(ungrouped) — 2012-09-23

So good morning, everyone. Nice day again. Beautiful day. But I hope it was as great a day as today at that.

So as usual, I would like to start with a short mindfulness exercise or meditation followed by motivations. Just relax. Allow your mind to rest naturally. Let without trying to do anything. Just while you’re breathing out normally, just be aware of that movement or that actions of as you impact that.

Simply just be aware. Been trying to reflect and contemplate as long as my existence or my life is driven by the karma and the delusions, But it is it is not correct just to achieve one form happiness and freedom and to ignore and neglect the other sense of brother, sister, grandfather, friend, countless times in the world from the beginning of his lifetime. Not only that, all the happiness, comfort that we Not only that, as long as we are in saṃsāra, we have to depend on our parent to take care of us. In So when all sentient beings have been so kind to us and when they are now in a suffering state, saṃsāra state, under the influence of illusions. Not to think about them, not to care about them.

Totally misleading. Totally ignoring and just being concerned with our own happiness. Therefore, I must repay their kindness. Now, as much as I think, when I have achieved this position before, now is the best time to repay the kindness. There is nothing better way to repay the kindness than to have them free each and every single one from suffering and the causes of suffering and other good service practices. Before that, I must be reminded Therego in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no discrimination, no compositional factors, no consciousness, no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no visual form, no sound, odor, no taste, no object of thought, and no there’s no eye element and soul up to and including no mind element, and no mental consciousness element.

There obsturation, without fear. Having completely passed beyond error, there is the end point. and all surrounding sentient beings go for refuge to the Buddha, go for refuge to the Dharma, go for refuge to the Sangha. We prostrate to the May all sentient beings be free from suffering and cause of suffering. May all sentient beings be insufferated from happiness that is free from suffering. May all sentient beings abide in the community, free from attachment, friends, and people.

Every day I prostrate with my body, speech, and mind. I present offerings every time for offering everything in the matter. I declare all my negative So so far, we have been discussing about the needs of the needs necessary and important of cultivating the altruistic intention or altruistic attitude of bodhicitta, the wish to achieve fully enlightened state for the welfare of sentient beings in order to make our life more meaningful with a greater progress. We also discussed that after having cultivated and generated and developed this altruistic intention of bodhicitta, the needs to engage into the bodhisattva’s practices such as its perfection and so forth in order to achieve the fully united state so that we can bring highest level of benefit, help, and contributions to each and every single beings in the most skillful way, most effective way without the limitation that we face as ordinary men and women. And also the importance of engaging with practice of six perfections in order to live our life more more peaceful more more harmonic more harmonic peaceful life as well as meaningful life.

So we discussed about the perfection of generosity as a way to cultivate the highest level of mind to be able to share, to be able to give to be able to share, to be able to give of all your possessions, materials, as well as all our virtues, merit, as well as our own body, which we cherish very much. So dedicating, giving, sharing, dedicating everything for others, and then overcoming the attachment and greediness and miserliness, which are the source of suffering and pain. And so to be able to give, to be able to share without any expectation in return as a reward for thought of giving, thought of the sharing to help benefit others, that person. So we talk about four different level of generosity. The generosity we generosity of giving materials, the generosity of giving dharma, the generosity of giving protection by saving lives and protecting from the dangers.

We also talk about generosity of giving the true love. Then we talk about and we also discuss about generosity is a natural expression of the compassion of bodhicitta in actions. Then we also discuss about the the morality, the second perfection, the perfection of morality, which is the perfection of morality or discipline. The moral discipline as a foundation for all our practices. It’s like the ground and foundation for all the rest of our practices.

Refraining or restraining, avoiding from any actions which brings harm to oneself or others, which brings more pain and suffering to others than oneself, refraining from any kind of those kind of actions. We also discussed about different level of the three type of the morality, the refraining from the negative unwholesome actions, the first category, we also discussed about the foundations of practice of refraining from ten non-virtues and engaging ten virtues actions as the basic foundations and on top of that taking the precepts, the novice precepts, lay vows precepts, and then the other level for the monks and nuns, the full level of the vows precepts, and then the bodhisattva precept, vajrayana hundred precepts, and how each of previous precepts have the subsequent precepts and how each each of them become the foundation for the next and so where we should practice all these precepts in harmony without contradicting each other. After that, we discuss about the perfection of patience as a way to overcome the anger, hatred, grudges, or negative, those feelings which bring more harm, suffering to oneself than others. So we discussed about patient as being state of mind no matter what others try to do you, no matter what situations, condition that we encounter not being disturbed, your mind not being disturbed, not upset, not unsettled, not shaken, being very calm.

And so when you are in that state, calm and not being disturbed, not being shaken, unsettled, then, of course, you will not become anger angry, and you will not be you will not become angry and cultivate hatred and other grudges and all other negative thoughts and feelings. So, therefore, that is the practice of the patient. We talk about patience being something like mountain. No matter how many waves or winds, it comes unshaken, unmoved. So emulating that.

So we talk about the three type of patience. The patience of helping the patience by not being disturbed with someone when you feel someone is harming us and the patience to bear to bear and experience the suffering, pain, difficulties, challenges in our life without me, our mind being disturbed and upset, and the patience to endure the hardship when you engage in our practice, in the Dharma practice. So, again, when when when we were faced with a lot of hardship, when we were when we were engaged in Dharma, not losing the courage and give up your practice easily, having the patience to endure such a hardship so that we can fulfill our goal and reach our achieve our aims and destinations. So as Śāntideva has said, when something whether it’s done by something or something naturally happen, whatever, when we are faced with challenges, conflict, problems. They always think whether there is solution to that problem or not.

If there is a solution to the problem, why we’re worried about it? Because there is solution. Instead of worrying about the whole things, try to solve those things because there is solutions. Solutions. Do you get it?

So try to engage into the action instead of not just waiting and waiting. If there is no solution as we investigate, if there you find there is no solution to the to the problem, there’s no reason to worry. It’s just a waste of time, waste of energy. So trying to bring that analysis when you are faced with those challenges. Thereby, through that analysis, we try to develop sense of more stable mind When we have fear and worry, then it disturb our minds.

Then as I said, he said yeah. Should even my should even the myriate, exception, become angry at us or me, humiliate humiliate, criticize, threatening, or even kill us, we seek your blessing to complete the perfection of patience, not to be distraught, but to work for their benefit in response to their harm. So such is the practice of the patient of Bodhisattvas. The Bodhisattva practice of patient such. Not only we are not disturbed by what did all that is done by those, but, actually, we will instead of responding in a negative way as we normally ordinary will do, but response in a positive way with love and compassion and trying to help them.

Mhmm. Mhmm. And to work for the benefit of them in response driven by true love and compassion. So such should be the the bodhisattva’s practice. For us at the very beginning, that might not come easily.

Okay? As long as we are not being disturbed, that is first step for us. Once we have learned how to not be disturbed by others’ actions and situations, that itself is one of the big step. And after we have perfected or completed, trained ourselves in that situation, then next, you go beyond that, not only not being disturbed, but actually cultivating through love, compassion for those who engage in such harmful actions. That is one level.

The next level is not only enough to cultivate love and compassion, then you go beyond that and actually trying to help them, bring a health, benefit them in a response. Geshe Langri Thangpa who composed the Eight Verses of Thought Transformation and who lived his life He lived his life emboldening all those teachings.

When he was criticized and spread wrong rumors about him and so forth. Each time when you hear that people are talking bad about him, criticizing him, spreading rumors, He cultivated strong bodhicitta. He send them a present as a way of responding. That is the what bodhisattva’s practice is about. And was also sharing one story when he was I I time ago when he was quite young.

I think he said there was one one senior monks who seems to sort of look down upon him as though that he doesn’t know that kind of things, something. And Rinpoche felt it so much. And he wanted to keep he wanted to give him a present. So Rinpoche said, at that point, he really felt that he wanted to give a present because it helped him in so much that from a spiritual perspective. But Rinpoche said after he forgot and never really got to send any the present really, but that is how he felt at that moment.

So that is the practice of the the prayer that which is in Guru Puja about the perfections. That is how the true Bodhisattva practice the patience. So after the practice of perfections of the patient, the next is the the practice of the perfection of efforts or perseverance, enthusiastic, or diligent, whatever. I think there seems to be many kind of different so many different translations. So here, whatever you use, perseverance, diligent, whatever is a state of mind.

Okay. But before that, maybe with the patience. The to able to perfect and complete the perfection of patient, it doesn’t depend on exhaustion of external enemy. Do you get it? Do you get it?

What I mean? It doesn’t mean that there’s it doesn’t means that there is no one who is trying to harm you. Do you get it? When I perfected my practice of perfection, it doesn’t mean there is no situation which is could be harmful physically in some way or that there is no one who is trying to harm you. It doesn’t mean that.

But what it means is you have totally through the practice of patience, you have totally destroyed internal enemy, the internal enemy of anger and hatred, and not others. When you have destroyed the internal enemy, even the external enemy try to harm you, it will not be able to harm you. You don’t feel that energy of being harmed. So that is that is it. So as Śāntideva said, if we go and try to destroy the external enemy, it’s impossible to all the external enemy is too many.

Even we destroy the whole world, when our anger is there, still we feel there is something there, someone there. So it is almost impossible, very difficult task. But once you destroy your internal enemy, indirectly, you have subdue and destroy all the external enemy. Because no matter what they do, you will not feel that negative energy. You will not your mind will not be disturbed, upset, and all these things.

And he give example of if you are living in a place where there is lot of thorns and lot of stones, tricky stones, and instead of trying to clean it up and cover it whole place, which is very impossible or very difficult, it make much more sense to wear a leather shoes, small shoes, and that will protect you from the bush, thornies, stone, everything. So that is yeah, so coming to the diligent or perseverance, perseverance state of mind, joy state of mind when you engage the virtues. In other, the perseverance or diligence that we talk about, the perfection of the diligent or perseverance or effort is a joyous effort when we engage in the virtues. Joyous efforts towards the virtues, and active determinations to carry out the positive actions without any without any expectation or self satisfaction. I say Bodhisattva’s practice of the perfection of perseverance.

Do you get it? So with all the self perfection, when we actually engage it, there shouldn’t be any expectations in return, any reward in return, any positive response from others for whatever actions, whatever practice that you are engaging in without any expectation of self satisfaction or even that totally doing it for the welfare of others. By the product of this, by the by because of that, after a lot of positive results we experience. But but from your side, you shouldn’t have any expectations in that. Without the perseverance and diligence, absolutely no way we can perfect any of the six perfections.

It’s absolutely no way we can achieve all the path, all the realizations, and achieve fully enlightened state or liberation without the perseverance. It’s absolutely impossible. Even in our ordinary world, to accomplish and to be successful in whatever field that you are, you need a lot of effort, hard hard work. Except, of course, there are one or two exceptions due to their previous karma. Some people find success few of them find success quite easily without going through a lot of hardship, perseverance, they are born in a certain family or so on.

Do you get what I mean? There are a few exceptions that is due to their karma. But, otherwise, every sexy person’s story, there is a lot of hardship, a lot of persuasion to this way they are. And that perseverance play much more bigger role than anything else. I think you might be you have you could have noticed.

In monastery, also, we noticed we noticed some of the students very bright, extremely bright. The moment the teacher explains, they can immediately get it. Doesn’t need to be explained twice. And there are some store students who are very low school learners who take ten time to repeat or to explain ten different way to get meaning of what’s one thing. But slowly, slowly, in those twenty years from starting until you graduate.

At the end, you see some of the very smart one, not great doing great. Those who have a who doesn’t have a very smart, intelligent, slow learner but who has a lot of effort, perseverance. At the end of twenty years of graduate, it gets much better. Do you get you what I mean? That is a example of the perseverance, the effort, the diligence, the success of that.

So it’s very clear if we have the perseverance, diligence. It’s only a matter of time before we actually succeed. There was a story about the one who invaded the illusory. Who is that? I don’t remember the name.

But it said it took him. He fell thousand times. He didn’t. He fell again. He tried more than thousand times, then he was able to make with that.

So that is the example of perseverance, not giving up, trying again and again. You fail, you don’t make success again without giving up easily. Trying again and again. Perseverance. I think for us, a lot of us, the missing point in our practice is this part, perseverance, the diligence, the effort.

Our effort is not there. Our perseverance is not there. We try to do meditation one week, then we give up for a few weeks, for a month. Again, we really try to do a few weeks. Again, we usually give up.

There is no continuity the system of the the the So here in Bharmethria Buddha, in ornament of Sūtra says, the perseverance is the supreme among the collect of all the virtues. Through the perseverance, by relying on perseverance, then we can achieve all the realization, all the accomplishments. Through the reliance on the perseverance, we can achieve through blissfulness, through happiness. All the mundane and super mundane accomplishment can be achieved only through the perseverance by relying on the perseverance. So only through the perseverance that we will be able to overcome the all the, attachment and to to to improve our practices.

It is only through the perseverance that we will be able to overcome the ignorance and then achieve the liberation. It is only through the reliance on the perseverance that we can achieve fully enlightened state. Then another text, it says, if you have the great perseverance without any discouragement without any discouragement, if you have the courageous perseverance, great perseverance, there’s nothing we cannot be accomplished. There’s nothing we cannot be accomplished if we have a strong perseverance, strong courage. Whether it’s in And as I’ve mentioned yesterday, if we look at examples of all the those masters who have inspired so much throughout the generations, centuries, they have Yeah.

So there are three type of so when we so we have to also I I have to also kind of clarify here when we talk about perfection or perseverance or deletion or effort, this particular perseverance is perseverance towards virtues. Okay? Do you get it? So it’s a joyous effort towards engaging the virtuous actions, in the virtuous mind, virtuous thought. So that we have to differentiate this perseverance from ordinary perseverance.

Do you get it? The ordinary perseverance, diligent can be any object. Do you get it? I might have perseverance get an accident. Do you get it?

To fight, for example, persisting trying to fight, persisting trying to harm others. There is some kind of persistence. There is some kind of effort, continuous effort, but such is not the perseverance we are talking about of this perfection. This the perfection of perseverance is joy’s effort towards virtues. It act to be virtues, the object of joy’s effort here.

So that is one thing. And here, I think there is I think there is a I think there is a incredible powerful meaning when it is a joyous effort instead of saying effort towards the virtues. What it means is when you engage in practice, virtues is important cultivate joy, to enjoy your practice. But that is what I’m trying to say, to get it. If you enjoy your practice, You will continue.

You will continue to do it. Nobody has to push you. Nobody has to remind you. You will enjoy doing it. Even someone asks you to stop it, you will not stop it.

Do you get this? Because you enjoy doing that. When you enjoy doing that, you don’t feel burden out. Burden, burnout, stress, everything. When you when you don’t enjoy doing this, then it could be a stress.

It could lead lead to more stress. It could become burden. In some cases, it might lead to feeling of guilt. Do you get it? I’m supposed to do this practice, but I’m unable to do it.

So that is where the importance of finding a way finding a way to enjoy our practicing what is the practice we do. If you find a way to enjoy your practice, practice, then that will not become a hospital. You will not give up easily. You will not feel tired of practicing even if you do the whole whole day. You wouldn’t feel tired of it because you enjoy doing it.

As you find out in our life, some of the things when we are when you people are young, they go they do whole party whole night, and still they can go tomorrow walk without feeling tired. You get it? Because they do they enjoy doing it. So even the whole night, no sleep, still you don’t feel tired. But you are given one hour of extra job which you don’t enjoy after your home, you might feel tired, stressed.

Basically, because of your mental state. You don’t enjoy doing it. So, therefore, even one hour become a stress, burden, tired. And I guess that is one of the reason why Lama Sovara Mukucha has so much energy to be twenty four hours awake and do whole and not day, weeks, months, years. He enjoy doing those things, his practices.

He’s he enjoyed doing his practice for hours and hours, whereas we would like to finish it as quick as possible. The problem is because we don’t enjoy doing it. If we enjoy doing it, probably we wouldn’t mind doing hours and hours. Do you get it? So that is the one of the key in our practice.

So that is why in the definition of this perfect, the perseverance of this joy, it is said, is joyous joyous effort towards virtue and very active determination presented to practice without easily giving up. So we have a short break. Listeners and solitary buddhas, two of the practitioners of the Hīnayāna path, working only for their own welfare, I seek to practice as if their earth were on fire to help all beings pour your energy into practice. It’s the source of all abilities. Just relax.

You will get it. You immediately try to without any just slow being slow or relaxing, you would be very much goal is not just individual liberation, but to attain enlightenment and not for just yourself, for all things and being. That means you require even more effort than that. You require you get. So, therefore, So this is the source of all ability, this is the practice of bodhisattvas.

So so then advise us as we are trying to follow the Mahāyāna path, the bodhisattva’s path, so it’s saying that you need to give more effort. You need to give me more effort in order to utilize or in order to success what you wish for, And then the by Je Tsongkhapa, he said, I pray I will apply myself to enthusiasm, achieving virtues unachieved, improving those attained, vanishing utterly the threefold debilitating laziness. So it means is that we need to put more effort in order to achieve and actualize the virtue which we have not actualized. In order to maintain and improve and progress with all the virtues of realization which we have already achieved, if we don’t put effort, even if we have achieved some realization, some virtues, we will decline and will degenerate. So we don’t put enough force to get it.

So not only we need the effort and force to cultivate, to generate, to actualize new realizations, new virtue within our mind, but also to be able to maintain and to be able to increase, improve so it doesn’t decline all the. That’s been achieving both the unactive and improving those attains. And then the way to do is by vanishing or eliminating the laziness, this type of laziness, which is the obstacle for the development of true perseverance. Do you get it? Why we don’t have enough effort of perseverance is because of laziness.

So therefore, perseverance is the antidote towards the laziness. Perseverance such perseverance is antidote for discouragement because as I say, it’s a joy, effort, and active determination of courageous, such a perseverance. So it helps us to reduce our discouragement. It helps us to reduce our laziness and improve our virtues. Then the other prayers, By the power of mind and body, I wish to accomplish the perfection of joyous effort. So by putting all our energy physically, mentally to effort, to persevere in diligence, to accomplish our short term, long term goals, to accomplish our goal in order in our mountain world as well as goal in our spiritual world, super mountain.

So perseverance is incredibly important and needed. Again, Je Tsongkhapa Kaaba explained in the lines from the experience of Lamrim. Once you wear the armor of unfaltering enthusiastic perseverance. It’s beneficial effect towards your gaining both knowledge of scripture text and insight into their meaning will increase like a and moon. So basically, if we have the perseverance, definitely our knowledge, our understanding would be better, as well as our experience through the practice of by integrating those understanding into our everyday life, into our being, that we will make we will see much more progress, much more better effective result.

Like watching the moon, always increasing more and more. All your action will become effective for your attainment of buddhavood, and whatever you have undertaken will produce, it results exactly as you had wished. Knowing this, the Bodhisattvas have accepted that wave of enthusiastic perseverance eliminating all latencies. I, who Lama Tsongkhapa, in the prayer, actually have traveled a true path that leads to enlightenment and have had the experience of doing just that. If you would seek liberation, please cultivate yourself in the same way.

So, again, this is the instruction that gave that he himself was able to study, learn, and become one of the greatest scholar, one of the greatest master, Yeah. So there are three type of perseverance or diligence are more like diligence. Like, when you go to work, there’s what do call? Armor. Armor is more like. So that is before you actually engage into the practice.

Do you get it? You we before you go to war, you wear the this armor to protect yourself when you are in the field. Do you get it? In the same way, we try to protect ourselves with this armor of perseverance before we actually engage in the the actual practice itself. So it’s like preliminary.

It is like as I said yesterday, as we were discussing it today, cultivating incredible amount of courageous determination to encounter any challenges that it might take my present responsibility. But mentally, you are preparing yourself from the very beginning with a such a courage to to face any kind of challenges, any kind of obstacles that you can think of or even more than that. As it is said in in the lama, Guru Puja, even if I have to remain even if I have to remain in the hell realm for not just one day. Not for all sentient beings. Even for just one sentient being, even if I have to remain for eons and eons, may I never give up my.

Long trying to struggle to find your life worth. Are prepared for the long walk in a way with the the laziness and all others. You are looking for a long as I said, as we were discussing about the about the that we have to prepare ourselves for that. We hope for the best and prepare for the worst. So mentally preparing yourself for the worst, basically.

And thereby, when you do encounter some obstacle, it might not seem possible. When you do find some challenges, it might not seem challenging. For example, different ideas, you are often devastating. Totally devastating. Because mentally, you are not prepared for that.

You get you are not expecting that. And you begin to come in a good organization. You know such people who doesn’t seem to have compassion. At least that is your or how you feel it. And then all negative emotion, negative thoughts, feelings started come and then cautioning your own practice, you have not to tell yourself.

Mentally, you have not worn this anymore. But when you actually go into such organization, any any kind of organizing, anything preparing, oh, I’m going to face so much challenges of people. There will be a lot of people. Hopefully, majority of people will disagree with me. They will have to take a totally different direction and this and that.

Mentally preparing your own award and when you actually go. If ten people disagree with you, still you do all great relief. It doesn’t seem the obstacle. It doesn’t seem a challenge. It seems relief.

You are expecting fifty of them to go against you. Do you get it? Mentally, you are expecting or prepared that fifteen of them will disagree with you, and you find it’s just ten people who disagree with you. That is such a relief. Do you get it?

It doesn’t sense the obstacle. It’s a it’s a great relief. Whereas if you are not prepared that one person not agreeing with you, disagreeing, that would be true. How come I’m trying to help organization? I’m trying to help others.

Even if I must remain for an ocean of eons, not just one lifetime, in the very health of Abhijit, which is the world of the elbeam, among the all the hell. For the sake of one sentient being alone, not talking for the all sentient being, we seek your blessing to complete the perfection of joyous people, to start with compassion for super enlightenment and not to be discouraged. So that is when we prepare ourselves mentally with like that. Then, of course, you you don’t usually give up your practice. You get it when you have faced challenges, when you try to help others, when you try to benefit others, and when instead of them responding, acknowledging your help when they respond in a negative way, you don’t lose your you don’t give up your practice.

You’ll get it. You come you can’t you see it’s nothing compared to being held for the year one for just one session a year. This is not someone that kind of because mentally, you’re prepared for even that worst one. Do you get it? So, therefore, when you are faced with different obstacles, challenge in our life, we’re easy, easy It doesn’t stop us from doing something good, which we continue with something good, which we are trying to do.

Otherwise, we will easily give up. That is cultivating that kind of courage. Like, that will sort of overcome the discourages that we feel we would not be able to. Okay? Mhmm.

We will not be able to. Okay? The second level of perseverance is perseverance or diligence in action. So that is engaging in the six perfections and all other virtues with a lot of diligence. In order to when we practice generosity, we try to practice generosity a lot of difference, lot of diligence.

When we try to practice morality, patience, easily giving up without when you easily giving up when you are faced with obstacles and challenges and being persistent As we can see, for example, it’s amazing when you see this rock, all the big rocks, cliffs cut by the the waters. Do you get it? All the vortures vortures or cliffs. After the millions and millions and billions of years of the waves rising like that, how much it make difference? After running the water, same road same road all the time every day for millions and millions of it started of that water make it.

Can pour on the rock with this five what do call? The five. When when when you’re fired, the five Five holes, which is very strong for four hours or four, five, one month, then we make that walls or that wall. Do you get it? That is like our practice.

But continuity, even if it’s very, smooth, If you have heard about the story of this one drop of water continue to freeze that, you can make that. I should be able to do not to be when it started. Again, I was four years. So this is plane flying back inside from the from the cave. And as each time they fly, their wings somehow polish the rocks with that soft polish of that Every time, there was very shiny and, like, holes, almost like holes.

It doesn’t, like, become a hole. And it’s been soft, and this time, string or rope making a hole in the stone with like this, continuity. Like that, with the continuity. Even with the rope, you can cut the stone. Again, that so that is how we went and finally Then perseverance and vigilance.

The the the person who did it in working or for the welfare or for the sake of all sentient beings. So, again, as you as I said, trying to bring most benefit, never giving up your hope, never giving up your perseverance effort. So that is the these are the two different type of perseverance. So I might just mention, it says here in one of the sutras, one of the disciples asked the Buddha. In that it’s that’s what it says.

Those who are lazy, the enlightenment is very long, extremely long for those. For those who are laziness, there is no perfection of generosity, is no practice of morality, there is no practice of patience, there is no practice of For those laziness, they cannot work for others welfare as well. They cannot work for their own welfare. They cannot work for others welfare. And then another sūtra of mindfulness sūtra itself.

There’s one basis, one base for all the delusion, and that is the laziness. Whoever has that laziness, there will be no progress in that. Will be no progress in that. So so that is how it is explained. So there are two type of laziness. When we say laziness here, it might not be same as we would use in a normal term.

Okay? Because we thought it is different. It’s in different what do you call? Expect. As we said, the different categories of laziness: the laziness of postponement and common laziness.

There is two type of laziness. One, even though we see, things can be accomplished. Even though realization can be accomplished. Even the enlightenment can be accomplished. Even though liberation might be accomplished.

But still, we are not it is possible, but we still we don’t put enough effort now. Perseverance because we feel there is time, and we postpone to postpone it. Do you get it? That Mhmm. And the second type of is We don’t engage into this even though we see it’s possible and important because we are distracted by some other things, distracted to worldly concern, worldly dharma, distracted by our attachment and grasping, clinging to ordinary things, less meaningful.

So that can be in different one when we think about fully enlightened state, which means free from all the faults, all the defect, from all the obscuration properly, who has accomplished all the positive qualities through fully developed, we feel it. No? It’s not my cover, please. Do you get it? I cannot at the moment even it’s so hard to overcome just one fault, just one delusion.

How can I overcome all the get it? Out of your reach, you feel that is out of people to contemplate on that. But that make you discourage. Because of that discourage, you become lazy and going to people to make it happen. Difficult to make it happen.

Another is in order to achieve that enlightened state, we have to engage in engage into all the both of those path, five path and all ten. In order to that in order to perfect the practice of perfection, You might even need to give your own body and so forth and just out of my control, out of my control. And then, again, we get discouraged because in order to actually fully enlightened, we have to be in the world, again and again, and then going through the whole Samsāra experience. We are all a bit tired of that. We get it.

And you don’t want to come again and again and being there. So, again, you feel this is not my cup of tea. So then again, we get discourages and then. So these are the why we why we become very discouraged. And we do that discouraged, we become lazy, and we don’t go.

So in terms of overcoming the post laziness of postponing delay, if we can reflect and contemplate on that impermanence, that will help us. Do we get it? Because we think we have time, we can delay. But that impermanence, by contemplating and reflecting on that impermanence, we might not have time contemplating the fact that you not have time tomorrow next week. If you think this is something important, you will feel this is something achievable, better to start right now.

Do you get it? So better to put effort, perseverance right now without being lazy and postponing it. So when you become afraid and expect that it will help us to overcome that. It and so forth. Again, contemplate on the nature of Samsāra.

We have contemplating not only that, Buddha said all sentient beings have Buddha nature, can achieve enlightenment, and then of course we are human beings. Not only we have Buddha nature, we have all the conditions to actualize that Buddha nature, fully When you have more courage, when you feel it is more reasonable that you can actually reach and do it, then you are going to feel more difficult to make it happen. You’ll get it. When you feel it is not reachable, it is out of your reach, you put you put less effort to make it happen. Your mind is your mind is not so sure.

Do you get it? In most cases, that is what is happening with our practice. Always more like guessing. Do you get it? Is it possible?

Maybe yes? Maybe not? Always like that. When there is yes, no, maybe yes, maybe not, it’s possible, maybe not possible, then the effort is less there. But when we are sure, convinced, it is possible, it is in the vision of my time, I can do it, it is accomplishable, something, that is doable, then you are willing to invest more time, more energy, put more effort.

And that is not only in our spirit of life, is true in our everyday whatever we do. We get to advance some project and if I’m not confident that it can be achieved, I’m not going to put much effort and time and energy to that. But when I’m convinced that this project can be successful, accomplished, when I see there is something that really can be done, I will invest more my time and in the resource. Same with our family. In terms of when we are discouraged by seeing incredible practice of bodhisattvas and feel that at the moment, how can I do that?

Again, encouraging ourselves to think that some of those are terrible out of our mind. We we cannot even conceive at the moment such as leaving your own body. So you don’t have to worry when you leave the you don’t have to give those body at the moment as we mentioned at the very beginning. When you reach certain level and when you feel that even giving that is like just giving a with a table where you don’t have any pain. So it’s much easier.

You get it? But we don’t you when you reach that level, it is different experience. It’s not same experience as we experience now with a lot of pain. Do you get it? So therefore, when you reach that level, it’s not When you come in the when we come into the even we have to come into some charter, I say we have a benefit again and again.

For the bodhisattvas, because they engage into these practices and try to train the next Yeah. Similar. There are many examples similar like that that you find with many of the Buddha’s own life and many other. One of the Indian masters, Atisha Deva. Yeah.

Atisha Deva. Atisha Deva has only one eye. And, again, one time he was asked by someone, a blind person. According to the story, it is But that would be one future. You can have a precious human rebirth all the time.

You decide which way to have a report and which and where how do you get it. You have control. So in those cases, our life. Yeah. So this so that is how we can practice the first reading.

One of One minute, great master. He said, if your perseverance has no strength, you will not reach Buddhahood. People of English, make sure you don’t you don’t get armor of the perseverance. So English is one place in Tibet, one particular place. So Padampa Sangye came from India to that place, and he was giving advice to the people of One of the great masters said, without perseverance, bodhicitta and activities of bodhisattva will have no means to take root and grow in your mind.

Do you get it? So without the perseverance, all out of your practices does not have root to take, grow, and no means to take root and grow in your mind. Because even if you have developed bodhicitta, if you don’t have to be, then if you don’t continue to practice slowly, slowly, you will decline. Disintegrate. You get it?

And all all the practice is same. If you don’t continue to have the first breathing, continue to practice, even if that cultivated something, sure it doesn’t decline but increase and improve more and more and grow it. So that is similar to Je Tsongkhapa’s, one of the prayers which I I read before. So I think, yeah, we’ll with that, we’ll complete the perseverance. So again, the same thing in every practice, the motivation should be when we engage in perseverance for the welfare of all sentient beings without any expectations for oneself or any rewards in this life, in future life, anything.

And therefore, So good afternoon again. So this morning, we just finished discussing the the fourth perfections of the perseverance. So as I have been mentioning before that how each practice of each perfection, preceding perfection, have to the next subsequent perfections, the practice. So as we mentioned yesterday, if we have this patience to endure hardship in our practice, it will help us to develop the, what you call, the perseverance as well because it will give us more courage to face to face obstacles or challenges in our life, which is one of the obstacles for us to give up easily and to lose our interest and perseverance in what we are trying to So, therefore, it then, of course, next is the perfection of concentration, calm abiding, śamatha, whatever you call it, meditative stabilization or stabilizing. So without this concentration of calm abiding, it’s absolutely impossible to cultivate as I’ve been mentioning before.

The profound insight or the special insight of the wisdom realizing emptiness directly, which is must in order to overcome all the delusions, in order to overcome all the delusions, the ignorance, and in order to actualize liberation and fully enlightened state. So as it is said in Śāntideva, because we need to actualize the profound or special insight of the wisdom, understanding emptiness as a main antidote, as a main tool, as a main remedy or cure for the ignorance, which is the very root of all the other In order to actuate that, then we need help or tool of concentration or abiding or śamatha. Therefore, one must first engage in the practice of śamatha or calm abiding. So as it is said Again, as it is said in, Sandeepha himself. Even if we try to practice for longer period in our practice, but when it is done with distractions, because we don’t have strong mindfulness, strong concentration, So every practice we do is done with lot of distraction.

Because of that, then it takes much more time to actualize realization or our goal of liberation and fully enlightened state, whatever goal. Even though we do practice, but it’s done with lot of distractions. Your heart, your mind is not hundred percent in the practice. Only just one part of mind is there. Sometimes the eighty percent of your mind is somewhere else.

We are trying to do something, but your mind is thinking about something past, planning something future, doing something. You are not totally into the practice. When you are not totally in the practice, the practice is not so strong. It’s active. Whatever practice you do.

So, therefore, we need to cultivate the concentration from our body in order to make our any of our practice strong without any distractions so we can totally be into that practice. So we get maximum benefit or result out of that practice. Here it says Lama Atisha in the path. Those who does not have the calm abiding or the śamatha, even their perseverance and try to practice a lot for thousands of years, still it is very difficult to them to actualize true calm abiding, true concentration. K.

So, anyway, just just to give some reasons why we need to develop or why do we need to engage in practice of concentration or pliancy of body. If we can cultivate some amount of concentration and constraint, definitely, there’s no doubt how effective our practice becomes, but it also will help us to develop a lot in our many field areas in our everyday. We will be able to focus whatever we are trying to do. When we are able to focus better, we are better we are able to have better results of that work, that act, that activities. When we cannot focus well, then, again, we are unable to perform our job or our activities well.

And, of course, when we have this calm abiding Samatha, definitely, it give you a incredible bliss, blissfulness, peacefulness, incredible joy, happiness, total relaxation, Total calmness. And that give positive impact on our physical health as well. In term of dealing with the delusions, as I mentioned yesterday, there are two different level of dealing with the delusions. As I said on the very basic level, through the practice of moral discipline, we try to deal with delusion by distending ourselves from the object, which brings us which which make our delusion to arise or manifest. So in that cases, where to deal with delusion is take away the object and distant from the object so that you don’t your delusion doesn’t arise.

So that next level is to go beyond that because it is constantly you are running from the object. Do you get it? When you are faced with object, then, again, the delusion arises. So that is not it is solutions only for short term, but it’s not solution for long term because we keep on facing contact with the objects. So next level is to deal with the delusion through the practice of calm abiding Samatha.

Even the object is there, even the object is here, but when you are totally in that that calm abiding Samadha concentrations, even though object is there, it doesn’t allow your delusion to arises through your practice of śamatha, calm abiding. Do you get it? Because my mind is totally absorbed into that state of calm abiding. So even the objects all the objects are around me, the beautiful, the delicious cake, ice cream, everything’s with all the object of your attachment, all the object of your anger, everything can be around here, and you don’t have to run away from there physically. You just go in your state of by the śamatha, and your mind totally absorbed into that.

And then all these delusions, anger, hatred, attachment, whatever, they just dissolve. Do you get it just it just dissolved. It just disappeared by itself. So here, you see, this way of dealing with delusions is a little bit more advanced than the first level of dealing with them through the moral discipline. Do we get it?

But still, this is not the highest way of dealing with it. Because once you are out of that calm abiding or shamada, again, when you come with you contact the object, again, illusion arises. Again, you have to go in that observation or that śamatha or calm abiding. Do you get it? Unless you remain in the Shamatha all the twenty four hour time.

Do you get it? When you are not in that state of total absorb absorption of your mind of calm abiding Shamatha, again, when the object’s there, your mind is there, then it just connects, and then delusion arises. So that is, again, not the highest level. This is another ultimate of dealing with delusion even though it’s much more advanced than previous one. This is like that.

There is a dirt in the water. Okay? Dirt in the water. And you can see the dirt because it has been you have been stirring the water. The water is not clear.

Then you don’t stir. You just don’t shake. You just leave the water there. Slowly, slowly, all the dirt will sink down. You’ll get and the clear nature of the water will manifest.

So that dirt is there, but it’s not manifesting on the surface. But the but still the dirt is still there. Do you get when someone stares, then again, the dirt begin to rise, and then the water become dirt again. So trying to deal with this calm abiding Samatha is like that. We all we through this practice, when you just we we don’t allow ourselves to steer with all these thought, all these emotion, all these feelings by being remaining in that the still of that water without steering it.

So all these thought, all these feeling, negative feeling, just subs what do you call? Subsides. Subsides there. Still there. It is still there, but it’s not manifesting.

Do you get it? But when something, even someone, something happened, it will manifest. But as long as you’re in that state, it will not manifest, but when you are in that no state. So next level of dealing with the delusions through the wisdom is actually stirring it. Do you get it?

You stir the water. Pour more water. Stir it. And as you pour and stir it, all the dirt begin to flow overflow. And that way, you can totally get rid of all the dirt.

Just not not allowing for it to manifest or rise, but actually stirring it, bringing it up, and totally if you put water, you stir it. The dirt started to come up. And you pour more water, more stirring, and slowly, slowly, all those will overflow. So that is what the wisdom does. So that is the way to really deal with the delusion from the very root of it.

So in those cases, all the emotions, negative feelings, thought we all we have, but we which we have not been able to sort of overflow it, overthrow it through the practice of by the wisdom and through the practice of contemplation, analysis, analytical meditations, which we need for the wisdom wisdom and investigating mind, actually, we bring all the emotions which we have not been able to bring it intentionally, voluntarily, bring all the garbage up, bring all the garbage, garbage which I have been keeping here and which I have not been able to let it go and which is ready to explode someday. Do you get it? A lot of time, even though we think that we have solved the problem many years ago, we think because we have totally forgot about whole thing, the conflict that we had something and which we have never we not been able to let it go. For many years, we forget, and we think maybe this problem is gone, conflict is solved. But after twenty years, thirty years, suddenly, it just pop up.

You get it and disturb you, upset you from nowhere almost. What it shows is that we have not deal with that solution forever. It’s just we have just suppressed it. We try to just run away, escape from that, not to think about it. Do you think?

We try we pretend that we didn’t have that problem. We try to what do you call? What was the word I’m told? Nick. Not the reject, but, yeah, I think it in a way, it’s trying to reject it, the reality.

And so that is why it is still coming up after some time. So here, what we do is we actually bring up intentionally all the garbage we have and which we have never we have not been able to solve before. We bring it up and then allow our natural state of going to the same event, same same time, everything reconstructing the whole event that which has happened. And going through this whole emotion, everything that you went through at that time, going through that, and just allowing how you natural, how you feel about the whole thing, and then analyzing. If you still feel there is some kind of anger, some kind of hatred, some kind of grudges, which you have not been able to let it go, still there is some kind of uneasiness, uncomfortableness, that means there is something.

You need to still de low. So then analyze. Why am I feeling that way? Why am I feeling uncomfortable, uneasiness, why there is so much anger at you. Of course, your mind will come out with all kinds of reason and logic, why I’m upset, why I’m angry, why I’m uncomfortable, and then trying to trying to solve that problem from looking from different ankles.

Because at that moment, you are just trying to look from just one angle. Do you get it? As we mentioned yesterday with the practice of patient, you try to look same situation on different ankles, different perspective. When you see that same situation from different angle different, maybe you might might not be so upset because your perspective about the whole thing changes because you look from different perspective. And once you come to that kind of conclusion, then you can really let it go forever.

Do you get it? Because you come with your own. It is not suppressing anymore or it’s not trying to deny it, but, actually, you bring it out and then try to solve with it. So that is how the wisdom try to deal with the the delusions, just to give one example. So, yeah, so I was talking about the calm abiding, Samatha in feeling of the illusion.

It go a little bit further than the moral discipline. Like the needs of the kama abiding śamatha? Mhmm. So calm abiding, when we have developed calm abiding or the samadha or that kind of concentration, then we are able to direct our mind towards any object we wish to. Okay?

To be able to direct to be any object that we wish to and to remain in with that object without any distractions, without any thought into it, any distractions for hours, days, months, weeks, months. So one, you’re totally able to totally your whole mind, your whole body, mind, everything is seem just sink into that object, whatever you’re trying to do when you focus it that way. The focus is so strong and so directed. At the same time, there is feeling of great blissfulness on mental level, on physical level, The flexibility, the lightness. Do you get it?

The flexibility, the lightness of your body as well as the mind. It’s not like our at the moment when you try to concentrate and do work, pain here and here when we stay long time because there’s no flexibility in our body at the moment. And, also, there is no flexibility in our mind as well. But when we have really developed that concentration, there’s much more flexibility in your body, the wind energy, and your mind. Because of that flexibility, because of that lightness, it it it give us a lot of true peacefulness to be able to remain calm, really total calmness, with total realizations, with the total peacefulness, So in order to develop so here, the technique for cultivating such a calm abiding Samatha or concentration is explained even in many of the spiritual path, pre Buddhist spiritual path, many of the Hindu scriptures as well.

Some of the techniques are very much common in tofu, the technique to develop such a mindful calm abiding, śamatha, and so forth. But the purpose is different. Do you get it? The purpose is different. The very reason for the Buddhist to for a Buddhist practitioner, true Buddhist practice, very reason to develop that through develop the profound or special insight, the wisdom.

Do you get it? And the very reason should develop that wisdom is to eliminate the ignorance, which is the very root of all the suffering. The ignorance, all the delusions. And very reason to do that is to achieve fully enlightened so for one set of all sense and things. So especially the Mahāyāna practitioner.

So that is the purpose of doing. In others, it could be different purpose. Do you get it? We have the same tool, but for we use for different purpose. And especially nowadays now adays, the practice of mindfulness is used more for a physical health than anything else, especially, you know, at the moment.

The practice of mindfulness, you you have that technique. Same technique, but using for different purpose, mainly on your physical level. Whereas this practice for the Bodhisattva, physical level has never been concerned. It just come. They didn’t know that it had a physic physical impact.

But with the more scientific technology, it is are finding it. But I think for the practitioner, they were not concerned about it. It was more with that. So purpose is different. Okay?

In term of how to develop the such concentrations of kama bhai and śamatha, there are two way of developing, basically first, with object and without object. Without object means trying to develop concentration without external physical object, okay, by just focusing on the mind itself, okay, without any external object as a focus. Whereas there is another technique which there is a object of external or physical or something ex some other object as a object of focus. And different people have different find different way of doing more effective or different. So when we choose the object, they are again the object of our practice, in this case of Samatha or Kamabhadhi.

We can use Buddha’s image, for example. We can use the breath itself, which we normally breath. We can use the movement of the the what do call abdomen raising and what about? Yeah. Like, coming and going like this.

In out. Yeah. So and then, of course, you can use any other objects, flower, light, candlelight, anything can be object of your śamatha kama and concentrations in Theravāda tradition. Of course, all these all these method are mentioned in all the Lamrim. But, of course, different people or different practitioner have emphasized on particular more on emphasized on more particular.

I think in Thailand, they are more use common of the breathing. It seems in Burma, they use more of the stomach, the and whatever expanding and contracting that part. Even though they all are explained in Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism, using the Buddha’s image is more common to cultivate and the reason is because it has connection with tantric practice because when you do tantric practice, there’s a lot of visualizations. So when you develop concentration by using Buddha’s image, will help later part in the visualization as well. It’s a part of many of the tantric practice as well.

And then, of course, as many of the lamas I mean, lama at yeah. I mean, lama at this lama and all of those master explained. The extra benefit of using Buddha’s image than a flower or a candle or bread. Do you get it? Candle is get it it by using it, you can develop the Samatha kamava, and that’s all you can do.

But by using the Buddha’s image, not only you can develop concentration or Samatha on the basis of that, but you live so much post an imprint of the Buddha’s image in your the quality of Buddha. Do you get it? It leaves a lot of imprint, positive imprint. With the flower with the flower candle, there is no positive imprint. So it help us to cultivate also, it help us when you’re visualizing very clear with the Buddha’s image, it help us to develop the devotion, the even restive and stronger.

Do you get it? For some people, when you use that visualization, the connection, the feeling of devotion is much stronger because of because of that visualization. Of course, for some people, maybe it’s not necessary. Do you get it? But for some, it helps to connect from heart to heart through the means of that visualizations.

Mhmm. And then many other practices. So, therefore, that is one of the reason why they use the Buddha’s image. Mhmm. But, of course, for some people, visualization is not so easy.

Do you get it? Some people find it extremely difficult. Of course, it can be trained. There’s no doubt about it. It can be trained, and even your visualization at the very beginning is not good.

When you visualize something, it’s just blank. Just a blank blank. Nothing else. But with the training, it can be done. It can be improved.

But so for more more many people, they find the breathing more easier. So, therefore, they use it, and that is absolutely fine. The breathing as a object of your some other karma. Mhmm. And it’s quite interesting, I think, if we observe, if you notice.

When we do this meditation by using the breath, when we just aware and breathing normally. Sometimes we find it so not easy to breathe normally. Do we get it? It just shows we don’t breathe normally all the time. Do you hear this?

We are breathing a little too fast, too slow, a lot of time. So when we try to sit and breathe normally, we find breathing normally is so that is just just one what I mean it just shows. I mean, it just which we are not aware in normal days. We think we are breathing very normally, but we are not. Most time we are breathing either too fast, too too strongly, or too slow and too weak.

So it so with that, I think, definitely, it help it also help us to sort of learn how to breathe normally on normal peace. And if we learn that to definitely it will also have a positive impact on our health as well. And if we breathe normally, also we are able to our mind more clear, able to focus more. There is a strong connection with the breathing and the clarity of the mind. When you when you breathe too slow or too fast or too strongly, it’s more likely our mind will be less stable and less clear it will be more likely to be less stable and with less clarity.

Our mind will more likely to be distracted with excitement or other win. So there is strong connection with that as well. It might be interesting, I mean, if you check yourself, find out whether that is the case or not. Just trying to focus on one thing whether it’s breathing itself or something. Breathe very fast and strong and how your mind works and very slow and very weak, long and normal.

So that is so whatever method you use, In in one of the such as text, also, the according to the the some of the lineage, they use a flowers blue flowers as an object of concentration. And as I said, you can use any object. The mind itself is more difficult for most people to use the mind as an object of your concentration or your mind. It’s more difficult for many of the people, but either you can use that as well. And the mind can be any of the mind.

Anyway, so if you will use a Buddha’s image, it is recommend recommended when you try to do is in term of the size. Like, this size, four inch. Not too big, not too small. Too big, more likely to have excitement, distraction. Too small, more likely to be in the dullness, slowness, laxity.

Do you get it? Two of the obstacle for the two of the main obstacle for cultivation or development of single pointed concentration of kammabadi samadha is too either excitement or laxity or dullness. Too too extreme. Okay. Do you get it?

So when the image is too big, your mind is more likely to scatter. Do you get it? More likely to scatter and more excitement. When it’s too small, your mind becomes so deep into that too small that your mind is, like, sort of closing. Do you get it?

It’s close to your mind is more likely to close more, so there’s a dullness and activity. It’s the danger of that. So like, four inches, for example. And something like not up not down something where you somewhere there you’ll get it where it’s it’s just simple you can just manage there where you don’t have to look down up just straight At the very beginning, it will be a good to have a picture and statue of something to look upon there and then try to visualize, imagine without looking at it. Do we get it?

And after some time, you might lose it because of visualizing also. Again, you look to the pictures. Again, it just reinforce. Again you visualize it. So you keep a picture or something nearby you, you look and then without looking at it, you try to visualize it.

So that is how beginning, sort of training ourselves for the visualization. Looking the pictures again and again and again before you start and then when you start, you do. And then again, when you lose it, sometimes. So at the very beginning. It is good to visualize visualize more like a light rainbow body, not a solid.

Do you get it? When we visualize more like light, bright brightness, like rainbow or lightness, again, it helps us to overcome the dullness, laxity. Do you get it? When you have dullness, laxity, it’s more like dark. Your mind is closed in dark.

So that keeps you more alert brightness of that the visualization. Do you get it? So when you visualize it as more light, more like rainbow body, more light, it’s a solid, it help us to be our mind be more bright, more alert because of brightness. Even though it is in the nature of brightness like a rainbow, but at the same time alive and happy. Do you get it?

Not so light like floating. If it is floating then again like a really light itself, not alive and not stable, then excitement, your mind gets excited and floated. You cannot stay, visualize it and keep on going here, here, here, it’s like floating. Do you get it? So it is it’s bright light, but kind of heavy enough for it to remain there all the time.

It’s interesting, isn’t it? Even though it is just all our visualizations, the difference it makes when we visualize differently, how it makes difference in our mind. So to start with the visualization, first, you go can go with very detail. The detail of the whole image, the Buddha’s image. Either you can start from the top or you can start from the bottom.

Starting with the throne with the eight feet less lines on the four side to to his four sides. On top of that, the lotus cushions. On top of that, the sun cushions, moon cushion, which represent the three principal aspects of the task. And then on top of the Buddha Śākyamūni, for example, we are using the image of Buddha Śākyamūni. The way his sit posture, leg posture, cross leg, and going further, his right the the hand posture and the body posture and the rope that he’s wearing clearly.

Three ropes, different clear. Three ropes. If you can think, there’s one, like, red inside, then there’s necks, and on top of that, there is another one for the fully ordained one. So, anyway, at least we can have general this rope, image of the rope, and then you go the neck and the face. Within the face, you can start with the uṣṇīṣa on the top crown, the hairs, colors, as well as the curling, long ears, and then the the what do you call?

The the one there is one here. It’s like yeah. So there is I don’t know in English what you call. Hair color. Yeah.

The hair color in the middle. Sometime you have, sometime you don’t have. There’s something dot there, I think. And then long ears and then eyes slightly opening, slightly closed. Looking with the compassion compassion wisdom eyes.

The nose perfect nose, and then the lips slightly smiling. And the radiating, emitting it with the wisdom light. So going all details very clearly. Once you have gone through the whole detail, then you have general image. Do you get it?

And just try to remain that general image without going into detail as much as you can. Yes. Do you find in any meditation or particular meditation or any meditation? Uh-huh. Using the breath.

Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. And it wasn’t that in the past.

Maybe your interest has gone down. So there there might be a lot of possibility. There might be a few possibility. One, the physical possibility, Maybe something I mean, sometime it is some kind of food or something which make you more sleepy. Sometime it is there is that kind of thing.

Maybe now you have started eating something which you didn’t eat before and which that might be affecting. There is possibility. There’s there’s one one of the possibility from physical point of view when your mind become more less clear and more some people, when they take meditations, that make their mind very dull, sleepy, depending on what kind of dose such. So certain meditations has a defect in that way. And it seems certain food, certain maybe plant or whatever might also affect you in some some cases.

And so I think maybe maybe we’ll probably, I will come to that. You can try slightly different with the breathing. And if it doesn’t help, then maybe visualization. You can try the visualization. So I was we were discussing about the so first, you go through the details, then just general image and try to remain in that as much as possible.

So one thing very important is whatever decision you make at the very beginning, the size, the color, the shape, everything, you always try keep that same size, same shape, same color, everything. Don’t change colors, shapes, then you will not be able to develop the concentrations. Sometimes, of course, when you do naturally, it just changes. The white Buddha become blue Buddha suddenly. Do you get it?

Suddenly, it become green Buddha. And because that is how our mind works, our mind just like to change. And even if we feel like even we don’t put effort to make a change, it just pop up suddenly like that. That is fine. That is fine.

As long as when blue Buddha comes when you are trying to white Buddha, you just don’t allow yourself to remain there, and bring back the white Buddha. Basically, that that mean you haven’t distracted. When the color changes, when the size changes, when the shape changes. Before the Buddha was not speaking, now it is starting to speak. That mean you are you are not able to concentrate and it is distracting.

It’s going in one of those excitement or distraction. So therefore bring back and just be in that same the force where however you want it at the very beginning and same every time, same and color there. That’s one important thing in order to really develop real śamatha kama by using that as object. Another important, whatever object, breathing or or visualization, is at the very beginning, keep it short. Don’t Don’t be too long.

Do you get it? Keep it short. Short with less distraction, like excitement, and less where you are able to be much clear, most alert, much focused. Even if it’s five, ten minutes. Continuity of that is important.

Instead of doing one hour in a day and then within the one hour, your mind going everywhere, wild, everywhere, it might be better you do ten minutes, have a break, five minutes of stress stretching, walk a little bit, again, stay ten minutes. After ten minutes, again, you can walk, stress, refresh, ten minutes. So within the one hour, instead of one hour hold, you can break into ten minutes, ten minutes, a little bit of break and focus more. As you get good at that, ten minute to fifteen minute, maybe fifteen minute. And when you are good at that, you are able to focus without any distraction, laxity, anything for fifteen, then gradually increase it to twenty minutes instead of increasing immediately half hour or one hour.

One of the reasons why we don’t enjoy doing our practice and why we get sleepy or sort of distracted is because when you do long, it’s too long for you to be able to focus, and you become so happy during that. Do you get it? You become very happy during And every time you do, it just become like that. It become you’re happy. So that is not good.

So so if you ten minutes when you you feel that the practice is going so well, know, there is some kind of excitement, a great thing that you enjoy doing it because there’s less distraction, less activities. You have to stop at that point. Sometimes what I mean, we we over kind of, oh, it’s great. I should continue. And you continue, and at the end, you just kind of what do you call?

After some time, it’s just like being burned out. You feel tired, something. The excitement, the good thing that we had at the very beginning is no more there. Next session, you remember this last experience, not enjoying one, and you don’t want to be on the cushion again because of that experience. Whereas if you stop, when you have enjoyed experience you remember, and that somehow draw you into meditation, make you more excited and wanting to do more.

Is why many of the practitioners recommend to do short and many times instead of doing it. That is one thing. That is for any object you decide. Yeah. We are talking about the general image and that.

So when you do that meditation, the clarity will not come at the very beginning. Okay? And you don’t have to worry about the clarity. Do you get it? You go through the whole details and then general image.

Even that general, there is no clarity. You don’t have to worry about it. Panic about it. As long long as you are able to focus and stability is there, that is fine enough. The clarity will slowly, slowly come.

It will slowly, slowly come. What you need is stability where you are able to focus even though the image is quite blunt, not so clear. Clear, it mean the image is very clear. You can see the eyes, everything better. The image very clear.

Whereas I can have image which is not clear. It’s just like vague. Do you get it? I can see there is person, but I don’t really see his face. He’s like, when you see far away, I can see there is person, but I cannot see how he looks.

His eyes, his nose, everything clearly. Similarly, when we do visualization, it is like that. You just see there is image, that shape, and that shape and quite quite vague, not clear. And so that is fine at the very beginning stage. But just be just try and be in that state.

Just trying to have the stability without being excite distracted by excitement, laxity. So that is one thing. Mhmm. Yes. Yes.

Yes. That will be a good way. I mean, in the old time, sometimes they use like, incense until the incense finish. There is, like, timer or something like that. But nowadays, with all, we have timer.

So you want to do fifteen minutes, ten minutes, you just have that. And after that so it is controlling. Do you get it? It’s learning how to control our thought, mind. Instead of when you are excited, we just allow you to go to as much as you can.

Do you get it? Where we are no control. When there is no excitement, we just stop it immediately. Do you get it? So discipline our mind.

Okay. I want to do ten minutes, fifteen minutes. That’s it. I clock. And you have timer when it’s time.

It’s it. So it is learning how to control, how to discipline ourselves. So that is definitely the timer would be more useful. There stability, just trying to concentrate. That is one thing.

When you feel your mind is too excited, distracted through the power of mindfulness introspections, recognizing that your mind has been distracted, bring it down gently and refocus on the objects. Okay? Just refocus on the objects. But your mind might not be so distracted or excited, but still your mind is not able to focus totally on the object. In that cases, when your mind is excited, there are two different ways of doing it.

One way of bringing the excitement down is for a short moment in order to overcome that obstacle of excitement. You can visualize the the image getting smaller. The small more smaller smaller it becomes, the more close your mind becomes. Do you get it? When your mind is closed, then there is no danger of excitement.

When your mind begin to scatter, there is more danger of excitement. Mind running everywhere at a while. So at that time, what you need to bring bring your mind more closer. And the more the more the more smaller it becomes, the mind becomes more focused on that smaller, smaller, more growth. So that is one way of bringing back from the excitement to overcome that of once you are overcome, bring that excitement, then, again, you go to the same sight, same colors, and image.

Do you get it? That is one way of sinking. When your mind is too there is too much of other obstacle, dullness, laxity, sloth, What do you need? You you need to brighten it up. Okay?

So that is your mind is too close, so your mind has to be a little bit open up. So you can do two way. One, you can visualize to overcome that the image more bright and more bright and brighter. Do you get it? So it’s like sometime in a sudden electricity.

It is very dreamy at the very beginning, and with the time, it become more brighter and brighter, some of the energy saving light. Similarly, you visualize that getting more brighter and brighter and brighter, that image. And that just uplift from the sleepiness or dullness or laxity. That is one way of doing. Another way of doing is actually going through the details more.

Do you get it? If you go details, then now your mind is more active. Do you get it? So your mind get more active, then it brings up from being too dull and laxity. So now you go to the whole detail again from top or from bottom.

Each of the each of the major minor marks and everything, shape everything details. And that going through that detail give some kind of refresh it with that kind of. And then once you have more refreshed, then again, go into the same general image without going deeper. So that is how to deal with that too. Another way of doing is when there is excitement, you try to focus on the lower part of the the image.

Do you get it? The throne, the lotus, the moon and sun cushions, and the portion in lower side. This helps to bring back. It helps. When there is laxity or excitement, you try to focus more on the upper part.

Do you get it? It it it is quite it’s quite strange, but it is true. The way our mind works, it just seems like more more like how our eye consciousness works to some extent. If I close my eyes, more more likely to be sleepy, dull. Do you get it?

If I open more, I open totally, more distractions. Do you get it? My mind is more excitement, the more I see. If I look up, it’s more excitement. If I look down here, it’s less dull.

It is more less distracting, more dullness. You can just close my cell and just look here. So, similarly, when you do visualization, when you actually focus on a upper part, it sort of give up that lift up a little bit. When we focus on the lower part, it help us to bring down a little bit. So that is how we can do it.

I think with the breathing, if you are using breathing, When you are there is some kind of dullness or sleepiness or something, without totally changing the the object, what you can do is you can start to do deep breathing. Do you get it? Before you are just breathing normally. So now in order to refresh and give a little bit more kind of energy, because that is what you need. Because you are feeling sleepy, dullness, laxity, you breathe breathe what you call very deep and breathe deep out.

Breathe deep in, deep out for a few times and just being aware and focused without losing the object. So that way, again, your mind is a little bit more active. When it’s a little bit more active, it just uplift a little bit. Or you can use some visualizations. When you breathe in, you visualize taking all the receiving or taking all the positive energy in the form of white light, all the love, compassion, vodhistha.

As you breathe out, you visualize freeing yourself from all the negative energy. As you breathe out breathe out not only the the breath itself, but all the negative energy inside, all the delusion, all the anger, all the attachment, all the ignorance, everything that and just as you breathe out very strongly, you visualize that same especially feeling of sleep sleepiness, for example, dullness, laxity. Or if it is excitement, visualize that excitement totally purifying, cleansing, throwing up that excitement. That way, that is one way of doing it. When there is too much excitement, again, trying to be more as much as normal.

Okay? And sometimes, it’s true excitement, even not so normal that you are not even almost not aware of your operative self. It’s very subtle way. Do you get it? The stronger your breath, it seems your mind gets more active.

The more subtle your breath become. The movement of your breath become more subtle, then your mind also become kind of more more less active. So with the breathing, that is how we can do. And, of course, in certain cases, the obstacle is not as simple like this. Do you get it?

Much more growth. Much more growth. Excite Excitement because of attachment being excitement to something about past, about future, something bothering. In those cases, then you have to totally change the meditation. If something’s attachment, something bothering you, excitement, then you have to meditate on.

When there is too much excitement, then in those cases, you have to do meditation to bring them to the mind, which means meditate on death impermanent. Or natural saṃsāra, natural suffering, something which brings your mind from being too excited. When your mind is very low, laxity and dull and that, and it’s too strong, mind feels so of so low, something like that, you have to uplift it. And that has said you try to meditate on Buddha nature, the qualities of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, about the rapture. Something which uplift because your mind is too low and dull.

Something will lift up. So then you change that. And once you have uplifted your mind, I can go to whatever you have been doing before. Continue to do that on Sunday. Okay.

In some cases, even doing those meditation properly, it will not solve. Either you are too sleepy or either your mind is too excited. In that cases, just relax. Stress out. Get up.

Have some refresh with the cold water. If sleepy, cold water. Go outside, have some fresh air. Stress. Walk a little bit and come and do.

If something bordering and so too much excitement, excitement. You just need to go around the park, around the river, park, the bush to be in the nature and maybe sometime just to be with some of your friends, just to share what is bothering you or anything, and just, what do call, just open yourself. And once you have been more calm, restart. So you see there are so many different level of excitement or where your mind is too uplifted or dullness, different level. And to different level, it will apply different antidotes or different way of dealing with it.

Sometime of course, it is the most difficult part part is the balancing as we as we find ourselves in most cases. Here, also, the balancing is important. Sometimes we we push out ourselves too hard. Do you get it? We become too hard on ourselves, and that is also not great.

That is not good. Or sometime we become too lay laid back. Do you get it? And too too, what do call, in each word, what’s that? You you just do nothing, almost like nothing.

You know? You are not kind of what do you call it? Too loose. Can you say too loose? Okay.

Too loose. Too passive. Okay. Yeah. Something like that.

Do you get it? Either you become too hard on yourself or too loose. We have to find the balance middle way. I think in the east, I think most probably not every East maybe because Japan, I don’t think they are quite loose. I think they are very hard.

I think I saw one of the people who pushed themselves to the most limit or most streams, more than twelve hours of work every day kind of thing. So much everything. But more like an developing third world country like Nepal, India, many parts. People are too loose, too relaxing and too passive. That is also one that could be one of the obstacles.

In many parts, as I said in Japan and also some in the west as well, to both become too hard on themselves, and that is also become one obstacle. So finding the balance is very important. Sometimes when you try to, we cannot somehow or what what do you have in that day is not your day. Do you get it? And you don’t wanna push where you just break down.

Do you get it? And I have seen people push themselves until they break down. And that is not the most skillful way of dealing with it. I also found when we in monastery, when we do the every evening, have to recite the text we have memorized so we don’t forget every and even the one text you have been memorizing for many days, weeks, months, you can remember and recite very fluently without any. There are certain days they block it from the very beginning.

Again, you try and then there’s You cannot go beyond that. And, again, even you go after something, again, there’s That time, you have to rest. Do you get it? Mhmm. Well, I think that we have to we have to absorb ourselves well enough to understand that.

Do you get it? Sometimes it is just our excuse not to do. Do you get it? I’m not really physically feeling tired, but my mind says I’m physically tired. I should take a rest today and not do the practice.

That is just excuse. It’s not really you’re physically really tired. Your mind is trying to the mind is so interesting, isn’t it? How it can it’s very cunning kind of things. How it sort of trick us in so many different way.

Sometimes it trick us to feel that way, but sometimes it is just our mind trying to trick us. And sometimes, definitely, it is our physically where we really try. Try. And so that we have to do with our own physical. If you are more aware of our physical things, probably you will be more aware whether you are really tired or your mind is making up.

Do you get it? There are all these I don’t think I have a very simple kind of answer to to to answer that question, but I think it is knowing yourself better. Knowing your physical state better, knowing your mind better, whether your mind do that that that kind of trick all the time or your mind doesn’t do that kind of tricks. So this all knowing about the way our mind function, the way we do, and our physical state as well. Yeah.

So I was talking about yeah. We are talking about two obstacles and how to overcome these two obstacles from different kind of different techniques or different way of doing it. Whether I’ll practice yeah. So I won’t go in details. When we try to do the meditation on in order to develop calm abiding some other, you can use two popular two main well known technique.

One is the the nine stages. By using the nine stages. That’s one way. Another one, Applying the eight antidotes and overcoming the the five faults. So that is so these two are the main kind of source main source of the technique of meditation on these two technique.

Whatever you use method you use. But for the success of that and then, of course, use whether whatever you use that, then using the the sixth power for engagement in order to develop the calm abiding. In both in both cases, we use the four engagement and sixth power. What what method you use? How successful your practice on samadha kumarabhana, very much depend on how strong mindfulness and introspection or vigilance is.

Do you get it? These are the two main tools that you need. As it is said in many of the sūtra and many of the other scriptures explain, our mind is like a wild monkey or wild elephant and subdued. Like, wild it’s like a wild monkey jumping from one tree to another another tree, from one branch to another branch. Similarly, our mind is like that.

One thought leading to the next thought. Next thought leading to the energy. Never ending thoughts. That’s how our mind works. The waves of the thoughts, the waves of the emotions, the waves of the feeling, how each one lead to another.

Another, never ending kind of thing. That is how our mind’s uncontrolled, unsubdued, wild, or like a very wild elephant. So when you train, whether it’s the wild elephant or whether it’s a wild monkey, the way they train I don’t know where how it trained here. In west, the training here might be different from the the what training we see in India and Nepal. There you train them.

Do you get it? They train them. They train them, and they train them to the pole, training with the pole, and they teach them. And by using stick of of the elephant to hook, that’s how they’re trained, isn’t it? So here, similarly, Buddha give similar examples.

Our mind is untamed like wild elephant and wild monkey. We need to change our wild mind with the rope of mindfulness through the pillar of the object. Do you get it? So the object whatever we use the object for our concentration, whether it’s a bread bread bread or bread? How you say bread?

Bread? No. The bread. Bread. Bread.

I think bread is better, isn’t it? So whether you use bread or image or whatever you use, that is the object. Object. Do you get it? So we train our mind through the with the rope of the mindfulness through this object, the pillar of that object.

Then we train our mind from being wired with the hook of introspection or vigilance or alertness. Do you get it? When you are misbehaving, you bring that hook of introspection and see whether your mind is distracted and behaving strangely, whether your mind is going somewhere else. The moment you recognize it, with that introspection form, you bring that to the object, your mind back to the object. And once we have bring that back to the object, try to remain keeping that object through the mindfulness, through the force of mindfulness, through the rope or chain of the mindfulness.

So so, therefore, the practice of mindfulness introspection can be extremely important extremely important, powerful. If we don’t have that two tools, we cannot change our wild mind. Do you get it? If we cannot change the wild elephant or the wild we cannot chain them. Do we get it?

Either you can chain whether you chain them, you tie them with a rope or in a house, cage cage or whatever. At the very beginning, if you want to train them, somehow you have to train you have to tighten. You cannot just they cannot be just running there and you want to train them. Do you get it? You cannot train them when they are in the wild.

The only way to train them is when you bring them and train them. Same way that is how our mind to train our mind mindfulness introspection. We must have that tool. Not only we must have that tool, we need a very strong mindfulness, strong introspection to make any progress, impact in our practice of that. The more stronger your mindfulness introspection, the more impact, the more stronger you will have in your meditation.

So we will take a short break. So before the break, we are talking about the importance of training and cultivating strong mindfulness and introspections in order to able to to pull up through kama abiding of Samatha. So the way to cultivate the way to train ourselves is as Training and learning ourselves all the time to mindful of what we are doing all the time throughout the day from morning to evening. It doesn’t mean you don’t have it doesn’t mean you have to take off your time from what you are doing. We are just doing what we are doing every day, but doing with mindfulness.

While I’m washing, I’m being more mindfulness of while I’m washing my dish. Slowly and being better mindful of everything, to be in the moment, in present, instead of allowing our mind to go in the past or the future. Of course, when you want to plan something, of course, that is a different thing. We try to be in that which is thinking about future, but at the same time also being mindfulness what you are thinking about and what you are doing. Even in that case.

But other things when you are in garden, just being in garden. Totally totally being yourself with the garden, totally immersed with the garden, with the plant, totally being there. Do you get it? Not that your physical body is there and the mind is somewhere else, but mentally, physically being there. So whatever we try, we try to train ourselves, learn ourselves how to do that.

If we do that every day, then definitely we’ll make a huge progress in our mindfulness within quite short period if we learn to do that. Instead of trying to do too many things at one time, trying to do one thing. Positively, concentrating, and being trying to do one thing very perfectly or very well. So when you try to do two main things at one time, that is when our mind is not present, not in moment. And when our mind is not present in that moment, then, of course, the mindful is not there.

And, of course, at the very beginning, it might be a little hard to be mindful of everything that we do. But to start with, if we can start with practice mindfulness four times a day. You try to do mindfulness in the morning, starting with the mindfulness. Then, I don’t know, during the whole day, you can break up. After three hours, you have some alarms within three hours, four times a day.

When that alarms goes, it’s a reminder for you to just slow it down. Slow it down. Calm down from whatever you are doing. Take a few seconds to be in moment, to be in present. Spending few second, few moments, few minutes.

Everything’s everything’s about training. Even it’s not a long time, even it’s five minutes, few seconds, two minutes, disciplining ourselves to just physically, mentally just stop from doing what you are doing for just a moment. Just calm down ourselves, just relaxing ourselves, and doing nothing. Just being purely just mindful what I’m doing there at the moment. What am I doing physically?

What am saying verbally? What am I thinking? What thoughts are going in my mind? Simply just being aware. When we become to be more good at that, then slowly from six to four to six times a day.

When you get good at that, slowly, eight times a day. You have alarm which remind you eight times a Maybe every one hour, every one and a half hour. Again, here, you don’t have to do anything. You’re just being there. Do you get it?

You don’t have to stop. You don’t have to have a meditation cushions. You don’t have to have a space. Where ever you are, whether you are eating, whether you are in the office, anywhere, just taking few minutes for yourself and just be present in the moment. And just simply being aware and watching without trying to without the struggle of trying to push away, neither trying to embrace.

Simply just being aware, being moment, present. And if we are good at eight times a day as as it goes by, then increase ten, twelve. And then as we get good at it, it become our habit. And slowly, slowly, whole day, we can be very mindful. Everything in every moment, we can become very mindful.

And when you become very good at mindfulness at day time, even during the night, even in the dream, you can be very mindful because our dream during the stage is very much reflecting of our day as his holiness mentioned. He said even in a dream even in his dream, it always come him as just as a simple monk, full monk. That’s what it appeared to him. Not as a leader, as not as a Dalai Lama, anything. But just even in his dream, it remind him.

Even in a dream, it remind me. He’s just simple. But that reflect exactly during the daytime how he receive, how he think himself. That’s the reflections of your day practice in the dream. Do you get it?

And as we have many experience, many of the dream, you think about something in the daytime and that something we have something dream which is related with that. Some of them we might not remember immediately, but it is something related with in one of the past months, years ago. Maybe it could be something even more than that. So, what I’m trying when you practice then, if in in dream, we can be very mindful. So that is mindfulness, being present moment and just being what you being aware of what what you are what you are doing at that moment in present.

Introspections mind is the mind from time to time which investigate, introspect, what am I doing now? What am I thinking now? What I am talking about now? And that, again, that investigations, again, just like mindfulness, to start with, we can start with four times a day. Reminder.

You can have different for that, different sounds, reminding ourselves that that few moment, few second, few minutes, we just calm down and just trying to reflect. What am I thinking now? So mindfulness, just being in moment, present, just being aware. This one’s more like investigating. You get introspection and more investigating.

What am I thinking? What am I doing? And if I’m thinking negatively, trying to transform me the positive thoughts, positive feelings with introspection when I find it. With the introspection mind, if I notice that I’m using some harsh words, some unpleasant words, trying to transform it, change it. With the introspection mind, if I notice that I’m behaving strangely, unskillfully, unwholesome way, trying to transform it.

So that is the the introspection, analyzing, investigating time to time all the time. Again, just like mindfulness, it can again, we train and then from four to six, eight, ten, twelve, and throughout the day. So that is how we can train. How we train to improve and increase the level of introspection and level of the mindfulness. If our mindfulness introspection is very strong, not only it will help to overcome the obstacles we talk about for the Samatha kama abiding, the laxity, and the excitement.

The more stronger your alert or introspections and mindfulness, the more you are able to notice, even the subtle ones. Do you get it? If our mindfulness interest is not strong, we might be able to notice the gross one. Do you get? But subtle one, we might not be able to notice.

So to be able to notice even the most subtle one, you need very strong, strong mindfulness introspection. With only that, we can be able to notice and identify those even the subtle obstacles. Another thing is that when we have a strong mindfulness introspection, it help us to deal with the delusion much more in better way. Mhmm. I give you one example.

Even though we know we are not even though we know getting angry is not good for us, but we keep on repeating getting angry when we are faced with certain situations, certain people and so forth. When we get angry and overwhelmed by angry, we mess up everything. We as I said yesterday, we we we have done certain most foolish, most stupid things. We have said most foolish, most stupid things. Everything is as kind of and then we notice, oh, I’m angry, and I mess up.

I mess up everything. It just seems too late. Do you get it at that time? And sometimes we might even feel guilt about it. Everything.

And when you try when you when you’re the emotions of anger, for example, just giving anger, it could be attachment. Strong, then you try to do practice patience, those analytical meditation. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to work. Sometimes it seem to backfire. Do you get it?

It make you more agitated, more angry. Do you get it? This meditation is supposed to calm down my anger. It is not coming down. It is and you begin to become more agitated with your practice, with yourself.

Either you think I’m bad, bad practitioner. I’m not I don’t know how to do the practice well. My practice is not good enough. This and that. Or the practice practice is not working.

It’s useless. It’s all deceived about all this practice helping my anger. It doesn’t help. Useless. And then all doubt about the whole practice, everything.

Well and the problem is that it is not the method is wrong. It’s not the method is wrong. It’s not that there is anything wrong in the method that is useless or is non beneficial. The problem is your our delusion is too strong or our practice is too weak. Do you get it?

With delusion, we have been so used to it, and when it come, it’s so strong. With a practice, because we hardly do practice. When you try to practice, it’s not strong enough. It’s so weak. It’s very shaky.

That is why it’s not having as effect as it should have. The water has the energy, ability to extinguish the fire. Do you get it? It has that energy to extinguish the fire. But if this whole house is on fire with few buckets of water, it’s not going extinguish.

Do you get it? It’s not that the the water does not have the the energy to extinguish, but it was the fire was too strong. The water was too weak, too small, too small amount. Do you get it? That is what is that is what happens with us in that cases.

Our our emotions, our delusions, our distracted emotion like fire of this house, and we are trying to extinguish it with the two buckets of water. It doesn’t work that way. But if the fire if the fire was started from candle and with this table, if I notice when this table is on the fire, with this two packet of water, I can extinguish it. Do you get it? At this point, the file is not too big, not too strong.

That amount of water was enough. And if I notice just at the very beginning, my candle is actually going there. I’m just starting the fire. I don’t not I don’t even need to pack it. I just need one glass of water to take off the fire.

And if I’m very notice if I’m very careful notice, and if I notice even before the fire, there is all the conditions coming there to make it could be fire. Wind blowing, and there’s nothing to hold inside. No metal or anything. So I can see that if I just leave it here, it’s going to this table is going to burn. That moment, I don’t even need one glass of water.

I just take it with such easement. So that is where our mindfulness introspection become very key role here. Because with this case, our mindfulness introspection not there until the whole fire was only on the fire already the whole house on the fire. It’s too strong. But if our mindfulness introspection is strong, we will have noticed when this table was on fire.

Do you get it? And that could have been much easier. Our practice might not meditation practice might not need so much strong. With that, meditation could help. With that, the way there were that technique, same technique will have an effect in that case.

If our mindfulness interesting, even more stronger, we’ll be able to notice even when just started to burn. That require even more, even less energy. It require even less strong meditations. You cannot calm down even just by breathing or some other exercises, more more simple exercises as well. And when our mindfulness introspection is so strong, very strong, we’ll be able to be aware of the delusion even before they arises.

Do you get it? When you feel conditions are coming there, The delusions are not arises, but you see all the condition coming there for that delusion to arises. When you notice at that moment, it’s much easier. The delusion even not arises but you have begin to because of your mindful introspection you can see the gathering of conditions for that delusion and you can stop it from arising even before it arises by taking the conditions away before delusion arises. So that is how important of mindfulness introspection play a good role in our dealing with the delusion in our everyday life.

And I think that is the one reason. That is the one reason why in Theravadin and Zen Buddhism, they emphasize so much mindfulness in perspective, mindfulness meditation. As to the every the meditation, the only thing is all about mindfulness, nothing else. Do you get it? And there is a very good reason to emphasize on that.

When you have strong mindfulness, you can see how much difference it makes in dealing with the delusions, in cultivating the karmada. So I think yeah. So I think I’m going to reach. Where is that? In the thirty thirty seven verses of Bodhisattva practice, it says, understanding that emotional reactions are dismantled by insight supported by stillness.

So I think the insight here means the wisdom, profound insight or special insight supported by stillness. Stillness, I think here refer to the calm abiding or śamatha or concentration. Cultivate meditative stability that passes right by the four formless states. This is the practice of all sattva. So we need to cultivate the as I mentioned before, we need to cultivate the the calm abiding Samatha as a tool, as a support to cultivate the wisdom, especially insight.

He is saying, I pray I pray to abandon the meditative observations that lack the power of insight to quell Samsāra. So what Lama Tsongkhapa is saying, as as I mentioned before, the purpose of cultivating the calm abiding is to develop wisdom. So, therefore, Lama Tsongkhapa, the very reason to develop meditative absorptions or calm abiding is with the lack of power inside it, which is not the purpose. The purpose is to develop that wisdom so that it can yeah. That is divorced from the most most compassion to cause nirvana possibility, and they mostly throw ones back to cycle of existence, but develop instead meditative absorption that unite compassion and insight.

Mhmm. So meditative absorptions or calm abiding or śamatha concentrations, which unite compassion and the wisdom. And then another prayer from Lama Tsongkhapa. Meditative concentration concentration is the king who rules over dominance of the mind. If you focus it on one point, it stay there immovable like a mountain, such as the calm abiding Samadas.

Totally focused in the object. Totally focused without any distraction. If you project it, it can fix on any object of virtues and religious value you choose or spiritual value you choose, the object. It leads to your attainment of great and the bliss at being able to have your body and mind. Mhmm.

What it means always at attention under your control. So that means your you will have control over your mind, body and mind. Knowing this, the yogis who have gained control over their mind and above the power of the defilement have always devoted themselves to single-minded concentration, which overcomes the enemies of mental wandering and mental dullness or the true obstacle, excitement and laxity or dullness. I who actually have traveled a true path that leads to enlightenment have had the experience of doing that. If you would also seek liberation, please cultivate yourself in the same way.

So I think I think with that, we we complete the śamatha or calm abiding in short. Of course, if you want to learn study more, then you you can go all the nine stages. The five faults, the eight antidotes, so forth, and that will be very helpful as well. So as we as I mentioned before, if you have perseverance, definitely, we’ll be able to actualize the calm abiding samadha. If you don’t have perseverance, it’s almost impossible to develop concentrations.

Concentrations. Once you have developed this calm abiding Samatha single pointed concentrations, then definitely we’ll be able to actualize the profound insight or special insight of wisdom understanding the reality or emptiness. At the moment, even we try to meditate, we always lose the track because our meditation is too shaky by all these distractions and laxity and all these things, by all these obstacles. But once it is like you are trying to someone very weak hand with a very weak hand trying to hit the arrow target with the arrow on target, where strong men can really pull it to able to really go straight and hit the target. Whereas if you don’t have the the power to really bring the string.

Probably, it will just fall there or here or there like that. You will not able to. And that is our practice like that at the moment. But when you have this concentration cultivated, it gives you that strong power to actually hit the target. And your meditation is like that.

You just go inside and then make a strong to be able to have a strong result of your meditation or emptiness or to cultivate the wisdom understanding emptiness. As we have been discussing from the very beginning, the only way to free ourselves from some suffering and saṃsāra pain is by stopping the unskillful action and un wholesome actions which lead to such experiences. The only way to stop our unskillful action, unwholesome action is by stopping or by overcoming those afflictive emotions, delusions, which is the force driven driving which is the driving force for us to which is the driving force which push us to engage in unwholesome and. In order to overcome those those delusions, those afflictive emotions, the only way to overcome is by overcoming very root of those delusions, those afflictive emotions, which is the ignorance. In order to overcome that ignorance, we need to cultivate the wisdom which contradict exactly of that ignorance.

The the wisdom which which expose the deception of the ignorance. Do you get it? At the moment, the ignorance has mislead us, totally mislead us, totally giving us misinformation, totally mislead us, and unable to see how it’s deceiving us. When we develop that wisdom, understand emptiness, that wisdom will expose how mistaken that information is that we all so much believe in and act on that on the basis of that belief. So this wisdom is the weapon, the sword which cuts the very root of the delusion, the ignorance.

So, therefore, we need to cultivate that wisdom in order to overcome all the problems for permanently, not on a artificial, superficial, on the surface, not on a not trying to treat just the symptom, but very root of the problem. You want to treat not just the symptom of the problem, but very root of the problem, then we must treat and go to the very ignorance. This is the very root of all this problem. So that is why we to develop the wisdom. If we don’t have that wisdom, even the practice of six perfections and five perfection, the previous five perfection, generosity, morality, patience, perseverance, concentration.

It is like the person trying to go to some place without all of them being blind and no leader to lead them. Do you get it? Whereas wish wisdom is like the person with the eye who is able to lead them to their destinations. Without a wisdom, with just the five with the five perfections, there’s no way we can overcome that ignorance. Without that, there’s no way we can achieve nirvana, liberation.

Without that, there is no way we can achieve fully enlightened state. Even from another perspective, in order to achieve fully enlightened state, as I mentioned, we need the two collection, the collection of merit and the collection of wisdom. The five the previous five, it can accumulate the collection of merit, but not the collection of wisdom. So one of collection missing, which we need the both collection. The collection so through the wisdom, we will be able to accumulate the collection of wisdom as well.

And together with two two collections, then we are able to achieve the fully enlightened state. Okay. Here, it says, again, I pray that I banish false view of emptiness, mentally fabricated and partially known, born from the fear of the most profound truth cherished as supreme, and that is realized all phenomena before ever empty, empty of inherent existence. In the thirty-seventh verse of Bodhisattva practice, Without wisdom, the five perfections are not enough to attain fully awakened. Cultivate wisdom, endowed with skill in method, which means the method.

Method means like compassion and the rest of the other practice. And free from the three domains. That is the practice of Bodhisattvas. K? Another prayer by the Buddhist.

May I gain the great wisdom that has realized the practice of the three vehicles, the three doors to liberation, and the three meditative concentrations. So the wisdom of understanding emptiness is the very heart of the Buddha’s teaching, is the very life force of all the teachings as well as all the practice. Had it as mentioned in Buddhist way of life and practice. You see, all the Buddha’s teachings are given directly, indirectly towards leading towards leading towards the cultivation of that wisdom. Because that wisdom is the main is the is the antidote remedy cure for the all the delusion and ignorance.

Then wisdom is the eye with which to see the meaning of shunyata or emptiness and is the path which cuts through ignorance the root of Samsāra. It is the Treasury of Knowledge placed in all the scripture text. It is the well known as the lamp that eliminate all the darkness of close mindedness. Knowing this, the master who have wished to attain liberation have made all effort to progress along this path. I, who actually has traveled a true path that leads to enlightenment, have had the experience of doing just that.

If you wish if you would also seek liberation, please cultivate yourself in same way. So that is Lama Tsongkhapa’s kind instructions. So so to understand that, first, we have to understand what is the ignorance which we are talking about, which is the root of all the delusions. If you understand what that ignorance is properly, then we will have a better understanding of what really reality is and how this ignorance is mistaken. If you observe, when we have a strong emotions Strong emotions.

Whatever emotion is, when there is strong sense of self or I. There might be a strong sense of I when I have strong fear, strong worry, or strong attachment, strong anger, whatever that emotion might be. There is strong sense of self I or self at that moment. And if we are skillful enough to to able to observe from one side of our mind while we are in that emotional state how the self self at that moment appear to you or your mind, and how does your mind and how does we apprehend the self to exist at that moment? Then we will have a better understanding of that so called ignorance of self grasping.

But for us, it is not easy when you have that state of mind itself. Do you get it? Unless we train a lot to come to that state. So for us, what we can do is actually we can recreate one of the event that you have strong emotion in the past, or you can imagine and visualize. I don’t know.

I mean, some people might be able to do better and some people less. Visualizing someone whom you have most conflict, someone you dislike so much, that person criticizing, insulting, abusing you in front of hundreds and thousands of people for something you have not done. Just visualize and imagine that state and allowing our natural emotion to arises without trying to anything, trying to push away, without any judgment is good, bad. Whether this emotion good, bad, trying, either it is trying neither trying to push, neither trying to input. Just allow natural state of your reactions, how you react, such situations.

So there is strong sense of I at that time where you feel you have been hurt by that insult, that abuse, that criticism. You totally feel so strong about that that he or she is trying to harm me and feeling of being hurt. And then after that, just watch. At that stage, how did the I and self appear to my mind at that time? Next step.

Not only how it appeared to me, how did I grasp, apprehended the eye of self to exist at that moment. When we do that, it’s quite obvious. We notice at that moment, there is strong sense of self-sufficient or some kind of autonomous self. Do you get it? Sufficient by itself as though almost independent self there which are being hurt, which is upset.

There’s a sense of true truly existing self, real self there, which is hurt. Quite you feel quite solid, quite so solid that you can actually grasp and say this is the self which have been hurt as to this independent, inherently existing self. So that is this is very important for us to come to that understanding. If we miss this point, then lot of other meditation technique might miss it because because we have not identified because the problem with is not being able to identify the I or self to be negated. Do you get it?

That is the always the problem is there. We are not negating. There is no self at all. There’s no I at all when we say selflessness, emptiness, but we are trying to negate certain type of self, certain type of I. So if we don’t identify these two, then we might get confused.

Do you get it? So that is where so first recognizing and identifying that cell. So next, not only it appear, not only we grasp that way, we believe that way, and we respond according to that belief. Do you get it? As though there is some kind of independent, inherent existence which had been hurt, which had been harmed.

And because of that, you’re reacting that way. But in reality is that the case? Then checking. So there’s there’s where your wisdom comes through the analysis. Is there inherently existing self?

Is there independent self which I felt at that moment? Do you get it? Here. Even though every even though all the time, we we grasp all the time same way, but because at that time, the emotion is so strong, it’s more noticeable. At the moment when it’s emotion not so strong, it is not easy to notice that, but that is that element.

I’m going to eat. I’m even in that sense, there is a sense of that independent, if it is an existing of self. At the moment, when I say I want to drink, it’s not strong. That emotion, so therefore, I might not notice it clearly. But when it’s emotion is strong, it is more noticeable.

Okay? So so then analyzing whether there’s really truly existing self as it appear to our mind, ignorance as we apprehend it or not in reality. And there are so many different way of analyzing this. One way of analyzing, if because it seems so real, so true at that moment of that self. If there’s such a true such a real, self, independent self, then either it has to be one with the within the complex of our body and mind, either same or one with the either body and mind or separate from body and mind.

Do you get it? Do you get it or no? Just to give you one idea. If it is truly existent, okay, either it has to be one with something or separate from one thing. Can they be third possibility?

Can can you see? Either it has to I can maybe say this book. Okay? This book can be either one with the cup or separate from the cup. It’s the third possibility of not being neither separate from the cup or one with the cup.

Is there third possibility? There is either is one with that, either is separate from that. Do you get this? Totally separate from that. Separate from that.

There’s no third possibility. So if it’s inherent if there is inherently truly existent self, either it has to be one or same with our body and mind or separate from our body and mind. Do you get it? Not of possibility. So that is if it is oneness with our body and the mind, then that will will looks quite absurd, quite strange.

Do you get it? My body is not me. My mind is not me. I say my body. My mind.

My body is my body, not me. My mind is so it is not same. It is not oneness. Do you get it? Do you get it?

Another way of looking at also, sometime we feel when you get old and if you have the the opportunity to change your body and mind with something new, you will wish to change it, isn’t it? Definitely, we would like to change it if we have that option. That just show the I or me is separate from the body and mind. We are not willing to change the I, but we are to change my body, my mind. Do you get it?

It is it is different. It’s one is possessor and one is what? Poss like a possessions. Mhmm. So, therefore, it’s not oneness.

If it is oneness, also, there are many other problem complex. Just as there is five aggregates, there must be five eyes, but there is just one eye. Do you get it? If it is oneness, then it must be oneness. And if it is truly existing oneness, the way it appears, the way it exists has to correspond same.

Otherwise, it’s not truly existing. Do you get it? Truly existing means what it appear, what it is, has to same way. It appears something, it exists something. It’s not true.

Even in our even in our you say something, but in reality, it is something. It is not true. Do you get it? What you say and what is in reality, it has to correspond. So, therefore, the the way we appear, the things appear, and the way it exist doesn’t correspond, then it means it’s not true.

True not truly existent. Existent. So so so if it’s oneness, truly existing oneness, then there had to be always one. And if there is always one in from all the site by nature, then, of course, many complex. As I said, then there will be five eyes.

And when our body cease and does not continue to next life, we also have to the eye does not continue. Do you get it? Because it’s same. And all others other complex is called. So, therefore, it’s not same oneness with the body and the mind.

It is totally then the the other only other options is separate from body and mind. Do you get it? And if it’s totally separate from body and mind, then after separating all the body and mind part, you should be able to find the body I mean, self. But will you be able to find self? No.

We cannot find. By clearing all the body and mind, body and the mind of ourself, having clear all that, you should be able to find the self. You are unable to find the self after clearing the body and mind. Therefore, it is not totally truly separate. Do you get it?

Also, another way is if there is something happens to my body and my mind, I shouldn’t be so upset about it because it’s totally different, unrelated. Do you get it? It is totally different, separated. But when something happened to my mind or my body, I get upset. I’m very related.

Do you get it? So, therefore, it’s not totally, truly separate. Do you get it? So when we do that process, it’s neither truly oneness with body in mind, neither truly oneness and separate with that. So when you come to that, then it is conclusion.

There is no truly existing I self. Do you get it? If there’s truly existing I self, it has to find within the truly existing oneness or separate. Is no third possibility. And because I cannot find within that two, either with oneness, either with separateness, so, therefore, it’s totally empty of inherent existence.

It is just like there’s only two room, and you you thought someone came. And if you check both room and it’s not it means nobody came here. It was just hallucination. Do you get it? Even though you felt so strong at the very beginning.

Because the only possibility because there is two room, and within the two room, you cannot find it. So, therefore, if he or she can’t be in this house. Yes. I think we are it is it it goes a little bit kind of Did I complicate it? Mhmm.

Yes. Why not? human beings. The form, the physical body, and then other mind feeling, discrimination, mind, compositional factors, the mind, and consciousness, the primary consciousness. Some level of those.

They might not have really good discrimination mind, but they do have some level of discriminating to be able to differentiate a little bit. But if that doesn’t make difference. Plus, even say let’s say someone has only two aggregates. Okay? Then it has to be two I.

Mhmm. It can be, but that is not it appeared to us to that ignorance at that time when you have that strong sense of I self. Did that that have that one? When you have that strong feel, did you feel the combination of your body and mind, everything at the self, or did you feel there is independent self? That is where I’m saying we have to identify the self to be negated.

Otherwise, we get confused with the self exist exist and the self which does not exist. Then that means it’s not truly existent. It is the way thing exists, but the way you appear to your ignorance is different. It is to say on the basis of five aggregates or two aggregates or four, three, then you label or designate as set, and that is how it is this. Yes.

Yes. Okay. So that is where we get confused with the conventional self and the self we are trying to negate. The self which we are trying to negate, the self which our ignorance grasp and believe. Not only our ignorance not only our ignorance grasp and believe, then we believe that.

On the basis of that, then we react. That is the problem. It is so so I think yeah. So so you do test some of course, there are many different way of meditation and finding. You can another one quite little bit more simple meditation is trying to find where is the eye within the this part of the body, within the mind scanning, whether it’s findable, whether you can pinpoint and say this is it.

Even though when we have strong emotion of self and eye, we think at that moment, it feel that we can grasp. It can be findable. It can be pinpoint. Do you get it? At that time, you didn’t seem that I cannot be pinpoint.

It seems I can be grasped at that point and quite solid. That is why you feel that way. So, anyway, that so there are many different ways. So I just explain one way of analyzing. So when you do that, that kind of thing, you come to conclusion.

It is empty, absent of truly existing self. Do you get it? Such truly merely absent or empty of truly existent self which appear to your ignorance at the very beginning. And trying to be experience, trying to remain in that spaciousness of that emptiness, the absence of that as much as possible. And then I can restart the restart the analyze, investigation.

I can come to that conclusion. I can try to remain in that state of mind with true empty merely absent or empty of inherently existing self or truly existing self. And as, again, as much as you can. And when you come out of that meditation, then reminding ourselves all the phenomena are just like a illusion. Even though they appear real, in reality, they don’t appear real.

They don’t exist real. So it’s all like illusion, all like hallucination, all like dream. So by doing that, when you have that understanding and by looking that way, you don’t get emotionally so involved as we normally get. You will get it. The more you have better understanding, the less emotional involved.

It doesn’t mean that you totally it doesn’t mean that you are in the middle of the road and say, there’s no truly existing car, no truly existing road, no truly existing me, and then the crash. Not trying to be that stupid. Do you get it? You are going to crash there whether you think that or not. But with that, what help us is when I see even though I feel it is so real what he did, what he said, his action, him, everything.

When I see it is not as real, not as true as it appeared to me, then I’m emotionally distending to some extent. Do you get it? So that is the whole thing. Whether it’s attachment, whether it’s anger, whether it’s jealousy, fight, everything is to try to reduce emotionally getting so involved as we did, which bring even more pain and suffering. It doesn’t mean there is nothing at all.

Do you get it? And trying to see there’s nothing, as I said, with the example card will be a problem. So understanding that everything exists, I mean, the conventional thing but on different level than how it appear to us at the moment. So I think that is the that’s it. Any questions?

It will be interesting. I mean, when you have that strong emotion of self, at that time, does the eye does the eye appear real, truly? And did you at that time, did we grasp and apprehend truly I? At that time, it doesn’t seems is some kind of illusion like eye. It’s in the real eye.

Do you get it? There is real I, truly existent I. If it is truly existent, then as I said, even in our ordinary life, the information I give and when reality when they check the fact, if there is different, then it’s not true. Do you get it? The way I said here and the fact has to correspond same to be a truth fact.

Otherwise, my speech is false, untrue, false. Same way, if things appear something something to your mind, your eye, and it exists something differently, then that means that is false, not true. Do you get it? It is deceived. King exists differently, but to us, it really it it appears so real.

Appearing is one thing. It can appear, but you might not grasp apprehend that way. But for us, not only it appear real and true, we actually grasp and apprehend truly as it appear. And on the basis of that, even though it’s false, we believe it is the truth. And on the basis that then we react with all our emotions and all actions.

That is the whole thing. That is the whole thing. The I and every phenomena exist but on a different level, on conventional level, not on truly existent. Do you get it? If we understand that, that shouldn’t be a problem.

But not understanding that it appear and grabs truly real, and then we get so involved so strongly so strongly, emotionally so strongly, and that becomes source of problem. K? So if no questions, we’ll do the before we do the final dedications, let me read through the guide through the dedication prayers. Due to the all the positive karma that we have created in the past, we will be creating in the future, having created during those weekends and for four days with a good motivation at least we have created a lot of merit so due to all this time of merit, may the dharma flourish in all ten directions and dispel the darkness of ignorance through the light of the dharma and benefit countless sentient beings. Due to that, may his friend the lama, all our gurus, all the holy enlightened beings, have a long healthy life, all their great projects, deeds, wishes be fulfilled without any obstacles.

Due to that, may all the spiritual center, Dharma center, particularly Buddha house here, may they grow, expand. Flourish and be able to provide a lot of incredible program activities and benefit countless sentient beings throughout the world. May all the staff from the very beginning of the establishment of the center until now, all the sponsors, benefactors, all the teachers, all the people who participate in different programs, and all sentient beings. May they have a long healthy life. May they have successful and prosperity life.

May all their wishes be fulfilled according to the dharma. Due to that, may there be no war, violence, poverty, sickness, disaster, and unhappy mind in the world. May there be true peace, harmony, tolerance, prosperity, success, long healthy life and most importantly happy mind in the world. May easily every sentient beings be able to actualize bodhajiddha in wisdom understanding and being as quick as possible without inability. Those who have not yet realized it, may they realize it and increase more and more.

May we be able to follow the perfect example set by all those enlightened and our gurus in engaging our spiritual path and in helping and benefiting others. May our prayer and dedication bear the same fruit as the prayer and dedication of all the Buddhas, Bodh h sattvas. May our prayer and dedication same as their dedication. Due to this merit, May I, with emptiness as my mouth.

Achieve fully enlightened state, with emptiness as one side. For the benefit of all sentient beings with empty form in one side. So there is nothing to hold on, nothing to grasp, cling to be attached even the result of virtues, merits, or positive factors. K. May all living beings everywhere, by the suffering of body and mind obtain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtuous by merit.

May no living creatures suffer, commit evil, or evil fall ill. May no one be afraid or be little. With the mind weighed down by depression, may the blind see forms the deaf ear sounds. May those whose bodies are worn with toil be restored to finding repose. May the naked find clothing, hungry find food.

May the thirsty find water, delicious drink. May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find hope, constant happiness, prosperity. Harvest. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers be put.

May all who are sick and ill quickly be free from their ailments, whatever disease they are in the world, may they never occur again. May the frightened seas be afraid and those bound be free. May the powerless find power, and may people think of benefiting each other for as long as sentient beings remain. Until then, may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world. So thank you very much, and thank you for your patience. Even though I have not been able to go through the last two session in-depth, I