Дебаты дьявола с ангелом, часть 7: Растопить разногласия (2013, Феникс), занятие 1

[Говорящий 1]
We have about an hour. I got a letter from one of the three retreatants, Earl Burney, and it was really typical Earl, which is really cute and funny, and it said, So Geshe-la, I've been in here for two and a half years now, and I didn't see emptiness yet, and the clock's ticking down, and send me some secret method, you know, it's getting too late now, you know, and he was really funny, and then we're going to be working on emptiness today, right? In the afternoon and the evening, we're going to be doing some pretty difficult proofs of emptiness. So I thought we could follow the advice of the first Panchen Lama that he gave us last night.

He said, if you want the Udumbara flower to bloom in your mind, what's that? To understand emptiness, right? You have to, what?

Yeah, Lama Nyepa, to please your teacher, right? So, I thought, I mean, I do, I'm just going to go through something that I do every day anyway, and, which is sort of a meditation based on your teacher. So, it can be any teacher who's been important in your life, okay?

It doesn't have to be the Dalai Lama or something like that, it could be Mrs. Melvin, or Mrs. Harris, or Ms. Pfau, you know, Mr. Bloom. These are my elementary school teachers, and I, I list them in my mind, and I go through them and thank them, and, you know. Can you remember all the ones back to first grade?

I don't know. Did you ever try? Yeah, you can?

Try. Okay, there's some, what do you call it? Mental blocks, teachers that gave you a hard time, like you won't be able to remember their name for a month or something.

But, thank all the teachers in your life, okay? When we get to that part, just go through all the teachers that you've had, and including your parents. I had an older brother who helped me a lot.

You know, everything that he had already been through, he taught me, so I didn't have to go through it. You know, so, like that, alright? And we'll just go like that.

Then I thought we would take a break inside the meditation and do some satsanga, okay? They always call it satsang, right? And I tried to find it in a Sanskrit dictionary, I couldn't find it, and then finally I found it, it was satsanga, which means a meeting for truth, okay?

But it means if you want to ask questions. I was in Mysore briefly, I went to see Sri Patabhi Joyce when he was alive, and he founded Ashtanga, right? System.

And he used to give really nice satsangs, like every evening, and I went to some of those, and they were very beautiful, and people were just asking questions, and this is an old Indian custom, so we'll do that also, okay? So, let's start meditation. Get straight.

Arrange yourself in a position where you're not going to have to move, okay? Every time you move, you interrupt the people around you. Relax your forehead.

Relax your eyelids. Eyelids are crucial. Try to learn to connect with your eyelids.

Let your eyelids go. Relax the muscles of your eyelids. Today you might want to try, experiment with raising your eyes slightly towards your forehead.

Not too much, just a little bit. Pull in your stomach slightly. Tighten your lower abdomen slightly.

Keep checking back with your forehead and your eyelids to make sure they're relaxed and loose. Straighten your spine. Drop your shoulders.

Bring your attention to the corners of your mouth. Relax the corners of your mouth. Pull your hands slightly towards your torso, on your legs, which will bring your back up a little straighter.

Relax everything one more time in the face. Keep coming back to the face and relax it. In just my morning practice, I spend a certain number of minutes first trying to be completely still and not moving anything except very slight breathing.

Not to crease my forehead or not to tense my mouth or not to move my legs or my hands. Try to... I spend a few minutes first trying to be completely still like a stone, like a rock.

So please, for the next few minutes, just try to sit completely still. Don't even move the muscles of your face. Don't move your fingers.

Don't move your body. See if you can reach a place of physical stillness. Now please change the focus to your breath.

Please watch your breath. Try to keep the mind on the air coming and going from the nose. Focus on the end of the nose.

See the breath coming out, the breath coming back in. Relax there. Try not to think about other things.

When you think of something else, gently bring the mind back to the breath and we'll stay on the breath for the same amount of time. Just see how's your breath going. You can observe the flow of the breath between pauses, out and in.

See how is the... Is the flow shaky or is the flow smooth? Are there little bumps in the flow?

And those all reflect the state of your mind. So, focus on the breath. Focus on the parts of the breath and that will help you not to think about other things.

Focus, oh, now I'm breathing out. The flow is a little jerky. Now I'm pausing.

Now I'm breathing in and the flow is better. Follow the pieces of the flow of the breath for about five minutes. Now we'll do one more step, then we'll take a little break.

I'd like you to spend the same amount of time just observing your thoughts. It's like checking the weather in the morning. Go outside on the porch, look up in the sky, see what kind of clouds are there, how hot it is, what kind of winds are moving.

So, come out onto the porch of your own mind and just see where your thoughts are this morning. Are they hyper? Are they sleepy?

Are you worried about some problem you're having? Are you looking ahead to something in the day? And don't hassle your mind, just watch it, think, you know, where is my mind today?

What is my mind concerned about? What are the issues or agenda items today of my mind? And how's the quality of the attention?

Am I sleepy or am I hyper or worried? Or am I clear and focused? And just observe the mind, state of the mind, without trying to change it, just take the pulse of the mind this morning, see how it's feeling.

And we'll do that for the same amount of time, then we'll take a break. Okay, then you can relax, open your eyes, take a stretch. Any questions or comments about meditation or about last night?

Yeah. Do you have another mic? Go ahead, talk loud so they can hear.

I have a question about karma. If I'm writing the scriptures, they say karma Oh boy. Yeah, I'll repeat the question.

Jeff said, I have a question about karma. And if I'm correct, I remember that the scripture says karma is not physical or mental. So there's a beautiful subject in Buddhism called Siddhupakinamshak, which means the categories of the whole world, of the whole universe.

Like all the stuff in the universe split up into categories. And the classical division is into dakpa and mitakpa, which means changing things and unchanging things. There's not a lot of unchanging things in the universe.

And all of them are negative, absences, okay? All the unchanging things in the world, in the universe are absences of something. That's the only thing that doesn't change.

For example, the absence of a two-headed purple elephant in this room, okay? Is there such a thing? Does it exist?

Yeah, the absence exists. The elephant doesn't exist. You see what I mean?

So is there such a thing as a two-headed purple elephant? No. Do they exist in this room?

No. Is that a fact for this room? Yes.

Facts are unchanging, okay? Facts are unchanging. The elephant's not here, okay?

So we can say that doesn't change. It's not like there's half an elephant in the room or three-quarters or... they're either here or they're not here.

When they're not here, it's unchanging, okay? Then the changing things in the world are divided into three categories and that answers your question, okay? So, physical things like the objects of your senses, like this room and this building are changing physical things, okay?

And then there's your own mind which is not physical. According to Buddhism, it's not physical, okay? Meaning you can't weigh it, you can't cut it, it has no mass, measurable mass like that, okay?

The physicists say light has no mass, but I think that's wrong. They're still working on it, okay? And so that leaves, is there anything in the world which is changing but not physical or mental?

And then we say yes, and then the Abhidharma gives some examples and one is Jeff, the idea Jeff, okay? So, you think that idea with your mind, but it's a concept. So, concepts like Jeff applied to this body and mind is a changing thing, but it's not physical or mental.

It's a name put on the collection of physical and mental, okay? And then they say potentials, things that have an energy, a kind of energy to be something, which is karma, okay? So, you say something mean to somebody and then you hear yourself say it and then that puts a seed in your mind and that seed is in the mind, but it's not mental, it's not, it doesn't think, it is not aware, and that's the definition of mind.

Mind is aware, selṣiṁ rikpa-śepa-sani, it's clear, it's invisible and it is aware. So, the seeds in your mind, they are in your mind, but they are not awareness, they don't think, the seeds are not thinking, so they are located in the mind and they haven't opened yet, they haven't become an event yet, so they are just possibilities in your mind and those are neither physical nor mental, but they are changing. So, that's how karma fits into the whole structure of stuff in the universe, okay?

And it's a difficult question because they live in the mind, but they're not mental, and they're not mental because they don't think, they're not aware, they have no awareness, okay? They're just energies that could become something when they open, okay? Yeah.

Jeff is created by the mind, but it's not the mind, so Jeff doesn't think. Jeff, the concept, the whole construct of Jeff is not aware of the world, it's just an idea, okay? It's an object of your awareness, you think about Jeff, but Jeff, the whole creation product of the mind called Jeff doesn't, isn't aware of things.

It's a creation of my mind and it's not physical. It has a... it's applied to a physical thing and it's applied to a mental thing, but it's a mental construct.

So, we put it in the category of... Dhamma-duché means things that are changing, but they aren't physical or mental. And then there's a small collection of stuff in there, and a couple of schools say there's more stuff in there, but I'm not going to go into it because it's kind of weird.

Okay. Yeah, one more, and then we'll do some meditation. Yes, please.

What was the second part? Collective. Oh, good.

Okay, good. Good question. Good.

So, as far as karma, it's important to distinguish between collective karma and the individuality of karma. So, these are the two principles that apply here. One is, it is possible for us as a group to undertake an action, you know.

As a country, for example, through the process of our democratic system, we can decide as a country to go to war in Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan. So, it's not as though each one of us made a gun and sent it to someone, but we did collectively, through the democratic electoral process, we have all supported those wars. We have paid our taxes.

We have elected people who voted for it. We have not gone to jail to object to that war. So, we may not actively go out and say, great, you're shooting people, but we, through the process of our society, we are supporting those wars.

We have not, I don't know for sure, but most of us haven't actively expressed that we object to that war. We have kind of just let it happen, you know. And our money, I pay taxes, and my money is being used for those weapons and that killing.

100,000 people have died in Iraq, for example. So, we collectively, according to the Buddhist scriptures, we have collectively created a karma. We have together, as a nation, each individual who didn't object strongly and openly to that war has created a seed in their mind.

And then, at some point, all of those seeds together will open and create a society which is dangerous. We will live in a... we'll have a higher crime rate or we will be threatened by some other nation or even just pollution or, you know, radiation or a tsunami or something will happen to us as a group, which endangers us.

And so, it is possible to create a collective karma. We are all here in this room together today because we knew each other before. And if you find this hour together useful or helpful, it means as a group we did something good for somebody together.

And that's why we enjoy this meeting today together. That said, it's not possible to share a karma. Like, I can't...

If I know someone in here has a karma to be sick, for example, right? They have a cancer or something. They have breast cancer.

Then, I cannot... If I've been serving as a volunteer at the prison, as he has, or in the hospital, I can't somehow remove that seed from my mind and give it to you. So, it's not possible to collect karma for another person or to transfer karma between mind streams.

And that's a cool thing, and I'll give you the reason why. Your mind is like a long spaghetti. According to Buddhism, no beginning and no end.

Your mind will go on forever. Your mind has gone on forever. You can call it spirit or soul if you feel more comfortable with that.

And the spaghettis don't mix. So, you created your own spaghetti string and you're sustaining your own spaghetti string forever. And those spaghettis will never mix, you see?

So, you... But what I wanted to say, and you've got to think about it, is every action you do and every thought you have creates new karma. Just listening to these few sentences creates new karma.

And that creates the spaghetti. And that sustains the spaghetti. So, the spaghetti string of your mind with no beginning and no end is sustained by karmic seeds that you collect by thinking.

That's why your mind will go on forever. But it won't mix with my mind. Even after you become enlightened, we don't mix our minds together.

I can read your mind, and you can read my mind, and we can communicate without speaking at that point. But your enlightenment has been created by your own good deeds, and not by anything that I can do. That's why in the Buddhist tradition, shruti, what's shruti?

We had it last night. Listening is so important because I can't act for you. I can't create karma for you.

I can show you the way. I can explain the way, but I can't do it for you. You have to do it yourself.

So, that's why Buddhism talks so much, because we have to explain what to do, and then you have to do it yourself, because I can't collect karma for you. I can watch you do good or bad things, and I can be happy or sad, but I can't change them without communicating. I have to encourage you to be good and discourage you from being bad, but I can't reach into your mind and change your karma.

So, karmas are collected individually, but a group of individuals can make a karma together, and they will experience the result together. But each one will experience the result in their own way. Okay?

Cool? All right, let's do some more meditation. Okay, we have a few minutes.

By the way, in the Abhidharma, which is about 17 centuries old, and I'm hoping to teach it, I've never taught it to my students. It's been 35 years, 40 years, I've never taught it. I think it would be...

I'm going to try a little bit, but it concludes, therefore, that we must object to violence being done in our name and with our taxes, that if we don't want... It asks the question, the scripture poses the question, if a soldier on the front lines in Iraq kills a child out of anger or by accident, am I personally responsible? Do I collect a karma seed?

And the answer that the scripture concludes is that, yes. And then the question comes up, what percent do I get? Do I get 5% of the karma?

Do I get 10% of the karma? And they say, a hundred. It's the same as if you pulled the trigger.

Okay? If a person acting in the name of your country through a democratic process kills a child in Iraq, it's as if you killed the child yourself with your own hands. Same karma.

So that the scripture concludes that it's important for citizens of a democratic process to object formally, to, you know, like at least send your representative an email or something, and say, I washed my hands, this is your war, this is not my, you know, I know you'll put me in jail if I don't pay my taxes, and, you know, I'm not ready to do that because I have to go to meditation today. But I formally, what do you call, divorce myself from this action. I don't want the karma.

And, you know, I don't, you will, you are forcing me to pay taxes for it, but I don't agree to it. And I, what do you call that, I renounce this thing, and I don't want the karma, you know. And I guess if everybody did that, the representatives might change.

They'd be nervous to have all that karma. I don't know. So, anyway.

Okay, here we go. Sit up straight. Come back to your breath.

Please come back to your breath. Follow your breath for a few minutes. Soften your face.

Soften your shoulders. Please come back to your thoughts. Check in with your thoughts.

What are the popular issues in the mind this morning? Normally they're pretty limited. They are restricted to the main events of yesterday, especially anything someone did to hurt you, or to important plans you have for today or this evening or tomorrow.

Our minds are, the concerns of the mind are pretty limited. We live in a box of about 48 hours back, 48 hours into the future. The concerns that we have are very fleeting.

They change frequently from day to day. Check in with your mind. What are the important issues today of the mind?

Learn to listen to your mind. Now please see if you can restrict the mind to the present moment. See if you can coax your mind into focusing on this room, the people who are sitting around you, and just gently being contented to be silent or quiet in this room without chatter about yesterday, what happened or what might happen tonight or tomorrow.

See if you can gently choose to be here and just enjoying the room and the company of the people here and the feeling of being among a group of people who are spiritually minded. See if you can enjoy this room and calm yourself down, your mind down, and just taste this current company and current room. Enjoy it gently, happily.

And we'll spend a few minutes like that, just being here with our friends in this room. And it's enough to be silent together, and perhaps that creates a little pocket of quiet for the whole world in this room. And slowly come back to your body.

You can open your eyes, stretch. So we're going to have a special yoga class. Starts in 15 minutes, am I right?

Oh, we have half an hour. Okay. We're going to film a little video of Venerable Nyingbo.

It's going to teach a class about alignment. And so even if you haven't done a lot of yoga, this will be appropriate for everybody, for all levels. And it's mainly just how to get your alignment correct so that you don't hurt yourself when you do yoga.

And sometimes you take a lot of classes, but nobody explains to you where to put your arm or leg in such a way that you don't hurt yourself. So we're going to film it because a lot of our students around the world have asked to have something they can use at home to watch, to correct their alignment. So you're welcome to come, and it won't be difficult.

Right, Nyingbo? Yesterday he said, I'm tougher than Bob Harper. I said, yeah, okay.

So welcome to come to that. And it'll be filmed. If you feel shy about being filmed, then I guess you could sit way in the back or something and maybe you wouldn't be so much on the film.

But it's just going to be used like in Russia and China and Mexico and stuff like that. So, you know, don't get nervous. I'm coming, so anybody could do it, you know, okay?

And it's good to meditate in a group. You could feel the difference, right, when you're meditating with a nice group of people. And sometimes have yoga dates with your friends, like go out and do yoga together, go to a yoga class together, or do meditation dates with your friends and call up two of your friends and say, come over and let's meditate for half an hour, 45 minutes, and then I'll cook you breakfast, like Sunday breakfast or something, you know what I mean?

And that's a nice way to spend your time together with other people, okay? All right, thank you.