«Дар освобождения», курс 20 «Ретрит непревзойдённой жизни», занятие 13

[Speaker 1]
Okay, we're going to do some meditations this morning. We're going to start with a not very happy picture. Do you have this ...

the lady on the bicycle?

[Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
This is just an actress, okay? But it really happened. In our New York group, we have a center in New York called Three Jewels.

There's a very beautiful young lady coming to classes there, and she does a lot of yoga. She's very, very good-looking, and she's very healthy, so she always rides a bike. And then one day the bike slipped, and she just fell down a little bit, and a truck smashed her, you know, and she died like that.

So, what's the other picture I could put here?

[Speaker 2]
The one of Giorgio.

[Speaker 1]
That's a powerful picture also. In the George, I put a photo of a lady who committed suicide in New York. She jumped off the Empire State Building.

And she hit a car like that, and the car is crumpled like a blanket, you know. And it looks like she's asleep, you know. She's very wealthy, and very fancy.

But that's not the picture I'm talking about. It's a Chinese person packing noodles in their suitcase. Those ramen, dried noodles, you just add hot water.

What's it mean? Yeah, get ready for your trip.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
Get ready for your trip. Okay? What's a trip?

If you die suddenly, okay? Then, you know, there was a speaker yesterday, supposed to come. Yeah, suddenly got an accident, okay?

[Speaker 2]
A small accident.

[Speaker 1]
But maybe we get in a big one, we don't know. Almost everybody who dies doesn't expect to die today. So, it doesn't hurt to get everything ready.

There's a professor at Princeton, a couple weeks ago he got the Nobel Prize. Then all those big guys, they're nominated for Nobel Prize, they don't know if they're going to get it or not. But they have their suitcase ready, in case they have to go, you know.

So, we're going to do this meditation. We're actually not doing death meditation in this week. We'll be doing it in Diamond Mountain in March.

But Tsongkapa mentioned it already. So, we're just going to do a little preparation for that meditation. So, I don't know, in the morning I wake up, take shower, then I think my plan for the day.

And I get everything ready, you know. Then part of your preparation should be to be ready in case you die today. Okay?

And it's not supposed to be depressing, or make you nervous, or upset. It's just get ready. If you don't die, then the suitcase is ready.

Maybe you need it tomorrow. Okay? So, every morning it's good to do a little bit of this meditation.

Am I ready? One of the best ways to get ready is coffee meditation, pretty frequently.

[Speaker 2]
You know, focus on the nice things you are doing for other people.

[Speaker 1]
And think about them a lot. And then if you die suddenly, those good seeds are near the top of your mind. And when you die, your mind goes fuzzy.

There are three or four steps of the mind as you die. When we do the fire offering, on the front of the wall of the fire, we're supposed to put a special letter. Then on top of it, there's something that looks like lightning.

Three parts. That represents the three stages while you die inside your mind. And it's difficult at that time to think clearly.

Probably you will just think about what happened earlier that day.

[Speaker 2]
So, if you had a fight with somebody, that seed will come up to the top. And you will think about it.

[Speaker 1]
Then the bad karma will throw your next life.

[Speaker 2]
Even if you had a good life.

[Speaker 1]
But if you had an argument on the last day, oftentimes the mind will catch that seed because it's new. It's in the mind.

[Speaker 2]
So, one way to get your noodles ready is in the morning.

[Speaker 1]
Rejoice.

[Speaker 2]
Appreciate the good things you are doing, and appreciate the good things you see other people doing.

[Speaker 1]
And I don't know in Mexico, but in America there's ... all the food packages have a date on them.

[Speaker 2]
See?

[Speaker 1]
It's measly. Mostly. Some.

Then we call it expiration date. Then karmas don't have expiration date. Something good you did 10 years ago, you can still rejoice about that.

You can still do coffee meditation. And it's fine. It's great.

So, in the morning, right now, let's pack some noodles. We'll change it to packing noodle meditation.

[Speaker 2]
Okay? And try to think of the best things you did in your life. What nice things you did for other people.

[Speaker 1]
Then in life we have many problems and many failures. And we all made many mistakes.

[Speaker 2]
There's nobody who didn't make a lot of mistakes.

[Speaker 1]
But, if you're packing your noodles, you're supposed to, in the morning, you're supposed to think about the best things you did in your life. Even if they aren't 10 years old, it's okay. By thinking about it, you make new seeds.

It's like getting interest on the interest. Okay, ready? Okay, packing noodles.

[Speaker 2]
In case we get in a car accident tomorrow on the way to Guadalajara. Just five minutes.

[Speaker 1]
I'm sure you all have this app on your phone. I'm going to check in the afternoon. If you need help, talk to Scott.

I don't know anything how a computer works or a cell phone works. I don't know anything.

[Speaker 2]
I just ask Scott.

[Speaker 1]
Then he takes care of it. Ready? Here we go.

Three deep breaths.

[Speaker 2]
Don't move until you took three deep breaths.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, come on, stretch. Next photo. It took me a long time to find that one.

What's it mean? Yeah, be careful.

[Speaker 2]
Okay, with small things.

[Speaker 1]
Because karma multiplies. Okay, every 24 hours, karmic seeds double. It's a little bit like your credit card interest.

You know the credit card company says, you can have $5,000 limit, just .001 percent.

[Speaker 2]
But it goes like this, okay?

[Speaker 1]
It's exponential. So, after, if you don't pay your credit card for, I don't know, three weeks, then you owe them a thousand dollars. And karma is like that.

So, if something doubles every day, it's one million by the end of the month. So, even little things we do, they have very large effects on our life. And you can use that for good things, or it can hurt you.

So, if you get a chance to do little nice things for other people, never miss a good chance. Okay? If you can share a tea with somebody, then do it.

Okay? It's going to mean one million teas later. Okay?

Just tiny little nice things for other people. Open the door for somebody. Then for 200 lifetimes, you're going to have somebody helping you.

Okay?

[Speaker 2]
So, every time you get a chance to do a small good thing, take it. Okay?

[Speaker 1]
But also small bad things. Like you feel upset with somebody. Try to clean it fast.

Try to work it out fast. Don't let it go on for one day or two days.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
Because those seeds will double every 24 hours. This morning I had a problem with somebody the last couple days, and I'm like, oh, I was tired from the fire, but I said, I have to get up early and write to them and finish this thing, you know? Because it will take a lot of time, and it's going to take a lot of time, and it will double every day.

So, this meditation, I like you, normally, on this kind of meditation, and on the bicycle, I'm sorry, the packing noodle meditation, you have a choice.

[Speaker 2]
You can think about the mistakes you made in your life.

[Speaker 1]
Or you can think about the good seeds you do.

[Speaker 2]
Generally, my advice, and my Lama's advice, think about the mistakes you made one or two times. Decide you don't want to do them again, and then let it go.

[Speaker 1]
But the good things you did, think about them over and over and over and over.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
So, when a Buddhist person goes to bed, they're not thinking, oh, I made a mistake when I was in college, I did this bad thing, you know?

[Speaker 2]
Just clean those things, you know?

[Speaker 1]
Once, twice, and then forget about it.

[Speaker 2]
But the good things, think about them over and over, especially when you go to bed.

[Speaker 1]
So, when you fall asleep, your mind opens.

[Speaker 2]
Like a flower.

[Speaker 1]
And all night long, your mind is open. Deeper part of your mind. And then when you wake up, it closes again.

So, at night, your mind is very sensitive to negative thoughts or positive thoughts. So, as you fall asleep, try to think about the good things you've done and you're doing now. Without pride.

Yeah? Okay? What does pride feel like about good things?

Actually, I'm the best translator in this room, you know? It's good that I'm translating, you know? It helps everybody, and there are other translators in the room.

[Speaker 2]
They're okay, but I'm the best do-gooder in this room. Then you feel competitive about your good deeds. I have a new joke with my friends.

[Speaker 1]
If I see someone's very competitive, I say, like, Nick, I don't know why I have to see competitive people. It means that I'm competitive, so I see that. Okay?

So, when your flower starts to open up, when does it start to open up? Okay? When your head is almost on the pillow.

[Speaker 2]
It goes like this.

[Speaker 1]
Okay? And then your mind is open. That's why you have nightmares sometimes, you know?

Very strong worries about finance or family. Then when you wake up, the flower closes, and you're like, oh, that's not such a big thing. So, in Buddhism we use that.

[Speaker 2]
Just before you fall asleep, think about the good things you're doing.

[Speaker 1]
Geshe-la, I didn't do anything good for one year.

[Speaker 2]
Okay, so two years ago, what did you do?

[Speaker 1]
Okay? There's no expiration date on a good seed. So, try to go to sleep happy.

And you will sleep well also. And when you wake up, you look nice. Then you save so much money on makeup and other things.

Okay? Okay? It's a nice ...

Okay, so you ready? We're going to think ... so, it means think about some small things you did yesterday that were nice for other people.

And then today, don't miss opportunity to do nice small thing for somebody else.

[Speaker 2]
Okay? Because it will double every 24 hours.

[Speaker 1]
Okay? Ready? People ask me questions.

I was in Ukraine. I'm the only lama who advised the mafia. Okay?

I was in Ukraine, and some guy came to me, and he said, I need to talk to you. Then I said, okay, and he said, I'll take you to lunch. Then he took me to a restaurant near the hotel.

[Speaker 2]
Were you there?

[Speaker 1]
I don't remember. Yeah, he was there. Then we go in, it's very dark, and all the waitresses had mini skirts.

And stockings.

[Speaker 2]
And high heels.

[Speaker 1]
And all the guys' arms are like this. And they all have this, like this. And I really felt very nervous.

[Speaker 2]
I was like ...

[Speaker 1]
Then I said, what kind of place is this? And he said, oh, this is our mafia club. And I'm like, oh, okay.

Then he said, you know, I came to your talk, and you're talking about planting karma seeds, and good seeds, and bad seeds. Then I started thinking about my business. Because he's import-export, and he said, I spend a lot of money every year on bribes.

And then after your talk, I'm thinking, maybe I'm making a mistake. Maybe I should try an honest way. But I'm a little nervous, because I'm making a lot of money.

I don't want to mess it up. So, what do you think I should do? Then I said, how many companies do you have?

[Speaker 2]
He said, I have ten companies. I said, okay, let's make an agreement. One of your companies, let me run it, according to good karma.

[Speaker 1]
And let's see, in six months or one year, let's have competition. Does my one company make more money, or your nine companies make more money? He's like, okay, let's try.

Then I made a list of rules for the one company. No more bribes. No more shooting the competition.

Then I got busy. He brought like 20 people to one retreat, I think. Then, you know, I was in Hamburg, in my hotel.

What's it in Hamburg? I forget. Another country.

And then there's a knock on my door.

[Speaker 2]
Bam, bam, bam, bam.

[Speaker 1]
You know, and I open it up. And he's there, you know. Then I'm like, is everything okay?

He said, I got to talk to you. I was supposed to go give a talk, but I said, yeah, come in. I'm not doing anything.

Then we sat down, you know. I'm like looking in the bathroom. Can I run in and lock the door?

And he said, you know, we made this deal in Kiev, and you gave the rules for one company.

[Speaker 2]
I'm running the other one.

[Speaker 1]
And I just came here.

[Speaker 2]
I flew to Germany to tell you something. The one company is double profit compared to the other companies.

[Speaker 1]
And thank you very much. Then I thought, maybe he's going to pay me something or something. He's like, bye, see you later.

[Speaker 2]
Why are we talking about that?

[Speaker 1]
Why did those guys get rich if they are doing bad seeds? Why? They did some little good things.

Maybe he spent money on the wedding of his nephew or something, right? And planted this good seed. He gave something, and that seed doubled, doubled, doubled, doubled, doubled, doubled, doubled, doubled.

Then he's successful. But it's not because of the bribe. And obviously it cannot be because of the violence.

Jesus said, you don't get figs from thistles, or you don't plant a sandia and get a banana.

[Speaker 2]
Shikwa, shikwa.

[Speaker 1]
You don't plant shikwa and get a banana, a watermelon.

[Speaker 2]
It's impossible. It's impossible.

[Speaker 1]
So, if bad things happen in your life, don't freak out. Oh, my boyfriend broke up with me. I must be a bad person.

It's true.

[Speaker 2]
No, it's not true.

[Speaker 1]
Maybe you said a small thing to your friend. Like, I saw your new boyfriend. There's a big debate in Buddhism.

There are three kinds of karma. What you do with your body, like give money to the poor.

[Speaker 2]
What you do with your talking, like lie to your mother.

[Speaker 1]
What you do inside your mind. Like, actually I'm the best translator in this room. But you don't tell anybody.

[Speaker 2]
So, there's a debate.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, I saw your new boyfriend. Is that talking or is that body?

[Speaker 2]
Which kind of, which of the three karmas?

[Speaker 1]
I think it's talking. You don't say anything, but you're like... Okay.

Then you forgot about it. You planted a small seed because you were not careful.

[Speaker 2]
And then it doubled every day.

[Speaker 1]
Then six months later your boyfriend leaves you. Karma is very dangerous, very difficult. You have to be super careful with everything.

[Speaker 2]
Okay.

[Speaker 1]
So, we're going to do a meditation, five minutes. I want you to think about some small good thing you did yesterday, without pride.

[Speaker 2]
Because pride is a new bad seed. What's pride?

[Speaker 1]
I'm the best little seed planter in this room.

[Speaker 2]
I do the most small good things for other people in this room.

[Speaker 1]
Then maybe you will be successful because you did small good things. But you will be surrounded by people who are very proud. We call it Karna Lende.

The Yoga Sutra calls it Ashukla Krishna Yoga... Karma Ashukla Krishna Yoganestri Vidham Ittare Sham, fourth chapter, Yoga Sutra. Most people are making mixed karma, black and white.

Oh, I gave a coffee to Alejandro yesterday.

[Speaker 2]
I shared my coffee. Then that's a good seed.

[Speaker 1]
Then I'm the best coffee giver in this room. Then that's a Krishna, Ashukla Krishna. It's white, black, karma mixed together.

Then you get mixed results. You have a boyfriend, but he takes advantage of you like that.

[Speaker 2]
So, we're going to do a meditation. Five minutes, without pride, about the small good things you did yesterday.

[Speaker 1]
Then I'm going to give you an opportunity to be proud. I'm going to ask you, what did you remember? Okay, so then some of you can tell us, what small thing you remember doing yesterday?

Okay. Ready? How much?

Here we go. Three deep breaths. Don't move yet.

Don't open your eyes yet.

[Speaker 2]
Don't open your eyes, and don't move until the three deep breaths are done.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, stretch. Okay, let's do some new stuff. We're going to start at de shin du lam.

de shin du lam. Okay, good. de shin du lam gongwa nying je sok kyewa la, ok me ngenjung sok ma kyepar mi ongwa chunju le kyang So, the Lama was starting the tenth day of his teaching, and he was giving some introductory remarks.

[Speaker 2]
And he was talking about how important it is to do things in order.

[Speaker 1]
If you go to Casa Salesiana, from Guadalajara, you have to go through, you have to go by Rancho Contento, and La Vente. So, your goal is not to stop at Rancho Contento, or La Vente. Your goal is to get to Casa Salesiana.

But you have to go through those places to get here. So, a person who wants to help the whole world, they have to go through those lower towns. First one, which we call, in Lam Rim, we call person of small capacity.

What's their goal? Yeah, I just want to be human again. I want to pack human noodles in my suitcase.

Okay? If I die, I don't want to go to a bad place. For example, hell.

Then, we cannot see hell. It's interesting that many religions talk about hell. Same thing.

Maybe that's because many people saw it. But even if you don't want to believe in hell, there's a thing called nyi tseway nyengwa. Nyi tseway nyengwa.

It means hell on earth. Like right now, Syria.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
Half the people are, their homes are destroyed. Half. Okay.

Half are running. No food, no money, no home. They are just running.

Anywhere they can go, they are running. So, even if you don't believe in hell, there are hell, we call in Buddhism, we call small hell on this world. So, what do you call it?

Rancho contento. I just want to take care of my noodles in my suitcase. I don't want to go down after I die.

Then to help the world, you have to go through that first.

[Speaker 2]
To help the whole world, you have to go through that motivation. Second one, I don't want pain.

[Speaker 1]
I don't want to work my whole life and build a house for my children and then see them wasted in six months. After I die. So, I don't want any pain in my life.

So, to get to Khasa Silesiana, you have to get through that also.

[Speaker 2]
In this example, what is Khasa Silesiana?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, help the whole world. Help the whole world.

[Speaker 2]
But you have to help yourself before you can help the whole world. I will teach you meditation. Are you meditating every day?

[Speaker 1]
No, but I can teach you. Okay, so this, now he says you have to go through NGAN SBYUNG NGAN SBYUNG if you want to reach SNYING RJE. NGAN SBYUNG means renunciation.

To reach SNYING RJE means compassion. SNYING RJE means king of the heart.

[Speaker 2]
Love for other people.

[Speaker 1]
Don't want other people to have pain. But you can't go there until you don't want yourself to have pain. Because when you think about other people, you cannot feel the pain they are feeling.

It's not possible. You can only be aware of others' pain through deduction. If I put a needle into El Handel, I cannot feel that pain.

[Speaker 2]
But with logic, I can think, when I put that in my own arm, it hurts. So it must be hurting him also.

[Speaker 1]
I think so. Okay, so you have to be aware of your own pain to have love. Because you cannot directly feel other people's pain.

[Speaker 2]
If somebody's mother dies, you can see their face.

[Speaker 1]
And you can guess. You can guess inside what they are feeling. That's logic.

But you cannot feel it yourself. What they are feeling. Okay, so if love is kasa salisyana, then being aware of your own pain and wanting to stop your own pain is sumarang chok kyang to.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
And you cannot go here without going through here. You cannot have love for other people if you don't think about your own pain. Okay?

So that's what he's talking about. You cannot jump to the secret teachings of Buddhism without doing the 18 courses. Okay?

And if you don't do one or two, if you don't do two of them every year or three, you won't finish them. Okay? You have to do two or three courses a year.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
People tell me, Geshe-la, I didn't have time to do two or three courses this year. I only did one. Okay, so minimum it's going to take you 18 years.

Then do you know you're going to be alive in two years? You know? So try to finish them, okay?

They're easy. And they're so easy, stupid easy.

[Speaker 2]
They change your life. And they're easy. You can do them during breakfast.

[Speaker 1]
Just eat and listen to the audio. There was a young man in New York. I said, I'm not teaching you deeper things until you finish the 18 courses.

With the homeworks. He downloaded from Asian Classics Institute website, he downloaded all the homeworks, and he downloaded all the answer keys which are also on the website. He started on Friday morning, he ended on Sunday night.

By hand, he copied all the answers. Not one word different. Then he said, okay, I finished Geshe-la, here's the homework.

So, even he could do it in three days.

[Speaker 2]
You can do it in three or four years, okay?

[Speaker 1]
Please do it, okay? Alright? It saves your life.

[Speaker 2]
Whatever you're doing that you're too busy to do that, you will forget in one year.

[Speaker 1]
Okay. SKYE BAR MI'ONG BA'I CHUN CHUG LAS KYANG What's CHUN CHUG? JAL RGYAS AVATARA Yeah, it's an instruction book on how to be a bodhisattva.

It was written 1,200 years ago. And he said, SEMS CAN DE DAG RNAMS NA NGOS RANG GI SDUN DU SDUN DE SEMS MI LAM DU YANG MA MI NA GZHIN GYIS SDUN DU GA LA SKYES People in the world don't have understanding of how dangerous their life is.

[Speaker 2]
You can die any moment, and everybody does.

[Speaker 1]
And then next year we will say, do you know that guy who was teaching in Amatitan?

[Speaker 2]
He's not here this year.

[Speaker 1]
Why?

[Speaker 2]
Oh, he just died, you know.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, that's too bad. Let's go play soccer. Okay.

SEMS CAN DE DAG RNAMS NA NGOS RANG GI SDUN DU SDUN DE SEMS By the way, soccer is good if you need a break.

[Speaker 2]
Okay, very good.

[Speaker 1]
Good for spiritual life. You just don't do it all day. Okay.

SEMS CAN DE DAG RNAMS NA NGOS RANG GI SDUN DU So, people in the world, they don't even completely understand the danger they are in themselves. So, how can they feel compassion for other people? They don't understand how dangerous their own life is.

So, how can they have love for other people? Why is he talking about that? You cannot reach that love for others until you reach that love for yourself.

You cannot reach that love for yourself unless you understand that you also are in danger. Okay. Next part.

SKYES BU CHUNG DRIN GZHAD PA'ANG SKYES BU CHUNG DRIN THON MO'I This is a very, very, very, very, very, very, very important part. Okay. SKYES BU CHUNG DRIN GZHAD PA'ANG Then these three motivations, these three capacities in the lam rim, this is the basis of the whole structure of this lam rim.

[Speaker 2]
Lam rim is this ancient teaching on how to help the world. Number one, you must be packing your noodles.

[Speaker 1]
Take care of your next life this morning, then you can relax in the afternoon.

[Speaker 2]
If you don't die by tonight, you can put the suitcase of noodles in the closet, and it's ready for tomorrow. So take care of that first.

[Speaker 1]
Then try to stop all the pain in your whole life. And then try to help other people stop their pain, because you understand what they must be feeling.

[Speaker 2]
This is in the lam rim. This is called small person, medium person, big person.

[Speaker 1]
It doesn't mean how many yotels did you eat.

[Speaker 2]
It means big motivation, medium motivation, and smaller motivation.

[Speaker 1]
So if these are like, I like to go from Guangzhou, to go to Shanghai, to go to Beijing, right? You take the high speed train from Hong Kong. You have to go through Guangzhou, then Shanghai, then you can reach Beijing.

Ready? So this is low motivation, small person. What's their motivation?

Yeah, I don't want to be a bug in my life. I don't want to be a roach in my next life. Then middle motivation.

[Speaker 2]
I want to get out of all these problems. This is Shanghai, right?

[Speaker 1]
This is Guangzhou.

[Speaker 2]
We start in Hong Kong. Then what's Beijing? It's highest motivation.

[Speaker 1]
I want to help the whole world.

[Speaker 2]
Now I have a question for you, and it's one of the most famous questions of the Lam Rim. Should the person who wants to go to the highest goal study Beijing?

[Speaker 1]
Should they study the teachings for people from Guangzhou? Should they follow this path? In the Lam Rim, you're not allowed to say that.

We say you have to follow the path which Beijing people share with Guangzhou people. So in the Lam Rim, in the debate, if someone asks you, are Beijing people allowed to follow Guangzhou path? You have to answer, just enough to get closer to Beijing.

We share this much of the road we share. But this is not my path. Okay, I'm just using it to get to Beijing.

Understand? So do we practice the lower path, Guangzhou path? Sorry.

You say, no. It's just to get to Beijing. It's shared.

It's shared on the road to Beijing.

[Speaker 2]
And those lower people will stop in Guangzhou and they won't go further.

[Speaker 1]
But I'm headed for Beijing.

[Speaker 2]
Okay, that has to be strong in your mind.

[Speaker 1]
I'm studying how to help myself because I want to help the whole world.

[Speaker 2]
It's just the first step. Okay? All of these meditations, they are meant to help you, personally.

[Speaker 1]
But in your mind, you have to think, I'm learning them so I can help other people. Okay? All right.

DE YANG PAS NA BDAG SHING MTHONG PO RUNG RONG DANG CHU ZHUR DU RDOR MI GSUM LA BYAR NA DANG PO So he's talking about the same example. In Tibet, somebody wants to go to a monastery called DRAG SHES MTHONG PO. Then to get there, you have to go through a town called Rung.

And you have to go through a town called CHU ZHUR. It's the same as Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing. DANG PO DE'ER BRTAG LHUN PO'I RDRO DGOS PA LA DE'ER DROD PA'ANG GZHAN NYID DANG THU MONG BA'I LAM DU RDRO DGOS To get to DRAG SHES MTHONG PO, he must take the road that is shared with people who want to go to Rung and CHU ZHUR.

[Speaker 2]
Next question.

[Speaker 1]
Is there ... those guys going to be ... you know, start on the road from ...

they leave from Hong Kong together, three guys.

[Speaker 2]
Is their intention the same?

[Speaker 1]
Yes or no? No. No.

This guy is thinking, when I reach Guangzhou, I will stop. This guy is thinking, when I reach Shanghai, I will stop. This guy is thinking, I know I have to pass through Guangzhou, I have to pass through Shanghai, but I'm going to Beijing.

CHU ZHUR DANG RUNG LA DUS NAS DROD PA DANG BRAL MI DROD PA BRTAG LHUN DU DROD PA'I BSAM PA SHES NO Two of them are thinking to stop on the way. One of them is thinking, I ain't stopping for nothing. I'll take one green ...

I'll take one bubble tea in Guangzhou, then I'm leaving the station. I will jump out of the train, get a bubble tea, and then I'll get back in the train. I'm going to Beijing.

Okay, understand, right? Okay. DE YANG LA RIM DIR GYIR BO CHUNG DRING SKABS KYANG MI RGYUD SEMS CAN DON DU SANGS RGYAS DGOS PO'ANG LA MI DGOS PAS The person who wants to go to Beijing has to, in their mind, their goal is Beijing.

And those of us who want to practice a higher path, our goal is to change this world. Can we do it? If you can show a mafia boss in Ukraine how to make more money with good karma, you can change the world.

[Speaker 2]
It's not theoretical.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, I want to change the world. You can really do it.

[Speaker 2]
Because it works.

[Speaker 1]
The mafia guy can make more money by making good karma. He's happy also. You don't change them by locking them up.

You don't change them by punishing them.

[Speaker 2]
You educate them.

[Speaker 1]
Look, you can make more money, man.

[Speaker 2]
And it's more relaxing.

[Speaker 1]
It's fun to make good karma. It's stressful to kill people. DGOS PO'ANG LA MI DGOS PAS SEMS BSKYED NI And every person in the world can understand this path.

Everybody.

[Speaker 2]
And you don't have to be Buddhist. I don't care. What picture you keep in your house, on your altar, I don't care.

[Speaker 1]
Who do I keep on my altar?

[Speaker 2]
Jimi Hendrix.

[Speaker 1]
I don't have Buddha picture. I don't care what picture you have in your house. What picture your mother and father keep in their house, you also keep in your house.

It's good. What's the holiday today in Mexico? The Mother of Jesus.

La Virgen de Guadalupe. She's called the Virgin because her child was born without sex. And holy beings, they have children without sex.

[Speaker 2]
And just the baby comes.

[Speaker 1]
Buddha also born from his mother's side. How was Patanjali born? His name means popped up in the water.

His mother was offering water to her god.

[Speaker 2]
She's thinking, I wish I could have a baby.

[Speaker 1]
Then his mother was very pure. She doesn't want to have sex. Pop!

Then, wow, baby! He fell in the water. Patanjali.

Patanjali. That's his name. So, today is the holiday of the Virgin.

It's the most important religious holiday in Mexico. Then we had a ... him and me, we had a fight before the class.

Who's going to tell the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe? Then I said, you go ahead and tell. Because actually, I don't know the story very well.

So, you want to hear my bad understanding of that story, or you want to hear his good understanding of this story? I don't know. I'll start, but he has to finish.

[Speaker 2]
All I understand, maybe it's completely wrong.

[Speaker 1]
There was a poor farmer near Mexico City.

[Speaker 2]
Not very long ago.

[Speaker 1]
Then he used to pray to the Virgin every morning. And then one day while he's working in the fields, he met her. And he used to meet her from time to time.

Tsongkapa's teacher also named Umapa. He's a sheep herder. And he met the Buddha many times.

[Speaker 2]
Manjushri.

[Speaker 1]
Then Tsongkapa heard that this sheep farmer meet the Buddha. Then many people say, no, no, he didn't meet the Buddha. But Tsongkapa is very smart.

So he said, I will check. Then he met the farmer. And he said, so you meet the Buddha, right?

[Speaker 2]
Yeah. Can you talk to the Buddha? Yeah, anytime.

Okay, I have some questions about philosophy.

[Speaker 1]
Like, if you go to Beijing, if you have a higher goal, do you practice this lower path or not? Then the guy says, okay, hang on a minute. Then he said, Buddha says no.

[Speaker 2]
You share the path, but you don't practice the path.

[Speaker 1]
Understand? Then Tsongkapa asked him many difficult questions. He answered them all perfectly.

Then Tsongkapa had, because he's so smart, he had another good idea. Look, you have to take care of your sheep.

[Speaker 2]
I also have to start many monasteries.

[Speaker 1]
It's hard for me to come here and keep asking you questions so you can ask the Buddha. Can you ask the Buddha how I can talk to him directly? Then he taught, the Buddha taught Tsongkapa how to talk to Buddha without the farmer.

So my understanding is that of course many people didn't believe that the farmer could talk to the mother of Jesus and see her. But then finally everybody agreed he saw, and I think the Pope made him a saint. I think so.

And then this vision of the mother of Jesus in the way that she came in Mexico is always painted like that. And it's very beautiful. That's my understanding.

Do you have anything to add?

[Speaker 2]
No.

[Speaker 1]
We have one in our retreat center. A beautiful statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

[Speaker 2]
Oh yeah, I have something to add.

[Speaker 1]
Okay.

[Speaker 2]
So, one of the teachers in Diamond Mountain, told me that Green Tara and La Virgen de Guadalupe, they're emanations of the same. They're similar emanations. That's all I have to add.

Okay. My mother.

[Speaker 1]
Good source.

[Speaker 2]
She thinks it's important to mention that this guy, he was bringing offerings, flowers, and when he opened the flowers like this, the painting was in his chest and in his here.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah.

[Speaker 2]
Okay. The flowers appear before? Ah, with the painting, at the same time.

Okay. And she told him, go and bring us some roses and we have one here and bring it to them.

[Speaker 1]
Like, who can make this emulation of the emotion of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

[Speaker 2]
Okay.

[Speaker 1]
In Buddhism, we say THAR THOB BSTAD PA'I PHYIG. It means, we believe all these people are the same people. Okay, and so we respect all of them.

Okay, all right then.