BDW 6 «Алмазный Путь Арьи», занятие 1

Autotranscript · BDW6, Malaysia, Meditation 1

03.08.2026 / processed with Claude (AI) for Irra / Dharma · Malaysia · BDW6

Date: 8 July 2026 · Malacca, Malaysia · duration 1 h 10 min

Teacher: Geshe Michael Roach

Translation into Chinese: Stanley (consecutive; the Chinese translation was not captured in this recording)

Source audio: ENG/CH Arya's Diamond Way with Geshe Michael Roach - Meditation 1 (July 8, 2026)

⚠ Warning

This is an automatic transcript of the audio recording, roughly processed with Claude on 3 August 2026 by Irra Dzhabali. It is not an authorised record of the teaching. Speech recognition and speaker attribution may contain errors. Please check against the original recording.

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Geshe Michael Roach: Okay, hi, good morning. Mike Hoffman, when you wake up, you're supposed to open your eyes. Just kidding. Thank you for coming. Thank you for waking up.

And here we go. Okay. Usually I don't lead a lot of meditations at these events. But there are some meditations that would help you touch the diamond world. Especially in the system of the sixteen aspects.

So, I'll be leading some meditations this time. Tim said I get paid extra. Two zeros instead of one zero. Okay, alright. Okay, here we go.

So, sit up straight. By the way, it probably won't take a whole hour, probably 45 minutes, but ... Small smile on your face. Forehead relaxed. Eyelids relaxed.

Push your shoulders back a little bit. Pull in your lower tummy a little bit. Dantian, I think you call it in Chinese. Not too hard, but just a little bit. Feet are flat on the floor.

Hands are any way which is comfortable for you. But they should be very relaxed. Then try not to move. My nose is itching suddenly, but I'm not going to move. And then we're going to watch our breath.

I know there's a tradition to watch ten breaths. But in my life experience, I like to watch a hundred breaths. It takes my mind a hundred breaths to calm down. So, we'll be counting 100 breaths. Exhale is the first half, and the inhale is the second half.

My exhale is usually a little longer than my inhale. And everybody's different. But my exhale takes about four heartbeats. And then the inhale only takes about three heartbeats. And I like to use the exhale to imagine my teacher's name.

And this way the breathing has some good seeds. Keep your face relaxed. Try to be quiet for your neighbor. And try to be patient and loving if your neighbor is not quiet. Okay, here we go.

First one is to bring a teacher to meditate with you. So, you can choose a teacher in this life. Or it could be some teacher you had when you were younger. And it can even be a teacher you haven't met yet. But ask them to come and meditate with you.

And they will bless you with their presence. I like to say knee to knee, their knees are very close to your knees. And they feel very happy that you are meditating. So, they're showing you a soft smile. Try to get this picture clear.

It's so clear that you can feel the warmth of their body. Then offer your teacher something as a gift. I like to offer something good I did in the last day or so. Second step is to think of something that you did this week which was not very nice. For me, usually I said something a little bit harsh to someone.

And try to be very clear. When did it happen? What did you say? And then think, if this person is coming from your pictures, then it's pretty crazy to be upset at them. Now, think of something good you did this week.

Most of us have trouble thinking about something good we did. And this step is very, very important. So, take it seriously and find something good you did this week. And be happy about it. Then make a prayer that you learn something new today.

Sometimes for me, this is the hardest preliminary. But just make a little decision that you will be open to learn something new today. And then finally, think about the good people in your life, the good people around you, and make a prayer for their long life. If we don't have the support of good people around us, it's very difficult for us to be good people. Now we'll start the meditation.

This week in the meditations that I lead, we will go through the 16 different aspects of seeing emptiness. And we'll be trying to see how it connects to our Diamond Way practice. And we'll be going in order through your life. So, this first day's meditation, First, I'd like you to meditate for a few minutes. What's your earliest memories about this life?

What are the things that you remember in your life that you were youngest? And just relax and think of... If you can't think of anything, think of the earliest thing you can remember. And then slowly try to go back. And have fun.

And we say, follow wisps of memory. It means tiny, tiny memories, not very clear memories. Try to follow them like smoke back further. And if you practice this for a few weeks, you can find many early, early memories that you forgot. Then you start to reach a special ability called, in ancient Lai Nang, it's called, CHOS RGYUN GYI MTHIL GYIN ZIN (?) CHOS RGYUN GYI MTHIL GYIN ZIN And then you will start to be able to cultivate a special ability.

CHOS RGYUN GYI MTHIL GYI ZIN And you can start to remember teachings you had, perhaps before you were born. CHOS RGYUN GYI MTHIL GYI ZIN So, here we go, and have fun. If you have a memory that's not clear, and maybe you feel like you are making it up, that's fine. Just follow it. Okay, here we go.

We'll be here for a few minutes. Then please choose one of those memories that is connected with a certain person, like I think your mom or your dad might be common. CHOS RGYUN GYI MTHIL GYI ZIN Like, I can remember sitting on the floor in the kitchen and my parents were sitting on chairs at the kitchen table and they were asking me words to see if I could spell them. And then in Diamond Way, one of the most important practices is to try to re-remember or remember those early things in a different way. And we don't have to decide that it's true, but we can just think about what if those people were Buddhists already?

So, what if my mom and what if my dad at the kitchen table were already Buddha? And what if they were trying to prepare me to follow a spiritual path myself? And it could be true and it could not be true, but it is certainly possible. So, try to re-remember, re-remember those early things and thinking that maybe it's possible those people were Buddhists trying to help me. And just enjoy.

You don't have to force yourself, but just think if it could be possible. In Diamond Way, we begin by thinking it's possible. We're not sure, but it's certainly possible. Okay, enjoy and spend a few minutes, and we'll be almost finished. Then, try to imagine that there's a beautiful golden light coming out of this building from all of us.

And that light goes forth and touches all the people. Step by step, it covers the whole world. And each person it touches, it brings them a little bit of happiness. Then slowly, you can open your eyes. Take a stretch, stretch.

We have a little time for questions. Okay, all right, never mind. So, if you have questions. And grandpa's questions are strange. You can ask any question about your dog, or about your sister.

Question from the audience: Okay. May I start, dear teacher? Hello, my name is Aynurna Spekova (?). I'm from ACIM (?). And, teacher, I have a question which consists of two parts.

The first part, you say that you never met any Aryans. But there are some modern philosophers, such as Eckhart Tolle, K.T. Byron (?), Mirza Grimnar Begov (?). And when I read their books, it looks like they had this experience because they use the same words like you do when you teach us.

That's why there is a feeling that they had this experience of touching the diamond world. And I want to explain why it is important for me to understand because there is this second part of the question. When I teach my students, I create programs, and I understand that I need to use skillful means because there are not just people who are ready to perceive our wisdom. There are people with so much agitation, mental afflictions, and I see that I need to use another technique, let's say, psychology, coaching, I don't know, quantum, meditations, etc. And I see that those other innovators and thinkers, they have some techniques, and may I trust those knowledges and insert them into my programs.

Why is it important? Because there are two different things. On the first hand, I see that I need to make new programs. It's kind of diamond mining. It looks cool.

But on the second hand, I'm afraid, I'm scared that I'm doing this Maputo stuff (?) and I'm ruining our wisdom. And I have these contradictions. Could you please explain me how to keep this balance? Because I see that people need new forms of delivering knowledges. Thank you.

Geshe Michael Roach: Good. Alright, good. Oh. Alright. Yes, sir.

Host: I'd like to summarize his question. Because this student has to design many different courses to help new people. He will use the sources of different authors, the sources of knowledge, to make more new friends to get to know the wisdom. But the teacher also mentioned that he has never met any other witness, any other person with no evidence. But this student said that when he was reading another book by a Russian or Ukrainian author, he felt that the language he was using was a direct experience of emptiness.

But at the same time, he was worried that if it wasn't, it would be like making Mapo Tofu and chocolate cake, mixing the two together.

Geshe Michael Roach: Okay, good. Alright. I think one thing about Diamond Way is we have to understand that we don't really know what another person is thinking. Even a person who seems cruel, or a person who is saying harmful things. In Diamond Way, it's possible they are Buddha, and they have secret plan to help somebody.

And we cannot see that plan. So, I would say it's possible that there are many Aryas and certainly many Buddhas. If somebody is a Buddha, they are already an Arya, right? Okay. And so, I would say we never know really who the other person is.

We really don't know. So, maybe it would be more correct to say I never met a person that I felt could explain emptiness correctly from their own experience. And I don't mean every teaching I heard about emptiness was wrong. But I mean there are details and there are subtle points that if you have not seen emptiness directly, you wouldn't be able to talk about them. Then, is there a time and a place when we should teach something which we know is wrong?

If it will help another person. So, I was in a country where when I was young, when I was 20, a hundred years ago, I was in a country where they believed this world is resting on the back of a turtle. And when there is an earthquake, the turtle's stomach is not feeling well. Then, I saw some kids, they were throwing stones at each other. And I told them, no, no, you shouldn't do that.

Then they're like, why? Then I said, the big turtle doesn't like that. Then they're like, oh no. The big turtle will be upset. And they stopped throwing stones.

So, we can use big turtle stories sometimes. And that's fine. But you have to be careful. To move beyond the big turtle when the people are ready, you have to say goodbye to the turtle. Then you can go halfway to correct, which is Einstein and Hawking.

They are halfway correct. There's four famous schools of Buddhism in ancient history. Three and a half are wrong. And the other three are correct. They were all taught by Buddha, and it means Buddha understood that people need more simple explanation, then you can go to more correct.

So, I think it's good to use, like refer to writers who you know are not perfect, but they are helpful. But as soon as you get a chance, keep pushing people up higher. In fact, that's what I'm doing here today, with what we call the Arya's Diamond Way. Okay, we have time for other questions.

Host: I can't really tell you. Okay, so I'll just summarize. Basically, she's saying that she heard your talk on the knowledge base of teaching in 2018, where you mentioned that if people really understand emptiness, particularly the emptiness of the person, then 95% of you, 95% of chance you will not go to the bad places. But if you only understand the emptiness of the object, then you are the rest of the 5%, you will still have the chance to go to a bad place, and you mentioned that, but if you reach the third stage of the second path, then 100% you will not go down. So that's one saying you said, but also on other teachings on the knowledge base, you also mentioned that if people can hear about the teaching on the pen, then they must have collected a huge amount of merit, then they'll be fine.

They don't have to worry. It seems like there's some conflict of these two statements. Okay, good, yeah.

Geshe Michael Roach: So, we're going to talk about it the whole week, and you know when we are in the Geshe course, when we study Lower Middle Way, which is one of the meanings of Boroboromido, Prasna Paramita, we study something called Salam Namsak, Salam Namsak. That's the first book I ever translated. I think 1976, just after you were born. And that means, Salam Namsak means defining the stages at which different understandings come to you. It's very famous that there are five paths in Buddhism.

And they are not five different paths to the same city, they are five parts of one path between two cities. And we study them, and we learn the definitions, and the scriptures say what happens at each stage. And in fact, on Saturday here, we will have a translation class. And we have 12 translators, and each one is doing a different school of Buddhism. And by coincidence, your question is going to come on Saturday.

Because we're going to be doing Tim Lowenhaupt's book. And the nickname for the book is Tim Lowenhaupt's book. And the nickname for that book is Prasna Paramita. And it always teaches what happens at each path and each part of each path. So, roughly, the second path is called jor lam.

Path of preparation. And it's divided into four parts. And in one of those parts, you understand the emptiness of something like a pen. Very clearly. And after you understand that, it's impossible to take birth as an animal, for example.

So, I always tell my ... you want to hear a joke? Alright. So, 19 years in the diamond business, and I use all the money to help my monastery. I will take maybe a few hundred dollars every year.

To buy clothes and shoes. Then twice a year, I will collect all my salary. The company will give it as a donation to our charity. And this way, they get a tax exemption also, and they are very happy. So, twice a year, I have to go in and say, okay, it's time.

And the CFO, he will give me a number. He'll say, this is how much you earned last six months. Then, when you become Geshe, there's a blackmail. You're supposed to give a big gift to the monastery. And if you don't have money, most of us don't have money, you're supposed to go find a sponsor for the monastery.

So, I spent 25 years debating under the Indian sun. Like three, four hours a day. Terrible sunburn. Then I told the monastery, I would like to offer a debate ground with a roof. Because we debate all the time.

We debate outside. Which is a nice custom, especially at night with the stars. Then it's very expensive. So, twice a year, I have to go to the owners of the company and say, okay, give me my salary. Then we ...

I take him out to dinner. And this time, I give a long explanation. You owe me $100,000. But I need like $500,000. And they're like, why?

They're very tough people. Israel people. And they're like, why? Then I said, I've finished my Geshe. I have to offer something big to the monastery.

I need $500,000. Something like that. Then in the diamond business, there's a secret hand language. Like this. And I can see under the table there.

Husband and wife. Then I'm like ... Then the husband said, okay, he said, yeah, okay, we will do it. We will pay for that. To make a fortune.

Then I asked him, you know, you are Israel people. Then you are Jewish people. You don't believe any Buddhism at all. Why do you agree to such a big thing? And he told me, you know, I'm not stupid.

There are many religions in the world. Could be your religion is correct. Then after I die, if I start to go to hell, I can tell Buddha, no, no, I gave ... a donation. So, he said, to be safe, we should give to every religion something.

Okay, so, if the lower Middle Way scripture it says if you understand the pen very well and you die, you will never go to a lower place. And mainly it relates to understanding subjects as opposed to objects. If it's possible, it's correct. If it's possible, if it's correct, then goddamn learn the pen. Okay?

And if it's correct, you don't have to go to hell. If it's not correct, it's okay. You lost a few hours. I support my boss's opinion. If possible, it's correct, I will learn the pen.

Okay, cool? By the way, after you see kongxing directly, which is the purpose of this class, you cannot make any mistake or any more karma for a suffering body. It's not possible. Oh, so Geshe-la, when you see emptiness, then next life you don't have suffering body? No, you still have bad karma from earlier.

And it takes time to wear out that karma. Seven lifetimes. 490 years. Then you say, Geshe-la, that's a long time to have bald head 490 years. After billion, billion, billion, billion, billion years, 490 is not so bad.

And it feels wonderful to know when it's going to stop. It's such a wonderful feeling. Alright.

Host: We only have 12 minutes of the break. So for those of you who do not need to go to the toilet, you can keep on your seat in the venue. For the group leader, please go outside to collect this study material and then give it to your group members. And please be in the venue five minutes early. At 8.

12. Thank you for your cooperation. Dear participants, we have kind of six minutes break or maybe probably nine minutes break. Have fun, relax, take some water, go to toilet if you need and come back in kind of 6-7 minutes. Thank you.