There was a time when you came forth from infinity, your essence that is. You've always existed, and you'll always exist. But there are different states of mind in the universe.

The tantras can be very confusing for a person who is new to Buddhism, and for several thousand years the rule was not to expose a person or a new monk to the tantras until they had practiced for many, many years.

The process is not simply of constructing a new tonal from scratch, but reordering the one you have.

As long as it's a world, it has laws. Why, I don't know, it's just the way it is. In Nirvana, there are no laws.

If you're interested in matching your mind with the most intelligent kind of beast I have ever encountered, get yourself a Scotty dog. He'll get bored very fast, and it will require all of your personal power and intelligence to keep up with him. You might find a good friend.

Nirvikalpa samadhi is another matter. I don't feel that's really up to us. That happens at a certain time when our being has gone through countless changes and refinements.

We call it the transmission of the lamp in Zen. That's when we take enlightened states of mind and literally, you can transfer them, just like you can hand somebody flowers.