Nov 14, 2012

(By Tsem Rinpoche)

Dear Friends,

A couple of years back I came across a book ‘Dragon Thunder’ written by Diana Mukpo about Chogyam Trungpa.  It was a fascinating book. I enjoyed it very much. I decided to have readings of the book with my students. Around 80 of us gathered and then discussed the book. In the process of the discussion, people raised questions about the Poem “NO” by Chogyam Trungpa. I read the poem carefully and realized it is written from someone with great realizations. I was moved, awed, intrigued and blown away by this incredibly lucid poem yet to the ‘untrained’ it can seem cryptic or elusive. It was like a Terma to me. I don’t claim to understand the full depths of what Trungpa Rinpoche conveyed, but I gave my personal commentary on it. If my commentary is in any way faulty I ask for forgiveness. But I had to explain this powerful poem. It resonated in me very deeply. I wanted to share with others because by contemplating on this poem, your dharma understanding will increase. Your wrong perceptions of the world around you will decrease..

I have never had the honour to meet Trungpa Rinpoche. In some circles he considered very attained. In some circles he is highly controversial. In my mind, I take the middle way and just appreciate his dharma, his works, his dedication to his students and his poem as that of someone who lived his life in dharma, for dharma and benefitting others his way according to time and place. I cannot judge anyone nor do I even assume. I just appreciate his dharma and how he benefitted those karmically connected with him and his teachings benefit me. I am grateful for what he did the best he could with his circumstances.

So I gave a talk explaining his incredible poem and it was recorded. Now Jean Ai listened to the recording and transcribed it. I include the poem and my transcripted commentary of it below.  Please contemplate deeply on the poem..it will help you.

Tsem Rinpoche

There was a giant No.
That No rained.
That No created a tremendous blizzard.
That No made a dent on the coffee table.
That No was the greatest No of No’s in the universe.
That No showered and hailed.
That No created sunshine, and simultaneous eclipse of the sun and
moon.
That No was a lady’s legs with nicely heeled shoes.
That No is the best No of all.
When a gentleman smiles, a good man,
That No is the beauty of his hips.
When you watch the gait of youths as they walk with alternating
cheek rhythm,
When you watch their behinds,
That No is fantastic thighs, not fat or thin but taut in their strength,
Loveable or leaveable.
That No is shoulders that turn in or expand the chest, sad or happy,
Without giving in to a deep sigh.
That No is No of all No’s.
Relaxation or restraint is in question.
Nobody knows that big No,
But we alone know that No.
This No is in the big sky, painted with sumi ink eternally.
This big No is tattooed on our genitals.
This big No is not purely freckles or birthmark,
But this big No is real big No.
Sky is blue,
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
And therefore this big No is No.
Let us celebrate having that monumental No.
The monolithic No stands up and pierces heaven;
Therefore, monolithic No also spreads vast as the ocean.
Let us have great sunshine with this No No.
Let us have full moon with this No No.
Let us have cosmic No.
The cockroaches carry little No No’s,
As well as giant elephants in African jungles
Copulating No No and waltzing No No,
Guinea pig No No.
We find all the information and instructions when a mosquito buzzes.
We find some kind of No No.
Let our No No be the greatest motto.
No No for the king;
No No for the prime minister;
No No for the worms of our subjects.
Let us celebrate that our constipated dogs can relieve themselves
freely in the name of No No.
Let us have No No so that Presbyterian preachers can have speech
impediments in proclaiming No No.
Let our horses neigh No No.
Let the vajra sangha fart No No–
Giant No No that made a great imprint on the coffee table.

~A Poem by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Poems. I’m not a poet of any sort and I haven’t studied poetry, but I’ve studied Dharma a little bit so when I read this Dharma poetry, I get some meanings. Perhaps not the full meaning but I get enough, I hope. And so what happens is, poetry is condensed words and condensed descriptions and symbolisms to help express something deeper. So without being descriptive, poems can be very short but describe something very deep and very profound. So if someone who can write poems, is quite artistic and quite intelligent and also is able to convey something to us cryptically, yet clearly. So sometimes for some of us who read these cryptic type of messages, to us it remains cryptic and un-understood or not much meaning. But for some of us, it hits very deep and it’s easy to remember because it’s put in such a way that it’s so beautiful. The prose and the explanation and the words and the symbolisms and the idea is so beautiful, that it’s very easy to remember.

So therefore Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from what I read, is not only a master poet but also his knowledge of Dharma is profound because he has used the ancient art of poems to express the ancient, ancient thought of Lord Buddha but in very modern, modern terms. Something that’s extremely applicable to all of us who are not in Tibet. Okay?

So what happens is that – his Regent, he manifested unhappiness with his Regent and his Regent was very, very arrogant, and very, very not nice to people, so it’s said. And so Rinpoche wanted to convey something to him very strongly, and Rinpoche took the opportunity to actually use this incident to teach many other students who may have the same problem or affliction. So out of great compassion, Rinpoche patiently trained and groomed and tried to help his Regent, but it didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to. So Rinpoche had to manifest some wrath and show some ferocity in order to put a stop to something that was very bad.

We believe…we believe, in Tibetan system, the highly accomplished tantric masters – highly accomplished, not just anybody, not any Joe Schmuck – highly accomplished tantric masters, when you trust them and believe in them very much and you have this open mind about them, that you just accept, from observation, when they show wrathful action towards you, it purifies tremendous karma. It’s better than pujas. It’s much, much better than pujas. So what happens is, if we don’t cultivate that type of mind and we choose to hold on to our fears and ego and arrogance, then most of the time the lama will not show that type of action towards us. Not that the lama is afraid but you yourself do not allow change. So therefore when the lama shows wrath, in Tibet – highly accomplished lamas, not just anybody – it’s a very, very powerful way to remove the obstacles, remove the problems from us.

Hence you have wrathful deities, wrathful energies. So what happens is, Chogyam Trungpa manifested a lot of wrath and I think that if the Regent had taken his cue and transformed himself and changed himself, I think his destiny or his end would’ve been quite, quite different. A different type of ending. So what happens was, also in some cases, it is believed in our Tibetan tradition that if something is going to happen to us that’s very negative, the lama who is very kind, will do everything he can to avert it. And for him to avert it, he will use methods and apply methods to us that we have to be open to.

If we are not open to it and we’re always closed and we always have this mind, “My lama can only talk to me a certain way, act with me a certain way and behave with me a certain way, and therefore I will accept it,” then the lama will do that. The lama, you have limited his benefit to you. Why? It’s like you want Vitamin D from the sun so you need to…you put yourself in the sun 15 minutes a day. But if you put yourself in a container that’s closed and it only has one hole and a little bit of sunlight coming in, you won’t get much Vitamin D happening over there. So what I mean is, if you restrict the sun’s rays, it’s very difficult for the sun to help you.

So if we have an attitude now that “my lama can only talk to me this way, or act with me this way, or say this to me, or do this to me, and if he does any other way, I will run, I will not cooperate, I will not listen, I will not do,” then hence the problems we have now. Why? Because in the past, we didn’t allow our lama to do anything for us on a higher level. Nothing. So hence we have the problems now. Hence we have problems now, we’re going to have problems in the future. So what happens is, is…“Oh, so what am I supposed to…am I supposed to submit to the lama and therefore I won’t have any problems?” No, if you have the fortune to be around a lama, that’s one method open to you to eliminate your problems and your negative karma. It’s open to you. It’s just like the person who studies with the lama or studies from a book, far away. It’s an option open to you. So if you have that option, it’s through many collected merits.

So therefore what we should do, we should take advantage. Why is it that…we think about it, why is it the little bit of advice that we have listened to from our lama, the little bit of advice, for many of us, we have gained tremendous benefits? We have told people, “Oh I should’ve listened to my lama earlier, I should’ve listened to Rinpoche earlier, I should’ve listened to Geshe-la earlier, I should’ve listened to lama earlier. I should’ve listened and then I got this benefit now.” So if the few times you have listened to your lama and you have got this benefit, why don’t you listen to your lama all the time? So if we listened to our lama in the past and have gotten some benefit, some benefit…some more harmony in our lives, some more acceptance of our problems, overcoming difficulties, maybe overcoming people that we hate, or letting go of some anger, or doing some purification practice or even averting some disasters for some of us – because we listened to the lama, imagine if we totally listened to our lama all the way. So even if our lama has proven himself or herself to us in the past, we still have this mind that restricts his help to us now. So we put our lamas in a box. So if every single person in this room put the lama in a box of how the lama can talk, act, move, function, then the lama cannot move at all. Because everybody’s version of how a spiritual teacher should and should not do is going to be very different. So what happens is, before you even get anything, you have restricted your lama’s spiritual benefit to you.

By what? Your preconceived ideas. So your preconceived ideas of what a lama can do, and cannot do is a very big hamper, especially for students who have already taken refuge. And hence you have questions out there like, “Why does Rinpoche have hair?” It shows you the level of their mind and how it operates. Very, very base. Very, very base. So my point is what? It’s…if we have listened to our lamas in the past, and we have gotten some benefit, imagine if we had listened to our lamas all the way. We would’ve been quite different already now. And in the past if we have not listened to our lamas all the way, that’s after a…I’m not talking about new people who’ve just walked in and say, “Hey Rinpoche, I’m going to listen to everything you say”, no, no, no. I’m talking about people who’ve been around for years. Years. New people, they need to check. They need to check, they need to look, they need to observe. That’s definitely accepted. Definitely. So my point is for people who’ve been around.

Some people can be new, they trust the lama instantly. Why? From many lifetimes of having a connection with the lama. They have a karmic connection, very strong. They have met the lama in a previous life, they’ve done work for the lama, they’ve studied under the lama or they’ve supported the lama or helped the lama in a previous life. So in this life, they have this kind of ingrown faith in the lama. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have their doubts, they have their ups and downs, but basically more of them will support and help and do things for the lama than more of them, inside of them, will not. Why? Because of karmic past connection.

So for some new people, instantly, upon faith…in my case, when I met Zong Rinpoche the first time, I instantly accepted whatever Rinpoche said, upon sight. From that day until now, I have no doubts about Zong Rinpoche, it’s been 20 years. So for me, I’ve experienced that. I’ve experienced it. It’s not fanaticism, I was in America, I was just a kid growing up. But when I met Rinpoche, instantly I knew. What did I know? I know that this person is my Guru. I will study with him and I will be loyal and follow my Guru for the rest of my life. And whatever practices my Guru gives me, that’s it.

And I’ve heard rumours about Rinpoche in the past. Just like everywhere, people say negative things, this and this, doesn’t affect me at all. Why doesn’t it affect me at all? I saw Rinpoche with my own eyes, with my own ears and with my own mind. And I’m more smarter than them. I believe I’m more smarter. Why? Twenty years later, ten years later, I have more results than these people. It may sound like arrogance but this is what I use. I know I know more than them because I’ve studied more than them.

So these people who criticise my lama, or say bad things about my lama, they haven’t studied. They’re not monks. They’re lay people, they don’t know anything. So they say this, I know I know more. So I don’t listen. Why don’t I listen? I know more. It’s like a med student criticising a doctor that’s been in practice for twenty years. You don’t have to listen. So what happens is this, is if our lama has benefited us and has given us advice and even given other people advice, and we can see a benefit and help them, if we have listened to our lama’s advice from the beginning, many things would’ve been different. Many, many things would’ve been different. Why? The lama will give us advice in reference to past, present and our future. The lama will give us advice based on how we are presently, as a result of our past. Meaning due to our past, we have ended up like so and the lama will give us advice to help us with the present, which will affect our future tremendously. Any real lama. ‘Lama’ is just a Tibetan word for teacher. Dharma teacher. Any real lama – listen very carefully, ladies and gentlemen – any real lama, any real lama, will not be so concerned about your life now. Any real lama will be concerned about your death, how you die and where you take rebirth because your rebirths in the future will be much more than this life. Any real lama.

Any real lama that only concentrates on you having a good life now and happy now, and things now, they perhaps don’t know about the Dharma in depth. Any real lama will be looking at this picture (shows hands wide apart), not this picture (shows hands closely together). And any practices they give you may look like it’s a temporary remedy for something now, but actually it’s to help you long term. Any lama will ‘trick’ you into a practice that you think helps you now, but actually takes you into the future. So you may meet a lama who gives you a tsa tsa. You may meet a lama who gives you a tsa tsa of Lama Tsongkhapa. Maybe he gives you a tsa tsa of Setrap. This is to give you a signal of what you should do. It’s to open up something in you.

Maybe the lama hasn’t even met you and gives you a gift. When the lama hasn’t even met you and gives you a gift, the reason the lama gives you a gift is to hook you in to spiritual practice, and to do Dharma practice so you can be happier and transform your mind. The lama gives gifts for no other reason but to bring some blessing into your life. Even the objects you use that the lama has given you, be rest assured that the lama has chanted, done prayers and done mantras and blown on the object and given to you. Why? So that when you touch the object, when you pray, when you use it, it blesses you. How does it bless you? To open up something in you, to go deeper with your life. So if a lama gives you a gift, A) he has to get the sponsorship for it, lamas don’t have money. B) He has to go and buy it, and prepare it. C) When he knows about you, he’ll actually think very carefully what to give you and to affect you. And when he gives it to you, he actually does prayers. Real lamas will do prayers and do mantras, sometimes for days, and blow on the object or touch the object and send the energy over so that when you touch the object, when you receive the object, when you get the object, it’ll be more than just “Oh! I got a gift! Wow, I got a gift, I’m so wonderful!”, you’re like some kind of pageant queen that got your flowers because you won the pageant. But it’ll be much more. What is that? When you touch it and see it and use it, it will open up something inside of you.

There’s no other reason any lama will give gifts. No other reason. No other reason. So therefore when they do this kind of prayer, they do this kind of motivation, they give it to you, when you touch it, when you use it, it might open something in this life now, it might open up something a few years later, it might open up something in your future life. Whatever it is, depending on your karma, it is to benefit you. Definitely it’s to benefit you. So therefore my point is what? If one has a lama, one has investigated and checked, and one has confidence and taken refuge and trust and believe, go all the way. Don’t do 50-50. You don’t go into marriage 50-50. You don’t go into business 50-50. You don’t eat something 50-50. You go all the way with it. Go all the way. Go all the way and make it work. Even some of us go into marriage or business or whatever, and it gets rocky, we push ourselves and make it smooth. Human determination. So if we can make things smooth for normal things, we should make things smooth for our spiritual practice.

And it’s very important to have a lama, very important to have a teacher, why is that? It’ll give you direct experience, direct explanation of experience, direct. It is more than just study, study, study, study. And if we’re very fortunate, if we develop – listen very carefully – if we develop a relationship with our lama, with our teacher that we have met, over time you will see the benefit of what he does for you, over time. Overnight, very hard. Over time. Whatever practices that lama gives you, do it all the way. Whatever meditations or prayers or chanting or deities that the lama gives you, do it all the way. All the way. And then what the lama wants you to practice, you don’t need to listen to people, you don’t need to listen to rumours, you don’t need to listen to hearsay. What the lama wants you to practice, look inside the Dharma centre. Look. Whatever is in the Dharma centre is an indication of what the lama wants you to practice and what paths for you. Very clear. So whatever objects you see in the centre is, one is definitely correct for you. Very simple. So whatever the lama puts in there, that is the plans he has for you. Doesn’t mean it’s the only plans. So it’s very, very important.

Now, when we look at something, when we look at something and we look at it incorrectly, and we act upon that incorrect perception, acting from the incorrect perception brings us untold, unknown, un-asked for problems and difficulties. And when we act from incorrect perception, it not only brings more problems for us and difficulties, also – this is the scary part – it adds to our neuroses. What is neurosis? Fear, prejudice, wrong view, phobias about something that is unfounded. So when we act from wrong perception, when we act from wrong perception, it will increase our neuroses. And the neuroses will…example, if we have very little self-esteem for ourselves, it can come out in many ways. It can come out that we dress and act and do things in such a way that offends people. So when it offends people, we get their attention. And when they look at us and they give us their attention, we feel we’re worth something. And so for the moment, they look at us and we get some attention, we feel we’re worth something but ultimately it adds to our neurosis because after a while, we’re going to have to increase the volume. We’re going to have to do more. We’re going to have to be more offensive, we’re going to have to be more loud, we’re going to have to be more rude in order to get more attention. So what happens is, for the moment we get what we ‘want’, attention. People look at us. People notice us. But ultimately what happens is, we alienate everyone. People stay away and people don’t like us anymore, and we cry. And we’re lonely. And we shout and we scream, and we ask why. So when it adds to the neuroses, that’s the dangerous part.

Highly realised lamas and lamas not just from Tibet my friends…when I say ‘highly realised lamas’, please do not think I’m isolating only in Tibet that we have advanced spiritual practitioners, false. Let me just use that as an example since I’m from there. Highly advanced lamas, when they act out of so-called anger, or sadness, or games, or teasing or playing, they do not increase their neuroses. Why? Because they’re not acting out of self-gratification. So when they’re angry and screaming at you, they don’t add to their neuroses. They don’t collect negative karma. Why? Because they’re not screaming at you to get gratification, that they won, that they stepped on you, that they’re right, that you’re wrong, that “See! Haha!” but they’re actually yelling and screaming at you because you’ve pushed them to the point where there’s no other method. So in that way, highly attained lamas…how are highly attained lamas highly attained? Listen carefully. They think more about you and others, than themselves. And that habit is natural. That’s what we call highly attained. We’re not talking about flying in the sky, or healing people by blowing or glowing in the dark. We’re not talking about that. Highly attained beings think about others more than themselves, and it’s reflected by their action. Everything that they do is dedicated for others, since a very young age. Everything. So they can take robes, they can become monks, they can become nuns, they can be aspirants, they can be meditators, hermits, healers, whatever – everything they do is for others. They don’t hide behind wealth. They don’t collect wealth for themselves. They have no wealth basically. They have no wealth. They have no family. They have no reputation. They have very little possessions. Why?

Because they have not spent their life looking for that or aspiring towards that. That’s how you can tell a spiritual person. Why? They’re focused on others, life after life. Yet whatever they need, they will get. Whatever they want, they will get. They will be taken care of, spontaneously from their karma. From the karma of giving. So what happens is, highly attained lamas, when they play jokes, when they scream, when they shout, when they talk, when they act ‘funny’, it doesn’t increase their neuroses at all. Why? Because they have never acted out of self-gratification. Normal people like you and me, when we act out of these negative emotions, we increase our neuroses. Why? Why do we increase it? Each time we do it, we get a slight gratification so we want more. Human nature or samsara nature is ‘I want more of what I’ve gotten’. So when we want more, the neuroses increases. So when the neuroses increase, the manifestation of the neuroses must also increase. When the manifestation of the neuroses must increase, then whatever we do must be…the volume must be turned up so we become more rude, we become more loud, we get into habituations. And when all these habituations become stronger and louder and bigger, it’s very difficult to cut. That’s why we take vows.

We take vows, it’s on two levels. One is to collect merit to cut the neuroses because we’re taking vows in reference to the Three Jewels. They have power. We’re not swearing to the universe, we’re not swearing to just a chair or a friend, we’re swearing to a Buddha. A Buddha has the power for us to collect the merits and the affinity to cut off our neuroses. So when we take vows and say, “I will not kill from today on, I will not lie, I will not steal, I will not cheat,” if we take those vows, and then we don’t do it, everyday we don’t do it, we collect the merit of not doing that, and that has results. Simply not doing it has no karma. Why? A baby doesn’t kill and lie. But the baby doesn’t collect good karma, the baby is not a saint. It doesn’t do it because it can’t. It cannot. So not doing it or refraining is not spiritual practice. It’s not spiritual practice. So what happens is that when we do actions that create this gratification, it adds to our neuroses. And why do we do actions that create more or add to our neuroses? Why? Because we view things incorrectly. Why do we view things incorrectly? Lack of spiritual knowledge. Lack of spiritual education. Lack of spiritual, intellectual knowledge.

Lack of knowledge leads to wrong action or afflictive actions. Afflictive actions is an action that we don’t want it to be wrong, but it’s inherently afflictive. It’s wrong. So what happens is, for example – people who talk a lot. I’ve come across many times, people who talk a lot and talk non-stop and incessantly, or need to be heard, or without much sense, or that just drives you nuts, they are people that have experienced a lot of neuroses of not getting any type of respect, that people don’t respect them, that people have not seen any value or worth in them, that people have not complimented them or told them that they’re good, so they need to be heard, they need to repeat and they need to talk and they need to talk in such a way that your attention is never diverted away from them. So this neurosis becomes stronger, why? Over the years, it develops into something that becomes habitual. Even they want to control their speech, they’re not able to control their speech, not because they’re bad but because they’ve already gone into this mode, that “Please give me attention. Please give me value. Please give me worth. Please tell me I’m good.” So for what happens is, with these people, we have to be firm and very nice, but kind. We need to listen to them sometimes, and sometimes we need to tell them, “Hey, just get to the point and say what you feel.” But give them their worth, compliment and tell them what they need. Help them. And then, on top of that, teach them the Dharma.

Explain to them where neurosis arises from. Why? They’re highly intelligent people, usually. Usually. So how do we…we slap them down? We don’t slap them down. We understand. So when we listen to the Dharma, we understand where this neurosis arises from, it’s easier to give a remedy. So like that, wrong perception, example – “If my wife depends on me, and my kids depend on me and I’ve got a lot of bills to pay, and if I just cheat the company this one time, it’s not very bad. Anyway, they’re very rich. Anyway, they’re doing very well and it’s not a big deal. And if I just cheat them once, I’ll be alright and then I can do good things. I can even donate to the centre, I can even help for my Dharma centre. So I think I’m going to do this,” that’s wrong view. Why? Why is it wrong view? Because if you cheat the company, you’ll get money, you’ll feed your family, you’ll take care of them but the karma that you receive will be very, very heavy. Why is it very heavy? One, it’s stealing; one, it’s deception. So in the future, no matter how much money or whatever you accumulate, you will either live with money with the fear of it being gone and not…the money will not be a cause of you having peace and happiness, but the money will be a cause of you to have even more anxiety, fears, and a lot, a lot, a lot of sadness. Why? Because the cause of the money was not virtuous. Since the cause of the money was not virtuous, the money cannot be virtuous, the money cannot result in virtuous activity for ourselves and others.

Some families become very wealthy but when they pass it to their kids, it goes down. Even Chinese have a saying, “only three generations”. But in general, my point is what, is if it’s accumulated the wrong way and it’s unpurified, no matter how good it looks, no matter how wonderful it looks, the result will be negative somehow. If our children suffer, we suffer more than them because we observe it. We observe it. So you say, “Well, nothing happened to me. I’m healthy, I’m alright and everything,” but what about your kids? What about your relatives? Maybe your family? Maybe when you die? I’ve done many funerals. I’ve seen how some people have died, their facial expressions. It’s not very pretty. You don’t talk to me about spiritualism and practice and prayer and Buddha and God, you don’t talk to me about that. At the moment of death, the truth comes, how you lived your life. Why is that important? Because that will be the portal for you to take your rebirth. That will be the portal. The opening. So therefore what happens is, from wrong view…from wrong view, we do wrong action. From wrong action, we collect even more negative karma. This negative karma, this wrong act…the negative karma brings more problems. The wrong view and acting it out adds to the neuroses. The neuroses becomes bigger and bigger and bigger. So this whole thing, looking at something wrongly, acting from wrong perception and experiencing the karma and acting from that karma again, this whole thing, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche was saying ‘no’ to.

The Big No. Why is the ‘no’ big? ‘No’ is a negative connotation for saying, “Don’t. Stop. Negate. Cut it.” So the big ‘no’ is for what? There are small No’s. There are small No’s. Small No’s are “Don’t kill. Don’t lie. Don’t steal.” Those are small No’s. Why are they small No’s? Those No’s are small because they’re symptoms of the Big No. Listen carefully. The small No’s are just symptoms of the bigger No. Why? The small No’s are acting of and from neurosis. The Big No is wrong view. Wrong perception. So when we have wrong perception, that’s the Big No. Why? If we stop the Big No, all the small No’s automatically stop. So therefore, Catch-22 – if we cannot stop the Big No, the small No’s continue.

If we keep doing the small No’s, the Big No is alive and well. So it’s Catch-22. So what happens is, we need to, instead of going to the Big No immediately, we go to the small No’s. We go to the small No’s, meaning we stop the actions or eliminate the actions that feed the Big No. What’s the Big No? Wrong perception. Ego. So when we stop the small No’s, it’s like this – it’s like you have a lake and many rivers and tributaries go into the lake, feeding it. If you stop all that, the lake has to dry up. Evaporation. The animals using it. It sinks into the ground, all that stuff. It’ll eventually have to dry up. No rain, no tributaries, nothing – it has to dry up.

Like that, the Big No is like the lake. What is the lake? Ego, me, wrong perception. So the small No’s are the lakes and the rains that refill this lake, and keep it at its brim. So what is that? Therefore Rinpoche took this opportunity…How to Know the No. ‘Know’ is something to understand or to perceive. And then the ‘No’ after that, N-O, is what we shouldn’t do. How to Know the No:

There was a giant No.
That No rained.
That No created a tremendous blizzard.
That No made a dent on the coffee table.
That No was the greatest No of No’s in the universe.
That No showered and hailed.
That No created sunshine, and simultaneous eclipse of the sun and
moon.

So that’s so incredible because it’s saying what? That was a giant No, ‘giant’ means what? The biggest No. So he’s dealing with the biggest No. His opening to his prose, his opening to his poem is, he’s telling you what is the Big No. “There was a giant No” – so from that opening statement he goes to explain “That No rained”. It rained, why? On a symbolic level, on a symbolic level, he shouted it; he made sure you heard it. It was like a rain. When you’re in a rain, that’s it, you get wet, it’s everywhere. So it’s symbolic to a rain where it’s very strong.

“That No created a tremendous blizzard” – what happens during a blizzard, my friends? What happens? A blizzard is something that is so strong, you can’t see past your nose. You get lost. Cars have accidents. You go off the mountain; you go off the path. So a blizzard is something that obstructs your view of your path. So “That No created a tremendous blizzard”, why? Because in this case, in this case, when someone tells you “No, you’re acting from wrong perception”, you get lost. You say, “No but I’m a good person. I’m a wonderful person. I pray. I meditated. I donated. I had a good family, I took care of my kids. Why are these bad things happening to me?” So you become confused. Why do you become confused? Because you’re told the truth. So that truth, because you have not heard it, creates a temporary or a tremendous blizzard.

And in the case of his Regent, Tenzin Osel, it was a blizzard because Tenzin Osel was sitting high and mighty for a while and saying, you know, “I’m somebody, I’m the greatest and you have to listen to me and serve me.” He even built a house bigger for himself than for his Guru. So it created a blizzard, why? Suddenly he became lost. He couldn’t act out his arrogance anymore. He couldn’t act out his big ego anymore. So on a level, for his students, it creates a blizzard. For us, it creates a blizzard, why? We go, “Oh. You mean I’ve been acting wrong all this time?” This confusion is likened symbolically to a blizzard. Why is it a blizzard? Because it makes us stop and think for a minute. Keeps us on our tracks. Very profound.

Then, almost Zen-like, then “That No made a dent on the coffee table” – immediately he brings it down to our ordinary level. “That No (hits the table) made a dent on the coffee table”, that dent was so strong because why? That dent is opposite of what a compassionate, loving, enlightened, high lama will ever act out. We can never visualise a high, compassionate lama being so violent and making a dent on the coffee table. And so strong, it’s like, “Wow. It’s such a powerful statement.” It blows our mind away. Why? Lamas and teachers shouldn’t act like that. So that dent reminds you, why is he acting that way? Because the actions of Tenzin Osel and the people who act like that, out of wrong view, will experience tremendous sufferings. So Rinpoche wants to make a statement, very clear, “No. No, don’t act like that.” It’s not that he’s angry, it’s that he’s showing you the forceful way of saying ‘stop’. Stop.

“That No was the greatest No of No’s in the universe.” – there are many No’s in our universe. Our universe is the way we exist, what we believe, what we come from, what we…our culture, how we’re brought up, what we’re told. So there are many small No’s. But then there’s the Big No, a Big No. The biggest No is not the small No’s. The biggest No is this mind that sees things wrongly, and acts from it. This mind that sees things wrongly and acts from it, is the biggest No. Why? All the neuroses and all of our sufferings and all of our karma arises from the Big No, wrong perception. Wrong perception – A) if I take care of myself, and I take care of myself only, and no matter what it costs other people I will be happy, that’s a very Big No. Why?

Many people today believe that. Many people believe that if they’re selfish, if they take care of themselves, that they’re going to be happy, everyone will be happy, that will be the end to all the problems. But as a result of selfish mind, we have global warming. We have wars, conflicts. All this arises from selfish mind. Even materialism growing and deforestation, and extinction of animals, pollution of the oceans – all of that is actually self-threatening, that comes back to us and threatens our own very existence. But the reason we wanted to have material growth is that we can be happy. But instead of creating happy in their pursuit of material growth, we have in fact threatened our own existence. Where did that come from? The very selfish mind that said, “If I pursue my material happiness, I will be happy, then I can help other people.” But it became wrong, why? Why? Because it actually led to a bigger result, which was, “Yeah, we get what we want, but we destroy what everybody wants” and we’re included with everybody because we’re interdependent. We’re totally interdependent.

So therefore, what is he saying? “That No was the greatest of No’s”, that is what? “That No was the greatest No of all No’s in the universe”. The small No’s are not compared to the Big No. The Big No is this mind that cherishes oneself more than others, that acts from that thought, that’s the Big No. If we…what Rinpoche is saying is that if we solve that Big No, all the small No’s just drop away. If we keep following the small No’s, the Big No will not drop away. It will increase. It will increase. Then it says here, “That No showered and hailed”. ‘Showered’ is strong. A summer shower is very strong. We have to escape from it, we have to seek cover. And hail is even stronger. I mean, some hail is quite big, it can knock us out. So what is he saying? He temporarily knocked us out or temporarily knocked the Regent out by talking “No”. Why? We’re all like, “What? But that’s the way I’ve been taught. That’s what I believed.”

‘That No created sunshine, and simultaneous eclipse of the sun and the moon” – wow. Sunshine why? When someone tells us the truth, it might be painful but if we follow it, things become better. That is likened to a sunshine. And “simultaneous eclipse of the sun and the moon” – the most powerful source of light in our universe is, in our universe, is the sun and the moon. Something that can eclipse that is something symbolic to ancient man and current man. Because no force on this Earth can stop that, but in ancient times they worshipped the eclipse as some kind of god or goddess or something moving in the Heavens. So my point is what is, “simultaneous eclipse of the sun” – eclipsing of the sun and moon is not particularly a good sign. It means covering of light or stopping light. So he’s saying here, it created sunshine and also an eclipse. Why? It’s an eclipse because it blocks out our perception that wrong view and selfishness will create happiness. So temporarily we’re eclipsed, like, “Oh, I can’t… Oh, really?” Like, “My reality’s been disturbed.” At the same time it creates sunshine, why? Because if we realize what the Big No is, things will be beautiful for us. The sun will come out. The eclipse will end. So the way he writes that is so profound because it says it’s an eclipse yet it is sunshine. Meaning if we understand selfish mind brings unhappiness, temporarily it will be very difficult for us because many of the things we do is for ourselves and we’ve got to change. It’s very difficult; it’s like an eclipse. But when we realize that and we act towards that, it will be like the sunshine. Everybody loves a person who thinks about others first, without an agenda.

That No was a lady’s legs with nicely heeled shoes.

In Tibet, women don’t wear heels. In Tibet, women don’t show their legs. They wear boots, and it’s made of animal hide and they never take off their shoes because it’s freezing. They even sleep with their shoes on, in some districts. Okay? So he’s using that for us. What is that? Now he’s talking about the small No’s, the small, small No’s. “That was a lady’s legs with nice-heeled shoes” – when we look at a lady’s legs, in nice-heeled shoes, it automatically connotates sex. Sexuality. Sexual gratification or sexual invitation. We’re not going to look at some football guy’s legs in some heels and say, “Oh, that’s sex.” That’s scary. Right? Can you imagine we put Henry, Henry Ooi’s foot in some heels and say, “That’s sexy”? It’s time to run. But that’s our own perception.

So on “a lady’s leg in nicely-heeled shoes” is a No. What does that mean? We say that that brings bliss. We say that joining that lady brings bliss. We say that being with that lady brings bliss. We say that joining together brings bliss. But actually that is deceptive. Why? The minute we join with that lady, the fights come, the disharmony comes, the kids come, then we work out the rest of our lives taking care of our kids. Maybe they grow up well, maybe they don’t grow up well. Maybe they turn out to be little treasures, maybe they turn out to be little monsters. But once we unite with a lady, once we unite, our freedom is lost, our whole life is dedicated to two or three individuals. Whatever we want to achieve, our dreams, all that is gone. Now we must pay the bills, we must take care of our commitments, we must pay for the car, and we use our life paying for the car, paying for the education, and then end of the life we look at ourselves, with grey hair and wrinkled skin, we say, “What do we get out of that? What’s the difference if I had kids or no kids?” So it’s deceptive.

So that’s using the lady’s legs as a symbolism for lustful desire that drags us down into more suffering. And that’s not focusing on a lady and uniting with a lady, that’s a lady uniting with a man. That is two people uniting, full stop. It has nothing to do with sexual connotation of chauvinistic sorts. It’s not a chauvinistic thing. It is telling you that sexual desire looks very pleasant and looks very nice and looks very pleasing and it will give you a lot of gratification. But actually it’s deceptive because once the Hindi song is over, the Hindi movie is over, and you stop dancing around the trees, and the babies come out, that’s it. The woman becomes fat, the man becomes grumpy, can have affairs, can gamble. The love that you saw, that your beautiful wife, now you tell her to shut up, she tells you to shut up, divorce, unhappiness, kids, burden. Even if you stay together, the burden. Your whole life is spent taking care of one, two, three people. Is that the sum of your life? Is that all you can do? Is that your effort? And then you’re trapped. Because your kids are staring at you. Whatever you want to do is finished. Your dreams are gone, your aspirations are gone. And then you say to yourself, “But I’m happy.” Why? Because no one told you otherwise. Everybody around you say, “If you get married you’ll be happy. If you have kids you’ll be happy.” So that’s deception.

So when he says that “That No was a lady’s legs with nicely-heeled shoes”, what is that saying? A lady’s legs in nicely-heeled shoes is a connotation or symbolism for what? ‘Enter this action and you will be happy,’ he’s saying that’s a No. Next line.

That No is the best No of all.
When a gentleman smiles, a good man,
That No is the beauty of the hips

The “gentleman smiles, is a good man” – what I perceive is this is, how do men pick up women? They don’t beat them over the head with a club and drag them by the hair to the cave. They smile. So, men smile at women to get the woman. And these days, in our group, men smile at men to get the men. And women smile at the women to get the women. So whatever. The smile of a good man doesn’t mean sexual connotation or preference; it just means how we seduce people. That if I smile at you, and you like me, I promise you heaven. So you get involved with the man. People get into affairs, they get involved with married people, they get involved with people who are losers, they get involved with people who were not exactly what they portrayed themselves to be when they first got together with you. So you getting together with them, you were deceived by this good man, his smile. But actually, it was the jaws that made you lose your freedom. So you think about it. It’s deceptive.

That No is the beauty of his hips.
When you watch the gait of youths as they walk with alternating
cheek rhythm,
When you watch their behinds,
That No is fantastic thighs, not fat or thin but taut in their strength,
Loveable or leaveable.

Okay, there you go. Then “that No is the beauty of the hips”, because in ancient scriptures, one of the ways to describe beauty is the hips must be very round and smooth, for men and women. Men’s shapes in the Western society is like that. Men’s shape in ancient Eastern society – India, Tibet – is like this, near, almost hourglass but not exactly. So men with soft, beautiful hips like that are considered very, very beautiful. You see, our idea of masculine beauty, or masculine behaviour, is based a lot on television and sometimes Western influences, sometimes.

So here, if you look at the Bodhisattvas and in the depiction of the Buddhas, sometimes you can’t even tell if they’re male or female. It’s not they’re androgynous, because their idea of beauty is very different. And the enlightened beauty, the result of good actions and the enlightened beauty is different than the beauty we have on this earth, completely different.

So therefore, what happens is that you’re looking at the hips. The hips, and the youths walking and alternating. What is that they’re alternating? Their backside lah, everybody got two backside what. Backside got two cheeks. So when they gait, most of us, if it’s not sagging, it goes like that. If our butt’s not flat, it goes like that. So if your butt’s flat, if your butt’s sagging, it’s not going to do like that, is it? So there’s nothing to look at.

So here what is it talking about? It’s another reference point to how we enter lustful or negative actions due to lust. He’s not talking about the lust, he’s not talking about the action of sex, he’s not talking about the action of copulation, he’s not talking about that. He’s talking about our perception of it and how it brings happiness and that’s what brings suffering. Rinpoche being married and having sex didn’t bring him suffering. He’s died, his reincarnation’s back in Tibet, they’ve found him again. It’s said that if you engage in a lot of sexual action that hurts people, that’s wrong, you’ll take rebirth as an animal. That’s what Buddha said. But he’s back in Tibet, as a human.

So what happens is, when you’re looking at this butt-gaiting, going up and down, gyrating up and down, nicely you know, what is it? It’s another symbolism for us to be attracted, like, “Oh, that should bring me happiness. If I get that butt, I’ll be happy. If I can touch that butt, I’ll be happy. If I can do things with that butt, I’ll be happy.” Then when we do things with that butt, we find out we’re not happy because that butt produces more butts. That butt produces more butts and the little butts are hungry. And then after we touch that butt, that butt doesn’t gyrate anymore, that butt sags, and is looking for plastic surgery. So we got to make more money for that butt.

So what happens is that it’s deceptive, and he’s using that in modern terms. See, in Tibet, you wouldn’t say that, you wouldn’t talk about people’s butt because everybody’s butts’ covered. Nobody in Tibet walks around – I mean, today I don’t know, I’m talking about during Rinpoche’s time. That time, people don’t expose butts, you know, they’re in a cold country, they don’t run around with Calvin Klein jeans, skin-tight. Now I don’t know. So you didn’t see people’s butts in Tibet but he’s using that in the West. Here, look, most of us wear skin-tight jeans. Look at Suzanne. Everybody’s wearing skin-tight jeans and if they got it, it gyrates up and down. If they don’t got it, we don’t look because it’s not deceiving us at all. We take one look, we say, “We understand the truth. That’s a No.” So there are people there whose butts are flat, it doesn’t gyrate but, you know, you don’t have to say, “But you see, but Rinpoche’s a Rinpoche, why does he say that?” Aiyah, that’s just a general example. Deception. Deception of appearance that might bring bliss. It…Madam Chuah’s looking at me like, “What about my butt?” Oh, don’t worry, it’s still happening. Now she’s looking down, she’s like, “Uhhh no, no, I’m not asking that.” But she’s secretly happy, she wants to giggle. You haven’t heard her giggle. I’m telling you, walk up behind her and scare her, go… just tickle like that, with respect, she’s older you know. And then you’ll hear, “Uehhhh!” Oh never mind.

So it’s deception and here you go, “When you watch their behinds, that No is fantastic thighs” – they have great thighs, taut and lean. “Loveable and leavable” – loveable and leavable is wonderful, it’s not the Western terms ‘I love ya I leave ya.’ It’s not that. It’s not ‘Thank you. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am.’ It’s not that kind of loveable, leaveable. Loveable means we’re very attracted and we feel it’ll bring us bliss but actually, if we look at the true nature of it, it’s something to be left. It is something to be left. Why? Because to engage in it will create tremendous amount of suffering for us, and taking away our time, taking away our energy and drain our life. Okay? Then:

That No is shoulders that turn in or expand the chest, sad or happy,
Without giving in to a deep sigh.

“That No is shoulders that turn in”, that turn in. When we’re sad, what happens? We do this. When we’re happy, we do what? We do this, most of us. Some people are constantly like this. Okay? So we do this and do this.

Without giving in to a deep sigh.
That No is No of all No’s.

That’s describing the human condition. How people feel all the time. Their moods go up and down, up and down. Why do their moods go up and down? Because people don’t realize the Big No. Wrong perception. When people don’t understand the Big No, their moods will go up and down, up and down. What I’m teaching you is religion here, what I’m teach you is religious thinking on how to practice to be spiritual. I’m teaching you religion right now, incredibly. No dogmas here, really. Then it says here:

Relaxation or restraint is in question.
Nobody knows that big No,

‘Relaxation’, should we relax, should we just relax? Because people get mixed up, everybody gets mixed up. Relaxation or restraint, there’s a difference. When you’ve understand the Big No and you don’t do something, you’re very relaxed about it. You don’t do it because you understand. When you don’t understand the Big No, you’re not relaxed, you’re restraining. “Oh, I can’t do that, I can’t do this, you can’t do that, monks can’t have hair.” All kinds of stuff. So people who are uptight, they come up with a lot of rules.

“Oh, you can’t practice that. Oh, you can’t pray to this. Oh, you can’t do this. Oh, Rinpoche shouldn’t be like that. Monks shouldn’t be like that. Teachers shouldn’t be like that. Centers shouldn’t be like that. Tibetan Buddhism shouldn’t be like that. Buddhism shouldn’t be like that. This shouldn’t be like that.” They have a lot of restraints but they’re not relaxed. Why?

Because their restraints do not arise from wisdom, it arises from fear. Why does it arise from fear? Because they’re talking from rules and regulations, not understanding. You see people who practice Buddhism, cannot eat this, cannot do that, cannot this, cannot do that. They’re very uptight, they’re not nice, they’re not kind, they’re always worried, they’re always on edge, you cannot…when you go around them you worry, like what you’re doing wrong to offend them.

But actually, actually, real Buddhists who understand Buddhism well, they’re very relaxed. They don’t drink. They don’t engage in things that damage others. They don’t steal. They don’t lie. And it’s effortless for them. They don’t ever think, “Oh, maybe I should just steal for once and help the center pay off the bills. Hmmm. Maybe I just trick them by a divination and get some money from them.” They never think like that, they never, ever slip. Why? They’re very relaxed about it. Why are they relaxed? Because they’re realized. When they’re realized, they’re relaxed, they’re not uptight. So they can bend rules for you, they can find different ways for you, they can make it funny, they can give you this way, that way, this way, they can make you laugh, they can make you happy. Why? They give you Dharma without you even knowing it’s Dharma. They give you Dharma without even knowing that it’s Dharma, it’s almost like a show. Why? They’re very relaxed about it. Why are they relaxed? Because they’ve realized it. They practice it. And it’s effortless.

So people… one person doesn’t steal, and another person doesn’t steal, one is uptight about it “You shouldn’t steal” They give you a big lecture, “Do you know why I don’t steal?” And you’re like, “Oh no, here we go, another Dharma talk again during din-din.” And they…everything they tell you, there’s a lecture, there’s an explanation. They tell you everything, it…the explanation doesn’t stop. Why? Actually they’re just trying to justify and look good. They’re not relaxed, they’re not sure. And if you debate with them and tell them something different they might get angry and run away or they change their views. Why? They were never relaxed about it.

So “Relaxed or restraint is in question” meaning it depends on the perceiver. The perceiver. Perceiver is us. So dependent on our perceiver, if we look at all of the above, the sexy lady’s leg in the shoe, in the heels, the nice man’s smile, the gait of the youth, if we look at all of this, from the side of the perceiver, we may not want to do it, but we’re not relaxed and we’re uptight about it. Or we may be very, very relaxed. Look, if you get a sexy lady walking back and forth completely naked in front of a mahasiddha and completely attained like Dalai Lama, he’s going to say, “Oh, you know, bless you.” It’s not going to affect him. Why? To him it’s just a naked lady. To him it’s just a naked lady. Just a naked lady.

But, but if you parade this naked lady back and front, in front of maybe Joe, it will be A Naked Lady. So Joe’s resistance to the naked lady will be, “My God, I’m a Buddhist. I can’t. I don’t want to get involved. I don’t want to… I don’t want to have kids.” It’ll be restraining. But the Dalai Lamas will be, “Hmm, yes?” It’s not that he doesn’t feel it, he doesn’t perceive the beautiful lady, or that she’s naked. It’s not that, he’s not stupid. It’s that for him to create the karma…for him, he doesn’t have the karma to create more karma to be restrained.

So restraint here is from the side of the perceiver. So all of the above, “That No is No of all No’s”. There’s a lot of No’s but that’s the biggest No. And that biggest No, that biggest No will be from the side of the perceiver, whether you are relaxed about it or you’re restrained. Whether you’re relaxed or restrained will depend on your realization and understanding. Everybody understand that? Quite in depth isn’t it?

Nobody knows that big No,
But we alone know that No.

“Nobody knows that big No, but we alone know that know” – what does that mean? We live in this reality that we don’t understand it. That’s why we do all the things we do to create unhappiness and suffering for ourselves. We don’t know that No. But that No is in us. That No in us is the natural clarity of the mind we embody or the Buddhanature that can become a Buddha. If we cannot, if we don’t have the Buddhanature, we cannot become a Buddha. If we cannot become a Buddha, Buddha wouldn’t teach us something that we cannot develop. Because he can only teach us something that we can develop, as opposed to give to us. If he…if Buddha was to give to us something that we don’t have, then he can take away all our problems. Why? It’s very logical. Some of the problems not created by me.

So since Buddha cannot take away the problems, that would mean to develop Buddhahood or attainments, or higher level of the mind, cannot be given by a Buddha, or another person but it must be developed within. So what’s the function of a Buddha? The Buddha can teach us how to get there because he has already gotten there. And hence, when we follow the Buddha’s teachings, it’s very systematized and logical. And clear when somebody can explain these things to us and then we listen, we say, “Oh yeah huh?” and then follow. Then we will get results. Why? It’s been proven and tested, time-tested. Time-tested and proven. Now, “Nobody knows that big No” means we have lived under this perception of not knowing it. Yet, “We alone know that No” meaning…”we alone” meaning we have that potential to understand the Big No. ‘We alone know it’ means what? We are the only person on this planet that knows it? No. It means that we know what we are. We understand what we are. Yet we have been living under the perception of the Big No. What perception? Not perceiving it. Not understanding it.

This No is in the big sky, painted with sumi ink eternally.
This big No is tattooed on our genitals.
This big No is not purely freckles or birthmark,
But this big No is real big No.
Sky is blue,
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
And therefore this big No is No.

So what is he saying? He made it so strong that he called all the students over. And he wanted everybody to see and when he painted it, he threw the sumi ink all over the air, everybody got splattered. Symbolically he’s showing his anger and wrath, saying, “This is really No. You can’t act like this with people. You can’t treat people like that. This, instead of having people respect you as a Dharma teacher, it will bring you down. It will bring the Dharma down. It will bring your attainments down. It will bring our lineage down. It will bring the practice down. It will bring everyone down, it’s a big No.” He wanted to make that very clear.

So when the ink splattered on everybody, he’s telling them symbolically, “That doesn’t just apply to the Regent, it applies to all of you. All of you.” So when he paints on there, it splatters, another meaning is that when we act out this big No, we affect other people around us without even knowing it. That our selfish mind affects others because we’re all interconnected. We’re not independent, we’re interconnected. So he’s saying that it’s painted in the sky, “the big sky”, what does that mean? Symbolically, “the big sky” is Dharmadatu. “The big sky” is Emptiness. “The big sky” is the Buddha’s mind. So when the big No is painted in the big sky, what is it saying? A Buddha has achieved that quality, his quality is sky-like. Completely sky-like. And then he turns around saying it’s “painted in sumi ink eternally”. Wow. Two levels. It’s painted in calligraphy and it’s there for you to see. At the same time, it has been eternally there even before the ink, because this realization is within us. It’s only we didn’t know it. How profound, how poetic, how deep his Dharma knowledge is.

“Sky is blue.” That’s another perception, that’s another No he’s trying to tell us. The sky is blue. Isn’t there a black sky? Isn’t there a red sky? Isn’t there a grey sky? “Roses are red” – there are blue roses, there are yellow roses, there are pink roses, there are white roses. “Violets are blue” – well, dead violets aren’t blue, they’re brown and black. Decayed. What is it saying? “Sky is blue”…”sky is blue”, we make that very solid. “Sky is blue, my enemy is bad. Selfishness is good. Money brings me happiness. Sex is the ultimate aim of life. Eating like a pig is why I was born into the world. Having kids is the purpose of being existent.”

“Sky is blue, roses are red” – so what he’s saying here is, we’ve made everything so firm, “If I have money, I’ll be happy.” “The sky is blue.” But there are people with no money that are happy. There are people with no kids who are happy. Happier. There are people who have pursued helping others that are much happier than people who pursue themselves. So the “sky is blue”, there’s red sky and green sky and there’s all types of skies. What is it saying? It’s not fixed. Our perception is not fixed therefore it’s a No. What’s a No? Our wrong perception. “Roses are red” – there are other colour roses. It’s so wonderful how he takes something so primitive and basic and just gives you a meaning. Roses are red. What does that mean, roses are red? There are other colour roses. So that means everything we believe in is not fixed. Roses are not necessarily red. What we have believed in our whole life is not necessarily true. So what it means is open your mind, don’t be fixed and fixated. Your fixations are the ones that create you unhappiness, that’s what Rinpoche’s telling you. How profound.

“And therefore this big No is No.” Therefore he’s reaffirming it again. Your wrong perceptions is a No. And this No is the biggest of the No’s.

Let us celebrate having that monumental No.

What’s a monument? A monument is to celebrate something. It’s an edifice built to commemorate, celebrate or remember something. So this big No, let’s celebrate this big monumental No. If we raise an edifice in our mind to this No, your suffering stops. If you raise an edifice in your mind to this No, your suffering stops. How do you raise an edifice? When something has happened. So when you remove this No from your mind, you can raise an edifice. An edifice is symbology of becoming a Buddha. Just think, we can have statues that look exactly like JP and pray to it and get results. Mrs Ngeow went like this (imitates looking over) to see your reaction.

The monolithic No stands up and pierces heaven;

Heaven is what? Heaven is the highest place in samsara where we can enjoy pleasures. There are six realms. Six realms in samsara. Six. The highest of the six realms is Akanishta Heaven. Akanishta Heaven is somewhere we can be reborn and be beautiful, young, fabulous, gorgeous, we never get old, lots of food, everything is wonderful and we can party for thousands of years. Always, really. And then your merits run out and you take rebirth in the Three Lower Realms. That’s what happens. But you can take rebirth in Akanishta Heaven. Heaven in Buddhism is not a place such as in the Judeo-Christian type of thinking, where you go there and just hang out at the right side…uh I mean, with God for the rest of Eternity, I don’t know what that means but…but, Heaven is a place exactly like… Malaysia can be in Heaven compared to many countries in the world. I say this with respect. I don’t mean to offend any other countries. Malaysia compared to a lot of countries is heaven. I’ve lived there, trust me. So even better than Malaysia, there are many places we can reincarnate that are much, much better. So what am I saying is, when it pierces the heavens, this monolithic No, it means that even this statement is better than the gods, or the deities that reside in this Heaven, it’s beyond their happiness and attainment. A Buddha’s happiness and bliss is much greater.

Therefore, monolithic No also spreads vast as the ocean.

The ocean is the biggest body of…of…of substance we have on this planet. You know, it’s considered big and deep and unexplored and scary and we don’t know what’s going on down there. Many places, the ocean is unexplored. But this No is even greater than the ocean, greater. No limit. It’s giving you a connotation of no limits.

Let us have great sunshine with this No No.

What is sunshine? Another symbology for awakening. “Let us have great sunshine with this No No.” – so if we stop this No of wrong perception of others, selfish mind, sunshine will arise. We will be sunshine to everyone. We will bring warmth and happiness to everyone. That’s spiritual practice. Simply saying we want to help others and be nice to others is very nice, and it’s very wonderful and it’s the…it’s the kind of the catchword for these days, with a lot of people. But the method, nobody knows. The cause, nobody knows. And how to do it on an ultimate and complete level, not many people know.

Let us have full moon with this No No.

What’s a full moon? Full moon is solstice, celebration. In ancient Druid, Druidic times, people celebrated the full moon, people danced around naked in the full moon. Why? It was to celebrate a solstice, to celebrate a completion, a year, harvest, something wonderful. A full moon was cooling. Nobody wants to dance around in the daytime, naked, with the hot sun. Skin cancer. They didn’t have sunblock that time. So you dance around the full moon, you have a good time in the full moon. Why? Why? It’s celebration. So this No No is a full moon. Why is it a full moon? Full moon represents celebration.

But don’t worry. If any of you achieve the big No, none of you have to dance around under the full moon naked, I promise you. Yeah, I promise you. Relieved Wai Meng? Wai Meng’s very relieved he doesn’t have to dance naked. Hmmm. Wai Meng’s very…you lost a lot of weight huh? Stress or diet? Oh, P.B. Alright. You tell him what it means afterwards without all the…the hypocrites lying around. Because they haven’t realized the No so we can’t use that kind of language, you see. But I…I’ve realized the big No so I can use that but actually, that’s a No too because I’m tricking myself into thinking I’ve realized the big No but actually that’s a No too. All right, now…

Let us have cosmic No.

What’s cosmic means? Cosmic means all-pervasive. Cosmic means all-pervasive. Who has a cosmic No? A Buddha and we can achieve that. We can achieve that. You see, in Buddhism, it doesn’t tell you about a God or a deity that you worship forever, and you’re under them and when they’re happy, they give you things, when they’re unhappy, they punish you, because that doesn’t make sense. Why are innocent people punished then? Then they say, “Oh, it’s a lesson for us to learn.” At their expense? But in Buddhism, everybody is accountable for their actions and therefore actions get results. It explains disparity better, much better. Helps my mind. So a cosmic No is what? A cosmic No is that this No, of not having a selfish mind and this No of realizing wrong perception pervades the cosmos. That means what? It will apply to everyone, not one or two people. See, having hair…having hair can be good in some societies and some societies they don’t consider it a beauty asset. So that’s not cosmic. But this No of releasing the selfish mind is cosmic. Everywhere and any place.

The cockroaches carry little No No’s,
As well as giant elephants in African jungles
Copulating No No and waltzing No No,
Guinea pig No No.
We find all the information and instructions when a mosquito buzzes.
We find some kind of No No.

Wow. That is so deep. What is that saying? That covers samsara. So then he says, “Let us have a cosmic No.” Cosmic is pervading all existence. Then he goes to the minute beings of existence by using cockroaches. Cockroaches carry a No No. Why? Cockroaches are beings who have reincarnated due to their karma but they’re remaining as cockroaches is not permanent. They will die and take rebirth as other existences. Therefore their mindstream is temporarily hampered by their existence as a cockroach, so their perceptive abilities is much less than ours. But their potential to perceive more can be activated by a different rebirth.

So therefore cockroaches carry a No No, meaning what? Cockroaches have the potential to become a Buddha also. They also carry the big No No in them, meaning they have the Buddha potential. So how can a cockroach have a Buddha potential? In their current state, they cannot be a Buddha, they cannot practice – correct. But they will also die and reincarnate. They will also die and reincarnate. Therefore when they reincarnate, their karmas and their mindstream that has followed them for thousands of years, like ours also, when they’re born in a correct state, can be triggered to practice and to become a Buddha. Therefore cockroaches have that potential, similarly as wild elephants or giant elephants in African jungles. So even something great like an elephant has the potential to become a fully happy being to benefit others. Why is that? Again, what I explained in the cockroach situation, scenario.

So “copulating No No” means…now he’s talking about different activities. Copulating and waltzing – the way he does it, it’s totally opposites. Copulating yes, you guys all know, that’s two people naked and sharing genitals. That’s all? Nobody laughs louder? I thought I’d be a little… say things that are No No and get a better reaction. No? Ruby’s looking at me like this (makes a face). She hasn’t had it in a while, poor thing. Alright. Paris had a big smile but not since she’s moved back from Burma. Now. Rude. And with this fair, you don’t need it. More fairs, it’s a high that you… it’s like after it’s all done, you’re kind of like, “Oh, now back to my boring, dreary life. Meetings in KMP, go home and you know…yeurghhh.” You want more fairs don’t you? Wasn’t that cool? That’s right, we should have one every week.

JP’s like, ‘Thank God I don’t have it every week. Thank God I don’t have to work at that Mines, that miserable hotel. And I still can’t pay off my loan.” Just kidding. JP’s red is because he ate a tomato. I like…you know why I like teasing JP? He’s very arrogant-looking. But deep down inside he’s very soft, highly intelligent, I’m not complimenting, highly intelligent. And deep down inside I’ve noticed something about him these few weeks, he cares about his friends. He really…what he has good, he wants to share with them. Something from a previous life. So I…I keep him nearby and I kind of give him Dharma and put him in different positions to develop that quality in him even stronger. So he’s put as head of the VPC not because we want to fleece him of his money that he doesn’t have? Big No. No, because he has that potential to help. It’s just that we got to get it out. You’re saying, “Everybody does.” Yes, but he really cares about his friends. I’ve been talking to him, sometimes I chat with him. Sometimes I get online, I have to put myself offline or else JP goes, “Hi Rinpoche!” I’m like, ”Oh, God.” There’s a few freaks that always get online and try to say hello to me, and I put them offline.

Henry’s looking at Jay Jae. So I was trying not to tell you Jay Jae but it’s Henry’s fault because he looked at him. What are you, Vajrayogini? She’s cute too. Yeah, and we have a lot of people like JP. Quite a lot, that sincerely care, and they want to help, they don’t know how, and they try their best and they try all kinds of things but they actually want to bring spiritual practice to others. I feel that there’s a lot of people like that. And that’s wonderful. Why? That’s some imprint from a previous life. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have 24,000 problems and all kinds of difficulties that he’s encountering, but he’s still here.

So what happens is “copulating No No” means what? Even while we’re copulating…copulating and waltzing here covers eating, sleeping, the whole spectrum of activities that we actually do. So don’t focus on copulation and waltzing. It’s covering the whole spectrum of activities that we’re totally engaged in all day long. So while we’re engaging in all these activities, what Rinpoche is saying is, the inherent No No is still in us. Meaning what? We still are able to achieve the big No. We can still become a Buddha. So what is he saying? Stop saying to yourself you cannot. Stop saying to yourself you’re a bad person. Stop saying to yourself you can’t achieve. Stop saying to yourself that “I don’t know if I can do it.” Why? Why? Because this potential in us is ever-present if we tap into it. Believe the Dharma, believe your Guru, believe what the Buddha says.

Do not put yourself down by saying you can’t do it. Why? Why? That’s an obstacle you create for yourself. And…and by believing you cannot achieve, this is what happens my friends. We have many types of karma stored away, from previous lives and this life, from doing a lot of merit. These karmas that we have stored away, if we always say, “No”, we open up the karma that becomes No. If we say, “Yes”, we open up the karma that becomes Yes. So if we always say, “Yes I can” and we push ourselves and we do it, we can achieve it because we will open up that karma that will help us to achieve it.

And then this life we’ve done a lot of offerings and prayers and donations and work and meditations and traveling and pilgrimage and Dharma work, we’ve done a lot. So that…do you think that’s wasted? It’s not wasted. But how do you open it up? By saying “I can do it”. By saying, “I can do it” and by pushing yourself to achieve it. And by saying you can do it, you may fall and fail and fall flat on your face and fail a few times. That’s all right, that doesn’t mean you haven’t achieved it, it means you’re on the road to achieving it. What road doesn’t…doesn’t have any obstacles that you don’t fall?

So we have many types of karma in us, and that’s where the Guru comes in. The Guru is someone that is supposed to…’supposed’ to be able to see past you and what you can see in yourselves. So when the Guru gives you an assignment and you always say, “No, I don’t have time” then how does the Guru help you and open up your potential? “Oh, I…I need to find myself so I’ll…I’ll come back to you in ten years.” So the Guru just goes, “Oh, but you’ve been with me for ten years.” “Oh, I need another ten years.” “Okay, I’ll dig you out of the grave when you’re ready.” I mean, what else can the Guru say? Dig you out. So when the Guru gives you an assignment, “Oh you should do this committee. You should do this work.” “But I can’t, I don’t feel I’m good enough. Nobody respects me”, you got that right. But they will start, if you start applying yourself. “But I don’t have time because I have to have sex 24 hours a day”, because they just found a new girlfriend, so wherever the new girlfriend walks they’re staring at her like (imitates someone gawking). They can’t let go, they’ve got to hold her, rub her, touch her, do everything. Even when they are praying, “Excuse me Buddha, let me touch my girlfriend.” They just can’t let go. “But, but, I don’t have any money. When I have money I will do more Dharma practice.” Hello, all the monks in Gaden don’t have money, they’re becoming Buddhas! Hello? All the monks in Thailand don’t have money! So they’re doing Dharma! No money!

All these nasty excuses. “But you know I need to find myself. I need to go out and have a drink and meet my friends.” All these tired, nasty excuses. And some of you come back and say, “Oh Rinpoche, I heard something about you and I want to make it clear, is it true or not?” Suddenly, you know, the lights, the spotlight’s on me and I’m in the police booth and I’m like… (looks shocked) And there’s a see-through mirror and I’m being questioned. Who am I? Am I real? Oh dear, all these kind of ridiculous things.

“But Rinpoche, I can’t, I can’t stay up late because I get tired.” Yeah, very tired. I mean, come on, you’ve stayed up late for so many things in your life! The first time you went to look for your girlfriend or boyfriend, you stayed up all day all night by their window looking for them with flowers, hoping that they’ll look at you. Hello? You stayed up the whole night with your girlfriend on wedding night and you did boobli three, four, times. You weren’t tired. Then when you met your boyfriend the first time, you spent hours getting ready. Hours. Even after getting ready, you looked like you weren’t ready still. Hello?? You can hang out in karaokes the whole night, singing and making people crazy and drinking tired drinks and making yourselves throw up on people. And you’re not tired?

Why is it when it comes to Dharma, to learning something good, “Oh uhh I’m too tired, I have to get up early tomorrow.” Yeah. You can fly from here to China to Hong Kong to America to England to do business deals, you’re up the whole night, you’re like this, buzzed on the airplane because you’re, you’re insomniac. And then when you come to the meeting you can make it what. You can make it. Why can you make it? Why can you make it to the meetings? Why? Because you find there’s value in it, that’s why. You find value in it. So in Dharma you don’t find value? It’s not you don’t find value, you don’t know the value of Dharma yet. Once you know the value of Dharma, you will be different. And all these tired excuses will go away, many of it.

So what happens is “Copulating No No, waltzing No No, guinea pig No No.” He’s covering all of samsara, all activities. So it means in all activities that you do, the No No is inherent in you, meaning you can still achieve it. So don’t put yourself down, don’t be deceived by your activities, don’t think that if you do a certain activity, you cannot achieve Enlightenment. You can. So he’s saying sex is not dirty, eating is not dirty, dancing is not dirty, making money is not dirty, having a family is not dirty; having entertainment, having fun is not dirty, a guinea pig is not dirty, he’s telling all of it is not dirty. But what he’s saying is dirty is this, is just resting on your laurels, in that, and not doing anything else, that’s what’s dirty.

You have to eat. No matter if you’re the highest Lama in the world, you’ve got to eat. Or you’re a nobody like me, you’ve got to eat. You’ve got to…you’ve got to sit on your throne on the morning and let it all out. You’ve got to pee. You’ve…you’ve got to do all this. So it doesn’t tell you you’re high or low. What it’s saying is these activities are not the issue. The issue is you being stuck in these activities, and saying, “Oh that’s it, that’s wonderful, there’s nothing else.” That’s the issue. All right? So:

We find all the information and instructions when a mosquito buzzes

“When all the information and instructions when a mosquito buzzes”, what does it mean? All information when a mosquito buzzes – sound. Sound is created by a life. Life in Tibetan we call kangsa. Kangsa means consciousness, it has consciousness. Although temporarily in the form of a mosquito, its consciousness cannot manifest as strongly as ours, it has consciousness. For example, our consciousness will not be as strong as the gods or the demi-gods. Those consciousness’ are much stronger in those higher states of existence.

So therefore it has consciousness. Consciousness tells you everything. It gives you all instructions and all information, meaning what? Even in something minute like that, the ultimate No is very strong. It exists, it’s inherent. So gives you all information with its buzzes, it gives you all information means everything minute from the smallest being to the most supreme being – unenlightened, that is – has the inherent ability to achieve Buddhahood. Although temporarily in their state, they cannot, but they can. So nobody gets put down, all things is to be respected. Then:

We find some kind of No No
Let our No No be the greatest motto.

What is the greatest motto? That’s the…that’s the rule we should live by. A motto is something that, a principle we live by. The principle of not living by wrong perception. Money doesn’t make us happy. Killing enemies doesn’t make us happy. Disrespecting our parents doesn’t make us happy. Breaking the law doesn’t make us happy. All these things don’t make us happy. Pursuing negative samsaric pursuits doesn’t make us happy…doesn’t make us happy. So what does it say here?

No No for the king;

That’s saying for someone high like a king.

No No for the prime minister;

That is talking about Tenzin Ösel himself, the Regent, and also everyone, in any position.

No No for the worms of our subjects.

Meaning all sentient beings and everybody in that organization also, it’s a No No.

Let us celebrate that our constipated dogs can relieve themselves
freely in the name of No No.
Let us have No No so that Presbyterian preachers can have speech
impediments in proclaiming No No.

It applies to everyone – anyone and everyone. If…see, Presbyterian preacher is just a label we have put on someone. It’s just a label.

Let our horses neigh No No
Let the vajra sangha fart No No–

Vajra Sangha means what? Sangha is someone who’s ordained or someone who’s achieved or attained. So someone who’s achieved and attained or ordained, usually has very good manners, they don’t fart in public. A vajra fart is what? It’s believed that highly realized beings, whatever sound, whatever actions, whatever they do, benefits people around them. So a vajra fart is potential benefit for someone. Why? A Sangha doesn’t fart; when he farts, it’s vajra fart. Why? He breaks your concept of how things should be. A vajra Sangha or enlightened teacher or an attained teacher is giving you a message by his fart. Oh, you say, “But you’re not supposed to fart, how can a teacher fart? How rude.” Imagine Rinpoche walks by (imitates farting). And then you’re thinking…so the very fact that you go, “Oh, he shouldn’t do that”, again you’re stuck on perceptions, preconceptions of how you think it should be. That’s what he’s breaking. So if he’s so attained and so high, he can do that, nothing happens to him, so what is it, sending a message to you: stop putting him in a box. Stop putting Enlightenment in a box. So next time Rinpoche walks by goes (imitates farting), go, “Thank you.’ Okay, now:

Giant No No that made a great imprint on the coffee table.

Then he ends the whole poem back to the coffee table. He…he brings it out to the universe, he encompasses all beings in samsara, then he brings it back again to something as simple (hits the table) as a dent in the coffee table. The power of this poem.

Tsem Rinpoche

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