Lama Tenzin Osel Rinpoche

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH LAMA OSEL RINPOCHE

Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa
Pomaia, Italy
18 February 2001

Lama: Are you all Masters Program students?
Student: Most people here are students but there are also a few guests.
Lama: What are you studying now?
Student: Madhyamikavatara.
Lama: Are you all in the same class?
Student: Yes.
Lama: How many years are there left before you become geshes?
Student: Several life times! But this program will end in four years.
Lama: Do you have any questions?
Student: How many years does Rinpoche have left in order to become a geshe?
Lama: Twenty-two. Do you just have one class each day?
Student: There is one class on Mondays and Fridays and two on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
Lama: Do you debate?
Student: Only a few students debate, there is not much interest.
Lama: Who is the best in the class?
Student: In Abhisamayalamkara it was Wai Cheong and now after the first three exams in Madhyamikavatara it is Sze Gee.
Lama: Do you enjoy it?
Student: Yes.
Lama: Are you sure?! Anyone can talk. Any questions?
Student: I would like to explain why we are not doing debate. A lot of us studied debate for some time at the beginning, but we found that it we were not used to this method. Now we have discussion groups which are more familiar to us and they are working out well.
Lama: I think debating in English is very difficult. Sometimes people ask me what I am debating about and I try to explain it in English but it is almost impossible. What do you discuss?
Student: We receive a series of questions regarding the subject we are studying, then divide into smaller groups with one student being responsible for presenting these questions and then we discuss these points.
Lama: Is there some difficulty communicating because some of you talk in English and some in Italian?
Student: There are two separate review classes, however some Italians prefer to participate in the English-speaking class.
Lama: So you only have one main teacher?
Student: There is one main teacher, Geshe Jampa Gyatso, but there are two teaching assistants, Jampa Gendun for the English speakers and Lorenzo Rossello for the Italian speakers.
Lama: Are there any exams?
Student: Yes.
Lama: How often?
Student: Every three months.
Lama: Are they difficult?
Students: Yesss.
Lama: Are there many questions?
Students: Yessss.
Lama: What happens if you fail?
Student: Nothing. We get marked on the various questions so we know how we did at the end.
Lama: Then that is good, one tries to be better than the other one. Like in my class everyone tries to be number one or number two so they try very hard.
Student: What is your life like in Sera?
Lama: It is very simple – I just study. And sleep. And eat. And play. Actually it is pretty busy. I get up at 5:30 in the morning and memorize until 7 o’clock. At 7:00 I have breakfast until 8:00. Then sometimes in-between I read the text on Dura (Collected Topics), sometime I don’t do anything! Then from 8:00 to 9:00, one day is Dura class, for which I go to my teacher’s house, and the next day is memorizing and reciting. Then from 9:00 to 10:30 I have to go to debate in the hot sun, then I get a headache. In the morning we are outside because the covered area is for the senior monks whereas we are new so we have to debate outside in the hot sun. I have about 250 classmates. That is until 10:30. Then from 10:30 to 12:00 there is another Dura class. Then at 12:00 I have lunch, until 2:00 I have siesta. Then from 2 to 4 o’clock, one day I have Spanish class and the next day I have English class. In English I study geography, biology, chemistry, physics, history – all the boring stuff! My favorites are mathematics and history. In mathematics I am now studying trigonometry; in physics, something that I don’t under-stand. In Spanish I study most of the same things. That is until 4:00. Then from 4:00 till 5:00 I have a tea break and at the same time practice Tibetan writing. Then at 5:00 I have dinner. Until 6:00 I read a little bit and relax. Then from 6:00 to about 10:30 I have debate. Sometimes even until 11:00. Then I go back to my house and recite for about half an hour. Then I go into samadhi! To sleep.
Student: All the days of the week?
Lama: Six days. Tuesday is a holiday, so I get up at 7:00! Then I have breakfast and then until 10:00 I have to rememorize everything that I memorized before and repeat it to my attendant. If I make more than three mistakes I cannot play with the computer. If I don’t make more than three mistakes then I can play. Then after that it is holiday.
Student: What do you like to play? Ball?
Lama: We are not allowed to play ball in the monastery. Usually I play with the computer.
Student: What kind of games do you play?
Lama: Usually games like making cities and like that. Sometimes we play chungi. Chungi is a game with a black rubber ball, you use your foot to pass it around and try not to let it touch the ground.
Student: Do you think all that study is too much at the age of sixteen?
Lama: Yes, I think that it is too much! No, actually I enjoy it, well... kind of enjoy it.
Student: Do the monk in Sera enjoy their studies in general? Could Lama please give us some advice to help us enjoy studying?
Lama: Usually if you think that it is up to you, if you study thinking that it is up to you, if it is your own decision whether you do it or not, then usually you won’t do it because you feel lazy. But if you think that that is what I am here for and it is not something that I can decide, it is just I must do it, and if there is somebody who helps you, who puts the limits, then usually you will always do it. Like for me, if there is no one looking then usually I don’t do anything. You must be very strong-minded, you must really want to do it. If you are not sure what you want to do, then you will never get anywhere.
Student: Our studies are a bit different in that we do not emphasize memorizing but instead concentrate on understanding the material. What should we keep in mind in order to be of benefit when we teach others in the future?
Lama: In Tibetan when you debate, it is something that is very helpful. For example, if there is a very long word, when you first read it you can only read it very slowly and when you say it you can only say it very slowly. Then when you debate you say it so many times that you come to be able to say it very quickly. Then it is not just a word, it is many different things, like saying something. So you say that word and there is also something else that you can say very quickly, like that you can debate. You can say many things like, for example, when you listen to the senior monks debating it is almost impossible to follow them they go so quickly and the person who answers, he immediately answers very quickly. So if someone says something, you have to think this, this, and this, and then you have to say something. Because you have debated so many times, you can answer very quickly, you have it ready. So I think debate helps very much. But then in your situation in which you cannot debate I think the best thing to do is discussion. I think that is very helpful because someone asks questions and you have to answer. That makes you remember it again and then, when you have to answer another question similar to it, you will be able to answer. I think discussion is the best for you.
Student: How can we use these studies for changing our mind and ensure that they do not remain just intellectual knowledge?
Lama: Basically that is up to you! Usually when someone gets a degree they feel a little bit proud. But basically the Masters Program is just for helping other people so you can just think that you are doing it for the benefit of other people. This is the best way. You can also humble yourself thinking “I am not doing this for myself. I am doing it for other people.”
Student: I have the opposite problem. I have studied for many years and have much knowledge but no one wants me to teach.
Lama: You can try studying again, try to improve, but otherwise you can just try helping other people in other ways. There are many different ways to help.
Student: Do you have time to meditate or is meditation something that you will do later on?
Lama: Usually in the monastery the monks who are studying don’t meditate. Some monks meditate but in general they do not meditate because first of all they don’t yet know how to meditate. Also they are very young, for example in my class there are 250 monks ranging from 13 to 20 years old. So they are mostly teenagers. I’m sure it is difficult for you to imagine teenagers meditating! Usually when they become senior monks and study Madhyamaka and the higher subjects, such as those in the lharam geshe classes, then I think they start to meditate. You can see the difference during the pujas. If you look at my classmates and then go up, up, up and look at the senior monks, they are completely opposite. All the senior monks are sitting meditating with closed eyes, like very senior. Then if you go down and look at my classmates, they are talking or playing, or flicking paper or bread... It is difficult to see them meditating. I haven’t studied meditation yet.
Student: What is the importance of studying these great texts? Is it not enough to study just the lam-rim?
Lama: I haven’t yet studied Madhyamaka or the Perfection of Wisdom so I still don’t know the importance of these texts. Once I have studied them, I can answer your question. I think that the lam-rim is very important.
Student: What text are you studying?
Lama: The Middling Collected Topics (Dura).
Student: I have a hard time getting up in the morning. Does Lama have some advice for me?
Lama: Also me. In the morning when my attendant knocks on the door and says “Come on, its time to get up” then I say “Oh no, not again.” The bed is so cozy and warm. Usually it is just because you feel lazy, or sometimes when you go to sleep at night you go too late so that in the morning you feel tired. When I get up I usually have to brush my teeth, wash my face with soap, and everything, but sometimes I am too lazy so I say “I’ll leave it until after breakfast” and then I just sleep a bit more. Just for the time of brushing my teeth! But when I am very tired and think I don’t want to brush my teeth, if I get up and do it anyway, afterwards I feel much better. I feel good “Oh, I did it today. I have been able to conquer my laziness.” It depends on oneself. And also on having someone to wake you up!
Student: My problem is not that it is difficult to get up early but if I do then at 3 o’clock in the afternoon I am completely worn out and don’t have the energy to do anything more. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between tiredness and laziness.
Lama: Maybe you can drink some coffee, a cappuccino! But usually you can recognize the difference between laziness and tiredness of body in that usually when the body gets tired or you need sleep then your body shows it by feeling sleepy. So you can recognize whether it is laziness or sleepiness. If it is sleepiness then maybe you can check with a doctor because if you get up at 6 o’clock and then go to sleep at 3 o’clock there must be a problem! If it drives you crazy then it is a very big problem! Some people take pills to wake them up but I don’t think that it is very good for the body. What time do you usually go to sleep?
Student: About 11.
Lama: Then maybe you can go to bed at nine.
Student: Okay!
Lama: Mr. Massimo is nudging me, maybe dinner is waiting.
Student: Do you still go swimming in Mysore to get some exercise?
Lama: No, I don’t go swimming anymore. Usually I just stay in the monastery. I almost never go to Mysore. Thank you very much.
Student: Please live long, Lama.
Lama: No, I don’t want to live long! Thank you very much for being here, for coming here, for studying the Masters Program. I think that it will be very helpful for everyone in the future and I am sure that you will understand Buddhism more in depth by studying Madhyamaka and the rest. Thank you very much.
Students: Thank you, Lama!