Серия ежедневной практики, курс 04 — Семичастная практика развития доброго сердца (1999, Голуэй), занятие 4

[Speaker 2]
This is the continuation of session 3.

[Speaker 1]
This is going to start the meditation, the actual meditation. And he starts with the hardest meditation of all. Okay?

So that's a good place to start. You just had your first class. Why not have the most difficult meditation of all?

Then after that everything will be easier. Okay? It says, learn to see all things as a dream.

And that's the first line. That's the first part of the meditation. And this is very famous thing in Buddhism, you know, you see this old guy with the red robes and a long white beard, and he says, everything is empty, everything is like a dream, you know.

And, you know, and then lots of Western people got confused, you know, am I supposed to sleep all day? Or, you know, what does it mean, everything is like a dream? What are they talking about?

Okay? And why is that helpful? How is this going to make me happy?

Right? This book is supposed to make you the happiest person in Galway. Okay?

This book is supposed to make you see angels. This book is supposed to make you get to heaven. It's supposed to explain what Jesus taught, really.

So how does that work? This is the most important thing to understand. This thing about a dream.

And I'm going to explain it like this. If somebody comes in this room, and stands up here for a few minutes, somebody you haven't met before, you begin to feel something about them. There are three possibilities.

Okay? One, you kind of like them. You know, you don't know this person yet, you don't know their name yet, they're standing up there, and you look at them, and just something about them you like it.

You know what I mean? When they first walked in, your mind was sort of in the middle. You didn't feel good or bad.

And then after a few minutes you say, I kind of like this person. Okay? Then the second possibility is that they came in and they started talking and something, and you say, actually I don't like him very much.

Something about the way he looks, or something when he talks, or... It just doesn't... It doesn't strike me well.

I don't like him very much. I think when it's time for scones, I'll just sneak out. You know, and...

Okay. And that's the second possibility. Third possibility is neutral.

Like you're sitting there, and you're looking, and it's like you're not too attracted, and you don't feel too bad either. It's just something neutral. Kind of interesting, kind of not too interesting, something in the middle.

Okay? These are three reactions you can have. And in fact you have them with every person you meet.

Every time you meet a new person, you have one of these reactions. Okay? So what does it mean to be in a dream?

Okay? And this is the most important thing to understand. Is that a quality of being likable or not?

You see what I mean? Is that quality of being an interesting person or a boring person, or a good person or a bad person, does that quality belong to them? Okay?

This is what we mean by a dream. Dream means, what does a dream mean? Dream means some guy is following you, and they've got a big gun, and it's dark, and you're running down the street, in your dream, right?

And he's got the gun, and he's pointing at you, and then suddenly, you know, you wake up. And then you think, oh, that was, it looked real, but it wasn't real. You can say dream, you can say a film, is the same thing, a play, a drama, anything where someone is pretending to, television show, you know, and if it's a good show, you're getting into it, right?

You're like, you're like, oh, oh, I hope he doesn't die, oh, jump, jump, you know, and then he jumps, you know, and you're like, ah, you know, and he doesn't get shot, and you feel happy, you know. Sometimes they show special shows in America that explain how they made the show. I don't like to watch them.

It ruins the magic, you know what I mean? I don't like to see that this guy is just a normal guy, and he didn't have to jump because the gun wasn't loaded anyway. You know, I don't like that part.

I like to have that illusion. You see, that's what we mean, dream, illusion, movie, TV show, acting, it's all the same. It means it looks real, but it's not, you see what I mean?

So, what is it about this guy? What does it have to do with this guy? What it means is this, and you have to remember that this is the key to happiness.

This is the key to everything. In Buddhism we call it emptiness, okay? Illusion.

What does it mean? It looks like that person is bad. It looks like that person is good.

Okay? It looks like that, but it's not true. Okay?

It's not true. It's just like a TV show. Same thing, exactly the same thing.

Why? That goodness, and that badness that you see, doesn't belong to that person. It looks like it's part of them.

Okay? It looks like, if you meet an angry person or something, if you meet a person you don't like, it looks like the badness is part of them. But that's an illusion.

Okay? Why? Same person, saying the same things, standing in the same room, in the same place, the person next to you might think they're wonderful.

Okay? So here we have people on the left think this guy is wonderful. People on the right think this guy is stupid.

Okay? So is the guy stupid or wonderful? You know?

It's your perception. Okay? It doesn't...

He's not stupid or wonderful. He's just neutral. Okay?

He's just what we call blank or empty or... He's like a blank piece of paper or something. Okay?

Is this... Is this square or round? Is the drawing on here square or round?

Okay. It depends. Okay?

It depends on what I write. You see what I mean? But if I write square...

Okay, it's a square, pretend, okay? If I write a square... It's not like the square was there at the beginning.

I put the square there. You see what I mean? And that's the same with other people.

You meet other people. You like them or you don't like them. And you feel very strongly that this person is a good person or this person is a bad person.

But you have to understand, if you hate this person and you can't imagine that they have a single good quality about them, there's always somebody who sees the opposite. Their wife, their child, somebody loves them. They think they're the most wonderful person.

Okay? It's depressing when you meet those other people. You know?

You say, Don't you hate this guy? And they say, Oh, I find him quite pleasant. You know?

And you're like, No, you don't understand. All right? But the point is this, and this is the key to happiness, it's not part of them.

Okay? If it was part of them, everyone would like them. If it was part of them, everyone would not like them.

You know? Is this black? It's black.

Okay? You have, I don't know, 50, 60, 70 people here. I hold this up, I say, Is this black?

Everybody says, Yes, it's black. Okay? But goodness and badness that you see in other people is not like that.

Okay? Maybe you can say black is part of the pen, and everyone sees it the same way. Maybe.

But what about the goodness in another person, or whether they're pleasant or not? I think you see this, an extreme example is music. Okay?

Like, you turn on the radio, and it's your favorite song. And you're sitting there, and you're like this, and then you hear this click. And you're like...

And the guy next to you is like, I knew this music was terrible, I knew it was bothering you, I could see you were going like that. You know? And...

And... I also felt the same way. And...

And then you feel a little bit upset. You know? Because usually you don't want to say anything, like, I really enjoy that music, you know?

But music is a very extreme example. You see? Your favorite song is almost never shared by other people.

Right? I mean, that's why there are 50 radio stations, because there's 50 different ideas about what's good music or bad music. So, I ask you a question.

Is the radio good or bad? You see what I mean? Is that song good or bad?

It doesn't depend. The song does not have a quality of being good or bad. Okay?

Get used to it. This is, we call emptiness in Buddhism. What's this got to do with your happiness?

Okay? By the way, it looks like to you, that this song is really good, and other people just don't understand it. You see what I mean?

It looks like to you, that this person is really good, but other people don't understand it. Or it looks like to you, that this person is very irritating. And then you see one of your friends having a good time with them, and you're like upset.

You know, I can't believe they enjoy this person. You know, I don't understand. They haven't seen their true nature.

You know what I mean? You're like that, you feel upset. The point is, there is no good or bad in other people inherently.

Okay? It's not coming from them. Where is it coming from?

If it's not coming from them, where is it coming from? You see what I mean? If seeing them as being beautiful, or seeing them as being terrible, is not coming from them, which it's not.

Prove it. Everybody doesn't see it that way. You know, is this black?

Yes. Is the black in the pen? Yes.

Okay? Is this person good or bad? I don't know.

It depends on who's there, who's looking at them. You see what I mean? It's not part of them.

It's not like the black in the pen. Okay? They don't have that quality.

You're giving them that quality. Okay, you got to get used to that. That's sort of upsetting, to think that all the irritating people you ever met, it's coming from you.

Alright? It's not coming from them. If it was like the blackness of this pen, everybody would see it that way.

But it's not like the blackness of the pen. No person that you ever met is nice, or not nice, from their own side. You're seeing them that way.

Okay? You're seeing them that way. So, so the next question should be...

[Speaker 2]
Is that a quality in you?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, the next question should be, Are you telling me that nobody has any quality at all, and then, if I'm in a good mood, they look nice, and if I'm in a bad mood, they look bad? Yeah, something like that. Okay?

Maybe, I mean, some guy blows up a plane over Lockheed Scotland, and, you know, and people say, he's a bad person. But there's people in Libya who say, Boy, that was wonderful. He's an act of God, you know.

This was a wonderful man. He had the courage to blow up this plane, and fight the Western devils. You see, I mean, there's always somebody, almost always, okay, who feels like this is a good thing.

You see, I mean, so what it means is, how you see this person isn't coming from them. Okay, this is the key to happiness. Okay?

The key to happiness. So, where is it coming from? I mean, there's not many choices, is there?

It's coming from you. Now, is this guy getting up there and saying, Just be happy. Just see everybody as a good person.

It doesn't work. All right? You can try.

You know, go out during the break and try to see everyone as happy. It doesn't work. I mean, some people really seem irritating.

And some people really seem wonderful. You can't deny it. I can't deny it.

Okay? It happens to me too. The point is this.

We say that there's a thing in your mind which is forcing you to see them that way. It's not a matter of choice. You can't say, I like this person who's yelling at me all the time.

They look nice to me. You know, you can't do that. It's not true.

It doesn't work. Go try it. Positive thinking.

You know, he punches you and you say, Oh, thank you. You know... It doesn't help.

It won't help. You are seeing them in a certain way. But it's not coming from them.

It's coming from you. Can you just choose to see them a different way? No.

Okay? Try it. It won't work.

Okay? The two most irritating people in your life. Go try to see them as beautiful tomorrow.

It doesn't work. Okay? It is coming from your mind.

But we say, you don't have control over it. Okay? You do not have control over it.

Something else is making you see them that way. Alright? Something is forcing you to see them that way.

We call this thing, like an imprint from your past. Okay? A mental imprint.

Every time you are nice to someone, every time you are kind to someone, every time you give something to someone, it puts a print in your mind, an imprint, like an invisible seed is placed in your mind. Later, that seed will make you see somebody as good, as nice. Okay?

And then if you are unkind to other people, you say bad things, you do bad things, then it puts a negative seed in your mind. A week later, you meet a new person, you don't like them. Okay?

That's not coming from them. That's coming from your own mind, a seed that you put in your mind. By the way, by that time it's too late to change it.

Okay? You can only control it at the point that the seed is planted. Once the seed is planted, you're going to have some kind of negative result.

That's what Jesus meant when Jesus said, you don't get grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles. It doesn't happen. If you put a negative seed in your mind by being unkind, or saying something unkind, or even thinking something unkind, you will see something negative in the future.

Okay? And other people won't see it that way. That's why people have different favorite music.

Okay? If you like a certain kind of music, it's because you spoke sweetly to someone in the past. And if you don't like that same kind of music, it's because you said something harsh to someone in the past.

Okay? We call that karma. You can call it imprint.

Okay? It's an imprint in your mind that puts an imprint in your mind. Every time you're good to someone, you're planting a seed to have a nice thing happen to yourself in a week, or a month, or longer.

Okay? Every time you say something bad to someone, negative to someone, you're planting a seed to see something very miserable in the future. Okay?

If what I said is true, if what I just said is true, what would happen if you were very, very good to other people all the time? What would happen? No, I mean, what would result later?

Everything you met, you would like. Every person you met would be beautiful. Every painting you saw would be great.

Every sky you looked at would be the kind you like. Every flower you looked at would be perfect. You see what I mean?

That's called Heaven. And you can do it. Okay?

That's the key. It's very interesting. You make it yourself.

Okay? You make it yourself. If you were only good to other people, you would only put good seeds in your mind.

Six months, one year, two years, everything you see would be beautiful. Okay? Is the beauty coming from that thing?

No, it's coming from you. It's neutral. Okay?

Which is why two people can be in the same room. One person is having a religious experience. The other person is bored to death.

Okay? No problem. We call that the emptiness of the room.

Okay? The room is neutral. The room is not a good room.

The room is not a negative room. Okay? It depends on your mind.

It depends on what you put there last week. Okay? It's very interesting.

Getting to Heaven is a lot like gardening. It takes a lot of patience. You have to sit there and plant all these things in the faith that it's going to grow next spring.

Okay? And it's exactly the same thing. Okay?

You can't force your way to Heaven. You can't buy your way to Heaven. You don't take an examination to get into Heaven.

Okay? You have to plant it now. And because things have what we call potential, because they are like a blank screen, because every person you ever met is just neutral, because they don't have goodness or badness in them, you have a chance to go to Heaven.

Okay? This is your... This potential in all people is your chance to go to Heaven.

All people are neutral. All places are neutral. All events are neutral.

All rooms, houses, sky, earth, world is neutral. Okay? It's not good or bad.

It's not beautiful or terrible. If you have good seeds in your mind, you will see it as good. If you have bad seeds in your mind, you'll see it as bad.

That's why Christianity and most other religions are trying to get people to do the good things. Okay? Because if you do, then you'll see things as beautiful.

Okay? Will the person next to you see the same thing? Depends.

You know, if they do good deeds, then they will also. If they don't, they won't. Okay?

It's possible for two people to sit in a room, one of them says, I just met Jesus, the other person says, I just met the most irritating person I can imagine. Okay? Who's right?

Get used to that. They're both right. Okay?

Both of them are seeing what their seeds are making them see. You see what I mean? There is no Jesus.

And there is no most irritating person in the world. If you have a pure mind, and if you've put good seeds there, you will see Jesus. You will meet the angels directly, face to face.

Okay? And if you're not careful to plant those seeds, if you just do what we do now, which is like random, half the time you're nice to people, half the time you're not. And then, so you get mixed results.

Okay? No, you're planting weeds and fruit. And you get weedy fruit.

And the science of happiness, the art of happiness, is to understand what I just said about this potential, that everything is neutral. Call it neutral, okay? If you understand this principle, then you have a chance to go to heaven.

Then you have a chance to meet the angels. Then you have a chance to have all these miracles happen to you. But you just have to...

It's gardening, you have to plant the right things. Okay, one question, then we'll take a break.

[Speaker 2]
If you hear and see a film about an atrocity, and everybody thinks that's a bad thing, how could you possibly think that's a good thing?

[Speaker 1]
She said, if you see a film about an atrocity, how could you possibly think it's a good thing? Believe me, the people who committed the atrocity thought it was wonderful. You see what I mean?

The people who killed those 50 people did so for a reason. They thought it was some... They thought it was some holy act, or a good...

All war is 50% of the people thinking it's atrocity, and 50% thinking it's justice. You see what I mean?

[Speaker 2]
But does it mean a good person, like thinking they were right to do it?

[Speaker 1]
Oh, I didn't say right. We distinguish between right and valid. This is a little bit difficult.

Okay. Did they have seeds in their mind to think this is a great thing? Yes.

Is it a good thing? No. Okay, see what I mean?

Is it? No. Did they have seeds to think that way?

Yes. Okay. So that's a very delicate thing.

That's a very delicate distinction. Is there a reason why they think it's good? Yes.

Is it a good thing? No. Okay.

Delicate distinction.

[Speaker 2]
Okay. I know you asked for one more question.

[Speaker 1]
It's okay. Yeah.

[Speaker 2]
You talked about atrocity that puts already an emotional spin on it. What did you talk about? The accident in Paddington where no one was getting, no one rooting for it.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, you mean the train accident? Yeah.

[Speaker 2]
Who is, what mind would see that as a good thing?

[Speaker 1]
Oh, maybe anyone in the world who doesn't like British people. You know what I mean? Like, somebody whose house in Kosovo was bombed by a NATO plane from Britain would say, Oh, God has punished the invaders.

You know? I mean, it's like, it doesn't have a self, it doesn't have a quality of its own of being negative. Okay?

It's a very difficult idea. Okay?

[Speaker 2]
Was it the calm of the people that were...

[Speaker 1]
Now, that's another question. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. By the way, if I said, if what I said is true, then nothing ever happens to you that's not caused by those same forces.

Okay? Then a car accident, cancer, a back pain, all of them are coming because you did something negative to someone in the past. We believe that there's not a single event inside you or outside of you that does not run by the same principles.

Nothing. Nothing comes by accident. There's no such thing.

Everything, everything you ever experience, from the slightest little... from the feel of your hair on here, you know what I mean? It comes from something you said or did to someone else.

Nothing is outside of these laws. Okay? Which means that nothing bad ever happens to you except that one person caused the problem.

Who was it? It was you. Okay?

That takes a little bit getting used to. All right. Take a break and come in about 10 minutes.

If you have a personal question or you want to talk about something, I'm here. And just burst in and talk, okay? Okay, we'll start.

Ready? That's good. We had to do a ceremony.

Every twice a month, all the monks get together and tell each other all the bad things they did for the last 15 days. So today is a new moon. Today is a no moon.

And so we had to do our ceremony during the break. And we did it really fast. Of course, we never have anything bad to say, so...

I wanted to go back to the second reading, which we didn't finish. We'll do it really fast. I don't know what page.

Page 6? It says, examine the nature of the mind. It should be in black print, maybe.

Is it page 6? Yeah. So we finished, all things are like a dream.

What's that mean? It doesn't mean things aren't real, you know? People say Buddhists believe everything is an illusion.

I say, go stand out in front of a car and let it hit you and tell me it's an illusion. You know what I mean? Write to me from the illusory hospital that it's just an illusion.

It doesn't mean that. Illusion means, it looks like the people you don't like are really unlikable. But you have to remember that that's not coming from them, it's coming from you.

Okay? Can you stop it? Not at the moment.

Because it's like a tree that already grew. That's like trying to pull a tree out of the ground. Okay?

You can't do that. You have to stop the seeds for next time. So you have to try to be kind to other people.

You can't stop the bad things that are happening to you right now because those seeds are already planted and it's too late. You see what I mean? You meet somebody bad right now, you can't close your eyes and say, I wish you were nice.

Okay? It doesn't work. The seed has already gone off in your mind.

All you can do is protect yourself in the future by putting the right seeds there now. Okay? So it's useful to see things as a dream.

And you have to meditate about that. Second line says, examine the nature of the mind unborn. This just means something very subtle.

Okay? If I tell you, if you meet a person that you don't like, the reason you don't like them is something coming from your mind. Okay?

You can handle that. That's okay. That's easy with an outside person.

Now what about with yourself? You see what I mean? If there's something about you that doesn't seem very nice to you.

You see what I mean? If you're having bad thoughts, if you're depressed, if you're unhappy, it's the same principle as meeting a bad person. Okay?

The principle is exactly the same. One is outside there, one is inside here. But the principle is the same.

Okay? What's the principle? If you had put better seeds in your mind, you would be hearing a nicer mind now.

Okay? Like, who is that mind? It's a little confusing.

You hear that guy talking in your mind. So it can't be you. Right?

You're listening. You can't be talking and listening at the same time. Right?

When you hear your thoughts, they're coming from somewhere. You see what I mean? And it's the same as a person walking in here and being a bad person.

You see? Your thoughts that you don't like, like when you're unhappy, or you're depressed, or you're sad, is the same thing as the person walking in the room. You are making them bad.

It's your own mind is making them bad. See what I mean? It's the same as the person who comes in here.

That's what that line means. Now you have to get used to that. What it means is, your own mind is like a blank paper.

And the reason you have to hear yourself being unhappy, the reason you hear yourself being depressed, the reason you hear yourself being angry, is that your mind is putting that on your mind. Your mind and the man who walked in here are the same. They're neutral.

Their nature is neutral. It says here unborn. It means neutral.

Unborn means neutral. A guy walks in here, what is he? He's just two legs, two arms, and a body.

You know, he's not good or bad. You make him good or bad. Okay?

You hear him as good, you hear him as bad, because of a seed in your mind. The same thing is true of your own thoughts. Your thoughts and that man are the same.

Okay? They're neutral. They're just sounds.

There's so many ka, a, u, m, g, j, z. It's letters and sounds. Really.

You know, it's just sounds. You're the one who makes them good or bad. You're the one who hears them as good or bad.

And that all depends on what you did to other people in the past. That's all. Okay?

The first line means the things around you are like a dream. The second line means your own mind is the same. If you have to sit there all day and listen to a complaining mind, you made it that way by doing negative things to other people in the past.

Okay? So you have to get used to that. Anytime you meet a bad person, it's coming from your mind.

Anytime you have a sad thought, or an unhappy thought, it's the same. You're making it. Okay?

It's very difficult to accept, and it's hard to live with the fact that you made all this mess.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
But it's true. In Buddhism we say you can't blame anybody else for your problems. The problems around you, the people you meet, the traffic jams you're in, the pollution, the noise, and even your own thoughts that you don't enjoy are all being created by your mind.

Okay? By things that you did in the past. Okay?

Did you have a question?

[Speaker 2]
Yes, you did. If I heard you correctly, you said that if we encounter someone who is difficult or hurt right now, it's too late for now, because it's...

[Speaker 1]
In this moment, it's too late. Yeah.

[Speaker 2]
Is it not possible, and I was thinking that too, about unpleasant thoughts, is it not possible as we can shift our perception of the person coming in the room to shift our perception of the thoughts?

[Speaker 1]
You see, let's say that a person comes in the room and you don't like them. And then you say, that's a bad deed, maybe I should try to like them. That's a good deed.

And you're planting a new good seed. And maybe in a week, maybe in a month, maybe in six months you'll see things differently. But the experience of them as bad is a result of something you did before.

There's always a time gap between planting a new seed and getting a new result. That's why you can't be happy tomorrow. This is not going to work in one day.

Okay? You have to plant new seeds now and wait. You see what I mean?

Is it... So let's say someone comes in here who's angry, and I see them as bad. Now, I have a choice.

I can either be angry back at them, or I can try to be patient with them. Which one should I do? Be patient.

Why? Because if you'll be angry, you're going to clear another one. Yeah, exactly.

If I'm angry, I'm going to have to meet him again in six months. I don't want to. Okay?

By the way, so it's a very interesting morality. You see, it's a very interesting idea of morality. You're not moral because it's going to help you in the moment.

It doesn't. Okay, be patient with him. You think he's going to stop?

Sometimes he does, and sometimes he doesn't. But it doesn't have anything to do with whether you're patient or not. You see what I mean?

But if you shut up, and be patient, and be happy, in six months you won't have to see him anymore. You see? Because he's created by your own seeds, in your own mind.

It's very interesting. So mostly you're gardening for the future. If it worked in the present moment, it would be a lot easier to do.

You see what I mean? If every time you stole something from somebody, if every time you stole a pen from this room, your bank account dropped by 500 pounds, you would stop. If every time you stepped on an animal, or hurt an animal, your own rib broke, immediately, you would stop.

And the whole world would be perfectly moral in five minutes. You know what I mean? Unfortunately, there's this time.

It's a timeline.

[Speaker 2]
Can you not think of the kindness that might not be obvious to the person that you...

[Speaker 1]
And we're going to get to that. That's lojong. Lojong is like, how do I be patient with this person?

Well, don't forget this morning you prayed to someone who would teach you. And he's teaching you. So, be happy.

You know, something like that. But eventually... There's a big distinction.

You see, Buddhism is not the art of learning to put up with suffering. It's the art of stopping it altogether. And there's a big difference.

You see? We're not saying, be calm while you get old and die. You see what I mean?

We're saying, stop it. Stop even the process of aging. You see, because even the wrinkles on your hands and the gray hairs you have, these are all caused by the same thing that caused the man and the same thing that caused the thoughts.

They are a result of the harms you've done to other people. And if you stopped it, you wouldn't have to get old. Okay?

You would become an angel. It's very interesting. The process of aging itself is created by the little bad thoughts you have all day long.

Okay? It's very, very profound. You know?

You could actually stop it. Somebody asked me, am I going to teach about chakras and kundalini and inner winds and things like that. That is the secret teaching about that, is that all of those things which control the aging of your body are linked to your own bad thoughts.

If you had only good thoughts, you wouldn't get old. You see what I mean? You could actually stop the aging process.

And that would be profound. You would become an angel. That's how you reach heaven.

So somebody asked me, well, how come we don't see lots of Tibetan monks who reach heaven, you know? Think about it. Why don't you see it?

You haven't done the imprints to make you see it. That's like asking me, how come I have to see the man is angry and his wife sees him as a nice person? You see what I mean?

She sees him as a nice person doesn't mean I can see him as a nice person. That's a very profound thing. You have to think.

We'll talk more about it.

[Speaker 2]
Can I just ask you about the concept of what you give out, you give back? Just say somebody comes in and they're very, very angry and I don't react in an angry way. It changes their perception.

They tend to change at that particular time. It's not something that's in the future.

[Speaker 1]
Angela says it seems like there's an immediate cause and effect, you know? If you're a patient with someone, it seems like oftentimes they change on the spot. That's a result of some patients you did before.

Okay? Seriously. What's the proof of that?

There's a proof of that. The proof is that it doesn't always work. So it's not a cause.

If something doesn't always work, it's not a cause.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah. Like if you got into an airplane and they said, Mr. Roach, you're flying to New York. Please sign this paper.

And I say, why? And they say, this is an insurance release because sometimes the plane falls down. Because sometimes we don't know why it flies.

You say, I mean, you wouldn't sign it. You'd get off. You say, I mean, cause and result means the cause always produces the result.

So it's a little bit difficult. Yeah. Does it mean you should just sit there and let people do violence to you?

Not at all. Okay? That's not a virtue.

Okay? If you see someone hurting someone else, you have to try to stop them. Okay?

Peacefully. Okay? Or restrain them, if you can.

Okay? It doesn't mean you sit there and watch violence happen. It means happily you stop the violence.

Okay? Without anger. It's the anger that creates the sin.

It's not the... Protecting other people is a good deed. The third line is even more confusing than the first two.

It says, the antidote itself is gone to is. Okay? The antidote itself is gone to is.

Now what the heck does that mean? You're having a glimmer of some kind of idea. Now you may accept it 100%.

You may halfway accept it. You may just be considering it. But I'm proposing that every negative thing that ever happens to you, and now we can say inside and outside, every sadness you ever have in your mind, every bad person you ever meet, everything in your life that doesn't ever work out is only caused by one person.

And that's you. Okay? Now you understand that.

Okay? What about that understanding itself? Something good or bad?

It's very interesting. This understanding itself is the same as the guy and the sad thought. You're making it.

Got it? A guy comes in here, whether you like him or not, only depends on how good you've been to other people. Okay?

If you're good to everyone, you'll only meet good people. And the longer you practice this stuff, you'll start meeting better and better people. Like, I was just a normal person 20 years ago, I meet some bad people, I meet some good people.

To tell you the truth, my life now is that just about 24 hours a day, I'm surrounded by really special people. You know what I mean? Because I've tried to be good.

You see what I mean? Now, same with my thoughts. Okay?

Out of 100 thoughts, 95 are nice. Why? Because I've tried to be good to other people.

Now, the best kind of thought is what? To understand all these things. Even that is something that comes from how good you've been to other people.

That's what the third line means. The antidote is this idea that I'm talking about. It also is neutral.

Whether or not you get it, whether or not you like it, whether or not you follow it, is only due to you, whether you've been good to people in the past or not. Okay? It's hard.

Don't worry, we're going to get easier now. So, first line, as a dream means, the things around you that happened to you are happening to you because of what you did to other people in the past. Line two means, the things that are happening in your own mind are coming to you from what you did in the past to others.

Number three means, and if you get it or you don't get it, also came from what you did in the past. Okay? He's getting very beautiful here.

You see? First he dealt with all the outside things. Then he dealt with all your own thoughts.

And then he dealt with, are you getting this or not? Because if you do, it's because you've been good to other people. If you don't, it's because you haven't been good to other people.

That's what line three means. Antidote means this idea. Did you have a question?

[Speaker 2]
Yeah, I was just wondering if you could go over line three again.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah. The first line, it says, see all things as a dream. Means that, realize that when you meet a good person, he's only good because your mind is clean.

And you put good seeds in it in the past by being good to other people. And if you meet a bad person, you have one person to blame. Who's that?

You. If you don't like them, then be a better person. And in six months, they'll either move or they'll change.

Okay? I'm not kidding. You can clean up your whole world this way.

I worked in a company with 1,000 people. And towards the end, after doing this a lot, everybody was amazing. Every person was beautiful.

I died to go to work every morning. And the place was like paradise. Everyone's happy, friendly, working hard.

We made millions of dollars. It comes from being good to other people. Second line means, your mind is the same.

You see, if you have a thought and it strikes you as beautiful, it's because you've been good to other people. If you have a thought and it strikes you as terrible, or sad, or depressed, it's because you've been bad to other people. People that you meet are good or bad because of what you did to people in the past.

The thoughts that you have are good or bad because of what you did to people in the past. Okay? Line three.

And whether you get this or not, depends on whether you've been good to people in the past. Okay? Very interesting.

Wisdom itself, knowledge itself, the understanding of what I'm saying, if you understand it, you've been good to people in the past. If you don't, it's because you haven't. The antidote itself, this kind of beautiful thinking, understanding where the bad things come from, understanding where the good things come from, even that is good or bad depending on whether you've been good to people in the past, for you.

Okay? It's very interesting. Got it?

Okay? I'll say it one more time. If you meet people and they strike you as bad or good, that's only because you've been good or bad to people in the past.

If you had been good to everyone you ever met, you would only meet nice people, and that would be heaven. You have so many thoughts during the day. Some of them are happy, some of them are unhappy.

That's only because you've been good and bad to other people. If you have only been good to other people, you can only have happy thoughts.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
Meeting people, and some of them being good and some of them being bad, comes because of what you did to others in the past. Your thoughts are the same. Thoughts walk in the door of your mind, and they feel good or they feel bad.

It's only because you've been good or bad to other people in the past. Okay? If you wanted to have totally happy thoughts all day long, there's a very simple way.

Just be good to other people all day long. Now, does it work the same day? No.

It's like gardening. Plant a few good thoughts today. In three weeks, six weeks, you'll be happier.

Keep that up. In a year or two, you'll be totally happy all the time, and wealthy. Somebody said to me, I don't quite...

It feels a little crass to say you should be religious to get rich. Sorry, you get it. Okay?

Everything goes well. Everything goes well. I'm not just saying happiness.

I'm saying prosperity, relationships, everything, your work, everything. Amazing. Totally amazing.

Why shouldn't it? You see? What's wrong with that?

Whatever cleans up your mind in the ultimate way also makes you very financially comfortable. Sorry. Okay?

It does. All right? And it works.

Okay? There's no problem with that. You don't have to be guilty about that.

Okay? There's this guilt thing that they taught us in our churches. You know?

Like, you know, you have to suffer to make other people happy. It's not like that. You have to be happy to make other people happy.

Okay? Yeah. Sorry.

[Speaker 2]
No, just getting back to, you know, this guy who walks in the room.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah.

[Speaker 2]
You don't like him because he did something.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah. He strikes you as bad.

[Speaker 2]
I'll tell you, you know the guys who went into the school in Colorado with guns and shot?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah.

[Speaker 2]
Is that because they did something terrible in class and they should like these guys who shot the students?

[Speaker 1]
A couple things. Suppose we see some guy come into a school and shoot somebody. All right?

Now, is there anybody in the world who thinks that's a great thing? I mean, you'd have to be almost crazy, but there probably are a few crazy people who think that's good.

[Speaker 2]
the bank teller guy comes in with a gun.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah. Is it because the bank teller has bad thoughts or he should like him?

[Speaker 1]
We'll talk about it. Okay? Let's say someone comes up to you and points a gun at you.

Okay? What are you supposed to do? If you're going to follow this, what should you do?

First thing, understand that this person is coming from you. Okay? The reason that this person is coming at you with a gun is because of something you did to somebody else in the past.

That's okay. Now, what am I supposed to do about this gun? Stop him.

You have to stop him. Why? He's about to do a very bad thing.

No, not so much me. You see? If you're a really spiritual person, you want to stop him because he's about to do something which will hurt him for many years.

You see what I mean? You stop him because you love him. You see what I mean?

No, because you care for him. He's about to do something which will cause him pain for a long, long time. And we're allowed in Buddhism to use force to stop a person.

You do whatever necessary to stop him. Short of hurting him, killing him. What should you do to stop him?

They say in the scriptures, to decide what is an appropriate amount of force, first rule is to think that this person is your mother. So you come home one night, your mother went crazy, she picks up a butcher knife, and she's coming at you. Now, what would you do?

Would you kill her? Or would you try to push the knife out of the way? Or would you try to knock her down or something?

You see what I mean? They say the rule in this philosophy of how to respond with force is the first rule, is to pretend that this mother, this person is your own mother, she's gone temporarily crazy. Now, are you just going to stab her?

Or are you going to try to take the knife away? You see what I mean? You try to do something...

[Speaker 2]
You wouldn't have much chance if she had the knife and you'd know her. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Speaker 1]
I'm sorry. No, I mean if it was your own mother, what would you do?

[Speaker 2]
You'd stop her and kill her. Yeah. Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
And the Buddha himself in a former life killed someone under those circumstances. But it's a touchy subject. Okay.

Number four. Let it go in the essence, source of all things. This is referring to meditation.

Let it go means stay in meditation, try not to think of things as coming from their own side, try to understand during meditation that these things are good or these things are bad because of something in your own mind. Okay. Things are good or things are bad because of something in your own mind.

Let it go in the essence, source of all things means you have to understand this is what we call ultimate truth. This is what we call ultimate reality. This is the highest truth.

What? Nothing around you is good or bad from its own side. Nothing around you hurts you Nothing around you causes you a problem unless you've hurt somebody in the past.

I think Christianity, you know, obviously there's the Ten Commandments. They're absolutely the same in Buddhism. It's very interesting.

But I like the explanation of why I should not harm other people. The explanation of why I should not steal. What's the best way to be poor?

Steal. Okay. Why?

According to this idea, when you take something from somebody else, you put an imprint or a seed in your mind that you yourself won't have money in the future. It's very interesting. When you hurt someone else, you're putting a seed in your mind to be hurt in the future.

When you lie to someone else, you're putting a seed in your mind to be lied to all the time in the future. You see what I mean? So nobody would want to do that.

I think the rules are the same, but it's a nice explanation. The explanation is nice. Now, line number five.

Six. It says, Giving and taking ultimately let the two ride on the wind. Okay?

Are we okay? Sorry? What's it say?

[Speaker 2]
Oh, sorry.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, we missed that one. Sorry. Now, in-between sessions means in-between meditation sessions.

So, you can sit there on your chair in the morning and you can think about a person like the best person to choose is someone you don't like. And you close your eyes and you think about them. You say, this afternoon, when I go to work, I'm going to meet this person.

I know it. Unfortunately, they work next to me. Okay?

And I'm talking from experience. I worked in a big, big company. We had a nine-story building in Manhattan.

A thousand workers. There's always somebody you don't like. Okay?

Sitting next to you. And so, in the morning, when you meditate, you think about this person. You close your eyes and you say, I'm going to meet...

Her name was... Let's call her A.A. Okay? I won't give you her real name.

And you're thinking, I have to meet this person this afternoon. I didn't do the work they gave me yesterday. I know she's going to yell at me.

And I just want to remember that the reason I'm going to see her as an unpleasant person is because I was unpleasant to someone in the past. And the reason I'm going to see her yelling at me is that I yelled at somebody in the past. So, it's like preparation for the day.

So, what's the last thing I want to do to her? I don't want to yell at her. I don't...

Do anything. Drop your coffee. Go to the bathroom.

Giggle. Anything. But do not yell back at her.

Why? Because I don't like her. Okay?

And I don't want to see her again like that. I have to see her that way because I did something to someone in the past. By the way, it's always similar.

Always. If someone's... If you have a problem that someone's yelling at you at home, it's always because you yelled at somebody in the past.

Now, what's the normal human reaction? Yell back. What's the only way to get them to yell at you again?

Yell back. The natural reaction is the crazy reaction. Okay?

The thing that people usually do is the most wrong thing you can do. Okay? If you want this person to yell at you again, yell back at them.

If you don't like it, then stop. Okay? Alright?

And slowly they will stop. Will they stop today? No, it doesn't work that way.

Okay? This process of the seed in your mind is a lot like a flower seed. It takes about a similar amount of time.

Four weeks, five weeks, six weeks, maybe till the spring. Okay? I'm not kidding.

It takes like that. And you have to be patient. It's gardening.

Okay? You're doing gardening. Okay.

Be a figment of the imagination. Now, when you meet her, between sessions, in real life, you prepared in the morning. Right?

By the way, this is what meditation is about. It's not closing your eyes and imagining a black hole. It's not watching yourself breathe.

Okay? It's preparing for the day. I'm going to meet this person.

They're going to do something to me. Now, what am I going to do? Let's prepare.

Okay? And then you get into real life. You get to the office.

She comes into your room. She says, did you finish your work? You say, no.

And she starts yelling. Then you use all your preparation. Say, aha!

It happened just like I thought. Now, I refuse to yell back because I don't want to see her like this. Okay?

I refuse. Okay? And you just smile and you say, let's cooperate.

Let's figure out how I can finish my work. Don't get mad. Let's figure out some way to fix this.

You just be positive. Be happy. Will she stop?

Maybe yes, maybe no. That depends on what you did a long time ago. Seriously.

Don't expect that. It doesn't happen and you know it won't happen. But don't plant a new seed to see her like that again.

You see what I mean? This is the process of stopping suffering and this is how you get to heaven. Okay?

It works. Okay? Step by step.

Okay? So, figment of the imagination means when you actually meet this lady, be ready. Okay?

And think, aha! Here comes my dream. Girl.

Here comes my movie. Here comes my film. She looks like she's bad from her own side but I understand now she's coming from me.

So I refuse to do violence back to her because I know that she'll come back again. By the way, the first few weeks that you try this, you will remember to think about this about 24 hours later after you yelled at her. Okay?

It's not easy. It sounds great in a class on a nice Saturday afternoon but when she's actually yelling at you it's very hard to do it. You won't remember right away.

So you have to try. We call the reaction time will get shorter and shorter. The first few days you'll yell back anyway.

Maybe you'll hesitate for one minute and then you'll lose it. You know what I mean? But if you practice, you'll get good at it.

[Speaker 2]
It's easy to do your work in the first place.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah. It doesn't... It's not easy.

I'm warning you. You will remember one day after you yell. Okay?

It's not easy. We've been yelling so long, it's hard to stop. That first five lines in the English describes what we call wisdom love.

Wisdom love. For those of you who know Tibetan, it's dundam sem kye, ultimate bodhicitta. Okay?

This is called wisdom love. It means, this is the foundation for learning to love other people. Really.

Okay? And we say, you cannot really love another person until you learn this thing that I talked about today. Okay?

You never heard anything like this. I don't think so. Except for the last time I was here.

Okay? I mean, you don't get people coming around to you saying, listen, everything is neutral. People are just neutral.

If you see them good or bad, it's because of what you did to other people in the past. Okay? You don't hear that very often.

This is the foundation for all of these seven steps. If you understand what I just said, it will work. If you don't understand it, you won't be able to do it.

And I repeat, anything that ever happens bad to you happens because of some seed you put in your mind in the past when you were bad to another person. That's why every religion and every great religious teacher has said, be good. Okay?

It doesn't just make things work better in the present time. It actually gets you to heaven. If you were only kind to other people, if you only said nice things to other people, if you only thought good thoughts, you would only have seeds in your mind to see every single person as beautiful, as perfect.

That's heaven. That's how you get to heaven. Okay?

I think Christianity, Jesus taught all these things, but there's some kind of gap between the explanation. They say, be good, and you'll get to heaven. You see what I mean?

Keep these Ten Commandments, and you'll get to heaven. And then I think you see very few people actually getting to heaven. You see what I mean?

Because you don't explain the process. I think there's just a gap between the Ten Commandments and heaven. You just need...

It's true. Everything Jesus said is absolutely true. But there's this little gap of understanding these principles of why it works.

You see what I mean? It works because if you only put good seeds in your mind by being good to other people, you'll be forced to see good people. You see what I mean?

And ultimately that becomes heaven. So, we'll talk about that again. That's why that was the very first thing he wants you to meditate about.

How are you going to do this meditation? In the morning, close your eyes, do those six steps, right? One comes after.

Think about the person you don't like who you're going to meet today, and decide you're going to be good to them. Why? Because you want them to change.

You see? So, how do you change bad people into good people? You change.

Okay? It's revolutionary. Don't go to them and tell them how bad they are.

Okay? You change. And they will change.

You see what I mean? The other approach doesn't work and you know it. It's the source of all wars and battles and conflicts and fights and religious problems.

It doesn't work. This principle is saying if you change yourself and be kind to them, eventually they will change.

[Speaker 2]
Supposing in one situation, one person has a drawback from another person for years. One person bullies them and the other person is just being nice all the time. Then one day they just express how they really feel.

Would that be...

[Speaker 1]
It depends on your motivation. You see, 90% of how the seed is planted in your mind depends on your motivation. You see, 90% depends on your motivation.

If you honestly, truly, sincerely want to help this other person by informing them how much trouble they are for everybody, it's a good deed. You have a very sweet seed is planted in your mind. And if you stay quiet and you are bitter and resentful and hateful, it's a bad deed.

You plant a bad seed. You see, it's not so much what you do, it's how you are thinking. You see what I mean?

Motivation is 90%. Intention is 90%. Okay?

By the way, according to all this theory, if you go up to this guy and explain to him in a very honest, heartfelt, sincere way how much he is hurting the other people around him, will it work? Maybe yes, maybe no, but not right away. Okay?

And don't get upset if he yells at you. Okay? Because we didn't say that.

In a certain amount of time, he will change. He will have a heart attack, he will be moved to another country, or he'll change. But he'll be out of your life.

It's very interesting. It's very interesting. I mean, I don't mean that you are cursing him or something.

I just mean, if you are continually kind to other people, they will either change or they will move somewhere else. You see what I mean? They'll just be out of your life.

[Speaker 2]
Is it not so that people come to you and hurt something, say if they want to keep Annabelle and find her with you, that they are trying to survive something that you will give them?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, most people are motivated by something they are going to get. Yeah. Even religious people.

Okay? That's a fact of how we are. Okay.

Now the last five are talking about how do you say it? Exchange love. There are two kinds of love.

Wisdom love means you understand that this person is just neutral and you are being good because you want to change them. Exchange love is this thing where you try to put your mind in somebody else's body. And I'm going to read the verses here.

It says, Practice giving and taking alternately. This is very sweet practice. You can do it in meditation or you can do it walking around Galway.

But you do it with your breath, as you breathe. And that's what makes it powerful. As you breathe, you are watching somebody and you are breathing and you imagine that...

Let's say a person comes in the room who is angry. You imagine that all their anger is coming in on your breath. Okay?

Like you are just watching them and you are going... And you try to take all their anger into you. Okay?

When it comes into you, you imagine it is like a black thing and then you think like white light goes off inside your heart and all their anger is gone. Okay? It's just pure white light inside of you.

Okay? And this is a secret practice. Nobody knows you are doing it.

You know? They came in the room, they came in the kitchen, they are all angry. And you are like...

And then you just imagine that all their anger came into you like a black... like some bad black thing and you just think of this white light in your heart and just... Boom!

Like a flashlight, like a... What do you call it? Camera flash bulb?

And it just... Boom! All is gone.

Okay? Is it going to stop them from being angry? No.

Okay? It doesn't stop them. They might keep being angry.

And then you go... Again. But it's just a very, very deep meditation.

It's a secret meditation. It's a secret practice. And you are just sincerely trying to take their anger away from them.

And you just breathe it. Or you meet someone who has cancer, you go to the hospital, you sit next to the bed, and you just... And every time you breathe in, you think, I'm trying to take your cancer away from you.

Okay? And it's very, very pure because nobody knows you are doing it. Okay?

You are just doing it. Every time you meet someone, someone has a problem, someone is sad, someone is sick, someone is angry, someone is upset, and you are just watching them, and maybe you are not saying much, and you are just... And you are thinking, all your problems are coming into me, and I accept them.

And I... I destroy them. Okay?

They say it's very important to destroy it. They say, don't sit there with all this black anger inside of you. Okay?

Like, some people teach it the wrong way. This is called tong len. Some people teach it the wrong way.

They say, oh, take all that black inside of you and keep it there. That's a bad... That's bad.

Okay? You take it in, and then you think of this white light coming out of your heart, and it's just gone. Okay?

And then you keep doing it. And you can do this walking around Galway. Okay?

You are just walking down the street, and you see a dog, it's a sick dog, and you just go... I think there is a lot of people practicing here and they are going... They probably think you are all taking drugs.

[Speaker 2]
Can I just ask, you bring the light inside you from outside or do you find it inside?

[Speaker 1]
Inside. Yeah, the white light comes from your heart. But the blackness you take, you imagine this black smoke coming into your body.

And then, boom. Before you finish the breath. Boom, gone.

Okay? And you keep doing this. This is called taking, in line six.

I don't know what page it's on.

[Speaker 2]
Page six.

[Speaker 1]
Page six, yeah. And then giving, when you breathe out. Okay?

You go like this. Okay? You don't have to be so obvious.

And you imagine that you are giving them peace, or you are giving them good health, or you are giving them whatever they wish for. Okay? And you can do this, if you are near a child, you are just like...

I take away from you all your childish foolishness. Not that all children are foolish. Most adults are foolish.

And then you breathe out and imagine you are giving them a toy, or a puppy, or whatever they like. It can be anything. Okay?

Anything. Just, but... This is kind of a fantasy that you do all day long.

You walk around, you can do it at work, and think how sweet it is to think like this all day. You know? You go next to your boss.

You know? More money. You know?

And then you... You know, I take away from you all your nervousness, all your stress, the fact that you don't see your children. You see what I mean?

And you just stand next to them and you don't have to say anything. This is a very beautiful practice. And you just breathe out, give them whatever they want, breathe in, you know, take away their problems.

And this is called... Alternately means... It's a little bit difficult to do it so fast.

You see? You can't like... Problem.

Happy.

[Speaker 2]
Problem. You know?

[Speaker 1]
You work on the taking for a while. Maybe half a day. You see what I mean?

You know, for one hour. For one hour, you go around your office and say, Oh, she has a cold. Okay?

And then maybe after lunch you do the giving. You see? You say, Oh, here.

You can run a five-minute mile. You know? I mean, you give them the opposite.

You see what I mean? Did you have a question?

[Speaker 2]
Yeah. I have a question about that practice.

[Speaker 1]
Right. It's a good question. She said, in some cases, a problem helps another person.

You see what I mean? Like, I'm a teacher. I have many students.

Sometimes, the best way to teach them is to give them some hard time. You know? Like, to give them a problem.

Like, if a person is very possessive, then maybe to not allow them to have something that they want. You see what I mean? Because it will help them.

Do you want to take this kind of suffering away from people? No. Okay?

Actually, you're breathing it out to them. You know? Sometimes, like with children, the parents have to be hard on them, or they have to deny them something to help them.

And you can do that on the out-breath. So that's okay. That's fine.

But if you're talking cancer or something, you know, I understand that it's possible you can learn something from being fatally ill, but you die before you learn it. You see what I mean? And we don't believe that that's necessary.

You know? A smaller problem would have been enough. You see what I mean?

Something like that.

[Speaker 2]
Don't they get small problems in the beginning?

[Speaker 1]
They do. Yeah, they do.

[Speaker 2]
And maybe, it could be in the final stages, like, after the learning will come.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, it could be. It could be.

[Speaker 2]
But if that's the way it's going to be, it's going to be that way anyway.

[Speaker 1]
That's a little delicate. When you go to paradise, when you reach heaven, are there other people there? Do you think there will be other people there?

Yeah. And we say that they will be the very people that you're around now. You see, if I make my heart pure today, and six months from now, I may see you as an angel.

You see what I mean? And get this. If I've been pure, maybe I'll see you as an angel.

But maybe if you haven't been pure, what will you see? You may see yourself as a normal person. Which one's right?

They're both right. Okay? It's the same as the man who came in who was neutral.

You see what I mean? And some people liked him and some people didn't like him. It's very interesting.

There's no contradiction, according to this idea, that I will see you as an archangel, and you will see yourself as a normal person. Because we say there is no normal thing. There is no guy who's good or bad from his own side.

You're only what I see, and what you see. And they may not be the same thing at all. You see what I mean?

I could be right now having an experience of heaven, and you could be having an experience of a normal room. And there's no contradiction there. If I've been good, I'll have that experience.

If you've been bad, or mixed, you know, 50-50, you will have that experience. It's a very beautiful idea. We don't believe...

I mean, very honestly, the day you go to heaven, you don't have to leave Galway. Okay? There is no...

You know, the American rocket ships didn't hit anything. You know? Really.

It's not there. It's not in the sky. There's no reason why it should be in the sky.

It's cold up there. Okay? It will be in your own place, and you will see the people around you in a totally different way.

Right. You can do that. But something very important.

You don't have to die to go to heaven. Okay? I mean, there's no reason why something should happen five minutes after you die that can't happen five minutes before you die.

You see what I mean? We say you can go there whenever your mind is clean. You see what I mean?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Will other people see you do it?

Not necessarily. Get that, okay? Get that.

This is an individual thing. If you are completely good to other people, you will experience things that they cannot. They might even think you're funny.

They probably will, actually. You know what I mean? They might think you're acting a little strangely.

But for you, it's already beautiful. You're already seeing things unbelievable. And this happens.

It really does happen. Did you have a question?

[Speaker 2]
Just going back to the last time you were here, and some of the readings you gave us, I don't think you got as far as the question. There was an explanation where you were in the garden, and you met the Buddha, and he brought you the rose and asked you what it was. Isn't that the same?

What he could see and what you could see.

[Speaker 1]
Partly. Partly. That chapter mostly, though, is about the guy who walks in who's neutral.

And some people see him one way, and some people see him another way. What happened in that scene with the rose is that the young man understood that everything is neutral. Now, if you go deeper, whether you see a man or not is also up to your mind.

But I don't want to go that far. We'll talk about that later. All right.

The next line says, Let the two ride on the wind. We have about... I'm not going to take a break before...

Well, maybe I'll take a short break, but let's finish this one. Let the two ride on the wind means the wind here refers to your own breath. And let it ride on the breath.

This is... So, what do you need to do this practice? What do you need to have with you in order to do this practice?

[Speaker 2]
Your breath.

[Speaker 1]
This is cheap.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
This is easy. Anybody who's breathing can do this practice. Okay?

All day long. Walk around, walk up to... Somebody's really upset.

Oftentimes you see in the street or in New York, forget it. And you just walk up to them and... You might want to blow your nose before.

[Speaker 2]
But you just...

[Speaker 1]
You just walk around like that. And it has very profound effects on your own mind. See what I mean?

And you don't need money to do this. You don't need to pay anybody to do this. You just have to breathe.

So, let it ride on the wind means breath. Now, there's something special about your breath. You've heard about chakras.

You've heard about inner winds. You've heard about kundalini, chi, prana, whatever you want to call it. It doesn't matter.

Inside your physical body are some very subtle energies called inner wind. And if those are flowing well, you feel great. Your body is healthy and your mind is healthy.

If those subtle energies are running very nicely through your body, you feel great. Every time you get angry, every time you have a negative thought, every time you say something unkind to another person, every time you do something negative, those get choked. Very subtly.

Very, very subtle. And actually chakras are these nasty little choke points. They're not these beautiful, wonderful flowers or anything like that.

They are created by these energy tubes being twisted and tied up like a shoelace. And where they're tight is choking you. So, this is interesting.

Every time you get angry, every time you get upset, every time you get jealous, you choke this inner wind slightly. And that makes you get old. Every wrinkle, every gray hair or no hair has been created by your own negative thoughts.

You see what I mean? Every time you have an unhappy thought, a very slight choke on that energy. So, there's something nice about this practice.

When the inner winds are moving nice, your breath is moving nice. The breath and the inner winds are not the same thing. But they share a relationship.

I don't know if you've seen some musical instruments like sitar in India. There's about 15 strings underneath, and there's really only two playing strings above. And if it's tuned properly, when you hit the C on this string, the C string goes off down below.

That's why you hear this... It's called sympathetic. When you hit a D on this, the D string goes off.

Two of them. And like that. The same thing happens with your inner winds and your breath.

When your breath is smooth, your inner winds are calmed down and they're running nice. When your breath is short, it interrupts your inner winds. That's why...

And they react to each other. When you get angry, what happens to your breath? It starts to shake.

When you get frightened... These are all caused by the inner wind is getting choked, and so the breath is getting bad. In the highest, highest, highest practices, you work with that fact.

You try to get the breath to change so that the inner winds change and things like that. I can't teach you. That's tantra secret.

You have to finish all this stuff first. But the point is, if you practice this one practice with your breathing, it prepares you for that higher teaching. It already starts the inner winds going nice.

And it's very powerful. We're not just foolishly sidling up to somebody and... It's not the point.

There's a very, very profound effect on your body. If you keep this up, you'll be healthy. Pains that you have will go away.

People ask me, are you for real? I have students who are... I have one who had gout.

There were days when he couldn't walk. He's now dancing. He's now like a semi-professional dancer.

You know what I mean? And like that, it happens. People with cancer.

I have students with cancer, breast cancer. They're fine. It's amazing.

Friend Diane? Amazing. She just went on a round-the-world tour with us.

She's fine. And like that. Try it.

I have many, many students like that. Disease and aging is caused by interruption of those inner winds. If you go around all day taking deep breaths and trying to take other people's problems away, the combination of your love and the breathing makes your inner winds go like fantastic.

And then you're healthy all the time. Rarely get sick. Don't get cold.

It gives you this inner heat also. You feel great all the time. You don't have to go to the gym and all that.

It's cheap. It's easy. And it really works.

It's amazing. You're tired of getting old or you're starting to feel a little creaky. Try it.

It's amazing. Try this practice. It's cheap.

No one has to know you're doing it. You don't have to tell anybody. Just walk around.

[Speaker 2]
You don't have to have the feeling. It's the intention. Is that so?

You say you're giving out love, but if you don't feel it, the intention is right.

[Speaker 1]
She asked, do you have to have the feeling of love or just the intention of love? We say that love is not very natural for many of us. You see what I mean?

I don't feel like Mother Teresa. I'm thinking about pizza right now. I'm not so compassionate.

I'm not thinking all the time about I can help you or I won't help you. I'm mostly just thinking I'd like to have a good dinner. You know what I mean?

But we say that every human mind can become a Mother Teresa mind because you can practice. So practice makes perfect. Start something small.

Start with just breathing on people. Brush your teeth before. And you just do that.

And slowly your mind starts to change. You can become as compassionate as Christ or as Mother Teresa or Christina Noble. We met her in Mongolia.

It was amazing. And you can... It takes practice.

Nobody was born that way. It takes practice. And you can develop it with the breathing.

Okay, I think we take a short break.