Серия «Сутра Алмазного огранщика» — Мастер Камалашила: медитации на «Сутру Алмазного огранщика», часть вторая (Аризона, 2016), занятие 2

[Speaker 1]
Good morning. So those are the first three meditations, okay? First one is to understand that how your face looks is coming from your feelings you have inside, okay?

If you feel happy inside, your face will smile, okay? That's very shallow. That's not very deep, okay?

Then the next meditation was, who gave you lips for smiling? Who gave you your lips that you can smile, okay? And that was Joe.

Who's Joe? Joe. Past life, okay?

The story of Joe is, I have a friend in Australia. He's a very, very beautiful man, very intelligent, very kind. I think he's Muslim.

And one day I asked him, we were driving in the car, I said, why are you such a nice person? And he's a professor, and he's a great... he builds nursing homes, special new kinds of nursing homes.

So he's just a really nice... I said, why are you so nice? He said, Geshe-la, it's Joe.

Joe's fault. This is Salim, Salim Lee, right? I said, who's Joe?

I like to meet this guy. He said, oh, that's my past life, okay? Past life Joe, okay?

Okay? So the second meditation is, who gave you your lips for smiling, okay? And the third meditation is deeper.

How can you recognize a smile on another person, okay? Your eyes cannot see smile. Smile is an idea, you know?

Your eyes can see red color. Your eyes can see shape. But your eyes cannot see smile, okay?

Smile is an idea, okay? Your...they call inside your eye, there are cells, rods and cones, and many small cells, and when something red appears to them, they turn red. And when something sharp appears to them, they turn sharp.

But they cannot think about, what is this sharp red thing? The eyes cannot do it. They send information to the mind, and the mind has to decide, what is this red sharp thing, okay?

It could be a bloody arrow or something, knife, okay? But the mind decides, this is a smile, okay? Somebody's smiling, okay?

Then it's just a decision of the mind. If you have been nice to other people, if you've been smiling a lot, then you have karma or seeds to see smile. And the red color and the sharp color, your mind will interpret as a smile, and then it will be a smile, okay?

Got it? That's the third meditation, okay? Just nod.

Okay. Now we go to another part of the... We're going back to the Diamond Cutter Sutra for meditation number four, okay?

Fourth meditation. Then I'm going to try to give you the whole sutra by the end of the week, but I'm working on it. I'm trying to clean it up, the Sanskrit.

And it's difficult. And the Tibetan, it's kind of messy, okay? So I'm working on it.

I'll try to finish it. Because I would like to put numbers on each verse and tell you which verse you're meditating on, okay? So I'm working on it.

Me and Adam worked on it yesterday. But it's kind of messy. The Sanskrit's messy, and the Tibetan's messy.

So... And the Chinese is messy. Some of the English is messy.

So Lord Buddha says to Subuddhi, what do you think, you know? If someone has those 112 signs of a Buddha, does that mean they're a Buddha? Should we consider them a Buddha?

And then Subuddhi says, no, we shouldn't. And then Buddha says, well, why not? And then Subuddhi says, because when Buddha taught the 112 signs in this world, he also said they are not possible.

They are impossible, okay? Like a smile is impossible, okay? Got it?

What's it mean when you say a smile is impossible? Yeah, it's not coming from the other person. Because you gave many smiles in the past, your mind is creating smiles out of colors and shapes.

By the way, in the fire offering there's an alasya. There's an offering of a smile, right? You can see sometimes.

The mudra is like this. Okay. And a smile is good for your chakra here, okay?

Ajna chakra. There's a knot here. And when you smile, these two left and right channels come here.

Ida and Pingala. And when you smile, they loosen here. And then you can think better, okay?

And when you're angry, then this chakra gets tight. Because these two side channels pulling down, and the chakra gets tight. That's why people are angry or confused.

You see politicians a lot like that. You know. It means this chakra is getting tight, and you can't think clearly, okay?

So, if you smile, you can think better, okay? So, what I'd like to do, meditation number four, what's the picture? Huh?

Yeah, it's driving down a road, okay? It took Nick three days to make this picture. Okay.

This is a principle which is very important in the mind-only school, okay? This is a principle which is very important in the mind-only school, okay? Okay?

And it's that, as you live your life, you are driving down a road. And on each side of the road, there's a ditch, okay? Where you can fall off the road, okay?

And, I'm gonna give you an example of keeping the middle way. Middle way means you don't fall off the ditch in the left, and you get in the water, right? Your car gets in the water.

And you don't fall off the ditch to your right, and then your car will get in the water, okay? So, there are two ideas in the mind-only school. I'm gonna teach it to you with a diamond mountain bear.

So, the old name of this land is Bear Springs, because the springs means there's some water comes down out of the mountain here. It's one of the only springs in southern Arizona. This is a desert, and there was, because of the shape of the mountains, then water, sometimes it comes out of the earth here, or you can just dig a little bit, and there's a lot of water.

And when the first white people came here, they wanted the water for their farming and things like that. So, they took this springs from the native people, and the native people fought back. And then they built this fort.

You can see the fort from here. I don't know how long ago. David, you know, a hundred years ago?

A hundred and fifty? 1860s probably. Forty...

140...150 years ago. They built a fort. And that old house has gun holes.

You can see special windows for shooting people who try to get the water. Okay? So...

And because of the water, there's a lot of animals here, around here. And there's some bears also, okay? So, bears are very big and strong, bigger than David, or Aldo.

And... So, during the three-year retreat, a lot of our retreatants, they left their tormas outside. Then the bears start to come.

And they get used to eating delicious torma. Then they decided, maybe there's more torma in the retreat cottage. So, we had a few exciting days when the bear's arm is coming in the window.

They broke a window and came inside the big house, and came into the kitchen, and they tried to make their own tormas, I think. Then something sad happened. In this state, Arizona, if a bear comes into a house, then the government has to catch it, by law.

The law is the government has to catch it, because they might hurt people. They're very powerful, very big. And...

So, they caught the bear, and they killed it. They told us they are going to take the bear by helicopter to another place, but instead they didn't do what they said. They killed it, okay.

So, some night, you're sitting in your cottage, and you are meditating on meditation number four, driving down the road, don't get in... So, the old name, by the way, of this land is Bear Springs. And, we're thinking to build some guest rooms, like for business people to come here and do retreat.

And, we're thinking to call those Bear Springs, okay. So, you are sitting in your cottage at night. You are feeling lonely after one year of retreat.

This happened to me in my retreat, okay. Three year retreat. Then, I heard something on the door, you know, like...

Then in my mind, I'm like, oh, bear has come, you know. If they decide to come in, you can't stop them, and you can't go anywhere, and they're very fast, they can climb trees, you know. So, I'm like, oh no, bears came to the door, you know.

Then, couple of times it happened, you know, that I didn't open the door. And then, I got really scared, you know. Then, finally, I started climb up on top of my cottage at night, and I'm waiting to see who's scratching on my door, you know.

And, nobody's there, it's nothing, just the wind, okay. Then I think it's nothing, nothing there, okay. Then after two, three days, I heard it again.

Then I checked out the window, and it was a beautiful dog, and very friendly, and I was very lonely. And I opened the door, and the dog come in, and I'm like, hi! And he's like, he's like that, he's very skinny, and I gave him some food, and...

okay. Then, that's a long story. One of the retreatants wanted to keep the dog, you can guess which one.

But, we took him, somebody adopted him, okay. Why did I tell that story? That's meditation number four, okay.

That's meditation number four, okay. There are, in the Mind Only School, two mistakes you can make. Number one, you think the thing outside is more than it is.

Okay? It's just a dog, but you think it's a bear. Okay?

That's called... what's it called? In Tibetan, kundepita.

Say, dzongdo. Dzongdo. Okay?

Dzongdo. You want to know where it comes from? According to Geshe Thubten Rinchen, I don't know.

Dok means to put something, stick something, like when you put the... stick the thing on the dharma, you are applying the... the circle to the dharma.

Okay, that's called dok. To attach a name, or to attach a... an object on another object.

It happens to be the word for projecting, in Tibetan. Okay? So, dok.

Dro means feather. And it refers to gluing a feather to an arrow. Okay?

So, when you overrate something in philosophy, it's called feather sticking. Okay? Dro, dok.

Okay? And it's a very important idea in the mind only school. Okay?

So, it's only a dog, but you think it's a bear. Okay? Your mind makes a bigger thing than it is.

Okay? Got it? In the case of the Buddha's marks and signs, right?

The signs on the Buddha. What's dro, dok? Yeah.

Oh, those signs coming this way, like a pen. Okay? Oh, those signs on the Buddha are coming this way.

Buddha was a nice person for a long time. Buddha got bimbattar chuwa. They call pomegranate lips.

Okay? He got pomegranate lips. Okay?

Then, those lips are coming this way. Those beautiful red Buddha lips are on the Buddha. And he put them there.

Okay? By doing good things. Got it?

That's dro, dok. It's too much. It's a bear.

It's thinking there's a bear there, when there's only a dog. Why? They're coming from you.

Okay? Why you get to see red lips? Why you...

Why you get to see beautiful lips on somebody? Because you're used to smile. Okay?

Buddha's lips are coming from... you. Okay?

Got it? So, dro, dok means, oh, Buddha got his lips. Buddha has lips.

Okay? Dro, dok thinks there's a bear when there's only a dog. Okay?

Too much. Over-interpret. Okay?

Got it? That's one side of the road that you're not supposed to fall into. If you want to keep what?

Middle way. Okay? That's middle way.

Okay? Now you tell me, based on the Diamond Cutter Sutra verse that we just read, what's the opposite mistake? Oh, there's nobody out there.

It was just the wind. Okay? What's the opposite mistake?

Yeah, no lips at all. Okay? Why?

What... someone's misunderstanding the sutra. Who's...

who said something controversial about the lips? No, he didn't. Subuddhi did.

Subuddhi said those signs are impossible. Okay? The Buddha has those signs because they are impossible.

Okay? Then many people said, oh, okay, nothing exists, you know. I don't have to smile anymore.

Smiles don't exist. Okay? Buddha said, Subuddhi said.

Okay, got it? That's the opposite extreme. It's called kundep.

Kundep. So, drondok is the bear. Kundep is the wind.

The tree branch is scratching on your door. Okay? Underrate.

Underestimate. Okay? There's a nice sweet dog out there, but you think it's just the wind.

Okay? That's called kundep. Okay?

Got it? That's the other ditch on the side of the road. Okay?

By the way, those of you who care, the second extreme only occurs with people who are taught badly. Okay? Normal people in the world don't go around saying, there's no smiles, there's no lips.

You don't hear that at Safeway grocery store. Two people talking, did you understand, do you know there's no lips? They just say, really?

Yeah. Okay? Okay?

The only people who misunderstood Buddha's speech, when somebody said, lips are impossible. Then they think, oh, there's no such thing. People who go to that extreme are dangerous.

Okay? They can hurt people. They'll say, nothing matters.

I can do anything. Nothing good, nothing bad. Okay?

I can... there's no morality. I can do anything.

Okay? Why? Buddha said everything's impossible.

Okay? I can hurt people. I can steal money.

Okay? I can take someone else's partner. Like that.

Okay? That kind of view is dangerous. Got it?

So, when you do the fourth meditation, let's do the fourth meditation together. Okay? And this is Kamalashila.

This is Kamalashila saying, in this verse of the Diamond Cutter Sutra, Lord Buddha is talking about the famous two extremes. Don't fall off this way. Don't fall off this way.

Okay? Got it? Uh...

By the way, Kamalashila says, in many cases in the Diamond Cutter Sutra, Subuddhi's answer is the Buddha talking. Okay? The Buddha is asking Subuddhi a question.

Here the Buddha says, what do you think? Do... Is someone a Buddha just because they have the 112 signs?

And Subuddhi says what? No. And then Subuddhi goes further and says, they're impossible.

Forget... Forget a Buddha having the signs. The signs are impossible.

Okay? Subuddhi goes that far. Kamalashila says, Subuddhi's just trying to say, to show that he understood what Buddha said in past teachings.

Okay? Later in the Diamond Cutter Sutra, Subuddhi's going to give us a big surprise. Okay?

He's going to say, by the way, I'm a... arhat. Okay?

In the sutra, it's very rare for a student to... to claim in a sutra, by the way, all you other monks here, how many other monks are here? 1,250.

You guys, I'm not crazy, okay? I... What I say is good stuff.

When I say marks are impossible, you should listen to me, because I'm an arhat. Okay? Got it?

We're going to get to that maybe in this life. Okay. So, let's do a little meditation about the fourth meditation.

Okay? I like to focus on your smile. Okay?

It's an international language. I don't know any country where a smile isn't a good thing. Okay, ready?

Here we go. So, get ready for meditation. We're going to do meditation number four.

Turn off your cell phone. In Guadalajara Sangha, which is one of the best sanghas in the world, they have a good custom that if your cell phone goes off during the meditation, they charge $50 US. Blow your nose.

Then come to your breath.

[Speaker 2]
Long exhales.

[Speaker 1]
So, we're going to talk about four ways to look at a smile. Four ways to look at a smile. So, please bring to mind the face of a friend, someone you love, and they're smiling at you, they're happy with you.

It's so nice to be with a friend who's happy, smiling. And then we're going to look at the smile matak macepar. Matak macepar means no philosophy.

Just enjoy the smile. Like you're just a kid, and your mom is smiling at you, and you're not analyzing her smile, just looking at her smile. Look at your friend's smile.

Don't think about where it came from. Now try to look at the smile and ask yourself, where is this smile coming from? And in your mind, the mistake you have made your whole life, every smile you ever saw, your whole life, you made a big mistake.

You said, in your mind, this person decided to smile at me. They are smiling because they decided to smile. They want to smile, and so they are smiling at me.

And when my husband or wife doesn't smile at me, it's because they decided not to smile. So this is the bear, this is making things bigger than they are. Feel how it feels to look at someone's smile, and in your mind you say, they decided to smile at me.

It's coming from them. Now pretend you don't understand very well. You went to a Buddhism class.

The teacher said, everything is empty. Everything is impossible. There are no smiles.

They are an illusion. You think you see something, but it's not there. Now, that's the other extreme, right?

The wind is blowing against the door. Nothing's there. Try to imagine what it feels like to misunderstand emptiness, misunderstand kongshim, and this feeling that when I see my partner smile or my friend smile, it's all just an illusion.

There's no smile. It's just some kind of fake thing, nothing real. Now the fourth and last way of looking at a smile.

Oh, my friend is smiling at me. My partner is happy today. Look at that beautiful smile shining on me.

And in the back of your mind you say, I'm so glad I was smiling yesterday at people because I planted a seed. And now that seed opened and a picture came out of a smile. And that picture went from my mind to the face of my partner.

I'm so happy I was smiling at people yesterday because now my partner is smiling at me. And I'm going to keep smiling today because it's so nice when my partner smiles at me with love or my friend smiles or I see people in the store smiling or people in the class are all smiling. It's so nice.

I'm going to try to smile to everyone today. Think about the smile of your friend or your partner in this fourth way, the middle way. And three deep breaths.

Don't move yet. Each exhale. Try to give this knowledge about smiles to everyone in this world.

Share it on your breath. Nice. Okay, open eyes.

Take a stretch. Take a stretch. Any questions about meditation number four?

Harold is going to choose.

[Speaker 2]
Thank you, Goswela. It's just, you said four, and I just heard three. It was the bear, the wind, and the dog.

[Speaker 1]
Good question. Okay. You're missing the first one, which is, You hear something at the door and you're not thinking, what's outside?

You're not checking. It's a very famous term in middle way philosophy. Matatma chepa means, you know, you can't run around all day thinking about where everything comes from.

You will never get your work done. Okay? Matatma chepa means just let it go.

Okay, let's have some breakfast. Don't think about what was the karma, or is it real, or...okay? Most of the time we are in matatma chepa mode. We are not checking.

Okay? When you decide to check, then you can make the first mistake. 99.9999999999 people go off the same side of the road. Okay? My partner decided to smile at me, or she's not happy today, or he's not happy today. Okay?

It's their fault. They decide not to smile. Okay?

That's the crash off the left side of the road. Crash off the right side of the road, only people who got bad emptiness teaching. There's no smiles, it's illusion, it's some kind of like, if I press my eye very hard, my partner's mouth will go up, you know, like, it's all just like crazy people.

There's nothing there. It's all like magic. Okay?

That's the third extreme. And second, second extreme, third thought. Fourth one, middle way.

Ha ha, I made Justin smile. Why? Because I was smiling yesterday.

I'm so smart to smile. Because it forces my partner to smile. Okay?

They don't have choice. Got it? Okay?

Nice question. Hello.

[Speaker 2]
Okay. Geshe-la, thank you for your teaching. So, you're always saying that the mind can think, the mind can be aware of things, and you say seeds are not thinking, they are just energies.

But we say seeds rely on the mind, seeds are attached to the mind. So, my question is, when we see the smile, is it like seed opening first and force the mind to think and to perceive the smile, or the other way around, like mind is there and then mind force the seed to open and make us see the smile?

[Speaker 1]
Okay, good question. Nice question. You guys only study five, six years, I'm afraid what's going to happen in five more years.

Here's how it happens, okay? The eye, the two eyes, they can only see colors and shapes. So they see two sharp things and some red.

Two sharp things and some red, okay? Then the... right in the next moment, next millisecond, karma opens in the mind.

Karma seed opens in the mind. And a picture comes out of a smile, happy smile. And out of the karma seed, a small picture of a smile, it's about this big.

It feels about this big. When you finally catch yourself doing it, that smile feels about this big. It's coming out of your mind.

And it goes to the parts. The parts are out there. There's two sharp pieces and there's a red piece.

Then, right after you see the sharp and the red, the karma seed opens, a smile comes out, and that picture goes like that in one sixty-fifth of a second. So, we can say first, there are signs out there. Sharp and red.

And then, in the next moment, karma opens. And a small picture comes out of a smile. And it goes...

And it's so fast, you don't know you're doing it. If you meditate a lot, one day you will catch your mind doing it. Okay?

So, your question is... Your question should be... Do the two sharp pieces and the red exist out there?

Where did they come from? Okay? Where did they come from?

We call the raw data, the sign, information outside. Two sharp things and some red. Who made those?

The moment before that, your mind made one sharp, and your mind made the second sharp, and your mind made the red. Those also came out of three karmas. Three karma seeds.

One seed opened, left side. One seed opened, right side. One seed opened, red.

Next moment, smile picture. Okay, got it? It's very cool.

Okay. What happened the moment before that? Left side of the left side came out.

Then the right side of the left side came out. Then the left side of the right side came out. Then the right side of the right side came out.

Then you have two signs. You see what I mean? So, the data, the signs outside are also coming from you the moment before.

That's why it takes 65 pictures to make a smile. Got it? Okay.

One more question, or we will never get to the 44th meditation.

[Speaker 2]
Thank you for your teaching, Geshe-la. My question is, I'm quoting one paragraph in the Three Principle Paths. It says, in addition, the appearance prevents the existence extreme, emptiness instead of non-existence.

And if you see how emptiness shows in cause and effect, you will never be stolen off by extreme views. It seems like you're saying that the seeds principle disproves the first, the left side of the ditch, which is things exist outside. And the view of emptiness disproves the right side of the ditch, which is nothing exists the wind.

So, it doesn't really make sense to me.

[Speaker 1]
I feel like it should be the opposite. Yeah, that's okay. So, can you explain more?

Yeah. It's a good question, and it's a famous question. And it's a famous question about what Tsongkhapa said.

Okay? And I'll just give you a short answer, and you chew on it. My lama used to say, you chew on it.

Okay? One extreme is to say, there's nothing out there. There's no smile.

It's just illusion. Okay? There's nothing there.

Okay? You heard some teacher say, everything is illusion. So, it feels like a fake, like a mirage.

There's just no water there. It's just a fake. That's also not true.

Okay? It's not true that there's nothing there. Then Tsongkhapa said, there is something there which is emptiness.

Okay? You talk some of that. Maybe you talk some of that.

I'll read you the whole verse, okay? Pabongka wrote a nice commentary on it. It says, the famous expression is, nangway yod ta selwa dang, tongpay mey ta selwa.

The appearance of things cancels the belief that there's something there. And the emptiness cancels the belief that there's nothing there. This is very controversial.

What it means is, if you say, something's there by itself, we say, no, there's nothing there. Why? Because it's coming from you.

Okay? There's nothing there because it's coming from you. That's the famous controversial statement by Tsongkhapa.

Okay? There's nothing there. No lips are there because the lips you see are coming from you.

Okay? Got it? Then if somebody says, you're...

then there's nothing there. He says, no, no, there is something there. Why?

Emptiness. Emptiness is there. Okay?

Got it? This is a deeper version of these two. Okay?

You got to chew on it. Okay? Is there something there?

No. Why? Because it's coming from me.

Well, then there's nothing there. No. Why?

Because there's Kongxin there. Okay? This is Tsongkhapa's like...

he went further on this road, about the road. Very deep, very beautiful. Okay?

All right. I'm going to go to the next meditation, otherwise we will... Okay.

Okay, this is my favorite picture. What's the meditation number five picture? What's the fifth meditation picture?

It's a girl showing up at a party in a party dress. I like the picture so much, I put her on the cover of the book also. Okay?

That's the cover of the book. This sutra's subject seems to be mostly emptiness. Okay?

It seems like the subject of the Diamond Cutter Sutra is mostly emptiness. Okay? And it's famous for that.

Okay? The teaching of the Buddha has two great divisions. Okay?

The teaching of the Lord Buddha has two great divisions. One is called sabba, and one is called gyal chewa. Okay?

Sabba means deep, very deep. And those are the emptiness teachings. Okay?

But mostly what we've been talking about these two days is the sabba, sabmo side of the teachings. It's the profound side of the teachings. Okay?

Like an ocean is deep. You can think of an ocean. Buddha's teachings are like ocean.

One half of them are deep, deep teachings. And the other half is called vast teaching, wide, spread, gyal chewa, very wide. Okay?

That's a reference to the teachings on love. Okay? The teachings on compassion and love.

So if you split all of Buddha's teachings, the ocean of the Buddha's teachings into two parts, first part, deep. Okay? Kongshin, emptiness.

Okay? Second part, every ocean is big, wide, and that's the Buddha's love, represents love. Okay?

Then Kamalashila says, don't think that this section about the Buddha's signs of a Buddha is only about emptiness. Don't make that mistake. Okay?

Master Kamalashila says, don't think the Diamond Cutter Sutra only treats the deep, the profound part of the teachings. He's also talking about love. Why?

Just to show up at the party in your dress is love. Got it? Okay?

Just to show up at the party. Here I am. Nick and me look for like two hours to find that girl.

The door opens, and she's like, I'm here. Okay? And all these things are coming down.

She's like, I'm here. I got my... What do you call that?

LBD. Little...who knows that? Every girl should have a little black dress.

She's like, here I am. Okay? What's that represent?

Buddha showing up in the two-formed bodies. Okay? Buddha showing up in the two-formed bodies is an act of love.

Okay? So when we think about the Buddha's physical body, the 112 signs, in the Diamond Cutter Sutra, we are not just talking about emptiness. It's love to even put on that dress and go to the party.

Where's the party? It's called Earth. And the Buddha shows up like, here I am.

Okay? I got this bump and... I dressed up just for you guys.

Okay? I put my bump on this morning. You know?

Okay? Got it? So, when you do that meditation, meditation, the formed body pops out of the Dharma body.

Okay? The way a Buddha looks pops out of the Dharma body. Okay?

You have to think about it. Okay? We're gonna talk more about that.

But when you do this meditation number five, I'm not gonna do it with you. Okay? I just want you to think about it.

When you do meditation number five, you have to think, if I don't have a body, nobody can enjoy me. I can't teach. Nobody can learn what I found out.

Okay? So, it's an act of love to dress up in your 112 marks to show up in Buddha paradise or to send yourself to planet Earth. Okay?

It's like dressing for the party. And it's love. So Diamond Cutter Sutra also talks about the love side of things.

Okay? Indirectly. Okay?

Indirectly. Okay, that's meditation number five. I'm gonna go straight to number six.

What's meditation number six? What's the photograph? Yeah, it's a mirror.

Okay? And it's a guy looking at himself in the mirror. Okay?

This one picture represents the two parts of the Buddha jewel. Somebody tell me why. Buddha jewel.

Real Buddha jewel. Real Buddha refuge. What's the two parts?

You debated it two days ago from Mr. Wu. What's the fake Dharma jewel, Buddha jewel? What's the not real Buddha jewel?

Yeah, almost, but you can say extremely like Nick did. You can say, this is the fake one. This looks like Buddha jewel, but it's not the real Buddha jewel.

It's just a picture. It's just a statue. You know, you can say, I go to refuge to this picture.

It won't help you. Okay? But it's comforting.

Okay? And maybe you will study Buddhism later. Okay?

So, it's okay. Okay. Statues are nice.

That's the lower fake Buddha jewel. What's the higher fake Buddha jewel? The physical body, the real physical body of a Buddha.

It's a fake jewel. Why? It's not ultimate protection.

It cannot help you. Okay? Someone's shooting you and, you know, I don't know.

Your husband's yelling at you. You can think about Buddha, Buddha's signs. It's not gonna help you much.

It won't stop your husband from yelling at you. Okay? It's not refuge.

Thinking about how a Buddha looks when your husband's yelling at you is not ultimate protection. Okay? Got it?

What is ultimate protection? Understand reflections. Understand reflections.

Okay? It's the third body of the Buddha. What's the third body?

Oh, let's say fourth body. Emptiness. Okay?

Emptiness. Don't think that the guy in the mirror is your husband. Don't try to shave the glass on the mirror.

It doesn't work. Got it? That's not your real face.

Okay? Shave this one. Okay?

And then, there's one in the mirror, don't worry about that. That's just a reflection. When your husband yells at you, it's a reflection.

Of what? How you treated your kids. Got it?

Or how you treated other people yesterday. Okay? It's not real.

It's not your husband. It's you. It's the reflection of how you treated people yesterday.

Okay? So, the real Buddha jewel has... The Buddha jewel has two parts.

We call it... I mean, in Buddhism, there's a very extreme word. They call it kun dzog, sangye gye kway chok.

Kun dzog means fake. Not real. Okay?

Fake. What? The body of a Buddha.

Where? Either in heaven or on earth. They're both fake.

They're not real protection. They can't protect you. Okay?

You can think about the Buddha's lips and your husband will still scream at you, and it's not going to stop it. Okay? It's helpful, but it's not the real protection.

What's the real protection? The... Dharmakaya.

Has two parts. Yeah. Buddha's understanding, the pen.

Buddha's understanding of the pen is the wisdom body. And emptiness is the essence body. Those two together are the dharma body.

You got it? But it's not just any emptiness that the Buddha's thinking about. It's the emptiness of...

the other three bodies. Cool. Okay?

When we say Buddha's dharma body, the half which is emptiness, we're talking about the emptiness of the other parts of the Buddha. It's cool. Okay?

It's super cool. Not just the emptiness of pens. Okay?

We're talking about the emptiness of the other three parts of the Buddha. Which of the four bodies of a Buddha do you already have? The last one.

Okay? If your body wasn't empty, it could never become a Buddha body. If your mind wasn't empty, it could never become a Buddhist mind.

Got it? You already have 25% Buddha. Okay?

People say, oh, everyone's a Buddha. Just recognize the Buddha inside of everybody. You can say, 25% correct.

Okay? 25% correct. Technically, 12.5% correct. We won't go there. Got it? You know that.

Two parts of the emptiness body. We're not going there. That's lam-rim.

Got it? Okay? So, when you do the six meditation, this is especially for girls.

I could have picked a beautiful lady looking in the mirror. But I picked a handsome guy looking in the mirror. Looks like Nick on a good day.

Okay? Alright? Aaron thinks every day.

But, okay? Everything is there. What?

Face is beautiful, okay? That's... that is the Buddha jewel.

Okay? And it's fake. Okay?

It's not what it looks like. So there's two... Buddha jewels.

One which cannot protect you, and one which can protect you. Got it? The one which can protect you is the mind of a Buddha, and the emptiness that that mind sees of itself, of the Buddha.

Okay? Those can protect you. Why?

When your husband yells at you, you can say, this is a... reflection. Okay?

If you don't like it, then stop being mean to people. Stop criticizing people. Stop judging people in your mind, all day.

And then your husband will change. Okay? He's a reflection.

Okay? So that can protect you. Got it?

Two parts of the Buddha jewel. All right? If you're interested, the...

the part of the... Diamond Cutter Sutra, which that meditation relates to, if you're interested, the verse, okay, is the following. Buddha says to Subuddhi, the signs you see on a Buddha's body are fake.

Okay? Buddha said to Subuddhi in the Diamond Cutter Sutra, at this point, the signs you see on the Buddha's body are fake. Okay?

Then he says something worse. He says, they're also not fake, but only because they don't exist. They're also not fake, but only because they don't exist.

Okay? Okay? Then he says, therefore, Subuddhi, Buddhas have signs, and they don't.

Okay? Therefore, the Buddhas have signs, and they don't. Okay?

Got it? They don't have signs that are not coming from you. They do have signs that are coming from you.

If you smile, they have signs. If you don't smile, you won't see it. Got it?

Okay? You want to see the minor mark of the red lips of the Buddha? You have to smile.

Okay? If you don't smile, you won't see the Buddha's lips. Okay?

Got it? You okay? Are you confused yet?

Good. That's why we meditate. Okay, we're going to take a break.

Ten minute break, okay? Thanks for coming. I like to talk about this stuff.

Okay, we'll start again. You got two sets of papers. One is your next six meditations, and the other is the second half of a small essay about the signs and marks of a Buddha.

Okay? If you didn't receive readings, please raise your hand and keep it up until Vimala gives it to you, even if you didn't take a shower. Okay, you can lower it, and then she'll come back.

Right? You're going to print ten more? Or you have them?

You have to print them? Okay. She's going to print them for you, so it'll be a few minutes.

And the reason they have to print them is Geshe Michael's too slow, and he was late with the reading. Okay. So the second part of the essay about the signs of a Buddha is, as I said yesterday, it's by a Mongolian Lama who was born in 1806.

His name is Chöje Ngawangpa Rinpoche. Very, very great tantric teacher. One of the best.

So Diamond Mountain, Diamond Way, right? It means tantra. Diamond Way, tradition at Diamond Mountain is heavily based on his writings.

Okay? Very great teacher. By the way, Diamond Way in Sanskrit is what?

Vajrayana. And the other name for it is? Tantra.

Okay. Then what's a Tibetan word for tantra? Yeah, we can say sang-ak, okay?

Traditionally, sang-ak, you know? So many people came to my Lama, Ken Rinpoche, who only smiled once in his life for this photograph. Just kidding.

He never smiled at me. Then one guy came from Japan. He said, I want to learn tantra.

Then... Rinpoche said, you need to... you know, geshe, you have to finish geshe before you can learn tantra.

Then... he said, well, I'm a Japanese master, I will give you Japanese geshe degree if you give me Tibetan geshe degree. So...

Rinpoche wrote on a... we were having lunch at that time, so he wrote on the napkin, you have geshe degree. And...

he gave to the guy. Then after the guy left, he gave us all degrees. And then...

Then he... we said... many people asked him to teach tantra.

He said, the word for tantra is sang-ak. Sang-ak means secret. And he says, it's secret.

You know, you have to prepare to get a secret, you know. So, in the Diamond Mountain tradition, we're following Tsongkapa's tradition about secret tantra. It means...

you have to finish your eighteen courses, okay? That's all. Eighteen ACI courses.

You have to finish them before you can start tantra. Okay? That's...

And I made some exceptions in the past. I said, oh, this person is nice and... I will teach them tantra without eighteen courses, and...

they all failed. All of them failed. Some of them failed spectacularly.

Okay? Some of the people who got all eighteen courses failed spectacularly, but less. Okay?

So... In this Tsongkapa tradition, you must finish the eighteen courses before you can have tantra, okay? That's a system.

If you don't follow that system, you will have problems, okay? Somebody will hurt a student. Somebody will hurt themselves.

Okay, I saw it many times. We had a very bad incident here. Okay?

So... We don't teach tantra unless you finish the eighteen courses, okay? It's a deal.

It's a business deal. You finish the eighteen courses, you get Diamond Mountain Tantric lineage, which is very cool. There's eighteen Diamond Mountain Tantric courses.

I think it's about eight thousand pages. Okay? It's secret.

Did we publish it? No. You can't buy it.

You can't get it. Okay? There's no books.

You can look... It's not even on Amazon, or Alibaba. And...

people shouldn't publish tantric books. It's not proper, and we don't do it. Okay?

We have sexy tantric books. Eighteen. But they are secret, okay?

So, you need to finish your eighteen courses, okay? If you finish the eighteen courses, I'm very happy to teach you tantra, okay? If you don't have an ACI teacher to teach you the eighteen courses, you can ask the Stomps.

You can ask the Bradys. You can ask the Duns. You can ask the Myrtles.

You can ask the Lashaws. Okay? There's lots of people can teach you.

Adriana can teach you. Rob Rissinger is teaching ACI. Lots of people from Guadalajara are teaching ACI.

Okay? Rosa is teaching ACI. Okay?

Then just ask them, you know? Some Singapore people bringing John and Connie to Singapore. Some Taiwan people bringing Nick and Erin to Taiwan and Japan.

Lots of Europeans bringing Peter and Maria to Europe to teach ACI. Just ask them, okay? They're cheap.

They're fast. Okay? And they're happy to teach you ACI.

But you need to finish the eighteen courses. If you jump to tantra without eighteen courses, it's like doing a headstand in yoga on the second day. You will hurt yourself, or you will fall down and hurt somebody else.

Okay? So, then there are some tantric things we can show. For example, you can watch a fire offering, and you can learn to make the offerings.

So, we're going to do a fire offering on Friday. Is today Thursday? Oh, today is Thursday?

Alright. So, John and Connie are going to do a fire offering tomorrow evening. And because we don't want to waste time bringing you here twice, we're going to move the class to the afternoon tomorrow.

Okay? Right? Is it tomorrow?

So, we have to choose a time. Michael Dunn, do you have an intelligent suggestion? We need two hours.

Some people have to come two hours early to help with the offerings. Well, that's up to Chun Tsong, but she said two hours is enough. I don't know.

Let's back it out then. We want to start the fire offering at ... It takes about three hours.

Six? That means we have to start the offerings around four? Oh, okay.

So, let's say class is ... 3.30? Does that make sense, Michael?

Yeah? Three? Three is good?

Is that good with you guys? Okay. So, what time the shuttles?

2? 2.15. Okay. Don't forget.

Tomorrow, the shuttles start at 2.15. Okay? You have the whole morning to do these new meditations. Okay?

2.15. Shuttle. Got it? Okay.

What time people can help with their offerings?

[Speaker 2]
Huh? I will find them directly and let them know.

[Speaker 1]
But I need to announce it. How about they meet you at noon? Or earlier?

11? 11? Some people will meet you earlier and then some people later.

Because of the mandala. Oh. Non-mandala people.

12? 12. Okay.

And you still have to look out for three people who will have breakfast and lunch tomorrow. Yeah. Okay.

So, 12 o'clock tomorrow. 12 o'clock tomorrow. Can you run a shuttle at 12 o'clock for ...

Okay.

[Speaker 2]
No? No?

[Speaker 1]
There are some people who want to be involved though. You don't want them? Too many?

Yeah. Too many people. Okay.

Alright. She'll talk to you about the people who need a ride at 12. Yes.

Then I know Mr. Wu and Joanna wanted to ... they can be part of that, to learn to make the offerings. Okay?

Alright. Then about breakfast and lunch tomorrow? Okay.

But we got to announce it before the end of this class. Okay. Alright.

Breakfast and ... Okay, good. And tantra is super cool, super fun, you got to do it, but you got to finish your 18 courses.

Okay? Then you get initiation. Well actually, then you study ...

the vows. Then you take the vows, you get initiation. And then ...

you ... learn how to do tantric retreat, and part of that is learning how to do the fire. Okay?

That's the good way ... to do it. People ask me, oh ...

I paid $35 in New York, I got an initiation. Is it okay? Can I come?

Guess what my answer is? No. Okay?

It has to be in Tsongkhapa system, it has to be in Diamond Mountain system. Okay? And I'm strict about it.

We had something bad happen here, I don't want it to happen again. Okay? So, I'm strict about it.

Okay? Alright. Alright.

So, in ... Lamrim Panden, he grew ... so the second ...

this second part you got today, it starts on page ... nine I think. Am I right?

Okay? The black and white copy. Oh, Chinese version start on ...

start on page 13. Okay? And the other versions are coming, Russian, German, Spanish.

We're working on it. Okay? Probably get it tomorrow or something.

It's ready? Oh, it's finished. Okay.

So, Ngawang Prelden was trying to figure out when Maitreya taught ... we need one more reading I think. Peter, Peter, make sure they have ...

what they need. Okay. He was trying to figure out what big sign, major sign, connects with what minor marks.

Okay? Then, he wrote a few pages about it. I think they need the ...

they need the sign ... And he wrote an essay about it. Okay?

And that's what you got today. Alright? So, me and Adam been working on this for ...

how many days? Yeah, three, four days. We're trying to figure out the groups.

Why did he put groups together? What's the reason? Okay?

Some of them are obvious, and we gave them names, okay? The first group, there are seven signs and marks. Six are marks, one is signs, okay?

And these all relate to the Buddha's fingers, okay? Seven signs relate to the Buddha's fingers, okay? Why we put them together, you tell me.

Tell me. When you do your meditation today and tomorrow morning, you're going to first— what's the very first thing? When you're doing marks and signs meditation?

[Speaker 2]
Huh?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, the mirage, okay? You're always going to start that meditation with the mirage, okay? Then you go through the four subtle signs of death.

Sorry, the four subtle elements. Four subtle signs of death. Four parts of emptiness, okay?

Inside the crystal. Then when you pop out, you can start to add more signs, okay? You can say, I think I'll work on my fingers today.

Okay, the first seven marks and signs here all relate to your fingers. Oh, my hands are long. My fingers are long.

Oh, my fingernails are copper without sephora. Okay? Oh, my fingers are nice shape, okay?

Got it? So, we have to thank Adam for grouping all— I mean, for naming the groups, okay? So, group number one.

Do you feel warm? Can we turn on the air? Let's turn on the air.

Group number one, fingers. Get your fingers straight. So, today, tomorrow, when you come out of the death, practice your fingers, okay?

Second, second, get your hair right. Okay? Second group is about your head and your hair, okay?

Third group is all your face, okay? So, you can pick one group. You can say, I'm going to work on my face today.

Okay? I'm going to work on my hair today. So, I look good when I come to the party.

Okay? That's what's on the cover of your notebook, okay? Group number four, it's all things that relate to the Buddha's eyes.

You can work on your eyes, okay? It's up to you. You choose what you want to work on first.

Group number five, me and Adam had trouble with this. We think it's like this, look. We think it's like this.

You go like this, to here. Okay? Jaw and ears, okay?

Who made these connections? Mongolian Lama Ngawang Phelan. But, he says, I didn't make these up.

I got them from an earlier teacher from India. Okay? And I'm going to test— Don't—Adam, don't tell them, okay?

I'm going to test Nick and that other guy. Chökyiśīnyan in Sanskrit. Chökyiśīnyan.

Just Dharma, that's easy. Yeah, Dharmamitra. So, I don't know.

It's just coincidence, I guess. Because Dharmamitra is our most— you know, one of our favorite Dharma teach— uh, yoga teachers in New York, okay? His name is Chökyiśīnyan, okay?

What other famous śīnyan? Gewayśīnyan, which is Geshe. Geshe means śīnyan.

Mitra. Virtue friend. Kalyana Mitra, okay?

This one is Dharmamitra, okay? So, maybe someday you guys can tell him what his name means. Okay?

And spelled with one T. Okay? Dharmamitra.

So, there was a writer in India, about 1,500 years ago. And his name was Dharmamitra. And he made these connections, okay?

He wrote about these connections, okay? Uh, group number six. Uh, they all relate to the Buddha's mouth and teeth, okay?

Group number seven, it was kind of difficult, but we decided to call it smoothness. Okay? Buddha's smoothness, okay?

Group number eight, they all connect to Buddha's hands, okay? Group number nine, we couldn't figure it out. We faked it.

He's talking about animal metaphors, but only some of them, okay? There's other ones. They relate to the Buddha's arms and legs, okay?

That one was difficult. If you have a better idea, let us know. We checked if the karmas were similar.

And it wasn't conclusive, okay? Alright. Group number ten, we call it Buddha's feet and way to move them.

Okay. Okay. Group number eleven, general appearance of the Buddha when he walks in the door, okay?

Group number twelve, things that are below the waist of the Buddha, or something like that, lower part of the abdomen, okay? And group number thirteen, you can call them like tattoos on Buddha's body. There are cool designs on their throat, on their arms, on their chest, on their hands, okay?

Like tattoos, they're similar to tattoos, but they are permanent parts of their body, okay? And we'll talk more about those. Then the Mongolian Lama, Lama Pernan, he starts to talk about how much karma it takes to make one of the signs.

So I'm just going to review that with you quickly, okay? First one, if you took all the good karma of every being in the world, and you multiplied it times ten, and not including bodhisattvas, okay? It's enough to make one of these little hairs on your arm.

Okay? All the good karma of everybody in the world, times ten, is enough to make one pore of Buddha's body, and one little hair, okay? Then I think there's something like, I forget, is it sixty thousand or something like that?

How many hairs you have? There's a number in Buddhism, I think it's sixty thousand, I don't remember. Multiply that times a hundred, and you could get one of the minor marks, okay?

THUGS PA'I SEMS MO SANGS RDOG DANG Your fingernails would turn copper color. That's how much karma you have to make to get one of the minor signs, one minor mark, okay? Multiply that times eighty, to get the eighty minor marks, okay?

Multiply that times a hundred, and you would have enough for one of the major signs, okay? Except for two of them, which is the treasure hair and the crown ring. Those two take more, you gotta pay more, okay?

THUGS PA'I SEMS MO SANGS RDOG DANG If you took all the karma it takes to make the thirty other major marks, and multiply it times a thousand, you could have enough karma to have this treasure hair, okay? If you took all that karma and multiplied it times a hundred thousand, you have enough to make the bump. THUGS PA'I SEMS MO SANGS RDOG DANG Okay?

Difficult. Now here's the coolest part. I like this.

You ready? If you took all the karma it takes to make this bump, okay? And multiply it times one-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero...

ten to the sixtieth power, okay? You would have enough karma to talk like a Buddha. You would have enough karma to talk like a Buddha.

much more difficult to give teachings, than to have a Buddhist body, okay? Much more difficult. Those of you who went to Germany, to Frankfurt, you heard DCI level 8, I taught the 60 qualities of the Buddhist speech.

I think I got everybody to go to sleep. But it's important, okay? It's very important.

It's much more difficult than Buddhist body, to get those 60 or 64 qualities of a Buddhist speech. What's the most famous one? Sarva Bhuta Ruta Jnanam, from Yoga Sutra, Sarva Bhuta Ruta Jnanam, what's that mean?

Yeah, when Buddha speaks, everybody hears their own language, okay? Buddha talks in Sanskrit, and everybody hears their own language, okay? Got it?

That's just the first one, all right? And there's 60, I think it's 64 total, actually. So, if you want to learn those, you gotta, you could talk to the Stumps, right?

You were in Frankfurt, right? So, they can teach you that, the way a Buddhist speaks. 64, right?

64 qualities of a Buddhist. They call it 60, but it's really 64, I think. Okay, all right?

So, somebody tell me, why did I give you this Mongolian Lama's essay? That's the second part of his essay. What about the first part?

Huh? Yeah, it's much easier to remember the signs and marks, okay? And, because you're going to do a meditation today, and tomorrow, you choose what group you want to work on.

Guess what I'm going to work on? Okay? Like, I'm going to work on the hair, okay?

I'm going to focus on the hair. You decide, you want to focus on the eyes, or the face, or ... okay?

You decide, okay? But today, when you do your meditations, the main meditation, the longest one, you're going to go through the signs of death, into emptiness, then pick one of these groups, okay? Pick one of these groups, and say, oh, now, not only do I have this circle, my fingers feel longer, and the fingernails change color, and suddenly Geshe Michael's ...

you know what my nickname in the monastery is? Tree bark. They call, hey tree bark, okay?

So, Geshe Michael's hand is going to be very smooth, okay? Very round, okay? Alright?

It's very, very important to practice having these signs, okay? Everybody wants to learn Tantra. I'm sneaking Tantra to you right now.

One of the most important meditations in Tantra is called Nagyal Sel Nang. Nagyal Sel Nang. You're practicing which one?

Nagyal, at the end of death, and then you're practicing Sel Nang right after. These are the two of the most important parts of Tantra. Nagyal means, they know, that's me.

Hey, that's the new me. Hey, that's the new me. That's one important part of Tantra, okay?

By the time you get your initiation, you're gonna say, Geshe-la, we learned all that. Okay, what's the Sel Nang? Yeah, you look at your hand and you say, wow, look, you practice, oh look, my fingers are longer, my fingernails are a different color, cool, okay?

By pretending you're already Buddha, you plant the seeds to become a Buddha, okay? Got it? By pretending that you have the signs, you plant them.

It helps to plant them, okay? Okay, comfortable? Everybody comfortable?

Okay, so this is a very important meditation. If you don't know the signs, you can't practice having them. Sarakni has a question.

Yeah, okay, good question. Last Kamalashila number one, we are practicing imagining, what would I like to look like when I become a Buddha, okay? Now, we're saying, you must have this sign, you must have this sign, you must have this sign, okay?

In the paradise body, in this teaching, Buddha has 112 signs. You can practice them, okay? But, of course, Buddha can look any way they want, okay?

They can look like a dog, they can look like a tree, you have to be careful with trees, okay? Might be Buddha, okay? They can look like an ocean wave, okay?

So, when you become Buddha, you have this power to show yourself any way you want, to help people, okay? When you come to this planet, it would not be useful to have two heads. Buddha can do it, but it will make people feel uncomfortable, okay?

So, they try to look a little bit like human, okay? Got it? Alright, we're gonna go back to Diamond Cutter Sutra for a few minutes, okay?

What time this class supposed to stop? Okay, forget that. We're gonna go to section four of the Diamond Cutter Sutra, we're gonna go to the fourth part of the Diamond Cutter Sutra, but only if you can tell me the first three.

What's the first part of the Diamond Cutter Sutra subject? Good! Yeah, how to nirvanicize other people, okay?

I want to make everybody Buddha, okay? That's the first section of the Diamond Cutter Sutra, according to Kamalashila. What's the second?

Yeah, how to practice the perfections using emptiness, okay? That was the second part. What was the third part?

Yeah, like Kamalashila says, how to get turned on by the form body, okay? How to get interested, or hungry to have a form body, okay? Okay?

Guess what the next section is? Yeah, how to get turned on by the diamond body, okay? How to get interested in getting a diamond body.

So, we reached now the fourth part of the Diamond Cutter Sutra. Last time I told you that the next section we're gonna have, you want to know the next section after this? Difficult, very difficult.

Ready? Section five, which we're not gonna reach until tomorrow, if we're lucky, is how to avoid pride about your practice. How to avoid pride about your practice.

But it's a special kind of pride, okay? It's a special kind of pride, it's called Lumbangagyal, super pride, okay? What is super pride?

You ready? I'll tell you then, we won't do it till tomorrow. If you see emptiness directly, okay?

And you come out, and you say, I saw emptiness directly, I, I saw emptiness directly, okay? Then what happens? You unsee emptiness directly, okay?

You unsee emptiness directly. Me, okay? Me.

Me, who doesn't come from my seeds, saw emptiness. Me, who doesn't come from my seeds, saw emptiness. So, we're not gonna get there today.

I'm just telling you what's coming up next, okay? Alright? Okay, here are the sections from the Diamond Cutter Sutra which talk about the Dharma body.

Okay, here we go. I think this is the most beautiful and exciting part of the Diamond Cutter Sutra, because, Sabuddhi says to the Buddha, ready? Oh Buddha, in the future, in the last 500, during the last 500, and the Dharma is disappearing in the world, will there be anybody who understands this sutra?

Okay? In the last 500 years, will there be anybody who understands this sutra? Okay?

So, Buddha is famous, because Buddha said, all things which have causes must end. The teaching of the Buddha in this world had causes or not? So it must end, okay?

And I think it's so brave, for a spiritual teacher of a major world religion, will predict that their own teaching will die in this world, okay? They say it has causes, so it will die, okay? I think it's amazing, okay?

So, in Buddhism there's a tradition that there will be five sets of 500 years each. Five sets of 500 years each. And then the Buddhism will die.

The last lines of the Abhidharmakosha by Master Vasubandhu, the last lines, they describe how the teaching will die in this world, okay? And they give two steps. Anybody remember?

There will be two steps. What? First, the Dharma in people's hearts will die.

It means, nobody will understand the Diamond Cutter Sutra. Nobody will understand emptiness. But, the books will still be in the ACIP database, okay?

The books will survive, but nobody will be able to read them, and nobody will understand what they mean. They will become sort of like ...there was a big problem when I was in Mongolia, we were trying to save the Buddhist books, a lot of books were disappearing. Why?

Japanese rich people were buying them to keep them in their basement. They thought, oh it's good luck to have Sutra. They cannot read it, okay?

They cannot read it, but they buy the best old books, and they take them to Japan, and they put them in the basement of their house, for good luck, you know? So, in the end of Buddhism it will be like this, okay? People will say, oh look, I have Diamond Cutter Sutra.

Oh, what's it say? I don't know, but it's good luck, okay? Alright?

So, Buddha ...so, so Buddha is asking Lord Buddha, towards the end of your teaching, say 2,500 years after Buddha's teaching, okay? 2,500 years later, when is that? It's right now, okay?

We are in what's called the final days of Buddhism, okay? We are in that period now, okay? So, Subuddhi says to Lord Buddha, what's it gonna be like in 2016, out near the metropolis of Bui, you know?

Will anybody understand Ching Gang Jing, you know? Then Buddha gets wrathful, and he says, don't ask me that, don't say that. He gets pissed off, don't say that.

Why? No, he says, later he's gonna say, of course, at the very end, there's a big peak. At the very end, suddenly, a big group of people understands the Diamond Cutter Sutra, okay?

At the very end, you know it's going, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, then suddenly, whoop! Then finish, okay? At the very end, a big group of people, suddenly they're like, we get it, we understand Kongxin.

They can learn Diamond Cutter Sutra, they can teach Diamond Cutter Sutra. Guess who that is? It's you guys, okay?

Not just you, but everybody in the world right now who's ... who's learning, okay? That's ...

that exists, okay? People in Singapore are studying Diamond Cutter Sutra. People in Beijing, people in Russia, people in Germany, okay?

There's a big peak right now, and people are interested in Diamond Cutter Sutra, okay? So, Buddha gets a little bit upset. Don't ask stupid questions.

Of course there will be somebody. So, I want to go to meditation number seven. What's the picture?

What's the picture? You have number seven? What's the picture?

There's a guy sitting with his leg crossed, reading a book. Tell me why this represents the two parts of the Dharma Jewel. The Dharma Jewel.

The book is the ... fake Dharma Jewel. Not real.

Why? Cannot protect you, okay? Many people died with Diamond Cutter Sutra in their hand, or in their house, okay?

In Tibet, many many ... one million people died, okay? There were lots of Diamond Cutter Sutras, okay?

Cannot protect you, okay? Cannot protect you, alright? Not real protection.

What's the real protection? It's ... it's the understanding, but specifically, it's the direct perception of emptiness is the real Dharma Jewel.

SANGS RGYAS CHOS DANG RDZOGS KYIS CHOG NAM LA BYANG CHUB PAR GYUR When you take refuge in Dharma, it means in that state of mind which sees emptiness directly. To see emptiness directly, you need a lot of training. You got to be meditating every day.

The best place to see emptiness directly might be far away from grocery stores and cities, in a place where cell phone doesn't reach, yet, okay? You might even want to build a place called Diamond Mountain Retreat Center, so people can see emptiness directly, which is the only real protection ever, period, okay? Got it?

So, when you reach this meditation number seven, you decide when you do it today, okay? You could do first three kind of quick, spend a lot of time on your signs, okay? Do that every meditation period.

Go through death, pick a group of signs from Adam's text, okay? And work on your fingers, or work on your eyes, or, okay? Then when you get to this one, try to think about, what does it mean to take refuge?

What does it mean to go for protection to the Dharma, okay? Is it the books? Is it the statues?

Is it the temples? Is it the stupas? People ask me, Geshe-la, Geshe-la, did you go see the Rajagrha?

Did you climb up the mountain to see where Buddha taught Heart Sutra, you know? You spent 25 years going to India for your Geshe, how many times did you go to Rajagrha? Guess!

Zero! Why? You want to see a holy place?

Go to any place where someone's teaching Diamond Cutter Sutra, okay? Don't go see some old rocks where somebody sat before, and no one's teaching it, okay? Don't waste your time, you're just gonna get diarrhea, that's the only blessing you can get, okay?

You want to go to a holy place? Go to Peter Myrtle's ACI class. That's why I put Peter Myrtle's class in meditation number 8, I think.

Am I right? Okay? The meaning of meditation 8, and this is from Kamalashila, he says, how did Lord Buddha know people in 2016 would be studying Diamond Cutter Sutra?

Kamalashila answers his own question. Lord Buddha sees everything, past, present, future, as if it were in the palm of his hand, okay? No problem.

Did he guess people are gonna be studying Diamond Cutter Sutra? No. Did he extrapolate into the future?

Given current circumstances, in 2,500 years, people should be studying Diamond Cutter Sutra, like a supercomputer. No. He sees directly, okay?

And he gets irritated at Sabuddhi, don't ask me, you know, of course people will be studying Diamond Cutter Sutra, okay? So, meditation number 8, why is there an ACI teacher or DCI teacher teaching Diamond Cutter Sutra in a class? It means, 2,500 years ago, Buddha spoke the Diamond Cutter Sutra just for you, okay?

That's meditation number 8, okay? When you see the picture of one of our teachers teaching, I want you to think, Buddha spoke Diamond Cutter Sutra for me, okay? The day he spoke, the day he opened his mouth, where?

In Shravasti, at the Jetavan of Pindadadadadadada. He was intending that you should find it, he knew you would find it, he knew you would get here, okay? So, you got to think about it, okay?

He sent you a letter 2,500 years ago, and you just received it, and he knew you would, okay? So, when you study Diamond Cutter Sutra, always realize, Buddha sent it to you personally, okay? He knew you would read it, okay?

We have a custom in America, I don't know, you take a bottle, you put a message inside, you close the bottle, you go out in the ocean in a boat, and you throw it out. And maybe five years later, it will reach somebody, and they will read it, you know? Me and my brothers, we used to hide letters under rocks in the desert.

We said, somebody will find it, you know, a thousand years from now, okay? Buddha spoke the Diamond Cutter Sutra for you, okay? Don't doubt it.

If you doubt it, you're just like Subuddhi, okay? And Buddha doesn't like it, okay? It's the only time he gets angry in this sutra, he says, don't be a fool Subuddhi, of course it was for you.

Of course I spoke it for you, okay? He knew, Buddha right now is watching us. I'll tell you something even cooler, your future Buddha is watching you.

Your future Buddha is watching you. I used to go in the toilet stall of my diamond company, and talk to my future Buddha while I'm meditating there. I'll say, hi Geshe Michael Buddha, I know you're watching me, I just want to say hello.

I'm having a hard time at work today, my boss is yelling at me, I feel a little bit angry, I'm sorry I'm delaying you, you know, okay? You can talk to your future Buddha. Future Buddha can see everything you're doing, okay?

It's fun when you're in your cabin by yourself, don't do it on a bus with other people. You can talk to your future Buddha, okay? You can apologize for taking so long.

Okay. Meditation number nine, what's happening? What's happening in the photo in meditation number nine?

Where is that photo? It was here last week, okay? Long-Rim Retreat, probably you can find yourself, okay?

Why is that picture there? This is the most important meditation for today. This is the most important meditation for today.

I want you to understand and be happy you are one of the people that Buddha predicted, okay? You are a person of the last 500 years who is studying Diamond Cutter Sutra and understanding it. So, I like to do those celebration meditations last thing during the day.

I'm tired, you know, I don't have much juice left for meditation. In my three-year retreat, my last retreat of the day, last meditation of the day was 15 minutes, because I was too tired, okay? So, tonight, last meditation of the day, I want you to do meditation number nine, okay?

I want you to be one of those lucky people that Lord Buddha predicted two-and-a-half thousand years ago, okay? When he got mad at Subuddhi and he said, of course, someone is coming, he was talking about who? Me, okay?

And don't think it's like some kind of pride or arrogance, it's not. You are studying Diamond Cutter Sutra properly, deeply, correctly. He was talking about you, okay?

Maybe you're special, okay? Got it? So, you know, there's seven billion people in the world right now.

There's 90 or something in this room, okay? Maybe you're special. Maybe you have good karma, okay?

Maybe you're an amazing, miracle person, okay? To be here, to be studying that Buddha predicted you were going to come, okay? Got it?

Maybe you can be happy today, okay? Got it? All right, then.

It's a good place to stop.