1
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(Half-Bell)

2
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(Bell)

3
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(FRENCH)

4
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(Sr Pine) Our friend has found 
Thay's teaching on death very comforting.

5
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About 18 years ago he went on a
retreat in the Tibetan tradition

6
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that also had the theme of "Death".

7
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The teacher spoke in a lot of detail on 
how to transfer consciousness

8
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at the point of death,
but also on what happens after death.

9
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The teacher spoke on some detail
about the different hells that exist,

10
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those that are cooler and hotter,

11
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and certain images that are present
in those hells.

12
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One of the images was that of
a hungry ghost,

13
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that we may in such a hell be born


14
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as someone who has a throat
that is too small

15
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and that we are very hungry
but we somehow cannot receive the food

16
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to go into our body and nourish us.

17
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There were also some other images
that he mentioned.

18
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Our friend's question is


19
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are these images offered to help us...


20
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[searching into her notes]

21
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wake up,
[laughter]

22
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as some kind of tool to help us live

23
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more meaningfully
and appropriately in this life,

24
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more beautifully in this life,

25
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or do these images actually
speak of a true reality.

26
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In connection to that can we speak


27
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of hells that are present on earth
at this very moment,

28
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are these metaphors for experiences
that we have during life,

29
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or are they only something for after death.

30
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There were a few more questions 
but I wonder if that is enough...

31
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[LAUGHTER]

32
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This is a question about the connection

33
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between sleep without dream 
and stored conciousness.

34
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According to the form of the question

35
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we know that the one
who asked the question

36
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he already has the answer.
[LAUGHTER]

37
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The way he asked the question
shows that he already has the answer.

38
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Don't you agree?

39
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But that is also a chance for us

40
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to look and to see that the teaching
of the Buddha can help many people.

41
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Not only the people who have
high intellectual capacity,

42
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but also the people who do not have
good education.

43
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The teaching of the Buddha
helps everyone.

44
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There is the kind of Buddhism
for the vast majority,

45
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there is a deep Buddhism for
only a minority.

46
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These teachings may "contradict"
each other as far as form is concerned.

47
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That is why it is said,

48
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in Buddhism there are
84000 Dharma doors,

49
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and many kinds of teachings,
and many kinds of practices.

50
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There are those
who are afraid of punishment.

51
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If they are afraid of retribution,

52
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they behave better,

53
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because they are afraid of retribution.

54
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That is why to talk to them of hell,

55
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hot, cool, cold hell and so on,

56
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that may happen,
as a kind of "threat" .

57
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"If you behave like that, 
you suffer like so."

58
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In many Temples we see drawings of hell,

59
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as a kind of warning:

60
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"If you don't practice the five precepts,

61
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you will suffer like that,

62
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you will be boiled in 
hot oil or something like that.

63
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"If you lie, when you go to the hell,
they will take your tongue

64
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and cut it your tongue"

65
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(audience laughs)

66
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That may help many people also,

67
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but it does not help some other people.

68
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That is popular Buddhism.

69
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We know that the vast majority
believes in rebirth, in reincarnation,

70
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but their belief comes from

71
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their wrong view in a self,
that there is a self, there is a soul,

72
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that is distinct from the body,

73
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and when the body is gone,

74
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the soul always survives,

75
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seeks to penetrate another body,
and continue.

76
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That is a kind of belief on rebirth,
and that is a teaching on rebirth,

77
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but it is not truly the deep teaching
of the Buddha,

78
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because it is based on the
wrong view of the self.

79
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Anything, any teaching that goes against

80
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the insight of impermanence,
no self, and Nirvana cannot

81
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be described as the deepest teachings.

82
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Whether you are thinking of
cause and effect, rebirth, retribution;

83
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if your teaching, if your practice does
not reflect the insight of impermanence,

84
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no-self, and Nirvana, that is not truly
the teaching of the Buddha.

85
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So there are many things that have

86
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come from the teachings of
the Vedas, the Upanishads.

87
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We know that before the Buddha
there was already the belief,

88
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in reincarnation, and in retribution;
that is not invented by the Buddha.

89
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The teaching of retribution, reincarnation
existed before the coming of the Buddha.

90
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But these teachings are based upon the
existence of a self.

91
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The Buddha although he teaches
the continuation, life after life,

92
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his teaching is based
on the insight of no self,

93
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impermanence, and finally, nirvana,
no birth and no death.

94
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That kind of belief, 
which is not purely Buddhist,

95
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can also help.

96
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There are those who believe that
the pureland of Amitabha Buddha

97
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is not here,
but in the direction of the west,

98
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and you get there only after you die.

99
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There are those who also have
a better, a different view,

100
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We know that the true pure land
is in the here and the now,

101
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and there is no time
to be in the west, or in the east.

102
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When your mind is pure,

103
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then the land is pure also,
at the same time.

104
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That goes more in the direction
of right view.

105
00:12:05,088 --> 00:12:10,498
The spirit of Buddhism
is that of tolerance.

106
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There are those who cannot
understand deep Buddhism.

107
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We have to allow them to embrace
a form of Buddhism that is more diluted,

108
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like medicine with some sugar in it.

109
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They help.

110
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So we are not criticizing them because
their teaching, their belief,

111
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does not go perfectly with
the Ultimate Truth.

112
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Because we have compassion,

113
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because we have understanding,
then compassion is possible.

114
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The real true Buddhist is always tolerant,
not a fanatic.

115
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If you are skillful,
you can lead them slowly,

116
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so that they gradually
abandon their wrong view,

117
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and get a better and better view
all the time.

118
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That may apply to all of us.

119
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In the beginning we have had an idea
about the Three Jewels,

120
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Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

121
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After ten years of practice,

122
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you have a better view of

123
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Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,

124
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and after fifty years,
we have a deeper understanding of

125
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Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,

126
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so according to that
we learn the lesson of tolerance.

127
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We should not think that our view
is the best.

128
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We are making progress,

129
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we are ready to abandon our
present view,

130
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in order to get a better view.

131
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That is the practice of
non-attachment to view.

132
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In Buddhism if you have that insight,

133
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you will be very tolerant and 
you accept other forms of Buddhism

134
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You don't criticize.

135
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Only you can help people to have,
a better view and a better practice.

136
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That is why there should not be,
conflict and war between Buddhist schools.

137
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There has been the reality.

138
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There are so many schools in Buddhism,

139
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but they never organized any holy war,
in order to fight each other.

140
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We should be able to keep
that tradition of tolerance.

141
00:14:58,224 --> 00:15:01,409
Tolerance, not because you are forced
to be tolerant,

142
00:15:01,703 --> 00:15:06,737
but because you have Right View,
that is why your heart is open,

143
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that is why you can tolerate those,


144
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who do not have
the same kind of view as yours.

145
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You should try with loving speech,
and deep listening,

146
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to help him or her to abandon their view,

147
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that may still have fanaticism
or things like that in it.

148
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Here we learn that the present moment

149
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is not something
that can exist independently,

150
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from the past or the future.

151
00:15:53,059 --> 00:15:57,664
You cannot cut and separate,

152
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the past, present and future.

153
00:16:00,602 --> 00:16:03,785
The three times, past, present and future,

154
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they inter-are.

155
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In any one of them, you see the other two.

156
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That is why if you touch
the present moment deeply,

157
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you touch the past,
and you touch the future.

158
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The past is still available,
and the future is only available.

159
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That is the insight you get,

160
00:16:34,472 --> 00:16:37,904
when you meditate on the nature,
of the inter-being of time.

161
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(Half-Bell)

162
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(Bell)