KARMA & EMPTINESS

IN THE YOGA SUTRA

(PART TWO)

Quiet Retreat Teachings

by Geshe Michael Roach

April 17 20, 2003

Diamond Mountain Retreat Center
St. David, Arizona

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day One John Brady

Morning: Day One D April 17

John Brady
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Diamond Mountainthis beginning of an
amazing four days of teachings; the final remarkable teachings of the last three years. So,
fasten your seatbelts. Its going to be wonderful. I think we can start with a 10-minute
meditation and just quiet down for a bit.
[Silence]
[Mandala offering]
[Refuge Prayer]
So good morning again. Geshe-hla had asked me to address the teaching toward
how we can continue our practice during the day, and during our work time. How do we
bring this beautiful, extraordinary gift that weve had over the last seven years of ACI
courses and Geshe-hla teachings. How did we pull this all together? Have a practice that
can go back into the world and not be left on your cushion after your 8:15 alarm goes off.
Its so difficult to do that. Usually when I walk out my door in New York and I hit the
street, the mental afflictions start pouring over me. So Ive figured out a few ways to do
that over the years and I wanted to share with you some of my kind of practical formulas
that seem to work, in the work place, and whatever else were actually doing in our lives.
We have to bring this practice to focus on the many things we do, in the multi-tasking we
do all the time. Or else were just wasting our time.
I think before I met Geshe-hla, I think the causes that I created to meet Geshe-hla
were through Zen study. And I began like this Zen-head in 1984. I started reading a lot
of books on Zen and one of them turned me around; Roshi Phillip Kapleau called it The
Three Pillars of Zen. I think he wrote it in 1973 and he took the veil off the mysticism
of Zen Buddhism, which the Japanese had kept secret for many years in terms of the
inner workings of how their systems of meditation worked. And it was really the first
time in America, this invasion happened in the late 60s and then the beginning of the
70s when he was funded to start centers. And his book led me into a Zen path for a
while.
to New York, I was looking in a bookstore one day and I found Suzuki Roshis
book Zen Mind-Beginners Mind. Which again, was this beautiful masterpiece of how
to maintain mindfulness in your life. The little bookmark, which came with the book in
this oriental bookstore I was in on West 57th Street, had a message. It said do Zazen
now! New York Zendo, East 67th New York. I read the book and tucked it away. One
day I passed the place and I knocked on the door, but there was no one there. There was
a schedule. Thursday night, 7:00PM, come and learn how to meditate. And so I went,
and that was the beginning of a ten-year relationship with Zen. It became almost this
obsession. I had just entered a new job, and what I learned was that the balance of work
was not in my thinking. I would do twelve, fourteen-hour days and then go home,
collapse, and do it again.
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And so when I entered this path, the first thing that I found remarkable about it
was you entered this carriage house, in this non-descript building on East 67th Street, and
you entered this remarkable space. And you know, looking back now the actual esoteric
nature of Zen Buddhism is this stripping away of external stuff. So you walk into their
space and theres nothing but sheer, almost emptiness. Its almost The metaphor of
emptiness, an internal relationship with Zen is the space itself. It just, it exudes it. You
know, present is your alter and your condiments of your alter, and then these Zen lines,
the Zazen cushions that run in straight lines. In this particular sect of Zen Buddhism,
Rinzai, practiced by the shogun class of Japan, who brought it into their culture full force
and so its of this military form. But these lines, again, reminded me of almost tantric
lines, where everyone sat in these perfectly three foot square zabuton cushions and faced
the wall for forty-five minutes to watch and count their breath.
So I jumped onto this path. The Teacher was this colorful character named Edo
Shimano Roshi, who I thought was the real thing. He was the dharma heir of Yasutani
Roshi and Soen Roshi, from Ryotakaji temple in Japan. The lineage really went back to
Bodhidharma who brought this into China. In the fifth century, 565 575 AD, and then
traveled over a thousand years and entered the Japanese culture around the 13th or 14th
century. So I started doing these little mini four-day retreats. You know, Friday night
you check your business bag and you put your dress on, your robe. Everyone had black
or brown robes, so this similarity of space created fewer distractions. Distractions were
always eliminated. So robes were essential when you were in this practice.
And that was the beginning. I began with this, this kind of silly thing sitting in
front of a wall with your eyes open and counting your breath. And I started to realize I
could definitely bring something under control in this state. The components of Zen have
evolved over the last thousand or twelve hundred years, where theyve stripped down so
much, but the essence of the practice is still there. And the relationship to the teacher is a
very formal but also immediate connection. So when you do a retreat in the Zen style
you cook. You actually cook. You do these fifty-minute rounds of meditation. You will
start with forty minutes, and then work up to an hour. And you start at five in the
morning. You do a round of Zazen meditation. You have a breakfast, and you do a
walking meditation. You do 3 more sets of meditation, and have a lunch. You do some
work, and then go back to the cushion, and end at nine oclock. So its kind of like this
pressure cooker. Its kind of incubating this energy; eliminating, stripping away the
conditional patterns of our thought processes.
And the rules were that you did not go up to see the teacher until the second or
third day, when he felt you were actually maybe ready to have something to say to him.
And this was the whole key. You really had to cook in a way that had some meaning,
and something that gave you credibility in front of this heavyweight. And so there was a
whole procedure. Say at two oclock everything was set up and the Roshi went up to the
third floor of the building, and his assistant would be on the second floorI didnt know
what to do. They tell you nothing of how to construct this procedure. But the bell rings,
and then everybody high tails it up these stairs, like a fire just hit the building. I mean
they just whip up off the cushion and just climb up the stairs and just sit in front of this
bell, and the first one who gets there just slams on the bell. And then he runs up and sees
the Roshi, and everybody else lines up in a pattern waiting his or her turn.
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And then you test your skills; you test what you know in front of this being. And
so, I didnt go the first time. I was just too intimidated. It was just so overwhelming. He
had this presence that was so overwhelming. And I just stayed on the cushion and
suffered more. You know, its just a matter of when is the break? And how can I get this
courage up to connect with this guy? And so the next day I just kind of stayed low and
kind of did nothing. And then I did, finally, run up. And you had this beautiful 19th
century bell from some gorgeous temple, and the block is 200 years old as well.
And you hear this bell go off and then you high tail it up there, and you do your
prostrations, and you get ready to present whatever you want to present: your question or
your introduction. And I knew that the Japanese were quite formal in their way, so I kind
of did my prostrations and sat in front of him. And he sat there just blank faced, no
emotion rippling over his face so you couldnt read him. And I introduced myself. The
only thing I could do was say, you dont know me, Im new here, Im willing to learn,
and Im hoping I can get some advice from you in terms of how I can do this practice.
And he finally broke, and had this big gorgeous smile. And he said, Very good, very
good! Welcome. We like people who have this attitude here. And so, after that, I
probably turned red. And you feel like a mouse climbing the walls in his presence. I was
just so uncomfortable. But I knew I was right in this place were I could connect with this
incredible teacher.
So that started it for me. I started doing these weekend sessions. Every time the
Zendo gave a weekend session I would go. And then I was invited to do these ten-day
sessions, which I had no idea what I was getting into. It just sounded so romantic. Its
up in the Catskills. You have this beautiful backdrop of six hundred acres, and a park,
and a pure water pool to go swimming. And he said, Oh, Please come. Wonderful time,
wonderful time. And so I did go. And we started withthis was a ten-day session.
First one, we started at five, and you go through this routine. You do your practice in the
morning. And this is the first time I had ever heard of the Heart Sutra. Like our
Sadhanas, they have stripped down their Sadhanas to: a refuge, a four immeasurable, the
Heart Sutra, and bodhichitta prayers.
Its quite remarkable coming from a Tibetan side now. I see that they had it so
honed and so refined, that it was all there. And the beauty of the Heart Sutra is that they
use a Makugiyo drum, which is thisJapanese Kongo drum and its very tribal and very
primal. And everyone is chanting, sixty-eight people chanting in Japanese, and the Heart
Sutra, which was just so powerful. So this introduction began and I was okay the first
couple of days. The third and fourth day, suddenly you start getting bored about just
doing your breath routine. All these thoughts are coming up and surfacing. What do you
do with all these things? Theres just the invasiveness of your conscious mind. Youre
processing of thoughts, and your processing of your stuff. You had no escape from it. It
would just come up. And there had to be a way of dealing with it. And you start
thinking about someone at work and youd have this whole scenario at work, and it
would hold you captive for an hour. You couldnt get rid of it.
So this would build for days. Friends of mine kept saying, just process it. Just
look at it. Dont grasp to it. Just look at it. Dont touch it. Let it go through you. I said
to the Roshi, I said, This is driving me crazy. What is this? What can I do about these
thoughts? And he kind of looked at me and said, Oh, so. You having problem with
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thought. And I said, Yeah, Im thinking about people I havent thought about in years.
And situations. An archeological dig is going on in my head. What do you do here? So,
he said, We have this koan practice that you can do. And we concentrate on that. This
is the way to shatter those thoughts. You can do this. You can use it to your benefit. So
you take this koan. And I said, What is it? He said, Mu! And I said, Oh, Moo.
And he said, No, not Moo. Mu! And I said, Moo! And he said, Better. And he
said, Try it again. And so I said, MOOOOO! And you know, he said, Yeah, yeah.
Okay. Now you do that. You go back on your cushion and you do that. And then he
said, On your break between lunch and the next session, you climb the mountain as far
as you can go and you Mu as loud as you can Moo!
So this is Zen. My goodness. I didnt buy a book on koans. I didnt know there
are twenty three hundred of them. And the clich ones: the sound of one hand clapping,
and what was my face before my parents were born. I didnt get one of those. I got
MOO! So Okay. Ill do this. I was so gun-ho; Ill do this Moo! For the next six days.
So we started at two oclock sitting. You know, here it is this beautiful July weather.
Youre at the highest altitude in the Catskills, twenty four hundred feet above sea level
Everything is just blooming. And this temple is a perfect replica of Ryotakji temple in
Japan. I mean its this incredible beautiful place. And the screens open up into nature,
and just flow out into each direction. Its just extraordinary. And Im there facing the
wall, Mooing! Mooooo! Moooo! I started to get it. I started to realize, yeah, I could
keep these thoughts a little bit further away from kicking my butt into some spiral trip
into never land that you do.
You start to go out, and then realize you stopped counting your breath and you
go, oh yeah, Im on forty-eight and you come back. So, Moo is taking care of that. And
then I climbed up this ridge. I said, Ok. Ill start to Moo. And I was Mooing out into
this echo chamber over the valley. And then suddenly, I heard someone go MOOOOO!
And then there was someone else going MOOOOO! You had like eight people in this
beautiful place doing Moo. Then I realized that Moo was this Moo means NO in
Japanese. Its wrapped around a story from an extraordinary being Rinzai. I think it was
Rinzai who actually brought Moo The story was that a monk, a student of Rinzai, I
could be right, Rinzai was like one of these heavyweight Zen masters like Je
Tsongkapa. A student came to him, he said, You know Roshi, I really think Does a
dog have Buddha Nature? The dog has Buddha Nature He said, MOO! No! No!
And that koan is like the Bible of most Zen practitioners for years because there really
isnt an answer to these koans, the riddles that cant be solved. And now when I think
about koans, our practice is so different in the sense that our holy objects visualized in
front of us have so much more meaning.
But Moo makes sense as well. You can use Moo for the sword swirling to keep
your mental afflictions from kicking your butt. And that was the whole point to using
Moo as this vehicle to actually obliterate these afflictions or obstacles that were coming
up in your mind. And if you were good at it, you could actually create this inner space
that you could gain a different level of consciousness after the eighth or ninth day.
Youd get a taste of that. Suddenly youd have this blissful wonderful experience for like
a minute and half. And all of the other pain and agony of your knees, and your bitching
about the food, the person next to you breathing too heavily. And all that just dissipates.
And you have this taste, this exquisite taste of bliss. And then it falls back, and youre
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back into the conventional mind and the pain.

This was my beginning. And I think the structure of it made sense to me. And I
brought it into my world. And I started practicing everyday. I would get up quite early
in the morning, 5:30. Do a thirty or forty minute sit, depending on the day. Do some
recitation. Bring in the whole Heart Sutra memorization, and bringing that on the train to
work with me. So it was this beautiful survival kit in a way. It gave me the beginning of
a day that didnt implode on me at two oclock in the afternoon. It brought me through
the day and it gave me focus. And it also gave me the opportunity that you can bring
this anywhere. I can go to the mens room for fifteen minutes and do some practice. I
think foundationally it created something quite remarkable, which created the causes for
me to meet Geshe Michael.
I was thinking about this yesterday. How many sesshins did I do? And how
many great experiences did I have? And how much I processed. How much did I
deconstruct of my own stuff? And this is about deconstructing your stuff. Its about
seeing it for what it is. Removing it. Using that Moo! Using that tummo energy. The
thing about Moo, by the way, is that Roshi used to poke your belly. He would always
say theres a Buddha in there. He would laugh and say, Theres a Buddha in there.
And Moo was the key to open up that Buddha. You know, its that tummo energy thats
in your belly. And Zen really focuses in on that key. You can open up this extraordinary
energy in your body and so on.
And emptiness, experiencing emptiness directly its not exactly They dont talk
about it. Its samadhi or satori. Until this day, the court is out. I dont know really if
emptiness, this experience of emptiness that Geshe Michael and many Lamas speak of,
has a parallel in Zen. Satori and samadhi more remind me of the experience before
emptinesswhere you realize dependent origination; when Geshe-hla talks about the pot
on the stove, and you realize its really not out there. And I really believe that a lot of
these stories about the monk who is ripe and ready to have the experience. Like suddenly
a stone enters the sandal and pierces his foot, and then he suddenly has this remarkable
experience. I dont know to this day. Im sure those folks who are real Zen die-hards
would attack me voraciously at this point I dont know to this day if its really an
emptiness experience that these remarkable beings had. But the point is that all of us in
this room, in order for us to create an evolution in our practice, we have to find a way to
find single pointed concentration.
There has to be a form to bring shine, that single pointed concentration, into
fruition. Im doing Course 17 tag team teaching with Michael Wick in New York, and in
the Vinaya class, Je Tsongkapa really states, Keep your morality. Do your vinaya.
Keep your vows. Thatll bring you into shine. Find shine. Work on it. Meditate hard.
Find your vehicle. Get to the point where you can bring that single pointed concentration
quicker into the mind stream. And then the possibility of seeing correct view, of seeing
emptiness directly is attainable. And thats it. And I think the valid vipashyana practices
and the Zen practices have those elements and those fundamentals in common. I know
people that are doing single pointed concentration in Zen centers. I know theyre doing
it. Its beautiful. And I know its attainable. Its just a pattern, and a habitual way of
learning how to do this. And I love the Meditation Course in our lineage because all the
elements are there. The Applied Meditation Course gives every aspect of how to bring
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you into this possibility. And all the aspects of Zen are almost enfolded in this. And the
preciousness of keeping a holy object in front of you is of far greater value than Moo, in
my estimation. And thats why Im here. And thats why I believe in this practice so
thoroughly.
So how do you bring these practices into our life? How do we actually create this
possibility where we dont leave this conscious awareness on our cushion? We go out,
take the bus or train, get into the job, have your coffee, and hear the kavetching, you
know? In the morning coffee clutch, what do we do? What is the bag of tricks that we
need to have in our kit to actually sustain an ongoing perpetual practice? The Book is
actually probably number one. The Book is valid. Stop, sit down, and close the door.
Do your Book, which I need to do more often. Im one of those Book lelo people. I
dont do my Book very well.
I dont think Geshe Michael knew I quit my job two years ago because he said,
talk about your work career. I quit in 2001. Thank god I left that behind. I was
responsible for the accumulation of money for my company. We had this very viable
little business within a larger company that proportionally in percentage dollars would
generate an enormous bottom line. So we had this umbrella company that generated like
two hundred million dollars. But after everything is paid, you have like eleven percent
left. Well, my little division generated six or eight million but we had a twenty-seven to
twenty nine percent bottom line ratio, which is a remarkable little combustible
moneymaker for companies. And there were only five of us. And of course every year
you need another fifteen percent increase, and to figure out how youre going to find this
new business.
So I decided, lets practice. How do I create a form that makes it harmonious for
me in this business world? And mantras were one of the keys. I asked Khen Rinpoche
about the Vajrasattva mantra and he said, Yeah, of course! Do as many as possible! Do
a Vajrasattva retreat. So that became my mantra of choice. And I would do it at lunch
hour. I would just kind of use it during the day. Im not a great manager. I was a great
salesman. I could really sell anything, and the concept that went along with it. But then I
had to manage five people, and I needed to hone my skills doing that. But the whole
point of me practicing, and how I attempted to go into the business world was by making
sure I had something of true value, and a service that would give the outside world a
business, and give us a fair profit in the process of doing business.
And my company was quite unconscious about thingswe werent using
sweatshopsbut we were making everything in China. And Id been to China. And you
go into these factories and their breaking every pollution and safety rule known to man.
You know, people are making a dollar sixty a day, pumping out things for our market
here. And its quite shocking. And its all about margin. How much you can get it for.
A five-time mark up is nice if you can get it. So I had to take a different tact in terms of
what I could do for my company. And in sales you always know that the customer who
is doing an eight thousand dollar sale will take as much work as the eight hundred
thousand dollar customer. Its just uncanny that the amount of maintenance for that eight
thousand dollar customer who orders twice a year, and the 2.3 million dollar customer is
the same. It always seems to fall into play that way. So I always went after the business
that gave us the better bang for the buck, and continuity. And when my presentations
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were put out on the table I just would not play the game of trying to sell the merchandise.
Id just worked the concept. I would just sit back and quietly present our services, our
business, our products, and our concepts of how we did business. And I just didnt do
anything else. I just felt I did not have the time or energy nor did I want to present some
kind of illusionary dog and pony show.
And it worked. It just worked. I stripped out all the highlights of what a normal
person would do to get a sale. And I felt strongly that I could go in there and if the
person was serious you knew in a minute and half if you were on board with them, and
their time was precious, and my time was precious. And thats all that mattered. If you
had something for them, I wanted a yes or no. And it worked. And it elevated a lot of
energy that had to be dissipated that can burn you out in business. So the inner
relationships in work are probably more important in how you deal with people in your
workplace. Thats where your karma ripens, thats where individuals can liberate you in
so many ways.
You know the screaming boss. I didnt have a screaming boss. But I had a
wrathful dakini as an owner of a company. And she is a remarkable woman. But she
was a wrathful dakini. And there were a lot of people that were under that umbrella. I
was not a part of that circuit. But I knew I could help people that were always suffering
in their job. You could see the suffering on a given day. I used to bring my begging
bowl to the merchandisers because I was always looking for merchandise in our
company. We had a catalog, and that catalog was the bread and butter of the business. I
mean it was a two hundred million dollar business. There were six thousand items in our
inventory. And I was trying to generate a business where I could actually supply
merchandise on hand immediately. And so I had to skillfully go into these
merchandisers, who were like guards of the merchandisethey were tough, and always
being called on the carpet for whether they had not enough or too much merchandise,
because that can just kill your business. And I used to bring my begging bowl over there
and say; I need six hundred widgets immediately for this customer in California. And
look at our margins here. They used to get a kick out of me. They were under such
pressure, and I was kind of like this rogue in the company. I had no one really to report
to. I had to report numbers and things like that, but I could do what I had to do to make
my business grow. And it worked. I got to know them personally, and I got to share
with them what they were going through in a given day. It was just so hard to work at
this place. And we were known as a revolving door in the business. It was known that
there were 17 VP of finances in my company over 18 years. I went through 9 marketing
VPs. It was just uncanny. Of course I didnt know that going in. I probably wouldve
never taken the job. But for some reason, I had a position that allowed me to do my thing
without any intervention, which made me stay there nineteen years. It was an incredible
run.
But at the same time, I thought my mission was to really help those individuals
that did not have that protection that I had in this company. And on any given day, there
would just be panic with people who were under such severe pressure, and if I could go
into their office and not talk about business, and just share some things with them to
lighten their load, I thought I was doing my practice. I thought I was helping them take a
moment and not be under such severe strain. And my friends were all these incredible
women who were middle management, who were really doing the bulk of the work. You
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know, companies just poured it onto peoplemiddle management just gets everything.
That was my task and my mission. To help these people through what I can give in a
non-business way. And it wasnt about taking them to lunch to schmooze them. It was
about, whats going on with you today? What are the dynamics of the politics? Whos
doing what to whom? How can I help? And this was a way that I could process my
practice. They kind of knew I was Buddhist, and they knew I was kind of a bit weird,
too. But they never talked about it. They would say, Oh, His Holiness is coming to
New York. Or there would be these cute little things that people would cut out for me
from Time magazine. Little did they know.
Geshe Michael has given us so many gifts on how to take this practice into the
world and how to use the emptiness teachings and the karma teachings into the world.
When Geshe Michael went into retreat he asked me to take over ACIP and he is such a
salesman. I went out with him one day when he was taking his laundry from Sixth Street
down to the Laundromat in New York on the lower East Side, and he just quietly said,
Youd really be good at ACIP. He said, its greatyou should do itit would really
be good. And by the time we got to the Laundromat, I said of course Id do it. Its just
like; its sowed up in three point four minutes. And then, before he went into retreat he
said, I am so glad that you have ACIP. Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha. He really just laid it on me
like. Its yours. Take it. Take it. But its not mine anymore.
ACIP has been the diamond in the rough for me. I really love this organization.
And ACIP, the obstaclesI had no idea the obstacles. But I did know the beauty of the
project and the product of the project had so many dimensions to it. There were so many
dimensions to ACIP, and I had no idea when I took it over. I thought, Oh, Okay. Weve
got these women and some monks putting in input and were saving these texts. But then
I went to India. And the first trip I went to India, I got to know the grassroots of these
beautiful people that were doing this work. And the Tibetan refugee camps in Southern
India. The women in the Tibetan refugee camps, it turns out are seventy percent more
productive than the monks. And theyre very, very accurate. So a lot of the work went
into the Tibetan Refugee Camps. And we set up these input centers where twelve to
twenty women would have this opportunity to be trained and then actually put in input
into our software programinto Tibetan, their indigenous language. These remarkable
precious texts, and we paid for it. And we have a sliding scale of incentives. And they
can be at home with their children. It was so wonderful to actually be there and work
with them, and then their kids would run in at two oclock after school. And they had it
all figured out. Three of them would go home with the kids, and the others would
manage. And it was just this beautiful product.
This is one of dozens of ripenings of beauty that I saw and experienced, and I
totally fell in love with the project when I saw that. Most of the Tibetan refugees in
Southern India have to go to this city of Mysore and sell sweaters on the corners to make
a living. And its a two and a half bus ride on a terrible road. And thats how they
sustain themselves. So here was this precious jewel that Geshe Michael had created that
just was flourishing. So you know, it just captured my heart and it started to pull me in.
So the practice for ACIP for me is realizing that Im simply a servant to anybody in this
organizationwhatever I can do for them, I will be there for them. And figure out ways
to make their life more comfortable. Figure out ways that make their jobs easier.
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There are Tibetan monks, ex-monks, living in St. Petersburg doing a project,
which I will talk about later. They changed their lives. They went into a culture that,
well first of all, anyone thats a foreigner in Russia is a bit intimidating if youre not
Russian. And they went into this place and started this project for Geshe Michael to
catalog one of the rarest Tibetan text collections in the worldtwenty two thousand
volumes of texts sitting in this dusty palace in St. Petersburg. And here are these two
monks coming from Sera doing this catalog project with these wind chill factors six
degree below zero in the winter. So I got to know the players and I fell in love with the
project, and I consider myself their servant. Thats really how I feel. That I need to do
anything possible to expedite the work effectively, as well as to lessen their burdens in
their realities. And realize theyre making a significant contribution on the merit scale,
not only to their culture but also to their world and to their future. There is nothing in
this project that is not a win/win for everyone in involved. Thats the other beautiful
thing. The world will ultimately be so much better for this work.
So now Im kind of in a different practice. I do a sadhana everyday. I try to do a
sadhana everyday. And I try to do my meditation everyday. And I try to do a series of
mandalas and/or mantras to keep me going. And to understand karma, in general. I think
the How Karma Works Course describes in very simple form how karma is the single
movement of the mind. Thats our karmathe single movement of the mind. And
theres 64 or 65 of them every second. And those 65 movements of the mind are creating
our reality, this conventional reality. Today were creating this incredible mandala as a
collective, as all of us experiencing this karma, which is a remarkable possibility for our
lives and our future. 64 times a second. And we need to know how to change our karma.
And we need to know what the vehicles are to bring us into a clear mind. Geshe
Michael is giving us so many possible ways to do that, for all levels. These endless gifts
of how we can understand our karma. Of how can we relate to the possibility that we can
experience emptiness in this lifetime? How can we actually grasp that? How can we
chew on that? That we can actually do this in one lifetime. Its so possible. So I
continue to struggle. I continue to fight off the lelo. Im not a morning person anymore,
after I quit my job. My whole discipline just evaporated. Totally evaporated. I mean, I
see myself in a robe and its ten oclock in the morning. You knowits funny. My
neighbor across the street living in New York everybody leaves his or her windows
nobody cares. And Im having my tea or something, and Im on the phone, or on the
internet, or doing some work and Im in my robe. And people kind of check me out.
Oh What a nice life he must have. Its ten thirty. But its not like that at all. Not like
that at all.
So we need to form this discipline in our life. We need to create a process that
gives us the benefit of mindfulness during the day. I dont do anything anymore in New
York. I used to be a like, theyd call you culture vulturesI had tickets for Carnegie
Hall, and all that stuff. Now my pleasure is: its two thirty, Im going to go to the post
office, and Ive got to run to Buy Rite and get some things. Ill pick up some Chinese on
the way back. Its great. Ive got an hour to go out. It has a different meaning. Its this
adventure. Ill go out into the world. I mean the daily pleasures of doing the ordinary
things can be remarkable. Its amazing. The post office experience in New York is such
a trip. Its just wonderful.
9

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day One John Brady

So my enjoyment, my entertainment now is going to Duane Reade drugstore, and

just checking out the merchandise. Or just having a sweet connection with this horrible
job of the cash register person. I mean, god, youve got like six hundred people a day
marching through that little store in one little place. I always see if I can make eye
contact. They never look at you. Its like, how can I make eye contact. So Ill kind of
pay slowly. And it works. Theyll kind of look at you likeWhat are you doing? Give
me the money. And you see their eyes, and you have a connection with them for six
seconds or something. And you can sometimes they will smile through their eyes.
And youll break that moment of the mechanism of pumping out the work. And yeah!
And then, just walking the streets of New York. People love to hate New York. I love to
hate New York sometimes, too. Its not an easy place all the time to be there, but I just
love the idea that youve seven million people on an island thats only seven miles long.
And it all seems to work. And its jammed packed with stimulation. Even if you strip it
down, suddenly somebody will lay on his or her horn, for it seems for like thirty seconds.
And you will get pierced and your ears will start to bleed. Recently, the noise has
become so overwhelming for me in New York. I just jump sometimes and realize this is
normal noise pollution were having today. Its a hot day and its reverberating off the
buildings louder.
But the people, looking at the faces, and this kind of its such a trip in selfexistence when youre in New York. Everybody has this contained way where theyre in
their minds and theyre constantly figuring out their next strategy it seems. Not always,
but some days I can just see that in people. How theyre not in the moment, theyre just
in their head figuring out the meeting theyre going to be involved in two hours from
now, and everyone is on a cell phone in New York. Nobody is checked into the moment.
Theyre all reaching out to touch someone on their cellular. Ive never seen anything like
it. And it just suddenly changed recently. But thats my entertainment. I dont need
more than that anymore. I threw away my television in October, so I went through this
withdrawal to get that out of my life. And then I became a radio junkie, which Ive
weaned out now. I only listen to the BCC occasionally and NPR or something like that.
But its eliminating these things in ones life to simplify your life over a period of
time, that you open the space in your heart and mind that allows you room to just
experience your nature, who you are. What youre projecting onto the world. It gives
you clarity, and it gives you focus, and it gives you possibility of seeing the raw data
sometimes. You know, how can I What is the antidote to this? Why am I
experiencing these damn kleshas (mental afflictions)? How can I figure out the antidote?
So thats part of my practice one day. You go into the streets of New York and stuff
comes up. What are the antidotes? I got to find the antidote to that. There is one out
there. I dont know what it is, but Ill find it. And thats what my practice is these days.
We had a couple of meetings with Geshe Michael these last few days, and hes
full of new ideas. There are so many new opportunities for everyone here. Its
extraordinary. Theres enough opportunity for everyone in this room to get involved.
And were not over with the meetings yet. So fasten your seatbelts. Geshe Michael is
really going to give us something so sweet and precious in all of our future, and its going
to be a remarkable opportunity for all of us here going forward. I think Ive said enough.
Thank you. Dont forget to dedicate.
10

Afternoon: Day One D April 17

Geshe Michael Roach
Well have a special meditation led by one of the care deities.
Venerable Elly: Since there is this new book, A Tibetan Book of Yoga, coming
out, I thought I would just do the tong len as it is presented in the book. OK so, first
thing, sit comfortably and watch your breath. Try to count to ten and if you lose count
start again from the beginning.
[silence]
Now bring your mind to the spot between your eyebrows. Then move your focus
up a half inch up toward the top of your head and go about an inch into your head, and
focus your concentration on that spot.
[silence]
Then bring your thoughts down to your heart. Go deep into your heart to a place
an inch or two in front of your back bone. Seat there the diamond in the rose. It has
always been there. Smell the fragrance of the flower and gaze upon the sparkling
clearness of the crystal.
[silence]
Next, think of someone you love, friend or family, who you know is going
through some kind of physical or emotional pain right now. Try to picture clearly the
room in which they are.
[silence]
Now imagine that youve gone to sit just in front of them. You are invisible, they
cant see you but you can see them.
[silence]
Now pretend that all the pain they have in their body or their mind has gathered
into a little pool of darkness at their heart. It looks like a small cloud of black ink about
the size of a coin. Pause here for a few minutes and think about how their pain feels to
them. Think of the different worries which must be going through their mind right now.
Be specific. Get to the details. Your mind will want to wander off, bring it right back to
their problem.
[silence]
Think how wonderful it would be if you could take away their pain. But what if
the only way to do that were to have the same pain yourself? Decide that you would be
willing to do even this. It is the kind of decision that brings true meaning and happiness
to our whole life together on this earth.
[silence]

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

Decide then without any doubt or hesitation that you will take their pain away and
take it upon yourself. We do this by taking several deep in-breaths. Each time we
breathe in, the little cloud of darkness moves a little further, carried by this gentle wind.
It moves slowly up their throat and then out of their nose in a black stream, like cigarette
smoke.
[silence]
This stream of darkness collects in a little cloud again, just in front of your nose.
Pause and take a few quiet breaths, to get ready for one last in breath, this is the one
which will actually bring all of their pain into you. Be brave and decide again it would
be better if you hurt than that they would hurt.
[silence]
Take one last look at the diamond in the rose; the diamond is sparkling, radiant
with light and power. It can destroy anything that touches it. It is absolutely crucial at
this point that you think about how the power of the diamond is going to destroy all of
the darkness in the very same instant that you breathe in the little cloud. This is because
our very willingness to take on someone elses pain destroys all of that pain forever, for
both them and ourselves. Never think for a moment that any of that darkness will be left
inside of you.
[silence]
Now listen to the directions and Ill tell you when to do it. In a single breath, you
will see the darkness come into your nose like a stream and collect in a tiny ink-black
cloud just in front of the diamond and then it touches the diamond as youre breathing in.
In the moment that the edge of the cloud touches the edge of the diamond, there is a
sudden explosion of golden light inside the inside of your body. It is as if a very
powerful photo flash has gone off within you at your heart. After the flash, all you can
see is the diamond lying lovely within the rose, glistening as it always does. You see a
tiny wisp of white smoke vanish into the air and all of the pain is gone. It is very
important to see that all of the pain is gone. Nobody will ever be hurt by this pain again.
So then, when you are ready, breathe in and do all of that at once.
[silence]
Sit for a few moments more quietly. Again, youre sitting in front of that same
friend or family member and you are still invisible. Just rest here for a moment, silent,
and enjoy the look on their face. Suddenly all of the pain and trouble they have been
having is completely gone. They dont know why, but they dont really care. How good
it feels now. Enjoy their happiness and be proud of yourself that you had the courage to
take their pain away.
D
Then I think if the birthday girl would be willing to lead us in a chant?

12

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

Ruth Lauer [chanted]:

Om. Om. Om.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu..
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
May all beings everywhere be happy and free.
May all beings everywhere be happy and free.
May I offer my life to that happiness and that freedom.
May I offer my life to that happiness and that freedom.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
May all beings everywhere be happy and free.
May all beings everywhere be happy and free.
May I offer my life to that happiness and that freedom.
May I offer my life to that happiness and that freedom.
Om.
D
I think before we do anything, Id like to propose a moment of silent meditation
for the child who was born yesterday. Fontaine McCullough came into this world, the
new son of the director, Winston and his wife, Andrea. And also please pray for
Andreas health, and that she quickly recovers from the birth. I heard she had a fairly
easy birth but it still must be very hard, so well do a moments meditation for mother
and child.
[silence]
OK, then well start. I think the big news is that the retreatants have come to the
end of the main part of the three-year retreat. [applause] [laughs] I think that there is
13

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

more applause from up here than from down there. [laughs] We still have another
month or two of decompression inside the retreat boundaries.
Its been very, very, hard for all the retreatants. It sounds very romantic to sit in a
yurt for a thousand days and meditate all day, but its very, very hard, very difficult, and
there were many external difficulties. The heat, the cold. . . I think one retreatant said
she measured a one hundred degree range in one day. It is a difficult area; there were
also wild animals, snakes, to deal with. And then there were the inner difficulties.
The retreatants have met together and we started speaking about two or three
weeks ago. We have been trying to record some of our experiences, and two of the
retreatants will be making a manual for people in the future who do long retreats.
The one experience that everyone mentioned independently was that going into
retreat felt like dying. There was this very slow death. It started maybe six months or a
year before retreat began and then slowly, each retreatant died, in a way: losing their dear
friends, saying good-bye to their parents and their families, losing their former work,
careers, and identity, and then finally, losing all of the external world that they knew.
And then beginning the process of losing their own normal emotions, and maybe losing
their mind, also. [laughs] But, everyone has mentioned and I think it must have been
similar for the caretakers and the director and his family that it felt like dying and so it
was really hard.
I think that what is obvious to me is that each retreatant has become a very
powerful person inside, some kind of great, incredible strength of will and spirit has been
created, and just to be in a room with them is a very powerful experience. I think that it
is inevitable that the inner power they have developed will attract sincere people and
naturally some of that experience will be spread in the world.
Sometimes we do fire offerings here after every deep retreat. It is a custom that
goes back 5,000 years, I think. We do a special mandala out of sand and then a special
platform that holy Lama Khen Rinpoche taught us to do, and then we make a fire and
then we pour in sacred grains with long prayers. Sometimes it takes five, six hours.
Then we imagine the smoke going out into the world and helping to bring peace, not only
on this world, but many worlds. And I think the three year retreat has done something
like that.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, great, beautiful Supreme Being, spoke in Central
Park before we went into retreat. He said, I can talk all my life, Ive been talking all my
life to people about doing good things. But when I think of Mother Theresa, the late
Mother Theresa, she didnt really talk so much, she just did it. In many ways, thats
more powerful than all words Ive ever spoken.
Then I think the fact of the three years, the fact that each person gave up so much
and struggled so hard to make the retreat and finish the retreat, I think it makes a
statement to the world which is more than all of us who teach people in public can ever
do.
And so, just from my own side, I wanted to say that it was a great honor and a
privilege, and it was a great lesson for me to see the determination and the holy intentions
fulfilled of the retreatants. Such brave people.
14

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

Recently, we saw, each of us, a list of people who have helped the Great Retreat.
Also weve been having extraordinary meetings with the caretakers and with the directors
of all the projects and organizations that have grown up out of the work of everyone here.
This morning I looked at the list; I was thinking how many people have helped us, and if
you only count physical help, material help, I think you can say that there were a hundred
people behind every person in retreat. For every person in retreat there were a hundred
people behind them, helping them. A hundred different people for each retreatant.
Were sort of at one hand very grateful to you and on the other hand its sort of
overwhelming to realize that we can never repay what you have done to give us this
chance. Many, many people gave up their whole lives for three years. Especially the
dear caretakers, the three original caretakers have stuck it out the whole three years with
many difficulties and even physical illnesses. There is one special caretaker who came, I
believe, over a year ago to add his strength and power to the staff and all of them have
worked selflessly. And, needless to say, the director and all the other Diamond Mountain
board and volunteers who we have had the pleasure to meet now, some of them, in the
meetings. Its very, very beautiful and exciting to see the energy and the talent and the
commitment of those people, some of whom weve never met before.
I think the three-year retreat was exhausting for the retreatants. We found out that
over three years time there is a tremendous drain on your body and your mind. To try to
struggle with your own heart and your own mind, day after day. Looking at the
caretakers and the directors, I know youve had the same struggles; I know youve had
the same difficulties: personal, and with time, with your careers, and with giving so much
of your life to this. We see it in your faces; we know you have given everything.
And I just wanted to say, before we start the Yoga Sutra, that the blood of your
lives which you have given is not in any way wasted. Its not that when the retreat ends
that all that energy is finished. Its just the beginning of a much greater energy. I can tell
you, maybe the most important thing to tell you this whole weekend is that forces,
energies, have been set in motion by your holy work. And those forces are not just
something in a small part of Arizona and not just something in this country or not just a
power that covers this world. But, your holy act has created forces which are working
through many worlds at this moment. They will ripen into something extraordinary,
beyond your imagination.
So, well start the Yoga Sutra, and then in a while well take a break. Just
before the break, Ive asked two of the directors of two of the projects or organizations
which are working to help serve the world under our general umbrella. We call the
umbrella World View. In one way because it covers the whole world; its meant to
help every person in the world. Secondly, because it involves a true understanding of
where the world has come from, and how to change the world and remove the suffering
in this world. And so, I think holy John Brady, will be first at that time, before we take
the break, and he will speak about the efforts of himself and his team around the world to
save ancient books of wisdom, which are the foundation of all that we do. And then Gary
Hirsch will speak about what we call Enlightened Business Institute, which is an effort to
bring holy ideas into corporate life.
Then well take a break after that and then well have some more Yoga Sutra.
Then I thought to ask one of the retreatants, each day, to speak. I gave them a tough
15

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

assignment. I said, You have to tell everybody the most important thing you learned in
the three years. [laughs] Theyve been sweating for three weeks. I think partly out of
nervousness and partly because its so impossible to choose a single thing that was most
important thing they learned. So today, Petra-hla will be speaking just before the second
break, about the most important thing she learned during retreat.
We see this as part of what we can offer to all of you who helped us. We dont
have any money; we dont have anything that we have made, physically. But, Im sure
when you go home after this weekend, you will still remember the one thing that each
retreatant felt was most important that they learned in a thousand days in hell. [laughs]
Then after that, well take the second break of the day and then well do some
more Yoga Sutra. Then I thought that as we get toward the end of each teaching, we
would talk a little bit about the life of Naropa-hla. Naropa is the great Indian saint who
taught many high teachings to the Tibetan people for the first time a thousand years ago.
And I thought it would be fun when we are all tired and your butts are all sore, that we
could just kind of chill out and talk a little bit about holy Naropas life.
So let me check the time. [laughter] Is it 3:30 already? Oooh. [laughs] OK,
Im sorry weve gone late already. I think well stop around 4:00 for the talks by John
and Gary.
Ill just say a few introductory words about Yoga Sutra. In three years of retreat,
I began to get a strong knowledge that all the languages of the world are connected. I
think those of you who attended the last teaching saw how the English language and the
ancient Sanskrit language and all of the languages of Europe and much from the Middle
East have come from one language. And I think one result for myself in deep retreat
was to see how they all are one. And well be speaking about that.
I think a second understanding was that on a very deep level, all the spiritual
teachings on this planet so far have all sprung from the same source, and the deeper your
practice gets, the less difference you see between the great religions and the great
teachers. In the past weve talked about Jesus and his teachings. I think with the Yoga
Sutra we are exploring on one hand, the great Hindu tradition of ancient India and also
pointing out the great confluence of two great streams of religious thought: Lord
Buddhas teachings and then the teachings of the ancient Hindu traditions, which flow
together for several thousand years in India. And that flowing together reaches a peak
about the time of Naropa, a thousand years ago in northeast India.
I think at that time, you could say that there was not much difference between
Hinduism and Buddhism. The great teachings that had come down even from the time of
the Vedas had been crystallized in India and in the great Buddhist monasteries of that
time in India Nalanda and Vikramashila, huge monastery universities, around the area
of Bodhgaya. These great traditions had married and were being followed very deeply by
thousands of monks. And there was a deep tradition of a yogi or the wandering wise
men, wise women, and so it was sort of a special time in the history of this world.
It didnt last very long, about a hundred years later, 1199, the Turks invaded that
area and all of those universities were burned, all of the monks were killed, the holy
books were also destroyed. Only what had reached Tibet survived on the one hand, and
then a strong tradition went underground, under the Muslim forces. A strong tradition of
16

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

yoga and deep meditation began to prosper underground in India, and those teachings,
over the centuries, turned into the modern schools of yoga. Whether you are following
the physical yoga of Master Iyengar or Sri K. Pattabhi Jois or any of the other great yoga
schools of India, they all spring from the same source. And if you are studying any of the
great teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, and especially the higher teachings, these have all
come from the same source.
The two great lineages combine just before Naropa. We have lists of the great
teachers of the yoga traditions, especially in the opening pages of the Hatha Yoga
Pradipika, and we have similar lists in many of the Tibetan scriptures of the great Indian
lineages. But what is very exciting to see is that the names of a great many of the
teachers are the same; which is to say that all of the Tibetan lineages are cousins of the
great Indian traditions of yoga.
Some of the shared masters are Master Shebera, who, some people say may be
Saraha, the teacher of Lord Nagarjuna. Then there is Matsyendra, Goroksha, Chaurangi
and Charpati. Some of these masters books are even found in the Tengyur, the holy
books of Tibetan Buddhism. There are many works by Master Charpati and there is at
least one major work by Goroksha. And it seems that Matsiengra may be Matsiadara,
who is Luipa, who is the great grandfather of all of the lineages of Chakrasamvara and
Vajra Yogini. So, clearly, the great yoga traditions of the world and our Tibetan
Buddhist practice have come from the same masters.
So I think its very exciting, for me, to think that we could recover the original
combination of these two great lineages. Thats one reason why we are studying the
Yoga Sutra. I dont have to repeat, I think, that the Yoga Sutra, out of about 200 lines
only has two or three lines about physical exercises; only one percent of the book is about
yoga exercises. The rest of the book is about truth and about dharma. The rest of the
book is about how a person can stop the pain of themselves and everyone else in their
world.
The Yoga Sutra contains the entire contents of all of the eighteen courses of ACI,
the Tibetan Buddhist and Indian Buddhist courses that you have all been taking, and I
think you will see that easily. But if I had to boil it down into one goal, it comes down to
the same thing we spoke about last time. Ive asked Ven. Lobsang Chukyi to put up a
painting of the head of our lineage, Je Tsongkapa, who was the teacher of the First Dalai
Lama. And in that painting up here on the wall somewhere maybe she can point to it
weve blocked out again an extraordinary meeting between Je Tsongkapa and his
main guru, Kenchen.
When Je Tsongkapa, as you remember from last teaching, was walking down the
road to meet Kenchen for the first time, Kenchen appeared in his house, at the doorway,
and hes looking out at the road watching this monk come down the road. But when he
gets close, Kenchen suddenly sees Je Tsongkapa as Manjushri. He sees a divine being
coming to his house. Hes not pretending this is a divine being, hes seeing a divine
angel walking up to his house. At the same moment, Je Tsongkapa is looking at the
doorway and sees a holy being, Vajrapani. So two people have walked up to each other
and suddenly seen that each one is, in actuality, divine.

17

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

And the whole purpose of yoga physical and mental and the whole purpose
of all Buddhism and Hinduism and Christianity and Judaism and other great religions is
to reach a paradise in this life and to make sure that everyone else comes to that paradise
also. And thats what paradise would be, we dont need to go to another place. If we had
enough holy seeds in our minds, if we were kind and ultimately compassionate to all
other creatures, then this world would become paradise and heaven for each of us,
without death and without anymore pain or hardship. So thats the goal of studying the
Yoga Sutra, and I think you will easily see that as we begin to go through the verses.
I wanted to say in warning that they will be going through some of the most
important Sanskrit words and Tibetan words that mean the same thing. And as I
mentioned last teaching, this is because Sanskrit and its mother tongue, which we call
Indo-European, are the basis of all of the languages from west India up through the
Middle-East up to all of southern, central, and northern Europe; England, Ireland, even as
far as Iceland and Russia. All those languages come from the same mother as Sanskrit.
So I think when we study something in Sanskrit it has a deep effect on our subconscious
and then we said also that by studying Sanskrit seeds are put in your mind. All the
enlightened beings of history, according to our tradition, speak Sanskrit when they
become enlightened. And then each being who listens to them hears their own language,
it could be English or French or Spanish or Hebrew or Chinese or whatever, and that
language has this power. And then lastly, that Sanskrit comes from the very sounds
within our bodies, the deep subtle sounds within our inner bodies. So its important to
get a little taste of Sanskrit.
Then for each line we will go through its meaning, we will go through how it fits
into the whole Yoga Sutra, and we will go through what it means to your life. I dont
think it is useful to teach anything like this if we cant connect it directly to our own
lives.
I presented the verses in a special order. Sometimes only part of the verse will be
treated. And so dont get confused from that. Where the verse is in bold letters in the
Sanskrit, thats how much of the verse we are talking about. Well be having different
people come up and speak the verse, and then well talk about each verse.
D
We are going to start on the Yoga Sutra. You should have your book open to the
first verse. We are going to try to go over, first, three verses that we missed last
Thanksgiving because we had to stop on time on Sunday, which we will also do this
weekend. I know many people schedule their flights tight on Sunday evening, so even if
the other evenings dont stop in time, Sunday surely will.
Also I wanted to make two points about the teaching. The first is that these holy
sutras like the Heart Sutra or the Diamond Cutter Sutra or the Golden Light Sutra or
the Yoga Sutra these are all like medicine for mankind, humankind, and therefore they
should be free to all. You should take good notes. You should make sure you get it
straight and then you are very welcome to use anything that is taught here. You can copy
the materials for your own classes whether they are connected to this World View group
18

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

or not. If you are teaching yoga to one or two people, or a hundred people, you are very
welcome to copy materials, use everything. . . tapes. . . We dont charge anything and
there is no copyright. It should be spread freely throughout the world in the way that it
was given to us by our great lamas.
Secondly, it is a tradition in our lineage that you should look over your notes. Try
to look them over twice before the next class tomorrow. I strongly encourage you that
the best way to review is to meet with other people. And I have heard that that had been
very successful last Thanksgiving, that I really encourage you to just walk up to someone
who looks interesting at this teaching, maybe somebody from another country, maybe
someone old, someone young, it doesnt matter. But whoever strikes your fancy. I very
much encourage you, say during the next break, just come up to them and say Do you
want to review together the Yoga Sutra we heard today? And then make a time to meet
tonight at a coffee shop near your motel or plan to meet in the morning someplace. I very
much encourage you, the best way to review is to sit together and just talk about these
things, what is going to be taught today. So well begin.
I dont know if well finish all of todays verses today, but hopefully we will
catch up over the next three days. So I would like to ask that the first person to read a
line could read the first line.
Cathy Hinman: And another way is to ask the Master for their blessing. Ishvara
pranidhanad va. (I.22)
Thank you. This line is from the first verse of the sutra, ishvara pranidhanad va.
First we will talk about the meaning of the Sanskrit words and then well talk about the
Tibetan words. Then well talk about what it all means. Lastly, how can you fit it into
your own life?
Ishvara is normally the name of a deity or a god in the Hindu tradition, but it can
also mean a master of anything. Its sort of a generic word for a great person or a
great master or something. Master Patanjali, who wrote the Yoga Sutra, defines what he
means by Ishvara in the next line, which is klesha karma vipakashair aparamirshta
purusha vishesha Ishvara, which means. . . Ishvara is a very special kind of person
who is no longer bound by the problems of negative thinking, or the bad deeds that
negative thinking makes you do, or the whole storehouse of seeds which is created by
what you do.
So what he is saying is that, When I say ishvara, what I am referring to is a
special person purusha vishesha who is free of negative thoughts, and then the bad
deeds of body or speech that negative thoughts make us do, and is therefore free of all the
negative seeds in their mind. As we go on through the next few lines of the first
chapter, he says, sa purvesham api guruh. What Im referring to is the lamas or the
teachers or the gurus of people gone by in the past.
So from that we learn that the word master here, or ishvara, is referring to a
spiritual teacher. Ishvara has two parts to the name. Ish means to seek something or
to look for something; i-s-h. The root in ancient Indo-European, even before
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

Sanskrit, is ais, a-i-s, and it has come into the English word to ask or to seek for an
answer. The second part of the name ishvara, vara, means to select, or to choose
something, or to be very good. The ancient Indo-European root is werh, w-e-r-h,
and is found in a very interesting word in English, eureka, which means I found it.
So in a way ishavara means to select or to find what you are seeking for. And later
the word ish came to mean a powerful person or a master.
We see the word ishvara in the word Avalokiteshvara. The Tibetan name for
the deity Avalokiteshvara is Chenrezig, and its believed by Tibetan Buddhists that His
Holiness the Dalai Lama is this deity. And so you see ishvara used in the word
Avalokiteshvara as a powerful being who avaloke. Avaloke means looks upon all
creatures with love. So His Holinesss real identity is the ishvara of avaloke; the
powerful being who looks upon all of us with great love. The corresponding Tibetan
word is jewo and it means a master or a lord, as in master and servant. We see this je
in the name of Je Tsongkapa whose paintings are spread all over the walls of the tent and
who is the teacher of the first Dalai Lama, and who began our lineage, the Gelukpa
lineage of the Dalai Lamas.
I think the next key word is pranidhana. Pra means to come forward and its
the basis of the word forward and also proud, coming forward, or the prow of a
boat, meaning the front or forward part of a boat. Ni means to go down and is
found in the English words beneath and nether world; the nether meaning down.
Da, dana, means to set something down. The Sanskrit root is dha, d-h-a, the ancient,
ancient root is dhe, d-h-e, and we find this root in many English words. For example
to do, deed, its the root of the word doom, meaning something that is fixed.
When this word goes into Latin it changes into, let me see, ef and becomes the word, the
basis for the word fact or factory, and then coming in through Greek it changes into
t-h-e, like in the word thesis all of them meaning something which has been set
down. A fact is set down, a deed is something set in writing, and a thesis is something
set down in an idea. So pranidhana means to set down, to reach out, and then set
down something. And its become a word for a prayer. The Tibetan is munlam, which
means to make a prayer. And so really what this line says is that you should find your
ishavara and you should go set your prayer at their feet, down at their feet, and you
should ask them to bless you.
It is natural that in the very beginning of a Sanskrit ancient book there should be
some description about the importance of a teacher. Weve said countless times that
when you learn anything you must find a great teacher. You cant learn the secrets of the
universe from a book. You cant just guess them for yourself. We need to build on a
lineage of thousands of generations. We need to find a lama or a guru who has the
complete lineage and who has actually realized those things in their own mind and their
own heart. When you find a person like that, you have to go to them and beg them to be
taught. You have to ask them for teaching.
There are many lists of qualities of a true teacher, but I think the one that is most
succinct is the one that says a teacher should have three qualities.
The first one is that this teacher must be working on a higher plane. This teacher
shouldnt be concerned with worldly, temporary things. This teacher must truly see the
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Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

suffering of this world and they must be intent on bringing themselves and others out of
ultimate suffering: death itself. It has to be their real motivation.
Secondly, teachers should have kindness. I think of two kinds of kindness in this
world. To me they look like an airplane flying through the sky. The first kind of
kindness is to serve others temporary needs. To me it is like the airplane stewardess
going around and serving orange juice and peanuts to people. If they still give them
peanuts, I dont know. But ultimate kindness is the pilot who realizes that the airplane is
having a serious technical problem and is about to fall down and kill everyone in the
airplane. I mean a real lama, guru, should be working on the level of kindness that
addresses peoples ultimate suffering: death. The rest of the kindnesses are almost like to
me orange juice and peanuts in an airplane which is falling down. The lama or teacher
should be operating on this level of an ultimate kindness of trying desperately before the
airplane hits the ground to find a way to protect all of the beings in that airplane to bring
them to safety. Among this second quality is a sense of the universality of it all. A
teacher should be working not for themselves, not for a few students, not for even just
one country, not for a single planet. A teacher, true teacher, should be working for the
ultimate benefit of beings on countless planets and attempting to appear and teach in
those planets all at one time.
The third quality of a true teacher is to have the knowledge that would help
countless people. Without the knowledge, in the scriptures, they say, you are like a
mother with no arms. How can you pick up the baby? How can you help the child? A
true teacher must have a clear, hopefully direct knowledge of how to actually protect
countless beings. Not in the sense of peanuts and orange juice, but in the sense of
protecting them from death itself and from the suffering of life itself on countless planets.
And so the third quality is a true knowledge of how to stop suffering.
The line says ishvara pranidhanad va. Va means or, or else, or you can
also. Master Patanjali has just completed talking about the five powers of the second
path, the path of preparation. He says theyre shraddha, virya, smirti, samadhi, prajna.
These are five qualities that we need at the beginning of our spiritual quest.
The first is faith, meaning you believe in this teaching and a particular teacher
because you have begun to see the importance of what they are teaching. Virya means
effort. You have started to take great joy in the practices you need to reach the final
goal. Smirti means recollection. Throughout the day you are aware of your mind.
You are thinking about karma, emptiness. Samadhi means you are learning to meditate
deeply. Prajna means wisdom. You are struggling to understand where suffering and
death itself comes from. Those are five extraordinary methods that all of us need to use
even at the beginning of our practice, but then Master Patanjali says Ishvara
pranidhanad va. Va means, you know you could save a lot of time just by asking your
teacher; just by throwing yourself at the feet of a truly qualified guru or lama. Va means
you could cover the same mileage just by finding a true teacher. Well talk more
tomorrow about that idea because we will be talking about how Naropa found his teacher
Tilopa and how he learned from him. Lets go onto the next verse please.

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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

John and Nancy Yates: Learn to withdraw the mind from your physical senses;
freed from its ties to outer objects, the mind can arrive at its own real nature.
Svavishaya- asamprayage chittasya svarupa-anukara ivendriyanam pratyaharah. (II.54)
What is the first keyword here? Indriya. Oh, I like this word. Indriya means
your sense powers: the power of the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body to
touch, and the mind to sense. We count five physical powers and one mental power.
Here Master Patanjali is talking mainly about the five sense powers: seeing things,
hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling things (touching).
I like the word indriya. It comes from the word indra, which, as you know,
means a powerful god or deity, called Indra. Theres a big debate in the ancient texts
about where Indras name comes from. Some texts say theres a root called inder, but
most people agree thats just made up later from the word indra itself. Some people say
the very word, e, which means to go or to drive something is the root for this
powerful deitys name. But I like the scriptures which say the name of this deity,
powerful one, comes from an ancient root und, u-n-d, and the u changed to i
later. Und means to make wet, undra or indra means the one who makes something
wet.
This was believed to be, even in ancient Vedic times, a god who sent the rains
because rains are so powerful. Everything, the whole food supply of the entire culture
depends on this wetness of the rains sent down by the powerful god. The ancient IndoEuropean root is wed, w-e-d, and we see it in a lot of English words, like wet or
winter, meaning, the wet season. We also see the ancient root und in the word
inundate, meaning to drown or cover something with water. Maybe the funniest
two words are whiskey, the word water itself, and also vodka. The v-o-d comes
from the w-e-d. They all mean something wet, a beverage. The Tibetan word is
wangbo, and those of you who know about some Tibetan, the word wang means an
empowerment. So again you have the sense of power.
Why do we call the sense powers, powers? The ancient Abhidharma texts say
because they assert energy or power toward their objects. The eye, for example, has the
power or capacity to go out and grasp an object. So we call them sense powers. Also,
each sense power has power or authority over a certain realm, only the eye can perceive
colors and shapes. Only the ear can perceive sounds. So, in a sense, each of them has
power over a different realm.
Whats the next key word? Pratyahara? Pratyahara is a nice word; it means
withdrawal of the senses. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, which is a much later but
extraordinary book on tantric practices, basically, and which we shall study someday
together, theres an example of this word used in its original sense. Theres a special
yoga practice called dhauti, where you swallow a length of cloth and then pull it back out
of your mouth to remove impurities in your esophagus and other parts of the upper chest
and body. And that has an effect on the inner channels. But in the verse in the Hatha
Yoga Pradipika, it says dont forget to pratyahara the cloth, which means that you have
to pull it back out. So in a sense you see how the word means to withdraw something.

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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

Prati is found in the English words portion, or part, meaning, one by one or
piece by piece. A means onto or at and probably related to the English word, at.
Hara comes from an ancient Sanskrit root called hir, which you can spell as h-i-r,
which means to grab or to pull. And the ancient Indo-European root is gher, g-h-er, and that came into English in many nice words. For example, the word garden; the
gar comes from the same root as pratyahara. Words like grab or grasp come from
the same. The word court or courtyard comes from a closed in place meaning,
everything has been closed in or confined, withdrawn from the normal world. It
comes into Russian as gorod, as in Leningrad or Petrograd or Norgorod. And I
like the word koros in Greek, comes from this, which originally meant, an enclosed
place for sacred dance. And then the English word choir and chorus have come
from that, because in the Greek times, the sacred dance had singing accompanying the
dance within the coros. So you see where pratyahara has this sense of closed in,
bringing your senses back into your body, away from the outside world. The Tibetan
equivalent is so sor dupa or sordu. Sor means to bring in the senses one by one. Suck
in the eye sense, close it down; suck in the ear sense, close it down; stop the nose and ear
senses; stop the stimulation to the body sense. Du means to draw back.
I think the next one is svarupa. And then well get the meaning of the whole
verse. Sva means self, your self. The ancient Indo-European root is swe, s-w-e,
and it has come into words like self or suicide, meaning own self. It gets changed
to s-e-d, sed, in Latin. And then from there it goes into words like id or idiom,
meaning self. When it comes through Greek, that s-e-d changes to e-t-h and
becomes the root of the word for ethics or ethnic, meaning the own system, or the
own way of the people. And of course the word, idiot, [laughs] i-d, comes from
the same root, meaning a very peculiar, self-oriented person. So we see where sva,
means self. Then rupa, I think many of the Buddhist people here know, means body
or form, physical. And we see the word like rupakaya, meaning the physical body
of an enlightened being. The ancient Indo-European root is kwrep, k-w-r-e-p. The
k drops out, and the w, and you get words like rib, meaning part of the physical
body and midriff, meaning, the strong part of the torso, the physical body. This
root also becomes the word corpse and corps, as in Marine Corps, meaning a body.
You also see it in the word rupee in India nowadays, meaning physical value of a
coin. So it has meanings of physical body or nature. So svarupa means your own
nature.
Now I have question to ask all of the Buddhists here, Do you have a svarupa or
not? Do you have a nature or not? There is a yes, any nos? Theres a lot of nos.
Any yawns? No. [laughs] By the way, rangchen in Tibetan means. . . rang means
own, shen means face or likeness. Do things have their own face? Do things have
the way they are? Do things have their own svarupa? To answer this question and to
understand the Yoga Sutras and many, many people throughout history have not
understood the Yoga Sutras you have to understand Arya Nagarjuna, Asanga, and also
Vasubandu, who lived in the same time as Master Patanjali, roughly. They divide your
own nature into two. There is a yugu rangshen and a megu rangshen; there is a nature
that you have, and there is a nature that you dont have. In the Yoga Sutras the same
word is used for the nature that you do have and the nature that you dont have.

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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

So Ill ask you another question. If Master Patanjali is saying, Look, if your
meditation is good, if you do pratyahara, if you can withdraw your senses, and go deep
within your own mind, only then can you discover, your svarupa, your nature. Do you
think he is talking about the one you have or the one you dont have? [laughs] Its a
slippery question actually. The one that you have, is the one that you dont have. But
anyway. . . [laughs] Well give the example of a difficult person that you met today,
because its always good to discuss these things in terms of pain and suffering. Thats
the only time when we are really interested in the true nature of things. How did this
person show up in my life? What is this persons real nature? Because if I could know
the key to their real nature, maybe I could avoid them tomorrow. Maybe I could make
them go away. This applies to everything up to physical illness and death itself. But
well talk about it in terms of a person that you dont like.
Do they have a nature of being unpleasant? [laughs] Some say yes, some say
no. The test in Buddhist philosophy is, can you perceive it? Of course. Of course;
the person is unpleasant. A person comes up and says something to you which breaks
your heart. Someone you love, someone you have served for years, perhaps, says
something very cruel to you. This is unpleasant; this has to be something unpleasant, it
has a nature. There is a nature of being unpleasant or you couldnt perceive it. And then
in Buddhism we have to ask, But is that nature belonging to that person? Does the
nature of being so cruel or hard belong to this person? Then we have to say, No. We
have to say the nature of being hard or cruel or unpleasant to me is coming from my own
mind, they dont have that nature. Prove it. There are many people who love them; there
are many people who find their words to be true and pleasing. They cant be true and
false at the same time; they cant be pleasant and unpleasant at the same time. It must be
something which is coming from my side. There is some seed in me that makes me see
them, hear them say something hard to me. There must be some seed in another person
who makes them seem pleasant.
So, if we are able to withdraw from our senses, if we are able to bring the mind
within, we can find the true nature of things, which is that they have no nature of their
own. And bringing the mind in is very difficult. If you ask the retreatants what was one
of the most difficult practices of our retreat, for three years, its to have these
extraordinary caretakers cook extraordinarily wonderful food and deliver it at the same
moment each day. How do you control your urges for eating? You know, its not like
the old days when you just picked up something on the street in New York. Here youve
got this big, huge basket of wonderful food twice a day. And youre all by yourself,
looking at this basket and youve had a whole hard day of meditation. Pratyahara
means, Can I control my tongue? Can I control my urges, my stomach? And its a
very difficult practice. But you cant succeed in meditation if you cant withdraw when
you need to withdraw from things like music, sounds, or talking with other people, which
is the opposite of silence, or looking at movies, or looking at people, or looking at the
thing on the other side of your retreat fence. If you cant withdraw your mind from these
sense objects when the time comes to do it, then youll never see the real nature of things.
It has to be done wisely, you need to enjoy food and you need to use it wisely, and the
same with the other sense perceptions. Next verse please.

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Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

Lisa Schrempp: The first commitment is to cleanliness. Shaucha santosha tapah

svadhyayehvara pranidhanani niyamah. (II.32A)
[laughs] Obviously, the English is only part of the verse. I broke some of the
verses out because they had like four or five separate subjects.
I like the word shaucha. The ancient Sanskrit root is shuch, meaning to gleam
and the ancient Indo-European root is skai, s-k-a-i, and from this root come the English
words scintillate, which is why its spelled s-c, also, to shine. The one I like is
scone, which originally meant a shiny pastry. And even the word squirrel comes
from skai, meaning a flash, something you usually only see as a flash. Shaucha means
to be clean. The Tibetan word is tsang, tsang-je. To give you an example of the
Tibetan word, when we make holy offerings on an altar or when we offer tea to a being
like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, you will often see the attendants wearing a mask
across their face. This is called tsang-dra. Tsang-dra means ritual purity. Meaning
you have to keep... Normal people like us have dirty minds. Our minds are very
disorderly and mixed up, and then wearing something over our mouths when we serve a
holy being or when we prepare sacred offerings is a sign that we are hoping that the
uncleanliness of our own hearts will not pollute the offerings.
I think the next word in niyamah. Niyamah is an important word in the Yoga
Sutra because, as you know, Master Patanjali outlined eight major activities that can lead
us to enlightenment. Eight in Sanskrit is ashta, branches or parts of a practice are
called anga, and then astanga became very famous in this country as a name for a
special school of yoga. But in the Yoga Sutras these are eight different activities that we
need to engage in if we hope to achieve the yoga of seeing everyone around us as a
sacred being. Pratyahara was one of them and now we have niyamah as another one.
Ill talk about the word... Ni again means, in this case, definite. The Tibetans
translated it with nge. Yama, to me, is a very beautiful word. The ancient Sanskrit root is
ya, y-a, and it means to reach out for something in the sense of reaching for the
reigns of a horse and trying to control that horse. So ya came to mean restraint, trying
to restrain something. The Tibetan equivalent is sung, which means to hold, or to
restrain, or control something.
This root split into two different meanings. Because of the reigns of a horse,
which are the earliest method of control, the root came to mean double or duel. This
came into ancient languages, Indo-European languages, as gem, g-e-m, meaning
twins, and that is the root of the word Gemini, meaning the twins. The other half
of the root split off meaning to seek or to reach for the reigns; became the IndoEuropean ye, y-e, meaning to reach, or to seek, or to desire desperately, and
comes into English in the words jealousy, and zealot.
Its an interesting story of how this word that means either twins, or to
control, or to restrain came into Indian mythology and into Tibetan Buddhism. If you
say the word as yama, yama means reigns or control, but if you make the accent on
the end and you say yama, it means the Lord of Death. When we say Yamantaka, we
mean the Lord of Death. Yama meaning the Lord of Death and antaka meaning the
one who makes the end, who brings the end. So, Yamantaka means Yama, The Lord
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

of Death, who is the antaka. Anta means end; ka means to do, like in karma.
The end doer. The end bringer. Yamantaka, The Lord of Death, often carries a
pasha, a noose, and he uses that to restrain the spirits of the beings who died. So, in that
sense, hes also the restrainer.
The way he got his name, Yama, is that when he died he was a human he
died and then his sister was crying for him, and so she asked the gods, Could you stop
this pain I have of my brother having died? So the ancient gods of India said, We will
give you a half day off; well create something called night. And during the night you
can sleep and rest from your mourning. And so yama and yami came to mean night
and day, or the twins, you see? Another twin.
Yama, in the Yoga Sutras, and niyamah are two words that refer to the restraint of
our own behavior; self control. Yama in the early days of the Yoga Sutra refers more to
self control; you would call it dompa in Tibetan, meaning to control oneself. Then
niyamah, its sister, came to mean commitment, or activities that you commit yourself
to.
Here, cleanliness is described as a commitment, along with four other activities.
It means attempting to keep your mind clean. But it also means attempting to keep your
physical word neat and clean. Its important for people who meditate or wish to do deep
retreat that you live in a simple place that doesnt have many objects. There should be
lots of cleanliness and tidiness about the inside of your yurt. If you maintain this inner
and outer cleanliness of your thoughts and also your environment, then you plant seeds in
your mind which will help create the paradise that you will live in. Next verse please.
John Brady: Stay in that one pure thought, and never forget it; that single most
important thing: things are empty of being what they are by themselves. Smirti
parishuddhau svarupa shunyeva-artha matra nirbhasa nirvitarka. (I.43)
I think the first key word is smirti. Smirti means to remember or to stay aware
of something all day long, so it means remember in a general sense. But when it is
used in spiritual books it most often means to stay aware of something all day long.
What am I saying? What am I thinking? How do I view my world? The ancient
Sanskrit root is smir, you can spell it as s-m-i-r. The Indo-European root, even older, is
also smer, s-m-e-r. Oftentimes an original s gets lost and so we find the mer in the
English word memory. Oftentimes when a word depends on being repeated, you see
you should be remembering what youre speaking and what you are thinking all day
long then in ancient, ancient languages, the word is repeated: mermer. And it became
memory. It is also found in the word to mourn because one remembers the lost one,
and memorial, and other words. The Tibetan is drenpa, which means to pull or to
remember, to pull up a memory. We see it in the instructions on how to meditate.
Drenpa means the ability to keep the object in front of your mind, to be able to
maintain this object in front of your mind. The sister to drenpa is sheshun, as you know
who have studied meditation, which is sort of an alarm that goes off when drenpa loses
its grip on the object. So thats what memory or awareness means in this line.

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Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

Whats the next key word? Svarupa. Sound familiar? [laughs] We said there
were two svarupas, two natures that things have. One is the nature that things have and
one is the nature that things dont have. With reference to that irritating person you met
today, they do have a nature of being irritating and its naive to think they dont. You
cant go around pretending that irritating people arent, because they are. But they dont
have a nature to be irritating from themselves. The thing you find irritating in another
person being projected from your own mind, again, because many people find them to be
quite pleasant. Thats a mini proof that they dont have a nature of being unpleasant by
themselves and its time for all of us to take responsibility, personal responsibility, for
stopping the unpleasant things in our world. They are coming from us; they are the result
of our own mistakes in the past. This person is shunya of any self nature. I think thats
the next word, no? Shunya means empty or blank. Its obviously the basis of the
word shunyata, which is the famous Buddhist idea of emptiness.
I never want anyone to go away from a teaching at Diamond Mountain or ACI or
any one of our other programs by any of our, I dont know, there must be fifty great
teachers now. . . thinking that emptiness means anything else except that this irritating
person you met today is void, or blank, or empty of being irritating from their own side.
Thats the only thing that emptiness means. It doesnt mean some kind of black hole, it
doesnt mean absence of form, it doesnt mean not thinking about anything. Those are all
very foolish and very wrong ideas. Emptiness means that people you meet who you
dont like are empty of any svarupa or nature of their own. You are creating them; your
mind is creating them. Then emptiness becomes the key to happiness. If you finally get
it, if it finally dawns on you, that the people or the events that you dont like are being
created by your own mind, forced to do so by your past deeds, then you cant ever be
again angry at irritating people. You should punch yourself.
The Sanskrit root here is shu, which means to swell up into a bubble shape and
came to mean something empty or with a cavity inside. The old Indo-European root is
kweu, which is k-w-e-u, and comes into the English words cave and cavern,
because they are swollen places that are empty inside. I think it is very interesting that
the word church comes from the same root, originally meaning a holy place that was
swollen with sacred power.
And its important, Master Patanjali is saying, that we walk around all day long
with this understanding, this constant awareness of emptiness. Religion, you know,
spiritual practice at its most gut level, is all about trying to avoid pain and unhappiness.
Its all about trying to avoid everything from an irritating person or an irritating thought
in our own mind, up to death itself. Master Patanjali is saying you must, as you walk
around during the day, maintain this awareness. Every time something unpleasant comes
to you, look at it and realize that its empty of being what it is from its own side. Its
coming from us. We have to try to keep our niyamahs and yamas, we have to keep our
own ethics and morality clean, and then we wont be seeing these unpleasant things.
Id like to do one more verse and then Id like to have one of the retreatants talk
about her most important realization.
Oh, Im sorry, did I miss a word? Nirbhasa. I like this word. Its in the Sanskrit
verse and its not in the part of the English that I translated for this class. But its such a
neat word that we have to do it anyway. Nir, in this case, means to go out, to shine
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Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

out. Bhasa means to shine. The Sanskrit root is bha, b-h-a. You find it in the
word Amitabha, which is mispronounced as Amitaba. A means not. Mita means
measurable. Bha means light. Amitabha means the deity or the holy being who is
shinning with infinite light.
The ancient Indo-European root is bhe, b-h-e, and I think it is kind of exciting
because it shows up in the English words beacon and buoy, which used to mean a
light signal. In the Greek side of our family, it comes up as p-h-o, as in photo and
photon. So bha becomes pho, photo, or photon, and also phenomenon comes
from that, p-h-e. On the Latin side of the family, it comes in through the words like
fantasy, as in f-a. The Tibetan equivalent is osel, which means clear light. So
nirbhasa and usel mean clear light.
As you probably know, the holy reincarnation of the extraordinary Lama Yeshe
was given the name, Lama Osel. Osel, or clear light, is just another word for
emptiness. Its not to imply that emptiness is anything physical that you could ever see
with your eyes. You cant. Oftentimes, the word clear light refers to emptiness,
especially in the tantric teachings or the higher teachings because when you use your
physical body when you work on your physical, external body with things like yoga
exercises or breathing exercises, and then you seek to effect your inner channels and
inner chakras through this method the goal of all those is to perceive emptiness in a
unique way by using both inner and outer methods, which is even a vow that we have
when we reach the higher teachings. We must avail ourselves of both external methods,
like physical exercises, breathing exercises, and we must avail ourselves of inner
methods, like compassion, tong len, the study of emptiness. And then that will bring us
to clear light, in the sense of the ability to see emptiness directly, and achieve the body of
light as well. Next verse please.
Kevin Laughton: Countless seeds in our minds make us see the great variety of
things around us. Tad asankhyeya vasanabish chitram api para-artham sanhatya
karivat. (IV.24A)
[laughs] I like your pronunciation.
If this irritating person you met today is not irritating from their side, if their
irritating-ness doesnt exist within them, then where does it come from? And the obvious
answer is, its being projected like a flashlight onto them from your own mind, from my
own mind. We cant blame other people ever again. Once you walk out of a true Yoga
Sutra teaching, you are cursed to understand that every stupid, irritating, ugly, hard,
painful thing you ever meet is being projected from your own mind. You made those
things, you are making them now.
How does that work? In the past we were irritable, we were the person who was
negative and angry, unpleasant. That puts what we call a vasana, or a bakchak, into the
mind. There is another word, sanskara, or duche, and in the teachings on karma,
sanskara most often refers to a seed at the stage of being planted in the mind in other
words, when you were unpleasant to someone in the past. And then vasana, or bakchak,
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often refers to the seed as it begins to ripen in your own mind, which could be thousands
of years later.
The word vasana comes from an ancient Sanskrit root, vas, v-a-s, meaning to
stay or abide. It can also mean to clothe or to cover. The same with the IndoEuropean root, which is wes, w-e-s, which comes into our language in the words
vestment or vest, meaning clothing. And its sister root comes into our language as
was or were. So that you see how wes means to abide, or to stay, or to be
hidden and covered, and thats exactly what mental seeds are in our own minds.
When you are unpleasant to another person, the very perception by yourself of
your own unpleasantness plants seeds, vasanas, deep within your own mind which will
abide there, hidden, until the day they ripen into the next irritating person you run into.
So, ultimately, we are responsible for everything around us.
The Tibetan is bakchak and I like that word because it is so easy to remember.
Often youll hear people, ACI teachers, referring to bakchaks and now you know what
theyre talking about. Theres nothing in the whole variety of existence: your own mind,
your own thoughts, your own body, the people you meet, the traffic jams you get into, the
financial situation in the entire country, the stars above, everything is being sent out from
your own mind from vasanas, or seeds, deep within your own mind.
The only way to reach a paradise, the only way to reach a holy angels body and
mind of ultimate compassion, the only way to become a ultimate guru or lama and be
operating on multiple planets, countless planets, at the same time, serving every living
being in exactly the form that they can relate to. . . The only way to reach this is to
plant different seeds in our minds. And that comes from keeping yama and niyamah. We
have to keep our lives clean and pure, and our thoughts pure.
I thought since its getting hard on your rear ends now, Im sure, and Im sorry for
that, but we dont have much time together, so were going to push through some more
verses. But first, I thought to ask Petra-hla to speak about her retreat briefly, and then
after that well take another break. I really encourage you during the break, this break,
you know, go up to one or two people that you dont know and say, Where are you
staying? Do you want to get together sometime tonight or tomorrow and talk about the
ideas that were presented today? But first, Petra-hla will speak.
D
Petra: Hello. Well, as Geshe-hla mentioned, he gave us this incredibly impossible
assignment to talk about the most important realization that weve had in three years, and
the minute he said that I just thought, Theres no way! So much had happened. So
much still is happening.
When he said that, I was in a middle of a period where every two or three days Id
write in my journal, Oh, this is the most important thing. Oh, this is it. And then two
days later I go, No, no, no. Its this. This is the thing. So he said that, and I said,
Well, you know, theres no way. Its impossible. And of course, about four and half
seconds later it became completely clear to me what I wanted to talk about.
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So, its kind of funny. I mean I usually dont talk about my meditative
realizations, such as they are, apart from to my closest friends. But of course, your love
and your prayers and your support have gotten us through this retreat. And so I think we
all feel the very least that we can do is share some of our personal experiences with you.
You deserve so much more than just that. So, I think what Im going to do is just pretend
that Im back in Santa Cruz having a decaf, double-soy, chai, mocha latte with 200 of my
best friends and telling them how the retreat was. [laughs] And I think its pretty true,
except for the decaf, double-soy, chai, mocha latte. Maybe that will happen soon, well
see. Is that hinting? Im not sure.
I think the most important thing for me in this retreat is really experiencing the
difference between understanding things intellectually and even whole-heartedly
believing that theyre true and having a real heart-felt life transforming realization.
Like I really get that. You know, the lamas always say that theres a difference. And I
think Ive experienced so many, especially lam rim topics, that for me were intellectual
or something I understood, and I thought I completely whole-heartedly believed them.
But feeling them transform into realizations has been just one of the most striking and
significant aspects of my retreat. And I wanted to talk about one of them, because this
one happened kind of early on in retreat and sort of set the tone for a lot of the rest of my
work in retreat.
It happened. . . usually what I do when I first wake up in the morning, which is
about 3:30 or 4:00, is do a round of prostrations to the 35 confessional Buddhas, and I
found that a really shocking number of my epiphanies happened during this time when
face down on a cold floor at 4:00 A.M. A real disproportionate number, and this was no
exception. It happened. . . I remember the date because it was January 15th, the first
year we were in retreat, the birthday of the great bodhisattva Martin Luther King, Jr.,
which seemed appropriate to me in retrospect. And what I was doing, as I was doing my
prostrations, I suddenly flashed on, thinking about my mother who passed away about
twenty years ago. And just thinking about my selfishness and my lack of kindness to her,
especially as a rebellious teenager. And then in that moment, I just got this incredible
huge realization of the depth and extent of my self-cherishing. And it was really
shocking. I just realized the scope of my self-cherishing, and on top of that I really
realized the thing that the lamas have always said, and Ive heard over and over again for
years and thought I believed, but I really got it. That self-cherishing is the source of
every moment of suffering that Ive ever had in my entire life. And it just hit me like a
ton of bricks, this thing that I thought I understood and that I thought believed in, just hit
me.
And for the next three days I basically just sat on my cushion crying, you know,
on and off, pretty much non-stop, and just spontaneously reviewed my entire life and
every moment of suffering that Id ever experienced. Everything from just a moment of
slight irritation to a life-long difficult relationship with my father, and saw that every
moment was created by my self-cherishing, not to mention all the suffering that Id
created, that I caused other people to experience. And it was just relentless. I, my mind
couldnt stop doing this process. And I was almost, at one point, sort of desperately
looking for some exception to this rule, you know, that self-cherishing had caused every
moment of suffering. There wasnt one exception. There wasnt one moment of
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suffering Id ever experienced, just in this life that I remember, that was caused by selfcherishing, so Im sure it was probably true for my life since beginningless time.
So I just cried, and cried, and cried. It was so intense. And at that point I
remembered one of my favorite teachings, the seven-point lojong by Geshe Chekawa,
and the five powers, and especially the fourth power, sunjinpa, which means to rip
something out by the heart. And what Pabongka Rinpoche explains, he says, When
self-cherishing raises its ugly head just bash it, like youd hit a thieving dog. Well of
course I wouldnt hit a thieving dog, Id feed it scraps under the table, but I was going to
be relentless about my self-cherishing.
And so I decided to just take this the seven-point lojong and especially the five
powers, and especially this one point as just my heart advice, and to live my life by
this. I started doing this, just applying it with this fierce determination because Id just
seen this relationship between self-cherishing and my suffering. So every morning
before I even got out of bed, you know, the alarm would go off and Id just say, Im
going to do it. Im not going to give it an inch. Just not even an inch. Im just going to
bash it whenever it raises its head. I was just relentless and determined.
So I started this process, and it was very interesting. I noticed another
relationship that the lojong texts also mentioned, that self-cherishing and self-grasping
are sort of inextricably linked even though theyre different things. And I really saw this
too, that, as I was tearing out the heart of my self-cherishing I was also really going for
the jugular of my self-grasping and my ego. It was just this extremely uncomfortable and
edgy process of not letting my ego have any slack either.
I remember reading something Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche had been teaching on
emptiness, and there was a question and answer session at the end. And one of his
students asked him, Why is it so hard for us to see reality the way it is? And Rinpoche
said, I think largely because were afraid to see it. And the student said, Well, why
are we so afraid? And he said, Because we want an umbilical cord attached to our ego
through which we can feed all the time.
And that was just so heavy for me, and I saw that. I just saw it. Even in total
isolation, in a yurt in the middle of nowhere, how much I was still thinking of all these
tricky, sneaky little ways to feed my ego. Just the sneakiest little things, in total
isolation. You wouldnt even think itd be possible, but, boy [laughs] its incredible
what you do to feed your ego.
So, this was happening, both the self-cherishing and the self-grasping, I was just
relentlessly bashing them. And I noticed myself, I just felt more and more just stripped
and shredded. I just realized how much of my sense of identity was linked to these two
things to self-cherishing and self-grasping and how much of this identity Id built
up for myself was linked to these two things. And as I was bashing them, I felt like I was
just kind of ripping my identity to shreds.
And like I said, it was this incredible uncomfortable experience of
groundlessness, as Pema Chodron so nicely puts it. It was just this groundless feeling
that there was nothing to hang on to, because everything that Id been hanging on to and
calling me was just, you know, I wasnt allowing it any breathing room at all any more.
So it was this incredible feeling of groundlessness. But then the more I got used to it, the
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groundlessness just gave way to this incredible feeling of space, there was just
spaciousness. Nothing to hold on to meant nothing to limit me, nothing to stop me from
just this feeling of incredible spaciousness.
So I found that after this feeling of just being completely shredded came these
incredible meditative experiences, just feeling my ego and self-cherishing and selfgrasping stripped away. When I do bodhicitta meditations I would just have the most
amazing experience, because I felt there was no I in between me and the other sentient
beings, you know, there was just no little isolated, tightly defined ego-grasping me.
All those barriers had just come down. And it was the most incredible experience when
Id do meditations and be sending out light rays and benefiting sentient beings. . . it just
felt like there was no more me, and there was just this huge heart just like filling the
universe. I mean, its so hard to describe in words because it was just this experience. It
was this sort of poignant bitter-sweet rapture. It was this incredible experience of bliss,
but it had this poignancy to it because I just felt the suffering. But it was just, there was
just no I limiting me from the feeling that I really could benefit sentient beings. And it
was just, you know, it was this physical sensation of just this limitless bliss.
So I really realized once again what the lamas have always said is so true. If you
overcome your self-cherishing its the highest happiness. What weve been used to
thinking since beginningless time that looking out for Number One and looking out
for ourselves will give us happiness is just completely wrong. Its just the opposite.
And it was just a thousand-fold stronger than any feeling of happiness or bliss that Id
ever had in my life. And it just kind of went on day, after day, after day. And the only
reason that that happiness was possible, because there was no more me to get in the
way. It just didnt have anything to do with me at all. I just felt that, and it was so
incredible.
I saw from my experience that to get to this point you just need to be willing to
give up everything. You just need to be willing to give up everything youve thought
since beginningless time would give you happiness and comfort and security, you just
need to strip it all down and give it all up. And what youre really doing is just releasing
yourself from this prison that keeps you trapped, like weve been trapped in this lie called
self-cherishing, in this lie that looking out for yourself gives you happiness, and thats
what keeps you trapped in samsara. If youre willing to give it up, you think youre
giving up everything, and youre just experiencing a happiness beyond anything that you
ever imagined. Youre really just giving yourself the highest happiness because out of
the ashes of that level of renunciation just arises this phoenix of bodhicitta, which is the
highest happiness that there is.
So of course my self-cherishing and self-grasping still come up all the time, but I
know better now. You know? I had that experience, I just recognize them for the lie that
they are. And I just dont give them ay space any more at all. I realize theyre going to
keep trapped in samsara, because Ive had this taste of this experience and I know that I
just keep trying, and just keep being willing to just go to the edge. That I can live there
all the time, that I can get to the point where bodhicitta is just my permanent address, and
that Im there all the time.
And so the way I feel now is Im just never going to give up. And just having
that taste, just that taste of that experience and knowing what real happiness is, and what
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the cause of that happiness is by far the most significant experience for my retreat,
because I just got a taste of something, and it just means that Im never going to give up
until I get there.
And since I have another minute or two on the proverbial soap box here [laughs]
I just want to thank you all so much, so much. Your prayers, and your love, and your
encouragement, and your support, and just hundreds of ways completely made the
difference, made all the difference in the world. Especially Id like to thank my personal
friends out there. I know that some of you have, if anything, even more faith in me than
you have in yourselves. And that, you know, those times. . . it was really hard. It was
really, really hard. It wasnt bliss and rapture, hardly, you know, being in solitary
confinement with this mind for three years was no picnic, I can assure you. [laughs]
And sometimes your faith in me was the only thing that kept me here, because I knew if I
wimped out and if I couldnt make it, youd never think that you could. I couldnt do that
to you. I had to stay here for you. And sometimes that was the only reason that I was
able to really make it through the hard days, so, thank you so very much all of you.
[applause]
Have some refreshments. Then therell be a little bit more of sutra. Well go late
as usual.
D
Next verse please.
Reader: The way it works is that they organize other parts in a certain way. Tad
asankheya vasanabish chitram api para-artham sanhatya karitvat. (IV.24B)
I think the key words are para and artha. This is a little. . . well, lets do the
words first. Para means around or beyond, and the English words that come from it
are like "paranormal," which means beyond normal, and also paradise, which comes
from an old Middle Eastern word, Avestan word, for a walled-in garden. So it means
beyond. Also, obviously, paramita, the six perfections, to go beyond. And then the
Tibetan word there is shen, meaning other. And we have the word artha, which can
mean a goal, or an object. The root here is art, a-r-t, which means to pursue a
goal. The Indo-European root is ret, r-e-t, and its found in words like rotate, or
rotund, or even rodeo, meaning to spin towards a goal, or to move like a wheel,
quickly towards a goal. The Tibetan word here is dun, which can mean meaning or
object.
The point is this: if you really want to stop meeting people you dont like,
unpleasant people, if you really want to stop getting into unpleasant situations in your
own personal life, or even in your whole country, or even in the whole world, then its
very important to have a clear understanding of how karma works. Its not enough to
say, Oh, its just karma. You have to really understand how karma works. If this
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person is not irritating from their own side, then how is it that Im seeing them as
irritating? How does my mind make them irritating?
And I think, obviously, its important to say its not voluntary. You dont want to
see them as irritating. And you cant stop it either just by will power. Thats a very
wrong idea. Its not like you can meet an unpleasant person and just try to pretend hard
that theyre pleasant. It doesnt work like that. And thats true of all the suffering we go
through. Buddhism is not about trying to think of unpleasant things as pleasant.
Buddhism is all about unpleasant things never happening in the first place. This is the
real goal. In between here and the goal, it may be useful as a path to try to find the best
in a bad situation. But thats not the goal of our practice. The goal of our practice is that
pain, and suffering, and death, itself, as the scriptures say, those words are abolished
from our language. That in a future time in this world, people wont remember what
those words were for.
So how does it work that your mind makes shapes and colors into an unpleasant
person? There has to be raw data, what we call raw data, para-artha. It just means
the raw data. What is it in the case of an unpleasant person? In my experience, its
usually sounds. High sounds, low sounds, clicks, palatal sounds, labial sounds, dental
sounds coming from the mouth area as the tongue hits the teeth, or the palate, or the lips.
You know, scientifically thats all thats happening. Clicks and buzzes and wheezes.
[laughter] And those are the para-artha. You have to understand, those are the paraartha. Those are the other things which are being organized. By whom? By you, into
intelligible words and sounds.
Arya Nagarjuna made a very strong point that even words have no meaning of
their own. Even words have no nature of their own. Its only because we share karma
that we can understand words as meaning the same thing. Theres nothing inherently red
about the letters r-e-d. We have common karma. You and I have done similar deeds in
the past, and therefore between us words have meaning.
So there is raw data, and then we impose upon it a picture of an irritating person.
There are sounds coming out of their mouth, different sounds, but it is we who give them
meaning, and not by any conscious process. It is those vasanas, those mental seeds that
are ripening and forcing us to do that. Which means that we have no control in the
present tense. We cant say, Oh, Im not going to hear these things as unpleasant. All
we can do in the present tense is to try not to react in an unpleasant way. And then the
seeds will wear out.
I think those of you who have studied the ACI courses, youll begin to get a
feeling of why the Yoga Sutra is so exciting. It contains all the holy information that we
have studied through all those courses. Next verse please.
John Roadhouse: The storehouse is planted by the things we do. Klesha mula
karma-ashayo dirshta-adirshta janma vedaniyah. (II.12B)
I think the key words are karma and ashaya. Is that right? OK. I like karma, it
comes from a root kir, you can spell it k-i-r, in Sanskrit. The Indo-European root, the
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older root, is ker, k-e-r. And we find it in words for growing or doing things,
causing things to grow. For example, the word cereal means a grain which grows.
And thats why so many English words with a c, like cereal, come from the old
Sanskrit k. We see it in the words crescent, meaning a growing moon, a moon
which is growing. And we see it in the word increase, which means also growing.
So karma comes from a root meaning to do something, or to make something
happen, or to grow. The Tibetan word is le, and in modern Tibetan leka, means
work or things you do.
Ashaya comes from two parts. A means at or basically, and then shaya comes
from an old root shi, meaning to stay or to lay. Oftentimes the sha comes from ksha
and in the ancient Indo-European was kwa. So the old root is k-w-e-i, kwei. It comes
into English in the word quiet, and calm, and requiem, all meaning something
which is quiet, which is laying peacefully, lying down peacefully. So ashaya as a
word I believe the Tibetan is shi here? It means a basis or a place.
Those of you who studied the Mind-Only school Winston-hla is the master
here I think kunshi means the storehouse consciousness, a separate part of our mind
in which the seeds are planted for seeing someone as irritating. What does it take to plant
a seed? Its very important to know how theyre planted. Every additional detail you can
pick up how this all is happening will help you control it and stop it, and then turn things
around into a paradise.
How is a seed planted into our minds? Its very simple. We were unpleasant to
another person. We got upset or angry in our yurt in 120 degrees with the person there,
and we couldnt say anything mean but maybe we did sign language, and sign language
when youre angry is very funny. [laughs] But what plants the seed in your own mind
to meet someone unpleasant later is simply being aware that youre doing it. OK? Its
just the perception of being angry, which you are always, even if its only a little bit,
youre aware that youre moving your hands like that. Youre aware of your heart
beating. Youre aware of the feeling of heat in your body as you get upset. Each of those
awarenesses is planting a karmic seed. The very act of being aware of yourself as you do
something negative is what plants seeds, vasanas, into the mental storehouse, and then
they come out later as the next irritating person you have to meet. Which all gives us a
clue about the approach we have to take. Next verse please.
Mark Ruggieri: There is a connection of cause and effect: the seeds ripen into
experiences refreshingly pleasant, or painful in their torment; depending on whether you
have done good to others, or done them wrong instead. Te hlada paritapa phalah punyaapunya hetutvat. (II.14)
If theres any Russian doctors here, te hlada, hlada is the root for holigma,
meaning pleasantly cool. So hlada or prahlada means pleasant, cool, nice. And
then the opposite is tapa, which means... the word tapas is related, it means hot and
unpleasant.
I think the first key word here is phala. Phala in the Sanskrit and drebu in the
Tibetan means a fruit or a result. In everyday Tibetan drebu means a fruit from a
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tree and dre means rice, because rice is the most precious of all flowering things or
produced things, or fruits, or plants, in all of Asia. The ancient Sanskrit word is phal, ph-a-l. The Indo-European root is bhel, b-h-e-l, and thats the root of many, many
English words. I dont think I can even remember them all. But blossom comes from
that, flower comes from that, flora, the word blood itself, the b-l comes from that
because blood spurts out, flowers out of the body. The word fall, the word ball, the
word bull, because they are expanded beings, big beings. The word phallus comes
from that, and any word meaning a fruit or a thing which expands and bursts open.
So the idea of phala is the karmic ripening, how karma ripens upon us.
The next key word is what? Punya. Punya means. . . I think the Tibetan is
sunam, meaning good deeds, good karma, good things we do to help other people.
The Sanskrit word is push, meaning to thrive. Reconstructing the older root is
difficult, but it seems to come from a root d-e-u, deu. It got an n stuck onto it and
became dwen, and then the d dropped out and it was wen, and the w changed to b
and it became ben, as in bueno or bonus or beneficial, all meaning something
good or thriving.
And I think this is one of the most important lines of all religious teaching
throughout the whole world, in all of history: te hlada paritapa phalah punya-apunya
hetutvat. Things dont happen by accident.
Hetutvat means things happen through a process of cause and effect. You dont
meet an irritating person in this tent by accident. Hetutvat. There is cause and effect at
work here. If you do punya, if you do good things to others, there will be seeds planted
in your in mind to have hlada, to have beautiful, cool experiences. If you do apunya, if
you do negative things to other people, then you will get tapas, youll get suffering, hot,
suffering.
This is the same holy message that Moses taught. The introduction of the Ten
Commandments onto this planet is one of the holiest moments in all of human history.
Obviously, it has kept us from countless acts of violence towards each other, and kept
countless people from collecting bad karma that would come back to them. The whole
concept that hurting others might have something to do with the pain that comes to
yourself is earth-shaking. To be born on a planet where that truth of this single line has
ever been spoken to anyone is incredibly rare, and incredibly precious.
One more line.
Summer Moore: We must become as gardeners.
prakirtinam varana bhedas tu tatah kshetrikavat. (IV. 3B)

Nimittam aprayojakam

[Laughs] This is from the fourth chapter, I believe. Kshetrikavat is the important
word. Those of you whove studied mahamudra, the mahamudra course, you know what
this is talking about. When you meet an irritating person you have two choices of what
to do. We call the first choice robo-claws, which means like some huge stupid
machine with pinchers, right? And you can try to adjust the situation, externally, you
know? You can struggle between the two extremes of should I hit them? or should I
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ignore them? You see? You can struggle with yourself about ethical decision. Should
I do A or should I do B? Should I respond, or should I not respond? Should I do
violence, or should I not do violence? Should I reason with this person, or should I
blow them away? These are the two basic ideas that come into our minds. Its the
duality that comes into our minds. Should I hurt them, or should I try to get rid of them,
or what should I do?
Both choices are bad. Both choices are bad. They dont work. They just dont
work. You can be nice to a bad person, and they can hit you and cause you years more
suffering. You can be bad to them, and they can hit you too. You can be bad to them
and they change, you can be nice to them and they change. Did you notice its all
random? Theres no telling how any of our intended actions will come out. No action
seems to work all the time.
Even internationally. Should we do military violence against those who hurt us,
or should we try to be peaceful? There have been peaceful nations which were crushed,
like Tibet. There have been violent nations which have succeeded, like America. There
doesnt seem to be any sense. Some violent nations have been crushed. Some peaceful
nations have been left alone.
The point is not to work with external events. Not to work with guns and
airplanes, or even discussions and logic. The point is to get to the real cause of violence.
And thats coming from our own minds. If we want to live in a place where people are
no longer hurting each other, then we must stop our own mind from collecting those
kinds of seeds.
What were the key words? Oh. Then youll be like a gardener. Youll work on
your own seeds; youll work on your own mind. The thing about gardening is that you
dont get the plant the same day you plant the seed. Theres a time gap. Master Patanjali
is saying you have to be like a kshetrika. Kshetrika means a farmer or a gardener.
The root here is kshi, which means to possess something of value. And it
became the word for field because that was the most valuable thing, and probably still
in India land is considered the ultimate kind of value. The root is kshi, to own
something of value, and the old Indo-European root is kweih, k-w-e-i-h. This root
means to have something of value or to compensate someone with something of
value. It came into Greek, the k dropped off and it became the root for the word
pain, because pain was considered like a payment. And as we mentioned in the other
teaching, the k dropped off and became the word for poem, meaning something
which has been assembled together, something put together like earth, something of
value.
So the real way to stop meeting irritating people is to be patient and intelligent
and plant the right seeds in our own minds. This is very beautiful at the end of the Sutra.
Some day we should do a course at Diamond Mountain and do the whole Sutra, which
would take about a year. But the final chapter is a very beautiful chapter on managing
your mental seeds like a very patient gardener, slowly and purposely creating your own
paradise. When you get there you can help others, you can teach them how to do it. This
is real kindness.

37

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

D
Now you should just put your books away and relax and spread your legs out.
Were going to have story-time. I know youre tired, and we are too. Were not too used
to being out much I think.
Ill just want to say a few words about Master Naropa. He lived a thousand years
ago. His dates are 1016 to 1100 according to some sources. I thought to tell you about
his story. I think its important that even stories should come from authentic scripture.
So I want you to know what Ive used for this story.
A lot of it comes from what are called The Blue Annals, Dipden Rinbo, which
were written in the 1470s by a great Tibetan translator named Gu Lotsawa. A lot of what
Ill say comes from Taranatas History written in 1600. Theres a much older history
written by a person named Platsen Rinchen Nemgya who lived shortly after Naropa, and
we are fortunate to have this ancient history. He was close to the disciples. Hes in the
lineage of Milarepa. Theres another important biography of Milarepa, himself, from a
lama named Dorje Taut, Rachin Dorje Taut. And I also used the biography of Marpa,
who is Naropas student, but a lot about Naropa-hla is contained in this biography. It was
written by someone named Tsunyen Hiruka. Tsunyen means crazy yogi from Tsun.
[laughs] He was a little strange, he acted strange. Hes also in the lineage of Milarepa,
and it seems to be common that the great lamas of this lineage were perceived as unusual
by other people. I think its because they are so beyond us that what seems to them to be
quite normal just seems to us to be crazy, because were crazy.
So I think speaking about Naropa is good for many reasons. One, obviously, that
he is an important holder of the lineage, which comes down through the Yoga Sutra and
the great maha siddas, which are common to the modern yoga traditions of Master
Iyengar, Shri Pattabhi Jois and their teacher, Krishna Macharia and many of the other
modern yoga lineages. Naropas lineage, the early teachers who preceded him, are very
important figures both for our own tantric lineages and for the ancient yoga lineages
which are continued alive in India up to the present time. And even the great teachers we
have sitting here in our audience, that we are honored to have, have studied directly from
those great Indian masters for so many years. They are our true brothers and sisters by
lineage.
So, why is Naropa so important for our lineage? You can say our lineage divides
into the open teachings and the secret teachings. I think all of you would feel that the
greatest open teachings of our lineage in Tibet are perhaps the lam rim teachings, and of
course the five great books which the lam rim teachings derive from, which are the basis
of the ACI courses. ACI... we took a monastic approach and we presented the entire
series of courses through the five great books. Theres another approach, which is to
synthesize all those great books and teach them as lam rim.
So we are called tsenyipa, which means the monastic scholars who studied the
five great books in detail. And then people who studied a synthesis of the five great
books are called lamrimpas.
The great father of all these teachings in Tibet, the open teachings, is considered,
for our lineage to be Lord Atisha. He was born, some accounts say, about twenty years
38

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

before Naropa and he was an extraordinary scholar in the great ancient monasteries. But
later he was so overwhelmed by Naropas knowledge and practice that he begged Naropa
to teach him. Naropa became his teacher for large parts of what became the lam rim
lineage of Tibet. He especially taught him the secret teachings of Hevajra, and all of the
prajnaparamita which Lord Atisha was taught, were taught to him by Naropa. So this is
an important person for us in the open teachings.
In the secret teachings Naropa is the direct link between India and Tibet for many
important lineages. Mahamudra lineages came directly from him down through Marpahla and then eventually from Marpa to Milarepa, and then to Gompopa, and then down to
Je Tsongkapa and into our lineage.
I dont think most people know that Naropa-hla is also the source for the
Kalachakra tantra in Tibet. The Dalai Lamas have been the traditional teachers of
Kalachakra secret teachings. But they came directly from Naropa and Naropas disciples
into Tibet. We owe the Kalachakra teachings to Naropa.
I think almost all of you who have studied in the ACI courses and with holy Lama
Khen Rinpoche are surely aware that our practice of Vajra Yogini is called naro kachu
because it comes from Naropa, directly from Naropa. Thats a different lineage that
comes down through the Pontingba brothers of Nepal, and didnt come down so much
through Marpa. So Naropa is extremely important for us who are studying and devoting
our whole lives. . . The three year retreat was centered on the practice of Vajrayogini,
and thats from Naropa-hla.
Naropa-hla also is the founder of the Chakrasamvara lineages for all of our
practices. And when holy Lama Khen Rinpoche gives initiations he often gives the
preparatory initiation from Chakrasamvara.
I was surprised when I studied the ancient Blue Annals that Naropa-hla is also the
source for our practice of Yamantaka, or Bhairava, secret teachings, which Khen
Rinpoche also often uses for the preparatory initiations for our secret practice.
He is also the greatest source of the Hevajra tantra and the Guhyasamaja, which
was Je Tsongkapas favorite tantra.
So really, although there are other lines, other lineages, say, of Kalachakra into
Tibet, the major lineages of all the secret teachings of our holy lamas come down through
Naropa-hla directly. So I think its very fitting, for example, that Chogyam Trungpa
Rinpoche named his university Naropa University. So I think its important to hear about
Naropas life.
In the early biographies hes described as a Buddha, someone who is already a
Buddha and came to this world only to demonstrate how we should do it. So if we follow
the steps of his spiritual progress, which according to the highest teachings were just
pretend he was just acting out for our benefit, repeating, showing the process that he
went through millions of years before but very clearly, whether its a play like that or
whether its really that he was struggling to get enlightened in this life, a thousand years
ago, either way, his life is an example for us. And I think the stages of his life are stages
that each of us would like to go through.

39

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

So how did he start? He was born into a royal family in Bengal, northeast India,
not far from Bodhgaya, and even as a child he was showing very strange behavior. He
would run around and tell people not to hurt animals and things like that, even as a very
tiny child. When he reached eleven years old, he went to his mother and said, I want to
go study Buddhism. And she said, Well, is it nearby? And he said, No, its western
India. And he took off at the age of eleven to learn Buddhism.
He went to the great monastic universities in Kashmir. Kashmir was a very
strong Buddhist. . . in the west of India. He studied for three years in those great
places. And I think its interesting to see the topics which he studied. He studied the
Kalachakra tantra, but more the words than the practice, you see, at the age of eleven.
And for the next three years he also studied Dom Jung, which is an important
commentary to Chakrasamvara. He studied Sanskrit and Sanskrit grammar. He studied
medicine. And I think a good plug for ACI, he studied tsemadeydun, which are the seven
great books of Buddhist logic, which you have studied in the courses on Buddhist logic
and the courses on the proof of future lives. In the monasteries, even now-a-days, at
about the age of eleven or twelve, a young monk would first be introduced into how to
think clearly, the rules for thinking clearly. And as we follow Naropa-hla through the
rest of his mystical life, I think its important to realize that he was grounded in thinking
and logic and reasoning. And thats an important part of every monks and nuns
training, is to learn to think clearly first.
He came back home at the age of fourteen. He spent three more years studying
two great bodies of literature. The first is the five great books of Maitreya. They are
represented in many of the ACI courses. The course on Refuge, for example, comes
through that lineage. And of course the drang nge course, how to interpret the Buddha,
comes directly through the five great books of Maitreya. We spent twelve years on the
Ornament of Realizations, which is one of those five books.
We were thinking about what to teach here next fall, since the book tour was
delayed until next spring, which I think Kimberley-hla will speak about, but we thought
to have a teaching on one of the other great books of Maitreya. Maitreya is, of course,
the coming Buddha. And one of my holy yoga teachers from New York, Sharon-hla, just
spontaneously asked me one day if we would be going over these books of Maitreya.
And then I was thinking about doing it myself, and then the same day Elly-hla mentioned
that we should maybe try to do one of these books of Maitreya, called The Sublime
Tantra, Uttaratantra. Its not a secret teaching; its not a tantra as a secret teaching. Its
an open tantra. So well do that in the fall in a weekend like this.
But he studied those five great books. Then he went on during those three years
to do the six great teachings of Arya Nagarjuna. Arya Nagarjunas teachings, of course,
are the root of the Diamond Cutter Sutra teachings of ACI, and all of Master
Shantidevas teachings on emptiness all come through the same books. Also, later in his
life, when he studied at Vikramashila monastery, Naropa-hla was taught both the
Abhidharma systems and the Vinaya systems, and one of his buddies, Prajna Karamati,
wrote the commentary to The Guide to the Bodhisattvas Way of Life, which was the
basis of the commentary which we studied.

40

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

What Im trying to say is, over those formative years, from eleven to seventeen,
Naropa-hla studied exactly the same subjects and same books that you are studying in the
ACI courses.
Then he began to get pressure from his parents to marry. He hadnt become a
monk yet, he had taken laymans vows. He had been given the name Guganagarba
Numke Ningbo, which means heart essence of the sky, referring to emptiness, when he
became a layman with lifetime vows. But he hadnt yet become a monk. His parents,
when he reached seventeen, put a lot of pressure on him to get married.
The story of his marriage is a very, very lovely, beautiful story which I would like
to save for a later talk, maybe on Saturday I think, and what occurred between him and
his holy wife. But at the age of twenty-five, eight years later, he and his wife agreed that
he would become a monk and he would enter the monastery for further study.
And so the marriage was dissolved and he became a monk and he began to study
in the great monasteries. He went back to Kashmir for three more years to study, and
then he came back to eastern India and studied at a place called Pushpahari, which is
supposed to be near Nalanda and is called Pulahari by the Tibetans. But while he was
there he spent, I think it is a total of six more years in east India learning more subjects.
Then he had an opportunity to come to Nalanda monastery, which was close by.
He got into a shoot-out, debate shoot-out, with one of the great scholars in
Nalanda and he wiped him out. The monks of Nalanda begged him to become one of
their monks and he agreed. Most sources say it was Vikramashila rather than Nalanda,
although Nalanda was historically closer to Pushpahari, but all the sources agree that
Naropa-hla became a great scholar at the monastery of Vikramashila.
I like Vikramashila. I see it like Diamond Mountain.
In modern Tibetan monasteries, the study of the open teachings and the secret
teachings is divided, mostly. So we have separate tantric colleges for the study of the
higher teachings, and then separate open colleges, like Sera Monastery, for studying open
teachings. The three great tantric colleges in Tibet: Gyume, from which holy Lama Khen
Rinpoche came; Gyutu; and then I dont think most people know that Segyu was the third
great tantric monastery and it has largely been lost. Theres a holy incarnation of an
important Segyu lama who is living in California and teaching there. So I think it may be
revived.
But in the old days at Vikramashila, people studied sutra and tantra side by side.
So that in the monastery, for example, Hevajra tantra was very big and Kalachakra tantra,
at the same time as all the subjects you study at ACI. And I think whats extraordinary is
that in those days, everything was government sponsored. The Pala dynasty of India was
very much into tantra and sutra being taught together, and the monasteries had great
support from the people and from the government to study both secret and open
teachings, deeply, in the monastery. And the common people also through the yogi
system.
So I think its a great, its a great sign of what could happen at Diamond
Mountain. Its very rare that authentic lineages of secret and open teachings mix
properly. Its a very rare moment in the history of our planet.
41

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

Vikramashila, the jewel of that system was wiped out in 1199 by invasions from
the Turks, and then the Muslims took over most of India and those universities, like
Diamond Mountain will be one day, were crushed. Because its so rare for the secret
teachings and the open teachings to continue for very long, its a very rare, precious
opportunity for us to be able to study both of them at the same time and at the same
place.
And finally at the end of his monastic career, Naropa-hla became the abbot.
Some people say of Nalanda, some sources say of Vikramashila. And then he became
the gatekeeper, one of the six gatekeepers of the monastery.
This was a system by which there were four great entry gates into the monastery,
and there would be one great scholar posted at each gate. So there was a northern
gatekeeper, western, southern, eastern, and then by tradition, two gatekeepers in the very
center of the monastery.
I dont think they actually stayed sitting at the gate their whole career, but what I
know did happen is that people would come from other systems people would come
from other traditions they would come to the gate of the monastery and say, I wish to
debate the greatest master here. And that was a very serious thing because, as Ive
mentioned in past talks, when a person came from another tradition and challenged one
of the gatekeepers, if the gatekeeper lost, then the whole monastery had to become that
tradition. It would be like if a Baptist could come to a Catholic church and out-debate the
priest there, then all of the Catholics in that church would be sworn to become Baptist.
So it was a very serious system of debating. And you took your best guy and you
put him at the gate. But I think also it reflects a deep wisdom of all the monks at
Vikramashila that theyre seeking truth and not a separate system. You see, the monks at
Vikamahila, and Nalanda, and the other great monasteries, they werent interested in
defending Buddhism, or defending Mahayana, or defending this or that tantra. They
were really interested in truth. And if a person could come and make a better case for a
different religion, they would gladly change. I think thats a sort of extraordinary
wisdom. They werent gatekeepers to defend the monastery; they were gatekeepers to
absorb the wisdom that might walk up to the gate, no matter what tradition it was called.
So thats how we leave Naropa-hla this evening. He has studied all the ACI
courses, [laughter] he has been exposed to many tantras in a literary way, in an
intellectual way, he has proven himself and later became the abbot for eight years of
these great monasteries. So hes at the peak of his career. He is considered the. . . hes
even Lord Atishas book teacher. So hes at an extraordinary place in his monastic
career, respected by everybody, looked up to by everybody. There were five hundred
monks at that time at the Vikramashila; it was at its peak and every monk was counting
on Naropa-hla. And they were looking to this great scholar and monk to see where their
spiritual path would take them next. But for that you have to tune in tomorrow.
And Im sorry we went late, but three years is a long time not to blab. [laughter]
And its all stuffed in there waiting to come out.
Id like to thank, again, all of you for coming. Its so hard to get here. I know
how it is to try to get time off your work. I know its been hot or windy or noisy or
dusty. I know youve been sitting almost all day now on a hard ground. And for us in
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day One Geshe Michael Roach

the retreat as it ends, we are sort of very grateful for you, that you take the trouble and the
time to come here and be with us. Its a very great thing for us. And if you see one of
those hardworking directors or their staff or the caretakers, I hope you will thank them
for all their hard work to prepare for these teachings. They dont get much sleep for
weeks before. So well do the closing prayers and well see you tomorrow. And well
catch up on the Yoga Sutra. Did we do the whole day one? Thats strange. [laughs]
Well start then with day two tomorrow. Thank you.
[Prayers]

43

Morning: Day Two D April 18

Venerable Elly van der Pas
Venerable Anne Lindsey

[Short Mandala in English]

[Refuge in English]
Venerable Elly: Maybe we could start off by just doing a few minutes of quiet
meditation. Try to watch your breath, and count the breaths as they go out. Then when
you get to ten, start over. And if your mind wanders, then start again at one. Well just
do that for a few minutes just to settle.
[Silence]
Okay. Were going to give a presentation on Geshes new book, which is the one
thats getting published. Its called The Tibetan Book of Yoga. This is the third one hes
written here. I typed them all up and thats why Im sitting here, because people figure I
know whats in it.
Just for the record, so people know whats been written, there are actually three
books that Geshe-hla has written about yoga so far. The first one, the one he started first
but hasnt finished yet, is called Katrin and its about a young woman who lives in Tibet
in the eleventh century and how she studies. First she finished the equivalent of a Geshe
degree, and then she went to India to study yoga, and following that, its a day by day
synopsis of what she studied with her teacher.
And her teacher was teaching her The Yoga Sutra. So it was going to be. . .
actually I havent finished typing it up. . . I dont know if Geshe-hla has finished writing
it. Originally he said it was going to be eight hundred pages, with a reading for every day
of the year. And then the publisher said, We cant publish anything thats eight hundred
pages. So he said, Dont worry, it wont be eight hundred pages; its going to be
twelve hundred. [laughs] And so I dont know what were going to do with it. Its a
beautiful story, but its just very long.
Then the next one after that is How Yoga Works, and thats the sequel. Its the
one that was actually finished, and its about her first student. And its a similar format
only its shorter. So its got something every day, but its how she taught her first
student. And its also a very nice story.
Geshe-hla seems to like this genre of weaving the story together with the
teaching, so it goes down very easily, but its not something thats familiar to a western
audience so much. I mean theres Pilgrims Progress, but that was years ago wasnt it?
And they say that doesnt sell. [laughter] But anyway, Im sure that everyone will get a
copy eventually. Its a very nice book.
Okay, so then the third one the publisher said, Listen, we just want hands-on,
short, pithy, how to do it. We dont want to know anything more than what you actually
do.

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

And so then he came out with his third book, which is the one thats getting
published in January. Its called The Tibetan Book of Yoga. And its short, a hundred
and eight pages, with lots of illustrations taken from the original woodblocks, and its
really cool. I mean, we were able to find, in a number of different places John Brady
found some totally unique illustrations at Saint Petersburg just by accident, of course
and happened to mention it to me about a month before Geshe-hla asked for them.
[laughs]
And then some more came from Gene Smith, from the Tibetan Buddhist Resource
Center. He wont let us acknowledge him in the book but we owe him a lot. Hes given
Geshe a lot of books for his practice, and hes done amazing things. He pretty much
single-handedly saved so much of the Tibetan literature, and just. . . hes very quiet and
very unassuming and very accessible and he has this huge, huge library in New York.
And hes totally worthy of sponsorship. Anyone who feels inspired should help him out
because his project is so crucial. Anyway, Im plugging him here because he didnt let us
acknowledge him in the book.
So, Im going to talk about the theory of yoga why it works, or according to the
book, how it works, and Chukyi is going to get a little more experiential, because I tend
to be more direct and she tends to be a little bit more [laughter]
But we figured it out. Well take turns, because our styles are really different. So
youll hear me first and then Ill stop, and then youll hear her. But she can cut in. So,
okay. Geshe calls it Heart Yoga, what hes teaching in this book. Most of the yoga that
you hear about thats being taught in this country comes from the outside. Its a physical
thing and it leaks down into the subtle levels of your being, but generally from the
beginning its taught from a more gross level and then subtler and subtler and subtler.
Heart Yoga is kind of attacking it from the very, very most subtle level and from the
gross level -- all the levels at once.
And so its an expansion, I think, from the way its usually taught. And I think
ultimately Geshe-hla plans to sneak a lot of Buddhism into the practice I mean theres
already quite a bit in the practice, the way hes presenting it.
It comes from two lineages, two different lineages. Theres the lineage of the
actual body exercises and that originated. . . well I think they both originated in India.
The physical exercises came from the same lineage as the yoga that is taught commonly
everywhere. Its the same lineage that people are practicing today. It went to Tibet
originally through Naropa and others. And actually this is the juncture hes talking about
in the books that Geshe-hla wrote, the two novels. But Naropa had a lot to do with it, and
he also documented it very well and taught a lot of people. And what he taught was
called the six practices. Sometimes you hear the six yogas of Naropa, and theres also
the six yogas of Niguma, who was his spiritual wife. She was actually his wife, and then
after that, he was a monk, then later she was his spiritual wife.
This kind of yoga is literally translated from Tibetan as the machine of the
body. So these are exercises where youre working with the body almost like a
machine. Youre putting it in different positions and then certain things happen
internally as a result of what youre doing physically. So thats how Geshe-hla translates
it, as machine of the body.
45

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

And that lineage went to Je Tsongkapa, who studied and taught it, and practiced.
And then from him it went to Gyelwa Genden Drup who was the first Dalai lama, then it
went into the Dalai lamas lineage, and then from there we got these practices. It was
practiced extensively at Sera and the other monasteries, and up until the time they were
sent out of Tibet there was actually a special college where they practice that. Now its a
little bit more informal and I think certain lamas in the monastery are teaching it. Thats
were Geshe-hla studied.
So thats the body lineage. Then the other lineage is heart, what they call the
heart lineage, or you could say the mind. That originated with the Buddha, and its the
tong len practice that we find in so many of our Buddhist lineages. It went to Atisha
Atisha also studied with Naropa as well, so he may have learned it from him but
anyway that particular lineage went through Atisha to Tibet, and Je Tsongkapa also
combined it with the six practices in a book he wrote called The Book of Three Beliefs.
Then from there it went to Gyelwa Genden Drup and the other Dalai lamas and so into
the Gelukpa lineage. So thats how we got these practices.
So lets see. One of the things that I think is also covered in the other yoga
lineages but maybe more explicitly talked about in the Heart Yoga book, is the five levels
of your psycho-physical make-up. Your body-mind, what makes up you, has five levels.
The first one is the physical level, thats your body -- all your parts -- and its the thing
that you are working with when you are doing yoga exercises, or asanas. It includes your
nervous system.
The second one is sustenance. And thats something that we dont think about
too much in those terms but it includes food, water, air, hope, sleep, and concentration,
and its things that restore your strength and your energy, and your heart in a way. Its
the category for things that restore you. Of these, the most crucial is air, breathing,
because if you think about it, you can do without hope for a week or so, and you can do
without food for a few days. You can do without sleep for a few days but you cant do
without air for more than a minute or two, or five maybe, unless youre a real high yogi.
So air is the most immediately crucial of these sustenances.
So the next one, the third level is the inner winds, and thats the psychic winds in
your body. Those move through what they call inner channels, and those are very, very
subtle channels in your body. In the book Geshe-hla says theyre like a light ray, right?
Theyre that subtle. And the inner winds move through those channels. The winds are
affected by your breathing, and your breathing is affected by the winds. So when you
breath, when you concentrate on your breathing, it affects the movement in the psychic
channels; it makes it calmer. And also when you start to get more agitated, the winds get
agitated and your breath gets agitated.
So theres a direct connection through all these five levels, from one to another.
And the other point is that the parts of your body form along these nerve channels, these
subtle channels. So your nerves form along the channels, your bones, your veins and all
the parts of your body form along the channels. And what happens is that if theres some
kind of a blockage in the channel, then you get a problem in that area. Like a lot of
people get lower back pain, theres a knot in the channels right there and when that
becomes too clogged up then you have a problem. Ive always had a problem around my
heart, just various ways, and Ive noticed that . . . I think its the same thing, its a
46

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

blockage.
So when youre doing yoga, it affects these channels. . . it helps to straighten
them out a lot. And then when youre doing breathing while youre doing yoga, it helps
to push the energy through the channels in a healthy way. The thing about the channels
is that, there are three main channels. The main one is in the middle, close to the back
bone in front of the back bone but close. And that one is about the size of . . . they say
about the size of a drinking straw.
And then there are two channels on the sides. And all of your negative emotions
flow in the two side ones and generally the middle one is pretty much closed the two
others wind around the middle one. And so what happens is that when you have, like, a
lot of anger or something, theres a lot more energy in the side channels and it closes off
the middle channel. And generally speaking the middle channel is almost always closed.
And then, particularly at the heart, and thats why we call it heart yoga, the side
channels go around the middle channel. So the middle channel is like a clear mind, you
could say something like that. And then the blockages theyre called chakras are
where the energy is blocked. The heart chakra is the worst. The side channels wind
around the middle channel quite a number of times in the heart area, and so that one is the
tightest. They say its also the seat of your mind, so its also the most important. Like
when you die or when you see emptiness directly, then that one opens, but otherwise it
doesnt. So its like your ultimate, in-most self is in that particular chakra.
In the book theres this image of the diamond in the rose. This is the same as the
jewel in the lotus, if youve heard of that. We use rose because its something that
resonates with us, its something grew up with. You give your mother roses when you
were a kid and your boyfriend gives you roses. You know, its something familiar. None
of us have ever seen a lotus, mostly. So the rose is something you can relate to.
Then inside is the diamond. And actually the thing about a lotus it works a little
bit better with the lotuses because they grow in the mud and its like the channels are
all full of all your mental afflictions and all this garbage, and so this beautiful lotus is
growing out of this mud and stuff and in it is this precious, inmost emptiness, your
essential nature. Its the ultimate nature of your mind. So thats the third level, your
inner winds and inner channels, okay?
The fourth level is your thoughts, and thats whats going through the channels,
we said before. And those thoughts are connected with the winds. The thoughts are
actually moved by the winds and they say that they ride them like a horse. So you have
this movement through your body, and then all your thoughts are carried through that
way. Its a little hard to describe it, but actually if you meditate on it, it becomes pretty
clear. So the thoughts are moving through the channels, and its not just thoughts but
something like thought forms, in a way. And theyre moving through the channels and
they nourish all the different parts of the body.
So then the last one is what we call world-seeds, and thats something thats
created by your karma. It is your karma you could say. World-seeds its when you see
yourself doing something, it plants a seed in your mind that ripens later, and that
becomes something that you experience later still. Its like sunglasses in a way when
youre looking through them, it shades your view of your world.
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

So the way you see your world is totally determined by your karma, by your
previous actions. For instance, if I get upset with somebody and yell at them, then I see
myself getting angry, It puts a seed in my mind and then later on it becomes much easier
for me to see someone else getting angry at me or to get angry at someone again. And
thats how that works: it creates a sort of easiness for these things to happen again.
Okay. I was trying to prepare last night and what happened was that the wind
was so strong, and it got in my eyes. I had eyes full of dust yesterday and my glasses
broke and so I had to wear my contacts and I think. . . anyway, the upshot of the deal was
that I was blind last night. [laughter] So it was really hard to prepare and [laughs]
Anyway, thats my excuse, okay? [laughter] But now I can see okay. I was really
afraid I couldnt see today and Chukyi was afraid too because then shed have to do the
whole thing. [laughter]
You know things happen during the retreats. Sometimes you get these things . .
and so if something happens, and it might happen you might get really sick just dont
worry. Itll go away. Its no big deal. Its just karma ripening. Its happened before.
One retreat I couldnt walk. [laughter] Anyway, okay.
So then the other thing I wanted to mention is posture. And I just wanted to cover
it quickly, because the posture is crucial. Yoga has a bunch of different postures that you
get into but the main one that Im familiar with is meditation posture, and so I thought Id
just kind of go through it quickly to sort of say how this works in terms of the Heart
Yoga.
When youre sitting in the meditation posture youre supposed to have your legs
crossed and your eyes are supposed to be in a level plane, your back is straight, your
shoulders are level and your head is straight, and your lips and your teeth are loose. And
thats important because you have channels that come from the sides of your lips and
they go up. And so, even when you smile it makes a difference, it actually affects your
channels. And then your tongue has to be loose, and so on, and all these things affect
your inner channels. All these things are connected to the way your channels are laid out.
And then the last point is the breath. Then when you get your whole body into
nice alignment, and youre relaxed, then when you breathe it moves nicely through your
body, as nicely as it can, because of your posture. And that allows the inner winds to
move nicely. And so then you can get into the meditation. So thats actually the first
exercise in the Heart Yoga, is sitting that way. And that allows you to get into a nice
meditation, it allows things to be able to happen.
So then the second thing that is done in Heart Yoga is chanting. And thats
another way to open the heart. Everything in this book is about opening your heart, so
chanting and what happens with that well, there are always many levels of these
things. The fifth level Id say is that youre chanting holy words and they resonate in
your mind and it creates a mental seed, the world seed we talked about earlier.
And then theres the physical aspect of the chanting. It vibrates, it actually
vibrates the heart. And so your mind is in a holy place, and theres this vibration going,
and then the winds are moving nicely and so it helps your heart to start opening. And
then, when youre doing a yoga posture, if your channels are blocked, its as if you have
a hose and its got a kink in it, and you turn it on. You can break your hose that way.
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

And thats where you. . . I think its the same with sports and dancing and things like
that, if you dont warm up nicely, then you can hurt yourself. Its because you need to
get the kinks out of the channels before you start.
So thats the way the physical aspect works. And then tong len also works from
level five. So once you get into this meditative state, then you do tong len, you think
about someone whos suffering, and youre trying to take away their suffering and to give
them happiness and to give them various gifts. Geshe-hla calls them gifts -- generosity
and patience -- and its basically the six perfections. So what this does is, it creates good
karma for you in the future. And also the fact that youre doing it with your breath is
causing it to affect the other levels. Its affecting all the way down to the physical level.
So it works the whole time youre doing your practice. And this you can take to regular
yoga practice too if youre thinking about helping someone the whole time youre
doing it, then what happens is whatever youre thinking about, whatever your motivation
is, is what you get, right? So if youre thinking about, Im going to do yoga so Im
beautiful and thin and whatever, well, thats the kind of thing youre creating in your
mind. And if youre doing it for others, then what it creates in your own mind is this
openness to helping others and also to becoming someone who can help others.
And so really the only worthwhile motivation, when youre doing that kind of
thing, is helping others. Its the thing that really makes us happy. If you think about
what really makes you happy, its helping someone else.
So anyway, thats pretty much, I think, what I was going to say about this
practice. So maybe Chukyi-hla can take it from here.
Venerable Chukyi: I think the word that Elly was looking for was mushy, so
she does the factual stuff. Ill say it. Its my role at Diamond Mountain. Somebody has
to do it. So just because I can tell you, because Im sitting up here, stand up, please.
[laughs] Wow, such power.
Stretch. Dont hit your neighbor but, stretch out a little bit. Look at all our yoga
dakas and dakinis over here. Stretch like theyre stretching. Okay, back and forth. And
when you feel a bit relaxed sit down again. Im not going to pretend to teach yoga, you
can ask Lisa how. Now take a moment. Find out where you carry tension. For me its
often my shoulders. You know, look at Carolyn, shes got it. I love this. Buddhism is
infiltrating yoga and yoga is infiltrating Buddhism, and theyre the same, because theyll
get us to where were going, you see. So take a moment and sit down. Put a slight smile
on your face. It will do two things. Itll stimulate your side channels, as Elly told you,
and it will make me feel like you like what Im saying. [laughs] Were going to say
some special words now, okay? Theyre not magic by themselves but were going to say
something first. Im going to say one line at a time and you repeat it after me. Were
going to do it one time in Tibetan. Please, whoever listens to this tape and who has a
good ear for pronunciation, correct this in your mind. Well do it one time in Tibetan,
three times in English. And then were going to talk about how you can actually get to a
place. The end of The Tibetan book of Yoga talks about chulam kyi nelnjor.
Say chulam kyi nelnjor. Actually the kyi isnt in The Tibetan Book of Yoga. Chu
this isnt chu like dharma. This is a different spelling for Tibetan scholars. Dont ask
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

me how its spelled. I dont remember. Spyod or something. It means the practice.
Geshe-hla calls it all day yoga. It means carrying it into your life and into your
world. So thats what Im going to focus on here. And if youd like, the rest you can
come to the ten day retreat after. Sit down, close your eyes gently, or keep them partly
open and staring downwards. And focus your concentration at the point between your
eyebrows first, as Elly taught us yesterday, and then move it up about half an inch or
couple inches, and about an inch into your head. And then let it flow down. Imagine
your concentration is like a point and its flowing down through that central channel that
Elly described. And its going to flow down into your heart. Right behind your heart in
this beautiful clear channel thats right in front of your backbone. And in that chamber
see a beautiful red rose. And its very fragrant. Its fragrance permeates your body. It
represents love. It represent the kind of love that Petra was talking about yesterday, a
love that fills up the skies. Its all of your love and you have it. And inside the rose is a
diamond, picture it there, beautiful, large, Elizabeth Taylor sized diamond. Im dating
myself. Its pure, its clear, its sparkling. This is your knowledge of how the world
really works. Your knowledge of emptiness. And it sends light throughout your body.
And then Ill say this prayer one line at a time, and if youll just repeat it after me.
Dena jetsun lama thukje chen,
Magyur droway dikdrip dukngel kun,
Malu data dakla minpa dang,
Dakki dege shenla tangwa yi,
Drokun dedang denpar jin gyi lob.
And then were going to do it three times in English.
And then my high holy-lama
Lord of all compassion
Give me your blessing please.
So all the pain of mother beings
Their bad deeds and their obstacles
May ripen now on me.
And so I may now give them
All my good and happiness
And in this way assure
That each one has all happiness.
Isnt that part of what brought you here? I dont think theres probably a being in
this room who hasnt wanted to stop suffering. And dont worry, even if its just a desire
to stop your own suffering, thats where you start. Because what blocks us from caring
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

about other people, what blocked me from thinking about my friends breakfast this
morning, thinking about taking care of her, was that I was anxious about doing this talk.
If I wasnt suffering, Id think more about others and make sure they were cared for. So
its okay to start with yourself, and well talk about that.
How do we integrate this into our daily lives? There was a holy word used
yesterday. I get to use it, its the only Sanskrit word I know. Salim will have to do all
the Sanskrit for us please, when he talks. It was smirti. Who remembers? Did I say it
right? Who remembers what smirti means? Who remembers what smirti means?
[laughs]. . . hmmm?
[Audience: inaudible]
Ill give you a hint.
[Audience: recollection]
Recollection. Okay. What is it in Tibetan, I forgot.
[Audience: drenpa]
Drenpa, wow, people studied. So we need to talk about how we can remember as
we go throughout our day, what were here for: which is to serve others and to open our
hearts. The Heart Yoga in the morning. . . there are ten exercises. I sat down to do mine
this morning; thought Id be a good example. When I sat down, I remembered I couldnt
find my wallet last night, so I started worrying about my wallet. [laughs] And thats
how our minds go, right? Am I the only one? I may be. You may all be Angels who are
tricking me into doing this. [laughter] You wont admit it. Geshe-hla says people. . .
they just dont admit it. They tell you youre crazy, until one day they tell you that they
are angels. We want to get there, right? We want to get to where were not thinking
about our wallet when we could be thinking about holy things. And we want to do it two
ways. We want to work from the outside in, which is the yoga postures, but even the
yoga postures aren't just exercises. I think the holy teachers will tell us, and Carolyn. . .
everyone who got the opportunity to be in on her class this morning knows. Carolyn
was here at Diamond Mountain, and everyone went to her yoga classes at the beginning,
the whole Diamond Mountain team. I didn't get to go. I actually got stuck in the kitchen.
I had no karma to go. Keith would come back from yoga, and Kevin and Miriam would
understand this: Keith would come back and say, shes brilliant. I cant quite say it
right. That was close. And so anybody who teaches yoga, like our holy Lisa who comes
and says, if there are any serious yoga students here Ill come at seven thirty in the
morning from Tucson and. . . and she will tell you better than me, physical postures
dont work by themselves. And she always reminds us of this. If your heart and mind
arent thinking the right thing, if youre not concentrating. . . I have no problem
concentrating during yoga because the pain is pretty evident, [laughs] but with people
who are flexible, shes always saying, you have to concentrate. [laughs] So we work
from the outside, with our physical being.
Using tong len is really cool, because what are we using? Youre using your
breath. Breathing is also a kind of food. It feeds our body. It gives us sustenance, right?
Its food, we cant do without it, as Elly said, for longer than a minute, two minutes, five
minutes if you train or unless youre a great yogi . . . and then they can stop, because
their inner winds are moving. So tong len means that we can feed ourselves with our
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

breath, and then if we use it to take the suffering of others away, we can save the world.
Its kind of cool. Okay. That may be one thing we could do as we walk through our day.
You know when that guy. . . youre on highway 80 and its sixty five miles an hour and
you want to get to the morning yoga class, and the guy in front of you is going thirty
five? And your mind starts doing what? Right? Ohhh, Im supposed to go to a holy
yoga class so I can become a bodhisattva to help all beings. You know? [laughter] I
drove to Chicago to teach tong len and on the way I was getting irritated, catching myself
doing this and like, Im trying to get to Chicago to teach tong len, and you know, this
guys in my way, and so [laughter] you know those moments. At that moment you stop.
Your mind is like this, right? How do you know the guy in front of you isnt also like
that? How do you know that they arent worried? How do you know that they arent
elderly, and not sure that they can see? How do you know that their mind isnt on their
wife or child or husband and they're just not thinking? How do you know that theyre not
doing holy prayers as they drive and their foot is just easing off the gas pedal? Do tong
len. Take away their suffering. Somebody cuts you off on the road, bless them. Give
them that. Give them the victory.
So, okay, Im not following my notes at all, so. . . Okay. Ive not tried this with
so many people, but I thought Id tell you a little bit about my own practice. I think for
dharma to work, for myself, we have to live it, right? We can memorize all the eighteen
books. We can get a hundred percent on every homework and quiz -- unless youre me
and you give your homework to Elly to grade. But we can get it all, and live none of it, it
means nothing. Its just another thing that we can hold up and say, Oh, well, John
Brady can recite the Heart Sutra by heart, Im going to learn it by heart. Im going to
memorize even more than him. It just becomes another tool to increase our suffering.
So unless we live it, it doesnt work. Unless we try it, it doesnt work. And thats why
Geshe-hla keeps telling us to do the book, which, I left here. It was in my things, and I
didnt realize it for several hours. Shows you how good I am at it. But. . . because we
have to make it real. So in order to make it real I thought Id tell you a little bit, sort of
about my own journey, so you can understand that somebody who is far from perfect can
try to do this. I heard people say after Petras beautiful, amazing sharing of what she did
in three year retreat, I heard people say they got depressed by it. Watch that. You know
why they got depressed? Because they said, oh, shes there. I should be there. She
worked for lama Zopa for how many years? [laughs] And did great merit. We can get
there. Hear hope in that, not despair. You know. Where do we all start?
I was working as a clinician in New York City, a therapist, and a supervising
psychologist for the Archdiocese of New York. I was an undercover Buddhist in the
Archdiocese. [laughter] Not so undercover once my head got shaved. I had to explain
to my boss [laughs] because I had long hair. I had hair down to here, and the next day I
came in and its shorter than it is now and my boss. . . the director of my agency looked
at me and said, Now I have to deal with a bald supervisor. [laughs] And then I
thought maybe I better tell her what I did so she doesnt think Im absolutely raving mad,
because Im not quite young enough to just pull it off as the "in style". But I was really
working with inner city kids. And we were a drug abuse prevention program. And we
were supposed to work with at-risk kids. Guess how many kids in New York City are atrisk?
[Audience: all of them]
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

Right. So you are one person, trying to help, and you learn what it feels like to
feel helpless and feel like you cant do anything to help. Walk into a third grade
classroom. Ask the kids, raise your hand if you know somebody directly whos been
murdered by these gang, maybe drug dealers shooting it out on the streets, and have all
but three children in the room raise their hands. Have kids tell you. . . one little kid said
to me, because I said, what do you do to make yourself feel safe? And one little girl
says, my mommy lets me keep milk and cookies next to my bed and when the shooting
starts at night I can get down on the floor, and that way I could be under my bed and Id
have milk and cookies. Okay, thats her way of coping. And thats America. Now
think of Baghdad. How are you going to help? You know, I had this dream that Id be
able to help. I had this kind of narcissism, this little grandiose notion, I can save people.
I dont need a spiritual path. Im cool. You know. And then I found out I couldnt. I
couldnt even run my own life. You know. Im, Ive been married and failed at it, more
than once. Thats how compassionate I am. And I was about to give up. See I grew up
with my dad saying, you know Mahatma Gandhi? Hes this guy. You know Martin
Luther King... I actually grew up hearing Martin Luther King, and then seeing him get
killed. And actually I used that as a weapon against my dad when he said, do you have
to be a Buddhist nun? You know, its like, where did you get this from? My dad was
born Jewish, hes now a born-again Christian with great, great faith and is an amazing,
amazing being. And I said, Dad, remember when I was a kid you used to talk about
Gandhi? You made me think I could become a being like that. And you know for me,
Buddhisms what works, and for you Christianity is. And thats cool. And he stopped.
But I was about to give up hope. And then I walked in, first to this group at the
Three Jewels, this Ani named Ani Pelma, you may notice the beautiful nun who comes in
from the three year retreat. And Ani Jigme Palmo Ven Elly. And then finally I landed
in class. And I walk into Geshe Michaels class. Id met these amazing beings and they
said, well, you think were good. Go hear this other guy. And Im like, well who is
this guy? And I walk into class and I walk into Chunjuk its the only short title I
know because Geshe-hla said he had forgotten when he met a lama and he taught us you
should always know what book youre studying. And Chunjuk is short for The Guide to
the Bodhisattvas Way of Life, right? The Bodhisattva Charya Avatara. And all of a
sudden, there was not only a possibility I could become this being, there was a way to do
it. There was something called bodhichitta, where you could care so much about other
beings that you would do anything to get enlightened yourself so that you could emanate
in millions of forms and help all beings. But not only was there a word, because Im
good at words. Im chattering on and youre looking at me like youre actually listening
to me. But there was a path to get there. And guess what? Everybody started out just
like us. Lord Buddha telling stories about his past lives. Hell tell this story about a
monk who was jealous of another monk and tried to kick him out of the monastery and
then hell say guess who that was? Me. You know. Okay, well if he could do it,
maybe its possible, right? So thats sort of the background here. So then I heard
Geshes vision. I got scared. I warn you all, and everyone you see, hes out to get you.
He's out to get the world enlightened. The whole world, not just Buddhists. Hell do it
any way he can. Hell act in any way he can. Hell get there and then hell drag us,
kicking and screaming. [laughter] Can He do it for us? Can He just take away our
karma that makes us see the world as lousy, that makes us see a war where we dont want
to see a war, that makes us see a windstorm that hurt Ellys eyes, that makes us irritated,
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Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

that makes us whatever; can he just take away that world for us? Can he?
[Audience: inaudible]
I hear a debate going on. I hear nos and I hear yes. How is our world created,
who created your world?
[Audience: inaudible]
Okay. Everyone said, I did. [laughs] And then you have to own the good stuff
too, the nice stuff, the times that people hug you, love you. You created that too. You
remember it with the bad stuff. Were not so good at remembering the good stuff. We
created our world. So who can create a different world, a better world? Who?
[Audience: inaudible]
Us. The spiritual guide can do what? What is the most powerful thing a being
can do for us?
[Audience: inaudible]
Show us how. Teach us what to do. The Tibetan Book of Yoga is teaching you
what to do. And be careful, itll infiltrate. Its like a morning exercise thats both tong
len and physical yoga.
[Student (sounding angry), arguing that lamas can take our bad karma away for
us.]
Okay. So what do you do with that one, if your heart is upset and disturbed?
Maybe breathe it. See, this works. One thing I like about Buddhism is it works, at your
worst. Yogas the same. I have to give it equal time here. Ruth, an Angel just said that.
So yogas the same. Thats cool isnt it. Lots of pasts, lots of people, lots of
combinations. Geshe-hla's trying to find the one that will get us there quickest, and teach
us. Okay, so I came out to Diamond Mountain and I heard Geshe-hla's vision and I
wanted to run away, but I didnt. I decided. . . the reason I was scared is I knew I was
going to give up my life. I had this sane. . . well, I didnt have this sane life. I dont
think anybody in New York City has. . . well, no I shouldnt say that. There are a lot of
New Yorkers here, Im going to get in trouble. [laughs]
You know, I had a professional job for the Archdiocese in New York. Thats
very respectable, I guess. And they were great. I had this great job, actually. Everybody
in my job was a bodhisattva. I had amazing people around me, and I was burning out. It
wasnt working. And I knew when I met him that everything was going to change. So I
came out to Diamond Mountain, and I begged to be a care lady. I was the last one he let
know. He made a point of saying in one teacher training, these are my three care ladies,
Ellys the boss, and Amber and Anne. . . and then he said, and I didnt choose them for
their cooking ability. Now since Amber and Elly happen to be master chefs, I took that
personally. And Im glad he made me fight so hard, because he let me know at the last
minute. He said, I guess you could come. And then I was trying to say, I will. And
he said, you think about it. And now I know why, because I would have quit six times
over if I didnt remind myself, who wanted to come? Nobody made you. You chose
this. So I came out to Arizona thinking, Okay, Arizona. Working for my lama, taking
care of the retreaters, you know? I can cook and I pour in nectar into their food, Ill
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

just visualize nectar. You know, "Im not a good cook but Ill visualize nectar.
[laughter] I mean, what, theyll get, they have Cheerios in the morning, I think Elly will
agree with this, and rice and beans in the afternoon, some simple meal that will take a
couple of hours to cook. And the rest of the time well get to study and meditate and do
all those things.
So we come out to Arizona, theres nothing here but sand. I remember Elly said,
oh look at that flower, I wonder if we can pick some for Geshe-hla. And I went to pick
it and it had all these fine thorns that you couldnt see from a distance. Arizona. You
know. And were in tents in the desert with no kitchen at first. Were cooking on the
dirt, and were flipping out at each other. At least I was, very mentally afflicted, very
angry. Mad at the building crew because they came at ten and left at five and left all their
dishes, even though they worked out in the sun, by the way, doing heavy, heavy physical
labor trying to get the yurts done for our retreaters. Mentally afflicted, horrible mind,
trying at the last minute to do mantras as I deliver the food, so at least my negative
energy doesnt get in. One day Amber turned around to me and said, youre too old to
be this insecure, [laughter] and Im like, guess what sweetie, get rid of it now because
the bakchak just gets bigger. [laughter] I was thinking of this yesterday, I was thinking
the difference for me trying to practice here, and in New York. Yesterday John Brady
was up here doing this great beautiful talk from his heart and gave us this Zen Buddhist
mantra, so I have to use it today: I have David Stumpf here who promised to laugh at
this, where are you David? Youre back there, okay. And John gave us this Zen
Buddhist koan mu. Its also Diamond Mountains koan. You walk out of the kitchen
yurt and, [laughs] you yell "moooo". And then you get trampled because all of the
cows got used to eating all our leftovers and if we didnt feed them on time So mu here
had kind of a different meaning. And the cows lived by it. Elly got kicked by one.
We love them. We love them, but its been a drought and theyre hungry. So my
mu is coming up against my own limitations at the present time. My mu now is trying to
realize that those limitations, just like the rest of me, arent self-existent. Im not a bad
cook from my own side. [laughter] Im not an irritable, whining, complaining, insecure
forty eight year old, almost forty nine, from my own side. That means I can change.
That means maybe I can face anything that comes up in my mind and face it with
honesty. Pema Chodron. . . I steal everything from Geshe Michael and Pema Chodron
and all the holy beings around me. Pema Chodron, one of her books is called The
Wisdom of No Escape, and its a book on tong len. And she has this great quote, so I
thought I would share it with you. She said, You can take heart. Beings are the wise
ones who sit in front of us, to whom we prostrate when we do prostrations. We can
prostrate to them as an example of our own wisdom-mind of enlightened beings. But
perhaps its also good to prostrate to them as confused, mixed up people, with a lot of
neuroses, just like ourselves. They are good examples of people who never gave up on
themselves and were not afraid to be themselves, who found their own genuine quality
and their own true nature. Lets give a commentary on the commentary, okay? Tell me
something. Whats the difference between seeing enlightened beings and seeing mixed
up, ordinary beings? Whats the difference?
[Audience: inaudible]
Karma. Our projections -- us. Where does a holy being come from? Us. So if
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

someone says. . . if you have the bad karma from disrespecting your lamas from the past
and you see a being who you think can guide you out of suffering, and whos holy to you,
and you see that being that way, and somebody says, that being isnt holy. That beings
ordinary. They ticked me off the other day. Do you punch him in the face for offending
your holy being? [laughter] Or do you recognize that you created that too? I once said
to Elly, Lamas arent self-existent. . . I said this thing, and she said, oh, youre
figuring it out, huh? [laughter] And I admit, I havent. I've only figured it out
mentally. I still think Geshe Michael is holy from his own side, and anybody who
doesnt see it. . . except the days that I think hes not because Im mentally afflicted and
insecure. It all comes from us -- our own projections and our own minds. Okay, so now
I have another question for you. I want to see. . . well actually it would scare me, but I
want to see, directly instead of just suspecting that this may be true, an army of Angels in
front of me. Glowing light, youre all light bodies. You think you have a pain in your
back or neck. Uh, nah. Not really. Youre pretending, because youre really an Angel. I
want to do that now. Can I do it?
[Audience: inaudible]
I see yes and nos. I see no from Carolyn. Carolyn, why not?
[Carolyn: because you want to have that but you have to create the causes as
well.]
But Gail said yes. Why yes?
[Gail: Because the causes can ripen at this very moment.]
[laughs] Whos right? Give a round of applause.
[Isadora: If you project seeing everyone as a tantric Angel, you will eventually
get to see everybody as a tantric Angel.]
Shhh. Dont give away secrets, okay? Its a good thing to pretend. But when
that divine being tells you youre being mushy, you might still get irritated at them. Just
warning you.
In the scriptures on tong len, giving love and taking away suffering, they
say the order of taking starts with who? Guess? Yourselves. Ourselves. Why? Well
the scriptures say because were used to thinking of ourselves first. Were used to selfcherishing, as Petra talked about, finally really realizing how much we self-cherish. I
havent realized it yet. Im still. . . but Im trying. They say that. But I think the other
reason is that if we dont work with our own suffering, if we dont watch our own minds
and see what arises, we can never change it. And of course negative emotions arise.
Youre feeling jealous and youre like, oh, Im a bad bodhisattva. Im jealous of them.
They got to sit closer to the lama than I did and he. . . he mentioned their name and not
mine. Im talking about myself, of course, being jealous. And then youre like, Im
such a bad person. Im supposed to be a bodhisattva. I should be rejoicing for that
person. [laugher] Thats a kind of aggression. Its a kind of beating yourself up. Its a
kind of whacking yourself over the head. It doesnt quite work that way. Of course you
think that. Of course you get jealous. Weve been doing it for eons. Were really good
at it, or at least I am. The difference is that we know where it came from. Weve been
jealous in the past, weve taken things from others in the past. And then we watch it and
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Two Venerable Anne and Elly

we let it go. And then we make ourselves pretend, we rejoice, even if its not wholehearted. And then we plant a new seed that will flower into something else.
If we cant be honest with our own suffering, how can we look at someone we
dont even know well yet and look into their minds and understand them? How, when
somebody yells at us, are we ever going to tell ourselves the story. . . I used to tell stories
to myself as a kid to keep myself from killing people. I was a little angry and I'd say to
myself, oh, this person was mean to me because they got up this morning and they were
upset and they were worried and they dont mean to be mean. And those stories dont
really work. They work temporarily. What really works is realizing where that angry
mean person came from, and it aint them. But if we dont start with ourselves and we
dont start being honest with ourselves, then we can never see that.
[Audience: inaudible]
The question was, do you. . . I call it gentle bashing on the head of our selfcherishing. You know, for me the firmer bashing doesnt work. Im really good at
bashing myself. Im really good at putting myself down so for me. . . we all have to find
our own middle way. . . so for me. . . uurrgghh, I shouldnt be thinking that way, thats
terrible doesnt work. But, oh, of course Im thinking that way. Ive thought that way
before and Ill probably think that way again. But then I look at that mental affliction,
and think, "your days are numbered, seed, because Im going to get you. You know, its
like that. [laughter]
So we take. . . Pema Chodron also says, our hang-ups are our wealth. And I
believe it. They are our strengths. They are whats going to help us have compassion for
others, right? So, we spend our wealth on our breath. We use our breath to take away
others hang-ups that are causing them pain, and we use our breath to give them all the
happiness. So maybe the simplest daily practice is two things: honesty as much as you
can stand it . . . I have trouble sometimes being honest with myself, like I used to have
trouble writing things in my book because I didnt want to put it down. It somehow
looked more real if I put it down. Honesty as much as we can stand it and catching
ourselves, and using our breath. And imagine for a moment that youre breathing in to
reach out and bring in suffering and destroy it with that wisdom and love in your heart.
And imagine as you breath out that youre giving all good things. Geshe-hla says, that in
Tibetan Buddhism they always say you start the breath with an out breath, and you end it
with an in. In The Tibetan Book of Yoga he says something really cool. He says, you
know why we do that? Whats your first breath? What was Fontaine. . . Winston
McCullough, Fontaine McCulloughs and Andreas beautiful new child was born the day
before yesterday. What do you think the first breath was? In. Whats your last breath
before you die? Out. Breath in and live. Breath in other peoples suffering and destroy
it. Breath in and be willing to take on others suffering and live. Thats all.

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Afternoon: Day Two D April 18

Geshe Michael Roach
I think one of the caretakers will lead us in a meditation.
Amber Moore: I thought we could just do the Seven Limb Prayer in order to set
our minds for todays teaching. So get in a comfortable meditation position. Ill just go
through the different steps, and maybe suggest some thoughts, but please feel free to do
your own thing if you like. So lets just breath out and then in for ten breaths, and just
draw our attention inwards.
[silence]
So, the first step is refuge. And lets take refuge in the wisdom of the realized
beings, the wisdom which has awakened to whatever extent in all of us here. This
wisdom realizes that all appearances are coming from our own actions and deeds.
[silence]
The second step is bodhicitta. We have all suffered and continue to experience
suffering in different ways. And we all want to be happy. This is what we, as sentient
beings, all have in common. The best way to relieve the suffering is to develop a wise
and loving heart. We cannot teach others to truly be happy unless we are a living
example. We learn by example and teach by example, regardless of whether we think we
are learning or teaching at all. So resolve to become a living example of love and
wisdom.
[silence]
The next step is recalling the lama. Bring to mind a being that inspires you.
[silence]
Now respectfully bow to that mentor, that example of compassion and wisdom,
and thank them mentally.
[silence]
The next step is offering. Lets offer our resolve to develop those good qualities,
all those qualities that we see in our mentor. And offer to resolve to become like that
ourselves an embodiment of kindness, compassion, and wisdom.
[silence]
The next step is confession. I was thinking about what Petra talked about
yesterday. And so lets bring to mind these self-centered ways, which are the cause of all
of our suffering. And if possible, think of something specific.
[silence]
It is this pride that makes us think were so different from others. We cant relate
to them. When we forget our sameness as human beings, as fellow sentient beings, it is

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

easy to forget kindness. So lets resolve to banish our pride and selfish ways, and accept
all beings as our brothers and sisters.
[silence]
Next is rejoicing. So lets do that and remember, always, that we all have the
ability to do great things. By changing ourselves we can change suffering into happiness.
Even without any material ability, we can bring happiness to others by developing a good
heart, or just by smiling.
[silence]
The next step is requesting to teach. One aspect of this is, just like Milarepa who
is often shown in a state of continuous listening, we too can be like that. We can receive
teachings from the world around us. So lets pray that we can listen, hear, and
understand the teachings today and the teachings of all the realized beings.
[silence]
The next step is to ask all of the Buddhas and angels to stay and guide us, and to
know that they will.
[silence]
Now picture a pure being, an embodiment of all that is good and wise, and invite
them to come to the top of your head.
[silence]
Then invite them into your heart to stay, and watch them melt away into your own
heart.
[silence]
Know that theyll be there for love and guidance. And eventually you will
become them.
[silence]
Thank you.
D
Id like to request Lama Ruth-hla to lead us in a chant.
Ruth Lauer [chanted in call and response]:
Om. Om. Om.
Asato ma.
Asato ma.
Sat gamaya.
Sat gamaya.
Tamaso ma.
Tamaso ma.
Jyotir gamaya.
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

Jyotir gamaya.
Mrityor-ma amritham gamaya.
Mrityor-ma amritham gamaya.
Asato ma.
Asato ma.
Sat gamaya.
Sat gamaya.
Tamaso ma.
Tamaso ma.
Jyotir gamaya.
Jyotir gamaya.
Mrityor-ma amritham gamaya.
Mrityor-ma amritham gamaya.
Asato ma.
Asato ma.
Sat gamaya.
Sat gamaya.
Tamaso ma.
Tamaso ma.
Jyotir gamaya.
Jyotir gamaya.
Mrityor-ma amritham gamaya.
Mrityor-ma amritham gamaya.
Lead me from fear to faith.
Lead me from fear to faith.
Lead me from criticism to gratitude.
Lead me from criticism to gratitude.
Lead me from judgment to love.
Lead me from judgment to love.
Lead me from pollution to silence.
Lead me from pollution to silence.
Lead me from my will to thy will.
Lead me from my will to thy will.
Lead me from the small self to humanity.
Lead me from the small self to humanity.
Om.
D
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

Okay, well start.

I think its good or auspicious to say today is the day that Jesus gave his life. And
there were two events, I think, that were the immediate cause. One was that Jesus had
been invited to the home of a man in Jerusalem, with some of his disciples. He was
having dinner and a woman burst in the door. She forced her way into where Jesus was
sitting and she was holding a small box of white stone. She opened it and she went
straight to the end of the table where Jesus was sitting. She opened the box and she
poured some precious oil over his head into his hair. And the disciples were watching
and they said, This incredible thing, shes pouring this precious oil worth I think it
would have been worth thousands of dollars nowadays.
Some of the disciples were unhappy. They said, We could have sold the oil and
fed many poor people. Especially the disciple named Judas; at that moment he lost his
faith in his teacher.
Jesus said, You people dont understand whats happening. This woman is a
special woman. She sees whats going to happen to me. And the oil she has put on my
hair is the traditional anointment of oil upon a dead man.
Then Jesus was in one of the great temples, and it was a holy day, Shabbat,
Saturday. A crippled man came to him and asked to be healed, and Jesus healed him in
the temple. And some of the religious authorities, who were perhaps envious of Jesus,
accused him and said, Why are you doing healing on a Saturday? Were not allowed to
work on Saturday. You have violated the law of the temple.
And Jesus stood up and said, I have not come to violate the law of the temple. I
have come to fulfill the law of the temple.
D
So lets start the Yoga Sutra. Id like to ask the first person to read their verse.
John Stilwell: And these negative thoughts are their very root. Klesha mulah
karma-ashayo dirshta-adirshta janma vedaniyah. (II.12A)
I think the first keyword here is klesha. [laughs] Its our favorite subject in three
year retreat. [laughs] Klesha is a negative thought or negative emotion towards another
person, or even yourself.
I like the definition. We had to memorize it in the debate ground. Rang gyun
dengyi gangsak shegyu ma shiwar chepay semjung sempa nyonmong gyi tsennyi, means
any thought which a person has which disturbs their peace of mind is a klesha. This is
the definition of a klesha. So klesha means a negative thought or harmful thought. I
like the root. Its klish in ancient Sanskrit, k-l-i-s-h. And in the older ancient IndoEuropean, the root is kel, k-e-l. Its interesting, the words in English that have come
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

from kel, which means to distress or to bother somebody. The word holly comes
from that because the prick that you get from the leaf of holly is very like a little
disturbance or painful to your finger. So the word holly means the little distressing
leaf. Like a mental affliction. And the word whats that word? Theres a word for
disaster that starts with c-a-l. Calamity comes from the same root. The c-a-l
comes from the same root as klesha, meaning a bad seed. And theres one more . . . oh,
gladiator comes from the ancient Latin word gladis, which means a sword or
something to stab somebody with. And all of these relate back to the same root for
klesha. So a klesha is a thought which disturbs your peace of mind. The Tibetan word is
nyonmong. And it mix up roots that mean to bother somebody, and to be in a foggy
state of mind.
Whats the next keyword? Mula is difficult; theres no clear Sanskrit root. Its
probably something like m-u. But the Indo-European root is mei, m-e-i. And it
comes into Latin in words for foundation or wall. And the word mural, which is a
painting on a wall, comes from the same mu. And the word ammunition, which is stuff
to be used in a fortress with strong foundation, comes from the same. . . the m-u comes
from the same root as mula. So mula means tsawa or shi in Tibetan, meaning the root.
What Master Patanjali is getting into is how karma works. He has just finished
discussing the five kleshas, five main negative emotions. And then he points out that
behind every negative thought we ever have, behind every negative word we ever say, is
a klesha, is a negative thought. The root of all kleshas is ignorance, is not understanding
where something we dont like comes from. If theres a person who irritates you and you
dont understand their real nature, then you can get upset at them, which is a klesha, and
then you will do something bad to them, harm them, or even just think badly about them.
But if you are kshetrika, as we said yesterday, if youre a gardener, and if you understand
where things really come from, then you know that when a person upsets you or bothers
you, that you are really seeing a reflection of yourself, of your own karma, of your own
seeds in your own mind. Then you cant collect karma anymore. You wont react to this
person in a negative way. So in this line, Master Patanjali is saying, Watch out for
negative thoughts. They are the root of all bad deeds and speech. Next line please.

Rebecca Vinacour: The first form of self-control is avoiding harm to anyone.

Ahinsa satya-asteya brahmacharya-aparigraha yamah. (II.30A)

I think the first word here is ahinsa. Im a stickler on pronunciation, and people
who study Tibetan with me know. In the first days when Sanskrit was spread in the
West, all the scholars agreed to use an m with a dot under it to represent what we call a
pre-nasal, a nose sound that comes before another letter, like in French when they go,
wha, wha, wha. And so that letter changes according to the letter behind it. So
although its spelled in scholarly publications with an m and a dot, you have to change
it for each circumstance. So really this word is aninsa with an n sound before the s.
And thats exactly where the root comes from, which is hins, h-i-n-s, which comes
from an older root, ghan, g-h-a-n. The Indo-European root is gwhen, which is g-w-he-n. Ill ask you if you can guess the one English word that comes from gwhen.
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

[Student: I think gun.]

Yeah, gun. The one word that comes from ahinsa in English is the word gun;
comes directly from the same root. So a means negative, like we see it in English with
atheist, and atypical, and all the words that begin with a which are negative. So
ahinsa means literally no guns, and it means we cant hurt other beings. This is the
first and greatest yama. This is the first and greatest rule of moral conduct not to hurt
other beings.
Were going to see that the first four of the yamas, or moral codes, are the same in
the ancient Buddhist traditions. No killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, and no
lying. And these are the foundation of all accomplishments. If you have any hope of
reaching a paradise in this world, and helping others to reach it, the first thing to give up
is harming other people. Next verse please.

Ben Brewer: The pain that we are ridding ourselves of is all the pain that would
have come to us in the future. Heyam duhkham anagatam. (II.16)
I think the first word here is heya. Heya comes from a root ha, h-a, and ha
means to discard something, or leave something, or abandon something. The
Indo-European root is ghe, g-h-e. We see it in the word to go, g-o, which means
to leave, and we see it in the word heir, meaning somebody who inherits another
persons property, because the original meaning of heir was the person who gets
abandoned or left behind. And hereditary comes from the same root. So the basic
meaning of heya is something that you should leave behind.
In Tibetan, the word is, I think, pang ja. Pang ja is a very beautiful idea. Its a
subject that we study in the monastery for years. In the first twelve years, when we
debate Perfection of Wisdom, we are often talking about pang ja. Pang ja is a holy idea.
It means, If you and I can reach certain spiritual levels in our lives, certain specific
spiritual levels, then we can pang ja certain kleshas, meaning we can give up, forever,
certain kinds of negative thoughts.
You could give the example of jealousy. Jealousy is a pang ja. It means that
jealousy is not an inherent part of the human mind. We can eliminate jealousy from a
human mind forever. And there comes a stage in your spiritual development when you
give up jealousy forever and it becomes a heya.
I mean, sometimes when Im having a bad day in the yurt, I like to just imagine
that I could give up some negative emotion forever, that I could get rid of some negative
thought forever. I mean, what would it be like never to have jealousy? What if you are a
person who had overcome desire completely? How does a person like that feel when
they walk into a grocery store and they see the Seven-Eleven poisons [laughs]
chocolate, coffee, sugar, pastries, TV Guide, Playboy magazine how does this person
perceive those objects now? What do they look like to a person who has given up desire
forever?

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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

The next keyword, I think, is anagata. When you want to make a negative out of
a Sanskrit word that already starts with a you use a-n. So, anagata. We see this in
English, like, whats an example? Anachronism, maybe? Or other words that start with
a-n where it means negative. Another is an example.
Anagata means to come, whereas ha means to go. I think some of you
remember it from Heart Sutra: gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi soha. The
Sanskrit root is gam, g-a-m, and the old Indo-European root is gwem, g-w-e-m. We
see it in the word to come, and sometimes the g drops off and becomes a v, and all
of the Latin words that start with v-e-n, like adventure, or venture, or avenue, or
words that include a word to come. Also, the word basis, the b-a comes from the
same root because it comes from the Greek word to come.
I think this is one of the most important lines in the whole Yoga Sutra. If its true
that when we meet a bad person or an irritating person if its true that this is coming
from the seeds in our own mind which we put there before when we were unkind to other
people then you see theres a time lapse, theres a time gap between the time you do
something and the time you get a result. What that implies is that most of the good and
bad things in our whole life are caused by things that happened much longer ago than we
thought.
I think this is important for people on a spiritual path. The Bible says, Why do
the wicked prosper? And doesnt ever answer it. The other question is, Why do good
people suffer? Its because heyam duhkham anagatam. We cant stop suffering in the
present moment. When you do a good deed, it takes time for that seed to ripen, which
explains why a person here, whos trying to be a good person, might go to another
person, try to tell them the truth, and then they simply dont believe you, or they even do
something harmful to you. Its important to realize that this is coming from times in your
past when you lied to other people and you didnt tell the truth. But telling the truth now
will definitely give you some happiness in the future.
So when you try to help another person whos in pain, and things go wrong and
they get angry at you, or they dont appreciate you, you have to realize that your good
deed, because of your good motivation, must have a good result. But it will come later.
So you cant get discouraged when you do some pure-hearted deed like telling the truth
about something and then theres a bad reaction. You have to realize that the bad
reaction is coming from something negative you did earlier. And telling the truth or
being truthful can only bring a sweet, holy result. But anagata, in the future. And that
way we dont get discouraged when were trying to be truthful or to practice spiritual
path. Next verse please.
Judy Brewer: These various forms of self-control are mighty codes of conduct
meant for people in every stage of their personal development. They go beyond
differences in race or social status; they go beyond the borders between countries; they
go beyond what is modern, or old; they go beyond the various creeds and convictions.
Ete jati desha kala samaya-anavachinnah sarva bhauma mahavratam. (II.31)

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Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

I think the first keyword is jati. Jati means birth. In the Tibetan its called
kyewa. And in ancient India birth was very important. It implied what caste have you
been born into. Are you high caste or low caste? There was a very strict division. I
remember the first time I went to India, I was very young, twenty-one, I think, or twenty.
And there was a flood, and it carried away a bus. And there was a high caste man sitting
in the bus and a low caste man threw him a rope to pull him out of the water. And he
refused to touch it, and he died. And thats how strong caste can be in India.
The word jati comes from a word jan, root j-a-n. The corresponding root in
Indo-European is gen, g-e-n. And you can guess that many, many words for being
born come from this root, like genetics, or gene, or genital, or pregnant, the gn in pregnant comes from the same root. Kind, in the sense of type, comes from
this root, and a word like kin, meaning type of birth or family. All these words
come from the same root as jati, meaning your birth or social status in your own
culture.
I think the next word is desha. Weve had it before in the last teaching, meaning
a place in the body. And sometimes it means specifically, a spot of your body,
especially when youre studying chakras and channels, desha is important. But on a
bigger scale, desha means country. The Sanskrit root is dish or diksh, d-i-k-s-h, and
the Indo-European root is deik, d-e-i-k. We see the Sanskrit root in the words for
countries, like Bangladesh means countries of the Bangla. And in English, the old
Indo-European root comes into a lot of words, like to teach, to indicate, the word
digital comes from this, the word indicate, the d-i-c. And theres one more
interesting. . . to preach, its an abbreviation of predicate, which comes from the
same root. And all of these roots mean to point in a direction, to indicate a direction.
So direction came to be a word for country.
I think the next one is kala. Kala you know I think everyone knows from the
word Kalachakra, which means the wheel of time. And kal, k-a-l, an ancient
Sanskrit root, means to drive something or put something into motion. The IndoEuropean root is kel, k-e-l, and we find it in the word accelerate. Its the c-e-l, to
push something fast. And celebrity comes from this, the c-e-l, meaning someone
who is often in a place, and the word car, meaning automobile, comes from the
same root. Here it refers to time in the sense of modern times or olden times.
Whats the next keyword? Ah, samaya you know; its an important word. The
Tibetan is damtsik. I think most of you have heard the word samaya, meaning the
pledge or commitment, especially between a teacher and their disciple. I think well
talk more about that later today when we speak more about Naropa. What is the nature
of samaya, or the promise or the commitment between a teacher and their disciple? Sam
comes from the old. . . it means to gather and it comes into English in all the words
with c-o-m in it, like committee, or commune, or community, words like that.
Aya comes from the ancient Sanskrit root, which is simply the letter i, that is found in
Indo-European as e-i, which means to come or to go. We see that in the English
words circuit, the i-t, and exit, the i-t, and itinerary, all meaning to go. So
really, samaya means to come along. Samaya means to make a promise or
commitment or pledge to join with some idea or principle, and to keep it and never break
it. In Tibetan, the definition in the debate ground of a samaya is dorda me ulwa,
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Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

damtsik gi tsennyi. That promise which you should never give up, is the definition of a
samaya. In this particular verse, samaya means creed, religious creed, or
conviction. What religion do you follow? This is your samaya.
So Master Patanjali is saying, Ive just listed five yamas. Yama means also
those five moral codes: not harming other living beings and yourself, not stealing things,
not committing sexual misconduct, and not lying. Master Patanjali adds here,
aparigraha, which means not being possessive or acquisitive, trying to get more
possessions.
Then he says something very powerful, and I think its one of the most beautiful
verses of the whole Yoga Sutra. He says it doesnt matter if you were born in a high
caste or a low caste. It doesnt matter if you were born in the eastern part of the world or
the western part of the world, it doesnt matter if you were born in 200 AD or if you were
born in 2000 AD, and it doesnt matter what religion you claim to follow Buddhist,
Hindu, Christian, Jew, Muslim it doesnt matter. These codes of conduct not hurting
other people, not taking other peoples things, respecting other peoples relationships,
with their spouse especially, respecting the truth, and not trying to acquire too many
possessions these laws of moral conduct, they go beyond all time, all space, everyone
must keep them. It doesnt matter where youre from. It doesnt matter where you live.
I grew up like you, in a country where we were taught many people the Ten
Commandments. And it was the word command. Command. You were told, You
have to keep these things. You must keep these commandments. And they are very
holy and pure codes of conduct. But the feeling of the word commandment, I think, is
a little bit of a problem for many people. Its like someones ordering you to follow these
codes of conduct. Ultimately, every one of us must follow them, not because we were
told to do so, not because it is the custom in the country where we live. Not because its
against the law if you dont follow them, not because everyone else is following them or
not following them. We have to follow these codes of conduct because we understand
that to violate them is to cause suffering not only to others, but ultimately to yourself.
I think ultimately, when these codes become a law which is followed voluntarily
by every person on our planet, it will be only because they finally realize that when you
break these laws you hurt yourself first of all.
Death itself is not unavoidable. Death itself is not something that has to happen
to anybody, here or elsewhere, in this whole world. Death itself can be easily well,
fairly easily, stopped. Its not our condition. It doesnt belong to us inherently. Its
removable. Its a mistake.
Every pain that every single living creature ever endures on this planet, even
death itself, is a simple error of not following these codes of conduct. And we have to, as
people on a spiritual path, we need to meditate, practice deeply ourselves, struggle to
keep these vows ourselves, and finally come to the point where we can directly perceive
the day that we will leave the condition of death ourselves. The day that we will,
ourselves, become an angel who can never suffer again. And when you reach that
certainty, when you have seen it directly, then truly you can be of service to other people.

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Its gonna get cool so make sure you have a wrap on or something. Next verse of
the Yoga Sutra please.
Pat Turrigiano: The sixth obstacle is a mistaken view of the world left
uncorrected. Vyadhi styana sanshaya pramada-alasya-avirati bhranti darshana-alabdha
bhumikatva-anavasthitatvani chitta vikshepas tentarayah. (I.30F)
Thank you. This is a list of obstacles to a spiritual life by Master Patanjali, and I
think this obstacle mentioned here is the most serious one. The first keyword is
darshana. Darshana comes from a Sanskrit root dirsh, d-i-r-s-h, and it means to look
at something. And then the Indo-European root is derk, d-e-r-k. The words in
English that come from this old root, the main one is dragon and it comes from a Greek
word that meant the creature with the evil eye. And if youve ever gone face to face
with a rattle snake youll understand why. They have this sort of sleepy evil look, and so
snakes and especially dragons, were called drokon, from this root.
The word dragoon in Dragoon Mountains also comes from the same root,
because the flag or the banner carried by certain kinds of troops in Europe looked like a
dragon, swinging like that. The Tibetan word is tawa. Tawa means worldview.
Darshana and tawa mean how you view your world.
And Ill put it very simply very, very simply. You meet a person you dont like.
Something happens today that hurts you, something you dont like. If you have good
darshana you look at it and you say, This is a neutral or empty or blank object, like a
blank blackboard, and my mind, forced to do so by my past deeds, is seeing this as
unpleasant.
And so then you dont get into these moral quandaries where youre deciding is A
better or is B better. The solution to anything unpleasant that comes to you is to fix your
own heart, and your own seeds, and your own mind. Then you will never see these
things again.
I think bhranti is second? Bhranti means mistaken and the Tibetan I think here
is norwa, which means mistaken. Bhranti comes from a root bhram, b-h-r-a-m,
which means to wander around. The corresponding ancient root is wer, w-e-r, and it
means to go wrong or to be twisted. And the words that come from this root into
English are like wire, meaning something you twist backwards, wreath of twigs or
branches, meaning something which is twisted into a shape. The word wrong comes
directly from this same root, the word wrath meaning a twisted state of mind or an
angry state of mind comes from the same root. The w-r is the same as the b-h-r in
bhranti. They come from the same root.
He says, avirati. Avirati means that you havent corrected. So the whole
study of the Yoga Sutra, the reason to fly to Arizona twice, and take all the trouble to
come here is to try to fix our darshana, to try to fix our view, of where things are really
coming from and stop blaming other people, stop trying to make judgments on other
people. But rather realize that all the things we see are coming from ourselves and we

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have to fix our own mind. We have to change the seeds in our own mind, and then we
will see only good things.
I have a Christian friend, I spent a weekend with him when I was in retreat once
in Flagstaff, and he said, I enjoy your presentation. I understand what youre saying.
But it seems almost cruel to me that there should be people in the world who walk around
with some kind of rose-colored glasses called different karmic seeds. And then they
dont see all the terrible things that are really happening in the world.
So is it just the case that we are trying to collect good seeds and then we dont
perceive other people suffering in pain? We dont perceive a person as having trouble?
You see, that question assumes theres a reality. That question assumes theres a real
way that things exist. That question assumes that theres really an irritating person sitting
in front of you.
There is no such thing. Its not that theres something bad and were trying to see
it as a nice thing. Theres something blank and we have a choice to see it as something
pure, or something wrong or harmful. And the way we see it will only depend on the
how weve treated other people in the past.
So the cure for all the problems of the world is basically ahinsa dont hurt
other people and then you will see the world as a paradise, and it will be. And at the
same time it may be hell to someone else. And thats the emptiness of the world.
Antar is very easy. The corresponding English is inter, i-n-t-e-r, as in
interrupt, or interstitial, or intermediary, meaning something that comes
between. And antar or barche or bar in the Tibetan means something that comes
between you and your spiritual goals, an obstacle that comes between you and your
spiritual goals. And the Tibetan word bar is the same one as in bardo. And I think
many of you have heard the Tibetan word bardo, which means the in between the state
of death and rebirth. So again, that feeling of being in-between. But in this verse it
means to interrupt or block our spiritual progress. Next verse.
Mercedes Bahleda: The second form of self-control is always telling the truth.
Ahinsa satya-asteya brahmacharya-aparigraha yamah. (II.30B)
This is the second of the five moral codes or forms of self-control that are said to
be the basis of all yoga. Maybe its a good place to repeat what we talked about last time
we met at Thanksgiving. And really, if you want to know why were going to go around
the United States and teach this Tibetan form of yoga, this is the answer. We want to try
to share with anyone whos interested how yoga really works. Why is it that you go into
a little room and some sweet, holy yoga teacher comes in and they force you to bend and
twist and sweat a bit? And then maybe, if you keep that up for a few months or
something, you start to feel more healthy and more strong. How does that work?
And the ancient teachings, all the way from the beginning of the Yoga Sutra have
taught that you have to understand something yoga is only meant to affect your inner
body. So we have an outer body, a physical body, and you stretch it or move it in certain
ways. Then you have a subtle body thats almost like made of light, and then physical
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exercises have some very gross or very rough affect on these inner channels. If the inner
channels are flowing well, then your health becomes very, very good.
Another level that you can work on these inner channels is your breath. If your
breath is calm and regular, and if you learn special ways of controlling your breath,
pranayama, then you can actually affect your channels. Inside these channels, like light
rays inside the body, are moving special winds which are attuned to the physical breath.
Its not that your breath moves through the channels, but if you can breathe in special
ways, then it affects the inner winds.
Connected to the inner winds, like riders upon a horse, are your thoughts. This is
the exciting place where thoughts, and mind, and matter meet. You see? This is like the
holy grail of many forms of science or psychology. This is where the mind and the body
have their border. Within the subtle channels, there are subtle physical winds moving,
and connected to them, always indivisibly connected to these subtle winds, are your
thoughts. Thats why if you can calm your breath, your thoughts get calmer. Thats why
if your thoughts get disturbed or angry, your winds get stirred up and you start to breath
faster.
So what we had in mind is going to teach the ancient Tibetan methods of yoga to
people who are already learning yoga. And I think its important to say that this Heart
Yoga idea is meant, first of all, to compliment whatever yoga a person is doing. I dont
think its our primary idea to go out and spread a new kind of yoga. Its more like to
meet people who are doing any kind of yoga already, and try to explain how you can
enhance your yoga practice, no matter what kind of yoga youre doing, by working from
the inside.
If we can do special practices like tong len, compassion practices, as part of the
physical exercises, then the thoughts which are riding upon the inner winds are calmed
down. Its like instead of trying to control the horse, you try to calm down the rider. So
if you can do physical yoga, and at the same time do a yoga which is really compassion,
using your breath to develop compassion and kindness towards others, then youve got
this incredible combination. It feels like gasoline and matches to me. On the outside,
youre working downwards to affect the inner channels and the winds. And then from
the inside youre working upwards and affecting the same parts of your body with
thoughts of compassion, beautiful thoughts.
So really the ultimate yoga would be to have perfectly clean and compassionate,
kind thoughts running the inner channels at the same as youre doing beautiful, graceful
exercises with your outer body.
And really, all of this can only happen if you have the seeds for it. If you go into
a yoga class and you dont have seeds in your mind to see the asanas work on your body,
even if you go into a yoga class and try to do some kind of breathing practice to develop
compassion, if you dont have the seeds that weve been talking about, you will fail; you
will get injured, you will hurt your back, you will hurt your shoulder or your neck. You
will come out feeling more competitive and angry and jealous, envious of other students
than when you started your yoga practice.
We have to work at the very, very bottom level of reality. And I think if theres
one message we would like to tell people as we travel around and teach this ancient,
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ancient Tibetan form of yoga, which came from whom? Naropa. Thats why weve been
talking about Naropa. [laughs] I forgot to mention that! [laughs] Well be teaching
Naropas system of yoga, which is meant to link onto whatever yoga a person is already
doing. I mean, if people are interested we could start centers called Ancient Heart
Tibetan Naropa Yoga or whatever, but thats not really the point.
The point is whatever yoga youre doing, if you understand where it comes from,
if you understand where the reality actually is being produced from, then you will
succeed. You will be healthy, you will be happy. And if you pursue this type of yoga to
its ultimate end, your body changes into the indestructible body of light of an angel. And
this was the intention of the yoga practices from the beginning.
I dont think. . . you and I know, we cant go out in a bookstore, Barnes and
Nobles, and start pitching indestructible bodies to people. But we can start leading them
that way in their thoughts and in their mind. Its the same as Garys Enlightened
Business Institute. You start trying to get people to understand that money is produced
by giving. The only source of money is charity towards others. And the only source of
health that people, twenty million people are seeking with yoga, is to serve others and to
practice non-violence.
So really, Master Patanjali is teaching the original Ashtanga yoga. And the very
first limb, the very first part is, you must understand your body is being produced by how
you treat other people. Your world is being produced by how you treat other people.
The economy of your country, peace or war, internationally, is all being produced from a
tiny drop of consciousness in your heart where all the seeds of your past deeds lie. Your
entire world is being produced by how you treat other people. Its not a metaphor; its
not a moral teaching. Its just the way things are.
So we need to practice first, the moral codes, which produce the seeds which
make you healthy. If you run around serving others, helping others, making sure others
are healthy, you cant avoid having a body like a sixteen year old person. Your body will
start to change. The ultimate end of that is to become a being whose body is made of
light and can appear on countless planets to serve countless beings. You all have this
destiny. Each person here has this destiny. You were meant to be that.
Twenty million people are dabbling in yoga because theyve got some hunger to
reach the destiny, which they are supposed to reach. Were not meant to do business, and
raise families, and eat, and drink, and defecate, and die. Each person here is meant to be
an angel, indestructible, who can appear on countless planets in countless bodies and
serve countless other people. Its what you want. Its what you were meant to be. And
this is what yoga was originally taught for.
So here we get the second great moral teaching of the Yoga Sutras. We cant lie
to other people. We have to practice satya. Satya means truth and it comes directly
from the word for exist. A-s in Sanskrit, as, and e-s in ancient Indo-European.
And the English words, as we mentioned before, that come from here are essence and
the word yes, meaning it is. And I think the one word, satyagraha, you might know,
Mahatma Gandhijis main philosophy, satya meaning truth, agraha meaning
founded, steadfast, immobile in truth. We cant be stirred away from truth.

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To really be a truthful person requires a knowledge of what we said before:

heyam dukah mana gatham, which means you cant expect truth to work immediately.
Mahatma Gandhis great realization was that if you continue to be absolutely truthful in
everything you do, then in time, the seeds will change in your mind and there will be
truth all around you, constantly.
So even when its difficult, even when you know its going to cause problems for
you, we have to be one hundred percent absolutely truthful. Even when its not. . . even
when it seems to cause problems, even when you know people are going to think youre
strange, or maybe theyll be angry with you, we have to tell one hundred percent the
truth. And then everything will come to us.
What is it satya pratishthayam kriya phala ashrayatvam, later in the Yoga
Sutras Master Patanjali says, You want everything, every project you ever try to do, to
come out one hundred percent beautiful? Just be truthful all the time, one hundred
percent truthful.
And then I think yama is just repeated here, yeah? We had that before, meaning
moral code. Next line please.
Oh, thats great. [laughs] I cant believe we finished on time. Well have to do
something, lets see. [laughter] You havent been in a real teaching until your butt is so
sore that you go home, like, limping. So then I think its a good time, Id like to ask one
of the retreatants to speak about, again, this impossible assignment of the one most
important thing she learned during retreat. And well be hearing from Ani Pelma, Debra
Ballier, the mother of the Three Jewels in New York.
D
Ani Pelma: Hello everyone. It feels really good to be here. It was very exciting
to see some of you for the first time. The process of coming out of the three year retreat
is very interesting. Its pretty amazing to meet and to talk with our care-ladies. Just to
see their faces and to hear them was pretty moving. Their faces told a beautiful story.
The love from them just poured out. I wanted to take the time to really thank them and to
tell them how much I miss them, and to ask them to stay forever.
The second experience I encountered was sitting with a group of very kindhearted and enthusiastic beings. And I wanted to take this opportunity to thank them for
helping us keep our speech pure. As we re-entered the world, it was very exciting to sit
around beings and talk about working for the benefit of others.
Geshe-la asked us to tell you about our retreat, and Im so grateful that youre
here so that we have someone to tell about it. We couldnt have done it without you. So
many things happened during the retreat and it was pretty difficult to decide what was
most beneficial to tell you. So I decided that I would narrow it down, and I really tried,
to give you some insight about what happened in my mind.
The thing, the one thing, that happened with my mind is that it developed a very
acute awareness of what was happening in it. Because your body is not roaming the
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earth, everything becomes magnified thousands of times in your mind. You start to
develop an acute mental awareness of what your mind really, really is like. Silence
causes you to probe very deeply.
For example, say if your mind was a clock. When you were not in retreat, you
would just want to know what time it is. During retreat you are more interested in
figuring out what causes the second hand to move, how does the alarm work, and how
does the darn thing run. [laughter] Just having this special awareness helps you to see
your thoughts. And this could be very profound.
What is more profound is understanding what generates those thoughts. You
clearly see all your motivations and your attachment to them. You observe the distinctive
patterns of the behavior of your mind. There are times you become sad, angry, jealous,
very disturbed by your mental afflictions. In the world outside your retreat, it is easy to
blame others for your mental afflictions. But when you are alone and you see them come
up, in some cases, you understand where you got them from and you have the capacity to
destroy the roots, because you also deeply understand that theyre only your projections.
So you have this mental awareness of watching your mind constantly. And this
allows you to really, really comprehend that theres no one to blame for any actions you
have experienced. This is something that happened and you realize that there is no me
and them, that the them doesnt exist, that theres just me, because you know
everything is coming and youre convinced, theres not a question in your mind, that all
of these emotions are coming from within you.
Also, with this special mental awareness, you really start to get logical and you
make friends very quickly with the four laws of karma. And you begin to live by them.
It is very interesting to discover that karma really begins inside of your mind. It is how
you think that creates the seed to every good and bad thing you encounter.
Another mental awareness that I experienced was, what it feels to be a human
being. Because you are doing the same activities over, and over, and over again like
waking up, taking care of your alter, doing your book, meditating, reciting, eating, going
to the bathroom, taking care of your body, exercising, without any outer disturbances,
there is something special that occurs. You learn what human beings do and you begin to
question yourself and wonder, Why did I get this kind of body? Theres a different
relationship that develops between you and your existing body, because now you know
the true form. Once you clearly see your body for what it really is, this causes you to
become very spiritually grounded. You then begin to ponder about other realities outside
the human realm. This is just an amazing experience, to become convinced that there are
actually other realms that you can go to and one of the vehicles that could get you there is
having this deep renunciation about your life as being a human being in this suffering
world.
Many things in the physical environment can affect your mind. Like for example,
if the wind blows off your dome to your yurt, at two thirty in the morning in 20-30 degree
temperatures [laughter] while you are sleeping and [laughs] you physically cant put
it on yourself. In these times you really develop deep renunciation about a human being.
[laughs] These situations can help you to learn about how to pray [laughter] and believe
in holy beings, and your faith is really tested.
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Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

Another mental awareness that I realized, is that strong emotional feelings give
birth to different kinds of thoughts. In other words feeling is the mother, and thought is
the child. Your feelings become very intense. This causes the mind to fluctuate, like
waves on the ocean, when you are in retreat. In general, you can divide feelings into two
distinct categories: liking things and disliking things; hatred and love. These two
emotions can affect your feelings drastically. Then, it feeds your thought process, which
can cause you to become joyful or depressed. This is not good for your meditation.
[laughs] It became very apparent that one should work on these two major obstacles
inside the mind. Because there was no one around, these two emotions played out their
characters on objects that came into my yurt.
If you have a very independent personality, and you have lived by yourself, and
was fully responsible for every aspect of your life, having someone deciding what you
should eat is a great teaching, because food is like your DNA the thing that
distinguishes you from others. It is a unique form of energy which fuels your body. This
is the object that I didnt like for the first six months. My food basket had lots of power
over my mind. The food was okay [laughs] and we always had more than enough. But
my mind had to find something to transfer that pattern of not liking things. The food
basket was used as a practice for me of harnessing my negative thoughts. It was the only
thing that was coming in the yurt. [laughter] And the day I decided that I would no
longer feel happy or sad. . . one day I decided I would no longer feel happy or sad about
the food basket [laughs]. . . I discovered that my mind really wanted to embrace
equanimity, not feeling good or bad. And you can only acquire this by neutralizing your
mind. And because of this special awareness I started working on my feelings through
doing meditations on equanimity, which involves loving your enemies [laughs] and
hating the people that you hold dearly, brings you to a really sweet place of freedom.
Your mind could then experience higher levels of meditation, by simply having
equanimity becoming one of your main practices. You gain great insight into what it
could feel like to see the world as being totally pure and what is the real cause for this,
and who has blessed your mind and has given you endurance for the retreat.
The only person that I didnt thank was our lama. And I want to do so by
dedicating this poem to him because he is so precious, and has taught us how to look at
him as the object that we see, because hes really emptiness itself.
This poem is called Timeless and it was inspired by doing tong len meditation.
You are in the hollow channels of time
The skies in the crack of dawn
Basking on high peaks
At noon-time you are resting on a blade of grass
Flirting with Tara, the Goddess of Eternity
And then you gently glide in on the light rays
Which float in and out of the power inside my lungs
I suddenly exhale and you travel beyond existence
To capture the gist of life
I fly on the winds of my endless breath, my lama,
The lining of the twilight zone forever.

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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

Thank you.
[applause]
Please have a break, and dont forget to run up to one of those three directors and
offer your services. Have a break and then well do a little bit more about Naropa-hla.
D
Well do a little of Naropa-hla's story, and then I think youll have some time to
have a quiet evening. And I encourage you again to. . . if you hear the Yoga Sutra taught
properly its a great blessing. And the minute you hear it you have to take responsibility
to pass it on to the next generation.
Its very wrong to have a clear teaching on a holy book and not try to get it all
clear in your mind and organized, and be ready to teach it to the next generation. It might
be in a coffee shop in New York, talking over a few lines of the Yoga Sutra to someone
who needs it that day, or it might be giving a presentation to a large group somewhere.
But either way, you have to be willing to be the next link in the lineage. This is your
holy responsibility.
The great gurus and lamas of history, ever since Master Patanjalis time, almost
two thousand years now, have taken that responsibility or we wouldnt have the Yoga
Sutra. And now its your responsibility to look over your notes at least twice before
tomorrows class. But I think more importantly, to. . . the blessing of meeting with your
fellow seekers here, wherever youre staying, and I again encourage you to talk to
someone, perhaps that you dont know but now looks interesting, and get together and
look over the lines that weve done so theyll be firm in your mind when you teach the
next generation.
And I wanted to say in that regard, what Winston-hla and Alistair-hla didnt
mention about Diamond Mountain that I was so happy to hear, was that, I believe almost
all the staff at Diamond Mountain, the directors and many even of the new volunteers
here, many of them have been spreading out throughout the world and teaching the
various courses, the ACI courses. And I have heard beautiful wonderful things all the
way from Singapore to Lake Tahoe [laughs] about the teachings that they have so kindly
given, and for me and Im sure for Khen Rinpoche and Geshe Thupten Rinchen and
the other great lamas who have entrusted us with this sacred duty its just incredibly
joyful news to hear that theres a new generation of wonderful teachers. I got so much
news in the last few days, tons of letters from people who are so grateful to you. And I
salute that.
Also, you should know that after holy Lama Khen Rinpoche granted us the
instructions for deep retreat, I think it was around 1980, he encouraged us each to do four
deep retreats in our lifetime. In the first ten years or twelve years, in the town where we
were staying in New Jersey, we were only able, between all of us, to do I think about five
le rungs. All the students there, and myself included, we didnt have time or really the
effort to do more than I think a total of five deep retreats.
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Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

To give you an idea of what Diamond Mountain is really about, if you count all
the retreatants, the deep retreat cycles they have done, and all the deep retreats done by
the staff and the other volunteers and people who have visited here, I believe its a
hundred and fifty deep retreats. So I would like to applaud everybody. [laughs]
[applause]
And thats really what its all about here: training, and then doing, which brings
me to the picture on the front of your notebooks. Id like to ask. . . who shall I pick on?
How about Elly-hla if you could read slowly, the caption of the picture.
[Ven. Elly: inaudible]
Okay, good. Please repeat:
keshing [audience: keshing]
drubnye [audience: drubnye]
penchen [audience: penchen]
Naropa [audience: Naropa]
Lets explain the words. Ke means learned. Ke means Naropa was a great
monk, a learned monk. Shing means and. Drup means siddha. It means he not only
learned everything, he went out and practiced everything. So keshen druppa means he
learned what he needed to learn and then he went out and actually practiced it and
accomplished it.
Nye means he was able to do both of those things: learn what he had to do and
then go out and actually walk the talk. Penchen means maha pandita, great pandita,
and then Naropa is obviously his name.
But the point is that the person you see there is Naropa during his drup days, not
his khe days. Okay? He went through his learning days at Vikramashila as a very proper
and famous scholar monk, and then came his practice days, druppa, siddha, as a
meditator and a deep practitioner.
The picture you see there is from a very famous text that was carved in the Potala
Palace of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and it shows Naropa-hla during his yogi days. I
read recently that the tiger-skin mat was used because when they would meditate out
under the cactuses and the skeet trees [laughs] rattle snakes would smell the tiger scent
and not disturb them.
So, lets talk about the siddha days of Naropa-hla. We left him at Vikramashila
Monastery. He had mastered all the ACI courses. He had gotten to be the gate-keeper
debater. He was also said to be an abbot even. And five hundred monks were looking up
to him as the model of a great, pure, monastic scholar.
Then one day he was out under a tree, studying. . . you can still see this even, say,
in Gyu Mey Tantric College. People take a little cradle-looking thing that they can fold
up and they put an ancient scripture on those old leafs, loose leafs, and they go out under
a tree and they might memorize for a few hours. So Naropa-hla, in the late afternoon was
memorizing and studying. And he had his back to the sun. Suddenly a great shadow
comes over him and he blocks out all the sunlight. And hes afraid and he turns around
quickly and he sees a short old woman standing there.
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Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

In the biography of Naropa-hla it says she had thirty-seven signs of ugliness and
terror. [laughs] She was bent over; she had a stick, a walking stick. She had a hunch
back. She was slobbering. Her hair was torn off, disheveled, and theres a whole list of
thirty-seven qualities. And he was relieved that she wasnt as big as he thought she was
from the shadow. But he said, he didnt. . . he was speechless.
And then the old woman came around to the front and said, What are you
doing?
He said, Im studying epistemology.
And she said, You understand all that stuff?
And he said, Yeah.
And then she says, The words or the meaning?
And he says, The words.
And then she starts to dance, this beautiful dance, and shes jumping and leaping
and laughing in delight.
And hes like, Wow, shes all changed.
Then she comes back, this ugly dirty old woman and says, Yeah. . . No, Im
sorry. [laughter]
And Naropa says, Oh, oh wait. I also understand the meaning.
Then she throws down her stick and she starts to scream and wail and cry. And
shes like, all weeping and angry.
And Naropa says, What did I say that was wrong? Why are you dancing first
when I said I understood the words, and then when I said I understand the meaning you
start to have a tantrum?
She says, When you said I understood the words I thought you meant I only
understand the words so I thought I had finally met an honest monk scholar. [laughter]
Now you claim you know the meaning, too. And now I know youre not telling the
truth and it upsets me.
So Naropa was offended, of course. [laughs] And he said, If I dont understand
the meaning of this thing, as the greatest monk of Vikramashila, then who understands
it?
She says, My brother understands it.
So Naropa-hla says, Well, go call your brother. Bring your brother. I wish to
learn from your brother.
And the old woman looks him in the eye and says, You dont ask someone like
that to come to you. You go find him, and you beg him to teach you the meaning. And
then she disappeared.
And Naropa-hla, his whole life transformed in a moment. And he walked back to
the monastery and he understood, then, what she had said was true. Hes forty-two years
old already. He has a whole reputation built up. Thousands of monks and other people
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look up to him as an example of monkly knowledge and propriety. He has everything to

lose, nothing to gain by changing his life. But he goes back to the monastery. He thinks
for a few days and then in front of the assembly he says, Im leaving.
And they say, Why?
He says, I have to find my true teacher. I have to honestly, truly, get enlightened
in this life. Its not enough to build up some reputation, have many people looking up to
you, thinking youre a great speaker or a great teacher. You have to actually find
enlightenment before you die. I have to find my true lama.
Then he says, Im going to become a wandering yogi monk. Im going to give
up the robes, not my vows; I will always keep my vows, until the end of my life as I have
sworn to. But Im going to now change and take on the yogis wandering way of life and
find my lama. I will wear a simple cloth around my waist. You can see it in the
carving. I will grow my hair as the yogis wear it and I will find my true lama.
And theres a huge debate, and a controversy breaks out in Vikramashila
Monastery and also in the local towns, and even reaching as far as the king and the
governors of the whole country. People, starting with the gate-keepers, the other five
gate-keepers, they come to him and they beg him in two ways. If you leave the
monastery well be left without any great teacher. You are our greatest teacher. And
secondly, If you make this change in your life and your appearance, you will hurt the
sangha. Everyone will lose faith in what we stand for.
And he said, But whats more important? I cant continue to live as some kind
of an object or some kind of a figure-head, and not actually attain all the things Ive been
talking about. I need to leave and truly practice what I have been learning.
Then even the king and the ministers came to him and begged him not to leave
and threatened him also with. . . it would be a scandal and an embarrassment to the public
and all the citizens of the country if this great monk scholar would just simply leave like
that and take on the appearance of a yogi.
And he said, I understand what youre saying. Its true. But if I cant actually
achieve everything Ive talked about, then it has no meaning. I have to find my true
lama.
And he leaves Vikramashila alone and in disgrace. The people look upon him as
a failure. He goes to a special. . . its a shmashana, or a burial ground. In the old days in
India, if you could, you would cremate a body. If you couldnt afford the sandalwood or
precious woods to burn the body, you might just leave the body on the ground in a
special area. And it was a very dangerous area because it would attract very fierce
animals, very commonly tigers or other very powerful dangerous animals. And there
were, of course, many negative powerful spirits in this place where so many people had
left their bodies. And it was considered an act of courage to go into one of the charnel
grounds and do your meditation there among the bodies.
And so he left and he prayed for guidance. He had been studying mainly Hevajra
tantra and he started to do the prayers for Hevajra Sadhana the dakkye over and over.
And then a voice came from the sky and said, No. If you are going to meet the
Buddha, if you are going to meet your lama, then you must do the Chakrasamvara tantra.
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You must recite the mantra, the holy words, of Chakrasamvara who is the holy husband
of Vajra Yogini.
And so he recited, tradition says seven hundred thousand times, that mantra,
sitting among the dead bodies.
And then a voice came from the sky and said, [cries] You can find your root
lama, his name is Tilopa, if you walk to the east.
And so he started to walk to the east; just aimlessly walking east. Then tradition
says that he encountered twelve visions, which were to be followed by twelve hardships,
after which he would be granted twelve deep teachings. I cant tell you all the twelve
visions but two of them I think are good to talk about, for the time we have.
Naropa was walking. He came upon an old man and an old woman. They were
plowing a field the man, and the woman was fishing in a near-by pond. And they said,
What are you doing? Who are you?
He said, I am the great pandit monk Abhayakirti . . . was his name at that time.
He wasnt given the name Naropa until later. Abhayakirti means the fearless one whose
fame is spreading.
And so he sat down with them and they said, Would you like to eat? Are you
tired or hungry?
And he said, Yes, I would be grateful.
So the woman, the old ugly woman builds a fire and she puts a frying pan on top
of it and the old man comes over and the woman goes to the side of the pond and picks
up some fish and some frogs, live, and throws them on the frying pan, into the hot oil.
And they are dying and screaming in the way that they do. And Naropa is frightened.
Hes especially concerned. Hes a good monk. He is keeping his vows purely. And a
Buddhist monk or nun cannot accept the body of an animal for food which has been
killed for them. And so hes hesitant to eat and hes watching the suffering of these
beings in the frying pan. And the old woman sits down and brings some into a dish. And
then the old man comes and sits with them. And Naropa-hla refuses to eat.
So the old man says to the woman, Whats the problem?
And she says, I dont know. He looks like a monk, and I think hes retarded.
[laughter]
He says to Naropa-hla, Whats your problem?
And hes hesitant to explain that he has his monks vows, and despite his
appearance, he cant eat this thing. But finally it comes out and he explains.
And so the old man picks up the dead fish and frogs and throws them back into
the pond, and they swim away nicely. And then he and the old woman disappear into a
rainbow.
And then Naropa is sitting there wondering what has happened [laughs] and he
has a realization that the frogs and the fish represented his own mental afflictions, his
kleshas, his own anger and jealousy and desire, and that perhaps he could have found
Tilopa if he had seen the sacred thing that was really happening. It was all a play, it was
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all a divine play of his lama to show Naropa-hla that he has to stop and kill his mental
afflictions. And so he wanders on, for months.
Later he comes to a terrible scene. A very evil man has tied his mother to a stake
and has imprisoned his father and is torturing them both. And the man calls to Naropahla, Youre looking for Tilopa, right?
And he says, Yes, but I have to stop you. What youre doing is terrible.
He says, What do you think Im doing?
Youre torturing your own parents. Whats wrong with you? [cries]
The man says, You dont understand. And the whole scene disappears in a
rainbow.
And Naropa is standing, he doesnt understand. And finally it dawns on him that
his guru, his lama has given him a vision of how he will overcome his tendency to see
things in duality. Mother and father represent the tendency, our own tendency, to think
that the irritating person in front of you is coming from their side.
Naropa wanders for months more. He meets many more terrible scenes, each one
teaching him more about himself. He begins to realize, all of these are a mirror of his
own state of mind. And then he begins to despair. He understands that his mind isnt
even pure enough to meet Tilopa.
He sits down near a tree. He takes a knife. He puts it up to his heart. He decides
to kill himself. [cries]
Then a voice comes and says, How can you meet the guru if you kill the
Buddha? [cries]
And then Tilopa appears.
Tilopa had been a monk, a very common position we call shepten in Tibetan. He
had a very fat job working for a local king as his bujari, as his ritual master in the palace.
He had lots to eat, he had all the comforts of the palace, and he just did little rituals for
the king from time to time. Tilopa got fed up with that way of life and he snuck out of
the palace one night and went to live again in a burial ground and to do his prayers there,
and meditations. During the day he posed as a maker of sesame oil, which is called tila.
He would sit for hours with a stone and crush tiny little sesame seeds into oil, and so
people called him Tilopa, the sesame seed crusher, but he was meditating on emptiness
every time he crushed a single seed. At night he worked as a pimp. And people took it
like that. They didnt understand what he was really doing.
So Naropa-hla meets Tilopa and begs him for instruction.
Tilopa-hla says, Ill teach you.
He drags him to, we call galpip chank kar, which means a special kind of tower in
Northern India designed from the Chinese pagodas. It could be six or seven, nine stories
high. You can still see some like this around Sravasti. And it has a pagoda roof, triple
pagoda roof on the top, and Tilopa drags Naropa up to the top of the roof, drags him out
on the roof, to the edge of the roof. [cries]
He says, If I had a sincere student they would jump now.
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Naropa jumps, and he falls and he breaks many bones of his body, but he doesnt
die.
Tilopa walks downstairs slowly, comes to this crumpled heap, and says, What
the hells wrong with you?
And Naropa-hla says something like, I must have some bad karma. [laughs]
And Tilopa says, Not to worry. And he puts his hand on him, and he heals all
the bones.
And because of his trust in his teacher, Naropa, at that moment, was granted the
preliminaries for secret practice. How to clean your bad karma by using the warrior of
diamond practice, how to collect good karma by worshipping the angel who has appeared
to you as your teacher, and granted him the special empowerments to begin his higher
practices.
And like that, Tilopa tested Naropa twelve times.
The third test is dear to my heart. Tilopa was pretending to be a big, fat, lazy, old
man. Naropa-hla was trying not to see him in an impure way.
So Tilopa said to Naropa, You go get me some food, and you go beg food.
So Naropa would take a begging bowl and go to the nearest village and beg for
food. Then they found out there was a wedding going on. Yogis love Indian weddings
because they hand out food to anybody. And so he got in line at the buffet and he held
out his bowl and they gave him this delicious food. And he hurried back to Tilopa in the
forest and offered his lama this delicious food. And Tilopa ate it all.
And then he said, Go get me another bowl.
You have to understand that it was illegal to get a second bowl. It was against all
the customs to go back again and ask for another bowl. So Naropa-hla is put into a moral
crisis. Should he ask for a second bowl, or should he refuse his teachers request?
Tilopa senses his hesitation, he says, Go back, get the second bowl full. If they
refuse to give you a second bowl full, I want you to take this big jar of water and pour it
over all the food and ruin it. [laughter]
Then he showed him a special yantra, a special diagram, that he could draw on
the ground with the drips of water.
He said, If they chase you and try to abuse you, then you simply draw this
special diagram on the ground and a huge lake will appear and no one will be able to
bother you.
Then he gave him a small dagger and he said, If somehow, anybody gets over
the water, you simply thrust this dagger into the sky and a beautiful armored home will
appear around you. No one will be able to harm you.
So Naropa-hla goes back to the wedding feast. They refuse him a second bowl.
He ruins all the food with the water. They take off after him. [laughs] He runs and runs
and when theyre about to catch up, he draws the yantra on the ground and a huge lake
appears. And then he just keeps walking.
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And theres this old woman who keeps popping up in these stories. She tells
everybody, Dig a ditch like this and the water will just disappear. And they do and the
water disappears.
And Naropas not too worried. Hes still got the dagger.
Theyre about to reach him and beat him up. He raises the dagger to the sky and
suddenly a beautiful little iron hut forms around him. The old lady gets everyone to go to
the forest and pick up firewood. They stack the firewood around the iron hut [laughter]
and she lights it on fire. Pretty soon it feels like one of our yurts in the summer.
[laughter] Naropa-hla runs out and everyone stones him and beats him with sticks.
Hes almost dead. He crawls back to Tilopa.
Tilopa says, What the hells the matter with you? [laughs]
And he says, Oh, I must have some kind of wrong view or something, I guess.
[laughs]
And Tilopa hla heals him with his hands. And I think it very beautiful, he says,
Now youve earned the tantric vows.
And these are the root for all success in the higher teachings. They are a beautiful
pure moral code, very much like the ones we spoke about today, but even more intense.
And you should know that the foundation of all tantric practice is exactly the ten virtues,
the ten moral codes that all Buddhists have to follow: no killing, no stealing, no sexual
misconduct, and so on. You cant practice the higher teachings, and they will never work
for you, if you dont have these yamas and niyamahs as the foundation of your whole
life.
And it continues like that for twelve hard difficult tests.
In the biographies, Naropa passes every test with flying colors. He doesnt have a
single doubt. I think thats just revisionism. I dont think there could be a test from your
lama or your guru, if it wasnt a true test. I mean, a test should be something that is
difficult for you. A test should be something that you almost fail, or maybe fail
sometimes. I dont believe all these stories that were written hundred years later that
Naropa didnt have a single doubt. That wouldnt be a test, would it?
Theres a thing that happens when you enter into a relationship with your teacher.
Theres a holy miracle that occurs when you take samaya, when you make a commitment
to a teacher. Something much bigger begins to happen. Swami Satchananda said, I read
somewhere, he said, The only people who have fairy-tale relationships with their guru
are the ones whose guru has died.
The closer you get to a teacher, the more bond you create between yourself and a
teacher, then the better chances you have to reach enlightenment and help all other
suffering creatures. The closer you get, the closer you are willing to surrender and create
a bond, a holy bond with that teacher, then the faster your progress goes. Theres no
doubt, theres never been a great spiritual practitioner in India or Tibet who didnt
achieve their goals by bonding themselves tightly to their teacher. It doesnt ever happen
any other way. And the closer you get, the harder it gets. The closer you bond yourself,
the more trouble and pain you will have to go through, because they are pulling you
faster and faster then.
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And theres a phenomenon which occurs that I like to call the boomerang
accelerator. We all have bad karma. We have countless lifetimes of bad karma in our
minds. We have countless mental problems, afflictions, and every time we have a bad
thought, every time we think something wrong or do something wrong, its like throwing
a boomerang. And then the whole suffering of our life is boomerangs hitting us on the
other side of the head that we threw earlier. The closer you get to this force field of a
true lama, the closer your samaya, the closer the bond between you and the teacher, the
boomerangs speed up until they are becoming almost like a karmic mirror for you. They
are reflecting back to you, exactly, all of your own weaknesses and faults. And because
of the miracle of the samaya, the bond, then you can confront your own weaknesses and
faults almost instantly reflected from your teacher. It gives you a unique opportunity to
destroy the negative parts of your own being. And its extremely difficult and painful.
Its a magic that happens around your true lama if you bond to them, and you just
stick there. Its almost like a heat-seeking missile. Every word, every action of a lama or
guru to whom you have bonded yourself will be directed to your own negativities.
You have all, I think, had the experience of sitting in a teaching by holy Lama
Khen Rinpoche or His Holiness the Dalai Lama and believe that they are criticizing you
directly, of all the people sitting there. This is a sign that your samaya is succeeding.
You should be happy. This is a miracle of a bond between a disciple and a lama. The
more critical, the more criticism that flows out of them toward you, the stronger the bond
is becoming, because you are seeing your own negative side reflected back to you. If you
are a jealous person, if you are envious of other disciples, for example, the lama will
force you into close relationships with those other disciples. This is a blessing. This is a
miracle of the samaya.
I think Lama Zopa Rinpoche, holy being, is especially adept, Ive heard, at this.
He made a rule that each center should have two directors instead of one. And he
invariably sends two disciples who are jealous of each other to be the directors of each
center. He designs it so that you meet the one person in the world who would most
annoy you as the other director. And what will you do now, as directors of a holy
dharma center? Are you going to fight with each other? Hes very good at that.
I think its important to say that its not intentional with a high lama. I mean, it
can seem that way. I had the experience when I came to study with holy lama, I came in
the door the first day and holy lama said, This other student is going to help you. And
he left the room.
So I said, Well, when can I meet Rinpoche and speak to him directly?
And the other student said, I dont know. I dont think you can. Hes busy.
So I said, I play sitar. I can play beautiful music for Rinpoche. Do you think
hed like to hear it?
He said, I dont think so. [laughter]
And then Rinpoche forced me, for twenty years, to be in close contact with the
only other person who could threaten my ego. And holy Lama Art, whose Tibetan is
slightly better than mine, [laughter] whose Sanskrit is much better than mine, whose

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Afternoon, Day Two Geshe Michael Roach

lama service is infinitely better than mine, and he forced me to be in close contact with
him for twenty years.
So can you work on your jealousy, your envy? If you have envy, then the
samaya, the blessing, the miracle of your relationship with your teacher will force you to
face it and confront it and try to change. If youre an angry person, your lama will put
you around irritating people. If you cant control how you eat, your lama will be shoving
food towards you all the time. If you tend to manipulate other people, people of the
opposite sex perhaps, your lama will give you plenty of opportunities to be manipulated
yourself.
This is the blessing of samaya. Its not that the lamas are cruel. And I think its
important to understand, its not intentional; its a blessing. Its a miracle which happens
from the samaya, and I say that because now in the last few years, or before retreat, I
began to teach students and I saw the power of the samaya. The closer a student got to
me, the more incidents would occur which put them into difficulty. It wasnt anything I
ever intended. I like people around me to be happy and relaxed, but the power of the
samaya was more powerful than anything I wanted to happen. If two disciples seem to
be jealous of each other, events constantly through the day would thrust them into
situations where they had to be right next to each other. It was strange. Sometimes I was
embarrassed or sometimes I was in awe of the power of the samaya. It wasnt anything I
intended.
Its the beauty of the relationship between a disciple and the teacher. Its the
power of the disciples determination which creates the tests. The tests are not designed
consciously by the guru or the lama. Every single test, every single attack on your faith
is being created by the beauty of your own determination and your own commitment to
that teacher. You should take it as an honor.
I think last thing Id like to say today is, I think its important if you talk about
gurus encouraging their students to jump off a roof, that you have to understand the rules
for this kind of behavior. Something extremely important for modern times, I think,
especially. The biggest tests of a lama are nothing like asking you to jump off a roof.
Because its infinitely more difficult if a lama poses a moral test to you. Its infinitely
more difficult if a lama is requiring you to make your own decisions. Its lazy to just do
everything a lama asks you to do. It doesnt work that way. The tests are more difficult.
Every single test you ever get involves a moral decision on your part. If a lama asks you
to steal something, or to do something else improper, the test is not, do you have the guts
to go and steal something. The test is will you be able to figure out that the lama is
testing your moral line. Will you have the courage to say to the lama, I love you. I
respect you. I cant steal for you.
This is a real test and it will come not in some easy way. It will come in gray
areas. It will come in things that are difficult to figure out, difficult to decide whats the
right thing to do.
Lord Buddha taught four great schools of philosophy. We studied that in ACI.
And we found out that three of them are clearly false. Lord Buddha taught three schools
of thought which are false. Lord Buddha taught emptiness and karma the wrong way

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much of his life. At the end he gave the real teaching, the true one, and after that he
granted the higher teachings.
You cant just lazily sit there and accept whatever a lama says. Part of the
miracle of the samaya is that you will be tested constantly. You cant assume that a
single action or word is to be taken on its face value. You are cursed with having to
decide, from moment to moment and minute to minute, what is moral, what is correct to
do? What will benefit living beings? What will bring me most quickly to highest
enlightenment? You cant act like an ox, a dumb animal, and just accept everything the
teacher says. And so you must constantly judge against your understanding, whats the
right thing to do?
Theres a beautiful story in Tibet of a Buddha statue that was set up on a stone
near a path. There was a poor person, who didnt own anything more than the cloth
around his waist and his sandals, and he was walking along the path and it began to rain.
And he saw the Buddha statue, the small statue on the stone and he said, Its not right
that the Buddha should get wet by the rain.
So he took off his only pair of sandals in his whole life that he owned and he
carefully put them in a little roof shape over the Buddhas head. Then he continued down
the path barefoot. Then the rain stopped and the sun came out and a second man walked
down the path and he saw the Buddha that some idiot had put these filthy sandals over it.
And he rushed over and picked up the sandals and threw them to the side.
So you see, the moral of the story is, it may be right to do either thing depending
on your motivation. It may be right to refuse to do what the lama asks if it strikes you as
being impure or incorrect. And it may equally be proper to believe that this being is a
higher being and has a reason to ask you to do something unusual.
But, you see, theres one guideline. Theres one line that you can never cross.
After you have created samaya, after you have made your promise, devoted yourself to a
teacher, from that instant you must always see them as a faultless angel. And they are.
So whether you refuse to do what they ask or whether you follow their request, you can
never lose your vision of them as a pure and faultless loving angel whose only intention
is to bring you to enlightenment. Its not a question of should you refuse to do something
or should you agree to do something. The main question is, how do you view this being?
You can never break that samaya. It is never proper to believe anything less than this is
an enlightened being.
You can say, This enlightened being is testing me. I shouldnt do what they
ask. Or you can say, This enlightened being has told me to do something unusual. I
must try to understand the goal they have in mind. But you cant refuse you cant
stop seeing them as an enlightened being. Only then can you fail. Only then do you
break samaya. Only then do you lose all hope of becoming such a being yourself.
But the lamas of the universe, they want you to question. They want you to
decide. They are forcing you to make decisions for yourself based on their teaching. Its
much harder than just doing what they say, isnt it?
Last thing, the first great test Rinpoche gave me, you should know. I took him to
the dentist in Freehold, Shank Road, I remember. They looked at his teeth. He was fiftyfive years old. He had never been to a dentist. They described how it would cost two
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thousand dollars in 1975 currency to repair his mouth. And it would require extracting
fifteen teeth. And after the appointment we walked to the Seven-Eleven behind the
building [cries] and he said, lets get something to drink.
I think it was the first few days I had served him. And we went to the cooler in
the store and opened the door, and Khen Rinpoche points to a can of Coca-Cola and he
says, You drink that.
And I had a moral crisis. I thought soft drinks were very destructive, bad things.
I was a hippie, still am, and I cant drink Coca-Cola. I need a juice or water. [laughter]
But the holy lama is pointing to the Coke and he says, You drink that. So Im
standing he turned around, he left, and Im standing looking at the Coca-Cola
[laughter] and I dont know what to do. Should I follow what the lama said, or should I
do what I truly feel in my heart might be right?
Later I took higher vows; one of the higher vows is you cannot damage this holy
body. You have to take care of this holy body. So do I hurt my holy body, or do I follow
what Khen Rinpoche asked me to do? Or does he want me to tell him, I wont drink it?
So I drank it. To tell you the truth, I think now-a-days I would respectfully tell the
Buddha, I believe youd want me to say I wont drink it.
But, you see, it will always be this kind of decision for you to make. There are no
easy answers with teachers. There are no easy ways out. But you will never ever fail
you will always keep your holy samaya if you only believe that they are holy
enlightened beings testing you.
Ill see you tomorrow.
[Prayers]

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Morning: Day Three D April 19

John Stilwell
Good morning. First thing this morning well do a very brief meditation to just
shift into neutral after the excitement and the buzz of the holy relics and yoga and our
other activities. So please sit comfortably with your eyes closed, assuming the eight
point posture of Vairochana, being aware of your breath. Be aware of the length of your
breath, that the exhalation and inhalation are of the same duration. Be aware that its
very subtle passing through the nostrils. And follow the sensation of your breath passing
through the tip of your nostrils. Begin with an exhalation and then an inhalation, which
is one round, and well do twenty-one rounds, counting each round. If you loose single
pointed concentration on awareness of the breath, go back to one and start over.
[Silence]
[Mandala offering]
[Refuge prayer]
So, first we have to thank the holy Vajra Dakinis, Victoria and Darcey for getting
up extra early and setting up this beautiful display of holy relics and the holy statue and
other holy physical objects. And thank you very much of course, thank you, thank you,
especially to the holy manifestation of the Dharmakaya, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and
everyone who has contributed. Talk about some amazing karma ripening. Its just kind
of out of the blue, and there it is. [Laughter] Its funny how karma works Its a great
blessing to be sitting here with all of these amazing things, and you can really feel the
vibe in the tent. So, thank you for that. And of course I have to say, hard act to follow
last night. [Laughter] But you know, here I am. [Laughter] Someone here told me that
I teach locker room dharma. [Laughter] So I have to be a little delicate, I think, to try to
not, shall we say, tarnish the beauty of the teachings last night, or detract from them. But
I do want to pick up on the point that Geshe Michael made last night at the end. Which
is, dont be stupid and just believe in anyone you meet, any lama you meet. Check it out.
Right? Dont just think anything anyone says is fine or holy, or self-existentially correct.
Right? So the big danger here is self-existence, as it always is. Either seeing things as
self-existentially bad or tainted or corrupted, or seeing things as self-existentially holy or
pure or perfect from their own side. Either one is completely wrong. Totally a hundred
per cent wrong. So I want to really go deeper into that and talk more about that. I think
its really important that we dig a little deeper and go deeper about all the things we were
talking about yesterday throughout the day. Can I see a show of hands of people who are
totally new, or fairly new, to Buddhism? maybe twenty-five per cent, something like
that.
I think a good place to start would be to ask if anyone has any questions about
emptiness as it was described thus far. Is everybody crystal clear? [Laughter] No
questions. All right! You got it. Okay, movin on. [Laughter]
[Student: What is it?] [Laughter]

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

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Does someone else have a more specific question? What isnt it? Yeah, thats
another really good question. Im going to fall back to the pen example. I used to joke
with a friend, If he mentions the pen again Im going to scream. Wed sit in the back of
the class going, If he says pen Im going to scream. [Laughter] But Im going to do
it. I dont usually like to do that, but Im going to do it because most of you are familiar
with it and its very easy to go through. So ultimate reality/emptiness we talked
about this in great detail last time. Ultimate reality, or emptiness, or suchness, or
thusness, or isness, or whatever else you want to call it.
There are two levels of reality: conventional reality, and ultimate reality.
Conventional reality is what a normal person sees with their eyes and all of their senses
as the normal human world. Ultimate reality is how things really exist, which is very
different from conventional reality. And simply put, conventionally, things exist in
dependence upon you conceiving of them the way you do, or projecting them the way
you do. Okay? The way we interpret our world the way we perceive our world is
that we take information in through our senses; register it with our consciousness and
mind; our mind interprets that sensory input data and conceptualizes something; and then
projects that identity and concept out onto the object. Okay? Thats how things work.
Thats how we perceive the world. We take stuff in, the mind processes it according to
the unique capacity of each individuals mind, and then projects the resulting concepts
and ideas and constructs onto the external world and ourselves. And onto all of the
interactions between our self and the outer world. Thats how we live; thats how we
perceive conventional reality.
The way things ultimately exist is that they exist independent of any of those
concepts and projections that we place on them. They exist without any of the concepts
or projections we place on them. Ultimately things dont possess, from their own side,
all the concepts and projections and identities and ideas that we place on them. Okay?
Blankness is a really easy way to think about it. You can use the movie analogy.
Ultimate reality is like a blank screen that were projecting our movie and our story onto.
And were projecting every level of our movie and our story. Were projecting the hard
constructs, like Im a human being with this body. And were projecting the soft
constructs like its good, its bad, I like it, I dont like it, its painful, its pleasurable.
You can use the computer analogy of hardware and software to help. Were projecting
the hard constructs the hardware and were projecting the soft constructs the
feelings and interpretations. Everybody square? Yes, go ahead.
[Audience: inaudible]
So Carolyn is saying, Well youre saying nothings there, everythings blank.
How can things exist if theres nothing there? So there are two classic extremes: things
are self-existent, or things dont exist. Carolyns saying, well surely theres something
there. Right? Well, blank is a concept too isnt it? If I say youre projecting onto the
movie screen, the idea movie screen is something weve conjured up, isnt it? Youve
been to the movies, youve seen a movie screen you know what it looks like. When I
say movie screen you see the picture in your mind. Or you think about the picture in
your mind. Right? Thats not emptiness, thats a projection, thats a construct, thats a
positive identification of something. Theres this infinite endless regression that you can
do to check whats behind a concept. You look for the concept behind the concept, you
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look for the concept behind that concept, you look for the con and you go on, and on,
and on. By doing that analysis and that meditation you can reach a direct perception of
ultimate reality which is completely, one hundred per cent not conceptual. So when you
say theres something there, yes, its true theres something there. But you cant
conceptualize it or describe it as a human being using our language and our terms. The
nature of ultimate reality is such that, yes, there is something there, but you can never
conceptualize it. Because ultimate reality is not conceptual. Its untrue that nothing is
there, and its untrue that a self-existent thing is there.
[Audience; inaudible]
Its actually a very good analogy. Isadora asked, is it like a hologram. I saw
something written about holograms. I dont know that much about them, but it said that
if you shatter a hologram into a thousand pieces, every single piece of the hologram
contains the entire image of the full hologram. Very interesting. No matter how small
you break a hologram, it contains the totality of the picture. A very, very useful analogy.
Very, very nice analogy. So, please dont think theres nothing there. And please dont
think theres something there from its own side. When we say something exists from
its own side it means it is radiating its nature, and its radiating its identity, and its
radiating its way of being. Its radiating its hardware and its software, if you will. Its
radiating its body and its radiating the interpretations, the feelings associated with it.
So thats the idea of ultimate reality, emptiness, suchness.
I talked about the pen because its very easy you know, I didnt even talk about
the pen. Sorry. [Laughter] Lets talk about the mike. [Laughter] I dont have a pen.
Is it a mike from its own side? Can we say from its own side its radiating its
mikeness, its mike identity, the hardness and the softness. I like it, I dont like it, its
useful, its not useful. Its a mike because its round, it has this thing on the top and it
has electronics inside, and it moves sound. We dont have dogs, we have cows here
this would be a chew toy for a cow. So to a cow its not a mike. They cant
conceptualize it as a mike, they cant identify it as a mike, they cant think of it as a mike.
It in no way exists for them as a mike, either at a hard level or on a soft level. Okay?
And everything is like that. So thats the example of the cow pen.
To make it more real, youve got to say everyone perceives everything
differently. No two people anywhere ever perceive anything exactly the same in
conventional reality. Its impossible for any two people to have the exact same
perception in conventional reality both on an interpretive feeling level, and on a hard
level what they perceive physically, the body, etc..
We have to make it a little more personal now. Its much easier to talk about in
the abstract, when you talk about a mike, or a pen, or whatever. Lets talk about His
Holiness. Is His Holiness holy? His name is His Holiness. [Laughter] So weve got
yes and to whom? Both answers are correct. I think most of us, perhaps all of us in
this room, perceive him as holy conventionally. Conventionally hes not holy from his
own side. Some Chinese really dislike him, and maybe lots of other people too. Right?
So holiness is not coming from him. His Holiness holiness is not coming from His
Holiness. [Laughs] His Holiness is completely one hundred per cent a blank screen
empty. His physical form and the interpretation of his physical form, our likes and
dislikes, have nothing to do with him. Zero. It all comes from the person doing the
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perceiving. Zero holiness is residing within His Holiness self-existantly.

How about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, or Khen Rinpoche? Are they Holy?
Definitely, you say. You guys arent listening. [Laughter] The Chinese like him.
Okay. [Laughter] Some people perceive Khen Rinpoche as this happy smiling jovial
Tibetan. Other people get their butts kicked and hes wrathful. They perceive a wrathful
older man, where its like, you better not say the wrong thing or youre toast. And Lama
Zopa Rinpoche. Some people see him as, of course, amazing and holy and phenomenal,
and other people see him as this person who they cant understand who keeps them in
teachings way too long and makes them really sore and stiff and theyd really rather
leave. Its not coming from him at all is it? Zero. Zero percent is coming from the
teacher. Okay? From any teacher, whether its me, or Geshe Michael or His Holiness,
or Lama Zopa, or Khen Rinpoche. Yes?
[Audience: inaudible]
Intention is an important component of collecting karma. When you think about
collecting karma your intention or your motivation is the vast major component of a
karmic seed. Something like eighty percent of a karma is motivation. So say you have
the intention to help someone and you undertake something, and maybe you break their
leg instead. Your intention was to help them, and youve mainly collected a virtue, but
youve also got a bit of non-virtue mixed in there in that you broke their leg. You see?
So intention is a very important element of collecting karma. Once you collect a karma
you have that karma in your mind stream, and the karma will ripen into a result. And the
nature of karma is such that you collect the karmic seed its planted. And physical
seeds are a good analogy for karmic seeds. You plant the seed, it has to gestate, and it
has to have conducive conditions applied to it to grow and ripen. Like with a physical
seed youd need water, and sun, and earth as conducive conditions for ripening.
Conditions that are conducive for karmas to ripen are thinking similarly again,
undertaking similar things again, having similar intention again. Those are the conditions
that are conducive for karmic seeds to ripen, good or bad. So you collect the karmic
seed, it gestates, it receives conducive conditions, and it eventually ripens as a result.
So, then of course the natural next question is, Is Geshe Michael holy?
[Audience: inaudible]
If you have the karma to perceive it that way. You know, Im not self-existantly a
schmuck or a holy person. So all of you who think Im a schmuck, get over it. Okay?
And Geshe Michael isnt self-existantly holy from his own side. He is holy to the extent
that you have collected the karma to see him as being holy. Period. He exists in no other
way. If youve collected the karma to see Geshe Michael as holy, will he always be
holy? No. A karmic seed has a power to it, or a life to it, depending on the karma youve
collected. Each karma collected has a certain strength, and when it ripens it has a
duration that comes from how powerful the karma was that you collected. You collect a
wimpy karma, maybe it lasts for a couple of seconds. I was going to give a specific
example, but never mind. Think of something really pleasurable that lasts a few seconds.
[Laughs] Its a weak karma, unfortunately. If you collect a powerful karma thats very
strong, when it ripens it lasts for a long time. You collect a powerful karma, perhaps you
collected a very powerful karma, and it ripens into a valid perception of a holy teacher.
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That holy teacher will be holy for you until that karma wears out. And when that karma
wears out you may validly see him as a schmuck. Thats the way it works. Dont be
surprised. Your job as spiritual practitioners is to perpetuate this process of collecting
karma to perceive the things that you want to be perceiving, like holy beings, like
paradise, like everything good in your life. Right? You have a question?
[Audience: inaudible]
So the question was can you do something to maintain a karma that has flowered
and is bringing its result? And can you do something to maintain it and try to keep it
from wearing out? You know, the laws of karma are pretty specific. They say that once
a karma has flowered youre stuck with it. Otherwise, when a painful karma ripened
wed be able to get rid of it in the moment, you see. Once the karma flowers, youve got
that result. Its there. Too late. Lets say you have a karma that ripens into a perception
of holy beings, and holy stupas, and holy relics, which just popped up. Totally
unexpected. Nice ripening of karmas beautiful, holy ripening of karmas, totally
unexpected, great! How do we perpetuate it? Can we cause this holy relic display that
will be placed in the Maitreya statue to stay here forever? No. Probably not. But you
can use this opportunity to collect karma to perpetuate the process. And thats what an
effective spiritual practitioner does. You have a window of opportunity here as a
spiritual practitioner. When good virtuous karmas ripen, you have time, leisure, health,
good faculties and all the other conducive conditions of leisure. Its like, okay, Ive got a
lot of time on my hands now, dont have to worry about money, dont have to worry
about being hungry, dont have to worry about being sick, dont have to worry about too
many things to do, or not enough time. You have a window of opportunity to collect
virtue. If you dont collect virtue, you missed your opportunity. If you do, then you are
constantly bumping yourself up to the next level, to the next level, to the next level. And
thats how you practice, thats what spiritual practice is. Every time you have an
opportunity to do some virtue you do it, rather than letting the opportunity pass. And
every time you do virtue, of course you collect karma which will ripen into its result. So
if you have collected virtuous karmas in the past they ripen into whatever good results,
and if you just do neutral activities or negative activities then youre not bumping
yourself up. In your future youre just like this, or your life becomes worse, or it stays
mixed.
[Audience: inaudible]
Thats another method of collecting good karma. Rejoicing is collecting karma.
[Audience: inaudible]
Kendall has two good points to add. One is: once youve collected a virtue, you
dont want it to be damaged by negative actions that you undertake subsequently. The
way to protect your goodness is to dedicate the positive karma that youve collected.
You strongly feel the wish that all the positive karma that Ive done be directed at
achieving spiritual goals, or becoming enlightened, or attaining shamata whatever
your goals are. You pick a specific spiritual goal and you say, I want it all to go to that.
Thats why I did all these good things and thats the result I want to have come from
doing all these good things. And then the other point she made is that rejoicing is a very
easy way to collect virtuous karma. You know, all you gotta do is feel happy. And
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rejoicing doesnt mean saying, I rejoice, I rejoice, I rejoice, I rejoice! Thats not
rejoicing. Rejoicing is feeling happy in your heart. You feel happy in your heart about
some goodness that youve seen others do, you yourself did, or in the world anywhere.
Thats real rejoicing in goodness. Something like that.
So anyway, ultimately Geshe Michael is the exact same status as this plant. I
mean he is blank, just like this plant is blank. And you will see this plant as a glowing
relic, or a plant, based on the karma youve collected in the past. If you hadnt collected
the karma this wouldnt be here, youd be seeing dirt, say. And the only reason youre
seeing ultimate reality manifest as holy, beautiful things right here behind me is because
weve all collected the karma in the past. Otherwise, we wouldnt have it. Ultimate
reality would be manifesting as something else. Kevin?
[Kevin: inaudible]
Theres raw data. I think what Kevin is saying is that youve got raw data, and
then youre saying its blank. Kevin is saying can you clarify that. You can use an
atomic model, the way we think of atoms. When you talk about raw data we tend to
think that theres some smallest particle. You can break it down to some smallest piece,
right? Thats the easiest way to think of it. And thats the raw data youre taking in
through your senses. Whatever those smallest pieces are, whether theyre photons, or
whatever. Buddhist logic is very clear. It says there is no smallest particle because
everything can always be divided into an inside and an outside, a top and a bottom, etc.
So there is no ultimate particle, and that proves everything is empty of a fixed way of
existing from its own side you can never find an end to the parts, and you can never
find a smallest particle. And when you keep looking and keep looking and keep looking
you come to ultimate reality, or emptiness. You come to the understanding that there is
no smallest particle, there is no basic building block, but there is something there. And
we cant directly experience it with our five senses, conceptually fathom it, or verbally
describe it. You can only experience it directly to fully understand it. You have to
experience it non-conceptually, not with words or thoughts, or labels or identities. So,
like that.
Someone could walk in here and say, all those holy relics behind you that they
say are from the great lamas of the past Lord Atish, Shakyamuni Buddha, and the rest,
theyre just little pieces of plastic behind glass. There is something there. But whats
there? There is ultimate reality. Ultimate reality is right here, and it has manifest
according to our karma. We are perceiving it according to our karma. This is what I was
saying earlier. There is something here ultimate reality is here everything has
ultimate reality. Ultimate reality is everywhere, and it manifests according to your
karmic projections; you perceive it according to your karmic projections. So according
to your karmic projections, you walk in and there is no golden Buddha statue, no ancient
holy relics, which is what happened yesterday. Because of the karma that ripened
yesterday, this wasnt here. For the karma that ripened today, I walked in and it was
here. I didnt see anybody working. I didnt see anybody putting any tables or displays
together. Its just here. Thats my karma. The people who did the work had a different
karma. [Laughs] So someone could walk in and say, It looks like little pieces of plastic
and enamel. What are you making a big deal about?" Other people spent the morning
getting up early to prostrate and circumambulate. So its like that. Thats the nature of
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karmic projections and ultimate reality.

Weve got to move on because this was just a little prep. The point I want to
make is that we invest a lot in the things we hold dear. Our partners, close friends, and
especially spiritual teachers. We invest a lot in our spiritual teachers. They mean a lot to
us in our lives. And so its very, very hard. Its much more difficult to see things
according to correct view with the things that were vested in. Its very hard to feel that
our partner is empty. And that everything we perceive in association with them is
coming from us and our past karma; that the annoyances we feel arent their fault, and the
problems we have with them taking out the trash arent their fault, and the problems with
them earning enough money arent their fault. Etc., etc., etc., etc. Its much, much
harder with the things we are vested in and that were close to, to really viscerally and
deeply feel and acknowledge that they are empty, that theyre blank, and its all coming
from us.
Teachers are just the same as partners. Its very easy to forget that teachers are
empty, that theyre not self-existent from their own side. And its very important to
understand that. If a spiritual teacher yells at you, versus a stranger yells at you, you
have a very different reaction. Its much easier to think about the emptiness of the
stranger yelling at you, or the boss at work, than your spiritual teacher. But its exactly
the same process, exactly the same status, exactly the same thing going on in both cases.
But because of how our minds are functioning its much harder for us to apply the
practice, to apply these understandings to our partners, and to people close to us; to
things were vested in. So please be aware of that. If you see a teacher as holy today,
tomorrow you could see him as a complete idiot. And its valid. Both are valid. Its
only a function of your projections, and the karma youve collected.
By the way, Sharon Gannon was here last year and she said, Wow, you know,
you all treat your teachers so well. I wish our students treated us like this; they just really
dont get it. And the reason, I hope, that we treat our teachers well is because we
understand how karma works. Not because we see them as self-existently holy. We
understand that by treating teachers and everyone else well, that we collect the karma to
have holy beings in our lives. Right? Thats the reason to treat teachers well. No other
reason. Not because of self-existence. WE cause holy teachers.
The scriptures say its very difficult to find a teacher. Its very difficult to find a
holy teacher and its very difficult to hold on to a holy teacher. Theyre very slippery.
Why is that? Because weve got such weak virtuous karma. If you say you have a holy
teacher, or multiple holy teachers in your life, it is a manifestation of the pure aspect of
your life. You are projecting your purity onto an outer object. Youre projecting your
pure karma onto an outer object. So to the extent that you have purity in your mind, i.e.
the correct karma, i.e. holiness in your mind, youre projecting it onto outer objects. And
if youve got no purity in your mind, you got no holy beings in your life. And its a
shame, and most people dont. You see? So its unfortunate, but once you understand
that this is how it works and what karma is, then you have a basis to collect the right
karma. So if you have a teacher in your life who is mixed, say, youre projecting that
based on the karmas that are ripening in your mind. And if you want a different teacher
in your life what do you do? Collect a different karma, right? And any seeds you collect
will have a lag time, and after they gestate, theyll ripen into a different result.
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The way karma works is that it takes millions and trillions of karmic ripenings to
create a perceptual event. Its very much like the movies. In the movies it takes sixty
whatever, sixty-two (?) frames per second to get a moving picture on the screen.
[Audience: inaudible]
Twenty-four, thank you. The TV is sixty, isnt it? Is it?
[Audience: inaudible]
Satellite TV, I dont know how many images per second. Could be. Anyway, so
you get the idea. The idea is that youve got to have a certain number of frames firing, or
going by, or flashing on-screen to get a moment of live, moving perception. Karma is
just the same as the movies and TV in all its different formats. But this perceptual event
is a full sensory experience. You got all five senses going. And it takes a lot more
instances of karma firing and ripening to get a full sensory experience like this. So
literally, millions of karmas ripening to have this experience. It takes a tremendous
amount of karma to experience anything, and of course were collecting karma as it
ripens and replacing it with new karma. Its a question of what karma are we collecting
to replace whats ripening into this experience. So this is a very important key in your
spiritual practice. The idea of karma is that the basic content of your mind the karmas
that are in your mind are what youre experiencing as your reality, as your world, and
every level of reality in your world. So to have purity in your world on any level, you
have to have the appropriate karma ripening in your mind to project that and perceive
that. Any perceptions youre having of any of your spiritual teachers are coming from
you, from your karmas ripening.
So having said all that, as good students, now we have to do what Geshe Michael
said last night. You got to check out your teachers. He said dont be stupid. Dont think
that just because a teacher said something, you should do it. And dont be ignorant.
Dont think that theyre self-existently one way or another, youve got to check it out;
youve got to evaluate them. How do you decide whether to listen to a teacher or not?
How do you decide if a teacher is holy or not? Is it just some intuitive feeling you get
that goes, Yeah, Im inspired Im there. Is that enough? Its a little dangerous.
Thats what the sutra teachings are for, and the sutra teachings are very specific in
providing criteria to check out teachers. And theyre also very specific in providing
criteria to say what a student should be like. So weve got to talk about both sides, right?
There are three qualities of a qualified student, a good student, and Arya Deva
enumerated them in his Four Hundred Verses. A student has to be impartial. Meaning
what? Youre not vested in an outcome. If youre vested in an outcome youre not
impartial and youre not going to be able to evaluate it accurately. Youre going to have
some tainted perception. You have to be intelligent; you have to be able to evaluate it
and analyze it. And you have to aspire to highest goals, otherwise youre not going to get
anywhere. So those are the basic three qualities of a qualified student. Ruth asked, what
kind of outcome are you talking about. So, Ill give you and example of an outcome. For
example, I want Geshe Michael to be holy. Thats an outcome. Geshe Michael will or
will not be holy at any given moment, on any given day, on any given year, according to
the karma Ive collected. If I sit here going, Look, Geshe Michaels holy, I know he is
and I just have to see it that way. On the Sutra level youre totally off. On a sutra level,
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youre perceiving Geshe Michael according to the karma youve collected in your past.
And if you really understand karma and emptiness, if you really believe in karma and
emptiness, you wont hold on so tightly. You wont hold on to a teacher so tightly
saying, Oh, they have to be holy! If theyre not holy Im screwed! If theyre not holy,
Im so in trouble. Im really, really lost. Its not coming from them. Theyre coming
from you. If youre vested in an outcome youre saying it cant be that way, or it has to
be this way. Then you loose your impartiality, you loose your understanding of ultimate
reality, you loose your awareness of karma. So this is what it means to me to be
impartial; its almost neutral in a way. Its what a good yogi does whatever comes,
good or bad, Ive collected the karma, Im experiencing it, Ill deal with it properly, Ill
relate to it properly, and Ill collect the proper karma going forward. Whether I see John
or Geshe Michael as a schmuck, or corrupt, or as holy, or whatever. Your valid
perceptions are your valid perceptions, on a sutra level.
[Audience: inaudible]
Isadora is saying that you have expectations of wanting to have things a certain
way. So like that. Lets go on to how you evaluate a teacher on a conventional level. In
the Sutra alamkara, Master Asanga talks about ten ways to check out a teacher on a basic
level. The first one is that they have to have tamed morality, which is the first of the
three trainings. Meaning that if they dont keep their own morality and ethics under
control, then they cant train someone else. You cant teach someone, really, what you
cant do. Were going to talk about this one in more detail a little bit later. The teacher
has to have mindfulness and concentrative awareness; they have to be able to keep their
mind on what they are doing so that theyre not all over the place, and violating morality
because they cant be mindful. They have to have the training of wisdom, which means
that they have to be able to meditate well enough to have attained shamata single
pointed concentration to investigate reality more deeply. The key here is that they
have to have attained full calm abiding, full shamata, or shine. They have to be rich in
scriptural knowledge, meaning theyre a master of the scriptures. They have to have the
training of wisdom to a very high degree, meaning at the very least they should
understand emptiness very well intellectually and via scriptures. Preferably they should
have perceived it directly. They should have exceedingly good qualities, which are in
excess of the students, because if theyre not better than the students they cant bring
them up to their level. They have to know the right order of the teaching for the student,
and know the students capacity for learning to be able to teach the student well. They
should teach out of love and compassion, rather than some motivation for gain and fame
and all of those other worldly dharmas. They should take deep joy in helping others;
their motivation should be a deep joy in the action of helping others. And the last quality
is that they shouldnt get tired of helping other people. Most of us are pretty thick, and
you have to say the same thing over, and over, and over again. I remember when I
started teaching. Its was like, man, Im just saying the same thing over and over; how
boring. But thats really what teaching is about. Its about repetition, and so they have to
be willing to really happily repeat things a lot.
And then they go on to clearly say that its very hard to find a teacher that has all
ten of these qualities. We mostly dont meet people like this. Maybe the teacher hasnt
seen emptiness directly, maybe they have some scriptural knowledge, maybe they have a
few of these qualities. Then the scripture breaks it down further. Actually, Geshe
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Michael broke it down into just three basic things last night. Does anyone remember the
three qualities of a teacher he mentioned yesterday?
[Audience: inaudible]
No, thats not what he said. What did he say? They see the suffering and they
want to help other people.
[Audience: inaudible]
No, thats not what he said last night about the three qualities of a teacher. What
did he describe as the three qualities of a teacher? He said a teacher should at least have
kindness towards their students, both on a temporal and an ultimate level. To be looking
out for the worldly needs of their students wanting their students to have their worldly
needs fulfilled and also have ultimate kindness, which is wanting to free them from
death and the cycle of suffering. Samsara.
[Audience: inaudible]
The airplane analogy; there you go. And the last point that he made was that you
have to be able to do it. You have to have the knowledge how to stop suffering. You
have to have the capacity. So those are an abbreviated description of a teacher. You
have to understand suffering and see suffering, you have to really acknowledge that
suffering exists everywhere in the world for humans, and you have to really have
kindness towards everyone on ultimate and temporal levels, and you have to have the
capacity to do something about it.
Theres also a much simpler way of looking at a teacher, which is that in the
division of things in this life, versus things of future lives, are they spending most of their
time on things of this life or are they spending their time on things of future lives?
Whenever you meet a teacher, and this includes Geshe Michael, you need to look at them
in that context. You need to look at their actions, you need to look at their teachings, you
need to look at the way they lead their lives, and you need to check it against those ten
qualities, or those three qualities, or at the very least that one test. And you need to say
alright, what are they doing? What are they like? Whats their deal?
I want to read Geshe Michaels letter again, very briefly. Geshe Michael wrote
this letter on his birthday in December and sent it to his lamas pro-actively in anticipation
of coming out of retreat, I think because he wanted to come out of retreat with everything
above board and presented in a very straight, open way to everyone. Khen Rinpoche had
very good advice in regard to reading or listening to the letter. He said you have to really
guard your mind. He said when you think about these kinds of things, and when you talk
about these kinds of things, its very easy to collect negative karma by thinking
negatively. He said really guard your mind when you think about it, because otherwise
the speaker is collecting negative karma and the listener is collecting negative karma.
Alright, here we go. So guard your mind. I want to make sure everybodys clear on two
of the main points in the letter.
I was born in America and from the age of sixteen up to the present day have
always been under the care of a divine angel, Vajrayogini. Oh, one other thing I wanted
to say is that you should think of this letter from the perspective of checking it out.
Whats literal? Whats figurative? Course Fifteen: How to interpret literal and
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figurative. Is everything in here literal? Is some of it figurative? You have to be an

intelligent, analytical, probing student.
[Audience: inaudible]
Sure, doubt is fine. No. Judging is negative. If you think about it, theres a
difference between discrimination and judgment. Discrimination is this is red, this is
blue. I like this, I dont like that. Im not sure about this, Im sure about that. Thats
discrimination. Thats healthy, thats a standard mental function that you cant avoid
and you cant escape. But to say thats stupid. Thats judgment, you see, and thats
collecting negative karma. When you say anything along the lines where youre putting
some negative label on something it is a form of judgment, this is collecting negative
karma. You see? You should always evaluate things. You should always decide about
things. The ultimate decision is: this works for me or this doesnt work for me, I believe
this, I dont believe this, I accept this, I dont accept this. You see? Thats
discrimination, and thats how we should live our lives. We should go through our lives
saying, No, doesnt work for me. Yes, it does work for me. I accept it. I dont accept
it. I believe it. I dont believe it. But its not the same thing as saying, Theyre totally
whacked out! You see? Or theyre like, insanely corrupt. Because those are judgments.
Discrimination should be applied to ones self, and ones own behaviors. I want this, I
dont want that. I will do this, I wont do that. And thats healthy and necessary and
totally appropriate. You have to do it. But when you start putting things on other people,
thats judgment and thats negative karma. Theyre bad, theyre stupid, theyre corrupt.
And its not even coming from them anyway! You never know what the real motivation
of another person is unless you can read their mind. The difference between
discrimination and judgment is a very important distinction. Thank you.
[Audience: inaudible]
Its very important to have a balance between deceptive and ultimate reality.
[Audience: inaudible]
The question is, if you have the karma to see someone as holy should you take
their advice all the time? There are two different approaches. One is the sutra approach,
the other one is the approach in the secret teachings. The question was, if you dont have
the karma to see someone as holy, or if you had the karma and it wore out and you no
longer see them as holy and they ask you to do something or tell you to do something,
should you listen to them? Thats a choice, you see? And it goes back to the motivation
issue. If your motivation is: I want to help him, I want to help the beings that theyre
asking me to help, then theres nothing wrong with that, thats great, why not do it? But
if you look at it and say, thats not going to help me, or thats not beneficial to me and I
dont want to do it, thats no problem. Thats fine to respectfully decline. Its ok to
respectfully decline any time. Just be aware that you may perhaps be missing an
opportunity to collect some good virtue for yourself.
But do you see the person as self-existently holy or bad from their own side?
Thats the key, you see? Thats what we started with. Whatever anyone says to you
whether its your boss, your partner, your spiritual teacher if you see them as selfexistently holy or self-existently unholy, youre wrong. So either way; it goes both ways.
Okay, back to the letter.
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At the age of twenty I traveled to India, land of the Aryas, realized beings and
first met the sages of Tibet. And then at the age of twenty-two, despite the fact that I
myself have no good qualities at all, a seed inside of me suddenly awakened, a seed
which was planted by the many efforts of the me of my past lives and by the infinite
blessings of my lama, and so I saw ultimate reality directly. I achieved Bodhichitta, the
wish for enlightenment, I entered the gate to the first level of the Bodhisattvas. In the
hours after this experience I saw that the Four Arya Truths were, themselves, surely true
and I perceived that the teachings of Lord Buddha in general and in particular those of Je
Tsongkapa, were perfectly, absolutely correct. So then I became ordained and as a means
to keep these teachings from ever being lost in our world and to spread them further still
entered the diamond trade. But I did so because it would be a way to never forget what I
had seen upon the path of seeing. Of all the objects in this reality theres only one
highest metaphor for the ultimate reality and that is the diamond. I labored thus for
fifteen years, with the income I tried to preserve the physical dharma by printing books
and storing it on computers, our sacred texts of the Kangyur and Tengyur, the writings of
Tibetan masters. I also did as much as I could to help support Tibetan monks of the great
monasteries relocated in India. During this time I continued my studies, in the end I was
able to achieve a Geshe degree of minor rank. Then I tried to bring that task of the nectar
of deathlessness, the five great books, to people in our foreign lands. I completed as well
as I could many retreats in the tradition of the Diamond Queen and now for three years,
in isolation, in a dessert, here in America, in a small Mongolian yurt, I have stayed
together in a great retreat, in the proper way with a lady who is an emanation of the
Angel of Diamond, a messenger, and I have undertaken the hardships needed to try to
complete the two stages of the secret teachings. So too now a days to help to trigger the
final transformation into the Diamond Queen herself I wear my hair as the angel herself
does and her bracelet and other accouterments together with my robes. I know very well
that what I described in these words is very difficult to believe and yet, I call upon the
power of the truth of emptiness and the fact that things still work are in no way
contradictory, upon the truth that the teachings of Lord Buddha are true, upon the truth
that the angel, herself, is true, upon the truth oh, my lama, of your kindness. Highest
lama, may your heart not be troubled. Highest lama, may this rather cause you to rejoice.
Highest lama, may you never abandon this yogi monk, may you sustain me deep within
your heart till the very day that I attain the union of the two. Written twenty-eight years
later on my fiftieth birthday by the American Monk, Michael Roach.
So, this is the letter. Now Id like to try to talk a little more about a context for
interpreting it, and evaluating it, and understanding it, because I think thats important. I
think its very important that everyone here think about it and analyze it and evaluate it
and check it out from your own perspective and from your own side, and from where
they are, to determine where they stand with it. I think there are two main points that are
being made here, and theyre related to each other. One is Geshe Michael speaking of his
attainments directly. Hes seen emptiness, hes met tantric deities, and describing all of
those things to the lineage lamas. And then the other is him clearly stating that hes
doing three year retreat with a lady whos a messenger, and that messenger is a code
word for a spiritual partner. And in the higher teachings, theres a particular minimum
qualification for a spiritual partner, which is that you have to have attained at least basic
realizations of whats called Generation Stage tantra.
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Personally, I think the reason Geshe Michael is talking about his spiritual
realizations and attainments openly is to certify that he has reached a level where its
appropriate for him to be working with a spiritual partner. So, the two points in the letter
are really related. Saying these are the levels of realizations Ive reached, this is an
appropriate practice for me, and Im doing this practice. And because Im doing this
practice I have to tell you about my realizations to let you know that the practice is
acceptable, and that theres not anything funny going on.
Some people have interpreted this letter as an amazing, beautiful thing. Some
people have interpreted the letter as very horrible and terrible. And some people have
interpreted it as mixed. Why is that? Because everyone has a unique perception based
upon the karma they collected in the past. Its not coming from Geshe Michael, or
anyone else. Its coming from the karma theyve collected in the past. The hard
interpretation and the soft interpretation. Okay? If we had collected better karma, right
now we would be seeing Geshe Michael and Christie as Chakasamvara and, and
Vajrayogini. But weve collected mixed karmas, and so now some people see them as a
spiritual couple doing advanced spiritual practices, some people see them as something
less than that. We need to talk about that more.
I thought to talk about what a persons spiritual career is, and the evolution
through ones spiritual path and career, to try and help give a context to fit this in.
Basically you start your spiritual career where ever you are, right? And the idea is that
you progress towards enlightenment. There are a lot of steps along the way. There are a
lot of practices you do along the way, and you really need to do them in the proper order,
at the proper time, when you are ready. Basically, the beginning of a Buddhist career
starts with Refuge. You understand that there are tremendous sufferings in the normal
worlds of humans and other beings, and you get some strong feeling that there are holy
beings that can teach you how to overcome that, how to surpass that, and how to get out
of that. How to reach something better for yourself. You practice the three trainings,
which are ethics, concentration and wisdom. The first, ethics, is about becoming pure in
your body, speech, and mind. Well talk about this one more later. After youve
practiced ethics, or as youre practicing ethics, you then have to begin to develop
meditative focus. You have to gain meditative realizations. And along with that you
have to study wisdom extensively ultimate reality. You have to perfect your wisdom
by experiencing ultimate reality directly. Its not enough to stop there. You have to
continue on to the higher teachings of Buddhism, the secret teachings of Buddhism,
which enable you to reach enlightenment very quickly, in this lifetime. Its not possible
to reach enlightenment in one lifetime without undertaking the higher teachings. As I
said, you have to engage in the practices of the path in the proper order, moving on to the
next after you master the previous level. Its also important to note that there is some
overlap between the levels and stages of the path, where one is working on more than one
thing at the same time. So, the first level of practice is ethics, and you basically start with
the ten non-virtues, right? Which are?
[Audience: inaudible]
Killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh words, idle talk,
we said divisive talk, we said idle talk, coveting others things, ill will, wrong view.
Thank you.
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So you work to master these ten as the first level of practice, the first steps of your
basic Buddhist career. After you have mastered those and you embody those, or
somewhere along the way in that practice, then ethically you start to practice the
Bodhisattva vows. Im not going to ask you what they are. (Laughs) It would take too
long. There are eighteen root vows, forty-six secondary vows, and there are ancillary
Bodhisattva vows as well. You have to practice your Bodhisattva vows for years. And
you have to learn to manifest and embody your Bodhisattva vows over a period of years.
It takes years. How do you master them?
[Audience: silent]
Come on How do you do it every day? Keep you book! The six times a day
book. If you dont know what that is, I hope there are copies in the back, you can get one
for free. You have to stop six times a day and check specific vows to see if youre
keeping them. If youre not doing your book six times a day, stopping and saying, Did I
violate any Bodhisattva vows in the last four hours?, youre not keeping them. Youre
not mastering them, youre not embodying them. Okay? So, you have to master your
Bodhisattva vows by keeping your book. Then at some point in that Bodhisattva career
you move on. You take the higher secret vows, tantric vows. There are fourteen root
tantric vows, ten gross transgressions, three categories of secondary pledges, eight unique
vows, nineteen other pledges. Theyre very refined, theyre very subtle, theyre very
difficult to keep. You have to practice them, you have to master them, you have to
embody them. If youre ordained, you have how many ordination vows? Hundreds. All
of these things constitute keeping ethics. In a simpler way, you can say that these are
guidelines and rules to help others and to avoid harming others and yourself. If youre
highly practiced in ethics, you are very refined in helping others and not harming them in
your behavior on many, many levels. And yourself. And its important to note that,
because you have hundreds of these vows, theres a progression of lower vows, middle
vows and higher vows, and higher vows take precedence and supercede lower vows.
And when theres a conflict between higher vows and lower vows, which there often is,
you follow the higher vows instead of the lower vows.
For example, I think as an ordained person youre not supposed to handle money.
Well, if youre going to help someone, often you have to pay for things for them. So do
you not handle the money, and not help someone? Or do you handle the money? You
handle the money. Theres a lot of that that goes on in terms of keeping vows and
following vows. It takes many years to master ethics, obviously, as you can imagine if
youve tried. And along the way, youve got to also be working on your concentration
and your meditation.
You have to learn about the different types of meditation. Then you need to begin
to meditate daily. You gradually build your capacity up to, hopefully, an hour or two of
meditation each day. After youve learned about and gotten reasonably good at
meditation, you need to start to do retreats. Perhaps shorter retreats, then a week or two,
then you move on to month long retreats, deeper retreats, and then long-term retreat.
And in the beginning you meditate on sutra topics, things like Lam Rim, Tong Len, death,
Mahamudra. And then after youve gotten good at those, and youve gained some
realization of those, you move on to higher meditations, to secret meditations and tantric
meditations. When you enter your tantric career, which requires permission from a
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tantric master, then you have to go through the different tantric levels and paths, in
conjunction with becoming a master of all the sutra teachings, stages, paths and
realizations. And again, one is working on different practices and levels of the path
simultaneously.
To move through the tantric stages and paths requires years of study and effort.
You have the eleven practices, or yogas, of the generation stage to go through whats
called generation stage tantra. These yogas/meditations requires a lot of practice over a
period of a number of years to master and gain the realizations associated with them.
After youve succeeded in completing and gaining the realizations of the eleven yogas of
the generation stage of tantra thats the coarse generation stage then you move on
to whats called subtle generation stage, which requires very precise concentration over
many hours to be able to obtain the goals and realizations associated with that practice.
After youve mastered that, then you are granted permission to receive teachings in
whats called completion stage tantra. And very few people reach this level, as you
might imagine. It requires many years, much study, much dedication, much meditative
capacity, and someone whos a qualified teacher that has learned and mastered these
practices themselves to be able to grant you the permission to get the teachings and then
subsequently give you all the teachings. If you reach that level, which I think very few
people do, then your tantric master will teach you these things. Theyre not taught in
large groups; theyre only taught to one or two people at a time. If you gain this level
and collect the karma to have a qualified teacher, then there are five paths and eleven
levels that you have to go through in completion stage, or so Ive heard. Again,
progressing one after the other through the various levels and paths, gaining the various
realizations. Theyre very subtle, difficult meditations which involve meditating inside
your energetic channels. They require you to be able to abide in precise single pointed
concentration for hours at a time, without your mind wavering and with your coarse
minds inactive for extended periods of time.
So thats basically the progression through ones spiritual path and practice,
through all the different levels. After a person has gone through all the foundational
practices of sutra, the various levels of the coarse and subtle generation stages of tantra,
and has achieved those results and realizations and manifest and embodied them in their
life, then they are qualified to enter into completion stage practices and to move through
all those levels and paths. There are, I think (though I could be wrong), eleven levels of
completion stage, which take years to practice and master. When you finish the eleven
levels of completion stage you are a fully enlightened Buddha. Enlightenment in this life
is the culmination of the final completion stage of tantra.
When your practice approaches near to the end of completion stage, one of the
practices that you can do to help get enlightened more quickly is a practice with a
spiritual partner, which is what Geshe Michael has presented here and is talking about
here. And it seems to me hes basically saying, Ive gone through all these levels and
paths, Ive gained the realizations, and now Im doing this, which is one of the final
practices that you can do to help you accelerate becoming enlightened, which is to
practice with a spiritual partner to work with your channels and your energetic system.
Hopefully its clear at this point that you have to be very advanced to do this practice.
And its very inappropriate to do if you arent very advanced. I think very few people
ever make it this far, and its very improper to do this practice otherwise.
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Id like to read a paragraph from Khen Rinpoches Sublime Path to Paradise

which is a teaching and commentary on the eleven yogas of the coarse generation stage
of tantra. I think its okay to read out loud, because it doesnt really tell you anything
youre not supposed to hear. Which, everything Ive just told you falls in that category.
Ive just told you what Im not normally supposed to talk openly about, but as Im
following Geshe Michaels lead I think its okay.
So, in one small section of the commentary, Khen Rinpoche is talking about a
verse and hes talking about Drilbupa. He says Acharya Ghantapada, whos also called
Drilbupa, was a great master of the Chakrasamvara tantra, and originated one of the three
major lineages of that practice. He was instructed by his root guru Darikapa to meditate
in the forest in Bengal. Later he went to Odiyana where he was blessed by a dakini and
told to go to south India. Vajra Ghantapada, Lord of Spiritual Practice, had reached a
high level of the completion stage and was ready to practice with a tantric partner. He
found her through the skillful means of angering the king of that region. After meditating
together for twelve years he achieved the state of ultimate union, which is tantric
enlightenment. Later he appeared before the king and the townspeople to tame them
spiritually. First he and his partner transformed themselves into Chakrasamvara and
Vajrayogini. Then they flew up into the sky and went to paradise.
The relevant point here is that when you reach the end of your tantric completion
stage practice you have great capacity and youre very close to enlightenment. And that
these practices take a long time. The thing that I want to highlight here is that they
practiced together for twelve years, and then they became fully enlightened. And then
they manifest as tantric beings and flew off into the sky to paradise. So these practices
are not short term practices, these are long term practices, all of them. And any of us
who have tried to meditate on anything probably have some experience of that.
One other thing that I think is very important to understand here is that in writing
his letters to the major teachers of Sera Mey Monastery the responses that Geshe Michael
received were basically from all of the leaders of the monastery: the abbots, the vice
abbots, ex-abbots, the Vinaya master, the debate master, the discipline master, the abbot
of the tantric college and basically they all seem very supportive and happy. I think its
very appropriate to see it as a very joyous and holy thing. Obviously everyone is going
to interpret it according to the workings of their mind, and there are many possible
interpretations. But I think its very appropriate and very important to try to see, if
youre not already seeing it, from the perspective of being a very profound thing and a
very joyous thing and a very holy thing. Try to analyze it, and evaluate it, and see if you
can see it in that light. As Lama Yeshe said in his book on completion stage which is
called Bliss Of Inner Fire, I havent read it but I was told the other day that Lama Yeshe
also states in there, that the only way to reach enlightenment in this life is with a spiritual
partner and to do the practices that Geshe Michael is doing. Im told that its also stated
very clearly in all of the higher scriptures that the only way to become enlightened in this
life, before you die, is to practice with a spiritual partner. I think its very appropriate to
try to describe it as very positive thing, and as a very joyous thing, and a very holy thing.
We have collected the karma to see a I have anyway, I dont know what you
see, but Ive collected the karma to see a spiritual practitioner whos progressed over
thirty years through all of the stages of sutra and mastered them, someone whos
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progressed through all of the stages of coarse and subtle generation stage tantra and
mastered them, and has now progressed, it seems, through the various levels of
completion stage and is near the end of completion stage practice. That seems to be the
karma that Ive collected to see this now, and its a very positive thing and a very
fortunate thing that now we have a spiritual teacher whos saying, look theres only one
way to get enlightened in this life and its almost never taught and its virtually never
openly endorsed and Im gonna do it. Im going to openly endorse it, Im going to
openly teach it, and if you want to study it, prepare yourself and Ill teach it to you. So
its incredibly fortunate that the only practice that can lead you to full enlightenment in
this life is now sort of available and being talked about and being presented openly. So I
think its really quite an incredible thing.
One other thing I want to say about this is that very often practitioners think that
theyre ready to practice this. Like you know, Ive practiced for a few years now, Im an
advanced meditator, Im ready to do practice with a spiritual partner. Theyre usually
fooling themselves. If you havent spent many, many years in deep meditation and
serious practice, youre not ready. You dont have any capacity unless youve done it
in past lives and boom, its all ripened. But it would ripen as behavior, realizations,
meditative capacity, etc, I think. Its traditional that teachers have often tended to say
dont even try to do these kinds of practices while youre a human being. If youre a
human being and youre trying to do these practices youre probably not ready. Wait
until youre in another realm. Do these practices in another realm as another kind of
being. Its that delicate, you see, its that difficult. Most human beings never get to the
level where theyre qualified to legitimately do this kind of practice, it seems.
One other thing I want to talk about is what Geshe Michael was speaking to last
night, which is testing a lama. Geshe Michael was talking last night about Naropa, and
jumping off the roof, and things like that. I was saying to someone as we were driving
home, I couldnt help but think after the teaching that if the student had said to Naropa,
You know, dear, holy Naropa, I love you so much and you know youre my holy, great
lama and you know I cant damage my precious human body and therefore I dont think
you really want me to jump. Naropa would just have said, Yeah, okay, thats cool.
[Laughs] Never mind, lets go back down stairs, you passed. [Laughs] I dont know
of course, but one wonders. There are two things going on. You have to test the lama,
and the lama is testing you, and theyre related. I mean, its not a one way street. Youre
checking them out, theyre checking you out. Again, both of which are very appropriate.
Just to relate to Geshe Michael, who is the Lama that Ive studied with the most
over the last ten years, Ive seen Geshe Michael doing stuff that Ive thought was
inappropriate. Its like, excuse me, but why do you keep blowing people off and not
showing up for appointments on time? Why dont you return your phone calls? Why
do you over commit and tell people you will do things that you have no time to do?
Why do you book three people for the same time slot when you know youre not going to
be able to do them all? Its appropriate to address these things with the lama in the
proper way. And whats the proper way? Not, I know and you dont. Not, Im right
and youre wrong. Not, I know better than you. But, this is conventionally what is
appropriate behavior, this is conventionally whats bodhisattva behavior, this is
conventionally what the vows say. And I dont understand, what are you doing? If
youre not approaching a lama in that way, then maybe youre failing some tests.
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Because as Geshe Michael said, sometimes the tests are not that obvious. Sometimes its
just about drinking the coke. You see?
We think that the test is going to be jumping off the roof every time. It isnt. The
test can be that Geshe Michael is walking down the road and hes done something off,
and you see it. Did you say, Excuse me, can we talk? And if youre not doing that,
chances are you may be failing a very important test. You should be checking out the
lama. If you dont have the courage, or the strength, or the wherewithal, or the presence,
or the self-confidence to say to a lama, I really dont understand why you did that and
can you please explain it to me because its important to me, and you know I respect you
and honor you I really want to understand what youre doing and would you please
explain it to me. Id really appreciate that. Youve got to have the strength to do that.
Youve got to have the wherewith all to do that. You cant just go around saying,
Youre holy, and Im a piece of shit. You know everything, and I dont know anything.
Thats stupid. Thats spiritual ignorance. Dont be like that, okay? Please. Its a very
big mistake to think, to just assume, that the teachers correct and that everything they
say is literally true. Big, big mistake. You have to look for different ways of interpreting
what they say and you have to be willing to question them.
I was having a conversation with Geshe Michael when we were doing our
directors meetings the other day, and after one of the directors meetings, he said
something to me along the lines of what a shame it was that so few people relate to the
spiritual teacher properly. Not because they dont bow, and grovel, and give good
presents. Thats not correct view, you see? But because so many people have
expectations of self-existent holiness. So please try to relate properly. Please try to
relate in a way that understands ultimate reality. Which, if youre on the sutra level, says
youre an empty object, Im an empty object. Im perceiving you as holy, or Im
perceiving you as something funny. Lets talk about it because thats normal, and I want
to have a good relationship with you and collect virtue together. Or if youre on the
tantric level, if youre on the level of secret teachings to say, Look, I understand that
youre an empty object and youre a holy being and Im trying to perceive it, and Im a
holy being and Im trying to perceive it, and everyone else is a holy being and Im trying
to perceive it. Or I am perceiving it, and lets have a good debate as holy beings. So
you see, if youre approaching a spiritual teacher and youre just rolling over and saying,
Ooooh, aahhhh, youre so self-existently wonderful and wise kiss, kiss, kiss Its not
gratifying to the teacher. And it doesnt help you. It really doesnt. It doesnt help either
party. It really doesnt. Okay, so please dont do that. Relate to them properly, and
serve them properly, by putting their teachings into practice in your life.
Our job is to understand higher reality and to relate properly to everyone, and that
includes the lama. The teacher is the exact same status as everyone else. The teacher is
the exact same status as you and I. Theyre blank, theyre empty. Were seeing them
according to our karma, and be very happy that were projecting purity on to something
and someone. Doesnt matter who, or where, or what. You project purity on an
inanimate object. Be happy about it. Its beautiful, its wonderful. You projected purity
onto a holy teacher, be happy about it. But youre stupid if you think it comes from
them. Youre spiritually ignorant if you think it comes from them. Sorry, I shouldnt
have said stupid. My apology. [Laughs] Locker room coming out, you see? Well,
okay, having said all this [Laughs] Its very hard to do these things. Its much easier
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to sit up here and talk about this than to do it. As I say this, am I seeing any of you as
holy? No! Its great that we understand it, its great that we can talk about it. Doing it is
vastly harder. And thats what practice is. Thats what the path is.
Okay, now having said all this, I have something for you from Geshe Michael.
Having said all this, heres a test. Geshe Michael wrote this letter, and he asked me to
read it to you. So turn on your critical mind, not your judgmental mind, your
discriminating mind, your wisdom mind
[Audience: inaudible]
It was written not long ago, last week a couple of days ago? Somewhat
recently. I dont know exactly. I got it a few days ago. Okay, so this is from Geshe
Michael, its an open letter for anyone who already has had a good dose of teachings in
the past, and you all now qualify.
Now suppose you hear some strange talk about an old Buddhist monk who has
been staying for awhile around some wonderful ladies and youre curious about whats
been going on. And suppose you hear that that what the old monk says has been
happening is that for all these years, holy angels have been coming to him and showing
him the path to reach a true heaven in this one body, even before he dies.
Im going to help you out a little bit, I cant resist. So here in our first paragraph
are there any self-existent holy ladies? Appearing as angels? No. Is it possible that hes
perceiving humans as angels? Yes. Are they one way or another? Are they human or
angels, one or the other only? No. They could be either, depending upon whos
perceiving them according to their karma. Theyre a blank screen. Okay? Im not
helping anymore. Okay.
Suppose that you, yourself, have been thinking about the fact that everyone close
to you, and everyone you have ever met have nothing to look forward to in life except
growing older, loosing everything we have and dying with nothing. Suppose you feel
pity deep within you that things must go on this way. So suppose you thought that,
although this old monk is certainly a bit odd, he is unquestionably determined and well
trained in his Buddhist practice and so what he says about his experiences just might be
true. Certainly if there was even a small chance that it was true then it would be worth
checking out for yourself, although you might feel a little unsure or silly about it. I mean
so much to gain for yourself and all those I love, so little to loose if its not true. And so
you decide youd like to try to meet one of these angels yourself. For this you are going
to need these little instructions.
Instructions on Angel Catching:
Step one: Go up to one of these so called angels that the old monk has been
talking about. Circle around them three times to the left with pure thoughts of faith and
reverence, then kneel down on one knee in front of them.
Step two: Fold your hands at your breast, close your eyes and say the following: I
beg you from my heart to bless me and teach me how to see all of those around me, my
husband or wife, my companion, my friends and even my children as a true angel who
can teach me all I need to know to take myself and all I love to a true heaven even before
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we die. If youre not feeling too nervous or shy its helpful to repeat this three times,
although just once is fine if you really mean it.
Step three: Now theres something you need to know about this angel business,
they never admit to it right off. They never admit who they really are. So its very likely
that youll just get a blank look and theyll say something like, I have no idea what
youre talking about. Im no angel, Im just an ordinary person.
Step four: Be persistent. Maybe grab her feet, press your forehead down on them
and repeat your request with unshakable, or nearly unshakable, faith.
Step five: You need to know in advance at this point, they usually look at you
very exasperated, and they repeat that theyre just an ordinary person. Very often theyll
even say terrible things to you, or about you, to see if youll get discouraged. Even if you
do get discouraged, try to act like youre not.
Step six: If they can get away from you they might even go away from you
someplace else, and refuse to talk to you. Hang in there. Go find them and insist on the
teaching.
Step seven: In special cases you might get hit on the head at this point, just like in
the old stories of people like Naropa, or even in The Garden book. It hurts a bit but dont
despair, youre getting really close.
Step eight: Now its time to pull out the heavy guns. Refold your palms again and
present this irritated looking lady with an unavoidable act of truth as follows: Oh,
enlightened lady, if it is true that I have sincerely if not perfectly kept up my book of
vows for (state a time), like the last three years. If it is true that I have sincerely, if not
perfectly kept up my daily prayers and meditations for (state a time). If it is true that I
have sincerely, if not perfectly tried to live and care for others as I do myself, then by this
truth will you teach me what I ask of you?
Step nine: Now, of course, an act of truth like this can never fail and so things
should really start to happen in a steady but often bumpy way. Of course, if you dont
really have at least a few serious good deeds like the above to bargain with, youre going
to need to get back to work on your own practice until youve got something ready to
bargain with. At this point you cant really blame the angel or the old monk if you see
something less than infinite loving compassion for every living creature.
Please know that even though these instructions are written in a funny way, they
are dead serious and come directly from holy scripture. This virtue is dedicated to every
person who has any doubts about the magic of our life together.
With love,
The American Buddhist monk
Lobsang Chunzin
Geshe Michael
Easter 2003

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So, same message right? There are many ways to collect virtue, and this is one
very good way to collect virtue. If you see someone that you even suspect is holy, you
go up to them and you treat them as perfectly holy. Youre collecting incredibly
powerful karma. Of course you have to have a certain quantity of virtue to start to see
them as holy. Right? And the virtue that you collect by approaching them and treating
them as an angel is massively powerful and your intention is incredibly important, and
can ripen very quickly, like right away. And this is the key to the secret teachings. The
key to the secret teachings is the very strong intention to see complete total purity in
everyone. And if you do that, the karma is massively powerful and ripens almost
instantly. And people start to turn into angels for you. Someone you may suspect of
being holy may start to actually appear that way validly to your eyes, and to your senses,
and to your perception. Welcome to the secret teachings. Hes actually describing a
secret teaching which is fairly advanced in the generation stage practice. So think about
it.
[Audience: inaudible]
Are there copies available? Yes there are. Where are they? She has copies for
anyone that wants them.
[Audience: inaudible]
Lets finish going through the teachings, and then well do questions at the end
about other things. This is actually one reason why were having the extra open session
tonight because people are going to have a lot of specific questions about details, and its
going to take time. So well see how the time goes here, and then we may need to answer
questions later tonight based on how time goes. Id like to answer general questions first
to try to get all of the generalities out of the way, and in terms of getting into specifics
and more minutia then we can talk about that as time permits today or tonight.
So where were we? Were talking about evaluating your teachers. [Laughs]
Youve got to do it, and not just once. Is it the case that youre going to evaluate your
teacher once, and then its the end of the story? No. Youve got to evaluate your
teacher, and theyre going to be evaluating you, on an ongoing basis. As needed,
whenever needed. And thats how it is; thats how it works. But as youre evaluating
them, do not judge them. It is very bad to judge anyone, especially someone you
previously perceived, or sometimes perceived, as holy. Very heavy karma. What does
Shakymuni Buddha say about judging? He said unless youre someone like me, do not
judge anyone or you will surely fallto lower realms. Someone like me, meaning,
someone who can read another persons mind and knows what their actual motivation is.
We have no idea what anyones motivation is, or why theyre doing what theyre doing,
if we cant read their mind. Someone who may appear to be doing something really
nasty may be caring for their future well being by doing some short term harm for long
term benefit. No way to know if you cant read their mind.
I think at this point it would be really good to go through our check list. Weve
got a check list. Do we have a check list? So lets go through the check list. I know that
everyone has a different degree of exposure to Geshe Michael. Everyone has a different
level of experience of Geshe Michael; some people have spent a lot of time with him,
some people have not met him at all, and have only seen him here at these teachings.
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So the first question would be, if you think about his past and what you know of
it, is Geshe Michael spending the majority of his time and energy on things of this life or
things to benefit others for future lives and to benefit himself for future lives and
enlightenment? You should think about that, and decide which way it is. Yes or no.
You should check and see whether Geshe Michael is a master of sutra, especially on
manifesting the various levels of the vows in his own behavior. Does he manifest
bodhisattva activity in his behavior? Is he a master of the vows, in knowledge and deed?
And also all the sutra levels and the levels of the Lam Rim, and Im not going to go
through them all now. You should try to investigate and check if Geshe Michael has
received appropriate instruction in generation stage secret teaching practices, and has he
practiced for a long time, and has he done retreats. Has he done an appropriate number
of retreats in those practices? Has he received permission to enter into completion stage
practices by a qualified tantric master? Has he mastered all the levels of completion
stage practice, including the Six Yogas of Naropa which are part of completion stage
practice? Is there some way to check to see if he appears to be close to enlightenment?
And check as well the ten qualities of a teacher that we talked about. You have to check
all those things. You have to check your experience of him and his behavior against all
these things. And check it out and decide that yes, it seems that all of thats in place or
no, it doesnt seem like all of thats in place. If all thats not in place, maybe he shouldnt
be doing this spiritual partner practice? Maybe hes not ready for that practice? Maybe
that practice isnt appropriate? And if he does have all those things, then you have to say
well, maybe it is appropriate that hes doing that. And of course, he made it very easy on
us getting the endorsement of the leaders of Sera Mey Monastery. So thats a nice
endorsement even if we dont know anything about him personally.
[Audience: inaudible]
The question was, How about Khen Rinpoche? There wasnt a letter from Khen
Rinpoche. Khen Rinpoche is a very traditional lama. Ive done some lerungs and Ive
been inclined to go up to Khen Rinpoche and say, Rinpoche, can you tell me about this
next thing thats a little down the road that I havent gotten to yet? Or, Can you tell me
about something Im not quite ready to hear? Forget it. Hell blow you right out of the
water. Hes just Thats not appropriate.
[Audience: inaudible]
You can say that. The fact that Khen Rinpoche did not send a letter doesnt mean
he doesnt approve; it just means he didnt send a letter. And I think its important to
understand that Geshe Michael and Christy will be going to Khen Rinpoches initiation
in August, and theyre going to be there, and theyre going to be spending time there, and
they would all be spending a lot of time together. So this is a piece of information to
factor in, along with some knowledge of Khen Rinpoche, and what ever other
information you can get your hands on. You have to look at it and you have to think
about it. Does the fact that Khen Rinpoche didnt send a letter mean that he doesnt
approve? Maybe, but not necessarily. It may just mean that he is highly secret and wont
talk about anything secret unless the person is in front of him and he knows they are
qualified. Thats my experience of Khen Rinpoche personally; youre not going to get
one piece of information unless youre fully qualified. Khen Rinpoche does not send out
mail about classes even, its only word of mouth. No e-mail. Khen Rinpoche works
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through word of mouth, in person. So you have to factor all of that in. Where was I?
We were talking about the appropriateness of Geshe Michaels qualifications, and
if he might be on a level where its appropriate for him to do this practice, according to
your perception. You have to look at it and decide yourself. After youve looked at it,
youve got to decide if youre okay with it. Even if you look at this long list and you say,
hes got that, got that, got that, got that, got that. Youre going to have to decide if it
works for you. Are you comfortable with that? Are you okay with that? Is it appropriate
for you, for your life, for who you are. Were never really going to completely know if
Geshe Michael is qualified unless we can read his mind or otherwise collect the karma to
see it directly. We have some indications, we have some signs, we have some history,
we have some things we can look at and put together and come to a conclusion, but short
of reading his mind were never going to know if hes fully qualified. We have to decide
as best we can. And ultimately, we are experiencing what we are projecting. Is Geshe
Michael correct in doing this? Or is Geshe Michael incorrect in doing this? Is it right, or
is it wrong? Which is it? Theres no right answer. Thank you Isadora, its empty. There
is no right answer. If youre looking for one right answer, youre not going to find it,
because there isnt one. There is no one right answer. There is no self-existently right
Geshe Michael, or self-existently wrong Geshe Michael. Lets take a break at this point.
[break]
So which is it? I think youre asking for suffering, as they say. If youre setting
yourself up to see things as self existent, to think things are coming from Geshe Michael,
its a source of suffering to see anything as self existent; to not see things as a
manifestation of your karma. Youve got to be clear about what Geshe Michael is and
isnt. Hes holy, or hes not? Hes not either, from his own side.
Then weve got to ask, what does this mean for figuring things out. We dont
mean that understanding emptiness and applying karma implies that you shouldnt
decide. You have to decide. To say that something is a manifestation of karma and
emptiness is not, I repeat not, the same as saying its impossible to figure out that
theres no decision possible, or you cant decide anything. That theres no definitive
answer; you know, I cant ever decide anything. This is not what it means. Okay? You
experience the manifestation of your karma, and based on that you decide something, and
you do something. With this knowledge you say, okay, I collected the karma to see a
person who I am suspect of. Maybe its okay, maybe its not, seems a little weird, seems
like pushing the envelope, seems maybe a little past the edge of the envelope, seems way
past the edge of the envelope. Thats for you to decide. Its for you to evaluate, and for
you to decide with the understanding that its a manifestation of your karma and your
perception, and dont beat yourself up whatever you decide. It is your valid reality. And
if you like it, or if you dont like it, thats fine. No worries.
Youve created everything in your world, including your teachers whether its
Geshe Michael or Khen Rinpoche or Lama Zopa or whomever. Some people go to Khen
Rinpoches teachings, its like, god, I cant understand. Theyre falling asleep, they cant
understand. Its like why doesnt he cut to the chase? Why is he using all these Tibetan
words mixed in that I dont understand? Its like every fourth word is Tibetan. I dont
want to know Tibetan. I mean, is it his fault? People try to make it his fault sometimes.
But its not; its their issue. If I had collected better karma, I would see a glowing
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Vajrayogini in a rainbow of light sitting in front of me speaking perfect sounds, at the

perfect decibel level, at the perfect tone, with fragrant air and everything else. And so
its my responsibility. My teachers are my responsibility. If your teacher is slightly
different than what you would like, or what you want, fix it. You should fix it. They
cant fix it. They cant fix anything for us. They cant change their behavior to be the
way we want them to be, can they? Youre creating them; youre causing their behavior.
So if you want your lama to speak English, or not use Tibetan, or have shorter teaching
sessions, or have more comfortable cushions, create the causes. Manifest it karmically.
You can have whatever holy teacher you want, with whatever qualities you want, as soon
as you collect that karma. And thats the only way youre ever going to have it, and
thats the only place its ever going to come from.
Dont hold onto your teacher too tightly, because it shows ignorance. If you are
holding on to a spiritual teacher tightly it shows that you see them as self-existent, and
that youre manifesting ignorance along with him. As Geshe Michael has said, seeing
things as self-existent is a subtle negative karma. As long as you are seeing anything,
including a spiritual teacher, as self existent you are collecting negative karma. Period.
So you can say, wow, Im doing all this wonderful stuff, Im in front of Khen Rinpoche,
and Im prostrating nicely and Im paying attention and da, da, da, da da. And there he
is, thirty years in the monastery in New Jersey teaching, and hes 82 years old, and
powerful, and da, da, da. And wow isnt he great? Hes the best. And its all selfexistence, pervaded with ignorance, and collecting subtle negative karma all along the
way.
Thats why were stuck in this realm, not because we punch people in the face too
often, but because we see everything as self existent continuously on all levels, all the
time, as normal human beings. And the only way to get out of this realm and the
suffering of this realm, really, is to see everything as holy, like, perhaps angels. And its
a higher teaching, and its a higher training, and its very difficult, but also very essential.
[Audience: inaudible]
As long as we see something as self-existent, self-existently annoying, selfexistently wacky, self-existently anything, were collecting subtle negative karma. So
this is very important to understand. One of my personal pet peeves is the spiritual
teacher syndrome. People get in the mode of thinking of a spiritual teacher as a public
figure, like theyre a rock star or something. And people feel like they should monitor
the teachers behavior, and they should like everything the teacher does it should meet
my approval, and I should know where they go, and I should know who theyre with, and
I should approve of it all, and they should only do the things I think they should be doing.
Its the National Enquirer syndrome. Heres Johnny Carson on his back deck getting out
of the swimming pool. Its very unhealthy. We should respect the privacy of the teacher,
and their wishes, and their space in an appropriate way. Disrespecting the privacy and
the space of the teacher because of what we need or want from them is no virtue quite
the opposite, it seems to me.
Were very fortunate to have holy teachers, and I think its very important not to
try to make them into what we want them to be in a Robo-claws way, in some selfexistent way. Theyll be whatever weve collected the karma for them to be, and if
youre self-existently holding on to them tightly, as someone youre afraid to loose in
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your life, its ignorance. If youre not seeing them as a manifestation of your karma, its
ignorance. And you are collecting negative karma by being around what you see as a
self-existent teacher. Sorry to say it. So stop doing it, please.
Okay, there are no self-existent teachers, there are no self-existent great lamas,
there are no self-existent holy people. Theres the manifestation of your karma onto an
empty object and its beautiful to see it as holy, and you should want to see it as holy.
And if you can see it as a manifestation of karma and emptiness then youre on an
upward spiral to start seeing angels, as described here.
I think thats all I want to say Whats the time? We have five minutes. Im
going to skip a few other things and Ill just briefly answer your question, and then any
other questions we can do later tonight. I want to do a little meditation before we end.
[Audience: inaudible]
In the modern Gelukpa tradition as I understand it, as you reach levels very close
to enlightenment, there are a couple of different choices you can make, a couple of
different practices that you can choose. One choice is to not get enlightened in this life
and to get enlightened at death, during the death process, or in the intermediate state.
That approach has been described as having some real disadvantages. So thats one
choice, and thats the Gelukpa preferred choice. Another Gelukpa preferred choice is to
manifest your spiritual partner through the power of your meditation. Gelukpas tend to
say its fine to be a spiritual couple, its fine to have a spiritual partner, but youve got to
create them through the power of your meditation. And as I alluded to before, there are
several different classes and levels of spiritual partners, and the minimum qualification to
be a spiritual partner is to have achieved realizations of whats called generation stage
practice, the eleven yogas of the generation stage practices. To meet the minimum
qualification to be a spiritual partner, you have to have gained realizations of at least the
eleven yogas of the generation stage. I dont know much about these final practices, but
this is what I understand.
[Audience: inaudible]
That applies to both people involved. As I said before, one of the people would
need to be close to enlightenment in their completion stage practices.
Lets meditate. I have to stop soon, so lets meditate. Its going to be a quick
meditation, but not too quick. And for any other questions you have, come tonight after
the teachings and Ill be available, along with a number of other senior teachers, to
answer as many questions as you have, whatever questions you have, and at whatever
level of detail you want, after the teachings tonight. Id like to do a Tong Len meditation.
On war. So now for something completely different Take a minute and stretch out if
you want to, maybe stand up, stretch, get comfy.
[Quiet]
Get comfy, close your eyes, count seven breaths This could get a little heavy.
If it gets too heavy for you, just drop back to whatever level youre comfortable with. If I
get too heavy, and its too much suffering for you to take on, just go back to one of the
more comfortable levels.
First, bring your awareness to your heart, to the level of your heart just in front of
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your backbone. Try to see a red rose there as clearly as possible with a brilliant shiny
crystal diamond in the middle of it. Smell the fragrance of the rose And now think of
yourself, the you of the not too distant past. All the worries and concerns youve had
about all the goings on of the war. Clearly see that you of the past, sitting in front of you
now If you cant see them clearly, feel that theyre there clearly... And be aware of all
of the anxieties, and worries and concerns and problems of the you of the past around
this See all of those negativities concentrating into the old yous heart in the form of a
smoky black orb of light, very dark... And now think very strongly that you want to
remove all of the sufferings of the past you, all of the sufferings and concerns and
anxieties and worries, and resolve strongly that youre going to remove all of those
sufferings And then bring your awareness to your heart again. See the rose with a
diamond sparkling brilliantly in its center... And now through a series of inhalations
begin to draw the blackness up along the spine of the old you, and out the nostrils and
watch it concentrate as a black ball in front of the old you... And now through a series of
inhalations, you draw it to the front of your nostrils Inhale the blackness into your
nostrils and down to just above your heart It doesnt affect you at all, it comes to rest
as a black ball, just above the diamond And now it touches the diamond, and theres a
brilliant flash and it all just disappears You feel great joy and happiness to have
removed all that suffering.
And now think of the people in the war zone. You can think of one person or a
collection of people. Think of all the innocent people who have been burned or blown
up, or shot. An arm blown off perhaps. Get very clear on what your object is See their
sufferings very clearly... See all of their sufferings concentrate at their heart, into a black
orb of light there... And again, as you inhale you draw the suffering up along their spine
and out their nostrils, to form another black ball in front of them... All their suffering has
left them... You inhale the black ball into your nostrils and down along the front of your
spine to your heart. Its very clear that you dont feel any of the suffering... As soon as
this black ball of light reaches your heart above the diamond, it touches the diamond, and
a brilliant flash appears and all that suffering is destroyed Strongly feel that youve
removed all that suffering and destroyed it, and that theyre very happy. That theyre
made whole.
Now think of the soldiers, American and Iraqi. Pick one, or a group. See all of
the heat, the fatigue, the grief, the fear, the trauma of shooting others and being shot.
Also think of all the karma theyve collected for their future suffering. The lives of
future suffering theyre creating for themselves. And again see all that suffering
concentrate at their heart as a black ball... And again, through a series of inhalations
draw the blackness up their spine out their nostrils... It forms a black ball in front of your
nostrils... And then in one large inhalation you draw in the black ball through your
nostrils down to the diamond in your heart... Theres a brilliant flash and its completely
destroyed, completely gone You and all the others feel complete happiness and joy.
Now think of the leaders Sadam Hussein, George Bush whove killed many
people. Sadam Hussein, killing more than a million and a half people and torturing them.
The vast, vast karma hes collected, the infinite suffering he will experience in the future.
George Bush, the karma of sending so many people to kill others, and killing so many
others. Having personally collected the karma of all the killing of the entire war. The
vast, vast future suffering hes collected the karma to experience. See all of that massive
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negative karma. You can pick either of them, or both. See it at their heart, concentrating
into a black ball at their heart And again through a series of inhalations draw it up
along their spine, out their nostrils in the form of a black smoke, which reconstitutes in
front of your nostrils as a black ball of great negativity And again whenever you are
ready, inhale quickly, and it goes to your heart and in a flash is destroyed, with you
feeling no pain... All of the negativity is destroyed, all the suffering is eliminated. Feel a
very firm conviction that youve destroyed negativity Feel very happy.
Feel very happy to have collected this very powerful virtue to not see war in the
future, to not see suffering in the future. Thank you.

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Afternoon: Day Three D April 19

Geshe Michael Roach

One of the caretakers will lead us in a meditation.

Venerable Chukyi: Sit comfortably. Straighten your back but lower your
shoulders and relax and begin by following your breath. Its as though youre your
attention is standing in the front of your nostril, like in the mouth of a sea cave and the
breath is like the ocean coming in and out. Just quiet your mind for a moment and follow
your breath.
[silence]
And now imagine that youre looking in front of you about four or five feet away
at the level of your eyebrows and make a beautiful seat there in your mind, maybe a large
red rose, fragrant and soft, and the cushion is like a diamond only a soft one, radiating
light. And invite the one who you see as a holy one. It doesnt matter who it is. It
doesnt matter if its a man or a woman. What matters is that your heart says, This being
is holy for me, and invite them to come and sit with you, and then watch them come.
[silence]
See them smiling at you with great joy. All they want is for your suffering to end.
Open your heart to them. The way karma works is that every single thing in our world is
created by our past our past actions of body, speech, and mind. But its hard for us to
see that. So we choose one being who our karma forces us to see as the holy one, and we
ask them to please be our mirror. So ask that in your heart now to whatever being youve
chosen, ask them to please be your mirror.
[silence]
And we know that this is not easy because it means that everything this being
does, says, or thinks, we accept as a reflection of ourselves. We know that they are
displaying our past in this present moment so that we can create our future. And so in
order to be able to do this we have to go down into our own hearts. So now concentrate
for a moment on the spot between your eyebrows. And then let that concentration flow
down, up to the crown of your head, and then down along a slender tube invisible to
all but your mind that runs along the front of your spine and when your focus arrives
at your heart, pause for a moment.
[silence]
In your heart, see a beautiful red rose in this tube behind your heart. Its petals are
soft and very fragrant. That rose represents all the love that you could ever have for
every being that ever existed, exists, or will exist. And its fragrance permeates your
body.

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day Three Geshe Michael Roach

[silence]
Its the love of a mother for her only child. Its the love that would make one do
anything that they can to reach the highest state to help all other beings. Its the love that
Petra-hla shared with us. In the center of the rose is a diamond. See it there; clear, pure,
sparkling. That rose and that diamond represent your wisdom, your understanding of
how the world really works. Think about that understanding now and let its light pour
through you.
[silence]
That wisdom is hard like a diamond. That wisdom is pure. That wisdom means
that we have to accept every thing that comes to us as our own creation. And thats hard,
and thats why you need the rose. So know as you look at that holy one before you,
whomever he or she is that when it gets too hard to see to see whats reflected there in
that mirror, you can remember the love, the fragrance that permeates your body and use
your love for others to give you the courage you need.
[silence]
Feel the light from the diamond and the fragrance of the rose, and carry it with
you. And ask your lama who is sitting in front of you, your holy one, to rise to the top of
your head and please join with the diamond and rose in your heart, and help you when it
gets too hard. And see them melt into you. By this act of goodness that weve all done
together may every obstacle in the way of any spiritual practitioner, anyone following
this path, be immediately dissolved. May all suffering be stopped. May the kindness of
the retreaters that are sitting in front of us be magnified. And may all of our holy lamas
visions be fulfilled.
D

Geshe Michael: Id like to request Lama Ruth to do a chant please.

Ruth Lauer [chanted in call and response]:
Om. Om. Om.
Rama rama
Rama rama
Rama rama ram
Rama rama ram
Rama rama ram
Rama rama ram
Buddha Buddha
Buddha Buddha
Buddha Buddha Buddha
Buddha Buddha Buddha
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Buddha Buddha Buddha

Buddha Buddha Buddha
Mama mama
Mama mama
Mama mama ma
Mama mama ma
Mama mama ma
Mama mama ma
Papa papa
Papa papa
Papa papa papa
Papa papa papa
Papa papa papa
Papa papa papa
Krishna Krishna
Krishna Krishna
Krishna Krishna Krishna
Krishna Krishna Krishna
Krishna Krishna Krishna
Krishna Krishna Krishna
God is one.
God is one.
God is one. God is one.
God is one. God is one.
God is one. God is one.
God is one. God is one.
God is love.
God is love.
God is love. God is love.
God is love. God is love.
God is love. God is love.
God is love. God is love.
God is here.
God is here.
God is here, here and now.
God is here, here and now.
God is here, here and now.
God is here, here and now.
Om.

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[laughs] Id like to thank Lama Ruth and Venerable Chukyi-la. I think well
jump straight into the Yoga Sutra today. So the next verse please.
Doug and Kimberley Veenhof: The torment of change is caused by these same
seeds of suffering. Parinama tapa sanskara duhkhair guna virtti virodhach cha duhkham
eva sarvam vivekinah. (II.15A)
Thank you. I think the first key word is parinama. Okay. [laughs] Pari means
all around. We talked about it before with words like paradise, which meant a wall
around a garden. And nama comes from a root nam, which means to bow down or
to change ones shape from straight up to bent over. When we say Namo Buddhaya,
Namo Dharmaya, it means I bow down. When you do a yoga exercise called
suryanamaskara, you are bowing to the sun. The Indo-European word is interesting, its
nomn, n-o-m-n, and it means name or to be called, and in fact the word name
comes directly comes from the Sanskrit root nam or namus.
So what does bowing down have to do with name? In ancient times, bowing
down to someone was honoring their name and so the two words became mixed together.
When you greet someone in ancient India, the bowing down is an act of recognizing their
identity and themselves and their very name. The word nomn, n-o-m-n, of course
comes into our language as the word name or nomenclature. The Tibetan is gyurwa
and gyurwa means a complete change or a changing transformation. When you
exchange currency in the airport in modern Tibetan they would say modecurway, so
you get a sense of what it means to change. Something switching, something switching
in the way that the body changes from straight up to bent over.
Tapa comes from a Sanskrit root tap, t-a-p, which means to heat something,
make something hot. The Indo-European root is tep, t-e-p, and we see this in two
words. One is tepid, which means water which has been heated, and the other is
from Ireland, of course, holy island, the beltain fire, the ancient Celtic holiday ritual to
have a huge bonfire. Bel was an ancient Celtic god and tane comes from the old Irish
word tena, which means fire and came from tap, the old Sanskrit root.
Here tapa means suffering, the heat of suffering, the suffering of change.
Its very important. This line comes right after, in the second chapter, right after Master
Patanjali has explained to us that all of our suffering comes from doing harm to others
and all happiness comes from doing good to others. And then he says, Parinama.
Hes starting to talk about the suffering of change.
Its important to understand how karma and karmic seeds are at the bottom of
change in our lives. I think especially certain kinds of change. All of us sitting here, if
you are not already enlightened beings, are going through the suffering of the change of
our bodies. We are born with a certain amount of energy, seeds to see a healthy body,
and then as each hour of life goes by that body begins to disintegrate until finally all of
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the sense powers begin to weaken. We cant hear as well or see as well, we cant walk as
well; we begin to have various physical problems.
But I think the ever greater suffering of change for me, and I think for all of us, is
the change of relationships. So often throughout the length of a long human life we find
someone that we love someone that we like to be around, or even a teacher, or a
fellow student, or a child and we are at first attracted and we begin to form a
relationship with them. And then I think you notice certainly over time, most of those
relationships begin to fall apart. People drift away from each other, they might loose
interest in each other, they might perceive the other person changing from what they used
to be. And I think in many cases the relationship between people can become very bad,
the people that youre closest to or love the most become the people that you dislike the
most or who annoy you the most. This is very common in human relationships and even
international relationships. And in this verse what Lama Patanjali is saying is that you
have to understand why these relationships are falling apart. Why do relationships
change?
And its only that your own perceptions are changing. Its not that the other
person in the two years youve been married has become suddenly somebody else and
its not really that you didnt recognize how bad they were the day of your wedding. Its
that the seeds in your own mind to enjoy and love this person are wearing out. Left to
themselves these seeds will always run out. Either you will begin to loose interest or
even dislike the person you love, or one of you will die because the seeds have changed
that much to see your body as different.
So its important I think, Master Patanjali is saying, even the change, suffering of
change, in our lives is due to the degeneration and using up of seeds that we created by
being good to other people.
So we have to be like gardeners, we have to continue to put fresh soil, fresh
nutrients into a relationship, we have to continue to be kind and helpful to other people.
Thats the only way to make a relationship continue happily. And eventually to avoid
even the final loss of those we love, if the seeds are responsible for our own bodies, that
means we can create a body which will not die. And we can be with the people we love
and the people we love who have died. We can be with them forever in a very beautiful
way, which will never change. Next verse please.
Oh, sanskara, Im sorry. Sanskara, we said yesterday, is also a kind of karmic
seed. And usually it refers more to the karmic seed as it is planted. San is sam and goes
back to com, c-o-m in English, meaning to come together like committee,
convention, words like that. Skar is a form of kir, the k gets an s in certain places
like in the word Sanskrit. And thats the kir that we saw in karma, I think it was
yesterday, which means to make something or to grow something. So sanskara
means to put together. The Tibetan is duje and it also means to put things together.
Its the word in Tibetan for a factor or a cause. Duje-pa means to bring together
causes and conditions and then create a result.
So this again is reference to the seeds in our mind which are creating the people
we love. And if we leave them alone, if we are not like gardeners, if we dont know how

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to keep feeding them and making them grow, they will naturally die and we will loose the
people we love.
Is that all the key words?
Duhkha. [laughs] We did duhkha last Thanksgiving but well go over it again.
Its composed of two different words, duh and kha. Duh comes from a Sanskrit word
dus, which means to degenerate, or to get worse, or to be bad, and it comes into
western languages as dis, d-i-s or d-y-s, like dysentery or disqualify, meaning
bad, something going wrong. Kha means a hole, some kind of aperture, and we
said last Thanksgiving you see this word in Kechari, the practice of Vajra Yogini or
diamond angel which Naropa taught was called kechari. Kha means space or hole in
the sky. Ay which mixes with a to e-k, means in the sky and then chary means
to move in the sky. In Tibetan, its called kondro or kacha, and it means to move in
the sky. So kha can mean sky or any opening. This comes into our languages in
words like... theres some unusual words from a root ghe, g-h-e. We see it in the word
grotto, which means a place with a hole in it. We see it in the word gape, we see it
in the word chasm, and we see it in the word yawn, all of which come from the same
root k-a, k-h-a, meaning to make a hole out of your mouth. [laughs]
So what does bad hole have to do with the word suffering; duhkha means
suffering. Most people think it came from an old word that described a bad wagon
wheel that had a bad hole in the middle of the hub of the wheel, so it meant suffering or
things not going right. The Tibetan word is dug-ngel and it also means suffering. And
the suffering of change is perhaps the worst suffering we have. Its obvious that bad
things are suffering. Whats not so obvious is all the good things in our life will change
to something bad unless we understand karmic seeds, unless we are able to replenish and
perpetuate the seeds to make them good and pure by being good to others. Next line
please.
Kat Ehrhorn: Use the eye of wisdom, which comes from mastering those three.
Taj jayat prajnya-alokah. (III.5)
Thats nice. I think the first key word is prajnya. Pra we had before, it means to
come ahead or in front or to be best, and we saw it in words like proud, or the
prow of a boat, or the word proceed. Jnya means to know, and it shows up in the
Indo-European root g-n-o, gno. And thats why the word knowledge is spelled with
a k in front of it, k-nowledge. And also, for example, the word Gnostic comes
from, with a g in front of it. All meaning to know. I think the Tibetan here is sherab
or yeshe? Sherab. She means to know, and rab means best, like rirab is the highest
mountain. So sherab means wisdom.
This is from the third chapter of the Yoga Sutra. Master Patanjali in the third
chapter begins by treating the last three of the eight limbs or branches of yoga, which
refer to three stages of developing a deep mediation and wisdom. Wisdom is almost
always defined as understood as being simply the understanding that when we meet a
person, they are only blank, they are an empty screen, they are colors and shapes and
sounds. And then how they appear to us depends on how our mind fills in those blanks,
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how our mind interprets these shapes and colors and sounds. The only thing out there is
shapes and sounds and colors, and then how each of us experiences another person
depends on the seeds within our own minds.
We dont have a choice, its not something voluntary. The whole process takes
place in a few microseconds. Colors are presented to your mind, shapes are presented to
your mind, and your karmic seeds suddenly burst open and force your mind to interpret
these colors and shapes in a certain way. If youve been kind to others, you will
experience others as beautiful, helpful. If youve been unkind, selfish to others, youll
experience the same colors and shapes as something unpleasant. This is wisdom. To
realize where things are really coming from and then to take responsibility yourself to
change it, is wisdom.
Aloka means the eye. I think the Tibetan is chen here? A means at or
towards. We see it in the English a-t, at. Loka comes from an old Sanskrit root,
ruch, r-u-c-h, which changes to roch, and then becomes lok, meaning something
shining, something bright. The Indo-European root is leuk, l-e-u-k. And we see it
in words like light, lucid, and in the word luna, which means a shining moon,
and in the word enlightenment.
Its very beautiful that as the ancient, ancient Sanskrit developed directly from the
chakras and nadis, directly from the inner centers and inner channels that certain words
reveal the truth of prajnya, of wisdom. Aloka, the Sanskrit word for an eye, e-y-e,
actually means to shine out or to shine upon and in ancient times the eye was not
seen as picking up an object which is out there. The eye was seen like a movie projector.
Even the word for eye means I am sending out the light which is creating the objects
around me.
Its a very incredible insight which is buried within the ancient Sanskrit words.
Its not that objects exist around us and then they somehow are detected by our eye. Its
that our eye faculty and our consciousness is actually sending out light and creating those
objects; its a whole different way of viewing the world. Things are not happening to
you. You are projecting the world.
In Tibetan, I think you know, the name for a person who hasnt seen emptiness
yet is called cheba or a child, an infant, someone who has not matured even into an
adult yet. But theres another word for a person who hasnt seen emptiness and thats
sortong. Sortong means someone who sees everything coming this way, towards me.
Where as a person with prajna, wisdom, they understand that the eye, aloka, is a lok, is
sending out the light and creating the objects around you.
So this is a very powerful verse where even the single words used tell us that
when we see a person we dont like, when something happens to us that we dont like,
our own mind is sending out this object. And we can change it. Its not just to make
everyone feel guilty about their life. Once you understand that you are producing things,
you can consciously follow the yama and niyamah. You can purposely lead a good and
ethical, moral life. You can take control of what you see. You can take control of the
world that happens to you. You can change it into something a never-ending paradise.
Next verse please.

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Brian Pearson: Use joy. Maitri karuna muditopekshanam sukha duhkha punyaapunya vishayanam bhavanatash chitta prasadanam. (I.33C)
[laughs] You may notice that the Sanskrit is slightly longer. [laughter] I want to
remind you that I cut out sections from the Sanskrit so some verses have maybe four or
five different pages here.
The key word here is mudita, I think. I like this word. The Sanskrit root is mud,
m-u-d, which means to be happy to the point of intoxication. [laughs] The IndoEuropean root is medhu, m-e-d-h-u, which is actually the ancient word for honey.
Those of you who know Russian, the word is meud. And the word mead, m-e-a-d,
comes from this root because that alcoholic drink was originally made from honey. The
word methyl alcohol, the m-e-t-h, also comes from medhu. And I like, as an old gem
dealer, the word amethyst. The Greeks believed that if you held a small piece of this
purple stone under your tongue, you could go to a drinking party and not get drunk. A
means not and methy means drunk. Amethyst means the stone that will keep you
from getting drunk. I think the Spanish word for honey is what? Mead. Yeah, same.
So the idea is to be happy to the point of intoxication, which in Tibetan we call
gawa. Gawa is an important word for tantrikas. It describes four or sixteen degrees of
bliss that you can experience if you are able to open the central channel of your body.
But in the description here, which is actually a description of the four immeasurable
forms of emotion, what we call tseme she, Master Patanjali is describing four holy
emotions which can overcome all spiritual obstacles.
We had some of them last Thanksgiving, actually three. Maitre, which means a
kind of love for others, wishing that they could be happy. Garuna, which means the
desire to take away their pain. And we had upeksha, which means equanimity; I
dont want to do this just for my friends. I want to do it for everybody.
But those three emotions, wanting to give people what makes them happy,
wanting to take away what makes them suffer, and being willing to do it for everyone,
are nothing without number four... without the forth emotion, which is joy, gawa.
You should know that in the ancient books, joy here doesnt mean some kind of
happy emotion or something like that. Its a very specific state of mind. In the prayers
we say semchen tamche... Those are the first three immeasurables. Number four, or joy,
means, may all beings possess highest happiness.
Its not enough to feed people. They will die anyway. They will loose all the
people they love anyway. Its not enough to give a person a home. Its not enough to
make people comfortable or happy in the short term. Its simply not enough. The
airplane is falling down. You are feeding them peanuts and orange juice. Thats okay.
Thats a good thing. But once you understand about suffering, once you can truly see the
death of countless beings, you wont want to concentrate so much on those. You want to
try to struggle to become a being who can serve every creature in the whole universe in
one moment. This is gawa. This is joy. This is the meaning of joy. Next verse please.

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Andrea Lemon: The third form of self-control is never to steal from another.
Ahinsa satya-asteya brahmacharya-aparigraha yamah. (II.30C)
All yoga, all spiritual practice, all of the higher practices, tantra, are all based on
and by the way tantra and yoga are synonyms, I would say they are all based on
doing good towards others, taking care of others. And at the most basic level, we must
try not to hurt others. And Master Patanjali outlines five forms of self control.
Asteya comes from an ancient Sanskrit root staya, which means to steal. The
Indo-European root is ster, s-t-e-r. The r often changes to l, and we get English
words like steal, stealth, and stalk, meaning to stalk somebody; all meaning to
move in a sneaky way. A is the negative in Sanskrit, so asteya means not stealing.
Not being sneaky with others.
All wealth in the world comes from giving to others, generosity to others and not
taking what others own. Not harming the property of others. Our culture, American
culture, Western Culture you can say modern culture of the first world, the
industrialized nations I think we have made great progress, although sometimes its
hard to notice. In that, I think throughout our culture of the world today, we recognize
that stealing is wrong. We recognize that taking what belongs to others is something
wrong. Theres no culture, almost, in this world which would condone people taking
things from each other. This is a great advance. We are on a holy planet in that respect.
There are planets where this is not even understood. And so I think theres no one in this
room who would commonly walk up to someone, steal their wallet, steal what money
they had, try to take away their home or their possessions. We have advanced beyond
that.
But there are more subtle forms of stealing, which people like you and I often
commit. And if you want to be taken care of in the future, if you want to have security, if
you want to be prosperous, we have to stop even subtle forms of stealing. I can think of
three right off hand.
I was asked to speak at the Diamond Dealers Club of New York once about ethics
in the diamond business. I was required to submit my speech in advance, in case I might
embarrass anyone. And I was feeling very strongly about paying your taxes. I worked in
a diamond factory. We had a jewelry factory nearby. One day a man was caught stealing
the dust, the gold dust which comes off the jewelry when you shine it, when you polish it.
And he was submitted to criminal prosecution; his life was ruined. Shortly afterwards I
met with some diamond dealers, who owned this same company. They were describing
how cleverly they had moved their profits to Switzerland without being taxed.
The same man who prosecuted the poor person who was caught stealing gold,
justified it to me saying Hes hurting every one else in the company. This person is
stealing really from the combined efforts of everyone else in the company.
So I asked this man, So when you send your profits to Switzerland, via the
mafia, and you dont pay taxes on them, in a way you are stealing from every single other
person in the United States who pays taxes, arent you? Isnt it the same?
When we dont pay our taxes, we are stealing from every other person who is
working. Do you think the United States government is going to lower their budget or
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increase their taxes to the other people? You are taking the money from other people
around you. And the karma is tremendous. It doesnt have anything to do with the fact
that the government is using the money for bad reasons often. If you dont agree with the
way the government uses the money, for example if you dont agree that we should bomb
and kill innocent people, then you should have the courage to stand up and refuse to pay
that tax, and you should go to jail if thats what the law says. And if enough of us did
that, then this country wouldnt be bombing innocent people. So if you dont want to pay
you taxes for moral reasons, you should stand up and be willing like Gandhiji to go to jail
for it. But to sneakily stop, refuse, or not pay your part of the things that we use together,
roads, communications, defense, proper defense, non-violent defense, then... these things
we should pay for equally, happily.
The other kind of stealing I see oftentimes, I think we are stealing from future
generations. We are living like pigs. We are living like selfish animals. We dont have
the sense to realize that we are stripping our world of its resources far beyond what we
need. And we are stealing from our children and our grandchildren. People like Theodore
Roosevelt had the foresight to create national parks like the Dragoon Mountains behind
us, fifty thousand acres set aside for the use of future generations. I dont think any
politician would do that nowadays. They dont have the courage or the guts or the
foresight because the people who elect them, which is you and me, dont have the
courage or the foresight to set aside resources for our children and the people who come
after them. We dont need to eat too much. We dont need to package things in
containers which ruin the earth. We dont need to suck all the oil out of our planet,
selfishly, leaving nothing for the future generations. I think they will look back upon us
and curse us for the way we lived. I think its a form of stealing. And I think as spiritual
people, we should stand up and do things we can do to contribute to that preservation.
One of the goals of Diamond Mountain, the idea of having a community there, is
to try to learn again to live simply. We found out in the yurts that you can live without
electricity. You can live on two gallons of water a day. You dont have to strip the earth
of its resources to live. You can live simply, quietly, happily. Its even more happy that
you have fewer things.
Rafael Cervantes: If you keep up this practice of never stealing from anyone,
then there will come a time when people just come to you and offer you all the money
you need. Asteya pratishthayam sarva ratnopasthanam. (II.37)
The way Master Patanjali designed the second chapter is that first he tells you the
five forms of self-control and then he tells you what you get if you follow them. So this
is a separate line.
Asteya pratishthayam means if you can keep up this kind of self-control where
you dont steal from other people long enough, then sarva ratnopasthanam, people will
just end up giving you everything you need.
The first key word is ratna. All the Buddhists here know this from three ratna,
the Three Jewels. It comes from a Sanskrit root ra, r-a. Those of you who know
Sanskrit notice Im skipping long and short vowels, just to make things simple. If you
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want the full thing, you can come to Diamond Mountain University. Ra means to give
or bestow something of value on someone. The old Indo-European root is re, r-e.
And its found in the Latin reis, which means a thing of value, something of value.
And from there comes the English word wheel, meaning something substantial. You
also find the word ratna in Idam guru ratna mandalakam niryatayami, which means
my lama is like a jewel. I offer this mandala to my lama who is like a jewel. The
Tibetan is rinpoche. Rinpo means value. Che means big. So rinpoche means
precious, very precious, and has come to be the word for a precious jewel, also.
I think upasthana is the next one. Upa means up, above. And it shows up in
those two words in English. Sthana means to stand. It shows up in the word... the
Sanskrit word is stha, s-t-h-a, and the Indo-European word is the same... Im sorry its
sta. And you see it in station, standing, stationary, lots of words with s-t-a in
them, meaning to stand. Upasthana means something you place forward, meaning
a gift or an offering. Chupa in the Tibetan means a gift or an offering on an
altar.
These are hard economic times Im beginning to hear from... I didnt know, we
didnt have any idea. But I see little pieces of notes and letters referring to difficult
financial times. Times when there is economic doubt, economic instability. The
economic condition of this country, the economic condition of the entire globe is
emanating from a space inside your heart much smaller than the tip of a needle. Ill say it
again. The economy of the world, the economic condition of this country, is emanating
from a place near your heart called mi shepe tigle, which is much tinier than the tip of a
needle. Its important to grasp this.
When times get hard, when things are difficult, people tend to do exactly the
wrong thing. They tend to contract. They tend to shrink. They tend to become afraid to
give to others. Oh, Im not sure if my job is stable. I may not have enough. I shouldnt
give to others right now. I can wait. Then the karmic seeds within that tiny drop, the
bindu tigle, within your heart, the incredibly tiny billions of seeds within that drop, the
seeds to see money, the seeds to see yourself prosper, the seeds to see money coming into
you are shut down by selfishness. And then the whole world starts down on a terrible
downwards cycle.
Its up to spiritual people like you, like us, to make people understand wealth
comes from giving, wealth comes from generosity. Every single cent in the world
economy has been produced from a tiny drop of consciousness in the hearts of every
person on the planet. The only way to create more wealth is to give as much as you can.
And its important to do it with joy, happily. And then it will come to you, it will create
wealth.
Marx and Lenin said that wealth comes from the ground; ultimately all production
can be traced to the nutrients in the earth itself; mining, farming. A Buddhist or a Hindu
would say thats not the ultimate ground, theres a deeper ground below there. All
wealth is being produced from infinitely tiny seeds within the heart of every single living
creature, which are placed there by giving to others happily everything you can. Next
verse please.

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Andreana Karabotsios: When the images start to hurt you, sit down and work on
the antidote. Vitarka badhane pratipaksha bhavanam. (II.33)
Thank you. I think the first key word is vitarka, which in Tibetan is tokpa. Again
its important to know how karma works. Your mind is presented with shapes, colors,
sounds, smells, then the karmic seed of sanskara, or vasana now, ripens within your
mind. Actually within the space of one finger snap... was it sixty-four or sixty-five?
[Student: sixty-five.]... discrete karmic seeds are bursting open. And they burst open in a
series and it looks like time is passing. The karmic seeds throw a tiny picture up to your
mind which is overlaid on the information its receiving. So a tiny picture is thrown out
before your mind of an irritating person, between your mind and the sense data, and its
imposed on the sense data by your mind. This is how karma actually operates. Its
important to know, if you want to eliminate the pain in your world.
Its a strange place in the Yoga Sutra where Master Patanjali begins to talk about
this. He has just been talking about yama and niyamah, the various ways that we can
collect good karma. And then he starts talking about images. Vitarka, in this case,
means that tiny picture which is thrown up by the mind. The last irritating person you
met was only a tiny picture within your own mind. And thats vitarka. It comes from a
root tark, t-a-r-k in Sanskrit. The corresponding Indo-European root is del, d-e-l,
and it comes in to the English word to tell or to talk. What it means is, your mind is
making an expression; its an expression of the mind, a picture of the mind.
Pratipaksha is next. Prati means up against, up against something. For
example, protagonist, prosthesis where the limb is put up against the body,
proselytize, which means to go up against somebody, prosody, which means to
sing forth, sing up against. I like the word paksha. The Indo-European root is peku,
p-e-k-u. Peku means my side, or the things that I own, or the things that you
own. So you have your peku, I have my peku. Its the root of the word pecuniary,
meaning the money that you have, or peculiar, which used to mean special in the
sense of wealthy. And peku, the wealth of ancient times, especially in India and among
the Indo-Europeans, was cattle. Your wealth was judged in how many cattle you had.
When I first met Tibetan refugees, oftentimes aristocracy coming out of Tibet,
they would tell me, I used to have five thousand, three hundred and forty-eight sheep
you know. And that was peku, you see, thats my side, the things I own. That in
itself comes from a root pa, p-a, which means to protect. And you see it in the word
dharmapala, which means protecting your own interests. Its also found in the word
pastor, meaning a servant or a protector of the people. These all come from an
older root kwo, k-w-o, which means cow. Thats the ancient root for cow. And
the word cow comes from that and the name Gautama, the Lord Buddhas name
Gautama means the great cow, meaning the head bull of a herd of cows. And
bovine and other words like that come from the same root, k dropping off. The
Tibetan word is nyenpo. We know nyenpo tok she the four antidote powers.
And what Master Patanjali is about to step into, and were going to spend the rest
of todays Yoga Sutra on this, is the question: You know, you said that the world is
created by seeds going off in our own minds. Its obvious that we can avoid future pain,
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if we can control how we collect new seeds. But what do we do about the old seeds? We
have millions, billions of seeds in our mind from the time before we learned about all this
stuff. What are we supposed to do with those seeds? Can we destroy them? Can we
prevent them from growing?
And Master Patanjali says, Vitarka badhane pratipaksha bhavanam. You have
to use the antidote. You have to apply the antidotes. Those of you who studied the ACI
courses, theres a separate course on the ancient presentation of the four great antidotes;
how to stop your old bad karmic seeds that were collected before you understood these
things. And I think all of us have incidents in our earlier life. When I was in college I
was a normal liberal college student. I was taught that abortion, for example, was not a
bad thing, it was alright. The child is not alive. And then studying later among the
Tibetan and Indian wise people, Ive learned that that was a great error. That was a
horrible mistake. And I know I have that seed in my mind. And I think many of us have
similar seeds from when we knew less. So its important to know how to go back and
destroy old bad karmic seeds.
And Master Patanjali is saying, we have to use the antidote. Pratipaksha means
against the other side. You see? Stopping that power coming towards us. Bhavana
comes from the same root as bhumi, bhu, which means to be. The Indo-European is
b-h-e-u, bheu. And it all just means to be. The word become, the word to be,
come from that. And we mentioned last teaching that in Greek, the b-h changes to ph, the u changes to y, and this is root for the word physics.
I like bhavana because bhava means to become. Na means to make it
happen. The word for meditation in Sanskrit is to make something come into being.
I think its very powerful. I forget who was mentioning it but... it was James perhaps,
James-hla, but tong-len for example, he was very wise, James-hla when he mentioned
that the best way to raise money for a retreat center would be tong-len. To work in the
area in causation itself, to go down to the actual ground beneath all of existence, down
into whats called the causal body, the realm of causation. Its your mind... if its your
mind throwing up images that would create a retreat center, then if we work within the
mind, we can create objects. We can create a retreat center, simply by the strong
intention to serve others and thats bhavana. Thats the word for meditation. In
Tibetan gompa. Here bhavana means sit down and work out the antidote. Sit down;
think carefully how to stop our old bad karmic seeds. And now Master Patanjali will go
on to the actual details of how to stop our old seeds, so next verse please.
Earle Birney: The images people who hurt me or the like come from what I
did myself, or got others to do for me, or what I was glad to hear others had done.
Vitarka hinsa-adayah kirta karita-anumodita lobha krodha moha purvaka mirdu
madhya-adhimatra duhkha-ajnyana-ananta phala iti pratipaksha bhavanam. (II.34A)
Thank you. Obviously the whole Sanskrit is not in this English. It will spread
now over the next few pages. The end though is clear. Pratipaksha bhavanam means,
Im going to tell you how to apply the antidote. Im going to describe to you how to
stop your old bad karmic seeds in your own mind.
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This particular verse in the... what are the key words? Vitarka we finished right?
It means that little tiny picture thrown up when a karmic seed breaks open. Hinsa we
had already in ahinsa, meaning non-violence. And its easy to remember, thats why
Im going over these stupid roots with you. Connecting it to your own language because
youll remember that hin comes from gun, hun which comes from... and then gun
comes from that. So its easy to remember what ahinsa means if you remember that hin
is connected with gun, the word gun in English. Those were the two key words?
Okay.
This hinsa means the karmic images will start to hurt you. They will come up
in your mind. Whats an example? You could say an irritating person next to you, in this
very teaching, or you could say the death of your own body. The coming death of your
own body is an image thrown up by your past karma. The whole purpose of yoga you
know, twenty million people exercising is actually to get down to the causal level of
karmic seeds and manipulate them, change them. Then the seed that would create an
image in your mind of dying, could create an image of becoming an angel who could
serve countless beings on countless planets.
I think the key ideas are kirta karita-anumodita. Kirta means things I have done
myself. And by the way, those of you who are ordained, those of you who do the monk
or nun sojongs twice a month, you know this expression in Tibetan. When we do our
purification of karmic seeds among the monks and nuns twice a month, we specifically
say these same words. So its obvious that these words have been drawn from the ancient
sutras of Lord Buddha. I regret those things which I have done. I regret those things
which I have inspired others to do wrong. And I regret even being happy when I heard
someone had done something wrong.
The point here is that we dont only collect karma when we do something
ourselves. In the Abhidharmakosha, in the fourth chapter when they discuss karma, they
point out that its not just that if you kill someone you collect the karma of killing. I dont
think theres anyone here who would take a knife and go to a child and thrust it into their
chest. But you and I would pay taxes and we would quietly support violence against
people of a country that had offended us or done some harm to us, knowing perfectly
well that a certain number of children will die. Karita means we must understand that we
collect karma of killing that child with an American airplanes bomb in the same way as
if we had thrust a knife in the childs chest ourselves. Theres karmically no distinction.
If you are supporting an effort, even by paying taxes and not complaining, and not
informing them that its not your wish that it be used for violence, then theres no karmic
distinction. The pilot who drops the bomb collects the karma of stabbing that child in the
chest. The people who built the airplane collect the same karma. The people who paid
the taxes for the airplane and the pilots salary collect exactly the same karma. If an
American war plane has killed a child, each one of us has the karma of thrusting a
dagger, a knife into a childs chest. Theres no difference. Its the same karma. It gets
very serious.
You see why we have to act. We have to express our beliefs. We have to
communicate our commitment to nonviolence to the people who speak for us, because
the karma is collected exactly the same. In the Abhidharma it says those who pay for it,
are in a way even collecting worse karma than the pilot who drops the bomb because hes
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doing so because we are paying him. We collect the bad karma of killing the child and
we collect the bad karma of causing another human being to kill a child.
Anumodita means even just a slight feeling of satisfaction that someone else has
been harmed, also creates the same karma. Its very common, I think; I know I have
this. Someone gives me trouble, someone does something to harm me, Im not likely to
go and hurt that person back physically, but if I hear that that person has had some
trouble afterwards, Im likely to feel a little contentment. Thats what anumodita means.
It means to feel some kind of satisfaction that people who have hurt you have had some
trouble and its the very similar karma to causing the trouble to them yourself. If you
hear that someone you hate has gotten sick, the karma is the same as if you had made
them sick. So when were in the process of destroying our old karmic seeds, we have to
try to avoid not only violence to others but paying for or supporting violence to others or
even dimly approving of it by not saying anything, some kind of dim satisfaction that our
country has asserted itself against its enemies. All of these amount to the same karma. If
we hope to destroy old karmic seeds, we have to avoid even these thoughts. Next verse.
Kevin and Miriam Thornton: (read first in Gaelic) [applause] And what came
before them was either craving, or hating, or dark ignorance.
Oh, thank you.
Kevin and Miriam Thornton: Vitarka hinsa-adayah kirta karita-anumodita lobha
krodha moha purvaka mirdu madhya-adhimatra duhkha-ajnyana-ananta phala iti
pratipaksha bhavanam. (II.34B)
Oh thank you. Its good to hear the mother tongue. If we have extra lifetimes we
should learn it, I think.
I think many of you may have taken, theres a small ACI course, a side course
called The Wheel of Life. Its a teaching that Lord Buddha gave and he painted a
special painting that describes how all of your trouble starts. Its very complicated. It
would take a few weeks to teach. Holy Lama Khen Rinpoche gave us this teaching for
over a year, which is why I can teach it to you, and which is why I can teach you
anything. So anytime you meet holy Lama you have to do three prostrations from me
too.
The key words are lobha, krodha, moha. They are the three animals at the center
of the wheel of life. Lobha, meaning desire, is sometimes drawn as a pigeon,
sometimes as a rooster. But either way a creature which has a lot of desire for
reproduction. Krodha means anger or hatred, and is drawn in the wheel of life as a
snake. And then moha means ignorance or not understanding where this world comes
from, and appears in the wheel of life as a pig.
Sometimes the mouth of each animal is holding the tail of the next animal in a
circle meaning that these three terrible inner tendencies tend to support each other and
perpetuate each other. Sometimes the pig has the snake and rooster coming out of its
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mouth, which means that the basis of all of this trouble is ignorance. Even Master
Patanjali has a line earlier in the second chapter saying that ignorance is the root of all of
the others. What is that? [gives quote from Yoga sutra] It means that ignorance is the
root or the field from which the others grow. Lets talk about these three words, and then
well talk about what they mean.
The first is lobha. The Sanskrit word is l-u-b-h, lubh, which means to love or
to be attached to. The Indo-European is leub, l-e-u-b, and from this word comes the
word love and from this word comes belief, which means a strong holding on or
grasping to something. Also the word furlow, which means to go through
someones leave or permission. And the word leave itself as a verb, meaning to
permit something or to give someone permission, like shore leave in the Navy means
that the officer has agreed or wishes that thing to happen. The Tibetan is duchak or
chakpa which means to have attachment or desire. So lobha means desire.
Krodha comes from a Sanskrit word krudh, k-r-u-d-h. The Indo-European
word is kreuh, k-r-e-u-h, and from this root come words like raw, crude, and
cruel. And you can see how it has meanings of anger, redness; it also means to
beat someone. And so it means hatred.
Moha means ignorance. The Sanskrit root is muh, m-u-h, and the root in the
ancient Indo-European is mei, m-e-i. The root in Sanskrit and Indo-European means
to be silent in a crazy way. It means to be almost insane and incapable of speaking.
It comes into the English words mute, not speaking, and also the Greek root for
mystic. Why a mystic? Because the word in Greek for closing your lips was applied
to a person who closes their eyes and goes into mystic state. So the whole root means to
be silent with the implication of being ignorant, not knowing anything.
These three are the root of all of our bad karmas. If we can understand how these
three work, we can destroy our old karmic seeds and not repeat our mistakes. Those of
you who have taken the ACI courses, youre very familiar with my spiel on these three.
But well go over it one time.
Lobha means to like things. Is it wrong to like things? I mean often you go to
a Buddhist presentation and they say you shouldnt desire anything. You shouldnt want
anything. You should give up your attachments, then youll be happy. If somehow you
could sit in a corner like a vegetable. I mean, whats the implication? Whats the
implication? I can not love my children? I can watch a car strike one of my children, kill
them, and I still feel equanimity? Is this what it means not to be attached? Is this what it
means not to have desire? I cant go to a movie? I cant eat a pizza when I get out?
[laughs] And my answer is always, I was there in Washington D.C. when Ritchie
Havens did Freedom for the benefit. And His Holiness was sitting in the row in front
of me and I watched his foot and it was bam, bam, bam. [tapping foot] [laughter] And
afterwards there was a reception, and His Holiness was obviously enjoying the hors
doeuvres. [laughter] Khen Rinpoche loves a good baseball game.
Are these beings... do they have attachment? Do they have desire? Are they
liking things in the wrong way? Obviously not. Theres a place for enjoyment. We
should enjoy things. You think Buddhas in their paradises are sitting there bored to
death trying to have equanimity? Not enjoying their paradise? Are you crazy? Did you
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see all the pictures of Tara? And those great, lovely angels? Do they look like theyre
having a medium time? [laughter] So its not the point. Its obviously not the point. If
a sentient being struggles their way through all of these stupid retreats, and meditation,
and practices, and reach the path of seeing, and they reach ultimate happiness, are we
supposed to not be happy? Are we supposed to not enjoy that? I mean obviously theyre
not talking about that kind of desire or enjoying yourself. Theyre talking about any kind
of wrong desire.
How do you define wrong desire? Wrong desire is just stupid desire. How do
you define stupid desire? Its not understanding emptiness. Its not understanding
karma. Its the kind of stupid desire that would hurt someone else to get what you want.
Again you dont get money by competing with other people. You dont get money by
saving, and scrounging, and protecting your interests. You get money by giving it away.
And its the same with everything else. So, intelligent desire, what His Holiness calls
enlightened self-interest, is to serve others, give everything to others. Take care of
others. This is the right kind of desire.
Obviously, here in the verse on purification, Master Patanjali is saying, you have
to regret all the mistakes youve made in the past trying to get the things you want by
fighting or competing with others and not serving them.
Krodha is the same. Do you think the Buddhas never feel hatred or dislike for
anything? Do you think Buddhas are not upset when they see beings go to the hell
realms? Do you think Buddhas dont feel dislike towards our ignorance, our mistakes,
towards the negative energy flowing through this very world? Of course they dont like
it. Of course they feel a sense of sadness or dislike. This is an intelligent dislike. We
should dislike all the negative things in the world. But not in any way that would make
us collect bad karma. We cant stop the bad things in the world by hurting other people.
You cant stop violence in the world by doing violence to other people. Its an ignorant,
stupid way to act. Violence is created by violence. If you dont like violence you have to
stop it personally by not committing violence towards others. Well speak more about
that later.
And these are all rooted in moha, ignorance about the way the world really works.
The good things come from being good to others. The bad things come from being bad
to others. Only if you dont understand that can you hate other people. Only if you dont
understand that can you hurt others to get the things you want. If you realize this, its the
best kind of confession. A Buddhists confession wouldnt be to go to a priest and
apologize for things youve done wrong. It would be to go to your meditation cushion,
sit down, and realize that youve just done something that will hurt yourself. Its to
understand where the world really comes from that is the ultimate confession. Then you
wont want to do harmful things to others. And the world would stop harming each
other. Next verse please.
Susan Stumpf: They are of lesser, or medium, or greater power. Vitarka hinsaadayah kirta karita-anumodita lobha krodha moha purvaka mirdu madhya-adhimatra
duhkh ajnyana-ananta phala iti pratipaksha bhavanam. (II.34C)

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Good thank you. When you go to destroy your old karmic seeds, you have to go
after the biggest ones first. We dont have much time in the modern world. We dont
have a lot of time to do karmic seed destruction. So we need an understanding of what
karmic seeds are most powerful. What did I do in my life which was most destructive?
I have ten minutes this morning to try to work on that karmic seed, to try to stop it before
it flowers. And here youll see the concept of shi saba jorwa tarjuk. We have to...
mirdu madhya-adhimatra in Sanskrit means bad karma comes in low level, medium
level, and very powerful bad karma. Obviously when you go back into your past to
destroy your old karmas you have to go after the biggest ones first. And thats the point
of this part of the verse. How to decide what was the worst one.
First was shi. Shi means pick the ones that were committed towards the most
powerful objects. If there was only a single doctor in a town and you killed that doctor,
youd be killing all of his patients, or harming all of his or her patients as well. So
obviously any bad deed done towards a very virtuous or beneficial object is very, very
serious. This is why if we have done some kind of a negative deed towards a high
spiritual teacher like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, or Lama Zopa Rinpoche, or Khen
Rinpoche... They help so many other people. They have the capacity to help so many
other people, that if we do something negative towards them, its a very serious karma.
This also applies to your parents, your father and mother, regardless of how you
feel about them now. Regardless of how you remember them. They have granted you the
most precious gift you can have: a human body and mind. By that simple act, they have
done you greater kindness then almost anyone in the world could do. They have given
you the equipment to live a whole lifetime and strive to reach high goals. So your
parents are very serious karmic objects. Any good or bad done towards them, you have
to be aware its very powerful. If you have any problem, or have had any
misunderstandings with your parents, you have to go back and purify that karma.
Saba, the next element, is your motivation. How strongly were you motivated
when you did a bad thing? Where you very angry? Or were you just a little irritated? If
you have done something in a terrible fit of violence, if you have done something with
premeditation, thinking about it for weeks ahead of time, you have to go after those kinds
of karmic seeds first.
Jorwa means the actual commission of a bad deed. It means its a serious thing to
think about harming someone else, but to actually commit it brings the karma to whole
new level. Its one thing to think about trying to hurt someone at work who is competing
with you for a position; its another thing to actually say something, or do something,
which would hurt their position. So once you cross the line into jorwa, into actually
doing something, the karma is more powerful. We have to go after those seeds also.
The final element, tarjuk, means have you succeeded in the bad deed you
intended to do? And have you owned it? Owned it means, for example, if you hurt
someone else at your work, if you said or did something which meant that they didnt get
a new position that you were trying to get. Then just the act of being happy about the bad
deeds youve done, if you dont feel any regret at all, if instead you feel some kind of
satisfaction, then the karma becomes much more powerful. The implications here are
very obvious. If you sincerely regret a past bad karma lets say in my case being
involved with an abortion when I was in college if you truly regret it then
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automatically you will never want to get even near that kind of activity again. You will
automatically want to avoid even getting close to being in that position again. Thats the
ultimate confession. Thats the ultimate purification.
Pratipaksha bhavanam. If you want to meditate on the antidote for your past
mistakes, the best way is to avoid them again. Its the single most powerful karma
destroyer and it will destroy your past karma. If you intelligently say I will never even
get close to that kind of behavior again because now I understand it, that actually
destroys much of the old karma. Its the most powerful kind of antidote you can apply.
So just as friend to friend, if you have something in your past that you regret strongly, the
best way to destroy that seed, is simply to decide very powerfully that you wont do those
kinds of things again. Next verse. Next line.
Angela Bleackley: Say to yourself then, Who knows what pain I have planted for
myself? The results could be countless. Sit and work out the antidote. Vitarka hinsaadayah kirta karita-anumodita lobha krodha moha purvaka mirdu madhya-adhimatra
duhkh ajnyana-ananta phala iti pratipaksha bhavanam. (11.34D)
This is the end of the purification process presented by Master Patanjali. And I
think all of you who have studied deeply the scriptures in the past are very familiar with
this step. This is simply regretting what youve done. We call it intelligent regret. Its
much different from guilt. The Tibetan scriptures, Sanskrit scriptures, have no word for
guilt. There doesnt even exist a word for that kind of self punishment. It doesnt exist
in those languages and in that philosophy. Its just an intelligent kind of regret. I did
something, I was involved in an abortion, and it will definitely, it has planted karmic
seeds, if I cant remove them from my mind stream, then I will be involved in some
terrible accident, some kind of terrible suffering in the future.
Karmic seeds are exactly the same as seeds in nature. They grow the same as the
seeds for trees or other plants. In between the time you plant a karmic seed and the time
it comes back to you, it has expanded infinitely. Duhkha-ajnyana-ananta. Ananata
means infinitely. You cant even imagine, its not a question of killing one fetus and
then being killed yourself once. Its a question of killing a fetus and then being killed
many times yourself. Suffering countless times, yourself. The nature of all growth in the
universe is for things to expand. So its very serious. Even small things done to other
people, even a small harsh word, even a small annoyance towards someone, plants a seed
which grows infinitely larger. So its essential to avoid even small negative deeds and
its essential to go back and destroy old bad karmic seeds. And again the best way to
destroy an old mistake, the best way to shut off a karmic seed from ever growing again
and ever coming back to you, is simply to decide I wont do that kind of thing
anymore. That has a powerful effect on destroying the old karmas.
D

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I think well stop there for the Yoga Sutra at this moment and I would like to
request that one of the holy retreatants speak about, the single impossible task, the single
most important realization during her retreat. But I thought that its sort of improper to
request a teaching without a mandala. So Im going to ask Venerable Jigme Palmo to
lead us in a sacred mandala... Brian...
[Brian sings:
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear Elizabeth/Trisangma!
Happy birthday to you!]
[applause]
Im sorry it was Venerable Brian. [laughs] Almost Venerable Brian. Okay.
[laughter]
Trisangma: Is this thing on? Oh boy. [laughs] Thanks for making it so easy for
me to maintain a calm mind while I have to do this impossible thing. [laughs] You guys
are so sweet, thank you, thats really sweet. My new name. Okay. Now that Ive got the
microphone in my hand, holding it up close, okay. [laughs] Well, since everybody here
knows that its my birthday, I just want to take this opportunity, since I have a
microphone in my hand and an audience, to thank my mom for giving me this precious
body and this precious opportunity and this amazing life to do this holy retreat. And shes
just been... since the minute the egg and sperm met, shes just been totally supportive.
[laughs] So thank you to her. Shes the perfect yogini mom. She understands
everything perfectly, completely.
And all of you people who have been sending these amazingly huge quantities of
flowers and gifts to my yurt, thank you. Youre out of control! And thank you. It kind
of freaks me out, but its kind of fun.
So, this impossible thing... you know, I decided to have a theme I was going to
try to talk around. And that way I dont have to stick to a single... I dont have to stick to
the instructions, right? [laughs]
For me, Id have to say that a major theme that has come up for me out of three
year retreat has been the theme of refuge and what refuge means to me. And it seems
like this really basic thing, Buddhist refuge, or just refuge. Youre scared of something,
you think something can help you, you run toward it. And in Buddhist refuge you run
toward a reliable object, an infallible object. And before retreat that seemed pretty
straightforward and pretty clear, and I really felt before retreat that I was taking refuge
because... Ill just give you a little background, because I just want to kind of talk about
my retreat experiences through that, and through the increasing kind of subtleties that for
me that taking refuge has taken on. And I also wanted to say that before I started writing
all these notes down, I was really trying to think of a way to apply my experiences to
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your life and your experiences. And then I sat down and I started writing, and I just
started talking to you, all of you. I dont know how else to do this so please forgive me
for being so self-absorbed about it. But this is just how it came out, and maybe youll get
something out of it. I hope that the point isnt too subtle that even I fail to make it. So
Ill just read a little bit and improv I guess, in-between.
So before retreat, I really thought I understood refuge. I had given up everything
to, first of all, to look for a lama. Then once the holy lama appeared to me, then I
followed him and I dedicated my entire life to him. Everything that I was doing in my
life was completely centered around the lamas instruction. And I was doing everything I
could to study and to meditate. I really seemed to be a dharma practitioner for all intents
and purposes. I seemed to be a dharma practitioner, and I seemed to be taking refuge. I
seemed to be leaving the worldly life and taking refuge in the dharma. And my mind was
on my practices a lot, and I did do purification practices, and I did refrain from doing
negative deeds because of my understanding of karma as best I could. And I have to say
now that I really dont feel that I was even practicing, really. And I really dont feel that
I was taking refuge. And maybe just some ways... I feel now I dont know, maybe its
just gotten more subtle.
So three year retreat happened. And on the gross level all of the objects that I was
using for refuge, like my relationships with people, and my job which was really
fulfilling because every time I walked into the room my boss would start praising me and
she couldnt stop praising me all of the time and that was really fulfilling. I was
leading discussion groups at ACI, and that was really fulfilling. I could call my mom all
the time, and she totally loves me and supports me. I had all these objects of refuge that
felt safe, and they felt secure. And I didnt realize I was taking refuge in them. They
were just my job, and my family, and my friends. When three year retreat happened,
those things were all taken away from me forcibly by my decision to enter into three year
retreat.
So on the most immediate level I was robbed of these kinds of food, which were
the relationships from other people, and the level of my taking refuge had to go up. It
had to increase a little bit. And I had to start taking refuge in my faith in the practice, and
I had to start taking refuge in the belief that this three year retreat, and this kind of drastic
thing that I was doing was going to force this kind of deep fundamental change in reality,
and was going to save people in the way that I wanted to save them. And I took refuge in
that. That was a level of refuge for me.
And then for a long time, even while doing the practices and doing four sessions
and doing deep retreats, doing lerung, the mind didnt want to go deeply into the practice.
The mind was looking for distractions, and sometimes I felt like something was going to
break. Like the mind was going to break if it didnt get a distraction, so then I would
give it to it. And I would make all these projects really important ones like that I had
to sew something, a new shirt; I needed it. It was really important. And these were kind
of my way of taking refuge in things that I thought were... it was just distraction. It was
trying to take refuge away from the practice, like trying to get rescued by distraction
instead of going more deeply into practice, because the mind wouldnt go more deeply
into the practice.

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And then something happened last summer when it was the worst drought in...
first it was the worst drought in twenty years, and then later it was the worst drought in
fifty years, and then later it was the worst drought in a hundred years and I dont know
how many years it got up to by the time it rained but... it was, I dont have a
thermometer, but it was a hundred and fifty degrees. [laughs] We were... I dont know
what anyone else was going through. I cant say we, but I was being baked on almost
every level. Just on the most fundamental level I felt like my body was being baked,
literally being baked. And it was so dry, and it was so hot, and it was so kind of harsh
and inhospitable in every way physically, that the mind was forced to go to a different
level. The mind was forced to stop taking refuge in any physical comfort at all.
The old toys werent working anymore, the sewing wasnt working anymore.
Reading a novel, it wasnt working anymore because the mind was just caught. The mind
had become so alert and so on edge, and so alert to itself, that distractions werent
working anymore. It couldnt be distracted from itself anymore, and so those refuges
werent working. Those kind of fallible refuges, they werent working anymore, and the
heat was just such a tapas; it was just like living in an oven all of the time. And
emotionally it was like living in an oven, and psychologically it was like living in an
oven. And just the intensity of it forced the mind to become more subtle somehow, and I
dont know how to explain that. But what seems to have been a real catalyst was the
extremity of the weather, and the deepening, timed with the deepening of the retreat.
And then I came out of a lerung, and usually when I come out of a lerung my
mother and my boyfriend will have written to me. And these are my two main life plugs
to the world; these are my two people who keep me going; these are the two reasons I
stay in retreat when I want to leave. And so theyre my emotional support. Theyre
pretty much it theyre the bottom line. I have a lot of emotional support, but theyre the
bottom line; when everything else fails they keep me in retreat because I know... had the
illusion that they need me.
So I get out of this lerung and its been four months since Ive heard from either
of them, and I ask the care ladies for my mail and there isnt any. And in over three
months no one had felt the need to communicate with me, like I was not important
enough for them to have written a letter to me. And it really felt like being wiped off of
the face of the earth. It was the final blow to my identity as I was holding onto it.
Because I realized at that point that so much of what I was doing was maintaining myself,
maintaining my identity through my relationships with these other people. And that even
though I wasnt really having much contact with them I was thinking about them enough,
and knowing that they were thinking about me enough, so that I could be maintained
so that the old identity could be maintained through the contact with them. And they cut
me off!
And I just realized that that identity was no longer needed and it was no longer
even existing. I guess I realized that because I didnt have anyone to contact. And I
didnt have any people to interface with. So being totally isolated and being totally cut
off even on the kind of psychic level, I guess you could say, or more subtle level of
thinking that people need you, I was really forced to see who I was without that. I was
forced to try to examine what kind of being I was without those relationships. Who is
that anyway? Who is left after the person who has to relate to the mother, and the person
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who has to relate to the boyfriend, and the person who has to relate to the other
retreaters? If you get rid of all of those things, whats left?
And at that point there really wasnt much left. At this time my practice started
taking on a life of its own. I dont want to, like, get spooky, but [laughs] I really started
to feel like I was having a relationship with my practice because all of the other
relationships had dissolved and there was nothing else to relate to. I couldnt even relate
to my own fantasies anymore because the mind was just so sick of it that it wouldnt even
allow myself to have ideas about the future or memories about the past. For the first two
years the mind exhausted itself on those things and that was finished now, and the mind
was tired of it, and the mind was ready to have a relationship with the practice because
there wasnt anything else to engage with. So I went to the practice.
And I feel like for the first time in my life when I was cut off from all
relationships, I went and I took myself to my meditation box and I sat down and I
reached out. I reached out with my mind to the only relationship that I could think of that
was never, ever going to fail. Because it had been just so obvious to me. Even my close,
close friendships like I have close friendships with amazing people who you know, and
even these wise, brilliant, amazing people are fallible and suffering and are driven by
karma. It just became impossible for me to take refuge in those things anymore. And it
was really scary because I just... I dont know how much this happens to other people,
but I really rely upon my friendships and my family. I really rely on those things for
comfort, for emotional comfort on some level, and I just realized that all of those things
are so fallible, failing. They were all failing and there was nothing left to hold onto.
So I was forced to taking refuge in my practice. It was totally there for me, and it
rose to the occasion in a major way. It just started giving things to me. I would feel
afraid, so I would go to my meditation cushion and I would sit down and I would engage
with the practice, and the practice would give me this kind of stillness. If I would sit
down agitated, I would come away very still and very quiet and very satisfied and very
joyful. It started happening that the old identity would try to assert itself. And to me,
thats a way of taking refuge in something that isnt ultimate, and its going to fail you
and its not true. The old identity isnt true anymore. And so I would take myself to the
practice and the practice would I dont know what to say I just began to take refuge
in a kind of more raw awareness, than the kind of small things that were passing through.
And it was really rewarding.
And then I was speaking to our lama Mr. Stilwell the other night, and we were
talking about an even more subtle level of taking refuge. Something we do which is not
taking refuge is that we engage with objects on the conventional level, the way that were
perceiving them. We engage with objects in the ordinary way. We engage with a cup of
tea as a nice, tasty cup of tea. When we engage with it in that way, were not taking
refuge in our practice, because were not engaging with it as the manifestation of bliss
and emptiness. Were not engaging with its more ultimate, more subtle nature. So even
more subtle levels of taking refuge is just being able to go to that place, just slipping into
more of a meditative state when youre engaging with objects of desire, and when youre
engaging with objects that you dislike. Taking refuge more in their... I dont know if
youd say in their emptiness, but in their not having to be the way that theyre appearing
to you. And retreat has really given me that.
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And Im really grateful to the retreat for that, for giving me that new level of
refuge of being able to go to my practice and being able to have the practice give
something back immediately, visibly, tangibly. To give the practice thats giving back
this more subtle way of looking at things, this more spacious way of being able to relate
to the objects and to the people in my world.
I dont really know what to say. I want to apply this to your life, but I just want
you to... Petra and I were talking about what we were going to talk about and so we said
what we were going to talk about and at the end, kind of the main thing that we want to
convey to you is that if this is something that... if a retreat is something that you wanted
to do, or if you wanted to transform your mind, or if you wanted to enter a different level
of reality, or if you wanted to be able to relate to people in a really pure way, and in a
really wise way, you can totally do it and its in you. Its completely in you. Every one
of you.
Ive been meeting some people this past week, and what Im realizing is that
every single person Ive met has been able to meet me in that place. And what that
means is that everyone has that level of subtlety in them where theyre able to relate on a
less conventional level. And I think its really important just to suggest to each person
here that maybe its possible to not have to relate to things in the way that maybe you are
now, or that maybe you feel that youre forced to relate to things in a really kind of
conventional or afflicted way. And I just want to urge you to consider the possibility that
you dont have to relate to the world in the way that youre relating to it. And that it can
really change for you, and that the practice will do it for you.
You dont have to be some kind of superhero, or special person, or anything. You
just have to do the practice, and put your mind on the practice, and the practice will just
give you everything. Everything you ever wanted, and it will change you for you. You
dont have to worry, or you dont have to feel inadequate, or you dont have to feel
limited, because youre not. Every single being in this room has got infinite capacity and
has got a wisdom being within them. Im just telling you that because thats what Im
experiencing this week, that every single being has got a seed of deep wisdom in them.
People just tend to sell themselves short, and Im just urging you not to do that.
And Im urging you to just consider that theres deep longings that you feel within
yourself, and those deep intuitions that you have are real, and they are the real way that
you could be living. You could be living that way all the time. You could be living by
that inner deep wisdom and that inner deep being that you feel deep inside of you, and
that you dont have to live in a limited way. You dont have to live according to some
small identity thats just lying to you about who you are.
Okay. So, I think thats all. [laughs] [applause]
D

Next verse. Well only do three more verses. I know its getting late. Then well
have story time and you can relax after that.

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Michael Brannan: Contemplation on this point destroys the storehouse of seeds.

Tatra dhyanajam anashayam. (IV.6)
I think the key word is dhyana. Dhya in Sanskrit is from the root dhi. Dhyana is
from a root dhya, which means to think or contemplate, ultimately from another root
dhi. And those of you who know about Manjushris mantra or root syllable is dhi. This is
where it comes from: dhi, dhi, dhi, dhi, dhi. In the monastery, young kids chant this
vidya mantra, root mantra, over and over again to gain wisdom. They go dhi, dhi, dhi,
dhi, dhi, dhi, dhi, dhi, dhi, dh... until you run out of breath. You see kids all over the
monastery chanting this.
The only cognates in English come through Chinese and Japanese. When the first
Chinese pilgrims came to India to learn Buddhism and they heard the word dhyana
they heard chan, and by the time it got to Japan it was called zen. So chan is zen,
and it means deep meditation or contemplation. Tibetan here is samten. Samten just
means the same thing. Sam means to think. Ten means to be firm in your thinking
and it means to contemplate deeply.
Anashaya, next word. This an is negative. Shi mepa, in Tibetan. Ashaya, weve
had before, but it comes from a root shi in Sanskrit, meaning to lie down and for
example the Hatha Yoga Pradipika when you get to shavasana, the last asana, where
you lie down, it says Shavavad shieno shyana. You should like down like a corpse.
And the Indo-European root again is kwei, k-w-e-i. And it comes into our words for
quiet, and calm, and requiem.
But the point here is, if you can keep your mind on where things are coming from
in other words, the next time someone is unpleasant to you, the next time something
you dont want to happen, happens if you can keep your mind firmly on whats really
happening, that everything you dont like is being created from seeds in your own mind
which you planted there, then you can arrive at anashaya. You can destroy the
storehouse of karmic seeds because you wont repeat your mistakes.
So really the ultimate weapon against our old bad karma is simply to maintain this
awareness. This constant awareness all day that we cant respond to negative things with
negativity because it will plant the same seeds over again. Unfortunately, the response to
all negative things for people in our realm and thats why we are in this realm, this
broken realm is that we respond to negative things with negative things, and then we
start the cycle going again. Thats what samsara means. Thats what the cycle... the
word cycle, it just keeps going over and over again. The only way to stop it is to break
in with wisdom that says I dont want to plant more seeds. Ill be kind to the people
who are unkind to me. Unilateral disarmament. Next verse.
Fran Dayan: You will never have to pay those old debts back; not a single one.
Prasankhyanepyakusidasya sarvatha viveka khyater dharma meghah samadhih.
(IV.29A)

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[laughter] Theres a very un-self assuming lady who came to the very first
classes of ACI and then went through the whole original course, all eighteen courses and
became one of the first marok geshes of ACI. She came to me and said Can I help you
with anything? And I said We need someone to do the accounting; it has to be
creative. [laughter] I think shes done it ever since, quietly, very modestly, never
telling anyone really what shes doing but doing it all herself with no fanfare.
But the reason I bring it up goes back to the practice time, and service time.
Shortly after she took over the accounting, I went to her and tried to give her a second job
on top of the first job. And she said, Geshe-la I can only do the one job because I have
my practice to do. Shes like one of the only people who ever had the courage to say
that to my face. But shes kept that line ever since. And no matter how hard I try to
dump another duty on her she will say, very respectfully, very kindly, This is what I can
do and keep my practice. So I think its a great wisdom for all of us to learn.
What was the verse? [laughs] Oh... speaking of accounting. Prasankhyane
means accounting. You recognize the word in there, sankhya, for numbers. It means
to give an accounting. Epyakusidasya means if you keep up this practice, if you
continue to keep your mind firmly on the fact of where unpleasant things are really
coming from and if you refuse to respond anymore with stupidity, ignorance, then the
whole accounting, the whole debt that we owe karmically everywhere will be destroyed
completely. Sarvatha, says the verse. Completely; you dont have to doubt it.
Master Patanjali says it. Many other scriptures say it.
And then youve reached dharmamega samadhi; the ultimate level. This is the
name of the tenth bodhisattva level, the great cloud of dharma, the highest of the
bodhisattva levels. We can reach that by using our knowledge and not responding to
negative things negatively. Theres no reason technically to not respond to negative
things with just joy, happiness; and that actually destroys the old karmas and doesnt
cause new karmas. Its easy to talk about; its extremely difficult when someones in
your face. But we have to try. This is the whole Buddhist practice in a nutshell. Next
verse please.
Reader: Sexual purity is the fourth form of self-control. Ahinsa satya-asteya
brahmacharya-aparigraha yamah. (II.30D)
Master Patanjali gives the five yama, the five forms of moral self-control, and
then five niyamah, the five commitments which are more like social self-control. Here
he comes to brachmacharya. Brahmacharya means sexual purity. In Tibetan its
called tsangchu. Brahma you know from the word, people call it Brahmin. It comes
from a root brah, b-r-a-h, and that word means to get bigger or to swell. And its
the name of the priestly caste, the caste of priests in ancient India of people whose spirits
had swollen from the inside. And the idea is of their spiritual life growing stronger and
stronger, and growing larger and larger. The Indo-European root is grwes, g-r-w-e-s,
and it has a meaning of growing bigger or growing stronger. The word gross
comes from this. And I think whats interesting is ultimately the word grass, the word
green, and the word graze all come from this same root, meaning when nature
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decides to grow and spring forth in greenness and growth. So the word brachma
brahma comes directly from the words green and grass and things of beauty growing
larger. Brahma is also the name of a deity in the Hindu tradition. And that is translated
by the Tibetans as sangba. Sangba means the pure one. And in Tibetan translation
brachma brahma refers to purity.
Charya means to act or to move. You see it in the word acharya. And
you see it in the name of Master Shantidevas great book Bodhisattvacharyavatara,
getting into the deeds of the bodhisattvas, acting like a bodhisattva. The Indo-European
root is kel. We had it before with kala, like in Kalachakra, meaning to drive or move
something. And we see it in the words accelerator and car.
Yamah, you know, I think its here also.
So we have to talk about what does Master Patanjali describe when he says sexual
purity? First of all you have to know that it comes forth in the list of yama. And that
gives us a clue of what hes talking about. He has said that we should practice ahinsa,
not harming other beings, not taking the life of other beings. And then he says we should
practice ahinsa satya, not lying. And then he says, whats the third one? Asteya, not
stealing. And then he comes to no sexual misconduct. These four are called sawa shi in
Buddhist morality. They are the four roots of all moral behavior; all ethical codes come
from these four.
When you take lifetime vows in Buddhism as a lay person, you commit mainly to
these four. I think those of you who have taken lifetime vows remember the most serious
type of each of the four. In other words, when you swear yourself to ahinsa in the
lifetime vows as a layperson, you are swearing that you will never kill a human being or
a fetus of a human being. When you commit yourself never to steal anything, you are
saying you will never steal anything of very great value, a very noticeable value. In other
words, you dont break your lifetime vows if you steal a pencil from work. But if you
steal somebodys sweater or something of that nature, then you have broken your vow,
your lifetime vow. And of course the form of lying which we are not allowed to break
when we have taken laymens lifetime vows is never to lie about our spiritual life. The
examples are saying that youve seen emptiness when you havent seen it, or saying that
youve seen angels or met angels when you have not met them. So if you have not
reached these goals and you claim that you have, then you have broken the lifetime vow
against lying.
In that context, brahmacharya, here sexual purity in your life, would refer to the
most serious form of breaking your sexual purity, which is adultery with another persons
sworn wife or husband.
People in America are very interested about sexual matters. And many people
have come to Khen Rinpoche to ask for clarifications, and I was there many times. So I
think its important that you know that the grossest form of breaking brahmacharya
means to have any kind of sexual relations with another persons wife or husband.
People would ask Khen Rinpoche, What if theyre divorced? and he would say If both
partners have agreed mutually to a divorce then youre not breaking this vow if you have
sexual relations with one of them.

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Somebody asked, What if theyre just estranged but its not formal yet and one
person doesnt agree to it yet? I think its good to be clear. Then he said, That would
be breaking the vows because theres no mutual agreement yet to dissolve that marriage.
Somebody asked What about boyfriends and girlfriends who arent married yet? He
said, You dont formally break your vows but youre obviously getting very close.
But I think its also important to say that in the scriptures, brahmacharya has a
very specific meaning. Tsangchu in almost every context in Tibetan I can say every
context, actually refers to total celibacy. It refers to not having any sexual relations at
all. And this is obviously the vow that fully ordained monks and nuns take, and also
novice monks and nuns, to maintain total celibacy. People have asked, Does that
include masturbation? And the answer is, Yes. It means all kinds of celibacy from
any kind of sexual activity.
People ask Why would that be listed in the Yoga Sutra? Given the context
here, I think you have to say Master Patanjali is referring to the four great codes of
conduct and it would imply that youre keeping his vows here, his yama here, if you
avoid gross forms of sexual misconduct like adultery.
But I would like to speak a little bit about the power of celibacy, tsangchu, formal
tsangchu. I think many people have come to me and said I would like to try to be
celibate for a while. I would like to see what happens to me. I would like to see if it
changes my life. Oftentimes people come to me right after a break up with someone.
[laughs] Its not a wise way to undertake your celibacy. Celibacy should be understood,
and then you should undertake it in a joyful way, a happy way. Its very common to
meet people who have tried to keep physical celibacy but dont have mental celibacy yet.
In other words, the decision to undertake celibacy, whether its for your whole life or for
just a shorter period, should be done in a very happy way. It shouldnt be a reaction to
some unhappy marriage or unhappy relationship. You should see it as a method of
gathering intense spiritual power for your virtuous activities. I think anyone who has
been celibate for a very long time can tell you how it frees your mind.
When I was young, when I was in college, even walking into a classroom, there
was this automatic American brainwashed thing of checking out all of the girls in the
classroom and then calculating the odds of getting a date, or more, with each one. And
this is something which is drilled into us since childhood in our country. If you decide
happily to become celibate, that whole part of your mind is freed for other activities.
Mentally you can devote your entire mind. You never are in a room with, you never
meet, a person of the opposite sex with any kind of ulterior motives. Your mind is freed
to undertake higher activities.
Physically, if you can maintain celibacy for long periods of time it begins to affect
your physical health as well. If we speak about whats happening on the level of your
channels and chakras, which well talk more about later today, you can store tremendous
amounts of inner energy, what we call prana, or lung, in Tibetan. If you dont engage in
sexual activity, all this intense energy can be redirected to higher goals. Thats why I
think you see among monks or nuns who are truly celibate, mentally celibate as well, this
tremendous energy, and drive, and ability to do extraordinary work for others, virtuous
work.
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So I would encourage you, if you ever have a chance, and not as a reaction to
some problem youve had with another person of the opposite sex, but if you ever feel
any kind of attraction towards the idea of celibacy, I urge you to take it. It doesnt have
to be your whole life; you could say for six months or three months. And it shouldnt be
a matter of spending nights up struggling with yourself. It should be a matter of joyfully
sending and devoting that intense energy to higher goals. So try it sometime in your life
if you can.
And Master Patanjali here has chosen a word brahmacharya, which means,
technically it means celibacy. There are other words which mean avoiding sexual
misconduct. But, its interesting, given his choice of words. I think hes encouraging
each of us to try to channel that energy to something higher.
D

Which leads us naturally to the Naropa topic tonight. So relax, sit back.
I wanted to tell you the story of Niguma. I wanted to talk about Naropas
spiritual partner, spiritual wife, Niguma. We know that Niguma must have been a very
special woman. Many people know about narochudruk, the six yogas, or six practices, of
Naropa. The reason were speaking about Naropa-hla during this weekend is that the
Tibetan practices of yoga both the physical practices and the spiritual practices
have all come down to us through the six teachings of Naropa, the six practices of Naropa
theyre called narochudruk.
I dont know how many of you are aware that there is a parallel set of six
practices called niguchudruk. These are the six yogas of Niguma, who was Naropas
spiritual wife. These six practices of the man, and six practices of the woman, have been
very powerful and influential in Tibetan Buddhism.
I dont know if youre aware, but Naropa wrote fifteen different secret books and
they are all in the Tengyur. We have them due to the kindness of John Brady, along with
the other four and a half thousand texts of the Kangyur and Tengyur. Master Naropa
wrote on many subjects; I think for us the most interesting are his six teachings, which
have lead to the yoga practices of heart yoga, what were calling heart yoga which
were described to you by Ani Chukyi and Ani Jigme Pelma, I think it was yesterday
morning and will be the main emphasis of all the yoga which we are teaching people
on the tour, for example. But I think its exciting that Naropas spiritual partner, wife,
Niguma also wrote six practices. They are very, very similar to Naropa-hlas, and I think
they have a special power unto themselves having been taught and spread by a woman.
Her text on the six practices is also found in the Tengyur. And I have to say with
a kind of shame, that it is one of the only books by a woman in the entire Kangyur and
Tengyur. I dont think there are more than ten out of almost five thousand works. I think
its very auspicious in this gathering to speak about this powerful woman. I think we see
with the powerful women who have completed the three year retreat and who have
spoken to us, and also the powerful women who have made the retreat happen, that there
is some kind of, in my mind, a turning point coming. And we have seen incredible
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women practitioners, like Venerable Tenzin Palmo who spent twelve years in very
difficult retreats in the Himalayas, and Pema Chodron-hla, and other great women lamas.
So I think its a turning point in the history of Buddhism. I think as Buddhism enters this
country, and also we see among the sister lineages of yoga, we see powerful ladies
coming as great teachers and lamas. And its my privilege to have been their student.
So lets talk about how did Niguma get to be so great. You remember that at the
age of seventeen Naropa-hla had come back from Kashmir. You remember he had
actually completed most of the ACI courses by the age of seventeen. Its probably a root
a-k-i in Sanskrit. [laughs] Not really. He was seventeen years old, he was back from
Kashmir; his mother was happy that he had even returned. Remember, his parents were
king and queen and they started to put pressure on him: Naropa-hla, time to get
married. And actually his name at that time was Guganagarba, but anyway, Time to
get married.
He was a very respectful young man. He didnt want to openly refuse his parents
so he said, Im very happy to get married. Ill definitely get married if you can find the
girl of my dreams. So first of all her name has to be Chemama Vimala, the girl without
any hint of stain, the girl of purity. She should be exactly sixteen years old. She has to
come from a Brahman family, high caste priestly family, and her mind has to be one
hundred percent Mahayana, which was practically impossible to find all of those things
combined a thousand years ago in India.
So Naropa-hla was feeling pretty clever. [laughs] The king was upset but he
said, Ill try. He chose two of his ministers and he said, Go find this girl.
They went through the whole countryside, through village after village. They
couldnt find any of this impossible combination. And then one day they were sitting
exhausted at a well, and a young girl comes up to draw water from the well and they say,
You look nice.
And she says Okay... [laughs]
And they say Whats your name?
Oh, my names Vimala.
Oh, really? But how old are you?
Oh, Im only sixteen
Oh, what is your parentage? Are you parents... what caste?
Oh, theyre Brahmans.
And do you have some urgings toward becoming a tantric angel who can go on
every planet and... [laughs]
And she said Exactly so, [laughs] which means her state of mind.
So the ministers were overjoyed and they followed her home. They went to her
father, a high Brahman, and they said, The prince of our little country wishes to marry
your daughter.
And the father said, Out of the question. There was too much of a gap between
the prince that they had described and his daughter.
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So the ministers did an interesting thing, they sat down on the front lawn of the
house and said, We will stay here until we starve to death. [laughs]
And they were getting skinner and skinnier, and people from the village started to
ask why they were sitting there starving. And they said, Oh, its all the fault of the
Brahman. He wont release his daughter.
And there was such a public outcry that the Brahman finally relented and Niguma
went to be married to Naropa-hla.
Theres a question about why her name is Niguma. Some sources, ancient books
and I have used about five or six ancient books for these talks say that her mothers
name was Negu and her brothers name was Nagu, so she was named Niguma. But I
think those of you who know some Sanskrit, the word nirguna means emptiness,
that which is beyond all attributes. And I sort of have a suspicion that her name was
Nirguna.
So she came home and they got married. Naropa-hla was a little disappointed.
And they spent eight years in married life. But it seems that all during that time, Naropahla was training Niguma in the sutras and tantras which he had already learned. You
remember he had already studied Kalachakra tantra, and Chakrasamvara tantra, and Vajra
Yogini therefore. So for eight years they had a very sweet relationship, a sweet marriage.
But Naropa-hla was dissatisfied, he wanted to go deeper into his own studies, and as we
said he decided he would like to become a monk. So he and Niguma, who was excited
and enthusiastic that Naropa-hla should go deeper into his studies, were plotting how to
get out of the marriage.
Naropa-hla didnt want to upset his parents. He was very devoted to his parents.
So Niguma-la made a great sacrifice. She told Naropa-hla, You should tell your parents
that I have been unfaithful to you. You should lie and tell everyone that I am a soiled
woman.
In India, this is a very serious matter. It was giving up everyones opinion of her.
She would be treated like an animal after that. She was insistent, and so the word was
spread to the king and queen. Naropa-hla was allowed to leave for the monastery.
Niguma-la followed him secretly, they continued their dharma relationship.
You know the story after that. Naropa-hla spent years studying, reaching a high
pinnacle in the monastery. And then made the great decision to leave and seek the higher
practices because of the vision of the old hag who had come to him. We also spoke about
the twelve visions and the twelve tests that Naropa-hlas guru Tilopa put him through.
Theres sort of a funny test that I think shows the advancement of Naropa-hlas
relationship with the opposite sex. About half way through his trials, Tilopa calls
Naropa-hla into the room and says, You know, youve got to get a girlfriend.
Naropa-hla says, I still have monks vows. I cant go get a girlfriend.
Tilopa says, I told you to get a girlfriend. [laughs]
So he goes and he chooses a young woman. They start to have a relationship.
Tilopa encourages him to get a job. He starts to work as a blacksmith. Hes miserable.
They say that the relationship started with great ardor and then deteriorated to the point
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where, like many marriages or relationships, Naropa-hla and the young lady wouldnt
even speak to each other. But they had to stay together.
Then one day Tilopa these crazy gurus, right? shows up and bangs open the
door, breaks in, and says, Naropa-hla what are you doing?
He says, Im doing what you told me to do.
You cant stay with a girl, youre a gelong! Youre a monk. Are you crazy?
He drags him out of the house.
He says, Now I think you should undertake some kind of penance. You should
do something to punish yourself.
I dont like to speak with inappropriate language in a teaching, but Naropa-hla
went to the side. He got a big rock. He pulled out his penis and he smashed it.
You know what happens next.
Tilopa-la comes back and says, What the hell are you doing? [laughs]
Naropa-hla says, You told me I should do something to make up.
Tilopa heals him, the text says, to the point where he could urinate. [laughs]
Then he says, I think now youre ready to learn some important practices about the inner
channels and chakras, and they require that you have a partner. And the whole thing
changes around as usual.
He taught Naropa-hla the great practices of opening the central channel. I think
this is where Naropa-hla learned many of the yoga asanas and other physical ways of
opening the inner channels.
I think its interesting, Im not sure why we can speculate, but this is the moment
at which Tilopa chose to give him the name Naropa. This is where his name changes
to Naropa. Ive done a lot of checking to try to find out about the name Naropa. Theres
a very weird ancient Tibetan text which says that Naropa means nara utakpa, meaning
a high person. A person of high caste, usually; a high kind of Brahman. But it could
be that now Tilopa is telling Naropa, Youve become a real man. Now you know what
it is to really become a man.
And we see the word Naropa spelled as Narotapa. Often, I think those of you
who do the dakkye, there are places where hes called Narotapa as well as Naropa.
But there are even more important sources in the Tengyur where he is called Nadapada.
Hes not called Naropa at all. I think this is a very significant. Nada refers to the inner
sound, and the inner channels are called nadi because they flow with the inner sound.
Pada means shok in Tibetan, means the great one. Meaning someone you could
touch your head to their feet. Pada means feet, but its always attached to the end of a
great lamas name. His Holiness the sweet Dalai Lama is also called Tenzin Gyatso
Shok, meaning Tenzin Gyatso Pada. So pada is also often connected to the name of a
high lama. So Naropas true name appears to have been Nadapada. And in paintings of
Narokachu, the version of Vajra Yogini which we follow, which we were taught by Khen
Rinpoche, which came from Naropa, he is actually called Narocachu or Narocondur is
called Nadi Dakini. Nadi Dakini. So Naropa was given his name actually the master
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of the inner channels, Nadapada when he began his new kind of relationship and his
new kind of study into the deeper channels and winds.
Id like to say a little more about that. Its not appropriate to teach tantra to a
large group. Tantra, the secret teachings, are meant to be taught in groups of two or three
people. But as His Holiness the Dalai Lama has done, or holy Lama Khen Rinpoche, we
can speak generally about general principles of the inner channels.
We saw in the Yoga Sutra last Thanksgiving a description of the two channels on
the side of the body running down either side of the backbone. One called surya, one
called chandra. Chandra, meaning the moon, is the small channel running down from
between the eyebrows of the skull and then down following the path of the backbone, on
the left side. It is called the moon because it has a cool energy and a feminine energy.
Then surya, the sun channel, runs down as Master Patanjali was describing the
right side of the backbone and it carries the male energy which is more hot.
Both of these channels also carry an extremely powerful negative energy. Thats
why Master Patanjali was talking about the two channels as containing either objects or
consciousness. The left-hand channel, the feminine channel, carries our misperception
about ourselves. The right-hand channel carries our misperception about our world.
When you come across an irritating person and you feel hatred for them because you
dont realize they are only a mirror of your own karma, then you have strong terrible
energies running through your right channel at that moment. When you think about your
own body or your own mind and you fail to understand that it also is a projection of your
own karma, you dont even know how to make yourself happy. This negative energy,
tremendous powerful negative energy, is running in your left-hand channel.
The goal of the physical yoga exercises is to slightly ease the pain and the
blockage caused by these negative energies trying to force tiny bits of energy into the
central channel, the middle channel. This channel is shut down in most people. This
channel is like a... you can think of it like a hose, a garden hose, which has been
flattened and cant carry anything through it, no water can come through it. Its flattened
and crushed, and its not running properly.
If you can ever get your thoughts and the energy of your mind out of the two side
channels, and drive it into the central channel, you perceive emptiness directly. If you
can perceive emptiness directly, then within seven lifetimes, typically, you can become a
being who can guide countless beings on countless planets. You yourself will become
such a being. You have the potential, as Trisangma said. All of us have the potential.
Its extraordinary to think that after billions of lifetimes, if you could grasp the teaching
being given in the Yoga Sutra that you could completely change into a being of light. Go
to countless planets. Serve countless people. You have this capacity. We will all
achieve this shortly.
But the energies have to be brought into the central channel. The two side
channels must become... in the text it says shavavat, like a corpse. We have to try to shut
them down and open the middle one. And then naturally all the feminine energy and
masculine energy would also be joined into the central channel.
Our body takes on the shape of the energy in the channels; thats why the
backbone forms as a child, thats why those bones form. They are forming around the
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central channel like ice around a tree twig. And depending on which channel is running
more strongly at your birth you will become male or female, and your body will take on
the sexual organs and sexual characteristics of a male or a female. If the energy is
running more in the left channel, your body will come out of your mothers womb as a
female body and it will become a males body if your energy is running more in the right
channel. We all have female and male energies, but whichever one predominates at the
time of birth determines even the kind of body you have, man or woman.
Some people have over the course of their lifetimes developed a more equal
energy, but still in the wrong channels, and these people become homosexuals. They are
attracted... they have both energies flowing equally or strongly. Some of that energy
sometimes can enter the central channel and some of the most talented people in history,
Im thinking of Leonardo DiVinci and Michelangelo, had both energies driving through
their body but still in the side channels, still a kind of very strong negative energy. Still
linked to misunderstanding your world.
And so there are special practices, when we do asanas we are trying to loosen
granthis, or knots, where the side channels cross and tie around the central channel like a
vine. Sometimes they are even given the word vines. They choke our central channel.
If you cant open your central channel before you die, you will have to die. If you can
open your central channel, open clear in this lifetime, you dont have to die.
Does a normal person ever experience the opening of the central channel? Only
on two occasions normally, in a normal persons life. One is at death. You and I have
died countless times; you know what Im talking about. Deep down inside you, way
down inside, you know what Im talking about. Youve done it countless times. You
have felt it countless times. As you die, theres a capsule at the heart which bursts open
like the water of a woman in labor and theres a rush of energy, briefly, through the
central channel. It feels like a grape being crushed and bursting open with its water. And
then theres a flush of energy through the central channel, and then everything shuts
down again and you enter the bardo. And you begin to take a new birth of suffering.
Also, when people engage in sexual activity, when a man and a woman have sex,
as His Holiness the Dalai Lama described at the Kalachakra, I remember, before we went
into retreat in Bloomington, only during the height of orgasm of a man and a woman does
the central channel, briefly, a tiny bit of energy passes through the central channel and
theres this sensation of the water, the fluid bursting forth, very similar to death itself.
And so for a tiny few seconds, theres an experience of the central channel opening.
If you can perceive emptiness directly, for those few minutes the central channel
is wide open. The negative thoughts of left and right channels are stopped. The power,
energy, all thrust down to the area of the navel and the sexual organs, and then drives
back up through the central channel and you perceive emptiness directly. And then seven
lifetimes later, or faster if you use the higher teachings. You can, if you bring all of that
energy into the middle, into the center, and if the two side channels collapse completely,
then your body bursts one more time but this time into a body of light and you achieve
enlightened angels body. You become a Buddha. You become Tara. You become
Vajra Yogini. Yourself.

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You must, you must understand that at that moment you can go to countless
beings, countless creatures no matter human or animal and you can go to them
directly, each one, and you can serve them, help them, protect them, keep them from
dying, teach them these things. Its not some kind of funny practice, or its not some
kind of silly exercises. These are holy, powerful methods of achieving what we all seek
to be. You want so very much to serve countless other beings. Its the only reason we
live. Deep down inside, each of us wants to serve countless other beings. You will
become that. It can happen. You will achieve that. Its everything you ever wanted. Its
the only reason we live.
And so teachings like Naropas six yogas and especially Niguma, her six yogas,
they are all only meant to achieve this goal. And as you get closer to that goal, the power
of more energy entering the central channel changes your karmic seeds completely. You
meet people, people come to you. They look like normal people to other people, but they
are angels. They are enlightened beings. They come to you. They begin to come to you,
one after another. They begin to teach you. The energy is entering the central channel.
They come to you in many forms and teach you how to move the energies, how to bring
everything into the central channel. They come to you, angels come to you. Other
people see them as normal people because their minds are, frankly, very dirty and filthy.
They cant see what you can see if you have practiced sincerely for your life. And then
holy practices are taught.
Why do you think men and women are so attracted to each other? People are shy
to talk about it. Why? Theres a power on this planet: the entire population of males are
attracted to the entire population of females. People throughout their lives, in this realm,
have a strong, almost irresistible attraction to people of the opposite sex. Its all founded
in the channels. The channels of a man are deficient in the feminine energy. The
channels of a woman are deficient in the male energy. The two energies coming together
create a whole. Each person achieves a balance, a total union of the two energies when
the energys thrust into your central channel, male and female, when your body changes,
you are totally balanced, you are one hundred percent woman and you are one hundred
percent man. And Buddhas, angels, they dont have sexual organs. They dont have
male or female identity, because they are one hundred percent male and one hundred
percent female. And they can choose to show themselves as Tara or they can choose to
show themselves as a Dalai Lama. But they are pure, and they are total, they are unified.
And the reason for the attraction between men and women is a deep, deep urge to
become a holy angel. Is an indomitable urge to become complete and to become an angel
who can go to help all living beings.
We said at the beginning that Naropa-hlas life is meant to be an example for all
of us. And we can see how his relationship with his spiritual wife has changed through
his lifetime. It begins as the normal worldly relationship that you discover at age sixteen,
something physical. Its an expression of the inner urge to become an angel. Later this
becomes an emotional attachment, men and women support each other emotionally.
Later it becomes a wish for companionship. Later it can become a financial arrangement,
one is working one is not. They are pooling their finances. It can become a family
relationship with the birth of children. There is an urge for reproduction. But behind all
of these urges is a higher urge: to complete ones inner being and become a tantric angel,
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become like a Christ or a Buddha who can help billions of people at one time. And then
the relationship shifts to something higher.
At then end of his trials, Naropa-hla is sent out by Tilopa, Now you go. You
wander the world. You do good things.
Naropa-hla takes his bowl. The bowl for a yogi is normally a part of a human
skull so we can always remember our own death. And you see on the cover of your
notebook, Naropa-hla is taking his meal or his drink with a bowl made of a human skull.
Its not some strange, dark, evil, corrupt practice. Its not some dirty thing. Its totally
beautiful, shining, extraordinary realizations. I will hold my food inside the head of a
person who died and my own head will be used by another yogi later. And then you
dont waste your time.
Naropa-hla goes begging with his bowl just wearing the cloth that you see on
him. He still has total monk vows. How could you become enlightened without pure
vows? And he is chanting a mantra called vidurya. Its a special mantra which allows
you to eat whatever people throw in your bowl. [laughs] People ask why Tibetan monks
eat meat. It comes from the ancient custom of eating whatever someone throws in your
bowl. I think nowadays that people have control over what they eat. Great lamas, like
Khen Rinpoche, have stopped eating meat. So its sort of a challenge for mischievous
people to throw something in his bowl which he wont be able to digest. Vidurya is a
mantra of digestion to be able to eat whatever junk they throw in your bowl.
So a mischievous kid throws a razor blade in his bowl. Naropa takes it on his
tongue, it turns to butter, to ghee, and he enjoys the taste of the razor blade. The kid runs
to the local town, starts spreading this story that theres this yogi who can eat knives and
razor blades. The king hears the story and to make fun of the yogi, he orders his elephant
brought out. He fixes steel swords on the front of the elephants tusks, tells him to go get
this yogi, Lets see if he can turn these swords to butter also.
The elephant runs to attack Naropa. He gives it a stare in the eye and it drops
dead.
The king is faced with several thousand pounds of elephant rotting in the middle
of the street in front of his palace. Its pretty bad. If youve ever been in India, Nepal...
we were there, a large cow died next to teaching hall and no one will touch it, and its
incredibly difficult. So everyones wondering how to pull this huge carcass out of the
street.
Naropa-hla says, No problem. Ill do trung juk. Trung juk is where a great
yogi can put their mind into the body of a dead person or animal. Marpa was a great
practitioner of that, Naropas student. And so he puts his mind into the elephants body.
He walks it out of town.
He runs into his student Mitripa and says, Hi.
Mitripa turns around, You sound just like Naropa. [laughs]
Actually I am. Im just taking this body out of town for people.
Then he walks out of town and leaves the body, and comes back to his own body.

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The king is amazed and he says, If youre such a great yogi, I would like to offer
you my daughter to be your spiritual partner. Her name is Jnyanadipi, which means
light of wisdom, and he begs Naropa to teach his daughter the higher teachings.
Its a beautiful story. Naropa instructs her. She becomes a great yogini. Some of
the clergy of the town are upset at this arrangement. They arrange some monkey
business, and within a short time, people go into his room, they capture him, they tie him
up, they beat him with sticks and stones, they take him to a post in the village square.
They tie him there. They start a fire around him and they burn him to death.
The next day the king sends two servants to take the ashes to the river. When
they get close to the ashes theres a naked man and woman dancing there. Its Naropa
and his spiritual partner celebrating. And from then on Naropa begins to teach.
Its a long story, well talk about it later. But people come from Tibet and Nepal
to study with Naropa-hla. Naropa-hla trains many people. Later in his life, Naropa
realizes that the three ladies who came to him: first Niguma, as his wife, secondly the
unnamed girl with whom he was trained with Tilopa, and then finally the princess of the
king who was also burned with him and came back to life. He begins to realize, as well
see tomorrow, that all of these three ladies who came to him during his life were one
angel. They were all the same angel, Vajra Yogini. From the very time that he was
sixteen years old... seventeen years old, Naropa-hla has been trained, has been guided by
one angel, by one sweet, holy, sacred angel. And he only recognizes it later in his life.
All three of these ladies were a single angel.
I think if you look back in your own life as you learn more and more about world
view, as you learn more and more about emptiness, I think you will begin to see that
many people in your life have been angels guiding you. Im not talking some new age,
sweetie, metaphor thing; Im talking real enlightened beings have been coming to you
since your first high school boyfriend or girlfriend. They have been training you, guiding
you. The energy of their channels has been affecting the energy of your channels. It has
all been purposely done. Every relationship youve ever had is something very specific
and special meant to change your inner channels.
And so, I think now, in our world, in our country, especially among people like
yourselves who have been trained, who have understood where things are really coming
from. Who understand that if your karmic seeds are strong and pure enough you will
meet these angels directly and be trained by them. Its time for you, if you are in a
relationship with a man or a woman, you must turn this into your practice. It must
become your practice. Your wife or your husband, your boyfriend or your girlfriend,
they are not a normal person. Its not an accident they have come to you. A being, a
sacred, holy being has come to you, to guide you. You have to stop looking at them as a
normal person. You have to realize there are forces infinitely greater than what you
thought at work in your own life. You have to struggle to find the lama and the guru in
your own wife or husband or your own partner. They are there. You have to find them.
You have to use this powerful energy between a man and a woman to bring yourself to
enlightenment.
And if you have a child, you must realize, these are not normal beings. You must
realize that the same angel is coming to you as your child. Those of you who now have
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heard the Yoga Sutra, its a kind of empowerment Im giving to you now, at this moment.
You stop looking at your children as normal beings; they are not. You stop looking at
your partner or wife as a normal being; they are not. They have come to you, as they
came to Naropa-hla, to bring you to a higher place. Every moment of the day now that
you relate to them you have to struggle to see the truth of what Im telling you.
Those of you who are ordained, you have the same relationship. Christian nuns
wear a ring on the third finger of their left hand, which is sacred to Vajra Yogini also I
guess its a coincidence because they are married to Jesus and God. Many priests,
Christian, have a deep devotion to Mary, the Mother, the Virgin. And its appropriate
and its even a requirement for the ordained people here, those of us, you must enter into
the same relationship mentally. And then that being will come to you and train you,
either in their form of light, or in maybe in some other form. But its the same for all of
us.
[Prayers]

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Morning: Day Four D April 20

Salim Lee
Good morning. Its so good to see so many happy faces and very supple bodies!
I played truant again this morning. When I found out that Lama Ruth-hla was going to
teach yoga, I chickened out! I have my toast in the little lounge in the motel, together
with the usual friends, but this time I was there first. Nobody was there. On the
television was a very nice young rapper just singing his songs. And, then, somebody else
came and asked if he could change the channel. Which he did. He kept flicking around
channels until he came to the NBC channel. Right there, in big writing: Texas-sized
welcome for the seven POWs. Now, I thought that sizes only come in small, medium,
large, and maybe, triple-X large! I didnt know there was a Texas-size. I think we
should ask Alison if they have Texas-size T-shirts. Oh, she has it, she says. I dont know
why, but seeing that I just felt happy. To see that the prisoners of war had actually come
home; to see their relatives there being interviewed. Its really so good to see.
But, somehow, my mind this deluded mind just drifted and for some strange
reason I thought about that movie, Gladiator. You know, I still remember the opening
scene of this movie. Have any of you seen Gladiator? Yeah? Great. Well, in the
opening scene, if I remember correctly, they are just going to have the final battle to
conquer the last tribe or little country that would mean, as far as the Romans are
concerned, that theyd conquered the world. Then the entire conquest would be
complete. So, the scene shows the emperor after the battle was fought and won. Finally,
his lifelong ambition to conquer the world, and make the greatest empire was fulfilled,
yet this old emperor, looking despondent calls his general. Having got all that he wanted,
he realized that it was not really what he wanted. What hes seeking was apparently
something else. He kept thinking that what he wanted was this big empire, the Roman
Empire, the mighty Roman Empire. He noticed that hes a lot older, a lot weaker, and
with the intrigues going on he realized that he felt a lot more vulnerable after having won
all that. He ties to find a solution. Hes realized now that its so easy to lose everything
hes got, right? He tries to find something he could depend on, that he could count on,
that he could use to protect him. So that, at least, whatever he has he could try to
preserve.
He turned to his general at that time, who happened to be an Australian,
[laughter], very famous Australian general. The emperor said, Look. I know you are
not related by blood to me, but I always look upon you as my son. Now Im calling on
you, calling upon you, to actually protect and preserve whatever we have gained. The
general said, Oh no. You know, I do it because I really love you. I work for you
anyway, you know. The emperor kept insisting. Finally, the general understands. The
emperor then says, Look, please take this job to protect all that we have got with so
much blood and after so much suffering. Im old. I know my children are not up to it,
and there are so many intrigues going on in the palace in Rome. So he says, Look, Ill
give the entire kingdom to you. The entire kingdom, not just a province or a state. The
emperor says, Look, take everything. Preserve this so that I can be peaceful. He

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Morning, Day Four Salim Lee

mentions that word. Now he realizes thats actually what he wanted. Its just a simple
thing, like the peaceful mind that you and I can get easily just watching the sunset,
without conquering an empire. You see? And that kind of brings us to the point. Going
to our prayers this morning, was very similar to that emperor, that feeling. I guess in this
tent we all can feel we havent done too badly, cant we? We also notice that, of course,
we can do more, or get more, or become better. But one things for sure: we too are
going to lose all of this.
Whether it is an empire, or our health, or our friendships, anything were going
to lose it all. And if there is such a person, or if there is anything at all that can preserve
that, or can even hopefully finally give us what we really want, wouldnt we want to give
him anything and everything? I think its a fair exchange. We have all this beautiful
Arizona, with the mountains, covered with flowers; the fragrance and the sunlight and the
moonlight. Did you see the beautiful moon the other night? Its really lovely, and the
sun and everything. I think, just to get what we always wanted, which is happiness, I
think we would be quite willing to give all that. And then we could depend and count on
something or somebody that enables us to achieve that. That is the point of doing the
mandala offering and taking refuge. Its exactly like that. This is for the benefit of all us.
It just struck me, when I saw that Gladiator movie. And you know, it shows very clearly
that if we can count on something or somebody to really give us what weve always been
after, which is really so simple, just happiness, we would trade that with anything we
have.
Venerable Elly is going to lead us in meditation this morning. With that frame of
mind, well do these two traditional things. As we know, we do the mandala offering,
meaning, we would give anything and everything we have. In fact, the wording is almost
the same, isnt it? I mean, the mountain thats covered with these flowers, the sunlight,
the beautiful moon, the oceans, anything, everything. We give that to get something that
we can count on. Taking refuge is no more than counting on that thing. So, we will do
that. We will offer the Mandala and its not even enough really so that we can
receive in return something we can count on to really get what we want, which is this
very simple happiness. To get that, we will count on this one. And what do we count
on? In the refuge prayer, we are saying that we count on the Three Jewels: the Buddha,
Dharma, Sangha. Actually, the ultimate meaning of this refuge is that we count on the
fact that anything can change if we have what it takes to change it. Whatever we wish,
we could get it, if we know how to get it. Now that knowledge, that conviction, we count
on that. That is, actually, the ultimate meaning of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.
And we also have to realize that the biggest obstacles to obtaining that is actually
when we forget that when we say me, its not really me. I have to have my world,
somehow, have happiness like that. You are always there. Im never alone without my
environment. Im never alone without the people around me, so theres no point in
achieving that happiness, and its almost impossible to achieve that kind of happiness, if
my surroundings are still miserable. So, acknowledging that is, more or less, the heart of
the wish for bodhicitta. So with this frame of mind, lets do this prayer as part of our
meditation. Bring our mind here and now, in this tent, now. Dont worry about this
morning, dont worry about whats going to happen this afternoon or tomorrow, dont
worry about what happened last week; just bring our mind here and now, and just
worship. Just relax, and just let everything go. And just bring the mind here and now,
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and then, really from our heart, really reaffirm that conviction: were going to, were
willing to give everything up to get something that we can use to really get what we
want.
[Prayers]
I forget to mention, actually, I seek your indulgence to allow me to sit here. I
really feel privileged, actually, particularly, yesterday when John-hla asked whether there
were any new Buddhists here. I put my hand up also. Its not just trying to funny or
anything. I really believe, I still feel Im new in that thing. But then, also, I immediately
realized that, actually, that kind of division is meaningless. New Buddhists, old
Buddhists, senior students, new students, what else do we usually say? Advanced and
beginners. Maybe for yoga class you can tell immediately. But for what we do, can we
really divide like that? I just wonder. So, I understood when she put her hand up to say
that Im new, because I did so also. In this tent there are so many teachers, so many
people that are teaching you.
Someone just grabbed me up front and said, I want to ask you something. I
said, Yes, please. Ill see if I can help. She says, Is Buddhism a religion? What do
you think? I asked, What do you mean by religion? If you mean by religion there is
criteria, like, it has to have holy books, it has to have rituals, it has to have, I dont know,
a prophet or a leader, things like that, then, you know, it may qualify. Buddhism may
just qualify on that. But I wouldnt even say that, because really theres one thing about
religion thats generally very clear who the leader is. Like, you know the pope, or
Muhammad, or Jesus. And someone says, How about Buddha? Well, to me, Buddha
is just a description of a stage where somebody has achieved a certain state, you know,
like a doctor or a farmer. You know, its no more than that. One of the characteristics of
so-called Buddhism is that if there are 245 people here, then, actually, there are 245
schools of Buddhism, because we all understand it exactly according to ourselves. And,
by the way, they are all true, they are all correct. Anyway, it was quite a long talk, and
finally we, sort of, came to a comfortable definition. I wonder, what was that definition?
We said its a spiritual way of life, or something like that. I think she came up with
that. I think thats very close. Spiritual way of life. And even that, you know, the
spiritual bit, I think its sounding quite nice with the spiritual in there, instead of just
saying way of life.
Basically, what it means is that Buddhism is only a name thats applied when we
hold a certain way of thinking to conduct our life. Thats why Im a great advocate of a
small b in buddhist, instead of this big B, capital letter B, Buddhist, you know.
I was going to mention that but I saw so many people doing it, so Id better not. To be
Buddhist doesnt mean that you have to have a mala on your left arm, for instance, or to
have this red cord. Its not that. Its about your mind, in the way you look at things. Its
the way you look at this room. Now we all follow this, and coming to places like this is
just so humbling. It really is. You know, to listen to all of you, talking to you, and then
talking to the teachers that have already come, and then talking to our teacher, Geshe
Michael, really just shows how little you know. So really, and thats a confession, I have
very little knowledge. My practice is very, very bad. I seem to say this every time, but it
really is. But then, like last time I always say that, Im counting on just my motivation.
Today what Id like to do is to share whatever I have in my mind, or whatever
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little understanding I have about all these great things. Like, whats the purpose of life
and all that, and Id just like to share with you. So I wouldnt even call this a teaching.
Its just sharing this information with you. Because its only sharing opinions like that,
so I would appreciate questions, interruptions, and even different opinions. I think it
would be fun that way, okay?
It seems that people in the world when they have nothing to do, nothing better to
do should I say, the perennial question is always, Who am I? What is this life for?
Where do I come from? Do we have those kinds of questions in our mind? Well,
really, if we dont go that deep, one of the pertinent questions is, actually, What do we
really want? If we are here, there must be a reason, because were used to being told
that there must be a reason for everything. So, as we are here, there must be a reason
why we are here. And, actually, what are we after? Now, what do you think were after?
Why do we come here at all? To hear Geshe Michael Roach teach?
[Audience: inaudible]
Well, thats it. Perfect answer, perfect answer. We come here, really, because we
just want to be happy, and we hope, fervently, that Geshe Michael will tell us how
because weve tried everything else, right? And it seems at this stage its quite a good
idea to come here to listen to what Geshe-la teaches and learn how to be happy. In the
same way like when we had breakfast this morning the fact that we chose jelly instead
of peanut butter. We also want to be happy. Again, last night, it seems that when the
teaching is finished the next meeting is always conducted at Safeway. [laughter] We,
kind of, congregate there, and, then, Oh hi, everybodys there. And even at that time
of the night I can still see you sweating to choose, wow, which potato chips should I have
thick ones or thin ones, vinegar ones or barbecue? We still want to be happy even at that
time of the night. It seems that thats true. Now, His Holiness says, its almost an
inalienable right. You do not have to justify it. Its really that deep down, that the whole
purpose of aspiring to anything at all, whether I move my leg, or get up in the morning,
or eat that grape jelly and all this, or come here, or do meditation, or give a donation to
anybody, its just to be happy; pure and simple.
Actually, we can all pack up and go home, cant we! It really is that. Its so
simple. The problem is that we dont even know what happiness really is sometimes.
When were lazy, we just look around. The television tells us that happiness means
having 2.1 children, according to statistics; girls picking daisies on the roadside; little
boys chasing kites; and the husband and wife holding hands at sunset. Thats happiness.
You just follow that. Or, if you think that happiness is owning the latest, what do you
call it, SUV. Is it called that here? In Australia its the four-wheel drive, and now its
apparently the big thing. Really, if thats happiness then oh, and when I get promoted
to that position I will be forever happy. Or, looking around again, it seems that,
according to the television or the paper or even looking around at your neighbors, if you
have a lot of money youll be happy. Now this is all a clich. Youve heard it all before.
Theyre obviously not it. We often confuse the issue, like, having your desire satisfied, is
equivalent to happiness.
Now, in fact, what we learn is that fulfilling one desire is itself already flagging
that theres going to be further problems, because that desire will quickly be replaced by
another desire. Thats what we talked about last time. Remember, we said that, really,
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very often when we think that we want something, like, I think last time we talked about
if we want a new car, is it the case that we want a new car, or do we want the wish or
desire to have a new car fulfilled? Which one do you think? You know, its only to
fulfill the desire to have the new car. Its the same way when we want that delicious food
whatever you can imagine. You have to ask yourself, Do I really want that taste of
the food, or is it the case of another desire coming up and Im trying to fulfill that desire
again? If you check it out so simply, youll find that our life, the whole series of our
lives, is nothing but this futile effort to continuously fulfill those desires. The books tell
us, desires have only two possibilities: either fulfilled or its unfulfilled, right? But either
one, you see, either one will be replaced by another desire. And this is the crux of the
problem. So whether you fulfill this current desire, or you dont fulfill it, it doesnt
matter. Its going to be replaced by another one. You see, if we just follow this, if were
just being lazy, if we just we look around and take our lead from newspapers, from TV,
from our neighbors, for sure it will be an endless and thankless task impossible to
achieve, because one desire will be replaced by another, by another, by another.
Just like that emperor, when he started his kingdom was still small, and got
bigger, bigger, bigger, and in the end he realized, wow, its a series of fulfilling desires;
then theres another desire, another desire. So, you see, this kind of thing, this
unsatisfactoriness, the nature of our existence then, if we consist of just fulfilling this
desire, then its unsatisfactory, isnt it? Because you cannot get satisfaction from
fulfilling one desire, because immediately when I say immediately it could be three
days, it could be three hours, three seconds, it could be three years it will be replaced
by another desire.
Now, this unsatisfactoriness is actually what Lord Buddha calls dukkha, suffering.
Im not saying that all life is suffering, because the moment when that desire is fulfilled,
when you get your new car, you call yourself happy; youre glad that you did that, that
you have this, you know. I dont know, this nice smelling macaroni and cheese . . . I
only found out last night that there is a soy cheese here. You see, you learn all the time.
I always love the supermarkets in America. Best place to practice. [laughter]
You see, if we could look at our life very simply, then, wed know now. Lord
Buddha took 49 days to think, If I tell all these people its so easy and its so simple,
would they believe me? To say, look guys, the way you live like that, you cant win.
Because in-built, in you, is your habit, your habituation of looking at life like that
continuously. And then, you say, right now there is the cause for that. The cause for it is
that, basically, whatever we do, whatever we experience is, actually, a result of whatever
we did before. So, when we are not satisfied with something, do you think that will bring
something that will satisfy our craving? No way. That way of thinking will be repeated
again, and again, and again. Thats why, in Buddhism, there is no such thing as human
nature. They say, violence, oh thats human nature. Or when youre in business they
say, well, in business, you cant tell the truth all the time, its okay to cheat; its human
nature. No. In Buddhism what we have is just human habit. Even violence, its 100%
just habit. And, just like all habits, it can change. But well get to that later.
So, the cause is just that we habituated ourselves in doing the same thing all the
time. Technically, its called the cause of suffering and generally it blames two things:
karma and pleasure. Now, if you think about it, what is pleasure? Mental affliction,
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right? The ignorance lobha, krodha, moha. Geshe Michael talked about all that last
night. But, if you think about it, you could almost say pleasure is nothing but the
habituated karma that ripens all the time. Its an habitual tendency. Thats why its
called pleasure, because we keep doing the same thing. All the time, right? So, when we
get jealous, we know it, and thats why we do it all the time. So, the cause of that, its
just nothing else; its just because we habituated ourselves in the way we think and the
way we act, and thats why its perpetuated all the time. This is why Geshe Michael
translates samsara as vicious cycle, and I think its correct. Because thats all we do,
we keep searching all the time.
But then Lord Buddha said, look, there are those things we can stop and there is a
way. Now, those are what we call the Four Arya Truths. So the basic teaching of
Buddhism, again, is so simple, is so mundane. There is no sacredness at all about this
basic tenet, which makes it really very hard to say if thats a tenet of Buddhism. We
could hardly call it religion, could we? Because, generally, religion invokes this divine
interference, and things like that. Its just downright simple. Buddhism, is just so
simple. This teaching is just talking about a very simple thing.
Buddhism has always used the same handbook since it was devised. The
textbook is always the same. What are the textbooks in Buddhism? What are the
textbooks? The Five Books? No. The Lam Rim? No.
[Audience: inaudible]
Thats right. The textbook that we use is always our mind. Thats why it doesnt
have to be revised. Still first edition, and its still the same! [laughter] Its always the
same. Always right. Its our mind. Just like His Holiness says. All this unhappiness
outside, really, its the business of our mind, because its proven. Materially, we are so
much more advanced, so much more sophisticated, and all that, but it still cant solve our
problem of being unhappy, because its the problem of our mind, isnt it? Thats what
His Holiness would say, right?
Now if you want to fix what is, basically, minds problem, fix it with your mind.
So dont even bother to manipulate your outside things. Thats another rule: problem of
our mind, we fix it with our mind. Now the way to do that, the way to stop the problem,
the way to stop this desire, the way to stop. . . You know, what happened with desire?
Desire makes your mind, kind of, always agitated. Youre always moving somewhere.
Just like if you look at the airport, hundreds of thousands of people, theyre going
somewhere. Theyre always moving. Theyre going somewhere. And, thats why I
think yesterday or the day before, Geshe Michael explained the root word of pleasure.
Its klish, meaning to agitate. So the mind is agitated because it has a pleasure attack.
Thats why its not a happy mind. In other words, you can almost reverse the definition.
If theres no agitation, if there is no pleasure operating, then the mind will be calm and
that is equivalent to happiness. Right? So the definition of happiness, more or less, and
His Holiness also uses this word, its really peace of mind. The mind that is calm, is not
riddled with desire, is not riddled with jealousy, not riddled with all this pleasure. So that
is really what happiness is.
Now, this is exactly what Master Patanjali tell us in his Yoga Sutra. In fact its
the second sutra: Yoga Chitta Virtti Nirodha. Yoga is the cessation? Yoga is trying to
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cease; the cessation of the fluctuation of the mind exactly this definition. So, the
purpose of yoga, as written by Master Patanjali, is exactly the same. That is, the
cessation of the fluctuation of the mind. Which means, happiness. It means bliss. And
that is the purpose of the whole thing. When your mind no longer fluctuates its
equivalent to happiness. So, the whole thing is to try to get this mind calm, free from
fluctuation. Sometimes its called free from mortification and all that. So its all the
same.
Now, in the Yoga Sutra, this teaching, I feel so ashamed talking about the Yoga
Sutra in front of many, many people that are so much more conversant with the work and
more expert on these things. I just learned the Yoga Sutra when Geshe Michael first
mentioned it. I went to get the book and started learning it. Its amazing. And since then
it was just so engrossing its just unbelievable. Its almost like a magnet, you know, the
more you study, the more you find out that every single word is so packed, like Geshe
Michael explained. So, for the last few days Im just like a kid in a lolly shop, you know,
every time Geshe Michael explained what the word means, its just so incredible.
Sometimes if I think about what I did in the past, sometimes its kind of really incredible.
It makes me feel a bit ashamed of myself. How dare I talk about the Yoga Sutra to all of
you, having learned for just such a short time. Thats why I call it Yoga Sutra by
Dummies. [laughter]
Basically, in the Yoga Sutra, again by dummies oh, one qualification by the
way, whatever I say here, right, please add the words, to you. Meaning, its only to
me its like that, right? So, Im not saying, This is the truth,. Its just, to me, its
like that, right? So I make this qualification. So feel free to disagree, and in fact, you
must question this. These all come from me, dont take what I say too seriously. But Im
just sharing. So whatever I say is just, to me, like that. To me, it is the truth.
One of my favorite quotations is from Master Nagarjuna, when he was asked,
what is truth? And he said, Truth is that which helps. Truth is that which helps. To
me its an incredible definition. How many wars started because we wanted to discover
the truth? How many fights, how much unhappiness to find the truth? Is there any truth
out there? No. Is there any truth out there that everybody agrees on? No. This is why
Lord Buddha says, theres only one ultimate truth. That is, that everything has no nature
of its own. Nothing has a nature of its own. Emptiness. Shunyata. Its the only thing.
You know what it means, that one. That is, actually, a very wild statement. If shunyata
is the ultimate truth, it means that everything else, whatever we experience, however we
exist, whatever we have, is 100% interpretable. Its up to you how you interpret it. Its
open to you how you behave. Its up to us. The whole thing is just changeable.
So, we come back to chitta virtti nirodhah, the cessation of the fluctuation of the
mind, or the happiness that we are talking about. Master Patanjali said, look, you can
only do it by really applying, very hard effort, with a lot of effort in these things, which
is, I think, abhyasa. And the second one is vairagya, which is to try to develop a sense of
non-attachment. Its just a sense of, Im quite hesitant to use the word renunciation, but
its just non-attachment. So Master Patanjali said, look, the way you do that is with
abhyasa, which is really constant effort, constant application, determination of wanting to
do that, and vairagya, which is non-attachment. Or, Geshe Michael said, the other
alternative is ishvara pranidhanatva, you just depend on the blessing of the guru. Well
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get to back to that. Id like to see this translation of ishvara pranidhanava, dont you
think, the way Geshe Michael translated it?
But we will get back to that, I think, later on. So there are two ways. This is the
application, or the other one is following this blessing of the guru. Now within this
abhyasa or this constant effort, Master Patanjali then enumerates the eight different steps
or different limb, which are the ashtanga, ashta anga the eight limbs. Were all
learning it, I dont have to go through that. Youve got, yama, niyama, asana,
pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi. Youve got the eight of them, right?
The first five, they call it, the outer, and the last three, they call it, the inner, because it
has to do with mind. Geshe Michael really explained that. So, the Yoga Sutra says that
if you want to really achieve the cessation of the mind, you have to go through these
eight steps. You start from yama, niyama, the asanas, the pranayamas, then pratyahara,
meaning withdrawal of the senses, and then, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.
Concentration, and then absorption is the last one, dont you think? Or, meditation and
absorption?
[Audience: inaudible]
Absorption and meditation. But, the last one is samadhi. Samadhi, which is,
really, that you define the space where your mind is going to operate and then you say,
what is the point that you want to really think about or want to analyze? And then, if you
think that way, and the more you work on it, the more you think like that, you realize that
the I, the person thats actually doing the meditation, even that disappears. Then the
whole thing becomes just awareness, or the constant mindfulness on something. And
thats called samadhi.
Now Geshe Michael mentioned this. In the first Quiet Retreat Teaching, Geshe
Michael brought up this issue of samadhi. Samadhi means that your mind is always
sharp, always on the job, always aware of what you do and why you do it. More or less
like that. In the first Quiet Retreat Teaching, Geshe Michael talked about the inner
kingdom. Now, the inner kingdom is also no different than when the mind stops
fluctuating. You will get to the inner kingdom, because by then you have already gotten
rid of everything else. And Geshe Michael then says, that we can get it in this lifetime.
And that is called jivan mukti.
Now, Geshe Michael used the metaphor of if you look at an egg, its not the
finished product. There is something that will follow that. Right? If you see an egg, you
know that its not the finished product. But, I guess if you ask my daughter, she will say,
over-easy or sunny-side-up! But what Geshe Michael meant is that we are all just like
the egg, you know. That means that there is something else. Theres a continuation of
this one, of our existence. It must lead somewhere. And that somewhere is, he said using
Jesus teaching, finally to reach the inner kingdom. Whatever you call it, inner kingdom,
paradise, ultimate happiness, ultimate reality. Whatever you call it, that is where were
going to go.
Therefore, our life now is to try to achieve what is actually just our ultimate
potential really. What were trying to do now is to get to our ultimate potential. Its not
that we have to invent something. Its just that if we do it constantly and we do it right,
we will eventually achieve our potential, our ultimate potential, which is that happiness,
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that cessation of the fluctuation of the mind, that inner kingdom.

Now, to do that, there are teachings that show us why is it so hard. Now, of all
those things, they say, klesha, the afflictive emotions or agitation, the agitator of our
mind, and karma, means that we always experience something that we created
beforehand. Always. Its almost like a vicious cycle, isnt it? So if you did not do it
right in the beginning, how can it be right now? It could not. But, if we reverse that
logic, as long as we still feel dissatisfied, as long as we still feel there is suffering in us, it
must mean what? We created it beforehand. So now it seems that the mission, our lives
mission then, is to make sure that whatever we create will be experienced as nice things.
In fact, in Buddhism, which I like very much, thats the definition of good and bad. Now
maybe you have a feeling that Im a little biased towards Buddhism, right?
Goodness, in Buddhism, is defined as the happiness of beings. So things are good
if it brings a happy feeling. Things are bad if you experience suffering. Its as simple as
that. There is no moral luggage in it, there is no other theory attached to it, there is no
thesis. Its as simple as that. You can only call it good if it brings a pleasant feeling for
you, or bad if its an unpleasant one.
Now, if thats the case, then we want to create the seed that is always good,
meaning, it results in being something pleasant. But why cant we do that all the time, or
most of the time? Well, that is karma. But why do we keep doing it, if we know that? If
we know that were creating no, let me rephrase it. If we know that until now we still
feel that we suffer, meaning, still feel dissatisfied about something, you know, stiff leg, or
feeling hot, or feeling jealous, or feeling, I dont know, low self-esteem, or whatever; if
we still feel that, it means were still creating the cause to feel that, right?
When will it stop? It doesnt seem that its going to stop, because we keep doing
the same thing again. But why? If we know now that what we want is just that simple
cessation of the fluctuation of the mind, the happiness that is so simple, that sometimes,
as I said, you know, even watching a sunset can be happiness, why cant we get that?
Whats the matter with us? Are we really that stupid? Well apparently yes. [laughter]
You know, its simple, but you know, theres just no magic to it. Its so simple, isnt it?
I mean, if good means the things we experience that are nice, well want to create
something that we will experience as a nice thing. But what do we do? We do the
opposite. Are we that stupid? Yes, were stupid. Is it our fault? Hmmmm. Lets not
talk about fault here, because were all in the same club, right? Were doing the same
thing. Now, thats what Lord Buddha said is that, yes, you are stupid (the whole course
of that, if you want to know, is really one thing, and that is called 84,000 derivatives).
Thats why the symbol in the center of the wheel of life is a pig. Its called
avidya or moha. No, they are two different things, right? Avidya means you dont know
how things are really. Thats really the big cause. Or the other aspect of that is moha,
meaning you do not understand that things do come from that cause. In other words,
youre creating that yourself all the time. Somebody asked me the difference, last time,
between this avidya and moha. Now, that is the difference. Avidya is that you really do
not see things correctly. Moha is just that you do not understand the law of cause and
effect. So those two things we have to fix, right?
Now then, the teaching gets really serious, because that challenges our basic
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thinking. You know what weve been doing so far? Every day, every moment, we
always say, I only want to be happy, right? We keep saying that. Is there anything
wrong with that?
[Audience: inaudible]
Wow! Actually, perfect. It doesnt work. You see, exactly like Katherine was
saying here, because its a trick sentence, that one I want to be happy. Theres a
little problem there, because we always put the word I in front, much too often. Now,
why is it wrong that I want to be happy?
[Audience: inaudible]
Its not the cause of happiness. When we look at the I, in I want to be happy,
within that sentence theres something wrong. If the I is wrong, then there must be
something in that definition of I itself, dont you think? Because the to be happy bit
is correct. The I, if that is the only possibility, its only the I, thats wrong. That
means the way we define I is wrong. The way we understand I is wrong. Then there
are nice words, like self-cherishing or self-grasping, things like that. What it means
is this very simple thing, really. Everythings very simple here, but very difficult to do.
If you think I means just this using Geshe Michaels word this bag of bones, I
finish here, then you have no chance of making things work. Now, Im going to just try
to convince you in this argument by saying that.
Now, Im not going to go really very deeply like, let us find this I in the
aggregates or this I is not in the aggregates. Its a very simple thing. All of us here, do
we ever get up in the morning, open our eyes, when its only I that is there, meaning
only this bag of bones that is there, with no environment, no surrounding, no beings, no
anything else. No? Is it possible?
[Audience: inaudible]
No, no. Lets not get technical. Its very simple. Im just asking a simple thing.
In the morning when you get up, or wherever you are, do you ever see you, yourself,
alone, with nothing else?
[Audience: inaudible]
No. You see? This is the clue. This is where we started wrongly, because when
we think I we only think, this one. And yet I is never, ever, ever, only this one. I
at least it includes my bed. [laughter] Or my coffee. Or my, whats that, computer,
my room, my house. Thats still okay, you know, if its only that. Then, my neighbor,
you know, my friend, my enemy. . . my goodness. [laughter] All of a sudden you say,
I want to be happy. Hang on. Which I? Only this? Not possible, because this is never
the case. Yet, try to tell that to your biology teacher, that I is actually beyond this.
Theyll think youre crazy, right?
And I think, by definition, by Lord Buddhas definition, were all crazy, by the
way. Because crazy means what does crazy mean, actually? Usually it means, things
that you perceive or things that you understand are different than reality. Is that right?
Does that sound familiar? Is that what we agreed this morning, that thats our problem
also? So, actually, were all crazy in that, its just a degree of severity.
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When somebodys quite convinced that they have a room mate all the time, you
know, Im talking about Beautiful Mind. Again, the Australian professor is in that
movie, right? [laughter] Im talking about that movie, Beautiful Mind. Anybody
seen that? You know, its so cruel, dont you think? He was just happy to think that hes
got a roommate, that hes got this little girl with him, and they lock him up. Smash his
brain, and try to say you are sick; you need treatment.
Well, according to Lord Buddha, were all like that. Thats why Lord Buddhas
already given up making this a lock-up, because theres that many of us. Its impossible!
So they just let us roam around, you know. [laughter] And, because were all more or
less in the same predicament, I guess we can relate to each other better that way, at least.
But once you start thinking differently, then youre strange. Thats why they say when
you start living Dharma you are swimming against the tide, because really, now this is
the serious bit, every day we almost have to do that. If we want to do that, we better stop
asking whys that. Almost always the other direction is better. And that is the technique;
one of the techniques of practice is questioning everything and then doing that. You see,
when we start to question that, I include the environment, include the people, and that
means also asking did Lord Buddha say that? Or did the teachings say that, actually?
Yes, yes, the teaching says that, very clearly.
When they talk about person, generally, in Buddhism they say body, mind, and
something else makes up a person, right? So, what is that venerable Elly? Is it called,
psycho-physical? You used that word yesterday or today.
[Elly: inaudible]
Oh, she says she made it up! I thought that sounded very good. Psycho-physical
base, or something like that. What it means is, our mind and our body, right? We
usually know thats me, thats us, right, the mind and the body. And, I think
theres a mistranslation there, a little bit, or at least its never elaborated, what does body
mean? In the book, in the teaching, body, rupa form, is defined as what? There are ten
different things that make up form. Come on ACI teachers; you used to know that. Now,
there are actually eleven parts. The Abhidharma says there are eleven parts of form or
rupa or what we usually call body.
Very quickly, generally, in teaching body, we understand body, we move. But do
we really understand body? Thats why this book says that form, in Abhidharma,
consists of eleven parts. Form is just one of the heaps. There are five heaps. Form is
one of the heaps. The next one is feeling, the other one is your ability to discriminate,
right? The last one is consciousness, and then the fourth one is the rest of them, right?
So, there are five heaps. The first heap is form. Now Im just talking about the first
heap.
What is form? By definition, theres eleven parts of form. There are five objects
of the senses: sight, sound, touch, feeling, and smell, and five sense powers, and
consciousnesses. According to Vaibhashika here, right?
In the Abhidharma, the
eleventh is called the undetectable form. Remember? When you take a vow, you take
the belief that that is also a part of you. In other words, in Buddhism, they say when you
promise somebody, that promise is part of you; it becomes your body.
Now why is it then that form or body consists of those five objects of senses, and
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five sense consciousnesses or sense powers? Does it make sense like that? It seems that
its a little bit off the mark because if youre thinking it is just body, really, then its
incredible.
Let us do a test. If I ask you, Katherine, in your body, is there a heart? You
know, the heart. Oh, let us say lung, because heart is, you know, you can get the fluffy
type and all that. [laughter] Its just lungs. Do you have lungs in your body? Okay.
Describe to me your lungs.
[Audience: inaudible]
Color and shape, function, smell, touch, and all that that is lung which we
havent seen, right? Weve never seen it. So when you say my body, there is a lung
there somewhere even though you havent seen it. So, when you say I know this is my
body, what do you actually see? You see a little picture of you, right, inside you.
Which has a shape, like this? Or was shorter, or was it longer. Was that body wearing
glasses, or not? Is it wearing a T-shirt, or not?
You see, we so easily say, its my body. We never stop to think, hang on, what
are we referring to really? Its a mental image. Its a picture. You know, we are not
even talking about this body. So when you say this body, its a wrong image of that. If
only you imagined, when you say I, that it included the rest of the things we use too
the environment and the people in it. Then, at least, even though its not the thing that
you see, even though its an image, its a correct image. But even that image is wrong,
because you are forced by this avidya to see yourself detached from the rest of the world.
Now this is the crux of the problem.
If I really say that my body consists of those five objects of the senses and the five
sense powers, that means my body now includes you all. Includes this noise, includes the
taste I experienced this morning of the toast, includes all that. That constitutes I. So if
you want to make yourself happy, do you think its possible to have just this part okay
and the rest of you, I dont care? Is it possible?
No. Its so obvious. You know, you ask any mother, she would trade anything if
she sees her child, even something as simple as catching a cold, and couldnt breathe
properly, because all of a sudden she realizes that, actually, the child is part of her. You
see, just on this very basic. . . We havent touched emptiness yet, you know. But, even
in this very basic thing, its quite obvious that really we always cut ourselves off from
something that really is there. I mean, youre always part of this world.
In fact, Lord Buddha dares us to say that this world is none other than what you
project as your world. There is not any other world. Dont believe your geography
teacher. That world doesnt exist. This world only exists as much as, or as wide as, or as
populated as, polluted as, as cruel as, as beautiful, as you create. Now that is the truth.
And its hard to swallow. How many Arizonas are there? Where is Arizona or New
York? Where is New York? What is New York to you? As many as there are people
here, there will be that many types of New York.
They exist only for you, the way you want them to exist. For my children, New
York is always that little hotdog stand on the corner of 54th Street and Broadway. This
old Italian guy selling that. But to other people, its different. And yet we strive to say,
look, there is a New York out there, that exists out there, that everybody sees as being
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like that. And yet New York exists only in my mind. Its the same when you say there is
only one Katherine, one Salim, one Ruth, one Elly, separate from you all. Thats not the
deal.
You see, if we keep thinking that way, I want to be happy, and if this I does
not include the rest of your world youre bound to fail, because then what youre doing,
literally, is youve decided that you are against the rest of your world, including the
annoying people and the unfavorable things. So your life, every instant, you are fighting
against the rest of this world. In that kind of fight, its not hard to tell whos going to
win. You have no chance. You see?
That is only just on the basic level. But lets just take that and move on. So now
we know, its the way we look at things. This is why when we care for others, who are
we really caring for? Really ourselves. You see? So its not just, oh Im a nice person,
Im caring for the earth. Its not that. Its your world. Its up to you how you want to do
it. You see, if you include others, then weve got a fighting chance to achieve what we
want. We include everybody in our so-called body in our existence. We know our
interconnectedness with everybody. Now we know that we are related to everybody else
within our world.
In Vimalakirtis Sutra, Lord Buddha explained that. Or this is in the Sutra where
Lord Buddha was asked by some of the disciples to describe the Buddha field, Buddhauniverse, Buddha paradise. And he explained that, well, a Buddha paradise, for a start, is
not a piece of real estate. Buddha paradise is created by the result, the high result of all
beings, by all that, its a really beautiful thing because all the beings in it, the
surroundings in it, including the perceiver, the Buddha, alls been purified.
So its the same deal, right? Except our world now, our New York, our Arizona,
is still, because our mind is still not correct in perceiving that, no wonder it still looks
crummy. But when a Buddha, a person thats already purified the whole thing, looks at
himself or herself and the world, of course its pure. So Lord Buddha went on and
explained this beautiful mansion with diamond walls, and every single sound teaching
Dharma, and all the beings there are all just glorious, in their glorious form and all that.
When Lord Buddha was teaching that, venerable Shariputra started thinking, if
its really this, if a Buddha paradise is that good, this Buddha is not doing it right,
because to him he is still in Varanasi at that time, with the dogs still running around and
the smell. I think I told you this story before. I just love to bring up this point, because
Lord Buddha can read peoples mind, he says, Shariputra, what are you thinking?
[laughter] He didnt have to say many things, because Lord Buddha knew exactly
whats in his mind. And then Lord Buddha asked the famous question: Is it the fault of
the sun and the moon if the blind cannot see? Beautiful, beautiful quotation. At that
time, then, Lord Buddha put a foot on Shariputras head poof the whole thing turned
into this wonderful mansion, you know. The whole thing just become a magnificent
paradise, just for a few moments. Then Lord Buddha withdrew that vision and
Shariputra got his lesson. You see? Its about that.
So, we have to change the way we look at things. Now, unfortunately, we look at
things like that because of our habituated way of looking at things. Its very difficult,
isnt it? So then we say, okay, how do I do it? Then you have the result. No longer is it
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only me. I really have to save all beings now. All beings are my responsibility.
Actually, what youre saying is that its my happiness anyway. But you say, now the
happiness of others is my responsibility. Now I know that my existence, if I include all
beings, if I fix all beings, I will get that happy. And then, you know what happens? Its
very liberating. No longer is the world against you. Now you are with it. So then all
will be okay. You set out and do that.
So now you become a bodhisattva. You want to save all the world. So if need be,
if there is a hungry tiger, you come forward. Eat me. It doesnt matter, because by then
the bodhisattva understands anyway. Its infinite. Its never ending. We will be here all
the time. So times not a problem; absolutely no problem. The only important thing is,
maybe, Monday or Tuesday at 11:00 when I have to catch the plane; but time is no
problem, you see. [laughter] We have all the time in the world, as they say. These
bodhisattvas feel that way. Bodhisattvas just go on, and on, and on, and help; quite
willing to give their eyes, or their body, to this tiger, and all that. And by doing that, they
collect the cause, the goodness, to then project their world into something better, right?
Well almost, right? Except the bodhisattva thinks: its okay for me, but how about for
those people out there? They are still pickled in the way they think. Its okay for me to
feed myself to a tiger, but how many times do I have to do that? It takes many years to
just get up to this size, a substantial meal for a tiger. And if you have to go like that, you
dont mind, but its just going to really take ages.
So out of concern say, right now, its okay for me. I understand. I understand
why I suffer and I now know how to get out of this. Its just by changing my thinking,
creating the correct seed. But its still not all okay for the rest of my world, for the
people in my world. You see, this kind of feeling, to think about them and the ones you
cannot help, its just so sad, and so youre determined to work for them. So you say, Ill
do anything to get to a position where I can help all of them in the best possible way.
And this attitude, actually, is the prerequisite for you to even mention or to even think, to
even contemplate tantra. Without this attitude youre bound to fail. This is the base.
You can talk about chakras. You can talk about channels. As they say, having a
cookbook doesnt make you a chef. Just because you have the recipe, it doesnt mean
that you can produce that nice cooking.
This is the prerequisite. You see, you must feel, its okay for me now. I think
were all okay. We know now, right? We know the way. We know that. I can see it in
your face. We are quite determined to get out of that. So its okay. But then, how about
the others, the ones that are still pickled in their own suffering? And how long will it
take me to clear my world of those people? I cant bear to see this unbearable feeling
there. We must have this before we even contemplate tantra, because this is the only
valid reason to achieve tantra.
I know Geshe Michael says the purpose is to stop dying and all that. When we do
not see ourselves as dying, we can show others how to do that. So, its always thinking
of others. We have to remind each other of this, right? That is our motivation, not so
that we can be tantrikas and have this red belt, or do anything. Its not that. You know,
its just because we want to do it for them. This is why. And to do that involves
thinking. But if you say, if you are told that yes, you can achieve that, you can achieve
not having to experience death again, etcetera, you might find this very, very difficult to
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believe.
Thats why Geshe Michael taught us in Second Sight saying yes, because of the
way you think, and logically, in the beginning, its normal that you will reject this
thinking; viparyaya, meaning your mind, to say, look, thats not true. And then you start
to doubt vikalpa, right? And then you say, it may be true. There is this little seed of
doubt, and then you get to pramana. What is pramana? Valid perception. Now valid
perception is very interesting because Yes?
[Audience: inaudible]
Fifteen minutes, okay. Lets get to enlightenment in fifteen minutes. I always get
carried away with this kind of thing. The reason I go very slowly, I hope its not boring,
is in a sense I want you to share with me this understanding, because this is how I feel,
you see? This is why I feel so much joy in talking like this, because, it really is. I just
cant believe it. Its just this feeling. Its so fantastic. To know that, yes, it can be done.
Yes, yes. And I just want to here it is you know. I want to just share it. Im sorry
if I get too over enthusiastic like that. And you know what Geshe Michael does? He
makes it so clear and so obvious to us. Its very doable. Its not easy. He never says it
easy. But its very doable.
And, out of his kindness, despite that it may cause him a lot of controversy and all
that, he is quite determined to say, look, its attainable. That really is so kind, because
the best thing for Geshe Michael, if he doesnt think about others, doesnt have any
compassion for us, is just to quietly stay in the yurt and not do any of these things, just
quietly achieve bliss. So this talk about Geshe Michael is just showing off and all this
thats just not understanding the reason behind all this. So kind. So kind. I ask myself,
if I were doing a three year retreat, do you think Id want to get out every six months
and teach this? No thank you. [laughter] But you know, anyway so, so kind, so kind.
Anyway, with that kind of feeling, you see, pramana. Then we get pramana.
You see, yes, it can be done. The correct perception, you started to see that. First, its
just agama, meaning its a very hidden thing so you just have to take the teachers word
for it and you just have to agree to that. And then, you go to the next stage, anumana,
meaning by inference, this is what were doing now and by inference now we can
actually work it out. Yes, it makes sense. Yes, its doable. Thats where we are now,
right? And then, hopefully, we can get the next stage, pratyaksha, meaning, direct
perception. In other words, we no longer depend on this inference but we know directly.
We no longer depend on this kind of thing. This is, really, the purpose of why Geshe-la
taught us about Second Sight. To say look, this is the thinking.
Now were talking about tantra, I must say I know nothing. I know very, very,
very little about tantra. So what I say is just purely based on my very, very limited
knowledge. You see? But I happened also to read this beautiful poem by the Seventh
Dalai Lama, who says that basically there are four pillars of tantra. I dont want to bore
you with that. Enough to say that there is this.
Of the four pillars of tantra, that the Seventh Dalai Lama mentioned, one is to see
that oh actually, I have my little cheat sheet here! No, I just thought to share it with
you. Its beautiful. There are five verses to describe the four pillars. This is the last, no,
actually the first one, which consists of two verses talking about emptiness, actually. In
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the mandala of knowable of things, appearing and evolving, the sky of clear light
ultimate reality everywhere pervades. See everything in this indescribable light of reality.
Not holding conceptual fabrication, look for the immaculate void. Not allowing negative
thought to arise, then turn to face to the void. Generate unrelenting mindfulness and
hold it to the realm of the void.
Now, this is the first pillar, which is to say that if you look at everything, the
whole thing here, its almost like the Sufi philosopher said oh, again, Geshe Michael
actually used a better example: The Truman Show. You know, the Sufi actually said
that our world, you can imagine its almost like a dome, a blue dome that we carry
wherever we go, you see? Well its almost like the Truman Show, except The
Truman Show is limited within the dome, but we just carry our world wherever we go.
Now, everything just happens, just arises, goes, evolves, within that dome, within
that clear light nature, in other words. If we understand emptiness, the whole thing is
nothing but just a plane of mind like that. Every single thing. Thats why he said
appearing and evolving. And then not holding conceptual fabrication, meaning, we do
not really fabricate anything, just understand that its empty.
If we see something, generally, we are more interested in the content of the
experience instead of the experience itself. Does it make sense like that? And yet, guess
what? The most important thing is the experience itself, not the content of the
experience. Why? Because the experience itself creates an imprint in our mind. This
experience itself is never the content of the experience. In our life so far, we always,
100%, look and are concerned and manipulate the content of our experience. We never
worry about the experience itself. So, if we want to get something, it doesnt matter if we
steal, if we cheat, and all these things, because were interested in the content, the result,
the object.
In fact in tantra, when they say somebody asked me this before, so I thought Id
just like to share it with you. Why is it that the fearsome, that anger, that the wrathful
aspect is used in tantra? I explained it like this. You imagine if we are so angry. Very,
very angry. This kind of vigorous emotion to be determined, to want to right the wrong.
Its this kind of very strong emotion but without an object. If there is no object of your
anger, wouldnt it be fantastic energy to have? Can you imagine that? We are so
determined, so angry, but without an object, because when there is an object, generally,
we want to harm. Thats why its so harmful. Now, its the same thing. They asked
about the other aspect, you know, which is like, sometimes people say the father and
mother; things like that.
Its almost the same thing. I said look, it just doesnt have to go to that deep. Just
imagine the first time we fell in love. Looking at this girlfriend, or boyfriend, or
whatever it is. And then, just imagine that feeling. For a while, just imagine that feeling,
that beautiful sense of wellness within our selves. The world doesnt matter. Whether it
rains or it shines, holding hands walking through it, you dont even feel the wetness of
the rain. Everythings just beautiful that kind of emotion. Wouldnt it be fantastic if
it was not laced with lust, or wanting something?
You see, we have this potential but we always manage to muck it up! We
somehow manage to blow it by putting an object on it. So we waste all this. Anyway,
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the purpose, why I want to mention the four pillars, is first this part, this clear light. And
second, is about compassion. Now compassion, in this sense, means you acknowledge
that everything is empty, right? Its based on emptiness. In tantra they mention that you
look at everything that is happening in the world, thats happening to us, and the four
different types of things. Its either a peaceful thing, or its an increase, or its a power,
or a fierceness. You know, the four divisions.
So, if you look at whatever happens in the world, its an expression of either of
those four. Peace, Increase, Power, and Fierceness. Then you can see that with
compassion, you say, well its okay. If you see some violence happen, you try to see it in
the divine theatre. And it just happens to have the violence aspect on that. I dont think
we have time to go further into that. Even though I would love to be able to share with
you these things. Its really an incredible understanding. Its very liberating.
Im just going to one more that I think is more important, more relevant at this
stage. The next one is our commitment to keep our mind in joy, and bliss, and lucidity.
In other words, we commit ourselves to always having this mind of joy, and bliss, and
lucidity. In other words, you look at me as perfect, you as perfect, and everything as
perfect. This too is quite incredible to go into it in detail. But, anyway, Ill skip that.
The last one is that our dependence on the Guru, or Guru Yoga, is one pillar of
tantra. I would just like to go a little deeper on this one. Ive been asked many of you
asked me, talked to me about this guru thing. Now, I must admit this is one of the
difficult aspects of Buddhism for me before, personally, to accept Guru devotion. I
always thought about Tilopa and Naropa and when the Guru says, Jump! I just say,
How high? You know? But like Geshe-hla explained, its not like that. You see? I
think this is how I understand about the guru, and guru devotion. As we can learn from
the story of Naropa-hla that, basically, before he even became a yogi, he had mastered all
the five books, all the ACI courses. And hes done Hevajara tantra, hes done
Chakrasamvajra tantra. What does that mean? What does that tell us? Hes had gurus
before. Hes had teachers before. Right? He learned it from somewhere. And yet, hes
still looking for a Guru. So what is the difference between this guru that hes looking for,
and those gurus that taught him the rest of the things? You see?
Now, in tantra, they say you must have this kind of a relationship with the guru
meaning now Guru in here [points to self]. His Holiness the Seventh Dalai Lama, in
the commentary on that, says there are four different types of Guru. First is what they
call, Ghenhompa (?) Lama The Guru of Ultimate reality. It means that the guru is
your inner self, your inner understanding, the primordial nature of things. Meaning, that
you count on this guru because you really do have a guru. What does it mean to have a
guru? Its to count on the jinlap, the blessing, the power of transformation that you have
because of your relationship with a guru. And then, its really very strange. It was
described that there are four gurus, four types of gurus. The first guru is the guru of
Reality. Meaning we then have to reach deep to ask, to understand that our mind and
everybody elses mind is actually empty. And because its empty, it has the potential to
be better. Thats why its called Buddha Nature. It means that this emptiness is the one
that makes it possible for us to achieve our Ultimate Reality, the ultimate objective, to
achieve Buddhahood. So the first guru is the Guru of this Ultimate Reality, meaning
achieving your ultimate nature, your emptiness.
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The second is called Wangya (?) Lama, which means the guru of everyday
experience. What this means is that sometimes, or most of the time, we go through life
experiencing thousands of things. They just come and go. Just like my mother used to
say, You never learn do you? Do we ever learn? And this guru of everyday
experience, meaning thinking every moment of our life, thinking to use everything that
happens as a teaching. Get something from it. Learn something from it. Get the
blessing. Get the transforming power from learning from everything, from everyday
experience.
Then the third one is called Kagyi (?) Lama. Kagyi Lama, meaning its the
written, the teaching, the footprint of all these enlightened beings. Meaning all the
teaching in the world that bring you here today. All the books that we read, all the
knowledge, and all that. It doesnt matter from which dealership! Its all those things.
Thats why they say of all the enlightenment qualities the most important thing is
Trinling (?), which is activity, the enlightenment activity. And, out of the Trinling the
most important is the activity of speech. Meaning all these enlightened beings, really
what they are about, is to teach us, to show us. Thats why the Kagyi Lama are all these
teachings, all these instructions, left by these enlightened being for us.
Now, the fourth one is the living Master. Now how do we relate to this living
Master? Well John already elaborated on that yesterday, so I dont have to go through it
again. But actually, there is a little problem, I guess, with that checklist John. For
instance, when you say that somebody has to have shamata and vipashyana, how do we
check that? Do you ask to your teacher, Excuse me have you achieved this? So I can
take this one?
I mean its very difficult. Therefore, you have to depend on your kelwa, the
goodness in your heart. They say that if you have that in your heart, the Guru will look
for you. If you have created the cause like everything else, and if I tell you even you
know, if we tell the story to those who are waiting for us at home, that there are these two
dakinis called Victoria and Darcy who are bringing all the relics of the Buddha, theyll
say ah, yeah, yeah, nice story. Nobody would believe you. Actually, it happened right?
So the same thing, you see. All this, you have to believe that you created everything.
Including the Guru. Theyll come. So you know now that there are four different types
of Guru. So you cannot say you do not have Gurus. If you have this youll know it.
That is right.
They call it Guru Devotion. Maybe a better word would be something like
making whole-hearted commitment to see the Guru as my spiritual teacher. To me its
almost like a contract with that Guru, a personal contract one to one. What the
contract basically says is, okay at my stage I dont know very much about this guru thing,
and all that. I feel sufficiently confident, after I checked, that I want to really learn from
you. I really want to get that pleasure from you. And for that, I promise, I make a
commitment to look at my experience with you as if its an experience with a Buddha.
Let me repeat that. I commit, make a promise, make a contract with you, that whatever
you do, say, think, whatever you are doing now, my experience of you will be exactly the
same as if I experienced it with a Buddha. In other words, what Im sayingif Lord
Shakyamuni Buddha was here, I would take whatever you do, say, or think, the same way
I would experience what Lord Shakyamuni Buddha would do, say or think in so much
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as, whatever you do, say, and think I will take it as a teaching.
So when you say, I take the Guru as a Buddha, its not that you then imagine, all
of a sudden, his head swollen, his ears lengthen, and all that. Its not like that. But you
say, you accept him or her to have a contract with you that whatever I experience of you
Ill take it as a teaching from a Buddha. That, actually, is all that guru devotion means.
[Audience: inaudible]
Well actually that was the next line. No, no, Im glad. I mean, its obviously
following. You know, this always happens with John. Were always thinking on exactly
the same wavelength, so it doesnt matter. Exactly that, you see. If your contract is only
to take everything as a teaching sometimes a teaching can be a test also, cant it?
There is a story about Lord Buddha, in a previous life. His teacher tells
everybody to steal. And all the disciples went out to carry out the teachers instructions.
Theres only one person left in the room Lord Gautama Buddha. And the teacher
says, What are you doing here? And he says, Well, I dont believe stealing will bring
anything good, a good result. And the teacher said, Perfect; it seems that its only you
who understands all these instructions.
You see, the commitment to take everything as a teaching is very, very, very
different three verys, right? Very different than just following, literally, what is said.
But you must take it as a teaching. Thats the point. Your contract with a teacher is to
say I will take whatever you say, whatever you think, whatever you do as the teaching for
me. That is my commitment to you. So I will not be moved. I will not care however
people talk about him or her. It doesnt matter. Thats why in Tibet they say, you better
find a guru and then make sure you live three valleys away. Now three valleys away, you
can say, because Arizona is something like New York. But no, no, thats too close.
Rumors go very quickly, innuendo, comment, things. You better live somewhere like in
Australia, for instance. Come. Come to Australia.
You see, this is just a safeguard, by the way, for this deluded mind, stupid mind
like mine. Having made that commitment, to say look, everything I do, and whatever
you do, say and then at a quarter to ten, you see this guru coming up in a singlet,
messed hair a Buddha?! Or, when you ask your Guru, say, what would you like for
dinner? Oh anything. You sure? Yes, anything. Are there any Chinese vegetarian
shops here somewhere? And then you say, a Buddha is worried to eat such things? No,
you see, its not about that. Its about, when he says, Are there any Chinese restaurants
close by? its a test, right? Its a teaching. You always take it as a teaching. It doesnt
matter whats from him. He might not do it deliberately, or do it deliberately we dont
know. But its really irrelevant.
The contract is from my side. I make that commitment. Oh, actually, its both
sides. But the commitment is only to do that, to do just that. You know that this is so
powerful! This kind of contract, this kind of attitude, to say I will take whatever you say,
whatever you do, whatever you think, as a teaching of a Buddha which is perfect in every
way. A Buddha can test you also. But perfect just the same. That kind of acceptance,
that kind of thing that is the one that will accelerate your learning. That is the one that
will make this learning possible.
Thats what will make you understand how to open up your central channel. That
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is the one that will make you understand what is going on; the relationship between the
winds, and this body, and all that. So with that as a propellant, with that as fuel, with the
base of the understanding that I must do it for all, then we have a real chance to do that;
to get what we want.
I dont know how else to underline that than by saying since this really is the last
opportunity for us to attend Quiet Retreat teachings like this, thats how it really is, how I
understand the whole thing. Thats why the whole thing makes sense. The whole thing I
understand now, why this Guru relationship will work. Why Geshe Michael is teaching
the Yoga Sutra. Why did he teach To the Inner Kingdom? He laid down the gauntlet:
this is what you will achieve. This is your target. And then second time: I know youre
going to be worried about it. Now Ill tell you whats happening in your mind. This is
what happened in Second Sight. You need a teacher. What is a teacher for you?
Then he taught the Magic of Empty Teachers. And the last one, that I would like
to mention right now, is about karma. You see everything is propelled by our karma.
Our good karma, we can do it from now on, right? We know now. And it works, you
see. It works. If you plant nice seeds, you will experience nice things. Things that will
happen that you would never dream of. Ridiculous things. I dont know. Like you
know, I was just telling some of youI was in Tucson airport picking up a car. I go to
the cheapest car possible, because I believe that if you go for a dharma teaching, Im
using family money here so I, sort of, forego comfort, and do that, and book the cheapest
car $120 dollars a week or something. And they give me a brand new Cabriolet.
Really. And I say, no I didnt book that. Thats okay. I said, can I have another car?
No, no, no. Its still the same. You dont have to pay any extra. I know its about three
times more expensive, but you can have it. I saw some of you also behind me. I said,
look, give it to the people behind us. Come on, just have it its fun! [laughter]
Anyway, little stupid things like that keep happening. Its just unbelievable,
unbelievable. It works, you see.
So, with karma, make sure you purify your bad ones, and make sure that you
create. . . James mentioned three things the morality of a bodhisattva. Firstly,
refrain from doing bad things. Right? Because you dont want their results. Secondly,
makes sure you do all the collecting of goodness. And thirdly, and most importantly,
what is it James? Work for the benefit of others. Three things. No wonder that became
the moral code. Now you know the reasons. The whole thing makes sense. The whole
thing fits. Every word in the teaching makes sense now.
So dont bother about rumors. Stick to what you know. Youre on a good path.
Bit of a commercial there! But it is like that.
Actually, Ill just mention it briefly, one of the things that we often overlook.
Yesterday Geshe Michael mentioned karma. One of the most important things is the
motivation. The motivation also depends on the object of that karma. One of those
worthwhile objects is, say for instance, you do a good deed to an ant. Thats a very good
deed but its very different if you do the good deed to an object that is a worthwhile
object as defined in the book. And one of the most worthwhile objects, beside the Three
Jewels, are people who just finished their retreat. Theres a storehouse of merit there.
You see? So even, they say, circumambulate the tent that theyre in. I would suggest, if
the caretaker lets us, even during the break or something, rather than just chatting, lets
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just at least circumambulate the tent.

And also, of course, if during attending this retreat teaching were doing
something that is not correct Our mind meanders. We have doubt. If we have
produced some negative thoughts toward anybody or towards the teacher, or towards
each other, or whoeverjust make sure its not soiled. We should apply the Four
Powers. The easiest thing is we should develop regret, the base. And then maybe, if you
know the mantra of Vajrasattva , that is very powerful.
Thats just like the retreatants. Generally, when they finish the retreat, they
always do a Vajrasattva retreat. Every time we read the sadhana we always do the
Vajrasattva recitation, just to purify what is imperfect in our minds. I think we should do
it now, right now, like that. You all know this Vajrasattva mantra right? No? Ah.
[laughter] Oh, well do the short one.
Ive received this transmission from Lama Zopa Rinpoche, among many other
Lamas. It goes like this: You must do this really fervently, really from your heart, that
you want to purify any negative thought that happened that things are improper. Whether
we created any doubt, or any negativity directed towards our fellow students here, or
even toward the teachers, or the retreatants, or towards anything may that not soil the
merit that we accumulated by coming to these teachings. To purify that, and to make
sure that whatever we do, even unintentionally; to make sure it will give us the most
benefit.
So as an act of an antidote we will recite this Vajrasattva mantra. The long
Vajrasattva mantra is generally recited twenty-one times. The short Vajrasattva mantra
is generally recited twenty-eight times. I will just mention it to you. Its very simple for
those who havent received the transmission. Its not because Im a lama please do
not think that way. Purely, this transmission only means that this mantra has been
transmitted correctly through the lineage. Thats why I tell you that I got it from Lama
Zopa Rinpoche, and most kind Lama Zopa Rinpoche, from all his teachers. All the way
back to Lord Buddha himself.
Well do the first three you just follow me and then the rest, the twentyfive, we can do quietly. Or even together, it doesnt matter. Om Vajrasattva Hum; Om
Vajrasattva Hum; Om Vajrassatva Hum .
We believe whatever improper attitude, or any negativity that we committed
during this Quiet Retreat teaching, and in the last three years, and whatever negativities
we do, just by the power of the place, and the power of the retreatants, and the power of
our motivation, may that all be purified. Thank you.
[Prayers]

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Geshe Michael Roach

Id like to request Venerable Elly to lead us in a meditation.

Venerable Elly: Okay. So, now were going to meditate. [laughter] So get in a
comfortable position. Get your hands comfortable, head, eyes partly shut. First thing,
well watch our breath for a while. And see if you can count the breaths as they go out
and in. Go up to ten and then if you make it to ten, start again and if you dont, start
again.
[silence]
And then stop to think for a few minutes about what a beautiful place youve
arrived at in your mind and in your physical circumstances. And all the things around
that are really beautiful and that are so much better than even a year ago.
[silence]
And then try to think one by one who has made this possible for you: the people
who have taught you; and people whove taken care of your physical needs; people
whove given you money; people whove allowed you to have employment; all the
people in your world. And if you think about it, you could probably think that every
single one of them has helped you in some way. And so just go through them one by one
and think about how theyve helped you and try to feel some happiness at their kindness.
[silence]
There are so many people who help you in so many ways. Family, teachers,
people who bump into you on the street: people who write newspapers; people who write
letters; the farmer who grows your food; people who drive buses and fly planes; the lady
that checks out your groceries; your parents; all those guys in Detroit who made your car;
the mailman; your kids teacher; your kids. And then maybe a few minutes just to reflect
on how to what we can do to pay them back; like smiling at people on the street; or
actually thanking people; write a letter to your high school teachers. Just think of
different ways to thank the people whove helped us.
[silence]
And then dedicate the merit of those good thoughts to your future ability to be
able to really help these people, all of them. OK. Thats it. Thank you.
D
I would like to request our Guru Ruth-hla to please lead us in a chant.

Karma & Emptiness in the Yoga Sutra, Part Two

Afternoon, Day Four Geshe Michael Roach

Ruth Lauer [chanted, call and response]:

Om. Om. Om. Om.
Let us sing what we have learned.
Let us sing what we have learned.
Ahimsa. Shauca Asteya Brahmacharya.
Ahimsa Shauca Asteya Brahmacharyia.
Aparigraha Ahimsa Shauca Asteya Brahmacharaya.
Aparigraha Ahimsa Shaucha Asteya Brahmacharya Aparigraha.
Not harming, not lying, not stealing, not indulging,
not taking more than one needs.
Not harming, not lying, not stealing, not indulging,
not taking more than one needs.
Shaucha Santosha
Tapah Svadhyaya Ishwara pranidhanani Shaucha Santosha
Tapah Svadhyaya Ishwara pranidhanani Shaucha Santosha
Tapah Svadhyaya Ishwara pranidhanani Shaucha Santosha
Tapah Svadhyaya Ishwara pranidhanani.
Purity, contentment, hard work, sacred study, devotion to the highest
Purity, contentment, hard work, sacred study, devotion to the highest.
Devotion to being merciful.
Devotion to being merciful.
Devotion to awakening ethical consciousness.
Devotion to awakening ethical consciousness.
Devotion to seeing more than differences.
Devotion to seeing more than differences.
Devotion to each other.
Devotion to each other.
Devotion to our teacher.
Devotion to our teacher.
Devotion to humanity.
Devotion to humanity.
God is here, here and now.
God is here, here and now.

Om.
D

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Last night all the retreatants went back and had a surprise cake for Trisangma, in
the temple, which was delivered to her by accident at noon. But I think we were all
pretty much laid out on the floor of the temple. And it dawned on me that I had gone on
about three hours too long. And I really wanted to apologize. And [Audience: No, no...]
And I want to say frankly, its been a very heavy weekend many changes, many
powerful events, many strong emotions coming and I just wanted to thank you for being
so courageous and patient and struggling to learn, think, and I admire all of you for that.
I have to tell you the story of my first class with Khen Rinpoche. I tried to borrow
a car from Princeton. Its about an hour drive or something. And I had instructions. And
the car broke. I went out to the road. It was snowing. And I tried to hitch a ride. I stood
there for almost an hour. Nobody would pick me up. Finally I ran to a friends
dormitory and begged him to drive me. He wouldnt loan me his car. And then when we
got to Freewood Acres, to Howell, we got lost. We drove around all over. Rinpoche had
just moved from Geshe Wangyels place on Third Street to the temple on Fifth Street, so
nobody knew where he was.
And you know I got into the class, I burst in the door all exhausted and wet about
twenty minutes before the end of the class, and I remember Chunyi-hla sitting there.
Lama Art-hla was there, and I think three other people were there. He used to have his
classes around the kitchen table, and I was very happy to hear the class. Then when it
ended I remember everyone stood up, walked out, and suddenly I found myself alone,
facing this holy, incredible lama that His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, had personally
recommended to me. And I looked in his eyes, and I was, you know, afraid to be in a
room alone with him.
And he looked up at me from his chair. And he said, You!
I said, Yes, Rinpoche?
And he said, Did you see that fight last night with Mohammed Ali? [laughs]
Its true! And it was like taking off on a rocket, you know? And it never slowed
down. And, so you know, there are precedents for what you are going through. And
keep a good humor. Itll be over in about thirty, forty years. Its like having a child,
right, Andrea?
D
Well start with the first line of the next I think we left two lines from
yesterday. So if we could start with those.
Allison Cohen: The fifth form of self control is to overcome possessiveness.
Ahinsa satya-asteya brahmacharya-aparigraha yamah. (II.30E)
Okay. [laughs] I think the key word is aparigraha. A means not, like in
atheist, or in atypical. Pari means all around like perimeter. And graha means
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to grab at something. The Sanskrit word is grabh, and the Indo-European is grebh.
And of course, the word grab comes from this, and the word grasp comes from this.
Its just what it sounds like. Master Patanjali is saying if we really want to
advance in our meditations, if we really want to advance in our practices, we have to
clean out, first of all, our house. And we spoke about it many times, I remember at the
first teaching here, how things sneak into your house, junk. And in a round yurt, its kind
of alarming. They come in from the sides to the center, and then youre sitting in the
center. [laughs] And you have to very strict with yourself. You have to be very creative
about getting rid of all of these things. You have to be very strong to keep the things out
of your yurt. We actually found, the retreatants, I think all of us, that objects in the yurt
were making sounds at us. So if you had ten objects in the yurt instead of five, it was
twice as hard to meditate, there was twice as much noise, background noise, in the yurt.
Sometimes wed go outside to sit on the porch to get some quiet.
So its important to try to keep divesting. I had a nice idea for all of you. I dont
know. I dont usually do that, but I was thinking: things that we have, nice little things
that we have, we could maybe keep them in one of the yurts which is set up on the new
land. And then, I had this idea that as we go on the tour, we will meet old people or sick
people. And we could collect their birth dates and then maybe send them gifts on their
birthday from this stockpile. And that way we could all clean out our houses also. And it
means a lot, I think, to someone.
I dont know about you but all the extra things that Christie and I have are very
beautiful things. Theyre all like we have so many holy books and images and
paintings, and so many people have sent us beautiful things. But I think you have to
rotate them. And keep your house simple.
So, this also applies to your life. Keep your life simple. I think as we come out
of retreat and new ideas are popping, it will be tempting to get too busy and have too
many things going. The lama will be testing you with a thousand new projects and you
have to have Fran Dayanish self control. You have to say, you know, Ill do one or two
things that I can do well, while Im keeping my practice. And I wont junk up my
schedule like I wont junk up my house. So I think we have to watch those two kinds of
collecting things we dont need. Theres no end to virtues that we can do, but if we get
too busy and if we neglect our personal meditations daily and practice, then I dont think
we can succeed and we dont really end up helping anybody. Next verse, please.
Kyisum, Amber, and Pearl: The third commitment is facing hardship for higher
goals. [Pearl reads in French] Shaucha santosha tapah svadhyayeshvara pranidhanai
niyamah. (II.32C)
[applause and laughter] Ah, thank you. The key word is tapas, I think. We had
this yesterday in the word tapah. They are the same. The root in Sanskrit is tap, to heat
something. And then, the Indo-European is tep and we see it in tepid and Beltane
fire. And its very simple. And you know I think the retreatants can tell you better than
anyone, and I think the care-hlas, when you start to try to do something very powerful,
something very good, then difficulties will always be attracted to you. The bigger the
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good you do, the bigger the difficulties that will come to you. And you hear people say
that, but when they come, its no fun. When youre in the middle of a difficulty like that,
you cant remember hearing that. And its extremely difficult, I think. You know, the
one thing all the retreatants said to each other when we met for the first time and spoke,
was that it was just the hardest thing wed ever done. And thats tapas. What Lama Ruth
called hard work. Theres no getting around it. You just have to work hard. You have to
put your head down and work hard. Its a lot easier if youre thinking about how you can
help other people. Thats like the key. Its a lot easier to get through the hard times if
you try to remember how much you can help other people when you can become that
angel. Next verse.
[audience: Yama] Oh, yama we had before. I think, you can check back at
niyamah in the first three pages from last time. And its the same.
I made one mistake there, by the way. I think it was back at niyamah, in one of
the first three pages that we had from last time, from last Thanksgiving. Was it?
Anyway, the root yem. I said y-e-m. No, I said gem as in Gemini, meaning twin.
Its really y-e-m. So, Ive made a boo-boo. Ive made other boo-boos, and well fix
them. I thought to fix them altogether when we put the two books together, into one
book. And well put back the directors talks that were supposed to be in that book and I
guess got left out by accident.
By the way, I want to thank you for the beautiful books. Someone I suppose
an Australian from the spellings has been printing all the teachings, publishing the
teachings, and I know its a lot of work and I know probably the people here typed them
up. Its very precious to us, to see it done. And I think it encourages any teacher to see
that the people listening have taken the trouble to record it and make it available to the
next generation. Next verse, please.
Alistair and Mira: Perfect meditation then sees this same object as its simple self:
Its clear light, totally void of any nature of its own. Tad eva-artha matra nirbhasam
svarupa shunyam iva samadhih. (III.3)
Good. What are key words here? Your first one is nirbhasa. We had it already.
If you look back youll find it. It was at the bottom of one of the pages. But it means
clear light. And its another word for emptiness. Does emptiness have a color or
shape, like light? No. But the experience, the direct experience of emptiness is much
like a being inside of a diamond or something and experiencing some kind of clear light
or reality.
Next word is svarupa, which we had before also. And it just means the real
nature of something. And Ill speak more about that in a minute.
The next word, shunyam, we had before, meaning empty. And you know it
from shunyata, you can find it in your notes. Weve been through this one this teaching.
I dont know if we did samadhi this teaching. But just briefly Ill go over it. Sam means
together. A means upon. And then dhi, some people mistake it for dhi, which means
to think. But this is a short i, this dhi, and its a common variant of dha, which
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means to set something down. That comes into Indo-European as dhe, and we see it in
words like do, did, deed, fact, feces. I think we went through this before. But
its a deep state of meditation. Im not going to go so much on I think thats the last
keyword here.
Im not going to do so much on words, but I just wanted to be aware that in his
Yoga Sutra, Master Patanjali has quite a few references to the direct perception of
emptiness. And this is one of them. There are two ways to perceive emptiness. One is
direct. One is indirect.
The indirect one is much easier. I can lead you right now, you can see it.
Someone, as we said Im going to keep mentioning the same example just so you
remember it but you find someone irritating, perhaps at these very teachings... Its
very common in a group of spiritual seekers for demons to run around and make us
irritated at someone else. And you find someone else here irritating and weve been
speaking about how if you look at it scientifically they are only shapes, colors, sounds.
Other people experience them in a completely different way. Perhaps other people here
find them quite pleasing, pleasant people. That means that being pleasant or being
unpleasant cannot be coming from them. Its not something exuding from them. And
thats their emptiness, you see? Thats their emptiness.
Again it doesnt mean black holes, or nothing exists, or you should let all your
thoughts go away and not think about anything, or other ideas like that. Its a cold,
calculated, logical truth. The people you find irritating are not irritating from their side.
You are perceiving them that way because of seeds ripening in your own mind which you
planted there. We are responsible for every pain, for every negative event in our whole
life. And thats an intellectual perception of emptiness. You can grasp until the next
time they say something unpleasant to you during the break you can grasp for a short
time that this person is blank, or neutral, or empty. All of these are what shunya means.
And the way we see them is being imposed on them by our own minds forced to do so by
our past karmas.
But then there is the direct perception of emptiness. Ive met new people; well, it
was some of my yoga teachers actually. And they came during the breaks, so kindly and
so selflessly, to teach us special methods of yoga to help our meditations and actually
help us achieve the ultimate goals. And we would sign, we had all this sign language
going on. Wed say, How did the teachings go? and theyd say, Oh, like Salim got up
and kept talking about this direct perception of emptiness; direct perception of emptiness,
you know. And I think if youre new you sort of wonder why people are talking about
this all the time. It means that the thing that you can perceive intellectually when I talk
about the person who irritates you, later on, if you practice well, you can see directly. It
can only be done in a very deep state of meditation. And with lots of study under your
belt, lots of courses under your belt, lots of hours listening to Venerable Phuntsok, or
Salim-hla, or John Stilwell-hla, or Winston-hla, or other teachers here. Only after many
hours, and then, only if youre practicing your meditation every day, you can see
emptiness directly. And this line is all about that experience.
I know youve all been through this explanation many, many times. But just to
repeat the most important thing that happens perhaps twenty minutes go by in the
direct communion with ultimate reality. Emptiness and ultimate reality are the same
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thing. Then you come down out of that experience. And you have many, many, many
experiences realizations on that day, for the twenty-four hours. And those are
known as the Four Noble Truths; or the four truths for a person who has seen emptiness.
But I want to tell you, the one most important one is that on that day you have
special powers that are born in your mind. They go away after about twenty-four hours,
but for a whole day, you can see with your mind things in the future, you can see things
happening elsewhere. And you can see directly the day you will become the angel we
have been talking about, an enlightened being, a being who can travel to every single
living creature. In fact, during the twenty-four hours, in a special few minutes of higher
perception, you can see every living being in the entire universe. On every single planet,
every form of life. Directly. And you know you will help them. You know that in a
certain number of years, you will be able to go to each of them and help them. So, thats
obviously a big milestone in every persons life.
The whole purpose of all of the projects youve heard about saving the old
books, creating the places for people to do the meditation and retreat, teaching people
physical yoga and other methods, is to help perceive emptiness. To get the winds into the
central channel. All of these efforts and all of these projects, all the labor of all the
people here, are directed at helping people reach this one twenty-minute experience and
see what they will become. And so whenever you feel tired, or whenever you feel... what
do you call... discouraged, you have to remember all of this work that we do, every single
minute of work that anyone of us does, in all of these projects, in all of this study, all of
these teachings, has only this one goal. That one day during your meditation you will see
the ultimate reality.
And you yourself... its such a sweet, beautiful, holy thing to see the Buddha that
you will become. To see that Buddha directly. To be in the presence of the Buddha that
you are going to be. So, dont ever get discouraged. Imagine how it will feel and once
you get there, once you break through to that level, youll never have another real worry
in your life. Then you will be Jigme. Jigme Palmos name, Jigme Naropas original
name, Abhaya. It means you will be fearless. You wont really worry seriously about
anything ever again. And you know that youll be able to serve countless numbers of
beings. So I bless you with those words to reach that level. Next verse, please.
Salim Lee: On that day the seer comes to dwell within their own real nature.
Tada drashtuh svarupevashthanam. (I.3)
Thank you. I think the keyword is drashtuh? We had darshanah before and this
is the same root. D-i-r-s-h, meaning to see. And in the Indo-European is d-e-r-k.
And we said it came in the word dragon and dragoon, meaning the creature with the
evil eye.
You know what hooked me on the Yoga Sutra... And I repeat the reason I began
to study it, was that a certain lady yoga teacher who sings very well gave me a copy, me
and Christie. And then, a holy teacher, David Life-hla, I think a few days later or earlier
gave us a copy, a different copy. And we were just looking at the first few lines, Christie
and I. And it starts out talking about how yoga means stopping your misperceptions,
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basically. And then, within the first five lines, here is this line the seer can abide in
their own nature. We were so excited. I think thats what made us believe in the book.
And what made us continue in the book.
Right off, Master Patanjali is describing the direct perception of emptiness. The
key word is drashtir. It means tonglomba in Tibetan. Ton to see, to see ultimate
reality. This is the exact spelling and wording of all the descriptions of reaching your
first direct perception of emptiness. Which is here called svarupa.
Every object around you has its own emptiness. You know? If I tell you the
irritating person in front of you is blank. And its us who are imposing the irritating-ness
on them. Well, then its easy to understand that every other object in this room is the
same. Including me. Obviously Im blank. Some people think Im great. I get lots of
letters that people think Im great. I get almost get equal letters people think Im terrible.
And I get lots of letters in between, people who dont care much about me. And its the
same for any of us. It proves that we are blank.
And then, how we even perceive ourselves is coming from our own karmic seed.
When you see emptiness for the first time directly, you see the emptiness of Winston, you
see the emptiness of John, you see the emptiness of Lama Ruth. You see? Each person
sees their own emptiness first. That makes sense because its that emptiness that will
allow us to see ourselves as a Buddha later.
D
Thank you. Its a custom on Sunday at the break, it started I think at the first
retreats teaching, Im not sure but the retreatants were saying how much they wanted
to hug the care ladies, caretakers, and we never could because theres a fence between us
and them. So we had asked everyone to be our proxies. And we had asked people to go
up to the three caretakers and hug them for us during the break. But then it later became
a general hug-fest [laughter] and we decided everybody needed a hug. So well take a
break now. You have to hug the caretakers for us, and then you have to hug everybody
whos helped them. Then you have to hug all the directors, and then you have to hug all
the people who are teaching, then all the volunteers elsewhere. Then you have to hug all
the children, especially, here, and their moms. And then you have to hug the new people.
And I think you know how its going to end up. When you hug them, you put your arms
around them and you try to push a little bit in the back, behind where the heart would be.
This is like a blessing for the heart chakra. Okay, have a nice hug and some refreshments.
D
Oh, just to say, despite my intentions I think we might go a little late. [laughs]
And I know some people have to catch a plane, so I suggest that anyone who has to catch
a plane sit near the back, and then you can sneak out when we get to the next IndoEuropean root. [laughs] Okay, lets do the next verse.
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Ted Lemon: It comes because those who understand things have broken through
the idea that past and future are times that could exist in and of themselves. Atitaanagatam svarupato styadhva bhedad dharmanam. (IV.12)
Thank you. We covered this, I think you may recall, in a past teaching about the
emptiness of time itself. Lets do the words first. Whats the first keyword? Dharma.
Thats not bad. We did this last Thanksgiving with the word dhruva, which referred to
the central channel. But well cover it again. The Sanskrit word is dhir, d-h-i-r. And
the Indo-European root is dher, d-h-e-r. And I think we had fun with this root because
it turns into a root called dheru, d-h-e-r-u, which means tree. And then that gets
changed into a root... the word for tree itself. The Sanskrit and the Indo-European mean
to be firm, to be fixed, to hold strong. And so in ancient times a tree was
considered the strongest thing around. So dhir changes to dheru, changes to tree, and
then becomes the word truth. And so the word truth is directly connected to the
word dharma.
What is the second keyword? Adhvan. Adhvan means time. The Sanskrit root
is at, its kind of unusual, a-t. If you know Sanskrit, its retroflex at. And the IndoEuropean is the same, a-t. And from this the a-t gets an n-o stuck on the end of it,
atno, and then the t changes to n and it becomes anno. We see it in the words
annual and perennial, meaning to pass through time, passing through time. Oh,
theres one nice Celtic word from the dharma word: druid is from druvid meaning
true seer in the Celtic.
We all have the experience of time moving at different speeds. I mean, of all the
things that we sometimes feel are self-existent, we sometimes think that time might be
self-existent. For example, a watch has a certain number of marks on it that define how
long an hour is. So it seems to us that an hour is something fixed, in and of itself. An
hour is something that comes from its own side. Once you get deep into emptiness and
understanding how your karmic seeds create everything around you... sooner or later I
think you have to try to understand how karmic seeds are actually creating our sense of
time itself.
And time itself is not self-existent. Time itself is also empty, meaning that
everyone experiences time in a different way. And you know when youre having a good
time, time seems to fly by, like when you get to blab after three years of silence. And
then sometimes time can slow down, like when youre at the dentist. The point is that
time itself is not self-existent. This is why its possible, when you see emptiness directly,
to see ahead into the future. It could be almost, say, five centuries, seven life-times. You
can see ahead to the day when you yourself will become an angel. Time itself is not selfexistent. The relationship we have with time is not fixed. If you had the karmic seeds in
your mind, you could perceive future and past and present all at the same time. Theres
nothing fixed about past, present, and future. The implication is that on the day that we
become enlightened, we will be able to transcend the normal limitations of time. We will
be able to see all things in all times at the same moment, because that is also empty. Next
verse.
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Joanne Stilwell: When knowledge is no longer blocked, then all there is to know
is reduced to the size of a puddle. Tada sarva-avarana mala-apetasya jynanasya-anatyaj
jnyeyam alpam. (IV.31B)
Thank you. I think the first keyword is jnyeya. We had already jnyana, meaning
jnya, j-n-y-a, meaning to know. And of course the Indo-European is gno, g-n-o,
and thats why knowledge is spelled with a k.
I think the second keyword is alpa. Alpa means tiny or very small. The
Sanskrit root is lup, l-u-p. The Indo-European root is leup, l-e-u-p. This is kind of a
neat one because it means something broken off of a tree, something small, peeled off
of a tree. And the word leaf comes from this root. Also the word lobby and the
word loft come from this root, because in the old days they were made with the bark of
trees; the roof was made of shingles made of pieces pulled off of trees. And from this
come the German lufth, like in Lufthansa or Lufthwaffe, meaning the sky, because
the sky was perceived as a canopy made of pieces of bark stripped from a tree. So alpa
means tiny or very small. I think the Tibetan is chungse. Chungse means just itsybitsy in Tibetan. Very tiny.
This concept here in this verse was very big with Arya Nagarjuna. He said,
Once you understand emptiness clearly, then all things are shrunk to the size of a puddle
on the road and you can just step over it with one step. When you see emptiness
directly, one of the experiences right after that is that you understand the content of every
single scripture ever written. You understand it perfectly. So the Kangyur and Tengyur,
which John Brady and his crew are working so hard on four and a half thousand great
books you realize that you have perceived their true meaning. And theres nothing
really new in a scripture for you after that. But you realize at the same time that they are
so precious and so true. And so it would be worthwhile to devote the rest of your life to
translating them, preserving them, typing them, making sure theyre not lost in the world.
Every single line of every single scripture in the four and a half thousand great books of
the Kangyur and Tengyur is completely true. And this is something that you perceive all
in a nutshell, all in a single small puddle, in a few minutes after you see emptiness
directly. Next verse.
Venerable Chukyi: The fourth commitment is to regular study. Shaucha
santosha tapah svadhyayeshvara prandidhanani niyamah. (II.32E)
Ah, thank you. Svadhyaya, right? You saw the sva before in svarupa, meaning
self. And then adhy, the next piece of this word comes into English as epi, like
epitome meaning great. And then comes ay, a-y, which is from, again, the
Sanskrit root, simply ay, and the Indo-European is e-i, and again we see it in circuit
or exit or itinerary, the i-t.
You know, this is one of my favorite subjects. Everybody wants to have mystical
experiences. Everybody wants to go into a yurt and come out twenty-four hours later
[laughs] having seen all kinds of amazing things, you know? When I was growing up
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during the hippie days, it was very common for us to make fun of or to criticize the idea
of having to study spiritual things. The idea was that you gain mystic experiences by
going off into the woods and eating some peyote and [laughs] you know, getting these
things the easy way.
But as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, sweet being, constantly says, Behind all
those mystical experiences is just a lot of hard work, and a lot of study, formal study. I
think youve gotten a sense for how Master Naropa, Naropa-hla... he didnt bump into
Tilopa and all those holy angel ladies a week after he started. He went through decades
of very formal study. And Im sorry to say he started with logic, which is still where
monks start in Tibetan monasteries. So in a way, after you learn to read and write you
jump right into logic. So really, thinking clearly is the basis of later being able to go
beyond thinking. You need that kind of formal training in order to have mystical
experiences. And its always been that way. People who seem to have mystical
experiences without training have had countless years of training in their previous
lifetimes.
So svadhyaya means to study, regular study. The Tibetan is interesting here.
Kandun is the word for memorizing and reciting texts. So that gives us the sense that the
early Tibetans understood svadhyaya, which seems to mean self-study. They
understood it to mean coming to a point in your study where you are self-running.
Youre independent. You can run on your own steam now. And in the old days that was
done by being trained and then memorizing the appropriate texts. We spoke previously
how to memorize. I still think its a very beautiful and important thing. It will be part of
the deep training done at Diamond Mountain, along with ancient debating techniques,
meditation techniques, and other study techniques. I cant describe to you the difference
it makes in your study. These ancient methods of memorization, debating, logic, and
meditation on the books that you study are incomparable. They have been largely lost in
the modern world. But I hope that at Diamond Mountain were going to recover these.
Within a few months you can get a depth of understanding and mystical experiences that
you wouldnt be able to get in years outside of that kind of a program. And its really
fun. It wont be any kind of trouble or hassle, I think. Once you see how it works, its
like having a party with your friends but you come out, like, really smart. [laughs]
Okay. Next verse.
Brian Smith: The second commitment is to be contented with whatever we have.
Shaucha santosha tapah svadyayeshvara pranidhanani niyamah. (II.32B)
Thank you. I like the word santosha. It just sounds cool, I dont know why. It
sounds like my old favorite band, Santana. [laughter] One of, not the favorite; you
know the favorite. San comes from sam, which is com in our language, c-o-m,
meaning together. Tosha comes from a root, tush, t-u-s-h, in Sanskrit, meaning to
be contented or happy. I think many of you know the word tushita which comes from
the same root. In Tibetan its called ganden, meaning the heaven of bliss. And its
been used as a name for many great Buddhist centers in the west, Tushita. The IndoEuropean root is teuh, t-e-u-h, and it has meanings of contented in the sense of being
fat and happy, like how do you call it, stuffed, really. So it came to mean thick, and
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the word thumb comes from that because its the thickest finger, and the word thigh
comes from that because its the thickest part of the leg. And I checked about the word
tush. [laughs] Its not listed in the Indo-European dictionaries, but Id guess its the
same thing. And the Greek word for butter comes from the same root, and so our own
word butter, the t-e, comes from the same root, meaning something which has
gotten thick or congealed.
I was thinking, there are really two retreatants who are not going to get to talk
about their number one most important experience. Well, theres a reason, wait...
[laughs] The first one is Ora Maimes-hla. She did some important work to set up this
teaching, and then shes been on a special assignment which required her to be elsewhere
right now. I wrote her and asked her if she would send a tape, but shes too shy. And
then theres myself. I would also like to tell you about my most important realization,
right? And then later, Christie-hla, whos not at all nervous, is going to talk about her...
[laughs]
And its very simple. [laughs] Its very simple. Christie and I, we did a lot of
homework in the two... We had two years warning about three-year retreat. We went to
many beautiful lamas. In India we were granted very special deep instructions by several
very high lamas. And also we were honored to have instructions and oral lineages passed
on by even lamas from other traditions about the special meditations and practices. Of
course, we also had very beautiful teachings from our yoga lamas that very much
connected to the ancient traditions of Naropa. And we had a very difficult schedule
during the deep retreats. The alarm would go off at three oclock and we had it
scheduled almost to the minute up until ten oclock or eleven oclock at night, with a big
nap, I have to admit. [laughs] And we really, really worked hard. We really, really
worked hard. And I think all the retreatants, they killed themselves, they really, really
struggled.
Theres such intense pressure on your mind knowing that all of you have worked
so hard for us. Its an intense pressure. It wasnt like anything Ive ever felt before. I
mean, Ive worked in a corporation; corporate life, New York City... you know, eighteenhour days. But it wasnt anything like this. Its one thing to get paid for what you do.
Its another thing to have this extraordinary kindness, people giving up their entire lives
because they believe in what youre doing. And so its an intense pressure to perform.
And we really worked hard, due to the kindness of our teachers. And the support of the
other retreatants was intense, although it was all mental and spiritual. We didnt see each
other, almost at all.
And out of all these deep practices, out of all these holy meditations, out of study
of the ancient scriptures that we did memorizing, chanting extraordinary forms of
yoga that we were taught... Out of all those deep practices, the single most important
practice that I found useful, and that I would like to recommend to all of you, was exactly
the meditation that Venerable Jigme Palmo, Elly, led today. Just sit down, comfortable,
maybe make yourself a cup of tea, and just think about everything we have to be thankful
for. Think about everything there is to be grateful for.
When you get into deep retreat you go into wild emotional swings. One day you
feel like youre about to step into Vajra Yoginis paradise, and then an hour later you feel
like youve stepped into hell. You go through these extremes... they sound funny, but at
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the time they were like, almost feeling like committing suicide or something. Extremely
difficult, extremely intense. And the one thing I learned from retreat was to stop and sit
down and think about all the beautiful people, like you. I mean, I could sit for three, four
hours and just think, one by one, through the beautiful people I have met through the
dharma. The beautiful teachers, the fellow students, the dedicated people serving other
people. And then I would just feel happy and I would realize that my mind had gone off
the edge of the spectrum. Like, to be sad about your life, to feel anxiety, is to live in the
one percent at the edge of the spectrum, and then ninety percent of your life, ninety
percent of the spectrum of your life, is filled with these wonderful people doing
wonderful things.
We live in a wonderful time. We live in a wonderful country. Its an incredible
time in the history of humanity. You could never get the teachings were talking about
even in Tibet. You couldnt see the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama came out of the Potala
Palace once a year. He was carried through the streets on a palanquin. You, maybe,
could catch a glimpse of him over someones shoulder. And then he would go back to
the palace. It was out of the question that a common man, anyone but a high geshe, could
even meet with the Dalai Lama for five minutes. And here we have the Dalai Lama
traveling through the world teaching us. Its extraordinary times.
People were imprisoned; people were threatened with death for traveling to Lhasa
without permission even a hundred years ago. There was a Japanese scholar who tried to
pose as a Chinese monk and study at Sera. He studied for some time. His teacher was
imprisoned when he was revealed. Tibet was closed to foreigners. No one could go and
study at Sera. You werent even allowed in the country. And here we have holy lamas,
the greatest in the world coming to serve us, coming to teach us.
What Im trying to say is the most important thing I learned in meditation retreat
for three years was simply to sit down and think about all the beautiful, wonderful things
we have to be grateful for. And you will pop right out of your depression. You cant
have low self-esteem if you think for five minutes that you are one of the only people on
the whole planet in history who has received teachings from His Holiness, or Khen
Rinpoche. You cant go on thinking youre a normal person if you have had the
teachings on the Yoga Sutra and youve heard the story of Naropa-hla, if you know the
secret of how to relate to your close family and other people in your life no longer as
normal people. You dont have anything to be sad about anymore. You just have to sit
down, stop, drink some tea, and think about how lucky we are. If you start a fantasization
in your mind about all the wonderful things that have happened to you, you will easily
pass two or three hours, and rise from it refreshed and joyful.
So santosha... [laughs] santosha is dont beat yourself up. I mean have
contentment in the sense of realize how lucky we are. You know, it doesnt take more
than a few minutes of meditation to realize that we are the luckiest people in the world.
Next verse.
David Stumpf: Theirs is won through effort. Shraddha virya smirti samadhi
prajnya purvaka itaresham. (I.20B)

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Thank you. The keyword here I think is virya and, in Tibetan, tsundru. Virya
comes from a root, we think, v-i-r. And the Indo-European root is wiro, w-i-r-o.
There are three important words in Sanskrit for a person or a human, like one that comes
from mun, one comes from near, nur, and wiro. Wiro means a warrior, a human or a
man in the sense of a strong person, almost a warrior person. The word I like the best
that comes from this is werewolf. [laughs] Werewolf means wiro, wolf means
half man, half wolf. And also, obviously, virile and virility come from the same
root.
Theres an old Irish name, I dont know how to pronounce it, maybe Kevin can
tell us. Fergus? Is it Fergus, f-e-r-g-u-s? Fergus? Ah. The fer means man and the
gus means strong, strong man. So fer and wir come from the same root.
So virya means power, strength, vitality, effort. And as Salim-hla
mentioned, when he... I dont know if you noticed that his corporate mission statement is
the six perfections, right? [laughs] Sneaky... but thats good sneaky. Thats the kind of
sneaky we want. But virya is to look at what youre doing and realize its the greatest
thing in the world you could be doing. And that gives you the energy to do it. You see?
Most of us look at our meditation cushion and we sort of grimace at it, you know.
[laughs] But its because we havent thought about... virya means think about all the
beautiful things you can do if your mind is well meditated, and then just get excited, I
mean, joyful. Its a kind of thing I never want to lose from all of our work together, all of
our projects. We have always had this kind of energy, this kind of excitement running
through all the people. You know, its been part of ACI and all of our projects since the
beginning, this kind of energy, or excitement, or electricity running through it.
Were in a tough world. We can save the world. We have the equipment, we
have the information thats needed, and we have the practices, pure lineage passed down
to us. You know, we can do anything. Everything is available to a person who just
wants to work for free for everybody. John Stilwell-hla and I were talking. Nobody can
compete with us. [laughter] He says, Yeah, nobody can do it cheaper... [laughs]
...because you just want to give it away for free. And its this kind of electricity, and
thats the way... You know, well have ups and downs, well have good times and bad
times, well have a fat grant and well be broke. Well have harmony and well have
trouble sometimes between us. But I think the thing that will get us through is this
electricity about the rightness of serving everyone else for free. Next verse.
Ven. Jigme Palmo: You gain the body of perfection: a form of light itself; a
frame of diamond strength. Rupa lavanya bala vajra sanhananatvani kaya sampat.
(III.47)
Thank you. Whats the first keyword, rupa? We had rupa before in svarupa, so I
dont need to do it. But here it means body, or your physical form. Its the word
form. Okay? We had it before and you can find it with svarupa.
The next one is bala. Bala means power. When we talk about the four powers
of confession its actually the four bala.
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I forgot to mention, back at musjara, mudito, and we talked about honey, all the
words for honey... I forgot to say, those of you who do tsechu, Vajra Yogini, the
madana comes from that, the same root, meaning elixir or honey drink. And this had
reminded me, because bala is the other word for our sacred substances in the ceremony,
and it means that this small object can give you power, its very powerful. The Sanskrit
root is bal, b-a-l, and the Indo-European root is bel, I think its b-e-l. The word
anvil comes from that, the v-i-l means something you can beat against and it will
keep strong. And then, theres one other, what was that? Oh, all the words with pel in
it, like compel, repel, impel. Pel meaning to push in a strong way. So bala
means force or strength.
The next one is vajra? Is it vajra? Yeah. I think vajra is one of my favorite
words here. I was really surprise I was really excited because I thought Amber-hla
would like it. Vajra, which means diamond, and I think we spoke about it before.
Sometimes diamond bolt is called vajra... I mean a thunderbolt, bolt of lightening,
because it was believed by the ancients that since a bolt of lightening could break a big
tree in half, there must be a diamond at the very tip of the lightning. I think also its very
significant that the vajra, which we use in our ceremonies, that little thunderbolt
instrument, is in the shape of a pure diamond crystal.
Pure diamond crystals grow in that octahedral crystal formation and a vajra is a
twinned octahedron, perfect diamond crystal, twin diamond crystal. So vajra means
diamond. It comes from an old root vaj, v-a-j, and the Indo-European root is weg,
w-e-g, and they both mean to be powerful or strong in the sense of having intense
life energy running through you. And the words in English that come from the same root
are waking or wakeful, vigilant. Even the word witch and wicked come from
this root because in the old days, witch meant wicker, which means someone who
can wake up the dead, who can put energy back into a dead body.
But the one thats most exciting for Amber-hla is vegetable and vegan. The
v-e-g in both words comes from the exact root as vajra, same root as vajra, meaning
powerful life energy running through these plants and can impart strength to your
body. The Tibetan is dorje. Do meaning stone and rje meaning the king of stones.
Whats the next word? Kaya. Kaya we had in the Thanksgiving teachings. If
you werent here you can get it from the book about it. But of course all the Buddhists
here know the words sambhogakaya, rupakaya, svabhavakaya, dharmakaya,
nirmanakaya, meaning the various forms, the various components of an enlightened
being. When you become enlightened your body changes, as we said before. Its that,
and very importantly, the practices which Naropa-hla brought to Tibet from Lord Buddha
himself, right, are teaching us how to move all the energy into the central channel. And
when all the energy is moved into the central channel, then your body changes into kaya
sampat. Master Patanjali here is describing the angels body. Hes describing what the
angels body will be like. It will be like a diamond. Itll be totally powerful, totally
strong, and totally clear, and made of light, like a diamond. Hes describing what we call
the sambhogakaya, which is the body which each of us will possess in our own paradise,
like a diamond.
And its important to realize that the reason we are studying Naropas life, the
reason we are trying to introduce Heart Yoga in a general way to many people without
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Buddhism, is to help them come closer to the point when they reach an angels body.
You know, I grew up a Christian. I believe strongly in the teachings of Jesus, as well. I
believe that its possible to reach heaven. But whats exciting to me is that here we have
the methods, here we have the outline, here we have all the information of how to do it,
how to actually do it. And we can gain that kind of a body. Your body will change.
These practices that weve been talking about this weekend, and which you can learn in
detail only if you pass your eighteen courses... thats blackmail... [laughter] These
teachings, they actually show us how to do it, and to me thats very beautiful and exciting
and a glorious time in the life of human beings. Next verse.
Allison Jucha and Jim Dey: If you make it a way of life never to hurt others, then
in your presence all conflict comes to an end. Ahinsa pratishthayam tat sannidhau
vairya tyagah. (II.35)
Thank you. Oh, I think this is one of the most exciting verses. I say that about
every verse, dont I? [laughs] Ahinsa pratishthayam means if you can keep up this
non-violence stuff long enough. And by the way, Buddhist textbooks say you will never
be able to be non-violent over the long run unless you understand that it hurts yourself.
You see? When you get backed up far enough by a violent person, you will do violence
unless you truly understand where its coming from.
Tat sannidhau vairya tyagah... so cool. Tat means dey, tat means that and its
the root of all the English words like the, that, this, then, there, same root. But
sannidhau is the interesting one. San means sam, meaning together. Ni means down.
Dhau comes from dha, which we had before in samadhi, to be set down. But what tat
sannidhau means is dey drung du in Tibetan, in your presence violence will end. In
your presence violence will end. Its very powerful... the key here is in your presence.
In your presence violence will end.
What it means is if you truly forsake violence on every level if you work hard
to become a truly non-violent person in body, speech, and mind then your world will
transform. The world as you perceive it will transform. There wont be violence in your
world. If theres some terrible disaster going on, some terrible violence being done even
in your own country, you wont hear about it for three years. Youll be one of the only
people in the whole United States whose mind is not disturbed by these things as they
occur, because you simply wont experience that object. If your non-violence is strong
and strict, then in your presence, in your world, violence simply wont occur anymore.
Its a very powerful thing.
Then you get the moral question, Well, wont you become sort of an apathetic
person? How can you serve others who are being exposed to violence? Isnt it sort of
make-believe if you can be in the world and never be aware of the violence that really is
there?
You have to realize that really is there is a lie. There is no really is there.
Theres no such thing as really is there. Theres the violence perceived by people who
have been violent in the past, and there is the lack of violence perceived by people that
have been non-violent, in the very same place, in the very same space on this world.
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There is no violence or non-violence in the world. Its blank. Its empty. There
is no way it really is. If you experience the world as a violent place, its only because
you have been violent. A person who has been truly non-violent will not experience any
violence in the same world.
You can walk through New York City and have this experience, right? People
visit New York... My brother, I remember, dear brother Geoff, I brought him to New
York, to show him the wonders of New York, on the bus. He got out of the Port
Authority terminal. He took one look around; he turned around and went back in the
door. [laughter] And you meet other people who say, New York is the Big Apple.
They step through this land of opportunity, constantly meeting wonderful, helpful,
interesting, exciting people. Where is New York, what is New York? Is New York
violent or non-violent? You see? Its up to your own seeds.
So how do you stop war? Ahinsa. Its so beautiful. Its such a beautiful thought.
You dont have to get into, Should we attack this country or should we not attack this
country? Its good to express your opinion. Its good to say, I feel we should be
peaceful. But in the end, all violence is created by the tiny seeds, billions of seeds
within a pinpoint spot inside the heart chakra of each person here. Its amazing, its
extraordinary. You can stop all violence on this planet by becoming a perfectly nonviolent person.
It doesnt mean that we should space out and not undertake activist means of
expressing our opposition to violence. Thats how you change the seeds in your mind.
Thats how you change those seeds. So we have to speak out. We have to try to stop
violence when we see it being done. But when violence stops, you have to realize its
being stopped within the tiny, infinitely small drop within your own heart.
I think maybe its a good time to break for a minute and ask the last retreatant
[laughs] to describe her most important experience during the three-year retreat. So
Christie-hla will speak.
D
Christie-hla: Just before we went into retreat, Holy Lama Geshe-hla and I were
invited to Ofer and Ayas [Geshe las old diamond bosses] house for dinner. Ofer asked
me a really funny question. He said, Why are you going on three year retreat? And I
realized at that time that he was a really, really smart guy because, of all the people who I
talked to about three-year retreat, no one had asked me why I was going.
And its really important in three-year retreat... when you go to undertake
something like this... And Im speaking to all of you because I hope that one day you will
undertake something like this because its very important in everybodys spiritual
development to eventually go on an extended retreat. It doesnt have to be three years. It
can be six months or something like that, but to really delve into your own mind.
But you need to have your goal, or you wont make it. And thats the one thing
that all the retreatants had in common, I think, is we all had a really strong goal. We all
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really wanted to stop suffering, our own suffering and the suffering that we see in
everybody around us.
And there comes a time when you understand that working through the hard
cement outside methods arent going to cut it. You have to go into your own mind,
thats where youre really going to make the difference. Thats why you go into threeyear retreat. You go in because you want to get enlightened so that you can actually help
people. Because as it is now we really cant help people. We cant really help people.
You can sit there at the side of someones bed while theyre dying and give them a cold
glass of water and change their bed pan. But you can never take the terror out of their
eyes... that their body and their mind are being ripped from them and they dont know
why. So you have to have a good goal, a strong goal.
And then all the hardships that Geshe-la has been mentioning, and there were a
lot of hardships, they become easy to take because you know that youre there to get to
the ultimate goal. But you know, I found it really difficult to think about myself
becoming enlightened. It seemed like a really far off goal to me. So actually, my goal in
retreat was just to see emptiness because, really, were all on the second path, right? I
mean most... I dont know your mind but I mean Im just... [laughs] maybe most of us
are on the second path and we need to get to the third one. We need to see emptiness
directly, and we need to work very hard and put a lot of effort into doing that. And in
order to do that we need to get into a deep meditative state.
I would like to say that once you study as Geshe-la mentioned just ten minutes
ago emptiness and youve collected virtue by doing the projects that weve been
discussing all weekend, then its time to go into retreat. And then you need two things.
And Im going to talk about the second thing you need first, and then Im going go back
and talk about the most important first thing.
The second thing you need is in the Yoga Sutras, what is called abhyasa. And
Master Iyengar, he translates this really nicely as constant and determined practice.
When I began retreat I wasnt very good at meditating. I would get all restless and shift
around, and my mind was totally unfocussed. But three years of constant and determined
practice and that changes, no matter what. You put in the time, and you get the results.
So everyone can do it.
The first thing that happens is that you get what is called shinjang in Tibetan. We
were just talking about this with Alison-hla, one of our ballet teachers, she was
describing how you get to the point in your ballet when youre putting in the maximum
effort but youre totally comfortable. [laughs] And we thought that was a very funny
dichotomy because we cant imagine doing that with our ballet. But I think we can
imagine doing it in our meditation, so we can relate. First your body gets really
comfortable, even though your back is totally straight and youre sitting in this weird
cross-legged position. After a while, if you do it over and over again, its just exactly the
place where your body wants to be every day. It gets so comfortable, and thats when it
can relax and things can start happening with it.
And then theres shinjang of mind, when first you work and your mind is
scattered every which way and youre thinking about twenty different things youre not
supposed to think about. But then you go through this process where you do it over and
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over again, and eventually your mind just goes to the object, and it gets comfortable
there. It gets comfortable in meditation. Then you reach a point where your mind gets
single-pointed on an object. You fix your mind to this tiny point, and then that point
starts to grow larger so it encompasses your entire awareness. And when you start out it
requires a huge amount of effort. I was just exhausted trying to maintain single-pointed
concentration for, like, five minutes. Its so hard. Try doing it just with your breath.
Just to focus on one thing for that long our minds arent used to it.
But eventually the time gets longer. You get to ten minutes, and then fifteen
minutes, and then twenty minutes. And somewhere in there you reach the state where
single-pointed concentration requires no effort at all and youre in this state of singlepointed concentration the entire day. And its the most beautiful, amazing experience.
Its like, its like all of your discursive thought stops and youre just immersed in
experiencing things. Everything you focus on, even when youre out of meditation is this
huge experience. And its the most blissful thing Ive ever experienced in my life. Its
so wonderful, and you should all experience it if you havent already.
This is where that vow comes in dont get attached to those great meditative
experiences and just [laughs] get into the pleasure of it. You really have to focus on
your goal. You have to turn your mind to emptiness. And really, thats what its all
about; you have to turn your mind to emptiness. Whether youre doing an outer or an
inner method of meditating on emptiness, it doesnt matter. Its the same goal.
The outer methods, grosser outer methods are actually moving the body, like with
the yoga asanas. But there are more subtle outer methods where youre sitting in
meditation and meditating on your channels. But all the outer methods are working with
the body to get the winds into the central channel, which is where they are when you see
emptiness directly. Youre working from the outside in.
And then you have to focus on the inner method. And you have to do both,
because the mind is this huge place. I think thats another thing that all the retreatants
realized, that its so amazing how immense and how many things weve got stuck in
there from lifetimes, and tons of seeds that you dont even know about until you get in
there. And it takes a lot to change the mind. So you have to work on both methods if
you want to reach enlightenment in this life, if you want to see emptiness directly in this
life and help all those people out there that are suffering, including yourself, you know
you have to. Its the only way.
But the nice thing about being in a state of single-pointed concentration when
youre doing meditations on emptiness is that even with an intellectual understanding of
emptiness you get this deep experiential understanding of it that doesnt come from
reading class textbooks. Its your own personal experience of it and it resonates in your
mind and your body much more deeply. You really know youre doing well when you
come out of a meditation and youre just awestruck by what youve just seen. Its not for
the grandiose glory of being awestruck by your meditations. Its because if you realize
that everything is a projection, then the possibilities are just endless. You can create your
own reality, you really can. You can create your perfect world. The vows become these
totally different things. They are like special secret codes by the great magician, Lord
Buddha, that were given to us so that we could manipulate our own reality and change
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our world into exactly what we want. Like perfection for everyone. So practice, constant
and determined practice, can get you really far on this path.
But I think the most important thing, the number one thing that Im going back to,
is you need to rely properly on a holy lama. I dont think any of us could have done this
retreat without the blessing of our lama, without a proper relationship with our lama.
Without relying on a lama youre never going to get beyond your present understanding
of emptiness, and eventually it will degenerate because your karmic seeds will wear out.
With relying on your lama your practice just skyrockets.
So why is that? I think we talked about the four laws of karma yesterday: shi
sampa, jorwa, tartuk. And one of them, which is the most important one for this topic, is
the first one, shi, the object. In order to change your mind in that really immense way,
you need a really powerful object. Otherwise the karma just wont ripen in this life. And
who knows where youll be the next time it ripens. You might not be in this perfect
situation where you can meditate and have teachings. You have to get the karma to ripen
now, because now is when we have the chance.
You have these powerful objects, like your parents, and things ripen really
quickly, like in this life maybe; ten, twenty years later youll experience results from
things that youve done with your parents, good or bad. But with a lama, Ive had the
experience of things ripening in two or three days. [laughs] Its amazing, its really
amazing. And thats my own personal experience. Its not in the texts but its valid for
me. I mean, I see it. Its very obvious. Sometimes its very negative karma, to tell you
the truth. [laughs] And it comes back... Ill have like a brief moment of irritation
towards my holy lama and, say, two or three days later hell have several hours of very
intense irritation at me. So this is how this powerful object thing works.
So its very beneficial for us if we can control our minds, not like me, because
first of all you get this complete understanding that karma is totally true. You see it
working; it works in two or three days. Its very obvious; you dont have to wait too long
for the effects. And thats very beneficial because then you start living by the laws of
karma, and your mind cleans up and youre able to think clearer and have better
concentration. But really its so that we can transform our reality.
So what does it mean to rely on a lama? First of all your lama has to be, for you,
a completely infallible being. Theres no other way to get around it. Otherwise you
dont have a lama, really. Its not a lama, its a teacher that you decided to take and you
see some faults in them, but its not a lama. Your lama is a perfectly infallible being.
And the second meaning of relying on a lama is that you follow what they tell
you. You take their advice. You learn from them. And this kind of faith, this kind of
relying on a lama, its only for us. You know, the lamas, they dont need us. Were just
a pain in the butt for them sometimes. [laughs] I mean they love us because theyre
totally compassionate, infallible beings, and they want to help us. But all our mental
afflictions I mean, if they werent infallible beings, we would probably get on their
nerves. [laughs] And all the times that we didnt listen to them, and all this stuff, you
know its just... They probably could do all these projects better themselves, you know.
[laughs] Its all for us, its all for our own merit, its all for our own seeing emptiness
directly. Thats all they want us to do.
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So how do you get this view of your lama as a totally infallible being? Because
in our normal perception we dont have this view of people as totally infallible beings
because were human and our reality is not that. We dont see infallible beings in the
human realm. So what do you do about that? Well, you use logic. This is a completely
infallible being because he is empty, and... Its so hard to be clear. As Ani Chukyi-hla
said in her meditation the other day, the things that were perceiving are mirrors of
ourselves. Everything that I see is a mirror of my own mind. The imperfections that I
see in other beings are simply my own mental afflictions being played out before my very
eyes.
And at some point you pick someone to be an infallible being for you, someone
who almost seems like an infallible being already, and you make a leap of faith based on
that logic, based on the understanding that you have of emptiness. Because if you make a
leap of faith without logic, its going to fail later. If you do it just on some emotional
whim, they dont last. It has to be logical. And then, its really interesting, people wait
around for the lama to do something miraculous or amazing so that they can have
unshakable faith in them. But what happens is that its your unshakable faith which
creates the miracles. Thats the karma of unshakable faith, is that you get to see miracles.
So, Ill give you this hypothetical example. You and your lama are sitting by a
fire. And the lama says something to you vaguely Tilop-ian. Says something like, If I
had a student [laughs] they could put their hand right in that fire. And youre sitting
there and youre thinking, and all of a sudden youre just thrust into this conundrum
because obviously your lama is talking to you about your own hand, and youre kind of
attached to your hand and you dont want it to be burned. And you cant see any reason
why burning your hand could get you enlightened in this life. But of course, youre not a
totally enlightened, infallible being with a perfect mind that sees all three times, are you?
You sit there and you reason it out through logic. Why would this be a good thing to
do, to follow my lamas advice and stick my hand into this fire? Well, he is a perfectly
infallible being who has so much love for me I cant even understand it. And all he
wants is to get me enlightened in this life. All he wants is for me to see emptiness
directly.
And so you get the faith you need, and you stick your hand into the fire. And
what happens, funny thing, your hand, it doesnt burn. It doesnt burn. Youre sitting
there with your hand in the fire, and flames are all around you, and it doesnt burn. So
its an object lesson on emptiness, right? Its the emptiness of fires ability to burn you.
Its the emptiness of your hands ability to feel the fire. Its the emptiness of your
awareness of the two of those coming together. Khor sum. But its also a miracle, you
know, brought about by your faith. Thats all. Thank you.
[Applause]
I think we have one verse left, and then well do a little Naropa-hla.
Gail Deutsch: The bodies that you send out come only from your thoughts, and
from the true nature of yourself. Nirmana chittanyasmita matrat. (IV.4)
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Thank you. I think the first key word is nirmana. In Tibetan, trulpa. Nir here
means out, sending out. Ma means to move or to mete out. The Indo-European
route is me, m-e, and you get words like measure or meter. I think one interesting
one is moon, because the moon was used to measure the passage of the month. And
then menses and all the words that come from that.
The second keyword I think is asmita. We had this once before, as one of the
kleshas, as one of the mental afflictions. But obviously, in the course of the Yoga Sutra,
Master Patanjali uses this word in two or three different ways. For example, in the first
chapter its used to describe a stage of meditation, with vitarka, vicara, and ananda. But
here in the final chapter its used to describe a kind of emptiness, the emptiness of
yourself; asmita. Asmi is the first present singular verb to be, I am. Asmita means I
am-ness. But here again it means a quality of emptiness of yourself.
Weve talked a lot about how to, in the final hours before your transformation into
the body of an angel, weve talked a lot about how the side channels collapse, they break
down, they withdraw into the central channel. And then it triggers the creation of the
body of light.
I think we didnt speak a lot about the other body that you have. When you
become enlightened, in the last moments before you become enlightened theres a
transformation also of your mind. If you traced on a graph the process of the last
moments before enlightenment, your mind suddenly shifts. The karmic seeds are no
longer presenting objects to your mind in a sequence and the karmic seeds are no longer
presenting discrete objects to your mind; one, one, one, one. The karmic seeds of trying,
struggling with all our practices for all these years, they flip totally. And then the seeds
are producing to your mind a single object, which is all knowable things in all times.
And thats the only way that you could ever become enlightened. So the seeds in your
mind flip, shift, and then suddenly a single seed is presenting a single object, which is all
things, in all places, at all times, to your mind. And you perceive everything there ever
was, is, or will be.
The one thing about you that never changes is your asmita. Right now all of us
have the seeds for enlightenment within us. Because of the simple fact that we are
empty, because of the simple fact that we dont exist from our own side we can become
enlightened. So what we call the sugata garbha, the Buddha nature, your own nature of
Buddhahood, its not some strange little Buddha living within your chest somewhere.
Its the simple fact that you dont come from your own side. That is the potential for you
to become an enlightened being. Just as if you change your karmic seeds, someone who
used to irritate you will become a beautiful person to you, you can do the same with
yourself. The karmic seeds to see your body get old, the karmic seeds to see wrinkles
form and aging continue are suddenly stopped, and new karmic seeds assert themselves
and you see this body we talked about. Kaya sampat . . rupa lavanya bala vajra
samhananatvani you see the body change. Its not that the body is changing, right?
Its just different seeds ripening in your mind.
How do you get those seeds there? Obviously you have to practice everything
from non-violence on up that creates this body. Ill show you a little secret method that I
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should bring out because I dont want people to think Im too strange. [laughs] Its very
important as a practice to pretend or to try to emulate the kind of body you will have
later. So this diamond body that you will have, you can help plant seeds for it in your
mind now just by doing some simple things. For example, the reason to wear the robes
of a monk or a nun is to... Its like Halloween; were pretending to be like Lord Buddha
or Je Tsongkapa, Khen Rinpoche-hla. Were dressing up like them and then were hoping
that that will plant a seed in our minds. Thats one of the most important reasons to wear
robes. Youre sort of impersonating those holy beings. But at some point if you do it
enough the impersonation becomes real.
We do the same with the yogis life, yogis style. Its why a yogi would wear
their hair long. You can see Naropa-hlas hair. I dont have much hair left, but the ten or
twelve strands left, [laughs] Ive grown it long. And to be among friends to tell you
why, because you will be asked and you will wonder... I want to remind myself
constantly of the Angel of Diamond. I want to be like her. I want to plant seeds in my
own mind that one day I can become her and go to countless planets. So its one more
method. This method taught by Lord Buddha to... If your practice happens to be trying to
become like this beautiful, exquisite, compassionate angel then whatever hairs you have
left, you could grow them. And then every time you touched it or someone asked you
about it you would recall why youre doing it and that would plant seeds in your mind to
actually become her. So this is why yogis would wear their hair long or wear some kind
of jewelry, to remind them of this. In a secret initiation, a lama will often dress up as
Vajra Yogini, even wear the clothing and there are special wigs that Tibetan lamas would
wear. The idea is that even during an initiation you get deep seeds planted in you to
become like an angel. So this is a very powerful method.
If you can keep your faith and your vision of what youre doing all the time in
awareness, then even as you walk around partly dressed like the angel you will become,
in a very shallow, in a very artificial way, really, that seeds would be planted within you
to actually become her later. Later those seeds will ripen. You will become this
beautiful exquisite angel.
I encourage you even to look through books, magazines. If you see a beautiful
picture of someone who looks like an angel... and it will be your own version, each
person will have a different vision. The Chinese people draw the angels as Chinese. The
Tibetans draw them as Tibetans. The Indians drew them as Indians. You should,
according to your karmic seeds, seek out pictures of who you will become. These are not
real pictures, they are human beings with skin and bones and flesh, but you can pretend,
you can approximate. You can find paintings or photographs of beings that you would
like to become. And then I encourage you to keep it near you, look at it often, pretend
its your mirror sometimes. This is the meaning of the religious paintings and thankas of
Tibet and India, Mongolia, China. Its that when you see them you are dreaming of
becoming like these beings. But I urge you not to think of them as two dimensional flat
things with painted bodies. You have to think of them as like candle light, or firelight.
Their bodies are made of light itself. Its a good practice to do.
As you get more advanced in your practice I think the images paintings,
statues mean less and less. They are something put on an altar to worship. We dont
much believe that in the higher teachings. You have to start looking at these paintings
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and images, and seeing them as yourself, as you will be. And as I said yesterday, when
youre around your close family or your close friends or your teachers, and in this
practice especially a spouse or even a child, you have to struggle to believe that they are
already this angel, and they are struggling to bring you to the same place. They are
struggling to make you an angel, too. As your practice gets higher and higher, you will
need fewer objects on your altar, because they will be replaced by the people around you.
It can only be done if you keep your vows well. Because its not the decision that you
make, its something that your karma forces upon your mind and then the beings around
you are actually holy beings. Like we said in the beginning, Je Tsongkapa and Kenchen
looking at each other and yelling, Oh, youre a tantric deity!
So the verse means in the first millisecond of enlightenment you become able to
perceive all objects because your karmic seeds have changed. The emptiness of you has
carried forth from beginningless time up to enlightenment. It never changes. Its what
makes it all possible. Thats the asmita. Chitta means the enlightened state of mind.
And suddenly, one millisecond after enlightenment, countless angels bodies fly forth
from your body. They appear in every single planet of the universe. Try to imagine
yourself in the future sitting still in a paradise and then at the same instant you are
appearing on countless planets in front of countless beings helping each one of them. If
you are not this already you will become this, surely, certainly. You are so close; you
have received the highest teachings possible to reach this goal. We just have to meditate,
regular daily practice.
If you have had Vajra Yogini initiations then you should do tong len but in the
special way that is taught there, and then if you havent yet had that empowerment then
you should be doing tong len every day. I beg you to do tong len every day. And I think
the Heart Yoga, which will be taught in the next two weeks I understand, is a very
powerful way to combine inner method and outer method. It is the secret teaching of
Naropa. It is the essence of Naropa teaching. Its not just a little half hour routine. It is
the essence of the highest teachings that ever reached Tibet.
D
So well finish up with Naropa-hla. I wanted to talk about how Naropa-hlas
teaching reached Tibet itself and came to us eventually. You can say that Naropa-hlas
teachings have come, for us, have come down through two great lineages. We spoke
already about the fact that almost all the great secret teachings in Tibet came down
through Naropa-hla: the Kalachakra, Yamantaka, Bhairava, Chakrasamvara,
Guhyasamaja, and also Hevajra. All of these holy secret lineages, you can find Naropahla in all of the lineage trees, in all of them. Also mahamudra and Vajra Yogini. As far
as the open teachings, we said that Naropa-hla had been Lord Atishas teacher for the
subjects of Hevajra and Prajna Paramita. And thus you can say that Naropa-hla also has
a place as the fore-father of our lam rim Kadampa traditions and the lineage of the Dalai
Lama.
How did this reach Tibet? I just think its a neat story. Its a lot like the efforts
and the hardships that were accomplished by modern day people to bring great teachings
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from India and Tibet. I know we have two, at least two, extraordinary yoga masters here
today. People who learn these teachings from them, which are part of Naropa lineage, I
dont think you often stop and thank these teachers for all the pain they have gone
through to go to India and bring the teachings back here to our country. Countless
troubles, countless days with all kinds of parasites, diarrhea, and just plain pain and
trouble to bring those teachings back to us. You take a yoga class, you think its a nice
exercise, but its the result of ten or twenty years of struggle and pain to go to India and
learn from the great masters there. And you should sometimes thank them for the pain
they have taken.
The first great lineage of Naropa-hla, the six yogas of Naropa-hla, came to Tibet
through Marpa, the translator. We left Naropa-hla burned at the stake and then jumping
around with his partner. He later settled down with Niguma, his original practice partner,
and they began to teach. One of the first students to come was Marpa, the translator from
Tibet. Marpa was born in southeastern Tibet in a place called Sodra. I think as a child
his parents found him to be... His parents were wealthy land-owners, farmers, and he
was such a naughty and mischievous child reminds me a little bit of a great lama in
New Jersey as a child [laughs] that his parents determined that he should be sent
away to a lama who might discipline him.
So they sent Marpa-hla as a young man he was still in his teens to a place in
south central Tibet called Nugo Valley, and there he studied with a great translator called
Drogme. The problem was that Drogme was very strict and he charged a lot of money.
In those days you had to offer gold, large quantities of gold, to a teacher to get any kind
of a teaching. They didnt take you seriously if you didnt show up with tens of
thousands of dollars, basically. So they collected money and sent it with Marpa-hla. He
paid Drogme Lotsowa. And Drogme for three years taught him the languages of India,
including Sanskrit. Then Marpa-hla was running out of money and being such a stubborn
person, like all the retreatants and caretakers, he said, This is silly. This guys charging
me all this money. He just went to India for awhile and learned all this stuff. I should go
to India. I could bypass these charges.
So he went back home to southeast Tibet. He talked his parents into giving him
his inheritance ahead of time. He converted it all into gold. He sewed it into his clothing
and he started walking to the only path to India three hundred and fifty miles away. He
crossed the pass at fifteen thousand feet, came down into Nepal. Tibetans living at such
altitude cant come directly to India. They just get tuberculosis immediately because of
the difference in the altitude. It can be a ten, twelve thousand feet difference. Thats
why so many of the lamas who escaped Tibet came down with tuberculosis in the refugee
camps in 1960.
So he spent three years in Nepal trying to get his lungs adjusted halfway. He met
Chitherpa and another close disciple of Naropa-hla, and he heard about Naropa-hlas
qualities. He was very excited. And then after three years of acclimatization he walked
the other, oh I think seven, eight hundred miles, down to Phullahari, or Pushpahari,
which is near Nalanda, which is not far from Bodhgaya in India. And he met Naropa-hla.
And it seems like his original relationship went pretty easy, I think because of all
the pain he had taken to get to India. Naropa-hla was impressed with Marpa, and he had
also received a prediction from Tilopa that Marpa would be coming. Tilopa warned
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Naropa-hla that a student named Lodru, which is Mati in Sanskrit, would be coming.
Chitta Lodru was Marpa-hlas personal name Marpa is his clan name and so he
was expecting Marpa-hla and he granted him many tantric initiations.
Marpa stayed in India with Naropa-hla and Maitripa and other great masters for
twelve years studying the great teachings. He returned again to Tibet and then came back
to India for a second time and then a third time. The second time he stayed six years, the
third time he stayed three years. And during this time he was trained by both Naropa and
by Niguma. Sometimes Naropa would send Marpa to his partner for training, to Niguma.
And so in this way Marpa-hla was taught mainly the six yogas of Naropa, which
are the basis of the Tibetan Book of Yoga and the Heart Yoga asanas and programs. And
Marpa during this time translated at least one of the tantras in the Kangyur and about
fifteen works in the Tengyur, including most of the works of his teacher, Naropa. So
thats the way in which the six yogas came into Tibet.
Marpa-hla taught them to his disciple, Milarepa. And I think its important to
say, Marpa-hla was not a monk. Marpa was a farmer. Marpa was a family man and a
business man. Over the course of his life, nine different angels came to Marpa to stay
with him and train him. The last one to come was named Dagme-ma. Dagme-ma means
Miss Emptiness [laughs] and it was with her that Marpa-hla settled down and did his
main practice, started a family, had children. And I think of him a lot like Art-hla, Lama
Art. On the outside he was just a layman and hes an extraordinary translator and he
was bringing up a family and running a farm, a business. But inside he was doing a lot of
practice on the six yogas of Naropa.
Marpa and his disciples often did long retreats, you know. They would go to
Marpas house, which was a huge tower called Tsekhar, and they would do, six-week
retreats, three-week retreats together, and Marpa taught his disciples. Many of his
disciples were his children. And then some of his disciples came from the outside, like
Milarepa.
It was Milarepa who received most of the lineages of the six practices of Marpa,
because Marpas main son died, his eldest son died, but not before Marpa had forced
Milarepa to build the Tsekhar tower. Tse means my son, khar means tower. This is
a nine-story tower which still exists in Tibet, which was built by Milarepa as a test from
his lama, Marpa. So Marpa you should be encouraged Marpa put Milarepa through
the same trouble that Tilopa put Naropa through. And Marpa was forced later by Naropa
to go through a lot of horrible tests also, including swimming across poison lakes to reach
an island called Tsosa, to go meet Niguma in a burial ground to get special teachings on
Vajra Yogini. So the kinds of tests you are getting put through are not much I think.
And its a tradition, its an old tradition. Marpa kept giving all the great teachings and
initiations and secret information to his own son and kept ignoring Milarepa, who he
would say, you go out and plow the field or you build another story on this tower.
The day after the tower was finished Milarepa expected his first initiation. I think it was
after six years or something. And Marpa called his son in and gave it to his son instead.
Milarepa went outside to commit suicide. But [laughter]... there was an interesting twist
of fate. I dont know how long you want to go. I can go pretty long. [applause] Okay,
okay.
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Afternoon, Day Four Geshe Michael Roach

There was a lot... Ill tell you, this is a long story. [laughs] There was a lama
named Loplama. Lope is a special area of Tibet that was known for Sakya logicians, but
he had a lot of the initiations that Milarepa was hoping to get from Marpa and never got.
And Dagme-ma, Marpas final partner, his wife and by the way, its considered that
the nine angels who came to Marpa during the course of his life were the nine dakinis or
angels of the Hevajra mandala so Dagme-ma was getting upset at all the torture that
her husband was giving Milarepa. She felt bad for Milarepa.
So one day she sneaked into Marpas belongings and pulled out a ruby which had
been Naropas. Naropa had given it to Marpa. So Dagme-ma sneaked it out of a bag and
gave it to Milarepa and said, You know what? You make some excuse and you go over
to Loplama, and you give him this ruby, and tell him you need all those initiations, and
you can get them from him instead of Marpa.
So he took the ruby, he went to Loplama, which seems to have been something
like a weeks walk away. He presented the ruby. Loplama looked at it and immediately
began to grant him initiations. Actually something happened just before the initiation.
Loplama said, I have some trouble with some students who are trying to reach
me from other parts of Tibet, are constantly being mugged on the way.
Milarepa was known, in the earlier part of his life as a black magician. He had
learned the arts of calling down hail storms on people and killing them with this... and
actually they say that all of the hardships that he underwent under Marpa were only for
the purpose of cleansing his karma. He regretted that he had killed people in the past,
and when he came to Marpa for initiation, Marpa had to purify him first. So anyway,
now Milarepa is more mature. He goes to Loplama.
Loplama says, These people are getting mugged. I think you should send some
hail storms down upon the muggers and kill them.
Milarepa respectfully said, I used to do that before I understood the Dharma.
And I came here because I wanted to purify that bad karma, and I respectfully refuse.
Then Loplama said, So now I see you are worthy for initiation.
So I think its an example of when to respectfully refuse an instruction from your
lama which you feel you cannot morally carry out. So Milarepa-hla gets the initiations.
Then he gets word from Marpa-hla, Come back quickly bringing expensive silk
and other ornaments we can put on top of the newly finished tower.
So he hurries back with Loplama. Marpa-hla calls them in for dinner. Theyre
sitting around with Dagme-ma, Marpa-hlas wife, and they have a big dinner and then
Loplama says, Well Marpa-hla, youll be glad to know I gave Milarepa all the
initiations.
Marpa says, What are you talking about? I wasnt done with him yet.
He says, You told me to give him initiations.
Marpa says, No, I didnt.
He says, Yes you did. You sent me Naropas ruby with him, so I knew it was
time to give him the initiations.
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Afternoon, Day Four Geshe Michael Roach

So Marpa knows whats happening. He picks up a stick. He goes after Dagmema. [laughs] But in the end they all sit down happily and have some chang and
[laughter] Marpa completes all the initiations. And then he goes and puts Milarepa into
retreat in a place called Drolume. John Brady knows Geshe Drolumba, who wrote the
Ten Rim Chenmo, and that was his home state. So Milarepa was put into deep meditation
by Marpa-hla. And then Marpa-hla went back for his third trip to India to meet Naropa.
Then Milarepas songs are famous, the hundred thousand songs of Milarepa. The
visions he had, the poetry he wrote in his cave, very similar to Pelma-hlas poetry and
CD, [laughs] which all the retreatants and caretakers wrote a bit, but nothing like
Milarepas.
And then his disciple was Gompopa. Gompopa was the first monk in the lineage
after Naropa. He founded a monastery and he wrote over thirty volumes of beautiful
texts. And in that way the six dharmas of Naropa come down through the Kagyu
lineages. It comes then down through the Karmapa. You guys know the third Karmapa
who wrote a book which we are now studying at Diamond Mountain. And then the
fourth Karmapa gave vows to a young man named Tsongkapa. And thats how the
lineage reaches down to us.
In modern times the six yogas of Naropa have been taught by His Holiness the
Dalai Lama, for example, to Lama Yeshe, and you can read about that in his book called
Inner Fire. In that book he calls the deep practices, especially with a partner, to be
unsurpassable method of reaching enlightenment in one lifetime.
Then in our own lineage, I have received, with other close friends, the six yogas
from two high masters in India. When we get to the secret teachings Ill tell you more
details about it. And thats how the six yogas of Naropa have come down to us.
What about the other teachings of Naropa, of Vajra Yogini? How did they come
down to us? These werent so much emphasized in Naropa-hlas teachings to Marpa.
But rather there were five brothers, called Patingpa brothers, in Nepal, who had a chance
to study with Naropa-hla. And Naropa granted them the teachings of Vajra Yogini,
which we call Naropas Vajra Yogini, Naro Kechara. This is the Vajra Yogini practice
which holy Lama Khen Rinpoche has so kindly taught us for over twenty years. This
lineage was taught especially to two of the five Patingpa brothers. The eldest was named
Patingpa and the others had other names. The eldest studied it for twelve years with
Naropa-hla. And then I think its interesting that Naropa instructed him to go to China,
to the border of Tibet and China, for special practices and special meditation. He just
went, not knowing anyone or anybody, but he left according to the instructions. And even
as late as the 1950s, there was a tomb in that area which had an inscription on it. It said
that the eldest Patingpa had left his body here, and that his body and the body of the
Chinese woman who had been his spiritual partner had been entombed there.
This practice then entered the Sakya lineage and we have great Sakya teachers,
who are not monks but lay people, pass down this tradition. Drakpa Gyeltsen is one of
the most important names of this particular practice. And then it comes down through
the Sakya lamas down to the current day. It was taught by His Holinesss teacher to
Khen Rinpoche.

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Afternoon, Day Four Geshe Michael Roach

And I should say that the Pantingpa lineage, the one that Khen Rinpoche has so
kindly taught us, emphasizes first-level tantra, which involves reaching angels, being able
to meet with them, learn from them. And then the six yogas of Naropa that came down
through Marpa-hla, they more emphasize the practices for turning your body into an
angels body. And thats where we find the yoga asanas and yoga practices which have
descended directly down through Tilopa to Naropa and Marpa. Above Tilopa they break
off through a teacher called Shabari. And they descend down into the two great modern
lineages of Master Iyengar and Patabhi Jois.
Just this last thing... I think its auspicious we should talk about how Nigumas
six dharmas got to Tibet. Remember, Niguma, Naropa-hlas spiritual partner had also
given a teaching on her own six yoga practices which are found in the Tengyur. I like the
story of how they came into Tibet. I think they should be strong in the West. I think we
should try to preserve this lineage and practice is strongly because its a statement that a
great lineage has come down from a woman lama, even from ancient times. I think it
would be extremely beneficial to follow that practice here at Diamond Mountain and in
our tantric series for ACI courses. [audience applause]
Niguma... Well, there was a lama named Kymbo, Kymbo Neljor. They say he
was born in about 1086 but the dates are a little fuzzy. He was brought up in a Nyingma
and Bonpa family practice. Nyingma is the ancient Buddhism of Tibet. It started as
early as the 600s in Tibet. And then there was a very terrible time in the 800s when there
was a very evil king in Tibet who wiped out Buddhism almost completely. And the era
that began with Marpa and Lord Atisha was called the second transmission of Buddhism
into Tibet from India. So really there were two separate propagations of Buddhism into
Tibet. The first was almost killed by this evil king. But the survivors were called the
Nyingmas or the Ancient Sect.
So Kymbo Lama, sometimes called Yogi Kymbo, Kymbo Neljor, he had grown
up in a Nyingma and a Bonpa family. Bonpa is the ancient religion of Tibet before
Buddhism. Its a kind of like shamanism, but it is very deep and now-a-days many people
are realizing that it has deep yogic roots also. Kymbo Neljor decided to go India... Oh, I
should say, he was ordained. Ill tell you the person who ordained him; you tell me who
it is. Dorje Sengye. Yeah, those of you who studied lojong, Diamond Lion. He is the
author of the Eight Verses that His Holiness taught in Central Park, for example; a very
popular teaching by all great lamas of His Holinesss tradition, Gelukpa. Here you see
where around the time of Naropa-hla I think its very exciting you see an
intersection of the Kadampalas, the lam rim, the Gelukpas, the Kagyus, the Nyingmas,
the Bonpas. I think its very exciting. To study and practice Naropa-hlas teachings is to
stay at an intersection where we can relate to all the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. I
think it would be exciting to see the different view-points of Naropa-hlas practices by
inviting great lamas of different traditions to come and explain and give teachings on
how Naropa-hlas practices have come into their own lineages.
So Kymbo Lama went to India. It seems that Naropa-hla had already gone into
deep practice. He was no longer... he often went into deep retreats and refused to teach
during that time. So Kymbo wanders around asking everybody, Is there anybody who
has seen Vajradhara directly? Vajradhara is Lord Buddha in his long-haired, tantric
form. He kept asking people, Has anyone actually seen Vajradhara? Finally a group of
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Afternoon, Day Four Geshe Michael Roach

people said, Only one person. Its the woman, Niguma. Where can I find Niguma?
Oh, impossible. She stays on this island in a poison lake called Tsosa in a burial ground
there, doing her practice. You probably cant even get to her.
But Kymbo is determined. He goes to this horrible... it seems like a swamp or
something. He gets incredible hardships, almost eaten by different creatures. But he
finally gets to the island where Niguma is practicing.
Then he searches the island, he cant find her. So he decides to do a mantra. Hes
a... very interesting, out of all the secret mantras that exist, thousands of secret mantras,
each one competing for the title of highest secret mantra... [laughs] If you read the texts,
each one is supposed to be. He sits down and what does he start saying? He says,
Namo Buddhaya, namo Buddhaya, namo Buddhaya, which as every child knows, it
just means I take refuge in the Buddha, I bow to Lord Buddha. Its no tantric mantra at
all. Its a plain old, non-secret, first thing that every kid learns in the monastery. But he
says it from his heart. And he keeps saying it over and over again. And he sits in the
burial ground and he says, Namo Buddhaya, namo Buddhaya, and hes calling
Niguma.
Finally, in the air, the text says at the altitude of seven coconut trees... [laughs]
this beautiful, actually fierce, woman appears, flaming red light.
And she says, Why are you calling me?
He says, Are you, are you the lady Niguma, Naropas spiritual partner, the only
one who has seen Vajradhara directly?
She says, No way, Im a demon. Im going to eat you. [laughs] You heard
this story; you have to have faith at that moment.
He closes his eyes and says, Namo Buddhaya, namo Buddhaya. [laughs] I
dont believe youre a demon. I believe youre Niguma.
Well even if I was, its going to cost you. This was very typical you know, the
Tibetans brought gold and offered it to the lamas, the gurus.
So he said, Ill pay anything. Grant me initiation.
She says, Five hundred sangs of gold.
This is like, maybe a hundred thousand dollars or something, you know? But
luckily, Kymbo Neljor had been taught by Maitripa the mantras for creating gold
[laughter] and he had brought a good supply. He hands up bags of gold dust up to her.
She descends. He gives them to her.
She flies up over the forest, rips open the bags and sprinkles the gold over the
forest. Then she comes back and, in the air, she turns into Vajra Yogini and all of her
angel retinue, beautiful, holy, sacred ladies.
They say that other people only saw normal humans but Kymbo Neljor, because
of his faith and his practice, he saw Vajra Yogini. People are looking out and seeing just
regular people. People are seeing regular women walking around on the ground even.
But Kymbo Neljor is experiencing this empty object as Vajra Yogini and her
angels. And she grants him the six dharmas of Niguma.
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Afternoon, Day Four Geshe Michael Roach

Kymbo Neljor returns to Tibet. And then the second great branch of the Kagyu
lineage, Shangba Kagyu, carries the six practices of Niguma down to the present time.
There are several great lineage holders. The father of Kenden Gyatso, the second
Dalai Lama, was a great lineage holder of Nigumas six practices. And I think its
exciting for those of you studying Sama Randen now-a-days, Kama Ranjen Dorje, the
author, was also a heavy practitioner of Negu Chedup, the six practices of Niguma. And
from there it descends down through the Shangba Kagyu down to the present day. So
these are the lineages by which the practices of Naropa and Niguma-hla have come down
to us.
D
It was my hope before going into retreat that after three year retreat we could shift
gears, as you may have noticed, [laughs] to the higher teachings. And it is my dream
that we could have a standardized course, much like the eighteen courses of ACI. And I
urge you again to prepare. You need to finish the eighteen courses before it is proper for
me to grant to you the higher teachings, which I think will take five or seven years. And
I think it will cover about eighteen courses.
My hope is, in August and September, to visit different areas of the country,
possibly an emerald island in some area of the world, and just meet quietly with students,
describe to them what the course will be like. Go over with them, you know, review with
people how many courses they have left to do and generally get everybody excited and
ready, and then see whos qualified. You dont need to finish the eighteen courses until
the higher courses start. But I think it would be a good chance in August and September,
first, to review with everyone what theyll have to get ready, how much theyve finished
already, and then I think answer any questions you may have about higher teachings.
They can sometimes seem unusual and a little bit, I dont know, not scary but... I dont
think weird is, maybe weird [laughs] but they are very beautiful, holy, sweet, very
sincere, beautiful methods of reaching ultimate compassion and knowledge so that we
can serve countless beings quickly. Its the only way. If you dont enter the higher
teachings, its impossible in one lifetime to reach this goal.
And then well start into the courses. I believe it will be taught first at Diamond
Mountain in the fall of 2004 when the university opens. And then I pledge, if I am still
healthy, to repeat those courses in New York City, because I know many people cant
come out here for long periods of time. And then I see the transmission going to other
locations through the senior teachers in New York and here. If there were a group of
qualified people, say, in other states of the United States or other countries, then the
transmission of the higher courses would be done by people like the senior teachers that
have spoken here, or the ones who have been teaching the courses, like the caretakers and
other highly qualified beings. Thats about all I have to say about the spiel.
D
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Afternoon, Day Four Geshe Michael Roach

Theres absolutely no way to thank all of the individuals who helped for the threeyear retreat. Its the energy that you put into it, and extraordinary progress of all the
different holy practice projects which all of you have done.
To tell you the truth, I went into retreat ready to be possibly disappointed when I
got out. I didnt know if all of the hard work that some of us had done to start the courses
and start the input of the great books and other activities, I didnt know if they would
survive and I was a little afraid that they might die. But coming out I have seen that
everything has flowered extraordinarily. For every person who was studying any ACI
courses in the month we went into retreat, I think there must be ten or twenty or thirty
more people now who have studied the courses or been involved in the beautiful works.
I dont think there were more than ten or fifteen people who had completed a deep
retreat before our retreat. I believe now its maybe close to a hundred or more people
have done deep retreats. People had come to me before retreat, they had gotten down on
one knee, I remember at Godstow, promised to do two deep retreats a year. And as far as
Im aware, those promises were kept almost perfectly.
So you have, with your actions, you have called the higher teachings to yourself.
Its not a decision by anyone else. You have sent out an energy which cannot be denied.
You have drawn the angels to you through your actions so they cant refuse you now.
And we can never thank you for helping us do the three-year retreat. None of us
can thank you. Theres no way we can thank each one of you. Only to say that, as I
mentioned at the beginning, your devotion, your hard work, your persistence, every
person here, I think, has contributed in some way. Some of them with all their life, all
their money, all their time. It has set in motion powerful forces that are not limited even
to this one earth. And we will soon see the great... I dont think you can imagine the
results that will come out from the great goodness you have done.
[Prayers]

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