Buddhism - A Starter Kit!

You've been looking at Tibetan Buddhism? You want to start? But you still don't know how? This might help.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
But, but, but, how do I actually start?
The advice has piled up.
You're snowed under with it.
But you still don't know how to put the first foot on the Buddhist path.

(00:21):
So, time to get down to a few brass tacks.
Hello to all my wonderful listeners.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for being here.
Welcome, whether you've been here before or not.
This is the Double Dorjé podcast, Series 2, Episode 11.
And I'm Alex Wilding.
I do spend some time looking at some of the internet forums about Buddhism.

(00:46):
What a mixed bag they are!
There are kind, knowledgeable, and intelligent contributors, without question.
But there is an awful lot of the blind leading the blind.
Newcomers with four or five books that they have read, and three months of uninstructed practise, trying to
tell others how it is and what to do.

(01:08):
And occasionally you meet cyber-bullies.
It is a fact.
So caution is advised.
Again and again, there are a couple of related questions that keep coming up.
How do I get started?
How do I find a teacher?
What practises can I do?
Do I need an empowerment to recite this, that, or the other mantra or prayer?

(01:34):
Back in episode 3 of the first series, way back I might say, I addressed a few questions that I
Hoped - and still hope - would be helpful for total beginners.
But I don't really think it was detailed enough or rich enough to really do the job.
So today I want to try and lay down some clear instructions, bang a few nails on the head, and

(01:57):
hope that a beginner who listens to this will actually be able to get started.
Now that is a difficult target.
So if I fail, please forgive me, but I am going to give it a shot.
The episode does contain a fair bit of detail, so if you do actually find it helpful, you might even
need to listen to it more than once.

(02:23):
Buddhists do have a strong tendency, it's actually part of the standard teachings, to avoid harsh and
critical speech.
Unfortunately, as I see it, this means that in all too many cases, there is a need, all the same,
to say, look, come on guys, this is just ridiculous.

(02:43):
Or indeed, much worse than ridiculous.
In this episode, I'll try my best to call a spade a spade.
Of course, I am aware that in today's world, especially on the internet, insults, ignorance, ad hominem
attacks, and so on, are increasingly becoming the norm.
So in many ways, this avoidance of harsh and critical speech is a good thing.

(03:08):
But I think sometimes it goes too far.
For the moment, the inevitable little detour.
If you like the Double Dorje podcast, or find it helpful, please spare a few seconds to share, like,
follow, or subscribe.
Thank you in advance.

(03:36):
Today, I have got particularly in mind the kind of person, and the evidence suggests there are quite a few
of you, who has got as far as being drawn in one way or another to Tibetan Buddhist practice.
For such a person, it is nevertheless easy to feel at a loss about how to actually begin.
On the internet, where both wise people and idiots reside, most of them under pseudonyms, there is no end

(04:03):
of advice.
There are courses on offer, some of them are free, many of them want payment.
But there is conflicting information, and it's only natural that people will feel very cautious about
taking their first steps.
So I want to take a look at what it is that you actually need to know, maybe what you
just don't need to know, what it is you need to understand, and of course, above all, what it is

(04:27):
that you need to do.
For that matter, what you need to have, which again means what you don't need to have.
Back in my early days, and I'm putting my old man's hat on here, any sort of literature or advice
was as scarce as a white crow.
You grabbed what you could, wherever you could find it.

(04:49):
Things are obviously very different now, almost the opposite, but nevertheless, the situation has some
similarities.
That's because nowadays there is so much information, some of it good, much of it rubbish, including
rubbish that's just other rubbish that's been recycled, that it is super hard to know where to start.

(05:11):
At the very beginning, setting out on the Buddhist path means going for refuge to the three so-called
Precious Ones.
These are the Buddha, the teachings or the Dharma, and the community or Sangha.
In one sense, the Sangha is fully ordained monks and nuns, but it does have other rather broader senses.

(05:32):
You should know, at least in simple outline, what it means to take refuge in each of these.
On a first level, the Buddha is that famous person who lived about two and a half thousand years ago.
The Dharma is what that person taught, including most famously the Four Noble Truths, and the Sangha is the

(05:54):
community of fully ordained monastics.
A simple expression of the Four Noble Truths is that firstly, suffering is unavoidable.
Secondly, this suffering has a cause in ignorance, aversion, and attachment.
Thirdly, this cycle of suffering can be undone.
And fourthly, it is undone by following the Noble Eightfold Path, which is the reason why a wheel with

(06:18):
eight spokes is often used as a symbol of Buddhism.
On a higher level, the Buddha is the three bodies or the three kayas, that is the Dharmakaya, the
Sambhogakaya, and the Nirmanakaya.
These three are too complicated to explain here, but you can begin by just recognising the names.

(06:41):
The Dharma is the peace of liberation, and the Sangha is the high level Bodhisattvas, such as Chenrezig,
Tara, and so on.
To take refuge in the Buddha means that you do not go for refuge to other gods or other sources
of refuge who you imagine might save you.
To take refuge in the Dharma means that you give up harming others, and to take refuge in the Sangha

(07:06):
means that you do not rely on the speculations of those who don't understand the nature of things, which is
to say, don't understand emptiness.
Having mentioned the Four Noble Truths, there is a formulation said to be the epitome of Buddhism that you
would be well advised to know and even learn to recite off by heart.

(07:28):
It's called the Formula of Dependent Origination or of Conditioned Origination.
And, literally, it means simply that one thing causes another.

It goes in English, one translation, like this (07:38):
All phenomena that originate from causes, the Tathagata has
taught these causes, and also that which puts a stop to these causes, this too has been taught by the
great Sramana.
Of course, I need to explain - or might need to explain - that both Tathagata and Sramana are ways of referring

(08:05):
to the Buddha.
This is often included in sadhana practises when most of the work has been done as part of a process
of making up for or compensating for errors.
It's recited in what was originally Sanskrit, but has been said again and again, probably badly

(08:26):
mispronounced by Tibetans.

And my hearing of it, yours may differ, goes something like (08:28):
“Ye dharma hetu trabhawa hetun teken tatagato
hayawade dùtekentsa yoni rodha evam badi mahasharmanaye soha.”
It takes a little bit of learning.
You'd do better to look it up in written form, but it is well worth knowing.

(08:55):
You won't be surprised to note that this is a particularly simple expression of Dependent Origination.
A rather more elaborate version is the 12-fold chain of Interdependent Origination.
You might well want to study it in more detail later.
It's not hard to look up.
It forms the basis of the 12 little pictures that you'll see around the rim of the Wheel of Life.

(09:20):
This well-known picture shows a wheel with six zones, illustrating the heaven or paradise realms at the
top, the realm of the jealous gods, the human realm, and then the realms of the animals, of the hungry
ghosts, and the hell realms.
The rim that holds the whole thing together is this chain of Dependent Origination.

(09:42):
One thing leads to another, and another, and round and round it goes.
In many ways, taking refuge is adopting a mindset.
Some people imagine that when a teacher gives them refuge vows, that teacher is then their guru, possibly
for life.
This is not so.

(10:02):
Taking refuge is not a tantric empowerment.
You take refuge, as said in the Buddha, in the Dharma, and in the Sangha, not in the person who's
helping you to take the vows.
I said a little bit about refuge in Episode 17 of Series 1.
Taking refuge is often coupled with the Bodhisattva vow, particularly in the formulas that introduce many

(10:27):
formal practises.
Commonly, the Bodhisattva vow, which is the vow not to seek our personal release from samsara alone, but to
work without end for the benefit and liberation of all sentient beings, is given formally at the same time
as refuge.
My own rather personal view is that the Bodhisattva vow is a huge and different step, best made at some

(10:54):
later stage after due thought.
I know I'm by no means alone in holding that view, but be prepared to see them done as a
pair.
As for a widely known refuge and bodhicitta formula, you might like to learn this.
First of all, in English, I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the

(11:16):
Supreme Assembly.
By the merit I create through giving and other perfections, may I attain Buddhahood for the sake of all
sentient beings.
Again, I'm going to have a shot, admittedly a bad shot, at reading out a version of the Tibetan equivalent
to this.

(11:37):
This is a verse you will hear again and again.
Why do we take refuge?
This is the subject of the four thoughts to turn the mind, or what I have called the four revolting

(11:58):
thoughts.
First, the opportunity to study and practise the Dharma is incredibly rare and precious.
It is closed to the vast majority of people for personal, political, intellectual, and cultural reasons.
Secondly, like everything else, it does not last.
This opportunity will go away.

(12:21):
Thirdly, sooner or later, the effects of your actions come back to you.
And fourthly, most of the time, existence in samsara is ghastly.
As far as action or karma is concerned, you can learn more about these later, but at this stage, it
would be enough to have a simple understanding of, for example, what the ten unskilful kinds of action are

(12:46):
that we are to train ourselves to avoid:
killing and injuring, stealing, inappropriate sex, harsh, slanderous, and idle speech, hateful, greedy, and
stupid thoughts.
These are worth memorising, and details can be studied later.
The same is true for the other revolting thoughts.

(13:09):
You should know at least the names of the six perfections.
Sometimes ten perfections are mentioned, and there are detailed teachings about each.
But for starters, it is good to know the names of the first six.
Generosity, ethics, patience, perseverance, meditation, and wisdom.

(13:30):
You need to grasp that Buddhism operates on different levels.
The first is called the small vehicle, or the Hinayana.
Some people call this the Theravada level, but using that name is really a boo-boo.
The Theravada is a school of Buddhism, very much alive today, and labelling it Hinayana is demeaning.

(13:52):
The Hinayana is relatively easy to understand.
It involves ethics and mental cultivation, along with study if you are taking it seriously.
It is held to lead to your own individual liberation from suffering.
The next level is called the Mahayana, or great vehicle.
It places particular emphasis on two things.

(14:15):
The first is compassion for others.
The second, leading on from the absence of self taught in the Hinayana, is emptiness.
Nothing can be found to have a true, graspable, concrete existence.
Be very clear that this does not mean that nothing exists at all, or that nothing matters.

(14:37):
The Heart Sutra is a short and very famous text, of which you have very likely heard, and preferably should
have read at least once!
It's regarded as a concise expression of the core idea of emptiness.
In my admittedly limited experience, it's much more often used as something to chant as a reminder about

(14:59):
emptiness, rather than as a text to study.
Texts on this topic that are studied tend to be much longer and more intellectually complex.
These first two levels are discussed in particular in the Hinayana Sutras and the Mahayana Sutras
respectively.

(15:22):
The third level is the subject not of the Sutras, but of other texts known as the Tantras.
It is generally said that the Sutras are a record of what the Buddha who we know actually spoke, while
the Tantras emerged in other ways.
It's complicated!
Be aware that much of what is marketed in the West under the name of Tantra is bizarre new age

(15:47):
nonsense.
This is the level at which we find more complex rituals and yogas involving the repetition of mantras,
often many, many times.
We also find a huge pantheon of colourful deities, some peaceful, some wrathful, some male, some female,
many of them in intimate embrace.

(16:07):
The classification of the different kinds of Tantra is in itself a big field.
When you first start, you do not need to know very much about this at all.
At some stage, you are likely to receive the empowerment, as we call it, of one or more Tantric deities,
by which time you may want to know a little more.

(16:30):
This level is also known as the Vajrayana, the vehicle of the vajra.
If you have got this far, you will almost certainly have seen vajras or dorjes, as they are called in
Tibetan.
They are the classic symbol of this kind of Buddhism, representing the penetrating clarity of the true
nature of the mind.
It can represent purity, clarity, power, and other things, depending on the context.

(16:58):
Taking an empowerment is, or should be, a very serious step indeed, establishing a lifelong and deeply
personal connection between teacher and student.
The student should continue to respect the Lama, whatever happens later, so be careful.
This does not mean that once you have taken an empowerment from one particular Lama, you are bound to him

(17:22):
or her for the rest of your life.
Many people do receive empowerments from multiple Lamas.
It is entirely common.
It does not mean that this teacher has become your deepest, most important root Lama, but it is a serious
step.
As a matter of fact, empowerments are often given out like candy, and the relationship is not greatly

(17:44):
valued by either teacher or the students.
That's a shame, but it's something you'll have to negotiate.

(18:07):
Usually classified as part of the Vajrayana, we also have those techniques that do not make quite so much
use of the deity meditations, focussing instead on meditation and cultivation of the true nature of the
mind.
The names Mahamudra and Dzogchen should be known in this context.

(18:27):
The reason why the first, when we're speaking English, is based on the Sanskrit name, and the second is
based on the Tibetan name, is a curiosity buried in history.
Dzogchen may also include its own set of exercises and meditations in

(18:47):
preparation for those sections that deal with the true nature of the mind, and for this reason some of its
exponents like to think of it as separate from the Vajrayana.
It would be good, perhaps as a second stage of study, to know something of the historical development of
Buddhism and its various philosophical schools.

(19:09):
At this stage, I don't think you need to know much about the ins and outs - and they are indeed
very complicated and sometimes subtle -
of the differences between the main philosophical schools, but it is useful to have at least heard the
names and know that that's what they are.
Names that it's helpful to recognise here are, forgive my pronunciation, the Vaibhasika, Sautrantika,

(19:36):
Yogacara, which is also known as the Cittamatra or Mind Only school, and the Madhyamika or Middle Way
school.
Well, actually, I should correct what I just said.
It is worth knowing that the Madhyamika, the Middle Way school, is the one that developed the full
flowering of the philosophy of emptiness and is accepted as the philosophical basis by all the Tibetan

(19:59):
schools.
Needless to say, it has its divisions and subdivisions.
Some people really like that stuff, and you can look into it later.
I don't think that's necessary for the complete beginner.
If you are going to move in Tibetan Buddhist circles, you should at least know the names of the four
or sometimes five main schools.

(20:21):
The teachings of these schools do overlap very, very much, but they also most definitely have their own
flavours, their own particular histories, stories, practises, and prayers, and they are not interchangeable.
The Nyingma is usually thought of as the oldest school, although it did not constitute an actual

(20:42):
organisation as such for a long time, being descended from the earliest teachings to reach Tibet, while the
other three schools did have something of an organisation or group of organisations.
Nyingma means old ones, and that refers primarily to their use of the old translations, while the other

(21:04):
three schools rely on the new translations known as the Sarma.
These new translations were made according to strict specifications at a later date.
Guru Rinpoche, often known, not entirely accurately, as Padmasambhava, is the most prominent figure in Nyingma

(21:26):
history.
The Kagyu school or schools descend from a famous translator, Marpa, whose most famous disciple was
Milarepa.
You will see pictures of Milarepa dressed in a simple cotton cloth, usually with a red meditation belt over
one shoulder, and often shown in a pose where he is holding his right hand to his ear.

(21:50):
The biggest branch of the Kagyu these days is the Karma Kagyu, headed up by the Karmapa.
The Geluk school originated in a reform movement initiated by Tsongkhapa in the late 14th century.
While he is not the actual head of the school, the Dalai Lama is far and away the best known

(22:11):
figurehead, as well as being the best known figurehead for the Tibetans in general.
The Sakya school is also an independent school of the Sarma tradition.
For a long time, it was a massively important political force in the Tibetan landscape.
The Bönpo school is more difficult to fit into this jigsaw.

(22:33):
Sometimes it is counted as simply not being Buddhist at all.
On the other hand, some Bönpos say that of course they are Buddhist, and even claim that they are the
original Buddhism, predating anything that was imported from India.
In case you hadn't noticed, much of what I've just said, and will continue to say, is extremely simplified,

(22:54):
and I've glossed over some serious controversies.
I'm just trying to provide enough background that you can enter the Buddhist party without looking like an
ignoramus.
Books you should read, study, and preferably have.
That's another big topic.
Biographies and autobiographies are a wonderfully rich source of inspiration, and they offer you something

(23:19):
to read in the future.
As a tiny collection to get started, I would suggest either the Jewel Ornament of Liberation, or the Words
of My Perfect Teacher.
The first one, the Jewel Ornament of Liberation, was written by Gampopa, one of Milarepa's important
students, and is therefore particularly studied by the Kagyu.

(23:43):
But there is little, or probably nothing in it, that's specific to the Kagyu.
It's a good example of a kind of text known as the Lam Rim, or Stages of the Path.
It is dense.
It's a little dry.
It contains much more than you can expect to learn simply from a quick read-through, but it does make
a great reference work.

(24:05):
Don't bother with the translation from Herbert von Günther.
It will give you a headache.
The Words of My Perfect Teacher is easier to read, but I suggest it second because it contains quite a
bit of material that is specifically Nyingma and that goes beyond the Stages of the Path discussed in the

(24:25):
Jewel Ornament.
There are other Lam Rim texts which will quite possibly do you just as well.
The work available free on the internet and full of little details that will make Buddhist practise more
comfortable is called A Lamp Illuminating the Path to Liberation.

(24:47):
It was written in 2014, that recently, by one Kenpo Gyaltsen as part of a general effort to revive,
preserve, and uphold the Buddha's teachings in Nepal, and it was intended for relatively uneducated and
untrained people.
As luck would have it, that makes it very useful for us.
After all, when we Westerners first come to the Dharma, I think we can clearly be counted as uneducated and

(25:12):
untrained.
Do we not?
Highly recommended and as I say, free.
Most people will, of course, not be satisfied with just two books.
Some books get very technical, some are very heavy duty, some are wonderfully useful if you are a long-term
committed practitioner, but at the same time, far too dense for a beginner.

(25:34):
An inspiring start can be made, however, through life stories, as I mentioned a minute or two ago.
This is a genre popular in Tibetan culture because they are entertaining and inspiring as well as
instructive.
There are several versions of the life of Milarepa, which is one place you could start.

(25:57):
With this little bit of background, you will, sooner or later, meet the possibility of taking refuge, not
just in your private thoughts or even recitations, but through a formal ceremony.
Strictly speaking, this is not necessary, but it is a beautiful thing.
It can be quite an emotional moment too.
To reiterate what I said above, when you do this, you are taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and

(26:22):
the Sangha.
You are not committing yourself to the particular teacher who's facilitating the ceremony, nor are you
committing yourself to the school of Buddhism to which that teacher belongs.
If it is somebody reputable in whom you have confidence, it's okay.
It's also okay to do it more than once, no problem.

(26:45):
I'm not sure whether the internet has made this problem worse or whether it's just made it more visible,
but the sooner you realise that there is a vast mass of flaky, quasi-Buddhist nonsense out there, promoted
by people who are after a fast buck or a fast bit of fame, the better it will be.
You have to develop your own sense of what is authentic and reliable and what is the very opposite.

(27:11):
To begin with, I'm going to suggest some do's and don'ts as guardrails.
Take them for whatever they may be worth, but they might indeed save you quite a bit of trouble.
Here we go.
Don't fixate on what you think of as your school too soon.
Your connections will emerge naturally over the course of time and what looks attractive at first may not

(27:36):
look so good after some months or a year or two of experience.
If you study and practise in one school, it is perfectly possible to change, but it is not necessarily
easy.
I speak from experience.
I spent many years thinking of myself as a Kagyu practitioner or student, but for one reason or another,

(27:57):
various internal and external obstacles reared their heads.
All the same, I must have at least some good karma because as those problems grew, so other opportunities
to connect with the Nyingma school presented themselves.
The boundary between the Nyingma and some parts of the Kagyu is relatively weak compared to the boundary

(28:18):
between some of the other schools.
In fact, a couple of my first and most important teachers, while definitely Kagyu Lamas, thought of
themselves very much as practically half-Nyingma.
In spite of that, and in spite of how comfortable and happy I felt as my Nyingma connections grew, I
found again and again that things that I was familiar and comfortable with in the Kagyu context are

(28:43):
practically unknown to the Nyingma.
And there were also many things texts, teachers, history, styles of practise and more that were familiar to
people who'd connected with the Nyingma in the same era that I connected with the Kagyu, but that I had
to get used to afresh.
So changing schools is not forbidden, it's not impossible, but your life will be simpler if you don't rush

(29:08):
into the feeling that one or another of these schools has to be your home, possibly the place with which
you have a karmic connection from previous lives. Connections from previous lives are of course always a
tantalising idea, but best to let it happen in its own time.
In the same vein, people are again and again asking how do they find a teacher?

(29:31):
This is often made worse by a tendency to rush once again.
First of all, there is no fixed rule.
It can take a long time.
In some ways, it's not unlike looking for a life partner in the conventional sense.
You put yourself about in circumstances and environments where it might happen.

(29:54):
You are open to it, and you wait.
You can go online of course, asking questions and doing searches.
Although I don't think there is a Dharma equivalent of apps like Tinder, there are nevertheless people
essentially fishing for students.
So once again, take your time, and remember that the first possibility you stumble across is unlikely to be

(30:19):
the best.
You may well have to travel, and it may well not be easy, although it is of course far easier
for us modern people than in ancient days in the Far East.
Travelling for six months by foot and on horseback to find your teacher is not usually required anymore.

(30:40):
When you are searching online, bear in mind that you may be reading material translated fairly directly
from Asian sources.
This means that they can be full of hyperbole, which is to say exaggerated statements or claims that are
not meant to be taken literally.
This literary style is used massively in a lot of Asian literature.

(31:05):
I understand that it used to be much more common in European culture, but it has largely fallen out of
favour for quite some time, so do remember that high, wild claims might just be a way of speaking.
As an aside, it's not quite the same as hype that we see so often in advertising and elsewhere these

(31:25):
days, which actually *is* intended to make you believe literally in the exaggerated claims, and then I
suppose buy something from them.
So we may find that kind of language over the top, but we might just have to learn to live
with it.

(31:45):
You will hear about the ngondro or foundation practises.
These are the ones that often start with a hundred thousand full-length prostrations.
I've heard of people being anxious to start ngondro, perhaps because they see it as something that would
allow them to conceive of themselves as true practitioners.
The ones I am thinking of are then sometimes looking around for which of the many ngondro practises that are

(32:12):
available, wondering which would be the best one for them.
Sadly, one or two of these people are basically looking for which one they think will be easiest and that
they can get through fastest, but this is not the way it works.
In fact, it's putting the cart before the horse.
*When* you have made a strong connection with an authentic teacher, and *when* you have an appreciation of how

(32:38):
much work there is in doing ngondro and how much value it has, that teacher will be able to advise
you on whether to take up such a practise, which one to do, and will be able to give you
the reading transmission for the one that will stamp your life, possibly for years to come.
The teacher may even advise you that ngondro is not a suitable practise for you at that time.

(33:01):
So don't rush into ngondro.
It will not help any more than it helps if you rush to take an empowerment simply because it's there.
You do want to get hold of a mala, the string of usually 108 beads that we use for counting
mantras.
People who want to sell Dharma merch, and let me say that I love Dharma merch, will offer you all

(33:25):
sorts of possibly very pretty malas made of all sorts of substances.
Leave that till later.
Some may even be positively inappropriate for particular practises that you may take up.
Begin with a really simple one, perhaps made of what are known as bodhi seeds.
You can get it blessed, you can use it, you will have no problem.

(33:47):
Save the pretty fancy ones until later when you know why you might want them.
And when you buy your first mala, or soon after, you will need to get one of those pairs of
strings of 10 counters each.
We use one of them to keep count of the number of rounds of the mala that we have recited,
and the second one to count the number of times that the first one has been filled up.

(34:10):
This allows you to keep track of up to 10,000 recitations.
After that, if you are accumulating a large count, you can keep score in a notebook.
There are attractive counters that can be hung on the mala to extend the count by another factor of 100.
By all means get one, but you certainly don't need one.

(34:31):
I said a little bit about malas in episode 43 of series 1.
You do want to have a small shrine of your own at home, although this can be extremely simple.
Try not to put it in your living room where every Tom, Dick and Harry who visits can see it
and will ask you questions that you can't answer.

(34:53):
If you can't find a space other than your living room or bedroom, the use of a wall-mounted cupboard,
which can be quite small, is a common solution.
At the least, it must contain representations of the body, speech and mind of the Buddha.
A statue or a printed picture of the Buddha will be in the centre.
For speech, include a text.

(35:14):
If you don't have something that you look on as a sacred text, you can at least have a few
mantras on a piece of paper printed or written as beautifully as you can.
For the mind, it's possible to obtain small stupas in all sorts of sizes and at all sorts of prices.
As an alternative, you can use a crystal in a suitable mount.

(35:40):
In front of these, you do need some basic offerings.
If you have nothing else, a bowl of pure water changed every day and a candle will do nicely.
If you can afford it and your cupboard is big enough, you can buy a set of seven bowls and
set up the traditional offerings of water for the face, foot washing water, flowers, incense, lights,
perfume, food and music.

(36:00):
This is done in slightly different ways according to the tradition, but you can always adjust it later if
you become involved in a tradition that does this in a slightly different way.
You do not have to have a vajra or dorje and bell or one of those two-sided hand drums
known as a damaru at this stage.

(36:21):
They best come later when you know why you need them.
A lot of normal students don't have them at all.
It's not a problem if you do obtain these as something simply to keep on your shrine, but it's not
something that you need at the beginning.

(36:42):
At this stage, you can, and maybe you should, start doing something by way of a simple regular meditation
practise.
Watching your breath as it comes in and out of your nostrils is a good old standby.
You may prefer to quietly recite a round or two or more of a mantra such as Chenrezig's, counted on
your mala.

(37:03):
Mantras themselves are a hugely complicated field.
Yes, I know, again, it's complicated.
Most mantras are not appropriate to recite until you've received the relevant transmission and permission,
but there are three or four that you should know and can recite straight away.
No doubt the best known in Tibetan Buddhism as a whole is the Mani, the mantra of Chenrezig.

(37:27):
This is the one that goes, OM MANI PEME HUNG.
You can sing it or recite it fast, but you should know it.
This is okay, absolutely whichever school of Tibetan Buddhism you are going to become involved with.
The next mantra, more popular in some schools than others, but also universal, is the mantra of Green Tara.

(37:50):
You can easily look up pictures of her on the net.
Her standard mantra goes, OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA.
This is also one you should learn and can recite often.
The third mantra that I would recommend you have lip-ready, so to speak, is the mantra of Guru Rinpoche.
This is most strongly associated with the Nyingma school.

(38:14):
It's often found practised amongst Kagyu practitioners, but perhaps a little less amongst Sakyas and
Gelugpas.
There is in fact one small branch of the Gelugpa who are strongly anti-Nyingma and anti-Guru Rinpoche, so
a little caution might be called for there.
This mantra goes, OM AH HUNG BENZA GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG.

(38:35):
The benza is a Tibetan mispronunciation of vajra and is sometimes pronounced more like that.
I, of course, am also mispronouncing the Tibetan, so hey, that's where we are.
In any event, it's the same thing.
The fourth mantra is often mentioned as one that anybody can use, namely that of Medicine Buddha, but it's

(38:56):
less common, so I won't go further into it here.
The same goes for Buddha Shakyamuni's mantra.
All good, but I think you probably have enough on your plate already.
As a matter of common sense, don't expect to know everything.
Nobody does, nobody can, and however much you know, there's always somebody who knows more.

(39:18):
This is of course true in any field, as is the fact that the people who look the silliest are
not the ones who know very little.
We all start from ignorance after all.
The most foolish are the ones who know a little bit and think that it's a lot.
Here's a couple more don'ts.
Don't be fooled by theosophy.

(39:40):
Madame Blavatsky, its founding figure, was a wonderfully inventive plagiarist who made up a system based on
a mixture of Victorian spiritualism and a few bits of popular Hindu occultism.
She called it Esoteric Buddhism, but it's nothing of the sort.
Don't, therefore, be fooled by Lobsang Rampa.

(40:01):
I would have thought that he had faded from view by now, but he still does have enthusiasts.
Most of his invention was based on Blavatsky's invention, and his books contain virtually nothing about
actual Buddhism.
Another author from early last century you might just as well avoid is the well-known Evans Wentz.

(40:22):
In those early days he did a lot to popularise some ideas about Tibetan Buddhism, but the editing that he
applied to his texts was shocking.
He used a bizarre pseudo-biblical mode of speech, presumably in the belief that this would make his
material sound more spiritual.
Worse still, he was not above completely changing what was written to make it match his preconceptions.

(40:48):
So his work is not uninteresting, but fundamentally a waste of time.
You can use your time better on other things.
You might as well also, if I may say so, avoid Herbert von Günther, although for very different reasons.
His work is entirely intellectually respectable, although there are those who would argue with some of his

(41:10):
Positions - but hey!
The problem is that he overlaid his translations with a lot of vocabulary drawn from early 20th
century German existentialist philosophy.
Now, if you want to take a year or two out to study that, first of all, you may find
Günther's translations more accessible, but for most of us it is, I'm afraid, another waste of time.

(41:35):
Everywhere there is a power structure, there is the possibility of abuse.
You must always, always be on the lookout for that in absolutely any Buddhist organisation that you come
across.
Of course you won't find it in all of them, but it does happen.
In particular, there are two or three still extant organisations worth avoiding, and I am going to actually

(41:57):
name them.
One is the Rigpa organisation founded by Sogyal Lakar, a person who was thoroughly disgraced before his
death.
I do believe the remnants of the organisation have been working to sort themselves out, though I don't have
any significant contact with them, so I can't really say either way.

(42:18):
At the very least, caution is strongly advised.
Now, when you see the name Shambhala attached to an organisation, do be wary.
There is a Shambhala publishing house, which does good work, but many of the organisations who use that
name in one form or another, such as Shambhala International, are descendants of the sprawling organisation

(42:42):
founded by Chogyam Trungpa.
He still has his fans, some of whom are still ready to go on the attack on Trungpa's behalf, but
stories do suggest that these organisations have in general not yet got rid of the taint resulting from
Trungpa's abuse.
The internet is full of information about this, so I need say no more, once again, than that strong caution

(43:06):
is advised.
The name Shambhala has a long history, and there are other organisations that use it that have nothing to
do with the one I've just been talking about.
You have to figure that out for yourself.
Anything to do with the NKT or, in full, the New Kadampa tradition, is a hot potato best dropped quickly.

(43:29):
It mainly consists of Western students who were duped into a political anti-Dalai Lama movement, whose
flagship deity, Dorje Shugden, is highly problematic.
When I first started to hear about this in the 90s, my teachers were so reluctant to even say the
name of that protector deity, that curious-minded people, such as myself, had to dig around quite a lot to

(43:52):
find out.
They have been very prolific apologists for themselves.
They claim that His Holiness the Dalai Lama tried to ban the propitiation of their protected deity, and
that this was an infringement of their religious liberty.
In fact, what the Dalai Lama had said was that those who do worship that deity should not take teachings

(44:15):
from the Dalai Lama himself.
This was indeed a hard line to take, but he was not attempting to ban them from the practise.
I have been led to believe, unfortunately, that some of the Dalai Lama's followers did go over the top in
ways that were not good.
The whole thing is a product of political in-fighting amongst various factions of the Gelugpa.

(44:39):
So if you look them up on the internet, you will find a lot written in their defence, but there
is also a lot explaining what the problem is.
Once again, a hot potato.
You would also be well advised to keep out of any discussions about who is the true Karmapa.
Many people close to that controversy have their opinions, sometimes strongly held.

(45:02):
I am one, but arguing about it?
No, please, no!
Then again, there are organisations that I can very easily think of that are really a bit weird, and that
I wouldn't recommend, but that are not, as far as I know, abusive, so I don't think there's any need
to go into them here.

(45:22):
It's not my place to catalogue or grade all the Buddhist organisations that you can find!
Just be aware that you will meet some weird stuff from time to time.
Finally, another couple of little bits of advice.
Don't get iffy about doing prostrations or other signs of respect, like standing up when the Lama comes

(45:43):
into the room.
It's what we do.
It's perfectly normal.
Steer clear of discussions about people's root gurus.
This term does, in fact, have very different meanings in different Buddhist traditions, and discussion
about it often leads to a messy confusion.

(46:04):
In any case, the question of who is your root lama or root guru, if indeed you have one at
all, is very personal, and there is no need to talk about it in public.
You don't have to wear special clothing.
Of course, when you visit a centre, you should avoid being scruffy.
On special occasions, such as when a tsok puja is being done, or some special teaching or empowerment, you

(46:29):
might want to wear your Sunday best.
Apart from monastics who are obliged to wear their monastic robes all the time, there are a few people who
use a bit of what I'm going to call ceremonial clothing, but this is nothing that will affect a beginner.
I also just mentioned tsok pujas.

(46:50):
When you have a history of practise behind you, have received certain empowerments, and made certain
commitments, you may be doing tsok pujas at home from time to time.
Otherwise, there is no need to worry about them.
If you're connected to a centre, and that centre does tsok pujas, and those tsok pujas are open to the
public, then by all means go, but it's nothing to worry about.

(47:14):
And talking of wearing things, while some people do wear a mala around their neck, this is not all that
common.
I suspect it may have crept into Western practise from “hippie trip to India” days.
Most often one's mala, one's best mala at least, is kept as a private thing.
So once again, we've at last reached the end.

(47:36):
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sharing.
Thank you.
And remember, to go on a journey, you must first put one foot in front of the other.
So bon voyage!
Bye!