Date: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Ösel Hita Torres Munich 2017
Publisher: HappyMonksPublication

Ösel Hita Torres

Do Not Believe Everything you Think

Compassion and Selflessness

This talk was given by Ösel Hita Rinpoche in Germany in 2017.

Published by HappyMonksPublication with the permission of Lama Ösel.

Happy Monks Publication

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system or technologies now known or later developed, without permission in writing from Lama Ösel.

Many thanks to Alex Volk for transcribing, Hermann Wittekopf for creating the cover, and to Tara Baltazar for proofreading the text.

© Lama Ösel

Introduction and Prayers

Hello! Can you hear me properly? Yes? OK.

Okay. It's very nice to see you here. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you so much for inviting me here. It's very special for me to be in Bavaria, to be in Munich, to be in Germany. It’s very, very special. And I really appreciate it so much from the very moment I arrived. Everything, the whole welcome and the energy, so thank you so much - really I appreciate it very much.

We can do some motivation first, I was thinking. We can do some motivation. So that we can maybe still a little bit our monkey mind. And then maybe just relax a little bit. So we gonna do - first we gonna do the motivation. We do maybe a short prayer in Tibetan.

Sang gyä chhö dang tshog kyi chhog nam la

Jang chhub bar du dag ni kyab su chhi

Dag gi jin sog gyi pä sö nam kyi

Dro la phän chhir sang gyä drub par shog (3x)

(I go for refuge until I am enlightened

To the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly.

By this practice of giving and other perfections

May I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings.)

Meditation on Gratitude

Maybe we do a short meditation, a very short meditation, just on gratitude I think would be good. Yes.

(exhales) To breathe deeply inside, not just from the nose but from down here - from down the throat like...

(breathes deeply through throat). Deep type of breathing. Not that... (breathes through nose) ...not this one but... (breathes deeply through throat again). And out the same... (breathes deeply through throat)

...like that. Inhale completely and exhale completely. Slowly.

First of all we visualize from the heart the organ that started beating since we were a two weeks old fetus. Since that moment it has been beating nonstop, and it will continue beating until the day we die.

And it is always beating there, it is always there. Whether we are aware or not. It's continuously beating, just like all the other organs of our body are continuously working for us. And they're available. And they are there. Present.

We have no idea at all about what's happening inside our body. We have some kind of concept or understanding. But we cannot really - like feel - we can feel certain like feelings. But actually to understand every single movement and activity inside our bodies is very difficult. So in this meditation at least we are grateful for that activity. For the happening of it all the time, constantly.

The lungs are the temple of the body where we bring air from the outside. This is the connection with the outside world. We bring it into our body, and it transforms it into oxygen. And through this oxygen we get the energy and the life force. The temple of our body is the lungs. We focus on the breathing coming and coming out with the air. And the gratefulness of having this air available to us.

Just like that we have to be grateful for soooo many other different factors in our life.

I don't think we have much time to actually go through some of them but at least you can imagine - you can use your imagination. And like for example the moment your parents met for the first time. Or the food that your great-grandparents ate. Or even maybe the creation of you know the first amoeba that resulted in actual life on earth. Things like this you know - that are actual, you know, factors that helped us to be who we are and where we are today.

Okay. So, we can do this every day a little bit. It's very helpful you know.

Because I think so: in order to really have a happy life we have to be grateful.

Being Proud and Humble

If we're not grateful than we become very proud, and pride is one of the factors and causes for suffering.

On the other hand, one thing we can say, like for example, the pride for existing, that pride is okay, you know. Because you want to be who you are. You want to reach your full potential. You want to understand the qualities of who you are, you know. So that kind of pride is good.

But to be humble because we belong. Being proud because we are, but humble because we belong. We are part of something much bigger than us. In that way we can balance also, you know. To know who we really are and at the same time know that we belong. To have the humility and gratefulness as the conditions to have the compassion and the patience necessary for happiness.

This balance is so important. Without balance it's very difficult to really find inner qualities of yourself. If you go from one extreme to another you can learn a lot but there's a certain point when we have to know which mistakes not to repeat, you know. So you can make mistakes in order to learn. But if you start repeating them a lot then it's useless, you know. Because you are not really advancing. And the important thing is to advance in life. Not just to stay all the time at the same place. You have to keep moving. From the day we are born to the day we die we are learning. We are students. The earth is a school. So even the day we die we're still learning the process of death. That's why it's very important to know that we know nothing. But at least to know there's so much for us to learn. Because why did Socrates - I think it's Socrates who said

'The wisest man is he who knows that he knows nothing'.

So why did he say that is because, from my understanding, when you think you know, then you are not open to learning more. And when you are not open to learning more then you become ignorant. Because life is about learning - constantly.

The moment you stop you're stuck. Because life is about how everything is moving. It's all about movement. You know: vibration, frequency. It's all about movement. We have this concept in our heads that everything is permanent. The table is permanent, we are permanent, this is who we are, I am like this, this is me, this is my personality. Today we believe something. Tomorrow maybe we change our mind. To be aware of these preconceptions is very important in everyday life.

Every atom is in movement. All the time. Always. So, ja. don't believe everything you think (laughs, audience laughs).

Otherwise you're in trouble (laughs).

Too Much Self-Awareness

It's good also to be spontaneous. Spontaneity is very good, you know. Sometimes it's hard for us to think outside of the box, you know. We are inside this sphere and we believe that is everything. So sometimes it's good to go outside of this sphere and look from the outside. If you think 'Oh me me me poor me - I'm suffering - I have a big problem' then it becomes even bigger. But if we move outside and we look from outside than we see 'Oh maybe it's not that bad'. You know. Then we give... We value more the positiveness than the negativeness. We change the balance. 'Cause many times in life we overvalue negativeness much more - we give it more importance - so we focus more on that. And then it takes over. So you have to also be able to do the 'Tai Chi', you know. (laughs)

Many times, or most of the times, we are very self-aware of ourselves, which can be a big problem. We are too self-aware.

Sometimes you want to smile - if you are too self-aware - then even if the first impulse is to smile then you suppress it. Or you want to say hello to someone and then you think too much and so you don't say hello because 'oh maybe it can be awkward' if you don't know the person; you start thinking so much. So it's good to be spontaneous. Don't give so much importance to your own self-awareness; oh me..., it doesn't matter. Just let go, you know. Let go this concept - preconceptions of, you know, this solidity: 'I am this'. You're not this! You are being something constantly. And you choose how you want to react every time, like a fish swimming in the river.

Value the Individual

I think, maybe it's a good time for a story (laughs).

There is one story that happened somewhere in a butcher factory, you know, meat factory somewhere. Maybe China or something like that. Not sure where it was. But ahem, somebody accidentally locked themselves in a freezer at the end of the work day. So, everybody had left already, and that person had locked himself inside. He couldn't like break the electric equipment. He couldn't open the door from inside. He tried to keep warm but it was impossible. After a certain period of time the person decided that he was going to die. So he gave up. He just let go. 'So okay now, my faith is I am going to die in the freezer because of my stupidity. So I give up.' He already is certain, for sure - 100 percent - he was going to die. Everybody else is already gone home for the day.

And then suddenly somebody opened the door of the freezer. He couldn't believe it. And guess who it was. It was a guard of the factory. The guard opened the door. It was like 'ah here you are! I found you'. And he was like 'How did you know I was in here?'. And the guard he answered: 'Of all the hundreds of people who work in this factory you are the only one who says good morning when you come in, and who says good night when you leave. So I was waiting for my good night and it didn't come. That is why I came to look for you.'

Patience and Tolerance

How many people understand English here? How many people? (Most of the audience raise hands - audience laughs). And how many people don't understand English? (Two people raise their hands - Ösel, translator and audience are laughing).

This is a very important lesson I think. Because, okay we can talk about - let's talk a little bit about patience. You know, especially people who live in the city, sometimes we have no patience. We think that the patience comes from the other person. But actually the patience is within ourselves. If we have patience with ourselves then we can be always patient, you know. Why are we impatient? We have to check.

It's easy to blame others - very easy. Oh it's his fault, it's her fault. She said this - he said that. They did this. That's why I lost my patience. That's why I got angry. It's not my fault. It's their fault. Very easy! Very easy...

But what is the reality? The reality is that it is our fault. It is one hundred percent our fault. We are the ones to blame for our impatience and for our own suffering also, which is the result from that impatience in that circumstance. This is a different type of suffering of course.

Suffering is very relative, you know. For example, a masochist: his suffering is very different and his enjoyment is also very different. Some masochists like to be whipped. For us, we call that suffering. For them, they call this pleasure. So it's very relative, you know. There is no same suffering for everybody. Because for each person, the way they receive and perceive is very different. For some people something very small can be very big. For some people something very big can be small. So it also depends on how we see it, how we adapt to the situation in every moment.

For example, maybe the two people who don't understand English feel bad, because they're like 'Oh, everybody has to wait for us to understand'. But that is not your (addresses the two people) problem of course. It's a problem of the other people. If they don't have the patience - if they don't have the compassion and the humility to offer that chance to the people who want to understand - then it is their problem. It is your right to have someone translating into German and at the same time the people who have to wait because they already understood, you have an opportunity to practice patience. Or breathing. Or meditation. You know. Just like that, every day we have the opportunity to practice dharma and Buddhism.

You know, maybe right now we would be spending our time on Facebook or watching a movie or lying on our sofa watching and getting brainwashed by the TV. There we don't have a problem, you know. But here maybe we get bored or maybe we get impatient, you know. So it's very important to check and understand where it's coming from, why are we acting the way we're acting. This is the monkey mind. This is what we call the monkey mind.

Wrong Notion of I

Okay, so, let's get down to business now, ja?

So, for example: why do we suffer so much? One of the reasons why we suffer so much is because the notion of I… is a wrong notion. We have a wrong notion. And we act and we do things with one intention, knowing already that the result is going to be the opposite from what we want. For example, we have this notion that I exists. 'Me', right? The ego, the ego. We have this concept, this preconception. Even from the moment we start speaking we say 'my mama, my papa, mama papa mine’, already then we have this kind of thinking. This concept of I - it's not there. If we look for it, we can never find it. Never. It's impossible. Because it's not really there.

We have this attraction to something that supports the existence of I. Like pleasure or enjoyment, you know, distraction. So we are attracted to that. But we reject things that actually make us understand maybe there is no I. So when people say something attacking your ego or something like that, then we reject that automatically. Without really knowing why.

In other words: the notion of I is attracted to anything that supports it or endorses it. If it feels that this notion of I is threatened by something, then it rejects that. So then how do we reject? By getting angry, by being defensive, by getting depressed 'oh poor me', becoming the victims, limiting ourselves. This is limiting our potential. Instead of really knowing that all of this is like clouds in the sky. Coming and going.

In a rainy day with lots of clouds we choose to be underneath the clouds. But if we go on a plane and we fly outside than we can see the sky, we can see the sun. And that doesn't change. So why do we choose to be in a rainy cloudy day instead if we can actually be outside and be able to see the sky, appreciate that?

Because we want to defend this notion of I that doesn't exist. We believe so strong that even unconsciously we still let the negative destructive emotions take control of our attitude, of our reactions, of our speech, of our mind and our body.

We all started as a fetus - we started with just one cell that divided into two cells. That's how we all started, you know. We were just like a blob, a circle. A little tiny, tiny circle. That's how we started. Where is the I there? And then it slowly started dividing, dividing, dividing, and then it becomes like a cylinder. But there's no head, there's no feet, there's no leg, there's nothing. Only just like a cylinder shape. That's how we started. Everybody - all of us.

If you really think about the beginning of life, how we actually developed... where we come from - there is no I. We were just like blobs. Blobs with a potential. We're composed by stem cells, that had the potential to become any type of around two hundred different types of cells. So we are stem cells with the potential to become around two hundred different types of cells.

That's where we were originally. That's where we come from. But we get this preconception of the I such as strong 'me', 'I am this' based on the name, based on our childhood, based on the culture, on the circumstances, on every moment that we've lived. And then we really believe, 'this is me'. But that is impermanent. It's changing (clicks his fingers) . If you actually are able to be aware of this then you can really start to really become who you can really be. And that is where we're going.

So we label the I on a collection of atoms and molecules that are ever changing, all the time moving. We label on changing attitudes of mind constantly. We actually label something that's not really there. Like a soccer team for example. And the soccer team - you give a name to the soccer team. But the players are always changing. So who is the soccer team? It's not really the same soccer team. It's just a name. But we fight so hard for that team (laughs together with audience).

Sometimes the hooligans have these fights between themselves. 'Oh my soccer team is better than your soccer team'. Why is this? Think about it, you know. Even maybe if sometimes we see hooligans it looks a little bit ridiculous. Why they fight so hard for something like that. But we do it every day without even seeing it! Because we try to protect this ego. We don't want to see it.

When somebody criticises us then we try to, you know, like Lama Yeshe used to say, we cover up ourselves with blankets of ego. Right?

Interpretation Based on Imprints and Concepts

(To the translator:) You said hooligans many times...

(laughs). I think I only said two times... (everybody is laughing). Just joking.

But this is a good example, you know, of interpretation. We interpret all the time. Interpretation is very dangerous sometimes. We interpret something based on our understanding, based on our imprints, based on our concept, on our labels and our past. We interpret something in such a way that we believe it. And then we react on that. And we fight for it also. It's very important to see that interpretation is very relative. Based on each person. Everybody is different. So everybody has a different interpretation. Nobody... You can't say 'I know who you are, I know how you are, so I feel like I have the right to judge you', for example, you know. We cannot judge anybody because we don't know anybody. We don't even know ourselves.

We don't know how we are gonna react in the future if certain circumstances happen. If we don't even know ourselves how can we even feel we have the right to judge someone else? Through our own interpretation, which is based on only our own experience and understanding.

This is like watching a movie, for example. Hollywood! Right? If we see some actors, we are watching a movie on TV. But actually it's just pixels of light changing color and moving. Many pixels together create maybe more quality and then it's more nice for us to see. We feel distracted, you know. Entertained. So we forget really to check who we are. We just look outside. And we believe! We can even cry sometimes from emotion. We can get angry with the bad guy. Or we defend the good guy. Maybe sometimes the good guy he does bad things but we still defend him. 'No! He was right, fight for him'.

But actually it's just a 2D movie. And we believe it so much because it's based on the interpretation, on the imprint we created from before. So for example if it's Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves or Richard Gere, for example it's like 'oh, I like them, you know, oh wow!' So we base that enjoyment on an imprint that we created from before. And that's why we can enjoy the movie, we can relate to the movie.

A five-month old baby doesn't really relate. They look at the TV, maybe they look a little bit and then they look somewhere else. They don't really follow. Why? Because they don't have that imprint yet to really base their understanding on what's happening in the movie.

In the same way every day we are creating out of ignorance imprints, where we base everything that we do every day based on those imprints, on the past understanding of our interpretation of what we experience through this body. Through the five senses. So we create a karmic imprint that is based on the false perception.

That is why it's very important to be aware of this. Because if we are not aware of this then we keep doing the same thing again and again and again and again...

We Are Responsible for the Happiness of Sentient Beings

We don't know why we are suffering. We don't understand why it is so difficult sometimes. Because we want something but we're acting and we are reacting to receive the opposite. So what is it that we want? Everybody wants the same thing: happiness. Even the smallest amoeba. You know they have an aversion for suffering. And they like happiness which is like food, nutrition. This has been tested by scientists. Even an amoeba, which is a single-celled sentient being, has this notion of 'I want happiness' and 'I reject suffering or unhappiness'.

In our body we are full of single-celled organisms. They are conscious because they have this actual reaction that we have also. So all these cells and organisms, multi-organisms, amoebas, all these bacterias, viruses - anything - it's like a universe of consciousness - a universe of sentient beings, all in our body, just in our body, for example. And we are responsible for this. We are responsible for them in many different ways.

Our emotions, our habits, our thoughts, all affect them. So we are responsible for them, and that is why we are responsible not just for ourselves and what is contained in our body, but also for the people who surround us.

So how do we do this? How do we actually create this happiness and this joy? Not just happiness for us. I mean if you think about 'me' - who am I? Something that controls the body, something that controls the mind, sometimes we are not even in control of the mind. The mind goes everywhere. Monkey Mind. Here. There.

So we are not even in control of that. We are not even in control of our body either because we don't know what's going on. The organs who continue functioning even if we are sleeping, even if we are awake, walking, you know, it's happening.

So, you know, we have a responsibility in this life. Not just for who we think we are but for the people that surround us and with whom we interact every day.

Compassion and Inner Wealth

In England Southampton some scientists, I think neuroscientist or nuclear physicist or something like this

- quantum physicist - I'm not sure. There was an article in Sputnik News that was saying some scientists came to the conclusion that the universe is a hologram - it's a 3D hologram. Just like maybe a flat screen 2D screen that we see sometimes there is 3D

- we can see it but we can't really touch it. But actually it's flat screen, it's 2D. So in the same way the universe is 3D, actually it's 2D. But it's like a 3D hologram that we can touch, smell, hear, you know, feel, like that. But actually they discovered, they came to the conclusion that it's a hologram. So in other words it's an illusion. That's what the scientists are saying today.

Which is very similar to what was already... what Shakyamuni Buddha was talking about 2,600 years ago. So when we think like this, even if we don't maybe understand that experientially, it is helpful to think like this so that we don't give so much importance to the I.

When we lose this importance than we can really start to offer the best of ourselves. Because life is not about to become more happy by gaining more material wealth.

Or temporary (snaps finger) pleasure or happiness.

It's not about that. The values today that the system or society tells us that it is, are not really the real values. Wealth is not a real value. I mean there is a different type of wealth which is inside. It's wisdom with a method. The wisdom, the understanding, when you’re taking away the ignorance, with the method which is compassion. So when you put these two together then you really start to get a taste of the real wealth. And this wealth - you don't have to fight for it. You don't have to protect it from other people stealing it. You don't have to be worried about 'oh if you give a little bit you will lose some of it'. Or what you’re gonna do with it when you die. No! When you give it, it multiplies.

When you share it, it multiplies even more. The more you give the more you receive. The more you give the more happy you are. The more conscious you are of other people. The more concerned you are for other people the happier you become.

Because all your actions and the motivation is based on helping and, you know like, improving other people’s state of mind or, you know, so like that.

So that is why it is very important to really be aware of this notion of I. In that way we can really start to forget about the selfishness, these values that capitalism has created. And actually to go back to the real inner values - the ones that really count. And those values you can actually take with you to the next life.

You don't have to be worried that someone will steal it, because nobody can take it away from you.

And you can also take it with you to the next life unlike the materialistic wealth. So, that is something I think very valuable, very worth fighting for. Fighting maybe is not the right word, but at least making an effort to really achieve that and see it - at least.

At the Beginning Is the Motivation

Always to be aware how you can create benefit. It's very important. His Holiness he calls it 'wise selfishness'. He calls it so. Having compassion and kindness in order to be happy. This is an interesting concept. It's a little bit selfish because you want to be happy but the method is the right method.

But actually the real motivation should be 'I want to really understand and to be happy, in order so I can help other people'. Not the other way around. But that kind of motivation also helps in order to find the right motivation. Because karma is linked to the motivation. It's very important the motivation. The motivation is the beginning of everything.

All the thoughts and the speech arise from the motivation. The motivation starts first which creates the thoughts. From the thoughts comes the speech and through the vibrations of the speech and the frequency of the speech then the body reacts. You know, so it's very important to keep in mind all the time the motivation. Which is the real motivation? If the real motivation is to benefit other people then the result will be happiness.

If the motivation is selfish then the result will be suffering. So, in other words if there is no I then there is no attachment or aversion. And then there is no destructive emotions. Then you don't have the unskillful actions that just reinforce the mistaken sense of the I. Is that clear?

Uninvited Guests

Like the emotion, for example, is like an unwelcome guest that comes to our house suddenly. Even if it's a family member - if they open the door without knocking (on) the door - we get a little bit, you know, like offended maybe. Imagine if it's a stranger to just come into the house. We wouldn't welcome them. We would be like 'Who are you? Who invited you here? Why didn't you knock? Why didn't you call me before to see if I'm home?'. Something like that, right? That's how we would react.

But instead with the negative destructive emotions we welcome them home. They come in whenever they want. And then we say 'Oh please sit down, have a cookie. Are you happy? Welcome to the house. You are the boss of the house. You can take over. You can become the dictator...'.

Why? Why is this? We actually do this. We actually let the destructive emotions take over (snaps finger). Anytime. Because of this wrong notion... this notion...

the mistaken notion of I.

You know, what we really want to defend? If we are able to see that, then we can always have inner peace, inner calmness. And then we can share that with other people and help them also to find that sense of no-stress and calmness adaptation.

I believe kind a little bit my understanding of Buddhism, I think one of the first steps in Buddhism would be to know how to adapt to any situation in a positive manner.

Question and Answers

Film About Emptiness and Quantum Physics

Question: In your talk at Tushita you mentioned that you were interested or planning on working on maybe a film on the connection of emptiness with quantum physics.

Ösel: That was a long time ago. (laughs).

Visitor 1: I was wondering if you still are thinking of it.

Ösel: Ja, I am. Actually I am thinking of doing this movie based on visual animation, interviews of neuroscientists and quantum physicists with meditators and like Geshes, people who are PhD holders in the Buddhist philosophy talking about the concept of emptiness. I think because it's that nowadays we are reaching a point where science and philosophy or spiritualism or religion are actually coming together and they are meeting.

I thought that would be a very interesting idea to make a movie or at least a documentary about. With visual animations it can really explain everything in a very easy way - visual way - in different aspects. So, yes, I still want to do it but I haven't really had the opportunity yet. I'm waiting organically for it to happen, you know, slowly. To see if there are people who want to like to be involved. And also me myself, I have to get a better understanding in order to really see how to do it.

Visitor 1: You motivated me actually to watch that old film What the Bleep? and I was wondering if you are thinking if you are doing it along those lines.

Ösel: Maybe a little bit different, I was thinking. Maybe more about interviews, using visual animation. Yeah, but something… it would be really helpful to have good ideas or input or any people who want to actually be involved. I would really appreciate that. And hopefully it can happen in the next couple of years, we can do something. That would be really good.

Forgiveness

Question: If we are feeling hurt in a friendship, in our home, how can we act in a nice way?

Ösel: Very good question. Because here we can actually talk about compassion and forgiveness. And we talked a little bit of compassion. But I think forgiveness is something we didn't talk yet about. So, forgiveness is something very important to be aware in life, you know. When somebody does an action that we feel is wrong towards us, or towards anybody, we have this notion that maybe we cannot forgive them.

Like they deserve to be punished. They deserve to be unhappy. They deserve to recognise that they made a mistake. With this kind of preconception or this notion we create an idea that, you know, we cannot forgive them. So we carry this weight. It's a weight that we carry. Even though the mistake was theirs, we carry that mistake. We carry that weight. Because we are not able to forgive them.

Even though it’s their problem we make it our problem also. It's their responsibility but we make it our responsibility. So that is why it's very important to forgive. Not just other people but also to forgive ourselves. Because forgiving ourselves also, for example when we do something and we think it's wrong and we regret a lot, then we are also carrying weight. If we learn from the mistakes and we move on - it's very good.

But if we regret something that has already happened, that we cannot change, then also we are carrying a big weight. So forgiveness goes two ways. And if you can put compassion inside the equation, then we can really transform that.

And by offering this kind of energy towards another person you also create the cause for the other person to also start shifting. Maybe not immediately but energetically it will start happening. And if it doesn't it's not your problem. You should not carry someone else’s problem on your back. If you try to help them and they don't know how to receive this help then you only... you should also focus on your own spiritual development. You cannot always worry about other people because sometimes it just becomes a waste of time. You have to know where the limit is.

You already made the effort. Your motivation is the right one. So you keep moving forward. And you're always open to renewing the friendship, you know. Even though maybe you feel they wronged you, I am sure they also regret it.

You know, if they're conscious enough. And if they are not, that is their problem, it's not your problem. You did the right thing. And if not it's also good to ask for forgiveness. And to forgive. Both ways. It's very good. It's very purifying and cleansing. Don't be bitter, don't hold on to it. Just let it go. Things will happen, many times. And we are not really in control, you know. So it's not necessary to think that we should be in control of things. Just that creates more stress. Let go. Be happy. Be calm. I don't know.

Compassionate Suffering

Question: When I face suffering - other people's suffering or animal suffering - how is it possible not to suffer myself?

Ösel: Ah, but this is a different type of suffering. It's not the selfish suffering. It's a compassionate suffering. This kind of suffering is not the same if you can recognize it. Of course it's hard. But you're having compassion. So it's not like something bad. It can be hard of course, like many times if we see some documentaries maybe, when you are watching a movie and someone is hitting someone or documentaries that show very, you know, graphic images. So sometimes we really feel 'ahhh' like we are affected by it, you know. But we also have to recognise, have compassion, transform it, and use it as a tool to also improve, to give the best of us. 'Cause many people are ignorant. And through that ignorance they do these actions.

Not only have compassion for all the people or the animal that is suffering but actually also have compassion for the person who is doing the action. Because out of ignorance they’re doing it. So you transform their suffering into compassion. And then you offer this as a way, as a method to improve. For the person who is doing the action and for the person who is receiving it. Both ways. You transform the negative and you make it into something positive.

It's a different type of suffering. Does that help?

Anger

Question: I was wondering if you have any advice or guidance about… ideally we try to catch the anger before we become angry but if we are unable to do that and we are in that state of anger. How can we skilfully deal with that?

Ösel: There are two methods. First one is to think about the result. You are only suffering; you make it worse. For sure, one hundred percent, I guarantee, I sign it for you (audience laughs). It's number one.

Number two method. To see where the anger is coming from. Observe. It's based on your own ego, on your own selfishness, on your own protection of this misconception of the I. This wrong notion of I, which doesn't exist. It's only based on that. That is where the anger is coming from. It's coming from something that doesn't exist. So if you can actually observe it when it starts coming out, on time, then you can really avoid. And if you can't at least when you start to get angry or when you really want to react then you think about the result. Is it gonna really benefit the situation, is it gonna make things easier? Or is it gonna make it muuuch more complicated and muuuch harder? And you are actually digging your own grave basically.

If you don't get angry, if you don't react, in a negative way, then the result will be very positive. Because it will give you much more self-esteem, it will give you stability, it will create more security with yourself and with whoever you are with, you know. So everything, you know, goes towards a positive thing. Just the fact that you are not letting that emotion take over.

Because you are the captain of your boat. You don't want to have a sailboat that is just wandering around and the wind comes this way and it goes that way. Or this way and then you hit some rocks and you break. And then what is the result? A broken sailboat that you have to repair. It's already difficult to sail. Why make it more difficult?

You are already in samsara. Why put more samsara into it? Unless you learn. If you learn from reacting like that then at least don't repeat it. And if you repeat it too many times then check, you know. It is very important to learn from the mistakes. And if we don't learn from the mistakes then we have a big problem.

And we don't want a big problem. We want to be happy. We want to be calm. We want to be, you know, evolving. We want to be growing. So if we allow this to happen we are not growing. We are going backwards. So the whole point of our lives is to go forward, to grow, in a very peaceful manner.

And the more peace you are able to offer the more peace you will receive. So that's why you have to be. And when you create a pattern and a habit of avoiding, letting these emotions take over. The easier it will be, you know, to slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly go towards that direction. And one day: even if you are with sooo much stress you'll be able to have your center and your peace of mind.

And then you can really start helping other people to find that, too. And then you are already on the right direction towards non-unhappiness, and creating the cause to real happiness.

Okay. So thank you so very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

A Talk of Ösel Hita Torres at the Kulturhaus Milbertshofen, Munich, Germany February 5th, 2017

Pictures of Lama Ösel

Table of Contents

- Introduction and Prayers
- Meditation on Gratitude
- Being Proud and Humble
- Too Much Self-Awareness
- Value the Individual
- Patience and Tolerance
- Wrong Notion of I

- Interpretation Based on Imprints and Concepts

- We Are Responsible for the Happiness of Sentient Beings

- Compassion and Inner Wealth
- At the Beginning Is the Motivation
- Uninvited Guests

- Question and Answers

- Film About Emptiness and Quantum Physics
- Forgiveness
- Compassionate Suffering
- Anger

- Pictures of Lama Ösel