«Дар освобождения», курс 26 «Реальность кармы», занятие 14

[Speaker 1]
Everybody looks sleepy.

[Speaker 2]
Me too.

[Speaker 1]
I had a big coffee, nothing happened. Anyway, two more days, okay? Pretend you are a bright Buddhist student, you know.

So today we're going to try to do lion's dance, okay? Morning is a good time, and it needs some explanation, okay? So, during the lion's dance, you dance through different levels of meditation, okay?

Nine or ten different levels of meditation. And that's partly why it's called a dance, you know. And part of the idea is to get more familiar with meditation.

You guys know the traditional three kinds of meditation. Shargon, chegong, jogong. Shargon is like a review meditation.

Chegong is a problem-solving meditation. Why is my husband yelling at me? And jogong.

[Speaker 2]
Jogong is, you pick one object, like the Lama's eyes, and then you hold them single-pointedly.

[Speaker 1]
And then you try to go deeper, you try to drill down deeper into that object. So, when you drill down into an object, you can do it at really ten different levels, okay? So, I'm going to show you how to do it.

I'm going to do those ten levels with you, okay? And we'll practice that. In the lion's dance, you go like this, then you go, you go up, you come down, you drill in, you drill back.

[Speaker 2]
Then later, there's a thing called over-the-top meditation, which people do.

[Speaker 1]
Then there's over-the-top, well, we'll do it, but we do it after the lion's dance. So, there's lion's dance, and then you do over-the-top. That's a tradition.

[Speaker 2]
So, what we're going to do after the lion's dance, there's the lion's dance, and then the meditation that you're on top of. And the tradition is to do the lion's dance first, and then do the meditation where you're on top of all that.

[Speaker 1]
Then in over-the-top, so lion's dance, you go, you drill into the object. Doot, doot, doot, doot, doot. Then you come out, like a drill.

The drill has a reverse thing, and you come out like this. Then in over-the-top meditation, which is called, well, I'm just going to call it over-the-top, you drill in, to the nine levels down. Then there's a zero, so really there's ten, okay?

[Speaker 2]
Then you go down to one, jump to zero. Two, jump to zero. Three, jump to zero.

So, drilling into the object, but to improve your flexibility, mental flexibility, like drill down to seven, come back to three.

[Speaker 1]
Drill down to eight, go to ten. You know, like you jump around. Then this helps you to see emptiness, okay?

Because to see emptiness, you have to be at one of these nine. Okay? So let me tell you about that ...

first I'll tell you about these ... really there's ten levels. Lowest level is called desire realm mind, okay?

It's the state of mind you have almost all day, like when you're drinking a cappuccino. The mind is definitely not in meditation, okay? The mind is focusing on some outside object.

It's not inside. It's not pratyahara. The mind is not withdrawn from the senses.

[Speaker 2]
It's not in the external object, and it's not withdrawn inwards. It's called pratyahara. It's not focused.

It's in the objects of the senses, outwards.

[Speaker 1]
Then desire realm state of mind, it has two qualities, two parts. It's called tokpa and chepa, okay? Tokpa and chepa.

It's in the Yoga Sutra. Vittarka and something, vichara. Yeah, vittarka and vichara.

The definition of vittarka vichara in Buddhism comes in Stanley Bandhu's text.

[Speaker 2]
Where is Stanley Bandhu?

[Speaker 1]
tok ching chepa, tsing shim nyi. Tok ching chepa. Say tok ching.

[Speaker 2]
Tok ching.

[Speaker 1]
Chepa. Tsing shim.

[Speaker 2]
Tsing shim. Nyi.

[Speaker 1]
The definition of tokpa and chepa, vittarka vichara, is the mind which is aware of the general quality of the object. And then the mind which drills a little bit into the object, and here's the details of the object, okay? So, tsing means the general quality of the object.

I like to compare it to music, listening to music, okay? When you're in an American grocery store, and they are playing terrible music, it's very ... I don't know, I don't like it because I know they're aiming the music at my age group.

They are playing lousy 1968 pop music, because they know the only people who have time during the day to go to the grocery store is the 60 year olds. I don't like it. So I try not to listen to it.

But sometimes I can hear a song I know, I'm like, wow, that's Jimi Hendrix done with a really bad symphony, you know? Then if I go home and somebody asks me, was there music at the store? Because I have vittarka, rough awareness, I can say, yeah, there was music at the store, you know?

Then vichara means I'm driving home. I'm playing music off my iPod.

[Speaker 2]
My iPhone, sorry.

[Speaker 1]
And a song comes on the stereo that I really like, you know? Then I bribed Nick to get me a real stereo in my car. We tore out the factory stereo and we put a real stereo.

What's the definition of a real stereo? The bass player is the main thing. Then, not muy bien, it's a main thing.

Then when I'm driving home, I'm listening to the bassline, you know? So all I can hear is the bassline, you know? I ask other people, how do you like the bassline?

They're like, oh, is there a bass in that? They have tokpa, I have chepa.

[Speaker 2]
They have vittarka, I have vichara. They're just listening to the song. I'm drilling into the bass part, you see?

[Speaker 1]
So the lowest state of mind for meditation purposes is a desire realm mind. And it has a very primitive level of, I call it checking and examining, checking and examining. I'm sorry, noting and examining.

In English, note means, in verb, note means, did you note the music in the grocery store? And they say, oh yeah, I noted it. I was aware of it.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah, that's fine.

[Speaker 1]
So especially for things like, desire realm, things like food or music, the state of mind is very primitive. Then you know there's a, what we call in Buddhism, form realm and formless realm. So in this, if you're a very nice person in this world, and you make very good karma, you can be born in the form realm after you die.

This is like, what's that? Punta del Este? Punta del Este?

Uruguay?

[Speaker 2]
What do you call it?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, Punta del Este. It's like Punta del Este. Form realm.

[Speaker 2]
Everybody has a bikini. All the guys are handsome.

[Speaker 1]
Soccer players. Okay, so the reason they call it form realm, is that everything's only like five-star hotels and lots of fuentes? Fountains.

And everybody's very handsome, beautiful. We call that beautiful people. In English we say beautiful people.

That's if you meditate a lot in the desire realm. You can be reborn in the form realm. Then there's, it's very famous that this is a wrong place to go.

Because they are having too much fun to be interested to come to lam rim retreat. Okay, like most of the people in Guadalajara and US right now. Then if you meditate even more in the desire realm, you can be born in the formless realm.

In the formless realm people don't have a gross physical body.

[Speaker 2]
They have prana which is physical.

[Speaker 1]
So they still have lung sem yukpa chikpa. The mind is still riding on the physical prana. If you die in the desire realm and you made enough karma to go to the formless realm, it's like the richest house in Punta del Este.

There's no bardo. There's no bardo. Okay, why?

Why? Yeah, you don't have to go anywhere. The bardo between death and rebirth, the bardo, the time, the spirit time between death and rebirth, the purpose of bardo is to get from Guadalajara to Punta del Este.

But the formless, if you're born into the formless realm, there's no bardo. Why? Yeah, you know, you just start living here where you died, right here.

If I meditate a lot, if I make karma for formless realm, then if I died today right here, sitting right here, then I enter the formless realm right here. Because it has no location. Then form realm and formless realm, they each have four levels.

[Speaker 2]
There are four levels in the form realm, and there are four levels in the formless realm.

[Speaker 1]
So oftentimes they will talk about the nine levels of the three realms.

[Speaker 2]
One desire realm level, four form realm levels, and four formless realm levels.

[Speaker 1]
Nine total. Then to get born in these four, or to get born in these four, you have to do special meditations here in the desire realm. There are four deeper levels of meditation in the desire realm, right?

You drill into the object four levels during this life in the desire realm. And because of doing that a lot, you will be reborn in the form realm.

[Speaker 2]
If you learn to go deeper four different levels, and you do it a lot in this life, you'll be born in the formless realm, one of the four levels.

[Speaker 1]
Now interesting, oh by the way, why do you think you get to go to Punta del Este if you meditate a lot in this life? Punta del Este is the Latin American Riviera, okay?

[Speaker 2]
Why do you think you get to go to Punta del Este if you meditate a lot?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, you don't have a chance to misbehave.

[Speaker 2]
You can't lie. You can't gossip.

[Speaker 1]
It's difficult to do sexual misconduct during meditation. Okay, so in English we say by default you are born in a good place, you see? Because you didn't have chance to do many bad things, okay?

Okay, now interesting thing, you cannot see emptiness directly in a desire realm state of mind. It's not possible. If you're in a desire realm state of mind, RAB VI LTAR GA, RAB VI BYAR NA, if you're tasting a cappuccino, then at that moment it's impossible to see emptiness directly.

[Speaker 2]
You must be in a form realm state of mind, in a desire realm body.

[Speaker 1]
So the desire realm body has to sit down. You know, put your hands correctly, chin mudra.

[Speaker 2]
You close your eyes.

[Speaker 1]
Then the mind must drill into the object deeper. The mind doesn't go to the form realm. The mind goes to the meditation which would cause you to be born in the form realm if you died at that moment.

Okay, got it? So the mind, we say the mind is in the form realm, but it means the mind is making karma in meditation that would cause you to go to the form realm if you died at that moment. So watch.

It's something like this, okay? There's music in the grocery store.

[Speaker 2]
There's music in the supermarket.

[Speaker 1]
Desire realm mind. In America they did an evil thing.

[Speaker 2]
They put Starbucks in all the grocery stores.

[Speaker 1]
So this is desire realm state of mind. You are in the grocery store listening to bad 1968 pop music with a Starbucks coffee. And if you're a male, you're asking everybody, where's the toilet paper?

Where's the toilet paper? Because the male never goes to the grocery store. So you are at the desire realm state of mind.

Toilet paper, cappuccino, bad music. Then by accident somebody employee, cool employee of the store, puts on real Jimi Hendrix.

[Speaker 2]
Then desire realm rough awareness, sense awareness, drills a little deeper into the baseline. It's still a desire realm state of mind. It's still a desire realm state of mind.

[Speaker 1]
But deeper. You forgot the Starbucks. You forgot the toilet paper.

It's just you and the grocery cart and Jimi Hendrix baseline.

[Speaker 2]
Then because it's Jimi Hendrix, the grocery cart goes away. Even the baseline goes away.

[Speaker 1]
And you're like this with the grocery cart. Everybody thinks you had a heart attack standing up. That's form realm state of mind.

[Speaker 2]
Bliss from the music.

[Speaker 1]
In English we say, I forgot where I was. And I just went into bliss in the music. That's the first form realm ...

that's the most shallow meditation.

[Speaker 2]
Not deep.

[Speaker 1]
That's just the beginning of those eight meditations.

[Speaker 2]
Four form realm, four formless realm.

[Speaker 1]
And in this first form realm level, state of mind, part of your mind is saying, I don't want to go back to the toilet paper.

[Speaker 2]
You know?

[Speaker 1]
I hope they're playing the long version of this Jimi Hendrix song. So I can stay here for eight minutes instead of three minutes. Okay, so part of your mind is looking ...

part of your mind is aware of the grocery store. Part of your mind is saying, I don't want to go back to the toilet paper. I want to stay here in Jimi Hendrix.

I don't even want to go to the baseline. I just want to be in the bliss of Jimi Hendrix. Grocery store bad pop music is desire realm, lower desire realm, right?

Then the baseline, go deeper. Still desire realm.

[Speaker 2]
Then they put on real Jimi Hendrix.

[Speaker 1]
Move into first form realm level.

[Speaker 2]
Like that, grocery store bliss.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, then you start real meditation. And there's seven more levels. Okay, three more form realm.

Four formless realm. Now, so you have really nine choices. Desire realm, mind.

[Speaker 2]
Four form realm. Four formless realm.

[Speaker 1]
Which one is most useful platform?

[Speaker 2]
Which of these levels is the most useful platform from which to see emptiness directly? Where should you park?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, just park here.

[Speaker 2]
Park here.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, don't go farther. What's farther than that?

[Speaker 2]
What's the difference between these eight?

[Speaker 1]
I got it for you, and I'm going to teach it to you. And each one we're going to try to do right here today. The first important thing to say is, I'm going to teach you what happens in those eight.

Then we're going to try to do it. And it's not possible sitting in a room in a hotel in Guadalajara. It's not going to happen, okay?

But it's like our past life imagination meditation. You are not really seeing your past life. But you are starting the process of seeing your past life.

It's not going to be direct perception of your past life. You are getting clues about your past life by imagining your past life. Because the seeds from the past life created the imagination that you choose.

[Speaker 2]
Same for these eight.

[Speaker 1]
Maybe you can get into the first one. I doubt you can get into the next seven in this room today. It takes about an hour of deep meditation to get any of these seven.

That's why I encourage you to meditate for an hour a day. Does it include the preliminaries? No.

Does it include the dedication? No. I'm talking one hour deep.

No music, no bassline. One hour like that. They will take you to the hospital.

Okay, so today we just have some fun. You dance the lion's dance as a pussy cat. Okay, so I went and got you the definition of these eight.

Everybody talks about them. Nobody knows what they are. So I went to Tsongkapa and some other people and I got them for you.

Luckily, they were bringing the Virgen de Guadalupe in a procession on horses from Guadalajara to Chalapa yesterday. So we got stuck behind like a hundred people on horses on the way home from the airport. So because of the blessing of the Virgen, I had time to find all of this for you.

So you have to thank the two most important people, Tsongkapa and the Virgen de Guadalupe. Together, they are working together.

[Speaker 2]
Okay, I was in the diamond business for 19 years.

[Speaker 1]
We were the smallest diamond company in the world, and then we became the largest diamond company in the world. Diamond jewelry company. And we had this customer, you know, in Zales, in Tijuana, in Texas, Zales.

They have 1,500 jewelry stores. They are competing with a company called Banks, Biddle, and Bailey's. We call BB&B.

[Speaker 2]
BBB.

[Speaker 1]
The BBB has much higher quality. And then the Zales has pretty normal cheap quality, not cheap, but what do you call it? Middle income, middle class jewelry.

Then they will compete with each other in the Texas television stations. Then you see the two girls, they're talking. And one says, look my husband, I mean my boyfriend asked me to marry him.

And he bought me this diamond ring. Then the other girl says, oh that's so cool! Which store did he go to?

Oh, he got from Zales. Oh, he doesn't love you. Then the other company, BBB, they will put an advertisement.

Look, my boyfriend, he's asked me to marry him. Oh, that's so cool!

[Speaker 2]
Where did he buy the ring? BB&B.

[Speaker 1]
Ah, your husband's so stupid to pay a higher price! Then one day I have to send diamonds to BB&B. And to Zales.

Lower quality, higher quality. Higher quality and lower quality.

[Speaker 2]
Same package of diamonds.

[Speaker 1]
And then carefully we take out 10% of the highest ones, the best ones.

[Speaker 2]
Those go to BB&B.

[Speaker 1]
The rest goes to Zales. Then I have to send two boxes that you can't see.

[Speaker 2]
Diamonds.

[Speaker 1]
Then I'm writing the address on the insurance form. Then I was like, wow, this is a mistake. The address is the same address.

Then I went to my boss. One of these addresses is wrong. The address is the same.

He said, you're so naive. It's the same company. Owned by the same people.

Then I said, but they criticize each other on the TV. He said, yeah, they don't care which one you go to.

[Speaker 2]
They just want you to go to one. Why am I talking about that? Virgin Tsongkapa.

[Speaker 1]
It's owned by the same company. Don't tell anybody. Okay, it's true.

Okay, we're going to practice first form realm. First let's practice desire realm mind. We should play Jimi Hendrix.

[Speaker 2]
What do you think?

[Speaker 1]
Probably not possible, huh? Is it possible?

[Speaker 2]
It's possible.

[Speaker 1]
I mean, is it difficult?

[Speaker 2]
I can get it on my Spotify. It's easy.

[Speaker 1]
Kiss me, you idiot, or something like that. What's it called? Shut up, kiss me.

I like that.

[Speaker 2]
Oh, okay. Okay.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, got it.

[Speaker 2]
Don't you think?

[Speaker 1]
Okay, first we practice desire realm state of mind. You hear the bassline? Okay.

That's desire realm mind. You are listening to music. You are having cappuccino.

You are touching your partner. Okay, this is desire realm state of mind. Alejandro had a good suggestion.

Once in a while he has. We'll take a break now. Then have a pee-pee.

Have a little cappuccino. And then get rid of your desire realm state of mind. I think pee-pee must be desire realm.

And then we'll come back in ten minutes, okay? And Alejandro suggests maybe we don't talk when we come back.

[Speaker 2]
And also, no standing up and moving, because you're moving too much and going here and there.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, ten minute desire realm break. Then we'll start the eight. Okay, we'll start.

So, this is the description of the eight form and formless realm levels due to the kindness of the virham.

[Speaker 2]
So, this is the description that we got due to the kindness of the Virgin of Guadalupe about the four levels of meditation of the realm of form and four of the realm of non-form.

[Speaker 1]
BSAM RTEN ZHUGS PO RNAM NI BSAM RTEN DANG PO LA YAN LA NGA LAS So, I will teach you the four form realm levels, he said.

[Speaker 2]
I'm sorry, what?

[Speaker 1]
I'm getting there. Okay, he said, what are the four formless realm levels?

[Speaker 2]
And this explanation comes from ...

[Speaker 1]
I got the form realm levels from a Lama named Tsonawa. Tsonawa. He lived 200 years before Tsongkapa.

[Speaker 2]
He's a Kagyu Lama.

[Speaker 1]
Tsongkapa was a Kagyu in the way that Jesus was Jewish.

[Speaker 2]
Tsongkapa was a Kagyu in the same way that Jesus was Jewish.

[Speaker 1]
So, there are great books from all the Tibetan traditions that we use, and this is the most famous explanation of Alison's book. Vinaya.

[Speaker 2]
Vinaya.

[Speaker 1]
So, here's the explanation. Five parts. Now, eight levels right?

Four form, four formless. We're talking about number one now. So, I'll read you number one from the text, then we'll try to go into it.

Why are we doing this? Because if you want to see emptiness, you need to do the lion's dance. What's the lion's dance?

[Speaker 2]
No translation.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, you have to be able to go in and out. And it gets more complicated, and we'll talk about it. Okay, so five parts to this one.

RTOG PA DANG SPYOD PA NYID KYI GNYEN PAS YIN LA DE, SDOD GANG GI RGYUR NA SANGS RTEN DANG PA YIN TE LA, TSING DU RTOG PA DANG ZHIG TU SPYOD PA'O, You still have Vitarka and Vichara here. Only this one. Only the first one.

You still have general awareness of the music in the grocery store, and following the bass line.

[Speaker 2]
So, at this one, your mind is moving from this, to this.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, your mind is moving from checking the music, to bliss about the music. Do you still have noticing and checking?

[Speaker 2]
Yes, you still have. Now, I'll tell you something funny about this one.

[Speaker 1]
The noticing and checking, which only comes in the first one. What is it noticing and checking? How cool is this meditation instead of desire realm mind?

[Speaker 2]
So, the last rough thoughts you have, and the beginning of the dance, is a subtle rough thought. This is so much cooler than cappuccino state of mind.

[Speaker 1]
And you feel sharp and focused. Like if you're doing a good yoga asana, you feel sharp and focused. So, five things are going on in this first one.

[Speaker 2]
You still have capacity for general noticing things.

[Speaker 1]
You still have capacity to listen to the bass line, go deeper. Okay, third quality of the first form realm level. By the way, these four are also called concentration levels.

Of course, all eight are concentration. But these four also have a name, concentration levels, or you can call them form realm levels. ,RGA BA DANG, ,DE BA NYID NI, ,PHAN YON GYI YAN LA DE, ,YID KYI RNAM SHES KYI GCOD KHYAD PA'I, ,RGA BA LUS KYI RNAM SHES KYI GCOD KHYAD PA'I, ,DE BA You have bliss.

Feelings of bliss.

[Speaker 2]
Like this.

[Speaker 1]
Two kinds of bliss. One is mental, of course.

[Speaker 2]
And you're just into Jimi Hendrix. Because the mind is linked to the prana, You also have this physical bliss like this.

[Speaker 1]
Your body feels really good. Like you hit the sweet spot in an asana or something. So far we have four qualities, right?

[Speaker 2]
No, because we split the bliss into two. Mental and physical. So we have noticing, vipsarka.

We have checking, vichara. Then we have mental bliss, and physical bliss.

[Speaker 1]
Then there's a fifth one. Duh! You have focus.

Here it's called SEMS TSE GCIG PA Say SEMS SEMS TSE GCIG PA In Sanskrit? TSE GCIG PA The tip of a mountain, or the point of a knife, in Sanskrit is agra. Agra.

Like that famous Taj Mahal, the city is called Agra. Then single point, single means eka.

[Speaker 2]
One.

[Speaker 1]
So ekagra, ekagra. Single point. We call focus, right?

In English focus.

[Speaker 2]
Okay, so we're going to do a meditation now.

[Speaker 1]
First, consciously, you're going to put your mind in a desire realm. Okay, be aware of the air conditioner. Be aware of the small sounds around here.

Be aware of any pain in your knees or your bottom. These are all desire realm. And then you're going to learn that normally we never go past the desire realm.

Right? But this lion's dance purpose is to become meditation master. Purposely go to desire realm mind.

Then purposely drill deeper into the first form realm mind. See if you can find bliss. Let the mind go into sort of a blissful state.

And then the mind, the body should follow. If you've been doing yoga hard for like two weeks, and you've been eating well, it's that kind of feeling like you're wired, you're there.

[Speaker 2]
Physically.

[Speaker 1]
Then what's the object of our form realm meditation? What are you thinking about in a rough way and in a deeper way? vittarka vichara.

What's the object? It's a difficult question.

[Speaker 2]
It's a trick question. You are focusing on how it felt two minutes ago.

[Speaker 1]
Two minutes ago, I was in the realm of air conditioners, and butt is hurting, and I'm thinking about tomorrow.

[Speaker 2]
Two minutes ago, I was in desire realm.

[Speaker 1]
Now I'm in form realm. This is so much sweeter. So actually you're thinking about the desire realm which you just left.

And you are thinking, that sucks, this is cool.

[Speaker 2]
That sucked, and this is great. That wasn't good, and this is better.

[Speaker 1]
Now, as I said in the beginning today, it may take half an hour, 45 minutes to get to the first form realm. But do your best.

[Speaker 2]
We're not going to meditate for an hour, because we don't have that much time.

[Speaker 1]
So we'll do like 10 minutes. Do your best to go from desire realm to form realm. Obviously if you move, or you cough, or something like that, you cannot stay in the form realm.

[Speaker 2]
Forget it.

[Speaker 1]
If you're moving your body, or coughing, there's no way you can be in the form realm. It's not possible. Okay, so it's up to you.

You want to be in the desire realm the rest of your life? Just cough or move.

[Speaker 2]
Cough or whatever, but you're not going to go in.

[Speaker 1]
Then I'm going to use ... there's a little technique I'm going to use to take you there, okay? So here we go.

Then relax your forehead.

[Speaker 2]
Try to stay quiet, at least for the other people who want to be in the form realm.

[Speaker 1]
Relax your eyelids. Pull in your stomach slightly. Relax your fingers.

Straighten your back. Shoulders are down and back. I'm sorry, is it possible to turn off the air?

[Speaker 2]
It's not possible because it's automatic.

[Speaker 1]
If it's not possible, it's okay. It's the whole hotel. Okay, all right, we'll deal with it.

Okay, stay there. Fifty dollars. And let's explore vittarka, rough noticing your environment.

[Speaker 2]
Make a general, non-specific scan of your environment.

[Speaker 1]
The sound of the air. Small sounds in the room. Be at that level for a minute or two.

Now let's go to vichara, a little bit deeper. A detail of the desire realm. And I'd like you to watch the beat of your heart.

So, just lightly, happily, with enjoyment, watch the beat of your heart. Now I'd like you to be very aware of the beat of your heart. Be aware of the outside desire realm sounds.

For example, the air conditioner, people coughing, people moving.

[Speaker 2]
Now I want you to focus. Be very aware of the external sounds in the desire realm. The air conditioner, people coughing, people moving.

[Speaker 1]
And compare those sounds to the quietness of the beat of your heart. And this comparison is how we move from desire realm to form realm. So, be aware of the outside noises.

Then compare it to the quiet of a heartbeat. And then make a very conscious decision to let go of the outside noises. And drill down into the sound of your heart and forget about the outside noise.

And stay only in the heartbeat. Okay, let's go. Now try to be aware of how pleasant it feels to leave the desire realm, outside world, and go into the heartbeat.

And maybe try to connect with a feeling of pleasure to stay in the form realm.

[Speaker 2]
Now you're going to focus on that pleasure that you feel as a result of your concentration in the realm of the form.

[Speaker 1]
And we'll stay here for a few minutes. Inside the pleasure of the silent heartbeat. And please come back to your breath.

And then open your eyes. Take a stretch. I was having breakfast with my friend Kiri, Anatole and Aisha's baby.

And you know Anatole and Aisha, they're probably feeding the baby avocado milk from the beginning. Probably the baby never got to have a waffle in his whole life, I think. So I purposely ordered a waffle, because I'm so mischievous.

And I cut it up into small pieces, and I just kind of pushed it over towards the baby. How old is he? 18 months?

19 months.

[Speaker 2]
He grabbed a fork.

[Speaker 1]
And he went ... Then finally Aisha realized what me and Kiri are doing. Then her mind is struggling, you know, should I tell Lama to stop it or not?

But she decided baby's health is more important. And she tried to take the fork from him. Then he's like ...

Then I never realized how strong is sugar and wheat, you know. Then I thought he's trying to teach me something. Geshe Michael, you're addicted to sugar and wheat, you know.

Why am I talking about that? Before we do the other seven, I want to read you ... on the cigarette package there's a warning on this side.

Maybe you can scroll down in the Tibetan to ... s-t-e comma space b-d-e, s-t-e comma space b-d-e. There you go.

Yeah. That's not it. That's it.

Yeah. Okay, the English is supposed to be taken out, but it's okay. This is Je Tsongkapa's comment on these eight levels.

After he teaches them, he makes a comment about the eight levels. NYON MONGS CAN GYIS BSAM BRTEN RNAMS LA STE If you get stuck in these eight levels and you don't know how to use them, DE BA LA ROL NYANG BA'I SRED PA GZHAD CHE BA you will get attached to the taste of the sugar. ROL NYANG BA means the taste, a sweet taste.

And you will start to take the meditations, the taste of the meditation, as the goal.

[Speaker 2]
And so what you will start to do and look for as your goal will be to look for that taste of the meditation, that sweetness of the taste of the meditation.

[Speaker 1]
Yesterday at the airport we saw ... what was that? Audi?

Audi with the four circles? Is that an Audi? Yeah, we saw a really cool Audi, low, low, fancy Audi sports car.

And I told Veronica, that's what I want for my birthday this year. Then Alejandro said, you know, just pick up two of them and I'll take one. Then if you spend the whole day touching this car, looking at this car, looking inside the car, and you don't get in the car and go to Chalapa, that's stupid, right?

So this is the warning on the cigarette package. These meditations, the sugar of these meditations, and you can get distracted by the instrument, the car, instead of the journey. And it can have three negative effects on you.

[Speaker 2]
The sweetness of this meditation has three effects.

[Speaker 1]
Number one, shes chewa means it accidentally increases bad qualities. ro nyangway sepa, it accidentally increases your desire for the pleasure of the instrument.

[Speaker 2]
sepa means it accidentally increases your desire for feeling the pleasure that that instrument generates.

[Speaker 1]
Second warning on the cigarette package. lung gi tar tawa la sokpe tawa ngenpa kyepar chepa tawa shes chewa It accidentally can increase your negative ideas about the world. And he gives an example.

And you have to think about it. I'm not going to tell you the punchline. I want you to figure it out.

He gives one example of a wrong idea of the world that these meditations can accidentally increase in your mind. And the wrong idea of the world that he mentions is that you think there was a beginning.

[Speaker 2]
You think there was a beginning.

[Speaker 1]
To the world. How the sweetness of this meditation can cause this view, you have to think about it.

[Speaker 2]
Third accidental result on the warning on the cigarette package.

[Speaker 1]
sam ten gyi sem khenpa nga gyal shes chewa You start to get some kind of pride or arrogance about your meditation.

[Speaker 2]
You start to develop arrogance and pride about your meditation practice.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, those Buddhist guys, they're meditating about karma seeds and emptiness and things like that.

[Speaker 2]
That's an intellectual state of mind.

[Speaker 1]
That's a conceptual state of mind.

[Speaker 2]
And I've gone deeper than that.

[Speaker 1]
I'm in outer space.

[Speaker 2]
Something like that.

[Speaker 1]
And I've heard that a lot.

[Speaker 2]
One student came to me and said, you're teaching too much detail.

[Speaker 1]
They actually left. I'm going to go somewhere and just go into empty space. You know?

What do you call it? The grocery ... I'm just going to do that.

Then that's the most dangerous one, right?

[Speaker 2]
During the time you're holding the grocery cart and feeling the bliss, your candle is burning down. Just that bliss doesn't get you out of the wheel of life. Every person in history who got attached to that bliss, there came a day when they couldn't sit on their cushion because the body got old.

[Speaker 1]
It's like yoga. Yoga has a purpose to help you see emptiness.

[Speaker 2]
If you just do it for exercise, then one day you won't be able to do it.

[Speaker 1]
You won't be able to stand up. Much less do a yoga pose. RANG GIS MTHOGS PA DE THAR LAM YIN NAM MIN NYAMS PA THET SOM SHES BYO BA I'm sorry, he gives a fourth warning that you can mistake that sugar for the nirvana.

[Speaker 2]
You can believe that that's nirvana when it's not.

[Speaker 1]
So, the reason I went to the warning on the cigarette package, he gives it at the end of the eight. He explains the eight, and then he gives this warning. So just, you know, I know, and you know, I know, it was so nice to be in the heartbeat and not be in the air conditioner.

[Speaker 2]
But the goal is not to stay in the heartbeat.

[Speaker 1]
We are just developing a microscope, and don't get attached to the microscope. It's not the goal.

[Speaker 2]
It's an instrument.

[Speaker 1]
You use the microscope to cure AIDS or something like that. To stop the first link in the wheel. So, is it wrong, Geshe-la, if I have a feeling of bliss during meditation?

No, it's cool. It's your instrument. Then learn to use it for something.

Don't get hung up on the meditation or the feeling of the meditation. Okay. Okay, we're going to practice the second form realm.

We'll see. We're going to take a break in there someplace, because it's too much in one line.

[Speaker 2]
Okay.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, second form realm has four qualities. The last one had how many?

[Speaker 2]
Five. The second form realm has four qualities, and the first one had five qualities.

[Speaker 1]
We're going to start with NANG. N-A-N-G space R-A-B N-A-N-G space R-A-B JIG MED N-A-N-G space R-A-B That's it. Okay, I put letters here for you.

If you're learning Tibetan, I put letters for the four qualities.

[Speaker 2]
First quality.

[Speaker 1]
Now we're on the second form realm level. Okay. NANG RAB TU LTA BA NANG RAB TU LTA BA means inside feels like crystal.

Why? RTOGS PA DANG SPYOD PA'I GNOD MED PA The mind is free of vittarka and vichara. You're not noticing the air conditioner anymore at all.

You're not comparing the heartbeat to the air conditioner anymore at all. So you're not moving from air conditioner to heartbeat anymore. In the second form realm level, the feeling is like crystal.

Crystal clear. Yeah, any crystal clear thing, like glass or diamond. GNOD PA means ...

what do you call that? If the glass is not made well and there's a ... what do you call this?

Imperfection or ... flaw. It's like a flaw.

Oh, we're ending early today. That's too bad. GNOD PA means this water out in the lake.

You ever been to Bahamas or Hawaii? We have trouble surfing. I was surfing in Hawaii for a long time.

[Speaker 2]
The water is so clear you cannot see the water.

[Speaker 1]
And it's dangerous. Surfing there is dangerous because you can see the reef, but you don't know if it's one inch or ten feet. You don't know.

But if you use a lot of agricultural chemicals and nice factories near the lake, then you will get GNOD PA.

[Speaker 2]
So GNOD PA means what is that?

[Speaker 1]
It's visual. It's junk in the lake. Murky.

Murky. Yeah, very good. So the first quality of the second form realm level, no more air conditioner.

And actually, okay, now it gets difficult. You are in the heartbeat, but you're not aware of the heartbeat.

[Speaker 2]
You become the heartbeat.

[Speaker 1]
Let's try that, okay? Three more qualities here.

[Speaker 2]
The first of those extra three qualities, GA BA. GA BA means again you have this feeling of bliss or happiness in the mind.

[Speaker 1]
And the body feels like super healthy, like this. The body feels 100% like boom, you know? Perfect posture.

Perfect balance this way, this way. Find the sweet point. And physically you're wired.

[Speaker 2]
Then the fourth and final quality, total ekagra.

[Speaker 1]
Total ekagra. What's that? Yeah, total focus.

You are the heartbeat. Okay, so I'll say it again.

[Speaker 2]
Left behind the air conditioner.

[Speaker 1]
Left behind the beating sound of the heart. Went into the heartbeat.

[Speaker 2]
Became the heartbeat.

[Speaker 1]
And it's mental sugar. Wow. Honey.

Yeah, I like sugar because it's addicting. It's more addicting. It's refined sugar.

It's like the donut shop next to Jardin Ninette. Why is the Guadalajara airport the best one in the world?

[Speaker 2]
Krispy Kreme.

[Speaker 1]
You think I went to drop off Veronica.

[Speaker 2]
You think I went to drop off Veronica.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, I had a rainbow donut. Okay, I was trying to be a little bit spiritual. Okay, then the fourth quality, total focus.

You don't move from that spot. You don't move from that spot. Even if ...

by the way, if somebody coughs, your mind will go like this, you know, and then go ... just accept it. Don't freak out.

[Speaker 2]
You know.

[Speaker 1]
Don't say, oh, this person keeps coughing. It will pull your mind away. If it's loud enough, it will pull your mind away.

Then keep your balance. Just like this. Okay, just bring it back.

Don't get the extra problem of thinking how irritating they are. Okay, here we go. Second form level.

Then we'll finish with the class for today. I'll hand or ask a question. So, do you ...

Do you think you are watching the heartbeat, or do you go inside the heartbeat? Is there still a subject state of mind? Buddhism says yes, there's always a subject state of mind.

But during this meditation, try to drop your awareness of the subject. So, I'll hand or ask me, from a cinematic point of view, am I outside the movie, watching the movie?

[Speaker 2]
No, you're trying to get into the movie. Okay, you are the heartbeat.

[Speaker 1]
You can still hear the heartbeat, but it feels like you are the heartbeat. Okay, let's try. Just a few minutes.

If it cuts the yoga a little bit short, it's unfortunate.

[Speaker 2]
Okay, here we go.

[Speaker 1]
Just get into the meditation by using your breath. Then look at the air conditioning sound. Then compare it to the sound of your heart beat.

And then use that comparison to drop the air conditioner sound and move all the way into the sound of your heart. And now stop listening to the heartbeat. And become the heartbeat.

And we'll stay here for 5-10 minutes.

[Speaker 2]
If you drop back into desire realm state of mind, push back to the sound of the heart, and then push into the sound of the heart.

[Speaker 1]
Be aware of the pleasure. Then please slowly come back to your breath.

[Speaker 2]
Slowly come back to your breath.

[Speaker 1]
Three long exhales to give away the good karma to others. And then you can open your eyes. Take a stretch.

Okay, six more to go.

[Speaker 2]
There's seven more to do, but there's one I haven't told you about yet.