“The present is always an interdependent manifestation of everything else. The future cannot manifest the present. It is not so easy unless you are enlightened. But the past always manifests in the present. “
“So when you get bored, you just do meditation okay? Just sit. Boredom is very good. Get boredom, loneliness, it is a blessing in disguise. As far as I am concerned. I feel so good when I am alone. Yes, I do retreat alone. I feel so good. Yeah, loneliness is a blessing. Yes, but not the negative loneliness, you know. It is just perfect, subject object all become merged into one. No conflict. Maybe a bit too comfortable though, no challenge.”
“We have to follow the essence of Vinaya…Then we have to uphold the Bodhisattva vow to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. If we did not manage to uphold this lineage, then the Bodhisattva lineage we are not able to serve. So it is very important always to have Bodhicitta in the centre of everything based on the Vinaya vow. Vinaya is like a foundation. So without the foundations, everything that we build on top is not stable and so therefore, Vinaya and then Bodhicitta.”
“Samaya means, guru samaya is teaching pure dharma according to the lineage to the disciple. Disciple samaya is to practice the pure dharma that they have received from their guru according to the pure lineage. That is the samaya. So, we have to maintain the samaya. It is like a great stupa which holds the relics of 10,000 Buddhas. The base Vinaya and then, inside the central pillar is bodhicitta and all the different levels and everything else is samaya. And altogether, then it will shine for all sentient beings. Whoever is touched by the ray of this light will have awakening of their Buddha insight. Each and every one is the temple of Buddha. Your essence is Buddha. So you are the temple of Buddha. “ 12th Tai Situpa, Wisdom for a Meaningful Life (Day 2)
Introductory summary
Here is a report summary, with a full transcript of Day Two (10th January 2026) of the Wisdom for a Meaningful life teaching given by 12th Tai Situpa in Borobudur (see below but also downloadable as a pdf file here: Wisdom for a Meaningful Life Day 2 transcript 12th Tai Situpa). The livestream video of the teaching is here. Like Day One, it is only lightly edited (not re-written) for errors, to keep close to Tai Situpa’s voice/speech. Next, I will write up a report of 12th Tai Situpa’s Maitreya empowerment and also the connection of Buddha Maitreya to the Tai Situpa lineage. I will then compile them all into a small e-book for the Borobudur event.
On Day Two of the Wisdom teaching, Tai Situpa considered the difference between belief and superstition, saying that:
“If we have that issue then in the teaching of Buddha everything is explainable, everything is questionable. Questioning is encouraged and also there is an answer. So this way, all the so-called superstitions if we go deep enough, if we experience them, then each one of them can be explained then it is not superstition anymore.”
Other topics included:
- What a meaningful life is and “dying smiling”
- Suicide and fear of dying
- What we need to take up and abandon
- Wrong livelihoods such as selling drugs, which he said is extremely negative.
This is one of the wrong livelihoods that the Buddha cited, others cited include butchery, killing animals, trade in poisons, intoxicants, in humans and weapons.
There was also a brief discussion of the importance of “social skills” publicly. This was interesting to me, as ghosting and not responding to sincere concerns or Dharma questions, especially without any explanation, is not a considerate or polite social skill and makes people feel rejected and isolated from a teacher or community.
Tai Situpa also gave an outline of what he termed the “four destitutions” or what might be also called “impoverishments”: 1) destitution of morality, 2) destitution of conduct, 3) destitution of view.
Tai Situpa then considered four wrong perceptions:
- Enjoying the suffering of others giving examples of gourmet delicacies such as “dancing shrimps” and small mice that make “three squeak” noises when eaten alive.
- Seeing what is impermanent as permanent
- Seeing limitlessness as a limited “I”
- Excessive arrogance and pride in one’s achievements or self
Tai Situpa also spoke briefly about ensuring the Buddha’s teachings have a long life, not a short one. As well as the three kāyas, Dharmakāya, Sambhogakāya, Nirmanakāya and a short OM AH HUM (vajra recitation) and their connection with the three kayas.
The talk was light-hearted and humorous at times, but also serious moments. And like Day One, not an academic, scholarly teaching on emptiness, but one for a more general public audience, many of whom may not have studied or even practiced much Mahayana or Vajrayana Buddhism.
Hearing about the “dancing shrimps” and “tsik mouse” gourmet food was disturbing to hear, similar to when lobsters are boiled alive. However, as the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa has taught a lot about recently, and why he took a life time vow not to eat slaughtered animals due to compassionate as well as Buddhist reasons. Because the suffering that animals undergo while being bred and caged and killed to eat is horrific too. Athough people cannot be said to be enjoying it (although it is said that many slaughterhouse workers sadistically do so), the turning away from looking at their suffering when buying meat (hidden in supermarket packaging, or sometimes not hidden as in places such as India) is unethical and also not aligned with Buddha’s teachings on not eating animals. Yet, many so-called Buddhists think nothing of tucking into a plate of meat for their food, even at Buddhist teaching events!
May this summary and transcript be of benefit to the teachings, to the long-life and activities of HH 12th Tai Situpa and the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa and 9th Gyalton Rinpoche, to all qualified teachers and practitioners and to sentient beings in general. As the final meditation of Tai Situpa says, may al be beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering and may they have bliss without suffering.
Music? Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears.
Transcribed and written by Adele Tomlin, 22nd January 2026.
Wisdom for a Meaningful Life teaching by HH 12th Tai Situpa (Day TWO) Borobudur, Indonesia
TRANSCRIPT
“So this talk is about wisdom for a meaningful life and wisdom and life were briefly defined yesterday. Today, we will focus on the meaningfulness of a meaningful life, and how to make our life meaningful. Meaningful of course can mean positively meaningful, negatively meaningful, and also just in the middle, like a limbo meaningful. There are many kinds of meaningful but we are focusing on positive meaningfulness. That means it is impossible to have a meaningless life, but that meaning should be good or positive. Although there are countless past lives, there will be countless future lives. But for us right now, this life is most important and precious because we are living this life right now the present life. Therefore, it is imperative for us to make this life positively meaningful.
So, when we focus more on the present life, it does not mean we do not have to acknowledge and appreciate and deal with our past lives because everything that happened in the past, they are not redundant they are very much alive and it is functioning right now. For example, if our parent’s build a big house and we are living in it and then everything about that house, the location, the land, the spirits there and also the forces, everything is not redundant because of the past, because of the past it is a life. It has a forceful impactful right now. So this also we should not forget about our past life and focus on present life. That is that not possible. Truly honestly that is not possible. So then you might ask me if that is the case how can I acknowledge my past life? How do I know what I have been in my past life etc, etc?
I understand but it is obvious we have our past because without a past how can there be a present? Impossible no logic, so continuation of the past is the present and then how to acknowledge how to figure out you do not have to work very hard because you can get it wrong so anything in extreme like obsession then it is bound to get it wrong.
So therefore, just relax and you know how you feel you and happened in your life from long as you can remember from which age you remember until now how things went for you and then the reason for why things went that way. You can trace superficially back to that stage. But that stage has also passed. There is a past forever and so this way then we should have enough intuition, enough common sense to somehow know that there has got to be a reason for everything that happened in my life until today.
The byproduct of what happened in my life, this life until today, that shapes my perception my feeling and the pros and cons. But then we have passed beyond this, let us say cause and condition cause and result interdependence, in this life. So it has passed so you have to somehow make an intelligent wise decision, to have an intelligent and wise belief.
Belief, superstition, and reasoning
I say why is it a belief? Because many times just belief amounts to superstition. Superstition there is no such thing as an ultimate superstition, but you cannot be ultimately superstitious impossible. So, superstition also has a base, it also has reasons and base ground.
People say when somebody says something nonsense people say “oh that’s baseless” yes? But there is no such thing as a baseless. If you really use your Buddha inner wisdom, there is no such thing. So that way it is it is always an interdependent manifestation of everything else. The future cannot manifest the present. It is not so easy unless you are enlightened. But the past always manifests in the present.
And at the same time, we have to know what is the definition of superstition. The definition of superstition is a kind of believing in something and when you ask then the believer cannot really explain logically and philosophically. That is superstition but for a person who is superstitious for that person it is very important part of their life. So that way, definitely there is value for those people. But then when it comes to the teaching of Buddha then everything that we cannot really understand and in American way of saying, we cannot wrap our head around that subject.
So if we have that issue then the teaching of Buddha everything is explainable, everything is questionable. Questioning is encouraged and also there is an answer, so this way, all the superstitions so-called if we go deep enough, if we experience them, then each one of them can be explained then it is not superstition anymore. But we do not have to work very hard on that because there are so many things that we do not have to be, just believe. The teachings of Buddha always should be and can be a believer of the teachings and practices that have clear explanation, clear logic, clear philosophy behind it.
Making a meaningful life and “dying smiling”
So now a meaningful life, the minimum aim for us to have a meaningful life, the minimum aim should be in this life it started at the conception. But we cannot do anything about it now. We are here already, so from this moment until the last moment of our life, which can be 10 years away can be 20 years away can be 50 years away 60 years away. So when that last moment happens then, we should be able to say to ourselves, I have nothing to fear. Everything is okay I have done my best and whether I believe in the next life or not, if there is such thing as a next life, I will be born in a better place than this because I have done nothing to make my next life worse.
So you should have that force to die smiling. I do not mean physically smiling. That is possible. That is possible. But you know in your heart smile. Yes. Lalu and one eh noble lady. I knew her and when she died maybe like 80 85 something years old and doctor told her uh now, you are going to die there is nothing we can do. And then and she laughed. “Yes. The doctor says I am going to die. Okay. And then she told her people, the near and dear ones around and she wrote down all the will everything right there and something for the spiritual for the son, something for the daughters, something for other things because she is a Tibetan who is a refugee in India. So do not have an empire you know like because do not have that much, but she settled everything and then she says I am ready to die okay and then she died very positively and there was no fear, no regret, no nervousness. Nothing so that is one example there. So many examples like that. This shows and proves a sign of living a meaningful life.
Suicide and fear of dying
So, now you might also tell me that so many people are not afraid to die. I agree because uh very sorry to know this and very sad but every day so many people throughout the world kill themselves. commit suicide and uh of course they are not afraid to die. They do that and they wanted to die which is a very unfortunate thing which is very bad for them, very bad for the family, devastating for the family and the near and dear ones terrible. A very bad thing to do but I respect those who committed those things in the past but it is wrong, absolutely wrong. I always tell my friends, if you wait long enough you will die. You know you do not have to do that. Yes, we should not be laughing. But that is true. Then I also know people who hanged themselves and when they found them dead actually their hand is holding on to the rope, to try to free themselves from it. so it was a kind of impulsive decision and then did everything and then it was too late. But they tried to undo it but died yes. There are several cases like that in in my knowledge but the world is so big world is so big so I am sure many of our fellow human beings who commit such thing against themselves they are actually not rejoicing it all the way through. There is some regret in some of them.
I have learned and not only that in a few other cases. Some of them did something with the intention to end their life. Then immediately they called the hospital. You know before they died, they called the hospital and then went to the hospital the ambulance came and taken and survived they survived committing suicide yes so that means it is not that they are not afraid. Definitely not all. Anyway thinking that I can end all my problems by killing myself is with respect, a superstition, a very serious superstition. It cannot be more superstitious than that. Honestly, speaking from my side, I could be wrong but I think I am not wrong. 99% 99 point I am not wrong, I think.
Now the philosophical aspect and also all kind of hypothetical aspect, I think I have addressed now. Technically you might tell me OKAY thank you yes good to know all of that but what can I do to make my life meaningful how should I go about it? Okay.
What to do and not to do
Now in this life we have a capability, we have a good body, we have strength, we have good speech, we can talk and communicate. And above all most importantly, we have a precious mind, which can think and understand and improve the knowledge and then turn the knowledge into wisdom. This capacity we have. So, these capacities and capabilities we should be using it for meaningful way because that makes our life meaningful life.
So, first I talk about the things that you should not do. You should not use your body, speech, mind capacity to do or say anything, think anything harmful for you in long term as well as in short term. In the same way your capacity, your force you should not use to do anything harmful and say anything harmful and think anything harmful to others and which will harm.
So, then another opposite of that is to make our life meaningful. So, your strength, your body, speech, mind capacity, you do everything that is meaningful, that is good, positive, beneficial for you physically, verbally, and mentally for long term benefit, as well as short-term immediate benefit. Do beneficial things, say beneficial things, and think of beneficial positive ways for yourself for short term as well as long term. Yes.
And the same way your body, speech, mind the capacity and force the power to do beneficial things physically and say beneficial words and think beneficial thoughts for the sake of others. So, where you will use your body, speech, and mind for yourself the same way you use it for the others. So now, how can we have some kind of guideline? So first the things that we have to watch out and things that we have to improve and things that we have to evolve. That is why we people so harmful things to themselves and harmful things to others. And people do not do beneficial things for themselves and beneficial things for others. What causes that? So many things of course so many things. to make it workable then the shortcomings coming from let us say destitution. We are destitute, when we are destitute of important, or let us say basics, that will be caused by and due to wrong perception or false perception.
So for destitution we are impoverished, we do not have poverty destitution. And then for wrong or false perception, misconception four of them, we have to identify in our life and then we have to transform them. We have to evolve them, we have to cultivate in a way that those destitutions become ability and those wrong perceptions, we overcome and awaken the right perception, the right conception and so these eight things I would like to share with you this morning and perhaps early session of this afternoon.
Then of course the final part is I cannot go on and on explaining positives and negatives but we have to also know what is our goal in this life. So that part perhaps last session.
So, meanwhile we are waiting for brothers and sisters. I am having little bit of language class. Language is very interesting because that is how humans express what is in their mind through the tongue and use the breath and the kind of sound box over here very interesting do not have and uh then we examine ourselves.
Four destitutions
We are encountering any of them in our life in the past and present. And then we avoid of all of those four destitutions. Also, those four perceptions, then we should rejoice, wonderful. And if we have encountered any of those eight things, which will hinder us to make our life meaningful and also which will really cause us to waste all the great potentials of this life. So,then when we recognize them then we truly transform them, we have to transform them so most of these will be transformed as soon as you recognize them. Then for some of them you might have to put some effort in, because they can be quite deeply rooted into your habit. You can say karma but I like to say habit. So, we have a habitual pattern and sort of developed some kind of negative algorithm then we have to reverse it. And so, this is the purpose why I am teaching these four destitutions. Not destitute in terms of poverty or impoverished. So, four and then there are four wrong perceptions or misconceptions, you can choose which is more, let us say descriptive and an accurate description.
- Destitution of morality and checking one’s own morality
Now the first of the four destitutions, let’s say, or whichever title you like to use. So four destitutions is we are we are destitute of morality and the models in the ethics. Because morality and ethics destitution is becoming more and more of an issue. Because of so many things within ourselves of course but affected by everything around us. Right now we are surrounded by 8 billion human beings. So, 100 years ago about a billion and a half, about a billion actually. If I remember correctly from world status data. I think about a billion 100 years ago. Not more than two, definitely not. But if you look into the Google guruji. Google guruji. Master Google, will tell you right away.
Too interesting. But this is not part of the dharma teaching you know, this is part of the general knowledge. So Google can teach you much better. So what I am saying is because there are more and more human beings around us, everything becomes sharper and sharper, when it comes to the effect of other people’s thinking, other people’s behaviour, other people’s attitude, other people’s expectations, and also other people’s needs and then your own needs all become sharper and sharper. So, this way the destitution of morality becomes more and more of an issue.
I tell you how when you are one family unit, and then another family is a quarter of a kilometre away. Then it is very simple and conducive for everybody to live properly. And morals and ethics are naturally there in those surroundings. Then, when you are surrounded by 1000 family units and in between all of you is just a little road/passage, then you are affected so much that their morals and ethics and your morals and ethics, everybody’s morals and the ethics are affected by each other. So, after some time everybody gets confused if they try to think of morals and ethics. So they just have to be part of the flock and part of the flow of the society.
Then, if the whole society is going on the right direction very good. If the whole society is going on the wrong direction, then you cannot survive, let us say a tide, this huge tidal wave of morals and ethics conflict. So, this is a very strong issue, more and more.
At the same time, because there are so many people, then everybody is exposed to everybody. So we become a very good expert in keeping a very good profile. Because nobody knows easily how is our morals, and how is our ethics. Because we keep positive profile.
Therefore, the definition of this first deprivation, how do we look personally, we look into our own self. How is my morality, my ethics? Not how other people see me. Of course, everybody sees everybody quite nice. Also, we have become socially let us say, educated, so nobody looks at anybody like I do. I look at everybody like this and people just somebody is wearing very funny kind of clothes and walking in a very funny way, and you pretend you do not see. Then when the person went away then you turn and look. And when person the looks back you pretend you are looking at something else. So, these morals and ethics of you, check by yourself. How am I? How is my morality, how is my ethics? Really sincerely, honestly, calmly, check for this. For this, you have to use what I taught in the wisdom, your inner wisdom eye will see.
So when you find some shortcomings in your models in the ethics then you fix it. Soon as you find it then you will be able to fix it because you identify it. And identifying itself is 50% of the correcting and evolving. Then accepting not just identifying but accepting “oh I have these shortcomings now I see I appreciate then”. That is another 50%. So, that means 75% already improved. After that moment another 25% will correct the habit, because we all develop this into some kind of habit. So that will be not so difficult. It might take in some cases, a little time because it might have become part and parcel of your life, in a kind of habitual way. Then to break that habit you have to be, some habits you can break right away. Very easy. Some habits you cannot break right away. You have to slowly, gently, truly have to break through and you have to evolve from bad habits to good habits. Evolve, some right away. But you will know, you will know. I do not have to babysit you.
The deprivation view, now this is actually more elaborated in the second of the four wrong perceptions. The first perception, first misconception in these four, the view is more thoroughly explored. But the view is very important. I will give a very simple example in my life; I work with so many people and many of them are very educated and expert and consider themselves very authoritative in their field.
The ends justify the means?
So I will give you two extreme examples. There so many ways but two example which everybody will understand. Many of them say “the ends justify the means” and many say “the means justifies the end”. These two are opposite, but when they strongly oppose the ends justifying the means, or means justifying the ends, I will explain to you do not worry, very easy to explain. I can see in your face.
So, this is when they seriously oppose each other and then take that as a kind of solid viewpoint, then it is a problem. So otherwise, the ends justify the means, means justify the end, is the same thing it is same thing.
Now I explain okay what is the end and what is the means. So you want to achieve something that is the end result. But to achieve that end result all kind of methods you can use that is the ends justify the means. Some of my friends totally disagree with it. And that saying the ends justify the means is a very bad view.
So means justify the end because what you wanted to achieve always has to be something good, right? Nobody says I wanted to achieve something bad, everybody wanted to achieve something good. And then the means also have to be exactly like that. So, then these people totally disregard and tarnish those who say “the ends justify their means”. These are bad people who say the ends justify the means. But both of them are same, at the end of the day, it is the same thing. Because you cannot expect to achieve something very positive, just softly and gently, that is very fragile, from the beginning to end. You cannot expect that. Sometimes that can happen, but sometimes not. Because to get a good painting, colour painting is too complicated to explain.
Just to get a good calligraphy, you cannot have a white canvas with white ink, you cannot paint anything. So, so then you have to have black ink to paint on the white canvas. The ends and means are two colours is different, almost opposite to each other, but material both is some pigment liquified by water and put some adjacent material in it, and then you can paint. So one is black material, and one is a white material maybe, one is ink and then put water and paint it. So, you cannot have white canvas with white ink and get a great calligraphy. You cannot have a black canvas with black ink and have a great calligraphy. You cannot. So both is correct if they truly honestly analyse and make sure, they know what they are talking about, then it is the same thing. But when they involve some of the ego in there and then they clash, it becomes two opposite viewpoints/schools. Now this view is more elaborated in the second part the four of them. Therefore, I will not go into detail. We will know learn from the wrong perception four, in that we will learn. We need the right perception; we need the right view. We have to overcome the wrong perception.
Those who do not understand Bahasa Indonesian then they get bored and those who do not understand English, they get bored. So when you get bored, you just do meditation okay? Just sit. Boredom is very good. Get boredom, loneliness, it is a blessing in disguise. As far as I am concerned. I feel so good when I am alone. Yes, I do retreat alone. I feel so good. Yeah, loneliness is a blessing. Yes, but not the negative loneliness, you know. It is just perfect, subject object all become merged into one. No conflict. Maybe a bit too comfortable though, no challenge.
Third Destitution: Conduct
Now, the third destitution is the conduct, behaviour. This is of course your behaviour is always there but actually your conduct with other human beings. Of course but let us talk about human beings contact with other human beings. So here, when we do not have the maturity of conduct then we have no idea of how to behave and conduct with other human beings.
So, this way instead of our intention being positive other people due to our conduct behaviour, it becomes a negative effect. So, when it comes to conduct and the behaviour, then it only relates of course relates to you when you are alone but very much important. But we also have to put importance on how to interact with others. Not necessarily by talking, not necessarily by smiling, not necessarily by shaking hands, but appropriate conduct to whom you supposed to smile, you smile. When you are supposed to smile, you smile. When you are supposed to just sit, do not smile, do not smile. When you are supposed to talk, you talk. Do not interfere when others are talking, you know and do not behave in a such way that makes others feel uneasy, kind of uncomfortable physically, mentally, emotionally, they feel uncomfortable. That is not good. That means you are doing something wrong.
So, if I make it little bit let us say, casual then I should call it social skills. Social skills but not exactly social skills, because if you have good conduct, your social skills are natural. So, now end of the day, it boils down to your presence makes others feel positive or negative. They should feel positive. If they feel negative, then you have to correct that. If they feel nothing, that is okay. They do not have to feel positive, not necessarily. But they just feel nothing. It is okay. You should not like. I give example with food. It does not have to be like a super-hot chili, you know, and does not have to be like a super sweet drink. It does not have to be like a bitter drink. If you are just like ordinary water, that is good. That is good. No problem. But then whatever will benefit the others that is how you should really be. So this way, there are many layers first of all, we should be pleasant but in a kind of equanimity level. We should cause others to have equanimity.
Then secondly, after that then we should make others feel positive. We are pleasant, our behaviour our conduct, should be pleasant. Last and finally, is our presence, our conduct should benefit them, should make them a better person. Here the ends justify the means, or means justify the end does not work.
You just have to be a helpful positive, a good person to be around. When you are alone that is another thing. So the view, the morality and all of this will take care of it but when you are with others then what is inside you has to manifest and you have to have inside something good, holy, sacred, pure then it will manifest like that. If you have insight, negative confusion, defilement then it will manifest like that. So, this is the third deprivation and very easy for you to recognize it.
Or you already recognize but everybody all of you and me we all have some corners that need to be cut and some spots that need to be little bit polished. And some edges that have to be ground down, so that we become pleasant and positive, we do not scratch anybody. But Duren, the black pawn, I do not mind little scratch it is worth it. So, once we identify, then we improve and we transform.
The Fourth Destitution: livelihood
The fourth one is destitution of livelihood. So first of all we should know in the samsara in the samsara there’s nothing which doesn’t cause suffering. So therefore, after enlightenment Buddha taught four sentence and after that he did not teach for 49 day and after 49 day he turned the first wheel of dharma in Varanasi and there he taught the four noble truth and four noble truths in 16 level and in these four noble truths, the first noble truth is truth of suffering dukkha. Samsara samsara is the ocean of suffering. So, in samsara we cannot have any kind of livelihood that is not involved with any kind of suffering to yourself or to other beings impossible. At the same time, knowing that, then we have to look at our livelihood how much the magnitude of causing suffering to other sentient beings.
I will go extreme then you will understand what I mean. If somebody’s livelihood is to sell drugs you know drugs then that is negative and negative because you are making your livelihood at the cost of thousands of people’s, let us say misery, every day. If one person becomes a drug addict then the entire family, entire circle of that person gets affected, they all feel so devastated and that person himself or herself who gets drug addicted, their life is almost 100% ruined. I say almost because some people can overcome the addiction, some people not just one or two some percentage of people overcome it, but most of them very difficult to overcome.
Overcome and then lapse back, overcome lapse back. The mental price and cost and damage is so deep, the physical damage is so deep, it is really the worst livelihood. Yes, so I told you the most extreme thing. Then you think of all the other things. And best should be a teacher, a doctor. So, my gurus and my masters are above. Okay.
Next to that are my doctors. Because if my doctors have not done what they have done for me, I will be gone. I will not reach the age 10. I will be dead before 10 years old. So, that is a wonderful blessing and wonderful livelihood they conduct but still it is samsara. When I have a stomach problem you know then my doctor will give me medicine and my stomach is good. Yes. How did that work? My stomach has a problem because so many viruses, so much bacteria and that is the problem not one, not two, not 10, not one family, you know, millions and millions and millions of them. My doctor gave me medicine, I took it, killed them all. Yes. So that is the nature of samsara. You cannot get well from stomach problem by waiting for all the bacteria to die. Yeah. They will eat you first and then when you are dead then they have nothing to eat then they will die. Yes. So, so this is samsara.
So we cannot expect in samsara something that does not involve suffering. But knowing that, the best is to be a doctor, be a teacher, be a good businessman good business woman who give to other people, who helps institutions, who help destitute people. Who makes the environment better who makes things because they have the ability to be like this, to be a lawyer but be a good lawyer who really honestly helps people, and be a doctor who helps people. Be a teacher who helps people, be an entrepreneur who helps sentient beings, who helps people like this. Be a leader, be a powerful leader. Help everybody who gave you the power and empower them all. So this way, then the livelihood is all positive in samsara, it cannot be more positive than that.
Ultimately of course, like mother Tara to help liberate all sentient beings to Buddhahood yes that is the ultimate. But we cannot expect that at the samsaric level. So at the samsaric level, as close to that as possible. So that is the fourth deprivation and how to transform it.
So your livelihood what you are doing to make your living and examine it and then improve that best as possible. If you find something which you have to improve, you do not give up everything right away, or you will go bankrupt and I do not want to be responsible for that but what you are doing is something not so good, then you slowly transform that into something positive and do more positive things.
BREAK
This morning, I went through the four disadvantages or destitutions which causes us not to be able to make the best of our precious life and precious potential wisdom and now I will start explaining the four perceptions or views. Now the wrong views and false perceptions, misconceptions. So, these are very serious hindrances and there are four of these, and that is summarizing all aspect of misconceptions then summarized into four principal sources.
Throughout human history, as I told you yesterday. Every hill top throughout the world is littered with broken down, burnt down, destroyed castles. Here not so many because land is quite flat. For example, like in the Himalayas and the other parts of the world like Europe and like that, every little hill has an old broken-down castle which was reoccupied and rebuilt, redestroyed and reoccupied and rebuild like that everywhere. So this is evidence of somebody taking lots of pleasure to destroy somebody’s very important home or castle and so on.
Gourmet delicacies that enjoy seeing the suffering of others
One of my late Dharma gurus, not my school guru, Dharma Guru. Sacred Dharma Guru. School guru is also very important. So he told me, he is no more he passed away, but he told me that certain gourmet food cuisine in a certain culture/area is called three ticks, the sound. That gourmet is a tiny mouse, baby mouse. So they have vegetable some leaves, and they have a baby mouse in a plate, a number of them. Then they catch one and it make it screams tsig that is the first tsig. And then it is dipped into the sauce and then it screams second tsig and then put inside the vegetable leaf, rolled it, put in the mouth, and chew it. Then that is the third tsig. Very important sought-out gourmet food, that is very clearly enjoying the suffering of that little baby, I do not think it has its eyes open yet, So I it is already born, that tiny little mouse. That is enjoying the suffering of other beings.
Myself I have seen with my own eyes in a very expensive restaurant and next the table I saw uh some group of people enjoying a very expensive, I am sure, dish and that is like a big bowl of soup, some kind of sauce or soup with flames, fire flaming on it. Maybe they put alcohol and put fire. So then inside they put a small size shrimp and shrimps are jumping because it is a fire and they call it dancing shrimp. Yes, my friend you know on my on my table, I asked my friend what is this what are they doing? what is that food? They said it is dancing shrimp. So they seemed to enjoy it. I do not think they are bad people, all of these are not bad people but not knowing other sentient beings have mind and other beings also suffer if you boil them alive. There are a million ways to eat shrimp, and that is the worst way to eat shrimp because you are making the shrimps suffer. So that is another example of perceiving others’ suffering as your enjoyment and happiness. But if it is your friend, you are very close to someone, then there might be possibility that you like to say something negative. That category is the first wrong perception in the four wrong perceptions.
Second wrong perception: Perceiving impermanent and permanent
The second wrong perception taught here is perceiving anything as permanent. Because nothing is permanent everything is impermanent. As long as it is something. So when we say something, we mean something dualistic existence. It is beyond impermanent or permanent. And many things like that. But when it comes to always when it is non-dualistic.
For example, paramita, before reaching Buddhahood we reach paramita, and by reaching paramita we reach the first level bodhisattva, then second level bodhisattva, then 10th level bodhisattva, all the way up to the Buddhahood. Each one is limitless compared to the previous one.
Each one has some limitation compared to the next level. So, I will give you very simple explanation. Like you, we cannot manifest more than one manifestation at a time. That one manifestation, we might be able to manifest perfectly for a short time. But not forever, for a short time. Then we reach first level bodhisattva. Then it is a perfect manifestation, perfect at all time but 100 manifestations we cannot even manifest one, perfectly more than few second maximum few minutes. But then something happens in the mind, something happens in everything. So not perfect but Bodhisattva, 100 manifestations at all time perfect. So that is more permanent compared to you and me.
If I am first level bodhisattva, then the wonderful gentlemen here do not have to do the translation in Bahasa. The wonderful nun here does not have to do the translation in Mandarin. Also, I will not need a mic. I have one, two, three or four mics, so that is the proof.
To see my own notes, I have to put on these glasses. To look at everybody I have to take this out and put on these glasses. So not limited, so much limitation. So, do not get disappointed, do not get discouraged and do not get dissolution, because that is the reality.
I tell you do not be disappointed. I am not too bad. I am quite okay. Yeah, I am quite okay. I am not 100% fake. So I am OK we are altogether. Oke. We are a house/shrine full of OK people. So, this impermanence is actually relevant to all of us sentient beings. But this impermanence is not relevant to Buddha. Buddha is beyond, all pervading. All pervading. The Buddha Sambhogakaya, if we have some fortunate condition or realization we will see. But right now we can see up there all the Buddha sambhogakaya mandalas of our lineage. We can see, but truly we can see the Buddha sambhogakaya, if we are little bit purer, a little bit more enlightened.
So perceiving anything health, wealth, any kind of glory, anything. Perceiving anything as permanent is a wrong perception. 99 percent of every single newborn child of today will not be here 100 years from now for sure. Some might be here 101 years old.
So Google Guruji shows us the world map fast forward 1000 years. It is amazing. Just goes like this. Goes like this. Here become bigger. Here become bigger. Here become smaller. Like this, the world map changes and so like this everything is impermanent. And one day, this earth will be engulfed by the sun according to the Buddha’s teaching, and our entire solar system will be no more. And of course, our galaxy has one trillion solar systems. So they will go on and on but some will dissolve, some will be formed, some will die but then space will have countless galaxies. So all will be formed and die. Everything is impermanent, everything. The sun is impermanent, the moon is impermanent, the earth is impermanent. The Ocean part of our earth. It is impermanent everything impermanent nothing is permanent nothing is forever.
Contribution to the long-life of Buddha’s teaching
Our little contribution to the Buddha dharma just consecrated day before yesterday. 100 years from now, I do not know what will be its shape. And a few hundred years from now, trees will be growing here and this building will not be there. But the contribution of dharma teaching that I conducted here for all of you, and in the future all the other dharma activities that will be held here, for 10 years, 50 years, 100 years whatever, all that will contribute to the life of Lord Buddha’s teaching. Lord Buddha’s teaching will last for 2 million year and out of 2 million years only around 2500 year is gone. So it will last practically around two million years. So we will definitely be contributing for the clarity and blessing and wisdom the lineage of the Lord Buddha’s teaching. Yes, Lord Buddha’s teaching will go on. First translate that. Yes, I get carried away. That shows I am not first level. That is proof, hard proof.
The Sri Khatog Mount of excellence Palpung should contribute to according to its inception. It is conceived by the great Situ Penchen in 1727, so 299 years ago. It is non-sectarian, so it should be representing it sincerely purely. Then we know we will contribute to the life of the Buddhism, Lord Buddha’s teaching. We know, we are sure. Otherwise we do not know whether we are contributing, or we are shortening the life of the dharma. Lengthening the life of the dharma, or shortening the life of dharma, we cannot be sure. Therefore, we have to know what we are, who we who are we, what are we? According to that, we sincerely serve the dharma. Then we can be more certain that we will not be the destroyer of the dharma. We will be one who served the dharma and served the sentient beings and contribute to the long life of the Lord Buddha’s teaching. The sangsol of the Lord Buddha’s teaching. Long-life.
So, we should recognize and understand. We should have the right perception of seeing impermanent as impermanent. Okay. So that is the that is correcting and improving the wrong perception of seeing anything as a permanent. Everything in samsara is impermanent. We should see this.
BREAK
I told you that we should be contributing to the longevity of Lord Buddha’s teaching which according to the Vajrakalpa sutra will last for two million years until the bodhisattva Maitreya becomes the Buddha Maitreya.
So in which context Lord Buddhist teaching is alive right now is in Nini Yana. In the teaching the blessing the entire lineage of the lord Buddha’s teaching is alive today. because of all of the great masters who continued it for more than 2500 years without contaminating it, without damaging it, upheld them. So that is why it is alive. So all of the hundreds and hundreds of millions of followers of Lord Buddha, and all of the monks and nuns, all of the masters, tens of thousands of them hundreds of thousands of them, they are all doing their best to keep it alive and keep it full of blessings and maintain the pure lineage without any contamination. Everybody is doing their best. And tens of thousands of monasteries, nunneries, institutions they maintain the entirety of the Buddha’s teaching, the lineage.
We are sangha, that institution that algorithm which is keep on turning and moving and in that our established and introduced this pure vision, the vision is to preserve all essence of all of it together and that is the excellence of all the ninanas all the teachings all the practices all the traditions everything is catalysed and summer and essence we uphold and practice that is our institution.
So, therefore, we have a great honour and privilege and responsibility to uphold the great pure vision of our predecessors. That way we can serve everyone in the Buddhist lineage, knowingly and not knowingly. So, we will be one of the million pillars of Buddha dharma, we are one pillar. So, this way, we uphold the whole thing by upholding this one pillar. Everybody upholds their pillar. So, we uphold our pillar. So the entire thing stays splendid and glorious and alive, and we can benefit countless sentient beings’ generation after generation.
We have to follow the essence of Vinaya. So that is the first of the nine. Then we have to uphold the Bodhisattva vow to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. If we did not manage to uphold this lineage, then the Bodhisattva lineage we are not able to serve. So it is very important always to have Bodhicitta in the centre of everything based on the Vinaya vow. Vinaya is like a foundation. So without the foundations, everything that we build on top is not stable and so therefore, Vinaya and then Bodhicitta.
The meaning of samaya
Then the entire six levels of tantra, kriya, upayoga, is practiced and upheld by tantric samaya. Samaya means, guru samaya is teaching pure dharma according to the lineage to the disciple. Disciple samaya is to practice the pure dharma that they have received from their guru according to the pure lineage. That is the samaya. So, we have to maintain the samaya. It is like a great stupa which holds the relics of 10,000 Buddhas. The base Vinaya and then, inside the central pillar is bodhicitta and all the different levels and everything else is samaya. And altogether, then it will shine for all sentient beings. Whoever is touched by the ray of this light will have awakening of their Buddha insight. Each and every one is the temple of Buddha. Your essence is Buddha. So you are the temple of Buddha.
First, respect yourself as the temple of Buddha. Then Buddha will manifest from within and when you bow to the Buddha you are acknowledging the oneness of the Buddha who was already enlightened 2500 years ago and you who is learning his teaching, to attain the same enlightenment.
Third perception: Seeing our limitlessness not as a limited I
Then, third of the fours perceptions is perceiving the existence of self, when there is no self. Because you and I, all sentient beings, all of us, I just told you, the embodiment of the primordial wisdom as our essence. When we do not recognize it, when we do not know it, and do not recognize it then we become self, I am so limited. There cannot be anything more limited than self. And in fact, our essence is limitless and infinite. So, perceiving our essence is selflessness, limitlessness and so limited as I, that is a very serious false perception.
So we have to recognize the selflessness and limitlessness. Selflessness is complicated for many people because of the linguistic baggage. So limitlessness of your essence. You are not just a limited you. You are limitless future Buddha. So, we are recognizing that is the remedy for overcoming that false perception. And for example, each one of us have some kind of some kind of perception about ourself. “I’m this, I’m that my name, my position, my degree, my achievement, my qualifications etc etc” and that is nothing compared to who each one of us really are. We are the Buddha in the making.
Fourth perception: excessive arrogance and pride
And now the fourth part I really wanted to share some very important part; everything is important but as a conclusion for this particular teaching so we do not have much time. So, the fourth one I just go through briefly but I cannot miss it you know because it is essential. So, the fourth is this inferior thing like my perception of I. Also we have so much let us say emphasis on who I am who we are so it even becomes an ego thing and almost like untouchable. “I’m so important, and so pure, and so superior.” Everybody has this kind of perception in their own level. So this way, it lets us down our false confidence, our false self-esteem, lets us down. So that makes us not everything that we are. We just become one of all the possibilities and all the possibilities are infinite, so held up and so attached to one of the countless things that are our potential.
So, so this way seeing our limited self as the thing and I will hold on to this no matter what that is the last one. So of course, all of us should take a good attitude about our body. Although our body is so inferior materially you know really, without the precious mind in few hours what will be the shape of our body, especially in a tropical paradise. So this way it is so inferior. So it is something so beautiful because the essence of it what lives in it this little home is so beautiful so wonderful, because of who lives in it. Buddha is living in it. This is the temple of Buddha. So, of course we should clean it, we should dress up, we should take care of our looks and we should look nice, clean, and beautiful. Yes, of course. But should not be so obsessed about it.
Like myself, I grew up in India and I developed the habit of taking every day two showers, one in the morning, one in the evening, you know, I want to keep clean otherwise I feel uncomfortable. So, this is okay. This is okay. But you should not be so impressed by yourself and so that self-confidence become ego and then self-destructive. So that is the fourth one, perceiving inferior as superior.
Okay. Now, since I have been telling you all of this, with the intention to fulfil your request to teach how to make this life meaningful. So the wisdom for you to have wisdom to make your life meaningful very simple thing but when you really talk about it is very crucial and deep and I have to be responsible. So that is why I went into some detail. However, because it is only two days per session, I cannot go much detail. So anyway, one last thing that is you are the temple of Buddha.
Body, Speech, and Mind as the three kayas
So, how is your mind the Buddha Dharmakaya? Your speech, your expression everything is Buddha sambhogakaya and your body is Buddha Nirmanakaya not yet enlightened not yet manifesting but as a seed. So truly knowing this it takes basic experience to start. You have to experience the dhimaya sambhogakaya nirmanakaya in you. You know Buddha Dharmakaya, Buddha Vajradhara, Buddha Sambogakaya all the lineage we have 15 and Buddha Nirmanakaya is Buddha Shakyamuni the form is NirmanaKaya so that is up there. Our body, speech and mind is down here, up here, up there and down here. And we have to experience, at least experience, and recognize the Dharmakaya in us, Sambhogakaya in us, Nirmanakaya in us, that will not happen just like that for some people. Yes, not for everybody but everybody can practice this in a very simple way. So that us what I am going to teach you. Very simple way to practice.
Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya in you
Now, first we generate a sincere devotion to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. And then we take bodhicitta and renew our Bodhisattva vow by reciting limitless slogans, four lines each representing four limitless thoughts: limitless loving kindness, limitless compassion, limitless joy, limitless impartiality. So, these four are: generating the bodhicitta, refuge we take by saying already started there in the second line. Then, after that a bit already in four sentence refuge and bodhicitta and after that four limitless thoughts to further establish bodhicitta and generate bodhicitta. That is the first step I think everybody know.
Now you visualize how many of you know Om Ah Hum in Tibetan. Many of you do not know, so now I cannot teach you just now in few seconds. So represented by white light in your forehead OM, AH is represented by red light in your throat area, HUM is represented by blue light in your heart. OM represents the nirmanakaya, AH represents the sambhogakaya, HUM represents dharmakaya, do you understand?
When you visualize you have to really relax and be comfortable. We are not practicing magic, we are practicing samadhi meditation. Just relax. Then we sincerely generate devotion to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and three jewels. You feel the devotion inside, the pure feeling. Then generate loving kindness, compassion to all beings. It is like how a mother feels about her child. How a good son and daughter feels towards their parents. Natural, pure loving kindness and compassion. That purest natural feeling.
Then you radiate light from your OM, AH, HUM to all directions. All the mother and beings throughout the space. countless and beings their body suffering, their speech shortcoming suffering, their mental suffering shortcoming, this light reaches them all, and they all are free from all the shortcomings and sufferings as this light touches them.
Now the blessings of all the Buddhas of all directions receives back to us, in the form of light dissolves into our own light radiates and light dissolves then blessing receive AH. Maintain this blessing feeling sensation. Also, it is not some kind of newly created but it is true nature of our body, our speech, and our mind. Dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya. Now the wisdom for a meaningful life is completed as your request. This is a response to a request from my side and I wanted to make a sincere and pure dedication of these teachings and this practice instruction. Very simple ones for the benefit of all beings of course, and particularly all of you here. So much to dedicate. Then, let us say everything dedicate for everyone.