or, you know, something you'd
like to get involved with, then you'll be able to speak to the
person that is in charge of that particular project, okay? And
after that we'll have a class and then we'll have short sessions
with your student teachers, okay...assistant teachers. So we'll
be going sort of reverse tonight. And the purpose is two
fold...one...well, three- fold, first of all last time we talked
about seeing emptiness directly, and that requires a lot of
support, meaning you have to have a a good teacher, you have to
have materials that you can study, you have to have an
opportunity to serve the Dharma and to serve other people who
need help, and you have to have a place to meditate and to do
your re...it takes a lot of physical support to help a person to
study Buddhism and see emptiness directly. That support has been
provided to you mostly transparently, you know, we don't charge
anything, Leon has offered his temple space for free, we have a
excellent Lama, Khen Rinpoche who has passed down all the
information to us and who continues to be available for higher
initiations and and classes and...so you have all that support
system. But the idea is how do we assure that it will be
available for other people. And and that's a...by
the...incidently, that's the karma of making sure you have it for
yourself, whether you die and come back or or just in in the next
few years and decades, you know, will you have a place to to have
all those things provided for you, because the vast majority of
Americans don't. You know, there's hundreds...there's tens of
millions of people in American who would like to be studying
something like this and can't. So the question is can we help
provide those things for them. What can we do to help them. So
I think it's...it's kind of deceptive here because you get
everything so easily and so free and and the books are available,
the translations are available...that is not generally available
in the United States at all, so the question is, can we help
other people do what we did. You know, people ask me, "well,
you're you're trying...all your projects are too big, and you're
doing to many things" and, but I always think of myself going to
India on the bus and getting to Dharamsale and getting off the
bus and I didn't know, like I was scared, you know...I didn't
know what to do, and some guy took me and took me into the
Tibetan Library and said, "okay, this is what you do, and the
classes are there," and it's been that way every since. And I
always think of the last guy that would't get reached if we
didn't do something, you know what I mean? Like, I always think
of the guy who came to this class last, the last guy in the link
and if we didn't work as hard he wouldn't have heard about the
classes...you see what I mean...and he wouldn't be here and I
always imagine if I was the last guy. I say, put yourself in the
shoes of the last guy in the chain to hear about these
classes...you know what I mean, and if we hadn't put out that
little bit of extra effort or something, he never would have seen
the poster that Ian made, the silly poster, or he never would
have heard about the class or how...and I always tell people who
say, "I don't want to volunteer" or or "it seems to complicated"
or something like that...what if you were the last person, you
see what I mean? What if you were the person that didn't hear
about it because we didn't make an effort...you see what I mean?
And I always think like that...I always try to think like that.
So imagine you're the last person in line, and you wouldn't be
here unless someone had made some effort...a lot of people...had
made some extra effort that they didn't need to make 'cause they
were already here and they're okay, you know, so...I'm gonna list
some projects...each person's gonna come up and make their own
presentation...they're gonna be trying to, each one, is gonna try
to make a more persuasive case (laughter) for their project
(laughs) than the last one to see if you will sign up for their
project. But anything you can do to help is wonderful, you know,
even just some small things. It doesn't matter. Somewhere down
the line at least is one more person. And then that's very
precious to that person...it will be very precious to that
person. So don't think...if you can give one afternoon or
something that's fine, you know, and that'll be good.
This...generally, this organization is run by very few people who
are not getting paid and work very very hard, and they need help,
okay. The bigger it gets the more they need help. There's
thousands of people studying in the extension courses, there are
a thousand of people in the correspondence courses, there are
five hundred thousand crazy Mongolians in that course, and we
need help, okay, we need your...just to come over once in a while
and help out. Even if it's just cooking a soup or something like
that, okay? So I'm gonna...I'm standing here for John Stilwell
who split for France (laughter) yesterday, because he overworked
at Godstow (laughs) and I'm gonna represent him for...well let's
make a list of the things we have to do. One is Asian Classics
Institute, okay... and then I think maybe we'll do
Godstow...Retreat Center, which would be Nancy Kieran...are you
ready...where are you...are you ready...okay? That's lucky. And
then we'll do...what'd ya wanna do next? How 'bout how 'bout
Three Jewels...you ready for that? You're okay? Okay. Three
Jewels Outready Center and then John Brady...you ready? Asian
Classics Input Project and then I think Enlight...is Ernie here?
Not here. Is Winston...Winston standing in for John?
Everything's okay. Okay. Enlightened Business Institute
(unclear). Then I think I just got Winston, right? Arizona?
Diamond Mountain? Which is Arizona. Did I leave anybody out?
Oh. Food Fund. All right. Andrea's Food Fund. And then maybe
in here I'll say a little bit about Sera Mey Project,
okay...okay? So I'll go, I'll go first...I'll try to make it
short...oh, yeah, I knew I forgot something. We'll put in here,
we'll call it "English Dharma" right now, we don't have a name
exactly for that, okay, and we'll try to go...I'll try to go real
quickly.

(student: What about Mongolia?)

That's a good question. We'll throw in Mongolia...where should
we throw in Mongolia...I'll throw Mongolia in here, okay? Yeah,
I'll do that here. Okay. So I'll I'll be the first person to go
and then the other people people will go. Asian Classics
Institute...the stuff we still need help with...we are still
going to have more courses like this during the during the next
semester which is in...it begins I think middle of October. We
need help bringing the stuff here, setting up the altar, making
sure we have a place to hold the classes, helping to clean up
afterwards, these are very unromantic...nobody is impressed when
you say I helped clean up afterwards and...it's a real test of a
bodhisattva. Bodhisattva's come and help clean up afterwards,
okay. So that's a very important thing. Help out preparing
class materials, things like that. We have included there
extension courses, which means courses we hold in other places in
the world. In the next six months there'll be extension courses
in Northern California, Santa Cruz, they'll be in...where
else...Ireland, Mongolia, Nepal, India, Bodh Gaya, Goa,
Kathmandu, Southern India, okay. Those will all be courses that
will be held, especially for the tour which is taking place over
the millenium, over the New Year, we're gonna need a lot of help.
 We anticipate maybe two hundred people ending up at each course
and traveling around India right after the computers break down
(laughter) (laughs) and so we need a lot of help with that, and
that process has already started, they're holding very nice
meetings, interesting meetings going on there, so if you'd like
to help with that, it's sort of an exciting thing. We'll need
help during the course to grade papers, like you become a grader,
you travel with us, you help grade other peoples papers and
things like that. I think I'll also cover...(unclear), are you
doing Correspondence Courses or am I? Are you doing
Correspondence Courses? You do Correspondence Courses. Okay.
By the way, last time I say nobody's helping with Correspondence
Course and the Moore's of course, are doing a lot. Doing the
homeworks and the courses, and they're trying to keep up with it
but we need more people, and they can they can sort of lead a
team if we had more people. Sera Mey, just for your knowledge,
okay...Sera Mey Monastery's where Khen Rinpoche was trained. The
original monastery was bombed, all the monks were killed or
dispersed...a hundred and eight or seven got to South India,
started a new monastery, a new Sera Mey Monastery...it's now up
to about fifteen hundred monks. We provide, we have a Food Fund
that we started twenty-five years ago...it pays for the food of
all fifteen hundred monks...they all get free food. And and we
built the elementary school there, we built the main temple
there, we built the debate ground there, we built a lot of the
housing there...these are separate funds that we raise funds to
help people there. A lot of the health care there, we bu we put
in all of the water systems for fifteen hundred monks, and we
built the library, we built the printing press, so, those are on-
going projects if you'd like to help with those, that's
supporting monks in India, Tibetan monks...refugee monks in
India. And that still goes on. Rinpoche just sent over over
sixty thousand dollars. Latest installment for the Food Fund and
we just sent over...we just got a donation of fifty thousand
dollars for...some construction there. So things like that, you
know. We help train the Geshe's who will be the next teachers
in the West, okay, and and we've produced about 30 Geshe's
through our efforts, you see, and now they're all over the world
and they're teaching people. So that's the result of that kind
of work, okay. In Mongolia, we'll be doing a lot of
projects...we we'll have a Dharma Center there. As I said, over
half a million people per night watched the teachings on the (b:
Diamond Cutter). Eighty percent of the population was tuned in
every night, and we'll be going back to do another television
series on another sutra in September. You're welcome to come,
help us out...if you're good with karate (laughs) (laughter) no
like, we had a...we didn't expect so many people and it was like
a crown control thing, and but we need a lot of logistic help
there. It's a beautiful, pristine Tibetan Buddhist country. The
people are dying for Dharma. We helped set up a a Dharma Center
there. People are already coming to it. Some books are
being...(b: The Garden) is being serialized in Mongolian in the
newspaper, and a lot of different projects going on there to help
them. We are cataloging all their Great Books...it'll take about
forty years and all these projects have been set in motion there,
so if you'd like to help they're very anxious during the three
years to have English teachers there, they're very anxious to
have Americans who can teach Dharma there in English, and and
help out with that. We'll be having a TV show there, we just got
funding for it, once a week there'll be...it actually shows twice
a week...they give us the second showing for free...but once a
week there'll be, what we call "Dharma English" and there'll be
'bout fifteen minutes of Dharma and then some English lessons,
and then there'll be interviews with students from New York which
we've already filmed a couple of them, and with student other
students around the world. And we filmed a couple of those
interviews. Ian and Mercedes are in charge of that. And they've
got a really fun...they...you see 'cause they want something
modern, and they want English, so we're teaching Buddhism from
these courses in English with some Mongolian, and then we have
like snippets of life of a New York Buddhist, which they're very
interested in, you see, and they're very very attracted to that
idea of Buddhism because traditionally in Mongolia the lay people
were not taught Buddhism...only the monks were taught Buddhism,
so they're very very excited...the lay people are very
excited...they're taking the courses like crazy, we sent
correspondence courses over two years ago and they're just eating
them up, so if you want to help with that, that's a that's a big
extension course. Ireland is going...very exciting. We went
there once just to teach a few people and then they demanded that
we come back and if you'd like to come and help with that, that's
fine too. Especially if you're of Irish decent..they get very
excited. That's all I have about this Institute. Also some
helping with the Three Years with setting up the home courses.
They'll be in the homes of individual people. I I picture seven
to ten courses going on at the same time, five to ten students in
each one, and going through the eighteen courses before I get
out...okay, so you can have dessert. All right. So, you have to
help with...that's also something we need help with too. Okay.
I think that's all...any questions about New York and extension
courses? Yeah?
(student: Contact is who?)

Oh, contact John Stilwell...do you have John Stilwell's...or we
can use the basement number, I guess...475-8935, 212 area code,
and it's John Stilwell. Sorry?

(student: (unclear))

Yeah, he won't be back till about the middle of July, but you
could leave a message there that you're interested. You can come
up to me, during the break, if you're interested in in in putting
your name on a list for this, okay. And I'll take your name and
make sure John gets it. All right. Okay. Any other questions
about New York classes and stuff like that? Nope? Okay. So the
classes will go on during the three years and they'll be smaller
and they'll be led by the student teachers here and I my vision
is that they get spread out throughout the burroughs and we have
a the registrar down in Washington D.C. is figuring out which of
you finished which classes...he made a preliminary report to me
on the weekend...and he actually has everybody's grade for every
single thing you ever did is in the computer. So he's designing
which courses would be most useful for the most people at at the
most times...see what I mean...during the three year...yeah?

(student: (unclear))

Okay...that's even better. So raise your hand. Dido will take
names for anybody interested in helping out in New York, okay?
All right. Yes?

(student: (unclear))

For Sera Mey...who should I say for Sera Mey...Mongolia...I'd say
talk to Christy about Mongolia...where's Christy...stand
up...she's being very active in coordinating the stuff in
Mongolia, so if you have immediate questions about Mongolia and
stuff like that, okay? Yeah?

(student: What about India?)

Going to India? If you can help out with India, talk to Ora.
She's back there.

(student: (unclear))
Friend Diane. Where's friend Diane? She's right there. She's
coordinating all the India. By the way if you have any dreams to
come to India about this trip you must tell us now because we
have to get special permits and things like that, okay, even if
you don't end up going it's okay, but you can't do them later
'cause there's a time time problem there, okay?

(student: What are the dates of the trip?)

Of India? India I believe starts in mid-December, am I right
Fran, and goes to the end of January and you're welcome to come
to any piece of it.

(student: (unclear))

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Up to the end of January 2000.

(student: You have to get on a plane before the 2000 strikes)

(laughs). You can actually pick us up at any point that you
like. The general thing is that I'll do Kathmandu first, How
Karma Works, I think, and then on the millennium we'll be with
His Holiness in Bodh Gaya so if the world blows up at least we're
with someone (laughter) with the Dalai Lama in in Bodh Gaya where
the Buddha was enlightened,

(student: (unclear)

Yeah, for teachings, yeah, for teachings with His Holiness on
Shantideva...Master Shantideva, and then we'll be in...oh and
then I'll teach the (b: Diamond Cutter) there in Bodh Gaya, and
then we go to Goa for some beach teachings (laughter) and then
and then it looks like two very heavy weeks with Geshe Thubten
Rinchen who I think may be the greatest living active teacher of
the Mind Only School and Madyamika School and he's agreed to
teach us. We went last year...he taught five hours a day.

(student: In Tibetan or English?)

In Tibetan and I do a simultaneous translation

(student: (unclear))

In Sera monastery, near Mysore, South India, okay.

(student: (unclear)
Yeah, South India's a little more relaxed, okay. So that's a
that's a variation and you can pick us up at any point and it's
very easy to be there and the monks are very sweet. We'll be
staying we'll be...the the course will be held at Sera Monastery,
and I there'll probably be a couple of hundred people
there...it'll be held in one of the main temples there. In Sera
Monastery, which is in South India...end of January.

(student: (unclear))

Oh. It's much better in South India, it's up on the Dekkan
plateau, so it's cool. Okay. No problem. (laughter) How many
times you heard Indians say that (laughter). Okay. So I think
we're...Nancy Kieren is up next, okay.

(student: I just have one small general announcement about this.
We made a little form where you put your name, address and what
project you would be interested in (unclear) and afterwards
(unclear). We'll pass it around now (unclear) take all those at
the end, so (unclear).

(student, Nancy Kieran:) Okay, Godstow is a really amazing
place. In Connecticut an hour and a half away from the city
there's a hundred acres of paradise with a beautiful house. And
lot of us have meditated there...Geshe-la's led a lot of fabulous
retreats there, and we need a lot of help, it's it's like a major
thing. So we need someone who wants to play a major role in
Godstow. We have, you know, few people who are playing really
major roles, and we need one more person who'll be the Retreat
Manager, so, for instance, when Geshe-la does a really big
retreat in October, this person will make sure that that
retreat...the logistical side of that retreat go really smoothly,
and you can imagine what good karma that will be. So that's the
Retreat Manager. That Retreat Manager will work with lots of
other people and hopefully lots of you who will be cooks and and
assistants and registrars, and help paint the house before the
retreat, and help host other people and help maintain the
property, help maintain the house, help keep the grounds, help do
the shopping, do architectural drawings so we can enlarge the
meditation space so then after the three year retreat we'll have
a bigger space. We need people with cars. We need people to
help. I think the programing is kind of creating itself for the
next few months because Geshe-la is spending a lot of time there
and people are coming to me to do individual retreats. The
people doing individual retreats are embarking on a major, you
know, journey, and they need support. So if anyone wants to help
support someone doing an individual retreat by doing some
shopping for them or cooking for them, that's another thing you
can do. But after this kind of sel...cre...you know, self-
creation of the program, we're gonna have to do some very
determined programming, and I need help with that. In other
words, all these eighteen courses, we can do the courses up there
on weekends, we could do let's say, two classes a day...watch the
videos, take the test...and so we need lots of people to help
plan those programs just for like courses. And then we need
people to plan group meditation weekends and groups of yoga
weekends, and all that kind of stuff. My job is to make it
really easy for people to accomplish all of their goals at
Godstow. So help me out. Thank you.

(applause)

(student, Nancy Kieran: Now I'm gonna do something really cheap
because I'm giving Michael Wick's phone number (laughter) because
he doesn't...my kids don't give me my messages. (laughter). And
I have testimony to prove that.)

(student: Can you understand? Okay. First I wanted to say that
I'm really really shy and this is really really difficult for me
to do, but I'll do it. (laughter and applause). Okay.
Basically there are three positions that we need at the Three
Jewels. Three Jewels is Outreach Center and it houses a library,
 we have meditation classes, we have computer programs, we do
local community outreach, we do prison outreach, we work with
hospitals and we also have a project with Sera Mey (unclear) art
program. So a picture tells a thousand words, so we'll start off
with morning meditation. The nuns are teaching morning
meditation and some lay people, seven o'clock every morning and
this is something that we would like to see happen and continue,
and it's bene benefited many people. Actually, many people
sitting here started out in morning meditation. And they're
doing very well. So that's our morning meditation project. We
just instituted a community, sorry, a computer literacy program
and it's a lot of fun. We actually got one grant out and one
grant pending and we have four computers and we just got our new
e-mail address 'cause we're saving out the old one and it's
called omthreejewels, which is really really cool...easy for you
to remember. This...the first day we put the computers in the
Three Jewels people started using them rapidly. Actually on
Sunday people had to wait in line to get on the computer. So
it's really taking off. And what we really need is some funding
and someone who, I believe we have maybe two people, who work
with computers to help people when they come in just on a resume,
and the the mainest program
is a typing program that teaches people how to type, so it would
really benefit...here we have a Dharma Center, but also you are
you are building (unclear) and you're building niches in the
community. And that's why we are here...to work with the
community. Third we have local outreach programs. The Three
Jewels works very nicely with people in the community. We go
out, we get calls, we work with...this is a Catholic School on
St. Mark's street...this is a job for the Dharma person, a Dharma
teacher...to fill this slot. Also we work with the Stein-Allen
Museum...they call us to teach there two times a year, and in
teaching there people come to class, so you're building many
futures. The Three Jewels is not this room in New York City.
Actually that that room only is an office, but just imagine that
room being like a octupus, with all these tails going out,
touching (laughs) touching people in different places. The next
project is Prison Outreach. The Prison Outreach Project...oh,
it's okay, let's...we can do this. This is people that have come
to the Three Jewels throughout the three years. Somehow some of
them ended up in class, some of them died, this gentleman came in
and he would come to the Three Jewels every Sunday and he came to
class and he died. This gentleman actually started, we started
teaching, I started teaching him before the inception of the
Three Jewels and he did a lot of the painting and he's still
around and he still comes to classes. This gentleman visited
once and now he's a doctor that rents the office in the back and
supports us financially three hundred dollars a month. Sarah and
Paul has helped...we get all kinds of people from children to
senior citizens coming in and we try to help them. This is Tasha
and Daniel, and this old man lives down the block and he's been
coming for the last six months and he just comes in and watches a
war movie...he's not...he watches the same war movie every day,
he's not a Dharma student and Paul Paul and Nigel and all the
other boys serve him...he brings pastries but this is his home
and I'm very much I'm I'm happy to hand over the project, but one
part of me would like to see this continue and see that there's a
place for people to come, because we too will need a place when
we get older. This is a very very, as Geshe-la said, this is a
very very sexy project. We've been doing this for (laughter)
(laughs) and believe it or not it is (unclear) is a Buddhist and
we've been working together for the last...I've known him for the
last five years and we started the project maybe three years ago
and he picks me up and takes me to Bedford Hills and we go and we
work, or maybe once a month just teach a meditation to to women
prisoners, and actually, one of the women prisoners knew me in
class through the correspondence course. She came up and she
said "who's that dog barking", you know, (laughter) it must be,
we have to we have to talk about the dog, but anyway
(laughs)...and I said that was my dog. This project gets us a
lot of funding. Actually we were away last retreat and somebody
said "send us a proposal for your part...your prison
project...haven't heard yet, but this is a major part of how we
get money to support the Three Jewels. And the help that we
need...that you're gonna be very lucky...you're gonna be walking
into relationships that has been established and not only
relationships that have been established but you'll also be
working with Dharma people. So that's the Prison Project. The
next project is...we also do some hospital work and at Stoney
Lodge and and this is one of my favorite projects. We haven't
gone this year (laughs) but we'll try to do so. Patricia
and...who's here with us tonight, and Eileen also is a Dharma
student that comes...we go to the hos...Eileen works at a
hospital and we visit the hospital, and they said to us "come and
teach meditation to the mentally ill kids" and I said,
"meditation? How'm I how'm I gonna teach it to them 'cause
they're they're just so dumb (?) how am I gonna get them
mov...how'm I gonna get their minds to to focus, and I went into
retreat and I came out and I said, "that's right, we'll make them
dance first." And Patricia...she's back there hiding (laughter)
(laughs) and Eileen and myself, we have a whole group of kids and
we make them dance, and we dance with them, and the the classes
are very unstructured and we dance and then we meditate with them
on on the (unclear) or different objects, and then sometimes they
would ask about Dharma, and and who are you and what you are doing, so this is another
project that can
continue, and it doesn't take a very very experienced teacher, it
just takes someone who can meditate and has and has patience and
who can also work along with other hospital administration, so
this is one of the projects that I'd like to see continue. The
reason why Three Jewels has to develop all of these projects was
that we were looking for a way to be funded. The book store was
not doing well, it was very hard for me to sell a Dharma bell for
$50.00 or a mala and and Geshe-la and I talked about it, and
actually we got a grant this year, five thousand dollars, which
supplied bells and dorjes for you at thirteen, so we we we worked
hard..I'm keeping the place, and we developed programs so that we
can get funding for it. So that's how we've been running it and
this is why all these projects came into being. This is just a
bookstore, for those of you who hav who haven't visited, and what
is happening here is that they're cateloging CD's in the library.
 Now we have a a very small, nice library that has lot of
potential but what we really need is great stock for us, so if
you knew...if you know someone who can get us some free stock for
standing equipment (?) we really can use it, and we have one
volunteer who who's been working for the last three days cleaning
up all the manual labor, and all of you who have library books,
please bring them back. (laughter) It really, it really hurts us
'cause the library is very small, or who has taken items and not
returned them, please, we do need them, but this library is
being used by...mostly a lot of new people, not people that have
been around, but people who are interested in Dharma (unclear)
and it is very useful. This is some...this project in
India...first I want to say thank you from Sera Mey monks. Last,
I think two two semesters ago we...last year we went to Sera,
Fran was there, and we took one look at the cushions and we said,
"no, you know, these boys can't sit on grass mats" and we made an
effort and we collected money for them and before we left Sera we
provided them the big cushions, and so I believe it was last
semester we had a a disco party but anyway the disco party
allowed us to send money over to pay this mandala and detailed
the eight auspicious symbols on the wall and what was a stark
room is now turning into a beautiful temple. We gave them, and
this is from you guys...give yourselves a round of applause
(applause)...most of you did this. We also give the guys, the
monks...this is them without robes. This is what they look like.
 And these are the baby ones. And what you have done is that
you've them some really...you've given them pride and you've
given them joy. You've given them a sense of self in a different
way...the a way that they don't know, you've made them very
comfortable. And what I would like to see continue before I
leave, I'm actually begging for more money...I need a thousand
more dollars, so we could finish the school hall...it's not
completed. So if anybody's interested in giving me money for
this project, 'cause I feel pretty attached to it. I feel like
they're all my little sons and somebody has to take the
responsibility to fix up a room that is not too pleasant and to
make a temple for them. So this is a project that we've been
doing on the side, and this is the progress on it of it, and I
just wanted to thank you and to let you see what you have done
for them. This is our art program and at the Three Jewels we
have free art classes, and last semester we ran successfully,
last meeting I think there were eight people there, and this
semester three people are signed up already to do this course.
And what courses like these this kind will do is most of the
women that are here are not Dharma students, but it prov...and it
provides a sense of unity...you have eight women from eight
different backgrounds coming in to do a a class, and the
advantage of Three Jewels is very very very very small. But
people have to talk to each other when they get there, and they
have to...there's no place to go and if you you don't like
somebody there there you know you you have to see them, so that
the advantage of these classes is that these women bond and after
class they have tea...like last Sunday night we had Little Buddha
eight people showed up and they were eight strangers and I had to
wait till about ten o'clock...you know why? They didn't
finish..they weren't finished talking. Movie finished, hour and
a half and these people just wanting to talk. So this is what
really Three Jewels does for for the community and also if you
could help it will help your Dharma practice 'cause you need to
practice after you've done the (unclear). And the person behind
the scenes of the Three Jewels (laughter) (laughs)...I want you
to give him a round of applause (applause)...I I wanna personally
thank him for helping me...I remember when I first took my vows
and I didn't know any know rituals and I still don't go to the
rituals (laughter) (laughs) and, but I learned how to meditate,
and he's been very very patient with...I, no, I have to say with
all of us...his students, and he's helped, he's helped me to
grow, he's given me the the capacity to run all of these projects
and many times I I get a little bit frustrated 'cause there's no
money and I scream and I yell and I say "what're we gonna do?"
but, I've got...I've matured, I I I've learned to handle it
(laughter) so that's why I know that we need three people, and
the reason why we have broken it down into three jobs is that
conceivably you could help the Three Jewels maybe fifteen hours a
week, and even if it was a volunteer position, I still don't feel
like you would be in (unclear), and still do some community work.
 So I just wanted to thank him personally for that. And last but
not least, I you know I I I have a easy time letting go of the
Three Jewels and I hope you really help us, but I have a hard
time letting go Sharon (?). (laughter) He's gonna stay
behind...I made up my mind because he's my dog but he shares many
other beings, so he will be the temple dog and people mostly come
to see him, and (laughter) (laughs)...from day one (laughs) ever
since he's come into my life, so I would you to take care of him
when I'm not there, and we need a lot of help and we need people
that will help like we're gonna be away...most of the time
traveling, and it's really hard to get a schedule of people when
we're on the road, but, you know, I'm begging you to to really
really come help and I have no fear of what it will become if
somebody comes and they have a different way of seeing things or
a different way of running things, totally up to you, wants this
Dharma, wants this support, to Geluna, the Gelukpa lineage, but
we are begging you for help...we need your help and support.

(applause)

(student: Give the phone number)

(student, Ani Pelma: The phone number, no, wait, okay. We also
have a brochure in the back that breaks down...it will be in the
back for or you can see me if you are interested and all of the
projects are outlined.)

(student, John Brady: My name is John Brady and I am very shy as
well (laughter) and Ani Pelma is a hard act to follow (laughter).
 I didn't bring any props today but I'll do my best to explain my
role with ACIP. I wanted to back up and talk about a book that I
read...oh three or four years ago...it was called (b: How the
Irish Saved Civilization) and it was written by a gentleman by
the name of...actually a historian and a scholar, his name is
Thomas Cahill and he explains in great detail the secular
invasion of the Circirtian monks filling into what is now
Ireland, and Scotland and Great Britain in the fifth-sixth
century, and for some strange reason these Celtic-Druidic tribes
embraces Christianity and they basically get what Jesus Christ
and the whole message of the Catholic Church was preaching at the
time, and suddenly this movement occurs, and within two to three
hundred years, hundreds or probably several dozen monastic sites
begin to develop in Great Britain...some of them very famous -
Iona, Lindesfarne, Glendelock, Carroll...tremendous renaissance,
and this period of time Latin was basically learned and scribes
were probably doing endless translations of Greek and Roman and
Catholic texts and in one fell swoop, over a period of two to
three hundred years, this gentleman, Mr. Cahill, makes a
convincing argument that if it wasn't for the incredible secular
movement by these individuals to open up the possibility of the
dying civilization of the Greek-Roman and Christian ideals, we
would have possibly not be reading some of the...these classic
texts. And I really feel that ACIP and the project that Geshe
Michael Roach has been doing for the last twelve years parallels,
in a significant way, this same almost drastic time...essence of
time for us to capture the the sacred Tibetan Buddhist texts and
I I really think that we don't have two hundred and fifty years,
we maybe have forty years in order to do this extraordinary
project. We are responsible to do this. We must rely on
ourselves to do this for future generations who will rely on us
to give them this lineage and this great gift of of
transliteration and translation of of these sacred texts. So
ACIP is very dear to me and I I really, I'm I'm honored to take
on this role to to make this possibility happen for our
organization. There are I think right now, twenty-eight or
thirty transliterations/translation centers around the world who
are fastidiously writing and transcribing for us in various texts
so I I really think that your help is is central here and there's
several layers that that we need to kind of look at from the
standpoint of the fundamentals of how to make and sustain ACIP
and make it work. Fundraising is number one. We're always kind
of looking for money. And that's one of one of my focuses to
take on this this opportunity is to find funds for for ACIP's
continuation. The other, of course, is the the typical stuff -
marketing and public relations and event planning and then other
things such as going up to Carmel, NY to Dr. Chan's temple and
literally doing photocopies of his texts and his library for days
on end. It's it's endless the possibilities for us to continue
this this project, so I could use your help, and if if any of you
would like to sign up I'll put my number, and please call me, or
also contact Bob Chilton who's, you know, the other main player
here, not to mention Dr. Taylor in Washington who's been probably
the most consistent twenty year veteran of of of this project.
So I think that's it.

(applause)

(student: (cut) Lori's tending all these record (laughs) on
Geshe Michael. I just wanted to talk for a few minutes about
what doesn't quite have a name yet...we're calling it temporarily
the "English Propagation Program", and (laughter) what we're
trying to do is...Geshe Michael's worked, you know, over the past
ten-fifteen years, teaching classes almost every night,
translating thousands of pages of Tibetan scripture, more
recently writing books in English and we have access to a lot of
this material, but a lot of people don't and so what we're trying
to do, especially, you know, in the coming months, we're trying
to gather together a great effort of people and a lot of people
have been working on this already, but, to gather together people
who are interested in spreading the teachings of Buddhism in
English. The Asian Classics Input Project is working very hard
to preserve the teachings in Tibetan but we also really need to
gather together all these English materials that, you know, many
thousands and millions of people can use and spread them to
people in a way that is useful. And, we have a bunch of different
projects that have kind of come up if different people are
interested...we're over the past few years we have a
correspondence course of the formal study courses that have gone
on here and there's over a thousand people who have been taking
these classes at home, and we need some help with that, you know,
just people who want to help grade the papers of other people who
are doing courses, people who want to help make sure these
materials are available to other people. We're also trying to
put together an archive. There are hundreds of tapes that aren't
in the correspondence courses that have been taught over the
years on almost any subject, and we want to really make sure it
was starting so everything is in one place so everybody will have
access to that and if there's any teaching you want to hear or
make a course of, you can hear these teachings and but they're
there for the whole, you know, future generation to who want to
study Dharma in English, so we're making an archive at Godstow
and we need a lot of help with that. People who, you know, wanna
make a library there, who can help label tapes, who can, you
know, just make sure everything's there copy things that aren't
there, copy things onto different mediums. We're trying to make
a digital and a physical archive. So once it's all in a digital
format we can spread things very widely and inexpensively. We
have another project where we're actually transcribing these
teachings which is, you know, going forward in different ways.
One is to make like a Buddhist library that would be online where
you could actually read any of the courses...you could search it
for different ideas, so if you had a question about how to do
your water bowls, you could type in "water bowls" and it would
jump to the day in, you know, March 3, 1993, where Geshe Michael
taught that in class, you can have a full description online.
For any other subject, you could type in a question about a death
meditation, a question about meditation in general and the answer
would come up online. We're also taking these transcripts and
making them into books. There's a couple accomplished writers
who are already editing courses that Geshe Michael's taught into
books that are...some are in the process of being published, few
are being published by Doubleday right now...one on the (b:
Diamond Cutter) and business, teaching people how to use the
ideas of emptiness and karma in their office place to make more
money and be happier. Another book, you know, (b: The Garden)
which we're using on the Friday night classes, so we're also
making books for...out of the courses, so the wider audience can
learn the things that we're learning in class. And we're also
working on a website where all of the classes will be online, you
can listen to them, watch a video of them, you'll have different
study tools, dictionarys, we have somebody who's doing a
(unclear) media vidio project...we wanna have everything on CD's
so people can have instead of 18 notebooks you could just have a
couple of CD's or you could listen to any of the classes on your
home computer for sixty cents rather than, you know, the money it
costs to to send out courses, so we need the help with a lot of
different things...if you're interested in just any different
ways of spreading these teachings in English, we're actually
gonna have a meeting this weekend at Godstow that anybody's
welcome to come to and it's gonna be this Saturday from 3:30 in
the afternoon on into the evening, and also Sunday afternoon from
about 1:30 or 2:00 on. Where we're gonna try to get some teams
together...people who wanna work on making an archive, working on
books, publication, working on editing...we need people who are
proof readers, people who are maybe graphic artists who have a
few hours a week who want to transcribe, who know about
computers, (unclear) website development, who know about video,
who...lot of different skills, you know, pretty much anything you
you do we can use, you know, different skills to help spread
these teachings to a wider audience, and people to help manage
volunteers. We have over a hundred people around the country,
and in Australia and in Ireland and all over who are transcribing
tapes, so people who wanna work with the volunteers we have and
help, you know, make these teachings reach other people. So, I
can I can write my name up here...also if you're interested in
coming this weekend, you can just come or if you wanted some more
information you could talk to me and then if you want to hear
some more specific things about the projects, we're gonna do a
whole weekend about it at Godstow.

(applause)

(cut)

(student, Winston Mccullough: So I'd like to talk for a minute
about Diamond Mountain which is going to be a a University and
Retreat Center, out in Arizona. I'll leave this for a minute and
then I've got a couple of more. We settled on the name Diamond
Mountain. The contest ended early (laughter), it's kind of
funny... about five people, actually individually, came up with
the same name, you know, independently, or something very
similar, so we're calling it Diamond Mountain. There is more-
less a Diamond Mountain out there, on the map. We had a meeting
out there a couple of weeks ago with the team who are working
very hard on this. It's a great team to be involved with, people
are very supportive, there's a lot of good energy. We're making
really good progress. We are working out there on fund raising,
communications, planning the building for Geshe Michael's Great
Retreat fo...that he'll be doing for three years, starting next
March in year 2000. We had a special blessing ceremony on the
site out there and what're we're...and we also worked on a master
plan for the community out there. This is a really longterm
project probably will stand twenty five years actually to get all
of the phases up and running...have a community of students,
retirement village, other residents, people doing retreats...it
might be ten thousand people. There's nine thousand acres in
total and this is something that we'll be building up
incrementally o...over a couple of decades.)

(cut)

(student, Winston Mccullough): I'll show you where the the site
is...if you can...it's a little bit small...let's see...this is
Phoenix, southeast of there is Tucson...Tucson has an
international airport...it's really convenient to fly in and out
of, and then just about an hour drive southeast of Tucson are the
Dragoon Mountains and that's where we're gonna be building this
center. This is a little bit of what the land looks like out
there...it's high mountain kind of climate, about 5000 feet so
it's really good for meditating...it's good for living year round
and people live there very comfortably and easily and
inexpensively in adobe retreat buildings that can be built by
ourselves or built very inexpensively so the idea is that to be
able to live in a way that we have the time and the resources and
lack of some other kind of busy demands so that we can put a lot
of time into our practice which may be difficult at times in New
York. So tha that's the idea with the lifestyle out there.
We're working right now on the real estate contract...we've got
that finalized...we're about the sign it. It works..in,
basically like this. We're gonna buy a hundred acres of land
right now and then over about ten years we'll purchase some
incremental parcels so we'll get to about thirty-two hundred
acres of land and we can build retreat centers on, for individual
treats...retreats or group retreats. We'll have a university
center, a business conference center, a retirement village and a
lot of room for individuals to come out and build homes for
themselves with their families, with friends, like that, so. As
soon as we we sign the contract, we want to, in a more formal
way, disseminate some more information to a lot of people, so
we're gonna have a website turned on in a couple of
weeks...Michael Dunn and Ronnie in Ireland have been working a
lot on that, and Jennifer and Michael Wick, Elly, to get that up
and going...a a separate website for Diamond Mountain. And then
Tom Flynn and Elly and others are working on a brochure that
we're gonna mail out to thousands of people so we can get
enthusiasm and information going out there. Geshe Michael is
going to be beginning his retreat next March and he'll be
delivering two sets of public teachings in each year, and the
dates are in the in the newsletter. The first teachings will be
May 20-June 10 and then and that's of the year 2000, so starting
in about nine months, and the next set is are is gonna be
December 16 through January 6, so we're very fortunate that we'll
still be able to receive teachings from Geshe Michael. So during
those three years, to come out for the teachings, there's a
there's a whole range of accommodations...there's hotels and B&
B's close by, we'll be either on or very close to National
Forest, public land out there, so you can camp out there, and
then we're also ordering a set of hurts from Mongol from
Mongolia, which are really cool and so we'll be able to stay in
yurts during the teachings, and we'll probably have at least one
of the yurts come to the East Coast and one of the Godstow
projects is to set up a yurt up there and see if we can duplicate
them. Build a bunch of them and then ship them out there
(laughter) so that so that we can live in a in a yurt
community...during the teachings and to do some retreats. And
then over time, as we raise some more money and if people want to
get together some funds individually or some some nice sponsor
help comes, we can begin to build some adobe retreat buildings
and adobe houses to live in out there. So, fund raising is a
really big part of this. We've done a a very good job so far,
and there's there's been a lot of generosity just among the
students here in, you know, in the room right now. And other of
Geshe Michael's students. We've raised the $200,000 that we need
to purchase the first parcel and we're well on on the way to
raising all of the money that we need to build the retreat
hacienda for the retreat that Geshe Michael is leading. And then
we're gonna have more needs financially, so I'd like to thank
everyone who's helped with the fundraising or made donations.
We're gonna have a a dinner for donors on August 14th which is a
Saturday night..it's the weekend that His Holiness is teaching in
New York. So if you've made a donation or if you'd like to come
to the dinner, and would like to make a donation (laughter) you
can do that, and we'll have more details about that. We're we're
also gonna set up a a process where all of us can have a an
ongoing kind of donation to support ther...Geshe Michael in the
retreat, and I encourage everyone to think a little bit about how
you'd like to do this in a way that is very comfortable for you,
that that you feel good about, that you think is appropriate, and
it may be a process where you just donate five dollars a month or
you donate fifty dollars or five hundred dollars a
month...whatever it is, and I think that, you know, the main
purpose to collect karma, to think about the Perfection of
Giving, think about appreciation for what our teacher has done
for us, for the teachings that he's given us, the precious gift
that we have from studying with Geshe Michael. It's a very good
time to be supporting his retreat. So just just to think about
that, just to put the, you know, the seed for that in your mind.
You can be thinking about the way of doing that you that you
think is right, you know, personally for you. And we'll probably
have a li...a a very con convenient way that we can help with
donations just through an automatic monthly kind of contribution,
so it's just something something to think about for a little bit
later. And then I want to mention a few volunteer opportunities.
 If people would like to get involved. Most of the...I think
most of the long-term help will actually be out in Arizona, so
I'll mention that later, but a couple of things that people can
help with in New York right away. We're gonna be put putting
together a mailing for a brochure, probably in three to four
weeks, so if you'd like to get together and get that ready to
send out. We need someone who is able to use Microsoft Access
software, to create a data base. This is a really important part
of the project to support things (unclear) people, so if you'd
like to take that on. We're gonna be doing some yurt cloning up
in Godstow (laughter) so think about that if you, you know, if
you like building and would like to get involved. We have a lot
of needs to do web searches and people have done research on
safety, living out in Arizona, or informa...getting information
about easements on the land and so there's a a lot of need to do
some web research. There's some specialties...kind of special
professional skills that we could really use some help with in
New York also, if people have a legal background or accounting
background, if people are able to write web programs or write
HTML, software or do graphic design...those kinds of things are
really helpful also. And then in the longer term, just to plant
a seed in your mind, if you're if you're very attracted to being
involved in the longer term, out in Arizona at Diamond Mountain,
these are these are some some things that we're going to be
working on over the next few years. We're gonna building yurts,
building adobe homes, setting up solar systems for energy,
setting up turbine power with windmills so that we can drill, you
know, deep wells, pump up water from the earth for drinking and
cleaning and washing and growing gardens out there. We're gonna
be building a lot of adobe ourselves, probably put putting
together a store of adobe bricks and materials. We're gonna
repair fences, we're gonna...let's see...and then, I gue...last
thing to mention out there is we're gonna for Geshe Michael's
public teachings there's a lot of work to be done so that we can
all conveniently be out at the teachings. We need to arrange for
busses to bring people onto the National Forest for the
teachings, we need to set up food and water, a safety station,
portapotties, things like that, so...that that's basically the
project so far. We'll have a lot more information for you and
we'll have the website turned on live pretty soon. The way
that...I think, you know, a really significant way that you can
help us now is if you have friends or friend of friends or
someone you know who might be interested in sponsoring the
project in a major way, if you can give us leads, people to
contact, or if you'd like to, you know, make a first contact and
let us follow up with a pr a proposal. Most of the money that
we've raised, you know, going forward, I think will be coming
from some wealthy sponsors who have a kind of a heartfelt
interesting in supporting this project and supporting Geshe
Michael. So so that's a, I think, an important way that the the
project will progress. So special things happen at mountains
sometimes (laughter) and so we, you know, think about this
project. We'll have more information. This is a real longterm
thing. Begin to think about how you'd like to be involved.
Whether it's coming out to the teachings, coming out to do a
retreat once or twice during the year...it could be a one week
or a one month or a two month retreat, if you'd like to relocate
relocate out there, Tucson is a very big convenient city sort of
as a jumping off point, to relocate down to Diamond Mountain.
It's a really...it'll be a really special place and we're very
fortunate that our teacher is giving us the opportunity to help
with this so.

(applause)

(student, Winston Mccullough: We're gonna have...the website is
is under development and so in a couple of weeks, in a couple of
weeks we'll have the website address for you and we'll announce
it in class.)

(student, Andrea: Hi. My name is Andrea and my mission is to
feed Geshe Michael and his six or eight or ten or fifteen people
that work with him for (laughter) (laughs) he's only gonna be
around for another two and a half months and we need to start
collecting food donations right away (Geshe-la laughs in
background). I'm gonna have a box in the back of the class and a
a list of foods that we co we would recommend, but it's really up
to you...anything that you would like to bring, preferrably non-
perishable foods, boxes of Cheerios, Chinese tea, pasta, beans,
you know...you can bring fresh fruits and vegetables too. We'll
just have to keep thinking about how to store them. Michael Wick
has offered his kitchen and so we've been cooking there. You can
also...if you wanna to cook and then bring food to Michael Wick's
apartment, you'd have to talk with, let's see, you'd have to call
ahead of time, so you have Michael Wicks number...are you guys
available at Michael Wick's...you...there's a phone...do people
answer the phone? Dur...during the afternoon? 2:00 to 5:00? If
you like want to prepare food and just bring it there so they...
and they can heat it up and stuff like that. In case you need
inspiration, Geshe Michael said that this idea comes from the (b:
Vinaya) so, I don't think Lord Bia...Buddha ever had to cook for
himself or, I don't think he had to order food from a restaurant.
 I think that his disciples took care of him so we'd like to do
the same thing. Thank you.)

Just to wrap up...the ideas of food is (laughs), you know, we
don't have any paid positions here. We are serving now tens of
thousands of people and we're all completely broke and what would
be nice...and we don't like money...we're not asking for money,
but in the ancient days, people would just bring food for the
staff. So the idea is that, you know, you just bring a can of
food or or something...don't bring money and I have about ten or
fifteen people helping me every day for free. They come...a lot
of them take time off their jobs and they come one day a week or
two days a week and all of the...we sent out over a million pages
of correspondence courses. We've never charged anybody. And and
things like that. We're serving about a hundred and fifty
prisoners in penitentiaries all over the world, half a million
Mongolians are watching the television stuff there...it's stuff
like that and we don't have any funding. We don't have any
salaries for anybody. So, the idea is to go back to the old
system and instead of us coming to your house with a wooden bowl,
(laughter) you just bring something to eat and then I can feed
all the...my children, who come and help me every day. 'Cause
they're very kind of help, they work really hard...some of them
work eighteen hours a day for free and I think it would be really
cool to to ressurect this ancient idea that that these people who
are serving us, that we feed them...you know what I mean? And
that's just one meal a day for the next few months and I think
that's a good system. Also I'd like to thank Michael Wick for
letting us use his apartment at the office (applause) okay, and
and Leon also..just to (applause) you know...and that's why we
can not charge anything. Leon's place alone, I think, he's lost
probably over a hundred thousand dollars in rent in the last
three-four years by letting us use it for free and, you know, we
should do...I think, I would love to make everything free and
just live like that and I think that's the way Dharma should be,
okay? I'd like to ask all these people maybe to come up over
here during the break...we're gonna take a break now and then
we'll have a class...and if you want to talk to them about what
they're working on or or ask questions or, you know, bring
your...are they allowed?...I don't know...did you have a
question? A few more announcements. Very quickly. There's a
flamenco group, a beautiful gypsy flamenco group from Spain that
heard about our work two years ago and did a free performance for
us. They raised eighteen thousand dollars for the nuns. And
that was actually used to buy their first car. (laughter) And
some other stuff that they're gonna be using out in Arizona, the
the nuns who are gonna be in retreat there. So, now, they're
gonna be playing...this, they start tomorrow, a performance in
New York and we're gonna take a group there next Wednesday, a
week from tomorrow, so if you're interested in coming, they
charge...I don't know what they charge per group but we're
gonna...I thought it'd be just nice to show support for them.
So, who's...are you doing that? You can talk to Ani Pelma and
then there'll be theme weekends up at Godstow to discuss these
projects and there'll be a special weekend to discuss the Three
Jewels for example and a special weekend for Mongolia, and stuff
like that, but talk to the person in charge of it and we'll meet
you up there. Okay. Please take a nice break.

(break)

Thank you. Okay, we'll start. The course that we are reviewing
tonight and Thursday was the...what was it...the eighth course I
think and seventh?, okay. And it was dedicated to the
Bodhisattva Vows. As you know there's three sets of vows, what
we call Pratimoksha vows or they're called Freedom Vows, which,
for example for laypeople might mean no killing humans and no
stealing a lot of money, and no direct adultery, no lying about
your spiritual life, no drinking alcohol or taking drugs...things
like that, okay. Those are Pratimoksha vows. The monks vows,
nuns vows are all what we call Pratimoksha vows, or freedom vows.
 That's one of the three sets of vows. Then there's a set of
vows called Bodhisattva Vows and then there's a set of vows
called (Tantric) or secret vows. Okay. And this class number
seven, the course number seven, was dedicated to studying the
Bodhisattva Vows. When I was in Ireland, you know, it being a
very deeply Catholic country...I've never taught in a deeply
religious country of any kind, actually, you know, (laughs), I've
taught in America, Australia...you know, no offense, but but they
don't have a a deep belief. Irish have a deep belief and and
they didn't know any Sanscrit words..I called it Warrior Saints
vows or something like that, which is what Bodhisattva mea...how
it translates in Tibetan and and I even had a difficulty using
the word "vow", I ended up using "list", you know, because the
vow...the word vow has so many connotations. For example, when
you think vows you think a cloister in medieval Europe and women
after being, I don't know, some big scandal then they go into a
(laughter)a nunnery and they never come back and they take vows,
you know. And if the vows have this kind of connotation of some
kind of...how to say...I think the major connotation in English
is of some kind of obligation, some kind of restriction,
uncomfortable restriction, you know, some kind of controlling
your urges and trying not to do what you really want to do, so
you see, you know, monks and nuns over-eating 'cause they can't
do other things and they get frustrated and they're always like
walking around a little shakey and and, you know, hitting the
kids this minute they do something (laughs)...not like that at
all, okay. You have to think of vows as some kind of a holy list
of, you know...I heard Matthew...what's his name?...this great
French monk.

(students: (unclear))

Richard. Okay. And he said vows are like wings, you know, yeah,
like incred...no, no different guy. Modern Tibetan French monk,
who wrote a great book, but anyway. He said, "my vows are like
wings", you know, like "when I took vows they gave me the power
to fly" (laughter), you know and he sees them as this
extraordinary knowledge that was granted to him by the
enlightened beings, and you know, out of all the millions of
activities that a human being can do...oh, here's a list that'll
get you enlightened a lot faster, and here you can have it, you
know, and he's like "wow, thank you", you know and then it's like
beautiful, and I think the Bodhisattva vows are different because
out of the three sets of vows, you're allowed to study
Bodhisattva vows in advance of taking them, and you're encouraged
to. For example, when you become a fully ordained monk or
nu...you're not technically supposed to know a lot about the vows
before you take them. You have to have the vows the read about
the vows, you see what I mean? When you take (tantric) vows,
you're not allowed to study them before you take them, but when
you take Bodhisattva vows, you're encouraged to learn them all
before you take them, and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, in
Arizona, where he granted them when I was there...you know, all
my high school friends came and they're all Christian and they
said, "can we take the vows"? and he said, "I'll tell you
tomorrow". And he came back the next day and he said, "I think
it's okay", and you know whether you take them formally or not,
Bodhisattva vows are some kind of extraordinary way of life.
Inside those vows are all the six perfections, okay, all the
activities of a Bodhisattva, all the things that these beings do
who love others more than themselves, and live their lives, every
moment of their lives, for other people are included in the
Bodhisattva vows. You know, I always was trying to keep track of
how am I doing on giving, how'm I doing on morality, how'm I
doing on concentration, not getting angry, blah blah blah and you
don't need to do that. If you just keep your vows, your
Bodhisattva vows, if you learn them and then if you follow them
or track them frequently, you is doing the Six Perfections. You
see what I mean. Then you don't have to worry about some
separate Six Perfections. This is how you do the Six
Perfections. You just keep your Bodhisattva vows. Okay. The
vows are given and required as a preliminary to every (tantric)
initiation that's given around here, in the highest of the four
groups of (tantra), the vows are required before you get
(tantric) vows. In the lower groups of (tantra), they are the
(tantric) vows. Okay...with some adjustments, okay. So it's
very important to have them. So you have thousands of Americans
who have taken some (tantric) initiation, almost nobody has known
their vows. And if you don't keep them, if you don't look at
them every day, they don't do anything. Okay. You you ain't
much different before you take vows and after you take
vows...it's not like the Abhidharma School says you get some halo
or something like that, and then the higher schools says "that's
wrong". Okay. It's not like they're gonna change you if you
don't know them. They don't do anything, practically, for you if
you don't know them and then make an attempt to follow them all
the time, okay? So, the idea of course number seven was, and I
think it was unique at the time, that you could have a a clear,
basic introduction to every single Bodhisattva Vow that you were
supposed to be keeping for the last fifteen-twenty years anyway,
and we found a beautiful text by a teacher of the tenth Dalai
Lama, in Russia, that was advised by Pabongka Rinpoche in two of
his books, so we we found a copy, pasted it back together, found
pieces all over the place, got the whole thing, translated it,
you have, in the in the course, a a short description of every
single vow. Why is that important? These vows were collected
together from different sutras and different ancient Indian
commentaries by Master Asanga and other like Chandragomin, and
they are sometimes obscure...like one of them says, "don't
profess the opposite", you know. So if you go around and saying,
"well, I wonder if I professed the opposite today", (laughter)
you know, you have to have an explanation, so in the course you
had a short explanation of each vow. I've put in the in the
review course, you still have the explanation of every vow, so
this reading's a little longer, okay, 'cause I couldn't bear to
get it out and take out some of the vows...it just seems crazy to
me, so me and Ora had a fight and I won as usual, (laugher)
(laughs) and and you get got all the vows in the reading, okay,
and you have to read them and you have to study them. It's a
requi...and I break...I'll tell you a secret, okay, in the
(tantric) vows, you're required to check these vows, and your
(tantric) vows six times a day, (tun druk), okay. (Tun druk)
doesn't mean (says vows indistinguishably fast), whew, six times,
done, you know. (laughter) (laughs). I used to do it in Perth,
Amboy on the bus, just after waking up on the way home, for
sixteen years, okay. Then I started checking them which is a lot
harder and and and we have a system, you keep a book, you write
six vows a day and you check six vows a day and that you check it
six times a day, you don't check it twice a day or once a day
because it's six times a day, and then this starts to change your
life. You know, I have around the world, hundreds, thousands of
students, I meet them constantly, on a constant basis, they come
into my room, there's only two kinds...one...and they're all the
same, I mean the...what they want to talk about is always the
same. They...number...student...type one comes in and says, "my
practice is lousy, I can't meditate, nothing's going right, I
don't feel well, everything seems crazy" and I say, "are you
keeping your book?" and they say, "well....no...I did for a
couple of weeks when you visited my country and you taught the
vows", you know what I mean, and I'm like, I'm like, "just keep
your book and go away and stop bothering me", you know, 'cause it
keeps you happy, you know. If you are coming to these classes
for eighteen courses, they frankly won't change you that much,
okay...you must be watching those vows, checking those vows every
two hours, period. And then your life will change drastically.
Your life will change drastically, because you're changing what?
Your mind (laughs), okay, all right, I mean you can be educated
about Buddhism but not change your own mind, you see what I mean?
 Changing your mind is a lot harder than than taking these
courses. Theoretically, if you take the courses, you're better
at changing your mind. Okay. But you must write down those
vows, you must check them. Okay. And that was the goal of
teaching the Bodhisattva Vows, okay? Did you have a question?

(student: (unclear))

Oh, we'll talk about it...we'll talk about it. We'll talk about
how confession works, okay, and I'll I'll cover that tonight,
okay. So very quickly, and your student leaders will help you,
the the basic text for the Bodhisattva Vows study was one by Je
Tsongkapa...it's a major text, they considered it so important
they put it in the first volume of his teachings and it's called
(b: Highway for a Bodhisattva). Okay. And that was the...that
and the text by the teacher of the tenth Dalai Lama were the
texts that we used for the Bodhisattva Vows. That text has never
been translated...you got big pieces of it in your reading, and
it tears up the vows apart, it explains everything about the
vows. Hopefully somebody will translate it...the whole
thing...maybe one of you. Okay. Secondly we had a a the
motivation with which you should take the vows, and that's
bodhicitta. Okay. Very briefly, I'm not here to give a long
talk about bodhicitta, I think the bodhicitta or the, you know,
what they call "altruistic attitude" or something like that,
which I call "the wish for enlightenment"...I think people are
confusing it betwe...confusing kindness and bodhicitta, okay.
Kindness is being nice to other people, helping other people,
being willing to put yourself out for other people, bodhicitta is
a totally different thing. Bodhicitta is "the desire, the
intention, the unwavering resolve to become an enlightened being
so you can finally help other people", period. Okay. And if
that involves being tough on other people, that's fine too. So
Bodhisattvas might not be looking like Bodhisattvas at a
particular time, okay. Bodhisattva, again, doesn't just mean a
nice guy or a super nice guy. It doesn't even mean a
compassionate person. By itself. What it means, (tem kye pani
sem den che ya na dzo gren, tsan che du) quoting Master Asanga,
"Bodhichitta is the desire to wish enlightenment so that you can
really help other people", okay.. That's all. You know, so it'd
be almost like a single-minded focus on getting yourself
enlightened quickly so you can help other people in a major way,
okay, and that's it, all right. So that that's the that's the
motivation you have to have when you take Bodhisattva vows.
Okay. There's two kinds of Bodhisattva vows ceremonies...we
covered it in detail in the course, in wa...the first ceremony
you commit yourself to thinking like a bodhisattva, you know, "I
buy into that theory. I will try to become an enlightened being
to help other people, as quickly as I can, and I'll spend the
rest of the my life, mainly concentrating on that". Ceremony
number two: "I commit myself to the sixty-four vows and accessory
commitments", okay, like that's...which is to say, I commit
myself to act like a bodhisattva, okay, and in the old days, they
used to take two ceremonies and it used to be a year apart, or
five years apart, you know, it was a very serious commitment to
say, "I agree to think like a Bodhisattva". I agree to live my
life just thinking about what's the fastest way I can get
enlightened so I can help other people. Okay. And then ceremony
number two would be: "I agree to follow the six perfections by or
acting like a Bodhisattva by taking the sixty-four vows and then
following them, okay. Like that. Okay. There's a question in
your homework that says, "describe Je Tsongkapa's reaction to the
idea that practitioners of the secret way do not need to follow
the other two sets of vows". This is a very wrong idea that
gained popularity in India, I'm sorry, Tibet...and India...where
people would say, "I understand about monks vows and laymen's
lifetime vows, and I know about all those Bodhisattva vows, but
you know, I've graduated. I've moved up to secret teachings,
(tantra). I don't need those vows. I don't need to follow those
vows. I am now exempt from the lower vows. I'm a higher being.
 I don't need those vows." Okay. Something like that. And this
was an idea that was beginning to gain popularity in Tibet, you
know, they would ditch the other two sets of vows and say "all I
need to do is concentrate on the third set of vows". First of
all, I mean a very interesting thing...if you follow your basic
morality vows, the ten, well, in this life, with a pure heart,
you can pretty much count on bumping into (Tantric) deities
anyway. Without a without an initiation, get it? Okay. If you
really with a pure heart, keep the very basic morality of
Buddhism, you probably gonna start bumping into these being
anyway. On top of that you take Bodhisattva vows, you can speed
it up. And then you can't take (tantric) vows unless you're
keeping the other two sets of vows, okay? They don't make any
sense, they don't mean anything, and between us, the lower vows
are included in the (tantric) vows, in the five families of
Buddha's vows, okay, the nineteen (laughter) and I'm not supposed
to tell you...okay. So to say that you don't need the lower vows
to get to the higher vows is just crazy, okay? And that's
what...Je Tsongkapa says that idea is like a hail storm that
moves through, cross a valley and ruins the crops, cuts them all
down, and it's and it's an excellent way to ruin the happiness of
of thousands and millions of people in the future. Okay? So if
anybody gives you that story, you know what to say now. Okay.
Question number four is, "describe the kind of person that can
grant the vows of the Bodhisattva". Interesting thing. You
don't have to be a monk to give someone Bodhisattva vows. It's
better if they are a monk or nun, okay, you don't have to have
(tantric) vows, but it's better if they do have (tantric) vows,
'cause then they can guide you further on, okay. And then there
are personal qualities that the person should have and those will
be covered in your in your breakout section, okay. The kind of
person who can take the vows of a bodhisattva...the main
requirement to take the vows successfully is a sort of a
predilection in your own mind for compassion, okay. If you were
the kind of person that couldn't stand it when they were cutting
frogs up in school, at high school biology class...you see what I
mean, if you were the kind of person that was throwing away the
mousetraps in your mom's house, you know, if you were the kind of
person that, you know, cried when you heard about people getting
killed in some country on tv, that that's really you have what we
call the seed to keep the bodhisattva vows. In other words, you
have to have some kind of...you have to be the kind of person
that was attracted to spiritual things, you heard about great
things, or you heard about meditation...I was reading Dr. Strange
comic books, Marvel comic books, and they had a Buddhist monk
there, and I just couldn't...wow, Tibet..it's got such good ears,
and and those robes, man, you know, and you know, like that, some
kind of seeds in your heart that you're just attracted to these
things, okay. That's the basic personality type that will be
able to be successful in this...bodhisattva vows. There're other
requirements listed here and your your your class teachers will
go through them. Then we went over the first nine root vows and
I think I even...oh, all eighteen root vows on your homework,
okay (laughter). Those of you who know the (tun druk) in
Tibetan, it starts out (dak to shenmo cho nor mi ter shing, shak
kyang mi nyen tekchen pongwa dang, konchok kor trok cho pong ngur
mike trok, tsam me nga dang lokta drong sok jom)...can you check
them that fast (laughter)...no, then you have to keep a book,
okay (laughs) All right. What are they...I mean, I I'll give
you four just for good luck, okay, and the rest you have to go
over with your class leaders, okay, and they're also in the
reading. 'Cause you've got all of them in the reading, okay?
The first four root bodhisattva vows...by the way, we divided the
bodhisattva vows into root vows and secondary vows. The root
vows are more important and then secondary vows, and then there
are vows relating to the wish for enlightenment, there are vows
called the black deeds and white deeds and you can get all that,
we don't have time tonight. It takes about ten days full time to
teach it to somebody, okay. First vow, (dak to shen mo), it has
two parts. The first four vows have two parts each. They're
really two vows hiding in each part, okay? (Dak to shen mo)
means to "put yourself up and to put other people down", okay?
Now if that were the root bodhisattva vow, we're in trouble.
Why? When you break a bodhisattva vow, fully, meaning there has
to be four conditions there...you have to be happy you broke it,
you have to be willing to break it again, you have to not care
about what the effects are on other people, you have to think
it's a stupid vow anyway, I mean to break a bodhi...root
bodhisattva vow properly, is difficult, okay? But if it were as
easy as praising yourself and putting down others, you and me is
in trouble. Okay. You cannot reach, said Je Tsongkapa, the
first Bodhisattva bhumi if you break a root bodhisattva vow in
this lifetime. That's awful strict. That means you can't see
emptiness directly with a bodhicitta if you just praise yourself
once. I mean I'd be in trouble ten minutes ago. Okay. This is
a very specific praising yourself. After much analysis, Je
Tsongkapa and the other commentators say, this refers primarily
to putting down other religions...other religious teachers, okay,
out of a desire for some kind of a sick desire for yourself that
that you know, people are attracted to your teaching and that
you're some how special, and like that, some competitive feeling,
okay. It doesn't mean I can't get up and say, if someone told
you emptiness was a green light in your head, that's BS, okay, I
have to say that. That's not putting down other religious
positions, okay. What I...what this means is to say, you know,
something like, all all people in the other religions are stupid,
or something like that, or, anyone who goes to that other Dharma
center is an idiot, you know...or something like that, or that
teacher is not a very good teacher...something like that, out of
a desire that that I should be considered the greatest teacher
and and people should honor me and and I should get more money
for my classes...I wish...and and stuff like that...out of some
desire for gain for myself. Now that's sick...you see what I
mean? Out of a desire that I should get more money, or I should
get more fame to to slander other religious traditions and things
like that. That's the first Bodhisattva vow. Okay. First
two...praising yourself criticizing others (dak to shen mo).
(Cho nor mi ter shing) means...number two...the two parts of
number two are, someone else is asking you for material help or
for religious teachings and you refuse. Why? There has to be a
special motivation here because I don't want my money to get
less. Like I have enough to give you, I know you need it, I know
you're desperate, you're depending only on me...by the way, this
is what it takes to break this vow, okay, you are depending
desperately on me. I am your only source, I do have the money
you need...I don't need it so much for other things. You begging
me for it and because I don't want my bank account to be less, I
say no. You know. I want my bank account to maintain a certain
level, okay, or you're begging me for certain teachings about
something...and I don't want to tell you. Why? I want to be the
only person who knows, okay. I don't want anyone to know as much
as Michael Roach. Okay. So I don't tell you about what you want
to know. That's how you break number two. It's very hard to
break it, thank goodness...you see what I mean? They're very
specific ways to break it. See, the Bodhisattva vows are like
that. They are very specific. And you have to learn all the
nuances of each vow and if you don't study it in the reading and
you don't go to a good course on it, you'll go crazy. Don't
teach emptiness to others. Yeah. But His Holiness is writing
books about it. Is he breaking his vows. That's not what the
vow means, man. Go read it. You see what I mean. It's a totally
different thing. People have come up to me and said, "you're a
bad person" and I say "why", they say, "you're teaching
emptiness". I said, "there's no vow against teaching emptiness".
 "Yeah, yeah, num vow number so and so...it says you can't teach
emptiness". Come on, that means you can't teach emptiness to a
certain kind of person who's on a Mahayana track who would freak out if you
taught it in way number sixteen and would go to a Hinayana track.
 And that's what it means. And they say, "well, I never heard of
that", and I said, "yeah, 'cause you never read the vow". Okay.
In other words you have to read the vows carefully or else you'll
go around either breaking them or...what's the first cause of
breaking your Bodhisattva vows? You don't know what they are
(laughs), okay, I mean that's the...easiest way to break them if
you never know what they are. There's also people going around
bodhi...keeping Bodhisattva vows that aren't there (laughter)
okay (laughs), like they they're strictly keep this vow in a
certain way thinking that it means one thing when it doesn't have
anything to do with that. Okay. That's even almost more funny.
Okay. (shenmo cho nor mi ter shing - Shak kyang mi nyen) (Shak
kyang mi nyen) means "someone comes to you, you've done something
to them, sorry, they've done something to you and they want to
come and apologize to you, and they're coming to you in the
proper way, respectful way, it's a very solemn moment for them,
they are approaching you in a very sincere way, they want to give
you a full, honest apology for something they've done to you and
you blow them off"...okay. That's very unbodhisattva. Okay.
And then you break the vow. Some commentators say this refers to
a a deep-felt spiritual suggestion, you know, someone comes to
you with a deep-felt spiritual suggestion of some kind, like, you
know, I saw you do a certain thing and I love you like my
brother, and I I just wanted to, you know, give you a suggestion
that maybe you wouldn't want to do that, or something, and then
you say, "ah, get out of my life", you know. Then you break this
Bodhisattva vow...there's two ways of interpreting that that part
of that vow. There is a missing part in the (tun druk) that it
doesn't mention here which is "to strike another being
physically". Okay. So number three has a second part called
"striking another being". Like, you have pledged to spend the
rest of your life, every moment of it, serving others, every way
you can, and and to lay a finger on another being in anger, okay,
in some kind of bad motivation, you know, hatred, anger, then
you've broke a root vow. And I I remember like I've punched I
punched my brothers...that doesn't count, okay, we had four boys,
we had rules...you couldn't punch in the face, you could jump on
them, twist them down, wrestle (laughter)...nobody ever hit
anybody in the face. That was a rule. We broke windows, doors,
(laughter) everything. Chairs, but we couldn't hit each other in
the face, you know. And then I remember in college, like really
punching a guy once. At...it was at the back of a truck, he fell
off the truck, and I never felt so bad in my life, you know.
Just the...I didn't really intend to, you know what I mean...it
just happened, and he's like down and I'm like, you know, and I
have it done to me too, felt worse...no (laughter) (laughs) but
just the sensation of striking another living being, and feeling
it and having taken...having sworn your existence to serving
others and to make contact with them physically in violence, is
so against the Bodhisattva principle that you break a root vow
when you do it, okay. That's the second half of (shak kyan mi
nyen tekchen pongway dang)- (tekchen pongwa)...give up the
Mahayana teaching, like, Buddha never taught them, stupid idea,
this Bodhisattva thing's too hard, doesn't make sense, okay. The
other half of that vow is to teach false Dharma, okay. Oh,
Buddha made that rule but it doesn't apply to modern times...I
guess he wasn't omniscient, right, or he couldn't see 1999...he
could see 1998, but not 1999, something like that. This rule is
irrelevant for people. I don't see why the Buddha made that
rule. Let's adjust it. Let's change it. Let's say you can
drink alcohol at dinner if you only have three glasses.
(laughter). Okay. Or something, you know, to adjust an
omniscient being's version of what will get you liberated. Okay.
 To to corrupt the Dharma, okay, to to make it less than what it
is. Okay. That's that's teaching false Dharma. To present
something as Buddha Dharma which the Buddha never intended, never
taught, okay, and to corrupt it for future generations...at a
certain point of that process it won't work any more, okay, at a
certain point of monkeying around with the Buddha's teachings, it
won't function to do what it does, which is to get people to see
emptiness directly and get them liberated, okay. If if people in
each generation over the last two and half thousand years had
monkeyed around with it a little bit...it's that thing where I
whisper something in Axel's ear, and then he whispers in
your...and by the time you get to the last person...if each
person changed one word, it wouldn't work anymore, okay. You
can't do that. All right. Cannot...we have two and half
thousand years to go in this eon of Buddha Dharma and it's been
okay so far, and don't you don't have to fix it or change it or
adjust...I heard people say, I've heard Tibetan Buddhist teachers
say, "oh, the hell realms are just a metaphor", you know,
"there's no such thing...it just means a bad day". You
know...(laughs) I think they're in the hell realms now (laughs)
something like that, okay. Not like that...okay. They these
things you can not fool around with, okay, you can't change them.
All right. You can adjust them for your times in the language
and you have to, get it. You have to update the language. Lord
Buddha's speech has sixty qualities...quality number one is his
ability to adjust his speech for all living beings. He speaks
Sanscrit for those who understand Sanscrit, and he speaks
Brooklyn to those who understand Brooklyn, okay, and he uses the
words that fit those people. He speaks their language, okay. So
I would say if you don't adjust the language to the people you're
speaking to, then you've corrupted the Dharma, 'cause they can't
understand it...you see what I mean? But do you change the
information? Never. Okay. Do you change the language to normal
English? Yes. Because that's that's what we're here to do is to
communicate to people in normal English. Okay. Let me see if
anything else...so those are the four...first four root vows,
just for good luck, okay. You can read the rest in your in your
reading. I'm getting there, Sergeant. Yeah, that's about all,
that's about all. There's only two Bodhisattva
vows...sorry...that if you break them you really ruined your
Bodhisattva vows, okay, and you'll you'll read about it, but one
of them is to give up the intention to reach enlightenment for
other people, okay, to to give up this ideal of a Bodhisattva,
that you...to give up the belief that in this lifetime, you
personally are capable of reaching enlightenment to help other
people. If you ever think otherwise, you have ruined your
Bodhisattva vows. Get it? Okay. You have to have it always in
the back of your mind. I've had people in Mongolia come up to me
and they say, "my God, you talk as if we could reach this in in
in one lifetime", and I'm like "duh". (laughter) That's what
you're supposed to think. That's what you're sworn to. And
they're like, "yeah, but nobody ever said that". Well, I said
that and that's what you're supposed to say (laughs). And that's
what you're supposed to do. And you're supposed to have that
feeling in your heart. You're sworn to that...okay...you you
break your vows when you think otherwise, okay. If you think "oh
I couldn't do it" or, you know, "it's not possible" or "he's
exaggerating. It's not possible in one lifetime to get to
Buddhahood", you know. Then you then mentally you've broken the
vow, okay. You must in a in this lifetime at all cost do what
ever you can to get enlightened so you can really help other
peo...and you can do it, and it's only, you know, some sort of
cultural acretion to think otherwise, okay, it's not true that
you can't do it...you can do it. You just need the proper
instruction and then you gotta keep your book, okay. And if you
ever think otherwise, you've broken the most important of of all
the vows. Okay. Mentally you've...you've broken it. Okay? All
right. We'll break out into groups...very brief, okay? How long
Sergeant...maybe...sorry, okay. Please please get quickly into
your group and then we'll start.
Review course #17