Refuge retreat

16 May 2010 19:33

This week was a good week. I feel encouraged to do the same in the future. As Richard said it was not so much about people managing to go for refuge as much as sitting with themselves silently for 25 minutes and trying to watch their mind. It is true and I did not think of it like that as I am a bit more goal orientated.

This I thought was helpful explanation to begginers on how to be in a retreat session

Refuge Retrea t s ...

Two sessions a day seems good. We can try in the future adding a 3rd session in the morning for the die hards

It is good to do at least a week in advance a talk about the retreat. Maybe even 10 days in advance. I prepared a mind map of what the retreat was going to be about and provided people with this. Then i taught from it so people made good notes and could prepare. I also provided people with a mind map on how the session should be handled. The turn out was good and we had few newbees like julie and maureen.

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Refuge 2011
08 May 2011 15:21

Seems like in 2010 we did two sessions of 1hour and 15min This year we do 3 sessions of 1hour. Maybe for next year 3 sessions of 1.15??

Introductory talk Retreat is time to focus on one particular practice

However to get there we need to go through a journy of dealing with things we might not like things that we try to deny We need to go against things that we normally think and agains what most of society believes.
Since GOING FOR REFUGE is about the development of trust and since we live in degenerate times trusting is a big issue. One reason we do not trust is because we have been coned so many times by others so that we no longer trust our self. There is also a subtle[difficult to realize , but very strong] arrogance that we know things. This arrogance is really one of our greatest problems. Its a type of arrogance that developed from belonging to a society that hails itself as progressive civilized advanced when compared with previous ages in our world. We base our arrogance on our material achievements. Refuge is a desrie that arises from Knowing the inevitable Its nature Its causes Confidence that we can prevent it

We do this in order to develop familiarity and thus enhance the particular practice

1. 2. 3. 4.

We should know the goal of this practice A deep sense of trust in the 3j

There come so much good from such a deep sense of trust.

There comes certainty The mind becomes naturally clear pure confident

Buddhism is a refuge Buddhism is like a city in the middle of barren land. Like stable raft in the midst of a stormy ocean Buddhism is not gaining anything from you practicing it or not.

The practice of refuge is the usage of buddhism an internal quality that only we know if we do or not. Some of us still have to enter Some have entered but are yet to feel confident Some feel confident but have gone to sleep Some are caught at the corners of intelectual debates

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2011 Refuge retreat structure

08 May 2011 15:29

Guru Founder
JPOGF= Joyful Pa th of Good Fortune

5 min pacifying the mind a. GTOM pg.46-47 b. JPOGF pg.50-52 Liberating prayer Abbreviated Essence of Good Fortune Stop just before the prayer of The Stages of the Path 25 min for generating the mind of Going for Refuge using 4 aspects 1) Generating fear a. JPOG pg.277-287 b. JPOGF pg. 288-302 c. JPOGF pg.305-309 2) Conclude that only the Three Jewels can protect us a. JPOGF pg.196-204 b. JPOGF205-208 3) Visualise objects of refuge
a.
[JPOGF pg.52-59]

GTOM= Grea t Treasury of Merit

4) Determination to build Dharma Jewels in our mind while reciting the mantra Oh Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and all Holy Beings Please protect me and all living beings From the various sufferings fears and dangers of samsara Please bestow your blessings upon our body and mind Continue with The Stages of the Path 15min to build actual protection in our mind by meditating on the stages of the path

Absorbing the visualisation into our heart and reciting the mantra Dedication [last session of everyday we add Geshela's long life prayer and 9 line Migtsema prayer]

We need to mentally prepare for retreat so that we can get the most out of our limited time.

1- Know the objective of your retreat to develop and enhance the mind of refuge .

2. Reducing and/or limiting worldly activities.

So think about the concept of refuge in general during the coming week. Try already to see the relevance of the general meaning of refuge in the context of Dharma

3. How to manage your energy in your retreatsee Mind map

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Vajrasattva
08 November 2010 16:12

Developing a strong wish to purify

Ignorance

Why do we not have this wish?

Little Faith

Laziness

Weakness of mind

Unable to distinguish between negative and positive action we are ignorant of what negativities are Do we ever think of our self as ignorant? If we do what are the implications of saying I am an ignorant person? 1. Mistaking negative actions to be virtuous . 2. Failing to recognize the relationship [long term]between our actions and our experiences
Gross

Subtle

If we understand these we will have a strong wish to purify. Especially when we understand that an action never really ends it just transforms into a potential which with the right causes and conditions will ripen as experience.

We are prevented from feeling that purification is necessary due to : A strong belief in external conditions as the source of our experiences A growing view in the world A strong sense as if nothing is really a problem with us- we are ok its just other stuff needs sorting.

Goodlife/Badlife simply the result of our actions

A simple pragmatic view No judgment is made about the person Simple acceptance of cause and effect

So much of our pain/worries/frustrations comes because we have a high dependency/need/expectations, from other peopleto fulfil our desire for happiness, we are left feeling powerless. Karma empowers us. We just need faith and patience!!!

This understanding gives us the greatest opportunity- to purify our negativity by engaging in purification practices .

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Post Vajrasattva talk thoughts

10 November 2010 22:12

What is important is to encourage people to understand its all in our imagination. But nevertheless very powerful in its impact on our daily lives. Like a dream that impacts our day.

For next year instead of teaching the classic way of four powers etc read out the sadhana, explain the The problem is that i do not know what was it that i missed out. story line and show how we incorparate the four powers. Maybe a feeling of not having communicated an essential part of what purification is Come at it from the point of view Thinking about it from the point of view of the listener of experience- inner space of mind There were a mixed bunch of people various levels. Some young,old new veterans etc. which does a work out, like a gym. They heard correct information, explanation of the four powers and a brief pointing out of where these powers will come to be trained in whilst doing the Sadhana. Tell people to think about the four They were encouraged to do a little shrine in preparation powers at their own pace at home I talked about the 4 powers not to much in depth so that when we come to train in I talked about the relationship between our experiences and our previous actions. them the concepts are already a My feeling is that i did not hit the spot with this one, not been able to demonstrate bit more familiar. exactely the relationship between actions and effect. I did explained it briefly in general I am still not clear about what angel did I take on it which might be my problem; I should have had a clearer vision or a clearer angel on how to approach the subject. It feels like it lacked depth or subtlety as if it was to from the outside inside. Maybe next year needs to be more from the inside out.

After the vajrasattva talk I did feel as if i missed an important point.

Maybe for next year its worth while coming at it from a different angel the inside out What do I mean by this? Come at it from the mind, demonstrate the state our mind is at- deluded in general and we have no or little control on it. Our mind provides us with constantly wrong interpretation of events around us and reality in general. This are the indications of an impure mind. The reason why the mind is reacting in these ways is because it has to potential to react in this way. If there was no potential for deluded interpretation of reality, reality would appear pure. Again, this last point would need to be explained from the inside out- this time from emptiness to appearance. Reality is not a subjective thing that exist waiting to be found by our mind and then wrongly interpreted. Reality needs to be understood in different ways. Reality as in ultimate truth and reality as in conventional truth, conventional truth being that which appears to us and that is what created by an impure mind hence we have appearances of misery, misfortune, pain etc.

Actions which are happening in the space of emptiness have therefore the capability to leave their mark[potential] on the see of causes and conditions. The see of causes and conditions continues changing but then it becomes the right causes and conditions for a potential to ripen

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Day 2 vajrasattva retreat

23 November 2010 21:32

During the retreat we try to go through different delusions and how they make us do negative actions in our daily life. I think when a retreat is guided this give a nice structure. Other wise sometimes one might sit in a session with a meandering mind not knowing what to purify. Previous years I went through the downfalls that obstruct the six perfections. at day on we meditated on reliance on Dharma- inner experience of inner peace and the instructions leading to it we regreted our jelousy and actions that come out of jealousy. We have only an hour to each session which is not very long could do with another 10 min. Day 2 we determined to rely on Buddha , recognizing he is a reliable object due to his great compassion and effort leading to his complete purification of ignorance. We had few people in the first evening session that where not before and that I felt was not helpful. It is difficult enough to carry everybody on board let alone with people who have no background knowledge. Today in the last session I gave them more time to do the rounds for themeselves. Tomorrow morning will do the same We shall purify attachment which leads us to discontent and actions that abandon Dharma or at least damage our commitments. Need to emphasize the fact that the letters of the mantra are the actual holy beings. This is a bit tricky as I suggested for those who cannot or find it difficult to recite the sanskrit mantra to recite in english something like 'o guru vajrasattva please purify my negativity of [E.g. Anger and angry actions] need to think about this.

Also every day when visualizing rough guru Buddha vajrasattva I have introduced the mind of faith 1. First day Believing faith- believing the visualzied Buddha above our crown is the pure consciouness of all the enlightened beings manifesting as our guru manifesting as vajrasttva. 2. Second day added admiring faithadmiring the path guru Buddha vajrasttva followed with great compassion and effort. 3. Tomorrow will add wishing faith.

Explain that when we have the pause for mantra recitation what actually are we doing - Faith - Regret - Determination Focusing on the mantra at vajrasattva's heart remebering it is the nature of the Buddhas Reciting the mantra which means requesting purification as expressed in the words of the sadhana Visualization If this is all too much for what ever reason, just relax and meditate on any of the aspects of purification E.g. You could think about what is faith, who and what is the function of Buddha vajrasattva, focus on a visualiztion etc . In this way enhance elements of practice and over time they can all come together.

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Concentration retreat
04 January 2011 13:00

For a long time I had a difficulty in reconciling/understanding 1. A paragraph in clear light of bliss pg. 146 where the Panchen Lama states that mind is clarity , empty of form and cognizes. To me when the Panchen Lama states mind as that which is clarity, is empty of form seems to be like saying the same thing twice: empty of form and clarity, same thing, no?? And I know very well that he would not state it in this way without it being helpful to us to consider things like that. So I could not get the nuance 2. In Mahamudra Tantra pg. 101 where geshela says 'its nature is clarity. This means that it is empty , like clear space, and that it is formless continuum completely lacking shape and colour, which possesses the actual power to perceive, understand and remember objects.' here I could not understand why did Geshela say that clarity is both a. Empty like space b. Formless continuum completely lacking shape and colour c. Which possesses the actual power to perceive etc.

Reading back from clear light of bliss pg.146 Geshela explains as follows:' there are many ways in which things can be empty. For example , the sky is said to be empty because it lacks obstructive contact, that is, it is intangible and does not prevent movement; but the sky does not lack physical form because when we look at it we see the colour
blue. ....... In the case of mind, however , it is form that is negated

Returning back to Mahamudra Tantra where it says 'empty, like clear space' this sheds the light on the characteristic to be considered when trying to identify the mind. In the case of empty- an intangible characteristic So , when we come to identify they mind we are actually identifying clarity[only clarity can be mind and only mind can be clarity' When we say clarity we identify it as a. Intangible thing [just as space is intangible] b. Located at the area of our heart c. Which is a continuum d. And has no physical properties what so ever e. Has the power to perceive understand and remember objects.

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2nd teaching
20 March 2011 11:07

We want to improve ourself

Is there an indicator to our wish to improve ourselves?

There are so many views in this world on how to live life, we hear so many opinions and we create a mismash conglomeration of them all.

Strong opinions already formulated due to influence of other people that he may know or not

This indicates that people want to live a life that is rewarding Want to improve themselves

Why would a listener not be willing??

Willingness of the listener to view the world the way the speaker suggests.

If there is no willingness from the listeners side the speaker is powerless.

Not liking to challenge one's view

How long does it remain effective in producing its effect

If a view provides a lasting effect that does not turn out in the long run us as a problem then this view is superior to others is the because of the longevity of its impact.

Interesting thing is that all views appear to work to a certain degree

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Advice from Atisha's heart

20 March 2011 09:34

What is Atisha saying? Rely How ? By listening and understanding and practicing.
Listening and practicing what? The instruction of our spiritual guide. Why? Because this is the best recipe for a good happy life

Its it all about what is the person we want to be and making ourself become that person.

As oppose to what recipe? Ours which is a disaster

Wisdom Ours Others Enlightened beings wisdom Ordinary beings wisdom

It is important not to be confused about the buddhist message.

For a long time i thought the primordial level of the buddhist teachings is our basic wish to be happy and that buddhism is the right path to follow in order to fulfil this wish. But after a while when one contemplates many teachings we might forget that and get all confused in details.

2 Choices are like turning a corner taking you to you next moment.
1 3

Yet time and again we start things in

So what is important is that budhism does not deny existence. Existence is a given.

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Yet time and again we start things in the hope that

4
But what determins your choices? Your view of the world.

Existence is a given. Inherent to are existence is the presence of possibilities and thus we need to choose. We make choices all day long.

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2nd teaching con'd

20 March 2011 12:22

This comes due to having to break through invisible ties of previous bad mental habits When we read this text we should remember that a text can be read in different ways depending on wishes. There is a declared mission statement to buddhism which is We provide the method to fulfil your basic primordial wish

When investigating in order to practice things beyond our capacity we often can develop doubts which if not attended too will thwart our efforts to awakening.

There is a price to pay- the pain of change

Avoid places that disturb your mind and always remain where you virtues increase.

This is why we need

One way that is so helpful when reading this kind of verses is to make sure there is

What do you know as true

Is there a line that you will not cross as long as your life is not in danger or even if your life is in danger

So we have a safe anchoring point for when times are rough!

Why do we need a basis of agreement?

a basis of agreement

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2nd teaching continued

20 March 2011 13:05

By the time we are listening to these teachings we have already established that We are interested in a change We are willing to investigate as impartially as we can views that are not ours.

The essential point of relying on a spiritual teacher is to remember what they are about & remembering what we want Helping us attain Enlightenment or become awake

Ultimate truth is the realization of the nature of things. Once this has been realized you no longer out of touch with reality in general you will no longer make mistakes.

1- Teach correct teachings

To this aim they have to do

2-Show good example

3- Encourage us on our spiritual path

When they then offer us advise that is not in according with our normal way of looking at things we need to asses it in light of they 'job'

Buddha's teaching are all about correcting a profoundly subtle cognitive fault we all have in common

We always have the final say in our actions

Avoid places that disturb you mind

This verse can be understood

And always remain where you virtues increase

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Advice from Atisha's heart part 2

09 April 2011 22:32

Since there is never a time when worldly activities come to an end, limit your activities.

Until we have firmly established as our default view the complete supremacy of the spiritual out

Recap Broadly speaking we can speak about two views on life 1. The normal view 2. The Buddhist spiritual outlook We need to be clear in our mind about the difference between the two And quit simply choose which one we live our life from. This means that subsequently all our decisions and actions are informed by this views

The fact that the Buddhist spiritual life contains with in it great flexibility does not mean that we can continue with our normal ordinary life and feel that we are having a spiritual life. This is just merely from the mouth practice.

You should know that choosing the spiritual out look does not mean narrow view, on the contrary it is a very wide ranging view that entails or allows for a lot of flexibility, to be adapted to the individual's wishes and capacity.

We need to firmly establish this because other wise we will always be in half baked state. We will be wavering in our mind and we would not be able to do anything properly.

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1st teaching
09 April 2011 22:51

Why do we need to limit our activities? What do you want to achieve

This is in case we are interested in spiritual realizations.

If you want to achieve inner realizations you must limit things that disturb you.
We think when I am older, when I have more time, when I have finished this that or the other

So we should understand that there will never be a time when our activities will come to an end. And so we shall always be busy with things other than spiritual improvment. According to Buddhism, this will have a devastating effect on you in the future. Both in this and future lives. Since we like to think only short term we should simply look around us and we shall see people finding themselves in complex difficult situations. Accidents, complex personal affairs[business, marriages etc] illness and finally death.

These things are certain- everything else that you might be hoping for , is uncertain. And the only thing that really help us when the time comes is our ability to live in acceptence and peace with pain and difficulty.
This is why you practice spiritual paths. If you do not then it will be very painful. There for limit your activities.

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Advice part 3 relating to others the joyful way

18 April 2011 21:53

In the following verses there seems to be two themes, one about the transiency of life and the need to therefore develop spiritually. Two- the creation of a self reliant mind that has a good nature and as a result always relates to others in a pleasent and joyful manner. 2-Because we will eventually leave everything behind, there is no point in taking either of these unbalanced views of people.

1-Atisha advices us to have no hatred for our enemies, and no attachment for our friends.

Friends the things you desire give no more satisfaction than drinking sea water, therefore practise contentment

The theme is to develop a centred existence. A confident exsitence, one that does not need others for selfish reasons, and one that takes responsibility on everything that happens to us in our relationship with others. It is a very premptive - active - view on the world. We come to have no expectaton from others. Others become an object the basis of our loving experiences regardless what they do.

Avoid all haughty, conceited, proud mind and arrogant minds, and remain peaceful and subdued.

Avoid activities that are said to be meritorious but which in fact are an obstacle to Dharma.

Profit and respect are nooses of the Maras, so brush them aside like stones on the path.

Words of praise and fame serve only to beguile us, therefore blow them away as you would blow your nose.

Since future lives last for a very long time, gather up riches to provide for the future.

This is a big job because it goes agains our ordinary opinions - opinions which are innate and so are very difficult to challange as they seem to be the simple evident truth. And so our job is to challenge our self. Very big jobe

Since the happiness, pleasure, and friends you gather in this life last only for a moment, put them all behind you.

You will have to depart leaving everything behind, so do not be attached to anything. Have no hatred for enemies and no attachment for friends.

Generate compassion for lowly beings, and especially avoid despising or humiliating them.

3- Instead we can find peace and happiness from others by noticing and thinking about their good qualities, and by trying to emulate these. 5- If we are able to maintain this approach consistently, engaging with others only meaningfully and truthfully, we will eventually reach the stage at which we can be of benefit to others through our own example.

4-In this day course we will discuss some of the examples that Atisha gives which will help us to put this attitude into practice.

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Main theme for the day

15 May 2011 08:55
The title of the day is

Becoming a person that has joyful relationships with others because they have good stable mind that relies on itself. Liberating ourself from The craving/neediness/clinging to others The fear/anger/hate to others

Relating to others the joyful way

Relationship The way in which two or more people regard and behave towards each others

Transiency - session 1 Expectations - session 2 Regarding others - session 3 Behaving towards others - session 4

We know that one of the most difficult, problem giver aspect of our life is our relationship with people We have various relationship with people in which we are relating to others which means we function/act in a particular way
If checked carefully/honestly it will become evident that in truth we have much hesitations/insecurities when it comes to the way we are connected to others It is a love hate relationship We want to be loved by others We are afraid of being hurt by others

The whole section we are looking at has a combination of self control as means of not being needy or angry at others hence we start with contentment

So because we want to be loved/appreciated/respected/honoured by others we enter into a relationships with them And usually there comes a time in which this new promising relationship turns sour. Where does the problem lies? Often it feels as if the relationship turned sour because of the other person But in reality the real reason lies with in our self It begins with a mistaken conception that feels that we are independent of others We need to spend much time to acknowledge this clearly this is a view and for as long as we do not oppose it with the opposit understanding which is that we are very much connected with others we will not be able to make progress Since we feel so independent from others we feel as if it is the duty/job of the self to so we And be Caring for itself Attracting the good And so we begin to act in various ways Averting the bad

Friends the things you desire give no mor satisfaction than drinking sea water, therefore practice contentment. What is it that we desire?
In truth we desire peace Our mind is never peaceful and our mission is to quiet it down. This is not something that we need to be taught this comes automatically. What we do need to be taught is how to do it in the proper way. Here our default manner is expressed - we try to quiet our mind by obtaining the object that we desire. However we are told that these things are like sea water- event though you may obtain them they do not satisfy you. We need to wake up to this and once noticed we need to think 'hey i have been running after certain things all my life and even though I have them I still have that unquiet mind clearlyshowing that they bring no satisfaction' Where is satisfaction lies? With in a contented mind And the point is that we can have a contented mind by training the mind.

For the first session I shall take out the

Respect power and various enjoyment that we believe are provided by the senses This however is very primitive form of enjoyment which when examined actually bring

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1st session
14 May 2011 23:06

Meditate on transient

I am transient Others are transient

Since the happiness, pleasure, and friends you gather in this life last only for a moment, put them all behind you.

Since future lives last for a very long time, gather up riches to provide for the future.

You will have to depart leaving everything behind, so do not be attached to anything.

Our l i fe is i n the nature of tra nsient impermanent We a re just in transit, we s oon migrate to the next place of birth Li ke passing away from one day to a nother from one period i n our l ife to a nother from one partner to a nother from one dream to a nother

This explains the urgency of spiritual practice and what needs to be done to over come our hatred and attachment [and other delusions]

Words of praise and fame serve only to beguile us, therefore blow them away as you would blow your nose.

This puts our life and the importance of its experiences in perspective Realising the transiency of ourself and our world we shall realize the transiency of others and there world This opens the door for a very special mind of compassion- because we realize that there is a shared common denominator which demonstrates that we are not as separate as we might believe [ in reality of course there are many others such factors] This is the actual reason for why we do everything that we do Have no hatred for enemies and no attachment for friends.

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2nd session
15 May 2011 11:12

If we where asked what would we prefer We expect things to provide us with something In reality though this is never the case

Expectations A strong belief that something will happen or be the case

Is it possible that we do not know what we want? Do you know what you want? What we all want is to stop the disquiet and discomfort we all have in our heart This is most poingnient in our relationships with people Everybody /We want to be accepted by others, to be thought well of by others/ to be loved by others This is true even for the most hard hearted person Remember impermanence- no one stays hard hearted for ever. It takes It takes a lot of energy to remain hard hearted finally energy runs out and regret arises with mixed feeling of like hell. Expectations To be understood by others To be loved by others To be accepted by others To be appreciated by others To have always our way To be successful To have joy Our method of achieving the above Profit Respect Praise Fame Power And our expectations are that when we have the above points we shall be happy - we shall know no misery

We have so many worries Will i make a fool of m

And yet it does not happen So we need to listen to atisha when he says Friends the things you desire give no more satisfaction than drinking sea water, therefore practise contentment
And we find it very difficult so we need to realise how the 8wc are demons and

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3rd session
15 May 2011 13:14

Previous session we accepted that we want to 1- Fell secure inside ourself 2- Be loved/accepted by others And if to achieve these aims we rely upon profit, respect etc we shall be deceived, like drinking sea water. Instead if we brush away any need for them and come -by disciplining our mind- to be content peaceful and subdued through our own efforts we shall have the above aims achieved.

What will actually happen By contemplating time and again impermanence and the deceptive nature of the 8wc, our need for them [8wc] will diminish. This indicates that our attachment -the idea that these things make us happy- is reduced and because of this reduction our mind is less governed by the strength of our incorrect desires, we will be more controlled/peaceful subdued content and we shall have more ability to realize what is going on in our mind and in the minds of others. Because of this your aims will be clear to you and when people will be trying to use you for their own selfish aims it will be very evident to you Then we can start relating to others in a different way

We can start regarding others and behaving towards them in a completely different way, one that will increase our confidence because we will know that our conscious is clean and we will begin to have different plans with respect to others, instead of wanting to use them to our own selfish needs we shall realize that helping them is what we naturally want to do, if this sounds too much to hope for then it will definitely be the case that you will simply not want to hurt them
We can start seeing that we are surounded by lowly beings- beings with less fortune then ourself We do have enemies We do have friends We have jealousy to others good qualites and situations We look for faults in others and contemplate our own good qualities

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Advice from atisha's heart part 4

19 June 2011 01:35

karma

Cause and effect

Atisha is telling us what to do, and What not to do

actions

experiences

causes To the modern day person this might sound unacceptable- i will not be told what to do or not to do[is what we think] Especially because ot our mind there seems to be no real reason behind it.

effects

So we need a good reason to do or not Karma is the reasonKarma means various things Action=cause Potential left on the mind from the action; specifically our intention Experience=effect but generally it means action Specifically the intention that motivates any action.

Everybody know that what ever happens happens because of something else. What is the mission statement of Buddhism? To free us from pain The real problem we have is ignorance and familiarity with this ignorance. This ignorance is what builds our view of life which includes many wrong thoughts An indicator of this ignorance is to be found in where we put all our efforts/energy Another indicator is -most people do not believe that they can improve inner qualities or that it is important too.

These verses of atisha about karma from if you talk too much untill All happiness comes from the blessings of your spiritual guide.

Should be understood in a wider context of the buddhist world view.

And so buddhism finds that our pain comes from our actions Our intention leads to action leaves a potential leading to experiences in the future

1. 2. 3.

4.

So karma forces us to accept responsibility But we find this difficult for various reasons We alrady have a preconceived idea about what karma is and a cultural/social stance with regards to it, this prevents us from hearing exactly what buddha's meaning is. We do not like to admit that we have anything to do with our unpleasent experiences of life because it is easier to blame others then balming our self. We never think that we are doing anything wrong- even when we hurt others we think it is ok because they hurt me or they where about to hurt me or they hurt my friend or they helped someone who helped hurting me or my friend We have so much forgetfulness of things that we did in the past of this life and together with narrowness of view on previous lives we are always surprised that something bad is happening to us.

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2nd teaching
19 June 2011 04:59

When we meet them in the future the relationship between us will be obscured by these actions making it difficult for them to help us This will cause us to wonder away from enlightenment. Why? karma Beware offending a holy being is worse than dying therefore Be honest and straightforward.

No objective reality The person we see as not a holy being is not really not a holy being When we understand everything to be dream like by nature We understand that our experiences come from our mind not from outside

A holy being is any one with actual realizations Difficult to know who has or not Need to stay with someone for a long time Listen Practice Check results If throughout the examination period one is being dishonest and not straightforward then one can receive less help. That will be a waist of a rare opportunity. We are yet to fully appreciate our great good fortune!!!we treat this gold like opportunity in a very worldly manner.

We need to remember that the projected is not the truth but an aspect of the projector. And do not get caught in what it tells us

Torment Fear Crowed

Ease Courage spacious

Heaviness Lightness etc All our mental experiences coming form with in not from with out

All the happiness comes from the blessings of your spiritual guide Therefore always repay his kindness

What is his kindness+++ A person is kind when they are friendly generous and considerate with us, when they have love towards us and mean us well. To the untrained mind and to a heavily obscured mind this is not easy to realize that such a person exist. By listening to the spiritual guide's teachings and putting them into practice especially those on karma and emptiness we shall come to a point when we realize that there is not one place in our life that our spiritual guide has not taken care of. What are his kindnesses: 1. Not fearful of telling us what is unpopular 2. Navigating us at all time even when we are dishonest 3. Seeing us as pure being
Thus because he attained realizations and he knows they are possible for us He relates to our purity and is not offended by our behaviour However it is our lack of trust that he does that which prevents the development of dharma in our mind! As soon as we have that trust we will be able to develop states of mind in which we feel as if he is theer with us guiding us protecting us and being a perfect object of imitation. This will feel us with a special energy this energy is blessings. With these we shall be able to quickly abandon our negative states of mind stop negative actions develop concentration and attain unparalled states of mind.

Retreats + Day courses Page 22