Тим Ловенхопт — Книга 1: Совершенство мудрости, занятие 24

[Speaker 1]
Hi, Leah. How are you?

[Speaker 2]
Hi, Tim. I'm fine, thank you. I'm coming to Sedona for a night at the end of March.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, nice. Hopefully I'll be here. That would be great.

I'll fill you in more details later. Excellent. I may be in Kyoto, so if I'm here, yeah.

Venerable Kat, Uta, hi.

[Speaker 2]
Nice haircut, Tim. I like it.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, thank you. I had a total meltdown at the hairdresser. I was like, I don't know what I want.

He was like, I got you. He or she did a really great job. I really like it.

He did, yes. Please turn on your cameras. I like to see people.

There you go. Wow. Okay.

You don't have to hide. All right. Now there's a lot of you.

Now I can talk to people. It is a little bit odd if I'm looking at this correctly. There are like only two men who have their cameras on.

Is it because... Michael. All right.

Anyway, okay. Overwhelmed by the bikinis. Okay.

Questions. This is your time. Don't waste it.

Don't wait in silence. You can put it in the chat, or you can just blurt it out.

[Speaker 3]
Hello, Tim. This is Jasmine. Hi, Jasmine.

I have a question about seeds. And we learned from last lesson that the memory is not reliable. And my question is, you know, when we maybe see something, then when we record those things, it's so fast that we cannot tell that it's a seed opening.

So I'm a little bit, yeah. I'm stuck by it.

[Speaker 1]
Okay. So I've been battling this question during class. Okay.

So it's a very good question. So we have to be careful what we mean in different schools, right? And so there's this big argument in this text.

Is memory an accurate perception or not? Right? You know, is it like, you know, if I'm looking at this coffee mug, right?

This outside thing, right? You know, my eyeball is looking at a cup, right? And so let's see here.

I'm going to mute you. Okay. So when I'm looking at it, like we said, there's some kind of, I'm not confused.

I'm not drunk. I'm not tired. I'm not on drugs, right?

At least you guys have to believe me, right? And so I can say, yes, this is a mug. This is a cup, right?

Now, if I put the cup down and I walked out of the room. And I start thinking about the cup that I was just holding in the past. Right?

What the second school says is that your memory is not a reliable, is not an accurate perception. Because you're using some, like you're using some other unreliable mental facility to recall it. You know, and I think it's a really, I know.

And in the higher schools, they do say that memory is an accurate perception. Okay. So what?

Like, so the question is really, so what? Who cares? Right?

I think it helps us in many ways. One is it helps us to say like, when I'm recalling something that happened, did I actually perceive the thing that was there? Okay.

And what I mean by that is. If I'm looking back at the cup I was holding. Yeah.

I was holding a blue and white cup that, you know, a friend gave me. Like, that's not that interesting, but let's talk about something more interesting. Like I had a conversation with, I don't know, phone conversation.

Right. And I'm talking to, you know, we're, we're having a deep intimate conversation and then we start fighting. Okay.

We have a disagreement. Right. And then I have all these emotions that arise.

Oh, this disagreement is going to end the relationship. We haven't even gotten started yet. Right.

All these emotions start coming up. Then of course, after the phone call, like everything seems resolved, hang up the phone. I start thinking about the conversation and I'm like, what really happened in that conversation?

Like, is my memory of what happened reliable? Yes or no. I don't know.

Maybe. I bet you. If I talked to the, if, if someone talked to the other person on the phone call.

And ask them about what happened in the conversation, their story would be completely different. Right. Right.

Like you probably have had this, this experience, you know, just like, just talking to a partner. You said this. No, I said that.

No, you said this. No, I said that. And then who's correct.

Right. I remember saying these words. I remember hearing these words from your mouth.

How could I have remembered. These words. And then you remembered totally different words.

Right. So I think I didn't get to your, your question yet. You know?

So I think there's something that. It really helps us to question. Is our memory reliable?

Like did what I remember actually happen. Which then brings in the question. When you're having a direct perception of something in the moment.

A direct accurate perception. Is it accurate. Right.

Oh, I'm saying these words. I said these words. Words are coming out of my mouth right now.

Am I experiencing those words accurately. I bet you if we had a discussion afterwards and everybody wrote down what Tim said. We would find out that there's probably a hundred different versions of what Tim said.

So, so I think that. So the first question is like. What this drives us into is.

What is actually being perceived. Right. And then when you get to the higher schools and start diving in a little bit more.

Are you actually experiencing the conversation directly. Or are you watching a seed that opened up a millisecond beforehand. That's already in the past.

I mean even just thinking without talking about seeds. The distance it takes for your voice to reach my ears. Leaves your mouth.

Hits my ears. There's a space. Right.

There's space. There's time. How short is it.

Well, it's pretty short. Right. But even my perception of what you said is already in the past.

So. Excuse me. I missed my hand.

So there's no accurate perceptions. Right. It's already in the past.

You're already in memory. Okay. All right.

That's nice. So I still didn't answer your question. Right.

So what does this have to do with. Being able to see the seeds. I think this is what you're asking.

If it's not what you're asking. It's what I'm going to talk about. You know when you.

Like because the seeds are going off so fast. That we're not even aware of it. We're not even aware of what's happening.

We can't see it. We can't see the. The flow of that.

The flow we're seeing. Is already the result. We're already in the past.

Of a flow. That's. Constantly going forward.

So but what. What happens if you can slow that process down. And by thinking about Adam's text.

By thinking about. You know. All of these small little details that may or may not be.

100% true. Right. It helps us understand.

Well there's something going on. There's something weird going on. So how could you slow it down.

So you could see a seed opening up. And then Roxanna goes. Tim would you actually be seeing a seed opening up.

Or would you be seeing the past. Would you be slowing things down so much. But you would still be seeing.

The past of a seed opening. You always be just a second behind it. Sorry.

Now. Sorry translators. Then you know.

So the Nagarjuna question is. When do you see the seed. Right.

And you could if you understand the emptiness of that space. Then you can see a seed. Open.

I'm going to leave it there. I'm sorry. I went from.

I went from. Second school to. Upper middle way in about.

14 seconds. Sorry I went to diamond cutter suture that quickly. Oh Anna.

You want me to say it again. What. Okay I'll say it again.

So I said. If you could slow down the process. And this is what happens at Chuchok.

Ayas Dharma. Right before you see emptiness directly. If your meditation becomes so good.

You can arrive in a moment where. You can catch. Your mind.

Putting the parts together. To create an object. Cup.

For example. It wasn't a cup until the seed opened up in your mind and it became a cup. For you.

Right. So if you can slow that process down. Then you could potentially.

See yourself doing that. Do you can watch yourself. In.

Process. In utero. Right.

You could see that process. And then your whole world changes. All right.

That was step one. Step two was Roxanna's argument. Well Roxanna says.

Well Tim. Didn't you just tell us that when you're. Look isn't it.

Wouldn't it just be a seed opening. To see yourself. See seeds opening.

So wouldn't that seed opening. Already have opened. And you're watching the past.

Okay. Are you with me on that. Okay.

Good. So then I. Then I said.

If you understand that Nagarjuna question. Right. And understand the emptiness of time.

The emptiness of space. Because you can understand. That even.

The thing that you think you're perceiving in. Time. It's already open.

And then you perceived it. Happening a millisecond afterwards. If you understand the emptiness of it.

That's why. You can see a seed opening. Diamond Cutter Sutra.

ACI 6. You okay Ana now. Okay.

Cool. All right. There's a question here.

From. I can't answer that question. I have to do some studies.

So the question from. Shijun is about. Which school recognizes the three.

Chai Chai drops. And which one do they endorse. I can't answer that.

I can't remember. So I'm sorry. But if you study the second school's version.

Of it. It's enough to see emptiness directly. Moving on.

Okay. You can take. But what ACI course is that.

Five. Four. Six.

Two. I think we talked about them in all of them. All right.

Let's see. What does Maria have to say. Okay.

Cool. So Maria asked a good question. I will repeat it.

Let me see if I have the picture. Okay. Trick if you're a teacher.

And you use images. Always describe your images. Really well in the file name.

Because then you can find your picture as well. Quickly when people ask questions. Meaning I did not.

Do a very good job. But this particular. All right.

This is close enough. Nope. Yeah.

This is better. Okay. I'm using.

Stock photo photography right now. This is illegal. So get over it.

Okay. See this tree right here. See how it at the bottom.

It has. Has a single trunk. And then it has two main branches coming out.

Everyone got it. There's a shared trunk. And then there's two branches coming off.

I am now. Because it was less than 15 seconds. I am not illegal.

Okay. So. Imagine right.

You have a you have the central trunk. And then you have two trees coming out. So what Maria is asking here is.

It said that the subject and the object. And the connection between them. Is from the same substance.

And she wants to know. Is it the same seed? Is it something else?

And can you clarify this? And how does this relate to middle way? So in the mind only school.

One of the. The one of the emptiness is of the mind. Only school.

Is that. The subject and the object. The person that's looking.

In the thing that they're looking at. Are devoid of coming from the same substance. They're empty.

Of being. Of the same nature. I don't use nature of the same substance.

Okay. So when you have that tree, right. So what happens is.

This this simple way. The easiest way to understand it. Is.

The seed opens. And the seed both creates. You the perceiver.

And the object you perceive. Okay. Seed opens and says.

All right. Here's the Tim. With the eyeballs.

And here's the tree. That those eyeballs look at. Okay.

That they're very, very deeply connected. And why do we call that the gotcha? Why do we call that?

Why is that the thing that's not there? Because. We think that they're separate.

We purse. We have a feeling in us. That they are separate.

Right. I'm looking at the trees outside. Lots of them.

Some of them have snow on it. It's nice. Right.

Those trees. Look like they're hanging out on the mountain over there. Right.

I'm just someone sitting in my office. Looking out the window. And there's the trees.

They feel separate. They look separate. They seem to function separately.

So what the mind only school says is. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That feeling.

That they're separate. Is the gotcha. The thing that we that.

We have to deny the thing that emptiness. The thing we have to deny. Right.

So how does that work with the country? Right. We're in mixed nuts.

We're going to go deeper. Right. So the idea in the mixed nuts.

Is that. The way the country functions. Is that.

I do this. Usually uses the word refrigerator. I have a.

This is the way I understand it. It makes it a little bit easier for me. Imagine the country as a.

Somehow you're. In the center of it. Your eyeballs.

You are in the center. Okay. And you're in a closed room.

And there's a white screen. All around you. Like white screen.

All around you. Okay. And when the seats open up.

They fill that white screen. With all the stuff that you're seeing. Okay.

Trees lights. Offices people world. Right.

All around you. So the seat is opening up. In the country.

Right. And on the walls. Like a movie screen.

Like a 3D movie screen. Right. All the way around you.

Up. Down. Left.

Right. All that. Are being filled.

With the results of the seeds. In the country. Right.

On the walls. Like that. He's calls it the refrigerator.

Right. And it's a nice way to call it. They call it that.

Because you're inside the refrigerator. The refrigerator door is shut. Right.

There are no outside objects in that way. Okay. Okay.

Didn't say there weren't outside objects. In general. So you're looking around.

And you're just like. You're just looking at the walls of the refrigerator. You're just looking at the walls.

It's kind of like. If you're a Star Trek nerd. I don't know if you guys got Star Trek in your country.

But on the ships they have this thing called the holodeck. You go into this room. And it's just blank walls.

And you say. Computer. Start program for 1920s.

American Western. Program starts. And everywhere they are.

Their clothes change. The walls change. Right.

The people are there. Right. So the computer creates.

All this thing that they interact with. As though it were real. And then there are stories of course.

Where they get stuck in it. And blah blah blah. They can't get out.

And you know whatever. Someone falls in love. You know with a computer.

So. But it's real for them. That's kind of like.

I kind of like to think of it that way. So in that way. That's why they're the same substance.

In the mind only school. You're arising. The.

Image on the wall of the refrigerator. Is coming from the same seed. But it's all in the same place.

Right. And that's how you interact with the world. Now here's my fun.

Here's where I'm going to go off to the upper middle way really fast. Okay. So how is this helpful?

Right. How is this helpful? Right.

Well first of all. It's really hard. When.

We say oh I've planted a seed. And then you ask the question. Well where is the seed stay Tim?

I just did a good action. I did the four steps. I rejoiced.

Where does it stay? Like well I need a place. I need a place for it to stay.

So the mind only school says. Oh well it's this. There's this other consciousness.

Right. This thing called the kunchi. So it kind of stays in there.

That's nice. But the upper middle way doesn't say that that happens. So.

What I like to do. The way that I've bridged. Let's put it this way.

The way that I've bridged between the mind only and the upper middle way. Is that take that image. Of being in a.

Blank white. Sphere. Right.

You're in the center. Up down left and right. It's just blank white.

Your seeds are opening up. Projecting onto the walls. Right.

You're watching this movie. Right. Which is in the kunchi.

Kunchi. Inside. Right about here.

And what if you just expanded that metaphor to the whole world. Stop thinking that it's inside your heart. Stop thinking the kunchi is inside your heart.

Stop thinking. Stop thinking that. The seat is inside of you.

Right. And start thinking. Well.

The whole world. Is just like that. And then you're more in the upper middle way.

And I'm going to leave it right there. Next question. I hope that was helpful for you.

There's a question. There's a question here that. I don't know the.

I don't know the actual answer to. But I'm going to try to answer it. Because I think it's important.

So the question is from. Sijun. That's how you pronounce your name.

She. Something. Sijun.

Someone can fix that for me. With the correct tones. Okay.

They ask. What is the difference between the archetype and the luminous image? My first question is, what school are you in?

Okay. I'm going to answer it however I want to. I'm going to.

I'm going to go in a total different direction. And I'm not going to answer it directly. So.

I personally believe. That. We have an innovator amongst us.

And I believe that that innovator. Has commented. On the sutras in a unique way.

And doesn't follow anybody else. And I think that's. The DCI programs that we have.

I think they're completely unique. Way of presenting the words of the Buddha. And the more you study DCI.

I remember when DCI started. 12 years ago. I went to the very first.

DCI course. In the United States. It actually happened in Taiwan first.

So Taiwan got like the first one. I think. But.

I went to the first one in the United States. DCI level one. The five goals.

And this happened right after Geshe Michael. Had taught the 18 ACI courses. And then he taught the 18.

Diamond Way courses. And then he started teaching DCI. And there was a little bit of.

How do I say a little bit of a ruckus. There was a little bit of some disagreements. Coming out of the 18 Diamond Way courses.

Which is like. Pretty much the deepest of the deepest. The deepest that you can go.

Instructions on how to. Achieve total enlightenment. And then all of a sudden.

There's this DCI thing. And there were a lot of. There was a lot of concern that.

The DCI was. Simplifying. Simplifying the sutras.

Simplifying the tantras. Simplifying all of it. To the place where it was no longer.

Buddhism. Right. And I thought about this a lot.

And I'm like. Are you attached to the religion? Are you attached to the word?

Are you attached to the. To the. Practice in a certain way.

Are you attached to the language in a certain way? Right. In a deeper.

If you've studied DCI. Which is not religious. Right.

It's not a religious program. Just like that kind of classics is not a religious program. Right.

It's an academic program. You know, how does. Like.

The more you study it. The more you see that it's a. It's everything you need.

To reach those highest goals. Okay. So as an innovation of the.

The Buddha's meaning. That Buddha sutras. You know, explaining it in an.

In a new way. I think it's genius. Right.

And that we get to live through something like this. So. In the.

In the latest DCI level. The one that just came out. December.

Right. Level two. Advanced level two.

The whole level is about how to. You could call it the archetype. You could call it the luminous image.

I don't think it matters. How do you. Create.

In your mind. The best image. You know, and in DCI language of what you want.

You know, and I think it's a. I think it's an extremely skillful way. Right.

To get to some of the higher goals. Yeah. Sure.

You could create the seeds. You could create the image for. A perfect partner.

Right. But why would you want a perfect partner? Okay.

Do you want someone. You know. Think of your list of everything that you want in a partner.

Or your current partner that you would like to upgrade. Right. But what would you really want from a.

You know. The perfect partner. In fact, the better way of doing it.

The way DCI does this. And the way Adam's book does it. Is.

Don't think of the things you want. Think of the things you don't want. Right.

So like. When you hear people say. Oh, write that.

Create a manifestation board. Make a board of what you would like in your life. Right.

I actually did this once with a partner. We sat down and we drew. What did we want from our life.

Right. And we drew all this. We drew this picture.

Right. And actually the funny thing is we. Manifest.

Like it was literally like. The home that we ended up living in. Was the picture we drew.

Right. That's kind of cool. We came back to it like six months later.

And we're like. That's weird. Right.

But that picture that we drew. We eliminated everything that. Wasn't on the picture.

Right. Drawing a house. We drew us standing up on the roof.

And the dog was there. It was really cute. Right.

It actually had the same number of windows. It was really weird. It didn't like.

We didn't have a house. It had three windows on the second floor. Had two windows.

Right. So we eliminated all the houses. Had three windows.

And four windows. And 10 windows. Right.

Anything more than two. Was eliminated. Right.

So when you're trying to. Figure out what you want. It's very.

It is actually a hard meditation. What is it that you don't want? Right.

I don't want a house that has four windows. I want a house that has two windows. Okay.

So then you cancel all the things. That are houses with four windows. Right.

But let's think about partners. Right. What is it that you don't want?

You know what I don't want? I don't want a partner. That is not already enlightened.

So cancel. All the non-enlightened beings. Bam.

Got it? Understand? I was laughing over here.

Why? I want someone. You know.

If I had a partner. I would want someone. Who I saw that way.

So the things that they said and did. And the way that we took care of each other. Was for a higher purpose.

Like let's wake up this morning. And let's take care of others. How are we going to serve the world today?

And then they're like. You know Tim you're acting like an asshole. No I'm not.

Yes you are. And if I saw them as an enlightened being. And I saw them that way.

I'd be like yeah you're probably right. You're limited in the way you think. The way that you do this thing.

Hurts people. And doesn't help people. That's what I want.

So I don't want someone. Who's going to put up with my normal. Human.

Bullshit. Okay. The stuff that keeps him small.

And not successful. And limited in his views. Of what's possible.

Someone who can elevate that. Right? Positively and negatively.

Let's not talk about. I don't want someone who's going to yell at me. And criticize me all day.

Like give me a hug. And be like yeah Tim I'm going to help you get there. Don't always smack me around.

Right? Use the fierce mode when necessary. So all of the things I don't want.

Start canceling that. I don't want someone. Who's not going to take me to total enlightenment.

Bam. Gone. Okay.

I don't want someone. Who's going to criticize me. All the time.

Bam. I don't want someone who's not going to elevate me. Or elevate us.

Like not me. Don't think me. Think us.

Who's not going to elevate us to the next level. Bam. Gone.

Okay. So why am I talking about this? Because the more you cancel.

Of the things you don't want. What are you creating? In your mind.

The picture in your mind. I like that answer. You're creating.

The perfect image. In your mind. The archetype.

Right? You're creating. You're creating the perfect luminous image.

In your mind. All right. You know.

I don't want them to have one hair that stands up. Okay well then get rid of it. That's dumb stuff.

You can cancel all the dumb stuff too. Right? Still be a human all right?

It's okay. Right? If an enlightened being showed up.

In a non-human form. Your head would probably explode. Okay.

You have to be somewhat like skillful. Right? So great.

Wonderful. You know get rid of all the things you don't want. It's a hard meditation.

I swear it's not easy. Because it does two things for you. The first thing it does is.

Is you recognize all the things that you're doing. And you do it again. If you do this meditation well.

To create the perfect luminous image. Of your perfect partner. Or your perfect job.

Or your perfect house. Right? And you start canceling all the things you don't want.

What you're going to realize. Is that. Probably.

The reason you're able to think of the things you don't want. Is because you're probably still planting the seeds. For the things you don't want.

Right? Janet's like. Oh shit.

Okay. So now you know where to work. Now you have clarity.

Right? And I. Let me stop stuttering.

I will say from my own experience. That. This could be difficult.

Right? It could be a difficult process. Because then maybe some of the things that you do on a daily basis.

That actually create the things you don't want. You're kind of attached to. Which is like yeah.

That you're attached to. You as Tim. Well you're not Tim.

But me as Tim. Am attached to these certain things that Tim does. On a day to day basis.

That I know. That are blocking the arrival. Of that perfect.

Partner. Perfect. I think perfect is a bad word.

What's up?

[Speaker 2]
I'm sorry I'm driving. So I'm going to speak and I'm sorry to interrupt. I was wanting to just add in my.

Feeling of what you've described. It's a very mindful and conscientious. Seed management.

Program. Where we're mindfully planting the seeds. For the results that we want to see.

And we're. Okay. Cool.

[Speaker 1]
Yes. I'm making the argument for. Karmic management.

Yes. Like a very mindful approach to. If you know what it is.

That you're looking for. Then you can discover the things that are. In the way of getting it.

Right. So when you're looking for that. If it is the partner or the house.

Or the job or whatever it is. Right. That you're doing on a consistent basis.

That are blocking it. And on the flip side. That's the negative side of it.

Okay. The positive side of it. Is then when you have the clarity.

Of that image. Right. How do you then go from the clarity of the image.

Shove it into a seed. And then push it out into reality. Right.

Well, you know how to do that. It's called the four steps. Now that you know what you want.

Clearly. Because you got rid of all the things you don't want. Now you know what to do.

You know what to do. You know what. Angela.

Is that a picture of Sedona in the background? No, it looks like Sedona. Okay.

But now you know. You know what to stop doing. And then you know what to start doing.

And I will say to you. Based on personal experience. Is that.

Every single resistance you have. Start showing up. And then you're going to have to battle.

You're going to have to battle you and you. And that's why you need friends. Right.

I have a best friend that I want to all the time. When. When.

My seeds. When. When.

When. Why do I see it this way? You know, Tim, this is the same problem you had last year.

I know. Oh, man. But.

But really. Like. Now, let me.

I'm going to go a little bit deeper. Okay. Why.

Let me. Let me just be. Ask a little different questions.

Why then. If you really understood this. Why would you waste your time?

Making a Samsara result. Let me say. Let me ask the question.

Let me scratch. Let me start again. Why would you waste your time?

Making a luminous image. For a Samsara result. I'll say it again.

Right. Of course. And that's the right answer.

Why would you spend the time. Trying to create a luminous image. For something.

That is just going to go away anyway. Oh, okay. You've just created a lot of money for yourself.

Great. Can you take that money with you when you die? Right.

You know, so. And Ana answered the question beautifully. And that shows full understanding.

Deep, deep understanding. We have to start where we are. Right.

Like. It's okay to want the good things in life. Right.

It's okay to want financial freedom. It's okay to want. You know, a comfortable family life.

It's a good. It's okay to want health. Right.

All of those things. Right. And I'll be honest.

Like. You know. When I say the words perfect partner.

Like. Well, what does that mean? Like.

Do they not get old? But this body of mine just gets old. And I'll turn into an old man.

And then wither away and die. If I make it that long. Right.

You know. Like why? Like why?

Like the question is why? So. When you're creating.

When you're. Meditating on those perfect images. Yes.

Start with things that are. You know. Worldly.

That's why DCI does what it does. You know. Like.

Because it teaches you how to get there. But then when you start going deeper in. Right.

And your renunciation gets more and more powerful. And your bodhicitta becomes more and more powerful. The images that you try to create.

That you. Cancel all the things that aren't that. Become very, very different.

The motivation becomes. Way, way different. And that's a little plug for ACI 7.

He. ACI 7. Starting on February 11th.

If you can come. I highly suggest learning. All the good seeds that you can plant.

And why? But the vows of. The commitments of a.

Of someone who has bodhicitta. So did I answer your question? No.

I did not. Is the archetype and luminous image the same thing? I'm not going to argue something that I can't argue.

Technically. I'm going to talk about. The perfect luminous image.

That you create in your mind. And how to do that. And if that's an archetype.

Great. Maybe they are. All right.

Next question. This is a good question. This is from.

Yingying Liu. Okay. I'm going to do two things.

Vivian asked the question. Vivian says. When I'm doing this canceling meditation.

Right. Shaving off the things I don't want. Let's say for a healthy body.

Do I need to imagine the illness picture first? And then cancel it? Or just think.

Or just quickly think of the illness concept. And get rid of it. My answer to this question would be.

See what works for you. All right. And I just have a little insight into this.

Has anyone ever done Tonglen? Okay. All right.

Got a lot of nods. What do you do in Tonglen? You imagine someone.

Has some stuff. Some sickness. Or some pain.

Or some suffering. And you see it as black smoke in their body. And then you pull it out of their body.

That sounds like canceling to me. Because. So the question after teaching Tonglen.

Is usually. Did I actually take away their suffering? Did I imagine the suffering?

Leaving that person. And then I destroyed it in the. The flame in my heart.

The flame in my body. Right. Did I destroy it?

And then I imagine them having a good life. And giving them all the positive seeds ever. No, no, no, no.

Like questions. No, you didn't actually remove anything. Well, maybe.

But it's not like you. You turn to the person. And you're like, hey, how's that cancer?

Right. You know, I'm sorry to use a heavy example. Right.

Typically, a normal person can't do that. But what did you just do? You just did canceling meditation.

You just got rid of the thing that you didn't want to see. And then you started creating a better luminous image in your mind. That's a cool way of doing that.

So maybe you could try that, Vivian. I'm going to try that meditation. See how it works for me.

Do Tonglen. Okay. Imagine, you know, perfect partner.

Or perfect general manager at the hotel. There they are. Sitting there.

Right. Now I'm going to get rid of all the qualities I don't want. All right.

I want to see them come out as the smoke. Okay. Not that.

And take it into my heart. And vanish it. And vanquish it.

And then what's left? What's left afterwards? I think that was.

I think Vivian is our little subuti here. I think Vivian just gave us some deep insights. Thank you, subuti.

We have one minute. And I still want to talk. Which is my problem.

Okay. This is the last thing we're going to talk about. And I'll do it relatively quickly.

There's a question from Yingying Liu. And they say. How can I use clear thinking to solve problems in my life?

So the question is basically. She wants to do one thing. And her husband wants to do something else.

And someone else wants to do something else with their mother. There's a whole bunch of. Everyone wants to do whatever they want.

Right. Okay. That's what the question is.

But how do you use clear thinking? Right, Catherine. Yes.

What you just said there. Minds dance meditation. Same thing.

How do you use clear thinking? You can't control the needs and wants of other people. I'm sorry.

Don't try. It's a useless endeavor. Right.

Your partner wants to do something. And you don't want to do it. Or like forget it.

Don't try in the moment. But how does clear thinking help guide your actions? All I'm going to say about it is.

I've been struggling immensely with the translation I'm doing. And it's all clear thinking. The book is written in debate format.

It's written in clear. It's teaching how to think clearly. And I'm more annoyed at myself than anything else.

Because I'm being humbled by this text. I know what the words. I know the words.

But I have no idea what they mean. Understand? The words are easy.

Mainly. But I have no idea what they mean. And I'm getting my ass kicked.

Or my boss used to say getting my teeth kicked in. You know, getting kicked in the teeth. Right.

Because I'm like. Part of me is like. You thought you were so smart, Tim?

Here you go. You don't understand jack. Okay.

You don't understand anything. Right. And it's humbling.

It really is humbling. Like okay. I don't understand this.

And Geshe Michael also knows that when I don't understand something. It really irritates me. And then I try to figure it out.

Right. He's using my affliction against me. Or for me.

To help me. But why am I saying this? Because I struggle with it.

I struggle. And I struggle. You know.

And I spend hours and hours and hours. Only to come to class to be completely wrong. Right.

And it's depressing sometimes. But each time I'm completely wrong. I see where.

How I was less wrong. Or the insight that I had. And then how I missed it.

Or how I went in the wrong direction. And it's slowly the neurons are coming together. And so what's weird.

The weird thing is happening. Is that I start hearing my own mind. And how crazy my own mind is.

And I start having debates with it. Like it's a devil angel thing. And the debates are subtle.

But then it goes. What is right action right now? What is the right thing to do, Tim?

What is the right thing to do? That's why you need to study ACI 7. Because it tells you.

Right. But what I mean deeper than that. Is that if you're seeing confusion in the world.

There's confusion seeds ripening for you. Or if you're seeing people want different things. And can't come to an agreement.

It's because seeds for non-agreement are appearing for you. And then what happens is. And this is what happens to me.

Is that my emotions take over. I want my partner to be calmer. I want this fight to stop.

I want this to stop. I want everyone to get along. And so then my emotion takes over.

And then my emotion starts guiding what I'm doing. Right. And then oftentimes emotions.

There's different types. But some emotions are just afflictions. And so they're patterns of behavior.

And so I do things out of habit. Without thinking about it. So then I try to fix the problem.

Oh, I want them to be happy. I want them to get along. Oh, God damn.

I don't want to do it like that again. Why can't we just do what Tim wants? And I think those.

Then those emotions take over. And then you just forget about karma and emptiness. Or you think you're thinking about karma and emptiness.

But you're not actually thinking about it. Then you have to grab your mind. And clear thinking will take your mind to a place of.

What is the best thing to do right now? Irrespective of the chaos inside myself. And outside of myself.

Because in a lot of ways for me. Emotional reactions feel chaotic. Especially when it's.

Someone else is upset. Or I don't feel safe. Or I feel vulnerable.

Those are just chaotic feelings. That then push me into ignorance. But if I can catch them.

And say, oh, okay. There's the chaos again. There's that feeling of vulnerability.

There's that feeling. I have a feeling that always happens right here. Right?

That wants to protect me. But what am I protecting? I have karma and emptiness to protect me.

Okay. Let's nurture that a bit. And.

Let's see how we can do this at the next level up. And that's what clear thinking will do for you. And I'm not saying.

Don't have emotions. I'm not saying don't listen to your emotions. I'm not saying become a logical robot.

That's not what I'm saying. At all. But being able to discern.

Who's. Who's calling the shots right now. If meditation becomes really good.

You can put your mind where you want to put your mind. You can put your heart where you put your heart. You can put your emotions where you want to put your emotions.

They're actually not separate. We just separate them for ease of language. Yay.

I'm done. I don't want to be done. I love talking.

I love doing this.

[Speaker 2]
Thank you, dear Tim. We love listening to you. I hope it was.

[Speaker 1]
Thank you, Kat. I hope it was helpful. I hope something in there helps you guys.

You know, I, I, you know, what we said in Sagey's class this morning about. Well, why did it, you know. Why is Shantideva being so humble when he wrote this whole book?

You know, I'm not Shantideva. I can't write. Like, I don't have any of those ideas.

But I, you know, in a lot of ways, like. If you have bodhichitta, I think it, when you speak from that place. I don't think we can go wrong helping each other.

I don't think we can. So thank you all for joining today. I just.

I'm just, it's an honor that you're all here. Thank you, Tim. Have a great.

Thank you. I believe we have yoga. Who's teaching yoga?

I don't know. Eva Kulich. Who?

Eva Kulich. Eva. From Canada.

Who? I don't know who this person is. Yes, you do.

Eva from Canada. From Canada. Vancouver.

Oh, thank you. Eva. Eva.

She's not here yet, though. Cool. Well, I can keep babbling if you guys want until Eva gets here.

I think yoga is supposed to start in five minutes. Cool. So thank you all for joining.

I have a thing that I do in my classes that I really like. And I think it's really, I like it a lot. Is that, you know, if you're staying for yoga, stay on.

But if you're leaving or if you're staying and not leaving, please turn on your microphones and say goodbye to all of us in your language.

[Speaker 2]
Gracias, Maestro Tim.

[Speaker 3]
Gracias.

[Speaker 2]
Thank you so much. Bye. Muchas gracias, Tim.

[Speaker 1]
See how that made everybody happy? It makes me happy at least. All right.

Alright, so Eva Kulik will be here shortly. I hope you have a good day.