ACI 6 «Сутра Алмазного Огранщика», занятие 11

960901-3.aaa



99A.TXT
DIAMOND CUTTER SUTRA, tape 13, lung
SEPT. 1, 1996
transcribed by: Fran Dayan




Okay, so we'll start. {lung} is an oral blessing that comes down from the time of
the Buddha. From teacher to student. And I think one of the main reasons I
wanted to do a {lung} was that each one of you think of yourselves as a link in
the transmission. So that each one of you think of yourself as someone who
must pass these things down to the next generation. And I ... don't be shy about
it, okay. Western people are well educated. We just didn't get the right subject. I
mean, we can learn these things very well and we can actually actually
experience all those things ourselves. So don't be shy about it. And don't think
you can't do it. And don't think you're being presumptuous. You can do it. And
and you must pass it on to other people. You must learn what's in there and
pass it on to other people. So the purpose of the {lung} is to make you more
aware of that. That you are ... you must practice it and you must pass it on to
other people. It doesn't have to be a big course at Vajrapani. It's probably going
to start out as two or three of your friends and it might not be explaining the
Svatrantrika view about emptiness. It might be just talking to them a little bit.
But anyway you have to pass it on. And then eventually it will be ... each person
here ... passing on the real perfection of wisdom to the people around them.
And I really hope for that and that's the purpose of the {lung}. So you have the
{lung}. That's my hope. We're going to do the [b: Heart Sutra] before the [b:
Diamond Cutter]. It acts to remove obstacles. And you don't have to think of
obstacles as these little guys with pitchforks in the air around us [laughs], okay.
Obstacles during a {lung} means when your mind wanders. Obstacles during a
{lung} means you're thinking about the person next to you and why they're not
quite wearing the right shirt or something. These are obstacles to {lung}. Try to
keep your mind on the words as well as you can. Try to focus your mind. It's a
little bit long, okay. There're other {lung}s which are shorter. Your mind will
wander. Bring it back, okay. Try to bring your mind back. But in ... as you hear
the words of the sutra, truly imagine yourself giving this {lung} yourself to your
own students, okay. Try to think of yourself that way. It will come. And don't
be shy about it, you know. It's actually not ... it's your responsibility now that
you do that. So try to think in terms of receiving a {lung} and and being very
sure in your heart that that you will be passing these things on to other people.
If you need more notebooks, just call us. And, we give them away, okay. All
those ... you can torture your own students with homeworks and quizzes,
[laughs] [laughter] okay. And you should and it's a good way. It's the way we're
use to. So think of it that way. One advertisement. We have eight other courses
and you can get a list of it or you can talk to anyone who's been grading and you
can get them, you can learn them, you can pass them on to other people. You
can have them for free, you can use them for your own students and you
should, okay. So just keep it in mind as you listen to the {lung} that you would
like to get these things in your own heart, directly ... direct perception of
emptiness ... concentrate on on the prayer that you receive the direct perception
of emptiness and then think in terms of the many people that you can help that
way. Other requests which is kinda of selfish. I ask you to pray for the health of
my ... (very emotional) ... pray for the health and long life of my lamas, okay and
your lamas too. And especially for Lama Sopa, Lama Osel and for the great
lamas that you're best ... blessed with, okay. Think about that, okay. And first
we'll do the [b: Heart Sutra]

{The Heart Sutra recited in Tibetan}... {lung in recited in Tibetan} ... How are we
to live? ... {Jipa drupa ghee} How are we to practice? {Jipa ...} How are we to
think? ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... You should give your perfection of giving
without thinking of things as self existent. ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, is
it the signs of a Buddha that makes a person a Buddha? ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... No, because there are no signs of a Buddha. ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... The signs of a Buddha don't even exist. ... [recitation in Tibetan} ... And
that's why we can call them signs of a Buddha. ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti
asks the Buddha, "In the days of the last five hundred when the Dharma is being
lost in the world, will there still be anyone left ... any great bodhisattva who can
explain it?" ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, don't ask a stupid question. ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... Of course there will be. ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Any
being who in the future has the least amount of faith about this sutra will be
cared for personally by the Buddha. ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, what do
you think? "If some good Buddhist man or woman filled a billion worlds with
diamonds and offer it to the Buddhas, would that be a lot of virtue?" ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... Yes, it would. ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Yes it would. ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... Because there is no virtue that they would collect and
that's why we can call it virtue. ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, anyone who
learns this sutra or teaches this sutra with ... even one verse from this sutra ... has
collected more merit than those other people who offered the planets full of
diamonds. ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Because that's what produces Buddhas. ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, what do you think? If someone achieves the ...
entering the stream ... if someone sees emptiness directly do they think to
themselves, "I've seen emptiness directly?" ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... No. ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... Because there is no stream to enter and that's why we
can call them stream enterers. ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, what do you
think? Did the Buddha {dipan kara} in the ancient days ever predict that I would
become a Buddha? ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... No, he didn't. ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... Subhuti, any bodhisattva who says he's preparing his Buddha
paradise is a liar. ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Because I say there is no such Buddha
paradise ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... And that's why we can say there are such
Buddha paradises ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... {Rajor} is the number of ... if you
took the number of jobs in the oceans of the world and each one of those jobs
became an ocean itself, would there be a lot of jobs in that ocean? ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... Of course it would ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, what do you
think? If if a person took diamonds and covered enough planets to represent
every drop of water in as many oceans as there are drops of water in the oceans
that we know ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Would they get a lot of good deeds? Of
course. ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, the virtue of any person who studies
or teaches so much as a single verse from the [b: Diamond Cutter Sutra] collects
much ... infinitely more merit than those people do ... {recitation in Tibetan} ...
Any place where the [b: Diamond Sutra] is taught or listened to becomes a place
that is worthy of every living being in the world to treat as though it were a
stupa and each being there becomes as if they were the teacher himself ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... Oh, Buddha, what should we call this teaching that you
are giving us? ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, you should call this teaching
the Perfection of Wisdom ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Because there is no
Perfection of Wisdom ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... And that's why we can call it the
Perfection of Wisdom ... {recitation in Tibetan} ...{rajor} if a person were able to
give up as many lives as there are drops in the ocean that would be a lot of
virtue. But if a person were to study or teach so much as four lines from this
sutra, they would collect more virtue than that ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... And
then, {Rajor} because of the power of the sutra ... (voice emotional) ... began to
weep ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... {Rajor}, the perfection of patience doesn't exist ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... Because, {rajor} when I was in the land of the King of
Kalinka and he was cutting off my fingers and toes and legs, it never occurred to
me to think of him as a self existent King ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Because if I
had thought of him as a self existent King I would have hated him ... {recitation
in Tibetan} (voice emotional) ... If a person maintains this behova ... behavior
over a long period of time they would reach their own Buddha field ... {recitation
in Tibetan} ... So, Subhuti, do your perfection of giving. Give to other beings as
you understand their emptiness ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subuti, understand
that any Bodhisattva who tries to perform the perfection of giving without
seeing the emptiness of the gift and the recipient and the action is in the darkness
as if they were a blind man ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... But Subhuti, suppose
somebody performs the Perfection of Giving while understanding the emptiness
of their whole situation ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... They would be like a man
with eyes who sees the great variety of colors of the world as the sun comes
up ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, if any man or woman was to give away
their body in the morning and then give it away again at noon, and then give it
away again in the evening, and if they did that for as many eons as there are
drops in the ocean ... anyone who after having studied this sutra keeps it in their
heart and cherishes it, collects more virtue than that             (voice emotional) ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... Much less if they teach it to others ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... And the Buddhas will watch over those people ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... I will carry them in my own arms to Buddhahood ... (voice breaks
with emotion) ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Because people without enough virtue
would never have reached this class ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... People like that
would never reach this teaching and would never be able to keep it or cherish it
or pass on to others ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... And the place where each of
those people had heard that teaching, teach it themselves also become like a
stupa ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... People can prostrate to that place ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... People can prostrate to that place ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti,
any person who touches this sutra or learns its words or memorizes its words or
reads it to another person, or who grasps its meaning, those people will suffer ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... They will suffer a lot ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Why,
because the karma that they have collected in their past lives to take a birth in
the hells, will ripen on them in this very life ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... and then
that karma will be purified from them ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... And then they
will achieve enlightenment ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, if I described in
detail the virtue that you are now collecting, you would go crazy ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... And the karmic result of what you are doing I could never describe to
you ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, any person who says that things do not
have a self, then that person the Buddhas call a Bodhisattva ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ...



SIDE TWO

{recitation in Tibetan} ... [tape defective -- voice guttural] ... on as many planets
as there are drops of water in the ocean ... that many beings' minds do I perceive
directly and that many beings' thoughts do I know right at this moment ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... but only because those minds of those people do not
exist ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... and that's why we call them minds ... {recitation
in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, what do you think? When the Buddha looks down at his
body do you think he sees a body? ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... No, he doesn't ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... because you could never achieve a body like that ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... and that's why you can achieve a boody a body like
that ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, what do you think? When the Buddha
teaches do the Buddha ... does the Buddha think he's teaching? ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... no, they don't ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... because there's no Dharma
which they're teaching ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... Subhuti, anyone who says I'm
teaching Dharma when I'm teaching Dharma is ... is putting me down ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... because there's no Dharma to teach ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... anyone, in the future, who listens to this sutra and believes its words
is not a person ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... neither are they not a person ...
{recitation in Tibetan} ... and that's why we can call them people ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... the Dharma itself is {dharmeba} doesn't have a self ... {semjay
mepa} ... no people exist {tsog mepa } ... no body walks through life ... {consa
mepa} ... nobody does anything ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... goods don't ... good
deeds don't exist and that's why we can call them good deeds ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... Subhuti, what do you think? Do the Buddhas think to themselves, "I
am liberating sentient beings?" ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... they don't ... {recitation
in Tibetan} ... because there's no one to liberate ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... what
do we call people who think things are self existent? {so so kelwa} ... normal
beings ... {recitation in Tibetan} ... and they are like children ... {recitation in
Tibetan} ... the last verse of the sutra is very holy I would like you to repeat it
after me, okay ... (voice a little hoarse) {karma} [repeat] {rabyub} [repeat]
{maymadang} [repeat] [gimma} [repeat] {seta} [repeat] {chibudang} [repeat]
{mila} [repeat] {loktan} [repeat] {timtabu} [repeat] {deychey chenan} [repeat]
{deda ta} [repeat] Our lives are like a star that passes when the moon ... when
the sun comes up. And they're like a kind of blindness ... they pass like a butter
lamp burns down ... our life is like an illusion ... our life passes like the dew on
the grass ... our life is like a bubble ... our life is like a dream ... our life passes as
quickly as lightening ... our life is like a cloud that passes quickly through the
sky ... understand that all things are empty ... [recitation in Tibetan] ... Thank you
for asking me to come (breaking tearful voice) and thank you for asking me to
teach this thing and I hope that you pray that I can understand it also. The best
offering you can give a teacher is to practice what was taught and to learn to be
happy. Umze-la
[prayer: long mandala]




                         ACI 6, Vajrapni, Aug 1996
                           RAW TRANSCRIPT


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