In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Nyonda Lodongpa, Venerable Ajahn Chah. My name is Ajahn Chah. So firstly I welcome all of you and extend to all of you my very best wishes and I wish to express my gratitude that all of you have come to this place, the Sakya Buddhist Dharma Center. where I have been requested to give some brief instructions.

[01:22]

I am the head of the Nongshan Dojo. [...] I don't know. In the beginning of the year, there is a festival called Nyoom. It is a festival to celebrate the birth of a child. It is a festival to celebrate the birth of a child. So the originator of these teachings that is called the Parting from the Four Attachments is the great Sakya Patriarch, Sakya Ganga Nyingpo.

[02:51]

And so I'm going to give a brief exposition of his life history, of his hagiography. And firstly, prior to the Sakya Kunga Nyingpo, there was the transmission that took place previously that began with... and so the like the genealogy of the Sakya Kanga Nyingpo originated from the like godly beings that came to into the human realm that is called the Hlarik or the divine beings and subsequently came the

[04:19]

the people of Khön who manifested in the human realm to eliminate the conflicts of emotional suffering and warfare and so on, to bring the teachings of enlightenment into the world. And this was the second race of Khön, and the third race was of the Sakyapa. In the beginning of the Sakyong Rinpoche's life, he was a monk. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a monk named Khyapa Chingpo. He was very famous. He was a great monk. In the second half of his life, he was a monk. In the third half of his life, he was a monk. In the fourth half of his life, So then came, appeared the great Sakya Kunga Nyingpo, who had four sons.

[05:27]

all of the four sons became extremely great teachers, extremely erudite, going to India and studying with great lamas there. Prior to that time, actually, all the teachings in Tibet had been pertained to the Nyingmapa school. So of the four sons, the greatest was his fourth son, who became called the Sakya Pandita. So, it is very important to have a good relationship with your teacher. So then the nephew of the Sakya Pandita, whose name was Bhagpa Lodro Jelson, was the great Lama who was responsible for unifying Tibet.

[07:44]

And he traveled extensively around the whole of the region of Tibet, which prior to that time was many small minor provinces and he unified the land of Tibet and actually set the boundaries of Tibet and China that were established at that time and so became like a king, became the national leader of Tibet. So, this is what I want to say to you. This is what I want to say to you. So these five great lamas, starting with the Sajjagunga Nyingpo, and his two sons, and the... Sunamsemo.

[09:10]

Sunamsemo. And the... Papa Lodro Gyaltsen are what is called the Five Sakya Patriarchs. And so the original Sakyapa Monastery was founded more than 900 years ago. Then they get to the market and start doing it. They have a market there. They do that for a long time. They come. [...]

[10:10]

They come. [...] And so within this lineage, the great Lama of Morshin Kunga Zangpo founded one of the principal Sakya monasteries of Ngor that was founded about 560 years ago. So, this is what we are doing. We are going to do this. We are going to do this. And the third great Sakya Monastery called Sakya Losak Jamso was founded about 500 years ago.

[11:23]

So these three great Sakyapa institutions, these great monasteries were founded and are the main seats for the transmission of the Sakyapa teachings And although there's a variety of different lamas and several smaller Sakya monasteries, these are the three most famous monasteries and are considered to be the seat of all the transmission of the teachings. There is a saying, that if you want to be a good person, you have to have a good heart. If you want to be a good person, you have to have a good heart. If you want to be a bad person, you have to have a bad heart.

[12:25]

And so within this lineage, the great Sakyapa Kunga Nyingpo, as a child, had a vision of Avalokiteshvara and asked what would be the best approach to his life and what would be the best way to spread the teachings. Should he take up the ordination of a fully ordained monk or should he become like a nakchang or a yogi? and Avalokiteshvara replied saying that if you take full ordination and become a monk then you yourself within this very lifetime will attain complete realization however your ability to transmit the teachings won't be as great as if you remain as a nakpa and so

[13:49]

Je Tsongkhapa chose that path of being the Ngapa and since that time the transmission of the teachings of the Sakyapa has taken place within this lineage of the lamas who are permitted to marry and they are like yogis rather than fully ordained monks. When I was young, I used to go to the temple to pray. [...] And so, at the age of 12, Je Tsongkha Rinpoche stayed in retreat for six months, meditating upon Manjushri.

[14:55]

And at the end of that time, he had a vision of Manjushri at which time he was transmitted the profound precepts on the parting from the four attachments, where Manjushri gave him these fifth instructions on abandoning attachment to this life, attachment to samsara, attachment to one's own ambition or one's own welfare, and abandoning attachment to ego clinging. And through the transmission of these four profound precepts, which are the parting of the four attachments, then Je Tsongkhapa realized the essence and the entirety of the great Mahayana doctrine.

[16:02]

And so, based upon these teachings that were given directly from Manjushri to Kumbhajana, So, based upon these teachings that were transmitted in that way from Manjushri, then the son of Je Tsongkha Nyingpo, whose name was Drapa Jelson, composed an extensive commentary to go into great detail about these teachings, to reveal them in an extremely detailed and accurate way. And based upon this commentary, I will be giving these teachings. So to begin,

[17:32]

within on this teachings of departing from the four attachments then we have to pray for the blessings of the root lama remembering the kindness of the root guru and to pray to this root lama and to the Yidam deity of Manjushri for blessings to realize its very nature. So this was the first line in Rapa Gyalsen's commentary, begins with this, homage to the root Lama, homage to the Yidam Manjushri, and then continues by saying, to those who are not practitioners of dharma, who do not have the pure motivation to practice dharma, then these teachings are not appropriate.

[18:58]

Those individuals are not worthy of these teachings. So to those who practice dharma, take it to their heart. I will give these teachings on the parting of the four attachments. And these are the opening lines in Drapa Jalsen's commentary. So, the first line, if you're attached to this life, you're not a dharma person, is the first line in Manjushri's comment to Kanganindra.

[20:00]

In the past, there was a saying, that if you want to be a good person, you have to be a good person. In the past, there was a saying, that if you want to be a good person, you have to be a good person. In the past, when I was in the army, I used to go to the river to get water. So one who is indeed a true dharma practitioner is not attached to this life and realizes that this life is like a extremely transitory and passes very very quickly and anything that you do within this life to maintain this life is actually quite meaningless.

[21:02]

And so the true Dharma practitioner will give up attachment to this life and realize that the only useful thing to do with this life is to overcome one's attachments and fixations and to gain realization. And therefore, by giving up attachment to this life, becomes a true Dharma practitioner. So, it is very important to know the meaning of the word. And so if then you have attachment to existence in general, which includes all of the six realms of existence, thinking that there must be somewhere within the six realms of existence where one could find happiness, then this kind of attachment is also erroneous.

[22:35]

One's mind is bewildered. because looking at the six realms of existence you perceive very clearly that the lower realms of the hell realms suffering of heat and cold, the hungry ghost realms suffering from craving, hunger and thirst, and the animals realm suffering from stupidity and fear and bondage and so on. This is definitely suffering. This is great suffering to be born in these three lower realms. So you might think, well, within samsara we hear mentioned this thing of the higher realms. you might think that within these higher realms that there must be a life there that would be pleasant, that you would like to have. But then you look further and see that actually the three higher realms also are completely pervaded with suffering. They have all their own kinds of suffering and there is nowhere within samsara that you could possibly want to be reborn. In the past, when a farmer was in charge of his farm, he would take care of the cows and the sheep.

[23:46]

But now, when a farmer is in charge of his farm, he has to take care of the cows and the sheep. And so within these higher realms, for instance, in the realm of the jealous gods or demigods or asuras, whatever name, their minds are completely pervaded by jealousy. And so although they have great powers and they have a great deal of possessions and longevity and so on. Because of this jealousy, they're continually absorbed in fighting and quarreling and cannot bear it that the gods that are in a realm higher than them have more pleasure than they. And so there's this continuous suffering of jealousy.

[24:50]

And then in the god's realm itself, maybe there are temporary benefits of where the beings born in the God's realm experience a great deal of pleasure and happiness, but this again is something transitory, and that when the karma that permitted birth in the God's realm is used up, then these gods must be reborn once again in the lower realms of samsara. There's nowhere else that they can be born, and at that time they perceive their future rebirth and experience a great deal of fear. And then furthermore, in the human realm, This is a realm that is completely pervaded with turmoil and problems and a great deal of suffering.

[26:21]

And human life is suffering. Within the human realm, beings who at some point have high status, they fall and become paupers and they lose their wealth. And those that are poor may become extremely despondent and miserable and homeless and wandering around without any kind of ambition and so on. And so there's, within this human realm that we are in, there is a great deal of suffering. And there is this suffering of different nations making wars on each other and so on. So if you look at the whole of samsara from a greater perspective, you'll see that there is nowhere within samsara that has any kind of pleasant existence. That samsara is in fact something extremely unfortunate that you don't like. And it's just like if you're holding in your hand a burning coal that has fire, then definitely if you hold on to it, your hand will be burned.

[27:30]

So you, recognizing that, you drop it out of your hand and therefore protect yourself from being burned. And this is the kind of attitude you need to develop towards samsara. In the past, there was a saying that if you don't know how to read and write, you won't be able to read and write. But today, if you don't know how to read and write, you won't be able to write. It's not that I don't want to do it. It's just that I don't want to do it. [...] Furthermore, this particular human existence, you may say that this is a very wonderful thing, that our human life is something powerful and something wonderful.

[28:56]

But it is very transitory. It is very uncertain. And there's a great number of people who die at an extremely young age. In fact, there's very few who reach the full limit of human lifespan and actually live out their lives to the very end. Even if they did, this period of the human lifetime is relatively an extremely brief instant, and so the various things that we may employ to prolong our life, such as eating good food and keeping check of our health and taking care of medicine and so on, There's many that die because they cannot employ those things, and they cannot really keep up with what is required to maintain their health. And furthermore, those that do those things, but they die anyway. And so the human life, the human condition, is something like a very brief moment in time that is extremely passing and transitory.

[30:11]

So not only should we not be attached to samsara as a whole, but recognize the fallibility of this very life. In the past, there were many people who did not know how to read and write Chinese characters, so they did not know how to write Chinese characters. In the early days of the Yangtze River, the Yangtze River was the source of the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River was the source of the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River was the source of the Yangtze River. So, based upon this kind of recognition, this kind of perspective, then the very foundation of our Dharma practice must be our morality, like our own personal kind of discipline.

[31:37]

And based upon that, our practice of virtue and not practicing like giving up non-virtue, this kind of morality, based upon that we may develop the wisdoms of listening to the Dharma, reflecting upon the meaning of the Dharma, and actually meditating upon that meaning to realize its essence. So with these, you might call like four aspects of Dharma practice. Firstly, the morality. Secondly, the listening. Third, the hearing. And fourth, the... Sorry. Second, the listening. Third, the contemplating. And fourth, the actual meditating. And this is what is required to establish a perfectly pure approach to Dharma. So, I'm going to read it to you now. So, you have to be careful.

[33:04]

If you are not careful, you won't be able to do it. However, guarding one's morality with the very small-minded perspective of just wishing for benefits within this lifetime is not what you would call the perfectly pure motivation. preserving morality definitely becomes the karmic cause for rebirth in the higher realms and ultimately is the cause for the realization of complete Buddhahood.

[34:11]

and has a great quality of being very positive karma and having very powerful results. So we have to consider that we are guarding our morality for this great ultimate cause of full realization rather than because we wish to have health and wealth and respect and so on in this particular lifetime. And so if having the motivation to preserve your morality for respect and fame or whatever within this lifetime, if that's your motivation, then this will definitely result in being jealous of another person.

[35:30]

whose practice is superior perhaps, or else arrogance and pride if you think that you're somebody special because you're able to keep these vows or because you're able to practice in such and such a way. And this kind of arrogance and jealousy actually becomes the cause of rebirth in the lower realms of existence. actually defies the object, goes against the object of practicing morality in the first place. So we have to give up that kind of perspective for practicing morality. So we must think that we are practicing morality, practicing Dharma in order to attain Buddhahood, to be able to benefit all sentient beings without exception.

[36:35]

And this is the kind of motivation that is required. And so, in order to be able to practice dharma, you have to rely upon the developing your powers of listening and contemplating upon the nature of the teachings. And this is absolutely essential so that you recognize what is the path of dharma, what is the means to completely free your mind from its neurotic preconceptions.

[37:45]

And so you have to develop this ability to listen and to contemplate on the dharma. However, once again, this must be put into the perspective that I'm listening to this dharma, I'm contemplating on this dharma in order to attain complete Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. But if you don't know how to do it, you won't be able to do it. If you don't know how to do it, you won't be able to do it. If you don't know how to do it, you won't be able to do it. If you don't know how to do it, you won't be able to do it. And so if you distort your motivation with regards to your listening to Dharma and contemplating the nature of the Dharma by thinking that you're somebody special and that you're getting something to enhance your own position in

[39:05]

and then you're jealous that other people get certain teachings that you want and so on, and you distort your whole motivation in that way, then you, once again, you thwart the actual purpose of your developing in listening and contemplating on the meaning of Dharma and merely create negative results. There is a saying in Nanjing, that if you want to be a good person, you have to be a good person. If you want to be a bad person, you have to be a bad person. If you want to be a good person, you have to be a good person. If you want to be a bad person, you have to be a bad person. So then, furthermore, you have to meditate upon the instructions.

[40:22]

First of all, you have to develop the art of actually listening to the instructions. Secondly, develop the art of contemplating the instructions and understanding what is the actual meaning. And then you meditate upon it and actually experience the truth of those instructions through meditation. And you have to develop that once again with this supreme motivation to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings and not distort your motivation. In the past, there was no such thing as Gomba. In the past, there was no such thing as Gomba. In the past, there was no such thing as Gomba. I don't know, maybe 30 or 40, I don't know.

[41:30]

So when meditating you have to basically put your sights upon this ultimate attainment of Buddhahood and not to meditate within this lifetime. Meditate for some kind of benefits within this lifetime. To think that you're meditating because you would like to be respected as a great meditator or you wish some kind of worldly powers to derived from your meditation to be able to be successful in this life or something like that, this kind of motivation is completely going against the purpose of meditation. And so when you meditate, you have to always set your motivation upon this supreme goal of complete liberation for the benefit of all beings. So, I would like to tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a man named Ngenchuk. Ngenchuk was a man who was very good at drawing.

[42:38]

He was very good at drawing. He was very good at drawing. One day, he was very good at drawing, but he was very bad at drawing. One day, he was very good at drawing, but he was very bad at drawing. So this, till now, concludes the first parting from the first attachment, that is, to this life. And you see from this instruction how erroneous it would be to place, to fixate upon this life. And so secondly, we have to consider parting from the second attachment, which is like attachment or fixation upon samsara itself.

[43:38]

And this is referred to in the line, if you have attachment to the world of existence, you do not have renunciation. Then this line is, we explain this subsequently, and the purpose of this is to arouse within your mind a complete disgust, a complete renunciation of samsara, recognizing that it is nothing more than a morass of suffering and thereby detach or undo your attachment for this world of existence. So, in order to become liberated from the three spheres of existence, these three realms of samsara, you have to give up attachment for it.

[44:53]

So to be able to attain Buddhahood is impossible without giving up attachment for these three spheres of samsara. develop this ability to give up attachment. We have to look into what is the nature of this samsara and to recognize that it has this, that it is pervaded with suffering, that it is an unfortunate state of existence, that it is unsatisfactory. And so, as I said previously, this realm of samsara is itself is pervaded by suffering.

[46:09]

It's not anything else than suffering. It is suffering. And we can see that within the samsara, especially within the three lower realms, this is pervaded with what is called suffering upon suffering. When I read the Koran, I feel like I'm in heaven. I feel like I'm in paradise. When I read the Koran, I feel like I'm in heaven. I feel like I'm in paradise. When I read the Koran, I feel like I'm in heaven. So, then there is the suffering of change, which is particularly noticeable within the higher realms, like in the God's realms, where there is a great deal of pleasure.

[47:17]

The beings there experience great bliss, great happiness and pleasure. but this comes to an end and it changes. And the change from this state of happiness and pleasure into the darkness and horror of birth into the lower realms is the same as like the difference between the sun shining brightly in the mid-sky and complete darkness of night where you can't even see your own hand in front of your face. And so the beings have, in the God's realms, have this great fear and suffering resulting from this change. So no matter if there is pleasure within samsara, there is no pleasure in samsara that has any kind of permanence. It is all transitory. And we can see very clearly within our own human existence that

[48:24]

it is obvious that our life is pervaded by this suffering of change, that things are always changing into suffering, so that we may for a time experience happiness and joy, but this changes. And there is a moment when this changes into suffering where we actually experience the pain of loss of our previous state of happiness and joy. And so within our life we are very familiar with this thing that we're calling the suffering of change. And furthermore, we can also perceive within our own life what is this suffering of composite existence.

[50:01]

That is just suffering of being alive itself and actually how painful that is. So that within this life you can never say that you've completed your work, that your work is done. You've always got to go do more. There's never a time when you can actually have anything completed. And it's just like the constant rippling upon a stream, that there's no real extensive calm and peace within our lifetime, that we're constantly forced to perform busy activity to be able to support this life. And this itself is suffering. I don't know how to say it, but it's like a prayer. In our school, when we pray, we put our hands on the wall and pray.

[51:05]

We put our hands on the wall and pray. [...] So you may ask, where does the various sufferings and pleasures arise? What is the cause of suffering and pleasure within our experience? And we have to understand how all actions, all results, all experiences have a cause, and that is the Any kind of non-virtue, unskillful action will result in us experiencing suffering. And virtue or skillful actions result in us experiencing happiness. And this is very simple, what is called the law of karma, of cause and effect.

[52:10]

and we have to develop the insight into our life and to see what is that this law of karma is constantly at play causing our various happiness and suffering. In Nyong'en, there is a saying, that if you don't have a wife, you don't have a husband. If you don't have a wife, you don't have a husband. And so, however, you shouldn't get depressed and think that, well, if within samsara there is absolutely no pleasure and the whole thing is just a great deal of suffering, and so you just kind of wallow or sink into depression, this would be wrong, because if due to this thought, this perspective of seeing samsara, that you renounce samsaric existence,

[53:13]

and you give up your cling to samsaric existence, and then practice perfectly the Dharma, then you will definitely experience, you will definitely realize complete Buddhahood, complete liberation from this samsara, and at which time you will experience the highest permanent bliss of nirvana. There is a saying in Tungsten, that if you want to become a Dhamma practitioner, you have to become a Dhamma practitioner. If you want to become a Dhamma practitioner, you have to become a Dhamma practitioner. If you want to become a Dhamma practitioner, you have to become a Dhamma practitioner. Jig ngal duwa ngesa yaw ma resa zang den, jang rang duwa re chung du gorese. De ma yinpa tuwa duwa de roji ima la ha ma wan.

[54:17]

Rang dewa yinsa, kuwa dewa yinsa den, de duwa de tuji chung na, de zotel me bak de duwa chung gujong na. Rang la, ang la chung gujong na de kuwa duwa de roji ima la ha ma wan. De itin ge chung gorese. De kuwa duwa de roji ima shing tung na, de mang la de duwa de me ba la jirang pe lo chung gugorese. And so this concludes the discussion of the second point, parting from the attachment to samsara. And hearing this, in fact, it doesn't really go well to the ear. It feels like some sort of miserable teaching, that it's somehow talking about this suffering and unhappiness and saying that life is great suffering and so on. However, this has an extremely beneficial effect to perceive this truth about the nature of existence. Because one who is not aware of this great perspective of all of life within samsara is indeed great turmoil, great suffering with these three kinds of suffering.

[55:25]

Such a person, when they experience great happiness or a moment of happiness and pleasure and joy, then they become euphoric about that happiness and completely carried away with it and fixate upon it, and then pretty soon will experience great depression when that temporary happiness is gone. And furthermore, when they feel, when something happens that causes great suffering, then to that person who is not aware of this greater perspective that all of samsara is suffering, that person will become completely depressed, completely despondent, and actually feel that he or she is the only person in the world that is experiencing suffering, and kind of take it very personally. And so when you have the greater vision of samsara itself, of the whole of existence as being pervaded by suffering, then your ups and downs can be dealt with in a much more equanimous way.

[56:32]

and your mind is not bewildered by them. So, in order to be able to do this, you need to be able to control your mind. If you are able to control your mind, you will be able to be able to do this. So, you need to be able to control your mind. And so, likewise, the reflecting upon impermanence and actually thinking about death and thinking about the impermanent nature of existence This also, you could think of this as some kind of morbid subject to be thinking about.

[57:52]

However, it is very beneficial. And not only is it beneficial because if you think about suffering and you think about death and impermanence, then your Dharma practice becomes extremely strong. and you have a lot of energy to practice and it's very beneficial, leads you in that direction. But also, just in a worldly sense, even if you are not applying yourself to Dharma, if you're aware of impermanence and that you can see the transitory nature of all situations, then you don't get your back up so easily if you come across some kind of irritating situation. You see that that moment, that situation is already passing. And so you think, well, it's not worth coming out with a reply. It's not worth fighting back if I'm insulted or something happens. And you naturally have a kind of patience about things because you've developed this insight of seeing the transitory nature of all phenomena.

[59:00]

So this is something that is extremely beneficial and is very conducive to harmony and happiness. So this concludes the discussion for this evening. as far as the actual teaching, and at this point we could open things to your discussion. If you have any questions, then please feel free to ask. What's the difference between Nirvana bliss and then the daily bliss that you may feel It is said that there are two types of deities. One is called the Zakche and the other is called the Nyangen. The Zakche is the deity of the Khorwa.

[60:00]

It is said that there are two types of deities. In the olden days, if you had a child, you would have to take care of him. If you had a son, you would have to take care of him. If you had a daughter, you would have to take care of her. If you had a son, you would have to take care of him. The kind of pleasure or happiness that you may experience within samsara is just like if you have a piece of bread and you cover it up with a thick film of butter. and you think that it's all butter.

[61:06]

But actually within it there's a lot of bread. And so any kind of pleasure or bliss that you might experience within samsara, inside that there's great suffering. There's all these three different levels of suffering. And so it's like some kind of very superficial pleasure that you can experience within samsara. However, the samsara, the pleasure or the bliss of nirvana, of buddhahood, is like everywhere there's butter, even right inside. It's everywhere, like every single aspect of the experience is completely pervaded by bliss. And this is because there's total absence of any kind of suffering whatsoever, that all suffering, all confusion, neurotic perceptions and so on have been completely eradicated and no longer exist, so therefore experience is like a continuous stream of bliss.

[62:16]

Okay, two things. One thing, you said there's suffering upon suffering or suffering of suffering. I was just wondering which is more preferred than thinking that way. Yeah, I've heard it both ways. Well, maybe you could explain that a little more. I had a question about the Bodhisattva vow and seeking nirvana. Because here you're renunciating in almost all ways, coming back. No, you're not renunciating the bodhisattva vow, but you're renunciating in every way possible this realm. And yet, if you have the bodhisattva vow, you're supposed to look forward to In the olden days, we used to call it Inji-tsik.

[63:22]

We used to call it Dungel-teng-la-dungel. In the olden days, we used to call it Dungel-teng-la-dungel or Dungel-gi-dungel. [...] In the olden days, we used to call it Dungel-teng-la Then I go to Yina, Semchen, Nyamdu, Chewa Lengri. Then I go to Yina, Semchen, Nyamdu, Chewa Lengri. [...] Then I go to Yina, Semchen, Nyamdu, Chewa Lengri. Then I go When I was young, I didn't know how to read. I didn't know how to read. I didn't know how to read.

[64:22]

I didn't know how to read. [...] In that way, there is no difference between the two. But in my opinion, there is no difference between the two. Firstly, it is okay to refer to this suffering as the suffering upon suffering. And this gives the idea of one suffering being upon the other, that there's just miles and miles of sufferings, one on top of the other, and that is the nature of your experience.

[65:44]

And this is referring, the most grossest form of this is within the lower realms, especially like in the hell realms, when there really is like suffering upon suffering. So this is a reasonable way to interpret this, to call it suffering upon suffering. Sometimes you see like opposites of things like compassion and anger. Would the lineage of gurus be opposite of that? Because that's something that's upon something in terms of an idea, a mountain. Well, no, it just means piled up one on the other. It doesn't mean upon in the sense that you think. Yeah. So, and then secondly, there is no conflict with the bodhisattva's ideal of being reborn continuously within samsara to benefit beings and the idea that you have to give up samsara because the point is that we are fixated upon samsara.

[66:55]

that we love samsara, we like it, and we kind of wallow in our samsara. And to be able to become bodhisattvas, we have to wake up from that fixation upon samsara and recognize that the whole of samsara is unsatisfactory, that we have to be rid of that kind of tendency to grasp at samsara, thinking that there's got to be something nice somewhere within this existence. And once we had given up that fixation and clinging upon samsara and our own neurotic perceptions that cause that samsara, then we have the bodhisattva ideal of manifesting to benefit beings. And the bodhisattva appears in samsara not because the bodhisattva likes samsara, but only out of compassion to

[67:57]

benefit and wake up other beings from their own attachments and their own fixations. And so we have to first wake up from our own deluded fixation upon samsara. Kondayi means, in Gita, there is a place called Devala. If you go to Devala, you will find Kondayi. If you go to Devala, you will find Kondayi. This is referring to, when we say samsara and nirvana are inseparable, we're referring to the inseparability of those two.

[69:24]

This is not in any way saying that they're the same, that actually samsara is nirvana. But what this is referring to is that, First of all, samsara is suffering without any doubt, nirvana is bliss without any doubt. But if you are able, through a very profound perspective, to recognize to transform samsara into nirvana, then what that is called, what that ability or what that method is called is samsara-nirvana inseparable. And so this is referring to the ability to to perceive one's own emotions, one's own conflicting emotions, as the wisdom of the deity.

[70:28]

So as the emotions arise, then you see the wisdom of the deity. And this is what is meant by samsara and nirvana inseparable. Basically. Is the concept of advancing civilization sort of in a physical way, I guess, a claim to some sort. Yeah, good question. In the past, when I was young, I used to go to the temple to pray. I used to go to the Khorvala Shambhala to pray.

[71:29]

But now, when I'm older, I don't go to the temple to pray anymore. So, I don't go to the Khorvala Shambhala anymore. This is the Khorvala Shambhala. I used to go to the Khorvala Shambhala when I was young. In the past, we didn't even have a pen to write with. We used to write with our hands, but now we don't even have a pen to write with. We used to write with our hands, but now we don't even have a pen to write with. It is a kind of attachment to samsara, definitely, to be concerned with the advancement of civilization. However, this is, you know, it is like expression of a noble attitude, and that if it's the kind of thing where you desire to benefit mankind,

[72:34]

bring about wisdom and understanding to pacify wars, to work for peace and this kind of thing, then this is extremely positive action and is very valuable. However, it is still a kind of attachment to samsara. If you go about it in a non-peaceful way, thereby your idea is to benefit humanity but you think that you have to destroy certain people or do it in a wrathful way, then you probably will fall into non-virtue and this won't be beneficial. But by all means you should be concerned with beneficial actions. to anything in this world, you're supposed to try to train your mind to be that way.

[73:38]

Why does Chenrezig hold a wish-fulfilling jewel and why in a lot of the prayers does there seem to be an emphasis on having your wishes fulfilled? I was born in the village of Tse Tla. [...] náwá. Jíkté n'yápu yóngwángi. Mwá ná mwá pwutáwi yó res. Né téi tésé chík tóngi mindu áwási. Náwá. [...] This is how it is in the Shambhala.

[74:55]

In the Shambhala, there are two types of Rajas. And in a way you could see a lot of these prayers as seeming like praying for things that you're really not supposed to be attached to, such as for wealth, for health, for longevity and so on. impetus to make that kind of prayer is from seeing that samsara is pervaded with suffering, is undesirable, and so you're praying for the antidote to the suffering. You know, you're actually, you want that everything to be good, and you want to avoid suffering, but you, it's not, so you're praying though from the

[76:07]

perspective of seeing that all is suffering and you praying for the end of suffering in samsara. Thanks. But it was so temporary because it would still be wrapped up in earthly samsara. My name is Nor Thompson. I live in Pento, Chihuahua. I was born and raised in K'inlong, K'insapurawo. I was born and raised in K'inlong, K'insapurawo. I was born and raised in K'inlong, K'inlong, K'insapurawo. He was a very good man.

[77:10]

He was a very good man. [...] It's not possible to just completely let go of all suffering and to suddenly be free from suffering just because you have this kind of perspective. And so we have to approach things in a gradual way and be rid of one suffering and then another and then another and somehow try to peel off the layers of the onion, so to speak.

[78:25]

You know, some of these prayers are kind of referring to a more kind of gradual approach. And so you're praying for, say, wealth because you and beings have the suffering of not enough wealth. And this is a definite problem. that you are requesting help to solve that particular problem. But if your prayers come true and that you receive somehow a lot of wealth and then you just go about spending that kind of money in your worldly ways just to increase your own prestige or whatever, you kind of waste it in selfish ways, then this is like deceiving the deity and you won't get any more after that. But if your prayers come true and you receive wealth, but then you're able to use that wealth in a virtuous way to help others to practice generosity, to make offerings to the Dharma and so on, then you're

[79:38]

the wealth begins to flow naturally and it's something that you can use the worldly benefits to increase your virtues. I have one other question. You have one other question? Throughout my life, you know, I found that certain work that I do makes me feel like I'm really fulfilling myself and it brings me great joy. And if I did other work, I don't feel like I would be fulfilling myself. It might be, you know, really good work, but it's not something that I feel is me. And yet the whole Buddhist concept seems to be not to have an I. So is the sense of fulfillment I get by doing certain work just that I've been karmically predisposed to do that and like that? I shouldn't look at that as a sense of identity? So, I am going to tell you a story.

[81:05]

So, I am going to tell you a story. [...] Why did you decide to become a monk? Why did you decide to become a monk? Ultimately, we have to give up all kinds of worldly activity you know, mixing ourselves in the world.

[82:30]

However, this is extremely difficult to experience that kind of depth of renunciation where all you want to do is to meditate and realize the nature of your mind. And so therefore, it is quite okay to experience fulfillment, worldly fulfillment, by doing certain things. And this is something that you're going to, you know, you've got to do anyway. You have to earn a living and so on. So you have to be realistic about it. But ultimately, you have to realize that everything, all kinds of worldly involvement is a delusion. Why wouldn't just any job make me just as happy? I don't think I would be happy being a doctor, and lots of people would like to be a doctor, if there's really no sense of, you know, if you don't really have, if you're not predisposed to have certain talents to do something, then it seems like you could do anything, it wouldn't matter, and yet it seems like if you've been given a talent to be good at something,

[83:44]

that you would want to use it or you're wasting yourself. In a way, it seems like you do kind of have a purpose here to use whatever talents you're given. You're given? Given. That sounds really Christian. Well, yeah. Okay. I mean, some people come in and they're very musically gifted. And I mean, you know, one person will come into the world with wonderful musical talents, some people have artistic talents, some people have a scientific mind. And so, it's not like we're all born equal with the same talents. Tene, mi ganga yonten dharmendayo les. Tene kashi ki mempa zona. mempa leka tena pek gawa yoris, kashi gi shingzo dravshi yoris, kashi gi rimotri ki yoris, tene rangsoso ki mikpa nangshi chi yoris, tene morang ki samna chik chena, rangso jikten te na tsewa leng, tene yonten kara yona degi leka leng,

[84:58]

This is a pen, and this is a pencil. [...] This is There is a saying in the Qur'an, that if you do good, you will be rewarded. If you do bad, you will be punished. If you do good, you will be rewarded. If you do bad, you will be punished. If you do good, you will be rewarded. If you do bad, you will be punished. In the past, we used to go to the temple to pray, but now we don't go to the temple to pray.

[86:02]

We go to the temple to pray, but now we don't go to the temple to pray. We go to the temple to pray, but now we don't go to the temple to pray. So, This is true that all people have different qualities, different skills and so on, and that they do fit better into certain positions than others.

[87:09]

However, you have the possibility of dealing with the attachment that may arise to that. Like, so, you may be an extremely good artist, you have a talent for being an artist, However, you think, I'm a great artist. And you do experience joy that your art turns out very well, but you build up your arrogance and pride by thinking that you're a great artist. And therefore, even though you're fulfilling what you seem to feel your skill is, you're going against the dharma because you're just developing arrogance and pride. and you're having this attachment to thinking of yourself as a certain thing. And there's many different kinds of attachment that are involved in what you think you are and what you think you're good at and so on. And so a true Dharma practitioner, obviously you have to do some things, but a true Dharma practitioner will do whatever he has to do but without attachment.

[88:21]

And this is what we're talking about. So as long as you think of whatever work you're doing as kind of an offering rather than as something to yourself, you're okay. Yeah, that would help. I would like to know, it was two questions really. Is the liberation Buddhahood Nirvana and enlightenment the same thing or are they four different things? If they are four things or one thing can a person achieve those states without being a Bodhisattva? Or do you have to be a Bodhisattva to achieve those things?

[89:23]

And what is the difference between the two groups of people? I am not sure if it is true or not, but I believe it is true. I am not sure if it is true or not, but I believe it is true. I'm going to Firstly, it's all referring to the same thing.

[90:45]

Liberation means liberation from samsara, which is Buddhahood. So enlightenment is the same thing. They all mean the same thing. So secondly, yes, in order to be able to realize enlightenment or Buddhahood, then you have to be a bodhisattva. You have to develop this ideal of the bodhisattva. However, on our level, it's like on the level of wishing or hoping that you could be a bodhisattva, and just developing some kind of the beginnings of the will to behave like a bodhisattva and to benefit others and so on. But as you progress on the path, and definitely at the moment of Buddhahood, there is no difference like that. Bodhisattva attitude is really part of Buddhahood. And there's nothing that has to be created.

[91:46]

It's definitely there just by itself. And so that as you progress on the path, the bodhisattva ideal becomes more and more easy. And at this level, it's just something that you would like to be able to do. So there is a... You can... If you become enlightened and all that, you will be automatically a bodhisattva. So there is no such thing as an enlightened, liberated being, a sheikh, Buddhahood and nirvana. That is not the Buddha. Right. Yes. That's what he says. I don't understand the whole context of deity and prayer in a context that I've always understood.

[92:36]

@Transcribed_v004
@Text_v004
@Score_II