Серия ежедневной практики, курс 04 — Семичастная практика развития доброго сердца (1999, Голуэй), занятие 9

[Speaker 1]
Okay, we're going to do the third verse, the third step. I don't know what page it's on. It starts out with the world and those in it.

Say gen ngen, lam kye, gen ngen, lam kye, good. Gen ngen means something bad happens to you. And lam kye means learn to use it as an opportunity, okay?

And I thought it was like the best thing we could do at the end. It is very famous from this teaching. And in Tibet for a thousand years, they've been using this particular lines.

It's something like eight lines. And it describes a special practical instruction, okay? And I'm going to go through it line by line.

It says, when the world and those in it are full of bad deeds. Lam kye means to use it as an opportunity, okay? Literally, it means turn it into a path, okay?

And the first line says, when the world and those in it are full of bad deeds. What it means is when you meet something bad. And something bad can be a person, or something bad can be an event, like traffic, or the weather, or cancer, or another person who bothers you.

But that's what gen ngen. Full of bad deeds means... nothing bad ever happens but that you did something like that to someone else, okay?

And it's not just if you meet another person and they're bad. It applies also to traffic, it applies to backaches, headaches, it applies to the weather, it applies to songs on the radio being things you don't like, okay? Every negative thing that ever happens to you.

You see, he doesn't say, when the world in it and those in it are full of bad, he says bad deeds. And what he's trying to say is that they all come from... from imprints that you have put on your mind, okay?

The world is neutral. The world's not good, the world's not bad. If you think about it scientifically, the world around you is just a bunch of colors, and shapes, and sounds, you know?

It's you who sees it in a certain way, okay? Everybody in this room is just seeing a bunch of squares, and circles, and angles, and colors, and... And then something in your mind organizes it into something good or something bad.

If you think about it, that's the truth. There's just a room full of white rectangles, and black squares, and little circles, and... It's your mind who says, this is a curtain, this is a roof, this is another person.

And especially it's your mind that says, this is a person I don't like, this is a person I do like, okay? If you think about it scientifically, this is just a room full of shapes and colors. It's not the people you like or people you don't like, it's just shapes and colors.

Your mind is making you see it that way, okay? So, full of bad deeds means... If you see it a certain way, it's because your mind has made it that way, alright?

We said a bunch of things about the principles of how this works, okay? Remember, you don't have a choice, okay? You don't have a choice.

You can't say, oh, I understand that traffic jam is just my mind making me see all of these sounds as horns, and these squares as cars that aren't moving, you know what I mean? That's true, but you can't change it. On the spot, you cannot change it, okay?

And get used to that. It's a seed that you put in your mind a long time ago, and now you're seeing a traffic jam, okay? So, it doesn't help in the present moment, okay?

It doesn't help much. What it does help is with your patience, and with your reaction. You see?

If you understand that you are making this traffic jam, if you understand that this person that you find so irritating is irritating because of something you did in the past, then at least you're going to be patient, at least you're going to be calm, okay? And... And does it help in the same hour?

No, it doesn't, okay? You feel a little better, but it doesn't mean that the traffic jam is going to go away. It won't go away, okay?

Because of that. But you're just preparing for the future. Practicing this practice is a gardening process.

You're just planting gardens, okay? You're just being patient because in six weeks or six months, things will be different, because you've got better seeds in your mind, okay? So that's the first line.

Learn to use problems as a path to enlightenment. This is a very, very, very important thing. You know, there are other planets, there are other worlds, there are other realms, which are better than ours, okay?

Even better than Ireland, okay? Hard to imagine, but... I love to walk here, it's so beautiful.

But there are other realms where people don't have many problems, they don't have so much sickness, they don't have so much war, they don't have conflict, they don't have those things. And there's an interesting thing, that the ancient books say, thank God we weren't born there, okay? Because things are too good, you see what I mean?

And then people don't think how to improve their situation, okay? They're pretty happy, so they just sit like that. The point is that, you...

when some things are going right, and you're pretty happy, you don't sit there and pull your hair out and say, why me, why me? You know, you just enjoy it, you know? It takes some serious problem to make you wake up, okay?

And every good meditator I know, everyone, became a good meditator because of something very bad that happened to them. And I can think of ten people right off, you know what I mean? The best one I know in Washington, for example, is...

she had four sons, she wanted a daughter, and then finally she had a daughter. And then the daughter was killed in a very terrible accident, and so she became interested in religion, you see what I mean? It takes some kind of problem to make you interested, it takes some kind of tragedy.

And I think almost every very successful meditator I know is serious because they've had some kind of tragedy, and it wakes you up, you know? Then you pull your hair out and say, why me? You see what I mean?

Otherwise you don't wonder, how did I get here? Why am I here? What am I supposed to do?

Why are things like this? What caused all these problems? You see what I mean?

Until you have a serious problem, you don't think about it, okay? So it says here, learn to use problems as a path, okay? Learn...

Problems are wonderful, you see what I mean? There's a prayer in ancient Tibet, it says, may I get sick tomorrow, may I have a car accident, may I meet three people that I don't like, new ones, and then the next day may I meet six. You know what I mean?

It's like you're praying for problems because they wake you up, you know, they wake you up. Then you understand this is what life's about. And then what happens is, you question, where is this coming from?

You demand to know, where is this coming from? And that doesn't happen until you have a serious problem, you know? So, serious problems are a blessing, a great blessing, okay?

Then the third line says, the blame all belongs to only one person. And this is what we said before. If Jesus is correct, if Buddha is correct, then the most important principle of our life is that good things come from good things, and bad things come from bad things.

And that's the way it is. If you meet something bad, bad person, bad situation, bad back, bad headaches, depression, you can only blame one person, and that's yourself, okay? And I think it's really important to stop blaming other forces.

You know what I mean? Stop blaming your parents. Stop blaming your childhood.

Stop blaming the church, you know? Stop blaming the people you live with. Stop blaming God, you know?

Stop blaming everybody, it's you, it's just you. And in fact, if you blame other people, you get delayed, you see? You don't do what you're supposed to do quickly, because you keep shuffling the blame off on someone else.

This line, third line is, you know, face up to it. If what I said is correct about... Did I do the pen thing?

I didn't do the pen thing yet. Okay, I'll do the pen thing. Somebody asked me...

Kevin said we got to do the pen thing, man. If... What is this thing?

Pen. You say pen, okay? But I just saw a dog on the street.

And if a puppy comes in here, a young puppy, and I show this thing like that, then what does the puppy see? They just see something to chew on. That's all they think, you know?

What are the odds that I can chew on this thing? You see what I mean? They're not thinking to write a letter to their dog girlfriend or anything, okay?

They're just... They just see something to chew on. A dog's mind is very basic, you know?

Either you're going to pee-pee on something, or you're going to chew on it, or it's something to eat. You know, and there's about three things they think about. So, when they see this thing, they see something to chew on.

And you can stand there and explain this is a pen, it's used to write letters, you can read those letters, they just don't understand. There's something about their mind, which is a dog. And they don't see it this way, they don't see it as a pen.

The big question is, who's correct? Who's right? They're both right, okay?

Animal rights, okay? All right? You can't sit there to a dog and beat the dog, oh, you chewed up my pen.

He didn't chew up a pen, he chewed up something to chew on, okay? It's reasonable for him. He's doing the right thing for a dog, okay?

He doesn't know it's a pen, and he doesn't know you want it for something else, okay? In this room, in one minute, there can be two worlds going on simultaneously. Two different worlds.

The dog's world, and the human world. And they're different, okay? Completely two separate realities can be going on in this room at the same time, okay?

And this object is what we call neutral. It's just neutral, okay? He's a poor, innocent, black cylinder.

And some people call him a pen. And some animals call him something to chew on. But what is he?

By himself, what is he? He's just a black cylinder, okay? It's not a pen until you're a human and you use it as a pen.

It's not something to chew on until you're a dog and you chew on it. But what is it by itself? It's neither a pen nor something to chew on.

It's just a black cylinder, okay? The dog sees a black cylinder, and you see a black cylinder. And then his mind makes him see something, and your mind makes you see something else.

And that's like the most important teaching I can give you, okay? We call it the pen thing. It's the pen thing.

All over the world, in Mongolia, 2,000 people are yelling, pen! And I don't use dog in Mongolia, I use horse stick, which is something like, usun. You know, so I say, what's this?

And half the people say, ballak! And half the people say, otso! And, you know, and they...

But it's only what you see. And what you see is only determined by what you did to other people in the past, okay? If you see a pen, it's because you've been kind to someone in the past.

If you see something to chew on, it's because you've been unkind to people in the past. That's why every religion insists that you must be a good person, okay? Because you create your own future.

That's all. Everything in the world is the same as this cylinder. It's not good, it's not bad.

It's not pleasant, it's not unpleasant. It's not a pen, it's not something to chew on. It's just neutral.

It's just a black thing, okay? And your mind makes you see it a certain way, alright? That's a very basic thing.

Why am I talking about this? It seems like it would be a lot more fun to see it as something to chew on, something to play with. Who's been good and who hasn't?

We're just living this idyllic, natural existence. And the scriptures say, if you could get into a dog's mind, or any other animal's mind, it's like hell all day long. Because you're always looking over your shoulder to see if there's a bigger animal coming to eat you.

An animal's primary thought the entire day— birds up to deers, up to whales, up to elephants— is looking behind them to see if someone's going to eat them. And it's dog-eat-dog. You know, their whole being is centered at not being dinner for the next animal.

You see what I mean? That's why animals run when you approach them. They see you as seeing them as dinner.

And according to the ancient books, I mean, if you could really get into an animal's mind, they have very few peaceful moments.

[Speaker 2]
Why do you say a dolphin is so connected to the same way as a human?

[Speaker 1]
I used to fish for dolphins. I mean, go... I mean, they get eaten by sharks.

You pull up half a dolphin on your rod, and you're like, what happened to the other half? And there's a shark there with his mouth... Excuse me?

With the human brain, a dolphin, they say it can sense whether sickness... Oh, could be. I don't know.

It doesn't... I don't know myself. And that's talking about emanations.

Emanation means, maybe, there are great saints or wizards who can take on an animal's body. You know what I mean? Like an eagle, or be an eagle for a while, or...

That we believe that's true. So I'm not talking about those kind of... I'm just talking a regular animal who's trying not to be dinner of the last animal, okay?

Practicing them all full of kindness. What I'm trying to say is that everything is neutral. Everything is just...

It's just black cylinder. Okay, if you see something you like, it's because you did something good. If you see something you don't like, it's because you did something bad, okay?

And this cylinder is the same as this cylinder. Okay? And this is the most precious teaching I can give you.

We probably have 15-20 minutes more. It's the most important thing I can do right now, okay? This cylinder and this cylinder are the same.

The same thing is true about this, that is true about this, okay? If you have done medium good things to other people, you will see this as a human arm. Okay, why do I say medium?

It's a mix of good and bad, and our whole life is a mix of good deeds and bad deeds, okay? Your normal human life is just a string of... One good thought, then two bad thoughts, then one good thought, then three bad thoughts, then two bad thoughts, and...

You know what I mean? It's just a string of negatives and positives. So I get to see a human arm.

Human arm is precious because a human can think. I can explain the pen thing to a human, I can't explain it to a dog, okay? They won't get it.

So it's good to be a human. But humans get old and humans die. And that's not good, okay?

So there's a good part about this arm and there's a bad part about this arm. The good part is, I can use this arm to read books, I can use this arm to pray, I can use this arm to help other people. That's a good thing.

But this arm is made of blood, and flesh, and bones, and they are going to die. They're going to rot. And some animal will eat them, some insect will eat them.

And that's a bad thing, okay? Where does this arm coming from? Why do I see a human arm?

Why don't I see a dog's leg? Because I have some kind of imprint in my mind. You see?

It's the same thing. I have certain imprints that I put in my mind in the past, and they make me see it as an arm. You know, I can say, no, no, I'm an angel, my body is made of light.

But it's not going to change how I see it. It's the same as a traffic jam. Yeah, I am creating this arm.

This arm looks like a human arm to me, because I did a mix of good things and bad things in the past, okay? If I had done only good things, what would I see? Light, pure light.

You would be in heaven. You see what I mean? If I had done worse things, what would I see?

Paw, fur, claws, okay? People ask me about rebirth. Stop thinking about rebirth as moving into a new body like a new apartment or something.

It's not like that. These seeds which you put in your mind before in your life, which were negative, come up. The seeds which you put in your mind before that, that are getting old, wear out.

And you see it as a paw. And then you are an animal. And that's how you get to be an animal.

You see what I mean? It's not some strange magic, or it's not some impossible thing. Going to hell is not impossible.

Being born as an animal is not impossible. It's just a shift in your mind. You see?

And people say to me, what do you mean a shift in your mind? You mean my mind changes in five minutes, and then suddenly I'm seeing this as a paw? Yes, that's true.

Come on, that's a little extreme. I always call it the ice cream and the gasoline truck. Okay?

The ice cream and the gasoline truck. This happens in America all the time. They stop at a place called Baskin Robbins.

31 flavors. They buy their favorite ice cream. They fight for their favorite ice cream.

If they don't have Peppermint Swirl, you go to the other side of the city to get it. You know? And you get this special ice cream, and you're licking it, and you're distracted, and you run into a gasoline truck.

Okay? Three minutes later, your body is covered with fire. Does that happen?

It happens all the time. It happens all the time. Okay?

One moment you're sitting there with your favorite ice cream. Three minutes later, your body is covered with gasoline, and it's on fire. Okay?

It happens. What happened between that time and that time? Your imprints changed.

A very bad imprint came up to the mind. The imprint for ice cream got old. You see what I mean?

Time itself passes because of this rule. The reason why people die is because of this rule. The imprints don't last.

Imprints wear out. Every lick you take, you just used up three, four imprints. You see what I mean?

And then the imprints wear out. Sometimes they wear out before you finish, and you die with the ice cream in your hand. I've seen it.

I saw this great Lama, you know? He died with a roll halfway up to his mouth. He died like this.

And we couldn't get his arm down. You know what I mean? No, I'm not kidding.

You see? The imprint to eat a roll finished. And the imprint to see the arm move stopped.

And then the imprint to see himself as dead began. And that's all it takes. Don't think that these things happen outside of you.

They happen because something in your mind changes. You see what I mean? What's it got to do with what we're talking about?

This is why people get old. This is why people die. This is why you have to meet people you don't like.

It's all explained by the same thing. If you did something good in the past, you'll be happy for a certain amount of time. And then it wears out.

The imprint wears out. And then the next imprint comes up. It's like airplanes waiting at the airport, and one takes off, and then it's gone, and then the next one takes off, and then it's gone.

And an imprint to be young and healthy and strong wears out. What happens then? You get old.

And that's why people get old. I call it the pen thing. Why do you see a pen?

Because you did something good in the past. If you had not done something good, you wouldn't see a pen. You'd see something to chew on.

And then we'd call you a dog. Yeah?

[Speaker 2]
Krishna, why is it when the imprint to eat ice cream wears off, why is it always a bad one that comes off? Why don't the things you do that are good come up instead?

[Speaker 1]
Oh no, it's not necessarily that bad always follows good. I mean, you can be licking ice cream, and then suddenly you see your friend, and you drop it, and then they give you a 10-pound note. You see what I mean?

That's okay. Actually, the Abhidharma has like 36 combinations, possible events, possible imprints that follow every imprint. Second chapter, it's beautiful.

Every possible imprint that can follow every other imprint. There's like 36 kinds or something like that. It doesn't matter.

What I'm saying is that your whole world, the condition of your body, the fact that you are here, where you're going to go next, what's going to happen to you tomorrow, when you die, what will happen to you after you die, all those things are created by imprints in your mind. That's all. Okay?

So now it just becomes the question of imprint management. You know what I mean? Yeah.

So, the imprints for this life will determine where you go, but surely you don't carry imprints from previous lives to when you die, when you're only responsible for your awareness in this life. Imprints have three life's shelf...shelf-lifes? Three kinds of lifespans.

Okay, one is called tung-gyur-gi-le. And that means you're going to see... the imprint will come up to your conscious mind in this life before you die.

Like, if you were good in October, then in March, they start playing better music on the radio.

[Speaker 2]
So they're short-term ones.

[Speaker 1]
Those are called...yeah, tung-gyur-gi-le. Then, kye-ne-nyong-gyur-gi-le means that only... imprints that only come up to the conscious mind after you die.

And they're responsible mainly for where you go after you die. Then there's called shen-lan-yong-gyur-gi-le, which means imprints that last more than two lifetimes. And they kick in only after two lifetimes.

That's why you get these discrepancies where... greedy people can be rich. You see?

That's why you see kind people who get cancer.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah, but I'm saying after you die, do you take the previous life?

[Speaker 1]
You do. Yeah. Until they are experienced, you carry them.

You carry them. Millions. Millions of them.

The big question now is, can you get rid of some old imprints? Okay, I did an abortion when I was 16. I hit my mom when I was a boy.

I got drunk and stole money from somebody. And I know I have those imprints. I'm just an example, I'm not saying I did, okay?

Some of them. And can you go in and sort of erase the old imprints? You can, all right?

You can. And this is done by mainly two things. Number one, decide you're not going to do that thing again.

Ever. Okay? If it's possible, okay?

If it's something like an abortion. Yeah, Kevin? You said something I never heard before, Michael, and it's helpful.

You said that the imprints may not be in for two lifetimes.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
And that's why a police person who takes some kind of check would take the criminal or they take the, you might call it a gangster. Yeah. Seems to lose money like this.

Yeah. All over the place.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
But that might be again, you know, about everything, Michael. Yeah. It explains many, many things.

Like in the Bible they say, why do the wicked prosper? It drives the, in the Bible it drives people crazy. You know, why do bad people seem to prosper?

You see what I mean? If what Jesus taught is true, why are bad people prospering, you see? And we say, no problem.

He's prospering because of some charity he did in the past. And maybe even a lifetime or two ago. And whatever cheapness or greediness or bad manners he's exhibiting now are only going to bring them suffering in the future.

Never, I mean, if you don't remember anything about Geshe Michael for the next three years, remember one thing. You don't get figs from thistles and you don't get grapes from thorns. I'm going to get it straight.

It's totally impossible. It's just totally, Jesus was, you know, he said it in many different contexts, but that's the main one. Anything bad that ever happens to you cannot come from something good.

And whatever good you ever do will have a fantastic result. So just decide from tonight you're going to be good. It's also more fun.

Okay, like, if all this religion stuff is false, okay, and if there's no such thing as imprints, and if there's no connection between goodness and goodness, which is not true, okay, then it's still more fun to think about other people and help them and exchange your, put your mind, it's a lot more fun. It's just life is much more fun. Yeah.

[Speaker 2]
So you can remove all imprints from past life and be good in this life.

[Speaker 1]
So really, there's, you know, there's two questions you should be asking me. We call it Carlito's question. Carlito is a, was a 12-year-old Puerto Rican kid in New York who plays tuba in the school and gets to classes by, like, filching 35 cents from his mother's purse so he can get on the subway and come from Brooklyn, right?

It's funny, he just, he loves classes, you know? So he's like, this little kid, he's sitting in the back, and he raised his hand, after the imprint talk, this is at the Kempo Center? He's in the back and he says, uh, question, you know, I said, what?

He says, can you get rid of those old imprints? I mean, like, out of a whole audience of 100 adults, it's the kid who asked the right question at the right time. Yeah, you can, okay?

How? Do the opposite. You see what I mean?

If you did an abortion when you were 16 years old, consciously, we call it search and destroy mission. Go after that imprint. That imprint is swimming around in your subconscious.

Don't let him come up. Go after him and destroy him before he comes up. You see what I mean?

To the conscious mind. And the way you get after him is to do the opposite. What is the opposite?

It takes two forms. I refuse to do that thing again. I will not do that thing again.

That puts a big damage to that imprint. It's very interesting. It damages the imprint badly.

Then if you go ahead and do something proactive, like you say, I'm gonna go help at a hospital for three months and dedicate it to destroying that imprint. It works, okay? You can do it.

You can do it. We even do a small ceremony in our homes. We start a small fire in a bowl or in a can.

And we take these, any kind of like seeds. We use sesame, black sesame seeds. This is an ancient, ancient custom, 2,000 years old.

You make a small fire. We use twinning tea cans, just those little cans. And you put in some like, we use melted butter like ghee, which burns.

And then you light it. And then you say, this is the abortion I did when I was 16 and I didn't know any better. And you throw it in there.

And you watch it burn. And you sit there and you think over and over. It's kind of peaceful.

It's a kind of peaceful meditation. You watch this little fire and you think, okay, now my bad deed is burning. And then you think, what can I do to help other people What can I do that's the opposite?

You see what I mean? And then, oh, I know this lady, she's sick. I'll go make her dinner once a week or something.

You know, don't go crazy. You don't have to go to Kosovo and work in a Red Cross unit or something. Don't, you don't have to.

Pick somebody near you who's not well or who's elderly and say, I'm going to help them for three months. And I dedicate that good deed to destroy the imprint from the abortion. And it will destroy.

Now the way it destroys is it accelerates. It accelerates and it gives you a small result, okay? You get in a small car accident, like just bang your car.

You see what I mean? You have a headache for three days. If you didn't destroy the imprint, you would have gone to a hell realm.

How do you go to a hell realm, by the way? Okay? It's just a perception.

And don't think it's impossible. That's naive. It's just as possible to have a perception of a hell realm five minutes after you die, as it is to be covered in gasoline two minutes after you were eating your favorite ice cream.

No problem. It is not impossible. It is not a metaphor.

Those things exist, okay? Because of this. Because of this thing, okay?

Those places exist. And you can see them. In the same...

I have a friend, he burned his hand. You know, he's telling me, oh, it happened to me. One moment I'm enjoying my family and having a good time, and then suddenly my hand's on fire.

And I thought about your gasoline and your ice cream, you know? You see, the perception suddenly changed. You see, there is no fire on your head.

Get used to that. There is no pen. It's just a black cylinder.

There's something in your mind that makes you see a fire on your hand. There's no fire on my hand, there's a fire on his hand. You see what I mean?

He has something in his mind to make him see a fire on his hand. I don't have it. So I didn't burn my hand, but he burned his hand.

And it's true of the pen, and it's true of everything around you. All the bad things that ever happened to you. And life is dangerous.

If you don't know about imprints, if you don't know about good deeds, you're just setting yourself up for some kind of problem. You must be sick. You must get old.

You must die. You must lose everything you ever wanted, you know? You spend your whole life trying to collect a few grubby little things, a car, a house, a few people that I love, and you're going to lose them.

If you don't understand this principle, you will lose them. You see what I mean? People ask me, when I go to heaven, can I take my wife and my children?

No problem. No problem at all, okay? You don't have to be separated from them.

They have to practice. They have to do the same meditations, okay? They must do the same meditations.

Well, they won't see it. Yeah, they won't see it, okay? So that's all.

So the point of tonight, how we began tonight, is that you won't think about this until you have a serious problem. So, God bless problems. You see what I mean?

God bless old age. God bless cancer. God bless car accidents that kill young children.

You see what I mean? If it didn't happen, you wouldn't think about it. You see what I mean?

You'd just go through your life getting old, like a sheep that's about to be killed. You see what I mean? And...

And something hits the sheep's leg on the way to the slaughterhouse, and they say, wait a minute, where are they taking me? You see what I mean? You think about it.

It makes you think something, alright? And that's a blessing. One more thing we have to say about imprints.

Imprint management. You've got this big pocket of imprints in your mind. And as we said, they could be 100 years old, they could be 200 years old, they could be 2 hours old.

But you want to get rid of the bad ones, and you want to put new ones in there that are good, okay? So to get rid of the bad ones, review your life, and do the opposite, okay? Do anything that's the opposite, and decide you won't do that anymore, okay?

That gets rid of the old seeds, alright? Well, suppose I have backaches, and I don't understand where they came from exactly. I don't remember giving anyone serious pain in their back, but now I have this pain.

You can do what we call deduction. You see? I don't remember my life two lives ago.

I don't know if I was a man or a woman, or speaking French, or Swahili, or... I don't remember. But I have a backache, so he, that stupid guy, must have hurt somebody, okay?

You can work backwards from your present body. Or if you have a financial problem, that guy, two lives ago, was a cheapskate. And now I don't have any money, you know?

So you can work backwards from your current condition. You don't have to remember your past lives. You can deduce it from...

Because like leads to like, in botany and in karma. You see what I mean? It's true in both cases.

[Speaker 2]
If you look at your life now, the way it is now, it's...

[Speaker 1]
You can... Yeah, you just figure out what you must have done. And then go after that imprint.

Search and destroy, okay? If you have a backache, you go back and find... Yeah, I have a backache.

I don't mean going to hypnosis and try to find out what day in 1849 you hurt somebody. It's not like that. I have a backache.

I must have an imprint from harming someone. Therefore, I'll give you three choices. Do acupuncture, have a back operation, or go to the hospital and help sick people.

Which one really works? Third one, and only the third one. Michael, I'm having a great deal of difficulty because I would like to believe so much of what you say.

And yet, there are things that come up that give me pause. Like you say, God bless problems, God bless this, God bless that. And my limited understanding of Buddhism does not recognize God.

Oh, I'm just... We'll talk about it someday.

[Speaker 2]
It's an expression. No, it's an expression, yeah.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, it's an expression. It's just an expression. You can say, thank goodness, how's that?

Which is... I don't mean to get into that question. It's just an expression.

We can say, thank goodness, how's that? Or, it's wonderful that we have problems. Leave it like that.

I want to go back to this thing. It's extremely important to each person here. If you have a chronic back ailment...

This is the way Americans take examinations. We're too lazy to write answers. We just tick the right box, you know?

Do acupuncture. What did I say? Exercise more, have a back operation, or go help an elderly or a sick person.

Which one will cure your back? The third one, and only the third one. Now, somebody should raise their hand and say, wait a minute, I have a friend who had a back operation, and it worked.

Okay, which is rare, right? And they feel great now. We say, they had a back operation, and it worked, because they did something good for someone in the past.

And it wasn't the back operation. See what I mean? What's the proof of that statement?

Because half the people who have back operations have worse backs when they got out. So, it is not the cause for curing your back. Get it?

You got to think carefully. If something doesn't work all the time, it's not the real cause. You see, you got to find the real cause.

Being kind to other people, taking care of other people, especially the elderly or the sick, always helps your health. Period. Always.

[Speaker 2]
Or too, like, that way it would work, and another way too, because you're taking your mind off yourself the whole time, and you're proving something.

[Speaker 1]
We'll get to that. But it's a good point. Let's go right now.

We'll go there right now, okay? Now, she said, well, you take your mind off yourself and you start thinking about other people. Is there something special about that?

I don't know about you, but I don't want to just go through life without back problems and get old and die. I'm not interested. You see what I mean?

I'd rather go straight to heaven. Then I don't have to worry about back problem or no back problem. I'd rather be an angel.

I'd rather have a body that didn't have bones and blood and like this, okay? Let's just go straight there. You know what I mean?

Why worry about making $50 here or there? I'm not interested. Can I go straight to heaven?

Yes, but one requirement. You have to break down this division between you and other people, okay? It's the only thing that gives that imprint enough power to reach heaven.

It's very interesting. Sooner or later, every person in this room, if you really want to just jump over everything and get straight to an angel's body, right? You have to do those three steps that we talked about.

You have to start watching what other people like. You have to start putting your mind in their bodies and looking at you and seeing what they want. You have to break down this division between me and you.

And now I'm taking care of you as well as I would take care of me, because you is me. You see what I mean? And until you get to that point, you'll never...

You can do small things. You can make a few million dollars. You can be healthy.

But to really jump over the whole thing and go straight to the top, you have to... The imprint must be done with this incredible love. You see what I mean?

The imprint must be imprinted on your mind with this incredible love that overcomes even the division between me and you. I'm buying him dinner because he's me. You see what I mean?

Until he bites into the pizza, I'm not getting fed. You see what I mean? Because he's me.

And until you think like that, the imprint's not strong enough. It won't be strong enough. You can get healthier.

You can have a little more financial security. You can have friends and family. But then still, you'll get old and die eventually.

So I mean, the only thing that takes that imprint over the top is to break down this division between me and you, okay? Yeah. Yeah.

Do you have to continue to do that all the time?

[Speaker 2]
Do you have to continue to do that all the time?

[Speaker 1]
It'll have to be your life.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
By the way, I call it reinvestment, okay? I give to someone else. I did this my whole corporate career.

I had an agreement with the corporation that half the money went to refugees directly. I never got the money. You know, for 15 years, half my salary went to overseas directly, to refugees, okay?

And because of that, I made more and more and more money. You see what I mean? Swimming in money.

And then I reinvested each time I got it. You see what I mean? Give me $50,000 a year, I give away $25,000.

Next year, he's giving me $75,000 a year. I give away, next year he's raising me to $100,000 a year. Next year, he's raising me to $150,000 a year.

I started at $7 an hour, you know what I mean? And just keep giving. And you just keep getting more.

This is a, how do you say? Okay, it's like, what I mean is it becomes a snowball, yeah. And it gets better and better and better.

It just gets bigger and better and better, yeah. So you do have to keep it up, you keep recycling. You know, somebody gives you a present, you give it away.

Then two people give you a present, you give those two away. Then it's four, then it's eight. I swear to God, the only problem you'll ever have is trying to keep track of the accounts.

You see what I mean? The most difficult problem you have after a while is trying to figure out what to do with all this money. You see what I mean?

It just becomes a problem of reporting it to the government properly. I'm not kidding, I'm really not kidding. If you keep recycling your good deeds like that, then eventually your body will change completely.

And that's really what you want, okay? Don't be satisfied with a few measly pounds. You know what I mean?

You want to be up there with the host of heaven. And very, very happy. Very, very, very beautiful and pure.

And there you know everything you need to know. Yeah? Unless the answer has been hiding under the chair, I've been depressed, you see, in my time.

Yeah. What can you say about that?

[Speaker 2]
Because, I mean, so many people, we are all at some level.

[Speaker 1]
I want to say something very subtle. We talked about it the first night. And I think now we'll start questions, okay?

By the way, emptiness is the matchless protector, if I'm not wrong. Yeah. Meaning, the thing about the pen is what saves you.

Okay, but let's talk about it. What's this thing? Now you're going to give me a better answer, I'm sure.

You got to say, to whom? Okay. You have to say to whom.

Animal rights, okay? What's this thing? Yeah, yeah.

What's this thing to a dog? It's something to chew on. What's this thing to a human?

It's a pen. What is it in and of itself? A black cylinder, okay?

You got to get used to that. It's neutral. It doesn't have content until your mind puts content on it.

Okay? Your own mind is the same as this. Okay?

In and of itself, it's a blank screen. It's a blank piece of paper. It's the same as this cylinder.

It's just a few moments of consciousness, string along in a row, okay? Your mind isn't happy, and your mind isn't unhappy by itself. Okay?

What's making it that way? Same thing. It's amazing.

Your mind and this black cylinder are exactly the same. If you see your mind as pleasant, it's because you've done good things for other people. If you see your mind as unhappy or depressed, it's because you've done bad things for other people.

And by the way, if you want to know the specific imprint that causes depression, it's very clear. We gave her a chart, we made a chart. Ora invented that chart from the scriptures.

It's very beautiful. She got all the causes and all the results and made a chart. The particular one for depression is encouraging other people to do bad things.

You know, like, yeah, go ahead and cheat on your taxes, what the heck. Go ahead, have that abortion. You know what I mean?

Go ahead and lie to your boss. Look, we gotta go on the weekend tour. You know, we'll go for a holiday.

You see, it comes from encouraging other people. Now, somebody like Kevin is not gonna be doing that heavily to other people in this life. You have to say that.

In this life, he has not been doing that. It's okay, he did it before. Okay, you have to get used to that.

So, what am I supposed to, how am I supposed to get rid of that imprint if I'm not doing that anymore? You see what I mean? You know, I don't go encouraging people to have abortions.

I don't go encouraging people to rob their bosses and steal from people. I didn't encourage anybody to do anything for a long time. If you want to go after and destroy that old, old, old imprint from three lives ago when you were not so nice, you have to avoid that kind of behavior in its tiniest form.

And that destroys the imprint. It's very interesting. Very interesting.

That's why Winston talked about the book. And that's why he talked about specific things you did in the kitchen over a cup of tea. You see what I mean?

And if you go after those little details of your life, it destroys the old imprint for depression. It's very interesting. So, not even the slightest encouraging anyone to do the tiniest little negative thing, you know?

And much less encouraging them constantly to do something pure. You see what I mean? Encouraging, and you meet somebody who's trying to do a good thing, and you support them, and you help them, and you praise them, and you say, wow, that's great!

You know, you're doing something really good there. And if you keep that up, and dedicate it to destroying that old imprint, which came from where? Encouraging other people to do something wrong.

You see what I mean? You destroy the old imprint. It's very beautiful.

And you will not have depression again. Never. You see what I mean?

And I'm not talking some theoretical thing. I have students who... You know, I have one student, she's not Buddhist, she's Catholic, American Catholic.

She doesn't want to be a Buddhist, she's not interested in Buddhism, she doesn't care about it, but she has a phobia. You know, she... Whenever the lights go out and it's time to go to bed, she thinks she hears people in the house who are going to come and hurt her.

So, for 12 years, her husband got up every night with a flashlight, and they walked around the house together, and then she would go to bed. You see what I mean? So, we did some special meditations to go after that imprint.

Okay? And she's still not a Buddhist, and she could still care less about Buddhism, but after that meditation, she sleeps on the ground level with the window open. And she's never had a bad night since then.

Never. Not once. You see what I mean?

That's all. You have to go after those imprints. You have to figure out what they are...

[Speaker 2]
...if something else happened in her previous life.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, something hurt her. Yeah, or she frightens someone else, actually.

You see what I mean?

[Speaker 2]
So, essentially, we find out what our old imprints are by looking at our bad... what happened, a bad experience.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, exactly, exactly. You go back and reconstruct what a good or bad person you must have been three lifetimes ago. You don't need to go into a seance and pay 15 pounds to a fortune teller who says, yes, you were Napoleon, and...

You know, you don't need that. Okay? They're fakes, okay?

Probably. It's just, if you have a backache, you hurt somebody. Look, I'm not in the business of hurting people right now, but you have to be more careful than other people.

You see what I mean? I have a question. Yeah, Angela has them if you're interested, okay?

But there's another reason why you need more on this. You see, you need all this information. There's lots.

So, you've got to get Winston back here, I'd say, by April or something.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
You might have to mow his hair actually now.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
And then you can do a course on it. And there's 18 courses like that, you see what I mean? And by the time you finish with all that, you're like, everything's fine.

So, the book takes care of your new imprints. Examining your life and your problems takes care of your old imprints. That's all you need.

Now you know everything you need to get to heaven. Okay? If you don't keep that book, I can't help you.

Okay? Can't put water on your head and get rid of your bad deeds. You know what I mean?

Can't like, pray for you and your bad deeds are going away. It has to be done by one person. And if you do it half-heartedly, you know, don't complain to me next year that you still have bad credit card bills.

Okay? That's your fault. Okay?

You know, you have to take care of it. You know everything you need to know now. And what you need then is a community.

We call Sangha. You need a community. You need at least four or five people, get together once a week, listen to some kind of a tape, read something, and encourage each other, and help each other.

And I think, you know, you should start one in Dublin and start one in Galway. And just, you know, help each other once a week. Get together once a week.

Read something. Listen to a tape. You know, go over the tapes of this thing.

And then, have teachers come. You know, and it takes you a few years and then you'll be doing it on your own. You don't need anybody to come.

You see what I mean? Then you'll be teaching other people. You see?

That's the... That's the way it goes. You must become teachers.

You have to... You have to learn it and you have to teach other people. Because if what I said is true, it's a great gift you can give to other people.

You see what I mean? If what I said tonight is true, you know, you can give other people money, or a house, or a place to stay, but what if you teach them this? You know, that's a lot nicer.

[Speaker 2]
Is it a thing in our life, say, when we observe things and people are doing things to others, and as time goes on, then you can see it going back again on them. Is it okay for the person on the outside to observe that? Or is that putting an imprint on yourself?

[Speaker 1]
Oh no, it's no imprint to observe what's happening to them. No, that's fine. It depends on your attitude.

If you're happy that they're having trouble, that's a very bad imprint. If you're just observing it, it's fine. It's even a very good imprint, because it's an imprint to understand these things more later.

You see what I mean? But then, if the person comes along and says to you later, well, I didn't do anything to anybody, why are they doing it to me? What do you say to them then, or do you just hold back?

It depends on your judgment of whether they can understand this or not. And it's a delicate thing. Sometimes it gets the opposite reaction, and you know that.

So, you have to be very gentle and watch them. But there's no greater gift you can give to another person than to teach them this. You see, we call...

There's two ways of doing good deeds. There's two ways of following the Ten Commandments. With knowledge, or without knowledge.

You see what I mean? Now you can do it with knowledge. You see what I mean?

I refuse to kill because it's stupid to kill. It's bad for my health. You see what I mean?

That's with knowledge. And then to say, I refuse to kill because father so-and-so said so, or my mother said so, or the government said so, or... You don't understand why you're doing it.

You see what I mean? And then you become a weak religious person. You're somebody who can't really follow the Ten Commandments because you don't understand them.

You don't see why they work. But if you understand how they work, you become like a warrior, or you become powerful. Then you really keep them, because you understand why.

You see what I mean? You understand when you heard something, it puts a seed in your mind, and then later it comes out, and this is beautiful. If you understand that, you can be a truly pure person, because you're happy to do it, because you understand why.

We consider understanding the most important thing. And you need a lot of classes on it. In the monastery they say 3,000 hours.

To really... You know, you understand me intellectually tonight, but to really change your life takes continued exposure to the idea, you know, over and over again, until you're sick of hearing a pen. My students are sick of this pen.

They say, could you choose something else? When you're really sick of it, it means you're starting to understand. You see what I mean?

It takes time. So you really have to organize. You have to...

So you understand it intellectually. It's not enough one time. No, but it actually starts to come to you naturally, then to change it then.

Yeah, yeah. And only after the intellectual understanding. Okay, yeah.

I have a question about, what is it that angels do that makes being an angel the result of this practice? Like, what's the relationship between exchanging yourself and others, and being an angel? Yeah.

It's like this, okay? If you give food to one person, you will probably get about, I don't know, ten meals out of it or something, okay? Seriously, okay?

If you break down the division between yourself and others, then anytime you do a small good thing to other people, you are doing it to all of humanity. So, offering pommes frites to one man. French fries?

Becomes... If I do it with that, breaking down that wall between you and me, and if I think I'm putting food in my own mouth, when I put it in your mouth, if I really think like that, if I really believe it, then by that one act, I'm essentially, in my own mind, feeding all of humanity. And that's what creates heaven.

That's what makes the imprint so powerful, okay? Doing a good thing towards one person creates a very limited result. Breaking down the division between you and me, and putting some French fries into your mouth, which I do physically with my students, you know, we just feed each other sometimes.

And if I've broken down the division between you and me, then in essence, I'm feeding every living creature with one French fry. That's the Last Supper concept, isn't it? Probably, okay?

Exactly. And then that becomes a cause to reach a heaven. You know?

You know, it's cool. It's cool. It's very cool.

I mean, you're going to end up saying, boy, I understand Jesus now 100%. And that's perfect. It should be like that.

It's not an accident that Jesus came into your life. It's not an accident that you've been taught about Jesus your whole life. This is a setup, okay?

By the enlightened beings, okay? They are preparing your mind for your whole life. And now you get it.

You see what I mean? So, when you do an action without breaking down me and you, it's very limited. You get a few French fries in the future, and it's over.

McDonald's closes in your town. And, you know, no, the imprint is... the imprint is fleeting.

It's impermanent. You see what I mean? And then they're gone, and that's it.

But if you put food in this man's mouth, breaking down the idea that he is separate from you, then mentally, emotionally, you are feeding every human being on this planet. You see what I mean? And the karma of that, the imprint of that, is that you see heaven quickly.

You see? Heaven is so big, you know? It's got to last for so long.

It's got to take a lot of imprints to keep that thing rolling. You see what I mean? And the only thing that can do it is this kind of selfless thing, where you break down the...

By the way, that's a mistake. The idea that I'm here and you're there is a mistake. It causes all your suffering.

It's just... It's a big, huge mistake that someone made a long time ago, and we're still doing it, you know? It's like...

I don't know. What's some big mistakes that humanity has made? Huh?

The world is flat. Yeah, thinking the world is flat, or something like that. Or, you know, it's just a boo-boo.

It's just a mistake. We shouldn't be doing that. It hurts everybody.

You see what I mean? Break it down. And then you don't have to buy 5,000 french fries.

Okay? I'm not saying that. If you give one person french fries, having broken down this barrier, and if you really believe you're putting them in your mouth, the imprint of that is universal.

You see what I mean? And that creates a thing big enough to be a whole heaven on this world for you. Just for you.

Okay? And you'll be going around in heaven, and other people will be saying, he acts kind of weird, you know? Okay?

[Speaker 2]
This concept of if something happens here, and then something simultaneously happens somewhere else at the same time, without any inter-connection between them. Is that that concept?

[Speaker 1]
I don't know what you're talking about. Explain more.

[Speaker 2]
Obviously there's a term for it. You know, where something happens all over the world simultaneously at the one time, but it doesn't really connect. Like synchronicity, you say?

Yeah, probably.

[Speaker 1]
No, it's not so much like that. It's not so much like that.

[Speaker 2]
But it's still the same type. It's a similar idea. I mean, I know it's still the same, but there's a similarity.

[Speaker 1]
It's a similar idea. What I'm saying is that, if you can...if even for a few moments, you can break down the idea of me and you, and you're putting food in this person's mouth, and you're thinking, I'm feeding all... You see, I'm feeding me.

[Speaker 2]
So it's intentionally.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah. You break down that ignorance that says we're separate. And then you do something good for that person.

Immediately you've just created millions of heavy imprints in your mind. It's very powerful. It's really powerful.

Okay? One more question, then I think we'll stop. Because to leave it on that, you know...

What's your name again? Mark. To leave it with Mark's French fries.

Don't forget. Do you like ketchup or mayonnaise? Okay, go ahead.

[Speaker 2]
I just said, if you're in hell, how do you get out?

[Speaker 1]
Oh, long story. She said, if you go to hell, can you get out? Don't forget, I said that hell was what?

A perception. It's a state of mind. Does that make it artificial?

Hey, it hurts just as much as if it wasn't. Okay? It's not what you expected, but it hurts just as much.

Okay? Now, why are you getting old? Why do you appear to be getting old to me?

Let's put it that way. Okay?

[Speaker 2]
Because of the pen.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah. You had an imprint when you were 20 to be 20. Where did it go?

It wore out by being 20. Okay? Being 20 wears out the imprint to be 20.

And then you're 21. Okay? All imprints wear out.

Unless you reinvest. Okay? Which is what we're trying to do with the French fries.

Okay? So, will you stay in hell forever? We say no.

All energy wears out. This is a principle of physics, and this is a principle of religion. You know?

Good deeds, bad deeds wear out. It's a good thing in the case of hell. It's a bad thing in the case of a human body.

Okay? But they all wear out. Nothing lasts like that forever.

Does a heaven last forever? We say yes. Why?

Because you keep recycling that good. You see? Every time something good happens, you share.

And who cares if the old ones are wearing out? I've got lots of new ones. I just taught you everything you need to know in your life.

Okay? And... We stop.

It's very nice to stop there. And I have one important thing. I mean...

How to say? I am not an enlightened being. And I need to hear these things over and over again.

And everywhere I go, there are these sweet holy people who come. And then I get to talk. And they clap.

And then I understand one more thing about how I should live myself. And so really, it's your kindness that I'm here. And I'm very grateful to you.

And I thank you for coming here and pretending to be an audience. And for me, it's the sweetest way to spend my life. And I'm very, very grateful.

Especially Angela and Kevin and Miriam. Thank you. And Carolyn.

Thank you for that. And I'm personally very grateful for that. And I hope we meet many more times.

Okay.

[Speaker 2]
This is the end of Session 8. You have been listening to The Seven Point Practice for Developing a Good Heart With Geshe Michael Roach To contact us on other courses available or for further information, please check our website at www.world-view.org.