What makes actions virtuous or non-virtuous - Ven. Robina Courtin [Apr 2, 2026]

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:01]Okay.

[00:00:04]All right, everybody. Happy to see you all.

[00:00:12]Okay.

[00:00:14]All right.

[00:00:17]Excuse me. Hi.

[00:00:20]So, Sheila, what's what's the plan?

[00:00:23]>> So, tonight's topic is what makes action virtuous and non virtuous.

[00:00:34]We might change that to what is a valid what is a valid action or a valid thought and what is not. That makes it broader and that will incorporate that and that's really the basis of all the Buddhist approach to life. So we'll make it that. Okay.

[00:00:47]>> Yeah.

[00:00:48]>> Good.

[00:00:49]So people, let's think. We're going to sit here for a little bit.

[00:00:56]Talk about Buddha's view of this person called Buddha. This person called whatever his name. What is wonder his mother's mother called him? I have no idea what Buddha's name was. What's his name? What did his mother call him?

[00:01:08]What was he born as?

[00:01:09]>> Sedartha.

[00:01:10]>> Who?

[00:01:10]>> Sedartha.

[00:01:11]>> Sedartha. Oh, that's right. Was his name? His mother gave him that. Was daddy maybe. Was it? Sure.

[00:01:16]>> Anyway, this nice person called Sedartha.

[00:01:21]Great Shaka, the Shaka family anyway, the great Shaka, Shaka, great Shaka, this family, this person, his ideas, his his own direct experience about how things exist, about what is real and what is not. That's what we're going to discuss, what is real and what is not. And why that's valid is because his view is, which is a very surprise on this planet.

[00:01:43]His view, his own direct experiential finding is that the extent to which we suffer is the extent to which we're not in touch with reality. That's it. That's a surprise. That's very surprising to us.

[00:02:01]And of course, what happiness is is the result of being in touch with reality.

[00:02:08]So we're going to discuss that.

[00:02:12]If there's anything useful in that, take it on board and try to apply it.

[00:02:17]So we'll sing our little prayer. The second, so the first two lines are expressing reiterating our reliance on the Buddhist teachings. The second two lines are expressing this idea that we're going to listen to these ideas and um with the wish to develop ourselves, get in touch with reality, thus stop suffering.

[00:02:36]So they can help others do the same.

[00:02:49]Fore! Foreign! Foreign!

[00:03:12]so the entrance into Buddhism usually is in terms of not reality and not reality.

[00:03:15]It sounds a bit abstract is happiness and suffering. [snorts] Happiness and suffering.

[00:03:21]Buddhist basically says he's found a method to stop suffering.

[00:03:25]Which means if you flip it over, a method to get happy. same meaning.

[00:03:31]So I mean the basis of this he doesn't talk about it too much at the beginning when you look at the four noble truths there's no real discussion well there is eventually but just saying it's upfront we got to understand his view about what the mind is because it all comes down to that and this is where the reality bit comes in so Buddha's view of the minds it's not physical not the handiwork of a creator not the handiwork of mother and father not even the not even the function of something physical not coming from nothing but there's continuity of mental moments in the process of cause and effect effectively I mean say it simply you know a continuity of mental moments what he says what he's found to be true and I mean it's not revelation it's not a dream he had it's not a vision he's not speculating he doesn't make it up he's directly seen this himself and he's simply presenting his findings to us it's up to us whether we want to follow them or not by looking into them and using them ourselves and coming to the same conclusions that's the approach so we're taking this is our hypothesis here that that our mind and it and so what so if if you look at everything the way Buddha talks about about reality that you know you first have to he says that based on in the mind there are in the mind there are states of mind within the mental consciousness within the mental consciousness There are states of mind that aren't valid. Now, that sounds like a moralistic issue, like you're a naughty person. Nothing to do with that. Nothing to do with that. You know, the mind, if if you're trying to investigate what the mind is, when you have to first establish what it is, you have to first establish a definition.

[00:05:20]We're trying to communicate, we have to know what we're talking about. We have to agree, you know. So things have a conventional conventional existence and then an ultimate a conventional existence and then they've all got this ultimate character.

[00:05:34]The con you have to to establish the conventional you want to agree on the word then you have to define it then you then you prove that it fits the definition and then we can shake hands and agree and we can then we can discuss. So what's a what's that mommy?

[00:05:46]That's called a cup darling. What is it?

[00:05:48]And she'll give me the definition. So the two parts of the definition the first part is it's conventional characteristics. It's clay to say there's a clay clay.

[00:06:10]Okay, I hear.

[00:06:15]>> Yes, I know. um waiting on I've I've contacted the tech people in the ga >> volume. We need more volume.

[00:06:29]>> We've got you back. You're back with >> talking.

[00:06:32]>> Patty is >> Who's that voice?

[00:06:35]>> Patty.

[00:06:35]>> Oh, you're saying that you can't hear Patty. Is that right? You can hear now.

[00:06:39]>> We can hear now. We're good.

[00:06:41]>> Okay. Very good. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:06:42]Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:06:45]So she'll say the name but it's a cup.

[00:06:48]Then she then she will say it's a fatter bottom clay container. That's the first part conventional characteristics. But it doesn't tell you yet what it is. And that's the crucial piece that tells you what its meaning. It's really important.

[00:06:57]What's its meaning? What's its job? What is it? But what is it? She say it holds my tea. Well, you don't believe her. You have to she has to prove it. So she gets her tea and she pours and you will see it fits the definition.

[00:07:12]And there's even more than that she has to do to check. You know, if you within the world that we live in, she has to check up. There's no other valid cognition that contradicts that. Once you've established this, you show shake hands, tick the boxes, and now we all agree. That's what by convention, that's what conventional reality means. By agreement, by convention. And straight away, that's implying emptiness. There's nothing set in stone. It's agreement.

[00:07:34]It's agreement. You know, it's really crucial this point.

[00:07:38]It's agreement. We agree. It's called a cup. We agree it holds tea.

[00:07:42]That's it. So now we know what it is conventionally.

[00:07:45]Conventionally.

[00:07:49]So now what's the mind? Well, the mind is that which the first part is telling you it's conventional characteristics.

[00:07:54]And the Buddhist perspective that they say it's that which is clear which doesn't mean oh it's clear meaning clarity of you know thinking. It's clear in so far as it's not physical.

[00:08:04]That's how they say. What's but what does it do? What's its job? What's its meaning? What is it? What's its function? It cognizes or the verb to be aware or the verb to know. These are synonyms. That's the job of the mind. So then the next question, well, thanks Bord. But know what, mate.

[00:08:24]Cognize what? And he'll say, you know what? That which is real.

[00:08:29]That which is that that which exists.

[00:08:34]That's what he'd say.

[00:08:38]So the mind is to cognize things. So he's saying right now within the mind, within the mental consciousness, within the mental consciousness. Okay, first of all, we've got sensory consciousness and mental consciousness. This this is a hugely important thing to get clear.

[00:08:54]This is massive actually.

[00:08:57]If we get this these two clear already, we got we got we can understand our lives and why we make such a mess. The sensory consciousness which is the gross level and and that part of our mind which is not physical then as we can see eye consciousness for example [clears throat] isn't your eyeball your eyeball doesn't see things your eyeball is physical this is a Buddhist view it's your eye consciousness that part of your mind that specifically functions through the medium of the eyeball to cognize so what does it cognize well the senses are profoundly limited in their capacity for cognition eye consciousness cognizes merely two things shape and color Sound cognizes mere sound, taste. They're limited, profoundly limited. But as says, we make the body the boss. We give tremendous power to our senses. Huge power that they don't possess. So no wonder we lead ourselves up garden paths. You know, it's always the example I use when I say there is a pretty cup. We assume because I'm looking there that my eyes are seeing a pretty cup. Not possible.

[00:10:03]My eye conscious can only cognize shape and color. And then what happens quicker than Google? My mental consciousness is cogni is accessed. My mental consciousness lame in his mahammudra book when he talks about emptiness and the mind the nature of mind the function of mind and I'll quote him later. He says the mind when you be even begin with single point of concentration to get some focus beyond the gross and level beyond the sensory beyond the gross and level of conceptuality. He says the mind is this incredibly brilliant. This is back in the 70s. He said this more brilliant than any computer. He says your mind is as vast your experience as vast and radiant as if you could count every atom in the universe. This is inconceivable to us.

[00:10:44]There's no view in neuroscience. There's no view in the religions. I mean you can hear it what they talk about. You know this is these genius Hindus in came up with this. They invented they they discovered the mind.

[00:10:57]We don't know that in the west. We're so arrogant. you know, ingenious, brilliant, brilliant beings. They discovered the more subtle levels of mind and exactly what it is, you know, and then Buddha took that with him and went in his own direction.

[00:11:13]So this mind of ours, so its job is to cognize. So right now it's leading us up garden paths because it misconceives things. So okay, you got the sensory consciousness and then you have the mental. So what happens in the mental quicker than Google my mental consciousness which is as says is where the workshop is that accesses all the thousands of thoughts and feelings and memories because everything we've ever seen heard tasted touched and smelt since beginningless time is stored in our mind. This is mindboggling.

[00:11:41]Everything is stored there. Nothing goes astray. Nothing disappears in one ear and out the other. At a gross level we don't remember 90 99% of it but it's all left is kept in the mind which is why we can have clairvoyance.

[00:11:53]So even to the degree that I have any memories in my mind, I see that shape and color and I will tell you I see a pretty cup. My eye consciousness sees shape and color and that's it. And then the next millisecond up come my thoughts. What a pretty cup. That's a concept. That's the mental consciousness. Mental consciousness.

[00:12:08]That's what the workshop is.

[00:12:10]And this is how we lead our lives. You the moment we wake up in the morning, the senses are the doorway to reality, aren't they? smelling, tasting, hearing, touching and you know whatever the fifth one seeing. So immediately we wake up what's what's out there are the bunch of sense basically a bunch of sense five five sense objects with no meaning. Then look what happens. Oh that delicious coffee. Oh that ugly sound outside. Stub your toe. Oh that pain in my knee you know pain in my toe. the smell. Oh, you farted again. You know, straight away the senses bombard. We're bombarded by the senses and then we instantly are interpreting them.

[00:12:55]We don't and this is the tragedy. This is what Buddha is telling us.

[00:12:58]We we we we don't think we're interpreting when that delicious coffee smell. We don't think we're interpreting it as delicious. We think it is in itself delicious. Like as if you put a spoonful of delicious in the pot along with the coffee. Now I'm this innocent victim observing this delicious coffee.

[00:13:14]That's the schizophrenic way we lead our lives now.

[00:13:18]And that's the job of the mind. It's misconceiving reality. It's misconceiving. We would never think that for a second.

[00:13:26]So I say I see a pretty cup. It's total nonsense. It's my own. It's my own view.

[00:13:33]Objectively you could even argue among artists. They could might even it might win the pretty cup contest. That's possibility. according to a series of laws about what pretty is defined as you could argue that you know conventionally but again it's convention we don't think that so first of all we make a mistake of thinking our senses see a pretty cup our senses here you know see a divine handsome person our senses taste divine cake our ear our senses hear divine music not true this is very this is very very humbling because what happens this is I mental consciousness depends on what's implied, what's what's stored there as your memories. They are a bunch of concepts, a bunch of viewpoints, a bunch of opinions and that's your mental consciousness.

[00:14:20]Now within the mental consciousness, there are two ways of cognizing the grosser level and that's the only level we function at which is conceptuality and that surprisingly to us we're going to discuss it refers to our emotions as well or conceptuality. conceptuality the grossest of the gross level of our mental consciousness. So when you got single point of concentration when you subdue the grosser level completely literally subdue the grosser level and the sensory level you then can access this subtler level of your mind that we don't even posit as existing in any neuroscience in other religions they do not discuss it it's a fact check it not being rude these Hindus these genius Indians discovered it and it's the absolute basis of all Buddhist teachings you know this subtle level of mind and then developing the noncon conceptual level of your cog. When you have direct, they call that direct cognition direct then then you begin to have real valid cognition.

[00:15:19]That's just abstract to us. We can't even can't even kind of conceptualize what even that means. We'd have no equivalent in our experiences or in our psychological models. And the brain is not capable because the brain is so gross. The brain can only grow function at the gross level of conceptuality, you know.

[00:15:36]So this reality then Buddhist deal about cognizing that which is real, that which is true.

[00:15:43]And right now he says in the mental conscious we're living in La La Land.

[00:15:48]So within then the mental conscious you can divide all the states of mind or the there are tr we know are trillions of states of mind that you divide all of them really into two categories. one one way of looking at one way of looking is into those that are valid that are valid cognitions and those that are not. So here it's not a moralistic issue. A valid cognition is a thought that's in sync with the thing that it's referring to. So if you have the conventional the conventional discussion about mathematics and that's a convention too. If you say 1 plus 1 is two, you you can't find the absolute 1 plus 1 is two. There's no such thing as absolute 1 plus 1 is two. It's a it's it's we made this up. We've made it up.

[00:16:31]We've we've created this idea of numbers and then but then but there's a valid validity there. So when we all know about those numbers and I say to you 1 plus 1 is three. That's not a valid cognition. It's very simple. It's not moralistic. It's a fact because according to mathematical words 1 plus 1 is two.

[00:16:50]We all agree the color red refers to that one. We all agree that this this stuff is called clay. We all agree that that stuff is called silk. We all agree that this is called computer. They are all conventional. There's no absolute computer. We could have called it a Lula. We come up with the word computer instead. They are still conventional, but they're still valid, but they're conventional. Valid conventional reality. Nothing wrong with that. You got to start with that.

[00:17:19]And then you got the other cognitions that are not valid, which means that they're not they're not in sync with reality. Even conventional reality. So 1 plus 1 is three is not a valid cognition. That is pink. You can decide your own you can decide. You can decide to call this an uh you can no one stopping you. And you can have your own dictionary and you call that tanuha. But you'll be up a creek without a pedal when you say pass me the uh and no one knows what you're bloody talking about.

[00:17:46]So you might as well use the same language as everybody else. It's just convention. It's an absolute uh or computer. It's a name we give to the thing. Whatever the definition of a computer is. This is conventional reality. But look at the world. We're not even in touch with conventional reality.

[00:18:05]So when it comes to the so then a valid cognition. So then when it comes to the emotional mental states, this is where the troubles are.

[00:18:15]So there are the neurotic ones that are not valid cognitions like anger and there's a valid one that is valid. There still also still also a con concept starts as a concept is called love.

[00:18:27]That's a valid cognition. Now that's a surprise. It's not again not a moralistic issue. Anger is a concept starts off as a concept that exaggerates the ugliness of something.

[00:18:39]There's no basis in reality. And so one of the reality we're talking about here is conventional reality of dependent arising.

[00:18:47]That's why they're not valid. That's why they're called afflictions because they call they cause serious problems and they cause suffering.

[00:18:55]Love why is love a valid cognition because it's based on dependent arising.

[00:18:59]Love is may you be happy. You see the person you delight in their happiness.

[00:19:03]So there's a sense of you kind of merging with them temporarily. if you like a sense of connectedness that's in the simplest sense it's based on dependent arising but anger is completely coming from I from an offended sense of I so it makes up its own story it own panic attack story of ugly person how dare you do that to me that's completely separate there's no there's no validity in that in the in the not in the moralistic sense but in the literal dependularizing sense there's a vivid sense of separate unindependent me and real mean ugly you way over there having no relationship cuz based in reality emptiness but independent arising reality conventional reality.

[00:19:53]So you have all the theories, you know, the musical theory, mathematical theory, cooking theory. You're going to say there's all these valid cognitions and invalid cognitions there. They're easy.

[00:20:01]There's no emotion involved. But when it comes to the afflictions, they are also valid and invalid cognitions. And that's a big surprise to us. So why there's so much feeling in the body is because our mind and our body are connected certainly in the budana system and because of habit for countless lifetimes. We are programmed with attachment and anger. Totally programmed. So then the huge compulsion immediate instantaneous you run to it. You all your mind is in this groove that you've dug for countless lifetimes. So it just runs in that groove you know and you do it automatically. It sounds like a joke to say attachment and anger are cogni are conceptual but they are rooted in being concepts.

[00:20:50]That's why you got to have concentration to dig deep down into your mind to unpack and unravel and go beyond the emotional component to get to the con the concept. So if you want to give a voice to attachment it's saying you know that when it see when you see the chocolate cake so when through the lenses of your eyes through the sorry through your eye conscious you see shape brown triangle and you smell you know the two senses are involved and you want this one the taste you're waiting for get into the mouth isn't it you're not happy just to look at it you're not happy just to smell it you know touching it won't help a bit messy isn't it but the Eye conscious is involved uh smell is involved they're just merely sensory no mistake they're merely sensory no mistake but they they then what happens is quicker than Google the mental conscious is accessed because of attachment in the mind and attachment is coming from this habit of of of never satisfied this emotional hunger totally programmed that's the that's the expression of this attachment that then what its main job is in this case it causes the brown triangle out there which you validly cognize as a chocolate cake. That's a valid cognition. It is a chocolate cake.

[00:22:07]Valid.

[00:22:08]We've all called it a chocolate cake.

[00:22:11]But what happens is the attachment completely pervades the mind overexag and and coming from emotional hunger. We don't notice that. and then projects all this garbage and nonsense onto that trick cake and causes it to appear as says back in the mirror of our mind which is polluted by attachment. The mirror of our mind is polluted by attachment. It appears to us as totally divine as and and completely exaggerates its deliciousness exaggerates its um and its power to give me happy feelings.

[00:22:49]We understand that. We all recognize that. So that's a So the emotion is there. The feeling of lacking is there.

[00:22:56]That's valid that you feel it. But we don't realize that it's rooted in a lie.

[00:23:03]We don't realize that. And and and only when we dig deep down will we begin to see that. This completely Buddhist view.

[00:23:10]It's not yung. It's not Freud.

[00:23:13]So it's not a val attachment is not a valid concept. is not a valid cognition.

[00:23:19]It it misre it causes like it's like you're color blind. It's like your eyes are wrong and a pink thing appears blue to you.

[00:23:30]There's a mistake there, you know. So there's a mistake in the mental consciousness. And this is how Buddha has located the causes of our suffering, these misconceptions, the emotional afflictions. So of course there's other ones like the more the what we'd call the philosophical views.

[00:23:47]He would say the view the viewpoint that there is a creator. He says that's a misconception. He's not being rude. He will tell you he has found from his own direct experience that's a misconception having the Hindus talk about a permanent eye. He says that's a misconception.

[00:24:04]There's all levels and levels of misconceptions. all levels and levels of val of of invalid cognitions.

[00:24:12]That's how he talks. And these are why we suffer. And the simplest reason is not because it's a moralistic issue. You got to agree with him because it's not like that. It's like if you say 1 plus 1 is three, you are in trouble. You're going to suffer because when you go thinking you're going to get three apples, when you say you want two, you know, you think two means three, you'll be only disappointed when you only get two. That's why we suffer. There's a disconnect between what's in our mind and even and because of habit for countless lives that causes the thing to appear that way. It's like you've got a $50 note and but it you've so believed for so long that it's 500. It appears with two zeros. You see two zeros. So you build up this massive expectation, this massive craving and expectation to get $500 worth. What do you think the the result is? Bitter disappointment. So the more the fantasy, the more the lie, the more the disappointment. That's samsara we've been building up for countless lifetimes. Buddha says that's why attachment is the cause of suffering. Effectively in the for noble gurus the Buddha says that attachment is the main cause of suffering. That's why it's not moralistic. Have as much sex as you like. If you've got no attachment, who cares much cake as you want? Nothing to do with attachment. Nothing to do with giving things up cuz you're a naughty girl. Attachment causes us to it causes us it causes the objects out there to be to appear wrongly to us. That's the cause of all suffering. That's samsara.

[00:25:46]So the first level is get things right conventionally. Understand conventionally attachment is a conventional reality is opposite to even a conventional reality that the cake does not but it's rooted in the root delusion. So you got the three poisons, right? This cute phrase Buddha has.

[00:26:02]That's so silly. The three poisons. God, God's sake. You know, the root one is ignorance. Maria, there's levels of marria. The root one is the the ignorance within our mind deep in the bones of our being. The one that underpins all the other nonsense. It's most subtle and most hard to identify.

[00:26:24]that root ignorance about self and everything else in the universe, the mistake it makes is way more subtle. So the the attachment for the cake exaggerates the deliciousness.

[00:26:38]The ignorance underpinning the attachment is there. It's just it's there can't not be because attachment is a function of the of the root delusion.

[00:26:47]That's more subtle. This ignorance matria unawareness ignorance misrepresents the very onlogical status itself exaggerates the very status itself of delicious cake that's all it comes along with attachment the ugly person your boyfriend who cheats on you appears you think their name you see their face they appear so ugly the pain is unbearable the pain is real but it's coming from this misconception So that the ugly the anger exaggerates this ugliness and then the ignorance underneath the anger causes the ugly boyfriend who's the cause of all my suffering to appear absolute utter in and of itself intrinsic out there having zero to do with my mind.

[00:27:40]That's that's this what loving is would say the schizophrenic dualistic view that comes the delusions all have the character of the virtues even conventionally have a connectedness there's a connective so they are they're valid to some degree so I can say I I you know when I say I hate you that anger is coming from in here totally nightmarish isn't it that causes that causes you to appear so ugly that caus causes you to appear the cause of all my suffering which I totally believe comes from you and I'm an innocent victim. I did nothing to deserve it.

[00:28:16]This is absolutely clear. And then when I say I love you, love is a valid one.

[00:28:22]Love, proper love, not pretend love mixed with attachment. That's that's that's spacious, not painful, very comfortable, and it's connected to you.

[00:28:32]There's a joy in it. It's got a flavor of pleasure, of joy.

[00:28:37]That's a valid cognition because there's a sense of connectedness with you. But still, until you realize emptiness, there's still the view that I have I have compassion for self-existent you. I self-existent. I have self-existent compassion for self-existent you. There's still a mistake there, but at least it's on the right in the right direction to becoming ultimately valid. It's one step at a time. That's why the first step is remove the the branch illusions. at least get things let's at least get things you know um conventionally valid.

[00:29:11]And so the lamb rim is this brilliant presentation.

[00:29:15]The way the Tibetans have structured the it's all Buddhist teachings but have structured and packaged Buddhist teachings. They're all in this gradual order. The very first level is providing the view essentially providing the view of cause and effect that argues with the view there's no cause and effect that argues with the concept of a creator.

[00:29:32]That's an invalid concept. So you learn about karma. That's conventionally valid. Buddha says that's reality.

[00:29:37]Conventional reality. He says then you go to the mind in the middle scope and he says the mind is not the brain. So that's a that's another invalid cognition. The mind does not come from a creator. That's an invalid cognition.

[00:29:48]There's such thing as a little that's the ultimate one. But coming there going to that one. There's no such thing as a separate self in there. They are invalid cognitions. The way the mind is is not physical. You got the delusions. You got the virtues. That's valid cognition.

[00:30:01]That's a valid cognition. Okay. Don't believe it. Buddh have to prove what Buddha is saying is true. Because if it is valid, you have to prove it.

[00:30:08]You got to prove it's true.

[00:30:10]You got to prove it's true. You can't just believe him. That's no hope. You learn one plus one is two. You don't just swallow it whole. You got to prove it. And if it's valid, you can prove it.

[00:30:21]Whatever is true, Buddha says you can prove it. Therefore, you can. That's why you become Buddha. That's what he's saying. That's what a valid cognition is. It's able. It's not just belief.

[00:30:30]That's the difference with the Christian one. You got to believe God. You can't prove it. You can't say God is right.

[00:30:35]You can't say you can prove that means you're God as well. You can't say that.

[00:30:38]But Buddha says you can prove and he says here's my findings. This is my findings. It's up to you to prove it.

[00:30:44]That's what that's what he's saying we can do. So whatever exists, he says can be cognized by mind. By definition, that which is is existing is that which can be cognized by mind. When you study Buddhist philosophy, you study various terms. Phenomenon, object, object of knowledge, existent, established base.

[00:31:02]Five synonyms for that which exists.

[00:31:07]That which exists.

[00:31:11]The definition of an existent is that which can be cognized by mind. That's outrageous. That's incredible. It's aatic for the Buddha that that which exists is that which can be cognized by mind. I mean, wow. And to do with belief, nothing to do with creator.

[00:31:32]It's reality. Buddha is your best damn scientist on the planet. And the mind is the main player. That's the biggest shock.

[00:31:41]The mind has the power to cognize that which exist. And that's finally what Buddha is. So you start with getting things conventionally correct. Understanding cause and effect, understanding the mind is not physical, understanding the mind is yours. All of these incredible conventional reality already you're getting happier and happier as you go along. Understanding the mind, what delusions are, what the virtues are. You keep getting happier and happier because happiness is the result of being in touch with reality and suffering is a result of being not in touch with reality. That's not the way we think in the west. You could have the best scientist on the planet knows more than anybody else about physics. say we but we would never say that causes happiness. They still go home and beat up their husband and children. This is intellectual rubbish. It's intellectual good enough. But the reality we're discussing, the wisdom we're discussing here is totally totally grounded in in happiness and suffering. Delusions cause suffering. Valid cognitions and virtues cause happiness. That's it. This is reality, not a belief. That's what his deal is. It's shocking. It's amazing.

[00:32:55]So you keep getting more conventional real. Now you go to the next you go to the compassion wing and now you get body cha. This is outrageous you know unbelievable empathy because you've subdued your own crazy mind to some degree and now you see others and you empathize tremendously with their suffering. All levels of suffering with the hammers, the murderers, the pedophiles, the rapists.

[00:33:15]You empathize because you realize that they are causing them self-suffering like you are.

[00:33:21]You have incredible empathy and this gets bigger and more powerful and more powerful. That's conventional reality as well. What a conventional reality.

[00:33:30]Now you're ready for ultimate reality.

[00:33:33]At the end of the six perfection is right at the end of the path. You your mind is ready. You're in touch with conventional reality. You've developed incredible bliss and happiness like you can't imagine even now still. But you haven't got to emptiness yet. That's what you have to get to the final one because that that happiness doesn't last. Even bodhitta can stop. You can even lose body chitta. You can lose conventional reality. You can't lose emptiness. So now we're ready for emptiness at the end of the path, you know. And you're using conventional truth as your basis to argue in order to rip the from the mind the root delusion, the root lie, the root misconception, the marika, ignorance, ego grasping that misrepresents everything finally as being intrinsic.

[00:34:21]That's the final job.

[00:34:26]So from the perspective of the title of the talk, a virtuous state of mind is a valid cognition. A non virtuous one isn't.

[00:34:34]In the same way that 1 plus 1 is three is not a valid cognition. Anger is not a valid cognition. Same way misrepresents conventionally how things exist. You know conventionally is cause and effect.

[00:34:45]dependent arising dimension conventional dependent rising conventional by agreement.

[00:34:58]So this so this whole starting point for the Buddha's entire presentation of the universe is what exists and what does not these five synonyms that which the mind can cognize that which is a valid cognition the mind's the mind that has the power to do that pretty tasty stuff I tell you and this is the method for getting happy this is the method for getting happy big surprise to Any questions about someone online?

[00:35:42]Go Eileen, darling. Talk to me.

[00:35:47]I if if we're not experiencing living in emptiness yet, so we're in conventional reality.

[00:35:54]>> Well, clearly I mean, >> oh, >> sorry.

[00:35:57]>> When we're in conventional reality, >> Yeah. Right.

[00:36:00]>> If I look at a cup and I'm going to have an opinion about it, it's either pretty or it's not, or it brings up feelings or a memory. That's all my mental my karmic imprints that have nothing to do with the cup. No, wait a minute. So, what's the question?

[00:36:16]>> Well, the question is if I didn't have all of these invalid perceptions based on >> No one's saying no, no, wait a minute.

[00:36:24]We're not necessarily saying they're invalid just because you have an opinion. Some opinions are valid and some are not. So, don't throw the baby up with bath water.

[00:36:35]>> Okay? As long as you I mean, you can say it's a pretty cup as long as you know it's your opinion, but it can still be valid. It can still be, you know, you can have an agreement. Six, if you can agree it's pretty cup, then good enough.

[00:36:46]But the seven, I mean, so as long as you know it's conventional, that's okay. But I mean, if you see it's pretty from its own side and it's pretty because I say so and you believe it's pretty and you believe the pretti's in the cup, that's where the problem is.

[00:36:57]>> I see. I see.

[00:36:58]>> See what I'm saying? You can say you're still allowed to say pretty and ugly.

[00:37:01]But no, it's just an opinion based on your own delusions. Yes, indeed. But there's nothing coming from the side of the thing.

[00:37:08]But even still, I mean, 1 plus 1 is two is pretty straightforward. We can't say oh you really can believe one plus you could argue that one you could decide like I said before with the computer you can decide that according to you 1 plus 1 is three you could decide that no one says you can't but it just won't help you because no one else agrees you'll be in trouble so conventional is very spacey but it's very it has to be very accurate you that's what conventional means by agreement >> so dependent arising I mean the way Buddhism talk I mean really accurately way he talks about conventional reality is what we've describing. You say there is it is it's a cup. You define it. You label it. You agree upon it. That's conventional reality. Nothing wrong with that. And you can even argue yes it is pretty. So you you and your husband decide to buy a cup. You can argue that conventionally you both agree it's pretty good enough but it's kind of spacious. You know and that's the this is the point now. This is why dependent arising is the basis for ultimate reality is you now because what happens is we don't realize that say you and your hubby decide there's a pretty cup.

[00:38:10]So what you're doing what you don't realize is underneath that ego the ignorance is causing is exaggerating the pretty cupenness and see it as you see it as inherently pretty and that's what we have to use as have to look in look for the Buddha is saying there is no inherently pretty cup there and that's what we have to search for. He says if you think there's an inherently pretty cup there which we do we don't realize we think it but we do then you have to search for it. That's do all that's where you have to do all the analysis. What is what is pretty?

[00:38:43]What is no the analysis of first of all where is the pretty cup? Is it are there a causes? Then you have to look for the parts. Where's the pretty cup in the parts? And you have to unpack it like we do with the self. That's the analysis we have to do to prove that on the one hand conventional pretty cup but there's not an atom of ultimate pretty cup and they don't contradict each other. That's the two truths. Right.

[00:39:09]You understand me?

[00:39:10]>> Yes.

[00:39:12]>> C, but no, it's it is a view. You know, it's your view and it's very it's very light and and that means you can and you know, someone else can say it's an ugly cup and you realize it's just, you know, it's a viewpoint. It's just >> as long as we know that it's perfectly fine. I mean, you know, you can when you taste that cake and it'll trigger very delicious pleasure in your mind. That that's perfectly reasonable. We have to understand it. That's all. But the trouble is when we see things now as pretty cup, ugly person, we think it's inherent. That's the problem. That's the problem. We think it's coming nothing to do with our mind. We think it is that way. We think prettiness is in the cup along with the clay, you know, and that's the ignorance, the root one that makes the mistake and that's causes all the problems.

[00:39:58]>> I mean, a conventional mistake would be to call it a knife. You're in double. If you say there's a knife, >> you're in trouble. It doesn't fit the definition of a knife. That's extra bad.

[00:40:08]That's extra extra wrong view. At least you got the valid cognition. It's a cup.

[00:40:12]You're on the right track.

[00:40:15]Dis.

[00:40:16]>> Yeah. Thank you. Yes. Thank you.

[00:40:19]>> Someone else there Tracy on. So let's look at how we bring the two truths together in our investigation of where is the inherently pretty cup because what we don't realize as Buddha is saying we don't realize that this root delusion mika ignorance as we say there is a pretty cup we don't realize that the ignorance is the root delusion is comp is causing causing the pretty cup to appear out there in itself from its own side established in its own nature intrinsically inherently over there in the cup having and this is the point generally speaking not dependent not dependent on causes not dependent on parts and crucially not dependent on the mind cognizing it.

[00:41:26]That's the final one. So there is three mistakes. I mean there are thousands of ways in which things exist interdependently.

[00:41:34]Up and down. There's a perfect example of how up. You cannot have up without depending upon down. You cannot have big without depending on small or long and short. There's a whole pair. There's various ways they describe how we think how things exist interdependently. Cause and effect, for example, is a perfect example of dependent arising. If there's something that exists, it's the result of causes. And that's an argument that's seek Buddha takes three main levels of dependent arising. There are thousands of examples of it, but three particular levels of dependent arising to argue with the prevailing views, you know, which is where he came out of the Hindu views. He came out of that and went in his own direction. So there's one the very first one is an argument with the that there is an atman a self an I and indeed God that is as completely inherent is not caused by anything is not existing from it is completely existing from its own side that's the most obvious he says no nothing can be this way everything impermanent is a is dependent on causes so of course the eye is a brilliant example here right now look how we think of Why? In the modern world, having a materialist world. I am this innocent victim who didn't ask to get born. We believe that is true. I mean, just being a materialist means you believe it is true. But I didn't ask to get born. It's not my fault that my mother did it, my father did it, someone else did it, and I'm this innocent victim of somebody else's handiwork. That's how we feel. We believe that is a truth. We actually believe that I'm inherent. There's an innocent innocent victim here that is not the product of causes having anything to do with me. Karma is an incredible example of that one to counteract that one already to loosen the grip of ego grasping. Now the next one we need to use in our meditation on looking for the eye looking for the inherent cup pretty that this the ignorance now makes a subtle mistake of [snorts] positing believing believing that in here in here somewhere among all the other thousands of bits and pieces there is a very special piece as my friend Pendai says walking hand in hand with the other pieces and that piece that special piece is called eye. So there's two mistakes there. The the first one, the more gross one is that there's a separate eye. Like I just said, among all the other parts is a special part that's like the boss part, like the like like kind of like the the landlord, like the boss that runs the show that is very strong, you know, we see that.

[00:44:15]So we we believe that that eye is there.

[00:44:18]So he says, "Good, prove it. We have to look for it." That's why we do the searching which sounds like a joke to us. That's why in the lamb rim you learn this four-point analysis.

[00:44:28]First, he's telling us already there's no inherent eye. He's telling us already there's no eye in there apart from the parts. There's a subtle mistake. I'll cut to that in a minute. But this one, he says he's already found there isn't.

[00:44:40]But he says because we had this ignorance in our mind for so many eons, we believe there is. We speak as if there is. We feel there is. So he says it's there isn't but you got to if there is one you have to do the work and find it. It sounds so hilarious. You got to find it. Prove you got to prove it for yourself.

[00:45:00]So it's very reasonable if you say something exists.

[00:45:05]If I say to you go into that room please Eene and find get my iPad for me. I left it on the on the table with all the devices and there's 57 devices there. If you walk into that room and you [snorts] look at those devices, you can look at those devices for 4,000 years. You will never know with certainty if my device is there unless you know what it looks like. You got to know what you're searching for. So the very first point in the four-point analysis in the lamb rim, Budd is saying there's no inherent eye. He says there's no eye separate from the other parts, but we believe there is. So he said you got to identify what it is which seems so weird if he says it's not there but you but we have to know our mind so well and catch our mind a thousand times and try to catch with our mindfulness fish as said when you do mahammudra you got to watch the corner of your eye when you're doing meditation you're just watching your mind in mahammudra just watching the mind and out of the core of your eye as we'd say it pan says you come to this subtle awareness like a little fish moving through water without disturbing it. So llama so sweetly calls it your mindfulness fish. That's what we should have every day catching. So when when so he says you got to identify what you think this indep independent eye looks like only then if you can ident the first step the first port point analysis you got to identify what you think the eye is that exists there the second one you you you establish the parameters of the search that I that's separate is either going to exist only in two places either This is this is now the full argument.

[00:46:49]Either separate from all the other bits.

[00:46:52]You don't look for your eye over there in the toilet or in the chair. You establish here among the parts is if there is a separate eye, it has to be in here. It's very So that's the first one.

[00:47:04]Then the second argument which we'll go to in a minute is there's an eye that's oneness with the part. So the only two options and then you do the searching.

[00:47:14]This what you have to This is this demands this type of meditation demands incredible clarity, incredible precision, incredible intelligence, incredible focus and a ma and a lot of um uh work on the mind, you know, because what happens now?

[00:47:35]Okay, the llamas all say that when you sit down and meditate to look for the eye, you first remember when you are attacked or offended, your boyfriend's a mean word to you. Remember that when the feeling of I rose like a sleeping lion, you need that. Conjure that up and try to catch the feeling. Exactly. And this is the hardest part in Mahmudra Lama says when you've when you can identify clearly intellectually the eye that you think exists when you've identified it accurately that second you will realize the emptiness of it that second. So this is the hardest part. The first one and demands incredible hard work. You've got to done a lot of work on your mind.

[00:48:16]You've got to done a lot of purification, a lot of clarity, a lot of giving up the garbage of the attachment and the aversion, all the rubbish ones.

[00:48:22]You know, it's tremendous.

[00:48:26]So [snorts] just like if something does exist, then you have to be able to find it. If it does exist, you have to be able to find it. So like my iPad, I'll say where I want go get my iPad E and see I left it in the table and sorry in the dining room with the other devices. You like I said you can look for 10,000 years and you will never have certainty whether my iPad is there or not because there's only two options is either there or not. And the only way you'll be certain is if you know exactly what it looks like. So within a second if you know it's the red one it's 4 in by two with my name on the front within 3 seconds you will identify it's either there sorry here's your here's your iPad Rebina or Rebina I discover the absence of your iPad there is no iPad then so you discover the emptiness of my iPad there's only two options so there's enormous so there's the de the clarity that's needed for this is tremendous So there's parts one. So the meditation of the little Buddha that we can do based on this one is you do this meditation of pulling yourself apart.

[00:49:37]You're made of parts. Everything exists independence upon its parts. So you must have millions of parts. All the bits and pieces of the body, all the bits and pieces of your mind. And of course we think there's a special part in here somewhere between our two breasts probably, isn't it? There's an eye in there. We just assume it with absolute certainty and we have never checked and it sounds peculiar to even say there isn't one there because it's so assumed.

[00:50:04]So you got these you got to use all these logical arguments. So many logical and why logical arguments it sound contradictory because delusions are not logical.

[00:50:14]They're hugely hysterically emotional.

[00:50:18]So you got to use logic to argue with the hysterical, demented, eyebased, fear-based, childish viewpoints of attachment and anger and all the rest. You know, they're all infantile, desperate, frantic, painful fantasies.

[00:50:45]So one of the arguments, one argument [snorts] always sounds invarious to us.

[00:50:55]So if I speak conventionally, I will say I have I have a cup and a clock.

[00:51:00]So they talk about this argument. This argument is called one or many. If something exists, it's separate or it's more than one. It's one or it's more than one. It sounds ridiculous. So I will make a statement to you. I have a clock and a cup. Now analyze that statement.

[00:51:16]How many nouns are there? Basically it's three, isn't it? Well, it's a pronoun. I And yet if there's a word, this is the point about valid cognition. If there's a word, it has to refer to something just for convenience.

[00:51:32]So I Oh, what's that refer to? You know perfectly well the noun, the word, the pronoun I refers to this person here.

[00:51:38]There's one phenomenon. That's one phenomenon. The second phenomenon is clock. And you know what a clock is.

[00:51:43]Your eyes go here. You see the shape and color and you go ah there's a clock.

[00:51:47]That's two. Number two. That's second.

[00:51:48]Second phenomenon. The third phenomenon is a cup. There it is. Flat bottom clay container. And you just tick the boxes and you agree I just spoke the truth.

[00:51:56]Imagine we all spoke the truth. The world would be a blissful place. Look at emptiness.

[00:52:01]So you point and this is the point. You got to point to three independent three separate phenomena that are independent of each other. Meaning a cup which holds tea doesn't depend upon a clock for its existence. This simple sense of interdependence. So it's independent and separate. The cup breaks. Clock is fine. Rebina drops dead. Cup is fine. They're independent and they're separate. That's straightforward.

[00:52:32]We understand that that's a fact. If you speak, you speak the word should be valid cognitions.

[00:52:39]So now I'll tell you I have a nose and an ear. Okay? So without analysis that's a truth. Look there. Look there and there because you know the definition of these things. You can see it with your eyes those shapes and colors and you give the you give the labels for them and that's correct. So it's true. Rebina has a nose and an ear.

[00:52:58]But what we think it means is there's three things there.

[00:53:04]And if it's true, there should be. You should be able to point out three things. But you can only point out two.

[00:53:10]Cuz look, the nose, which is independent of the ear. Simple fact. For the nose to breathe, it doesn't need an ear. And for the ear to hear, it doesn't need a nose.

[00:53:20]In the simplest sense, they are separate and independent. So then you say I.

[00:53:25]Well, where is the piece called eye that's separate from the nose that's separate from the ear and indeed all the other millions of parts which we think is there but the Buddha says don't be silly. So this is the point here there isn't one you have got to search but look even logically how it's not viable.

[00:53:45]So, as Llama Opa says, you know, if there were this little separate eye in there, which is sort of like the landlord and the boss running the show, when the nose, when Jamie says, Rebecca, your nose is so ugly, and I'll say, "How dare you insult me?" He'll say correctly, "No, I didn't insult your eye. I insulted your nose." Well, then if there were a separate eye in here, as says, the eye will go, "Oh, phew. I'm so sorry. Poor nose. Must be feeling very miserable. I'm glad Jamie didn't insult me." We think that's a joke but it would be true. So then how there's no relationship between the eye because if there were and the point is there is a relationship between the eye and the nose. But this one we think of as separate and there can't be a relationship like you know the ear doesn't go deaf when you punch the nose and the nose won't bleed if you punch the ear because they're separate and independent. So but we know the eye is dependent on the nose and the ear. But this is a trouble. We want to point it out separately.

[00:54:43]So this is where it gets tricky. There is an eye. Buddha says there is an eye but not separate or independent. And that annoys us because we can't bloody point it out.

[00:54:56]There is an eye. And this is the final conclusion.

[00:55:03]But you can't separate it. You can't say there's the nose, there's the eye.

[00:55:07]There's the nose. There's the ear and there's the eye. You can't I because I is the name we impute upon the parts.

[00:55:16]We want to find we want to kind of make it more gross and find this piece called I. You know that's how it functions to make things self-existent.

[00:55:27]Self-existent. You know it's so simple with a cup is really easy. You can see we say my cup my cup has forget the handle. Okay. My cup has what are the parts of a cup? Okay, base and sides. Think speaking simply that enables it to do its job of holding tea.

[00:55:46]Forget the handle. So we say my cup has sides and a base. So how many nouns is that? The mind cognizes nouns. You see?

[00:55:55]I think so. So the three nouns there, right? The sides, the base and cup. We say my cup has a base. My cup has sides.

[00:56:07]as if there's a third thing called the cup that the own that owns the sides and owns the base but it's really obvious that can't find it. You put the base here and you put the sides there. What's left? Zero. So the meaning isn't isn't this is not not to meant to be nihilism.

[00:56:24]What you'd come up with is that you can't find a cup an inherent a cup that's separate from the parts. It's pretty clear you can't but you can't say it's not a cup. It just we just proved it. It fit. It holds the teeth. But you can't point out the cupenness.

[00:56:41]Same with the eye. But this is a grosser mistake. It's not even the subtler mistake. And this leads to conclusion.

[00:56:50]Cup is the mere name we use out of convenience to describe those parts. That's comfortable. That's we can get our head around that one, you know. So I is the name. Rebina is the name we give to these parts, you know. But you can't find that piece in there which sort of infuriates us.

[00:57:11][snorts] This is how we we've got to get conventional reality clear first. You can't just leap into this one. It's too subtle. It is just too subtle. We can learn it. It's all exciting. We've got to get conventional truth down first.

[00:57:28]You know what it means even conventional truth. And that already stabilizes our mind. makes us more sane and more clear.

[00:57:35]That means giving up the delusions and being less neurotic and less extreme and less rigid and less unhappy and less dramatic. Then we're ready to realize this one you know and then the point is that emptiness doesn't contradict that there is a cup as Lama says. Now as I say the yogis in their meditation blissing out on the realization of emptiness of the cup of everything else and then comes out of their meditation and they go and they have their cup of tea they know it has no inherent nature but it still holds they still enjoy their tea. So emptiness doesn't contradict.

[00:58:10]This is the point. The biggest mistake on the planet, the biggest mistake in these teachings since the Hindus, the biggest mistake is to is to assume that emptiness means nothingness. To chuck the baby out the bath water. This is the biggest mistake. The biggest mistake and the easiest one to make.

[00:58:27]As holiness says, you know, when you realize the the emptiness of the eye, it's not empty because you can't find it. And you won't find an independent eye. It's not empty because you won't find it. It's empty because it's dependent arising. It's empty because it's merely labeled. That's the real proof. That's the final one. They says you realize the emptiness of the eye then you realize many labels.

[00:58:57]That's the that's subtle depending then you got the two truths down. You know that's what they say. The nihilistic one is you search like we do the typical one of searching all the bits and putting them out. Put a you put a piles of all your bits and pieces all your physical bits your mental bits and you will not absolutely you'll end up with only the pile. You won't end up with the eye. But if you leave it there, that's an oh well there's no I might as well kill myself.

[00:59:22]That leads naturally. Now if we do it properly, it leads to aha the eye does exist but not independently. It does exist but not separately. It can't it it's not independent and it's not separate but it exists.

[00:59:40]The other things we got to get our head around to have valid cognition to see that which exists and that which doesn't.

[00:59:49]When we finally realize it all and finally become omniscient and remove all the subtlest even the subtlest delusions in the mind that's when your mind has become its true nature Buddha mind because mind is not physical how can it be confined by space or time or matter finally it cannot. So your mind can only be wherever there is existence. It can only be in the nature of bliss. And that's a really interesting delicious point to remember. Buddha doesn't say that to us up front.

[01:00:13]He points to all the suffering and the garbage. You got to get your hands dirty in all the you know, to really look at yourself. But what he's saying basically is when you read the yogis, it's very blissful. That when you even discovered a little bit, Lama, yes, he talks about that in Mahabuja. When you discovered even a little bit the nature of your mind, it is truly it is Lama uses the words joy, rapture, ecstasy. He means it. He means it. That's the nature of your mind to the degree to it which the degree to which your mind is unencumbered by delusions is a degree to your to which your mind is blissful or happy. That's it. It's gradual process getting happier and happier. As you lessen delusions, as you abide by the laws of karma, as you purify your mind, you're getting less and less neurotic, more and more happy.

[01:00:57]As you get less suffering, you get more happy. It's not as if you have to now go find happiness. It comes naturally.

[01:01:04]That's the nature of our mind. This is very encouraging. We would never think in a million years neuroscience psychology until the cows come home.

[01:01:12]Would never say that our true nature of mind is happy.

[01:01:16]So encouraging. I tell you joy is our true state to the you got to remove the delusions. That's it. That's it. So that's why Buddha says basically he's very learning about attachment. He says you know in samsara you people think that happy feelings come when you get the objects of the senses the objects of attachment. No he says happy feelings come when you give up attachment. Happiness is a natural consequence of giving up delusions.

[01:01:48]You're not giving up cake or handsome bodies. You're giving up attachment.

[01:01:55]So joy, happiness, that's the point about the mind and you really only hear that a lot from the yogis and the when you study you know when you study the yogis but even know even in concentration lama says even just getting concentration this brilliant technique these Hindu he was a Hindus invented the joy is inconceivable I can't imagine I remember interviewing venable Renee the Swiss monk one of our yogis you know he's been meditating for 30 40 years now and I interviewed him in the 90s about one of his retreats in in our center in Spain and he said he said even sort of just concentration meditation is described in nine stages of development you know and he maybe touched upon the fifth of the nine he said there's no question that the joy his mind not his senses his mental consciousness the joy that his mind experienced what to include the senses. Ilama says he says when you get even more subtle it's not even sensory it's purely mental still the gross level the sensory but he says the joy that his mind experienced was so superior to any joy he'd experienced through the senses you know so all this is available to us our own selves and the key to it is not telling Mr. Trump to feel better Mr. Trump okay he's not your problem stop blaming Mr. Trump for your own misery. I'm sorry to be rude. He is not your problem. The rapists are not your problem. Your ex-husband is not your problem. Your girlfriend is not your problem. The cake is not the problem. I'm sorry. They're not. Our mind is. It's very simple, but we can't stand the thought of it.

[01:03:35]So, stop blaming Mr. Trump for your problems. Jesus Christ.

[01:03:39]So, working on our own mind and making ourselves happy. Then we'll have compassion. Then we won't lose the plot and we'll be effective and useful. Okay, people.

[01:03:51]10:36. 30 minutes to go. Any questions, please?

[01:04:04]We don't need to have any more. We can always finish. But are there any questions? The clock's an hour. Slow.

[01:04:10]Fix it. You mechanic. Fix the clock.

[01:04:12]Sorry. Any questions?

[01:04:15]>> No questions.

[01:04:16]Yes, Paula. Paula, what's your question?

[01:04:21]>> Excuse me.

[01:04:22]>> Louder, dear. Speak louder, Paula.

[01:04:25]>> Can you hear me?

[01:04:27]>> Not. It's very crunchy, weird sound.

[01:04:31]>> Not mine.

[01:04:33]>> Try. Go on. Talk.

[01:04:35]>> A little bit better. Go on. Uhhuh. Uh I just wanted to ask you uh to to clarify um a sentence. Uh did you say when you can identify that the eye doesn't exist you understand emptiness when in this analysis you know when you have discovered with certainty first that there is no I separate from the parts that's the first one and the second one which I didn't discuss and you then also can say with certainty that there is no I oneness with the parts that is the realization of the emptiness of an independent eye. Yes.

[01:05:36]Then question.

[01:05:38]>> No, I just wanted to be sure that about what you said. If you look if you look in the room for my iPad and it's not there. This is a simple this is as Lama Zopa says this is an ordinary emptiness. When you look in the room I say PA go get my iPad and you know it's the 5 in red iPad with my name on it and you look on the table and you can say with certainty there is no Rabina's iPad there. Then simply speaking, you can say you just discovered the absence of the emptiness of Ravena's iPad. Simply speaking. Do you get that?

[01:06:22]>> Yeah.

[01:06:22]>> Okay. The emptiness here is there's no inherent eye, but it doesn't contradict.

[01:06:28]There is still a Rabina there. It's much more subtle.

[01:06:33]It's the absence of an inherent independent eye. That's the key word.

[01:06:40]Do you understand?

[01:06:42]>> Yes, I do.

[01:06:43]>> Thank you so much.

[01:06:45]>> Okay, sweetheart.

[01:06:47]The point I'm getting at the broader point starting right from the beginning, you know, is the Buddha's deal is the mind is that which it cognizes. And right now we're living in La La Land because it is cognizing things that don't exist. So inherent Mr. Trump causing my problems. That Mr. Trump doesn't exist. Mr. Trump who maybe is shouting and yelling and telling lies, maybe that Mr. Trump exists, but not the inherent Mr. Trump. And we assume he's an inherent Mr. Trump. So there is a truth there, but we add a lie to it.

[01:07:23]Aslam Zoba says what the all the delusions do what attachment and anger and jealousy and depression and anxiety and ego grasping what they do is they decorate on top of what is there layers and layers of qualities that just aren't there.

[01:07:47]Okay. So one lovely way holiness was asked one time what's the way to apply emptiness in daily life he said very simple see things from a different point of view and why he says that is if I'm angry with Mr. Trump. The anger in my mind is like sort of like, you know, when my mother used to make cakes and she'd have white icing in the bowl and she'd put one drop of cotcheneil. It's oldfashioned, I suppose, that pink stuff. And I remember it would the whole of the icing becomes covered by the pink. Well, that's what delusions do.

[01:08:27]So, if there's anger in the mind, it paints the whole of Mr. Trump and all his actions as absolute, definite, real, solid, pointable, findable, and it's the absolute truth.

[01:08:45]And we find it hard to distinguish the relative truth from the absolute truth.

[01:08:51]So it's the same with anything. I mean, there is a war in Iran. That's a truth.

[01:08:55]But when we see the war in Iran, because we see it through the lenses of our anger, we see it in a much more dramatic way. and get angry. So, it's not as if seeing saying there's the inherent war in Iran does there's no there's no war.

[01:09:11]There is a war and that's what's hard to distinguish.

[01:09:14]We can't distinguish the facts from the fictions because we don't make a distinction between delusions and virtues. This is a trouble. So, it's quite nuanced. It's quite subtle and we got to be brave to do it because we want to hold on to our lies. We want to hold on to our anger, our blame, our resentment, our jealousy, our depression. Ego is very like determined to hold on to the truth. You know, it's very hard to see that. So, when you've given up the anger, it doesn't mean you don't care. You see, if we don't distinguish between anger and facts, then when we stop being, we think when you stop being angry with Mr. Trump, you're going to end up well, oh, who cares? Mr. Trump, do what he likes.

[01:09:59]No, you'd end up with more compassion for everybody and more action and less neurosis, less fear, less suffering.

[01:10:05]That's the point.

[01:10:08]That's why it's hard to see.

[01:10:12]What do you think people? Any questions?

[01:10:16]But I find it just so delicious that you know the idea that we suffer because we're not seeing touch with reality.

[01:10:21]That's such a surprise to us. We never neuroscience doesn't say that. You know, psychology doesn't say that. So delicious. And it's got nothing to do with the fact the Buddha said it.

[01:10:31]Nothing. Zero. He's pointing out truth.

[01:10:34]Like Einstein is pointing out E= MC².

[01:10:38]He's either right or he's wrong. He didn't make it up. He didn't invent it.

[01:10:41]He hasn't got copyright on it. He observed it. That's the thing that's so important to see. You know, it's either right or it's it's either it's either existing like that or it's not. And that's what we have to find out.

[01:10:54]Same with impermanence.

[01:10:56]The same with karma. These are all things that Buddha says he observed.

[01:11:01]That's what natural law means. That's what's that's what natural law means. As far as we're concerned, this is why the difference why we have to be so careful thinking about religious philosophy because a religious philosophy called the creators is God did make these things up and he is the boss and he created me and he created the rules and he created the laws and you've got to believe in them because you can't prove it otherwise you're God as well and you can't say that. That's the radical difference. Buddha is not like that.

[01:11:26]That's nonsense. He, you know, it's sort of like a botonist. A botist is not a person who invented bot and put a copyright on it. No, they things have been growing beautifully for eons before bloody botist came along. He simply was an intelligent person who observed the workings of growing things and articulated it and put it down on paper as a bunch of concepts. That's all science is. Well, that's what Buddha is doing. He hasn't made it up. That's the major one to think. That's why we're not used to thinking this way through. We're just used to thinking religious philosophy is made up by somebody and his Buddha come along with his trip.

[01:12:04]That's what everyone thinks Buddhism is.

[01:12:06]It's a belief. It's nothing with belief.

[01:12:08]That's just intellectual laziness.

[01:12:12]No such concept in Buddhism. No such concept. Buddha's either right or is wrong. Einstein's either right or is wrong. The botus is either right or is wrong. It's up to us to find out.

[01:12:25]It's so important to dig deep into this.

[01:12:27]When they hear here Tibetan Buddhism, they're speaking to the choir. They already have the view of karma in their bones. You know, we don't. We have to be really think they have a view of emptiness in their bones.

[01:12:38]So, we got to think so carefully what is either right or is wrong. But morally, actually, reality.

[01:12:50]Okay people, it us makes us the boss. We are the boss people.

[01:13:02]No need to be approved by anybody. No need to win people's favor. No need to be approved of.

[01:13:08]We have to find it out ourselves. We're the boss.

[01:13:12]Buddha might be wrong and be happy to find it if he is. And he'll be the first to be happy. Thank you. I'm glad you've discovered I'm wrong. Thank you for Daniel switch and you switch roles and you can tell Buddha what to do or Einstein anybody else it's not belief it's real but it demands an incredible amount of work incredible purification incredible incredible hard work the mind is not ready you know our mind is not ready so that's what they mean by preliminary practices all the frustrations and the refuge and the things it's like priming your mind so you purify it a bit and move some of the weeds so You're able to hear the teachings.

[01:13:58]>> Okay. What else? You're not going to ask more questions. I've got to stop. I've run out of words. Okay.

[01:14:03]>> Time to go. Any Yes. Go, go, sweetheart.

[01:14:05]Go go go.

[01:14:06]>> Yeah. How how could we uh develop single pointed concentration if we can't get the design from convention?

[01:14:14]>> If we can't get what, darling? If we can't get design from conventional life, how could we >> I know it's very it's it's I I would say it's it's impossible. You need very very very specific conditions. So they they list it. I mean, it makes sense. If you're going to go have to go away for two or three years into a very isolated place with very little noise, with no disturbance, with any food that'll make you happy. I mean, even my friend of mine who does years of retreat, he said it takes months and months and months just to stop all the chatter about what your home is and your family and what they do and they say and the world and the politics because our we're full of all these reverberations of the daily world around us. So to be ready for retreat, you've got to have given up radical levels of desire and attachment.

[01:14:53]Be very content with whatever you've got. Be have an ability to to not need things, not need people. Be comfortable.

[01:15:00]Find a nice place. Yeah. But then to be working hard six, seven, 8, 10, 12 hours a day for several years, that's very few people have all those conditions. But doesn't mean we can't start in the morning and do a bit of session and and aim for the best. You know, some people are already advanced. I mean, there's a friend of mine, sorry, one of students, I don't I didn't know him, but he's one of our students. He obviously was a practitioner in the past. He lived with his old auntie who had cancer, and he just took care of her, but all day he was doing his meditation. and he'd realized he'd gone to very high stages.

[01:15:32]So you can if you come into this life with a lot of merit from having done it before then you can do it. But most of us need a lot of I mean Venomal Renee said there's no way he became a monk 10 years before he did that retreat. He said there's no way without being a monk without doing lots of purification without giving up sex drugs and rock and roll without doing lots of study and even lots of teaching would he have been prepared to do the retreat. It's too much. Even just two days of isolation, we go crazy, you know, because our minds are so distracted. So a lot of you need to be prepared. But we can aim for it. If you got the karma to do it, you know, get all the right conditions together, the right teachers, the right conditions, aim for it. Do you understand? And try to practice every day. Do our best.

[01:16:15]Do you understand? Make sense?

[01:16:24]Okay, that'll do. What is real and what is not? That's all I mean this is all Buddh one way of talking about the whole of practice. First of all, the word Buddha for me is so delicious. It tells you the end result, right? Buddha, no sorry, s the Tibetan word, the ethmology. Buddha uh s I've always said Buddha, but it's wrong. I was mistaken.

[01:16:44]S implies the eradication of all the lies in the mind, the delusions, the misconceptions and gay implies the development to perfection of all the wisdom and virtue. That's it. So that's the methodology. That's the goal. That's tells you the methodology. So all the way through the teachings you'll hear continuously they say the job is to discover to is to identify that which is to be practiced and that which is to be abandoned. Another way of saying it, you know. So it's inc it needs dem it demands clarity and even all this is a conventional presentation we're discussing conventional presentation of Buddhist reality you can't it's not absolute it's still Buddhas you can't just look inside your mind and go there's the truth you can't just look on the piano and play the piano oh I found piano you got to look on B's music you got to have a refere it's a referential Buddhist teachings are are the elaborate sort of set of things that he has found to be true that he presents and then you look into it and if you like it you then you start to you start to go according to it. You follow his you follow what he's saying just like you do with music or math. We all think spiritualist you make up your own trip and find the truth inside you somewhere. So superstitious it's ridiculous and we communicate like people say you know how do I know if I've got wisdom? I say, "Well, if you're playing the piano and you're playing bark, how do I know if I'm playing the right notes?" You know, the first answer is always, "Oh, I look inside. It feels right." No. You open your bloody eyes, you look at the music on your music stand, and you check that you played the right note. That's what you're doing here as a Buddhist.

[01:18:23]You I've chosen to follow Buddha's view of the mind, not yung. I have chosen to use Buddha's view of what is real and what is not. I've chosen that. So, I've got to know it intellectually.

[01:18:33]I've got to learn the words just like you do with music and you play it.

[01:18:37]You've chosen that. It's dependent on rising. There's no absolute music.

[01:18:41]There's no absolute truth. There's no absolute good or bad.

[01:18:47]Are we understanding each other?

[01:18:50]Okay, that'll do.

[01:19:00]So then whatever that prayer was, They were doing that was jung bodhicha this amazing aspiration okay the wisdom is the compassion side this incredibly powerful aspiration based on compassion as lama calls it unbearable compassion for the suffering of beings to never give up developing this wisdom so you can help them. So compassion on its own is not enough.

[01:19:28]Compassion doesn't help you. Compassion isn't what helps you help people. It's wisdom. And wisdom is what we're discussing today. That's the method. You got to have the two together.

[01:19:40]Okay.

[01:19:42]See you next time. All being well. Okay, precious ones. Thank you, darlings. See you all later. I'm going to close the screen now.

[01:19:51]>> Thank you. I thank you.