Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 101-minute commentary on the twelfth precept of lojong, or mind training practice, Lama Zopa Rinpoche emphasizes that the most hostile and chaotic circumstances in saṃsāra are actually the ideal setting for this practice. Unlike other retreats that require conducive external conditions—a secluded location, teacher nearby, comfortable food and shelter, medical care—lojong practice thrives precisely where harm givers, adversities, and negative emotions abound, making ordinary daily life the perfect training ground. The talk moves through the precious rarity of human rebirth, the urgency of practice within this life, and the principle that choosing dharma rather than worldly concerns as one’s priority enables immediate results: subduing anger on the spot, lessening physical pain and mental stress. Rinpoche stresses repeatedly that practice must be habituated through sustained contemplation when the mind is calm, before afflictions arise, rather than reacting only when disturbed. He contrasts exposition—mere accumulation of teachings and initiations—with genuine practice: the internalization of dharma through body, speech, and mind until it becomes second nature. The two wings of spiritual flight are bodhicitta and emptiness; all other Buddhist teachings serve as supplements to perfect these. Throughout, he illustrates his points with vivid examples: a teacher directing a seriously ill student to austere retreat; a nun diagnosed with terminal cancer who recovered through unwavering guru devotion and subsequent retreat practice spanning decades. The session closes with advice on working skillfully with difficult people and situations through compassion, calmness, and viewing them as objects of purification.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 19 Lojong.mp3
UUID: 8530573a-3c0a-4b37-9fa4-bbc88f4b392e
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 3
Collection: Mind Training (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 3)
Date: 1990 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 101.6 minutes
Words: ~12,855
So please kindly motivate. As long as the samsaric beings remain within the saṃsāra, you know, till then, may I too remain within the saṃsāra to able to eradicate suffering of every single living being and to lead them into the state of pureness, of happiness, which is the state of enlightenment. For that purpose, I need to actualize the the mental habituation, the realization in bodhicitta. In order to do that, then first of all, that I need to understand the teachings on the bodhicitta. And for that reason, that I need to study teachings on bodhicitta.
Not only that, in order to actualize realization in bodhicitta, to able to have a genuine convergence with bodhicitta within one’s mental continuum, one need to have immense merit. One need to have vast merit. One can able to one can able to, you know, express the mind of awakening, mind of awakening, the mind of the enlightenment, the bodhicitta mind towards the all living beings. So therefore, by listening to Dharma, by doing discussion on Dharma, especially the essence the entire aspect of Buddha Dharma, which is the Lojong teaching, the Lojong practice, and to listen and to discuss and try to contemplate and try to apply into one to day to day life is one of the most effective way to accumulate extensive merit. For that reason, I’m here to to listen on the teachings of my training practices.
Thank you. So with that, let me continue with with that motivation and your deep in heart, and we continue from yesterday’s yesterday’s stop, which is which is now from the twenty-two precepts. We are now on the twelfth precept, precept number twelve. After we after we seriously discussed on the precept ten and eleven yesterday, the importance of merging the the practice of retreat of lojong practices and the rest of the other Buddha Dharma practices into a form of retreat, which which as a lojong practice, lojong retreats, we establish that it’s not it’s not require the conducive conditions such as the external conditions, such as to, you know, being around with the teacher, being around with the attendance, and external factors such as food, you know, suitable food, comfortable place, comfortable retreat hut, you know, and the medical, you know, doctor and medical substances, you know, consultants, you know, all those external conditions are not necessary in order to, you know, practice mind training teaching, you know, in order in order to accomplish the the practice of mind training teaching. As for the mind training teaching, the most drastic samsaric place, the most drastic, most suffering, most problematic, the samsaric world is the best place.
It’s the best retreat place. Most conducive place for mind training practice. The reason reason, purpose of mind training to transform, purpose of mind training practice is to transform all the adversities, all the problems, all the negative emotions into a path, into a practice, into a path. So that is all about mind training practice. So when there is no harm givers, if there’s no adversities, then there’s no place to practice mind training teaching.
There’s no place for mind training teaching. Once you become Buddha, your mind training teaching is already perfected. There’s no no need and not necessary, and there’s no chance to practice mind training teaching. But such as us, ordinary being, we have all the conducive condition to practice mind training teaching. And since we are not Buddha yet, since we are not yet become Buddha, and that is the best choice, that is the best part, that is the best best practice that that we, you know, bring us to the awakening state, the the awakening state, the state of the buddhahood.
You know? Mhmm. You know? And in the in the in the, what you call, an immediate result, you have to solve the problem. An immediate result by applying the mind training teaching into our problematic world, problematic life, we can solve our problem.
We can lessen our pain in physical level, in mental level. We can lessen our stress. We can lessen our agony. We can lessen our all the problem givers, including spirit, the harm givers. You see?
And we can even lessen the elemental harms. So therefore, wherever we are is the best place to practice lojong. It’s the most suited Buddhadharma to us in relation to where we are. You know? Such as deity yoga retreat.
Other than Lojong practice. deity yoga retreat, Lamrim retreat, preliminary retreat like mandala offerings, prostrations, all these you need a conducive place. Know, that’s what we discussed yesterday. The difference between the practice, the conducive condition for Lojong and other practices are totally contrast. You know, the rest of the other practice we need teacher to be around, to guide us.
We need attendants to take care of our foods and our needs. We need doctor if we get sick, need to, you know, bring to hospital or take care of the medications, you know. Otherwise, you will fail the retreat and you will die in the retreat, you know, before enlightenment finish, you know. So then you need good food. As we decided yesterday, ignore good food during retreat.
If the food that you eat during retreat is awful food, your mind will be totally occupied with missing of the good food. One will be unable to concentrate on the on the meditation. You will always miss the Malaysian taste. You know? We go to Copan to do retreat, and then you don’t bring some kind of noodle from from from Malaysia to quietly cook in your retreat hut.
You keep eating the common food, you will so miss, know, during the meditation you will start to think of your food here. So you cannot concentrate, it disturbs. So it so as mentioned in the teaching, you need even that, you know, make sure that it doesn’t affect your concentration on your retreat. So you even the food, you need the right food for you when you do a retreat. Then the place have to be very comfortable.
You know? The cushion be very soft, very nice, and very comfortable. A very rough cushion, cannot pain all the time pain. You know? So you’ll be distracted.
You see? So so so in relation to our lifestyle, if we wait for that kind of such a conducive place to practice in other another type of Dharma practice, then mind training teaching. You know, almost like very rare opportunity. Let’s say within ten year, we might get one month total freedom to go all the way to Himalaya and do a retreat in the cave. Maybe possible, but most likely not possible.
You know, One year, if you spare ten days, it’s very, very precious. It is almost not possible to spare a ten day period to go to retreat in such a conducive place. It’s almost impossible for us. Even three days impossible. One month is no question.
But for to tame us to complete at least one preliminary practice, it takes about two or three weeks. So we cannot come back with incomplete retreat, isn’t it? You see? So now here, we don’t have to if we get chance, we go. If not, never mind.
We are already in the most conducive place to do a retreat, to do a practice, to do Dharma. In every single corner, every single aspect of the day is the right place, right time, and right situation, the right moment to practice, the real Buddhadharma which is mind training teaching, which doesn’t require rest of the condition. And whatever difficulty we have to face in job, family, all are in the right condition to practice mind training teaching. You see, so how fortunate we are that we such a, we met the Dharma, we have the conducive condition, then why not we don’t practice? Isn’t it?
So it’s like, really, you know, inspire, You know, inspire to take the mind training teaching as one of your key practice in your life. You know, as I mentioned earlier, in immediate result, it will subside the problem. It’s so effective. If you go for deity yoga retreat, even after accumulating hundred thousand mantras, still you know, the mind is still hanging, it’s still wild. But when you apply mind training teaching, it’s like on the spot.
On the spot, let’s say if somebody make you angry as we discussed yesterday, when somebody make you angry, immediately apply the teaching of mind training. Be patient, getting angry is no good. You see, you immediately have to subside. You suddenly get severe sickness, can be cancer, can be any kind of form of sickness, Whenever such kind of a problem comes, you know, sickness, you know, the pain come, immediately apply the Lojong teaching. Don’t let them.
They help to subside the pain immediately. You see? So so effective. So that’s what we roughly discussed today. So today is engaging in the principal practice right now.
So in another word, apply the principal practice at this time or at this moment, in that particular moment. So the explanation here, since beginningless lifetime, you have roam in the three lower realm of existence as if it were your ancestors’ home. Very sarcastic. Isn’t it? It sounds very sarcastic.
Somehow they put ancestor ancestral. What do you mean by ancestor? Father’s father. Oh, that that one. The same ancestor.
So so it’s it’s right. I thought suddenly I thought maybe wrong wrong. Ancestor’s home. Ancestor normally refer to the the already past one, past one. Oh, it’s very sarcastic.
You know? Very sarcastic. You know? Since the beginningless lifetime, you you you have roam in the three low realm. You know?
Hell, hungry ghost, and animal realm of existing of it’s almost like we we we go there again and again. It’s treat like our our home. Used to be our father’s father’s home. It’s it’s like, you know, our parents home. We we whatever, you know, how much you hate, how far you stay, you at least try to find a way to go back home once a while, isn’t it?
Go to, you know, parents’ house once a while, isn’t it? So it’s it’s it’s it’s talking about that. Now here put a worse than that ancestor’s house. Ancestor’s home. Go back.
Again and again. So this is not happened just one time. It happened from beginningless lifetime. In beginningless lifetime. Why?
Because we didn’t practice the principle. We missed the principal practices. We never applied and imitated always the practice of the the right practices or the principal practices. Due to that, we always fall back into You say fall back? Come back again?
Fall back into three lower realms, you know, from beginning of his lifetime. Even we cannot be proud that we are human being right now. Even we are human being right now, we cannot be proud that we cannot be too excited that we are we are so good. We are no different than the you know, our past lifetime who all the time roam into because most of time, we circle in the three lower realms. Coming into higher rebirth is like a day star.
They start in the daytime. Once a while. And it’s very rare, but once a while come into in the higher rebirth such as God and human. Especially, to be born as a precious human rebirth is much more rarer than the daytime star. It’s almost like you can’t see at all.
When you happen to see, it’s shocking. It’s amazing. You know? So for us to obtain precious human rebirth is is in fact, is shocking. This is amazing.
You know? Like, you know, able to obtain this human rebirth. See? So that shows that how the teaching, you know, try to express that. Most of the time, it’s in the lower three lower realms.
So therefore, this time, make sure don’t miss the principal practice. So the principal practice will come later. You know? So today is this junction. So we are in today referring to right very today who we are as a practitioner, but we are in a in a junction.
We are in the border. We are we are in the border, you know, borderline today, right now. When you have obtained the why we why we call we are in the border and we have a choice is because we have obtained the precision of rebirth. Why that makes we have a choice? Because we obtained freedom.
You know, you have learned from Lam Rim that if freedom, we have obtained it. That’s why we have choice. That’s why we are in the junction. We can decide. We can choose.
If we didn’t obtain eight freedoms, ten endowments and eight freedoms, we will not obtain the choice. We won’t be in the junction that we can have a choice. But we have a choice because we obtained the precious human ribbon. The human existing ten layers and opportunities Ten layers and eight freedoms or eight opportunities. Ten endowments and eight opportunities or freedoms.
Here, now since we study Lamrim, the moment we say ten endowments, eight opportunities, eight freedom, ten, it will have a bling, you know, have a bling inside. Oh, eight freedoms. Ten endowments. Like that. You know?
So, actually, we in the in the earlier class, we discussed a lot on that. Yeah? So that human rebirth which obtained it, you know, right very now, who you you who yourself is the one. Which rebirth is rarely found even in a billion eons. It’s you know, even a billion eons eons sign, you know, to obtain one time is very rare.
So we cannot say we will hope for next life. You know? This life, you know, I’d rather spend fifty percent for my only activity and twenty percent, you know, like total free mind and maybe ten percent, you know, give for dharma. And next life, I’ll put fifty percent to dharma. And, you know, so if you if you start to calculate like that, it’s it’s almost impossible.
It won’t happen. It won’t have such kind of chance. So in the Lamrim, we stated, you know, through the example, the rarity of precious human rebirth is almost impossible. Through the nature of the endowments of precious human rebirth, also shown from Lamrim, it’s impossible to obtain again. You Almost impossible to obtain again.
It’s not hundred percent impossible, but it’s almost impossible to obtain again. So from the nature, from the example, from every single aspect, you know, hope for next life to obtain human rebirth and to practice Dharma is like is like we are dreaming without no result. Dreaming without result. You see? So that again teach us we must practice now.
We must practice this life, within this life, well obtained at this precious human rebirth. We shouldn’t miss the chance while obtaining the freedoms to practice Dharma. You know? Okay. Why why that relate to us?
Because even obtain human rebirth is not necessarily obtaining the freedom to practice Dharma. Eight freedoms. Ten endowments. Ten endowments. You know?
It’s not not necessary. So many human beings, first, they don’t have a seed of faith in in in in Buddha. If you don’t have a seed of faith to Buddha, no way will listen Buddha’s advice which is Buddha’s teaching, which is the mind training teaching. No way will accept this teaching. This is very boring.
Why I should listen? It doesn’t make any sense, you know. Are you asking me when somebody make you angry and you should tolerate? It’s a fool. You know?
It is it is nonsense. You know? If somebody get you angry, you should fight back. You will say like that. You see?
So, you know, it’s not it’s you cannot convince what Buddha say. It cannot cannot make sense to him what Buddha say. You see, that person loses that opportunity. No freedom. No freedom of faith.
No faith. You see? Not only that, some they want to practice Dharma, but family, friends, everybody stop them to going to learn Dharma. You know? If if somebody give a book, the parents will throw the book outside.
It will not even let you to read the teaching, you know. Also also also such such a such a situations. It’s almost like in whole life there’s no exposure into Dharma at all, even though obtaining the liberty. That person has no freedom to practice Dharma. So therefore, we have all the freedom.
If we want, nobody stops us. I see. So while obtaining such a freedom, if we miss the opportunity, it’s a big loss. So then again, it says that it’s not in the teaching, but it says by many of the great masters. Let and I’ll give an example, very very simple example, but it make it make sense.
Yeah. Say, the the company that where you can produce in in one day, maybe at least, like, maybe, like, hundreds of, you know, jet airplane. Yeah. But instead of producing that, you start to produce a needle, you know, thousands of needle, you know, needle, sewing needles, you know, instead of it. So, you know, if if we instead of practicing Dharma and we are totally engrossed the worldly activity, We are, in fact, no different.
It’s more it’s not nice to say foolish, isn’t it? What is that? Slightly nicer word than that? It’s almost like foolish. Yeah?
Is it so, the word is not so nice. Yeah? It’s quite tough. It is more silly. Better?
Is it more silly than more silly than than than the than the the director of the company who can produce, you know, hundreds of, you know, jet aeroplane, big one within the day. Instead of producing that, give up and produce the needles. It’s it’s worse than that. So it sounds like just a very simple example, but for me, it makes a lot of sense. You know, we we are no different than that.
We’re worse than that. You know? Dharma teach us like that. If we miss, if we instead of practicing Dharma, if we were totally involved in a worldly concern only, then we’ll be totally wasted. So that what Dharma teach?
So billion eons, you know, Billions eons, you know, to obtain one single precious memory, but within the one billion eon is is almost, like, impossible. So it’s like, you know, how rare, you know, to to obtain, you know, to come back as a as a precious human rebirth again. So instead of making all kind of plan instead of making all kind of plan for this life, it is more important to engage in Dharma practice and that aims for the welfare of future lives. So the principle is to choose the principle. Practice the right principle right now.
No. Not right now. The principle is engaging in Dharma practice that which can bring the fruit up to enlightenment, know, rest of the future lifetime after enlightenment. That is the principle compared to, you know, compared to being totally engrossed with only worldly activities, only worldly life. So the Dharma teach us, the buddha teach us, we have to choose the principle.
If we really want to be liberated, it needs to practice Dharma rather than rather than, you know, rather than choosing the worldly life as a principle. Dharma is not teaching us to give up holy life. Dharma is, you know, is not not telling us to give up family, give up home, and and give up job, you know, give up food, run to the cave, stay empty stomach. Dharma is not telling us that. Dharma is teaching us choose choose something more relevant as a principle.
It’s a more important task, you know, compared to less important. So Dharma is more important than worldly life. You know? So take the Dharma also, live as ordinary life, but Dharma still comes priority. You know?
So that again, it is possible we can do that for us because this is mind training practice. Have to live our ordinary life. So many difficult situations occur in our life. Just try to learn to transform it, try to apply the teaching that itself we are choosing our Dharma as a principle and we can fulfill the Buddha’s wish, we can fulfill Buddha’s teaching. It’s clear?
It’s quite clear. Yeah? Yeah. It sounds like quite clear to me, but my English make you very unclear. So in case unclear, when I say no?
See? So so you see? So so we can we can practice we can follow this teaching. No problem. I think I don’t see much problem, isn’t it?
It’s quite easy. Yeah? Buddha not asking us to give up our worldly life. We shouldn’t give up. If we give up, it will be too extreme.
Better not. Be who you are. Don’t even push yourself to become monk or not also. Don’t don’t can become monks or nuns, you know, better not necessary. You know, if you’re willingly, happily, family allowed, everybody allowed, then okay.
After you become monk or nun, you do right thing, good. But other than that, don’t push, don’t force, you know. Live who you are, who you are as you are, but choose the principle. Choose the principle. Choose the mind turning teaching as a priority in your life.
The principle in your life means, again, I want to go back to the same example. Every day people can make you angry or unnecessarily because of a stress from job. So somehow get anger. So somehow, you know, like the the fire coming out. Know?
And that’s really destroy your peace and happiness and calmness including sleeping. Also destroy. Sleep also destroy. You know? Next morning when you wake up, not enough rest, woah.
Somebody really make you angry, burst. Because this total nerve is stressed up, tense up, you see? So apply the mind training teaching. Know, always think, think. Especially when you are not getting angry, you are cool, when you are okay, then think.
Getting angry is no good. Getting angry, think all the disadvantage of getting anger. All the wrong, you know. Whatever, what do you call the the wrong explanation on getting angry in the world exists, you bring to your your mind. All the wrong thing of getting angry.
Getting angry is not good. Getting angry is this, that, that’s what? You get angry. Get angry. Cultivate.
Being patient. The the the advantage of being patient. Being patient to whatever good quality of being patient exists in the world. The words bring into your mind and remind yourself, tell yourself again. If it takes one hour, sit there, just think, think, think.
You know? Think today, think tomorrow, death tomorrow, then like that. Then it’s possible when really somebody trigger you with anger, you won’t get angry. And if your mind is starting to distract to get angry, you will start to understand. You will start to say, oh, better not.
Yes. I’m about to get angry. Maybe no reason, but just I’m about to get angry. Now I understand anger is no good. I should rather, you know, distract myself.
At least thinking the disadvantage of getting angry, at least will distract, You know, let’s say anger going to get about five minutes time, you you think about the disadvantage of anger for ten minute, you already delay. You see, because the mind occupy the disturbing thought. So if you can occupy ten minute, twenty minute, thirty minute, somehow something will come, delicious food come, your anger will disappear. You know? Then about after finish the food, you start again, you start to get angry.
Something is not right, you know? Something is not right. Again, think. Maybe the advantage of being patient. Being patient, you know, look good, you know.
It’s like the like the like the it can be long. So you see how things you can able to sustain without getting angry. That means unbelievable achievement. So if you can do that, that influence your subconscious mind, deep in subconscious mind, influence so much of not getting anger. Due to that, you you you will be naturally, you will be perfected not getting angry.
So similar to rest of the other problems. You see? So so this is this is something that we don’t have to go to a ten-day meditation course or, you know, you just do wherever you are. And it it is it is quite easy to apply. The only thing is take time to train us.
You know, I would say, might take time to to to get to the perfection stage. But we should start from today. Tomorrow will be slightly better. Tomorrow, day to tomorrow will be better. One year later, you will be you will be quite calm and happy person.
You know? Know, things are not right because anyway by getting angry, if things will get worse, it will never get better. You see, you know that. We know that. You know, getting angry when things get worse would never get better.
We totally know that. But still we get angry because we never practice it this way. We never apply the mind training teaching. You see? So same thing for other delusions, other problems that we have in our life.
You see? So it’s so relevant, unbelievably relevant for us. Otherwise, know, sit there and think of that impermanence, emptiness, bodhicitta, you know, even your eyes become like that. Oh, even then I know all about it. How to say? When anger comes, you can handle.
When when small small problem come, you can handle. Yeah. You will meditate emptiness. Know? I do chanting.
You know? Do do do do do meditation. But when problem come, you cannot handle. When when anger small anger come, I cannot handle. When little problem in the family, cannot handle.
You know? It’s almost like you can’t handle at all, but you yet, you spare time to chant mantra. It’s it’s almost like building some more stress. You already stress up, then you again build more stress. You know, when you count mantra, it’s very good, but you are not skillful, that will build a lot of stress, you know.
Because the mantra, somehow the energy is so strong. The mantra is so strong. That will that will, you know, draw all the wind at the heart level. If you chan chan too much, he has started to have pain, you know. You check yourself.
You start to have pain, then you start to feel a bit impatient. Start to, like, you know, like, feel very because didn’t use the mind training. You used it too much. One single pointed concentration using powerful mantra come, and sometimes can be trouble. So again, even when you did to restrict, mind training teachings in it, you know, to make us perfect.
Okay. So now, of the two aspect of Dharma, exposition and practice, the latter is more important. The latter is the principal practice. So these are the things that we have to learn. Worldly and Dharma, Dharma is principle.
Dharma is more important for a definite benefit. Even though we don’t see benefit but it’s indefinite, that is the benefit. Now from the two aspect of dharma, exposition is like, exposition refer to information. You know? Listen all the commentaries, you know, you accumulate receiving commentaries.
I receive from this holiness, I receive from that holiness, I receive lamrim ten times, twenty times, thirty times. Oh, I went all the way to Dalai Lama, know, Dharamsala. I received, you know, Lamrim, and I received this teaching, that teaching, you know. But your anger is getting bigger and bigger. You become more and more impatient, more and more impatient.
You become more and more wild. You know? You become more and more tense. Yeah. It’s it’s almost like in family.
Rest of the people, they never go to listen teaching. You win many times and you are the worst in the family. You see? So without practice, you just accumulate accumulate information accumulate information. It’s only become brain information.
Brain food, not a mind food. We need the Dharma for mind food, which is mind training, which is practice. Practice here referring to habituation. But Dharma practice here, you know, practice here referring to habituation. Make it habit of your mind.
Make it habit of your speech. Make it habit of your body language, body movement. It means Dharma teach about humility, know, kindness. You know, when you talk about kindness, when the kindness goes to your speech, you know, your speech becomes soft. When the kindness goes to your physical level, you become smiling, you become gentle, you become nice.
Somebody see you and you show the kindness from your your your your your expression, you look beautiful. You look fantastic. You you are so approachable. You know? You you you are like somebody that don’t want to go away from you.
You You show the kindness from there. And you show the kindness from the heart, even don’t do any expression, people will start to feel, I think vibration. You know, you can start to feel the vibration. You go, you mingle around the people. Some people, you know, look very good, but feel very uneasy.
I feel like, you know, I better run away from this person even though you don’t know, you didn’t talk, but, you know. Some people, you just feel like getting closer and closer, know. Even you’re not there to move, but you move side. Because you feel good, and you find way, sneak to get closer. You you put so much effort, almost like you no reason, but you put so much effort.
You see? It’s inside. You can able to the inside that link the vibration, the frequency link each other. You see? So you see the kindness from the mind inside, kindness from the speech, kindness from the body.
Call habituate. The Dharma means habituate, the kindness, compassion, love, kindness, emptiness, everything into in a practical level, in habituation level, habitual level in our body, speech, and mind. That is principle then only learning. Like, you know, study, study, study, study. I like me, study for twenty over years or follow all the scripture.
Here, maybe quite a lot. Here, blank. My problem come, I can’t solve. When delusion come, I was totally dominated by delusion. Delusion is the king, father, mother, everything.
You know, discipline. Know? Delusion is my discipline. I get angry, somebody is like looking very bad, you know, like like scary face to you, you get angry, get angry. Say, okay.
Okay. You get angry. You know? Oh, the beautiful object, attach, or desire. So is it is it total disciplined by delusion.
Yeah. Yeah. Brain talk like me. Can talk. Non stop can talk.
Over time also can talk. Blah blah blah blah. So because miss the principle, you know, accumulate so much information, so much knowledge, but didn’t apply into practical level, didn’t habituate.
That’s why even today, we we we learn so much Dharma, but we really can’t solve the problem. You know, when problem come, we are like, blank. Even Buddha and so many statues in front of you cannot help. So many scriptures on the bookshelf cannot help. You know, it’s almost like nobody’s helping.
Nothing is helping you. Because we didn’t habituate the dharma. If we happen to habituate the dharma, we can solve our problem by ourselves. We can solve our problem by ourselves. See?
So then again here, that doesn’t mean neglect study. Neglect learning about the theory. It’s needed. But don’t take learning theory and accumulating numbers of initiations and teachings as the principle.
That’s not the main point. Main point is practice. On top of that, okay, you need study. You need information. You need all the the stages of knowledge.
You see? So again, it’s very important. We know this, but here it’s like reassuring us. We know this. We are very familiar with the Lojong teaching.
We know this. You Even in our ordinary life, we know this. But here is today is, you know, is in relation to Dharma is like the the Buddha, the enlightened one is like telling us, say take as a precept. This is like commitment. Oh, make sure you wanna improve your life, take the number twelve precept as one of the precept in your life so that you can able to practice this way.
So that’s the reason why the Lojong precepts came about. There’s important points that we need to keep. There’s twenty two important points, Like a twenty twenty two precepts. So all the two aspect of the Dharma, exposition and practice, the latter is more important. Compared to all other meditative practice, the practice of training in the awakening mind is the most important.
There’s eighty four thousand different practices Buddha have taught. Know, eighty four thousand teachings Buddha have taught, yeah? Just looking to Lamrim, so many stages of, you know, paths and practices that we need to cultivate. It’s like oceans of knowledge, oceans of paths, grounds that we need to practice. But here, the principle is the two awakening minds, which is the essence of the mind training teaching.
So what are the true awakening mind? The bodhicitta and emptiness. bodhicitta and emptiness. bodhicitta emptiness is regarded as a two wing for you to fly or fly over the portions of saṃsāra. It’s like a two wing.
Both is important and that is the principal practice in our spiritual life, bodhicitta and emptiness compared to rest of the other meditative practices or rest of the other Dharma practices. So let’s say if we set a question, so with the entire Dharma practices, what is the principle? What is the most supreme Dharma practices? The answer has to be our two awakening minds. We say, just say emptiness is also not complete.
Fifty percent might go down. Know? Or if we say, oh, guru devotion, because we all the time hear about guru devotion. Remember? In Lamrim, principle practice, guru devotion, guru devotion.
But, again, when we take the when compare the true awakening mind, it’s the principal practice. So while practicing true awakening mind, rest of the Dharma practice, rest of the Lamrim teachings have to merge, to perfect the true awakening mind from guru devotion up to the paths and grounds, until enlightenment, is to perfect the true awakening mind. Means guru devotion practice is to assist to complete the practice or to perfect the practice of two awakening mind, which is bodhicitta and emptiness. Renunciation, death and impermanence, precious human rebirth, know, six perfections, you know, all the various five paths, ten grounds, all different, you know, Lamrim teachings, Lamrim practices.
It’s all to assist, it’s supplementary to to perfect the the practice of the two, bodhicitta and the rest. You see now now you you know, eighty four thousand teachings like zoom. Okay? As a supplement. To what? To perfect our bodhicitta.
So you see? So now entire Dharma understanding, have to bring as a supplement to to enhance bodhicitta and emptiness. So compared to compared to training the mind by applying the two pillars of scripture and reasoning, it is more important to persistently train in applying the appropriate antidote on the basis of your teacher’s pith instruction. Oh, so I’m sure What is the meaning of pedal? Oh, I see.
But apply the two pillars of scripture and reasoning. So, yep. So it’s a, you know, to to roll or to run the understanding of the Buddha’s teaching, you require two thing. Philosophy, logic, and reasoning. Logic and reasoning.
So the scripture, you know, the philosophy. And the second one is reasoning. Reasoning. Yeah? So compared to training the mind by applying the two petals of such as logic and reasoning, like philosophical understanding, philosophical study.
And I should say it another way. How to say? Compared to the training the mind by applying the two pillars of scripture, such as philosophy and reasoning, it is more important to persistently, always continuously train in applying the appropriate antidote, meaning appropriate advice. Here, appropriate antidote means appropriate advice. Appropriate advices or the antidotes on the basis of your teacher’s pith instruction.
So now here again we go to the Lamrim teaching. Among all the instruction, the Guru’s instruction is the supreme. Among all the instruction, the Guru’s instruction is the most effective, most relevant, most crucial, and most effective. So after choosing, after reliance on the the perfect guru, once you have chosen the guru, once you’ve relying on the guru, once you establish the faith and devotion to guru, then even though there’s eighty four thousand teaching displayed by the Buddha on the scripture there, But then day to day life, what guru advice, what guru ask you to do, that is the most effective instruction. And we have to adopt the guru’s instruction as the peak application, then the rest of the teaching.
Let’s say let’s say that having lot of problem in job. So you go to read eighty four thousand teaching. So teaching says you must accumulate merit. You should purify karma. Of course you you wanna do that.
You know, Buddha says so, and it makes sense, so you do that. So then after that, you start to go around and do make charity, do make candlelight offering, and do some Vajrasattva practice by following the instruction of the Buddha, Buddha’s teaching, or your knowledge in Dharma. Then you go to consult with your guru to whom that you have reliance on your refuge. Ask the guru. Maybe guru just simply say or whatever.
Guru maybe check properly. Say, guru say, oh, why not you you you just stop the work and make a trip to visit the Boudhanath Stūpa in Nepal. I’m having so much problem, yet you’re asking me to, you know, stop the work and, you know, neglect the work and go to Nepal to visit the old stupa. It sounds like very unrelent. It sounds like it’s like, you you’re spoiling me, you know.
You’re you’re making me have more hard time, you know. I already cannot handle Now you’re asking me to leave all this. But if you really wish to receive the benefit, you should follow the guru’s instruction. Say, yes sir, go. Go there, then maybe I don’t know.
Say go three rounds come back pay so much money all the Boudhanath stupa make three rounds come back maybe he might say don’t do any shopping okay come back so cannot do shopping come back After come back, things are improved, things are changing. Can be changed, you know. So through your faith and devotion, once you establish with that particular guru and whatever instructions are given, that will be the most effective to solve any kind of problems in your life. It’s more effective than any other instructions. And that is one of the crucial teachings of Lamrim, and that is one of the most important crucial teachings of the Lojong also.
You see? So when we teach Lamrim, we don’t talk much about this. But when we talk about Lojong, this is straightforwardness of this instruction, comes. I would say, what you call explanation is revealed. It’s more important to persistently train applying the appropriate antidote on the basis of your teacher’s pith instruction.
So whatever instruction the guru gives will be the pith instruction, which is the most appropriate antidote, which is the most effective antidote. You see? So let’s say let’s say, like, got a very, very severe sickness. You know, it was severe. Severe.
Severe. Severe. Severe. Severe. Severe.
Okay. So, you know, sickness. Your body already feels so weak. You feel so weak. You know?
Then the guru will say, go ahead and straight away do Yung Nae. Yung Nae, you know, one round of Yung Nae practice. So I almost like, if if doctor knew this, know, doctor will complain, you know? So weak and now asking you to go for fasting retreat. Called Nyungne retreat, somehow need a lot of prostrations, might faint and might die and all sort of thing, but the guru says so.
So if you follow, maybe that could be the I mean, based on the teaching, that is the most appropriate antidote to cure the sickness. It happens in our organization under the guidance of the most venerable lama. You know, there’s a many student also experience cancer sickness. So they already many of them are, like, fourth stage. No.
Very, very similar thing. Asked them to do eight sets of Nyungne. Eight sets. You know? I think it takes about sixteen days, isn’t it?
It’s it’s it’s one set or even one set, we we quite suffering. Yeah? It’s very tough. So eight sets of Nyungne. And some of the, you know, quite low.
They do. They they they follow. They they follow, and and they recover. And and most of cases recover. You know?
There’s a few stories in Australia, even in America, you know, the students, you know, recover. After that, they were so thankful and the rest of their life dedicate for dharma. And they supposed to die within one, two months, live for ten, fifteen years more. It’s like that. And there’s one nun.
She’s now maybe under seventy, eighty over years old in Australia. She has she established a guru disciple, you know, relationship with my late guru, Lama Yeshe, in nineteen eighty seven. In nineteen eighty seven, yeah, when did she have visited Australia, you know, she was diagnosed with cancer. And I think most of the organs are affected. And and also, I think, what, bone cancer is like, even the the ribs also have to remove and put, like, the metal ribs.
So I went to all the big cities, the major hospitals, and almost all the doctor give her a lifespan of three months. That’s about three months. So that time, so met Lama. Then Lama Yeshe did some prayers, and after that, he asked her to do continuously, I mean, for rest of her life, stay in the house and do retreat. And she completed all the major major preliminary retreats, you know, not of not only four.
I think about twelve different preliminary, almost like like Lama Kunjin himself. But her one is hundred thousand hundred thousand. Finish including prostration. Finish. And just two years ago, she completed the great retreat of Vajrayoginī.
Know, finished all the preliminary, finished, you know, the great retreat of Vajrayoginī, and she received teaching during one month period, maybe about two or three sessions. After that, Lama said, you will never see me. You will never ever again see me. So she put so much effort. You know, Lama, you are a bad guru.
I didn’t receive get chance to receive much teaching, and now you are neglecting me. No. You don’t want to see me. You can you you’re asking me not to see him at all. So, you know, from nineteen eighty seven, you know, until two thousand and one, you know, One week, one postcard.
Never missed. And she at least sent her representative in a postcard, and she don’t write much. She write a big face with a smiling like that. Like that. Big face.
You know, in earlier time, she used to write long, long, long letter. Always write long, long letter. So my responsibility is bring the letter, and I try my best to read, you know, to try to translate, you know. So, Geshe-la said, I don’t want to hear anything. I won’t hear.
So after that, I mentioned to Anila that Geshe-la said, I don’t want to hear you. So then after that, she never complained, but she she sent a cut, right, a big face, and she she has a dog and and also kitten, what is it, cats. So she also write the cat and the dog all back together, you know, all, you know, the frustration and patch from all of them. Okay. So when Geshe-la was sick in Singapore, so she know that Geshe-la is, like like, almost passing away.
So she request that, you know, at least you part before you pass away, let me see one time. If you don’t, let me just be be beside you, but I will I will I will put my head. I won’t look. So so Geshe la said, no need. No need.
So how how a lama train her is give her, like, a, you know, certain instruction. Not much for certain instruction. You say, every every every retreat, say, okay. Now you do hundred thousand prostrations. After you finish, then I will think about it whether you can come and see me or not.
So after that finish, I say, I’m finished. You know, I’m done. So now do hundred thousand Vajrasattva retreat. Then I will think about it. Oh, I should do it.
Should do. After that, a hundred thousand water bowl. After that, then a hundred thousand Guru Yoga practice. After that, also cannot cannot. So until you finish all the major preliminary practices, I think very rare, you know, in today’s time that people dedicate to do that, you know.
Then after yeah. So so anyway, so so I I I I asked her, doesn’t matter. You don’t care. Just come. You know?
I say, you know, I also feel very unfair. My goodness. And she somehow don’t know how she know. When Geshe la traveled to, like, Singapore or other country, before Geshe la reached, her card reached that one. You know?
It’s amazing. You know, it’s like single pointed, total devotion, you know. And and I mean, okay, the story the the complete story, her cancer is completely disappeared. And she even don’t need to visit hospital. And she’s still alive today.
And she’s she always explained, I’m always in bliss. I’m always happy and bliss. She never complain, you know, one single word that she’s not happy, she’s not bliss. I’m always in bliss. Lama’s mind is here.
Lama’s instructing me. And in between retreat, she she have a break, she go to help prisoners. She go to she go to advise the prisoners. Courage using her example that don’t give up life and also don’t be negative. And many prisoners, you know, subdue by her.
So her name is called Ani Kunchok. No one gets scared. It’s Kunchok. I I think and then I think put a Kunchok. I don’t know.
Maybe refuse name or say Kunchok. Yeah. So she’s still she’s still she’s still alive. So now, like, lately, I hear I heard physically, she’s so old. I think more than eighty years old, I think she’s so old, but she’s very healthy.
The only thing is the old sickness, like, cannot stand up easily like that kind. And she’s living alone, staying alone. She before she become a oh, another story go back. She She offer entire rest of her life to become an ordinary nun, to repay the kindness of nama. The rest of her life.
And she have beautiful children, And her husband, children all allowed her to because they already given given up on her. So and she start to, you know, change and recover. So everybody is most happy whatever she wanna do. So, you know, so so she have a small house, so she’s staying there. And so lately, she what’s that?
She she say she now she’s asking me to come and visit. And she’s been asking me to come for about six years, but I didn’t I don’t mean I follow Je Tsongkhapa’s way, but I didn’t get chance to go. And last one or two years, she has a wish that now she want to see me. And if she see me, then that’s that’s it. Then her life is complete.
You know? So so I feel I felt if I go, if she see me, she would she she complete her life, she would she would die. So I want her to live longer. So she she I didn’t say that, you know, I keep saying I’m busy. I don’t want to I cannot come.
You know, I will come next year. I will come next year, next month, next year. So I drag her drag. And I think it makes sense. And and but she’s still strong.
You know? So I asked because of her inspiration, all the neighbors around, all inspired by her, all, you know, believe in Buddha and, you know, and all used to write to me also. So I asked every one of their neighbors and say, can you I also never see them, but they all admire this Anila, Ani Kunchok, her devotion and her happiness. And they know her condition, but then she’s like such a healthy and like, you know, happy, perfect. And, you know, perfect.
So eighty eighty-seven up to now how many years? That’s twenty, twenty-two years. You know? And don’t even have to go to visit doctor.
And then so I asked one neighbor to at least help to, you know, do shopping for her. One neighbor just in case if something happen. So everybody is like now everyone is serving her. Everyone she everyone is most happy, you know. They say, oh, I don’t have much opportunity to serve, you know, vulnerable, you know.
Everybody, you see. So if you have the karma, even you are single at the end of the day, there’s so many helpers. You know? If you don’t take care of our karma, even you have so many children, so many friends, at the end of the day, everybody neglect us. So I I really see what really means about karma from this person.
It’s an enlightenment. And also devotion. The devotion, the faith, and to towards the guru. It really makes it’s it’s essential, you know. So you see.
So now she was saying that, okay, now I go back to the story. She said, she she sometimes write, she said. Now this old whatever whatever, you know, she always use dharma and use all the Lamrim words. It’s very nice, you know, all use Lamrim words. Like, even the mind is like floating and flying, but the the the body, the witch is like like a like a like a very heavy bag.
It cannot lift up. Now I have to grab here, and she would just ride. You know, I have to grab this side here, then there to stand up to go to, you know. And like that, you know, very, very, very so it’s like that. Okay.
So then the instruction. Oh, then no. Then the compared to so compared to others other other activities, training the mind oh, no. Training by remaining seated on your cushion is the more important. You know?
So here the activities is referring to activities relation to Dharma. Not not like all the activities relation to Dharma. Like when we do when you when we contemplate Dharma, when we study Dharma, when you, you know, practice Dharma, sometimes use walking and lying down and then say, well well, driving, if you get free, then you read, you know, you practice like that, you know, all all different aspects, you know. Within all of them, the the Dharma practice, you know, to to tame our mind, to do a meditation is always the sitting posture is the most most appropriate, you know, from all the activities of Dharma practices, Dharma and Dharma, the engagement of the meditation or Dharma practice in the sitting posture, especially seven Vairochana postures, seven meditation postures of Vairochana. Using that posture, then sit in that posture, then contemplate the understanding of Dharma.
It’s one of the it’s a superior or the principle, you know, a way to way to way to what’s it? Way to way to what do call, way to way to bring the dharma in cultivation. You know? You see? So the reason is sitting cross legged, even though initially it’s quite painful, you know, to to sit on cross legged, quite uncomfortable, but that helps to that helps to, you know, that helps to balance the channels, you know, your external channels, including the, you know, straight back, know, the spine.
You know? Each each posture has the benefit to to activate, you know, those necessary external channels, such as knowers blood flow, then it influence the internal channels, chakras, such as the seven chakras in the body. Then that influence our mind. That influence our mind. So even like putting your hand, one of the Vairochana posture, putting your hand, you know, the right palm on the top of the left, then putting two thumbs together, and the ring fingers, you know, touch each other, Even that, somehow the energy, somehow the frequency of the energy flow easily, and that activates the heart chakra, that activate the heart chakra especially recited the what do call it?
The mandala of the mandala of the heart heart the nerve mandala of the heart chakra, which is recited at the which is recited which is recited within which is recited within the undestructible drop where the light light bearing wind recite at the heart, at the center, between the chest and the navel. Center. That activates the knowers, wind, and drops, and that helps to enhance the bodhicitta mind. So even that has the special effect. So within all the different ways of practicing, sitting posture is the most and sitting seven meditation posture is the most appropriate which is principle.
Compared to avoiding the object of your afflictions, it is more important to probe within. So compared to avoiding the object of one’s afflictions, you know, the again, we can take the same example, like, also with anger. You know? If if we really want to rid of anger, then the solution is not chasing away the enemy away. They’re chasing the object of anger away or trying to defend the the the object of anger away or destroy the object of anger away.
That is not the solution. That’s not the relevant solution. That won’t help to eradicate or purify the eradicate rid of the anger. So whatever disturbance comes into our life externally or even to the mind, whatever disturb our mind, disturb our physical level, or disturb any of the senses you know, is not relevant. It’s not right for us to, you know, for for us to try to avoid the external object.
Now the best way to eradicate all those afflictive emotions and disturbance is to look into our own mind. Look into our own self. Look into our own nature of the mind. You know, look into our own nature of the mind. And look into our own fundamental nature of our mind.
So there’s a few levels. Look into our own fundamental level of our nature of the mind. And look into our nature of the mind, and look into the nature of the present mind, the present mental state, the present afflicted mental state. So there’s three stages. So you see, it’s all looking into yourself.
So first look into the fundamental nature of our mind. The fundamental nature of our mind is clean, clear like a crystal. It’s no different than Buddha’s mind. It’s totally perfected. Then we look into fundamental nature of our mind.
Yes. Is fundamentally clean, clear, no different than Buddha, but it is totally obstructed, obscure, dilute by the pollution which is afflicting emotions, is afflicting emotions, the delusions. Even though fundamental is clean, but it’s diluted, it is polluted, it’s contaminated by the afflict emotions. By investigating and expressing the first label, the fundamental, you start to feel, oh, the actual nature of me is actually pure, clean. So you start to gain some confidence to to really to obtain total freedom of all those if it’s the emotion disturbance.
When you check into the nature of our mind, you start to realize, oh, it is it is it is no different than the clear sky, you know, know, contaminated by the cloud. The clear sky contaminated with the pollution. It is just just just a cloud covering the nature only, but actual nature inside is clean clear. So that makes you, oh, actually, that can be temporary. It’s not ultimate.
It’s not within the fundamental mind. It is just coverage, just polluted from externally. It’s like just just a pollution, you know, how to say it. The example is like a clean sky and the and the and the and the cloud like that. So that makes you to feel, oh, I can the afflictive emotion can be cleared in any moment.
So then when you check into the the nature of the very present mental state, woah, totally disturbed. It’s totally afflicted. You know, it’s like, you know, totally afflicted, totally disturbed. You know? So then when you start to find out the nature of that, what in fact is your own confusion, your own misunderstanding, your own delusion, your own karmic seed, You know, there’s nothing out there who is externally harming you.
Actually, your own karma draw or your own karma invite the harm. Your own karma, your own delusion is making you unhappy of receiving this harm. So therefore, must be the root is my own emotional, my own deluded mind, my own afflicted emotion. That is the one that has to be clear. That is the one that actually avoided, not the external object.
Instead of investigating others form, to investigate your own fault. Instead of projecting others’ fault, try to project your own fault in order for you to improve. In order to judge others, judge yourself and check yourself instead of checking on others, you know, spying on others, spy on yourself, check yourself, check with it. So that is again the principle. Yeah.
So it is critical for you to train in this point. So those few points are very critical critical to whatever the the principal point that we discussed are the are the crucial points. It’s a principal point. Thank you. Maybe we stop here.
Any question? Cannot let the devil part to win. So that’s why. It’s a challenge. Yeah.
This is the challenge I’m talking about. And and to be able to properly detail what is happening to her, you really need to be, like, very clear and very aware of. Yes. Yes. Yes.
We we did discuss in earlier classes that no. It’s okay. We discussed about three challenges in order to total rid of all those devil mind or disturbance or whatever. To total rid of, you need to follow the three challenges, the steps. You know?
First challenge is to to precisely recognize the devil mind or the disturbing mind or whatever is disturbing you, whatever is problematic in you. You try to learn about it before finding a solution. First, you learn about it. But anger, then anger normally when we get angry, we never try to learn about anger. We try to we do try to find a solution for anger, isn’t it?
We try to find an antidote for anger. It means patience. But it’s it is not a not a not a appropriate way to do that even though we might think that way is right. The appropriate way is first since we get angry, now we should examine how the anger look like. First, how exactly anger look like?
You know, all the characteristic of anger we must recognize it. Once we recognize, once we understand the entire characteristic of anger, we start to see entire aspect or forms of anger. We start to see the unbelievable negative of our anger. Once you see that, then in order to order to eliminate in immediate level, at least immediate, how to say, in an immediate suppression of that anger, then we have to apply any of the Dharma thoughts, any of the Dharma teachings as an antidote. Let’s say teachings of emptiness or teachings of whatever comes or including looking at Buddha’s face.
You know, whenever you look at Buddha’s face, you kind of calm down, you know, calm, you see. Calm. Or when you read one of the line of the sūtra, you make you feel calm. So that is the second challenge is apply antidote to pacify temporarily. It’s not completely dominant, not completely purified, it’s like suppressed for temporarily.
While suppressing with that kind of antidote, then you apply appropriate antidote. It’s a direct antidote which can directly can fight with anger which is total opposite mind of anger. Totally, completely opposite mind of anger, which is the antidote. Like darkness and light is total opposite. If you don’t want total darkness, you must have a total brightness.
You know, it’s like that. You know? So so the appropriate antidote for the anger is patience. Then only apply patience. So by applying patience, the anger will be totally eradicated.
So any difficulties comes, you know, disturbance comes, to go through these three challenges that will help. Because it’s no. Because it’s not enough practice. Yeah. That’s But but then when so now the question should ask, when to practice?
Now and when we are okay, we should practice. Right now and when we are okay, we practice, practice, practice, and when we when then there will be a day no devil will be appear at all. Even devil comes, the anger comes, you are so habituated in the practice, immediately, the the the antidote, the mind, the patient will come up. The patient, the mind of the patient is seeing disadvantage of anger and seeing advantage of being tolerant. So these are the practice of patience.
So the moment about the anger come, your thought is already like, anger no good, no good, know? Shouldn’t get angry. You use yourself in mind. But most of the time we forget. Most of the time the anger already dominate us because we are not in our mindfulness, not in our awareness of the practice.
It is a lack of habituation now and when we are okay. And when we when anger already there, we are too late. When anger already already triggering us, it’s too late. So the practice and it will always have to practice when we are alright, when we are okay, when we are fine. So that’s again one of the things.
That’s why I say, it looks like saying easy, but to to apply is difficult. Know, we might say, difficult is because we always apply right at that very moment. When anger comes, then only apply the antidote, you know. That’s why it’s difficult. But if we can able to practice long time before, most likely there’s not even a chance for anger to come at all.
But even anger about to come, you can able to dominate back. You see, so so it’s it’s like that. I I think like that. Maybe you can try. It’s difficult again, but try.
Maybe it helps. Yes. Yeah. So you see, according with the technique, is we never try to change the person. The work needs to succeed.
Doesn’t matter. Even he blows up. Even he start to stir it all and all and all whole a knife up also, you don’t try to change him. Just change yourself. When you first, you talk with very comfortably.
The moment you start to raise fist, you start to smile bigger. The moment he raise his knife, you smile. But, you know, but that is that is much more better than, you know, dealing with forceful. You know, it compare dealing your way is much more effective than quarreling and fighting and trying to solve the problem is impossible. Even though you might think that you see, the devil mind think we win because I’m able to shout him, shout at him.
You feel like, you know, because the devil mind is very happy. Devil mind is like like a the ego is, you know, fill up. That’s why it’s you think you win, but actually you lose. The situation get worse. Situation won’t get better.
Even people might, you know, start to show that they’re listening to you, but they have so much hatred in the heart. They will they will try to find every single means to destroy you. But if you are nice to the person, you talk nicely to the person, even though the person is like not disagreeing, but eventually or at least have a lesser harm towards you, that’s still the better. You know? And and again, if you really want to apply Lojong technique, we almost this is this is my karma.
You know, this is the karma result. You know, my I caused this this action in the past relation to him. Now the karma ripening on me. So I must be smart now. I shouldn’t continue to continue with this kind of karma.
I’d rather stop the karma right now. How to stop? Stop from your side. Oh, be tolerant. Be compassionate.
So you take the person as object of compassion. No. I mean, you know, so ignoring. I don’t know. You know?
Committed so much negative karma scolding me, you know. You you never know. You think you are so powerful, you know. Actually, you are may Buddha bless your mind. You may you’ll be quickly liberated, You know?
We’ll walk away. Better. I think that’s still the better solution. You know? But in real life, sometimes we we we before we we do that, we we we already score back, you know.
We already show our own anger. So again, it’s a lack of our habituation in in our day to day life. So especially when we are okay, you know, before go to office, before go to meet the person, we have to be full ready, fully ready. Today, I have to deal with all these kind of people. So first thing, I will regard them as object of my compassion.
Second thing, whatever happens due to my past negative karma. It’s returned, it might return. So why not I start to reduce the karma, even start the journey from the home. The first reduction of karma is seeing them as object of, you know, motivating the thought, seeing people that who you’re going to communicate like hard people. Object of compassion already reduce your karma to get harm from them.
Then when you meet, immediately. Even before meeting, you just say that whatever, you know, drastic that they will you know, that I need to face, I will regard that as the most powerful purification of my past karma. I will happily observe it. Wait. Observe.
Dissolve. No. I’ll observe it. I’ll happily observe it. Observe it.
I will happily observe it. Not only that, but rest of the other karma, including the karma that I have to suffer in the health. Even that, then more than that, my long term teaching, more than that, entire others problems. Other, you know, company, office, you know, people must be like, suffering so much, worse than my case. All those ripen up on this.
Whatever, you know, ripen up on my situation, what I’m going to face one hour later. You know, I’m such fortunate that I can able to purify my karma. You know, I’m going to purify my karma about one hour time. How fortunate. So that I don’t have to suffer in the low realms.
You know, again, the teaching teach us to think that way and that way helps. And that again is so powerful my training to purify our karma. More powerful than puja. More forceful than puja. So when you when you when you really meet the person, you’re very calm.
You’re naturally calm. You’re motivated to be calm. You’re motivated to be ready to accept the situation, you know? And you become a perfect consultant for them. You know?
Even though you know, when you are you are consulting the people, sometimes people are, like, so scary. You know? In the beginning, so scary. Then slowly, they become more and more gentle. You know?
The more you talk, the more you talk, they become more gentle. Gentle. Gentle. I also experience that. Sometimes, you know, they come and see you.
I thought they would be quite respectful and, you know, because you are coming to get my help. But first, it’s like almost pointing finger on your nose, you know. You know, woah. Quite scary also, you know. But then after talk, talk, talk, they become tender.
At the end, when they go back, they go with palm of like this, you know. Thank you. They go back like that. First is like pointing finger on your nose. You know?
Their problem is like pointing to you, you know, like this, you know. And then in the beginning you try to talk to them. How can you say like that? You know, you they will teach you back, you know, you shouldn’t say like that, you know. You know, how can you judge like this?
You ask me to judge, then now you are complaining about I’m judging. What’s happened? But then talk and you you come. Total calmness. But sometimes it’s true.
You need to fight with them also. If come the same problem, same mistake again again, or then better fight. Just joking. Cannot. The person they cannot.
Okay. Oh. The the the ex external influence. Yeah. You know, external influence.
So that’s why you should create home very cozy, very bright, you know, You know, know, a lot of things that remind you, feel very lifting, inspiring. You know, that’s why to to make a place very beautiful is so important. You know, very like bright light. Because once we want to close eye, go to sleep, then switch off all the light. Until then, as bright as possible.
That’s if you like colorful, make it as colorful as possible. If you don’t like colorful, whatever you like, set more. It it reminds you. It reminds you to be awake. It reminds you to be very lifted, inspired.
You see? Here, there’s so many other object because it inspire us. It feel you your spirit very high. You know? Only one maybe, you know, don’t don’t feel very cold.
So he’s it. So so like that. Light, you know, if you don’t own, there’s only one light. Feel very down. It’s a it’s a natural external, internal element effect.
You know, it it affects. So if darkness come, you try to, like, or maybe at least on some music or maybe some chanting or whatever. You know? But then maybe at least offer some candle light to the altar. That will help us.
Yeah. Confronting means. Oh, talk it out. Oh, Oh, just take it. Oh.
But we have to apply wisdom. We have to we have to learn about the situation. Again, we have to apply the three challenges as before. Learn the situation carefully. You know, full, you know, you if that this we must have a full idea of the situation.
We have to study the situation. You know? Then if you think silent is best, be silent. Confront is best, confront. But always is good when when you are calm.
You know, always is is is a better solution. You do whatever way, but do with calmness and gentle and some sort of smile and, you know, like, it’s a way. You know, physically, verbally, even mentally. Like like, mentally, it take us object of compassion. You know?
Because everything has to do with it, beings, isn’t it? human beings. Yeah? Beings. So you take whatever problem makers are object with your compassion.
You know? Then verbally, be be calm, you know, be gentle mentally, you know, physically also, like like we we cannot be like we are like like loser or or it’s like like we are very scared of you, not like that. Be very confident. We we have to be very confident. Have to show, you know, you have to be very confident.
You know? You cannot simply climb over on my head. You have to show that kind of aspect. But it’s very, very kind, compassionate look. The voice also, of course, is straight to the point.
You know, don’t wanna say sorry. You know, okay. No. Go here and there. No.
Straight to the point. Refer, but softer voice. Yeah. Softer voice. Isn’t it?
I think it’s all. You know, I think it’s still better. It’s it’s I think it’s still better. In whatever, in the world, dharma, everywhere, I think this is still the better solution Then, you know, let’s say, you know, in in the western study, like like, you you you study to build your ego to be a leader. You know?
So you teach you to sometimes express your anger, teach you to be very proud, you know, physically, you know, like that. Teach you to be like, you know, working like that, instead of work like that. Verbally, you know, make very loud. Mentally, you know, like, in order to get success be very cunning. Teach, you know, there’s such study.
I’m sure you know, yeah? Yeah. So study study. I heard only. See?
So you see, so you apply that, you might win some time but you will lose most of time. You might you might win for twenty years but rest of the forty years you will lose. You will be so successful up to twenty years, twenty years of your working life, dominating people, turn down people, challenge people, win on people, but then rest of your life, you will lose them. Everyone, people around you, you deal with it. Even though they show, you know, they’re very happy with you, but in the heart war, you know, this person, know, you know, and somebody, there’s even danger of saying that you die, and then you won’t get even a cremation place to cremate.
Know, until people will, you know, say like that. I I heard, you know. You know, I I I hear people, you know, comment until that. Because it but all the aspects are successful. Everything is perfect and so powerful.
But then that is not the way that people really want to receive from you. People want compassionate, gentleness, kindness, you know, generous, everything, you see. So if even the work, yeah, maybe sometimes leave, very, you know, like but what I’m saying is be firm. Be honest, be firm, but don’t be cunning and don’t use harsh word and don’t don’t act boastful. Always shout always, you know, scream here and there.
I’m not sure and do like that. I think not right. I think so. Okay. Stop here.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you. By the way, even it’s gender, like, you know, you’re physically show very gender, you know, then don’t be like a snake also. Yeah.
It’s worse than worse than a tiger. It’s it’s more dangerous. It’s much more dangerous. So so, you know, dharma is like, you know, the most important, the heart have to be very honest. It’s truly expression of compassion, kindness, honesty, respect like that.
Right? In the heart, you you you want to, you know You know, then, you know, you know, you know, you get chance want to bite, you know. Then outside, you know, like, that’s so soft, you know, so gentle, you know. And so scary. It’s worse than the tiger.
So you see, so there are so the so most important is heart. You know, most important is heart. As a dharma practitioner, we have to start from the heart. You know? Whatever it is, heart have to be very, very, very, kind and soft like that.
Thank you.