«Дар освобождения», курс 25 «Совершенное прибежище», занятие 3

[Speaker 1]
Okay, third meditation. If I could answer like a mirror, then when you stand in front of a mirror, you don't have to ask the mirror to show you yourself, it's just automatic, that's the nature of a mirror. When you put something in front of a mirror, the mirror will show it automatically, you don't have to ask the mirror, please show me myself, okay?

You just stand in front of the mirror, and it's automatic, okay? And the idea here is that the way a Buddha serves people, it's automatic, it's like a mirror, okay? When you provide the mirror, Buddha will be there, okay?

When you give Buddha a place to come, Buddha will come, and Buddha doesn't think about it, it's called LHUNG GI GRUB PA, LHUNG GRUB. And it's such an important idea that many monks are called LHUNG GRUB. Geshe Sipa's first name was LHUNG GRUB, in Wisconsin.

So, it means, LHUNG GRUB means it just shows up automatically, LHUNG GRUB means automatically, okay? When you reach enlightenment, you have the power to show up automatically when someone needs you. So, a person in need is like a mirror, and a Buddha will show up there.

And there's a beautiful section in the Lamrim we'll get to, it's like the moon reflects in any body of water, and it doesn't matter if it's the Pacific Ocean, or a lake, or a puddle on the street in Hong Kong, or a tear in someone's eye, if there's water surface, the moon will shine, the moon will appear in that water, doesn't matter where it is, or how big it is, or how small it is, Buddha will appear, Buddha will come. If you ask, okay? Okay?

If you ask them, they will come, okay? And that's LHUNG GRUB, they don't think about it, it just happens, okay? It's automatic.

When someone needs them, they show up, okay? So, when you do this third meditation, goodness without thought, I would like you to ... we'll meditate it, we'll practice it together, but I'd like you to think about what it would be like to have that power, okay?

What if I had that power, you know? So, I like to think, I don't know why, I always see a bus in Guangzhou, and an old lady in Los Angeles, and maybe somebody in Paris, and they're all having a bad day in three different cities around this world, and then Buddha appears to them, you know? And ...

I think it's very common that Buddha will appear as a small dog for old ladies, that's why so many old ladies have small dogs, because Buddha just appeared. They need company, their husband died, and they feel lonely, and then Buddha will appear as a small dog, and they can walk the dog, and you know, like that. They will appear on a bus to help an old lady up into the bus, or something like that, you know?

They're doing this stuff now, all the time, every moment, they're doing this all over the world, they're just showing up where people need them, okay? So, I think it'd be nice when we do that meditation, you think about how it would be to have this power, okay? You want to do it right now?

Let's do it right now. So, get ready to meditate. I want to do each meditation with you at least once before you do your retreat.

Sit up straight, turn off your phone, I noticed the cell phone towers are getting closer and closer, we might have to move. Yeah, put on something, keep yourself warm. Jenny, you have a quote?

[Speaker 2]
Okay good, let's go.

[Speaker 1]
Sit up straight, pull in your tummy just a little bit, bring your shoulder blades together, open your chest, relax your fingers, come to your breath. Try to learn to come to your breath quickly, bring your mind down into your breath quickly, then try to imagine yourself as you will be a Buddha, and you will see that Buddha directly for the first time. When you see emptiness directly, right after that experience, in in the few hours following that experience, you will see yourself as you will be a Buddha taking care of an entire world.

So, I'd like to look at this Buddha as standing on top of the sky, you know, so their feet are, the bottom of their feet are facing the earth, but they are standing high above the atmosphere, standing on the atmosphere. Venerable Ching May asked me, what should we call the press that we have for printing Buddhist books? I said, let's call it standing on the sky press.

So you're standing, and you are looking down at your world, that you're in charge of, it's your responsibility as a Buddha to focus on this particular world, and help the beings in this world. So you feel sort of like a mom watching her child in a crib or something. This is your world to help take care of it.

And I'd like you to imagine this Buddha is like a moon, shining full moon, and then down there on the surface of this earth are bodies of water, oceans, lakes, puddles, teardrops, and your light of your moon shines in each one. As soon as the water faces you, you appear in the water like a mirror, like stepping in front of a mirror. But those bodies of water are people who need something.

So I'd like you to imagine the Americas, South and North America, and choose a city that comes to mind, and imagine someone in that city who needs help today. And you decide what kind of help. It could be they just lost their boyfriend or girlfriend or husband or wife, or they just found out that they are very sick, they have serious disease, or they just lost their job, they don't know what to do.

You choose a city, and you choose an imaginary person, or someone you know, in the Americas who has a problem. And then imagine that you step in front of that mirror, and you become someone or something that can help them.

[Speaker 2]
Maybe a dear friend, or a child who comforts them, or a teacher, or a little dog.

[Speaker 1]
You choose something, and step in front of the mirror of the person who needs you. And imagine you're helping them in a place in the Americas. Then stay in that body of the friend, or the dog, or ...

in the Americas, and then move your mind to Europe. Look down on Europe, Western or Eastern Europe, and choose a city, and then decide. Think of a person who might need you.

Let's do the whole strip, like Middle East, Africa, Europe, and think of someone who needs something. Choose a city, create an imaginary person, or think of a person you know about, say in Syria or something, and come to them as a friend, or protector, someone to love. Reflect in that mirror, in that puddle of water, of a person who needs you.

But don't let go of the one in the Americas. Keep that one going, and create a second one. Now move your mind to Asia, North and South, and do the same thing.

Think of any city, choose a city. Ho Chi Minh, Singapore, Jakarta, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing. You choose.

Imagine a person there who has some problem. Don't let go of the first two bodies you took in the Americas, and in the strip of Europe and Middle East, Africa. Hold those two, and now choose a city in Asia.

Imagine someone in trouble needs help, or choose someone you know, and step in front of that mirror of a person in need, and appear suddenly in their life, as a friend, or a teacher, or maybe as their child, someone they can love, and enter this third body at the same time as you keep the other two. And keep those three bodies going, helping three different people. And bring your mind back to yourself, standing on the sky.

Those three bodies are still living, helping people. But bring your attention back to yourself, as a Buddha, standing in the sky. And then three long exhales to come back.

[Speaker 2]
And then slowly open your eyes. Take a good stretch.