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

[01:29]

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

[02:48]

The first level of practice, which is intended to develop a sense of renunciation, refers to meditations on death and permanence, fortunes of worldly existence and so forth. And once these realizations have been achieved, the meditator is encouraged to develop a universalist attitude towards his spiritual goal by developing love and compassion. And love, compassion, and the view of God, the right view of into this. We have completed these first two stages of practice.

[03:54]

We have completed our study and all these first two stages of practice except the very last topic in the second stage This refers to the bodhicitta, the development of the bodhicitta. Now, as you recall, there are two kinds of bodhicitta, the conventional, which is to be developed through meditation, such as the meditation upon the sameness of self and others and the exchange of self and others, whereby egotism is egotistical impulses are modified and subdued. And secondly, and by the second type of bodhicitta, the ultimate bodhicitta, which through insight

[04:59]

through the two stages of meditation, concentration and insight, the pulps believe in a real personal self and in the reality of phenomena in general are eradicated. Through these realizations of the two kinds of non-self, one of the meditative experiences attains the experience of what is technically known as the ultimate bodhicitta. Now, we have also concluded our teachings on the first stage of meditation, that is, concentration. And during the past few weeks, we have been discussing the second stage of meditation called Insight.

[06:01]

And it is at this point that we'll resume our studies this evening. There is one who earnestly aims to achieve total enlightenment. He is one who makes efforts directed solely towards the attainment of Buddhahood in order to accomplish the highest world of all living beings excluding none. Now, the methods upon which such a person must rely if he is to achieve that goal have been described as the six

[07:13]

transcendent virtues. These six transcendent virtues of giving moral conduct, patience, vigor, meditation, and wisdom. We couldn't buy it, is it? These six comprise the methodology whereby total enlightenment is to be attained. Now, one should understand that The first five are instrumental in the acquisition, in the accumulation of merit, not of wisdom.

[08:34]

And why is that? It is because the practice of these first five transcendent virtues is accomplished with reference to an object. They are objectivity practices, one practices, one makes gifts to a recipient, one practices patience towards an enemy and so forth. Through their practice one does indeed perform virtue and the result of virtuous actions is merit. And merit is, along with wisdom, one of the two elements, the two factors, which enable an ordinary human being to arrive at being .

[09:46]

to arrive at the goal of Buddhahood. But it is the sixth parameter, that of wisdom, which alone produces the second essential factor needed to bring about the attainment of Buddhahood. That is wisdom. It is the six parameter wisdom which endows one with the insight into reality. which is necessary if one aims to become a Buddha.

[10:56]

And why is it, why does it produce, why does the Sixth Paramita produce not merit but wisdom? Because it is objectless. Wisdom has no object. The first five parameters are object-full, the last is object-less. Now, this wisdom which courses in objectlessness Uh, is, um, is, uh, [...]

[12:10]

of most important of the six. Because it is this insight into the selflessness or the true nature of all internal and external phenomena that truly liberates the human mind from what is known as bondage. And it is this insight which also guides the mind in the practice, the performance of the preceding five transcendent virtues so that their merit, their result that is merit, also becomes conducive to the attainment of enlightenment rather than being merely virtuous actions accomplished at random

[13:38]

And for odd purposes, they are guided, directed in solely towards Buddhahood, giving this transcendent insight into selflessness. Therefore wisdom is often praised in the suttas as being the eye, the guide, the guide to the five blind paramitas, just as the whole train of blind men stumbling along a road, would not be able to reach the city on their own. So these five-lined paramitas could never on their own bring one to the result of Buddhahood.

[14:52]

taken in hand by the six paramita wisdom, whose transcendent virtues are led to the city of enlightenment. For this reason, wisdom is extolled as the highest of the six paramitas. And as we said, the two essential factors in the attainment of Buddhahood are merit and wisdom, transcendent merit and wisdom, and that merits become transcendent only when they are guided, performed through wisdom. You can begin to appreciate the value and the importance of this factor called transcendent wisdom, and this transcendent wisdom is none other than this meditation of insight which we are discussing this evening.

[16:05]

So all of this that we've said just now is by way of introduction to what we're going to show next. No. Rinpoche says that he could say very much about this profound view, which is this profound view of inside, which we are referring to as transcendent wisdom or the meditation of inside or the realization of ultimate reality. There's much that could and could be said. But to attempt this evening only the briefest

[17:13]

explanation of the doctrine of Insight Meditation just in the shortest way possible, just as Just much as one would extract only the butter from 100 gallons of milk, we would just extract the very major, most essential points. It was stopped for our discussion of insulin. Let's see now. If, just as the Khajurba, just as the Nyingmapa's have their highest doctrine of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, and the Khajurba's speak of their doctrine of Mahamudra.

[18:22]

So, we thought because I have a have a term for this view of ultimate reality. It's called sultanzunju, which means being non-dual. All right, we're glad to. G-S-A-L-S-U-O-N-J-U. Z-U-O. G-V-U-N-G-A-S-T-O-N-G-J-O-Y-N-G-T. Yes. [...] I don't know.

[19:33]

I don't know. I don't know. Now, this view, this view, which is, as we say, technically known as Satvamsinjaya, the Tao, which means the view of the non-duality of forwardness and clarity, the void and clarity, or in other words, the non-dual clear-voidness, clarity-voidness, which is quite English. Anyhow, this view, which is also known by other epithets, such as the non-differentiation of samsara and nirvana, etc., this view is the essential.

[20:52]

ultimate view of the psychic tradition. If you have this view, if you understand this view, if you perceive this view, you are a Sakita. If you do not perceive this view, if you do not understand this view... Thank you. Oh, good. Wish I'd said that. Then you have, this view is the quintessential Sakya doctrine. Everybody in Tibet knows that this view is identified with the Sakya tradition, that only a Sakya-pa will be able to to understand and to perceive it.

[21:57]

Okay? So... They do quite have in this view. Then their Rinpoche suggests But you pray very earnestly to Jamgama Sakyapandita, to the great Sakyapandita, that he will bless you with the awakening of this insight. and that by the power of his own great wisdom, the power of his own Buddhahood, that you will be so blessed by him, and that this can be helped along by your taking the trouble to sit from time to time, to sit with your mind clear and at ease, and to, after invoking Sakyapandita's blessings, to observe your own mind and try to see what is the nature of mind.

[23:15]

And that through this practice, reinforced by virtuous deeds of body, voice, and mind, you will gradually begin to experience the awakening of this very rare view of self-fulfillment. It is a difficult view to achieve, but it is achievable. It is rare in the world, but it can be attained by the sincere heart and those who use the right methods. So, it is as the rarest thing in the world, it will certainly work secretly.

[24:19]

The three essential steps involved in attainment of this exalted view. All right. sovereign law, words and means sovereign words and means legs [...] I don't know what to say.

[25:21]

I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. The recognition of clarity, that is, in other words, the recognition of mind itself, the recognition of the nature of mind. This is the first step. It is implicit in this recognition that all appearances are

[26:45]

expressions of mind alone, but all that one experiences is merely a manifestation of consciousness, of one's own individual consciousness. As Chetanthapa Gensan has stressed, that the view that there are no phenomena outside mind is essential to the process of Mahayana meditation, Mahayana meditation. The Though all these various appearances do indeed appear to be external to mind, they are no more so than are the various appearances which the mind perceives in the dream state.

[28:18]

just as those dream appearances are nothing more than projections of the mind which perceives them. So when one awakens to enlightenment, one realizes that all these various experiences and occurrences of this world have a light nature. They are dreamlike, illusion-like, and in themselves quite unreal. So, one With this knowledge, one seeks to understand the nature of mind, of that mind which is the source of all these appearances.

[29:40]

And through introspection, One focuses mind upon mind and comes to the conclusion that mind cannot be isolated as an existent entity. There is no entity there which can be of which it can be said that this is the mind, or that is mind. This brings about a realization of the void nature of mind.

[30:47]

as well as the realization, the understanding, that though not existent, as the human mind likes to conceive of real, really existent entities, independent entities, nonetheless, it is also not nonexistent, meaning simply nothing at all. is endowed with consciousness. They are empty. This insight is called the recognition of mind or the recognition of clarity. Yes. Surely. Yes. Yes.

[31:56]

No. The When you have undertaken to examine the nature of mind and realize that it is not a thing which can be identified by any size, color, shape, location, or any other attribute which a being, an entity might possess, and therefore it is empty by its nature, and therefore is empty by nature.

[33:13]

also at the same time gains the insight that, as we said, it is also not nonexistent. It is not merely an absence of anything. It is not simply a no-thing or nothing, but through its It's a power of cognition of consciousness. It does have that attribute. The mind does have that attribute also. that one can't distinguish between the two, just as you can't separate heat from the flame.

[34:32]

You can't say, this is the flame, and this is the heat, just as with Mars. Now, when you touch the flame, You feel the pain from the heat and yet you cannot blame the pain that you feel on the heat alone or the flame alone because they are so non-dual by nature. So it is with mind. Its nature consists of this non-duality of voidness and cognition, of voidness and clarity. This insight, which

[35:41]

Visible insight leads one to understand that one cannot view the mind as existent, as a thing, or as nonexistent, that is, as something that simply doesn't exist. Is it a combination of being and non-doing? Nor is it neither. This is the true nature of mind. then is one that is away from these four, from this conceptual tetralemma, whether that is or is not.

[37:09]

It's a lot of anthology. Rinpoche says, forget about the theory. He wants you to see for yourself this non-duality, non-dual nature of your mind. He wants you to be able to tell him when he asks you about the nature of your mind. He wants you to tell him what it is like. All right. So this, when you see this second stage then, we said the three, remember the first was Sato Jinju, the second one is called the Tadela Loja. Tadela Loja. The second stage then consists in this realization that it is away from these four possible extremes, that these are extremes or possibilities.

[38:38]

within the range of the human mind's conceptualization, that it being either this or it isn't, or it is a combination of both, or it is neither, something like this. None of these are adequate to describe, they don't correlate to the true nature of mind. That realization which dawns on you at this point is called the absorption of the mind Extremelessness, or the entering of mind into extremelessness. You are... No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, [...] no. though. Let's not underestimate, though this sounds like theory and like doctrine, let's not underestimate the exalted nature of this view.

[39:49]

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

[41:08]

That is, you know one thing, you know everything. Whereas others may know many things but fail in insight into this essential one perspective. So, this second stage is called placing the mind in this state of extremenessness. These are all technical, literal translations. You can make them up later. And the third stage is called... Okay. Yes. All right, the third stage, the third step, is called ca de la nge se ke, ca de la nge se ke pa.

[42:26]

That means the awakening of certitude about the ineffable. Okay. Now, if you were thinking that having gained this realization of an insight into the ultimate nature of mind as being one which is away from all extremes, that is, the numerical extremes, it is not important in either, okay? And if you think that is this state of mind which is away from all extremes. Isn't this, at last, the nature of mind, the true nature of mind?" We answer, it ain't.

[43:28]

It is not. Right, because there is no such thing as a state which is awake among students. Because through each of these extremes, you have to look at it largely, each of these extremes has been considered as, has been negated. I mean, it isn't. Like, you can't posit that existence, that the ultimate nature of mind is existence. It is being. All right, that's negated. Its opposite of non-existence is negated by itself and each of the other two.

[44:34]

Each are individually negated so that state that there is nothing in these, there is nothing through the negation of each of these individual possibilities, the four possibilities, have been individually negated, and that state of ultimate mind, which does not correspond to any of these four is not something in itself, which can then say, one can then point to and say, well, it wasn't this one, it wasn't this one, or the third, or the fourth, but it is something, something else, which we will call the Madhyamika's ultimate view.

[45:39]

It is something there. It is whatever is left, or whatever is there, that we'll call this the ultimate point of view, and we can point to this and say, this is it. No, you can't do that either. It is therefore called inethical, inexpressible, indescribable. It is not something that can be... It is inconceivable. It is beyond the possibility of expression through words or concepts. It is not an object of words or concepts. The human mind cannot possibly grasp it in those terms, in the terms in which the human mind functions. It is simply an experience of ultimate reality, of this exalted state of mind. Therefore, in the

[46:40]

in the Samadhi Raja Sutra, the King of Meditation Sutra, King of Meditators Sutra. It says that, for example, it says existence and nonexistence, so-called, are merely extremes, pure and impure are also merely extremes. Therefore, the sage, the wise man, relinquishes both extremes but does not dwell in the middle either. In other words, you don't simply arrive at your ultimate view of of the ultimate nature, simply by saying, I'll avoid the first extreme, the second extreme, the third and the fourth, and somewhere in between there, there's still some state, something I can cling to and say, this is my view.

[47:53]

Because the minute you cling to it, the minute you grasp apprehend that particular you, and say, this is the one that you learn from all those four extremes, and I've got it, then you haven't got it. Okay? But the opposite is not wrong. That's right. It is not. There is no great life. There you go. If you see what you're trying to do is is to avoid these extremes.

[48:55]

All right, do you want to say the mind exists? Oh, and I left out something that is important way back there. You do have to tell me. That was it. That even though, I'll just go back, when we were saying that our mind is really nonexistent, I mean, that it doesn't have size, location, and so forth and all of that, and yet it can't be discounted either, because remember that mind is the substratum for all appearances, for both samsara and nirvana. Mind makes all these possible. Mind is truly the substratum, samsara and nirvana. Some foolish people will say that there is then no middle way view. Therefore, there is no Buddha. Therefore, there is no path. Therefore, those foolish people have fallen into the extreme of nihilism.

[50:24]

But that one was already covered. That one was already covered. Yes, but you're doing it now on this level of what is the true nature of the middle-weight perception. That is, away from all extremes, and yet you still want to... I was trying to understand what you were saying about one should not... One of the link versus the net. Yes. All right. Now, some people are going to say that, all right, it is not there. We can't even stay here. You know, even though we've avoided all four extremes, and yet now we... Well, that there is this one, we can't say that it is existent. Therefore, it's non-existent. Now, there's one of the poor spirits always does this, and I never get in here. The... This... This is the call, the downfall into nihilism.

[51:34]

Others will say, no, the opposite, if it's not non-existent, it's got to be existent. And this takes care of another one of the preparatory steps. And they will say, it's got to exist. If it's not, nothing has got to be something, you know. Even this way, you see how the human mind wants to deal in these concepts within a lowest level, where it's not adequate. That's the only place where they've been really, is on these philosophical views, where it really counts. But anyhow, they fall into the extreme of eternalism, or or positivism. Read it. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. But this is very subtle. It's not as... Read my paper. Well, that's what... Not to weigh me on all these things. They're so characteristic of our own doctrine of unthought, you know, reading of life being unthought.

[52:37]

Then, all right, they fall into the opposite extreme of What we call eternalism, there's a better word for it, positivism, or something where something is put together. What is adopted in medievalism is... Eternalism is the usual one. Positivism is... Me? I don't think you have that. But I don't understand eternalism. It seems like something you think... All right. I don't think I understand. Listen to this. I won't take that offer immediately. Let's move on with Jordan. Okay, then, so, the wise man or... The wise man does not, he avoids all these extremes and he does not dwell even in the middle.

[54:01]

He avoids the extremes of eternalism and nihilism and at the same time does not take his stand in, how do you say, the middle ground between these two. simply because he's trying to do the extreme. That is, again, taking up another position. You see what I mean? And that is why it is inexpressible. Well, it's inexpressible because it's inconceivable by the human mind, using words, concepts, and what human minds use. But it is an authentic, a real experience of a real, how do you say, enlightened quality. Okay? Really thank you. that is written Tathagatan wrote in one of his songs that the that state which is away from extremes is also is

[55:26]

means literally it's not an object of expression. It's not an object of expression. In other words, it is not something which cannot be expressed. It is not something which can be expressed. Alright. Middle way, or mind only, that is madhulika. What? Madhulika. Yeah, ah. middle way, mind only, etc. All these terms are merely concepts. These notions, these terms for that ultimate state of mind, which we use to say that it is inexpressible, it is the extremeness, is the state of extremeness, it is...

[57:03]

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

[58:39]

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

[59:44]

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

[60:53]

And just realize that its nature is one of non-dual, of of non-dual clarity and boldness, which do not in any way differ from each other nor obstruct each other, but this direct experience is all, at that stage, is all that matters. It is not something that one can apprehend, or cling to, or dwell in, or communicate, or anything else. It's not. It's beyond all the possibility of all of these. Notice it too. Notice. Notice. Conclude our discussion at this point.

[61:55]

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

[62:58]

You want to get them out of the body, but Sorry, that was a complicated legal matter. The first one is that Rinpoche has been visiting the past few days with his own studio in Rinpoche, down at the Minglai Center. During that time, as you know, he's been staying at the Kala Rinpoche Center around the corner. Now, he plans to return. primarily because his illness is not in very good health these days at all. He's been in trouble quite a bit with both COVID and his usual asthma, which is a bit concerning, and there's been some more time with him.

[64:01]

So he will be returning for several more days. And not only that, but that is the first reason. The second reason is that in the absence of Lama Nala, there's still history in Indiana, that he or his Lama Noriwa, at the request of Lama Noriwa, their officers and members at Wimbledon, was to help them out a little bit by spending a little time at Wimbledon, giving them teachings and taking very good care. Thank you. But he does plan to be back in the next few days. Now, what we were discovering was a very interesting matter. Well, it is interesting to us, but I don't know. It seems that there is this young Tibetan fellow who is in the country. A young Tibetan gentleman who was visiting, who was in the country, and he wants to stay, but he can't stay because he can't get a green card.

[65:24]

And the government wanted to get rid of him and they even put him in jail. Well, to cut all this short, the Tibetans were racking their brains about what to do to keep him here. So finally, they decided that the only solution was for him to marry an American girl. So... Where do we go? Look at what happened. So... Wow. So, this compassionate... In any case, in great compassion, Lisa, who was the lady chairperson of Lama Norla Center, decided she would marry this young Tibetan. And they did marry.

[66:27]

I guess. In any case, they married. And Rinpoche says that he married them because he's done these ceremonies. He used them at the NFCL and in Vancouver and a number of occasions he has purported marriages. And so he did it. And they're very happily married. However, the government doesn't believe him. So, they don't believe it was a marriage. I mean, so what she wants is to take to her lawyer tomorrow or something like that. She just did it out of compassion. She's going in to retreat in the next few days and leave him with the bathroom high and dry. So, what they want, what she said, they want, they ask for imaging. Yeah. Well, all that, according to her lawyer and according to the government, they've talked to her parents, they've talked to her, and they said, we would be satisfied if you give us these things.

[67:30]

Who's talking? One is a certificate that you were married by... by Deja Nama Jai, who has this and this for the church or religious establishment. So for that purpose, they want from us to borrow a few sheets of stationery tonight, one of which will certify that Jetsun Sake is at least a Buddhist sinning, which is about all we can certify. Oh, my God, no! now. Well, we're not psyched about it because we haven't got the view. No. Let's not be straight. Yeah. Let's finish the call. I'm working on it. I'm the decision. I'm going to finish the call here. Well, I'm going straight to it. I mean, you should have heard it. I mean, I'm doing you all a favor by cutting down to the whistle.

[68:33]

Um, wait. All right. All right, now. Stationery they need. On which one will testify that we are in need of the solar in New York, in the Asian and Chilean side? Ed Abbott, when he can do these things. On the second page, she would fill it in herself, and they would pick something up, say anything they want to, that they should know, which I'm married to. It's that now, the weekend testified that, because we didn't see it, and we don't know anything about it. I don't even know if they're married. They were very polite to me. I don't know anything about it. It is. All we want to do is give them stationery. If we can afford, we'll give them stationery saying that he is the abbot of this Buddhist center. Another blank paper, they'll put anything true or false on it, and we'll have response because we're going to be signing it. That's all. Do you want to do it or not? Yeah, I know. But they're on the front.

[69:35]

They're on the front. The government said that they would accept it. That's what they do in the room with Jay, and that's what they ask him tonight, and we bring down the stationery and explain it. In any case, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, this doesn't sound like so much to me, you know. He wanted to tell us about it, and so I told you about it. I mean, he wanted to bring the stationery and not to read out the stationery. I'm afraid that he's probably going to do it. I'm afraid he's going to do it. It doesn't matter. We can title him. I turned over a lot here.

[70:12]

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