1 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,280 Welcome back to the Denver Zochem Podcast. 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,360 I'm here once again with Joseph Wagner, and today we're going to 3 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,920 talk about the most excellent of topics, signs. 4 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:23,360 I think the thing I would say that Joe is one of my teachers 5 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:28,200 has taught me more than anything else is that 80 to 90% of the 6 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:33,280 path is staying psyched. That making this a path of joy, 7 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,320 right? And not just some chore or manly 8 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:42,320 disciplinary thing that you do really makes it way more 9 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,120 successful and you have a good time doing it. 10 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:48,640 So why wouldn't you do that? And I can think of few things 11 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,000 more that keep me really stoked or psyched. 12 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:56,640 Our science and what I really think science have a lot of 13 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,600 factors, right? That there's an external real 14 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:04,800 blessing factor of things that are a confluence of the lineage 15 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,520 and and the magic of Buddha nature and all of that. 16 00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:11,680 But a huge portion of it is this word I just learned recently, 17 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:17,440 which is pareidolia. Pareidolia is when we see faces 18 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:20,560 and clouds or things like that, right? 19 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,480 And have mean find meaning in them, like Jesus and the toast, 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:29,320 this kind of stuff, right? And and so I've done this my 21 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:32,040 whole life. I've seen things in patterns, 22 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:36,200 textures, and people who are more open have this more, they 23 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,000 see this more. If you're a more open person 24 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,840 than you see and you find meaning in these things, you 25 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,200 know, And often in Tibet they refer to things like self 26 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,520 arising where they'll be images. And sometimes you'll be kind of 27 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,200 like, I don't see it, right? But other times it'll be really 28 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:57,000 clear and obvious that, oh, there is this image in this cave 29 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,000 wall. This phenomena is also what's 30 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,480 used to read tarot cards and, and all of these sorts of things 31 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:05,680 as well. It's your ability to really use 32 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,360 the world as a mirror for what's going on inside you. 33 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,640 This is at least part of what's going on. 34 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,840 And I think that getting familiar with this and not 35 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,560 having, you don't need to bring in the scientific skeptic mind 36 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,080 to this, right? That's why I'm bringing up this 37 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:25,640 term, a way of understanding that you're seeing the success 38 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:29,360 of your path start to show up in your life because changes are 39 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,840 happening on the inside that are reflecting on the outside. 40 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,240 Because in Tantra and in Buddhism in general, there is no 41 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,840 separation between inside and outside, right? 42 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,320 And that's also an important role of science is really 43 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,960 seeing, oh, you know, the more I've experienced this in my 44 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,600 life, like the number of synchronicities and, you know, 45 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,640 seeing images and seeing beneficial signs has happened to 46 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:58,120 such a ridiculous extent that I have so much more confidence 47 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,480 that this is an illusion, right? Isn't solid in the way that I 48 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,720 thought it was. So Joe, maybe you can introduce 49 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,600 this topic and your experience with this and and how 50 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,200 practitioners can use this to really fuel their path. 51 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,240 Well, I thought you said a lot of beautiful things there. 52 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:18,480 Yeah, I I guess this is all based on what what Damien just 53 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,960 said, which is that the path is hard. 54 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,960 It's like swimming upstream. It's much easier not to swim 55 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:25,800 upstream, turn around and go away. 56 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,920 Everything else is going, which is materialism and confusion and 57 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:33,240 nightmares and hating everyone and just the trouble of samsara, 58 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,120 you know, old age, sickness and death. 59 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,640 When you become a Buddhist practitioner, whether you call 60 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,960 yourself that or not, you're really turning and going against 61 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:43,800 the grain. That's so important to 62 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:45,560 recognize. And what do you need to go 63 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,320 against the grain? The grain in any circumstance, 64 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,960 whether you're, you know, paddling upstream in a river or 65 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,360 you're, you know, trying to get through a crowd of people who 66 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,400 are leaving to go into a burning building, whatever. 67 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,000 You need energy, you need power, you need. 68 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:05,120 And what's the basis of that? Being psyched, being motivated. 69 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:07,360 If you're not motivated, even if you're really strong, kind of 70 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,920 like, well, you know, being motivated. 71 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:15,120 To me, this is all about that. We want to get our practice to 72 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,320 the point where it goes on, whether we're however we feel. 73 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:24,880 But to get to that point, that's such a high level of integration 74 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,400 with your practice. Most people never get there. 75 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,200 They just end up kind of doing it for a while and being like, 76 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,520 you know, what'll be easier, as if I go to Peru and drink 77 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,640 ayahuasca, you know, or something else. 78 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,040 You know, I'm now I'm going to be in the Zumba. 79 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:38,880 Nothing wrong with that stuff, whatever. 80 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:45,360 But the Dharma is, is very special and we want to keep the 81 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,400 connection we have. We never know. 82 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,320 It's kind of similar. I know a lot of people, my dad 83 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,200 does drug and alcohol counselling. 84 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,280 So I know a lot of people in the recovery world. 85 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,440 You never know. I mean, most people get one 86 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,400 chance to get out, but I don't know if they're going to get 87 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:02,280 another chance. That's why you got to try to 88 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:06,000 make it stick because if the next time you've got that other 89 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,160 history of you going back out or getting back involved, so you 90 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,280 don't know if you can make it. We all have this one shot at the 91 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:14,560 Dharma, so we got to try to make that stick. 92 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,840 So that's the sort of structure in which we can talk about 93 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:20,880 signs. Otherwise it just sounds like 94 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,120 either self deception, if you're really materialistically looking 95 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:29,240 at it, or downright craziness, which you can easily turn into, 96 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:31,520 you know, from another perspective. 97 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:33,000 So you got to be a little careful with this. 98 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:37,800 But if your motivation is just to stay on the path, then these 99 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,240 things can be really helpful. So I want I wanted to say that 100 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:44,400 as a starter. Totally and and one of the 101 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,480 foundations, I think for beginning to engage with the 102 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:50,440 path like this is you got to write it down. 103 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,320 Whatever happens. If you have a a dream of your 104 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:59,680 llama or you see a sticker of a deity that you just started 105 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,600 practicing on the car in front of you, write it down. 106 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,960 This starts to help really foment the magic that's going 107 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,640 on. So keep a special book just for 108 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,360 this sort of thing. I think that's like step one. 109 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,520 I think that's a great place to start. 110 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:22,160 And then Step 2 would be to have some familiarity with symbols, 111 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,360 just having some kind of general knowledge. 112 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,280 You could read Carl Jung, you could study archetypes, you 113 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:30,360 could study the tarot, you could. 114 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:35,200 What's that? Joseph Campbell, he's all, yeah. 115 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:41,200 Having some familiarity with symbols and signs, this also 116 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:46,360 will help kind of foster this perspective because it is like 117 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:48,480 looking at life in a slightly different way. 118 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,560 Like I mentioned in the introduction, part of the 119 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:53,680 function of this is to stay a psyched and I would say the 120 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,480 other function is to really start to recognize that this 121 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,520 world isn't solid as we thought it was. 122 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:00,600 No, it's solid and it's inside of you. 123 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,760 In a certain sense, it's inside of you and that is the doorway 124 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,240 to pure perception, which is the sort of hallmark of the 125 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,400 Vaudreano hallmark of the Theravada is renunciation 126 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,160 hallmark of the of the Bodhisattva path of the Mahayana 127 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,880 generally is love and compassion, Bodhichitta and the 128 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,720 hallmark of the Vajriana is pure perception. 129 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,320 But to what we're really doing, because let's say you just sit 130 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:28,080 in your little room and you say Tara's mantra. 131 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,240 Then you go out and someone's like, Hey, I just happened to, 132 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:34,120 you know, somebody just chatting with on the street. 133 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:35,640 They're like, they're like, look what I found. 134 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,960 And it's a picture of Tara. You realize, hey, wait a minute, 135 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:41,680 outside. It's not really outside. 136 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:46,000 And that's the beginning of the ability to see things purely, 137 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,040 which is what we really have to offer to the world. 138 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:54,400 So what you're doing is you're, you're paying attention to the 139 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,240 manifestations occurring in your life and you're seeing how they 140 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,280 relate to what you're doing in your spiritual world and that, 141 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:03,200 and then they will start to link up. 142 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:04,720 And then you feel very motivated. 143 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,080 You feel like, Oh my God, Tara cares about me, whatever that 144 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,360 means, right in my little example. 145 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:12,520 So what do you want to do? You want to get in there and 146 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:14,480 pray to Tara. You want to make some offering, 147 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:16,880 some prostrations, you want to tell some other people about 148 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:21,120 Tara, whatever. So I think something Damien 149 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:23,880 said, I want to reiterate the importance of is you got to 150 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,360 write these down. If you don't do that, you will 151 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,960 forget because our minds are freaking deluged with so much 152 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,919 information. So no matter how little it is, 153 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:40,360 if you write it down when you are feeling bummed, when you're 154 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,720 feeling like my practice doesn't work, maybe I should give up 155 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:48,360 Buddhism and become a Trappist monk, whatever you can you say, 156 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,800 well, I'll look at my book and all of a sudden you got four or 157 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,680 five pages of amazing stuff. You're like, I totally forgot 158 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:55,920 about that dream. Remember when that person called 159 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:57,520 me right after I was praying for them? 160 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:01,280 Hey, that's and then it keeps you motivated because we only 161 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,280 have today, as I said in, you know, in a previous podcast, we 162 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:08,600 come out of nowhere in the morning and when we fall asleep, 163 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:10,440 it's like dying. We go no place. 164 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,800 We only have today. So today is both the time of 165 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,200 making the effort and also looking for the signs, looking 166 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,760 for the signs of accomplishment as they're called. 167 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,880 So I think that having this attitude, it makes it more fun 168 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:24,160 too. I mean, we got to make the 169 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:26,080 practice fun. If we don't, we'll figure out 170 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,120 something else that's more fun and do and not do this. 171 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,160 And then we'll be right back where we are, Wheeling around in 172 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,640 the land of samsara. Yeah, And I think tying this to 173 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,000 pure perception is really helpful because it it starts to 174 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,520 make a certain kind of more sense than it does initially, 175 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,880 right, That you can really look at this, that you are in this 176 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:50,640 delusion, this dream. And Guru Rinpoche is, is your 177 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:55,640 true nature who poked his head into your dream and said, yo, 178 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,720 you're dreaming, right. And then he appears to you as 179 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:04,320 your llama and you're yiddim and and that did this true nature of 180 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:07,720 yourself is trying to wake you up from the dream and is 181 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:10,720 starting to show up. And the more that you start to 182 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,880 go, hey, maybe this isn't real. Maybe this is just a dream. 183 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,600 The more you start to see, oh, the dream starts to like 184 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,000 feedback to you, right? Like, Oh yes, you are dreaming 185 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,600 and that you have influence over it. 186 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,160 And things go shitty when you go shitty and things get better 187 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,120 when you go better and you have some kind of, you know, like 188 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,960 obstacles or or blessings. This whole wave of things, we 189 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:39,080 can start to really see how we could look at life like that and 190 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,920 it, and maybe it makes more sense like that. 191 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:46,520 Then there's some external place with all these other beings in 192 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:51,120 it who just happen to show up in certain ways that correspond. 193 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,440 Exactly. I'll have to tell one story. 194 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:55,920 I don't want to get into too many stories of these in this. 195 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,720 Another aspect is we don't want to really share too much about 196 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,320 these because they kind of. Put that back, but tell this 197 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,520 story and then we'll talk about how not to tell stories. 198 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:10,560 So what one story that was just like mind blowing to me was that 199 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:13,800 I was getting my master's degree at Pacific Lutheran University. 200 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,800 And I was sitting there reading a book and one of the students 201 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,880 who was in my graduate class just vaguely knew that it was 202 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,000 Buddhist. And she comes up to me and she 203 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,600 sets a book down in front of me and says, I think you should 204 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:28,800 have this. It was in the free pile. 205 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:34,400 And it's Nam Kainorbu's tone book like not not like the 206 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:38,480 Tibetan Book of the Dead or something like literally a 207 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:43,200 sadhna that probably should not be in the free pile at a a 208 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:48,680 school was now in front of me a a text that I was practicing at 209 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:50,240 the time. This. 210 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,840 Sort of thing. You can't, and I can't tell you 211 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:56,520 the thousands of times stuff like this has happened. 212 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:59,160 That's one of the more extreme ones and obviously had nothing 213 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,800 to do with anything I was doing. You know, I didn't make it 214 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,240 happen, but this person that barely knew was like, you should 215 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,360 have this. That's just insane. 216 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:09,080 And these sorts of things will happen. 217 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,000 This is the magic of the Vajriana. 218 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,080 And I think that, you know, for those of you who are starting on 219 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,320 the path, recognize that this can happen. 220 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,320 And as it starts to happen, pay attention. 221 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,400 And the more you pay attention, the more it will happen. 222 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:24,960 And this is like the recipe for psyched upness. 223 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:30,000 That's very true and very good. And I will say something 224 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,200 responding to that. Bhadriana works. 225 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,360 It is, it will change your life. You can. 226 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,000 It is amazing. I've been involved for a long 227 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:41,320 time. Damien's been involved for a 228 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,360 long time. And if you look back at me and 229 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,200 say in high school, I was kind of vaguely interested in this 230 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:49,200 weird stuff. I was practicing judo and 231 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,400 whatever. I had an Asian connection, I 232 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,680 guess, but I was not a meditator or whatever. 233 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:57,160 That happened later. And you look at that Joe Wagner 234 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,120 and kind of thought, OK, well, how's he going to go in his 235 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,480 life? And you look at this one, Wow. 236 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,280 I have to say, I have been so blessed. 237 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:06,720 Where does that blessing come from? 238 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,360 Isn't that me? It's coming because of the 239 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:13,760 responsiveness of what we call the Buddhism, Modi, saffas, 240 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:18,440 whatever those are, right? This deeper aspect of the 241 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:22,240 possibility of being human, that most of us, we're more like 242 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:24,360 animals, right? Animals are interested in 243 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:25,440 eating, we're interested in eating. 244 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:28,080 Animals are interested in sex. We're interested in sex. 245 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:30,160 There's no difference there. We want to be entertained. 246 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:32,880 There's nothing. But there's a whole nother 247 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:37,960 world, a whole nother world of amazing stuff out there that we 248 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:41,520 get the opportunity to experience. 249 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:44,640 And when this stuff like you're talking about starts to happen 250 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:50,640 and things much more sort of long lasting than that incident, 251 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,240 which is a cool little thing, but things that are like 252 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,520 obviously years of sort of arranging, you're kind of like, 253 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:01,000 wow, you realize this is a dream and I am in the process of 254 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,640 waking up from this dream. And nothing is more psyching, 255 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:08,080 psyching you up than that. And to realize it's not a world 256 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:10,520 that we're fighting against. This world's created by me. 257 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:12,560 It's my karma. I see only my karma. 258 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:14,920 As I get more pure, the world gets more pure. 259 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,160 Too amazing. And that's the real opportunity. 260 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,480 And that's what we're trying to do here is like get you to give 261 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:23,960 it a try because it is pretty special. 262 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:25,640 I think it's the most special thing. 263 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,760 I've been all over the world. I've met tons of people just as 264 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,120 everybody else has. I've done a lot of stuff. 265 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,600 Nothing is cool like this is cool. 266 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,240 And the possibilities are literally endless. 267 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,400 And that's amazing. That's what this is sort of 268 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,680 about. Yeah, yeah. 269 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:45,520 And, and I I could just reiterate that the amount of 270 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,240 magic I've seen in my life to where now it's like, yeah, of 271 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:53,200 course it's like, doesn't even phase me anymore that this sort 272 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,120 of thing happens, right. Which not that long ago I would 273 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:02,400 have been like bullshit, right? Like this is, it really works 274 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,600 and it really proves itself. It's a self proving and I wanted 275 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:08,160 to reiterate before I move on from it and forget. 276 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,400 It's important to not talk about this stuff, especially outside 277 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:17,000 of your vajra relationships, especially if you have any pride 278 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:18,040 behind it. Right? 279 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:22,120 This will diminish the energy and power of those events, 280 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,680 particularly when they really feel like it maybe is something 281 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,400 you kind of did right. Like you could feel like I did 282 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:30,720 this mantra and I caused this thing to happen. 283 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:32,240 That can happen. Dangerous. 284 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:38,160 And so you want to keep that to yourself or talk to your llama, 285 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,080 but not really like, put that out there, right? 286 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,000 You write it down and just keep it for you. 287 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,920 That's the better way to go. Yeah, I mean, we say write it 288 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:48,880 down because it's just so easy to forget. 289 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,640 And then because our minds are so narrow, you might have had an 290 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,600 amazing day yesterday where you really felt like I got it, but 291 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:57,960 something happens today and you feel like screw it. 292 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:00,800 It takes a long time to make these habits and really change 293 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,360 the direction. What we're really doing is we're 294 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,400 like in a ship and we're going toward a certain port, but that 295 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:09,360 port is just rebirth and just one more try. 296 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,800 Now we get this idea, hey, there's another port. 297 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,680 It's a much better place and we're trying to go there. 298 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,360 But you can't just turn the wheel for a second and then it 299 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,880 turns back and you know, you got to keep doing it. 300 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:21,680 And so this is about staying psyched. 301 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,760 So that's for writing it down. But don't show anyone this. 302 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:29,080 You know, it's, it's much better if you keep it 100% secret and 303 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:33,080 only share it with your teacher. Now, in some cases something 304 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,200 happens. It's not you know, it's you 305 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:37,400 don't have a lot of pride behind it or whatever. 306 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,200 Then sharing with your Vadra siblings can be beneficial, but 307 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,160 keep it on the down low. If if in doubt, keep it to 308 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:45,720 yourself. That's important. 309 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,680 They in they're very clear on the tantras and all teachers say 310 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,520 don't talk about signs of accomplishment, not even like 311 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,280 really good dreams and stuff. It does diminish the chances it 312 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:58,960 will recur. And it's like energy. 313 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,560 You're building up this energy and then here pops out some 314 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:05,720 weird thing that sort of, you know, like the book or other 315 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:10,640 kinds of stuff, pops it out and if you talk about it, it somehow 316 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:13,480 like removes that and that energy has to build up again. 317 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:15,319 So that's important to keep in mind. 318 00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:18,640 It's really just for you. Yeah, your ego can hijack 319 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,720 everything on the path, right? And that's, that's a constant 320 00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:25,480 part of what we're asking the protectors everyday when we do 321 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,440 the protector offerings is we're asking the universe to kick our 322 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:32,840 ass when we start to hijack the path or wander off. 323 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:33,800 Right. Like shepherds. 324 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:35,440 What trunk for? She called them, which I really 325 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:37,360 like. You know, you're the sheep and 326 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:39,520 you wander off and they come kicking you and sometimes they 327 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:41,840 hit you with a stick to get you to go back. 328 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:47,720 It's not often pleasant, but this, this permeability of life, 329 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,400 you know, the name Buddha, right, means one who is awake, 330 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,120 right? That becomes more and more 331 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:57,880 profound as you walk this path, as you really see that that is 332 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:01,960 what this is about. And the analogy to sleep is so 333 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,600 exact, it's crazy. And that, you know, when you 334 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,040 talk about pure lands or you talk about pure vision or any of 335 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,240 these things, we're talking about changing the dream, right? 336 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,320 And, and when you start to do this stuff, you start to see 337 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,280 that is possible. Of course it's possible. 338 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,760 I have to say it's harder for us now than it probably ever has 339 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:27,640 been in a lot of ways, because we are so connected to so many 340 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:32,760 people and so many materialistic positions that having faith and 341 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,280 staying psyched is freaking hard. 342 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,880 You know, if you were in Tibet or Nepal during the time when 343 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,240 this stuff was really big and they didn't have a connection to 344 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:43,880 the outside world, then everything around you would have 345 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:47,600 reinforced your faith. But we live in a world where 346 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,640 everything is trying to discredit your confidence in 347 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:54,320 what you're doing. And so that's another important 348 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:58,200 part of all of this is situating yourself in a way, and signs are 349 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:03,000 part of that where you can say, I don't care what they think, 350 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,600 they're wrong, right? Like even though that every 351 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:10,080 message is coming at you, that from a materialist perspective. 352 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,400 Yeah. Do we have time to talk about 353 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,600 what signs are or do we have to do that in our next one? 354 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:20,360 Oh, we have time. Oh, great. 355 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:23,200 Well then let's talk a little bit about what when we say 356 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:24,840 signs, like, what are we talking about? 357 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,000 There are traditionally sort of several different categories of 358 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:30,320 signs. There are signs that happen in 359 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:36,080 your regular life, like a, like you actually meet the meditation 360 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,240 deity that you're, you know, that you're meditating on. 361 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:42,200 Like you get a, there's a knock at the door, you open the door 362 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,480 and it's Vodraculi. If stuff like that happens, 363 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:46,800 you're either totally nuts or you're amazing. 364 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:49,520 So that's it in your regular consciousness, that's rare. 365 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,120 Then there are things that happen when you're in a 366 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:55,320 meditative state. You're in a, in a state of 367 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,520 samadhi or some sort of absorption where you might have 368 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:03,600 a vision of a deity or you might hear a teaching or something 369 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:05,120 like that. But these are both happen when 370 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:06,720 you're awake. Awake meaning. 371 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,760 You know, not in your bed asleep. 372 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,760 And then there are all kinds of dream signs, incredible lists of 373 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:18,200 things you know from finding a treasure to receiving teachings 374 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,800 to going to pure realms, to meeting your teacher in the 375 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,560 dreams. All these things fit in this 376 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,680 category. And most practitioners that you 377 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,760 know a little bit about this, they're listed in various Sadhna 378 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:32,920 practices or the teacher talks about it or whatever. 379 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:34,440 So you would have some familiarity. 380 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,560 What I want to encourage our listeners to do is to be on the 381 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,800 lookout for things that aren't those things to, to keep your, 382 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:48,200 your eyes peeled, so to speak, in your daily life for little 383 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,120 bits of shouts from the other shore, so to speak. 384 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,520 And those can happen really all the time. 385 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:59,880 Very unusual things can happen. And they're not necessarily 386 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:01,760 signs that your meditation's amazing. 387 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:03,520 They're a sign that you're in the flow. 388 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,080 You're in the flow. Any kind of synchronicity is 389 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,120 like this, whether it's related to Dharma or not. 390 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:12,680 I, I will tell one that has nothing to do with Dharma, but 391 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,600 was so powerful and interesting that I was quite blown away by 392 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,200 it. So my brother lives in Thailand. 393 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:21,680 He has a son. His son got very, very sick and 394 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,160 they had to consult experts from around the world. 395 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,240 And they got in touch with this woman who's based here in 396 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:32,320 Denver, a Doctor Who is the world expert in this condition. 397 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,880 And they when they came during Christmas, they actually got to 398 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:37,880 meet with the doctor. They were dealing with a doctor 399 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:39,800 there, so just dealing on Zoom or whatever. 400 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,320 But they got to meet the doctor and they, you know, they had a 401 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:47,040 good conversation, whatever. So my mother, I was visiting my 402 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,360 mother the other day when she was volunteering at the library. 403 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:52,680 She said, I got a story for you, OK. 404 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:54,880 She said she was talking to someone. 405 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,080 I don't even remember how she met this person. 406 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,400 Another volunteer, I think another place that she 407 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,880 volunteers and she just started to bring up that, you know, my 408 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,360 brother had been in town and this doctor and they got to meet 409 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:11,360 the doctor and the woman got a funny look on her face and she 410 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:16,080 said, is it such and such? And my mom was like, yes, she 411 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:20,640 goes, I know her, we're in the same like Rd. biking club. 412 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:23,360 Let's give her a call. And so they called her right 413 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:28,640 then and I was like, wow, it's like 6° of separation, right? 414 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,280 Very close. When this starts, this stuff 415 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,680 happens, you feel like you're in the flow. 416 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,360 When it happens related to Dharma, you know, it's a it's a 417 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:42,600 whole nother level of possibility becomes, becomes 418 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,400 evident. And so looking for this and 419 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,360 paying attention, first of all, you notice more of them because 420 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:52,440 they're happening all the time. And secondly, you, you are more 421 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:53,960 psyched. So you're more likely to be 422 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,040 like, hey, I got a few minutes. I'm gonna knock out some mantras 423 00:22:57,040 --> 00:22:59,880 because Tara keeps showing up. She must want to hear from me or 424 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:03,040 whatever, right? And then you never know what 425 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,320 will happen after that. So the main thing here is to 426 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,960 keep your eyes peeled. You're kind of like paying 427 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:10,760 attention. Maybe we're paying totally 428 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:12,480 attention. You're just kind of like going 429 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,720 through your life like because it's work or whatever. 430 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,200 As soon as you start to pay attention, you never know what 431 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,360 will show up. Some magic might might poke its 432 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:22,760 head in, even at your law office or wherever. 433 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,920 Yeah, but I think one of the the ways that, you know, I've often 434 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:30,640 wondered, of course, I think it's possible that you could 435 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,760 have those complete signs like seeing the deity in real life. 436 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,880 I think that those chances are diminished because I think that 437 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:40,440 we're affected by other people's lack of faith. 438 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,640 You know, like I think that there's a field of faith, right? 439 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:48,320 I think part of why miracles used to happen more is because 440 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:50,760 there was many people with faith, right? 441 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:53,760 And so that makes the possibility in the dream because 442 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,240 we're so interconnected more likely. 443 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:01,760 But for me, how this has shown up is just feeling incredible 444 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,280 devotion to people. So I've been watching this show 445 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,760 on HBO and if you haven't watched it, it's fantastic. 446 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:10,920 Called The Pit and it's the main dude from ER and it's another ER 447 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:12,440 show. They call it the Pit, right? 448 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:18,360 It it's but the most realistic emergency room show I've ever 449 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:20,360 seen. And it is like Game of Thrones 450 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:24,240 level gore, right? Like they show you real what 451 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,520 it's really like, you know, just a mess. 452 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,960 And I'd watch this and I just feel incredible devotion to ER 453 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,880 doctors. Like every day there are 454 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,160 Buddha's and Bodhisattva is working in hospitals like this, 455 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:42,920 like the crazy things that are just like literally non-stop 456 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:44,840 emergency. They're underfunded, 457 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,640 understaffed and spending every second of their life saving 458 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,120 people's lives. This is happening every day in 459 00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:55,520 every place all around us, ambulance drivers. 460 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,480 And, and I've noticed as I've gone on my path, I feel like 461 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,960 more and more devotion towards people who do kind of things 462 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:07,640 like in some ways that's seeing the deity, right, like. 463 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,200 One of the. You're what does it mean to see 464 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,080 the deity? Does it mean the word Tara or 465 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,040 Chanrazee comes with the person? Or does it just mean you have 466 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,320 devotion for that? I'll tell you one that happened 467 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:24,120 today along those same lines. So I was driving over to play 468 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:25,760 pickleball, play pickleball on Saturday. 469 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:32,040 I'm driving over and and I'm in this lane and in the next lane 470 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,040 over there are four cops on motorcycles, something you 471 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:38,080 rarely see, and they all got the exact same outfits on. 472 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:41,000 And there's two and two like this and we have to stop the 473 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,160 same thing. And I don't know why I said 474 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,600 this. I just rolled my window down and 475 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:48,160 I said, you guys look super bad ass. 476 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:49,800 And the guy was like, thanks a lot. 477 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,560 It was like, so obviously like cool. 478 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,160 And then he zoomed off, and I thought, those are the 479 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,800 protectors. And on some level, they really 480 00:25:57,800 --> 00:25:59,480 are. I know some of our readers might 481 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,880 have bad experience with the police, but in general, I want 482 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,520 to live in a place where I can call 911. 483 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,440 No, in general, it's definitely true. 484 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,080 And I was like, there they are. Where are the protectors? 485 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:14,640 You know, I don't see Vajrasadhu coming to my aid when I call 486 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,640 911. I see dudes dressed like that 487 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,960 and I thought it starts to be a shift and you start to be like, 488 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:24,640 maybe I am in a kind of pure realm. 489 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,120 I'm in as pure a realm as I can handle. 490 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,320 You know what I mean? So that was just today and I 491 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,760 totally forgot about that. I wouldn't even put that in that 492 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,080 category until you started talking about the doctors. 493 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,920 Thank you. Yeah, and I, and I've learned a 494 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,000 lot of this from Garchingrich Shea because he really has pure, 495 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,960 pure vision, right? Like, he's really good at this 496 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:47,000 and teaching this, You know, he's like, he's kind of scolds 497 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,760 you almost in a way. Like you need to be grateful to 498 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,600 your country, even when it's being a giant pain in the ass. 499 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:56,640 It's protecting you, letting you practice the Dharma, all these 500 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:58,400 things, right? Like, you should be very 501 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,320 grateful. He always has an American flag 502 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,640 on his little altar in front of him as he's teaching. 503 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,880 We could have a lot more faith in the world. 504 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:08,480 You know, it's very easy to be negative. 505 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,920 It's very easy to see the negative side of things. 506 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,680 But as we talked about in our previous episode about these 507 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:16,680 difficult times, that's not helpful. 508 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,680 That doesn't help our path. But seeing the police as they 509 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,960 drive by and being like, thank you. 510 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,040 That is helpful for them and for you and letting them, you know, 511 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:30,080 having a positive connection. And the same way like we can 512 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,760 think about when we see the ambulance go by with the lights 513 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:37,040 on with the fire truck, we can say Omani Peme and know that 514 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,480 those people are risking their lives saving people and that 515 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,720 there are beings who need help. And people are at the end of 516 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:48,720 their life every day, all the time, all around us, that this 517 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,280 is a lot more magical than at first seems. 518 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,920 And there's a lot more people doing, you know, I work as a 519 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:57,080 teacher. I know everyday people just 520 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:01,280 grinding this difficult job with difficult children in an 521 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,840 understaffed, underpaid way. They dedicate their whole lives 522 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,000 to it. These are all Bodhi Selfas, 523 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:11,840 right? And so, you know, it's hard work 524 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:16,600 and I think that most people are doing something like this, even 525 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,440 if they work on computers or they're, you know, they're doing 526 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:24,240 something positive for our world so that we can all, you know, 527 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,400 like even our targeted ads, which drive us nuts are giving 528 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,400 us the products we need. You know, like even that, you 529 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,760 know, we could find the, the very thing we were looking for 530 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,440 so we could shift up and, and I think seeing signs like you're 531 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,280 saying, keeping our kind of that mindfulness of it, right, that 532 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,760 that's part of it is just the practice of where, where is it 533 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:47,120 going to poke through? Where's it? 534 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:49,680 That'll also increase your mindfulness and awareness in 535 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,400 general, and also help you have a more pure vision. 536 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:56,160 Great. Yeah. 537 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:01,000 Yeah, well, I, I think that this is a super fun topic and you can 538 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,360 go really, really deep into it. Like Joe said, there's many 539 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:08,240 signs like going upstairs or, you know, like these sorts of 540 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:09,840 things you can look for in your dreams. 541 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:14,360 So you can go as far or not as far as you'd like, But notice 542 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,480 how they can be really helpful to, to Orient yourself in this 543 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:24,120 way and to be, to recognize your practice is working it it, it's 544 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,360 not always obvious. I heard this quote from Garchin 545 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:29,160 Rupsche the other day and it was really helpful for me. 546 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,320 He said those practicing zokchen and Maha mudra are like in a 547 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:37,000 flying in an airplane. When you're driving a car, the 548 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,760 the road you're passing looks like it's going very, very fast. 549 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:45,360 In an airplane, you're going even faster by a many magnitude 550 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,040 level, but it doesn't look like you're going anywhere at all 551 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,480 because there's no reference, right? 552 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:52,960 Because there's nothing to pass by very quickly. 553 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,520 So when we're doing these big kind of meditation, sometimes we 554 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,120 can feel like we're not getting anywhere. 555 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:01,760 Like what am I doing? So the signs are one way to just 556 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:07,080 the kind of like Grimshay's way of reminding you, you're on the 557 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,760 path. Keep going, keep going, you 558 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:12,440 know, and, and if you look for it, they'll show up. 559 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:16,600 And, and if you stay connected, you know, he'll be there. 560 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,200 Grooms will show up and say, hey, you're doing great. 561 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:20,880 Keep going. And that's what these really are 562 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:23,240 about. Just keep going. 563 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:25,200 Yeah. Well said. 564 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:26,440 Thank you. Very good. 565 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,280 Thank you. Well, thank you again to all you 566 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:31,200 listeners once again for watching. 567 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:35,360 Please like, share, subscribe, leave a comment, let us know how 568 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,560 these practices or thoughts we're having are are helping you 569 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:40,320 or harming you, whatever we're doing. 570 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,520 And let us know if there's anything you would like us to 571 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:45,280 talk about that we haven't talked about. 572 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:46,960 We love getting those recommendations. 573 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:50,800 A lot of the shows we do are come from listeners recommending 574 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,960 or asking for something. So I hope you've enjoyed it and 575 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:56,560 we will see you again in two weeks. 576 00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:57,960 Thank you very much for watching.