Нагарджуна, курс 2 — Мудрость Арьи Нагарджуны, курс 2: Исследование величайшей мудрости древнего мудреца (2019, Аризона), занятие 3

[Speaker 1]
Alright, someone asked me a question on paper, which was a very good way to ask, and they said, if I want to collect seeds to see emptiness directly, could I meditate? And in my meditation I imagine I am teaching the pen or the two husbands in the kitchen to people. That's great, that's fantastic, yeah.

Anything you daydream about, like when you're in high school and you want to ask a girl out, first you meditate about it, right? Then over and over and over, and finally it pushes you to ask, okay? So if you meditate about teaching pen or two husbands, that's great, yeah.

You can make seeds, powerful seeds, because you are close to the source of karma, which is inside of the mind. So maybe it's more powerful than teaching it outside, because mental karma is more powerful. Alright, we're going to do some more Nagarjuna.

When you get, in these two days when you're meditating in your room, don't be lazy, okay? Do the meditation. Maybe I will check through the window.

I do it, okay? I walk around. I don't look through the window, but I do walk around and check that people are in their cabins and stuff.

Be a tough guy, okay? It's going to hurt, it hurts sometimes, okay? When do you make progress in yoga?

It's when you are shaving. People, I don't know, I always feel embarrassed when I'm shaking in the yoga. There's one pose, what do you call that?

Side plank? What do you call it? Vajrasthasana.

I always shake, especially if I had three coffees before. And then I feel embarrassed, you know? Oh, people are going to see the teacher is shaking.

But that's when you make your progress, is when you're shaking. When your legs hurt, and your mind is tired, and your back is not so good, and you're hungry, and you would rather watch a cat video. When it hurts a little bit, that's when you make progress, okay?

And in yoga also. So, don't avoid it. Don't give up.

Just stay there. I don't know, sometimes I just, in my mind, I talk to the yoga teacher. I say, okay, just do anything you want, I don't care.

I'll just do it, okay? I don't like it, and I'm shaking. But lunch is close, and before that is shavasana.

I could, okay, come on, just do what you want to do with me, I don't care, you know? So, just be a, it's not like a tough guy, it's just like you give up. Okay, beat me up, you know?

It's okay, I'll be a better person. Same with your legs in meditation, and your back, okay? Just say, okay, you know, it's gonna hurt, and your legs are gonna hurt, and you're gonna be tired.

The minute you try to meditate, somebody starts talking outside loud last night. Don't talk, don't talk, don't talk loud, don't talk loud outside. Don't talk loud outside, don't talk loud, don't talk.

Okay, the valley is very shaped like this, so if you talk across the way, I can hear it in my camera, better than the person next to you. I don't know why. It's a strange valley, yeah, she knows.

Okay, here we go. So, you got to be a tough guy in your yoga, and you got to be a tough guy in your meditation. Just tell your body shut up, tell your shaky arms shut up, and you got to be tough this morning during the Garjuna, because he will confuse you.

And just say, I don't care if you confuse me, I'm gonna try, I'm still gonna try. Okay, my mind is shaking, but I will try. Okay, all right.

There's a cute, I mentioned it a little bit the other day, the human computer was talking about it, but Choney Lama and the Garjuna, they use a very strange word. After they finish the three reasons why the elements and their results cannot be connected, cannot be happening. Okay, I left you with molecules, right?

I was a Buddhist molecule. It should have how many atoms? Eight.

Four are elements, which means in this chapter, causes, and four are products, products of the elements. Okay, so in Buddhism every molecule should have eight atoms. Four of them are the four elements.

There are different elements, there are different sets of elements. There's four, there's five, there's six. Okay, so when they want to talk about the four, what's the Sanskrit word for element that we learned?

Buddha. Okay, Buddha. And if you want to say, I'm talking about the four, I'm talking about the four, sometimes you can say the big Buddhas, because these four are the big source of everything.

All physical stuff has these four, so they're the big ones, they're the stars of the Buddhas. So, we say sometimes Maha Buddha. Okay, say Maha Buddha.

Okay, so Buddha can also mean spirit, a bad one. Okay, it has different meanings. It can mean existence.

So, if you're talking about Buddhas and you want to make it clear you're talking about the elements, you can say, oh I'm talking about the Maha Buddhas, because they're big. Why? They're everywhere, they create everything.

All physical things. Okay, then there are four products of those Buddhas, right? The objects of your senses, what you see, what you hear.

Oops, not what you hear, because that's, in Abhidharma that doesn't stay. What you smell, what you taste, what you feel. And there's a nice piece in the first Dalai Lama's Abhidharma commentary, which I worked on for 12 years, and in there he says it makes sense that an atom should have four elements in it, and then four products in it, because as far as elements, it's kind of the things you experience outside.

And then as far as products of the elements, it's what creates your senses. It's what you can taste, what you can soup, what you can smell, what you can see. Okay?

So, it makes sense that an atom in Buddhist, Buddhist atom should have half outside stuff and half inside stuff. Okay, got it? It kind of makes sense.

It's not crazy. Half of that molecule is kind of elements, and half of that molecule is things you can experience, and that's kind of cool. Okay?

That makes sense. First Dalai Lama teaches it that way. Okay?

Okay, then there's a cute thing. What was the Tibetan human computer? The yogi who understands suchness.

I want to hear all three parts, for zero dollars, because you already got rich from me. The yogi who knows suchness. In Tibetan, in Tibetan.

DE NYID RIGS PA'I SNYAMS SBYOR. Yeah, say DE NYID RIGS PA'I SNYAMS SBYOR. Big meditator who understands emptiness.

Okay? DE NYID means tatva, suchness, emptiness. RIGS PA means understands.

And SNYAMS SBYOR is the Tibetan word for yoga master. Yoga master. SNYAMS SBYOR.

Okay? JIGS KYANG YUL BYUNG MA. The YUL BYUNG MA is SNYAMS SBYOR.

SNYAMS SBYOR MA. Lady yoga master. Okay?

So, they say, they ask a question to the other. It's kind of cool. Choney Lama and Nagarjuna talking together.

So, hey, Nagarjuna, like, who's a yoga master? What's a yoga master? They said, well, yoga, you know, they're into the physical, RUG PA, right?

What's RUG PA? They're into the physical body, you know. They're studying the, in a gross way, they're studying muscles and bones and angles.

Okay? In a more subtle way, they are studying the prana and the wind and the body values inside the body. Okay?

They're kind of focused on physical, but what makes them a master, you know? Can they lift their foot over their head? Is that, is that, what do you think Nagarjuna says?

Yeah, they're a master if they understand the elements and the products of the elements in their own body, and that makes them a yoga master. And they understand, listen, okay? They understand how the elements cannot be making the physical body.

They understand how the elements cannot be making the physical body. The whole Abhidharma presentation, all that molecule stuff, is ridiculous. Okay?

It doesn't have anything to do with your yoga, or your health, right? Or what your body looks like. What has to do with your body and your health and what you look like?

MTHONG LEN, okay? Alright? That's all.

Forget the buddhas and the Mahabuddhas, and you know, you want to be a real yoga master? You know, it's not like how many handstands you can, I mean that also helps. By the way, if you do all that stuff well, the prana moves well, and then you can understand emptiness better.

Okay? So, that's not crazy. The physical stuff is not crazy.

But it's interesting, it's very, I don't know, to me I like it. Nagarjuna is so, I think he was a hippie, and I feel like that. You know, he says, oh, you want to be a yoga master?

Yeah. Oh, you want to make your yoga perfect? Yeah.

You want to get the elements to make strong, you know, yeah. Okay, then just check it out man, something weird is going on. What?

There's some people do the yoga, they hurt their neck, they can't do anything their whole life. There's some people do the yoga, two minutes of yoga, and they look great. What is that?

You know, it's not fair. There's all these guys on the subway in New York, I used to hate them in the morning. They are eating chocolate bars, and they look perfect.

You know, I'm like, something weird is going on. You know, I feel like Nagarjuna, you know. Something weird is going on.

They're not having a green drink. Gedai ma. Okay?

And they look great, you know, and something's going on. Okay? It's not the elements that cause a strong body, it's the karma.

Okay, that's what Nagarjuna has been trying to say. He said, you want to be a yoga master? Understand that, and then you're a yoga master.

Even if you have a little tummy, okay? You're a yoga master. Got it?

Okay, that's Nagarjuna's definition of a yoga master. How do you say it in Tibetan? DGE NYID RIGS PA'I GNAL SBYOR A yoga master who understands the emptiness of the elements and the sense powers.

They are not created by the elements. They are created by kindness. They are created by taking care of other people.

Okay? Cool? Then you're a yoga master.

You still have to do your yoga every day, I'm sorry. And you still have to try to put your foot behind your head, okay? Because it will help you understand the emptiness.

Got it? The prana will flow. Okay?

So, I'm not saying don't be a regular yoga master, I'm saying be a super yoga master who does both. Got it? Okay.

All right, next thing. Now, this is good, hmm, when you teach Nagarjuna's wisdom, you have to have a lot of background knowledge of all the schools, okay? All the Buddhist schools.

And you can't really understand his most famous book if you don't have a strong background in the other schools, okay? Like, I've seen people who have no background in any schools, and they write long explanations of Nagarjuna's wisdom, and I don't know why, it just irritates me. I'm like, you know.

Anyway, it's like trying to drive a car on a highway at a hundred miles an hour, and you didn't drive a car before, okay? Something like that. It seems crazy.

Anyway, in this case today, we reached a place near the end of what chapter are we in? We're near the end of chapter four, an investigation of the parts of a person, and because the first part is the physical part, and then we get into the elements, right? Actually, the next chapter is the investigation of the elements, but it's a different set of elements, okay?

So, here we're almost to the end of the chapter about the, what was it? Parts of the body, especially rupa, especially the rupa, and he says, Nagarjuna, as I told you, he says, okay, you got it, you got it, you got all this stuff, what really causes the healthy body when you do yoga, it's because you did tonglen for other people, it's because you served other people, it's not that elements are going to make you healthy, it doesn't come that way, because that's suspicious, it should be investigated, there's something wrong with it, okay? Then he finished with the physical body, right?

What's he supposed to do next for twenty dollars? What's he supposed to do next? Yeah, feeling.

Damn! Oh, excuse me. Dang!

Twenty bucks. Yeah, my leaky bank account. Bank account, here's my bank account leak.

Just like, I don't know. Okay. Yeah, he should do feeling, then he should do discrimination, then he should do the other stuff, and then he should do awareness.

These are the five heaps. Skanda, right? Skanda.

But, it looks like he gets lazy. He says, yeah, the rest are the same. Okay, let's go on to the next chapter.

What's the next chapter? An investigation of the other elements, okay? He says, just the same way, same thing, okay?

Got it? Then somebody comes, now this is really weird, okay? Nagarjuna is the master of weird, right?

He lets a guy come before the end of the chapter. Nagarjuna just said, okay, look, I spent the whole chapter on your first skanda, the rest are the same. You know, just same idea, you figure it out.

Okay, then he should finish the chapter, he should go on. But he allows another guy to come. He allows another guy to come, and that guy says, I like your Lajig.

I like your Lajig. I got one for you Nagarjuna. That feeling, second heap, well, that one exists from its own side.

It's, I didn't do anything, okay? The second heap exists from its own side. Therefore, the first heap exists from its own side.

Same logic. I'm just using your Lajig. Got it?

It's very cute. Nagarjuna lets this guy come. He should finish the chapter, go on.

But he's like, well, what if somebody comes and says the same thing to you that I just said to him? Oh, the rest are the same. Got it?

Heap number one is coming from your seeds. Then I don't have to go through all the other four, it's the same. Then the other guy says, well, well, the second heap I happen to know, it doesn't come from you, it comes from its own side.

Therefore, the first heap also comes from its own side.

[Speaker 2]
Got it?

[Speaker 1]
Now, this is really amazing. It took me a while. If the second heap does come from its own side, okay?

I didn't do anything. Okay? Feeling, you know?

If feeling comes from its own side, then is it logical that the physical body also comes from its own side? Yeah. We're using the same logic as Nagarjuna.

Got it? I'll repeat it. Nagarjuna said, your body comes from tong len.

Your yoga comes from tong len. You want to be a yoga master? You want your body to react, respond to yoga?

Then do tong len. Okay? He said that.

It's not coming from chemicals. It's not coming from carbon. It's not coming from breathing, etc, etc, etc.

It's coming from how nice are you to the other people in the yoga class. Okay? That's where the yoga is coming from.

You want to be a yoga master? And then he says, and I don't, come on, I don't have to explain feeling and everything else. Your mind, the state of your mind, obviously that's the same.

Do tong len, do tong len, do tong len, do tong len. Okay? Then the other guy says, oh, I like your logic.

I happen to know that heap number two, it comes, it wasn't my fault, it just came. You know? My husband yelled at me, I feel bad.

It comes from him, don't come from me. Therefore, with your logic Nagarjuna, since feelings don't come from me, they come from my husband. He makes me mad, right?

We say it in English. He made me unhappy. He made me unhappy.

Everybody says that. He made me unhappy, so I divorce him. Okay?

He made me unhappy. So, according, if my feelings are coming from my husband, because my husband made me unhappy, okay? And it's not my seeds, okay?

It's my husband. Everyone who got a divorce felt better, right? And they never got another divorce.

I think 90% of second marriages fail in the United States. 65% of first marriages fail in the United States. Okay?

Anyway, so listen to the logic. He says, I like your logic Nagarjuna. If it's true about one skandha, it's true about all the skandhas.

Now, my husband made me unhappy, therefore my feelings are coming from him, they are not coming from my seeds, therefore my physical body is coming from my elements. Same thing, not from what I do, not from how I treat people, okay? My physical body is coming from how many hours I spend working out, okay?

That's where it's coming from. Got it? That's the same as saying with feelings what?

My husband made me unhappy, and the weight lifting made me strong, okay? Nagarjuna says bullshit and bullshit. And the other guy says, no, no, my husband made me unhappy, therefore working out makes me strong.

He uses the same logic back to Nagarjuna. Now, it gets deeper, okay? If it's true that your husband made you unhappy, then is it true that working out gives you muscles?

Yeah, yeah, that's true. But Nagarjuna says bad logic. And in Tibetan it's called RIG PA MGO MTSUNG for $50.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, yeah! You got to do it faster than him. RIG PA MGO MTSUNG means parallel logic.

Parallel logic, okay? If your logic is correct Nagarjuna, what's Nagarjuna's logic? If the first heap comes from how you treat other people, then the other heaps is the same, okay?

Then parallel logic, RIG PA MGO MTSUNG. If my husband can make me unhappy, then weight lifting can make me handsome, okay? Got it?

Same logic, same thing, okay? Got it? Then Nagarjuna says your logic is bad, my logic is good.

They are not parallel. Then, you know, if you're reading this 2,000 year old book, you're like, must be a carving mistake. Must be they put not when it's supposed to be is.

Which we had yesterday, okay? We had it in the carving. Must be a carving problem.

Because Nagarjuna would never say, I can use that logic, but you cannot use that logic. Got it? He would never say that.

The rules of logic are one way for me, and different for you, okay? You can't use the logic that the other four heaps are the same, if one of them is one way. You can't say that.

But you just said that. You just used that logical method, okay? If it's true of one, it's true of the other four.

Nagarjuna, how come I can't use the logic that you just used? Nagarjuna does not attack the statement. He doesn't say, you know, your husband cannot make you unhappy.

He doesn't say that. He says, you can't use that logic that I just used. Now, if you're a translator, or you're a Buddhist, you have to stop.

Don't blame it on the carving, okay? Don't say, oh, there must be a carving mistake. Let's go on to the next chapter.

We're so close to the next chapter. Let's just leave it. I was very tempted, you know?

Like, we really should move on, you know? Can't spend too much time on this chapter. But I'm like, this bugs me.

This really bugs me, okay? Then he says an interesting thing. He says, okay, for this, to understand this one, you have to understand the second school of Buddhism, which is?

ZAL DRANG TU DKA'I, which means they like sutras. They like sutras, okay? The first school is basically Abhidharma.

The second school is sutras, the people who like sutras, for $20. Why are they called that? Yeah, why?

Tell me about the history of the Abhidharma. Come on, come on. You just gave a $10 answer to a $20 question.

Yeah. Three big meetings actually. Yeah.

Great, great explanation. So, what he said was, I'll repeat it because maybe you couldn't hear in the back. After the Buddha passed away, they had three meetings, okay?

It took hundreds of years. And the best students, 500 arhats supposed to be, they got together and they said, what do you remember? I remember he talked about the elements, you know, what do you remember?

Oh, he talked about the four products of the elements, you know, and they all compared. Oh, you remember the molecule thing? I don't remember, how was seven or eight?

Where's the sound? No, he said, you know, and they argued and they made the Abhidharma. The Abhidharma is not a sutra.

The Abhidharma is the result of big meetings, which is always a disaster. Many people's opinion compromised, you know, it never works. I like dictatorship.

The Lama says what to do, and everybody says, yes sir. Not really. Anyway, so then another school came called the Sutras, and they say, look, let's stick to the original statements of the Buddha.

Let's stick to the Heart Sutra, Dharma. Well, they don't believe that, but let's stick to the basic sutras. We don't believe the notes that you took and you put them together into Abhidharma.

Abhidharma is the notes of the main students, and this second school says, we don't want to read the notes. We want to read the original, we want to hear the video. We want to hear the original video.

We don't want to read somebody's notes. By the way, the notes that were printed for ACI courses from 1993 etc., they are not clean. They are not always correct, so just be careful with them.

The guy who made the website took the notes, understand? So, he put the notes in there, and they're 80% good, but there's some mistakes, okay? And I don't have time to do them all, okay?

So, Sutra schools started to enjoy logic, okay? Logic and perception theory. How do you see things with your mind that you cannot see with your eyes, okay?

That's their, they are very interested about this question. How do you use the third eye, okay? How do you see things with logic that you cannot see with your eyes, or your nose, or your tongue, okay?

And they got very interested in this question. And they say, you know, you don't need secret Buddhism, you need a third eye. You study how to make logic airtight, how to make correct logic, and then you can see everything in the universe, okay?

Like Einstein, he figured out that the bomb should work before he made the bomb, that's all. Then he went to the president, Roosevelt, and said, I can do it. And Roosevelt said, where is it?

And he said, it's here. That's logic, he used logic. Unfortunately, he used logic, okay?

I heard a terrible thing. So, they blew up the first one near here, in New Mexico. You can see New Mexico, those mountains that way are New Mexico.

And the place where they blew up the first bomb is not that far. And so, they're all ready to blow up the first bomb. And Roosevelt's like, is this safe?

Is everything safe? They said, oh, no problem. Yeah.

Could anything happen? Well, there's a little chance that all the oxygen in the world will be ignited, which means the whole world will burn. But we think it's not going to happen.

Let's check. This is a real scientist, you know? They don't care they burn up the whole world, including themselves.

They're like, let's check. Then they blew up the, you know. Why am I talking about that?

They use logic to see things that you can't see with your eyes. That's the specialty of the second school, who are the guys who like the sutras, and they're not crazy about the notes of the senior students. Notes of the senior students is what school?

Abhidharma. And then sutras guys, they say, no, let's stick to the sutras. And they like logic, because they can use logic to see things you can't see with your eyes.

Now, typical syllogism, logical statement. Logical statement has four parts. Logical statement has four parts, okay?

I'm not going to teach you logic. By the way, if you're going to be an ACI teacher, there's a trick I will teach you. When the audience, like in Singapore, heard the pen 3,000 times already, you can say, don't worry, I'm not going to teach you the pen tonight.

I'm not going to go into that, okay? How the human sees it different. I'm not going into that, how it's produced by a picture.

You know, let's just leave it tonight, you know, how different people see different things, because you have a picture, you know, and I'm just teaching you a trick, okay? So, I'm not going to teach you logic, because it's boring and it's difficult. But every logical statement has four parts.

Every logical statement has four parts. And the English word for logical statement is syllogism, okay? And it doesn't pass the waiter test.

What's the waiter test, Yalping? Good. I'll repeat it.

You want to repeat it? Repeat it. Well, the question is, in the translation team in China and in America called Mixed Nuts, Pure Gold Mixed Nuts, what do we mean when we say that word doesn't pass the waiter test?

Yeah. So, go to the Mexican restaurant in Wilcox, okay, on your day off. Go to the Mexican restaurant.

There's a little Mexican restaurant, and they say, what would you like to order? And say, I would like a syllogism. And then see what they say, okay?

See what they say. If they go like this, huh? Right?

What language is that? Don't use the word in your teaching, okay? Try to use words in your teaching that everyone understands, okay?

So, logical statement, which is a syllogism, should have four parts. Number one, what thing are you talking about, okay? What thing are you talking about?

The physical body, the first skandha, okay? That's my first part of my syllogism, okay? Let's talk about your physical body, okay?

Let's talk about your physical body, okay? Number two, it is coming from elements, chemicals, energies in the body, okay? It is coming from elements, chemicals, energies in the body, okay?

It is not coming from how you treat other people, okay? Got it? That's the other guy, that's the other guy, right?

Take your physical feeling, or I'm sorry, cancel that. The example is take your feelings, okay? Take it, okay?

I'm going to change the example. Number one, take your feelings. Number two, I'm sorry, it is your physical body, okay?

Number one, let's take your physical body, okay? It's not coming from how you treat poor people, okay? It's coming from how many vitamins you eat, you know, do you drink green drinks?

That's where your physical body is coming from. That's his statement, okay? That's what he's trying to prove.

The second part is called what he's trying to prove about the subject, okay? About the first one, okay? First one is what?

Let's take your physical body, and what's the statement he's trying to prove? It doesn't come from how you treat poor people. It doesn't come from giving food to hungry people, it does not.

It comes from how many green drinks you have, how much chocolate you can avoid, okay? It's coming from its own side, okay? Got it?

That's his statement he's trying to prove. Does the other person, by the way, who's talking this statement? Who's talking this statement?

Yeah, the other guy, the anti-Nagarjuna guy. Who's listening to the guy? Nagarjuna.

Good, Arya Nagarjuna. So, he says, look Nagarjuna, let's take your body, okay? You think it comes from how you feed poor people, and not from yoga, but you are wrong.

You are wrong, okay? It comes from yoga. It comes from how many green drinks you have, okay?

That's where it comes from, got it? By the way, that's why we have green stretch pen, because the pen explains the green at the stretch, right? Okay, so Nagarjuna doesn't believe what the guy said.

Your body is coming from your vitamins, and your green drinks, and your yoga, okay? Then the guy's going to give a reason, ready? The guy's going to give a reason.

Here's the guy's reason, and he's just following Nagarjuna's method. What's the reason for $50? What's the guy's reason?

Daniel, for $50. Yeah, it's the same as your feelings. $50 for Daniel.

He's going to split it with me. Just kidding. Got it?

Here's the guy's statement. Number one, let's take your physical body Nagarjuna. Number two, it does not come from feeding other people, it comes from how much yoga you do, and how many green drinks you drink, okay?

Number three, what's his reason? It's just like your feelings. It's just like your feelings, and we know your feelings come from other people.

My husband made me unhappy, okay? Got it? Look, it's just the same, and you can't say I'm wrong because you just said the other four heaps are the same as the body.

I'm using your system of logic, got it? At the end of the chapter Nagarjuna said, I don't have to explain the other four heaps. Why?

I taught you the first one, the other four is the same. Okay Nagarjuna, my feeling comes from my husband, therefore my body comes from vitamins. Same logic, same logic as you.

Got it? And then by the way, the fourth part of the syllogism is normally, you say it's like, and then you say something, okay? Now this guy already used that in the first three, but normally you say it's like your mind, or it's like your discrimination, it's like heap number three, or it's like heap number five, okay?

Let's not worry about it. Now, Nagarjuna says I don't allow you to use the same logical system that I used, okay? I said the other four heaps are the same, but you can't do that.

Is that fair? No, it's not fair, okay? It's not fair, okay?

Now listen, okay? Are you still with me? Okay, it's illegal in a logical statement to use the same thing in position number two, and in position number three, okay?

That's called husband or wife logic. We should go to the good tasting restaurant because it's a good tasting restaurant, okay? Do you want to go to the Japanese restaurant tonight honey?

No. Where do you want to go? Italian restaurant.

Why? I like it, okay? We should go, the Italian restaurant has good food because it has good food, okay?

That's illegal, illegal logic, okay? Got it? And that's usually why a fight starts between a couple, in a couple.

Somebody uses this logic, okay? We should go to the Italian restaurant because the food's good. Well, why?

Well, because the food's good. They don't say because I like the food and you don't like the food. They don't say that.

That's logical, right? To repeat the second thing in the third position is illegal. For three hundred dollars, why is it relevant here?

Ten, nine, eight, seven, who's equivocating? No, he's not. Six, five, four, three, two, one, zero.

Yay! Is there any way, who said that? No, people in the box can't answer.

No, people who just made money can't answer. You don't know that? I'm changing the rules halfway.

I'm following Nagarjuna's example. Well, what did you want to say? No.

Now, listen, Nagarjuna is accusing the other guy, you just said the same thing in position three that you said in position two. Your logic is illegal. What did the other guy said?

Let's take your physical body Nagarjuna. It's coming from green drinks and yoga, because my husband made me unhappy. Okay, got it?

Now listen, the other guy believes that the thing in the second position is like the body that comes from vitamins and green drinks. And the other guy believes that the feeling, the statement about the feeling is coming from his own side. Got it?

Okay, I'll say it again. The other guy believes that his words that he used in position two have power from their own side. And he believes that the words he used as a reason have power from their own side.

He's using the same thing. I'll say it again. It's like when you're talking to your wife, I already told you, I already told you.

Does the wife always understand? No. Do words have power from their own side like green drinks do?

No, they don't. But that guy believes they do, therefore his second statement and his third statement are the same. Got it?

It doesn't matter what he's talking about. He could say, because fish fly. It doesn't matter what he says.

If he believes that words have the power to give understanding, he's mistaken. Okay? And he has the same idea about position two, and he has the same idea about position three, and he is illegally repeating the same thing in position two and position three, because what he's really saying is my words have the power to prove what I want to prove.

And that's wrong. Any married person can tell you. Any married person can tell you.

Okay? You feel like, I explained everything to you. The Italian restaurant has good desserts.

The waitresses are cool. It's cheap. Okay?

You understand? We should go to the Italian restaurant. I want to go to Japanese.

And then you feel like your words should have the power to make your wife understand, but they don't, because words are also coming from the listener. What you hear is coming from you. If you don't understand my class, that's your fault.

Got it? Same as the wife. Same as the wife.

Now I'll say it one more time. Okay? It's illegal to say, take the Italian restaurant.

It has good food, because it has good food. Okay? That's not logic.

That's not, you cannot repeat as the proof, the thing you're trying to prove. You cannot. It's illegal.

Did the guy do it? Did the other guy do it? Did he break the rule of logic?

I'll tell you what he said. He said, take your body. It's coming from green drinks and yoga.

It's condition is coming from green drinks and yoga, because your husband makes you upset. Your husband makes you unhappy. Got it?

If it's true that your husband can make you unhappy, then it is logical that green drinks can make you healthy. Skanda two, skanda one. Got it?

If it's true, that's okay. It's good logic. Okay?

But, now listen, he believes that his words have a power to make you understand, no matter what your karma is. Okay? Got it?

He doesn't understand that whether you understand me is coming from you. It's not coming from Geshe Michael's words. I can use a thousand different words, I can teach you 200 kinds of logic, but it's not going to work if you don't have the karma.

Okay? The power of understanding what I'm saying isn't coming from me. It's not coming from my words.

And the power to be strong is not coming from green drinks, and the feelings you have are not created by your husband. Your husband cannot make you unhappy. Okay?

Got it? Got it? So, the same mistake he made in position number two, and the same mistake he made in position number three, he's making in his logic, because he thinks his logic should work from his own side, no matter what your karma.

Got it? He thinks words have power of their own, but they don't, do they? There's half the people in this room are totally confused.

Half the people have to pee pee. The rest of the people don't care. Okay?

No, I'm just kidding. So, got it? It doesn't matter what you say, the power is not in the words.

Okay? When he says to Nagarjuna, your body's coming from green drinks, because your husband can make you unhappy, he thinks his words have power inside them, atman power, like aspirin. Okay?

Got it? So, he's repeating the same mistake with two and three. It's very subtle.

It's very, very subtle. Okay? So, cook it, okay?

Cook it. It's extremely difficult. It's extremely difficult, and we're going to go deeper tomorrow.

So, think about it this afternoon. There was a guy named Edgar Cayce, hundred years ago? He, American mystic, you know, like he would tell the future, and his system, he would take the book and put it under his pillow, and then he would sleep, and when he woke up he understood the whole book.

You understand what I'm saying? You can try. Just put your reading, Nagarjuna reading, under your pillow, take a good nap, and maybe you'll understand what the hell they're talking about.

What time am I supposed to go to? Okay, do I have more time? Or not?

Do we go to 10.30 or 9.30? Oh, I'm sorry. Let's take a pee-pee break, okay?

And we'll come back and we'll go deeper into this thing you already don't understand. Alright, okay. Okay, I want to take you a little bit deeper about that last thing, okay?

So, if you're already lost, sometimes if you get more lost you find your way, you know? One time I got lost walking back here, I couldn't find my way back, and you just keep walking around, you find a place. But be careful walking.

Sometimes when you walk far, far away everything looks the same, you know? You don't remember where's your house, okay? So, be careful.

Don't lose sight of the house, okay? Or somebody's house, okay? Alright, so something happened after Nagarjuna, okay?

Something happened after Nagarjuna. The accountants took over for 700 years before Nagarjuna, right? Then Nagarjuna came and cleaned everything up, and you know what happens when you clean your house.

Then somebody comes in and mess it up, right? It's the same with philosophy, with Buddhism. So, after Nagarjuna there came a very famous Buddhist called Buddha Palita, okay?

Buddha Palita, and it means like protector of the Buddha or something, Palita. And so Buddha Palita came, and he wrote an explanation of this book. Many, many people tried to explain this book because it's so difficult.

So, Buddha Palita wrote an explanation. Maybe 500 years after, sorry, it's 500 AD, so 300 years after Nagarjuna, Buddha Palita wrote a book. That book name is for $10?

Buddha Palita. $10 to the young man. Yeah, everybody calls, it's like if John wrote the book, and they call the book John, okay?

That's what happened. So, Buddha Palita wrote the book, and after that everybody calls the book Buddha Palita. I don't know why, because the book and the person are different, right?

But, then he wrote a good book. It's a good book. It's a good explanation, okay?

Not bad, okay? Pretty basic, but good. Especially, he'd like to explain the logic about four choices.

Where do things come from? Where does the tree come from? Where does a tree come from?

And Nagarjuna gave us four choices, okay? I don't know if you remember, it was a long time ago. He gave us four choices.

These are very, very famous Buddhist explanations of emptiness. Very, very famous. It's called the four choices, okay?

The four choices. It's one of the famous proofs for emptiness, okay? Number one, does a tree come from itself, okay?

Does the tree grow from itself, okay? Number two, what? Does the tree grow from something else, like a seed, okay?

Choice number three, does a tree come from both the tree and the seed together? And number four, most crazy one, does the tree just poop and the tree's there, no cost, okay? Without a cost, okay?

And when you teach it, which maybe you have to do someday, I don't know, most people will go to the easy ones first, and then go to the difficult one, okay? So, ah, you know, and even the gardener is like, okay look, number one is easy. I mean, tree doesn't come from a tree, because when the tree is growing, the tree is not there yet, so how could a tree come from itself?

I mean, that's crazy. That's crazy, right? Then, how could a tree, number four, how could a tree come with no cause?

I mean, that's also crazy, you know, just pop up, you know, not possible. Then both come from itself and from something else. If it doesn't come from itself, then it can't come from both itself and something else, that's also impossible.

Those three are easy. The difficult one is number two, does a tree come from a seed, okay? Does a tree come from a seed?

And the gardener says, no, okay? No, okay? Now, and Buddha Palita explained it pretty good, okay?

Then came a troublemaker named Bhavaviveka, too many V's in his name. His mother should have taken one or two out. He should be Bhave, okay?

I hate this name. Bhavaviveka, three V's, okay? Say bhava, viveka.

And it means, viveka is in Sanskrit, I mean, it's a yoga word also, it means, he's very good at figuring out things. Viveka means, like vivekananda? Was it the famous yogi who came to the United States?

What's his name? Was it Vivekananda? What?

Yeah, Vivekananda. Came to the World's Fair in Chicago in 1890 or something, brought yoga to the United States. Anyway, the name means they have a good ability to figure things out, okay?

So his name is Mr. Figure-Things-Out pretty good. Bhavaviveka, okay? And he really does, but he gave a famous bad suggestion, just like your mother-in-law, okay?

He gave a very famous bad suggestion. Fifty dollars. Which one?

More, I need more information. Yeah, yeah, okay. Now, should I give him fifty when I had to give him so many clues?

Thirty-five. Thirty-five. Okay.

He said, you can't say, okay? He suggested to Buddhapalita, don't say it like that. Don't say things don't come from themselves, things don't come from something else, things don't come from both, things don't come without a cause.

Don't say it that way, because the second one is correct. Things do come from other things, you see? Don't say it that way.

I have a suggestion. Let's improve Nagarjuna, which is always a bad suggestion. Let's fix Nagarjuna.

Let's add something to the second one, which is what? Things don't come from other things really self-existently, without, what do you call that? I didn't do anything, okay?

You should say things don't come from other things without, I didn't do anything, with, I didn't do anything. You always did something, it's always your fault, okay? Got it?

Your wife is correct, everything is your fault. Okay? Got it?

So, Baba Viveka said we should add the word really, come from really, or self-existently, or from its own side, or I didn't do anything-ly. I didn't do anything-ly, okay? Alright?

We should add some words there, okay? Then came Chandrakirti, okay? Then shortly after that, I don't know, by the way, Baba Viveka is around 550, 550 AD.

Chandrakirti is like a hundred years later. Some people say at the same time as Baba Viveka, and he said, I don't like your addition, I don't like you fixing Nagarjuna. He don't need it.

Nagarjuna knew what he's talking about, and Baba Viveka says, no, you have to add that word, otherwise it doesn't make sense. Things do come from other things, got it? He said you have to add those words, by themselves, from their own side, without your karma, without, you know, I didn't do anything, okay?

You have to add those words, okay? Hundred dollars, there's only one person that has a chance in this room. What did Chandrakirti say to Baba Viveka?

Okay, all done, all done, all done, all done. Hundred bucks. Man, I'm losing money.

I need worse students. Bring some worse students. Cheaper students.

[Speaker 2]
He said that Baba Viveka was thinking that really had the self-existing power of explaining.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, I bow down to you. Perfect, perfect, okay? Now, we already said things don't come from something else, okay?

And maybe, did the other guy understand or not? We don't know, okay? What we mean is by themself, right?

We mean that, okay? Got it? So, when we say you have to add some words, it means, got, ready?

It means you believe the words you added have a power of their own, but you don't believe the words that Nagarjuna started with have a power of their own. You're crazy, you're crazy, okay? If Nagarjuna's words have power of its own, if they come from their own side, like the, I didn't do anything husband, okay?

Then you don't need to add other words, okay? They have their own power. No, but we have to add these words.

People will understand it if we add these words. Listen, if they didn't understand the words in the first place, they won't understand the words when you add them, because the second words are not more powerful than the first words, because they also don't come from their own side, and that's what we're talking about anyway, got it? Where did we hear this argument before?

Like, yeah, before the smoothies. It's exactly when Nagarjuna said to the other guy, got it? So, historically, hysterically, the other guy that Nagarjuna is talking to made a mistake.

He thinks the words have their own power. 300 years later, it came up again, okay? Baba Viveka said, we have to add some words.

Why? The words we add, everyone will understand. The words we didn't add to, they are, not everyone can understand.

Got it? It's illogical, okay? It's illogical.

It's like this, okay? Watch. Four possibilities.

Things don't come from themselves. The tree doesn't come from the tree. The tree doesn't come from the tree and the seed, number three.

The tree can't come with nothing, okay? And the tree doesn't come from the seed. That in English, that means I'm making a joke.

Got it? You understand? Of course they come from seed, but not by themselves, okay?

The seed doesn't have the power. The tree will grow from the seeds if you shared shade with other people. Your crops will grow, the rain will come, the soil will be good, the hot weather will come at the right time, if you feed other people.

It doesn't depend on the sun or the soil or the seed, okay? Got it? Okay, so he said to Baba Viveka, you already broke the statement of Nagarjuna.

If you want to add words, you don't understand. You already don't understand, okay? Historically, the same problem happened that we just talked about with the three parts of a logical statement, okay?

Historically, it's a very famous problem, okay? Did you have a question Mr. Myrtle?

[Speaker 2]
But if that is true, then we don't need the DCI or the ACI or any explanation, because it always depends on the karma of the other person.

[Speaker 1]
We don't have to say anything. It's absolutely true. Let's all just relax.

No, it's true, it is true. If it's true that Baba Viveka doesn't have to add words, then it's true that Nagarjuna didn't have to make arguments. He should have retired before he started.

No, it's also true. It is true. We add words in the hope that the person's karma will ripen about the second words, but not about the first words.

But, when Baba Viveka added words, he didn't understand that. That's all. Okay?

That's all. That's all. I'm adding words right now.

I'm doing it myself. But I understand that if you understand, it's going to come from whether you share what you understand with other people. I understand that.

So, I'm adding words and I'm encouraging you to teach. It's a teacher training. Okay?

So, I'm hoping you will collect the karma to understand my words, and that's why I'm still talking, instead of going home to take my nap, which 66-year-old people like to do. Okay? Understand?

Okay? Yeah, good point. It's a good point.

Okay, good. But Baba Viveka did not give up his opinion. Okay?

He kept saying, my added words, the words I want to add, really come from other thing. Okay? Really come from other thing.

They have an independent power that Nagarjuna's words don't have. Okay? The really, especially if you say it with the voice, really, they really come from themselves.

That has a power. That has a special power, and that power is independent. That power exists in the word, especially if you say, I didn't do anything.

You have to say it like that. Practice. I didn't do anything.

Everybody, one, two, three. I didn't do anything. My husband yelled at me.

Okay? Why am I making you do it? Because you do it every day a thousand times.

Okay? That's what this class is about. Shut up and stop blaming it on your husband.

Okay? Got it? But when you get out of this class, you'll do the same thing, and so will I.

Okay, everything's Veronica's fault. Except the things that are Jigme's fault. Right?

Okay. So, the words, especially if you do it right, really, they have an independent power. Why is that word important?

Okay, come on, louder, louder. Yeah, that started a whole school of Middle Way, which is lower school, Middle Way, called SVAD TANTRIKA, which means independent school. Now you know why.

Now you know why. Okay? The lower Middle Way school got the name independent because of what?

Really? No. Really?

Okay? Really? If you do use your hands and your voice, really?

Then that has independent power. That has independent power. Our logic has independent power.

Did you hear that before? Yeah, the guy here, the guy, Nagarjuna was fighting those people 300 years before that, and they came back as BABA, maybe they were reborn as BABA IVEKA, and they came back with the same stupid argument. You got to add really.

You got to say really. Why? Really has a power that it doesn't come from other things, doesn't have.

It has an independent power. You're so stupid, I'm going to call you independent school. Okay?

Lower school, lower Middle Way. So, BABA IVEKA is the big gun of the lower Middle Way school, and they are called independent partly because they think really has independent power. And if you're going to talk to your husband, you have to use your hands and your shoulders, and that's the only way husbands can understand.

Because this has a power, yelling has a power that talking softly doesn't have. This has independent power. So you have, with the husband, with the man, the little thick here, thick, then you have to, you have to use your hands, and you have to talk louder.

That has an independent power that reasonable, calm discussion doesn't have. Okay? Got it?

Who's the big gun of the higher Middle Way? Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna.

He's the hero. He's the leader of the higher Middle Way. Who's his general?

Chandrakirti and Tsongkapa. Okay? Got it?

Okay, we finished that. What's the next? Okay, we're moving on to the ...

how's my time? Oh, perfect, okay. Maybe I let you out early so you can meditate longer, or we could add extra yoga.

Who's doing the yoga today? Is it a family thing to make the students suffer? Maybe I can think of something else to say.

I got it. Okay, we're going to go to the fifth chapter. Okay?

We're done. Now, my style in this week is hopefully, at the end of the class, I'll give you a taste of the next chapter. Okay?

I'm not on time, I'm one day behind already, 25% behind already, but I want to give you a little taste of the next chapter. It's a method of teaching that you might consider yourself when you teach. Think about giving them a little taste of the next class, and then we say it gives continuity to the whole program.

Okay? So, I'm going to ... we're going to go to the fifth chapter store and take a little bite of the ice cream there.

Okay? Just to get you in the mood, and then we'll work on it tomorrow. Okay?

Got it? So, here's the fifth chapter. What's it called?

An Investigation of the Elements. Now listen, the English word element has two different Sanskrit words, or at least. Okay?

Alright? As the four elements, probably you should say, bhuta. Okay?

You learned that word already. Okay? But, he's ...

fifth chapter, he's going to a different set of elements, and that word is dhātu. Dhātu. Okay?

Dhātu. Okay? Dhātu.

Set. Set. Okay, the root ...

do you have it Tim? I don't know. You got it there somewhere.

I'll teach you a Sanskrit word. It might be on your quiz. It might not be on your quiz.

If you don't finish your quiz, it doesn't matter. Okay. Yeah, there you go.

Okay? The meaning is element, so we can say pancha dhātu means five elements. Okay?

Not four. Four is bhuta. Bhuta.

Five is different. Dhātu is different. Five dhātus.

Okay? The Tibetan is what? Human dictionary?

Come. Yeah. And it also means category.

When you divide the human being into 18 parts, it's also called dhātu. Okay? It's also called dhātu.

So, dhātu means ... the root is the verb dhah, say dhah, which means to put something or to set something, and cognates are to do, or to did, or deed, fact. D-H can change to F.

Okay? And factory. Okay?

It just means real thing. Set down in stone. Okay?

Dhah. Okay? Dhātu.

So, dhātu means like basic building block of reality. Okay? Basic building block of reality is called dhātu, and that's the subject of chapter five.

Okay? We're going to do how many chapters this term? OM MANI PADME HUM.

Inshallah. OM MANI PADME INSHALLAH. Okay.

We're going to do six chapters. So, this now, when we hit the fifth chapter, we're halfway through. Okay?

Three, four, and five. Okay? Five is called an investigation of the dhātus.

You can misunderstand it and think he's talking about the 18th. He's not. He's talking about five.

Okay? Which is very similar to the elements. Okay?

You just add space. Okay? SA CHU ME RLUNG RNAMS KA.

PUR THAD VYI'ABS THAD BYAS BAYU'I AKASA. AKASA. Space.

Okay? Here we go again. PUR THAD VYI'ABS THAD BYAS BAYU'I AKASA.

AKASA. Okay. AKASA.

Okay. Alright. So, we're going to go to the new chapter, and your homework question, which is the last homework question on number three, which I'm exactly one homework behind.

And these homeworks take about seven or eight hours to write. Okay? It's hard, and I don't have much time, because people want to talk to me.

But that's okay. Alright. Which of the five elements does he choose to talk about first?

These are the four by the way. You have to add the space. Okay?

We have to add space. A-K-A-S-H-A. A-K-A-S-H-A.

Don't put RNAMS KA. Put the Sanskrit. Oh sorry, you're right.

N-A-M space M-K-H-A apostrophe. M-K-H-A apostrophe for the Tibetan. Okay?

In many languages, KHA means empty space. This is called KHA in Tibetan. There you go.

Okay? The Sanskrit is AKASA, and the Tibetan is RNAMS KHA. Okay?

I was tempted to do the four spaces meditation, but I think it might give you indigestion. Okay? I think I'll focus on those two that we have, the lion's dance and tonglen, and maybe joining them.

Okay? Alright. So, the Arya chooses space.

Okay? He could have chosen earth, water, fire, wind, or space, but he chooses to talk about space. Why?

It's weird. It's difficult. It's difficult.

Okay? When he did the five skandhas, he did the most simple one first. Then the next chapter, when he does the five elements, he says, let's go deeper.

Let's talk about the most difficult one, which is space, because it acts different than the other four. It acts different than the other four, and we're going to talk about it. Okay?

Now, your homework question has two parts. It says, which of the elements does he choose to examine first, which is space, AKASA. Okay?

And what method does he use to investigate it? What method does he use to investigate it? And he does TSEN ZUN.

TSEN ZUN. Say TSEN ZUN. TSEN ZUN.

And you're going to be sorry about it, because it's extremely difficult. He ... okay?

He doesn't just look into space, he looks into TSEN ZUN of space. Human dictionary? I'll give you a clue, it comes from Adam's text.

Hmm? Close. You have to pay me.

Say TSE NYID GSOS BYA. TSE NYID GSOS BYA. And this is a big Buddhist subject, and it's difficult.

But if I don't teach you a little bit about it, you cannot read this chapter. Okay? If you don't know the other schools, you can't read this book.

Okay? So, this is a big idea from the second school. Who's that?

By the way, they're also nerds, right? Logician? Definitely nerd.

Okay? Got it? Abhidharma, logician, both nerds.

Okay? That's all. The two lower schools.

Hinayana nerds. Okay? Then let's talk about logic.

Let's talk about logic. What do you want to talk about? Let's talk about self-adjustments.

Okay, we've heard enough about the self-adjustments, alright? You got anything else you want to talk about? Yeah!

Definitions and what you define. What's the definition of a definition? And what's the definition of what you're defining?

Okay? Got it? So, if you don't know that subject, you can't go to chapter five.

You're stuck in four chapters. Okay? So, we have to do some background.

I got ten minutes left. I'm going to give you some background on Zen Zen. The people in the Mixed Nuts translation group and the secondary translators, they already went through this suffering.

ICHI SOGS KU. Yoga is suffering and second school is suffering. Okay?

You think first school is suffering, second school is more suffering. Okay? So, I'm going to give you some background right now.

Okay? And I'm going to go to a different book, and let me see, where is that? Yeah, okay.

Alright. I'm going to take this explanation from a book by a Lama called Ngawang Tsundru. Okay?

He lived 300 years ago, you don't have to worry about it. Okay? He's good, he's very very good.

He was, he went to the wrong monastery, but still he's good. I don't know what happened. He's from Jebung monastery.

There are three great monasteries in the Tsongkapa tradition. There are Jebung, Sera, and Ganden. Okay?

Jebung means pile of rice. Sera means hail, storm? Like snow, like ice fall from the sky, breaks things.

So, when we debate them in the inter-monastic competition once a year, we say the ice broke the rice. The ice broke the rice. You know?

Sera beat Jebung. Okay? Then they say, yeah, but then the ice melts, doesn't it?

And the rice is still there. Okay? So, he's from the wrong monastery, but it's okay.

He's good, he's really good. Okay? So, here's this discussion of the definition of definition.

Okay? What makes a good definition? Okay?

What makes a good definition? I'm going to give you the short definition of a definition, and then I'm going to give you the long definition of a definition, because you cannot appreciate the fifth chapter unless I teach you something about the definition of definition. Okay?

Ready? Definition of a definition. RDZAS YOD CHOS GSUM TZANG BA.

Say RDZAS YOD CHOS GSUM TZANG BA. Three qualities must be there. Three qualities must be there.

CHOS GSUM TZANG BA. Okay? And they must be substantial, concrete.

You can touch it, you can feel it, you can eat it. Substantial. Okay?

They are real. What's the opposite of like, I don't know, substantial? What's the opposite?

We say word, in words only, in words only. Geshe-la, you want a yotel? Yeah, I've been waiting, I've been hinting for four or five days.

No one gave me a churro, no one gave me a yotel, the Ruskies didn't give me a ponchi. Okay? I've been hinting over and over.

Okay? I didn't get anything. Okay?

The ponchi, the churro, the donut I got is a name only. Okay? Say RTAG YOD.

Just name. I keep talking donut, donut, donut, but I can't eat words. Okay?

That's called RTAG YOD. It's just words. Okay?

You can't eat it, but it doesn't have any calories. That's the only good thing. Okay?

RTAG YOD. RDZAS YOD. I want a RDZAS YOD yotel.

RDZAS YOD means real, substantial. Okay? Real.

Okay? RTAG YOD means, you know, Xiaoping keeps talking about yotel, but I didn't get one. That's called just talk, talk, talk yotel.

Talk, talk, talk yotel. See, Geshe-la, no calories. I don't care.

I want the other one. That's the real one. The substantial, substantial one.

Okay? Okay? Understand?

Now, and we don't have time today to go all the way, we'll have to do some tomorrow, but that's why I'm giving you a taste of the next chapter. I want your mind to start thinking about it. Okay?

Now, what's the definition of fire in Buddhism? TE SBYORS. Something, you put your hand next to it and it feels hot, and you touch it and you burn yourself, that's the definition of fire.

That's the definition of fire. Okay? Anything, you start to put your hand closer, closer, closer, it feels warmer, and finally it burns your finger, is the Buddhist definition of the element of fire.

Okay? So, the definition is words or fire? Words, right?

I just told you. Quote, the definition of fire is hot and burning. Quote, end quote.

Begin quote. The definition of fire is hot and burning. End the definition.

Okay? And then fire. Okay?

In the kitchen, the stove, put your finger in it, you burn. Okay? Got it?

Got the difference? Definition is the description. In English, in English.

I don't know about other languages. Definition is, oh, somebody asked you what's fire? You know, it's the thing you put your hand on it, you burn yourself, that's fire.

Okay? That's a description in words, right? What we defined.

Okay? DE FIN NI YIN DAM in logic, but I like to say what we're defining, because DE FIN NI YIN DAM doesn't pass the waiter test. If you order a DE FIN NI YIN DAM at the restaurant in Bui, I don't know what's going to happen, but something bad.

Okay? Alright? The thing you're defining is the thing that burns you.

Am I right? I mean it's fire, fire itself. So, the definition is words.

Fire is something that burns you. So, here's a question, my favorite definition question. Which is more substantial?

The answer is the definition, and it's confusing. Okay? But you got to have this background if I'm going to teach you the next chapter.

You need this background, because Nagarjuna attacks space by discussing its definition, and how does the definition apply to space? Okay? Nagarjuna attacks the idea of space, the space, by looking at its definition.

Okay? Got it? And something you have to understand in Buddhism is that the definition is more real than the thing you're defining, and that needs some explanation.

Okay? Here we go. After I tell you it won't be confusing.

Okay? Ready? If I say the definition of fire is hot and burning, which hurts?

I'll give you three choices, fire, hot, or burning. Which one burns you? The last two.

The word fire doesn't hurt you. The hot and the burning hurts you. Which is more substantial?

The hot and the burning. The definition is more substantial than what you're defining, because what you're defining is only a word. What does fire mean?

Got it? So really, Xiaoping's YOD CHA'O is fire or hot and burning? Yeah, fire.

Just talk. No YOD CHA'O. Okay?

It's not substantial. Now, delicious and chewy. Is that substantial?

Yeah, it's the definition of YOD CHA'O, of donut. Got it? Okay?

So in Buddhism we say the definition is more substantial than the word is defining. Okay? In America, I don't know other countries, but when we think about definition, it's just words.

It's just words. But in Buddhism, now listen, then we can stop the class. Yay!

In Buddhism the definition is the real qualities, not the sentence. Not the sentence. That's not the real definition.

The definition of something is the qualities that define it. Got it? So, in America, I don't know, in English, when you say definition, and I ask you are you talking about a sentence?

They'll say yes. It's a sentence that defines fire. Okay?

But in Buddhism, when you say definition, you're talking about the actual heat and the actual burning, because those are the qualities that make the fire a fire. They define the fire. Got it?

So, the definition stuff is more real than the fire, because the fire is just a word until the definition is applied to the fire. Got it? Fire doesn't burn you.

Hot and burning burns you. Got it? Cigarette doesn't burn you.

The hot end of the cigarette burns you. Okay? Got it?

The word doesn't burn you. The qualities that define the word burn you. Got it?

Okay? Does fire burn you in this system? No.

The defining qualities of fire burn you. We can call it a definition. Okay?

That's what burns you. Okay? Got it?

You have to know that to study the next chapter, because, here's the punchline, okay? Ready? Take a deep breath.

Put on your seatbelt. Which came first? The definition or the thing you're defining?

And we're going to do it next chapter, next class. That's the examination of space. Which came first?

The definition of space or the space? Which came first? That's the fifth chapter.

That's the fifth chapter. I could say this afternoon in your meditations and tonight, don't think about monkeys. I could say that, but I'm going to say, don't think about space and the definition of space, and which came first?

Don't think about that. Cool? Cool ma?

All right, let's go. Aldo, you got that mandala? Mundo.

Thanks for being such good students. Diamond Mountain has the best students. I tell every city that, but I really appreciate that you are so hungry for such deep stuff.

It's a fun for me, it's much more fun for me than repeating the same thing over and over and over again.