A NEWSLETTER OF SIDDHARTHA’S INTENT October 2005 IN THIS ISSUE THE TWELVE INTERDEPENDENT LINKS OF ORIGINATION LOTUS OUTREACH IN CAMBODIA INTERVIEW WITH LAMA TSERING EVEREST GESAR DOWN UNDER Gentle Voice : October 2005 The Twelve Interdependent Links of Origination by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche Since some of you are new to Buddhist ideas, this may you think there is actually a table existing, really be the first time you are encountering the tantric path or existing. You got it? Vajrayana. So I would like to say a little bit based on this, the Vajrayana path. There are figures such as Tilopa, Actually, to put it very simply, it is attachment to a label. Virupa and Kukkuraja, and broadly speaking, from the Ignorance is attachment to a label. Out of all this mundane world’s point of view, some of the things that labelling — flowers, table, chairs, earth, water, fire — they did weren’t acceptable in society. This tradition has there is one label that is probably the most dangerous. existed for a long time in Buddhist history — Tilopa It's not only dangerous; it has the most potential, is the eating live fish! A Buddhist eating live fish? While he most destructive, constructive and, at the same time, the was eating the head, the tail was moving in his mouth. most elusive. Basically, the root of all the other labels is Virupa was a drunk man, that’s what they say. He drank the label of self, myself, I. anyway, he drank constantly. Kukkuraja was sleeping with his own pet dog, the bitch. Again, like the table we were referring to earlier, when we say ‘I’, we are referring to something abstract. That is The tantric path is shocking. I’m telling you these things fine; but what is not fine is strong attachment to this self because when I say that Buddhism emphasises more the that is represented by a picture of a blind person (1) appreciation of wisdom, I want you to know how we do right under the fangs of Time, the wrathful monster. it. Yet, with all their almost inhuman, unacceptable What does this ignorance do? The self is such a strong behaviour — eating live fish, becoming alcoholic and all notion that it can destroy the whole world if it is given that — these are the people who left behind some of the the authority, the equipment, the money, the power. most incredible paths of wisdom that today we find are We all have the potential to be, and we are in our own the only source of solace, the path of the practice lineage way, a little bit of Saddam Hussein, a little bit of Osama that we can walk, the steps of the staircase we tread. bin Laden, a little bit of George Bush, a little bit of Donald Rumsefeld. We all have that potential. Why? The I’m telling you this because we are beginning to talk cling-ing to the self is so strong. Why is it that clinging about the Twelve Interdependent Links of Origination to the self is so strong? Because, ironically, it still hasn’t and the first thing we are going to talk about is con-firmed that it exists, that is why. It is very ironic, ignorance. We have already talked about ignorance that isn’t it? It is like when something is not sure, you have is symbolised by the pig in the centre of the Wheel of this obsessive impulse to confirm it. You have to get Life. What is ignorance? Very simply, I can say, confirmation. That’s why. And that has been going on ignorance is actually distraction. When the mind is forever. This uncertainty whether the self exists or not distracted by something, then that is ignorance. The constantly needs to be confirmed and you need to whole act of getting distracted is ignorance. confirm it. Based on Buddhist theory, the evolution of ignorance is And what do you do? You take action — you make an idea. Let’s take an abstract idea like a table. First we friends, go shopping, have sex, use whips and chains or create a label like ‘a table’, but that label is actually an melted wax, which makes you really feel that you exist. abstract entity. For instance, when we look at a table, you This is the second link, action, which is depicted by a will not really see an entity that is ‘tableness’. There are person making a pot (2). In classic Buddhist terms, legs, there is wood, there are nails, all of that. If you take karma is action. You know how when we are insecure we the table apart, each of them is a different phenomenon: have to do something, from taking Prozac to meditating wood is wood, nail is nail. Within the phenomenon of or chanting mantras, whatever — all these are actions to table there are many, many parts that are not necessarily prove that you exist. And when we talk about these links, referred to as ‘a table’. But when they are all together, they are sort of in order. But don’t think that these things then there's the idea or the label ‘a table’, and we created take time — like first there's ignorance and then there's a that table, we created that label. That is still fine, that is little bit of a pause and then there's action. It is not like still not a big failure. The failure comes next when you that. It is really, really speedy. It is very fast, it is almost think that abstract idea is not abstract but concrete, when at the same time. Gentle Voice : page 2 Gentle Voice : October 2005 Close encounter with a deer, Kyoto, Japan (Photos Rasa Bahls) The moment you have action it is accompanied by sense objects such as sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. consciousness that is depicted by a monkey (3) — With this identity, this notion of ‘I’, we go through or clever, very clever, jumping all the time, going enter this house of sense objects. It is an empty house; everywhere. Here, there, you think he’s here and the next there is nothing inside but we think there is something minute he’s there. But, you know, those tame monkeys very valuable inside. Or if you happen to be inside, you are chained with all kinds of ropes. It doesn’t matter how think that there must be something very valuable outside clever they are, they still don’t know how to undo these and then you go outside. We go in and out; basically we chains and run away from their abuser. Basically, the create more phenomena. Then what does this give birth consciousness emerges from ignorance. The monkeys are to? Contact (6). Tibetans are just hopeless when they cleverly stupid, that’s all. They are clever idiots. (It’s sort paint. This is supposedly a man and a woman kissing. of unfair on the monkeys!) Basically, we meet, we have contact between the sense and the sense object, consciousness and the object. So what has happened? You need to confirm this There is contact and what does this contact lead to? ignorance, this insecurity. You create an action; action It leads to feeling, which is represented by being is accompanied by this consciousness, like eye blinded by an arrow in one eye (7). consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue and touch consciousness. This then develops Let’s go back to the self. We have the self, ignorance — nama and rupa, which is depicted in the fourth image insecure and at the same time very, very, very proud. on the Wheel of Life, name and form. It could be John, Very egoistic, but at the same time very insecure and Paul, democracy, a trend or a fashion. But strictly because of that we have to do something. As we do, we speaking, here there is a boat that symbolises identity create consciousness, form, we create a certain kind of and inside the boat there are the five aggregates that are identity, a trend or some kind of fashion that we belong represented by the five travellers (4). Wherever this to. With the help of the form, the trend, this feeling, we label, this identity, this trend goes, somehow the five go out to the sense objects and when we go out, we meet aggregates, without much choice, tag along. Where do the object. The moment we meet, we then feel — not they go? They don’t reach anywhere. They just go round necessarily good feelings, sometimes bad feelings. and round in this ocean of samsara. Basically, what we A feeling is created. Feeling leads to craving, which is are talking about is constructing identity, self- identity, depicted by a person drinking alcohol (8). This yourself. You have now successfully constructed an insecure self is going through this form and feeling and identity — myself, me, Buddhist, Hindu. all this identity and then we meet a very good feeling. Of course, we crave for more. So once you construct that, then what do you need? This me, this self, without all the rest is useless. Again, it But sometimes we even encounter bad contact, bad will become very lonely. It needs a place to get distract- feeling, and then crave to dispel it, to outdo it, to gain ed, to get occupied, like a job or entertainment, which is some kind of victory. You know how we are so attached represented by an empty house with five doors (5) — to fixing the problem, aren't we? Continnued on page 10 Gentle Voice : page 3 Gentle Voice : October 2005 Lotus Outreach In Cambodia By Glenn Fawcett Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche had expressed his wish This little story has a silver lining as we were also some years back that once Lotus Outreach was well accompanied by Bernie Kirchner, founder and editor of established on the Indian subcontinent, we should next the Cambodia Daily (a brave and moderate voice in the work to help develop the principally Buddhist peoples of wilderness).