Stages Of Meditation: Book Club III, Episode 3

In the third episode of Book Club III, Sarah Sati reads from chapters one and two of the text Stages of Meditation. This book, by his holiness the Dalai Lama, that serves as a concise commentary on the text of the same name by Kamalashila. In chapter one, the Dalai Lama discusses the idea of conditioned existence and offers support for an analytical approach to coming in contact with ignorance and replacing it with wisdom. Chapter two deeps our understanding of mind training, the importance of it and the proper method and sequence for turning the mind omniscient. Sarah recaps the previous session before reading and offers space for practical application through shamatha meditation practice, as well as practice homework for between sessions.

Book Club is an opportunity to look deeply into a spiritual text using a Western perspective. Each session includes a practice opportunity, reading, synopsis of reading, and optional practice homework.

Transcript

Welcome back.

This is the third session of the third edition of Book Club with me.

I'm your host,

Sara Sati,

And we are working with the book Stages of Meditation by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kamalashila.

Again it's a commentary,

As most books,

Modern day books on Buddhism are,

A commentary on an older text.

And so we are going through this book,

If you're joining for the first time.

As we go through a text together,

Book Club's really a space where we can study that text closely and then begin to integrate the wisdom of that text into our lives.

So it's really important that we're working with practical texts that we can apply immediately to either improve our existing meditation practice,

Even better to improve our existing life.

And if we don't have a meditation practice,

To understand more about the process of meditation and what is so important about it and how we can apply it in the most accurate way.

And that's actually what we're going to be talking about today.

Today we're working through chapters one and two.

The focus of these chapters are on the qualities of a practitioner.

So we'll talk a little bit about that,

A little teaser,

And also the idea of conditioned existence.

I'm not going to lie,

Chapter one is a chapter that you want to listen to again and again and again to really understand what is being said there.

So that's the benefit of having the recordings,

I suppose,

Because it's a heady chapter talking about what does it mean conditioned existence.

And we'll talk a little bit about why these concepts are foundational in our practice,

Both on our cushion and off.

And then we'll move into chapter two,

Where we'll touch on how to properly train the mind and what the proper sequence and method is there.

So pretty good stuff today.

But before we begin,

As always,

Let's start by grounding ourselves.

However you are is perfect.

But if you'd like to move around a little bit or find a seat that feels more,

Yeah,

Allowing of you to turn inward,

Then please do that now.

And you can close your eyes,

But it's also okay to leave them open.

Whichever you choose,

Rest your vision,

Relax it,

Not looking at any one particular thing or trying to focus on anything internally or externally.

Take a few slower,

Deeper breaths,

Perhaps if that feels good,

Just gradually begin to bring your awareness inward.

Perhaps extending the exhalation slightly and with each extended exhalation,

Allowing the mind and the body to settle as much as is possible.

And then gently begin to shift your attention to why you have chosen to be here today.

Let's take a moment to reflect on what draws you to these teachings.

What are you hoping to cultivate or understand?

When we ask these internal questions,

Sometimes we're expecting answers,

Like if we were talking to a friend and asking them a question and they would respond with an answer.

But the intuitive subtle body works differently.

So you may not hear something clearly,

You ask,

What is my reason?

Maybe something comes up,

But it's also okay if nothing comes up.

You're just simply asking and looking.

And it may be the case that an intention arises in a way that is beyond verbal,

Is more a feeling,

A felt sense,

Even perhaps an emotion.

And if that happens,

Just simply let that be with you.

And then together we'll set our collective intention.

I'm going to read a sentence twice.

So if you feel like repeating it with me,

Go ahead,

Saying the words out loud can be helpful in aligning our minds to the task in front of us.

May our study and practice today benefit not only ourselves,

But all beings.

May our study and practice today benefit not only ourselves,

But all beings.

May our hearts and minds open to these teachings.

May our hearts and minds open to these teachings.

Allowing wisdom,

Compassion,

And equanimity to grow and ripple out into the world.

Allowing wisdom,

Compassion,

And equanimity to grow and ripple out into the world.

And however it feels right for you,

Just take a moment here in silence to commit that intention to your heart.

Your eyes were closed.

Go ahead and open them.

Maybe move around a little bit,

Bringing yourself back into our shared space.

I will briefly recap our last session before getting into the reading today.

As I said,

We'll be reading from chapters one and two of Stages of Meditation by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

In our last session,

We focused primarily on the introduction.

And if you remember our last session,

It's okay if you weren't there because it was the introduction or if you haven't listened yet,

But the Dalai Lama was really highlighting the importance of listening with the right motivation and awareness.

And I just wonder,

I'm going to put this question to you,

You know,

If,

If knowing the Dalai Lama invites us to inspect these three flawed ways of listening,

And when we hear those three flawed ways of listening,

I just invite you to explore how they don't just show up when we're listening to an important teaching,

But actually we tend to listen to every part of our lives,

Often in a flawed way.

So what were those three flawed ways of listening?

The first one was like an overturned vessel,

As the Dalai Lama said,

And this is like being totally closed off,

Like you're,

You're listening,

It's on,

The teaching is on or the person is talking,

But you are thinking about something else or you're doing something else.

So you're actually not taking in anything you're hearing.

The second flaw was like a dirty vessel,

And this I think actually,

And the most common way people listen,

When we're talking about a dirty vessel here,

We're really speaking about listening with your own thoughts imposing on top of it.

So perhaps you're listening,

Like if we bring this to a really relevant example,

To most people's lives,

You're listening to a friend or loved one,

And they're telling you something,

Maybe they're giving you feedback that you don't really want to hear.

So you're imposing onto that feedback,

What you already think,

Or you're already thinking about what you're going to say before they've even finished getting out the words that they had to say.

So when we're filled with distraction and biases like these,

Then this is what the Buddhist teachings consider listening like a dirty vessel.

And the third flawed way of listening is listening like a leaky vessel.

And so this is when we listen to something,

But we're not able to retain what's heard.

So maybe we're kind of half listening.

We hear the words,

But we're not letting them sink in and we're not committing them to mind.

So we can't go back to them and pull from them.

And the Dalai Lama really invited us to explore listening in the right way,

Because these teachings are not meant as mere entertainment.

These teachings are actually a very important part of developing ourselves in a way that helps us not just live a better life personally,

But also be a better individual in the community that is humanity.

So proper listening is really important to that,

Because if we don't listen properly,

We're going to miss something that may otherwise be able to benefit us on this path.

We were also reminded in the introduction,

The urgency to commit to our study and our practice now,

Not waiting until later,

Recognizing that if there is a right time,

That right time is this exact moment.

And the Dalai Lama shared a personal story that helped commit that to our minds.

And this context really invites us to approach this text,

Which is all about a gradual path with patience,

Presence,

And open hearted engagement.

And that's really what is most important.

So the third really important thing from the introduction that the Dalai Lama offered us was a proper motivation for listening to this text in particular.

And you might not remember,

But I'm going to remind you right now,

The Dalai Lama invited us to think before we begin to listen to the teachings,

Before we begin reading,

Then we should be thinking to ourselves,

I'm going to listen to the intermediate stages of meditation by the great Kamalashila in order to attain supreme Buddhahood for the sake of sentient beings vast as the expanse of space.

So we are now from this moment forward,

Going to be starting every reading,

Bringing our mind to this particular motivation.

So I know we set our intention at the beginning and that's important.

But now before I start the reading,

We'll bring our minds back to this proper motivation for this particular text.

And then also,

If you remember,

I've been inviting you to explore shamatha meditation or calm abiding as your homework,

As your practice homework.

So we are going to expand on that practice homework today a little bit,

Moving from this calm abiding shamatha into a more of the paschana approach where we're now beginning to invite insight and exploration and analysis into our practice.

And if you remember,

The Dalai Lama really,

Really emphasizes this as well,

That the Buddha's teachings should be approached from a perspective of logical reasoning and analysis.

We should be able to work with all teachings from that point of view.

And so that is exactly what we will do here.

So prepare yourself with the proper motivation.

I'll repeat these words of the Dalai Lama again.

Listen to them and really try to turn your mind towards the mind of an individual working for the benefit of all beings.

I shall listen to the intermediate stages of meditation by the great Kamalashila in order to attain supreme Buddhahood for the sake of sentient beings vast as the expanse of space.

With this motivation in mind,

Find a comfortable seat,

Open your ears,

Relax your mind and listen to today's reading.

Chapter one.

What is the mind?

Kamalashila.

It is not possible for omniscience to be produced without causes,

Because if it were,

Everything could always be omniscient.

If things were produced without reliance on something else,

They could exist without constraint.

There would be no reason why everything could not be omniscient.

Therefore,

Since all functional things arise only occasionally,

They depend strictly on their causes.

Omniscience,

Too,

Is rare because it does not occur at all times and in all places,

And everything cannot become omniscient.

Therefore,

It definitely depends on causes and conditions.

The Dalai Lama's commentary.

According to this text,

There are two types of existing phenomena,

Those that exist permanently and those that exist at some times but not at others.

What is the implication of this second kind,

Existing at times but not existing at others?

Such a question naturally arises.

The implication is that temporary things depend on causes.

The fact that certain things are produced at certain times proves the existence of causes.

To say that certain things are produced at some times but not at others indicates that they are not independently produced,

But rather that they depend on other conditions.

Therefore,

All those phenomena that are produced at some times but not others depends on causes and conditions,

And they are of various types.

Causes are of different types,

Such as substantial cause,

Direct cause,

Indirect cause,

Cause of equal state,

Concomitant cause,

And so forth.

Similarly,

There are various types of conditions,

Like objective condition,

Causal condition,

Immediate condition,

And so forth.

So those phenomena that depend on causes and conditions change by nature.

They do not abide in one place,

And they are not permanent.

Conditioned phenomena,

In turn,

Can be classed under three categories,

Form,

Consciousness,

And neither of the two.

Form consists of such aspects as shape,

Color,

And so forth,

Which can be seen by the eyes and touched by the hands.

Consciousness has neither shape nor color and cannot be measured in any physical terms,

But it exists in its natural and ability to feel and sense.

Time,

On the other hand,

Has neither form nor consciousness and belongs to the third category.

Omniscient transcendental wisdom refers to the consciousness that knows everything.

Omniscience is not a quality found in soil,

Stones,

Rocks,

Or mountains.

It is produced by something whose function is awareness of object,

And therefore it cannot be produced by anything that lacks the property of awareness.

Of course,

The state of omniscience is the ultimate goal encompassing every perfection,

And of the three categories of conditioned phenomena,

It belongs to the category of consciousness.

Knowing or understanding is the function of consciousness.

For example,

When we say,

I understand or I see,

And we have an experience or feeling about something,

The experience is activated by consciousness.

When the eye consciousness sees a physical form,

We say,

I see the physical form.

And when the mind consciousness experiences happiness or pain,

We say,

I am happy or I am in pain.

Thus,

When we say,

I experience,

I see,

Or I hear,

And so forth,

It is consciousness that acts as the agent.

That which possesses the function of knowing is consciousness.

Consciousnesses vary in the scope of their knowledge and in their intensity or sharpness.

An obvious example is the consciousness of a human being compared to an animal's consciousness.

The human being's perception is much broader,

And it understands a much greater variety of objects.

The consciousnesses of human beings vary with education and experience.

The more educated you are and the more experience you have,

The broader your consciousness.

Knowledge and understanding develop on the basis of a consciousness that has the ability to perceive its objects.

When the necessary conditions are met,

Its ability to perceive increases.

The scope of its objects of knowledge expands and understanding deepens.

In this way,

The mind can develop its full potential.

Consciousness is the full consummation or perfection of the mind's ability to perceive objects.

It is omniscient in the sense that it can know each and everything without being obstructed by differences of time and space.

All knowing wisdom arises from consciousness,

And by definition,

It is produced by causes and conditions.

This implies that even omniscient wisdom cannot come about without its causes.

If this were not the case,

And an omniscient mind could arise without causes,

It would imply that every consciousness was omniscient.

This is because if things are produced without causes and conditions,

Either they must exist at all times or they must be completely non-existent.

If things were produced without reliance on something else,

They could exist without constraint.

This is to say that if things were produced without depending on other causes and conditions,

There is no logical reason why they should be obstructed at any point.

Since this is not the case,

It is logical that everything cannot be transformed into omniscience.

For these reasons,

Functional phenomena can be produced at certain times and are not produced at other times.

At a certain point in time,

When favorable conditions come about and adverse conditions are absent,

A consciousness can be transformed into omniscience that has the knowledge of all phenomena.

Since things are not produced at all times and in all places,

The implication is that they depend on causes and conditions.

Within the framework of dependence on causes and conditions,

Those who aspire to the final fruit of omniscience should generate the causes and conditions,

The complete and correct causes and conditions.

Besides this,

Aspirants must be highly motivated in their pursuit.

Therefore,

It is taught that omniscience depends on causes and conditions.

As explained in the Sangha's compendium of knowledge with reference to effects being generated by their causes and conditions,

The conditions are the unwavering condition,

The impermanent condition,

And the potential condition.

What has been said earlier concerns the impermanent condition.

When we ask how omniscience can be generated out of consciousness,

We are talking about its potential condition.

The ability to be aware of objects is an innate quality of consciousness.

The very nature of consciousness is that it is clear and aware.

It arises in the aspect of the object it apprehends.

This attribute of awareness is not something newly created by other factors.

Now the question is how that awareness can grow and expand to a limitless scope.

The ability to be aware of its objects is innate to consciousness,

But there are things that impede the mind from opening up to the state of complete knowledge.

The next question is how those obstacles come about.

We need to consider how such obstacles can be removed.

What obstructs consciousness from being aware of its object is the ignorance that is a misconception of true existence,

Also referred to as the ignorance holding to one extreme.

The extreme of reification.

When we speak of ignorance,

What we mean is that the consciousness either lacks some favorable condition or some adverse condition,

Is obstructing it from being aware of its object.

Of the many types of ignorance,

Ignorance that is a misconception,

True existence is the root,

The power holder,

So to speak,

And this ignorance is the chief obstacle.

We need to come to the conclusion through analysis that this ignorance is something that can be removed and eliminated.

The defects of the mind arise primarily due to ignorance and its latent potential.

We need to investigate and determine whether ignorance can be separated from the mind and whether ignorance can come to an end.

Ignorance in this context is not merely stupidity,

But the ignorance that is a misconception of true existence.

It is a mind that perversely or wrongly misconceives its object.

Therefore,

By cultivating an unmistaken understanding as its antidote,

We can eliminate it.

Both the ignorance that is a misconception of true existence and its antidote depend on causes and conditions.

They are alike in that they grow when in contact with favorable conditions and cease to exist when confronted by adverse factors.

We may ask,

What are the differences between the two?

Since the ignorance that is a misconception of true existence is a mind that is wrong with respect to its object,

It cannot develop limitlessly.

This is because it does not have a valid support.

This mind is wrong or perverse in the sense that the way it conceives the object is contrary to the actual way the object exists.

The mind perceiving selflessness is an antidote or opponent to this and is not mistaken with respect to its object.

That is to say,

It is correct with respect to its object,

Which means that the way it perceives its object conforms to the way the object actually exists.

Because it is not a wrong perception,

It has a valid basis of support.

It was earlier stated that the ignorance that is a misconception of true existence could be brought to an end.

This is because the ignorant mind does not have the support of being a valid cognition.

On the other hand,

The mind that perceives the selfless nature of an object does have the support of being a valid cognition.

The ways these two minds perceive objects are in direct contradiction.

The mind that perceives the selfless nature of an object is a powerful antidote against that ignorant mind,

And therefore,

The ignorant mind can be overcome.

This is analogous to the way in which any aspect of human misery can be reduced.

When the appropriate measures are applied to counter it,

It is in the nature of things that their potential is reduced when confronted by opposing factors.

The mind that perceives reality is referred to as transcendental awareness and is a positive quality of the mind.

It has the support of being a valid cognition.

It is in the nature of the mind that when you habituate it with a positive quality,

It can be developed limitlessly.

Unlike the mind,

The positive qualities of the body do not have this quality of being able to expand to a limitless extent.

This is due simply to the fact that the body is composed of gross elements and attributes.

Of such gross form do not have the potential to expand limitlessly.

When we say that the ignorant mind is perverse or wrong,

We are talking about the way it misconceives reality.

Now the pertinent questions are,

What is reality?

How is this mind mistaken about reality?

And in what way does the mind wrongly apprehend reality?

Reality or emptiness of true existence is something that can be established logically.

There are sound or perfect reasons to prove the emptiness of inherent existence.

And we can gain conviction in these reasons.

On the other hand,

There is no logical way to prove true existence.

True existence is what appears to an ordinary,

Untrained consciousness.

But when it comes under logical scrutiny,

True existence cannot be found.

Even in our everyday life,

We often find contradictions between the way certain things appear and their actual mode of existence.

That is,

The way things actually exist is different from the way they appear to exist.

This notion can be illustrated quite simply.

In worldly affairs,

We talk about somebody being let down or disillusioned.

Disillusionment arises due to a discrepancy between the way a situation appears to be and the way it actually is.

Let us examine our situation as human beings.

Compared to animals,

Our minds are immensely more powerful.

We have the ability to analyze whether there is a reality beyond the level of appearance,

Whereas animals only deal with what appears to them.

This is very clear,

Just as different people have different mental capacities.

When we closely examine them,

Many of the minds that are generally understood as valid cognizers are also mistaken in a deeper sense.

The way phenomena really exist is other than what it appears to such minds.

We normally perceive reality or emptiness as existing differently from the way it actually arises.

Our perception of impermanent things,

Like mountain ranges and houses,

Does not conform to their actual mode of existence.

Some of these things have existed for many centuries,

Even thousands of years,

And our minds perceive them in just that way,

As lasting and permanent,

Impervious to momentary change.

Yet when we examine these objects on an atomic level,

They disintegrate every moment.

They undergo momentary change.

Science also describes a similar pattern of change.

These objects appear solid,

Stable,

And lasting,

But in their true nature,

They constantly change,

Not keeping still for even a moment.

Chapter 2.

Training the Mind.

It is essential to study and acquire an education.

Training the mind is a process of familiarization.

In the Buddhist context,

Familiarization,

Or meditation,

Refers to the positive transformation of the mind.

That is,

To the elimination of its defective qualities and the improvement of its positive qualities.

Through meditation,

We can train our minds in such a way that negative qualities are abandoned and positive qualities are generated and enhanced.

In general,

We talk about two types of meditation,

Analytical and single-pointed.

First,

The object of meditation is put through a process of analysis in which one repeatedly attempts to gain familiarity with the subject matter.

When the practitioner has gained a good deal of certainty about the object of meditation,

The mind is made to concentrate on it without further analysis.

The combination of analytical and concentrative meditation is an effective technique to familiarize the mind with the object of meditation and thus helps to train the mind properly.

We must recognize the importance of training the mind.

It arises from the fundamental fact that each and every one of us innately desires happiness and does not want misery.

These are natural human characteristics,

They don't have to be created.

This desire is not wrong.

The question is,

How do we achieve these objectives of realizing happiness and relinquishing misery?

The basic purpose of education,

For instance,

Is to gain happiness and avoid misery.

Individuals struggle through the process of education so that they can enjoy a successful and meaningful life.

With education,

We can increase happiness and reduce misery.

Education takes various forms.

Nevertheless,

All of them are essentially intended to help train and shape the mind.

The mind has power over the body and speech,

And therefore any training of body and speech must begin with the mind.

Put in another way,

For any physical or verbal training to take place,

There must first be a motivation.

The mind sees the advantages of such training and generates interest in it.

The purpose of training the mind is to make our lives worthwhile.

Through the process of training the mind,

We learn many new things,

And we are also able to detect and identify numerous defects or things that can be removed or corrected.

Now the task we face is to discover the means and methods that can enable us to eliminate what is wrong and assemble favorable conditions for transforming our minds.

This is crucial.

In our everyday life,

Education helps us to find the necessary and conducive factors that give rise to happiness.

In the process,

We are also able to abandon the factors that make us miserable.

Thus,

Through education,

We aim to make our lives happy and worthwhile.

When we look at our lives within a social context,

Education has a vital role to play.

How we fare in any given situation depends on the conduct of our body,

Speech,

And mind.

Since mind is the chief,

A disciplined mind is essential.

Happiness or sorrow in life depend on the power or intelligence of the mind.

And how these experiences affect our lives also depends on the mind.

The conduct of our body,

Speech,

And mind now can also determine our state of being in the future.

This,

In turn,

Depends on the cast of our minds.

When we misuse our mental potential,

We make mistakes and suffer unpleasant consequences.

On the other hand,

When the mind's potential is skillfully harnessed,

We derive positive and pleasant results.

Our state of mind and how the mind perceives different things greatly affects us.

Because of the control they have over their minds,

Some people are little disturbed by failure or adverse circumstances.

This is a clear example why taming or training the mind is so important.

Having considered the importance of training the mind,

We might wonder what the mind is.

If you ask them,

Most people respond by rubbing their heads and then pointing to their brains.

And this is partly correct,

Because we're talking specifically about the human mind.

The human mind does not have any existence independent of the human body.

The consciousness that has a particular relation to the human body is referred to as a human consciousness,

And the consciousness that has a particular relation with an animal body is referred to as an animal consciousness.

The human mind or consciousness we are talking about actually consists of a vast number of minds,

Some subtle and some coarse.

Many of the coarser types are connected to a sense organ like the eye,

And many of them are definitely connected to the brain.

It's obvious that these external bases or factors are essential for consciousness to arise.

But the main cause of any mind is the preceding moment of consciousness,

Whose nature is clarity and awareness.

This is referred to as the immediate condition.

The 400 verses by Aryadeva mentions the logical requirement that a root cause of consciousness must have the potential to transform and have a nature of clarity and awareness.

Otherwise,

Consciousness would either never be produced or it would be produced at all times,

Which is obviously not acceptable.

The impact of an action is left on our mental consciousness,

And as a result,

We can recall the experience after a month or a year or even after 10 years or more.

This is what is known as awakening a latent potency.

This potency has been passed on through the continuity of consciousness,

And when the necessary conditions come into play,

The past latent imprint comes to the surface.

Thus,

We talk about awakening latent imprints from previous lives.

However,

The mind's relation to the brain cannot sufficiently describe the subtle aspects of a latency potential.

Understanding of this notion of latent potency can help us gain some appreciation for life and the formation and disintegration of the universe.

It can also answer certain doubts concerning our human thoughts,

Superstitions and other projections of the mind.

This philosophy very clearly describes the guidelines and the methods by which it is possible to obtain an omniscient mind,

The highest quality of mind,

Representing the full consummation of its potential and power.

In order to realize the final fruit of omniscient mind,

We need to train in its complete and correct causes.

We must also ensure that we maintain the proper sequence of training.

This is why the text states,

In Kamalashila's words,

Also from among these causes and conditions,

You should cultivate correct and complete causes.

If you put the wrong causes into practice,

Even if you work hard for a long time,

The desired goal cannot be achieved.

It will be like milking a cow's worm.

Likewise,

The result will not be produced when all the causes are not put into effect.

For example,

If the seed or any other cause is missing,

Then the result or sprout,

A sprout and so forth,

Will not be produced.

Therefore,

Those who desire a particular result should cultivate its complete and unmistaken causes and conditions.

The Dalai Lama.

Besides assembling complete and correct causes,

It is essential to train in the right sequence of causes for the mind to expand and become omniscient.

For example,

In order to prepare a delicious meal,

The mere collection of all the necessary ingredients is not enough.

We need to know how to assemble the different ingredients like oil,

Spices and so forth in order to achieve the desired flavor.

Kamalashila,

If you ask what are the causes and conditions of the final fruit of omniscience,

I,

Who am like a blind man,

May not be in a position to explain by myself,

But I shall employ the Buddha's own words just as he spoke them to his disciples after his enlightenment.

He said,

Vajrapani,

Lord of secrets,

The transcendental wisdom of omniscience has its root in compassion and arises from a cause,

The altruistic thought,

The awakening mind bodhicitta and the perfection of skillful means.

Therefore,

If you are interested in achieving omniscience,

You need to practice these three compassion,

The awakening mind of bodhicitta and skillful means.

The Dalai Lama.

Here Kamalashila refers to the words of the Buddha and establishes the correct causes and means to achieve omniscience.

He says that anyone interested in omniscience should practice the awakening mind of bodhicitta,

Which is based on compassion.

The practice should be supported by the six perfections with special emphasis on the union of calm abiding meditation and special insight.

Therefore,

The aspects of practice known as method and wisdom should be seen as so complementary that they are regarded as inseparable.

This also implies that compassion is the root of the Buddha's doctrine and that the entire body of teachings contained in both the greater and lesser vehicles is based on compassion.

Okay,

So you can let that sink in,

Sink in.

Maybe you are farther along than me.

That's quite likely.

I would not be surprised.

And if yes,

Then maybe immediately you're understanding everything that's coming out of these chapters.

But it could also be the case that like me,

The first time you hear these words,

You're wondering,

What is being talked about here?

So I want to take a closer look and that's why we do these book clubs.

That's why I do these book clubs is because I want us to take a closer look at these and really start to pick apart what is the most important about these chapters.

What are the most important pieces we should be extracting and how are they applicable to our lives now?

Chapter one is really,

It talks about the qualities of a good practitioner.

So you have to have diligence,

Compassion and wisdom.

But the heart of this chapter is really the exploration of conditioned existence.

And this is a very important concept for us to understand.

It's the idea that everything is temporary.

Everything in our lives arises based on specific causes and conditions.

And that's what the Dalai Lama says.

Anything that is temporary must be based on causes and conditions because only certain events bring it to existence.

So nothing exists independently,

Permanently or singularly.

And I'm going to be returning to these three,

I think quite often throughout this book club.

The Dalai Lama is saying,

Hey,

Look,

Ignorance is the root of our problems.

And if we want enlightenment or omniscience,

Which he is defining as like the all knowing perfection of the mind,

The mind's capacity to perceive things exactly as they are and achieve its full potential,

If we're after that,

And let's just pretend we are,

Even if you're not sure yet,

I'm after that.

I'm going to admit I'm going for that.

And so if that's what we're after,

Then we need to we need to know clearly that the reason we don't have it right now is because we are ignorant.

And he even uses the word perverse,

Which has quite some negative connotation.

But what does he mean by that?

He doesn't mean like perverted in a way that maybe we're used to hearing it.

What he means is that the way we are perceiving reality,

The way it appears that reality exists is not the way it actually exists.

And that is ignorance.

So nothing exists,

Not a single thing that is temporary exists independently,

Permanently,

Or singularly.

And yet we apply those three to almost everything that exists,

Including our emotions,

Including our bank accounts,

Including our special possessions,

Including our friends and family.

Including our sense of self.

This ignorance is what is holding us back from the recognition of reality as it is,

Which is the condition to allow omniscience to bloom.

So this understanding is directly confronting the delusion of ignorance that causes our suffering.

Ignorance,

On the other hand,

Is the belief that things are permanent,

Independent,

Or singular.

And this is and singular,

You can also say like unchanging here.

It's the belief in these things.

And this is what we also use the word reification for.

But when we recognize that how things appear to us in this way,

This permanent,

Independent,

And singular way,

When we recognize that that's actually not the way things really appear.

And we do that not with blind faith.

Like someone says,

Hey,

You think things are independent,

You think they're permanent,

You think things are singular,

Unchanging,

But in fact,

They're not.

And it's not like we're just supposed to say,

Oh,

Okay,

Cool,

I believe you.

Boom.

My mind has changed.

No,

We are supposed to apply logical analysis to this and say,

If they're not that,

What are they?

So what are they?

When we really apply logical analysis to looking at the nature of reality or phenomena,

We can see that they are actually interdependent,

Impermanent,

And multiplicitous,

Meaning broken into pieces and constantly changing.

Things do not remain the same.

Not you,

Not me,

Not the table I'm on,

Not the computer I'm speaking into.

Things don't remain the same,

Not even for a second.

They are constantly in a state of change.

So we begin to say,

Okay,

Could this be true?

And then we start to investigate on a deep level for ourselves,

Is this true or not?

And as we investigate this and we apply logical analysis,

We begin to see reality as it truly is.

And this is the antidote to ignorance.

These are the causes and conditions that lift the veil of ignorance and in its place,

Supply us with omniscience.

And it's a powerful,

This shift in perspective is a powerful antidote to ignorance.

In the Buddhist teachings,

We have the kleshas.

These are the five main obstacles or the five afflictive emotions,

The five afflictive emotions that are talked about,

Ignorance,

Attachment,

Clinging,

Holding onto things,

Aversion,

Like hating things,

Anger,

Pushing things away,

Envy,

Wanting what is not ours,

And greed,

Wanting to keep everything for ourselves.

But it is said that the root of all of the afflictive emotions,

The root of the kleshas is the first one,

Is ignorance.

And when we dispel that root,

Then we are allowed to easily,

We are able to easily let go of the other four kleshas,

This attachment and aversion.

It begins to fall apart because it has no concrete or solid footing to stand upon.

And this is how we achieve awakening.

This is how we achieve enlightenment.

So this was chapter one,

Quite heavy on conditioned existence.

And you have to start investigating it.

And that's where chapter two brings us.

Chapter two begins to focus on mind training as the most important reason for meditation.

It is the most important thing about our practice.

The Dalai Lama is discussing education,

And I want us to challenge our biases if when we hear the word,

We immediately think about formal education.

Because of course,

Maybe you know a lot of things from formal education,

I definitely do.

But a lot of my education has come from study on my own,

You know,

Either studying a topic on my own or exploring an activity on my own,

Working with a teacher.

A lot of it has been informal or even self-directed.

So when you hear the word education,

Just if you are applying a bias there,

Then just check in with yourself and say,

Okay,

Any kind of education,

Learning anything.

Learning is that fundamental activity that precedes a change in the mind.

And that's because whether it's the body or it's the senses,

It doesn't matter.

The mind is the king.

The mind is the king of the body.

The mind is the king of the senses.

So without the proper mental conditioning,

Nothing else progresses on the path.

And the Dalai Lama goes on to emphasize that there is a specific method,

And this is coming directly out of Kamalashila's text,

There is a specific method and a specific sequence for training the mind.

And if you listened to my last book club or you were with me for my last book club,

This is where I really spoke about Lojong and Lamrim,

This like specific path that leads us to enlightenment.

Really the Buddha didn't come in and give us anything vague.

Everything is very,

Very clear,

Sequential,

Organized,

Structured.

There is a very specific way to go about training our mind.

And when we use that,

When we apply that specificity to our mind training,

That is when we have the causes and conditions necessary to express this omniscient mind.

So I was thinking in these examples,

Like you wouldn't bake a cake with lasagna noodles.

So you know,

Just thinking about like especially some of the examples that the Dalai Lama used or Kamalashila uses,

You can't milk a cow's horn.

You have to milk the udders.

If you milk the horn,

You're never going to get milk.

Or if you bake a cake with lasagna noodles,

Similarly,

You're not going to get lasagna noodles.

So the first thing is you have to have the right method.

You have to be using the right approach.

The wrong approach isn't going to get you there.

Similarly,

Like I was thinking,

Whipping cream,

I love whipped cream,

But you don't get whipped cream by whipping the sugar and then stirring in cream.

You have to,

You know,

If you've ever made your own whipped cream,

You have to whip the cream and then you slowly add the sugar.

If you do it in the wrong order,

And this is the second point,

If you do something in the wrong order,

Then you also don't get the right outcome.

Another one of my teachers,

Chokinima Rinpoche,

He talks about this also,

That butter,

The capacity for butter is inherent in milk.

Just like the capacity for oil is inherent in a flaxseed.

But you aren't going to get butter,

You aren't going to get oil,

If you don't use the right method and sequence to bring it forward.

I keep using new examples,

Because what I'm really trying to drive home is this understanding that we need to recognize we are trying to bring forward,

We're not manufacturing or giving ourselves something we don't have,

We are bringing forward the best qualities of the mind,

The absolute perfection of the mind,

And we are eliminating the delusion of the mind,

The klesha mind,

The mind of ignorance.

We are eliminating that and we are replacing it with what is actually there underneath.

But in order to achieve that,

We have to follow the proper method and the proper sequence.

And so this is where Kamalashila begins to tell us,

Well,

So what is that?

Okay,

Great.

Yeah,

I get it,

Sarah.

You've said it 1000 times now.

I need a proper method and I need a proper sequence,

But what is that?

And the Dalai Lama and Kamalashila go on to say the foundation of it all,

The foundation of it all is compassion.

First compassion,

Right?

Then cultivating the awakening of the mind of bodhicitta.

What is that?

What does that even mean?

Mind,

The mind that wants all beings to be free from suffering and to have ultimate happiness.

So it's eliminating the self-centered I,

The selfish I,

The reified I,

The belief in me existing independently,

Permanently,

And in an unchanging way.

We have to get rid of that,

But we don't just get rid of it and then there's nothing there.

We replace it with a new idea and it is in our meditation practice that we explore that new idea and analyze that new idea so that we can gain direct experience with it.

That's what we want from the practice.

We want a direct experience.

It's nothing that I can give you or another teacher can give you.

It's something,

Sometimes I think about like I'm a taxi driver and I'm driving somebody to the mall,

But I can't get out and shop for them.

It's like a teacher can drive you somewhere.

They can bring you to a location,

But the actual effort inside the location,

That is all you.

That is all about you.

And so now we know,

Okay,

I'm starting to question,

What am I seeing incorrectly?

That's really a first avenue of exploration.

How am I viewing the world incorrectly?

In what ways am I ignorant?

Where am I seeing things as permanent where they're actually impermanent?

Where am I seeing things as unchanging when they're actually constantly changing?

And where are we seeing things as existing independently when in fact every phenomena is existing interdependently?

And we start to ask those questions to ourselves and we start to explore them throughout our day-to-day experience.

And we can go even deeper than that and we can start to say how does looking at the world in this ignorant way as though things are permanent,

Independent,

And singular or unchanging,

How is that actually creating problems?

How is that causing me suffering?

Maybe you can imagine a time in your life,

And if not now,

Perhaps as a younger person where something happened,

Like specifically the first example that comes to my mind is somebody broke up with me,

Like a boyfriend would break up with me or something.

And how devastated I could be just as a child,

Like a young girl,

How totally devastated.

What was the root cause of the devastation?

Well,

An ignorant mind might say it was my boyfriend breaking up with me.

That was why.

I'm devastated because my boyfriend broke up with me.

But let's dig in.

Let's dig deeper than that.

The root cause of the devastation was believing that things are permanent,

Independent,

And unchanging.

So the devastation actually arises from the belief that the relationship was ever meant to be permanent in the first place and that the relationship ending existed as an independent aspect to all other phenomena in my life.

And furthermore,

That my emotion in the moment is not only permanent.

This is the misguided belief,

Right?

This feeling of devastation,

Like it's never going to go away,

Like it's never going to change.

But of course,

We know,

Right?

When we step out of the emotion,

When we're past the experience,

We can look back and say how funny as we're laughing and joyfully skipping through the fields with our new partner or whatever,

Right?

We say how funny I once felt that way,

As though that cloud was never going to lift.

So we start to examine our life and we start to say,

How has my life been governed by this ignorant way of approaching reality?

And how can I begin to adjust my vision so that I'm viewing reality exactly as it is and then beginning to stabilize in that view?

So I'm not just viewing reality as it is once and then I forget,

Which is what happens.

Tomorrow something bad happens and you totally forget what we talked about today.

Maybe you're listening in a flawed way.

It's not like shame on you.

It's just a natural habit that you've developed,

That many of us have developed,

Myself included.

And so we start to,

Every time we recognize it,

Chip away at it and change it just a little bit.

And the Dalai Lama talked about this idea of familiarizing ourselves with things,

And this is how we begin to familiarize ourselves with the truth of reality.

But I also want us to take some time today and I want us to familiarize ourselves with the idea of compassion.

So as the Dalai Lama touched on,

We first begin to familiarize ourselves with a subject and then we start to go deeper and deeper into our understanding of it by way of this logical analysis.

And because compassion has been directed as this kind of first order of business,

I want us to do a little meditation today.

I know we're sort of binking into time,

Binking,

I don't know what that means,

But,

You know,

Getting close on time.

So we'll probably go about a 15 after,

I think.

But if you're with me and can hang with me,

Let's do a little exploration of meditation.

So now we're kind of moving out of this shamatha,

This calm abiding,

Right?

First we have to learn to rest the mind,

To relax the mind a little bit.

When the mind is overwhelmingly chaotic,

Insight doesn't have room.

Creative insight,

Wisdom insight doesn't have room.

So we need these two together.

We need to bring together shamatha and compassionate in a way that says,

I rest the mind and then I look deeply and then I focus on that.

Today we're going to explore the idea of compassion.

And a lot of times in the beginning of working with compassion,

There are all of these Buddhist practices that feel like fabricating compassion.

Like you sit and you breathe and then somebody invites you to say,

Oh yeah,

Think of yourself and feel compassion for you and think of,

You know,

Someone you love and feel compassion for them,

Someone neutral,

Someone you hate,

And then all beings.

And that is a,

Those are beautiful practices,

But I think we sort of miss the preliminary familiarization with the concept of compassion at all,

Like really familiarizing ourselves with what is this idea of compassion?

So we're going to do that today.

We're going to familiarize ourselves with the idea of compassion according to the Buddhist teachings.

And in this practice,

We're not going to try to create any experience.

We're not trying to force anything.

This is called non-fabrication in the Buddhist teachings.

We're not trying to fabricate an experience,

Force ourselves to be compassionate or force ourselves to be,

You know,

Zen,

Peaceful.

We're just looking and experiencing things exactly as they are.

So we're starting this process of examining,

We're becoming like scientists,

Looking at this idea of compassion with reason and logic and asking like,

What is true about compassion?

So as we practice,

If you forget this,

Just gently remind yourself that there is no right thing you are looking to do.

You don't need to force anything.

You don't need to try hard.

You don't need to fake it,

Nothing.

You know,

If it's good,

It's good.

If it's bad,

It's bad.

If it's nothing,

It's nothing.

You're just going in and you're just looking,

Asking and seeing.

Okay.

So adjust yourself if you need to,

Find a comfortable seat,

Find your meditation posture,

The right posture for you and bring your attention to your breath for a moment.

Not changing anything.

Just simply settling here for a few moments,

Allowing your mind to rest on the breath.

We'll stay here for just a couple moments in silence,

Perhaps bringing your attention right to the space in front of the nostrils.

Eyes can be open or closed.

Maybe it feels good to take a deep breath in and even bring the arms up for a moment and just with an exhale,

An audible sound,

Just let the arms drop and really try to settle into yourself,

Especially if you're having a difficulty right now,

Settling the mind.

Just inhale.

And now just gently turn your attention to the idea,

The concept of compassion.

And we're defining compassion,

According to the Buddha's teaching,

As the wish for both yourself and others to be free from suffering.

The wish for yourself and others to be free from suffering.

Gently bringing your awareness to that.

And as you bring your attention to this concept,

Simply begin to explore it as you experience it.

Putting it up against the definition I've offered and also against the idea that things are impermanent,

Interdependent,

And made of pieces.

So you can ask yourself questions.

You can ask questions like,

What is compassion?

Where do I feel it in my body?

What is it made up of?

Does it exist on its own?

Is it permanent or is it changing?

You can ask things like,

How does it show up in my life?

And what's true about it?

And what isn't true about it?

And then you just allow the reflections to arise naturally.

You don't have to force conclusions or answers.

You just simply observe what emerges with openness and curiosity.

And I'm going to leave you in silence for this reflection for about four minutes.

Simply asking and looking.

You're still in the examination,

Working with this idea of what is compassion.

Just drop.

Just drop the contemplation.

Just let it go.

And bring your awareness back to your breath.

Let the mind loosen.

If your eyes have been closed,

You can gently open them.

Look around the space you're in.

Just bringing yourself back to our shared space.

Slowly.

Gradually.

Gradually is the word here.

It may be the case that as you're doing this exploration,

You're asking a question and then nothing is coming.

You're asking a question like,

What is compassion?

Or maybe you're saying like,

Is compassion permanent?

Am I compassionate right now?

And maybe nothing comes up or maybe more confusion arises.

I think it's Mingyur Rinpoche who says,

Confusion is the beginning of clarity.

Something like that.

I'm probably misquoting,

But you get the point.

When we're confused,

The mind is pushing itself to understand things in a new way,

In a way it hasn't understood them before.

And inquiry is a new thing.

You might be used to inquiry from formal education,

Maybe university or some other space like that,

Where you had to research a topic and find answers to it,

But inner inquiry is not like that.

Just like inner visualization is not like that.

It's not like going to Google or chat GPT and getting an answer from something and then boom,

Now you know.

It's a really gradual uncovering of your relationship to a subject that you haven't looked at closely before.

You haven't examined before.

So it is extremely normal and totally natural that there would be a sort of emptiness or confusion that arises.

Also that doesn't have to happen.

That may not be your experience.

And that's great as well.

There's no right or wrong experience here is really the essence of this.

And it's also not something that you do and then poof,

Like you're a Buddha or poof,

You get it.

You know compassion.

No,

Or poof,

You understand causes and conditions.

It's like a slow,

A slow churning,

You know,

A slow churning,

Like working with dough,

Kneading dough or a deep tissue,

Slow,

Deep tissue massage.

I'm not a masseuse,

But I've had massages and you know,

That feeling of something working its way in slowly.

And that's really what we're after.

We are planting the seeds in our meditation practice,

But it's off the cushion that things start to blossom often because then in our imprint,

And this is something that Dalai Lama talks about in chapter two,

This,

This latency potency,

This latent imprint,

We have an experience and then it lays an imprint in the mind in consciousness that arises later.

And this is a result of the continuity of consciousness as the Dalai Lama is explaining to us.

So there's something there,

Right?

You say,

Well,

If things are impermanent,

But,

But past experiences can arise in the mind due to a latent potency.

What is that?

And this is the seed.

The seed is not the answer.

The seed is that you have now begun to ask the right questions.

Now you are starting to ask the right questions.

Before you used to ask questions like,

What's going to make me happy?

And you answered it with things like a better job,

A better partner,

A different life,

Living somewhere else,

More money,

You know,

Any number of externals you might've answered with.

But now,

You know,

Well,

Of course,

Most of us know that those things don't lead to our happiness or maybe we're still wondering,

But something does.

And we're starting to apply this very specific and strategic and analytical approach to our inquiry.

And as we do this,

We are starting to bring forward real wisdom,

Real wisdom into the nature of what brings authentic happiness and eliminates our suffering.

Okay.

So for your homework this week,

I want to expand it a little bit.

If you're following along and you're doing the homework between sessions,

I'd like you to continue with this calm abiding practice.

And especially if you're someone who is struggling to rest the mind,

Then you want to stay here for a while,

You know,

Months,

Even 15 minutes a day,

Just watching the breath and observing the breath and bringing the attention back to it again and again,

And really dropping into the body and letting the mind settle.

But now we're going to move a little bit deeper and you only want to do this if you're ready for it.

So perhaps you're going to be sitting maybe with the breath for five or 10 minutes in your practice.

But I want you to begin to add into your practice,

Focus on the idea of permanence,

Independence and singularity in contrast to impermanence,

Interdependence and multiplicity or change.

And so I want you to start to examine these things similarly to how we've been examining compassion.

And you can throw compassion into the mix too.

Like where does compassion fit into this?

So you want to say,

Okay,

Is it permanent or impermanent?

Is it independent?

Like does compassion exist all by itself or does it rely on causes and conditions?

Is it unchanging or is it stable and never changing or is it always changing and mercurial?

So that's what I want you to do in your practice.

And you can really like toggle between you for maybe a little bit,

You spend time with the breath and then you move into inquiry.

Maybe the mind starts to feel tight,

Maybe even you feel some pressure in the head and then you move back into rest and relax and then when you feel ready,

You go back and forth.

That's no problem.

Just little bits.

And you find you're distracted.

It's no big deal.

You just come in and out of places.

This actual coming in and out and this allowing yourself to look and then rest and ask and then rest,

This can be actual fuel for this comparison that I'm inviting you to work with.

This comparison between permanence and impermanence,

Interdependence and independence and multiplicity and singularity or changing and unchanging.

So that is my invitation for you for this homework.

And then that's in your practice.

So you have a special practice and then in your day-to-day life,

I invite you to start focusing.

This is where I really want you to look at compassion.

I invite you to start focusing on moments when compassion arises in your life.

And then ask those questions then about compassion.

What is this?

Where is it coming from?

What is it hinging on?

What does it feel like?

Where does it exist?

Is it one place in my body that I feel it or is it many places?

Really investigate it and just do this in your day-to-day waking life.

It doesn't have to be in practice.

Maybe in like small interactions you have or moments where you're caring for someone or something.

Because perhaps compassion arises when you're caring for a plant or an animal.

Or even perhaps it arises when you're reflecting on your own struggles or your own life experience.

So that's the homework.

Two parts.

One is in your practice and the other is in your day-to-day life,

Expanding on shamatha.

But only if it's right for you,

As I said,

Only if it's right for you,

Starting to compare these.

How do these stack up?

What am I seeing here that's true?

And then in day-to-day life,

Looking at compassion.

How does it appear?

What does it feel like?

And you can also,

You know,

Sort of as a bonus,

Apply the experience to the idea that things are impermanent,

Interdependent,

And changing,

Always changing,

Made up of pieces.

And that is it.

We are right at time.

So just to honor our time and value you as a human being in your busy,

Busy life,

Let's close with a brief dedication.

Just once more,

Turning into yourself and coming back to your motivation.

And then simply listen to my words and observe how they resonate.

May the merit of our study and practice today benefit all beings.

And may the qualities we cultivate ripple out into the world,

Bringing peace,

Compassion and wisdom to all those we encounter.

And may the precious mind of Bodhichitta arise where it has not arisen.

And where it has arisen,

May it not diminish,

But increase further and further.

Okay,

Thank you so much for joining me.

I appreciate you so deeply.

I am so grateful for you,

And I hope to see you at our next session.

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