Тим Ловенхопт — Книга 1: Совершенство мудрости, занятие 35

[Speaker 1]
It doesn't go all the way, no, it's, that one's bigger, this is a smaller one. Testing. That's better.

Yes. Yes, real. Venerable calcium variable jigme could you send the zoom link to that's career, please.

Okay, thank you. You're, you're set. Okay, so whatever you're actually calling.

Yeah. And Nick she got it. So am I.

My show up there. Francisco, you can see his computer, correct? Okay, so we'll start with my homework.

Okay, cool. Hi everyone. So, we're going to start with my homework from a class that many of you may not have attended.

So you're going to, we're going to try to learn something today. Can I do it? Yes, you can do it.

We used to three times a year. We used to do translation class, mix nuts. And we did five classes every day, five hours.

And it's very, very difficult material. And I used to get up at four o'clock in the morning, because the morning class is for Europe. And then I sleep in the daytime.

And then I work at night again for Asia market. So, and we did 60 classes in a row. And they are very difficult classes.

And each class takes three, four, five hours of preparation. So it was really hard. And we made a new system.

We do Saturday morning Arizona time, which is evening in Europe. And it's way too late for Asia. It's midnight for Asia.

So, that's for European people. And we do one class in the morning, on Saturday. And then on Monday night, we have two classes, mostly for Asia, Asia France.

And so, when I'm traveling, it gets confused, the schedule. And I'm pre-recording the classes. Otherwise, we have to start the class at midnight tonight or something like that.

So, we are recording this class for which group, I don't know. This will be shown tonight or something. Yeah, it will be shown tonight.

Okay. And Tim's going to start the class. He's the translator for this book.

He's going to tell you a little bit about his book before he starts his homework. Go. Hello everyone.

So, this book is... Has any of you heard the story of the Arya Sangha who ran into a dog on the side of the street accidentally? Does everyone know this story?

Most of you may have heard it. And then he bends down and he tries to take care of the little worms coming out. And he tries to take them out with his tongue so he doesn't kill the worms but also needs to help the dog.

And because of this act of great compassion, his first act of incredibly great compassion, I would maybe say. I don't know the rest of his life, but this is the thing that pushed him over the edge. Then he met the future Buddha, Maitreya.

And Maitreya was like, hey, come with me and have some cinnamon rolls. And so they went and hung out for a morning and the future Buddha Maitreya taught him five great books. And so when the Sangha came back, something weird happened 50 years past instead of just a morning.

And then he wrote down all of those books. And the book that we're studying is the Abhisamaya Alankara, which is the jewel of realizations. And we're studying a commentary to a commentary.

So we're a commentary on Haribhadra's commentary on the Abhisamaya Alankara. Which is a good segue into question number one of the homework. So we're in a debate and we're trying to figure out what the difference is between a sutra and a shastra.

So what is the difference? Hey, can we get some microphones to throw around the room? What is the difference between a sutra and a shastra?

And why is this important in the context of our book? Offer him $100. For $0, Jamie.

For $0, Jamie. Could you hold it closer? Correct.

So why is this important for us to figure out in the context of the Abhisamaya Alankara? Wait, give him the microphone back. Because the author is Maitreya and we are debating if the mantra is good or not.

Can you say, can you explain a little bit more? So then how would that, what are we trying to determine about a sutra or a shastra?

[Speaker 2]
Because what just Jamie said, a sutra is a mantra and a shastra is written by the Indian master. And right now they operate Maitreya. And some people debate.

Because someone says he's the future Buddha and he's not a Buddha right now. And in Roman teaching we say that, but in Tibetan teaching we say he's already a Buddha.

[Speaker 1]
So the world may not debate. It's a sutra or a shastra. Right, so we're trying to figure out, is this a classical commentary or is this a sutra?

By the way, there's one shastra written in Chinese by Yen Tse. It's a commentary on what I really meant. Cool.

All right, great. So question number two. You can skip that.

So when we're, the whole book is in debate format. And so what happens is when we're starting a debate someone shows up and says, I think this is this. So in this case we have someone show up and says, this is what I think a classical commentary is.

So we have, we'll call it a trial definition. We're going to try to define what a shastra is, what a classical commentary is. So if someone comes along and gives us that definition.

So in this trial definition, which we're going to try to figure out what's true and not. What are the three parts of the definition of a classical commentary? Ooh, Lindsay.

Yay, Lindsay. Hold on, here comes the microphone.

[Speaker 2]
The person who wrote it. Okay, that's one. Wanted to be a commentary on the speech of the Buddha.

[Speaker 1]
Correct.

[Speaker 2]
And she gave me that first speech, which was purely written and intended.

[Speaker 1]
Correct. Whoa, nice. I have another question to add to that one.

Is that $300 answer or just a $100 answer? $300 answer. Just kidding.

Right, so there's three qualities that are given. The first one is, what was it again, Lindsay, the first one? It's written by a suffering living being.

What's the second one? The commentary on the speech of the Buddha. And the third one?

Pure speech. Pure speech, correct. Okay.

Let's say pure expression. Pure expression. Okay.

So we're going to go to question number three now. So we know that when we start a debate, that whomever starts a debate is going to say something wrong. And our job is to find out what that wrong is, so we can get to the correct definition.

It's like when you debate with your wife, especially if you live in Colorado. The wife is always wrong to start. No comment.

Inside joke. So the question, before I answer the question, is that what do we determine is wrong with those three things, or what's wrong in general, and why? Go ahead, Ine.

[Speaker 2]
In general, all the sutras, they were not written by the Lord Buddha. They were written by the disciples. So it is not the direct speech of the Lord Buddha from the very beginning.

[Speaker 1]
That's interesting, but not the debate. We could debate that, but that's not what the debate is.

[Speaker 2]
There are other classical commentaries?

[Speaker 1]
Yes, exactly. So can you say a little bit more about it, if you say there are other classical commentaries? Like shastras in the Vedic tradition?

Right. We take issue with one part of that definition, which is a classical commentary has to be a commentary based on the speech of a Buddha. And we're saying that there can be classical commentaries commenting on things that were other people's belief systems, or other people's teachings.

We still call it a shastra. Yes, there are. So, cool.

So we take issue with that. We don't know anything about the other two yet, whether something with pure expression, or that it has to be written by a suffering living being. We don't know yet, and we might discover it.

All right, next slide. Sexy Tibetan words. Okay, no, no, no.

For zero dollars, what's a tencha? Shastra. No, no, no.

It's, yes, a classical commentary. Okay, just punch it once. What's a shastra?

Shastra.

[Speaker 2]
Sword. Sword.

[Speaker 1]
What? Is the long A one the classical commentary, or the short A one? I believe the long A is the commentary.

Okay. Am I right? Tencha, good.

Nick, nice. It's a classical commentary. All right, punch it one more.

What's a shastra?

[Speaker 2]
Sword.

[Speaker 1]
A sword, yes. So this is why it's important to know the difference in pronunciation between a long A and a short A in Sanskrit. And if you speak Chinese, you know this because there's tones, right?

If you mess up a tone, like, I will say what I think is correct, and everyone looks at me like I'm an idiot. You know, they're like, what are you saying? And then once they realize that I messed up the tones, you know, so in that way, it's very, very important to be able to know what's a long vowel and a short vowel in Sanskrit.

Otherwise, no one will understand you. That's it. Wow, that's a homework.

Okay, good. So we're going to go on to a new section. So what we've established...

By the way, it will take Tim 56 years to finish this book. Okay? He will be more bald than me before he finishes.

101, it sounds auspicious. Yeah. It's a long life.

It's a long book. It's a very long book. It's eight books, actually.

It's a set of eight books. So we just established... So, it's interesting, at the beginning of a spiritual book, they are discussing the definition of a spiritual book.

Okay? And that's important in Buddhism. That's an important technique, that you define everything at the beginning.

So, we're going to comment on a spiritual book written by the future Buddha, and that means we have to define what is a spiritual book. And we had some amazing parts already. For example, the sound of the wind through the trees could be the speech of the Buddha.

And, you know, you could sit at the beach and listen to the ocean waves, and it could be the speech of the Buddha. So far we learned some beautiful things. So how about the commentary on the speech of the Buddha?

And what we learned so far is that it could be... there are commentaries which are not Buddhist. There are spiritual commentaries which are not Buddhist.

Shastra. Classical Indian commentaries don't have to be Buddhist classical Indian commentaries. Now we have another question coming up.

So Tim's going to read it perfectly. That's a lot of pressure. Thank you.

All right, here we go. No pressure. Okay.

Slow down. Up and down. Down.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, if you go down, it means, are you telling me? Are you crazy?

Oh, that's right, because we're starting. And yin pa ta means, yeah, it is. And usually a debate is going to start with the other guy saying, you know, are you telling me that blah blah?

And we say, why do you say that? And they say, well, you just gave this weird definition. Yeah, so it's sarcastic.

Somebody's saying, eh, chenopi dunpa dunpa yin pa ta. What's he saying? Are you saying that non-Buddhist teachers are teachers?

Yeah. Are you? So, by the way, it's important to say so because he has here, de la.

Okay, so de la connects it to the last debate. So de la means, oh, so you're saying, just because someone is a, someone can be a non-Buddhist teacher and still be a teacher because chenopi dunpa dunpa yin pa ta. Because, because there's non, because non-Buddhist, there's also non-Buddhist commentaries that are classical commentaries.

Yeah, you said not every classical commentary is a Buddhist classical commentary, therefore, not every teacher is a Buddhist teacher. Right? Okay, that's what he said.

Makes sense. Okay. You say there are classical commentaries which are not Buddhist, and we did just say that.

Then he says, well, then therefore, there must be teachers who can be non-Buddhist teachers. And we say, ma kyab. Say it loudly.

Just because there are classical commentaries which are not Buddha's classical commentaries doesn't mean that there are teachers which are non-Buddhist teachers. Yeah! Nick said it correctly.

Just because there are classical commentaries which are non-Buddhist classical commentaries doesn't mean there are teachers who are non-Buddhist teachers. I mean, the other guy should say, who wrote the non-Buddhist classical commentary. Okay, now that's an interesting position.

Okay, all right. You can have a classical commentary which is non-Buddhist, but that doesn't mean you can have a teacher who is non-Buddhist. According to this argument, okay.

By the way, what school are we in? Lower middle way. We are in lower middle way school.

There are four ancient schools of Buddhism, which are not the same as the four Tibetan schools of Buddhism. And the highest school has a higher group and a lower group in it. So we happen to be in the lower group of the highest school of Buddhism.

So maybe there's some difference. Let's go see. You want to read and then you can pick up some more.

Yeah. This, by the way, when I first... This is the first book you study in the Geshe course.

You spend 12 years on this book. And I came from a Christian tradition, and I came from an American tradition of religious freedom or tolerance of different religions. And this book was hard for me.

It was hard to hear these things. So relax and just think about it. Okay.

DUM MI GNOD TE You can't agree that there are teachers who are non-Buddhist? Why? PHYIR ROL PA'I LTOS MA DE'I LANG DOR Because non-Buddhist teachers...

Are not able to or not capable of teaching? They're not capable of teaching TSUL SHIN TU Correctly? In a correct way.

Now the important thing is LANG DOR KYIS MED Say LANG DOR LANG DOR KYIS MED LANG DOR KYIS MED What's it mean? Do you know? What you take up and what you give up.

Yeah, what you should... Start doing and stop doing. What you should do for the rest of your life, and what you shouldn't be doing for the rest of your life, a non-Buddhist teacher cannot tell you.

Correctly. Okay, that's a pretty serious statement and it would cause a lot of trouble in many places, like outside of this room. And you have to relax and you have to listen to the whole debate, okay?

It means, to me, it means if you don't understand LOB BYOG and if you don't understand emptiness, it's not possible to know what you should be doing in your life and what you shouldn't be doing in your life. Okay, that's a pretty deep... That's a pretty extreme statement, okay?

It won't go at my house. Because my wife is Christian, so... You know, she'll say, yeah, I agree.

Therefore, Buddha is not a teacher. Do you know what I mean? So, you know, let's keep going, okay?

By the way, if everything is empty, if it's true that everything is coming from you, if it's true that all things in the world are produced by how you treat other people, then is it true to do the right thing in life if you don't know that? Is it possible to do the right thing in your life if you don't understand that the whole world and everyone in it is coming from how you treated other people? I don't know.

It's a debate. It's a debate. Say again?

Yeah, he could say that. He said if not, you could never meet someone who teaches the pen for the first time. Okay.

Ona, do you want to choose somebody? Sure, could you toss the microphone to Ina, even Eva? Ona, yeah.

Ona, Actually, I think it's the other guy saying it to us. I think so, too. Yeah, I'm going to cut that.

Okay, you want to translate? By the way, I think it's the other guy talking. So, are you saying that a...

No. Well, well then. Yeah, a churubi tumba is to a tumba.

And so, a non-Buddhist teacher is to a teacher. Yeah, now it's the other guy talking. But it's true.

A non-Buddhist teacher is a teacher. And we say, at that time, we say chicha, which means... Why would you say that?

Why do you say that? Why do you insist that a non-Buddhist teacher is a teacher? And he says...

This is... I didn't quite know how to do it. But then I guess non-Buddhist oral teachings are oral teachings?

Yeah, you can just say teachings. Okay. Because non-Buddhist teachings are teachings.

Would we accept that? No. We accept that a non-Buddhist commentary is a commentary.

So, do we accept that a non-Buddhist teaching is a teaching? Yeah, we do. Okay, so I see what he's doing.

If a non-Buddhist classical commentary is a classical commentary, then a non-Buddhist teaching can be a teaching. Therefore, he says a non-Buddhist teacher should be a... Teacher according to you.

Okay, it's a good debate. And we say, why do you say that, Aaron? And he says, Chabadri, you're the one who said it had to be.

You're the one who said it had to be. What did we say had to be? We said a non-Buddhist classical commentary can be a commentary.

Then he says, well then, therefore, a non-Buddhist teaching has to be a teaching. Chabadri, you already agreed to that. And we say, yeah, we agree that a non-Buddhist teaching is a teaching.

Then he says, then how can you say that a non-Buddhist teacher is not a teaching? It's good. It's okay.

He's pretty smart. Usually these guys are not dumb. Okay.

Then we say, Thagmandu, I disagree that a non-Buddhist teaching is a teaching. We say, I disagree that a non-Buddhist teaching is a teaching. Then he says, Madhubna, if you do disagree that a non-Buddhist teaching is a teaching, then who's going to read?

Let's toss it to... Where is Daniel Emmanuel? Oh, he's up there.

[Speaker 2]
We are at Madhubna, right?

[Speaker 1]
Yes, Madhubna.

[Speaker 2]
He said, Madhubna, they tell...

[Speaker 1]
You're going up or down on that tell? Up. Yeah, good.

You got 50% chance. When we have that percentage time, it means we have corrected the carbon. The carbon is wrong.

So we corrected it. Good. Cool.

Nice. That's the group that's going to study overseas next week, I guess. Yay.

Future translators. Right, Kelso? I hope so.

So we said... We said, he said, you said. Okay.

And by the way, all these books are designed to help young people learn to debate. Okay. And when you learn to debate for many years, and then you go to Kyoto and teach a large group of people, and they ask you Q&A, you are fearless.

Like a lion. That's the expression. You're like, yeah, ask me any question.

I don't care. Because you did it for 20 years or something. And it's good.

You even debate yourself well. So he said, didn't you agree that a non-Buddhist teaching was a teaching? And we say, yeah, we agreed.

Then he says, by the way, he says, or we say, okay, you can't say a non-Buddhist teaching is not a teaching. Madhubna? Okay, if you say a non-Buddhist teaching is not a teaching, okay, Madhubna?

If you say a non-Buddhist teaching is not a teaching, we say it is too. DER LTA? Yes, it is.

Because a mistaken teaching is still a teaching. That's a very powerful statement. A mistaken teaching.

LTA RNANGS means mistaken. Mistaken teaching is still a teaching. Therefore, a non-Buddhist teaching is still a teaching.

But that's the other guy saying that. Who said it? The other guy.

The other guy could be saying it, and it's still okay. Because we would also say it. A mistaken teaching is still a teaching.

Therefore, a non-Buddhist teaching is still a teaching. But I doubt that he would say it, because that's implying that his teaching is mistaken. So, yeah, you got to be careful.

It'd be very interesting to translate this. Hey, by the way, it's interesting. In the monastery, the teacher does not have to make final decisions.

He can change the subject. He can quit the class for the day. He can start drinking tea.

But a translator has to decide. We have to make a decision. And we're under more pressure than the teacher in the monastery.

Anyway, somebody, and it doesn't really matter who, at this point, has said that a mistaken teaching is still a teaching. And then somebody says, ,BTAG MANG GRUB, I disagree that a mistaken teaching is still a teaching. And then we say, ,BDAG LTA, It too, it too is.

[Speaker 2]
It is too.

[Speaker 1]
A mistaken teaching is still a teaching. Why? And I'll prove it to you.

Who's going to read? Daniel, could you do this next line since you got a short one? Just hold your beard down and...

Can you give it back to Daniel? So where it says, ,BTAN ZIG, ,BTAN ZIG, ,BTAN ZIG, ,BTANG ZIG YIN PA'I PHYIR, A mistaken teaching is still a teaching because a mistaken, ,BTAN ZIG, is still a ,BTAN ZIG. What's a ,BTAN ZIG?

Reason? Logical statement. A mistaken teaching is still a teaching because a mistaken reason is still a reason.

Honey, we should spend family money on a 1952 pickup truck. You know? And she's like, why?

And I say, because I didn't get a birthday present for a couple of years. You know, like that. So that's a bad reason, but it's still a reason.

Don't tell her I said that. ,BTAN ZIG BTAR NANG, ,BTAN ZIG YIN PA'I PHYIR, Then ,DOD NA, If you agree to that. Yeah, if you agree to that.

,KHOR GSUM CHEN PO, Then you're just chasing your own tail. You're just spinning in circles. By the way, when it says, if you agree to that, ,DOD NA, you have to go back in the book to the last time somebody said, tell.

Okay? There's two possible answers to tell. Tell means, are you saying that?

And you can either say, why do you say that? Which means you disagree. Or you can say, yes, right.

Which is ,DOD. ,DOD means desire, but in a debate it means I agree. Okay?

So when you see somebody say, if you agree, at that last point, you have to go backwards in the sentence until you hit tell. Okay? Where is the tell?

It's up there after somebody said, a non-Buddhist teaching is still a teaching. Somebody said a non-Buddhist teaching is still a teaching. Therefore, a non-Buddhist teacher is still a teacher.

And then he said, do you agree to that? If we say we do agree to it, we blow up our own self. We can't agree.

So ,DOD NA means, ,KHOR GSUNGS means, you just killed yourself. ,KHOR GSUNGS means, you just agreed to something that proves that you're wrong. You just agreed to something that proves you're wrong.

Okay, how's that? Okay, you can't agree back there. You cannot say, I agree back there.

Because then you will prove, you will say something that proves that you yourself are wrong. And that's, you can say chasing your tail. Or something like that.

It's a debate idiom. You just agreed to something that proves you wrong. Okay, all right?

That's useful in the kitchen. With your wife. Okay, who's next?

I didn't really... We're just implying that we know that a non-Buddhist teacher is not a teacher. Yeah, so far, I mean, why do you conclude from that exchange?

And that's a big Buddhist thing. You watch a debate, what did you get out of that debate? I got out of that debate that there are commentaries which are not Buddhist commentaries.

There are commentaries which are wrong commentaries. There are arguments which are mistaken arguments. But that doesn't mean that a mistaken teacher is a teacher.

It's interesting. Yeah, now that's a great point. Okay, so the word teacher in Buddhism, in classical Buddhism, the word teacher can be capital T or not capital T.

Capital T means Lord Buddha. Always. The teacher.

The teacher. Like the Lord. Then you're not just talking about anybody.

So the teacher in classical Buddhism means only Lord Buddha. So, but you can't tell if it's capitalized in Tibetan. Okay, so I don't think we have to go that far.

I don't think so. Okay, I mean that would be too easy. Okay, do you have to be unmistaken to be the teacher?

Obviously. Why should we debate that? Do you have to be unmistaken to be a teacher?

How do you define a teacher? And then I'll tell you if you have to be unmistaken. If you have to be unmistaken or not.

I define a teacher as someone who teaches you a code of behavior which always brings you happiness. In that case, a non-Buddhist teacher is, according to Buddhism, is not a teacher. Because if you don't understand that the way you treat others creates your reality, you cannot be happy in this life, according to Buddhism.

Okay. Then you could debate that many other religious teachers have taught people that same thing. That you have to treat other people well to be happy in this life.

And then in that case, you could defend the statement that all teachers of morality are Buddhists. Which means all the great teachers have been Buddhists. And by the way, there's a big debate in this book called tar tung thekpa chik.

All spiritual paths end in the same place. And that's a big debate, but it's accepted in Buddhism. Cool.

All right, here we go. Let's run the microphone over to Roxanna. She's all the way over there.

[Speaker 2]
chok yor kyi yon ten ni tang denpay nak nam tak tenchor nam tak kyi ten ni ser nak Good.

[Speaker 1]
Nice. Nice pronunciation. Kha chik.

What's kha chik? Someone comes along and makes the kha chik. Yeah, literally it means what?

One mouth. Yeah, it means somebody comes and makes a statement. By the way, it's always wrong.

But we have to figure out why. Somebody comes and gives a debate to us. Kha chik.

chok yor kyi yon ten ni tang denpay nak nam tak You got to read the nak nam tak together. Now, this is vital for studying Buddhism. The word chö.

Say chö. Chö. Chö without the a'o, chö without the apostrophe in front of it, is one word.

And when you add the silent apostrophe, it's a different word. Completely. So that's very...

obviously you can have a lot of problems. Chö without the apostrophe means the Dharma. Buddhism.

Chö without the apostrophe is the translation of the Sanskrit word Dharma. The Buddhism. Buddhism.

Chö. But here it's an apostrophe. And it's unusual.

It's not very common. And chö means to fix something. Chö means to fix something that's broken.

Chö, a'o chana rung chok sa chö means to fix something which is broken. To repair something. Now listen.

Say ten chö. Ten chö. The Tibetan word for shastra, or a classical Buddhist commentary, is ten chö, which means a fixing book.

A fixing book. A book which fixes you. Shastra, classical commentary, means a book which fixes you.

So chö means it fixes you. It repairs you. Maybe you don't believe that the way you treat others determines the rest of your life.

If you don't believe that, the shastra will fix that idea. And therefore we call the shastra the fixer. A fixer.

A Buddhist commentary's name is a fixer. And khyab means to protect somebody. And we know khyab, take refuge, for example.

Khyam jug. So chö and khyab are the two qualities of a classical Buddhist commentary. It must fix you and it must protect you.

Okay, how, we don't know. But that's the definition of a classical commentary in Buddhism. The definition of Buddhism in Buddhism.

That's what we're talking about. That's the definition of Buddhism in Buddhism. And that's very, very important if you think about it.

And by the way, you guys are lucky because this argument will only come once in the next 52 years. You are hearing the opening arguments. This is the first gunshot in a 52-year war.

You can say, I was there when they were talking about chö khyab. Fixing and protecting. Those are the two yin tens of a shastra.

The two qualities. The two high qualities. What's great about a shastra?

What's great about a Buddhist commentary? It fixes you and it protects you. This is yin ten.

What's yin ten in Sanskrit? Guna. Please remember to, what do you call it?

Retroflex to end. Guna. Guna.

Yeah, good quality. Good quality. Okay, chö khyab kyi yin ten nyi dang denpay ngak nam dak.

What's ngak nam dak?

[Speaker 2]
No wonder I couldn't figure it out.

[Speaker 1]
Pure speech? Yes, pure speech. It was miscarved.

We fixed the carving. And by the way, the Mixed Nuts are a 12-person team. And I'm very proud that in seven or eight years we haven't lost anybody.

Nobody died. Nobody quit. Nobody had their brain taken out.

Which is extremely rare in a project. In a heavily... We are not just translating ancient books.

We are fixing them. What's the verb? Chö.

We are fixing the ancient carvings. As we go, we are fixing the ancient carvings. We're cleaning up mistakes that have been there.

This mistake has been here for 2,000 years. Okay, we are fixing the books as we go. So anyway, denpay ngak nam dak.

What's ngak nam dak? Pure speech. Pure speech is the definition of a good classical commentary.

He added good. The definition of a good classical commentary, meaning correct classical commentary, is correct speech which helps you in two ways. It fixes your problems and it protects you.

Any pure speech which fixes your problems and protects you is a classical Buddhist commentary. I don't know... There's something wrong.

Well... There's something wrong in there. Be careful.

Okay, I'll say it again. The definition of a good classical commentary is good speech which fixes you and protects you. So either the fix is wrong, or the protect is wrong, or the pure speech part is wrong.

Or the pure or the good commentary is wrong. Yeah, that's because it's a definition. A definition.

All right. Yeah. So one of these three things is mistaken.

I'll tell you the three things. It has to fix you. It has to fix some problem you have.

It has to protect you. And it has to be pure speech. Which part of the definition do you guess is mistaken?

Yeah, pure speech. Why? Because it comes...

Yeah, or it could be written down. Doesn't have to be speech. Right?

I don't know where he's going, but... By the way, after a person proposes a definition in the debate ground, you are trained to close your eyes and not say anything and think of a counterexample. Counterexample.

Give me an example of a good commentary that does not fit this definition. So in the debate ground, you're allowed to just kind of close your eyes and say nothing for about two milliseconds. Then they start yelling at you, okay?

So it's really pressure. So yeah, so in this moment, as the definition comes out of his mouth, you are checking, is the fix part right? Probably.

Is the protect part right? Probably. What's the rest?

Has to be speech. Oh, maybe that's wrong. Maybe that's wrong.

Let's see. Okay, and by the way, there's the definition of chodpa from the great dictionary that we use to fix something. Whether they're related ultimately, probably, I guess.

I don't know. We leave that up to the linguists, okay? Okay, here's our counterexample.

How about Jack? Can you raise your hand? By the way, what are we looking for?

We're looking for an example of a correct classical commentary which doesn't fit his definition. Okay, here we go. Okay, here we go.

yunpar ma chu chen Nice. tunjad der thal tsen ni dey chir Was that up or down your tongue? Yeah, he kind of fudged it.

It's down.

[Speaker 2]
It went down.

[Speaker 1]
It's sarcastic. Yeah, it went down. tunjad der thal By the way, you can't say barma, which means the book is on fire.

You have to say parma.

[Speaker 2]
Parma.

[Speaker 1]
Parma. Okay, different word. Okay, yunpar ma chu chen Let's consider the...

Medium length. Yeah, the medium length Perfectional Wisdom. Now, Perfectional Wisdom Sutras, Borobudamido, there's like seven or eight different lengths.

One is 100,000 verses. One is 25,000 verses. One is called the 20,000 verses.

One is the 10,000 verses. One is the 15,000 verses. 8,000 verses.

Then there's the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Cutter Sutra. So these are... He says the medium one.

Thanks. Which one is he talking about? I went and looked it up for you.

I put it here. Uh-oh. That's painful.

I swear I put it in here. Let me see. Yeah, Je Dorma Je.

Tsongkapa considers the 25,000 verses to be the medium one. The 25,000 verses. Tsongkapa considers the 25,000 verses the medium one.

Let's consider the 25,000 verses Perfectional Wisdom. By the way, the early sutras and commentaries are not philosophical books per se. They are long stories.

They read like science fiction stories. If you really want to understand emptiness, you have to go to the shastras. That's why they exist.

And then you have to go to the Tibetan commentaries on the shastras, or you can never understand them. Not possible. So here we go.

YIN PA'I MA CHOS CAN Let's take the 25,000 verses. CHUNG JA DE BAO I'm confused. Are you saying the sutra fits your definition of a good classical commentary?

Good. Yeah. Are you telling me that your definition...

Oh, I'm sorry. The 25,000 verses on the Perfectional Wisdom must be a classical commentary. CHUNG JA What he was defining...

Okay. We respond to his definition with sarcastic. Oh, that's such a nice definition.

I guess the most famous sutra of all time is not a sutra. It's a commentary. Got it?

You all right? It's sarcastic. Oh, I guess the Bodhidharma is a shastra.

Then he says, why are you saying that? And we say, because of your definition. Question.

For $300, does the Perfectional Wisdom Sutras, the medium one, 25,000 verses, does it fit his definition of a shastra? Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes or no?

[Speaker 1]
Yes. Yes. She had her hand halfway up.

I don't know. You guys want to share the money? They both have kids.

I said yes too. Okay, go ahead. They agreed to share, but they need a microphone.

You got a microphone. Oh, sorry. Go ahead.

Oh, yes. We say, we say, oh, that's so... By the way, it has to be with a straight face.

You can't say... And like, oh, that's so sweet. And he says, what's so sweet?

Oh, I guess the most famous sutra of all time is a shastra. And then he says, what? And we say, well, it is what?

It fits your definition. Well, what was our definition? It fixes you.

It fixes you. It protects you. It protects you.

And it's pure speech. And it's pure speech. Nice.

Got it? Okay, so we don't say, oh, you're stupid. That's not the definition of a sutra.

We say, oh, that's so sweet. Then all the sutras are shastras. And he's like, what?

And we say, well, you know, it protects you. It fixes you. And it's pure speech.

Then you get to act like your wife when she's right. When your wife is right, and she's like, I told you not to buy the truck. It breaks down the first week.

You know, she's like, she's like... Okay, all right, I think we got to do some... Yeah?

Sure. All right, let's see. How about Janet?

Do we need to? What's that? Do you want to finish this one, or do you want to...

Yeah, let's finish it. Let's do the next two lines. We'll do the next two lines.

Okay, is that all right? Yeah, that's fine, sure. But can we finish the whole debate?

I don't mind the whole debate. If you guys can stay a little bit extra, it's okay. All right, okay.

Dear Tao? Good, why don't you read? Oh, which means it does too fit your definition.

What? What fits what definition? The 25,000 verses fits your definition of a non-sutra.

Okay. Why? NAK DAM DAG YIN PAS CHER Good, and I'm just going to translate it.

DUD ZHES ZHES RGYUD Now he defines what... We define, by the way, what I'm protecting you from, and what I'm fixing you to. We're defining what I protect you from, and we're defining what I fix you to.

Okay, so the first he gives to protect. It protects you. It protects the ZHES RGYUD, the tantra.

Oops, that's my honey bunny. That's the only person who has that ring. I told you not to get the trunk.

No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It's long. Okay.

Bill McMichael, they're helping me check the trunk. Okay, if it breaks, you know who's problem. Okay.

DUD ZHES means disciple. Disciple. The word disciple comes from the verb discipline, and the word in Buddhism for disciple also means to tame a wild horse.

The word for disciple in Buddhism is tamee, wild horse. Okay. A student in this class is a wild horse, and the goal of the teacher is to tame the wild horse.

And that's Buddhism. Okay, those wild horses. ZHES RGYUD means their mind stream, which is tantra.

Okay, the mind stream of the disciples. MI THUN CHOG means the parts of their mind that are dirty, or the parts of their mind that are negative, or the parts of their mind that are dumb. So, we protect them from themselves.

Okay, the goal of our Buddhist commentary is to protect the student from their own mind, their wild horse mind. Okay, good, cool. And by the way, your mind is right now, it's a mixture.

You know, not 100% wild horse. It's like 50, 50, 80, 20. We don't know.

Okay, so what's the meaning of the protect word in the definition of a Buddhist commentary? Protect the student from? Themselves.

Their minds, the unclean parts of their mind stream. Okay, the wild horse parts of their mind stream. Now, what are we looking for next?

The CHOS, what are we looking for? The meaning of the fix. Yeah, when you say fix, what do you mean fix?

I got the protection part. You're trying to protect me from the part of my mind which is messed up. I understand that.

But what's the fix part? What are we trying to fix? And then he says, LHAG PA GSUM GYI NGUL DGUR DGUR Into LHAG PA GSUM.

He's trying to fix you until you become LHAG PA GSUM. The three trainings. Until you follow the three trainings.

Of? Morality. Concentration and wisdom.

Meditation and wisdom. We are fixing your brain into morality, meditation, and wisdom. That's the fixing part.

Cool? And we are protecting you from yourself. Good.

And then NANG NAG RNAMS BDAG is the same. Pure speech. Pure speech.

He just gave a description of the medium length BORO BORO MIDDLE. He just gave a description of the function of BORO BORO MIDDLE. What's the function of PRAJNAPARMITA?

It's to protect you from the bad part of your brain. To fix you into a person who doesn't hurt people, meditates well, and understands where stuff is really coming from. And then it's pure speech.

Okay? It's pure speech. Okay?

The sutra. The original sutras. Nowadays I'm...

It's interesting, no sutra was ever written. And it wouldn't be crazy to translate sutra as lecture. As an oral teaching.

I'm just playing with that. Okay. All right.

Yes, that is to the definition. Because it's a sutra. That's okay.

We don't need to argue about that. Then he says DGOS. I agree that something which fixes you and protects you, and which is pure speech, is always a shastra.

I agree. That's the definition of a shastra. And then we say, Tomin, you can't say that.

Because the medium length bodo-bala-mido is... The speech of the Buddha. It's like the ultimate sutra.

Okay, why are you saying it's a commentary? It's the ultimate sutra. You know, how can you say that?

By the way, the name of that middle length is Nichi. 20,000 verses. But it's really 25,000 verses, if you care.

Okay. All right. Last sentence.

And you survived a translation class. Okay, here's the last sentence. Who's reading, Kim?

Shen Yung. GYUR GYI SEMS NI DE MIN THEG PAR BRTAL Good. GA'I GANG BRAL DU RGYUR PA'I RTEN DRIN RNAM DAG LA NAG RNAM DAG GIS MA BSKYED PA'I PHYIR Yeah, Shen Yung GYUR GYI SEMS NI DE MIN THEG PAR BRTAL And your definition, your attempted definition of a shastra, of a Buddhist commentary, is wrong for another reason.

Okay. Why? Because there's lots of good tantras, shastras, which are commentaries on the speech of the Buddha.

Okay. Which are not necessarily NAG RNAM DAG. They're not necessarily NAG RNAM DAG.

I'll give a hundred dollars. Last thing. ULTIMA COSA What was that?

Oh yeah. I want an example of a commentary to the Buddhist teaching which was classically written down first in a cave. Master Dignaga?

Nice. Yeah. He's the only person who came to Kyoto and made money.

Didn't lose money. That's me. Anyway, yeah, this is a famous story that the person who started the great books of pramana, of correct perception, accurate logic.

He started his most famous book with a piece of white stone riding on the side of his cave in a retreat. And then a demon came and tried to erase it. And that's an interesting story which you will not hear today.

Would that be a good footnote at that point to explain an example? I think it'd be cool. Because that's known by all parties to have been started as a written text.

And that's rare to know it. To know that it was started as a written and not an oral tradition. That's like the only example I can think of actually, almost.

Okay. It's a great example. Yes, honey, I did.

Yes. Bill and Anna said the truck was good. Yeah, okay.

Now we're... Oh, I'm doing an advertisement. Okay.

Wait, one sec. So, I want to remind you of an advertisement that I did a few days ago. By the way, I hate doing advertisements, but I don't mind doing advertisements.

We have a new project. Say again? I didn't hear.

She said 3030. She's advertising ACI. No, not ACI.

Uh, they are fat cats now. The Good Night Club. Okay, I want to pitch the Good Night Club.

This is the last day that I have you. And again, I'll tell you the story. I was...

Yes, honey, I did not buy the truck yet. Yeah. Yeah, so during COVID, I have never watched television in my whole life since I was a little kid.

And I never owned a television. And I don't know. I used to think people who watch television are really stupid and suffering people.

So I never watched TV. And then it happened, COVID, and I had a lot of extra time sitting at home. And I found out I could watch TV on my computer, especially NFL highlights.

And the weird thing, I started watching TV. And then I got addicted to it. And then I'm watching it a couple hours a day.

And then it started to disturb my meditation. And it started to disturb my sleep. And I watched more and more stupid and violent and dirty things.

And it was bad. So I made a system for myself. And it's called Good Night Club.

And at 10 p.m., I give my computer and my phone to Rob, my assistant Rob. And he takes it away. And at 6 a.m., he knocks on my door and he brings it back. And it forces me to get a good night's sleep. I have a very boring paper novel that I try to read after he takes my computer. It's the story of King Arthur in the original.

And it puts you to sleep within five minutes. And so I thought, that's cool. So then we made a new idea.

You got that slide, you guys? Yeah, I got this idea to sell you a valise, a little briefcase, that will fit your laptop and it will fit your cell phone. And I want to encourage you tonight, don't start until later, don't start later.

I want to encourage you immediately to try this new system. It's very, very good for Buddhists. It keeps your mind very clear.

And I have not been without my electronics for 20 years. I have had it with me for 20 years. And I realized I never spent a night without the electronics giving me waves of stuff.

And my sleep is fantastic and my brain is clear. And I wake up at 6 and I work like a dog for some people. And I can work for 6, 7, 8 hours.

Yesterday I worked for 16 hours straight. Something like that. Because I got a good sleep and my mind is clear.

So I really, really encourage you. And we're trying to make it easier for you by selling you the briefcase, the valise. And we sell it.

The money that we get, the profit, after we pay salaries to the staff who order it and all that, we donate it in the country where you buy it. So if you buy it in Vietnam, we donate the profit to Mr. Binh's project to build houses for poor people. He built 900 houses so far.

Yeah. In China we donated to saving the books in Dunhuang, for example. So we donate it in the country that the donation is made or meant for.

So we will sell you. If you go on to this QR code, you can get the valise. You can get the briefcase.

And here's the extra thing. You keep a book, a paper book, in the briefcase. And when you put your computer in and your phone and your TV controller, which is, what's the nickname?

Sambal, the three jewels. When you put them in the briefcase, you take out the spiritual book. And first of all, it helps you to sleep immediately.

Imagine reading Tim's book. Just before you go, when you're tired, it's going to put you... I can tell you, in the Geshe course, I got some good sleep.

So it's going to... The book, my dream, read the book at night, do your coffee meditation, fall asleep, wake up at five, wake up at 530, and do your meditation. What's the topic of your meditation?

What you read last night. And then you make progress in your meditation, and you make progress in your Buddhism. By the way, you see that little lock at the bottom?

It's a time lock. It locks at 10 p.m. It opens at 6 a.m. If you are a real addict for your cell phone, you're going to have to cut the briefcase. And then I get to sell you a new one.

Okay, all right. So there's the idea. Now, how do you get the book?

And what book do you get? Then we're going to ask the director of the Mixed Nuts Diamond Cutter Classics Project, Tim... Nick is going to come up and tell you how to get the book.

Thank you, Geshe Michael, for the classes, for Diamond Cutter Classics, and for announcing this project. So Diamond Cutter Classics, we... Use the microphone.

This one. It's easier. Diamond Cutter Classics.

We're trying hard to translate these books. We have like a 700-year plan because there's a lot of books. So your support is valuable.

And one of the things we're doing to grow our organization is going to sell subscriptions to these books. So if you would like to subscribe, and I encourage you to subscribe, because they will help you sleep. It's how I go to sleep.

They're just fantastic books. And we're doing a really historical effort to translate. And hysterical.

And it's the first time something like this has been done in a long time. I think since the days of Xuanzang. So I would like to invite...

We have directors of each region who are helping us to get you subscribed, and they will help to coordinate getting you your books as they come. So I would like to invite you guys to come up, please. So we have Tina, Xintian, and Sugeng.

Are you here? Yes, come on up. By the way, we split the world into seven regions.

And we're trying to find a way to make the price of the books fair for each region. So like Latin America, people's income is very low. And we're trying to split the world into seven areas.

Like in Slavic-speaking countries, Russia and Ukraine, there's a war right now. So they get the best price. And then maybe people in Latin America get a slightly higher price.

And then Singapore, we kill them. Okay, so I think we're trying to make it fair for each country or for each region of the world. So these are the directors, some of the regional directors.

Go ahead. Please come on up, guys. Also, I would like...

Lindsay, can you just come up for a second? I want to thank Lindsay, who has been... She's going to make sure that you all get your books.

She's taking care of all of the logistics and things that are beyond my capabilities to handle. So thank you so much for... She just showed up one day.

Me and Ben thought she was cool. So we wrote her a message and said, we think you're cool. And can you help us?

And she decided, okay, sure. So here she is. And so she also lives in the coolest place.

The center of the universe. The rock and roll capital of the United States. And these QR codes you can use to find them.

Mr. Bin, I think, already left, isn't it? So, yeah. So if you're in Vietnam and you would like to join and subscribe, you can contact him through that QR code.

Um, so I think Tina would like to explain further instructions. But anyway, I want to say one more thing. Thank you, Ina.

Thank you, Tina. Thank you, Lindsay. Thank you, Sugen and Shintian, who is outside.

Thank you very much. Kashi and Michael. And, oh, Shintian is here.

Yay. So she's helping coordinate in Asia as well. Okay, go ahead.

Thank you, Tina. For those of you who don't speak Chinese, I could trans... No, that was helpful instructions for subscribing if you're in her region.

And do any of you guys have any additional instructions? In this program, you will get a new book once a month. And it will be a translation by the Mixed Nuts.

Some of these books are 700 pages long. Okay, and I hope for the rest of your life, you will get a new book pretty frequently. But once in a month, we'll try to send you something new.

Okay, so you will get something new for your goodnight bag every month. Okay, if you don't... And that's expensive for us to send the book.

I think it's $70 to get the book. So if you don't want to donate every month so much money, we'll send you something smaller. We'll send you Geshe-la's ACI course.

Or we'll send you something smaller. Okay, so if you don't have money, you can still join the club. And you will get something every month.

And every person who joins this club... By the way, the translation classes are free for the rest of my life. Okay, three classes a week.

Come for free. If you don't come, you are crazy. But if you join the club, you will get a book every month.

If you join for small money, you can't pay much, you'll get a short Dharma teaching once a month, something like that. But also, with the Dharma teaching or something like that, you will get 20 pages of translation of the Mixed Nuts books in your language. Japanese get Japanese.

Vietnamese get Vietnamese. Russians get Russians. Ukrainians get Ukrainian.

Like that. Why? If you join this club, you have to read the translations of these books and help us fix them.

You work with the team. If you join this club, you become part of the translator team. And we will send you your own language.

We will send you the book in your own... We will send you the 20 pages of the translation of this book in your language. And you have to fix it and send it back.

Understand? So you get a book every month to read. And you get 20 pages that you have to check for the team.

And then you join the team. And we will put your name in all the books. Okay?

The books which you have, you will be in the book. Got it? Cool.

All right. Yeah, cool. Yeah, go ahead, Ida.

Thank you.

[Speaker 2]
I want to add something for the region which is Europe, America, and Central Asia, Russian-speaking countries. So if you want to join, please use this QR code.

[Speaker 1]
And you should go through registration process because otherwise you will not get invitations to real broadcasting. Because Monday night is Tuesday night, actually. Tuesday midnight or something like that in Europe.

So first thing. And then we provide some additional content.

[Speaker 2]
We want more participants. We want more money from you. And we will make you work hard for your money.

Because we have started live tool creation by participants. And you will have some more interesting stuff for our region. Thank you.

[Speaker 1]
You guys have any information to share? I just want to say that these other countries in Asia are actually supported by major organizers. So Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia too.

All the major organizers are supporting us. So please don't hesitate to join to have a good night's sleep every night so that you can have a more productive or the best productivity of your life every day. Thank you.

All right, everybody. Thank you so much. We got to move on.

And I look forward to sending you books. So we have a few thank yous that we want to do right now. Yes, you may.

Where does the money go? I have to pay the translators. And that's my problem.

For 10 years, that's my problem. And it creates a lot of air conditioning up here. It's a lot of pressure.

We have 12 translators. And there's, I don't know why, but they work hard translating and then they have more and more kids. I don't know if there's a connection, but those translators keep having more kids.

And I feel like we have to give them a salary, which is okay for children, for their family. And they spent almost 10 years with a very low salary. And I don't feel good.

I want to give them a good salary where they can have their children and they can raise their children. They can have insurance and things like that. So that's why I'm fighting to get more salary for them.

Okay. So before we go to take a break, we'd like to thank several people who were very generous sponsors for this event that made it possible. They paid extra, extra, extra to be able for this event to happen.

And so we'd like to honor them. And we have some gifts for them as well.

[Speaker 2]
Thank you. Thank you, Tim. Thank you, Gisela.

I'm sorry if I've mispronounced any name. Please, can you come to the stage, Boyang Yu. Liu Ruan.

Chen Liuye. Lian Seng. Thierry.

Thierry. Hu Yan. Shu Feng.

Christina. Andy Yuan. Please come to the stage.

Thank you so much for your donation and your support to ACI. Thank you all. Time for a break.

[Speaker 1]
These are our first edition signed books by Geshe Michael. So thank you all very much. Thank you for your support.

Take a 22-minute break. Thank you. Our goal is a bigger one, right?

We want to help all beings. This is a new series that we started back, well, just in December with having short, just one-hour classes to learn about how teachers in ACI practice.

[Speaker 2]
It will give you an insight of how you can practice and bring the wisdom into your daily life. Everything we think, say, and do creates our future.

[Speaker 1]
We're going to try to take more responsibility for our own perceptions in this class. So some of the questions were like, well, how can I do that? Everyone you know has a problem because this is samsara and it is broken here and it is not meant to go well.

So we have to feel compassion and kindness to all beings equally. Is that difficult?

[Speaker 2]
Hell yes. So I made the sheet for you that you can follow up, that you really do it every day.

[Speaker 1]
Which superpower do you want? Then how would you help people with that superpower?

[Speaker 2]
And I think every one of us in this room, this classroom are dedicated to this idea of taking absolute responsibility for bringing everyone to enlightenment. Starting with myself and that exactly is what's behind the title of this program.

[Speaker 1]
You know, we're watching ourselves 24-7. That's your mantra. Look at the world.

Understand where it comes from. Understand that it could be anything. Understand that you could be anything.

And if you begin to suspect that the world and you are something different than what you think they are, then the seeds become extremely different.

[Speaker 2]
30 years of ACI, we would like to express our deepest gratitude for an extraordinary journey. May all of us continue the path of serving the world that Geshe-la has paved.

[Speaker 1]
ACI helped me to figure out my mission for this life. Thank you so much, Geshe-la and ACI team.

[Speaker 2]
ACI helped me to find my dear teachers and purpose of my life. I have found the path I need to take. I understand that I need to serve others.

ACI helped me find the right teachers and helped me have faith in myself. Thank you, dear Geshe-la and all the other teachers. Thank you so much, Geshe-la.

Thank you all teachers and ACI team. Thank you, Geshe-la and all teachers. Thank you, Geshe-la and ACI teachers.

I love you all. Thank you, Geshe-la and all ACI teachers. I love you.

We love you, ACI. Please stay with us and dream with your own eyes. Más inteligente seré sabio Pondré mis labios en tus labios Para decirte que para amarte No necesito que me lleves al cielo Solo quiero que me des tus besos Así no te encuentro Para amarte No necesito que me des la luna Solo quiero tener la fortuna De regalarte mi amor Para amar, para amar, para amar, para amar Para amar, para amar, para amar, para amar Para amar Ay, déjate querer

[Speaker 1]
Ay, ay, ay Más que las negrosas quítame el aliento Más que las palabras déjame recuerdo

[Speaker 2]
Dame la locura de tus sentimientos Para amar No necesito que me lleves al cielo

[Speaker 1]
Solo quiero que me des tus besos Así lo tengo todo

[Speaker 2]
Para amar No necesito que me des la luna Solo quiero tener la fortuna De regalarte mi amor

[Speaker 1]
Gracias, Fabián

[Speaker 2]
When my sentence is fulfilled And the rain turns off the sun When your mane passes And I don't feel sorry I don't even know my voice The tired breath Of singing your name to the sun The accelerated text Or my direction hasn't changed How your sun dances Oh my lord I have heartache When your mane passes And I don't feel sorry I don't even know my voice If you want to see me, Maria If you don't want to see me anymore I'm going to Andalusia And at dawn I would sing this song Oh my lord I have heartache When your mane passes And I don't feel sorry I don't even know my voice Sabes que yo te quiero con todo el alma Que nada nadie me hace sentir así

[Speaker 1]
Por eso te cuido tanto cariñito No puedo imaginar vivir sin ti Sabes a nada quiero como a tu vida

[Speaker 2]
Y desde que llegaste florece Me diste el regalo mas grande de mi vida Nunca me cansare de repetir Tu sabes que yo a ti Te quiero solo para mi Que no hay nada en esta vida