Полный Танец льва: на лифте к прямому восприятию пустоты (2018, Аризона), занятие 1

[Speaker 1]
Alright, here we go. So, please remember we're meditating in a group, which means you have to try to be very quiet, so you don't disturb your neighbor. The first meditation preliminary that Lord Buddha taught was to turn off your cell phone.

Guadalajara charges $50 for cell phone ringing. We charge $500. Relax your forehead.

Relax your shoulders. Pull them back a little bit. Relax your eyelids.

And a small smile with your mouth. Tighten your stomach a little bit, just lightly. Make sure your hands are relaxed.

You might want to touch your thumb and first finger, or almost touching. As we start to go through the visualizations and the meditations, try to keep your face loose. Don't tighten your face.

It's a beautiful place. It's a beautiful morning. We're together with beautiful friends.

You can leave all your troubles, all your worries. You don't need them this week. And then slowly come to your breath.

And then in the lion's dance meditation, we go directly to the sound, a sound outside of the room. And because it's Arizona and it's the desert, we have the sound of the air conditioner here. So focus on that sound.

We're trying to make our mind more quiet, more peaceful. Relax and let the mind rest on the sound like your head would rest on a pillow. That represents the desire realm state of mind, which is just a normal, everyday state of mind.

And now we're going to move to the form realm state of mind. First form realm level, meditation level, which means that if we do this meditation a lot, we would be born into a realm of extreme physical beauty. So sometimes I call it the world of beauty.

And it's not Buddha paradise. It's just a little bit more beautiful version of this realm of pain. But practicing that meditation will help us develop the meditation which sees emptiness directly.

So please come to the awareness of your heartbeat. If you're alone at home and the room is very quiet, you might be able to hear your heartbeat in your ears. When you're with other people, oftentimes the best you can do is be aware of your heart beating in your chest.

So come to your heartbeat. We are climbing a ladder to more quiet places. So leave behind the air conditioner and the small sounds in the room and come to this more quiet place of an awareness of your heart beating.

Try to rest the mind on that heartbeat, again like the way you rest your head on a pillow and leave it there. Now think to yourself, I would like to go to a more quiet place and put your mind inside your heart so the walls of the heart are beating around you. You have two choices about this place inside the heart.

Don't make it dark and kind of gooey and wet, messy like the inside of a human heart. Imagine that the inside of the heart is like, I'm thinking of Gyelse's beautiful meditation room and it's pretty big and tall ceiling, beautiful, and lots of sunlight and lots of nice carpets and cushions on the floor and beautiful altar. Imagine the inside of the heart like a very elegant, clean, and sunlit meditation room, but it's still beating around you.

Now we expand that room. I like to think of a penthouse apartment on top of a building. I've been to some friends' houses in Mexico like that, beautiful, wide apartment, many rooms, maybe the whole floor, lots of sunlight, very simple, elegant.

And we are in a room at the center of the penthouse, so we aren't on the edge where the glass is. We're inside, deeper in the room. So make the space in your heart bigger.

Many rooms filled with sunlight and you're inside the middle room and it's more quiet, like the core of the heart, the very middle of the heart. Now the beating of the walls feels like it's far away. You can still hear a little bit, but you're in the core of the heart and it's more quiet, but still it's an elegant, simple, sun-filled meditation room.

More quiet, more silence. Now next to your meditation place there's a small table and on the table there's a small pot of sugar, small sugar pot, and you lift up the lid and you put your finger, third finger, left hand, into the sugar and you pull out the finger and there's little pieces of sugar, grains of sugar sticking to the finger and you focus on just one grain of sugar and then you decide, I will put my mind inside this grain of sugar and you sort of, for me it feels a little bit tight, I have to squeeze in to the, one of the sugar crystal sides of the crystal, but when you get your mind, when you squeeze inside the sugar crystal, then suddenly inside it's again a beautiful meditation room, like one of those beautiful Diamond Mountain meditation cottages, which the staff here has worked so hard to make beautiful for us. So inside the crystal is a beautiful Diamond Mountain meditation cottage and lots of space, but super, super quiet, much more quiet inside the penthouse, inside the middle room, inside the crystal. Super silent, very peaceful, but still pretty big and comfortable, like a good-sized meditation room with lots of sunlight coming in.

It's very important as you focus your mind that you keep things nice and open, lots of sunlight and fresh air, not tight or like a jail cell, not like that, like one of those beautiful Diamond Mountain cabins, but very, very silent, fourth form realm level. Big emphasis on single-pointed inside a single crystal. Keep your face relaxed, keep your fingers relaxed, keep your mind open and relaxed.

Now we're going to exercise the mind more, which is the goal of these first eight levels, just to warm up, just to strengthen our concentration. We don't have a meditation object yet. We're just warming up.

We're just stretching our meditation legs So now inside the sugar crystal, imagine a vast ocean, like the Pacific Ocean, huge, thousands and thousands of miles stretching to the horizon, beautiful blue color, very peaceful and very deep and stretching from one continent to another continent. So let your mind be that ocean water, sea water, and your mind itself is stretching from China to America or from America to Europe and deep and peaceful inside the sugar crystal. More quiet.

First formless realm level. Keep your face relaxed, keep your mind relaxed, have fun, don't struggle. Now let's expand the deep mind to include all of the blue sky.

So imagine a beautiful ocean, dark blue, and a beautiful light blue sky kissing the ocean. And it goes very, very high and your mind expands to the ocean and the whole sky inside the sugar crystal fits the whole blue sky, endless blue sky, and the ocean deep, no edges. Now we go deeper, more quiet, to the third formless realm level.

And here we just turn off the mind, try to not think about anything. So random thoughts will come to the mind and different pictures will come to the mind and feelings. And try to keep the mind like an empty space.

Try to turn it off. If a thought comes up or a feeling, just go after it like a missile and stop it, face it, and stop it and say, we're not thinking about anything right now. You have to wait.

Eighth level, fourth formless realm level. DUS SHES MED, DUS SHES MED MEN Turn off the mind, but this time go a little bit quieter. If thoughts come to the mind, then just let them come and go like someone walking to your room.

Don't talk to them. Don't look at them. Don't face them.

Just ignore them. Mind is turned off. Any intruders, any thoughts coming in, they can just do what they want and they can leave on their own time.

I'm in a more silent place. I'm ignoring them. Now we're ready to bring a real object into the meditation.

And we'll just take a few more minutes and then we'll take a rest. So try to choose one of the teachers in your life, some important person in your life who helped you a lot. Could be your father or your mother.

Could be some other relative who helped you a lot. Could even be your children who teach us a lot. Could be a school teacher.

Could be a sports teacher. Could be the person who taught you your job. Could be a historical teacher like Buddha or Jesus or Muhammad Nagarjuna.

Very good if it's your heart lama. And if you don't have a heart lama yet, it could be the heart lama that you dream of. So choose one of these teachers and invite them here to meditate with us.

And they come in the room. Your eyes are still closed, but you can see them. And they come in very happily, gracefully.

And they sit down on a meditation cushion in front of you. I like to say, knee to knee, and you can feel the warmth of their body, the fragrance of a beautiful person. And they settle down and they have this little smile because they're really glad you're thinking about them.

And their eyes are open and they're looking at you with great love and affection. Oh, this is the person I worked so hard to teach. We had good times together.

We had hard times together. But I'm so proud of you. I'm so grateful for you in my life.

We've done beautiful things together. So just enjoy having your teacher here with you. Think about the gifts they gave you in your life, how much it has helped your life.

We'll spend a minute or two enjoying the presence of our teacher and appreciating what they did for us. And then we'll take a break. Then do three long exhales.

Don't open your eyes yet. Don't move yet. Follow three long exhales.

When you reach the end of an exhale, breathe out a little bit more and your lower abdomen will tighten. Take a smile. Open your eyes.

Take a stretch. Drink something. Drink something.

Over here, Joel. California boy. Hi.

Hello. It's a little bit of a challenge It's a little challenging to cultivate nar.

[Speaker 2]
It's a little challenging to cultivate nar when you're going through the stages. So by the end, my mind was, it wasn't dull, but it was very ready for an object.

[Speaker 1]
Do you have a suggestion to keep the mind lucid and clear as you're going through these phases to keep the attention clean? Okay, good. Two options.

It's kind of a diamond deal. First of all, as we'll be seeing, especially the goal of going through these eight levels, four-form realm, four-formless realm, is to exercise the mind, to mix it up. So a big part of the goal of the Lion's Dance, especially the first eight levels, is to mix it up.

So it's not really a single-pointed meditation. There's an argument by my teacher's teacher, Tujang Rinpoche, that the whole thing can be considered one object. But I think that was for him.

And I think for us normal people, it's a little, we can't get single-pointed because we have to move on to the next level. So that's kind of the goal of this meditation, the first eight levels, is to struggle with keeping the mind single-pointed while we change the visualization. And it's going to get worse on purpose.

Like he's going to throw in the air conditioner between the ocean and the sky. And then he's going to put the air conditioner in the sugar crystal in level five, in stage five. And it's like when Geshe-la, when you work for Geshe-la, right Wangcha?

And he throws things at you. You think everything's fine. Then he throws a new thing at you.

And you're like, oh, oh. And then you do that thing. And then when you're calm, then he throws another thing at you, like Tianjin or something.

So that's kind of the name of the game in the first eight levels. But if you like, you're free inside your own mind. It's your meditation.

You know your mind better than Geshe-la knows your mind. And you can stop at something you enjoy. You could stop at the ocean and spend the rest of the meditation there.

So you have that. You're the boss of your own meditation. And if you feel like, you know, my work's a little crazy today, and I have two or three problems going on, and Geshe-la, I don't need to exercise my mind today.

I just need some peace, you know. Then you can stop at the ocean, and you can stay there for the rest of the meditation. And then, you know, bring your lama to the door, to the window, and say hi, and then stop the meditation.

And then the next day, if you feel stronger, if your mind feels stronger, you can mix it up. So you can go either way. You can go either way.

If you need more focus, if you need more quiet, you can stay someplace. It's your meditation. And in a way, a Buddhist meditator has to be self-medicating.

You know, somebody changed the... There was a teacher that said medication, and they changed the C to T. But it's your meditation, and it's your life.

And you kind of have to adjust your meditation to how your life is going today. Any other questions?

[Speaker 2]
Thank you, Geshe-la.

[Speaker 1]
You're welcome.

[Speaker 2]
Before, when we did the lion's dance, there was the drop into the vast ocean. And at that point, I always felt like it was a two-dimensional spread, infinite spread. And then it turns into the vast space, which was more three-dimensional.

And this time, I didn't feel that. Can you help me?

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, no, it's a good thing. I think especially with DCI, what we see... We go on these tours.

We speak to many, many thousands of people. And we watch them, and we get new ideas how to present ideas. And what we realized about DCI especially is it never stands still.

It's always moving. It's always developing deeper. And you're reading for the lion's dance, the 50-page reading.

The first part was a year, two years ago in Mexico? Two years ago. And then the second part was, I don't know, Diamond Mountain one year later.

And then the third part was today. And you're going to say, Geshe-la doesn't teach it that way anymore. And that's correct.

But if some way I taught it before is more comfortable for you, then feel free to go that way. If the drop in the ocean helps you to expand your mind, feel free to go that way. I'm staying within a certain description from the scriptures, so I know what the scripture says.

And I'm following that. And I have about, I don't know, 300 pages of notes in Tibetan. So I'm staying within that description, but I'm modifying it according to people I meet and feedback I get from students.

And I think when you're teaching, you listen to your students, you see what works, you see what doesn't work, you see what works better, and you modify. But you stay within the scriptures. So do it either way you feel comfortable to you.

Try on, it's like you get a new pair of pants, and try them on. And if it feels good, then buy that pair also. And if it feels better, the old pair, then stay with the old pair.

And that's fine. Everything I teach is within the boundaries of the scripture. So either way.

It's your meditation, especially at home during this week, in the afternoon. It's your time. It's your meditation.

The only thing I request is that you try not to talk this week. And I had many proposals from people for meetings, or many proposals for special classes, and I said, No. I really think all of us need some quiet time.

We all need some silence. So it's your week. And I've tried to build the week so that you have a lot of time by yourself.

We resisted a lot of activities and a lot of different programs. It's mostly your time. But don't waste it talking, okay?

Especially the staff. The staff means me and people who work closely with me. And try not to talk during this week.

And we put internet in the cottages because of concerns about your safety. We want, if a snake bites you or a wild pig carries away your breakfast, we want you to be able to call somebody or contact somebody. But don't use it.

I was in China giving a program, and it's very interesting in China now. There's a little rack at the door. And it's not uncommon in China.

In all kinds of programs, they ask you to leave your phone at the door. And there's a special slot to put your phone. And going out, you can upgrade your iPhone.

So we're not going to take away your iPhone. We're not going to take away your computer. Because you're adults, and it's up to you.

You paid a lot of money to come here. You took a lot of time. Somebody in your family or at your work gets irritated with you for coming.

And you have a chance to make some big change in your life. If you're really quiet this week, my friends who are business people, I tell them, go on a retreat twice a year. Do five days.

Do seven days. At least twice a year. And they're like, I'm too busy.

Then if some of them do it, and then suddenly they get a new idea for their business, and their business doubles. In the next year, their business doubles because they did retreat. And their mind was rested and cooking and new ideas coming up.

So don't think your little work that you have to do, we all have work to do. But this week, try to give your mind the chance to have some new ideas. Or you can sit in your cabin and pay for the airplane and pay for the cabin and do the same thing you do at home.

It's kind of silly. It's up to you. Okay, Geshe Michael?

Okay. One more question? All right.

You ready to go on the second part? Okay, here we go. ,RTEN CING BRAL BYUNG LUG TU DANG, ,LUG MI MTHUN LA RTOG PAR BYAS, When you get into the lion's dance, said who?

Maitreya? Maitreya? Mila?

Mila Bosa? He said, after you finish those eight levels, then bring your teacher, and then go to two things. A.

Dependent Origination. Go to Dependence, Wheel of Life. And then go to Emptiness.

That's the goal of the eight steps. We're going to go to Dependence, and then we're going to go to Emptiness. So my ideas today will go to Dependence, and we'll start Emptiness in the class.

Okay, all right, here we go. Blow your nose. Make sure your phone is turned off.

If you want to be popular in this class, rattle some papers, or move around, or drop a water bottle is popular. Okay, here we go. So please come back to the air conditioner, and just try to rest your mind on the air conditioner.

Don't fight, don't struggle. Have fun. I'm 65.

I realize the most important thing in whole life is fun. So have some fun. Don't be too serious.

Please bring your teacher back to the room. Reconnect with your teacher. There is something about each teacher in our life.

Each one gave us a different gift. Each teacher kind of had their own specialty. One teacher was a great example of compassion, and another teacher was a great example of curiosity, and then maybe another teacher was a great example of discipline.

So think about the teacher in front of you, the one you chose to meditate with today, and think about what was their specialty. What was their main personality characteristic which taught you something? Think of one thing about their personality which was an education for you.

Now we're going to go to our past life. Imaginary trip to our past life. We cannot see our past life directly, most of us, I think.

I cannot at this moment. Think about an imaginary past life where you did something kind, or good, or your personality had a smaller seed of this beautiful characteristic of your teacher. So if your teacher is a very patient person, and you admire the patience of your teacher, even under stress, even around people who are very hard, if your teacher is very patient and you admire how they keep their cool, they never get upset, then try to imagine a person who lived in the past, maybe in another culture than your own right now, maybe a different country, a different race, a different sex, even male or female, and this person was very patient. They were learning to be patient. And I like to make a little movie.

I like to have some drama. You know, this person was attacked by a person with a sword, and instead of getting upset or angry, they were peaceful, and they spoke to the person with great calm and with great love, and the person felt it, and they stopped their violence. And imagine some event in your past life where you must have been very patient and you planted a seed in your mind, which became your teacher in this life.

Interdependence, dependent origination says that there's nothing in your life now that isn't coming out of seeds in your own mind. You must have planted a seed for this teacher in your life. So try to make a story.

You have freedom. It's your meditation. There's no rules.

You can go any place, any world, any century. It's your imagination is the only limit. And remember that what you can imagine is also coming out of seeds.

There's some truth. There's some reality to a past life that you cannot see directly, but you can rebuild it. You can reconstruct, what did I do in my past life based on something beautiful you see in your teacher.

You are responsible for that. It's not inside your teacher. It came from a past life event.

So have fun. Make it beautiful. Make a nice movie.

Don't be lazy. Don't start thinking about lunch or something you have to do. You are here for learning.

We are rewiring our mind. And take a few moments. We won't go very long.

Make some kind of movie where you are really the hero and you do something really beautiful and amazing. And you have that right. You have countless seeds in your mind from amazing things you did in the past.

So enjoy. Don't feel you have to be modest or you have to limit this movie in any way. You are the hero of the movie and you did something really beautiful.

So try to imagine what was it. We'll stay here a few minutes. Then please come back to Lama's presence and then take three long exhales.

When you reach the end of an exhale, again, breathe out more until your lower stomach tightens. And then slowly open your eyes. Take a stretch.

One or two more questions and then we're going to take a pee-pee break. Any emergency questions more important than pee-pee? No?

Okay, take a break. Fifteen minutes and we'll come back. Okay?

Maybe Geshe-la will do a mandala when we get back. Okay?