«Дар освобождения», курс 25 «Совершенное прибежище», занятие 18

[Speaker 1]
I think at meditation number 18, page 8, okay? We're going to start ... the meditations and the Lamrim book are starting ...

going to start to touch on the refuge vows. So, these twelve vows, and this is the ... kind of the first one that directly addresses that, and ...

it does mean once you take refuge in the Buddha Jewel ... let me read you the vow. Don't seek refuge in worldly objects and deities after you have taken refuge in the Buddha.

So, anybody here who has a Buddhist name? You took this vow already, and it's nice to understand the vow more deep. So, I spend a lot of time thinking about this vow, and I ...

in my feeling, in the modern world, there are different religions, you know? There are Buddhism, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, you know? There are lots of different religions, and they have different teachings.

Like, Christian says that God took six days to make the world, and then on the seventh day took a rest, and that's why we should go to church on Sunday, something like that. The old religion of Tibet, Bun says that ... the world was created by a monkey who got ...

had sex with a witch, or something like that, okay? Something like that, and every religion has a different idea where the world came from, and who's running the world, okay? But, it seems to me, in my ...

how I see things, how I see the world, and I travel a lot, so I get to see many countries, and I see them once a year, and twice a year, so I ... I see ... there's almost no place where we don't go, you know?

We just got invited to Africa, and I think we'll go, because it's South Africa. So, I kind of see what people believe in, and what they all believe in is science, is cell phones, you know? And to be honest, you know, I think the religion, or the belief of this world, is ...

is cell phones, you know? And it's shared by all ... what do you call it?

Religions. I mean, like, Muslim people believe in cell phones, Christian people believe in cell phones, Jewish people believe in cell phones, and you know, if your cell phone breaks, and you give the person a choice, you can pray to Mohammed, or you can pray to Yahweh, or you can pray to God, or you can take it to the cell phone fixing store, they will choose the cell phone fixing store. They don't go to the church, or the synagogue, and pray that the cell phone will work, you see?

And they don't try to fix someone else's cell phone. Okay? I taught seeds to ...

I had a children's group for many years, it was my fourth power, for the mistake I made with an abortion. So, for 15 years I taught a children's group. And one day in New York, we were ...

I don't know if you remember, it was at Leon's place, and I was teaching this kids group, and the air conditioner broke. And it was really hot New York, wet New York, hot summer day, and me and this other teacher, we got up on a ladder, and we were trying to fix the air conditioner, and the kids were running around and going crazy, and then this little boy came and grabbed my pants, leg, and he pulled it, you know, and he said, no no, Gosu Michael, you know, don't do that.

[Speaker 2]
I'm like, just be quiet, I'm trying to fix it. He said, no no, you're not fixing it. I said, I'm kind of, I just, you know, go play, I'm trying to fix it.

He said, you should go outside, find another person whose air conditioner is broken, and you help them fix it. That's the way to fix the air conditioner. Then I'm like, oh no.

[Speaker 1]
So, everybody believes in engines, and motors, and the Internet, and computers, and that's the real religion of the world. We have our culture. Our parents, you know, lit a menorah on, what, Friday night, or our parents painted each other on Diwali, or dressed up on ...

what's that called? Purim. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Purim.

I was in Tel Aviv, in Jaffa, on Purim, which is a religious Halloween, and everybody was dressed up as the angels, and I was so happy, you know, and I had to give a talk at the Jaffa Theatre I think, 800 people, and I got out of the car, in my robes, and some guy runs up to me and says, hey cool motherfucker, you look just like Diwali.

[Speaker 2]
That's a nice costume.

[Speaker 1]
So, we have our religious culture, Christmas dinner, or you know, Christmas tree, Christmas songs, but what people really believe in, is science. Everybody, you know, believes deeply, and a big part of their life is their cell phone. What's this called?

You ready? They left their cell phone in the taxi cab, and then people go crazy, people go, like, it's like someone just told them they have cancer, you know. So, people believe in the cell phone, you know.

So, for me, what we have to compete with, is not other religions. Like, I don't think this vow, first vow, first refuge vow, I encourage you, don't think, oh I'm not Hindu, we don't like Hindus, or I'm not Muslim, we don't like Muslims, you know. Don't think like that, okay?

What we don't like is cell phones, okay? What we're competing with is cell phones, okay? People believe the cell phone works, because Wang Xia and her friends put pieces in this thing.

She's a manager for Apple in Shanghai, you know, we believe that the cell phone works because these people in China, Foxconn, they put the pieces in the plastic, and that's why it works, and we believe that. And that's the religion we are competing with, okay? That's the one which is wrong, okay?

Why does cell phone work? What would the boy say in my kids class? You help someone else communicate, you see?

You helped other people communicate, then your cell phone will never break, you got it? Okay? What's the karma for the cover breaking?

I don't know, you have to figure it out. Not being clear to people? Okay, so, this meditation, number 18, it's to try to recognize inside of you, your real religion is cell phone, you know, or car, or airplane, you know, and you believe that, okay?

You believe the way to get from Singapore to LA, San Francisco? San Francisco is to get on a plane, you believe that, and you believe that the plane works if it has all its metal parts, you believe that, you know? You don't understand that how you got from Singapore to San Francisco was that you helped other people get to where they want to go, otherwise the flight would be cancelled, or they would pull you off the plane if it was United, something like that.

You see what I mean? And it's very hard, because we're surrounded by seven billion people who believe in science, and you have to struggle with it. So, in this meditation, you can think about anything, how you're gonna call your family when you get home, how you're gonna get home on an airplane or in a car, and you have to think about what makes the airplane work, or what makes the car work, or what makes the cell phone work, okay?

And if you can't overcome your belief in the religion of science, then you will never reach enlightenment, it's not possible, okay? I don't mean you should hate your cell phone, you should love your cell phone. You know, I love my cell phone, and I use it for good things, and bad things too, but you know, they're very valuable, they're very precious, they are unbelievably cool, but understand where it comes from, okay?

And that's taking refuge. When you understand what really makes a cell phone work, when you think about it, you are taking refuge. And then that taking refuge helps to destroy your old bad seeds, it creates new good seeds, your life becomes magical, everything you try is successful, okay?

You love other people, okay? So, this meditation is the most important one. He said that about four other ones, okay?