«Дар освобождения», курс 25 «Совершенное прибежище», занятие 15

[Speaker 2]
Okay, let's meditate. We can do that later. Maybe more money will go in if you meditate.

So please relax your forehead. You really can open your eyes slightly if you feel sleepy, but don't look at anything. Or if you feel sleepy halfway through, then crack your eyes open slightly.

Relax your fingers, stretch them out. Stretch, stretch, stretch, stretch. And then chin mudra.

Pull in your stomach slightly. Shoulders back. Relax.

And a little bit of smile. And then come to your breath. Long exhale.

Try to make the exhales, each one a little bit longer. And then please invite your heart teacher to come sit with you, in front of you. Knee to knee, very close.

Make them alive. They are breathing. You can smell the fragrance from their body.

You can feel their warmth. And bow down to them by thinking of some good quality that they have. And just enjoy, just enjoy that good quality.

Just admire it. Make them an offering. I think today let's choose something that somebody else did.

So it's easy to find an offering, the hard work that people have done to help us here. It's a lot of work to keep this place ready for us. All year long, they're working so we can offer our lama this beautiful seed that opened inside of us, that we have people to help us work so hard.

And then you can open your heart, show your lama one bad habit that you have, that you're embarrassed to talk about. And you can be honest with your lama, show it to them, ask for help. And ask your lama to keep teaching, encouraging us to take refuge, real refuge, in using the seeds of serving others to make the world happy, make ourselves happy, and the whole world.

And ask the lama to stay in our life, stay in our heart, inside the grain of shuddhi. Then again, I'd like to do a meditation on our plans for the next month. So the month of May is beginning soon.

And it seems like a good month to try to improve our practice by taking refuge. So think of something that we did yesterday, something you would like to achieve. I would like to make more time in my life to do things I'd like to do.

So I'm going to be quiet for a while. And you go ahead and do the four steps for yourself for May. Number one, I would like something to change in my life.

And then number two, I know someone who would like to see something similar. And then number three, I can make a very doable plan to help them, a specific plan. And then number four, you can imagine, you can practice a coffee meditation this morning.

Plan to do it every night for May, in May. Okay, so I'll be quiet. You go ahead and do your four-step planning.

And I'll meet you in about ten minutes. Please ask your lama to come into your heart. Let's do it slow.

You know how to do it. The main thing in the scripture is that they are really happy that you're asking for them to stay in your heart. So try to feel how happy they are that you're practicing, how proud of you they are.

It's not easy to come to Diamond Mountain. It's not easy to stay here. Especially from other countries like New York.

And your lama is very, very happy that you worked so hard to come here. You spent so much money. You took your time.

And it's not like a five-star hotel. It's many things uncomfortable sometimes. It's difficult to sit in long, long classes.

And just try to feel how happy the Buddhists are, how happy your lama is that you worked so hard this week. And we had such beautiful harmony among all the people here. We're all from different countries.

We all have different backgrounds. And there's a beautiful family feeling here. And I think that makes the Buddhists very happy.

It makes your lama very happy that everyone worked so hard to have harmony with everyone else. Then come to your breath. Three long exhales.

Don't open your eyes yet. Okay, then open your eyes. Take a stretch.

All right, let's do a little bit of lam rim.

[Speaker 1]
I think it's right below that. There we go. Good.

All right, we're continuing with the refuge vow. What was the first one? After you take refuge in Buddha, don't do stupid refuge like cell phone refuge.

Then second one, after you take refuge in Dharma, don't hurt other people. Third one, after you take refuge in Sangha, stick around with people who irritatingly remind you of seeds. Number four is treat all Buddha images like real Buddha.

Number five is treat all writing as holy. Number six is treat all robe as holy, even if the person inside is not so holy. Number seven?

Yeah, think about how cool they are. Number eight? Yeah, I was watching when we were drinking before the meditation and Vivian did a nice offering.

I didn't. But she was like... I was drinking and I said, what's she doing?

And she's like... Okay. Okay, we're on number nine I think.

SKYEM ROL DRO LA DGOS PA NI It means help others to take refuge. Help others to take refuge. And there's a picture below there.

Can you show it? There's the wrong way. That's the wrong way to help others to take refuge.

You have to do what I say. I'm a Buddhist. I know everything.

You have to take refuge. Dharma Buddha, Dharma Sangha, Namo Buddhaya, Namo Buddhaya, Namo Sangha, Sharanam Gacchanami. You have to do that.

That's the wrong way. What's the right way? I heard your husband is yelling at you a lot.

Let me tell you about emptiness. Got it? Inside his head.

He's empty, right? No. Just kidding.

You know what I mean. Second husband. Okay, MTHEG PA'I THON PAR RDZOGS CES RDZOGS CES is...

I think it's named Purnana in Sanskrit. It's like, you can say Stephen Hawking. The guru of the science church.

Seriously. People always ask him, what do you think? And he's like, I think there's a black hole somewhere.

MTHEG PA'I THON PAR RDZOGS CES RDZOGS MNGAN PAR GSOGS DANG, MNGON NAS SKYEBS SU BSRUNG BA'I DBANG GIS Then actually, he says kind of tough things. Sometimes he's kind of tough. He's more direct than Geshe Michael.

He says, every time those guys tell you that copper atoms are carrying your conversations, they're actually creating a thicker obstacle in their own mind. Every time you ask a scientist, how does a cell phone work? And they say, oh, electrons are passing through a copper wire.

Every time they repeat that lower refuge, it gets stronger in their mind. So actually, every time they talk about science, it's actually hurting them. You see what I mean?

They don't understand where the copper electrons came from. And we're going to see in Kamala Shila why those atoms are impossible. And that wrong idea started, I think, with Aristotle or just before Aristotle.

But it gets stronger. All right. MNGON NAS SKYEBS SU BSRUNG BA'I DBANG GIS GNYEN NAMS BZANG RDOG PA LA GZHAN YANG GYUR BYAS LA BDE DGOS MED PAS RIGS Now, I like this next sentence.

LAM DU SPYIR RUNG BA Next sentence. LAM DU SPYIR RUNG BA Those are my own notes that I made in the last few months. LAM means on the path.

SPYIR means to help them get on the path. RUNG BA RUNG BA means people whose minds are open. They are, what do you call it?

Receptive. Like, you meet somebody on a plane or at a yoga class and they say, what do you do? And they seem like a pretty nice person.

If they are RUNG BA RUNG BA means they are open. They are receptive. They just didn't hear about it yet.

They can accept it or they would be interested to start learning. Then if you feel this person is RUNG BA, then share. Don't tell.

Share with them. Say, look, I learned this thing from this guy named Tsongkapa and if you can pronounce his name you become a Buddhist. No, just kidding.

And I think it's good to say, look, I don't follow it 100%. I'm not super successful. But I tried to use the four steps and I got some good results.

And I'm not perfect and I don't understand it perfectly. And it's a lot to understand. It's like an ocean.

But I try. I did my best. You want to team together and I'll tell you about this four step thing.

And you try it. And if it works, you do more. And if it doesn't work, just forget it.

I like there's some lamas who say it that way. Just give it a try. Four steps.

If it works, you can do more. If it doesn't work, you are just a nice person for a few weeks. Okay.

Alright. My friends used to ask me, my family say, what did Buddhism do for you? Then I, my mother and father were both alcoholic.

So I have genetic alcoholic. If I'm not careful, I will be alcoholic.

[Speaker 2]
So, I said, and they both died from alcohol.

[Speaker 1]
And then I said, if Buddhism didn't teach me anything else, but I learned not to drink alcohol. All those many years of study and many books and many teachings, maybe it's all wrong. But they taught me not to drink alcohol.

So, that's worth it. I didn't die yet. My mom died in her 42 or something, from alcohol.

My father died similar. Then I didn't. I'm older.

So, I always say, just tell your friend, look, I don't know if it's 100% correct. I'm not super Buddhist meditator. Usually when I meditate, I meditate about lunch.

My green drink. But it's cool. Maybe you want to try.

So that's vow number nine. Turn on other people who are open, but don't bother people who are not open. PHYIR RUNG BA NANG LA SKAD CES SHOR TSUN CES SKAD CES SHOR is cool.

Adam, you ready? SKAD CES means when you're just having an informal conversation. SKAD CES Then SHOR means insert it in the conversation.

SHOR means, by the way, like if you say, RGYAL ZAD KYI NANG LA PHYIN PA'I SHOR LA A NI BSGOM PA LA CING I was headed for RGYAL ZAD's house and then on the way, by the way, I dropped off at the community center. So SHOR LA means by the way. You're just talking to somebody in a coffee shop.

SHOR LA Insert in the conversation. You can say like this, do you like the coffee? They say, yeah.

Then you say, do you know about the four steps? Like smooth transition. ZAD DU SKON GYUR GYI YIN DU BYED PA'I DGON NAS KYAM MDO LA DGOS PA means help them to understand refuge.

The real refuge. The second husband. What number are we on?

Ten. Number ten. PHAS YIN BRTAN PA'I SGO NAS, NYIN LEN GSUM BRTZEN LEN I'm sorry.

NYIN LEN GSUM BRTZEN LEN GSUM DU KHYAMS SU BGRO BA NI, KHO YIN CHOG GSOS NA BSKYAB NAS YANG DAG TU DZIN CING, NYIN THAR PA NAS THEG PA SKYE DE, NYIN SEMS DU GRUB DU KHYAMS SU BGRO YIN We're supposed to take refuge six times a day. Three times during the daylight. Three times during the dark.

So it's harder in the summer to do all the nighttime work. If you understand what refuge is, you don't have to worry about this vow. Why?

At least six times a day, somebody will irritate you. At least six times a day you will have some kind of problem. And then you take refuge.

You say, I don't know, this person said something bad to me. This person put something bad about Geshe Michael on the internet. Okay, why?

Maybe, I saw this, Louis C.K. Do you know Louis C.K.? He's a comedian, American comedian. He says these guys went to Afghanistan. And people start shooting, they are American soldiers, people start shooting guns at them.

Maybe it's because they are shooting other people. Maybe. So someone criticized Geshe Michael on the internet.

Maybe. Geshe Michael judging people all day. 10 times a day, 20 times a day, 30 times a day.

Secretly. He's a nice guy, so he has to do it quietly. Inside here.

I don't know. Maybe. Maybe I cause it.

Then you took refuge. That's one. Then only five more.

You can think about the same irritating person again after an hour. Why do you put that stuff on the internet about me? Oh yeah, maybe.

I judge people. Like that. So if you really understand refuge, it's easy to...

This vow is no problem. In English we have an idiom, no brainer. Easy, super easy.

Anybody can do. No brainer. Okay, all right.

I have to teach them English idioms every day. They're supposed to teach me Chinese, but they gave up. Do, do, do, comes a drawing in.

All right, number 11. BYA BA GANG BYAS KYANG GOR BYED LA BLO BSKYANG NAS BYAS NI BYA BA BYAS CING RJUN DRA ZHIG BYAS KYANG Whether you're doing something major, or whether you're doing something minor, KHO NYID RJO GSUM LA BLO BSKYAL TE Put all your trust in the Three Jewels. It means in the Four Steps.

BSKYAL NAS KHO NYID RJO LA SPYOD PA LAS BSAM NGAN YOD RGYUD DANG YON DRES RGYAL BRTZEN MO PHAN SOGS LA BSKYAMS RDO MI BYAS PO Then try to make it a habit. So this is all about making it a habit to think about the real causes of things. That's all.

Make it a habit to think about the real causes of things. All day long. And don't take those lower...

Try to reduce your lower refuge in science or other things like that. Psychology. Okay.

Number 12. Last one. We did it.

Yay! KHO NYID RJO GSUM SOGS KHAM THAN NAS ZHES RGYAS KYI SPYIR YANG MI PO BA NI The last one is don't give up refuge. Don't give up refuge.

I think it's not difficult. But I've seen some people do it. We know some people, right?

They studied here for five, six, seven years. And then they got discouraged and they gave up. Those are the people who write me emails when they get cancer.

You know? Like 10 years later, 20 years later, after missing 25 Lam Rim retreats, they write me again. They say, Oops!

I boo-boo. I made a mistake. I gave up refuge.

Now, will you help me? I say, it's too late, man. What, you want me to teach 25 retreats again?

It's too late. Don't write me after 20 years and tell me you made a mistake. This guy came to me.

He said, you remember me? I said, no. He said, I was in the class at Rinpoche, my teacher.

He came to the class when there were only five students. I said, oh yeah, now I remember you. He said, I wasted my whole life.

You used your life. I wasted my life. He was in the first class with my Lama.

He said, I wasted my whole life. So don't be like that. All right.

,RGYAM ROL DANG RNAMS PA'I PHYIR NAS PHUN DROG SHING, If you stop thinking that things are made from your seeds, you get, what do you call it? Kicked out of Buddhism by yourself. Nobody...

What do you call that when you kick somebody out of religion? Yeah, nobody... Excommunicate means to kick somebody out of the religion.

You are not a good person. Now you are no more Christian or you are no more Jewish. But in Buddhism, it's not the authorities of the church who kick you out.

It's yourself. When you... Self-excommunication.

So some things are self-existent. So it means you gave up that way of thinking. It doesn't mean you say, I don't like Buddha anymore or something like that.

,RNAMS PA MA YIN NA, ,SKYE MTSUL RANG DANG, ,CHAN CHOS ZIN PA'I RIGS DANG, ,SANG SNGAGS PA YANG MIN PAR RGYUR BA'I, If you are not a Buddhist, you can't be a monk. If you are not a Buddhist, you can't be a bodhisattva. If you are not a Buddhist, you can't practice Diamond Way, secret teachings.

,GAM DO DONG DONG BA'I STONG RGYUD MIN YANG, So generally, not taking refuge, technically, is not on the list of ways that you can lose your vows. But, practically speaking, it's the same thing. If you give up the foundation, then you lose your bodhisattva vows, you lose your tantric vows.

What's the foundation? Just think like that. When you stop thinking like that, there's no foundation for your vows anymore.

So all these people are worried about how long your hair is. It's supposed to be this long if you're more than 10 miles from a monastery. It's supposed to be this long if you're...

Or they're worried about, do you have a blue stripe here or not? If you don't have a blue stripe, you're not a real Tsongkhapa follower. All these people worry about the outside things, right?

But that's not what makes you a monk or... It's your... Did you take refuge or not?

It's your thinking. Think like a monk. Then you can still go to the mall and buy nice clothes.

You don't have to wear the same thing every day. Then you're... They call it DON DAM PA'I DGE SLONG Say DON DAM PA'I DGE SLONG DON DAM PA'I DGE SLONG In Abhidharmakosha.

Stanley's translating it. Ultimate monk. Ultimate nun.

Is a person who understands the pen. Higher than normal monk. Higher than normal nun.

DON DAM PA'I DGE SLONG Ultimate monk. Ultimate nun. Anyone who understands the pen.

Higher monk. Higher nun. And they wear just, I don't know, mini skirts and stamp their feet and sing songs.

I like it. DE NA CHE BA SOGS KYI PHYIR RNAMS CHUNG BA LA DANG NA ZHES DGE Then in the Lam Rim, we say... You know, everybody's waiting for a chance to keep this vow.

This is where somebody from the immigration department ties you up and says, I'm going to kill you if you don't give up Buddha. We're all waiting to show we can be a martyr. I don't care, you could kill me now.

But then he says, be careful, because really, sometimes just making a joke you can give it up. So be careful just making jokes about Buddhism. Be careful.

Buddhism is very powerful stuff. You can make your jokes about politicians, people who aren't Buddhas, right?

[Speaker 2]
Okay.

[Speaker 1]
In Christian, we have the word goddammit. It's a bad word. You're using the word god for a bad thing.

So that's the same thing. In Tibetan, how do you say goddammit? No, you didn't say it right.

KUN ZHUGS SU It means three jewels. And when you say it that way, it means goddammit. So be careful.

One time I saw a Tibetan saying that, and I asked my Lama, he's angry, but he's saying three jewels. He says, don't learn it, don't learn it. Then, foreign people like to learn bad words, right?

Like phanto. Tell me what it means. Then you explain five dharma words or one bad word, they learn the bad word.

I don't know why. LAM RIM CHOS MO LAS Then he quotes the LAM RIM CHOS MO. SOGS KYIS CHOS YANG MI STONG BA DANG RGYAL BA NI RGYAL BA NI RGYAL DO STONG BA NGOS YIN LA So this is the big one.

He says this vow is probably very important. It means to stop thinking about seeds. You lost refuge.

DE BZHIN DU GONG CHO GSUM MA STANG YANG DE DAG DANG MI CHUN PAS STONG PA LA SOGS PAR GSUM LA NYIN RJIN BYAS NA He says less dangerous, but also dangerous, is to split your refuge. Oh, 50% science, 50% causes. Generally, everything is coming from me.

Generally, things come from karma, but not WeChat. WeChat is self-existing. WeChat came from itself.

The things very important in your life. Oh, those don't come from me. Okay, I like that.

So don't split your refuge. Go this way or go this way. Have some courage.

Accept it 100% or do science for a while, be miserable, come back later. GZHAN DU MI MA BA DANG RGYAL BZHIN GYAMS RDO LO MA KHAL BA'I STONG LA I'm going to go... We reached a very...

We actually covered what we're supposed to cover. That's very unusual. First time.

So Tim, I'm ready if you have other stuff, but I'm going to do one more sentence. What's the three signs of a good teacher? Know the material well.

Know the students well. Let the class out early. Makes a popular teacher.

Okay, so we have one more part. Then we reach the 13th day of the original teaching. So that's a very good place to stop before Guadalajara.

Don't forget to come to beautiful Mexico. The weather there is not like Diamond Mountain. It's always perfect.

The weather in Guadalajara changes 10 degrees all year. It's Garden City of Mexico. And we stay at Lake Chapala, which I used to call Lake Chalapa, because I can't remember now.

But come to Lake Chapala. Very, very beautiful place. We're going to try to have a yoga training after the Lam Rim for five days.

When it's confirmed, we'll send you an announcement. I didn't teach people how to teach yoga for 10 years or something. But if you have time, you can do both at the same time.

Go to Lam Rim and then stay for the yoga teacher training, if you will. DCI Yoga Teacher Training, NYI GUM PA Did I make a mistake? Introduction to Yoga, Not Real Yoga Teacher Training.

And we're trying to bring... It's Introduction to Yoga Teacher Training. And we're trying to bring 100 Mexican school teachers and teach them NYI GUM PA for free.

So there will come scholarship. But we didn't get the money yet, so I'm working on it. CHOG GSUNGS SOGS KYI PHYIR YANG MI STONG BA NI When you talk about not giving up the three jewels, even at the cost of your life, SNGAR RNAMS PA'I DGE NYIN ZHIG LA MU DE PA NANG GI GYUD KYAM DO MI STONG NA ZOD CES Then there was DGE NYIN.

DGE NYIN means not a monk or novice monk, but a lay person who took the refuge vow. Then some people caught him or her. I don't know who it was.

And they said, if you don't give up three jewels, we will kill you. Then what happened? DGE NYIN GYI KYAM DO MA LTA BAR He refused, or she refused.

They don't say he or she. MUN THEG PA'I TSE And they killed him. ZHA YUL DU SKYE BA Then he was born in Tushita heaven.

Not bad. Maybe try to get caught by the immigration department. Then the Lama did some review and we went home for the day.

Thank you.