ACI 7 «Обеты бодхисаттвы», занятие 9

Class Nine: Secondary Vows Thirty-Five to Forty-Six
September 18, 1995
Transcribed by: Holly Steiner



How many do we have left? How... what are we going up to?

[students: Forty-six.]

Forty-six, okay. So tonight we're gonna do, go from thirty-five to forty-six. These are vows,
these are offenses against the third kind of morality, which is what?

[students: [unclear]]

Oh boy, there's a long break. The morality of working for others, okay. The morality... it's
the third kind of morality. That's the kind of morality that when you follow it you reach total
enlightenment. So, before that we had all the vows, secondary vows, we had up to now
were working against the six perfections and the second kind of morality, which is collective
goodness for yourself, to make yourself enlightened. And then this is the... these are all
against the morality of working for the benefit of others and you can tell that, you can smell
that from the work... from what they're gonna do. So you kind of get the structure of all the
secondary offenses up to now have covered the six perfections basically. And now we're
covering things you that you do against the idea of helping other people. So it's appropriate
that the first one is {gupa}. {Gupa} means "need". {Drogsu} means "to help" and {dobegi}
means "not to go". So what it means is not to go to help someone who needs it. And that's
breaking number thirty-five. Number thirty-five is if you say you're gonna be a bodhisattva
and... and by the way that's the only to reach enlightenment in this life, right. I mean it's...
you have to, you have to do this. If you say you want to be a bodhisattva, then you have to
you have to follow these. And this one means if you see anyone who needs help, you have
to go and help them, period. That's... that's very much a bodhisattva's way of life and I think
it's less these great acts for humanity than, I mean you tell a bodhisattva I think because
they're always helping out with little things. Someone needs help with a door, they're
helping them with the door. Someone comes in they're thirsty, they're running at them with
something to drink. Somebody has to clean up, they're always staying to clean up. I mean
they're always thinking about helping. They're always thinking about being of assistance to
people. So, and I think it shines in the little things. I think it shows in the little things.
There's there's a list of classic ways to help and I'll give it... I'll read it to you. The first one is
helping someone who is undertaking some kind of a task. This is like somebody's... any kind
of dirty job. Somebody's washing the dishes, somebody's cleaning up, somebody's starting
some kind of job that they have to do and you help them. You run and you help them. And
I think, you know, we're we're maybe gonna get a place in Connecticut where we can all do
retreats and things and we can have special programs there. We may get a place in Sixth
Street to have a bigger classroom and things like that. In other words I think it's becoming a
group. It wasn't really a group, it was just a bunch of people, you know, it started out with
five, six people and that's the way it started. And then you you think about how the group
become and you see groups, dharma groups that they work for a while and then they
collapse into politics. And then you see dharma groups that work for a while and then the
teacher goes away or dies or does something bad and ad the place collapses. And then you
see you see dharma groups that live and survive and when you go to that place, it smells
really nice, sweet you know. We were at one this last week and and I think the key is that
everyone's being a bodhisattva in this sense. Everyone is helping each other, and everybody
is helping with the dirty work and and that's how you could tell that the students got it. You
know they went to class and they they got it. And and then the opposite is you could tell
they didn't get it, you know they sat in the bodhisattva vow class, they heard about this vow
and all the other vows, they didn't, they didn't get it. And so they don't help each other, they
don't watch out for each other, and there's no feeling that the group is a group of
bodhisattvas, you know what I mean. So I think if we keep this one really good, all of those
other activities we're trying to do which are gonna be major types of things to handle, it'll go
really nice. It'll go really smooth and it'll last a long time and it'll help many people, and if
we don't, if we don't keep this one, which is helping each other when each other, helping
out, I think we won't last very long. I think it... the whole structure won't last very long. It
has to be knit together by helping each other. So I think you have to keep this one. You
have to think a lot about this one, and and you have to be there with your two hands, you
know, not with your advice so much, okay. [laughter] That's that's a Tibetan proverb.
{Komo momo du} and {loppa omo sere}. {Loppa momo sere} means "many hands are gold".
You know when people stick out their hands to work, you know that's gold. {Komo momo
du} means "when many people are giving advice, it's like poison". [laughs] [laughter]

[student: You would say then, you would keep this vow [unclear] class.] [laughter]

Milton is that empty? [laughter] [unclear crosstalking] He wants to know if there's any
volunteers for

[student: We have, we have.]

I want to know if there's any volunteers for mowing the lawn in Connecticut for five years.
[laughs] [laughter] It takes five days I hear, right? Right?

[student: [unclear]]

Four days.

[student: A couple of sheep.]

All right. Anyway. The second, the second person who needs help is someone who's on the
road, somebody who's traveling. You know you see people walk into Port Authority with
huge suitcases and [unclear] [laughter] [laughs] [crosstalking] Someone who is trying to learn
a language and you know there's a lot of people I know who and this is a special karma if
you want to learn Tibetan for example, there are many cases where Tibetan monks are here
and they need help and... it's a weird thing, I noticed the people who learn Tibetan the best
are the people who gave up their time to help Tibetans learn English, things like that. It was
a weird thing, and it was nice. It's a particular kind of need that people have to speak the
language of Tibet. The next one is trying to learn a skill, some kind of skill, some kind of
livelihood, like at my job, you know, you can teach people to be a manager, you can teach
people to be a diamond filler, you can teach people to buy rubies, you know I mean that's
my job but if you if you just open up your knowledge anything you know how to do and
you help other people learn a skill, and you don't be selfish and you just help anyone that
you can learn something that can help them, that's that's this one. The commentary says as
long as it's not anything harmful like learning how to butcher sheep, or something like that,
[laughs] okay? Then someone who is in danger of losing their belongings like, you know
you see on the streets someone getting their wallet stolen or, or you can see people in danger
of their house being robbed or something like that. If you see someone having some danger
to their, to what they own, you're supposed to try to help them. If it would endanger your
life, you don't have to, okay. My lama yelled at me for chasing muggers, [laughs] you know,
who grabbed chains, you know. All right, help someone who is trying to fix a split that has
drawn two groups apart. So if you see that someone's trying to bring back two groups of
people who have split from each oter, then you should always try to lend a hand. Number
seven is if someone's planning some kind of special event, like [laughter] a fund raiser or
something, no something, some kind of special event for a virtuous purpose, then you should
lend a hand, you should help. These are the eight specific ones that are mentioned in the in
the old old books. And then anyone who is undertaking any kind of general virtue, all right,
any kind of general virtuous activity, you should try to help those things. Those are, those
are the eight examples that are given in the in scriptures for a long time. I'm gonna give you
the {nimaise}. What's {nimaise}?

[students: [unclear]]

What's that?

[students: Exceptions.]

Yeah, okay. Yeah, no problems, okay. You don't you don't break the vows for the
following: One is if you're sick, if you can't help the person 'cause you're just sick. And
another example would be, if you've already agreed to help someone else. You've already
committed that time to helping someone else. If you're engaged in something else which is
more important spiritually. If you can refer them to someone else who can help them, you
don't break your vow. Someone who's who's more capable than yourself. If you've realized
that they're just too stupid to use the language for example [laughs], you don't break your
vow if you... I had that happen with some Tibetans, you know. I tried for about two years
and just said you know, "it's impossible, you're never learning. You don't break your vow if
you give up. And then if you're not very good at teaching, you don't break your vow. If
you realize that you don't have the capacity to help them in that way, that's okay.

[student: But what about, you know I mean it's like if you have to help everybody. I mean
like you could have on the street that's all you do you spend the whole time getting to your
house I mean you could spend your whole life time helping people. I mean it's like
[unclear].

I'll, I'll tell you a story, okay? And you know the story. Who was it, Robin [unclear] .....
meditated on a [unclear] for twelve years or something. Who was it.

[student: Love.]

Meditated on love for twelve years to try to achieve... in a cave right? And

[student: Oh, you mean in a rat cave.]

No, that's a different one. [laughs] [laughter] I think it was like trying to reach Maitreya or
something, Maitreya, I think. And Asanga was trying to meditate on Maitreya, I believe
it's, I don't remember, but it's I mean he tried he tried for many years in a cave to generate
love and he and he couldn't do it and finally he gave up and he tried to meet Maitreya. He
tried to see Maitreya and he he finally gave up. And he was walking home to the town and
he saw a dog that had been run over by a wagon and it was just smashed like half of the
lower part of the body was just smashed, and he went to pick up the dog and help the dog
and then he noticed that there were maggots in the dog's, in the wound. So he knew if he if
he picked up the dog the maggots would fall off and die. So he started to take them out and
put them in some warm place and then he realized that if he touched them with his fingers,
he would crush them. So he, he bent down to take them upon his tongue and move them.
So he bent down and down and he was kinda grossed out and he couldn't quite... he closed
his eyes and he kept going down down down and then his forehead hit the ground, you
know he looked up and there's Maitreya, you know, and and he says where have you been
all this time [laughs] [laughter]. I've been meditating for all these years and and where where
why didn't you come, you know know, where have you been? And everybody... and
Maitreya said I was sitting next to you. You know sometimes when you cleared you throat
during the mantra and spit, sometimes you spit on me. [laughter] I was sitting there. I was, I
was trying to make you see me but you didn't have enough virtue, but now because of this
thing you did with this dog, you have enough virtue to see me. So Asanga puts Maitreya up
on his shoulders and dances into town and all the town people think he's crazy because they
see this man dancing with a half-dead dog on his back. That's the emptiness of the dog, you
know. That's the emptiness of that creature that was on his back and depending on what his
karma forced him to see, he saw Maitreya on his back and what, the angel he had been
need.. seeking to meet and the other people just saw a halfdead dog with maggots and... so
what if he didn't stop. What if he was too busy.

[student: I don't know.] [laughter]

Sometimes I wonder. [laughter] Okay you're now required to tell if it's something harmful,
or something against the dharma. You don't break it if they have other means of assistance
which are sufficient.
[student: [unclear]]

Excuse me.

[student: [unclear]]

You know ever since that one vow where it said in your best judgment, remember I was
about to teaching emptiness? Sukoppa concluded you didn't break your vows, if in your
best honest judgment the person was ready but you misjudged. Then if you want, in
extraordinary cases where you want to teach the person a lesson, like I've had Rumichek do
that to me. You know, I wasn't good to him and then when class time came, he said, "no
class tonight". You know and we both knew why, you know. So in extraordinary cases you
can do that.

[student: But you're speaking about a teacher who does that; students don't [unclear] right.]

Excuse me.

[student: Students don't decide these things.]

Uh, no. If it would upset a great number of people. If a great number of people would freak
out, get angry if they saw you helping this person, then your not.. you don't break your vow
if you don't help them.

[student: Even if it's the right thing to do to help that other person?]

Yeah. I mean I think you have to judge the the... normally in these cases he says where the,
where the amount of help wouldn't justify the chaos that would result, you know, then let it
go. But obviously if their life's in danger or something and it would upset people you help
them...

[student: Or do it more discreetly, or...]

Yeah, or... but, but you have to balance the... it's in the vinaya it's like that. You have to
balance the benefit against the chaos, the the uproar that would come out, and then it would
be better for everybody if you didn't help the person, if they're not in dire need, you know.

[student: You're getting us into other things here like the other [unclear] committed his
crimes. You know to not do something, or people that have socially, you know, bad
diseases AIDS or in the past Leprosy, and things like that and still... ]

Yeah, I think he's talking like if it would create a big uproar, you know. I mean if it would
hurt a lot... if a lot of people would get angry, maybe... I can think if like you're in a town in
Tibet controlled by the Chinese and, and you know that, that it would hurt a lot of people if
you help somebody, like tourist often try to help Tibetans in Tibet. And then they approach
them... but recently it happened like last month an Italian tourist tried to help some Tibetan.
The Tibetan got put in jail for eight years.

[student: [unclear] in trouble.]

Yeah, and you have, you gotta judge the thing. The, the times when it's not... it upset the
Chinese that they helped that person and then, and the person got in trouble, so. Okay. And
then when it would be against the code of the monks, okay, I mean there's certain cases
where it would be good to help the person, but it would break the monks code, the internal
code of the monks, then we can't do it

[student: That refers to a monk helping someone out?]

Yeah, yeah.

[student: But what supercedes what, what the bodhisattva vows or the bodhichatta vows?]

We, we had that, we covered that, you know. I mean ones that are... the kind of vows
which are perscribed and not natural and where it would it would ruin people's opinions of
monks if you did it and it would not be of much benefit to that person, you can't do it. And
then the kind of monks' vows that are perscribed, not natural and which they relate to
keeping your activities few, then you don't have to follow those in the way that a [unclear]
person follow and you'd be more likely to to help the person. But if it would make people
think badly of the institution of the.. of monks and if it's not much benefit to the person, you
don't break your vow if you don't do it, if you don't help them. [cut] [unclear] ... to me that's
how people are gonna tell that these people in these classes are bodhisattvas [unclear]. And
I... I'm not doing that just to get more help for mowing lawns and stuff. I I really think that's
the sweet smell of a real dharma class, where people are really helping each other and
helping out all over the place, and, and when you go to a class and no one much cares about
that kind of thing, it doesn't matter how much they know, they didn't get it, you know. I
think, I think we have to become masters of that vow and then people can tell. Jonpa down
in New Jersey, I mean this little monk, you know you can't get through the kitchen without
getting a cup of tea in your hand. And he's cooking for you, he's washing the dishes. He's
watching you to see what you need. I mean that's, that's really good dharma behavior, and
we should try to be like that. He's a good example for us. I'm kind of lazy that way. I don't
like doing that kind of stuff, and I think we have to correct ourselves. [cut] {Naipa} [repeat],
{naipa} [repeat]; {nujo} [repeat], {nujo} [repeat]; {chowpun} [repeat], {chowapo} [repeat]. {Naipa
nujo} means "the service of the sick". {Chowapo} means "to avoid it", okay "not do it". So it
means "failing to serve the sick". If you see a sick person, if you know someone who's ick,
you have to stop what you're doing and help them. [unclear] missed a whole course that
way, you know, and I know that a lot of people here were helping to take care of Alan and
that's that's very proper. That's the... you have to do that, you're supposed to do that. He
gives the exam... he gives... Jessu Koppa... there's there's two states of mind that are so
common. I think we talked about it last week, or no? There are two states of mind that are
very, very common reason for not following the vows. There are two very typical clashics,
and I'll give them, okay?
[student: About the vows in general, or...?]

Yeah, these secondary vows. [cut] The first is {narsim}. {Narsim} means "where you want to
hurt someone". {Narsam} is "kind of the desire to hurt someone". So you can imagine that it
would be a very sick motivation to refuse to help a sick person because you wanted to hurt
them. And then the other one is...

[student: What about if you enjoy seeing them hurt, is that, would then...?

Yeah that sounds like the same thing to me. [laughs]

[student: Does that sound the same?]

Say {kongo} [repeat], {kongo} [repeat]; {kongo} [repeat], {kongo} [repeat]. {Kongo} means
"anger". So these are the two... these are two classic mental afflictions that make people
break their secondary vows. They are so common that Jessu Koppa stops referring to them,
he just calls them the two states of mind {semni} Their such classic examples of the attitudes
that makes people break their vows, that he doesn't even.... after a while, he doesn't even
name them anymore. He says those two states of mind, {semni}, means "those two states of
mind".

[student: You would think laziness would be in there.]

Those are the clashic ones, now we get to the nonclashic ones.

[student: What's clashic?]

Clashic means a bad thought. It's defined as a thought which upsets your peace of mind.
Clish, the sanskrit word clish means that.



[student: This is for [unclear]]

[unclear] These are two typical motivations for breaking the secondary vows that, that are not
considered bad thoughts in most cases. [silence]

[student: They are what [unclear]?]

They're they're also reasons, they're also motivations for breaking the vows, but they are
not... they are not such horrible states of mind as these two. So Jessu Koppa calls them
{semshenyi}. Say {sem} [repeat], {sem} [repeat]; {shenyi} [repeat], {shenyi} [repeat]. It means
"the other two states of mind". They are so common in people breaking their vows, that he
stops calling... he doesn't even mention them by name after a while. He just says, "oh, those
other two states of mind". {Naylo} means what? You know, I think.

[students: Laziness.]
Laziness, okay. But, but in the bodhi... in the context of the bodhisattva vow, Jessu Koppa
says it, it refers to some kind of enjoyment about doing things wrong, [laughs] okay. The
opposite is is the fourth perfection, by the way. That's, that's where you get a kick out of
doing good things. What they call effort, but which is defined as getting a kick out of doing
good things. [laughter] {Naylo} is almost this kind of laziness in the sense of, you're kind of
addicted to, to low level nonvirtuous behavior, okay [laughs]. I mean not very active and
not as strong as anger, but you just are lazy in a sense that you'll let something... bad habit in
your own character go on and you you won't struggle against it. Huh?

[student: Is it... are we really talking [unclear]?]

It's sort of a... he says jawl, which means joy, okay, but it means that there's low level
acceptance of your bad habits and you don't struggle and that's laziness.

[student: I mean...]

[student: Why why isn't that clashi?]

In some cases it it, in some cases it isn't, but normally it's listed in the nonclashics.

[student: And what would make it nonclashic?]

I don't know [laughs]. I think being when he stresses the nonclashic part, it's shading over to
it's old meaning of laziness. Because normally when you talk about someone breaking their
vow out of just dumb laziness, that's nonclashic. It's like you don't feel like doing it, and
sometimes the word hear for enjoying means not feeling, feeling like. You see what I mean.
You don't feel like doing a good deed. You just don't feel like it. It's not like some active
horrible thought, like anger or wanting to hurt someone, you're just not in the mood to do a
good thing. You break it either way; that's the point. I mean classically over here you have
{jemai}, which means "forgetting what you do with it" and you break it out of forgetfulness,
but you still break it. It's not an excuse and it's still... you still break it. Say {yolay} [repeat],
{yolay} [repeat]. {Yolay} means " you don't have much respect for the whole thing". You
know, you don't count it as very important in your life. You know that's against the
bodhisattva vows, but you don't take them very seriously.

[student: So you have no respect for the vows per say, is that what you're saying?]

Yeah. In other words you could break the vows out of just plain laziness or you could break
them because... I mean in the bottom of your heart, you really don't think that they're that
important. It's not like you're worried about... it's not like you would try to keep them at the
cost of your life. You just think they're kind of interesting, and you will make sort of a mild
effort to keep them. But they're not a big part of your life, and you don't make them a big
part of your life, and, you know, you learn them and you don't go out smashing them, but
you don't go studying them every morning to make sure you didn't break them. You just
don't care much about them. You don't respect them much. It's not a big part of your life,
and you don't make any effort to make it a big part of your life, because you don't think
they're very important. Yeah?

[student: Wouldn't that connect very much to [unclear]? Which would then be much
stronger?]

I think most reasonable Americans intellectually understand that the bodhisattva vows are
important. But on a experiential basis, they don't hold them so important that they're
sweating it out every morning that they, they broke one yesterday, you know. And that's
why we don't advance spiritually. That's why we don't have incredible realizations and
tantric angels walking up to us and saying something and, you know, we, we prevent that
from happening by treating the vows as lightly. And that's normally the case. So that's what
Jessu Koppa calls the other two states of mind. If you take your bodhisattva vows lightly,
they'll take you lightly, and you'll never get any big results. And people always say, "oh,
you know, I've meditated for two years and nothing happened and, and, you know, I've
been following Asanga for years and nothing happened, and, and I'm tired of it and I'm not
gonna do it any more and I don't know why nothing's happening in my life, you know, it's
all just the same it was five years ago." It's normally something like {yolay}, which is a kind
of laziness. You just didn't take them very seriously, so you didn't get any benefit from them.

[student: You calling that nonafflicted states of mind?]

[laughs] Yeah, I mean they're sort of more neutral. They're not... you could say they're more
passive, passively spiritually stupid, okay. Let me see if he gave an exception [unclear]. I'll
give you the exceptions real quick, but I think they're pretty much common sense. If you're
sick you don't have to do it; you don't break your vow.

[student: This is what the sickness one?]

Yeah, helping the sick. If you don't particularly get along with the person and it might upset
everybody, you don't have to. If you've already committed your time to another patient, no
big problem. If you are in a position where you can refer them to somebody good, it's all
right, you don't break your vow. If they already have enough help, you don't break your
vow if you don't help. If they haven't reached a point where they cannot help themselves
sufficiently, [unclear] like there's people with HIV who are, you know they're they're okay
they, they haven't gotten to point where they, they need your help directly.

[student: Oh, so they're self-sufficient?]

Self-sufficient, partially self-sufficient.

[student: [unclear] if you don't like someone, you don't have to help them?]

Well, when they say like it it meant you're so violently that you... you know they're like
someone that you never got along with, so...
[student: Well you wouldn't be able to heal them anyway.]

Yeah, it would never've worked out [laugh], you know.

[student: It would be counterproductive.]

Then he says there's one other exception, which is if you're engaged in some extremely
important spiritual work and it would interrupt that, that work. Like say a tactic retreat or
something like that, and, and if it would if it would cause you to break your retreat, you
don't break your bodhisattva vows if you if you go for the more important thing.

[student: I have a question. With health professionals, I don't think, I mean there's a health
professional alive really that has not thought about it later that they should've done some...
what's the degree. You know, occasional someone works [unclear] than myself, you reach a
point where you have to sit down, you have to do something else and you know that the
patient should have whatever but you just... it's not important, you know. What's, what's the
demarcation. How do we determine that?]

It comes up a lot in the bodhisattva vows, you know, I am really supposed to go out and lick
a dog's wounds on on Ninth Street, you know [laughs], on Ninth Avenue. I mean it's a all
over the bodhisattva teachings. It says you must stay at your own level. You can't cross the
point at where if you did that you would regret it, or you would, what's that word, you
would [pause] you would later say that's not important anymore or you would, what do you
call it? [unclear crosstalking] what you had done, you know. Yeah, you would disavow
what you had done. Like in a fit of generosity you'd give away all your money, and then if
the odds are very, very likely, which would be for us, right, that the next day you would be
kind of pissed off at yourself, then it's a very bad deed. So a bodhisattva's supposed to know
his or her limit and you're required to keep within that limit because if you go over that limit
you would repudiate what you had done, which is a terrible bad deed. So they say for
example, in generosity start with vegetables, work up to money, and then go to eyeballs and
arms and fingers and stuff. [laughter] But they say it's wrong for you to jump to eyeballs and
arms and fingers, if you're not ready for it.

[student: But wouldn't...]

[student: Sorry.]

Yeah?

[student: Wouldn't you have to push yourself...]

You have to... it's like weightlifting, you know. You, you have to push yourself beyond
what you did the day before, but if you try to much, you'll hurt yourself, and you'll ruin
your future chances. So you... the bodhisattva has to be very wise in knowing when it's
laziness and then when it's the limit of your ability and you shouldn't go beyond it in a sense
and you've seen Westerners who tried to go too far. And usually it was kind of a showcase
bodhisattva act and then later they, they regretted it and then they gave up the whole thing.
And then... you're supposed to stop before you get to that stage. You're supposed to do what
you can do and, and you have to be very wise in knowing what you can do and then you
always have to be dissatisfied and you have to want to go... to be able to go farther and that's,
that's, that's our goal.

[student: But if it's a showcase without the, without the right motivations it really doesn't
count as a bodhisattva vow anyway, right.]

Ehh. There's, there's a benefit to.. there's a thing called a make-believe bodhisattva act, you
know [laughs], which is "okay, I'm not a bodhisattva but let's see if I could just outwardly act
like a bodhisattva". It's okay you have to start like that. You have to start somewhere. If we
waited for a pure motivation we might not ever do anything. Okay [laughs]. All right. [cut]
Say {dunow} [repeat], {dunow} [repeat]; {sowa} [repeat], {sowa} [repeat]; {michaipa} [repeat],
{dichaipa} [repeat]. {Dunow} means "suffering". {Sowa michaipa} means "not to make an
attempt to try to stop someone else's suffering".

[student: {Sowa} [unclear]?]

{Sowa} means "to clear it away". Like you know the, the word for clear light is {usow}, so
that's the same root, {sowa}. And what it means is that people in any kind of extraordinary
physical or mental suffering, you are required now, okay, as of tonight, [laughs] I mean in a
sense you didn't take the vows [unclear], but if you did take the vows before, you see
someone in any kind of mental or physical suffering, you're required to stop and help.
[crosstalking]

[student: But what about people outside on the street?]

[crosstalking]

Which story was that? Which story was that?

[student: And there's also...]

And again you have to do what you are able to do.

[student: And with the receptor.]

Yeah. What would happen if you never got the [unclear] tonight?

[student: I don't know, I can't make it not tonight]

[unclear crosstalking]

[student: Mother Theresa has to sleep you know.]
[laughs] I can't say say no good, I don' know. But I know you have to stay within what you
can do. I think that it would be a worthy goal to not worry about getting home and just help
everyone along the way. Maybe it would be the best thing. It's kind of like what this guy
did in the Bible. [laughs] He never got anywhere he just stop everywhere and helped
everyone. Anyway.

[student: [unclear]]

If every family on Long Island came to Manhattan and picked up one person who needed
help, you know, there would be any.

[student: Brought 'em home with them?]

Yeah. [unclear crosstalking] Anyway, so [unclear] examples, but it's someone who's has got
any kind of physical or mental suffering. And the examples are like physically someone
who's handicapped or in some kind of pain or has some kind of physical problem like they're
blind or they can't hear or they, they have some kind of problem with walking and things
like that. And then mentally someone who is depressed. Someone who's lost something
dear to them, things like... actually that comes under another vow. But someone who's
suffered some kind of physical or mental beating from someone else, things like that, and
you're required to try to remove that suffering [unclear]. Jessu Koppa says that {yamase} are
exactly the same as in thirty-six. Towards the end he starts rushing a little bit too. [laughs]
[laughter] You notice that in some things. I'm not saying that seriously, okay. I think that
would be breaking a vow, actually. [laughter] Mr. [unclear] pointed out that maybe I'm the
only person that ever broke a vow while teaching it. [laughter] [silence] [cut] Say {logmay}
[repeat], {logmay} [repeat]; {nala} [repeat], {nala} [repeat]; {rigmitu} [repeat], {rigmitu} [repeat],
okay. {Lomay}, {logmay} means "people who are acting carelessly". {Logmayna} means
"people who are acting carelessly". And And it's understood that it refers to people who are
acting karmically carelessly, okay. They are getting into hot water karmically by what
they're doing, okay. {Nala rigmitu}, {rigmitu} means "failing to give them good reasons,
failing to show them good reasons".

[student: What's rigmitu?]

Rigmitu means "failing to show them good reasons". Now what it means is to to try to
reason with people who are doing something which karmically is going to harm them in this
life or their future life, try to, try to talk them out of it, try to explain to them why it's wrong.
They're gonna be a lot of {naymays} here, okay, so just to anticipate some {naymays}, all
right?

[student: That would be any karmic nonvirtue?]

Yeah, I mean you know, I don't know in my, in my line of work you see people lying and
they're not bad people like the boss encourages them to lie, so they lie, and it becomes a
habit, you know, and if you're a diamond buyer and you're supposed to lie like you're
supposed to get it for less than it's really worth. You're supposed to cajole the guy and lie to
the guy and all sorts of... and the boss is just explaining to the person why it's okay and go
ahead and do it and that's the business [unclear] and he's telling the accountant, "look
everyone cheats on their taxes. You'd be crazy to pay all your taxes. You know the
government won't notice this and we can probably get away with this and you know it's
very very common." Then you have to try to go dissuade those people in any way that you
can. And you'll see it all over the place and what it does it really hurts the person. They
don't know the karmic, the powerful karmic results they're collecting while they seem to be
innocently lying about a diamond [unclear], you know. With every word they're getting in
very serious trouble, and they're just oblivious to it, you know and we have to try to talk
them out of it. There's a lot of {naymays}.

[student: [unclear]]

Let me finish the [naymays} the I [unclear] because I myself can think of a lot of things. One
is if you don't... if you're just not capable of explaining to them why it's wrong, you don't
break a vow, you know, if you don't have the knowledge or the capacity to to explain it
properly, you don't break your vow. If you can refer them to someone else who can explain
it to them properly, you don't break your vow by not explaining it to them.

[student: You do have to refer them?]

Yeah, if you can refer them to someone who can explain it to them, you don't break the vow
yourself.

[student: Is this everyone or just Buddhists?]

Anyone.

[student: Okay.]

If you see that they will be self-fixing... what do you call that? If they're the kind of person
that's gonna realize after thirty seconds that they did something wrong and you don't have
to... you know and you know that they're selfcorrecting people. You don't you don't break
your vow if you hold your tongue for that period, you don't break your vow if you know
that they have their own spiritual teacher who will correct them. They have their own, it's
called a geshe, that they have their own spiritual friend and you know they're gonna get the
right instructions and... you're not... you don't break you vow if you leave it up to that
teacher. You don't break your vow if they hate you and you happen to know that they
purposely do the opposite if you tried to correct them. [laughs] Urst and me were talking
about that at work. You try to talk people out of crushing bugs, a lot of them'll just do it in
front of you to see your reaction. So obviously you would be counterproductive to try to
talk them into it. You don't break your vow if you don't try. And if they just won't accept
any kind of reasoning from you, you know and you have... and you know that. You realize
that, that if you try they're not going to... it's not gonna help, then you don't break your vow.
Then the last {naymay} is if it's to teach them a lesson. And they that has to be some kind of
extraordinary motivation. Let's say that they're they're doing something wrong and they're
looking to you for some kind of advice, but you know that if you withheld it and refused to
give them advice they might straighten out completely, because they got hurt. You know if
the Dali Lama said you know you're, you're hopeless you could work it out yourself [laughs],
you know then you might really straighten out, you know, if somebody like that gave up on
you. So that's the kind of... that's a {naymay}. Let's take a break.

[student: On on that one particular point that would mean that we would have every time
we saw somebody get angry at someone else, every time we saw someone swat at a fly, blah,
blah, blah, stealing...]

Yeah, you have to take an interest in people who are collecting the causes to suffer as much
as you are required to take an interest in people who are already suffering, because they're in
the same boat. It's a matter of time.

[student: But you know it is really the hardest thing to do to see someone suffer to know that
they are going to suffer more because of what they're doing, to not say anything because to
say something you break off the contact, which would be worse.]

Well you have to judge these things.

[student: That's very difficult.]

We just... we don't feel comfortable to correct them. I know I do that. I just let them go
because I don't want to get involved, and I'm a lazy...

[student: No it's because they won't listen to you and then they have nothing because you
won't be there. So to be quiet is very hard.]

It's hard. It's hard to... [cut] Number thirty-nine is not, not be paying someone who has
helped you. I'm not gonna write on the board because we don't have time. It's in your, it's
in your reading. Number thirty-nine is not repaying... failing to repay someone who has
helped you. [cut] The second classic motivation is you just don't think about what they did
for you. You never get to the point of thinking about what they did for you.

[student: So it's still a break to the vow then?]

Yeah. He says all the other two states of mind which are those two kind of lazinesses.

[student: So when you hear other two [unclear]...]

[unclear crosstalking] and it really messed me up and I think at some point I, I missed read it
and said it was dau or something two pointed mind or something. Later on he says "when
ever I use that it's a code word for those four states of mind".

[student: Okay.]
Here he says "the other two" which means those two [unclear].

[student: Nonclashas?]

Nonclashas but you still break the vow. And then he gives a weird one which is where you
don't repay someone's help because you figure you can't out do them.

[student: That's number four, no?]

I actually... I think we have four now, okay.

[student: Yeah.]

[student: What's that, what's number four?]

You don't repay their kindness because you can't out do them. This was common in India. I
mean if someone gave you a present in India, you were supposed to give a bigger one back
and then it got the point where you'd be embarrassed because you couldn't out do them.
And there's a long story like that. She knows [unclear].

[student: Someone who has helped you, is that based on... you know like help kinda nega...
you know someone thinks they're doing something for you, you know, you know. It...]
[laughter]

[crosstalking] I don't know there's this a... in the vow against... in the vow where you're
supposed to reconcile yourself with people who are angry at you whether or not you were at
fault. Maybe that's similar?

[student: So sometimes you have to discern if someone believed they helped you.]

Yeah, I would say that be... based on the other vow where even if they think you're a friend
of them you have to apologize, you know you have to explain yourself, even if you had no
intention or didn't do it. Yeah?

[student: Is there any way that... any greater way to repay someone that's done something
for you than to respect your bodhisattva vows?]

Slightly greater right, but that's about the greatest. And I I want to point out one great
kindness that we all have to repay which is Ripichay's kindness. I mean a lot of us are not...
new, the newer students don't realize that without Ken Ripichay, who's out in New Jersey
quietly sitting in his room, you know, that this would never have happened. There would
never be any classes here. There wouldn't be anything to teach. He taught selflessly for
twentysomething years, gave up his whole life, stayed there, did not travel, did not get
famous, did not accept gifts of property land, everything else that was offered him, never
took any money, never asked for any money, you know, every time he gets money he gives
it to the monastery to feed more monks and gave his life and now he's at the end of his life
and he actually gave up his total life for, for us the last twenty-something years. He, he
now... it's used up. He used up his lifetime and now he can't do anything else, but a, you
know we have to repay that I think for some one person to give up their whole life time... he
did not go make money, he did not... he could've done a lot of things. He could've been a
professor somewhere and he, he chose to spend the time on us, exclusively, and he didn't do
anything else and he just taught. When he was healthy, he taught all day, every day, and we
owe, we owe him a lot. We all owe him a lot. So, you know if there's anything you can
think of to do. I know Aerial did a nice thing [unclear]. She planted flowers out there for
him. She knew he liked flowers. You know, any little thing you could imagine that you
could do for him, you... we all owe him a lot. None of this could happen without him and
he gave up his life, for us. So you have to try to repay it somehow. That's a great kind... we
owe... somebody that you owe that maybe you don't know you owe, okay. [laughs] Now
you know. All right. If you want to help a person, you want to repay them but you're
waiting for a good opportunity you don't break your bodhisattva vow. These are the
{naymays}, right? If your a, a, an opportunity, you have every intention to do it, but the
opportunity hasn't come up. If you don't want to repay them because you want to teach
them some lesson and your a high bodhisattva and it's all out of love, right, and you want to
diss them, okay, out of great love for them, you don't break your vow. But if... watch out for
that one. That takes great wisdom, obviously. [unclear] fool yourself. [unclear]

[student: Waiting for the opportunity is, is ...?]

That's one {naymay} and then another {naymay} is where you purposely want to insult them
to teach them some wonderful lesson because you love them. You're overwhelmed by love
for them. So you want to appear to be insulting them by not repaying them. So that they
can learn something about their motivation for having done a kindness to you in the first
place, or something like that.

[student: That's just so when people don't have a subconscious, learn unconscious decisions.]

What, whatever. Buddhists...

[student: Buddhists don't believe people have, do they?]

Uhhhhhhh, long story. [unclear] believe, mental seeds deep mental propensity, yeah?

[student: Hidden, hidden, hidden obstacles?]

Yeah. Oh yeah.

[student: Oh, okay.]

Okay, and then the last one is where they would really prefer it if you did not. They would
be embarrassed, or they would be uncomfortable and you don't break your vow if you don't.
Okay number forty. Number forty's failing to try to stop someone's grief and the grief can be
normally over losing someone that they love. It could also be about losing something dear
to them, like, like you know when the Tibetans first can out of Tibet, they were shell
shocked. I mean they were in a deep state of grief about losing their country, losing their
monasteries, you know. So you're required by your bodhisattva vows to stop and take time
and try to, try to help them get over their grief. He says that all the {naymays} are the same as
with failing to help someone who needs your help. Which one was that? What number was
that?

[student: Thirty-five.]

[student: [unclear]]

Back at the beginning of class. Yeah, thirty-five. So he says all the rules that... Jessu Koppa at
this point in the text is trying to go... he's trying to wrap up by nine o'clock. [laughter] [cut]
[side two] He says, you know, go back to [unclear] thirty-five, everything's the same, okay?
Forty-one. I'm sorry, but this is normally the way the bodhisattva vows are taught. You
know they go over the first twenty very carefully and then they rush through the rest because
they always run out of time. You have to follow tradition. [laughter] Forty-one is not giving
material assistance to someone who needs it.

[student: [unclear] thirty-eight double the normal.]

[students: [unclear]]

Right. By the way you break the that... she's right. The motivation, when you break the root
vow is what? What's the motivation?

[student: Terror?]

[student: You want to hurt someone?]

[students: [unclear]]

It's attachment to the object. You do not want to be separated from the object. That's a very
sick motivation. When you, when you fail to give to someone what they need materially
because you don't want to be... you don't want to be separated from that object, you break a
root vow. But when you do it for other lesser, less powerful motivations you break this vow
and that's the difference. It's in the motivation. I'll repeat, okay?

[student: You mean the motivation is the difference?]

Yeah and normally when they distinguish between the root vow and the secondary vows,
they say any other motivation than that kind of attachment or unwillingness to part with it.
That's very sick for a bodhisattva. I mean that's very serious mental disease for a bodhisattva
to be attached to something and not want to part with it to help another person and that can
apply to your job or, or anything. That's that's just a very stupid bodhisattva, [laughs] okay?
And that a root vow. But if it's for other kinds of reasons, then it's... then you're breaking a
secondary vow.

[student: [unclear]]

[laughs]

[student: No, do you think someone is, will I say, continue in this life style, begging then
maybe we're better off not giving something?]

No, that's of course. If you think if in your best judgment it would hurt them, you're not
required to give them.

[student: [unclear]]

[laughs] He gives us motivations for two states of mind and the two other states of mind, or
just carelessly, okay. The two states of mind were what?

[student: Laziness.]

Wanting to hurt someone, or being, and the two other states of mind were...?

[students: Laziness.]

Laziness in the sense of...?

[student: Not caring much.]

Not caring much. And then laziness in the sense of not respecting the vows.

[student: [unclear]]

Excuse me?

[student: What's the second one?]

And he said carelessness, which is, which means you just, you just, you know, you know,
you're just into something else. You're watching a TV show or something, [laughs] you
know.

[student: And what is... these are motivation [unclear]?]

These are possible bad motivations for doing this. You see these are other than attachment.
Here are some {naymays}. You don't have the thing that they want. You don't own it. If that
object that they want is somehow harmful for them, in this life or in their future life. Who is
Randy? Which person is Randy?
[students: Randy?]

You know Randy in this class.

[students: [unclear]]

A guy named Randy who did really good on the phone [unclear]. [laughs] [laughter] Okay. I
gotta figure it out, maybe it's the other class. You're sure no Randy here?

[student: What wouldn't you give someone for a future life?]

Oh, let's say a book about astral projection, okay, when they are just about to study their
bodhisattva vows. That would waste their life. That would hurt them. All right. Waste of
time, okay?

[student: What's a waste of time?]

I mean, I'll give you an example of this.

[student: Wait a minute astral projection is cool, what are you talking about? [laughs] Sorry,
sorry.]

If you can get to the land of nada, I think that's the most interesting. Okay, if you want to
teach them a lesson, okay. Jessu Koppa says if it would hurt the king.

[student: What'dya mean?]

I, I don't know. I mean they're asking for like a gun to go assassinate the President, or
something. You don't have to do it.

[student: Oh, this is just a politically correct method?] [laughter]

Probably.

[student: That's very good.]

That's very perceptive Carmine, what you just said.

[student: That's funny.]

What'd she say?

[student: [unclear]]

I mean to say "oh" I mean this is a scholar saying, "Oh, that was added in eighteen ninety by
so and so because he wanted to kiss the king's rear-end or something", you know. "And it's
not...the darjena never said that and it's not a Buddhist thing and..." you know. No that's a...
be careful. [unclear] it's important.

[student: They didn't have any of that [unclear]]

[laughs] Okay.

[student: [unclear] single out the king rather than anyone else? [unclear] anyone else?]

There are cases in the, in the naya, where, where if it would... I mean obviously that would
cause repercussions on the entire dharma community. You see what I mean, and probably I
would guess that it comes from that. If the king of the country was ill-disposed towards
Buddhism because someone in that group had done some violence to the king, it would hurt
the whole dharma community as... officially, they would be sanctioned, you know what I
mean? Okay. Anyway. If it breaks the monks' rules, you know, the inner code of the... of
monks. And, and again you have to balance the, the need against your benefit, you know. I
mean let's say someone is a little bit cold and, and you could give them your monk shawl,
but that wouldn't proper in the monk's code, and they not gonna get much benefit out of it,
then you... you don't break your vow if you don't give it to them. Okay. Forty-two. Forty-
two is failing to take care of your students, okay? [laughs] Failing to take care of the needs of
your students. This has bankrupt many teachers. In two senses, okay. One is their spiritual
needs, by teaching them, and then one is their physical needs. And, and, and in a monastery
the way it works in, in Tibetan Buddhist Monastery you just show up, and you go to a
teacher and you ask him to be a student, and he takes care of you forever. I mean basically
till he dies, he takes care of you. And Ripache has been doing that for at least close... you
know, that's the way it goes. Their your responsibility after that. And, and it the class they
have to find sponsors who are gonna support that group of teachers and students and and if
the teachers... it's your responsibility once you take on a student that you have to make sure
their needs are taken care of.

[student: [unclear]]

Say it again.

[student: Does part of that motivate students to [unclear]?]

I think it's an unkindness to the student to let them grow, you know what I mean? And of
course in a monastery the students serve the teacher also. It's symbiotic relationship, you
know, and it's a very natural and sweet relationship, and the good students are totally
devoted to their teachers and the good teachers are totally supporting all their students, and
it's a very beautiful thing to watch. It's very nice. It's a really beautiful dharma. He, he says
exceptions are if you're just too sick to do it. You can do it physically. If you're trying to
teach the student a lesson. If it would break the monks' code. If they're completely capable...
I mean like say they have an inheritance or something and they have all the money they
could ever need and and you know that they have that, you're not required to support them.
You don't break your vow if you don't support them.
[student: Would that apply to being able to work also, or no?]

He says something like that. If they can get on on their... by on their own. Can you see he
uses that phrase. So if they, you know, if they're capable to support themselves quite well. I
mean normally in a monastery they, they don't have any other means. There's no work in a
monastery. And then if you see that no matter how much you taught them, they would
never change. If in your best judgment this person is incor, cor, what'dya call it?

[students: Corrigible!] [laughter]

[laughs] Incorrigible, okay, you're not required to... you don't break your vow if you don't, if
you don't spend the time to support them or teach them. If you, if you know that by
teaching them that they would never change. If in your best judgment, they just would not
ever listen, you don't break your vow if you don't...

[student: [unclear]]

support them in their spiritual teaching.

[student: Because they don't make efforts?]

There's a lot of reasons why someone might be incorrigible, you know. Besides if they have
a wrong view that's just too extreme, you know. Okay. We're doin' pretty good. Forty-
three. Failing to get along with others.

[students: [moaning and laughter]]

This is, you know there are a lot of {naymays} here, but basically this is where out of some
kind of feeling of hatred or laziness, you don't make an effort to reach out to a person who
you don't get along with. There's lots of cases where obviously it's a {naymay}, if in you're
best judgment you... it wouldn't help. You know if things would get worse, if you tried to
re... re... reproach, what d'ya call it? Reproach the person, you know if you tried to reach
out and, and patch up a misunderstanding, or if you tried to get to know them better, and try
to get along with them better, if you know it would just get worse, you don't break your
bodhisattva vow if you don't try. If you're too sick to do it, you don't break the bodhisattva
vow. If, if getting along with them would mean to engage in something harmful with them,
you're not, you're not required to do that, obvi... you know common sense. You don't have
to try to get along with a crack dealer on the corner who's, you know, hurting people and
stuff. If the other person's just so angry that... if it would make them angry if you, if you tried
to approach them. If it would break the monks' code, if you tried to approach them. You're
not required to try to get along with a religious teacher who's teaching something harmful or
wrong. You're required to blow them away, period. You're required to stand up and
demonstrate that their teaching something which is harmful and wrong, and it's... you do not
break your vow if you don't get along with them, okay.
[student: Can, can we extend that to political, like say a fascist, or something like that?]

I think that would be someone who is wanting something... if they want something harmful,
they want to hurt people, you're not... you don't break your vow if you don't get along with
them. You don't try to get along with them. And then finally if you're trying to teach them
an important lesson and you're a great bodhisattva.

[student: So could you, could you say that making a reasonable effort with the other person
is essentially [unclear]?]

Yeah, but I think... apparently in all these cases we're not making enough effort. I mean use
that as your rule of thumb, [laughs] okay. There's people that you know that you don't get
along with that you could get along with if you made a little effort, and as a bodhisattva,
you're required to try. You must go try and you get good at it. If you take it as a life's work,
you'll get good at it, and you'll get along with more people than you expected. It does not
mean having to act like them. It means getting along with them and then slowly trying to
change them if they're doing something harmful, but... you can imagine at work where they
say "everybody gets along with this guy", talking about you, and then they... but
somebody... and then you might imagine like a circumstance where you say "yeah but he
doesn't do what we do". You see it's not contradictory. He doesn't act like us, but everybody
gets along with him. It's, it's... that's the goal.

[student: [unclear]]

What?

[student: [unclear]]

[student: What?]

[student: The other person is a user or the other person wants control [unclear]?]

That's in the, that's in the category of harming people I think. You're not required to... but
make a distinction between helping them be evil, you know, and, and with a, with a distance
so that you're not associated with that evil try to remain in touch with them so that maybe
you could affect them or maybe you could help them. There's a line in when it's really evil
that you're required to resist it. But there's a line... there's a point before that, we reach that
line where you're supposed to try to maintain contact, try to help them, don't, don't cause a
rupture, you know. Number forty-four... is failing to praise somebody else's good qualities
or something good they have said. And this is really very useful in a group, you know if
you're in an office and and it's really good if you have a streak of jealousy like I have and
when you're around other people and they do have good qualities and you're jealous of
them, you start to think about how... being... you're required to praise about their good
qualities, and you're required to say that... you're required to express the fact that something
they said was worth while and good. It helps a lot to get over a lot of your own problems.
It's very useful, really nice vow. Exceptions are if you're sick, or if you're waiting for a better
opportunity, or if you feel they'd be uncomfortable, if you praise them. You know people
like that. Or if you can't think of anything true to say. [laughter] Seriously, when there's
nothing true to say. In other words you're not required to make up something if they don't
have anything.

[student: But that's [unclear]]

Yeah, we were, we were. But he mentions that, so. To teach them a lesson or to prevent
them from getting inflated, you're allowed not to [laughs]... if you know that they would
freak out and get a big head, you're not required to praise them.

[student: So what if you make these mistakes, you know you do them. You realize you do
them how to fix it?]

How do you fix

[student: Any any of them. All of them.]

If you commit a serious offense, how do you fix it?

[students: [unclear crosstalking]]

Yeah, in front of one person, you or your altar, you confess you and then you do those four
point of powers. That's how you clean up a secondary.

[student: You say your altar's the same as in front of another person another person?]

He mentions something like that, but I think a person is better. He did mention that, I...

[student: In an emergency.]

in the other offenses. [unclear]

[student: Can we set up a hotline or something.] [laughter]

I, I tell you what I do, and honestly I do do it. I have a few close friends and we just confess
to each other and I have a few close people in my life and that we just have that relationship
and we do it for each other and we do it maybe once a week or once every two weeks. We
have huge phone bills and [laughs] and...

[student: [unclear] for the secondary vow?]

It's very very good. It's very very wonderful. You... it really helps you clean up your act,
you know, if you have a relationship like that with a few other people and you really make
a, a vow to each other to be totally honest about anything you did.
[student: And they don't tell anyone else?]

That's understood I think, if you're being honest to each other, I think. You know, but I
have, I have... it's a very valuable, valuable thing. I really encourage you to find a couple
people like that. It's really helps you keep your vows 'cause you have some support, you
know. And, and then you make a vow almost to each other that you will not leave anything
out. That no matter how bad it is and how dirty it is, you'll tell each other. It's very useful.
It's very good. I think the monks [unclear] was meant to be like that. Nowadays it's just a
ba..ba..ba..ba..ba..ba. [laughs] I believe that was the original idea to get in a circle and just
honestly say what... anything you have done, anything you have thought. Anyway. If
you're finishing off a nonbuddhist who is teaching something bad. [laughter] No that's how
they're able to meditate nicely which is often the case. But they are teaching very harmful
things like, "oh if you understand emptiness you don't have to keep this morality stuff", or
"once you get up to a bodhisattva vow where you can drop all that monk stuff", you know,
then you're not required to praise their other good qualities because it might attract people to
them and then they'll get hurt, so you're not required to praise that person's good qualities.
[unclear]

[student: When you said if they're teaching a bad [unclear?]

Let's say they're really good at meditating and normally you're supposed to praise that.
You're supposed to say "that guy's a really good meditator". But if by the way they're
teaching something very harmful, very dirty, very wrong, you're not required to praise their
one good quality [unclear] because it might attract people top them and then they'll get
messed up by them teaching dirty things and wrong things.

[student: This is only [unclear]]

Uhhh... that's the way he presents that one. Okay, forty-five. Failing to cut off a person
when it's necessary. Failing to cut off a person when it's necessary. There are three ways of
cutting off. There's three meanings of the word cutting off. One is to chastise them, you
know to say something harshly to them, you know, demeaning. Secondly is to punish them
if necessary. And then thirdly is to expel them from the group if it's necessary. And that's a
very, very hard decision to make and it's... you know it's that one bad apple theory, that this
person is so destructive that as a bodhisattva in, in, in the interest of all the people there you,
you must expel the person from the group. They're just very harmful. They're causing some
kind of great harm to the whole group. The whole harmony of the whole group is messed
up and they're leading other people into wrong ideas and into harmful, harmful things. Then
if it gets to a point where there's no other way, you're required as a bodhisattva to cut them
out. Exceptions... you're waiting for a better chance; they're not gonna, in the case of
chastising, they're never gonna listen to you anyway; they are pretty self-correcting already,
you know they can correct themselves; and here's the important one, if expelling that one
person would would cause half the people to leave the group, you know if it would actually
cause a permanent or some major split in, in that dharma group or in that monastery, you...
you're not... you don't break your vow if you don't expel the person. And that's in the
vinaya also, I mean that's in the monks' code, that if we have a particular monk in the
monastery who is very charismatic and he's actually doing something that's a little... that's
apparently bad, rude, and wrong, but we know that if we expelled him, half the monastery
would leave, we have to wait. That's required. So as not to break the bigger unity. So...

[student: [unclear] the monks' code?]

In that, yeah. In that, in that meaning. Okay, forty-six. I mean when I teach you this next
vow I I mean you now... then you know all the vows, and and it's much worse then not
knowing them. [laughs] Okay. [laughter] It's much, much worse. Karmically, much more
dangerous, you know to break them once you know them. So are you sure [laughs] you
want the last one [laughs]. [laughter]

[students: [crosstalking] [laughter]]

[student: No, just teach us forty-five.]

[student: No I want to know if you, if you have already made a vow never to use your
supernatural, so called supernatural power.]

Okay, okay, okay

[student: All right.]

Forty-six is, forty-six is failing to use your supernatural powers when it's necessary, if you
have them. And, and this is something you should know, okay, and this is oral tradition,
okay? This our lineage. This is our... the tradition of... you're now in a certain lineage of this
teaching. You're now a, a member of a larger family that goes back to the Buddha, and we
know the major teachers in it. Now you're the next generation. You are now one more link
in the chain. So you you will get certain instructions that are not [unclear] to other people.
And, and one of them is if you have the power to do a miracle, you're not allowed to do it,
normally, in Buddhism, okay. You're... and the reason being that if it would require doing a
miracle to convince someone that Buddhism right or useful. It won't help much, and
normally they'll flip-flop again in a week or two. If what it takes is turning water into wine
or a brick into gold for them to buy into Buddhism, they're, they're not a stable person
anyway and they're probably not going to stay in Buddhism very long because you did some
miracle for them. So, generally we're not allowed to do miracles easily, lightly, and we're
not allowed to say we can do miracles if we can. We're not allowed to admit it. Yeah?

[student: I would've thought that this would mean to aid in some way to aid to aid
[unclear]...]

No not what this one means. When the time comes, you must do a miracle. When the time
comes for you... when it would make a difference, you know, you must use miracles. And
sometimes they're negative and sometimes they're positive. You know if it would inspire
someone, if it would truly lead a doubting person to embrace a philosophy which will save
their life, then you're required to do a miracle for them, if you know that it would be... it
would have that effect on them. And then on the other hand if someone is for example doing
something bad and you know that if you emanated as a monster or something or showed
them some horrible, horrible sight like the Buddha took... there was... he had a monk who
was attached to his wife, even after he became a monk, he couldn't stop thinking about his
wife that he had left behind. So Buddha did a miracle and he took him to Hell for a day, you
know to show him the results [laughs] and then you know that that was important and it
worked. And after that he wasn't thinking about the wife anymore, he was worried about
getting out of Hell. [laughter] So, that's, that's... in those cases you're required to use those
powers. You break your bodhisattva vow if you don't use those powers, but all tradition
[unclear] and Buddhism, in general, generally speaking you can't show off with miracle
powers, you can't show other people, you can't talk about them openly, you know you can't
admit that you have them, like [unclear] If someone is talking about them openly, it's
normally a sign that they don't have them.

[student: Which year do we learn them? [laughter] Michael?]

They're a side effect of good respect. And they're useful. I, I can't do them but I
understand... I should say 'cause... could be useful at a point. But you... those are [laughs] the
rules for using them, okay?

[student: I have another question. Erica Casey said that if Jesus hadn't performed his miracles
he supposedly would not have died at the cross. Therefore I think I understand, performing
miracles nothing comes for nothing. You perform a miracle so called, there is there is a
karma. You have to pay for.]

No No No not like that at all. Not like that at all

[student: That's what Erica Casey about Jesus. Buddhists doesn't say that at all.]

If, if, I mean, if you understand emptiness, you understand how miracles happen. How...
totally plausible. It's possible to walk on water. If you have the karma to walk on water.

[student: Or heal someone...?]

If you have the karma to see yourself walk on water, you will. If you have the karma that
only... you only have five minutes of water walking karma and you're on it for six minutes
[laughter] it's true, you will see yourself sink after the fifth minute. You, you will. [laughter
still] So, if, if the water wasn't empty and if your feet weren't empty, you couldn't walk on
water. Since they are empty it's it's... if you understand anything from the last course if you
understand that miracle are totally reasonable and in fact the whole practice of secret
Buddhism is to is very much along those lines, the whole point of trying reach enlightenment
in this life is very much along those lines. So, but you have to have tremendously powerful
karma to have that happen, but it can happen and it will happen, all right. There will come a
time when you can do those things. Okay. You thought you were finished. There are a few
extras, okay? And I'm just gonna mention them. You can read them in your reading. You'll
see, you'll see there's a whole... there's a list of offenses against the wish for enlightenment.
There's a list offenses that are against your, your promise to try to be enlightened, okay. And,
and I'll just go over them quick. You don't have to write, it's in your reading, okay. It's on
page six, okay. But they are failing to help, support people who it would be good to support,
spiritually, like...

[student: Financially [unclear]]

twenty-five to thirty monks in US or something like that. It says with dharma or material
things. Failing to let go of your anger when someone else hurts you. Discriminating between
any kind of people. You know I like this person, I don't like this person. This person's this
color, this person's this color. All kinds of discrimination. You break... you break your...
you break bodhisattva... you break bodhikidda if you do that. Failing to take yourself to a
spiritual teacher if there's one available. Failing to learn and contemplate the dharma if it's
available to you. Failing to think about all sentient beings as you use the things that you
have available to you in your life, like food and clothing and housing. You know, as you use
it as a bodhisattva you're required to think of other people. As you eat, as you drink, as you
sleep in a bed, you're required to think that "okay I'm enjoying these things but I my mean
goal in life is to help other people", you know. As you use objects you could either be a
karmic consumer, which is really true as you use an object, as you drink a coke you are
burning trillions of calories of karma, you know what I mean. You are burning immense
quantities of karma to just drink one glass of water. For that perception to be sustained for
the length of time that you drink the water requires intense karma. It requires intense
amounts of karma and, and you have to transform that situation. Any time you eat
something, any time you use, any time you wear clothing, any time you sleep in a bed, any
time you use the world, any time you consume karma, you must reflect that you are doing
that for the good of other beings, you know, I'm gonna eat so I can go help people, I'm
resting so I can go help people, I'm eating so I can go help people. This is part of the
bodhisattva code. Otherwise you're just burning off karma to here
and it will end [unclear] and you'll reach a day when you won't be able to drink a glass of
water 'cause you won't have the karma left and, and you'll die. That's called dying [laughs]
okay? All right.

[student: Michael this is[unclear]]

That's in the... yeah... in the discrimination.

[student: It relates back to that?]

Yeah.

[student: Okay.]

Excuse me?

[student: It relates back to [unclear]]
Yeah, in the end. Yeah. It's not a bodhisattva activity at all. And then the last example is any
time you do any good deed you have to consciously be thinking if it's the good of all beings
as you do it. I mean as you help somebody at work, as you make tea for someone, as you sit
in a class, you have to... you're required to consciously think that you're doing this for other
people. Okay. Finally...

[students: [Crosstalking unclear]]

That's very similar, yeah. That's the [unclear]. Okay very quickly the last four things. They
are called four black deeds and four white deeds. These are... I mean you guys are not only
learning the bodhisattva vows but now you get all... this is the whole packet, okay? This is
the last thing. You have to know this to be keeping your bodhisattva vows. These are part
of your bodhisattva vows.

[student: Did you say if we do any of these things you mentioned and we break our vows?]

Yeah. Those are the etceteras mentioned in the confession where it says secondary vows or
the other and most people... I don't even think Americans even know about these other ones.
Okay. The last four are called the four black deeds. The first one is pulling the wool over
your lama's eyes; deceiving your lama.

[student: What?]

Knowingly, purposely deceiving your lama.

[student: Regarding dharma or anything?]

In anything. But it's like the ultimate deception. Yeah?

[student: How could you pull with the wool over your lama's eye?]

Somebody else asked me that. They said if your lama is a Buddha and your lama's mission,
how could you ever pull the wool over your lama's eyes? But people try... don't.... I mean
the point is that you try. Yeah. The point is that it's your intention and the lama will
probably very well act as though you've succeeded.

[student: The point is karmically you perceive yourself doing it, and that's what counts.]

Yeah. That's how the karma's planted. Excellent [unclear] [laughter] No, it is excellent . And
I just kept my vow, right?

[student: Right.] [laughter]

Serious. Serious that's the, that's the truth. Okay.

[student: [unclear]] [tremendous laughter]
[student: [unclear] glad you're keeping your vows, Michael.] [laughter]

[unclear] The antidote for that is never speaking aloud even in jest to any living being. That's
gonna be hard, right?

[student: Oh boy.]

[student: [unclear]]

Even in jest. I mean it's being... I mean Joppa down in Howell he [cut]. Black deed number
two. To get any another person to regret something good they did is black deed number
two.

[student: To get [unclear]]

To get... to cause any another person to regret something virtuous that they have done. [cut]
practice the bodhisattva ideal, the mahayana way. The white deed is to try to get people to
practice the bodhisattva ideal. [cut] to a bodhisattva out of anger. Saying something
unpleasant to a bodhisattva out of anger. and here we revert again [cut] of our tradition
[unclear] they all point out at this juncture they always point out that you know that any
other person around you is not a bodhisattva. One of the first questions I ever asked Rupaji
[cut] wasted thought but I never figured it out. [cut] The antidote of that is... I want you to
learn this word [cut] {dharnong} [repeat] {jowa} [repeat] {dharnong} [repeat] {jowa} [repeat].
{dharnong jowa} means "to see the purity, to see the purity". [cut] The black deed that I just
[unclear], which was what?

[student:

I mean if you ever to pick the worst time to ever say something bad to someone it would be
saying it to a bodhisattva in anger. and, and seeing purity means, seeing purity means the
exercise of, of getting used to or practicing the concept of always seeing things as totally pure
around you. I mean always thinking there's some reason why this is going on. Now there's
some reason why this person sat down next to me. It's trying to teach me something. There's
some reason why those guys, those drunk guys over there are yelling. There's some reason
why me boss didn't give me a raise this week. You know, there's something deeper going
on. There's some reason why this building is here at this time, you know. There's some
reason why...

[student: There's some reason you can think of [unclear]]

There's some beautiful thing happening that I'm on the edge of understanding all... it's like I
call it a reverse schizophrenia... what do ya call it? Paranoia? It's dharma paranoia. You
think everyone's out to help you. [laughter] Seriously. Maybe they are. Possible. Probable.
And this is {dharnong jowa}. It means everyone's out to help you. Everyone is striving to
make you personally happy. Everyone around you all day long is striving to make you
happy, and, and all the things you see are some kind of message they're trying to give you,
and you just gotta catch it, and it's a practice. It's a practice you have to try and perfect it.
Okay last one. Last black deed. And by the way they say see every sentient being that you
meet as the teacher. The teacher, capital "T". They're trying to teach you something. That's
part of that. Like letting you get up and do dharma classes so that you can learn something.
Okay. Fourth black deed is to be devious to any other sentient being, to, to deceive any
other sentient being. To act in a dishonest way with any other sentient being.

[student: [unclear]]

Without any sense of personal responsibility for their enlightenment. [laughs] And that's
what he says, okay. In other words, obviously [unclear].

[student: [unclear]]

[student: [unclear]]

Let's say with a bad motivation. I mean understood, right? The antidote for this they say is
to be totally straight forward and honest with all other sentient beings, with every other
person you ever meet, totally honest.

[student: This is kind of tricky though because we live in a culture where white lies, I mean
people tell lies all the time and they have all kinds of motivations and things [unclear]]

I read this book once, this science fiction book, thirty seconds, and they had a class of people
called, I forget what they were called I think they were called witnesses. They were
incapable of lying, and so instead of notarizing papers they call a witness in to come and
stand there and then two people would make a verbal agreement. The person would never
lie. They just were incap... they're a class of people in the world who everyone agrees and
everyone knows this class of people cannot lie. They will never lie. I mean I would like to
imagine that Buddhists would be thought of similarly. You know I, I think it'd be cool as a
fantasy that Buddhists could have a reputation of being incapable of lying, you know. People
could go up to a Buddhist and they ask him a question because they know they can't lie. You
know. I think it'd be, it'd be very interesting. It'd be wonderful. Except in cases where it
would hurt someone's feelings and

[students: crosstalking]]

But, but we I'm not talking, we know what I'm talking about. [laughter] [unclear] [cut]

[student: Maybe you don't see it, but many of us think that you do a lot of miraculous
things.]

[laughs]

[prayer: dedication]
One more quick announcement, no class this Thursday. No class Monday Next class the
following Thursday, which is class number ten. Class number eleven will occur.... the first
week of October I have to be out of the country also, so it would after that, so it would be the
ninth of October. [unclear] will be October ninth

[student: So the next class is next Thursday?]

My next class is a week from this Thursday. Class number...

[student: Ten.]

Ten. And then I'm out of the country for a week and then
950928-1.aaa
76a.txt

ACI Course VII: The Bodhisattva Vows