Within the all spiritual teaching, the spiritual teaching is based on an understanding of sharing. Our spiritual aim and spiritual approach and learning and practicing is to touch the deep part of our mind, to go something very deeply inside the state of our mind. And that kind of state of mind is based on indiscriminate love, is based on sharing. That you discover, you go something inside because we realize and we understand that

[01:03]

being selfish and being, trying to always think of oneself is not something the greatest. It's a sense of recognizing and it's experience at a subconscious state which manifests that there is something more what we have the capacity to do than what we normally are doing. And that kind of state of mind within the spiritual teaching is called the altruistic attitude, the motivation of compassion mind or the bodhisattva mind. We feel that we have a capacity to do something more than what we are at the present level. We know that we can do and we feel it also.

[02:03]

But at the same time we can see that it is limited. We can see our capacity to a certain extent and we can also see that we cannot express that capacity also. There is obstruction, there is an obstacle, there is a veil, something obscured to express the strength of that capacity. And for that every tradition learns and develops through their own spiritual path. So that one could break the limits to overcome that obstacle, to able to fully manifest and able to fully actualize that capacity. That is the purpose of the spiritual aim.

[03:11]

And to heal oneself from the confusion, from that blockage, from the veil. And then able to heal oneself and heal everybody. That is the most important understanding that one should have on the spiritual path. If we lack that kind of understanding on the spiritual path, then our spiritual path and its aim, we did not understand really what spiritual means. If a person did not understand that capacity of openness and the strength, how much the strength there is to share without feeling that you are going to lose something.

[04:13]

The sense of, the concept, the absence of losing something if you share. That is the Buddhist definition. But when we follow a spiritual path and we have a notion that I want to follow this spiritual path so that I can develop tremendous miraculous power and I could look something special. I could be special than other people so that I could have one meter of light and everyone will kind of worship me or everyone will kind of respect me. Then I feel great. That kind of attitude lacks the true sense of spiritual sharing.

[05:16]

And it's not a spiritual path at all. It is the same ordinary style. Now it's even worse. It's even worse at that stage. Because on a path of spiritual, one is feeding a very ordinary confusion. One is feeding the confusion with the spiritual food. So the confusion will become stronger instead of confusion being cut through and dissolved. The confusion will not be cut through. It will not be dissolved. It will even become more and more stronger and stronger and more solid. So first of all, it's very important that we should understand what is the spiritual path. And I'm pretty sure that there are very few people who would really think of such a state of mind.

[06:23]

But most people really are following a spiritual path with some kind of trying to understand. And I know that everyone is really trying to heal oneself from the deep inside based on seeing that capacity and also seeing the limits of that capacity. So I believe that there are only maybe one or two persons in the whole world who think like having such miraculous power and doing such a thing, trying to feed the confusion. There must be very less people who think that. But mostly following with some kind of honesty and sincerity. And that's very important within the spiritual path. Now, what is the point of learning and point of practicing? It means it's to practice.

[07:26]

The teachings are the very techniques which are shown in the teachings. How to actualize the capacity. How to actualize the capacity of our mind. So that is the technique of the teaching within the spiritual path. But whether we are able to actualize it or not, that will depend very much on individual. That will depend on a direct honesty. Not only in honesty. Honesty is there, a person following a spiritual path. There is a certain degree of honesty. But a strength, at the same time a strength, a willingness to do the practice. Willingness to actualize the technique requires awareness.

[08:31]

Requires strength in a person. And that kind of willingness is very important on the spiritual path. Even if we are honest, even if we are willing in a certain degree, but if we did not actualize, then the capacity would not be manifest again. It will again remain in the dimension of its limits. So we need many support for that. It's not just easy for a true practitioner. Practitioner means one who is on the path. Everyone is on a journey. Our life is a journey. Now this is a journey towards truth.

[09:34]

Journey towards reality. Journey towards our sanity. Everything is a journey. Everyone is a practitioner. Practitioner of wisdom or practitioner of neurosis. Whatever it is, everyone is a practitioner. Everyone is on a path. Being a path, being a practitioner, there is no difference. But the difference does make whether one is a practitioner of sanity or practitioner of neurosis. There is a difference. So we need many support. As without the support, it's very hard for a person to independently express the full strength, capacity to be in the state of purity,

[10:35]

the state to express the capacity of sanity. It's very difficult. And for that we need the teaching. We need the spiritual friends. We need many supports. Like we need support to do something bad, we also need a support. Same thing to do something good, we also need a support. And also very important to understand that support is essential. Support is very essential. One cannot fully manifest the capacity until one has reached certain degree of state of mind which is strong enough to be dealt wherever you are independently. At the same time, one should not be discouraged that if I do not have my friends around me,

[11:36]

then I'm not strong enough to do my practice. That's again a wrong kind of understanding. And that's again not true. Because fundamentally, we are the very one who should be willing to do it. And if we are not willing to do it, then no matter how, we may be surrounded by all the enlightened beings 24 hours, but nothing will happen to us because our door is closed. So fundamentally, openness and willingness and understanding is very important. Understanding the teaching, what it meant, and the willingness to do it. And then there will be an immediate fruition, especially on the path of Vajrayana.

[12:39]

The techniques, the teachings are extremely powerful. And when the person does apply that technique, there's an immediate experience. So one has to have very clear knowledge. And knowledge itself is not enough. One needs support. So support will come from many different sides. It will come from our merits. It will come from our sometimes meeting with our friends. And all kinds of these factors, they support us to gain more deeper understanding and support for us to see our ultimate state of reality, which is independent. So at the beginning level, I would say that it's very important that it's good to have support.

[13:50]

And at the same time, it does not mean that we constantly have to go to the city or next to our friends always to do the practice. That is also one thing one should be aware that oneself is the main thing. If you are not willing to do, no matter how you are taught, how you are supported, it will not happen. And I guess the message is shown in so many different traditions that how much one should be willing to do it to discover that capacity. So in Buddhism, the karma is shown. And in Christianity, there is a karma shown. But whether one recognizes that or not depends on the knowledge of the person. We should not get caught in the names.

[14:52]

I've seen mostly our basic confusion, limits, is names what we get always confused. The names are the ones which limits us. The names are the ones which bind us to certain belief. But that shows a weakness. That shows a limit in a person's mind, a fear that if you break that name, something terrible will happen. But breaking a name would not happen anything. If you break the nature, something might happen then. That's what creates the karma. A name would not create a karma. So, if you look very carefully, even in the teachings of Christianity, how it is shown, it's shown that a person has to, even though whatever is said, it's very important that a person has to apply that technique to oneself.

[15:57]

Otherwise, it's not going to happen. You see? The Ten Commandments shows why it was shown, first of all, so that it needs to be applied by the person. If it's not applied by the person, it's not going to happen. And that is the nature. That is the nature of the Ten Commandments. Otherwise, if it's something truly, what the word means, that everyone is a creation of the Creator, then there is no need to apply that, because the Creator can dissolve and the Creator can do anything. But since that is not really the sense, what the teaching really meant, it is important that individual responsibility and willingness should be there fundamentally. Otherwise, nothing can happen. And that is the nature.

[16:58]

But we like to get caught in the names. And even we may ask this question to a Christian priest. He would not like to call it as a karma. He would not like to, you know, a limited priest would get afraid to hear that. Oh, now he is trying to change the word of Christ. But Christ is not simply caught in the word, you know, he is something different. To see the nature of Christ, to see the nature of the Enlightened Mind is something different than a word. One who gets caught is a word, playing with the words. And that's what creates the confusion. You are Buddhist, I am Christian. You are Muslim, I am Hindu. And we are playing, we are joking with ourselves, kidding with ourselves. And we are not seeing the nature. We are not seeing the nature, we lack the understanding, the knowledge to see how that fundamentally,

[18:02]

if I am not willing to apply, then I would not be such and such. To be such and such, I need to apply such and such. If I do not apply such and such, no matter, no one can do that change for me. So that shows that karma. That is called karma in Buddhism. The name is called karma. There is nothing else karma than that. It's simply a name. That was called karma. And so, somebody can make a new name also. If someone likes a name, someone can make a new name for that also. We can put a new encyclopedia, we can put a new name. So, it shows basically, you see, how things are important. That it shows that we are ourselves.

[19:02]

It shows that we are ourselves. Now, why... Now, why, you know, there are times, there are times in the era, there are times in our history, there are times in our world, that certain times, certain kind of presentation of the teaching is very important. Even that, by word, they would not go to the ultimate relating, but to present that teaching is important according to the psychological state of their mind. And for that, in the picture of Buddhism, one would see the three levels of teaching.

[20:07]

One would see the Hinayana teaching, one would see the Mahayana Sutra teaching, and one would see the Vajrayana teaching. And among themselves, there's a great level of introducing that capacity. And even it's not showing the ultimate, but at that time it was told the ultimate, so that when you reach to that state, then you will see the second stage. And that kind of presentation is extremely important for us, because if our state of mind is very limited, to break through the most unlimited stage, when the time does not ripen, one would not hear that. One would interpret that thing into something else. So, I personally do not see all the Tibetan Lamas, what we really see, the teaching in Christianity is a tremendous compassionate teaching, and a teaching which shows karma.

[21:21]

Many people think that Christianity does not show karma. I don't see that, and no one sees that too. Because it shows the karma, as I said, because simply the words are not something we get caught, the words are something to go deeply, we cannot just get limits by the words. And therefore the teaching is something very compassionate, but at that time, in order to represent the karma, in order to apply that karma, you see, karma is based, the teaching of karma is not the teaching of enlightenment. Teaching of karma is a teaching of refining, refining the make-ups, refining the mental make-ups.

[22:25]

The karma is not the ultimate teaching. The karma is refining the mental make-ups, how to have a better life, how to express oneself in a more refined state. That is the teaching of karma, and it is a great blessing, it's a great gift, because when we live in samsara, it's better to be born as a human being than an animal, so it's a better mental make-up. That is the gift, in a way. But of course, there is also nothing special about it. So, at that time, people were not ready, very few people, the esoteric practice has always been there, in this world, there is always a secret practice, an esoteric practice.

[23:40]

And I believe that there was an esoteric practice also in Christianity. There must be, there must be. But mostly, at that time, most people were somehow esoteric kind of people, external kind of people. And therefore, the teaching was kind of understood in an external way, where the concept of creator was extremely important to show, so that people would have a sense of fear to do something bad. And when you have a fear to do something bad, it prevents that karma to be produced, where you would be going to a very lower realms of experience. So, it works in a karmic way, even the name was presented in another way. A fear was shown, that if you do such and such bad thing, you would not be born into the heavenly realm next to God.

[24:48]

And next to God was such a, of course, it's wonderful to us, it's a great seduction, it's a very great seduction to be born next to the God, how wonderful that place is going to be. Of course, I'm not going to kill that person, because I'm going to be born there. So, it works, it works in that way. And when you don't kill that person, it works, you have prevented one negative karma. And the fact is, you won't be born next to the enlightened, you would not be an enlightened person, but it will support you to become enlightened. And that's how the kind of teaching shown at that time was essential. Was essential for that time, for that state, for that time, it was very essential. And then also, indirectly it shows to apply.

[25:53]

And this is hard to recognize. This is hard to recognize that why it needs to be applied by oneself. If there was such a creator, why need to be applied? It shows that fundamentally we are alone, fundamentally we are ourselves at the same time. But this was not expressed in a full way, it was kept in a very subtle way. And to understand that, it requires tremendous wisdom inside to recognize that. So now, so when a person is on a path of relative compassion, which I see most teachings presented in a Christian teaching is relative compassion, relative bodhicitta mind, it will refine a state of mind.

[26:57]

It will make a person to be born in a higher realm. The realm of human, the realm of tremendous compassionate will let a person be born in a heavenly realm. Now heavenly realm has a different understanding within Buddhism and Christianity. You see, though again in the words, because in their enlightened nature it's the same, but in the words people understand it's different. Now what heavenly realm would mean is that there's a God's realm, a state of mind which has been so refined and so good karma it has produced that you experience tremendous luxury. Like every human being is not the same. Some have, you see, a much happier state of mind and some have a less happier state of mind. That's how the accumulation of the compassion mind develops, it's based on that. And Buddha said most of the happiness comes by serving others

[28:03]

and most of the suffering comes by being selfish, basically. And so then it will lead a person to be born in a heavenly realm, high state of experience. And then also at the same time it will lead a person to be born as a human being by applying that nature. Not by applying any kind of external word or external thing. By nature, karma is by nature. It's not something new. Karma is by nature. If you don't kill, by nature it is good. Not that someone else tells you then it becomes good from that day. It's by nature it's good.

[29:06]

So that's also we have to understand. By nature it is the way it is. It's not that now from today I create a new law of karma and then I said, you know, ever since the Buddha and Christ came and then this karma appeared. No, it wasn't there before. Whether they have told that or whether they have not told that, it was that. It was, nature was the way it is. But the thing is they have shown that way. If you do such and such, you know, for instance there have been, it was like, who came to this country first, Marco Polo? Maybe the Vikings. Vikings. One thousand. So someone who has came to America before, you know, and most at that time people in Europe has not been in America, saying, oh if you go there you should take this direction and there is such and such. And that was by nature such and such.

[30:08]

When they went they did not create those oceans, they did not create those places, they did not make those trees right away. It was there. So same thing, it was there. By nature that is what happens. Whether they have said it or whether they have not said it, it was there. But they have been through that way and therefore they are like the tour guide. Tour guide on the enlightened state. So they have said, you know, this is what you come on the way and there is a restaurant on the way and then there is a parking lot and there is also a police patrol on the highway. If you create a bad karma. So something like that. And so we, by knowing that when we see the police patrol we speed down

[31:15]

and we don't speed up. And at the restaurant we go and rest. So this is how the path is shown. It's not something newly created. It was bad nature by itself. And because it was nature by itself, therefore the teachings they have shown tells us that do this, do the virtuous, do good. Don't do bad because if we do good we experience the good and if we do something bad we experience the bad thing. It's not that they have made it good and they have done something good. If they have done something good and they have done something bad for us and give it to us. And who gets it? We, right? But if we think that then give it to us as a gift, both good and bad, they are joking with us. Then they just threw the garbage and give it to us.

[32:19]

Not like that. It wasn't like that at all. It is something by nature that good and bad. It's by nature that if we do such and such, such and such happens. And therefore when we understand how the nature of the phenomena, the law of phenomena, the law of nature of this karma, then we would have a deep understanding and a respect and a perfect understanding of life. One would not be caught by words. One would always experience and be able to manifest such and such different states of capacity within the realm of existence. In the three realms, whatever where you want it to be, you can be there by knowing the law. But now this is not enough.

[33:21]

The state of enlightenment, again, is not a gift. Similarly the nature of the karma world, it wasn't a gift. The state of enlightenment wasn't a gift from your lama, wasn't a gift from anybody. It was there fundamentally in our state of mind also. Now what a lama and what a teaching, the teaching is like the explanation on the way, like the touring, where you read and then there are such and such places, and such and such places you reach and you can rest whatsoever. Similarly, and you have to trust the guide, that's important. If you do not trust the guide, then you will never make the journey. And even you make the journey half, then you will be impatient or something, you will not succeed.

[34:26]

If you do not trust on the path, you will not succeed to your aim. Therefore a trust is very important. In every situation you need a trust. And on this one is even greater trust. And the trust, how does this trust come from? Trust comes from a more deep understanding. It's something when one has really understood that nature clearly, when one has understood what the teacher has told you, and there begins a trust. And based on that trust we develop and we discover the nature. And that is what when you discover that is called the ultimate lama. The ultimate lama is oneself. The ultimate refuge is oneself. There is no other refuge than oneself. There is no other lama than oneself. But most of the time, because our mind is so much frozen into the duality,

[35:38]

we always like to be entertained. We always look forward for entertainment. And instead of knowing that fundamentally we inherently have that nature of enlightenment and able to express this capacity, we like to play with different mental games. And all different conflict, arguments do happen when we play with the mental games, with duality. So, the question of enlightenment is something we have to go step by step.

[36:44]

We should be willing to wish our mind should be open. We should be extremely sincere. And we have tased that capacity. Now teaching shows a person what the state of mind is. And then you taste that, you experience that. Once you experience that, then you have to express and actualize that. That's very important. If you do not actualize, then it would not break that mental obscuration. It would not break that habitual orientation. It's to break our limits of our habitual orientation. Of everything. Words to everything. Whichever does not lead us to understand that nature. That is the limits of our habitual orientation. So, everyone believes. It's a blind belief. Everyone lives in a fear.

[37:47]

If one does not really understand the teaching carefully. And if one has not experienced how the nature is. No matter what, the names are different. Then we live in our habitual limitation. And that is where we strike an ozone. The ozone of the earth. We live in the ozone of our habitual orientation. And then, if something happens. Then we are afraid. A lot of times people are afraid. And it's very important to be able not to get afraid. The wisdom, the strength to experience not to get afraid. It requires tremendous merit. That's why merit is important. The wisdom comes on this stage. That the experience that you are not afraid to adventure. Not afraid to break through.

[38:50]

Not afraid to go beyond that ozone line. That requires the strength. That's like the fuel. The fuel, the strength is the merit on this stage. And the different, each different practices. All this accumulation of merits. Give the strength to the mind. A tremendous calmness. And a tremendous knowledge. Insight into our state of mind. And to get that insight is the support. And it's the blessings. We can say the blessing of our merit. And of course, that blessing is by nature also. That blessing is not something newly gifted from anybody. It's a natural gift of ourselves. It's an insight that we have within ourselves. And we understand now, you see, that fundamentally. Now we are the everything. Ourself.

[39:51]

The question of samsara is our state of mind. And the question of liberation is our state of mind. There is no other than our very basic mind. So now to know this mind is the most important thing. Then we can see. It is by nature something one can, as I told before, that we, everyone on the spiritual path, we all have different approach on the spiritual path. Some approach the spiritual path by having some experience of that capacity. And some approach the spiritual path because of tremendous suffering. And it has to be some strong point for a person to make, to see that, to break through tremendous layers of obscuration. It needs some tremendous strength, strong circumstance

[40:53]

to push a person into that state, to discover that truth. Without a strong circumstance, it would not be very strong. So I see that in the West, it's really a great place for an enlightened state. Because suffering is more here than in the Oriental. I think Japan has a lot of suffering. In Japan, I heard a great deal of suicide in Japan. But besides that, like India, Nepal, and Tibet, very few people have really gone through the most height of suffering on mind. Besides that, not many have really experienced that. And I've asked to many other lamas, that how do they feel when they're in the West, and how do they feel when they go back to East. On a relative level, they say,

[41:53]

in the West, there seems to be more suffering. Their mind is more active all the time, more restless. And in the East, naturally, it's like the first thing you land out of a plane, it's like showing you patience. Showing you how to relax. And of course, when you go through the transition period, it's even more crazy. You see, an American landing in India, New Delhi, and the moment you land there, it will make you more crazy now. The person is more slower, and you ask something and he will tell you something opposite. It creates, it brings out everything on the surface more. So, and after four or five months, then you start to like it. And then when you come back, you see the difference. How the state of mind functions here, and how the state of mind functions there. And while you're driving, even when you're driving,

[42:55]

you cannot drive like 55 miles an hour there, because the car will cross the road, and the car is sitting in the middle of the road, and no one will push the car away. So, everything shows how, this is how everything makes that kind of relative mind much more relaxed, much more quiet. And if you go to office, office is supposed to open at 10 o'clock, but you should go at 10.30. Because 10.30, the employees started to come, and then they sit, and first thing they do is they have a cup of tea. In the bank, you go to the bank, they have a cup of tea first thing, in Nepal, in India. They have a cup of tea, and they will have a chat, they will say, what have you been doing, they all have their family matters to talk about. And you can listen to it next to the window, what they're saying. And by 11, for the first time, they started to open the main register book.

[44:03]

And still that time, even you, 20 people are waiting on the window, like a hungry ghost. And those two persons have the highest states of transcendental state, never mind whoever is showing, they're very relaxed, and they're enjoying their tea. And everyone is free to hear the conversation also. So, you come to learn this state of mind that is so different, this speed, and everything works so differently. And that kind of thing, in every situation, makes the society very slow and relaxed, and kind of easy, kind of easy.

[45:04]

So the mental, there is not much responsibility, not much stain on the mind. It's not much stain on the mind. And also it affects, I guess, it affects on a certain degree how the system is also run. I guess many things have to affect the state of mind. So people over there are much relaxed. And that does not mean that they are completely happy, or they are liberated. No, they are also suffering. And there is other kinds of suffering there. There is physical suffering, there is a lot of people in India, it's a country of 750 million people, and a lot of people on the street who do not have food to eat. And lots of people also have food to eat. And a lot of people don't have that also.

[46:05]

But the state of mind is concerned, it's not very strong. So now what happens when this mind, mental state, the neurosis, the suffering is not very hard on the state of the mind, then the possibility for enlightenment can happen both. The possibility of enlightenment happens less if that relaxedness does not have a strength of the merit. If the relaxedness lacks the strength of the specific merit to really come to the insight, discovering of the insight of dharma, dharma means insight of the true nature, then it is hard, because you are pretty much relaxed. And it's very hard for them to introduce their mind and to tell them what is suffering, because they realize that enlightenment is not very appropriate,

[47:12]

it's not a very appropriate support. For enlightenment, it's something, it needs some kind of, puts you on your heel. We need that kind of situation. Something once in a while a little bit of panicky, and to recognize that panicky. Those are good, those become essential for enlightenment. Something who puts you on your run, once in a while. And those kind of state of mind are very essential, they become great blessings on the path of enlightenment. Otherwise we may fall into a big coma, very quiet sleep, and it takes a long time to wake, and therefore the shamatha meditation is introduced within the Buddhist teaching, very important at the beginning stage.

[48:15]

But one cannot remain in the state, if one remains in the state for too long, then it would be so hard to wake up from the state, which is still a realm of samsara. So, we need something, very interesting blessings. And for that, the human being has the most interesting blessing. Being born as a human being, we do not have a set up of life spent, like the gods have. The gods can live for millions of years, and they're sure of that, and they do, by the state of their karma. Being born as such and such karma. And so they're pretty sure how they are, as being a human being, we do not know when we're going to die. We're like very fragile,

[49:18]

we're so fragile, anything can happen to us. An earthquake. We're living in California, which is a pretty much dangerous place. And we never know when that could strike us. And they're saying that each year they're expecting something, and now this year is supposed to be something also, I heard. So, we are constantly living in an uncertain stage. Our life is fragile, and emotionally we are also, our karma has produced that mental makeup emotion, also fragile, and everything is more like panic. That is called panic state, something more fragile, more vulnerable. So it puts you on a hill all the time. And we have to always keep looking, our roof is well, or something, what could happen. And this kind of thing does not happen in the heavenly realm, because for them it's just, that kind of karma produced them,

[50:20]

that kind of long-lasting, durable things. That's what some advertisement American companies need. But while they're looking for that, that's also kind of panic sting, while the God stream do not have to look for that, but the American companies, being human beings, we have to look for that, against, put them on a panic, you know, put them on the hill all the time. So, this state of mind is extremely a great blessing, being on that fragile state, for the state of enlightenment. Because now you know that, if you do not use that situation properly, then you never know when it's going to happen to you again. And it's the greatest blessing in the universe

[51:22]

to be born as a human being. And it's one of the greatest blessings within a human being, there are all kinds of human beings, but to really to come and meet a Dharma, one can understand, one can see, if one is able to discover that inside, it's the greatest blessing, where we can know the nature of our truth. So, it's like a, you know, it's a great blessing, it's a great blessing. And we should not, we should not ruin this blessing, to be born as a human being, and all the conditions, unfavorable conditions, like us being in this country, an open country, where you have the right to express your thoughts. Those are all great blessings. Only enlightenment is a great blessing.

[52:23]

If you are born in a communist state, one would not be able to do this kind of thing. You see, American people really do not know much about communism. And we know better how communism is. It's very dangerous, it's a very dangerous kind of mind within a communist state has. It totally does not have any respect for a human mind, for a human being. The law is gun. If you raise something, if you show something, intelligence, something, then the law is very difficult. And being in Tibet, and I'm from Ladakh, which is Tibet, and now politically it's in India, and we have, one hour from Ladakh is Russia,

[53:26]

Tashkent, and other side is China. And we know how much Tibetan people have to go through the suffering there. How much people in those kind of systems produce so much suffering. Then there is no chance of doing practice. In Tibet, when the Chinese occupy Tibet, whoever does practice is executed. Because they think it's the biggest, they have completely disrespect. And a lot of things like that, very sad things also happen on this planet, on our human realm. But we are really in a very blessed place, where we have the freedom to do our practice, freedom to understand, freedom to discover, and take the best blessing out of this human rebirth.

[54:28]

And that's truly a great karmic gift, which we have, and we should use this very wisely. We should not ruin, and we should not use this precious gem, it's like a wishing gem we have in our hand, should not throw this into a garbage, and make it completely ordinary, and again feeding our confusion. We should not do that. We have a limited life, it's not something long span, and we are really on our heel, and we should be able to make the best within this life, and when a person really do it, everything will happen, come by itself, step by step. The next procedure will come by itself. Because you understand that nature, the nature will understand the deeper part of the nature by itself. Does not always you have to be next to a lama,

[55:33]

does not always you have to hear the second teaching from somebody else, there are times you will know that by yourself also deeply, and that you can ask to the lama, you can ask to your spiritual friend, who is really close and who you trust, and discuss, and it will be clarified. The teacher can clarify that experience. And that kind of many deep insights are fundamentally there, so we experience them by ourselves. We always don't have to hear the second thing, because that is why the nature is fundamentally there, so many teachings are experienced by oneself. In Tibet, many lamas have gained enlightenment, many lamas have gained rainbow body, they never have to hear about that rainbow body, so they can ultimately be a rainbow body,

[56:35]

they never say, oh I'm a rainbow body, I'm a rainbow body. By nature, they have heard this teaching maybe for ten minutes, that's all, and then they went and did their practice, and each deeply insight they have, by nature it was there, so they have discovered that, they have seen that, and by seeing it, simply that is what happens. So we do not need always to have someone telling us, always like that. And when we always need someone telling us, someone telling us, of course it's important to hear the teaching, but constantly not doing the practice, and constantly hearing, then one would not have a genuine experience. To have a genuine experience, of course it's very important to hear the teaching, but mostly you should do practice, meditation, and actualize that insight, actualize that insight, then one would have an experience,

[57:36]

and then you will trust yourself, you have a clear experience in yourself, and then how, when you discover the nature, the deep levels of its nature, going through more, [...] when you go into nature, you will get less and less caught by words, and you will be more and more into the meaning. And when we merge into its real meaning, then we have a trust, then that time we become universal. Universal compassion is understood by nature, not by name. It's understood deeply inside, it's deep inside how you describe it. So please have a rest now. Svaha, tatha gata, benjara mami,

[58:53]

manjara benjara bhava, na samaya sadhu, om benjara sadhu, samaya, mayo bhava, benjara sadhu, dhenopadhi, radhi, doma bhava, sudho, kayo, nama bhava, subho, kayo, nama bhava, anora, doma bhava, svaha, siddhi, mipra, yatha, svaha, krama, kutha, me, siddha, mishri, omkuru, om, ha ha, bhagavan, svaha, tatha gata, benjara mami, benjara bhava, na samaya sadhu, om benjara sadhu, samaya, mayo bhava, benjara sadhu, dhenopadhi, radhi, doma bhava, sudho, kayo, nama bhava, subho, kayo, nama bhava, anora, doma bhava, svaha, siddhi, mipra, yatha, svaha, krama, kutha, me, siddha, mishri, omkuru, om, ha ha, bhagavan, svaha, tatha gata, benjara mami, benjara bhava, na samaya sadhu,

[59:55]

om benjara sadhu, samaya, mayo bhava, benjara sadhu, dhenopadhi, understood that by nature that no one else is kind of program us, no one else is given to us anything. Now we come to, now we for the first time come to see our capacities. We come to really to have a deep insight, experience of our capacity. And that's very very important, to experience that capacity of the nature. When a person does not experience the capacity of the nature,

[61:00]

then that is where we fall into words, we fall into fundamentalism, we fall into this way and that way, and we get lost by name, and we spend years and years, and we spend many lives arguing, and fighting, and your way and my way, and always missing the essence, which is the nature. So very important we have to understand the essence. For that you must hear the teaching, you should do the meditation, teaching and meditation should both go together. In that way you do not have any confusion left whatsoever. And your faith, it's truly a pure faith,

[62:02]

without any blind faith. And ultimate faith is the nature of our mind, it's the experiencing of that nature itself, it's faith, there is no other faith than that. But most of the time, when a person comes to experience that ultimate faith, to experience that faith we need the merit, we need the strength. And it's, it's something quite different, it's something quite different when a person experiences the full capacity. You can see that capacity, at the same time, as I told you before, that there is something which prevents you from actualizing that capacity. That's the transition. The transition a person goes through.

[63:07]

And that also creates, creates a kind of fear sometimes, the fear of enlightenment. It creates a fear at the same time. Something you can see, but you cannot fully actualize at this stage. And then you start to judge on your present situation, instead of being given a time, and given a practice to that. Well, I see that. But it's not happening. You give up. When you give up, then that is where the fear against, wins, the situation. Then you lose. And when that kind of insight, to see that capacity, does come into a state of mind,

[64:10]

and that is the time you have to now, you know, trust. And that trust, of course, is not based on a blind belief, it's something you can understand, first of all, by a clear mind, by reasoning, logically, and then eventually, based on that you understand extremely clearly that nature is nature, it is not something, nobody has done it. And then you have a sense of tremendous knowledge and a clarity in your state, that you are not afraid to express that, and no confusion left whatsoever. So you feel very relaxed in manifesting that. And when you manifest, you can see the result of that manifesting, also in a very relaxed way. And at the same time, you can see that when you do something bad, that can also happen, but now you are relaxed,

[65:11]

you can see, oh, this is exactly, by nature I did bad, and it's by nature it's happening. By nature I did bad, by nature it's happening good. So therefore, you see clearly, you gain confidence, you gain trust, it's not based on any belief, and therefore we go much deeper into that insight. And that is something, you see, we need a tremendous, we have to, our intelligence has to be extremely clarity, and the basic intelligence is the enlightened mind. I'm not talking the intelligence of a duality, I'm talking from that sense. The basic intelligence is the non-dual state of mind. The mind itself, being its nature, that is the basic intelligence, the basic sanity, the basic goodness. So there are, first of all, one has to know the nature of karma, you see.

[66:12]

Now nature of karma is something by nature, it's not a gift, it's not something we understood that is not being given to us, or it's not being introduced a new law in this world ever since Jesus Christ and Buddha Shakyamuni came. It was by, it was the way it is, whether they came out or whether they don't come, it was by itself the way it is. And if they came and it happened, then they could have any time they want, and surely they have the greatest love, greatest compassion, and they would not like to see that people going through suffering, and they would have ended up this whole mess a long time ago. And since that was not something in their capacity to do, it was a personal, individual understanding that nature is an individual nature, it's to be manifest individually, and it's to be experienced individually,

[67:14]

so they have simply shown the path. So Buddha said, the path of liberation is up to you whether you get enlightened or not. The nature of their mind within a doctrine teaching is introduced to the student, but whether the student applies that and actualizes that or not is up to the student. It's not a gift of a lama that nature of the Rigpa, the nature of the enlightened mind is not a gift from the lama. It is fundamentally, we have that nature, it's by nature. No one can create, no one can fabricate an enlightened state. An enlightened state of mind is called an unfabricated state of mind, it's not called a fabricated, elaborate state of mind. We do not need fabrication, we have a lot of fabrication. So what is the relationship between a teacher and a student? It's this, student understand,

[68:15]

it's student mean, on the path, someone who did not understand and who is on the path of learning and who is on the path of discovering, that is called student. And teacher means someone who has been before and someone who has seen that place, that is what teacher meant. So, so let's hope that I've seen that. So, now, that's how what a teacher and a student mean. To a student means someone who is on the path and teacher means who has been to that destination and who has seen that nature and now, very skillfulness, the teacher introduced that nature to the student like if it's a very high mountain next stop, the teacher knows,

[69:17]

now teacher tells you, it's like a very good guide, takes you to a motel and tell you, now spend a night here, you have to rest, tomorrow we have a long journey to make. It would not drag you because if you go endlessly then you will have a breakdown and then you would not be able to climb the mountain and all your legs will start So to make a journey, you spend a night here, just be cool, just be relaxed and then tomorrow we will go. And that's how the insight, the teacher needs that kind of insight for the student mind to take, otherwise it would not work by one system. The book shows one system but the relationship of a teacher and a student is something, it's not a system of a book, it is something guiding the student on the path,

[70:17]

now this is where you need to stop, this is where you need to eat, this is where you need to drink, now if you don't drink, there is no water for the next 20 miles so drink the water from here and you drink it. And now if you don't take the hot water, even you don't want the hot water, take the hot water because it's going to be cold later on and you will need that as a good guide, just like that, that's all in a relationship and that's how a teacher and a student and they both trust each other and of course on the spiritual path that's how a true teacher and a student, they have to be so honest and sincere and open to each other. So the journey will be a successful journey. So you should not push yourself,

[71:22]

because each individual state of mind is working on a different state, working on a different category of state where it functions on a conscious level, where it functions on a subconscious level, where it functions in a secret level, it's different. On a gross level, conscious level, most people can judge, you know, we can always see the gross part of ourselves, we all know each other's gross part, almost like, oh, that person is like this, this person is like that, we judge on the conscious level. But to judge, to see, one has to know the secret level of that person's mind. Education is based on the secret level, not based on the conscious level. So definitely, teaching needs tremendous enlightenment, otherwise it's not easy for the person to be taken on the path

[72:26]

and then to take on the path of enlightenment. Though it will be a blessing, but it will sometimes take time. So, most of our judgment comes on a conscious level, even in an ordinary situation. But nobody really knows the good part and how sensitive part and insight that person has. Someone may appear extremely bad for the first meeting, and that person could be extremely very wise and a very nice person later you can discover. So you started to, when we started to spend more time, we started to see the inner part of that person. And now, that is something, inner part, subconscious part, to a certain extent, not totally the subconscious level, to a certain extent,

[73:28]

in an ordinary communication relationship, people can know each other. And based on that knowing, a relationship is also based you see, because relationship is not based on a first smile. Everybody smiles for the first smile. Nobody just, you are not ready to spend the rest of your life with someone who has just smiled. Then everyone will begin marrying everybody. But you marry somebody who you come to know a little bit more inside. But it does have limits in that little bit also. One just cannot know the entire subconscious part of that partner, of that person. And now, relating from the relating from the spiritual path, all the Vajrayana teaching,

[74:31]

one cannot teach a Vajrayana teaching if the person has not done those practices, if the person does not have experience. One cannot teach the Vajrayana teaching. The difference between a Hinayana teaching and a Vajrayana teaching is Hinayana teaching can be taught without experience. And Vajrayana teaching cannot be taught without experience. That is the difference in Buddhism, the difference of Vajrayana path and the Hinayana path. In Hinayana path, the student hears the teaching from the teacher and will express that message to other people. So I think that kind of style is called the Hinayana teaching, without experience, without practice, without experience, to just trust in that word and to show. So therefore it does have limits.

[75:34]

There is a great limit in that. The teacher cannot see the student mind clearly because one has not been through that full experience and therefore there are limits. And I guess there is kind of the missing part, missing part in Hinayana. But of course there are great arhats also, those who are enlightened they teach, which is different. But a simple Hinayanic monk who did not practice and will just hear it and will just try to transmit that, it is a teaching without experience. A teaching with experience is so essential to lead a person out of samsara, state of mind. It needs tremendous power and wisdom to lead that state of mind out of samsara. It requires tremendous insight into the mind clearly. And what is needed, that person needs hot water

[76:35]

or cold water or a warm cloth or a light cloth to wear like a good doctor is essentially important. Like there are different kinds of fever but sometimes some fever could be you have so other parts of the body which are not well so therefore he will tell you that you should to you should eat some kind of food which would be which would be like really hurting the fever in a way but in the same time he knows that if he does not cure the other one the fever would not go so therefore first he will feed the other one then the fever will be so I guess for certain disease they put certain kind of viruses germs in our body so then the medicine is used where that virus

[77:35]

eat that virus and that virus can eat that particular germ kind of like that one needs that kind of wisdom to lead a person out of the samsara state because that whole relationship based on a secret level of the mind and therefore the person has to have experience on the Vajrayana path without the initiation without the practice without the initiation one cannot lead a person on the path of enlightenment so from that sense in Tibet we have been fortunate we have been fortunate to preserve the entire it has been the tradition the tradition of the reincarnated lamas has been a very great blessing in Tibet because through their many lifetimes

[78:36]

they have a great deal of experience of their state of mind still continuing into another physical form and so therefore it's very it has shown a great blessing to have an easy communication to knowing that person easy communication but there would be great bodhisattvas not knowingly and that's become hard sometimes because when people have limitations they would not trust a person without a name people are caught in we are caught in so much name for people to trust a person without a name so because of the lineage in Tibet the traditional the reincarnated lamas it's not that they are fabricated we go through tremendous examinations and tremendous it's not a small joke

[79:39]

for Tibetans to make a child into a reincarnated lama it's a question of preserving Tibet intact and so everything is done extremely carefully and without any mistake so it has been a blessing to easy to communicate it has really been a blessing to easy to communicate well there is that lama who has been previously that great meditator and therefore it's easier for a human being to come in contact while the others take the time to trust because most people because our problem is our ego I am also a human being you are also a human being so what? that kind of lot of ego game we have we don't trust it's very hard to respect the nature of enlightened

[80:40]

for ordinary state of mind so this at least is given make the shortcut to a human being to trust them and to communicate them therefore lots of people in Tibet one of the reason why Tibet has so many lamas and it has been such a spiritual country and enlightenment because of the tradition of tulku to live and I see that as a great blessing in our world it's a spiritual communication blessing but does not mean that the only ones those who recognize their tulku bodhisattvas reincarnated but there are so many other bodhisattvas those who do not have the name they know each other

[81:47]

who they are but ordinary person who lives in the world of labels who lives in the world of words it's hard for them to understand until you have a very strong connection with them if you have a very strong connection then one may be named as a reincarnated lama you would expect those great teachers sitting on a high throne nothing was like that Tilopa was a fisherman and one of the greatest buddhist teachers and when Naropa was opposite Naropa was on a label point he was a great teacher Naropa was one of the greatest scholars

[82:47]

and he was in the university of Nalanda and so Naropa had this vision that the dakini told Naropa in his vision that you still have to still have to develop the inner realization of your mind so Naropa Tilopa and go to and search Tilopa so he went a direction is shown I don't remember which direction and so he went he made the journey towards that direction and then he reached this place in India when he came to that place it's a cave and a waterfall

[83:51]

like a stream of water and that was where Naropa met Tilopa and when he went to that village he asked the people where is the great Tilopa he thought he would be expressing a great style where is the great Tilopa and nobody in the village oh there is one person a fisherman we call him Tilo father Tilo or something father of something like that we call him Tilo if you are looking for that he is just down by the stream you will find him there so he went and he thought that's strange I came to look for great Tilopa and people are talking they don't know the great Tilopa but he said

[84:53]

the Bodhisattva can be anywhere I should not judge like that and he went and he asked him are you Tilopa and he just looked at him and he didn't say anything yes I am Tilopa so his presentation stayed away because Tilopa was a very great being he was one of the greatest Panditas a tremendous man of knowledge and wisdom so he thought this must be the Tilopa and I should not judge by the appearance how he looks like a Bodhisattva does benefit beings more than a concept limitation can understand and so he did Tilopa was catching fish in his book what a strange style we may expect a spiritual completely different and each time he was catching a fish

[85:54]

he was snapping his finger each time he was snapping his finger he had the strength to liberate the state of mind this is the power of Vajrayana teaching and then then finally Tilopa Tilopa accepted Naropa and then Naropa has to go through a great deal of experience under Tilopa somewhat similar to Milarepa and that is how it can be in an indefinite states the enlightened beings can manifest but it's very hard when the mind does not have tremendous merit support it's hard for us to accept it and so therefore in many teachings it says that do not look at the person look at the teaching don't look at the teaching of the word

[86:56]

look at the teaching of the meaning don't look at the meaning of the relative look at the meaning of the ultimate don't look at the meaning of the ultimate by duality don't look at the meaning of the ultimate by non-duality by wisdom and that's how it shows the depthness of the person cannot be judged just like that so it's very hard for ordinary people most of the time to kind of understand just like that so in Tibet it has been very fortunate from that point that all these lamas those who are those who are reincarnated they have to go through a tremendously genuine test first of all the way a lama is recognized is by recognizing one of the great lamas like this one is Karmapa this one is Tujung Rinpoche a Dalai Lama with a tremendous insight to create enlightened beings and he tells everything

[87:59]

it's not something you can make a teach a story to a little child and there's somebody else come from your previous life as a student and the child calls from their names and tells everything at the age of three and four and now who would remember just like that and then so many things are shown and then the oracles and protectors are very powerful if it's not the right child the child would not live it's not easy in my monastery my previous life has a horse and there is each monastery has a horse dedicated to the previous life and this horse will not let anyone climb on it except me that's how they have a sense of person knowing and it will jump and it will I was very young going to my monastery at that time when I was recognized and taken to the monastery my father sat on the back

[88:59]

to hold me but it will jump and throw him and then the local people said that the horse does not let anyone sit and when I am of age of four and five at that stage when I sit it will very calmly so it will not do anything like that so there is knowing that because they are dedicated to the protectors they have special power also some kind of supernatural strength of knowing things like that so it's a question of tremendous responsibility for the teaching to be preserved intact in Tibet otherwise once we are a child it's not like in Christianity in Christianity the monastery is like it's like of course in Tibet also the monastery is people's monastery but in Tibet very much the monastery is founded by the Lama so I can just get all my relics

[90:00]

and put it in the auction and I can do that and no one can say anything to me that's kind of trial and so it's not easy to just trust somebody and just give the world and each monastery has millions today in terms of millions of dollars worth of relics in Tibet arts and thangkas and things like that and on that point then more than that it is based on such a in so many ways it has to be done so carefully and so that is something a lot of enlightened beings are there and it's truly a great blessing when they teach wherever they go through their prayers through their communication a lot of people understand their true nature and then it is really something we light up in ourselves

[91:00]

and it's not that there is something different from us we are all the same in nature something whether we have discovered that nature in ourselves or not that's the only difference and now their specific aim is to manifest in the world is to benefit the beings by letting them understand that this is a great gift and a blessing not that I'm telling for myself but it's something I see all these great beings coming into that and we need that and something is greatly happening and whether there is names or not bodhisattvas are everywhere and we should not simply Buddha has said for that reason do not judge, you see don't judge for this we should not judge person well of course once in a while we need to judge if someone is going to point a gun to you you better judge it's not that now I don't judge

[92:01]

he pulled the trigger wrong that would be too late so certain things we need to judge things but mostly to judge a person mostly in our relationship we judge on a surface level we are not able to judge on a deep level, you see so now now to the way we have come to the come to the point of seeing our mind as as I said is to now the point of spiritual teaching is to understand the mind is to understand the mind and to understanding the mind it has to be done very carefully and

[93:01]

meditation the technique of meditation is introduced which shows the nature of the mind which person is able to experience the nature of the mind and that at the very beginning stage the meditation of shamatha is shown in Buddhism now what is shamatha shamatha is a state of development of meditation where a person who has a tremendous scattering mind at the beginning stage that you do not have any sense of being any sense of presence in the mind itself the loss of presence to bring back that presence to able to experience that presence is being one develops

[94:03]

and one experiences by the meditation technique of shamatha so I think in the West it has been it's a very good meditation to be done

[94:16]

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