Wisdom Seeking Wisdom

By  Rev. Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

*Note: This is a transcription of a talk by Suzuki Roshi. It is not "perfect" English but gives a sense of the nature of this great teachers style and directness.

July 22, 1965

We are studying now the sutra of the sixth patriarch, in the evening lecture, and PRAJNA (this is of course Sanskrit word) we mean, wisdom, but this wisdom is not intellect, or knowledge.  This wisdom is so-called our inmost nature, which is always in incessant activity.  Zazen practice is to….wisdom seeking for wisdom is zazen practice, if I use technical term.  Wisdom seeks wisdom is zazen practice, and our everyday life is wisdom.  Realization of our precepts is our everyday life.  When wisdom…When our everyday life is based on wisdom we call it percepts.  When we sit, we do not do anything; we just sit.  There’s no activity of our mind.  We just sit and all what we do is taking inhaling and exhaling.  Sometimes you will hear some birds singing, but that is not actually….you are not hearing.  Your ears will hear it.  You are not hearing it.  Just, you know, sound come, and you will make some response to it, that is all.  This kind of practice is called “wisdom seeks for wisdom”.


We have true nature.  Whatever you do, even though you not do anything, your true nature is in incessant work – activity.  Even though you are sleeping, it is quite active.  Your thinking, your sensation are superficial activities of yourself, but your inmost nature is always working.  Even though you die, it is working.  I don’t mean some, you know, soul, but something….not soul, but something is always in incessant work.  Whatever you call it, spirit or soul, I don’t mind.  You can put many names to it, or you will give it various interpretations to it, but that interpretation belongs to….in your intellectuality.  That is intellect.  So whatever you call it….inmost nature itself, doesn’t mind.  Someone may call it soul.

Someone may call it spirit.  Someone may say, “Oh, no, no, that is just material.  Some kind of function of material is soul.”  Maybe.  According to the people, they will put many names to it, but our inmost nature is our inmost nature.  It is quite little to do with our inmost nature.

When we sit we call it inmost….let inmost nature in it’s self, or activity…This is…we call self-use of inmost nature…Let it work.  You don’t do anything, but let our true nature work by itself.  This is zen practice.  Of course, even though you do not do anything, you have pain on your legs, or some difficulty to keep your mind calm.  And sometimes you may think.. “Oh, my zazen practice is not so good.”  What are you thinking for?  Stop thinking.  O.K.  This is zen, you know.  When you do something, you know, it is a kind of morality is in it because you do something by your choice.  But when you make decision to do something, your inmost nature will tell you, “That will not be so good.  Why don’t you do it this way.”  That is precepts.

When we have some choice in our activity… In zazen we have no choice.  We just sit, and whatever inmost nature say, let it do it.  I don’t mind.  This is zazen.  But when you have some….When you make some plan you are responsible for it too.

And at that time you would listen to what your inmost nature will say.  That is morality or precepts.  Our inmost nature will tell you what to do.  So if you understand this way, this is morality, or this is precepts.  So the precepts actually is not only two or two hundred or five hundred.  For female we have five hundred precepts.  For males, two hundred.  That is not so fair, but anyway, five hundred, or three hundred…it doesn’t matter.  Whatever we do is precepts, because we have some choice.  We have to make some decision.

I am responsible for what I should do, and when we make some decision we listen to the Buddha Nature….”Should I do that?”  Here you have, in your everyday life, precepts, and you have freedom too.  Whatever you do that is up to you.  As long as you have freedom you will make some decision, so you should be responsible for that.  You should not say that is….Buddha should be responsible for it.  I don’t mind.  I am not responsible for it.  You cannot say that in your everyday life.  So, in our everyday life, we should have precepts, we should observe the precepts, instead of leaving responsibility for Buddha.  We should be responsible for that, but at the same time you have freedom.  There is no need for you to be bound by precepts.  Precepts is formulated by you own choice.  As long as you take conscious activity, there is freedom, and at the same time, you should be responsible for that.  This is freedom ….true freedom..to leave all the responsibility to Buddha is not freedom.  I don’t mind.

Someone may say whatever you do that is Buddha Nature.  It doesn’t matter whatever you do.  This is misunderstanding.  But the morality without Buddha Nature is just moral code and you will be enslaved by moral code.  That is rigid moral code in which you be enslaved, by which you will be enslaved.  But if you become aware of Buddha Nature (innate nature) that is freedom, that is not rigid precepts.  You will do it by your own choice, and you will do it by your true nature, according to your true nature.  So , that is complete freedom.  And that is also morality.  So in this sense you have freedom.  You are not enslaved by Buddha Nature, by moral code.  And moral code is not always the same.  It is not permanent.  Strictly speaking, whatever….there is moral code whatever you do.

So we say, zen and precepts is one.  In everyday life we call it precepts, and in practice of zazen we call it zen.  So zen and everyday life should be based on……should be the self use of our true nature.  So in this sense, precepts and zen is not different…is one.  This is very important point.  And we bow this morning nine times.  Why we bow to Buddha is…it is…it is actually a kind of practice to get rid of our self-centered idea….to give ourselves completely to Buddha.  Here I mean to give myself, or ourselves, means our physical functions and our intellectual functions, or life….physical and intellectual life to Buddha because it is based on Buddha Nature.  So even though we forget all about it…still we have Buddha Nature here, so Buddha bows to Buddha.  That is bow.  This is one meaning.

Another meaning is:  As long as we live, we have body and we have to think something.  So Buddha practiced zen.  And we practice zen.  So everyone….when he practice zen, they are called Buddha, and Buddha Mind, or Bodhisattva Mind is our spirit.  To attain oneness in our duality is our spirit because we are not so good we, you know, try to improve ourselves.  That is our true nature.  And we are aware of it….we have some intention to improve ourselves.  This intention is limited to human being.  Flowers come up…a flower may come out in spring without fail, but they do not make any effort; they automatically come out…that’s all.  We try to open our flower in spring.  We try to do the right thing at the right time.  We find it very difficult.  In this sense we are very stupid.  Even though we try to do it, we cannot make it, but this is our human nature.  We always try to do something.  We have always some difficulty to do something.

But this point is very important for us.  That is why we have pleasure of human being, because it is difficult, and we are always making some effort.  That effort result our human pleasure of life, our pleasure of human life.  This pleasure is limited to human being and this is called our true nature.

But if you understand this true nature you will find out the true nature within yourself and in every existence.  Flower has this nature even though it is called…they are preparing for spring, even though they do not know they are making good effort to come up in spring.  So this…when we become aware of it, we will know that this nature we have is universal nature to every existence.  But his awareness of true nature is limited to human being.  So this awareness is very important and this awareness is, in short,  to try to do something good is our spirit.  We don’t know why we should try to improve ourselves.  No one knows.  There is no reason for it, or it is beyond discussion.  Even though you cannot discuss why it is the nature…our true nature is so big, it is out of comparison, out of our intellect….intellectual understanding….so it makes any sense even though you discuss it.  “What are you talking about?”  Those who are aware of it will laugh at you if you discuss about it….about why it is so …is so big problem to discuss.  This is why we bow to Buddha.





For more info about Shunryu Suzuki see: www.sfzc.org

Outer, Inner and Secret Refuge

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse - London 2010, session one; draft transcript

This is going to be traditional Buddhist teachings. It is going to be about refuge. So as it is required in the tradition I will first tune my motivation. Those who know how to generate the proper motivation please do so.

I noticed this in the past that sometimes when I teach without a proper motivation but actually having done fairly well with the actual logic and composition of the teachings it ends up confusing everyone, really not benefiting anyone. But at times, once in a while I remember tuning my motivation and then I teach something that does not make any sense, completely confusing but I meet people later and they say that really helped. So I think the motivation is very powerful.

We are going to talk about refuge, that’s very important. It is an indispensable practice and a theory in all the Buddhist teachings. Unfortunately sometimes refuge is referred as something like a, some kind of a preliminary practice or a study which is very unfortunate because even the most seasoned practitioners really need understanding and maintaining of practice of refuge. In Tibetan there is a saying ??? which means the distinctions of whether you are a follower of Buddha or not is made by whether you have taken refuge or not. At glance it sounds like you will be referred as a Buddhist only if you ceremoniously took a refuge which is of course to the certain extend true. But refuge actually is really a very vast, it’s a, one could almost say that the fundamental teaching of the Buddha lies within the refuge, the attitude of the refuge, the motivation of the refuge and the understanding of the refuge.

In fact if you ask what is the most common, because there are many Buddhist schools or lineage or tradition in this world, and if you were to ask, what is the most common mantra if you like, or something to recite that is agreed by all tradition of Buddhism, it has to be refuge. And it is basically, I take refuge to Buddha, I take refuge to Dharma, I take refuge to Sangha. So this is recited in Thailand, in Sri Lanka, Burma, Tibet, Japan, everywhere. This is properly the most common prayer, supplication, mantra people practice. It is the most fundamental also. Even the most exotic and supposedly very high teachings like the Vajrayana cannot begin their practice without the refuge. Without the refuge, there is no base or foundation for the Vajrayana practice.

So there are few things that you need to understand about the refuge. First, what is the cause of taking refuge, why take refuge.

Generally, a big generalization actually, there are three cause of taking refuge. Fear, compassion and devotion.

And each of them really we can go on and on discussing about. Each of this for many hours I think.

Then there is also, one should, one can talk about the quality or the logic if you like of refuge object.

Because when we take refuge to somebody or something, it better be non deceiving. That’s very important. Non deceiving aspect of whole refuge practice and refuge concept is very very important. If I gave you some sesame seed and tell you that you can squeeze this and you might have some oil. Then it’s kind of not deceiving because there is supposedly oil inside the sesame seed. But if I gave you something else, like a stone or a paper, then that is a deception. So this, the whole process, whole logic or philosophy of non deception, non deceiving aspect of the refuge, that’s a very very important element of Buddhist philosophy of refuge. Why take refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Are they really non deceiving? It has to bear fruit you know, it has to answer your quest.

So this are some of things that we can discuss today.

And also when we talk about non deceiving, two levels of non deceiving. Non deceiving relatively, and non deceiving ultimately. Because many times, many times for us, non deceiving relatively is misunderstood as non deceiving ultimately. This is a very big one actually. And both are important. Non deceiving relatively is important so that one can develop a trust towards non deceiving ultimately.

For those of you who just happen to walk in for the first time to some of this Buddhist teachings I will have to apologize with all the jargon and all this Buddhist and Indian thinking, Indian logic. But I guess I cannot really make it simpler or accessible.

Meditation has become kind of a very fashionable thing to do, looks like, in this part of the world. So I am going to use the meditation as an analogy to talk about refuge this morning, just briefly.

Meditation is a relative, it is a relative refuge. It is not an ultimate refuge by the way. Even though it sounds very important. In Buddhism, in Buddhadharma, we do meditation. And in many levels it is a practice of taking refuge.

For instance, we can already experience maybe three minutes now.

Okay, so what we are going to do is we are going to sit straight for three minutes only. And a few disciplines. Everything what we do has to have some discipline. You know even like not doing anything has some discipline. Even like really just hanging out needs some discipline. Because if you don’t hang out, if you don’t know how to hang out properly so to speak then it’s not really hanging out. Then you are engaging, you are already busy, you are already stressed. So everything needs discipline. Making a tea needs a discipline, making a coffee needs a discipline. Everything. So some kind of discipline is necessary. So in this case our discipline is to sit straight. I guess you are allowed to breath in and out. You can blink, no, you can swallow saliva. This is more for me than for you. And yes of course you are allowed to think whatever you want to think. I mean how can I control that one.

But other than that, no scratching, no yawning, no coughing. No sort of moving for this three minutes. And no visualization or anything like that sort. No visualizations. Whatever you are thinking, just noticing it and be aware of it. And that’s all. Not, if some hideous thought comes, not trying to get rid of it. If some really amazing good compassionate kind thought comes, not trying to register this. If amazing idea comes, also not really immediately writing it down or trying to think about it. Nothing like that. So before we do this, why don’t you cough and do whatever you need to do, scratch. Okay. So you are comfortable now? Okay we will start now.

[meditation]

So this I asked you to do it because we can use this as an analogy, as an example. Now here what we did, we took refuge to a technique. That is why it is not an ultimate practice of refuge, it is a relative practice of refuge. We took refuge to a technique. But remember I was telling you, a big element of the refuge has to be undeceiving. This to a materialistic oriented people, this is the biggest deception. While you do this three minutes of doing nothing, Footsie Down Jones are going up and down. Economy is going crazy. So if you are materialistic, yes this is a very big deception. But if you are spiritually, if you really want to seek a spiritual path, then this is not a deception.

Why? Because – for this reason first it’s important actually how much come to a proper conclusion, that how much you really want to take refuge to a spiritual path. This is very important before you take refuge, you have to come to a conclusion. And what does that mean? We don’t have much time to talk about this but if you ask me what is the real, what’s the real meaning of being spiritual or practicing a spiritual path? What is the purpose of following a spiritual path?

I don’t know other spiritual path but in Buddhism, if you are asking me for Buddhism, according to the Buddhadharma, then to take refuge to a spiritual path actually means from the worldly point of view, to take refuge to path of uselessness. That’s so important to accept. You have to really be brave and be ready to be useless, at least for three minutes a day. If you don’t have that, then your feet is, one is on the materialistic world and one is on the spiritual world. You will not walk. You will not manage to do your worldly, materialistic path properly, because you are thinking about some sort of spiritual path which will only frustrate you and make you feel guilty, you know, force you, you go completely behind while everybody is getting promotion and getting good job and all of that. I am talking from the very highest level. Spiritually you can’t also do properly because you are sort of attached to this worldly life. This is a challenge. We can discuss about this later but this needs to be sorted out first.

As I said earlier this is going to be a traditional Buddhist teaching. And in a traditional Buddhist teaching there is no compromise. I know nowadays we talk about meditation and stuff like that which seems to have lot of compromise. But if you are following a spiritual path and if you are genuine there is not so much compromise. Doesn’t mean that you have to quit your job and get rid of your family and all of that. No no, not at all. It is an attitude practice here. But this if you have time we discuss later.

So when we did three minutes of sitting we took refuge to this technique of, technique or a state of present-ness, this present moment. You just, you took refuge to the present moment. Okay. Remember I was telling you earlier, in order to take refuge you have some reasons why you take refuge. One of them happens to be fear. So when you take refuge to the present moment you are afraid of the past and the future. Or you are afraid of the habit of not being in the present. You constantly, we are distracted by the past experience, constantly we are distracted by hope and anticipation of the future. And this has brought only pain, suffering, dissatisfaction, anxiety, stress, however you want to put it. So now we learn to have this fear. Not good to dwell on the past. Not good to dwell on the future. Because those two only bring misery.

So I take refuge to the present moment. This is just a demonstration sort of, example of the whole theory and practice of refuge in the Buddhadharma. And it is non deceiving because when you are just be aware of whatever is happening right this very moment, this present moment. You can experience it already, you are not occupied, you are not engrossed, you are not caught up by past and the future. In other words, you are not worked up. Most of the time we are all worked up. Stress, tense. You can immediately experience this, even now, for three minutes. Short it may be, but for three minutes it’s undeceiving. Just watching liberates you from the entanglement of thoughts, which produces emotion, which then produces strong habit which will stay within your system for long long long time and become very very stubborn. And then you alienate yourself. Then all the samsaric problems start. This we can already experience this. So being in the present moment, from the spiritual point of view, it is not deceiving. Okay.

So now, traditionally we talk about refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Out of that most important properly is taking refuge to the Dharma. Taking refuge to the Dharma means among many different meanings taking refuge to the Dharma is taking refuge to the truth. Actually I think the English word refuge maybe not doing the justice to the Tibetan word ???chamdo or the Sanskrit word gacchami. But it still is okay because it has a little bit sort of a touchy feely kind of aspect which is good thing actually, it is necessary. Little bit of violin and all those are necessary, the hymns, the songs, all of those are also necessary. So refuge actually is not the right translation I think. Refuge, gacchami, or specially the Tibetan word, because gacchami has amazing many different meanings, ??? has one connotation of actually accepting the truth. That’s a very important one, accepting the truth.

So if you are listening from the classic Buddhist teachings, one truth is that all, everything that is made, everything that is gathered, everything that is put together, everything that is produced which basically is everything that we have, they are all impermanent. Nothing, there is nothing that is permanent. Before the Buddha, it was impermanent, while he was teaching it was impermanent. It is not because Buddha said all compounded things are impermanent somehow everything became impermanent. It is going to be impermanent looks like. Until a scientist or some technician manages to produce one produced good as a permanent thing the Buddhist refuge of I take refuge to the Dharma is not going to change.

If one day scientist or engineer manage to produce something that will not fall apart yes then Buddhism is collapsed. Then I take refuge to the Dharma is completely collapsed. Then we should really go and have lot of fun actually. Otherwise, but until then, this is the truth. All compounded things are impermanent. All produced, made, put together, composed, created, fabricated, made are all impermanent. This is one truth that we take refuge. And that’s why we call it, we say I take refuge to the Dharma. When we say I take refuge to the Dharma we are not taking refuge to a book. Book is produced. It is going to fall apart. It is already falling apart. The truth is what we are taking refuge, this impermanence.

So what is the fear? The fear is the constant forgetfulness. Constant forgetfulness of this truth such as going to West Field, John Louis, where else, Marks & Spencer – no going there is fine. But going there and buying as if you are going to live another thousand years. That indicates, that tells you that you have not taken refuge to the Dharma. Because that means that you are going to live long.

I’ll see you tomorrow for instance. Even that. See you later. We don’t know. Maybe there is no later. But constant forgetfulness of this impermanence indicates that you have not really taking refuge to this truth, this truth of impermanence. And this has caused, it is not like it hasn’t caused any problems, it has caused so much problems. People talk about ecology and what, global warming and all of that. Who do you think is the culprit, it’s the forgetfulness of impermanence. Insatiably thinking that we are going to be here for ever. Forgetfulness of that.

Yes, so, taking refuge to the Dharma therefore means taking refuge to the truth.

I also told you about two other cause of taking refuge, compassion and devotion. Where does the compassion fits into this. Once we know this truth that for instance, three minutes we were sitting, and maybe you didn’t notice because we are thinking about other things but for some of you maybe you have actually managed to just sit and be aware of whatever is coming right this very moment. And that must have given you some kind of an example that actually this releases you from, this liberates you from hope and fear and, you know the stories that entangle you. So then you realize, wow, this is a really kind of economical way of living. And kind of liberating and really very nurturing and enriching.

Then you look at all this people in the street with a small brief case and an umbrella walking up and down, up and down completely thinking about things. Trying to catch up, trying to compete. Trying to knock over somebody in many different ways. Then you suddenly realize, oh, if only they could sit like this for three minutes, three minutes a day, they are missing a lot. It is so, you don’t have to buy anything, you don’t have to download anything. You are just doing it, you can sit anywhere, watch this present moment mind. This you can do anywhere. You almost feel like just frustrating kind of compassion. If only people can do this. And that actually develops even a stronger motivation of taking refuge. You almost develop some kind of a sense of responsibility.

This again, if you have time, maybe we can discuss little later.

I was doing this, when I was talking about refuge. I just want to talk a little bit more about, a little bit ritual of taking refuge. Ritual is important I think. More and more I realize. Human beings, we need gadgets. Always had gadgets, always had, yes rituals. It’s a form of a communication. So physically we have gestures like this, prostrations. Verbally or with the speech there is a tradition of reciting the refuge prayers or supplications again and again. These are all technique, these are all methods to not fall into the habit of forgetfulness. Forgetfulness of forgetting the truth. It’s like a reminder. So much so that in all the Buddhist traditions we also have sort of refuge ceremony.

You actually go to somebody and say I want to take refuge. But you are not necessary taking refuge to this person. You are taking refuge to the truth, the Dharma. And the one who taught or revealed or discovered the truth, the Buddha. And the community that believes or that accepts the same truth, the Sangha. And you do this to a person, under a person, you sort of do this ritual with a person because it will strengthen , it makes the practice of refuge in your head, emotionally it helps you feel confident that you have taken refuge. So there is concepts like refuge vow that you can take. It is like a resolution.

You can in order to train your mind – okay I was using the example of sesame seed to explain the non deceiving aspect of the refuge. Accepting the truth such as the impermanence is not a deceiving path, it is not a delusion. It is true to the truth. Even though it is a relative truth, still it is true to the truth.

Now next question, important. Why does the Buddha come into this? Aren’t we, isn’t Buddhism supposedly, Buddha himself said, not to depend on a person but depend on the teaching. Isn’t Buddhism a path that does not believe in truly existing all mighty creator, a supreme being. Why do we have to take refuge to the Buddha? This is a very important question. Yes, for many of us, the moment we say we take refuge to the Buddha, for most of us, for most we can’t help but we think in terms of taking refuge to the Buddha who came 2500 years ago in a place called – two thousand five hundred years ago, six hundred years, two thousand six hundred years ago. India, not UK.

Man, not as a woman. As a prince, not as an ordinary person. All of that, most of us we think like this. That is actually not so bad, nowadays most of the people, the moment they say I take refuge to the Buddha, their mind automatically thinks about the golden statue they bought. Not gold, many of them are bronze. Fake ones. That’s sitting on your shrine somewhere. It is terrible. But that is how lot of us think when we say we take refuge to the Buddha. Now this one, but I am not negating this, this will do for some people. Why not? If it helps that is good because indirectly it is actually not deceiving.

Someone could be inspired by a statue in British Museum for instance of a Buddha, because of his serenity, because of the way he looks, I don’t know, because how the light falls on his face. And he or she may get inquiry about this person who came two thousand five hundred years ago. And then if he or she more diligent then he or she might end up finding some of his teaching and then it might indirectly lead him to a non deceiving path. So as a Buddhist I would say, relatively it is okay. But on a more profound level when we say we take refuge to the Buddha, again we are actually talking about a very very profound truth. We are not really saying we take refuge to the Buddha which is bound by time, bound by a place such as Shakyamuni Buddha, historical Buddha. But we are talking about taking refuge to the innate Buddha that we all have. Our true nature. The absolute nature of each and every individual of beings, us, animals, gods, ghosts, every one of us has this innate buddha nature. And that is what we are taking refuge to, ultimately.

Okay now this is a very, of course, specially for some of you new ones, very confusing. What do we mean by innate nature, innate Buddha. I will make this simple so that maybe everyone can understand the Buddhist concept of taking refuge to the Buddha. All of us human beings, sentient beings, not only human beings, all of us, people like me, you, all of us, we have all these negative qualities. We are just packed with it. Defilements, endless moods, bad moods, endless defilements, emotions, anger, pride, insecurity. All of this. This I don’t have to tell you, I am sure you know this. But none of them is not removable. Every single one of them are removable. This is a very important element, you have to really realize this. Everything, even though some of the emotions that we have is just so strong, you cannot possibly think that it is removable.

You cannot even imagine how can I remove this anger, this jealousy, this pride that we have. But the fact is they are all removable. And the reason why they are removable is they are all arranged, they are all fabricated, they are all made, they are all created. Therefore they can be defeated, they can be destroyed, they can be dismantled. It is a matter how much attention we pay. And even yourself you can experience this. Okay some of you you may consider yourself as someone who has so much anger. But when you have anger do you get – your anger, it cannot possibly go on twenty four hours. Sixty minutes an hour. Non-stop. Impossible. Have you ever thought about that? It is just not possible that you get angry like monotone, like aaannngggrrryyy . Not possible.

The desire is the same thing, even if you like to have a desire, like continuous, you cannot. After a while you become impotent. It just goes back and forth, fluctuates, isn’t it. So this proves that it is manipulatable. And also anger just doesn’t come suddenly out of the blue you know like falling from a sky. It always has something to do with thinking about the past, reminding it doesn’t matter a French window and then you suddenly realize your childhood and then think oh your childhood how you had been beat up by somebody or something like that. And then you get anger. Just because of the French window. Something like that. It is always, there is always a cause and condition. But of course our habit becomes so subtle it looks like out of nowhere our anger comes. Of course. Of course. You know, our boyfriends, our girlfriends, they are really in good mood, before they go to toilet. They go to toilet, and they come out. Bad mood. What happened in the toilet we don’t, you know like. You feel like that.

This is just very subtle but basically what we need to know is that emotions, no matter how strong, no matter how deep they are, they all have their cause and condition, they don’t come randomly. And this is a good news. This is the element of what we call innate buddha, buddha nature that we have. So our emotions are removable, our defilements are removable, purify-able, and that fact is what we are accepting when we say, I take refuge to the Buddha. That fact is what we are accepting, that fact. That is important. If you don’t accept that fact it is bit like you see your dirty dishes in the sink with all the sauce and things stained. And many of us who are really good with, who are cheerful people and who are really good with the washing dishes, you know when we see the dirty dish we get all excited, ha you know, I can make it spotless clean, shinny, within half an hour. Isn’t it. It is almost, if you see kind of a clean dish you feel like bit like you know, more dirtier the better. Like this. And that kind of confidence you have because you know it’s washable. That dirt is washable. That time, you have taken refuge to the innate clean dish.

That is why when you take refuge, when you are doing this, when you are putting it into the washing dishes and all of that, it’s a non deceiving washing dish path. It is never going to fail you. It worked yesterday, it worked the day before yesterday, it is going to work for me today. This is what we call taking refuge to the Buddha. Of course I am not negating, I am not sort of cancelling the sort of more touchy feely, you know, music, songs, and taking refuge to the Buddha who came, walked bare feet with the begging bowl in Mandhata street two thousand five hundred years ago. That is a tool, that is like a soap. That, Buddha is like a sponge, it is very necessary. It is really, it is good to have that actually. To the certain extent it is good to have it. Soon we are going to take refuge to the food I think.

So now you see the refuge is not a simple matter, it is a very, it is the spine of Buddhadharma. Some Buddhist come, oh I am only doing refuge. What do you mean by only? It is very important, so important.

Now, so okay, I understand, all compounded things are impermanent and I, also I won’t remember this every second, every minute, but I can understand that is the truth and I buy that truth, why not. And I also understand the Buddha, my dirts are removable and therefore I can also except that I take refuge to someone who taught two thousand five hundred years ago. This is also fine. But what is Sangha doing here? Sangha is a bunch of people who have all the ups and downs and who always create trouble and who never – and all sorts of Dharma politics and all of that. Why do we have to take refuge to the Sangha? That is very big.

Where is Steward. Where is your mic, do you have it? So do you want to ask some questions now?

Student: When you are speaking the other day in Oxford you mentioned that meditation is a bit of a trick in the sense that you use it to make sense as though I guess to work with relative reality. Would you say taking refuge in buddha nature is also a bit of a trick?

For now yes yes, very much. Anything that is a path is a trick. But that is a necessary trick so. Very important. That is a very important trick. Very very important. Because if you don’t have that, it is a bit like you have to want the oil right. First you have to want the oil. Then you have to believe that the sesame seed will do the trick. You have to also, together you have to believe that this piece of paper won’t do the job. All of that is necessary to build the path. And once the oil is extracted, oh sesame seed you get rid of it. No need.

Student: Is it a misunderstanding that taking a teacher is an aspect of taking refuge in the Buddha.

Oh, very good, very good. Yes. Are you coming back after lunch?

Student: Yes.

Can you ask me that again because – because that, I want to tell you few things about tantric Buddhism, tantric refuge. Because whenever we talk about the teacher, all of that, it has lot to do with the Tantra also right. Can you remind me that later. Because I don’t want to say everything now, I run out of things to say.

Oh many questions looks like.

Student: Hi. When I took refuge a while ago I was given a refuge name. Is that a common practice and why is it important?

Well this is all to remind you, it is like a, it’s all a reminder. Everything in Buddhism, all the rituals is to remind you actually, really. Fundamentally these are to remind you. But the problem is many times the reminders end up either becoming a culture or at worth it is even forgotten. I have a retreat center in Bhutan, the monks are doing three year retreat. And there is this monk, he has written this notes like don’t get distracted. He has it on the sealing, on the door, doorknob, everywhere. After about a year he said he is not even reading them. Doesn’t mean that he is not, he is very good with no distraction. He is totally distracted he said but this are just, he doesn’t even see them. Because he is just so used to it. Used to it, this is the challenge of the path.

So supposedly the name, cutting the hair, all that ceremony is – you know it is bit like wedding. You understand wedding is supposedly to remind you two are together. But then a second after the wedding is finished. I guess like what you call it, ring yes, here, like that. Maybe they should invent a ring actually. Nose ring would be really good. A hanging nose ring. Something to remind, but after a while it won’t work. You know like, I was thinking just the other day, Jigme Lingpa, one of the Nyingmapa master, he uses the weather to remind him the impermanence. But I was just thinking the other day, I don’t think it is going to work in England. Maybe nowadays but you almost feel like, it is just to often.

Student: Rinpoche I wanted to ask about this forgetfulness. I always think I am going to live forever.

Yes, me too.

Student: And no matter how much a contemplate, read, remind myself on the various teachings on impermanence, death and all of those things, I just in a split of a second I just forget. This is so strong this forgetting.

Yes.

Student: Can you just give some advice.

This is a very valuable question. Yes. Buddha said.

Student: You know, working in Hospices, ??? all that, thinking about all the people who have died. It seems that nothing helps. So just please if you can just say a few things about this.

I don’t what will help. It is same with me. Exactly same. Kadampa masters they tell us something which is quite good I thought. They said, we all know that we are going to die. That there is no problem. We all do. One way or another, we know that. But what is the thing that is, we really need to remember is we don’t know when it is coming. We know for sure we are going to die, right? This uncertainty of the arrival of death that needs to be contemplated I think. That might help. Uncertainty aspect of the actual, the arrival of the death. Then there is many techniques like you are supposed to think it does work, you can try. And I warn you, these things initially will cause a little bit of sadness and depression but you asked for it this is the sort of in the package so you know doesn’t really matter.

What you are supposed to do is, when you say, when you apart from your friend for instance like this afternoon, you should really think like yes this is it, I might never see him or her. Don’t say this of course. But this is how you should think. This is it, this maybe my last time shaking hands with this person. Or go to like I don’t know, Hyde Park. Yes this may be it, this may be my last time. This actually does help. Things like that you can do, there are many techniques like this I think.

Okay one more question and then we take a break I think. I mean break or lunch? When is the lunch? Can we have a break for may fifteen minutes, ten or fifteen minutes. And then we actually come back and go other like forty five minutes and then have lunch. Because after lunch I don’t think we can concentrate that much.

Student: I think I am getting it wrong. Refuge has given me a confidence, a confidence in the fact that everything is impermanent. But with that comes a sense of, what can be perceived as pride. And specialness or even kind of feeling different from those who don’t have the understanding or it is perceived by them that I am think I am special because I understand that or have ??? of the understanding. How does one stop having this kind of pride.

I think you should have that pride for a while. Not for ever but for a while. This pride or this confidence, maybe it is a confidence. It is good to think I think, not necessary special but I am someone who has the right information kind of. I think it is important. You know Shantideva said, I like quoting this quotation, Shantideva, a great Mahayana master, he said: In order to dispel the suffering, the practitioners are allowed to have one ignorance. And that is thinking that there is an enlightenment. So I think it is good.




Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche was born in Bhutan in 1961 and was recognised as the main incarnation of Dzongsar Khyentse (1894-1959). From early childhood, he has studied with some of the greatest contemporary masters, particularly H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

From a young age he has been active in preserving the Buddhist teachings, establishing centres of learning and practice, supporting practitioners, publishing books, and teaching all over the world. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche supervises his traditional seat of Dzongsar Monastery and its retreat centres in Eastern Tibet, as well as his new colleges in India and Bhutan. He has also has established centres in Australia, North America, and the Far East. These are gathered under Siddhartha's Intent.
For more info visit: www.siddharthasintent.org

The Future of Buddhism in the West

By David Nichtern

The essence of Buddhism, I think most Buddhists would agree, is to cultivate awareness and compassion and to explore our existence in an open and unbiased way. In some sense Buddhism has always been what we Westerners would consider a fusion of religion and science. There are no articles of faith, there is no dogma, nothing to believe without verification. Buddhism is considered a non-theistic tradition, and from that point of view it should mix well with scientific, technological and rationalist thought.

Over the past 50 years or so, the Buddhist teachings have taken root (to a certain extent) in our Western culture. Many great teachers have worked hard to translate these teachings and practices into English and European languages and into forms that are accessible to Western students. Within some Buddhist schools, on the other hand, the students have been required to learn the traditional forms in their original language and cultural setting.

The process of transplanting the Buddhist teachings in the West seems to have evolved in several different ways:

- The traditional form is transplanted, takes root and grows (e.g., a Zen monastery in the West where the chants are recited in Japanese and to a large extent the original forms are copied precisely).

- A hybrid plant, a mix of the original Asian culture and language and the "host" culture and language, grows. For example, the Shambhala Buddhist lineage (which I am part of) has mixed certain elements of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon with certain uplifted aspects of European and American traditions.

- Complete transformation of the original traditions into Western modalities (e.g., well-being, medical, psychological, holistic, new age, healing, stress management, relaxation, mindfulness, etc.) where the language and cultural flavor is overwhelmingly Western with perhaps only a faint trace of the Asian traditions that perhaps inspired these approaches.

Despite exhortations of the Buddha himself and, in fact, many great Buddhist masters -- that the student should verify everything that he or she learns based on direct personal experience -- Asian Buddhism (or at the very least Tibetan Buddhism) evolved toward a very high degree of respect, devotion and even subservience to the teacher. This devotion is actually found in many other Asian teaching systems. It would not be unusual for a sitar student of a great Indian master to bow to her teacher and place the teacher's feet on her own head, but it's hard to visualize that happening at Juilliard or Berklee!

Despite their emphasis on encouraging critical intelligence and open exploration, most Buddhist teaching systems are autocratic and very much oriented toward the establishment of hierarchy and proper decorum in relating to that hierarchy.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the guru is considered to be enlightened and equal in value to the Buddha -- in some sense even more valuable than the Buddha because you have not had (nor will you have) the good fortune to meet the Buddha in person. The guru is completely identified with enlightenment, and his or her instructions are to be carefully followed.

At the same time, the guru is telling you to use your own intelligence to find out the truth. Even within the Asian Buddhist system this dichotomy can catalyze a creative tension in the student's learning process, but mixed with our Western democratic bias, there can be at times an almost insurmountable dissonance in the student, who is now struggling to synchronize two very divergent leadership models, democracy and monarchy.

It might be too early to talk about "American Buddhism." History tells us that it could take several hundred years to really have some perspective on this kind of evolution. But it is intriguing to look back over the last 50 years and also look at the current situation.

The fact is that many Western students who have moved into the teacher role within their Buddhist communities have been able to manifest as mentors, guides, teachers, or "spiritual friends" for newer students. It is safe to say that there are many very highly qualified Western dharma teachers serving in this capacity. But it is also worth noting that there are few who would make the claim to, or would be acknowledged by others as having achieved the level of, the kind of mastery that would warrant the unflinching devotion, respect and subservience that is directed at many of the Asian teachers. Just visualize a Western teacher sitting on a high brocade throne (upon which the Dalai Lama looks so natural to us), and everybody taking that in stride. It is still a difficult image to visualize for many of us.

Either the time has not yet come for Western Buddhist gurus to manifest fully, or we have a major culture clash on our hands here.


                      
                       









Nichtern is the son of broadway producer Claire Nichtern, the first female Tony award winner. He began his career as a professional musician during his college years at Columbia University, having begun practicing music at age eight. He is the founder of music-marketing company Nudgie Music LLC, and its divisions Dharma Moon and 5 Points Records. He wrote the song "Midnight at the Oasis". Nichtern became a student of the Shambhala Buddhist tradition of Tibetan Buddhism in 1970, and was taught by the founder, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Nichtern has since become a senior teacher.

Meditation and Non-Meditation

Extract of a Transcribed Teaching Given by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche in January, 2004

Tonight we will talk about calm abiding meditation, or shamatha [Skt]. The title of the lecture series is "Meditation and Non-meditation," and it seems that these two are contradictory to each other. But if we really understand what meditation is we will see that they are the same.
The Tibetan word for calm abiding or shamatha is shi-ne. The first syllable is shi, which means to pacify. What does "to pacify" mean? We have no control over our usual mind, the mind in which we experience suffering and the mind that behaves like a crazy monkey. Shi refers to pacifying our mind - we gain control of it and pacify these undesirable qualities like wildness.

The second syllable, ne, means to abide or to rest. This means that we can harness our mind toward whatever purpose we desire. If we want our mind to stay, our mind stays; and when we want our mind to do something, it does something. We have complete control over our mind. That is what is referred to byne. We are talking about gaining control or freedom over our mind. We could ask the question, isn't it usually the case that we do have control or freedom over our mind? No, there is no such control or freedom. Even though we don't wish to become angry, we become angry. Even if we think that getting angry is not good, anger arises. In the same way we do not want to become sad or depressed, we do not want to be tense in our mind, but all of this happens anyway.
In particular, our mind creates a lot of problems where there are none.

Monkey Mind

If we brought a crazy monkey in here and let it roam about, it would do two types of things: it would create tasks for us where there were no tasks to begin with, and it would create problems where there were no problems. The monkey would create messes where there were no messes. It would come and tear down the artwork from the shrine and mess up all the offerings. It would pull down all the ornamentation, and mess up all the cushions, scattering them all over the place.
But the monkey doesn't need to do any of that. It would be fine for the monkey to come in and sit on a really comfortable cushion and just relax there. If the monkey got a little bit thirsty, it could maybe go up to the shrine and drink some water; there's plenty of it there. Aside from that the monkey really doesn't need to do anything.

This is similar to what our mind does. Our mind becomes upset over very small issues; it takes a small issue and turns it into a very big issue and we become more and more tense about it. Why does this happen? It happens to us because we bind ourselves up with our own fixation, and because we do not know how to relax. During my talks on loving-kindness and compassion, this principle of how we make minor issues into major ones was illustrated by the example of the placement of the cup.
When we are working, we become fixated over the small problems in our job, and that occupies all of our attention so that we completely miss the big problems. When we are studying, if our mind is tightly fixated we will not be able to learn very well because there will not be any space in our minds for new information to come in. When we drive a car, we are always thinking about who is in front of us and how we can get in front of them, and how the time is running out. [Rinpoche acts out being very anxious and in a hurry.] If we drive like that it is very easy for us to get into accidents; we will turn our cars where we should not turn them and it will take us a longer time to get where we want to go. In this way we behave like a crazy monkey.

To give another example, we could take how we view our own faces. Many people have a lot of fixation and become very tense about their own face. [Rinpoche acts out again.] "I need a nice face." We look with this tight and fixated mind into the mirror. Even if there is nothing at all wrong with your face, if you look at it with this attitude for long enough, eventually you would find something wrong with it. You would find that you have a slightly crooked nose, or that one cheek is bigger than the other, or something like that. And you get more upset about it, and more fixated about that "problem." In terms of your own perception, that "fault" would become bigger and bigger and bigger. After about a month of doing that, you would look at yourself in the mirror and think, "My nose is extremely crooked," even though it isn't crooked at all. You would become very embarrassed with yourself, and you wouldn't want to go out where people would see you. You might even want to stop talking and communicating with people because you would think everyone was looking at your crooked nose, even though they weren't looking at it at all.

Even though none of these things were true, from the perspective of our own perception we would see ourself as unattractive, and in that way our mind would have made a problem where there was no problem at all. We should understand that that is what is happening here. If we understand that, this is what's known as precise knowledge, or prajna [Skt.].
There are a lot of things our mind does to us in the same way and there is no good reason for them other than being a creation of our mind. But we always believe our mind and think that our mind is one-hundred-percent true. Perceptions are created by the mind, the mind believes those projections so it becomes like a circle. That is the way it is, mind ends up believing in its own perceptions.

Pliable Mind

When we meditate on calm abiding, or shamatha, we make our mind more pliable, and thereby gain control of it. We bring strength to our mind, just like exercising. If we exercise and eat vitamins at the same time, that will bring forth the natural strength that is in our body. If we bring forth the strength that is naturally present in our body, the illnesses that we may currently be suffering will be removed and our good health will help us prevent future illnesses from arising.
This approach of exercising and taking vitamins in this way is much better than taking medicine for illnesses that we have, because, for example, if we take medicine for an illness connected to our lungs, that might harm our liver and our kidney. If we take medicine to work on our kidneys, that might harm other parts of our body - the medicine does not bring forth the natural strength and potency that is available in our body in the first place. This is why we practice shamatha, calm abiding: to bring forth the potency and strength that is in the mind in the first place.

Further, when we practice this meditation we awaken what is called "inner peace," an inner peace that does not depend upon outer causes and conditions. If we try to depend upon outer causes for peace, this is similar to taking medicine for the fast relief of an illness.
If we are particularly stricken by a cup, and fixate on that, that might make us feel good in the short term. But if that cup breaks, it causes a lot of suffering for us. If we play video games or other such entertainment, then temporarily it is very pleasant. But if we have strong fixation towards it, it causes us suffering when it gets broken, and getting broken is the nature of such machines because they are compounded phenomena.

These are some general ideas about why it is important to practice meditation, shamatha.
It is very important for us to understand these general ideas before we learn the actual practice.
For instance, if we are shooting a gun, we need to know what and where the target is. Otherwise we will not know where the bullet is going to hit. In terms of the practice of shamatha, there are two essential points: the key points of body and the key points of mind.

Mind and Body

In the early stages of the path of meditation, when we haven't achieved a high level of realization, our body and mind relate to each other in the manner of support and supported. Our body functions as the support for our mind, which in turn is supported by our body.
If we compare this view to what modern scientists are saying these days, it is very similar.
In Buddhism we talk about three different qualities that make up the more subtle aspects of the physical body, which relate to our meditation. They are called channels, winds and essences.

Modern science talks about neurons, brain waves and cells. The neurons are parallel to the channels, the brain waves are parallel to the winds, and the cells are parallel to the essences.
In addition, what modern science says about what happens in the whole body is similar to the Buddhist presentation. The body is like this cup, and the mind is like the water inside it. Until we attain liberation, for as long as we move the cup, the water will be moving inside. If we drink the water, we will drink our mind [laughter].
In this state, the body and mind go along together, in very similar continuam. Our body goes from the stages of the body of the present life to the body of the intermediary state, between death and the birth of our next life, and then it becomes the body of our next life. Our mind goes right along that same continuum as well. This is the presentation according to the Buddhist teachings.


Seven Points of Posture

When we meditate there are seven key points to our body posture that are very important. The first point is to cross the legs - just how basically all of you are sitting right now. This is very good posture. If you are able to assume what is called the vajra posture, more commonly known as the lotus posture, this is the number one way to sit with your legs. However, we should pay heed to what our body is telling us; if it hurts us a lot to sit in that posture and if we try to force ourselves into it, even though we don't want to sit that way, then that really can hurt us a lot. So we should not do it. Even if we are sitting in a regular cross-legged fashion, if our legs get sore it is no problem to extend them. Also we can sit in a chair.

The second key point of posture is to put our hands in the posture of equipoise, with our left hand underneath and our right resting on top of it, or with our right hand underneath and our left hand resting on top of it. The most important point is to rest them in a relaxed way. We can also rest our hands on top of our two knees. Some people have short arms and it is not comfortable for them to rest their hands on their knees, so they can rest them further up their thighs.

The third key point of posture is to relax our shoulders appropriately. There should be some space between our torso and our upper arms. If we relax our shoulders evenly and have our hands on top of our knees, there will naturally be a space between our upper arms and our torso. If we have the posture where our hands are in front of our navel, we can extend our upper arms slightly so that there is slightly more space between them and the torso. These are like the wings of a vulture.
One time while I was traveling in France walking through a park, I came across a person sitting down in the park. He was thrusting his arms out every few seconds. This person looked up and saw me, spoke to me and asked if I were one of those Buddhist monks who meditates. I said yes. The person asked me if I was having any difficulty with meditation, and I said no, no problem really. This person responded, "Well, when I meditate, it's kind of hard for me,

because you have to do this with your arms, right?" I said, "No, I've never heard of that technique, where did you learn it?" The person said he had read it from a book. So I asked him what it said in the book, and the person told me it had said that your arms should be like the wings of a vulture [laughter]. Maybe it's because Tibetan vultures are different from French vultures [laughter]? Just joking.

The fourth key point is the most important point of all: sitting with a straight back. We should not slouch over like this. If we try to over-extend our back, then we will fall backwards. So we should sit with our back straight. It is no problem if we end up leaning back or forward a little bit, and we should keep our mind relaxed and not be too fixated about it. We do not need to get caught up in the more subtle points of whether we should be sticking our chest out or in or anything like that.

The fifth key point is to bring the jaw inwards slightly taking the general weight of our head onto our jaw, letting our jaw absorb the weight of the head. We let the weight of our head rest so that our jaw is slightly pressing down against our Adam's apple. If we wanted to turn our head from side to side it would be completely ready to do that. Some people have a tendency to lean back with their head, or forward, or side-to-side or what have you, but we should have our head in a central place.

The sixth key point of posture is that our mouth should be relaxed in a way that our upper and lower teeth are not touching each other, and our upper and lower lips are not touching each other - there is a slight space in between. We can be breathing through our mouth, breathing through our nose or breathing through both.

The seventh key point is to rest our eyes in the way that they naturally are. We can have our gaze going slightly downward, it can be going directly outward or it could be slightly upwards. It is actually better to shift our gaze from time to time. If we try to keep our gaze in the same place for a long time, it tires us out, so if we shift our gaze occasionally, that keeps things fresh. It is okay to blink when we meditate.

Non-meditation

This completes the body posture. From among all these key points it is important to keep in mind that relaxation in our body is very important. We should sit with the muscles in our body relaxed. Let's try this together, just practicing the body posture. We don't need to meditate.
Sit up straight, with your body relaxed in general, and relax your mind as well. You do not need to think of anything in particular - we're just sitting with our body relaxed and our mind relaxed. We're not talking about meditation yet. We are just going to sit with our body and mind relaxed, just like we had finished a long job that made us tired. [Rinpoche leads the participants through this practice.]

When we have finished an intense workout or exercise, and we have worked really hard, we are tired, and are completely relaxed in our body. Let's just sit together like that. [All sit.] That's all. How was that? Were you able to relax? Good.
This relaxation is meditation. But I did not instruct you to meditate. But it is said, non- meditation is the supreme meditation. Therefore we don't need to meditate. We relax our body and we relax our mind.

We experience these states of relaxation in our body and mind frequently in our everyday life. Why doesn't that benefit us when that happens? Because we do not recognize that it is happening. Just now we relaxed while knowing we were relaxing. This is what is known as mindfulness. Therefore, if we relax, mindfulness comes right along with it. Usually, we tire ourselves out and then relax after that, but we do not realize that we are relaxing - our attention is always facing outward, looking at other things.

Here we are relaxing in our body and mind while being aware that that is what we are doing. By being aware that we are relaxing when we are relaxing, we come to gain control over our mind. So that's easy, right? It is very easy. You do not need to do anything. You do not need to meditate. You do not need to create anything. You do not need to work hard. Therefore it is easier than sleeping! When we want to sleep, we need to make our bed and make sure there's a nice pillow and then finally we lay down and relax. When we relax in this way what is our mind like? Our mind is relaxed and comfortable but still we cannot identify it; we can't point at our mind and say "this is my relaxed mind" or "this is my comfortable mind." This meditation technique that has just been described is called shamatha or calm abiding meditation without object.

Beginners probably would not experience that type of meditation for more than two, three or five seconds, but that's fine. We should practice in short segments many times. If we set out a very large container and put it in a place where it could catch drops of water, these single drops of water will cause the whole container to become full. In the same way, if we practice in short segments many times, our meditation will improve. We shouldn't think thoughts like "I need to sit for a long time," "I need to stop my thoughts," because thoughts will happen and we cannot stop them. We can't shoot our thoughts, we can't burn our thoughts, and even if we set off a bomb, that will not stop our thoughts. That is the nature of mind. We do not need to stop our thoughts. What do we need? We need mindfulness. The main point about shamatha meditation is mindfulness, or, in other words, awareness.

That's why we can say that when there is mindfulness, there is shamatha, there is meditation; but when there is no mindfulness there is no meditation. We are not saying that when there are thoughts there is no meditation, and when there are no thoughts that is meditation; it's not about that at all. The point is whether there is mindfulness or not.

So meditation in this way is extremely easy, but there is one difficulty: it is so easy that it is hard. It's hard because we don't trust it. We are always thinking that meditation must be referring to something very special. [Rinpoche demonstrates in an amusing "blessed out" kind of way] Relaaaxed! Peeeace! Opennessss! Niiice! This is not meditation.
Our expectations about meditation bind our minds. This way of meditating is so close to us that we do not see it. It is just like the design on this cup I'm holding. If we put the design right in front of our eyes we won't be able to see the details. Meditation is like that. Therefore, for beginners, it is a little bit easier to do a meditation that is a little bit difficult.

Meditation

Now I will give you a difficult method of meditation [laughter]. This one relates to the collection of consciousnesses that we have. Buddhism teaches about six different consciousness: the eye consciousness that sees form, the ear consciousness that hears sounds, the nose consciousness that smells, the tongue that perceives tastes, our body consciousness that perceives tactile objects, and our mental consciousness that perceives thoughts. The reason why all of our disturbing states of mind, our suffering and monkey-like behavior, happen is because of this very collection of consciousnesses that has six different parts.

We can see how, from the mere perception of a form, we have attachment, we feel anger, jealousy, fear, and all kinds of different disturbing emotions. To give a little example: If we said to someone else, "He-hey!" and that person said, "He-hey!" right back to us then we'd be happy about that. But if we said, "He-hey!" and the person just looked at us and frowned, that would make us sad and upset, and become a difficult experience for us.
This is what happens in relation to forms, and it is the same with sound. If someone says, "You're good!" that makes us happy; if someone says to us, "You're bad" then that upsets us. The same is for tastes: when we taste delicious foods, that makes us have a pleasant feeling in our minds; and when we taste food that is not delicious, it makes us upset in our minds.

What would happen if we eat hot chili? Are hot chilis tasty or not tasty? [Various lively responses from the assembly; Rinpoche laughs.] How many people think they're tasty, raise your hand. Ah, me too! How many people think they're not so tasty? Hot chilis themselves cannot say anything about their being tasty or not tasty; they have to depend on the people tasting them. It is actually the exact same way for all things in the world - good and bad are created by our own mind.
If tasty or not tasty were qualities that existed within the hot chili itself, then it would be tasted in exactly the same way by everyone. So if the hot chili actually existed as "tasty," then it would have to be perceived as tasty by everyone who ate it. But because those qualities do not exist in the chili itself, then for some people hot chilis are tasty, for others they are not. It is the same for smells, tangible objects, and so on.

When some people who are immersed in meditation consider the thoughts that arise from seeing forms, hearing sounds, smelling smells, and so forth, they think that these thoughts harm their meditation, are enemies to their meditation. But for those who really understand the essential point of meditation, all of those thoughts can become supports and aids to our meditation.





For more about Mingyur Rinpoche see: tergar.org