Серия «Сутра Алмазного огранщика» — Мастер Камалашила: медитации на «Сутру Алмазного огранщика», часть вторая (Аризона, 2016), занятие 1

[Speaker 1]
So, the way this class started was, some of my friends in China, they said can you teach more Jinkan Jing, Diamond Cutter Sutra. This is the oldest printed book in the world. It's probably the most printed book in the world.

I know the Bible is very high, Quran is very high, but I believe that probably the Diamond Cutter has been printed more times, and for longer. And we were fortunate, when was that? August?

September. The original Diamond Cutter was loaned to the museum in Los Angeles, and our group had a chance to go there and see it, and it's very beautiful. And so, it's one of the books that has influenced the whole world, especially Asia for many centuries, two and a half thousand years.

And it's very popular in Asia, especially in China. We also named our company after it, Diamond Cutter Institute, and I named my first bigger book from it, Diamond Cutter. And so, my friends in China said can you give us a little more explanation about it?

And there are only, that I know of, I would say three great commentaries about the Diamond Cutter Sutra. One is by Master Vasubandhu. It's 30 pages long, so it's really just kind of an outline of seven major topics of the Diamond Cutter.

And then there's Choney Lama, Drakpa Shedup, who lived about 400 years ago, and he's from the best monastery in the world, which is Sarame, I think. And he's a great, great textbook writer, and I think, you know, that the translator class that starts in January and ends 20 years later, so far we have one or two students, they will be working on Choney Lama's books first, because they're so clear, and he covered all the great subjects, and they're very very valuable. And John Brady's group found the only copies in the world at that time in Russia.

So, those are very great. And then the third great commentary is Master Kamalashila, who lived in the 700s in India, and he wrote a very long commentary, 120 pages, about Diamond Cutter Sutra. And that book reached Tibet, he also visited Tibet, and it was translated into Tibetan language.

Very early translation, so the translation is not easy to read from Sanskrit. It's very difficult to read, and unfortunately the book was lost so far in Sanskrit. Vimala and Nicole Wigner, where are you guys?

Can you stand up? They are trying to find all the Buddhist books in Sanskrit, so thank you very much. There are 5,000 ...

they're looking for 5,000 books, I think they found about 400, and they're working very hard to find the very old copies, but they didn't find this one yet, and it didn't reach China that I know of. So, I thought that would be really cool to read. It's very difficult to read, and it's fun for me because it's difficult, and so I thought I'll just teach that.

Then when I started it, two things, it was too difficult to finish the whole thing in one month or something, and it was also too long, and so we decided to split it into four parts, okay? And this is the second of the four parts, and I'll try to do the third part at Diamond Mountain in ... is it May?

April. May. Ooh, hot.

And then we'll try to do it like that, and I'm very happy that people are teaching Kamalashila part one around the world, especially Michael, Melissa, John and Connie taught a nice group here a few weeks ago at Diamond Mountain, and thank you for that, and they prepared many people. Singapore group taught it in Singapore, it was taught in many other countries, so thank you for that. If you didn't come to Kamalashila number one, or you haven't studied it, then try to come to one of those review groups okay?

And I hope that all of you will take good notes for Kamalashila number two, and pass it on to other people okay? Share it with other people okay? So, people who take good notes, when they pass it on it sounds almost the same, and people who take bad notes, or don't take any notes, they think they can remember everything, it gets very strange after a few months okay?

So, please, please, please take good notes. I really like people from China, they like to take notes, thank you very much, please take lots of notes okay? And, because you have to pass it on to other people okay?

And I really ask you, I hope you will teach it in many countries like Hamburg, or you know, Guadalajara okay? Moscow okay? I hope you will pass it on okay?

It's your responsibility you know? I just teach it once, and then my responsibility is finished okay? Alright, so let's start.

A quote from the Diamond Cutter Sutra okay? The Buddha said ... by the way, we're preparing for you a four-language copy, it will have the Sanskrit, we have the Sanskrit, the Tibetan, the Chinese, and English okay?

Maybe we'll show in the Spanish and Russian, if you guys are in a good mood, and German. But I'll try to finish that in the next few days okay? And Jigme's been helping a lot with that, and she's actually translated Choney Lama's commentary, and it's stuck in the bardo of the publishing for a few years okay?

Somebody's gonna finish the translation okay? Okay, YANG RAB SBYOR BYANG CHUB SEMS PA'I DNGOS PO LA MI GNAS PAR BYIN PA BYIN NO, the Buddha is talking to his student Sabhuti. This whole sutra is a conversation between the Buddha and his student Sabhuti.

Lots of people have said that Sabhuti is not really a student, he's Manjushri, and he's asking questions to the Buddha so that other people can learn something. So it's really, one Buddha in disguise is asking questions to another Buddha, so that the people who are listening can learn something okay? What's another famous sutra like that?

Yeah, Xinjing, Heart Sutra is very similar. The Buddha goes into meditation in the Heart Sutra, and he makes his two students have a conversation. So they are like puppets, and Buddha is holding both of them, and they are having a conversation.

What's the funny part? What's the only thing the Buddha says in the whole book? Oh, good job!

Good job! He's making both of them talk to each other, and then he says, oh you guys are really smart you know? So this is very similar.

So, next time somebody asks an irritating, dumb question in your class in Russia, or China, or Mexico, just be careful. They might be Sabhuti okay? Sometimes I call those irritating students, oh thank you Sabhuti for your question.

Okay, so in one of the last verses we covered, YANG RAB SBYOR BYA'I RGYUD ZIN PA'I DNGOS PO LA MI GNAD PAR BYIN PA BYIN NO, when bodhisattvas practice the six perfections, what's the first one? Giving, and they give things to other people, they don't get stuck in things okay? Are you guys warm?

Are you too warm? This is a useless question. Do you feel, anybody feel warm?

Are you okay? Two people in the back with the sunlight on them. Okay, we'll wait a while before we turn on the torture machine.

He says give, but don't stay in things while you give okay? Then he gives the things, he says DNGOS PO LA MI GNAD PAR, SPYOD LA MI GNAD PAR, GZUGS LA MI GNAD PAR, BRAL THYI ROL RIGS BYA SPYOD LA MI GNAD PAR Don't stay in things you can see, don't stay in things you can hear, don't stay in things you can smell, taste, feel, or think, or see. Don't stay in any of these things and do your giving.

So that list begins with RUG PA GZUGS, form okay? It begins with physical things that you can see okay? Those of you who know Buddhism the word form can have two meanings, one is what you see, colors and shapes, and the other is physical stuff, any physical stuff, it's called form, or in Sanskrit RUG PA okay?

So he says you, be generous to people you know, help other people financially, help them, cook for them, you know, visit them, talk to them, but while you're doing it don't stay in those things okay? Especially the physical because that's most of our world. In the Abhidharma it says the things you see are about 90% of your life you know, we spend a lot of time in our eyes okay?

So he says while you're giving things to other people don't get stuck in the things you can see, the physical things okay? Then that was where we left off last time, and now we're gonna pick up from there. Ni hao.

By the way, we'll be taking a break about halfway through for Joanna. I'd like to welcome Mrs. Wu. So, about halfway through we're gonna have a fresh juice break okay, which is a Kamalashila tradition.

I'd like to thank Michael and Melissa and Tahiya for making it happen, and the stumps, and we'll take a fresh juice break about halfway through. Before fresh juice, LUS SA SOG RE. LUS SA SOG RE.

You have to make a place to put the fresh juice, understand? Okay. Those of you who are first thing in teacher training, never teach over an hour and a half because people LUS SA SOG RE.

They have to make a place to put the juice. Okay. Now a question comes up in the Dhammakaya Sutra okay?

When I do the six perfections, by the way, Kamalashila divides the whole sutra into something like 18 sections okay? We have finished two okay? The first section according to Kamalashila was about bodhichitta, which is just the wish to become a Buddha so you can help all the people in the universe okay?

That's all. There are many strange translations, there are many strange explanations, they're all ridiculous okay? Bodhichitta means I want to become a Buddha as fast as possible because a Buddha can help many many beings, billions, countless beings at the same time okay?

So the first section of the Dhammakaya Sutra according to Kamalashila is devoted to bodhichitta. What's the famous verb that the Buddha made up that's the crux of that section? Yeah, he said, I think it sounds like a rap song or something, I'm going to nirvanicize you okay?

He says I want you to learn how to nirvanicize other people okay? Take them to nirvana. In this case nirvana means full Buddhahood okay?

It's normally not, but nirvana normally means what? You are able to stop your negative emotions forever because you understood emptiness okay? A good example is when your husband is bothering you and says something crazy right Joanna?

And if you understand emptiness at that moment, you understand oh this coming from me, this is coming from me, if you understand your emptiness is very strong then your patience gets stronger and stronger okay? It's like cement you know, cement gets harder every year after you pour cement, you can't walk on it for three, four days, it will break, and then every year it gets harder okay? And for a person who understands kongshing, their patience gets harder every year, and harder and harder okay?

So, that's nirvana, but in this case nirvana is Buddhahood. So, Buddha told Subhuti, Subhuti said what do you want me to do? Buddha said, not much, just bring everybody to Buddhahood in the universe okay?

That was the first part. Second part was how to do the six perfections okay? And that was with knowledge of emptiness okay?

What are the six perfections? Number one, giving. Number two, ethical way of life.

Number three, don't get angry. Number four, be happy when someone asks you to clean the kitchen. Number five, meditation okay?

Number six, understand emptiness. So, Buddha in the second section, he's teaching Subhuti how to do the six perfections, and he says to do them, you have to understand emptiness, and you shouldn't stay in things. When you give, don't stay in things.

Don't think that the person you're giving something to is coming from their own side, they are coming from you okay? Don't think that the thing you are giving them is coming from its own side, it also came from you okay? And don't think that you met them by accident okay?

That's also coming from you okay? The meeting of you and the person to receive is no accident okay? So, you made the gift which you are giving to them.

Let's say you are giving to them a churro, ponchik, yo chow, donut, Tim Horton. What is that? Some little sweet okay?

Why I know the word for that in every language? I don't know. So, you are giving them something sweet.

If you stay in things, if you're staying in things, you can think, oh I'm so nice, I'm giving Kyi Li Tan a yo chow, you know, I'm such a nice person, I'm giving her a donut you know, I'm pretty cool guy. You can think that okay? But if you understand emptiness what are you thinking?

About the donut. This came because I planted seed by giving a donut to somebody in the past. So, what's the best thing I can do with it?

Should I eat it or should I give it? Okay, if you think you're giving a donut, you are staying in things okay? You are staying in things, got it?

If you are not staying in things, you are thinking, oh this is the best way to get a donut, I'll give Kelly my donut you know, then I'll get ten okay? Not a bad deal okay? Net nine thousand, nine hundred percent profit?

Okay, so when you look at that donut you can have two ways of looking at it. First one, it's just a donut and I'm sacrificing it to Kelly, and then the higher understanding is, it's no sacrifice to serve other people okay? You are just creating your own paradise okay?

So, give it. Then you're not staying in the donut, got it? Now, second part of Kamala Sheela okay?

So, Bodhi starts to tell the Buddha okay, the purpose of Buddhism is to become a Buddha okay? The purpose of Buddhism is that I should become a Buddha you know, who has these beautiful signs on their body okay? 32 major signs, 80 minor marks you know, I switched to English I'm sorry, it's gonna be confusing for a few years okay?

So, this beautiful Buddha, they have 32 major signs on their body okay? Like a tattoo okay? Not like a tattoo.

And they have 80 minor marks on their body. The purpose of Buddhism is to become a Buddha who has these beautiful physical signs on their body, 112 total, got it? But you just said Buddha, I shouldn't stay in physical things you know?

The goal of Buddhism, one of the main goals is to reach this beautiful physical body, and then you're telling me I shouldn't worry about physical stuff, it's not real okay? Then, so Bodhi's like, why are you teaching us how to become a Buddha if a Buddha is not real okay? You told us not to stay in the physical, and then you said you should become a physical Buddha, so it doesn't make any sense okay?

If the physical stuff's not real, why should I spend my whole life trying to become a physical Buddha okay? Got it? If you don't get it, just nod.

Try to look very smart. So, Bodhi said if physical stuff is not real, why should I work my whole life to become a physical Buddha okay? Got it?

By the way, those of you who just got out of the Lam Rim retreat for ten days, can you guess ... so this is the third section by the way okay? The third section is, you should start to get interested in the physical body of a Buddha that you're gonna have okay?

You should learn about it, you should learn about the hundred and twelve signs, you should get good at it okay? And that's the third section. So, first section was bodhichitta, second section was six perfections using emptiness.

Third section, you should start getting interested in what you're gonna look like okay? Then, those of you who came to Lam Rim, can you guess what's the fourth section? I'll give you a clue.

Section three is, learn about your form body and get used to it. What's section four? Learn about your Dharma body and get used to it okay?

So, in this five days class, Kamalashila number two, we're gonna cover those two bodies okay? Which happens to be the same subject we just covered in the Lam Rim, which is all by accident and coincidence okay? Buddha didn't design it two and a half thousand years ago that it will happen that way at Diamond Mountain in 2016 I'm sure okay?

What you debated about last night, and I salute you, your debate was better than I ever saw before, and I don't know what happened, probably some miracle, but it was amazing and thank you very much. I'd like you to give yourself a hand. And those are seeds in like five languages, so I'm thinking they will spread like virus okay?

Dharma virus in Russia, Germany, Mexico, America. I missed one, what was that? China.

Okay, so up to you guys alright? Chinese-speaking countries. So Buddhists, so we're gonna cover the physical body of a Buddha okay?

And then we'll cover the Dharma body of a Buddha. Section five I'm not gonna talk about, but I think we'll reach it okay? So there are, I think there are 18 sections okay?

So here we go on the physical body. Subuddhi says, if I'm not supposed to believe that the physical is real, why are you asking me to work my whole life to get a physical body of a Buddha? Okay, got it?

Here's what the Sutra says. Subuddhi, what do you think? If someone has the signs of a Buddha, should we think they're a Buddha?

Okay? If someone has the 112 beautiful signs of a Buddha, do you think we should think they're a Buddha? And Subuddhi says, O conquering one, we should ...

not. Okay, got it? Buddha says, if somebody has the signs of a Buddha on their body, physical body, should we think they are Buddha?

And okay? Why? Because when the Buddha explained what are the 112 beautiful parts of a Buddha's body, he said at the same time, they are not possible.

Those signs are impossible okay? That's the next part of the Diamond Cutter Sutra. That's where we're starting today okay?

Subuddhi, do you want to get the signs? Yes. Are they real?

No. Why? Buddha said so.

Okay, got it? It's okay. Now, I feel like if you're gonna do this section properly, you should know the 112 signs okay?

Somebody should teach you the 112 signs on a Buddha's body you know? What's your future after you become Buddha? What's your body look like okay?

I had a guy came to the temple in New Jersey, he saw the Buddha picture, the Buddha had a bump on his head, this part we call crown ridge, and he said, is that part of the Buddha's head? I said yeah. He said, every Buddha have that?

I said yeah. He said, I don't want to be a Buddha. You know, difficult to comb your hair, you know, your hats don't fit, you know.

Don't worry about it okay? After you become a Buddha, you can look like anything you want, Tom Cruise, or you know, some movie star, anything you want okay? You can look like that okay?

But there are 112 classical marks on a Buddhist body in their own paradise, in heaven, they have 112 marks on their body. The most famous place to learn those 112 is written by ... who wrote most of the books in the monastery?

Maitreya okay? Maitreya, in one of his five great books okay, he wrote a whole list of the 112, it's in the eighth chapter of the Abhisamaya Alankara, the Jewel of Realizations okay? The Jewel of Realizations.

In the eighth chapter, Maitreya, who's got them already right? He says, this is what your body's going to look like okay? And we have to memorize this book in the monastery, and it's very beautiful, because the whole book has a certain rhythm.

The whole speech of Maitreya, which was written down by Master Sangha, Arya Sangha, the whole book has a certain rhythm. When they hit the major marks, when they hit the marks in science, the rhythm changes. It's very cool, and it gets very hard to memorize okay?

The rhythm gets ... the verses get much longer, the lines get longer, the meter suddenly shifts, and you feel like you're going into an enlightened realm. If you know Sanskrit or Tibetan well, and you're trying to memorize it, or you're reciting it from memory, when you hit this, the signs of a Buddha, suddenly it's like, whoo, you know?

It's like certain rock and roll songs when they stop at a certain place, and the rhythm changes, and it's really cool, and it's quite striking when you memorize okay? So, I wanted to do a little detour on the hundred and twelve marks, because the Diamond Cutter Sutra doesn't tell you what are the hundred and twelve marks okay? And signs.

So, I want to do a detour to Maitreya, and I'm going to teach you from Maitreya the hundred and twelve signs and marks okay? And we're going to meditate on them okay? We're going to meditate on these hundred and twelve.

So, I prepared a separate little book for you okay? In my free time. First part is the original verses of Maitreya.

So, you will have the verses of Maitreya okay? From the Jewel of Realizations okay? And then, those are like spoken by some guy on LSD, how do you say?

It's like he's, it's difficult to understand why he's, you know, what he's saying is difficult to understand. Maitreya is already a Buddha. Maitreya is the next Buddha to come.

Maitreya is much closer than you think okay? Then, when a Buddha talks to somebody who's not a Buddha, it sounds like somebody who got very drunk or something. It's very confusing okay?

It's too much okay? So, there's a very great Lama who took all of those signs and organized them into groups that are easier to remember okay? Like, all of these signs are going to be on your face.

All of these signs are going to be on your arms okay? All of these signs are going to be on your chest. And he organized them.

His name is Ngawang Pelden, Chodzhi Ngawang Pelden. Very famous philosopher from Mongolia okay? Okay, so, and he was a great, one of the greatest Tantric teachers in history.

He wrote a very beautiful explanation of the whole Tantric system. And I translated all of that and I put it in the Tantric course. So, if you survive the Lam Rim course, we will go to his course okay?

It'll be his. Oh, he's a great writer okay? In this last Lam Rim course, we took a detour to some Tantra, some Vajrayana, Diamond Way, because the people were ready in the room.

The people in the room were ready okay? So, I think it's gonna go like that. You don't have to wait 12 years for Vajrayana.

Those turtles who come to Lam Rim and just keep coming, they will get secret teachings inside the Lam Rim, and those rabbits who are waiting for deeper things will never hear it okay? Got it? So, during this last Lam Rim course, because everyone was ready, we talked about how it feels to die, what happens in your mind as you die, and we talked about a special opportunity you have during death to jump into a Buddhist body okay?

For a few minutes while you're dying, you have a special chance to jump into a Buddhist body. So, I'd like to ... we're gonna continue some of those meditations during Kamalashila, because we're gonna jump into a Dharma body right?

And then what happens a second later? You have a physical body okay? When you get into the Dharma body, it triggers the physical body in the next millisecond okay?

And suddenly you have these signs okay? So, we're gonna meditate, all of our meditations that you're gonna be doing all day are gonna be based on dying, going through the death process, jumping off the subway at the right moment into Dharma body, Buddha's essence body, and then you're gonna jump into the signs. So, we're gonna practice what it feels like to get your signs okay?

Got it? Cool? Cool.

But to jump into your signs you have to know what they are okay? The third part of the signs is super sexy, that was written by a great Buddhist Lama from East Tibet, named Gunthang Kwanjo Tenpa Dronme okay? And Nick and Adam just finished inputting his works, thank you very much.

So, because of their hard work with the ACIP, saving the books right? I asked them, we don't have this author yet, his books, we don't have his books yet. They went and found his books, then they sent them to our refugees who are typing all the books, and they finished it, and I got it back, and I saw, oh my gosh, here's what we need for Kamalashila you know?

It's a very beautiful explanation of what is the karma for each sign okay? Hundred and twelve okay? What is the karma for each sign you know?

And I never saw an explanation like that. So, because of their work, which just finished a few months ago, we have the third part of your little booklet, will be what is the karma that you need for each sign okay? And I don't think anyone's ever taught it in recent times okay?

And it's very cool. So, you're gonna have those three parts. The original list, shopping list from Maitreya and Asanga, and then you're gonna have an easy way to remember them, because it's put in groups.

Here's how many you're gonna have on your head, and here's how many on your arms okay? And Adam's been working on that. And then the third part, super sexy, which you don't get until you, unless you stay here for these five days, the last couple of days we will talk about what is the karma that you need to do for each sign okay?

Got it? Cool. So, I'm gonna give you a LUNG okay?

LUNG means, I received the blessing of the sound of Maitreya's book from my teacher. So, the teacher will sit you down in a chair, and then they will say okay, just listen, and I will sing to you Maitreya's words. And this has been going on for 17 centuries okay?

So, you're the next one okay? And I'll do it in Tibetan because that's how I got it, but we're translating this book into Chinese and German, Russian, Spanish, and when you give it to your students, Russian is fine okay? The essence is the same okay?

So, I'm gonna give you the LUNG, which is the oral blessing that started with Maitreya to a Sangha, and now it's coming to you okay? And then you should give it to your students in your own language okay? Chinese, or Russian, or German okay?

So, get ready to listen. I think if you have earphones I would take them off okay? And then we'll take a juice break and a LUGS SA SOGS GODAS break okay?

Your job during the next three minutes is to listen carefully okay? And the more you listen and you think about the Buddha that you will become, the more powerful it is, and the blessing will stay with you okay? Ready?

Alright, here we go. Try to be quiet okay? Try to listen carefully.

SANG YANG DRAM PA SEM GYUR DRA DANG SEM SHEN DU GA RANG SEM NYAM THAR SONG DANG DRAG NI SHIBSHU DRAM PA TSANG WANG DANG CHEN GYI DUN DING CHEN GYI WA GYUR GYI DRA BA DE DAG SUM GYUR SA NI ZIN DE LA TSE NI GANG GANG GYI DROD PA CHE PAS DROD PA CHE GYUR GANG GYI DROD PA CHE GYUR GANG GYI DROD PA CHE GYUR GANG GYI LHAL BA LAS PAR BYED PA DANG YAS CHAD BA DANG ROL GYAS DANG UDRAB PHUNG BA LTAR NA DANG THUGS DANG BYAMS DANG MANG TSIG DANG MI SHOR THI SHIM SKYES BU YID YI NI DROD PA CHE PA DANG SBYOR GYI'I BU DANG BRTAG SHI GNYIS YUN GRUNG KHYI BA'I RGYEN PA DE SANGS RGYAS PA'I RDZAS SANG PO ZHES All right then, you got the blessing, okay?

I'm gonna just give you the list, okay? But first I'd like you to take a juice break, okay? Please come back in about ten minutes, and please remember not to talk, okay?

Okay, well, we'll start. Can people get their notebooks? Who's in charge of that?

Nicole? I think I saw them coming in. Are they?

The white notebooks? I think, can you check if they're in this box? I'm not sure.

Yeah. Can I see one? Okay.

So, we're gonna give you the readings piece by piece, and we'll give you this part now, so you can take notes. So, can you start to hand them out? I don't see a hundred, do you?

Can you bring them? Okay. Okay, so one thing about teacher training is never give the students everything at the beginning, because they will read it and think they know it.

Okay. I'd like to give a hand to Uvilda, Mary Ann, and David for making the juices early this morning. So, they have to get up pretty early, I think, to make them.

You can go ahead and hand them out. It's traditional not to put them on the floor, okay? Your notes.

Put them on... Put them on something, like your sweater or something. Traditional not to put them on the floor.

There are different versions of this notebook. There's German, there's Spanish, there's Russian, there's Chinese. If you got one in a different language than your language, please give it back, and we'll give you in your own language, okay?

So, if you need Russian, ask for Russian. If you need German, ask for German. Then each day you're going to get more pieces, and you should come a little bit early and pick up your pieces in the Je Tsongkapa Center, okay?

And don't be late to class. We will meditate in the morning, first thing. It's good to get here 15 minutes early, okay?

Then you don't have to rush and you don't interrupt other people, okay? So, be here by... like, I don't know, just after seven, pick up your reading, and then come over here and just...

you can relax, and then you're ready to meditate better, okay? And you won't be nervous, and you won't interrupt other people, okay? Try to be here by...

ten after seven, me too. Okay, here we go. We're going to explain Maitreya's text quickly.

We're just... we need two Englishes over here, right? More.

Three, four. If there's any more. I think they're going to get some more.

Tahiya over here. Michael and Melissa and Rosa. Okay.

I have a Chinese that I don't need. Would you like this one? Okay.

Anybody doesn't have? No? Okay.

Utpala needs one. Utpala needs an English, if there's any. Okay.

Anybody else doesn't have? Utpala, raise your hand. Raise your hand.

Two more Englishes, right? One more English. Over here.

Two, three, four more English. Okay. Four more English?

Yeah? If you have. Take notes on your hand or your computer, and you're going to get one after class.

So, please raise your hand again. Four English, right? One, two, three, four, five English copies.

Six. Seven. Seven English copies.

She'll go print some. Okay, here we go. I'm going to just read you the translation of Maitreya, and then we're going to meditate about it.

Okay? This body encompasses the 32 major signs, okay? You can read along.

And the 80 marks. It's the second half of your notebook. We call it the enjoyment body of the able ones, since it forever enjoys the greater way.

So, he's explaining the word Sambhogakaya. You've heard that the Buddha has four bodies, and the body in his own or her own paradise is called Sambhogakaya. The word Sambhoga can mean to enjoy, or it can mean to enjoy the use of something.

So, here it means enjoy the greater way. The Sambhogakaya is always Sambhoga-ing, the greater way. And that refers to the five what?

Certainties. Five certain things in heaven of Buddha, right? One of them is they only teach Mahayana Dharma.

And that's why they're called Sambhogakaya, because they only enjoy that Dharma, okay? They're not enjoying hot dogs or things like that. They're enjoying greater way, okay?

That's why it's called enjoyment body, okay? Then the meter changes, the rhythm changes, you know? CHA SHAB GYUR LOD SEMS DANG RUG PA'I SHAB It gets longer.

And here are the 32 major signs. Ready? Number one.

The palms of their hands and the soles of their feet are marked with a wheel. Okay? Dharma wheel.

Okay? Got it? And the skin of the bottom of their feet is as smooth as a frog's belly skin.

Okay? Very soft. Not like Geshe Michael's feet.

Their fingers and toes have a slight webbing here between the fingers. There's a little bit of skin here. Looks a little bit like a frog maybe.

More than normal people. Okay? But not like a monster.

Okay? Like what you have between your thumb and your finger. They have...

Okay? Their hands and feet are soft. The tops of the hands and feet are soft like baby skin.

Okay? Then it... Maitreya said seven parts of their body are higher or raised.

And he doesn't say what the seven are, so I put them for you. The backs of their two hands and the backs of their... the top of their two feet and their two shoulders and their forehead is a little bit...

like more than normal people. Like this hand is a little bit like this. And this forehead is a little bit like this.

And the feet also. Okay? We're going to talk about them more.

A lot more. So don't get nervous if you don't understand it the first time. Okay?

Their fingers are very long. Okay? And their heels are very wide.

Like... when they stand, they stand like a rock. Okay?

Their feet are very stable. Like good yoga shivananda person in Vaksasana. Tree pose.

Okay? All four corners of their feet are always strong on the ground. Okay?

Their body is pretty big and also very straight. Okay? Sometimes they say like one foot taller than me.

Okay? Like this tall. So, they are pretty tall.

Like Scott or something. Okay? And strong.

Aldo. Like Aldo. Okay?

Nine. The joints of their body are smooth. It means like my elbow is stick out.

Right? But Buddha's elbow is very smooth. No bone is sticking out.

Okay? Not like this. Especially their knees.

Okay? The hairs of their body are... they face up.

Okay? The body hair is straight up. Okay?

Like that. Not lay down like that. Okay?

Straight up. And their neck is graceful like a deer. Okay?

Like a wild deer. Okay? That deer in Sanskrit is called enaya.

Enaya. Okay. Their hands are long and lovely.

So, also their hands are long and very attractive. Their sexual organ is not showing. Their sexual organ retracts into their body.

Okay? Maitreya said chok. Nupay chok.

Those of you who know Tibetan, the perfectly means... so they almost look like they don't have male or female organ. Like very...

Buddhas are kind of both. Mixed together. Okay?

Perfectly. BAG PA DER DOG Their skin is golden. Colored.

BAG PA BSAD PA means their skin is very smooth. BSAD PA means almost thin. Like very fine.

Okay? All the hairs on their body have a slight curl like this way. Okay?

They don't go straight... they go straight up, but they go with a little bit of a curl. Okay?

And they have a treasure hair. Treasure hair means here. We'll talk about it, but they have a special mark here.

Okay? And we'll talk about what it looks like. It's called treasure hair.

Chest is strong like a lion. Okay? Like very healthy and strong.

Shoulder bones here are smooth. Okay? Like you don't see bones sticking out here.

Okay? Just rounded. Okay.

And I didn't have any massage therapist with me when I was translating. There must be a name for the muscle. The muscle between the neck and the shoulder is especially strong.

Okay? Is there a name? Like tra...

Trapezius? I think I'll leave it this way. So, the muscle from here to here is...

So, sometimes when you see a painting of Buddha this is pretty high here. Okay. They have a quality called RO CHOG SNANG.

I like it. RO CHOG SNANG means no matter what you give them to eat it tastes delicious to them. You can give them Poo Poo to eat and it will taste like chocolate chip cookie to them.

Okay? So, they have this karma that anything you give them to eat tastes delicious to them. They love everything.

Even eggplant, things like that. Okay. Okay.

Their body is well proportioned. So, what's that tree you were showing me? Navajo willow?

Is it a willow? Navajo... In Camp Verde there's this beautiful...

Is it a willow? There are some trees like a fig tree. They don't grow like long branch, short branch.

They grow like a perfect ball. In Arizona there's a Navajo willow. But if it gets water and if there's no other trees there it will make a perfect shape.

It means the right side and the left side of their body are very proportionate. And the top and the lower part of their body are also proportioned. In the Abhidharma it says a well proportioned person their arm span is exactly their height.

You see what I mean? So, my arm span is two meters and my height is two meters. Exactly.

You see what I mean? So... By the way, don't start feeling bad if you don't...

you're not Buddha yet, okay? So, many people who got this teaching they feel bad for six weeks. Oh, my hands are too short or my head has extra space or...

Okay? Just forget it. Okay?

We're going to talk about it. But please don't start thinking I'm not right. Something wrong with me.

Okay? It's not like that. Okay?

Buddha shows many, many different ways. Okay? And each one has a beauty and each one has a reason.

Okay? So, don't... don't feel bad for the rest of your life if your fingers are too short or...

Okay? It's not for that. We're not supposed to think...

it's wrong to think like that. Your body is perfect. Okay.

The top of their skull has this little extra bump. My Lama had one already. His skull from...

remember? Jigme? His skull from here on was raised up.

Okay? And their tongue is long and lovely. Okay?

When they speak, their voice is very sweet. And their chin is very... look like a lion's chin.

They stay a little bit triangle here. You know? I don't know.

Okay? Okay. Their teeth are pure white.

Then the teeth are all same length. Like, not one short and one longer. LTAGS SANGS RANG means...

the spacing is good. There's not extra space between different teeth. Okay?

Again, please don't feel bad and go to the dentist. Okay? We'll talk about it.

But don't... If you have a human body, you are one out of ten billion creatures on this earth. You are already amazing.

Okay? So, don't worry about one tooth is a little bit different. It's not the purpose of this.

Okay? They have 40 teeth. I don't know how many teeth I had.

I counted them. Yeah, 28. That's all I have.

They have 40. Okay? I don't know why.

Okay. Their eyes are blue color. Okay?

But the inside is a black color. Okay? So, you know.

Alright. And their eyelashes are very full. Like very...

like model. Movie model. Like nice full.

They say like a cow. If you ever saw a cow's eyes, they have very long eyelashes. Very beautiful eyelashes.

Okay? So, these are the 32 major signs. Okay?

These are the 32 major. They each have big meaning and we're going to talk about it. It's not just some cosmetic surgery thing.

Okay? Each one has a big meaning and we'll talk about it. Okay?

Okay. Each of these signs has its own cause which brings it about. When those causes are complete, then each of the signs shows very perfectly clear and we'll talk about that.

Okay? He gives some of the causes for the signs, but there are many more. Okay?

Maitreya gives a few. He says... First one, he says taking your Lama someplace, like driving your Lama, is the cause of the circles on your hands.

The wheels on your hands. Okay? Giving your Lamas wheels.

Providing wheels for your Lamas. So, Jigme is going to have them all over her body. I think.

Okay. Keeping commitments you made. If you took vows, like you took five layman's vows, or you took 36 novice vows, or 253 monk's vows, or 364 nun's vows, or 64 bodhisattva vows.

Okay, whatever you took, if you keep it well, that's one of the causes. Doing oposhi. Using the four ways of attracting students, disciples.

Marketing. What's the first one? Yeah, give them stuff.

Like, take them out for dinner, or give them things. Okay? The first way to attract students.

Second way? Huh? Yeah, NYON PA MA BA.

Like, when they do something good, say, oh, you're so smart. Okay? Encourage them.

Third one? We're missing one in there. Yeah, getting them to do what you taught them to do.

Encouraging them to act, and not just learn. Okay? Encouraging them to really do what they learn.

And then the fourth one is, yeah, most difficult. You have to practice what you preach. You have to do what you talk.

Walk the talk. Okay? Do what you say you're going to do.

Or, giving exquisite gifts to people. Giving beautiful things to people. It could be a beautiful cake.

It could be flowers. It could be a student center. Okay?

Freeing animals that are meant to be killed. Okay? Sometimes I go to the restaurant where they sell the lobster, and I buy one, and I take it and I ...

If I'm near the ocean, I take it to the ocean, and I put it back in the ocean. Okay? Like that.

The Mexico group did a very nice offering a couple years ago, of some very expensive big birds, and they ... they are pets, and they let them go. And ...

very beautiful. Starting good deeds, and ... what good deeds you already started, try to improve.

Try to do more. Then, we're going to talk about all the causes of all the science in detail. Okay?

So, don't ... don't worry about it. What I'd like to do now is to do a ...

a little meditation. Okay? This is one of the meditations you're going to do.

Okay, so we're going to ... we're going to do the first meditation here, which is, what do the signs feel like on the inside? So, there are three different ways to talk about the signs of a Buddha.

Okay? There are three different ways. And ...

one ... the first one that Kamalashila talks about is ... what you can see on the outside of a person that shows you something about their inside.

Okay? So, sometimes you can meet older people who have this thing here. You see?

They smiled for 50, 60 years. And they have this ... lines here.

Then you meet other people, they have lines here. Okay? Or, you meet some people who have lines here.

Okay? Who worry a lot like that. Okay?

It can tell you something about ... their life. You know?

I have a foot problem. I have a ... pain in my foot sometimes.

It's because I eat too much sugar. Okay? For 60 years.

So ... the outside sign is a sign of my personality. Like, I cannot control my ...

yotel eating. You see what I mean? So, now I have an outer sign.

The ... the pain in my foot is a sign of my mind ... inside.

I ... cannot control sugar. Okay?

So, the foot ... tells me it's a sign of my life. You know?

And most of us, our body ... is some kind of ... I worry too much.

Think too much. Then ... lost my hair.

You can ... from my hair you can see too much thinking inside. You see what I mean?

Like that. Okay? So, first meditation.

I'd like you to think of some ... you know ... nice part of your body.

Okay? Your smile. Or ...

you know, I have ... rough hands. Then ...

mainly they got hurt when I made my Lama's house. When I built my Lama's house. It was winter.

And ... they hurt a lot. They got ...

a little bit ... hurt ... you know ...

for ... I was outside in the winter, in the snow. So, I got this ...

partly ... partly from that. Okay?

So, I'd like you to go ... through your body. Okay?

And think of something beautiful. Like your smile. Or ...

your eyes. Okay? Or how you can hear things like music or things like that.

Okay? And ... think about ...

how it shows ... some part of the inside of you. Okay?

Like, if you have a nice smile ... it's because ... you're ...

thinking nice thoughts a lot. Okay? Or, if you have nice eyes, it's because ...

you are happy to see people. Okay? I don't want you to think about this one.

Okay? Or ... Geshe Michael can't think about his foot.

I want you to think about something nice ... about your body. Okay?

And then go inside and try to find the feeling that's connected to it. Okay? Got it?

Can we turn on the air? I think it's getting there. Okay, can we turn ...

do we have to turn it on here? Okay. When you start to meditate, freeze people.

Teacher training. Okay, got it? Any questions ...

about this meditation? Okay. Let's go.

Get ready to meditate. Step number one. Turn off your phone.

Step number two. Blow your nose. It helps a lot ...

not to cough later. When you start meditating the ... it comes down.

Okay. Each meditation has a photo. What's the photo for the first meditation?

Huh? Some handsome guy looks like Nick ... with a big smile.

Okay? So, later ... there are 25 meditations, okay?

Same as kamla shila number one. When you ... are in a long meditation, you just remember the picture, and it will bring you to the meaning.

You see what I mean? So ... first picture is ...

Nick with a big smile. Second picture is ... Mark Solustro driving ...

Christine Walsh somewhere. Okay? Got it?

Here we go. First one. Ready?

Relax your hands. Relax your smile. Little smile.

Relax your eyelids. Then I'd like you to ... come to some part of your body.

I think all ... everyone in this room has a nice smile, for example. And follow that smile to the inside.

To your feelings. And find ... the things that make you smile.

Like ... thinking about your friends. Thinking about some happy times you had.

Maybe thinking about your children. So, I'd like you to find ... two or three ...

nice parts of your body. Your eyes. How they look when you're happy.

And then go inside the body to the feelings. And find the feelings that make your eyes look happy. When your heart feels open ...

and you're sitting up straight and ... relaxed, then what is the ... inside feeling ...

that the outside mark is a sign ... of your feelings? So, the idea is ...

science. There's a reason why we call the ... the parts of a Buddha are science.

Because there's something inside. That you can tell from the outside sign. That smile ...

is showing me ... that you're happy to see me. Something like that.

Okay, we'll stay here for a few minutes. Think of the signs on your body ... that tell people the sweet things you're feeling.

Could even be your posture or your body language. Stretch. It tells other people a lot about how you feel.

Okay, you can slowly open your eyes. Take a stretch. Okay.

Only the good signs, okay? Not the bad signs. Okay.

We're going to go back to the text. Okay? Now we'll start the eighty ...

minor ... marks, okay? Why they are minor, we'll talk about it, okay?

First one ... their fingernails have a copper color, okay? Their fingernails are a little bit ...

color of copper. Copper. Number two, their fingernails have a healthy ...

sheen, like a little bit oil color. And not dry, not flaky, none of this white stuff here, okay? And their fingernails are a little bit raised, so they ...

they go like ... they go like this. This part of the fingernail is a little bit like this.

It's not flat, okay? Their fingers are well rounded. Nice and ...

rounded. Mine are not, okay? Mine are bony, okay?

But their fingers are very round, okay? And strong. Their fingers are strong.

Healthy. I'm on M number five. M5.

So, I put numbers on everything here, so you can ... remember, okay? M means mark.

S means sign. Okay? M means minor mark.

S means major sign. Okay? Through the whole essay, it's 40 pages of M's and S's.

Okay? So, you can remember where you are. And their fingers taper.

It means the tip of the finger is more thin than the base of the finger. Okay? My Lama had fingers like that.

Okay? The tendons don't show, so these ... you don't get these ...

lines here. They're very smooth. There's no ...

you cannot see the ... the muscles here. And there's no knots.

Knots means where the tendons cross over. And you see a little bit of a knot here. Sometimes people have it here.

Their hand is very smooth. Okay? Their ankle bones don't stick out ...

here. Okay, sorry. This one doesn't stick out.

Okay? Pretty smooth here. Okay?

And their legs are equal length. Almost nobody's legs are equal length. Do you know that?

Buddha's legs are completely equal. Those of you who have hip problems or something, it's because ... sometimes it's because one leg is longer.

And if you walk that way for ... 40, 50 years, it hurts your hips. Okay?

Okay? They move with authority like a lion. Okay?

When they walk, they walk like ... the boss. Okay?

There's something about the way they walk which is obvious. They are ... not afraid of anything.

Okay? Their ... the way they walk is very ...

strong. Kind of ... not fast, but ...

you know, they're just like ... you know. Okay?

Or they walk like an elephant. Elephants also don't have to worry about anything or anybody. They can just step on them.

Okay? So, it means like ... number one elephant in a group of elephants.

Like ... looks like somebody ... who's confident ...

and ... doesn't have fear. Okay?

Or the first bird. Okay? First bird means ...

in the ... you can see in the ... winter, in this place, the birds go to Mexico because it's warm.

They go to Guadalajara. So, you can hear them ... you know ...

quack, quack, quack. And there's one ... brave one in the front.

You know, he's like ... I know where's Guadalajara. Follow me!

You know? And he's flying. So, they walk like that.

You know, people want to follow them. You know? Okay?

Head of the pack means ... in a group of cows. There's one ...

brave one ... bull ... walks at the front ...

leads them. Okay? It's traditional ...

that a spiritual person ... when they walk around ... like, if they come to ...

if they're walking across the room and there's a chair ... in their way ... they will pass to the ...

left side so that the chair is on their right. That's called ... moving around to the right.

It means ... it's actually, they move to the left. Okay?

But the chair is on their right. So, they will always move around that way. Those of you who have Vajrayogini ...

empowerment, now you can more feel the ... importance of some of those vows. Okay?

And they always move very ... beautifully. You know, if you watch them, it looks beautiful the way they walk, the way they move.

Okay? And they walk straight. They're not like ...

stumbling one way or another. They're walking straight. Okay?

And very gracefully. They look like a dancer or a ... ballet person when they walk across the room.

Okay? Then ... when a person is sweeping the floor, they go ...

they step, and they go ... and then they step, and they go ... and it's like the Queen of England is ...

walking. You see? Like ...

Okay? When you sweep, you also do that, you know. Okay?

So, it looks graceful. Okay? And they always walk sort of the same distance.

They don't like ... take a long step, and then a short step, and then a medium step. It's always very graceful.

Okay? Like a dancer. Okay?

Then their ... entire body is always clean. Okay?

Then ... they took a shower this morning. Okay?

And their whole body is soft. Soft. And fresh and pure.

Especially with regard to how they smell. They smell like ... good soap, or Chanel No.

5. They have a sweet smell. Sweet, subtle smell like a lotus flower.

Okay? Smells clean. And fresh.

M24 is important. Then ... for example, the wheels on their hands, they are 100% clear.

And they are not like ... crooked or something. They're right exactly in the middle of their hand, and they're exactly clear.

Okay? It's not like ... you're not sure if it's a wheel or not.

Okay? We talked about it during Lam Rim. Pabongka Rinpoche said it's not like somebody drew on their hand, or they have a tattoo on their hand.

That's not a wheel. Okay? Wheel is three-dimensional.

It looks like it was imprinted on their hand. And it's always clear. And it's always complete.

There's no parts of the wheel missing. Okay? And we'll talk more about that.

And they look just magnificent. Okay? Their whole body is magnificent.

They walk evenly, means they don't go to left or right. They don't stumble. Okay?

Their eyes are clear. This one means ... it doesn't refer to their eyesight.

It refers to ... their eyes look very bright and happy. Okay?

Alright. Eyesight comes later. Okay.

Their skin is very young looking. No part of their body is sagging or loose. Okay?

Every part is healthy and strong. And very tight and trim. Okay?

Healthy. Their limbs are well-defined and ... proportionate.

Their eyesight is strong. They can see clearly with their eyes. So, that's different from clear eyes, right?

The sides of their body ... this is the side. Okay?

Here. It has a nice shape here. Okay?

And their waist is slender. And it doesn't hang out. Okay?

But the book says it hangs out enough. So, they don't look skinny. They look nice.

Nicely set means their ... their stomach ... their abdomen is not too high and not too low.

It's kind of ... nice in the middle, you know? Their six-pack is in the right place.

Okay? Not too high, not too low. Their navel is very deep into their body.

It goes ... the hole is pretty deep. Okay?

And the ... the navel ... sometimes you see that ...

it ... it goes around to the right. Okay?

Like a shell. Like their shell.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
Their navel ... if you ... look down inside, you can see the ...

the navel's coming out ... to the right. RTAG NA GDUG means ...

when you look at them, just automatically you feel ... these people ... this person is attractive.

Okay? And their behavior is very polite, respectful, and moral. Okay?

Very ethical. Okay? Good behavior.

Honorable behavior. Okay? And ...

they have no moles or spots. I have spots ... and I have moles.

Okay? And they don't have either one. There was a famous debate in my monastery ...

30 years ago, and ... it came to a point where ... one guy said, well, if what you say is true, then I'm a Buddha.

Then the other guy said, not true. He said, why not? He says, look at that mole on your arm.

Okay. Mewanabam ... Mewanabam ...

Mewam ... It's very famous. Their hands are soft as cotton.

How these connect to the major signs which are similar, how they are different, we're going to talk about tomorrow. Okay? The lines of their palms are clear.

These lines here. Okay? Very clear, well-defined.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
They are cut deeply and they are long. And that has meaning. Okay?

These lines are very long and clear. Okay? Okay.

Their face is not too long. Okay? Nice shape.

And their lips are naturally red. Naturally, without Sephora. But Sephora is okay also.

Their tongue is soft. And sava can move nicely in red color. When they speak, they speak loud and clear.

Okay? They talk loud, and you understand. Okay?

But, what they say is always soft and gentle. So, they speak clearly. Everybody in the room can hear them, but they don't say bad things, they only say sweet things.

Okay? So, they are speaking a little bit loud, but they are speaking nice things loudly. Okay?

Not like angry or something like that. Okay. Cuspid tooth is these two teeth.

Okay? Sometimes in English they are called canines. Sometimes they are called eye teeth.

But these two teeth here, the long ones, here, look like dog's tooth. Okay? In English they are called cuspid or canine.

These two teeth are rounded. It means a little bit curved like this. The surface is not flat.

The surface is rounded. Okay? These two teeth.

Okay? And they are sharp. Okay?

Here they are sharp. Okay? Those of you who study Vajrayogini, she has very good cuspids.

Okay? They are sharp. They are white, and they are equal in length.

Okay? These two are special meaning. These two teeth have special meaning in Buddhism.

Okay. And those two cuspid teeth get finer as they go. So they start a little bit wide and they go more narrow.

Okay? These two. Okay.

They have a strong nose. Buddha has a strong nose, like America, Megorin. Okay?

They have a pretty strong nose. Pretty... I don't know.

This part is pretty high and obvious. And the inside of their nose is always clean. Okay?

No boogers. Boogies. Nothing coming out here.

Their eyes are very wide. Okay? And...

like they love you. Okay? And the eyebrows are thick, but not too thick.

Like nice. Not like... very thick and not very thin.

Mine are a little bit thin, but... not too thick, not too thin. Okay?

And their eyes are... in English we say doe... doe shape, like a female deer.

Their eyes look like lotus. Okay? A lot of Chinese people have this beautiful eyes.

That's a... sometimes in English we say almond shape. Okay?

So, most Chinese people have this already. Okay? Like lotus petals.

Then, this hair is pretty long. Okay? These hairs are pretty long here.

Okay? And they are soft. And they look healthy.

They don't look dry out. Okay? They look like...

they got conditioner. Okay? And they're equal.

Not one is very long and one is very short. Okay? Equal.

Hands are long and strong. How is that different from... the major mark?

We'll talk about it. Okay? And their ears are equal length.

Okay? And their hearing never goes bad. So...

me and JB and... you know... we got to work on that.

Okay. The next one I really have to work on. Their hairline is well defined.

This is... this line is very clear. Not like...

you know... very straight and clear. Okay?

And they have a broad forehead. Okay? Forehead is a little bit broad.

Okay? The shape of their head is full. And sometimes they say like an umbrella.

Okay? Like... pretty full.

Like mine is a little bit skinny up here. Like Joanne has a nice umbrella head. Okay?

And the hair of their head is black like... a honey bee's bottom. Okay?

Okay? BU BA LTAR GNOD means like... black as the...

as the butt of a honey bee. Okay? I guess they're black, right?

Some... some of them. Okay?

And their hair is thick. Not like Geshe Michael. Their hair is soft.

And it never gets tangled up. It's always very... like straight and...

separated. Okay? It doesn't fly out like Geshe Michael...

you know, like that. It's always like nice and... And if you smell their hair, it smells very sweet.

Okay? Some nice smell. To put your nose in their hair is very...

nice. Okay? Okay, last one.

Their body has natural tattoos. Okay? And special signs.

And I'll... I'll show you the signs. Okay?

There are different... lucky signs. Like swastika...

or bilboom. I'll show you... I'll show you a drawing.

Okay? But they have natural... on...

on the side of their neck or... on their arms. Okay?

Natural signs. Natural... like...

tattoos. Okay? Like that.

Alright? Those are the eighty... minor marks.

Okay? Now... we're going to do your second meditation.

Maybe... we will go over time. In Kamalashila, I get to go over time.

Okay? We're going to do the second meditation. What's the...

photograph for the second meditation? Someone is giving somebody a ride. Okay?

I told you wrong in the Lam Rim. I mean, I... I heard it wrong way.

Okay? I looked it up. Giving people a ride...

is the cause for these wheels. Okay? On your head.

And on your feet. Okay? On the bottom of your feet.

Each... sign of a Buddha... has its own special karma.

And we're going to learn it... together... this week.

Okay? But I'll give you the first... what's the first...

major sign... of a Buddha? What's S1?

What's S1? Yeah, there's a wheel. Okay?

The special karma for the wheel on your hand... is giving your Lama a ride... or...

prostrate to Lama... because your... hands go to the ground.

You see? Things like that. Show respect.

To your... teacher. Whoever's your teacher.

Okay? So... what I'd like to do...

is... we're going to... this is how I want you to do the meditation today.

Okay? So, you're going to do the first meditation... all day.

And you're going to... take a little break... drink some water...

stretch... you can do headstand. And then you're going to do...

the main meditation for today... is number two. Okay?

Main meditation for today... is meditation number two. Okay?

You're going to practice... going through death. You're going to practice...

the last part of your death. Okay? You go through each step...

of death and we'll do it together... today. And then...

as you come out... when there's a chance to see emptiness... you're going to focus on emptiness.

Okay? In the middle of death. Towards the end of the death experience.

Okay? We did it in Lam Rim many times... you guys know.

Right after that... I want you... you see...

when you... move into your Dharma body... when your Dharma body starts...

okay? One second later... your physical body starts.

Okay? So, I want you to feel... we're going to go...

through the death experience... we're going to go... to...

emptiness. Okay? Then we're going to become...

the emptiness... Dharma body. And then...

right away... the sign's going to come on your head. Okay?

And I want you to feel it. Okay? It's not a tattoo.

It's... three-dimensional. I want you to feel...

how it feels when your hand changes. Okay? So...

this week... if I see people walking around like this... I'll be happy.

And they're like... man, that itches. That new wheel on my hand itches.

You know? So... when I reach the point in the meditation...

that you have the wheels on your hands... it should be real. Okay?

That's meditation. Meditation doesn't mean... a picture of a wheel.

It means... oh! I can feel it.

It's on my hand. Okay? There's a famous non-Buddhist guy in India.

His teacher... he went to a cave. He asked his teacher, what should I meditate about?

He said, you meditate you have horns. Bull horns. Like that.

Big ones. You know? Then he sent the student to the cave.

And he didn't come back for two weeks. And finally the teacher got worried. You know?

Oh! Something happened to my student. And he sent the other student to the cave...

on the mountain. And he... he looked inside and...

the guy's still inside the cave. He said, teacher wants to see you. Come out.

You know? He said, I can't. He said, why?

He said, my horns get stuck in the... in the door. I cannot come.

You know? Should be like that. Okay?

Okay? That's good meditation. Okay?

Oh! Feel something itchy. You know?

Okay? Don't think picture. Think real.

Okay? That guy wasn't doing horn picture. He was doing real horns.

That's why he couldn't get out of the cave. Okay? Got it?

Let's practice together. Cell phone off. Blow your nose.

Get everything out now, so you don't cough during the meditation. If you cough, you bother other people. Okay, let's start.

Please come to your breath. Watch your breath. Then imagine you are dying.

You already took your last look at your friends and your family. And your eyes closed. Your mouth closed for the last time.

The blood is stopping. And your mind goes deeper inside. And it feels like you are walking across some land.

You can think of this land. And in the distance you can see a mirage. It means the solidity of your body, the earth element, is dissolving into the fluidity of your body, the water element.

Your body and your mind are breaking down as you die. So you are walking across a vast earth, vast sky above. And in the distance you can see a mirage.

And you are walking towards it. And you get close to the mirage. And you are walking up to the mirage.

And you walk through the mirage. And on the other side of the mirage it's like very smoky, like dusk. And you are surrounded in smoke.

The fluidity of your body is leaving. And only the warmth of your body, the temperature of your body is remaining. And it feels like smoke.

And you are walking through deep smoke. And then it looks like sparks in the smoke around you. Small, bright sparks.

In the smoke. And you are walking through the sparks. The warmth of your body is dying.

The body is getting cold. And only the subtle movement of your body is left, the wind. Then in the distance you can see a flame.

In the dusk, in the smoke. And as you walk that flame becomes more clear, larger, larger. And it's like a candle flame.

And it's perfectly still. There's no breeze, there's no wind. A steady, soft candle light in the distance.

And you are walking towards it. Because the wind element, the subtle movement in your body is stopping. And the subtle movements of your brain, the electricity in your brain is stopping.

And you see a steady light in the darkness. In the smoke. And you come closer.

Walking. And the flame gets bigger. Until it's as big as your body.

Silent. Everything is silent. Completely still.

Flame. Flame. And you walk up to the flame.

And you step into the flame. And you come out the other side of the flame. And everything's dark, still dark.

But as you walk on the horizon, in the far distance, you can see white light starting to shine. It looks like the dawn is dawning. And a soft laméwa, means soft white light of daybreak is coming.

And soon you are surrounded in soft white light. More parts of your body are shutting down. More parts of your mind are closing down.

You are dying. Everything's a soft white light. You are still walking.

But you feel much smaller. Much smaller. Like in a tunnel.

And towards the end you can see on the horizon a deep red light, like a sunset. And you walk towards this deep, beautiful red light. And then you are surrounded in the red light.

And you keep walking. And then suddenly on the other side everything turns black. And you're in darkness again.

The body is completely shut down. The mind is close to zero. Everything's black.

Now drill deeper down into the black, and the black is stronger. More black. Keep going down into the black.

And now even deeper black. More black. The blackest part of black.

And then suddenly deep within the black there's a kind of crystal feeling. Everything's like crystal. Like the inside of a diamond.

And that crystal is not a picture. It's something missing. Anything which is not coming from you, from seeds in your mind, is gone.

There's nothing there which is not coming from you. No people who are not coming from you. No cars.

No sky. No land which is not coming from you. Cancel all those things.

And it just feels like crystal. Like glass. So recognize it for what it is.

All the things which don't come from me are gone. Only crystal is left. Then feel some hope.

I could become something very beautiful and powerful at this moment. I could make this crystal the inside of me. My spirit.

And if I could do that, then I could go to all places. I could help all people in all places in the universe, many worlds, countless beings. If I were pure on the inside, I could help all these beings whoever live.

And then suddenly on your hands, on the palms of your hands, you feel the wheels come. And you know you reached the place of a person who can help every living being directly. And the sign of it is on your hands.

And I'll be quiet for a minute, just a minute, and we'll finish. And try to feel the wheels on your hands. And please come back to your breath.

Three slow breaths. Don't move. Each exhale, share this goodness with other people.

Then you can slowly open your eyes. Take a stretch. Okay.

Now I need Hero up here. Come help me with something. So, good luck.

You're going to bring me that Buddha going in. But very, very, very careful. Okay?

It's all very fragile. And here. Thank you.

At the end you have to help me get it back. Okay, so again I'd like to thank all the Chinese students who offered this. Very expensive, took a couple of years.

And I'm very grateful that they offered it to me. Thank you for that. I'll try not to break it.

Very fragile. This is going to be your third meditation. And you can see it in the photograph.

This is your third photograph. Okay? And in the Diamond Cutter Sutra, and that's the last thing we'll do today.

Okay? In the Diamond Cutter Sutra, the Buddha says, because Buddha has all these signs, like these beautiful hands, or beautiful feet, or beautiful face, those are the signs of this Buddha, right? So, to understand emptiness of Buddha is important.

Kamalashila makes a joke here. He says, everybody wants to look like a Buddha. And the way that everyone sees the Buddha, there's no Buddha.

If you see the Buddha, if you look at the Buddha the way you are doing it now, you will never get these signs. Got it? Everybody wants to look like this, like a Buddha.

But the way you want to look like a Buddha is wrong. And the way you are looking at the Buddha is wrong. And if you look at the Buddha the way you are looking at the Buddha now, you will never look like a Buddha.

Got it? Okay? If you think this Buddha's shape and signs are coming from Buddha, you will never be a Buddha.

It's beautiful, right? Very beautiful. So, Buddha said, Buddha's talking, right?

Buddha said, if you think these signs are coming from me, you will never be a Buddha. You will never look like a Buddha. What's it mean?

Then Subuddhi is confused. Subuddhi said, I don't know what you're talking about. You're Buddha, you look like a Buddha.

I'm not a Buddha, I don't look like a Buddha. You know? Then, Buddha said, you have to understand why you got this loom this morning.

Why are you at Diamond Mountain on the day that this guy talks about the signs of the Buddha? Who wrote Maitreya's book? Hasso's like.

Me. Okay? Okay?

You wrote the book you heard this morning. Okay? I'm just the postman.

You wrote yourself a letter many years ago, and you put the letter in the envelope and you mailed it. Yi Yi mailed a letter to Yi Yi. Okay?

This morning, Geshe Michael delivered the letter to her. She made the karma to hear Maitreya's song. Okay?

So, you should congratulate yourself for the song. You wrote the song. Okay?

And you wrote, you made the postman, which is Geshe Michael, to deliver the song to you. Okay? So, in your third meditation today, you're going to do two things.

Okay? Two things. Number one, you can look on the picture, see these beautiful fingers.

I think the first thing I'm going to break is the fingers. You can see these beautiful fingers, or beautiful face, and beautiful body. Okay?

One by one. Separately. Okay?

So, you have a photo there. Okay? If you want to, before you go home today to your cottage, I'd like you to come up.

We'll put her back in a safe place. And just look at her, and look at the fingers, and look at the feet. She has a nice treasure hair right there.

RDZUS BU She has one here. And look at each of the parts separately. Okay?

Separately. That's the first part. Okay?

When you look at the RDZUS BU when you look at the treasure hair, you cannot see the hands at the same time. Not possible. When you think you are looking at the hands and the forehead at the same time, really your eye is just going like this.

You know? Your eye is moving all the time like this. Okay?

Your eye looks at this, and then your eye looks at the hand. Okay? But you cannot see both at the same time.

Not possible. Okay? Your eye is moving to the different parts.

Okay? There are hands... Now listen.

Okay? This is the most important meditation today. Okay?

Listen. There are hands beautiful, very... they are correctly done here.

They aren't tapering, they aren't round, they don't have ten... you know. Those hands produced by you.

This sign produced by you. Okay? Separate.

They are all separate. The feet were produced by... What's the bottom of the feet feel like?

The tummy of a frog. Okay? The commentary says it's the tummy.

Okay? Very soft. Okay?

And you are... Each sign is coming from different karma. Okay?

Got it? That's the first half of this meditation number three. Each sign coming from karma.

And each... seeing each sign coming from karma. Your karma.

Okay? Who... Who...

Who made this Buddha? In a factory in China? No, you made the factory.

Okay? Now, last thing, then we're finished. Okay?

Who glued all the parts together? Who made Buddha? Who made Buddha's form body?

Who put all the parts together? You did. Okay?

That's the whole Buddha. Okay? You glued the parts together.

You connected the hand and the feet and the face. Okay? Your karma made each part and your karma put it together.

Okay? Otherwise, there's no Buddha. Okay?

Got it? That's what it means when we say the Buddha's physical body is empty. Okay?

Coming from you. You made each part and then you made the karma to put it all together. Okay?

Okay? Then when people get Alzheimer's, when they get very old, they... that gluing karma starts to finish and they cannot remember what happened yesterday.

Or they look at you and they... they can't... you are their own daughter, you are their own son, they cannot recognize you.

Okay? This gluing karma is finishing. Okay?

Got it? So, I encourage you after the class, come up close, take a good look at this guanyin. Okay?

And then understand who made it. Who made each part and who who put it together into Buddha's body. And that's why in the Diamond Cutter Sutra, Buddha said those signs are impossible.

And the whole Buddha is impossible. Okay? What's it mean?

Yeah, the postman didn't make it. You did. Okay?

Fingers that were made by somebody else, impossible. Okay? Buddha that was made by somebody else, impossible.

Who put all the pieces together? You did. Pieces which are together automatically, impossible.

Something has to cause it. Something has to cause it. And it's good, doing good things to other people.

Doing good things to other people put this Buddha together. Okay? Got it?

Made the fingers, made the head, made the mark here. Then, because you are nice to other people, it puts it together. Okay?

Last thing, Kamalashila says the main karma that puts the Buddha together is thanking other people. Okay? Showing gratitude to other people.

Thank you for squeezing our juice, David. You know, thank you, Tahiya, for making my bed. You know, thank you, Andriana, for the green drinks.

Thank you, Jigme, for driving me here. The main karma that puts all the parts together, says Kamalashila, is thanking other people, being grateful to other people. Okay?

Got it? Alright? And we'll talk more about that.

Okay? So, you're going to work on those three meditations today. It's impossible to meditate for ten or twelve hours.

I learned that in my three-year retreat. Okay? So, you have to mix it up a little bit.

You can do some mantras. You all learned some kapa mantras. You can do your mantras.

You can go for a walk. When you go for a walk, wear a hat. Cover your skin.

Don't get these spots. Okay? And take water with you.

And don't go any place where you cannot see a building. Okay? Don't get lost.

I got lost once here. I helped to start this place. I got lost.

You can definitely get lost. Okay? And we will find you three weeks later with a very quiet body.

Okay? So, please don't walk somewhere where you cannot see a building. Okay?

You always take water with you in the desert. You never stay here without water. And you cover your skin and you cover your head.

Okay? And I will take a flashlight in case I get lost. Okay?

Okay? Good? Any questions about this practice?

Mr. Wern. Mr. Wern. Haro, can you put this back because I'm nervous.

Chen Zun, you might want to move the vase. Okay? And the bowl.

A word has a question. Bowl. He asked, is the gratitude the karma to see the Buddha or to be the Buddha?

And it's bowl. It glues together the Buddhas you see and it glues together the Buddha you are. Okay?

It's the glue. You can get the fingers but it won't be connected to the head without gratitude. You will have fingers over there and head over there.

Okay. Any other questions? Yeah, Anton.

Yeah, good question. We're going to cover it later. Anton said, who's the person saying this is me if that's not me?

When you see the Kongshin in the crystal and you say, I am that, there's still a separate person saying, I am that. It's a big subject in the Diamond Cutter Sutra. So, Subuddhi always asks the question to come tomorrow.

Any other questions? Okay, last question. Wait, there's a microphone coming.

[Speaker 2]
Thank you, Geshe Michael. I just came yesterday, so, sorry, I hope I can hear the, how to say, Tsongkhapa Xingzhou.

[Speaker 1]
Steps of Death? Lam Rim. Oh, Tsongkhapa Mantra.

Yes, yes. Okay, two more things then. Number one, let me give you a list of the death steps again.

Okay? Those of you who weren't at the Lam Rim, here's the steps. This is the short version.

Okay? Number one? What?

In this, in this presentation. Mirage. Mirage.

Walking towards mirage. Number two. Smoke on the other side.

Number three. Sparks. Number four.

Candle flame. Okay? Number five.

Dark. No. Dawn.

Daybreak. White light. Number six.

Red light. Sunset. Number eight.

Deeper. Dark. Black.

Then black, black. Then black, black, black. Deeper black.

Not all blacks are equal. Dark, dark. Okay.

Then? Crystal feeling. Okay, crystal feeling.

Then inside that crystal feeling, you have to think four things. Okay? Makes twelve.

What's the first one? Everything showing to me, this way, everything showing to me, is emptiness. Coming this way.

Emptiness. Okay? This is number nine, right?

It's like number nine. Yeah, it's really, she said 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D. She's actually correct.

Don't be so smart. Then, I recognize, oh, this crystal feeling is kongshin. Okay?

Only a trained person can die well. Oh, this is what Geshe-la was talking about for so many years. This is it.

Okay? It shows to you, kongshin, and you take it as kongshin. Third one, feel happy.

Oh my gosh, this is so cool. This is like Buddha's body. I'm really happy.

Like, don't be too serious. Some people do yoga like this, right? Don't be like that.

You know, like, almost finished. Okay? Last one.

Yeah, I'm that. That's me. I want to be, that's my new Michael.

That's my new Michael. Okay? Buddha.

I want to be that. I don't want to be like this. I don't want to come out of death into another skin body which is going to get old and wrinkled and...

I'm tired skin body. I want Buddha body, life body. That's my new body.

Then, immediately what happens? Okay? Feel, oh, ha, ha, ha.

I did it. Okay? And then, of course, during this week we're going to get more and more signs.

Okay? Oh, look, I got wheel and boop, boop. Wow, what's that?

It's not a pimple. You know? Wow, that's kind of cool.

Okay? We're going to practice those signs. Okay?

Got it? Second question about the mantra. Today, when you go into meditation, you should have a three treasures prayer book.

There's a prayer book which you can get in the bookstore. Am I right? You can get the prayer book in the bookstore.

Does anybody have one right now? Okay, it's a big fat prayer book and the mantra is inside. You can see Tsongkapa mantra inside.

Okay. You want to sing it together? One, two, three.

Tsongkapa mantra Like that. Okay? Just do over and over.

Okay? And spice up your day. Don't get bored, okay?

Mix it up. You can read the signs. Get familiar with the signs.

Okay? Those of you who... It's nice to memorize in Chinese or English or Spanish or Tibetan.

Those of you studying Tibetan, to memorize the mantra, memorize those lines of mantra. It's very powerful. Okay?

It's a custom. Okay? Alright then.