Your Holiness, we rejoice at the wonderful news that you have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. May we convey... May we convey to you our congratulations along with our deepest feelings of gratitude for your courage, for your vision, your wisdom, and your determination. It is a time for the

[04:16]

of their struggle and support their aspirations for freedom, born through so much suffering. It is a message of victory for all those throughout the world who cherish peace and human values, and a signal of hope to encourage all those other people who are struggling for their rights and their happiness. It is a tribute to your unwavering stand on nonviolence and to your message of compassion and love, which has moved so many millions around the globe. It is the long-awaited confirmation of your place as the most important spokesman for the world peace in this troubled world of ours. For no one else has championed the cause of universal brotherhood and sisterhood, of reconciliation and forgiveness as you have done. At long last the world has truly recognized what so many have known for so long. Here

[05:18]

we have probably the largest gathering ever of lamas and dharma practitioners from all over the United States and other parts of the world, and it is tremendously auspicious that these teachings and this empowerment, dedicated as they are to the world peace, are the very first to take place after your winning the Nobel Peace Prize. To be able to sponsor them is a very special honor for us. On behalf of the followers of the teaching of the Buddha everywhere, all over the world, and on behalf of all of us here, we offer our facilitation and as we do so we pray for the success of all your aspirations for the people of Tibet, for the peace and happiness of the whole world. Thank you very much.

[06:46]

First of all, I would like to extend my greetings to all of you here, my dharma brothers and sisters who have gathered here, and also I would like to thank Sogyal Rinpoche and also all of you for your congratulations upon my receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. And I would especially like to thank for your loud applause. You know, you see, I consider this prize something, you see, some recognition for my sort of sincere motivation. So therefore, essentially, the credit goes to my motivation. Not that, as the Tenzin Gyatso monk, but mainly the credit goes to the, how do you say, motivation,

[08:04]

for the sincere altruism. So therefore, every human being has that potential. Now the only thing is whether we truly take care about that potential to develop, to further develop and implement in our daily life. That is the question. So that is the point. So I hope, you see, that more and more people will follow or will realize the value of compassion, value of altruism. So to myself, since I became a Buddhist monk, that is my real sort of destination or definition. So as usual, I call no more, no less. Just one simple Buddhist monk. So thank you very much. Now, that very doctrine-teaching, Shakyamuni Buddha.

[09:14]

Today we are gathered here to conduct a teaching on Dzogchen. As followers of the Buddha, as a preliminary to the actual teaching, let us recollect the great kindness of our Master Buddha Shakyamuni, thus reflecting upon his great kindness, and let us do some recitations and also among the Sutras, Mayana Sutras, the Wisdom Sutra is most important.

[10:20]

So in order to reflect that, we will recite the Heart Sutra as well. Those who have these texts in mind, they could join in the recitation. Those they don't have may reflect and contemplate upon the importance of altruism and reflect upon the ultimate nature of reality, emptiness. And those who have certain experiences of Dzogchen, the Great Completion,

[11:41]

they may also reflect upon the experience of the present awareness, and remain in that state. Shakyamuni Buddha, may we be able to reflect upon the importance of altruism,

[12:46]

and also the great kindness of our Master Buddha Shakyamuni. May we be able to reflect upon the importance of altruism, [...]

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May we be able to reflect upon the importance of altruism, May we be able to reflect upon the importance of altruism, May we be able to reflect upon the importance of altruism,

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[24:26]

May we be able to reflect upon the importance of altruism, May we be able to reflect upon the importance of altruism, Om Namah Shivaya. Om Namah Shivaya.

[25:45]

When engaged in a teaching, it is important, both on the part of the teacher and also of the students, to first of all develop a pure motivation for listening to the teachings and engaging in the teaching. If on the part of the teacher, if his conducting the teaching is motivated by self-importance, arrogance, or desire for fame, or servitude from his students and so forth, then that type of motivation is wrong. Rather, the teaching should be motivated by an altruistic attitude to be of benefit to the students.

[26:55]

The attitude of the teacher when conducting the teaching should be such that, as explained in the Eighth Lantern Sutra, that whenever I associate with people, others, I should always regard myself as inferior, and I will always regard others as more precious and respect them. So whenever you associate with others, you should have that kind of attitude towards others, and so should a teacher when conducting a teaching should have the same type of attitude towards his students. Also on the part of the listeners,

[28:19]

so long as your attitude towards attending this teaching is that of a spiritual one, looking for ways to improve and advance your spiritual practice, then your motivation of attending this teaching should not be influenced by negative emotions like hatred, anger, or jealousy, or attachment. And especially the teaching that we are engaging in today, that is the teaching of the Three Jewels, or the teaching of the Three Jewels, that is the teaching of the Three Jewels. So the teaching of the Three Jewels is that of the Three Jewels. The teaching today is that of Mahayana practice, Mahayana teaching.

[29:20]

Your motivation should also be influenced by altruistic aspiration to be of benefit to others. So therefore, your attitude, your motivation for taking the teaching should be preceded by taking refuge in the Three Jewels and generating an altruistic aspiration to be of benefit to others. Thank you. Among the audience here, it is also possible that there are few who may not consider themselves as Buddhist practitioners,

[30:21]

but have certain interest in Tibetan culture, or Buddhist meditations, or certain aspects of Buddhism. For you, it is not necessary to cultivate these initial motivations, but rather you can listen to the teaching from an academic point of view. So in order to reinforce the importance of these initial motivations, we will recite in unison together the verses for taking refuge and generating the altruistic aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all. So when we do the recitations, think in such lines. When going for refuge in the Three Jewels,

[31:37]

When going for refuge in the Three Jewels, it is important to be aware of the fact that what is the meaning of ultimate refuge? What is the ultimate meaning of refuge? Ultimate meaning of refuge comes from understanding the potential seed that we all possess within ourselves, which is otherwise called the Buddha nature. And this is a potential seed which allows us, through our spiritual purification, to attain a completely enlightening state. Once we are able to activate this potential seed within us and explore it to its fullest extent, that is where the meaning of ultimate refuge comes into being. And this potential seed that we possess is something that is inherent within our mind, our mental stream, which is technically called the all goodness, kundusambhu, dasamandarbhada. It is also called the primordial Buddha, samandarbhada, kundusambhu.

[32:46]

And not only oneself, but all other living creatures, living beings, also possess equally this potential seed for eventual evolution into, eventual becoming of, attainment of primordial Buddha, samandarbhada. Therefore, after having taken refuge in the Three Jewels, one should cultivate the altruistic aspiration to be able to attain highest liberation for the benefit of all sentient beings, so that you can also lead all sentient beings to the same state of primordial Buddha, samandarbhada. So, with the motivation to lead all sentient beings to this primordial state of samandarbhada, let us do the recitation together. Okay. SANGYE RINPOCHE

[34:32]

The format of the teaching will be, the morning session will be up to twelve o'clock with a fifteen minute break after one and a half hours. So, after the fifteen minute break, during the second session, if you have, among the audience, if you have questions, then we could spend about fifteen to twenty minutes on the questions and answers. And the written questions could be written down and Ashes will collect them. The actual format of the teaching that I'm conducting here is not based on any particular text. But one particular text that I'm basing my format of the teaching is composed by Kunti Longchen Ramjambha,

[36:24]

the text known as The Treasury of Dhammadhatu, The Treasury of Dhammadhatu, Reality. Okay. During the course of the teaching, at certain points where the meditative techniques or stages of the teaching practice is being explained, I think it might be quite helpful if you could pause for a while and do meditation,

[37:28]

contemplative meditation for maybe a minute or two. Okay. The traditional approach in Tibet when conducting these types of teachings

[38:46]

is to really emphasize the practical aspect of the teachings. So these teachings are not conducted or not given in one stretch like as we are doing now, but rather the different elements of the practices are taught at once, different elements of the teachings are taught separately. And after having taught one element of the practice, then the student is advised to meditate on it, if possible for a long period of time, but at least for a few days. For instance, one finds explicit mention in writings of Khenpo Mark Chon, a Tibetan meditator and master. He mentions that he identifies different sections of the practices and says that for this element of the practice, after having received teaching you should at least meditate on three days or four days and so on. So that has been the traditional approach in Tibet. These types of teachings have never been conducted in one stretch,

[39:46]

where all the elements of the visualization or meditations are given. But since we have no time, we can always use lack of time in this modern age as our pretext for just running through and just sweeping through all the elements of the meditation and just going through in one stretch. So from this teaching that I'm conducting, although you may receive the inspiration of the transmission, but you should not be satisfied with that alone, but rather listen to further commentaries and teachings from your masters

[40:47]

and also meditate on them for a long time. Otherwise, if we just be satisfied with this particular teaching alone, then our listening to the teaching would be just like a dream, an experience of a dream, a fleeting experience of a dream. If that is the case for your listening and learning the teachings, then so will your results of your meditation be. It will be just a fleeting experience. Therefore, it is very important to have a long and enduring effort in engaging in the meditations. Within a short period, it is impossible to change the whole concept or the whole mental attitude.

[42:04]

Therefore, it needs constant effort. According to my own little experience, now I am 55, so I think around my age, say, 16, 17. Since then, I started some serious effort to change my mental attitude or to improve my mental attitude. Now, 55, so how many years passed? In any way, it's a few decades now already passed. Still, not satisfactory results are there. So, we have to fight, we have to work hard. So, that is the situation. Then, as a Buddhist practitioner, we are not counting hours or weeks or months.

[43:07]

We are counting eons. Eons, isn't it? Eons. Billions and billions of years, billions and billions of lives. So, in a way, thinking these lines, sometimes you may find something. One might feel a little discouraged. But in a way, thinking is a very long-term future. That gives us real determination. That gives real, how to say, some kind of inner strength. It will develop inner strength, determination. And from that viewpoint, then time is nothing. The thing is, the important thing is, it must change, it must improve. No matter how long it will take. So, there is some kind of firm determination. That's necessary, isn't it? So, now,

[44:10]

That's it. Then, Then, So, if you are a Buddhist practitioner, you have to work hard. You [...] have to work hard. Now, Now, when we are talking about the practice, depending on the primordial mind, we are talking about the practice entirely by understanding

[45:16]

the non-conceptual state of the original mind. So, there are two types of practices. One, which is the conceptual way of practicing, and the superior one is that one, which transcends the intellectual or conceptual state of mind. When you are talking about Dzogchen, it is the supreme ultimate state, the original state of mind, which is not contaminated by any kind of concepts. So, there are two types of jhānas. We are talking about nine different types of jhānas in yinma teaching, and when we are talking about the ati-yoga, this leads to the highest state, which is free from any concepts. So, His Holiness is talking about the two types of stages, or two types of manner of following,

[46:18]

the meditation. So, in today's India, when we are talking about the practice, we are talking about the conceptual state of mind, which transcends the intellectual or conceptual state of mind. So, the conceptual state of mind, which transcends the intellectual or conceptual state of mind, and the conceptual state of mind, which is free from these concepts, is the conceptual state of mind, and which, according to His Holiness, is the true state of mind. So in this case, His Holiness is talking about the conceptual state of mind, which transcends the intellectually or conceptual state of mind. Now, these two methods are called one which is intellectually followed, is called Loya Lamje. Lo, and that's where mind is conceptually active. There will be a follower

[47:30]

following like that. And those are the stages which are meant for the unprepared, a gradual stage of realization. But when it says the Yeshe Lamje, Yeshe means non-conceptual. Yeshe, I would say the primordial consciousness. It's a consciousness, but that consciousness which is primordial and its original state which is not contaminated by anything. That's called the Yeshe Lamje. Lamje and Yeshe should be understood. The Loya Lamje is according to the mental path which is intellectual way of understanding. Now the Yeshe Lamje is just jumping into the ultimate state state way. Now His Holiness says that there are many kinds of

[48:32]

human mind. There may be some who are very fortunate and whose obscurations and karmic interferences are absolutely cleansed. For them, if they are fortunate enough to come across with a teacher who is equally realized, then and there at one go, at once one can realize the ultimate without any problem. But those who are not so will have to take the gradual stage, gradual steps. Even though the teaching of Dzogpochenpo is regarded, what is known as the Yeshe Lamje,

[50:55]

that is to taking the wisdom as the path, and it is one for, of a superior practitioner someone who has the true receptivity and the karmic fruition could realize in an instant the realization of Dzogpochenpo. However, even though that may be the case, but in terms of methodology, in terms of actually applying the teachings, it has to be related to the capacity of the people and had to be taught step by step process. If this were not done, then the true meaning of the Dzogchen teachings would not bear fruit. It is of the utmost importance that as one engaged in the practice, that first one must have a true

[52:36]

grounding in the various parts of the Buddha Dharma, the various jhanas, and one once understands this and this serves as a very important preliminary. And if this were properly rooted, and then, for example, when the Dzogchen teachings are given, then the one can realize the true meaning of it For example, this morning's session and this afternoon's session will be, therefore, primarily focused on the general approach of the Buddha Dharma. And that's to say, the accounts of, for example, the Hinayana

[53:43]

and the Mahayana teachings will be focused on that. And the, including the Secret Mantrayana teachings. According to the approach of Jamyang Khyentse Tsultrim Lodhi, which has been handed down through Tinggul Khyentse Rinpoche, that the main basis is this, the famous quotation from the teaching of the Buddha, which says, no mind in mind, nature of mind is clear light. And that in this one statement by Buddha,

[54:44]

that all teachings are gathered in in this, and taught this as the basis. Mind is devoid of, the mind is devoid of mind for the nature of mind is clear light. Now, the entire Buddhist thought and practice is explained on the basis of understanding the meaning of this particular quotation, which is, to repeat, the mind is devoid of mind for the nature of mind is clear light. Now, to explain the first element of this quotation, the mind, the meaning of this first word encompasses the entire meaning of the Hinayana teaching, that is the teaching based on the Four Noble Truths.

[55:47]

And then the second part of the quotation, that is, it's being devoid of mind, this part of the quotation encompasses the meaning of the entire Wisdom Sutras, that is the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma. And the last part of the quotation, that is, it's being devoid of mind for the nature of mind is clear light. And the last part of the quotation, that is, because the nature of the mind is clear light,

[56:51]

the meaning of this part of the quotation encompasses the entire subject matter of the third turning of the wheel of the Dharma. Here specifically referring not to the Sutras which are taken as the philosophical source or authority of the Chittamantra school, that is the Yogacara school, but rather the sections of the Third Sermon, which refers to the Sutra like the Tathagatagarbha Sutra, which is the root Sutra of treatises like Maitreya's Uttaratantra, the sublime continuum of consciousness, in which the meaning of the primordial clear light nature of the mind is expounded. Although the ultimate meaning of fundamental innate mind of clear light is expounded in the highest Yoga Tantra in general,

[58:31]

but the actual practice of touching or actual practice of experiencing this primordial nature of the mind in a very experiential and intuitive manner is to be found only in the Dzogchen practice. The fact that Dalai Lama has said that the ultimate meaning of the primordial clear light nature of the mind is to be found only in the Dzogchen practice is to be found only in the Dzogchen practice.

[60:14]

The fact that the ultimate meaning of what is called the fundamental innate mind of clear light is spoken in the New Translations school of the Tantra, the highest Yoga Tantra, and what is spoken of as pristine awareness or Rigpa awareness in the Dzogchen teachings, the fact that the ultimate meaning of all of these comes down to the same point or the same meaning is to be found in the writings of Longchen Lamchenpa and a Dzogchen master called Jigme Lingpa in his commentary on the treasury of knowledge, Yuen Dien Tzu, and one could also find in the writings of the 5th Dalai Lama, and particularly in the later writings of Dorobu Jigme Tenpei Nyingma, he was the third in the lines of Dorobu Jigme, and this master, Dorobu Jigme Tenpei Nyingma, was not only a great scholar, but also a great meditator and adept with a vast knowledge of both the New Translations schools of Tantra and Old Translations schools of Tantra,

[61:43]

and also Sutra and Tantra, and his understanding of Madhyamaka philosophy and Sotrāntika's epistemology and logic are very profound, and one could find in his writings very explicit references to the point that how the ultimate meaning of what is spoken in the New Translations schools as fundamental innate mind of clear light and Dzogchen terminology, the pristine awareness or Rigpa awareness, how they are one and the same thing. And also one could find explicit mention of this fact in the writings of Khenpo Ngak Chon, where he specifically mentions when talking about the basis, the grounds, and the appearance of grounds, when distinguishing between these two phenomena, the ground and the appearance of ground, he refers to the ground as the pristine awareness or Rigpa. So although I cannot claim to have authentic advanced realization of Rigpa awareness nor the fundamental innate mind of clear light,

[63:09]

but when I read and compare these different writings of different masters from different traditions, I also feel particularly when this point is analyzed in relation to all the different writings of different Buddhist schools of thought, including the Sutra system, Tantric system, all the four classes of Tantric system, and Old Translations and New Translations schools, I sympathize with this opinion. I find particularly this insight very beneficial and helpful to myself in understanding the same point of view of the Tantric system.

[64:12]

The sameness of all the different traditions of Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, and also this insight enables me to develop a genuine sense of respect and respect in all the different diverse approaches in the different traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. My first question would be, how do we determine whether something is existent or not? This is the fundamental question that would arise in any philosophical system.

[65:21]

Now the Buddhist answer to this is that anything that is verifiable through experience or awareness or any levels of valid cognition, that is the criterion of something being existent. And any event or anything that is not verifiable through one's experience or awareness, then it's not existent. Although this is the fact, but there could be many different types and levels of verifying awareness or cognition. It could even extend to a very heightened state of awareness, which is a meditative experience, and also as to how do we define something as verifying cognition or valid cognition.

[66:30]

Also on this point, different philosophical systems have different viewpoints. For example, in Buddhism, there is a concept called Tathagatagarbha. Tathagatagarbha is a very deep and profound concept. The reason why we see so much discussion of epistemological, epistemological concepts is because there are so many different kinds of epistemological concepts.

[67:40]

Epistemology, or how do we define something as valid cognition or verifying cognition in the Buddhist writings, is because all our problems or sufferings and confusions and so forth come from a misconceived notion of perceiving things. So it is important for a practitioner to determine whether something is a misconception or a true knowledge. And it is because of that point we find a lot of discussions of this subject of epistemology in Buddhist writings. We will see in our own experience how our state of mind goes through different levels, eventually leading to a true knowledge. For instance, on a particular given subject or topic, our initial reaction might be a very hardened misconception, thinking, grasping a totally mistaken notion.

[68:42]

But then that type of strong grasping at a wrong notion, when countered with reasoning, it could, in the second stage, turn into a kind of lingering doubt, a kind of doubt thinking that maybe it is not. And then this, when further exposed to reason or evidence, then this kind of lingering doubt could turn into a presumption, tending towards the right decision. Still it's just a presumption, just a belief. And then when that is further exposed to reason and reflection, then eventually we could have what is called the inference through proper logical process. And then that inference still is very conceptual, it is not a true knowledge. Then this inference, when constantly familiarized and developed within yourself, could eventually turn into an intuitive and direct realization or direct experience of the event. So we see through our own experience how our mind, as a result of being exposed to reason and reflection, goes through these different stages, eventually leading to a direct experience of an event or a thing.

[69:56]

And on the question of whether or not to accept the truth or not to accept the truth, it's very simple. And on the question of whether or not a true knowledge or verifying cognition could have still a certain element of illusion or not, on this question, different philosophical systems differ in their viewpoints. For instance, a great Indian philosopher, Buddhist philosopher, Nagarjuna, maintains that a state of mind could be a true knowledge or a verifying cognition. Nagarjuna's philosophy, which is explicitly interpreted by Shantakirti in his writing, in their philosophical system they maintain that a state of mind could be a true knowledge and a valid cognition, but at the same time could have certain element of illusion in it.

[71:14]

Sorry, but it is a true knowledge in the sense that in respect to its main object it is unmistaken. And in their writing we also find distinctions between the different types and levels of object of the mind. For instance, one state of mind could have different objects like... Because such philosophical systems maintain that a true knowledge can have a certain element of illusion, they distinguish in the object, at different levels of objects.

[72:40]

For instance, that one state of mind could have an appearing object, an object of apprehension, an understanding. So, for instance, like a true knowledge could be mistaken in relation to the appearing object because it does perceive things in a wrong manner, but it can be unmistaken in relation to the object of apprehension. And also they maintain that no matter how distorted or correct one's state of mind could be, for instance, like a distorted state of mind, so long as it is a state of consciousness, it has an appearance of certain object. And from that point of view, in relation to the appearance of that object, it is unmistaken.

[73:45]

Such a philosophical system maintains that no matter how distorted or correct one's state of mind could be, in relation to the appearance of that object, it is unmistaken. consciousness or awareness could be only posited in relation to an object. Without object, there wouldn't be consciousness. Without consciousness, there wouldn't be object. And consciousness or awareness and object are posited in relation to each other, because of their basic fundamental belief in the philosophy of relativity. But other philosophical systems maintain that although the object exists in relation to an awareness, but awareness, in order to establish the existence of awareness, it requires what is called a perceptive nature of the mind, in the sense that the mind should be aware of itself. So it is important that one should not get misconfused with the same term that is being used in such philosophical systems called rangrik, or self-awareness, or self-consciousness, with the type of rangrik that is self-consciousness spoken of in other philosophical systems.

[75:59]

Like in the Tantra. Having established that things and phenomena do exist, then within the category of existing phenomena, there is no question of the existence of phenomena. There are two classes of things, two classes. Things that exist occasionally, things that exist not permanently. This indicates that they depend upon certain causes and conditions or circumstances for their arisal.

[77:19]

And there are other types of phenomena which are permanent and do not depend upon such causes or conditions or circumstances. The phenomena those depend upon their causes and conditions and circumstances for their arisal are underpowered, in the sense that they are under the power of their causes and conditions. So the very fact that they depend upon their causes and conditions for their arisal is enough factor for their having the potential to disintegrate.

[78:19]

So therefore anything that is produced has the potential to be disintegrated eventually. Within the category of phenomena that arise as a result of causes and conditions, these are called the produced phenomena, there are three types.

[79:29]

We find that there are three different types of phenomena within this category. Those that are physical, that are material, something that is tangible, something that we can perceive through our sense faculties. And there are certain types of phenomena which could be experienced, which are only within the domain of our experience, such as our sensations, our experience, awareness, and so forth. And then there are still a third type of category of phenomena, which are just mental constructions, which are abstract, which could be only conceived. Things like time, things like these concepts like production, disintegration, process, pattern, and so forth. These type of categories of phenomena are called technically non-associated compositional factors.

[81:02]

This includes even ourselves, what we call human beings, selfhood, I. These are entirely different categories of phenomena, unlike the first two. The first two, there are certain bases which you can identify them with. For instance, like form, physical matters, through sense faculties you can perceive them, you can come into contact with them, and experiences, awareness, and so forth. Although you cannot physically come into contact with them, but at least subjectively you can experience them, you can have awareness of them. But the third type of phenomena could be understood only in terms of concept. For instance, like when we talk about human beings, what is a human being? When we examine and search for its essence, we do not find it is nothing. Human beings are neither our body nor our mind, but it's a label imputed on the combination of body and mind.

[82:07]

It's a metaphysical entity. . [...]

[82:14]

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