Tenets, 22 September 1994, part 2

If the flower which is if the flower which is existing due to the uncommon imprint so the uncommon here is individual. Uncommon imprint of Jampa Kelden then is to be seen by Dawa, then well, to start with, if the flower which is existing due to the manifesting of the uncommon imprint of Jampa Kelden is to be seen by dhava then that would mean that the eye consciousness by which the flower is being seen by the two person would come about from same one imprint according to mind only still would come about from same one imprint because it is out of same imprint that one portion splits into the consciousness perceiving the object and the other portion splits and manifests as objects. So in this case then it would mean that the flower being perceived commonly by Jampa Kelden and Dawa would indicate that the eye consciousness of the two perceiving are of same imprint, and therefore the two eye consciousness are of same. So then in that case what it would mean is because the two consciousnesses are of same then Jampa Kelden and Dawa would become same one person. So there will be that that fallacy.

So the flowers seen by being perceived by is not appearing to Dawa, and the flower being perceived by does not appear to, and that’s how it stands. So there is a individual separate vision, individual separate side. The same. You know, water. Water.

As I explained last Thursday, we bring about the example say if there is a bowl or a container full of water then in the case of a human who had strong karma to be born as a human and due to which the person has been born as a human then to such a being meaning a human that bowl of water appears as water. Yet the same when looked by someone with strong karma to be born as mentally anguished being, so-called hungry ghost and who due to such strong karma was born as mentally anguished being, when such a being looks at it, it appears as it appears as a container full of blood and pus. Similarly, if someone else who had strong karma to be born as a celestial or deva and due to which they are born there, when such person are being looked at it it appears as a bowl full of nectar. It is the same. One container full of moist and liquid and yet due to individual imprint ripening there is individual side.

To human with a strong common there appears a container full of water and as it appears there is validly a bowl full of water to be experienced or enjoyed. To the mentally anguished being there appears a bowl full of blood and pus and as it appears there is validly such to be experienced and same with the nectar and this becomes possible due to individual imprint each has laid by their individual actions in the past. If there was if there is an a mentally anguished being with a strong karma to be in that exist in that existence to such a being if we put a mouthful of food into its mouth. Due to that being’s lack of imprint and that the food burns the being’s mouth as if a hot molten iron is being stuffed into its mouth. And that’s how it happens because that being by karma or imprint had to experience even though it is food.

Therefore, the nature and all the workings of karma and the imprints of the mind are something which is beyond beyond comprehension and beyond imagination and thought, beyond understanding of sentient beings. Similarly, the supra-conventional activities, supra-conventional beneficial activities the Buddhas and the enlightened beings can perform as well are beyond comprehension and imagination by sentient beings or by ordinary beings. These are the these are so detailed, so complex that it would be beyond any normal being’s capability to what’s called have an idea what and how and so forth. The each detailing work. These these facts such as in the present example of the suffering of mentally anguished being even in terms of a mouthful of food are basically due to imprints which in the first place are to do with the state of mind that due to mental thinking attitude and so forth that the imprint was laid in the first place so in the first place had to do with mind.

And after all, everything finally is when tracked down comes down in the origin, either it is from virtuous mind or thought or it is from non virtuous mind or thought. So virtuous thought and non virtuous thought are the two predominant factor of all our experiences of happiness and suffering and so forth. If that’s the case then it gives us a inspiring source of instruction that we need to develop as much wholesome thought and state of mind as we can through which we can achieve happiness and we need to stay away and remove and work in cleansing the impure thoughts, the non virtuous thoughts as much as we can through which we can stop all our problems, dissatisfaction, sufferings and so forth that these two are the main way how whole thing happens. So this then would mean in terms of happiness and suffering they are the product of the imprints of the virtuous and non virtuous thoughts and that in turn would mean we need to work towards the two. Buddha Śākyamūni has taught so many teachings which came to be grouped into the foundational discourses or practices and instructions and the advanced mantra or tantric practices and the path.

Yet all these multitude of multitude of teachings inclusive, the two completely are to do with improving our mind to be with more and more wholesome thoughts and state of mind and to reduce our unwholesome thoughts and state of mind. So they are all advices and instructions about how to improve our mind. As all wholesome one’s thought or mind is, one to that degree would engage in wholesome actions and to that degree one would experience happiness. Similarly as unwholesome one’s thought or mind is to that degree one would engage into unwholesome actions and that would make one experience sufferings to that degree that all the lower rebirths and dissatisfaction in life and failures and obstacles and so forth are all produced through engaging into unwholesome actions produced in the first place by unwholesome state of mind. And that is how in brief the things are how they Therefore, as practitioner as more we do our practice we we need to continuously make a thing to remove the unwholesome thoughts, the impure thoughts and engagement into unwholesome actions and increase the wholesome thoughts, the excellent qualities of mind and increase engaging into wholesome actions based on such direction of one’s thought and practice.

On top of that then one try to be as harmonious and friendly to others that one make all attempts to help others as much as one can and as friendly to others as one can and to not harm others as much as one can instead to actively to actively help and support when others are in need and so forth. As the advice goes by the power of hearing one becomes peaceful and subdued, and by the power of meditative familiarization one becomes less with impure thought. In meaning the first part says more one hears the teachings and instructions from qualified and unmistakenly reliable teacher then more one hears, more one comes to an awareness about what are destructive thoughts and the state of mind which brings about sufferings therefore one comes to an awareness of what are the faulty aspects of ordinary mind and one as well comes to the awareness what are the excellent qualities side of mind which one needs to acquire from which all happiness and fulfillment so forth comes from. And as one becomes aware, one then engages less into unwholesome actions, one engages more into wholesome actions and naturally such a person would have peace in one’s mind due to not engaging into unwholesome actions and engaging into wholesome actions naturally such person would have peace in mind and such person would also appear calm, subdued in the sense of being unruly — without impure thoughts and unwholesome behavior and so forth.

Thus the first part that says by the power of hearing, one becomes peaceful and subdued. By the power of meditative familiarization, one becomes less with impure thought. This second part of the advice means a more one does meditative familiarization which is the scriptural interpretive word or translation for the word meditation. So more one does meditative familiarization or meditation more one becomes less with impure thoughts. The reason for that is when one does meditative familiarization or meditation topic the the very topic or the things one is meditating on has to do with impure thoughts because one is applying through meditative familiarization or through meditation the antidote — the pure aspects of the mind — against the impure thoughts.

So the very practice of meditation or meditative familiarization involves direct challenge and overcoming of impure thought. It is quite natural that more one does meditation or meditative familiarization, reduce or less becomes the impure thoughts in one’s mind because one is able to reduce more and more the impure thoughts of the mind so that’s how the advice part fits. And then to interpret a note it might be interesting to see then all other types of meditation do not become valid meditation — they can be preliminary meditative things but the actual meditative familiarization has to do directly with overcoming of impure thoughts. More one hears the teachings of the Dharma and as for the more meditation one does, instead of the impure thoughts decreasing if they seem to increase more and more, and instead of the pure or wholesome thoughts increasing they seem to decrease, then that is the clear indication one has not become good at listening, and one has not become good at meditation. So speaking third person, Rinpoche then wants to give, suggest the advice to you that you please then try your best to to be good with your body and speech or physical and verbal behaviors and in your mind try to be kind and improve state of mind with good thoughts as best as you can.

And that is Rinpoche’s advice. When people go into retreat and do deity based retreat and Lojong meditation and so forth. There’s a heaps of talk about attaining siddhis or powers and in most cases the siddhis or the powers one is supposed to attain are interpreted or expected to be a vision of a deity or good fantastic dreams and so forth. But they are actually not real or what is referred by a power or a siddhis. The real siddhis of power are signs of one’s mind becoming better, improve one becomes more kind person that such as one becomes more kind person as well other improvement of mind such as one has much better improved understanding of definite emergence and renunciation, enlightenment mind, correct view or the realization of emptiness and so forth.

Similarly the improvement improvement of mind in the way one becomes much more interested in hearing more instructions and teachings, one becomes much more interested in doing meditation or meditative familiarization. If these things which are improved quality of mind are seen with one after doing a retreat and so forth then that indicates one has attained the siddhis, They are the real siddhis. So we’ll stop here, and we’ll stop here for the evening. Whatever dedication Mañjuśrī and others have done, we dedicate in similar fashion. That was the last part.