Get Real

Yeshe Tsogyal

From The Spiritual Path:  A Compilation of Teachings by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

 

The Vajrayana path is a great gift. Your mind can be purified through the practice of allowing it to arise naturally with those qualities of perfect union and perfectly purified perception. “Well,” you may say. “That sounds good, but will it work?” Yes, it will work. It will work by the power of the transmissions, by the intensity of your effort and faith, and through the power of the mantra and through devotion. These mantras are not invented by ordinary people. They come from primordial wisdom itself.

Though your perception is still faulty, understand that within the center of this confused mandala you have found the perfect path. You have found your teacher and you have received initiation. Something is happening. Therefore the process is not as endless as you may think. This is your precious opportunity, and you should take advantage of it. Where will you find another like it? You have so much help and all the necessary tools and nourishments. Keep in mind the choice. Do you wish to be a practitioner seeking that one precious virtue, or are you just a person wearing a costume? If you are a serious Vajrayana practitioner, you will stop dancing around with rules and regulations and, pardon the slang, “get real about it.” Get real about this path. Understand that you must have the only thing of value—the perception of primordial mind, the realization of the natural state of all phenomena. This is true purity, true virtue.

© Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo

Vajrayana is for This Time

An excerpt from a teaching called Vajrayana’s Final Hour by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The tradition we practice here is called Vajrayana. This particular kind of teaching most greatly benefits people who are born in this degenerate aeon. There is something about Vajrayana that seems to burn the candle at both ends. When one practices generation stage practice for example, one does not suppress the compulsion to consider oneself a “self” or ego but rather uses that inclination. There is an energy associated with clinging   to oneself as an ego that is a lot like a rubber band. You can try to think of something else, but however much you stretch it, it will always come back to its original shape. That compulsion to consider self-nature as being inherently real is similar to the energy-that causes a rubber band to reform; we have that energy instinctively within our minds.

Vajrayana actually uses that inclination in generation stage practice. There we meditate on Emptiness, on the natural uncontrived primordial state of Emptiness. We consider that all elements of perceptual phenomena are broken into their natural component: sheer luminosity. Meditating on emptiness or shunyata, we then generate the deity using that same energy that causes us to consider self-nature. Generating ourselves as the deity, we generate the pure display having all the pure qualities of the deity. Arising from emptiness, we generate the pristine Nature in such a way as to be a phenomenal thing, a display. It is visible to our eyes and our consciousness. We use the very energy that causes us to cling to self-nature to accomplish realization. Vajrayana has that unique quality. Can you see how it burns the candle at both ends? We use what we have — that fire, that passion, even desire, to accomplish the Primordial Wisdom Nature.

In this time of degeneration, I am taught that there will come a time when there is no teaching in the world that can bring us to enlightenment. There will be no path, no Bodhisattvas that incarnate, and the Buddha will not be present in the world. It will be a time of great darkness and wars. And finally  there will be a time of night, of darkness.  Immediately after that the next Buddha will appear again.

Now while things are becoming darker and more condensed, one still has a shot. Things are lining up so that if one were to sincerely practice a technology that can lead to enlightenment and that has brought others repeatedly to enlightenment, if one were to practice that with fervent regard, devotion, and faith in a pristine way, then one could achieve the auspicious result — realization during the course of this lifetime, or in the Bardo, or an auspicious rebirth in order to practice purely and perfectly.

© Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

Vajrayana: For This Time

GuruRinpoche3

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “The Guru Is Your Diamond”

On the path of Vajrayana, we are given something like a rocket ship, rather than a slow boat, to cross the ocean of samsara. When Lord Buddha first came to the planet and taught, when he was there as Shakyamuni, he gave teachings that were absolutely necessary for that time. During that time, we were not in Kaliyuga, which is a more degenerate age. During that time, it was easier to practice. It was easier even to speak Dharma. Peoples’ minds were more spacious and more expanded so that if one were to accomplish Dharma, it would be more easy to accomplish Dharma during that time. And yet, there was a difficulty. And the difficulty was that during that time, because there was more space in the mind, there was also more relaxation, maybe more joyfulness, less reason to feel compelled to exit samsara. So there are good and bad things in both times.

True that this is Kaliyuga. True that this is the time of degeneration. There are many false teachers and many false paths. And sometimes delusion rises up like a tsunami flood, and it is a difficult time. We look to the people that even guide this country, and you wonder where is the clarity, where is the morality. So it’s difficult. Even this country that was once the prince of countries, and can still be the peacemaker, the one who guards the little guy, instead now we’ve changed. So these are all indicative of this time of delusion.

Yet at the same time, we are so pressed because of our delusion, our neuroses, which means an inappropriate response to something that is not understood well anyway. Our neuroses also thicken and deepen, and with that comes an increase in pain, fundamental pain. Maybe not even a particular pain about something, but rather an all-pervasive sense of suffering.We are more unhappy, really, now when things are happening faster and materialism is in some ways more attainable, in many ways more attainable. Still we have become more and more unhappy and continually create the causes for unhappiness. So this pushes us to find a solution. And for some people, we look to psychology or psychiatry; and for other people, we look towards creating the causes for happiness through walking the path of spirituality. But many of us are seeking, and that’s important. That is something that is useful and to be treasured during this time.

For many of us, we’ll think that what drives us to seek is this pain, this angst, this modern angst that we all seem to carry around. That pain, on the one hand, seems sometimes unbearable, and then other times, just there. And we are uncomfortable and we can’t say exactly why. We feel wobbly, unguided, unknowing and we really can’t understand why that is. That suffering, of course, even though painful, can ultimately become part of the blessing that brings us to the Path. Maybe we didn’t even come here thinking, ‘What I need is a good Path.’  Maybe we came here for some other reason: Because we heard about this place; or we’ve heard a little bit; or we’ve read some books about Dharma; or maybe His Holiness the Dalai Lama has given us some wonderful teaching through his books; and something has just hooked us a little bit. Maybe we heard about the crystals. That brings people!  Whatever it is, it’s that sense of things not being wholesome or right. It’s that sense of fundamental unhappiness that drives us forward.

And so, in the beginning, that’s how it feels. It can be a very poignant kind of search and we feel deeply moved by it. So when we begin to examine the Path of Vajrayana, we find that rather than being the gentle ship that crosses a relatively gentle ocean as was in the time of Lord Buddha’s physical life, now we have a different situation. We are propelled by the depth of our feeling, by our discomfort; and we’re looking for something. And we seem to, in this time, connect with something that is more potent, maybe a little fiercer in a certain way, more condensed definitely, than the original teachings of Lord Buddha.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo.  All rights reserved

Introduction to the Three Vehicles: His Holiness Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok

The following is an excerpt from a public talk given by His Holiness Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok:

​Recognizing suffering for what it is, understanding the causes that produce suffering, we are then able to engage on the path of true freedom and bliss which culminates in the experience of enlightenment or full awakening, the status of Buddhahood.  When the status of Buddhahood is realized we will know permanent happiness.  To be able to cessate all types of suffering in this way so that permanent happiness is achieved is totally dependent upon the spiritual path, the practice itself.  Therefore we must understand how to practice the pure path.

​The goal of liberating all beings from suffering is predominant in all vehicles, but in addition to that one would consider the thought of never harming others and of somehow being of benefit to others.  Anything that is harmful, in any way at all, is absolutely abandoned.  To practice on that level, of maintaining refuge and never harming others intentionally is the essence of the Hinayana pursuit.  In this world of ours these days the Hinayana vehicle of Buddhism is primarily practiced as the sole pursuit in countries such as Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries.

​The Mahayana pursuit, or the greater spiritual pursuit, more than focusing upon one’s own purpose one focuses upon the purpose and welfare of others.  One is always thinking how to be of benefit to others.  In fact, it becomes one’s sole concern to not only think about being of benefit to others, but to engage in activities which bring direct benefit to all other sentient beings impartially to the point where one is ultimately able to establish all other sentient beings in the status of Buddhahood.  That is done based on one’s altruistic attitude of love and compassion for all other beings.  So that type of motivation and practical application qualifies one as a practitioner of Mahayana.  The essence of the Hinayana is already incorporated into that because, if you’ll recall, in Hinayana the main focus is not to harm others, but as a Mahayanist, not only are you not harming others, but you are only doing that which benefits others.  So it is taken a step further.  In this word, those countries where the Mahayana doctrine is predominant include China and Japan and some others.

​In the context of Mahayana, as an inner division we find the vehicle of secret mantra, Vajrayana. What sets the secret mantra Vajrayana path apart from the others is that it is called the resultant vehicle.  This is because it produces results in a very short period of time.  It does not take a long time of practice to receive the results because method and wisdom are combined in such a way that in one short lifetime enlightenment can be realized.  The secret mantra path of Vajrayana combines the two yogic stages of generation stage — which is the practice of generating visualizations of self-nature as the deity — and the completion stage — which is the practice of dissolving visualizations and other types of elaborations into the fundamental nature of emptiness.  These two yogic stages are combined in such a way that the result is achieved in a very short period of time.

​This vehicle of secret mantra Vajrayana is the principal vehicle of Buddhism that is practiced in Tibet, and now we find it spreading throughout America and other countries.  There are many Dharma centers that have been established in America, primarily by Tibetan lamas who are upholders of the Vajrayana tradition.  This means that many of the American disciples are now becoming practitioners and upholders of this tradition.  In fact, throughout this world, Vajrayana Buddhism is already firmly established in some 32 countries.

​Within the secret mantra vehicle, the ultimate, absolute pinnacle, the enlightened mind of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas condensed into one essence, the heart blood of all the dakinis, is the quintessential path known as the Clear Light Great Perfection, or Ati Yoga.  This Doctrine of the Great Perfection is dependent upon the receiving of what is termed pointing out instructions or pith essential instructions which can be passed from teacher to disciple in the form of just a word or two.  In fact, if everything is auspicious according to the way that the Clear Light Great Perfection is actually transmitted, it is taught that if those essential instructions are given in the evening, by sunrise one will be enlightened.  If they are given at sunrise, by evening one will be enlightened.  So this is considered to be the most expedient path to liberation.

​To meet with the Clear Light Great Perfection is something that is so precious and rare that it is taught that just to hear the words of the dzogchen teaching, the teachings on the level of Ati Yoga, closes the door to rebirth in the three lower realms and puts one safely and directly on the path to liberation as a Buddha.  So it is a Dharma that has the power to liberate just by contact, just by sight, just by recollection.  Even to recall the words of the dzogchen teachings is something that is so precious and profound that it is likened to having a wish-fulfilling jewel in the palms of your hands.  It is not a Dharma that is filled with elaborations and complexities that takes a lot of time to accomplish or establish.  It is a Dharma that, if it meets with the right individual or the perfect aspirant, is something that is easy to practice and that can be applied to every aspect of life in a very simple way producing very direct results.  However, this Dharma, this Doctrine, must only fall into the hands of those disciples who have the karmic affinity for it which is something that must be established due to karmic connections.  Otherwise it is a Dharma that is meant to be kept secret or to be guarded from any other type of situation.

Vajrayana

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Tools to Deepen in Your Practice”

When we are in love with our own minds—which is a lonely way to go, I have to tell you—when you are in love with your own mind, you can’t believe that you’re supposed to substitute anything for that stuff in your head, because it’s so phenomenal. It’s so impressive.  It’s amazing what you can do with neuroses!  I mean. . . Unbelievable!  When you really believe in phenomena, like a child you can build it like blocks and do anything.  But that accumulation of knowledge is practically worthless on the Vajrayana path when it comes to actual accomplishment.  Sure you need to learn a lot in order to get to the point where you are practicing, and so we do have to accumulate some knowledge. But when you really want to accomplish, it’s wisdom that you must accomplish.  And that wisdom is pure perception, the view—letting go of ego-clinging, opening up the grasping of the five senses, allowing oneself to view the emptiness of space.

What about the other leg or the other eye of Vajrayana which I said was compassion or method?  When we practice early on in Buddhism, like when Lord Buddha taught, he taught that we should do no harm, that we should never harm any being. That was one primary level of vow taking that we should all take.  Now, in Vajrayana, there is less emphasis on pure stark teachings like that, and more emphasis on something maybe a little bit more complicated.  How can I put it?

It’s like this.  In Theravada Buddhism, when you are accomplishing Dharma, what you are doing is purifying the mind and allowing the mind to relax.  Ok.  That’s a necessary step, a necessary stage.  And part of that is to do no harm, to awaken to the realization that all sentient beings are equal in their nature and that they all strive to be happy, while not knowing how to be happy.  For that reason, we should have compassion for them. We shouldn’t harm them because we know that each one has the Buddha seed.

In Vajrayana, that is already assumed.  Everything in Vajrayana is built on the layers underneath it.  Like Vajrayana is built on Mahayana, Mahayana is built on Theravada Buddhism.  And they all become a little more fancy, explained, and mystical as they ascend.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, for instance, we can expect that there will be practices in which there are wrathful deities.  And we can expect in Vajrayana Buddhism, when you ask your teacher a question, you’ll get a frank answer.  Now in Theravada Buddhism, there is not the same binding to the Guru.  Your teacher is more like a companion on the path.  A teaching monk, let’s say, can point and say, “This this,” “Accomplish this,” “Do that,” “Do that,” “Do that,”and guide you, and have encouraging words for you along the path.  Whereas in Vajrayana, for the same reason that we accomplish wrathful practice, we sometimes have wrathful teachers.  And we think to ourselves, “How can that be?  I thought Buddhism was the peaceful religion?  I thought you guys didn’t fight?”  Well, we don’t.  That’s not what is happening here.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the assumption is of the emptiness of all nature and the emptiness of dualistic existence. Therefore, I cannot find where I end and you begin.  Who are you that you are different than I am?  It’s not possible.  Simply because of the clothing that you put on?  The face you put on?  Simply because of the ideas that you have about self-nature being inherently real?  Should I accept that?  No.  And therefore, in Vajrayana, we have very active kinds of practices.  We have Vajrakilaya, who’s like a pointy phurba on the bottom. You generate Vajrakilaya when you want to remove obstacles.  And Vajrakilaya can look very fierce.  In one visualization, in his two hands, he’s holding a phurba, a pointed knife, just like himself, and he’s rolling it around and he’s looking really wrathful. And he’s got all his wrathful clothes on. He’s got sometimes tiger skins and elephant skins and human skins and you think, “Whoa, what is that?  I don’t know about this religion?”  And that’s because originally, like in the early stages of Buddhism, in Theravada Buddhism, you want to relax the mind, purify the mind, do no harm and your accomplishment is more self-oriented.

Now in Mahayana and particularly in Vajrayana, we already assume that all phenomena is empty of self-nature.  We already assume the truth of the unsurpassed primordial view.  We already assume that all beings are essentially the same “taste” in their nature.  We assume that.  And yet, we cannot assume that there is no phenomenal reality because we seem to find ourselves in it.  And you can’t go into a state of denial about it because we could prove you wrong.  I could just stick a pin in your foot and boy, that’d show you.  You’d get it real, real fast!

So we find ourselves here in Vajrayana. We are aware of this amazing reality that is the fundamental sphere of truth. At least somehow we are aware of it, somewhere, a little bit,ok, just a tiny bit, the sphere of truth. Yet at the same time, we find ourselves in phenomenal reality.  We see the sufferings of the physical dimension, particularly the human dimension which are old age, sickness and death. We see all these things.  And so while we understand on some level the emptiness of phenomenal nature, we have not yet accomplished enough to be able to hold the sphere of truth so smoothly that there are never obstacles.  So in that case, we practice the wrathful deities. The wrathful deities are active in phenomena and yet we assume their nature to be the same as the Buddhas, the same as our Root Teacher; and eventually, let’s say if one were to accomplish Vajrakilaya as his or her root deity, eventually, we would understand our nature as Vajrakilaya.

In fact, when we say that the Buddha is awakening, the Dharma is the method, enlightenment is the result, we can also say that the Dakinis are the activity of the Buddhas, and the Protectors and Wrathful Deities are the active expansion of the nature and of realization. We’re practicing all of these deities; and they’re all arising from emptiness and they all dissolve into emptiness. What we’re actually doing is engaging facets of our own nature.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved

How to Develop Pure View: Full Length Video Teaching

The following is a full length video teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo  offered at Kunzang Palyul Choling:

 

“Pure View” is a central concept in Vajrayana. It’s often misunderstood and Jetsunma brings clarity to this, giving you ways to enjoy and progress n the Buddha’s path.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo.  All rights reserved

 

Developing Pure View

From The Spiritual Path:  A Compilation of Teachings by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

Students who are flirting with, considering, or entering the path may become confused by the term “pure view.” Why? Because they register the ordinary meaning of these words, unaware that they will understand more later. If at this moment we were able to awaken in the primordial wisdom state, if we were somehow able to move into Lord Buddha’s posture of being awake to that nature, pure view would be instantly established. When we first come to the path, we are excited to have found something precious. It’s like waking up on Christmas morning and discovering a gift. We realize that Dharma provides tools we didn’t have before, deeper ways to understand. We realize that we are going to be let in on a vast secret…Something that will enrich our lives, change our lives.

We enter a romantic period. We fall in love. It’s quite normal: in some ways, it is helpful. Falling in love with a person enables you to see that person’s best qualities. You become open to that person and the same thing happens with Dharma. You become receptive. Some students fall in love with the very idea of being on a path, being part of a group experience, part of something that moves together as one body, and with the idea of having a teacher. Some students fall in love with the exotic things they encounter in their Dharma practice. “Hey, this temple looks like Nepal or something! It’ll be cool to bring my friends!” Silly and superficial as this sounds, it is absolutely normal when you first come to the path. It is also normal to begin “The Great Adventure Of Imitation.” Walking the Dharma walk, talking the Dharma talk. Trying to look serenely pure upon hearing the term “pure view.” Periodically rolling the eyes skyward to appear saintly. As we try to act in a way that we think is pure, we approach Dharma externally. Materialistically. Wait! How can approaching Dharma be materialistic? Isn’t it a religion of renunciation? Unfortunately, it is very possible to practice materialistically. It’s possible to collect Dharma—and things associated with Dharma—just as we collect rare stamps or works of art.

This is all sadly far from practicing pure view. What must be pure is the way you think. When real change comes, you have nothing to show off to your friends. The change is inside. It’s very subtle, very quiet. And it grows like a seedling coming out of the soil, at first almost invisible. That is how pure view should grow.

When you enter the Dharma, what you need to protect most is your innocence. You should come almost as a child, a seeker, as someone whose mind is open. The traditional Buddhist analogy likens the mind to a bowl. Some people have dirt in their bowls: judgment and preconceived ideas. Some complacently extrapolate their own religion. Some don’t really listen to the teachings. Their bowls are turned over. As the milk of Dharma is poured, it simply runs down the sides. Some come to the path with poison in their bowls: negative habitual tendencies and negative emotions. They have a hard edge. The way for a new student to practice in harmony with pure view is to relax the mind as much as possible, to have a mind that is gentle and receptive. Where you’ve been before, what’s happened before, and even your opinion of yourself, doesn’t really matter.

What matters is what you do today. Today you can focus on self-honesty. You can closely examine your mind, what it does, how it works. You can finally see how much of what you do results from self-absorption. How much of what you do is selfish, judgmental, and manipulative. And with your new insight, you can decide to examine yourself in the mirror very squarely. You can examine your own root poisons, and you can decide to eradicate them systematically.

The best way to do that, at first, is not to act any differently, and this is why. You may correctly realize that you are now lonely because you haven’t been kind in the past. But if you simply try to act kind all the time, you will act the way you think kindness ought to look. I have watched people try it. They learn a few things about what kindness ought to be and they conduct themselves accordingly. This hampers or prevents the necessary subtle internal change. Take a rubber band and stretch it all the way out. When you let go, it will snap back to its original shape. Now, if you yourself try to change on an external or gross level without examining the teachings and without letting your mind create a new, gentle internal habit, your mind will do the same thing as the rubber band. It has a natural shape, yes, and you can make it perform. In the past, you have made yourself jump through hoops. So you can do that, you can make your mind change. But the result will be temporary, because it’s happening in a gross and inappropriate way.

So it’s better to be gentle with yourself. Let your bowl be filled with some real milk. Absorb the teachings. Listen with a pure mind. This is like taking a rubber band and rubbing it with an oil to help it expand —perhaps only slightly. Then you rub and work it a little more, actually changing the fiber of the rubber band. Eventually, it becomes a much looser thing. Eventually, that will happen to your mind. It will become looser, more spacious. It will be more receptive to truth, a place where Dharma can live. So in the beginning, pure view for students is like an honest, gentle effort. Like an innocence. Like a relaxation.

Further along the path, pure view becomes something more meaningful, more profound. It actually arises from some of the meditational practices, specifically from what is termed “generation-stage practice.” One meditates on emptiness, which is our true primordial nature, on oneself having that nature, and then one gives rise to the particular meditational deity chosen for this practice. That is to say, one’s own self appears naturally as the meditational deity. The deity symbolizes the mind of enlightenment; meditating on oneself as the deity is actually a tool. When you engage in non-virtuous activity, you don’t have much respect for yourself, although you may cover it up with arrogance. Inside, sometimes way inside, there is a person crying because that person is not happy with non-virtuous behavior. When you do generation-stage practice, that crying is satisfied. And no matter what deity you are practicing, whatever his or her attributes, there is always the quality of kindness, and there are always the elements that produce happiness. In generation-stage practice, you begin to lose the tightness of your ordinary habitual tendencies, and you begin to develop the new habitual tendency of spontaneously abiding in pure virtuous compassion. And happiness begins.

After the generation-stage practice is completed, you pray that all sentient beings will be happy. Then you close your book and put away your mala, but your practice doesn’t really end, for you are now particularly involved with pure view. Through this practice, the mind has increasingly taken on the virtue and the attributes of the deity. Even when the practice is over, you maintain deity pride. This is not a personal pride, involving conceit or arrogance. Deity pride is different. It is confidence. Courage and a confidence that begins to change your life. If you practice the deity Chenresig, for example, deeply aware that Chenresig’s main attribute is benefiting sentient beings through compassion, you will maintain, in a solid way, an inner virtuous upright quality. You will maintain the idea that compassion is your lifeblood. That this is everything to you. You declare it. You wish it. You look for it in your mind. You try to bring it out. You do your best to live it. You create the habit of kindness.

© Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo

Compassion, Wisdom and the Importance of Lineage

Palyul Nyingma Refuge Tree
Nam Cho Refuge Tree

The following is a series of tweets given by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo on the importance of lineage:

Wisdom and Compassion are the two eyes of Mahayana. Wisdom is pure awareness of empty nature. Not book learning. Compassion is Boddhicitta. Boddhicitta is primordial fundamental uncontrived nature’s pristine display. To attain wisdom meditate on emptiness – the sublime view. To give rise to Boddhicitta, accomplish View, leading to the understanding that all beings are same in nature, and struggle to be happy. Ordinary human kindness will suffice in this life but the Great Boddhicitta accomplishment benefits every future life.

Wisdom is not taught in school. That is knowledge. Wisdom cannot come from books, only knowledge. Wisdom comes with the mind ripening at Guru’s feet. Neither ordinary kindness nor book knowledge bring Supreme Buddhahood- Liberation. Only Wisdom View and Boddhicitta’s nectar can. Ordinary thoughts and concepts from ordinary people are just that. Primordial Wisdom is more rare and precious than any jewel. When you find yourself lost in blah blah blah let it go like vanishing dew. Come back to Wisdom and Boddhicitta- pray, meditate. This is the method and the way of uncountable Buddhas and Bodhisattvas before you from practices handed down through Lineage. All empowerment passed through lineage can be traced back to the blessing of Guru Padmasambava and Consort in an unbroken chain of mastery.

Empowerment without lineage is not traceable to original source. Never take empowerment without tracing through Lineage. If not traceable from Guru to student through out the centuries it is likely tainted by broken Samaya or is totally made up. Taking impure empowerment is like drinking poison and will destroy your path and progress. Every pure Lama gives lineage of empowerment.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo.  All rights reserved

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