500 образов для медитации на шагах пути к просветлению, занятие 14

[Speaker 1]
IDIM 14, fifth of the six conditions for good meditation. Don't hurt other people. Keep your morality.

This is level one morality. What's the second level morality? Bodhisattva vows, third level, secret vows.

But especially the pratimoksha vows, the freedom vows, which Xiaoping is translating. Each translator has a different specialty, right? So anyway, don't hurt other people.

Avoid hurting other people. We're not, nobody in this room is going to, you know, hit Ben Kramer on the head, although it might help. But your mouth is very dangerous, you know.

The minute your mouth opens, something bad might happen. So, you know, be careful not to hurt other people's feelings, okay, with what you say, and be careful not to judge other people silently in your mind, okay? And I was having a talk with, who was it?

Hector. We were talking about how to train meditation teachers, and what's the difference between meditation that you learn here or in DCI and any place else? What's the difference?

Yeah, good. Say it louder. Yeah, okay.

It doesn't matter how you sit. It doesn't matter when you sit. It doesn't matter which meditation you choose.

It doesn't matter if you put your left hand down first or your right hand down first, or you put your left leg first, or you put your right leg first, or you use a wooden seat, or you use a plastic one, just nothing matters, okay? Meditation means keeping your mind on a single object. You won't be able to do it if you haven't been nice to other people last week.

Why? When you're not nice to other people last week, you plant seeds in your mind, and this week, they open, those silver eggs are cracking open, and they're talking in your mind. So, it doesn't matter how long you sit.

You can sit for two hours. You can go to Diamond Mountain and live here in a retreat cabin, and you can do high tantra, you know, three-year retreat. If you haven't been nice to other people, your mind will talk because the seeds are opening, okay?

How quiet your mind is isn't coming from your meditation. It's coming from what you did last week, okay? And that's the big difference between the meditation you do here and anywhere else in the world, okay?

And that's the foundation of the meditation studios, is to teach people that, okay? How to get a silent mind. It's not your prana and, you know, your, what do you call it?

You know, all this stuff. It doesn't matter. If you haven't been nice to people last week, your mind will blah, blah, because the seeds will open and say words in your mind, okay?

So, it doesn't matter. Nothing else matters. I had a guy in my class, my Geshe class, and he could only study laying down, which is totally illegal in the monastery.

Secondly, he had a walkman. Illegal walkman. He was playing rock and roll music all the time.

And so, the scriptures are these long pages, right?

[Speaker 2]
He's like this.

[Speaker 1]
And then, you know, he used to get beat all the time. He didn't care. Teachers would beat him, you know?

He's like, ah, yeah. He didn't say a thing. He just did it.

And then, one night we debated Thracian Humbo, which is the fourth great guru, Panchen Lama's monastery. We debated them in public. And he defended.

And he was defending the existence of non-existence. And he didn't talk much, ever. And he was up there, and he was like a tiger, you know?

And nobody could... All the other Thracian Humbo guys, one by one, team by team, they came up, and he just blew them away. Then the abbot stood up.

He couldn't stand it. Thracian Humbo abbot. This is Geshe Tutun Rinchen's teacher.

Okay? The highest tantrika in India, probably. Okay?

And the highest logician. And he came up, and he fought this guy. And the guy was like, Nope.

Yes. Nope. Yes.

No. No. Nope.

And then the abbot took his hat off, and he went, said, you beat me. You know? So, it doesn't matter how you study.

Okay? It matters how you help other people. You see what I mean?

Then you can do anything. Okay? You can lay down and read the book, and you will beat the abbot of Thracian Humbo.

Okay, got it? You will beat all the meditation obstacles if you're just nice to other people. Okay?

I want to meditate better. Geshe-la, I want to meditate better. Should I have more green drinks?

Or, you know, should I get a different cushion? What's the answer? And I'm not talking compassion.

I'm not talking love. I'm not talking bodhicitta. I'm just talking, be nice to other people, like normal, nice people.

Okay? Then your meditation will be awesome. This is possibly the most important thing here.

IDIM. How many times will Geshe-la say that in the next eight retreats? I don't know.

But, okay, this is the greatest condition for good meditation. More important than a nice place, more important than good friends. Okay?

Just be nice to other people. Okay? You want to improve your meditation?

Be more friendly to other people. Okay? I'm not good at it.

I'm kind of shy, actually. Like, on a plane, I never talk to people. And Scott always knows.

Scott had six stewardesses singing him happy birthday. I couldn't believe it. I was like, I don't know.

But we should try to be more friendly. Okay? To other people.

It's a good thing. Okay? Try to do it.

And your meditation will be better.