Visualization in Vajrayana Practice Serial 00005

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Taught by: Jetsun Kushok

Interpreted by: Richard Barron (Chokyi Nyima)

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all
for people who just arrived there in space on the floor
so for the seat of this afternoon's session will be taking a look at what is a fairly standard practice of pleasure out of autism doctrine
our meditation and recitation connected with the
deity known as have a look at sash for the bodhisattva of compassion going through the different stages in this
a practice of this nature like any formal buddhist practice begins with the taking refuge now in terms of the visualizations and recitations employed
the
taking a refuge can be done in either a fairly elaborate or extensive manner or a very condensed very concise manner
the approach which is the most concise as that as know is that which is known as the jewel method in the sense that a single figure a single symbol is used as the epitome of all of the sources of russian it's just as a jewel has many facets this particular ah
figure in this case for example the deity generation into that in ravello potential with the bodhisattva of compassion represents for the practitioner
the embodiment of all the different sources of refuge buddha dharma sangha girl deity dharma protector all of these different sources of refuge for the beaudry on a practitioner are condensed in that single symbol so in a meditation such as this one you would begin visualize
sing in front of you're meditating in front of you d
so vogue killer than implementing among her
that first there of a vast lake vast body of water in the center of which is growing a lotus flower on a stem which actually rises up out of the waters so that there is an elevated
lotus upon which there is a throne of gold and precious metals precious stones
upon which sits the figure of the deity other local tissue for or within this context it would be perfectly appropriate to visualize amitabha buddha amitabha
but one of these figures with the visualized on that throne in the space in front of you as the practitioner with the idea that the mind of the deity the mind that the dt represented was the jewel of buddha the speech principle
well that the deity represented as the jewel of dharma and the form of the deity represents the principle of sanga so again the different sources of refuge or seen as different aspects of this unique symbol rather than separate things separate entities
and so your attitude towards such a symbol used in practice is that it represents the union of all buddhas the union of all sources of refuge in a single symbol of the deity
this process of taking refuge is quite standard in all deity meditations those of you who had exposure to other techniques probably recognize a very familiar pattern regard to so the particular practice the the function of taking refuge at this stage in the format is is very similar from one side
as you take refuge
not only are you meditating upon the source of refuge in front of you
but also upon yourself with your parents in this life your father and mother
whether or not they're still living your father and mother in this life on either side of you and all beings the six realms of cyclic existence behind you in a vast crowd now practically speaking is usually they usually most efficient and most straightforward to just think of an enormous crowd of people rather than trying to visualize beings in all different shapes and
forms and so forth different kinds of animals and hell beings and so forth simply to think of a bring to mind the image of a vast crowd of people with human beings representing again all beings throughout the universe all of whom are joining with you in taking refuge
so while practically speaking you are sitting alone perhaps in your shrine rumor meditation room reciting the text and performing the visualization your the mental context is of all beings joining with you physically in showing respect to the sources of refuge verbally in recital
ing the refuge for and mentally joining with you as one body as one speech as one mind
in focusing upon the sources of refuge with
a sense of faith and devotion and so the particular words of the liturgy will vary from text to text but that is that the context within which they are recited
if you are performing a more elaborate visualization where instead of using this so-called jewel method you instead visualize distinctly different sources of refuge buddha dharma and sangha than you shift your attention of course as you're reciting the prayers i take refuge in both i take refuge in
diana i take refuge in the sanga your attention would shift in the visualization but again that's simply a question of style a question of of approach whether you're using a more extensive more elaborate treatments or more concise one following the recitation of the refuge prayer as many times as you wish to
to begin the session
but you also recite a prayer in woking the blessings of the of your gurus of the three jewels of the sources of refuge on behalf of all sentient beings there is a request at this point where you invoke the blessings of body of speech and of mind for you and for all beings
you also
formulate aspiration at this point that through the blessings of body speech and mind received from the sources of refuge your own mind will turn towards practice of dharma that your practice will become your path will become a path for you that your path will
eliminate confusion and the confusion instead will dawn as wisdom within the basic space of primordial experience and so at this point you formulate the resolve which said so the path in front of you that your mine initially will turn to dharma to the practice that that will become your path that the path
this will eliminate confusion and if confusion will rather be pacified and arises wisdom
in addition to this for stage aspiration
you invoke the blessings of the sources of refuge to eliminate to spell from your mind thoughts that are counter productive to the spiritual path and rather
aspire the qualities such as love and compassion and the enlightening attitude of bodhicitta begin to awaken and increase in you and that you and others swiftly come to the omniscient state of buddhahood
the next stage of the practice is the arousal of bodhicitta the enlightening attitude of altruistic and compassionate resolve and so as you recite the words of the liturgy which will again vary from text text the the impulse behind this
is that you in recognition of the fact that each and every living thing has been at some point in some lifetime your mother
that you have had that intimate connection with each and every living being for their sakes for the sake of all of those beings have all of those mothers
he will attain the unsurpassable goal of enlightenment and for that purpose you remind yourself you are undertaking this profound path
of meditation
following the recitation of this stage of the liturgy the taking of refuge in the aroused of a bodhicitta
the practitioner the individual practitioner
simply meditates than that all of the other beings in their meditation who joined who have joined with them in the taking refuge in the arousal of this enlightening attitude of bodhicitta that all of them simply vanish they returned to their own basic nature
and that the sources of refuge or source of refuge depending on how elaborate the visualization is that all of that is dissolved into light which is absorbed into you as the practitioner
following this there is a recitation of a particular mantra the importance of which is that all phenomena
all that is seen and heard and so forth all of our tangible phenomenal experience is understood in its basic emptiness
and from the point of view of the meditation this implies a dissolving of all mental constructs so that the sense of the environment in which you're sitting the room in which you're sitting your own physical body all of those habitual mental constructs simply fall away in the mind is left in the state of their awareness without any
conceptual overlay a direct experience of the emptiness of all phenomena
this stays of primordial experience free from all limitations and extremes is sometimes referred to as dharma dot to the basic space a phenomenal experience sometimes referred to as emptiness shunyata
from that formless state of awareness the particular structure of the visualization begins to emerge
and in the case of this particular practice you would be called upon to visualize the duchy of us in in a process of self identification with the deity having purified the sense of your normal physical body your ordinary mind body rather there emerges from
that state of primordial emptiness
first a jewel throne
the throne
created of precious metals and substances which is a symbol for wish fulfillment it as a symbol for the wish fulfilling potential of this fundamental nature of being
upon that thrown there is a lotus flower in full bloom
which again is a symbol an expression of the stainless faultless inherently immaculate quality of that fundamental nature
and above that is a disk
which is in the form of a full moon a white radiant disc forming a kind of seat on top of the lotus flower and again the moon hear the full moon is a symbol for the inherent radiant luminous clarity of being
above this assemblage of thrown lotus and moon disk
you can save of a particular syllable monterey syllable in this case the syllable free the red carpet which is white in color
three h r iyer hri a cer
whatever script you're using ah and it's white in color
and it is the seed the germinal syllable from which the full blown form of the deity emerges
and
your attitude and meditation towards the syllable it is is that it is the principle of your own consciousness your own individual mind expressing itself in the form of this syllable which then transforms into the full form of the deity now when you're visualizing a deity in this way it's important
that
your attitude towards the form is one of it's immaculate purity it's brilliant presents brilliant clarity
but it's transparent subtlety is lack of solid or corporeal nature
and the images of various thudding one a very beautiful are pleasing one which you call to mind but it should have all of these characteristics that it is at one of the same time
stainless flawless that it is immaculately pure that it is brilliantly present yet very subtle and transparent as though it were composed of light and not solid matter
the form of the deity in this particular meditation with the day are look at tissue shrine has one face with two eyes
space the expression on the faces of a gentle charming smile
the eyes are the eyes of compassion they symbolize the
activity of compassion enlightened compassion
viewing in the sense of being aware of suffering in any of its manifestations throughout the universe
this particular form has forearms the first pair of hands are clasped at the heart or folded at the heart in prayer and this again is a symbol a symbolic gesture of the invoking
of the activity of enlightened being for the welfare of unenlightened beings
the other two hands the right-hand the lower right hand holds a crystal rosary or mala string of crystal beads and is telling the beans and the left-hand holds a white lotus flower by the stem
the two legs of the deity of this particular deity are crossed in a full what is called a full volume posture which in which the left foot is on the right thigh and then the right foot is placed on the left life
and the form is adorned clad in silken garments beautiful flowing silks and adorned with many jewels and so forth the hair of the head is a deep rich jet black in color and is bound up like a top knot with long time
dresses long strands of hair flowing down over the shoulders and down the back
above the crown of the head of this figure of of a local tissue for you as you in this visualization you would meditate yourself in this form
above the crown of your head is the form of the buddha amitabha now again this is a symbol which is a symbol for the union of the enlightened awareness of all buddhas of all enlightened beings expressed in this symbolic form of the buddha amitabha
in meditation when you visualize this figure above the crown of your head this is essentially your guru the presence of your guru
on the level of nominal form
the symbol which expresses that is the in the form the red form of the buddha amitabha
the function of this particular figure above the crown of the head
this particular figures referred to as the lord of the family in the sense of the central principle of one of the particular both have families of deities and adriano and so in meditating upon this expansive smiling
delightful form above the crown of your head you're invoking the presence of what is technically called the board of the family of the master of the family
when you visualize the form of the deities such as this one for example if you visualize yourself manifesting in identifying with the form of the of a deity such as this one it's crucial that you treat the whole thing as being like a reflection in a mirror that is to say there is brilliant
appearance brilliant presence without tangible corporeal substance
so just like a reflection in a mere there is brilliant clarity brilliant presence without anything really being there tangibly materially
there is a simultaneity of clarity and emptiness that is a very important very crucial attitude and adrianna to cultivate towards the form of such deity
it is a very fundamental mistake to treat the whole thing is very solid and attempt to create a very solid
real in a naive sense impression of the deity that oneself as the deity or whatever there a number of stories from the tibetan tradition illustrating the pitfalls of such an approach or is one individual who is meditating upon a deity known as budget by river which is a very wrathful figure with many heads and many arms and so forth and the
so the story goes this fellow wasn't such a good meditator and so in order to aid his meditation he had a number of either paper puppy and i share class their heads made up and sort of stuck them on his own head and would would try and an ape the deity in a very very concrete clumsy sense story goes that
he so reinforce this very solid impression
having many heads many protuberances and so forth that in his next life he was both born in some of demonic form of all kinds of warts and tumors and go her and everything all over his body the point here being
when you're practicing luxury on a be careful to approach it with some intelligence you're not attempting to create a solid
a monolithic sense of the deity is something tangible something solid and physical but rather as something like a reflection like the union of appearance and emptiness like a like a reflection in the sense that there's brilliant presence without
without substantial or corporeal nature at all jetson cushion instead of this point when she got to this point she was saying all she could think of was to say be careful in english he said one of the pitfalls of living in another country's you start to forget your own language and it's easier to use the native language in the place you're staying and so as you'd say in the west be careful just
exercise caution exercise intelligence when you undertake rhodri on the practice because it's possible to make some fairly fundamental mistakes unless you listen carefully to what you're taught and carry it out properly
at this stage in the practice when you have generated the form of the deity meditation
it's useful
the simply rest in the experience of that form that mind form
disney for a short period of time and to feel some sense of identification i am a local location or not an ordinary egotistic sense but of totally identifying your being with that of the deity this is what is known as divine pride not ordinary arrogance surprise that divine pride identifying totally with the
thirty
following this you again shift your attention in this particular sagna to the form of amitabha above the crown of your head to this embodiment of the wisdom and compassion of all buddhas in this particular form of amitabha
and you direct a supplication to your girl in this form your girl and the sources of refuge in this particular form invoking their blessings invoking the blessing for the
again gave the emphasis of the supplication at this point is an invocation of the blessings of your girls and the three jewels the sources of refuge so that you may purify the obscuration and negative karma in your makeup
increase and cultivate the positive qualities of marriage and wisdom
develop authentic states of meditative absorption and swiftly come to the personal experience of enlightenment yourself
at stages that these different stages of the practice it's important to devote time and care repeating the prayer over and over again and contemplating its meaning rather than just kind of ripping through it from one stage to the next but actually taking time for example of this stage to recite the supplication over and over again to really generate
yeah that sense of supplication the sense of invoking blessing
following that the text goes on to focus the mind in the following way
all of the phenomena that constitute
the ordinary state of conditioned existence that we call samsara and the enlightened state of existence that we call nirvana
all of these phenomena which permeate these two levels of being
the root of all of these is the individual's mind the mind that experiences either some saw or nirvana
if you examine the true nature of that mind there's no color there's no form there's no shape there is no tangible characteristic that you can ascribe to mind in and of itself as opposed to its contents
because there is no thing there that we can say is mind it is this or it is that
we are speaking of a situation where there is an emptiness in that the mind is empty of
any essential nature is being one thing are being many at the same time
due to the fact that the minds is empty of self nature in the sense of being one thing are being many things being something tangible
we cannot speak of the mind as having any origin at any one moment like something that has born or brought into being nor of its ceasing at any point like something that dies or passes away or is destroyed nor can we localize it we cannot speak of awareness pure and simple
as being located here or there
but even though we cannot speak of the mind or conceive of it ultimately in these ways nevertheless there is the brilliant presence of the phenomena in our experience which arise in a very unimpeded way
but the ultimate nature of mind is one in which all conceptual elaborations have been pacified
and that nature of mind which is total and complete peace or pacification of conceptual overlay
is the supreme state of experience which is beyond any limits and extremes beyond any limiting definitions
so at this point when you recite the words of the liturgy and call this experienced to mind you then simply
allow your mind to relax in a totally free spontaneous state of awareness without any mental constructs at all without any attempt to think of anything
following this period of formless meditation you again call to mind this image of the deity this time with
an assembly of the mantra in the heart
that is to say in the center of the form of the deity at the heart region
you bring to mind the image of a lotus flower with moon disc forming a seat or thrown upon a support upon which there is standing upright this white syllable free which is the seeds the syllable of the deity surrounded by the six syllables of the montreux in the case of this particular deity the month
or is om mani padme a home and so these six syllables are arranged clockwise facing inwards around the outer rim of the moon disk
and as you focus your awareness upon this aspect of the visualization you meditate upon light going out from it and returning and as the light extends in all directions and is drawn back into the mantra and the seed syllable in the heart
it performs dual function of invoking the blessings and the compassion of enlightened being and returning this to the threat of your own consciousness and of purifying the obscuration is of other beings and encouraging that same
enlightening experience in them
this stage in the meditation you begin to recite the mantra again in the case of this particular practice the lawn chairs on a putney home and this is recited over and over again
with the corresponding visualization of this light going forth and performing these do this these two functions the still function of
purifying other beings and establishing them in an experience of enlightenment and in invoking the blessings of enlightened being and infusing the thread of your own consciousness with those blessings
and so in prague practical terms as you're reciting the mantra the image the mental image is of white light in the case with this particular practice think the color
mentioned is white
like going forth and returning going for them returning pulsing as it were in this way back and forth and performing these two functions over and over again and so as many monsters as you're doing in that session and meditation you keep your mind focused upon this dynamic visualization of the light going out and coming back
as many times and as clearly as you can
in choosing the meditation of the bodhisattva of compassion of a local taste for to explain today this is based partly upon the
my decision to do so is based partly upon the
fact that historically the bodhisattva of compassion has paid played an enormously important role for tibet and cricket betting in buddhism tibetan people really feel that their chosen deity that their patron deities were is the bodhisattva of compassion
thorne and historical and social level there is a very strong connection between this particular deity in the tibetan schools of buddhism
witness the fact that his holiness the dalai lama the head of all of the schools is a manifestation of the bodhisattva of compassion in human form
so pervasive was this practice into that and culture that it was very often very very often the first words that a child would speak would be the mantra om mani padme home often without ever being taught them and tell them just pick it up from the environment but just pick it up from hearing it said around her around him and it would be the first words that would come to their
for their lips when they began to speak
the form of the deity is the
expression
out a symbol in which the compassion of all buddhas converges it is the spontaneous or natural expression of that quality of compassion of enlightened being normally speaking when you're going to receive teaching on a deity practice and put it into practice you first receive
what is termed an empowerment or not be shaken a formal investiture by a qualified teacher and then you go through a process of learning the practice so that would normally be the context but just because of said my own feeling in the particular situation is twofold one is that i
know that people are interested in what the whole process of dating meditation is like what it's what is it like and what is it about
i feel that many people here have probably already received a number of empowerments from the number of teachers
but even if you have not received the empowerment for this particular practice that that's not a particular problem the practice of chen or easy is so fundamental to the schools of tibetan buddhism that it is not necessary to receive an empowerment in the formal sense to simply have the meditation explained to you by someone who who
olds lineage of that teaching is is appropriate is perfectly appropriate in is adequate
for beginning practice
and so she says i hope that what i have to say as a benefit and in choosing the particular practice that i did i chose one that is so basic so fundamental to the tibetan methods of meditation that we're not in any danger of violating any traditional rules of the first you have to this than you can get this and so forth it's it's a very universal
the practice it can be discussed quite openly
at the conclusion of emitted session of vegetation such as this when there is what is known as the dissolution phase where the entire form of the visualization that has been created and maintained in the mind is simply dissolved
in the way that it would be done in this particular meditation following the recitation of the mantra you would visualize your form as the deity beginning to dissolve into light from the lotus seed beneath and from the crown of the head above converging in the
three syllable the same syllable which is visualized in the center of the heart
and so you would reduce the entire form of the meditation to that single syllable which then would be conceived of is growing finer and finer smaller and smaller until it's simply vanished the way a rainbow fades in the sky simply fading from your awareness so that your mind is left again
in the experience of emptiness the experience of a formless state of non conceptual awareness
and again this isn't something you maintain for long periods of time you simply touch upon that fundamental experience for a few moments in order to conclude the meditation
from that context of emptiness when you arise from that in the sense of completing the meditation and a formal way you conclude with dedication what it's called placing the seal on the practice with the dedication of virtue that you have generated so that it is directed toward
ward's not only your own
self benefit but the benefit of others as well so that each and every living thing can come to the experience of enlightened being as represented by this particular deity and so again the symbol of the deity expresses the more fundamental wish for the enlightenment of all
if a practitioner uses of meditations such as this went on a regular basis as their main focus for practice even as they move through the day in different activities their attitude towards everything they see every thing visual that they come into contact with that they perceive that that is
an expression of the form of the deity that everything that they hear is essentially an expression of the mantra and that everything they think is that essentially a dynamic expression of this fundamental emptiness which is the true nature of being
now this is ideally the way a person would go about this practice but even if one is not capable of addressing that kind of level of practice at the moment nevertheless to use free time during the day for this meditation for this recitation of the mantra as an expression
of your altruistic and compassionate motivation for others is an enormously powerful vehicle for spiritual transformation
what one should i was under to understand the context the attitude with which this has done is a true sincere concern for the welfare of others then it is very very powerful but the mantra om mani padme a long as one of the most single most effective that exists in the whole tradition of adrianna buddhism
it's easy to learn is a very short there's very little to recite there's not a great deal to memorize
it's goes easy on the tongue it's not hard to recite on the other hand that embodies a great deal of blessing and when used properly is an enormously effective tool for purification of self and others
here with a nolan thought a medical
he in the money amount of money
the desire and will help with you
any of you who met one of my principal teachers the late
patient for she will know that this was his main practice that every day he would recite thousands of these monstrous any time it was doing anything he would have a smaller and be reciting this monster over and over again so any of you who have had the personal experience of meeting him before his death would have been aware of this it was you couldn't miss it because
it was one it was definitely has been practice
them in hong kong
in a boy
so at this point of people have any questions if you have further issues you'd like to discuss
it's then i'll get the crystal

the whole practice not just the mantra of just repeating the
oh right the question is this is for the much for the tv and the question is wouldn't you ultimately reach a state of mind where you didn't need to keep repeating a mantra and repeating the practice over and over again in a formal way around
he yes
a
and
and
that older ones to the questioner
i i i noticed many
and never laughed
hey he mentioned the town feature on my gosh
said oh mom
i want to learn more than they had actually
that figure was you know how many times
a
check out because it's just as i don't know how people do know ha ha ha interesting a lot of great long and to how
get them christmas in terms of how exactly how many dishing remember she recited how many times he recited this monster in his lifetime i'm not sure he never said itself i know that he i know from personal experience that he recited many many of the montrose every day but exactly how many he never said and i know
ever asked though i'm afraid i can't answer that question with any accuracy except to say that they with it was a vast number of these monstrous there is one interesting story that i recall of an individual lay layman who is a tonka painter an artist who lived in said on which is the area in which my brother his holy
a second prison was born and this painter is said to have recited the montreux money putting on six hundred million times in his life which is quite a phenomenal feat
and he used to go and oh and one remarkable thing about this a painter was at one point one of his teeth started to grow a kind of protuberance and a new tooth a new extrusion of enamel started to grow on his tooth and it had to be extract
did but when it was extracted the family kept it in a little box and then he relics were discovered in the box afterwards that the propagated from this tooth
and the other thing he another part of the story that i recall was the he used to go as as was accustomed and old tibet to do circumambulate of a stupor in the monastery in that area and the all customers that as you were making the some certain emulations you would pile stones up in
kind of cairns and this was not keeping score or anything it was a kind of offering there is what is known as the mandola offering tibetan buddhism where you offer the universe and is symbolic form by piling piles of grain were semi-precious stones on a on a plate or tray conceiving of it as the wealth of the universe being on
offered so as this old gentleman would make his way around the stupa he would pile these stones on these cairns as a form of offering and the story goes that at one in one day he was walking around and he had a particularly large stone on his mandola plate that he was going to offer onto this cairn and the door on
the carpet than you know he didn't know about laugh and middle-income body are inevitable obama and as he placed or as he approached the mangala
of this cairn that he was going to add the stone to he perceived a white radiance a white aura or radiance emanating from it and because his particular deity practice was other local taste for our he simply thought well this is the presence of the deity this is a sign of the deities presence and with an attitude of pure devotion
ocean he tossed the rock that he had in his hand and it stuck against the site of one of the other rocks kind of defying gravity it just
fixed itself there and she said people could go there and still see it long into the future after he had done this they can still see this rock hanging there was seeming seemingly nothing holding it up
so that's one story of someone who were whose main practice with a local taste for and who recited the pretty vast number of these monstrous he wasn't a particularly special person it wasn't like he was a famous teacher it wasn't like he was a great
sidor great realized yogi he was an ordinary lay person he received empowerment from his teacher and training in this meditation he probably only used to do the actual meditation once a day for a short time and he spend the rest of the day reciting the mantra and trying to maintain the view of the meditation throughout his daily activities
but even though he wasn't anybody special in a hierarchical or formal sense nevertheless he experienced real a real fruition in his practice
the and help other by visualize
on young son down
come
he said
you me
embodiments of the
i don't level
see
not the i with like down
the
and it has
no me
and this time
will you will
we have more is usually ah
so the question or maybe a question but the the the statement you're making is
is is the difference between direct involvement versus involvement from a distance through through meditation and the the relative effectiveness of the to
hahaha
and we will come
have
simply simply
and assure you
every day
hey i think maybe there's i think maybe you're oversimplifying the process of mutation okay so the question is basically the difference between the two approaches and the relative effectiveness your your opinion seems to be that direct involvement is is more effective
yeah well
the separation
okay i'm stands still looking for a question i'm not sure if there's anything you want me to actually transmit because i'm get some that understands how the the english for something that needs clarifying pregnant and then the question of the time
hey
right now
a week and months ago
in either case whether a person was in the world or whether they were in retreat in solitude
the from the buddhist point of view the question of whether or not they're truly benefiting others would depend upon whether their mind was motivated by compassion the mere fact of being either in the world or in retreat is secondary to whether their basic motivation is one of altruism
there are two ways in which we can help in the world
when we say oh when i'm in the world i can really help people directly and effectively there's two ways that can go if you are just extending yourself as i said previously to the people you like or the people who are close to you and intimate with you that alone is not the definition of compassion it's too selective
meet everyone in the world did you meet whether you like them or you don't like them whether they respond to you kindly or not if you truly meet them with compassion then you're really understanding where compassion is all about and then your practice can flourish whereas if you act towards someone in
a more ordinary way of compassion where you think well if i'm nice to them they'll be nice back to me they'll be some reward coming from that then just incursion say that i would suggest that a person has missed the point of compassion here and missed the point of what it really means to benefit someone because to venice
it's someone in this sense does not just mean to make them happy so they'll make you happy it's not a question of reward of mutual reward it's a question of being able to meet every situation even the negative ones even the unpleasant or even the ones who showed no
gratitude show no sense of caring about what you're trying to do you still will always work for their benefit if a person's able to maintain that in the world than this is a very effective means that practice similarity if a person goes into retreat merely being in retreat really going to the top of a mountain
means nothing
you might feel very holy or gone to the top of them out and i live here all alone and basically you're no different from the animals that live on that mountain and you know is is that supposed to make one enlightened then presumably all those animals are annoying because they just hang out on the top of the mountain all the time so simply going into solitude is not the point you go
oh into solitude to really apply the teachings of the buddhist path or whichever path you're following as thoroughly and completely as possible and really apply them to your own direct experience of yourself in the world around you and then a person is able to truly benefit as well so again it's not so much a question
of
ah short term
benefit within a narrow framework one can be effective on that level but what we're really talking about here is a more thorough going attitude that motivates your life whether you're in retreat or in the world and the greater consequences that that kind of thorough going attitude has for the people around you the beings around
you
the other advantage of spiritual practice as a factor in your life is that you are not only beneficial to yourself and others in this lifetime
but from a buddhist point of view one must all was considered the continuity of being beyond death and that the future rebirth that you and others will experience will be a better one for your efforts in this life so the other ramification of sincere spiritual practice is that it affects not only your own and others
experience in this life but in future existences as well
so she said it might not be it might sound a little odd to me thinking i was in terms of good rebirth you know what's my next reaper is going to be that kind of thing but it's not it's not really as simplistic as that it's the idea that there's a continuity beyond death that will be affected by what you do in this lifetime
party
ah if one decides on
only
a rule that
way
to remain alone in retreat will the school benefit other people
the how will i benefit more than that special group of people whom
turn on the proviso is that if you are in retreat in solitude for your own welfare that's really about the only benefit you'll accomplish but if your motivation for being there is truly to help others it will help others you will be a member in genoa took as long as they're included within your attitude now
it's really a question of the different strengths in the added to the difference that is often drawn between hinayana and mahayana attitude is that while it is perfectly ok to say i'm doing this for my own benefit there's nothing wrong with that how much greater how much vaster a school
is to say i'm doing this for everyone's benefit and in doing something for one's own benefit one benefits oneself in doing it for the benefit of others truly for the benefit of others for the welfare of others it does benefit them that's really the the
fundamental principle upon which the whole mahayana tradition is based the idea that nothing less than the benefit of all is a worthy goal is a worthy motivation so the whole underpinnings of the mahayana approach is that your whole reason for even becoming involved is not just a selfish one but to benefit all beings
the gentleman here and i will get you are
listen sir
gosh you know
which is the the benefit for others that accrues through you're practicing that arises through this interdependence of
yeah yeah basically that's it the fact that there is that interdependent connection between all phenomena the answer your question and basically that is that is the principal young
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yeah

the the the the difference between them
a role models such as mother teresa someone whose whose vehicle for expressing their path is through working very directly with the suffering in the world going out and relieving suffering as opposed to someone who locked themselves away and in the cloistered environment and practices on that level
how interdependence works in both of those cases are just how the one who is in solitude is is possibly doing any benefit as compared to the one who is out in the world why you
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the difference might be between short term results and long term results to
one of the are
one of the the issues that we have to take into consideration is that
helping someone in the immediate situation who's suffering and relieving their suffering a bit is laudable there's no no doubt about a note attempt is being made here to denigrate work in the world as being directly beneficial to people
but the other thing that the meditator is trying to focus on to is the future of establishing conditions in their own and other people's experience that will be conducive to future benefits and so one of the disadvantages of the benefit that comes about through meditation is it's not as direct it's not as immediate but it korea
eight circumstances through the power of mine basically through through the the force and power of mine developing are cultivating states of meditation that can directly influence others in perhaps a less tangible way and a more for a more long term way but but as effectively in its own way as mothers
theresa working with the lepers
which isn't to say that one is good and one is bad or you should only think of the long term and not of the short term but we do have to realize that there are different contexts here is it possible for a meditator to sit on a mountain and help a leper dying in that immediate context probably not but if the person who is meditating and developing their spiritual clutter
henschel is praying for the future welfare of that suffering person that will definitely indirectly help them
so there is a different context here
mother teresa is doing what she's doing as an expression of the chicken she is helping beings but it is equally possible that someone who is in retreat could be helping beings it's unfortunate that there isn't the same we can't use the same parameters to judge them because one is direct immediate and tangible was empirically
verifiable and the other is more
is less tangible in a physical sense it is creating energy and creating conditions which will improve depending on the scope of the person's meditation will will improve the lot of themselves and other beings quite definitely

to translate hundred monkey recommend
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yea yea i don't i understand the principle myself but i've never tried to translate is she's not heard the
for in that in the that particular example but she says that's the kind of principle we're talking about where group consciousness begins to accelerate and influence other members of the group
the somebody here and saying of ah
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burnley and he always didn't help him asked that the implication that you one package energy and get real mine and can one moment everywhere happy everybody
her
yeah they hit the question concerns the particular sutra that this gentleman was reading in which the reference was made to the fact that or easy the bodhisattva of compassion extends help wherever it is asked for it is a source of of universal help for beings
does that imply that a person through personal practice is working towards a state where they can themselves provide that universal health is that that's the question
he on if you have that kind of scope that kind of motivation to attain that kind of lofty goal and yes you can if you think i'll never be able to make the adnan know you were going to
but yes depending on your attitude you can attain that kind of know i kind of very lofty goal
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you really have a very very specifically then cultural history
yeah
i find it very very difficult you coming from a contract with the a westerner or not at all seriously whole world go back a century ago subtleties grow and i began deities is he able to put a universal
dance on coming for my computer or western know world worldview after booking worse than see and what i only wonder is is it always necessary for the western or two and a sense
reverse the and be somebody that is the damn no deity visualization all the various high everything they have a specific compare that culture the energy you know involved in that and or
has a sentence with good kind of like the you there can be kind of like the west or five years it'll have they been doing some thinking how you can be more and fifth international are says
a reminder might be specific vat with so so specifically to them
okay
he realized that historically there actually indian if anything
they did just to get it just to get the historical record straight they were adopted by tibetans from buddhist india now that doesn't that doesn't mean your question isn't a good question i just mean that doesn't mean just to get the facts straight that tibetans adopted indian forms were going to put very specific event and thing over the history
what do you think you have can give you an example i'm just wondering if i'm not sure that they did in the case of the deities well i'm just need to think in terms of the language itself
oh okay the necessity of reciting into bed moments over ah ok
so the question concerns as i understand the question concerns the essence of the teachings versus the cultural trappings
and is it necessary for westerners to adopt the cultural trappings and the linguistic trappings along with the essence of the teachings or could we work towards something more universal or more as as you said international first thought that occurred to me is who would design the wardrobe
the
we could have a contest
as well not just the language that has coached in but the actual forms that your car