We are related by blood, our karmic affinity, with various beings. So we have been related with all beings at one time or another since beginningless time. And the kindnesses that we have received from these beings have been have been great, not small, just as in this life our own mother and father, our parents have benefited us, nourished us with kindness, countless kindnesses, time and again, and continue even now to do so. Maybe we should synchronize. Yes, the kindnesses which we have received from these beings who are our parents have been countless.

[01:33]

In the course of our countless lifetimes in the past, these same parents that we have now have at one time or another also been our parents then and have nourished, protected and benefited us in countless ways. Sometimes these kind parents were reborn as kings and benefited us. Other times they were beggars, thieves, ghosts, hell beings, in all these various modes of existence. wherever they took life, and every time they benefited us and nourished us with their kindness. The countless times they sacrificed their own interest on our behalf, even gave their lives so that we might live.

[02:47]

If all the bodies which our parents have exhausted in service to us and seek in promoting our happiness rather than their own, if all the bones of our parents in the past were piled up, they would extend through space like the great cosmic mountain Meru. And if all the tears of grief and sorrow that they had shed for us were I gathered together, it would equal the great oceans. At all this time, however, no matter how they sought to benefit us, they themselves were never free from delusion and pain. And so their suffering since beginningless time has been endless. grief, the sorrow, the pain, the frustration which these beings have experienced and continue to experience, and who face the prospect of even more suffering on the same scale, has been so great that it is impossible for us not to feel grief, sadness and pity when we reflect upon their plight.

[04:12]

It would be cruel, therefore, to turn our backs upon these kind beings, our benefactors, and to seek instead liberation for ourselves alone, while leaving them behind to suffer. This kindness should be repaid. We have a debt of kindness to pay to all these living beings. And yet, how can it be repaid? Only if we were able to establish them in true and lasting happiness, in true freedom from pain, in the prospect of future pain, could we say that we have indeed repaid the kindness, the countless kindnesses we have received from these beings. And yet, how are we able to do this? At present, we are unable. We haven't the power to free them from suffering or to establish them in happiness, even if we try.

[05:17]

And not just us, but other gods, the Arahats, and the other holy beings to which these beings turn for help, are unable. to free them from this process of birth and death. Who then is able to help? Only the enlightened one, the Buddha, has attained the perfection of wisdom, that is, the knowledge of the way in which to free beings. Only he is endowed with the perfection of compassion, the will to free them from suffering and establish them in happiness. And only he is endowed with the perfection of power, the ability actually to free them from their pains and establish them in happiness. So through his great wisdom, compassion and power, only the Buddha is the true source of aid for these beings.

[06:24]

Therefore, It is said that with even a single ray of light from his body of enlightenment, the Buddha is able to benefit and free countless beings throughout space. So, in consideration of these facts, it is worthy then, it is right then, that we should turn our minds toward Buddhahood. It is only through Buddhahood that we will become able actually to repay the kindness of these beings. When this resolve for these reasons arises clearly and without pretense within our minds, then this attitude, the awakening of this attitude, of this resolve in our minds is called the the bodhicitta or the resolve of aspiration, the aspiration to seek Buddhahood.

[07:30]

However, in the actual attainment of our goal of Buddhahood, we need to understand that merely wishing for Buddhahood will not make us enlightened Nor will simply a single method of practice, a single technique, a reliance upon one insight, for example the insight into emptiness, not a single cause will enable us to attain the Buddhahood that we seek for beings. But only a totality of causes and conditions brings about the attainment of the goal we seek. Buddhahood is the product of right causes and conditions, of right efforts on the path of experience and realization. We must make right efforts in training in the six perfections of the Bodhisattvas, and through the actual

[08:46]

training and actual perfection of these attributes or qualities of the Bodhisattva, will we become able to realize our goal of Buddhahood. Therefore, with all of this in mind, we should then resolve that we will enter the path of actual practice. the accomplishment of realizations and the path of experience, of meditative experience. And therefore, we take up this meditation of Manjushri Sapan. or if you are meditating upon other deities such as Vajrayogini or Hevaja, the same reflection, the same reflection should be the code, the incentive that you have in mind in order to... before you take up the session of meditation. So, then you take up the meditation for a session of practice with all of these reflections, this attitude clearly in mind.

[09:59]

Only then will it be effective. When you then, with all these thoughts in mind, sit down and meditate, that is called the second stage of bodhichitta, the chukpe samkhye, or the bodhichitta of application. One must distinguish between these two types of bodhichitta, or resolve, The first is that of aspiration, the mere wish or the mental resolve that one will strive for Buddhahood. The second consists of actual efforts, of efforts applied towards the accomplishment of one's aim through the training in the Six Perfections, through the accomplishment of this session of meditation upon Manjushri Sabha. Just as in the world we can distinguish between really making plans to go abroad.

[11:05]

For example, if you think, next summer I will take a trip to India. This constitutes the first stage of aspiration of planning or stating one's purpose. to oneself. But when you actually undertake to secure a passport, to buy the air ticket when one goes to the airport, gets on the plane and finally disembarks at Delhi, all of that constitutes the second stage, the path of application, So one must keep this in mind in one's practice too. Merely wishing for something is not enough. You have to do it. All right? Then, therefore, all of these reflections should be clearly in one's mind when you sit down to meditate. If they are not, take the time at the beginning of your session of practice to bring them to mind.

[12:08]

Only then will your session of practice be real, be genuine, be effective. It is never enough merely to be seated to take up the right posture of meditation merely to read or recite the chants or the mantras or practice in a routine manner. This kind of practice is not very useful. It is not even very meaningful. Meditation has meaning only if the mind is endowed with the proper perspective, the proper attitude. If your mind is filled with thoughts of renunciation and of compassion for one's fellow beings, then your practice will be right, it will be effective, and you will definitely

[13:17]

experience the results that you seek through practice. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. M. G.: I don't understand. [...] Sachi Teneri, you are. You need to get it up.

[14:21]

One more time, listen to me, listen to me. Madhava, [...] Madhava. I'm not going to go into that.

[15:29]

I'm not going to go into that. I'm not going to go into that. Okay. Yes. Yes. In the beginning of the world, there was no such thing as a god. There was no such thing as a god. There was no such thing as a god.

[16:29]

There was no such thing as a god. [...] There Yāndāgī, yāndāgī, yāndāgī, yāndāgī, yāndāgī, yāndāgī... It means they are talking about the Lord, they don't hear him.

[17:57]

No matter what he says, they don't hear him. It means they don't listen to him. It means they don't hear him. It means they don't listen to him. No matter what he says, they don't listen to him. It means they don't listen to him. So, if you don't know how to do it, you can't do it. If you don't know how to do it, you can't do it. QS. MAHDI P.B. : Lama [...] L

[19:16]

Lola Tensho Shonji Noba Shogu Shikinde Shonji Yorobo [...] Yorob Then the Sun King told him, Sun King told Gohung to go to the mountain. Sun King told Gohung to go to the mountain. Sun King told Gohung to go to the mountain. Gohung told Sun King to go to the mountain. Sun King told Gohung to go to the mountain. Sun King told Gohung to go to the mountain. Sun King told Gohung to go to the mountain. dācā, jā, ngā kyu, nye kyu, dācā, jā, ngā kyu, nye kyu, dācā, jā, ngā kyu, nye kyu, dācā, jā, ngā [...] kyu, d

[20:26]

They will learn this somebody. They are following the format. They are not following the essence of the Buddha. When I was young, I used to go to the temple to pray. I didn't want to go to the temple. [...] When I was young, I used to go to the temple to pray.

[22:44]

I used to go to the temple to pray. When I was young, [...] I used to go to the temple to pray. Kalu, ko demba tshaba denyena, yonana kalu, yonana ega tshaba. Anabhije, kona kalu, yonani. Sandra tongba denyene, tongba denyene, tan dala gawa dole, bha tan dala nye gole su, ten gawa nye sanga tawa su de. Tongba nye dole, tena tena, tongba sanga dole su de. Tena tena, [...] ten It means that if you don't know how to do it, you can't do it.

[23:45]

If you don't know how to do it, you can't do it. He said to me, you eat. I said, ok. I will eat. [...] I don't know what to say.

[25:19]

So if you're looking at the first page of your text, what do you do about that text? Somebody who is near somebody else, you didn't bother to look at that. Want to do it? So you can have mine. You have one? All right. One needs to know then that this meditation of Medjusri Sapan is to be practiced as the totality of three progressive stages.

[27:23]

The first is the preliminary stage of meditation. The second is the stage of main or actual practice. And the third stage is that of completion or conclusion. So, in discussing, in describing for us the preliminary stage of practice, you should understand that this consists primarily of the refuge and the awakening of the resolve to enlightenment. The first requisite in meditation or the first requisite of preliminary practice is to purify one's mind of ordinary, of ordinary deluded conceptualizations about oneself, about the practice of meditation, instead of thinking of it in terms of ordinary concepts.

[28:25]

one needs to free one's mind from attachment to all this kind of deluded thought. So as a Vajrayana practice we have recourse here to tantric visualizations. The impure vision, impure that is deluded, ordinary, perception is to be purified by visualizing that your environment is indeed the pure land, which it really is if we were only able to see it that way. This is symbolized by visualizing, for example, before you, visualizing yourself seated on a white durya, that is a lapis lazuli floor. Lapis lazuli. Okay. In this great celestial mansion which has lapis lazuli floors, in the center of that great floor you should visualize a jewel throne supported by eight lions.

[29:38]

Upon the jeweled throne, there rests a multicolored lotus with a thousand petals. In its center lies the radiant disk of the moon, and seated upon it is Manjushri Sapan himself, golden in color. And it's very important that you should never think of the, of Maitreya Sri Sapan as having a solid, substantial body, such as our own body of flesh and blood, but as a wisdom being. His body is of the nature of transcendent wisdom and appears in the form, or it has the substance of clear light. So it is a light body, a mental body. All right? Visualizing Manjushri Sapa and then seated on the throne clearly before you, you should think of him as the object of refuge.

[30:50]

Now there are many ways of many versions of the refuge visualization. For our purposes, we will use what is known technically as the dual version, in which all the refuges are combined into one single object of refuge. That is to say, Sapen's body is the Sangha, his voice is the Dharma, his mind is the Guru and the Buddha. What do you mean by that? I don't know. [...] The laminaja rama.

[31:54]

The gamja, the shudra. That's it. That's it. Then it's the seven kikud, the gendo and konjones, sun, the chakuns, then the tuk, the lama, the sanghi. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. Khenro tukung nyen, nyu kwa nyen la ma, dong ma la, khenro nyen, nyu kwa nyen la, [...] dong ma la, khenro nyen, nyu kwa n

[32:57]

You can't do that. Thank you. Yes. All right, I'll repeat that. You should, as you visualize Sapan, that is in the form that he is depicted there. And right now I'll interject something. Yesterday we passed out this drawing of Sapan, this form here. This form, you probably all got a copy. This is a visualization of Sapan as Buddha.

[34:00]

For your meditative purposes, for purposeless meditation, visualize him in this form, that is seated cross-legged. Here he's not cross-legged. And that's the only difference. Just put a hat on him and visualize him cross-legged in this form, okay? So, alright, to repeat then, Sapan's body. is the essence of the holy community, the sangha. His voice is the dharma, the jewel of the dharma, that is, the teachings and the realizations to which those teachings refer. His mind is the essence of all the enlightened masters, all the Buddhas and all the yidams or tutelary deities, all of the protectors of the Dharma, the wealth gods and the dakinis, etc., all are included in his body, that is, the essence of the Sangha.

[35:09]

So in this way, in his single form, through his body, voice and mind, he manifests the essence of all Buddhist refuge. Okay, so having visualized him in the sky before you in this great celestial mansion, you should visualize yourself joined in reciting the refuge formula by all living beings. That is, to your right, sits your father, whether living or dead. To your left, your own mother, whether living or dead. Before you sits your favorite enemy, your obstacles, and all that seeks to, everything that makes you paranoid, is in front of you. You are surrounded then by all other beings, It is not excluding a single, not excluding a single one of all beings throughout space.

[36:14]

All the beings of the six realms of existence join you in taking refuge. And you can visualize just that behind you and all around you are seated all of these countless beings, all in human form. Don't visualize hell beings, ghosts and animals because it will make you nervous. Visualize visualize that they all have human form and, like you, are joining, taking refuge in Manjushri Sarpag. Like you, they express their reverence by body, voice and mind. By body, their hands are folded at the heart. As they, by voice, by voice, It's important. I will give it to you. I have some tapes here.

[37:15]

Okay. All right, so they show their reverence by... They all join you in showing reverence by body, that is, they fold their hands at the heart, while reciting, showing reverence by voice, by reciting the words of the formula. And by mind, one shows reverence by having present within one's mind a sincere, wholehearted, intense thought that from this moment on until I actually attain Buddhahood, from my heart I take refuge in the gurus, the buddhas, the dharmas, the sanghas and so forth. And also one should have present in one's mind an understanding, a conceptualization of one's spiritual lineage, of one's own teacher and the his predecessors, the masters of one's spiritual lineage, as one's guides on the path to enlightenment.

[38:52]

One should think of the Buddha as being the one who reveals, who points out to us the path to liberation. One should think of the Dharma as the actual path of realization which one will tread to enlightenment. And finally, one should think of the Sangha, the holy Buddhist community, as one's friends and helpers on the path to liberation. And while having all of this in one's mind, you should then recite the Refuge Formula, which I'll direct your attention to the first verse on page one. Yes, on page one of your text. You recite the prayer of Refuge and Resolve, which runs in, ìEnlightened One is teaching to exalt and assembly. I take refuge until liberation is won through the merit of giving and the other perfections. May I attain Buddhahood for the sake of all beings.î This verse of four short lines contains the essence of the

[40:02]

full refuge formula and the full formula of the Bodhisattva's vow. So it is a great blessing having been introduced into Tibet by the great Indian sage Pandit Atisha. When one recites this, this accomplishes this first stage of bodhicitta that we had described, the stage of aspiration, where one states clearly one's purpose in undertaking this meditation. So it's a great blessing if one can recite it a hundred times, fifty times, twenty times, etc., at least, very least, three times. And its importance, the importance of this very first step of practice, the taking of the refuge, producing the resolve to an enlightenment, cannot be overstated.

[41:03]

Because, as this is an instance in the story told about Pandita Teja himself, when he came to Tibet and where he was invited by Lala Lama Yeshe. The two great teachers met and he, when he, after he had spent some time, some years, after Pranayama teacher had spent some years in teaching his, the Dharma that he had brought in from India, he visited Lala Lama Yeshe and inquired of him. What are Tibetans saying about me? Am I having any effect here in Tibet? And Lalama Yeshe told him that, well, since everywhere you go, you only teach the refuge formula, they've started calling you the Khyamdro Pandita, which means the refuge pandit, because that's all you'll ever teach.

[42:11]

And Atisha was very pleased with that, because he realized that that he was making his mark upon the minds of Tibetans, that they were now associating him with the importance of the refuge, of this refuge vow. And this is because he understood, like all of the great masters do, that the refuge is the profound practice, it is the important stage of practice. Without it, nothing else no other practice has meaning, unless one takes refuge and relies upon the refuge with full heart. Then the rest of one's practice is of little use and of little benefit. Therefore it was that Worchen Kunga Zombo, the great Sakya Master also, was once asked by another teacher to to tell an assembly, to tell the assembly about his, about his life.

[43:19]

He was asked to relate his career as a religious leader of Tibet. Marjinkum Kuzamba was certainly one of the greatest thinkers and enlightened masters of Tibet. And his influence was very profound and continues to be so even many centuries later, yet when he was asking assembly to tell them the story of his life, he said, he replied in one sentence, just, I am someone He was taken refuge in the Three Jewels, and that is the story of my life. That was his, the history, the personal history that he left behind. Because that said it all, through his reliance upon these Three Jewels from the heart, then all else, all his other experiences proceeded. Therefore, he rightly identified the refuge as being the essence of the Buddhist career.

[44:23]

All right then. So it is important that one take refuge with the right attitude. After you have recited this refuge formula as much as possible, you should visualize that boundless rays of light shine forth from Sapan's heart to touch all these living beings around you. whereupon all their darkness, delusion of ignorance, all the pain, the grief, the obstacles and sins that they carry are completely dispelled. They are filled with joy and the realizations of ultimate reality and are immediately set free from darkness and delusion. Also, you should visualize that Manjushri Sapan, Manjushri Sapan also, looks directly at you and with a very happy, smiling expression, it dissolves into light and that light descends and is absorbed into your own being.

[45:36]

And at this moment, you should gain the realization, you should reflect and meditate upon the realization of the nature of the ultimate refuge. The refuge is not reliance upon external deities or external visualizations. But, from the very beginning, from beginningless time, the true refuge has always been in the nature of one's own mind. That is to say, the awareness, the luminosity or the the luminosity or the innate awareness of one's own mind that makes possible the perception, the manifestation and at once the perception of all of these countless phenomena or appearances about us, that clarity or luminosity of one's own mind is the true Sangha, that is the true

[46:44]

That is the true Sangha as refuge. And yet that awareness of mind, that luminosity of mind, though manifest, though apparent, still has no inherent nature of its own. It has never been nor ever shall be a thing which comes about or remains and then passes away because it has no attributes of its own. It has neither location or dimension or any other attributes. It is never a thing. It is a no-thing and therefore is empty by its very nature.

[47:52]

That emptiness of one's own mind is the true dharma as refuge. And these two aspects of mind, luminosity and emptiness, are not two separate aspects. one and the same, just as one cannot separate fire and its heat. So one cannot separate the emptiness and the awareness of mind, for they are non-dual. The non-duality of these two, from the very beginning, is the true Buddha as refuge. and the knowledge that from the very beginning of time, this has always been so, constitutes the true Guru as refuge.

[48:54]

As Manjushri Sapan himself has said, that refuge which has as its reference the the concept of external objects of refuge, real objects of refuge, is a practice that will take a long time to bear fruit. It will not be a fruitful, meaningful practice because It misses the point. It lacks the awareness of the true nature of the refuge we seek, the true nature of the object of refuge. Only that realization, as we have just described it, that realization that is born out of the insight of the true nature of one's own mind, the true nature of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, only that refuge is the true refuge.

[50:04]

So we should Try to remember this, try to have this understanding in our mind, as we ourselves take refuge in Lentishu Sathep. I didn't do it. Alright. Umm... Rinpoche thinks that it would be a good idea if we took a few minutes for a break, because we do want to discuss the rest of the material, and we will get tired if we have to take in all of this information in one sitting.

[51:14]

Therefore, we're going to break for 20 or 30 minutes, and this will allow Rinpoche also to get some rest, which he's very tired after yesterday's performance. And I am also... I would like a break about now. So, we're going to give you a break and we're going to meet again. I'm going to give you a break about now. So, we're going to give you a break and we're going to meet again. I'm going to give you a break about now. So, we're going to give you a break about now. I'm [...] going to give you If you don't do it, you will be punished. If you don't do [...] it, you will be punished.

[52:17]

If you don't do it, you will be punished. Then he came back to New Orleans. When he came back, he thought for so long. I don't know what to say, but I'm telling you. He didn't think about it. [...] He said, I don't know. He said, I don't know. He said, I [...] don't know.

[53:18]

Qibri Tawwus. [...] Gunga al-Subayi'u l-Mahri. He was praying. Gunga al-Subayi'u l-Mahri. Gunga al-Subayi'u l-Mahri. He said, I don't know his name. [...]

[54:20]

He said, I don't know his name. [...] He said, I It's not that I don't know, but I do know. I have a mother, and I have a younger brother. I don't know what to do. [...] Masha'Allah. There are many people who are like this.

[55:38]

There are many people who are like this. [...] Tawba astaghfirullah, tawba astaghfirullah. Diye, di on ahlul samruhu bi s-sabati. Diye samdani yuzeyfari ma'a l-tin samruhi.

[56:41]

Amma sam gibi kebat. Nanka kankumar, kuyru. Ne kebat edersin, kesin onunla konuşursun. Amma baskın gibi yürür, yürür onunla, sakin elinle. Ne mazik vardır, tamam ki bunlara. Her türkçüsü onunla konuşursun. Bā'u dh-dhā'u wa-l-qadr wa-l-yantūr wa-l-mu'injār, shayṭūn wa-l-mawlānā, an-du'ālun lā yuqālnīn sa'ūlū yuṣūn, tam kī yuqālnīn [...] tam kī yuqālnī He said to me,

[58:27]

But if you don't do this, you will never be able to become enlightened. You will never be able to become enlightened. You will never become enlightened. When I was young, I used to go to the temple to pray. [...] I used to go to the temple to pray If you don't do that, you will not be able to do anything. [...]

[59:52]

If you don't do that, you will not be able to do anything. [...] But the doctor came along. He went with the king. Also he entered. He came back to me, pointing back at the subject and said, you are hearing. Yeah, that is terrible, you know, Mawabari. Me, I was in the chamber, the doctor was here, and we were talking, Mawari. He said, you are hearing a man, and that's how he gave to me. I couldn't get a little bit of it, so he turned it. Somebody turned it to me. He was moving it for me. There are thousands of people. [...]

[60:53]

There are thousands of people. [...] There are Dua...Dua...Dua...

[61:07]

@Transcribed_v004
@Text_v004
@Score_HC