WEBVTT

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(Half-Bell)

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(Bell)

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(FRENCH)

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

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

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that also had the theme of "Death".

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

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

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

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those that are cooler and hotter,

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and certain images that are present
in those hells.

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One of the images was that of
a hungry ghost,

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that we may in such a hell be born


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as someone who has a throat
that is too small

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

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to go into our body and nourish us.

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There were also some other images
that he mentioned.

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Our friend's question is


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are these images offered to help us...


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[searching into her notes]

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wake up,
[laughter]

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as some kind of tool to help us live

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more meaningfully
and appropriately in this life,

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more beautifully in this life,

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or do these images actually
speak of a true reality.

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In connection to that can we speak


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

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are these metaphors for experiences
that we have during life,

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or are they only something for after death.

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

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[LAUGHTER]

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This is a question about the connection

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between sleep without dream 
and stored conciousness.

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According to the form of the question

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we know that the one
who asked the question

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he already has the answer.
[LAUGHTER]

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

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Don't you agree?

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But that is also a chance for us

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

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Not only the people who have
high intellectual capacity,

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but also the people who do not have
good education.

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The teaching of the Buddha
helps everyone.

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There is the kind of Buddhism
for the vast majority,

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there is a deep Buddhism for
only a minority.

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

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That is why it is said,

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in Buddhism there are
84000 Dharma doors,

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

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There are those
who are afraid of punishment.

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If they are afraid of retribution,

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they behave better,

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because they are afraid of retribution.

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That is why to talk to them of hell,

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hot, cool, cold hell and so on,

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

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

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In many Temples we see drawings of hell,

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as a kind of warning:

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"If you don't practice the five precepts,

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you will suffer like that,

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

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

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and cut it your tongue"

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(audience laughs)

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That may help many people also,

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but it does not help some other people.

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That is popular Buddhism.

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

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but their belief comes from

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

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that is distinct from the body,

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and when the body is gone,

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the soul always survives,

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seeks to penetrate another body,
and continue.

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

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

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

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Anything, any teaching that goes against

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the insight of impermanence,
no self, and Nirvana cannot

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be described as the deepest teachings.

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

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

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

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So there are many things that have

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come from the teachings of
the Vedas, the Upanishads.

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

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

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

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

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

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his teaching is based
on the insight of no self,

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

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That kind of belief, 
which is not purely Buddhist,

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can also help.

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There are those who believe that
the pureland of Amitabha Buddha

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

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and you get there only after you die.

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

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

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

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When your mind is pure,

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

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That goes more in the direction
of right view.

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The spirit of Buddhism
is that of tolerance.

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There are those who cannot
understand deep Buddhism.

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

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like medicine with some sugar in it.

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They help.

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

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does not go perfectly with
the Ultimate Truth.

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Because we have compassion,

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because we have understanding,
then compassion is possible.

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

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If you are skillful,
you can lead them slowly,

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so that they gradually
abandon their wrong view,

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and get a better and better view
all the time.

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That may apply to all of us.

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

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Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

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After ten years of practice,

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you have a better view of

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Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,

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and after fifty years,
we have a deeper understanding of

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Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,

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so according to that
we learn the lesson of tolerance.

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We should not think that our view
is the best.

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We are making progress,

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we are ready to abandon our
present view,

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in order to get a better view.

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That is the practice of
non-attachment to view.

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In Buddhism if you have that insight,

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

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You don't criticize.

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

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

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There has been the reality.

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There are so many schools in Buddhism,

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

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We should be able to keep
that tradition of tolerance.

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Tolerance, not because you are forced
to be tolerant,

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but because you have Right View,
that is why your heart is open,

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that is why you can tolerate those,


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

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You should try with loving speech,
and deep listening,

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to help him or her to abandon their view,

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

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Here we learn that the present moment

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is not something
that can exist independently,

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from the past or the future.

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You cannot cut and separate,

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the past, present and future.

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The three times, past, present and future,

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they inter-are.

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

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That is why if you touch
the present moment deeply,

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you touch the past,
and you touch the future.

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

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That is the insight you get,

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when you meditate on the nature,
of the inter-being of time.

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(Half-Bell)

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(Bell)