You as a student can't go wrong by developing this kind of respect for that person, that teacher whom you have consciously accepted as your Buddhist guide. It's said that even if your guru is really himself in hell, if he is so sinful, that he himself is either on the way to hell or already there, it's still no harm to you as a disciple to keep thinking of him as really none other than the Buddha, because Even the hell beings, even your guru in hell still has within him Buddha nature, that whether he happens to be in the form of a hell being or whatever. because of his own karma, nonetheless, even there he has Buddha nature and it's no harm to you to develop this once you have accepted him as your guru, to also to focus upon this inherent Buddha nature of his and to use that as inspiration in your own efforts to gain liberation.

[01:15]

Also, because tantric Buddhism is a very is a very subtle, involves very subtle levels of realization and of practice. and relies a great deal upon oral transmissions and upon correct practices, correct knowledge of practice in order for us to hope to become, ourselves as beginners, to hope to become successful. We have to rely upon the teacher. about an experienced, compassionate, well-qualified teacher. If we don't have the confidence in him as being experienced, well-intentioned and compassionate and so forth, and really working on our behalf, it's not very likely that there's going to be any really effective transmission of knowledge, let alone of blessings and the rest.

[02:22]

makes up the tantric transmission. So this kind of confidence, confident reliance upon one's teacher is of the essence in tantric practice. Not only because it helps us in our own efforts, so that one can, by relying upon Guru Yoga, gain, like we say, gain the results very quickly, in a matter of months, maybe even much sooner. Whereas relying upon our efforts, we might very well not make it at all. And because we are dependent upon the guru for these right teachings that are going to liberate us, we have to have a kind of conviction and devoted confidence in his ability and in his good intentions. And so it was said when... Pandita Teesha was in Tibet.

[03:25]

The great Indian sage Pandita Teesha came to Tibet and had been teaching there. Some... Dogme La Tawa. Do you need some fruit juice? Are you all right? Kunjungi De Reche. Kunjungi De Reche. Kunjungi De Reche. Indro Bilodzawa asked Pandit Aditya, why is it that Tibetans, that there aren't many, not many of our Tibetan meditators are gaining the siddhis, they're not gaining these higher stages of spiritual realization and tantra? What's the reason? He said, it is because Tibetans are taking a lot of initiations from different lamas. But none of them are practicing Guru Yoga very much. Only those who are practicing this Guru Yoga are getting anywhere in their advanced practices. And it is, of course, a fact that those Tibetans, Lamas, who have practiced, who have made a point of developing this rapport with their own root Guru through this kind of meditation,

[04:37]

They are the ones who have made speedy and noticeable progress and have obtained the... gone down in history as the masters who have... or meditators who have become masters and enlightened Buddhists and so forth. So, what else was it? Yes, so as it was written in one text, which I forget, it said that the instructions, the rule of thumb then for meditators, tantric meditators, is first meditate upon the guru as if he were the Buddha. Secondly, second stage, see the guru as the Buddha. have a direct experience of him as being none other than the Buddha. First you just try to imagine this human, ordinary human teacher of yours as being the guru, as being the Buddha, treating him as if he were the Buddha.

[05:47]

Finally, through these efforts, he actually is the Buddha. Your relationship with him becomes one of a direct relationship with the Buddha. because the Lama is... By thinking in this way, the Lama becomes a conduit, a kind of a conduit for your relationship with the principle of enlightenment. He embodies it for your sake. Then, finally, in the third stage, you see your own mind as the Buddha. Yes. So, to repeat that, first... All right, to repeat that, in the first stage, meditate upon the guru as if he were the Buddha.

[06:53]

Secondly, see him, see the guru as the Buddha. Thirdly, see your own mind as the Buddha. So you can see there's a point to all of this practice. There are good reasons why one should take the trouble to develop this rapport with one's teacher if one intends to practice santra. It's very much an important element in the Vajrayana form of Buddhist practice. First... Here it is. [...]

[07:54]

Here it is. [...] Here it Yes. [...] Yes, so there's no, at least 100,000 but usually we sacrifice to about 40,000,000.

[09:21]

How did a million come? Thank you. Thank you. Do you have any prostrations? Do you have any prostrations? I don't know. You can kill yourself. You might have some pair of legs there. You can walk the wall. Bionic. I'm going to tell her. I'm going to introduce you. Kibbutz Chumbutza is a non-Buddhist Israel. Kibbutz Chumbutza is a non-Buddhist Israel. Kibbutz Chumbutza is a non-Buddhist Israel.

[10:46]

Round and round I keep asking you. Till I meet you, kunduma. To be with you, kunduma. Round and round I keep asking you. Who is this man? [...] In the past, when I was a monk, I was not allowed to go to the temple. I was not allowed to go to the temple. I was not allowed to go to the temple. YIPPU LAMA NAMA SUWANDE KYANG NYI KUN DU LAMA RINPOCHE [...]

[12:11]

I don't know. This talk, which is dedicated to and blessed by Guru Padmasambhava, is offered to you by Mrs. Wangmo Lukang. Okay? Please help yourselves. And let me conclude with, before I forget it, this... What is it?

[13:36]

Dates? Dates are brought to you by Tashi Dorma. Tintin Dorma. From California. From California? Tintin Dorma. California line. California line. Really nice. Huge aren't they? Yeah, they grow them like that on the East Coast. They don't have sunshine now. They don't grow them like anything. They're incredible. It's really juicy. Yum, yum, yum. Yum, yum, yum. Yum, yum, yum. It's sticky now. Watch that. I can't handle this book. Too big it is. I can't do that. Maybe somebody could bring some napkins in because everybody's got napkins.

[14:51]

Ruin your pages. On page 101, is everybody looking? Yeah, 101. I've got my book. We don't want to get some danger on our book. You'll find on the second line these words, kabne kundu in Tibetan, kabne kundu lama rinpoche dhinchin chökyi chela soya de, nyam me kadun cinchi chudhiji, dhichibhara kundu cinchi. These are the four lines of the invocation of the Guru. It is this formula which you recite a hundred thousand times during your practice. That's translated by, to the precious Guru, the collection of all places of refuge, greatly kind master of dharma, I pray, matchless benevolent one. Look upon me with compassion and bless me always in this life, the next, and the intermediate state.

[15:56]

Of course, the intermediate state means the after-death bardo period of transition. What does that start with, on page 101? On page 101, it says, cab-ne, second line. First line says, sim-ni. All right, now below that, cab-ne, kun-du. That's starting there to the end of that page, lob. There's the four lines that you have to recite 100,000 times, accompanied, of course, by the visualization that we've just described. OK? After you have a done the visualization and the invocation of the guru as Buddha in the manner we've described before, then you should conclude your session of guru yoga meditation by visualizing that the guru

[17:25]

dissolves into light and is absorbed downward into your own consciousness, so that your mind and his mind, your consciousness and his, become non-differentiated, non-dual, that your own ordinary, your own personal body, voice and mind become non-dual or indistinguishable from his own enlightened body, voice and mind, and that your own that the four kinds of obscurations, that is, mental, physical, vocal and mental, as well as these three taken as a whole, are completely purified. and that you receive through his own blessings, through this kind of non-dual merging of your mind, body, voice with his, that you receive spontaneously the four initiations, you remember, body, voice, mind and forthcoming.

[18:39]

So you receive the four initiations. And also, since he is Buddha, you also at least are, how do you say, your mind is endowed, it becomes imbued with these qualities, these transcendent wisdoms that constitute the enlightened perception of the Buddhas. So, after you have meditated that your mind and his mind have become non-dual, you then sit for a while in silent meditation, that is, without grasping at anything, with the mind free from all thought processes, from all grasping, from all apprehension. Just sit for a while in a meditation upon a state of mind which is away from all extremes.

[19:45]

And after you have meditated this, You then dedicate the merit that you have accomplished through this session of Guru Yoga practice and dedicate that merit to the enlightenment also of all living beings. I pray that they, through the Guru's compassionate guidance, might also become established on the stage of Buddhahood. So, then you have then a whole session of practice based upon this Guru Yoga, starting with the refuge, the Bodhicitta, the visualization of the Guru as the Buddha, the invocation of his blessings, and then the meditation upon his mind and yours as non-dual. Sorry, then the recitation of these four lines of invocation. Then the meditation upon his mind and yours is non-dual. And finally, then the meditation on ultimate reality. And lastly, the dedication of merit through the practice of Guru Yoga meditation.

[20:51]

That's it. If a person lives 80 years, he would probably, he or she would probably spend half that time, that is some 40 years, sleeping. For Buddhist meditators, sleep is not a very good thing. It's a manifestation of ignorance and of It represents not using the mind for the benefit either of oneself or others. Accordingly, sleep is pretty much a waste of time for Buddhists.

[21:51]

And so, there are meditations which through which Buddhists try to make sleep also a karmically useful habit, that they want to make sleep also a meditative practice. Otherwise, I mean, sleep is neither, it's not sinful, it's not unwholesome and you won't go to hell simply because you sleep, nor is it virtuous. You can't The mere fact that you are asleep does not mean that you are collecting merit or virtue or performing the good of beings. So, Buddhists are not content to leave this as a neutral, karmically neutral act. And they try to change, to transform sleep also into a karmically positive, that is a virtuous action.

[22:53]

And in Tantra we do have means for putting sleep on the path, making it a Tantric practice. And Rinpoche has decided to confer upon you a reading empowerment and some instructions, basic instructions on one such technique, one such sleeping yoga or sleeping meditation. This is based upon the meditation of the Buddha Boundless Light, Amitābha, or Nāmatāyī. This particular meditation was practiced and expounded in particularly by the five great masters of the Sakya Order, Sacha Kumbhalinga, the Sakya Pandita, well, Sonam Rinpoche was just at the top again, Sakya Pandita, and Chogya Padma. And the present one, if I did not misunderstand, was Rinpoche's reading,

[24:00]

It was composed by the great Sakyanandita and has a commentary to it by the great Jogyalpapa. Now, Rinpoche thinks that it is of such value for practitioners, particularly meditators, that he would like you all to Here, briefly, at least the instructions today, get the reading in part. Later, he will copy it out from his manuscript, that is his own personal manuscript, into Tibetan capital letters so that it can be translated into English and made available for your practice. So, then, please listen to Rumich's reading part. No, it's OK. Go ahead. In the way to practice this sleeping yoga,

[26:38]

of Amitabha Buddha is this. Before going to bed at night, before retiring, you should visualize your bedroom, your house, as being a celestial mansion, that is, as being a celestial mansion in the pure land of that the Buddha found its light, and in the direction in which you would place your head at night, that is. As you sleep on your right side, then your head will be facing in one particular direction. In that direction you should visualize your own root guru as being, of course, in the form of the Buddha of Boundless Light, as being absolutely non-dual.

[28:07]

Out in front, whichever way your head's pointing. Yes. Okay, I'm wrong too. It's in the, in front of the, where you'll be, in front of your eyes as you're lying down on your right side, okay? You lie down on your right side and then your You should visualize in this space, in front of your eyes, as you are lying there, the Buddha of boundless light, who is none other than your own root guru, surrounded by countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Okay? So I'm going to give it to you.

[29:22]

So I'm going to give it to you. I don't know what to say. [...] Then he said, I can't do it anymore. Then he said, I [...] can't do it anymore.

[30:22]

Then he said, I can't do it anymore. Then he said, I can't do it anymore. As you lie there, you visualize, and you're visualizing this Buddha-balanced life. and it stays in front of your eyes. Got it? Now, do this. Think that you are making prostrations and then making offerings. Oh, you do this in your head? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You get up. No, you don't get up.

[31:31]

You lie there. Just lie there. Would somebody help her? Somebody do this for her. Somebody should do this for her. She's very good. I'm very ashamed we didn't get it. They're too young to practice meditation, aren't they? This is very, very, very interesting. Correct?

[32:59]

Yes. So, after you made these sevenfold offerings, you know that prayer where you say, you know, I confess all, you know, you confess sins, you perform prostrations, you make the offerings in your mind, you remember all these offerings? Sevenfold prayers, that's not... Yeah, there's... No, it's not really. Well, that's the refuge part, but anyhow, there's a seven-fold office prayer. There's a little printout that you got. Just visualize that you're doing that. You don't have to really get up, you know, and do prostrations and get up and do the office, things like that. But just mentally think, do this, just recite it in your head, think, you know, and visualize you're doing all this.

[34:06]

And then, then you, Oh my God. I don't have a good spot. I want you to be anxious for a minute. Now you should focus your mind, that is, direct your mind upon the Buddha of boundless light, Amitabha. and then you should pray directly to him. Please purify my mind of all, of all... Yes, this is it. No, no, no.

[35:07]

Yes. Yes. No. I don't know. This is from the Prayer of Good Actions. Yes, dear. It's one version of it. There's a shorter form, but this is it. Sure, why not? Might as well use it. There's a shorter version in about so many lines, but here it has so many verses. Anyhow, so you direct your mind directly at the Buddha, Vandaslaya Amitabha, and you pray very sincerely that he might purify all your mental, and physical obscurations and obstacles, all sins, unwholesome karma, body, voice and mind, all ignorance, hindrances to the attainment of enlightenment. And so you focus your mind directly on the Buddha very clearly while you're making this prayer. You understand? We focus our mind directly on the Buddha. Oṭṭhalaṁ tukhaṁ rāṅga-rāṅga.

[36:09]

Oṭṭhalaṁ tukhaṁ rāṅga-rāṅga. [...] Oṭṭhalaṁ tukhaṁ rā Now, after you have made this prayer, then keep your mind still focused directly on the Buddha Amitabha, directly in front of you.

[37:12]

Then, you should, as you exhale, you should think that your own consciousness, your own consciousness emerges, exits along with your breath. That as your breath leaves the body, your own consciousness also goes out with it from your left nostril. Your own consciousness emerges through your left nostril and enters the right nostril of the Buddha of Boundless Light and is inhaled by him. Got that clear? Don't get it wrong. Where is the Buddha of Boundless Light? Is he facing you? Is he lying on your right side? That's right. He's right in front of you. You're lying on your right side. Very big. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Ordinary size, you know. Ordinary size. OK. I don't know.

[38:14]

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. In Ranggir, in Ranggir, [...] Rang Now, after you have visualized that with the exhalation, now you should visualize that rays of light issuing from the heart of the Buddha of boundless light, emerge from his right nostril, no, from his left nostril.

[39:49]

These rays of light emerge from his left nostril and absorbed and enter through your right nostril. And those rays of light descend and are non-dually absorbed into your own consciousness, that is at your own heart, absorbed into your own heart. You have been a process of visualization that accompanies each exhalation and inhalation of breath as you lie there preparing for sleep. Keep this up. Meditate this as long as you can. At least seven, nine or more times. If you can't meditate, at least three times. Do that. It may be difficult at first to accomplish but as you continue to practice it of course becomes easier and easier and it's not at all a difficult meditation.

[40:53]

Now after you've practiced this for a short while you should visualize that the Buddha boundless light dissolves into a mass, a globe of radiant red light. And this, this light is absorbed into your own being, into your own body, voice and mind. And now you yourself are transformed into the Buddha boundless light as you lie there. Okay? And then as you lie there, you recite the mantra, the holy mantra, the Buddha boundless light, a number of times, as much as you can.

[41:54]

That mantra is Om Amitabha Hri Svaha. This is a dharani or a mantra that is effective in extending one's lifespan if you wish For a long life, you should practice this meditation every evening. Om Amitabha Hri Swaha. I'll write it for you afterwards. Okay, good. Got it? All right.

[42:56]

Like this? Yes. I'm going to read it to you. I'm going to read it to you. Thank you. Alright. Now, You don't want to miss this.

[44:14]

If you built, you want to get this instructor, excuse me. If at this point after you have, you practice this much, then you, direct a prayer directly to the Buddha of boundless light, praying that through his blessing, through his compassion, you might also, at the time of death, be reborn instantaneously in his pure land, that is Sukhavati, the blissful. Now... Then... as you have, after you have prayed this, yes, you should visualize that there appear upon your own forehead, there appears upon your own forehead the white syllable Aum,

[45:26]

At your throat appears the red syllable, ah. And at your heart appears the blue syllable, hum. Okay? These three letters appear. These are for protecting your body, voice and mind from all What should we say? All negative influences, all malignant spirits, all defiled thought processes and just generally bad influences. Okay? So, if you go to sleep, If you go to sleep during this, after this meditation, you then fall asleep still thinking of yourself as the Buddha Amitabha, then according to the Buddhist tantras, it is said this is a sure way to ensure that your sleep is no longer a neutral act, but becomes pure virtue and therefore is of great value in enhancing and enriching

[46:44]

in reaching your own spiritual practice and in speeding your attainment of enlightenment. Not to mention that it, of course, extends your lifetime considerably. So, this meditation It's highly regarded by the great masters, the Sakya tradition. And since it would not be right for a teacher to urge his students to practice something he's not willing to do himself, Rinpoche wants to assure you that this is one of his own daily practices on that day. He sets great store by it. Yes, you have a question? Amitābha dissolves into the globe of red light. Is he absorbed in any particular spot, like in the heart or top of your head? Yes, he's absorbed into, you can say, the crown of your head and then instantaneously you become Amitābha. He also taught these students in Seattle and some of them practice it very regularly and nicely.

[47:59]

That's a big deal. [...] So, considering that you are all fast becoming regular meditators, which I feel that as meditators you will greatly benefit from the addition of this meditation. to your regular daily practice because of the benefits he sees in it and not wishing you to spend half your life in a useless activity such as sleep that is not virtue.

[49:18]

He would like you to accumulate virtue even while you sleep, train your mind in meditation even as you go to sleep. will make this meditation available to you in English and urges you to make it a part of your own regular practice. Thank you very much. Rumi says that now we will recite a few times this recitation of the Guru Yoga formulation. That's on page 101, right? And then we'll do this a few times together and then conclude our session this evening.

[50:23]

I myself am excused. So now he took the first one. Okay. You all be good. Chok chok chok, chok chok, chok chok. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare,

[51:26]

Sang gyen drub pa yi yoi, sung yi chö tong tso chö chö nang. Lai sung chö par tsoy tsa may gyat. Sang gyen drub pa yi yoi, yi yi wang, yi seng chö yi bi yi dag. Thank you. Thank you. Vāyagya-vaiśeṅge peṅge dhārme peṅg sāye lāmār jādāi lokṣe chāṅkura-doṅga-bhaktokṣe duḥkhāi lokṣe lukṣe

[52:40]

Hare Rama, Hare Rama Rama Rama, Hare Hare Namo'valokiteshvaraya [...] you. Sadhguru chen namaskaripayantarajakam.

[54:24]

@Transcribed_v004
@Text_v004
@Score_IJ