1 00:00:14,300 --> 00:00:17,690 Good evening. And good day to all of you around the world. 2 00:00:18,410 --> 00:00:24,410 We are very happy to host Zim Pickens today, 3 00:00:24,410 --> 00:00:33,020 who is a grad student in the South and Southeast Asian Studies Department at U.C. Berkeley and his dissertation, 4 00:00:33,020 --> 00:00:38,120 which hopefully will see the end of the light at the end of this year. 5 00:00:40,350 --> 00:00:47,380 Focuses on the history of relevance to 12th century Indian and Tibetan Buddhist preliminary practices. 6 00:00:47,430 --> 00:00:59,250 The window into today he's going to talk about some parts of his upcoming dissertation that I am really eager to get my hands on. 7 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:05,220 And it's going to concern the rise of the Guru Yoga in 12th century Tibet. 8 00:01:09,510 --> 00:01:15,600 Yeah. So I'm very happy to be here today and have a chance to finally share some of my dissertation research. 9 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:25,309 For the last couple of years. I'm just kind of after making a quick scan of the audience, I've drawn from a lot of your work and my own research. 10 00:01:25,310 --> 00:01:31,070 So thank you. I'm very grateful for. I couldn't have done that without the foundation that you provided. 11 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:37,890 So the other topic for today is the rise of Guru Yoga in 12th century Tibet. 12 00:01:38,950 --> 00:01:44,500 So just a kind of quick overview of some of my methodology, I guess. 13 00:01:45,010 --> 00:01:51,460 So my research, as Daniel mentioned, is on the 11th is the 12th century Indian and Tibetan preliminary rights. 14 00:01:52,240 --> 00:02:02,260 And I sort of I find the preliminary practice genre fascinating in Buddhist literature because on the one hand, 15 00:02:02,260 --> 00:02:10,030 Buddhist authors are very explicit at times that preliminary practices can be done differently in a given time and place. 16 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:18,040 So there's a certain flexibility that is attributed to the Journal, and we'll see that an example of that in today's talk. 17 00:02:20,350 --> 00:02:24,910 And personally, that's because they're just preliminary practices, right? So we can do them in different ways. 18 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:32,800 On the other hand, they have to come first, and there's a lot of emphasis on the necessity of doing preliminary practices. 19 00:02:33,550 --> 00:02:38,890 And so I like the tension between those two ways of understanding the genre on the one hand. 20 00:02:39,820 --> 00:02:44,470 They're just preliminary practices. They just report what follows, what comes after. 21 00:02:44,650 --> 00:02:49,180 And then, on the other hand, they are important and necessary. 22 00:02:49,180 --> 00:02:52,240 They need to be done in order to have success in later practice. 23 00:02:53,710 --> 00:02:56,830 Okay. So the second point about innovation and ritual. 24 00:02:56,980 --> 00:03:00,670 So that's a sort of broader theme that I'm exploring in today's talk. 25 00:03:01,330 --> 00:03:06,430 Buddhist authors, even if they say preliminary practices, can be done differently from time to time. 26 00:03:07,030 --> 00:03:09,099 They don't necessarily come out and say, well, 27 00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:16,890 I'm just making up this particular ritual that's sort of frowned upon most of the time in Buddhist traditions. 28 00:03:17,110 --> 00:03:24,190 So that raises the question, well, how does innovation happen in the rituals or how does the change happen in these types of practices? 29 00:03:25,030 --> 00:03:27,760 And then the kind of gesture towards an answer. 30 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:35,920 One of the main topics we're going to look at today is how Buddhist authors use narrative and scripture to frame current Buddhist practice, 31 00:03:36,340 --> 00:03:43,120 perhaps even innovative Buddhist practice as traditional. So we're going to look at a couple of examples of that coming up. 32 00:03:44,300 --> 00:03:49,850 And a more specific question for today is how did you come to focus on the Tibetan Lama? 33 00:03:50,660 --> 00:03:53,660 And then in introducing this particular question, 34 00:03:53,660 --> 00:04:00,530 I thought it'd be appropriate to draw from a blog post made roughly ten years ago by Oxford, Oxford very own Robert Mair. 35 00:04:01,100 --> 00:04:05,030 So Professor Mair raises this very same question. 36 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,200 In India, with the obvious exception of shocking only Buddha, 37 00:04:09,230 --> 00:04:18,200 it seems that countryside and others aren't known or oriented towards historical figures. 38 00:04:18,230 --> 00:04:23,600 They're more focussed on what is often is or contracted is. 39 00:04:24,500 --> 00:04:34,280 Whereas in Tibet we have a whole collection of yoga rituals that are explicitly focussed on a human teacher in professor emeritus terms, 40 00:04:35,420 --> 00:04:39,320 a human teacher who is identifiable in current or recent local history. 41 00:04:39,650 --> 00:04:46,160 So that's the question that we'll talk about a little bit today of how how did this 42 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:52,309 shift happen where the guru kind of came into the focus in the ritual sphere, 43 00:04:52,310 --> 00:04:59,390 and then we're going to gesture towards how did even the human lama come to come to the fore? 44 00:05:00,410 --> 00:05:07,620 Okay. So this is the outline for today's talk. We're going to look at a few different genres of preliminary practices leading up to Guru Yoga. 45 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:16,210 So first is 50 verses on the Guru. And then another important genre is the foundational practices or other common practices. 46 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,840 Then we're going to zoom in on such a profound path of Guru Yoga. 47 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:27,130 And finally, we're going to finish with a little bit of a look at Harvard Report. 48 00:05:27,490 --> 00:05:31,090 And then some of the cardiopulmonary practices, which also include greater. 49 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:34,560 So first 50 verses on the guru. 50 00:05:36,780 --> 00:05:46,230 So for a long time this text was sort of attributed to Ashford Bhatia, and that's now just, you know, definitively been proven. 51 00:05:46,620 --> 00:05:51,809 I mean, not the case. It was composed by Berkeley, Descartes, circa 10th century. 52 00:05:51,810 --> 00:06:01,650 And as early as the 12th century, Tibetan commentators got into the back of school and told how far they had identified this author. 53 00:06:01,650 --> 00:06:06,030 So and that's also been confirmed by Peter Schmeichel more recently. 54 00:06:08,390 --> 00:06:18,410 All right. So this collection of practices, the punch card is a rather short text, mostly composed of bodily practices and social codes. 55 00:06:18,410 --> 00:06:23,480 It's meant for a disciple living in or near a household of a late tantric guru. 56 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:32,310 So a lot of these. Bodily practices are relational practices for how to act in the presence of a guru. 57 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:42,670 So they include, you know, standing up when the guru stands up, not pointing feet towards the guru, not stepping on the guru's shadow. 58 00:06:42,670 --> 00:06:46,270 For example, a lot of these social codes are drawn from earlier environments. 59 00:06:47,380 --> 00:06:53,820 For example, the laws of manners. There's also conventions around how to speak in the presence of the guru. 60 00:06:53,830 --> 00:07:00,310 You shouldn't launch into long, complicated narratives or things or tell, you know, boring anecdotes. 61 00:07:00,910 --> 00:07:03,880 You should speak gently. You should use honorific terms of address. 62 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:12,970 So and there's even more proscriptions around making offerings to the guru, seeing the guru as the Buddha following the guru's commands. 63 00:07:13,450 --> 00:07:21,670 So these are all important sort of contract principles that are outlined in this in this short medieval Indian manual. 64 00:07:22,510 --> 00:07:30,490 So just I think it's worth mentioning passing the other bucket about this kind of collecting is codes and bodily practices. 65 00:07:32,130 --> 00:07:35,590 And the he didn't really also he didn't make them up, of course, himself. 66 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:41,350 They're kind of circulating around India at the time, not just within Buddhism, but in lots of different traditions. 67 00:07:44,010 --> 00:07:50,190 My interest in sort of why I'm using the 50 versus on the grill as a starting point is that towards the end of the text, 68 00:07:50,310 --> 00:07:57,570 it sort of suggests that there's these modes of relating to a guru are and are themselves the preliminary stage of practice. 69 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:06,600 So in looking at versus 48 to 49, the texts suggest, okay, first give the triple refuge to a suitable disciple. 70 00:08:06,870 --> 00:08:12,150 And then it says This service to the guru is then meant to be given as a daily recitation. 71 00:08:12,910 --> 00:08:15,690 You know, it could also mean it's meant to be memorised. 72 00:08:16,260 --> 00:08:25,110 In any case, it sort of plays this intermediate or preliminary stage between refuge and then receiving initiation or tantric initiation. 73 00:08:25,140 --> 00:08:31,770 So that's sort of why I'm using it in this project as a sort of starting point for looking at tantric preliminaries, 74 00:08:32,100 --> 00:08:34,080 especially ones that are focussed on the guru. 75 00:08:34,230 --> 00:08:42,420 And then also because it took on such a prominent role in Tibetan religious culture in the 11th century. 76 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:49,560 So moving along to a second genre of practice, the foundational practices. 77 00:08:51,890 --> 00:08:59,960 These were mostly written in the vicinity of because we consider the monastery in eastern India in the 11th and 12th centuries. 78 00:09:00,980 --> 00:09:12,410 There's a number of these compendiums. So basically they're relatively concise collections of liturgical vows, contemplations and ritual practices. 79 00:09:12,950 --> 00:09:18,890 In a lot of cases, it seems like they were meant for householders. They're done in a sort of very intensive period of practice. 80 00:09:19,310 --> 00:09:27,080 And most of the compendium sort of this outline is one period of practice that starts in the morning and is completed in the evening. 81 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:32,959 In some cases. They were also probably done by monks. 82 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:41,990 Many of the authors are monks, but the emphasis on this text is that they're for householders in removal of wrong views is one prominent 83 00:09:41,990 --> 00:09:50,090 example of this genre was written by Abi Vondra or my trip to the foundational practice compendium. 84 00:09:50,090 --> 00:09:56,940 Then I'm going to talk about mostly today was. Written by an album Bhadra and it's called Light On. 85 00:09:56,940 --> 00:10:05,400 The foundational practices are bit deeper and more specifically, I'm going to look at this one right that's really emphasised by this author. 86 00:10:06,150 --> 00:10:11,190 So I know my mantra really prioritises this practice called the Guru Mandala, 87 00:10:11,430 --> 00:10:19,300 and he introduces the practice with a number of exegetical remarks that sort of speak to its inclusion in this article. 88 00:10:19,330 --> 00:10:26,880 Madonna. First, I just wanted to highlight the visualisation instructions for this Guru Mandala Right. 89 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:32,100 So it says in the middle of the mandala, imagine my scenario. 90 00:10:32,250 --> 00:10:38,940 And then at the centre of that sits the venerable guru in the form of Mudra Sapphire, adorned with various ordinance. 91 00:10:39,090 --> 00:10:45,659 So this is the sort of visualisation instructions for the practice, and it's different than many of the other. 92 00:10:45,660 --> 00:10:55,470 Mandala writes in the article Madonna, insofar as it really specifically highlights the role of the guru at the centre of the ritual mandala. 93 00:10:56,580 --> 00:11:01,170 So I'm not going to go too much more into the liturgy of the Guru Mandala itself, 94 00:11:01,170 --> 00:11:10,080 but I am quite interested in the rhetorical or exegetical remarks that honorarium of idea uses to introduce this, right? 95 00:11:11,100 --> 00:11:18,690 So I'm going to go through this a little slowly or sort of in depth just because I think 96 00:11:18,690 --> 00:11:24,030 they present a very good case studies for how innovation can happen in the ritual sphere, 97 00:11:24,030 --> 00:11:34,380 and how Buddhist authors sort of draw from the past scriptures to sort of account for a new way of performing a given practice. 98 00:11:36,570 --> 00:11:41,219 So just to kind of reiterate, I don't think my body is kind of making up for the remainder of the practice, 99 00:11:41,220 --> 00:11:45,840 but I do think it's prioritising in a way the other body karma. 100 00:11:46,930 --> 00:11:52,720 Authors don't do. And then secondly, it's kind of arising as an important daily practice. 101 00:11:52,750 --> 00:11:58,660 All right. So let's go through. I know, but my boundaries are immense for the good among the left and a step by step. 102 00:11:58,810 --> 00:12:05,770 So it starts out by saying, well, you should actually do the girl mandala first before the other one, meaning the mandala. 103 00:12:07,150 --> 00:12:18,470 And then. So you introduces this kind of. Dialogical kind of format where he introduces the hypothetical objections of an interlocutor. 104 00:12:18,500 --> 00:12:23,780 So that is the sort of way that he introduces the room under the right. 105 00:12:23,790 --> 00:12:29,330 So now the interlocutor says, Well, why is it that the government allows you to be done at the very beginning? 106 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:35,610 And I look at my Bhadra says, you know, he equates the guru with all the Buddha. 107 00:12:35,870 --> 00:12:39,379 He says, The Buddha is the the guru is the Buddha. 108 00:12:39,380 --> 00:12:43,070 The Guru is the Dharma. The guru is the song. So he's saying, okay, it's suitable to worship. 109 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,460 You're in the beginning because the guru has such an exalted status. 110 00:12:47,580 --> 00:12:51,120 Now the interlocutor says, Yeah, well, I don't think so. 111 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:56,340 All of that was spoken by the Buddha to point out that the guru has the distinction of a great man. 112 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:02,760 But not to make a mandala. So he's kind of suggesting that Bhadra has taken some of these citations out of 113 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:08,130 context and that they might be used to sort of celebrate the Arabian Nights and, 114 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:11,190 you know, not and not to present this Guru Mandala. Right. 115 00:13:13,030 --> 00:13:19,090 Incorrect, says Omnicom about Drew says the Buddha explains at length in the pilot trucker tantrum. 116 00:13:20,110 --> 00:13:26,860 I wasn't able to find it there necessarily, but I should look into it a little bit more, the interlocutor says. 117 00:13:28,210 --> 00:13:32,620 Well, maybe so, but that was actually just for the beginning of a practice. 118 00:13:32,620 --> 00:13:39,300 Maybe in that case you should imagine the guru in the manner of a Buddha so that you have devotion when you're listening to the teachings. 119 00:13:39,310 --> 00:13:42,880 And then again about Vajra says, No, it's not like that either. 120 00:13:43,540 --> 00:13:52,779 And now he goes on a very long sort of passage that is meant to really emphasise that the Guru Mandala isn't just for restricted context, 121 00:13:52,780 --> 00:13:57,999 it's not just for the beginning of a teaching or some other ritual context. 122 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,350 It's really supposed to be a daily practice in this article. 123 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,659 Madonna. I'm not going to read through this whole long citation, 124 00:14:04,660 --> 00:14:12,450 but I highlighted the passages that come that are also found in the repertoire of the 50 verses on the Guru. 125 00:14:12,460 --> 00:14:20,410 Just to give a little bit of an indication of how he how about his drawing from that text to make his case for the Guru Mandala? 126 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:29,650 In other words, he's drawing on the sin of social codes or bodily practices for relating to a guru in person. 127 00:14:29,740 --> 00:14:36,910 But he's using them to support this idea of worshipping the guru in a ritual manner or in a ritual idiom. 128 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:43,840 So mostly he's really emphasising the need to make offerings to the guru, which was the topic in 50 verses. 129 00:14:44,410 --> 00:14:50,379 But he's really saying the guru model does the best job of, you know, accomplishing that task. 130 00:14:50,380 --> 00:15:00,190 And even sort of interspersed with the passages from the verses are shorter passages that sort of explain the Guru Mandala offering itself. 131 00:15:02,340 --> 00:15:07,510 So finally, this will be our last slide with the key. 132 00:15:08,030 --> 00:15:17,639 He picks the six perfections, you know, very well known sort of category of of Buddhist ethics and says, 133 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:20,400 well, those two are also fulfilled through performing the Guru Mandala. 134 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:25,350 So generosity of using the appropriate substances in the right cow dung mixed with 135 00:15:25,350 --> 00:15:31,680 water morality is smearing the area with that patients is removing tiny bugs. 136 00:15:32,100 --> 00:15:37,809 So each step in the ritual process. Fulfils one of these perfections. 137 00:15:37,810 --> 00:15:45,610 And finally, he claims that having made this mandala of this age, these very six perfections are obtained again. 138 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:50,860 And this is the final sort of interjection from the interlocutor interlocutors as well. 139 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:56,710 Look at a little closely. You said having made the model of the stage is being used to designate, 140 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:01,780 but that's not quite right because what you're actually seeing is the Buddha mountain, not the Buddha. 141 00:16:02,530 --> 00:16:06,370 It's not the model of the sage you're promoting. In other words, it's the model of the guru. 142 00:16:07,030 --> 00:16:12,550 And finally, on top of that, my vajra draws from the 50 versus a final time and says, 143 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:18,100 just like it says there, to not draw any distinction whatsoever between the guru and Vadodara. 144 00:16:19,540 --> 00:16:22,810 The Guru Mandala also brings about these very same qualities. 145 00:16:24,260 --> 00:16:29,120 So just to kind of recap. He takes a lot from the city versus on the guru, 146 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:37,220 an earlier Indian Buddhist text and he uses these passages to support his presentation of the Guru monologue 147 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:43,130 as being a daily practice for imagining the guru at the centre of the mandala in the manner of a Buddha, 148 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,520 and using that as a way of making offerings. 149 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:53,220 So that's the Guru Mandala in a nutshell. 150 00:16:53,880 --> 00:17:01,380 Now we'll move on in to Tibet into the 12th century. 151 00:17:01,380 --> 00:17:06,010 Tibet in a text by a secular man named Sykap. 152 00:17:06,030 --> 00:17:10,430 And it's a very famous lama. But he also wrote a less well-known text on Guru Yoga. 153 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:18,080 So it's called The Profound Path of Guru Yoga. And he's pictured here with his uncle. 154 00:17:18,740 --> 00:17:22,160 He's going to be a prominent figure in this in this text, Robert Johnson. 155 00:17:23,430 --> 00:17:30,500 Well, the soccer pundit's uncle and also his teacher or his woman. 156 00:17:31,950 --> 00:17:35,310 So this is this will be the sort of second case study and. 157 00:17:36,970 --> 00:17:43,780 In a similar way to I know if I'm about to suck up a little introduces the world through yoga, right? 158 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:50,850 With scriptural citations, with narratives, and also with autobiographical narratives. 159 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:59,130 So he introduces a lot of material before he actually talks about the the short practice itself. 160 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:05,460 So we're going to go through some of that. So he stuck up in the beginning with. 161 00:18:06,670 --> 00:18:11,680 A series of scriptural citations that account for the importance of the guru on the path. 162 00:18:12,340 --> 00:18:20,320 That was not controversial. But then the next he cites a number of index stories on the theme of seeing the Guru as a Buddha. 163 00:18:20,740 --> 00:18:29,470 Even when engaged in transgressive acts. So for, you know, for for scholars of tantric Buddhism, these types of narratives are very well known. 164 00:18:30,310 --> 00:18:33,560 But some of the politics going to draws on a number of them nonetheless. 165 00:18:33,590 --> 00:18:46,590 So he talks about anecdotes and stories where a disciple or, you know, even just sort of want to be a disciple meets a guru. 166 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:54,100 But the guru isn't, you know, sitting on a throne and then teaching or talking about philosophy or talking about meditation. 167 00:18:54,700 --> 00:19:01,000 They're doing more ordinary things, for example, like farming or taking care of horses, taking care of pigs, selling beer even. 168 00:19:01,810 --> 00:19:06,900 He cites the famous example of not open to the open or open needs to love by, you know, 169 00:19:06,910 --> 00:19:12,160 acting like a crazy person, killing fish and frying them, sitting on the river banks. 170 00:19:13,150 --> 00:19:22,780 And so soccer, soccer pandita invokes all of these stories to it to sort of introduce the idea, well, 171 00:19:22,780 --> 00:19:28,630 it's important to see the guru as a Buddha, even when they're engaged in such surprising behaviour. 172 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:33,210 In other words, just because they're acting sort of in unexpected ways, 173 00:19:33,220 --> 00:19:38,620 but it's still incumbent on the disciple to really see them as a Buddha in a in a pure way. 174 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:47,479 And then he follows that sort of passage by introducing the idea of hardships as another sort 175 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:57,200 of well-known category where disciples sort of undertake a stage of relating to the guru, 176 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:02,470 where they follow their commands and even transgress ethical, you know, 177 00:20:02,660 --> 00:20:07,490 ethical conduct or engage in different kinds of surprising behaviour themselves. 178 00:20:08,550 --> 00:20:12,900 In following the commands of the guru. So check up on data frames. 179 00:20:12,900 --> 00:20:16,860 This as a preliminary stage of practice that needs to be done for a certain period of time. 180 00:20:16,860 --> 00:20:20,370 And again, he provides a number of different examples on this topic. 181 00:20:20,370 --> 00:20:23,790 So for example, he says, nope, nope, followed around, 182 00:20:23,790 --> 00:20:33,930 followed by for 12 years and did all kinds of difficult things and by a vadra undertook the superior conduct the luck pajiba for one year. 183 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:42,300 And it provides different examples of the hardships that were experienced by these disciples in following the commands of the guru, 184 00:20:42,300 --> 00:20:46,440 even in many cases getting beaten or different physical hardships. 185 00:20:47,700 --> 00:20:57,749 But he says this is important because it helps the disciple eventually receive the blessing from the guru. 186 00:20:57,750 --> 00:21:02,670 And also he frames these blessings as being able to see the guru as a Buddha. 187 00:21:03,390 --> 00:21:08,510 So just to sort of recap the sort of equation that is presenting competitors 188 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,540 saying what's very important to see the guru as a Buddha by in order to do so, 189 00:21:13,050 --> 00:21:18,600 a disciple needs to undertake this very difficult series of hardships first. 190 00:21:20,500 --> 00:21:25,390 Then a soccer player just switches to an autobiographical mode. 191 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:31,600 And this brings us right into the contemporary 12th century Tibet and the ritual practices of the monastery. 192 00:21:33,430 --> 00:21:35,340 There's one really big difference, though, 193 00:21:35,350 --> 00:21:42,430 unlike in the narrative citations where the girls are all engaged in transgressive behaviour, Jakob Anita has the opposite problem. 194 00:21:42,670 --> 00:21:48,970 You can only see his uncle with, you know, and also who as llama Dr. Galton as his ordinary uncle. 195 00:21:49,330 --> 00:21:54,430 So he's kind of stuck with this order and this perception of his uncle as an ordinary person. 196 00:21:56,910 --> 00:22:01,049 But even as a young man, he says, I asked my uncle, John McLaughlin, to bestow the guru yoga. 197 00:22:01,050 --> 00:22:08,700 Right, so I could see him as a Buddha. So here, this idea of seeing the guru of the Buddha is affected through ritual practice, 198 00:22:09,450 --> 00:22:17,040 but it's not so easy at first sight, says I requested the lamas concentration for the yoga right when I was young. 199 00:22:18,460 --> 00:22:24,220 And dropping out doesn't get better. At first, he says, you have not generated the perception of a Buddha. 200 00:22:24,220 --> 00:22:28,990 You perceive your uncle meaning himself as an ordinary. 201 00:22:29,380 --> 00:22:35,980 You perceive your ordinary uncle. You are unable to undergo hardship for the lama with body or wealth, and he did not bestow it. 202 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:42,610 So this is such a conundrum. He only can see his ordinary uncle. 203 00:22:42,910 --> 00:22:46,750 Now drop that out and continue these days. 204 00:22:46,900 --> 00:22:50,050 What is the use even of being beaten and struck by the Lama? 205 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:57,020 And the disciple holds a grudge if the Lama speaks one critical word or if given a single meal. 206 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:00,440 One is also angry, even becoming upset in regard behind those seats. 207 00:23:00,890 --> 00:23:03,860 What's the point in discussing practising hardships for an entire year? 208 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:10,669 So you can almost imagine a sort of precocious Dr. Pandita coming to his uncle with some of these, you know, 209 00:23:10,670 --> 00:23:22,000 inspiring anecdotes of past disciples being so diligent and sort of capable and is kind of dismissed by his uncle and says, you know, 210 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:27,199 some of these actually have a sort of sounds like someone with a little privilege within the institution, 211 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:34,249 someone who is being served and is getting instructions from the Lama directly in a, you know, mighty sitting, even on a high. 212 00:23:34,250 --> 00:23:38,390 Steve So might even be have a more personal note for him. 213 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:46,310 But he also talked about loss of frames this passage by saying these days ten songs. 214 00:23:46,550 --> 00:23:50,780 So this is one interesting passage for me insofar as. 215 00:23:51,850 --> 00:23:58,960 We have a Buddhist author being attributed, you know, as saying, well, these things need to be done a little bit differently. 216 00:23:59,110 --> 00:24:05,080 Let's not try to live up to the standards set by these, you know, citizens from India. 217 00:24:05,410 --> 00:24:10,000 We may need to do things a little differently here in this time and place. 218 00:24:12,190 --> 00:24:18,280 But incidentally, there's another in Dr. Dobson's commentary versus on the girl who uses this exact phrase. 219 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:29,350 Tom to you got quite a bit it's kind of one of his rhetorical refrains in that in that commentary so know somehow that gives a nice little flavour of 220 00:24:29,350 --> 00:24:35,110 his the fact that it's also included here in the in the citations and kind of 221 00:24:35,110 --> 00:24:38,919 a nice little touch in personal touch based on some of his other writings. 222 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:43,909 It seemed like he used that phrase quite a bit. So dropping out. 223 00:24:43,910 --> 00:24:50,960 Nicholson give us a little bit of an out. He says, Well, you know, let's not even talk about doing hardships for a whole year, 224 00:24:50,970 --> 00:24:58,670 but if you want to get the yoga right, how about serving me or the Lama for the duration of a month as an attendant? 225 00:24:58,670 --> 00:25:05,090 So that says compromise and just to kind of follow the narrative for a little bit longer. 226 00:25:05,630 --> 00:25:10,660 Sarcopenia just a little later on, a frightful side of death arose. 227 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:17,390 He was feeling sick. And then, coincidentally or so it seems, Dr. Johnson also was sick at this time. 228 00:25:18,030 --> 00:25:23,390 Encyclopaedia to forget forgets about his own troubles and thanks to his uncle 229 00:25:23,630 --> 00:25:29,100 for without any concern for food and sleep in this period for for a month, 230 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:34,439 the sort of designated period of time. And he says in this text, well, 231 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:41,930 it's through that some of my negative deeds were purified through that service to the Lama and then through graduate school yoga practice, 232 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:46,630 the perception of the master as the Buddha arose, and I saw him as the essence of all Buddhas. 233 00:25:47,930 --> 00:25:54,200 So this is how the there's a lot more to the autobiographical narrative, but this is kind of the gist of it, 234 00:25:54,200 --> 00:26:00,379 is that Dr. Gautam pretends to be sick, you know, which is a well-worn trope in Tibetan literature. 235 00:26:00,380 --> 00:26:07,910 The Lama sort of acts in the way that's considered beneficial for the disciple and through through being able to serve. 236 00:26:09,300 --> 00:26:12,990 His Uncle and lama for one month. And that is enough. 237 00:26:13,230 --> 00:26:20,640 That's okay. Pandita can now receive the good yoga practice and that really effects the desired sort of transformation in how he sees his uncle. 238 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:24,629 In other words, before he saw him as an ordinary uncle. 239 00:26:24,630 --> 00:26:29,870 And now it is as the Buddha. I'm on. Okay. 240 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:35,620 So at the end of the text. And it presents yoga as a daily practice. 241 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:42,550 Imagine that the Lama is inseparable from daily, such as Hey, the truck or some bar and so forth. 242 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,000 So that part of the text is quite short. 243 00:26:49,930 --> 00:26:52,600 So just to sort of recap before moving on, 244 00:26:52,990 --> 00:27:08,620 the need to also sort of introduces a rite for imagining the guru as a Buddha and and then so supplies a lot of narrative material and scriptural 245 00:27:08,620 --> 00:27:19,029 citations that's presented as a traditional right of sorts or fulfilling this stage of necessary stage of practice and affecting this desire, 246 00:27:19,030 --> 00:27:22,360 true transformation and how the Lama is perceived. 247 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:30,040 So he presents the guru of yoga as fulfilling some of these traditional goals in Buddhist practice, 248 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:35,260 even as he doesn't really account for the history of the rite itself. 249 00:27:36,460 --> 00:27:40,990 So we can return to that point. And how are we doing for time then? 250 00:27:42,140 --> 00:27:49,400 Okay. Just perfect. Okay. So the last stage here is parchment paper and the preliminary practices. 251 00:27:51,630 --> 00:27:59,740 I decided to kind of look at Pagano dripper because a lot of the iconography is that used to depict madripoor 252 00:27:59,740 --> 00:28:07,440 but pretty unique and it seems to introduce a lot of new tropes in Tibetan art in the 12th century, 253 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,270 probably early 13th century as well. 254 00:28:09,990 --> 00:28:22,950 One particularly striking work is this Pugno Groupe Enviro China painting and art historian Christian Said states it may maybe late 12th century. 255 00:28:23,310 --> 00:28:30,780 You know, it's hard to know for sure, but it employs a lot of the standard Indic iconography. 256 00:28:30,780 --> 00:28:37,890 But then at the very top, Pablo Agrippa sitting on the top of the crown of the Indic Buddha via Otranto. 257 00:28:38,580 --> 00:28:41,610 So that's one striking element from this painting. 258 00:28:42,690 --> 00:28:46,110 A second one is the lineage of gurus that's on the top register. 259 00:28:47,900 --> 00:28:55,300 Uh. Okay. We're going to sort of look there's Pugno and Rupa him. 260 00:28:55,780 --> 00:28:59,730 So in the target material in the how you grew younger, 261 00:28:59,750 --> 00:29:03,790 some of it seems a little more common to actually just imagine the lemon sort of 262 00:29:03,790 --> 00:29:08,980 in the manner of a Buddha rather than as a degree more than manner of a Buddha. 263 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:17,680 And I think some of the material that surrounds the group is going to speak to that, that shift towards just kind of imagining lama as a Buddha. 264 00:29:18,780 --> 00:29:24,690 In their own right. So here is the parliament report, environmental statement. 265 00:29:25,050 --> 00:29:35,910 And then in this bottom corner, there is the detail of a devoted sort of looking, gazing of birds and viral trauma, perhaps even more dramatic. 266 00:29:37,650 --> 00:29:44,880 And then from paratroopers versus a group, the. We have sort of a liturgical. 267 00:29:45,390 --> 00:29:53,180 I'm a little hesitant to say equivalence, but it's, you know, some parallels with with this particular painted Tonka. 268 00:29:55,410 --> 00:30:05,380 So, for example, the sort of imaginative evocation of the lineage assembly of the lineage of Buddhism and lamas together with the different Buddhas. 269 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:13,410 And then especially this key point here, that the dilemma is imagined in the form of a Buddha rather than being tied to a particular deity. 270 00:30:14,580 --> 00:30:21,030 And then secondly, the visualisation and the impact of Japan's grew yoga right gets a little bit more complex, 271 00:30:21,030 --> 00:30:28,710 but by the end of it it says, imagine the lama as mahabharat prana blazing, emanating blazing light. 272 00:30:29,340 --> 00:30:39,210 So it's a little tentative, but I feel like there might be some connection between this yoga passage and the kind of unique punker itself. 273 00:30:42,310 --> 00:30:44,710 Who sort of later works on Hollywood. 274 00:30:44,890 --> 00:30:54,670 I do a lot with using his recognisable facial characteristics through his human iconography, especially his bulbous nose and his thin black beard. 275 00:30:54,670 --> 00:31:04,810 You can see it really well on this statue, and it's mixed with, you know, traditional stand or standard ways of depicting the Buddha. 276 00:31:05,350 --> 00:31:11,330 So we have the urn and he's sitting with the earth, touching moonrise dry, sitting on a lotus throne. 277 00:31:11,350 --> 00:31:21,490 So all of these tropes are sort of mixing the image of a human, a recognisable Tibetan lama with tropes for depicting the Buddha. 278 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:31,000 And that kind of gets more and more practised in other clunkers and later paintings as well, 279 00:31:31,030 --> 00:31:36,669 of kind of thinking of grief as the interesting case study for looking at how 280 00:31:36,670 --> 00:31:41,680 Tibetan lamas started to become increasingly portrayed as Buddhas themselves, 281 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:50,160 so to speak. Just to kind of wrap up a couple, I'm just going to kind of share a couple of short passages from. 282 00:31:51,930 --> 00:32:02,250 Kind of guru yoga liturgies. I mean, again, these passages sort of exemplify the idea that maybe it's okay just to sort of imagine. 283 00:32:03,670 --> 00:32:08,350 The Lama songs did just kind of in and of themselves. 284 00:32:08,770 --> 00:32:13,120 And in these passages, the Lamas really imagined as this sort of all encompassing figure, 285 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:19,170 where every every other object of Buddhist worship sort of gets drawn into the singular lama. 286 00:32:19,180 --> 00:32:26,379 So here we have an example of that. The Lama sits on the throne in this sort of imaginative yoga practice, 287 00:32:26,380 --> 00:32:36,070 but then all the lineage of Lamas and Buddhism builds up and the collection of it is all sort of dissolve into the body speech and mind of that lama. 288 00:32:36,070 --> 00:32:40,960 So that and another passage uses this term like gathering into one. 289 00:32:40,970 --> 00:32:50,050 So the lama in these meditation instructions is really imagined as a sort of singular figure that encompasses all other objects of worship. 290 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,680 So this particular text is attributed to Lama Song. 291 00:32:55,390 --> 00:33:00,730 Imagine that the Lama is in particular the essence of all the Koku Lamas. 292 00:33:01,090 --> 00:33:07,629 And then the interesting kind of passage here where there's kind of a branding happening where he's like, 293 00:33:07,630 --> 00:33:12,700 well, in other traditions they they rely on Bodhisattva for doing compassion practice. 294 00:33:12,700 --> 00:33:20,680 But here we rely on the Lama and acting in that way, if one asks what qualities of that target are present, 295 00:33:21,070 --> 00:33:25,990 it is said the Buddha of the three times, the Dharma Sangha and so forth, are entirely. 296 00:33:26,350 --> 00:33:29,530 You can see it in the Lama, relying upon the Lama. 297 00:33:29,530 --> 00:33:34,089 All these sources of refuge arise. So just to kind of wrap up, 298 00:33:34,090 --> 00:33:43,300 I thought it was kind of kind of a neat example to my to my mind that the guru of mandala a right in which the guru as a man and as 299 00:33:43,310 --> 00:33:50,470 the address of the author on the above address states that that guru is equal to all the Buddha and that the guru is the Buddha. 300 00:33:51,100 --> 00:33:54,040 You know, that one is also the Dharma and Sangha. 301 00:33:54,520 --> 00:34:03,579 So in that context, I know that my Vajra uses these kinds of doctrinal or scriptural citations to really emphasise that. 302 00:34:03,580 --> 00:34:10,209 It's perfectly fine to imagine the guru as a Buddha, you know, as Vajra software, in other words. 303 00:34:10,210 --> 00:34:18,010 So but then here in the 12th century, Tibet, we see lama following using these very similar ideas, 304 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:25,830 namely that the guru is equal to the Buddha's or the Lama is equal to all the Buddha as and Obama is, you know, good at the Sangha. 305 00:34:26,230 --> 00:34:30,940 He uses these same kind of spiritual ideas to kind of. 306 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:36,680 Let go of your software, so to speak. So now we don't even need that. 307 00:34:36,980 --> 00:34:41,840 You know, this idea of seeing the Lama as indic Buddha anymore. 308 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:46,450 So let's you know, the Lama alone is perfectly adequate support for a confessional practice. 309 00:34:47,390 --> 00:34:56,390 So I think that's a kind of just a kind of a representative example of how Buddhist scripture can be used in sort of even in this case, 310 00:34:56,390 --> 00:34:59,900 sort of parallel ways, but also to accomplish different purposes. 311 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:05,570 And finally, I just thought it had been nice as a sort of starting point for the discussion. 312 00:35:06,660 --> 00:35:12,630 What what is the broader significance of the focus on the Tibetan lama and the yoga right and other pulmonary practices? 313 00:35:12,660 --> 00:35:13,320 In other words, 314 00:35:13,980 --> 00:35:26,430 who cares or what what what are what are the stakes in sort of using Tibetan iconography as opposed to indic iconography in in ritual practices? 315 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:33,640 Well, I think, you know, one very obvious conclusion is that this was a way for Tibetans to sort of, you know, 316 00:35:33,660 --> 00:35:42,400 make Buddhism their own or sort of put a Tibetan face on some of these introductory or preliminary ritual practices. 317 00:35:42,570 --> 00:35:50,370 That was sort of mark sort of the entry point or the participation in sort of these 318 00:35:50,370 --> 00:35:54,180 distinct Tibetan traditions that are emerging during this 12th century period. 319 00:35:55,860 --> 00:36:01,130 So that's my side show, and I'm hoping we can have a nice discussion after that.