Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

PEDICURE, MANICURE AND BEYOND

Teachings on the Heart Stra & The Perfection of Wisdom

Frankfurt, Germany August 2003

TABLE OF CONTENTS The Quintessential Stra ............................................................8 Mind at the Height of Normality...................................................9 Defining Normality .................................................................. 10 Creating a little Abnormality to Reach Normality ......................... 10 The Fundamental Ignorance of a Buddhist .................................. 11 There Is Nowhere to be Led ....................................................... 11 Without Wisdom, Morality Is a Cause of...................................... 12 Pride and Ego .......................................................................... 12 Absolute Normality Is Wisdom................................................... 13 Stickiness and Comfort Zones:................................................... 13 The World of Abnormality......................................................... 13 The Three Misperceptions ......................................................... 14 Hand Is Emptiness, Emptiness Is Hand ........................................ 15 The Meaning of Thus have I heard ............................................ 15 Characteristicless: ................................................................... 16 No Morality, No Absence of Morality .......................................... 16 Shkyamuni Buddha, Nirmikya Buddha ................................ 17 Instead of the Five Skandhas,.................................................... 18 why not a Scientific Breakthrough? ............................................ 18 Explaining the Five Skandhas: going beyond................................ 20 useful and useless .................................................................... 20 Questions Relating to the Five Skandhas..................................... 21 One who Realizes Emptiness ..................................................... 24 Love is Emptiness, Emptiness is Love .......................................... 27 Dwelling in the Profound Samdhi of.......................................... 28 Prajnaparamita Liberates you ................................................... 28 Buddhism Is a Path to Deconstruct the Ego.................................. 29 The Prajnaparamita: ................................................................ 30 It Pulls the Rug out from under you............................................. 30 Discussing the meaning of:........................................................ 31 Form is Emptiness ................................................................. 31 Dont try to look for the Emptiness ............................................. 35 5

Emptiness Meditation: Beyond pre-manicure, .............................. 36 post-manicure and mid-manicure............................................... 36 Form: shape, color, size, quantity, and quality..............................37 Form exists as a mirage and therefore ........................................ 38 Emptiness is Form ................................................................. 38 It is not as if Form is Real and it Suddenly................................. 39 becomes Emptiness .................................................................. 39 Form is a bit like a Hideout and Feeling is the ............................... 41 Moody Receptionist.................................................................. 41 Perception as your Translator.................................................... 42 Karmic Formation: ................................................................... 43 the Working Guy, your Staff...................................................... 43 Consciousness: the Man behind the Desk..................................... 44 Each time we Speak, it is a Generalization................................... 45 We are not Negating that Form Exists......................................... 46 We all have Renunciation Mind.................................................. 48 but do it in Slow Motion ............................................................ 48 We have to Learn and Accept .................................................... 49 We are Cookable...................................................................... 49 There is no Emptiness to Meditate on.......................................... 50 The Three Characteristics of No Birth: beginning, middle and end ........................................................................................ 51 Emotions are also Conditioned................................................... 53 Not Knowing the Mirage is a Mirage, it can .................................. 55 always be Misunderstood as Water ............................................ 55 With Direct Cognition there is No Interpreter between you and the Experience......................................................................... 56 Happiness comes out of Realizing............................................... 59 that there is no Independent Happiness ...................................... 59 Avalokiteshvara is Negating the thought: ................................... 61 the Mirage is Water ................................................................ 61 Discussing the Skandhas and the Emotions ................................. 62 Even the Twelve Nidhanas do not Exist....................................... 67 6

Different Terms for Different Purposes ....................................... 68 Visualization comes within the category of:................................. 70 Outer, Objective Phenomena..................................................... 70 Milarepa and Marpa: Sometimes Masters can make a big Deal out of Nothing ......................................................................... 71 When Watching the Skandhas:.................................................. 72 You shouldnt be doing anything ................................................ 72 The Mantra of Prajnaparamitra ................................................. 74 Two Great Commentators: .........................................................77 Nagarjuna and Maitreya............................................................77 An Interdependent Ceremony of Auspicious ................................. 80 Verses .................................................................................... 80

PEDICURE, MANICURE, AND BEYOND Recently, I saw a very good German film called, Enlightenment Guaranteed. On every level, whether it be from the script point of view, or from the Buddhist point of view, it is wonderful. If you watch this you dont need any teachings. Its amazing. The film ends with the chanting of the Heart Stra.

The Quintessential Stra Probably, the Heart Stra is one stra that has traveled the most widely to the most countries. For instance, with the Peacock Stra, it traveled from India to Burma to Sri Lanka and around India itself and thats about it. The Stra of Rice Heap traveled from India to China and was also disseminated a little bit in Tibet. But this stra really traversed vast distances, extending as far as China, Japan, and Korea. This stra is the heart of the Mahyna wisdom but actually, in some of the strongest Buddhist countries, like in Thailand and Burma for instance, you dont find this stra. In fact, in some places like Sri Lanka, this stra is still disputed. They want confirmation that this stra is really the spoken words of the Buddha. Also, from a certain point of view, the contents of the stra are quite shocking. In the Mahyna, the Heart Stra, or the prajnaparamita, is the quintessence of many, many stras. The hridya of the Heart Stra is the essence of all the stras. It is the essence of prajna. This is the shortest form. The next, slightly longer form has eight thousand verses. Then beyond that there is another form that has twenty thousand verses, and then seven hundred thousand verses and so on. 8

We dont have much of a tradition of studying the actual text. Instead, this is something that the students or the practitioners usually chant. So it is not really a text, in the sense of a study text but if that is your aim, usually you would study the commentaries such as the Mdhyamakavatara or the Uttaratantra. As you will see, the Heart Stra is not easy to study. It is basically an afternoon discussion with a few people, up on the mountain at Vultures Peak. Yet still, many, many, many, commentaries have sprung from this.

Mind at the Height of Normality Prajna means something like: the supreme mind. It is the essence, the quintessence of the supreme mind. The supreme mind is sometimes referred to as jnana, wisdom. Sometimes if you prefer, or if you are in a more sentimental, romantic frame of mind then the same supreme mind can be referred to as karuna, compassion. And when you are in the mood of being a kind of impossible philosopher, then the same supreme mind is referred to as shunyata, the emptiness. When you are in the mood of being a priest who wishes to pat depressed souls on the shoulders and all of that, then the same supreme mind is referred to as Buddha nature, the tathagatagarbha. Basically all these terms are talking about the same thing: the supreme mind. We call it sherab: supreme mind, or primordial mind. But what is that? What is this supreme mind? Its really difficult to find out. To explain this in a most practical, easy kind of format, the supreme mind is a mind at the height of normality. When the mind is absolutely normal, with not even a small centimeter of a stain this absolute normality that is called the supreme mind. 9

Defining Normality But you see, now we have a problem. How do we define normality? How do we measure it? For some, handcuffs and chains are normal, leather pants are normal, and piercing is normal. For others, these are things we cant even imagine. These things are considered completely sacrilegious or something unholy. I am sure that for some people, to even begin to think of a pierced nipple is something almost beyond you. For others, this same thing is something that is very much up your alley. So it is very difficult to judge normality. This is why the shastras and the commentaries are necessary.

Creating a little Abnormality to Reach Normality I must say the Zen approach, as can be seen in the film Enlightenment Guaranteed, is a very good way to invoke normality. It is not the answer for everyone, but it is definitely one of the more risk free and safest of answers. What do they say to do? Of course, it might not be worded exactly this way because I am sort of interpreting this, but basically, in order to invoke the normality, you have to sit; do zazen, they call it. You just have to sit, sit, sit. Dont pray, dont chant, dont think, just sit. Likewise, consider the Theravadan way of doing things, which is to shave the head, wear a very nice maroon robe, walk with a begging bowl, and not eat after lunch. All of that is actually, another way to invoke the normality. So sometimes, in order to bring forth the normality, we create some abnormality such as shaving off our hair. By breaking a certain habitual pattern, your usual habitual pattern, that then invokes the 10

normality. And this is why, in the Shrvaka tradition, you see this seemingly very religious, very ethical, morality oriented approach. Of course, it is even worse if you travel within the Vajrayna, what with being asked to visualize extra hands and all of this. But again, this entire path, it is all a placebo: all these things are placebos. You create a little bit of abnormality so that you can then reach normality. The Fundamental Ignorance of a Buddhist When it comes to the highest methods of the Vajrayna, such as the practice of mahsandhi or mahmudr, they dont do anything, basically. They dont tell you to sit. They dont tell you to visualize extra hands, and nor do they tell you to shave off all your hair. Its so simple. The mahsandhi master will say: Can you see the flowers? Can you see this beautiful orange color? Can you feel your earring, hanging from your ear? Then they will say, Thats it. You say: Yes, I can see the flower. I can see the window. And then, they say, Thats it. Supposedly, this is the most profound, greatest teaching of all. And I believe that it is. But it is too simple. We just miss it, always. The guru says, Can you see the flower, and we say, Yes, I can see the flower, and so whats the big deal? Do you know why we always miss it? The fundamental problem is this thinking: as a follower of a spiritual path there is a goal. Our being Buddhist, our goal is to become that, become something. We have a goal. That is the fundamental ignorance of a Buddhist. There Is Nowhere to be Led Do you know why we become Buddhist? If you seriously want to become a practitioner of the buddhadharma, it is your 11

job to destroy the system. In other words, even the very aim of having a goal, even that needs to be destroyed. You will find that being Buddhist is like peeling an onion. You peel and peel until you think there is a real onion, but then that is also just another layer. All along, expecting some kind of an essential, quintessential seed, there inside all these layers: that is the problem. That is what usually causes all this hope and expectation, and of course, almost 99 percent of the time, hope and expectation lead to disappointment. So its very difficult. Its a path. Buddhism is a path. As soon as we say, this a path we somehow believe that it leads somewhere, whereas in fact, there is nowhere to be led and it is quite important that information is always very much present in our head. This is why Buddhism is really difficult.

Without Wisdom, Morality Is a Cause of Pride and Ego I really think Buddhism should be simplified. It should be something like: at least once in your lifetime you visit Bodh Gaya, a Buddhist wife must have more than four husbands, and since the Hindus have already reserved the cow, and the Muslims the pig, I guess as Buddhists, we should not eat Chicken. In other words, the problem with Buddhism is: wisdom is the highest value. It is not just all morality and ethics, for that comes later. But people like rules. People like to think of morality and ethics as the highest aspect. It attracts people. Of course, we are not denying discipline, morality and all of that, but as the masters of the past have said: these things must always be accompanied by wisdom. Without the wisdom, morality is a cause of pride and the ego. In Buddhism, this is something that is taught again and again. 12

Absolute Normality Is Wisdom The mind at its height, in a state of absolute normality, this is the wisdom. But its difficult, because our mind is almost always like honey. It is a bit similar to honey, not contained within its bottle or jar. It collects things or leaves stains everywhere. It is so sticky. Either you stick to the object or the object sticks to you. You will realize this. Stickiness and Comfort Zones: The World of Abnormality Through sitting it makes us realize our mind is very sticky. When sticky, the mind collects garbage and you become abnormal; when mixed with all kinds of things the honey is not only honey, it is not pure. Once in a while, you may experience being very much in the present, but most of the time, mind goes here, there and everywhere. It drifts into judging, feeling and we get lost in that. In fact, in this world, billions of dollars have been spent on just that, losing ourselves. It is such a big thing, and so precious to be lost in thought that we spend a great deal of money on it. Again, ultimately, you become abnormal. But how do you become abnormal? First of all, the object, or the place within which you lose yourself, is usually what we call comfort zone. Now while we may label it as a comfort zone, it is actually something causing us a lot of discomfort. It is a place that has only enough space for one. But strangely enough, sometimes we like to invite our partners in. Having done so, since it is your comfort zone, you then want your partner to behave, for instance by walking like you, and moving like you. Then it gets even more complicated. 13

If, everyday, your partner happens to move like you, your partner is thought to be boring. Within each of your comfort zones, there are all these subdivisions. On the one hand you want your partner to move in a slightly different way from you, as it is exciting, isnt it? But if this happens too much, it again becomes a problem. There are just so many problems within the world of abnormality. So normality, the absolute normality, this is what we are looking for. The Three Misperceptions We end up making a lot of mistakes, when dwelling so much in abnormality. According to the Shrvakayna, we make three constant mistakes. It is quite an interesting way of thinking. They say, when looking at your hand for instance, there are three simultaneous mistakes we are making. For one, you think the hand you see is the same as yesterdays hand, which means you think of it as a permanent hand. That is one mistake. The second mistake is: as you look at it, you only look at the hand as a whole, not as parts. Like for instance, we say, Can I shake your hand, and would never say, can I shake your flesh, blood and bones? We always have an abstract idea of hand. Now this is important, because it is what determines your purchase of hand moisturizing cream. The third mistake is: we think of it as independent. We are always forgetting the facts. Our hand is moving very nicely at the moment, only because you havent bitten into it, and only because the ceiling hasnt caved in and fallen on this hand. It is moving because your spine hasnt been broken, and so there is no paralysis to your hands. We just dont think like that. Instead, we think of hand as an independent attribute. It is a very sophisticated way of thinking. These thoughts of the Shrvakas are 2500 year-old thoughts that are also the 14

fundamentals of Buddhism. It is not something we have to reform as the years go by. From this day right up to eternity, never will you one day reach a state where your hand will become permanent. This is not something negative. It should encourage you to buy a really good hand cream. If your hand were permanent, and if yesterdays hand and todays hand were identical, why would you even buy moisturizer? Thanks to the impermanence there is a chance that such and such a brand of moisturizer will work. Not only with the hand, but with everything, this is how the Theravadin sees things, no matter whether it is related to the political system, leaders, justice, rights, freedom everything. All these things are interdependent. They are impermanent and made up of so many components. So with these three reasons in mind, we can reach the conclusion hand is emptiness.

The Heart Stra: Hand Is Emptiness, Emptiness Is Hand So Form is emptiness, this much, we also hear from the Shrvakas but the Mahyna Heart Stra is even more radical than that. To say, Emptiness is hand, hand is not other than emptiness, emptiness is not other than hand this part is something taught in the Mahyna exclusively, and it begins with, Thus have I heard ...

The Meaning of Thus have I heard In this instance, the I in Thus have I heard, refers to Ananda. Basically, by saying, Thus have I heard, there is the 15

implication: it is not his revelation. Unlike some modern day authors, who like to plagiarize just about everything and claim it as their own, it is completely the opposite here. This is something he has heard; it is not coming out of his own realisation. Almost all the stras begin with these words, Thus I have heard. There is that aspect, I was witness, and it also indicates that what follows is an authentic teaching of the Buddha. Of course, not only was Ananda a witness, there was also a gathering of the sangha of monks. There are actually two gatherings to talk about here. With teachings such as the Four Noble Truths, the gathering consisted of the sangha of monks, but since this is a Mahyna teaching, in this case, there are extraordinary listeners in the gathering. There is the sangha of Mahyna bodhisattvas. Ananda also indicates the place as Rjagiha at Vultures Peak. Even to this present day, Vultures Peak, this rather unspectacular, small hill in India, whatever it is or isnt, this is one place the Mahyna people refer to as the Buddhas roar, or the lions roar. Of course, there are other special places such as Sarnath, Varanasi, where the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths and many other teachings, but most of these teachings are designed to make people enter the virtuous path. The aim is more focused on diverting attention away from the wrong view of non-virtue to the right view, which is the virtuous view. Broadly speaking, you can say that most of these teachings are based on shila, which is the discipline or the morality. Characteristicless: No Morality, No Absence of Morality Within the Mahyna canon of teachings, Vultures Peak is regarded as very significant, because in this given place and 16

time, what we call the teaching of characteristicless was first delivered. No morality, no absence of morality, so this is a stra that is beyond all that. Interestingly enough, stras are usually the direct words of the Buddha. Even though this is a teaching not spoken directly by the Buddha, it was very much caused by the Buddha and thus the Heart Stra is also characterized as one of the stras.

Shkyamuni Buddha, Nirmikya Buddha Ananda says: At that time, the Blessed One entered the samdhi that expresses the dharma called profound illumination, Here it almost indicates that the Buddha entered into meditation. If we were to take it really literally, we would then be saying the Buddha has post-meditation time and meditation time. Even worse, we are assuming he actually meditates, which shouldnt be the case because meditation is a path, and the Buddha is not on the path. In fact, to speak of his entering samdhi is but one of his many infinite ways of benefiting sentient beings. He is seemingly many things. From the Mahynas point of view, the fact the Buddha appeared barefoot with a begging bowl, is a great teaching. First of all, as an omniscient, or omnipotent being, there was not any real need for him to do that. Secondly, even completely putting aside his omnipotence, it was clearly not out of necessity that the Buddha walked barefoot, and begged for alms in the streets because there were 17

many kings and queens included among his patrons and disciples. We find this kind of teaching because Shkyamuni Buddha is what we call the nirmikya Buddha, meaning there is a manifestation. There are all kinds of manifestations, in order to liberate sentient beings and begging alms is yet another of his manifestations to benefit sentient beings. So at that time, there on the Vultures Peak, his method of benefiting sentient beings was by dwelling in this so-called samdhi of profound illumination. Now just very loosely, the benefit of this samdhi, this meditation; the power of this meditation is to actually cause other people to understand the emptiness. Or at least, it makes other people have the curiosity, with the curiosity of happening very soon. They say that profound illumination, the samdhi, is a bit like chewing something sour, in front of people who know the taste of sour. It makes the other person salivate in their mouth. So this happened okay.

Instead of the Five Skandhas, why not a Scientific Breakthrough? The great Avalokiteshvara, the mahbodhisattva, mahsattva Avalokiteshvara, the noble Avalokiteshvara was also practicing the profound prajna and he realized that all the skandhas are empty of their nature. Now Shriputra is actually a Shrvaka and the Shrvakas don't have the power to understand the great emptiness. Not only do they not have the power, they are not really interested anyway. So at that time, not out of his own power, not out of the Shriputra's power but by the power of the Buddha, by the blessings and power of this profound illumination, this made Shriputra ask this particular 18

question to Avalokiteshvara. Now let's go back to what Avalokiteshvara had seen. When bodhisattva mahsattva Avalokiteshvara was in his deep samdhi, what did he see? He saw the five aggregates to be empty of nature. Okay, the question is what is the big deal about this? I mean, why didn't he see the big bang? The Buddha was there, and some of the greatest people were there. Shkyamuni Buddha was sitting there! There was Avalokiteshvara from the Mahyna department, Shkyamuni Buddha from the Hinayna department and then on top of that there were the demigods, the great kings and the queens! They were all there and all they could think about is the emptiness. Why didn't they think up some amazing scientific breakthrough, at that time? They could have invented some kind of software, or hardware to make us live forever, I don't know, whatever. Now you can hear my question. It is a question that is very much related to why didn't they do something great, instead of finding something like the five skandhas? Why not find something like a scientific breakthrough? Now again that is a question that comes from a longing for happiness, isn't it? Basically it is a question of longing for a solution to this problematic world. Science, technology, the economy, the political system, we have all these things, and we think that we need these things because it will give us the answers to certain problems. So naturally, with all these great people present, we think to ourselves, why didn't they think about something else, like the big bang, instead of the five skandhas? But you know what Mahyna buddhists are saying? They said, This is the answer. What is the big bang? With the five skandhas, as long as you don't know their nature, what it does is: it causes the ego, 19

and the ego is the culprit. This is why, the bodhisattva mahsattva, deep in meditation, with the help of the Buddha, and with Shriputra bugging him here the great mahsattva: he's not thinking about science, he's not thinking about technology, he's not thinking about some sort of political system, but instead, he thinks: the five skandhas are empty by nature. That is so important because if you don't know that you have a problem with everything. The big bang doesn't come, and nor does technology; there is none of this.

Explaining the Five Skandhas: going beyond useful and useless By the power of the Buddha, Shriputra realized that Avalokiteshvara had hold of a big solution, and he had to ask: How should a son or a daughter of noble family train, who wishes to practice the profound prajnaparamita? And then the noble Avalokiteshvara said, Oh, Shriputra, a son or daughter of noble family who wishes to pracitice the profound prajnaparamitra should see in this way He then gives us the answer, first in summary, then slightly more elaborate, and then he really elaborated. First he said: The sons, and the daughters of noble family must see the five skandhas to be empty of nature.

20

Now that needs a little bit of discussion, because here, obviously, Avalokiteshvara is not saying that we must bring in some kind of a chainsaw or a bulldozer to wipe out the five skandhas. We are not talking about mincing, or burning all of the skandhas and getting rid of them. We are not saying that at all. We are not judging the five skandhas at all. We are not putting them down as these five useless things. Not only are they actually not useful, they are also not useless. They do not even exist. That is what they are saying. To be useful and to be useless, remember I was telling you right from the beginning, how outrageous it is? It's outrageous for people like who? For people like us, who make three constant mistakes: looking at our hand, thinking it is the same hand of yesterday, and just not understanding why there are more wrinkles. It doesn't make sense. You know, like constantly. For these kinds of people, emptiness is shocking.

Questions Relating to the Five Skandhas So if you have any questions, we will stop here for a while and you can ask some questions. S: You said, for the first point, the skandhas don't exist, .. not useful or useful so A: Yes. That's something that we will have to discuss in the next few days. Because we will have to define, what do we mean by exist? But what we discussed earlier about the three mistakes will help you a little bit. Basically, you know, for a Mahyna person, they think that everything is just a label. It's like this table. There are a few attributes gathered, and some parts are gathered and to this we ascribe the label of table. If you really search each part and component, you don't find 21

anything that is essential, independent or existing to which you can point to as: this is the base of the table. It's a difficult one. Anyhow, it will help you to think more internally, instead of externally. S: What are the skandhas? A: The skandhas are the five aggregates: form, feeling, perception, formation and consciousness. Again, you know how I was talking about the table. There are the legs, nails, paint and a rectangular board, all of which when put together, is something that we call table. Mahyna people think, form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness, when put together bring a label or a notion, a notion of me. It's really quite ridiculous. For instance, just before I came here, I had a heated argument with an Indian. It was a heated, and a really passionate argument. I was being a little bit provocative. I was saying how the British are good. And he really didn't like that. This person, he's so Indian, and so patriotic. He's so patriotic about India. Then lastly, I said to him: Look who created India? It was the British. The label that you are so proud and patriotic about, this idea that you can even, give up your life for the sake of this great name, is something that was created by the British. It's a bit like that: the self, the idea, 'I' you know, me my friend, my enemy, even the notion of my appearing here. Especially if it is spiced up with certain characters like George Bush, then this self becomes really, really truly existing. This is what the Mahyna people are talking about here. It's just so pathetic, because it does not even exist. But you know its not easy. Its easier to say than to do. Like with the notion of India, where they sing songs about India; they stand up and the Indian national anthem comes up. There's this attachment and then there is even more than the word, 'I' me. It's really difficult to know that it's just a label. Because over 22

the years, and over the many lifetimes, there have been so many things that are entangled together now. We are attached to the notion of 'I' and it is because of that very strong feeling about me, my country, my philosophy and my way of doing things. It is very strong. So the feeling and the 'I' are entangled. Remember, it is this abnormality. Again, that's how we are becoming abnormal, by thinking that this 'I' truly exists. India is a good example, because this Indian guy hates British, but loves India, which is a concept that the British produced. That's how human beings work. S: Rinpoche, in such a ridiculous... (several words inaudible) is it worth us studying at our level. A: Yeah, it can have the effect of making your comfort zones become slightly dented because the outer most level of comfort zone is vanity. And at least, by hearing some of this information and by practicing it, this will dent the vanity. Its not merely something like a fixable denting. Its more like permanent damage. The resale value has completely gone down. That's about all we can aim for: for some of us, anyway. If you at least achieve success in making yourself completely lost, if you have managed to make yourself have no resale value that's a good spiritual practitioner. That's difficult though because profit is quite important. S: When you talk about the five skandhas being empty, are they altogether empty, or is each one of them empty at once? What does being empty mean? A: I think, it means all of them, all together, one by one. But to even speak of a limit, to speak of quantity, you will soon realize that what we have made of the five skandhas is purely hypothetical. Mahyna people don't believe in numbers, because if form is emptiness, definitely, numbers were gone a long time ago. 23

It's because of that you will hear the Mahyna scholars, always saying that scientists are the most superstitious people on this earth. Scientists believe in mathematics and mathematics is completely hypothetical. The Mahyna people just cannot understand why two plus two has to be at least four. I told you, didn't I? This text is a little beyond us, but that is good. We should hear about these things. Really, as I was saying right from the beginning, the quintessence of Mahyna Buddhism has no information about how Buddhists should perform the divorce ceremony, for instance. Or how a Buddhist, should rule or judge. There is none of that. Because they think that is such a big delusion.

One who Realizes Emptiness S: What are the consequences for someone who realizes emptiness? A: For them? There are many answers for that. I appreciate this question really. Because it's back to the normality and non-normality. You know, the Mahyna people think everything that we are doing is abnormal. Now we follow their normality, right? But from the mundane, emotional, deluded world's point of view, Mahyna normality is completely abnormal. Likewise, from the ordinary point of view, it is also this way for the Shrvaka saying of self, wa nyempa meaning a handful of earth, and a handful of gold has no difference. The size of a palm and the size of space are no different. You know, at the beginning of the summer, I went to see my father, and I spent quite a long time there. Now of course, I received a lot of teachings that I've heard already before many times. You know, Buddhists have nothing much to teach; they 24

actually say the same thing, again and again. But it was very good for me to be there, because he made me realize that I have become a sycophant, or a slave of the so-called rational world. After all, being rational means being a sucker. So spend time with these people, who not only think and talk, but who actually live with this kind of absolute irrationality. Like for instance, the lunch hour is usually around five in the evening, and dinner is like one in the morning. And just as you are getting quite comfortable with that pattern, it changes. So it's a little irrational. But you know what? Your question is quite interesting. What are the consequences? What is the definition of consequences? S: You base it on compassion. A: Yeah, Yeah. S: When you realize that everything is emptiness, all the societies, the laws, there must somehow be a personal consequence for you to realize. The compassion... A: Let's leave the compassion for now, I will talk about that but what do you mean by consequences? S: I mean, two things. First of all, there is the idea that you have to function in society. I know, lunch at one, dinner at six but also know it doesn't have to be that way, so I can manipulate it. It is only because it is empty that you can play around with the thing. A: mm, hmm. You are answering quite well. S: Theres a way of understanding, in the Western world, through the middle-ages, about the difference between the fool and the proper fool. It's a whole thing. I see it like a circle and its a huge difference between... A: Yes. But you know, as long as you know that everything is manipulate-able, you are free: but we don't think that way. 25

There is another reason, why I asked you this question about the definition of consequences. Usually, I don't know how the word is used in general, but consequences is meant to mean you do something and you end up getting that. You are getting an effect. But someone who realizes the emptiness, doesn't do anything. His doing something also includes not doing anything, by the way. So there are no consequences. This is why people like Nagarjuna said, "I'm innocent." Really, do you know why people like Chandrakirti are called consequentialists in the Prasankiga-Madhyamika? Because they think that all of you who believe in this idea of truly existing will have the consequences, whereas me, Chandrakirti, I don't have consequences because I don't believe in anything. Now there is one important question you asked, where does the compassion fit in here? Okay, when we talk about compassion, usually we talk about some kind of a painful emotional mind. It is sort of teary, and it is a touchy feely kind of thing. But as I was saying right at the beginning, the very understanding of the emptiness is the compassion. You see, when you understand emptiness, you will have no arrogance. I mean, how can you be arrogant? You are only arrogant if you understand some part, and not all. The lack of arrogance is what we call compassion. It's a much better word, this word compassion. Compassion is a more beautiful word, and that's why we use it and it works. Usually when we portray compassion, we think of Avalokiteshvara's beautiful form. You know, his eyes are slightly touched with tears. There is all of that. People like to associate compassion with more of this soft stuff. When you understand that the five skandhas do not exist truly, then you also understand that the self does not exist truly. When there is no self, there is no attachment to the self. Lack of attachment to the self is compassion, is it not? So such kind of person, actually works for people, tirelessly. Do you know why 26

there is this ability to work tirelessly? It is because they have no goal. Someone who has a goal just ends up getting so tired, because there is a finishing line. But I tell you, for someone who understands emptiness, not only do they work tirelessly, but they also don't rest, because there is no opposite of what is rest. It's kind of a very, very tricky thing this one. We can only talk about it but I must say, we are already quite fortunate to be talking about it. There are so many other things to talk about. We can talk about how there are sixty-four virgins waiting in heaven and stuff like that. I personally think that this is much more worthwhile, because sixty-four virgins is a big pain. That's very dangerous. Love is Emptiness, Emptiness is Love S: Can one manipulate love? A: I think so. Are you talking about the Heart Stra? Love is emptiness. Emptiness is love. Emptiness is not other than love. Love is not other than emptiness. That's what Avalokiteshvara said, on Vultures Peak, about 2500 years ago. That's how he handled the idea love. You know, he is also referred to as the bodhisattva of love. S: I have the feeling, when we have a difficult time, when we know about me, myself and I: it's my house, my car, my woman, my children, my success. I have to deal with this sticky honey, I have to say, my sweet form, my beauty-less form, my good feeling, and get the impression that they have good perception about the diet, that they are getting clear consciousness. So I think this author has them as the five skandhas are empty... A: What is your question? Are you saying that normal people...

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S: The question is what is there for our society, for our economy, and what are the consequences if you really realize the five skandhas are empty because then we go off. A: No, no, we don't. We don't go off. Because if you do go off, that means you don't understand the five skandhas are emptiness. Emptiness is not a denial. It is just understanding what it is. Nothing stops! You go on with your same hairdresser, and the same grocery shopping, nothing stops. It is just that the truth is realized. Actually if you keep on doing these mundane things, it's even better, because then you are not trapped. These things are not going to trap you anymore. They can't trap you. S: So it's a good protection to be aware. A: Yes, very much. That's the only thing.

Dwelling in the Profound Samdhi of Prajnaparamita Liberates you So, the Noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva was dwelling in this profound samdhi of prajnaparamita. And he saw the five skandhas to be empty of nature. I think we should think about the purpose of this samdhi, the samdhi of prajnaparamita. Of course, we obviously say it is for the purpose of liberation, for the sake of enlightenment. But the term, this concept of enlightenment, is so jaded. As soon as we talk about enlightenment, we imagine it is something to do with what can happen, after twelve years of practice, or a lifetime of practice. Now I am stressing this because, when you think like that, then even the profound teachings such as the Heart Stra, become like: just another religion or some kind of theistic approach. At the same time, to be thinking of enlightenment as something you will obtain, after 28

a while, after a certain practice, is also a correct way of thinking. It's not like it is an incorrect way of thinking or something. It can be correct. That is a very human way of thinking and it is the only way to think, I guess. But why dwell in this samdhi of prajnaparamita? Because it liberates you. What does it liberate you from? The hell realm. Actually, enlightenment is an experience of an absence of paranoia. Right now, everything we are experiencing is paranoia after paranoia. There is the paranoia of dwelling too much in the rational world. There is the paranoia that is produced out of our hope and fear, and reference. Having a reference makes you feel you have to compete, or that you have to refer to that reference. That's another paranoia. To always, always be forgetting that the reference is only something that your mind has produced. You look at something beautiful and it is your mind that thinks this is beautiful. But then you think you want to be like that. You want to be beautiful in the sense that you have created. So by dwelling on the profound prajnaparamita samdhi, it releases you from this paranoia. It is to release you from these inhibitions and hang ups. Thats difficult because many of these inhibitions and hang-ups are also part of our comfort zone and who would like to get rid of that? We are used to the inhibitions, and the hang-ups that we have. Because there are these certain areas that we are used to we are therefore quite comfortable with them. To go against these things is too outrageous. Not only is it too outrageous, it is also too irrational.

Buddhism Is a Path to Deconstruct the Ego There is something important that we talked of yesterday, which I should interpret slightly more: the issue of 29

why Avalokiteshvara and Shriputra werent discussing scientific things, breakthroughs, atoms, and mathematical questions and all of that. I am just mentioning this because some of you may think in that way. After all, this whole path, leads to the same thing, so why do we need the Heart Stra, for instance. But you see, with things like atoms, all kind of things, like the universe for instance, although it comes from intention of making a better society, better mankind and all that, it is not really going against the ego. You can say, Buddhism, and the whole path of Buddhism is a path to deconstruct the ego. It is a path to destroy yourself. That is the irony and the challenge of the Buddhist path, because we have to destroy ourselves. Of course, this in itself is not a good thing to do, at least not from a human, emotional point of view. And then, while we talk about destroying ourselves, we also talk about helping sentient beings and we talk about a sense of responsibility. We talk about compassion and we talk about achieving enlightenment. So then, immediately, we think there is something, another self that does all of this.

The Prajnaparamita: It Pulls the Rug out from under you I think if there is any singular path that is really concerned with deconstructing the self, even without having the name: prajnaparamita it is actually the quintessence of Buddhism. When we talk about deconstructing the self, we are not talking about some kind of affordable renunciation, like living a simple life, living in a cave, deconstructing our jobs, and deconstructing our family life. We are not only talking about that kind of thing. What we are talking about is: there is nothing 30

to deconstruct. If that works, that's kind of frightening. If you have something to deconstruct, it's slightly better still. Here we have to learn there is nothing to deconstruct, and that's so important. You know, the Buddhist concept of renunciation. When it is initially taught to people, we hear of how we have to shave our heads, live simply and all of that. Eventually, they will tell you, there is nothing to renounce, and that is the quintessence of renunciation. So the purpose of prajnaparamita is to deconstruct your self. Its purpose is to pull the rug out from under you. That's the whole purpose. The rug is sort of the five skandhas. But you see, again we are falling into a trap, because it again makes you think that there is something on the rug. Of course, you then also think that there is a rug. Here what we are saying is: there is no rug. There is nothing on top of the rug and therefore there is no pulling and that is the meaning of pulling the rug out from under you. This is quite an important analysis, if you want to understand the emptiness. Discussing the meaning of: Form is Emptiness When you hear form is emptiness what does it tell you, as a human being? Dont tell me, as a jaded Buddhist. S: There is no ability to discriminate. I know the difference between nothing and a car. A: Mm, hmm. What else? Emptiness, what is that? S: What are we considering emptiness? I mean, is this a vacuum or maybe it is clear of what I know of. Or maybe there is something else there. What do you consider empty? I mean, how can I know what emptiness is? It doesn't really have a concept. 31

A: Okay. What is the emptiness? S: Nothing. A: What do you mean by that? I mean, when you say 'nothing' is it an absence? When you say 'everything' is it a presence? S: Everything is codependent, lacking in inherent existence. A: That's a jaded Buddhist answer. S: When I first came to Buddhism, it was really a pain for me, feeling the emptiness. I was desperate and I didn't understand the meaning. Slowly, I have come to say to myself, Maybe I can get used to it. A: But when you hear the word emptiness, what is the first impression you have, even today? S: Lack of anything. It is connected to quantum physics, as in time and space. A: Mm, hmm. S: There is a box, which is empty, but still there is a box. A: I keep on hearing negation. I keep on hearing form is emptiness; I am not hearing emptiness is form. S: Can emptiness exist without form? A: Can emptiness exist? S: Not exist. It's like form is essential somehow. A: This is very philosophical now but it might help. You know, in Mahyna Buddhism, emptiness is used and there are many, many different terms and names. There is all this terminology. One very interesting one is the emptiness, but especially when we study Buddhist philosophy, more often than not we don't use the word emptiness. Instead we use the word, the great character, the great characteristic. It is the only characteristic, the only definition. That's a very, very, very, interesting approach, because when you study Buddhist philosophy, you study the definitions of things. Now as for this 32

term definition, I don't know how it works in the German language, what do you say? S: (German word). A: What's the meaning of that? What is the definition of definition? The characteristic of definition is that it should identify a particular thing and only that thing, nothing else, isn't it? Now according to the Buddhist philosophers, they think, all the definitions that we human beings make, or construct are a generalization. There is only one characteristic of the definition that really cannot be changed: what else, but the emptiness. The characteristic of everything is emptiness. You know, I think the challenge for you, in not understanding emptiness, is always making a big gap between the object and the subject. If you think the object exists independently from the subject, then you will have a hard time understanding the emptiness. Because as we spoke of yesterday, then the Buddhist's concept of the emptiness, is a bit like a bulldozer. You apply the emptiness meditation. When the bodhisattva mahasattva Avalokiteshvara dwells in the emptiness meditation, he is chopping down the trees, leveling all the mountains, and drying up all the oceans. That's not the right way to understand the emptiness. But then, remember, when we look at our hand, we look at in three ways. Of course, we don't call it a mistaken way, to us it is the right way, and we see a hand. That hand. It is the same hand as yesterday's hand. It is a hand, as in a hand, but not as in parts. It is an independent hand. Now the thing is none of that is an externally, independently existing object. It's all manifestation of your mind. When you try to find anything that is solid, or anything that is truly existing, you don't find anything, but what is hand? There are so many components. With each component, take for instance the blood, when you divide it all up, there are cells, DNA and atoms and you again 33

lose any solid or truly existing entity that you can call 'blood.' So then what do realize? We realize that this is just a label. It's functioning just as a label. Okay, what does it tell you? It destroys the paranoia. Let's say you have a really good car. What's the best car, at the moment? S: A Porsche. A: Porsche, that's a label. It's a label. If you can accustom yourself to thinking: I am going to drive my labeled, moving machine that is labeled as a Porsche. I am going to drive the moving machine that has been advertised as the best car. Then it really pokes a hole in the net of paranoia. Definitely. So that is what we are talking about here. Emptiness is a very slippery subject. But as long as you know, and if you are not caught up with this notion that the object exists independently, and externally, you then have a very good chance to understand the emptiness. Of course, you know, even the concept, even the things we talked of yesterday, this normality. Why have we become abnormal in the first place? It is when you think that the label is not a label but a real thing. A label is just a name. It is a symbol. It's not the real thing. We become abnormal when we think the symbol is the real thing. Culture preservation is one of the biggest movements of label preservation, basically. And, there are all kinds of systems that we have. Yet it is all basically a label. Buddhists are not saying that you should renounce the real thing. Buddhists are not saying you should not drink orange juice. Buddhists are only saying that you should renounce thinking that the label of orange juice is the orange juice. All this is trying to explain, form is emptiness.

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Dont try to look for the Emptiness So Avalokiteshvara, dwelling in the profound samdhi of prajnaparamita. Let's pretend that this is Vultures Peak; feel the vultures, circling up in the sky. The temperature is kind of similar. Think that we are all Avalokiteshvara, and let's try to dwell on the profound prajnaparamita. But don't try to look for emptiness. Don't treat yourself as a fisherman with a fishing rod, and emptiness as a rare fish. Because you don't have any bait. There is no bait that the emptiness will want to have a little bit of a taste of. So let's begin, initially with just watching the skandhas. For instance, as we sit, we have a body. You have two hands, and two legs and its amazing, you know. With these hands, how did it happen that this is a hand? You can even invoke a little bit of a manicure and a pedicure. But this is pre-manicure state, and by the time you have a manicure, you are in a complete state of abnormality, and so before the manicure, you just observe the hand. Why is it a hand? How come it is a hand? How come you have it? All kinds of ridiculous questions, you should ask. I think the ridiculous questions are amazing, and you know, they are like a life opener. And then, I'm sure, pain, itchiness, you know, feeling discomfort, whatever. Watch the feeling. Basically, watch your form, feeling, what else? S: The suffering. A: The suffering. Formation, consciousness. If you've got ankle ache, a backache, or like a blissed out kind of feeling, watch that. There are all kinds of perception: the perception of noticing a sound, such as the humming of the air conditioner. There is the unbearable awkwardness of the back of someone else's head and the shape of your back. Everything is perception. There is always this constant perception. Even this irritating voice is perception. Then there is formation, such as: 35

When is this going to end? Will there be a toilet break? Oh, I forgot to call my home. There are all kinds of activities and agendas and especially, if you are an American there are issues. Then there is consciousness. To have a clear consciousness, to have a dull consciousness, basically that very fact there is a constant cognition.

Emptiness Meditation: Beyond pre-manicure, post-manicure and mid-manicure Okay, sitting. So there are many different ways to approach an understanding of emptiness. You see, because of the nature of emptiness; basically you can take any vehicle to approach to that. You can elaborate in all kinds of ways to approach that. But I think, as we talked yesterday, the safest, most risk free way is sitting and to watch, basically just to watch. You watch your form, feeling and all the rest. But when I say watch that means a lot. That can stretch from the Theravada tradition, all the way to the atiyoga, to the mahsandhi tradition. Because when we say watch, we are not necessarily saying you should involve. We are not necessarily saying that you should engross. We are not necessarily saying you should be doing any judgment. You simply, observe. Simply, look at that. Hear the sound, do not listen. Because if you are making a judgment, then that is post-manicure, or midmanicure. But it is more likely post-manicure, I think. When we do emptiness meditation, it should be beyond pre-manicure, post-manicure and mid-manicure. Simply look at the hand. Okay, the question is what is the big deal? The big deal is when you simply look, you become less and less honeylike. You don't get sticky, and nothing sticks to you. What will that do? You become less and less manipulate-able. You rely 36

less and less on those comfort zones and you become less and less abnormal, I guess. But at the same time, you become more and more irrational. Am I talking in a very coded language? Am I confusing you totally, here?

Form: shape, color, size, quantity, and quality So when Shriputra asked Avalokiteshvara how should one approach to prajnaparamita? Avalokiteshvara's answer is by seeing the skandhas as emptiness. To know they are empty of an independently or externally existing nature. To see the five skandhas as a mere label. To see the five skandhas as an interdependent phenomena, that was the summary of his answer. And then he elaborated, "Form is emptiness." What we are talking about is shape, color, size, quantity, and quality. We are talking about a body, in the sense of something united. Of course, we are especially talking about this form that we have. The external form, of course, is included, like citizenship, nationality, government, blue chips, and the Dow Jones and it's a form that people get so paranoid about. The label given, you understand. Now of course, apart from those things, something more important is the very form that you have. It is quite important, diet, gym, yoga, ab-building, six pack, you know, to become a kind of a Schwarzenegger-like form. We are not talking in the way of only form is emptiness; it actually includes a lot of things. It includes Jennifer Lopez, it includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, and of course, above all, you we are also included. And me, and my, are very much included. The weighing device is included, and so are all those things, related to form, basically. You can see its all your paranoia, isn't it? Like for instance, I have a paranoia that I'll never even find it hard never becoming 37

like a Schwarzenegger. Likewise, I am sure some of you have a certain paranoia about becoming deformed. This paranoia is good for business though, especially for nutritionists, and yoga masters and all of that. And for facial treatments, it's really good, good for business. Avalokiteshvara's finding on the other hand is not so good for business. So can you see there is this form that we imagine we are trying to have, or that we think we have and don't want to lose. Or we think we have it but it is not that perfect so we then think let's make it perfect. All of these things happen when you don't know that form is just a label. It's just your projection. Take for instance the concept of beauty; I think in the oil paintings of the past, they thought that being quite fleshy was beautiful. You know, in two hundred years time, our great, great, great, great grandchildren will be looking at our pictures, thinking how we look like skeletons. And here we are being quite proud of being like that.

Form exists as a mirage and therefore Emptiness is Form You see, form is emptiness, and beauty is just a label. Therefore "Form is emptiness," what is it that we are saying? Is there no such thing as beauty, or ugliness? Is there no such thing as big, or small? All of that? No, no, no, they all exist. They function, they manifest. Small exists compared to something bigger. Something that is very small then changes to something big when it is compared to something that is smaller than it. Everything exists. Beauty exists, ugliness exists but not as independent form, it is an interdependent reality. It exists as an illusion, as a mirage, and therefore emptiness is form. We are 38

not talking about negating. There is no negation at all. In fact, we are very much, making things very comfortable. Let's say you don't look like a Schwarzenegger. And let's say that you have been brooding about it for the past 30 years, and suddenly you hear the second verse, "Emptiness is form." Then you realize there are actually millions of people who like you because you do not look like Schwarzenegger. It's amazing, isn't it? There are people who like you because you are not what you want to be. Or there are people who don't like you because you become who you want to be. It's just amazing that some people are turned on by a certain size or turned off by a certain size. So because of lack of information on the second verse, that's why, again the business is good. It is especially good for some people, like for penile enlargement or implant specialists. So Avalokiteshvara's information can be quite beneficial for these people. It's amazing. The lack of a given size for a certain part of your body is the very reason why millions of people like you. And all along, here you are thinking that is your downfall. So that's the emptiness is form. It's very difficult to explain. I have to talk like this, you know. It's a tough subject this one.

It is not as if Form is Real and it Suddenly becomes Emptiness Well, the next two are kind of easy to understand. Emptiness is no other than form. So then we think, okay form is like the noun, and emptiness is like an adjective of that noun. You know, like form is one thing and then the emptiness is another thing. It's like two separate entities. Actually, this is quite an important subject again. S: What was the noun? 39

A: Okay, take for instance a flower that is red. There are two entities here, the flower and the redness. They are kind of two separate things, aren't they? So we might think, when we say form is emptiness, emptiness is form, then there is a danger, we think we have to apply the emptiness over the form. But that is not it. We don't apply. Emptiness is not other than form. They are not two separate entities. If they become separate entities, again, business will become good. Because that means there is an ultimate decision that is universally agreed upon. It means that if you have Arnold Schwarzenegger's body, you will be universally admired. It's not like that. There is no universal agreement - on anything! Nothing! This is why, when a Buddhist prays, "May all sentient beings be happy" that happiness should always be based on the wisdom. Otherwise how are you as a Mahyna Buddhist, going to cater to the happiness of different people? The long life of Saddam Hussein, is an unhappiness for George Bush. The fact that there are no chemical weapons is bad news for people like Donald Rumsfeld. So when we Buddhists say, "May all sentient beings, like Donald Rumsfeld be happy," does that mean as a Buddhist we go and plant some weapons everywhere? That will contradict, Saddam Hussein's wish. So its all like that. Happiness, unhappiness, everything should be based on the wisdom. Emptiness is no other than form. Form is no other than emptiness. It's not as if the beginning part of the form is real and then it slowly becomes emptiness. The moment that a concept emerges and forms, it is emptiness.

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Form is a bit like a Hideout and Feeling is the Moody Receptionist In the same way, feeling is emptiness, emptiness is feeling, emptiness is no other than feeling, feeling is no other than the emptiness. Again, feeling. Now that is one big phenomena in our life. For a lot of people actually, feeling is probably, the most up front agent of the five skandhas. It's like a receptionist. It is a kind of moody receptionist. It's really bad, when you go to an office building and you face a moody receptionist. How would you feel facing this short temperedness? Again, mind you, there are other people who have this completely, left wing, bleeding heart, liberal kind of feeling. Like you know, there are people who have no doubts, or no second thoughts in joining empty war protests, and carrying a banner such as 'no blood for oil.' Yet after the protest, you will drive your car, and there you use your oil. Though they are quite sweet; actually, they are quite sweet. Then there are politically correct people, who are really so much into politically correct things. There are people who are caught up with the concept of doing the right thing: the people whom the Mahyna thinks of as having idiot compassion. So there are many different kinds of feelings. There are so many different kinds of feelings that we have. Feeling changes all the time. But anyway, feeling really plays an important role. Again, if you don't know the feeling is emptiness, it is good for business. Most of the cards, like for instance Happy Birthday Cards, 25th Anniversary Cards, or a card to say Sorry; all of these things work. It works because we don't know what these guys have discussed. These guys they think feeling is completely pathetic. There is a reason you feel good now, but 41

you cannot say, this same reason will always make me feel good. In the future, the same reason will make you feel bad. So feeling is impermanent. It is not independent; it's dependent. And feeling is made out of a lot of components. And as for the components, some of the components make you feel good. Let's say they are very strange component, everything from a standard heart shaped bed, to a handcuff. All are components to make you feel good. It's really amazing. Amongst these things that turn us on, among the components, the cause and conditions that turn us on, if we could film all of that, every year we would win a prize in the Cannes Film Festival. But only in Cannes, because the French like this kind of thing. French components, that turns them on. There is that whole phenomena, and they like it. And it's called sophistication.

Perception as your Translator Then there is perception. It is another important part of us. Form is a bit like a hideout and feeling is the moody receptionist, remember. As for the perception, it like having a very ambitious and a bad lawyer as your translator. You don't speak the language, right? So you need a translator. If the translator doesn't have any other job, that's fine, but when the translator happens to be a bad and ambitious lawyer, it is very dangerous. The first impression this lawyer, this perception encounters, will determine the rest of the phenomena that you are going to go through. It is the first perception. You look at someone, and your perception about this someone, good or bad, whatever it is, that is going to determine how you relate with this person. Not only your perception with people, but with situations as well and your perception about yourself, on that particular day, in that 42

particular moment, will also make you decide things. When you wake up, if your translator is in a bad mood, there is a tendency to ruin your whole day. But you see, this is also impermanent. You wake up in a bad mood, so you perceive things in a really bad way, and logically you have the right to be in a bad mood. You really see things in a bad way and then you receive a call from I don't know, from a long lost friend or something, and then everything changes! Your mood, the way you perceive things or do not perceive things, all this changes. When you got up in the morning, you thought your coffee had too much sugar, but after receiving the call, you drank the same coffee and didn't notice. Perception. Perception is emptiness; it doesn't stay. In the same way, emptiness is perception.

Karmic Formation: the Working Guy, your Staff Next is formation. This is a real working guy, like a machine. So you have a castle as form, feeling as a receptionist, perception as a translator, and now you have karmic formation as your staff. Busy. You will be quick to respond, to reply. It's like when you respond to things, with a good intention, and with what we call virtuous actions. Or when you respond with not such a good intention, with bad karma of non-virtuous actions, or with an indifferent kind of motivation. There is a simple sort of a reflex or some kind of automatic response to whatever situation is happening. Basically you function or there is an action produced as a response to a situation. So that's a big part of you again. Formation is a big part of you. It is like putting on some lipstick. You see, these things are all interrelated, like for instance, doing push ups, especially if you are an Arnold 43

Schwarzenegger oriented person. Or your eating meat only, if you want to build your muscles. Actions, you immediately, perform a certain action. So action is a big part of you. In fact, that is one big part of you, by which other people will judge and value who you are. That's how they judge you, by your action. What do they call it? Actions speak louder than words. It's a very big part of you. But actions are impermanent, not independent, and actions are made out of a lot of components, therefore actions, or formation is emptiness; emptiness is formation and so on.

Consciousness: the Man behind the Desk Consciousness, this is the boss now. This is the man behind the desk. The one who is responsible for everything, even though he doesn't think so. He always feels it's all because of form, perception and feeling but we know that without him, the whole company no longer exists. Not directly, but indirectly he is responsible. He is very much responsible. Basically, this is your mind. I mean, among the five skandhas, even as we discuss this, we can sort of come to an agreement that form is not the real me. I think the first thing we can get rid of is the form. And the second is perhaps the actions. We can say, okay my action cannot be me. It could be just a reflexive response. And then, as for the feeling, it is a little difficult but okay, maybe that is not the real me. After that, perception can also be regarded as not the real me. But when it comes to consciousness, if that is not me then who am I? So it's the biggest part of you. But here again, we are not consciousness. What is consciousness? Being conscious of something, and as we are conscious of something that is interdependent. It's impermanent because you are not always 44

conscious of that thing. Consciousness is also made out of a lot of components, and some of them are even external components, such as the object table and your being conscious of a table. Therefore, consciousness is emptiness and so forth.

Each time we Speak, it is a Generalization Now Avalokiteshvara, elaborates slightly more: Thus, emptiness. Shriputra, all dharmas are

Within the five aggregates basically, all phenomena are included. With all these phenomena, there is no absolute, unbreakable, unchangeable definition or characteristic. A defining characteristic of a table, may be: something that can hold the cup and something that can be used as a desk and all that. But if it has another component pasted onto its joint, then the very idea of the table is deconstructed and a new phenomena, such as a chair will come out of this. So therefore, there is no absolute, unchangeable characteristic, and within any of the phenomena we discuss, all is generalized. It's quite important and its quite a big statement. For Mahyna people, every time we speak, each time we utter a word, it is called generalization. You might be the most perfect practitioner of politically correctness, but in reality you are not, because you are generalizing everything. That is the only way we communicate in the human world. Like if we say for instance that Germans drink a lot of beer, I suppose its a generalization. But it would be tyrannical to say, Herman Hess drinks a lot of beer. You cannot single out because otherwise, there would be no conversation any longer. So it's much more 45

interesting to say, all German's drink a lot of beer. It is nicer to say, and it will promote tourism, too. So generalization is the only language that we have and we should speak it because we have no choice. The English have bad food. Asians are racist. Tibetans are narrow-minded. Muslims are fanatics. Buddhists are peace loving. Now that last one is a very big generalization. But generalization is the only way to work.

We are not Negating that Form Exists S: Could you say more about "Emptiness is form.? A: "Emptiness is form?" First of all, when we say form is emptiness, we are not negating that form exists. It is two different things, form is emptiness, and form does not exist. It's two different things. When the bodhisattva realizes that form is emptiness, it's not like a sunflower when the sun goes down; it not as though it sort of stands down. It's not as though when a bodhisattva realizes emptiness, everything is going to sort of dismantle and disappear into pieces. It is not like that. Everything functions! The coffee machine works, or at least it works in the sense of not working. Whether the coffee machine works, or whether my coffee machine doesn't work, in both instances that's also working, you understand? Because it is all a part of the coffee machine phenomena. Today, it is not working; but all of this will still go on. If you are having a nightmare of sleeping with an elephant, then you would really try to wake up, or someone else might really try to wake you up. Perhaps, someone chases away the elephant, and all of a sudden, the elephant goes, so you are relieved. But you see, the elephant is emptiness; its a dream. From the very first moment that you dreamt the elephant, the 46

elephant was emptiness. So there is no going of the elephant, and also there is no coming of elephant. The second part is very, very important for the Mahyna. When we say table is just a label or table is emptiness that is not saying that table as table is going to stop functioning. It still functions, but only as a label. Now if you know that, what's the benefit? Your grip towards the table is slightly loosened, because you know it is just a label. Once your grip is loosening, you are slightly normal. That's the whole point. S: Component? A: Each component, each part is again, another label. All the way up to the smallest atom, and even the smallest atom is also a mind created label. S: I guess I wanted to know, what is the cause that makes us always create labels? A: What's the cause? Oh, that's a very good question. There are many reasons. Comfort zone is one big one, because S: Like with children, they don't seem to have that comfort zone, way of habit, A: Yes.

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We all have Renunciation Mind but do it in Slow Motion S: ... and sometimes we have to create labels to call their parents. A: Yes, its a very good example. Actually with many children, especially with very, very young children, their way of looking at a painting is one of the most well used examples coming from the great meditation masters. That is how we should be looking at things. But you know, just to give you one example. Like when we talk about renunciation mind for instance, these teachings on renunciation are not really a religious technique that you have to implement on yourself in order to achieve enlightenment. Everyone, you, me, all of us, we all have renunciation mind it is just that we do it in very slow motion. When we were children, the sandcastle was so important, you understand. Our toys were so important. You were so attached to these things, even to the point of having to hear your parents say, "Enough." Once you have become a teenager, nobody has to say, "Enough," you will renounce those things without any drama. Then the sandcastle is replaced with a video machine, video games, roller blades, a skateboard and all of that. Then after a while, all of that is again renounced. Nobody has to say anything and there is no need to do a meditation. It is all automatically, renounced. Then it is replaced with fast cars, nightclubs, or something else like that, or its replaced with things like job, status, relationship, and all of that. By the time you are about seventy or eighty, you know, the relationship, again, nobody has to say this is useless, you automatically renounce it. Then that begins to get replaced by other things, such as tablecloths, tea sets or saltshakers. And that's it. That's the end of our life. The saltshaker. 48

So all that we Buddhists are saying is: What a waste of time. Why can't we speed it up? Okay, how about four years for the sandcastle, two years for the roller blades, another year for the fast car, and since the tablecloth is not that interesting, just half a year for the tablecloth. Half a year. And then you do something interesting. But you know, its back to the comfort zone. Sandcastles, as much as we think these are so useless, they are comfort zones for the kids. Some parents even have to pay a high price for this. They have to fly their children all the way to Hawaii to build their sandcastles. As if to say, your neighboring sandpit is not good enough. After that, I don't know what we can do about saltshaker.

We have to Learn and Accept We are Cookable S: She has a question about compassion, and she has heard that in order to love others it is important to love oneself first. How does it work? A: Based on this teaching? S: This question she has in mind since... A: Okay. Loving oneself is very important but loving oneself with wisdom is even more important. You see, when we say loving oneself, we are talking about confidence. Confidence is what we call loving oneself. If you have confidence, then you are not insecure, right? So how do we develop this confidence? We have to accept, we have to learn and accept that we are cookable. That's it. Know that we are changeable and that we are manipulate-able. This is a very, very, very important piece of information. With most people who don't love themselves, they hate themselves, because they believe that they are stuck with a 49

certain problem. There is this idea that they are not washable, or that they are not cookable. So basically, you are stuck. Then they hate themselves for that. It is a bit strange though why should they hate themselves for that? Because logically speaking, if they really think that they are stuck, there is no reason to hate. Even the fact that you hate yourself for being something, means that you are referring to a reference. It is like you are referring to something good, and then you want to become like that. Now, in wanting to become like that there is this fundamental aspect of, I can be like that. But you see, the thing is in so many situations, I will never have a chance to be like that. Even so, you know that you can become like that and that's the frustration part. Purifiable. Cookable. Washable. When you know that, then that is loving yourself. That's how I interpret it.

There is no Emptiness to Meditate on S: It seems to me, basically I am able to experience this but how can I know I am really experiencing emptiness, and not that I have a concept of it? A: Oh, yes. That's a very important question. Of course, the real answer has to come from your instructor. Someone has to lead you. Then they will tell you, what is happening and all of that. But anyway, theoretically, I can answer you with something. As long as there is a view to look at, you still haven't got it. As long as you have an emptiness to meditate upon, it means that you still haven't got it. That's the theoretical answer. It's not that I made this up. It is the standard answer. It is very important. The Buddha, who went beyond all the views, this is how he addressed it. 50

The Three Characteristics of No Birth: beginning, middle and end Okay, now for the next. Makyepa no birth. No birth, this is a very important one. What is the German word for existence? Existence, what does that mean? Is it something to do with having an identity? S: (Discussion in German) We think that it could be that it stands by itself or out of itself. A: Good. All these are good. Anyway, broadly speaking, the Buddhist definition of existence is something that has the characteristic of birth, of the beginning, death, the end, and the middle, dwelling. So now we analyze that. There are these three characteristics: the beginning, the middle and the end. What is most important, for now is the beginning. Everybody is interested in the beginning. There is the origin, our nationality, our birth date, DNA, and everything. Birth is so important. Genesis, for most religious people, genesis is so important. Now you see, for the Mahyna, since everything is emptiness, even the very concept of genesis or the birth; that too is emptiness. Therefore, there is no such thing as a primordial birth, or the primordial creator of birth. There is no beginning. What it is meaning is: there is no birth. If there is no birth, there is no cessation. S:(question inaudible) A: Yes. We are never negating. Did I negate table as a label? No. Likewise, I am not negating beginning as a label. But for religious people and for the theoreticians, they believe in a real beginning. There is this belief in genesis, "In the beginning..." so and so came to this earth. That kind of thing is unacceptable. For us, here in the Mahyna, beginning only 51

exists as an interdependence. In order for us to qualify this as a beginning, we need the two other components, which are the end and the middle. So it is the same thing as the example of the hand. Basically, there is no such thing as an independent phenomena called beginning. Time, there is no time: ultimate time. Likewise, there is no end: independent end. If I take away the four legs of this table, then that is the beginning of one phenomena, and the end of another phenomena. That is the end of the phenomena of the table and the beginning of another phenomena, maybe a tray. Independent from moving the four legs, one cannot bring in the phenomena called end. Basically, the end is usually referred to as the dismantling of a few components. You see, this is quite important. Take for instance death. This death that we are so afraid of, again we fear a label, this thing called death. What is really happening is we are afraid of losing some of our comfort zones, such as tablecloths. The death that we are so fearful over, if you really meditate and really sit as we have been sitting, you will realize its like waking up from a dream. It's the end of one phenomena, but the beginning of another phenomena. But of course, it is not that easy because for us, we have been so doomed by our passion, aggression, and attachment that we have now produced our self into a gross form. There is this body, sickness and then there are breathing problems and all of that. And that makes death, much more real. Just think, if you were to watch a horror film without the sound, you would not be afraid. It's a bit similar to death. If you really meditate, and sit and sit, then you can switch off; then you are turning down the volume, muting the sound. Then it is really nothing. But if your paranoia and your abnormality catches you, then in the horror movie, the camera angle, and the sound or no sound, the silence, the special effects hypes up 52

everything. And then you are really afraid. So this is why clinging, the grip is not good. It is like we are all falling from a cliff and have managed to grab hold of one very, very weak piece of grass. It is about to break away, and you are so paranoid that you are not even looking down. If you are not that paranoid, then perhaps you look and see the fall is maybe only six inches. It is not so much of a cliff. But that is easier said than done.

Emotions are also Conditioned No impurity and no purity, this is a very big statement of Mahyna Buddhism. I mean, let us forget about other religions, but even within Buddhism, there are not so many schools that talk about such things. It is a very big statement. This seemingly, stubborn, permanently, and sort of realistic living negativity that we have: it is seemingly very, very solid. Yet it is only seemingly so, because it is again just another label. Jealousy, pride, anger all of these emotions are conditioned, just like in the example of the table. There are four legs put together, with one board and it becomes a table. Just like that, aggression, jealousy, all of this, there are a few components put together, and then there is jealousy. There are a few components put together, and then there is anger. But again, it is easier to say than to actually practice. For us, we rely so much on the comfort zones that when the negative emotion comes, we will be so surprised to have such a rage inside of us. You know, even as you are ready to stab your husband, or something like that, right then and there, you still think, now this is real, and it is. I mean it feels real. It causes your body to shake; you lose sleep, and lose your taste for eating sausages. All the time you are forgetting how this is 53

actually a phenomena; it's a label. It's a phenomena that's made out of a few components. Each component within itself is interdependent, and impermanent, and thus, in Mahyna Buddhism, ultimately, there is no negativity. Jealousy is emptiness, emptiness is jealousy, emptiness is not other than jealousy, jealousy is not other than emptiness. Since there are no defilements, there is no such thing as purification of the defilements. Like when you are practicing lots and lots of meditation, and getting rid of the defilements, you are dismantling a few components. Or you are gathering a few other components, which is so called purification. There is no real defilement that you get rid of. So likewise, there is no defilement to be reduced, and there is no defilement that gets reduced. There is no truly existing compassion, omniscience, or all the other kinds of enlightenment qualities that increase. These four statements are very powerful statements. It is these statements that have been taught again and again by great masters like Chandrakirti. My favorite quotation from him is one where he says, "Those who are unwise, they do bad things and they go to hell" and then he said, "those who are unwise, they do good and they go to heaven." Notice that we are still talking about unwise. Then he said, "Those who are wise, they go beyond good and bad actions and then they reach nirvana." It's like peeling the onion. Not to peel the onion is unwise, and likewise to peel the onion and think that there must be something there is also unwise, and so you have to go beyond all that. S: Does that mean that nirvana is just a symbol or a label? A: I think that is what he is going to say very soon. Lam me, ye she me, tob pa me... He says that. But it is not a negation. Enlightenment is emptiness, emptiness is enlightenment. Always. 54

Not Knowing the Mirage is a Mirage, it can always be Misunderstood as Water We should talk about the concept of truth. The truly existing. What's the truth in German? What does that mean? What is the definition? Can't be wrong? And then? Does it have the connotation of unchanging? S: (discussion in German) A: So German truth is kind of flexible? But when you say: this is truth this is genuine this is real if it doesn't have this unchanging aspect, how do you measure the truth? Of course, ordinary people don't really think like that. I mean, when looking at this same river that we saw last year, we think, This is the river that I saw then and we think that's the truth. But if you analyze this a little bit, you will start to think about how you define the truth. How do you measure it? I think that the truth should have a little bit of a connotation of unchanging. It is kind of independent also. There is that aspect of it having its own strength to remain, without depending on anything else. I am bringing this up because, it is part of the reason why, basically the teachings on emptiness or the meditation of the path of emptiness is going against this clinging to something that is truly existent. That's the purpose. It is not the appearance at all. The appearance is innocent. Enlightenment is not defined as if to say that when you reach the state of enlightenment, things change. You know, it is not as though all these appearance change, externally. It is just that internally you change, so I guess externally it also changes. Until the mirage is known as a mirage, it can always be misunderstood as water, especially when you are hot and thirsty in the desert. You really think of that as water, as true, and real water. You don't think in 55

the way of: It's water at this minute, but within the next minute or so it might change, so I had better run fast. You don't think like that. When you believe that something is real, you think in terms of an unchanging and a fundamental nature. But let's say, that very moment when someone tells you that it is just a mirage, something changes but the appearance, the mirage doesn't go. The water, this seemingly water-like stuff, just doesn't go. Of course, it doesn't disappear. But your attitude towards this phenomena has changed. You don't think that it is real water! So your attitude towards it has changed. Basically you are liberated from the delusion that this is real water. That's the delusion, because it is not real water. What has happened is you have been liberated from that delusion. That is nirvana, and that is enlightenment. It is easy enough to discuss, when we use analogies like mirage and all that. But it is very difficult as soon as you start talking about our bank accounts, or the brain tumor that is inside our head. Or even, when it comes to the Schwartzenegger. It is very difficult to accept these things are not real. With Direct Cognition there is No Interpreter between you and the Experience It's very difficult because for ordinary people like us, this unchanging, fundamental nature is the way we measure something as real and genuine. You know, how we measure? We think we have so-called direct cognition, because if you touch the hot frying pan, it burns. If you spend too much money, your bank balance will suffer. There are so many things like that. I mean, if someone gypped, abandoned, or rejected you, you would get hurt. Direct cognition, there is no need to use inferential logic for this kind of thing. It's so real. If you don't eat, 56

you will get hungry. What I am trying to say is, all of that, just forces you to think that what you are experiencing is real. And it takes so much wisdom and merit to understand, and to break through that. But, it is not that we have to break through the external object so much. And at least, we can begin to learn about this so-called direct cognition. To have complete direct cognition, now that is something that needs to be disputed. Is this a direct cognition? Now that's the challenge. Really, it is a challenge, because as I said, as soon as someone rejects you, again you get hurt. It's not that we are imagining that we are hurt. It's not that when someone rejects you, it's a hallucination. It's happened. So it all comes down to this analysis of whether this is a direct cognition or not. If you perceive something with your mind, without any interference in between, that is what we call direct cognition. There is no interpreter in between you and the experience. So that is what we call direct cognition. Anything that is cognized directly, now that makes the experience or the phenomena real, so called truly, truth, true phenomena, and not fake, because it is a direct cognition. It's cognized directly. It is the same thing as what we talked yesterday and the day before. Okay, but you know, the Mahyna Buddhist, they think, all the way from now, until the last minute, up until the last moment of the tenth bhumi bodhisattva, we don't have a direct cognition. Every time we relate to an experience or a phenomena, there are many, many, many, interpreters, and many, many different, language experts, interpreting this. Chiefly, there is pride, jealousy, anger, passion, and ignorance: the five great translators. Hope and fear, are two other great translators. The moment we think of something, the moment we experience something, it's filtered. Each and every fact that we find, we find it through indirect cognition. Just image yourself wearing six layers of sunglasses, purple, blue, yellow, 57

green, and so on. And then, when you look at Mount Everest you see it as gray or rainbow colored. That perception is wrong because there is a filter between you and Mount Everest. So this is how the Mahyna people think. Every fact that we have found is not real. Here we are talking about the same thing, emptiness. It is empty of what? Empty of these facts that you have found through the five interpreters. It is easy to say, but it is very difficult to practice this one. Especially when the bank account goes down, after all that's real. But if you really analyze this, in fact, much of our fear is actually a great hallucination, like inflation. Or just all of this, especially the financial dramas, I don't have much experience, but I can see it is one of the most sophisticated hallucinations. Because we are educated to think that we don't have enough. I mean, if there is no bank, then there is no phenomena of bank balance, and there is no phenomena of credits. So you know what I am saying, much of this phenomena is actually again, created from a certain system that comes from all kinds of paranoia. But it's too late, we are already in the system, I tell you. As for insurance, that is the most amazing hallucination; it's the greatest hallucination. It is like taking advantage of people's fear and insecurity basically. Nothing can be insured, ultimately, right? But it is always good to be insured. One feels good about it, if one is insured. But again, even being rejected by someone, I've seen many people going through rejection, or at least that's what they think is happening to them. But who rejects whom? Both sides are waiting, right? Actually, they can't stand each other, they want to finish with it, but somebody has to say so first. Whoever has the first word is going to be stigmatized forever. They are the culprit. You see how there is so much indirect perception here. And also there are some people who think they 58

are not worthy, or that they are being rejected, but then at the same time, the person whom one thinks has done the rejecting, this person actually thinks that he got rejected. But having all this information, won't help you so much, because the very next time a new romance starts, you will think: This is it. This is special. If you happen to be Buddhist, you might even add the Buddhist touch. There is the soul mate idea, and stuff like that, isn't there? Then you will go through a whole other experience again, I tell you. We don't learn; that's how our life is. We don't learn. But that's okay because this is what we call fun anyhow. You know how we were talking about abnormality? What makes you abnormal? It is when you look at things with six or seven translators in between. Actually, surprisingly enough if you sit and watch the skandhas, of course, you may not really experience direct perception, the absolute direct perception but you will go really close to it. That's why sitting and meditation is just so important, because it really, cancels out, many, many interpreters between you and the object. You and the object become quite close. You can almost feel the aura of the object. It is sort of a blessing you know, because it is quite close. S: Could you say something about dhatu? A: Dhatu is like a dimension. It's like an element, a dimension or a system. Sometimes, it is also referred to as universe, which is also a dimension.

Happiness comes out of Realizing that there is no Independent Happiness Anyhow, the reason I was talking about truly existing is it is something you should really think about. How do we define truth? You see, in the Mahyna, everything is interdependent. If something is interdependent, you can never, ever say, This is 59

the real one. You see, it's interdependent, so in the next instant, it will change. It's like the weather. You can never say this is the real English weather, or the true European weather. Actually, most of our phenomena of truly existing is a bit like that weather forecast that we see on every news channel. I cannot understand why people watch the weather channels, because it's so interdependent. How can you say, today it is going to be sunny so you don't have to take an umbrella or any suntan lotion. You can only do a guess job. It's a guess job, isn't it? Obviously, it is because every second is changing. After hearing the weather forecast we believe it, so we go naked and then suddenly, it rains on us. It's exactly like this and right now, as we are looking at each other, even now, everything is a guess job. You are kind of guessing that there is somebody sitting up there. You kind of guess that you don't really understand what he's talking about. It's all a guess job. What is the definition of guessing? S: Well it's a probability of experience... A: Yeah. Can you say this in German? S: Nein. A: Interdependent reality is what the Mahyna teaches you. It's really important, I am glad that you are hearing all of this. This is the fundamental Buddhism. If you accept interdependent reality, then you are a follower of the Buddha. You must let people hear this interdependent reality. Because this brings you happiness, and do you know why? It is because most of the unhappiness comes out of believing that there is a happiness, which needs to be sought after. As if there is an independent happiness. It's not that the interdependent mantra or whatever other aspect, will somehow give you another exotic happiness, no, not at all. It brings you happiness by making you realize there is no independent happiness. It makes you at least have less hope for happiness. Therefore, there is also less fear of 60

losing a seeming happiness that you have. Happiness, the definition of happiness, is this being completely interdependent. This happiness that you have today, may not be happiness tomorrow. This you will realize. It's a very, very, profound method, by which to achieve happiness. This is a Mahyna path and you are allowed to discuss this with anyone. Avalokiteshvara is Negating the thought: the Mirage is Water "So Shriputra..." Avalokiteshvara goes on to say: Therefore, Shriputra, in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; You should underline the words, in emptiness. Because here, Avalokiteshvara is not denying the existence of form, feeling and all of that. It's not a negation. When Avalokiteshvara says, the mirage is not water, he's not negating water. He's negating the thought that the mirage is water. That's the emptiness. If you say the mirage is water there are major consequences, such as major disappointment. In emptiness Shariputa, life goes on: There is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; So those are the six sort of inner elements, we call them the six subjective elements, and within that, within emptiness:

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There is no appearance, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no dharmas So these are the six external phenomena of the objective phenomena. And then in emptiness there is no eye dhatu up to no mind dhatu. This has the meaning of any dimensions of the universe or phenomena that are within the perception of the eye. Infinite objects, as much as the physical eye, and mind's eye can see. This is not merely a psychological aspect, it is more sort of in between outer and inner, so that it is more of a secret phenomena. It is an in-between phenomena, that is in-between the objective and the subjective. This is relevant both if I am looking at something, and if I close both my eyes and look at the tree in Bodh Gaya, for instance. It is using an experience inbetween subject and object, which is to say between: me, the inner subject, and the inner object. I guess it is imagination. All over the world, what we have is our imagination and fantasy. Yet from the eye consciousness all the way up to the mind consciousness, the fantasy, none of this exists. None of this exists as a truly existing entity. They are all interdependent. They are impermanent. They are made out of a lot of components and given a label.

Discussing the Skandhas and the Emotions S: Could you please define emotion as opposed to the feelings? Is it one of the five skandhas? A: Yes, it is one of the five skandhas. S: The five skandhas are a combination that people have created? A: Yes. With everything that has an intention and an action, thats a formation. 62

S: Feelings and emotions are two different things? A: In this case, yes. Some of the so-called emotions in the West can be part of feeling, some can be part of perception, and others can be part of formation. What do you mean by emotion? S: It is always quite difficult because it is so subjective but generally one can say that emotion has a physical basis so that with fear and anger, there's a lot of adrenalin in the body. The muscles tighten and the heart rate goes up and so on. Besides this, tears will come, and there is a tightening of the chest. So emotions generally have a physical base, whereas a feeling really tells us our relationship to something, the value to us. A: Yeah. I think the definition of emotion is certainly different from this. When the Buddhists use the word emotion, I don't think they say kleshas. I think it is good to use an emotion. Kleshas. Nyn mong. Basically, the cause of many of the kleshas is actually emotion. The Tibetan word, Nyn mong has something to do with every mental process that comes out of not knowing the truth. It is very difficult to interpret, but it is basically paranoia. You are looking at the mirage, and because you are thirsty, you think it is water. Then, the moment you drink the water that is outside of the truth. Now from that point on, there are all kinds of processes and each process is a klesha. Not only the thought, Oh, what a beautiful stream! even when one thinks, maybe, this is a mirage even that is actually a klesha. Since you think it is a mirage in reference to this is water, it therefore falls within the department of a klesha. If right from the beginning, you see the reality of the water, the truth, then the idea of mirage doesn't even exist. Of course, truth is a very big word. But anyway, for now, in very simple language, you can say that all the mental processes spring out of ignorance. That also includes these holy thoughts such as devotion and compassion. 63

S: ... Direct cognition should be to go beyond that? A: Yes. S: Is there a chance, or a possibility for let's say, two Buddha natures, which I know is only... A: A fabrication? S: to communicate? For example, with a dying person, or a sick person, there are these kleshas, and I would like to know when the person is confused or if they are not conscious, is there still a chance? A: Oh yeah, very much so. Not only for a dying person, but even for us, because we too are a kind of dying person, ideally a Vajra master will always try to find a gap, within the five skandhas, within and then beyond, and then, they will point out the Buddha nature. That's the most ideal situation. But that requires a very special ability, and it is not only the actual ability, but it is also a matter of the master expressing it with the right amount of words, the right amount of analogy, at the right time, and at the right place. It could be during that time of drinking a simple coffee. We never know. Also, the listener has to have the ability to interpret it correctly. And that is difficult, and this is why I call it the ideal situation. This ability is what the Buddhists would call merit. You can collect that merit, and that's the good thing about the Vajrayana. You can actually gather it. You can learn. This is equally relevant, even if you are the most stupid of vessels, and actually, sometimes the more stupid one is the better one is in collecting this aggregate. But it's difficult because the collecting of this ability has got a lot to do with combating the ego. It has got a lot to do with exposing the ego. So that's why it's difficult. So we can always opt for a path that is not the most ideal situation: a gradual path. And at least a link is created. You know, based on karmic formation, the skandha, it creates a link and again this is interdependent. Remember, we don't believe in 64

independently existing, we believe in interdependent phenomena. Now with this dying person whom you are talking to, you know, in those last few moments before they die, and at their death, they can't hear what you say. He's blind so and he can't write a letter and say this is what you should be thinking. He's in a coma so he can't even feel. Yet based on the interdependent reality, you can always, meditate. You can do things like Tonglen, for instance. It is slightly difficult for modern people to believe but actually it has very good logic. This is very much based on a link. See for instance, there is the fact that he or she has you there, and perhaps you have the intention to do tonglen meditation. But for him to have you doing that shows that he has merit. That part is like the Vajra vow, and then we can plant based on that. This is quite an important thing that one should know. When I was in San Francisco recently, this time I was teaching compassion and there is something to this, which is very simple but somehow people really couldn't understand. Many people had a really hard time. You know, Buddhists think, each and every being has the potential of compassion. Okay of course, when we talk in terms of touchy, feeling teachings, then we say this is because everybody has the Buddhanature. But to talk more theoretically, we say that everybody can have compassion, because once someone knows how to hurt another, that knowledge of knowing how to hurt someone is very much the cause of compassion. So there's a twist there. It means that you know what hurts you, and therefore, you are doing this to others. That's good. As long as someone knows how to hurt another that's a very good piece of news. It means this is a potential mark of the bodhisattva. It is precious. Like take for instance, this cup, if it falls on my hand, the cup doesn't 65

think, Okay, I am going to make you have some pain. Therefore I can never teach compassion to the cup. There are things like that in the Buddhist theoretical canon. It is very important piece of information; very important. For instance, what is one of the most important causes or attributes, for a human being to become a monk? It is a working penis, one that is sort of in good condition. Either you have it now, or you had it before at some time in the past. The Buddhist teachings are really very thorough, just everything is taken care of, really. And it makes sense. I mean if you don't have that what are you trying to become? By your becoming a monk, what does that mean? It's a bit like that. So when you have compassion towards sentient beings, it works based on sentient beings having the merit to have you. You know, that is saying a lot. S: I have a question on the meditation. We watch all of the five skandhas? A: You can watch all the five skandhas at the same time or watch each different one. Watching the form is good. It's very amusing. Watching the form is a bit like watching a garbage can. We can call form: a whole lot of garbage. It's very funny, this form that we have. There is one head, a nose on the inside, and with the ears, here we are not knowing whether to ferment more wax or not; there are just all kinds of things. It's amazing to watch the form. From time to time, there are things coming out of this form, things that come out from the different parts. Some are in a lighter function, and some are quite subtle, like for instance, some can excite others, but some can also be really disgusting; for the others though. It's really important to watch the form. It's a good one to watch, and it's my favorite. The feeling is really unreachable, the rest are even worse, they are just so subtle. Beginning with form is good. There are things like the small luggage that is hanging from your ear. Then there are socks; you know, how we wear socks? That's very interesting. 66

Actually, most underwear is very funny. I mean, no need to mention, all the different kinds of really exotic underwear.

Even the Twelve Nidhanas do not Exist Shriputra, there are no nidhanas, therefore there is no cessation of nidhanas: no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no end of old age and death; This part is talking about what we call the nidhanas or the twelve interdependent originations. It is a very difficult subject. It begins with ignorance, of course. Ignorance creates and then there is formation. Then there is the consciousness and so forth, all the way up to the death. Basically the twelve nidhanas are how our so-called life functions. Not only are we talking about life in the sense of our body, and this life, but also when it comes to a simple idea, like the moment you see the mirage as water, even that's also ignorance. It is ignorance that then leads you to the action of going there, craving it and labeling it as water. And in taking the water, or at least in our attempt to try and take the water, during this process, the idea of water is getting old, aged, decayed. And when you realize that there is no water, and that it is just a mirage, then this is the death of this idea. Within our relationships, and with just everything, we have these twelve nidhanas. Now we are hearing that these twelve nidhanas, do not truly exist. That's what Shriputra, and Avalokiteshvara are saying. Therefore there is also no cessation of these twelve nidhanas. In emptiness, there is: 67

no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path There is no path to see the suffering. Since there is no ignorance there is no wisdom. Since there is no wisdom there is nothing to obtain. Since there is no wisdom there is no nonattainment. Now this last one is very important: there is no enlightenment to attain. Therefore Shriputra, since the bodhisattva's have nothing to attain and since there is no attainment, this is what we call the prajnaparamita. No hope, and no fear is to abide in the means of the prajnaparamita. It is because of that the bodhisattvas have no obscurations of the mind. Because there is no enlightenment, there is no fear; the bodhisattva is beyond all this falsity, such as having something to attain, something not to attain, something to lose, and all of that. That is what we call complete nirvana. All the past Buddhas and bodhisattvas, have gone through this. To reach the awakened state, both the present Buddha and the future Buddha traverse by means of the prajnaparamita. This awakened state is unsurpassable because it is beyond samsara and nirvana. And that is the only truth: the complete enlightenment.

Different Terms for Different Purposes S: These words nirvana, buddhanature and enlightenment, are they the same? A: You see, during the path we use the word emptiness. It is the same thing but it is taught using different names, because there are different purposes: one as a power, one as the being, and one as the result. 68

S: I have a question regarding translation. We always hear and use the term emptiness and the first question is: In Tibetan, is the prajnaparamita a different word from what is usually used for emptiness, or is it the same? A: No, in Tibetan it is not the same word as the word for emptiness. Prajnaparamita in Tibetan is what we call sherab chi parol tu chin pa, which means the supreme mind that's gone beyond. Prajnaparamita has this meaning. Emptiness in Tibetan is referred to as stong pa nyid. In fact, they are exactly the same, you know. It is just that when we talk about the view, the word emptiness is better. This is only because there is that aspect you are supposed to understand. But in reality, there is no object called emptiness, which you should be understanding. S: Should we always translate all the Tibetan terms for emptiness, as emptiness as seems to happen in the English language? Because some people say that the term openness is better. Or does that make it 'nice'? A: I think, after all the numerous discussions, emptiness is still the safest term. Openness can be okay, some of the time, but not all of the time. S: Because you were asking us about emptiness, and there is always this negative conception. A: Yeah, I know. S: It's always the opposite of full. A: You see, for a Mahyna Buddhist, nihilism and eternalism are equally bad. The thing is openness may lead to the eternalist. But there is something interesting here. If there is a nihilist and an eternalist, and you have to defeat both of them, most of the classic Buddhist texts, would choose the eternalist first. This is because in the past, eternalism was such a big problem. You know, there is God, the Almighty and all that. There is the permanent soul and all of that. But, I think maybe now, we should choose the nihilist first. 69

S: So for now, like for instance with view, meditation, and action, you have path and you have three different terms, and there is no chance to translate and make it clear. A: Oh yes, it's already translated. For instance, when we talk about view, we use the term emptiness, right? And most of the time during the path, we use the term Buddhanature, and for the result, we use the term dharmakaya. What you (are doing is that?) Anyway, this will help you. You know the Buddhist concept of nirvana? Let's forget the touchy feely bit for a moment. If you really want to study this theoretically, then academically, the identity of Buddhist nirvana is a state of absence. You see, when we talk about a clean window, we are talking about an absence of dirt. That is what we call a clean window. You cannot make the window clean. But you can make the dirt go away. And you can prove logically and scientifically that the window can be cleaned based on the fact that dirt is temporal.

Visualization comes within the category of: Outer, Objective Phenomena S: If one kind of experiences something when doing a meditation, it's imagination, and there is a danger to cling on to that. A: Yes, as with everything. S: When we perceive something that is there. You connect an experience, and there is this imagination and with that its more unreal. But I am just asking because of visualization actually. A: Yes, all of visualization comes within this category, within that of the six groups. You know, this outer, objective, within the objective six groups, which includes for instance, 70

form, body, sound, taste and all that? And then there is the eye, the inner, and there is also the sort of more in between, at the consciousness level.

Milarepa and Marpa: Sometimes Masters can make a big Deal out of Nothing S: He heard a story and would like you to maybe clarify the story. The story is about Marpa and Milarepa. When Marpa's son died, then Marpa was crying and Milarepa was asking him, why is it of great importance that your son was dying since everything is empty? Marpa answered by saying that to lose one's son is the biggest teaching of all. A: It must be. I have heard something like that too. S: He is asking if you could clarify this, because he is not really understanding it. A: Oh, Marpa must have been giving Milarepa another lesson. These things happen a lot. To strengthen an understanding of emptiness, just as the practitioner, the disciple is getting a little comfortable with the notion of emptiness, the masters can make a big deal out of nothing. Like, if you happen to purchase the wrong brand of toothpicks, he can just go crazy. He might be saying how this is not the right type and all of that. There are just so many things like that. Like with Shakyamuni Buddha, the last deed was the passing, and that was a big lesson for his disciples. Here we are, now talking about beyond death, beyond birth and all that. And the lesson is usually something that is playing with your imagination: to strengthen the devotion, I guess. Just as Milarepa is beginning to see Marpa as Chakrasamvara, to be confronted with the sight of a wailing mother, might damage that. You know, it might shake that perception of Chakrasamvara, and that's important. It's quite 71

important for the students to look for that. Basically when it comes to a relationship between Marpa and Mila, there is never a written rule. There are no rules. That's the very difficult part. You cannot complain. No rules, no complaining. You just have to begin this, thinking that you will be unfairly treated all the way. In any case, fairness is also interdependent. Actually, fairness and equality are very, very big delusions.

When Watching the Skandhas: You shouldnt be doing anything S: I come to this teaching because it comforts me. It makes me happy. So I have developed so much attachment. I have the thinking I want more and more. Recently, when I was thinking that I wanted to go to Dordogne, I was thinking maybe I would die on the way, right? I had so much fear! I came here to hear the prajnaparamita and emptiness and I don't understand why I have so much fear, which I shouldn't have. Also, I noticed that even as I listen to this teaching, I feel that I am getting more attached to it. A: I think, with all this, you should just watch the skandha, the feeling. S: Yeah, I do. A: Good. You know, the word nyamshak. In Tibetan we call this watching, nyamshak which I think is translated as meditation. I don't think it is the right translation. Actually nyamshak is really such a beautiful word. Nyam means equal but let's forget that for the moment. Now shak that's also a very beautiful word. That means leave it alone. Just let it be. And there is that connotation of let it be. It is usually different when it is taught in a form, like with things like a mudra, the gesture. 72

You know, there is a mudra, like this. That is what they call the teaching mudra, and then there is another mudra like this, which is giving. You see, all of these mudras have no feeling of letting it be. But this one has. Usually this is called nyamshak, the mudra for samdhi. Now, letting it be, that's a very important one. When we watch the skandhas, as I said yesterday, you watch but you don't involve. Don't judge. Don't follow it. Just watch. And what is that? That's letting it be. You are not responding to it, basically. Now that is what they call the greatest art of indifference. It is the greatest art of ignoring also. You stare it. That's it. You just completely ignore it. Out of ignoring and because you are not involved this is why it's called the great rest. So when you are watching the skandhas, you shouldn't be doing anything, such as involving; that's the rest. Of course, for the beginners, that's also the cause of restlessness. This is also a bit like a Vipashyana, or very much so. You watch the skandhas, the five aggregates basically. Watch is, I guess, the only language that we can use, but basically, it is to notice. Just notice, that's all. Nothing more. It's very simple, that's the challenge. The challenge is that we don't believe that this will achieve enlightenment. It's too simple. We just can't accept it. Okay, but, How can this liberate me, by just noticing my form? But it does because if you notice and if you just watch it, everyday for a few minutes, without engaging, without judging, as I've told you many times that really undoes lots of knots. Anxiety for instance, and depression, there are all these things functioning. Why? It is because you are involving with them. I had a student and she was very much in love with this guy but the man was in love with another man and she was so jealous. Because it was not your standard competition, but rather, it was a kind of special competition. I told her, you know, 73

I've taught this vipashyana, and so every time you are jealous, you should just watch. Then she comes back complaining, because she doesn't want to meditate. She said when you do that then jealousy dismantles, it disintegrates. Jealousy is there but it is sort of like tasteless jealousy, not spiced jealousy. I thought that is a very good thought. It means she is meditating. So don't involve. If you involve then you are not meditating. Just apply this art of watching and noticing, until it really dismantles, misinterpreted things. You know what happens is it slows down the speed of your thoughts. It confuses the normal pattern, or normal habit of how our mind glides within us. It confuses, the normal channel. Because when you involve, and once you pay attention, it becomes a food for the thoughts. But when you just watch, there is no fuel. You are not giving any fuel. Then they become very weak. You then begin to see a different world. It is a world without these filters.

The Mantra of Prajnaparamitra Of course, eventually, our aim is to understand the interdependent prajnaparamita, or the interdependent reality. But for those who cannot understand right away, here Avalokiteshvara is going to give us the mantra of prajnaparmita. You see, as I have been telling you, the emptiness is never a negation. It is not a nihilist kind of negation. Otherwise, why else is there a mantra of prajnaparamita? You chant the mantra of emptiness. The path, the method, is never denied. Method is accepted. And methods are limitless. If there is somebody looking at a mirage and thinking that this is water, our aim is to make the person realize that it is a mirage, not water. As to how you do it, or how you make the person know this, the methods are infinite. There is complete 74

diversity. With some, right from the beginning, you say, that's a mirage. If you, the listener have the ability, you get it: right there. There is no need to waste time, with all this struggling to see whether it is mirage or not; there is none of that. For others, which is the case for most of us, it's difficult to accept that it is not water. For some, maybe intellectually, it is possible to accept but not emotionally. So for these people, for some of them its important to say, Yes. That's actually water. Let's go and drink. All along you know that it's not. There are infinite methods, and this we cannot deny. It is a very important message, this one. As I was telling you, through not understanding this, it has caused so many problems among the Buddhists, because some think they are so minimalist. Like with the Zen people, they laugh at the Vajrayana mandala: You know the sand mandala? What is it? God, this is Buddhism? Then the Theravadin Buddhists get so shocked when they see the Vajrayanas practice of male and female, nakedly embracing, replete with a skullcup and skull ornaments. And then again, the Mahyna and Vajrayana chauvinists, they look down on the Theravada: Oh you know, shaving ones hair off, what is that? It's like self-flagellation. It is comes back to not understanding that the methods are infinite and that each of those methods are important for different people. And here is another method, the mantra: the great mantra of prajnaparamita. It is the mantra of great insight. It is the unsurpassed mantra; the unequalled mantra; the mantra that calms the suffering. It is a mantra that has soothed all the suffering and one must trust, without any deception and one must know that this is the truth. (Rinpoche chants the mantra) OM GATE GATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA 75 PARAGATE

That's the mantra. Gone, gone, the supremely gone, the supremely perfect gone. So be it. That's a mantra. Form is emptiness: that's gone. Emptiness is form: that's the second gone. Emptiness is no other than form that's supremely gone. And, Form is not other than emptiness that is the supremely perfect going. And what do you do about it? Nothing. Just: Let it be. Of course, ideally you meditate on this, but if you can't mediate all the time, at least by just chanting that it really pokes some holes. It dents our vanity box. Thus, Shriputra, the mahasattva, bodhisattva should train in the profound prajnaparamita. One should practice the profound prajnaparamita just as you have taught, and all the tathagatas will rejoice. Then the Buddha arose from the samdhi of the profound prajnaparamita and the all illuminating or the profound illuminating samdhi and confirmed this with Avalokiteshvara, by saying: Good, good, O son of noble family; thus it is, thus it is.

All the Buddhas are happy with this. After Buddha had said this, all the retinue such as Shriputra, Avalokiteshvara and all the other assembly, including the gods, the humans, the asuras, and gandharvas, they all praised the words of the Blessed One. Now that's the end of the Heart Stra.

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Two Great Commentators: Nagarjuna and Maitreya Even though the Heart Stra is not spoken directly by the Buddha, it is a discussion that springs from the Buddha's blessing, which is why it is characterized as a stra. Well, if we are looking for a bigger more extended praise, there are the eight thousand verses or there are the twenty thousand verses, and then there are also the seven hundred thousand verses. People read those verses even today. As a Mahyna Buddhist, it is almost a tradition to read the Heart Stra, once each day. It's very much revered by many, many, Mahyna people. Take for instance Khublai Khan, one of the Chinese emperors. The eight thousand verses of the Heart Stra were written down using five different kinds of jewels. Actually there are many Chinese emperors, who have done amazing stuff. But anyway with most of the stras, traditionally these are read in the monasteries. Now if you want to study this, then usually, we study the shastras, and the commentaries to these verses. Of particular mention, there are the two great commentaries, by Nagarjuna, and Maitreya. Both have their distinctive elements. Nagarjuna puts more into, Form is emptiness and Maitreya is leaning more towards, Emptiness is form. Nagarjuna talks so much about emptiness and deconstruction, whereas Maitreya talks more about the potential or rather, he talks about the benefit and great qualities of the emptiness. Nagarjuna talks more of the absence and Maitreya talks about the presence of that absence. Take for instance, how a glass of water can be seen by different beings as different things. As a human, we see this as a water, as a fish they see this as a home. Nagarjuna talks about all of that perception, and about whatever you think, It is not 77

real. You cannot say that one of these things is real. You cannot say because we are feeling these things, thus our human perception is real. How do you judge what is real? We cannot vote because we lose that. Then more fish. So whose perception is real? Nobodies. These perceptions are all a hallucination. They are all a mental projection. That is how Nagarjuna talks. But with Maitreya, he goes into why different people see this as different. What is there that causes different people to see different things? Is there something? Nothing. But what kind of nothing is it? That is how Maitreya talks. Okay, so to be precise, 'empty' is what Nagarjuna talks on, whereas 'ness' is what Maitreya talks about. Both of them are great commentators. It is amazing. Sometimes I feel it is a pity they didnt write some other books, like plays or politics, or something like that. They could have been very famous now. I think both of them are also contemporary to the Greek philosophy, like the Platos and the Aristotles and all of that. There were also many great disciples that they produced such as Aryudeva, Chantrikirti, up to the Nagarjuna. And by the way, these figures are not just some dry, nerdy, sort of philosophers who irritate everyone, by wearing a beret, and chewing on some leftover cigar. They are great mahasiddhas, too. They are saints. They did all kinds of impossible things. Like with Chandrikirti, the follower of Nagarjuna, when he needed milk, he milked a painted cow. So they are very interesting characters not merely book worms. And this milking a painted cow also has a great significance because to milk a painted cow, indicates an understanding of emptiness. And then with Maitreya he has some really amazing disciples, and has perhaps even a higher number of disciples. Its amazing, and really compassionate, very compassionate. Nagarjuna and company have this feeling of being the destroyer of your concepts. Maitreya and company have more of a feeling of compassion 78

towards your concepts. They are amazing people, the Maitreya followers. There is this one story of a nun, a Buddhist nun, who was living in India, within this male dominated country, at a time when Buddhism in general and especially Mahyna Buddhism, was in real danger of extinction. Now this Buddhist nun, she slept with a king, with the intention of wanting to produce a child. It's kind of an outrageous thing for a nun to do. Out of this, came the great Asanga, but then as if this wasnt enough, she slept with a Brahmin, as well. This was in India where you can't think of having two men! But from this, came the great Vasubandu, the great, great commentator. Asanga, the older brother, was known for being, very, very, very compassionate, and he was someone who really, really admired Lord Maitreya. In fact, he prayed and practiced Maitreya for twelve years but without even having one good dream. Feeling depressed he comes out and he sees a female dog about to die. This dog was dying of starvation. And out of great compassion he cuts his own flesh and is about to give this to the dog. Suddenly, the delusion of the dog disappeared and Lord Maitreya was there. After that Lord Maitreya taught him and gave him all the teachings. Lord Maitreya was in the Tushita heaven at that time, so Lord Maitreya took Asanga to Tushita and for five heavenly days, he taught him. Nagarjuna also wrote many books. His greatest, and most respected one, is the Mula-Madhymaka-karika. He analyzed everything, from the concept of coming and going all the way to the concept of enlightenment. Maitreya has five main texts, and one that is quite popular is the Uttaratantra. Anyway, all of this is a commentary to the Heart Stra teaching.

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An Interdependent Ceremony of Auspicious Verses So that's the end of the Heart Stra, and now we will do one more interdependent ceremony. Someone's getting merit. Where are they? The bride and the groom, please approach. Oh good, there are so many flowers coming. Well you know, there is no Buddhist marriage ceremony but we have what we call auspicious verses, and we recite these verses. The auspicious verses are quite nice. There is talk about how one should appreciate what we have, as if every moment in our life is worth a celebration. Even if you manage to go to the toilet successfully, it is actually worthy of a celebration. If you breathe out and then you manage to also breathe in, it's also a cause for celebration, so you see, life is just full of reasons why we should celebrate instead of feeling unsatisfied or whatever. So these are very beautiful verses and this is what I am going to recite. It is sort of coming from the Sanskrit shlokas, so again there is a lot of Indian influence, which is bound up with making a mess with flowers. The last verse is written by the great Ashvaghosha. He is saying, in our lives, in our relative world, happiness is most important, and happiness is basically a freedom. Now as a Mahyna Buddhist, our aim is to give everyone freedom. But that's difficult, and it's a little bit idealistic. So we begin with giving our self this freedom. That is if you are a single person. Now if you are getting married, you then have a really good chance to practice how to give freedom to the other. So you give her freedom and she gives you freedom. You see, this is how the Buddhists talk. It is completely the opposite of what people normally think. Usually marriage is a bit of a chaining to each other. But from the Buddhist point of view, the whole purpose of marriage is so that you learn how to give freedom to 80

each other. So with the last verse, it's the verse of the Three Gems, the Triple Gems: May we be protected by the Three Gems.

81