ACI 3 «Прикладная медитация», занятие 11

Class 11: Review
March 23, 1994
Transcribed by: Roy Yoshimoto



First I'd like you to look at the outline you just...

[John Stillwell: Is this the question before?]

Yuh.

[John:    You know, I was trying to understand the insight--vipashyana--
meditation. The definition is sort of like...I didn't really get it, you know, the way
it was defined. I mean, the definition is, "that wisdom which is full of exceptional
bliss of practiced ease, that comes from the analysis of its object and which is
founded upon quietude." Is that saying, once you have quietude, you then focus
that quietude upon wisdom and the result is exceptional bliss?]

No. When we debate this subject in the monastery it's on a different...it's with a
different text. And they say what's the difference between insight and quietude.
And the object is the same. They both look at {jinyepechu} and {jitawechu},
which means...{jinyepechu} means everything there is...the things that are. And
{jitawechu} means the way things are. They both focus on the same object: the
things that are and the way things are. And they both have the same essence.
They're both...

[John: Same level of concentration.]

They're both {tingendzin}, they're both shamata...based on shamata, or shamata.
And then the only difference between them is whether or not they're analyzing
the object or not.

[John: So one of them is...]

They're both fixed on the object...they're both a kind of fixation on the object, but
vipashyana is analyzing the object.

{John: So analytical versus single-pointed.]
Analytical versus non-analytical. And that's the way they say it.

[Student:    Would that be like the {chokgom} and the {shargom} and the
{chegom}? Would then the {chegom} be the vipashyana and the {shargom}
be...or {chokgom} is the...]

No, it wouldn't be like that.

{Student: ...shamata.]

It would be...shamata is...yuh shamata is like {shar-}...{jokgom}, in the sense that
it's just the condition of being fixed on the object perfectly. And having
exceptional bliss, which is caused by...that's an interesting thing, and Ariel and I
were talking about it today. The way it works is that you get focused on the
object perfectly. Therefore, your mind is what we call {lesurung}, which means
"fit to do its work perfectly." Based on that, the, the inner winds, the psychic
winds on which the mind rides are...are, are all put into perfect order. All
throughout your body, the inner winds are put into perfect order because your
mind is in perfect order. Based on that you start to feel bliss in your body. And
because of that you feel happy and you start to feel bliss mentally. So those are
what the...bliss means. It means those four steps going on, in, in your body.
Your mind starts to concentrate better; therefore, the winds start to straighten
out; because the winds have straightened out, you feel bliss, and because you
feel bliss physically, you...you're happy, you feel better mentally. So that's, that's
what {dewa kyepa chen} means, of {shinjan}. That's what "exceptional bliss of
practiced ease" means.

[John: The difference between both being...I don't understand the difference...]

So shamata is more the fixation on the object, and vipashyana is the, the analysis
of the object sitting on the shamata.

[John: The analysis of the object is still single-pointed concentration from
moment to moment for the analysis, right?]

Yuh.

[John: And the only difference is, so I'm in single-pointed concentration on the
image of the Buddha and I'm not thinking about anything...]
Well there's this whole debate, you know. Is this whole {lamrim} outline...if you
go through the whole thing and do a {shargom}, if you meditate on this outline,
which is what I'd like you to do in the next six months...I mean it would be nice if
you got to the point...this is the road map to Buddhahood. And if you know it--
it's burned into your mind--you always know where you're at. You always
know where you've reached, so can you get single-pointed concentration on
these, you know, eleven pages of text? Yes. Is it...what does {tsechik} mean?
What does single-pointed mean? What the single point?

[John: Focused on one object.]

One object. Single object. The word "point" is a code word for object. There's
nothing single pointed about it except that it's focused on one object. Is this one
object?

[Student: Yes.]

There was a big debate about it in, in Tibet. And they...the {rangruk]--our, our
side--says it is. It's a single object. That whole meditation is a single object.

[Student: So you're not shifting the object of meditation even slightly, it's a move
from one section to the other, to the other.]

You are. You are. But we call it one object. We consider it one, one object.

[John: Is that the difference between the two? The one you shift from object to
object, and the other you stay with one object?]

We, we claim that this is staying with one object.

[John: Then what's the difference between...vipashyana and shamata?]

Shamata means...oh, shamata is the state of the meditation...of the
concentra-...shamata is the concentration. Vipashyana is the...is the analysis
based on that concentration. You can have shamata towards a worthless object.

[John: I'm trying to understand what analysis means.]

Oh, normally it means the emptiness of the object.       But it can also mean the
dependent origination of the object.

[John: So it is single-pointed concentration focused on emptiness?]

Focused on the nature of a thing...

[John: And its emptiness.]

It's positive nature or it's negative nature, meaning its dependent origination or
its emptiness...using the tool of shamata. That tool can be used by other people,
too. Shamata can be used for other purposes. You're using this powerful
concentration to analyze an object.

[John:  So vipashyana always incorporates an element of emptiness or
dependent origination...on whatever the object...]

Right. It's a kind of analysis of the way things are, or the things that are. "The
way things are" is a code word for emptiness.

[John: So shamata is...]

"The things that are" is a code word for dependent origination.

[John: So shamata is sort of the first step, and you take the shamata and you
apply it to the analysis of the object.]

There's a big debate about whether you get shamata first, or vipashyana first.
But if you say that the vipashyana is seated on the shamata, it's based on the
shamata, it's using the shamata to perceive its object, to concentrate on its
object...then you've got to say that shamata comes first. Because...the ability,
that, that incredible ability of shamata comes first. Remember, that's above the
ninth level. The ninth level was kind of...okay, very, very close. And, and based
on that ability to concentrate, you focus on the nature of an object, perceive its
dependent origination or its emptiness.

[John: So, so let's see if I understand you correctly. Both are focused on one
object, the only difference is that in vipashyana you're, you're perceiving
emptiness and dependent...or dependent origination, and shamata you're not.]

Yuh.
[John: Okay.]

Shamata...

[Student: You could, no?]

You could be. Yuh. Shamata is just a tool. Could be focused as a microscope.
Could be focused on the right thing; in that case, it's vipashyana. Could be
focused on a horn and in that case, it's not.

[Student: Michael, the way you just spoke about {shargom}, according to the
Geluk position, then {shargom} is really a subset of [unclear]]

Yuh, you could say that. You can say that. I mean that you could say that. You
could say that they don't overlap...or that they overlap. But I...traditionally, both
distinctions are made. Okay. This outline is...this is the outline, this is the way
we would do a {lamrim} meditation, and I think it's a very appropriate object for
your meditation in the morning. I, I can't, you know...this is the last active class, I
can't force you to meditate every morning. I can't refuse to put a "99" on your
homework if you don't meditate every morning. I can't check you, you know.
All I can say is that, if you don't then the class is a failure, and there's no reason to
have had it, really. The reason is to...is to give you a lifetime practice, by which if
you keep it, I guarantee you would gain the ability to concentrate that you
require to see emptiness directly. And if you don't, you won't, and, and you will
not have used this life well. You will die without having used your life well...for
what it was meant to be, you know. So, I, I can't do anything, now. I can't, you
know, do anything to force you. But you, you can do that. You will get that
result. It is possible. It's, it's quite coldly possible that can get exactly that result.
And then, what else do you need? You know, if you see that you're gonna be a
Buddha in seven lives or less. If you see your future lives. You know, if you see
yourself as a Buddha, then what do you care about what else happens. What
else can tempt you? And you can. You can see it. You can confirm everything
you ever heard about Buddhism. You know, that there are Buddhas, that
nirvana does exist, that you did have a past life and future...you can see all those
things directly. But, but it's impossible if you don't meditate, and, and don't
meditation is some thing you're gonna do some day in a retreat, you know.
Meditation is what you do every morning. And don't that the sentient being...all
sentient beings are different than the people around you in your office. That is
all sentient beings for you. That's who you have to work with. Based on them
you'll achieve nirvana. Based on them you'll achieve Buddhahood. Don't think
there's some sentient...all sentient beings is somewhere else, you know. That's
where...those are the ones you're in contact with. Those are the ones you have
to work with. And don't think of meditation as, oh, someday when I have time,
I'll go to Woodstock up in New York State, and in the trees and meditate, you
know. It will never come, you know. The meditation has to be done every
morning, starting today, tomorrow morning. That's, that's...if you don't do it,
then there's no meaning for this class. It's been interesting.

[End of Side One]
[Beginning of Side Two]

You know, the last course was so tough that I was pretty wimpy about the final
exam questions.

[Student: We'll never know, will we? [laughter]

[Unclear]

[Student: I've given up asking.]

I did start to grade them today, 'cause today I had some free time. But I'm gonna
do it on the plane. They told me I can't do my computer, so I have to do
something.

[Student: Be kind.]

[John Stillwell: Just don't loose them when you get over there.]

You're actually quite good. I did a couple and Vicarri got like a 99.999.

[Student: Wow...]

So...

[Nina Vicari: That's me.]

[Student: Oh, now you know!]

So, I'll go over...it's obviously important that you know the whole structure of
what we did.

[John: What do you mean, structure?]

You tell me...the whole structure of the whole course that we just did. What was
the whole structure?

[Student: The preliminaries...]

That's not the structure. Yuh. Yuh?
[Student: The outline!]

Is that all?

[Student: The physical environment...]

[Student: Do you want number two or do you want?]

Yuh, there's the preliminaries and the physical environment.

[Student: Posture...]

By the way...and I'll make some clarifications to you. It's not just physical
environment as you know, right? So I would say rather environment. I
introduced it that way in the beginning and then I, I corrected myself. The first
part was physical place, but the rest weren't were they? Some were...different
kinds of environment, like your mental environment, morality, and stuff like
that. So I wouldn't say physical environment. I'd say environment, okay?

[Student: "B" is environment, not just physical environment.

Right.      So it was more           like...so   it   was   preliminaries...physical
environment...environment.

[Student: Posture.]

Physical posture. Then what?

[Student: Mental process.]

Yuh, the mental...Dayan came up with the word "mental technique" which I
kinda like. By the way, a lot of people came up with good words. Gustavo in
the other class, for "patching" the meditation with "mending the holes," which I
like; that's actually what it is, you know.

[Student: What was number three?]

[Student: Physical posture.]
Mental technique, physical...physical posture is number three. Mental technique:
number four. And what was number five?

[Student: Object.]

Object, yuh. What, and what were the...what was inside of each one of those?
Inside of preliminaries there was what?

[Fran Dayan: Seven ingredients.]

Before that?

[Student: Preparation.]

Six, six preliminaries.

[Student: Cleaning your room.]

Yuh, that was the first of the six preliminaries. There were the six preliminaries,
and then inside the six preliminaries--inside of number five in fact...

[Student: That's the seven ingredients.]

There were the seven ingredients, yuh.

[John: Is there something else to preparation other than the six preliminaries?]

No.

[John: That's it.]

Well, yuh...there's seven ingredients inside of the fifth, which is a little confusing,
right? And again, I asked Rinpoche to clarify...some people said to me, well, the
last ingredient is what?

[Student: Dedication.]

Dedication, and the sixth preliminary which comes after the seventh ingredient...

[Student: Is blessing.]
...blessing. So some people said to me, well, seems to me like dedication should
be the last thing you do. And I asked Rinpoche, and he said, exactly right. He
said, really, dedicate...he said that's a good point and...in practice that's the way
you should do it, and the last thing should be the dedication. Do I want you to
change the order in the text? No. But, but in your practice, you know the last
thing you're gonna do before you get up is, put all that virtue in the bank, right?
So, so that was a good point someone made. That's about all I can think of other
than...

[Student: Why do you need to...when the last step is requesting blessings, why
would you...there's no...[unclear] dedicate merit before you request blessings?]

Well like requesting blessings is a great virtue also. So you you could break it
down. So that was the...that was the preliminaries. The second was what?

[Student: Environment.]

Yuh, the environment. What were...what were those?

[Student: Water and air and not a lot of wild animals.]

The first was the place.

[Fran: Conducive place...and few wants.]

...was a good place. And that has five characteristics. But I wouldn't expect you
to get such detail. Huh?

[Student: To have few needs.]

Yuh, few needs.

[Student: Easy to satisfy.]

Easy to satisfy.

[Student: Give up doing too many things.] [laughter]

[Student: Keeping your morality.]
Wasn't there another giving up?

[Student: Giving up harming other people.]

Giving up too many...yuh, yuh, yuh.         There was giving up doing too many
things, and then there was...

[Student: Giving up thinking too many things.]

And then there was a giving up of too many thoughts, or bad thoughts.

[Student: Getting rid of desires.]

Yuh.

[Student: Stupid desires.]

Yuh. And don't forget by the way...I mean it's a...I don't expect you to get in this
kind of detail, but don't forget when I said then to get rid of desire, it includes the
idea of the senses, you know. There are two kinds of desire objects in Buddhism.
One is like chocolate, or girls, or whatever. The other one is...

{Student: Just girls?]

A guy, okay? The other was...the other is just the objects of the senses, without
regard to, you know...it just means to withdraw from them. So this, this has
both connotations in Tibetan. Ultimately when you're in deep meditation, forget
withdrawing from chocolate, that's the gross one. But the subtle one is, you've
got to withdraw from all your senses. All the...all the objects of the senses. What
I mean is the objects of desires...objects of desire is sometimes a code word for
the objects of the senses, period. You know, sights, sounds, smells, taste, and
touches.

[John: What about, you said you also have to get rid of anything impermanent
in your life?]
Anything impermanent?

[John: You said sense desires, desires for any impermanent...]
Oh well, the main point that he emphasized was that none of them last. They're
just silly. Their nature is stupid. Career, or most relationships, or a good dinner,
or looking pretty, or handsome or...all, all not desirable. Okay. What came after
that? What was the third one?

[Student: Posture.]

Yuh, posture. So that was the...what, how many parts to that?

[Student: Eight.]

[Student: Seven.]

Yuh, eight; sometimes seven. You count, what?

[Students: Breath.]

Yuh, those are pretty easy. After that we got to mental technique. We discussed
a number of problems and a number of corrections. What are the...how many
problems?

[Students: Five.]

Which are? We graded these yesterday. [unclear] I'll sign this for you. It was
such a nice day: We went out on the lawn outside...

[Student: Laziness.]

Laziness. Meaning, meaning what? I mean, I hope you know...

[Student: You don't want to meditate.]

I hope you never teach it to your students as dryly as "laziness." You know, I
hope they never understand it as laziness. It's being tucked in bed warm and the
alarm goes off and you say, "Maybe not today." [laugher] And I do it. I know it
very well. So, it's really not wanting to do it. It's not having the heart to do it.
You know, not feeling like it. So, the word is "laziness," but I don't like the word
too much. And, and we debated it the other day...in, in our debate with the
monks. And we came out with that. Okay, second problem?
[Student: Loosing the object.]

Let's talk about the antidotes for the first one. You don't really feel like...

[Student: Being attracted to wrong objects.]

Yuh, see what's nice about it. The main thing as I've said many times: you
cannot get rid of this suffering if you don't perceive emptiness directly. If you do
perceive emptiness directly, if you're able to pull that off, in this life, and there's
reason why not...you're very, very...you're flirting with it, you know? You have
proper teachings, you have accurate teachings, you're right in there close to
Nagarjuna, Chandrakirti...there's no reason why in this life without the proper
training, you shouldn't be able to see emptiness directly. If you do, you're on
your way out, period. No more than seven lives. Impossible. It's even given as
an example of impossibility in the scriptures. And you can do it. You can see
Buddhas, you can see your future lives, you'll see it directly, and you can do it.
So...but you can't do it if you're...if you're not practicing meditation daily. And it
doesn't mean like three, four hours. It just means a good half hour, a good
forty-five minutes, but so, so often and so well looking out for...{chinwa}. Okay?
That subtle dullness, which is the opium which ruins your life's meditation. You
know? If you get into a {chinwa} track, you can keep that up for years and you'll
never know what happened, afterwards. Big danger, so watch out for that one.
So anyway, you cannot...it won't happen to you and cannot happen to you if
you're not meditating every day. You cannot perceive emptiness directly. It will
never happen. If you are meditating daily it will happen some day. So, that's the
selling point. That's...that's attraction. Second one?

[Student: You don't want to.]

Yuh, and by the way, we're only [cerns]. If all you care about career or blah,
blah, blah...still shamata is a...is a great way to get out of here. [laughs]
[laughter] You can focus it on anything and do it pretty damn well. Okay? So,
what was the second question?

[Student: We already answered that one.]

Just kidding. [laughter] [laughs] What was the third one?

[Student: Joyful effort.]
Meaning, working, working to get it. And number four?

[Student: Practiced ease.]

Practiced ease, meaning that untranslatable, pliancy, agility...Rinpoche calls it
gymnastics...gymnastic ability. Anyway, okay. That's obviously not, by the
way, the exceptional practiced ease that is...comes with the definition of
[shamata] and [vipashyana]. It's not the one mentioned there obviously. It's
obviously a lower level than that. Okay? Alright. Number two? Problem
number two?

[Student: You loose the object.]

Which is known...which is called?

[Student: Forgetting the instructions.]

Forgetting the instructions. And I hope when you teach your students, you
don't just repeat "forgetting the instructions" and they...and then the lineage
breaks. They never figure out that it meant loosing the object. It means loosing
the object. And then what happens?

[Student: Recollection.]

Yuh, recollection. A lot of people had good questions. I've studied it more...is it,
is it to recollect what you were doing when you find out you lost the object? Or
is it an awareness that you don't loose the object in the first place? I, I explained
it the first way. The scriptures I've read since then are emphasizing more the
second way.

[Student: Does it depend on which state you are...stage you are, as to the
level...and as to how it functions?]

It would. It could have both functions, but mainly it's watching out to see
whether or not you are loosing the object. And when we debated yesterday we
just came out with...it has to be all three really. It's functioning to...as a kind of
awareness, that you don't loose the object; it's functioning as you begin to loose
the object; and it functions after you loose the object to bring you back to the
object. So it really has three functions. The main one is described as...as not
loosing the object in the first place. So how then does it differ from {sheshin}--
from "watchfulness," which comes later?

[Student: It catches you.]

Watchfulness is catching dullness or agitation. Recollection is catching whether
or not you've lost the object completely, alright? That's the distinction between
the two. And you need both. Both have to be going on. Okay, problem number
three?

[Student: Agitation and dullness.]

Yuh, and correction?

[Student: Watchfulness.]

Watchfulness, catching it. Does that stop agitation and dullness? No. That's,
that's why the next step is called...the next problem is not taking action. And the
fix for that is taking action. And the fix for taking too much action is not taking
action, and leaving it alone. But I didn't tell you the last fault there, the last
problem, which we called "taking action," right? The antidote for that we called...

[Student: Not taking action.]

...not taking action. And the text sometimes say {tamyang su sharpa} which
means "leave it alone." Okay, that's easy. And then you move up to the, let me
see...[unclear].

[Student: Do we have to do all that stuff about fixation without clar-...I mean,
fixation without clarity?]

[Dayan: The nine mental states.]

[Student: I just know it's on the quizzes.]

Well, if somebody asked you what was the difference between subtle and gross
dullness, you'd say gross dullness has...fixation but no clarity.

[Student: Fixation.]

Subtle dullness has...
[Student: Fixation and clarity...]

But no intensity. And if somebody says to you, if your students say to you,
"What does clarity mean?" And if you say, "The object is real clear..."

[Student: [makes sound of a game show buzzer indicating wrong answer]]

Yuh. [laughter]

[Student: Wrong answer.]

Yuh, [unclear] it means the alertness mind is bright. It's a quality of the subject
and not the object. And that difficult to remember. Clarity seems so often to
imply...the object. But this is like...yuh, I'm real clear on that.

[Vilma: Is intensity a degree, a greater degree of clarity? Is that what is meant?]

Yuh, it's always described as {sel treng nga}, which means the intensity of the
clarity. Good question. Okay. There was a bad question on one of the quizzes.
It said, "How do you know that the fourth problem has occurred?" Some people
got it wrong. What is the fourth problem?

[Student: How not doing it...]

Not taking action. How do you know when it's occurred? That question wasn't
very good. It should be, "How do you when something's occurred that you
should be taking action about?" And you can answer, "Watchfulness." Okay?
'Cause watchfulness actually occurred before, you didn't do that. Okay. I would
say that the nine states of meditation are pretty important to know. And
everyone got them very good on the...on the quiz. I was amazed. It made me
feel bad. I should have asked you more questions on the earlier quizzes.
[Laughs] 'Cause everybody did it really good. You know, I could never recite
those.

[John: Is that why like after that we started getting so many more questions on
the homework? [laughter]]

Yuh, yuh. Name three different types of meditation. Uh no. [Laughter] You
have to know the outline pretty well, okay? And that's another reason why I, I
printed it out. Anything on, on the outline that came in the quizzes, you should
review. And that's why I did that whole handout. So now it's real clear to you,
how it works on the outline. So, I won't give you anything on the outline that
you didn't have on your quizzes.

[Student: You mean you won't give us anything from our exams?]

This, this final exam comes only from the quizzes. If you know...if you know all
the parts of the outline that have ever appeared in any of the quizzes, you're
okay, but you better know.

[John: You mean like your prelims [unclear]]

Yuh, here's the whole outline and you can even, you can even, you know, put a
mark on the ones that come in the quizzes and concentrate on those. Okay. If
someone were to ask you the four laws of karma, don't blindly put "karma is
certain" as the first one. Try to explain them more. Because it ain't what it
sounds like, is it? It doesn't mean that you definitely get a result. It means what?

[Student: Actions result in consequences.]

The content is certain. The certainty is in the content. Good leads to good and
bad leads to bad. That's what it means to be certain. Sometimes I think they
should never have called it that anyway in the first place.

[Student: So then what's the meaning of two and three?]

Are you [unclear]? This reminds me of a Tibetan story where all the ministers of
the king got together and said they...one of bet that he could make the king bark
like a dog and they all saw it different ways so the guy who won was the guy
who said, "I have a dog and he goes 'meow, meow'." That's not what a dog does.
And he says what does your dog do? "Woof, woof." [laughter] Are you trying to
get me to state the other thing? Check your quiz. I think the...since the whole
class was about [shamata] and since so many people missed on the exam that
question, I would say it's very useful to know the correct description.

[Student: That definition is twisted.]

Well, a technically correct definition is normally pretty twisted because it has to
cover every possible debate that ever came up in the last thousand years.
[Vilma: It's very clumsy, though.]

It is clumsy. It is clumsy in Tibetan, also. But it has to be that way to be precise.
Probably we could've worded it better, 'cause I didn't translate it before I got
here.

[John: Michael, why do you...why do you have adjectives like exceptional bliss
rather than just bliss?]

Someone, Ariel asked me that today, and I looked it up in the computer and the
point about exceptional bliss is that your mind is...your mind and your body is
totally capable of doing whatever you demand of them. In meditation it means,
that you're able to order your body to sit there for four or five hours without
moving, and, and it feels great. And then the mental part is that you can stay
fixed on the object for about three hours, without a single distraction. And that,
that...and as I said, there's this process where that ability straightens out the
psychic winds, and that, that straightening of the psychic winds causes bodily...a
sensation of bodily bliss. And then, that becomes something that makes you
happy, and then you end up with...that's, that's the definition and the description
of how exceptional bliss occurs.

[John: Exceptional...]

[Laughs] That's all I have.

[Student: I don't understand some of the material.]

No, that's it. That's all the review.

[Student: What is...what is lack of winds? What exactly does that mean?]

I think it's what, you know, generally Buddhism discourages...real Buddhism, as
you've been getting a good taste of it...discourages these vague, mystical things,
you know?

[Student: You mean, like channeling, man?]

[Laughs] 'Cause they're vague, mystical things, you know. But inside...it, it has
to do with the energy on which thoughts travel. And you could maybe compare
it to nerves, but they're not...they're not the physical nerves in your body.

[Student: Are they more refined than nerves?]

They're like, you can't see them.

[Student: Like meridians?]
[Student: Yuh, I was gonna say isn't the closest...]

I don't know what a meridian is.

[Student: It's like the meridians in acupuncture, sort of, I think.]

But I think it's more...it's much more...I don't think it's that. I actually don't think
it's that.
[Student: Is it like the central channel?]

I don't think it's the central channel.

[Student: How could it compare to the current in electricity? It's not the actual
channels that the current travels on, but it's the energy that's sort of patterned...]

You can study it. There are books about it. And, and Rinpoche has taught those
books, and translated them. And when you've had the proper initiations, I think
you can go into it. Seriously, I'm not kidding. There are good descriptions of it.
And very detailed descriptions of it. But right now you can say it's a kind of
energy or force in the body on which the...related to your physical body, which
is sort of where the thoughts and physical body meet. And the, and the
thoughts are carried along those...along, along by those winds. And that's all I
can say. But when you're ready to study the whole subject, there's whole books
written about it, you know. Very precise, and very clear and you can try to do
the practices that are required and you'll get some result. It's very, very bad to
try to do any of that before you get the formal teachings. And many people
have had terrible experiences because of that.

[Student: Is it like kundalini?]

I don't know what kundalini is much, you know? But, you'll know, when the
time comes. Any other questions? No.
[John: Thank you for teaching.]

Oh, my pleasure. My good luck. Otherwise, I'd be watching TV. [laughter] But
I say, be happy. You know, be glad. Very rare opportunity, that...you know,
there's a joke in Tibetan that when there's a teacher out, there ain't no students,
and when the students are ready the teacher is gone. So it's very, very good
virtue. Remember, doing this is very, very excellent. And I'm very also happy to
see how everyone is helping each other, except on the homework. [laughter]
No but I, I love to see...it's a pleasure to see, I mean dharma...the result of
dharma should be at least that we should be good to each other, and I think...I
like...I see it, you know, I see that everyone is being good to each other. That's a
nice...that's a good sign. They call it the stink of dharma. [laughter] It's the...it's
the fragrance of dharma. Where people are getting warm with each other and
people go...come out and then they're better people. 'Cause just to know
everything and not be a better person is a pretty miserable state. And it's all it's
very...we are in danger of becoming like that. The more you learn, the more
you better be getting dharma sweet. Because if you're not, then nothing can
change you later. You've used up all the things that could possibly have changed
you. So you gotta be careful later. He just asked me...Tim asked me to give you
Rinpoche's name, and...that's his...he's a...Khen...Rinpoche is a very overused
word...basically it means a lama who's reached a state where he will be
re-...reincarnated, as a lama, in his next life. And Khen means...short for
{khenbo}, which means an abbot. And sometimes people nowadays are giving
the word Khenbo to somebody with three monks in their monastery. I guess it
is...but in, in our tradition it's reserved for someone who's been a head of one of
the six major monasteries. And {geshe} is someone who's finished, I mean
nowadays it means someone who has finished the entire 18- or 20-year course,
and passed in the monastery, although there's a lot of people using the word
geshe now who are not real geshes...in, in our tradition. Lobsang is his
ordination name: Lobsang Tharchin. {Lobsang} means "pure mind" and it comes
from the...Tsongkapa's first name. And {Tharchin} means gone to the end--
reached the end. His root lama was Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche who was the
teacher of the present Dalai Lama...one of the two teachers, two tutors, and he
was the main disciple of Pabongka. And Rinpoche also studied under Pabongka
directly for many years, as a young man. Pabongka passed away in the Forties.
He's from Sera Mey Monastery. [Cut] ...couldn't be admitted to the tantric
college unless you were a {hlarampa geshe}, which means one of the top two or
three in your, in your class, so there would only be about a handful of those each
year.
[Student: Why were they so much more strict when we have such a difference
now and...]

It's still a tradition that you don't get into the tantric colleges even now unless
you're a {hlarampa geshe}. You're not considered an automatic enterer unless
you are a {hlarampa geshe}, but you can apply and you might be accepted if you
have other reasons to be there. And there are monks who never go...who just
go and learn the rituals and never go to their geshe studies also. There's a certain
class of monk who can do that. Like Namgyal Monastery: much of their
students are like that. And they become ritual masters. Yuh?

[Student: The Buddha didn't want it to be...originally, like you said there were
many people who didn't want to learn tantra who were students of the Buddha.
What was the, you know, reason for that? Why, even I'm saying...was it fear or
people not being ready or what was the?]

If you don't follow it properly...if you follow it properly you can achieve
Buddhahood in this life. If you don't follow it properly, at the worst, you can
have some terrible results, some big disasters. But you don't have to worry
about that. I mean, I really...you really don't have to worry. You have
Rinpoche, you have...you are in a lineage which is pure. And it's being followed
nicely, properly, correctly, without corruptions, and, and you're...you're getting
the proper training. You don't have to worry about it. You just have to worry
about trying to put it into practice. But you don't have to worry about the thing
being dirty, or, or you can't do it or something like that. It won't be like that.
But you have to use good sense and follow it properly. And you will get the
right results. And that's great. [laughs] There's no problem. And then he asked
me...Tim asked me where Rinpoche is right now. It's a Mongolian temple in
New Jersey.

[Student: I have a question.      Rinpoche I always thought that meant "were
reincarnated."]

It can mean that also.

[Student: I [unclear] "precious gem."]

It does mean...it means a precious thing, and it can mean gem. There's seven
kinds of {rinpoche}s: gold, silver, and then gem stones.
[Student: Well, how do you tell if it's this or that, if they have been reincarnated
from?]

If they say Rinpoche it either means, normally it means they are already a
reincarnated lama. And in some rare cases someone has just qualified now and
he'll be reincarnated in the future. The Dalai Lama gives a {chakta}. It's some
kind of...

[Student: Is there some way to tell that?]

I...and they're not supposed to say sometimes.

[Student: Is this lineage involved with the FPMT group?]

We're of the same lineage. They're from the second best monastery. [Laughter]
According to us. I'll tell you. Sera Jey is really...they have great debaters...great,
great tradition of studies. In, among all the great monasteries they're studying
very well. Okay, [unclear].

[Student: I have a question.]

Okay, one more, last question.

[Student: Rinpoche chooses who's to be initiated?         Or do you choose to be
initiated by him by virtue [unclear]]

First you have to request. He's not allowed to give it to you unless you ask.
And I think what I'll do I'll ask Margie to call up people and see if they want...if
they want me to put their name down. And I have to go to him and request,
and maybe a group of us should go. Normally we present some flowers and
very respectfully ask. It's kind of gotten convoluted in the West because we
don't know enough to ask at the right time. And so certain teachers will say,
well, I think it's time for you to ask me. [laughter] And we need it. I, I didn't
know when to ask him. I told him that, so, we please let me know when to ask
you, you know. So...it'll turn out very well though. You're very well...you're in a
good, pure tradition, and you will get the right results. And that's, that's all.
That's the way it goes. Alright.

{Short mandala offering.}
{Dedication prayer.}

[John: Michael, please return and teach.]

Oh, yuh.

[Nina: Do not die.]

What is...what date is, what date is the teaching?

[Student: The twenty-fourth.]

[Fran Dayan: And that's a Sunday.]

At some point in the next few weeks I'd like to get a team and go out and paint
Rinpoche's garage for him. He likes that kind of stuff. So, I'll let you know.

[Student: When is the next class gonna be?]

The next course will be on [b: Pramana vartika], which is the root text on the
study of perception and logic; you know, how do you know what you see is
true? You know, what...what is, what is truth? How do you know when
something is true? Meaning, perception or fact. And that's the importance of the
Mind-Only School. Very important. And we're gonna study the chapter which is
not taught in the West much, because no one gets to it unless you go to the
winter debates for about six years. And almost nobody gets through six years of
winter debates. In my class two people through to the fifth year, so...so it's hard.
And that chapter is devoted to proving that there's past lives and future lives,
and proving how the world was made and what creates human life. And then
proving that it's possible to bring the mind to a state of perfection. And that's
devoted to those things. And that came from an ancient dispute between the
Buddhist and the Hindu School called the [Gyampembas] who said that it was
impossible. And that they said that there was no path to enlightenment. And
that your mind starts when you're conceived, and your mind dies when your
body dies, and the world was made by this great guy, who has all the power to
make the world, and that...and ideas like that. And so this ancient debate that...it
sounds so familiar, you know, so it's very, very good, very useful. And they said
that you could not perfect the human mind, that the human mind was basically
defective, and could never become pure. So then the Buddhists try to prove it.
And they're very good debates. We had...we did this debate in front of a
Catholic girl's school last week. [laughter] Yesterday, this big group called me up
and said, "We'd like to come for Buddhist classes." [laughs] [laughter] So it's nice!
I mean if you do it properly, it's...we didn't convince anybody or ourselves, but
we proved that it's possible.

[John: So what did you do? You just decided to walk onto their lawn and do this
debate?]

No, they came to the temple for a visit...to a lecture, and so I just called the other
monks and said, "Let's debate; let's debate whether or not there's a past life. Can
you prove it to me?" And they tried, and they tried for like two hours, and
I...yuh, they did it in Tibetan and I translated. And I said that's not a proof, you
know. You gotta find us a good proof. And we went on and on and on and
finally we got to the point where everyone in the room agreed that, well, it's
probable that there are past lives. And that's enough, you know? So it's great,
you know. So that's my...that's what we'll do, next course. Probably, late June to
early August. Start in late June.

[Student: Alphabet class [unclear]?]

Yuh, I think we'll still be in alphabet class in late June. Light class, just to learn
how to draw the letters and stuff. And I wanna teach it to a few people like
Thupten Earnst and Serge, and then they'll teach it from then on. After that
they'll be the teacher of the class, so if you wanna come to that, that's good. It's a
way to learn in two nights how to pronounce Tibetan perfectly. And, and most
people never do, so...

[John: How will we find out when the class is?]

I, I think I'll ask Margie to call around or something. [laughter]

[Student: Which is great if you're on her list.]

If, if you think you're not...if you suspect you're not on her list, meaning, if you
didn't get that thing from Washington D.C. about the classes...about the
initiations...then put your name...come up and put your name on the list. Okay,
good night. Thank you.

[Students: Good night. Thank you.]
[End of Side Two.]

                Course III: Applied Meditation, RAW TRANSCRIPT



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