10 Questions Everyone Should Know

So on all the DCI tours, there are standard questions that we get over and over; in every city, on every tour, we always get these same questions. So here they are: 1) I like what youre saying, but it sounds selfish to me. Shouldnt we give to be kind, rather than just so we can get something back? Variations: Im Christian, we were taught to give til it hurts/ to sacrifice/ to give your best/to give from your heart. Answer: We have a flawed way of thinking, that one person must somehow lose in any exchange. This isnt true: if I give someone $10, then I will get say, $100 back. Whats wrong with that? Its a win-win; theyre happy, because they needed $10, and Im happy, because I will get $100 in the future. Everyone benefits. Also, if I understand that I got the $100 from giving, what will I do with that $100? Give away some part of it. We say this is how you create money; now there is $110 in our little system. The worlds resources are not finite (consider, for example, the wealth created by the internet), but rather, can be increased infinitely if we all continue to be generous. In other words, with our individual generosity we could end world poverty; everyone could have everything they need. Also, if we live our lives this way then we will be a great example for others; imagine a world we everyone acts this way. 2) Shouldnt we learn to be content with what we have? Why is your talk only about getting money, like its all about me getting stuff? Variations: I think money is the root of all evil, we dont need it, or shouldnt we be above the need/desire for wealth?

Answer: were not all about earning money, however, the ancient books say that, with this system, the best place to start is by making money, for two reasons: one, its easier to verify. If I give money to someone, and money comes back to me, then this verifies the system. And once youve verified that the system works, you can use it for higher thingsworld peace and ending poverty and hunger. Two, start with what the most people are interested in. If we talked about creating world peace, five people would come to the talk. If we talk about making a million dollars, five people come to the talk (and if we talk about finding the perfect partner, 500 people come to the talk). 3) Do you have to be Buddhist for this to work? Variations: Will this work for anyone/me? Answer: If I drop a pen, what will happen? It falls to the floor. This system is like gravityits a natural law. The pen doesnt have to be Buddhist (or Hindu, Christian, Muslim, or atheist) for gravity to work. This ideas are the same: if you plant the seed for what you what in your mind, you must see that result comeit doesnt matter which church you go to, or if you go to church at all. 4) How come it doesn't work for the Dalai Lama? Doesnt he know these things? And if so, how come he lost Tibet? Variations: Why have the Tibetans/monks/lamas suffered/lost their country? Why is the Dalai Lama getting old?

Answer: there are two ways you can answer this question. One is to say that, in the case of His Holiness, for example, you dont know what he sees. When he looks in the mirror, does he see someone getting older? (Does he live in a world where Tibet isnt free?) Unless you can read his mind, you dont know what he sees: maybe when he looks in the mirror he sees a body of light. Also, if you see a Tibet that isnt free, where is that coming from? Is the pen coming from you or at you? What is going on in Tibet is the same: if Tibet has problems that is a seed you need to fix. The easier (and lower view answer) is to say that Tibet did have problems, and one of those is that most Tibetans didnt really understand about emptiness and seeds. 5) Why do good people suffer? Variations: Why do innocent babies burn? Why did my sweet, innocent mother get cancer? There are almost an infinite number of these, but why did my mother/brother/sisters husbands ex-roommate get cancer/diabetes/killed in a car accident? Why do children get abused? What about the holocaust? The Tibetans? Any other disaster. Answer: you can try one of two answers: first, little seeds create big results. An acorn is a few ounces, an oak tree several tons. Similarly, hurting someone in a small way could cause a big resultcancer, etc. They probably wont buy thisthey shouldnt, it doesnt really explain it. The problem is the next step is to explain past lives. The first step in this is to create some space in their mind, so they can listen. So mention Mrs. Melvin, your fourth grade teacher, who told you that there were not past or

future lives. What did she know really? Except the fact that youve never investigated it, never really thought about it. One of the Dalai Lamas criticized the Tibetans by saying that they just excepted past and future lives, but never really thought about it. Were the same. Think about it for yourself, investigate what is true. What is true is that this moment of mind was preceded by a previous moment of mind. And that moment of mind was preceded by another as well, ad infinitum, but to the moment of your conception. So then you have to think: was that moment of mind preceded by nothing? If we except that mind is different from physical stuff, then the only possibility is that there was also a preceding moment of mind before that; that is, a previous life. 6) Why do the wicked prosper? Variations: Why are stingy people rich? Note as well that this is also basically a variation of the preceding question (just negatively stated), and can go in the same direction. Answer: small seeds can have big results. Everybody gives somebody something sometime. And since a seed can turn into an oak tree, one small act of giving can have a big resultyou could give someone $5 when youre young and it could ripen as a million dollars later. (Fyi, the sad thing is that they dont understand where the money came fromso the money came from being generous, but they act stingy to keep it because they dont understand that they will only lose it this way. 7) How do I help my friend if they need the seed? Can I give them seeds?

Answer: No, seeds are non-transferable. If seeds could be transferred, then none of us would have to sufferenlightened beings would have given their seeds to us already and no one would have to experience a dentist. Whether someone can see you help them or not is up to their seeds. If I try to stop a mugger, whether that person can see me help them or not is up to them. 8) Does Tong-Len (taking and giving) work? How does it work? Answer: I cant promise you if you do tong len on your mother you can take away her cancer. What we can tell you is that you see your mother with cancer because you hurt someone in the past. So if you change those seeds, by say, for example, doing tong len practice, you can see your mother beat her cancer. (But maybe point out that seeds that have already ripened are like half-dry concrete; wet concrete is easy to change, but once its started to dry, its very difficult to do anything with it. Difficult, but possible.) 9) How do you teach this to your children? Answer: Geshe Michael went with his teacher to see His Holiness the Dali Lama speak, and she asked him this question. He answered that you cant tell them what to do; you have to do it yourself. They will watch and emulate what you do. 10) How do balance family time, practice time, work time and actually have a daily practice?

John Stillwell told us a story that his daughter asked him to skip his meditation, so he asked her, Have you seen me get angry in the last six months? When she said no, then he said, then I have to meditate. We all have time to eat, to go to the bathroom, to sleep. So we have to want to find time for our practice. GMR Questions: 1. The pen, person and dog both leave the room, what is it? Nothing. 2. How do I find a partner? 3 I don't have enough timehow do I get enough time?