Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 93-minute session, Khensur Rinpoche recalls the upheavals of his first weeks as a young monk at Sera Monastery in Lhasa — arriving so new he missed the tea-serving call, then clapping one extra beat during a ritual for the lion-faced deity and earning beatings from the assembly disciplinarian and his own teachers. He describes the monastery’s layered disciplinary structure, the progression of debate classes from small to advanced collected topics, and his decision not to return to Kham when his uncle sent travel money. That money, loaned to a trader, was ultimately offered at the three great monasteries after both uncles died before the goods could reach home. He also recounts making a vow to give up snuff before his ordination teacher. An intimate oral history suited to those drawn to traditional Tibetan monastic life.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 44 RS 1991 04 12.mp3
UUID: 4eaa6d02-3e2f-45bd-9d49-3968f127065e
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Rinpoche's Story (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1991-04-12
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 92.6 minutes
Words: ~7,954
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten. This is Friday, the twelfth of April nineteen ninety one, and I’m going to continue continue interviewing Khensur Rinpoche at Buddha House with Jampa translating on Sera Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet. Today is Friday. So this section is when Rinpoche is recounting his experiences as a new monk and what happens when he doesn’t serve the tea the first time. That’s mostly I’ve got it, but just want to check a few details.
He didn’t he was because he was brand new, usually the new monks have to go and get the tea and serve the tea, but he was so new that he didn’t even know what was going on, so he didn’t go to He didn’t know. To fetch the tea. Right. The Chick is the So it was the same the very first. Oh, yeah.
Same day. So it was virtually the first thing you’d been doing here. Clapping rhythms depending on what they’re doing. Uh-huh. So if you when they do dukkur Yeah.
They do three three quick. White umbrella. Oh, yes. White umbrella. Faced.
Yeah. I have done Gutse Rejuni. They clap twelve times quickly. Right. That’s the one he thought it was that he must have got the Lion faced.
Yeah. I was gonna ask for more details, but could Rinpoche say a little bit more about the whole clapping bit because we haven’t got it anywhere? The the gap between negativities, any hindrances. They clap their hands. So it would be to turn away the negativities associated with each particular This thing like umbrella or the.
Like an iron wheel, and it’s then the other in the other hand is the on the left hand is the various hindrances. And it’s like you smash them with this iron wheel. And then you get rid of them. You turn them away. So, each deity, there’s a meditation which accompanies that particular deity, then there’s a part where they clap their hands.
And that will be done at the puja? This particular ritual which would involve this clapping. Yeah. Okay. What it look at at any ceremony?
The chitang soxa. Most most most gatherings, the assemblies, they would do this. Okay. It was a very bad thing, I suppose, for Rinpoche to clap one more because it might might which was a certain number of specific claps, and you should clap in accordance with that specific ritual. So it’s not good if you it’s not part of the ritual to clap more than that.
So it wasn’t good that he did that. But Rinpoche had never done those particular rituals in kam. Can they kam la did So they did this ritual in in kam, but he had not not gone very often to the the assemblies Oh. Where they did them. Oh.
Could I start a little bit more about what this lion he thought it was yeah. Could you? The the face. It has a body of a human and a face of a lion. Is it one of the one of the meditational deities?
The Lion Face one, there’s a it’s a trilogy of three deities. The lion faced one is a central deity Right. And it’s accompanied by two other deities. One is called something like the horse faced deity and then the bear faced deity. Oh.
So it’s three. Right. And they all have their particular claps, do they? Oh, they do. Oh, right.
So it’s the one sort of clapping thing for the three of them. Khamtsen Gegen was the Khamtsen Gegen? Kamsan Kamsan from the the lower monks, the earlier monks. So he he walked down to that toward toward that end, and he just picked one monk, he he said, you did it, didn’t you? And he he slapped him.
So it’s really it was really the Gagan that sort of set up the whole situation. Not using the The Mhmm. So he just yeah. It’s a mistake of that. He just lost his temper.
So did Grace stop. I’m telling you. I remember she was referring to last session Yeah. I just was clarifying. So do you have the time that he went to debate that evening?
Yeah. Yeah. He wasn’t? Yeah. Yeah.
The. What what day is what is this? It says Yes. Few days later. Okay.
Was it that was a few evenings later. Or daytime? On the way to on the way to evening debate. Ah, good. A few a few days later, on the way to evening debate, they asked him if if he he go for a walk with them.
And he said, no. Why should I go for a walk with you? I won’t. And he kept on going. Tell him the who would they?
Take that one. So just it was during the break time, and it was just the local class debating sessions at Drehor that we’re doing. The the the Drehor class. And then During the break period? No.
Okay. That’s okay then. That that cleared that one because it didn’t make sense. Not great time. So it was proper debate time?
The the yeah. So was it was it all of all of Sera Je involved or just was it the Drehor monks? This this Puja and Tea. The tea one that caused the problems? Because I thought it was just Drehor.
And the chaga chaga cups of the the District House Assembly. Right. That that’s when it happened. Was just in the district house assembly. But it was during debate time.
But that was during the debate period when that’s good. Debate time. Great. So was that was that the same night that his friend came with the big key that they called Rinpoche to go out walking with them, or was it a later night, later evening when his friend came and threw the big key at the other guy? I was I I’m not clear here with my sequences within the same day or a different asked him to go for a walk and let his friend throw the key.
Yeah. Not a. Same same occasion. Right. Right.
Same same evening. When I started to go to to evening debate, and they came up and said they wanted him to go for a walk with him. And he wouldn’t wanna go for a walk with him. His friend came up and threw the key at the monk. Alright.
So he just happened to have the key on him at the time. He wasn’t premeditated anymore. So he would he would usually carry that key with him. Right. He had a big door on his house.
Yeah. Okay. His classmates told him not to fight and that it it everybody should just go their own way and not to Mhmm. Mhmm. I I he’s just somebody who’s who does a a lot of the work around the who the the Gegen tells him to if something needs to be bought, he does all the buying.
He keeps track of material things. So I don’t know what you would call that. Right. So a buyer. So it’s not the disciplinarian.
It’s not the Khamtsen Gegen. It’s just an assistant to the Camsingagen. Yeah. He’s the custodian and buyer. He handles that kind of area of the of the running of the district house.
Right. Okay. Basically. And so they were both new boys together, and those other three were also from Darge. And then that was Jimba, Basheim, and Jogar.
A hit was named Jimba. The one oh, he got hit with a key. Did he? The Oh, Oh, I thought they all got slapped by the. Jimba.
Jimba. He was the one that got blamed in the first place, was he? Jimba. Yeah. Then neighbor?
So it’s more like How would you spell it? B a k y e, something like that. B a k y B a y B a e. B Pake. Pake.
Pake. Pake. Pake. Pake. Pake.
Pake. Good. Sounds okay after all. So were they in slightly senior class to Rinpoche? Because he said they were really big boys.
Was it big boys? Okay. So they didn’t beat his two friends, this Jimba’s two friends. They only beat Rinpoche, Rinpoche’s friend with the key Jampa, Kedrup, and the three of them. Oh, it was the Neepat, not the Gegen that did the Gegen.
Gegen. First, the Mhmm. The assembly, they beat the three the Nirpa beat them. And then later on in in the Gagan’s room, he beat them. Oh, in the Gagan’s room.
Right. Okay. So then the is that spelling for or? No. It’s actually it’s I think some of these we can work out with tensing.
Okay. We just got to get this. Yeah. It was necessary for his teacher to discipline him. Otherwise, his teacher would have gotten a bad reputation as having poor discipline amongst his students.
Sure. No. It’s just just establishing So he was he was told that he should go. The the Khamsang told him he should go to his teachers. Right.
So the Khamsang Gageen beat him first. I mean, Nipa beat him first in the assembly, and then the beat him in his room and then told him to go to his teaching. Is that right? Oh, I didn’t. Oh, didn’t.
After he was so after he just watched while the Nepa beat Peter Nepa. And then afterwards his comes his gig in. There were two teachers. One brought material things, took care of the material needs. He sent for him.
The material needs one. That was Chinsung Ngawang Norje. Chinseng Nawangorje? Sent for him and, you know, scolded him and said, why did you, you know, why did you cause this trouble? And then Shubare, get again.
Oh, that’s true. This one, this Chinsung Ngawang. Mhmm. It was more than a token thing he had to do. So it was the material needs teacher that would have the the role of disciplining, not the the actual teacher of the Dharma.
Is that right? It was anyone in general. Discipline depending upon who who the comes in Gaijin sent you to. If he sent you to both, then both of them would beat you. Just if he sent you one, then that one would beat you.
But they would both they would both discipline you depending upon who who was directed to discipline you. Oh, but it was up to Khamtsen Gegen to more or less specify an education. Kums So the the Khamtsen Gegen was just assisting these two teachers in helping to discipline the monk. Both the two teachers had equal responsibility for the student’s discipline. Was the Khamtsen Gegen was assisting them and helping to discipline them.
But it was their responsibility, and they both had equal responsibility to make sure that the monks discipline. I’ve forgotten the name of Rinpoche’s other teacher, his main Dharma teacher at that time. So he he later went on to be the the abbot. Uh-huh. But at this time, he so his name was Dendrub Dargyé.
How would you spell that last name? D a r Yeah. G y a. But that that name should be somewhere else. Right.
Yeah. I’ll just check it elsewhere. Check. So he wasn’t involved in any way in this on this occasion? Didn’t know he he wasn’t involved.
So, no, he didn’t he didn’t he didn’t discipline him in his in his situation. That’s why I was asking you. This one is a. Not Dagya. Dagya.
Dagya. Dagya. Then to dog. Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. Alright. It’s he’s mentioned in Geshe Rabten’s book. He’s one Yeah. Yeah.
For yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Good.
I recovered. And even now, when Rinpoche gets cold, he gets pain in his knees. Just checking. His knees hurt where they whacked him on his knees. When he when he used to when he whacked him on his head, he would cover his head and then whacked him on his elbows.
And but his knees hurt when when the weather was cold. Even now from that beating. Yeah. The the buyer that buyer didn’t the didn’t like him. The didn’t?
Mhmm. Is it I’m con I’ve got here that it’s the disciplinarian that didn’t like him, but Rinpoche is saying he was about sixty, and he was bald. The the the the disciplinarian is the. No. The disciplinarian is the.
Yeah. The Khamtsen Gegen, they liked him. Liked him? Yeah. The knepper So I The knepper didn’t like him.
Right. So I’ve got this quite wrong. The knepper didn’t like him. The knepper was acting for the Khamtsen Gegen, and he disciplined him. But, I mean, Khamtsen Gegengen means disciplinarian as a title, isn’t it?
So this was just in the system of some sort. So his his head was his head was like the gland the musk gland. Didn’t have any hair. That’s what that’s what they used to call them. Yeah.
But this is the. There’s. Yeah. That’s good. Because I thought it was at Camsingagen, so I’m glad we cleared that up.
Questions because I was confused. So say perhaps the first three years, which is what they usually expected to stay. But when you returned from that pilgrimage to Ganden, his teacher I’m not sure which teacher, or whichever one, perhaps we can find out, advised him to stay longer. You want a minute? I’ve got Gume Khensur in.
Khensur Gumey Gumey Gumey Gumey And then the course of their first three years, they had to they would generally complete. They had to sit Mhmm. They had to sit, debate, examination and debate on three different subjects. One was the seventy topics. One was on the texts of Maitreya, and one was on the wheel of dharma.
So this occurred during these first three years. And then after this, then they would then after having completed these three sittings of debate, then they would go on pilgrimage. Alright. And they they got they they He he’s the one that advised him. Ah, I see.
And then also his teacher, thirteen. Means light. Means ornament. Mhmm. Means life.
Long life, stable life. Mhmm. Alright. And then Brother. I own it.
Advise him not to return. His uncle advised him not to return. Yeah. Yeah. He’s also his uncle advised him not to return.
Oh, now So he this was his un this was his father’s brother Oh, who was a layperson. This uncle that we’re referring to here. No. This is his Dharma teacher. No.
No. No. This was his father’s brother who was a a layperson. He had two uncles. One on his mother’s side, one on his who was a monk, and one on his father’s side who was a layperson.
In this instance, it was his uncle who also advised him not to return. Right. Okay. There’s just one other thing, and I’ll clarify because I’m confused. In concerning Rinpoche’s teachers, before he’s just mentioned this this teacher, this, but maybe he was only his teacher in the first year when he got the beating, was he?
And then later on, his main teacher became Gyume Khensur? Can the can you the the first year, he didn’t receive teachings from didn’t get don’t get Alright. So then then You begin. Those two were his main teachers after that. Right.
So so and wouldn’t be anymore. He’d be something else, wouldn’t he? But because that just indicates the class, apparently. That means that he was doing Abhidharma or something. Sure.
On here. So I think that the means the It’s this is c h o Yeah. C h o Yeah. T z o with umlatsa with the o’s. Uh-huh.
This means you know, it does mean Abhidharma but it just means the general name that’s given to somebody who is skilled in rituals and who knows how and so this person was like ritual master. Oh. And they would he would tell how things were to be done during the course of an assembly. Oh. The way things should how to what meals to serve and how to serve and what how the how the the sessions were to be run.
So he was just skilled in these. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the the The class. The class of the Dabhidharma. Oh, thank you for clearing that up. Yeah.
Means someone skilled in rituals. And the the. Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah.
So he’s he’s skilled in rituals. And yeah. That’s right. Oh, that’s interesting. Judging from this it would seem that the teacher that supplied the food and the food would stay with one longer than the teachers of the Dharma which might sort of change from year to year.
Would that be generally true or was that just the case in Rinpoche’s particular case? It should could have many different text teachers, but one would have the same material teacher. Yes. What I thought. Oh, that’s good.
That’s interesting to know. So that was sort of the continuity. That that was more or less like an older brother or father figure for the young monks. Yeah. Gyrin put the contract again.
Yeah. They would have the same contract the material teacher for a long time. Okay. To stay? This one, Chinseng Nguyen.
Chinseng Nguyen, Durgy. And what And the and the reason he gave him this advice? They had a good relationship. Okay. And so it was his father’s brother as well and also was it also Gyume Khensur Rinpoche?
I’m just checking. They are Gyume checking. Three. So there was so there was some apprehension that if he went back home, his family was quite they were doing very well in trading, and that Rinpoche would become involved trading and, you know, travel to India and elsewhere. And that he you know, then his prac his Dharma practice would completely degenerate.
And so, was this this apprehension or danger that this would happen. Interesting. So I’m really confused about his different uncles. Which is the uncle that sent him the money to return? Is that his mother’s brother?
Brothers. Both were monks. And the one that sent him the the expenses to return was. Okay. You got that written down?
I’ll I’ll get it from you when I get get it the right suitable place. Oh, alright. Put it just put it there. So I’m gonna make sure it comes up. So he was a monk, but did he live at home, or did he live at or Initially, when he went to Lhasa, his his uncle lived in Lhasa.
But then he eventually Which? Mhmm. But eventually, he moved back, and he was staying at this time at. Alright. So when Rinpoche first came to Sera Je of Drehor, did he stay with he stay with his Sarah Tombo Leptu.
He was a traitor. And so when when Rinpoche first came to Sera, he wasn’t there. But after about a year, his uncle came and stayed at Sera for a year. And then after that year, he went back. Ah, that’s the one that was trading with China to bring all the goods to rebuild Dage.
Is that the one? The main he he was collecting the main he was trying to gain the main money to rebuild the Darget buildings at Darget, so he Did did he wear his monk’s robes, or is he more or less become a trader for that period? I think sure he said that. The example like Nanda, the trap a touch it. No.
You don’t wear a. Yeah. That’s alright. I’m just trying to get it straight because I look so confused. That’s okay.
So he was anxious for Rinpoche to come back and assist with the trading? In their family, but they had quite a bit of money. So he wanted him to come back and help carry on business. Carry on business. So Rinpoche must have been quite good when he was working with his uncle.
His uncle must have thought he was quite good at business. That this would happen, that he go more into the family business. They was advised that you know, they’re these advisers thought that he would definitely get back into trading if he went back. And that his practice of Dharma would degenerate and eventually they would probably give up being a monk. So this is the reason that he advised him not go back to his So have this this mother’s brother actually given up being a monk, or was he still trading He was monk.
He still was a monk. Mhmm. Was he trading for his family or for Dage? Or how can I So in one way, it was still a good purpose Says Rinpoche says here in my class, there were sixty students, and I was in the first five or six? Can you must have also been a good student.
He was yeah. That’s right. He was studying the world these days in those days. Those days. Mhmm.
No more snuff. Did I at nutty. Don’t want it. Was that is that his first year that I thought he said the first three years. It was Low low tumble cups of tea.
We can we we really got to the the new the what do we call it? The The new text class. Anyway, Shunsawa. Shunsawa? He he Shunsawa, he gave up.
He gave up. I’ll have to get that all straight. Was that in about the second year, would it be? Work on that. There there was one occasion when the the is the the person who gave Rinpoche his novice for ordination, his name was who who His Yeah.
And it was the who gave Rinpoche as novice and full ordination. He came and was giving teachings for three days. And at the end of the three days, Rinpoche was going to have a to visit him, to have an audience. And up to that time, he had been using a lot of snuff. And that morning, he and his friend, they used they used a lot of snuff.
And then they gave it all away. And then they went up to have a visit with this teacher, and he said up to Rinpoche said to Jamgon Rinpoche that I have been using snuff a lot, but now from this day onward, I’m not I’m not going to use any more snuff, and I make that promise to you. And then the teacher said, well, I’ll I’ll pray that you’ll be able to keep that promise. So from that time on, he didn’t use any snuff. So when he quit when he quit the snuff, there’s some kinds of sores formed on the inside of his nose, which which hurt quite a lot.
And they took the he took these he just took some cloth and watered it up and burnt it, and then he would just blow it out and and inhale the smoke. And and the smoke it made him cry, but eventually, it somehow, it healed up the sores. It didn’t hurt anymore. Was that that’d be withdrawn sores or more? That’s very strong.
I don’t know. So this stuff must be pretty rugged on them. Do he quit taking snuff? He had he used to have dreams at night about taking snuff. Yeah.
I understand. When I gave up smoking, I was like, oh, you just still you just dream about smoking cigarettes for ages. So he used to get upset that he would dream this way because he was he thought that he felt as if he was actually taking his and he had promised not to. So he would get upset with himself. Oh, dear.
Of of him turning to trade if he went back to come, but also his teachers thought he was a very good student and maybe should continue on with his studies. So they felt, yeah, they felt that he would be he would be things would go well for him in his studies. That’s one other reason they didn’t want him to go back. So there’s two reasons really. Well, that’s good.
The expenses for returning. Alright. Now I’ve got eighty eighty five. Oh, hang on. Oh, god.
We went into one great long thing which we don’t need to get into again about money. Was it Indian money or Tibetan money? The. Tibetan money. Well, I’ve got here eighty five Doseid, but I’ve also got Donda.
So I don’t know what the which term is it Doseid or Donda? Eighty five. Okay. So what’s this? There’s fifty sounds to one dossier.
Fifty sounds to one dossier. The the Marge is crossed. I don’t know what it is. No. I just I forget it.
Think at least we cleared the other one. So just check. It was eighty five dossier, so that was quite a lot of money. Money. It it does say it was the money was extremely rare in those days.
It’s a maybe one doce. It might be worth a thousand dollars back then. Not maybe five hundred dollars. One dose, but that’s forty thousand dollars. No, five hundred dollars.
One dose, five hundred dollars. Alright. So it is a lot of money, though, isn’t it? But and it was eighty five. You you checked He was quite wealthy in those days because he he put the money with the with the with the buyer of the of the and he was he got interest on that money.
Which buyers? Traders. The one of the one of the traders from. He he he deposited the money with him, and he was given interest on that money. Uh-huh.
So he had quite a lot of money then. Uh-huh. The person who brought the money from from Kham, this trader. He he deposited the money with him, and and the trader gave him interest on the money. Alright.
So he only kept five doze for himself. Rinpoche did. Is that right? Mhmm. Then can I doze nah?
I’ve got here I loaned five dose to other people. And the and the so he he spent five five. And he gave the other a deposit, the eight eighty with the with the with the trader. To the trade to the trader. He’s very rich.
Comes and goes. Then his uncle said, I don’t know how many months or sometime later. I don’t know after this. I’ve got my uncle sent me a letter saying, if you’re not coming back, it’s very bad. Send me the money back.
But that must have sometime later. Time? You don’t really know all this. Yeah. Many people There were some students from the same class who we tried to come, so they heard from them.
So did did Rinpoche’s uncle mean Rinpoche to buy a lot of things and bring them back with him? Is that why he sent so much money? Yes. Yes, please. Fifty fifty.
Yeah. Tell you before. Would you like Earl Grey? Or Just me. Anything.
He didn’t loan it. He just he just placed it with him in order to get interest, like putting it in a bank. Oh. It was like putting it in banks. There were no banks.
Term. But that’s Okay. So he placed it with him, but the in the from the point of view of the of the trader, he borrowed it. The trader borrowed it. Loaned it?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, he invested or loaned. Whatever.
Yeah. So Rinpoche said he didn’t reply to this letter of his uncle. Is that right? So his his uncle said that, you know, if you aren’t send him a letter. If you aren’t coming back, then please then send the money back.
And I didn’t send the money back. I didn’t I didn’t send the money. And his uncle sent him many many letters after saying Ah. Subsequent to that. All reply.
What to do with the money. So he went to his Mhmm. Jamgon Rinpoche. Yeah. Yeah.
He said, what should I do? And then Jamgon Rinpoche thought about it, he said, don’t he said no use to them. Don’t say just forget about it. Which which was it? Jamgon?
Which was? The teacher that gave him the ordination. Oh, the first teacher. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. I’m with the one who gave up the snuff with you. And letters to the trader who he had loaned the money to saying, it’s not it’s not right for you to keep the money. You should you have you should give it back to me. That’s what I was didn’t understand.
So his uncle wrote to the train. His uncle found out Mhmm. Who he’d loaned the money to. Okay. So his uncle and his trader, they were very good friends.
So when the trader got back to to come, know, he said he criticized him a great deal for not sending him back his the money. He said, I sent that in order to make purchases and have them brought back. And so he should’ve she should’ve given me that money back. The the the traders said that told Rinpoche that he was going to Rinpoche told the trader that Jamgon Rinpoche said it was of no use, that the money would be of no benefit to Yeah. Don’t bother sending it back.
But now but by this time, the trader was had been criticized so much. Said, no. I I think I should give it back to to to your to your uncle. And so he went ahead and bought made many purchases and and took the stuff back from NASA. The trader did.
Mhmm. He went ahead and made the purchases. Quite a long distance to carry these goods. And during that interval period of a few months that took, both his uncles died. Both his brothers.
Yeah. They both died during during and so the before the goods arrive. Yeah. You want Yes. So this and this seem to indicate that Jamgon Rinpoche had some kind of clairvoyance when he because he kept saying it would be it would be of no use to them.
Don’t don’t bother sending it because it it they died before it arrived. He actually said that, did he? That that they would be of no use to them. Just that yeah. But Rinpoche’s interpreting that that’s why.
Gosh. So I’ve just forgotten Rinpoche’s mother’s other brother. He was a monk too. Was he also involved in trading? So he used up about forty about half of what that money about forty do a doce.
What the trainer did bringing all that stuff back. Yeah. Oh, right. He he received back a letter during the winter that his two uncles had died and requesting that he make that he go around to the three monasteries asking them to offer prayers for his three uncles his two uncles. Three monasteries, Drepung.
Sera and Ganden. Ganden. Both the three. So he gave he gave every mark at the monasteries three shows. And She was What’s the name of Rinpoche’s first teacher again?
The one that you keep mentioning, I don’t think I’ve got it. Oh. Just one then. Jam Jamgon Rinpoche. He was his ordination teacher.
Jamgon. Jamgon. Stop here. One sec. So he made he made very vast offerings to the three monasteries, Ganden, Drepung, and Sera, and and then in order to make prayers for his uncles, and that exhausted all all the rest of the money.
Easy come, easy go. So how much did you say he gave to each monk? You said something Shoshu. What’s that? Three three shows.
Three shows. One. Three shows to a song. They went with a ten ten ten shows to a song. Ten shows equal one song.
And you gave each month three song three shows. And show is also this long one, is it? Come. Show come. Perhaps you have to Yeah.
You have to do a lot of I mean, for the spelling of this thing. What’s not just the term to okay. So he gave was three three show to each month? This is for his uncle’s prayers, is it? There.
Carry What what was Rinpochee saying then? I’m just through the the the equivalents. I just want to say We’ve got it right there. Yeah. That’s right.
So the two uncles died in the one month. Was it a it must have been a disease or The arch and knee. Some illness. Toyaki. Maybe they were old.
Maybe they died with some were old. Some sickness maybe, but it doesn’t know. Strange, isn’t it? This? Got the trade book cloth.
Is that wool or felt or The Indian cotton? So was very scarce in comp. So he’s brought probably brought many different types of cloth. And it was better from India than from China. They preferred The rate.
Hello. Yeah. The We stopped when when we’re interrupted before lunch, and today is Monday, the fifteenth of April nineteen ninety one, and I’m continuing on with the proofreading. Think last time, Rinpoche said one dose was equal to eighty some, but I think there’s Rinpoche say fifty it says fifty. No.
He said fifty. He said fifty? I see. Okay. Think we changed it.
Okay. So one dose One dose said fifty sang. One sang ten shot. One one okay. Yeah.
Right? One dose is fifty sang. Mhmm. One song one kilo of butter cost four song. One kilo.
One kilo four song. One kilo of butter is cost four song. So that’ll give you an idea how much is Yeah. That’s good. That’s good.
Yeah. No. That’s what that cost for you. You said five songs a day. Yeah.
So yes. So now can get an idea. People have an idea what It’s good. What how much It is very good to do that. Mhmm.
So I think we were saying that the trader So last time he mentioned that he said he gave each of the monks three shows, but he didn’t give them three shows. He gave them what is for for one show equals? And? No, sir. The so he gave one one show is equal to one and a half trong tronga.
Ah. One show is equal to one and a half tronga. Tronga. Yeah. And then he gave each of the monks one one.
Five comma equal one tronga. Five comma. Equal one tronga. So one show is a half a tronga. One.
So one show equals Half I gave each of the moxa one trunga. One. Money in operation. Is that was it all the one coinage, or is it is it all Tibetan coins or some Chinese and Indian? So before before the purpose, so he loaned the money to the trader?
Right. Right. Right. Yes. Before the press press preface, we had found out that his uncle had died, that’s when he made offerings.
Ah, so it’s that’s the time when he actually gave the money to the monks then. And so he found out that they died just before Losar, did he? Losar. Mhmm. So after Losar, they say he received a letter from his from his After Losar received that?
No. Before about his death of his uncles? Before Losar. Mhmm. Okay.
What have I got here? Melonchumba. I don’t know who what Melonchumba is. I gave it all away. To all the Sera months.
So maybe maybe it’s maybe this is his same name. They’re gathering together. Oh. The assembly of Sokpa. Sokpa is gather together.
Assembly. I see. It could be there. And that’s when that is that when he gave to distributed to Okay. So he gave the he made offerings at the at the assembly of the Yes.
The the Monlam Festival Assembly. Yes. That’s when he gave each Each month, he gave each month one. So if if one show equals half a, it was really like giving two show. Is that right?
No. He gave them one tronga. He gave them half a show. Oh, got it the wrong way around. Yeah.
One stronga and half a show equals one tronga. Thank you. The whole monastery, I think, he said, or just in the Drehor. Is that getting So all the monks from all the not only this, including the three monasteries. Oh.
But all the monasteries. What we you said before. Sorry. Sorry. It’s not just it’s all the all the monks in the area or from all over, including the three monasteries.
So enormous amount. Thousands a month. I’ve got then some of these monks bought things and took them back to come, but I think I’m getting completely confused with the with the the trade. Having given money to the entire assembly of monks, he also offered, you know, district was Trehor. So he went and gave, made offerings of tea and money to each of the Trehor district houses of Drebung, Ganden, and Sera.
And additionally, each of them have has a district house. Oh, so each monastery has a a house. Mhmm. I didn’t realize that. Oh.
Alright. Now I’ve got here something some cloth was sent back to Darget. That’s that’s complete. Yeah. To his home?
Not Yes. He sent back some cloth to his family. And then it says, then I had thirty five dosae. But I’ve got confused because somewhere else I thought he’d only had five left. Ah, it says, then I had thirty five dosae for prayers for my uncles.
Did he did he send just ask Rinpoche where I’ve got this bit from, that he had thirty five dosaic for prayers for his uncles. Was that after the trader had taken the money and sent more back to Calm? The and the given the trader the money for purchasing, he had thirty five dossier left. Ah. And that So he so first, he had fifty, and then and then He had eighty, didn’t he?
No. Fifty. He corrected that just He got eighty five. He kept five for himself. Right.
Right. And he loaned the Trader eighty. So where did the thirty five come from? They spent forty five doses for the purchases to send back to come. The trader did?
Forty five. So Thirty five. Dose thirty thirty dossier making offerings. Oh, right. Which left him thighs.
Okay. We reset emergency. Yeah. But when you So that the the trader gave back the thirty five dossier. After making purchase thirty five dossier, she made offerings of thirty, leaving in five.
So when you loaned to a trader, did you expect to get interest, or did it what was that? It was But it wasn’t very much because it was a short period of time. Oh, I see. Yeah. It’s the whole life.
The whole life is the whole life. I’m just really interested in how the the money system worked then. How what percentage compared to our interest rates would it be? Would it be ten percent, twenty percent? Just in general, not in this particular case.
He doesn’t he said there wasn’t he doesn’t remember what the general interest was. It depended upon the individuals. There wasn’t any bank, depending upon individuals how much they wanted to charge interest. They How how much they wanted to to give. Yeah.
To to get rid of eyes of the dog. But I mean, it’d be like us. It’d be a certain fluctuation, and I suppose it’s really not much different. Probably be that to him. Okay.
Chapter. So ornament clear ornament has eight chapters, and this is the first chapter, which is on omniscient consciousness omniscient mind. I’m gonna face all this today, but sometime, tell Rinpoche, I’ve I’ve gotta sort out the names of the thirteen or the fifteen classes and also the list of all the different subjects studied in the classes and tell him I’ve looked at this that you’ve given me and I’ve talked to TENSEN for half an hour and he suggested that I ask Mubashe directly. And I’ve also sometime just need to spend we need to clarify all the classes, their names in English and Tibetan, and maybe what they mean in Sanskrit too, just for cross reference, and then what was studied in each class. It should be easy to find.
First they study the small collected topics. Now hang on, can I just clarify? Are we talking about the names of the classes? Tenzin said the names of the classes are different and and then the Well, let let let me say this first. Let me say this because I won’t forget it.
And then we will we so it’s good if you let me finish so I don’t forget what he said, and then we we can go on from there. So the subject study was a small collective topic and has such colors such topics as colors, white and colors. The names of some of the subject these are some of the subjects they would study in the small collected topics. Text, karakarma, colors, red and white, established establish phenomena, isolates isolates. So these are things that they study.
So it’s called the small small collective topics class. Is that called dudra? Doo jung. Yes. Doo jung.
Jung. Doo jung means small collect doo jung. Doo It’s not dudra. Dudra. Dudra.
It is dudra. Yeah. That’s been small. That’s collected topics. And Chumwa means small.
Chumwa so it’s called So he’s got it as beginning. So the beginning or smalls. Yeah. You can say beginning. Yeah.
It’s just if I if I can relate all the different words and Okay. So this is Dudra Chumwa. Dudra means collect the topics. Chumwa means small. Dudra.
Dudra means collect the topic. Yeah. This is it’s the class of the small dudra. Alright. So dudra, what did you say that?
Chumwa. Chumwa, c h u n g y a. W a w a. W a. Duja Chumwa.
So they abbreviate the name. They just say. Oh. All it does. So it’s a class the class of the small dudra.
Class of the small collective topics. Okay. This just tell Rinpoche, it’s I’ve just been so muddled in my mind about all this for so long. So then they say do do drink. Do is dudra.
Dring means middle. Dring means middle. Dring Middle. So just Isn’t that interesting? I have to go over to here to Intermediate.
Yeah. So the intermediate classes. And they call it? Intermediate. The other one was.
Okay. Great. Ah. I see. You can say advanced.
You can say beginning. Should be Dudra Chimpo or Dudra Nimba. No. Dudra Nimba. But instead, they just say Dudra Chimpo.
Dudra Chimpo. Okay. I’ll begin. Thank you. I’ll begin to sort of understand.
That That’s actually the names that they just refer to the classes by. This isn’t all that’s studied in them, is it? No. It’s just here. So we just get this first.
And that’s also the name of the text that they’re studying. Is it May or May? The just the main text, and there’s two three divisions of them, Chumwa, Tingwa, and Chempo. Right. Small, big, medium, and beginning, and band middle, and intermediate, and advanced.
Study awareness and knowledge. Oh, I see. Yeah? Oh, that’s class three, Yeah. That’s when they study awareness and knowledge in in the advanced due to collected topics.
The the the topic topic? No. So he That’s called the week. Also and then also they study classes of readings. Ten paragraphs of the link At at the the great at the advanced collective coverage.
You want to make sure that your footnotes are So there’s a container. There’s a subjects which are taken up in the advanced So comes after, does it? Then it then begins the first the new textual class text class. And this Tumblr dudes So at this time they study seventy topics? Things like Yeah.
What page like Paths and grounds. So Top margin is So that is class four. So I’m sort of not totally confused. I’m just half confused by the looks of it. And that’s called, again, you can specify a header.
Sorry. How do chapter of Abhisamayālamkāra, of Ornament for Clear Realization in first in this Shinsarpa. So seventy topics, paths and grounds. And they and they begin the the study of Chapter one. Not not even the whole entire chapter.
They just begin the study. Begin. Just begin. Chapter, and they cover those ten topics in For example, the lineage preparation. Path of preparation.
Of the up to here. Yeah? Let’s see. Okay. Then then page numbers.
All those things, it won’t actually show you them all on the screen. That’s right. Don’t think It’s a bit of a pain. I don’t think Zardet did either, but somehow it had a different mode that it actually put it into the right format. Well But it didn’t show you.
Pretty much what it looked like to the screen. What the other when you’re doing trying to get all these special things on double printing and all that, you have to enter in control characters. And I’ll show you how to do that, but you can make them visible on the screen, which, of course, shifts text about, or you can make hide them. Yeah. Have a play with the.
No. I’m scared. Types and things. I’m having really basic things I’m having problems with. Now how do I delete these two o’s?
In front, control g, which is delete character. In behind is backspace. Is it so just backspace is what’s often called a destructive backspace. It destroys what it’s backing onto. Now what do I do?
Is to go back again and correct? You do two things. You can either move it back with the cursor Yeah. And just backspace on that one character and then move the cursor back. Yeah.
That’s that’s the way I’m used to, but this one will do it. Yeah. You could have deleted the two characters with the backspace. It didn’t work. What would you tell?
Exclamation. No. Shift exclamation. Shift. Yeah.
Oh, what about this then? I’m confused. It’s using that before. No. That’s not a shift.
That’s that only makes the letters capital forces the letters to be capital. It’s not a shift on any of the other keys. And that that’s a lock position. It’s not a lock position. When the lights on, it’s capital.
It’s when it’s not Thanks. That’s what I was gonna do. So how do I go down to the next line? You can you you’ve done that. What you’ve done there is inserted made that a new line.
And when you ever reform the paragraphs or anything that’s always a new line, what what what we’ll do okay. Go back. No. Get back there. And No.
I’m going I’m I’m going the wrong way. Backspace. Oh, there. Now you can either keep typing and will automatically wrap around. So if you got a manuscript at the top mean that that’s the end of the page when that cross comes or what?
Yes. Actually, something’s gone round there for some reason. Oh, that we’ll get rid of that. That’s there. Now let’s insert a few lines to Now when you’re normally entering in your text, you don’t you don’t