Olé '87 #5

The transcript discusses the symbolism and significance of various elements in a meditation practice. It mentions the representation of Buddha essence, the challenges faced by artists in depicting certain aspects, the importance of meditation on books and female wisdom, the role of Bodhisattvas and their attributes, the protective power of Mahakala, and the inclusion of all beings in the practice. It emphasizes the importance of compassion and taking difficult people into the practice. The transcript also mentions the visualization of a tree as a representation of enlightenment and the act of taking refuge. So you may also just think of one Buddha being like the general Buddha essence which is sitting there. So behind the tree is something, on the branch going out behind is something which the artists always have a lot of problems with. You know it's not a problem for us because the mind can know around corners. I mean we can know things we can't see. The mind isn't linear, it can know things from behind, from every side, it's easy enough. But the poor man who has, the painter who has to work within the dimensions, ordinary dimensions, he's always in a problem. Because when he's going to build all these teachings, you know, to put all these teachings, he has to make something that's so big that it sticks out, you know, somewhere behind the tree, the foliage, with all the lamas in it. Because people can't see it otherwise. And there they usually wind up putting a little, the corners of a little box up here, you know, which is like symbolizing the big amount of books which are behind. That's usually how it comes out. But actually with us, you know, we can meditate on a lot of, we can meditate on a lot of books. We can meditate actually just on three books. There are Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana books in that order on top of each other. We can meditate on one single book, you know, being the essence of it all. And we can meditate on something that I think is nice, because the whole tree I think is a bit gentleman heavy, you know, too many gentlemen, not enough ladies. And that means that we can meditate on the prajnaparamita, a beautiful golden lady Buddha sitting on the front, you know, in the posture of meditation, or exceedingly beautiful sitting on the three books, you know, behind. And this is nice, you know, this female aspect, which is always good to bow down to and get inspiration from, right? And it's also something, you know, it's always, it's also a deep meaning, because that is expressed, highest wisdom is expressed through the female aspect of the universe. And the highest intuitive, the highest constructive wisdom, that's the men producing cars and machines and stuff like that. But the highest intuitive wisdom is the lady wisdom, the female essence in it. So having her behind, you know, sitting on that, you know, is also really important. Very, very great blessing. And then here on the other side, from the, for the Karmapa, it's the left, for us when we look at it, it's the right. There are the different Bodhisattvas. And here there's sometimes 11 Bodhisattvas, and that means the eight Maha Bodhisattvas. The eight Maha Bodhisattvas, that's Krishnagarbha, Ananda, and, you know, a whole lot of others. But very often you will just see three there. And these three are like the most important of the Bodhisattvas. And that is Chitrasi, being the compassion of all the Buddhas. It is Jampa Yang, or Manjushri, with the sword, being the wisdom of all Buddhas, cutting through all ignorance and confusion. And it is Canavaja, being the power of all Buddhas. Now, he may be more or less peaceful, you know, he can be really powerful, you know, arms and legs like this, totally expanding and immensely powerful. Or he can also look like he feels a little bit in love, you know, with Lord Chakravarti, not having less of a punch for that reason, you know, but really, you know, he can be more or less peaceful the way he looks, but he is the condensed power of all the Buddhas coming in there. So you may have the eleven, meaning the eight Mahabodhisattvas, and then three members of your main center, you know, the center where you learn something, three closed Dharma centers, which you really learn something from. You can put in there, it is representing all the working ones, all the practicing ones. Or you can take the three, Shenrezi, Chanada, or Jampa Yang, or if you want to condense everything down, so it is not too much to think of, just take Shenrezi. Just take, you know, the right Buddha there, because compassion is most important, right? Strength alone, you know, can be useful and can be destructive, and wisdom alone can bring happiness and can also bring problems, but compassion, you know, you can't go wrong. You can't. It is sentimental and sloppy, but you can't go wrong, right? So actually, you know, compassion is the most important one, it is the, so that is the one we usually concentrate on. So we now have the central tree with that concerning, everything concerning the blessing. We have the branch outside that is giving us inspiration, the Yidams, we have the branch to the right, showing us what is, Buddhahood, timeless essence. We have the books behind, with the yellow lady, with the yellow prasna paramita, highest wisdom lady on those, which show the, show like the way, the path, that which brings us there. We have the Bodhisattvas here, which show us the helpful influences of the universe. You will see after having taken retribution, you will see first the moments, and then you will see as a constant experience, that there is a lot of energy out there, working for you, I mean really working for you, protecting you, helping you, showing you things, so that you can develop, giving you things that you need, so you can really become rich. And there that, and that is the four branches, the central trunk and the four branches. But there is also one thing underneath, and this thing which is underneath, is like a blue black cloud, you know, vibrating energy, sometimes you hear hum, pei, and sounds like that, sometimes you see teeth, hands gnashing, and hands are showing flames, and lights shoot out, you know, and very very powerful, you know, blue black vibrating energy field is there. And this is where the Mahakala lives, this is the protective power, this is the ability to act, and do things in the world, and keep away negativity. They are not part of the Yidam, they are not Yidam. No, no, they are protective. Yidams you identify with, protectors you keep outside and take care of. I only know one who has encouraged Yidam, and that is myself. To everybody else is a protector. He is generally a protector, I mean, when you meditate on him, you don't melt together with him. You do the Mahakala Puja, you know, and he dissolves in space, and promises to stay with you, and he stays with you always. You know, there are rascal forms that are Yidams, like Dr. Korma, for instance. In some schools, there is a triangular dagger, that one. Yeah, that one, that one right over, you know, this one can be a Yidam, it's often a Yidam in our school, in Nyingmapa school it's more protector, in our school it's more Yidam, you know, a little bit different there. But, Mahakala, as far as I know, I'm the only one who has this one for a Yidam, but not usually given. So, it's a protector, then there is a four and a six armed Mahakala, is also there, the Mahakala ladies, there is Ekasati, or Nasoma, who takes care, who protects the deepest teaching, there is Shambhala, giving us what we need, there is Mayim, there is Therinma, giving long life, you know, there are all the different forms here, lots of different forms are here, that will show, that will really manifest the different Buddha qualities, all the different, yeah, activities. So, instead of being on branches, they're kind of energy, yeah, they are like a field of energy, hanging underneath, you know, they're like protecting the tree. You have the tree up here, like this, and then underneath, as you know, it's this blue black cloud, with lightning shooting out, and plants, nothing, sound, powerful sounds, you know, and so on, really, which are, which are giving all the, which are giving all the energy, and the blessings, coming out like that, and that is a lower one, it's not one of the five branches, it is a toilet, which is underneath, and protecting it all. And, on the left of them, is the, are the practicing ones, the Sangha, and at the foot of the throne, are all the protectors of the Dharma, each one, surrounded by an own kind, so every Mahakala has an ocean, of other Mahakalas around them. So, this was what we meditated from, this is how we begin, we begin with having the lake, and having all this, then we go on, at the brim of the lake, or at the, I just want to call it, at the edge of the lake, on soft springy green grass, we and all beings stand, all our form, who have all been our lives, our mothers and former lives, as many as the sky is vast. So now we have the object, that we are concentrating on, being full enlightenment, in the form of the tree, and then now, we are coming to, we are concentrating on the ones, who are taking refuge, and that's all beings, as many as the sky is vast. We, and that, you know, we can think of enemies, and friends, and people we like, and people we don't like, and people having trouble, and so on. And it's wise to take enemies, and difficult people into it, because it will change the relationship to it. It really will. When Hannah and I went out to Tibet, you know, or went out to Nepal, to do our first time, do our first practice here, then there were a lot of people in Denmark, who were just waiting to be enough, at one time, in one place, to, you know, have a little chat with me, because I was, I was in big trouble, and so on. So, and when I came home, then I did a hundred thousand prostrations, thinking of them all around, and so on. And when I came back, they had all become my best friends, and helped in building up, in Buddhism, in Denmark, and so on. All the people, you know, who were, with whom we were not so popular, because, we've been pulling out parties, they've been giving, you know, doing all kinds of things. With, you know, they'd actually become friends, so don't hesitate to take difficult people into the, into the practice also, you know, just keep them there with you, and do a lot with them like that. So, with the one point in mind, we let the thought of taking refuge, and the enlightenment mind, arise inside us. And the thought of taking refuge, you know, that's clear that, you know, we're not always in the state that we want to be in. And the bodhicitta, or the mind for enlightenment, or the enlightenment mind, what does that mean? Well, it actually means the understanding that, if we are confused, and in trouble ourselves, we cannot do enough for others. That's actually what it means. It means that we see that we need to learn more, in order to be able to do it. And so for that reason, we want to do the bodhicitta, the wish to reach enlightenment, for the good of all beings. And then, this then is the visualization, all this is here, everybody is here, and then we first make a short prayer, and then we come to the frustration themselves. And, here it is, I and all living beings, as many as the sky is vast, take refuge in those, whose being is the union of the body, speech, mind, qualities, activities of all Buddhas, in the three times, meaning past, present, and future, and in the ten directions. I told you what that means. And who are the origin of the 84,000 different teachings. Except that all the teachings of the Buddha, in their totality, are 84,000, you know, this is the amount of teachings that he gives. And who are the lords of the whole noble Sangha, who are the masters of the lords of the whole noble Sangha. We take refuge in the precious, or compassionate, root Lama, and those who belong to the lineage. This is what we say first. And then, now we are at that, which we will repeat, you know, many, many times, while we do the frustrations. I mean, as we heard then, frustrations are total practice. They involve body, speech, and mind. I mean, everything is in them. It's not just, you know, something physical, like Hatha Yoga. It's not just something mental, like meditation, because, I mean, as we saw yesterday, then if you try to sit down and meditate, you usually don't. You chase thoughts, you know, that's what you do, or you're all over the place. So, you know, it's not so much, it's not so much a question of... So, we employ everything, we do reality, body, speech, and mind. Everything we do is, again, towards what we want to do. The mind will concentrate as well as possible on the trees, remembering what it is. The speech will repeat the six lines, you know, that we take refuge with, as well as we can. And the body will do the persuasions as well as it can. And if we have the three things together, body, speech, and mind, all concentrating in one direction, we will, after a time, see a lessening of thoughts. We will see an increase of special moments of blessing and experience, especially when we don't look for them, or don't expect them, or don't want them to happen, you know. In those moments, when we let go, we will see more and more things coming up naturally from the mind. So, what we'll be saying here is, Palden Lama, Dhamma Namna, Chöpsin Chö. That's the first linage. In all the radiant and holy Lamas, we take refuge. Yidam Chil Khor, Jhi Lhatsa Namna, Chöpsin Chö. In all the many aspects of the power circles, or of the Yidams, we take refuge. Or, power mandalas of the Yidams, we take refuge. Somjhe Chönden De Namna, Chöpsin Chö. In all the Buddhas, the victorious ones, we take refuge. Dhamme Chö Namna, Chöpsin Chö. In the noble Dharma, we take refuge. Phagpe Gendun Namna, Chöpsin Chö. In all the noble practitioners, we take refuge. And then the long one. Pao Khandro Chö Chöng, Sungne Tso, Yeshe Chi Chendang, Denpa Namna, Chöpsin Chö. In all the brave ones, the Dharkas, and the Skywalkers, the Dakinis, Khandromas. In the many protectors of the Dharma, having the wisdom eye, or the eye of wisdom, we take refuge. So this is, these six lines, Pao Gendun Namna, Dhamme Namna, Chöpsin Chö, Yidam Chöpa, Dina Chöpa, Namna, Chöpsin Chö, Chöndi Chöndi, Khandro Namna, Chöpsin Chö, Avandro Chö, Chöndi Namna, Chöpsin Chö, Avandro Chö, Gendun Namna, Chöpsin Chö, Pao Khandro Chö, Sungne Tso, Yeshe Chi Chendang, Denpa Namna, Chöpsin Chö. Like this, we will be more or less unfolding the mantra. It will be going while we do the prostrations. And here, Edita, who was here a long time ago from Hamburg, she actually discovered a way, tall, red-headed, you know, close friend of mine, you know her. I mean, she discovered a way of working, which is actually very useful for learning the mantra. And that is that in the beginning, you do one prostration for every line, Pao Gendun Namna, Dhamme Namna, Chöpsin Chö, Chö, Chö, Chö. You don't do the G letter Namna, Chöpsin Chö, like this. So you make a prostration, a full prostration for every line. And after you've done a full prostration for every line, then you begin to remove the synchronicity between it, so that the mantras, the six lines, they come by themselves, by their own power. The prostration comes by their own power. And so that everything, you know, becomes limitless, like an ocean. It floats out, it becomes limitless. It is not blocked or hindered by anything anymore. It's not staccato, stiff or anything, but it really becomes the opening of body, speech and mind. And this is, you know, the practice that is, I advise you to do. The main of these practices in order to clean the channels in the body, in order to develop the strength, in order to remove all kinds of hindrances and so on, we employ this very powerful physical method. And it actually works in the way that we, you know, that we actually slosh up and down through our bodies, you know, the energy. It's like, you know, making an autobahn, like, you know, steamrolling, steamrolling all the different, you know, steamrolling the ups and downs and the rolls and the all the stuff in your mind, in the body, you know, into a clear, into a clear path where one can, where one can function if one wants afterwards. People should be able to, you know, I mean, to take the energy up here if they want to think or have something to their body, to transfer it here, if they want to say something, they should take it here, if they want to dissolve things in open, clear space and see them in a round way, take it to the neighbor for artistic ability, take it to the lower center for all kinds of energetic and powerful activity. People should be able to, you know, work their body the way a, you know, race driver will work his car or a violinist will get the finest sounds out of a violin, you know, this would be the idea. But usually, people are not capable of taking the energy from center to center like that, it's blocked in the top, it's blocked in the bottom, you know, something like that. I mean, people are not really developing the whole way. Actually, we are, you know, we have five umbrellas in the body, of energies going out, we have 72,000 inner channels in the body, all in wisdom nature, having an energy inside and which is a joy and activity nature. I mean, we are, we are all Buddhists, we have the whole system of the Buddha inside us and we don't use it. You know, every one of us has the whole, the whole set of nadis, of inner energy channels that the Buddha has. The only difference is the Buddha uses his, he has full power and full juice, you know, full power on the system. While we don't have, you know, we block it here and there, we don't use it. So, these frustrations is really the way of, you know, evening out the obstacles and the hindrances in the central path, you know, so that we can take the energy wherever we want and our body becomes the tool it should be, you know, the tool for giving beings to love, you know, and strength and stuff like that. Really the method, you know, for making our body into something really useful. So, this opening up and developing and so on is what happens through the physical frustrations. So, we do those. At the same time also, we do the concentration. We hold, you know, as well as we can in front of ourselves either the idea of this picture or something like that. And there we may, if we are capable of holding the whole thing at the same time, that of course is fantastic. I remember the first 100 frustrations I did, you know, that it was just hanging there. It was really amazing. But it's different, you know, at whatever time it comes, you know, that it's good, you know, as much as possible to have it over your head and so on. You just have this as a living thing. Oh yes. Yeah. It's OK if it's as simple as being home or the church. Sure, sure, sure. I mean, it's, you know, you must do what you can. I mean, there are some, I can tell you about your childhood home, you know, the place where you grew up and you were a kid. I may, you know, and some of you will have a picture and some of you won't. But you'll all have the feeling of it. You'll all have the feedback of it. You'll all remember the smell of pancakes and your mother was doing this, you know, whatever else, you know what I mean. You'll all have flashings and experiences, you know, putting yourself into that mind space. It's the same with all this. Visualize is actually a wrong word because it means visual, it means seeing with the eyes. It's got something to do with the eyes, which is a mistake. Of course, it's not the eyes that see anything, it's the mind that knows. I mean, the eyes don't see anything that isn't there, it's the mind that knows. So, if you know, by the way of pictures, you do that, then that could be useful and you have something to hold on to. And if you know, by the way of abstractions and being aware of the different things, that is good. That is all right. It's good like this, it's good like that, it's good the way you want. Yeah? One of the things that I find helpful when people get started is when they're also just doing one line of these translations, focus on that part of the tree rather than solving it. Yeah. That's right, I agree with that. And very useful. Try to have a feeling of the total tree, but, you know, as you go from one line to another, focusing on the line on the yidam, on the buddha, on the sangha, like that, on the protected, and then again on the lama. I mean, try to do it like that. That's, that will help you. And as I said, if it's just one point to concentrate on, that's also all right. If it's just one of them, you know, that's also perfect. Now, that I do in Tibet. You know, it's just as easy, it's just as easy to do it in Tibetan. And, you know, we all do. I mean, that's one point. You can read up to that in English. But, what concerns the Tibetan, then... Would you explain a little more? Would you explain a little more why? I think other people might have a different opinion. Why is it so important to do that for, in Tibet? Well, it's because everybody does it in Tibetan. And that means that once you do it, you are on the same vibration level and the same blessing level as thousands of other people doing the same thing. It means that you're, the, you will actually be helped and benefited by all the similar, the many, many similar vibrations of that which has been put out into the world. It means you enter a pool, and by entering the pool, you have the benefit of the whole pool. There is, you know, I mean, on very fine levels of realization and understanding and so on, there are like consciousness pools, there are mantras and stuff like that, which are there and which you will meet and you will get into and that you'll be able to work with. Is that what the water symbology means? Oh, that's possible. I never thought of that. I thought that was just, well, it's the uncreated, it's from that, that from where everything comes and then it's got a little, got a little animus in it. But it could be, you know, it could be, I mean, the tree is a symbol, that's a symbol of life and everything like that. The lake could very easily be, yes, if you make sense to you, you can think of it like that. Oh, yes, I have some here, they have some over there and some, do you have anything? Yeah, they're up here, you know, if you like. Right now, we'll put everything up here on the altar like that. Now we're coming to the frustrations themselves and please don't, you know, our Europeans are staying a little bit in the background because they are. They have just been doing a couple of thousand a day and, you know, it's too much, you know, we want to let it, we just come from a course in Denmark where we did a lot of frustrations. But we want to build it up so that everybody feels good and that nobody sprains any, you know, stomach muscles or anything like that, you know. The whole thing comes naturally and easy. So somebody should be using this one and I should be getting out of the way. Where's my wig? So we've come this far with the text. We have to open up to you sister, family, and in this way, in no way stain this totally faultless and noble family. This is what we said ourselves. Then for the benefit of others. Today, in front of the eyes of the whole refuge, I have invited all beings to reach Buddhahood until then to have happiness. You gods, half gods, etc. be happy. And then a short wish. May the precious enlightenment mind be awakened in those where it hasn't already been awakened. Where it may not be destroyed, where it has arisen, but grow evermore. May I not be separate from the enlightenment mind, but follow the path of the Bodhisattvas. May, through the help and support of the Buddhas, I avoid all bad actions. May all that the Bodhisattvas think for the benefit of other beings become fulfilled. May all living beings have that bliss which the protectors wish them to have. May all living beings have joy and may all unhappy worlds be closed and empty for always. May all the wishes of Bodhisattvas on whichever level they are become fulfilled. May all living beings have happiness in the cause of happiness. May they be separate from suffering in the cause of suffering. May they not be separate from the greatest happiness which is totally without suffering. And may they rest in great equanimity without attachment to some or ill will towards others. And now, the Refuge Three Discourses. More and more into the Karmapa. And from the Refuge Three, the protectors, dissolve into the Bodhisattvas, they dissolve into the Dharma, they dissolve into the Buddhas, they dissolve into the Yidams, and the Yidams dissolve into the Karmapa. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now the Karmapa himself becomes rainbow-like and he shines straight into our hearts right now. And he mixes with us the way water runs into water and becomes one thing. And we stay in this state now of no difference and no separation from it. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. Now all the other Buddhas and Karmapas are dissolving into him. And all thoughts and feelings are fantastic just because they happen. For no other reason than that. Because they show the perfect nature of the mind. And this is now the state we'll keep. We'll keep this state of just having arisen in the form of a Karmapa. The Buddha we love the most in a pure land. That we are right now here. That everybody around us has the Buddha nature. And that everything has the nature of purity. And we now wish that all the good experiences that then will become limitless. That they must come after all beings everywhere. That they may remove their suffering and give them the only lasting joy. The joy in knowing their minds. The joy in being able to touch a simple pure nature. The joy in teaching a mighty path. The joy in sharing the Dharma. The joy in becoming a Karmapa. So I'd say I didn't want to work it too hard in the beginning. Later on you'll be doing it individually. And now having a good body is a blessing. But having a body that isn't very trained or has some troubles is an honest thing. I don't want any of you to hit yourself harder than you can. It's not the idea. You're not a sports team. And there's no competition going. And if your body screams so much with pain in the knees, in the stomach or anything else like that you will not be able to concentrate very well. That's how simple it is. So for that reason, do what you can. Don't be lazy. Do what you can. But on the other hand, look for the signals of the body. And if it's too much for you, then you should stop. I don't want you to work yourself too hard. Those who start running often come into the goal walking. Those who start walking often come running to the goal. It's like that. So don't force yourself too hard. You know, do something. Doing is the whole essence of being here. That's why we're here. Because we know that these methods work and we think they're important and we want to take part in it. But on the other hand, don't overestimate yourself and don't hit yourself too hard. I mean, a bit of pain is all right. It's educational. A bit of pain is always good. But I mean, not too much. Also, pushing your borders, your inner frontiers is good. But don't push it so hard that things fall apart. You know, nothing works anymore. So, I mean, do as well as you can. So, this is what we'll now be doing a couple of times every day. And actually, more and more, because this is an introductory course, you will be getting into the point where you want to do it and you do it when you want to do it. I mean, you will be making the periods of the frustrations probably longer and longer because it is a good place to do it. But I think you should try to be... I think you should take benefit of what's here, you know. Take as much benefit of it as you can. You should try to have socks for your hands to slide on. You know, this is murderous what you are doing. You know, they're screeching your hands when they go on the floor. Yes, don't do it. I mean, you have to be there somebody to caress and be kind to afterwards. But I think you don't want hands that are like big, but you want hands that are big, smooth and so on. So, I mean, try to... I mean, get something for your knees so you don't hurt them. Get something for your stomach so that you're not pulling the heat, the cold off the floor because then you'll be going to the toilet all the time because that's the result of that. And then get something for your hands to slide on, and then you'll really grow up. And also, European girls, they are professionals. I mean, you see how they do it. They're really, you know, they are really good there because they're running a lot and their style and the things that they're using is what I actually advise them to do. Something for the knees, for the stomach, and then something for the hands. And it's easy to get, you know, and it's something you can really get hold of. I mean, it's hard work. You know, the first ones are not so hard. The last ones are hard. The last hundred thousand are hard. They're still there. So, you know, you just want to be professionally well-equipped for a long voyage and a lot of work. So, then, after that, we will be doing the gorgeous seminar or meditation. And I just want to know first if there are questions to anything that we've been doing here. You know you touched three points, right? You touched top of your head, signifying body, throat, signifying speech, and center of the chest, signifying mind. And then you fall down. You're good. That was a good idea, doing it from your knees. It's an excellent idea. Yeah, sure, please. Do it like that. It's an excellent idea. I'll tell you, you know what a horsepower is? It's the ability to lift 75 kilos, which is 160 pounds, in one second. Right? So, that's one horsepower. That's what is a horsepower in your car, you know, when you check your car. So, I mean, you're developing a few horsepower here. You know, you really are. You're lifting a lot of weight very quickly, you know. You know, many times. It's just that you know you're doing hard work. It's harder work than digging and most other things in illustrations. Everything is constrained, the muscles, every part of you. So, be well prepared. Yes? What you're doing is, most people do. We advise getting small hand models of 27 beads. And because they fit your hands. Look at Peter, he's got one here. And every time you stand up from the frustration, you click one bead, one notch, like that. And when you have the 27, then you push a dime from one place to another, or a cent, or something like that. And then you do that, you do that, around and around. Then when you've been four times around, you have a miler, when you've been 40 times around, you have four, ten milers, and so on. That's the best way. If you try to manufacture some of those, or get hold of some beads, because that's useful to you, because the big ones, they slosh too much, you know. Well, there is a practice which is done in Tibet, where you do, in order to complete that practice, you do 111 rounds. Of those, I think you, because you are busy and everything, I think you are pretty good at doing that. I think your first aim should be 11,000, doing that. And then, when you have the 11,000, you should think that you have finished the first step, and then you put 100,000 on top if you can and want. But don't think that if you didn't do all 100,000 that you failed, or anything like that. Start with 11,000 as your goal, and then when you have the 11,000, then, and you feel good about it, and you want to do more, then put 100,000 on top of it. This is what I would do. How many did we just do? We probably did about, we did 6 times, we did about 36, or 42, I'm not quite sure how many. We came out to about 80, yeah. We came out to 80? OK, we did more. You lose track if you don't, I didn't count. We did about 80. I wasn't counting. I just thought that maybe we did 6 repetitions, and there were 6 syllables for every repetition, but we did more. Most people will err in the other direction. Most people will err in the direction that they do less than they thought they did. I would certainly err in the other one, if I do more than what we did. But anyway, that's why we usually count them, because then we know how many we did. We usually count them, because then you have a feeling of understanding. And 100,000 of those, you can be sure of certain things. You can be sure that your body feeling has changed. You can be sure that your body has become a kind of instrument, something you can work with. You can maybe develop power of blessing, you know, that you are more aware and your hand can, you know, benefit beings like that by touching and giving, developing, and kinds of things. But anyway, surely you will do something to the flow of energies in your body and make more change. How do you learn how to pronounce words? Well, they're written down. We try to help them. They're written down. Yes. Yes. Is there a tape recording of that done slowly for people to learn? That would be a big help. Prior to that, I do. I have my East-Tibetan Wobbles dialectic. Yeah. Good. Yeah. There's a difference between reading it like I read it and think that it sounds completely different than what you say. Okay. Okay. Then that's good. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. 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Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. It's good, isn't it? Every guru drinks. Is it? Then you have the calories back in again. So, Yidam, what does it mean? Well, actually, basically, I mean, in my own case then, Lama, Yidam and protectors are more or less all the same. You know, they are all the kamma in different forms. And it's important to see the Lama as the Yidam as the aspect of the Lama's mind that is the closest to us and that touches us the most. This is really the right way to see the Yidam. But, also, there will be Yidams that you feel more attracted to than others. You may find, you know, that a white form, white peaceful form is especially satisfactory or a united form or a wrathful form may give you something special. I mean, by looking at it, by hearing about them, you'll probably feel more attracted to one thing than another. You will just feel that one thing is right and one thing is not so right. That, you know, you'll just feel that you get double benefit. I get Peter and you at the same time. No, that's fine. Now, Yidams, you know, there will be a certain form that you'll feel especially close to and especially attracted to and that will then be one that will have benefit from practicing. My own main Yidam in the Karthi school is Demchak Parma. The blue gentleman Demchak Parma, Chakrasamvara Vajravarahi, I mean when you use the Sanskrit terms. It's a blue gentleman magnificent gentleman holding a red lady in his arms and her legs around, the way she entwines them may be different but also the way he stands may be different. He's half wrathful, intented. You see, holding her, standing like this and holding and she'll either have both legs around or this leg will come down and this leg will be around him, you know, and he'll be holding a forger and a bell crossed like this around her back and she'll be holding a chopping knife in the skull bowl up here to the sides around this and they're in union, you know, and there'll be flames and light and energy coming out around him like that. And this is, this is our main Yidam. This is the most important one we have because it gives us that which the Kachi way is meant to give. It gives the experience of space and joy at the same time. This is like the highest, this is the goal of our way, you know, this ultimate realization is space and joy in several, you know, space and joy is one thing. Demchok or Chakrasamvara and Parmo or Vajravarahi. They're the main ones, yes? No, OK. It felt like something you felt good about. There's another one also that is very much used that is for those who like Chinrizi very much. You know, there is a red Chinrizi in union with same Dorje Parmo sitting in union with him and she is then holding again the chopping knife and the skull bowl around his neck and he is holding his forearms. This arm will then hold a Dorje usually. Not a Mala like the white Chinrizi but who usually have a Dorje. Then there'll be the two hands which are held around her like this and then there'll be the left hand with the lotus again. So this is also a very important Yidam with us. Most important is Demchok Parmo. There's also Chidorje or Hevashra which is a very famous old Yidam, very much used. It was Martha's special Yidam. There are eight arms on each side, each holding a skull and each of these skulls is holding, is containing either an animal or an element, you know, something which shows the different qualities, you know, the steadfastness and power and so on, you know, which is held inside the skulls. Then there's one, another, well maybe I should really tell a little bit about Yidams. Would you like to know? Because then I give you the whole thing. Well, when the Buddha taught there were three basic kinds of people who came to him. I mean that's the three basic kinds of people we have today. There were the desire types, who always know what they want. There was the anger types, the ones who always know what they didn't want. And there was the confusion types, the ones who didn't know what they wanted and didn't want. And these people, you know, exist on three different levels. There's an ordinary level, you know, where they are receptive to ordinary teachings and ordinary explanations. And there the Buddha would teach the desire types to be aware of impermanence so they wouldn't get too attached and to share the good feeling that one can't help getting to know if one is a desire type, one will be getting pleasant experiences all the time. So, that would be one of the things. Another thing for the anger types, the Buddha would tell them to think of all beings when they get old, sick and die and all the suffering that they'll have in order to diminish their anger, in order to develop some compassion and good feeling in them. And concerning the confusion types, he would tell them not to think too much, not to have too many ideas, not to speculate too much, but to rest with and be natural with whatever is there. So, these three types of people, you know, the Buddha would teach. And on the level of Vajrayana, he also taught these people, but there he didn't teach them with ordinary words, he taught them indirectly through the different phases of meditation. And here on this level, the desire types, he taught the kind of tantras that we call the Mother Tantra, where Demchok Pamo are actually the most important of the Yidams. And the meditation wise that he taught was one where the building up phase was not very accurate or not very detailed, where one wouldn't be getting into every detail, but instead one would very quickly go to the sweet experience of union, which is what desire people like. They don't care if everything is there, they just want to know that it feels good. So they, you know, they go into the so you quickly go into the state of union and you stay for a long time feeling the sweet bliss of being the Buddha and being one with the Buddha and having that whole state. This was what desire types were mainly taught. And when anger types came, then he taught what is called the different Father Tantras, where the main Buddha is called Sangwa Dupa or Guhyasamaya in Sanskrit. And there is Sangwa Dupa or Guhyasamaya, the meaning of this meditation, the way that this meditation works is that one is that one makes a lot out of the building up phase, the first concentration phase. And this is something that, you know, anger people like. They want to be sure they don't get cheated, they want to be sure everything is there. So there would be a lot of concentration on the building up phase of the meditation, knowing what everything means, recognising that everything is there, while the mixing phase would be kept very short because angry people would say no thank you, stay away, down my back you know, they don't like something like that. So anger, you know, the mixing phase would be relatively short while the building up phase would be long, the exact phase would be long and the sort of jovial open up phase would be relatively short. And then there would be the third kind of tantras, which are the non-dual tantras, and there the two phase, and that would be the Buddha gave against ignorance, stupidity, and there the main Buddha is Kalashakra or Dunkar, that many of you have probably heard about, you know, because a few years ago everybody started giving initiations into Kalashakra. Kalvin would say, Holiness Dalai Lama, all people suddenly started giving those initiations. Probably in connection with some things happening in the world and some shifts of consciousness or something like that. But anyway, you know, everybody started doing it. And this Kalashakra initiation this is especially against stupidity and there the building up phase and the mixing phase are equally long but all the time during the phases one is being told what to concentrate on. All the time during the phases there would be something so that the mind won't run away. There will always be some object some understanding, something to concentrate on. So in this way the Buddha taught actually basically the same transformation of the feelings just in a more coarse, ordinary way, like through words and explanations do this and don't do that, and through a very deep psychological direct way of concentrating on certain forms that bring about a certain openness and experience inside ourselves and the removal and mixing together with them and experiencing their nature and ours to be the same. So there was really, you know, there was the Buddha taught the ordinary level of watching out for simple not to do and then he taught the absolute level which is that of seeing one's own mind as different kinds of Buddhas which will evoke in us a certain kind of psychological response and experience. This was how the teachings were given. And this is what the Yidams are. The Yidams are in that form which is like the most accurate mirror to that which is potentially possible inside us. And there the different Yidams will correspond to the different kinds of feelings and potentials that we have. And I mean our lineage, the Karchi or Karmaka is a family lineage. I mean we have close relationships. We have close human relationships. Many of us fall in love with each other. We get very close personal bonds. Very close direct friends. In one way or another our thing is very close. There is a very close connection. There is a lot of hugging. It freaks out people here. But that is the feeling of the family. It's like a family feeling. We are people like that. And for that reason because we are mainly desire and wish people, people who are motivated by what we like, then something like the lineage of Parma is the most important of the Yidams for us. Most of us get enlightened that way. While with the Gelugpa who are always three steps apart and checking what the other one is doing more like school, not so much like family. There you know the main Yidam is Kalashakra because that's the transformation of ignorance. And in this way we know also that we especially Chenrezig people you know concentrate on Chenrezig on compassion and they are very much Manjushri people concentrating on learning and understanding and stuff like that. So all the different Yidams and methods and so on are given which are given have the ability to make us notice or make us aware of one thing or another. Ultimately when we get enlightened that's it. I mean that's the same but the ways that we go and the methods that we use are very different. And there I can tell you that in Tibet our school was not big. I mean we didn't have political power we didn't have big places like Lhasa and the Potala and so on. We didn't have much of that. But we always had the greatest number of realized yogis, of highly enlightened ones. Sukha, Chuningha together you know the way we work together were always great great numbers of you know really holy people. Not holy because they'd read all the books and could explain everything but holy in the way that everything inside them functioned. That there was no up and down anymore, no hope and no fear no attachment, no aversion, no necessity to prove or disprove anything. I mean people where everything functioned. And these kinds of people we've always you know been very you know produced in great numbers. So even though we didn't have the great universities and the great schools we had a lot of realized beings. But this always sounds insane I don't know if I ever managed to say that in a completely neutral way when I say it then most people will say ok this is the best and so on. But actually what I mean when I say that I just want to say I'm not you know of course I have my own limits in my own way but I'm not what's that called fanatical or sectarial or anything like that. I mean it's good that there are many different ways because people are different. I mean there should be something for the people who feel in a Kaji way there should be something for people who feel in other ways. Because if everybody has to wear the same hat that's no good. There should be lots of hats and everybody can try on until they find something. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .