Audio
June 24th Audio--Crazy Wisdom
June 25th Audio--Relationships
June 26th Audio--Mahamudra and the Practice of Business
Readings
June 24th
June 25th
June 26th
Online Video
Video from Shanghai teachings, June 25th, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Dalian China, June 2008
We arrived in Dalian after a short flight from Tokyo, and were met at the airport by members of Witway, the sponsoring organization. Everything had been planned and organized, and the teachings went off beautifully, with everyone very concerned with the needs of their "foreign friends". Dalian is a fairly new Chinese city, about 100 years old, but big, with 3 million residents and another 3 million in the suburbs. It's located at the end of a peninsula on the northern coast, so the air is fresh and clean.
The first teaching, on June 19th, was an introduction to karma and emptiness, using a pen and a 100-yuan note as props to demonstrate how you create your world. The time was too short to go into much detail about how to change your karma, so the lamas settled on teaching about the two simplest ways. Here are my notes from that teaching:
The two fastest and easiest ways to speed up karma:
1. Coffee meditation. Geshe Michael spoke of the four hour commute that he made every day for 15 years--when he got home, he was tired and wanted to relax. Instead of sitting for formal meditation, he used the principle that any time you see someone do something good and feel happy, you get 10% of the good karma. So you can just relax and rejoice, and in that way you collect positive karma in a very easy way.
2. If you do coffee meditation you can do it anywhere, because it's just being happy when other people do good things, like giving away money. But then you have to have a plan what you are going to do with the money you make. If you use it for yourself, you kill the karma. So you have to "reinvest" it. If you do a good coffee meditation the karma comes back and stops. If you give money and then get more as a result, you have to give some of it, say 25%, to someone else. Look for a poor or hungry or unhappy person. Wealthy people are often the most unhappy, so they take them to dinner and pay for it, and don't ask for anything in return. So any time money comes to you, take some and give to other people. If you're wondering if it really works, the company he helped to start is the fastest growing in the history of NYC because they shared the profit with poor people.
Readings for day one (Yoga, Business, Love): http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Dalian-19-06-08.pdf.
The audio for day one is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Dalian-19-06-08.mp3;
Day two: Spiritual Partners--How to Find Them, Keep Them, Reach Them
This was a public talk, so it was a much bigger group than yesterday, maybe about 500 people, packed into the ballroom of a beautiful new hotel. Today was also the first day that the lamas' new CD was available, and also a book that Huang Jin made of last years' partners teachings, and there was a big unruly line of people who wanted autographs during the break. Every one of the tour team had to stand together to keep it moving and under control.
The talk was about how to create the karma to have a partner, to keep them, to be happy with them, and finally how to get them to take you to heaven. It's a beautiful teaching, also very hands-on and practical.
From my notea: How to reach the partner. We said the pen is empty, by itself it's just a stick, and pen comes from our mind. A partner is the same. He or she doesn't have any nature of its own, so they are available to be anything. Right now we see them as normal, because we planted those seeds by treating them as normal. If we treated them as our holy teacher, they would become that.
At the beginning it's just pretend. But then the seeds start to shift and one day you will be sitting with them and you will hear them say something very profound, like they are reading your mind, and you will see they aren't normal. Then they switch back to a normal person, but now you know that they aren't normal.
You have to bring out the angel in your partner by treating them like an angel. Then they will start to bless your mind and guide you until one day you see a halo of light around their head. It's the same as the pen—they are empty.
How do you know your partner is an angel? There are three qualities of angels—they love us very much, like their only child; they know your mind so they know what you need; and they have power to send any form to you to help you. If they love you very much and can read your mind and can take any form they want, they must be emanating as someone right next to you, who can push you further on the path. So your partner must be a holy angel, just waiting for you to figure it out. If you honor them and ask them to come to you as a real angel, they will reveal themselves to you, and you give them power to take you to heaven and teach you to become like them—indestructible body of light, nothing but love in their heart, reaching out to help you.
Readings for day two (Spiritual Partners): http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Dalian-20-06-08.pdf.
The audio for day two is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Dalian-20-06-08.mp3.
Day three was about business--how to succeed and save the world at the same time. They said that in order to run a company you need three things: harmony among the workers and boss, creativity to come up with new ideas, and most important--profitability. All of these come from the seeds you plant in your mind. The seed for creativity comes from being happy when others get good ideas, and the seed for profit comes from giving money to those who need it. After you plant the seeds though, you need to nurture them to make them grow fast. You do that in the who, the what, the when and the how of the way you perform the actions. In the end, it all boils down to how we care for others.
Readings for day three: http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Dalian-21-06-08.pdf.
The audio for day three is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Dalian-21-06-08.mp3.
The first teaching, on June 19th, was an introduction to karma and emptiness, using a pen and a 100-yuan note as props to demonstrate how you create your world. The time was too short to go into much detail about how to change your karma, so the lamas settled on teaching about the two simplest ways. Here are my notes from that teaching:
The two fastest and easiest ways to speed up karma:
1. Coffee meditation. Geshe Michael spoke of the four hour commute that he made every day for 15 years--when he got home, he was tired and wanted to relax. Instead of sitting for formal meditation, he used the principle that any time you see someone do something good and feel happy, you get 10% of the good karma. So you can just relax and rejoice, and in that way you collect positive karma in a very easy way.
2. If you do coffee meditation you can do it anywhere, because it's just being happy when other people do good things, like giving away money. But then you have to have a plan what you are going to do with the money you make. If you use it for yourself, you kill the karma. So you have to "reinvest" it. If you do a good coffee meditation the karma comes back and stops. If you give money and then get more as a result, you have to give some of it, say 25%, to someone else. Look for a poor or hungry or unhappy person. Wealthy people are often the most unhappy, so they take them to dinner and pay for it, and don't ask for anything in return. So any time money comes to you, take some and give to other people. If you're wondering if it really works, the company he helped to start is the fastest growing in the history of NYC because they shared the profit with poor people.
Readings for day one (Yoga, Business, Love): http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Dalian-19-06-08.pdf.
The audio for day one is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Dalian-19-06-08.mp3;
Day two: Spiritual Partners--How to Find Them, Keep Them, Reach Them
This was a public talk, so it was a much bigger group than yesterday, maybe about 500 people, packed into the ballroom of a beautiful new hotel. Today was also the first day that the lamas' new CD was available, and also a book that Huang Jin made of last years' partners teachings, and there was a big unruly line of people who wanted autographs during the break. Every one of the tour team had to stand together to keep it moving and under control.
The talk was about how to create the karma to have a partner, to keep them, to be happy with them, and finally how to get them to take you to heaven. It's a beautiful teaching, also very hands-on and practical.
From my notea: How to reach the partner. We said the pen is empty, by itself it's just a stick, and pen comes from our mind. A partner is the same. He or she doesn't have any nature of its own, so they are available to be anything. Right now we see them as normal, because we planted those seeds by treating them as normal. If we treated them as our holy teacher, they would become that.
At the beginning it's just pretend. But then the seeds start to shift and one day you will be sitting with them and you will hear them say something very profound, like they are reading your mind, and you will see they aren't normal. Then they switch back to a normal person, but now you know that they aren't normal.
You have to bring out the angel in your partner by treating them like an angel. Then they will start to bless your mind and guide you until one day you see a halo of light around their head. It's the same as the pen—they are empty.
How do you know your partner is an angel? There are three qualities of angels—they love us very much, like their only child; they know your mind so they know what you need; and they have power to send any form to you to help you. If they love you very much and can read your mind and can take any form they want, they must be emanating as someone right next to you, who can push you further on the path. So your partner must be a holy angel, just waiting for you to figure it out. If you honor them and ask them to come to you as a real angel, they will reveal themselves to you, and you give them power to take you to heaven and teach you to become like them—indestructible body of light, nothing but love in their heart, reaching out to help you.
Readings for day two (Spiritual Partners): http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Dalian-20-06-08.pdf.
The audio for day two is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Dalian-20-06-08.mp3.
Day three was about business--how to succeed and save the world at the same time. They said that in order to run a company you need three things: harmony among the workers and boss, creativity to come up with new ideas, and most important--profitability. All of these come from the seeds you plant in your mind. The seed for creativity comes from being happy when others get good ideas, and the seed for profit comes from giving money to those who need it. After you plant the seeds though, you need to nurture them to make them grow fast. You do that in the who, the what, the when and the how of the way you perform the actions. In the end, it all boils down to how we care for others.
Readings for day three: http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Dalian-21-06-08.pdf.
The audio for day three is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Dalian-21-06-08.mp3.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Japan: June, 2008
Geshe Michael and Lama Christie's teachings in Japan were held at YogaJaya center, located in the stylish Ebisu-Nishi area of central Tokyo, which is otherwise known for funky cafe/bar/restaurants, fashion brands, boutiques, atelliers, and music and art culture. The director, Patrick Oancia, is a very thoughtful and dedicated yogi, and he was quite obviously pleased to bring the teachings to his students in Japan.
Their first talk on Saturday, June 14, was about relationships. The lamas felt that the Japanese crowd was ready for something substantial, so instead of the introductory teaching, they delved into the heart of the matter, and taught from the Goddess Code: the tantric rules for a successful relationship. On the second day, they taught about how to have a successful life, using principals from the business teachings.
The audience was more laid back and sophisticated than the group in Mongolia, but also very interested, and seemed to appreciate the level of detail and actual content to the teachings.
Here are the links for the teachings:
Readings for day one (Goddess Code): http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Tokyo-15-06-08.pdf.
The audio for day one is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Tokyo-14-06-08.mp3
Readings for day two (Yoga, Business, and a Love Story): http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Tokyo-15-06-08.pdf
The audio for day two is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Tokyo-15-06-08.mp3
Link to Scott's Tokyo photos
Their first talk on Saturday, June 14, was about relationships. The lamas felt that the Japanese crowd was ready for something substantial, so instead of the introductory teaching, they delved into the heart of the matter, and taught from the Goddess Code: the tantric rules for a successful relationship. On the second day, they taught about how to have a successful life, using principals from the business teachings.
The audience was more laid back and sophisticated than the group in Mongolia, but also very interested, and seemed to appreciate the level of detail and actual content to the teachings.
Here are the links for the teachings:
Readings for day one (Goddess Code): http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Tokyo-15-06-08.pdf.
The audio for day one is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Tokyo-14-06-08.mp3
Readings for day two (Yoga, Business, and a Love Story): http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Tokyo-15-06-08.pdf
The audio for day two is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Tokyo-15-06-08.mp3
Link to Scott's Tokyo photos
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Mongolia! 2008
Mongolia is a beautiful place and the people are lovely. Many of our crew felt an unexpected closeness to the land and the people who came to the talks. The first teaching was held in the big circus pavilion in the middle of Ulaan Baatar. Geshe Michael and Lama Christie gave away 500 copies of the new Mongolian translation of the Diamond Cutter, and the stage was mobbed. The publication of these translations was sponsored by Erdene Zuu Monastery, with sales to benefit the monastery, and it was translated by our old friend Batbold Baast, who also translated the teachings. The whole program, including a preliminary yoga demonstration by Ven Nyingpo and Jessica Kung, was broadcast live on Mongolian television.
Day one reading: http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Mongolia-10-06-08.pdf
The audio for day one is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Mongolia-10-06-08.mp3.
Erdene Zuu Monastery website: click here.
Second day--June 11th, report from Christine Sperber: "Tonight was the most unbelievable teaching from Geshe Michael and Lama Christie. Filmed on national Mongolian TV, we experienced a historic event - as a female Lama was introduced as the Angel, along with the highest teachings of Buddhism--how you can reach the highest in one ifetime. The response of the audience was unbelievable. So many lives were touched in the auditorium - and this was filmed for national TV. It was a teaching on Spiritual Partners again - and it was breathtaking."
Day two reading: http://www.dmes.org/pdfs/Mongolia-11-06-08.pdf
The audio for day two is available at http://www.dmes.org/audiofiles/Mongolia-11-06-08.mp3.
Follow this link to Scott's Mongolia photos.
Link to Worldview writeup of Mongolia events
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