Классика Алмазного огранщика: Нижний Срединный путь — Анализ зависимости, занятие 4

[Speaker 1]
First we have to go to the word semchun. Oh, sorry. Semchun.

Sem means mind, main mind. Awareness. What does it feel like if someone hits you very hard, you lose it for a while?

I mean on a gross level. Awareness, you know. Which is the miracle of your mind, right?

You're aware of the world. That's called sem, citta. Then the different functions in your mind, like anger, faith, love, intelligence, these are called semchun.

In Sanskrit, when you want to say something comes from something else, you make the vowels stronger. So I, chitta, I, C-H-I, becomes chaita. And that means a function inside the mind.

Chitta is the main mind. Chaita is the small part of the mind. Any part of the mind.

Any function of the mind. So chitta means general awareness. You're alive.

And chaita means anger, logic, jealousy, happiness. Well, not happiness, but anyway. Different functions of the mind.

Got it? In Tibetan, sem is main mind, chitta. Semchun, which here is bhiyum, right?

Means mental function, okay? So any mental function, if something is a mental function, you know, which is ignorance, which is, sorry, misunderstanding. By the way, to be honest, you're going to have to go between ignorance and misunderstanding.

Sometimes ignorance is going to fit better. Sometimes misunderstanding is going to fit better. First link of the twelve, misunderstanding fits.

But there are other things called marikpa which are just ignorance, okay? So you've got to be flexible. The mental function, which is misunderstanding, but which is not tied up with negative emotions.

But which is not tied up with negative emotions, okay? That's this new guy's definition of marikpa. The first link, the blind man, misunderstanding.

Now he's trying to give that as a definition. Because it's kācitta, because it's another guy who show up, it must be wrong. Okay?

Now we don't know why. We just know it's wrong, okay? Now, first thing that's going to happen, which Adam's book shows you, we are going to give him a counterexample, okay?

Somebody comes and says, everything that has a color is red. So we say, take a...

[Speaker 2]
Banana.

[Speaker 1]
Banana. And then we say something sarcastic. Oh, I guess it's red.

Okay, got it? So we're going to take a counterexample. You already know, from the position of the argument, that what he's going to say next is something which doesn't fit his definition, okay?

And then the rest of the argument's up to prove it, okay? So here we go, here's the counterexamples coming. DEN ZIN DU RGYUR PA'I SEMS SBYUNG CHOS CAN Okay?

Let's take, let's see, let's take a banana. But here, it's, take the mental function which believes that things are real. DEN ZIN, which believes that things are real, okay?

In, in, in DCI language, what is DEN ZIN about the pen? What is the state of mind that thinks the pen is real, from its own side, okay? From its own side, okay?

So let's take that mental function, which believes, ZIN means to hold, right? What's the Sanskrit root for ZIN? DUR DUR, DUR And that's where DHARMA comes from, DHARMA.

Because the definition of DHARMA is anything which holds its own nature. Meaning anything, okay, which exists. DHARMA has two big meanings, what are they?

BUDDHA TEACHING BUDDHA TEACHING, or? STOCKING THING Yeah, or anything. I'm going to keep going until you get something wrong, or you don't know something, okay?

RANG GI NGO DZIN PA'I NA CHOS Definition of DHARMA, general DHARMA, think, is anything which holds, DUR, its own nature. But, but how is DHARMA defined with the verb hold? The religion.

When you use DHARMA to mean teachings. Oh, it means it holds you back from doing wrong things. From the lower realms.

Oh, from the lower realms. Okay? So when they explain the word DHARMA meaning teachings, they say it's DHARMA, because it comes from the root DUR, because it, it keeps you from falling, to become animal or hell realm, okay?

That's, okay? So, DEN GZIN DU RGYUR PA'I SEM CHUNG CHUD CHEN Let's take the mental function where you believe that things are real, okay? Then the next tell, Adam, goes up or down?

The first tell. Sarcastic. Yeah, sarcastic down.

Oh, you're telling me that's the first link? You're telling me that's the first link? It sounds like the first link, but apparently it's not.

Sounds gross. There's something wrong with it. There's something wrong, something subtle, okay?

Somehow it's not the first link. Why, we don't know yet, okay? You just said this wording is a little different than the other day.

Could you talk about that? Oh, he could have put a comma. Yeah, he's just going fast.

It should have been like this, okay? Okay, you want to hear the whole discussion? Watch.

Okay, really this is the whole discussion, okay? But we don't—when he's in a rush, he just said, "'Oh yeah?

[Speaker 2]
Cause that."

[Speaker 1]
Okay, "'Oh yeah? Cause that." Okay, "'Oh yeah' means, you're telling me that's the first link?

And then understood, the other guy says, why you say that? And he says, "'Cause that." Okay, "'Cause what?' "'Cause it fits what you started out with.

It's a mental function, which is not involved with negative emotions, and it is ignorance. It's some kind of ignorance." Now, this is a very svatantrika thing, okay?

This is a very svatantrika thing, and you have to get used to it. They believe ignorance, misunderstanding, is not a klesha.

[Speaker 2]
Svatantrika?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah. It doesn't directly disturb your mind. It causes you all the trouble in the universe after that, but it doesn't directly disturb your mind.

That's their position. Prasangika? They believe it's a negative emotion.

Why? Because an arhat is defined as someone who got rid of their negative emotions, so ignorance must be a negative emotion, okay? So there's a big difference between the two schools here.

Big difference between the two schools, okay? Got it?

[Speaker 2]
The teachings of mind and mental practice come from which school?

[Speaker 1]
They start with Abhidharma, where we can say proto-Semjung teachings, and then they reach their peak with the Sangha, you know, Buddhist psychology. Okay, which we didn't include. Nobody got that book.

There is a book by Choney Lama, a good one, good short one. I threw it into the Shantideva teachings somehow. Anyway, here we go.

So, let's take the mental function, which believes that things are real. Are you telling me it's the first link? Why?

Because it fits your definition. Meaning, it's not a negative emotion. It is misunderstanding, and it's a mental function.

Those three things. Those are his three parts of his definition. Okay?

Everybody comfortable? No, I don't care. Okay.

Chod chen din, be cheer, because it's what I said it was, okay? Then, he comes back and says, you know what? You're right.

A mental function, where you believe things are real, is the first link. Okay? Duh.

He said duh. You know, I changed my story. It is the first link.

Wait a minute. Yeah. So, this tail goes up or down?

Up. It's down. Okay.

Nyonmo yinpa tha. It should go up, right?

[Speaker 2]
No, because they're saying they agree, so then you have to go on and show them how to agree, and it's not going to be, it isn't also a mental function.

[Speaker 1]
I'm confused. They're saying when they are, it's not a mental function.

[Speaker 2]
Okay. Because it's signals.

[Speaker 1]
Let's go back. I'm confused myself. Let's take the mental function where you believe things are real, okay?

Dao Tao, are you telling me it's ignorance? It's link number one. He said, why do you say that?

And I say, because it fits your definition. And then, he says, why? And I say, because it is what it is.

It's the Chodron I gave you. It's the example I gave you, okay? Then he changes and says, Oh, well then I agree that the mental function, which believes things are real, is the first link.

Okay? Then we say, are you telling me...

[Speaker 2]
Oh, so it's down.

[Speaker 1]
They agree that it's the first link and it's a mental function. You're saying it's a mental function? Isn't that what he said?

No, because he said not a mental function. Somebody said, but you agree that it's the first link. So it's a mental function, because it's the first link.

No?

[Speaker 2]
Oh, no, uh... He said not nyo mo chen, and now he's saying nyo mo. Oh.

Uh... The difference.

[Speaker 1]
Let's go to the... sometimes you can go on and then go back, okay? Dumi nyen te, you can't agree that it's a negative emotion.

You shouldn't agree that it's a negative emotion, because it's a shiddu. Nyun dup shiddu. It's an obstacle to Buddhahood and not an obstacle to nirvana.

Okay? Which means, ready? If something is an obstacle to Buddhahood, it's not a negative emotion.

In this school.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
Negative emotions are reserved for obstacles to nirvana. But they are not considered obstacles to omniscience. Because you get over them before you have to worry about omniscience.

To reach arhat, you have to get rid of your negative emotions. To reach nirvana. There can't be both.

Yeah, there can't be both, sorry. Something you have to get rid of to reach nirvana doesn't count as something you have to get rid of to get to Buddhahood. So, therefore, something you have to get rid of to get to Buddhahood means everything after arhat you have to get rid of to get to Buddhahood.

Okay? So, we went ahead. Now working backwards, okay?

Okay? You can't agree. This dumi nirte means you can't agree that that mental function, which is misunderstanding and which isn't involved with negative emotions, is a negative emotion.

You can't agree that. Because it's... Sorry.

Yeah. You can't agree with that because it's a shiddha. It's an obstacle to Buddhahood.

[Speaker 2]
To omniscience, right?

[Speaker 1]
Omniscience, yeah. Same thing. Okay.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
Because if you say it's a negative emotion, it would have to be a negative emotion obstacle. And those are obstacles to arhat. They are not obstacles to Buddhahood.

[Speaker 2]
Okay, but then what's the marikpa yinpe chir?

[Speaker 1]
Marikpa yinpe chir?

[Speaker 2]
It's saying because it's...

[Speaker 1]
Now, that's why I don't know if he's going up or down here.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah. It's not marikpa. He's saying because it's, because it's the...

[Speaker 1]
Okay, I'm going to say this. I'm saying we're going down here.

[Speaker 2]
Marikpa yinpe chir, yeah. That's what I thought.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, are you telling me that's a negative emotion? Why? Because it's misunderstanding as the first link.

As the first link. What did we just learn about the first link?

[Speaker 2]
That it's not...

[Speaker 1]
It's got to be a... It's got to be a negative emotion, okay? In the wheel of life, the first link must be a negative emotion, because it's the wheel of life.

It's the wheel of life, okay? It's a special misunderstanding, which is a negative emotion. Why?

Because when you become an arhat, you get out of the wheel of life. Got it? When you reach nirvana, you get rid of all your negative emotions.

Wow. Okay, got it? So, therefore, if something keeps you in the wheel, if it's link number one, it must be a negative emotion.

Got it? Yeah. Wow, that's cool.

Did they say that somewhere, or did we just... No, don't forget the wheel of life, actually. When you get out, the point is that you become an arhat, not that you become a Buddha.

Okay? The point is, you get out of rebirth. Those...

the things in the middle of the wheel. It doesn't mean you necessarily become Buddha, you know? It's just...

The Twelve Links is the science of getting out of the rebirth. You know, samsaric rebirth. Okay?

Sorry for my nose. Okay?

[Speaker 2]
You should paint the arhat outside of his head.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, that's a good point. That's a good point.

[Speaker 2]
So the Buddha's not an arhat?

[Speaker 1]
By the way, but what's the bottom say? Okay. If you follow this teaching, you'll smash samsara like an elephant smashes his own house of reeds?

Yeah. And then, You destroy the lord of death. You destroy the lord of death.

That sounds like... it doesn't sound like Buddhahood. It's more like nirvana.

No more rebirth. No more samsaric rebirth. Okay?

Now, but still, to be comfortable here, I've got to decide whether this tale is up or down.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah. I mean, he doesn't... Did the guy get convinced about reading it or not?

Well, suppose you... What's du-mi-na? Sorry?

Du-mi-na is now he's accepting it, right?

[Speaker 1]
Du-mi-ni-te. You can't agree.

[Speaker 2]
Du-mi-ni-te. Oh, you can't agree to that.

[Speaker 1]
Because it's shid-drim.

[Speaker 2]
So, if he can't agree to that, and then...

[Speaker 1]
So, I say this tale is down. I've got to say it's down. Nyo-mo-yin-ba-tha.

[Speaker 2]
Right.

[Speaker 1]
Are you telling me it's a negative emotion? He said, why? And we say, because it's the first link.

[Speaker 2]
And he seems to say yes. And then we nail him.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, but you can't agree that it's a negative emotion. Because it's shid-drim. Okay?

Which means that the mental function, where you think things are real, is not the first link.

[Speaker 2]
Oh, okay.

[Speaker 1]
In this school, it's not the first link.

[Speaker 2]
Oh. Because it's not a negative emotion? Because it's a...

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, yeah. Who said that? Because it's not a negative emotion.

Somehow it's not a negative emotion.

[Speaker 2]
Because it's a mental function, or somehow they're making a distinction here?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, if it's going to be the first link, it's going to have to be a negative emotion. Because people get rid of the first link, or people reach Nirvana. And Nirvana is defined as the end of your negative emotions.

So, does something that's not a negative emotion lead to the end of your negative emotions? Well, I don't know. Okay.

[Speaker 2]
I mean, does he imply that our hearts have ignorance? Huh? Right, if they have the...

if it's not the first link, if they have the...

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, it implies that they can have something which is not a negative emotion, which doesn't keep them in the wheel. Alright. So it implies that our heart still has this, right?

From this... Well, we're not sure yet.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
Now, now, I'll tell you. That's why I said, stay loose. Stay loose.

[Speaker 2]
Don't make decisions yet. Wait till the fight's over.

[Speaker 1]
Okay? Like, don't, don't... Don't feel like you have to know yet.

Okay? This is Buddhist education, this is not Western education. Yeah.

You know, in Buddhist education, like, okay, okay, I'm gonna stay calm. I'm not sure it's going on yet, but hopefully by the end I'll figure it out. Hopefully by the end of the 20 years.

No, and that's... Don't think you have to understand everything. In this class, you are allowed, you are encouraged, you are demanded that you go back and change your translation.

When you reach page two, you change page one. And it's not that you are... So terrible.

No, it's not that you're a bad person because you went back and changed your translation. It's that you learned more. And then you learned that your first translation...

When I started debating, I threw out my Abhidharma translation. Twelve years of work. I literally threw it out.

It was on a yellow notebook, I remember. And I just dumped it in the garbage can. And I started debating and I realized, Oh my God, this half of it's wrong.

You know. Okay. So, here we go.

That's all you get for that one. Make a provisional translation. And decide you're gonna go back later and change it if you have to.

Okay. ka chik rang gi ngyelm dar, ngyelm dar. Two prenasals.

rang gi ngyelm dar. gyur pa'i rekpa ye shik gi, ngyelm dar mi tun chok su gyur pa'i sem ching, marikpa tsen ni ser na. So, it's another guy.

He comes up with another definition of misunderstanding. And I would say you can understand, you can assume, that he's talking about misunderstanding as the first link. The first link.

He doesn't say it. He doesn't say, dam pong marikpa. Dam pong marikpa means misunderstanding as the first link.

First. Which means misunderstanding as the first link. But I think you can assume it here.

You can assume it. Okay. So, here's a new guy.

I see him like a little schoolboy who comes into the class and he says, I have a better idea. What? I think this is the definition of the first link in the Wheel of Life.

Okay. By the way, his discussion of the first link is half the book. Because that's where you break the wheel.

[Speaker 2]
Okay.

[Speaker 1]
You know, we're not going to discuss feelings for 200 pages. Okay. The crucial word here is gyelm dar.

Anybody want to take a shot?

[Speaker 2]
Exclusive of gyelm dar. What's ndawa? The moon.

One of a pair.

[Speaker 1]
Ndawa means one of a pair. It's the Tibetan word for moon. Because moon is one of a pair.

Sun and moon. Okay. We said the honorific word for spouse, husband or wife.

It's kunda. Body pair. Your body pair.

In English we say, your better half. My wife is my better half. Okay.

It means, gyelm dar means one of two elements in a contradiction. Hot and cold. There are two gyelm dar.

One is hot, one is cold. Two partners in a contradiction. Okay.

Two partners in a fight. It's called gyelm dar. Okay.

Contradiction mate. Contradiction mate. Is it usually used referring to people in a debate or something?

No, it refers to contradictory here perceptions. Okay. What's the gyelm dar of Marikpa?

[Speaker 2]
Wisdom. Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
Okay. The gyelm dar. I don't know how you want to translate that.

[Speaker 2]
Opposite is pretty good.

[Speaker 1]
Cranky partner. Contradiction.

[Speaker 2]
It's okay, right?

[Speaker 1]
Maybe you can say opposite. Okay. The definition.

Okay, here we go. The definition, zeni, of Marikpa, misunderstanding, is, we go backwards, right? English syntax.

Go backwards. Is that mental function, okay, which acts as the, mitun chok means, Is it a reposition or something? No, it means, where I translate it as which works against.

[Speaker 2]
Okay.

[Speaker 1]
Which works against. For example, the mitun chok for good meditation is what? Overeating, not getting enough sleep, you know, not keeping your morality.

Okay. So, I often translate it as which works against. Okay.

Literally, it means non-harmony side. When my, my teacher's English was non-harmony side. And, I used to translate his English into English.

You know. Like, I was always there when he had meetings with his students, because I had to translate his English into English. He'd say, you fight problem, wife, go, then I'd say, you should have a problem with your wife, you should, you know.

People say, you're his translator. I say, yeah. They say, do you speak Tibetan?

I say, no. I speak, I speak English. So, okay.

Which works against, its opposite, which is wisdom. Okay. Okay.

Which is the understanding, which is the opposite of it. Okay. It's a very weird sentence.

Okay. The definition of, the definition of misunderstanding is that mental function, which is the, works against, its opposite, which is wisdom, which is itself, the rigpa, the understanding, which works against, misunderstanding. Okay.

I'll say it again. Here we go. Ready?

The definition, the definition of misunderstanding is, that mental function, which works against, its opposite, which is wisdom, which is the understanding, which is the opposite, of misunderstanding. Okay.

[Speaker 2]
Okay. Hey, it's catchy.

[Speaker 1]
It's the other guy. The other guy is always stupid.

[Speaker 2]
What's that?

[Speaker 1]
By the way, in the end, I mean, you want to go somewhere, your graduate students, when Geshe Michael's long gone on his porch in his rocking chair, you know, your graduate students, your student's students, they will figure out who said this in history. Somebody said it, you know, like around 1500, 1300, somebody had this position. They got to go find it in the database.

Hopefully the 20,000 books, which we don't have enough money to put in the database, will be in the database by then. And they can figure out. Probably this was somebody's idea.

Who? It was, they rarely say. It's a Tsongkhapaian tradition not to name, not to name people who had stupid ideas.

Gyaltsabje tends to ignore that. But, but Je Tsongkhapa will say, you know, there's people who think, he doesn't often name them. And you know, it's kind of fun to go see who it was.

Right now, we're only inputting, we're focusing on inputting Tsongkhapa's tradition. When we're done, okay? When we're done, 50 years from now, 100 years from now, then you can put in all the other stupid, the other schools.

Okay? So you can find who gave the bad argument. We don't have enough money.

Yeah.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
We don't have enough time. We gotta put in the correct stuff first. Then if you have more time, you can put in all the guys who made arguments against Tsongkhapa.

That's okay. All the schools?

[Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
I mean Tibetan schools, not Buddhist, not Indian schools. We should put in all the Indian schools. That's part of Tsongkhapa.

But, whether you put in non-Tsongkhapa schools of Tibet, who, who, who oftentimes don't have the background. And, and I'm not just being, what do you call? Prejudiced?

Sectarian? You debate Sakyas nowadays, they just don't have the, they don't have the, they don't have, they don't have the weapons, and they don't have the ammunition. They, they just don't have it.

And you spend 10 minutes there and you know. You can't hide in a debate. You know?

You put them up in front of 2,000 monks and say, okay, debate. And they're like, you know, they just don't have the information. Okay?

So, and I'm not being sectarian. I'm just saying from my own life, I debated them in the winter debate. And it's, it's like talking to kids.

You know? And you're just like, okay, good luck. I love you.

Come back. They never came back. Okay?

Anyway. By good luck, you're in the best school. I'm sorry.

Okay? And I'm not being sectarian. I don't say that.

They're not bad people. They're many kind people. But they're, they don't have this information.

Rinpoche and Ganga. Okay, and here we go. Here's our camera example.

By the way, it's the same counter example. Let's consider a mental function which believes that things are real. Or where you believe that things are real.

Those of you who care, if you're careful about the English, the Tibetan says, the mental function which believes that things are real. But in good English, you have to say the mental function where you believe that things are real. So, or where someone believes things are real.

It's not the mental function which believes. You see? We don't say, in English we don't say, your understanding believes.

We say, you, you know, you believe through your understanding. Or, okay, we say something like that. So, if you want to be strictly correct in English, you wouldn't translate this as the mental function which believes that things are real.

In good English, you would say the mental function where a person believes that things are real. Okay, you have to add those words in English. And, and that's a sign of a, of a less than perfect translation, you know.

They will, because the Tibetan makes the state of mind the subject of the sentence, the translator who's not sensitive will make the state of mind the subject of the sentence. But it's not in English. You don't say, my anger, my anger doesn't like you.

But the Tibetan says that. You see what I mean? You have to say, I have anger and I don't like you.

Okay? Or something like that. Okay?

So, I'm just telling you if you want to be a good translator, don't make the state of mind the subject of the sentence. You can't, you shouldn't say in English, this is a mental function which believes. You have to say a mental function which, where the person believes.

Okay? Because in English we don't say your anger is mad. Okay?

Got it?

[Speaker 2]
Yeah, it's a good tip.

[Speaker 1]
And it's, and if you don't use that tip, again, you put a little obstacle in front of the reader. Because he has to say, what's he mean the anger gets angry? You know, and then he'll figure it out.

But you just put another obstacle in his way. You put enough obstacles in his way, he gets to the third one, he'll say, I'd rather watch TV tonight. And you lose him.

And he won't come back. You know, you have one chance with a reader. They put that book down, it's going to collect dust for years.

Okay? Many people told me, your diamond colored book, I, it got translated into Chinese, I bought it, I read the first chapter, I got lost, I put it on the shelf. Many people told me.

Yeah, my book. Okay. And then, six years later, I, you know, I was cleaning my house, and I, I read it, you know.

Okay, anyway. tsun ja de rang kya Are you telling me, it fits your definition? Okay, tse ni definition.

Tsun ja, what the definition defines. What's the tsun ja here?

[Speaker 2]
What, what are we fighting about? The state of mind.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're halfway there, Marita. First link misunderstanding.

That's what's being defined, in all these fights, in all these battles. We're trying to define, misunderstanding, then understood, as the first link. Which is not the same as general misunderstanding.

Okay, misunderstanding which functions as the first link, means a misunderstanding, which specifically, keeps you in, rebirth. Okay, different, it's not general misunderstanding. He doesn't say it here, but it's understood.

Because why? The whole subject, is the twelve links. We promised a discussion of the twelve links.

We're not going to repeat every single time. We're discussing, misunderstanding, as the first link. Okay, got it?

tsun ja de rang thao Oh, so it's the first link? so, the state of mind, the mental function, which believes that things are real. Okay.

Are you telling me that's the first link? Then he says, No, no, what's he saying in Tibetan?

[Speaker 2]
What's he saying in Tibetan?

[Speaker 1]
tsun ja de thao tsun ja de thao Are you telling me that's the, it's the, is the yin yin tsong khyer's first link? Then he always says, His first response is rs chod khyer. Understood.

Not printed. Okay, not printed. Literally, he says, Because why?

chod khyer Because why? And then our next statement, it always starts with? In English.

Because... Okay? He says, because why?

And then we say, Because... it fits your definition. Okay?

It's a counterexample, right? Are you telling me it's the first link? Yes.

Oh, why do you say that? Because it fits your definition. What was his definition?

Let's go back. Yeah. Mental function, which is the opposite of wisdom, which is the opposite of misunderstanding.

Okay, let's just think of it that way. Any mental... He said, Any mental function, which is the opposite of wisdom, is the first link.

Any mental function, which is the opposite of understanding emptiness, is the first link. There's something wrong there.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
There's something wrong there. Okay? Somehow it's not perfect.

English idiom? It's close.

[Speaker 2]
But no cigar.

[Speaker 1]
No cigar. His definition is very close, but not perfect. Close, but not perfect.

Sanjay Devta, are you telling me it's the first link in dependent origination? Why do you say that? Because it fits your definition.

Okay. Then we're going to confirm it, reconfirm, reconfirm. We're going to say, we're going to repeat his definition.

We said, because it fits your definition. He says, I don't know. We said, well yeah, it does, because it is a mental function, simjum, I'm going to put that up at the top.

It's a mental function, which works against the opposite of misunderstanding, which is the wisdom which perceives emptiness. And another way to say that is the understanding, which is its opposite, misunderstanding's opposite. Okay, let's say it again.

My counterexample fits your definition. Any mental function which holds things as real fits your definition of the first link. Why?

Because it is a mental function, it's working against its opposite, which is the wisdom, which perceives, now he uses emptiness for the first time. He says, gong shing, he doesn't say dak me pa, he doesn't say lack of a self nature. For the first time we have the word emptiness.

Okay? So, this is a mental function which is working against the understanding of emptiness. Okay?

Which is a kind of understanding which works against misunderstanding. Okay, he add that, now whether that's necessary or not, I don't know. Okay?

Okay? Chö chen de yin pay chö. Okay?

Because the example I gave you is the example I gave you. Okay? Then the mental function which thinks that things are real.

Okay? Mental function which thinks that things are real. There's something wrong with that.

With that counterexample. Somehow that counterexample is not the first link. The mental function which thinks that things are real somehow is not the first link.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
It fits his definition. His definition is mistaken. Somehow it doesn't fit the first link.

Okay? We don't know why yet. Leave your mind open.

Be open. You know, don't insist on knowing. Don't insist on understanding it right away, because you'll go crazy.

You know, by the end of this few pages you'll understand, but don't get all, you know, uptight now. Don't go tight. You know, I don't understand this now.

Let the fight go on. You'll understand by the end of the fight. Okay?

If you agree... Okay? Sorry.

If you agree that it is the first link... Okay? Sun Yat Der Tong, right?

Up here. If you agree that it is the first link... Now, I'm sorry.

You're going to be frustrated, more frustrated. Kong du kak sin o. Sin is the past tense of zin, and it's just the past tensorizer.

It's a past tensorizer. It makes things past tense. We already...

Kak. Go. Yeah, we already refuted that above.

Thanks. You know? We already beat that argument last time.

Oh, thanks. You know? Okay.

Yeah, I'm the new guy. Just give me a little more information. Let's go back to where we...

Kong du means above, right? What's gya mi ko ma? Gya mi ko ma.

[Speaker 2]
Oh, above the...

[Speaker 1]
Chinese emperor. Ko ma means the higher one. This ko, same ko here.

Up above, we already beat that. You see, up above and the one who's above, same word. Okay?

Gya mi ko ma. When you add ma, it's not feminine, okay? It just means the higher one.

It means the emperor of China. Okay? So, here we go.

Kong du kak sin o. Somewhere up here. Oh, here it is.

Right here. She re mi me che. So, apparently, the mental function which believes that things are real is not a negative emotion.

It's an obstacle to Buddhahood. It's not an obstacle to arhat. It's not an obstacle to getting out of the wheel of rebirth.

It's somehow a higher obstacle. Okay? Got it?

Believing things are real in this school is not a negative emotion. And, which implies...

[Speaker 2]
Arhat can have that.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, if something is the... Yeah. If something is the first link, it should be a negative emotion.

Or it should be involved with negative emotions. Okay? Why?

Because an arhat is defined as the person who got rid of their negative emotions.

[Speaker 2]
Why?

[Speaker 1]
Because a person who understands where their husband's really coming from when their husband criticizes them and cannot get angry at their husband. It's not possible. Okay?

It's not possible. If you really understand the pen, you can never again get angry at another person who criticizes you. Because you understand they're coming from you yelled at your kids last week.

Okay? So, it's impossible for a person who understands karma clearly to get angry at another person. And that's nirvana.

That's why perceiving emptiness is the only way to stop anger forever. All the books written on psychology in English for the last 200 years, you can throw them out. Okay?

I never even spend any time. I just throw them out. People hand me a book.

I say, thank you so much. And then on the... Going to the airport, I toss it.

You know, I don't even want to carry it. Okay? I just throw it away.

Okay? Why? Because according to Buddhism, the only way to stop your anger is to understand that when your husband yells at you, it's coming from you.

Then it's impossible to get angry. Okay? And that's what it is to break out of the wheel of life.

Okay? Not getting angry at your husband when he calls you stupid because you understand that he's coming from seeds that you planted when you yelled at your kids last week is the only way to get out of the wheel of life. In Buddhism.

Okay? All right. So, somehow stopping the mental function that believes that something is real in this school is not the first thing.

Because it's an obstacle to Buddhahood. Not... Not to reaching Nirvana.

Okay? Now, why? Hopefully, he's going to talk about it.

Okay, here we go. I don't even know where we are. Here?

[Speaker 2]
That's true.

[Speaker 1]
Oh yeah, we're down here, right? Now, I'll just draw something to your attention. Well, no, I'm not gonna.

He added two... The next debater refines his argument. The next debater refines his argument.

He adds two things. He adds two things. I mean, basically, I'm just giving it to you.

Okay? He doesn't say, which is the... works against the understanding of emptiness.

He says, which works against the understanding that nothing is itself. Okay? Is that where the next argument's wrong?

Okay, right here. This means to understand, to realize, that things are not themselves. Anathman.

Anathman. Okay? An means not.

Atman means themself. Okay? He doesn't say shunyata.

He doesn't say kongshin. This debater uses the word anathman. He doesn't use the word shunyata, kongshin.

Okay? That could be where the next argument's broken. But, he does something else.

So, I'm helping you out here. How does this argument differ from the last one? He adds the word mongpa.

Om mukche rengje mongje kunne nambar gyel. Om mukche rengje mongje kunne nambar gyel. What is that?

Yeah, it's one of the eight lines in Honor of Vajradhini. Okay? You got rid of om mukche rengje mongje.

[Speaker 2]
Huh?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah. How is it translated by Geshe Michael? Confusion.

Makers of dark, of confusion. This is a tantric text that they did for three years in their retreat. He did a three-year retreat.

The head shifu did a three-year retreat. Silent retreat. Which is why they talk so much now.

Okay. And, Chunzong did a three-year retreat. We've got a lot of three-year retreaters here.

And I did a three-year retreat. Okay. How many we have?

One, two, three, four. Yeah, four in one room. That's pretty unusual.

Okay, so anyway. This mongje means confusion. Mongpa.

Okay?

[Speaker 2]
Confusion.

[Speaker 1]
Confusion. Is all confusion ignorance? Is all ignorance confusion?

Confusion. So, this kha chi, this other guy, the new other guy, has changed the story of the last other guy in two ways. I'm just telling you.

He substituted anatman for shunyata. No self-nature. And, he's mentioning...

mongje lang je, mongje. He's mentioning confusion. He's adding the word confusion to the mental function.

Okay? Mongpa.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
It's obviously related to nyonmong, but it's not the same. By the way, mongpa is one of the second... is one of the mental functions listed in the classical books of Buddhist psychology.

So, mongpa is one of the mental functions. 51, 52, I don't remember. In Abhidharma 46, I think.

I'm not sure, 43, something like that. Abhidharma has a bit less. Okay?

But, the point is, it's listed as a discrete mental function. So, just to make your life easier, why don't we go look up in the books of Buddhist psychology what's the definition of mongpa, of confusion. Secondary mental function.

It's not one of the primary ones. It's a secondary one. Like yenlak gi kadok.

So, I'm gonna create a search. And, again, you know, how you frame the search, how you design the search, is crucial. Okay?

How you design the search is everything. If you design the search the wrong way, you won't find anything, or you'll find 10,000. Okay?

So, it's crucial to learn how to design a search. You have to think about it all day. How am I gonna do this search?

Okay? I'm gonna say mongpa, but I'm not... I'm not gonna add the suffix letter.

I'm gonna assume some people might have spelled it wrong. Okay? So, I'm not gonna say mongpay tsenny or something.

Okay? I'm gonna just say mong. Okay?

And then I'm gonna put the word tsenny near it. Yeah. Can you find me the definition?

How close? Yes, name line. Because it's gonna say, the definition of confusion is...

[Speaker 2]
Okay? Huh?

[Speaker 1]
No, it's gonna be blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, mongpay tsenny. Okay? In Tibetan syntax.

Let's do two to make Utpala happy. Well, sometimes the... the typist might have added some returns.

We don't know. Okay? By the way, I'm not 100% sure we're gonna hit anything, but I hope so.

Ready? This is not it. This is not it.

Yeah, wrong direction. Where's my eyeballs? Uh...

I'm sorry that I can't make this larger yet. We don't... We need more funding to have more...

Oh, we got 102 matches. I propose... that because we have 100 matches, I don't want to go through every 100.

Let's try mongpay tsenny. Exactly. Very nice.

Let's misspell it. And see if we get it. And then we wipe out this one.

By the way, the proximity search won't work. It'll default to OR if you don't put anything in the second bar. If you say jack near nothing, it will find all the jacks.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
It won't get... It won't say, oh, there's nothing... there's no case of jack near nothing.

Because every case of jack is jack near nothing. Okay?

[Speaker 2]
Okay, logically.

[Speaker 1]
And the top four boxes are always OR with each other. Yeah, and so are the bottom four with the top four. You see, I could have put mongpay tsenny down here, and it would still work, even though this says proximity.

Uh, no. No, you're right. No, you're right.

I take it back. Okay, here we go. Mongpay tsenny.

I hope so. Om mani padme hung.

[Speaker 2]
That's a thing.

[Speaker 1]
Uh...

[Speaker 2]
Mongpay tsenny. Dragon.

[Speaker 1]
This is not it, okay? This is not it. Okay, by the way, it has...

It does... It's by Kamalashila, which is interesting. Same.

[Speaker 2]
Uh oh.

[Speaker 1]
Uh oh.

[Speaker 2]
That was all four.

[Speaker 1]
Wah, wah. Let's go to the uncatalog stuff.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
Stuff we didn't have time to catalog. Okay? By the way, don't go to...

Probably not Natinge, okay? The classical place of Buddhist psychology is to go... I mean, you'll...

That's a long story. Not often. It's not often said that way.

[Speaker 2]
Wah, wah.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, well, anyway. By the way, I'm going to start another search, okay? At the same time.

Which, remember, you're allowed to do that. Uh... I'm going to look for Mongpay tsenny.

[Speaker 2]
Mongpay tsenny. Geshe-la, can I just ask you a time question real quick?

[Speaker 1]
Uh, yeah. Hang on one second. Hang on one second a minute.

That's not it. Hang on. Hang on.

Hang on. Hang on. Hang on.

Okay, yep. We could do half of somebody else now. Uh, or we could just keep going on this text.

If you think that we're going to ex-postulate in the afternoon, then somebody will get their time chopped in half. Either way, we'll get a half hour. Uh...

Or we just cut. Yun Chin. Do you think Dr. Wu is coming today or not?

[Speaker 2]
He's here already. I'm checking.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, he's here. He's here?

[Speaker 2]
He's in his office.

[Speaker 1]
Okay, so we're going to go to...

[Speaker 2]
We could ex-postulate now or... Yeah. Or we could do this for another five minutes.

[Speaker 1]
Let's do five minutes of ex-postulate, and then Ward's going to show us how his work. Because I'm trying to impress Dr. Wu with all of their work, so he will keep giving them some rent money. Okay, uh...

This is not it. Okay, anyway, he's going to talk about it himself. Okay, let's just go to the book.

[Speaker 2]
I'm not asking you to do it, but could you do a book for the Dunchiks with...

[Speaker 1]
Dong Dunchik? Yeah. Oh, you could.

[Speaker 2]
From the Dunchik's Goethe's Enemies?

[Speaker 1]
You could. Okay. Less fruitful.

Okay. But you could do that.

[Speaker 2]
Out of desperation.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, if you're desperate, you can do all kinds of things.

[Speaker 2]
Uh... It's not okay.

[Speaker 1]
Anyway, the difference of this new arguer... Arguerer? Is that he's meant...

He took out shunyata, and he replaced it with no self-nature. And, he added the word confused. Okay, so here we go.

LEN GYI LEN DRIN GYI BRAL BA LA MONGS PA'I MAR NEG PA SPYOD CHEN Let's consider... Uh... By the way, sometimes I...

I'm going to suggest that mongpa here we translate as a lack of clarity. It can mean darkness. Okay?

So, I'm going to suggest we translate it here as a lack of clarity. Okay? Let's consider...

the misunderstanding... where you have a lack of clarity... about the less subtle forms...

of the connection between karma and consequences. So, GYUN DE, cause and effect. But, LEN DE, karma and its consequences.

Don't use the word result when the first part is karma. So, don't say karma and its results. In English, karma and its consequences is sweeter.

It sounds more sweet. You know, the consequences of your doing this are going to be very serious. Okay?

So, consequence is a good translation for result, when the first part is karma. When the first part is cause, it sounds better to say cause and effect.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[Speaker 1]
Okay? Okay. So, let's consider...

misunderstanding in the form of... a lack of clarity... about the...

about the more obvious forms... of karma and what happens to you after you make karma. Okay?

The connection between karma and consequences. Okay? If you lose your money, you must have stolen money.

You see what I mean? Those are the obvious ones. Okay?

TSE NI DE LTAR Are you saying... that's the def... Are you saying your definition...

fits this kind of misunderstanding? Because... this is...

misunderstanding. Which is what you're trying to define. This is what you're trying to define.

This is what you're trying to define. What's he trying to define? Misunderstanding.

Well, hopefully it's still Dhamma Maripa. I'm not sure at this point. Okay?

By the way... yeah... CHOS CAN DU YIN PA'I PHYIR Are you telling me...

that definition fits this thing? Why do you say that? Because this thing is...

a gas, firstly. Does your definition fit this? Because it is first link.

[Speaker 2]
You all right? No, I'm confused.

[Speaker 1]
Does your definition... which talks about lack of clarity... Okay?

[Speaker 2]
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Speaker 1]
As the definition of the first link. Does it fit this thing? Well, why do you say that?

Because this is the first link.

[Speaker 2]
Does it fit the CHOS CAN?

[Speaker 1]
Because this is first link. That's an interesting statement. Okay?

Misunderstanding the... Samuccaya and its effects. Is first link?

Is it the first link? Let's keep going. CHOS CAN DU YIN PA'I PHYIR DE YIN PA'I PHYIR Why?

Because such a thing does exist. Such a kind of ignorance does exist. Okay?

Got it? Then he's going to prove that such a kind of ignorance does exist, and he's going to quote... Kuntu.

Samuccaya. Samuccaya.

[Speaker 2]
Which one?

[Speaker 1]
There's a bunch of Samuccaya. So, thanks a lot. KUN LA'I THUB PA means compendium.

Or collected work. You can say compendium. There's a DO KUN LA'I THUB PA.

There's a SRIKSHA SAMUCCAYA by Shantideva. There's a NAGARJUNA RODA KUN LA'I THUB PA. Okay, so...

To find out which one... you would have to go find it. And we can do it next time.

We can figure out which one it is. But anyway, that says there's two kinds of lack of clarity. MONG PA RNAM PA NYID DE And I'm going a little bit fast because we're running out of time.

And I don't want to... I don't want to stop before I finish this guy. There's two kinds of lack of clarity.

There's two kinds of lack of clarity. One is a lack of clarity about how karma ripens. Okay?

About the karmic ripenings. Okay? The second lack of clarity is about the meaning of suchness.

Tattva. Okay? Suchness, which is a synonym for emptiness.

So, when you talk about lack of clarity, there's two kinds. One is you don't fully understand how karma ripens. Second is you don't understand suchness.

Therefore, there does exist a thing called lack of clarity about karma. That's all he's trying to prove here. There is such a thing as lack of clarity about karma.

DU MI NYID DE You can't agree that your definition fits this. You can't agree that your definition fits this, because it is what it is. That's not a very good reason, right?

Right, Adam? It doesn't fit. How does it not fit?

[Speaker 2]
Because the definition is the thing which is a mental function which works against...

[Speaker 1]
Oh, I'm going to kiss you. But you're too far away. And I have a cold.

He got it, okay? He got it. Now we learn something about the first link.

It's not restricted to a misunderstanding of emptiness. It can include a misunderstanding of karma. Okay?

Got it? But he defined the definition earlier as misunderstanding. Yeah, his definition said a lack of clarity about no-self nature.

Apparently that's not the important thing here, which works against the understanding of no-self nature. The lack of understanding about karma doesn't directly work against the understanding of emptiness. Okay?

We're complaining about his definition, because it doesn't cover a lack of clarity about karma. And that can be the first link. We learn something new today, okay?

What keeps you in samsara, according to your school, doesn't necessarily have to do with the pen. It can have to do with where this stuff come from. You know?

Karma. Lack of understanding about karma. Yeah.

Yeah. Depends on what school you're in. Oh man, I don't know.

I suspect that in this school, it's a synonym for tong gi.

[Speaker 2]
So tong gi is a synonym for...

[Speaker 1]
No. Tong gi is not, for sure. In this school...

Okay, if you... Okay, because you asked the question, not because we have any time. Three tracks, right?

This track, you can talk about emptiness. When you talk Bodhisattva track, in this school, lower Madhyamika, this track, you always talk about emptiness. They perceive emptiness.

Which is the subtle lack of a self to things. Now, that's a whole subject. But these two tracks, you talk about lack of a self.

So in your school, emptiness has three flavors. Three degrees. Three degrees of emptiness.

So in your school, the subject of the degrees of emptiness is a big subject. You know? First degree, second degree, third degree emptiness.

Real emptiness. Kind of real emptiness. Okay?

And the other schools don't accept it.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
This school says, if your heart... if you don't have compassion, you can't see real emptiness. But you will see some kind of emptiness.

And you can become an arhat. Lower arhat. But the higher schools say, come on.

You know? There's not really degrees of emptiness. Like half emptiness, three quarter emptiness.

Okay? Okay? So that's a big difference between the two middle way schools.

And your presentation of the three flavors, these three degrees of emptiness, is very sophisticated and helpful. It's not some kind of crazy thing. Okay?

Okay. Thank you. Okay?

Cool? Good job. You're so brave to sit here with no Tibetan and attack these books, you know.