to resume our studies in the Lamre system of meditation, which comprises the most profound and effective methods for attaining the perfection of Buddhahood, and which originated with the primordial Buddha himself and was transmitted through the great Indian sage Virupa down through many generations of enlightened masters to the present, we should approach this profound teaching with the spirit of pure intent to learn and to take to heart these instructions which, if followed, result in nothing less than the realization of

[01:28]

true reality. Now, these instructions, as you know, consist of two levels of teachings, the preliminary and advanced stages of practice relating to the preliminary and advanced stages of practice. We are engaged in learning the instructions for the first level of practice and for the benefit of the serious meditator, these instructions have been codified in three progressive stages, that is, the three stages of the book, the Triple Vision.

[02:47]

The first level of practice which is intended to develop a sense of renunciation, relates to meditation, refers to meditations on death and permanence, faultiness of worldly existence and so forth. And once these realizations have been achieved, the meditator is encouraged to develop a universalist attitude towards his spiritual goal by developing love and compassion. And love, compassion, and the view of... the right view emptiness this we have completed these first two stages of practice we have completed our study and all these first two stages of practice except the very last topic in the second stage

[04:12]

This refers to the bodhicitta, the development of the bodhicitta. Now, as you recall, there are two kinds of bodhicitta. The conventional, which is to be developed through meditation, such as the meditation upon the sameness of self and others and the exchange of self and others, whereby egotism is egotistical impulses are modified and subdued. And secondly, and by the second type of bodhichitta, the ultimate bodhichitta, which through insight, through the two stages of meditation, concentration and insight, the belief in the Pope's belief in a real personal self and in the reality of phenomena in general are eradicated through these realizations of the two kinds of non-self, one

[05:33]

the meditator experiences, attains the experience of what is technically known as the ultimate bodhicitta. Now we have also concluded our teachings on the first stage of meditation, that is concentration. And during the past few weeks we have been discussing the second stage of meditation called insight and it is at this point that we will resume our studies this evening. This is one who earnestly aims to achieve total enlightenment. He is one who makes efforts directed solely towards the attainment of Buddhahood in order to accomplish the highest good of all living beings, including none.

[06:49]

The methods upon which such a person must rely if he is to achieve that goal have been described as the six transcendent virtues. Six Transcendent Virtues of Giving, Giving Moral Conduct, Patience, Vigor, Meditation, and Listening. That's a lot, isn't it? Biggie Bank? I've been misled. So that no longer.

[08:00]

These sits comprise the methodology whereby total enlightenment is to be attained. Now, one should understand that the first five, are instrumental in the acquisition, in the accumulation of merit, not of wisdom. And why is that? It is because the practice of these first five transcendent virtues is accomplished with reference to an object. They are objectively endowed practices. One practices. One makes gifts to a recipient. One practices patience towards an enemy and so forth.

[09:09]

Through their practice, one does indeed perform virtue, and the result of virtuous actions is merit. And it is, merit is one of the, merit is one, is, along with wisdom, one of the two elements, the two factors which enable an ordinary human being to arrive at the to arrive at the goal of Buddhahood. But it is the sixth paramita, that of wisdom, which alone produces

[10:13]

the second essential factor needed to bring about the attainment of Buddhahood, that is, wisdom. It is the six-parameter wisdom which endows one with the insight into reality, which is necessary if one aims to become a Buddha. And why is it, why does it produce, why does the six paramita produce not merit, but wisdom? because it is objectless. Wisdom has no object.

[11:15]

The first five parameters are object called, the last is objectless. Now, this wisdom which courses in objectlessness He is... He is... Yes. It is the most... are most important of the six because it is this insight into the selflessness or the true nature of all

[12:40]

internal and external phenomena that truly liberates the human mind from what is known as bondage. And it is this insight which also guides the mind in the practice, the performance of the preceding five transcendent virtues, so that their merit, their result, that is merit, also becomes inducing to the attainment of enlightenment, rather than being merely virtues, actions accomplished at random, and for odd purposes, they are guided, directed solely towards Buddhahood through this transcendent insight into selflessness.

[14:03]

Therefore, it is Therefore wisdom is often praised in the sutras as being the eye, the guide, the guide to the five blind paramitas. Just as the whole train of blind men stumbling along a road would not be able to reach the city on their own. So these five blind Paramitas could never on their own bring one to the result of Buddhahood. taken in hand by the six paramita of wisdom, these transcendent virtues are led to the city of enlightenment.

[15:06]

For this reason, wisdom is extolled as the highest of the six paramitas. And as we said, the two essential factors in the attainment of Buddhahood are merit and wisdom, transcendent merit and wisdom, and that merits become transcendent only when they are guided, performed through wisdom. You can begin to appreciate the value and the importance of this factor called Transcendent Wisdom and this Transcendent Wisdom is none other than this meditation of insight which we are discussing this evening. So all of this that we've said just now is by way of introduction to what we're going to say next.

[16:14]

He could say very much about this profound view, which is this profound view of insight, which we are referring to as transcendent wisdom, or the meditation of insight, or the realization of ultimate reality. There is much that could be said, but to attempt this evening only the briefest explanation of the doctrine of inside meditation, just in the shortest way possible, just as much as one would extract

[17:36]

Only the better from a hundred gallons of milk. We will just extract very The very major most essential points this doctrine for our discussion of himself If Just as the The Kajubas, just as the Yamavas, have their highest doctrine of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, and the Kajubas speak of their doctrine of Mahamudra. So, we Kajubas have a term for this view of ultimate reality. It's called Salton Zinju, which means the non-Jewish.

[18:45]

Alright? It's like this. G-S-A-L-S-T-O-N-G Z-U-N G-Z-U-N-G a pastor in J.D.G. Yes, Kitawa, Sultan Sunju, Kitawa. Yes. [...] Now this view, this view which is, as we say, technically known as the Sultans' View of the Tower, which means the view of the

[19:55]

non-duality of voidness and clarity. The void and clarity. In other words, the non-dual clear-voidness, clarity-voidness. That's English. Anyhow, this view, which is also known in other by other epithets such as the non-differentiation of saṁsāra and nirvāṇa, etc., this view is the essential, ultimate view of the Sākhi tradition. If you have this view, if you understand this view, if you perceive this view, you are a If you do not perceive this view, if you do not understand this view... What?

[21:17]

Yes. Yes. Oh, good. Good. We shall do that. Then you have... This view is the quintessential Sakya doctrine. Everybody in Tibet knows that this view is identified with the Sakya tradition and that only a Sakya path will be able to understand and to perceive it. Okay? So... That you quite haven't this view. Then, there, Rinpoche suggests that you pray very earnestly to Jangan Sakyapandita, to the great Sakyapandita, that he will bless you with the awakening of this insight, and that by the power of his own

[22:38]

great wisdom, the power of his own Buddhahood, that you will be so blessed by him and that this can be helped along by your taking the trouble to sit from time to time, to sit with your mind clear and at ease and to, after invoking Sakyapandita's blessings, to observe your own mind and try to see what is the nature of mind. And that through this practice, reinforced by virtuous deeds of body, voice and mind, that you will gradually begin to experience the awakening of this very rare view of Sauta and Sunja, that it is a difficult view to achieve, but it is achievable.

[23:51]

It is rare in the world, but it can be attained by the sincere at heart and those who use the right methods. So, it is, as the rarest thing in the world, it is certainly worth seeking. The three essential steps involved in the attainment of this Exalted View Sāwā-lā Sāwā-mūzun tāde-lā loja jade-lā nge-sikhi. Yes. All right. Sāwā-lā mūzun means. Sāwā-mūzun. Sāwā-mūzun. S.N.

[25:03]

: Yes. M.N. : Same time, la minna l-mu'minun wa [...] l-mu'minun. Sādhana-mūrtana means the recognition of the recognition of the recognition of clarity. That is, in other words, the recognition of mind itself, the recognition of the nature of mind.

[26:11]

Now, this is the first step. It is implicit in this recognition that all appearances are expressions of mind alone, that all that one experiences is merely a manifestation of consciousness, of one's own individual consciousness. as Csikszentmihalyi Genshin has stressed, that the view that there are no phenomena outside of mind is essential

[27:31]

to the process of Mahayana meditation, Mahayana's meditation. Though all these various appearances do indeed appear to be external to to mind, this is, they are no more so than are the various appearances which the mind perceives in the dream state. Just as those dream appearances are nothing more than projections of the mind which perceives So, when one awakens to enlightenment, one realizes that all these various experiences and appearances of this world

[28:57]

have a light nature, they are dream-like, illusion-like, and in themselves quite unreal. So, one, with this, let's see, with this knowledge, one, seeks to understand the nature of mind, of that mind which is the source of all these appearances. And through introspection one focuses upon, focuses mind upon mind. and comes to the conclusion that mind cannot be isolated as an existent entity.

[30:14]

There is no entity there which can be of which it can be said that this is the mind, or that is mind. This brings about a realization of the void nature of mind, as well as the realization, the understanding, that though not existing, as the human mind likes to conceive of real, really existent entities, independent entities. Nonetheless, it is also not non-existent.

[31:17]

It is simply nothing at all. It is endowed with consciousness. You can go into it. This insight is called the recognition of mind, the recognition, clarity. Yes. Surely. Yes, it's okay. GSAL. BA. Yes. No. The... When you have... I've undertaken to examine the nature of mind and realized that it is not a thing which can be identified by any size, color, shape, location or any other attribute

[32:59]

which a being, an entity, might possess, and therefore it is empty by its nature, and therefore is empty by nature, one also at the same time gains the insight that, as we said, It is also not non-existent. It is not merely absence of anything, it is not simply of no-thing or nothing, but through its power of cognition, of consciousness, that it does have that attribute.

[34:13]

The mind does have that attribute also. And that one can't distinguish between the two. Just as you can't separate heat from the flame, you can't say, this is the flame and this is the heat. Just as if you are... When you touch the flame, you feel the pain from the heat, and yet you can't You cannot blame the pain that you feel on the heat alone or the flame alone because they are so non-dual by nature.

[35:14]

So it is with mind. It's nature. consists of this non-duality of boredness and cognition, of boredness and clarity. This insight is... This insight leads one to understand that one cannot view the mind as existent as a being or as non-existent, that is, as something that simply doesn't exist, nor

[36:20]

Is it a combination of being and non-being? Nor is it neither. This is the true nature of mind. then is one that is away from these four, from this conceptual tetralemma, that it either is, or is not, or is not. No. It's illogical. It's for... Look. Guruji says, forget about the theory.

[37:23]

He wants you to see for yourself the, the, this, this sattva and bhuja, this non-duality, non-dual nature of your mind, He wants you to be able to tell him, when he asks you about the nature of your mind, he wants you to tell him what it is like. All right. So, this, when you see, this second stage then, we said there were three, maybe the first was Souton Jinju, the second one is called the Tadala Loja. The second stage then consists in this realization that it is away from these four possible extremes, that these are extremes or possibilities within the range of human

[38:41]

the human mind's conceptualization, that a thing either is or it isn't, or it is both, a combination of both, or it is neither, something like this. None of these are adequate to describe, they don't correlate to that true nature of mind. That realization which dawns on you at this point is called the absorption of the mind in extremeness-ness. Oh, the entering of mind into extremelessness. D-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E-X-T-I-N-E Let's not underestimate, though this sounds like theory and like doctrine, let's not underestimate the exalted nature of this view.

[39:49]

It is difficult to attain, but it is attainable and we wouldn't be discussing. And it is rare, rarely attained, because even among hundreds of learned, extremely learned men, who can quote you sutras and who will know doctrines, will know complicated doctrines, yet they may be ignorant of this essential, this quintessential insight. And if they don't know this, they don't know the heart, the essence of Mahayana Buddhism. And an ignorant person, a person ignorant of learning, of books, may attain this quintessential insight and be liberated by it. It is called, this view is called the liberation through liberation of knowing all things,

[41:02]

through learning, through knowing one thing. That is, you know one thing, you know everything. Whereas others may know many things, but fail in insight into this essential one perspective. So, this is the second stage is called placing the mind in the state of, in this state of extremeness-ness. These are all technical literal translations, you can make them up later. And the third stage is called limited dissimilarity Third stage, third step is called Jadala Ngeshe Keva. Jadala Ngeshe Keva. the awakening of certitude about the ineffable okay now if you were thinking that

[42:49]

having gained this realization that the insight into the ultimate nature of the mind is being one which is away from all extremes. That is, the limit of all extremes is this matter, neither both nor neither. Okay? And if you think that is this state of mind which is away from all extremes, isn't this at last The nature of mind, the true nature of mind, the answer, it ain't. It is not. Because... Because there is no such thing as a state which is away from all extremes.

[44:04]

Because each of these extremes, you have to look at it like, each of these extremes has been considered as, has been negated. I mean, it isn't. You can't posit that existence, that the ultimate nature of mind is existence, it is being. Alright, that's negated. It's opposite of non-existence is negated by itself and each of the other two. Each are individually negated so that that state, that there is nothing in these There is nothing, through the negation of each of these individual possibilities, the four possibilities that have been individually negated, and that does not... That state of ultimate mind,

[45:15]

which does not correspond to any of these four, is not something in itself, which one can then point to and say, well, it wasn't this one, it wasn't this one, or the third, or the fourth. But it is something else which we will call the Madhyamika's ultimate view. It is something there. It is whatever is left, or whatever is there, that we'll call this. the ultimate point of view and we can point to this and say, this is it. But you can't do that either. It is therefore called ineffable, inexpressible, indescribable. It is not something that can be... It is inconceivable. It is beyond the possibility of expression through words or concepts. It is not an object of words or concepts. The human mind cannot possibly grasp it in those terms, in the terms in which the human mind functions.

[46:27]

It is simply an experience of ultimate reality. This exalted state of mind, therefore, in the in the Samadhi Raja Sutra, the King of Meditation Sutra, King of Meditators Sutra. It says that, for example, it says existence and non-existence, so-called, are merely extremes, pure and impure. are also merely extremes. Therefore, the sage, the wise man, relinquishes both extremes, but does not dwell in the middle either.

[47:31]

In other words, you don't simply arrive at your ultimate view of Madhyamika, of the ultimate nature, simply by saying, I'll avoid the first extreme, the second extreme, the third and the fourth, and somewhere in between that there is still some state, something I can cling to and say, this is my view. Because the minute you cling to it, the minute you grasp it, apprehend that particular view and say, this is the one that's away from all those four extremes and I've got it. Then you haven't got it. OK? But he also does not go up and down. That's right. He does not. He does not go up and down. He does not go up and down. He does not go up and down. Yes. Yes. If you see what you're trying to do is is to avoid these extremes.

[48:55]

Hari, do you want to say that mind exists? Oh, and I left out something that was important way back there. That was it, Karen. That even though, I'll just throw it back, that when we were saying that our mind is really non-existent, I mean, that it doesn't have size, location, and so forth and all of that, And yet it can't be discounted either because remember that mind is the substratum for all appearances, for both samsara and nirvana. Mind makes all these possible. Mind is truly the substratum of samsara and nirvana. Yes. Some foolish people would say that there is then no middle way view.

[50:03]

Therefore, there is no Buddha. Therefore, there is no path. Those foolish people are have fallen into the extreme of nihilism. But that point was already covered. That point was already covered. Yes, but you're doing it now on this level of what is the true nature of the middle-of-way perception. That is, away from all extremes and yet you still want to have something. I was trying to understand what you were saying about one should not... One relinquishes the nimbleness. Yes. All right. Now, some people are going to say that, all right, it is not there. There's not, we can't even stay here, you know, even though we've avoided all four extremes, and yet now we, that there is this one, we can't say that it is existent.

[51:13]

Therefore, it's non-existent. Now, there's one of, one of the four spirits always does this, never getting here. that this is called the downfall into nihilism. Others will say, no, the opposite. If it's not non-existent, it's got to be existent. And this takes care of another one of our competitors. And they will say it's got to exist. If it's not nothing, it's got to be something, you know. Even this... You see how the human mind wants to deal in these concepts, even at this level, where it's not adequate. That's the only place where they're different, really, is on these philosophical things, where it really counts. But anyhow, they fall into the extreme of eternalism or positivism, really.

[52:17]

Yes, we did. Yes, we did. But this is very subtle. It's not as... Read my paper. Dr. Wayman always does. You just want to go and start fights downtown. No, I don't. I don't. But I would like to be able to. Then, all right, they fall into the opposite extreme of what we call eternalism. There's a better word for it. Positivism or something where something is put together. Often what is the opposite of nihilism is... Eternalism is the usual one. Positivism is... I don't think we have such a thing. But I don't understand your journalism. It seems like you think something's up. All right. I haven't seen Garland's movie.

[53:23]

He has a good story to speak of. Yes, he does. I won't take that off in the interview. Let's proceed. Come on. It's 10 o'clock. Blah, blah, blah. Yeah, we need to move on. Let's move on. We're good. We're good. We're good. Always be good. This is even happening. Okay, then, so, the wise man, or, the wise man, the wise man does not, he avoids all these extremes and he does not dwell even in the middle. He avoids the extremes of eternalism and nihilism, and at the same time does not take his stand in, how do you say, the middle ground between these two, simply because he's trying to avoid extremes.

[54:32]

That is again taking up another position. You see what I mean? And that is why it is inexpressible. Well, it's inexpressible because it's inconceivable by the ordinary human mind, using words, concepts that human minds use. But it is an authentic, a real experience of a real, how do you say, enlightened point of view. Okay? That is Jetsun Tapa Gyanzen wrote in one of his songs. that that state, which is away from extremes, is also... It means literally, it's not an object of expression.

[55:41]

It's not an object of expression. In other words, it is not something which cannot be... It is not something which can be expressed. All right. Middle way, or mind only, that is Madhyamika... What? Mind only, Madhyamika? Yes. Middle way, comma, mind only, etc. Brackets, Madhyamika, Cittamatra, Vaadin, close brackets. All these are merely, all these terms are merely concepts. These notions, these terms for that ultimate state of mind, which we use to say that it is inexpressible, it is the extremeness, it is the state of extremeness, it is

[57:02]

ultimate reality and so forth. These are merely words and concepts which... And they in no way, and they in no way relate or correspond to the real experience of that state of mind's reality. Even though If you don't, and if a meditator does not himself attain this direct perception of this ultimate state and does not meditate according to the instructions for non-grasping,

[58:37]

No matter what he thinks about his experience, no matter how he conceives his experience, he will inevitably... Thank you very much. He will inevitably... Thank you. He will inevitably fall into the... into the mistake of trying to apprehend this experience. And even though he may think, even though he may fancy himself, he may perceive himself to be avoiding apprehensions, avoiding apprehending this ineffable state.

[59:44]

Even by that much effort, he has fallen into the state of apprehension. So, all that you must do at this stage of practice is to realize that this ineffable state is beyond the possibility of apprehension. That you can't seize on it as being this or that or any other thing. You can't call it anything in the Buddhist or non-Buddhist vocabulary.

[60:49]

You can't possibly capture it by any mental effort. And just realize that its nature is one of non-dual of non-dual clarity and boredness, which do not in any way differ from each other nor obstruct each other. But this direct experience is all, at that stage, is all that matters. It is not something that one can... apprehend or cling to or dwell in or communicate or anything else. It's beyond the possibility of all of these. Let us conclude our discussion at this point with a reminder that though

[61:58]

It may sound abstract, but we're talking about a real experience which is at the very heart of all that Mahayana Buddhism is about. And since it is not simply a lecture that we are engaged in, And you, yourselves, go home, meditate on the non-dual emptiness and clarity of your own mind, with which all beings, including yourselves, are endowed. Next time you come back from meditation, ask him about your experience. He's going to ask you about yours. Sorry, that is a complicated legal matter.

[63:06]

First one is that Rinpoche has been visiting the past few days with his own student Rinpoche down at the Nyingma Center. During that time, as you know, he's been staying at the Kala Rinpoche Center around the corner. Now, he plans to return primarily because his illness is not in very good health these days at all. He's been troubled quite a bit with both colds and his usual asthma. which is a bit concerned and wants to spend some more time with him there. So he will be returning for several more days. And there's not only that, that is the first reason. The second reason is that in the absence of Lama Norla, who is still visiting in India now, that he, his Lama Norla, at the request of Lama Norla, their officers and members, what Lama Che is, wants to help them out a little bit in that.

[64:31]

spending a little time with them, giving them teachings and all, and they're taking very good care of them, thank you. But he does plan to be back in the next few days. Now, what we were discussing was a very interesting matter. Well, it was interesting to us, but I don't know. It seems that there's this young Tibetan fellow who is in the country, A young Tibetan gentleman who is visiting or who is in the country and he wants to stay but he can't stay because he can't get a green card and the government wanted to get rid of him and they even put him in jail. To cut all the short, the Tibetans were wracking their brains about what to do to keep him here.

[65:38]

So finally they decided that the only solution was for him to marry an American girl. So... Here we go. So... You did good. But... So, this compassionate, this... In any case, in great compassion, Lisa, who is the lady chairperson of Lama Norla Center, decided she would marry this young Tibetan. They did marry, I guess. In any case, they married. And Rinpoche says that he married them. He's done these ceremonies. He used and doesn't, but in Seattle and in Vancouver, on a number of occasions, he has performed marriages for disciples.

[66:45]

So he did it. And they're very happily married. However, the government doesn't believe him. They don't believe it was a marriage. I mean, so what she wants is to take to her lawyer tomorrow or something like that. She wants to. She just did it out of compassion. She's going on a retreat in the next few days and leaving. It's about an hour drive. So what they want, what she said is that they want, they ask for imagery. Well, according to my lawyer and according to the government, they talked to her parents, they talked to her, and they said, we will be satisfied if you give us these documents. One is a certificate that you were married by Dejun Rumiche, who has this and this sort of church or religious establishment. So for that purpose, they want from us to borrow a few sheets of stationery tonight, on which one of which would certify that Jetsun Saiki is at least a Buddhist sinner, which is about all of which is certified.

[68:03]

And on this... Oh, come now. Come now. Well, we're not psyched about it because we haven't got the view yet. This is going to be extreme. Yeah, $20. Let's finish the thought. I'm working on it. Well, I'm going straight to it. I mean, you should have heard it. I mean, I'm doing you all a favor by cutting it down to the whistle. Wait. All right. All right, now. Stationery they need, upon which one will testify that we are indeed a Buddhist center in New York, a visionary church in New York, at Abbott, and we can do these things. On the second page, she will fill it in herself, and they will fix up, say anything they want to about visionaries, and Mary will list that and the other. We can't testify that because we didn't see it, and we don't know if it's valid.

[69:04]

Were they married, did we? No, I don't even know if they're married. They were very polite. I don't know anything about it. It is all we want to do is give them stationery. If we can afford, Rinpoche says, we'll give them stationery saying that he is the abbot of this Buddhist center. Another blank piece of paper, they'll put anything true or false on it, and we're not responsible because we won't be signing it tomorrow. That's all. Do you want to do it or not? Of course. Yeah. But for their own purposes. The real legal crunch is whether they were married down the city. The government said that they would accept this. That's what they told him, Jerry, and that's what they asked him tonight, when you bring down the stationary and explain it. In any case, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, this doesn't sound like so much to me. He wanted to tell us about it. We met him, so I told you about it. I mean, you want to give him stationary or not. Do we have stationary? I'm afraid that the problem is that the problem is actually with this.

[70:06]

It doesn't matter, we can type it into the bottom new address. I've turned over a lot here.

[70:17]

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