BDW 4 «Алмаз в Киото», занятие 6

(0:13 - 1:07)
Hello everyone, my name is Katerina and I'll be your online MC for this session. We are very happy to welcome you to class 6 with Geshe Michael Roach. This class marks the completion of the main teaching portion of this course and this is a precious opportunity to listen, reflect and practice together. 

This class is also special as it is connected with Geshe Michael's upcoming birthday. So, as we begin, I propose let's take a gentle moment to feel gratitude and rejoicing for this teaching and for Geshe Michael's presence with us. Before we begin, please select the language channel that feels right for you.

(1:08 - 5:26)
Let's settle in and be fully present. Welcome, dear Geshe Michael. Please stand up and let's welcome Geshe Michael. 

Please stand up and let's welcome Geshe Michael. Okay, welcome back. I just had an interview with a Japanese publisher for the Diamond Cutter new book, and they loaned me a copy. 

And I want to show it to you, I'm very happy about it. And Sophie Chow. And Ken Osborne. 

Yeah, thank you for that. I don't know which is more beautiful, the Japanese or the Chinese edition, which also came out this week on my birthday, okay? So, thank you for that. Okay. 

All the DCI organizers are selling the book in China, okay? And buy a hundred, okay? Just keep them in your house. I'm just kidding. I like to give them to people. 

I don't make money from it, okay? I lose money on the books, but I think it's a very, very nice gift to help people, okay? So, I encourage you to get it. Hi, Anton. Hi, Elisabetta.

(5:27 - 6:14)
Stone Noah [?]. He's busy. All right, I think next picture. 

You ready? Ah, we finished that one in the wrong class. Okay. Yeah, this is Tsongkapa in the verse. 

He says, he talks about the mechanism of pain, okay? How pain causes you trouble. And he's talking about an idea called nyonmong. Say nyonmong. 

Nyonmong. Sanskrit is klesha, klesha. Okay, klesha means gang zhig rang gi gyu den gyi gangzak gi gyu ma shiwar jepay semjung [?].

(6:15 - 8:37)
Okay, any movement of the mind which disturbs the peace of mind of the person who has it in their mind, okay? It's the definition of a klesha, or a negative thought, okay? I like to call it negative thought nowadays. And I won't see you until when? When do I see everybody next time? I don't know. March. 

March? Oh, Tsai Nanny [?]. Where? Where? Diamond Mountain? Oh, okay. All right, I'll see you in Diamond Mountain. 

So, I want... If I can trick Seiji, I'll come to China. I think Xi'an and Singapore, okay? Depends on the doctors, okay? But anyway, I want to give you some homework until I see you again, okay? So, I want to give you some homework, all right? Here's the homework. This picture is talking about cycle of trouble, cycle of pain. 

It's like a machine, okay? That machine will cause you trouble, okay? It's a machine, trouble machine, okay? It's called trouble machine, and it needs gasoline, okay? And the gasoline is, I think the best gasoline for this machine is when other people bother you, okay? Other people irritate you, you know? You meet people and they say something stupid or they do something stupid and, you know, this is the fuel that runs the machine that makes your life unhappy, okay? And I have a proposal, okay? Maybe you can check yourself once a day until I see you again at Diamond Mountain or online from Diamond Mountain. So, I'm a very, very, very busy person because I'm very clear what I want to do in my life. I have a plan.

(8:37 - 8:44)
I have things I want to do. I know they will help people. I know they are very, very valuable.

(8:45 - 9:52)
So, I really know what I need to do with my time, you know? Every minute of the day I have no question. I know exactly what I have to do to help people. I know I have to do those things. 

And then I can't waste time, you know? I can't even— and it's very, very uncomfortable for an Arya to waste time and you have no idea. It's like you have to go to the bathroom really bad, okay? Like, I'm not even talking number one. I'm talking number two, okay? It's like someone— if you lose time when you're an Arya, you know you cannot get it back. 

Then you become a little bit crazy. And I don't know how to describe it to you, but it's very, very uncomfortable for me to waste time in any way. It hurts my chest.

(9:52 - 10:00)
Something happens and I feel really bad. And I feel terrible. You see what I mean? And I can't describe it.

(10:02 - 10:21)
You're in the same place, okay? We're all in the same place, you know? You don't have unlimited supply of time. I always think about Warren Buffett. Today I met some business people. 

They are in the jewelry business. We were talking about Warren Buffett. He bought my company.

(10:22 - 10:43)
2009. And I was thinking, he now has a hundred and sixty-one billion dollars, okay? He has a hundred and sixty-one billion dollars. What happened to Warren Buffett this year? He retired, okay? Didn't die yet.

(10:44 - 10:53)
Usually you retire and you die the next year or something, okay? But he's out of time. He ran out of time. He's a wonderful man.

(10:54 - 12:40)
You know, he's cool. He's a good person. I really respect him and he's really, he's a really cool person. 

But with a hundred and sixty-one billion dollars, he cannot buy one more hour. He cannot. He cannot buy. 

If you ask him, would you like to buy two years of my time? And will you give me a hundred billion dollars? He will agree. Trust me, he will agree, okay? Yeah, I'll pay anything. Doesn't matter. 

Money I have, I don't have time, you see? We are the same, okay? We are all the same. You only have a little time in this life, okay? You only have a little, little time, okay? Therefore, okay? Therefore, if you meet irritating people, I was going to say asshole, but I don't like to say it, because we have children here, but, right? Ben, Ben, just Ben. Yeah, what I'm saying is, listen, in your life, you're gonna meet people who cause you trouble, okay? It happens to everybody, okay? Everybody meets people day to day, hour to hour, who say something, do something to you which is wrong and stupid, okay? And then you start to think, you know, oh this person hurt me, or this person is bothering me, you know? And then you are wasting your time, okay? I'll say it again.

(12:40 - 12:52)
When you think about, someone says something to you, someone does something to you, and you're like, I don't like this person. I don't like what they did. If I see them today, you know I'm going to tell them something.

(12:54 - 14:12)
You make all these plans in your heart, right? Like if I ... During those planning times, you are wasting your time, and you cannot get it back, then that person they didn't say something bad to you, they didn't hurt you, they stole your lifetime, and no one can give it back to you, okay? And you have control, you can decide, okay? And I ask you, until we meet again in Diamond Mountain, look at this machine. This is the machine of trouble. This is the machine of pain. 

It's gasoline. It's people who bother you, okay? People cause you trouble, people hurt you, okay? And I say, sitting here as an Arya, on his birthday, just shut up in your own mind, and go on with your life, and don't give them any time, okay? The demons, the ones who want to hurt you, they'll be so irritated. Okay? Someone tried to waste your time.

(14:13 - 14:39)
You, you feel bad about somebody, you want to think about them, you want to think about what you want to say, you want to think about what you want to do. If, if you'd like to make me a birthday offering, just tell your mind, shut up. Let's think about something nice, okay? Like, there's always bagel shops, coffee shops, donut shops.

(14:39 - 15:15)
There's other things you can think about, okay? Okay? Understand? I'm asking you today, as a birthday present, okay? Don't waste five minutes thinking about someone who hurt you, or someone said something to you, or someone bothered you. Please, please, please, just say, let's forget it. Okay? In two years, you won't remember. 

In two weeks, you won't remember. Then you cannot remember today. Okay? You can do advanced not remembering.

(15:15 - 15:31)
Okay? Starting now. Okay? That, and then I say that's a excellent way to prepare for the next time we meet, okay? Your mind will be ready. Your mind will be open, okay? I'll repeat.

(15:32 - 16:12)
Someone's bothering you, someone's giving you trouble, let's make it, I'm going to ask you to mazal. Do you know mazal? Mazal is a Jewish word, it means mazal u'bracha, right? Use it in good health, something like that. And in the diamond business, we don't have contracts, and we don't have lawyers. 

Do you know how much money we save? When you make an agreement in business, you say mazal. And it's better than signing a paper. You sign it with your, with your words, you say mazal, okay? And it means I promise.

(16:13 - 18:05)
And in 19 years in the diamond business, I probably made 10,000 purchases of diamonds from my company. I only heard, only one person broke mazal out of 10,000 diamond purchases. Only one person, I remember the person, and they broke mazal, okay? Mazal means I promise, deep promise, okay? What do you promise? If you get irritated at somebody in the three months, two months, two and a half months, until the next time we meet, three months, here's the deal, you have to sign the paper, ready? In the next three months, if someone upsets you, or someone hurts you, do you promise not to waste your time thinking about them, and move on, right away. 

You're going to move on in five years, ten years, hundred years, you can move on now, okay? So, you understand the deal? Okay, now, on the count of three, mazal, okay, ready? One, two, three, mazal. De de de de de de Okay, all right. Yeah, I like it, that's a good present, okay? Now, you'll forget, but try to remember sometimes, okay? And when you start thinking about this person who bothered you, just try to remember today, okay? Try to remember today.

(18:05 - 18:42)
They did bother you, I'm not saying they didn't bother you, they were bad to you. I didn't say they were not bad to you, they are bad to you, but don't give them your precious life. Don't give them your precious life, just move on now, move on right away. 

This person hurt me, yeah, okay, what's for breakfast? You know, that's my attitude. Okay. All right, so we have a homework, that's your homework, okay? That's the most difficult kind of homework, it's in here, okay? Very difficult, all right.

(18:44 - 19:02)
Next picture, you guys. Yeah, the AI did pretty good. She just heard there's no yuzu ice cream, you guys, nobody knows yuzu ice cream.

(19:03 - 19:57)
Yuzu is a Japanese grapefruit. We are, today we are discussing growing it at Dragon's Head, but it's the best, it's very similar to grapefruit, but it's more delicious, and we're not sure it will grow in Rimrock, but we're going to try, okay? She just heard there's no, there was a shortage of yuzu last year, and I came to Japan, and I had to eat American ice cream. Okay, this, the caption here says, we can get out, but we have to stop pretending everything is all right, okay? So, I think, in my childhood, when I was, you know, I went to India when I was 17 or something like that, no, 19.

(19:58 - 20:48)
I went to study when I was 19 or something like that. I remember I had my 20th birthday in India, and I never saw a dead person in my life, when I was growing up, I never saw a dead person. I know people die, I read about books, and people die in the books. 

I read War and Peace, a lot of people died, Tolstoy, and you know, but I never saw anybody die. And in America, they protect us, our parents protect us, and it's not so common to see a dead person. In fact, that Geshe, the blind one, when he died, he died, I was eating lunch with him, and he died.

(20:48 - 22:06)
He died like this, and I'm like, Geshe La, are you okay? And then finally I just try to move his hand, and I'm like, oh my god, he just died eating lunch with me, you know, and there will come a time when you die like that, okay? We don't see dead people. In America, him, I told my teacher, I ran to the teacher's house, and I said that Geshe died, the blind Geshe died, and he said, well, what happens now? In America, the law says they have to be taken to the hospital immediately, you know, so, you know, we're supposed to stay with the dead person, we're supposed to help them through the bardo, and it's illegal in America. They're supposed to go in the ambulance to the hospital, they will check them, they will give a death certificate, you know, if you don't follow that law, it's very, you can get in big trouble, you know, they have to check if you murdered them, everything, okay? Especially wife or husband, no, I'm kidding.

(22:08 - 23:24)
So anyway, my teacher said, I said, they're going to take him to the hospital, and I said, well, what do you want me to do? And he said, go with him, and do the bardo prayers, do the prayers for him. I'm like, he said, Geshe, he said, do the prayers for him. So, we went to the, I went in the ambulance, and then we got to the, to the hospital, and I said, can I sit with him for half an hour, 45 minutes, you know, and they said, no, it's illegal, we have to put him in the refrigerator, you know, and I'm like, but he needs the bardo prayers, I have to do the prayers, you know, and they said, I'm sorry, that's the policy, he has to go in the refrigerator. 

I said, I'll go in the refrigerator with him. It's a pretty big refrigerator, not, not too big, and he was big. But anyway, I put a coat on, and I sat, and I did the bardo prayers with him for like 45 minutes. 

It was cold, okay, but it made me think about death. We don't see death in this country. Normally in America, we don't see death.

(23:25 - 25:23)
And I remember the first dead person I saw, I was in the foothills, we call hill station, Mussoorie, it's in North India, in the Himalayas, in the foothills of the Himalayas, and people die, they need to take the body somewhere, they tie it on the top of a taxi cab, you know, and this taxi cab came by, and there's a guy tied on top of the car, and he's like, like this, I said, what's wrong with that guy? Oh, he's dead, you know, what's happening? They're taking him to the funeral home, you know. Then I never saw a dead person, you know, and I'm like, wow, you know, that's terrible, dead person. So, I think as a Buddhist, as a lamrim person, as a diamond way baby, you gotta think about your death, and you have to think about death. 

If you can be around dead people, it's a good thing, okay? It's not a bad thing. They're not going to hurt you, they rarely hit people and stuff, okay? You think they're dirty or something, they're just the same as you, they just died, okay? They're not dirty, they're just dead, okay? So, you can sit with them, you can be with them, and remember you are going there, okay? Everybody in the world sees other people die, and they think they are different, but they're not, okay? Everybody will be there, everybody will go there, okay? There will be a last person to die in this room, you know? Somebody will die first. By the way, it's not necessarily me, okay? The young ones tend to die first.

(25:24 - 25:55)
There's no order, the Lord of Death doesn't check your age. Did you have a 73 birthday yet? No, okay, I'll take Geshe Michael. It doesn't work like that, okay? Young people get in accidents. 

The Allman Brothers band lost two brothers in two motorcycle accidents, and like they're 20 years old. It was the best guitar solo in history. Okay, we don't know, okay? That's part of lamrim.

(25:56 - 26:32)
We don't know when you're going to die. There's a Steve Jobs meditation that we do in DCI Global, and Steve Jobs got cancer. What kind of it was? Which one? Pancreas? Yeah, he got cancer. 

At the time, he was one of the wealthiest people in the world. He gave a beautiful talk at Stanford University. He gave the graduation talk at Stanford University. 

It's online, it's on YouTube. If you ever have a chance, you should see it. He knows he's dying.

(26:33 - 27:05)
He's a very smart guy. He's a nice guy, and he spoke about what it was like to face his death, okay? And we don't know, he said he was pretty comfortable with dying, and somebody said, why? And he said, every morning, I learned a meditation when I was in college, that when I brush my teeth, I tell myself I might die today. He said, today's my last day.

(27:05 - 27:45)
When he brushed his teeth, he thought, this is my last day here, okay? And it sounds depressing, or it sounds sad, but actually you feel great, okay, because it's so honest, okay? Usually we are lying to ourselves. Oh, I won't die today. Maybe tomorrow, but not today. 

I have dinner plans, right? So, everyone thinks they won't die today, and then death tends to surprise people like that, okay? So, don't be surprised. If you know you're going on a trip, pack your bag today. Put the suitcase under your bed.

(27:46 - 28:41)
Maybe you don't need it today. Maybe you need it in a month. Get it ready now, okay? Get ready to die now, all right? Then if you don't die, you had a good day, okay? And it's not sad, and it's not depressing. 

It's sad to lie to yourself. It's sad to pretend you're not going to die, okay? Get ready. I have to go through all this stuff preparing my will in case I die in the surgery, you know? So, I'm working with lawyers like many days, you know, and getting everything ready, and I feel better. 

It makes me feel happy, and my family is happier, you know? They're like, what are you doing with the lawyers? I say, I'm getting ready in case I die. And first they say, oh, don't do that. That's sad, you know? Then they say, maybe that's a good idea.

(28:42 - 29:55)
Okay, so get ready, and get ready. Then you won't waste your time, okay? Then you won't waste your time. Okay, got it? Death meditation, the person who does death meditation, they're happier people. 

They're much happier people, because they are not lying to themselves, okay? They are telling the truth. People feel better when they tell the truth, okay? All right, next picture. What is that one? No, that's not the next picture, is it? Oh, sorry, you're right. 

I'm sorry. This guy's trying to figure out what keeps him in this suffering life. He's thinking, okay? He's thinking, what keeps me in this suffering life? And that's why one of our twelve translators is translating all these books about the Wheel of Life, okay? Mr. Sugeng Shi.

(29:56 - 30:17)
He's translated one book already about the Wheel of Life, now he's translating a deeper one about the Wheel of Life, okay? And Tsongkapa says here that you know you're going to die. Now you know you're going to die. Try to think about why.

(30:18 - 30:46)
Try to think about why you have to die. And it's because you don't understand emptiness, okay? It's because you don't understand emptiness. You don't think enough about emptiness, okay? If you think more about emptiness, you can stop your death. 

People come up to me all day the last few days, oh Geshe La, I'm so sad. What? You have to die seven more times. You have to die seven billion times, okay? It's not so bad.

(30:47 - 31:58)
I'll take the seven. You take the seven billion, okay? Really? Really? Okay, so the only way to stop that circle, the circle ends in death, right? Link number twelve, twelve o'clock. They're carrying a dead body up the mountain. 

That's the Wheel of Life. Link number one is you don't understand how the seeds are opening. You don't understand how the pictures are coming out. 

If you just keep thinking about it, when you meet this person who irritates you, try to see if there's any pictures coming out of your head, okay? By the way, when you're emotional, you cannot see the pictures. It's very interesting. If your mind is is upset, it's about somebody. 

You cannot have wisdom at that time, okay? So, just forget about them. There's a very famous quotation that the Buddha stopped suffering, but they didn't stop all the assholes in the world. Okay? That's interesting.

(31:59 - 32:07)
It's a Buddha does not stop all the irritating people in the world. They are still irritating. They just don't have to experience it.

(32:07 - 32:32)
Okay? Got it? You can't stop all the poor people in the world. Even a Buddha cannot. You cannot stop all the irritating stupid people in the world. 

You cannot stop it, okay? So, just relax and focus on your practice. Focus on your Buddhist practice, okay? You don't have time to do both. You don't have time to do both.

(32:33 - 32:55)
You don't have time to do both. You can be irritated or you can do your Buddhist practice, but you don't have time to do both, okay? You have to choose. You have to choose which one you're going to do, okay? You don't have ... did I say that? You don't have time to do both, okay? And now next picture.

(32:58 - 33:55)
I asked the AI, do you think I sit alone for six hours in the morning? I don't. I talk with the AI. He's my best friend. 

I'm like, can you show two hands? Got it. Can you put chains on the hands? Yes. Can you count to five and put five fingers on the hand? Huh? He always puts four. 

I don't know what's wrong with him. Sometimes he puts six. I don't know. 

My AI is maybe a reflection of me. So anyway, these represent the two causes of trouble in our life. One is, we call kleshas and karma, okay? Klesha means feeling bad about somebody else, okay? Klesha means feeling bad about somebody else.

(33:55 - 36:49)
rang gyu den gyi gangzak gi gyu ma shiwar jepay semjung [?] Any thought which bothers your own peace of mind is the definition of a klesha, okay? If you are not feeling like you're having fun right now, you are having some kind of klesha, okay? You are having a negative thought. And then that's one of the chains, okay? The other chain is karma. The other chain is the seeds in your mind, okay? You have billions of seeds in your mind. 

Any weird thing can happen to you anytime, I'm sorry. You know, 10,000 lives ago you killed somebody with I don't know, earring or something. And then earrings are going to poke you for years and years, okay? And that's all you can ... Things happen like that, okay? Karma and klesha runs the show, okay? Now, the reason it comes up in the lamrim is that every one of us has lots of mental seeds. 

We have lots of karma in our mind. You can say mental seed. In DCI 17 years ago we decided to say mental seed. 

We decided not to use the word karma because it means so many different things in so many different countries. So, we decided 17 years ago, we will not use the word karma in the DCI classes. We will say mental seeds. 

It's the same thing, okay? It's just the same thing. You have mental seeds and you have bad mental habits and they limit you. That's why the two hands are chained together, okay? This person can't scratch their pigu and their head at the same time, right? They are chained together. 

The two hands are chained together, okay? There's limitations in your life that come from your past life. There's things you cannot do in this life because of karma and kleshas. You are limited, okay? Most of us, the the karma and the negative thoughts that we were born with are going to control and limit what we can do in our life. 

There's a natural limitation on your mind. You have from your past life many bad mental thoughts and you were born with them. And then on top of that, you have negative seeds from your past life. 

That means I got to teach you a new idiom. The cards are stacked against you. Somebody cheated on the playing cards and you cannot get a good hand.

(36:49 - 38:37)
You're going to get a lousy hand, okay? You're going to have a mortal body, you know? You're going to have a mind which gets upset from time to time, you know? You get tired, you have family limitations, you have cultural limitations, you have physical limitations, okay? You were born with those and you have to tell them to shut up, okay? Geshe La, you know, I can't learn Tibetan. Shut up. Geshe La, I can't come to all those classes. 

Shut up, you know? Geshe La, I don't know, I can't meditate for an hour. I can only do 20 minutes. Oh, okay, you don't want to see emptiness. 

Shut up, okay? You were born with limitations in your body and your mind, okay? And, and they are so powerful that most people have no hope, okay? They are so—you are born with forces inside your mind that it's almost impossible to change, okay? It's almost impossible to change. What I'm saying is, it's not that you have to overcome your karmic seeds, and it's not that you have to overcome your negative emotions. If you have any hope at all with the equipment that you were born with, your chances are very bad to start with, okay? I'm sorry, okay? Your chances of getting out of samsara are very low because of the equipment you were born with, okay? So, it's a double fight. 

The fight is double hard, okay? All right, that's what that's about. Next picture. I told the AI, show a group of old friends.

(38:39 - 39:13)
That's not too bad, right? And, I don't know, looks like—well, I'm not going to say. These are a group of old friends, okay? Why do I say old friends? At this point in the commentary, Choney Lama, Drakpa Shedrub, he makes a list of old friends, okay? And I'm going to start listing them for you, okay? These are your old friends. Number one, jealousy.

(39:16 - 41:08)
Then, that's your old friend. He's been in your mind for a long, long time. Every time someone you don't like gets something nice, you feel jealous. 

Every time someone you don't like gets praised, you feel jealous. There are nine kinds of jealousy in the in the Kangyur, okay? It's a big topic. There are nine kinds of jealousy in the scriptures, okay? And they're very interesting, okay? But we have it. 

We all have it, okay? That's the one problem you are born with. You have it when you're born, okay? All right. Number two, they're called doubts, but in Buddhism we don't say doubts, we say stupid doubts. 

Hundred dollars. Stupid doubts. We don't say doubt. 

We don't say doubt is a bad thing. We say stupid doubt. Unresolved, so something you didn't take care of? Good. 

Okay, hundred bucks. Yeah, uh, stupid doubt means, I don't know, did you do your book today? Did you, did you write down the mistakes you made today, you know? Did you write them down today six times? That's a tantric requirement. That's a dharma way requirement. 

Six times a day today, did you write down the mistakes you made, okay? And then you're like, well, no, and you say, why? And you say, I'm not sure it will help, you know? Well, Buddha said it will help. Yeah, but I'm not sure. Did you try to figure it out? No.

(41:08 - 41:43)
I just don't feel like that, okay? I just don't feel like that is stupid doubt, okay? You didn't have time to think about it. You didn't work on it. You didn't go to the class, okay? That's called stupid doubt. 

What's intelligent doubt? There's two students, they have a great teacher, sorry, three students, and the teacher says, come to my room immediately. And this is a story from the Lamrim. And the three students run into the teacher's room, and the teacher says, today a special project.

(41:44 - 42:17)
What's the project? You know, I'm tired of being poor. I'm gonna ask my three students, please rob a bank today for me, okay? You're supposed to do whatever your teacher says, okay? And I want you, the three guys, you go out and rob a bank, okay? Got it? Then two guys jump up, run out to rob a bank. One guy just sit there, and the teacher says, you didn't hear me? I said you're supposed to go out and rob a bank, get me some money.

(42:18 - 42:42)
And the student said, you don't mean it. I think you don't mean it, okay? I believe you don't mean it. I think you are testing us, okay? And then the teacher said, yeah, the famous, the teacher said, ah, I have one good student, you know, okay? So, that's a correct doubt.

(42:42 - 43:10)
That's correct doubt, okay? Someone tell you to do something, even a teacher tell you to do something, and you doubt it's a good thing, you should, you should wait, and you should ask questions, okay? That's good doubt. So, there's good doubt and there's bad doubt, okay? Bad doubt is, you're too lazy to figure it out. Good doubt is, I don't think that's what you really want me to do, okay? Which bank you guys gonna, never mind.

(43:11 - 43:42)
Okay, some more old friends. Pride. Okay, pride. 

I have pride. That's my achievement. I have the best pride. 

I'm proud about my pride. Anyway, someone praises you and you're like, oh, yeah, I'm so great, you know, and really, in the, in the end, Lamrim says you are bug food. You are just bug food, okay? I have this thing.

(43:43 - 43:49)
So, I'm gonna have this surgery. I think it's pretty serious. I, the survival rate is very high, 99.

(43:50 - 44:25)
99.9 something. You know, but it's still frightening and it still kind of makes me, it makes me think about death. And I have a, we have a special thing in Arizona called red ants, okay? And if you didn't experience them, you can come to Dragon's Head and we will, like Edmund did, and we'll let you stand in a red ant bed, red ant house, and they will crawl up your pants and bite your leg.

(44:26 - 44:37)
One red ant bites your leg, it really hurts, okay? Edmund had I think 12 or something like that. No? And five. That's still pretty good.

(44:39 - 44:57)
So, I have red ants in my driveway, where I park my car, there's red ants, you know. And then, I feel pretty proud of myself, because when I go to get my car, I always walk around the red ants. I try not to kill any.

(44:57 - 45:21)
I actually watch where I'm putting my feet and I try to be careful not to kill any red ants, you know. Then I get in my car and I run over the whole thing. And I guess I'd kill like a hundred or something, you know. 

And I'm like, look, you can't say I didn't try. You know, you're the guys who put the red ant house in the driveway. That's stupid.

(45:21 - 45:38)
You should put it in the backyard. There's no cars back there, okay? Then I just feel like I'm a pretty good Buddhist. I didn't kill them. 

I didn't step on them, you know. And you know, I got to get out of the driveway. I got to drive my car.

(45:38 - 46:10)
I can't leave the car in the backyard. It won't even go in the backyard, okay? So, I think like that. Now recently, when I found out I probably will have this surgery, then I'm thinking, it's possible, it's very possible I will get in the car, I will run over a hundred ants. 

I will drive to the hospital in Phoenix. They will try to give me a new kidney. Somebody will make a boo-boo and I'll die.

(46:11 - 47:11)
And because of my connection to the ants, I will be born as an ant before my wife gets back from the hospital to run over the ants. And then I'll be like, ah honey, it's me. She'll be like, what? Okay, now, it's possible, you know, and I'm kind of freaked out by the thought. 

I don't know why, but it's very possible, okay? So, you got to think about it, okay? You got to think about it. It's very possible. The animals that you're eating now, the animals that you're killing now, there's no guarantee you won't be them, okay? It's very possible you will be them. 

So, treat the animals nicely. Next picture. We have 10 minutes. 

Hang in there, okay? I know you're tired. I know your mind already went home. Me too.

(47:14 - 47:35)
But let's do 10 good minutes, okay? I like this picture. People ask me, what does it feel like? Well, let's talk about bodhisattvas, okay? Everybody knows the word bodhisattva. Everybody heard the word bodhisattva.

(47:36 - 48:19)
And when you see emptiness directly, what's happening inside your body? If you're a yoga teacher, or you run an organization called Yoga Studies Institute, then in terms of your inner body, in terms of prana, okay, you never get all of your prana into your tsongway [?], into your central channel. You never. Only on the day you die, okay? On the day you die, the chi goes into the chongway, okay? On the day you die.

(48:20 - 49:05)
Otherwise, it never goes in completely. It never goes in completely. When you have sex, when you have climax in sex, briefly, maybe for a few seconds, the chi will go in the chongway. 

When you die, okay, and you reach the point where the peepee comes out uncontrollably, poo poo peepee comes out, that's just after the prana went into the chongway, okay? And when you see emptiness [?] directly, your prana is completely in the chongway, okay? And that's why we do yoga. That's why we do yoga exercise, okay? It's good for your body. It keeps your mind clear.

(49:06 - 49:58)
You can do more good things to help people, but you also are learning how to put your chi, your prana, into your central channel, chongway, okay? And it happens on another occasion, when you touch diamond world, okay? In the 20 minutes that you are touching the diamond world directly, the chi is 100% in the chongway, okay? For the first time in your life, the chi is in the central channel, 100%. And you feel it, and it's like electricity or something like that. Just before you see kongshin, you feel that kind of electricity, and then you see kongshin.

(49:59 - 50:44)
Now, something cool happens. For the rest of the day, until you go to sleep, most of the chi stays in the chongway. Most of the chi stays in the central channel, okay? That means, for the rest of the day, which in my case was about 12 hours, you have special abilities, because the chi is moving in the central channel. 

You can read other people's mind directly. And in my case, it was funny story, okay? And it's true, okay? I decided to sell my car, because I want to offer a diamond to my teacher. I want to put a diamond on the altar.

(50:46 - 51:03)
And I went to sell the car, and I still have chi in my central channel, chongway, so I can read people's mind. Just that one day, okay? Don't worry. And I'm honestly, just that one day.

(51:04 - 51:19)
And I was, how old I know, 22, something like that. I was 20 something. And so I went to the car dealer, and it was a new, it was a very beautiful sports car.

(51:20 - 51:28)
And my Buddhist teacher in university gave it to me. When I graduated, he gave it to me. When I went to study with my teacher, he gave me his car.

(51:30 - 51:56)
And it was a beautiful Firebird. It's a fancy, it's very similar to a Porsche. And I was really, you know, then I didn't have any money. 

So I thought, oh, I'll go sell the car, and I will buy a diamond, you know. So I went to the car dealer. I drove the car to the car dealer. 

I didn't tell anybody. I didn't tell my teacher. I just got in the car and went.

(51:57 - 52:28)
And I got out of the car, and the guy's like, what do you want? And I said, I want to sell my car. And he's like, and then I could hear his mind. Inside his mind, I could hear his thoughts. 

And he said, this guy looks a little bit stupid. Then he says, what do you do? What's your job? And then I said, I'm a cook in a church, you know. And then he thought, yep, he's really stupid.

(52:29 - 52:41)
Really stupid guy. I think I'll cheat him. And I'm listening to his mind, and he's thinking all these terrible things, and I'm like, you know, I try to look stupid, you know.

(52:42 - 52:57)
And then he said, how much do you want for the car? And I said, I will take anything you give me. And he's like, he said, I'll give you a hundred dollars. And I'm like, okay, deal.

(52:58 - 53:12)
You know, a hundred dollars is enough to buy a ten-point diamond at that time, one-tenth of a carat. So, I'm like, okay, deal. And he's like, in his mind, he's like, you know, this car's worth like five thousand dollars.

(53:13 - 55:32)
You know, I made so much money, you know, and then I said, a hundred dollars and one more thing. And he said, what? And he said, this is outside of Lakewood, you know, a little bit east of Lakewood. And I said, I need a ride to town, because I don't have a car anymore. 

And I'll take a bus home. Hi everyone. We are having an internet obstacle here, but we will try to solve them very fast.

(55:32 - 56:10)
Thank you so much for your patience. Thank you for your patience. And please do not worry.

(56:11 - 56:55)
We are recording this part locally, and we will make it up for all of you, and we will be able to re-watch this part in our re-broadcasting session or in our study platform. Thank you so much for your patience, and we will continue very, very soon. Is still moving in your head, some she is still having some trouble.

(56:55 - 57:12)
It's maybe here with a connection. It's maybe almost an hour since you touched the gun. Can you hear what is happening? Me personally, I was in a certain position when I touched the gun [?] a little.

(57:13 - 58:49)
Then I did some prostrations. You can hear Krishna [?]? Okay, so I will mute myself, and you can hear Krishna [?]. I'll never forget this thought. 

I know it's funny. And then I went on this trip throughout the universe, and promised each person to take care of it. So, that's where we are in the lamrim. 

We are just starting the teachings on how to be a bodhisattva, okay? So, you have graduated from the first two levels of the steps on the path, and we're going to start the teachings for bodhisattvas, okay? And one, okay, I'll give you a blessing, bald head blessing, ding, ding, ding. Birthday blessing, okay? One day it will happen to you, okay? Because you are here, then one day it will happen to you, okay? Okay? You will do this, okay? You will step from world to world, and you will take care of everybody, okay? I bless you for that, okay? All right, that's all. Firstly, Geshe Michael's 001 [?], the most beautiful pen in this world.

(58:50 - 59:02)
The winner is Giselle Lamberth and Paul Lamberth from Austria. We thank you so much. And Geshe La will give that to you.

(1:00:00 - 1:02:19)
Thank you. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday very rare people. You are very special people. 

You are one in a million. Each one here, you are one in a million. And it's very, very happy for me to see you, and it's very, very happy that you listen so well to the classes. 

And it makes me really, that's the best birthday that I can have. So as long as I can, I will keep coming here, so I can eat more cake. Okay.

(1:02:31 - 1:02:56)
Thank you. Thank you. And this is the first queue are all the December birthday.

(1:02:58 - 1:03:04)
Ladies and gentlemen, also our birthday. Yeah. Thank you.

(1:03:08 - 1:03:20)
Shall we have a birthday music? And we sing the birthday. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.

(1:03:21 - 1:04:48)
Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you. Thank you. And thank you. 

This is the cake from Japanese group. Thank you, our Japanese group. Thank you, Sophie. 

Thank you, Ken. Thank you, Azusa. Thank you, Totally [?]. 

Thank you, all the Japanese group. Okay. And now we are doing our graduation ceremony. 

Please come back to your seat. Take your seat. And we will have a box. 

If you have any offering for teachers, we can do that. Hi, everyone. We keep experiencing technical obstacles here, as you can see.

(1:04:50 - 1:05:22)
We just finished eating Geshe La cake, and Geshe La is leaving. Thank you so much for being here with us. The next session is going to be part of the celebration of what happened here in person. 

You are more welcome to stay. And sorry for all the obstacles. This is a very extensive karma that we are producing here.

(1:05:23 - 1:06:59)
Thank you so much for your patience. Thank you. Gratitude. 

Yes, thank you, Hattie. So it is time for us to give gratitude. So first to me, thank our five houses [?], the most important person, team, the strong, all power.

(1:07:41 - 1:07:52)
But for each one of you, we want you to go out and practice. We want you to go out and make those changes in your own heart. And that is the biggest gratitude you can give.

(1:07:53 - 1:08:02)
Thank you. Thank you, team. I know she is thanking me, but I also want to thank this lovely being, Jasmine.

(1:08:03 - 1:08:36)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 

Thank you. It is not only me. Many, many years ago, our very first retreat in Thailand, I had no idea how to run an event until I met Jasmine.

(1:08:37 - 1:08:59)
I mean, because I thought I knew what I was doing. And then Jasmine took ACI to the next level and brought us up to a place where we could handle a much larger audience and a much larger reach. And I remember asking her, I said, Jasmine, how do you do this? Like, what are the seeds for this? And we sat and talked about it.

(1:09:00 - 1:09:17)
And I see how working with you has transformed the entire organization. So it's really your fault for how big we've gotten, how we've been able to expand, because you taught me how to do it. So thank you so much for everything you've done for us and continue to do for us.

(1:09:17 - 1:09:26)
Thank you. Thank you, team. And also, no teachers know this beautiful teaching that nothing happens here.

(1:09:27 - 1:09:43)
So let's give a warm applause to our great teacher group. Will teacher stand up and face students? Yeah. Okay, students.

(1:09:43 - 1:09:58)
Friends, friends. Do you still remember the Chinese sentence? Once more. Thank you.

(1:10:00 - 1:10:03)
Yes. Take a seat. Take a seat.

(1:10:04 - 1:10:41)
So it's getting to our headquarter, head office, all the staff and volunteers here, because then that makes this thing happen. A lot of details. I know my team is just in charge of the offline, but actually we have a very big group online, right? Not only do we have a team here that's making this possible, in the production in the back, I'm not allowed to thank Worldview Productions anymore because last time we did that, everything broke.

(1:10:45 - 1:11:08)
This is what they said to me, not what I'm saying. But the whole team, including the ACI team listed there, Ale, Pache, Laura, Alona, Francisco, Christina, Sarah, we're also missing Anastasia as well. That group of people worked tirelessly not only for this event, but they're also, well, yes.

(1:11:08 - 1:11:29)
Yeah, they're all there. So will our students stand up and gratitude? Yeah, thank them very much. Yeah, thank you.

(1:11:32 - 1:11:41)
And one Chinese word. Ni xingfu le. Ni xingfu le.

(1:11:42 - 1:11:57)
Yes. But what they're also doing, which many of you don't know, is that they're also making this available online. 350, I've heard.

(1:11:58 - 1:12:13)
No, we had 1,600 people. Oh, yes, 1,600 people online. And they're also doing rebroadcasts all day long because of all the different time zones.

(1:12:14 - 1:12:33)
So I'm not sure how they did it without sleeping, but this is a program that runs 24 hours a day for five or six days. Yes, I've heard there's 350 volunteers to support this 1,670. Wait, wait, wait.

(1:12:33 - 1:12:47)
Say it one more time. Okay, there are 350 volunteers online to support 700 students online. We want to honor them.

(1:12:47 - 1:13:24)
Whoa. Let's honor them. Yes, that's gratitude, heart.

(1:13:24 - 1:13:40)
That's a very popular Chinese song. Okay, beside all these heroes, we have a Chinese group. We just have a very small staff group, but a very big volunteers group.

(1:13:40 - 1:14:27)
There are 70% students here that are also volunteers. So let's give ourselves, let's give all the students here, all the student-plus volunteers here, and also give our China team a warm gratitude. 你幸福了! 你幸福了! 你幸福了! And especially, I would like Selena and Apple Tree on the stage.

(1:14:30 - 1:14:45)
Please. They are the main organizer really for this project. I'm just the one that sit comfortable and see the happy things happen.

(1:14:45 - 1:14:53)
They are. Yeah. Please warm applause to them.

(1:14:58 - 1:15:11)
你幸福了! 你幸福了! Okay, that's all for this part. Take a seat. And now it's getting interesting part.

(1:15:11 - 1:15:30)
We are going to. We are now seeing a very interesting and beautiful video. Are you ready? Can I have a better way? Yes.

(1:15:30 - 1:15:53)
Okay, now it's a very exciting moment. Please enjoy what a beautiful time that we spent together for this few days. Louder.

(1:15:53 - 1:17:29)
Can we start from very beginning again? Louder. Louder. Louder.

(1:17:46 - 1:18:05)
And now. Yes. Excellent.

(1:18:06 - 1:23:19)
Now. Yeah What a wonderful Yeah We are at the hotel I Oh All friends here, have a good day, have a good trip home! Thank you Welcome back, this is Katerina And this moment marks the completion of the main in-person teaching program of this course Let's be grateful in our hearts and in our minds to Geshe Michael Roach, to all teachers, to organization group And now I invite you to take a quiet moment of some reflection Please bring to mind one thing you are taking with you from this course Maybe one insight, one feeling, or one intention You may keep it in your heart, or if you wish, share it in the chat Thank you for being part of this journey And at the same time, the path continues through our online activities, including rebroadcast sessions and shared practice If you'd like to share a question or a reflection from this course, a form will appear in the chat And you are very welcome to use it Please still stay connected with us In about two and a half hours, we warmly invite you to join the yoga session and continue practicing together May the teaching we received support our lives and benefit many beings Thank you for being here