Нагарджуна, курс 2 — Мудрость Арьи Нагарджуны, курс 2: Исследование величайшей мудрости древнего мудреца (2019, Аризона), занятие 2

[Speaker 1]
We have to start moving through Nagarjuna because, as usual, Geshe-la is behind. I'm still on homework number two. I'm on question six, okay, and the question is, I'll tell you the question.

What's an easy shortcut? Once we have decided that the looker is not a looker naturally, okay? They are not coming from themselves, okay?

Like the husband is not coming from himself. The looker is not coming from themselves. Once you decide the person who's looking, let's say at a blue cup or something, once you decide they are not coming from their own side, okay?

There's a shortcut for the other five things. What's the other five things? The blue cup, the eyeball cells, the awareness of the blue, yeah, the me, yeah, or I am seeing, okay?

And then the whole process of seeing, okay? So we've been working, we've been focusing on the me, the looker, the looker. There's two lookers really.

There's the eye is looking, and then there's me is looking, right? So, if, now, and they are all dependent on each other. You see, like, I don't know, a pile of books, okay?

Like the second book is resting on the first book, okay? Here's the object, and the eye is resting on the object, and the awareness of blue is resting on the eye, and the awareness of me seeing blue is resting on the awareness of the blue. You can say there might be a witness in the background resting on those, and then the whole act of seeing blue is resting on all of them.

So, okay? If you pull out this one, they're all going to fall down. If there's no blue, then there's no eyeball change cells, there's no awareness of blue, there's no thinking, I'm seeing blue, there's no witnesses thinking, who listens to, I see blue, and there's no seeing, okay?

So, any one of them, if you can prove it's not coming from its own side, they all must be not coming from their own side, got it? If you pull the book out, sorry, the blue cup out, then the other ones go boom, boom, boom, boom. They all fall down, because you cannot have a relationship between a thing that does come from its own side, and a thing that doesn't come from its own side.

Let's take it to the kitchen, okay? Can a wife who doesn't come from her own side get angry at a husband who does come from his own side? No, impossible.

One of them doesn't exist, got it? In English we say it takes two to tango. You can't have a dance without two people, okay?

Okay, I'll say it again. Let's say you want to dance, okay? With your wife, or your husband, or your girlfriend, your boyfriend, and one of the dancers comes from their own side.

They are angry because they didn't get dinner, and they had traffic, and the boss yelled at them, okay? Then that other dancer is happy because they told their kids how beautiful they are, okay? Not because they had a good meal, okay?

Those are not the real reason for happiness, right? MTHONG LEN is the real reason for happiness, got it? So, you cannot have a dance between two people.

One of them is coming from themselves, and one of them is coming from their past seeds, okay? You can't have one thing that comes from seeds dancing with another person who didn't come from seeds. It's not possible.

One of them has to be wrong, okay? Got it? If one thing comes from seeds, everything comes from seeds.

If one thing doesn't come from anything except seeds, then everything else is the same. That's the way to cheat if you don't want to spend a lot of time in class. You can say, Geshe-la, I don't have to come to class anymore.

Why? Well, you already proved the looker is not coming from their own side. Everything else is the same.

Everything else is the same. Or they cannot touch each other, or they cannot touch each other. Got it?

If one of them is missing, then the other ones fall down, okay? If the looker is not coming from their own side, then the blue can't come from their own side, then the eye can't come from their own side, then the eye can't come from its own side, then the thinking about the eye can't come from its own side, then the act of seeing cannot come from its own side. Got it?

Because they all depend on each other. They are all piled up like books. They are like two dancers, okay?

If one of the two dancers doesn't come from their own side, then the other one cannot come from their own side, because they're dancing. They have a relationship. If the things are completely different, they can't have a relationship.

Okay? In the kitchen, what does it mean? If the husband is coming from the seeds of what I did with my kids, then the wife who sees the husband has to be coming from seeds also.

Got it? Or else they cannot see each other. They cannot have a relationship.

If one of them exists through Atman, through self-nature, and one of them doesn't, they can't see each other. One of them cannot be. Got it?

So that's it. If you're late in the homeworks, and you have to get to the next class quickly, you don't have to prove the blue is not coming from its own side, and the eye is not coming from its own side, and the awareness of the blue is not coming from its own side, and the awareness of the awareness of the blue is not coming from its own side. You just say, look, it's all the same.

Or else they couldn't be related to each other. Okay? Got it?

You're awful quiet. I'll say it one more time. Okay?

I'll say it one more time. Let's take it to the kitchen. Okay?

It looks like the husband is upset, for the same reason that all men get upset. They didn't eat. Okay?

You know that. Those married people know that. How to shut the husband up, just cook something.

Okay? I go to the kitchen, I'm like this, you know, how you doing brother? I go, what's up?

She says, I know you're hungry, just come back later. It's coming, it's coming. We have a deal, she does most of the cooking, and I do all the dishes.

It's a dependent relationship. So, by the way, if you're having marital problems, the men, the easy way to fix marriage problem, is if the man washes the dishes all the time. Then there's no marriage problems.

Okay? I'm just telling you, the women paid me to say that. Okay, but it's true, it's really, as far as I know it's true.

Okay, so look, if the husband is not upset because he didn't eat, or you know, he got trouble at his job, but he looks upset because I yelled at my kids last week. Okay? And the husband's coming from my seats.

Okay? Then if I can meet the husband in the kitchen, then I must also be coming from seats. Got it?

Once you prove the husband comes from seats, you don't have to talk about where the kitchen came from. Of course it came from seats, or else the husband couldn't stand in it. A husband who didn't come from seats cannot stand in a kitchen which did come from seats.

Got it? Either everybody comes from seats and the kitchen, or nobody comes from seats. So, if you want to prove the kitchen came from seats, just prove the husband came from seats.

Then by the way, you also prove you came from seats, and you prove meeting your husband came from seats. Right? Mind only school.

Got it? You okay? It's too quiet in here.

If one thing in this whole story, blue, awareness of blue, eyeball, me looking at the blue, me looking at me looking at the blue, the looking at the blue, if one of them comes from seats, all of them come from seats. Okay? Then you can just go to the next homework.

Okay. We're moving on to chapter four. If you give me the Sanskrit word for the subject of chapter four, you get $20.

Ten. Now you have to raise your hand. Nine, eight, wait wait wait, raise your hand.

This is the hand, this is raise. Okay, go Luka. Skandha, skandha, okay good, skandha.

Heaps, okay? Heaps of person. The fourth chapter.

Now, we made big progress. How many chapters we have to finish? Six in, six in this session, in these ten days or whatever.

So, we're on to the second chapter. Okay. Third chapter was called, in Sanskrit, you can say indriyas, okay?

The powers. We are investigating the powers. For $20, does the third chapter investigate the powers or not?

For $20, does the third chapter investigate the powers or not? Well, one's okay, yeah, but that's not the answer. Hmm?

Are we investigating the powers? The name of the chapter is, investigating the powers. Are we investigating the powers?

Yes. What are we investigating? The stupid guy.

Did you say stupid guy? No, I didn't say stupid guy. Okay, well she said it for you, you get $20.

Good job. That's why nuns are so good. Yeah, we are investigating the stupid guy.

What does stupid guy say? I forgot. What do you say about the blue and all that?

Huh? It comes from its own sign? Yeah, why?

Buddha taught it. Come on, it's one of the first teachings he ever gave in the Abhidharma. Okay?

If the blue doesn't come from its own sign, then the blue is not real. Then the Buddha's teaching fantasies, you know? Then the Buddha must have been drunk when he taught the powers, okay?

If it's not real, if the blue is not real, the Buddha must have been mistaken. Okay, that's his problem. He said, look, it's fundamental teaching, Abhidharma teaching, okay?

Buddha taught it. If it's not, if the blue is not real, if you say the blue is not real, then the Buddha has the blues. Now, if you say the blue is not real, then the Buddha was wrong, okay?

Is that true statement? It is a true statement. If the Buddha taught about blue and blue isn't real, then the Buddha is mistaken, okay?

Did the Buddha say blue wasn't real? He never said that. He said fake reality.

It's real. You can look at it. You can have a blue card.

It's real, okay? Got it? But it comes from you, right?

Okay? So, his accusation, oh, if you say blue is not real, Buddha is mistaken. We say, no, we never said the blue is not real.

You said it's fake. Yeah, we said it's fake, but how can it be real? It's fake real, okay?

It's not what you thought. Fake means it's not what you thought it was, but it's there. It's still there, okay?

So, we finished that chapter. Now we're going to next chapter. We are going to look at the parts of a person.

Five parts, right? First one, your physical body. By the way, do the five parts of a person include all the stuff in the world?

Yeah, some smart Abhidharma guys say yes. When you say skanda number one, physical skanda, it includes this room, it includes the desert, it includes the mountains, it includes the sky. It's all part of your experience.

You are not just where the skin ends. This room is also part of you, right? So, they say skandas cover everything, okay?

First skanda covers the whole world, okay? Second skanda, your feelings. Third skanda, discriminate between things.

Fourth skanda, everything else. Fifth skanda, your mind, okay? Why didn't they make just three skandas?

Why don't they make mind, body, and other stuff? Why they divide them? Yeah, Khorway Gyur Chir, Rim Gyur Chir, PHUNG PO NAM LA'I TSO BA DANG, DU SHES BLO BZHI'I PHUNG PO ZHAG.

First chapter, Abhidharmakosha. We divide those two mental functions out because they cause all the trouble in the world. This person I like, this person is nice, that person I don't like, this person is not nice, okay?

We divide people on basis of our feelings, okay? That's the cause of all trouble in the world. That's why there's five parts of person instead of three, okay?

Where do we put all the other mental functions like love, or intellect, or jealousy, or contact? Yeah, yeah, put them in pile number four, everything else. Okay, got it?

So if I, now, listen, it's on your homework, okay? If I ever give it to you. So, how many basic kinds of stuff in the five heaps?

Three. Don't let him answer all the questions, okay? Human computer.

Okay, somebody else tell me what the three are. Physical stuff, mental stuff, and all the rest. Yeah, and all the rest.

Okay, now, Nagarjuna is going to the teachings about the five heaps. It feels like because the accountants are bothering him, okay? And don't forget, he's the guy who came after 700 years and kicked the accountants out of the Buddhism room, okay?

Abhidharma died after that. Who wrote the greatest book of Abhidharma? Stanley Vasubandhu.

Vasubandhu. Why did he write it? Now, say the whole story.

Why did Vasubandhu write the Abhidharma course? The greatest book of Abhidharma.

[Speaker 2]
He used to criticize his half-brother, who is Arya Sangha, who is the higher, the Mahayana. And then one day he was sitting in the class taught by his brother, and he realized that Mahayana teaching is the real truth, and he wanted to repent, and he wanted to cut his tongue. But his brother said, no, if you were to come over, the whole teaching will die.

So since you have such a great knowledge of Abhidharma, why don't you write a comprehensive discussion of Abhidharma as part of his repentance, so he doesn't have to cut his tongue. And that's when the Abhidharma course was written. And interestingly, he always pre-starts his sentence with, they say, they say, which means that he doesn't believe in the content itself.

[Speaker 1]
Good explanation. Good explanation. Yeah.

So, but the whole argument of the other guy in chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, is, look, this is the most basic teaching of Buddhism. This is the core foundation of Buddhism. All Buddhism is built on Abhidharma.

So, are you telling me Buddha was wrong? Are you telling me the foundation of all Buddhism was wrong? Okay.

Are you telling me the teaching about the sense powers, the twelve ayatanas, was wrong? Indriya, are you saying that's wrong? We finished that, okay?

Now we're going to the five heaps, okay? And we take the most basic one, okay? What's the most basic one?

It's your physical body, okay? You spend most of your time thinking about your physical body, especially if you're a man, for two reasons, okay? And we live in our physical body.

We're very attached to our physical body, okay? So, if that's not real, nothing is real, okay? If the physical body is not real, then nothing is real.

So, the guy comes back, the accountant comes back, he says, okay, I get this thing about your eyeball and the blue, I got that. I understand that, but what about your physical body, you know? That's so fundamental.

If it's not real, there's problems. And here's the cool part, okay? Listen, chapter four, what the other guy says is, he's not arguing about physical body, okay?

He's arguing about what created your physical body, okay? Got it? There's a difference.

He's not arguing about your physical body. He wants to argue about what created your physical body, okay? What creates your physical body, okay?

And in Buddhism, in Abhidharma, what composes your body, similar to science, is the elements, okay? You can sometimes say the four elements, SA CHU ME RLUNG, or you can say the five elements, SA CHU ME RLUNG RNAMS SKA, you can add RNAMS SHES, okay? But we're talking about the four elements, okay?

The four elements. In Sanskrit they are called bhuta. Say bhuta.

Yeah, bhuta, okay? Sometimes they're called Mahabhuta, okay? The big bhutas, okay?

Got it? So, bhuta means element, like earth, water, fire, and wind, okay? And again, I say it many times, but you know, in Western science, in the Middle Ages, they believe in the elements, fire, and all doctors study the elements, and then they burn you, or they take your blood out and kill you, you know?

They didn't understand them, but they call them the four elements, okay? It comes from Aristotle I guess, something like that. But in Buddhism, the idea of the four elements is very sophisticated, okay?

It's very similar to quantum physics, okay? There are basic energies in the universe that create physical matter, okay? There are powers underneath ...

by the way, there's your Sanskrit word. That's cute. Who did that?

Mr. Tim. How he has time to do these things, I don't know. That's your second Sanskrit word for today.

Say bhuta. The meaning is element, okay? One of the four elements, in this case.

It comes from a root called bhū, bhū. By the way, that slash in Sanskrit means this is a root, a verbal root. There are 800 roots of Sanskrit.

If you memorize them, you know Sanskrit. I used to memorize them on the bus to New York, okay? Sanskrit is so predictable that a computer can generate the forms of Sanskrit.

If you teach the rules to a computer, it's called generative grammar, it will create Sanskrit language. Sanskrit language is perfect. You can teach a computer the rules, and from any root it can create the rest of the words.

So, if you learn them, the roots, you can understand any Sanskrit without knowing the word, okay? So, bhū is to be, and it comes in the English word to be, and to build, and physics, okay? PH often comes from BH.

It's a Greek, the Greek PH, like photon or photography. That's why they are spelled with PH. They come from the BH, okay?

So, physics comes from bhū, okay? So, bhūta means the elements, okay? Now, chapter four is called an investigation of the parts of a person, the skanda, the parts of a person.

But we're going to focus on the first part of a person, and then we're going to cheat using the dance analogy. What's that mean? Yeah, if the first heap is dancing with the other four heaps, and if the first heap doesn't come from its own side, then the other heaps cannot come from their own side, because they are dancing together.

They are inside of you. You have five heaps. I don't have to prove all five of them are empty, I just have to prove one of them is empty, and then the rest, if they're connected, they all have to be empty.

Ganan, okay? That's a way to not spend ten years on Nagarjuna, okay? Just prove that the most basic one is coming from your seeds, and then the rest must be coming from your seeds, because they interact.

Your mind is on your body. What proves it? Ulcers and beer, for $50.

Ten, nine, eight, you shut up, seven, six, five, four, I love the yoga teacher who goes, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Stress and getting drunk. Wait, wait, who was that?

$50, come on, you have my bank account. No, I don't expect any money, I just thought somebody should say it. You can take the money honey.

Wait, but what did you say? I said stress and getting drunk. Good.

Stress, ulcers, and getting drunk proves the body and mind are connected. Stress and ulcers and getting drunk proves, in Buddhism, proves that the body and the mind are connected, okay? If you work in a very stressful environment, you get ulcers, you get heart attack.

That proves that the mind affects the body. Okay, then the opposite? Yeah, if you put alcohol in the body, the mind gets even more stupid.

Okay, what's the word in Buddhism for alcohol? GNOD BYAS. Say GNOD BYAS, crazy maker, make you crazy, okay?

If you can get drunk, if your mind can get stupid by putting some liquid in your body, then the body and the mind must be connected. If you can get a heart attack from too much stress, I looked up, Veronica's grandfather was the first Hispanic congressperson in the United States, from New Mexico, and he won six times Congress, and then the last time, his name is Antonio Fernandez, and he won his seventh re-election? Sixth re-election, and he died the next day.

They swear him to be the congressman, he died the next day, because so much stress from, what do you call it, campaigning. Understand? So, stress must affect your body, okay?

That means they're connected. That means if we want to prove every part of you is empty, we just have to prove your body is empty, and that's where we're going in this chapter. Okay, got it?

We're going to the first skanda, because it's the easiest one, okay? It's the one that's in front of you all the time. Okay, alright, here we go.

Yeah, so again, we're just going for the biggest one. If we can prove that's empty, if we can prove that's coming from seeds, then because it has a relationship with the other ones, because if you get drunk or you get stressed, then the others must be empty also, okay? Alright.

Now, what are we investigating about this? Okay, and the other guy says, okay, and it's Abhidharma. This is basic Abhidharma, okay?

Basic Abhidharma. All physical matter is two parts. All physical matter has two parts.

Number one, there's the underlying energies, quantum physics. There's energies, gravitational force, electrical force, weak force, strong force, electrons, protons, quarks, charm. There's energies that are keeping your body together.

They create the cells, they create the molecules, and then they create the big body. You see what I mean? So, Buddhism says, quantum physics says, there are fundamental energies under your body that are holding up the body.

They create the body. Okay, got it? All cells are made of molecules.

All molecules are made of atoms. All atoms are made of basic energies, fundamental energies, okay? So, Buddhism says the same thing, okay?

You have four fundamental energies in your body. SA CHU ME RLUNG. Say?

SA CHU ME RLUNG. I was going to give you the four for your Sanskrit words, but it was too many. What Geshe-la usually does is say, he says he's going to teach you three Sanskrit words every day, and then he gives you ten.

So, I actually erased them, but if you want to know, the name for earth, water, fire, and wind, okay? In Sanskrit. PUR THI BZHI.

PUR THI BZHI is earth. PUR THI BZHI. P-I-R-T-H-I-V-I.

It's not on your homework. It's just for your knowledge, okay? P-I-R-T-H-I-V-I.

PUR THI BZHI. Okay, that's earth. CHU is up.

A-P. Up, yeah. Just A-P, okay?

The water element is called up, up, up, up, DATO, because the P changes to B, okay? Up. So, up means water.

MED, when you're talking about the elements, fire is TE RJAS, okay? TE RJAS. T-E-J-A-S.

Then the usual word for fire is AGNI, but when you're talking about the four elements, it's TE RJAS. Wind, you know from yoga? VAYU, okay?

VAYU. VAYU, okay? So, those are the four elements.

Now, to understand the Garjuna, we have to do some Abhidharma. I'm sorry. To beat the accountants, we have to know what the accountants believe, okay?

Got it? So, let's talk about what are these four elements, okay? I say they are very sophisticated understandings of basic energies of all physical existence, okay?

Earth, okay? Its function is SA BA. Say SA BA.

How do you want to call that? Concrete, okay? The energy called earth is what gives objects solidity, okay?

It's the energy of solidity, okay? It, what do you call it? It brings things together.

The function, earth is not dirt, okay? Earth is an energy which congeals things together. You can say it's like gravity.

It's like the force of gravity, okay? It tends to, what do you call it? State of, what do you call that?

When the universe will reach a state of, all particles will be equally distant from each other in time. Entropy, okay? And the opposite of that is, which brings things together to make planets, to make noses, to make computers, it's called earth, okay?

Got it? That's the energy called earth. It's not little particles of dirt that you sprinkle into your body, it's not that, okay?

It's not vitamins that you eat or something like that, it's not that, okay? CHU, water, okay? LEN CING ZHER BA.

What is that? Yeah, it's the wet thing and it flows, okay? It's fluidity, the principle of fluidity.

Things flow, okay? Opposite of entropy again. Things don't just stay in one place, things tend to flow, okay?

Things tend to flow. And they have a wetness, okay? Now, interesting thing, when you talk about temperature, which is our next one, let's go there, okay?

DES BYAS, ZAC CHUNG MED, fire, okay? Fire, which means temperature. In Western physics, do all things have a temperature?

Do they have some warmth? Yeah, everything has some warmth. Absolute zero, 253 minus, I don't know, centigrade.

Everything has some warmth. Ice has some warmth, okay? Because you can make ice colder.

You can have colder ice, okay? So, there's some warmth. Now listen, according to Abhidharma, which is true, all four energies are found in all objects.

All four energies exist in all physical objects. The table has more earth energy than wind energy, okay? The wind energy is the, what do you call it?

It's called YANG CING YOD, that's the entropy force. It tears things apart, it tends to break things apart, it tends to be movement out from the center, okay? All things have it.

In the table, the earth element is stronger than the wind element, got it? But in time, the wind element will take over the earth element, and this table will fall down, okay? Got it?

And medicine, ancient Indian medicine, Chinese medicine, all based on these elements, okay? Too much water element, you die of pneumonia. Too much fire element, you die of a fever.

Balance is crucial in medical theory of India and in China, okay? So, these are the four elements, okay? All objects have them, okay?

The green drink is flowing into my mouth because it has a lot of water element, but it also has fire element because it's not ice, and it also has wind element, if you pour it out it will spread, it will flow water, okay? So, different things have different elements. Why are we talking about that?

The first skandha is your body, okay? It's your skin, bones, meat, but underneath them is the four elements are holding them up, okay? The four elements came first, and then they created your skin, and they created your bones.

The bones have more earth element than the skin, okay? As you get older, the skin becomes more like the bones, okay? They change, they tend to change, okay?

So, the most fundamental cause and effect in all of Buddhism is that the four energies, the four elements create your body, okay? The most unquestionable cause and effect in all of Buddhism, hundreds of thousands of books in Mongolia, just Mongolia, okay? But the most fundamental cause and effect is something made your body, okay?

Four energies made your body, okay? The energies were the cause, and the result was your body, okay? So, all physical objects in Buddhism, according to the Abhidharma, and accepted by all schools, is that the four energies are below all physical matter, and then they are creating what we call products of the elements.

So, there's the elements, and there's the products of the elements, got it? Four energies, and then four products of the four energies, oh sorry, many products, I mean eleven, nine, or four, seven also, okay? Anyway, things that you're, oh, it's a VI, per tivi, VI, yeah, the rest are good.

Okay, change the B to V, per tivi. Which one? No, it's PIR, it's the vocalic R, per, I just use IR for pronunciation, okay?

PIR, per tivi. Okay, good. That's not on your homework, that's just for free.

Okay, so here's a question, here we go. What's the most basic? Okay, forget Sugeng, forget Bucharest, okay?

Don't go to the VIP teaching about the twelve links, it's too much, cause and effect. It's too complicated, okay? I'm just kidding, right?

There's a more fundamental cause and effect, and it's the body you are walking around in. That's the effect. What's the cause?

The four energies, the four elements, okay? Got it? You can't find a more obvious connection than the four elements and your body, and if that connection is not natural, then the Buddha was a liar.

If that connection is not atman, real nature, then everything is false, everything is wrong. If your body doesn't come from stuff, then nothing causes anything, okay? Then the Buddha is a total liar.

Got it? He's trying to, the other guy is trying to think, what's the most basic kind of cause and effect in the universe, you know? Oh, it's your own body, come on, it comes from chemicals, okay?

What's the proof of chemicals? You're, duh, you're sitting in it, okay? Where's the proof of chemicals?

You're sitting in it, okay? The guy is trying to say, there are some things in the world which are natural, they are not coming from karma, they're not coming from seeds, they're out there, they're real, they're strong. You know, I didn't make this with seeds, come on, it's too hard.

It was made by those four energies, and that relationship is natural. No one made it. Einstein didn't come and create cause and effect, it was there already, okay?

Got it? Nobody made cause and effect, right? Wrong, okay?

If it exists, you made it. Got it? Okay, so, got it?

We're treating the five parts of a person, five skandhas, pancha skandha, and we're talking about the first one, because it's so, you sit in it all day, come on, and we're saying, what are we saying about it? What's the other guy come in the beginning of the fourth chapter, what does he say? What does he say?

What does the accountant say? Who are we investigating? He's like, come on Nagarjuna, this is natural, nobody made this.

What are you talking about seeds and karma? Buddha taught that, this is coming from my elements, this has chemicals, you idiot. Okay, now the other guy's in.

Now, you ready? You want to go deeper? I'm just setting you up.

By the way, that finishes the second homework. Yay! Let's go to the third homework.

Where's that third homework? You knew I was going to get there. Nagarjuna, how are you doing on time?

How much time I have? 10.30? Okay, 10 more minutes, 10 pp, okay?

I promise. You can even put the cause into the effect. Drink something, drink something, now drink something, okay?

You have to think, okay? Drink, always bring something to drink. Water element.

So, we finally reached the fourth chapter, we have someone to investigate, okay? We have a criminal thinker, okay? What does the criminal thinker say?

Nagarjuna, some relationships are natural, no one made them, they didn't come from seeds, they exist from the other side. Maybe the husband is coming from me, but the kitchen is not, and my own hand is not. Okay?

My own hand is not coming from me, come on. I understand that the yelling of the husband was created by yelling at my kids, I can handle that, but my hand comes from chemicals, okay? It doesn't come from me.

What, I gave people hands or something? That's the other guy, okay? This Abhidharma guy.

Do they have emptiness in Abhidharma? For word, hundred dollar question. Five, four, three, where?

Two, one. Damn! Hundred dollar something.

Damn. Only one place in Abhidharma there's a small small emptiness, okay? It's not even a real emptiness.

In the four higher truths, okay? Sixteen aspects. He studied it a couple weeks ago, but I thought he would forget.

You're an expensive friend. Okay, all right, now the guy's being investigated, who said, look, I understand my husband yelling comes from me, but my hand, come on, that comes from chemicals. We can say chemicals, right?

We don't have to say four elements. You can say chemicals, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, you know. In the West, we don't say four, we don't say fire, wind, we say chemicals.

My body comes from, you know, I have to eat more, I don't know, protein. My doctor told me I have to eat more protein. I need more of the iron element.

We call, we have elements, we just call them the periodic chart of the elements, right? 113 now, it's 220, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, good stuff like that, okay? We have the same belief, okay?

I understand my husband's yelling in the kitchen comes from me yelling at my kids. I can take that, but my hand comes from chemicals, elements, carbon, iron, oxygen, okay? It's not a figment of my imagination.

Nagarjuna, it's too solid. Yelling is one thing, you know. I understand that's empty.

His mother comes in, she finds the yelling very appropriate and beautiful, okay? Right? I understand the emptiness of my husband yelling.

His mom thinks he's right, I think he's wrong. That's emptiness, I understand. But come on, hand?

Hand is real, hand is real. Hand is made by chemicals, okay? You eat too much iron, the hand will fall apart.

You don't eat enough iron, the hand will fall apart. There must be some connection, okay? Alright, now what's our answer?

We have three answers, okay? This is your first homework question. Just repeat it.

Be like an American college student, just repeat it. If you don't understand it, it's okay. Okay, here's Nagarjuna's three answers, and then we're going to spend your post PP break explaining some of them, okay?

Here are Nagarjuna's answers in the fourth chapter, okay? The guy came and said, look, I understand about the husband, that's okay, but my hand is real, and there's a cause and effect here. If I don't eat enough protein, my bones will get weak, I can't do yoga.

Who's teaching yoga today? Do I have to run over? Is she tough?

Don't ask her boyfriend. Okay, okay, maybe I won't go into your time if you help me out here, you understand? I'm kidding.

You teach any class you want. The student, when you're a student you have to shut up and do what the teacher says, okay? Even if you're a teacher.

Okay, three answers by Nagarjuna. I'm just going to tell you the short names, that's the answer to the first homework question. Just the short names.

I don't want an explanation. I just want the short names, okay? First short name.

Causes and effects which are really separate from each other. They are not the same thing. The cup and the glass are separate, okay?

Cause and effect which is separate. That's the first argument. The name of the first argument by Nagarjuna to the person who wants to talk about their hand is, look, the cause and the effect are separate.

Really separate. Really. You have to say really, okay?

If you don't put really in the homework, you got it wrong. Really separate. This is the four energies, right?

And this is my hand, okay? And this is the cause, and this is the effect, okay? And this one makes this one, okay?

But they are separate, obviously, okay? Your hand is not your nitrogen, okay? The nitrogen makes the hand.

The carbon makes the hand. Okay, got it? There's the elements and the products of the elements.

Cause and effect. The most basic cause and effect in the universe. You walk around in it all day, okay?

It must be pretty cause and effecty. Got it? Okay?

So, one thing we can say, Nagarjuna, okay? Ready? Here's Nagarjuna.

Oh yeah? Is there a cause? Yeah!

There's the four elements. This is the Abhidharma guy, okay? He always talks like a nerd.

Is there a cause here? That's Nagarjuna. Yeah, there's the elements.

Yeah? Is there a result here? Yeah, there's my hand, okay?

Are they the same thing or are they separate? Well, come on, they got to be separate, okay? Got it?

Are they really separate? Of course. If they're not really separate, then they're really one and they're just, my hand becomes nitrogen, and then it flows away.

Got it? Okay? Got it?

Alright? That's the first argument. Nagarjuna's question is, he's investigating, right?

The police tied the guy to the chair, and he says, you think that the elements are separate from the hand? And the guy says, uh-huh, they're really separate, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Okay?

Got it? That's the first argument. Second argument.

Ready? Okay, you're the guy in the chair, okay? I'm the police.

Who's the police? Nagarjuna. This is the cause, right?

These are the elements, and this is your hand, okay? Ready? Do they exist or not?

I'm talking both, or either, it doesn't matter. Do the elements exist or not? Yeah, yeah, they exist, they really exist.

Does the hand exist or not? Yeah, yeah. So, the cause exists?

Yeah. Does the result exist? Yeah.

Really? Yeah. Alright?

So, the second one is called causes and effects which exist or don't exist, and somehow that's wrong. Okay? It's an accusation of the police.

You're a sick man, you're a criminal, you're a bad man. Why? You believe the cause exists or not exists, and you believe the result exists or not exists.

Oh ho ho, you are so bad. Okay? If you are looking at me like I'm crazy, you understand.

If it seems normal, you are wrong. I'll say it again, okay? Nagarjuna ties the guy to a chair.

Nagarjuna has his police hat on, and probably a badge, Dharma badge, and then he asks the guy, so you believe your hand was created by the elements? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Chemicals.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Do those chemicals exist or not exist? It's a question, okay?

Do they exist or do they not exist? Is either one true? Is either one true?

I'll say it again. Nagarjuna says about the elements, do they exist in your body or do they not exist in your body? Either answer you give is wrong.

And your hand, is it there or is it not there? Either answer the criminal gives is wrong. How to write the question on the homework, Geshe-la, just tell me.

Causes and effects, causes and effects which exist or which don't exist. Both are wrong. Both are wrong, okay?

Nagarjuna says both are wrong. Okay, here we go again. This is what you're going to write on your homework, whether you understand it or not.

Causes and effects which either exist or don't exist. They're both wrong. Both are wrong, okay?

Got it? Is there anything else besides exist and not exist? Is it possible to...

the coffee is better than the green drink, I'm just telling you. Okay, now third question, it's important. Why?

If we finish it you'll get to pee-pee. Here's the third question, asked by the police, okay, to this guy. Oh, so you believe those elements cause the hand, right?

Uh-huh, yeah, we said that many times. Buddha said that in the first teachings, Buddha said that. Okay, so let me ask you something.

Is the cause similar to the result or not? Are the elements similar to the hand or not, okay? Are they similar or not?

And Nagarjuna, what's Nagarjuna saying? What's the police say? If you say yes, you're wrong, and if you say no, you're also wrong.

It's just like a discussion with your wife. Okay, take a break. I'll say the third one again.

Causes and effects which are similar or not similar. You're wrong both ways, you're wrong. It's the perfect police question.

No matter what answer you give, you go to jail. Okay, take a break. Don't What's the cognate for up?

For water? Oh yeah, yeah, aqua, aqua. Hello, here we go.

Okay, so we're going to have three arguments against nitrogen and hen, or carbon, carbon and hen, okay? Here's the first argument. Are they separate or not?

Are they separate or not? What do you think? Is a seed separate from the tree?

I mean, what do you think? What comes in your mind? I don't know.

Is the seed separate from the tree? Feels like that. I mean, you go to a store to buy seeds, you don't buy trees, right?

And they put the seeds in a package, and you plant the seed, and then a separate tree comes out, right? I mean, I don't know. When you buy a pack of seeds, you don't buy a pack of trees, right?

They're separate. I think so. Aren't they separate?

Ah, oh man, you're not... now you became the police. Yeah, Luka says you create the connection between the seed and the tree.

Okay, here's Nagarjuna, and each of these three arguments, he's going to go both ways, he's going to go both ways, okay? Which means, if the seed is separate from the tree, there's this problem, and then looking at it from the tree's side, if the tree is separate from the seed, okay? So, he goes both ways.

Is this seed separate from the tree? And is the tree separate from the seed? Okay?

So, in these three arguments, he's going to go both ways, okay? He's going to look at it from the cause side, and then he's going to look at it from the tree side. What is the cause in this case?

The four elements, yeah, the four elements, and then your hand. Let's say hand is easy, okay? Your body, okay?

Then it's very short, the homework answer is very short. Yay! And I'll just read it to you, okay?

But try to change a few words. This is a DCI problem. In the SDIM, right?

People paste and copy. Okay, if a result were truly, okay? I want to see the word truly in there.

I want to see the word truly in there, okay? It means self-existently. It means from its own side, you can say, really?

Really? I'm going to pay you back next week. Really?

Okay, don't worry word, I'm going to give you all the money I owe you next week. Really? Really?

So, when you're the criminal, you have to keep repeating, really? Yeah, they are really separate. They are really separate, okay?

That means there's a difference between what and what? There's a difference between separate and really separate, okay? Got it?

Okay? There's a difference between separate and really separate, okay? Is the husband yelling?

Is he really yelling? No. Okay, got it?

Okay, so if you're going to be a good criminal in this courthouse called wisdom, you have to keep saying really, okay? Then you pass your homework, okay? If the result were really separate from the cause, it could exist without the cause.

If the tree is really separate from the seed, then the tree doesn't need the seed, because it exists separate, okay? If the seed and the tree never touch, okay? If they are separate things, if they never melt into each other anywhere, anytime, then the tree doesn't need the seed, okay?

Because they're separate, okay? It already exists on its own, okay? Separate means on its own, right?

So, what were you thinking? You were thinking the edge of the seed melts into the edge of the tree? What were you thinking?

When you said they're not separate or separate, you're thinking, you know this kind of people who are born the twins and they are connected, what do you call? Siamese twin. They are connected by the shoulder.

Is the tree and the seed like that? Or are they separate? Is it twins or is it Siamese twin?

Yeah, somebody said yeah. Correct me. Because if it's twins, one twin can die in the womb and the other one will survive, okay?

It happened to one of our students, okay? They had twins in the womb and one of them passed away. So, they must be separate, otherwise the second twin will die also, right?

Okay. So, if the tree, if the hand is really separate from those energies, then the hand can exist without those energies, okay? Got it?

Okay, now let's go the other way, okay? If the seed is separate from the tree, then it doesn't have to give a tree to be a seed. I'll say it again.

If the seed is really separate from the tree, then the seed doesn't have to give a tree to be called a seed. Seed means it has to give something, right? Cause.

You can say cause. If the cause is separate from the result, then the cause can be a cause without doing anything. Got it?

Okay, if they are separate. So Geshe-la, okay, I believe what you say. If the tree is separate from the seed, then the tree can grow without the seed, and if the seed is separate from the tree, then the seed could be a seed without ever giving any result.

It would be a cause without ever giving a result, if the tree and the seed are not connected, okay? If they are separate. Okay, got it?

You okay? And the only other choice is some kind of Siamese twin thing, you know, or the end, the last moment of the seed is connected to the first moment of the tree. Something like that.

Then is it a seed or a tree? You know, that gets complicated. Okay, got it?

Now, in the first argument, and this is hard stuff, okay? If you don't understand, don't worry. I also didn't understand yesterday.

With the other two arguments, he's going to say you are wrong no matter what answer you give. He's interrogating, he's, what do you call it? Investigating the criminal.

Did you steal the money? If the guy says yes, he's going to put him in jail. If the guy says no, he's still going to put him in jail, okay?

This is Nagarjuna's system. Okay? He doesn't do that with the first argument.

He does not do that with the first argument. He doesn't talk about what if they are not separate. He doesn't talk about what if they are not separate.

With the other two arguments, he says either answer you give, you are wrong. You say yes, you're wrong. You say no, you're wrong.

It's just like a conversation with your husband or your wife. Got it? But in this one, the guy says, Nagarjuna says are they separate or not?

The guy says they are. Then he says impossible. Okay?

He doesn't give the guy a chance to say they are not separate. Okay? But in the other two he does.

Alright? You okay? You still with me?

Okay, don't be a criminal here. Wow, we're making good progress. Okay.

Now, Nagarjuna says, let me get this straight myself. Yeah, okay. Does the result exist or not?

You're the criminal. You look like a criminal. Just kidding.

I'm the police. Okay? Like, does the result exist or not?

Does the tree exist or not? Well, then you don't need a cause. Sorry, you're right.

Does the tree really exist or not? Yes or no? Come on, you guys got to agree among yourself.

Vivien said yes. Then you don't need a seed. Why you need a seed?

Does the tree exist? Okay? Got it?

Okay, really? Okay. By the way, who got in trouble for saying really?

Baba Viveka. That's another story. Okay.

Yeah. Okay, if the tree is there, then the seed can't do anything for it, and then the seed is not a seed. Okay?

If the tree is not there, then you don't need a seed. You don't have to talk about a seed. There's no reason to talk about a seed.

For what? Nothing. Okay?

Got it? If the seed's, if the tree's there, you don't need a seed, because he's already redundant. Nobody needs him anymore.

There's already a tree. We don't have to respect the seed. The tree's already there.

You go away. We don't need you anymore. Okay?

If the tree's not there, now understand, okay? This is the seed, this is the tree. Okay?

So, if the tree's there, you don't need a seed, because the seed is supposed to make the tree come, but it's too late. Now, if the tree is not there, he doesn't have anything to do. So, you don't need him again.

Okay? Got it? There's nothing, he has no work to do, because there's no tree.

Okay? Now, sometimes they will add the word, does the tree exist at the time of the seed? Does the tree exist at the time of the seed?

Okay? If it, now listen, try to understand. Nagarjuna, what's he saying?

Just before he arrested the guy, what did he say? Something's going on. Something's going on.

Something doesn't make sense. You know, he's like, just when you think of Nagarjuna, don't think of this, you know, Arya. Think of this guy like, it don't make sense.

Something weird going on. What's that? If the, listen, okay, the seed has to affect the result, right?

There's got to be some contact. Like when you play pool billiards, like the first ball has to hit the second ball, there has to be a clunk, and then the second ball goes, okay? So, the seed has to make contact with the tree.

Has to, or nothing's going to happen. That means the tree has to be there at the same time when the seed is still there. Otherwise, the banana which is rotting in your refrigerator in Guangzhou right now, also create the tree.

If they don't have to be in the same place and make a connection, if they don't have to touch each other, then, I don't know, Donald Trump's hair is the cause for the tree. Because they don't have to touch. They don't have to be in the same place.

Got it? Then anything can be the cause of the tree, you know? When you blow your nose, the trees will grow.

Okay? If they don't have to be in the same place, then everything cause the tree. Got it?

If one thing can cause a tree without being in the same place at the same time, then everything cause the tree. Got it? If one thing that's not there can make the tree grow, then why can't everything that's not there can make the tree grow?

What's the difference? Okay? If the seed doesn't have to be around when the tree grows, then everything else in the world can make a tree grow too.

What's the difference? If one thing that's not here can make a tree grow, then everything else that's not here can make a tree grow. Okay?

The goal of this class, either you fall asleep, or you're going out like, damn, what's going on? I always thought seeds made trees, but it just doesn't make sense. Something's wrong.

Okay? You just didn't think about it before. It's not possible for a seed to make a tree.

It's also not possible for your husband to make you angry. If it's not possible for a seed to make a tree, then it's not possible for your husband to make you upset. It's just cause and effect.

They have to touch. Somewhere they have to touch, right? They have to touch, right?

Unless you're the kind of person who's upset about everything. I guess that's possible. Okay, got it?

Listen, let's make it easy. If they're not both there at the same time, they cannot affect each other. One ball cannot hit the other ball, okay?

If they are both there at the same time, there's no cause and effect. It's just, it's so basic it's hard to imagine. Okay, I'll say it again.

Two balls cannot hit each other if they're not there at the same time. But if the first ball is creating the second ball, then by definition the second ball cannot be there at the same time as the first ball. Cause and effect is not possible.

There's something, yeah, Alex has got it. Look, he's like, man what's going on? By the time the tree grows, the seed has to be gone, but the tree can't grow unless the seed touches it.

But the seed can't be there if the tree's there, and if the seed's there, the tree can't be there yet. They have to touch each other. Okay?

You should have a headache by now. No, it shouldn't irritate. You should feel uncomfortable.

If you feel uncomfortable, you're on the right track. Or if you're just uncomfortable because your butt hurts, that's a different thing. Okay?

Okay, got it? Alright, alright. I'm not gonna say more about that because I only have five more minutes.

Okay. His next argument is...okay, what was that one? What was that about?

Are they separate or not? Are they...yeah, the first one was are they separate or not? But they both have to be there to be separate.

Second question, yeah, are they similar or not? Okay? Does the cause resemble the result?

Okay? This is the second argument, right? Oh sorry, you're right, you're right.

Okay, I'm confused. Okay, are they similar or not similar? Here's the argument.

The definition of the four elements is hard, or wet, or moving, or temperature. Those are the four energies. Okay?

Those are the four energies. Does your eyeball have them? Yeah, it's physical.

Okay, now, okay, I'm gonna take a little detour. You need to learn some Abhidharma. Okay, we're gonna do a small Abhidharma class.

Okay, this is what Abhidharma says. All physical things are either the elements or something they have created. All physical things are either the four elements or something they have created.

Got it? And your eyeball is an example. Okay?

Your eyeball, the cells in the back of the eye are old friends. The power, the indriya, right? Is created by the four elements.

Okay? So, here's something interesting in the Abhidharma system. Okay?

Just like in the West, stuff is made of molecules. Okay? Your face, your hand, your foot, your nose, it's made of molecules.

The cells are made of molecules. The molecules are made of atoms. Okay?

And in a typical atom, I know I didn't do this since high school, grade school, there should be some protons, there should be some neutrons, there should be electrons. There's got to be smaller things in the atom, and they make the atom. And then you put atoms together in different shells, and you get elements.

Okay? And different shells make them work different ways. Same number of atoms, protons, neutrons, but in different shells, then the thing will work a different way.

Okay? In the Abhidharma, okay, and we won't have time to go into number three, but you need some background. And I have two more minutes to give the background, right Tim?

Two more minutes. Or I can cut into yoga class. $50!

If you give me, I will delay the yoga class. No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I don't want to do that.

According to Abhidharma, all molecules have eight atoms. Okay? According to Abhidharma, all molecules have eight atoms.

Okay? Four of them are the four elements. They got to have one, at least one earth element atom, they got to have one water element atom, they got to have one fire element atom, and they got to have one wind element atom.

Got it? That's easy. It's like proton, neutron, electron.

Okay? Or atoms, different atoms. H2O.

Two hydrogen atoms for one oxygen atom. Okay? In each molecule of water.

Okay? Same in Abhidharma. I said eight, right?

Then it must have GZUGS PHYI ROL REG BYA. Say GZUGS PHYI ROL REG BYA. There's got to be some physical, sorry, there's got to see something, there's got to be a visible atom.

There has to be an atom of visibility, can be seen, something which can be seen. Okay? How many atoms we got?

Five. Yeah, four elements, and now we got can be seen. Okay?

Now let's go down the body. Can be, there has to be one atom that's something, hearableness, has to be in there. It has to be in there, or you can't observe it.

Okay? GZUGS, did I say hearable? Cancel that one.

In the Abhidharma, we cancel that one. Okay? First atom, atom number five, something you can see.

The Abhidharma doesn't allow atoms of hearable things. Okay? Why?

They so sudden, you know, pop, beep, gup, klak. They just, they just come and go like that. They don't stay.

So, they say atoms don't have that. Atoms don't, don't, exception, exception, beep, gup, klak, pop, pop. It's just so fast.

You can't put it in an atom, a molecule. Sorry, molecules cannot have sound atoms, because beep, it just goes and goes. It cannot stay.

You can't make a chair out of sound atoms. It will fall down and boop. That's, okay, don't blame me, this is Abhidharma.

Talk to Vassa, Stanley Bandhu. Okay, so, fifth atom, something you can see. Sixth atom, something, go down, go down, something you can smell.

There should be a smellability, and then there should be a tasteability, and there should be a touchability. Okay, let's leave it at that. Then I have to teach you more about it, okay?

This is Abhidharma. This is Abhidharma. Every molecule of every thing, physical thing, must have eight atoms.

Four elements, and four of the five senses, because sound is too unsteady to make things. Okay, got it? Are you asking a question, or you're going to throw something at me?

Okay, all right, let's stop there. My goal is to confuse you every class. By the way, the Abhidharma guys are not stupid.

We are making fun of them, but they're not stupid. They are extremely sophisticated. So, think about it today, you know?

Think about a molecule. Think about an Abhidharma molecule. Why does it have to have solidity, wetness, temperature, and motion?

And why does it have to have something about it you can see, something you can smell, taste, or feel? And that's physical reality. That's their definition of physical reality.

I could say the last four are, it must be observable by a human being, by a living being. Okay? The molecule must be perceivable by the senses of a living being, and then it's physical.

Got it? That's a little cooler. That's more cool.

That's not so stupid, right? There's got to be something smellable to be detected by the nose. There has to be something tasteable to be detected.

There must be something in the atoms of food that tastes sweet or something. There must be. Okay?

That's their idea. Okay? Now, last thing, Mr. Ultima Cosa. I always say Cosa. Ultima Cosa. In Mexico they call me Mr. Last Thing. All physical things according to the Abhidharma must have molecules with those eight atoms. All physical things. Now, I'll leave you with a question.

When you take a vow, which we're going to take some heavy vows this week. We're going to make some full nuns, which is very unusual. I do it like every ten years or something.

According to the Abhidharma, what happens? You get a halo. The nun, when I snap my finger in the vow, now is it the beginning of the finger snap?

And is it separate from the... any. Then a cosmic picture is taken, and they get a halo.

They get this physical halo. If you're a Buddha you can see it. If you're not a Buddha, you know, you can't tell if the person's a monk or nun if they don't have their clothes on and they didn't get burned on their head, okay?

But, which was a smart idea. But, otherwise you can't tell. But if you're a Buddha, you can say, oh she's a nun.

Yeah. How do you know if she's got a miniskirt on? She got a halo, I can see the halo.

Is it physical? It is physical. According to Abhidharma it's physical.

Yeah, non-communicating form. Does it have those molecules? That's one question, okay?

Now, the other question. Then I'm going to stop. How many of those eight atoms in the molecule are elements, and how many are products of elements?

Four and four. Four and four, okay? So, according to Abhidharma, all physical things are made of molecules, and every single molecule has causes and results in it.

Every single molecule, eight atoms, there's four atoms of the causes, and there's four atoms of products of the causes, okay? So, I'm not just saying your skanda, your rupa, now you know Sanskrit. I'm not just saying your physical body has the elements, and it's a creation of the elements.

I'm saying every single molecule in your body has both, according to Buddha. So, don't tell me they're separate or they're not separate. I don't care.

Buddha said every molecule of your body has both, got it? We're not talking in general, your body, your nose was made by the four elements, we're not talking about that. Every molecule in every cell in your body has both.

Nagarjuna, if you say they don't exist, you are crazy. You are really crazy, okay? And trust me, he was, he got a lot of massages in his life, you understand?

He got a lot of criticism. If you think you get criticized, you should be Nagarjuna. He got criticized, okay?

Still criticized. All right, Brian, let's go. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so